For this model I tried a skin tutorial from Bell of Lost Souls that was written about some Kingdom of Death Survivor models. I think this is the brightest skin I've painted in a long time (skorne skin is more tanned). It was good practice and I think works for females; males I like to have more of a dark to light transition because their features are more chiseled and sharp. Females look better with soft and unnoticeable transitions from mid-dark to light. I'd like to practice different skin tones eventually, including more ethnic ones. I think tharn bloodtrackers suit darker skin tones, so that is the plan.
Another thing new about this model is doing reddish hair (also from the tutorial on BoLS). I'm actually happy with hair for once. Sometimes I just want to drybrush hair because my normal methods for painting it are kind of sloppy I find with highlights inevitably running into the crevices and all that nonsense. I was extra careful this time though and managed to avoid any running.
The gold NMM on this model is not as precise and sharp as the warpwolf stalker but thats for 2 reasons: 1. its on a smaller sculpt and harder to make look clean, and 2. it's not sculpted sharp in the first place; many edges are smooth not hard and therefore you kind of have to fudge a line with your brush directly instead of just following a nice sharp edge highlight. Those are my thoughts!
I had the opportunity to check out a not so LGS thats on the other side of town: Drexoll Games. Overall there were tons of people and it seemed like the press gangers were very involved and dedicated to the crowd at their store. They had about 6 or 7 tables set up and they were all full with some people even waiting to play still. A few people I invited out also showed up and had some games against people they don't normally play which is always a good change of pace. It seems like most players there are not so serious about the game and play for pure fun which is good and bad. I guess I feel like this store is the complete opposite of Connections; it has players who (IMO, I don't at all know them but this is what I gather from observing a few games and looking at lists) are just getting into the game and haven't seen everything thats out there (for example I was the first skorne player to attend a game day at Drexoll) where as Connections makes you want to bash your head into a wall because most attendees net deck and power game the shit out of their lists. I feel Strategies has the perfect balance of competitive people who really know the game and people who are just having fun and people who are just getting into the game. Generally I would prefer to play against someone of Connection's caliber to start but if I get absolutely smashed I'd like to play a player who just wants to have fun for my 2nd game of the day.
My opponent today was one of the press gangers who is a really cool guy and I would play again any time. The game was unfortunately not the most fun game I've had. This is because I felt like he had no idea what my army did (even after explaining to him briefly and helping him try to make decisions on how to best face my list) and I kind of rolled over him without much competition. Frustrating for him I'm sure and no challenge for me = not very much fun. He was trying a new list with a fairly new warlock (Grim 2) which also played a big part in why he didn't put up as much as a fight as he would normally. I was using Morghoul 1 with a bronzeback, a gladiator, and a mammoth. We played Incursion because I wanted to practice that scenario with Morghoul who I think isn't exactly good at holding 2 objectives (especially when they are ALWAYS on the left and right flanks!). Also, after a really drawl game at Connections last Wednesday against my friend's Circle Orboros and losing on objectives really sloppily I felt I needed to win this scenario to make up for that shameful loss!
I would consider going back to Drexoll, though it is far. I can see myself going for tournaments especially but hopefully I can get a game in against a nasty list that will just kick my ass and teach me a few things about the game. The table space was a bit cramped and my butt was constantly rubbing other people's butts as we moved past the aisle between tables. Also no chairs. Not a big deal I guess. One other cool thing was they were fazing out their Games Workshop stock so everything GW was 30% and if it was in an old package it was 60% off! I picked up an Island of Blood that was for some reason priced at 89.99 instead of the current price of $120 or so for an extra 30% and an empire cannon and high elf archer regiment both for 60% off! In total, the Island of Blood, Elf archers, and empire cannon cast me about $100! Deal!
Overall, everyone was friendly and if you're in the neighborhood I don't see why you wouldn't play there. As I previously mentioned, I think it's just young and people need a little more practice to develop into truly competitive players that can achieve the balance of having fun/enjoying the hobby without winning every game but also putting up a mean fight. Here are some pics of a couple tables that my friends were playing on:
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