Jumping on the Bandwagon

When the Warmachine bandwagon began rolling around Sydney, I decided I'd just grab a battle box, so that I could participate in the local clubs upcoming Warmachine beginners day.
That idea was fairly short-lived when I realised that Defiant Gaming's halloween sale was too good to pass up... I mean, the more I spend, the more I save - right?

Anyways, my second order of Cryx has arrived, and here is a list of all the models I've got. On top of the battle box, I decided on the units that would bring my Cryx list to 35 points based on models I thought looked cool - but also dug around online for opinions on 'must-have' Cryx units:

• pDeneghra
• Deathrippers (2 models)
• Defiler
• Slayer
• Bane Thralls (10 models)
• Bane Thralls Command Group (2 models)
• Bane Lord Tartarus
• Skarlock
• Warwitch Siren

So plenty more Cryx action to come - I'm still trying to come up with an original colour scheme, but at the same time don't want to deviate too far from the awesome look and feel Cryx have.

Sync out.

Crypt Kings - Katsuchan Rocket Launcher

I had put off the rocket launcher to the end, just because painting such a big model seemed so daunting. Once I got started though, it didn't take as long as I thought it would, and am quite surprised and happy with the result.

So, that's my Abyssal Dwarf army on the shelf - the Crypt Kings Clan has their basing done, and is now at a personally acceptable level of completion! I can proceed with my new projects with slightly less guilt.

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Crypt Kings - Berserkers 2

Here's what I did with the other half of my Avatars of War Berserker box - again I really have to say how awesome the boxset is, with so many customisation options and a good number of troops and command group included.
The style of the dwarfs is great too - I like the proportions over some of the other dwarf minitures available.

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Crypt Kings - Berserkers 1

Alright, so even though my new Cryx arrived, it was only with an immense force of will I brought myself to spend one more night finishing off my Crypt Kings.

I had picked up a box of Avatars of War's Dwarf Berserkers long before I had even heard of Abyssal Dwarfs, just because the set looked awesome. I wasn't disappointed when I opened it up - it's an absolutely superb set, with heaps of bits and pieces to really customise your Berserkers.

Being a fan of the Gotrek and Felix series from the Black Library novels, I had to make some Abyssal style models of Gotrek and Snorri too!

Gotrek: middle, Snorri: right

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Christmas in November...

Yesterday was like Christmas - I received two packages in the mail, both of which were full of toy soldiers!
First up I received the beginnings of my Warmachine army! The Cryx battle box and the Privateer Press Cryx paint set.
I decided to grab the paint set as I'm looking to replace my Citadel paints - most of which are dried out. I'm finding the Formula P3 paints easier to paint with though, and the colours did fill in some gaps that were missing from my palette.
I'm still expecting another mail order of Cryx to come, which will have enough units to bring my army up to 35 points. Based on Defiant Gaming's excellent service record, it should be here very shortly!

The second package I received was the 40K army I'd been waiting the 5-10 business days for delivery - which I'll be shelving for the moment to make sure I get my Warmachine army done in time.

Stay tuned for more Cryx action and WIP shots!

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Crypt Kings - Orc Slaves

I picked these guys up second-hand, prior to starting my Abyssal Dwarf army - just because I thought they were kinda cool. When I did decide to start an Abyssal Dwarf army for Kings of War, I was really happy to finally get the motivation to paint them!

They have the perfect look for Orc Slaves - downtrodden, meek with a hint of dormant aggression. I decided to paint them pink because wanted to do something a little different, and thought this was a good excuse to use my pink paints.

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Crypt Kings - Decimators

I think the Decimators are awesome - I love the look of their chunky blunderbusses, and the dynamic posing of the models.
Again, I've painted the unit champion gold, which I've done with all my units so far to make them stand out from the rest of their units.

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Crypt Kings - Immortal Guard

Next up, the Immortal Guard. These guys are the elite melee unit for the Abyssal Dwarfs, and have significantly more ornate armour - their torsos and heads are completely metal pieces.
The unit leader is my favorite Abyssal Dwarf model - he's got a wicked helmet, which is something between a executioners hood and a dragon's head.

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Crypt Kings - Blacksouls

First up for my Crypt Kings are my twenty-stong unit of Blacksouls, which are the standard infantry unit for the Abyssal Dwarfs. I went for dark colours for their tunics/capes/gloves/boots, as I decided to use a particularly bright metallic for the silver armour and thought it would provide good contrast.

These guys just needed their basing done - I planned on my Kings of War army being made up of 190+ models, so for basing I decided I'd do something simple and just sand them up with a few patches of bright grass for contrast scattered throughout the units.

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[KoW] The Crypt Kings Clan

I've always loved the concept of huge fantasy battles, but was never keen on the price associated with fielding such a large army. Enter: Mantic Games - lots of fantasy miniatures at great prices.

I bought both an Abyssal Dwarf Army Box and and Undead Army Box, with the intention of creating a fairly large combined Evil Army - however have only managed to work through my Abyssal Dwarf Army Box. Again, I hope to one day get back to starting on the Undead Army Box... I guess I'm a pretty hopeful person.

My Abyssal Dwarf Troops only need their basing done, and I still need to finish the Katsuchan Rocket Launcher, so hopefully I'll have time for that before my new 40K army arrives.
Anyways, this my Crypt Kings Clan page, where I'll post all the below information, as well as my future photos.

Sync out.

My Impending Failure

So there has been growing interest in Warmachine and Hordes in my local area as of late, and with a beginners Warmachine/Hordes Event being run at my local gaming group on November 27th, the time to jump on the bandwagon was nigh!

Coinciding with this, my favorite webstore for all my toy soldier needs - Defiant Gaming - was having a special halloween sale. So the planets have now aligned and failure is imminent - my 40K army hasn't even arrived yet, and I've already ordered a Warmachine army. The stupid thing is, that both armies will arrive at the same time so I'll have to shelf one army, and because there is a Warmachine game day coming up, it looks like it'll be the 40K army I was so keen to get started on.

Until they do arrive, I'll still be finishing the basing on my Abyssal Dwarfs!

Sync out.

Games Empire

I got word of a LGS operating in my parts, Games Empire - and with LGS's being too far and too few in Sydney, I had to go check it out.

After about 20-30 minutes drive I was there, and happy with the friendly service and excellent prices - they offer webstore prices with a good retail shopfront experience.

The very positive experience compelled me to show some support and buy a few things I'd been meaning to pick up (all prices in AUD):

• Gale Force 9 - Scorched Grass $5
• Games Workshop - Detail Brush $6
• Warmachine - Cryx Token Set $12
• Army Painter - Pin Vise Set $12

For the full product list, check out there website at: http://www.gamesempire.com.au/

If you're in the area, they're at 26/9 Hoyle Avenue Castle Hill NSW 2154 and their store front hours are:

• Tuesdays 11am - 7pm
• Thursdays 11am - 9am
• Saturdays 10am - 4pm

Support your local gaming stores!

Sync out.

Black March - Psylarr the Wicked

I wanted a suitably villanous and powerful looking HQ for my Chaos Space Marines, and the Chaos Terminator Lord boxset provided great options for creating one.
I went for the Sorcerer cause I thought it fit in a little more thematically with the army I wanted, and using his little Familiar figure was something I couldn't pass up.

He just needed the sand applied to his basing (I'd already done the rocks), then it was sealed and painted. I touched up some metals here and there, but again nothing fancy.

That's my Black March Chaos Space Marines done! I'm still waiting on the delivery of my next 40K army, should only be a couple of days to go now - until then I'll be working on getting my Abyssal Dwarf army for Kings of War finished off!

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Black March - The Ride

I kinda always thought that weathering and battle-damage were techniques way beyond my painting ability, but after watching a few videos online, I found the 'chipping' technique to be quite quick and easy to apply.

It was definitely a requirement on a Black Legion Rhino - after base coating it, it looked really dull and void of detail. I had only really base coated the Rhino prior to this, and had always been a little daunted at starting on it cause it was so big, but found it didn't take too long cause all I really had to do was a few highlights and detail.

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Black March - The Carnage

Wanted a more 'gore' coloured red for my Berserkers, as opposed to a brighter Blood Angels style red, which I think I achieved here.
Cool thing about Black Legion is... well... there's a lot of black, which I didn't bother highlighting and left as a flat colour on all my troops to save time. I think they still look descent enough for the table-top though.

Now that their metals and basing are complete, they're ready to slay in the name of the Lord of Murder.

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Black March - The Altered

After ordering the Chaos Space Marine battleforce, I read that the Possessed were a fairly sub-par unit on the table. I decided to mix and match pieces of the Possessed and my five remaining CSM to make a full 10 man Chaos Space Marine unit, with a daemonic theme to them.

As with my unit of The Purge, these guys needed their metals, basing and banner done.

Sync out.