First up we have this Bretonnian Trebuchet.

Trebuchet

Trebuchet

I recall having some problems assembling this one as a couple of the longer pieces had become bent. The metal was particularly soft, so I simply bent the pieces back in to shape.

The machine itself is a bit ugly, but then I guess the real thing would have been too. The crew are also a pretty hideous bunch, but that’s a good thing. Peasants are supposed to be grimy looking and these certainly are. They are comfortably my favourite models in the Bretonnian range (I still consider the Green Knight a wood elf).

Trebuchet crew

Trebuchet crew

Trebuchet crew

Trebuchet crew

I’ve counted this a 12 pieces towards my 2010 total which now stands at:

Obtained: 617 [No change]
Painted: 495 [+12]
Sold: 13 [No change]
Net: -109 [+12]

There are six of these two part Jezzail figures.

Jezzail

Sadly, one of the holder figures (see below) went missing somewhere between the garden where he was being undercoated and my painting table. He has since turned up in amongst some black orcs, but he’s missed his appointment with my brush.

Jezzail holder

I think these are the original Jezzail team models. The certainly don’t match the other ones I already have, which are much smaller and come with a Pavaise.

Jezzails

Jezzails

Jezzails

One of the most amusing items in the Clan Skyre arsenal is the Doomwheel. Some players swear by them, but I’m yet to be convinced.

Doomwheel

Loads of fun though.

Doomwheel

And that brings me to the last (and certainly the least) of this batch of Skaven: The Rat Swarms. Swarms are pretty useless in Warhammer at the moment, and they have been for some time. It’s worth having some if you field an Abomination though, as it can turn in to swarms after it dies.

Rat swarms

Rat swarms

And that’s it for the Skaven for a little while. I do have a couple of named character models that I’m painting, but they aren’t going to be finished this year. Using my admittedly often bizarre counting system that’s another 30 towards my 2010 pledge. I’m still going to fail, but it’s looking closer than I thought it would back in October.

These figures bring my 2010 totals to:

Obtained: 617 [No change]
Painted: 483 [+30]
Sold: 13 [No change]
Net: -121 [+30]

First off a couple of commanders.

Skaven chieftens

They could quite easily pass of Warlock Engineers. Note the scrolls and what could pass for Death Globes.

Skaven chieftens

Moving on, we have six musicians. These will mostly be seeing duty as the solitary upgrade for my slave units.

Skaven musicians

The two above are part plastic part metal models, whilst the two below are older metal models.

Skaven musicians

The one on the left is the slave musician, whilst the one on the right appears to be a Plague Monk. Here’s another shot of him.

Skaven musicians

Finally, finishing up the musicians we have two Stormvermin musicians. These figures are giants when compared to the other ones. I suspect they’re going to look too out of place for me to use them amongst the slaves.

Stormvermin musicians

The next “odds and ends” I have is this standard bearer.

Skaven standard bearer

I’ve no idea where I’ll use the standard bearer, but I can see these two assassins appearing amongst my gutter runners.

Skaven assassins

Skaven assassins

Next up we have two Grey Seers. I did warn you that these were a random collection of models.

The one on the right is Thanquol. Sadly I don’t have the Boneripper model that should go with him.

A Grey Seer & Thanquol

A Grey Seer & Thanquol

Finally, for today at least, we have two Poison Wind Globadiers.

You got to love these insane models.

Poison Wind Globadiers

OK, so that’s another 15 miniatures to add to my 2010, but we’re now getting close to the end of the completed Skaven.

These figures bring my 2010 totals to:

Obtained: 617 [No change]
Painted: 453 [+15]
Sold: 13 [No change]
Net: -151 [+15]

Plague Monks (plastic)

Plague Monks (plastic)

Plague Monks (plastic)

These were given one of my standard quick and dirty paint jobs, but as I hope this close-up shows, that’s more than enough for a good tabletop standard.

Plague Monks (plastic)

I took a little bit longer on the metal figures, but not much longer.

Plague Monks (metal)

Plague Monks (metal)

Also painted at the same time were these three Plague Censor Bearers. None of which are the current models.

Plague Censor Bearer

These ones are even nicer, although I’m likely to slip them in to my slave units rather than field them as censor bearers.

Plague Censor Bearer

And to lead all these Clan Pestilens figures we have Lord Skrolk.

Lord Skrolk

OK, so that’s another 33 miniatures to add to my 2010 output and there are still some more Skaven to come.

These figures bring my 2010 totals to:

Obtained: 617 [No change]
Painted: 438 [+33]
Sold: 13 [No change]
Net: -166 [+33]

The figures are a mixture of plastics and some very old metals. Including 17 metal slaves. These are probably some of the best Skaven figures ever, lovely to paint and quick too. They are armed with an assortment of weapons, mostly hand weapons/halberds, but half of this batch have slings. Not that I’ve ever fielded them armed with slings.

Metal slaves (sling)

Metal slaves (sling)

And here’s the ones with the hand weapons.

Metal slaves (hand weapons)

Now, compare and contrast the delightful metal slaves with these plastic night runners which I use as gutter runners.

Night Runners / Gutter Runners

They matched the plastic clanrat models which were available at the time, but look very strange nowadays. The old slave models fit in nicely with the current range, but I’m not so sure about these.

Night Runners / Gutter Runners

I think it’s the overly large hands that are the problem.

Night Runners / Gutter Runners

Night Runners / Gutter Runners

Night Runners / Gutter Runners

That’s 17 slaves and 16 night runners for my total and there’s still some more Skaven finished which I’ll post later.

These figures bring my 2010 totals to:

Obtained: 617 [No change]
Painted: 405 [+33]
Sold: 13 [No change]
Net: -199 [+33]

The Packmaster is up first . . .

Packmaster

. . . and his pet Rat Ogres . . .

Rat Ogres

Rat Ogres

Rat Ogres

That’s the Island of Blood Skaven finished, but there will be more Skaven to come over the next few days.

Unfortunately this update won’t have much of a positive impact on my 2010 Pledge update as I have just realised that I didn’t count the Rat Ogres as purchases.

These figures bring my 2010 totals to:

Obtained: 617 [+6]
Painted: 372 [+7]
Sold: 13 [No change]
Net: -232 [+1]

First up we have the Engineer. A great figure, with lots of lovely equipment.

Island of Blood - Engineer

Island of Blood - Engineer

Sadly none of it is the sort of equipment players give their Skaven Engineers these days, but the same is true of the old metal engineers.

Here are a couple I painted at the same time to compare.

Old metal Engineers

Old metal Engineers

And a side by side comparison . . .

Old Metal and Island of Blood side by side

I just wish they did one with items that could pass for Doom Rockets and Brass Orbs.

Also in the boxed set are two lovely weapon teams. A Plague Wind Mortar and a Warpfire Thrower.

Weapons Teams

Weapons Teams

I also painted an old Warpfire Thrower for comparison. As you can see it’s not too bad a match, although it has a “chunkier” look and feel to it.

Warpfire Thrower (old metal)

Also painted at the same time was a old metal Ratling Gun. Pictured here side by side with the Island of Blood teams. Again a pretty good match in both size and style.

Ratling Gun

Ratling Gun

OK, I think this post is long enough as is. The Rat Ogres and Packmaster can wait for my next update.

These figures bring my 2010 totals to:

Obtained: 611 [No change]
Painted: 365 [+11]
Sold: 13 [No change]
Net: -233 [+11]

Island of Blood

There’s no doubt in my mind that the GW 8th Edition Warhammer boxset contains some of their best plastic miniatures ever. I’ve no interest in painting the High Elves at the moment, but the Skaven were screaming out to be painted.

For plastic models they were exceedingly easy to assemble and needed very little cleaning up unlike some I could mention. In comparison I’ve put together quite a lot of Skaven recently, including 40 Gutter Runners and 20 Plague Monks and the Island of Blood figures simply look nicer, and were much easier to assemble. I’d be very happy to get another set tomorrow and start replacing my existing Clanrats with these models. Hopefully for my pledge I’ll resist, but I’m on the look out for somebody who wants to swap my Elves for their Skaven.

There are 40 normal rats in the boxed set. Which I suspect you could split up to paint the least armoured ones as slaves. Mine have all been given the same simple paint job using a very limited palette. I’ve photographed them here as two units of 20, although it’s unlikely they will ever be fielded that way.

Clanrats

Clanrats - close up

Clanrats - close up

Clanrats

And the second 20 . . .

Clanrats

Clanrats - close up

Clanrats - close up

Clanrats

Clanrats

The rest of the Island of Blood Skaven will follow in a another post later this week, but in the meantime that’s another +40 towards the pledge. I’m still doomed to fail, but it is progress.

This make the total for 2010 as follows.

Obtained: 611 [No change]
Painted: 354 [+40]
Sold: 13 [No change]
Net: -244 [+40]

Meanwhile it’s time to update my pledge progress and perhaps clear off one or two the long outstanding Warhammer figures which I painted earlier in the year.

With that in mind here are 5 Squigs.

Squigs

Lovely models, given a simple and very quick paint job.

Squigs

Quite tricky making sure they rank up. So much so that once I find a layout that works I mark the units A1, A2, A3 etc to make them easier to use.

Squigs

As I said, not much of a painting update. Still, there’s been quite a bit of movement in my pledge totals. Sadly some Malifaux, Warmachine/Hordes and Warhammer puchases have nudged the total in the wrong direction. With only a handful of Malifaux figures on the plus side of the equation.

This make the total for 2010 as follows.

Obtained: 611 [+93]
Painted: 314 [+30]
Sold: 13 [No change]
Net: -284 [-63]

Looks like I’m going to crash and burn again.

Lady Judge

Lady Justice

I’m quite pleased with how the hair turned out, best seen in this rear view. Although this view shows I’ve missed a bit of black lining there on the back of her legs (now corrected).

Lady Justice

The number 2 model in the crew is “The Judge”. He doesn’t look much like a Judge to me, but he’s a nice figure. I was torn by what colour to paint his coat, finally picking white. I think it works quite well.

The Judge

The Judge

The Judge

The rest of the crew are made up of the flying coffin using Death Marshals. I’ve only finished one of the three as the other two required some additional basing, which meant they didn’t get undercoated with the rest of the Malifaux.

Death Marshal

Bit of an odd angle this next shot . . .

Death Marshal

Death Marshal

The remaining two are works in progress now.

Death Marshal (wip)

He’s had a white undercoat followed by two coats of GW Badab Black wash. I’m thinking of switching to using Vallejo Black wash which is a lot darker. The figure below has had one coat of the Vallejo wash.

Death Marshal (wip)

My concern is that it may be a little too good at covering for my purposes. Here’s a side by side shot – remember the GW one has had two coats.

Death Marshals (GW on left, Vallejo on right)

I’m planning on posting some more wip shots of these over the next weeks to compare the washes further.