This Sunday I visited Warhammer Fest in Düsseldorf. I know, I should try to visit Games Day UK proper (or even better yet: BOYL), but Düsseldorf, Germany is just slightly over an hours' drive away and I think the UK is hidden somewhere in the mists of Avalon (hopefully this sounds slightly better then 'I'm too cheap to buy a plane ticket'). For those of you wondering what Warhammer Fest is all about: at its core it is a great excuse to gang up with some fellow hobbyists and spend a day shopping at the ultimate Games Workshop store.
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| A look from the balcony at Warhammer Fest, in front downstairs the outer edge of the ultimate Games Workshop, the display cases in the back feature Golden Daemon entries. |
Core of Warhammer Fest is the largest supply of Games Workshop boxes and models, complemented by a stand with Black Library books and a 'give us your money' trail past a Forge World and Specialist Games table. Aside from that Golden Daemon entries where on display, giving me plenty of reason to consider throwing my brushes and paints in the trash and giving up ;). On the top floor you got to meet artists, writers and the background overseers working at GW. It also gave me a chance to see some of the painted models from box art in real life and offered previews of to be released models (the contents of the Rogue Trader Kill Team game and new titans for Adeptus Titanicus).
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| I like this Khardaron Overlords diorama, in part because I miss the huge emphasis on diorama's in the eighties. |
Aside from a fun day out with friends the real gravy Warhammer Fest offers is in the form of direct contact with designers, painters and overseers from GW studios. I got inspired by terrain on display. Especially as a sketch book was available to show concept, build and final results. I got some tips on making rocky terrain from the people who actually make tables for Warhammer World (and bugged them about a new 'How to make wargames terrain book'. I also got to chat with one of the Warhammer 40K product managers and with Andy Hoare, the guy in charge of Specialist Games. I visited a presentation by him and Adam Troke (the Middle Earth product manager) about the direction of Middle Earth, Blood Bowl, Necromunda and Adeptus Titanicus. A look at the new Theoden miniature has me actively considering a Middle Earth army in the future.
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| 'Buy us, buy all of us...' the voices whispered in my head. Multiple WP saves where required... |
On the subject of new games: it was a hard fight, but I managed to resist the temptation to pick up the new edition of Adeptus Titanicus. The models look absolutely glorious and with equally amazing Reavers and Warhounds on the way I suspect Adeptus Titanicus is going to be a wonderful game. But (there's always a but) Xenos titans, infantry models and tiny tanks are not planned for the foreseeable future. So I won't be able to use it to scratch my full epic itch (for now). I think I will wait and see what (if) the Christmas special is and maybe get on board the Adeptus Titanicus train then.
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| The Knights of the White Wolf are on my painting table as part of a special project I'm working on. |
I also had a long chat with an 'Eavy Metal painter about painting (of course). First of he advised me not to throw out my brushes just yet :). I took the opportunity to ask him if he knew any trick to increase my chances of painting (non crooked) eyes. I used to paint the eye socket (and eye) black, then I would paint the eyeball white. As a last step I tried to paint a black stripe where the pupil should be, but my brush would block my sight making my models go through life with pupils on their cheeks and foreheads or crooked or even lidless black eyes (I usually ended up with scary white eyeballs or blobbed black eyes). Following any tutorial on eye painting would eventually end up with a similar 'sight blocked' issue. So I asked for advice. His advice was to paint the eye black, then turn the model 90 degrees and dot in two white dots going in from the side and working top down. I tried this tip last night and it works like a charm (I think the above eyes look good). By working top down my brush is no longer blocking my sight of the eye, so it all comes down to brush control now. I'll not make the 'Eavy Metal team any time soon (ever), but with a large number of humans on my desk I feel more confident about painting eyes (and I should get a lot of practice in).
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| Someone apparently managed to kill a 28mm scale titan. That is one expensive piece of terrain! |
All in all Warhammer Fest was a fun day that also got very expensive. Even though I managed to resist the lure of the Titans I (over-)compensated by adding even more Skaven to my collection. More on those in a while as my current focus is on a very special project involving the Knights of the White Wolf pictured earlier. Hopefully there'll be another Warhammer Fest next year (even though I can almost hear my wallet screaming at the mere thought of it). Otherwise, how does one find a nation hidden in the mists of Avalon?
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