Wednesday, December 28, 2016

My 2016 Warhammer Top 5

Let us be honest 2016 has been a terrible year, but the shining gem this year has been Warhammer.  I honestly doubt I would have survived this trip around the sun without all the good going on in the Hobby.

Now on to my Warhammer Top 5 for this past year.

Monday, December 19, 2016

The Importance of your Hobby Space and Future Content

Happy Holidays everyone!  Today I wanted to take some time to discuss your Hobby Space and give you some insight to future content I will be putting out (with help) to the community in the coming year.


Where the hobby happens...

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Airbrushing: My First Steps.

Weeks ago I decided to finally begin Airbrushing in earnest.  Until that moment I was honing my skills with a brush (and even did a lot of priming with a brush) with  a plethora of techniques to still learn.

Here is my weapon of choice.  Found a great deal online.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Follow Up: Preventing Hobby Wobble

This is a follow up to a previous post entitled "Preventing Hobby Wobble between Projects"

It has been just about 2 months from my previous post regarding hobby wobble and I wanted to discuss how my attempt at embracing the wobble in a controlled way to knock out smaller projects went for me.

Over these past few months I have managed to knock out the following projects.  Two Battlefleet Gothic Fleets, Ten Dark Angel Terminators, Five Stormcast Judicators, and a handful of one off individual Models. Check out my Twitter feed for pictures! (@odiamh)

Pro Tip #1: Completing a bunch of one off projects doesn't feel this good.

Friday, October 14, 2016

Armies on Parade 2016

It is that time of year for us to muster our forces and display them proper in Armies on Parade!


Every year I watched as hobbyists across the globe created armies and display boards for their local Armies on Parade.  Seeing the projects was always a great way to get my hobby mojo going either through the White Dwarf or Online posts by the community.  This year I finally have a Games Workshop location within driving distance and I am finally able to participate.

I decided to use my Stormcast Chamber (The Reik Eternals) as they are one of my newest armies and only had minimal work to finish the army from a painting stand point.  Then came to the decision of designing my display board.  Such began the process...


 
The outline of my board

Thankfully I work in the building industry so foam insulation board is easy to come across.  I gathered a few pieces and after some wire and glue I had a base.  I decided to go with a raging river on my display board to represent a variation of the River Reik.  The foam was a new medium for me and after some guess work it began to come together.  I cut the River into shape and used a candle to create the wavy pattern for the river you see above.  After adding some foam rocks created from the scrap it was time to paint!

 
The color blocked out


The river comes alive!

I have to admit painting the river was an exciting challenge.  I know there is plenty of room to improve, but I am proud of what I was able to accomplish.  After some quick drying with a hair dryer I was able to flock and trim the board which admittedly was my least favorite part.

With added scenary

I even added a sign complete with sloppy hand writing!

The whole process took me 3 days from start to finish and while there is much I would like to redo I am very happy with the finish product and will take my knowledge with me to next years display board to make it bigger and better!

Good luck to everyone participating this year and I look forward to seeing your work online (I hear rumors GW is putting up all pictures from the stores on one website)!  I will leave you know with a few shots of my Army on Parade and I will report back if I manage to pull out a podium!




#OnlyTheFaithful




Update:  I took 1st place!

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Preventing Hobby Wobble between Projects

Hello again everyone.  Sorry for the delay between posts recently, but you will be happy to know I will be back to my regular posting twice a month!


We all have experienced Hobby Wobble and as Wargamers we have come to almost accept it as part of the process.  It sneaks into our hobby time like a Nurgling dancing around distracting us from the Great Unclean One that is our current (or next) project.  What are some of the ways to prevent Hobby Wobble? Is it possible to use Hobby Wobble to your advantage?  I will explore these ideas (and maybe more) while sharing my current plight as I finish my latest army and attempt to stave off the dreaded Hobby Wobble.

Ignore the large hobby project behind the curtain!


I am currently finishing a large Wood Aelf Army (also my final army to be on Square bases!  Woohoo!) and as I grind out my last models my mind keeps asking what should I put on the painting table next?  I have no lack of options that is for certain.  I have a few more Stormcast bodies to add to my chamber.  Perhaps I could begin growing my Sylvaneth Wargrove or even begin my Orruk Warband that has been slowly taking shape on my Airbrush Table.  Lets not forget the 40k projects that have been untouched since Age of Sigmar dropped from the Heavens.

Slaughter your Hobby Wobble!

As you can see I am on the verge of; if not dipping my toes into the Hobby Wobble.  I decided to find a small goal (a mini project of sorts).  This has staved off the Wobbly feeling as I shift my focus entirely to painting my Slaughter Priest that came free from the latest White Dwarf for the competition on TGA.community (Click the link to access the competition being run by Ben Curry of Bad Dice Podcast).

While I plan to spend quality time on this lone model and attempt to paint beyond my standard I know the wobble will come back in force.  So what do I do when it returns?  It may sound strange, but I will embrace the wobble for a short time although with a bit of guidance to the madness.

So here is the plan.  I will gather up all my small projects (be they a single model or unit) and just put them on my hobby table and let my mood dictate which one of the assortment I will paint that day.  I will let myself bounce from Space Wolves to Dreadfleet, but I will set a 1 or 2 month time limit (undecided right now).  Once that time frame hits I will finish the current unit/model I am on and end the wobble and begin working on my Orruk Warband in earnest.  While the other projects might take a back seat they will still be there and hopefully I can use them as a break from the Army project to prevent burnout (another scary hobby predicament) from time to time.

Behold the KanBan!

I will report back in a future post with how this strategy has worked or if I abandon it completely and fell into a larger rabbit hole.  Time will tell, but with tools at my finger tips like my KanBan board (pictured above) it will help keep me focused while being unfocused at the same time.  Feel free to follow my updates on twitter as well ( @odiamh )

Until Next time... #OnlyTheFaithful

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

2016 Summer Global Campaign Plans


The Season of War is almost upon us!


What a year we have had in the Age of Sigmar.  The End Times had come and gone while the remnants of our community clung together and shape our destiny with the new game we loved.  I want to applaud everyone who came through The End Times and stuck with Age of Sigmar particularly the community leaders (Dan Heelan, Wayne Kemp, Russ Veal, Dave Witek, Big Jim, and others I am sure I am missing).  This community focused and maintained course and now we are reaping the rewards!

Monday, June 6, 2016

Sigmar wants you...

Sigmar's Storm has come and War is everywhere...

Like most of you I thought War was already here...

I can only imagine this post from Games Workshop's Facebook Page is getting us hyped for the living campaign.  The time will soon be upon us to take our armies to the field and battle it out for the fate of the Mortal Realms and I cannot think of a better time to bring those old and new players on the fence into the game.  There are still plenty of scattered players out there who may not realize how large and connected our community is at its core and I would challenge everyone to invite one friend this summer to join you in this hobby.

Friday, May 27, 2016

Why I still have Squares...

I have yet to rebase my old armies....and I do not intend to do so.


Over the past months I have really enjoyed Age of Sigmar.  The Campaigns, Narratives, Fluff, and all the new hobby abound have filled my time.  I have seen many people rebase their old armies to the new round bases and it is great seeing people embrace this new system, but I simply could not bring myself to rebase (even my unpainted models) despite them looking much better on rounds. 

Monday, May 2, 2016

The New Persona of Games Workshop

Well It looks the same so far....

Over the past year and a half our game has gone through big changes.  We had our End Times both in game and within the community.  As of now the Faithful (#OnlyTheFaithful!) feel pretty happy with ol' GW and for good reasons.  Let's go back a bit and see just how it all has changed (from my part of the world anyway).

Who can forget this guy?

Sunday, April 24, 2016

The Allure of the WAAAAGH!


WAAAAAGH...and all that...

Orruks (previously Orcs) have always had a special place in my heart.  It was an army I almost began my hobby with due to their comical and bestial nature.  Look at the jolly guy above.  He screams Warhammer to me in all the right ways.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

The Living Game Concept

Age of Sigmar is considered a living game, but what does that mean?  For decades we have had a "stagnant" game with Warhammer Fantasy.  While the rules did update and units/characters came in and out of the game the overall setting and story remained the same and if any advancement was made it was pulled back to a prior time to keep the Fantasy Setting intact.

With Age of Sigmar we have a continuously evolving story where each new book can potentially move the story forward, kill off characters, or possibly add new characters.  This can be very exciting, exhausting, and even frightening.  Look back at The End Times to see an (Extreme) example of a living game.


Monday, March 7, 2016

What is Balance of Power?

I will begin with saying SPOILERS!!!! as I will be discussing parts of the recent Balance of Power book for Age of Sigmar.



I have recently completed my first read through of Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The Realmgate Wars (book 2) Balance of Power.  The book moved the story ever forward as we have been promised with the new Game and The Mortal Realms are as exciting as ever, but this time around there was more focus on the gods of the realms.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Army Lore: The Reiksguard Eternals

For Empire! For Sigmar!

When Age of Sigmar released I knew I would be picking up the starter set.  Not for a love of either army (in fact I would trade the Bloodbound for some Dark Elf models), but to support the new game system.  What I did not expect was that I would begin to love the Stormcast models.  After listening to the audio dramas it gave me fresh insight and new appreciation to the army.

When deciding on how to paint my Stormcast I went with a theme I created back when Paint Hammer ran a painting competition using the free Stormcast that came with the White Dwarf at the time.  The Reiskguard were always an army I wish I had time and money to do.  The look and story behind them always captivated me.  Sadly the World would end and they would be no more?  Or maybe they would?  So for the competition I painted my Stormcast  in Reiksguard Red and White and used a few Empire bits I had.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Never Kneel....


The Tomb Kings are exiting the scene and it is indeed a sad day.  While they will be around the gaming tables for a while to come the lack of support from Games Workshop means they will most likely fade away at some point.  Lost somewhere between The World That Was and The Mortal Realms.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Basing in the Age of Sigmar

My original plan for this weeks post was to talk about my "top secret" Age of Sigmar Aelf army, but while working on said army today I began thinking about rebasing and base sizes.  That train of thought gripped me to the point I decided to make this post about my thoughts on the subject.

Remember when this picture dropped?

Sunday, January 31, 2016

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The End Times

The End times had begun.  


The great necromancer Nagash was born again and the world would never be the same...

I was excited when The End Times kicked off and rushed to secure a copy and jump right into the story.  I was enjoying the battles and the intrigue as I read through my copy and then it happened.  Eltharion The Grim was killed.  That was when I knew something was different.  It was when I began to hold my breath for what was to come and found myself clinging to hope as my favorite characters were doing throughout the series.

The Fall of Altdorf, Naggaroth, Eight Peaks, Lustria, and countless other places would sting as they happened, but as an Elf Player nothing prepared me for Rhana Dandra (The Elven Last War on Chaos)...

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Welcome to The Realm Gate Blog!

Welcome to The Realm Gate Blog where I will be bringing you my thoughts and ramblings on Warhammer Age of Sigmar (and probably Fantasy and 40k from time to time).  Join me as I add my voice to the community (as an amateur and very new blogger).