Autumn Workbench 2018 - Experimental Undead, Malifaux Mumblings, and Hobby Review

Last year in late autumn I wrote a bit of a rambling post about current things I was working on as well as reflecting upon my progress over the year in relation to the goals I posted back in February. I've got a few odds and ends I'm working on at the moment, and I've started thinking about next year already, so I thought I'd write another rambling post as autumn comes upon us once again. 

Firstly, something oft referenced but rarely posted about on this blog is what I've been referring to as my 'Lich Warband', or as it now appears to be a 'Lich Army'. I've collected a few different undead armies in my time and I've been left with lots of spare parts. I decided to make a little army out of what spare parts I could, taking the time to experiment with narratives, weird conversions, and unusual paint jobs. Though my time working on this force has been quite sporadic, its been an awful lot of fun and I look forward to properly putting it on the blog when its finished. For now though here's a little look at what I've completed thus far:

A cleric of Death and his brood

One idea I've had buzzing about in my brain is a vampire cleric, presented here as bloody preacher; arms raised high, ritual blood tattoos on his face, and accompanied by a small flock of lesser vampire troglodytes. The cleric himself was a very fun conversion, and his thralls were a fun little distraction from the bone of the skeletal warriors at the core of this army. I elected to go for a martian-rust red/orange basing scheme which I think contrasts nicely with the cool teal that is the secondary colour for this collection, and was something a bit different I wanted to try out. 

Skull Collector

One thing I wanted was a larger model as part of the force once it was clear that this was more of an army than just a war band, so the one thing I specially bought for this project instead of converting was a single Morgheist. I've reimagined this servant of Nagash though as a macabre golem-type creature constantly growing from the bones of those it reaps - a collector of skulls which it stashes inside itself. This was a rather fun miniature to paint (hence why I finished it before other stuff...) and I think it forms a rather lovely centrepiece without being massive and over-the-top. 

Moving on now to the more rambling segment...

The new edition of Malifaux is coming out soon which I'm quite excited for as I've only just started getting into the game and I'm quite enjoying it. I've decided that I'm going to stay within the Guild for now and expand my options for Lady Justice before getting another Guild master. In particular I quite fancy picking up some Domodor De Cadavares as I think the miniatures look super cool and it would be nice to add a few undead miniatures to my collection, themed to the Guild of course (Day of the dead Rotten Belles perhaps?). I'm still waiting to hear more about the new edition, but I'll no doubt write my thoughts down once more has been shown. 

WIP Reznik, one of the last miniatures I'll buy for Warmachine

I've also briefly been thinking about Warmachine as I've read one or two threads like this one on DakkaDakka about what on earth happened to the game. I certainly lost a lot of interest when the PP forums were axed and no other site for discussion readily presented itself, and around the same time there seemed to be a lack of support for my faction. I think recently I've decided that now I have my Menoth army all painted I don't really want to invest any further in the game. As someone who is primarily a hobbyist rather than a gamer, Warmachine and Hordes just doesn't offer the same consistent quality of miniature as other manufacturers that I'm willing to pay for, and I've never been as invested in this setting as I have others. There are a handful of miniatures I do really like though and I think I'll make an effort to pick them up and add them to my force before swearing off the game until PP make some changes. I have many more thoughts on Warmachine, maybe I'll write them up in full once I've gotten the last few minis I want painted. 

Getting there with my Custodes slowly

With regards GW games, I've decided that my Dark Angels and Imperial Guard are going to be sold off as I no longer have any passion or desire to work on them. Meanwhile my Custodes are coming along well and I hope that I'll have them done by the end of the year. I've also finally gotten my Age of Sigmar projects started on the blog with my 'At the Court of the Silver King' narrative project which I'm looking forward to adding more to. 

In addition, with GW supporting Middle-Earth again, I've started messing around with my LOTR stuff and while this will be a bit of a slow burn project, I'm enjoying what I'm doing with it thus far. I've decided to start with my Isengard army (as I don't intend on adding any more miniatures to it), and a small Rohan force I've cobbled together which I hope to add to in future if possible. In particular I'd love to get the new miniature of Theoden who is one of my favourite characters in the trilogy. 

I haven't managed to really get any games in due to a combination of poor health and the demands of uni, but generally I think I'm doing okay with the amount of hobbying I'm fitting in on a monthly basis. Who knows, I might come to the end of the year and find I've actually finished some projects! I am hoping to join my uni tabletop gaming society this year (other commitments have kept me away previously) and endeavour to get some battling in though we shall see what I manage to do as the demands of my course begin to become apparent.