Dwarfling Rangers ...Blue tries working with Greenstuff...

 Hi all,

I'm continuing to fill time before the kick off of the OWAC in January...

This month that "free time" took an odd turn from what I had been working on...and into a brave new world for me...convert/sculpting with Greenstuff. This is an area of the hobby I've dabbled with but in a very minimal fashion.

But, first...let me back up little.  The reason I became interested in converting some figures is founded in my current interest in the Oathmark rule set.  The world in which Oathmark is set is meant to represent a Dark Age level of technology and therefore the rules do not support Crossbows or any gunpowder weapons.  Bows are the only missile weapon option. 

I have lots of painted Crossbow dwarfs for my current army, but I have zero Bow armed dwarfs.  Now, so far I've just used those crossbow dwarfs as Bow armed troops and carried on with the game...and will probably continue to do so...but the visual here has continued to bother me (yes I know..obsessive much?).  I feel I really need to be able to deploy some actual Bow armed dwarfs.

Frustratingly there are very few Citadel or Marauder dwarfs that are armed with bows...and while I've managed to find enough for a small unit I really needed a larger variety to be able to create multiple units.  

...so my mind turned toward converting some.  When I began to consider this option I started looking around for appropriately sized and armed figures to base my conversions on.   In this process I came across my stash of 4th edition Imperial Halflings and Lumpin Croops halfling mercs...both of which are armed with bows.  I've always had a fondness for these figures...and have collected a number of both types ...but have never felt the urge to paint them, mostly because they are HUGE for halflings.  I much prefer the scale of the older smaller Marauder halflings and C-series citadel halflings.  These guys tower over those and out weigh them by about 50lbs when you compare them. 

...but maybe they would work as dwarfs!

A size comparison with marauder dwarfs show that they are of a size...and in some cases the halflings are actually larger! So the size works.  

 

Left to Right: Marauder Dwarf Thunderer (MM16), Lumpin Croops Halfling, Marauder Halfling (MM64), Lumpin Croops Halfling, Marauder Dwarf (MM10).

Stylistically, their goofy bare faces and bare feet were the most obvious concerns. ...also apparently not one single halfling is capable of wearing a shirt sufficient to cover their entire bellies...maybe its a cultural blind spot? Anyway...what ever...its stupid.  And it certainly doesn't work for dwarfs to look so inept...so I'll have to fill those in as well to keep my sanity intact.

To that end, starting with the Lumpin Croops ladz...I began adding beards and shoes to transform the Lumpin Croops Halflings into Bow armed Dwarf Rangers. 

Here are pics of my first attempt.

Encouraged by the results, and not daunted by the many flaws I saw in this example, I persisted and worked through an entire unit of 15 rangers including command.

  Here are the converted trooper models shown with an unmodified version of each figure. 

When I shared these "greens" on fb as I worked on them...it was pointed out that the banner pole topper didn't really work with the dwarfs and that it should be replaced with something like a stag.  I quickly raided the bits stash and converted the banner pole...

Anxious to see how they looked painted I picked one of my favorites and got down to priming and painting him.  With this guys jaunty cap and feather he is certainly throwing off some Robin Hood vibes...so I combined that with the Roger's Rangers inspiration I was getting off of other members of the unit...and opted for very earthy colors.  

 

This is a massive shift from the rest of the army and its Red and Blue color scheme....but a pallet much more fitting for Rangers.

Here is the completed model!

 I found this excursion into converting an entire unit of figures to be a lot of fun...and I will probably press on and work to convert some of the Imperial halflings as well.  Working with Greenstuff is still a very much a learning process... but one that I enjoyed and look forward to continuing.  I might need some proper tools though...this was all done with a tooth pick!

I do realize that these are not everyone "cup of tea"...I got a lot of push back from people upset that I had defaced such precious sculpts.  If you feel that way...well..frankly...they have just been sitting in a box for years now...and if converting them means I'm going to paint them and get them on the table for a game...then I have NO issue with converting these halflings. ...plus they're my figures...you play with yours the way You want and leave me to mine... 

Cheers,

Blue

 

Chaos Renegades ...Squad 3... number 9.

 Hi all,

Another quick palette cleanser as I transition between projects.  After cranking out the Chaos Champion that I shared in last post for the Scale Creep challenge, I decided to keep the Chaos Mojo flowing for another day and bust out another Chaos Renegade.

Progress on the 3rd squad of Renegades has been a bit of slog....not because I don't want to paint renegades...but just because I've been distracted by other large projects.

But here is Renegade number 9 for Squad 3...almost there.  I will add one more heavy weapon trooper in the future to wrap up this squad.

 

 

Chaos Champion...Scale Creep Challenge Figure

 Hi all,

Upon completion of the $th ed Wolf riders I was presented the opportunity to paint something completely different...and I jumped at it.  My good friends over at the Scale Creep blog pulled together a quick Chaos Champion painting challenge...and we had only a week to complete our figures.  Total of nine Creepers participated and produced some impressive works of art!  

Click HERE to see the full post with all the amazing conversions and paint jobs.

I decided to use this opportunity to paint one of the Chaos Knights that have been languishing in my storage area for years now.  And, after listening to my compatriots speak of the massive conversions they were undertaking for their champions, I decided I had to so something to kick my figure up a notch. So, in addition to picking a bad ass Chaos Steed for his mount, I also decided to add a bit of "flare" to the rider by giving him a couple of spare Kislev Winged Lancer wings that I had in my bitz box. 

This is somewhat of an homage to one of my favorite 3rd edition empire knight figures...the Mounted General who has a very similar set of wings.

 Anyway, this hardly counts as a "conversion", particularly when compared to the other Scale Creep entries (seriously...you gotta check them out! Click HERE) but I feel it added quite a bit of character to this Chaos Knight.

4th Edition Marauder Goblin Wolf Boys...the end is in sight ya'll!!

 Hi all,

Yes! its true! The end is in sight! I'm nearly complete with the long running Goblin Wolf Boy project that has been the theme of of Quarintime Painting.

Today I bring you the last of the big groups of Wolf boys...after this there will be 6-10 more random Citadel riders I will paint up in the future to round out some units...but this is the last big batch.

This time I'm presenting my take on the 4th edition wolf boys.  These fantastic Colin Dixon sculpts were done for the Marauder range...when it was being re-incorporated back in to mainstream Citadel.  These figures were one of the first to come with the new range of plastic mounts that citadel released with the new edition.  These guys came with extremely large plastic wolves...I've never liked them and opted to find alternative mounts for my troopers.

I tried all the metal wolf options I could think of and none of them really fit properly as these goblins are a fair amount larger than their 3rd edition brothers...and the 3rd edition wolves seem quite small under these guys.  Finally I settled on the old Wolf sculpts from the classic Goblin Battle Chariots.  These wolves are quite a bit larger than the other wolves used for mounts and they fit very well with the 4th edition goblins. I took me quite awhile to track down 16 of these wolves...but with that goal accomplished I settled down to prepping the unit and started painting.

Here is the assembled unit...

 

and here they are Painted!!!

Citadel Goblin Stickas ...a new Unit is born

 Hi all,

Today I have a few more excellent Kev Adams Goblin sculpts to share with you, and for once they have nothing to do with wolf riders!

...well..

...thats not exactly true.  😁  

 These are actually all goblin infantry figures that I had determined could be "converted" to fit on wolves and join my mounted force...so I painted them along with all the citadel wolf boys I showed in the last post.  But as the wolf rider project evolved, I found that I already had enough mounted archers and so, these guys would have to revert to their original function as infantry. In this case as a unit of Stickas.  So I pulled had to drill holes in their feet to pin them to the bases because I had already removed their tabs to make them into cavalry...but it was worth the effort...some great figures in this group.  Included the bearded Goblins!

First off some unit Pics...

Citadel Wolf Riders ...Face Mace and the boyz...

 Hi y'all,

Here is just a quick post to share with you the current state of the Citadel Wolf riders that I delved into immediately after the wrapping up the Marauder Wolf Boys.

I really love all of these figures and the amazing skills of Kev Adams are clearly on display in this unit..everyone of them is a pleasure to paint and is full of character.  Overall these Wolf boys have a leaner, hungry feel to them and they ooze mischief and casual violence.  

...and of course you have FACE MACE!!!

 

Marauder Goblin Wolf Boys...The Horde Rampages on...

 Hi all,

The time has finally time come for some group shots of the Marauder Wolf boys!  

I had the terrain boards set up for a game of Oathmark that I was playing with my local gaming crew...

...yes! that's right actual in-person gaming was going on!! of course we were in an open garage and keeping our distance.  Everyone had their own dice and tape measure.

anyway... after the game ended and everyone went home I packed up the wolf boys and brought them down to get some shots on the table.

Here they are!! soon to be Rampaging through a village near you!!

 

Marauder Goblin Wolf Boys...The odd balls.

 

 So...here we are again...

You may have thought: "He must be done now! after torturing us with all those blister packs..."

...but you would be wrong! 😂

Today I'm back with the Odd Balls of the Marauder Wolf Boyz Horde that I've assembling.

These are figures that don't appear in the packs...or have been "converted" in some way.  Several of them are figures sold as Infantry Goblins...but I have mounted them on wolves.  One of them used to be on a different type on mount all together! ...and one of them isn't even a Marauder miniature.

Anyway...Lets take a look. 

The first three are figures that were not intended to be on Wolfs that I "converted" to fit on a Wolfie..

Marauder Goblin Wolf Boys Hero Pack! MM32/1

The last of the blister packs from the 3rd edition Marauder Wolf Boys range that I need to share with you is the two figure Command pack MM32/1.  This pack contains the fantastic Major Hero on a cloth barded wolf with a back banner, as well as the mounted archer Hero who is one of my absolute favorite sculpts from this range.

Both these figures are fantastic...and it is obviously from the Hero's back banner with its Dagger and Heart symbol that I have taken to replicate for the shields on all the riders from this range.  I feel like this pulls the whole force together in a cohesive manner despite the variety of sculpts contained in the range.

Here they are with the Catalog Drawings

Marauder Goblin Wolf Boys MM34/3 and MM34/4

 Hi all,

Back with a couple more Blister Packs worth of wolf boys for you!  This one is going to be a bit special because MM34/4 contains my Holy Grail Wolf Boy.  Yes!! the White whale miniature that I hunted for about 5 years before finally finding a copy.  Not only did I find him...but he is painted and ready for the table!

Anyway...I get a head of myself!  Here are the new packs...and their related catalog pics.

Marauder Wolf Boys MM34/1 and MM34/2!!! Double Feature!!

 I had planned to post up one new blister of painted wolf boys a week as I worked through this range...but the time between posts and started to stretch out again so I thought I better kick it into high gear and do a double issue!!

...plus I'm getting impatient and want to share these pictures ASAP..:😉

Lets get right to it.  Here are the two packs with their catalog drawings.

MM34/1

Marauder Wolf Boys MM32/2

 Hi all,

Another week another Blister pack of Marauder Goblin Wolf Boys!

Today we will be looking at one of my favorite packs from this range MM32/2.  Most of these blister packs have at least one figure that I like less than the others...but in this case I really like all three of these sneaky lil gitz.This is a solid pack all around. 

Here they are as a group...

Maurder Wolf Boys MM32/4

 Hi all,

Here we are back with the next blister of Marauder wolf boys. 

If you stare at the Marauder MM32/34 Wolf Boys long enough...and the way that they are divided up into blister packs you start to see that there is some level of reasoning behind at least some of the packs.  This pack, MM32-4, is one of those "theme" packs...this one is full of Goblins who feel that "less-is-more" in the armor department...preferring to ride into combat with only a snazzy helmet on...or a bad ass fur vest!  What they lack in protective equipment they make up for in character and enthusiasm!

Here they are!

Marauder Wolf Boys Intro and MM32/3

 Hi all,

I'm finally back with some finished Wolf Boys!  I'll start this parade of Wolfie goodness by having a look at the classic (and my favorite) Wolf Boys the Marauder MM32/34 Ranges.  The catalog pics for the old Marauder promotional material was based on Black and White line drawings of the figures ...which do a adequate job of capturing the figures features but don't really express the character of the figures fully.  While these are not the work of the "Goblin-master" Kev Adams, but rather from the talented hands of Trish Carden (Morrison), they are distinct from their Citadel brethren...but I find them a very appealing alternative.

Greater Daemon Lord of Change! Scale Creep Crossover

 

Oathmark: Battles of the Lost Age ...Part IV: Louis' Tale

***Editorial Note*** this narrative story was originally posted in sections along with a detailed battle report.  As the length of those reports got to be a bit excessive I opted to remove the narrative bitz and lump them into a separate post here along with some of the images.

The battle report sections can be found here:  Part I Part II Part III

Louis' Tale

The dust caked Louis' throat as the marched.  The feet of the men and horses in front of him stirred the dry dust from the road surface, and the rest of the column quickly became coated with the fine powder.

...And still they marched.

The Marquis had gotten himself, and the Grand Armee, into a spot of trouble, somewhere off to the east.  And now Louis and his comrades were tasked with bailing him out of his mess.

Rumors had trickled back through the villages about the viciousness of the fighting, along with a trickle of wounded and broken men. Occasionally a dispatch rider returned to the garrison with official news and orders from the Marquis himself... 

It was just such a rider that brought the order that had set Louis' unit in motion along with the other companies of men from the Garrison of Rhenes.  He and the other tired, dusty, men had been in motion, seemingly non-stop, for the past three days.  They marched from sun up till nearly dark passing through tiny villages, rich pasture land and rolling hills.  Their halberds and shields growing heavier with every step.  Ahead, to the east, there was war, but here the late autumn sun shown on fields ripe for harvest.

As it grew dark each day le Sergent had found them a field or copse to collapse in.  No fires were lit.  Hard bread and a hunk of cheese were the only sustenance they had, though Louis had managed to procure a mug full of the fortified wine that one of Toby's boys carried in barrel on his back.  Both food and beverage were wolfed down quickly before Louis fell into exhausted sleep, the aching of his blistered feet temporarily eased by the potent wine.

The next morning found them on the road again.  They were approaching yet another small village, really just a cluster of a few buildings and their associated fields.  Louis and his fellow halberdmen were in the middle of the column with a small cavalry unit and a unit of archers with their deadly bows to their front.  Behind were the unit of spearmen, the Rouge Cerf (Red Deer or Bleeding Harts) and finally Toby's lads with their hunting bows and potent wine.

Oathmark: Battles of the Lost Age ...Part III: Game over!

**Editorial Note** Since its initial posting, I have modified a few things and added some details to this post. I also moved the Narrative section to a separate post all together, combining it with the other narrative section from the preliminary post.  The new Narrative section can be found HERE

Hi all,

I'm back with the third and final part of my Battle Report covering my first game of, and initial thoughts on, Oathmark: Battles of the Lost Age.  While I've yet to finish my story and the report...I think that the very fact that this single game has inspired me to write such a lengthy and detailed battle report...as well as an associated Narrative...should give you some idea of what of how much I like this new rules system.

Anyway, more on that later.  Lets catch up the story with our battle report. 

The first and second installments of this report can be found here: Oathmark Post I and Oathmark Post II.

Oathmark: Battles of the Lost Age ...Part II: Game on!

***Associated Narrative Post HERE ***

Hi all!

After the big build up of the last post lets jump right into the game and see how it plays out.  Just a reminder that this is a follow on to the previous post which laid out the background and army selection for this game.  In these posts I am presenting my initial experience and thoughts about Oathmark: Battles of the Lost Age.  The intro post can be found HERE.

Turn One

Right away I knew it was going to be and interesting night when I rolled for the very first initiative roll and wound up with this insane tie....

Oathmark: Battles of the Lost Age ...Preliminaries

**Editorial Note** Since its initial posting, I have modified a few things and added some scenario details to this post. I also moved the Narrative section to a separate post all together, combining it with the other narrative sections.  That can be found HERE

Preamble

I've got a little something different for you all today...rather than the latest figures I've painted I'm going to share with you my recent exploration of the new set of a Fantasy Mass Combat rules, Oathmark: Battles of the Lost Age.

This new set of rules is put out by Osprey Games and written by Joseph McCullough (creator of Frostgrave).  While I am a die hard WFB 3rd edition fan, I do have interest in a set of mass combat rules that are more simplified and fast moving.  I've dabbled with Dragon Rampant, and Donnybrook but was not over joyed with either and they both had more the feel of a large skirmish game rather than a small unit battle.  Oathmark is the first new set of rules that I've tried that I think will "feel" more like what I'm looking for.

Citadel Wolf Riders ...it begins. ...again! WIP shots PART II

Alrighty then...

Here we are again with another WIP post on the Citadel Wolf rider horde that I'm currently laboring away on.  Over the weekend I was able to get the last couple of highlights done on the Goblin Flesh portions of this group...

...and as some have expressed an appreciation of seeing WiP shots (and the fact that I find it motivating to post more often) here are a couple of pictures the horde broken down into unit types.

Here are the Melee Boyz...

Citadel Wolf Riders ...it begins. ...again! WIP shots

Hi all,

Stopping by with a quick post to update you on the progress of the next large batch of wolf riders I've been working on.

I've made progress, but working on a grouping this large means that the pace is glacial.  I often only work on one highlight color a day...when you are applying it to 29 models it takes awhile!

Citadel Wolf Riders ...it begins. ...again!

After finishing the Marauder Wolf Riders I shared last time I have decided to move onto the classic Kev Adams sculpted versions as my next major group of figures to tackle.

...Now...I can hear you shouting "Blue!!!  What about the damn Wolves for all those riders?!?!?!"

Soon come friend!! Soon come...

I'm really enjoying painting the goblins at the moment and I intend to just push on with riders for the moment and then have a massive wolf painting extravaganza later in the spring or early summer.

I have a goodly selection of classic Citadel Goblins...enough to make two units of fourteen figures...one a melee combat unit and one a mounted archer unit.    These units are made from a mix of the original wolf rider sculpts with the addition of some infantry archers and command figures that have been "converted" to be wolf riders.

All of these figures have been picked up on the secondary market over the last couple of years and most have been stripped of old paint jobs.

Here is the whole group after being cleaned of (most) mold lines and flash...and then drilled and pinned for eventual attachment to their mounts.

Marauder Wolf Boyz...Part Duex Plus One! 4th ed Models Riders Complete

Hi all,

I'm finally back with the completed riders from the 4th edition Goblin Wolf Rider release.  I've been plugging away at these while trying to work and home school at the same time so they took a little longer than I expected but I'm really happy with the result.

This group is full of great characters and the musician is certainly a favorite.

Marauder Wolf Boyz...Part Duex! 4th ed models WIP

Welcome fellow social distancers!!

As my family settles into the new reality of working at home while attempting to home school two young children I've been finding that my painting time, though somewhat more restricted, has become all the more precious.  When I put on my headphones and some good music and have the chance to sit down and paint...that is my chance to escape from the stress of what has become the new "Norm."

So...I've been moving ahead with my second set of Wolf Riders...this time the 4th edition Marauder Wolf riders. While these models are technically outside of my normal definition of "Oldhammer" I've always appreciated the sculpts and decided to build a unit of them for my army.  While I like the rider sculpts I really detest the plastic wolves that these guys were originally supplied with.  In an effort to rid myself of those plastic abominations and "Oldhammer-up" these Middlehammer models I've decided to mount my unit on older Citadel metal wolves...specifically the ones from the Goblin War Chariots.  These are larger than the standard wolves supplied with the 3rd edition citadel Goblin Wolf Riders (which I will be painting after these) but fit well with these slightly larger riders...have a look.

This range contains 16 total unique models and I am currently working on one of each of these 16 figures.  Here is the catalog picture showing all the figures.

And here is where I am with the figures at the moment.  These are still WIP but are coming along quickly now.  I will present them in the same groupings as in the catalog.

Command section

Hand Weapons

Archers

...and Spears.

 Next time I hope to showing the finished riders!!!

Cheers,

Blue

Goblin Skin Technique.

Hi all,

After my last couple of posts on the Goblin Wolf Riders I've had a couple of people ask me about the recipe I've been using to achieve the Green skin....so I pulled together this post while I was in the process of painting up the next bunch of riders. 

I took photos of each step of the process for the skin...so lets take a look!!

Here is the subject of the work today...a Marauder MM30 Goblin infantry figure that I've removed the tab from and will be mounting on wolf.  He is pictured here next to the base color for the Skin tone...Vallejo Game Color (VGC) 72.145 Heavy Grey ...which is actually Green...? Ok whatever...its a nice Grey...I mean Green!

Marauder Wolf Boyz...Additional Riders added

Hell fellow Social Distancers!

Here we are with a second post on my growing Goblin Wold Boy horde.  In addition to the painting the 23 riders from the Marauder MM32/34 range of wolf boys I also painted up a few of the Marauder infantry Goblins from the MM30 range which I "converted" so they could be mounted on wolfs.  Basically all this requires is removing the slotta tab and possibly bending the legs a bit to make them fit.

Here are a few of the archers that I have added to my wolf boy unit which are converted to wolf boys with their associated lines drawings from the catalog.  you can see that they naturally have a fairly wide stance and are therefore pretty simple to convert to mounted troops.

Welcome to the cavalry Boys!!!

One thing that the MM32/34 Marauder range is lacking is unit standard bearer figures, so once again I have "converted" a couple of figures for this purpose.  One of these is a marauder wolf boy who had a broken weapon to start with which I removed and added a banner pole.  The others is a citadel Goblin infantry figure that I felt looked goofy enough to fit with the Marauder wolf riders.

The last two new wolf riders I would like to share with you are also "conversions" from non-wolf riding figures.  The first was originally intended to be mounted on a Giant spider...but I have reduced him to riding on a wolf.  This required only minor leg bending and removal of a few of the spiders that were crawling all over the little devil!  I left a few in place to demonstrate his former affection for arachnids but have reduced the number significantly.

The second of these is the archer from the Marauder Goblin Chariot...and as he has a wide stance he was a perfect fit onto a wolf with little to no modification.

Here they are with their assocaited catalog pic shown after.

I have five more wolf boys on the corks at the moment...four are additionial infantry conversions and the fifth is a duplicate of a mounted archer that I needed to bulk up that unit...but otherwise every model in this grouping will be a unique sculpt!  I'm quite excited about that fact.

Cheers for now.

Blue

Marauder Wolf Boyz...Complete Range of riders!!!

Hi Ya'll,

Finally back with an update.  I'm sure that a lot of you are dealing with similar situations...The COVID-19 thing is running rampant and we were just alerted that my kids school would be closed for at least three weeks and social distancing is a thing now.

So time to play catch up on some hobby related tasks...one of which will be this Blog.  Might as well get some writing and photography done while I have the chance.

Sadly the plague situation also canceled our planned siege game at Cold Wars this year....so I will have some posts on how that terrain and planning effort played out but for now I'd like get a post up about my latest painting efforts.

Those efforts have been focused on the Marauder MM32/34 Goblin Wolf Riders.  I've managed to tackle the entire range all in one shot and that will be the focus of todays post.

These Wolf Riders have been an obsession of mine for many years...mostly centered on collecting the entire range...and one blister pack in particular took at least four years of active looking to track down.  While the Kev Adams goblin Wolf Riders from Citadel are the ones that most people think of, the Marauder ones have always been my closet favorites and you don't see as many nicely painted samples of those.  (Don't worry, I have a deep love for the Adams ones as well and they will be coming down the pipeline before too long as well.)

As you may remember these wolf riders were an early enough release from Marauder that they were still using lines drawings in their advertisements and "Catalog" ..specifically this set of drawings.

Here are the painted riders displayed in their blister pack groupings with associated Catalog drawings.

 ^^^ This blister pack is the one that took so long to acquire...and in particular the guy on the right who took the full 4 years to locate.

There they all...in the next post we will look at some other wolf riders that I will be adding to this group including some "conversions" and modified models.

Regards to all, stay safe out there all...

Cheers,

Blue