Volley’ed and Thundered

No one accuses the gunner of maudlin affection for anything except his beasts and his weapons. He serves as least three jealous gods–his horse and all its sadlery and harness; his gun, whose least detail of efficiency is more important than men’s lives; and, when these have been attended to, the never-ending mystery of his art commands him.

Today's subject is the two Trollkin artillery crew units, consisting of three models for each of the "Thumper" and "Pummeler" guns.

Shaping Up Some Doom

 "I'm a wizard, mind you. This place is kept by powerful gods and spirits of kings. Harm my flesh and you will have to deal with the dead!"

The three Doomshaper models weren't all done at the same time, but I'm going to cover them in a single post since these were straightforward conversions, just head-swaps and some minor repairs.

Speak Softly and Carry a Big Sword (and Hammer)

Sword-play is an odd thing; you don't really use your mind, it is much too fast for that. Your wrist thinks and tells your feet and body what to do, bypassing your brain...
Hammer-play, on the other hand, is reasonably straightforward.

The Fennblade Kithkar was a late addition to 'blades, and while the model itself was a bit of a hack (and slash) job, my compatriot channeled everything he learned painting the unit here and produced a really fine result.

Never Cry Troll

"They call me Mad Jack, and if there is anybody in these mountains that knows the real story about the Trollkin Skinner, that'd be me. So I'm putting it down in writing just how it happened in hopes of setting the record straight."

The trollkin skinner is a model for which I knew I HAD to do a conversion as part of this project.  With his Crockettlike coonskin cap and a knife large enough to impress an Australian action hero, it's a goofy model by any measure - but also an endearing one.

Propitious Prognosticationism

"Like the others, you were strong and swift and brave. A natural leader. But you had something they didn't. Something no one saw but me. Can you guess? 
"Luck."
"Was I wrong?" 

Calandra is another one of the warlocks I completed a conversion for relatively early on.  It's only a head and an arm swap, but it did present us with a new challenge as the first of the female trollkin models we'd added to the lineup.  As it turns out, the GW style orc heads we'd been using are not, as a rule, especially feminine. 

Blades in the Bog

"And when all the most renowned in the ancient sagas are named, the Fennblades must be counted the foremost in strength and accomplishments, in zeal and valor.

In keeping with the theme of coming back to start up activity in this blog once more, I thought it might be worthwhile to discuss some of the first models that I ever painted (and my namesake on this blog):  The Fennblades.

Swords in the Swamp

Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!

That one's for you, Jack.  Alright, so, Fennblades.  This was the first dedicated unit I converted as part of the trollkin project.  After the kriel warriors (which were originally just Orc Boys) this was the most straightforward of the infantry units, with conversion work limited to headswaps and a few reposed arms.

Grim Hunts Us All

"Then Angus, with a quiet expression, spoke to his companions in the hunt as they wandered through the solitary wilds. 'Friends, our spears and nets are drenched with the blood of our victims, and the day has been fortunate enough."

Hello, welcome back to another riveting¹ edition of The Ravening Kriels paint articles. Today's story: Grim Angus. Our story picks up where our talented sculptor left off,  a heavily modified, reposed model made from ork bits, original work, and filled gaps. The end result however, really gives the model a well-travelled look fitting for the Hallowed Hunstman.™

The Future Belongs to the Mad

"We must be bound to one another... bound by hell-forged chains and fate-haunted circumstance. Well, then let it be thus so—and men will have cause to tremble and flee when they hear the names of the Madrak Ironhide and Rathrok, his axe."

The first warlock model I wanted to tackle was the first warlock that I learned how to play, the straight fightin', skull splittin', kriel leadin', world endin' Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftain. This was done after I had accrued a healthy amount of experience painting the infantry size models. At this point, I had painted roughly half of my Fennblade contingent (stay tuned for that post, there's a lot of Fennblades).

Points on Painting

"My father worked in profanity the way other artists might 
work in oils or clay. It was his true medium, a master."

Before I get into some of the more in-depth posts I intend to write about the painting of The Ravening Kriels, I wanted to give a Public Service Announcement regarding the equipment that I have been using as the painting half of this project along with my esteemed colleague. The work has been ongoing for a few years already, and pictured is the latest iteration of my painting equipment. However, the quality of my kit has been going up piece by piece as I learn new techniques, read more articles, and track down better loot from better dungeons.

The Grimmest of Anguses

"Grim Angus first the bloody chase began, 

A mighty hunter, and his prey was Man."

The first two warlocks I built for Jack were a battlebox Madrak1, and Grim Angus.  Both were immediately slated to be orc-ified, of course (a fact that contributed to their being on top of the list) and the Madrak alterations were straightforward - just a head swap, slight re-posing, a run-of-the-mill leg replacement surgery, and some gap filling

The Ravening Kriels: Introduction

Welcome to The Ravening Kriels, a project log for our ongoing Trollbloods Army conversion project for the Hordes miniature game.  The goal is a heavily-customized force with a classic high-fantasy "Evil Horde" aesthetic, including all the multifarious multitudes of Goblins, Hobgoblins, Orcs, Ogres, Bugbears, Trolls, and Were-Donkeys that trope implies.  As currently mapped out, the final collection will include a mostly complete Trollbloods collection, and a handful of Minions as well, almost all converted from the base models in some degree.