Intro Jeff Swann

 Hey all, I'm "softest hands in the south" Jeff Swann. Long time Warhammer player now turned permanent ex Warhammer and tossing all my efforts into Mantic games including but not limited to KoW.

About me

I'm originally from Orange County California but moved to Dallas / Fort Worth TX 4 years ago. I attend 6-8 Grand tournaments per year and am a competitive player who prefers to play a friendly list to a high level and let my tactics win me the game rather than bring the most competitively sound list. I value having fun over wining after all let's be real this is a game people.  I went to the USA WHFB masters last year where I placed 3rd overall out of 80 of the best players in the country and am currently on the list to go back to masters again this year to represent the TX flag again. I am the tournament organizer of Moonshine GT , and a host of The Beer Phase podcast along with my co-competitor Ryan Smith and Southern regional chairman Mark Cox. In short we like to play games, have fun and drink BEER! I have won a few painting awards in the past at Adepticon, Alamo GT, and a few others so I am looking forward to this high level of competition and trying to hold my own as the only North TX invite I feel like I cant let down my locals and my old So Cal brothers. 

How I paint

I have no art background and thus am untrained in any way so I take a way different approach then probably most so it will be fun to compare. I prefer seem less blending rather than high contrast but can perform well with either style, I love to use object source lighting tastefully to tell a story and to create a scene so you will for sure see this in the unit I will be competing with. My paints are 95% Reaper paints with a few Vallejo from time to time. I use only Winsor Newton series 7 sablebrushes   as they have proven time and time again to hold a great tip and not fray even after 100 models. you will see that I paint sections of my models at a time usually starting with the flesh and I will do 6-8 layers then come back at the end to finish out high lights and small detail once all areas of the model are finished with their layers.

Some of my past work

What I will be painting 

 I will be painting up a troop of  Succubi (Ronnie Renton brought these to show them off) then I won them at Alamo GT 2015 for 1st place  which is amazing since I didn't get in on the kick starter and have been chomping at the bit to get my hands on these beauties. I hope to show what you can accomplish with these awesome models and would have painted a full regiment would I have been able to get 10 more to do so. I'm in the process of formulating a plan on what I want to do with them so this week I just plan to glue them together while figure it out. Stay tuned to see these sexy vixen transform and steal your SOUL!!!!

Intro - Edward Oh

About Me

Hey my name is Edward. I am probably the youngest here compared to these old farts. I am also fairly new to this hobby... about 2 years now? With an art background, I have been able to pick up this pretty fast. I first got into this hobby when I was a jr. high school student via close friend, but never went further than glopping paint on expensive miniatures. I ended up quitting due to financial issues (My guilty feeling of spending my parents' hard earned money had finally bested me). Fast forwarding about 10 years, I got dragged back into this filth by my friend who decided to start all over again.

2 years later, I have a surplus of useless models that I will probably never end up painting and little toy soldiers. My friend who got me in had long since quit the hobby, so I guess the joke was on me. However, through this medium, I was able to meet new friends (assholes) and make new (hazy) memories.

How I Paint 

I tackle painting models just like how I normally paint on canvases. Generalize everything first then go into the details. Work from dark base to light layers. Create lighting via transitioning value. If I don't think the light will hit that spot, I just layer once or twice and move on. This saves time and stays away from making the model look too flat.

If you like to reddit, you may have seen some of my models on /r/warhammer and /r/minipainting. I have created tutorials for both miniature painting and freehands. I can link to those later if needed.

What I Am Going to Paint

missing banner (Mantic paint job)

Ogre Hero on Chariot. I recently won that model from Alamo GT 2015, the very last WHFB tournament in the south. I mainly chose it for the banner since I excel at freehand. I look forward to painting the model as soon as I finish my current project.

Intro - Blake Dixon

Greetings from Little Rock, Arkansas! My love of painting and hobby began relatively recent. When I went to college in 2007 I randomly stumbled upon a T shirt store that introduced me to tabletop gaming. I started off painting at the level of a talentless 3 year old... I'm talking no primer, straight up caking layers of unrelated colors on models... But I loved every minute of it, and it soon became my #1 hobby. Fast forward to today and I am much better (at least a semi skilled 5th grader) and love to paint armies for major tournaments across the south, and have dabbled in commission painting.

Most recently I played Warhammer fantasy battles. When that game died, Kings of War by Mantic really caught my eye. I have to say that in the past I have tried to use some of these models for conversion for Warhammer, but to no avail.  My original thought was that these models just weren't as good.  However, now that I am removed from Whfb and have both model sets to freely choose from, I realize it is a stylistic difference that I saw rather than quality.

I have chosen to paint the Goblin Fleabag Rider Sniffs. This has always been a kit that has caught my eye, and this event gives me a chance to really take some time to do them justice. Also, it uses both metal and plastic parts, so it gave me a chance to work with both materials. Here is a shot of them assembled.  You can see the cork base I will be using for them when they are painted.

  And lastly here are some shots of my most recently painted army:

Intro- Ryan Smith

The chart said Yell and Bawl, so I did...

Howdy. My name is Ryan Smith. Yes, I do actually say, "Howdy" in real life. I wear a Stetson too, and tend to be overly boisterous when I'm playing wargames.

About Me

I've been painting miniatures pretty much daily for the past fifteen years. I've had a lot of success paint-wise on the Texas (and Arkansas, California, Wisconsin, Masters...) Grand Tournament scene. I've won a couple of awards for stuff I've painted. For the past two years, I've been documenting my progress on models over on my blog, The Beer Waaagh. I also have a twitter handle, where I document my battle with balancing family life, consumption of alcohol, and the painting of models. I am one of the voices on The Beer Phase podcast, along with Mark Cox and co-competitor Jeff Swann. I also run the Alamo Grand Tournament, held every November in San Antonio.

How I paint

My painting style is very heavily influenced by comic books - I tend to use bold colors, and emphasize high contrast in my models. I tend to overemphasize texture on models, adding it with a brush when there's none in a sculpt, and will stress texture over smooth transitions between layers if it makes sense for what I'm painting. Typically, I use 7-9 layers for every color on a model, starting with a size 2 brush and working down to a 000.

I almost exclusively use Vallejo Game Colour and Model Colour paints, though I now do all my non-metallics with Andrea paints. I water all my paints, usually with a 3:1 ratio of paint to water; this lets me transition between colors a bit better without using a wet palette. I use Windsor & Newton Series 7 brushes, except when I use my Rosemary & Co brushes (for more linear texture effects) or my Games & Gears brushes (for wet blending and drybrushing).

I paint in a Thomas Reifer's Signature Workstation, because it keeps stuff out of the hands of my two small children. There is almost always a beer on my paint desk when I'm painting. There's a reason both my blog title and twitter handle have "beer" in them.

What I'll be doing

The model I will be painting (Mantic studio paint job)

I will be painting the soon-to-be-released Elf Dragon Kindred Lord. I was very disappointed with the color palette I used for Angrislaug two years ago, and I've been wanting an excuse to take another shot at a dragon ever since. I'll probably never run an Elf army in Kings of War, so this will be my best chance to have a reason to put paint on this model.

 I'm planning to go with warmer shades of red for this bad boy. I'm going to go with a red/brown color scheme. Red is one of my weaker shades, so I'm going to try to correct the palette issues I'd had with Angrislaug. I'll go with yellower shades of brown in the wings and chest area. I've also got some interesting ideas for what I'm going to do on his wings, because those large surfaces really look like they're a blank palette for some experimentation. I would love to sculpt some flames out of his mouth, but contest rules are quite specific about not going crazy on conversions. I can't complain too much, as I was one of the louder voices in favor of this specifically so I wouldn't go crazy on conversions! I don't have any plans for the rider yet, as I want to see the model a bit closer before I decide on a scheme for him; going with the stereotypical blue/white elven palette is always an option! His cloak also looks like it's got some space for a bit of artistic expression.

Unfortunately, this is probably the last you'll hear from me for a little bit. The model isn't out for another week or two, so I won't have anything to contribute until I get my hands on it! You should stick around, though, because there are seven other guys on here that are also awesome painters, and you really want to see what they've got in store for you. I'm excited to be a part of this!

Intro- Jim Bailey

Howdy cowpokes! Old hack here checking in from San Antonio. I've been slopping paint on models since about 1980. Grenadier D&D stuff, then Battletech, then Citadel. I spent a few years touring the US Warhammer tournament scene in the first part of this century and won a bunch of army painting awards, but mostly because I bribed the judges. That spread in white Dwarf only cost me a six pack of Lone Star beer! A few years back I started up a design studio called Grindhouse Games and did a lot of painting for our Secrets of the Third Reich and Incursion products.

A few months ago, second ed. Kings of War dropped like a bomb. I have been fiendishly rebasing units and painting up all sorts of new stuff. I LOVE THIS GAME! I had however been uncharitable toward Mantic models in some discussions. Upon reflection, I realize that was just stupid. I've painted thousands and thousands of models over the course of my life and I should know better than anyone that any model is only as good as the guy or gal slapping the paint on it. So, I relish this challenge.

I've chosen to tackle the Mantic Werewolves (Lycans to ally with my Elves in this case) for two reasons. One: they are oft maligned and I want to see what I can do with them. Two: I really love werewolves :-).

Here are some not so awesome (since I'm a hack) paint jobs I did of werewolves for the rulebook and West Wind catalog as I was developing Secrets of the Third Reich. These are sculpted by Andy Cooper.

And here is the Blitzhund I designed for my company Grindhouse Games. This one wasn't painted by me but I'm sharing it to show how much I love werewolves :-)

The Mantic werewolves are out of stock at Mantic and seemingly everywhere in the USA. Ordered a couple of packs from a seller in the UK a couple of weeks ago. Should be hitting my mailbox any day. Can't wait to get started!

Wot's all this, then?

Back in early October, when the Mantic models that will be released in November were showcased, the San Antonio Kings of War Facebook group launched into a serious discussion about the paint jobs on some of the models. Shortly thereafter, Joe Neet (of Mantic US) challenged us to step up and show off what some of the best painters in the Texas/Arkansas/Louisania area can do with Mantic's models!
This contest - the Brush With Death: Texas - is our response!

The rules for the contest are simple:
1) One entry per person
2) Only Mantic models may be used - we're showcasing Mantic's models!
3) Entries must be either a monster/large character, or a troop (or regiment, or horde...) of models.
4) No conversions. The contest is intended to showcase Mantic's models.
5) No emphasis on basing. Again, the contest is intended to showcase Mantic's models.
6) All entries must be completed by January 15th.

Apart from any updates to the rules or announcements on judging, all the other posts on here should be from the painters! You should see introduction posts going up shortly.