Hello there! Welcome back to Hammer the Backlog, the weekly Warhammer mini painting accountability and productivity blog. It’s been a very, very busy week for me, with a lot of crunch happening on the various parts of the project, mixed in with some complex models to paint!
Let’s see how I got on with only 4 weeks left to go in the quarter!
SCORECARD
A little bit of red sneaking into the scorecard again this week with only 4 actual models painted. This was a bit of a slip up on my behalf, as I usually count standard bearers as two models worth due to their added completely. I shouldn’t have this time though, as there was no banner to paint!
A big part of why the painting was down to the wire this week (I still haven’t actually finished the models as I’m writing this) was that I spent most of Saturday, my main painting day, recording both the learning to play video and the Wrath of Tlaxtlan battle report. I’m hoping to have them both online soon, one next weekend and the other the following weekend. Then it will be back into the studio for the quarterly review! This quarter really has flown by!
The Dogs of War are really starting to look very cool now, with two solid blocks or core infantry, a unit of scouts, a general and a large flying monster. When I get the Warmachine and crew done this will be about the size that screams ideal Warhammer army to me. Well, maybe a wizard. And a small unit of cavalry. No! Stop! Hammer the Backlog!
THIS WEEK’S MODELS
This week’s models are some of my favourite models of all time. I love them so much, in fact, that this is my third time painting them. Sadly I don’t have high definition photos of each of the three attempts to compare, but I am confident in saying that the third version is my favourite version so far.
The highlight of painting the front rank was that the leader, standard bearer and musician all had half full leopard pelts, rather than just helmets. This really drives the leopard look home and even helps tie the rest of the unit together.
I’ve gone for a fairly faithful attempt at a real leopard pattern, given the tiny size. Real leopards have very, very dense spots, large and close together. They are almost like a rosette, with a dark reddy brown centre and black petals. At this scale, that level of detail on the spots would certainly be possible, but I think the density would make it too disruptive to the eye. So I went for the basic pattern of the darkest fur with the biggest spots along the spine, getting lighter and with smaller spots as it goes towards the legs. Overall I’m very happy with the look. Even if you have to look at them from behind to get their best angle.
Sadly, I have long since lost the original banner for the leopard company. Believe it or not, it is the only original banner I haven’t managed to hold on to. After briefly toying with the idea of painting a new one, I was lucky to have one of the good eggs from the Dogs of War facebook group send me a decent, if not exactly perfect, scan of an original. I am happy enough with it, but will definitely replace it if an original crosses my path at some stage.
Funnily enough, the work in progress pictures almost give a better view of the leopard spots, so I’ve included a couple of them here.
BATTLE REPORTS
The big thing I learned this week is don’t try to film battle reports on your own! Holding the camera, trying to get cool shots, all the while being the one who’s holding the camera and trying to move the models? Absolute disaster. I think the videos are going to come out ok, I just need to manufacture a couple of extra hours in every day for the next two weeks to get the editing done and record the real voice overs!
NEXT WEEK’S MODELS
As some of my 90’s survivors, Bronzino and one of his famous galloper guns are in pretty poor shape these days. They are very much looking forward to their dip in the spawning pools (aka Biostrip 20) and their new coat of paint over the next two weeks. As am I!
Well thank you for reading this far!
As Always,
Yours in Good Eggs
Mick
Hammer the Backlog 
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