Has it been 8 months?!

Man, time flies when you're having fun! ... super busy!  While I haven't been posting here I have not been idle.  At the beginning of the year I found out that my wife and I were going to have another child.  This would make 2 for us and since we live in a 3 bedroom house I was told that my painting/ computer/ all around hobby safe zone room was going bye bye.  Everything in the room was packed up and relocated to other parts of the house.  My very loving and caring wife then took pity on me and told me that I could "have" one of the front rooms as a painting area so long as I keep it presentable and clean.  This room also doubles as the computer room and secondary TV room.   I was told that this could be my Fortress of Solitude, but my oldest daughter likes to watch TV in here so this is where the family hangs out most of the time.  I then set out to make a new painting table/ computer table that would fit my needs on top of getting the nursery ready.  During this time I was getting a small amount of painting done.  I finished some figures for Black Tree Design, but nothing really for me.

Then on Aug 9, 2016, all painting and anything hobby related stopped.  The Buck household got bigger by one, Emily Elaine Buck came into the world.  To celebrate, a military parade was held in her honor.  

The computer sits on the left and my painting area is the center and right side of the table.

I had to move the display cabinet and had to take all the figures out.  Sorry for the blury pictures, they were taken with my phone in less than ideal lighting.  

Over the next few months I started to get back into the swing of things again.  I painted some Napoleonic British and French, some WW2 Russian partisans, and some Vikings.

I've recently got back into Colonial wargaming thanks to the Congo rules.  Right now I have some Perry Miniature Sudanese that have been converted to Zanzibar slavers on my painting table.  My lead mountain continues to grow.  When Black Tree had a 50% off sale I could not help myself and placed a large order.  I got some Normans for my fantasy/crusade army, some dwarves, a 20 man unit of Zulus, and a lot of Greeks for my Argonauts to fight.  I also bought some Darkest Africa figures from Foundry to round out my slaver force.  

Christmas was also great for me too!  I received some Perry Hussars for my colonial British, and I was told that I had more Darkest Africa figures on the way!  I got 3 books from Osprey and 2 books on battles in the Victorian Age.  Now I just need some time to paint!

Hopefully I can keep this blog updated more often, but the sad truth is that this is the first thing to be cut when free time is at a minimum.  

Thunderbolt Mountain Elves

I've been on the look out for some elves to add to my growing fantasy/ early medieval setting.  Now that I think about it, this all started when I bought some Black Tree Design crusaders...then orcs/goblins...then more crusaders...then more orcs.   Now I have a large orc/goblin hoard, a large human/crusader army, cultists, skaven, beastmen, dwarves, and now elves.  Man this is a slippery slope!
But back to the topic.  I recently re-stumbled onto Thunderbolt Mountain and fell in love with their elves.  They look what I think elves should look like.  Almost human like but definitely not human.  They have an otherworldly look to them.  Well not too long ago I made the big jump and ordered some of them.  I wanted them to represent a young lord or two with their followers going on an adventure.
They are very well sculpted figures and have a crazy amount of detail.  The people at Thunderbolt Mountain are supper nice.  They gave me a free figure with my order as a thank you, which was an unexpected surprise!  When I noticed that there were two figures missing from my order they sent the missing figures and before the week was out I had them.  I only wish that they were making some more elves as I would definitely but them.  Now that I think about it, those orcs might be fun to paint too...

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Black Tree Design, Thunderbolt Mountain, Frostgrave/GW mix

Orcs and Lizardmen

I just finished painting some Black Tree Design Orcs and Lizardmen.  They are from their old line that they are thinking of bringing back.  Both were fun to paint.  I liked that the orcs did not seem like stupid animals.  They are wearing some heavy armor.  The lizardmen reminded me of the old 3rd edition, I think, GW lizardmen.

Retainers

Just finished the bases of some men-at-arms and bowmen.  They are from Black Tree Designs and are some nice figures.  They are from their 2nd Crusade line except for the swords man who is from the 100 years war line.  Since I plan on using them in a fantasy setting I've added some baggage/knives/food to their belts.  I plan on having all my knights for this project have a small group of retainers with them.  That way I can group all the spearmen/ bowmen/ swordmen together into units if I want to fight bigger battles or have them fight with their lord in a small skirmish.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for looking,

Justin

Cultist

I've been eyeing the Frostgrave Cultist for a while now.  It's hard to find good fantasy cultists that are not all in robes.  While robed cultist have their uses, fighting skirmishes in a dungeon isn't one of them.  So when I saw the plastic set I knew it was only a matter of time before I owed a box...or two.

I have a plastic necromancer that I made out of a GW Empire wizard that need some protection.

 A skeleton and zombie.  These would've been the first two companions that a fledgling necromancer would have.  They would act like a moving shield for the necromancer.  The skeleton only moves when the enemy is near.  The zombie just soaks up arrows.

 These 3 cultists are armed with hand weapons and shields.  Cultists/GW/and Victix bits

The elf on the left has a sword and dagger...and a dagger, and a dagger, and a....

The center man has a spear and a small shield. The last man has a sword/dagger combo.

Finally the firepower.  The one on the left has GW militia arms, the center is armed with the cultist crossbow, and the last one is an elf armed with a GW militia bow.  I didn't like the way the cultist bow looked so I used these arms.

I don't own the Frostgrave rules and don't plan on getting them anytime soon.  I don't have time or any opponents in the area to game against.  I just put together figures that I thought would look cool.

I had a blast putting them together and look forward to putting the rest together after I get these painted.  Now I just need a color scheme and a good cult name...

What I've been up to

Not too long ago I received a large order from Black Tree Design for my early crusades/fantasy setting.

They are mostly 2nd Crusade spearmen and knights, Norman spearmen and knights, 100yr war swordmen, and a few dark age Saxons and Vikings thrown in to add variety.  I plan on giving every knight 1 -4 followers in the same livery.  I also ordered/converted 20 peasants, some armed some not.  After all, I need someone for my orcs/goblins to raid :)

However, not long after I took these pictures I lost my painting mojo.  I cleared my desk and grabbed 6 figures to paint which seemed to work.  Please excuse the blurry photos.

More goblins for the hoard

I've had these guys sitting on my desk for a while now waiting for their spot in the light.  These little guys are very fun to paint.  I wish the current goblins companies are making had as much character as these guys.

There are some more orcs and goblins waiting in the wings for me to get to them.  After I finish these guys I think I will be done with orcs and goblins for a bit....unless I see something I really want :)

Justin

Adventurer #10

Painting has slowed down a bit with work and family getting in the way :)  Here is a Halfling Ranger.  He is a Reaper Bones figure.  I wanted him to have a similar look to my Dwarf Ranger.  He is armed with a short bow and a small sword with some leather armor.

I have two Elves waiting for some paint but I can not get motivated to paint them...