Custom Heraldry Transfer 'Tutorial'

I mentioned a few posts back that I was attempting to create some custom water-slide transfers (or 'decals') for my Nuln-themed Empire army. This is because I have almost no confidence in my freehand painting abilities, and would like a look of consistency across banners and shields.

I used to have a set of transfers for the 5th Edition Undead army, but they are long gone and have been out of production for a decade or so. GW has just started to bring back water-slide transfers, but so far has only released sheets for High Elves and 40k.

So I set about making my own. I have been asked to provide a tutorial, but to be honest the process has been rather fraught with trial and tribulation, so this is more of a cautionary tale.

First up, you will want either some digital source material or some sweet design skills. I own a copy of Uniforms & Heraldry of the Empire, so all I did was scan the Nuln pages onto my computer.

Next, you will want some kind of editing software. I used Photoshop. I needed to clearcut and touch-up the images, as well as collate them into one sheet.

Once I had the file ready, it was time to print!

More after the break...

Nuln Army Background for NerdyCon

NerdyCon 2013 is the first community event to have piqued my interest in almost two years after I got completely burned out of attending tournaments.

In no small part is this due to the event being organised by the League of Extraordinary Nerdymen who are a fine bunch of blokes and extremely good fun.

This besides, the NerdyCon rules pack has a very strong hobby focus and is a great point of difference from many local tournament 'comp' events, providing an opportunity to get together with other like-minded players and play some Warhammer as the Good Lord Jervis intended.

Part of the scoring component is supplying a written backstory for your army, which is really where it is at for me. Below is the backstory I will be taking, though I don't doubt I will be tempted to fiddle with it more before the event. I wanted to base it off the famous Magnus the Pious quote, and theme it with the classic Nuln contrasts - black and white, rich and poor, human and machine. Feedback welcome.

If you are interested in NerdyCon, it is a 1400 point single-day event in Auckland on August 18th. Player's pack can be found here.

Part 1 - The Priest

Part 2 - The Preceptor

Part 3 - The Castellan-Engineer

Nine Brief Book Reviews... GO!

I have been voraciously knocking back fantasy books over the past few months like it’s nobody’s business. So I decided to make it everybody’s business with a series of in-depth reviews and analyses over an extended series of blog posts.

Unfortunately my ‘Generation Y’ laziness kicked in, and what we are all left with is a much briefer digest of my recent literary devourings. Enjoy.

Snow of the North Downs - n00b attempt

Over the weekend I had my first snow basing experience, and it was both easier and more difficult that I expected.

Empire Army Update

In addition to my Angmar army, I have also been refurbishing my Nuln Army - rebasing, repainting, rethinking. I was fond of my old concept of an Expeditionary Force led by a With Hunter - especially because of the campaign a friend and I played which forged their backstory. But the Warhammer Forge and the new Empire Army book releases have opened up a some exciting possibilities for a Nuln themed army that represents the well-developed backstory of the region.

The biggest issue I had with my existing force was to do with the painting. Not only has my basic skill level developed since I started collecting Empire in 2009, I am also no longer rushing to tournament deadlines like I was back then. I look back on my hastily slap-dashed state troops and feel very little sense of achievement. The overall aesthetic is very dark, which I wanted at the time, but I have since been convinced that they need more contrast to really capture the eye.

The first step was to change the bases to a resin-moulded urban design. In this I was greatly inspired by Dave Taylor's Armies on Parade entry. The light flagstones really add an element of contrast to an army whose uniforms are predominantly black. The old mud-with-grass basing scheme tended to lose definition of the models when viewed from afar (see my old miniature gallery on this blog). New foundation paints from GW have also meant my reds, whites and yellows stand out a lot more.

Painting motivation has been a huge issue for the last six months, though partly because of time restraints. We recently started an escalation league using the old Warband Rules, and this has helped greatly. The five of us participating have really got back into the swing of it. I will post more on this at a later date but you can check out our league website using the link at the top of this blog.

My 200 point warband consists of;

5 x Knights Griffon led by Preceptor
5 x Nuln State Halberdiers
5 x Nuln State Handgunners

The colour scheme for the Knights has been taken from the Uniforms and Heraldry of the Empire as well as the recent GW paint job on the studio Demigryphs.

I will post more pictures when complete, but here is a recent WIP picture;

Angmar Army Update

On the Painting Table

In an earlier post I wrote about delving back into GW's Lord of the Ring range, and on fielding on the dread host of Angmar. Since then I have been off to a decent start with this army, finishing Sambrog, the Wight Lord of Othrongroth and his sinister posse of Spectres from the fall of Fornost. I also finished the Witch King of Angmar Himself, and it was the first time I had attempted a big monster like the Fell Beast.

The Witch-King of Angmar

The Wight-Lord of Othrongroth and the Spectres of Fornost - bases are WIP

Recommended Warhammer Community Projects

It is always a pleasure to come across fantastic little (or not-so-little) projects from enthusiastic hobbyists. To someone who really enjoys the hobby these discoveries are like a breath of fresh air amidst the ever-present cloying smog of internet-hate and negativity, and I find they invigourate aspects of my own hobby. There must be a truism in there somewhere about passion sparking passion. Below are my pick of some quality Warhammer community projects that are well worth a look.


Warhammer Armies Project


Mathias Eliasson's Warhammer Armies Project is a testament not only to the diverse potential of the Warhammer World, but to the commitment and patience of someone who loves his hobby.

In the spirit of the White Dwarf rules expansions and 'back-of-the-book' army lists which have sadly vanished from the GW army books of late, Mathias has been churning out 8th Edition-appropriate alternative army lists for almost any thematic army list variation out there (such as Halfling armies, Kislev armies, Cult of Ulric, Dogs of War) and even several that have never been released by GW (Fimir, Cathay, Nippon).