About a year ago I walked into a game store in my new old town and saw a Blood Bowl Second Edition box on the shelf. During the Pandemic my friends and I ran frequent Blood Bowl leagues using the computer version (see my discord bot for managing leagues), but I had never played the physical game.
In fact, I had never painted a mini before and thought that was a huge barrier to entry. I assumed I was going to be terrible at it and that kept me from trying any miniature games. But here I was in a new apartment and this city actually had other people that played Blood Bowl! So I picked up the box, not knowing what I was getting into.
A guy at the store (who unfortunately moved away the next week to be closer to family. Same reason I moved, can’t blame him.) got me started by telling me to lookup the slapchop technique and showing me some pictures of his orange and navy Tyranids. I fully admit that my Tyranid color scheme is a copy of his. I love the orange and blue combo and it looks incredible on Tyranids.
Starter Steps
Building minis is fun. It is a massive transformation to go from the sprues to a fully formed model. And it’s easy to do while watching TV or paying attention to a phone call.
Painting is also fun. But it requires focus and creativity and sometimes I don’t have the brain power for it.
I started off by building everyone in the Second Season Box. It includes two referee models, so they were my guinea pigs. They’re very sloppy, but good to have a model for learning on.
I then started working on the Imperial Nobility, but only finished two of them before getting distracted. Getting distracted will be a common theme.
First Team
The first team I fully got painted was the Black Orcs from the starter box. Anxieties about doing a good job were assuaged by someone saying “Well they’re Orcs, if they look sloppy that’s just the Orc aesthetic”. And with that motivation, the Illinoiz Boiz came to life.
Pink Lizard Club
My next big project was working on a Lizardman team for Blood Bowl. I’m very proud of my results with these guys. The color scheme came from “lizards are normally blue, this Aztec-inspired imagery makes me want to use gold. What goes with blue and gold? Pink!” I also happened to be painting them during Pride Month so I accidentally ended up with a trans-pride color scheme. But that’s fitting because the plot of the first Jurassic Park is literally the dinosaurs changing genders.
I have names for the entire team. They’re all dumb pop-star/dinosaur puns and I love them.
- Chappell Roar
- Sabrina Carnivore
- Katy Perrydactyl
- Lana Del Rex
- Cindy Clawford
- Jurrasica Simpson
- Oviraptor Rodrigo
- Sk!nk
- Mesozoic Princess
- Britney Scales
- Taylor Swiftfoot
- Eggy Azalea
Space Bugs
Alright, I was primed. I had learned I actually liked painting and there was lot of exciting possibilities in the Warhammer store. I decided to try and learn 40k and start an army. I like big swarms of things so the Tyranids, a big race of space bugs with a hivemind that only exist to consume everything and everyone, were calling me.
I got a Combat Patrol and went to the Warhammer store’s event for teaching new players 40k. It was a good time every though I had no idea how to use any of my units! I threw a bunch of Termagaunts into melee because I just did not understand how trash they are.
As mentioned before, I copied the navy/orange color scheme I had seen someone else do. The skin tone is annoyingly uniform, but slapping lots of Agrax Earthshade on top of it helps them look dirty and more alive. I’m also very happy with how the dark orange wings look with the light orange skin.
Branching Out
After that, I was pretty hooked. I started grabbing a large variety of Blood Bowl teams to paint and also decided to learn and try the other Warhammer games.
Kill Team
Kill Team is very popular in my area and is a smaller scale game like Blood Bowl. The big Warhammer games are kind of annoying because I find the exploratory process of figuring out color schemes more than actually following through once it is figured out. Painting ten Hormagaunts for the Tyranids just to get a fraction of an army is not appealing. Kill Team feels great as a painting sampler pack. All the operatives in a Kill Team usually have completely unique models and they are very well done. My particular favorites:
Just Aesthetics
Plague Marines - everything Nurgle in both 40k and Age of Sigmar has great models.
Angels of Death - I bought the starter box for the Plague Marines but I had a lot of fun painting a small regiment of loyalist Space Marines. I lean much more towards every other faction in 40k, but it is fun to have a group of the poster boys. I enjoy the Blood Angels red/yellow color scheme so I used that one.
Murderwing - Jetpack Chaos Marines who have fused with their suits. The models are incredible.
Vespid Stingwings - Big bugs. Need I say more?
Kroot Farstalkers - Kroot are very cool. They have blanks in their DNA and become whatever they eat. So they have a very tribal society that is about securing good food sources for their tribe.
Tau Stealthsuits - I’ve seen a lot of cool cloaking effects for these models and I am excited to figure out my own.
Tyranid Raveners - It’s more Tyranids with unique, interesting models. Of course I like them.
Interesting Game Mechanics and Aesthetics
Wrecka Krew - Orkz are awesome. Bomb Squigs are hilarious. I love how this Krew looks.
Goremongers - Painting the blood tanks on their backs was a pain but a good learning experience! I’m very happy with the results. In game they collect blood when they get kills and can spend those blood tokens on bonuses like extra movement and healing, among others. I find that the most interesting out of the team abilities I know about.
Age of Sigmar/Underworlds
I still haven’t played a game of AoS but holy hell Games Workshop makes amazing fantasy models. I’m drawn to so many of the factions.
Underworlds is the Kill Team of Age of Sigmar. Smaller scale teams, simpler rules. And the Underworlds boxes are fantastic sampler packs for different factions and have a lot of personality in the models. I’ve picked up two boxes with 4 Warbands each. One box themed around the Order faction had Stormcast Eternals, Daughters of Khaine, Seraphon, and Idoneth Deepkin. The other box (Chaos-themed) had Chaos Knights, a Tzeentch sorcerer and a bunch of misshapen monstrosities, some Khorne worshippers, and some Hedonites of Slaanesh. They are all fantastic models with a lot of personality. I just finished building them today and am excited to work on them.
Factions I Like
Disciples of Tzeentch - Chaos God of Schemes and Change. His aesthetic for demons is misshapen monstrosities and I love them. He originally tempted me when I saw the box of Screamers in the store
Gloomspire Gitz - Goblins and Squigs and Trolls, oh my!
I just painted the Loonboss the other day and I love how he turned out.
Idoneth Deepkin - Sea elves. They have a ton of great models with a variety of sea critters. I like sea critters… An elf riding a shark mounted with a harpoon cannon? Hell yes please. (I have not purchased that model yet but it rules.)
Maggotkin of Nurgle - As mentioned earlier, I love Papa Nurgle. Disgusting, rotten, and diseased are very fun to paint and all of the models have a ton of disgusting detail. They are some of the most detailed models GW makes. Lots of extra Nurglings hiding in the fringes of other models, intestines hanging out, open sores. Fun and gross!
Seraphon - big Lizard people. My Lizard Blood Bowl team was very fun to paint.
Skaven - the classic rat men of Warhammer have always appealed to me aesthetically. And I love reading about them. The entire society is on meth all the time, constantly scheming against each other, and they seem physically incapable of accepting blame - always finding a scaperat. What a freaking awful mess, it’s hilarious.
Stormcast Eternals - The Sigmar equivalent of Space Marines but they’re actually really interesting. I don’t normally go for human factions in fantasy settings but the Stormcasts are really cool. They died in Sigmar’s service originally and are constantly remade when they die. But the reforging process causes them to lose bits of themselves, until after countless rebirths they are haunted shells of former people, almost automatons that crush anything they perceive as wicked. And their perception is not very discerning with all the brain damage.
Sylvaneth - defenders of the forest. Replacement for the Wood Elves from Warhammer Fantasy but are much more otherworldly and ethereal. They’re not elves but tree spirits now, and their mounted units ride giant locusts. Very unique aesthetic, and then they’ve still got the tree people that I love painting.
More 40K
I think I prefer the fantasy aesthetic more, but I also grew up on Star Wars so I’m a sci-fi nerd. And 40k also has a ton of fun factions in terms of design. The game also has some interesting bits, but ultimately I don’t think I want to play it more. This might just be the fault of learning during 10th edition though. A lot of the previews for 11th edition I’ve seen seem to be making it more flavorful and walking back some of the ways 10th was too streamlined. I’m definitely curious, but really I’m just here for the painting and aesthetics.
More Factions
Chaos Knights - big stompy robots devoted to Chaos. I like big stompy robots.
Chaos Marines - Not a fan of Space Marines, but their corrupted equivalents are very fun. The default Black Legion color scheme (black with gold trim, splash of red on any cloth) is my favorite and what I plan to use. Also they start to fuse with their suits overtime so some of their models are very cool.
Death Guard - The Nurgle-devoted Chaos Marines. Like Chaos Marines but grosser. Like the Sigmar Nurgle models, a ton of detail is put into these ones.
Necrons - One of my first experiences with the 40k setting. A faction of robot zombies. Slow-marching synchronous death machines that will put themselves back together after you “kill” them. The more I learned about their backstory the less I liked them though. I feel like there’s too much there? Any explanation beyond “unknowable unstoppable robot zombies” would be disappointing to me.
Orks - The comic relief faction of the setting. So so so much personality. And delightful to paint. So excited to paint more and accidentally get an entire army ready just having fun painting them.
Tau - They also have big stompy robots I like and in the Dawn of War computer game I used their Army Painter and came up with an orange and blue color scheme I really liked and I had to exorcise it out of my brain and get it out onto models. The Tau also are kind of a melting pot of different alien species, but I don’t think they lean into that enough. Along with the Tau they have the Vespids and the Kroot, both of which I mentioned in the Kill Team section.
Thousand Sons - the Chaos Marines devoted to Tzeentch. They have a very strong Egyptian influence in their aesthetics and I love it.
Necromunda
I haven’t played Necromunda or picked up any of the models, but they have the best models out of any of the games, hands down. My personal favorite faction based on looks is the Ash Waste Nomads.
The Malstrain Genestealers also get a shout-out as some of the coolest models ever. Genestealers are already a very cool design from the Tyranids, but the Malstrain ones are genetically modified/unstable and just look like they are melting.
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop
Painting is fun. So many of these silly little models spark joy for me. I love decorating my apartment with them. I’ve already built up a huge backlog of models, but I’m still excited about all of them. I can’t think of any purchases I regret. I just don’t have enough time to work on everything!
Great hobby, consider looking into it if you have a creative side but no good outlet.
Check out my gallery for more pictures. I try to update it regularly because I’m proud of my work!
Assorted Favorites
Some more models I wanted to highlight that didn’t have a place elsewhere in this post.
