The Army That Won't Parade - Re-Capturing The Slow Hobby Spirit

Sadly, Armies On Parade isn't going to happen for me this year. I found myself over the last week or so getting really anxious about having things at a certain stage and the amount of painting time I had left. 

I also realised that I was starting to paint in ways that I simply didn't want to: ultimately, I was losing my 'slow hobby' spirit and turning leisure into slog. Not a recipe for happiness.

So I returned all my Nurgle folks to their shelf and turned again to picking them off one or two at a time and experimenting away contently, while imagining that I'm a real artist. 

At least the tidying away led to more effectively presented shelves, so, dear reader, please take this humble photograph as a small prelude to my annual 'climbing sprue mountain' posts...

A Very Orky Distraction

I doubt that I'm the first hobbyist to damn themselves for constantly getting distracted. I'm certain I'm not the last. There are just so many new toys out there demanding to be bought. Things aren't helped by the unique pleasure associated with assembling plastics. During the recent hobby lull that afflicted me due to non-packed paints for a week in Cornwall I filled that vacated hole with reading and planning with the Ork codex - the plan? Feral Orks for the 2014 Armies on Parade. Now that's thinking ahead! But it's meant that for the last fortnight I've been converting batches of models from Orcs to Orks - I started out back in the hobby building on the contents of the Battle for Skull Pass set, so I gathered plenty of greenskins during that re-christening period, almost all of which I didn't bother to paint. Thus, Orks are a great option, especially considering how cool the newish Savage Orcs are. 

There is another historical link here, because I played Feral Orks way back in the days of Rogue Trader. Back then it was as a consequence of having a mix of futuristic and wild boyz, and a distinct lack of any funds whatsoever to use to build an army. Now, things are somewhat different. Consider, for example, the prospect of converting up a whole range of cyborg-squig-creatures to take the place of trucks and battlewagons and bikes... The future is green (with lashings of orange I imagine too).

Armies On Parade - Accidental Nurgle Goo And Gloss

Following a slight problem with a forgotten paint box during my holiday last week, I ended up experimenting with something completely new: Tamiya X series paints. This wasn't entirely intentional yet by happy accident I think I've found a neat way to do the 'gooey' weapons on the Obliterators and Mutilators. These paints are glossy which is very unfashionable these days. I'm hoping they might lend a slight old school edge to this bunch of degenerates. Here's how it's going so far:

Armies On Parade - Choosing The Nurgle Heavy Mob

I'm off to Cornwall on holiday with the family and in-laws for a week tomorrow, so you know what that means...? Tons of quality painting time while the grandparents, aunts and uncle look after the kids! So with that in mind my thoughts are turning for the first time in earnest to this year's Armies On Parade. This is my basic plan: simple base populated by the Nurgle Heavy Mob. That means, 3 Daemon Princes, 3 Obliterators, 3 Mutilators, the Plague Hulk, and the Helfly. I might do 10 zombie style crazy gang cultists too, so I can use the cool smaller models I have. Here are the three sets of heavies:

As for the base, I'm thinking really simple because I don't have the time to do anything fancy. This is all about motivation, a set goal, and an opportunity to show off some minis in public: I'm not trying to win anything (although with the introduction of a gold, silver and bronze prize per GW store it's a possibility I might get a trophy, which would obviously be lovely).

Question Time: Should I Do Armies On Parade?

Ok online buddies, here's a question for you all: should I do Armies On Parade this year? It's Games Workshop's annual display-a-thon and I quite fancy a bit of that display board action. I've never taken my little fellas out of the house before, so this would be a big step for me. Worth a pop? 

I wondered if any of you had taken part before and what your experiences were? I wanted to use it as a good focal point, an excuse for modelling, painting and really tailoring a force - I'm thinking my Nurgle guys, boosted a little to make the sub-group that makes it on the board a full-on GW affair.

I do hope you all tell me it's a good idea... I've already got some new goodies on mail order...!

If you live outside the UK you'll have no idea who this chap is.