Lissanne's Undead-The Season of the Lich (345 pts)

So this month I spent most all my time doing my best on my army general, Dirge the Lich.  She is the Warhammer Quest Catacombs of Terror lich on a throne, and I gave her a palanquin supported by skeletons for good measure.  Although she usually appears to others as a beautiful lady in white, here she is at her most terrifying.

 I painted the throne too, the lich is only tacked in, because WQ and D&D double duty.

I spent the past weekend at a convention running the miniatures track which involved running several miniatures events, including a guided paint of skeletons.  Having done so many, it has become second nature.  But I came home with a skeleton, and so now Dirge has a banner bearer.  But since it is not a character, it doesn't count for points.

So-
 Dirge- Lich 20                     345pt
 Banner Bearer                     0 pts
  Total                                   345pts

Dirge, ancient and immortal archmage,  and high priest of the church of Vecna seven times over.  She has risen from her sea bed temple citadel to destroy temple Number 6, in Merchant's Reach, which she built 300 years ago.  Never one to hide from combat, she marches in the forefront of her army to view the carnage and aid with her mighty magics.  She is borne by a palanquin of select skeleton champions, one from each unit, giving her a clear view of the battle.

She is accompanied by her banner bearer with her personal sigil, the symbol of Vecna surrounded by 5 lightning bolts, one for each of temples she built and then destroyed.

Next month will be the second squad of skeletons which are already done so there will be a host of extras!

ZeroTwentythree's February Wood Elves (294 pts)

Much like January, February's challenge was wrapped up fairly quickly. The core was once again 15 archers. This brings the total up to 30 archers, which is a respectable base on which to build a small wood elf force. Once again I'm working with a dark and drab color palette for the most part. Still working on my new photo lighting, needs some improvement to get accurate colors across in the pics.

I'm not counting in character points for champions, etc. but I'm sure the guy leading this band of archers should probably be worth some extra points. Look at all that armour. And his bird. Probably annoys the hell out of the rest of the elves as they're sneaking through mountains and forests, stalking prey all stealthy-like... then there's that one a-hole clanking around like a scrap truck, bird squawking, banging his giant helmet on the tree branches....

15 Archers - base goal achieved

My stretch goals this month ended up being another bear -- one that fits the size I was looking to match from last year! This one is an old Ral Partha grizzly that is still in production at Iron Wind Metals. I also painted up an old dragonette familiar. It's one of several of the old Citadel familiars I've been meaning to get to. This one seemed to fit with a concept I've got for some other figures that may show up later in the OWAC. Lastly, I painted a tribute figure for our Benevolent Overlord. I can't remember if this was mentioned in this years rules, but I'm following what was done last year. I'm keeping the figure hidden (behind the cork) so it is a surprise when it arrives.

February's Bonus Figures - another bear, wood rider standard, familiar, and....

oooh, what could that be hidden behind the cork?

Bear Family Portrait. I now have two bears of similar scale. A bear pair.

That hits my beast handler goal. I'll figure out a good use for the giant in the back.

February's tally:

15 Archers with shields, incl. standard and musician ...... 204 pts.
1 Wood Rider Standard Bearer ........ 40 pts
1 Bear ....... 25 pts
Familiar ....... 0 pts?

Overlord Tribute ....... 25 pts

January Total: 294 pts

OWAC3 Running Total: 572 pts

February total

I also prepped my tentative core painting goal for March: 10 wardancers.

Brennan's February Post (240 Points)

Hello!  I'm back again with the unit of Iron Breakers!

So, if I went for shiny metal on all of these figures then it really would have been a lot of the same color.  I decided to go for a blue steel look on the plate armor to break things up a bit.  I used a series of washes and dry-brushing to get the effect.  It's not perfect, but I think it gets the point across.  PBS had a good documentary on an electric blue suit of armor that provided the inspiration.  That and I wanted to keep the corn flower blue and forest green core colors that I'm doing for this section of the army.  The forest green was used for some armor trim and any random shirts or capes that snuck there way in...

For the banner, I wanted something stormy so I went with a lightning bolt.  I like lightning bolts for the dwarves.  if you have ever been up in the mountains during lightning storm, then you will know what that raw power feels like.  Seems fitting for what is, effectively, a unit of foot knights.

And now all of them together!

10 Iron Breakers with musician and standard: 240 pts

Jeff McC's Wood Elves - FEB (200 Points)

February is complete, with a few days to spare!
This month I've Painted up the Glade Runners and the Wardancers

Glade Runners up first.  I didn't realize just how buff these elves are until I started getting into the paint.  I'm still not quite convinced I'm happy with the orange hood on the leader in the center, but I'm otherwise happy with the results.

 5 Glade Runners = 80 points

Wardancers next.  I'm not sure all of these models were originally intended to be wardancers, but I think they'll do the job nicely.

 6 Wardancers = 120 points

That's it until next month.  Just started a new job, so I'm not sure how painting time is going to align, but I'm a touch ahead of the power curve at the moment, so I'm hopeful I won't need my mulligan.

AdamH’s Skaven – Make sure you have your sunglasses ready! (212 Points)

“Back again yes-yes? I’m not sure how you keep getting past my rat guards… maybe you pay them more warpstone tokens than me? I will have to speak-words with them to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

I guess-suppose you want to see more of my strength? You are right to cower before my paws and pay tribute, although don’t think a furless monkey can garner my favour. But maybe I think of use for you yet.

Today you see some of my trusty… well as trusty as a Skaven can be… warriors. They know-well that my power will take them far… maybe too far…. Hmmm I think maybe a few will have to have accidents to make sure the others don’t get think-ideas…”

First of all I have a small update from last month. You may have seen that last month I painted the command group for my Plague Monks however at the time I didn’t give the standard bearer an actual banner as I wasn’t sure how I wanted them to look. However, this month I took a stab at one and after working on it a bit I came up with the below (the points for this model are not included this month though):

This was heavy watercolour paper roughly ripped to shape and then dyed using the classic tea staining method. After which I painted on the design and used inks to heavily stain the edges and make it look burnt/festering.

Next up we have… more monks! This is going to be a running theme in a Skaven army, lots of models of the same type month after month! That said I am going to try and mix them up each month so I am never painting too much of a single unit:

As mentioned above, for my own sanity I am going to be mixing the units each month rather than just painting 20+ of the same models/colours. With that said here is the start of the first(maybe only?) Clanrat Unit:

The toxic yellow colour was my way of trying to make the models stand out on the table as well as break up the monotony of brown that the army could easily become otherwise. If I do a second unit of Clanrats I will probably pick another bright colour that equally contrasts with brown.

Finally, because if I don’t put at least one high value model each month I would probably burn out trying to do 30+ rank and file I present… another Warpfire Thrower! I love these models, as well as their the fluff and their effect in game. I will probably paint a few more of these over the course of the challenge as I have another three of the models:

So this month’s entry is:

Plague Monks x10, Additional Hand Weapons [70]

Clanrats x10, (Inc. Standard and Musician) [72]

Warpfire Thrower [70]

Total – 212 points

Some of the other armies being put together this challenge are really quite inspiring, certainly the bar has been raised by some of the new competitors. I hope they can all keep that motivation and quality to the end of the challenge. Remember it is a marathon not a sprint! (I think I am telling myself that as much as anyone else)

Brendan's February Post: 204 points of all beef no fluff

For this month I decided to literally bulk up my Skaven for the month of January.  I mean, no one really fears a bunch of giant rats and swarms.  But rat ogres on the other hand?  Yes please!

I have 6 planned to paint but figured three would be a good start.  And to make sure that these heavy hitters follow orders, I have a couple of pack masters to keep them in check.  144 points including their rat ogre friends.

Finally I added a handful of clan rats to reach the required 200 point limit.  They will form a squad of 20 when all is said and done.  So a good dent into a squad! 8 clan rats- 60 points.

Finally, the February group all assembled together:

And my total army so far:

Ratwig's OWAC III Post 2: A Wizard, Skirmishers And A Big Bug (349 points)

For my second installment in OWAC III, I present a unit of 10 Dark Elf crossbows with level 5 champion, a Giant Scorpion and a Level 10 Wizard.

The crossbows will be used as skirmishers to support the unit of Shadows I painted in OWAC II. The champion will get magic projectiles of some kind so he can help remove pests.

Another bug. What can I say, I have painted one during each OWAC so far, so here is another. I still need to add two more to have the five required for an attached host of Giant Scorpions.

And finally, although not in my original plan for this challenge, I had to add a level 10 Dark Elf Wizard so I can actually bind a host of giant bugs to my army. So here is my first magic launcher.

So, another entry in, four more to go. Hope the Jack supplies last long enough...

Ratwig out.

Tom's Chaos Dwarfs - Month 2... a load of bulls (200points)

Month two sees me put off finishing the rank and file chaos dwarfs I had planned, and start afresh on what proved to be a super enjoyable painting experience!
CHAOS DWARF BULL CENTAURS
I loved it!

Assembly was a bit of a nightmare. I used Gorilla two part resin glue to stick the two halves of the body together, drilled a hole in the torso and the body for a pin, and then some more resin to glue the two together, and milliput to plug the worst of the gap-age (although it wasn't too bad to be fair).

Contrast paints were used everywhere again - apart from the base. Here's a quick breakdown, although I'm afraid I don't have any pictures:

Body: two coats of Flesh Tearers Red. Highlight with VMC Clear Orange, highlight with VMC Clear Orange and P3 Cygnus Yellow
Tail and Hooves: Black Templar, then Leviadon Blue, highlight with a mix of Talassar Blue and VMC Ivory
Armour scales: Blood Angels Red, drybrush with Hexos Palesun, 'drybrush' again with Iyanden Yellow
Armour trim/belt: two coats of Black Templar, highlight with VMC French Mirage Blue, highlight again with a mix of French Mirage and VMC Ivory
Beard/Hair: Black Templar, Terradon Turquoise, highlight with a drybrush mix of Terradon and VMC Ivory
Skin: Fyreslayer Flesh, highlight with a mix of Fyreslayer and VMC Ivory. Sometimes a tiny bit of Hyish Purple or Flesh Tearers Red as a kind of thin glaze in the cracks.
Hat: two coats Black Templar
Arrows: Blood Angels Red faded into Iyaden Yellow
Hat Trim: Talassar Blue, highlighted with TempleGuard Blue and a mix with VMC Ivory
Gloves: two coats Hyish Purple, highlight with a mix of old GW Liche Purple and VMC Ivory
Weapon Handle: Two coats of Caliban Green
Weapon Head: Black Templar, VMC Gunmetal Grey, highlight with VMC Silver
Gold: Black Templar, VMC Old Gold
Base: Mordant Earth (here I forgot to do it, but I've been putting a wash of Flesh Tearer Red down first, just in case the cracks work)
Lava: Blood Angels Red, highlight with VMC Clear Orange and a mix of the orange and P3 Cygnar Yellow - maybe add a little VMC Ivory
Base Trim: At least three coats of Loren Forest.

I pumped for all black hats instead of the blue/white split, as these guys are extra darkside.
 
Here's a pic of the finished bulls :)

And the timestamp:

I did tease that I was painting these bulls on the ChaosDwarfsOnline Facebook page. Here's the picture I posted:

You can just about make out their tails to the left of the red glue top - the warror was just a red herring :)

Aaanyway…

Here's the individuals - although there are two sets of twins..
The standard bearer and the guy on the far left are on the painting table to be finished, but I'm just plodding around them for now...

That there completes my months quota. At 40 points each they total a nice neat 200points :)
With such a small model count this month, I hope to be able to paint up a few more EXTRAS for March, although to be fair I do have a weeks holiday planned... anyway, speaking of extras:

In keeping with the bull theme I did also paint this GREAT BULL TAURUS - as alluded to in my sign off from last week :) …

 

I had to do a little milliputting along the wings. They are held in place with the two part resin glue, and the head is pinned. There's a little pin hole made on the neck, ready for the rider...

Speaking of a rider - here he is!

I think one of the photos has been 'autocorrected' on my phone btw... The lighting is better this time around, I must've angled the light right! Again, my photos are usually hurriedly taken, generally whilst there's still some wet paint or glue around. I balance a lid or a flat magazine on to of all the paint sta... Actually, here...here's a pic. This is it in all its glory:

I just have to angle the painting light with one hand and click away with the phone camera with the other...

Anyway:
"Shields!", I hear you cry, "What about the shields?"
They'll be done at a later date (I hope). I do have them, but I've neglected to undercoat them and it's been either too wet, too windy or too dark!
I did think about ordering some oldschool shields with a sculpted face for them (from the excellent Knightmare Miniatures, LINK, Greenskin Wars range), but I will stick to the plain shields as I need to use what I've got, rather than buy more metal.

The rider is missing his banner, I know. I do not own the proper pole for him, but maybe I could fudge one out of a rogue skull and some wire. I might wait and see if he stands out without it first though.

Yup, I think that's all for this month. It's been a great, enjoyable month of painting, although I am feeling the drudge of the rank and file right about now so hopefully painting a few Chaos Dwarf oddities first will pull me out of the rut.

Cheers y'all - see you in March - if the winds blow right :)

February:
200...Bull Centaurs x5
EXTRA: Great Bull Taurus with Chaos Dwarf rider

January: link
160...Chaos Dwarf General
75...Chaos Dwarf Death Rocket

Total Points so far: 435