Update: August 12, 2016

Well, it has definitely been a while since I posted anything on this page. Just slightly over three months it looks like. Don't worry, I haven't given up any hobbies, I just haven't had as much time for them with a family vacation, child raising duties, and lots, and I mean lots, of work piling up on my desk. Though, up until recently I really haven't felt the desire or need to push hobbying to the forefront of my limited free time. However, I am now glad to say that has changed as I gear up for the West Coast GT in early September and just a desire to fully transfer my old Skaven army into a full Ratkin army for Kings of War. I have also been eyeing Malifaux and am in the process of putting together a crew in order to steal a few quick games here and there this winter when the amount of chores around the house begins to dwindle.

Let's take a look at what's been going on:

First up is Malifaux. I grabbed the Malifaux 2nd Edition book and got hooked on its scenario based play. Not wanting to take this game to seriously, though, I opted to choose the Gremlins as my faction. I just love the idea of clay mug swilling, pig riding, swamp-billies running around. To start my collection I picked up just the basic Bayou Boss set which includes Som'r Teeth Jones and his Gremlin crew.





























The big difference with Malifaux models are how small the sculpts and details are in comparison to Warhammer and Kings of War models. The kit was just full of small details like hats, fishing rods, and shoes that were difficult to see, let alone glue to a model.





























Here's Lenny, hanging out with his little piggie friend.





























And one of the more ridiculous, but fun sculpts in the Gremlin army, the 'skeeters (think gigantic flying poisonos mosquitoes).





























The basic faction models are also fantastic looking and I am really looking forward to putting some paint on these models in the near future, though it will be after the West Coast GT as I have been pushing Kings of War models at the moment.





























Next up the transition project to Kings of War. The first army I decided to transition was the Skaven to Ratkin. This was because the Wood Elves the army furthest along on normal square bases and could be easily switched to Age of Sigmar if I like where the game ends up after the release of the General's Compendium (which I have still yet to pick up, because there aren't that many AoS tournaments in the U.S., let alone the West Coast).

With that in mind, I knew I needed to start working on bases first, so that I had something on which to put the models. I purchased a bunch of models from Tectonic Craft Studios because they made very simple, and perfectly sized MDF bases that cover the whole range of various Kings of War units sizes. While I have been playing around with the rats, my favorite units are the Clawshots, and I plan on always including at least one, if not two of these in my lists (especially now as these models are some of the most painted). So I jumped right to putting together a base for the first unit.

I went with a quicky piled up defenses look based around rocks and scattered shields from fallen enemies. The whole theme of this list will be a Ratkin army that has destroyed a previous settlement and has been living in its squalor. The army will be based as though it is in the process of being besieged and the Ratkin units using the terrain and settlement (what's left of it at least) to their advantage. To accomplish this goal, I expect to use a lot of broken masonry and a combined rusty and oxized metal look that you can really see on the metal potions of the shields in this piece. Now, I just have a few dozen more bases to get together.

Front view:





























Rear view: