Bucket List Item: Accomplished - Catan (The Settlers of)

It was bought, but yet to be played. Then it was played and really enjoyed (see below, the game I saw Chandler play in The Big Bang Theory and knew, just knew I had to play. Also note, the nearby "Nurgles" were an unrelated simultaneous painting project): 

Not only was it played, it was played over three generations. My son, his father (me) and the grand mother! It was enjoyed by all and .. even better .. there are expansions!

Five stars rating .. even though my son beat me!

Nurgles .. Fun with Painting .. Nominally Fantasy/Sci-Fi

The good thing with good old "make-it-up" fantasy and science fiction is that nobody can really tell you are doing it wrong and really anything goes, especially when you are talking boiling beasts of  Chaos like GW Nurgles (see below, this was a little bit of an exercise in dry-brushing, first pass Army Painter Primer [Grey], then Vallejo Brown Dipping Formula, then Vallejo Dark Flesh, using a slightly worse for wear GW/Citadel Dry Brushing Brush): 

Just for experimentation I decided to throw an ink glaze (Vallejo Skin Ink) over it to get a wet look (see below, admittedly most of this would be lost when I dry brush but inaccessible places will still look dark, dank and wet): 

I now have a wet looking band of Nurgle miscreants (see below, the "game" they are being painted for is a "Party of Demons in Hell" take on FrostGrave - which should be interesting, I intend to mix and match to make an "old ball bunch"):

I then stopped the batch process and took one through to completion, or at least very near completion (see below, dry brushed passes of 50:50 Vallejo Caymen Green/Camp Green, Vallejo Camo, Vallejo Rotten Flesh on the main body): 

Another, this time close-up view, in the unnatural light of day for this "demon-thing" (see below, Vallejo Blood Red, for flesh - boils Vallejo Vermin Brown "tapped" on some with with Vallejo Off White): 

I also plan to use these as standard "biggish monsters" for RPG [Undead and Chaos]. Painting wise I experimented here and there on the other bits, such as introducing Vallejo Blue Ink into the guts finding an old guide to painting miniatures useful, but having to convert "old" GW to closest Vallejo. I had fun basically :) 

The "Joy of Nurgle"

Following the recent posts about GW Fantasy figures that "took my eye" it may come as no surprise to you that yet another set has come my way .. this time that of Nurgle - yes the mark of chaos is truly on me now. The appeal of a set of figures that could be as easily used for 40K or Age of Sigmar was completely of secondary interest as I play neither - but I could do in the future if my kids want to. No the primary appeal was that of "The Dark of Nurgle"; the fact that I just "took to" the look and feel of the Nurgle Plaguebearers with their sprawling guts and infestations (see below, "plastic hell" comes your way):

I suspect this is how the Horus Heresy started (see below, as they come closer you just have to know that little bit more about them):

Each one seems just a bloated sack of bile and hatred for the "clean living" beings of the multiverses, but the closer you look you notice how each one has their own mark of uniqueness about them (see below, isn't there something to love about them?):

From a horned creature with abominations erupting from its stomach to another horned being of decay being tormented by a "Nurdling" hanging from its intestines (see below, what's more I can see no complicated army painting schemes being needed here):

In fact each Nurgle is unique, but that uniqueness is lost in the squabbling hoard intent on its mission of death (see below, who needs smart uniforms to look nasty?): 

Why try and be nice when you can be simply mean! This Nurgle in a former life was probably a "Tax Inspector" or "secondary School Teacher" - there must be sufficient pent up anger and hatred to freeze the blood of a Terminator or Pilgrim Priestess (see below, my guess is that this fellow does not care what you excuse is, you're guilty in his eyes and the sentence is death

As if the larger terrors were not cause in themselves to like Nurgel, these tiny terrors that "hang along" are reminiscent of the hoards of seemingly harmless small Snotlings that cavorted around Green Skins armies - harmless that is until they got in close with numbers and evil pointy things (se below, it is that insane mad grin that means you know you are in trouble - a bit of artistic license is taken with a few Nurgle Plaguebearer spare parts and a disembodied hand chasing a tiny Nurgle after it has obviously been "naughty" and needs punishing!): 

My initial use for these beasties will be to scare the pants off some unwary adventures in the bowels of the castle of a (very) Mad Mage! They will initially kill them easily enough, but then the when dying bodies explode, the splattered guts will cause mayhem in themselves and the adventurers woes will truly start.