It’s now been over a month since I put metaphorical pen to paper and started my erstwhile tale, so it’s time for an update of my trials and tribulations, and more importantly my progress towards the first 500 point mustering of a Bray Herd.

In short, it’s not gone well.

The first war-band summoned forth seemed to have taken the punk aesthetic a little too much to heart and rebelled against the only thing they could. The delivery date. Given that they still haven’t decided to put in a showing I can only assume that Morrisleb is in ascendence and they’re involved in a ritualistic orgy under the oppressive boughs of the Drakwald. Maybe when the moon finally sets they’ll feel the call of the wild and sheepishly arrive on my doorstep begging forgiveness. Or maybe the Amazon Marketplace seller was a shady bastard and ran off with my payment and no intention of dispatching anything. Either way, Amazon refunded swiftly and following a trip to my local Workshop of Gaming Delight, the fun could begin.

I’d love to say I have the whole battalion assembled, but I don’t (clearly). The Ungor came first as practice pieces, followed by 10 (half) of the Gor. Clipped off, major mould lines removed, glued together and feet pinned ready for painting. I find painting far easier when you can just push pins into a champagne cork (I bought a boxload off ebay on the cheap) and have something to properly get hold of.

As far as colour schemes I wanted something quick and easy. I’ve wasted a month and have some catching up to do with certain individuals who seem to have already practically finished. From the outset I’ve known I wouldn’t be following the studio paint job (I never do) and want to go for something with a pale fur similar to the Mierce Miniatures Gabrax, but a lot darker for the skin tone for contrast.

With this in mind I primed with my usual Vallejo Black Primer through an airbrush. Deciding to experiment, I turned this into dual priming by hitting each little fella with a zenithal layer of white primer, again through an airbrush. I have to say I like the immediate depth this gives to a mini.

I forgot a photo, so have a Gor.

Next up was a quick and dirty liberal wash with Nuln Oil to catch any detail and remove the harshness from the zenithal layer, whilst still leaving the depth of shading. Just be careful to avoid any major pools.

Freshly washed, not often a beast can say that.

All the wood areas were based in VMA Mahogony which has fantastic coverage out of the bottle, but still remains fairly translucent and shows off the variation in shade underneath. The furry bits were all based in thinned down VMA Burnt Umber.

I realise there’s no wood in shot, it’s on the back of his hide covered shield.

The wood was given a quick dry-brush with Vallejo Dark Sand before washing with Agrax Earthshade. Fur and hair (beards then) were quickly dry-brushed with VMC Dark Sand, then VMC Pale Sand, and just the highest areas across the shoulder and beard that would catch the light were hit with VMC Ivory. To lend a bit of variation to the units I will be stopping at various stages in between base coat and Ivory.

Metals were based with Leadbelcher followed by a highlight of VMA Steel and a metal/armour wash recipe I stole from here that worked well on my Dystopian Wars Fleet. Then string and weapon grips have been base coated in white ready for an Agrax wash to dirty down.

I now just need to work out what spot colour I’ll be painting up loincloths (whatever this colour, it’ll be repeated across the banners, cloth and armour of the other units) and then finish the details, including horns, hooves and piercings.

I was thinking teal for a spot colour, then I spotted a unit of woad encrusted Gor on page 54 of July’s White Dwarf. Whilst they look stunning, seeing an army already painted up in that colour immediately sends me in a different direction. Plus Teal would be a bit too close to Kev’s Gobbos. I’m now leaning towards a nice warm orange to contrast with both the muted tones of the model, and the cold snow base that I’ll ultimately end up with for these guys. In my uncertainty I decided to bounce the question around the Corehammer collective.

Time will tell.