Blood Bowl Star Player - Bilerot Vomitflesh

With this guy, it's finally time to close the drawn-out project of Nurgle Star Players for Bloodbowl (WIP post HERE). After Tolly Glocklinger, Guffle Pusmaw and Bulla Shardhorn I have Bilerot Vomitflesh, a hardy citizen of the Empire turned into a mighty Nurgle Bloater.

He's rather simple on the pitch (just a strong, reliable guy, no gimmicks) and the painting was also simple - just following the same color scheme as earlier with the Putrid Punters. I really like how his pose turned out - he looks really sporty, not just a WFB warrior with weapons clipped off - so the final effect is still quite pleasing to me.

After their first won match in this new season, the Putrid Punters went to a bar to celebrate their unexpected victory. Unfortunately, the Nurgle table (current regulations require bars to separate it from the rest of the interior) was already taken by a single bloater. Not knowing the current scene very well, the Punters didn’t recognize the star Bilerot Vomitsflesh and got into an argument, demanding him to move away as if he was just another random chump. Bilerot, a bit insecure about being the least known Nurgle star, became extra angry - a fierce fight ensued. After the dust settled, amongst the rubbles of the bar, with no winner in sight, both parties were forced to pay for the damages and help with the repairs. The whole experience allowed the Punters to weirdly bond with Bilerot - they cleared up the misunderstandings and praised each other’s hardiness in the brawl. In the end, the star left his agent’s scrying number, telling them to give him a call if they want to play Blood Bowl one day together.

Underworlds - Gurzag Ironskull - WIP

My life is still a bit hectic, so with this project, I will take my sweet time here. I hope the readers can understand!

When the first season of Warhammer Underworlds, Shadespire, was getting out of print, I quickly scrambled to get the teams that I wanted to play, with the intention to reinvent them how I did with my Steelheart's Champions. It's a big part of the game's charm for me, to change the minis heavily while retaining their gameplay value. With the first of the two teams that I got, Ironskull's Boyz, I decided to go for a crusading theme. With their heavy armor, the orcs look knightly already, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

Today I am showing you the leader, Gurzag Ironskull himself, as a proof of concept. His pose was good enough to incorporate a shield, so he looks the most convincing - and probably even more when his cape will be painted later on. I also changed his axe for a sword - something which I will do on his comrades too.

The rest of the boyz will follow shortly.

Blood Bowl Druchii Sports Sorceress - WIP

It's time for the last mini from the staff trio I did some time ago. After the Orc and Dark Elf coaches, here comes the Druchii Sports Sorceress - a unique wizard available to dark elves, to join my Dreadspear Dragons. While normal mage casts big but unreliable fireballs, she is adept at casting very precise lightning bolts and weakening opposing players with the 'Death of a Thousand Cuts". She may be expensive to induce, but she gives a lot of flavor to the elvish force and an 83% chance to knock down any player on the pitch is quite worth it.

Obviously, I used a Dark Elf Sorceress from AoS / WFB to represent her - the model is quite perfect in this regard. Still, I decided to convert her at least a little bit to make her more sporty and fit with the team. To first thing is achieved through sneakers I sculpted on her feet and the second thing through a small piece of dragonskin on her behind. I also scattered some bits around her to make the base look less empty and bring the Blood Bowl theme a little more. Not much done here, but it's always something.

The Little Ones

It's time to finally close the set of minis that I got from the Black Crab Miniatures 2 Kickstarter. After the Cultists and Followers, I have the Little Ones ready - small familiars, that were added to the package if someone ordered all 8 of the regular miniatures.

There's nothing too fancy about them, just continuing with the same color scheme as before with those guys - only this time with less dirt and cuter. Still, they nicely close off the collection, circling back to the High Council, being their assistants. That is until Black Crab Miniatures comes around someday (maybe).

High dignitaries of the Cult of the Radiant Wheel are sometimes accompanied by diminutive helpers who carry their belongings or perform simple tasks. People see it as just another strange, probably magical thing that is related to those mysterious figures and don’t think too much about it. Select few may connect some facts and start thinking about those moments when the cultists demand a newborn to be given in exchange for bringing a relative back to life - or when they take care of sick or injured children, only to inform the family later that they couldn’t save them. Such voices are quickly silenced - through persuasion, coercion, or darker means - and life goes on, with the small creatures continuing with their duty as they were made to.

Blood Bowl Nurgle Head Coach - WIP

As you could see with the Plague Doctor already, I couldn't leave my beloved Putrid Punters alone when other teams were getting staff members - so now I'm back with that topic, bringing you a WIP version of my properly massive Head Coach for those diseased and disgusting.

I had plans for this mini for a very long time now, but just about the only thing I was sure was using an ogre's body - the rest was being invented as I was going. This naturally proved to be problematic, as I was really unsure of several design alleys that I wandered into... Still, he is as he is - almost completely covered with greenstuff, becoming almost a humanoid version of my Rotspawn, especially with that big tentacle! To give him some Roman elements, tying with the loose theme of the team, he has a laurel on his cap and a piece of cloth vaguely reminiscing a toga. It's all only superficial because he's a 'modern' character just barely trying to fit in his ancient team somehow.

I can also admit that this is the first project (or a phase of one) that I did in its entirety after getting into the "hiatus", rather than just continuing it from the olden times when I had plenty of time for hobbying.

Old Knutr the Slayer

Next installment of my 'Hill Dwarfs' project - a colorful Middlehammer force with a whole backstory of a hilly, grassy fort no dwarf wants to visit for too long - all to explain bright green bases and vibrant tufts.

While Horik was my favorite model from the whole Dwarfs range, this slayer here was easily the second favorite - and it was like this ever since I saw him on an old GW website. I got him some time ago and now he is one of the three models to kickstart this project - and just like them, I managed to take photos of him a day before I found myself without time for hobbying!

Unlike the Lord Commander, this guy here doesn't have any armor on him, which allowed me to try a little bit harder on the hair, skin and various freehands. Other than trying to devise what is what on this model, he was a real pleasure to paint! Also, probably the first time when I had to paint so much red hair!

Once every few days a grizzled slayer comes down to Karak Valldar from the surrounding hills, dirty and weary, to restock his supplies, tell some stories and go back to the wilderness. While not a part of the ‘Hill Dwarfs' officially, the old slayer Knutr grew to be an integral part of the 'fort' - and one of the reasons why the service here is so unexciting. With a hardened, veteran slayer who spends his days wrestling trolls and busting orc tribes, it’s nothing strange that the younglings here are so bored. Well, at least they can entertain themselves devising various backstories for the mysterious Knutr, every one more colorful than the other - and trying to confront them with the slayer without getting his axe in the face for their trouble.

Artwork - The Bog Hag, Concept

Second artwork that I am showing you to pass the time during the hiatus - one that I drew not much later than the first one.

I came with the idea for a Bog Hag when a Mourngul became an extremely popular choice in Undead armies (although I don't remember if it was WFB or AoS) - and I started wondering how could I make something similar, but also more fitting with my collection.

I choose a hag because the term is vague enough to allow for some creativity while staying close to the Slavic roots of my army. Then, to make her similar in stature to the monstrous Mourngul, I decided to make her big, creating not only just a hag, but the Hag, a terrifying Ghoul Mother of the Black Bog. The bigger scale will also make her much easier to sculpt - and any mistakes will be covered with all matter of moss, warts and hair. The pose that I drew is off and I hope to fix in 3D when I'll finally get to actually making her.