Interlude - Zombicide!

So some of you may have been following the Zombicide Season 2 Kickstarter (which closes in 4 days!) and as I picked up season 1 to 'try before you buy' if you will, I have 71 new models to paint. There have been a few page of tutorials posted for new players to learn to paint their horde of undead but they all are aimed at the new painter. My goal here is to aim a little higher and shape some of those new painters into semi-pros.

One of the advantages of the kickstarter is that we get to see two new types of zombie, toxic and berserker. The potential issue not explored is that these models NEED to be identifiable. Different sculpts aren't always effective enough. The basic zombies are grey plastic, toxics are green and berserkers are orange. Something that I have always done is use limited colour pallets, usually for army schemes. This is also very applicable to Zombicide. By maintaining the plastic colours as the primary colour for each zombie type they will always be identifiable, even for new players. One of the first 'mistakes' new painters can make is to try and use every colour they now own. All on one model.

When picking a colour pallet for your models you should stick to the rule of 3. No more than 3 colours (black/grey/white don't count) and for each type of zombie you should keep this across all of them. The best way to explain this would be to look at photos of business people on their way to work. The crowd tends to all be in the same colour, usually blues, whites and greys. This is a good pallet and adding in some red gore will make them really pop. Below are my first 2 zombies, gore and bases still to come.

Above you see two zombies, a fatty (left) and a walker (right). Both are using the same colour pallet but the fatty has a splash of orange. Small splash colours can make specific models stick out and generate interest. Another way is to use patterns, such as making the shirt striped.

There is one more type of zombie that can be really hard to spot, the runner. My plan for runners is to keep to the same pallet but brighten up the blue significantly. This will help to pick them out of a mob of walkers. Look for this, hopefully next week!

Week 12 - Getting Back on Track

So the last couple months I haven't really got much done. In fact I got just as much done way back in week 1 as I have done since then. This falls mainly down to two factors, motivation and quality. Motivation is that fickle thing that tends to ride on new releases, new games or some random desire to get something done. This can sometimes be forced, such as by tournaments or new friends getting into a game you've had hidden away unpainted for ages. Motivation can also be lost, often more easily than finding it. In my case, as I have been focussing on my Blindwater Gators, my motivation has been slipping. The time it takes to finish a single model pushes well up into the 4-8 hour range, more if they are particularly detailed. (Such as warlocks...)

This leads into quality. Painting to a high quality can really be a challenge and with it comes the reward of knowing 'that model is done,' no amount of extra time will make it better. That can be nice, knowing you wont have to redo it until you get better as a painter. This of course takes time. Lately, too much time. Now I have only a couple models left for Gators, some of them quite easy to do. But I am lacking the motivation to do it. With no pressure to get them done I am going to set them aside for a while and work on something else. (Time-wise I am going to have to, more on this below.) I have some motivation to work on other things now, as I purchased Zombicide! in preparation for the Season 2 kickstarter closing next week. This gives me  71 more models that, lets face it, I am probably going to paint. I also have been commissioned by the Hamilton (NZ) Immortals to make some hill terrain, to be finished by the end of April. So I am going to be quite busy on those. I have also made some progress on my Khador starter box so I can run Warmachine Demos, I have put a progress shot below.

Blue and brass khador with grey cloth. Not sure on a focus colour yet. Possibly red...

I also made some progress this week. I finally finished off my Dreadball set (excluding the Ronnie coach as, lets face it, he doesn't do anything in Season 1, so he is a Season 2 model as far as I am concerned...) The pics are below. I also finished painting Rask so now just need to varnish him and the Ironback Spitter then get the bases done, in time for Natcon next weekend...

John Doe, the last Skittersneak Stealer and the Enforcer.

Two Refbots, Number 88 and Wildcard.

Rask

So next week is Easter weekend and Natcon. This means I have until Wednesday to get bases done before I catch an all-day bus down to Wellington. I am down there until I catch an overnight bus on the Sunday (getting home at 6am!) so I have no real time to paint anything next week. I will be focussing on getting back to my Forge Fathers and also small batches of work on the Khador. I may even look at doing some of the smaller groups (such as Infinity and Mercs) to feel like I am making progress!


The stats:

Day 83
93/83 Painted/Days passed
93/366 Painted/Target (25.4%)
32/40 Blindwater Congregation (80.0%)
50/50 Dreadball: Season 1(100%)
0/1 Dreadball: Season 2 (0%)
5/89 Forge Fathers (5.6%)
6/150 Corporation Marines (4.0%)
0/102 Veer-myn (0.0%)
0/8 Khador (0.0%)
0/35 Protectorate of Menoth (0.0%)
0/15 Malifaux - Kirai Crew (0.0%)
0/6 Mercs - Kezai Wazza (0.0%)
0/6 Infinity - Haqqislam (0.0%)
0/21 Death Korps of Krieg (0.0%)
With more to come...

Week 11 - Where Does the Time Go?

Here we are at week 11. I haven't done much this week, I made a start on Rask and managed to finish the Ironback Spitter. I have planned out what I need for Natcon, unfortunately I have no real hope of painting up the extra 3 Gators and Totem Hunter I need. They will have to stay in my old colour scheme until after. While frustrating it is better to leave them than try to rush through them. Seeing as how I had to submit lists I can't risk not having them done in time.

I have to finish up Rask in the next two weeks but that marks the end of tournament season for me, at least for the foreseeable future. This will let me step back a bit and start working on the piles of plastic and resin I have accumulated. Just in time for Dreadball Season 2, shipment 2 of the Kings of War kickstarter and Zombicide! I'm beginning to think I have a problem...


The stats:

Day 76
85/76 Painted/Days passed
85/366 Painted/Target (23.0%)
31/39 Blindwater Congregation (76.9%)
43/51 Dreadball (84.3%)
5/89 Forge Fathers (5.6%)
6/104 Corporation Marines (5.8%)
0/102 Veer-myn (0.0%)
0/8 Khador (0.0%)
0/35 Protectorate of Menoth (0.0%)
0/15 Malifaux - Kirai Crew (0.0%)
0/6 Mercs - Kezai Wazza (0.0%)
0/6 Infinity - Haqqislam (0.0%)
0/21 Death Korps of Krieg (0.0%)
With more to come...

Week 10 - A Review and Week 11 Plan

Had to update the week titles, I missed one in there somewhere...

So I was unable to get the Bog Trogg Ambushers this week and lacked the drive to really paint anything. I managed to push through and almost finish the Ironback Spitter. With Natcon looming at the end of the month and the lists needing to be submitted by Friday 15th I have to make some hard decisions as to what I am prepared to finish and use. I got a practice game in with Rask yesterday, I lost but learned a bit about what he can do. He really does need some Bog Troggs for survival but I don't have that option at this stage. I'm going to have another practice with him tomorrow night at the club, see if I can play him more defensively and pick off important models.

With a wedding this weekend I don't see much time for painting. I will have to finish the Ironback Spitter as I have found it to be very worthwhile. After that I doubt I will get much done, I will probably be spending way too much time checking out the Zombicide Season 2 kickstarter.

The stats:

Day 69
84/69 Painted/Days passed
84/366 Painted/Target (23.0%)
30/39 Blindwater Congregation (76.9%)
43/51 Dreadball (84.3%)
5/89 Forge Fathers (5.6%)
6/104 Corporation Marines (5.8%)
0/102 Veer-myn (0.0%)
0/8 Khador (0.0%)
0/35 Protectorate of Menoth (0.0%)
0/15 Malifaux - Kirai Crew (0.0%)
0/6 Mercs - Kezai Wazza (0.0%)
0/6 Infinity - Haqqislam (0.0%)
0/21 Death Korps of Krieg (0.0%)
With more to come...

Ides of March in Review - Week 10 Plan

So after an awesome weekend of gaming (on little sleep no less) I came away in 26th out of 34. This was mostly due to a lack of Control Points as I went 3/4 Wins/Losses. I did however come away with 3rd best painted, for the Swamp Horror. Its always nice to be recognised for some hard work. I also got a special mention for the LED lit building terrain and the 'spinning fan of death' as it was fondly referred to. I also had a lot of positive comments from other gamers on my bases and on the terrain. All in all a good weekend, Dave got his first tournament running smoothly with only a little help with the spreadsheets and ranking orders.

As for this week I have Rask and a unit of Bog Trogg Ambushers to assemble and paint, along with the Ironback Spitter. I hope to make some decent headway on these as I would like to use them at Natcon on Easter weekend.

After that I have to get 2 Warmachine battleboxes painted for demos. I have already made a start on the Khador, I will upload a photo of where they are at later today. (Hopefully...) Finally while I was off gaming I crossed 500 page views, which is awesome! I hope to really get churning out models in April so there will hopefully be a bit more for you all to see each week.