Oldhammer BOYL 2015 Preparations

I can attend! It may mean a very early start and a long drive on Saturday 1st August up to the Foundry, Nottingham from Hampshire, but I know it will be worth it. Last year's BOYL was excellent.

I won't be running any games this year as it's all been a bit too last minute and there seems to be so much going on already, but I've earmarked what I would like to be involved with and how that correlates with my hobby ideas (and time) over the coming weeks. Here's the full list of events from the Oldhammer forums, that are running over the weekend. First up for me:

1. Deathrace 40k.

I'm slowly and tentatively being seduced by 40k (cautiously, because I've got enough projects on the go at the moment and I don't want to be distracted). I've always wanted to do some Dark Future stuff, converting Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars by adding guns, steel plating, spikes etc and the BOYL 2015 thread by Captain Crooks can provide me with the opportunity but with the bonus of working in an easier to manage 28mm scale... And of course I've just seen the Mad Max movie. And I love the Fighting Fantasy book Freeway Fighter, so why not combine them all....

This is the visual inspiration, the cover illustration of Freeway Fighter by Jim Burns:

And these are the models I'm going to use to make it happen. A diecast 1:43 Chevy '57 Bel Air Convertible:

The scale may be a bit big, but I was concerned that going smaller would just make the car look tiddly amongst it's competitors... It's taken me some time to source the correct car and decide upon the appropriate scale, but this seems the best fit and only cost me £6 off ebay, I'm now researching and considering how best to convert this into the above image; more to follow.

In terms of the characters shown in the illustration I've purchased the following gangers from Heresy that will need only a small amount of converting (or I may just keep them as is if I run out of time and imagine that the car has new owners):

2. Oldhammer Blood Bowl.

Over the years I've owned lots of Blood Bowl teams and painted quite a few commissions too. My current Orc team has been a WIP for absolutely ages and this will give me the inclination to finish the team and play with them at BOYL. The Oldbowl games are being run by Chico at oldhammeronabudget.blogspot.co.uk and here's the roster I'll probably be taking:

Thrower	5	3	3	8	Sure Hands
Blitzer	6	3	3	9	Block
Blitzer	6	3	3	9	Block
Black Orc	4	4	2	9
Black Orc	4	4	2	9
Lineman	5	3	3	9
Troll	4	5	1	9	Loner; Always Hungry; Mighty Blow; Really Stupid; Regeneration; Throw Team-Mate
Blitzer	6	3	3	9	Block
Blitzer	6	3	3	9	Block
Lineman	5	3	3	9
Lineman	5	3	3	9

So I've already got the thrower and two linemen painted (amongst other stuff not to be used on this roster) and last night I finished off the four Orc Blitzers (it's about time I showed some actual painted models); using my usual Orc skin recipe:

And WIP; here are the wizard and his two cheerleaders:

The two Black Orc Blockers:

A couple of Goblins (who I doubt will make this roster)

A two headed Troll: 

A Star Player/ Coach:

And the re-roll turn counters:

I'll keep you updated with my progress on both projects - I like the focus I now have with an imminent deadline and that joy of being given a pass to attend BOYL 2015!