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Saturday, February 4, 2023

Graeme's Skaven - January - Rank and File #1

Graeme's Skaven - January - Rank and File #1 (45 points)

I expected getting back into the OWAC saddle was going to be a challenge, and I wasn't disappointed.

Breaking last year's record of 2 painted miniatures wasn't going to be difficult, but getting the minimum 10 done before the end of the month came down to the wire, again.

Scraping in by the skin of my rodent teeth, I present my motley crew for January:

January's mob

I've mixed feelings about these. I had to rush in the end to get them done in time, so the bases still need flocking, the Clanrats are missing their shields, and there are a few things that I'm going to tidy up later. So, on the scale of things, not my best effort.

On the other hand, I had to start facing the realities of getting older by using a magnifier while painting, to take some of the strain off my eyes. It's definitely helped there, but also let me see all the flaws and sloppy errors I make while painting, in glorious detail. I think I'm painting more neatly now, and can pay more attention to details (because I can finally see them!), but this has the downside of costing more time. I'll have to adapt a little, to up the tempo...

The bug-eyed monster

Anyway, I'm happy with what I did paint, and I suspect I'll be satisfied once I finish off those niggling details that are missing. I've been getting into the swing of things the last week, so I'm planning on painting smaller batches, to help speed things up.

Some more detailed photos of the meagre January offering:

Skavenslaves with spears - front


Skavenslaves with spears - rear


Clanrats with swords - front


Clanrats with swords - rear



One of the things I forgot to prep, due to my last-minute switch of army, was some suitable shields. And the weather over in The Netherlands hasn't been conducive to undercoating anything - the temperature hasn't gotten up to 10°C in more than 2 months. Fingers crossed things get warmer soon.

Luckily, this edition of OWAC doesn't have a minimum points requirement per month, otherwise I'd be in a spot of trouble...

5 Skavenslaves, armed with a hand weapon and spear - 15 points

5 Clanrats, armed with a hand weapon and light armour (with shields still to be done) - 30 points

So, a whopping 45 points of Skaven rank-and-file to add to my army!

On to February! More of the same, I suspect. Although I might have to do a small batch of Giant Rats to meet the figure count in the shortest month...

13 comments:

  1. Looking good. Just keep painting. You already have enough done for a Mordheim warband.

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  2. Good looking rats! Skaven are pretty harsh when it comes to points...

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    1. Thanks! I start to wonder if I'll make it over 400 points for the whole OWAC... maybe time to call in some big guns to give a points boost!

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  3. Good start, I also haven't finished basing mine... or painted shields or made banners... I feel like this is the norm for January! 🙂

    Had a go at using magnifiers, please never look at a pre-slotta mini under magnification! The horrors! And that's before I've painted them....

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  4. Cheers! Yeah, still getting into the swing of things, but it's a start. Let's just say some pre-slotta figs have 'character' and leave you some room for interpretation of the details... ;-)

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  5. Love the sheer size of the photos for that maximum zoom! Incredibly neat and crisp - awesome start

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    1. Haha, that wasn't intentional, but it did show off some more of the detail. Hope I manage to keep it up going forwards.

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  6. Amazing work, very oldhammer style, congrats !

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  7. They may be meagre in points, but make up by oldhammer vibe and sheer vermin menace. Great job!

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    1. Just wait until the end of the challenge! Hopefully it'll be an impressive sight!

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  8. Adapt and overcome! Good work getting back into the swing of things. 45 points seems mighty cheap for a bunch of savage rats like that! :)

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