Sunday, January 11, 2009

Lizardmen Paint Schemes

So I've been trying to decide how I will paint the Lizardmen that I'm getting in the near future. I did a Goggle Image Search for "tropical frog", and looking through those lists I found the following images that look quite cool.

This one I've seen people using for things before, I believe it was a Tyranids. I think its an awesome looking frog, but I'm not sure that I want to do it for my critters. I think I might hold onto it for some of the special ones, maybe for like a Stegadon, or some other large critter that I need to paint.












These two are the same kind of frogs, but with slightly different colouring on their backs. I've seen a Lizardmen force started with these colours and I think it will be a really good combination. I'm thinking of using the blue legs idea here on my guys, as it will offer a nice contrast, and will, I think, look quite cool in combination with the next idea.



This is what I'm going to base the body of my guys off of. I think that the red/brown main body with a dark yellow/orange colour on the scales will look quite nice, especially with some contrasting blues on the legs. I'm thinking that the main colour could be something like Mechrite Red (GW) or Scar Red (VP) as a base with Gore Red, Terracota, or Dark Flesh (GW) as an overcoat. The orange could be an undercoat of Solar Orange (GW) or Bloody Red (VP), with some basic highlighting and a nice orange wash. These are just guessed at though, as I don't have my paints with me to look at to decide on an actual combination. We'll see what I decide on once I've actually got something to paint.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

January Purchases

Nothing. Nada. Naught.
This month I am too many things that are inconsistent with following my plan. I'm living at a friends place until our new flat is ready (not till the 19th), all my painting gear and current models are packed up, and I'm unemployed. So this months money will carry over to February. But all is not lost. This carry over allows me to concentrate on the releases of the new Lizardmen stuff next month, so I'll be able to get a good pile to start with.
I also have no plans for painting at the moment, for obvious reasons. Maybe once we're moved in I can decide what to try to get done this month. Probably look to finishing off a pile of IG infantry.

Addendum: So I had no brushes to do any painting with. So I spent some monies ($17.10) on some new brushes. So far they have been good ones.

Spent: $17.10
Carry Over: $82.90
Current Balance: $82.90

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The Plan

Ok, so, I need a plan. A plan that will both encourage me to finish painting those things that I have bought, and a plan that will attempt to reign in my urges to spend butt loads of cash on this hobby with out actually doing anything with the stuff I buy. So, here is the plan that I have come up with, and the rules by which it will run:
  1. I may spend, at most, NZ$100 per month on new models, paints, and accessories. This is to include any postage costs if it were to come from overseas (such as the great great stuff from Forge World).
  2. If I spend less the NZ$100, the balance carries over to the next month. This is to allow me to save up to buy those really really costly things, such as a Battalion box or some such. This means that I may spend a total, by the end of December 2009, of NZ$1200 on this hobby.
  3. Anything that I buy in a month MUST be finished painting before I can spend anymore money. So if I happen to buy something that has 50 models in it, then I need to paint all 50 before I can move on to buying something else. The standard of painting should be Table Top usable, so that I can actually play games with them.
So thats the basic outline of the plan. Also, each month, as early as I can, I will post up what it is that I expect to buy for that month, as well as what I plan to get painted.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Pholus Military Structure (1): Divisions

Overview
The military of the planet Pholus follows a very broad structure. Logistical structures, including Divisions and Regiments, are used to organise training and other overarching force requirements. These organisational and logistical structures are also used in case the planet itself is attacked. But when Pholus is required to raise a unit for the Imperial Guard, the chosen structure supplied is that of a Battlegroup, a flexible combined arms force based around one particular central unit supplemented with required support from other units.
Divisions
At the highest level of force structure lies the divisions. These units are comprised of several individual regiments, and several thousand men and machines.
1st Infantry Division
The oldest of the divisions, and possibly the most traditional, is the 1at Infantry Division. When Pholus reorganised its military away from the old Regimental style to this newer Divisional concept, the 1st Infantry gained the bulk of the existent units of the time. Since that time, the 1st has shed out those units that do not fit its primary goal, namely the armoured and mounted infantry regiments, to be replaced with light infantry regiments. Today, the 1st Infantry contains all, and only, active light infantry regiments.
2nd Armoured Division
As the Pholus military expanded it became necessary to look at how the training of different regimental units conflicted, comparing such things as terrain, large scale manoeuvres, and weather truly different forces could realistically continue to train at the same bases. In recent times a trend towards whole specialised bases dealing with just a single type of force had begun to emerge. This originally adhoc action was formalised into policy with the creation of the 2nd Armoured, who took over the direct command of all armoured and armoured infantry units currently in existence, seperating out of the 1st Infantry, and gaining their own specialised bases and training.
3rd & 4th Mounted Infantry Divisions
The 3rd Mounted Infantry grew out of the older Armoured Infantry forces that were part of the 2nd Armoured. These new forces lack the armoured component of the older units, the tanks, but maintained the inherent mobility and flexibility. After the 3rd Mounted Infantry was seen to be a solid success, a second division was introduced, and the mounted infantry became the core of the Pholus military philosophy.
5th Airbourn Infantry Division
Recent actions on and near Pholus have shown a need to be able to deploy forces quickly and accurately to a battlefield. While the muscle of the force, the mounted infantry and armour, gears up to punch through the front, the ability to deploy forces behind the lines to engage and eliminate their reserves, supply lines, or command centers, has lead to the construction of the 5th Airbourn Infantry. Still under construction, this force supplies an added option to the Pholus commanders, letting them decide how and when to engage the enemy forces.

Next in the series: Unit Types and Composition

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Why Are We Here?

Hi.
As the title of this post suggests, we are here to talk about what I plan to achieve with this blog.
First, the goal is to use this to chronicle my efforts to complete a painting project. In fact, it will be two painting projects. Top of the list is the Pholus 3/7th Battle Group, a Mounted Infantry force serving as part of the Imperial Guard. This force is partly built and painted, but as will be seen when I post up the final goal for them, there is always, always going to be room to expand.
After the IG force, the next on my list is a Lizardman force for Warhammer Fantasy. They are the next on the list of Fantasy armies, and the new book is coming out on the 7th of Febuary. I have always wanted to do an army of them, so this is a nice time to set out to collect one.
So those are my main painting goals. Whats the other use of this blog then? Well, beyond my interest in Warhammer stuff, I am also quite an avid consumer of Dungeons and Dragons. I have my own gaming group who play regularly, and have my own world that I try to put my games within. To that end, I will, from time to time, talk about what we are doing, what I'm interested in, and what I think might be fun to run in a game.
And then theres WoW. And Eve. And maybe something to do with Startrek. And all sorts of other things to do with computer games. I plan to waffle on from time to time about different games I play, what I like, what I hate, and how things are going.
So thats the plan. In the near future I will go over what my plans for each of the main painting sets will be, and maybe give some background.