Four Score and Seven Years ago...

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this planet, a new hive, conceived in labor, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. But they were wrong...

-Robo Lincoln

Plague Marines

The chosen of Mortarion are a particularly deadly breed of heretic. Unlike the World Eaters and Emperor's Children, which descended into anarchy, or the Thousand Sons, which seem to have disappeared altogether, the Death Guard have retained much of their previous structure. When facing off against the forces of the Death Guard, we cannot rely on their lack of organization to provide exploitable weakness, as we can against other traitors. Although followers of Chaos, they possess a strange order...

-Excerpt from the Reports of Inquisitor Corrigan, 3 226 765.M38

Brukk Gutthammer - Bloodbowl Ogre

"Remember son--Keep on pounding!"

-Karolingia Panthers Pregame Instructions to Brukk Gutthammer, Ogre star player.

The Norman Conundrum

Norman saw on English oak,

On English neck a Norman yoke;

Norman spoon in English dish,

And England ruled as Normans wish;

Blithe world in England never will be more,

Till England 's rid of all the four.

-Sir Walter Scott

Ha-kell Yday, Spawn of Chaos

"Many moons ago, there was a great warlord, Ha-kell Yday, who united the tribes. He was a strong and powerful fighter who vanquished all his foes. He also possessed a tongue of silver, winning many converts through his oratory. But he coveted more power. More power than any single god could give him. So Ha-kell hatched a plan. First, he sold his soul to the Taker of Skulls for battle prowess. Then, he again sold his soul to the Plague Bringer for the resilience to absorb an blow. After that, he sealed another pact for his soul to She Who Thirsts for the quickness of the snake. Ha-kell was greedy and again attempted to barter his soul to the Great Conspirator. But the Great Conspirator was not fooled and knew that Ha-kell was duplicitous. And he told his brothers of Ha-kell's ruse. Together, they cursed Ha-kell for his vanity and his lies. The Gods mutated his flesh, causing it stretch and rip as his body transformed into a monster. Bones sprung from his back and wings sprouted from his shoulders. And to mock his hunger for power, hungry maws sprouted from body. Maws that must feed constantly. Then the Gods banished Ha-kell to wander the nine realms for all of eternity."

-Campfire tale of the Tahmak Marauders

Oldhammer in the Jerz

Another Oldhammer Day in the books!  A big thanks to Nigel for arranging several days of oldhammer fun in New Jersey. What better place to play a post apocalyptic game like Rogue Trader than a post apocalyptic wasteland like New Jersey? Unfortunately, I didn't get to head up until Saturday morning and arriving around lunch time.

Oldhammer Music to get me in the mood.

Day of the Dead

"See boy, with the power over death, you do not need to force people to work for you against their will. When they're forced, they plot against you. But when they're mindless automata, they don't care!" cackled the old mad man. But his assistant took the point well, he was more comfortable around the dead anyway...

Orktober 2017

"What? No banna for uz this year?"

-Random Ork Wisdom

The Immaterium Sargassum

Deep within The Warp there is pocket of stability. Named the Immaterium Sargassum by the first explorers to find it millennia ago, this giant swirling vortex within the currents of the Empyrean has collected bits of debris that have chanced by. Over the tens of thousands of years that ships from realspace have traveled the warp, everything from giant fortress ships down to single-occupant shuttlecraft, even the dust and debris that they left behind has entered the Sargassum and never left.

Gatehouse

Okay, I think I said no more terrain for a little bit, but I lied. I had originally intended to build an outhouse because I thought that would be fun. But then I decided I wanted to test out some Liquitex Stucco gel. And who has ever heard of a stuccoed outhouse? So instead I grabbed the gatehouse that came with the old (sadly, out of production) Citadel Watchtower. I slathered the stucco over the model and after it was try, set to painting it. The it was painted off-white and initially washed with some heavily thinned Bronzed Flesh. I then applied various washes and dry brushes. I'm reasonably happy with it, but Blue in Vermont has achieved much better results than I did!

The Ignea Mortis

"Shine that light over here, Hemlut" whispered the Blacksmith in his gravely voice. Helmut did so, allowing his compatriots to find where the ground was softest; indicating a newly laid body. "I can never tell when he's angry with that voice of his" though Helmut as he did so. "This one's brand new, that crazy ol' loon'll pay good coin for this one," the masked man said in hushed tones. "Dig him up, boys, we've gots works to do!"

I'm not dead yet!

"And there I was, yessir, amidst the dead of my regiment, the Spears of Hoffenmark, lying wounded and the only survivor on either side. And on down the road I sees a dust cloud coming up slowly. At first, I thought it might be the reinforcements we was promised. Then I thought it might at least be more of them, come ta finish me off. But i'twasnt neither. It was Death himself, come to collect the bodies!"

The Sticher

"Now, now me boy. True power doesn't come from chaos. That'll just make you a puppet--and that is no power at all. And it doesn't come from Sigmar, either!" cackled the wizened old man as he hackec a glob of phlegm at the mention of Sigmar. He grabbed his corpulent assistant by the arm and lead him the dais. His familiar followed him, psychically knowing where to shine the light from its candle to illuminate its master's project. "No, it comes from the mastery of life and death, and once I am done with my children, Ottersricht shall be ours!"

New Domain and a Contest!

For a long time I stored all my photos of my miniatures on Photobucket. For those that haven't heard, someone over there decided they were going to start charging a substantial amount of money to link to the photos in your gallery. But to be honest, I was largely getting sick of Photobucket anyway due to the obscene number of advertisements you have to deal with. So, with the new fees to host photos being metaphorical the straw that broke the camel's back, I decided to set up my own image server and gallery for my photos (quite honestly, I hated most of the commercial photo sharing options). To do so, I had to purchase some server space and that came with it's own domain name. So update your bookmarks because my blog is now located at www.acceptableradiation.com. The old address will still work if you're lazy though!

Now, the gallery isn't quite up and running yet, but I wanted to go ahead and run a contest! The first person that can tell me what my blog's title is a reference to (without Googling it!) will win Death on his Pale Horse from Thomas Foss' Triumph of Death range, painted by yours truly!

Now get guessing!

Bring Out Yer Dead [Lead]!

There is no denying that the Mayor was an odd and often polarizing figure, but nothing stood out more than his steadfast protection of religious freedom and refusal to impose the rites of the Imperial Cult on the people of Karr-Keel.  Not surprisingly, in the absence of official religion, strange new rituals cropped up throughout the city.  And, in spite of the Mayor’s protests, he played a central role in many of them.  One that drew adherents from all over the city was the Fellowship of the Flames, which preached that those who died on the Mayor’s birthday were truly blessed, and celebrated the great event by burning the bodies of the blessed dead on a giant bonfire after the Mayor’s birthday cake was served.  This ceremony was a particular favorite of the Teamsters Guild, and their festively decorated carts could be seen making their way through the streets of Karr-Keel as they gathered up the freshly dead for the Fellowship’s Great Fire.  Surrounded by costumed partygoers and entertainers, and showered with coin thrown by ecstatic adherents, each cart was enveloped in its own processional of color, sound, and infectious enthusiasm.  There is some irony in the fact that, of all the people of Karr-Keel, only the new dead on their way to the Great Fire failed to rise again in the wake of the Necroburgher’s curse.  Perhaps the Fellowship was right, and they were the blessed few.  Regardless, many of these carts still travel throughout Karr-Keel, gathering up the remains of vagabonds, thieves, and adventurers who are drawn to their doom in the cursed city by the siren’s song of riches and power.  What the rotting teamsters do with their haul is anyone’s guess.  Who knows what use the Necroburgher has for such gristly things?

Karolingia Panthers Bloodbowl Franchise Club

Bloodbowl season is upon as! I completed this team back in March or April, and didn't get a chance to photograph them before I had to put everything up. They were largely a speed paint as I had intended to teach my oldest son how to play Bloodbowl since he was really excited about it when I picked it up from my local GW store. Sadly, we still haven't played! The bulk of the armor was airbrushed Vallejo Magic Blue with an Electric Blue zenithal highlight applied. Then an edge highlight of Electric Blue with some white was applied with a brush. The metals, leathers, and flesh were applied as normal. I did again choose to have a multi-ethnic team with four white, four black, and four olive skinned players. Because these models were painted quickly, the roughness was hidden with lots of mud and blood (it is called BLOODbowl after all!). Lots and Lots of mud and blood. Finally, I wanted applied static grass to the entire base, to simulate a well-manicured pitch and painted white chalk lines once the grass was set. Now, I just have to complete the Ogre and the team is set!

First up are the team pictures:

Damn you, inconsistent lighting!

And the individual players:

Kameron Newton

Jakob Menschlich

Stephan Smith

Gerhard Olsen

Knut Greene

Kaiser Peppers

Kristoph Jenkins

Michael Rucker

Dagmar Morgan

Wilhelm Witherspoon

Tomas Davis

Rainer Kalil

Sigmarite Priest at the NOVA Open

I've mentioned a few times in the past that 1) I used to do all this through a thread on Warseer, and 2) I had intended to enter a bunch of models into the 2010 Golden Demons in Baltimore, MD but ran out of time to the birth of one of my children. This model fits into both categories as he has previously been shown on the old Warseer thread and was intended to be finished for Golden Demon 2010 but was not done in time so I entered the test model I had done for him instead (which was a runner up!).

Well, I decided that it was time for him to fulfill his destiny and actually be entered into a painting contest. Mainly because I found out about a very large painting contest that is just down the road from me! I entered him into the 2017 NOVA Open's Capital Palette contest. And a big thanks to Rushputin at the warpstonepile for picking him up for me!

He didn't place, but I didn't expect him to. When I finished him, I rushed it because I was sick of looking at a half painted miniature for 2 or 3 years! And you can see where the rush and the boredom affected the quality. The metallics lack enough contrast and the lines of the freehand on the cape are way too thin. The display base also looks a little funny because my dam wasn't secure when I pored the water and I had to sand it and repaint it with the model still attached!

All that said, I'm still pretty happy with how he turned out and I learned a lot doing him. He was one of the first models I've done that is attempting to tell a story, specifically of a Sigmarite priest chasing his quarry into the swamp.

Check out Initiative Magazine issue 8!

So back at the beginning of the year, I was asked to write an article about Oldhammer for Initiative Magazine, a gaming magazine from the publishers of Figure Painter Magazine.  Well, it's out now and available here! Go check it out, it's easily worth the few quids, or whatever those silly English Kniggits call their currency. Not just for my article, but there are some great pictures of Iain Aitken's dwarfs and a great terrain article too!

So that this entire blog post isn't shilling a magazine, I've finally got my hobby area back and have been doing a little paining, including the wonderful zombie cart for the Zombies of Karr-keel. I'm also hoping to sit down early next week and take a ton of photos for this blog, including some older stuff that I never got around to photographing very well.

But back to shilling, go check out Initiative Magazine Issue 8 now!

NEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRDDDDDDDD!!!!!!

Okay, so I still haven't cleaned out my painting area to get to my photography stuff or to be able to paint. I have been able to do some modelling, and right now I am focusing on rebasing my Newhammer Chaos for Age of Sigmar and the upcoming Armies on Parade event. One thing I have been able to do, however, is set up a fancy-schmancy glass display cabinet. 

I picked up one of the Ikea Detloff cabinets. I had to add a lock to it as well, since my kids will frequently be playing down there. And despite what that says about "no drill," that lock definitely requires drilling to install! 

I had wanted to add extra shelves using Richard Helliwell's 3D printed shelf clips, but I couldn't find anywhere that would cut me some tempered glass shelves (again, the kids!) for a reasonable price. No one charged less than a new Deloff cabinet for a single shelf! This shocked me because most of the DIY guides said they got new shelves for the $12-19 US range and I was getting quotes in the $80 US range.  So if anyone knows an affordable place to get shelves cut, let me know.

Oh, and a word to the wise, the plastic clips that hold the glass together must go on in a specific way that is easy to overlook. I had a lot of problems that stemmed solely from that.

So anyway, here's the shelf assembled and placed in my basement:

And here it is full of my NEEERRRRDDDD!!!! stuff:

A close-up of some Lego and Transformers:

And what most readers of this blog will want to see, some of my better models, including a front row that I haven't added to the blog yet!

The Monocracy of Ottersricht

The approach to Ottersricht is an impressive sight. As you pass through the dry plains towards it, you can see it rise up even as you are still a great distance away. When you get closer, however, it is even more peculiar in appearance. A tall, lonely mountain (if you can call it that) extends from the otherwise flat surface. The mountain is surprisingly narrow, although it does have a few gangly peaks jutting from its main body. Much of the slope is shear and cliff-like.

Once you arrive at the mountain, the path up is narrow and winds around the mountain all the way to the fortress. The path itself is wide enough for a cart and maybe a horse alongside it. And it is not very well kept. A local may be able to memorize every pit and crack, but the assent is not kind to a traveler. The outermost level consists of stone walls, referred to as “the fortress” (somewhat tongue-in cheek), mostly to allow soldiers to defend the town. A large gate stretches across the narrow path. The gate has a set of large, iron doors and a portcullis that can be closed in times of need. The homes in Ottersricht frequently appear to be part of the mountain itself; windows often appear on the side of the sheer surface and bricked in holes can be seen sporadically. There are city streets within the mountain town, of course. They are usually cobblestoned and wind and curve around the natural contours of the mountain and around the homes and other buildings that have been erected over the course of Ottersricht’s history. Although narrow, the mountain does have enough space for all necessary buildings of a fortified village as well. The citizens also rely on the copious amounts of tunnels that make their way through the mountain. While many of these tunnels have been dug by the citizenry, some predate the settlement of the mountain and many more are unknown.

Illustration by J. Brisken

The most common method of reaching Ottersricht is to travel the great road across the barren plains. Nothing much grows on the plains as the soil is too alkaline. But the mountain is in an interesting position, for just on the other side of the mountain begin the bogs. Maybe at one point in the distant past the area was a giant forest with a magnificent lake. But those days are long gone and the bogs are all the lone reminder that there used to be something there.

There are two season in Ottersricht: the rainy season and everything else. During the rainy season, the rain comes from all directions while the wind whips across the plains. It is these torrents that lead those of a scientific mindset to assume that the peculiar mountain on which Ottersricht is located was shaped and formed by countless years of erosion. Of course, those of a supernatural mindset look towards the tunnels with curiosity…

Regardless of the season, the temperature is often cold. Not cold enough to freeze, but cold enough to sap your energy and encourage sitting by a warm fire. This is another reason for the popularity of the tunnels. The underground stays at a temperature that is much more comfortable than being outdoors!

Due to the poor soil, the citizens of Ottersricht grow little of their own food, relying on trade for much of their diet. Many of the homes have large “window boxes” that grow a small amount of vegetables and the larger homes even have small terraces, but within the walls, there is not the space to grow more than that. The bog provides fruits, but as these are often bitter, they are mixed into other foods and rarely eaten plain. The bogs also provide plentiful hunting for those adventurous enough to explore far into them. The tunnels do provide some bounty. Rich mushrooms grow abundantly in the caves. These mushrooms are high in vitamins and minerals, but spongy and bland. Additionally, people have begun to farm the large spiders that inhabit the tunnels. These spiders can be kept in pens and allowed to feed on the vermin that already lives in the tunnels. These spiders, while low in flavor, are high in protein.

The town is run by the Monocrat, the single highest ranking government bureaucrat. The Monocrat acts with total authority to enforce and interpret the town’s various rules and regulations—both secular and religious. In the days before, it is said that the Monocrat was appointed by Sigmar himself. Now, it is a position achieved by toiling away until every bureaucrat above you dies or reaches mandatory retirement age. And that includes the Monocrat. This elevation of the lowly government employee has led to countless rules and regulations controlling who can do what and when to an excruciating degree. The only saving grace is that very often the present Monocrat cares far less about the rules of the previous Monocrat. But when in Ottersricht, one must always be wary of what obscure rule may be broken.

The current Monocrat is Kasper Hans. Like most Monocrats before him, he is an elderly man, with sunken eyes, pasty skin, and boney fingers, all from years spent cloistered at his desk turning the wheels of Bureaucracy. As he always has, Kasper spends most of his time still stationed at his desk in his office. After all, one does not rise to the level of Monocrat by taking holidays!

One of Kasper Hans’ first rules was to pass a tax of all followers of chaos; not that anyone admits to such a thing. This tax is not your normal tax, however, and mere coin will not suffice. No, the followers of chaos within the realms of Ottersricht must pay a yearly tax of a silverweight of their own flesh. And very few have survived paying such a steep tax! This tax has also lead to the appointment of a special taxman, known as the Tithe Collector. He and his Tallymen roam the area looking for those evading Ottersricht’s revenue service.

This does not mean that all is well in Ottersricht, however. The Tallymen’s use of force has roused the bog mutants in colonies, as they are the most frequent victims of the revenue men. Particularly cunning or large mutants have managed to form tribes of mutants for mutual self-protection, and they have begun to launch the occasional raid on lonely individuals and small groups. And to make matters worse, several citizens have gone missing of late in the tunnels, with whispers of their disappearance referring to “the stitcher” taking them. The town’s location on an alkaline plain brings out the lunatic wanders too; and you have to be a special kind of vagabond to survive such a barren environment. But not all travelers are bad—why rumor has it that a merchant’s caravan full of bizarre wonders is on its way to Ottersricht!

As I spend less time actually gaming, I've found myself spending more time world building in my mind while I paint. After all, how else will I know that the swordsman I am painting is not just some swordsman, but Otto the butcher's son who has been levied into the town militia on his off days? These kind of details help keep me enthusiastic about painting and make decisions about how to paint. 

But such world building is also fun; it lets me tell a story—even if only to my self. Although, I do plan on using these stories to convince my kids to game 😂 Ottersricht, described above, is set in the Warhammer world, but I've kept it intentionally vague as to which one. It could easily be a city-state in the Border Princes or an isolated town in one of the many realms of the Age of Sigmar. My goal is to be able to tell stories in both games without having to reinvent the wheel, or more importantly remodel my (as yet unbuilt) gaming table. And to not confuse my children who likely won't give a rat's ass about the difference between the old world and the nine realms!

In the coming weeks, I'll be detailing more about some of the personalities I introduced above. The Stitcher and several of his henchmen are done, as is a bog mutant, with a few more partially converted. I just need to take photos of those once my basement remodel is finished (very soon!). Most of the parts for the Tallymen and the Merchants are purchased but a little bit further away. Plus I have some plans for some "NPC" type characters as well. 

Oh, and finally, a huge thanks to Jason Brisken for the artwork!