From ReillyOG: Through the Fire and the Flames! College of Fire Opening Lineup (50 Points) (Arda)

The opening lineup for the College of Fire

 

2021-22 Painting Challenge start! Glad to jump into the challenge this year with renewed painting vigour after a long iso painting slump, with the recent re-release of a GW cult classic Dungeon Bowl. A new take on the blood soaked fantasy football game, this version sees our teams lost in a labyrinth of tight corridors and large rooms filled with traps and treasure alike trying to find the ball which has been locked away in a chest (naturally there are decoys with bombs inside) before escorting it to an endzone room, also hidden in the dungeon. TLDR; Bloodbowl but with the craziness tuned up to 11. 

College supplied portal is also apart of this entry.

The release of this new box set finds me with the College of Fire. A team made up of Ogres, Dwarves, Snotlings, and Khornate Bloodborn Marauders due to their shared 'hot-headed' personalities. This entry brings us to the opening line up for the team. The lads who start the game already in the dungeon, as opposed to being teleported in randomly from the Dugout.

Gnoblars 'Angry Bird'(Left) and 'Che Guevera'(Right)

Make sure you don't accidentally trod on them, cause we're starting with the Gnoblars of the team. These guys, while absolutely rubbish at the game on a regular blood bowl pitch, get quite the glowup when chucked into a congested dungeon. Their small size makes it quite easy for them to navigate dungeon corridors even when they are filled to the brim of players both friendly and otherwise, whether that is by squeezing through their legs or being chucked over the top by their friendly Ogres. That, added with their handy ability to choose where they are pushed and block up space in the dungeon (both standing and when laid out by a fairly brutal punch) means they can make navigating the dungeon quite frustrating for your opponent. 

These two were by far my favourite two sculpts of the Gnoblars from the Ogre Blood Bowl team sprue that came in the Dungeon Bowl box set and thus became the proof of concept for the colour scheme.

The Bloodborn Marauder and Troll Slayer of the team

Next we have the more average(ish) sized members of the team, the Troll Slayer and the Khorne Bloodborn Marauder. These fellas fill a more regular role when compared to their pitch bound counterparts in that they are there to punch, and punch hard. They can often find themselves in trouble as the tight space when combined with their never ending frenzy means they can often accidentally step on a portal while concentrating on bashing some skulls and either end up on the other side of the dungeon, or lost in the College Library (portals aren't an exact science... or science at all really). 

These boys gave me some excellent practice for painting heavily muscled bare chested players for an upcoming project, as well as serving excellent proof of concept for the colour scheme for the rest of the team (many of which are dwarves). 

To my great shame, this was my first time painting the distinctive bright orange Troll Slayer mohawk and beard, despite my entire WHFB army full of 60+ Troll Slayers. Very happy with how it turned out.

Bear Traps are a classic favourite of these large Mountain faring 'men'

High fiving people's faces with bear traps doesn't come without a fight.

 

Last but not least, we have the large looming figure of one of the team's Ogres. This particular ogre, 'Larry', is part of the famed trio of Ogres that find themselves on this team and continue to prove themselves invaluable to the team's success. In the few games at the start of the season so far, Larry has already managed to score a touchdown; a feat many Ogres fail to achieve both in the dungeon and on the pitch.

This big boy gave me a very different view of painting skin the the muscled and toned physique I was suddenly used to. The fatty skin was a lot harder to give some decent definition and depth to the point where I still have no idea how one might achieve that past giving him tattoos, scars, and bruises(which I did start to explore). I loved the idea of him running around a corner and slapping you in the face with a bear trap too much to not get this guy painted up first out of the trio.

Overall, this release has firmly starting the painting train again in the O'G household with Paul and myself beginning the inevitable Dungeon Bowl arms race. The game is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it as a low cost of entry GW game (rare, I know) that is a whole bunch of fun.

This entry's points come out to a neat 50 points due to the generosity of Arda:

 - Arda: 20 points

 - Snotlings + Dwarf: 15 points each

 - Bloodborne Marauder + Ogre: 14 points(Khorne Marauder and Ogre are larger than your usual 28mm fig and come in at a more decently sized 32/35mm, similar to that of a Primaris Space Marine, and thus costed at 7 points each, precedent set by previous Primaris Marine posts)

 - Portal: 1 point

Happy Painting all, and good luck getting through all your piles of shame!

Reilly 'Right Stuff' O'G

__________________________-_

First, welcome back to the Challenge, Reilly!

I quite like your 'College of Fire' team, especially the Slayer leaping forward with his impressive beard trailing underneath him. The Gnoblars look great as well, and I like the idea that they can be thrown by their larger companions. Fun!

Great job on these, Reilly. I look forward to seeing what your dad has come up with later today. :)

- Curt