As for the base, what are you going with for the army as a whole? Sticking with the same thing as you Scars? Or mixing things up a bit.
IIRC you were going for an urban theme, which fits the camo pattern you chose. Although, as an armored list, very few of your “core” units are going to be on bases. Just when the troopers have to bail out of their transports.
Is there a story you are telling? A foe to fight? A campaign to win?
I’m a little fuzzy on the stats of the flyer, but I seem to recall it being primarily a ground attack bird. You want a low profile base, so I might put a crater on there. Put a guardsman or two in it. One on the com, calling in coordinates for the strike, possibly waving/pointing. The other, wounded if possible, stands and salutes the pilot flying overhead, glad that the flyboys have finally decided to show up.
@Nev. Definately an urban theme with the guardsmen. So ruins / rubble on bases is the way to go. I want to keep it relatively small (in terms of height off the TT), just so I can transport it easier. And you're idea just sparked an idea for me I think I'm going to put a few heavy bolter teams on the base, and build it up like a forward defence line. The vulture is definately an air support vehicle, so it'd work in the sense that it's backing up the guardsmen. But i'm quite content to leave the flier bases for now in favour of completing the other stuff.
Anyway, the campaign started yesturday. Guardsmen are such a different pace to Bikers... its crazy. I played decently, learnt a few things. I was playing a mostly T5 nurgle CSM. Vultures are awesome. They have straffing run, so BS4 twin linked against ground targets. It's a shame it came on on turn 4... xD It proceeded to mulch 7 CSMs holding their home objective, and it got his last scoring model on turn 7 xD My guardsmen went down in droves. I've learnt to NEVER get out of a Chimera. exit = death. But aside from that, it came to a draw. 2:2 on secondaries. We both nabbed warlord and i got first blood and he had LB. I think, because my Warlord died, he comes back next game on 50% wounds. And if he dies the next game... I think he is out(?). Will have to double check that.
Whilst at the LGS yesturday, I picked up the CCS. I'm going to build those today, and do a few other hobby related things.
I don’t know if you’ve been following the IG rumor thread, but in the leaked pictures of the hydra/wyvern kit, one of the crew members looks like he was custom built to decorate a flyer’s base.
Crouched down, checking a map, with his hand to his earpiece activating his com.
On the topic of the new IG stuff... Is that the new studio paint job for Cadians? I'm glad their getting something new, the green and brown was getting old, but i'm not sure I like it.
And the orders... I destroyed my eyes squinting up against the screen trying to read the blurry stuff. Give a unit split fire? Precision Shots? Pinning? Yes please! xD
Automatically Appended Next Post: Hey all,
The day is ending, and I thought i'd give you a mini-update. I've primed the last 2 Chimeras and the 2 Leman Russes. I need more tape for the digital camo masking, so they're going to hang out on the sheft and cure for a few days untill I stock up again.
Additionally, I've cut and cleaned the CCS I bought from the LGS yesturday. No glue yet, waiting for the GS on their bases to cure first. I'm trying to go for the urban rubble look, so I've built up some areas with GS and made some sprue-bricks. I also used some resin pieces from the scenic set I've had for ever, and some brass etch razor wire... Also put together 5 small objective markers - it's about time I have my own objectives! Pics of these soon
Now, the camo problem... Ignore the armour, just focussing on fatigues xD I know the armour colour i'm going with. I took a better picture of the scheme I like. I upped the exposure so it's not so dark. What I like about this one is that it's incredibly quick to do and the contrast between highlights and recesses look good (imo).
I tried a few different camo schemes too; 1 2 3
I'm leaning towards number 2 but i'd like to hear your opinions
Yep, that's a new scheme for cadians. GW have made them look even worse!
Split fire, Precision Shots, and Shoot then Run are the new orders, I think. Other than that, FRFSRF stays (but now works on hotshot lasguns too), and Move Move Move is the same. No word yet on whether GBITF, Incoming, FOMT or BiD are still there or not.
Also, there's now Command Tanks for IG, so if you wanted to, you could almost run your ABG list as a codex list now.
Disembarking from Chimeras is usually inadvisable, but there are times when it can help. Remember, you can Flat-out the Chimera after they've diembarked and fired, essentially providing mobile cover for the enemy turn, and even when it's wrecked, it's still giving a 5+ cover (4+ if you GtG). Also, here's a link to an article on playing Chimeras and Russes I wrote a while back, there may be some useful stuff for you in there: http://antorsfinest.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/5-things-to-know-about-mech-guard.html
I like number two for the camo as well. 3 is also quite nice, but I think the pattern would have to be more dense for it to really work, and that’s going to be a lot more painting. 2 works well as-is.
So, it's been over a week since I updated you guys... And in all honesty not a lot has been done.
I appreciate your input on the camo scheme. I agree, number 2 is best. I repainted the entire squad to have that scheme:
All in all, they took a fair amount of time to complete. I think this squad has seen maybe 6 or 7 different paint jobs... lol. I'm glad that they are almost finished.
Now, the Thunderbolt....
It was a real PITA to build. More so than the Vulture. I had to hack chunks off to get it to fit, and i'm going to need to do some considerable GSing. I did, however, magnetise the wings for transport purposes, and I left a few bits and pieces off for the sake of painting it.
I'm trying to think of how to paint the Navy fliers. They wont have digital camo, so I was thinking a single tone camo. Maybe a mid-grey, with some Navy markings and stripes... I'll leave those ideas fester, and see what i've come up with in a few days when i'm ready to paint.
I started my CCS. They are build and primed. 2 are painted, but i've run out of steam in terms of painting guardsmen. I'll shelf them for a few days and come back to them around the weekend. I ordered more digital camo masking sheets and decal paper, but stupidly sent them to my parents house xD So, progress on my tanks is waiting for me to go and get those.
@Para. Thanks for those links, they are helpful. I wonder whats going to change in the new codex. Only a few days untill we can find out...
In terms of gaming... I'm getting to grips with the army. The first week of the campaign I managed a draw. This week I lost. In this weeks game, my Vulture was a game changer. They 23 shots it could have put out would have annihilated his pink horrors (his only scoring), but it was shot down by interceptor on the turn it came in... Which was absolutely devastating xD I picked up another box of infantry too. So when I build them, I can stop proxying grey hunters as IG...
The infantry are looking great now, the camo is very neat and natural. The Sarge's face is also very nicely done.
In terms of new codex changes that will affect you, here's what I can recall, to save you having to trawl through the 100+ pages of rumours:
Vets are 10 points cheaper across the board.
Chimeras are 10 points more expensive.
Chimeras lose 3 fire points (down to 2, hurting mech vets)
The side lasguns on Chimeras can now fire as 3 lasguns, and at different targets.
Russes are mostly cheaper, things like exterminators are now in the 130 points range.
Russes can now be HQs, but you need 2+ in a squadron.
So some good, some bad. Shouldn't change things too much. It'll also take a while for FW to update the ABG list, I imagine.
Looking forward to the Thunderbolt, that is one awesome aircraft.
Nice guardsmen. Is the new codex going to affect you, aren’t you using a FW list? Or is it full of “See the IG codex” so you get a lot of trickle down?
Is it just me or is that flyer screaming for a shark mouth? Might just be the WW1/2 styling of the IoM, but it seems to demand nose art. You could also do the dark top/pale belly style of paint. While a navy bird, what’s it’s primary job? Space combat that just happens to be tasked with ground support? Or a dedicated mud mover? Makes a difference on what kind of paint would be slapped on.
Nevelon wrote: Nice guardsmen. Is the new codex going to affect you, aren’t you using a FW list? Or is it full of “See the IG codex” so you get a lot of trickle down?
Is it just me or is that flyer screaming for a shark mouth? Might just be the WW1/2 styling of the IoM, but it seems to demand nose art. You could also do the dark top/pale belly style of paint. While a navy bird, what’s it’s primary job? Space combat that just happens to be tasked with ground support? Or a dedicated mud mover? Makes a difference on what kind of paint would be slapped on.
I would second this idea, a shark mouth would take the thunderbolt from awesome to plain terrifying. In terms of role, I'm pretty sure they are a multi-role aircraft, but I'm almost certain they mainly operate in-atmosphere (could be wrong, though). Could have some very nice camo options, a two-tone grey could be very nice.
5 hours later, and I have an additional 2 Chimeras with digital camo done. It takes a LONG time. Its supprising how long it takes to do this.
Those changes seem good and bad. Cheaper russes are great. 2 firing slots on a Chimera? pfft. And LRs as HQ if you take more than 2 in a squadron? Seems iffy, i'd never use 2 LRs in a squadron when I can take them separetly. Still undecided on whether I'll get the new codex when it's released, because I'll be using the ABG list for now.
As for the thunderbolt... Nose art is a cool idea. But there is a lot going on around the nose area, and very uneven surfaces. imo, it'd be hard to get good looking teeth running along it. On something like the Vulture, with the flat, panelled nose it'd be simple. I'll look around the internet for some images, see what I can find. The Thunderbolt is an air support unit. So it predominantly flies in-atmosphere. But, it does have the ability to exit the atmosphere. Again, regarding the paint job, i'll see if anything strikes me after some research.
Yeah, nose art on the Vulture would be a lot easier. I've been looking around for various different pieces of inspiration for nose art, unfortunately, it's just a lot different shark teeth. I'd be interested in doing something different. Any ideas / suggestions? I will do teeth, but going to give it a day or two to see if anything else pops up.
As for the fliers paint jobs, a two tone camo is the direction i'm going (unless of course, my mind can be drastically changed). I'll probably use the same greys as the tanks, for the colour tie in.
I made up some home made decals today. It was aweful. I put some on a test Chimera and on the infantry squad, and imo it ruined them :( I think the paper I used is too thick(?), because you can clearly see the edge of the paper on the models despite multiple coats of micro set/sol.
This lead me to decide that i'm going to push forward with other models and sweat the details later. Which means i'll be holding off on the weathering and the decals in favour of getting paint on as much as possible.
Yeah, nose art on the Vulture would be a lot easier. I've been looking around for various different pieces of inspiration for nose art, unfortunately, it's just a lot different shark teeth. I'd be interested in doing something different. Any ideas / suggestions? I will do teeth, but going to give it a day or two to see if anything else pops up.
You already had a look at historical nose art for example of WW2 aircraft? A lot of teeth and pinups but here and there you will find something different. Nice work btw!
You could go with Bugstomper. Eagle with combat boots and a shotgun, with the motto “We endanger species”
AKA the nose art from the colonial marines dropship from Aliens
You might just be using the wrong paper? I’ve not done make your own decals personally, but it is a thing that people do. So presumably there is a way to make it work.
A nice toothy maw is something that can be done freehand, so has that going for it. Anything else is going to require figuring out how to get the transfers to work.
Have you considered doing freehand markings rather than decals? It might take more time, but I actually prefer it, for infantry at least. It allows more variation and looks more natural without needed a matt coat.
Of course, it depends on how confident you are with freehand. With any luck, things like numbers and simple markings should be easy with some practice.
Definately going to do the teeth on the Vulture. Been looking around and nothing has caught my interest, so teeth it is!
Here is where the Vulture currently stands:
Just some subtle soft edge camo stripes. I've run out of airbrush cleaner (more on order), so there will be no more airbrushing for the next day or two Also really low on nuln oil, so I cant even line it yet...
Here is a few pics of the CCS:
Para, you can see the level of my freehanding abilities on the banner... I need a lot of practise... In hindsight, the red on the commander isn't great. It doesn't really fit.
Also, some objective markers I finished off this afternoon: (The wash is still a little wet in the pictures)
I'm going to start working on 10 cadians I have NoS. And I got some fairy power spray to strip 10 karskins I have. Also, as soon as the airbrush cleaner shows up, I'm going to camo up the two leman russes I have sitting primed, to make room for the next two LRs I have ordered.
Last night was game night. I managed to squeeze two games in. First was against the Chaos team's warmaster. My army was the worst possible lineup he could have faced... He had 2 maulerfiends, 2 lots of 10 CSM infiltrating, a helldrake, nurgle DP and cultists. He didn't even get close. I skirted along the back edge, blew him to pieces before he got to me. He conceeded on turn 4. Second game was against Daemons. 3 FMC, 2 bunches of horrors and a bunch of daemonettes. it was rushed a bit, and we had to call it on turn 3. Turn one saw the DPs blast on up the board, hiding behind things... It started to look up on turn two, where I lined up all of my vehicles to take out a single flying DP. Killed it out right with my first vehicle and because I moved everything so it could shoot at it, I couldn't do anything else due to awkward / wrong positioning Turn three saw the remaining two blast over my lines into my backfield. I managed to drop his Warlord out of the sky (woo! minor victory xD) and I cleared one unit of horrors off an objective. It ended and he had 1 objective + linebreaker and I had warlord. In hind sight, I placed one of my objectives just a little too far forward, just outside my deployment zone, which was totally pointless and I have no idea of my thought process when I made that decision, but awell.
Next week's campaign games are going to be specifically written up. No random match ups this time. We're going to have set opponents with specific / custom games objectives and slight handicaps depending on how well we've done over the past 3 weeks. After that, the campaign steps up to 1500 points.
CCS are looking good (Although I agree about the Officer's coat. Maybe tone it down to a brown, like a leather overcoat or similar). The banner is actually pretty good, and the colour choices work well.
Those objective markers are also really cool. I'm always a fan of custom markers, but mine tend to be dioramas on 60mm bases, so a little impractical for actual gaming. Yours may have given me an idea for some more subtle ones, though.
Sounds like those two games were tough matchups either way (karma?). Next games sound interesting, custom missions are always a blast. How are your team doing in the campaign so far?
I'm glad I inspired some objective ideas Diorama objective markers do look cool. I went the easy route, because they were only a few pound on FW and I was getting my fliers anyway. I've had an idea of objective markers for a long time, but i've not done it yet (for some reason). On a 60mm base, I want to build a wall of dice, with a guardsmen shooting over it / guardsmen kneeling and voxing someone / other panic striken guardsmen poses. It gives it that diorama-esque feel with the guardsmen, yet remaining somewhat whimsicle and 'objective-y' because of the dice.
The second game, was unfortunate in where we ended. I'm fairly certain I could have won, at least forced a draw. He had a single MC, and 2 bunches of horrors left, and I had everything minus a guardsmen squad, chimera and avenger. So there was still a lot of potential for me to shoot him down, or atleast wipe off his troops.
Hope everyone had a good Easter (and are enjoying their Moday off work )
Progress has been a little slow this past week. But I redeemed myself today.
Todays efforts include, the digital camo on 2 Russes, and start of construction of my second infantry squad:
I've run out of Nuln oil, so progress on the LRs have stopped here (atleast untill tomorrow when I pick up more). Also, I've dropped 10 Kasrkin I had lying around into some fairy power spray. They'll get stripped and repainted over the next few days. And the metals have been painted on the Vulture (but still waiting on the wash...)
Today, I managed to finished the two Russes pictures above. Which is great, because two more Russes were delivered yesturday (praise the machine god!).
Also, I'm around 40% through painting the 10 guardsmen from the previous post, too. Hoping to finish them over the next few days. And as i'm typing this, I remembered i've left my Kasrkin stripping for the past 3 days. Awell, they're metal models, so they shouldn't melt or anything (atleast I hope not!). I got a box of heavy weapons teams sitting around somewhere too. So now I can stop proxying Autocannons and Lascannons
I'm fast realising that I dont actually want to continue with IG after I've got everything for the campaign. It sounds crazy but I want to go back to painting white xD So, with that in mind, I ordered the last 2 tanks I need from Forgeworld today - another Thunderbolt, and a Stygies VIII pattern Vanquisher (When I run a tank commander, I want an awesome looking tank commander ).
So, with my renewed enthuiasm for my White Scars, i'm looking to really push through my Guard.
Having a real goal to build to is no bad thing, and sometimes, having a small secondary army is quite refreshing while you focus on your other/s. My own Space Wolves are barely past around 1100 points, but they make a great plug-in allied detachment or a good force for smaller games.
Besides, there's nothing to stop you adding to them in future.
Looking forward to progress on the guard, and a return to the White Scars.
You are a tease, telling us you finished those two russes without giving us pictures.
And paint whatever makes you happy. But in the grim darkness of the future, there is only adding to your collection. You might think you are done with your guard, but they are not done with you...
I had a coursework deadline today, and like a typical idiot, I left it to the last week (despite it being issued back in october!!!). Anyway, now that I've submitted my final piece of coursework for this academic year, I thought I'd update this thread.
I think 2k points of Guardsmen is a good place to 'leave' them. It's enough to have a variety of stuff for allies, and enough to give me some decent set-ups for 1500 point games. It's also small enough to make me want to add something if I want a casual distraction.
Anyway, here are the pics of the finished Russes. (Hope you enjoyed the wait, Nev )
Also, in my last update with pictures (almost 2 weeks ago!), the guardsmen in those pictures are now done. I pushed the boat out a bit with the basing. Trying to give them a more urban-y feel. It's nothing massive, but it's quick to do and subtle so i'm happy enough with it.
Want to see what hobbying I did this week? (everything so far is from last week). I spent a grand total of 40 minutes building stuff just so I can play it in the FLGS.
My FW order showed up this week. I didn't know what this was at first. They've never sent me a catalogue of their stuff. It was a nice little booklet, I enjoyed flicking through the pages looking at everything (literally, everything they sell is in that book). Also a cool little pin badge. Not sure what I did to deserve it, but I think it's cool. Definately getting pinned to the strap on my bag And the actual content of the order: The first pic is the Stygies VIII pattern Vanquisher. According to the fluff in IA1:2e, Stygies VIII is the forgeworld that are renown for the best Vanquishers. So, I thought it was fitting I got this model to be my Tank Commander. I got the whole set, not the upgrade kit. It comes with the LR sprues and the upgrade sprue, so look out, pretty soon my tank commander will be making an appearance. Also pictured is my second Thunderbolt.
In the process of writing this, I think I'm halfway through my IG project. I have completed 6 tanks, and 25 infantry. All I got left is 10 guardsmen, 3 HWTs and another 6 tanks. Woo, go me, half way!
I did manage to sneak out to the FLGS this week. Our campaign stepped up to 1500 points, and I found that I'm a little light on solid AT. I have 2 LR Exterminators and 2 LRBTs, which I thought would do it, but apparently not. The only thing my squadron of 2 LRBTs killed was a single guardsmen (ONE OF MINE!) all game, darn scatter, lol. Also played the Thunderbolt. It was a little underwhelming, but then again that could be because it came in on T4 of a 5 turn game, lol... It wasn't the best game I'd played, the dice were definately against me.
This weekend will be pretty easy going for me. Hoping to get those Kasrkin out of the chemical bath they've been taking for almost 2 weeks. Also hoping to put together the HWTs and 2 of the remaining 3 LRs.
I dont know if you noticed, but I gave myself an Avatar... About time.
Looking sharp! I like how the tanks came together. I personally might have shaded the guns a little more towards black, but what you have looks more applicable for someone doing real camo.
I like the bricks and wire on the bases. Captures the urban theme quite well. How did you do the sandbags?
Tanks loom great mate and the gaurdsmen nice snd crisp. I would do something with the eyes tho as they seem zombie like at the moment. Maybe a curved line of flesh tone above each dot for eyelids?
All in all a good update mate. Looking forward to you getting back to the brotherhood...
Thanks for your comments everyone. Nev, the sand bags are from secret weapon miniatures. I got 50 sandbags, razor wire and wire mesh from them.
So, I spent a good amount of time this weekend doing various hobby stuff. Saturday saw me build two of the russes. One was half built in the previous update, the other was still on sprue. Also I managed to put together the HWTs. I primed the LRs and HWTs on Sunday. Also, I managed to put down a base layer on the Thunderbolt. Same pattern as the Vulture. (Unfortunately, no pictures of this yet) Today, I was going to do the camo on the LRs, but after yesterday's long airbrush session, I couldn't bring myself to do that. So, instead I settled for the Vulture. Which is now FINISHED! (Well, wanting a matt vanish, but that's tomorrow's problem...)
It's amazing what some pannel lines and paint scratching does for a paint job. And that nose art... I'm glad you encouraged me to do it. Whilst 'perfect' doesn't come to mind, it does look awesome Painting the teeth wasn't particularly hard. The hardest part was painting the shape of the mouth, and getting it symmetrical. I painted the shape in grey (GW Celestra Grey base colour). I gave it 3 layers for a nice solid cover, then used black to mark out the teeth and fill the gap. I did the tongue in red, 3 layers because the red I was using was particularly weak. I then went in with black to touch up the lines, then white to touch up the teeth. Painting all those tribal markings on the Scars definately helped
I might try and base the Karskin today, too. But that's for another update...
Love the nose art, very well done. Adds a lot of character to the flyer. I don’t know if it’s something you want to do now, or latter as you actually tally them up, but it’s be fun to get some kill markings below the cockpit. The kind of pilot that paints a shark mouth on his fighter is probably the same kind of guy who tracks how many dakkajets or battlewagons he blows up.
The tail boom could also use something. I’m not sure if you plan on doing the colored stipe to designate squadrons, but that could fit. Or just an aquila or unit numbers stenciled in. Something to help break up the grey at the back of the model. Obviously, it’s a very front heavy mini, so I think it could use a little something to help balance it.
lol, awesome. I'm going to have to resist the urge to yell this when I throw 20 dice for the punisher cannons.
The nose art got a bit of attention at the LSG this past Tuesday And I'm going to keep count of everything I kill with it, for the sake of kill markings (which i'll add at the end of the campaign). So far, it's killed 3 raptors and a pimped out Chaos Lord.
It's been almost 2 weeks since I gave an update, and I've got nothing for you :(
I'm right in the middle of my exams, and whilst I am drifting over do some painting between studying, it's only really for the mental break and I'm not really making any progress.
I'm (very slowly) working on the HWTs, and putting the Kasrkin on bases ready for priming.
So, the new rule book it out for preorders...
Excited? YES! I'm (very tactically) going to pre-order it after Wednesday. That way, it gets shipped on Monday, and arrives after my final exam. That's one less distraction to fight! I love the fact that they are in 3 smaller books. The main problem with the massive BRB was that it was, well, massive. Having the BRB that is roughly the same size as C:SM is a lot more manageable.
I watched the video for the big £200 limited ed box. That thing looks awesome, I was drooling all over the place But, after some careful consideration, £200 is better spent elsewhere... lol.
Not much from me, but there will definately be more soon (in a week or so?)
Z
Look good. Two out of three of those HWTs need to go back to basic and learn how to entrench properly. Those sandbags are not high enough to stop fire.
Probably explains all the screaming. Are there only two heads with the HWTs? Cool guy with the shades down and screamer?
First pic spotter: Save your ammo, I got this <toss grenade>
LC spotter: HOLY <bleep> Shoot it! Shoot it NOW And that last AC gunner looks like he’s just going to hold the trigger down, spraying bullets everywhere until he runs out of ammo. Then the spotter is going to have to come over and pry his hands off the grips. That guy has lost it.
It's a great looking piece. The length of the barrel is so intimidating... You can also see my Kasrkin lined up in the back, getting the treatment. I've done their bases and almost finished their cloth. Still a bit to go. They have lots of hard armour, so thats going to be a tough slog to batch paint...
Anyway... The rule book is out Mine arrived this morning at 9am, on the dot. The 3 books are great. The pictures across the board are pretty awesome (It's a shame most of the White Scar's pictures I noticed were recycled from the codex :( ). But anyway, I've started reading the rules. I'm up to the assault phase, which will get read tonight. So far, the psychic phase really strikes me as awesome. It's a complete revamp, which in itself is refreshing. From my personal experiance, and what i've read, I dont think it'll be too devastating. I'm definately going to get myself a Libby. Biker libby with 2 rolls on biomancy... mmmm.... The Shooting phase changed a bit. You now have to shoot, and totally resolve all the shooting for each weapon in the squad one at a time, now. It struck me as an interesting change, and I guess we'll see the impact over the next few weeks.
This Tuesday, I'm going to try and get down to the LGS in the afternoon. To try and get multiple games it. I'm going to go with my Scars (yay, first outing for my scars in a long time!). And if I remember, I'll take along my camera, and get some mid-battle pictures of them running rings around the enemies of the imperium
What do you guys make of the new rules? Any new lists / tactics you want to try out as a result of the rules? Z
Vanq looks awesomely intimidating. That's a big gun...
Also, I somehow missed the HWTs, but I have to agree with Nev, the expressions are priceless and really characterful.
No idea on the new rules yet, I won't be buying the book for a while if at all (my group will stick with 6th for the foreseeable future) but while some changes seem to streamline and make some things more logical, I must admit I'm not a fan of the new psychic phase. I always liked how understated 'magic' was in 40k, 6th's increased focus on it was fine but a whole phase seems a little too fantasy-eque to me. As a mechanic I'm sure it's interesting, but m not a fan myself.
What are your thoughts on the jink changes? I do think it balances things slightly, you now have to choose between offence and defence but get better defence (with WS tactics you get 3+ cover). I can see it putting more focus on the first turn, so you can alpha strike hard and then go defensive for the next round when shot at.
Yeah, those facial expressions are amusing. Kind of restricted with only 2 head variants, but it worked
Jink has changed the ball game for White Scars armies. We're forced to think, and make decisions. Crucial decisions. For example, we have to decide to jink before they roll to hit, which is massive. When fliers in 6th, you'd see how many glances/pens got through before you made the jink saves, but now it's done way before that. So you really have to gamble on whether or not that plasma gun in the chaos marine squad will do some damage. Jinking only reduces us to snap shots, which is mitigated by twin linked bolters - well, saying that, it's not much, but it's something... But we're still able to charge, and we can still turbo boost after jinking, although, as far as I can tell, no +1 jink from turbo boosting. Overall, it's made us less survivable.
However, I think the game dynamic has changed. Being able to score objectives and VPs as the game progresses has changed my mental game plan. I dont want to take bike squads as the aggressive part of my army any more. I want to run a few bike squads, simply to dart around and score me those tactical objectives. Scout, combined with our potential movement distance and 3+ jink means we're able to get around better than most. And at the end of the day, it comes down to who has the most VPs.
Once my AM *cough* Imperial Guard *cough* are finished, I want to come back to the drawing board with White Scars. I'm thinking something along the lines of 4 min bike squads, 20 tactical marines in rhinos supported with some sort of drop pod assault. The idea being that the tactical marines spear head the assault into the enemy with Scout, then fight it out for what ever objective they have controlled with DPs coming down for support whilst my bikers run around picking up extra VPs from tactical objectives.
But anyway, that's just some thoughts and feelings after reading less than half the book, and not yet playing any games
I've been inspired by McManiak's 10 day nid challenge and the abundance of free time I have to really push out and finish my Imperial Guard by the end of the weekend. Here is what's hot off the table:
That's two out of three fliers done. My airforce is building up! In hind sight, I may have overdone it with the scratches... I also primed my Vanquisher today. Which means, I have 3 Leman Russes primed and waiting. 10 in progress Kasrkin and another Thunderbolt on sprue. Not too much to do
I played my first game of 7th yesturday. It was fun. The psychic phase was interesting. I had a level 2, and he had 3 level two psykers (he was playing IG, me playing my scars). We made a mistake in the psychic phase, we thought that it was total psycher levels + d6 for the person who's turn it is, and only d6 for the person who was dispelling. Not really sure how we made that mistake, but the psychic phase didn't have all that much of an impact on the game (his 3 psykers were in transports for the first few turns). I did, however, get really lucky and roll a 4 and 5 on Telepathy That is shrouded and invisibility. And invisibility is all kinds of awesome (for the person who has it...). Anyway, we rolled up on the mission and got Tactical Escalation. We didn't really experiance the random tactical objectives, we only got 3 turns in before called it, which ment that we didn't really have many objectives to complete. It was a win to the scars, so they stood up to IG pretty well, and I think they should do alright regardless of the Jink change. One thing final thought; Wyverns are crazy! I was facing 2 of them. 8 templates on turn 1, S4 with shred AND he got the tactical objective to kill characters. I took a boat load of wounds on turn 1, and had to look out sir them all off the sargent to deny him a VP. I took 3 casulties from them in turn 1. Then my DP melta arrived to kill them, and I rolled 2 2s, and 2 1s with the melta... I couldn't believe it
Nice air support, very natural weathering. The interior detailing is a nice touch too.
Interesting to hear about your 7th experiences. Wyverns are pretty damn nasty to be sure (but I'm still kinda sore about losing so many HS options).
The psychic phase seems to be an interesting one, it seems if you build an army around it it can be lethal (see the Demon Factory complaints elsewhere, it really is brutal) but other than that, has less of an impact. The powers seem on the whole to be harder to cast for most but more dangerous. Ld 10 psykers were passing much easier in 6th and had less chance to peril, now the only way to make it easier is to throw more dice, and hence more perils risk.
@Elnibbus: Thanks man Unfortunately my productivity rate is going to take a punch in the face... (see below) @Maniak: How'd your games go? @Paradigm: Thanks mate, I do like the interior details. It's a shame you got to get right up close to see them!
Anyway, when I said on wednesday that I'm going to push to finish the army by the weekend, I think I jinxed it... I finished the Karskin on wednesday (no pictures yet). Nothing on thursday. Cut my Thunderbolt out of the sprues yesturday, as well as getting the camo done on 2 of the russes. And today, I sat down to build the Thunderbolt, and realised I dont have the nose piece! I've looked around for it, but the more I look, the more I'm certain I never unpacked it, or cut it, or cleaned it. I've fired off an Email to FW, but at best, they'll send a new piece out on Monday (screwing over my plan to finish this weekend). And on the topic of losing stuff, I managed to lose a piece of track of the LR. It was only the small piece, and i've left the gap at the bottom of the track, where no one will notice. I'm not to bothered by that, even GW has pieces of track missing in their official pictures (Check pg 37 of A Galaxy of War in the rule book bundle, the right hand track piece of the White Scar's rhino is missing - No idea how I noticed that, but it's all I see now when I look at that page )
Anyway, here is a picture of the LRs. And seeing as I cant progress on the Thunderbolt, these'll probably get finished today...
You are really tallented! Thanks for posting I enjoyed looking through this thread again, nice to see the most recent work!
By the way, did you know that military pilots only used to wear white helmets in peace time? Now days, and in war the helmets are subdued in OD greens, or other colors that don't stand out.
Russes are looking good, bad luck losing the pieces. I'd say the missing track could be fixed by bunging some rubble in there, or mud or other debris, as if something's got jammed in the tracks but the Russ lumbers on. Or you could just leave it blank and hope no one looks too closely...
I've heard FW are pretty good at replacing stuff, so hopefully it'll arrive soon.
Kelly502 wrote:You are really tallented! [...] By the way, did you know that military pilots only used to wear white helmets in peace time? Now days, and in war the helmets are subdued in OD greens, or other colors that don't stand out.
Thank you I didn't know about the helmet colours...
Paradigm wrote:Russes are looking good, bad luck losing the pieces. I'd say the missing track could be fixed by bunging some rubble in there, or mud or other debris, as if something's got jammed in the tracks but the Russ lumbers on. Or you could just leave it blank and hope no one looks too closely...
I've heard FW are pretty good at replacing stuff, so hopefully it'll arrive soon.
Yeah, It was only one of the smallest pieces. I've left a gap that is more or less under the tank, and no one will notices unless they pick it up and look. I got an Email from FW yesturday. They wanted me to confirm my delivery address. So hopefully the piece will arrive over the next day or two.
So, the plan to finish by the end of the weekend fell to pieces. In addition to losing a Thunderbolt piece, I ran out of Nuln Oil... But, I'm all done now! Here are the 3 Leman Russes.
All that's left is the Thunderbolt. I'm looking at my army deployed on the shelf, and it looks really impressive! 4 chimeras, 5 leman russes, 2 fliers and a smattering of infantry... Not bad for a few months of work!
Nice looking group of tanks there. I chuckled at the vanquisher selfy. It looks like it set the camera on the end of it’s barrel to snap a pic for some armor-based social media page.
Also, you don’t get to say things like “I'm looking at my army deployed on the shelf, and it looks really impressive!” without snapping a picture.
Have you thought of adding extra stowage and kit to the tanks? You have a very realistic style of paint job, so one would assume other realistic things. Like spare ammo cans, rolled up tarps, etc. I’ll just assume that the company commissar is a real hard case about keeping the tanks detritus free.
Also, you don’t get to say things like “I'm looking at my army deployed on the shelf, and it looks really impressive!” without snapping a picture.
Yeah, group shot, pronto!
Nice work on the tanks, and I second the idea of adding some stowage and kit if you have time, it really does add character to them. So when the Tbolt is done, are you going back to the Scars, or something completely new?
Also, you don’t get to say things like “I'm looking at my army deployed on the shelf, and it looks really impressive!” without snapping a picture.
Yeah, group shot, pronto!
Nice work on the tanks, and I second the idea of adding some stowage and kit if you have time, it really does add character to them. So when the Tbolt is done, are you going back to the Scars, or something completely new?
Hmm... Just thinking now, my stuff is all packed up in my case (just back from the LGS), I think I'll hold off on the group shot untill the Tbolt is done. (sorry guys, dont meant to leave you in the lurch!) And para, I've got a boat load of Scars stuff left. Straight back to them, once the Tbolt is done, of course
Elnibbus wrote:Boom! Nice one Zambro.
Thanks matey
I played Daemons at the LGS today. My opponent was trying out a summoning list, but ridiculously forgot to roll on the summoning table Anyway, it was a good game. We were playing tactical escalation. I was wining it, right up until T7 when he went 'hulk smash' with his two remaining soul grinders, lol. I applaud him for pulling the victory from the jaws of defeat. I was rather pleased with myself, I managed to kill 30 scouting Khorne dogs in two shooting phases, took half of Belakor's wounds off in overwatch (he also failed the charge) then proceeded to kill him despite his invisibility and get a crazy shot onto the portal glyph from across the whole table to destroy it in a turn!
Sounds like a good game. Even without summoning, how was a mass-psychic list to face, especially in a list with no psychic defence? Did the Psykers become a greater priority target or was it more business as usual?
@Rhich: Thanks man All done with the camo now... @Para: I didn't have a problem with facing mass psykers. I kept hold of my d6 psychic dice, and only threw them to deny when absolutely necessary. For example, I dropped my Vulture into hover mode and he cast some powerful tzeentch anti-tank spell, so I threw the dice I had at it. For the rest, I just let him have it. What ever he buffed, I just ignored it and hamstringed the rest of his army.
So, here is it. My COMPLETE army
I've got that feeling of satisfaction that you get when you finally complete an army I also made a showcase thread, so people who dont follow this blog can take a look. Look here.
And, you know what's coming next...?
Spoiler:
That's right! Back to the White Scars! This is a Master of the Chapter I completed whilst waiting for the Thunderbolt's nose to show up. I rushed the picture, which totally removes the detail on his face. I think it's one of the better (best?) faces I've painted. I'll re-do the picture soon.
I noticed scrolls on the side of some tanks, have you named them all? Or numbered them? How do guard players tell their tanks apart? Particuarly well camoflaged ones?
Do you have plans for the flying stands? Or a display board?
@Nev: No plans for a display board. I think it's too big a project both in terms of physical size and work load for me to want to do.
I've been getting my teeth back into my Scars. I must say, they're a welcome change to tanks I'm almost finished on the Vanguard vets. I like the vanguard vets in theory, but their point costs can get ridiculous. I've kept them modest with 2 with a pair of claws and the sargent with a power sword. They come in at 185 points and have suitable melee power to do a decent enough job.
I'll post a finished pic of them, and some of the other WiP stuff I have going on, soon.
I'm pushing ahead with the remaining few bikes. I'm close to finishing the final vet for my Command Squad (remember, I only painted 4 vets - I had to draft a regular guy for the last vet) and I'm in progress on an Attack Bike. Pics of them when they're finished.
It's hard to go back to painting these. I've forgotten my routine :( I had a very efficient way of painting each stage on a group of minis, with a refined process for the right balance of speed and quality. But I've totally forgotten the order in which I paint things, and how to 'speed up' the process... It's a bit of a downer, but I'll get back into it.
Here are the Vangaurd Vets that I've finished
I've also built my Storm Raven! That thing is BIG.
As you can see, I've primed and painted some areas already. The top turret, is detachable. As are the guns on the turret and the top part of the turret is removeable so I can paint the servitor inside and attach the canopy before I glue it down. Also the red piece over the main cockpit isn't glued down yet. I can take it off, paint the tech marine and glue the canopy then place the red piece back. I'n hindsight, I'm not really sure why I didn't just prime the whole thing in one... lol. The air intake on the top and the wings aren't glued down. They actually sit snugly without sagging, so I'll be leaving them unattached for the sake of transport/storage.
If you have a complicated system, it might be worth writing down how you do things. That way if you need to go back and fix stuff, or add more to your army down the road, you’ll know how. You could even do it here in this blog, so others can replicate what you’ve done. You might want to go back and notate your guard while it’s still fresh in your mind.
Your golds are very warm and vibrant. How do you do them?
I hear what you are saying about the VV on the table. I need to finish painting mine so I can field them. Did you magnetize yours at all? It’s one kit that screamed out for it to me. What you have pictured there should butcher marines very well, but might have problems with other things. Although with the LCs you should do well against slightly tougher 3+ save models, like other bike lists.
Good stuff, and nice to see the boys in white again. It may be taking a little longer, but that's always the case when coming back to an old scheme. Nev's advice is solid, too, of making a step-by-step and filing it for reference.
@Nev: Good shout on writing the scheme down. I did it for my Guard scheme, and will do it for my Scars once remember exactly what it was. I didn't magnetise them, unfortunately. As for the gold, it's super simple. Over primer, go with Beasty Brown, then Glorious Gold (both VGC) then Agrax Earthshade. With the wash, instead of loading up the brush and slapping wash all over the place, wipe most of the wash off and use a tiny amount to cover the gold, dragging any pools to where they are needed.
@Para: Thanks mate It took me 2 days to do 2 bikes + riders from primed to painted. I used to be able to do 3 in a day, primed to painted... Quite a substantial speed change. I have 3 side cars and 2 bikes left, I'm going to do them all at the same time, hopefully that'll pick up the pace.
McManiak wrote: Good work mate. Glad to have someone doing scars whilst im doing smurfs lol...
Thanks mate I've been keeping an eye on your Ultras, they're coming along nicely.
So, I've almost finished the bikes: That is the last of them, waiting on their bases. The PVA glue is drying as I type. Tomorrow, I'll likely sit down for a good airbrush session, and varnish the bikes, paint the bases and prime/paint the rest of the SR.
The SR and LR are getting worked on slowly. They're too big for me to want to sit down and work on them, but I'm doing a little bit here and there.
I'm starting to work on something else, too. It's not IG or WS related. Feel free to take some guesses, I wont be spoiling the supprise until I have a finished unit or model
As for the TOP SECRET project, I'm pretty sure you mentioned it in another blog a while back that I re-read the other day, and I recall thinking that it might just be a bit awesome. At a guess, bronze and red? Or am I barking entirely up the wrong tree?
I like the vet. Pointing finger say “Lets kill that one next” to me. I can picture him racing across the warzone, picking off targets with his squad, whittling down the opposing army.
I noticed you only drilled the barrels on one of the MMs. Intentional, experiment, or oversight? I’m not one of the people always telling people to drill theirs, but it’s odd that you did some but not all.
One of the problems I have with attack bikes (and the normal bike kit in parts) is that "what is trim?” question. For example, the foot guard in from of the sidecar gunner has the same texture as the other trim on the bike. But lacks any side detail to tell you where the trim stops and the bike starts. I notice you left yours white. I painted mine (but had to keep a steady hand to keep the thickness right). Not that one or the other is right/wrong, just different interpretations on the same model.
I noticed you only drilled the barrels on one of the MMs. Intentional, experiment, or oversight?
Oops, it was an oversight.
I missed two MMs and 2 bolter barrels. I'll get them next time the drill bit is out.
I totally understand what you mean about the trim. Some bits are really unclear as to whether or not they should be painted in the trim colour. Back in the beginning, I decided what was trim and not. I just went with any raised areas on the edge of white pannels. I try and carry that through anything I paint. Which is hard, because the SR I have now doesn't really have anything that strikes me as 'trim'. I think I'm going paint the cases that contain the engine thrusters red. That is all I can see being trim on it.
@Para: Good memory. You're refering to Sas0mg's Minotaurs blog, for those who have no idea what we're talking about. I did think long and hard about a Minotaurs army. But it came down to the fact that it isn't a new army. It'll still be Codex: Space Marines. And considering that I already have bikes for C:SM, I couldn't bring myself to trade bikes for tactical marines.
@Maniak: I can neither confirm, nor deny your guesses
I have quite a few items in the post, coming to me. And I'm going to pick up the models and paints I need from the gaming store today. Should have a concept model done by the end of the week.
Z
Ah, a shame you're not doing the minotaurs, they're an awesome Chapter. Still, I see what you mean about not wanting 2 armies from the same codex (looks at shelf. Has 3 Codex SM armies...)
I may have jumped the gun, and done them in a day... I really enjoyed painting these!
No riders yet, I'm waiting on bits which are being shipped from Poland (I think? - somewhere in Europe).
So, what do you think?
Personally, I'm not sold. They haven't come out as I pictured them in my mind. The contrast between the Hex pattern and the main colour isn't high enough, imo. So much so, I had a really hard time taking a picture of it not to mention it just looks like the main purple from anything more than 3' away... What should I do? I dont think I can make the hex pattern brighter, without risking it becoming pink. And If I make the main colour darker, it'll be more blue than purple.
None of the parts are glued together. So I can pop them off, strip them and go again. Which I will be doing. I layered from the first purple to the brightest over 6 layers. I think this was my mistake as the fade is too gradual, there is too much 'middle zone'. When I re-do them, I'll try again to get to the brightest purple quicker.
Just had a thought, what if all the hex pattern was the brightest purple? It would definately make it easier to see...
Also, one big PITA for me is there is no purple airbrush paints! I have to thin my VGC, and mix it in the airbrush cup. Really tedious, imo, if anyone knows where I can find pre-thinned airbrush colours in purple, please tell me!
Alternatively, I can run and hide away from purple and do a different colour...
At some point, I'm going to post these in the P&M thread. Hopefully, between you guys here, and there, I should have some solid feedback.
Z
Sorry about that, had to be done It's a little rich considering all I've painted in the last week is a Chaos Marine and a Farseer...
I see what you mean about the hex pattern, Personally, if I were going with that kind of scheme, I'd go for an indigo blue with the purple hexes, which keeps that same pattern but drops everything by a shade and reverses the colour. The lighter colour will stand out more, so I'd certainly use that for the hexes.
Should be interesting to see, at any rate. Oh, and the gems look great. I'm afraid I can't help on the paint finding front.
maybe use a different colour alonside the purple to contrast like a bright pink or something.
There is no purple (or pink for that matter) in model air but if you use 2 air colours and make a whole bottle in one of your empty (white most likely) bottles you should be ok for a while.
Hex looks neat but I really think the contrast needs to be more vibrant as I said above.
Nice! I can’t give you any flack for switching to Eldar, as in theory I should be devoting half of my blog to them...
What’s your motivation? Are you trying to match a specific craftworld? Why did you pick those shades and pattern? What color scheme are you planning for the riders?
It’s hard to tell from the lighting, but it looks like you have a pastel, lavender shade. It might just be the optical blending of the purple and pink. Looking at the second picture, the shadow on the one to the left darkens up nicely. A little less flowery. I think a nice rich indigo or royal purple might work better. More gems, less flowers.
@Para: lol. Thanks for the suggestion. Once they're stripped, i'll do one in a blue scheme, see how that pans out. Thanks for the compliment on the gems! There are so... so... many! I've never really painted gems in any sort of volume before. I learnt a few things as I was going, regarding the light positioning etc. I'm glad they're good enough to be complimented
@Maniak: Pink is a possibility, but I want to try and keep it in the realms of purple. I think SUPER FAST maybe a slight understatement...
@Nev: A year and 10+ pages of your blog, and you've not done a single Eldar update (IIRC)... I think your Ultras might be getting a little too much love(?), lol.
One thing I've learnt playing IG recently is that I love speed. Being hampered to 6" moves, I find, frustrating. I dont know if it's because I came into playing using Bikes, or if it's just something I naturally prefer, either way, I like it. I like that Eldar's entire firepower is mobile, unlike SM (bikes are, most support units aren't). I'm playing off this new found preferance for speed, and I'm aiming for mostly a mech army. Lots of mobile heavy support. Vypers, Falcons, Fire Prisms are a definate, going to try and dodge the stigma of lots of Wave Serpents by keeping them minimal, plus a few other units to fill the gaps.
As for the colour choices, I like purple. And every time I try to paint it, I never get it 'right' (the last thing I painted purple were a few high elves... didn't get it right...).
So, I posted the 'help' thread in the P&M section. Hopefully something helpful with come from it.
I'll get some chemicals to strip the bikes tomorrow. I'm going to re-paint one in the same scheme, with a refined technique. Another with indigo. What about the final one? Red/yellow could work..?
So, it turns out you can strip miniatures in fairy power spray in ~2 hours...
I've re-painted the front armour panel on the bikes - will do the other parts after I get back from the gym, and when my compressor cools down.
As you can see, I switched it up, and tried a few other schemes. And after seeing them, I dont think blue/purple is the way to go... Which is unfortunate, because I found the 'right' shade of purple I was trying for. It's very unhelpfully named 'Dark Blue' (VGC) . Anyway, I thought about a bumble-bee scheme (yellow lines, black main), but I dont have anything to try that on...
I like the red/yellow scheme. I borrowed the colour combos from the Sunblitz Brotherhood (Corsairs in IA11). It's very audacious, and I'm unsure if it will pan out well on an army-wide scale...
I like the black/red scheme, too. It's a little more subtle than the red/yellow, but with equally good contrast. I may re-do it and bring the red to orange, to make that fade more obvious.
A vote here for the black and red, it looks awesome! Second best is the blue. There's nothing wrong with the red and yellow, but I think as an army it might look a bit right. The red and black, on the other hand, has great contrast and also looks far more alien to me than the others, due to that contrast.
Despite saying I didn't like the blue/purple (blurple?) scheme, it's really grown on me. It looks exotic and alien, thus fitting Eldar perfectly. I'm not too sure on my painting of the guardians... Thoughts? The alternative torso/heads are from a company called Spellcrow.
That's it for now. I bought a Vyper from Ebay, it was super cheap (little less than £10, inc. shipping). It was still NoS. I've cut and cleaned it, and just waiting on some transparent green paint for the canopy, then I'll be makinging some progress on that.
Nice bikes mate but not sure about the guardians if im honest.
They look a little flat and not striking like eldar normally are. Maybe different contrasting colours would make them stand out more if you know what I mean. Nice paint work on the bike tho
The bikes look awesome, maybe even your best paintwork yet, but I second McManiak about the riders. I think they could really do with a more vibrant spot colour, or even just a lightening of the yellow, as right now, the helmets are the only alternative colour on them and it looks a little muted compared to the more vibrant blue.
Maybe doing the eye lenses in red might also be an option, again to prevent the helmets from getting lost.
I'm not sure about the rider, if I'm honest. The colours were a bit weird to paint with a regular brush, there was no smooth blends like you get with an airbrush. But overall, I'm warming up to them. I'm not really sure how I can improve/change it. Ideas? How would reversing the colour look? Yellow body/arms/legs and purple head? Could that work, or look ridiculous? I'll work on alternative guardian paint jobs on my next batch of bikes. If anything, the alternative painting can symbolise different squads.
Currently, I'm working on a Vyper:
It's right at the early stages. The Vyper might seem like an interesting choice of model, but it was cheap on Ebay, and I'll be running 4 if I stick to the list I'm shooting for. Anyway, it's kind of stalled at this stage. I'm waiting on some humbrol clear paint, so I can tint the canopy green. So far, it's taken 4 days longer than estimated, which is a little frustrating. Once it's tinted, I can glue it in place, and liquid mask the topside ready for it to be painted.
One more thing: I'll be at the LGS tomorrow, what should I pick up next? Seeing as I've already worked on small and medium skimmers, I'm leaning towards a full out grav tank. But which one? (I plan to use all of them, so there is no preferance).
Reversing the colours on the riders might work, but really, what's needed is more contrast. Reversing the colours or brightening the helmets would go a long way towards that.
I think it's the brightness of the blue that washes out the yellow a little, so just lightening that to a brighter (more white than brown) yellow would do it, I think.
A full-on tank would be pretty cool, so maybe a Fire Prism.
What is your overall army goal? Is this another built to a list army, or just collect and paint what looks cool, and worry about lists later? How competitive are you looking to be?
The Falcon is what got me into Eldar. Mechanically, it’s a little lackluster these days. Mostly due to how brokenly good Wave Serpents are. But I have a soft spot for grav armor, and it fills it. I like Fire Prisms as well, and they should be a little better on the table (according to my totally theoretical POV)
If you want your army to be on the more competitive side, get wave serpents. If you are already fielding Vipers, it might be worth picking up the battleforce.
Is FW an option? I have no idea what the rules are like, but those heavy grav tanks are very nice looking on the website. I drool a little bit every time I click over there.
Are you using the GW bit for the underslung ShurCan? I either need to pick some of those up myself or figure out how to kitbash the spares I have onto a bike mount.
@Para. Ok, I see where you're coming from. I'll see what I can do with brighter yellows. Should I also brighten the yellows on the guns, too? What do you think of changing the colours of the riders completely?
@Nev: Currently, I'm looking at this army to be a progressive thing. I've got a 2k list in mind, but that is mainly for me to get the models to allow me to play a game. The list itself is quite 'balanced', in the sence that I'm not spamming any one thing (except bikes, but I need troops...). I'm thinking about 2 Farseers, 15 bikes, 2 serpents, 2 falcons, a prism, 4 vypers, Warp Spiders & fire dragons. I think I touch quite a few units in this initial list, that once it's done I'll be half way to anything else. FW might be an option, just not right now. Those Shadow Spectres are sweet, and those Hornets... Who doesn't want a unit of 3 Hornets that can put out 12 S8, AP2 shots a turn! As for the ShurCan, I'm kitbashing my own. I basically take a ShurCan from the vehicle sprue, cut it down, drill a hole for the mount and whola. Next time one crosses my desk, I'll make a how-to on it.
And just so this isn't completly text:
My SR is getting a small amount of love between the Xenos. Currently, just finished the AssCan turret. Did a simple job on the servitor before I put the canopy in place. Main cockpit still in progress.
SR progress is looking good, and the internal detailing is great.
I think changing the colours on the riders might not be the best idea, I find Eldar look best when kept to a very 'simple' two-tone scheme, preferably with high contrast between the two. So I'd keep with the blue and yellow, and then use reds or greens for spot-colours. The idea of reversing the colours might be cool, though, so yellow riders with blue helmets and bikes.
Paradigm wrote: SR progress is looking good, and the internal detailing is great.
Thanks mate It's only a simple paint job on the guys inside, with the glare from the canopy and the fact you need to get right up close to see properly, I can get away with a rough TT job
Hex pattern on the Vyper done. I used the medium sized one, thinking it would scale up nicely... But as yet, I'm indecisive about whether or not it looks right. I think this size would be good on larger grav tanks, but maybe not on the Vypers... Thoughts? I really screwed up the canopy, too. I got black paint from airbrush over-spray on the underside. And that yellow tint is from a tin of Humbrol clear green paint. Not a clue as to why it's yellow and not green. I think I may have a dodgy tin, it's blotchy, ruined a brush and smells like buffalo ass (not that I'm an authority on the smell of buffalo ass). I'm not too torn up about it, seeing as yellow is part of the scheme anyway.
I played the new IG codex Tuesday night. Taurox's are supprisingly good. He had 4 of them, and with fast, and re-rolling DT tests, he was in my face with melta around turn 3. I lost by a point, and I think if I didn't brain fart so hard at the start, I could have pulled a win. I deployed first, and thought 'Well, his deployment is going to be spread out, so lets spread out too', which was totally slowed because he hadn't deployed yet and he ended up piling up on one side Anyway, I got myself a Grav tank, too. I got the only grav tank in the store - A fire prism!
I think that works on the Vyper in that size, and the yellow tint probably fits better than green anyway.
Were you playing Scars or IG against the IG? Tauroxes can get in your face very fast, the trick is to take advantage of their limited firing arc for the hull and side weapons to force him to expose weak armour, or to just get a flank/rear shot and glance them to death. (I think they're 10 side). I haven't faced them yet, but on paper they do seem very much a glass cannon, if you don't put them down fast they're going to hurt, but if you can concentrate fire the they'll die fast too.
Looking forward to the Prism, I've always loved the look of those tanks.
Looks great (and super-fast too). The yellow is certainly noticeably better now, it looks much more defined that the shade used on the jetbikes
Also, an idea that occured to me looking at the last pic: have you considered using a dark blue wash (Asurmen blue, or whatever the equivalent is now) on the riders of both this and the jetbikes? Given the detailing on the Eldar armour and what you said the other day about the blue being a bit duller when not airbrushed, a nice dark wash in the recesses would do a lot to make them a little sharper.
Vyper looks great mate but I'm still not convinced on the gunner. He seems to just be part of the same midel. Maybe reversing the colours would work, so yellow body etc. Nicec and neat tho but all the work in the vyper seems masked by the rider/-pilot not standing out
Been working on my Fire Prism recently. I worked out a way to magnetise the turret weapons so I can swap between a prism and a Nspinner. The Spinner is a bit of a dissapointment, rules wise, and even more so when you consider it's occupying a highly contested slot (Heavy Support). But I have the option of running it, which is better than not having the option.
As you can see, I have 2 magnets on the join between the weapon and the pivot thingy.
And the whole turret:
I'm enjoying painting the prism. It's relatively straight forward, and because it's not fully assembled, I can focus one piece, until it's finished, then the next etc. Really helps give you a sense of speed and completion.
Nice bit of magnetisation there, a rather clever way of doing it. Is the Prism getting the hex treatment as well, or is that just for the various types of Jetbikes?
Paradigm wrote: Is the Prism getting the hex treatment as well, or is that just for the various types of Jetbikes?
I was fully intending on doing the hex on the Prism. I painted the blue shades, and left the pattern for another time. A few days later when I came to doing the hex pattern, I realised the blue is actually really nice, so I kept it The hex works on the bikes because, imo, it's so dense. Add to that, the front pannels of the bikes are really deviod of detail; It just works. On the Vyper, I was a bit dissapointed, as the hex pattern didn't scale all that well, and it looks a bit silly. However! I really like the way the blue turned out on the prism, so I will probably do the tanks in this scheme, and for the jetbikes, keep the hex, just swap the blue and purple around.
And here it is, in all it's cerulean blue glory:
What an absolute joy to paint. It's a shame it's back-heavy. I have to weigh the front down with blu-tac to stop it tilting backwards and looking up to the sky. The top two pictures, looking down at the prism, I think the weapons blend in a little too much. Maybe hit them with yellow...? And definately fill the inside of the canopy with some kind of mask. Got overspray on the inside plastic again, and now the crew are almost completly obscure.
I made a swap shop thread a few days ago, trying to shift some old plastic and sell my IG army (I know, I know). Anyway, I got some interest in some daemons, and I went to my parent's house and rummaged around in the attic to get them. And what did I stumble on? A bag of Eldar boxes. It dawned on me that I had totally forgotten that I had collected Eldar way back in... '07, maybe. Anyway, it was before I quit and came back. In these boxes, were a whole host of things... Pictured above; 2 Vypers and a Falcon. Unpictures: 2 metal harlequins, 3 metal warlocks, metal farseer, metal avatar, metal autarch, metal fuegan and 3 shining spears that are half on sprue and half built. Only the falcon and the Vyper and one or two others are painted. I should be able to break them apart to strip and re-assemble.They're going to need some TLC, but it's definately worth it seeing as I dont have to buy it. Also going to built the SS as regular jetbikes. Not to mention, the afore mentioned daemon trade is netting me 10 DA and 6 FD. Also I won an Ebay bid for another (cheap) NoS Vyper... Looks like I have quite the influx of Eldar this week
I know, its a bit of a shame to part with the army, but such is the cycle of plastic addiction (buy, paint, sell). The fact that it's painted well in a 'difficult' scheme, is magnetised for all weapon options, has all of the spare bits and the IG/AM codex is really good helps with its re-sale value.
As for the eldar, definately getting some more colour on the weapons. I tried tinting the canopy for the vyper before, it didn't turn out well before so I skipped the crystals on the prism. I can use a different technique next time and see how that works out. I could also paint it. Really not sure how it would come out if I painted it. Would probably need to airbrush it for smooth blends
My extra eldar are doing ok, too. I've broken down the falcon and currently stripping it. Same with the vypers, except their black primer isn't coming off. I'll let it soak until tomorrow, but I may have to proceed without fully stripping the Vyper.
I checked the SS's over properly and a few parts for the riders are missing. Soon as I find replacements for them I can get them done and out the way.
It's been quite an unproductive week. I've only done the second Vyper, same scheme as the prism. I switched the blue and yellow around on the riders, I think it works
I took the Scars out to the FLGS last night. Made a debut with the VV and the SR. I ended up playing an Ultramarines Drop Pod army. I kept the VV in the SR, with a ST escorting it, and it didn't show up until turn 3(!) of a 4 turn game. Never the less, I bloodied the VV by skipping through most of my turn 4 just to get to combat - we had around 5 mins before the store closed and he was ahead by 13 points. Not only did the 500 points above not come on, but I forgot to drop my pod on turn 1, and rolled poorly for the bikes I held in reserves, too. I dont think they would have helped much, It was 10-0 (to him) at the end of game turn 1 - we were playing the last maelstrom game and he got the warlord trait that gives an extra VP for control objective X. I almost came back a few times in terms of scrubbing the board, but got no where near with the VPs.
There is no Eldar on my painting desk at the minute. I'm moving house on Saturday, so I dont want to get into anything larger than one or two infantry models. But I did get the urge to paint yellow when I was doing the Vyper, so I dug around in my bits and come up with a marine who'll get a nice Imperial Fists paint job.
I am very intrigued about what material you use to cut out your stencils for the airbrushing? The pattern on the jet bikes and eldar fliers with the hexagons is so perfect and tight. What material are you cutting out of if you don't mind me asking?
Looks good, and the reversed colours do work better, I think.
10-0 after one turn sounds absolutely mental, you must have done a good job just hanging in there. Shame you were messed around by the reserve rolls, that can put a dent in the best plan.
Imperial Fists? Nice, looking forward to it, and with how you handle white, yellow shouldn't be an issue. Any plans for an army/detachment, or purely a display mini?
I am very intrigued about what material you use to cut out your stencils for the airbrushing? The pattern on the jet bikes and eldar fliers with the hexagons is so perfect and tight. What material are you cutting out of if you don't mind me asking?
Thanks a lot, fireangel I use a pre-cut stencil from Anarchy Models.
Paradigm wrote:Looks good, and the reversed colours do work better, I think.
10-0 after one turn sounds absolutely mental, you must have done a good job just hanging in there. Shame you were messed around by the reserve rolls, that can put a dent in the best plan.
Imperial Fists? Nice, looking forward to it, and with how you handle white, yellow shouldn't be an issue. Any plans for an army/detachment, or purely a display mini?
Lol, dont suggest an army/detachment... I want to keep going with the Eldar!
The 10 VPs were down to luck, if i'm honest. He got a whole bunch of secure objective X tactical cards on turn 1, combined with his warlord trait giving him +1 VP for each secure objective X AND his drop pods allowing him to go where ever... Not to mention the dual alpha-strike of Ultramarines w/ Marneus (use tactical doctrine twice - and with tactical marines all up in my grill on turn 1 and then again on 2). And he had 2 TFCs. I've never realised how infuriating they are to play against...
So, here he is, in all his muddy glory (zoomable in gallery):
Lots of fun to paint! A battle brother of Imperial Fists 5th Company. I think the black of the 5th company helps with the contrast, and makes it visually pleasing (the chest eagle is still red, but you cant see it in the pics...)
I was going to try and keep it clean, but after the wash over the yellow I realised it was too late. So I embraced the dirt!
I used Bebop's Chipping Tutorial (about half way down the page). It was very helpful, but I dont think I've mastered it yet...
It was also really weird to do the iconography at the start. Usually, decals and freehand are the last thing to happen on my Scars. This time, It was second (right after the wash). That way, I could chip on/over the markings.
I scrounged some more bits together and I've got another Marine waiting. I've got a few things I want to change around, and I'm going to seek feedback on the weathering, then I'll give him a crack.
Looks good, I like the depth of the yellow and the weathering. Maybe one more extreme highlight on the yellow, though, to really make it pop.
Haha, one marine is how it all starts... then another, to perfect the paintjob... and once you start down that road, there is no going back... before you know it, you're writing army lists and planning displays and then BAM, you've gone and bought an army!
You know that after all the flitting about with the swift but fragile Eldar, you are going to crave the solid persistence of the Imperial Fists. Work up a dev squad and HQ to ally in your lists. With tank hunter, they can form a solid AV firebase that will be the anvil upon which your swift hammers can crush your foes.
Very nice weathering by the way. IMHO it’s the way the ‘Fists should look. They’ve been to hell and back, and frankly don’t care. That one marine has taken more fire then it would take to down your entire Eldar army, and he’s still standing, ready to fill you full of bolter rounds.
I've got no updates for you. I've had to move house, and now I've got nowhere permenant to set up a paint station. So not much of anything is getting done. I lost interest in the second IF. Moving had a lot to do with that, but it's close to hand if I want to jump back into it. I also slowly started on some Fire Dragons. I mentioned previously, I traded a bunch of daemons for 6 FD and 10 DA. 4 FDs are being painted, the other 2 require stripping. It's slow going, one layer at a time, but they're making progress and most of the model is blocked in.
No more updates from me for at least the next week. Going camping on Friday, for 8 days. Good news is, it'll be my Birthday the week I get back And I'm pretty sure I've got some Eldar coming to me.
At the LGS last night, I found out that there is a GT heats (or something along those lines) at my LGS in September. Part of me wants to do it, part of me doesn't want to sell out and go crazy waac. Still trying to make a decision. And just a quick mention of my game... Scars against Tau. I rolled telepathy, trying for invis. Didn't get it, got 2 of the 'useless' powers, mental fortitude and terrify. My turn two, I thought 'why not', and ended up terrifying his commander+suits off the board edge
If instead of sleeping you paint all night, you can use the space your bed is in to fit a workstation. Plus get more time to paint! Is this a summer move thing, or long term? If it look to be for a while, you might want to pick up some sort of folding table/paintstation, and/or some sort of portable organization system for your paints and gear.
I went camping a lot when I was younger. Good times. I’m a little too accustomed to the soft life of civilization these days, but The Wife keeps making noises like she wants to go camping as a family. Luckily she’s not the best at planning, so keeps forgetting until the season is over.
I can’t offer much advice on the tournament thing. The local tournaments I play in are basically 3 normal games back to back where you keep track of who won. Not a lot of hyper competitive lists or WAAC guys. Back when I played M:tG I steered away from the competitive scene because it did have those elements, and that was a game I didn’t want to play. 40k might be like that as well. I’m not saying there aren’t great guys, but in my experience, tournaments bring out the worst in people. You know your local crew better then I do.
That said, your Scars list looked mean last time I glanced at it. You might need to tweak it for 7th, but I believe you can give a good showing in a competitive environment. Don’t let the threat of failure hold you back.
There are very few useless things in 40k. Just because you don’t have “The Best” does not mean you have nothing. Good for you for taking something sub-par and putting it to good use.
Camping is always good, hope this decent weather holds out for the duration.
As Nev says, it's perfectly possible to play a good list without being WAAC (WAAC is usually the player, not the army). Scars are a naturally decent SM build, and I'm sure you could put up a good showing with the list you have and a few tweaks.
Ive wanted to do eldar multiple times, my biggest problem with it has always been staying true to eldar, for me they are missing that something that always has me looking out for other directions.
Love the marines, I'm yet to actually ever try painting yellow myself xD
@Nev & Para: Thanks guys, your comments are always welcome I've decided I'm not going to do the GT heats. I'm just not feeling it. They're in 3 weeks time, so I have time to change my mind - but as it stands, it's a no. @Mars: Thanks mate, the prism was a joy to paint. The GJB head and torso are from Spellcrow. I like them more than the standard GJB heads. I checked out your scratch building blog, and it's crazy good! How did you get so good? @Sasa0mg: Yellow is a tough one. As tough as white, imo. Airbrushing it helps... I've not seen anything on your Minotaurs blog recently. You still chugging away on them? @Meph: The whole blog in one go? How long did that take? Any favourites? I took a peak into your BA blog... It's full of awesome. That extended SR is pretty cool.
I hoped everyone's summer was great. Mine was generally good. Unfortunately I didn't get much warhammer time. But now, I'm back living near my University and have a few weeks to kill before I start again - AKA hobby time! So, I picked up the brush properly for the first time in two months, and got to work on the Eldar I've started to stockpile over the summer.
Here is the past two days worth of hobby-time:
I've got Jetbikes and a Falcon NiB ready - they joined my ranks over the summer. I'll be making a start on these over the next few days. Unfortunately, I cant get too far ahead, as I lost my 1mm drill bits(!), I'm going to do one more last look for them before I accept defeat and buy new ones.
That is the new Falcon complete. I'm working on the old Falcon. Reconditioning it is a bit of a paint in the butt. However, it should look alright when it's painted...
I went to the LGS to get some drill bits and more wash, and impulse brought a box of jetbikes. That puts me up to 2 boxes of jetbikes sitting around waiting for attention. They're next after the Falcon.
The pulse laser seems that it could use a little something. The scatter has the blue armor plate, and it looks like something on the pulse is shaped the same, but is not blue. It’s been a while since I looked closely at one, but is that something that needs a spot of color? Also, visible flash line on the underslung targeting thing.
How many points painted does this bring you up to? Enough for a game?
Nev, I missed the bit on the Pulse Laser by mistake It should be blue like the bit on the scatter laser... But with this Falcon I just completed, I decided to leave both pieces yellow. I was just trying to get a little bit more yellow on the model, to see how it looked. As for how many points I have, exactly 1148 points of the 2000 points I'm trying to build. Sure, I could play a 1k point game. But I dont have any HQs right now :(
Anyway, here is today's offering:
This is the Falcon I was reconditioning. It turned out a lot nicer than I had expected. There are some rough patches on the paintwork where the underlying paint didn't strip away and the paint is layered higher than the paint around it. Fortunately, it isn't noticeable until you pick it up and examine it. The canopies had to be black, too. The cockpits were glued in, and I couldn't remove them or strip them. I decided to just ignore them and go with black. Overall, I'm happy with it.
The 6 jetbikes are working their way over the desk. Should see them around friday/weekend...
I've placed an order for a Wave Serpent and another 6 jetbikes. Hopefully that will arrive towards the end of the week. I'm also inquiring about getting some Farseers from Ghost Miniatures. I've fired off an email placing an order, but not heard anything in return yet... That just leaves me to source 10 Warp Spiders and I'll have my army! I dont partucularly want to buy the Finecast ones. I've be quite happy with the old metal ones (easier to strip, probably cheaper, chance they are already painted...). I'm asking around at my LGS, and keeping an eye on Ebay.
One other thing that caught my attention at the LGS recently was Vallejo Game Air paint. I have, and use, Vallejo Game Colour, and suppliment it with Model Air for the airbrush. Apparently, Vallejo Game Air is airbrush paints that are the direct equivelent of VGC. I think they are fairly new, seeing as I've never heard of it before. Anyway, I got a blue and a yellow - saves me thinning VGC in my airbrush (which is always a PITA).
The flat black on the canopies seems a little bit off. It might look better with a tint, or at least a high-gloss finish on it. More like glass. Other then that, looks fine.
I hear you about the warp spiders. I’ve got 4 of the old metal ones (3 and an exarch) Not enough for a squad, and I don’t really want to grab the finecast ones. Hopefully by the time I get around to them, I can fill the squad out with plastics.
I don't mind the black canopy. Why did you paint over them? I see you painted the little dudes inside.
FWIW, I have 10 Spiders - 5 metal and 5 FC, I'm trying to sell (albeit halfheartedly). I'm in the US, but if you're interested I can check on shipping.
Mars, The guys inside were painted terribly by me several years ago, and I was unable to strip them. So I had to either show terrible work or paint the canopies black. The black was the better option, imo. And like para said, the black looks good with the cartoony yellow and blue.
I like it. I've been torn with my own vehicles. I have 2 Wave Serpents with clear canopies and 2 that have been primed. I also have War Walkers that will have canopies as well. I'd like there to be uniformity in how I do it (I'd have to carve off the primed ones and replace them), but all my Eldar wear helmets so the bare-headed pilots are another conundrum.
The 6 jetbikes are working their way over the desk. Should see them around friday/weekend...
...Yeah, so I messed that up...
Here they are, finished:
I changed the purple/blue to two shades of blue to fit better with the scheme. I'm using the way I paint the gems on the front of the bikes as a way of distinguishing which unit they are in, so the red are in one unit and green are in the other. That should help keep track of them on the TT when there will be ~15 of them zipping around.
I have two vypers almost done. So more on them, soon.
Vyper aside, I have run out of Eldar models to paint (baring the DA+FD that I need to strip). I have 6 bikes and a WS coming from 'The Outpost'. I've never ordered with them before, but I'm hoping it arrives this week. Still trying to track down 10 spiders. I got my eye of a few ebay auctions, but if worse comes to the worse, I'm going to have to buy the finecast ones. Still heard nothing from Ghost Miniatures, so my Farseers are going to have to wait. Probably have around 60% of this army finished
Gems is a good way of keeping things separate. Can I get a pic of the underside of one of the canon bikes? I need to figure out how I’m going to mount them on my bikes, and IIRC from upthread, you kitbashed yours.
If you run out of filthy xenos Eldar you can always go back to painting White Scars… But the vipers and foot sloggers should last you a bit.
I'm curious, what do you use as airbrushing mask? A one-use semi-sticky foil, or a reusable stencil in a bendy material?
And... where did you but them? I've been keeping my eyes open but I haven't been fully convinced by sticky film, although that does eem the way to go, nor by any kickstarter stencil projects.
A year ago today, I started this blog. Can you believe it?
Well, after scanning back through this blog, I can honestly say that I've had an awesome year for the hobby. I've painted my on-going Scars army, and attented a tournament with them. I've painted and completed an Imperial Guard army. And I'm currently building an Eldar army. Now, that is a lot of stuff that I've done. I thought about trying to work out how much money I've put into the hobby in the past year, based on the things I've said/done in the blog. But I thought it best not to go down that road
But anyway, I want to thank you guys for sticking with me. Your comments are always welcome, and this blog would have drowned under all of the other awesome blogs on this forum if you didn't look in and comment. So: Thank you!
Anyway, some updates are due...
Here are the final two vypers. I had to wait for some magnets to arrive, but they are done now. They are relatively quick and painless to do, most of it is airbrushed. So I'm able to get around 50-60% of the model done in the airbrush phase (which is usually the first sitting). Not sure what will be next for the Eldar. Still waiting on bikes and a WS from The Outpost - going to have to investigate why it's been two weeks with no info...
With it being a year since I started this blog, I got the urge to contribute to my Scars again
It's not all that much, but I've started to block in some of the main colours. Unfortunately, it's too awkward to airbrush it, so I'm hand painting everything but the white. I got the main colours on the wings done; the engine blocks and the red on the tip. The silver on the landing gear is done, just waiting to get around to doing the red on the trim, which is currently painted black. I'll be happy once the black stuff is painted red, it'll be table top quality (3 main colours; white, red and silver). I wont be leaving it there, hopefully I'll be able to line it, add some freehand tribal markings, hit the smaller details and apply some decals. But one step at a time Nev, I wish you luck with your SR! I know you hand paint everything, so it's going to be a long process for you
And Nev, a pic just for you:
You asked me a few times for this, and here it is. Basically, take your SC and trim it shorter. Then drill a hole through from top to bottom, and use the pegs that are already on the model. It's really easy, and even better because you dont need to be tidy with it as no one will see it unless they turn the model over. I was going to fill the gaps that you can see, but once the glue dried, it's held solid. So I left it.
@Para: Well, I might find some Scars on my desk while I wait for more Eldar to arrive. I did buy something to paint for fun, but my desire to do it disappeared between me ordering it and it arriving Half of it has arrived now, and the other half is due in a week. Maybe my desire for it will resurface and you'll see it at some point in the future - I'm being intentionally vague, no spoilers!
@Buckero0 & Meph: The hex pattern is a premade stencil. I got it from Anarchy Models. They have some really nice stencils, and they are reusable which is a big thing for me. I've used one stencil on all 9 bikes I've done so far. That saves you burning through stencils like crazy.
That it from me... for now...
I'm off to the LGS tonight. If I remember to take my camera, I'll get some pictures of my Scars doing what they do best: winning
Wow, that’s been a productive year. Looking back at the pile of boxes in the first post, and realizing that you’ve done almost all of that, PLUS two other armies (albeit smaller ones) is a major accomplishment. And here I am trying to catch up to my 1-a-week goal before the year ends.
Thanks for the pic of the bike. I remember fiddling around with one, and couldn’t get the angle right. I was thinking I’d either have to carve away some of the bike canopy, or rig something to lower it. Didn’t think about lopping off part of the gun itself.
Here are the promised battle pics. Not great quality, imo. Have to work out how to take pictures in the LGS. I forgot I had the camera until turn 3, but here they are anyway:
In the final picture, Khan & co. charge Fateweaver. Fail to do anything, lose a guy and proceed to fall back Fateweaver!! *Shakes fist in the air* Anyway, great game with Rich's Daemons - Incredibly hard to beat up that block of Dogs... But it finished 10-9 to him, so overall pretty close.
It's been an interesting few weeks... Long story short, I'm on the Fantasy band wagon. A few guys in the LGS worked out an escalation series for Fantasy, starting this week and ending just before Xmas. We're doing 300 point intervals (600/900/1200) with a big, doubles game at the end, right before Xmas. The focus is being on building an army, and some rules have been set up to encourage us to build/paint. For example, every 3 weeks, we score extra points equal to the points of painted units we have. Also, we have agreed that painted units have the Hatred(Unpainted units) rule
As for my army, I'm going with Warriors of Chaos. I scored a nice deal with a dakka member, and bought his beautifully built (and unpainted) army. Hopefully, I'll be able to do it some justice with the painting. I'll be updating this blog with Warriors of Chaos for the forseeable future (untill something else shiny distracts me...). And the first picture, a Chaos Lord: (zoomable in the gallery)
I took this picture a few days ago, and I've already made some excellent progress. I've got plans all day tomorrow. If I'm lucky I can sneak an hour or two to work on him and get him finished.
Thanks for sticking with me through my unfocussed rambling through the hobby. I have finally seen the light, and it's very white...
This guy... He took a long time to finish. Having brought him in September 2013, I built him in June and only just finished painting him. Over a year... I'm happy with him, never the less. The white is a bit patchy in places, and I re-learnt that I should never put black wash on white models (...it's been a while...). I'm not sure if the patchy whiteness is due to him being painted white in june and from the subsequent handling prior to finish or if it's something wrong with my technique. I'll need some more vehicles to experiment to work out the best way With the completion of this SR, that leaves only the LR from the original haul uncomplete. Going to wait a while before I jump into that beast
I've also been thinking about an army-wide rebasing. Nothing is set in stone yet, I'm just looking at the possibilities. I picked up a small bottle of crackle paint, and tried out a desert base: It doesn't look convincing, imo. I've got smaller grit, so I'll experiment with that over the next few weeks and see where I get. I'm also going to try a black base. Should provide a nice contrast to the white. That's also in the works.
I previewed some of my Warriors of Chaos in my last post, I'm going to stick with them, but will probably start another blog for them. I'm also in the process of reducing my models down to only these two armies. imo, two armies is a more managable collection.
I want to tell you what to expect next, but seeing as I haven't decided yet, we'll just have to wait. Z
I like the Raven. Nice lightning bolts. White looks fine from here.
The crackle bases are on the understated side. But then, on the scale of a miniature, they should be. A little rock and scrub added to it should be all you need. We aren’t talking about guys standing on islands of rock in a lava field here, just some parched earth.
I saw your post in the swap shop about your Eldar. I can understand the need to sell and move on to the next project, but it’s a shame to see them go.
What's the crackle paint you're using? I actually really like it, especially on the larger round bases! I'm thinking about doing some Necrons in the eventual future, some nice understated desert would look great
@Nev: I've found that patchyness in white doesn't really come through in pictures that well. It's good from a TT distance, but it's the kind of model that'll get people looking up close and spotting some of the mistakes. I'll just have to do better on the next one @Boss Salvage: I'm using Distress crackle paint. Quite cheap and comes in at just under £5 for a decent amount. Has a brush applicator on the lid, too, so you dont need to sacrifice a large brush. (Some advice below...) @Para: Thanks matey! I'm still experimenting with the crackle stuff. Might put a few bits on the base next time and see how the paint cracks around bits.
It is sad to see the Eldar go. Kind of like the IG all over again. Just needed a distraction that allowed me to flex the painting muscles. But now that I've run out of steam with them, it's time the get some money back for other things.
Just a little heads up for using crackle paint: This is what happens when you dont paint / varnish the base before applying the crackle paint to it (totally forgot to do the prep step). The stuff doesn't stick. At all. I didn't even try to brake the crackle effect off, it just flakes off. The other bases were primed with a mix of either black primer, or matt varnish and they are fine. TBH, I didn't realise how easily the paint would break off if there wasn't a primer underneath it. That'll teach me for absent mindedly doing new techniques! Does this sort of thing happen with GW's cracked earth base paint?
Will have the aforementioned supply drop on saturday Z
Funny enough, I think that large base where the paint has come off looks pretty cool, especially if you were to fill the non-painted area with shrubs or water/ooze. Hit that with some varnish and you could be on to something.
That should say it all. This is my first major supply drop since I started collecting - the first of many (hopefully). I've always liked dreadnoughts, they epitomise 40k. The fact that White Scars dont run dreadnoughts is neither here nor there. I feel less guilty for doing a White Scars dread seeing as GW did one in one of their White Dwarf issues And the sternguard are there to bolster my existing SG to 10 men. I've always wondered what 10 special ammo sternguard could do, so I got them a Rhino (which will be a lot more flexible with scout).
That's all for now. I'll get you a WiP update soon Z
For the return to the Imperial fold, we will forgive the fluff-butchery of the White Scars dreadnought. Well, mostly; expect a little light mocking and disappointed glances.
Still, good to see more Scars working their way across your table.
Why the rhino and not drop pods? Both the sternguard and the ironclad love the orbital drop action. And I’m sure you could find something to put in a third pod for the optimal hybrid drop number.
With sternguard combis up to 10 ppm, I think the days of front loaded alpha strikes are behind us. I use them primarily with the special ammo, and love them like that. Although I am a big fan of the HF. So many things need a good burning. 10 men is so much more efficient then 5. Bolters, even with special ammo, need mass to work.
Nev, I agree that the both like the DP action, but I want to see how Rhinos can be utilised with scout. Maybe I can get more milage out of them and not expect them to die as soon as I've jumped out of the DP. I'm going to put magnets in their wrists, so I can choose between the combi-weapons and regular bolters.
Here is the past few days worth of work: That is everything on my desk ATM. Dreadnought is getting some work, starting low (base, feet, legs) and working up. Got one or two more details on the legs before I move onto the torso. Rhino/Razorback is primed and based, awaiting some attention. Still thinking over how I'm going to come at the Rhino. And I've got some of my Warriors of Chaos on the table. 3 Regular Warriors and a Dragon Ogre. Really like having several things on the go at once. It stops the work getting repetitive or boring.
I really out-did myself with the dread construction: Arms aren't magnetised, because they sit on the pins tightly. The rest are magnetised. Lots of options I considered building up and painting the other arms, but saw it as a waste of time as I cant ever see me using the Hurricain bolters (They are in the bits box if I do change my mind...).
I tried the HB arm on my ironclad once. Had him anchoring a flank and walking up the table vs. nids. I sometimes use a AsC/PF(SB) dread for that role. The hurricane ironclad shot worse, but was tougher and better in terrain. About the same offensively in CC. Got tarpitted a bit, so the lack of the extra attack hurt. It wasn’t useless, but not something I’m planning on doing again.
The hammer vs. the chainfist I always viewed as a wash.
Been a bit slow on the Scar's front, recently. Combination of working out a scheme for my dragon ogres, other assorted Warriors of Chaos, and university/real life.
Here is a pic of my Dread, and sternguard.
The bolters aren't glued in on the vets (for painting purposes).
Going to put some time into painting this afternoon, as soon as I eat and stop my finger from bleeding... Thinking about doing the finishing touches on a batch of warriors and the dread. And depending on how long that takes, might even crank out the airbrush to prime / paint those vets.
If your fingers are bleeding, go work on your chaos.
Did you start another blog for them? Do we get to see them here, or need to sift through the P&M forums for your work?
Sternguard look good. You build them straight, or cut them with spare bits? I found the box too ornate to fit in with my old ones. If you are starting from scratch, that wouldn’t be a problem though. They still feel more captain/honor guard then “regular” veterans to me. Beautiful kit though.
Slowly pushing to finish the Scars. I came up with a to-do list containing everything needed to finish them off:
Varnish Ironclad Dreadnought then apply flock (I had my airbrush out yesterday, but forgot to do the ICD! )
Finish painting Rhino
Sternguard need a paintjob (bare plastic, currently)
Base the stormraven - I've been using the bases for the stormtalons up until this point...
and, finish painting the Land Raider
Here is the SR's base, in progress. Might get the airbrush out again today to paint it (and do the ICD - I will not forget again! )
And the Rhino: I was a little too white, so I broke it up with some decals, then airbrushed some brown on for the dirt. Going to have to go over it with a wash to darken it up around the bottom. Also need to tidy up the actual paintjob, before I get carried away with the finishing touches. Still a WiP.
Hi Dakka, today we have reached an important milestone. And that milestone is a complete army!!
15 months on from starting the project, I have everything finished.
I decided to get the army out, in force, and get some showcase pictures of each unit.
Enjoy
That's me done until after Christmas.
But stay tuned, perhaps there'll be a new army in the new year...
You’ve come a long way since the pile of boxes in the first post. Very nice work, beautiful army.
I was looking over it to try to make a crack about the obvious thing you were missing in your “complete” army (as we know it’s a myth that anyone ever finishes one) but you have most everything you need. The dread could use a drop pod, but you could hang him off the bottom of the SR instead and save yourself the pain. The scouts could use a LSS. You have a healthy mix of all the slots of the FOC. Might be nice to see some tanks. The lack of speeders is understandable from a rules POV, as WS bikes are just that good, but feels like an omission from a fluff standpoint.
I've had time to finish moving all of my WiP pictures to being hosted on photobucket and relinking them to this blog. Took a really long time to do each picture, but now my Gallery is only comprised of finished models It was something I was planning on doing for a while.
As for Christmas gifts, I dont normally ask for minis for Christmas / Birthdays. I know it's guilt free toys, but it just doesn't feel right for some reason. Besides, early december when I was asked what I wanted, I had no idea what I wanted to do after the Scars get finished. (I do now, so keep an eye on this )
I did get some hobby related gifts, though. A dremel, fresh paint brushes, the first End Times book and an X wing starter set. I've flicked through the ET book, and it looks like quite the read. It's wider than the standard A4 codex/army book, and about as thick as the SM codex - and that's just the fluff!
I hope to nip to the LGS tomorrow and pick up one or two things for the new army... Enjoy the rest of your holidays!
Z
Any plans to repaint any of the X-wing stuff? I've been doing some SW toy repaints in a similar scale recently and it is a nice change of pace from 28mm Power Armour.
@Para: I like X-wing for a lot of reasons. Among those reasons are the fact that they are prepainted, and it doesn't detract from 40k painting time. As it stands, I probably wont do any repaints. Besides, they are ridiculously small!
@RBeijers: Thanks mate. I'm loving the start of your Imperial Fists
@Slipknotzim: Thanks a lot I'll be starting the new project in this thread. I'll change the title and put a link on he front page to the start of the new project. I just need a few more days to iron out my colour scheme, then I'll start posting it
This past week or two, having completed the Scars, I've decided on the next project. An Imperial Fists army. I've done a few test schemes that I am happy with, so its on with the project!
Here is the first WiP:
It's been a while since I last made a Drop Pod. I managed to break two harness pieces, but they are easily repairable.
Have fun with those. I think we all know how much I hate those things. You have a plan for where you are going? Full drop, hybrid, or just a lone pod for disruption? If you are planning on dropping dreads, you can leave the harnesses out. Saves a lot of headache.
I went back in this thread to find your test mini. Seeing an army of him and his friends would be awesome. I know there is a lot of cool FW stuff if you want to go all out.
Primed, and based. A little worried about the contrast between the interior colour and the yellow, but we'll see what a wash will do to it.
@Paradigm: When you asked it the IF were 'a sign of things to come', I chuckled and thought, 'not going to answer that' As for army composition, I'm going for anything not on a bike. At the minute, I'm building towards a 7 Pod list, looking to put a good number of boots on the ground to take advantage of their chapter tactics. But I'll eventually move on to some vehicles. @Nev: The Forgeworld stuff is tempting. Really tempting. Infact, there is an IF relic dreadnough with my name on it But that's for another time, I've already got some things to be getting on with. @Ecstasy: Thanks for the comment I thought about leaving it out, but in the end I just carried on with it. If it's too much of a problem, I'll leave it out of future pods.
I also managed to come up with some goals for January: Finish 2 Drop Pods Finish 5 Assault Marines w/ magnetised backpacks. Finish 10 Tactical Marines Achieveable, in my mind. Might also stretch to Lysander if I finish in a timely manner.
7 Pods is a formidable core, fill them up with Tacticals, Sternguard, Dreads and 5-man-2-flamer Assault Squads and you've got a very nasty one-two punch.
Is Lysander running with Termies? Or will he be podding in with a smaller squad?
Doors complete. Why do you only get 4 chapter specific icons when there are 5 doors to use them on? It's not like they ran out of space on the sprue..
@Para: 7 pods is quite solid, imo. Lysander will be Podding with, and then tanking wounds for, a command squad. I'll spoiler the list I'm building towards below.
Spoiler:
Sentinels of Terra
HQ: Lysander Command Squad w/ 4 Plasmaguns, Apothecary Drop Pod
Troops: 10 Man Tactical Squad w/ Combi-Melta, Meltagun, Heavy Bolter Drop Pod 10 Man Tactical Squad w/ Combi-Melta, Meltagun, Heavy Bolter Drop Pod 10 Man Scout Squad w/ Combi-Plasma, Heavy Bolter 10 Man Scout Squad w/ Combi-Plasma, Heavy Bolter
Elites: Ironclad Dreadnought Drop Pod
Fast Attack: Assault Squad w/ 2 Flamers Drop Pod Assault Squad w/ 2 Flamers Drop Pod
Heavy Support: Devastator Squad w/ 4 Lascannons Devastator Squad w/ 4 Lascannons Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought w/ Kheres Assault Cannon Drop Pod
Total - 1981
I've got a few points for some wiggle room.
Anyway, pressing on with the Pod. Fins and central pieces left to finish. Z
I think the aquila is supposed to be on the side with the sarge’s harness. The rest get the chapter symbol. From a reality POV, IIRC the pod sprues are 2 of same one (each with 2 wedges of the pod) and one more with the last wedge and all the rest. But that’s my early morning undercaffinated brain talking, so take it with a grain of salt.
The structure of you list looks fine. I’m with Para on the MMs in the tac squads. I might also suggest swapping at least 5 scouts for a LSS for the other half. I know that would add some mobility to you otherwise non-White Scars army, but a little bit is not a bad thing. And might help if you play maelstrom missions.
The ironclad probably wants a HF upgrade. I don’t own the FW books, but can the contemperor take a stock pod? Or do you need to buy him the special dread drop pod? Speaking of which, if you don’t read the FW rumors thread over in the N&R section, check out the last few pages. There is an awesome looking character and some squad upgrades you might want to plan space for in your list.
After reviewing my list, and finding out that I have outdated rules for the contemptor-mortis, I think I need to change a few things. Nev, you're right about the contemptor needing a lucius (dreadnought) drop pod, which are 15 points more than the regular ones. Additionally, my points for the contemptor are about 20 points off...
I dont really have superfluous upgrades to trim for those 35 points (50 really, I want a lucius for the ironclad, too ). So, back to the drawing board. Might need to cut the number of pods, and make more of a back line firebase. I've been away from my Codex for a few days, so I'll have to do it another time.
I've seen the Alexus Pollux model from FW. It's awesome. When I did the Mk3 IF test model, I was very close to starting a 30k army based on the battle of Phall, lead by Pollux (had a conversion idea planned). No need for that conversion, now I also saw the upgrade stuff for Phalanx warders and templar breathren. Incredible!
@Leviathus: Thanks man. I took a peak at your blog. Love the marines in your recent post, looking forward to more.
@Meph: Thanks a lot The baal pred in your blog is great, btw!
Alrighty, guys, here is the finished pod.
(Old, poorly taken, pictures)
Spoiler:
Thoughts? Comments?
The light hits it awkwardly in the first few shots, but they are much better than the ones I had before. I'm not a photography expert, I have no idea how to stop the massive light reflection :(
Anyway, making a start on the assault squad now.
More soon,
Z
What made you stripe the fins? I don’t think I’ve seen that done before. Looks fine, just different.
The inside pale yellow feels like it needs something more. I know you hardly see it, but in the close ups it looks like it could use a wash or something. Sounds odd, but I’m getting an eldar wraithbone vibe from it. Which on an imperial vehicle is off.
Nice detail on the central pillar
The soot blast on the top: Why only on the inside of the fins? IIRC the top of the pod is an air intake, so it shouldn’t be blowing smoke. And it it’s from entry, would it be spread more evenly around the top?
The very bottom could probably use some more weathering. I like how on the doors you have the dings on the ridges. But the base looks clean, and if something is going to be banged up, there is the spot. It looks like you are going with some shading down there (heat distress?) but it want a little chipping.
Did you get the doors to open and close smoothly? Magnetized (doors a/o gun)? It’s a nice looking pod, worthy of carrying the Emperor’s finest into battle. Congratulations on putting one together and remaining sane.
@Nev: Ahh... The fins I've only seen something similar done once, and thought it made the area look a lot better. It break up the solid blocks of colour that are inevitable of DPs and other vehicles. Plus, the IF scheme is yellow and red, but I'm painting 5th company (yellow + black = good looking scheme, imo) so wanted to include some black on the pod The central column was inspired by Buypainted's ultramarine DP video on Youtube. He did a pale interior, and it looked good. Although that was on a blue pod, not a yellow, so there was a lot more contrast. I didn't want to default to silver... Might need to up the weathering around the top... I didn't want to over do it, but I ended up under-doing it. Awell, I can always try again on another pod... Also the bottom is under-done, too. Will work on that next time! I didn't take any photos of the magnets, but they are there. The doors close nice and tightly. No gun magnet, not a fan of the deathstorm launcher.
@Ayoku: Glad you like it! Was a little worried about the cream interior being right next to a yellow exterior.
@Para: Thanks matey!
@Stormwall: Thanks a lot, mate. It was the first time I've tried any serious attempt at battle damage. I think it came out alright. Although, there is a lot of surface area on the pods, and there is only so long one can highlight paint chips before they go crazy
Here is your update for today. I'm not bothered about what kit they get, I end up doing counts-as anyway. PF sarge, 2 flamers and 2 regular guys. The jump packs and backpacks are magnetised, too. Unfortunately, no basing yet. I want to get the 32mm bases, but they are sold out on the GW site. When they are back instock, I'll get get a load and do a big basing session. The chain glaive and chain axe are from Anvil Industry. You'll have to wait until I start my Tactical Marines to see the other bit I got from there - It's awesome, I promise Speaking of which, having got my hands on the new (well, not new now, but most recent) box of tactical marines, I must say... They are great. Very little in the way of mould lines, and the bits just look... better. Crisper, with more minor details worked in. I like them!
As always, more soon, Z
*EDIT* Also went back and added better pictures of the Drop Pod. ^^
I so much prefer your fists to the ws but only criticism the harnesses in the pod give it a wash or highlight. I see the light blue wash or is that camera? But give it a brown wash to make an aged look.
@Earnshaw: Thanks man! I do like painting the IF more than the WS... White started to get repetitive I dont see a blue wash..? What picture are you looking at? I didn't use a blue wash, so it's probably a combo of the lighting and camera.
@40kFSU: Thanks matey! Little afraid that the combination of cream and yellow wouldn't work.
So, I went back and updated some pictures of the DPs. Just to get right of the lighting issues on the first two pictures.
Assaults are looking pretty cool! I thoroughly approve the use of Anvil bits, I actually have a whole army of his Exo-Lord not-Marines (Imperial Fists, incedentally ) and yeah, the quality is exceptional. I look forward to seeing the 'other bit'.
And the new Tacticals are indeed aweesome, probably in the top 3 kits out there today. I think Space Wolves just have them beaten on variety, but the SM Tacs come in nicely at number 2.
@Para. I checked out the Anvil stuff you have in your gallery, they look great! They definately have some sweet models. I think I'll probably end up dipping into their mini line for command squads / vets.
Anyway, making slow progress on the Assault Marines.
They are painted, all they need now are decals and weathering. Going for the paint chipping, and grey dry brush on their feet / lower leg for a dusty look. Any other suggestions for urban ruins weathering?
There is no way I'm diving into the tacticals after these are done. Power armour is a little boring! I picked up the Skullcrusher from my WoC army and put a few layers on him over the past few days, so my motivation for PA is shaking a bit. I bought a pack of Cataphractii Terminators back at the start of December. I think I'm going to break one of those bad boys out and paint it between the Assault marines and the tacticals. So stick around for that!
Looking good! Love those Anvil bits, they add a lot of character to otherwise basic BP/CCW marines. If you are doing vanguard vets, it might be a good way of sprucing them up as well.
asgog wrote:hey the assault marines look great what kit did the chainsword come from ?
To quote Zambro from upthread, those are anvil industry bits, a 3rd party manufacturer:
Zambro wrote:The chain glaive and chain axe are from Anvil Industry. You'll have to wait until I start my Tactical Marines to see the other bit I got from there - It's awesome, I promise
It's been a long two weeks. I learnt that it is possible to start and finish two pieces of coursework in a week. But why I chose the week before the deadline I'll never know... My hobby time went out the window, and hence the lack of updates here.
Well, anyway, I've had yesterday and today to myself and I blew the dust off the Assault squad and finished them:
I'm happy with them.
Next up are the tactical marines. I've clipped a few of them out, but I realised I didn't want to jump into them after doing 5 PA guys... So I thought I'd shift my focus to Fantasy for a few weeks. I've played a host of games of Fantasy recently and I'm really into it. 4 of my friends are into massively right now too. Since christmas, we've done 3 10k games, many 5k games and several 3k games, with another 10k game scheduled for Sunday the 1st... The End Times stuff is fantastic. Coming up on finishing Nagash... What an incredible read so far. It's really fueling my fire for Fantasy. Anyway, I wont digress too much... Take a peak into my Fantasy blog if your interested in following what I'm doing with the Warriors.
@Nev. No particular reason for having a black shoulderpad. One of the problems I find with Marines is that they can sometimes be too uniform. I thought a black shouldpad, the hazard stripes, red and black kneepads and black powerfist would help to break up that uniformity. It will be something to expect throughout the army.
So, I took a nap earlier, and woke up with a desire to crack on with some marines! I've only managed to prime half of the squad, so far. The rest are still on the sprue.
A nice and even coat of yellow, to start. When I chip them, I'm going to try a sponge method. Looking back at the assault marines, painting it on looks a bit artificial... Also going to try and weather their lower legs and backpack exhausts.
Here is the Anvil Industry bit - a Heavy Bolter. It fits well with the IF theme, imo.
Well, thats all from me for now. Maybe I can paint some of the black into the minis this evening... Z
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that every suit of power armor is a relic, each one a storied aegis against the foes of humanity. They should all have quirks and varied paintjobs.
Unless you are Ultramarines, in which case just slap some blue paint around. But that’s not the case here.
Been a little lazy on the space marines side of my hobby...
But here are the 5 tactical marines from the last post:
I just have to varnish them, then put them with my assault marines ready for basing - which is something I need to think a little bit about... Anyway, it took a long time to do these, and I screwed them up, imo. Sure, I think they look good - better than the assault marines - but not perfect. The next 5 will be better.
Got the rest of the tactical marines to a reasonable place.
All the main colours are blocked in, decals are down and I'm putting some micro sol on the decals before I move on. Got to hit the details, and do the weathering then they are done (aside from their base).
In my LGS, almost half of the 40k players have moved off onto something else - Conquest, X-wing, Fantasy etc. - but those who still play have decided to play smaller games. Things like 400-1000 points. I wrote a 500 point list for IFs that I'm really happy with, so I think I'm going to push for that list and get my first 40k game in since November. It has 10 tactical marines, 10 scouts and libby and a dreadnought.
And having mentioned Conquest, you should get it. I have it, and it's awesome. You get 7 army decks in the box, with 30 cards per deck. It's completely playable out of the box, and has massive re-playability. not to mention, it's easy to learn. I've played around 10 games, and know the rules well enough to play fluently. You should definately look into it!
40k can be very fun at smaller point levels, especially with Marines as every model matters! Some of my most fun and closest games have been in the 500-750 range, and if you have an odd number of players, the games fo fast enough that you can switch round easily enough, with the third player refereeing or building a list for the next game.. Play winning-list-stays-on, 'king of the hill' style, and see who can get the longest streak!
I'm really happy with them! Except for the bases, which I will get around to - promise!
I'm going to get ahold of some scouts next, and maybe a Libby. I want to make the 500 point list I wrote, so I can get in on the small 40k. I was thinking, with the scouts, to not paint yellow. I was thinking I might go with black armour and grey/white cloth. Black/grey/white would make a lot more sence in an urban war. Bright yellow is kind of a 'shoot me, please!' sign. And scouts can do with as little shooting coming their way as possible.
I do my scouts in camo, not chapter colors. So I approve of non-yellow on them. Just make sure you match the camo to the base. You wouldn’t want to have forest camo scouts on arctic bases.
@Para: The list I'm running is; Libby (65), tactical marines w/ combi-plas, plasma & heavy bolter (175), scouts w/ combi-plasma & heavy bolter (128) and a dreadnought w/ an undeided loadout, but most likely a lascannon (about 125).
Grand total comes to 493, so some wiggle room for minor upgrades and such.
@Nev: Yeah, I dont think I'll be needed jungle camo for urban warfare Still mulling over the exact way I'm going to paint them... We'll have to see.
@Thraxas: Thanks mate! I did a clean White Scars army before, so getting down and dirty with the IFs is a bit of a change of pace. Having said that, I think I'm managing fine
Everything I need for 500 points. I'll start putting them together over the weekend. I'm looking forward to getting my teeth into the Venerable Dread. I've never built one before. And dont expect me to built the Libby's shoulder-baby. That thing is plain stupid.
While I understand that cherubs are part of the gothic imagery of 40k, I’m not a fan of them personally. That little guy was one of the reasons I didn’t pick up that librarian, who I quite like otherwise. The other big reason was the $30 price tag for a single mini, which is insane.
I think the ven dread is my favorite kit. Soooo many options, all of them cool. Enjoy yours.
How do you plan on building the scouts? CC, bolter, or shotgun? Or a mix?
@Nev: Yeah, £18 was a bit hard to swallow for a single mini. Shame there is only one other alternative librarian, which isn't all that great in comparison. I've gone with bolters on the scouts. My thought process was that they get scout / infiltrate, so they're pretty close anyway. And, I get re-rolls of 1 with chapter tactics making them slightly better. And I've always had the idea that they scout forward to sit on an objective from turn 1. Maybe even take a teleport homer and help some termies arrive in future... @Lips: Thanks matey! It was a shame to see you're blog go quiet. I always loved seeing your excellently highlighted minis! Maybe when you get used to being in uni, you can put a layer of paint down every now and then.
It's been a busy weekend. I've built everything:
The scouts were a bit of a dissapointment, imo. Having gone from the crisp, awesome new tactical marines. The older scout sculpts seemed 'softer' in comparison. I was non-committal with the dread. I have all weapon options fully swappable Lots of choice with the kit, too. The dread is also the model I'm putting up for Para's monthly competition. When I get a chance this week, I'll lay down the primer and base coats.
Scout gear is an easier choice for ‘Fist players due to bolter drill. The CC options can be fun though, and shotguns just look cool.
Nice dread. Always fun to see how others build theirs. So many options in the kit, no two dreads should look alike. I should get some paint on mine. Stupid Xenos distracting me though.
When I needed to add another librarian to my force, I went with a GK strike box. Mixed with VV bits, as I needed him with a jump pack. But you basically get 5 librarians for around the price of the one (albeit nice) monopose. It helps that I had projects that needed other bits from the kit, so there wasn’t a lot of loss from unused parts. I could deal with ~$20 for a special HQ mini, but when your price goes up to the range a a whole box of marines, I’ll just take that and kitbash.
I pushed through the first 5 scouts. They have their test scheme done, and I have to be honest, I like it. I wasn't sure what to go with on the right shoulderpad, so I went with a hollow tactical arrow. It fills the gap nicely. Just have to weather them accordingly and then they are done. The other 5 are still at primer stage.
Librarian just has base colours blocked in.
And as you can see, the Dread's weapons are getting some attention.
You going to do any camo on the scouts, or just the solid colored uniforms? And the arrow fits well, although I’m not sure what the “official” scout shoulder markings are.
I like how easy it is to swap weapons around on the dread. Who needs magnets?
From a lore POV, they have a long way to go to get to a tactical squad. Their first stop as full marines is a dev squad. Shooting bolters, passing ammo, eating bullets. Eventually they get to shoot the big guns themselves. Next stop is an assault squad, once they have proved themselves capable on the battlefield. Only after they have mastered every aspect of combat are they worthy of being a tactical marine.
Anyway, they look cool like that, and frankly, that’s what’s important!
I'll be heading out to the FLGS tonight. I've got my 500 point 40k list ready to go. Hopefully, I can bring home a victory for the Fists. Also going to be taking Conquest with me. I got a text reminder from my Dad saying its Mother's Day on Sunday, so I went on Amazon to find something. 30 mins and a lot of money later and I have a second Conquest core set and I'm up to date on all the expansions - And I still dont have a Mother's Day gift I built a good(?) Imperial Guard deck, which I'm excited to test run.
I've updated the first post to show my complete armies at the end of Jan and Feb. I was suppose to do it as I went, but I went back to it today. I think it would be nice to see my army progress month to month.
Thanks for reading, Z
*And by finished, I mean almost finished. Basing is at the top of my to-do list!
As it happens, I didn't get a 40k game in.. :( Managed two games of conquest (both losses), then was roped into an X-wing mini-tournament as they had odd numbers and needed another player. I went 2-1 (W-L). I'm hoping for some 40k next week, as it really has been too long. I haven't played 40k this year, yet!
@Mymearan: The black isn't quite black. It's a 50-50 mix of black and Cold Grey from VGC. I use that as the 'black' and highlight it with pure Cold Grey. Here is the paint conversion chart if you're thinking of using the same method with different paint brands.
Evening, gents. Bare with me, this is a bit of a weird one...
My hobbying hasn't been up to the usual level of productivity recently. Which is a damn shame, really. I want to paint, but it's just not flowing. I look at my Warriors of Chaos army, which is occupying the majority of my 2 display shelves, and seeing all 4000 points of models unfinished is quite disheartening. And what isn't occupied by them, my Imperial Fists taking less than a quarter of a shelf, aren't truely finished either (bases!).
But anyway, I was browsing through the pictures on my phone and went right back to the beginning. Low and behold, I found a bunch of old pictures of previous armies. And wow, I've had a lot over the years. I'm not really sure how the pictures made their way onto my current phone, but I'm glad they did. It made me think of all my previous armies and my meanders through the hobby.
Way back, in 2006, I was first introduced to Warhammer Fantasy with the Battle for Skull Pass (Dwarfs vs. Goblins). I went over a friend's house with 2 other friends, and we played a 2v2 game using the content of the boxset. It was fun. Lots of fun. I eventually bought the Dwarfs from him, and that was my very first army. I dont recall much of the army, I think it was the BfSP set, plus 3 or 4 additional boxes. I took it out of the attic a year and a half, maybe two years ago to Ebay it. It fetched me about £200, and £200 of dusty old models terribly painted must have meant that there was a lot of them! I looked for pictures of them I took for the Ebay auction, but came up empty.
Anyway, I eventually moved on from Dwarfs to Lizardmen. Started from scratch, and worked on them for a solid year or 2, judging by the size of the army. That is when my painting started to progress. I remember being more conscious with painting them. I used washes and inks for the first time. I explicitly remember being at my Grandmother's with all my models and painting, I was working hard to do as much as possible with the scales on the backs of the Saurus Warriors, using inks and washes. I got these guys down from the attic the same time as the Dwarfs, and they hit Ebay together. I think they went for £180 (or £200, and the Dwarfs went for £180).
Spoiler:
The actual paint I used when doing my Lizardmen. It's relegated to holding a Dreadnought arm now, but the Ink is still liquid!
That's when my hobbying stopped. My friends and I moved on. Apparently it wasn't 'cool'. I dont remember the exact time I stopped, but it was early high school.
I came back a year or two later, this time with 40k. Eldar. It was 4th edition of 40k - I remember the big blue book, with it's really cool modelling guides in the back, and kill team rules. I didn't play many games, and eventually moved onto Space Marines. Dark Angels were my first Space Marine army. My progress wasn't great with the DA. But I did get some work done on the Eldar. Quite a bit, IIRC. Thinking about it, I remember a White Dwarf issue with 'new' Harlequin models (metal ones). Painting stripes was painful! Anyway, this cycle of hobby came to an eventual end. Everything went into the attic, and I moved on.
Spoiler:
The remnants of my Eldar did make a reappearance recently when I was working on Eldar They got stripped and reused.
3rd time lucky. Somewhere in my teens, I was at a youth club I used to go to, when one of the adults there turned up out of the blue with Warhammer for us to paint / play. I never know he played Warhammer, and it kicked me back into it (and I haven't stopped since!). I spoke to a friend of mine, sadly not the ones I got into Warhammer with, but one I knew had previous Warhammer experiance, and we started up together. I gifted him a lot of my Eldar, and I went back to Space Marines, with a repaint into Salamanders. The pictures on my phone were of this army. And it was big. 2.5k. Which doesn't seem big, but it was (almost) fully painted. And I was somewhat proud of it.
Spoiler:
The are the first pictures I found. Taken early December, 2011.
Then, these are the next ones. Taken in April, 2012. After the Christmas model influx had been painted up.
Not sure why I sold them off, but they went. Summer of 2012, I started a new Marine army: White Scars. I'm sure I've made reference to my first time doing the Scars in this blog, but I dont think these pictures have been seen by you guys. I got 2 Ravenwing boxsets, Khan and a Stormtalon into the army, before I cut my losses and moved on. This was pre-airbrush days, and painting white was hard. I also tried a little bit of GSing on them - mainly some tribal dags and such. Turns out that was hard, too! All in all, I got about 1k points of them.
Spoiler:
More pics I found on my phone. The white doesn't look too bad in these pictures. I found some WiP pics of them, though. And the while is/was terrible.
Like a phoenix, another Space Marines army was born from the ashes. This time, Blood Ravens. I wrote a list, and was building towards it. I got the boring stuff done, before I once again cut my losses. It barely made 500 points. I got my first airbrush halfway though this project. I used it on the Rhino I had, and did a terrible job. You can see the good side of the Rhino in the picture, although the front left of the Rhino is a hint at the painting atrocities on the other side... All in all, a brief project. I learnt some fundamental things about airbrush usage during it, but that's about it.
Spoiler:
I did buy the FW Blood Raven's transfer sheet. I'm pretty sure I still have it, too...
After selling the BRs, WoC were released. I think it was February, 2012(?). I dabbled with Fantasy again, just sort of painting to pass the time with no real goal in mind. Unfortunately, I dont have pictures. But it was nowhere near the size of my current WoC army.
At the end of May, 2012, I went to America for the summer. I worked at a Summer Camp in Colorado, and it was awesome. So I was pretty much out of the hobby for 3 months. When I returned, however, it was the run up to the release of the current SM book (Back to marines... sensing a theme?). I spent a month following all the rumors, and deliberating which chapter to do, and what to get. I went with White Scars (again), and cue the start of this blog. You can go back and read / re-read the first 16 or so pages which covers my 3.5k army. It was also the first time I went to my LGS. Which is awesome. I go most Tuesdays, and the occassional weekend.
Spoiler:
The Scars, in all their glory.
When the Scars got dry, and they did, I moved on. I didn't sell the army this time. I kept it (and still have it). Imperial Guard were my next call. Also in this blog. Pages 16/17 cover them. I got a lot of comments on my Digital Camo. They are the only images on Dakka that have been voted on, and they are around the 7-8 out of 10 mark . I also dabbled in Eldar. Again, lots of comments on their scheme, but ultimately the Eldar and IG met the same fate - Ebay.
Spoiler:
Just a recap on my IG, and Eldar. Full shot of final IG army: Small sample of Eldar army.
What has recently got my attention are Warriros of Chaos and Imperial Fists. Not going to bother linking pictures of either, you can literally scroll up and see the vast majority of my Imperial Fists. And you can follow the link in my Sig to a seperate blog that gets infrequent updates on my WoC. I've still got my White Scars packed up in the background. They only see the light of day when I'm taking them out of their trays so I can use them for transporting some stuff.
That's it. A full history. I didn't intend for it to happen, I initially just wanted to share some older, unseen pictures. Awell. I dont think I've shared a full hobby history before. It's on record, now.
But what now? Well, my new years resolution was to only contribute to the Imperial Fists. Which I went against to buy some WoC stuff... I still want the Fists, though. There is so much I haven't done with 40k yet. I've not had a 40k game this year, for start. I want to have a large collection. Have a whole battle company. Play apocalypse. Own super heavies. Win a tournament... When the painting mojo comes back, I'm getting on it. I'll do the Dread and libby, then base everything. That'll get my collection to complete. Then I can get more. Maybe something I've never done before. A Vindicator? Or Centurions...
That still leaves the White Scars, and Warriors of Chaos. Historically, Ebay has been the solution for my stagnant collections. But I have a lot of sentimental attachment to my Scars, and the only games I'm playing are with the Warriors. They both dodge the bay of E, for now. The Scars are finished. And I'm seriously considering not buying anymore Fantasy models, which would open up the hobby budget for the IFs...
Appologies for the length, and self-indulgence. I'll have a real update, soon. Z
Nice bit of history, thanks for sharing. And I think you are being a little hard on yourself, those older minis look fine. Not as good as what you are doing these days, but that’s your experience (and better tools) showing.
As for the desire for a large army, etc, there are a number of ways to achieve those goals. The easy one is patience. Not selling your White Scars to fund the next big thing is a solid start. If you have the space, and don’t need the money for food/rent, keep everything. Then add to it. The slow build approach is not only wallet friendly, but it prevents the daunting wall of unpainted plastic. And if you mix it up with other projects, keeps the paintbench from getting monotonous.
The getting games in is something I have trouble with myself. My biggest tip is to give yourself a kick in the pants and get out of your comfort zone. Head to the store, ask for a game. If you want an apoc game, you might need to be a little proactive, and set one up yourself.
Time, drive, and money all come and go. And while you might need to replace paints that have dried up, the hobby will be there. But if you are patient and wait, you can pick up where you left off.
Assuming you haven’t e-bayed another one of your fantastic armies.
Your Fists are absolutely STUNNING. The highlighting on the scouts and weathering on your marines are making me so GD jealous. Very excited to see how the Venerable winds up looking!
I got out to the LGS today. Got an old fashioned beating. 4 losses at conquest and a 40k loss. (Yes, I played a 40k game!). 500 pts of IF vs. Orks... Tabled, the top of turn 2. Slightly embarrassing... Probably shouldn't have infiltrated my Scouts so close knowing he had turn 1. I had 20 orks in my face on turn 1, and there wasn't much I could do save die with dignity in a pile of corpses (Charge!!!). It was a fun 40 mins, going to try again with the Fists next week
Ouch, sounds like the force wasn't with you there!
As for your last post, it's always great to see where people have come from in the hobby and where they are going (and unlike some of us, you seem to have a clear enough idea where you are going ).
You got some game time in, and had fun (hopefully)
Tabled at the top of 2? Ouch. The answer to that is to paint more marines! And get a re-match. What do you have painted at the moment? I didn’t think you were up to 500 points.
Your White Scars and Imperial Fists are both awesome looking armies and quite inspirational. Just one question about the IF Scouts, are they all Ginger or is that just my dodgy eyesight?
@40kFSU: Thanks matey! @Adamski: Thanks a lot! And Yes, all the scouts are gingers (I promise more variation when I do more bare heads, lol!)
Good morning, gents.
With the submission of my Dissertation, I got some well deserved hobby time the past day or two Managed to crank this guy out. Hope you like him
. He isn't quite finished. I dont know what to put in the black shield on his front left panel? I was thinking maybe a while skull transfer, but I dont think it'll fit. Maybe white writing? Other suggestions?
Since the start of the year, I've been keeping track of all the hobby related purchases I've made. I've given myself a monthly budget, which I want to stick to. I currently average to just over my budget... Which means, basing will come next month. It's unfortunate, because I cant make my urban bases for Para's comp :( I think I'll just do the Dreadnought base, that way atleast I can enter him.
I'm sure you'll be seeing the Librarian before the end of the weekend. Z
mathaius90 wrote:Maybe a crux terminatus on the black shield? white on black is a nice contrast.
This is a good idea. Another thought would be to use it to add a splash of color, and put some personal heraldry in there.
Paradigm wrote:Exceptional work! The weathering is great!
The weathering is great, but the guns are clean. While they are lightly scratched up, they show no evidence of being used. The HF in particular struck me as a place to try some heat-distressed metal techniques.
But overall a great looking walking coffin you have there.
So with the name change on this thread I totally lost it for awhile. Looking really good there still, somehow you have managed to nail clean crisp bright colours. Looking forward to seeing where this goes in the future, oh and what bases you chose
@Mathaius: Thanks for the suggestion! Not sure I can paint a crux terminatus, white on black, on such a small area would need some practise before I did that!
@Para: Thanks mate! I'm a little jelous of the pace you crank models out... I'll just have to settle for a few minis a week @Nev: You gave me the idea that I went with for the shield. A simple little red stripe. It breaks the black up, and gives it a splash of colour. Also went back and reworked some of the weapons...
@Angelofvengance: Thanks for those pictures! They gave me some great inspiration! Instead of using a blue glaze, I used purple. It's hard to see on the flamer and on the plasma cannon (but it's there!)..
@Leviathus: Thanks a lot, mate! @Young_Logan: Welcome back I went with a simple base for the dread, just to get it done for para's comp. It'll get rebased in the near future.
As you can probably tell by the thread title, the dreadnought is done:
I'm happy with it.
Like I said before, I had to do a simple basing scheme to get it finished for Para's comp.
I've been working on the Librarian, too. I didn't get pictures (boo!), but I will have finished ones up before the end of the month. Just waiting to do the decals, face and edge highlights.
The main aim for this post is to update my Army picture. For those that haven't noticed, on the front page, I have a spoiler tag with pictures of my army at the end of each month. I think its nice to go back and see the monthly progress of the Fists. Without further ado, here is March's army picture:
Coming along quite nicely! And its 648 points, for those interested
Note the Libby pictured. He is finished. He should have gotten a few WiP updates here - that's my bad. I noticed as I was getting him out I forgot to do his decal, so once that is done, he'll get a finished shot.
That's all the Space Marines I have painted. Need to buy more. And now that its a new month, I can use April's hobby budget for stuff I just have to figure out what... Initially, I was aiming for devastators and another 5 assault marines. But I want to get a 'Veteran' for Para's painting comp.
Anyway, expect the finished Libby in a few days. Z
HQ, 2xTroops, Elite, FA. You need a HS pick. Get the devs. If you pick up the assault marines, paint one as a vet sarge for the competition. Or, if the budget has room, get a box of vanguard vets, rather then assault marines.
Army is coming together nicely. I like the idea for the monthly pics, gives a good sense of progress.
Yeah, I send Devs; they fit the IF theme and will give you a bunch of extra Heavy Weapons for future Tac squads. In SM terms, anything can be made to look the part of Veteran anyway!
That's a really great looking group shot. I agree with Nevelon and Paradigm in saying some Devs would be a pretty good addition and also fits the IF theme.
Painting this libby was great! Lots of fun painting something that isn't yellow. I think I finally found the 'best' blue. It's a mix of Magic Blue and Stormy Blue 1:1 (VGC). It was also nice to play around with edge highlights. Something I dont do on my Fists. I hope you like it!
I'm meeting a friend for some games on Monday (it's a Bank Holiday, so we can spend all day playing ), and hopefully I'll be able to pick some stuff up from the LGS Probably Devastators!
You going to weather the librarian? After all the gritty, beaten up Fists, he looks way too crisp and clean. It’s not that he’s bad, but almost like he belongs in the 2nd edition. Just very bright and happy.
“He must be a HQ”
“How can you tell?”
“He’s not covered in muck like the rest of us"
No, I'm not.
His psychic powers keep him well protected, and immune from damage. Atleast, thats what I keep telling myself. The BRB tells me a different story with the powers that are actually available to me Also, Conquest has a card called "Honoured Librarian", and it cant be damaged while there are other cards at that particular planet. So I'm taking my cues from Conquest, too.
I did; I found 9 terminators in my Warhammer closet I had previously forgotten about I got them ages ago, in a trade for some Warhammer Fantasy things. And not wanting to add them to my White Scars, I retired them to the closet. Now they're back and ready to wage war as Imperial Fists.
Once I get rid of the minotaur's paint job I did on a few...
I'm revising my entry to Para's comp. From my Fantasy BSB to these Termies.
I'll update you with their progress in a few days or so! Z
Do you have enough guys there to make two legal squads? It looks like you do, but armless and the two-tone guy would need to be another assault and the tac sarge. Hard to tell what they are now.
Yeah, Nev, I have 2 squads. The Cataphractii is sarg of the CC squad. And the 2 tone guy is the sarge for the shooty squad. He has a converted power weapon, and the sarg for the tactical termies is suppose to have PW+SB.
The [h]armless guy has will get LCs, and join the CC termies.
So what kind of LR are you going to get for them to ride in? Any HQs to accompany them? Some of the better looking sculpts are sporting TDA. You know you want that chaplain. Lysander? Another librarian? Ohh, I know, one of the FW guys!
I feel as if when they talk about the nefarious whispers of the warp, they are discussing Nevelon. Stand strong brother, resist! (Also, lost & found minis are the best minis.)
@Nev: LR? Pfft. That's too pedestrian. I want a Spartan Assault Tank. Full with Assault Termies, being led by a Termie Chaplain. And 10 deep striking Tactical Terminators with Lysander. Sure, it'll run me into an obscene amount of points. But whatev @Kroll: Thanks mate! I'm glad it's making you want to paint some stuff What are you painting? @Stormwall: Nightlords start with N, too. Are those really Ultramarines, Nev? lol
Anyway, so progress:
Some slow work on the termies. The one on the left is waiting for the other too to catch up and get weathered together. The remaining 2 of the 5 are still just base coated. In terms of recent painting, I have made minimal progress on these, but lots of work on my WoC. Finally broke through and finished the last 15 Warriors!
As seen in the picture, I got the most recent expansion for Conquest and a Devastator box set. The best part being; they were free! I have a nectar card (sort of loyalty card), and for the past 3 years, I've been getting it swiped whenever I do my shopping. It occurred to me that I have never looked at how many points I have. I have just over £30 worth of points. I converted that to Ebay vouchers and went crazy What's better than Warhammer miniatures? Free Warhammer miniatures!
Got a big game of Fantasy tomorrow, so I dont expect anymore progess untill mid-week Z
@Kroll: Thanks mate! I'm glad it's making you want to paint some stuff What are you painting?
Right now it's all a matter of stripping down all my old models, they've been in the attic since the late nineties, so have had a nostalgic few days. Have been actually working out a painting schedule this afternoon, and the first things I'm going to do is strip down the really basic Space Marine models that used to come in the 40k 2nd ed box set, that way I have some really basic models to try out my new colour scheme on. Then I will be going from there, working through a 20 year old Space Marine army.
I'm also being very disciplined and not buying any new stuff...yet.
As long as it’s a massive chunk of tank, it will do. Be careful you don’t get one so big it won’t fit in your backpack
You should go through the codex and make sure everything your White Scars are lacking you add to your Fists. They do tend to occupy opposite ends of the marine spectrum.
I could switch over to Night Lords. I’ve got a good shade of blue for it, I’d just have to freehand lighting bolts everywhere. And find a good source of bat wings to glue on helms. Sounds like work, I’ll just stick with the loyalists.
@Para. Thanks mate! Free stuff is always good @Kroll: Congrats on not buying anything that's a very difficult thing for most hobbyists (myself included). Although, when you get a chance, the new tactical marines are great. A really, really great kit. Personally, I have no attachment to the old school models (the new ones are way better, imo), but I do appreciate other people's nostalgia for them. What is your colour scheme? @Nev: I'll just have to buy a bigger backpack! Yeah, I look at my white scar stuff and say I'm not getting that for my Fists. I can simply proxy my Scar's stuff as Fists if I want to use it (I have the model, just not the right paint scheme). @Stormwall: Thanks I think we should send the inquisitors around to Nev's, just to make sure he is who he says he is...
Progress time:
Terminators have had their scratches applied. Final details and then done with them.
I put together the Devastators:
I want 2 squads; 1 with full Heavy Bolters and 1 with full Las. Just need one more box for the other half of each squad
Looking good. Is the damage to the HB on the left intentional?
I like how the sarge is kneeling. “You guys stand tall and shoot, I’ll be behind this rock over here.” It’s no secret who does the work in the squad. Now I want to put together a sarge in a beach chair drinking a margarita, kinda vaguely waving his chainsword at a target. I kid, he looks good. Even though sergeants can’t take auspexes (in the current codex) and he’s shy a piece of wargear. Unless he had a bolter/chainsword around somewhere. That’s my WYSWYG pedantry talking, I doubt anyone would care. Rule of Cool after all.
@Kroll: Congrats on not buying anything that's a very difficult thing for most hobbyists (myself included). Although, when you get a chance, the new tactical marines are great. A really, really great kit. Personally, I have no attachment to the old school models (the new ones are way better, imo), but I do appreciate other people's nostalgia for them. What is your colour scheme?
Yeah my wish lists are getting bigger and bigger haha. Like you say, some of the new kits look amazing, especially the forgeworld stuff. The colour scheme is going to be a dark matt, stealthy grey. Going to use some kind of bright green to do the eyes which will hopefully pick them out really well. One shoulder will be a shade of yellow with the chapter symbol on, the other will be trimmed in company colours etc. I'm not sure about gun casings yet, but I will likely use a dark red. Then the wings on the breastplate will just be a dry brush of silver.
Have been working on some fluff for the chapter that I will post in a thread here at some point too.
It's been 10 days, and I figured I should update this. I haven't done a lot of work, tbh. Lots of other stuff going on, which is taking all of my time / attention.
@Nev: No, the damge to the HB was an accident :( I broke it taking it off the sprue, then proceeded to drop, and lose the broken piece! I thought about GS, but it's such a small surface area to stick to... I've just sucked it up as a mistake to be learnt from. I just use clippers to take pieces off the sprue, not twisting it off with my fingers. Especially, smaller pieces like that. @Kroll: The paint scheme sounds good. Except maybe the yellow pad(?). I think bright yellow might be a little out of place on an other wise dark model. Are you going for dark like Reven Guard, or more grey like Red Scorpions? Anyway, good luck with the fluff @SJM: Thanks dude The brown on the yellow really stands out, making it more eye catching. Subtle things dont really get noticed, often. Like the brown on the black. I have to highlight that grey to notice it. @Adamski: I'm glad you like them! I haven't painted Terminators in a really, really long time. I'm quite enjoying painting them, it's a shame their TT rules aren't that great. @BB: Thanks, bebop! I love what your doing with scratch building terrain! I'm not nearly artistic enough to scratch build something, but I do regonise the work that goes into something like that. Keep it up!
Here are some pictures:
I have 3 terminators almost done. Just waiting on the 4th terminator, so I can paint their faces in one go. Then the final terminator so I can do the final weathering in one go, also. I have managed to prime, and base coat the Devs. Going to finish off the Termies before I start properly on the Devs.
Now, I have some good news, and some bad news: The bad news: I won't be painting anything between the end of May, and September... The good news: I have a job! My Visa got accepted, and I'll be travelling to the USA to work at a Summer Camp over those months. I did it a few years back, and had a blast. When I returned last time, It was a few weeks before the new SM codex, and the start of my White Scars. It looks like I'll be returning to a new SM codex this time around, too (according to rumors).
I'm not sure when the next update will come, but hopefully there will be finished terminators Z
@Kroll: The paint scheme sounds good. Except maybe the yellow pad(?). I think bright yellow might be a little out of place on an other wise dark model. Are you going for dark like Reven Guard, or more grey like Red Scorpions? Anyway, good luck with the fluff
Now, I have some good news, and some bad news:
The bad news: I won't be painting anything between the end of May, and September...
The good news: I have a job! My Visa got accepted, and I'll be travelling to the USA to work at a Summer Camp over those months. I did it a few years back, and had a blast. When I returned last time, It was a few weeks before the new SM codex, and the start of my White Scars. It looks like I'll be returning to a new SM codex this time around, too (according to rumors).
I'm not sure when the next update will come, but hopefully there will be finished terminators Z
Thanks, painted the first one up today, well half painted, there's still a little work I want to do to it. I would describe the grey as pretty much the same as the grey used in the forum design. The yellow is mustardy, I used Aversand and it seems to go really well so far. My main problem has been painting the chapter symbol on it, which is essentially going to be a "K" like in my avatar pic.
Good luck with the summer camp mate, it sounds like a good laugh.
I'm going to atleast try and get all my IFs finished and based before I leave. As for my WoC... No way I can get them finished. I might push to finish the unit I'm on (knights), but other than that, I'm happy to just leave them as is. I'm not sure what I'm doing with my Fantasy when the new edition hits. I'm kind of stuck in an odd limbo. No rush to do anything as I'm going away pretty soon, and the state of the game when I return is somewhat in question... We'll just have to see.
I'll be in Colorado
Kroll, the freehand doesn't sound too bad. The way I think of it, a 'K' is basically 3 straight lines. Get a fine tip brush and you sould be able to do decent Ks after 2 or 3 attempts. Try on a piece of paper first just to get a feel for it.
In other news, I just got onto an X-wing Tournament tomorrow I've been trying to reach them for the past few days, and I finally got through and I'm officially going. I dont expect anything great - I 'fly casual' in all of my games. A combination of not having a massive range of minis to use/choose from, never reading the rules (seriously, you'll pick it up after 2/3 games) and knowing that even though I take 'less ideal' lists, the game is balanced to the point that it doesn't matter too much.
And the FFG tournament support means that I get an alternative art card for just showing up, and a few other decent prizes if I place respectably.
Oh, and I'm seeing the new Avengers film today I'm looking forward to it
Thanks Para. [yoda voice] With me, the force, was not [/yoda voice]. I took 14 or 15th place out of 16... I didn't quite catch what he said, but I wasn't really bothered about clarifying it, lol. First game, I did some damage to the opponent's fleet, but got tabled. Second game, I tabled the opponent without losing a ship. In the third game, my dice took a nose dive and my luck well and truely ran out. Silly things like not hitting with 3 attacks. And not making 2 agility saves. But then, I zipped up into range 1, and fired off proton rockets - 5 misses. At that point, my eyes glazed over and I lost the will to live Lost the game by being tabled without losing a ship. Poor dice continued into the 4th game and I was tabled by a Tie Swarm + shuttle in ~10 minutes. Placing aside, it was nice to meet people from all over and play some X-wing. Learnt a few combos and a few lists that I'd like to run / try.
Back to the 40k....
Finally finished. Took a lot longer to do than expected. They took the majority of April to do :( And unfortunately, with impending exams, I dont think I'm going to be able to do much more. I want to finish the Devastators and base everything before I leave. I think I may have to draw the line at finishing the Devastators...
I forgot to do it while the camera was out, but I'll get an 'end of April' army photo for the first post tomorrow or the day after.
And here is the mandatory end of April army picture:
The first post will be updated to include this, and all other end of month pictures. I like going back and taking a look every now and then, just to see my month-by-month progress.
@Nev: Yeah, there are a lot of faces in the termies I have. They were picked up in a trade, and they are glued in so it wasn't my decision and nor can I pop them out and swap the heads. But those 5 termies are from 2 squads (assault and tactical). So hopefully when they get split off into their own squads, it shouldn't be too bad. @Para: Thanks mate!
I'm currently being owned by my exams. I have had 1, and I got another one tomorrow and the day after, then the final one a week after that :( So unfortunately, my painting has all but stopped. I have been able to squeeze a quick 20 minute session in here and there. And over the past week, it has accumulated to this:
I have all the base colours blocked in. They're ready for a black wash, which is the next step. I wont be touching them until Tuesday night / Wednesday...
Also, have you noticed the different shade of yellow between the Drop pod and Assault marines? most recent army pic spoilered below, to see the difference.
Spoiler:
The DP and Assault marines were the first units to be painted, so it was before I decided on the black wash... I gave them a sepia wash (? - maybe flesh wash) instead. The result is a more orangey yellow, rather than a dirty yellow. I'm going to wash them black when I sit down to do the Devastators, just to try and bring them inline with the current scheme.
I've finished my Devastators! I had to push a 2 hour painting session today to get them done. I moved a load of stuff out of my student place today, so I needed them done so I could box them up finished.
As you can see, I went back and washed and did some extra weathering to the Assault Marines and Drop Pod. The AM and DP are now the same shade of yellow as the rest of my IFs. Well, not quite the same shade, but significantly closer
I bought 5 clear plastic containers to pack my stuff into. My Fantasy stuff was spread between 2 boxes. They have a steel sheet which fits into the bottom, they are magnetised so they sit nicely on it. Then I packed up the rest of my stuff using the other 3:
Seriously tight squeeze! I got almost all of my White Scars in my carry case. The big things are bubble wrapped in the box. My spare foam fits snugly in the box, too. My X-wing and conquest also soak up a box. (I'm thinking of some foam for X-wing just to shrink down the amount of space it occupies). I had to carry my books/codices in seperate bags. And my paint...! Holy crap I have a lot of paint. Easily 120+ bottles! I know you guys have large collections. Pray you dont have to move it any time soon!
Devs are looking great, nice and beat up like any Son of Dorn should be!
I can sympathise the storage issues; I'll have some tough calls to make about what stuff to take to uni this year that will give me both painted stuff to game with and stuff to paint...
I loved following your P&M blogs, shame to see them end. Imperial fists are my favourite founding chapter so glad to see them painted so well. Will be eagerly waiting till September for more.
Nice work on the devs. Love the weathering. It might just be my recent experiment with it talking, but if you re-visit them, you might want to try some heat distress on the barrel of the HB that’s damaged. It looks like he was just leaning on the trigger mowing down gibbles, and didn’t give the gun time to cool between bursts. Hence the damage.
Storage boxes look like they are working for you. Probably the most cost efficient choice. And that is a ton of paint. Jealous.
I think I'm going to put a few heavy bolter teams on the base, and build it up like a forward defence line. The vulture is definately an air support vehicle, so it'd work in the sense that it's backing up the guardsmen. But i'm quite content to leave the flier bases for now in favour of completing the other stuff.
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awesome. So I was pretty much out of the hobby for 3 months. When I returned, however, it was the run up to the release of the current 
Loving the weathering on some of the marines, it's making me hungry to do some painting.
