Games Workshop (Citadel) Painting App

A few weeks ago, I downloaded the Citadel Paint App....thought it might be slightly useful...and it is free.

This was for iPad.

Anyhow, I set aside an hour to browse through its various functions.

I am actually well impressed. The main menu has 4 options

1. GET STARTED this shows you a list of various techniques and paint types available and also different brush types to use for said techniques
2. PAINT BY COLOUR this option provides a list of 16 main colours...red, orange, green,blue, brown,grey,gold,bone,pink,yellow,turquoise,purple,black,white,silver and flesh. By selecting a colour (say, Red), you are then shown some shade variations. So for Red you get Scarlet, Dark Red, Bright Red,Red, Blood Angels Armour, Farsight Enclave Armour, Behemoth Flesh and Flesh Tearers Armour. By selecting one of these you are given a "recipe" of which colours are required to achieve the result...Basecoat, Shade, Edge Highlights. At the top are the options to select a Layering or Drybrush technique...this will give you differing results. On the right hand side of each Paint name is a Pot with a Tick icon and a Pot with a Star icon. If the Pot is a black colour, then you have it in your inventory ( more later ) and if the Star is black then it is on your wishlist / shopping list....which you can print out ( more again later ). At the bottom is a picture showing a Marine backpack shown in the colour / technique you have selected.
3. PAINT BY MINIATURE this option shows you a library of GW painted miniatures....ok...ok...so its all GW stuff, but just pick out the "theme" you are looking for, never mind the actual shape and size and type of miniature. There are over 80 pictures to choose from, so you should find something suitable for your Viking or Gangster figure. When you select a figure, you go down a level to a larger picture with arrowed paint descriptions of areas....then by selecting a colour, you are presented with the same colour recipe as mentioned above.
4. PAINT BASES this option gives you a range of 15 different basing style to select. Similar to the figures above but just bases.

Ok...got all that?

It took me a bit of navigating, but I eventually stumbled across the Inventory / Stock Control listing.
Well useful...took me about 30 minutes to select from the Citadel Paint range, all the paints that I had including shades, technical, washes and glazes. You may need to print off an Old to New paint name list from, say, Tabletopgamers website.

Having done that, I decided upon a few schemes for different projects to give it a go. When i reached the paint required list, it showed me what I had and what i didn't have, so I selected the ones I didn't have. When I got back to the Inventory screen again, you also have a wishlist...which you can print out for shopping purposes.

Thats it really. It is obviously totally GW biased, but just look beyond that and use it for painting schemes that you have in mind.......AND ITS TOTALLY FREE.....

I must admit, over the past few months, I could be blamed for being a bit of a GW fanboy

All Quiet On Every Front

Well....lately, over the past five months actually, I haven't been "feeling" the wargaming buzz. i have been to our club only a few times over the past two months and then just spectated.

I have still got about 6 ongoing projects at the moment....in the man-cave.....probably about 30 really, having checked out the contents of piles of Really Useful Boxes in the attic.

I think I am an obvious example of "Dilution Theory" as purported by Mr. Dave Luff of Meeples and Miniatures podcast fame. Basically, you only have so many hours of gaming per month / year and if you divide that by increasingly more projects, then you achieve next to nothing....Hmmm.

I have a fondness for HP Lovecraft....so I have bought the Arkham Horror board game and also the Arkham Horror Card game. Not tried them out yet as they are very recent purchases, so maybe in the next year or two.

For Christmas I was most surprised (really?) to get the Necromunda Underhive box from Games Workshop.....well, they didn't actually send me a Christmas present, my partner bought it from their store is what I mean.

Does actually look pretty awesome. It was an old game that they binned years ago, but I have no history of the original, but the components look ace. Say what you like about GW, their figures are superb. I do like the direction that GW are going in these days. Maybe we will see Epic rise from the Ashes.

What I need to do is get my enthusiasm back. This, as you probably know, can come in many forms.

1) What other people are playing.

2) Articles in magazines.

3) Listening to Podcasts, reviews etc online.

4) Film releases

5) TV series.

6) Books in general and probably many more sources.

Lately, at our club, the "Flavour of the Month" seems to be Sword & Spear Fantasy in 15mm, so I am actually working on a Lizardman army...figures from Magister Militum. They are looking quite good and maybe I will post some Pictures later today.

I used to religiously buy 2 or 3 wargames magazines per month, but now I dont. Not sure why. probably because I get any info i need from companies I am interested in mailing me weekly, or browsing the the TMP website and forums.

Podcasts are a great way to help during the painting slog. During the few painting sessions over the past few months, I have been listening to the Meeples and Miniatures podcasts. Sometimes, it does make you feel like reaching for your wallet though.

Not many films or books that have inspired me recently.

TV....recently saw a trailer for a new forthcoming Drama series called Brittania, about the Romans in Britain...for the second time I believe.
Now I know that I will be watching this...and I also reckon that during the watching of said series, there will be a temptation to resurrect my Roman and Ancient Britons projects...Enthusiasm maybe.