Guns and knives

Back to the unusual, and that would be the Myrmidons.

I have said before that these are by far the most unusual things I have ever had to paint.

They present a number of challenges... much of which has to do with getting your brush into certain spots.  Also, the shapes just don't correspond to what you would normally expect.  It makes it more difficult to determine where lights and darks should go, and so on.

The stranger and the pine box...

Following the death of Billy the Kid in the Judgement, it was all but certain that Jesse would pay the town of Wappelville another visit.

Pat Garrett would lead the way, but he would also call upon the services of Doc Holliday and Deputy Berenger.  

For the very first time, one of the new Gyrocopters would be put into service, along with the UR-31 lawbot.

Jesse brought a number of heavy hitters with him, including the Apache Kid and the maniacal doctor Long Tree.  The Outlaws feared his brand of Bad Medicine with good reason.  More than one of their number had been 'cured' by the doctor, soon followed by eternal rest!

True to his word, Judge Stern had placed the lifeless body of Billy in a pine box, and left it out on the steps of the church with the wanted poster that declared the price on his head.

Little did the Judge know that Dr. Carpathian had promised Jesse that he would "fix" Billy if the body could be brought to him in a timely manner.

Jesse was quite sure of success, as a large number of replacement Interceptors had not been delivered on schedule.  As usual, the federal government did not consider that the 'capitol' of a territory did not deserve the same consideration as a full fledged state.

Even the deliveries of new weapons such as the Gyrocopter and the UR-31 were far behind.

All of these units were desperately making their way towards the town when Jesse and his crew appeared.

Here you see Jesse's full crew entering the town.  All that opposed them was Pat Garrett and a group of long rang hired hands.  This would be a new type of deployment for us, as we had not done a delayed entry before.

We really didn't know what kind of impact this would have, or if it would be too heavy of an advantage either way.

You see Pat and his sharpshooters deployed in and around the church.  They would have to hold off the full fury of Jesse until Doc, Berenger and the other heavies could get into town on the right.

The Preacher was organizing a big protest among the townsfolk, opposing the gaudy display of Billy's corpse in such a dastardly manner.

Despite the hail of lead, the Outlaws were able to get deep into town, only suffering one casualty.

To make matters worse, Cole Younger had joined in the Outlaw gang, and he fired off some rounds of smoke to further obscure them from the shooters in the church.

Still, the same stranger that had perplexed Warren Earp so greatly seemed intent that Pat Garrett should remain exactly where he was...

The Outlaws were supremely confident this time, as they knew that Jesse had not been defeated by the dreaded Lawmen.

Those Outlaws who were not directly covered by the cloud of smoke were now shielded by the Preacher and his wife, who implored the Lawmen to give up the body of Billy peacefully, leaving newly rebuilt church unharmed.

No sooner did his protestations leave his lips than another cloud appeared from outside the town.

This was a dust cloud kicked up by the advance of a number of RJ powered machines, including the mind blowing craft that floated on  odd looking 'wings', and a terrifying machine which walked as a man, but stared straight ahead with one giant red eye.

While a man might have been swayed by the Preacher's dramatic words, the monstrous device showed no emotion whatsoever as it declared summary execution of those "aiding and abetting" lawlessness in Wappelville.

After only one blast, the Preacher and his lovely wife lay dead!  Slain by the ever increasing violence against which he had worked so dilligently.

Would Billy and the Preacher be avenged?

Would Dr. Carpathian have yet another chance at a new "creation"?

Find out in the next episode of the Stranger and the Pine Box!

Robots, tanks and ???

We fill out a little more of the Mechanicum, this time with some of the smallest minis, such as the Thralls.

Ten more Thralls have joined this group since, and a huge transport vehicle is on the way as well.

Believe it or not, it almost dwarfs the Krios heavy support that you see in the backdrop here.

There are also some more specialized HQ choices and heavy supports coming as well, so stay tuned for those!

More Myrmidons as well...

Living on the Edge

Here are some images from a kickstarter that is entering its final week.

From Awaken Realms, we have The Edge, a series of very interesting and artistic figures.

When I first saw them on Facebook a while back, I thought they would be very interesting to paint... a lot of potential for creative color schemes, and fun basing!

I enjoyed the Gothic look... even a bit of Gothic horror.

These demons offer many opportunities for interesting skin colors.  Perhaps they might even be lit by torches or lava bases.

Who wouldn't want to touch this guy with their brushes?

Speaking of that, here are some studio paint jobs by Awaken Realms.

I was sent a test copy of this figure, and I have been working on it a little bit here and there.  Photos in a few days!!!

I love this diorama setting!

This statuary was fascinating!

It's just a tiny fraction of all the concepts they have been showing off.  Truly amazing sculpting!!!

Each faction and every figure is unique in a variety of ways.  I don't see myself ever getting bored painting these!!

You will find the kickstarter here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/awakenrealms/the-edge-new-miniature-universe

Chapter two: Hang 'em High!

When we last saw the intrepid Lawmen of Wappelville, they were attempting to thwart yet another heist by the Outlaws.  Those filthy bandits were lead by Billy the Kid, who was seeking to redeem himself from the great Drapery Disaster.

It would be Warren Earp who would oppose him.  Warren was growing more convinced that his presence there was far from a coincidence.  The stranger in the odd cloak continued to point in the direction of the church.

He could see the telltale dust clouds of Iron Horses and a Streets and Sanitation IronHide from behind the church, so he fired a round of smoke to obscure his own advance.  A few hired hands moved towards the church with him.

The rail gun of the mighty Judgement vehicle was trained on a wide open shot against the trailing Iron Horse, but the rider proved too skillful, and the shot was dodged!

You can see that the group of valuable ponies was now beginning to drift towards the Outlaws and Apache Kid.  This would be a huge problem for the Lawmen is this continued!

Judge Stern pressed the advance toward the water tower, backed up by the Interceptors.  They continued their attempts to keep the heads of the Outlaws down while the hired hands moved to take up positions by the outhouse and ammo cases.

Eventually, the Outlaws were able to detonate most of the mines by shooting at them.

Looks like someone is about to heed the Call of Nature!

He doesn't have much privacy, however, as a pair of Outlaws popped up from behind the rock formations.

Despite suffering casualties to withering Outlaw fire, the Lawmen pressed their advance on the water tower.

By this time, our little scrap was drawing a lot of attention in the open gaming area.  A number of the intrigued observers became new converts to the Wild West!

It was at this moment that Apache Kid made his move toward the ponies.  He used his uncanny ability for climbing to scramble around the mesa to move the small herd to some other waiting hired hands.

Miss Fannie decided to speak with a few of the Outlaws, and they discussed the sorry state of the decor in her establishment with the loss of the draperies.

In a very dramatic and dangerous move, Billy crashed through the windows of the church, killing one very surprised hired hand!

At the same moment, the robed stranger pointed toward the church...

While Warren felt a chill down his spine, and felt as if he should never trust the shadowy figure, he was compelled to press forward.

It was quite clear to him once he reached the rear window of the church what he must do.  He would direct the fire of the Judgment snare gun.

While this was a potent and deadly weapon, it is notoriously unreliable, and a very short range.  Taking Billy prisoner would be the perfect way to prove his mettle to his brothers.

The sacrifice of the hired hands was well worth it, as Billy was now Dangerously close to the windows!  The snare net was fired, and the shocked Outlaw boss was dragged back into the Judgement!!!

The rest of the Outlaws watched in horror as the mobile gallows did their grisly work.  As decreed by Judge Stern, Billy the Kid was hung by the neck until he was dead.

Despite the loss of their leader, some of the Outlaws continued to go after the horses, guided by Miss Fannie and the Preacher's wife.  This treachery would not go unnoticed by Judge Stern.

There would be hell to pay for such fraternization.

Speaking of Judge Stern, he was very busy attempting to Irradiate Ike Clanton in the healthy red glow of RJ-1027 energy.

Ike responded with a number of devastating barrages against the Interceptors.  Apache Kid would use his dreaded Spirit Aim to finish them off.

Just as the Lawmen were getting into position for an all out close assault lead by the Judge, yet another shadowy figure on the low mesa appeared.  He was beckoning the Outlaws, who promptly abandoned whatever they were doing and headed in his direction.

Strange that so close to potential victory, they would choose to flee.  It certainly unnerved the surviving Lawmen who witnessed it.

And so it was that the town of Wappelville was saved from the vile influence of the Outlaws.  It was the Outlaws who suffered the greatest loss, as Billy lay dead in the morgue.

Rest assured, this would draw out the ever elusive Jesse James!  Judge Stern decided that Billy's body would be on display in the church where he first fell, with the Reward sign above it.

It would prove that no one can hide from the Law forever.  Stay tuned!!!