Tan flesh

 

Painting Varamyr and friends

Although it's currently the season of giants... Varamyr still serves. 

Painting Cadian command squads in the brown and black of the Carmelites

Rounding out my 3x20 squads of black-and-white Cadian shock nuns, these command squads include extra models in case of exchanging the currently useful weapon types.

D&D 5.5: Candlekeep ghost story

We concluded our journey preparations by visiting Satiir Thione-Hhune, the matriarch we had previously rescued from the Vanthampurs. I presented myself as concerned about her health and all, hoping for a monetary reward, but she promised a favor instead. Good enough.

Once outside Baldur's Gate, Rheia went about her charity work among the Elturel refugees. We also met another Hellrider called Bran, who told us about their order's history and his desire to rebuild it. He was also heading to Candlekeep, so we let him tag along.

Speaking of...

Painting Death Korps of Krieg in bluish grey

 

Painting silver metallic with gold trim

 Originally trialed on Lannisters.

Simple blue tinted power sword

 

Painting grells

I did these in a day just in time for an appearance in Dungeon of the Mad Mage.

Painting Free Folk Skinchangers (with a 3d printed variant)

For that future Free Folk zoo build with deep striking bears! One set of white, black and brown minis each. 

Painting donkeys

 

Simple marble

 

Dungeon of the Mad Mage: ...and your head explodes

Still riding the high of defeating the Angel, the adventurers rested among their duergar allies, then descended into the next level of the dungeon. At least it looked nice, much like a noble manor up in Waterdeep. But it obviously contained horrors - the party was immediately beset by several grells. Being fully rested, high level spells and divine smites flew all around, from fireballs to fire storms.

Painting Free Folk Heroes 3 proxies

I have already converted and painted a Lady Dalla, see here. I decided to get 3d printed proxies for the rest of the minis in the Heroes 3 box.

Converting and painting Commissar Yarrick

Yarrick's return cinematic was hot stuff, and I immediately set to create a proxy/conversion. I had several ork bodies 3d printed to have a pile of them for the base, but the model turned out to be set on 32mm. Sigh. I dismembered just one body, and decided to have Ol' Bale Tits standing on it triumphantly.

Astra Militarum vs Orks, 06.08.2026

After the first three games of infantry squads dying in droves, I cooked up a list of tanks backed up deep striking Scions. Test subject: Orks! I got first turn, and I sent all 3 of my battle tanks into reserves, wanting to ambush the orks on all sides. Seeing the field clear, the boys scouted up 6".

Painting Inquisitor Kroyle

Loosely follow this excellent video by the Warhipster, at least for the mount.

Lannisters vs Free Folk, 27.07.2026

I basically wanted to see the other end of the stick, and prove that Lannisters can stand up to giants with some tailoring. Surprisingly, I faced a 6/2 list which is not at all how my opponent usually operates. I on the other hand was playing Lannisters as Free Folk: 5/3 with lots of cheap units, and both Robert Strong and Jaime (Kingsguard) for auto-wounds. Game more: A Feast for Crows.

We both placed stakes around the left side objective, but I won the roll-off and placed my opponent's cheeky stakes on his side.

July review and August goals

July was better on the gaming side, but let's dive in.

Dungeon of the Mad Mage is still trucking on, with the players currently dying on the level before the last. D&D5.5 also got on track, with our characters now level 4 and a good chunk of the adventure behind us. Both should see a pause during August due to holidays, but that's just how she goes.

We had our national ASOIAF tournament, where I scored 3rd place... same as last year, literally. Cool experience, will join again. Warhammer 40,000 11th edition scarred me for now, with the amount of killing my army suffered over 3 games. I'm working on some Guard vehicles that might help me out in the future. Unsure how these games will fare over August, we'll see.

On the miniature painting front I actually regressed, behind schedule by 112 due to getting some 3d printed guard vehicles and snapping up some Free Folk models. This should see a boost as I'm just finishing a large batch of Guard minis, and then on to some easier commissions. 

So that's literally the plan for August. Chip away at the Guard infantry, most of which I got in February and they're still only primed. Do Guard vehicles, freshly off the 3d printer. Do commissions, then pause with them for a while. Sneak in some easy fantasy miniatures if possible.

And don't die in the summer heat.

Converting and painting 3d printed Escher proxies as Kasrkin and Cadian officers

The second batch of 3d printed Escher-Kasrkin also include officers: Cadian Castellans for the squads, as well as an Ursula Creed proxy. Besides the random colors, I got to experiment with transparent fabric.

D&D 5.5: Keeping up with the Vanthampurs

After another round of shopping and things, we decided on a long rest back at the Flaming Fist headquarters, before assaulting the scion of a noble house. Our captain was easy to convince that the investigation was on track. Rheia left us to talk to her own people, but Mortlock accompanied us to the Low Tavern, a ship converted into a, well, tavern, the usual haunt of Amrik Vanthampur.