Men...oth?....Me-noth. Menoth. Menoth! ...Menoth!Menoth!Menoth!

     Army collecting is a hobby within a hobby, really. And I've always managed to do it quite well. I don't mind the excitement of starting up a new Faction, trying to test new hobby boundaries, and the thrill of something a bit new. But one of the worst habits I had was always starting up new projects with different gaming systems. Narrowing the crosshairs a bit, and trying to focus within my hobby addiction may prove to be a better venture.
     My wife and I want to start looking for a house, we want to evolve our current dynamic to fit a household of three, and other life events are on the horizon. While personal and hobby blogging aren't going to go hand in hand, this does mean a few more unexpected shifts are necessary. Instead of going with an army for each wargaming system, maybe trimming to as many armies that fit my addiction and interests isn't as necessary as just trimming the actual amount of wargaming systems I play. Infinity is a win-win, and Warmachine is a behemoth competitive hobby wargame within the various local metas around me (and a game I just love completely). This feels like a better fit for me, so we'll see how it goes. I'm pretty flighty when it comes to inspiration and interests, but I'll do my best. I spend more time painting, collecting, and building than I do gaming, so when it does come time to game it's hard to want to engage a system for an army I haven't been obsessing over. Heh.

     But anyways...

MENOTH

     I bought a 50-point Menoth army brand new in box recently. I'd been thinking of a second army and wanted a Warmachine one (you know, Focus instead of Fury). With me being a huge Black Templar 40k fan, and not having a Knight-themed army, Menoth, a faction I was not very familiar or experienced with, was an easy call to my heartstrings. With Circle Orboros being my Hordes love and current choice, almost the opposite of modelling has a distinct appeal to me. Heavy armor instead of feral bodies, and a desert wasteland instead of a thriving forest. So bought I did.
     But then, an opportunity arose, and I jumped on it. A second hand army, something I'm not a huge fan of, but at a great deal. Almost 250 points of stuff with a slew of casters. Woah. Not bad, and tacked on to what I've already purchased means after a ton of work I could have a near complete Faction. So I receieved:

The Menoth Haul

     And there was even a Judicator with all that jazz.

     One downside, and it's a big one, is most of the condition is alright to terrible. The amount of stuff I can salvage to a standard I'll be happy with isn't very big. But it means I get to play with whatever models I need, test them out by basically proxying with the actual model :P, and jump into the Faction handily. While my standard for models is pretty high, once I take what I can get from it, I'm sure I can sell the rest in a lump lot and still get a decent amount. Win-win, I say. 

     So I began with the Judicator. It's missing a missile pod shoulder mount, but the piece is available once it's found, so I just left the one I do have off for now. It'd be easier to paint them separately and add them both when they are ready anyways, so not really seeing a downside.

Judicator Salvage Front

Judicator Salvage Back

     The basing is what stumped me the most, to be honest. I felt a desert theme was in order, of course, but bounced around a myriad of ideas before just settling on more of a "Desert Wasteland" vibe. I've put together the majority of the eFeora list (using the models I had purchased new), and the bases are almost finished, but I'll leave the stuff a later post once the army is all assembled and primed. For now, a bit of a close up of the base:

Judicator Base

     The crackle paint for the cracked earth feel, some of it, seems to have been swallowed up by the thin (and I do mean thin) layer of PVA glue I watered down and used to help give the base some more durability. Oh, well. I think I may like the more scattered appearance a bit better, though, and I think pigments will thrive in the more open nature. I added skulls because, you know, kill the non-believers and all that.