LATEST NEWS
Hi Folks,
just as an update to show you all the results for the Terminator armour challenge
Cheers



(Origional Post below)
Hi folks
finally bit the bullet and dodged some of real life and have decided to get my finger out with my Imperial Guard force.
ive decided to create a Blog here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/
this is where i'll showcase most of the models but in this thread i intend to give regular updates with pictures and more details, and most importantly to answer questions on anything youve seen in either the blog or on this thread.
not to mention ill be posting my poll later regarding one little colour scheme niggle i have.
so folks enjoy the first installment of the painting blog and hopefully the second post will come round much quicker that way
enjoy and i cant wait for your feedback
thanks
millest

Cool - I look forward to seeing how it progresses!

looks like an impressive(and expensive) pile of plastic you've got there. Good luck!

please check out my blog regarding a poll on my coloursheme or my thread in painting and modelling
cheers
millest

Good Day All!
Well folks it seems you've all spoken both on the blog and on the posts on my various forums i belong to and the decision is in!
Yes that's right its time to go with scheme B
That's the green armour over the grey/camo gear. However after a week of tediousness at work and some evaluating of spare time, not to mention my sanity, I have unfortunately needed to come to a compromise!
It seems after playing with the test mini again that painting the whole force in the COMPAT will slowly but surely drive me insane! well further insane should i say. So to save my sanity i have decided only Veterans and Storm Troopers will get the COMPAT (and I'm planning a lot of Storm Troopers for this force at a later date) and possible some command squads, such as the company HQ. Tanks will still get the COMPAT style camo I had planned as will Sentinals. The compromise however is that the bog standard Grunts will get a much simpler camo consisting of codex grey with some green folded in for pattern under the green armour.
Whilst nowhere near as spectacular as I had planned i think it will look very cool and once the whole force is assembled will pull the look off perfectly.
Over this weekend I wont be completing any work on the force as other plans are at the fore but come next week the construction will start anew and hopefully by Tuesday I should have the first conversions up for your to see! Though keep your eye out for some pics of my weekend if I get round to taking any. You might all get lucky!!!
Have a great weekend and see you all soon
Millest

hey folks
sorry for the delay in updates its been a bit manic here, basically this past two weeks have flown by and after having to be admitted to the hospital for an operation things have kind of been left on the sideline till I get fit and health again (well I say again but I actually mean for the first time ever) but now I'm mobile and able to breath yet again it looks like this week between work and sleep things will begin on my force and other odds and sods. so thanks for your patience and I hope to reward it with some proper updates this week
Cheers
Millest

Hi folks
After a long time away from the hobby and some serious "time to reflect" I've got back in to the swing of things and have finally updated my blog here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/

As before this is where i'll showcase most of the models but in this thread i intend to give regular updates with pictures and more details, and most importantly to answer questions on anything youve seen in either the blog or on this thread.

not to mention ill be posting my poll later regarding one little heraldry niggle i have.

so folks enjoy the first inew nstallments of the painting blog in some time and hopefully knowing people are watching means i will get my rear in gear and get some work done!
enjoy and i cant wait for your feedback
thanks
millest


Automatically Appended Next Post:
As I mention in the blog I fancy adding in a few Mentor Legion figures to spice things up and add some different flavour to thing.

For those of you who dont know who they are there is more mentor legion information here:
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Mentor_Legion

As you can see nice scheme and funky colours, but one question remains! Old Owl Heraldry or New Eagle Heraldry??? im really not sure on the chang icon from the old owl to the new raptor/eagle!

My plan is to have a few models from this chapter scattered around, mainly in the following forms:
An Elite Squad - 5 man veteran squad - all with some pimped kit
A figure in the command squad - possibly master of the fleet as an advisor, with some boosted comms etc
At least 1 Deathwatch marine in a forthcoming DW squad, or maybe a terminator or two depending on what future rules we get
A Body guard (along with a Red Hunter) in my Inquisitors retinue

I'm sure there are more uses i could put them too such as a Scout squad attached to my Imperial Guard to represent a squad of hardened veterans, after all this fluff makes them ideal for that:

"The Elite Cadre of the Mentor Chapter are the most advanced warriors of their kind in the galaxy. It was originally envisaged that the Elite Cadre would perform a number of important semi-military roles, from counter-terror operations to complex undercover missions. They would be capable of dealing with threats outside a normal chapter's field of expertise. This aim has not yet been realized, but the elite Cadre are among the best the Imperium can deploy.
There are two ways Imperial commanders use them on the battlefield when they are loaned to them. First the cadre element may simply be used as a powerful squad, gaining the benefits of their special equipment; alternatively, they may become leaders for other units. The latter is preferred by Imperial Guard commanders as the Elite Cadre make especially good leaders for units of normal warriors."

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Mentor_Legion

So I have plenty of ideas to play with and over the next few months I hope I will have the time and money! so any ideas or thoughts on those comments would be great!
cheers
millest




Automatically Appended Next Post:
forgot to say if you want to vote on the heraldry there is a poll on the blog, located down the side of the blog:
http://millests.blogspot.com/

cheers
millest

Welcome back .

I've just got one thing to say...Too much time posting, not enough time painting ...I want to see some pix! (I voted old heraldry on your blog, by the way).

only posting cos im at work can post just not paint!
I like the old but the raptors i think have actual metal pads availible, still have to see what i can come up with!
cheers for the vote

Evening all!

Just a quick post tonight to show some schemes I've thrown together for my Red Hunters using the Bolter and Chainsword Space Marine Painter.

I have decided to base my Red Hunters on a force drawn from the 5th Company as the Red and Black trim looks rather good and gives me chance to play with a few other colour options! So without Further ado here are the example schemes:

Standard Tactical Marine


More details and images can be found over at the blog here:
Millest's Mediocre Meanderings

enjoy and i look forward to your feedback!
thanks
Millest

Hello Folks
Despite not posting much for a few days I've had a very busy few days. So below and coming over the next day or so are some Pics of the stuff ive been working on.

Due to the size of the pics and the number I will post the Red Hunters first, followed by a second post of the Grey Knights and the finally a third containing the Imperial Guard sneak peaks.
However for more fluff and pics of the models please visit my blog here:
MILLEST'S MEDIOCRE MEANDERINGS

Red Hunters Librarians

Codifier Khorion

Overall I am very please with how this model turned out, the simple green stuff icons have worked well and when combine with the Black Templar robes and helmet, along with the honour pad from the Red Scorpions set, gives a nice and simple Librarian conversion that works well.

Epistolary Rodriguez

Another relatively simple conversion using just plastic parts, apart from the Grey Knights Nemesis weapon and Deathwatch shoulder pad. Over all I am please with the Green Stuff work, though have noticed two missed parts - the right hand side lightning bot and the "edging" over one lower grieve, though may change this. Whilst the model is pretty static I think the Blood angels head gives a sense of motion or force.

Master Epistolary Haulvarn

Another conversion I am generally please with, however the skull on the chest really needs more work. I'm also not sure on the helmet so any views and suggestions would be great.

Red Hunters Test Pads
Some quick icon test casts of skulls to use for my Red Hunters logos, I know they need tidying up a little and possibly that the middle one is the best one of the three but what do you think?


Right well, that's update 1 of the weekends work complete.

Due to the Red Hunter's Chapter's canonical participation in the Siege of Vraks, you can include some forgeworld goodies in the army, also, Forgeworld do RH transfers but I think that your sculpted shoulderpads are gonna look great.

Its finally here folks, the second update from the weekend. My apologies on the lateness but really life and work caught up with posting and things haven't been completed on time.

This second post concentrates on two simple but good looking conversions of Grey Knights, both conversions are based on the same character from the Grey Knights novel by Ben counter.

Chaplain Durendin in Terminator Armour

MORE PICS HERE

As you can see an extremely simple conversion that looks quite impressive. The Older metal lightning claws were chosen over the newer plastic claws as I felt they were slightly more ornate and convey the age of the relics the Chaplain is supposed to be armed with.

Chaplain Durendin Power Armour

MORE PICS HERE

Simple work again and the use of a similar helmet and the older style lightning claws work well to tie the model to its Terminator armed version.

There are further pictures and information on the conversions and the back ground behind them on my blog site here:
MILLESTS BLOG

That's all for now folks, comments and feedback much appreciated and update 3 will becoming soon.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Folks its the second update of the day and the third Conversion Corner from the weekend. This time its a small selection of peeks at the ongoing work on my Imperial Guard and my Storm troopers (though cant decide on Guard Storm Troopers or Inquisitional Storm Troopers) that i thought i would share with you all.

WIP COMMISSAR

MORE PICS HERE

WIP STORM TROOPER SERGEANT

MORE PICS HERE

enjoy folks

The next few weeks are going to be a little dry blogging and modelling wise as I'm now heading off on a fortnights holiday, however to keep you enticed here are some group pics of my latest conversion. I will update with detailed single pictures on my return, however in the meantime this is what ive been up to.



Enjoy folks and I'll see you all on my return, in the mean time feel free to check out my blog for some 40k book reviews and other pics of stuff ive been up to!
check it out here:Millest's Blog
cheers
millest

Well folks I'm back after my fortnight away, again I apologise for not posting much for the last two weeks but I think the picture here explains where I've been and what I've been up to..............



....enough said really

still more pics and information on my conversions coming soon. hopefully there will also be some Airsoft pictures coming up over the next week.

Have a good weekend everyone

This all looks fantastic. I love the WIP Commissar, that resin torso/head combo is one that I've been seriously dying to get my hands on but never got round to ordering that kit. It's awesome though. The pose is perfect for a commissar and I can't wait to see what he looks like painted.

As for the rest of them, I must say that your minor alterations/pads featuring green stuff look brilliant. Really sharp and professional. Again, can't wait to see this stuff get a lick of paint because I can extrapolate your sculpting and conversion skills to a point where the paintjob's going to be awesome as well

Cheers

sA

Well folks time for a bit of 80's style shoulder pad action here!

The votes are in, the lines are closed and the decision has been reached on which iconography to use for my mentor legion! I am pleased to announce the winner is:

The Traditional Mentor Legion Iconography


The Traditional Owl design won by a clear margin and I personally am very pleased by that, however the only issue I foresaw with this was that a) I didn't think I could sculpt this and b) I didn't think I could paint this well. With that in mind I took the preemptive steps of speaking to Ron over at the "From The Warp" Blog - the blog can be seen here http://fromthewarp.blogspot.com - about commissioning a pad for me. After seeing his work on his blog I was impressed with it and on discussing the project with him he really appealed to my inner Northerner by having extremely low rates as well. I highly recommend him for quality of work, price and most importantly speed! To show you what I mean here is the pad I had sculpted that I will be using to cast the icon from for other pads:

The picture shows how good the pad is but o be honest it looks even better in real life!

Thanks to Ron for some excellent work and I cant wait to get some bits together to start using it on my conversions!

When I had the pad sculpted I also thought to make the costs more worthwhile and the project more practical for Ron to have an alternative "Master" Skull Pad sculpted for my Red Hunters to cast their chapter icons from. Again Ron surpassed himself and the level of detail was superb.

The pad icon is slightly larger then the one I had initially used in my tests and on talking to Ron it was suggested that this would allow the use of the small brass =I= symbols from Forgeworld on it, which I though was a nice touch, however the problem is I now cant decide which to use!!!

So it is now time for another vote! I would like to know which pad is most preferred by my readers and which would be most suitable for usage on my Red Hunters, so here are the choices:

A - Ron's Sculpted Pad


B - My Green stuff Cast Pad


As usual the voting buttons are located on my blog here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/
they are found on the right hand side in the side bar, please vote and once I have the results I will post them and be able to start casting and modelling using the decided pad.

Later in the week more pics of my Kasrkin Officer conversions and more news on my other ongoing Kasrkin Trooper conversions.

Also for those of you that are interested (and because i think posting it in this blog would probably be against forum rules) i have recently posted some Airsoft related posts on the blog so please head on over and check them out if your interested here: http://millests.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading and please vote

We don't need 10+ links to your blog, if we didn't click the first one we won't click the second nor the third (or any other for that matter). I go read a modelling thread expecting everything to be in the thread not on several links of self advertising, we understood on the first post.

if you notice its all in the blog, the only additional stuff on the blog is the voting, which i cant do on here, and the airsoft which i dont think i can post. as for you not wanting to click on it i can assure other have so please dont just assume cos you feel one way about something others do.

thanks for the reply but if its not about the modelling is it needed? im not one to moan or be petty about things normally but was your post needed as it certainly hasnt added an comments on the modelling that you say came looking for.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

smiling Assassin wrote:This all looks fantastic. I love the WIP Commissar, that resin torso/head combo is one that I've been seriously dying to get my hands on but never got round to ordering that kit. It's awesome though. The pose is perfect for a commissar and I can't wait to see what he looks like painted.

As for the rest of them, I must say that your minor alterations/pads featuring green stuff look brilliant. Really sharp and professional. Again, can't wait to see this stuff get a lick of paint because I can extrapolate your sculpting and conversion skills to a point where the paintjob's going to be awesome as well

Cheers

sA

thanks for the feedback, it was a nice simple conversion and it also leave me the Lt Varras torso to add to some cadian legs as an advisor or officer.
Thanks as well for the GS comments, its nice to know the works not as bad as i think - even though it does take me a couple of times to get it right
at the moment given the schedule im doing at work and that im currently working with metal on my Kasrkin its going to be a while before i get the bits together to start painting though i do want to start soon just so i can start playing with my Mentor Legion ideas.
hopefully with have some painting started by the end of the month - fingers crossed!
cheers
millest

Hi folks

As promised before my holiday here is the first part of the detailed pictures of my Storm Trooper Sergeant conversions. These models have been converted up to represent Veteran Sergeants and Officers in my Imperial Guard and Inquisition forces.

Vet Sergeant Thor - Thunder Hammer Conversion



Vet Sergeant Pugnus - Power Fist Conversion



These are the first two in the five conversions I have, I know their relatively simple conversions but I think when they have the appropriate backpack on them (such as grenade launcher back packs for those with bolt weapons to simulate them carrying ammo rather power packs) they look really sweet and surprisingly different to standard models.

I will hopefully have some background and history for them if I get time to work on it soon.

let me know what you all think of these chaps.

These are looking good, keep up the converting

Hi Folks

As promised part two of my selection of converted Storm Trooper Veterans and Officers.

Vet Sergeant Telum - Bolt Pistol and Head Conversion



Vet Sergeant Procella - Storm Bolter, Scanner and Head Conversion



Vet Sergeant Saeta - Female Head Conversion



Thats the officers folks I pretty pleased with them over all and hope you all like them. I did get an email questioning how I came up with the names and if they related to anything in particular, lets just say if you want to know the relevance of them try running them through a Latin-English translator (suffice to say I may shortly be renaming Serg Thor!)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
PS - All, the voting on the blog is now fixed so you can cast your votes on the shoulder pads
cheers

Love the guy with the long hair

Surely that'd be Gal?

And as much as i love these guys, the fact they're in the same pose may lose a sense of variety somewhat..

But again, loving these!

IMPERIAL ARMOUR EIGHT: RAID ON KASTOREL-NOVEM - FORGEWORLD
Waaagh! Garaghak is gathering pace across the Forsarr sector. Several of the Imperium¹s worlds have already fallen to the rising green tide of Orks, and now the sector¹s primary hive world has been invaded. Garaghak¹s hordes seem unstoppable, except that the Raven Guard¹s Scouts have discovered a secret behind the Goff Warlord¹s unending warbands ­ - an Ork technical genius called Mek Boss Buzzgob who has created his own factories on the former Imperial refinery world in the Kastorel system.

This book contains a detailed history of the Raid on Kastorel-Novem and the rise of Warlord Garaghak. There is a complete Elysian Drop Troop Imperial Guard army list, including the Vulture gunship, Valkyrie Sky Talon and the Tauros and Tauros Venator rapid assault vehicles. There is also background information on the Raven Guard Space Marine Chapter, along with a new special character, Shadow Captain Korvydae. Rules, background and technical details are included for all of the recent Forge World Ork releases.

This book is heavily illustrated with over 50 colour pictures, 60 full colour vehicle profiles, over 30 technical drawings, plus colour profiles for the Elysian Drop Troops, Raven Guard and the Orks of the Goff, Evil Sunz and Death Skullz clans, all to add new depth and detail to the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Also included in this book is a folded copy of an A1 Ork poster featuring artwork by Paul Bonner, Sam Lamont and Kenton Mills.


As I'm sure you can already tell I am some what of a Forge world fan so I really had to pick the lastest Forgeworld book up to complete my set, initial thoughts were along the lines of another expensive although impressive book, but was I right?

On arrival i found I was lucky enough once again to have managed to get in early and get one of the 500 signed books that forgeworld do for each new release which cheered me up no end after spending a lot on this book.

Initial impressions were good, a well made book and a really awesome looking poster (that's never going to be wall mounted), the quality of both were great as one would expect given the price of most FW books.

The fluff inside was good but in my mind when compared to the previous offerings from Forgeworld I don't think was of the same level of depth and quality. I appreciate the raid was meant to be a rapid deployment and was meant to show case the orks equipment but within the fluff i don't think that happened to the degree it has previously.

There was some fluff on the Raven Guard but nothing new or overly exciting and the only new info on the Elysians was the new Tauros vehicles (if only they would release a version with cadian crew!) and even then not much about its history etc.

The main protagonists had a lot of new kit that in most cases was briefly mentioned in the fluff section of the book but thankfully did get more background in the rules section of the book.

Overall I guess i was happy with the book as with all FW books the artwork was superb and the modelling and painting ideas are amazing, i was slightly disappointed in the quality of the fluff and the actual size of the book too! Personally with these factors in mind i think the book for once was slightly over priced (what FW stuff isn't but usually with good reason) and really in my eyes should have been £10 cheaper then it actually was.

Either way overall a good (but not amazing) book and one that needs adding to anyone's FW collection.

Available from:
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk
RAID ON KASTOREL-NOVEM - Forgeworld

The Chapters Due - Graham McNeill
War is unending in the life of a Space Marine. After defeating tau forces, Captain Uriel Ventris of the Ultramarines has returned to the Chapter’s homeworld of Macragge, but there is little respite. The Ultramarines are thrust back into battle, and this time the enemy is the Chapter’s greatest nemesis. The traitorous Iron Warriors, led by renegade Warsmith Honsou, have gathered together a massive and brutal warband. Their target is the realm of Ultramar. Their objective is total annihilation. It is a final showdown between legendary Space Marines, and Uriel Ventris must take on the might of Honsou if he is to save his Chapter’s homeworld.


This is the latest novel in the Uriel Ventris series of Ultramarines novels and i really hope it isn't the last. Whilst it potentially appears to be the last in this story arc and the last in the Honsu, Newborn, Ventris arc it luckily ended withe just enough suspense to mean it may not be - we can only hope.

The novel was a great climax to an awesome story arc and my only complaint is it was only one book instead of two, the scale of the campaign (for want of a better word) and the raging battles could easily have stretched to two novels. As it was this one book was fast paced with action on virtually every page and makes you not want to put it down, i read it over the course of two evenings it was that good.

There are some interesting portions of the books with great flash backs to the past, for both Ventris and the Newborn. There are also some fascinating cameos from the Raven Guard, who would have thought they would turn up seems as FW have just released some awesome new models, and most importantly there were some surprise appearances from the least unexpected quarter. That's right the Legion of the Damned, my apologies for the spoiler but i must say the way in which their background and origins was hinted at was superb and one of the best notions i have ever seen for these mysterious warriors, the Men in Back of 40k. the way they were dealt with was superb and i hope it becomes cannon in the way GW themselves deal with the Legion.

All in all an excellent book, a great way two finish of both the Uriel story arc and the Iron Warriors story arcs in one concise and simple novel. well executed and superbly written a real joy to read.

A full 5 out of 5 stars from me for such a great ending.


Available from:
http://www.blacklibrary.com
The Chapters Due - Graham McNeill
hardback, 320pp • ISBN 9781844168606


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Well folks, second post in a day and second post about shoulder pads! It really is beginning to feel like the 1980's all over, all we need now is to fire up the Quatro and we're sorted!

Well once the vote was repaired and people could vote I'm glad to say a small number did and they reached a decision as to which skull pad to use for my Red Hunters an I am pleased once again to announce that the winner was:

The Ron's Red Hunters Skull Iconography


Once things are back to normal here I will begin the arduous task of creating GS moulds of both this and the Mentor Legion pad to start casting soon.

So thanks to Ron for an excellent pad and thanks to all those that have voted in the poll.

nice work in green

Legends of the Space Marines - Edited by Christian Dunn

Space Marines and their evil counterparts, the Traitor Marines, epitomise the wartorn Warhammer 40,000 universe. This short story collection focuses entirely on these super human warriors, telling high-action tales of heroism and savagery. Combining the talents of Black Library favourite authors such as Mike Lee and Nick Kyme with hot new talent, this collection is truly not to be missed!

Contents
Hell Night by Nick Kyme
Cover of Darkness by Mitchel Scanlon
The Relic by Jonathan Green
Twelve Wolves by Ben Counter
The Returned by James Swallow
Consequences by Graham McNeill
The Last Detail by Paul Kearney
The Trial of the Mantis Warriors by C.S. Goto
Orphans of the Kraken by Richard Williams
At Gaius Point by Aaron Dembski-Bowden




CAUTION MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!

As a whole this book is an excellent compilation, the only downside to it I’m my mind is that many (roughly half) of the stories are tie-ins to other novel series in the Black Library collection. Mind you with that in mind I still think for original ideas this is one of the best compilations of marine stories put out so far.

Hell Night by Nick Kyme
The first story in the book is a tie-in to the Salamanders series of novels. This is one of Nicks great short stories that could really have filled a full novel. It helps expand the series and completes some parts. All in all its punchy and well written, I can’t really fault it but then I think I am a bit biased in that respect. Over all a good start to the book.

Cover of Darkness by Mitchel Scanlon
The second story revolves around the white scar, well written but to my mind didn’t have the speed and punch I would have expected in a story about a lightning fast chapter, the references to their past were good but weren’t played up well enough, however as this is linked to the forthcoming Hunt for Voldorius novel in the space marine battles series I can only hope that does it to a greater degree. Still interesting concept and the way the marines we’re portrayed as humorous helped break that colder then ice front they appear to have.

The Relic by Jonathan Green
This was a black Templars based story, with this one I can’t say too much without giving the plot away other than its set during the Armageddon campaigns, a startling discovery and an awesome premise to the story really pull this together and makes it a short story worthy of reading. Well written if slightly slow in places but the threads running through it hold it together well.

Twelve Wolves by Ben Counter
As I'm sure you can guess this one is a space wolves story, it’s a story that has quite cleverly being written as someone reciting a story that’s being told to tell a story of a story being told! Very clever I think. It’s a great source of information on the mentality and psyche of the space wolves and opens up some interesting ideas and concepts on characters and squads for game use. An excellent piece of background that really should have been in the last space wolves codex it’s that good.

The Returned by James Swallow
A doom eagles based story that is tied in to the Uriel Ventris/Honsu twin story arcs and really helps answers some what happens next questions! It is another tie-in yes but it’s a good one. I can’t really say more again without blowing the plot but it does show the dilemmas many chapters and marines face but it explores them quite well for such a short story. Again well worth a read and helps tie up some loose ends.

Consequences by Graham McNeill
Another tie in this time from the ultramarines perspective, this is the missing section of the Uriel Ventris novels that deals with his trial, imp not going to ruin anything by saying he’s guilty as its obvious from the books. This deals with the humanity and consequences of the decisions taken both at the event and in the trial. A rather human piece by marine standards but definitely worth it to answer some of the questions thrown up in the Uriel series.

The Last Detail by Paul Kearney
A story from the tales of the Dark Hunters Chapter, one I can see we will see a lot more of upcoming novels. An interesting story with echoes of the ending of the original Deathwing novel but with a more interesting ending (and a lot shorter). This is another story that shows some of the weaknesses of marines but helps ground them with humanity and also helps show that every day humans are not always as weak willed as the marines believe. A tad slow with regards to action and pace but a well written story nonetheless.

The Trial of the Mantis Warriors by C.S. Goto
The Trail of the Mantis Warriors pretty much does exactly what is says on the tin, can’t really expand on that any further! Written after the Badab war this deals with the chapters trial and punishment. Quite rightly written by C.S. Goto, the only person to use the Mantis Warriors in his novels (the Deathwatch novels) it is well written and helps illustrate the problems that occur when there are shades of grey thrown in to the politics of the 40k world. All I can hope is that after this and after the Deathwatch novels there are some more Mantis Warrior stories or novels planned.

Orphans of the Kraken by Richard Williams
A short story about the Scythes of the emperor or Emperors Scythes, depending on who you speak to, and their work to rebuild their chapter after the disastrous that destroyed them fighting the Tyranids. I don’t want to give much away but all I can say is the idea of Salvation squads sounds awesome and fluff wise this is without doubt one of the best (either this or Relic) in the book and if you can’t buy the book I recommend either going to the library or borrowing it from a friend just for those two stories.

At Gaius Point by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
This is an odd story about the Flesh tearers and their curse, I can’t say too much but it’s an odd and dark story starring both the Flesh Tearers and the Soriatis. Worth a read but definitely an odd one, also explains why the name Gaius Point has been cropping up in other novels and fluff recently (especially the Blood Angels and Successor fluff). A good read and well paced. Just very odd and not what I expected, but still good.

All in all one of the best compilations to date and most definitely a full 5 out 5, go on get out there and buy it.


Availible from:
http://www.blacklibrary.com
Legends of the Space Marines - Edited by Christian Dunn
softback, 544pp • ISBN 9781844165612


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Hi Folks
second post of the day, decided now was a good time to show you the first of my Storm Trooper Specialists. I've decided to run my Inquisitional Inducted Imperial Guard with a command sqaud all decked out in Carapace/Storm Trooper Armour to beef them up and make them stand out more from the platoon command squads. My theory being if the officers are that good the Inquisitor will give them the best equipment to stay alive that little longer.
So here is the first of my command squad specialists:

Medic Bota





I know its only a simple conversion thats not quite finished, just need to add a green stuff helix to the right shoulder pad and one to the pouch on the rear but for the most part its finished. I make no apologies for it being so simple as this models true identifying features to make him stand out more as a medic will be in the final paint work, once I get round to it.
Hope you like him and let me know any thoughts you have on him.

Millest's Mediocre Meanderings is pleased to announce that we have now joined forces with the "From The Warp" Blog ring. This links this blog to over 600 other bloggers who all have views and thoughts on gaming, as well as numerous unique armies and modelling options.
This is a great opportunity for all on the blog to visit some new sites and see something new.

Please visit From The Warp here:

FTW Bloggers Group
http://fromthewarp.blogspot.com/

Millest’s Mediocre Meanderings is here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/

Following on from the Storm Trooper Command Medic next is the latest in my Kasrkin based conversion. This is my heavy weapon gunner for the squad, Heavy Bolter trooper, I intend to tie him in on a senic large base (with two small bases on) with a removable squad buddy.

This model uses a normal Kasrkin model tied in with a slightly modified Space Marine heavy bolter. There are some small modifications to to Heavy Bolter but nothing too major so it still looks like what it is. Using the Heavy bolter in this format was decided as I though if their Inquistion Inducted they are going to have access to the best kit, and what better kit could you want then a Heavy Bolter with suspensor fields. so folks here he is:

Squad Weapons Specialist Kraftig





A little more involved as a conversion but not majorly so. Once I've aquired some FW bits, CoD bits and a large base I should be able to mount this chap up with on a base with Trooper Barare and some ammo crates. Any veiws and thoughts would be great, hopefully once I've had some practice at digital camo painting I'll be able to make a start on this.

Also to answer a few emails, for the names of these Squad troopers I came up with them by sticking some appropriate words in to an english-swedish translator, just gives some extra spice rather then the normal latin names we get in 40k.

Millest's Mediocre Meanderings is pleased to announce that we have now joined forces with the "Bell Of Lost Souls" Blog ring. This links this blog to over 1200 followers and around 500 other blogs who all have views and thoughts on gaming, as well as numerous unique armies and modelling options.

This is a great opportunity for all on the blog to visit some new sites and see something new.

Please visit From The Bell of Lost Souls:

BOLS Bloggers Group
http://www.belloflostsouls.net/

And of course my blog, Millest's Mediocre Meanderings:
http://millests.blogspot.com/

Rynn's World - Steve Parker

When the ork hordes of Warlord Snagrod lay waste to the planet of Badlanding and wipe out the Crimson Fists sent to stop them, Chapter Master Kantor prepare a hasty line of defence on the Fists home planet of Rynn's World. Tragedy strikes when an errant missile destroys the Space Marine's Chapter monastery, killing most of their warriors. With a handful of Crimson Fists left, Kantor must fight the campaign of his life, to defeat Snagrod's orks and prevent his Chapter's annihilation.


CAUTION MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!

The Ork invasion of the Crimson Fist homeworld of Rynn's World is one of the more famous battles the Space Marines have been involved in and is the defining moment for the Crimson Fists Chapter. This book tells the story of that invasion and the horrific consequences for the chapter.

The book like many of the recent novels is split into multiple parts. In this case its split in to three parts. The first part sees the lead up to the invasion with details of invasions elsewhere, warp news and the Librarium all making an appearance. Then it moves on to look at the invasion itself and most importantly the catastrophe that strikes the chapter.

The second part follows the defence of New Rynn City and the brave defenders holding at all costs. It also examines the trek of Chapter Master Pedro Kantor to New Rynn City along with his bunch of survivors, both marine and civilian. The final part details the retaking of the New Rynn City Spaceport and ends as the liberation begins, but doesn’t detail any of the retaking of Rynn’s world.

This was an excellent book that I felt looked at one of the most interesting and devastating events that could impact a Chapter, however despite been excellent I’m afraid it could have been better. The book was fast paced and I managed to get through it extremely quickly, without missing any of the action or wondering what was happening at any point, the book was just so well laid out that it moved on with little pause.

The language used was simple, if sometimes overly so, but on a whole read well. I did find parts of it to be a little over the top and did notice one or two mistakes in the tense used in the novel.

One thing that I did like that despite the loss, anger and in some cases just plain rage there were some nice humorous sections, almost grave digger style humour but it worked and helped portrait the marines as something other than automatons, however for the most part they did stay true to character as it were.

The book also had some nice little features like the 4 colour pages in the centre with maps of the planet, continents and cities. This single little touch really helped finish the book and really makes it stand out as something different to the normal warhammer 40000 novels out there.

The things that I felt could have made the book better were little things that if I hadn’t played 40k for so long I wouldn’t have noticed. For example Cortez, in current fluff he’s a survivor and has no problems, however in the book despite surviving and theoretically being fit for duty there is a major change to established fluff.

As pointed out by a number of other reviews the story of the Land Raider Rynn's Might (remember the land raiders shown on the Land Raider poster in White Dwarf and written up in issue 256) this almost pivotal component of the siege was missed and was actually disappointing not to see.

My final gripe and one that I though could have made the book an outstanding pinnacle of Black Library fiction was the liberation, or in this case lack of one. Whilst the planets liberated and we know this, what we don’t know is how or who by. To me adding a few more chapters covering this and all the forces involved would have really finished the novel off and would for me as a gamer opened up some interesting avenues for modelling and army building.

An excellent book and as the opening salvo in the Space Marines Battle Series was an excellent read and was well written and true (for the most part) to accepted cannon, it was nice for the writer not to reinvent things, and helped detail something many gamers have read about in brief but haven’t had the chance to explore in detail.

Well done Mr Parker and let’s hope that the second book in the series, another Imperial Fists Successor novel in the guise of the Black Templars, holds up to the standard set by this novel.

With all that in mind though Rynns World is an excellent read and is well worth of a 5 out of 5.


Availible from:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/
Rynn's World - Steve Parker
softback, 416pp • ISBN 9781844168026


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Blog News - Work it Doth Sucketh!!!
Well folks just a quick update, due to a large amount of work and then another 4 days of long shifts there has been no painting as such, and wont be for a fair few more days due to me having absolutely no free time!


However to satisfy my need to blog and peoples appetites for some of my models there will be postings of some recently completed works over the next day or so, and a book review that was just posted before this post to keep you entertained. The First WIP pics i hope to have up tomorrow for you all.
Also those of you that have asked about painting I'm pleased to say that not only have the paints been ordered but I have also ordered some basic Marines and Guardsmen to do some test painting on which means some up coming votes on colour schemes. Once there is more information the blog will be the first to know.

Hello folks

here is the first of the catch up posts while I'm working to show you what Ive been up to recently. The guys are quite simple conversions of Kasrkin models with the old metal scout biker shotguns and a lot of green stuff to fill gaps and re-sculpt hands.

All the models will have alternative back packs to the standard power cell backpacks for the Kasrkin. I have decided in the end to use the backpacks from the Kasrkin Grenade Launcher, this not only keeps the theme and style of models linked but it also does look like the backpack would hold ammo rather then just batteries.

here's the pics:



My apologies for the group pics but it was the quickest and easiest way to show you all 10 of the models. Individual or at least more detailed pics will be up later in the week. hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think.

As promised here are the more detailed pictures of the latest models out of the Conversion Corner, my Shotgun Storm Troopers. The pics show some more detail on the work carried out and give you an idea of the look in going for.






as you can see, simple looking conversions but strangely difficult! I currently have 10 but I am thinking of possibly adding another 5 or so to allow me to field full 10 man squads with Sergeants and Special weapons. Colour schemes will be put up for vote hopefully by the end of the month once I have received all my orders and completed some test miniatures to show the schemes.
Hope you enjoy these and feel free to leave any feedback.

:O

Really nice conversion, Dave!

Well folks after a week of waiting with baited breath for the postie to arrive, well when I haven't been stuck at work that is, all the modelling bits and airsoft bits I've been waiting on have finally arrived! YAY!

The Airsoft bits were the first to arrive and once I've finished the alterations to my M249 I will make sure that they are fitted then get some pics up for you all later in the week.

On to the modelling and painting bits! Other then new books these have been my first purchases of models and paints in well over a year. I dug out my old paints and bitz and found that it had all either dried up (apart from a couple of pots) or I had traded it away, so I set out on the task of restocking and getting enough models to tie me over until next month. In the end i ended up ordering:

[*]A Bucket load of paint
[*]Couple of varnishes
[*]Some paint palettes
[*]5 snap together Cadians for test models
[*]A box of 5 Space Marines for some test models
[*]20 Marine shoulder pads for casting pads on to (Thanks to imcdonnell on Dakkadakka for giving them to me for free).

Once all this lot arrived in its various dribs and drabs I was a happy bunny, though admittedly I did spend my first day off having a very interesting day out at a local music festival. To be fair though it was worth it and it was definitely a great way to spend the afternoon with the other half! So once I got home and unpacked everything I was confronted with this little lot:


I know it doesn't look too much but considering other then books I haven't spent a penny on 40k stuff for a long time its a vast amount of stuff for me. Well now that lots arrived I have a lot of things planned and now realise I need to buy some important things, like the Guard and Marine codexes, still lots planned over the next few weeks when I can slot things in around work and the real world! So as a brief run down and to help me remember here's a list of whats coming up:

[*]Mentor Legion Test model
[*]Red Hunters Test model
[*]Guardsman Test model
[*]Storm Trooper Test model (using guardsman)
[*]Inquisitional Storm Trooper Test model 1
[*]Inquisitional Storm Trooper Test model 2

So as you can see lots planned and over the next few weeks there will be a couple of polls appearing on the blog for some important decisions, and as always any feedback, help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Helsreach - Aaron Dembski-Bowden

When the world of Armageddon is attacked by orks, the Black Templars Space Marine Chapter are amongst those sent to liberate it. Chaplain Grimaldus and a band of Black Templars are charged with the defence of Hive Helsreach from the xenos invaders in one of the many battlezones. But as the orks numbers grow and the Space Marines dwindle, Grimaldus faces a desperate last stand in an Imperial temple. Determined to sell their lives dearly, will the Black Templars hold on long enough to be reinforced, or will their sacrifice ultimately be in vain.


CAUTION MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!

The Second book in the Space Marine Battles series deals with the second Ork invasion of the Planet of Armageddon. This is one of the more famous planetary invasions and leads to a series of battles that many Space Marine Chapters of the Warhammer 40,000 have been involved in and is the defining moment for many a Chapter or Space Marine Hero. This book tells the story of that invasion and the horrific consequences for population of Helsreach, its Defenders and it Enemies and concentrates on the Black Temaplars Space Marines.

The book sees the lead up to the invasion with details of the invasion and the preparations and decisions that lead to the eventual outcome. The book also deals with the siege of Helsreach and final outcome to save the city and its population. This was an excellent book that I felt looked at one of the most interesting and devastating events that could impact a world and ultimately a Hive city.

The book was well metered for the most part, though some small parts did seem to drag rather slowly and this seemed to pull the whole book back and make it seem a slow read in the places. The story was pretty straight forward and for the most part however did seem well planned out, but there were some issues with the format and style it was written in. The thing that particularly frustrated me where when it flicked between the flowing story and Grimaldus’ inner monologue, those bits whilst interesting and involved didn’t seem to gel with the rest of the book. Again like the first book in the series this book had the 4 colour pages in the centre with maps of the planet, continents and cities. This single little touch really makes this series stand out as something different to the normal warhammer 40000 novels out there.

The story was a very good telling of the siege of Helsreach but rather then concentrate on this (which in my view would have made a great guard and titan novel and could have been expanded) this book looked at the “limited” involvement of the black Templars. And most importantly looks at the development and failings of Grimaldus, a black templars chaplain.

Whilst the novel was well written I wasn’t impressed overall with the battles as the few that the marines seemed to be involved in were over too quickly and didn’t go in to the greater depth I expected to see in the Space Marines Battles series. Most of the characters were fairly two dimensional as well and were pretty much 40k stereotypes, but this I guess is what made it a true 40,000 novel! The novel again was a good start to a good series and is going a long way to help set some of the best short fiction stories down on paper in a more in depth and complete manner then before

As with the previous book in the series (and I’m taking this almost word for word about the previous Space Marine Battle series review) is that my final gripe and one that I though could have made the book an outstanding pinnacle of Black Library fiction was the liberation, or in this case lack of one. Whilst the hive is liberated and we know this, what we don’t know is wholly how or who by. To me adding a few more chapters covering this and all the forces involved would have really finished the novel off and would for me as a gamer opened up some interesting avenues for modelling and army building. Not to mention finding out the fate of the Black Templars Techmarine after his sins!

With all that in mind though Helsreach is a reasonably enjoyable read and because of that and its place in a great looking series of books I personally think this is worthy of a 4 out of 5


Availible from:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/
Helsreach - Aaron Dembski-Bowden
softback, 416pp • ISBN 9781844168620

Hi folks
for those of you interested in these things i have updated my blog with details of a new Space Marine Battles novel from the black library staring the Dark Angels thats coming in the new year here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-release-news-purging-of-kadillus.html

I have also updated the blog with some more pictures and information on my airsoft toys here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/2010/07/airsoft-armoury-m249-project.html

hope some of you find these of interest and enjoy looking at them,
cheers
millest

well folks after sorting out my models, paints, supplies and workspace over the last month I've now come to the stage where I need to sort out rules and project requests and more purchases. So tonight's post is a post of at least two parts, so lets begin!

The first part is nice and simple, as I'm building two forces I need to pick up the codex for each force! Now as I'm planning Guard and Marines it could be expensive but now that the allies I was planning, witch hunters and daemon hunters, now have their codexes available as PDF this makes things a lot cheaper. So come payday this month I will pick up the first codex of the two and a unit from that codex, and then next month I will pick up the other. So the question to you, and one you can vote on on the right hand side of my blog here - Millest's Blog Spot, is:

Which Codex should I get on payday?



Nice and simple choice, so please help me out and cast your vote. Then later in the month once the votes are in I will reveal the results and then ask for suggestions on a unit to pick up at the same time!

Second thing is not so simple but is quick to ask, does anyone know any UK or USA based casters that would be able to cast full figures in resin or metal? I'm only looking for 20 or so but no one I have contacted so far as been prepared to work on such a "small" project. Failing that does anyone know any good cheap UK based sellers of rubber mould materials and resin?

Finally keep your eyes out over the next few days for some new regular features such as Blog News, Hobby News, Mondays Mirthful Meanderings, Fridays Five Finds and also the addition of Keywords to posts to allow for quick and easy searching within the blog.

All the best and enjoy your weekends!

Finally got round to opening up my box of Space Marines and my Snap-Together Imperial Guard last night after work and unfortunately I have decided I had to post as I was a little shocked at the quality of the models! I was originally going to leave this post until I had made some progress on the test models and could show you some progress on that. As I say though I really was disappointed with the models, so lets have a look at them.

IMPERIAL GUARD

Initial impressions as they stand now the models aren't too bad but I was extremely disappointed with the fit, I knew they would never be perfect but given the gaps between the gun arms and the body as well as between the holding hand and the arm was vast. In the end some serious bending, gluing, filing and hacking was needed to get them this presentable!

but wait it gets worse.......

SPACE MARINES

This is the final stage I managed to get my Marines too! That's right this is the best I could get my marines, there was a serious mismatch between the front and back of the moulds for these with a misalignment of roughly 1mm all round the model! The mould lines are amazingly bad. not to mention there were some serious problems with the models as a whole, these two were put together using the best parts I could find from a box of 5 marines!

Whilst I appreciate sometimes models can be difficult to put together I really wasn't expecting worse quality control on Games Workshops "main stay" products than you get from Forge world. I am annoyed that this is the state of their current moulds and just prey this is a one off incident and not the shape of things to come.

I suppose the only saving grace in this case is that these models are destined to be Test models and just glorified palettes for my ideas rather than actual table top figures.

Please if you have any thoughts on this or have had similar issues please post them and let me know just so I know what I will be facing!

More updates to the blogs, including airsoft updates, blog updates and also some more info on the Storm Wardens project, can all be found here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/

cheers


Automatically Appended Next Post:
More updates to the blogs, including airsoft updates, blog updates and also some more info on the Storm Wardens project, can all be found here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/

cheers

Morning Folks,
just a quick post here due to work and life, seems the results for the Codex vote have come in today and the results are actually quite surprising to me.

The winner of the vote is:



I must say given the number of Space Marine players and fans out there I was expecting a run away win for the Space Marine book, however the results clearly show that the Imperial Guard fan boys were out in force! The end results were 20 votes cast, with 16 for the IG book and only 4 for the SM book.
A big surprise but exciting and interesting for me. Time for me to get on and order the book, if only I could decide which unit to pick up along side it now

Thanks to all that voted in the poll.

In other Blog news recent posts have included this weeks MMM and also an airsoft armory upload, all of which can be found here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/

Cheers
Millest

Path of the Warrior - Gav Thorpe

The ancient eldar are a mysterious race, each devoting their life to a chosen path which will guide their actions and decide their fate. Korlandril abandons peace for the Path of the Warrior. He becomes a Striking Scorpion, a deadly fighter skilled in the art of close-quarter combat. But the further Korlandril travels down this path, the closer he gets to losing his identity and becoming an avatar of war.


WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS!!

The latest Warhammer 40,000 from the Black Library deals with the ascension from lowly elder to warrior and beyond of one member of the Craftworld Alaitoc. Now before I begin I must point out that I am an Imperialist through and through, whilst this meant I approached the book from a different point of view from an Eldar fan I still think it would be an interesting read for all to give a view in to the mind of the Eldar.

The Novel deals with the life of Korlandril as he move along the various paths each member of the elder race must travel as they develop and grow. The novel begins as Korlandril the Sculptor treads his path creating beautiful and masterful artworks. Korlandrils personal life soon begins to unravel and it casts him down in to a dark and dangerous place. The speed and way this is handled in the novel despite trying to be aloof and above petty mindedness just ends up making the “young” Eldar look like petulant teenagers and for the most part makes them seem more Human than Eldar, however this pretence is soon dropped once the next path is chosen.

Once of the most impressive parts of the first part of the novel and the initial parts of his move on to the path of the warrior is the way the image of the craftworld is painted. It is shown in a way to show its vastness and it also ends up developing a character of its own. This part of the Eldar way comes to life towards the end of the novel when the craftworld begins to react to invaders but it really helps you understand why each individual craftworld and its residents have their own character.

Once on the path of the warrior things seem to move quickly, though I judge by the writing that it is meant to be months that pass however I don’t think that is conveyed too well, and before long Korlandril has mastered the ways of the Striking Scorpion and is deemed ready for battle. On joining battle things don’t go well or last for long however this unexpected outcome of the battle leads to yet another dark turn and almost too quickly (as even noted by other characters in the book) Korlandril takes a turn on to the part of the Exarch. The move to Exarch again is swift and shocking and again uses the size and Varity of the craftworld to present a completely different view of an aspect Shrine. Finally Korlandril joins the battle for altioc as an Exarch and goes on to join with the Phoenix lord and continue his existence there as an eternal part of the lord.

The novel was well written and gives an interesting overview of the Eldar, their way of life and most importantly their belief system. Each chapter was prefixed with a short “Extract” of the Eldar myths and legends, whilst written in a pseudo Lord of the Rings style and reminiscent of some of the myths and theology of the Indian subcontinent. When reading these insights it does help set up the novel and make you realise why things are as ritualised and as ordered as they seem to be for the eldar. The whole novel is sprinkled with references to the fall and these legends and these mixed with the constant changing of characters names (and unfortunately the tense in which they are talked about) do slightly confuse the past with the present, it seems when Korlandril became an Exarch he was no longer Korlandril and in places it became confusing but for the most part the novel worked and flowed well.

The ending of the novel was interesting and brought all the characters, be they Eldar or the Craftworld together. The ending also in my mind answered many questions on the nature of the Phoenix lords, and most importantly gave the Black Library chance to get Space Marines in to the novel (and a mention of what I can only assume was the new Caestus Assault Ram from Forge World).

My only major issues with the novel as a whole, despite its smaller failings, was the speed in which it developed. The novel moved too quickly through the path of the warrior and ended too soon. The characters and their interactions could have been further developed and could have revealed more about the Eldar and their beliefs but I guess it was just one novel not a series.

Overall due to the brief nature of the novel I think it have earned its three and a half stars and that’s from someone who isn’t an Eldar fan so for all those Pointy eared types out there this would be a great novel to pick up.


Availible from:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/
Path of the Warrior - Gav Thorpe
softback, 416pp • ISBN 9781844168743

Daenyathos - Ben Counter

Exclusive prequel novella to the Soul Drinkers series by Ben Counter.

Held prisoner by the Imperial Fists and on the brink of being condemned by their fellow Astartes, the once proud Soul Drinkers are a pale shadow of what they once were. Daenyathos is the story of how, over millennia, the seeds of their damnation were sown and how a single corrupt librarian became a canker at the very heart of a Space Marine chapter.


WARNING THIS REALLY DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS!
If like me your were lucky enough to get hold of a copy of Daenyathos or were foolish enough to splash out that much on a small book, depending on your point of view, you’ll know there is something different about the way this book is put together. Just like the Iron Warriors book before it this limited edition book is smaller in foot print then a normal Black Library hard back book and is a lot thinner. That been said it really doesn’t take away from the content of the book! The book was a limited run of 1000 and was signed by Ben Counter so I’m happy own it in that respect as I always get a bit excited about signed items!

The book charts the rise of Daenyathos from the roll of Battle Brother to the spiritual father of the Soul Drinkers chapter. Despite being only 6 chapters and 126 pages long the book crams a lot in and follows his swift path through the ranks. The book opens with a letter to what I can only assume is a serving member of the Imperial Fists or an Inquisitor explaining that the novel is evidence in the trial of the remaining Soul Drinkers.

The first chapter deals with the assault on the Ecclesiarchal Palace during the reign of Vandire and the part Daenyathos plays in it. The opening chapter sets much of the scene and introduces most of the main initial players as well as some characters that appear again. My favourite part is the appearance of the Brides of the Emperor, it’s nice to see them get the pre Sisters of Battle history brought out in to the open. This chapter deal with how Daenyathos and his squad interact and how “initially” they were righteous and were on the right path.

The second chapter concentrates on the chapters dealings with an Inquisitor, his prey and the exterminatus of a planet. This chapter is the most important when it comes to reoccurring characters and starts to deal with the slow fall Daenyathos starts upon. It is at this point that Daenyathos begins to question the part humanity is playing in its own downfall and his place, and that of his chapter, within that scenario. This chapter basically signals the beginning of the end, at least in the eyes of the imperium, for Daenyathos and the Soul Drinkers.

The third chapter is where Daenyathos takes these thoughts to heart and decides to become a Chaplain within the ranks of the Soul Drinkers. The novel primarily deals with the trials and rituals that are used by the Drinkers to induct their chaplains and to ensure their purity, though the way in which they do it seems intrinsically flawed and hence why it seems Daenyathos passes and moves on to become a chaplain. This is where he also decides to codify his beliefs in what goes on as we all know from the Soul Drinkers novels the founding tenants of his chapter.

In the fourth chapter Daenyathos is a fully fledged chaplain and on a mission with the Reclusiarch the threads begin to unravel and it seems that the manner in which he rose to power is more than just a little stained with the blood of the innocent. It is in this chapter that he takes the first step of no return on the path to downfall. Initially during the mission the teachings of his book is questioned and its wide spread acceptance amongst the Soul Drinkers is also raised. Daenyathos uses this as a chance to appear humble but also to trick those who might unravel the plan in to a suicidal attack which when it doesn’t quite work he then completes the task of their eradication himself. This leave him free to take up the mantle of Reclusiarch himself and ultimately damns the chapter!

The fifth chapter concludes the pursuit of a heretic by Daenyathos and his eventual torture at the heretics hands. This is one of the overall story arcs of the book and helps tie the whole novel together. It is here whilst at his weakest and strongest that the whole corruption of his ideals is revealed and is ultimately committed to being enacted. We also see him reduced to a shell of a marine but in this he still proves he is stronger and better than most humans, and this alone seems to cement his beliefs.

The sixth and final chapter sees Daenyathos reduced to the living core of a Dreadnought, although as far as the chapter is concerned he is dead, and his three prodigies being entrusted with his legacy. We also learn more of his plans as he reveals them to one of the heroes of the imperium and also how he intends to enact these plans from his sarcophagus. This chapter is the most important chapter in the future of the Soul Drinkers and goes a long way to explain just how they could become so misguided and ultimately corrupted. The final part deals with him leaving the chapter to its dark future.

The novel is extremely well written and deals with and explains well all the things that caused the great Soul Drinkers Heresy. The prose is flowing and most importantly doesn’t get confused between past and present even when it does need to refer to past events in the present. The descriptions although at some points truncated really do make the book work, that in itself is one of the joys of Black Library novels in how they have a wealth of imagery and background to draw from. The thing however that makes this book stand out from its Iron Warriors counterpart and from all other Black Library novels are the notes and sketches interspersed throughout the book. Ben Counter has gone to great pains to make it look as though the recipient or sender of the evidence has gone to great pains to annotate the book and contradict/correct comments. The sketches of marines, books, weapons and forces make the whole book pop and virtually every few pages there has been something included to make you look at the sketch and think how it might fit in to the “legend” of the Soul Drinkers. I have included some of the sketches from the novel that are available on the Black Library website below this review. A great novel and great filler piece to explain how and why the chapter fell, if one crops up on eBay or anywhere all I can say is get it!



An excellent bit of historical novel writing from the 40,000 point of view and well deserving of 5 out of 5 stars.


Available from:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/
Daenyathos - Ben Counter
128page hardback, numbered, with marker ribbon, custom artwork and hand signed by the author • ISBN 9781849700085

Well folks despite a shocking few days at work it seems that today is an exciting day afterall! I returned home not only to find the Sabbat Worlds anthology from the Black Library on my mat but also my copy of the Imperial Armour 9! First impressions are they look great and I'm looking forward to reading them (shame I'm a third of the way through Hunt for Voldorius and I'm away this weekend but still their time will come!) and as always the books have a great finish.


Once they were unpacked and all dribbled over I have had a flick through them both. Sabbat Worlds looks like a rip roaring collection of different stories from all around the Sabbat Worlds area, most importantly theres not just one Ghosts story, but two! So that looks good. Plenty of other good stuff from Nick Kyme and the like.

Then had a quick flick through the Imperial Armour 9, some interesting sections, lots and lots of fluff as well as some great colour schemes and details on iconography, however the most pleasing thing for me was this:


Yep, I've been lucky enough to get it signed again! That means if I remember rightly that so far I'm fully signed on all my FW books, including aeronautica. As I know I'm not going to get much chance to read this for a few days and I suspect I'm lucky enough to be amongst the first few to get it here is a picture of the contents page and if anything on it interests you or you would like to know more let me know and I'll see what information I can give you (however I wont copy pages as I wouldnt want to breach GW copyright) so here it is:


Enjoy and let me know if there is anything you'd like to know.

Hobby Tips - Green Stuff Moulding and Casting Tutorial

Hi Folks,
Today is the first in an infrequent series on the various hobby tips I've picked up or developed over my time playing and modelling. Hopefully for some people this might be useful but for those of you that are old hats at this modelling malarky please feel free to offer tips and suggestions as to how to improve my tutorials and the techniques I use. Also as a heads up as I'm still only at the modelling stage of my current project most of my first tutorials will deal with this, painting will come later.

I've been asked a few times in the past how I recreate some of the icons I've used, how to replicate an icon from a shoulder pad or even how to cast an item off a flat piece for use else where. So I decided to make my first tutorial a quick guide on Moulding and Casting with Green Stuff.

To begin moulding and moving on to casting you will need a few items and I have cut my list down to the bear minimum for speed and cost. To make a successful mould you will need:

The Item you wish to mould

Blank Shoulder pads or items you wish to cast on to
Green Stuff
Cutters
Hobby Knife
Kitchen roll/towel
An old paint brush
Tweezers
Some kind of lubricant

As you can see from the list and the picture this is not a huge list and certainly only covers basic simple push moulds rather than two part moulds. Once you have all these bits assembled you can then start on the following step by step guide on how to creat a mould and then cast the icons in question:

1#
First job is really simple, all you need to do is decide on the the items you wish to cast, in this case I will be using the two shoulder pads that Ron over at ++From The Warp++ sculpted for me for the Red Hunters and the Mentor legion. Using these is twofold, 1- they arent produced by GW so dont break any copyright and 2- I need them for my upcoming marine forces. Once you have the items its prudent to check them over and remove any flash on the pad and tidy up any rough areas on them to help produce a smooth lift from the mould, this is illustrated below:


2~
Next step is to measure out the green stuff you require to cover the whole front of the pad to a depth of around 3mm and to give an excess all the way around the rim of the pad to roughly 3-4mm, this is a ball of roughly 1-1.5cm in diameter. Leaving an excess round the edge gives you something to hold on to whenremoving the pads and the depth assists when you start casting later and means you dont end up pushing the green stuff through the front of the mould. As you can see from the picture below I do a little extra prep on my green stuff:

As you can see from the picture I have cut the amount required, I have then cut the thin strip out where the two seperate parts of the GS meet. This is something I recommend doing to help give a smoother putty to work with. I have found that sometimes if you have an older batch of GS the section where the two colours joins has often started to cure, by removing this it makes it easier to kneed the GS and gives a smoother finish, slightly wasteful I know but we're going for results here!

3#
Once you have mixed your GS the next step is to take your Old Paintbrush and use it to apply a liberal coat of luricant to the front of the item you wish to cast. There are various types of lubrication you can use but I personally recommend anything water based, this makes it easier for washing off later and means you can make other moulds or even paint on to the item easier.

4#
Once liberally coated the next step is to push your pad in to the freshly mixed GS, I start by making a rough ball of GS and slowly pushing the pad face down in to the top of the ball. I make my best effort to get the centre of the icon in to the very top of the ball, this just makes sure the GS covers and fills the detail of the icon and helps locate the pad in the center of the GS, once completed the pushing the mould should look like this:

As you can see at the top and sides I have left a 3-4mm overlap with the GS coming well clear of the edge of the pads, this gives me something to grip for removal and something to push against later for casting.

5#
Once you have finished the pads you should leave the moulds in a warmish place for 36+ hours, as I knew these would be getting some punishment I left them for just over 48 hours just to ensure they were fully set and rock hard, do not remove the pads from the moulds before this time as it means they do not support themsleves proerply and are likely to deform.

6#
Once this period for setting has elapsed you can then remove the pads from the moulds, to du this you can use your cutters, tweezers or fingers to grip the pads and pull, there is also still some give in the GS so you can at least try to tease it from the edges of the pads. Once done you should be left with something like this:

I would then recommend leaving the moulds for a further 12-24hours to make sure the inside of the mould which was proctected from the air by the pad and lube has fully cured. This isnt nessescary but its a useful suggestion to prolong the life of the moulds

7#
Now the mould making process is complete you can begin on the casting. This is where you will need you blank shoulder pad. The first step is to mix up a small amount of GS as shown here:

As you can see from the 6mm airsoft BB in the picture the ball of GS required is somewhere between the size of a Space Marine Shoulder pad and a 6mm BB.

8#
Step one of the actual moulding process is to take the mould you wish to use and cover the relief image of the icon and all of the internal part of the mould with lubrication:

Feel free to be fairly liberal with the amount you use as any excess lubrication should squeeze out when you start the push casting.

9#
Next take your ball of GS and push it in to the mould gently, to ensure I roughly cover the whole of the icon before I start on the pushing I put a small amount of lube on the round end of the paint brush and push the GS gentley until I end up with this:

as you can see this doesnt quite cover the whole of the inside of the mould and is still pretty uneven but this will be rectified soon.

10#
Next take your old brush and cover the GS you have just put in to the back of the mould with GS. Once you have done this place the shoulder pad in to the GS and gently push, you should then end up with this:

As you can see the excess GS and lubrication has started to be pushed out from around the mould and the pad.

11#
Next take the mould and the kitchen roll/towel, place the mould on the roll/towel with the pad facing down (if the pad was uncovered you would expect to see the icon facing up towards you. Then gently apply pressure to the mould and push down as hard as possible but slowly and gently. keep this up for 30 seconds to 1 minute and you should have like below:

here you can see the excess lubrication and GS has being fully squeezed to the side of the pad and should be completely pushed in to the icon.

12#
Once this is completed you should now have a small amount of GS left over from what you moulded up, I personally use this to make rudimentary sandbag shapes for future terrain, you should therefore be left with this:

there seems to be a lot of excess GS sticking out from the mould but this is actually more of a bonus than it seems as it means you now have something to grip to help remove the cast from the mould.

13#
This step is nice and simple, leave the pads in the moulds for 24-48 hours to allow the GS to set and to make sure the icon stays crisp.

14#
After letting the GS set you can then use your cutters, tweezers or fingers to grip the pads and pull, this sometimes removes the pad and the GS cast, often though it will just remove the pad and leave the icon in the mould. If the pad takes the icon with it I then use my tweezers to grip the excess GS and remove the icon from the pad, if it doesnt take the icon with it I use the tweezers to remove the icon from the pad by the excess. Once removed from the mould or pad you should have this:


As you can see there is an awful lot of overflow but its very thin and easily removable with either cutters or a hobby knife.

15#
The next step is to clean up the icons and if needed remove a small amount of GS from the rear of them, rinse them to remove any lube and then stick them on appropriate shoulder pads. Personally I wait until I have cast all the pads I need of a type before I tidy them up and mount them on pads.
Well folks there we have it the step by step guide on making icons for short runs of pads or the odd character. I hope this is of use to someone and gives you a good basis for future modelling projects!

As I need lots of both icons and pads my next tutorial will deal with making a silicon mould for casting larger numbers of self sculpted or custom sculpted pads, this is why there are no finished pads above but tune in again soon when once I have completed an additional 5 Red Hunters pads I will then show you how to make moulds of them for a more production line casting process.



Any questions, tips or requests feel free to drop me a line.


**Please Note to comply with the GW copyright rules (and to cover my arse!) this is only to be used for casting either self sculpted or comissioned icons or casting icon that are part of a larger item - please do not use this to cast and replicate parts or icons that are readily availible from Games Workshop **

Latest novel review of Hunt for Voldorius can now be found here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/2010/10/hunt-for-voldorius-novel-review.html

cheers and enjoy
millest

Well folks today I finally took the plunge and did three things I haven't done in a while, with rather pleasing results! I recently decided as I hadn't painted in a while rather then go in blind I thought it a good idea to book a refresher at the local GW store.

Today I headed in to the store and did the first thing I haven't done in a while, which was to visit a GW store. Once inside I met the new store manager, an avid Guard player with too much money and too many armies! Got a chance to look at some of the new scenery and models as well as have a drool over the display armies and the silver Golden Daemon entry in the cabinets.

Once there and settled I did the second thing I haven't done in a while and that's to paint. I must say it was a joy to get some good honest advice and to meet some of the new regulars and gamers as well. The guys and gals (and no I'm not making that up) also took time to look at some of my conversions, most of which have already appeared on the blog and gave some good honest feed back, most if not all of which was positive. I was please when i found that once i was painting the advice given was simple, constructive, patient and helped explain the new foundation paints and the new washes. I found that the techniques I was using weren't new to me and that I simply needed some gentle coaching to wake me up to what I was doing.

The final thing I did today was to actually buy something in a GW store. OK so I was a little bit shocked at the prices now I was pleased that the guys in the store didn't jump on me and suggest I buy everything they were happy just to get me the bits I asked for. A nice change and despite the price differences definitely an improvement on the old style of the stores.

OK so I bet your all wanting to know how I got on with the painting and what it looks like, well its coming up in a second after a brief explanation of what you ll see, but I'm also going to be sneaky and make you all try to work it out! When I went in rather than get a box of Cadians and make a few up, thus meaning i couldn't base them properly, I thought it a good idea to use some of my at ease Cadians as this would give me a clear view of the whole model and what I needed to do and where. So here below are the two models painted today as test models for the force, one by me and one by the store manager. Your mission using either comments or the poll on the side of the blog is to let me know which one is the best model in the first poll and then in the second poll to let me know which one is mine and which one is the store managers!

So here are the front and back pics, the models were rotated not swapped so the model on the right in the top picture is still the model in the right on the bottom picture.





So there you have it, my attempts and the managers attempts, Below is a picture of them from a little farther away to give you an idea of what they look like from a gaming perspective so just let me know.



Please vote in the polls on my blog (http://millests.blogspot.com/) or place your comment below to let me know which is best and who you think did which guardsman.

Comments, criticisms, praise, tips and advice are all gratefully received, please don't hold back, feel free to comment.


Finally I'm also looking for good options for urban bases for the force, if anyone knows of any sellers that do good value detailed city fight style bases for the force (and eventually for the marines too) please let me know as I would like to get a decent set that are easily recognisable, customisable and affordable. Any ideas please let me know.

Enjoy

Nice work on those pads!

I really wish I wouldve gotten Daenyathos. It looks excellent.

Real nice work so far!

not really much between them, i would say test model 2 because the gun looks better, but test model 2 also has some spots of overpaint. so, only just test model 2 lol

cheers for the feedback guys, test model 1 is mine. when i finally work on them properly there will be more details picked out, pouches etc. glad they look ok, think they might be tad dark but not sure.

i haent painted for so long down to cash, motivation and real work but now im back in looks like its gonna be all three! next plan is to work out a nice 1500 pt list (with a 500pt add on)

cheers again
millest

i dont think the scheme is too dark, they will look completely different once based

Hey Man,

Thought this might be of interest to you:

Manok.

manoknok that picture is the very reason i decided on Mentor legion i love it and thnaks for posting

calibanite lion, the scheme looks good in those pics with the flash but in the real world actually looks very dark, will try to dig up a picture with out the flash later today after work

cheers guys
millest

Calabanite lion and other to help answer your questions about lightening up the fatigues on these guys and why it needs it. Below to help answer that is a picture of the two models taken without a flash and just using the ambient light from a 40w (my arse is it!) energy saver bulb and as you can see the models love extrememly dark:


To me they seem very dark, almost black in this light! I would keep the armour the same shade but would probably like to lighten the fatigues up at least a touch. Any thoughts on that suggestion?

Also since my last book reviews i have posted reviews on the blog for the following publications:

Sabbat Worlds Anthology review is here: http://millests.blogspot.com/2010/11/sabbat-worlds-anthology-novel-review.html


Imperial Armour 9: Badab War part one is here: http://millests.blogspot.com/2010/10/imperial-armour-9-badab-war-part-1.html


Hunt for Voldorius review is here: http://millests.blogspot.com/2010/10/hunt-for-voldorius-novel-review.html


Fear the Alien compilation is here: http://millests.blogspot.com/2010/10/fear-alien-novel-review.html


Nemesis (horus heresy series) is here: http://millests.blogspot.com/2010/08/nemesis-novel-review.html

and that folks brings me just about up to date with my book reviews.

enjoy
millest

I am tempted to read the latest HH one, but I don't know. A lot in that series are soooo bad...so...I will read your review!

manoknok - already looking good for the latest HH, looks very good and some very nice hints and nods at the future. this one im halfway throgh and its a definate purchase for anyone that hasnt got it yet.


anyone got any thoughts on the colours? lighter or stay is it is for the fatigues? armour will stay dark green.

Millest - thats the assassin one, or is there a newer one?

the latest one i have is the first heretic. Its a good read so far, some interesting interplay in places and locations one wouldnt expect! If it ever helps im usually slightly ahead of the curve on releases (dont know why but BL seem to get them too me usually a week before release but mates in town get them on day of release or after) so have a look on the left hand side of the blog to see whats currently on the bed stand.


One a side note does anyone have a list of subsectors or regions? particularlly is there any documented reference to a "britannicus" (or other british themed) subsector or area? wouldnt mind using it for the planet build im planning for my guard regiments fluff.
cheers
millest

Today has truely being an interesting and busy day but alas some time was put away for the hobby and the blog so all is well in the world! In that time however a disturbing thought crossed the mind of Millest, and that thought was:


I have no plans for my tanks!!

Yes, thats right, whilst I have plans and ideas for my vehicle crew and a rough idea of what camo schemes to play with I havent given any thought to what vehicles to use.

I've now spent the afternoon toying with ideas on what tanks to use, what kits to buy and most importantly what to save up for. Whilt the list wasnt extensive it did puzzle me for a while and in the end I did narrow it down to the following five choices:

Option A - Basic leman Russes straight from the box
Option B - Basic leman Russes straight from the box with FW death korps of Krieg upgrades
Option C - Basic leman Russes straight from the box with FW death korps of Krieg upgrades and turrets
Option D - Death Korps of Krieg Complete Mars Alpha Russes kits with various turrets inc ryza pattern Russ turrets
Option E - Death Korps of Krieg Complete Mars Alpha Russes kits with various turrets utilising plastic turrets for standard Russes
Now in my mind I think I have decided on a plan for my force of rolling Steal Death but I'm curious as to the solutions and thoughts that others might have so whilst I'm working this week and am sorting a few other bits and peices for the blog please feel free to leave me your thoughts and comments, as well as your votes in my poll on the right hand side heres the link http://millests.blogspot.com/, as to what options you would pick.

After all what could be more exciting then helping me recreate this image in my own special way:

Hey Dave!
as far as the tanks go, what #s are we talking about? 6? 9?
i'd say start off "cheap" . GW, no FW upgrades. and i'd even go so
far as saying look for prebuilt on Feebay. that's what i'd do if it was me.
new prices are so damn high!
anyway, i'd say get a couple of "plain" LRBTs to start. then a couple of
Demolishers. after that, i'd start getting into the more specialized styles.
and even then, i'd say just an Executioner or 3.
hope it helps!

millest wrote:
Squad Weapons Specialist Kraftig

BEAST! Gunny Harker better watch out!

hi folks
my review of the first heretic novel is now up on the blog.


the review can be found here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/2010/11/first-heretic-novel-review.html

enjoy

After visiting my local store and a few folks at work mentioning it I thought it might be a good idea to get a force together as something to work towards and also as something to help me relearn the rules.

The force is designed as an initial starting point - though obviously if its that bad I'm sure I could start afresh - as something to buy some models for and build up. Its also my first proper foray in to list building and could be the road to disaster.

so without further ado here is my first all rounder list:


Please click on the image to open up full size.
As you can see its a bit of an Air Cav force designed as a bit of an all comers killer. I fancy playing this in the local store in their 500pt pick up tourney as well as against some of my mates.
I know the force may be a bit extravagant so any suggestions on alternatives or changes would be great. I intend to be taking on any force but the most common forces I am expecting are Space Marines, Tau, Eldar and Kroot. Any suggestions on building a good guard list would be great.

Thanks and feel free to feed back.

After the fantastic work put into the metal Kasrkin it seems like a bit of a cop out just to go for basic Russes

good point, also means i need to get some answers from FW soon, unless i get some valks first also a shame FW no longer produce russ track guards


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok folks based in thar thinking and the ideas of some of the folks on here time for a few of the Valk 500 variations, all collected to tidy things up:

VERSION 1
Psyker – 70
vet squad – 85 (3 flamers)
vet squad – 100 (3 meltas)
Valk – 100 (no upgrades)
Valk with rocket pods or vendetta – 130
Total = 485 that Leaves me 15 points for HB on one of the valks (possibly the basic one to make it more useful) and a few points to buy the sergs some bolt pistols or something.

VERSION 2
Psyker – 70
vet squad – 100 (3 meltas)
vet squad – 100 (3 meltas)
Valk – 100 (no upgrades)
Valk with rocket pods or vendetta - 130 (no upgrades)
Total = 500 on the nose

VERSION 3
Psyker – 70
Melt vet squad – 95 (2 meltas and 1 flamer)
Melt vet squad – 95 (2 meltas and 1 flamer)
Valk – 110 (basic Valk with heavy bolters)
Valk with rocket pods or vendetta – 130 (no upgrades)
Total = 500 on the nose

VERSION 4
Psyker – 70
Melt vet squad – 90 (2 meltas)
Melt vet squad – 90 (2 meltas)
Valk with heavy bolters – 110
Valk with rocket pods or vendetta either with heavy bolters – 140
Total = 500 on the nose

I’ve included the alternate option in all the lists for the rocket pod Valk to be replaced with a vendetta then that way depending on the force can choose between rockets or las depending on armour facing me.
So any thoughts or suggestions?

Hi Folks,

well now its time for a new feature of the blog and hopefully some more action!

After a very dry (blogging not the weather unfortunately) and depressing few weeks slogging at work I've got together with a couple of my colleagues and we have decided to start our very own painting challenge.

so welcome one and all to the greatest show on this blog:

(Drum roll please)

THE TALE OF THREE GAMERS

(Applause or general heckling!)

That right after months of promises, random pictures, link collections and the odd conversion or test model I have teamed up with two good friends and colleagues to create something meaningful and produce the results and pictures you've all been waiting for!

First up some brief introductions to each of the three gamers and our force selections:

Millest:
General well loved Bloggister and all round man in charge (well the blog anyway) and for this challenge creating an Imperial Guard Force.

Chris:
All round odd ideas person and voice of costing us money, who for this Challenge will be creating a Tau Empire Force.

Jono:
Some say he once saw the true face of the Stig whilst in a male toilets, all we know is he will be creating a Tyranid Force for the challenge.

So say hi to the three Amigos:



So there you have the bare bones of who we are and what we plan on creating in the challenge. I was planning on getting them to write their own submissions/excuses with their pictures but lets see how that pans out shall we!


Right so on to the challenge:

Firstly timescales, this Challenge will run from the first Tuesday in March - conveniently the 1st of march through to the last Tuesday in May, with Final complete Force pictures and information submitted for posting on the 31st may, conveniently another Tuesday! anyone would think i planned that. "Wow that's a long time for a 500pt challenge" i hear you cry, well yes it is but unfortunately some of use work funny shifts that mean large portions of our time is eaten up, not to mention holidays and the fact life is bound to get in the way. In addition there are some additional challenge activities in the rules and we're all bound to faff about with other projects.

So finally after the overview here are the rules for the challenge:

# Submit a 500pt lists (with fluff for the force if possible), this list is the force you will collect for the challenge - if you do decide to deviate and work on a new list then you can resubmit the list for checking and uploading.

# Basic force organisation criteria are required, i.e. 1 HQ and 2 Troops are required.

# No special characters are permitted.

# Any forgeworld models are to be treated as codex options, unless otherwise agreed in advance by the other players.

# Set a deadline for the end of may, giving us three months.

# Weekly submissions from individuals required by Monday evening so they can edit up and post on Tuesday. This must be at least 1 picture with information on the work carried out both in general and in the picture.

# Any weeks missed with no submission or repeat pictures (where people try to be sneaky) mean you have to convert one of your models as dead for terrain use or a small objective for your force.

# Pictures of conversions without paint are acceptable but must be noticeable conversions.

# The contributors will also work towards painting and modelling £20(ish) worth of terrain each for your force/forces as part of the challenge.

# Pictures and work on other models outside of the list can be submitted but do not count as your weekly submission for the challenge, and they can be included in future lists.

# There will be a monthly vote on the favourite model of the past month with a possible prize to be decided later by the contributors. This will be in the form of comments on the monthly update.

# The challenge will culminate in the end with a final vote on the best force and a small prize to be given – maybe!
As you can see we will also be working on terrain as well as the side project of creating some gaming boards once the weather improves. So any thoughts on the challenge or input on how things could go smoother?

I think most if not all three of us are looking at creating a core 500pt list, but then on top of that creating and modelling some variations on the theme. I for one know I have two other lists I would like to work on in conjunction with this challenge.

Eventually once the 500pt is complete we will then have a reported three way battle that will be published on the blog for all to see. There will also be a vote on the best force and then the winner gets not only the kudos and bragging rights but may get a small prize and most importantly gets to pick the sub-challenge for the 1000pt leg of the on going painting challenge.

Well folks there you have it, MMM might finally get some finished models on it and hopefully some of it will be inspirational so stay tuned and enjoy.

A Tale of Three Gamers - Week 1 01.03.2011

Afternoon Folks,
time for the first update of the TOTG, today we post up the recently submitted Army Lists. Fluff and personal information will follow shortly, possibly with models as well!

So here are the submissions from the contenders (images of the army lists are avalible at the links below the army icons - they were too large to post on the forum):


Millest - Imperial Guard Expedition

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-e99xJ1dNf2E/TW0TO0yHgfI/AAAAAAAABD8/hhZ_OIkZjhQ/s320/500ig.JPG


Chris - Tau Expansion Force

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-BGVqGUvFG6g/TW0TXNR4fjI/AAAAAAAABEE/W_nH-TF1h8I/s1600/500tau.JPG


Jono - Tyranid Hivefleet

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-25XbNl35spU/TW0TfBQjJWI/AAAAAAAABEM/DQJMpn-Xve8/s1600/500nid.JPG

Please feel free to click on the links to see the forces in detail. Any thoughts, criticisms or general nit picking please feel free.
As I say more fluff and information to follow soon, maybe also some nice pictures of test models from us all.
Enjoy folks.

Hi Folks
coming up is the first of three posts from each of us giving a brief introduction about who we are and also showcasing the background or fluff we have written for each of our forces. When we first thought about the challenge fluff was one of the things I really wanted to include and play with, much to the consternation of the others, but looking at what we have so far I think its worth it and it does add something a little extra to each force.

So here we have the first post, guest staring and straight from his keyboard, here's Jono:

===============================================

Well, howdy y'all! As previously said, my name is Jono and I haven't been into 40k since I was about 15(ish). I used to collect Ultramarines (well, SMs painted blue with bright pink faces) but I always loved Nids, which is why I have started again with these.

This all started a few weeks ago when Chris started talking to me about 40k, and as an instant response, I took the mick out of him! To be honest, I spend most of my days doing this, but alas this was just free ammo. Consequently I looked on the GW website, started reading fan sites and well.. bought a Nid battle force that weekend. On the following Monday I then got conned in to joining the challenge, so here I am and here is my Army's background.



Hive Fleet Tenebrae
During Hive Fleet Behemoth’s assault of Macragge, the Hive Mind, convinced of yet another victory, sent out splinter fleets to survey the way for the advancing swarm. In the closing hours of the battle, the Imperial Forces performed an assault on the man Hive Craft in orbit in an attempt to stop the swarms of Tyranids bringing devastation to the Planet's surface. During this lucky hit, the assaulting Tyranid force was thrown into a state of disarray which ultimately gave victory to the Imperial forces. It is believed that during this valiant assault, a 'Norn Queen' was either wounded, or killed. To this day, the Ultramarines believe that the Norn Queen is the embodiment of the Hive Mind, controlling the entire fleet with her will. Be this true, or be it that the target was merely a larger Synapse Creature further up the evolutionary chain nobody will ever know. Regardless of this, the temporary lapse of synapse that ensued caused many of the scouting splinter fleets to fall into a state of dormancy. Many of these dormant vessels and splinter fleets were either destroyed or simply wandered out of Imperium space in to the dead space between the stars. One such splinter was dubbed Hive Fleet Tenebrae.

Hive Fleet Tenebrae was brought to the attention of both the Imperium and the burgeoning Tau Empire when it re-entered the galaxy close to the Quintairn system, where it is hypothesised that its relative proximity to the Ymgarl system (The once theorised home of the Genestealer) and to core splinters of Hive fleet Behemoth resulted in the awakening of the hive ships many decades later. This is the first recorded active sighting of the Hive Fleet and I am sure that it will not be the last.


Next, my Army List for our 500pt challenge..


This list was posted on the back of the bits I have managed to get together and as I still wasn't sure about 40k. My thought process was that that I would get a few bits and if I didn't like it, it would only be a couple of quid that was wasted, as such. One of my friend's little brother had been bought a Tyranid battle force years ago, but never used it. I bought this off him for £25 and then ventured to GW Bedford for a few supplies. Damn GW paints are expensive now!

I got seriously lucky with the boxed set, as I didn't realise that they are no longer £40, but £61.50 for a battle force. A Carnifex alone is now something silly like £27. As it was the old kit, I have the following:

# 8 x Hormagaunts
# 8 x Termagants
# 8 x Genestealers
# 3 x Warriors
# 1 x Carnifex
# X x Rippers (not something I will use, so if anyone wants to trade me some bits for them, I have about 4 bases worth)

Now, I know that this lot is pretty useless on its own BUT it gave me a lot of minis to paint up, and lets face it, for £25 I got a bargain!

I read a lot of guides and joined a nid forum (http://thetyranidhive.proboards.com/) to get inspiration. After a lot of um-ming and aah-ing I decided on the following paint scheme..




For anyone interested in how I did them, I followed this guide (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqOowCEJNew) but with the following steps:

# Base coat of Halfords white primer
# 3 x coats of Badab Black wash
# Mecharite Red for the carapace and eyes
# Tallarn Flesh for the tongue
# 2 x coats of Baal Red wash for the carapace and tongue
# Skull white for the bone areas (claws, hoofs, teeth)
# 2 x coats Gryphonne Sepia wash for the bone areas
# I then went over the carapace joins with Badab Black just to add some depth
# Lastly, a bit of Baal Red around the mouth area, not really visible, but it does look nice in the right light.
# Effort!!!

These steps seem to take around an hour a mini, but I am well happy with the outcome! The guide I used was very simple, but excellent. I would recommend it to any new Nid player who can’t paint!

It has now been a week or two since I bought the first box, and that this challenge has come about. I have gone from being a bit unsure about the whole 40k scene to actually really enjoying it. I used to love the hobby and I now regret ditching it! Needless to say, my girlfriend is still not aware of this, and that's how I want to keep it!

I will leave you with this, my first finished mini. Please do comment on the base (or indeed the whole mini), as I was going to do it ash, but quite like the sandy effect.. All critique and comments welcome!



So you’ve had an insight as to what I’m planning so time for some more info. The nids are a lot darker than they look as my pictures are quite heavily saturated (terrible old Fuji bridge camera), but you get the idea! Very proud of them in all honesty and a LOT of work went into them. I may not be the best painter in the world, but compared to my Enchanted Blue (because I didn't used to like the colour ultramarine) blobby SMs, they are practically godlike in comparison!

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thats all folks from jono for now, for those of you interested the blog can be found here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/

thanks and enjoy

Hi Folks
coming up is the second of the three background posts from each of us giving a brief introduction about who we are and our army background.

So here we have the second post, guest staring Chris:

===============================================

Hello all, I’m Chris. I’ve always loved the lore behind 40k but I’ve been out of the loop for a good few years. I’ve started several armies, none of which I’ve finished. I used to paint and knew most of the rules, but never really gamed. I hope by joining Millest and (unfortunately) Jono in this small campaign it will encourage me to finish some of my models and re-learn the rules. Read on for the background to my fledgling Tau force...


The Stormstrike Expansion Cadre
With the third sphere expansion well under way, Commander Shadowsun has ordered her forces be split and sent in several directions to probe nearby Imperial worlds for weakness. At the vary tip of these fleets are the expansion cadres, small forces, little more than scouts and water caste bodyguards. Their role is to reconnoitre imperial worlds, assessing defences and where possible making contact with the more open minded planetary governors. Contact with enemy forces is kept to a minimum, with the cadre containing just a handful of firewarriors, pathfinders, and a contingent of crisis battlesuits. A long way from the inner Sept worlds, the forces must make do without the support of their allied races and heavy armour.

One such cadre pushed further in to Imperial space than most, and entered talks with a governor whose tithe was putting tremendous strain on his economy. Receiving intel that a neighbouring system may be negotiating with the xenos, the Inqusition despatched the fiercely loyal forces of the 29th Lignum Iugo Mechanized Regiment to eradicate the Tau and send a clear message to local systems. They struck quickly and the small Tau force made a desperate retreat, outnumbered, and outgunned by the superior force. The regiment landed a large amount of armour in the area with the intention of swiftly eliminating the Tau before they could extract.

The Shas’vre charged with the security of the force, made a risky move and led the other crisis suits back to the Orca dropships ahead of the main force, leaving them virtually defenceless. A single Orca then set course straight for the Guard detachment using the low cloud of the planet’s storms as cover. Making it directly above the force without being detected the Shas’Vre led the crisis teams in deadly vertical assault in to the heart of the enemy formation. The strike was a complete surprise and coupled with the cloud cover, the guard’s hydras didn’t even obtain a target lock before the Tau were among them. Landing atop the chimeras and battletanks, the suits ignited them with their fusion blasters whilst gun drones pinned heavy weapons teams. Using the burnt out husks of the tanks, the suits jumped from cover to cover, sewing confusion and death. Without any weapons to pierce the crisis armour, and the storm interfering with communication equipment, the 29th fell in to disarray and were slaughtered to a man. Not a single crisis suit was lost.

Earning the name Stormstrike, the Shas’vre was promoted to Commander, and has begun requisitioning further battlesuits to build a hunter cadre. Wherever Stormstrike is spotted, death from the skies is sure to follow. The extreme and deadly tactics have not gone unnoticed however, and an Ordo Xenos inquisitor has been despatched to end the threat. Requesting aid from the fearsome 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary force, and with rumours of a Deathwatch kill team en-route, Commander Stormstrike will have plenty of opportunity to fight for the Greater Good.


Next, my Army List for our 500pt challenge..


any thoughts or comments are appreciated.

Right folks, time for the last of the Background posts for our forces, this one is obviously the most important one as its mine.

I guess I don't really need much information as if you've followed the blog for a while you should know how odd I am! Still I'm Millest, purveyor of this blog and all round man in charge (though the other half might argue about that). I've been dabbling in 40k for some time and finding new people to game with at work has certainly kick started the blog and my passion in spending money..... I mean modelling and painting. Right now on with the fluff............



The 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary Force
Currently Operating on the Eastern fringes the 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary force was initially tasked with the exploration and eradication of Tau enclaves and inroads in to the region of space to the galactic north of Quintairn. Under the direct control of the Ordo Xenos for the duration of the campaign the 1313th were tasked with stamping the Emperors authority on worlds that were only nominally under the control of the Eagle, eradicating those worlds infested with tau and persecuting those that openly consorted with the alien.

It wasn't long however before on the outpost world of Troya Majorus that a greater threat came to light in the form of a genestealer cult.

Upon discovery the cult threw themselves at the members of the Expeditionary force with tooth, claw and more conventional weapons. This single horrific attack which resulted in the complete destruction of the capital, Hawkesfall, soon revealed an infestation covering a number of neighbouring systems and only hinted at the horrors to come. The Campaign on Troya Majorus dragged on in to the close of 881.M41 when Troya Majorus fell.

Pre-empted by the screams of Astropaths, Navigators and psykers alike the Tyranid reinforcements arrived. The invading tyranids were identified as Splinter fleet Tenebre and the full menace of the Xenos threat, both Tau and Tyranid, was revealed and all out war reigned.

Since this time more attacks have come to light and the marauding destruction of the Splinter fleet has shown to cover a vast swathe of planets on the periphery of both the Human and Tau empires. It is here that the 1313th is now engaged in an all out war on two fronts with two of the most dangerous foes the imperium faces.


The 1313th Expeditionary Force are currently on permanent detachment to the Inquisitional Enclave at Quintairn the forces of the Lignum Iugo are proud to serve with distinction in campaigns across the region. Originating in the Eastern Regions of the Britarius Sector the world of Lignum Iugo is a careful balance between Industry and Cultivation providing many local systems with large quantities of food and technology. The regiments of Lignum Iugo are known for the dual specialties in Air Assault and Scouting but amongst these regiments the 1300's stand apart from the rest.

The 1300 regiments, those bearing the numbers 1300-1399, are considered by many in the sector as a guard force without peer, particularly the of the 1313th, 1349th and 1373rd. Selected only from the best men and women of the planets many regiments and the brightest and most martial students from the planets Scholams the 1300's are some of the best in their fields.

Referred to as Expeditionary forces the 1300's are forces that are sent on either the most critical of missions or campaigns where a hard hitting strike force is required. Their most common role however is acting as a fighting force whilst assigned to Rogue Traders, Adeptus Mechanicus Exploratory forces or, given their proximity to Quintairn, as Inquisitional Troopers. The 1313th is one such regiment who by their deeds has seen the regiment seconded permanently to the Quintairn enclave. It is here where they have fought under the Insignia of numerous Inquisitors of various Ordos before the current assignment which sees them battling the dual threat of Tau and Tyranid incursions on the Eastern Fringes.

Members of the 1300s, rarely return to Lignum Iugo as the troopers they once were, scarred and decorated they often go on to lead other regiments raised from the planet. Some are requested to serve as bodyguards and retinues for inquisitors, and even other members of the imperial hierarchy should they be deemed deserving. The rarest and most sought after path is that of the honoured few who even join the ranks of the inquisition where the free thinking and autonomous nature of the 1300s shines through and prepares them for the darkness they fight. The knowledge and skills of the 1300s is without peer in the region and is one that the Inquisition is more than happy to encourage, cultivate and utilise.


Next, my Army List for our 500pt challenge..


Finally for those of you that havent seen it, here is a test model (or two) in the scheme I have finally settled on (for now)


Enjoy and as always any feedback would be great.

Well Folks, its Tuesday and time for this weeks update, installment or confession (take your pick) of the Tale of Three Gamers. More details can be found here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/
But without further ado on with the entries:


Millests Week 2 Update

Like most people the "joys" of the real world are a pain, work is a hard task master and the bodies need to sleep is a bitch, but hey I've got some nice new models right? WRONG!
Yes annoyingly this week and the first week of making any real head way on the project has been wasted waiting on new toys. Ironically my chimera and battleforce have arrived today on the day of the post! great, why did it not come on fruday so I could have made a start? Unfortunately like Chris I am still waiting on my many many forgeworld bits, but still I've decided to make the best of a bad thing.

I havent been able to do much due to waiting on my little men, however i have used the time left to me to pick up supplies and throw together a few models for the force as shown below:



Ok, so their nothing special I agree, their just some guardsmen with a few respirator heads thrown in for good measure. Well yes I would have to agree with your their, but looking at them you can see the route I plan on going down where they are more of the "veteran" look, with gasmasks, the extreme enviroment kits, standard bits and pouches galore. This should tie them in together and yet make them look like they have been fighting for years and are without peer at what they do.
Hopefully this has reflected that and the continuing work to come on my vehicles and remaining squads will show this. Hopefully by next week I will have more to show you, and hopefully some more progress the following week when my final toys arrive that will be posted in my absence.


Jonos Week 2 Update

(Blogging from the keyboard of Jono)
Onto week 2 now and I am not making too much progress. I went to visit my Sister in Newcastle at the weekend and lets just say that I didn't feel too good upon my return.


Back on topic.. Since my last update I have assembled a lot of Termagants, as well as priming and black washing a load ready for detail. I am thinking to make my workload easier, during daylight hours if I undercoat as many models as I can, I can make a lot more progress when it isn't so light in the evenings! That way all that I need to do is paint the carapace and details at a later stage. Either way, sadly, there isn't anything cool to report this week. I am waiting on availability of bits and Mr Postman to bring me something before I have anything other than gants to report! Fingers crossed for next week!

Also, although not entirely related to my army, I have fully finished one of each model that I own (woo I hear you say). Included in this four piece is one finished Gant, so you can get a taste of what the models I am going to be playing will look like.. Also, despite first thinking that the Genestealers may be too plain, I feel that them being all black is actually quite fitting (that may just be me though)!



The first of many! I am fielding 21 Termagants and will be taking around 20 to compensate for whatever the Tervigon poops out, so I have a LONG way to go.

In order to finish off the Gant, I need to give it one last coat of brown around the edge of the base. This little guy is still a bit wet as I have only just based him!

As per usual, please feel free to comment and let me know if you want any specific pictures next week.



Chris' Week 2 Update

(Blogged on Chris' behalf)
This week has been somewhat of a let down for poor Chirs. Despite his best efforts he has been let down repeatedly by Royal Fail and is still awaiting the vast majority of his models and forgeworld bits. With this understanding we have gratiously allowed him a weeks grace from the dead model penance and instead he is planning on converting a postman to a dead postman! (please note that is a joke and should any postmen disappear it has nothing to do with Chris). In honour of the hassles he is facing and in order to chivvy the post office along in to getting his stuff to him (well via me) we would like to share this instead of his models:




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So folks, thats week two, not overly exciting but for the most part it shows we are on the way and are starting to make some damage on our models. Hope theres something that catches your eye, a question you have or just a comment you would like to make, so please feel free to do so, and hope you keep reading.
You can comment here or feel free to comment on the blog or subscribe here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/

Millest, Jono and Chris

Hi Folks,
time for this weeks TOTG update, time to mix it up and let one of the others have the limelight so lets start with Jono:


Jono's Week 2 Update



Another small update this week as all I have really been doing is sorting out my Gaunts, as well as a few other bits. Royal Fail bought my some plasticard and GS, I also took a trip to GW Bedford to pick up a Nid Battle force. I got the Battle force for conversion bits and future projects (as well as the Gaunts). Although I don’t really need it for this game, I figure it was a worthy investment.

Alas, as I don’t want to keep flooding you with pictures of Gaunts so please take this as a bit of an insight to my Prime conversion..




Millest's Week 2 Update



Well folks I too have been sorting out, organising and generally waiting about for Royal Fail. I have on the other hand been extremely impressed with the service from both Secret Weapon Minis, (that's for the bases and brass etch - reviews to follow eventually) and also from FW who managed to sort my order out for me and send me my Cadian Extreme Environment Melta gunners out this week, well before the release date.
So as you can imagine this week has been a frenzy of de-flashing and washing of this little lot:



Now I don't know when things changed, as I certainly don't remember this, but since when has the pour plug and flash on FW kits actually consisted of more resin then the actual models? I know its been bad in the past but this is the worst I've seen. It doesn't actually impact the model - only in a few cases - but it seems like an awful lot of wasted resin to me.

This however isn't all I've had delivered this week, in fact this week I received all the terrain bits I have recently ordered so I have spent the past week tidying them up and organising them before assembly and sticking them on the shelf. so mainly this week my contribution to the project is this lot:



As you can see a lot of plastic and strangely a lot of filing to get them presentable! Very annoying but overall pleased with the models and very surprised at exactly how much you get in the defence line box set. Still hoping to have some more assembled bits before I go on holiday next week.


Chris' Week 2 Update



Chris has sent the week awaiting his delayed orders from FW and Maelstrom however these have now arrived and the building can commence. Due to the delays of Royal Fail we have given him some breathing space on this, however he will hopefully get up to speed once other things have calmed down.


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That's the week 3 update done and dusted, as I will be on holiday from Friday until the week 5 update I will put plans in place for an early update with links to albums the two guys can load stuff up to so you can all see their progress, once I'm back my week 5 update may involve models - though this all depends on the state I return from holiday in!

For more information please check out the blog here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/

So enjoy, be good and look after yourselves!

Right folks straight in to week 5 update:

Millest's Week 5 Update

well folks as im sure it hasnt escaped your attention things have been quiet from me due to my holiday, however despite the sunbathing, swimming with turtles and evenings out I have managed to make some progress. The vast majority of my progress over the last week or so has been on this:


The stuff is without doubt the best thing to work on! I dont know if its the beer, the sun or the company but the drink is amazing. Although in all seriousness I did spend some of the week wondering if there was a gaming community in Barbados I could visit but if there was I couldnt find it :(

Still on my return and to get a few things done for the challenge I have decided to work on some of my "character" models, so without further ado here they are:


As I'm sure is pretty obvious this is a standard Solomon Lok model, I chose him to represent my psyker as it ties in the Inquisitional theme of the force (and is a sweet model). He's only been tidied up at the minute but once completed he will be mounted on a 40mm base with a couple of servo skulls for flavour.


Next up is the Officer from my platoon HQ (and I guess de facto force commander) I decided to mix up some of the bits and liked the idea of a long coat with the Extreme conditions gear. I know in the list he is armed with Las pistol and Chainsword but I liked the look of the Bolt Pistol and Power sword. The only thing I'm not convinced on is the Bionic arm, any thoughts?
He is almost complete however he needs the small eagle plate from the HQ bodies GSing on to his chest, his 40mm base and a servo skull adding when he is almost ready to go.


Up next are the two Sergeants that will lead the two Infantry squads, I didn't want to go OTT on them (and again I know their Laspistol/Chainsword armed but I liked the Lasgun arm) but I have decided all Sergeants and Officers where possible will have the eagle chest plate so I need to modify the Extreme conditions Sergeant. I also need to add either a Backpack or a Camo-cloak to the pointing guy.


Finally my the Sergeant for my Veteran Squad, this guy I wanted to look unfazed and like he is considering his next move, so with that in mind I gave him the "tech-ed up" head with extra eye pieces from the Vehicle sprue and the map arm from the command squad, this way it looks like he is considering a map - or in my eyes anyway!
The final pieces to add to him will be a Camo-cloak and some weapons laid on his base when he is ready.

I have decided, much to the detriment of my gaming, that all my officers and sergeants will be on 40mm bases. I know this will be a bitch in CC but I like idea of making each a little scene and having each accompanied by a Servo-skull, showing that even though they are Veteran Inquisition troopers they still aren't trusted. Maybe its over the top, maybe I'm been daft but let me know what you think of the idea and the models.

So apologies on not a huge update but now I'm back and I'm converting, casting and GS-ing furiously hopefully next weeks update will be more substantial!
Thanks Guys.


Jono's Week 5 Update

well folks despite his update in week 4 there is no update from Jono this week so unfortunately its looking like he's now modelling a casualty as per the rules! Oops!


Chris' Week 5 Update

Words to come later but for now just some pictures!








So with those two null updates time for a new feature of the 500pt challenge, its the:

Challenge No Submission Casualty ListChris - 1 model
Jono - 1 Model
Dave - 0 Model

Listed are the number of casualty models each player must have completed by the end of the challenge as a fine for their none submission of entries!


The Final bit of news is that as we have reached the end of month 1 the first Challenge Favourite Model Voting Post should be going up this week so please feel free to have a look back at the work so far and once the post is up let us know in the comments section which is your favourite model in this months progress.

Thanks folks and keep reading

A Tale of Three Gamers - Miniature of the Month Vote! - Weeks 1-5

Hi folks, well its the end of the first month and time to cast your eye back over this months offerings (sparse as they maybe) and to pick your favourite model from the last month. The only rule is that they must be a model made or painted specifically for the 500pt challenge, example models don't count.

If your not sure on which ones appeal to you or what has been done you can catch up on all the past updates from the archive here:

A Tale of Three Gamers 2011 Archive

To cast your vote please post a comment stating which model or models you like best before next weeks update (most likely Wednesday). I will then tally them all up from here and the various forums on Tuesday night and announce the winner before next weeks update.

Thanks and we look forward to you vote.

well folks the votes, or should i say vote, are in and we have a winner of the inaugral Miniature of the month for the first month!
With a grand total of 1 vote out or 1 vote this months winner is:

JONO!

So well done to jono and thanks for the one vote, hopefully next month we will have more.
Thanks folks and keep your eye out for the week 6 update
Cheers

apologies on the delays in getting this weeks update computer issues caused a delay, still on with the show:


Millest's Week 6 Update

With out much preamble or excuses here are the pics of this weeks progress, though this week has been good with lots of BL books, audio books and most importantly my Forgeworld Medusa (yay!)
So here we go, starting off with the completed command squad, all completed just waiting on mounting them on resin bases prior to painting


Next up less their heavy weapons team here is Squad 1 of the infantry platoon, I finally managed to get the Eagle plate moulded on to the resin torso of the Sergeant (still need to do it for the platoon commander) hopefully the models look dynamic enough, again awaiting resin bases prior to painting.



Here is Squad 2, again less their resin bases and heavy weapons teams. The models are detailed and ready to paint though prior to undercoating they will be given a once over again to ensure no lines etc.



So folks that's my progress for the past week, there has been some additional ongoing work on my Veteran Squad and my chimera however I will post them once their complete!

Jono's Week 6 Update


Good evening readers,
Once again, not a very productive week, but then again I am now moving house in a few weeks, so managing to find time to do anything is a miracle!
Since Mr Postman has been so generous of late, I now have TWO things to concentrate on other than Termagants (ugh). My Tervigon (as shown last week) and now, my WIP Prime!


Above are all of the bits that I currently have for my prime, including some magnets! As I am sure you can work out, I currently have bits for boneswords, and a lashwhip (not finished), but I am unsure how to do my carapace! I want him to have the ability to use a deathspitter, but am not sure whether to use the cool plated Ravener chest piece and magnetise a deathspitter, or use the deathspitter chest piece and just use either genestealer rending claws or gaunt scything talons. As I want this guy to be able to do anything useful from the Codex, abiding by WYSIWYG, I will be painting up some standard Warrior Scything talons, but I thought that Gaunt ST would be good for a lower, less useful set of limbs if using the Ravener deathspitter chest piece. Suggestions below?


This shot is comparing the size of a warrior with the legs that I have made for my Prime. As the Codex states that a Prime is just an Alpha Warrior, I didn't want to add too much detail to make him that different. As such, the GS came out and I have made him about 15mm taller using plastic warrior legs and tail! He will definitely stand taller than his comrades when marching across the battlefield for lunch! In order to finish the torso and tail off, I will be adding a Ravener torso and extending the tail by 10mm or so!

Lastly, as I have actually done some painting this week, I thought I would show off my finished Tervigon head.


I picked the war torn head, as I really like it. I am not sure if I will use this head on the finished Tervigon, but I really like it either way! If carnifex become usable in the next Tyranid codex, this will definitely be used then. Again, if you have any suggestions, please do comment below!


Chris' Week 6 Update

Unfortunately no update from Chris this week, a rather busy week for him, though in keeping with the rules time for our first dead model! yay! have told Chris a nice dead gun drone would be OK so lets see what we get!


Challenge No Submission Casualty List
Listed are the number of casualty models each player must have completed by the end of the challenge as a fine for their none submission of weekly updates!

Chris - 1 model
Jono - 0 Model
Dave - 0 Model

Finally as a teaser from one of your colleagues who may be joining us later in the year here is a little taste of the Grey Knights he has just picked up, these are only his second set of models so I am interested to see how they turn out.



As always comments and thoughts are appreciated.
Enjoy and see you all next week!

Jono's Week 7 Update

Hi All,
Somehow, last week I won the competition from the poll. Heck, there may have only been one vote, and that may have been for a model that I am not even using in this challenge (which was technically therefore a null vote), but as he voted for my paint scheme.. I still make that 0.5 - 0 - 0 to me!
In the past week I have been getting to grips with GS a bit more.. As you saw last week, I made a start on my prime, and I had a bit of feedback (thanks!) saying that I should try to beef up my prime a bit. At first I agreed, but then I started putting the rest of the bits on him..


I personally think that he looks rather good as is. He isn't too 'gangly', yet he isn't top heavy due to the lengthening of the warrior legs. Please let me know what you think either way!

I decided to go with the Ravener deathspitter chest piece in the end. I know that some people will laugh at this saying it resembles a certain part of the female anatomy, but I personally really like it so will be leaving it as is! All of the limbs are magnetised and as it stands I have 1 set of scything talons, 1 set of boneswords and a lashwhip. I plan on making a second set of scything talons using Hormagaunt arms, so that I can use these to represent lesser arms too when using the deathspitter. Lastly, I just waiting on a Ravener head before I can finish this guy off and paint him. In the pics I have just balanced on a Warrior head that I have spare.


This is him next to a warrior and a gaunt for size comparison. You can see that he doesn't tower over the other Warrior, yet he isn't exactly small either!

Overall I am incredibly pleased with this guy! Despite the rather steep learning curve with GS, I feel that this guy will look good on the table, and will definitely be of a table top standard once finished!

As always, please, PLEASE leave feedback, be it positive or negative, as it is all greatly appreciated!


Millest's Week 7 Update

Well folks back to the grindstone and back to a painful week this week! First the loss of my PC and everything on it is swiftly followed by a second kick in the balls with my camera going the way of the dinosaurs. So after one expensive repair job it looks like another or a new camera is on the way. So with all that in mind i apologies now but just to show you what I've been up to and to get some thoughts I've taken some pics using my phone camera - if i ever get a working camera these will be replaced.

so onwards and blurred-wards, first up are some of my squad leaders, now i know you have already seen them but i wanted to get some opinions of the bases for them. As previously mentioned all my leaders, from army lead down to squad level will be on 40mm bases with a servo skull (two for leaders and characters) so looking at the pics below does this larger base work or is it a tad excessive, please let me know your thoughts.



Next up some pictures of my two heavy weapons teams on their customer bases, both bases are actually the same "base" base I've just converted bits and pieces on them to make them different. So far the loaders as only stuck in place with blu tac but I'm toying with the idea of magnetising them so i can stick them on spare bases should the gunner be killed, just not sure if the idea would work.


Finally some pics of my finished Veterans to give you an idea on how I've made this squad stand out so far from the basic troops in my force, once i get a camera/repair ill be able to get some better pics of these guys for you.






As you can no doubt tell i really went to town on these guys and hopefully even at this level of crap picture it really shows.

For those of you interested the models are all on bases from Secret Weapon Miniatures and can be purchased at the Secret Weapon Miniatures webstore here:
http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=index
More specifically I have used the Urban Streets Beveled Edge bases that can be found here:
http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=30_36
I have taken photos and details for a review later on and who knows this might bag me some freebies

As always thoughts and feedback welcome and if anyone knows a camera repair shop in Suffolk please let me know!


Chris' Week 7 Update

Guess what!...... No seriously guess...... oh go on please!
Yep your right no update from Chris this week, a rather busy week for him, though in keeping with the rules another dead model from Chris!


Challenge No Submission Casualty List
Listed are the number of casualty models each player must have completed by the end of the challenge as a fine for their none submission of weekly updates!
Chris - 2 models
Jono - 0 Model
Dave - 0 Model
As always comments and thoughts are appreciated. Apologies again for the shocking pics normal service will be resumed soon i hope!
Enjoy and see you all next week!

those guardmen are looking great

Chris' Week 8 Update

First off, apologies for the lack of updates for a couple of weeks, but I still have little to post. My fiancée hasn’t been well, and I’m swamped with DIY jobs at the moment, so modelling has taken a back seat. On a more positive note, one of those DIY jobs is boarding my loft so at least we will have a dedicated gaming space on completion of the challenge

I have literally had about an hour in the past fortnight for modelling, which I spent green stuffing the large join lines and attaching the branches on the citadel wood. I know nobody is particularly interested scenery, but here’s a picture, to avoid my dead model count increasing further.



I have 11 days off work starting Friday, so with a bit of luck, I will be able to field more than half a crisis suit by the end of the challenge...

Jono's Week 8 Update

Hi All!
Really struggled to get a submission this week as moving out time is getting ever so close so spare time is very scarce. Equally, I did find my mini tripod AND I bet I have still made more progress than Chris!
Back on track..

It may not look that way, but I spent a few more hours on my Tervigon. The Mecharite Red layers are all done bar one of the scything talons. Once thats done, all I need to do is the bone elements of the model, a few touch ups and its done. Well, that lot and the base..


If you check red on the hind legs, compared to the talons in the pic above, you will see that the shading is completely different and much less flat! After a Mecharite Red layer or two, I have been adding a Baal Red wash followed by shadows with Badab Black wash. Personally I think it makes the whole model look less flat!

Also, a quick shot from the other side.


You will also see the barrell above, which was on the base of my Terv. Being a massive MC base, I want to make it stand out a bit. On the barrell, I tried to replicate rust so used a hairspray technique, as detailed here:
http://site.scratchmod.com/Salt_Hairspray_Technique.php
I cannot stress how easy this is, and it looks quite good too!


Lastly, I havent actually bought any scenery for this 'challenge' as of yet because I have had no idea what to buy! -I just can't decide. On the flip side of this, I have had plenty of ideas for stuff to build. This was the first thing that I managed to get a solid enough idea, as well as enough bits together to make..


Since moving house involves actually going through all of the junk that is stashed in the loft, I found a load of my old 40k from about 8 years ago. Amidst the terrible Ultramarines, I found an old cardboard Imperial firebase. Now the scenery itself is terrible, but the plastic pieces holding it all together were perfect for some storage crates, or indeed a command post. Other pieces in the mix are plenty of plasticard and 2 right-angled plastic fittings from B&Q. I have made two of these, both being about 3" tall, and 5" long. I have enough bits to make a third, much longer one, for a mini storage yard!

So, this is it for me for a few weeks! I am off to Ireland for a week (bad timing or what) and then it looks like the house will have sold. I will hopefully get back on track and get some real progress soon!

Millest's Week 8 Update

Well folks as mines the smallest update this week I thought I should go last, give the others some limelight and all that. Basically I'm still sans camera however to prove I've actually done something I've included another Iphone picture. This time it shows the Chimera and Sentinal I've been working on the past week. The Chimera has a few little conversions I'm happy with that really make the model different enough to notice but are still subtle. The Sentinal has had the Autocannon magnatised so I can swap it out with the Missile launcher I have. Other then that this week is BH weekends and my other halfs birthday so there may not be much progress this next week or so but where there is chance I will be working on the bases for the models, the very nice Secret Weapons Miniatures bases previously mentioned, and where possible I will be working on my Medusa stand in for the Griffon in the army list. So heres the pic, enjoy what you can make out:



Challenge No Submission Casualty List
Listed are the number of casualty models each player must have completed by the end of the challenge as a fine for their none submission of weekly updates!
Chris - 2 models
Jono - 0 Model
Dave - 0 Model


As always comments and thoughts are appreciated. Apologies again for the shocking pics normal service will be resumed soon I hope!
Enjoy and see you all next week!

Hi folks,
I thought as things on the TOTG have been quiet recently I would give you all a brief update on the project. First though thanks to you all for sticking with things so far, the loyalty is greatly appreciated. So now on with the update.

The first that you may or may not be aware of is that things have been delayed, both by real world events and by postal delays, so with that in mind I would like to apologise that unfortunately the 500pt starting forces have now had their completion date moved from the end of May to the end of June. That’s good for all of us and means you guys get more fun right till the end of June, hopefully you’ll enjoy it.

Secondly all being well TOTG will be changing, TOTG will grow this month with becoming TOFG with a fourth friend joining the mix. This will result in the posts being split to two posts covering two forces each week, therefore representing a maximum kill zone, inflicting maximum damage on the maximum number of opponents…….. I mean, maximizing the postage and giving you the maximum exposure to our work. This means now the forces on the tables should be:
• Imperial Guard
• Tau
• Tyranids
• Ultramaines/Space Marines (when the models finally arrive)
More details on the Space Marine addition will follow in this weeks update, along with details on the special exceptions we have given. As a result due to the number of gamers and models after the 500 point the posts will move to a bi-weekly posting roster. The format of which is yet to be decided.

So there you have it the futures bright, the futures MMM! So project wise the next year is looking busy both personally and for the TOTG/TOFG team. Our plans at present are looking something like this:
• complete the 500,
• Expand to 750,
• Expand to 1000,
• Expand to 1500
Some of the team are considering also working on a 1500 MeQ armies during the year for a separate challenge and will update on that as and when this materialises.

So folks that’s the next few months sorted and hopefully clearer on what will be happening, so hopefully that will be enjoyable for you all.
Thanks and looking forward to your comments.

Hi guys,
just a quick modelling query really as to aesthetics, I've been basing up and detailing this weeks and I've reached a bit of a flat spot in my decision making.
As you all know I plan on basing all my Officers from Command Squads and my Characters on 40mm bases. However this week when basing up my Squad Sergeant's I began to look at them and think "are they too big?". I have decided that the Sergeants for my Veteran squads will get them as I want to make those like little dioramas but I'm concerned about how it looks for the normal Sergeant, is it too bland?
So to give you an idea of what they look like here's a pic (again apologies but the camera still hasn't turned up - more news on that in this weeks TOTG/TOFG):



As you can see the 1st and 2nd Sergeants bases are empty save for them and soon a Servo-Skull, I may add some more rubble or casings but not sure. The Veteran Sergeant looks OK and will have weapons and a Skull on there.

Do you think the 40mm bases work or would the be better suited to a standard 20mm base with the Servo-Skull on them? Do the bases look empty and not worth it or do they rock and would work well once the skull and details are on there? Please help folks as your input is really needed before I paint and any insight would be great.

I'm not a huge fan of the teeny-tiny Guardsman on a great big 40mm base. If you're going to put IG on a 40mm base, you'll need a lot of stuff happening on it to make it interesting. Otherwise it looks like you're just modeling it that way for some unknown reason. I would rather see them on a standard 25mm base with some extra gubbins to make 'em look special.

makes sense to me too, was possibly going for something too different. still my characters and vets will get them so thats good
cheers for the feedback
millest

Chris' Week 9 Update


Well folks its been another week of baited breath but still no sight of the paints I've ordered!! It's now been three weeks and unfortunately for the first time Maelstrom have let me down, and they've done it big time.

Still since the last post I have now based everything ready for painting (well apart from arms and pads so I can get details) and am now ready for priming - should it ever arrive, here's a quick pic or two:



I have also spent some time rectifying the problems with my Forgeworld Crisis suit and he too is ready to go and should be primed when it arrives:



Jono's Week 9 Update

Hi All,

A good bit of time away from my ravings, but alas, for those that are interested, here is this week’s bilge! I haven’t had much time since my last update, as I have moved house (I wouldn’t recommend this activity) and been on Holiday to Ireland (this I would recommend, I love the place).

I have however managed to get a bit of painting done, as well as some modeling. I have had a lot of action from Mr Postman too! (ewww, enough about your deviant behaviour Jono - millest) I have completed painting my Tervigon, my Hive Guard arrived and have been assembled AND I have finally managed to source some Ravener heads that are not £3 each! My wallet has also been busy since my last installment, as I have ordered the aforementioned Hive Guard and Ravener heads, Paulson Games Bone Swords, 19 gaunts (1 box of 12 from Maelstrom and 7 from eBay), the AOBR boxed set and Codex Tyranids. *smug*

I have forgotten just how horrid a big pewter model is to put together! Alas, I think that the Hive Guard models are awesome, so it’s worth it! –Hopefully I should have some progress on them for next week’s update!

So, onto the piccies, as I guess that’s what the majority of you really care about.. My Tervigon, pretty much complete!




I need to base it, but I will be doing this when I get a good batch of gribblies to do, so I can get a production line going!

This model has taken me a LOT of work to get this painted. It may not be pro standard, but I am seriously proud of it, so any critique is welcomed! I may well do a few touch-ups on the giant when I get some time, but as it stands, I am proud to have the reproductive system of my army completed!

Hopefully next week Hive Guard, group shots and a few more completed models! As it stands, I have 3 gaunts and my Tervigon fully completed, with the rest in various stages of base coating.. so that’s 4 of 25 models 100% completed.

*head-desk*


Millest's Week 9 Update

OK folks well from me right now I can confirm this week there will be no pictures! First off let me update you on progress. So far everything apart from my Medusa/Griffon is assembled, detailed, based and undercoated and ready to go. I would provide pics but having to use my phone camera means basically you would have a picture of a lot of black blobs, not overly interesting. So with that in mind I haven't included pictures, if anyone (including the other guys) decide for this reason I should convert a dead model as per the rules I am happy to but be warned I may replicate it in life size!!!!!

So to explain why I have no pictures and I'm hacked off, Back at the end of April my camera died, now rather then throw out what to me is a very expensive item I decided to send it to Fuji for repair. Yay, you all say it may be slow but it will be fixed/replaced, well unfortunately not as according to Fuji the camera never arrived! When questioning Royal Fail over this I was repeatedly told that the proof of signature should be up soon, however finally on Wednesday they admitted they do not have a signature for the camera. so I am now down one camera, the cost of one repair and the post of sending said camera. I have had to place a claim with Royal Fail however I was advised that as I don't have the original receipt for the camera (IE a 5 year old receipt) that I will most likely only get refunded/insurance payout for the cost of postage! So if anyone has any advice or information on how best to approach this (can I claim on house insurance - IE contents?) that would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading what amounts to a very poor entry from me and if you decide I should model a casualty let me know.

Challenge No Submission Casualty List
Listed are the number of casualty models each player must have completed by the end of the challenge as a fine for their none submission of weekly updates!

Chris - 2 models
Jono - 0 Model
Dave - 0 Model
As always comments and thoughts are appreciated. Apologies again for the shocking pics normal service will be resumed soon I hope!

Enjoy and see you all next week!

Hi Folks
This weeks first post, yes week 10 will be a week of many many posts, is one where we expand the challenge from A Tale of Three Gamers to a A Tale of Four Gamers (titles and archives will be adjusted accordingly after today. This is Dans first post in which he will be giving a brief introduction about he is and also showcasing the background or fluff we have written for his force. Hopefully youll enjoy this and the expansion this brings to the TOFG challenge. There will also be more updates and progress on the challenge later when timescales and progress are checked.

So enough from me not and here we have the first post from our newest member in what is now "A Tale of Four Gamers", Dan:

===============================================

Hello
So this is my first entry and my intro....I'm Dan and for this challenge I have chosen to take on the Space Marines and the Ultramarines chapter. This is my first forray into the world of 40K in a very very long time. Once upon a time I dabbled a wee bit with my younger brother in the hobby but that was some time ago and my painting and modelling skills were affected by my attention span!

With the recent discount codes available on Maelstrom I have splurged out to get started. First off I purchased a battleforce, which not only being a great way to start also saves a HUGE amount of money!This forms the basis of my 500pt army. Since then I have also ordered a Devestator Squad and a Predator. The Dev squad is for the heavy weapons to use in two tactical squads and the Pred is being lined up for the 750pt challenge.

So first up here is some of the background the guys have helped me map out for my 500 point force


Recon Force Phi
Recon force Phi has been dispatched by Captain Sicarius to investigate the loss of contact with an Ultramarines remote monitoring site near the borders of the expanding Tau empire.

Under the command of Veteran Sergeant Karras, recently returned from a tour with the Deathwatch, the force has become embroiled in the dual encroachment of the Tyranids and the Tau upon Imperial space, and the worlds under the stewardship of the Ultramarines. Due to the increased threat level of multiple xenos incursions, Veteran Sergeant Karras has notified Macragge and has requested reinforcements.

Despite continuing to gather intelligence for the imminent arrival of a full sized strike force, the Ultramarines have been unable to make contact with the planetside Imperial forces, causing their loyalty to be thrown in to doubt...


Finally to round off my first post here is the run down of my list, the exceptions will be explained later:


===============================================

So folks there you have it the first post from the latest member of the TOTG/TOFG member. So as Dan mentions and I'm sure some of you eagle eyed readers will notice despite us sticking to the 1 HQ and 2 Troops format of the standard force organisation chart Dan doesnt have a HQ. We decided that at this points level for a Marine force the cost of an effective HQ was too phrohibative and decided to allow some leniancy in this, the compramise being that he had to make at least one of the Sergeants a Veteran to show some kind of leadership within the force. It was also felt for fluff reasons it wouldnt be unheard of for a decorated Veteran Sergeant (especially a Deathwatch Veteran) to lead a small recon force rather then assign an Officer or Chaplain etc. Personally I think it works quite well and does appeal to the fluffy nature of most of the forces in this challenge, plus its a good way for Dan to do something a little different with his Smurfs.... I mean Ultramarines.
So I hope your all enjoy what you see and waht Dan can produce and I'm sure you'll all join me in welcoming him to the challenge.

Dan's Week 10 Update

Hell there everyone,
Time for my first update and progress report. When building the army I started off with the Tactical Squads as these make up the majority of my army. Also I thought that as these were pretty standard models it would be a good start for me. The pics below show my efforts, I've started to paint a couple as you can see but nothing major to show.


Following on from the first Tac squad I decided to step up to the Assault Squad. You might be able to tell that I have model the Sgt to look a bit more of an independent character, due to me not having an HQ as permitted by the rest of the crew. The Sgt is on a 40mm base and I have done some conversion work to make him stand out. I have adorned him with a deathwatch helmet and shoulder pad. On the weapons front I have sculpted a plasma pistol on the back of a combat shield and I have mod'd a force halberd (from a GK sprue I have) and made it into a power halberd. Piccies below of the Assault Squad.


Dave's Week 10 Update

Once again no pictures from me, alas the Camera saga continues, however importantly the fecking things has magically appeared - once I had started a claim against Royal Fail (who would have thought) so it is now in the hands of Fuji who are repairing it as we type i hope. To give an update i have furiously being brass etch applying this week and finishing off undercoating ready. The Medusa is still giving me headaches and I am majorly miffed with the massive holes in it but alas it will be getting somewhere soon. Sorry once again folks and apologies but hope to have pics next week.

Jono's Week 10 Update

Hi All!
Since the addition of another person to the Tale of Three Gamers (Tale of Multiple Gamers?!), I have come to realize that fielding a force of Nids with 26 models, where an SM player can play 25 is going to leave me at a bit of a disadvantage! Sure I may have a 6 wound MC, and a 3 wound CC monster BUT these two models together come to over 250 points, with the Hive Guard that’s over 350.. I decided I needed a change!


After testing (mentioned below) I figured I need Hormagaunts as Termagants alone will not be that ‘killy’! Alas, I may well add TS to the Tervigon, in the near future and take away a Gaunt or two, but alas, I am more happy now than I was!

Either way, my list looks something like this on the table..


Granted, the majority of these guys are just primed, but most of them have been assembled in the last week! In total, I have assembled 19 Termagants and 17 Hormagaunts.. Next to get some more paint on them!


Another reason I changed my list, I recently bought AOBR for the rulebook, (as well as the extra minis)! To help get things flowing in my head, I did a few test games: SMs Vs. Termas and SMs Vs. Hormas. I have come to the conclusion that Termagants are good for forcing multiple saves and keeping units tied up, but not much else . Hormagaunts on the other hand are NASTY. Learning the rules again, and realizing that despite costing 6 points each, in CC on the assault, these guys get 4 attacks each, re-rolling 1’s. I found that in all the games that I played, that the Termagants were a bit hit/miss. Once in combat, due to sheer number, they kept the SMs occupied for a good few turns (enough to tarpit the squad for the remainder of the game, usually killing a good few in the process. I also found that the Hormagaunts would either keep the SMs occupied for a few turns (bad rolls), or destroy them all on the assault (good rolls).

So yea.. Everything is assembled, just need to get a few more minis finished!

10/41 models painted.

Chris' Week 10 Update

Alas poor Chris is still waiting on paint, the whole debarcle has put a cramp on his style, so why has he not gone and got them from GW or anywhere else, simple answer 20% off! Works out a hell of a saving on the paints he needed and as he has already paid for them little cash to splash. I have been updated that all is based, assembled and converted, however no updates til the paints arrive, though the tally from the previous no update rule still stands.

Challenge No Submission Casualty List
Listed are the number of casualty models each player must have completed by the end of the challenge as a fine for their none submission of weekly updates!

Chris - 2 models
Jono - 0 models
Dave - 0 models
Dan - 0 models

As always comments and thoughts are appreciated. Apologies again for the shocking pics normal service will be resumed soon I hope!

Enjoy and see you all next week!

Dave's Week 11 Update

Once again no pictures from me, alas the Camera saga continues, however importantly the fecking thing is now in the post! Yay! Still fighting the Medusa but it is definately coming on. more painting and all being well some pics for week 12


Chris' Week 11 Update

Again still waiting on paints but Chris has bit the bullet and is due to get something sorted, I belive Maelstrom have sent the paints again and soon action can start again.


Jono's Week 10 Update

Nothing - havent heard from him in respect to an update (despite reminders) and as such our own little motormouth and painting factory has gone quite, unfortuately though this means one dead model from Jono


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Dan's Week 11 Update

So this week I have been in the land of Chris somewhat...waiting for Maelstrom to send out my order, but alas GOOD NEWS! The order has been dispatched so then I can start building my 2nd tac squad. I’m hoping to use the left over bits to make over some old minis that Chris helped to identify as reusable and have myself a dev squad for the latter challenges.

Other than that news I have done some actual modelling work and made a discovery. As previously mentioned I found an old box set with some old Space Marines and Dark Eldar (the box with the Black Templars on if you wondered). Anyhoo...within this was some scenery pieces. So I have some barricades and some ruins. I have assembled all of these and primed...with newly purchased spray! From GW ‘cos I’m not that tight. I have fully painted the barricades and started one of the ruin pieces. Pics below




I have started to build the combat squad from my BF to create half of my 2nd tac squad but very much still in pieces, just prepping really. So no pics worthy to grace the blog. Onwards and forwards...when the dev squad arrives I shall have my heavy weapon options for my tac squads and I should be producing pics of my entire 500pt army...perhaps even priming and painting, if time allows for it.


Challenge No Submission Casualty List
Listed are the number of casualty models each player must have completed by the end of the challenge as a fine for their none submission of weekly updates!

Chris - 2 models
Jono - 1 model
Dave - 0 models
Dan - 0 models
As always comments and thoughts are appreciated.

Dan's Week 12 Update


Hello again,
Firstly news...I can confirm that the predator and devestator squad arrived at the end of last week. Since then I have also purchased 2 bikes.

Moving on to modelling...this week I have completed building my entire 500pt army! Hurrah I hear you cry. As previously mentioned I have used the heavy bolter and multi-melta from the dev squad for my heavy weapon options in the tac squads. Pic below


To fill out the rest of my 2nd tac squad I have recycled some old SM minis, fortunately these are not the older models so fit in pretty well after a bit of refurbishing. That was a fortunate bit of news. Picture below



Now that completes my army for this challenge, pic below. Now it's time to turn my attention to prime and paint. I would have liked to moved on to this stage in some part this week but alas it's not so.Hopefully this week moving forward I will have some time where I'm not out and about or at work.




Dave's Week 12 Update


Well folks it is finally back and in my possession, yes that's right the camera is back! OK so the box looks like a rugby team has been practising with it but its here and it works! So with that in mind time for some little updates, not much to start with just an update on progress across the force. As you can see from the two pics below despite the issues early on the pics show that the repaint is coming on well and everything (apart from Lok) is getting on for 50% completed



In the time between camera and no camera I have been trying to sort my Medusa (repping a Griffon) out and sort any build issues with it, of which there were a few, however as you can see from below there is a stupid arse gap between the top armoured compartment




As you can see quite a massive gap and how to fill it neatly will be fun but no doubt I'll manage it, I'm just very disappointed a £50 model has that on it and the response is in this case "their all like that as the moulds getting old". Still onwards and upwards for next weeks up date so keep your eyes peeled.
cheers


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Jono's Week 12 Update

Hi all!

Firstly, I need to apologize for the lack of update from last week! Life well and truly got in the way, that and I was indulging in other hobbies; namely Airsoft. I have also misplaced my camera. I am thinking it has either been tidied away or stolen by my Sister, but alas, I shall get it back one way or another for next week!

Despite actually doing quite a lot since my last update, I don’t have much to show for this one (mostly because of the lack of camera). This week its been more cosmetics that I have been working on. I haven’t completed any more models, so my current count is still 10/41 completed, but I have done a few more layers of black wash to kick start some of the outstanding Gaunts, as well as my remaining Hive Guard.

I have also been a bit of a naughty boy this week. All Tyranid owners will know that Hormagaunts are a real pain in the behind to keep upright, as their center of balance is usually well off their base. As a result, they spend more time on their faces than upright! My solution, and in turn, why I have been a bit bad, involves chopping UK penny pieces in half with an angle grinder. Cost effective AND technically treason!


As you can see, the half pennies are a perfect fit and I can tell you keep them weighted down really well!
So, still 10/41, but hopefully closer to a few more next week!


Chris' Week 12 Update

Chris has a short and sweet update this week. THE PAINTS ARE ALL HERE!!!! This means next week we will have the honour of his presence and SHOULD see some models.


Challenge No Submission Casualty List
Listed are the number of casualty models each player must have completed by the end of the challenge as a fine for their none submission of weekly updates!

Chris - 2 models
Jono - 1 model
Dave - 0 models
Dan - 0 models
As always comments and thoughts are appreciated.

Millest's Week 13 Update

So time for another update, this week though its just me!! Nothing from the other guys, I know their busy but not even excuses for the most part. oh how the might have fallen!
Still on with my update, not a lot of action as this week I have been concentrating on the interior of the Medusa. First time I have really used a brush in anger (test models don't really count do they?) and I must say I'm pleased with the results and the new GW washes. So with out too much hassle here is the interior for the Medusa:






As you can see I have decided on a weathered and worn look but keeping it uncluttered. I liked the effect the washes have given and all it leave me to do now is fix the back of the engine bay and fill the gaps.
Hopefully more Guard action next week.

Chris' Week 13 Update

Hello all. Apologies for the utter lack of anything new for several weeks. I’m sure you’re as sick of seeing unpainted, half assembled Tau as I am. Good news though... my paints have arrived and painting has commenced!

I began by bluetacking any parts of the model I didn’t want to get paint on (ie arm/head joints) and undercoated in skull white. The cloth areas were then heavily washed with Gryphon Sepia followed by a highlight of Bleached Bone. I’m happy with the result but may add a very light dry brush of skull white further down the line if I feel they look too dark.


The bases were painted Adeptus Battlegrey and given a wash of Badab Black. The effect wasn’t as obvious as the clothing, I think due to a combination of using two dark colours, and me not being as liberal with the black as I should have been. I then drybrushed with Battlegrey followed by Codex Grey.


Disaster struck when I was painting the base for my broadside. I was unknowingly putting a little pressure on the model as I held it to paint, and snapped it at the ankles :O It wasn’t much pressure, but then the ankles are delicate so serves me right for getting overly enthusiastic about painting. I’ll super glue it back together but if that doesn’t hold, I’ll have to pin it. What a pleb.

The next step in my painting is mixing Regal Blue and Dark Angel Green to get a dark turquoise I will use to shade the lines in the armour and weapons. After that it’s the solid Hawk Turquoise and a highlight. Hopefully I’ll have a complete (or almost complete) squad to show you all next week. We need some more models as Jono’s getting cocky that he’s the only one with finished miniatures...

(Nobody likes a smug Jono)


All Other TOFG Updates!
Erm, Nada! I believe Dan is on holiday this weekend (though hasn't been during the week) but as to the others still nothing, well at least the model counts going up in one area however this weeks dead model count is up to you guys, should I let them off them or should they all get one for not updating?


Challenge No Submission Casualty List
Here are the current number of casualty models each player must have completed by the end of the challenge as a fine for their none submission of weekly updates! However its up to you if they all get another one added to the list for this weeks lack of submission!

Chris - 2 models
Jono - 1 model
Dave - 0 models
Dan - 0 models
As always comments and thoughts are appreciated, as is your decision on who should get a model penalty!

Hi folks,
the first update of this week is slightly different to the normal first post. This week we have some information on dates, formats and other exciting stuffs!

First up, Dates! As many of you are aware the 500pt challenge should have ended at the start of June, this unfortunately was not possible to a number of factors, however we now have a completion date. The final completed army shots will be published on or around the 15th of July, this will comprise of a post for each member giving you a shot of the force and their fluff. After this we will then have a complete round up of each force with a few days between each followed finally in early august with the opportunity to vote for your favourite looking army. Personally I'm looking forward to this as we will also hopefully get some battle reports up too.

Next up the format and regularity of updates are changing. At present it seems the weekly updates where 2 members are group together are getting too big, so instead I am looking to publish the following:

# - individual update posts for each gamer as they come in on the deadline
# - a weekly roundup linking to all that weeks updates and detailing an other details such as the Dead Model Count.

Hopefully that format will make things easier to follow and will mean we can have more pics etc for the guys and give you all more to look at. Any thoughts or feedback please let me know.

Finally, A Tale of Four Gamers has grown again!
That's right we have another member and we have now evolved to A Tale of Five Gamers. The newest member of the challenge is Rich, a friend of Chris will be joining us this week with his Chaos Space Marines and is hoping to stay this through to the ultimate completion of this and some of the other challenges planned.
So please all join me in welcoming Rich to the challenge and hopefully we'll get a lot more action.

Thanks for reading guys and gals and keep any eye out this weekend for the Week 14 updates and roundup.

More information can be found at http://millests.blogspot.com

Dan's Week 14 Update

Hi there!
Quick update from last week as I was too busy to catch breath let alone blog. Basically I primed all my minister ready to get going this week.


This week I have started painting my units, with tac squads being the first to get colour. As you can see I've applied regal blue to the main areas. I've taken an assembly line approach to get as much as I can done.

I have made a start on full colour scheme as the pic below shows.




Next week I'll be continuing this approach and applying finishing touches when I can.
All the best,
Dan


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Jono's Week 14 Update


Hi All!
Well, I can safely say that the past two weeks of my life have been ‘interesting’. As I am sure I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was the best man at a friend’s wedding, which has actually cost me a lot of time, and somehow money! Alas, the vows have been said, and my speech was awesome, so, back to reality!

I am still in the process of painting my gaunts, and although I haven’t finished any more, I should hopefully have a batch of 10 finished for photographing in the next week or two!

One thing that I have made, is a little comparison shot of my gaunts, from start to finish. I apologies for the terrible light, I just can’t seem to find a good source of natural light in the new place. Heck, I am not the best photographer in the world either!


Going from left to right, these are the 5 main stages of my painting process.

1#
White undercoat. Nothing more to say here, I use Halfords white primer. It has a slightly grainy finish (may be my method), but it works on the nids!

2#
Badab black wash. This is the first layer of the Badab wash.

3#
Badab black wash. I wanted to show the difference here between the two layers, and how different they both look! I am finding that as I go along, different models are getting different amounts of wash on them, and I really like this difference. Adds a bit of character to the army as it were.

4#
Skull White (claws, teeth), Mecharite Red (carapace), Tallarn Flesh (tongue, flesh). These flat colours are painted in the areas that I have said, sometimes two coats, just to give a good coverage. I find that quite often with the white I need to put 2 layers just to get a reasonable look through the uneven Badab wash below. Normally this would bother me, but with the wash going over the top, it just adds to the effect!

5#
Gryphonne Sepia (claws, teeth), Baal Red (carapace, tongue and flesh), Badab Black (shadows in the carapace). This last stage is quite simple. Washes! I apply 2 layers of both the Gryphonne Sepia and the Baal Red in the areas stated. The Gryphonne Sepia makes a massive difference, and the second layer is just to my taste. 1 layer would look just as good on a much lighter model. The Baal Red doesn’t really make that much difference on the carapace, so I put down 2 layers. If you look at the 4th and 5th models, you will see that it doesn’t look as flat. On the larger models, I have found that the more uneven I paint the Ball Red, the better it looks, go figure! The Baal Red on the tongue/flesh just makes it look a bit more realistic, the two colours go really well in my opinion! Lastly, I just run a tiny bit of Badab Black in the gaps in the carapace. Namely all overlaps on the heads and legs. This really brings the little guys to live!
This seems to take me up to 2 hours per gaunt, and about 5 hours per larger model. This may be a long time, but I am very happy with the outcome. If you were to rush it, I am sure that someone with a steadier hand could get the same finish in much less time. Equally, I would recommend this to other n00bs, as it’s not really that hard to get a reasonable standard on the table with this method!

Also as a final round-up here are some other pics from the past week or so.




See you next week guys!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Rich's Week 14 Update

Hello! and welcome, my name is Richard. Oh my god. Its taken me two months to be able to write this. I have been playing fantasy for about 6 years and 40k for only 2 (many years ago) my armies have been elder, dark elder and Templars. I am now a fan of the Necromunda and Bloodbowl games. I am friends with chris and he is the one responsible for making me buy Gw products when I vowed never to again as they got too expensive.... But no sooner do I join I find that they have just put the price up again, typical but rant over.

Today I will be representing the dark gods of chaos with a deamon influenced word bearers army.

I'm a little worried about how good my painting will be so too all those reading, please be kind it's been about six years since a picked up a paint brush :s

I have pretty much gone for the standard chaos battalion box set. (well it's a start!) can you imagine he shock on my face when you look at how many models you will be fielding for 500pts, answer is not many as you can see from my current challenge list, also to combat the excessive points cost I have been allowed to use a Champion as a leader, much in the way Dan has with his Vet Serg in his Imperial Dogs... I mean Marines.


I've also included an example of the paint scheme and how it might look on the army I will be fielding, i know they arent great pics but they give you an idea until i can sort more pictures this next week.


(for some reason these pics wont rotate on the blog)

The story's and fluff for the forece are not quite complete but be certain they will be in next weeks blog so can I just say that it's great to be part of this so thank you to letting me join and I lookforward to meeting you all

Millest's Week 14 Update

Well once again an eventful week, the challenge grows both in number of memebers and in models progressing. This week in and out of being in the office way too much I've managed to get a base coat on my vehicles and finish some external detailing as see here


As well as playing with these beasties I've also completed the basing and posing of my Autocannon teams, and with the rest of the force i have begun the process of painting them. Still a long way off with these but here are the Autocannon teams to give you an idea of the progress on the rest of the force.


In addition to these guys i felt like i would like to do something different with the cloaks of my Vet Serg and his Squad leader, whilst thinking about it i came up with these patterns:



As you can see not bad looking but I'm not sure ive done it justice or if the cloaks look good, im not 100% with the kneeling guys cloak but cant really see how to improve it. Any thoughts, comments or suggestions would be great.

Finally im asking for more thoughts and ideas, i recently decided to differenciate the Vets from the normal squads by giving them camo jackets and helmets. I tried replicating the children of men pattern i was looking to do and whilst the patterns for the tanks will work well it doesent translate to small bodies well, instead i reached a compromise and came up with the following pics:



whilst the white dots are massive, these will be smaller when i get a smaller brush, i think that with the black lines and grey dots makes the pattern work. its subtle but definately there. The idea for this was taken from here:
http://s3.zetaboards.com/Chamber_Militant/topic/678863/1/
however appears the black lines havent come out so well on my pics :(
Any thoughts on alternatives or how i could improve the pattern would be much appreciated.

Well folks thats mine for the week so enjoy and any assistance would be great.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Chris' Week 14 Update

So time for my update, not much on the words this week, more time for pictures. I have included some pics of the Firewarriors to give you some idea on the progress made. I have also included the Battlesuit in its various parts that i've left unrepaied to assist with painting.




Any thoughts or comments would be great.
Cheers, Chris


Automatically Appended Next Post:
A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 14 - Round up!

Well folks, here is the first round up for the new layout, this is the week 14 update for the newly expanded Tale of Five Gamers.

Week 14 Updates
A Tale of Four Gamers - Week 14-1 - Challenge News!
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/06/tale-of-four-gamers-week-14-1-challenge.html
More news on the progress of the challenge and our latest member.

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 14-2 - Dan's Marine Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/06/tale-of-five-gamers-week-14-2-dans.html
Dan finally sticks some colour on his little plastic men.

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 14-3 - Jono's Tyranid Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/06/tale-of-five-gamers-week-14-3-jonos.html
Jono has an update and advice on how to replicate his colour scheme.

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 14-4 - Rich's Chaos Space Marine Introduction
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/06/tale-of-five-gamers-week-14-4-richs.html
We meet Rich and get to see his first models as he joins the challenge.

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 14-5 - Millest's Imperial Guard Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/06/tale-of-five-gamers-week-14-5-millests.html
I provide some more pics of the guard and ask for ideas and comments on my camo schemes.

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 14-6 - Chris' Tau Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/06/tale-of-five-gamers-week-14-6-chris-tau.html
Chris shows the work and colour scheme for his tau and shows the way it should look now he has paint.

Challenge No Submission Casualty List
Here are the current number of casualty models each player must have completed by the end of the challenge as a fine for their none submission of weekly updates! However its up to you if they all get another one added to the list for this weeks lack of submission!

Chris - 2 models
Jono - 2 models
Dave - 0 models
Dan - 0 models

So that's this weeks round up and due to the lack of week 13 updates both Jono and Dan have acquired a dead model each.

Jono's Week 15 Update

Well, another week down, getting ever closer to the end date, which is a bit daunting now considering how many gribblies still aren’t finished!

I have had a bit of a setback this week, as I have run out of Mecharite red! This should remedied with a trip my local GW, hopefully I will get some time Sunday!

Anyway, moving on, the feature for this week’s update, is my fully completed Tervigon! I know that I have posted her before, but I want to flaunt her just once more, as she has been based! Having a MASSIVE (6”x4”) base, I didn’t want to just leave it plain and brown, especially not with the flak that I have been getting from Chris and Dave for not using their ‘awesim’ resin bases.. Alas, a bit of sand, a barrel I made earlier and some washes have left me with this:


I am impressed with the outcome, as the washes went into the sand really well to create the mess that I was trying to achieve! The ‘oil’ is literally just Badab Black, but the blood effects are a mix of Baal Red wash with a smidge of Mecharite for good measure.

As usual, any feedback is greatly appreciated!
Until next week, adios!

Dan's Week 15 Update

Hello again

Another busy week with everything else it seems but I do have an update to provide.

This week I have been working on a handful of minis painting them up in full colour scheme. I'm happy with how the regal blue and burnished gold have come out. IMHO I think they compliment each other really well.



Now I know I still have some work to do in terms of shading n highlighting but I've applied a coat of gryphonne sepia wash so I've started the process. ATM my faces are the melta and flamer cos the weapons are different but I'm predicting that by the end of the 500pt challenge that my sergaent and heavy weapons minis will be my top 3. Anyhoo I'm on hols next week so there will be no update from me. Til then enjoy the pics. Toodles!

Rich's Week 14 Update

Hi guys this is my second weekly update. What a busy week its been, apart from my nanna and grandad's Diamond wedding anniversary (60 years!) party, my girlfriend stealing all my time in the evening I have been focusing on passing my bike test module one. Which i passed with no minors so i am one step closer to being a speed demon,

Speaking of demons i have had very little time to paint any of my miniatures but i have included two pictures and i need your help. while i was painting the base coat on to one of the warriors i realised that leaving the shoulder pad and boot black looked kinda a cool. but i don't know whether to do this for my chosen (veterans) when i have them as this will make them stand out or whether to this as standard for the chapter so i was wondering if you could all help me decide, thank you.

Due to a busy week i have not been able to finish my fluff but the whole of next week is free for me so expect to see completed squads and stories....



PS models are not finished yet, the way that i have painted to armour is to try and make it looked warped and alive, uneven coats. looks OK in really life but have just noticed looks a mess in photos :(

Millest's Week 15 Update


Just a quick update from me, after a busy week the highlighting of the green started and the second coat went on. I also finished the full modelling on my Command squad so as a double whammy here is the Command Squad to show the highlighting and the completed work.

As a side note does anyone have any suggestions and tips for removing paint from plastics in the UK?
Cheers

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 15 - Round up!

Well folks, here is the first round up for the new layout, this is the week 15 update for the newly expanded Tale of Five Gamers.

Week 15 Updates

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 15-1 - Jono's Tyranid Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/07/tale-of-five-gamers-week-15-1-jonos.html
Jono shows off his Terv!

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 15-2 - Dan's Marine Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/07/tale-of-five-gamers-week-15-2-dans.html
Dan shows off some blue marines!

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 15-3 - Rich's Chaos Space Marine Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/07/tale-of-five-gamers-week-15-3-richs_03.html
Rich tests some schemes.

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 15-4 - Millest's Imperial Guard Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/07/tale-of-five-gamers-week-15-4-millests.html
I show off some command squad bits.

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 15 - 5 - Chris' Tau Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/07/tale-of-five-gamers-week-15-5-chris-tau.html
Chris has paint on stuff!! OMG!


Challenge No Submission Casualty List
Here are the current number of casualty models each player must have completed by the end of the challenge as a fine for their none submission of weekly updates!

Chris - 2 models
Jono - 2 models
Dave - 0 models
Dan - 1 model

So that's this weeks round up

Jono's Week 16 Update


Hi all!
Firstly, OMG.. Chris has discovered how to open a pot of paint!
Secondly, my update for the week!
Still nothing major on the progress, but I do have all of my Hormas for you!


They aren't finished, but they are all getting there with the Badab Black wash. I really need to knuckle down and just some proper painting done. I am currently trying to get everything with at least

2 layers of Babab Black wash, and I have lost all will to live.. Only a few more Termas, and I will be done! I have been saving my second Hive Guard, for when I was ready to give up; ie when I needed something a bit more interesting to paint. I think that this may well have to come off the shelf and get finished this week. Alas, after that, its a hard slog to get the Gaunts done! Thankfully, after 500, I will be investing in some more costly models, so not too many more gaunts!

This week, I have also done a few Genestealers, but I will save those for the 750 challenge! If anyone is DESPERATE to see them, let me know and I will add them to next week's post!

T'ra until next week!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Millest's Week 16 Update

This week for a change its been time for some terrain for me. I decided I would work on the defence set and some of the boxes. The defence line is a nice little set, simple and easy to work with. So far I've just painted it with Catachan Green and then drybrushed with Camo Green, I then picked out the various details as you can see in these pics:



I'm still trying to decide if I should still give them a wash of inks to give them some depth but I think the dry brush has pulled out the details very nicely.

Next up are my boxes and crates, I painted them in simple colours and decided to add some markings, again these are just a simple coat and some small details as you can see:


As you can see very simple and with some attempts at "real world" markings though as with the defence lines I cant decide if they need an ink wash or not, any thoughts on this too would be great.

So guys thats my efforts for week 16, feedback would be appreciated and hope you like what you see.

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 16 - Round up!

Time for this weeks round up of all the action - as sparse as that may be!

Week 16 Updates

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 16-1 - Jono's Tyranid Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/07/tale-of-five-gamers-week-16-1-jonos.html
Jono shows off more gaunts of various flavours!


A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 16-2 - Millest's Imperial Guard Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/07/tale-of-five-gamers-week-16-2-millests.html
I show off some terrain rather then models of guardsmen!


A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 16-3 - Chris' Tau Update
Chris has been excused from this weeks updates after being stitched up at work and having to work some very long hours inc the weekend, however there will be an update for week 17 on pain of toenail removal!


A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 16-4 - Dan's Marine Update
Dan has been excused due to being on holiday for the week - though I dont think it was as good as was hoped for!


A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 16 - 5 - Rich's Chaos Space Marine Update
Rich hasnt contacted anyone regarding his update so we were expecting one but it didnt arrive :( ah well at least he's earnt himself a dead model

Challenge No Submission Casualty List
Here are the current number of casualty models each player must have completed by the end of the challenge as a fine for their none submission of weekly updates!

Chris - 2 models
Jono - 2 models
Dave - 0 models
Dan - 1 model
Rich - 1 Model

So that's this weeks round up, enjoy

whatever happened to those converted stormtroopers from the first few pages, I was hoping to get some looks at them with paint on!

I love the idea here, the 500 point challenge seems perfect

the stormies are coming eventually but trying to decide if they should be in the green grey scheme or should be done as inquistional but to be fair i want to get my painting skills up a bit before i tackle them and do them the justice they deserve.
millest

Rich's Week 17 Update

Hi guys, can not believe that I have a dead model already :( oh well one more thing to think about. Starting to panic with regards time scale but who needs sleep really one squad almost complete (see below) I decides to go for the black as I think it looks at lot more dark and menacing.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Dan's Week 17 Update

Hi there, well its been an epic two weeks for me. Holiday finished off with one lost purse (now found) and one car written off. So this week has been consumed by that!
Back to 40k, I've had some time but not much. I've worked on some scenery again, starting the 2nd piece of ruins and I've started the floor pattern. Have a look at the pics.



Next week I hope for more success and a return to normality!

###################################################

Millest's Note:
a big +1 for Dan here, been a hectic week for him and after Rich was the second to provide a full update so a virtual round of applause for him

Millest's Week 17 Update


Well folks I too have had a busy week this week, two days away due to work and then lots of other stuff going on. Despite all this though I've managed to get some more of the small terrin bits done and as you can see I'm quite pleased with them.



Nice and simple for the tank traps, mechite read with a boltgun dry brush and a couple of in washes. The barrells are Knarloc green I think (cant remember) with some odd details such as warnings, shipping labels and "other way up" markings on the base.

hope you enjoy and hopefully next week we might have some more troops!

nice to see the stormtroopers haven't been tossed too far to the side

I'm really digging the landscapes, def the checkered floor!

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 17 - Round up & TOFG News!

First up it is time for this weeks round up of all the action - as sparse as that may be once again!

Week 17 Updates

• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 17-1 - Rich's Chaos Space Marine Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/07/tale-of-five-gamers-week-17-1-richs.html
Rich has shown some more progress on his modified Word Bearers Scheme.

• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 17-2 - Dan's Marine Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/07/tale-of-five-gamers-week-17-2-dans.html
Dan has popped up some pics of his ongoing terrain work!

• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 17-3 - Millest's Imperial Guard Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/07/tale-of-five-gamers-week-17-3-millests.html
I show off some terrain rather then models of guardsmen!

• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 17-4 - Chris' Tau Update - Chris has too joined the mutiny, more info in the news!

• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 17 - 5 - Jono's Tyranid Update - Jono has joined the mutiny! more news below.

TOFG News
Well folks an interesting week this week, 17 weeks in and we've had somewhat of a Mutiny on my hands! Unfortunately people have started deciding that the rules regarding the posting and deadlines were a tad too strict. So with all that in mind we have some slightly modified rules to work with for the remainder of the 500 challenge and onwards in to the expansions. In summary the following comes in to effect now:

• Firstly we are now going to drop the dead model rule, all dead models so far are wiped out in favour of the rules laid out below.

• Weekly updates are optional now, people can send updates when they've made some decent progress but any updates would be useful each week so people will still try to get something in so we can keep the blog live and relevant to the work carried out.

• The final deadline for the complete force still stands. This is still the 12th of august and has not changed.

• There is a new rule where on completion date if you have any uncompleted units etc you receive the penalty of one dead model per unit or squad unfinished, this is in lieu of the dead models for missed updates.

• Updates on which force will be posted 1,2,3 etc after completion when we do the features will be drawn from a hat to ensure fairness.

as you can see nothing major but its a shame its had to wait this long before we got the kinks worked out. Still lets hope this assists in keeping things moving and relevant and thanks to you all for reading and sticking with it this far.
Thanks
Millest

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 18 - Round up!

Hi folks, due to time limitations and other commitments this week and next they updates will be limited to round ups with links out to the blog, hopefully normal service will resume soon!

Week 18 Updates
• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 18-1 - Millest's Imperial Guard Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/07/tale-of-five-gamers-week-18-1-millests.html
I show off some tank repaints and the final part of my terrain (yay I’ve completed something!).

• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 18-2 - Dan's Marine Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/07/tale-of-five-gamers-week-18-2-dans.html
Dan has popped up some pics of his ongoing Ultramarines with some clearer pics!



Automatically Appended Next Post:
A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 19 - Round up!

First up it is time for this weeks round up of all the action - as sparse as that may be once again!

Week 19 Updates
• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 19-1 - Dan's Marine Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/08/tale-of-five-gamers-week-19-1-dans.html
Dan has popped up some pics of his ongoing Ultramarines with some clearer pics!

• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 19-2 - Millest's Imperial Guard Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/08/tale-of-five-gamers-week-19-2-millests.html
I show off some tank repaints and the finalised colourscheme.

hi folks,

Ive had a tidy up and organise on the blog and now have all my novel reviews archieved here:

http://millests.blogspot.com/p/novel-reviews-archive.html

as you can see since my last posted review of Fear the Alien there is at least another 20 books reviewed and added up and hopefully their of use to you and might help you make up your mind on buying a book or not. So feel free to check them out and leave any comments here or on the blog.

thanks guys

Millest

Dan's Week 20 Update


Hello again!
With the final hurrah approaching on this challenge I can say that I have paint on every single model, and not just black undercoat and smurfish blue!

So moving on to my actual update of what I have done. This week I have turned my attention to the final unit that had no paint applied to them, yes folks that’s right my assault squad. I have followed the same scheme throughout my units, regal blue as the primary colour, burnished gold for the iconography and company markings, ultramarine blue for accenting joints et al. But with the assault squad I have used boltgun metal for the jump pack straps and bleached bone for the skull motif at the centre of this. Piccies below:





The eagle-eyed and observant of you will notice a lack of actual jump packs! These are the only components that have yet had paint applied, alas this is soon to be rectified and hopefully my assault squad will be fully assembled.

And for a teaser… I have recently purchased the Chaplain with jump pack in Finecast, must say I am really impressed with the detail....BUT more on this in the next challenge!

Millest's Week 20 Update


Well Folks, time for some good news!! I have finished models!! This week after much fannying about I have managed to complete both my Chimera and my Medusa. So those guys are added to the tally of completed terrain.
This week I will mainly be finishing guardsmen and my psyker (slight change with him so hope you all like him) but as I say lots of hard work this week. I dont know how well the pics reflect it but the models are painted in a black and green pseudo-berlin style camo and are then weathered up with some nice drybrush effects, these use tin bits, boltgun metal, a dark grey/brown and then a final all over dry brush (though heavier at the tracks) of khemri. As you can see - hopefully - from the pics the tanks have many many little conversions to them and a virtual cookie to anyone who can spot them all. So on with the pics:








Enjoy and comments would be great!
Cheers

A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 20 - Round up!
A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 20 - Round up!


Right folks, it is time for this weeks round up of all the action - as sparse as that may be once again!

Week 20 Updates
• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 20-1 - Dan's Marine Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/08/tale-of-five-gamers-week-20-1-dans.html
Dan has popped up some pics of his ongoing Ultramarines with some clearer pics!

• A Tale of Five Gamers - Week 20-2 - Millest's Imperial Guard Update
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/08/tae-of-five-gamers-week-20-2-millests.html
I show off some FINISHED(!!!!) tank repaints - possibly the first finished units of the challenge!

A Tale of Five Gamers - Dan's Complete 500pt Space Marine Force Round-Up

Hi Folks,
well here it is, the end of the 500 point challenge finally and we have our first complete force. The order was drawn randomly and unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) Dan drew the short straw and gets the first post in the series of round ups prior to the voting.

All the round ups will be posted over the next week or so prior to the final vote and will all follow the same format with the fluff, army list, pic and some words to show you what has been produced, so with our further ado time to hand over the blog to Dan:

===============================================

Recon Force Phi


Recon Force Phi History
Recon force Phi has been dispatched by Captain Sicarius to investigate the loss of contact with an Ultramarines remote monitoring site near the borders of the expanding Tau empire.

Under the command of Veteran Sergeant Karras, recently returned from a tour with the Deathwatch, the force has become embroiled in the dual encroachment of the Tyranids and the Tau upon Imperial space, and the worlds under the stewardship of the Ultramarines. Due to the increased threat level of multiple xenos incursions, Veteran Sergeant Karras has notified Macragge and has requested reinforcements.

Despite continuing to gather intelligence for the imminent arrival of a full sized strike force, the Ultramarines have been unable to make contact with the planetside Imperial forces, causing their loyalty to be thrown in to doubt...

Army List
The 500 point force was based off the following Army List (any Caveats or errors are explained at the end of this article) created to represent a similar force:


500 Point Challenge Images
Below are Images showing Recon Force Phi at the outset of their expedition in to the Quintairn Sub-sector.

Complete Force


Troops
Tactical Squad 1


Tactical Squad 2


Fast Attack (Proxy HQ)
Assault Squad


Some words from Dan
Yoddle!
So this is it, challenge one down, done and dusted. Really happy with what I've managed to do.

So what we have is two tactical squads each led by a sergeant who stands out a bit. On top of that we have the assault squad led by a deathwatch sergeant. My favourite minis are the heavy weapons boys and the deathwatch mini, to be honest the entire assault squad looks really nice.

To explain why there is no HQ choice it was decided that at this points level for a Marine force the cost of an effective HQ was too high so the decision was to let me not take one but i had to make at least one of the Sergeants a Veteran to show some kind of leadership within the force. It was also felt for fluff reasons it wouldn't be unheard of for a decorated Veteran Sergeant (especially a Deathwatch Veteran) to lead a small recon force rather then an Officer

As we progress through the challenges and as my skills improve I will return to these models and apply some more detailing

===============================================

There you have it folks, the first of our round ups, i know its taken a while and we're all thankful for you sticking with it this far. Once holidays are over we will of course be expanding the forces and posting some battle reports. So thoughts, comments and feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks and enjoy!

Blog News - Black Library action, Posts and Plans!



Hi Folks,
time for a round up of the happenings on and off the blog, I know its a while since the last one so I thought now would be a good time to catch up and let you all know the going-ons!
The Blog can be found here:
Millests Mediocre Meanderings

Black Library Recognition and Twitter
As regular follows will know I often review new Black Library releases on the blog and recently I have begun posting links to these on Twitter. Recently I'm please to say that a couple of these have been retweeted and mentioned by the Black Library so at last the blog has some wider recognition. So hello to any new readers from the Black Library and thanks to them for mentioning the reviews on their feed.
Follow Millests Mediocre Meanderings on Twitter here:
MMM Twitter Feed

Followers and Posts
Speaking of new readers I'm please to note that we now have 70 followers on the blog, so firstly thank you all for following and coming back time and time again to view the blog.

The blog has also hit a mile stone by passing the 250 posts mark, so whilst this escaped me and slipped by without me realising (I think we're on 260ish now) I do intend to get something special arranged for post 500 and hopefully have a painting comp or give away open to all.

Finally going on the blogger counter tool we have have nearly 64000 hits and according to google over the course of the life of the blog so far we have had 25000+ unique visitors to the site!! All I can say to those states is WOW!!

So once again thank you all and just, WOW!!! I cant believe it and I'm glad that enough people are enjoying the blog that they are not only coming back but most likely also sharing the site with others. Thank you all and keep enjoying

Tale Of Five Gamers plans
As you are now doubt aware the TOFG 500pt challenge is coming to a close (more below) and over the past week or so, despite their lack of progress, myself and some of the other members of the challenge have been looking in to the onward progression of the challenges.
I have therefore decided to document the plans so that people cant change their mind or chicken out. So without further ado here's a list of what you can expect to see in the future:

Completion of the 500pt challenge
Expansion of the TOFG challenge to 750pts
The Power Armour Challenge
Expansion of the TOFG challenge to 1000pts
The Terminator Armour Challenge
Expansion of the TOFG challenge to 1500pts
The Deathwatch Challenge

More details will come for the various challenges as and when they roll out on the blog but lets just say they look fun. I'm also considering opening up some of the smaller challenges to allow people from outside the blog to submit their own work, but this will be looked in to for practical terms closer to the time.
Just so you know whilst these are planned these will be featuring alongside any other articles, guides, reviews and projects that might crop up. Hopefully these are intriguing and hope you enjoy them.
You can catch up on the TOFG progress so far here:
TOFG 2011 Archive

Tale Of Five Gamers votes
With the 500pt challenge coming to a close over the next few days you should see features appearing for each of the armies rounding up their fluff, lists and pictures. Once these are completed we're hoping to have a vote up and running for around 2 weeks so you can pick the force you feel works the best or sticks closest to their fluff or just appeals to you in general. The winner will definitely get bragging rights and more then likely a beer or two from the lads but that will be decided later! So please keep and eye out and please cast your vote when you it goes live.
You can catch up on the TOFG progress so far here:
TOFG 2011 Archive

New reviews
As previously mentioned a number of new reviews have gone up recently and have been added to the Book reviews tab. Coming soon I'm hoping to have some reviews on some products and sellers but this will be added once the 500pt votes are in so I can use the models in this for the reviews.
The reviews sections can be found here:
Book Reviews
Product & Retailer Reviews

Layout and Feedback
As regulars will notice I'm often fiddling with settings on the blog, but the thing is no matter what I think looks good the blog is all about you the readers. So if you have any feedback on the layout, the articles you want to see or something you want adding please let me know and I will see what I can do for you. Also on the flip side of that if there is anything you don't like or don't want to see let me know. Any and all suggestions will be welcomed and looked in to. I can be contacted here:
Email me here!

Guest articles and Blog rolls
If any regulars would like to have their Blog added to the blog rolls on the right hand side please either post below or contact me via email. I have also decided that given the number of readers and hits it is time to open up the floor to guest bloggers. So if you have an article or an idea for an article please get in touch and I will see if it works for me and the blog and if so I will try to include it with full credit.
If you have a blog or an article you would like to see here please contact me here:
Email me here!

Holidays
The final bit of news for this round up is that I will be away on my hols again soon (not that I have another one booked or anything) so I wont be updating the blog or able to respond to any comments or emails from around the 3rd to the 17th of September. Any emails, comments or requests will be dealt with on my return, but the voting for 500pt challenge will be open over this period so please continue to visit and vote in the poll.


That's all folks so thank you all once again for reading the newsy news and the blog. Also as I'm going to be away from the blog in around a weeks time please remember:

A Tale of Five Gamers - Jono's Complete 500pt Tyranid Force Round-Up

Up now folks the second update from the TOFG team. Here's Jono!!
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Hive Fleet Tenebrae


Hive Fleet Tenebrae History
During Hive Fleet Behemoth’s assault of Macragge, the Hive Mind, convinced of yet another victory, sent out splinter fleets to survey the way for the advancing swarm. In the closing hours of the battle, the Imperial Forces performed an assault on the man Hive Craft in orbit in an attempt to stop the swarms of Tyranids bringing devastation to the Planet's surface. During this lucky hit, the assaulting Tyranid force was thrown into a state of disarray which ultimately gave victory to the Imperial forces. It is believed that during this valiant assault, a 'Norn Queen' was either wounded, or killed. To this day, the Ultramarines believe that the Norn Queen is the embodiment of the Hive Mind, controlling the entire fleet with her will. Be this true, or be it that the target was merely a larger Synapse Creature further up the evolutionary chain nobody will ever know. Regardless of this, the temporary lapse of synapse that ensued caused many of the scouting splinter fleets to fall into a state of dormancy. Many of these dormant vessels and splinter fleets were either destroyed or simply wandered out of Imperium space in to the dead space between the stars. One such splinter was dubbed Hive Fleet Tenebrae.

Hive Fleet Tenebrae was brought to the attention of both the Imperium and the burgeoning Tau Empire when it re-entered the galaxy close to the Quintairn system, where it is hypothesised that its relative proximity to the Ymgarl system (The once theorised home of the Genestealer) and to core splinters of Hive fleet Behemoth resulted in the awakening of the hive ships many decades later. This is the first recorded active sighting of the Hive Fleet and I am sure that it will not be the last.

Army List The 500 point force was based off the following Army List (any Caveats or errors are explained at the end of this article) created to represent a similar force:


500 Point Challenge Images
Below are Images showing Hive Fleet Tenebrae at the outset of their expedition in to the Quintairn Sub-sector.


Some words from Jono
Hi All, its been a while and as you can see.. progress hasn't been amazing! Alas, vote for me because despite being a bit lethergic recently, I STILL have more done than chris!

Since my last update, I have based everything that had a final coat of paint, and put a few more layers on my gaunts. Although they aren't up, I actually have about another 25 gaunts in my box, just for the Tervigon to churn out. Cannon fodder ftw! Note to self.. avoid horde armies in the future!

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Only three more updates to come before the vote.

well folks time for the third round up, its sparse, its not finished but its published for completeness and ridicule if thats what you fancy

Chris' "Complete" 500pt Tau update can be found here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/09/tale-of-five-gamers-chris-complete.html

i would post to the forum with pics etc but dont want to waste bandwidth for you guys.
please look and all being well a post regarding voting will be up on tuesday.


===============================================================================================


time for the fourth round up, its just as limited as the last one as its not finished but its published for completeness as with the tau but please stick with it as tomorrows final update before the vote will actually bring a completed army to the screen

Rich's "Complete" 500pt Chaos Space Marine Force update can be found here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/09/tale-of-five-gamers-richs-complete.html

i would post to the forum with pics etc but dont want to waste bandwidth for you guys.
please look and all being well a post regarding voting will be up on tuesday.

A Tale of Five Gamers - Millest's Complete 500pt Imperial Guard Force Round-Up
Up now the final update, and possibly most complete, prior to the final vote (and most importantly my holiday) hope you all enjoy!


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The 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary Force


The 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary Force History
Currently Operating on the Eastern fringes the 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary force was initially tasked with the exploration and eradication of Tau enclaves and inroads in to the region of space to the galactic north of Quintairn. Under the direct control of the Ordo Xenos for the duration of the campaign the 1313th were tasked with stamping the Emperors authority on worlds that were only nominally under the control of the Eagle, eradicating those worlds infested with tau and persecuting those that openly consorted with the alien.

It wasn't long however before on the outpost world of Troya Majorus that a greater threat came to light in the form of a genestealer cult.

Upon discovery the cult threw themselves at the members of the Expeditionary force with tooth, claw and more conventional weapons. This single horrific attack which resulted in the complete destruction of the capital, Hawkesfall, soon revealed an infestation covering a number of neighbouring systems and only hinted at the horrors to come. The Campaign on Troya Majorus dragged on in to the close of 881.M41 when Troya Majorus fell.

Pre-empted by the screams of Astropaths, Navigators and psykers alike the Tyranid reinforcements arrived. The invading tyranids were identified as Splinter fleet Tenebre and the full menace of the Xenos threat, both Tau and Tyranid, was revealed and all out war reigned.

Since this time more attacks have come to light and the marauding destruction of the Splinter fleet has shown to cover a vast swathe of planets on the periphery of both the Human and Tau empires. It is here that the 1313th is now engaged in an all out war on two fronts with two of the most dangerous foes the imperium faces.

The 1313th Expeditionary Force are currently on permanent detachment to the Inquisitional Enclave at Quintairn, the forces of the Lignum Iugo are proud to serve the Inquisition with distinction in campaigns across the region. Originating in the Eastern Regions of the Britarius Sector the world of Lignum Iugo is a careful balance between Industry and Cultivation providing many local systems with large quantities of food and technology. The regiments of Lignum Iugo are known for the dual specialties in Air Assault and Scouting but amongst these regiments the 1300's stand apart from the rest.

The 1300 regiments, those bearing the numbers 1300-1399, are considered by many in the sector as a guard force without peer, of particular note are the regiments of the 1313th, 1349th and 1373rd. Selected only from the best men and women of the planets many regiments and the brightest and most martial students from the planets Scholams the 1300's are some of the best in their fields.

Referred to as Expeditionary forces the 1300's are forces that are sent on either the most critical of missions or campaigns where a hard hitting strike force is required. Their most common role however is acting as a fighting force whilst assigned to Rogue Traders, Adeptus Mechanicus Exploratory forces or, given their proximity to Quintairn, as Inquisitional Troopers. The 1313th is one such regiment who by their deeds has seen the regiment seconded permanently to the Quintairn enclave. It is here where they have fought under the Insignia of numerous Inquisitors of various Ordos before the current assignment which sees them battling the dual threat of Tau and Tyranid incursions on the Eastern Fringes.

Members of the 1300s, rarely return to Lignum Iugo as the troopers they once were, scarred and decorated they often go on to lead other regiments raised from the planet. Some are requested to serve as bodyguards and retinues for inquisitors, and even other members of the imperial hierarchy should they be deemed deserving. The rarest and most sought after path is that of the honoured few who even join the ranks of the inquisition where the free thinking and autonomous nature of the 1300s shines through and prepares them for the darkness they fight. The knowledge and skills of the 1300s is without peer in the region and is one that the Inquisition is more than happy to encourage, cultivate and utilise.


Army List
The 500 point force was based off the following Army List (any Caveats or errors are explained at the end of this article) created to represent a similar force:


500 Point Challenge Images
Below are Images showing The 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary Force at the outset of their expedition in to the Quintairn Sub-sector.


Complete Force


HQ
Interrogator Ratner (Counts as Psyker)


Troops
"Custos" Platoon (Troops choice 1)
Platoon HQ


Squad 1


Squad 2


"Subruo" Hardened Veterans Squad and Chimera Transport (Troops choice 2)



Fast Attack
Sentinel Unit - "Argentum Steed"


Heavy Support
Medusa (counts as Griffon) - "Semotus Mortis"


Terrain Selection


Additional Images of the units and terrain above can be found here:
Millest's Complete Force Round-up Album
please be aware these are un-editted so could well be "massive" hope there is something in here you like.

Some words from Millest
Hello Folks,
welcome to my first completed force in so, so, so, so many years! I know it isn't huge, it is only 500 points after all but after picking up a brush for the first time in years it feels great. I must say not only am I pleased with the overall results but I'm very pleased with myself for meeting every aspect of the challenge, from fluff and list to the models and the terrain. I must apologise for the pics though, at present it's very overcast and the light isn't great, dont worry though this is something I will be looking to remedy for future picture taking.
As I say I am pleased and when it comes to the 750 expansion there are somethings I'd like to add to these guys or change, chief amongst them is backpacks all round, replace flesh heads with gas masks, pick out the icons etc in white and finally see about adding some litanies and text to discreet areas of the vehicles. They aren't big adds but I think they will add to the feel and fluff more.

The overall aspect of the army really does please me. I have tried to follow the same patterns and schemes all the way through and I think the very limited palette works well, especially when used to mimic the Tank camo on things like cloaks and gun Shields. The other thing that ties the force together well is the use of the Secret Weapon Minis bases, these are great and will be getting a review later. I also found that only having a limited choice on some of the bases (mainly the 60mm ones) meant I had to be creative and convert them, something that actually was more fun then I anticipated.

Other little nods are the small conversions dotted through out, like the chimera (virtual cookie for those spotting all the work), the bits and pieces in the Veteran Squad as well as the HQ choice. There are lots of little things here and there and there is a virtual cookie for the first person to spot the one and only metal GW component used in the Infantry (the Secret Weapon Packs don't count).

So please enjoy and comment, any questions or thoughts would be great and please, please vote for me when the poll goes live!

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There you have it folks, the final Round-up of a completed force and all being well the vote will be up later today.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Final Completed Forces Round-up and Chance to vote for your Favourite Force


Well folk's there you have it the completion (for some) of the TOFG 500 point challenge. OK, so not everyone has completed and yes it's taken a while however for the most part it's been worth it. Not only have we all got back in to the 40k hobby but we have managed to introduce another victim to it, for that alone it's been a good challenge.

So why this final round up post? well this is where you all come in, while I'm away on holiday there is a vote running at the top of the blog where you can vote for your favourite force in this leg of the challenge. To help you recap and decide who to vote for here is a rundown of all the submissions:
•Dan's Complete 500 point Space Marine Force:
Ultramarine Recon Force Phi- http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/08/tale-of-five-gamers-dans-complete-500pt.html

•Jono's Complete 500 point Tyranid Force:
Tyranid Hive Fleet Tenebrae- http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/09/tale-of-five-gamers-jonos-complete.html

•Chris' Complete 500 point Tau Force:
Tau Stormstrike Expansion Cadre- http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/09/tale-of-five-gamers-chris-complete.html

•Rich's Complete 500 point Chaos Space Marine Force:
Word Bearers Chaos Space Marine Coven- http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/09/tale-of-five-gamers-richs-complete.html

•Millest's Complete 500 point Imperial Guard Force:
Imperial Guard 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary Force - http://millests.blogspot.com/2011/09/tale-of-five-gamers-millests-complete.html

As you can see varying degrees of completion but all give good viewing. So please cast your votes at the top of the blog, here:

http://millests.blogspot.com/

Also please feel free to comment on this post or even direct on the posts above, to assist with that comment moderation has now been turned off as I wont be here to moderate. Not sure if there is a prize or its jut bragging rights but I will discuss this with the guys and we will announce once the results are in, but any thoughts would be great as it might persuade them to get involved.

Hope you have all enjoyed the progress and the models that have come out of the challenge, apologies it has dragged on and there has been little updating in some areas. Suffice to say however the 750 challenge will be over a much shorter period and hopefully there will be some nice completed forces from people. Not to mention I will be working on the odd side project as well on my return so who knows the hobby content might actually increase!!

So once again thanks for sticking with this and getting this far. Hope you all like what you see and hope you feel able to vote.

Thanks to all and hope to see you after my holidays.
Millest

A Tale of Five Gamers - 500 Point Force Voting Results!
Hello Folks,
Back from my holiday adventures and pleased to announce that thanks to all your votes we now have a result for the voting on your Favourite 500 point force from the TOFG challenge.

The result is as follows:


As you can see and I am very pleased with is that I with my Imperial Guard Force have won the first round of the challenge. I am very pleased with this and especially pleased with the margin by which I won. So once again here if the winning force along with a link to the round up article:

The 1313th Lignum Iugo Expeditionary Force

Once again thanks for the votes, I don't know if we can organise a small prize or if its just going to be bragging rights at the moment, however I will be chasing up the other guys to finish their forces and for those that did not complete on time I will also be chasing for their Dead Model/Objective Marker penalty for not finishing the challenge.

So thanks for sticking with it and voting for my force. I hope you are all looking forward to more in the way of models, challenges and various articles coming soon.

Hi Folks,
apologies for being remiss in upddating the blog but i have been a tad busy of late, recently i started a new challenge on the blog, The Power Armour Challenge, and now its reached its conclusion i thought i would share the chance to vote with you guys.

So welcome to the final vote for your favourite mini from the Power Armour Challenge. I'm pleased to say that we recieved three out of the four initial entiries so i cant complain (too much) and it's now time for you all to take part.

whilst there is no vote on B&C to vote for your favourite model from the challenge the vote and many more pictures of the entries are here:
http://millests.blogspot.com/
This vote will run until the 16.03.12 at midnight, after which the totals will be taken and the winner will be announce (and then contacted regarding the prize) so please vote and here is a reminder of the entries:

The Power Armour Character Challenge - Entry No.1 Aspiring Champion of Slaanesh Selimyks Blood


The Power Armour Character Challenge - Entry No.2 Commander Falx - Fifth Company Reclimation Commander


The Power Armour Character Challenge - Entry No.3 Captain Varro Hektor


So folks there are the entries, please vote and please let us all have feedback on what you like, dont like or think in general of the models you have seen.
Thanks and enjoy

Great stuff so far!

Thanks for the reply, hope we get some votes on peoples favourite mini over on the blog

hi folks,
i know i havent posted much in this thread for some time but thats because the TOTG has completed.
the blog is still going strong, lots of odds and sods going up semi regularlly with book reviews, modelling articles and product reviews.
the latest article is a review of Machinators Pegasus chimera kit and it can be found here:
http://millests.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/machinator248-chimera-conversion-kit.html

enjoy and hope its useful for someone
cheers

well folks it has certainly being a while since i last posted here and things have moved on with the blog and the army and as a result the latest modelling project has hit my workspace. The latest being Project Raptor, as you can probably guess this is a flyer based project and is certainly a change from many many many infantry models and the odd Chimera based tank.

The first model that is being worked on is a Vulture with twin linked punisher cannons, this will be followed by a vendetta and possibly, should sales of airsoft kit suffice, a second Valkyrie will be joining the air support.



The Vulture was bought as a birthday present recently by my friends and is one of the nicest things my friends have ever got me. It was finally started this weekend with an awful lot of sanding and removal of large amounts of flash and overcast. Once sanded and the bits organised the kit doesn't appear anywhere near as daunting as it seemed to start with.



Once assembled the Vulture will be getting a matching paint scheme to the rest of the force but will benefit from some hopefully distinctive markings and options.

I did consider magnetising the weapons but given the thin ammo feeds between the hopper and the cannons it is unlikely they would survive storage so I most likely wont be doing that. I will give it a go and will let you know how successful it goes.

So keep tuned for more Project Raptor updates over the coming weeks.


in addition to this the blog will have lots of updates and right now we are preping for the Terminator Armour Challenge Open Competition
info can be found here:
http://millests.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-terminator-armour-open-challenge.html

Just an update to say that the Deadline for the Terminator Challenge has arrived and the entries have all being recieved. The quality of entries was very high and whilst only a small number of people entered they have all done a stellar job on the models and i wish each and everyone good luck.

This week I will post one entry everyday and so far three have already gone up on the blog. These will be followed by a vote next monday. Once the vote closes I will annouce the winner and sort out getting their prize to them. So keep an eye on the blog this week for some very nice models and remember to come back and vote.

so please check out the entries here:
http://millests.blogspot.co.uk/

Hi Folks,
the The Terminator Armour Open Challenge has now reached its deadline for entries and the submissions have being posted up, so now its time for the all important voting. The voting will last until the 6th of July to give everyone a fair chance then after that I will publish the results on the 7th.

Before you vote here are a round up of the Entries with links to each page:


Submission 1

http://millests.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-terminator-armour-open-challenge_8650.html


Submission 2

http://millests.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-terminator-armour-open-challenge_19.html


Submission 3

http://millests.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-terminator-armour-open-challenge_20.html


Submission 4

http://millests.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-terminator-armour-open-challenge_21.html


Submission 5

http://millests.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-terminator-armour-open-challenge_22.html


Submission 6

http://millests.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-terminator-armour-open-challenge_23.html

So folks there you have the round up of entries, it was a fun competition with some nice entries.

Now the important stuff, the Voting buttons are located at the top right of the blog page (and have had to be split in to two sections due to a glitch with blogger) and voting runs until midnight on the 6th of July. Please cast your votes and show the guys that what you think. Also please feel free to comment on this post to allow them to see how their work is received.
Thanks for reading and good luck to all competing

Hi Folks,
the The Terminator Armour Open Challenge is now over and its time for the results. First though thanks to all those that entered and to everyone that has voted, your participation is appreciated.

so without further ado here are the results:



As you can see we have a clear winner, that winner with 10 votes is Submission 3 - A Blood Angels Librarian by Guido

Submission 3


http://millests.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-terminator-armour-open-challenge_20.html


Please see the link above for more details and pictures of the winning entry. Congratulations to all who entered and a massive well done to Guido.

Now all that remains is for me to present Guido with his prize this week.