Paint Recipe: How to Paint Nighthaunt

Welcome to the 20th post of my blog! This is something of an accomplishment for me actually sticking to this blog enough to get here, so I thought it was worth noting. Moving past the self-adulation, this post I have a paint recipe for Nighthaunts, that, while similar to the Nihilakh Oxide method many painters use, I vastly prefer for consistency reasons.

The finished model. 

 Onto the paint recipe then.

Paint Recipe: How to Paint Stormcast Eternals

Greetings! Today I have a simple post explaining the paints I use for my Stormcast Eternals. At a glance, they appear similar to the Anvils of the Heldenhammer, but I made a couple of changes to the scheme so that the colors contrast a bit more. I'll have the full recipe further below.

Hobby Table: Dire Wolves, Necromancer, and Skink Starpriest

The last couple of days have seen 7 new models completed. For the first round we have some Legions of Nagash models, or, in my little corner of the universe, these troops hail from the ruins of Ravenmarch. This is the eastern half of Heldenmarch, and the two were once a whole country until the folly of the Amethyst Cult drove the kingdom in two. This lore is reflected in my necromancer, whose robes of purple, which once were a symbol of the Amethyst Cult, are hidden beneath tattered robes.

A necromancer wills his dire wolves to attack. 

Tutorial: Bastilodon Solar Engine

I magnetized my Bastilodon a long time ago so that I could swap out between the Ark of Sotek and the Solar Engine, and while I managed to paint the dino and the Ark of Sotek, I left the Solar Engine to languish for some time. Part of it was that I was intimidated by the crystal. I wanted it to look like all of those photos that can be seen on Instagram or Reddit. But no more! I decided to just go for it, and I don't know why I was putting this off for so long.

Read on for details of how I painted it. 

Narrative: Using Scenery to Tell a Story

Often times in wargaming we use our scenery as an ends to a means. Does it provide an even playing field so that neither side gains an advantage? Are there ample Line-of-sight blockers that give strategic advantages? Not that any of this is bad, but to me terrain can be so much more, especially in a narrative context. The terrain can help to drive the story of your games, giving players objectives beyond winning. Even if a player loses the match, the events that unfold can give them a tale to tell for a long time afterwards. 

A cemetery sits peacefully next to a shrine of Azyr. 

Hobby Table: Freeguild, Endless Spells, and More

This has been a productive week so far, seeing several units painted to completion.

The Freeguild group above consists of a General with banner, 10 Guard with Halberds, and 1 with a sword who managed to sneak in to the painting pile. They bear the uniform of my own Free City (or country I guess) of Heldenmarch. The pants are just a standard Army Painter black drybrushed with grey, the shirts are Citadel Flash Gitz yellow washed with Casandora Yellow. Metallics are Plate Metal Silver from Army Painter, and the red is Dragon Red, also from the Army Painter line. This took me a bit for all the other small details on each model, so from here I moved onto some quick little projects...

Tutorial: Converting square to round bases

Whether you still have old holdovers from Warhammer Fantasy days or you bought used models from Ebay or elsewhere, chances are there are still some of you with models on square bases that need to make the move over to Age of Sigmar. But maybe you want to preserve those lovely bases and don't want the hassle of painstakingly clipping off the top of a base to transfer it.

Today I have a tutorial for an easy conversion! Disclaimer, you'll need access to a 3D printer, which you can sometimes do at a local library or if you have a friend if you don't already have your own. 

Step 1: Print the bases

Files can be found here at Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2952975

Here you have an assortment of bases to choose from. For this example I've gone with cavalry bases for my Drakespawn Knights. I've printed them the standard 0.2 mm layer height in PLA, and a set of five only took about an hour from start to finish. I didn't bother with any brims, and it came out just fine.  Once printed, just gently slot the base into the coverter. I put dabs of super glue in to keep the model firmly in place. 

The Dreaded Hobby Backlog

During this global pandemic and forced work from home situation that many of us find ourselves in, I decided that it was a good time to return to this blog and get some hobby posts going. I intend for this to be consistent, but like always life will probably find a way and get me to drop off again. We'll see.

Behold! The detolf of shame. 

In the above picture can be found the majority of my miniatures, not including terrain and other WIPs. From top to bottom, we have: Stormcast Eternals, Nighthaunt, Slaves to Darkness, Greywater Fastness, Anvilgard, Seraphon, Legions of Nagash, Bretonnia, and on the floor level a smattering of Gloomspite Gitz and a full Skaven army that I'm still trying to find space for. As to the progress of armies...

Hirschenwald: Holds of the Ironweld

The lands of Hirschenwald sit safely nestled between mountains to the west, sea to the south, Heldenmarch to the east, and above all, the great Ironwoods to the north. Once a part of Heldenmarch itself, as can be attested to by the name, Hirschenwald is now a strong kingdom in its own right, plying in the trade of venison and iron oak. The latter has brought the attention of the Ironweld Arsenal, who, for all intents and purposes, now manage the country.

The Lands of Heldenmarch

Welcome back to the Silverlight Region in the Realm of Metal! Today we will be covering the land of Heldenmarch! Composed primarily of men of Sigmar, the country of Heldenmarch has carved out a swathe of relative peace in an otherwise chaotic land. However, within its borders are still plenty of dangers...

The Age of Myth

As men ventured south across the Auric Sea, they eventually settled upon the shores of what would eventually become Heldenmarch. The twin towns of Muldorf and Rothenztyn quickly sprang up, flourishing with trade to the lands of the north. The undisputed leader of this band, Hemt Grimst, sought a more defensible land. Each winter, a massive flock of ravens clouded the sky. Grimst followed the great migration, finding that the ravens roosted amidst a circular band of hills. A new city, whose name has long since been forgotten and is now only referred to as Olztyn, began to grow between the hills, its walls becoming a legend in time. As time went on and the population grew, the country became known as Ravenmarch, with the Grimst family ruling well over its inhabitants.

The Age of Chaos

Prosperous as the kingdom of Ravenmarch was, nothing could have prepared it for the arrival of Chaos. An enormous warband swept in from the East, quickly burning Rotheztyn and Beograd to ashes. Sigmar's closing of Azyr left many with no hope. Desperate, the people of Udenheim turned to necromancy to raise heroes of old and regiments of honored dead to defend them. Abhorred with the abomination that the town became, Vathek Grimst shut the gates and cursed Udenheim to be known as Hexenheim. Soon after, Nachtbriar became embroiled in necromancy and chaos invasions. Enraged, Vathek rode out upon his dragon, but was slain in the ensuing battle. The carnage was so great that a great tide of death magic roiled out upon the whole of Ravenmarch. Ironically, Vathek rose once more, embittered at what he now was. 

Vathek's son, Triglav, took command of what was left of Ravenmarch and her armies. His kingdom burning, he ordered the living to escape to the east while he remained with his father to defend the fleeing population. Triglav, Lord of Embers, was the last living king of Ravenmarch, and for millenia his armies kept the tide of chaos from devouring his people. The nobility settled near the River Argent, and in honor of those early leaders, the town was named Ravencourt. Repulsed by the undead forces of Ravenmarch, the Chaos invasion swept south and westward, remaining an oppressive cloud over Ravencourt for centuries. 

The Age of Sigmar

With the coming of the Stormcast Eternals, Chaos was largely eradicated from the Eastern Silverlight Sea. Overjoyed, the flourishing people named their country Heldenmarch. Ravencourt became a bustling capital, and the new town of Varheim to the south rivaled the fortifications of ancient Olztyn. Explorers ventured beyond the River Argent, settling in what would become known as Stagmoor. The Stormcast eye Ravenmarch with suspicion, but the people of Heldenmarch still look fondly upon their ancestors who protected them for so long. Occasionally, a fool-headed ruler will seek to claim the lands of Ravenmarch for the living once more, but are often met with serried ranks of undead. Triglav is content to let Heldenmarch remain free, but with the coming of Nagash's necroquake, the dead no longer rest as easily as they once did...

Garbed in the black and yellow standard uniform of Heldenmarch, halberdiers guard the South Gate of Varheim.