Sunday 28 August 2016

“Built In Quistis’ Image Following Her Death…”

"...Velocity is the mechanical automaton the Engineer's Guild turn to..."
This 28mm metal model of the “Guild Ball” Engineer striker Velocity is made by “Steamforged Games Ltd” and can be bought separately, or with Ballista and Salvo as part of Engineer Starter Set. An incredibly delicate multi-part miniature, this figure took some considerable pinning before I was happy it was going to survive being painted (let alone used on a gaming table). In addition the “nimble and accurate” player’s pose did not appear too stable, and was thus repositioned slightly so as to make her stand a little taller on the base. Indeed, I have seen pictures of the model where the automaton’s bent left leg has either been entirely straightened or re-angled in order for the figure to seemingly be ‘sat’ upon it on the ground in a sort of crouching position…

As the majority of this miniature was supposedly animated wood, the model was initially undercoated with “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and then washed with “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade. Velocity was then dry-brushed with more “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna before having her metallic joints ‘picked out’ with a combination of “Citadel” Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil. Finally I applied a thin layer of “Vallejo” Gold around the edge of her breastbone, and washed this with some additional “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade in order to give the impression of it being lightly polished brass.
Plaguebearer WIPS - These disease infested daemons now just need their pimples to be 'picked out'
According to the Season One player’s illustration, and faint detailing upon the sculpt itself, a number of other metallic areas, such as the striker’s head plate, shoulder pads and waist gears, should also be brass coloured. But as I found it painfully difficult just to get a relatively straight thin stripe of paint onto the figure’s chest I felt it would be prudent for my sanity’s sake to give such delicately steady brushwork a miss.

I’ve yet to play a “Guild Ball” match with the Engineer’s team, but according to her rules, Velocity would appear to be a useful character to field, especially once she has the ball. In fact her Close Control skill, which allows “this model [to] ignore the first Tackle Playbook result against it” once per Turn probably means the player is able to retain possession better than most. Whilst her ability to Reanimate “when this model is reduced to 0 Hit Points” and “recover 3 Hit Points” before suffering the Taken-Out condition would suggest the automaton’s low(ish) health isn’t necessarily the ‘match fitness’ weakness it first appears.
Bloodletter WIPS - It's early days for these "Chosen of Khorne" as they've simply been primed
I'm now getting ever so close to completing the (first) ten-figure strong unit of Plaguebearers I intend to field as part of my "Age Of Sigmar" Host of Nurgle. The majority of these remaining miniatures simply need to have their numerous zits and pimples 'highlighted' with "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre before essentially being finished. However I do still have some considerable work to do on the heavily-infected warriors' Icon Bearer.

In addition I have started to assemble, as well as prime, the plastic multi-part models found within the "Games Workshop" Bloodletters boxed set. The "Chosen of Khorne", I initially plan to use these Hellblade-carrying lesser daemons as Allies. However, if I can find the time and enthusiasm, to paint enough of the Slaughter-kin up, then I hope to use them for some small-scale skirmishes between the Forces of Chaos. For now though, they'll hopefully just prove to be a pleasant distraction from all the Nurgle I'm currently painting...

32 comments:

  1. Not as yet tried Guidball. Just not something played (as yet) at my club. Maybe in the future.

    But I do like the idea of being able to play a Nurgle host in BOTH asge of Sigmar and 40K.... Not that I have played Age of Sigmar either. It just seems very versatile that way.

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    1. I may do some "Guild Ball" BatReps in the future Clint. But for now I've simply painted Velocity up in order to clear some room in my painting queue; plus she was already partially painted :-)

      I believe many of the Chaos minis are usable in both "AoS" and "Warhammer 40k", including the Bloodletters I'm currently preparing. As I don't though currently play "WH40k" I can't for certain say which ones.

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  2. Lots of excitement around Guildball at the minute but I've never played (nor Dreadball) more of a Blood Bowl man myself. But Velocity looks an interesting figure none the less Simon

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    1. Thanks Andy. I must confess to not being the greatest fan of "Guild Ball", having played it a few times. Each game seems far more to be about bashing one another to pulp than scoring goals. Having said that though, I have not yet played a game with a full team, which I'm told makes it far more a ball-game than punch-up.

      I have however played "Blood Bowl" recently and absolutely loved it. Great fun with loads of tactical choices and luck thrown into the pot. No-one player seemed too overpowered (even my Ogre took a tumble). I can't say the same for "Guild Ball" sadly...

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  3. Noice work with Velocity. :)

    I was a fan of Blood Bowl (especially second edition), and have an Alchemists team awaiting painting, so I hope to join you in GB painting before too long. :)

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    1. Cheers Leon. I look forward to seeing what you do with the "Guild Ball" sculpts. I'd have thought your wonderfully subtle painting style would really suit them, and certainly encourage me to paint-up a few more from time to time.

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  4. I do like your figure of Velocity. I have played many games of Bloodbowl but none of the other similar games like Guildball or Dreadball, etc. Looking at Velocity I can't help but think of her as an assassin droid for the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game. Sorry, but that game is constantly on my mind at the moment.

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    1. Thanks Bryan. I myself own "Dreadball" but haven't as yet played it. I do though have a couple of minis assembled somewhere ;-)

      If you like Velocity as an assassin droid then her 'brother' Hoist is an even better sculpt imho. Indeed if it wasn't for his £8.95 price tag I'd buy a few of him, along with some "Frostgrave" wooden constructs and use them as an automaton Blood Bowl side :-)

      No worries about your "Judge Dredd" obsession my friend, I've recently bought a Brit-Cit boxed set, and am looking forward to your Mega-City One BatReps :-)

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  5. most intriguing. I do love coming here to check up and take in all the lately. You never disappoint.

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    1. Cheers T, that's very kind of you to say so. Hopefully you've found something of interest. It's all Nurgle these days. But "Star Trek" September is just around the corner ;-)

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    2. Nurgle is cool.. ewwwww okay maybe not cool so much as stinky and slimy hehe. My love is Slaanesh: sooooo slinky and sensual, in a disturbingly macabre way. Ah the good old says, when I believed in GW, and I still envied my brother`s collection yet could only dream of one day owning my own and being one of those rare breed `girl gamers` hehe.

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    3. Nurgle is certainly proving fun to paint, T. But like everything, too much of a good thing is bad - hence I'll be mixing my "AoS" up as of September with both a different genre and scale. 'Girl gamers' certainly seem to be on the rise imho (though perhaps not in true historicals), and I certainly enjoy reading about your thoughts on the subject with your posts on "The Gamers Cupboard".

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    4. Awwww thank you very much. I sometimes think me and Hil are the anti-heroes of gaming as we so often seem to discuss the potential negatives within the hobby, with ways we see to improve it. Stevie calls us the Kill Joy Squad hehe *oh heck, maybe he`s right*

      What ever you write and show us, where ever your AoS groove takes you, be assured we will be there to follow it Simon.

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    5. You're certainly not "the kill joy squad" T, I really enjoy your posts and thanks for being a Fantorical follower :-)

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  6. So much to enjoy here, but the Plaguebearers are still my favourites.

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    1. Thanks Michael. Mine too tbh, but I do like to mix things up from time to time to keep the mojo flowing. The Plaguebearers are almost finished now... and I've some spaceships waiting in the wings.

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  7. Funny I though "Robo-assasin as well as soon as I saw "Velocity" nice figure but fragile looking.

    And nice to see the "Bloodletters", getting a lick of paint, the brother-in-law who I mentioned before had loads of this stuff and was always on about doing a "Hell" based board, all black rocks and lava. He never actually did it but I have to say it sounded cool!

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Cheers Roger. "Fragile" is definitely the word for Velocity in my books. As to a Hell board, well spookily enough having been extremely happy with the swampland one I currently use to 'host' my "Lost Patrol" games on, and which will be spot-on for my Nurgle 'home' games, I do intend to pick up this one for my Khorne games: http://www.deepcutstudio.com/product/wargames-terrain-mat-inferno/ What do you think?

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    2. Sorry to butt in, Simon, but regarding the DeepCut Inferno mat, I'd say go for it. And if you can afford it, get one of the mousepad mats. I can't speak too highly of them. The Inferno mat is on my own shopping list.

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    3. No apology needed my friend. The Inferno mat will be my treat to myself when I have enough Khorne minis to field a Host (one leader and three units in my mind). I do own a few of the mousepad mats and perhaps somewhat oddly prefer the cloth versions.

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    4. I've had a look. very nice indeed, thanks Simon for the heads up.

      Cheers Roger.

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    5. No worries Roger. As I say, as soon as I can field a Khorne Host I'll be picking one up.

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  8. Those nurgle models are coming along awesome!

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    1. Many thanks Greg. Much appreciated praise :-) The aim for the month was to get a leader and three Nurgle units painted, so I could field a host. I may well fall a little short of that target. But the Host will definitely be finished before my first game is scheduled in September.

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  9. Velocity looks cool! I like that pose very much.

    Bloodletters.... *spits* Never know when to stop and enjoy the results of slaughter.

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    1. Cheers Dai. Something a bit different to momentarily break up the Nurgle Rot :-)

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  10. A lot to see, Simon. The green/brown/pink thing you have going on with the bugheaded plaguebearer looks terrific. great transitions.

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    1. Many thanks Finch. To be honest I just let the washes do their thing and simply push them into the areas of the model I think they'll look best in.

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