Zulrot - Rival to Malkk, Painting Progress, and New Shinies

Suh doods.

Hope everyone is doing well out there in internet land!  Lots of KUH-RAZY things going on out there with points and narrative and open (oh my!) coming to our favorite fantasy setting, AGE OF SIGMAR!  Also, Season II for Guildball dropping it hot like a fresh new groove yo.  Plus we have the craziness that is Halo Ground Command from Spartan Games coming out, new Malifaux silliness on the way, Bloodbowl teases us DAILY it seems, and to top it all off?  Some got-damn sexy looking mo-fo Orruk Ironjawz.

So, lots and lots to coming up in the very near future, es fookin' noots m8s.

Let's start off small, shall we?

Zulrot, a PoS Plague Priest who is doing everything in his power to stand up against the one true Plaguemaster, Malkk, in the Narrative Internet Campaign that I am participating in.  Sounds peachy right?  Well, I got a good amount of stuff painted up to represent this homeboy on the tabletop.  Check it out:

Es nice, no?  Muy bien.  

So yeah, that all happened about a month ago, no big deal, because since then? 

Plus no time with the end of a bunch of classes coming up here in the next week or so.  I got good amount of stuff squared away with base coating, but nothing that is even remotely tabletop worthy.

I had started to work on a good amount of "Skyre Stuff" ™ What does that mean?

- Stormfiends

- Skyre Acolytes

- Weapons Teams

- Arch Warlocks (plus a sexy converted "Baron von Rattus")

New kitbashed warlock engineer for #festerscar in the Rise of Empires Campaign. He'll need a suitably Doc Oc inspired name with his backpack looking like that. #AoS #warhammer #warmonger

A photo posted by Patrick O'Leary 🇺🇸 (@patrick_r_oleary) on Mar 23, 2016 at 8:53am PDT

- Warlock Engineers

- Warplightning Cannon

- Doom Wheel

 PLUS

- 17 Plague Censer Bearers (ooooooohhhhhhhh yeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhh)

Heres the family WIP shot

#ageofsigmar painting and base paring on a lazy Sunday! #wip #warhammer #skaven #ageofbeasts #riseofempires

A photo posted by Patrick O'Leary 🇺🇸 (@patrick_r_oleary) on Apr 3, 2016 at 1:53pm PDT

Loving it.

So what else is new then, eh?

These are:

So it this:

And so is this, among other things....

A photo posted by Patrick O'Leary 🇺🇸 (@patrick_r_oleary) on Apr 16, 2016 at 8:19am PDT

Truly, we are in the absolute GOLDEN AGE OF GAMING.  I am so happy to have Age of Sigmar here, along with all of the other goodies that we have here in 2016 for our gaming needs.  I love it all, with the exception of how many releases Space Marines get every other week it seems, minus the 30th Anniversary Space Marine, hes pretty baller.

So with that, go out and look at pretty shit and buy it.  Age of Sigmar points and "competitive play" is coming, the General's Handbook with 22 scenarios, points for ALL (yes that means Tomb Kings and Brets) warscrolls, 5 (FIVE) Styles of campaigns, and even more coming down the pike.

You have no idea how pumped I am.

Lets rock.  Peace out sweet readers.  I have to go paint something.

New Month, New Post!

Hey hey hey!  It's your favorite blogger here to talk to you about the dangers of goal setting - if you set em, more than likely you are going to complete them!

So, what have I been motivated to complete since my last post here a little over a week ago?  I HAVE A PICTURE FOR THAT TOO.

I did a thing in the bottom right over there and completed (to a tabletop standard) a couple of models from a range that I have never painted before.  I did this by getting my Alchemist team completed for Guildball in time to go and get some gaming in at the beach against some buddies of mine from Atlanta.  

Here is some photographic proof that I can indeed complete models in a rather quick fashion should I so choose to do so!

I really enjoyed playing Guildball over the weekend.  It is a refreshing change of pace from the types of games I was playing before in that you can get it done in a little over an hour in most circumstances.  These games that I was playing were learning games, and as such they were all more geared towards helping me along with the game system and learning the niceties of the system.  I played against both an Engineers Guild team and a Union Team.  I lost all three games, but as the weekend progressed it was closer and closer.  The final game I managed to score 6 to his winning 12 points.  Other games before this I had failed to score a single point with my team either time.  

I really am enjoying Guildball, but I definitely need to get more practice in with the team that I have and - of course - pick up the rest of the Alchemist models that I don't already have.  Which of course will lead to grabbing more Union team members, a Union team, and then grabbing another team after that as it snowballs out of control.  But that's ok! Who gets into tabletop games and doesn't have that happen to them over the course of their gaming life?

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In other news, I have postings about the news!  That's right folks, I have just a few items of business that I would like to bring to the attention of the model loving public.

First, the birth of the Skaven Pestilence Battletome and all of the delicious wonders that entails:

I have not broken down and purchased the Virulent Horde yet, but man alive that is a good looking box set if I have ever seen one.  I am not a huge fan of getting another Plague Furnace, but the thought of just about everything else in the box set makes it well worth basically getting a Furnace and a catapult for free an ok prospect.  I am giddy with excitement over this release, for fairly obvious reasons I think.  I love my Plague Rats almost as much as I love gaming in general, so these are near and dear to my heart as a Skaven player.  

The other Age of Sigmar news that has my blood and creative juices flowing is the grand entrance of the Sigmarite Cavalry, and the hints of Stardragons coming to their aid soon. These models, while pricy, are some of the coolest things I have seen.  I really dig the whole vibe of the crossbowmen armed cavalry, I think they are probably the best looking of the bunch with the axes coming in a close second.  

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Anyway, this is all I have for you today.  Look for the ever increasing tide of Clan Festerscar to make a reappearance on the Realm of Ghur, and for more painted Guildball models to show up on this page in the near future!  Until next time, dear readers, happy gaming!

Katalyst is the one who will break the secrets of life everlasting.  The same might not
be true for those that he is across from on the pitch.....

Clan Festerscar Rising

Hey all!  Happy to be here again, assaulting your eye holes with miniatures and words.

Things are going well with the Rise of Empires campaign - just got my second blog post up over there detailing the birth of the Vermin Crusade against the Realm of Beasts, with the initial waves being led by the rival in power to Malkk - Plague Priest Zulrot and his army of frenzied Plague monks.  There are also developments for the history of the fall of the city of Alpines and the rise in power of the Fire Mage Opstrum Painad (who knows how that will combine with the awesome power of Plaguemaster Malkk), and of course we have the introduction of new characters into the mix:

• Omer Bollen - High General of the Alpine Guard.
• Coruk the Illuminated, master of the Cult of Illumination within the army of Zulrot.
• The introduction of the one eyed doombull, who is perhaps a representative from the followers of the mighty Chlorothrax to the far East of the Realm of Ghur.

Time will tell what these characters have to add to the story of the Plaguemaster and his schemes... if they are truly his own machinations.

LINK to the new post.

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So what is next for the painting block, now that I have managed to swing through 40 plague monks, plague priest Zulrot, and the plagueclaw catapult?  Well, if rumors are true, I may be grabbing another box of fun rats within the next few days.  Rumors from Natfka say there is a "Start Collecting: Clan Pestilent" for £50 ($85) as well as something called the "Virulent Horde" for £105 ($150) coming out within the next couple of weeks. If these look like really good deals, they may or may not happen.  I am in love with the idea that I can build an entirely pestilent force for my rats in Age of Sigmar, its one of the greatest selling points to an excellent game.  

Other than that, the next phase of the painting for the Rise of Empires campaign will focus around the "Boiler Vermin" of Clan Festerscar, who are working to stoke the giant cauldrons for Plaguemaster Malkk's grand World Plague.  Led by an Arch-Warlock (name TBD) and his attendants, the forces of putrescent Skyre minions will be working to ensure that Malkk's schemes are not foiled by technical difficulties, or by enemies of the Crusade.  So that means Skyre Acolytes, Arch-Warlocks, Warlock Engineers, Weapon Teams, and of course the awesome power of the Warp Lightning Cannon will be added to the forces of Malkk.

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On other fronts, I am challenging myself to complete an entire Guildball team within a week in order to be able to play against a friend this coming weekend.  My Alchemists are getting a lovely coat of blue and brown, with cream as the tertiary color and red accents.  Still need to come up with a name for these bad boys, but so far they are a blast to paint.

They also help to satisfy one of the spaces on the year long Miniature Painting Bingo Challenge that I am trying to complete in order to further expand my skills as a painter. Here is what the challenge looks like:

I have already completed "Paint a new version of a mini you painted years ago" by painting up my Skaven Plague Monks to a higher standard than the way they were painted during my high school years.  The Guildball team will fulfill the "Paint a mini from a range that you have never painted before" which puts me at 8.4% Complete with the challenge at 2 months into the year.  I imagine that my putrescent Skyre Acolytes will fulfill the role of "Paint a Mini in a color that you don't like painting and make it work" by painting with various shades of black, mixed with the customary pale green that makes up my Festerscar Clan.  

All in all, I really am enjoying getting the hobby juices flowing.  It's been entirely too long since I put a brush to a model, and I have missed it greatly.  The narrative campaign is really getting my creative juices flowing and giving me an outlet for hobby, as the local scene here in eastern Alabama is a joke frankly.  When it gets to about May I will be able to get many more games in, which I cannot wait for, as that will give me a solid 2-3 months where I can get lots of battle reports up on the Rise of Empires blog, as well as have even more motivation to get paint on plastic or metal.

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Please comment if there is anything that you would like to see in the coming weeks and months!  Otherwise, it's full steam ahead with Clan Festerscar in the Age of Beasts, the Asset Liquidators of the Alchemists Guild, and so much more!  Here's hoping that I can stay on top of things and get everything done that needs to get done before the end of the year.  Happy Gaming!

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PATHETIC CREATURE