Gotrek the Slayer

Secondhand miniatures are a deadly vice.

This Gotrek figure came preassembled but unpainted for half price. Half price! 

After a week or so of painting I find the end result fairly satisfactory. The lack of tattoos and the absence of blacklining on the eye are the only things I would really want to change, and I may very well do so at some point in the future.

His skin was Cadian->Reikland->Cadian->Kislev-Pallid, with the addendum that Pallid Wytch Flesh was used for thin line highlighting instead of dots. Nose was thinly glazed with Carroburg Crimson. Manacles and chains were Leadbelcher, Nuln, and Ironbreaker highlights. Belt and loincloth were Mournfang Brown shaded with 50/50 Black and Doombull mix, edged with Skrag Brown. Gold was Retributor Armour and Ironbreaker 75/25 shaded with Reikland and Violet 50/50 mix and highlighted with Runefang Steel. The belt faces and axe metal were also shaded again with Cassandora Yellow.

Axe metal was Iron Warriors on the inside of the blade blended to Leadbelcher on the outside, with Iron Warriors and Black 50/50 on the handle. All were washed with Nuln and highlighted with Ironbreaker. The handle studs were highlighted with Iron Warrior and then a dot of Ironbreaker. The grille was Leadbelcher, like the outer axe. The glowing interior was an improvised series of mad glazes and washes which I will not post here for your own protection, and also because I have no memory of how it was accomplished. The interior details of the axe blades were washed with extra Carroburg Crimson.

The Blued metal followed this tutorial, but with Guilliman Blue swapped for Vallejo Magic Blue and Drakenhof Nightshade swapped for Druchii Violet. The pants were Vallejo Field Blue washed with Vallejo Black Grey and then highlighted again with Vallejo Field Blue. This process looped a few times before I was happy with the pants. The top of the boots are Corvus black, the bottoms are Abbadon black. Both were washed with Nuln and then highlighted with Eshin Grey. Hair was Skrag Brown washed with Mournfang and then 50/50 Black and Khorne Red, highlighted with Skrag Brown and then Troll Slayer Orange. I washed undiluted Agarx on the hair to smooth the transition and better show the hair lines since I was unable to get the colour showing up right otherwise.

Basing him will be an issue, as I want to save his display base for a different model. As it stands his axe is too low to base him normally, so will need to improvise. I am overall fairly happy with him, but this process has revealed how desperately I need to get a smaller brush. Both the eye and the Mohawk were seriously impeded by having too big of a brush. 'Eavy Archive really helped me get an idea for how I would paint him, some of these steps have come directly from there.

Rules-wise I think I will want to use him as a Mordheim Troll Slayer.

Ambition is a dangerous thing.

Believe it or not, despite four years of serious painting I have yet to Wargame on a real tabletop. Each Redcoat finished brings me one step closer, but I hardly wish to post about identical models week in and out. When I am finished I will have enough figures to play small matches of The Sword and the Flame set in the Northwest Frontier. Somehow painting over 100 total historical figures has been an easier task than 50 Games Workshop ones, go figure. On the topic of numbers, my inexperience with actual play can hardly stop me from theorizing.

Something I notice reading the rules of TSATF is that the point system so ubiquitous in modern wargaming is an optional rule. The force descriptions instead list ratios, with the assumption that the British will appear in that ratio against whichever historical opponent they are paired against. Seeing what would later become a continually tweaked system of balance in such a primordial form is really cool, especially since these ratios are justified as being historically authentic to the conflicts in question. Then, I visualized it:

British 1:1	Egyptian 1:1.25	-
Boer 1:1.25	-	Afghan 1:2.25
-	Dervish 1:2.25	Zulu 1:3

Interesting on it's own, but what if we add an axis? Say, Tactics vs Technology. And we will normalize the ratios to simpler whole numbers:

Advanced Tactics (Formations)	Standard Tactics (Unit Command)	Simple Tactics (Unit Positioning)
British 10	Boer 15	- 15	Advanced Technology (Machine Guns)
Egyptian 15	- 15	Afghan 25	Standard Technology (Non-Bolt Firearms)
- 20	Dervish 25	Zulu 30	Simple Technology (No Firearms)

This axis sucks. The Zulu Empire, to my own knowledge, exhibited much more complex tactics than the Mahdists generally did, and all of these factions used firearms at some level. The Boers lacked significant artillery during the wars covered by TSATF, and the Egyptians were armed close to the British in their own conflict. So now I fix this chart:

Advanced Tactics (Formations)	Standard Tactics (Unit Command)	Simple Tactics (Unit Positioning)
10	15	20	Advanced Technology (Machine Guns)
15	20	25	Standard Technology (Non-Bolt Firearms)
20	25	30	Simple Technology (No Firearms)

Imagine these squares not as factions anymore, but as units. These numbers represent sizes, not points value, but in theory each should be equivalent to any of the others. In this theoretical system, an army of 20 to 40 soldiers could face one of 60 to 120. But why not extend it further? Then it becomes:

ONE AGAINST HUNDREDS

Of course, all I have right now is a 3x3 chart and a rather fetching title. My goal now must be to play as many Wargaming systems as possible, and only then shall I perhaps write one of my own.

Playing a real game remains the first step.