From MikeW - Opening Gambit! Warhammer Fantasy Orcs and 40K Tau (Fantasy, Squirrel, Skullz) - 75 Points

Hello again,  Everyone!

I thought I ought to open this year's challenge account with a taster of things to come... As well as my usual flitting between subject matters I have decided to try and build a 40K Tau Army and to continue to supppliment my Warhammer Fantasy Greenskin Army.

As ever, the opening couple of weeks of these challenges is a sparse time for painting for me, too many family commitments and pulls on my time in other areas. Hopefully, I will be able to ramp-up the production line as we move into January & February.

So on to this post - first up is a small batch of 5 x Orks, I have been evolving the way in which I paint these guys over the last year or so and this is largely due to watching too many YouTube videos on painting techniques and being easily influenced. 

These Orcs were undercoated black then drybrushed grey and finally drybrushed white, then using watered down green, I blocked in their skin before 'dressing' them with various muted browns, greys and blacks to give the look I was aiming for.

My new best friend in the painting world is Games Workshop Black Templar - when applied over a dry-brushed surface it gives a great 'shaded' black effect. I have used other speed paints form Army Painter & Citadel on these guys as well. 

Once the base colors are blocked in I can then beging on the shading and details that make the figures come to life. I used Army Painter Green Wash all over the skin areas and then suitabe 'regular' paints to add highlights where applicable. 

My other new painitng friend is Games Workshop's Air range of paint for airbrushes - I use these with a normal paint brush straight from the pot, their more 'watery' consistancy allowing for quick, easy coverage. This is how I painted in all the metal work, followed, when dry, with a dark wash to give shading.

For me the key to a good Ork is getting the mouth & teeth right - get them detailed and bold and it enhances the rest of the figure! Dark red mouths, pink lips and grimy but somehow bright teeth make a good start in this area.

I based these guys in my normal manner, fine sand with electrostaic grass.

Second up are a small group of 6 x Tau. I have long wanted to try my hand at these guys but it was only in the run up to this challenge that I decided that I'd give them a go!

I opted for a white armour with accentuated Orange panels, reason being I like the contrast between white ond orange plus I've always been worried about trying to paint white armour, no better way to learn how to paint it - I thought.

What also draws me to the Tau is their 'For the Great Good' ethos, very un-Warhammer 40K, this appeals to my perverse nature of things. Also the other fun thing about theTau is their high tech culture and their willingness to integrate alien life forms into their society and armed forces in an incusive manner.

Hence this small group incldes one drone as well as two Gue'Vesa (aka human helpers), I'll leave it to the reader to spot these! The Gue'Vesa were built from Wargames Atlantic figures, with GW helmets, weapons and equipment added.

So in painting these I undercoated in grey and then dry-brushed light grey and white coats on top of this base before using 3 or 4  glazes of thinned down white to try and give a smooth finish. Random panels on the armor were then painted orange to give a conterpoint contrast, before trying to panel line the armor with Aggrax Earthshade ink. any overruns corrected when dry with more white or orange paint.

The undersuit was painted with an Army Painter dark grey speed paint, and then details were applied to each figure such as the light blue lenses and computer panels in their helmets, weapons and armoured suits. Brass giroscopes were also added and other details appled as needed.

As with the Orcs the finished figures were coated with Matt Varnish. To give these guys a more alien feel , I have opted to use an orange poster paint to ahear the fine sand to on the bases, followed with an patchy ink wash, giving them an unearthly feel and dried grass tfts will be added to imply an arid environment.

Overall, I think that I can improve on the white armour finish, the next batch already seem to be going a bit better, in my opinion.

Apologies for the quality of the photos, the weather and light here in the UK is terrible at present, so I have had to rely on flash to get the required lighting and that is causing shadows elsewhere.... 

So there we have it, my first post of the challenge, points wise I have gone for 5 points per figure and assumed the drone counts the same as a person, please correct if this is wrong!

I have also claimed for the Fantasy section in the library for a 20 point bonus for the Orcs  and as both the Orcs & Tau about exceed 25 points I'm claiming 2 squirrels and 3 Skullz!

POINTS

5 x 28mm Orcs @ 5 points ea                        25 Points

6 x 28mm Tau @ 5 Points ea                          30 Points

Fantasy Section Bonus                                      20 points

TOTAL                                                            75 Points

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Welcome back to the Challenge, Mike!

Great looking Greenskins and Tau. I particularly like the demonstrative Ork standard bearer and tau wi-fi extender drone. A good opening volley, especially when caught up in the Holiday Season. I look forward to seeing your upcoming work!

- Curt