Standard Bearer + Slaves+ Basing = Hobby Progress!!

Hey everyone, this week has been pretty productive, with my Standard Bearer for my Warrior unit getting some well-earned brush time these last few days.  I’ve tried something a little different with the Tzeentch Icon on the top of the standard, while also including some minor free-hand work on the banner itself.  While the design on the banner is fairly basic, I’m happy with the way it came out and I think it’ll stand out from across the battlefield.  I’m as yet undecided on the icon however, as I’ve used numerous washes in an attempt to give the illusion of a myriad colours rippling across the silvered steel.  It’s a very experimental method for me, one that I’m not 100% sold on as yet.

 As can be seen in the pictures (hopefully), I've layered Blue, Purple and Green washes across the entire icon, allowing each layer to dry fully before adding the next.  Whether this has achieved the look I wanted, I'm not yet sure, however I’d appreciate any thoughts you have on it. 

The free-hand on the banner is a simple combination of the chaos star and a paw print of a wolf.  This combines both the units worship of Chaos with their kinship they have with their totem, the wolves that surround their mountain holds.  It pays to practice drawing the design on paper first, just so you get a handle on the muscle movements required to make the design before you try painting it on the banner.  With a little care and patience, even someone like me can product a passable product.

With the days ticking away until Tricksters Blade, I’m going to attempt to do something a little different with my painting schedule.  Rather than base my level of progress on models that have been painted, I’m going to aim to have a certain number of points worth of models painted with each Plog entry.  Now I’m confident that with a bit of effort, I can product between 100-150 points worth of painted models per month.  Considering I post here about every two weeks, that’s 50-75 points of models per article.  Not a huge ask really.  So far this month I’ve completed 2 captives (which count as Chaos Warriors) and I’ve almost completed my Standard Bearer for the same unit.  Taking the point value of each of these models (including upgrades), I’ve completed about 60 odd points worth of troops.  Not a bad effort really, but it also helps when the models base cost is 15 points J.  When I start painting my Chaos Marauders however, I think we’ll see me begin to struggle (damn you 4 point infantry!!), but that problem is for another time.  

While I’m on the topic of unit completion, I’ve completed the basing for my two units of Chaos Hounds that I run in my army.  While only 30 points a unit, they can be very useful when used to hunt enemy war machines.  They were some of the first models painted for my first Chaos Army, but since then, their bases were still missing snow.  But no longer.  Now my puppies can gleefully scamper across the snow-covered landscape like the rest of my army, crunching the surface of the fallen snow with their no-doubt very chilly paws.

So at the end of this article my stats are as follows:

Number of Days remaining: 79

Number of Units Completed: 3

Points Painted this fortnight: 120 (including the hounds)

See you again next time

Trev