JT's Plog o' Plod

[juicytomatoes]

@bluewolf: Two small armies eh? thanks for the suggestions! I'll give that a go. I'm currently reading the rules for Hoplon 3 and am quite psyched to try it out. Anyone tried it and has feedback?

@Phunkmanyeman: Ah if I break their GW toys, they'll break mine!

@EmperorNorton: I looked up Legends. Never knew that existed! It sounds like a lot of fun! Would it be alright to give some details?

As for my projects, pardon my lack of photo updates recently. Sculpting takes time, especially when I have a full-time job to do besides my hobby. I'll try and post up more pics soon.

[EmperorNorton]

@EmperorNorton: I looked up Legends. Never knew that existed! It sounds like a lot of fun! Would it be alright to give some details?

Sure.
It combines the basic rules from LotR with the campaign rules from Mordheim, which may not be terribly original, but makes it absolutely fantastic in my eyes. Plus, everything is better with pirates.
The LotR rules are great for a skirmish game and the Mordheim campaign rules add a nice touch of roleplaying game to it, collecting experience for your crew and seeing them improve.
I haven't played a game yet, but I'm very much looking forward to it.

The one negative is that there isn't that much variety in the lists you can play, only pirates, freebooters or royal marines. But there's a whole heap of mercenaries and special characters, and the scenarios look like great fun, so there will be enough variety.

The book even includes rules for naval combat, but I haven't read those yet (as I don't know where to get a ship anyway).

[Daniel36]

Sooo.... It may seem that I would never comment on your log had it not been for "the Meat Wagon Incident", but really, that's not the case... PROMISE!

Love your Blood Bowl conversions. Especially the Ogre. Cool stuff. And your sculpting skills are off the HOOK. How long do you take on such a sculpt? And ever consider commissions?

And seeing your Wood Elf log is now defunct, why not put some of those pics right up here? They look really cool! And seeing as you never even bothered to take an Army Pic (which I LOVE), you have an excellent excuse now to upate your log with another distraction!

Greetings and salutations,
Daniel the 36th - Commander of the Vindar 136th

[juicytomatoes]

@EmperorNorton: Thanks very much for that! Gotta agree with you there about the pirates... especially if it gives one the opportunity to say things like "Aarrrrr!", "Ahoy there, matey!" and "Avast, ye sea dogs!". Also, if you ever find a model ship for that, would appreciate if you could point me in that direction

@Daniel: Hail to thee, Daniel the 36th, Commander of the Vindar 136th, Ravager AND Keeper of the Woods of Loren (you did paint those beastmen on your plog!), Beer Bus extraordinaire, fellow Meat Wagon chaser and now newly dubbed Succour of the Darker Side of Loren!

I had no doubt you would visit my plog... no doubt at all! Er...

Thank you for your kind words about my projects even though it is dwarfed by your very own project log! The Ogre is actually not yet done and like many on this forum, I have bitten off much more than I can chew with regards to the number and scale of projects haha! Hopefully, over the coming months, the ratio of unpainted minis to painted ones that I own will move from ∞:1 to er... ∞:1 (there are many minis that I have bought very, very thoughtlessly in the past ).

Indeed, you have now put some ideas into my head as to what distractions... I mean PICTURES, yes pictures to post on this thread! I shall take out my almost-fully-painted-but-not armies and make those army shots you speak of tomorrow. It might actually make me feel better. The guilt, O the terrible guilt! Ahem...

I never really timed my sculpting, though maybe I should. Well, it'd still be hard to tell, actually. Sculpting is a little different from painting. I actually have to work on multiple pieces at a time, since one has to wait for the putty on one part of the mini to cure before continuing further work on it. Plus the fact that most times, I get only about an hour plus of sculpting/painting time a day at most (well, you know how jobs get in the way of this hobby ) so it's all pretty mixed up. Still, it'll be interesting to know how long it takes to sculpt something, so maybe I'll find a way to do it.

I've never really thought about commissions. I'm not too sure about how that works. Is there something you wish done, O fearless leader of the brave soldiers of Vindar?

[Daniel36]

Fear not, Tomato of utter Juiciness. My log may be big, but it is almost three years old.

There is no doubt that your log will eventually reach such a stage, mayhaps even surpass mine in terms of visitors, awesomeness and hobby goodness in a shorter amount of time than it took me to get to this stage.

I can completely relate to the thoughtlessness of which you bought some minis. I can remember, and this is a nice little anecdote, when I bought the Steel Legion army deal, and regretting it the moment I stepped out of the store.

Several years later (I forgot how long exactly), I decided to do a (regular) IG army and was assembling the Chimera that came with the army deal. It was hellish, as I had since lost the instructions. I think it took me on and off another year or two to finally glue on the final last bit, one of the hatches on the top back. As I pressed it, it flew in the air, never to be found again.

I had to order a Tank Accessory sprue just to finish the bleedin' thing, which I did, a while later. I finally finished painting it and everything was all good and well.
Then, yeaaars later, our cat smashed my tank in half. Inside the tank, I found the missing hatch, which I never heard when I tried shaking the tank, because the residue glue had made sure it was glued somewhere inside... *sigh* The joys of the hobby...

Alas, I hope your feelings of guilt will subside, when you take pictures of your armies. And adout commissions, it really works how you want it to. You can make a website, or just offer your services here. Oh, and there's nothing in particular right now that I wish to be done... Unless you can give me a good price tag! :P

I bid thee farewel, your Juiciness.

[juicytomatoes]

A hatch! Stuck in the chimera! I wonder what must have gone through the minds of the brave soldiers of Vindar as they stepped into the vehicle.

Thank you for the encouragement. I shall certainly endeavor to make this thread a worthwhile one to read

As promised, here is the army pics of my wood elves (only those that are painted. I have 3 more units before I can declare I've painted all my wood elf models):



Sorry for the poor quality of the pic. Never took an army shot before and the lighting at my place is not too good for this sort of thing.

I started collecting wood elves a few months after they were newly released (yep, I'm not the overly rabid sort, I take my time, though yes, the unnecessary purchases do accumulate over the years), so it has taken me all these years (6 years? I can't remember) to get all these painted. I really admire those people who declare things like "Chaos in 6 weeks!" and actually get it done. I think they end up saving themselves a bunch of money (coz as I paint, I keep thinking, hey maybe I could get that too!) AND get a fully painted army to play with.

Anyhoo... an army shot of my marines soon to come.

[Hairy Norseman]

Interesting dragon, any chance of a close up?

HN

[juicytomatoes]

Sure!

Here you go:








It's a Mcfarlane dragon, which I heartily recommend

[juicytomatoes]

more pics of the other stuff (4 pic limit, I think?):

[juicytomatoes]

last few pics (transferring them from my other defunct plog and then closing that one):









Well, that's all the photos I've got Hope you like 'em!

Marines up next... gotta find some time to take pics.

[juicytomatoes]

Okay, as promised, my almost-fully-painted army of marines...

First up, characters:


Close up view of that crackling power sword:


Next, Elites. The veritable gods of war, Close Combat Terminators!


and an ancient Dreadnought, armed with Assault Cannon and Heavy Flamer (yea I know, uh what?)

[juicytomatoes]

More so-called 'Elites', Scouts, armed with sniper rifles:


Then, Troops:

First squad of Tactical Marines, with a Plasma Gunner marine and a Lascannon-carrying marine:


and their ride!


Side-view:

[juicytomatoes]

Second squad of Tactical Marines, with a Flamer-carrying marine and another Lascannon-carrying marine (these are from the AoBR set):


Their ride is currently being painted, so they are foot-slogging it now. (Vet Sarge says: "Oi! Hurry up with it already!")

Finally, fast attack elements:



The banner for the bikers:


And here are 2 attack bikes armed with multi-meltas:


so the story is that this army began as a painting challenge with one of my mates, where we'd paint 1 squad a week. As you can see, the painting ain't really fantastic, but it is (or so I'd like to believe ) TT standard. Our goal was to hit 1k points. We did, and then our impetus died out. So over the next 3 years, I accumulated more and more space marine models and now it has finally become a ridiculously big collection. I finally got down to painting this army again this year and hope to finish a 1.5k list soon.

Crossing my fingers and hoping that will happen... wait, if I cross my fingers, I can't paint

[Hairy Norseman]

The Wood Elves are very cool and their skin tones have a very ethereal look.

HN

[juicytomatoes]

Thanks HN. I did hope to achieve a different look from the one in the army book.

I also forgot one more pic of my marines. The Heavy Support Section!

Devestators:

[Daniel36]

Tomato of Juice, I had already seen your update but I wasn't bothered to make another reply.

But since you took the time to shamelesly plug your plog (oh dear) in mine (WHAT?!), it's only fair that I take the time to make a reply...

I still love your Wood Elves. So tell me, what is the story behind them? I mean, they must be that colour for a reason, right?

Also dig your Space Marines by the way. Cool army logo! What's their story?
(I like stories)

[juicytomatoes]

ah yes let me regale you with the tales of the Darker Side of Loren...

==================================
These are the sundered kin of the Forest, banished and forsaken in the yet unhealed parts of Athel Loren for their crimes. Out of sheer necessity, they banded together for survival. Over the years, their numbers swelled as more came to them, seeking respite from their exile. Despite being shunned by their very own people, their ties with the Forest remained strong. Over the ruptured wounds of the healing Forest they watch. When the Winds of Chaos grow strong and the thrice accursed beastmen come braying through the blasted woods, these grim avengers would fall upon them with the ferocity of those seeking atonement for irredeemable sins. Many a Chaos incursion had been turned back ere it reached the still green borders of Athel Loren, thanks to these unsung heroes.

As a mark of their shame, they daub their entire body with purple tattoos, leaving no amount of bare flesh untouched. The ink is derived from a strange purple flower that has sprung up in the darkened part of forest they inhabit. This purple flower seems to be the only form of life hardy enough to have survived the effects of the touch of Chaos, and as the land slowly heals, these flowers are the first to spring up and bloom, a few sad yet brave stalks at first, and then these multiply and become exuberant in a short period of time.

As the years passed, these elves found allies; for this is what comes naturally to the elves of Athel Loren. Amongst their ranks now stride the capricious Dryads of the Forest, and even one or two ancient Tree Spirits lend them their aid. Some say the dread Coeddil walks amongst them, yet others say that they are in league with the Great Wyrm of the Black Pool. Regardless of what the rumors are, it is a foolish enemy indeed who thinks that he can catch the guardians of Athel Loren off guard from the apporach of this forsaken corner of the Forest. For here be the denizens of the Darker Side of Athel Loren...

==================================

So yep, these wood elves... they're a really unhappy lot.

story for the Marines to come... if I haven't bored you to death yet.

[Daniel36]

Did you write that?
If so, you're gifted! Totally cool and if you had told me one of those GW hotshot writers had written it, I would've believed you too. (Or are you a hotshot GW writer?)

[juicytomatoes]

ah yes, I did write that myself and thank you for the kind compliment, although to be perfectly honest, I was desperately grasping at straws to come up with an explanation why I painted their skin all purple-y! The real reason is that I saw some artwork somewhere and thought the color combination would suit a fae kind of wood elf. And you thought my writing was genius! No, my friend, it was sheer desperation. See what the internet can hide from you . Nevertheless, I am glad you enjoyed it .

Alas, I am no hotshot GW writer (and feeling it, especially after just spotting a few awkward sentences in my writing!) and am no hotshot writer for anyone, actually. I am, as I said in our friend Meat Wagon Man's thread, just a man

[Daniel36]

Well, I liked it. And you only see the awkward sentences yourself. I didn't really spot them, so it's probably not even that bad. I'm an English teacher, so if I don't spot them, they can't be too big! >_<

I actually found your explanation pretty cool, and well fitting the established background material. So good going there.