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My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/04/18 02:28:32


Post by: Archer


I have been tossing around an ambitious modelling idea for about a year while I have been building my own home (yep foundation/frames/walls/paint/roof all done by yours truly). Now that I have finished the biggest modelling project I think I will ever do (yes I consider building my house a modelling project) and I have a warm dry place to hide my models I have decided to start the second biggest modelling project I will ever do and commit it to paper. It makes it very real to do this, but hopefully it will provide the motivation for me to stick with it.

A little background on me, I have been collecting, gaming and painting mini's for a long time, my first introduction was 2nd Edition AD&D and its few models, Rogue Trader and Warhammer in the early days. I have only been an on and off hobbyist in the last few years due to getting married, building a home, but now I plan on jumping back in with everything I have got. I am a patternmaker by trade so am very familiar with casting, molding, sculpting and the like and am an Industrial Designer from uni so have a good understanding of 3d modelling, sketching and color. This doesn't however translate to the painting of minis and I have always been a weaker painter than converter and gamer. But I am quick with the brushes and usually get a nice neat finish.

Now onto the plan...... I want to collect, assemble and paint a 2,000 point army for every codex (current crop that is, not ones like Catachan, Eye of Terror, Craftworld Eldar etc. etc.) and Army Book (I plan on including a Chaos Dwarf list from Tamurkhan or whatever it is from Forgeworld). Plus I want to do three Inquisitors and there retinue (one for Malleus, Hereticus and Xenos about 12 models plus Chimera) just because I can and fluff wise these 3 keep popping up all over the place so I though I should make models of them.

Now I have been accused of being crazy and overly ambitious, but many, many moons ago I was inspired by I think it was Rick Priestly in a White Dwarf from yesteryear that talked about collecting an army of models you like, to a theme you like, paint it, make a carrying case for the whole army and then stop. Use it against all comers, if people want to fight with a larger army then they can, you will just take your humble 2,000 point army (or stick a few armies together as allies). So this is what I am going to do. As rules and editions are updated and changed I plan to try and tweak the list as little as possible so the army is still usable. "Counts as" may become my friend in the future.

I have written a list for each army, competitiveness is up for debate, but that is not the point, I have never been much into the tournament scene so I am not after an ultra competitive army (oh the horror of not being competitively minded). I have then written a piece of fluff (probably poorly) explaining the goals/motivation/reason for the army (as an army approaches completeness I may expand on the fluff).

So what I will be using this post for is to document my long term goal with pictures, anecdotes and the like and hopefully some of the gaming community can come along for the ride. Support is hoped for, comments and criticism are welcome (go easy I have never been that great a painter) and general shenanigans are encouraged. Feel free to make comment on the fluff, I like to continually polish things as I go and if you feel the fluff isn't quite right or lacks something let me know. Or just let me know you like it!

Below are the races and proposed names of the Armies I plan on collecting:

Warhammer
Vampire Counts Army - The Ghoul Court of Strigany
Vampire Counts Army - Hunting Pack of Blood Keep
Vampire Counts Army - Mnemenorth's Slaves to Undeath
Vampire Counts Army - The Coven of Lahmian Excesses
Empire Army - The Obsidian Order
Empire Army - The Thunderous Cacophony, Artillery Train of Nuln
Empire Army - The Grand Province of Hochland
Bretonnian Army - Baron Reinholf’s Household
Bretonnian Army - The "Vain" Quest for the Grail, the 11th Crusade of Araby
Dwarf Army - The Throng of Kark Veng
Dwarf Army - The Gate Sentinels of Barrak Varr
Warriors of Chaos Army - Ashenvaal’s Revenge
Warriors of Chaos Army - The Flux
Warriors of Chaos Army - Flyblown Legion
Warriors of Chaos Army - The Blood Hunt
Warriors of Chaos Army - The Undenied
Lizardman Army - Guards of the Piranha Swamps
Lizardman Army - The Stampede of Huatl
Beastman Army - The Harvesters of Morrslieb
Beastman Army - The Cloven Ones of Morrslieb
Ogre Kingdoms Army - The Wondrous Caravan of the Traveller and his Maneaters
Ogre Kingdoms Army - The Gut March of Beasts
Orcs and Goblins Army - The Bloodfang Tribe
Orcs and Goblins Army - The Forked Moon Tribe
Orcs and Goblins Army - The Broken Arm Tribe
Skaven Army - Greypaw Hollow, Clan Skryre Research Warren
Skaven Army - Den of the Swaying Tail, Clan Eshin Training Warren
Skaven Army - The Fetid Grove, Clan Pestilence Distillery
Skaven Army - The Abomination Pits, Clan Moulder Breeding Den
Tomb Kings Army - The Bronze Host of Ka-Sabar
Tomb Kings Army - The Alabaster Army of Quatar
Chaos Dwarfs - Protectors of Hashut's Holy Places
Chaos Dwarf Army - The Tithe Collectors of Hashut
Daemons of Chaos Army - The Jailbreak of K'Z'Arkera'ss the Deceiver
Daemons of Chaos Army - Devotees to Be'Zul'Ab'Iz
Daemons of Chaos Army - The Blood Ravagers Court
Daemons of Chaos Army - The Rot Carnival
High Elf Army - The Hunters of Chrace
High Elf Army - Guardians of the White Tower
High Elf Army - The Everqueen's Court
High Elf Army - The Gate Wardens of Lothern
High Elf Army - The Dragon Riders of Caledor
High Elf Army - Lords of the Open Plains
High Elf Army - Ghosts of the Cursed Lands
Dark Elf Army - The Witch King's Guard
Dark Elf Army - The Slavers of Karond Kar
Dark Elf Army - The North Tower
Dark Elf Army - The "Nobility" of Hag Graef
Dark Elf Army - Khaine's Chosen of Har Ganeth
Dark Elf Army - Clar Karond's Carnival of Monsters
Dark Elf Army - The Black Ark "Harvester of Sorrow"
Wood Elf Army - The Kindred of Sethayla
Wood Elf Army - The Kindred of Selathoi
Wood Elf Army - The Kindred of Talu
Wood Elf Army - The Kindred of Auryaur
Wood Elf Army - The Spirits of Loren
Wood Elf Army - The Kindred of Arahain and Nymraif
Wood Elf Army - The Kindred of Caidath
Age of Sigmar
Idoneth Deepkin Army - The Soul Harvest of the Volcanic Ridge
Kharadron Overlords Army - The Glimmering Magnates
Stormcast Eternals Army - The Stormborn Companions
Ossiarch Bonereapers Army - The Cohort of Ash
Sons of Behemat - The War Shouter Tribe

Warhammer 40,000
Orks Army - Kaptin Grimskraga's Razorfangs
Tyranid Army - Hive Fleet 105_856EXTREMIS99B Codename: Acidica
Tyranid Army - Hive Fleet 105-866OMEGA Codename: Corrosiva
Genestealer Cult Army - Nomads of the Dusty Stars
Genestealer Cult Army - Home Fires of the Nomads
Astra Militarum Army - Murdoch's 5th Armoured Detachment, 34/87th Tullarium Armoured
Astra Militarum Army - 7th Abhuman Detachment, 17th Tullarium "Immovables" + Remnant of the 6th Tullarium Rifles "Lucky Few"
Necron Army - The Reclamation Legion of Tomb World Fordris
Sisters of Battle Army - The Albigensian Crusade
Grey Knights Army - The Purging of Skalathrax, Strike Force Varn
Ordos Malleus Inquisitor - Daemonhunter Grendl Oriens and Coterie
Ordos Xenos Inquisitor - Alien Savant Hiroko and Kill Team
Ordos Hereticus Inquisitor - Witchfinder Tasetus and Coven
Tau Army - The El’Res Schism
Tau Army - Fasight Enclaves - El'Pui Reactionary Battlesuit Cavalry
Tau Army - War Sphere Vawk Karaow - Kroot and Auxiliaries
Space Marines Army - Crusade Bacchus of the Black Templars
Iron Hands Army - Taskforce of the Garrsak Clan Company
Space Marines Army - Brotherhood of the Storm, White Scars 2nd Company
Space Marines Army - Imperial Fist 3rd Company Sentinels of Terra, Crusade of Thunder
Space Marines Army - Ultramarines 5th Company, Wardens of the Eastern Fringe
Space Marines Army - Raven Guard THe 8th & 10th Shadow Company, The Unseen & The Subtle
Space Marines Army - The Rok Hunters of Hemlock River, Salamanders Strike Force Helldrake
Dark Angels Army - Hunt for the Fallen
Blood Angel Army - Blood Angels Strike Force ‘Panacea’
Space Wolves Army – Bran Redmaw's Great Company ‘The Bloodmaws'
Space Marines Army - Primaris 3rd Company of the Silver Templar's Chapter 'The Swords of Novaris'
Adeptus Mechanicus Army - Voss Prime Acquisition Crusdae Alpha 4th Cohort Priesthood Expedition
Adeptus Mechanicus Army - Voss Prime Acquisition Crusdae Alpha 4th Cohort Skitarii War Maniple
Imperial Knights Army - Knight House Orhlacc, Scions of Wychval, Lords of Dark Haven
Deathwatch Army - Watch Force Borleos of the Ghoul Stars
Custodes and Sisters of Silence Army - The Gilded Talon Shield Company & Bone Tiger Cadre of the Outer Solar Vigil
Chaos Daemons Army - Be’Zul’Ab’Iz’s Host
Chaos Daemons Army - Jailers of K'Z'Arkera'ss the Deceiver
Chaos Daemons Army - The Blood Ravager and His Court of Skulls
Chaos Daemons Army - The Ringmaster and His Rot Carnival
Chaos Space Marines Army - XII Ambush Cell, Loyalists of the Twin Primarchs
Chaos Space Marines Army - World Eaters The World Eaters 7th, the Skulltakers
Thousand Sons Army - 4th Thrallband, 2nd Sect, Cult of Knowledge, 'The Sect of the Red Echo'
Chaos Space Marines Army - Iron Warriors Brittle Peak Garrison, 4th Company, 11th Chapter
Chaos Space Marines Army - Word Bearers The Iconoclastic Brotherhood
Chaos Space Marines Army - Emperors Children The Symphony of Excess
Chaos Space Marines Army - Night Lords The Black Hunt
Death Guard Army - The 4th Colony of the 5th Sepsis Cohort - 'The Putrid Blightlords'
Chaos Space Marines Army - Black Legion Abaddon's Spear Tip
Chaos Space Marines Army - Red Corsairs The Tyrant's Hunting Pack
Dark Eldar Army - Kabal of the Eyeless Depths
Dark Eldar Army - Void Masters of the Eyeless Depths
Dark Eldar Army - The Outcasts of the Kabal
Dark Eldar Army - Arena Champions of the Cult of the Envenomed Fang
Dark Eldar Army - Aerialists of the Envenomed Fang
Dark Eldar Army - Coven of the Twisted Limb
Dark Eldar Army - The Monstours Carnival of the Twisted Limb
Eldar Army - The Ghost Warriros of Yarn Le'ath
Eldar Army - Yarn Le'ath Wild Riders
Eldar Army - The Guiding Light of Yarn Le'ath
Eldar Army - The Loss of Yarn Le'ath
Eldar Army - The Outcasts from the Path
Eldar Army - Fury of Yarn Le'ath
Eldar Army - The Veiled Fist Corsairs, Outriders of Yarn Le'ath
Harlequins Army - The Great Delusion, Masque of the Veiled Path

I plan on doing one army at a time, I get too easily distracted so I need to focus my energies on one step at a time, so I will pick one, post up its army list and fluff and then go for it. Opinions on the army composition are welcomed, but please note theme and fluff and my model preference is more important than tabletop performance. I am up for making changes if people really think I should, but once the models are purchased that is it for changing (at least until the Codex or Army book gets changed).

Once a project is done I am up for suggestions on which one to do next. I am not following any set order, but would probably like to avoid horde armies back to back. I am only one man after all. I will try to include both Work In Progress photos when I remember, but want to focus more on the finished models. Feel free to ask about any of the proposed armies and I will let you know what their story is.

One other hobby/modelling thing I would like to do is make a few choice pieces of themed terrain for each army, nothing too much, or that would give an advantage, maybe some objective markers that can just add an extra flavor for when the army is on the tabletop. With this I would really appreciate some input from the community as to what they think I should do for each army.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/04/18 02:52:39


Post by: JWMarines


I find myself thinking too closely to your line of thinking for comfort some times. Like: hey I have all these space marines, wonder what I should do with them?? I know! I'll make a whole company + support detatchments! Needless to say, the notion of overly ambitious projects appeals to me highly. Cheers to not being so tied to uber competitive lists, I like a great looking, appealing army that you can learn to win with, rather than min-maxing the latest codex doo-dads. I'll be following your ambitiousness with interest. You can see mine in the link on my sig.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/04/18 11:25:25


Post by: backtat


I'm loving the names


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/04/18 12:59:46


Post by: Archer


Ok, it has been decided Imperial Guard are the first cab off the rank. I have attached the army list and fluff below for perusal and I have attached the first lot of images. Assembling everything I had kicking around I will only need to buy 4 Sentinels and 2 Chimeras (not bad since I have never been a guard player). Some of the models have paint that may need stripping, the tanks have undergone a little surgery to change weapon fits and I have converted two to become Leman Russ Exterminators for a little anti-infantry mayhem. Without further adieu:

2,000 Point Warhammer 40,000 Imperial Guard Army - Murdoch’s 5th Armoured Detachment, 34/87th Tullarium Armoured

Specialist Murdoch - [Lord Commisar], Power Weapon

7th Heavy Mounted Infantry ‘The Foot Sloggers’[Veteran Squad] - Veteran Sergeant Kreel and 9 Veterans, 3 armed with Grenade Launchers, Grenadiers, Chimera ‘AAV-11’
4th Heavy Mounted Infantry ‘Short Straw’[Veteran Squad] - Veteran Sergeant Pateel and 9 Veterans, 3 armed with Flamers, Grenadiers, Chimera ‘AAV-32’
5th Heavy Mounted Infantry ‘Lucky Spades’[Veteran Squad] - Veteran Sergeant Jaleel and 9 Veterans, 3 armed with Meltaguns, Grenadiers, Chimera ‘AAV-27’
21st Wayfinder Infantry ‘Slow Pokes’[Veteran Squad] - Veteran Sergeant Endeel and 9 Veterans, 3 armed with Sniper Rifles, Forward Sentries

1st Recon Squad ‘Eyes of the Brigade’ - 2 Scout Sentinels
18th Recon Squad ‘Brigade Guides’ - 2 Scout Sentinels
12th Recon Squad ‘Loose Cannons - 2 Scout Sentinels

3rd Close Support Division ‘The Exterminators’ [Leman Russ Squadron] - 2 Leman Russ Exterminators with Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Dozer Blades
11th Siege Spearhead ‘Glory Hounds’ [Leman Russ Squadron] - 2 Leman Russ Demolishers, Dozer Blades
56th Tank Hunter Division ‘Death Dealers’ [Leman Russ Squadron] - 2 Leman Russ Vanquishers both with Lascannons, Dozer Blades

Total List = 2,000 Points - 41 on Foot, 15 Vehicles

Tactics:

This list is a one trick pony. TANKS!!! The Leman Russ Tanks will be required to dominate the field, each variant will have a different task, but with their ability to move and fire they should be able to roll up the field taking all in their stride.

The Veterans in Chimera are to seize and hold objectives as the Tanks roll passed. They will only engage the enemy at range or suicide charge to protect a tank. The Lord Commissar will add a little close combat muscle. The Veterans on foot will sit on an objective as early as possible and use their Sniper Rifles to pin a high priority infantry target.

Priority targets are anything that can hurt the tanks. Other tanks, Melta and Lance Weapons, Monstrous Creatures, The Vanquishers will target other tanks, Exterminators will deal with infantry armed for anti-tank and the Demolishers will target anything else.

Background:

EDIT - Fluff has been moved to a different Thread see my signature below.




My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/04/20 02:52:19


Post by: JWMarines


I like how you name each group. Gives them some nice flavor.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/04/20 04:42:53


Post by: forrestfire


You're insane!

I'm loving this, from the names to the scale of the project to the "gotta catch em all" idea in the first place.

Subscribed, this looks like a fun journey to follow


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/04/25 22:48:24


Post by: Archer


Ok a quick update, didn't get as much done as I had hoped during ANZAC day, but had other duties so that was not a surprise. Planning on having my first ever game of sixth edition with the Imperial Guard (in fact first EVER game using the Imperial Guard). Will be going without 4 sentinels and 2 Chimera as I have yet to actually get these models (stupid slow paypal). Anyway on to some updates.....




My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/04/28 21:55:41


Post by: Archer


Had my first ever game of 6th Edition 40k on the weekend courtesy of NSW Northern Knights games club. Was a great day and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Was handed an absolute pummeling though, never recovered from a turn 1 drop pod with 5 Sternguard Vets loaded with melta or combi-meltas. A good scatter roll and say goodbye to both of the Demolishers.

The only unit that survived was the lone Chimera (I played at 1750 points because I am still waiting the remaining sentinels and Chimeras)


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/05/12 22:51:46


Post by: Archer


Well the Powers that be have been conspiring heavily against my progress in this project. I was struck down with a devastating flu that really knocked me about, now my wife has bronchitis that has put a dampener on things. However, I have managed over the previous weekend to make a little progress so I will post a couple of pics (low quality and poor lighting) showing where I am up to.

So to start with I have cut the foam in an old Games Workshop carry case to suit my needs and I will be able to put the entire army safely into one case, which is my intention for every army. They fit quite well with a little judicious cutting.



Next up are some close ups of the infantry fast approaching completion, forgive the poor lighting but it was late and I was in a hurry. But I believe the colours come through ok.


Sergeant of the boys in Red with CCW swapped.


One of the boys in Red.


A boy in Blue


A Green Veterans.

I just need to add the camo stripes to the black armour plates like the Chimera commander above, give the yellow an orange wash to tie it in better and the exposed flesh where needed and my Infantry are all done. SO close its painful.


Sniper Veteran, I am really happy with the way the Sniper Rifles turned out, if anyone wants to know how I did them I can post up some step by step photos.


Murdoch looking a little shiny for my liking, looks like his storm coat is latex........may need a drybrush or something to take the edge off.


All 41 of my infantry, getting close to finished. Need to start thinking of basing.



Most importantly I recently had the final components for the army arrive, God Bless Ebay. (2 Chimeras and 4 Sentinels)

So there you have it, I have not progressed like I had wanted to, but am glad I managed something. The major things I am contending with in the near future is what to base the army with. A couple of the tanks have had some snow effect (white flock) glued to the tracks and guards, don't ask me what possessed me many moons ago to do that. Since I am not really keen to try and scrape it off does anyone know if paint goes well with flock? Or should I just base everyone in a nice wintery theme? Thanks for the input.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/05/20 22:56:28


Post by: Archer


An exciting update, well at least for me. I have finished all of the infantry off and one of the Chimera's. What I mean by finished is all the models have had a coat of varnish and their bases have been modeled in some way. For this army I have gone for a snowy terrain with plenty of rocks and tundra grass to break up the stark whiteness. I am extremely happy with it and it helps to tie the army together. The tanks are also going to get a little snow drizzle here and there, but hopefully I don't overdo it.

I was a little concerned the army colors were a little rag-tag since they were second hand or half painted models. But with the consistent black armor plates and uniform basing I think they tie in well together. I am extremely happy with the way the Forward Sentry Vets camo-cloaks have come out. Will help me remember they have them now.

A friendly shout out to the staff of GW Parramatta for some useful tips on using the snowy flock.

Now onto the finished pics:

The Green Grenadiers, they have there transport finished. I am undecided if each of the Chimeras will have a commander out the top hatch.





Without a transport I have found the Meltas are just not effective, but once they are mounted up I feel they will become a much bigger threat.



Like the Meltas, the flamers lack range and mobility, but oh are they great at tearing mobs to pieces.



The Squad I am really happy with, the cloaks really make the unit and I like the Sniper Rifle conversions.





Finally my leader, I find that he isn't all that effective as I don't really want to assault and Imperial Guard units tend to die rather than have to take morale checks. Ah well practice makes perfect.




So that is where I stand so far. My plan is to now do the Leman Russ Tanks as they mostly need touch up paint work and the snow effects and that shouldn't take too long. Then I will do a pair of sentinels, a Chimera, a pair of sentinels etc. etc. until I am finished. I will keep people posted and hope that my posts are at least mildly entertaining to someone at the very least and people enjoy the journey.

Thanks for reading so far.

I really wish I could figure out photobuckets editing, it never seems to keep the changes I have made consistently, next time I am just going to photoshop them before upload.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/05/31 13:16:29


Post by: Archer


As usual I have failed miserably at keeping to my deadlines. But I have perservered and I must thank the interested parties for keeping me updating. It helps a lot when I think there are people interested in looking at the ramblings of a mad man.

I have now finished the Vanquishers and Exterminators (however I still need to add snow to the Exterminators. I finished them off today before jumping on a plane to Melbourne to attend my wife's, cousins wedding. What does that make her to me you ask? Well family of course.

Some pretty pictures......notice the fish tank of death in the background?























My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/05/31 13:50:16


Post by: Jihadnik


Those are some fantastic tanks mate, very inspiring! I play mech guard among others and some of those little coversions really stand out, especially the double tracks. I'm definitely going to copy the sniper rifle idea. I love snipers but hate the ratling models so that's a great option instead.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/06/25 22:34:03


Post by: Archer


Greetings to anyone still reading, it has been a little while since I have posted anything, I am not going anywhere, but I have had a few distractions. Mostly with Infinity. I had a demo game that intrigued me. Not sure if it has legs. But the models are nice and I picked up a box of Nomads. Time will tell if it goes anywhere....

Yes I know I am letting myself get distracted by all the wrong things.

Anyway, I have now finished off the last two Leman Russ, this time of the Demolisher variety and I have now also built all of the remaining units for the army (this is 2 Chimera and 4 more Sentinels totaling 6). I can definitely see an end to this army now and hopefully full steam ahead.

I was all set to have a game of 40K over at the NSW Northern Knights this coming Sunday and even get in an intro game to Infinity, but alas my Wife was born on this coming weekend and I nearly committed the cardinal sin of forgetting! Well not really her presents are all wrapped and I have decided on the cake I will make her, but I didn't consider maybe just maybe she wanted to do something on the Sunday! Ah well, maybe next time. On to some pictures:


My faithful Sentinel Pilots and their Canopies


The remainder of the Army to take it to the 2000 Point goal. I do intend to add some baggage and other adornments to them just like the 2 older black sentinels.


The two new Chimera, I didn't notice until I sat them next to the painted Chimera that they are actually a newer model, I didn't realize GW changed the design. Shows how much attention I pay.


Front view of the 'Howling Griffon rip off'


Is that an auspex in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?


The two Demolishers together, hopefully they will actually get to shoot something in their next game.

Well that is it for now, with the current Sydney weather it looks like I will get some good painting time. I am meant to be building a new aviary for my Zebra finches, but if it keeps raining that will be on hold and the Imperial Guard may, just may get another army.

I appreciate the comments & criticisms. I appreciate any advice or opinion. In regard to the snow I have had a couple of opinions from other sources (read other sites), firstly, a couple of the tanks already had a fair bit of snow and gunge stuck to them (ah a misspent youth) and I had a half hearted attempt at getting rid of it. Instead I went the other way and made them all look alike. I can explain it away to myself as it is a snap shot of the tanks as they warm up to move out rather after having sat for a while.....yeah I know but it makes me sleep better at night

Any way, thanks for reading and keep the comments coming. Soon will run a little poll to see which army gets the treatment (and I promise less snow next time, well that depends on which army I do....)


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/06/26 02:09:08


Post by: Freytag93


I hope you keep working through this insane project of yours. I can't wait to see what you do next.
Random question for your guard: why did you choose to make each tank a different colour?
I think the snow effects look good, though I personally never liked the GW snow. I've found that adding some baking soda/PVA makes it look slightly more realistic. Just food for thought.
Keep up the good work


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/06/26 02:31:11


Post by: Archer


The "choice" of making the tanks different colors came from first of all necessity. This army was made from a hodge podge mix of second hand, previously painted and half destroyed vehicles. The paint is pretty crude in some places (not applied by me I swear).

Therefore, when I came to look at this idea of building a lot of armies I assessed what I had in my collection and built armies around them. So some armies will be less effective because of this, but it saves me time and money.

Besides, all the stories and what not keep going on and on about how each tank is a precious commodity and serves as a shrine in its own right, so I had no compunction about having different coloured tanks. Although since I have unpainted Chimera and Sentinels I am thinking of painting them the same as they are not as important a figure as the Leman Russ.

Any thoughts? (although it is obviously a bit late to redo the tanks)


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/07/07 22:44:03


Post by: Archer


The latest update and getting close to the end. Although I spent the weekend helping to celebrate a friends 30th birthday in the Blue Mountains I have managed to finish off the Sentinels and I must say I am extremely happy with them. A much more unified color scheme than the tanks of the army, but it does help to distinguish that the tanks are important and individual icons. On with the pictures:

With 6 Sentinels I really hope to distract the enemy. The extra scout move can help them appear as a threat very early on and hopefully they can act as a screen or better yet get in the way of deep striking units.


All the Sentinels together, one big happy family.

I have used different colored blue stripes to differentiate the Sentinel Units. I hope it looks a little like what I did to the Veteran's armor and help tie it all together.

The Light Blues:




The Mid Blues:




The Dark Blues:




Well that leaves me with the two remaining Chimera to finish off and this army is done. Don't want to celebrate too soon.

I have also managed another 2 games with the Guard, this time I used everything except the above mentioned Chimera (although at this time the Sentinels hadn't been completely painted boo hiss). Both opponents knew what my army contained, but neither did any specific army tailoring. That definitely cost my first opponent dearly.

Orks were my first opponents. An all infantry foot slogging horde, very intimidating as your opponent sets up hundreds of Boys and requires a bucket to scoop them on. However, I have come to the conclusion that this army is an anti-horde one and he also needed a shovel to take them off the board. It did get touch and go towards the middle of the game, but between the Demolishers and Exterminators I was in control for most of the battle.

I next battled Tyranids and it was a much closer run thing, although I was able to clear out the little bugs pretty quickly (I have decided I REALLY hate Hormagants) I struggled with the bigger bugs. The Vanquishers though did me proud, as did my rolling, managing to blow chunks out of Carnifex and Trygon. This could have gone either way, but I think it was fitting to end a draw.

All in all I am happy with how things are developing and will welcome the step up to 2,000 Points and a little bit of protection and mobility to the other two Grenadier Vets.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/07/09 23:28:33


Post by: Archer


I have managed it, I have actually finished the first of the army's in this crazy plan. Yay me! I have yet to take some shots of the whole army together, but I have got some of the Chimera which were the only outstanding models after the Sentinel update. So here they are:


All 3 of the Chimera together, as previously stated as generic vehicles (unlike the Leman Russ which are supposed to be important) I went with a fairly consistent scheme. I am quite happy about how the three different variations worked out, my paint is starting to get quite thick and is more than likely in serious need of replacement. Anyway, different patterns and weapon fits to help identify them on the tabletop. The Flamer Vets obviously get the twin flamer Chimera for lots of toasty fun.


Close up of the Flamer Chimera, hopefully with 3 Flamers and 2 Heavy Flamers I can clear any horde off an objective without delay.


The 'generic' Chimera, standard weapons for standard performance. And yes that is a dreadnought in the background, I may just have already started the next army....


You have seen him before, but I like him, its the Boys in Green transport and commander. It was this model that was painted some time ago that inspired the paint scheme for the Vets.


To give a bit of variety and extra interest to the Chimera's I painted a spare Veteran to be glued into the back of each Chimera. Also helps to remind me of which squad goes with which Chimera as I am liable to forget, sometimes I really wonder about my short term memory. I mean you would think it isn't hard to remember to take a cake out of the oven and lock the bathroom door and... oh wait.. what was I doing again?


I was actually amazed that I could get the models to fit without any work, I love it when a plan is easy.

So, army done or at least almost. It will be done once I have taken some photos of the army as a whole, that is the point of the project, get them to tabletop standard so they look good as a combined force, won't win any prizes on an individual level, but hopefully they look good as a whole. Will probably take a whole army shot, then break them down into HQ, Elites, Troops, Fast Attack and Heavy Support. I have also tested it and they fit really well into a single case which was the plan from the start.

So it's time to move onto the next project and unfortunately valiant reader I am being a tyrant (yep the power is going to my head) and you don't get a choice, it is the Space Marines next, or more specifically the Iron Hands. Stay tuned.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/07/10 00:22:57


Post by: alabamaheretic


ncie man i will follow this i do like how you used the storm troopers as carapace vets very fitting...actually i like how all your leman russes have a different paint job it shows them to have character.

so i think you need a techmarine on a bike cause well...that sounds cool.
i actually like the snow on them it does look like they have been sitting and they are warming them up for the battle.

glad you had two great games with your guard.

keep it up and will be posting and following this.

bama


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/07/10 22:34:45


Post by: Archer


A big update today, well two updates if you behave and I have time. Firstly, the final photos of Murdoch and his boys. The Imperial Guard are finished. The following photos show the army in all its snowy glory. I have also broken them down into their FOC for a slightly (only slightly) close up.

The Army in all its glory:


Aerial Surveillance of the army


HQ - Murdoch loves to lead from the front (and unsurprisingly get squished.....)


No Elites made the cut for this army.

Troops - The faithful grunts, dedicated objective holders and general nuisances.






Fast Attack - I really love Sentinels, I would rate them amongst the best in the Imperial Guard range, just something about the quirky Egg on Legs look.


Heavy Support - The game winners, plain and simple, my success hinges on how these guys perform.


Although they do look impressive whether they succeed or not....


So there you have it, my 2,000 Point Imperial Guard army, tank heavy and loving it. Thanks for sharing the journey and stay tuned for Chapter 2 - Space Marines (read Iron Hands)


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/07/10 22:40:22


Post by: alabamaheretic


looks great man glad i found this at the beginning and dont have to tread through the mass .

I really like how it came together.

Did you get the case made correctly or is that still in the works?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/07/10 22:53:37


Post by: Archer


To some it may seem like I don't actually work, but I do honest. But I bring you the next in the series of my Crazy Army plan. Space Marines or as many like to call them Vanilla Marines. I have always for some reason been drawn to the men of Medusa and so I will undertake an army of the Iron Hands Chapter. Lots of Techmarines and Dreadnoughts, I would have liked to include some Terminators, but since the fluff talks about them usually being squad leaders I decided to leave them at home, ah well more room for Dreadnoughts.

You may have noticed my readers aren't getting a choice here, this is largely due to this army (like the Guard) being close to complete model wise and therefore is the cheapest option for me. After the Marines though I only have a few choice pieces floating around and therefore I will be open to suggestions. Probably want to jump game systems though and do a Warhammer Fantasy Army next. My wife likes Knights so the Empire is out in front already.

Anyway enough rambling the Iron Hands list:

2,000 Point Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine Army - Taskforce of the Garrsak Clan Company ‘Skythaal Incident’

Iron Father Metral Locus - [Master of the Forge], Conversion Beamer, 2 Servitors with Heavy Bolters

Techmarine Sprockus - Full Servo Harness, Power Weapon, 3 Servitors
Venerable Dreadnought Ferris Maxis - Assault Cannon, Drop Pod
Dreadnought Noferrus - Twin-Linked Lascannon, Missile Launcher

Clave Cognus - Sergeant Cognus w/ Combi-Melta, 9 Space Marines, Missile Launcher, Flamer, Rhino 'Ironhide'
Clave Foundrix - Sergeant Foundrix w/Combi-Melta, 9 Space Marines, Missile Launcher, Flamer, Rhino 'Invex'
Clave Fettlix - Veteran Sergeant Fettlix w/ Combi-Melta, 9 Space Marines, Missile Launcher, Flamer

Clave Metalex - Sergeant Metalex, 7 Space Marine Bikers, 2 Meltaguns, Attack Bike with Multimelta

Ironclad Ferritic - Drop Pod, Ironclad Assault Launchers, Hunter Killer Missile
Dreadnought Forgus Minux - Drop Pod
Fury of the Forge - Techmarine Pattex Makex with Thunderfire Cannon

Total List = 2,000 Points - 38 on Foot, 10 Mounted, 17 Vehicles

Tactics:
The Army will make an armoured spearhead advance. The high number of armoured targets will hopefully confuse the enemy.

The Thunderfire and Master of the Forge will hold a corner and steadily destroy high priority targets. The infantry tactical squad will make a steady advance as 2 combat squads. The Rhinos and Tactical squads will race ahead, disembark and begin laying cover fire. The Rhinos will remain close for extraction or ablative armour.

The Multi-Melta Dread, Venerable and Ironclad will Drop next to each other for support and the tip of the spear. The other dread will advance with the Techmarine for support and repair; they will link with the other dreads.

The Bikes will target armour or light infantry as needed. They will run escort to the Rhino mounted Tactical Squads to ensure their safe arrival.

Hopefully having to fend off the constant threat of the Dreadnoughts will allow the rest of the army to achieve its goals and carry the day. Or if the dreads are ignored they will have a field day with their close range armaments.

For the Background fluff follow the link in my signature....


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So onto some Space Marine pictures, as previously said I have a lot of this army, in fact to complete the models I need to buy: 3 Drop Pods, an Ironclad Dreadnought, a Thunderfire Cannon and 3 Bikes.

So my painting station with the troops and existing bikes all in need of some TLC


The centerpiece of the army, only missing the Ironclad, I have cannibalized the banners from previous projects and I think they are suitably ornate. I have one left over for the Ironclad which I take as a sign that it was meant to be.


Ranged Support


The junior Dread


The Venerable Dread (obviously I have already painted this guy)


My Iron Father and Servitors with his converted over the top conversion beamer


Techmarine and Servitors


Some of the minor conversions I have done to represent the Iron Hands 'flesh is weak attitude' I also have an Iron Hands conversion kit mixed in as well, the Combi Meltas are all conversions on the Sergeants.


So that is where I stand with the Marines, will hopefully be a little quicker with these guys, their color scheme is pretty simple. Just need to buy some more black paint.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/07/10 23:10:02


Post by: alabamaheretic


thats a really awesome. love the vendread

i vote for dark elves next


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/07/11 00:44:57


Post by: Archer


Dark Elves are an interesting choice as with all pointy ear armies (High Elves, Dark Elves, Wood Elves, Dark Eldar and Eldar) I plan on doing 7 armies for each......

The Eldar are easy, one for each major craftworld variation, the Dark Elves will be influenced by each of their cities plus a Black Ark crew, Wood Elves based around the Kindreds and so on, will eventually post up the Pointy Eared army lists once I get them sorted like the rest of the armies.

(If you haven't figured it out I have a thing for the pointy ears)


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/07/11 00:55:29


Post by: alabamaheretic


i see this its all good my other suggestionw oudl of been skaven it was a hard decision to say the least


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/07/11 02:31:23


Post by: The Good Green


I love the ambition of this project. To be honest, I'm quite jealous that you can actually accomplish this in such a timely manner. I love Murdoch's stolen uniform and how based on fluff the armies are.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/08/07 22:27:58


Post by: Archer


It has been a little while since I posted anything, alas life gets in the way of the little men. Anyway, I have managed to do a little bit of work on the Iron Hands, oh how I wish I was further along. The biggest speed hump I encountered is I ran out of black paint! Not sure how I hadn't noticed the most important color for an Iron Hands army was running low. So I trundled off to the store to replace it. I am aware that GW has changed there paint ranges a couple of times since I last bought paint. But the size of the range is really quite overwhelming. Not sure if they even still sell some of the paints I am using..... but I guess black is still black, well until the hippies get a hold of it and make it rainbow so no harm done with the color pallet yet.

I have managed to finish off the Venerable Dreadnought (he only needed his base improved) and I have finished the TL Lascannon and Missile Launcher armed Dreadnought (who began his life as a twin-power fist Crimson Fist Dreadnought from Forgeworld). I also took a little time to paint up some craters (alas I cannot claim ownership of the modelling, they are again Forgeworld sculpts) and I am really happy with the way they have turned out.

On to the pictures:


The Two Dreads wandering through the crater strewn landscape


Aerial view of the Dreads and craters


The Venerable and his new base


Rear view of the Venerable showing some of the devotional script he is plastered with


This is what happens when you cross a Venerable Dreadnought (or at least I hope it does!)


The ranged Dreadnought


Detail of the Ranged Dreads banner (I think more work went into the banners of the Dreads than into the Dreads themselves, oops)


Surveying the carnage of the battlefield

So there is my progress so far. Not as much as I wanted by this stage, but good to be back at the painting table. I have also been looking at transport options as the one I am currently using for the Imperial Guard is just not going to cut it long term. I did say way back at the beginning of the project that I would do custom cases for each army and that is exactly what I am going to do. I have sourced some suitable foam and designed a hinged box that will house each army safely and securely. Only a matter of securing funding and away I go.

Thanks for your time and hope you like the updates.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/08/08 09:28:50


Post by: DarkSoldier


The first thing that popped into my head when I saw your tanks was "Dude, your tanks have gone moldy."


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/08/08 22:16:41


Post by: Archer


Eh, I may have gone a tad overboard with the snow effect on the tanks, but en mass it doesn't look so bad.

However, I am not to unhappy with how they turned out. Snow does have an ability to crust and cake onto things that have been sitting for a while. That was the look I was going for.

Anyway, they are a done and dusted army now and for the tabletop. The Iron Hands are where my focus is now.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/08/12 06:21:59


Post by: Freytag93


Keep up the good work man! I love watching this thread.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/08/18 22:31:28


Post by: Archer


Well its that time again. I have managed to steal a few hours to put the finishing touches onto some more models. Unfortunately it's only 2 at this stage, but it is an important two. First up we have the most basic of the armies Dreadnoughts, the Junior of the team, armed with a Multi-melta and Powerfist and eventually to be loaded into a drop pod I expect him to be a one hit wonder, land behind some nasty vehicle or squad and hopefully put an end to them before the poor dreadnought bites the dust.



He isn't as grand as the previous two dreads, but that is the idea, he isn't venerable like the other two, he is a newbie and has to earn his stripes.

The next model that is completed is the leader of my army, the Master of the Forge (or in the case of the Iron Hands, an Iron Father) with his insanely large conversion beamer. I am personally really happy with the over the top look of the weapon.



So I am holding out for the new Space Marine Codex to see what changes will be wrought and how easily my army list can be modified to suit the changes, it will be the first test as to whether my plan will be able to adapt to the evolving rules and still keep its fluff. I am really keen that there will be individual Chapter traits again, but I so hope they don't remove the ability of the Master of the Forge to take Dreadnoughts as Elites or Heavy Support, that would really change the army around. But will have to wait and see. Also I would love to see Terminator Sergeants reintroduced, but that would be a minor tweak to the list.

I am about an hour away from finishing the first tactical squad off and another hour or so will see their rhino finished as well. I then plan to knuckle down and get the other two tac squads and one rhino done. That will then leave me the bikes I already have and I will hold off on further purchases until I know where I stand rules-wise with the new codex (would hate to buy the Ironclad and find I can't fit it into the army).

On a side note, I played a 1750 point game with my Imperial Guard against a beautifully painted Dark Eldar army at the NSW Northern Knights club on Sunday, great game and I had some insane dice roles early on that really put me on the front foot. Although there was one Ravager that must have made more than 10 flickerfield saves in 3 turns and it survived to the end of the game. But once the smoke had cleared I had done enough to secure a solid victory, unfortunately the Dark Eldar were just not suited to deal with so much armour.



My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/08/21 22:23:01


Post by: Archer


I hope to keep updates coming at fairly regular intervals, particularly as my Tactical Marine color scheme is pretty damned simple. Who would have thought that black was the new black?

This update sees the first of my Tactical Squads and their faithful Rhino. The squad was done a couple of days ago, but I waited til I had their Rhino finished to post them all together.

For those interested, this will actually be my first EVER power armored army, yep, really. Never used the Space Marines before (I sold my soul to the Eldar many, many moons ago) I still feel a little unclean with all this heavy armor, but can't wait to laugh in the face of the dice gods with 3+ saves everywhere. (Please dice gods don't hold it against me, I was only trying to be a big man and show off to my friends).

On to the photos:

Here we see the squad posing with the first Venerable Dreadnought (can't seem to get that guy out of the camera). You can see the Sergeant with his combi-melta on the left with a quick banner. There are quite a few "bionic" upgrades throughout the squad that don't show up too well in this photo unfortunately.


This is a close up of three of the Marines showing off there bionic leg, hand, leg (from left to right), I figured with mechandrites common in the Adeptus Mechanicus it wasn't too much of a stretch the Iron Hands would have smaller scale ones.


Here we see the squad getting out of their Rhino, I have no illusion that on the tabletop they instead will be disembarking from a flaming wreck most of the time. But hey, you have to at least try.....


Front view of the Rhino, like the squad fairly basic, but with the effort I put into the Dreads and Iron Father I needed to just relax and knock out a few marines, please don't hold it against me.


Back side of the Rhino, the top hatch and rear ramp aren't secured, this means I can put a member of the squad inside during game play so I don't forget who is who. Anything to help my failing memory. It didn't show up well, but I am really stoked by how the tarp rolled up on the back came up, best part of the whole Rhino.


Last photo for this update, the Rhino interior. I love how the interior of some of the vehicles have been detailed. It adds an extra depth to the models that I really enjoyed painting.


In fact, it may sound strange, but I actually really enjoyed painting the Rhino, I would go so far as to say it has been my favorite model so far, not really sure why, but I am strange like that.

So that is it for now, currently I am painting the two Heavy Bolter Servitors that are going to accompany the Iron Father and then I will paint the second tactical squad and their Rhino, then if I stay of track the final tactical squad who were too poor to get a Rhino. But I do have a Necromunda gang that I want to rebase.....

Thanks for reading.



My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/09/22 22:59:13


Post by: Archer


Well it has been quite a while since I have updated my progress, largely due to there being very little progress going on. [Insert witty and completely believable excuse here]. Oh, oh wait pick me, pick me! I have one. Well you see my wife and I have a young German Short Haired Pointer (she is 9 months old now) but still as crazy as a puppy can be. So full of energy and life. But unfortunately she decided to tangle with a snake a couple of weeks back and it looked very grim for a little while, but all turned out well, she is about 99% back to her old mischievous self and we have managed to deal with the Vet bills a lot easier than I had thought. Unfortunately the snake didn't come off too well with the encounter and did not survive, so I guess that is Puppy 1, Snake 0. (Just lucky it was this type of snake and not one of the more aggressive and deadly varieties that our sunburnt country can offer).

It was the biggest example of its species that I have ever seen in person, was a beautiful specimen though, very healthy looking and probably explains why it got so touch and go with our dog. Internet Cookie for anyone that can name the species (I am looking at you Aussies). On a side note those are my shoes and I wear size 12's US. So it worked out to be about 1.2 meters long. I did put a tape measure next to it later, but numbnuts forgot to take a picture of that.


It was surprisingly heavy. Wasn't expecting that from the snake, although it was pretty long.


Hmmm, I believe they can get longer, but it was the longest I have seen with my own eyes.

ANYWAY, back to the modelling. I have had a little success rolling forward, but what with my gaming club being fairly active and an all day Saturday event, my painting has been suffering as my gaming has been going ok. I was handed to comfortable losses to Blood Angels and then Dark Angels (I hate their Special Characters) I have learned though that I need to castle up my Imperial Guard. In both games I started REALLY well, few casualties and some good kills. But with my army divided it was easier for the Marines to divide and conquer. I needed to pick a corner and bunker down, letting them come to my guns rather than them being able to duck and weave around picking me apart piecemeal. But hopefully the lessons have been learned and next time a wall of Lasguns and Leman Russ will meet them. On a side note I love outflanking Sentinels, can be such a royal pain in the ass.

Other lessons I learned was that I really needed my own objective markers, it was a little embarrassing having to borrow someone else's, even though it was a cool Terminator statue. So I took a break from the Marines and threw together some objective markers, I also decided I needed to make some markers for smoke launchers and something a little more cinematic for hull point counters. These are still a work in progress so stay tuned for them, but at least the objective markers have been finished.


So I may have gone overboard making 10, but like many hobbyists know you end up with such a ridiculous amount of spare parts I couldn't help myself. Another Internet cookie to however can identify the podium with the blue top (its not that hard)


Extra supplies, quick load them up!


Had these things for a long time now. Good to put them to use.


Never realized how many jerry cans I had in my bits box.

I also have finished the second of three tactical squads, this one has a few conversions for bionics that I am pretty happy with, particularly the giant eye on the Sergeant.



To keep things fresh I have been cycling in some terrain pieces that have been in need of finishing for quite some time. Like the craters shown previously this one got a very similar paint job to tie it all together.



I really think some good terrain and painted models look awesome together (yes I am blowing my own trumpet).





You may notice in that previous photo there was a terminator. Well when the new Codex dropped I found I had a few points to spend compared to my new list. I racked my brains on what to spend the points on and realized I wanted something to really take advantage of the new Iron Hands Chapter Traits. Therefore I could think of little better than a Terminator Captain. He will lead the Tactical Squad without a Transport and with IWND and FNP, plus a 2+/4++ I think/hope he will be a rock for the squad. Yes there could have been better things to spend the points on and maybe he won't be that effective, but damn it I loved when Iron Hands could have Terminator Sergeants and this is as close as I can get.


Plus I think I did a great job on his conversions. I love his half mechanical face.


A little pattern to break up the black.


So a bionic arm and leg (see previous photo) and a bionic face. A true son of Medusa.

Finally on the new painting side a Rhino for the Tactical Squad to roll around in. I did a little more to this one than the previous Rhino.




The new Tactical Squad have that hammer on their Shoulder. Makes it easier for me to tell what squad is where, even though they are all armed exactly the same.....


I have exactly no idea what Medusa would look like from space, but a stylized planet helped break up the large black areas.

On a side note I have gone back over the Dreadnoughts and previous Rhino and given them all Searchlights and Smoke Launchers. I am a big fan of WYSIWYG so it was only appropriate that I follow the Imperial Guard and makes sure everyone is carrying what they are equipped with and it may actually help me remember to use the upgrades in game (even if they are free).

So that has been my progress and life since the last update. On an encouraging note I now actually own all the models I need to finish this army. So on the cards I have:
8 Bikes and an Attack Bike
3 Drop Pods
Techmarine with Servo Harness and 3 Servitors
Tactical Squad
Thunderfire Cannon and Techmarine
Ironclad Dreadnought

Gee that is depressing, really though I had made a lot more progress than that. Need to get back to the painting table. Or at least try. Think I will try to knock off the Techmarine and his Servitors next. Then do the last Tactical Squad.

Wish me luck and its good to be back posting.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/09/22 23:29:46


Post by: alabamaheretic


woo those markers look mighty fancy man glad to see this is still kicking.

sorry to hear about your dog though glad she is doing better...i dunno man when you showed the length of the snake onoly thing i could think of was can we eat it lol.

keep up the slow progress... slow progress is better than no progress


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/10/10 01:28:59


Post by: Archer


Before I begin I apologize for the shocking photography of this update, I was a little rushed this morning and instead of putting the update off until tomorrow I stubbornly have gone ahead with it....

Well it is time for another update, I had a long weekend and managed to even get some painting done, amongst doing a fair amount of clearing of my property in preparation of the bush fire season. Yes, yes it is a little later in the year than I was planning, but a combination of things have been keeping me from what I should have been doing. Anyway, long story short I have had a very productive long weekend and here are the hobby results:

First up some in progress work on the Drop Pods, I tried something a little different here and did the silver first (white undercoat, some sort of silver, then a black wash over the top). This is mainly due to me starting to run out of black paint and being too lazy to go get more, the plan was then to paint the sections in black, thus conserving more of the rapidly dwindling black paint. It works from a distance, but unfortunately I am having a hell of a time trying to get the black paint to go on smoothly, I have tried thinning it down, but I am still getting streaks, lumps and bumps. Should have bitten the bullet and undercoated it in black to get it nice and smooth. There is still time to do it on the other two......



The one pod that has had black added to it. I really like the color scheme though even if the paint isn't playing ball. I think it is enough black to fit the rest of the army, but enough silver to not have it look like a black blob from a distance. I have been painting the outsides only and will move to the inside once I have finished the exterior. Maybe not the best way to play it, but damn if a drop pod is an involved and detailed model.



Next up is the Techmarine and his Servitor Cannon Fodder....I mean assistants. I continued the Armour color scheme from the Master of the Forge, that being a brass/bronze armor where the Shoulder pads and backpack have the Black and Silver Chapter Colors. Helps them stand out from the crowd (because the four extra arms aren't enough). The Servitors are fairly bland to help the Techmarine pop a little. You can see them wandering past an oil tank that has sprung a leak. I am finding the motivation to keep going is assisted by having a piece of terrain going at the same time.



Alternate angle:



Close Up of the Techmarine, prize goes to anyone that knows the pieces used to make this Techmarine (may be hard considering the shocking photography), I thought it kind of fitting since the Iron Hands use their Techmarines (Iron Fathers) as a Spiritual Leader as well.



Next we have the Thunderfire Cannon, probably the model I have enjoyed painting the most thus far in the project. I sorely considered getting another one.....but the list is set so I forgot about that idea. I got this model off eBay from the UK, only paid about AUS$40 for it and its the metal version, way better than the AUS$90 they want for the finecast one. Anyway, the vendor claimed "well painted" when it turned up it was in pieces with a shocking paint job and what seemed to be no mold lines or flash cleaned off it. Felt like saying something to him, but reminded myself I saved $50 on it and being metal could easily strip the paint off it.



I continued with the red tipped missiles that this army has, as well as the white weapon casings.



Back view of the Thunderfire Cannon:



And finally for this update the three Techmarines all together for the first time. I think they work well together and are a fitting leadership group to the Iron Hands.



So I now have the following to finish off:

3 Drop Pods 15% done
8 Bikes assembled and undercoated
1 Attack Bike assembled and undercoated
10 Tactical Marines assembled
1 Ironclad Dreadnought assembled

I am hoping I can get this army done by the end of November and dedicate the Christmas period to hammering into an Empire Knightly Order army for Warhammer. Sorry folks the wife has spoken and she said she may even paint a knight or two, would be her first ever painting (she does play occasionally with my armies) so I am keen to introduce her to painting.

I don't hold out much hope I will get anything done over Christmas, we are off to a friends wedding in Sunny Scotland, leaving Sydney on Boxing day and spending all of my annual leave abroad. Any tips on what an Aussie can do in the middle of the UK over Christmas?

Oh on a side note and I forgot to take photos of them (will do it next time) I have made pillars of "smoke" to represent when a vehicle pops smoke (cotton wool soaked in spray fixative) and vehicle hull point markers that are columns of smoke and fire made from steel wool painted with red, orange and yellow highlights. They really help to make a visual emphasis of what a vehicle is actually up to.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/10/31 00:04:36


Post by: Archer


Hi all, hope there are still some interested souls out there. (Not that it matters as I am actually enjoying putting the updates up )

Anyway, I am going to do two updates today, this first one is related to Warhammer 40k in general (like the objective markers I made) but I have picture my creations with one of the humble Iron Hands Rhino's. So without further adieu:

Here we see a humble Rhino, just trying to survive in the world, minding its own business.



But to try and survive a little longer in a harsh and dangerous universe it POPS SMOKE!



But alas, even the smoke clears eventually and then every Tau and his Pulse Rifle want to have a crack..... 1 Hull Point down.



Uh-oh, another one lost.....



Damn, wrecked, looks like we are walking now guys.....



So basically you see I have made some visual props to keep track of vehicles that have popped smoke and hull points. I was getting sick of sticking a dice on top that could fall off, be forgotten (yes I admit it I am fallible). So it is now very hard for me to forget or ignore these little beauties. Really helps with the Imperial Guard as I have 9 vehicles and 6 walkers to keep track of. (And yes, I made enough smoke and hull point markers for ever vehicle to be wrecked with smoke at the same time).

I also think it improves the battlefield and reminds everyone of the fact vehicle wrecks are difficult as well as dangerous terrain.

Stay tuned for an Iron Hands update.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
How about that, a long absence and now two updates in one day, you lucky internet readers you.

I managed to finish off the Drop Pods for the Iron Hands army over the weekend. I am almost happy with them, I had some massive issues with my black paint going on really lumpy and horrible. I thinned it out with water, an acrylic medium but nothing seemed to work. I ended up biting the bullet and bought a new pot and guess what? It solved the issues, so I guess I must have gotten some form of contamination in the pot at some point or it was starting to go bad, who knows. I have taken a couple of photos of the nasty stuff just to show my issue.

Anyway, to start the three pods. I am really hoping to scare an opponent when two of these crash down first turn.



The paint scheme is VERY simple, but it ties in nicely with the rest of the army I think. Besides, after they deploy they are just expensive paper weights essentially.

Dreadnought attack! Here is what will be climbing it's way out of the pods for this army.....although the Dread up the back will be deployed on foot and the unpainted Ironclad will instead be pod bound.







As previously mentioned though, once the precious cargo has moved off (or more likely reduced to molten slag) the Pods themselves are just pretty, expensive paper weights. I need to think about dropping them in somewhere that inhibits my opponents ability to move. Since the pods are going to be purely for the Dreadnoughts I decided not to fit the center console and harnesses, that way it looks marginally like the pod could at least hold a dismantled dreadnought.



I didn't have the points available to afford a weapon upgrade, so the pods only have a storm bolter to harass the enemy with, although, if an opponent forgot it was there and exposed an AV10 vehicle they potentially (although unlikely) get a rude shock....



You can see here that the black paint is uneven and lumpy (from a distance its not too bad and its only one of the pods). Solved the issue with a new pot of paint.



Although I did the bases of the Pods all at once with the old paint so they are all a little uneven, but who is ever going to see the bottom of a drop pod?



So that is where I stand with the Iron Hands so far. I now have an Ironclad Dreadnought, Tactical Squad (who aren't important enough to get a Rhino, objective Campers anyone?) and a full Bike Squad with Attack Bike left to paint. I am going to try and hammer the Tactical Squad out for the rest of the week and weekend and if I can achieve that I believe I will be successful with finishing the Iron Hands by the end of November.

Hope you enjoyed the read.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/11/17 23:23:41


Post by: Archer


I had been holding off updating until I had more done, but after a VERY wet weekend building yet more fences to contain our over-excited puppy I have managed very little on the hobby front. Since we have had our four legged bundle of joy (now 14 months old) she has required the raising of our fence line from 4.5 feet to 7 feet. (That's about 300 meters of fencing), what we discovered last week however, after she got out again, was that she had now discovered a way to climb down the cliff that borders two of our properties edges.....she is a little too clever for her own good. So, out in the rain all weekend I have laid another 50 meters of fencing along the cliff edge she had been climbing down. Now I just hope she doesn't learn to fly or abseil as I am not looking forward to having to fence the entire cliff line. I was told German Short-Haired Pointers were active, smart dogs, but it is starting to get crazy, maybe I can teach her to play Warhammer? Please note we also have two other dogs on the property and they don't seem inclined in the slightest to want to go anywhere.

Anyway, I have finished off the final Tactical Squad who will accompany the Terminator Captain in most games (or at least a combat squad will). I have also continued with my plan to work on terrain as I go churning through my old and unloved terrain collection so I end up not only with painted armies but some cool painted terrain to fight over. So this update also sees the finish of a Citadel Wood that I didn't realize I had lying around. I think it is a sign of addiction when you forget what you have, right?

So on with some pictures:


Here we see the Tactical Squad, like the two previous they are armed with Missile Launcher, Flamer and Combi-Melta. They will likely combat squad to get the best use out of the Heavy and Special weapons. Unlike the other squads though they don't get a Rhino. Someone has to watch the base....also, with the recent addition of the Terminator Captain (after the points changes with the 6th Edition Codex) they will now follow him around when needed).


Here they have pushed their way through to the outskirts of the Woods I have finished. The area that the trees take up is quite extensive meaning they will make a great imposing feature on the tabletop. The bases for the trees are roughly 6" x 12" which is a pretty large area, put all three together and that is a fairly extensive piece of terrain. I think they have come out well, but they are pretty labor intensive with a lot of paint and time going into them.


The size of the trees is also pretty impressive, its great to have terrain that is actually in some sort of scale to the models, I like the fact also these trees are also capable of maybe hiding a dreadnought. Almost. Kind of.


A wide shot of all the woods and the tactical squad. Gives a pretty good example of how much of the table they would take up and how well they dwarf the marine models. I think so far these are the favorite piece of terrain I have done, purely for the impact they will have on the table top.

So that is what I have achieved since the last update, maybe I am spending too much time on terrain and not enough on the army. But I am finding it is keeping things fresh and a necessary break from the black and silver of the Iron Hands. I have also go the bike squad undercoated, with the silver trim and black wash done and have started blocking in the white for the weapons. So they are well on their way to being finished. Although I am taking the opportunity to randomly add the same check pattern on the Terminator Captain to areas of the bikes to break up the large panels a little and make them appear a little bit different.

So its the 18th of November hear and I have a Dreadnought and lets say 65% of the bikes squad left to paint. If i can focus and avoid any more terrain I am still confidant I can finish them by the end of November as planned.

I would like to also finish off their custom foam cases in December before my wife and I go away. That way I can start completely refreshed and with a clean slate in the new year. Wish me luck. Oh and I would like to start looking at making a hard case to hold the foam trays I am making, wonder if I can make a box that can hold the foams of an army allowing me to have one box and I just swap in and out what foams (and therefore what armies) are inside.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/11/20 18:06:59


Post by: Freytag93


I completely understand the dog problems mate. It is insane how much trouble they can get into, especially the small ones.

The Tac squad looks good, solid painting as always. I really like the woods. I think it stands out to me because you actually made it green and living, rather than how most people paint them as dead/burned. It really makes the models come to life. If I ever decide to buy terrain, I might pick up a set... *checks the GW website* those prices though...

I think something that may help you get motivated and stay focused on painting the army (especially marine armies, which I can't stand to paint) would be to add some freehand designs. It always helps to let yourself go outside the lines and get a little wild.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/11/20 18:35:15


Post by: master of asgard


A few reactions to reading this thread:
- You are insane.
- You are awesome.
- I like the double width Leman Russ tracks.
- I would change the name of the Dark Angels because it's only the 1st company who really know about the Fallen.
- And finally... What the hell does your missus think of your plan!?!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/11/20 18:55:58


Post by: Spartan-Kun


Please show how you did the double tracks please


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/11/20 21:07:50


Post by: Archer


Hey, nice to here from everyone. To answer a few questions that have been posed:

@freytag93
Yup, dogs can be crazy, but I wouldn't trade her for the world. 95% of the time she is an amazing well behaved dog.

I am really impressed by the Citadel Wood, but yes, prices for terrain are getting ridiculous, these trees have been kicking around for years, so not sure what I actually paid for them.

I have done a little freehand lines onto the bike squad which will be finished by this weekend, just to break up the big areas of black that I enjoyed doing.

@master of asgard
Yes I am insane :-)

Not really sure I am awesome, but my wife thinks so.

I really like the double tracks as well, here's to hoping the new Imperial Guard dex has Ace Tanks or similar.

Ah, you see the Dark Angel army has some fluff regarding the name and what is going on. If you go to the link to the fluff I am doing to accompany this plan it is about the 6th post down. You see its all a scheme to lure out the fallen and the rest of the army is simply bait.... I think the name suits quite well. Let me know your thoughts.

Well, my missus (wife) is very understanding and supports a lot of the crazy ideas I have, so long as I clean up after myself, keep making her nice things and let her call me a nerd every now and then she is cool. I have also convinced her to paint one of the models from the next army on the line. The Empire Knightly Order I am doing.

@ Spartan-Kun
Unfortunately I don't have any photos of putting the double tracks together, they were assembled some time ago and only just became an army in their own right. However, I do believe I have enough spare parts lying around of a Chimera I think that I can pull a small demonstration together, I will have a look and see. Stay Tuned.





My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/11/24 22:54:57


Post by: Archer


Well the tide is turning and I am hitting a pretty productive streak. Not only have I finished off the bikes, but I also managed to paint both of the arms for the Ironclad Dreadnought. This leaves me just the Ironclad Body and Legs for the Iron Hands army, yay!

Straight into some photos of the Bikes (please excuse the even more shocking quality of the photos than the normal shocking):


All ten mounted marines. 8 bikes and the essential attack bike. I am pretty sure I will ALWAYS combat squad these guys. Makes the best use out of their weapons.


Here is the first combat squad, Plasma gunner and Power Weapon on the Sergeant. I had wanted two Meltaguns, but since the upgrade kit comes with a melta and plasma I did the lazy thing and took one of each, not perhaps totally sensible, but I was at a low point in energy and I had run out of Meltaguns in my bits box.....so these guys will hunt heavy infantry I think, plasma at range at least until he overheats and then charge into assault and hope the power weapon pays for itself.


The second combat squad has eyes only for tanks and 2+ armour. With a Meltagun and Multi-Melta they should provide a pretty serious distraction that hopefully will draw some attention from the Dreadnoughts, especially with a couple of bold turbo boosts to draw attention. Well that is the plan anyway.

A lot of the bikes have been pieced back together from my bits box, therefore there are a lot of "bionics" ie. I didn't have the original pieces so I stuck something else in its place.... the following photos show this off a little.



Even Iron Hands feel the need for speed and a thrill every now and then, my totally out of character jumping biker.


Close ups of the Multi-Melta attack bike and Meltagun Biker.

I enjoyed painting these guys as well, the large areas of flat paneling allow for a little decoration to easily be added. I can understand the lure of a whole bike army. (White Scars anyone?) Well I am now down to the main part of the Ironclad and then these guys are ready for the foam storage trays.

My plan for the rest of this year is hopefully going to be:

- Finish the Ironclad (Obviously)
- Do the custom foam trays for the whole army (Did I post photos of the ones for the Imperial Guard Army? Need to check and I will do both at once)
- Work out a timber carry box that said foam trays will fit inside would be great to have one box per army, but with limited space I may try to do one box that can house any on the foams. Difficulty with that will be if the number of foam trays are really different from each other. Anyway, that will sort itself out once I have cut the foam for the Iron Hands. Then I will make my decision.
- I have started looking at options to do a modular transportable gaming table. So I will briefly look at this before I go on my trip overseas. I won't be devoting heaps of time to this project, it will definitely be a now and then idea.
- Begin collecting the parts for the Warhammer: The Empire army that is next up. All Knights and Demi-Gryphs. Effective? Probably not. Intimidating? Probably. Awesome looking? Definitely. Quick to do? You betcha.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/11/25 02:02:36


Post by: JWMarines


Man, when you hit a 'productive' streak you really crank out the models!

Good work


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/11/25 02:05:05


Post by: GrimDork


Wow, this looks to be a monumental undertaking, my favorite kind to watch

Clicked your blog link from the what are you doing today hobbywise thread (as I often do) and was pleasantly surprised to find such a cool project

Great work so far, I'm gonna have to go back through and read a little more closely, I'll be watching!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/12/01 22:12:50


Post by: Archer


I managed to do it, yup I finished the Iron Hands off by the end of November. (Yeah, yeah I know its December now, but I swear the Ironclad was done BEFORE December .

This means that I have now finished off my first EVER Space Marine army, and managed to trundle along to NSW Northern Knights to play my first ever game with a 3+ armor save, what a novelty. More on the battle later.

First of all here is the last piece of the puzzle, the Ironclad Dreadnought in all his shiny glory....









He is rocking a Powerfist and Seismic Hammer as well as the underslung Storm Bolter and Meltagun. He also has one Hunter Killer Missile, Frag Assault Launchers and the standard smoke launchers and searchlight. I think the model is awesome, the two fists makes it really bulky and far better proportioned than the standard Dreadnoughts.

So with the completion of the final Dreadnought the army is finished and ready for its custom foam case to be made up (already done one tray for the Rhinos and bikes).

Here is the army in all its black and silver glory:


The HQ of the army:

The Master of the Forge with Conversion Beamer and two gun servitors, Techmarine with servo harness and 3 servitors and a Terminator Captain.

Troops:

3 Tactical Squads and 2 Rhinos

Elites:

Venerable Dreadnought and Ironclad Dreadnought with 2 Drop Pods.

Fast Attack:

Bike Squad with attack Bike.

Heavy Support:

Venerable Dreadnought, Dreadnought with Drop Pod and Thunderfire Cannon.

I took them for there first game on Sunday at the NSW Northern Knights and I had high hopes for the power armored goodness. I wasn't disappointed, the Power Armour combined with their Iron Hands Chapter traits really kept them hanging in there.

We played a mission from the Battle Mission Book from 5th edition which was a nice change of pace. Unfortunately though, after holding 2 of the 3 objectives for most of the battle a determined Mephiston and an assault squad with Sanguinary Priest pushed me away from the central objective. My opponent ended up with no troops left (not a concern in this mission as once you had held an objective it was yours until your opponent took it back, think the Dawn of War computer game) and we ran out of time to continue the fight. I still had plenty of troops left, so maybe with more time I could have stolen the central objective back, but it was not to be, and there still was an angry Mephiston clinging to life jumping around like no one cared. I am beginning to hate that guy. Twice I have faced him now and both times I would say he was the difference between winning and losing for me. Ah next time he will cop a conversion beamer to the face.


Here were my glorious Iron Hands controlling 2/3rds of the board by turn 2. They stuck in there until the end of Turn 5 when we had to finish the game due to time.


I had my opponent penned in his deployment zone for much of the battle. I just couldn't keep him there and Mephiston and the Priest starting flexing their muscles.

SO there you have it. A completed Iron Hands army and their first battle. I am really happy with how they turned out and how they performed on the table. With some more experience and better tactics I am sure they won't fail me. (I mean really, who in there right mind advances on Blood Angels, damn I was stupid with that one, should of held back and made him come to me. All the while shooting the hell out of them. I just can't help myself).

I have started the custom foam trays for the Iron Hands and have finished the Imperial Guard ones. I need to do some form of carrying box so the rest of my year is going to be modelling accessories rather than models. So I plan on starting the Empire Knightly Order in the new year. I think I have had a successful year at the start of this project.

Thanks for reading and if I don't post again this year thank you to those of you who are reading. Stay safe and enjoy the festive time of year and I hope to kick off 2014 with a bang and get through even more armies.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/12/02 22:51:50


Post by: GiraffeX


Iron Hands are looking great, its nice to also see someone as mad as me project wise


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2013/12/02 23:29:08


Post by: GrimDork


Very cool, and grats on actually finishing something, it's harder to do than one might think


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/01/23 22:12:22


Post by: Archer


Happy New Year to all and I certainly hope your festive season was, well, festive.

I am back and almost running at full steam, I have finished assembling and cleaning the Horses for my first 16 Knights for the next army on the list - The Empire. I am taking a break (although hopefully brief) from 40k and am delving into the twisted world of Warhammer. To help me in this endeavor I am going to collect the following army:

2,000 Point Warhammer Fantasy Empire Army – The Obsidian Order

Grandmaster Garak ‘The Obsidian’ - Obsidian Blade, Obsidian Lodestone, Charmed Shield

Captain Jaegar ‘The Black’ - Battle Standard Bearer, Full Plate Armour, Lance, Barded Warhorse, Shield, Lichebone Pendant
Captain Balin ‘The Ebon’ - Full Plate Armour, Barded Warhorse, Obsidian Amulet, Relic Blade, Dragonhelm
Warrior Priest Mosiah - Heavy Armour, Barded Warhorse, Van Horstmann’s Speculum, Great Weapon, Shield

The Obsidian Inner Circle ‘Obsidian’s Guard’ - Inner Circle Preceptor Belial, Inner Circle Musician, Inner Circle Standard Bearer with Steel Standard, 6 Inner Circle Knights
The Black’s Guard - Preceptor Jorge, Musician, Standard Bearer, 6 Knights
The Ebon’s Guard - Preceptor Arne, Musician, Standard Bearer, 6 Knights
The Honour Guard - Preceptor Margariz, Musician, Standard Bearer, 6 Knights

Outcasts of the Order - Inner Circle Preceptor Mannuss, Inner Circle Musician, Inner Circle Standard Bearer, 3 Demigryph Knight, all 6 Demigryph Knights carry Halberds.

Total List = 2,000 Points - 46 Mounted

The current plan will be to spread the Characters out, one to each Regiment of Knights, This may change as I gain experience. I don't expect it to be even remotely competitive, especially if someone brings a level 4 Wizard Lord with them....but, I just want to see the look on someones face when I deploy the army. That and I believe the army will be fairly easy to paint quickly so I can get on to the next army. This year I really want to try and get 5 armies done. That's an improvement of 3 from last year, but I didn't have a full year last year and I also didn't 100% know what I was doing then either.

Anyway, since I have no pictures I would like to pose a question to anyone still out there interested. I am doing a Knightly Order called the Obsidian Order, how should I go about painting them? (In BLACK you moron!) Please keep in mind I just came off the back of an Iron Hands army so want to try and keep it away from just all black. The ideas I have had thus far are:

- The Knights are all black, but their horses have silver barding.
- Mix up Silver and Black ink to make a sort of metallic black and use this all over. <---- This is currently my favourite idea.
- Bite the bullet and paint them all black (I mean I named them right? I knew what I was getting into).
- Some brilliant individual has an even better idea? (Please, pretty please).
- Combination of the above.

I hope there are still interested readers out there and I apologize if I went dark for longer than I had intended. Look forward to entertaining you for 2014 and lets all make it a good one.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/01/24 00:27:40


Post by: GrimDork


Hmmmmmmm... maybe the silver black mix. Maybe with some normal silver spotted in too.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/01/24 00:36:49


Post by: LeadLegion


You sir, are an absolute nutter.

I salute you and wish you all the best.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And congratulations on completing the Iron Hands project.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/01 10:39:50


Post by: Archer


Well having had a lot of opinions and great ideas from the modelling community around me I present 4 concepts (they are really pretty similar, just slight difference) for painting the horses of my Knightly Order. Once I have sorted this out I will then work out how to do the riders.


This is the "Control" Model. It is simply black with a couple of gloss varnish coats. It is a really basic way of achieving the gloss black of Obsidian, but I am hoping to avoid it and get something a little more visually interesting.


This is my least favorite option. The red is a little too obvious and the black just looks like it has muddied up the armor.


Definitely a front runner, the green is there, but looks more like it is 'under' the black.


Another firm favourite (and my wife's choice) again it is mainly black with a nice blue highlight.

So, if the good people of the Hobby world would give me their wise and considered opinion on what way I should go and then I can move on to how to do the Knights themselves.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/01 14:00:34


Post by: GrimDork


I cast my vote with your Wife, usually a safe bet amirite I do like the look of that one the most though.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/03 21:28:02


Post by: Archer


Hi all,

I would like to thank everyone for their input and advice on the paint scheme front, some very inventive people out there. Some of the ideas are probably beyond my current painting abilities and therefore may be reserved for attempts on my characters.

With the 4 schemes painted above I seem to be getting mixed reactions (as in I think I have people voting for each of the 4 color schemes which I was hoping wouldn't happen).

So I pose another idea, I happen to have 4 regiments of Knights in the Army, should I do each regiment one of the 4 options or do you think it will divide the overall look of the army too much?

Thanks again for all the advice.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/03 22:01:04


Post by: GrimDork


My experience has been that, if the bases match, you can get away with most anything. Honestly I would try to pick one if I were you, but I know it's hard to do. I've had entire projects stall, for years and sometimes indefinitely, because of the question you're facing down.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/03 22:18:14


Post by: GiraffeX


I'm going to cast a vote on your wifes side, thats my favourite and remember the wife is never wrong lol


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/08 06:55:06


Post by: Freytag93


Personally, I like the red actually. But I agree that as long as the bases match, you can get away with having 4 different types. You could say that the under color is the province color that the knight was previously from before he swore his oaths (or something like that).


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/12 21:51:00


Post by: Archer


The hobby community has been a great help with the armor for my Knights horses. I have decided to go with the blue and black scheme (although I will likely tweak it a bit to bring more blue through the black, but that is another story). Now I need help in deciding how to do the armor of the Knights themselves. I have a couple of samples that I invite the community to have a look at.

Firstly, this is simply a black undercoat (with a bit of gloss) to see what pure black would look like. Now I am not a fan, I feel that the Knight and horse blend together too much. But it is a good control model.


I haven't done one up, but I guess the option would be to imitate the horses armor on the Knight as well, but I am concerned it will suffer the same as above and just blend together, I could try a really dark blue with sharp edge highlights as which continues to carry the bluish theme?

Onto some other ideas.....


A more traditional paint scheme for a knight (please note I didn't paint this guy, he is an eBay hand me down). It is definitely a contrast to the horse. Not sure if it is too much though. I like the use of blue on the ribbons and the like, ties it into the horse a little.


I don't mind the bronze look, I think it is a little more muted than the pure silver guy. Gold and black also go quite well together, again would use blue on the ribbons and leather to tie back to the horse.


On the idea of 'gold' going well with black, here is the bronze sample with gold highlighting added. It is quite startling, but maybe a bit much over the whole army? Maybe could be used on characters only and the rest of the guys are the duller bronze?

On that idea, maybe I could do the knights in either bronze (as above) OR a boltgun metal type with a heavy black wash and then the characters are in shining gold or mithril silver to have them stand out from the crowd?

Anyway, any and all opinions are welcome and very much appreciated. The only other test I might do is a dark blue armor and an armor exactly like the horse.

Last pic before I go, what I have ready for painting with this army......


All 36 Knights and two of the Characters (who will be a Warrior Priest and Grandmaster) to finish off the 2,000 Points I need 6 Demigryph Knights and the Empire General box so I can kit bash two Captains. So very close to having all the models bought. Oh and yes that is my take on a Salamanders Captain I did ages ago hiding in the top right of the photo, not sure how he got out of his box, but I think he is one of the best models I have ever done.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/12 22:12:49


Post by: GrimDork


That's a lot of prepped knights!

Hmm. Maybe try boltgun metal with a black wash or two, and then a lighter silver for your characters maybe?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/14 18:40:32


Post by: EyeamRai


I really love your crazy plan! This is the type of plan that I dream of doing myself. For now, I shall live vicariously through you. I like the blue though my vote would have been for the green because green is my favorite color.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/17 00:56:56


Post by: Archer


Thanks for the input. It is always a little crazy to jump into ambitious hobby plans with both feet.

However, I have been at this modelling game for a long time and thought it was time to focus my energies. I have so many models lying about that it was past time to collate them into usable armies. Therefore, some of the armies are almost done before I even get to them.

I would never discourage someone from trying to make their dreams reality, but as I say to a mate of mine, who has just started collecting (Space Wolves) and want to do "the entire Chapter", first things first, get a core together that you like using, then try to focus it towards a particular Great Company and then rinse and repeat. Small steps, this avoids the feeling of being overwhelmed.

Good luck with anything you do decide to do.



My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/17 22:18:25


Post by: Archer


Well I have gotten under way for the massed painting of my Knights. I am almost following the same principle that I did on the test model. I have however, added a couple of other steps to try and get a little more blue in the finished product. SO the process is now: black undercoat, darkest blue I have basecoat, then using a lighter blue to highlight the edges and then a really light blue over that. I am still deciding if I want to put a very thin white line on the very tips of the armor panels (maybe drybrush). Then I will give it all a blue wash to blend it together and then a black wash over that to turn it from blue to blue black with a gloss varnish to make it shiny. The only other change I may do is instead of a straight black wash it will be a 50/50 blue black wash at the end to try and make it a really deep blue rather than black at the end. We will see.

So the first photo is of the first highlight, please note that I really don't need to be neat with either of the highlights at this step as the washes will really neaten it all up (well that is my excuse anyway and I think the test model came out pretty well).



The next stage is the light blue. It looks pretty over the top at this stage and the flash didn't help, but I assure you the test model looked just like this at one stage.



The final photo in this update is of the painting tray in all its model covered goodness. Please note that I managed to get the light blue highlights onto 12 more Knights after I took this photo so traveling along pretty well.



So I should be able to finish the blue highlighting off in the next couple of days and then I will quickly give one white highlights and wash it to see if I like the effect. I need to go and buy some more paints so my progress may stall if I can't get to a hobby store, but Thursday is looking good for that.

As you can see the Salamanders Captain is still lurking, he has been sizing up that pine tree for a few days now.....

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/17 22:22:59


Post by: GrimDork


Looking good Can't wait to see all of these guys ready for battle!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/17 22:47:30


Post by: swampyturtle


You are insane and this blog is awesome!!!!

Keep it up


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/02/28 04:40:47


Post by: Freytag93


Keep it up man. It's looking good!
I can't wait to see how the washes look.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/03/03 20:59:26


Post by: Archer


Thanks for the comments.

No photo updates today unfortunately. Progress is a little slow, although the armor on the horses is completely done. It came out really well, from a little distance away they look shiny black, but take a step closer or under strong light the blue edging really shows through, I am pretty damned happy.

Although I now remember just how much work is in painting cavalry, they are worth at least 3, maybe 4 infantry models each....but I am randomly throwing the "skin" onto the horses now and hope that I can get a big week and then weekend of painting in, the last couple of weeks has definitely not been kind to my hobby. Jervis Bay though was a great break, even if it did rain the whole time.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/03/03 22:03:44


Post by: GrimDork


I have that concern about ever painting my space marine bikers... way more model there than it looks like, and doesn't necessarily translate to me getting to paint less models (there would be, but not necessarily a huge difference).

Looking forward to pictures


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/03/24 02:02:09


Post by: Archer


Well the universe or the gods or maybe my wife have been conspiring against my efforts on the Hobby front. Or it might just be that I have been going through some massive upheavals at work and only now am adjusting to them. Anyway, what I am getting at is I have no photos to show (again, I know sorry. Boo Hiss and all that). BUT, I promise that I will have photos of my progress on the Empire Knightly Order in the next couple of days. I have all but finished the horses (hey you can't be a mounted Knight without your faithful steed right?) and will show them off in all their riderless glory. Besides, they are at least twice the work if not more than their stupid riders anyway, maybe I should just run an army of horses....

Ok, I will stop rambling. I have also put together one of those GW Evil temple/ruins things, not sure they still sell it, but I will eventually mount it on a base so it is quick to set up and gives a clear boundary for playing purposes. So I hope to have a few photos to put up as I have made some progress on the Knights themselves as well. Honest.

So treat this post as a bit of a teaser and I will get some pretty pictures (ok some pictures, not sure mine are ever pretty) up for everyone to see.

Stay tuned.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/03/24 13:20:52


Post by: GrimDork


Looking forward to it, take your time though, life stuff can get you down!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/03/27 22:10:01


Post by: Archer


Hi all,

Following on from my previous post, I have finally finished off the horses and managed to take some photos, although they are some of the worst photos I have taken to date. BUT, they get the idea across well enough. I have hit a patch of enthusiasm so have been full steam ahead in the small moments of free time I have had over the last week which has been nice. I am pretty happy with the finished result. Although, I am suspecting that the black shade "Nuln Oil" or something along those lines I picked up from GW not long ago has become contaminated somehow as it is leaving a chalky residue. It can be cleaned off easily with water, but definitely not cool.

On that note I am not actually that impressed with this new line of shades from GW, I like there old inks and I still have a few kicking around, yes they would leave your model shiny, but that could be dealt with. My brief experience with the new line of shades is they are somewhat weaker and insipid. Don't get me started on the color of the "Drakenhof Nightshade" blue you say? More like black.... so I guess what I am saying as someone who hasn't experimented a great deal with other companies paints, are there any washes/shades someone can recommend to me?

Now, on to some pictures, please forgive the fact they are largely the same, strangely enough there isn't a lot of variation when it comes to horses.


Here are all 40 of the Knights lined up together. The front right of each block is a horse for one of the Characters. From left to right it will go: Warrior Priest, BSB, Grandmaster, Generic Combat Hero. They all got white horses (and so did the Champion of the Inner Circle Knights, which seemed sort of fitting). I found the white horses actually turned out really well. And even from a distance they stand out from the crowd. I am REALLY happy with the way the horse armour turned out, it looks shiny and black from a couple of feet away, and then as you get closer it looks more and more blue. Thanks go to everyone for their opinions and ideas on that one.


I decided that I wanted a really uniform and military look to the knights, so rather than have a whole mix of different horses and head styles I would try to match them all together so they look like a very disciplined outfit. That left me with a slight problem as there are only three different Empire Knights horse heads. So I came up with the story that the Warrior Priest isn't really a member of the Order, so he rides with an "escort" drawn from the rest of the Order, hence why this unit has mixed horse heads and will also have mixed shields and head options.


I think you are meant to use these heads for the Champions as you only get one I think per box, I was fortunate enough to get enough though (thanks Ebay) to make a whole unit out of them, although the Champions horse uses a pared down Bretonnian head to fit the body. You can see a hole in the body of one horse in the back row (damaged while removing the rider from an Ebay purchase) but like the saddle blanket themselves, almost none of that area will be seen once the Knight is mounted so its a little rough. Yep, a lazy moment that will be concealed with the Knight.


A fairly standard unit without much to discuss, although the Grandmasters Horse is in there rearing up and making a nuisance of itself, its a really great model with heaps of detail. These close up photos though show how the armour looks less black now and more blue, which I think is pretty effective.


These are going to be the Inner Circle Knights, so they got a Christmas wreath each.... had to have a way for the opponent to easily tell them apart. Also, every horse has a sheathed sword on the horse (unfortunately on the opposite side to the photos....) which helps to break the armor up a bit. I ran out of the proper swords for the inner circle so I raided my Mordheim left overs and they now all have a whopping great two handed sword hanging off their horses further putting them apart from the other Knights.


These are close ups of the Command staff horses, the Grandmasters horse is from the Empire General box and is really ornate, very fitting. The cloak was added as a real "look at me" plus the BSB has a stupidly big banner as well...


Down the line. The sort of shot a Cannon is likely to want to line up on this army... hopefully it never happens.


I have also finished the shields off, they are like the Horses armor and look black from a distance and blue as you get closer. I have decided that I will do the same for the Knights weapons, that whole obsidian look. I kept the shields emblems a uniform gold so it blends with the Knights armor better, oh and I had another lazy moment.


This is where I am up to with the Knights themselves. Bronze and Brass over a black undercoat and then a flesh wash. Will follow with a brown wash to darken it further and then paint (not dry brush) probably brass onto the line troops and gold onto the characters. This group has the generic combat hero in the middle with his very large sword.


Phew, the final photo of the update, here we can see the BSB with his stupidly large banner, He will certainly stand out in the crowd. All of the characters are getting the same treatment as the Knights, except will be more golden once finished. I decided to not treat the characters too differently in this army as I wanted a combined Brotherhood where every man is almost equal to everyone else. I must say though that the Empire General box was great value, I managed to kitbash all 4 of my characters from the same box with a few leftover knight bodies, it has worked out really well and a decent price, wait to see the warrior priest and his big hammer.....

Well this has turned into an epic, thanks to those who read. A special mention to Grimdork for the inspiration to mount all the knights on sticks, seems such a simple idea, but I had not even though of it. Has made life a whole lot easier. I have one thing left to do with the Knights and that is to do the movement trays, but that can wait until I have them totally finished. Then I need to find some Demigryph Knights and the army will be rounded out to its 2,000 point total.

I am looking forward to having a game with this army, I don't think it has a chance in hell of actually achieving much, being extremely susceptible to magic as it is, but the sheer laughs of so many knights may just get me a great cinematic. Think the charge of the Samurai in 'The Last Samurai' and how they were mostly gunned down, that is the aim.

Til next time, have a good one.





My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/03/28 00:40:03


Post by: GrimDork


Those look nice, and there are so many. Awesome. Everything paints better on sticks or nails

So to use the title of an old Bolt Thrower song, Where Next to Conquer? 40k army, break, more fantasy? I know yo said this one needs more models but Im sure you've thought about it.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/03/28 01:24:16


Post by: Archer


I was tossing up doing 40k Orks, but not sure I want to do an army on an old Codex. I am already concerned about how much shuffling I will need to do for the new Imperial Guard Codex.

But I have always wanted an Ork army, so may start and see where it ends up. Want to do Deathskulls so lots of Meks, Dreads and Lootas.



My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/03/28 01:53:20


Post by: GrimDork


Sweet, Orks have always interested me but I've never been far enough along to pull the trigger, something always more concrete tempts me away.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/02 05:05:18


Post by: Freytag93


Love the knights, man. The blue/black effect you got out of the armor is beautiful. It really puts me to shame when I see all the armies you've done already, and my nids are just sitting in the corner...


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/02 22:24:48


Post by: Archer


Don't get down, painting and modelling is the most time consuming part of the hobby. I am sure if I took more time (and I also have the models to prove it) I would get much better results. But I made a conscious decision many moons ago that barring a model I absolutely love the look of I would go for the "whole army look" and this has allowed me to really turn up the painting speed.

I have taken inspiration from those around me here (especially Grimdork and his models on sticks) on tips on how to stay motivated and pick up extra painting time. It helps to have a devoted wife who tolerates, even though she doesn't understand, the painting station to be almost permanently set up.

Thanks for the complements on the armor, it always helps to hear kind words too. I have had a bit of a lull, work is still pretty full on and hopefully there will be a resolution to what is going on with the restructuring that is taking so much of my time.

But seems that my local games club is thinking of starting a Necromunda campaign (SO excited) and since it is my favorite game (closely followed by Mordheim) I must be involved. Now I have a huge Van Saar gang already done and painted, however I want a change and I dug around and found I have 16 of the mulit-part Goliath gang, so I will be going from the tech savvy to the brutal. So they may be shoe-horned in to the painting schedule. Stay tuned.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/02 23:23:07


Post by: GrimDork


Oooooh nice, I look forward to seeing your Necromunda work


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/15 23:06:31


Post by: Archer


It has been a little while since I managed some time to post about my hobby going's on, but I now have some free time (largely due to my Wife heading off to Europe for work for 16 days). Almost unsure of what to do with myself with this new found freedom. It has been a long time since I have had free will Makes a change me not traveling for work, so I have written myself a to do list of things I would like to surprise my wife with when she gets back, such as the long neglected tiled kitchen splashback and the door handles for the bedroom....plus a lot of modelling!

So my Empire army has gone almost as far as I can without having to buy the last few models. The only thing left for the regular knights is some movement trays to make handling them a little easier on the battlefield....but they can wait until I have the last 6 models for the army, the Demigryph Knights. I had been hoping I would be able to pick them up for a decent discount from eBay, but no such luck, they just don't seem to be a common item. So I will have a look around at the discount retailers Australia has before I may have to bite the bullet and get it from the parent company (oh no I hear you cry).

So I took some increasingly shaky shots of the finished Knights last night at about 23:30 after I finally got home, not looking for excuses, just an explanation of the poor shots.

To begin with here are all four regiments (I will probably run them as four regiments of 10, but that may be tweaked after a few games of getting whooped) I feel that with four knight regiments and a demigrypgh unit of 6 I can at least make an opponent panic for about a whole turn.....


I also plan for one character per regiment, again this is open for change, but I have always been about spreading the love about rather than all my eggs in one basket (no euphemism intended, honest). Here is the kitbashed warrior priest and his unit.


Army Standard Bearer and his regiment.


My generic combat hero and the unit of Inner Circle Knights, they are distinguished by the blue pennants on the lances, an Imperial Laurel on the horses rump and by having monstrous two handed swords at the front.


The Grandmaster (made from the Emperor Karl Franz metal model with Runefang and the Empire General plastic horse) and his regiment.


You may have noticed a strange pattern on the Knights standard bearers, yep that's right, smiley faces! I know it isn't perhaps grim dark enough for some, but I like to remind myself every now and then that humor is allowed in the hobby and I am hear for a good time. Also it was my wife's suggestion and I thought it was a great idea, even if she wasn't being serious....but I think they turned out really well and I am glad I did it.


Some close up work of a unit Champion and Knight, its a little hard to tell, but the shield and weapons are done the same way as the horses armor. I am also glad I went with a very different armor for the Knights as if I had gone with the blue black of the horses it would have been a giant dark blob. Really happy with the gold armor. Contrasts well.


My command staff, from left to right: The Grandmaster, Warrior Priest, Army Standard Bearer and Generic Combat Hero, of course they all have names and a bit of background, you can find a story about them hidden amongst all the other fluff in the link in my signature.....(sorry obvious plug).


The final picture for this update is a close up of the Army Standard (albeit a little fuzzy). I was really blown away by how many bits were included in the Empire General box, really impressed by it actually and the sculpts are pretty nice.


So now all that is left as previously stated is 6 Demigryph Knights and movement trays all around. So all in all, not far to go with this army, then it will probably be back to 40k and do some Orks. But time will tell as I want to get a House Goliath Necromunda Gang done next in time for a campaign starting at my local club (probably my favorite game). So unfortunately my Crazy Army plan will be a little divergent for that, but it will save me some dollars which isn't a bad thing, especially with the Wife's 30th birthday coming up.

Thanks for the read and hope I have entertained.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/15 23:37:24


Post by: GrimDork


Nice! Those really came together and look very nice in the end. The smilies are hilarious, especially the "oh noes" face on the flag hanging from that one musician's trumpet. It all looks great, looking forward to your next offering.

Is Goliath the group with the muscles chains and leather? Yeah it has to be, orlock is like the "regular no-hook dudes". How are you doing the goliaths? Are you using the old necromunda minis or are you converting? I got part-way through making my own gang but never had anyone to play with so I kind of petered out due to lack of enthusiasm. It's a neat faction, gotta be a little bent if you're up for running around with a big blunt instrument when your enemy may have laser rifles!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/16 01:55:04


Post by: Archer


Yup Goliath are the S&M club wielding, chain wearing punks of the Underhive. I will be using the second generation mini's (the ones with loose hands and even bigger muscles).

Necromunda as I have said is my favorite game so have jumped at the chance of another Campaign. I have a Van Saar gang (the techie guys) with enough models to do just about every weapon combo imaginable, may take some photos of them too.

But for this campaign I wanted to try something different so dug around and found the old unpainted/unassembled Goliaths and plan to get them together, I have about 16 of them (including Leader, Heavies, Gangers and Juves) so should be able to assemble a pretty decent gang if the dice are with me.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/16 02:23:48


Post by: GrimDork


Sounds like it. I vaguely remember reading the sweet spot was 12 or so? Something about a sweet spot of upkeep or income or handicap or something, was more efficient to keep from getting too many. Never got to play though so maybe I'm thinking of something else.

Looking forward to seeing them


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/18 23:40:30


Post by: Freytag93


The knights are beautiful. Not sure if I agree with the smilies... but they are painted so well.
Do you have any idea of what you want to do with the movement trays? Do you have some plan to make them elaborate, or are you planning to match the bases?
And as I said before, love the armor. I'll have to try that if I ever start that Bret army.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/20 02:02:40


Post by: Archer


I have no plans for the movement trays, I was probably leaning towards matching the trays and although I would like to probably trick the tray up a bit I don't have a whole lot of room to do much with, this is very much a gaming army so I don't want to risk someone complaining about an over-size movement tray.

Although I will do some research in regards to what others have done and make some decisions from there.

Thanks for the feedback.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/20 12:58:45


Post by: Azazelx


It's taken me awhile to get through all of this blog, but now that I have I must say you're a crazy bastard! That's one hell of a lot of armies to paint. A man after my own heart! The Empire cavalry look amazing arrayed like that on the table - the brass armour looks very effective on the blue-black dark barded horses - nice use of complimentary colours - Though at one point they looked like Tron horses! The Iron Warriors are also looking good - an impressive force.

So.. what's next?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/21 08:58:38


Post by: Archer


Next will be a very brief departure from the armies to show my Goliath Necromunda Gang getting put together. May show the completed Van Saar gang I have had for ages as well.

Then it will be back to finish the Empire cavalry with 6 demigryph knights and then I will start on a 40k Ork army. I have always wanted to do Orks. Am thinking a combined horde/Dread bash list, but will have a look before I leap. I have a couple of characters painted that I really want to include as I think they are some of my best work, I just need to get some boyz to go with them.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/22 09:21:02


Post by: Azazelx


Long Live Necromooooonda!

ahem.

That sounds pretty sweet. I'll have to paint up some more of my gangs sometime this year. Back in the day, I played with a mix of figures from all of the gangs (plus stuff like Grenadier Future Warriors), called them Grendel (circa the post-apocalyptic War Child era) and just picked a template. I'd love to see your Necro stuff!

Orks are something I'd also like to get (back) to, but painting all those Boyz just makes it hard to motivate myself to. Always good stuff to see other people's though.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/24 01:40:02


Post by: Archer


Well I have gone and done it. I have allowed myself to get distracted by the great game that is Necromunda and even more foolishly I decided to run a new gang rather than my faithful Van Saar who have served me well through many campaigns. So I dusted off a box I had stuffed full of Necromunda stuff which included a group of unassembled, unpainted Goliaths (the second generation ones). So since I need to scrape some money together before I can finish the Empire Knightly Order I convinced myself that this was a good little hobby diversion.

On to the very basic pictures:


I forgot to take some photos before I actually started, but here are the 16 House Goliath models I own. Should be enough for an entire Campaign (at least from my experience it is). You may be able to pick out the gangers on the right haven't been given their full weapon options yet. I thought I would just keep my options open with a couple of the models making any changes during the campaign a little bit easier.


I have 4 Juve models, but these are the three different ones. We are using the Community Edition rules and so I just couldn't resist giving one of these guys a massive club, I just think it fits the House Goliath personality too well and I don't get too attached to my Juves, so hopefully he can splat someone before he dies or at least look so threatening my opponent thinks he needs to worry about him.


I have stuck pretty close to the "feel" of the House and so have plenty of close combat weapons floating around. The Chainsword guy won't be in my starting line up, but I figured I would model him anyway as I am sure I will end up with a few Chainsword users over the life of the gang.


This is the small long range contingent of the gang (lasguns aren't allowed by the Goliath House weapon list). They will hang back with the Heavy unitl such time as stat increases and skills change what they are suited to do. Notice the second flesh coat on these guys compared to previous photos, it looks a little yellow I admit, but it will get better I promise.


I always, always, always start a Campaign with two Heavy's. Normally however, one just gets a basic weapon until his skills and credits warrant an upgrade. However, in a practice game I watched a flamer proved quite effective and its relatively cheap, so I am going to see what one can do and it also will probably help out the rest of the gang as most of them are going to attempt to get up close and personal. The other Heavy gets the ubiquitous Heavy Stubber, I never leave home without one. These guys have the third flesh color added on top, looks a lot less yellow, but still needs to be blended together some more.


So here we see the same Heavy's but with a flesh wash to help the three flesh colors blend together a bit better. I think I avoided most of the shininess that a wash can cause and once they are mat varnished they should be fine. They look a little paler in real life which is what I was aiming for, I mean most of these guys have probably never seen the sun....


Back view of my Juve with the stupidly large club, the Juves have a lot less flesh on show (probably intimidated by the ridiculous size of the gangers biceps and pecks). Whoever sculpted the second generation Goliath models need to take an anatomy lesson, the muscles are just stupidly large, they are what I envisage a space marine without armor would look like. Then again with all the exotic drugs of the future maybe House Goliath is using some pretty awesome growth hormones.


Finally here is the model that will start out as my leader, how long he survives is anyone's guess. I have a lot of stubguns in my gang and peoples advice has been to not bother with them as they suck, however, I like them to be cheap and they aren't for shooting, they are for the hand to hand bonus, I will eventually upgrade each stubgun wielder to have a second pistol of a higher quality, but starting out they need to prove they deserve something better. Plus a LOT of the Goliath range already are holding them and I didn't feel like doing mass weapon swaps across the gang. In the future possibly as skills and deaths dictate, but at the beginning they lucky I bought them a pistol at all. I am all for numbers of guns any day.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned, I will get some more photos as they approach completion and may get my Van Saar's out of their cozy drinking hole for a photo shoot. Then I will go back to focusing on my Army plan again.

Oh if anyone has ideas on how I should base the goliaths I am all ears.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/24 23:20:54


Post by: GrimDork


Those are looking pretty sweet. I was going to make my gang pretty bolter heavy as kind of a theme, with jams and explosions being a preferable and hilarious consequence

Looking forward to seeing more!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/25 00:04:23


Post by: InyokaMadoda


As others have said before me, and others will say after me, this is completely insane, but I love it! I will look forward to seeing how this progresses! A lovely photo at the end of all painted models in one shot?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/04/25 05:24:50


Post by: Azazelx


These guys are looking good so far - I don't have any of the second-gen necromunda figures at all, since they were released during one of my laps periods when I pretty much just bought WD out of habit and not much else. So it's great to see them getting some love and paint!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/05/16 03:59:53


Post by: Archer


Well I have been quiet on all fronts for far too long and I think it is well past time to have some updates. I have been pretty productive in my internet absence so this update will have a few pictures. I have had to take a break from the Empire Knightly Order, both because I haven't had the time or spare coin to pick up the 6 needed Demigryph Knights and also I had a couple of other projects that I wanted to try and get knocked off. Firstly, with the release of Astra Militarum, my very first army from this crazy idea needed a re-look. I knew that this would be required as new codex's were released, but I hope each time I can update them with a minimum of fuss and pain to the hip pocket. So I eagerly delved into the new codex to see what I needed to do to achieve my 2,000 point limit. And wullah I needed only this:


A Basilisk with an armored crew compartment! Why an armored crew compartment you say? Well once I updated all the points values and whatnot I had exactly enough points left over (after moving the Vanquisher Leman Russ to the HQ slot) to fit in a Basilisk with all the upgrades you see here (note I only had to shell out for the compartment and missile) and the best bit? I already had this bad boy assembled and sitting in a box under the house.

So, as you can see I still have things to do, but have made a solid start.


It took AGES to get the yellow on even remotely smoothly, will teach me to next time not undercoat the stupid tank black.....


I have actually become very fond of the armored crew compartment. I believe it is Forgeworld, but I didn't buy it, so can't vouch for the providence. But it definitely makes it look like a completely different tank.


Now, in the first photo of this update you could see some muscle-bound S&M lovers on my painting tray. Yep, that's right, I have finished off the Downhive Razorfangs for my gaming clubs Campaign. Now I probably ended up rushing these guys a little, but overall I am really happy with what I could turn out in a fairly short space of time. So without too many more words my House Goliath gang:


Now obviously I couldn't start the Campaign with this many members (not enough credits) but, I have enough that I can grow into a larger gang without having to start looking for more models.


Here are the Juves I have available, we are using the Community edition rules so I had the option of equipping members with Huge Clubs, so being a good Goliath I obliged. In my first game my opponent must have been really intimidated because he wasted a whole turn shooting at the poor guy, so you see, its all about size.....


I couldn't play House Goliath without clubs, so here are my two. I have decided that the stub gun is the sign of a "real" Ganger so all my pistols are Stubguns, except the Juves, as they aren't allowed a real mans weapon yet.


The Community Edition doesn't have Lasguns on the Goliath House weapon list, so my ranged support comes from these two unlikely fellas, they generally hang out with the Heavy Stubber and don't do much.


The two Heavies of the Gang. I always try to start a Campaign with two, even if one only has a basic weapon. In my first game the Flamer wielding Heavy set someone on fire and then died. The first death of the campaign. Boo Hiss. But I did happen to capture the enemy gangs leader, so I could ransom enough money to replace the fallen Heavy.


The back packs of the Heavies.


The more terrifying aspect of the gang will be up close and personal once I start getting those close combat skills. The one on the right is my leader and the one on the left hasn't been recruited yet.


It wouldn't be Necromunda if I didn't have a slew of shotguns, so here they are. I tried to be creative when doing my bases and after the double barreled shotgun missed EVERY shot in his first game I had the idea of a pile of spent shotgun shells at his feet.


I initially wasn't going to paint these guys as I will arm them when I actually recruit them. Then I thought don't be silly I am batch painting the whole gang I may as well do them too. Saves motivating me to paint them later. So, they sit waiting for a call up and a gun.


I did the bases myself after looking at maybe buying some resin bases from one of the many suppliers. I wanted a little variety, but not so much that they didn't tie the gang together, so I ended up with either fences like these guys OR


Hazard stripes like most of the gang. You may have noticed the white bar on each base. Firstly it will be where I paint each Gang members name so I can remember who shot who and also facing is important in Necromunda, so the white is also the 90 degree vision arc of each model. Saves any confusion over whether it is where his head or gun is pointing, its the giant white stripe.

Well that is my latest update, I am really happy with my Gang and am almost done with updating my Imperial Guard, sorry, Astra Militarum, please Disney don't sue me.

Hope it is an enjoyable read and next time I hope to have a finished Basilisk and a start on some Demigryphs.....



My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/05/17 00:08:09


Post by: GrimDork


Those are great! Looks like a fun gang to play and they're all pretty characterful.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/05/18 11:02:32


Post by: Azazelx


That gang is looking great! I tried to convince my friends to try out Necromunda awhile ago, but with no success. The nameplate-fire-arc is a good idea as well.

I really like the look of that Basilisk. The crew compartment really does change it's look, and very much for the better!

Just found it!
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Imperial_Guard/Imperial_Guard_Tanks/ARMAGEDDON-PATTERN-BASILISK.html


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/05/18 12:34:21


Post by: squall018


Your Goliaths put mine to shame. Great job on those. Also, I am now going to go arm one or two of mine with a club, because I agree with your statement that Goliaths should have clubs.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/05/19 01:04:04


Post by: Archer


Thanks for the comments guys.

Azazelx thanks for the link, so it is an Armegeddon pattern? Probably a throw back to the fact sentinels with armored crew compartments were also known as Armegeddon pattern Sentinels.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/05/24 13:10:02


Post by: Azazelx


Hm. Makes sense - you could well be right on that one.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/06/16 23:08:20


Post by: Archer


Hi all, I thought it was long overdue for me to add something to assure people that I haven't gone away. I have just been flat chat with work and life and unfortunately my hobby time was the first thing to suffer.

I have been away in the mysterious land of China for work purposes and although a great experience and hopefully some encouraging leads coming from it it definitely interferes with being able to get my hands on a paint brush.

So stay tuned I will be adding what I hope will be some furious updates as I fill the pages with some more model eye candy as I have FINALLY gotten my hands on the Demigryph Knights and movements trays to finish off my Empire Knightly Order and my poor Goliath Gang has had to undergo some modifications. 3 games and two dead heavies, un-bloody-believeable. But the boyz will bounce back I am sure.

I tried really hard to avoid moving onto the next army before finishing the previous one, but I couldn't resist. So I have a few sneak peeks of the Orks I will be doing for 40k, I wanted to do lots of Looted Wagons, but with the imminent release of the new Codex that may have to change. But I will show off the work I am doing on a former Imperial Guard Chimera......


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/06/17 00:06:06


Post by: GrimDork


Good to know you are still kicking around, looking forward to your next doings.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/07/14 01:57:30


Post by: Archer


And now without further ado.....I am back with a vengeance. After having a too long a break (largely due to work having been traveling all over the place and spending an eye opening time in China). But I am now back on deck and itching to get moving again on my army plan. Thanks to all the support so far and to those that have wondered where I had gotten to rest assured the task may be monumental, but it has not beaten me yet.

So what have I managed during my work imposed silence? A fair bit actually and here it is......

To start with I needed to make an addition to my Goliath Necromunda gang after one of my Gangers managed to pick up a shooting skill that allowed the use of two pistols, so of course I just had to add him in person.


The gang has actually had a big shake up after the shocking death of the Heavy who had competently been wielding the Gangs Heavy Stubber. The loss of the man and more importantly the gun has been pretty devastating, but they will bounce back. But 2 dead heavy's in three games has me wondering if they are cursed.

Next up I have had a "Mighty Empires" map from GW kicking around for ages and I had a thought of using it to motivate a mate of mine who is just dipping his toe into the hobby. The idea is his budding Space Wolves will need to descend to the planet and take it for the glory of the Emperor. I will have 4 different armies operating on the map (not sure how to do the campaign as of yet, but I have an idea), but I do want to have the other factions interact with each other rather than them just be static threats.

But enough campaign talk (unless the readers have some really cool ideas I could rip off on how to run it......) and on to some pictures.
So here is the "whole" map. Being double sided you will only get half of it at a time, but this is the basic set up I have gone with, I tried to have the map tell a bit of a story, so all the rivers come to somewhere and go somewhere, there is a mountain range and areas of forest. I think it looks pretty good and can't wait to start sticking little colored flags into it.

Some close ups:

I tried to group the farmland together, just for that sense of community.


The sun rises over the mountains, little do the tiny inhabitants realize the war that is coming......




Now of course the above have just been distractions that have sought to pull me from my true modelling path, but thankfully I have managed time and again to come back to the light that is the true path (what on earth am I rabbiting on about?) and have FINALLY managed to finish off the Empire Knightly Order that I have been struggling with for far, far too long. Some of the blame lies with me and some lies with trying to get my hands on some cheaper Demigryph Knights. But ultimately I win and they are done.


They are really detailed models and I really enjoyed throwing some paint onto them, although I do feel that their bases are just a little too large. When you compare them to how "ranked" up the rest of the knights look, these guys seem to almost be skirmishing. I know they are riding big half Griffon things, but close ranks already!




I tried to have a little more bronze than gold with these guys, they are elites of the army, but story wise I feel the Order sees any Knight that pursues a Demigryph mount gives up his right of advancement within the Order, so they are a bit of a strange outcast.


And the whole army arrayed, complete with movement trays to make the battlefield maneuvers just that bit easier. You can't see it, but I actually flocked the entire movement tray so as casualties are removed it doesn't "break the moment" with an ugly plastic tray next to the painted models.


The army may not be very inspired and the tactics as subtle as a rock to the temple, but I am raring to give this army a spin and see how entertaining it will be. Magic will be a massive weakness, as will horde armies, but damn am I keen to see that many Knights crash into something. Anyone know how to play Warhammer?

Now, I need to move on to the next army to try and reboot my plan and hopefully get a couple more armies done this year. I definitely got bogged down with the Empire army so need to speed things up a bit, so the perfect army for me to move onto is obviously Orks for 40k, yep that's right, a horde army, what a great idea.....well ok its not, but I can't keep hiding from the horde armies. The bonus is I have already started on this army. I have some of the characters done and quite a few boyz assembled. What I have done is knowing that the new Codex was soon to be released is I picked up the core of the army leaving plenty of room to decide where to go from there. So I have a stack of boyz and the leaders I want, plus a few Mega Nobz (old school metal ones). From this core I will decide the direction I want the army to go. I was going to go Death Skull Lootas with the idea of three Looted Wagons, but I am not a fan of having to carry around the Codex AND a White Dwarf for Looted Wagon Rules, so they are out. I have thought maybe I use the Looted Wagons I had in mind as simple trukks instead, meaning every Trukk is instead an enemy vehicle redone.

Once I have sorted out an army list I will stick it up for viewing so people know where I am heading with the army. Now onto some pictures.....note that I absolutely love some of the Ork models. I think that they are some of the best sculpts with enormous character and "feel" to that end I found I spent a lot of time on the following models and truly believe that they are some of my finest work, well maybe on par with my Iron Hands Characters.

The great leader of the Horde, my Warboss:




His very capable engineer the Big Mek:




And the final conundrum I have with this army, I did this Orky Chimera ages ago (almost fully painted) and when I started preparing to do an ork army I revisited it and decided it needed to be more of a flat bed. So I began cutting it up, leaving the Orky commander in his turret untouched, but now I am not sure whether there really is a place for him in my army at all, is a Chimera a good enough replacement for an Ork Trukk? I mean dimension wise it is only a little bit shorter......I really like the Ork Commander, so I would like to keep him in the army, just at a bit of a loss of where to put him. Thoughts?


The start of it being turned into a flat bed.....


Plenty of room for all the Boyz (well at least some of them)


No Ork would be complete without a gun and a drink would he?


And the model I am most proud of. Internet Cookie if anyone can name this Orks brew of choice?

So there you have it, I have not been idle during my period of Internet silence, nor have I quite done as much as I had hoped. But tomorrow is a new day and the dawn is particularly inspiring. I am off to get more green paint and think a little about what to do about Looted Wagons. I hope people are still out there reading and look forward to hearing your thoughts.

I hope to get back to my chatty best and not go so long next time between updates. Thanks for your time.





My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/07/14 02:20:46


Post by: GrimDork


Sweet! The funky chicken knights are looking grand, and the full force is lovely! Orks, huh? So far so good, you've got a fancy start so far. I'm going to have to digest what I've seen before I can offer much advice/useful feedback. I like the chimera, i'm sure it makes a fine truck.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/07/18 04:44:51


Post by: Archer


Ok, so I said I would post up a list for the next army (since I haven't done it yet). So here is what I am thinking of doing with them. It is a little ad hoc, but what Ork army isn't? It is halfway between a greentide and a dread mob, but I think it should be fun. I am not sure whether to make the Trukks "dedicated" to any unit in particular or leave them in the Fast Attack slot and have them zoom around making a general nuisance of themselves with their hitting once every third shot Rokkit Launchas. If my maths is correct I do have about 50 points left over to bring it up to my magic 2,000 point mark. Does anyone have any suggestions or knowledge? Please note that the Killa Kans and Deff Dreads are the only models that I would need to buy from this list as I will be using some previous Looted Wagons as my Trukks from now on. Therefore, feel free to comment and suggest, but you can't alter the models I already have tracked down.

Warboss with Twin-Linked Shoota, Headwoppa’s KillChoppa, Boss Pole, ‘Eavy Armour, Cybork Body
Big Mek with Kustom Force Field, ‘Eavy Armour

Meganobz - Boss Meganob with 5 Meganobz, 1 Kombi-Shoota-Skorcha, 1 Kombi Shoota-Rokkit Launcha
Nobz - Boss Nob with 6 Nobz, Waaagh! Banner, 2 Power Klaws, Bosspole, 'Eavy Armour

Boyz - Boss Nob with Big Choppa and Bosspole, 19 Boyz, 2 Big Shoota
Boyz - Boss Nob with Power Klaw and Bosspole, 19 Boyz, 2 Big Shootas
Boyz - Boss Nob with Twin-Linked Shoota and Bosspole, 19 Boyz with Shootas, 2 with Big Shootas
Boyz - Boss Nob with Twin-Linked Shoota and Bosspole, 19 Boyz with Shootas, 2 with Big Shootas

Trukk - Rokkit Launcha, Grot Riggers
Trukk - Rokkit Launcha, Grot Riggers
Trukk - Rokkit Launcha, Grot Riggers

Deff Dread - Grot Riggers
Deff Dread - Grot Riggers
6 Killa Kans - Grot Riggers



My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/07/18 11:27:15


Post by: GrimDork


I can't speak for it's battlefield efficacy, but it certainly looks more interesting to play than just stuffing more boyz in where the trukks and stompy things are.

If i understand ork stuff right, the mek can use his forcefield to cover some or all of the cans and dreads to give them cover, and the boyz behind them will get cover naturally as well? Looking forward to seeing it grow!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/08/04 01:46:34


Post by: Archer


Well I am getting into the Orks and I have to admit, what a slog they are. They must be some of the most characterful (is that a word?) models that GW does and I like the variation and sheer difference to the other armies I have done. But seeing so many boyz arrayed before me is very disheartening. I have now knocked over the first 20 boyz, but alas I still have 60 more to go! Maybe I should hide them in a box somewhere and only look at them a mob at a time?

Anyway on to some pictures.....


Here is the whole mob in all their glory, the plan will be to highlight each mob with a color; obviously this one got red. The other mobs will be Blue, Yellow and White. Then to tie them all together their clothes and weapons will all be done the same way, thus having what I hope will be a cohesive force, but during large melee's (of which I hope there will be many) each mob is easily identifiable.


I probably went a little overboard on the blood effects, but since everyone is armed with some form of chain weapon I kind of through a nod to Khorne and his blood maddened cronies. Plus the blood effects was a good practice for an idea I have floating around for a World Eater themed Chaos Space Marine army, ah plans, too many plans.


Close up of the Nob and one of his Big Shootas amongst the tide of green bodies, I really needed another model with a power klaw, but failing that I did what any self respecting Ork would do and borrow a killa kan arm.


A basic boy, there is a surprising amount of variation and detail on each of the boyz, was hard to figure out how I should approach them all, but I am pretty damned happy with how the first mob went, although I wish I had a few more done.


This guy started life as a Burna, but when normal Orks couldn't take them he quickly became a Big Shoota, who are we to say how Ork technology works. Maybe it operates like a paintball marker?


The Nob of this mob, all set with his giant klaw and boss pole, I really borrowed from a lot of kits to get the bosspoles for this army, I think I have everything from Marines and Guard to Eldar and Tyranid.


The Warboss chilling with his first bunch of Boyz, although in games I think it is much more likely that he will ride in a trukk with some nobz. It is only fitting and they would be the biggest hitting unit in the army.


The Big Mek and some of the boyz hanging out under the shadow of a terrain piece I am working on. I have a few of the Inquisitor figures floating around and have decided to repurpose them into statues, a waste? Perhaps. Interesting terrain piece? Definitely.


Tried to get a corroding bronze/brass look to the statue, wouldn't mind doing another couple to get that "avenue of heroes" look to a city board.

Thanks for looking and hopefully can get some more updates done in the next week or so. Stay tuned.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/08/04 02:07:58


Post by: GrimDork


Those are pretty awesome. I like the individuality and general orkiness. Cool statue.

This really makes me want to do something orky. Maybe grab my skaven and give them some 40k weapons and scavenged armor. Or just live vicariously through you crazy orkoids.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/08/06 00:31:43


Post by: Archer


@GrimDork thanks for the comments, they are really appreciated. I think your Marauder work is pretty "Orky" you could always do more of them. I am not sure I ever saw a finished shot of the marauder in the big exo-skeleton thingy?

@Warboss_Waaazag thanks for the comments mate.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/08/06 01:13:54


Post by: GrimDork


Yeah he's still waiting to get finished along with his mates. They're more 'second hand military tech' though, none of this deliciously crazy ork stuff.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/08/26 01:24:16


Post by: Archer


Hi all,

I have become very bad at keeping everyone updated as to what I am doing hobbywise, then again I have also become very bad at participating with the online community as well.

But I am still here, plodding along, looking at all the other painting and modelling blogs and becoming very jealous of their regular updates and progress.

Anyway, my current excuse is that I have been getting addicted again with computer games and they tend to eat into my hobby time. Plus the wife and I have been very active socially over the last month or so what with baby christenings, first birthday parties, second birthday parties, fairy birthday parties, well ahem....you get the idea.

Thought I would give myself a kick up the backside and get back into the updates to motivate me to face the horde of Orks again.

I do now have every model I need for my 2,000 point Ork army so I decided to begin by getting everything assembled so I can start the production line. One of my gaming group kindly donated a few Grotz, Nobz and boyz to the cause which was really nice of him, thanks English.

I have been steadily assembling two Deff Dreads and 3 of my 6 Killa Kans and then just a few boyz and everything will be together and I can get back to painting. Really amazed at how much detail and extra bits are on the Deff Dread and Kans, so many extra pieces with which to Orkify my Trukks (that are all to be made from 'looted' vehicles).

Sorry for the wall of text and no pics, but I needed to get the ball rolling again.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/08/26 01:44:41


Post by: GrimDork


Good to see an update in any case, looking forward to seeing this horde develop.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/08/26 22:23:59


Post by: fireangel


I really like your Orks they are coming along great. The Mek and warboss are great models, very clean and well painted. Great work on the metallic of the force field generator!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/08/27 03:32:31


Post by: Archer


Thanks fireangel, pity I don't have your motivation and attention to detail to carry that effect onto the standard boyz, but I just can't bring myself to spend that much time on 80 of them. Especially when I will need a shovel to take them back off the board when they start to die.....


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/08/27 03:36:48


Post by: GrimDork


80 boyz? Ouch, you are familiar with dipping yes? Get your highlights and shading in one go, plus a protective shell on top of it, just seal afterwards to reduce the gloss


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/08/27 22:12:25


Post by: Archer


No unfortunately I have no experience whatsoever with dipping, have followed your blog for ages and have seen your technique and it looks great.

Eventually I will start to look at it (especially when i get to some of the larger Warhammer Fantasy armies with their 100+ models....)

But until then I will suffer the burden of the brush.

Being in Australia though any idea what I would use to dip out here? Not sure any of the brands I have heard you mention would be available?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/08/27 22:21:10


Post by: GrimDork


No minwax? Army painter is what other folks use but I have not tried them.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/08/27 22:28:17


Post by: Freytag93


Archer, I feel your pain. I have 300+ tyranids sitting on my work desk staring at me in their bareness... I can't seem to motivate myself to pick one up and paint. Good luck though! Try to break it into small sections so it feels like you're getting something accomplished rather than just doing the skin for all 80.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/08/28 03:55:54


Post by: Archer


Yeah my plan is to go mob by mob, there are only 4 mobs and I have already done one. I am in the assembly/converting stage of the rest of the army as a break from painting so there aren't any photos worth taking yet. But I really want to get back to the painting as I tire quickly of assembling the models, so many little bits.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/09/01 02:10:34


Post by: Azazelx


Hey, I hadn't seen your work for a bit, and so there's a fair bit I haven't seen before up there. The cavalry army looks amazing, and also scary in such numbers.

Orks are looking good, too - and I love what you've done with that Inquisitor figure as a statue. Hm....


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/09/08 01:12:37


Post by: ghastli


I really enjoy looking through threads like this, keep up the good work. On a side note, I am shamelessly taking your smoke for hull point damage idea... But if I ever post any pics of them, I'll be sure to give you credit!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/09/08 05:45:41


Post by: Archer


Thanks everyone for the comments, feel free to rip the idea, it is by no means an original one, just something I find adds a little more interest to the game.

Shoot the one covered in flames is so much easier than which dice belonged to which tank?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/09/08 16:17:13


Post by: ghastli


The only problem I have is that I need about 70 or so...

Maybe it was unintentional, but I like how the bases on the smoke things match the black of your vehicles. I plan on painting mine to match the hulls of my vehicles, or at least try it lol.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/09/08 22:50:34


Post by: Archer


I have actually managed some progress. Time to celebrate with a few blurry and half realized pictures for the viewers to squint at. I now have all of the models for the army assembled (less three bases for some of the killa kanz, stupid eBay...) but apart from that I am pretty happy with how the rest of the army is looking. I am going to run Grot riggers on all of the vehicles so I have glued a few Grot models onto all of the vehicles in a vain hope I won't forget that I have that upgrade....

I am also pretty happy with the three Trukks that began life as Imperial Vehicles. They measure up pretty close to an official Ork Trukk, so I shouldn't get too many complaints in that department. Plus I feel that they are beat up enough and have had enough modification that they appear pretty Orky, the photos are pretty basic of them, but once they get some paint I will show them off in their full glory.

So to begin with, I have started to tackle the next Ork Mob, I figured that I would use one bold color per Mob to make them really stand out from each other so if I ever get them into a massive melee its easy to pick who is who, then keep the rest of the colors the same to tie them all together as a sort of cohesive force.


This Mob has a Nob with a Huge Choppa, not a great upgrade, but since I had this Black Ork Boss floating around he has been re-purposed to lead some of the boyz from the future. You can see in the background the half built and a few painted of the next Mob, so I will have the Red, Yellow, Blue and White mobs, who should all stand out from each other quite well.


The metal contingent of the horde, the three Trukks, 6 Killa Kans and 2 Deff Dreads in all their unpainted glory. I have gone for Rokkit Launcha's on the Trukks and Killa Kans to hopefully blanket the enemy (and hopefully get some hits) in the early game and make the Trukks something of a potential nuisance, especially if they can get down a flank. Plus with the improved BS of the Killa Kanz I hope that they can actually hit something. Everything else in the army has Big Shootas as everything counts in large amounts.


I really enjoyed putting the Ork walkers together, so much detail and customization possibilities. I have tried to make them as different as possible, so I turned engines upside down, converted weapons and the like, plus once I throw on a couple of different color schemes hopefully they will be really unique. Can't wait to see my opponents trying to work out how to stop almost a hundred boyz and 8 walkers. (Knowing my club though they will not break a sweat at yet another of my un optimized armies and proceed to stomp it into the ground. But hey I enjoy it, so hopefully they do too).


A close up of the last of the Trukks to be done, started life as a Bombard I believe and with the removal of the main gun left a nice and cozy flat bed for the Boyz to ride to battle in. It sports a couple of resin Grotz that were very generously donated by a club member. They are fantastic and really fun little mini dioramas.


This has rapidly become my favorite of the Trukks with its soft top and custom Rokkit Launcha, once the current mob is finished this will probably be the next model painted. Probably should of held off gluing the canopy in place though, but I have never been able to help myself when it comes to that sort of forethought.


The other good news on the hobby front is I received my next order of foam sheet so I can get back to making the carrying cases for the armies and I have figured out how I will make the actual boxes too, so hopefully the next update will have a couple of finished army carry cases for your perusal as well. I plan to do a box (and foam inserts) for each army so I don't have to worry about pulling an army in and out each time. I will be able to pick up the case for the army and off I go, especially useful for when I need a couple of armies at the same time.

Thanks for reading and hopefully I can get some more regular updates up now I am getting back into the swing of things.



My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/09/08 23:06:41


Post by: GrimDork


Hah this is looking awesome. I'll have to come back and gander longer when my daughter isn't dragging me away.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/09/14 23:53:58


Post by: Archer


I had a busy modelling weekend, what with an all day club meet that my wife let me attend in its entirety (ok who am I kidding she is an angel and has never interfered in my hobby and in fact has attempted to understand it all). So I have finally managed to get the Empire Knightly Order onto the tabletop (after me having a 10 year absence from the Warhammer setting) alas it was only a 1,000 point intro as neither my opponent or I had strapped on the mantle of Warhammer General in many additions so we had to learn. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. Would have looked cool.

Anyway, I played an all Khorne Chaos Warrior army, that had 2 units of Chaos Warriors (one with Halberds the other with Shields) and a Unit of Knights with an Exalted Champion. I managed to field A unit of 8 Knights with Grandmaster and Warrior Priest, a Unit of 9 Knights with the BSB and a Unit of 5 Knights with no upgrades. The quick result? I won, just, I had 7 Knights and the Grandmaster left and no opponents. What did I learn from my first Fantasy game in a long time? It is a brutal, brutal game that is unforgiving to mistakes in the movement phase. Characters are where the game is really at, between the Warrior Priest and Grandmaster they are what gave me the victory, without them I would have struggled, especially since Chaos Warrior Champions are on almost equal footing to my Hero level characters. What would have been interesting is if either of us had realized is with cavalry having swift stride we may have been able to charge each other on the first turn.....

I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to get a larger game in the near future, hanging out for the Demigryphs to get onto the field. After that I ended up getting 4 or 5 games of Necromunda in, I just can't seem to get my gang going forward, everytime I think I am in a good place with the Razorfang's I seem to get people killed, nobody critical to my plans this time (ie. Heavy's) but I lost another two members and have a Juve almost too crippled to continue the fight. But after all this I still have the highest gang rating in the Campaign, someone needs to explain to me how that happens. I am not complaining too much I only lost a couple of the games and the after battle wash up has generally been pretty good to me, although it would be nice to not keep giving the bonus to other gangs for taking on a higher rated gang.

Finally (and most importantly) I managed after all the furious dice rolling to get some paint on models and I have finished another mob for my Ork army (yay only 2 to go). So pics are below.....


So here are the "Yellow Boyz", they stand out quite well and are different enough from the "Red Boyz" that in a large melee no one gets confused. I kept the clothing the same as the previous mob (some combination of medium or dark brown pants with either red or light brown shirts with black leather where appropriate).


I really don't know how the guys who run mobs of thirty do it. Twenty is a handful to paint and take up a heap of room, I often struggle to deploy my Imperial Guard Army (which is tank heavy) within the deployment zone, I am dreading setting this army up, let alone move them for 6+ turns.


Closer view of the Boss Nob (with his Huge Choppa) and the two big shootas. Plus a heap of Boyz who just wouldn't get out of the way....


The Boss Nob in all his glory, think I did a much better job on his boss pole than the actual model unfortunately, but I just couldn't bring myself to paint him anything but rusted metal. Then I realized he is just rusted metal and skin, so I had a hard time trying to get him to look like anything but a blob, but I do like the boss pole.


A very blurry photo of some of the boyz, up close they are not my proudest work, but as a whole with their bases all detailed up I am more than happy with them.

So another Mob down, just 2 to go and then Nobz, Mega Nobz, 3 converted Trukks, 2 Deff Dreads and 6 Killa Kanz and I thought I was getting through this army. Ah well. I have been pottering with one of the Trukks so hopefully it will be done next, then I will grind out another mob hopefully, but I keep looking at those Dreads and they are looking back at me.

On an unrelated note I have now finished my 6 play throughs of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and have now imported them into Baldurs Gate II: Enhanced Edition to continue the story with each of those characters. Don't ask me why I torture myself as BG:EE is a loooong game and to do it concurrently 6 times was a little crazy, but with those play throughs I used all of the NPC's at least once in a party. I may take a big break from the computer world and focus on the tabletop one sp hopefully more progress for the blog. Yay!

Thanks for reading what ended up being a bit of a ramble.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/09/15 01:36:07


Post by: GrimDork


You don't do anything not big do you? (referencing the BG )

Glad to hear you got in some games, sounds fun, always good to get your painted models on the table!

Necromunda sounds fun, even the fact that your gang is on the out is neat and characterful.

Six simultaneous BG1 runs? Nice. Playing BG and other simple/old games is probably the only reason I really miss my missing laptop-thing, hard to play them at the main rig enough to keep interested.

I think BG2 is my favorite but I still love playing through bg1. Have you seen that they're doing an EE of Icewind dale? May have to pick that up when it hits Steam. Hoping they do a IWD2:EE, it was messing up on the laptop screwing up my last playthru.

Looks like you're trucking right along with those orks, good work


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/09/15 03:00:19


Post by: Archer


Yep once I am experienced at something I find it hard not to commit to the fullest not matter how foolish or impossible the endeavor.

I started playing BG when it was first released way back when and with the Enhanced Edition I decided I would run 6 games with my favorite D&D characters as the protagonist. Also turns out these 6 were the same that I use in the IWD party (sonce you make all 6) and I ran them through the Black Pits as well. I will more than likely get IWD:EE as well and do it all again.

In regards to the modelling, I really like throwing the dice with painted terrain and opponents, really adds to the hobby. I won't refuse a game on the basis of painted models, but I certainly prefer it.

Thanks for the response.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/09/22 07:32:35


Post by: Archer


Another update (I must be getting something done with two updates so close together...). This time however, I bring greetings from Canberra, our nations Capital. I am here on work so unfortunately no modelling progress will get done at all this week (boo hiss). Although last weekend was a pretty productive one an below are the results.

I tried to remain focused on the Orks and managed to knock off one of the Trukks (read looted wagon, now being used as a Trukk). I am pretty happy with it, it screams ORK and has a lot of character, plus dimensionally it is almost identical to an off the shelf trukk which for a gaming point of view is always desirable. Since all of the vehicles will have 'Grot Riggers' I made damn sure to have a few Grotz hanging on to every vehicle. I think they add a nice touch to them. Although I am quite disappointed that the matt varnish I have been using on all of my models so far has left some unsightly white streaks on the model which it has never done before. I may need to throw it out and get some new stuff. Any ideas what may have happened? I paint it on with a brush and generally work in air conditioned rooms so I don't think it would have been an environmental factor. Maybe just old?

Anyway, onto some pretty pictures.

So here is my beer swilling Chimera Trukk.


I added the 'camo' pattern after deciding that the brown was just too plain. I think it works pretty well.


A brave Grot standing out front to make sure the Trukk is going the right way.


A crazy little guy hanging on for dear life.


And a nasty little surprise hiding in the back. Notice all those different Space Marine Rhino doors for extra protection.....


Now the more important gaming creation, a carry case. I have been messing around with this idea since i started with the 2,000 point army ideas and finally pulled my finger out and did something about it. Below is the first box demonstrating the Imperial Guard (sorry Astra Militarum) army fitting inside. I plan to do a box per army just in case I need to transport more than one at once and to my wife's eternal happiness I am now confident to store the armies in our under floor storage so they are out of her hair. The ultimate plan will be to build a man shed where these will then be transferred to for permanent storage, but that is a little way off yet so they will hide under our house....

So the basic construction is aluminium extrusion and plywood. I will one day get around to painting them (maybe) but it is bug tight and pretty solid.


Start with the base....


Add in some models snugly held in their foam.....


A little bit more.....


Then add the top and there you go, custom built army carry case that should be able to hold up to a little rough handling. I hope.


Hope you all find this update interesting and look forward to some feedback (especially about that stupid varnish....

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/09/22 11:40:37


Post by: GrimDork


Like the ork stuff, grots really make them more fun.

Case looks pretty damn solid. You could take someone out with it! I guess that's kind of an asset when you live in an area with so many nasty and dangerous beasts roaming about!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/09/23 23:14:53


Post by: Freytag93


The orks look great man!

One suggestion for the looted wagons. Something I've seen done that I thought looked really cool was to severely damage the trucks. Show how the vehicle was disabled (holes in the armor, broken tracks, turret blown off, etc) and how the orks "repaired" it (riveted on sheets of metal or scratch built 'accessories').


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/09/26 03:02:32


Post by: Archer


Serious battle damage is something I strongly considers, but decided against as I didn't want to make it look like a pile of junk (even though that is pretty Orky) and I am not sure my modelling skills are up to the task. So I will probably just stick with the largish bullet holes I have, although I do have another two to build so you never know I may get creative with the last one.....


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/10/13 00:53:46


Post by: Archer


I managed to have my first 40k game in quite a while (thanks to Necromunda eating up my gaming time).

Unfortunately I didn't take any pretty pictures (yet again) but it was between my Imperial Guard and a horde of Orks. First time I have ever taken on a Green Tide and it is quite a scary start as you survey all those boyz and wonder just how am I going to kill enough of them to make an impact. Plus when we lined our game up a couple of weeks ago my opponent had yet to decide if he would run a Stompa, love the model and I wouldn't have changed my army (not that I could) if he had.

The long and the short of it was that I killed truck loads of his Boyz at long range and he made a serious mess of my gunline when he did finally make it to me.

Some highlights were:
The first shot of the game was his Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun blowing up one of my Leman Russ Annihilators, its dakka was sorely missed for the rest of the game.
A badly decimated Veteran Squad with 3 flamers and a Sergeant took revenge by frying 16 boyz to ash and then another 4 when they were charged the next turn.
My Tank Commander in his Vanquisher annihilating an Ork Trukk that exploded and killed some nearby boyz and a few of the Nobz that had been catching a ride.
Late in the game my Basilisk trying for a risky close range shot and it scattering back onto itself but failing to damage its own hull.

All in all we decided to call it as the hour was getting late and my opponent gave me a very generous draw as it could have still gone either way, but I feel like he had the upper hand by the end.

What did I learn? Lootas and Shokk Attack Guns should not be ignored. Ork leadership is nowhere near as fragile as I had thought it was. 3 Flamers in a veteran unit IS a good idea against Orks. Orks are a really fun army to play against and I can't wait to get my own on the board.

Oh and on the painting front I am perhaps halfway through the next mob of boyz plus I managed to squeeze enough paint out of my spray can to undercoat the Killa Kanz and Dreadnoughts.

Until next time.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/10/13 01:28:17


Post by: GrimDork


Sounds like fun! Always good to hear people are getting games in, and it sounds like a good motivation to get you through your own orks.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/10/17 00:18:42


Post by: Azazelx


Godo to hear that you've been getting in some games. I like the looted Chimera, and the storage/travel boxes look really well built. What kind of foam have you used in them?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/10/17 05:24:30


Post by: Archer


The foam I ordered is from a place called 'Foam Suppliers' real original I know, but they are really good. Quite cheap (as in postage costs more than the foam. They are based in Dandenong and the grade of foam I use is AA29-400.

If I remember correctly a 300*250*25mm piece costs me $1.82.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/10/19 22:04:20


Post by: Archer


Time for another update.

It's odd I feel that I am updating a little more regularly than I have in a while, but I just don't feel as if I am getting anywhere with these Orks. Then again the fact that there are multiples of everything each time I finish something off I still have more of them to do. But I have managed to knock off the third of four mobs, this time Shootas. I used blue this time to set them apart from the other mobs and I couldn't help myself but to number them a little like a football team. They were just screaming for it and if I had any spare Bloodbowl balls kicking around I definitely would have added a few.

Without further adieu the latest Mob in my Ork Horde:


The Nob and his Bosspole don't show up very well. But you can see his over under twin linked Shoota for even more dakka.


An aerial shot showing off their shoulder pads showing off their position in the grand scheme of things.


As with previous mobs the Big Shootas are all conversions, this time a former Burna Boy donated himself. I really do love the fact that with an Ork army just about anything goes.

I have in the past shown a few pieces of terrain I have been doing alongside the army's and this time is no different. This went together fairly quickly (as may be apparent) and I still need to get some paint onto it. But the basic design is done. What I would like from the community is an indication if I should add a top line of wire to the uprights on the top of the towers? I initially thought I would need to, but now I am not so sure.




A closer shot of one of the towers where I am proposing putting a top rail.


A back view of the terrain piece. The cross members on the pipes are to allow models to stand a bit more securely on the pipes as I hate when models in suitably heroic positions take a tumble because of unstable terrain.


The final shot of this update. I feel it is a suitably heroic piece of terrain and will only require a little paint to make it pop. It has a few little details glued in place to break up the flat sections. It is the first in a line of pipeline pieces of terrain that I am going to be throwing together as a lot of my terrain is of the natural kind and I thought I needed some industrial stuff.

Progress apart from this mob is pretty good. I have almost done the skin of the final mob of Boyz and have started to block some color onto the next Trukk (this one is a Rhino). So I am hoping that I can get either the mob or Trukk finished by the end of the week and provide another update after the weekend.

I still have my fingers crossed I can get the Orks done and on a table top before the end of the year. I keep looking at all these Ogre Maneaters that I am preparing for the next army and they are starting to prove a bit of a distraction.

Oh and one final question, does anyone have any experience getting paint off of GW finecast? I picked up a couple of models and would like to get as much paint off as possible. Does Dettol eat the resin?

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/10/19 22:20:58


Post by: GrimDork


Looking good! Rolling right along there!

The terrain is quite cool and I like the functional design of the piece, helping them to stand is 'doing it right' imo.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/10/28 01:38:59


Post by: Archer


I must be on a productive streak as I am only a day later than I thought I would be for this update. So last week saw me alternating between the final Mob of Boyz and the second of my Trukks (based on a Rhino). I didn't manage to get the Trukk finished, but I am very happy to have now completed all 80 of the Boyz that make up the core of my Ork Horde. Like the previous 3 Mobs these guys are also distinguished by the use of a bold color so they stand out on the tabletop. In the case of these guys I chose a slightly unusual color: White. But it does stand out quite well amongst a fairly dark overall scheme.

The final Mob of Boyz (thank the powers that be for that too):


The bases and other colors( pants, shirts, weapons etc.) are the same throughout each Mob so hopefully that will tie the army together (as well as the consistent basing), but I think these guys may be my favorites so far:


I intentionally tried to apply the paint thick so it would get an uneven appearance to make it look like the Orks had found some thick house paint or similar and dunked their helmets into it. I think it works, the unevenness also adds a little bit of natural shading to the helmets:


The Boss Nob with his fully enclosed helmet and over the top twin-linked Shoota really set him apart (plus his too large bosspole):


Here the mob occupies the same position that the previous mob did, but this time I have added a little paint to the terrain. I am thinking I may have gone a little over the top on the drip effects and should have kept it a little more subtle, but its done now. I may try to dull it back with some black wash and see what that does to it. But will probably paint the details first to see if they draw attention away first.


Close up of some of the Orks and a better look at the paint effect on the terrain for comment and critique:


As this army seems to be taking me far longer than I had hoped I though I would throw a work in progress shot of what I have completed thus far. Four Mobs of Boyz, one of the converted Trukks and the Warboss and Big Mek. Not a bad effort so far, but really hope to have them done before the end of November, but I don't like my chances.....


Well that is my latest update and I am very slowly getting through the Ork Horde. I now have left to paint 2 Trukks (one half done), a Mob of Nobz, small Mob of MegaNobz, 2 Deff Dreads and 6 Killa Kanz. I am trying to encourage my wife to have a go at painting at least one of the Killa Kanz so we will see where I end up with that, but I am not sure it will happen.

Thanks for reading and please let me know your thoughts.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/10/28 01:41:55


Post by: GrimDork


I do like the white!

The force as a whole is really coming along

The drips on the terrain are a bit strong as you say, but I don't think it kills the piece or anything like that.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/10/28 01:44:55


Post by: squall018


I actually really like the drip effect on the terrain. The white helmets definitely stand out, and I actually like them more than the blue mob.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/10/28 01:47:45


Post by: Archer


Hve just fixed the last photo so t now shows up.

Thanks for the feedback, I think the blue Mob loses some effect by not having helmets to carry the color, or I should have used a stronger blue. But ah well, in an Army of that many Boyz I can't be expected to like all of them......I needed some bullet magnets anyway.

I will have a play with the terrain piece as I finish it off and see what I come up with.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/02 22:17:35


Post by: Archer


Another week and another update. The modelling side of my life is moving along full steam ahead. This update sees the completion (well almost completion, but I will get to that later) of the second of my "Trukks". This time it used to be a Predator I think, but looks more like a hollowed out Rhino now. I am cheating a little as this model has been slowly been being worked on for a while. If the internet had been more cooperative with me I would have posted it on the weekend, but it wasn't to be, but I see no harm in an early work (sorry boss) update.

Onto some pretty pictures:


I am really happy with how this one turned out. More so than the previous Chimera. It just seems to have a little more of that Orky character, although nothing is going to top the beer can holding Ork of the previous Trukk. Now I made the comment about almost finished and that is because I didn't realize until reviewing the photos that I missed one of the impaled heads. Internet cookie to the first to spot the stupid unpainted head that means I have to go back and paint it.


I love this photo, it is a pure fluke, but the way that the Gretchen up top looks with his over large pistol to me just looks perfect. There is a little more battle damage to this one compared to the previous as I got a little braver (stupider?) with the cutters and started to hack away at it. But all in all it has turned out well. Particularly happy with the camo cover, the boyz need to keep the sun off obviously.

Some of the more observant readers may notice a similarity between the paint jobs of this Trukk and that of my previously done Iron Hands army. But to me that is the beauty of the Orks and their ability to make use of just about anything. Hence the next sequence of photos....


Right Brothers, we need to move out, everyone mount up and lets get moving.....


Hold up, what the hell is wrong with that Rhino over there?


Whoa! Who the hell pimped our ride?

Hope you enjoy the latest update and I am now trying to get the skin tones right on the unit of Nobz and Mega Nobz, I figure since I want them all looking pretty similar that I would work on that part of them at least at the same time, besides the two units only number 15 models in total, less than one of the Boyz Mobs.

Stay tuned and I am still a little hopeful of being onto the Ogres before Christmas.....



My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/02 22:22:42


Post by: GrimDork


Love the new truck, quite fun and well executed


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/02 23:18:33


Post by: alabamaheretic


looks good man. glad to see progress coming along swimmingly


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/03 02:31:07


Post by: Archer


I had a lot more fun on this model than I have in quite some time. I really refreshing change of pace from the Boyz in green....I really should have broken the painting up between the Boyz and other models to keep it all fresh and myself interested. But I was really trying to "encourage" myself to knock the most numerous part of the army off first. I unfortunately think my accuracy and quality may have suffered. But table top standard is what I want and I think I am managing that still.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/13 20:56:50


Post by: Archer


Just a quick question to anyone still out there.....what is a good brand of spray varnish and where do I get it? I have tried a few paint on versions and it is a ridiculous waste of time hand varnishing when I could just be spraying.

Any thoughts are most welcome.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/13 23:38:51


Post by: Archer


Cheers for the input JWMarines, will definitely check it out.

Need as much protection for the troops as possible because I am a bit of a klutz when it comes to knocking the poor guys around and IO want to reduce wear and tear of in and out of their carry cases for as long as possible.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/14 00:00:42


Post by: GrimDork


Can you get Krylon products over there? I like their clear coat stuff, i forget exactly what the name is but it's pretty clear what it is when you see it.

Something like 3-5 bucks over here, been using it for the last few projects. I never had problems with Testors stuff either though, ages ago. Not GW stuff, it's hella expensive and as prone to frosting as any of them.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/14 01:54:29


Post by: Archer


Would it be Krylon Crystal clear flat?

I have found stockists for both the Testors and Krylon, may get one of each and see if I can tell a difference. I have also been recommended Army Painter stuff, so may go for a 3 up head to head and pick my brand....


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/14 03:47:48


Post by: GrimDork


If I recall the testors is more dull, but maybe thicker about it. It's been years though. I was using one of the badger minitaire airbrush sealers but even the flat was too glossy compared to the proper rattle can varieties. That name sounds similar, probably right.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/16 20:51:33


Post by: Archer


Not much progress over the weekend, my wife has been HSC marking and that has meant I lost my painting space (oh for a man shed to put my hobby stuff into), but she has finally finished so I could reclaim my table, but unfortunately we had a black out from 2pm on Sunday that drastically cut into my attempted hobby time.

Plus the unfortunate fact that due to my employer having a really tough financial time I was one of the unlucky ones to be made redundant.....sucks being this close to Christmas as it makes attempting to get a new job pretty hard.

But nonetheless looking on the bright side I will have a good couple of months to throw at the painting of my armies before the job market really opens up. But if anyone is in need of an experienced Patternmaker/Industrial Designer then drop me a line ;-)


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/16 20:56:41


Post by: GrimDork


Oh wow that sucks about the job dude! That's never fun especially around the holidays :(

Unless you like working as a cashier in retail, at least over here they're still hiring pretty hard for those but they'll dry up soon and wont look again till next year. And it sounds like you do something fairly higher than that paygrade anyway

I haven't lost a good solid job yet, but I do put up with seasonal unemployment. It's always a crapshoot as to whether picking up some lame low-hours retail job is worth it for a couple of months. Such a job barely pays for the cost of daycare while i'm out doing it =/

Well, good luck to you, Sir. Hopefully having some hobby fun helps keep your spirits up and you manage to land a solid job soon!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/16 22:53:32


Post by: Archer


Yeah I am not really interested in getting a seasonal retail job (never having worked in retail wouldn't help my chances either).

May see if any of the local nursery's or tree growers need someone capable of heavy lifting for a few months whilst I decide where I want to end up.

I have never lost a job before so it is definitely an interesting experience. But I have also never gotten a job either, I have always been head hunted, even straight out of uni. So trying the whole application interview process will be interesting as well.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/16 23:09:08


Post by: GrimDork


Ahh I had a few of those head hunters call but none of it panned out and I never ended up with the proper job to match my degree. Thusly I have quite a bit of retail experience The problem is that the unemployment insurance I'd be due is as much as or more than probably 30 hours a week at a retail store making minwage, and you usually don't even get that much as seasonal help.

It would be nice if I had something on the side to fill in the off-time, but none of my skills/hobbies are profitable enough

Even the head-hunters were third party though, right? Didn't you still have to do the interviews and convince them to hire you? The only part you're missing is the actual searching.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/17 00:15:12


Post by: Archer


No I was head hunted directly to fill a position (so maybe head hunting was the wrong term?). No interview past a meet and greet no application. Seems my reputation as a dissident and troublemaker were enough to swing their decisions.

But this time I quite liked the work I was doing (maybe not so much those I was doing it with) so rejected any advance I received so that avenue went a little quiet.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/17 00:16:34


Post by: GrimDork


Ahh well that was easy mode

Well yeah why quit doing what you like/are good at.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/11/26 21:58:46


Post by: Archer


My last update as an employed man (well at least for the near future). This time around I have stuck with the foot sloggers of the army (those Deff Dreads are awfully tempting though) and finished off my unit of regular Nobz. I really loved the level of detail on these guys, I definitely prefer the metal ones to the newer plastics, but they blend together fairly well. The gaming plan will this mob will accompany the Warboss in one of the Trukks to hopefully put some hurt on the enemy. They will work side by side with the Meganobz (who are next on the painting table) who will also ride in one of the Trukks. I figure the third empty trukk will just race ahead acting as a bit of mobile cover taking the odd pot shot with its Rokkit Launcha and you never know the opponent may ignore it and I might just get lucky.....on to some pictures.


The Mob is 9 strong (would have loved to have the points to boost it, but the fact I already had access to 9 models was a sure sign to me it was meant to be).


Just a different angle of the previous photo, I feel these models really do capture the effect that the older an Ork gets the more gnarled and crusty they become.


What I did with 4 of the Nobz is paint one with the same colors as the 4 Boyz mobs I already did (as you can see Red, Blue, Yellow and White) with the little back story that these guys have managed to not only become Nobz of there Mob, but then be promoted into the Warbosses personal retinue leaving their boyz behind forever. As you can see one of them even sports an impressive Boss Pole....


The story behind the remaining Nobz is they are originals from the Warbosses own Mob as he made his climb up the ranks and still follow him around from one scrap to another. Hence why they are somewhat better equipped or sport serious bionik repair.....


The final member of the Mob has the dangerous duty of lugging around the WAAGH! banner and as you can see it is quite an effort. Unfortunately I should not have picked a plastic model to carry the banner as I have had to seriously weight his base done to make it even remotely possible for him to stand up.


Left and right side views of the Banner. As regulars may have guessed I have a bit of an obsession with huge ostentatious and completely inappropriate banners on models (just look at my Iron Hands...) but I love this banner and wouldn't change it at all. Plus the benefit is I really was able with all the heads to practice a few different color schemes and painting techniques for future armies.


The final shot of the update has Grimskraga himself out in front of the Nobz ready to put the hurt on anyone dumb enough to let them get close.

So that is what I have been up to since the last update. Next up are the Meganobz as previously stated and I will be continuing the red, blue, yellow and white plan with them as well. Oh and one of the Meganobz is ably played by the Ghazghkul Model. But I have tried to trim his bulk down a little so he doesn't look too out of place.

Thanks for reading and look forward to hearing your thoughts.



My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/12/20 08:01:22


Post by: Archer


I have managed a little more progress on the Orks so I am posting a cheeky update in time for Christmas. Although to be honest these guys were done a couple of weeks ago and I wasn't able to post the photos up as I took the opportunity of not having a job to drive the thousand km's to visit my family in Sunny Queensland (especially my ailing Grandmother). I even allowed my Mum to tag along. Would much rather have taken my wife but she was off with her High School's Band on an end of year music tour although we did cross paths in Hastings Point which was nice (on a side note the Band successfully auditioned for the Montreaux Fesitval in Switzerland next year leaving me to my own devices for three weeks...)

But that is enough of my life so back to the hobby that I am supposed to be writing about. I did manage to take a couple of models up to Queensland with me so I continued the progress on the Ork horde, but it still won't be enough to get the little Green monsters finished before Christmas and I doubt I will manage it before the end of 2014, I have been given a to do list by the Wife which is going to take a lot of my possible modelling time up. But to keep my spirits up and the interest from the public without further adieu I present to you the latest in my Ork Army:


My MegaNobz! These are the old school metal ones and I can't speak for the new plastics, but these guys have an enormous amount of detail on them (which is seeming to be a running theme on these Ork Models) and very much came close to overwhelming me as I found it hard to get them done. I think as the last of the " infantry" of the army I just wanted them done. But I am really happy with the results and as with their less armored Nob Brothers I took the opportunity to paint one in the same colors of each of the Boyz Mobs. You may see a camo of one Ghazzy model who is standing in as a MegaNob as I wasn't about to try and get one Mega Nob model when I had him lying around. He will never make it to the field as his named Lord of War self, but hopefully he isn't too large for the rest of the mob.


Here is the Boss Nob (who is the Red one) along with the White Nob and Blue Nob. I could have used the Ghazghkul as a Boss Nob, but I wanted to make him as small and humble as possible so this guy got the job.


The back view of the same models, just so many wires hanging out they are as interesting to look at from behind as they are the front. I feel I really got the colors right on these guys, the White Nob isn't too white and the blue came together better than I expected.


This is the Yellow Nob (and I am dreading if I ever do an Imperial Fist Army as Yellow is a hideous color to paint, was worse as I went over a black undercoat, stupid, stupid, stupid), and the two generic Nobs or as I tell myself the oldest ones as their original Mob color has worn off their armor. Ghazz really is a huge Ork and a little out of place, but I wasn't going to let him go to waste.


The rear view, I have the plan to run these guys in one of the Trukks with the other Nobz and Warboss in another. But I am beginning to think if I should split them into two units of 3 (if I can do that, haven't checked the minimum units size in the latest codex because the thought only recently occurred to me and I am lazy) and fill two trukks with Mega Nobz and Big Mek or Warboss and the third trukk gets the Nobs as planned. Maybe I will decide on that depending on what opponent I come up against? At least that way I am increasing the number of targets the opponent has to contend with. Ah well, too many options to be thinking of before I actually get the army to the table.

So there is where I stand with the Orks just before Christmas. I have 2 Deff dreads, 6 Killa Kans and one converted Trukk outstanding. The Deff Dreads both have their base colors on and the Trukk is perhaps half done. The Killa Kanz are only undercoated but I was thinking of doing three of them with the base color of one Deff Dread and the other three like the other so its sort of two groups? Any thought on the matter?

I will leave this here as I need to cook some risotto. I hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe Christmas and if I don't get on here before the New Year have a great New Year's celebration and I will catch everyone in the New Year. Keep up the hobby work and I hope whatever dreams you have come true.

Thanks for reading this year and I am looking forward to a great and productive 2015.



My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/12/20 14:26:55


Post by: GrimDork


Happy Holidays to yourself as well

Meganobz look cool, good work! Looking forward to seeing more as next year unfolds.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/12/31 04:59:07


Post by: Archer


Well it seems I told a little bit of a fib and have managed a little more work on the Ork Deff Dreads (to the point they are done to my standards). This probably came about as my lovely wife encouraged me to pack some painting stuff for our trip north and I found a little time to paint at the various hotels and motels I found myself in whilst away. I am very happy with the color scheme although I personally prefer the orange one as he is a little more out there and the contrast works a lot better with the metal parts. Although I do prefer the face of the red one. But without further chat and just in time to see out 2014 here are my two Ork Deff Dreads.....


As you can see they are both armed with Big Shootas and Power Klaws. I figure they will more than likely just be blown away before getting anywhere (much like my Iron Hands Dreadnoughts do) so I wanted to keep them fairly cheap, and simple, plus the sheer number of shots from the Big Shootas should help them do something at range.


I did my level best to make them as different from each other as possible to add more interest and Orkiness to the Dreads. Therefore I turned the engines upside down and used as many of the different components as I could. They are really nice kits and I certainly feel they embody the Ork feel really well.


I am a firm believer in what you see is what you get so when I decided that all the vehicles would get the Grot Riggers upgrade I just had to have a few of the little green blighters hanging around. In the end I also realised they make a fantastic counterpoint to the rest of the model and help to break up the solid colors of the Vehicles.


As with all of the other Vehicles thus far and Characters prominent trophy poles are on the dreads too. Like the Grotz they add an area of interest that otherwise wouldn't be there as well as give me an opportunity to practice different colr schemes for future armies or at least painting techniques.


My preferred color scheme with his attemdant Grotz. I really love the sheer character of the new plastic Grot models and I am glad I managed to squeeze a few of them into the army even if I couldn't squeeze in an actual mob of them.


The final photo for this update and probably one of my favourite ones thus far. I am really happy with the trophy pole here. This may be the best Imperial Guard head I have ever painted and I really like the color scheme for the Tau Firewarrior.

Well that is where I have managed to get to by the end of the year. It has been a fairly disrupted year with a lot of learning and new experiences. But I have managed to finish the year with a hobby flourish and one cannot ask for more than that. Thanks for reading and the encouraging comments over 2014 and I look forward to an inspiring and eventful 2015.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2014/12/31 07:54:57


Post by: GrimDork


I'm getting no photos for the first five and the last image you linked. Photobucket says it was moved or deleted?

The one I *can* see though? With the goggled goblin? Looks awesome I'm guessing it's the Deff Dread?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/01 06:33:37


Post by: Archer


Thanks for the catch Grim, I did indeed move them on photobucket and it didn't even occur to me I needed to update the locations....my bad.

Happy New Year to everyone by the way.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/01 06:39:25


Post by: GrimDork


Oh well those are damn fancy, great work!

Happy new year


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/01 15:38:38


Post by: EyeamRai


The Dreads are beautifully done!

I especially like the little grots.

Great work!

Happy New Year!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/01 16:41:49


Post by: squall018


Those Dreads are great. I really like how you did the eye lenses. Thats a pretty cool effect.

I like the darker red one on the right better, though thats a matter of personal taste.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/03 08:51:56


Post by: Archer


Yeah just about everyone seems to prefer the Red one (including my wife) although I am sticking to my guns and preferring the garish orange.

I have starting putting paint onto the Killa Kans and I have decided to do two different colors for the mob. 3 will be a dark green and 3 will be a much more radioactive green. This is mainly a feeling that the Grotz would be trying to appear big and green so they would paint their walkers green and in smaller point games I plan to run 2 mobs of 3 so I want to make it so they can be easily picked apart on the battlefield. They will however, copy the Deff Dreads with the metallic bits ontop of the green.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/03 16:11:11


Post by: GrimDork


I can see why they like the red, but Orange is pretty suave too, gets my vote.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/10 04:11:01


Post by: Archer


Ten days into the new year and I feel I am getting some good progress in finishing off the Ork army. With this update (which is the final "Trukk") leaves me the 6 Killa Kanz of which I have base coated all of them and have almost finished the metal bits. So I am really hoping that I can get the Orks finished by the end of the month and get a good run into the Ogre Kingdoms. Plus I would really love to give the Orks a run at the first club meeting of the year which is in February....

So onto the photos. I have to admit I was finding it really hard to motivate myself to get this Trukk finished off. I am not sure why as once I had the base colors done and started on the detail I really began to enjoy it and am very happy with the finished result. The Grotz add an amazing level of detail and character and thanks to a fellow member of the gaming club that gave them to me. (I believe they are a forgeworld model).


The Trukk began life as an Imperial Bombard I think and I now have a giant artillery gun lying around that used to be in the tray. The Ork Gunner is a complete hack job to get it all to fit together.


I think the Banner came out really well. I tried a little bit of wet blending to bring the yellow to red together a bit. For a seat of my pants and a last minute decision I think it worked pretty well. Will definitely be doing it more and more into other models.


I added a little more battle damage to this Trukk than previous ones and even hope to demonstrate that some of it has happened since the Orks repurposed the vehicle by having the bullet holes going over the Ork Glyph.


After removing the Bombard cannon there was a little bit of a tray in the back, but not enough to hold the boyz so I used a bit of spare card to extend the tray further (which conveniently allowed me to make it as close to the size of the official Ork Trukk kit as I could). It also gave me a good spot to position the Gretchen standing on the crates.


The crowning achievement of this update, the sculpt is amazing and has really added an extra dimension of Orkiness to the model. The words are a litle nod to the fiction that I wrote for this army which for a brief synopsis is the new Warboss and Big Mek of the warband are trying to refit and rearm the Boyz, for a bargain price obviously. I kind of feel this Trukk is the Big Meks personal vehicle and he uses it as a mobile shop.

So there is the last of my fleet of Trukks and I am glad it is done. It was a real battle to get it finished which is disappointing as I am really happy by the finished model.

I am having a "play date" with a mate of mine tonight as I try to help him with his motivation for his burgeoning Space Wolves. Therefore, I hope to get a good painting session on the Killa Kanz which will give me a great chance to actually achieve my end of the month deadline.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/10 04:48:53


Post by: GrimDork


I like it, the gobbo with the sign is a nice touch


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/11 02:02:25


Post by: squall018


That truck is awesome. I mean, I hate to see a glorious imperial vehicle disgraced like that, but its super orky! Nice work!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/11 03:46:47


Post by: Archer


Thanks for the comments guys. I also had a pretty productive painting session with my mate last night. But he kind of got distracted from his assembly of some grey hunters when he opened the long overdue Christmas gift that I failed miserably to get to him before Christmas. Since he is collecting Bjorn Stormwolf's great company it was only fitting to give him his first Vindicator.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/12 11:07:30


Post by: Archer


Since I have been having a prolific time of hobbying (probably due to the lack of job to go to......but that is a story for a different forum) I am almost finished the Killa Kanz. In fact three are done and just need their bases completed, but of course I will finish the other three first. BUT this update has nothing to do with the Killa Kanz, in fact it has nothing to do with the Ork army at all. It does actually have to do with my much ignored army transport cases. You may remember the one I had a while back for the Imperial Guard, sorry Astra Militarum Army, that I already finished. But this time it is a smaller case to transport the Empire Knightly Order I competed as the last army.


It is almost exactly half the size of the previous case and I am set on the design now so will forge ahead and finish one off for the Iron Hands that have their foam trays finished but just need the box.


As I have noticed with many Warhammer Fantasy armies compared to 40k armies is they are usually much smaller. The Empire Knights all fit in a single stack of 6 Trays (each tray is two foam pieces thick).


After having finished the first box I added strips of the foam around the base so when the top is on it squashes into it forming a much tighter seal. I thought this important as since I currently am forced to store the completed armies in our under floor storage units (while I get my act together and build a proper man shed) which are potentially not insect proof I thought it necessary. I am happy to say though that having now stored the Astra Militarum army there for many months and there has not been an issue at all.

So a nice short update, but I am very glad to be back on the horse in making these storage/transport boxes.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/12 15:39:20


Post by: GrimDork


Keep on keepin on, as they say. Case is interesting. I tend to store my minis in a modified pistol case. You know. 'Cause American


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/12 18:24:00


Post by: EyeamRai


Those storage cases look pretty neat. Are they very heavy?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/13 08:03:17


Post by: Archer


When I get to the shops and buy some replacement batteries for the bathroom scales and I will give you an accurate weight.

But I would guesstimate that the small case with army and foam inserts weighs maybe 7.5kg. The Larger one would be maybe 15kg.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Well I am posting yet again which makes me feel like I am being very productive. This is a special update as it means I have finished off the Killa Kanz which of course can mean only one thing now.....I have finished off the Orks! Yay me. So without delay here are the final 6 models for the army:


The photography for this update is going to be absolutely shocking as I took the photo's on our dining table rather than my normal place in front of the fish tank which has far better lighting......but here is the Killa Kan mob in all their glory. I figured that in Ork society Green is better so the Grotz would be encouraged to paint their little walkers green to show how powerful and Orky they are (plus I had run out of ideas as to what color to paint them. I did a slight variation as to three of them are a lighter more sickly green and the other three are a much darker green. I mainly did this so that in smaller than 2,000 point games I may run them in two mobs of 3 instead of the large mob.


I have dumped a close up of eah of the Kanz here for closer scrutiny. Like their big brothers the Deff Dreads I really am impressed by the detail. Really enjoyed painting these guys, although I must confess I was more interested in painting the Grotz and Trophy poles than I was the rest of the model.......


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So to carry on from my previous post here I present the finished Ork army, it certainly was a long slog and I am not eager to dive into a horde army again anytime soon (although the Ogre's do tend to move around with a gaggle of Gnoblars......) again, the photos are a little disappointing, but I had little choice in finding somewhere to fit the entire army in one shot.

Again, I won't bore you with lots of words, but will just post some pictures:


And here is the entire army in all its green glory. It was an interesting trip and I certainly found most of them more entertaining than the Iron Hands army as Space Marines are just dull.


This is more of an aerial shot and a much better photo to boot.


The HQ of the army, a Warboss (Grimskraga to you Oomies) and Big Mek


An APPALLING photo of the Elites of the Horde, Nobz and Mega Nobz. The plan with these guys is they will be loaded into the Trukks and flung headlong at the enemy as a frightening distraction. Whether the Warboss rides with them or not will depend on what threats the enemy has.


The Heart and Soul of any Ork Horde (or it should be) 2 Mobs of Shootas and 2 Mobs of Sluggas.


The Trukks fill out the Fast Attack slots of the army as I can in the new Codex and rules and since they aren't dedicated vehicles I have a little more freedom for their battlefieldrole and who they can carry.


And rounding out the horde is the big hitters and probably the biggest targets of the lot. The Deff Dreads and Killa Kanz. But with the Grot Riggers and a Big Mek nearby I am hoping they will soak up a lot more fire than they otherwise should.

Well there you go. I have finished the 4th army off my planned list (although the list is missing a few additions that I have made to make the plan even crazier, but I will leave them off until I finish off a few more armies). I hope the viewers out there enjoyed the ride and were at least mildly entertained. Stay tuned for the Ogre Kingdoms that will begin to appear in the next post......

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/13 15:37:36


Post by: GrimDork


I can't even take in the killa kan details because it's too much fun to look at the goblins on top Awesome army though, and in pretty short order too!

Excellent work, can't wait to see what you come up with next


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/14 00:51:47


Post by: Archer


Well there is no time like the present to keep forging ahead with the project and as I have been alluding to for quite a while it will be the Ogre Kingdoms that get my attention next. I took a long while to come around to the army and I really couldn't settle on a theme that I was really happy with. That is until the new Army Book and it was settled for me. I really like the details behind Ogre Maneaters, setting off to fill the wanderlust, collecting experience and equipment as they sell their services all over the world. Therefore, with the new book allowing me to take more of them I decided on 3 groups of 3 (plus since GW does 6 official models it leaves me room to do a few conversions) I was set. I decided that since they were wanderers there was no place for a Butcher so my magic will come from a Firebelly which fits really well as they are meant to learn their craft in the far off Cathay.

I was planning on converting the Tyrant to lead the army. But couldn't go past using the model for Golfalg Maneater as he just had the right stuff. But I have changed his model a little to make him into my own (and to give him more appropriate weapons for his load out). Below is the army list I plan on using for this update. Please note that I have still to get one Maneater, both the Scrap Launchers and all of the Gnoblars. SO if any Ogre players out there have some input into changes to those models before I buy them feel free. But please remember the theme and I am pretty happy with what I have come up with. No idea if it has any chance on the tabletop, but who cares as long as its fun hey?

2,000 Point Warhammer Fantasy Ogre Kingdoms Army - The Wondrous Caravan of the Traveler and his Maneaters

Tyrant Morgnubul, the Traveller - Fencers Blades, Glittering Scales, Ogre Pistol

Bruiser Grobgut the Signalman - Battle Standard Bearer, Dragon Helm, Heavy Armour
Conflag the Firebelly - Level 2, Great Weapon

Wanderlust Beginners - Crusher Bort, Musician, Standard Bearer with Lookout Gnoblar, 3 Ogres Bulls, all have Ironfists
Servants of the Traveller - Groinbiter Cabbage, Musician, Standard Bearer, 32 Gnoblars, Gnoblar Trappers
Emergency Rations - Groinbiter Phlegm, Musician, Standard Bearer, 32 Gnoblars, Gnoblar Trappers

The Travellers Lads - 3 Man Eaters with additional Hand Weapons
The Gold Seekers - 3 Man Eaters with Great Weapons
The Experienced - 3 Man Eaters with Braces of Ogre Pistols
The Travellers Brother - Gorger

Greenskin Ingenuity - Gnoblar Scrap Launcher
Trophy Rack of the Caravan - Gnoblar Scrap Launcher

I am not sure how I will play this army, so many small, hard hitting units with some absolute garbage in the Gnoblars thrown in for fun. I will need to try and charge the same target with multiple groups to try and make the most use of the Ogre Charge and to ensire the small units don't get overrun. Maybe I will load the characters into the Bulls unit and have the 3 Maneater units run with them for additional support?

So enough talking for now.....the above is the direction I am heading on the next leg of my journey, although I do plan to make time to do the foam trays for the Orks and transport boxes for the Iron Hands and Orks as well.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/14 02:09:53


Post by: EyeamRai


I cant wait to see the Ogres all painted up!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/14 03:02:44


Post by: GrimDork


Looking forward to it.

'This gonna be gud' meme here


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/16 10:09:40


Post by: alabamaheretic


very cool sounding list...look forward to it archer.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/16 22:00:48


Post by: Freytag93


Wow, I miss a few weeks and you finish half an army and have already moved on to the next!

Great work man. Those orks look stunning together. I like how bright the army looks when it is displayed. I would be pretty intimidated seeing that across for me.

No helpful suggestions for the OK. Looking forward to seeing how you start though. You taking on 4 armies and starting a 5th is really making me look at my own shoddy work desk and feel the urge to paint. Maybe I'll finally get some work done on my brets...


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/17 10:45:29


Post by: Archer


Would love to see your Bretonnian Work. I would jump at doing my take on a couple of Bretonnian variations but I just can't do it until the new Army Book is released to see the changes and if I can still do my desired Peasant army.....


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Time for another update. Gee I think I may be getting sick of my own typing and that is hard for me to do considering how much I like to talk......but I have been progressing nicely, not entirely on the Ogre front, but getting some of the other modelling tasks out of the way. I have now finished 3 of the 4 required storage/transport boxes and the last one (for the Orks) is well on its way to being finished. So a quick photo update of the three finished boxes for perusal.....


Here are the three boxes stacked on top of each other. I completely forgot to write the outside dimensions of them down, but if someone is interested I will do that in my next post. However, I was asked about the weight of the boxes and I finally got around to putting a new battery in the scales so the weights are as follows (my original estimates were WAY out).
The smallest box (for the Empire Knightly Order) weighs: 3.7kg for the box only and 6.2kg when the foam trays and army are inside.
The middle box (which has the Iron Hands and interestingly the Ork army is exactly the same size...) weighs: 4.9kg for the box and 8.5kg with army and foam included
Finally the biggest box for the Astra Militarum (so many tanks) weighs: 5.2kg for the box and 10.2kg with all the stuff loaded inside.

I am getting pretty quick at putting them together now and they are very secure. I am happy with the design and the next step will be to paint them and add an army specific design to identify which army is in which box.

Onto the next photo which is the first update in the Ogre Kingdoms progress.....I present the first of my armies Maneaters, the Ninja!


He is a very simple paint job as a lot of the Ogre Models have a lot of large flat areas. It doesn't show up well in the photo (isn't that always the excuse?) but hsi leather tunic and pants has a purple sheen to it which I feel works quite well.


I feel he is a good start and I feel apart from the legions of Gnoblars I will quite enjoy painting this army.

It is a short update, but its a start for my next army.

Thanks for reading and comments are most welcome.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/19 05:54:22


Post by: Archer


I realized I made a rather heinous adding up error with my Ogre Kingdoms list, so I have updated the original list in a previous post to bring it in line. I was well under the 2,000 point goal so I made the wargear make more sense and squeezed in a Gorger who I think is a deliciously gross model and hopefully will be good for war machining hunting....


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/19 16:16:04


Post by: GrimDork


I didn't play with OK much, but I do somewhat remember being worried about gorgers.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/21 07:18:16


Post by: Archer


Been doing some more hobby (strangely enough) and have finished off the Ogre Bull unit from the army. I am waiting for the paint to dry to do the next couple of steps on the movement tray but it isn't needed for the pretty pictures. I have decided that since I am not sure how I want to run the characters in this army (unlike the Empire Knights) I am making the movement trays to fit the unit itself and I will just tack the characters on the side during games. I feel this gives me a little more flexibility, especially as I feel the Tyrant in particular could be particularly effective on his own in certain circumstances. So that means a total of 6 movement trays I believe for this army.

But enough chat and on to my latest offering:


I am really happy with how these guys have turned out. They are very uniform, which isn't all that bad since how divergent the Maneaters are going to be. Also really happy with how the bases have turned out. First time I have painted the bases for any of the armies thus far.


With such large areas of bare skin I added some simple tattoo work on as a very last step as I wasn't planning on doing it at all. But feel it adds a useful point of interest.


I felt by making the unit really uniform and "disciplined" (same colors, weapons etc.) it would be a nice counterpoint to the chaos of the Maneaters. I also loaded them up with extra bits and pieces to make it look like they have loaded up with gear to make a start on their own world wandering.


Being larger models they were a real pleasure to paint as any detail was really easy to get a brush at and I am keenly looking forward to getting on to the rest of the Ogres. Although I am dreading when I need to front up to the 70 or so Gnoblars. I am thinking of making a unit filler for each unit (especially as I am going to be 5 Gnoblars a unit short of the required 35). Could also be a good way of making the sea of green more interesting to look at. Any ideas?

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/21 16:04:04


Post by: GrimDork


Could have the gnoblars pulling an ogre on a divan/dias/palanquin around? That could take between 4-9 spaces depending on the majesty involved.

I really like the tatts!

What's that bowl in front of the standard guy? Afraid to hear the answer lol.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/22 01:03:55


Post by: Archer


Not sure what it's meant to be, but it is one of the many, many extras that are included with the Ogres, I figured since their culture is all about food a little bubbling cooking pot of some unmentionable contents fitted quite well. Maybe stewed Seagull or if you are Australian an idiotic, screeching, beach chicken.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/22 05:52:56


Post by: EyeamRai


The tattoos look fantastic!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/24 01:29:30


Post by: Archer


I have had a fairly productive time since the last update (which is only a few days old) but I have finished off the first of my Maneater units. This one will count as armed with additional close combat weapons (which is good because it is pretty much what the models are armed with since Maneaters can't have iron fists).

I am finding the Ogre Models really easy to paint and am very happy with the results so far. Just dreading when I need to turn my attention to the Gnoblars....although I figure that since I have taken the Trapper upgrade I should use the planned unit filler to represent them somehow, so maybe a few Gnoblars standing amongst a heap of traps and the like? Maybe two groups taking up 4 spaces each? Know idea how I will do it, but I am liking the idea more and more.

But onto some pictures:


This is the "Araby" GW Maneater and I think his turban/head scarf turned out very well.


The rear view of him, you can thank my Wife for the color scheme. I think she is actually pretty good at choosing color. She also decided on the coat of the next model too.


Here is the GW Paymaster model and I think he is the best of the Maneater sculpts, or at least of the 3 I have currently painted.


Better shot of the coat. Initially I was going to do it a dark and dirty red. My Wife thought it would be better like this. It is growing on me and I think it looks a tiny bit like a flayed skin.


So together with the Ninja here is the first unit of Maneaters on their movement tray. I am pretty happy with how they have turned out and they are all quite different from each other.


The required back shot as there is just too much detail to fit into one photo.

So I am now two units down and it isn't even the end of January, well on track to try for 3, maybe 4 armies in a year. I still hold out hope......

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/24 02:08:45


Post by: GrimDork


Fantastic, those are really nice, and neat models to boot!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/25 01:44:47


Post by: Azazelx


....and I'm finally caught up over here as well!

Some great work you've been showing off, and so prolific as well. Sorry to hear about the job situation, but it's good to hear that you're making the most of it, and it's a nice time of year to have time off at least.

Orks are bloody impressive, and I especially like the Dreads, Kans and the "Trukks". And now you've started Ogres. The Bulls look outstanding, and I'm especially a fan of the tattoos/warpaint on them. I love that stuff. The paymaster guy also looks particularly cool in his Pimp Coat.

 Archer wrote:
Just a quick question to anyone still out there.....what is a good brand of spray varnish and where do I get it? I have tried a few paint on versions and it is a ridiculous waste of time hand varnishing when I could just be spraying.
Any thoughts are most welcome.


For most things I use Wattyl Estapol Matt. I've used it for about 20 years. It's about $15/can. Bunnings used to sell it but it's a little harder to get these days, so I order it in from a Paint store that's local. I think Bunnings sell a very similar stuff by British Paints (Matt Polyurethane), but since the paint place is close, I just stick with my tried and true. As noted earlier, Testor's Dullcote is also quite excellent as well. I keep a can of that handy as well.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/25 01:53:05


Post by: squall018


Archer, those tattoos on your Ogres are great. I can't free hand well enough to pull that off.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/25 06:01:21


Post by: Qwk


Fantastic work here, I can't believe you've managed to even get this far.

I'm amazed/glad your wife is allowing you to do this!

Keep up the great work.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/25 07:30:52


Post by: Archer


It's update time yet again. But this one also includes a special twist. I have had my first game of 40k for the year and it was a win for the Orks. Which is great as it was my first outing with the Greenskins (ever!). It was a tightly run thing but in the end my opponent conceded at the end of the 5th turn with essentially only a Rhino and Drop Pod left alive. Man of the match certainly goes to the Warboss, what a monster he is. He led his Nob bodyguard to the demise of Tigirius and Sternguard escort as well as the Ultramarine Terminator Captain and his Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Bodyguard (with a timely intervention of the Mega Nobz). Had a great time and I really feel the blunt tactics of the Orks suits me. Don't think charge. We had a good discussion after the event about where we could have done better and hopefully I get the opportunity to give the Ultramarines a good kicking again later.

But now some pictures:


Here is the first of my Great Weapon wielding Maneaters. The "Imperial" Maneater with his warhammer stolen from a statue somewhere. I think I got a pretty good stone effect going on it. Otherwise he is a little shiny as I used a fair number of the old GW inks so I feel he probably needs a good coat of matt varnish to solve that.


He has a really simple scheme, but I tried to copy what I would do for an Empire halberdier or similar. Not sure I am as big a fan as the previous Maneater models. I am happy with his weapon though.


A couple of action shots from the game. The lonely walk under the stern gaze of an Imperial statue. This Mob of Orks took a serious mauling from a Thunderfire Cannon (my opponent had 2!), but they busted some heads (thanks Mob Rules) and proceeded to sit on one of the 4 objectives for the rest of the game whilst taking Big Shoota pot shots at passing Ultramarines.


One of the highlights of the game, watching Tigirius disappear under an avalanche of Green bodies led by the Warboss. I must admit I never realized how tough he could be with Iron Arm and other psychic shenanigans going on. But my Warboss (or was it one of the other Nobz) eventually saw him eating dust.


A couple of turns into the battle. This central corridor was a lot less defended than I thought it should have been allowing me to quickly close the gap as well as get a Shoota mob well dug into an objective. Next time I feel the Ultramarines won't allow the Orks such free rain to move around.

Well I have had a game and painted some models, tomorrow is Australia day so I won't be managing much hobbying probably but I could probably use a break.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/25 07:44:36


Post by: GrimDork


Battle looks like great fun, and played on really nice scenery too!

Looks like you're having fun with them, excellent

The stone for the borrowed hammer is also nice!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/26 01:38:06


Post by: EyeamRai


Congrats on your win with the orks!

I'm really liking how the Ogre Kingdoms guys are coming along. I believe the Paymaster is my favorite so far.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/26 23:19:40


Post by: Archer


Thanks guys, the Ogres are definitely rolling along quite well. They were the right army (at least so far) to follow the horde of the Orks. So easy and quick to get through the large areas on the models.

Was great to blood the Orks. Have been invited to join an Apocalypse game in the near future. I don't have any special big models, but I figure my trusty Astra Militarum and Iron Hands could take to the field together and try to swarm a Titan or too....


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/26 23:38:19


Post by: GrimDork


You could always bring your Orks and take a couple of trashcans and quickly attach arms for s00perd00per stompas?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/27 06:52:54


Post by: Archer


Hmmm trash can Stompas? Intriguing idea, but no, I must stay motivated on the Ogres otherwise my 3-4 armies this year is doomed.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/27 07:25:22


Post by: GrimDork


Bwahaha fair enough and good luck to you!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/29 03:55:21


Post by: Archer


The update for this week (yeah, yeah I know that my updates are so random I shouldn't say for this week.....but I needed a snappy opening) has two sections, firstly is a little bit of terrain I have been playing with for a while and the second is more Ogre Kingdoms.

I also took possession of the first of two Scrap Launchers yesterday and spent the morning putting it together. I am blown away by the detail and how much craziness is contained within one model (as well as all the tasty extra pieces that would have gone into the Ironblaster had I built it) but at the same time a little disappointed by the size. I had convinced myself that it was going to be huge, I mean it is a chariot drawn by a Woolly Rhino with a catapult on the back for crying out loud. But alas it didn't live up to my wild imagination. But on the bright side it will be easier to maneuver on the battlefield.

I will enjoy painting it, but I have left it in pieces as trying to access some of the detail will be impossible once fully assembled, although I did put more of it together than the instructions suggested, but I am stubborn and impatient like that. Although I won't be painting it anytime soon. Want to get rid of all the other Ogres in the queue first. I am firmly decided on unit fillers for the Gnoblars that show the myriad of traps and pitfalls the "Trappers" in the unit have set up, I plan to do 2 40x40 bases (taking the space of 8 Gnoblars) for each unit. I believe that with all the extra pieces from the Scrap Launcher kits and other pieces it should be pretty easy to do. I hope.

Enough talk though and on to some pictures:


This is a Forgeworld BUilding that I have had for absolutely ages, not sure what it used to be called, but I have finally gotten around to painting it. Kept it very simple, but the building is really able to speak for itself.


I threw the Eldar Guardians in for scale purposes. But you may see them make an appearance in a future Eldar army update (I do plan on doing 7 Eldar armies to go with all the other ones.....I really need to update my first post to include ALL of the armies that I want to do.....)


I wanted the internal wall a diffferent color to the outside so I tried a bit of stipling with what I thought was a suitable boring beige that I imagine many Imperial buildings would have been plastered in. I did try a little harder on the interior consoles as they are a good focal point and probably serve as a nifty Objective in games.


Another console? These Guardians are really lucky, now if one of them could read High Gothic.....

I am pretty happy with how the building turned out. It was done VERY quickly, all completed in about half a day. I didn't want to spend too much time on it as I am too easily distracted at the best of times and I wanted to get back to the Ogres. Which is a nice introduction to......


The next Maneater in the Army and this Ogre is a she! Hands down my wife likes this model the most of any I have done and under her instructions I pushed a little more than I have in the past with free hand hearts on her top, a little blush on her cheeks and pink nail polish on her hands. I really like how she turned out and will fit into the other Maneaters really well.


I have to admit the fishnets may have been a step too far, but it is a huge Ogre female armed with an oversized rolling pin so what was I supposed to do?


This is the first character for the army I have done, which is hard to really say as I feel with the low model count and outlandish Maneaters almost every model in this army is a character unto themself. But the Firebelly here actually fills a Hero slot so he is officially a character. I tried a little more wet blending on the flames and I am happy to say I think I am getting the hang of it. I continued with a stone theme (which I did on the Imperial Maneater with warhammer) and attempted to make his mask look like it was carved from stone. I personally think it works well especially as I chose such a dark skin tone for the rest of him.


In the end he is a pretty simple color scheme and apart from the flames I kept the attempted techniques to a minimum. Not entirely sure why, but I wasn't as enthused by him as the previous Ogres. A side note though I picked this guy up from eBay dirt, dirt cheap although he had an appalling and thick layer of paint and was glued together with a silicone adhesive to boot. I had a lot of success using undiluted Dettol to strip the paint off, although I didn't soak it, just dipped and scrubbed. I didn't seem to lose any detail or suffer any softening of the resin (yes he is Finecast).

So after these updates it leaves me to paint 4 Maneaters, 1 Tyrant, 1 Standard Bearer, 1 Gorger, 2 Scrap Launchers and 70 Gnobalrs (shudder....). So not quite at the end of January and I feel well on track to get the Ogre Kingdoms finished in good order. I may even need to start discussing with you guys what army to do next.......thoughts?

Thanks for reading.

Oh and on the job front I have an interview tomorrow, so wish me luck.....


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/29 06:58:51


Post by: Azazelx


Looking great!
Next up you should write up a Kings of War army list for the Ogres - since they're both low-model count armies, it should be easy to do any small rejigging or any extra couple of models so it becomes a dual-purpose army.

Then, Beastmen!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/29 14:29:47


Post by: GrimDork


Terrain piece is great, I like the different interior/exterior colors and the panels look good.

Both the maneater and firebelly look great! I think you may have stepped it up a notch and things were already looking fantastic. Excellent work!

Looking forward to hearing about another army muahaha.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/29 15:39:44


Post by: squall018


That terrain piece is sweet. I've never seen that before.

I also like the maneater, and I think the fishnets look appropriate on her.

The blending on the fire is good. Blending is something I haven't tried yet, but at some point am gonna have to take the leap. Looks like you have gotten the hang of it.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/29 22:03:36


Post by: Archer


Thanks all. I really do feel my painting skills have come along leaps and bounds. Especially when I go back near the beginning of the blog......

If I knew more about Kings of War (and knew someone that played) I would definitely make a list for each of the fantasy armies I do to make them all more useful.

I would really, really love to do beastmen, but like Bretonnia I don't want to do an army with an older book because updating from old to new can be a pain. I have been lucky so far, but don't want to push my luck too much.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/29 23:19:02


Post by: EyeamRai


Good luck on your interview!

The Maneater lady is pretty great.

I really like the Firebelly. I think you did a fantastic job with the flames.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/30 02:46:56


Post by: Azazelx


Huh. Somehow I missed the terrain piece and went straight to the newer ogres. It looks outstanding, and you've chosen well to have the interior a nice realistic beige to the grey of the exterior. That's one thing that kinda annoys me about so much of our terrain - and especially premade stuff - looking identical on the inside to the outside. Just like almost nowhere in real life! You've made this one look great!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/01/31 06:14:05


Post by: Archer


It's that time again, another update......this one will be a little longer than the last few as I have not had time to put any photos up so have managed to get 3 more models done. Two of the Models are conversions, one by me and another who I will speak about when I show the photos.

I have also decided since it seems to be the thing to do to keep track of how many models that I paint this year. Not a bad goal several others are doing (you know who you are), so never one to shy away from peer pressure I counted up the models I have counted thus far and including the three I am about to post I am up to 24 models (yes I am including the building...). I think this is a pretty good number, especially as I only just considered looking at this target, but I expect it to sky rocket once I hit the little people ie. the Gnoblars as I have 70 odd of these little blighters to paint.

But enough of my useless ravings and ramblings and of course distractions and on to some pictures:


Here is my Gorger. A late addition to the army (after an adding up error) and I am glad I included him. After he arrived from eBay I assembled and painted him in a couple of days I liked the model that much. He is a definite departure from the appearance of the rest of the army so was a welcome change. I tried to make him as pale as possible to highlight his unfortunate subterranean early life. However, story line wise he is going to be the runt brother of my Tyrant, so to tie the two closer together I am going to use the same skin tone on my Tyrant to tie the two creatures closer together.


He is a fairly lopsided model and even though the rest of the parts fitted together really well trying to get him attached to his base was a real pain in the proverbial.


From the back you can see the myriad bones tied and rammed into his flesh. I took a gamble and tried to highlight that the areas where the bone was stabbed through his skin would be bleeding and painful.


This is the Standard Bearer for my army and alas I cannot claim responsibility for the very nice conversion. I stumbled across him on eBay and secured him for an absolute steal not realizing the vendor does conversions professionally. He trades under the name Thistledoo Miniatures here in Australia and having seen this model up close his work is spectacular. I did inquire about getting some other models done, but lets say the price I got this guy for was an absolute bargain.


There are so many little details all over him that I am not even sure which bits are scratchbuilt and which are simply taken from other kits. (He did turn up undercoated).


As is often the case with me I went for a fairly simple paint scheme to let such a good model to speak for itself. Again with the large flat areas he painted up fairly quickly.


This model is the first conversion I did for the Maneaters (the other two will be up when I have finished painting them). Since there are only 6 official models and I want 9 there was no choice but to do my own. I went for a kind of Asian look with skin tone and the rice fields style hat. I also envision he is a bit of an Ogre slaying specialist as shown by the fact he wears several Gut plates as armor, probably taken as prizes from opponents.


I probably made a poor color choice of the yellowed skin and then bronze armor, it tended to almost blend together. But he is a pretty good contrast to the other Maneaters from his unit.


So here is the second of my three Maneater units, this one will be used as monster slayers as they are all armed with Great Weapons so should be able to deal with high toughness targets.

So there you have it, a Gorger, Standard Bearer and number 6 of my 9 Maneaters. I feel they all have a good character of their own and actually do a reaasonable job of fitting together.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/02 06:16:48


Post by: Azazelx


Amazing stuff. I love that Army Standard bearer, and the Maneater looks great as well - how much of it is a conversion and how much is stock? Is it a plastic model?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/02 10:01:42


Post by: Archer


The standard bearer I have no idea what is what as I didn't make him and he arrived under coated. The man eater on the other hand is made entirely from the plastic ogre bull kit.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/05 07:14:14


Post by: Azazelx


Yeah, the Maneater is the one I was asking after - you've done a great job on him!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/05 10:47:51


Post by: Archer


I have fallen off the painting band wagon a little the last few days. Not sure what happened, just needed a break. Cracked my Van Saar Necromunda gang out on Sunday starting them from scratch after taking a break from the Goliath's as they have gotten a little too powerful and need a breather, may restart them or keep them around for any new gangs that get too big for their boots. The Van Saar's performed well in their first outing against an interestingly set up Escher gang that had NO ranged weapons apart from a few pistols and a flamer. The match up didn't go well for the girls of house Escher and some absolutely appalling dice rolling meant I didn't have anyone even pinned until about the 6th turn by which time half of the opposing gang were already down or out. I think my opponent may have gone a little too far down the hand to hand route. Be interesting to see how he runs the gang in the future.

But apart from my gaming I have done a little bit of painting. I focused on trying to work out my unit fillers for the Gnoblars (in advance of getting the rest of the little green blighters) and I decided to go ahead with the idea of traps. You see I have taken a rather expensive upgrade called "Trappers" which represent the nasty breed of Gnoblars that like traps. Therefore, any unit charging the front of a unit of Gnoblars with attendant Trappers will take automatic hits from the various traps and pitfalls set up by the nasty little critters. I also decided that I would do 2 fillers per unit on square bases that fill the space of 4 Gnoblars (so 8 in total for each units). It is a perfect size as it turns out as I plan on running the units in 7 troops x 5 ranks which means I can set up the command group in the middle with a unit filler on either side which as you will see is kind of perfect.......


It is a little hard to make out in the photo, but here is my 'shieldwall' for the Gnoblars with spears at the ready. Each unit will have one of these on the front corners just reminding me and my opponents of the dastardly Trappers and their tricks....


The rear view is a little clearer for what is going on. The shields and spears are simply a cover for the myriad traps hidden in the front lines of the Gnoblar units ready to kill any unwary foes.


This is my favorite filler and therefore goes first. I figure after this little bugger finished setting up all those bear traps he had to pole vault his way out of harms way......


I imagine this is a couple of barrels filled with shrapnel, cannon balls and of course gunpowder which the pistol is ready to set off. Unfortunately it hasn't been explained to the rag picker Gnoblar here what exactly will happen when he pulls the trigger......


Here we see a clever Gnoblar using greed as a way of catching the enemy, a tasty bag of who knows what hangs above a snare ready to catch the unwary.


Finally my least favorite as I feel it has the weakest story a lone Gnoblar is laying out some sharpened spikes to slow up the enemy charge as they come over the top of the shieldwall.

So there you have my first ever unit fillers and I think they do a pretty good job of taking up space, will fit well into the units and most importantly tell a little story that also has the added benefit of reminding me about an important unit upgrade.

Let me know what you think and thanks for stopping by and reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/05 13:42:42


Post by: squall018


Dude, those are sweet unit fillers. I just make boring ones that look like scenery or whatever. Yours are mini dioramas. My favorite is the one with the bag of gold.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/05 18:59:55


Post by: EyeamRai


Great work!

I love your Maneater conversion. I like his story of slaying the others and taking their gut plates.

I really like your unit fillers. I want to make some for my Night Goblin units but I haven't figured out what I want to do yet.

The gorger also looks fantastic. One of the best ones I've seen all painted up.

Looking at your Ogres makes me want to pull mine out and start painting them. I'm trying to build my list without any gnoblars, is that even legal? I haven't really looked at the army book.

Anyway, great painting! I can't wait for the next update!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/05 19:02:54


Post by: GrimDork


Drat I missed those unit fillers... they're great


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/05 19:19:26


Post by: Archer


Can't have missed them Grim, they only just appeared ;-)

It certainly is legal to run an army without Gnoblars EyeamRai. So go for it. Ogres have got to be the easiest models to paint i have done yet. I considered no Gnoblars. But what would the caravan eat in an emergency?

Surely a night goblin unit filler (especially if it includes fanatics) has to be a mushroom patch? Or maybe a small hole leading into the ground?

Thanks Squall. I had a lot of fun trying to figure them out.

Thanks for the comments guys. Hope to have some more up soon.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/05 21:15:10


Post by: EyeamRai


I was thinking about the mushroom patch but I had not considered a hole leading into the ground. I like that idea!

I collected squig models for a while so I'm also considering some squigs bopping along in the middle of the unit.

Glad to know that I don't have to use the gnoblars. Between my metric crap ton of goblins and tyranids, I just did not want to paint another bunch of tiny things.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/05 21:27:59


Post by: GrimDork


Definitely some kind of hidden/cave entrance, I still need to do that for my skaven.

I think gnoblars are just there to be the anvils to the hammers of the rest of the army.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/06 04:31:00


Post by: Azazelx


These are great and very characterful. I'll have to rip off the "traps" unit-filler idea when I get around to doing my goblins (which won't be for awhile, bit still.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/08 05:35:51


Post by: Archer


It a short update today, no Ogre Kingdoms models this time, just some terrain pieces I knocked off at a mates place. I needed to take a little break from the Ogre's so I turned my attention to some Pine trees that I have had kicking around for AGES and decided they needed some nice bases to go on. (They ended up being really easy and I think on a table they will look very effective).


So I ended up doing 8 bases with a combination of Pine trees and rocks. I wanted to have them reasonably busy by being pretty dense, but not very hard to position models on them. I was a little concerned that the trees themselves were a little too small out therefore out of scale so I thought if I went with a fairly bare and rocky looking base it could explain the trees are a little stunted. But once 28mm tall models are in amongthem they don't look so bad.

For reference, the area of the table these are sitting on is 2 feet x 3 feet, so with the 3 citadel woods I have already done I could do quite a convincing forest table, now where are my Wood Elves........


Obviously I play both 40k and Fantasy so I wanted to make sure that the woods would be capable of good use in both games so taking a leaf from the Citadel Woods and all of the Pine Trees are removable so if a regiment or a large model wants to move into the woods they are perfectly capable to pull the offending tree out of the way and position the unit. It also makes storage of the pieces really easy as they stack up pretty easily.

You can probably see that a couple of the pieces fit together quite neatly, this was intentional that I can use them as separate smaller woods or stick them together to turn them into a much deeper forest.


Here are those pesky Eldar Guardians again (I swear I will make an army out of them eventually, maybe I will update the first post with the true list of armies I want to do.....) but once positioned in the forests I was less concerned that the trees were going to be too small. Sure the Ogres make some of the trees laughably small, but they are also 60mm tall.....


Here we see an Vibrocannon hidden among the trees and it still looks pretty in scale even though it is a much larger model.

I am very happy with how these came together in only about 3 days (which included drying time). I have been meaning to get those Pine Trees mounted on something solid for ages now and glad I did. I promise that I will get back onto the Ogres post haste and the next update will hopefully include the next two Ogre Maneaters (both of whom are conversions......)

Also, look for the updated army lists that I am going to attempt with this plan, it is obviously impossible (yeah I can admit that) but unless GW changes some armies it is the list I am going to be working too.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/08 06:59:36


Post by: GrimDork


Those are great, excellent work

The trees *are* a touch small... but I don't think you really notice with models around. Besides, it could be a new growth, or as you say... stunted trees. Or miniature alien trees


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/09 06:25:48


Post by: Azazelx


Battle for the Christmas Tree Plantation! Not quite as famous as the Battle for the Tractor Factory, but still a historically significant event.

Seriously though, they look great. I only wish I could actually get that much good looking terrain done in a day.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/09 06:29:24


Post by: EyeamRai


The trees look really great!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/09 06:47:03


Post by: Archer


Thanks guys I appreciate the comments and I love your sense of humour Azazelx. You must remember it is much easier to get things done when a pesky job isn't standing in your way....


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/09 08:43:23


Post by: Azazelx


...I don't think I ever remember that?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/10 06:16:32


Post by: Freytag93


Wow archer, great work once again!

So many models to choose from... I think I have to pick the gnoblar unit fillers for my favorite. I always struggle trying to figure out unit fillers for fantasy. I don't want to do scenery because it always feels weird to me that these trees or fences or moving with the unit. But you pulled these off so well!

I am hoping my own blog will live up to yours (or at least enjoy a little love in its shadow) once I start it up. Just waiting for those pesky bits to come is... as always...


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/11 01:11:07


Post by: Archer


Thanks Freytag83 for the comment. Make sure you put your blog in your signature so I can find it easily.

There are so many great blogs on Dakka Dakka that it is a great source of inspiration. Just pick a subject you are keen on and the community can provide a lot of motivation and support.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/11 09:53:39


Post by: Norn King


I just went through all of your work... Wow!

Subbed!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/15 08:17:40


Post by: Archer


Howdy all, its been slow going on the modelling front since my last update, I have yet to manage to secure work in my preferred field of expertise which has been frustrating, but I have been doing some cash in hand work which is helping pay the bills. I had forgotten how hard manual labor can be, its been a good ten years since I did sustained work "on the tools" (since walking away from the manufacturing industry as a Patternmaker). Its interesting I keep myself in a fairly reasonable physical condition (never know when you need to run away from the zombie hoard) but I was taken by surprise with how tired I would be from all the welding and repair work I am doing. But enough of my personal life and back to the realms of make believe and my little soldiers......

I again managed to get a game with my Empire Knightly Order, all 2,000 points of them this time. I took on a tricksy Wood Elf army that was a real pain in the Proverbial. What with Waywatchers that are able to ignore my 1+ armor saves and in their first turn absolutely devastated one unit of my knights, they are really brutal. Man of the match on my side goes to the Demigryphs, they can take a huge pounding and keep grinding away. Even though I completely forgot about their stomp ability for the entire game which may or may not have swayed the major combat in my favor. I lost the game in the end and it was largely due to me doing some really stupid things with deployment which left the Demigryphs unsupported and if I had just reached them a turn earlier I may have turned the tide. Plus I failed two pursuit rolls by 1" both times which ended up really hurting.


I snapped this photo as my left flank deployed Knights realize they are way out of the fight and needed to quickly redeploy, the table was really thick with terrain which made my movement quite hard, I think I lost a fair few riders to dangerous terrain which was something I am going to need to think a lot harder about in the future.

I also managed to get some more work done on the Ogres (read finished a single maneater) and present him here for your viewing pleasure:


This is the first of my Maneaters that are to armed with two Ogre Pistols. If you ask where his second pistol is wait for the next photo.....Obviously he is a conversion of many parts including a Tyrant, Butcher and Bruiser as well as a few plastic parts. I am not a massive fan of the Butchers head, but it went into place very easily. I tried to paint a bit of a scale pattern onto his pants to break the space up a little and give the impression they may in fact be made from the hide of lizardmen or some other large scaly beast. From a distance it works ok, up close it doesn't work all that well.


See he does have a second pistol, or in fact a giant rifle looking thing. Since this guy may be something of a reptile hunter I figured he needed some tattoos so I chose some basic serpent looking things. Maybe he adds one everytime he kills a serpent of note?


A slightly grainy close up of some of his tattoos. He actually has one on his cheek and the top of his head as well which I just couldn't get to show up in the photos particularly well.

So that is the hobby progress I have managed in the last week, nowhere near the speed that I was moving last month, but unfortunately life has insisted that I work. This means to finish the Ogre Kingdoms army I need to paint 2 Maneaters, 2 Scrap Launchers and 54 Gnoblars. Of which I need to still buy 1 Maneater (of the Pirate variety, 1 Scrap Launcher and 48 Gnoblars).

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/15 08:27:09


Post by: Norn King


I'm about to splurge on an Ogre Kingdom army, got any pointers for me?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/15 18:02:53


Post by: GrimDork


Good to hear you got a game. Ogre looks good too.

I'm usually wiped out the first couple-three weeks after work after I've returned from a 3_month layoff let alone years off. You use different muscles to work than to work out and stay fit, you should acclimate eventually.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/16 01:47:25


Post by: EyeamRai


Glad to hear the Empire got to see some action! Sounds like a bit of a rough game but a good one none the less.

Missing the pursuit by just one inch this the worst!!

I like your newest Ogre. I really like the pattern you've gotten on his pants.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/16 03:20:51


Post by: Archer


Thanks for the comments. In regards to advice on building an Ogre Kingdom army I am unfortunately not the best to ask. I am a novice with warhammer as it is and I have never used an ogre kingdoms army on the table top. Especially as I tend to build "soft" lists.....

That being said, from my observations their basic troops (ogre Bulls) are really brutal and it just gets better from there. You will have a really small army compared to almost everyone else so get used to that, just know you will likely outclass and outlast a lot of other units out there.

Ogres are a little weak on the magic front so if you are in a magic heavy area figure out some way of stopping magic quickly.

Try to avoid all the wonderful toys that are available to you until you have a nice solid core of ogres. Something my army lacks and I may come to regret it in the future. But not likely ;-)


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/16 05:13:41


Post by: Norn King


Yeah, I've heard that you can get swamped pretty easily due to low body count, so you've really got to pick your charges.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/16 20:43:45


Post by: squall018


Your knights look good on the tabletop. Nothing like being able to play with fully painted units on a fully painted table.

I really like the green wash you put on the higher parts of the gut plate. Its gives it a unique effect I haven't seen before. It goes well with the rest of the model (which is probably why you did it ).


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/17 01:55:19


Post by: Archer


Actually I did the green wash early on and it looked horrible, until I did the pants green too which blended everything together quite nicely.

I would like to thank everyone who has viewed and keeps viewing this blog. It's just reached its 10,000 view and I appreciate everyone that stops by. Thanks.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Quick update before I get some much needed sleep (this manual labor stuff is hard). On the model collecting front I have managed to secure some cheap Gnoblars off of my favorite eBay and eagerly await their arrival and have my fingers crossed another cheap box pops up sometime between now and when I will need them.

I finished this guy off last night and didn't feel like posting, so here he is a day late.....


This is the second of my pistol wielding maneaters. Like the previous one this is a conversion of mine based on the Ninja maneater model. I think I have done a pretty reasonable job making them look quite different even though I didn't mess around with the pose at all (I didn't feel like making major changes to the model, my converting skills would need a lot more work before I attempted that).


I figure the story behind this particular Maneater is he has developed a serious love of gold and has begun to weave it into all of his clothing. He even has a gold tooth (even though it didn't come out too well in the previous photo, look closely).

So as I said, this is a nice and short update and hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/19 01:26:18


Post by: Azazelx


That Maneater looks good, though I agree with you on the Butcher's head. Did you use AP green on the armour plates? It's come out effective with the overall palette of the figure. Nice work on the Godlfarmer's conversion as well. You've made him look very different to the base model.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/19 01:43:40


Post by: Archer


The green on the butcher maneater was the biel tan green wash from GW applied over the mid tone metal they have. I have never had the courage to venture beyond the GW paint range.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/19 01:50:19


Post by: Azazelx


Once you're cashed up again, you have to try some Vallejo. And Army painter. We'll give as much advice as you like on colours/etc. Now promise!



My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/19 02:03:06


Post by: GrimDork


zomg. I love vallejo. Having fun with badger minitare now too.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/22 11:05:33


Post by: Archer


Hi all, seems I am keeping the updates short and sweet, mainly this is due to an almost complete lack of progress on my part, but life has been well and truly getting in the way. Plus I ground the end of my thumb rather badly which has been making doing any fine motor skill work difficult, but I am healing quite well. I managed to track down some cheap Gnoblars on eBay and spent the evening cleaning and gluing them together and then making damned sure the little blighters would rank up neatly on their nice shiny movement tray.





When I paint them I will paint their position number onto the bottom of the base to speed the setting up process along. I did it with the Empire Knights and definitely makes a big difference when trying to get all of them ranked up.

Hoping this week I can get some paint onto them or at least have the bases prepared. I do have the Tyrant and one scrap launcher ready to paint as well, but I am hoping I can chew through these little guys first and then reward myself with the much juicier models.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/22 12:56:17


Post by: Azazelx


Ouch! Hope you heal up quickly and as painlessly as possible.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/02/27 21:27:58


Post by: Freytag93


Lots of progress in the past couple weeks, nice work archer

I really like the lizard maneater. I think you pulled off that conversion well. He is unique and the green tinged armor really works with the rest of the model. Plus, props on the tattoos. I know how hard free hand is.

Love the background for the gold maneater. I can definitely see an ogre going crazy over shiny things and no one mentioning anything about his odd fashion sense

Looking forward to seeing how the gnobblars turn out. Those little blighters can be frustrating to paint.

Also, as a side note, my bret blog will be starting up in a few weeks once I get my finals done ( trimesters). I'll definitely let you know once I start it up so you can feel better about your own wonderful progress compared to mine.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/04 10:28:26


Post by: Archer


Hi all,

I am back in my painting chair and have pushed hard to try and get back on top of things. This amounts to me having knocked off the first of my two Gnoblar units (thank god, little green so and so's). I am also around halfway done with my Tyrant, I can't quite get him where I want him on the areas that I have painted, but I am trying to rectify it and have my fingers crossed. But this update is to be dedicated to the Gnoblars, so without further distraction here they are.....


The model eye view definitely looks like a teeming horde of little green blighters, the unit fillers add a little interest to a rather boring unit. I am pretty happy with them, but I won't be displaying any of them on an individual basis as I won't be winning any painting competitions anytime soon.


An eagle eye view, the unit filler on the left is perhaps a little barren compared to the density of models in the rest of the unit, but I am not going to make any changes now.


These guys are blue shirts and red hats with the plan that the other unit will be red shirts (Star Trek cannon fodder anyone?) and blue hats so I won't get them mixed up during setup and play. I have also painted numbers onto the bottom of the bases so I won't have to juggle them about trying to get them to rank up before games.


I couldn't resist a side by side, the Ogres really do dwarf the Gnoblars. it is actually a pretty comical army when you see the Ogres and the Gnoblars together. I can't see how these guys could be a threat on the tabletop even if they charge in to support some Ogres. I will be keen to see if I can figure out how to use this army effectively on the tabletop.


I also couldn't resist having the Ogre Crusher and Gnoblar Groinbiter (Unit Champions) facing off in a heroic duel. My money is on the little guy, they are usually sneaky......

Overall I didn't enjoy the painting of the Gnoblars anywhere near as much as the Ogres. They lack a lot of detail compared to the more advanced plastic kits which was a bit of a disappointment. But they are a two part model (body and head) so I am impressed by the myriad of different poses (12 different models) so that was also good. I am dreading when I get the next box of them, but I am running out of models for this army to paint which I guess is a good thing for getting close to finishing off the army. Would be good if I could manage it before the end of March. But I am working back in my trade now, so I am pretty wrecked by the end of the day and it will probably take me a month or so to get back to being on my feet all day. But I am trying to stay motivated and the finish line is getting closer faster than I anticipated.

For my next army I think I am likely to cheat a little but to bulk up my progress in this project, but I will go into that more when I get closer to the end of the Ogre Kingdoms.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/04 14:37:23


Post by: GrimDork


Oooh yay job!

Gnoblars look cool, even if you didn't have fun painting them.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/05 22:30:54


Post by: Norn King


They look great all-together like that.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/07 23:02:16


Post by: Archer


Hi all,

I am definitely back into the swing of things. Which is amazing as I had to fight off an impending cold/flu which I probably should have taken time off work to properly deal with, but you know the whole new job and want to make a good impression sort of stuff, so I soldiered on and died in the evenings. That being said I went against my prior desires and went ahead and attacked the Tyrant of my army. I had wanted to save him as a motivation to finish off all of the Gnoblars, but I couldn't resist and I still need to secure another box of the little green blighters. I have also started work on the first of my Scrap Launchers against my better judgement, but hey any progress is good progress.


So here he is in all his Ogre glory. It is the Golfag Maneater model, but I changed the weapons and the banner pole (the original appears on my Ogre Bulls Unit) and cut the top off his helmet. I am really happy with how he turned out after a few false starts. Not perhaps as good as some of my other ogres, but I think he turned out well.


My Wife again has been responsible for a lot of the color choices on this guy. I like when she shows an interest so I tend to follow her input, she doesn't so a half bad job. Just wait to you see how she wanted the Rhinox painted though.....


This guy is going to be armed with the "Fencer's Blades" so I though a suitably "magic" look to the weapons would be useful. Also by swapping the original weapons for two swords it helped him look a tiny bit different from the original.


I picked this model up dirt cheap on eBay and it had a horrid attempt at painting and since it was finecast I was a little suss I could save it. But the Dakka knowledge base certainly helped me get that paint off.


If anyone wonders about the skin tone it is because I imagine he and the Gorger are actually related, while one was cast out the other ended up leading, one of the reasons my Tyrant has an issue with the Great Maw and Butchers in general.

Sorry for the post seeming rushed, but am off to my Mother in Laws birthday today.

Thanks for reading and look forward to your thoughts.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/07 23:15:11


Post by: GrimDork


Hah that's awesome. Especially the fluff for those two, but the model and paintwork are great too


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/08 00:26:26


Post by: Azazelx


That's a mighty impressive Tyrant! He's come up really nicely. Do you have any whole-army shots of them?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/08 03:27:19


Post by: GiraffeX


That looks really cool, that banner is fantastic, excellent choice of colours.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/08 04:31:03


Post by: Norn King


The face on the banner


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/08 08:21:01


Post by: Archer


Thanks all, you will need to wait until I have finished all of the models for the full army shot, have to follow tradition after all.....

I managed a game of Fantasy today (after the Mother in Laws birthday events) and was soundly thrashed by an all Khorne Warriors of Chaos army. I need a more experienced General to explain how I am supposed to beat a regiment of 25 Chaos Warriors with my Knights, they are simply brutal.

My rolling was abysmal (but that is nothing knew) but I just couldn't seem to but a dent in them. Hoping to have the Ogres ready for the next time and see how they fair.....


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/08 14:13:46


Post by: GrimDork


I think most armies just have to use sacrificial bait units to force the khorne warriors (or knights for that matter!) to go off in a direction that isn't towards your army. Like make them charge you at an angle that puts them back into an empty corner after they charge through, unless something has changed they *have* to charge the closest unit or something right?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/09 01:49:56


Post by: Archer


They can test to restrain from charging without losing frenzy and with a fairly decent leadership not a hard thing to do. But your tactics do sound like the best option I have.

I did setup poorly that left me at a disadvantage from the beginning. Definitely need more practice.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/09 02:53:25


Post by: GrimDork


Huh, that must have changed. You used to have to take small units specifically to blok their LoS.

You can still do it, you rush your diverter unit up to their face so they can spend a turn going AROUND you and exposing their flank/rear, or they can charge and end up where you want anyway.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/09 06:56:52


Post by: Archer


There are a huge number of changes since I last pulled on the Warhammer General hat. Some I like, some I will get used to and some I will probably continue to complain about. But what would life be like if I couldn't complain about the hobby I like?

Thanks for your thoughts on tactics Grim, hopefully my results will start improving as I get more games under my belt.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/09 16:59:38


Post by: GrimDork


Keep a salt shaker around when I spout tactical advice, I'm an armchair general at best!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/09 19:30:50


Post by: Freytag93


The tyrant looks great archer. He really looks menacing with those two swords. Though I don't think i'd call them fencing swords

I was also confused about the skin color. But it makes sense with the background you are writing for the army. I always like when people put time into developing their armies.

Keep up the great work man


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/22 09:37:48


Post by: Archer


Ok, I am back posting on my own stuff again. I have been being a nuisance on other people's posts, but I just needed to get back into the swing of working and my Wife has been forcing me to be very social as her best friend is getting married soon so I have had to meet and greet other Bridal party partners and help carry things etc. etc. But I have broken free of those hassles and have a fair few photos to get through so please bare with me and I hope you enjoy the ride.

First up a good friend of mine presented me an interesting challenge to produce some terrain in less than two hours (including painting). I didn't expect much with the time frame and the materials presented to me. But I am pretty damn happy with what I came up with. Let me know your thoughts.


My mate gave me a heap of cardboard tubes. I discarded any of the flimsy ones as I like my terrain to be able to take a bit of a kicking. I made these two pieces identical as it was easier as I was cutting the tubes directly in two and I didn't want to waste any materials.


I figure that there is a ladder or similar contained in the half tube that runs the full height and indicated the ability to ascend to the top with a hatch at the top.


And at the bottom by a nice opening that a model could conceivably duck into. It isn't much, but I think it works.


So these are the first two pieces I managed in the time allowed. But I wasn't sitting idle. I had enough bits floating around to do something else.....


So I came up with this. Not entirely sure what it is, maybe some sort of central fluid sluice or a big thickener to separate solids from liquids, but like the towers, it is imposing and I feel works. I tried to avoid silver in the painting of any of them as with the grey they may just be usable on a medieval board without too much imagination.

It was an interesting challenge and it has spurred me on to make a few more "tube" terrain pieces to go with these and the previous terrain pieces I have done with card tubes. Plus I have a couple of old boxes that used to hold some very nice single malt scotch whisky's that I think could make some nice high towers with a walkway or two between them.

Next up a couple of shots from my most recent gaming attempts. I have only managed a couple of games of Necromunda. But they have been really entertaining. In the previous game my Goliath gang, The Downhive Razorfangs, must have stumbled into the wrong town as a few of the loyal Gangers ended up in a shootout with a few of the members of the Brotherhood from House Cawdor. As is turns out you shouldn't bring a chainsword to a shoot out. Especially when your opponent brings a bloody Heavy Stubber. My poor boys needed to leg it just to stay in one piece. But during the fight my opponents Heavy opened up and pinned all of my fighters in one turn but also shot one of his own Gangers straight in the back. The results on the injury table found the poor Cawdor member captured by my gang and the only thing his Gang could do was try and rescue him.

SO......this leads to these photos, unfortunately I got the minimum number of sentries protecting the captive and my opponent got the maximum number of rescuers.


This unsavory fellow has been with the gang from the very beginning actually starting as a lowly Juve, but through luck and grit he is now one of my most powerful close combat fighters hitting like a freight train and has a serious reputation for brutality.


This slippery looking guy is actually a crack shot with his shotgun (I actually mean it he has the crack shot skill) kind of an odd weapon for a good marksman, but since he gets in close encounters I don't want his opponent getting a second chance at him.


My final sentry was this unfortunate fellow, as you can see my his name plate he is the third person to carry the name (I don't know, Juves just have a nasty habit of dying young). I couldn't be bothered making up new names and I thought it would be an amusing way of tracking how many members of my gang get killed off during my games.

Unfortunately I didn't take any more photos of the game, one I kind of forgot and two my opponents gang may be sporting an all black camouflage scheme and I wasn't sure the photos of our gangs facing off would have come across all that well. Yes i am a snob for painted models, I have always been and I am seeking help about my bias.

So back to my growing Ogre Kingdoms army this time, I realized that I had left something out of my Gnoblar regiment and would have probably left it out of my next one. I have upgraded a musician and standard bearer in the unit (as well as a Champion or Groinbiter, but I already had him) I blame it that the kit doesn't come with the parts to make the upgrades, so I went back and turned two of the little guys into what I needed.


So here is my command group for my first Gnoblar regiment. Like any good Gnoblar they have looted what they needed from other armies.


The "Standard" is from the Empire Mercenaries that I think you get to make free company fighters or of course Mordheim groups. The Horn is carved from the arm of an Empire Knight.

And finally the main reason for this post and a model I am really happy with is the latest addition to the Ogre Kingdoms army.......


The first of my two Scrap Launchers.


It's a horribly detailed kit with bits and pieces everywhere. You can thank my beautiful wife for the color choice for the Rhinox. I figured I would follow her choice as once assembled most of it is hidden anyway.


I usually prefer to fully assemble my models before painting them, but I had little choice with this one and I regret just how much I assembled before hand. I had a lot of trouble negotiating some of the angles that I had created by putting too much together.


What I am really impressed by with this kit is how easy it is to identify the parts that have been "looted" to build it, there are the horns of a Thundertusk, weapons from the Empire and Elves, I am just impressed they went that way instead of just sculpting unidentifiable components.


So there you have my first Scrap Launcher. This one is in the process of firing. I was concerned how to make the two Launchers really separate to each other and was expecting to have to convert the second one a little. But I came across an old metal one on eBay and realized after looking at it that it is actually a very different model than the newer plastic one. Its not as detailed and is on skids rather than wheels, but still a great looking model so I couldn't resist when the seller dropped the price by 15%. I have it all assembled (or at least as far as I am willing before painting and it will be my next finished model).

Sorry that the post is so long, but I hope the pictures have made it at least interesting to skim through, time is getting away from me a little this year and I had hoped to be done with the ogres by the end of March, but I just don't think I will get there. I have my fingers crossed that I can knock them off quickly though so fingers are crossed. Just dreading that final unit of Gnoblars.......

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/22 13:57:20


Post by: GrimDork


Terrain looks solid, especially for the time investment.

Gnoblar command works too.

That scrap launcher... that looks like something you don't want to try and charge or harass with regular warmachine hunters. Does it get a decent CC statline for having a rhinox pulling it?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/22 14:12:24


Post by: squall018


Ok, lots going on here.

First, terrain is pretty cool, especially for just two hours. I'm not sure what it is either, but who cares? The galaxy is a big place, and there's all sorts of stuff lying around.

I have a soft spot in my heart for all things Necromunda, and Goliaths especially. Good to see yours getting some table time. I need to get some games in, but I only have one opponent. He is also my only buddy that plays fantasy, and he lives 1-1/2 hours away, so our gaming time is limited.

Finally, I adore the scrap launcher. Both as a kit, and your paint job on it. It is super detailed, and you did a great job picking all of that detail out.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/24 08:24:04


Post by: Archer


Thanks for the comments. I forgot to mention that I was successful in preventing the Cawdor gang from rescuing their Ganger and I enjoyed selling hum off to the Guilders. I got lucky with one of my Heavies came on with his newly fitted Suspensor (which allows him to move and still shoot) and promptly gunned down a third of the rescuers.

In regards to the Scrap Launcher Grimdork it has a fairly decent combat profile (lots of low strength attacks from the Gnoblars, 7 in total and then quite a few medium strength attacks from the Rhinox, plus it counts as a chariot so impact hits if it charges)


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/24 12:09:45


Post by: GrimDork


Thats awesome. You can't have your guy back, no ransom, I'm selling his ass to the slavers. Now you can expect NO MERCY!

Ahh, that makes sense about the scrap launcher, kind of like the Hellcannon, not something for just anyone to charge.



My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/24 17:18:31


Post by: squall018


Every single time I've captured a ganger in Necromunda I've sold him off. No negotiations from me. Plus, you get to keep his gear!!!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/24 20:13:18


Post by: EyeamRai


I really like the tube terrain you made. What did you cover it in before you painted it?

Great work on the scrap launcher!!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/25 02:13:44


Post by: Archer


I did a quick and nasty paper mâché using textured paper towel (simply paint the whole thing in PVA the. Lay a whole sheet of paper on and using more glue and brush work it on). Pretty happy with the texture it took on and I got some strange Geiger style shapes appearing here and there.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/03/27 08:59:15


Post by: Azazelx


Nice work! That Rhinox is as impressive as all hell. The scenery also looks nice as well.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/07 12:27:15


Post by: Archer


It is time for me to try and get my act back in order and nothing does that like a good old fashion update. I fortunately have actually managed some progress on the much ignored Ogre Kingdoms which means this update will be more photos than my inane ramblings (I here the cheers from the crowds ;-))

However, it is far less progress than I would have hoped this far into the year. But I have committed the ultimate hobby sin (that I had until now avoided) of being distracted by other modelling projects. But I lapsed recently and have been poking around at the next army on the slab before I complete the Ogres; which is something that I had really hoped to avoid. I contribute this momentary weakness to me dropping the ball and actually running out of Ogre models to paint. I have now 27 Gnoblars and 1 Pirate Maneater to acquire and paint to round out the army. Now I need to go and buy them so I can get back to finishing them off.

Anyway, enough talk. On to some pictures......


You can see here that I have finished off the second of my Scrap Launchers. I may or may not have mentioned that it is the older metal model. I am really, really happy with the color scheme on the Rhinox (again, must thank my wife for the idea). The rest of it is pretty basic and far more ramshackle than the newer plastic one. Although I have to admit it has grown on me a lot and I may prefer it to the newer one......


There are even more Gnoblars hanging off of this contraption (I think 9 in total) which I do find strange as the rules say it has 7 riders. Do any old Ogre players no if there used to be more in the previous Army Book? I was tempted to put some on the newer model to even the numbers up a bit, but in the end decided against. it.


I think the Gnoblars have a lot more character on this model as rather than dancing around like little jesters they are actually doing tasks that make sense, which I like. This Scrap Launcher is in the process of reloading which also makes a nice counter to the previous one which is obviously in the process of firing.


I think the color scheme of the Rhinox makes a lot more sense as an animal that lives above the snowline. However, I wouldn't change the tiger stripe version as I like the crazy scheme, plus I wouldn't want to offend my wife......


A bit blurry, but it shows the Gnoblar crew madly scramlbing to fill the bucket with scrap and shoot again.


Seems the idea of a Gnoblar with a telescope is a running theme on the old and new Scrap Launcher. Fills me with confidence that someone is calling the shots of this crazy war machine and can't wait to see how they fair on the tabletop.


I tried to add a little interest by painting a few random planks different colors. It helped to break up the predominantly brown scheme. I felt it especially necessary as this model lacks a lot of the intricate details of the plastic one so needed an extra lift.


Here is a nice side by side of the two Scrap Launchers. I do hope they are as good on the tabletop as I think they look as models. I really do hate when great looking models are a little ineffective in game terms. Not that would stop me using them. I would just keep trying to find the best way to use them.


A potential clash of the titans......maybe I should see how they would fair fighting each other?

So there is my disappointing progress on my modelling. Hopefully I can get at least the Pirate Maneater that is outstanding before this week is out and get back to it. In the mean time I may keep committing the hobby sin and playing with the next army. (Which will be an Eldar Army based around the old Ulthwe concept......of Guardians and Psykers). Or maybe I should get onto finishing off a few more terrain pieces. I still have a heap of cardboard tubes after that original challenge and maybe I should challenge myself again?

Let me know your thoughts on whether I should go with the terrain or with the Eldar. I also do have a special piece I have been working on for a while that if you all misbehave I may post it up as I am close to having it done.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/08 10:44:22


Post by: Azazelx


The new old scrap launcher looks great. I do like the naturalistic tones on the Rhinox underneath all of that stuff. I think they work a lot better together as two non-identical models as well, as it makes both look like uniquely-built and distinct war contraptions - from the war machine itself to the beast of burden underneath it all to the crew.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/13 10:29:09


Post by: Archer


Just a quickie update so it doesn't look like I have disappeared mysteriously.....plus not one of the blogs I am subscribed to has had any activity for a couple of days which is really kind of creepy.

I have on order the last of the Ogre Kingdoms I need (24 bloody Gnoblars and the Pirate Maneater) and I hope to take possession of them before this coming weekend in preparation for a busy painting weekend. We will see if I can hold off on the Pirate to bang out the Gnoblars first.

I haven't been idle though, since I am going to cheat a little for the next army to try and get this project moving in the right direction just a little quicker I have dusted off some of my first ever painted models and have been studiously repairing the paint work. Not repainting mind you, but I am trying to freshen up the old paint work a little.

Thanks for reading my little post that got a little bit too long.....


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/14 16:41:23


Post by: EyeamRai


I missed the update of the with the second Rhinox. I like them both and think they look great together. I don't have any scrap launchers but the models look really sweet. I may have to get one when the Ogre's become my main focus.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/21 12:20:28


Post by: Archer


Hi all,

Been a little surreal with the wild weather that we have been having in Sydney, have had two large gum trees come down on the property, one of which narrowly missing our house. So I will have a busy weekend wielding a chainsaw, practicing my zombie slaying skills and hopefully not removing any of my limbs. Which is further motivation to get my head down and paint up a storm this week. I picked up my box of Gnoblars and the outstanding Maneater and have been furiously (or at least attempting to be furious) applying paint in an attempt to knock off the remains of the Ogre Kingdoms army and below is my current progress.


Here we see the second (and last; hurrah) unit of Gnoblars that really help to bulk out the army and raise the break point of the army with their little banners. As you may notice they are a reverse of the previous units for easy identification.


As with the previous unit the unit fillers stand pride of place out front sandwiching the command group between them. As a whole unit there are enough crazy poses and things going on to cover for my slightly shoddy paint work. I am glad these guys are done, but am glad I included them in the army as I think I needed the practice on painting large units in one go.


And the final picture in this update the Red Gnoblars facing off against the Blue Gnoblars. I am interested to see how I am supposed to utilize such rubbish troops in a game (especially if I run up against those blenders pretending to be Chaos Warriors). I think they will be tarpits and distractions at best and hopefully allow my smaller more powerful units to run around unnoticed.

So it is a small update, but with great significance as it leaves me with a single ogre to paint to finish off the army and I am happy to say he is well past 75% painted so another good evening (and with the weather the way it is I have a good chance) of painting I feel I could have him done before Friday. Wish me luck and the next update may very well include a full army shot or too.

Thanks for stopping by and reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/22 11:42:51


Post by: Archer


Hi again (most unlike me to be posting so close together).

First of all I just noticed that my blog here has reached 10 pages and I would like to thank all of you for stopping by and putting up with my ranting among the semi legible pictures. But enough chat and onto........

I realized I was a lot closer to finishing the last Maneater than I thought and managed to knock him out before stopping for a little boxing training. So without further adieu, here he is:


I really enjoyed painting this guy and after the Gnoblars he was a blessing. In fact he is the first finecast model that I have ever bought new (I have picked up a few second hand) and I found it a fairly easy material to clean up and assemble. I guess I got lucky with him compared to some of the horror stories I have heard about the material.


I tried to make him pretty flamboyant with lots of different colors and larger than life patterns. I think he still comes together pretty well and I have thus far decided that the Ogre Maneater models are the most fun I have had with a tabletop model.


And here he is with his cronies (all armed with a brace of Ogre Pistols) ready for some fighting.

And obviously with this unit finished off I am finished the Ogres! I am realy happy with how this army has turned out. My painting and converting skills have come a long way over these 10 pages. So below I present The Wondrous Caravan of the Traveller and his Maneaters.


It is really hard to get a whole army in one shot. But I figure it gives a nice demonstration of the variety of units and the crazy difference in sizes of the models.


A closer photo of the left flank.


The Middle.


And the right. I can't wait to get them onto the tabletop and see how they play compared to the Obsidian Knightly Order (Empire Knights army). Unfortunately the wild weather we have had in Sydney has so far bought down three very large gum trees on our property which I will need to deal with this weekend meaning I am not going to be able to get to the games club this weekend.


Here are the motley crew who run the show in the Caravan. My Tyrant, Bruiser Standard Bearer and Firebelly. I am hoping big things from these guys when it comes to smashing a few enemy characters to mush.


The Core units of the army. I feel I may be a little light on with actual Ogres. But I stuck with my theme. Hopefully the Gnoblars are worth something on the table, but at almost no points per model each I have my doubts.


My favorite part of the army, the Special Units. It is very points intensive and not many models. But I figure they are capable of dealing with a huge assortment of different enemies, plus they look awesome so I don't really care. Plus I think the Gorger and Tyrant is one of the best themed parts of any of my armies.


And last, but by no means least the Rare Units. The two scrap launchers and the crazy menagerie of Gnoblars hanging off of them. I feel that I will need to learn quickly how to get the best out of them since they are a strange hybrid of chariot and warmachine.

So there you have it. Another army down and I am really happy with how they came together. But no rest for me as I will be swiftly moving onto the next army. Although I have been cheating and have already been painting the next army as I waited for the ogres to come in. My next update will feature the first of 7 planned Eldar armies. Although with the new codex release I may need to tweak point values, but this army will be based around the Ulthwe style of play with lots of Psykers and Guardians.

Stay tuned and thanks very much for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/22 12:06:40


Post by: GrimDork


Damn fine work, are a really strong pace. Excellent

Be sure to take extra care with that chainsaw, those things can mess you up. I highly recommend chainsaw chaps if you've got 'em.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/25 08:24:20


Post by: Archer


Well know rest for me and the plan, I may be wielding a chainsaw this weekend (Thanks for the cautionary words Grim and I certainly was rocking the chaps), but I can still plan out my next army. Now as I said I will eventually do 7 Eldar armies in total. This comes from they were my first and for a long time only 40k army so I have a bucket load of them, but want to organize them into actual functioning armies and so I will divide them into different themed armies. Although I will paint them all the same (which is good as I have a lot of stuff painted already) so I can use them as a larger force if I ever needed to.

To theme each army I am borrowing from an older Eldar concept that each of the Craftworlds had different temperaments and their armies were organised along different lines. So I plan to use the old concepts of the Black Guardians of Ulthwe (Psykers and Guardians), the Swordwind of Biel Tan (the Avatar and all Aspects), the Outcasts of Alaitoc (Rangers), Wild Riders of Saim Hann (Jetbikes), Ghost Warriors of Iyanden (Wraithguard and Wraithlords) and then the other two would be using the Forgeworld Aspects the Shadow Spectres and a few of the vehicles like Hornets and the final one would be a Corsair based force again using Forgeworld Models.

But the first one will be based on the Ulthwe concept so a lot of Psykers and nothing but Guardians and Guardian crewed vehicles. Please note thought that I did this list with the 6th edition Codex so it will be updated to bring it in line with the new 7th edition Codex as soon as I get a chance to see a copy of it. But I will still maintain the same overall concept.

2,000 Point Warhammer 40,000 Eldar Army (Based on the Ulthwe Concept) - The Guiding Light of Yarn Le’ath

Farseer Druiadha the Living Ancient - Runes of Warding, Runes of Witnessing Singing Spear
Farseer Myandear, Bearer of the Keys - Runes of Warding, Runes of Witnessing
Battle Mystics of Yarn Le’ath - Warlock Council consisting of 10 Warlocks, 5 with Singing Spears

Fury of the Asuryan - 12 Storm Guardians, 2 with Fusion Guns, 2 with Power Swords
The Black Guardians - 12 Storm Guardians, 2 with Flamers, 2 with Power Swords
Citizens of Yarn Le’ath - 11 Guardian Defenders, Heavy Weapon Platform with Shuriken Cannon
Defenders of the Crystal Gardens - 11 Guardian Defenders, Heavy Weapon Platform with Star Cannon
Final Stand of the Eldar - 11 Guardian Defenders, Heavy Weapon Platform with Bright Lance
The Stoic Few - 11 Guardian Defenders, Heavy Weapon Platform with Eldar Missile Launcher

Fangs of the Guardians - 3 Vypers with Eldar Missile Launchers with Plasma and Starshot Missiles

Wings of the Gods - Falcon with Starcannon and Holo-Fields
Messenger of the Gods - Falcon with Scatter Laser and Vectored Engines
Nature’s Malevolence - 3 Vaul’s Wrath Support Weapons with Vibro Cannons

Total List = 1,997 Points - 86 on Foot, 5 Vehicles, 3 Artillery

I will soon be showing off the models I already have painted (which consists of all of the Guardians and both Farseers) which although they were already painted I went over them again repairing any paint chips or dodgey paint work as they were painted many, many (read 15 years+) ago and I was a lot weaker with the paint brushes then.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/25 13:41:41


Post by: squall018


There's nothing like seeing a completely painted army, and your Ogres certainly look great all together.

I love the striped pants on the Ogre special character. I can never get stripes to work right.

Good luck with all those Eldar!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/27 09:03:41


Post by: Azazelx


#jealous

Seriously great looking army. I love me some ogres, and it's been a real pleasure to see you build and paint your way through them.

I look forward to seeing the Eldar start to emerge, but I also feel a little sad that the Ogres are done...


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/28 10:36:28


Post by: Archer


Thank you all for the comments. It's really appreciated.

But no time to waste and I am on to the first of my Eldar armies. As previously stated they are based on the "Black Guardian" setup of the Ulthwe Craftworld with lots of Psykers and Guardians. A couple of things to note, this list is currently written from the 6th edition Codex and will likely change to accommodate points changes and any nifty formations that are now available, but I will endeavor to keep it as close to the list in my previous post as possible.

Before I post any photos I would like to post a couple of disclaimers. These models were painted many moons ago and I have simply fixed any damage to the model and paintwork as well as freshen them a little with a new application of washes where appropriate. Also, I want to make it known that i had my paint scheme (purple and green) back in the days of the very first Eldar Codex. Games Workshop copied me.

So enough of my ranting, onto some pretty pictures:


I have spread the choice of Heavy Weapons out among the Guardian Defenders, this way I hope I can cover almost anything that may come up on the battlefield.


As can be seen since all of the Guardians are identical I have painted a different symbol on the heads of each squad so I can easily identify them during games. It also is how I know which gun goes where.


I am hoping that the departure from a usual Eldar army is going to be refreshing to any opponent I come up against. But then again I keep looking at all of those Shuriken Catapults and maybe I won't ingratiate myself into the good books.


I am also hoping that I have so many bodies that I can soak up some casualties here and there. Especially as I am going to have a Warlock accompany every squad to provide some Psychic support.


I made my Storm Guardians a long time ago when GW still did specials and the like. At the time they didn't have Storm Guardian models and they offered a mail order special where you could get the metal arms from the Dire Avenger Exarch in sets of 10 to make Storm Guardians so I bought up big.


I plan to have Power Swords and Special Weapons in each squad, I converted something to represent flamers and fusion guns and painted the swords different to represent the power swords.


Close up of a few Guardians showing off the Special Weapon conversions and Power Sword, plus a Defender up close.


And a wide shot of all six Guardian squads. I think they look pretty good en masse. Hope all that Shurien fire can tear a hole in almost any enemy.


This was my first ever Farseer model painted and he is now going to stand in pride of place at the head of this army yet again. I remember the good old days when he would use Mind War with abandon and my regular Imperial Guard opponent really did get sick of its ability to pick out individuals.


Here is a basic conversion of Eldrad to be a standard Farseer (as you may of guessed I don't like to use Special Characters as I prefer to try and inject a little personality into my own. But I still like to use their models from time to time.


And the final pic of the update is the two Farseers standing together. I hope they will be able to keep the Guardians alive and kicking serious butt with all of their psychic shenanigans.

The next part will be the Warlocks. Although I have been led to believe I may need to rejig the way I intergrate the Warlocks into the army, but that won't stop me starting to repair their paint work or actually paint a few of them. Hope to get my hands on the new Codex in the nearish future so I can update my list. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/28 11:39:51


Post by: GrimDork


Damn, nice turn over So these were mostly repair/retouch? But still. Definitely moving your goal along!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/28 12:05:55


Post by: Archer


Yeah mostly repair/retouch. I chose to do this army next as its a bit of a cheats way to get things moving on the project. I figure I just can't go past an army I already have half painted.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/28 16:35:09


Post by: ckig


As someone currently trying for green and purple, its good to know it looks good with a whole army painted up. Nice stuff!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/29 12:03:55


Post by: Archer


I think it works quite well. But I don't think that dark purple and dark green work anywhere near as well together. I tried it as a scheme for some dark Eldar and it just looked too drab and muddy. So I settled on what used to be scorpion green as my base green and warlock purple (no idea what they are called now sorry).


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/29 19:05:11


Post by: GiraffeX


Your Eldar are looking really nice, the army is building up quite nicely.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/29 20:45:21


Post by: WarbossDakka


That turnover tho. That's ridiculous brah! Nice looking army as well.

But I thought you said this was gonna be ulthwé?


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/04/30 00:27:36


Post by: Archer


I may have mentioned Ulthwe. But I perhaps should have clarified, the theme is ripping off the Ulthwe army build of old. But it will be painted in my own craft world scheme. Sorry for the confusion (plus I am over painting black at the moment).


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/03 10:23:29


Post by: Archer


With another wet weekend I was somewhat restricted from finishing off my chainsawing and yard work, so I set in to get some hobby time. Unfortunately my beautiful wife had other ideas and I did get through a stack of tasks, but none of them were of the hobby variety. I was rescued on Saturday night and went around to a mate's place to do some hobby work in relative peace. So please see below my efforts for this weekend. Again, these were largely repair and modification work than a full blown paint job.


These are my Vauls Support Battery rocking Vibro Cannons. I previously didn't have bases for them, so I decided I really should have something and then decided that I needed to have them floating a little bit so that made the whole process a little bit more fiddly.


The process is pretty simple. I grabbed some spare acrylic rod and drilled a pretty big hole in the bottom of each gun and glued them in place once the paint had been repaired. I am pretty happy with them, they aren't really high in the air, but they have a definite sense of being airborne.


I kept the scheme pretty much the same as it was before. With my much improved painting skills I probably would have blended the barrel a bit, but I am looking to punch this army out as quickly as I can, so no major changes are likely to occur until I reach the models in the army that I haven't painted yet.


The faithful crew of the guns. I am pretty sure the new plastic support weapons have a crew member in a seat at the rear of the gun and I was tempted to cut some of the crew from their bases and glue them standing on the side of the gun. But I think I actually prefer them roaming loose behind the guns.

So another weekend, another unit complete. I hope to keep this pace up whilst I am dealing with the pre-painted elements of the army, so the next goal are a stack of Warlocks who will either act as squad leaders to the Guardians or a unit to accompany the Farseers. Stay tuned and eventually I will get to some models that I don't already have painted and see what I can come up with for my color scheme.

Thanks for reading.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/03 11:50:10


Post by: Azazelx


The space elves are looking really good. It's a very striking scheme. I should resurrect some of my own 40k armies, but the list-building part just puts me off.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/03 22:06:36


Post by: GiraffeX


They look really nice, great idea with bases makes them look like part of the unit.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/03 22:18:18


Post by: GrimDork


Yep, looking good, solid progress moving forward.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/04 00:20:06


Post by: Archer


Thanks for the comments. I do think a base is a nice, easy way to tie a group of models together. Worked wonders for the Ork army.

Fortunately I like list building. Not for the competitive side of things but I like coming up with a theme or story and building a list around that concept. Just need to find some like minded players more interested in the story than the result.....


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/04 07:14:04


Post by: Azazelx


Maybe you should make some lists up for me...

Based on my finished 40k figures as a core, and then some "buy this" to finish them off to however many points people play these days..


Automatically Appended Next Post:
...and some 600-pt Combat-Patrol-ish lists.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/04 07:57:03


Post by: Archer


I could have a go if you like. But let's just say my record of wins and losses probably speaks for itself how effective the armies I come up with are.....although I think they look good whilst losing.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/04 09:19:55


Post by: Azazelx


My priority is much more based on bashing my 2nd and 3rd-edition era armies into some kind of workable modern shape. And then adding a few of the new shinies as appropriate within the theme (such as they are).

I'm even fine with some "illegal" stuff in there to fit theme and models, as they're going to be used for friendly games above all else.

I'll have a look at some stuff this weekend, hopefully. Maybe starting off with Imperial Guard. They'll always be Imperial Guard to me, dammit. Except when they're Imperial Army...


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/04 10:57:45


Post by: Archer


Love me the guard. I really enjoy massed tank formations. I haven't actually gotten my faithful imperial guardsmen into a game of 7th and with the changes to vehicle rules it may make them very strong......


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/06 11:40:08


Post by: Archer


Ok, no photos this post so feel free to skip over it if you prefer the pretty pictures......but for the rest of you, I have managed to sit down with a copy of the new Eldar Codex (Codex:Craftworld) and have modified my current army list to reflect the changes. Not much has changed, although I did drop the Vypers and added in a Hemlock Wraithfighter instead as I figured a Ulthwe style army would use something that has a Psychic pilot so I figured it fitted a bit better than the Vypers. I have also had to add Warlock's to each Guardian squad as that is how it is done now. But it does mean I ended up with three more Warlocks than the previous list.

So the 6 member Warlock Conclave is Mastery level 2 until it loses 3 members. Therefore the army has 2 Mastery Level 3's, a Mastery Level 2 and 7 Mastery Level 1 Psykers. I figure that this will be an absolute butt load of dice in the Psychic phase that should allow some shenanigans.

So please see the list below for my 7th edition version of my current painting project.

Farseer Druiadha, Living Ancient - Singing Spear
Farseer Myandear, Bearer of the Keys
Battle Mystics of Yarn Le’ath - Warlock Council consisting of 6 Warlocks, 3 with Singing Spears

Fury of the Asuryan – Warlock Leader Adreath, 12 Storm Guardians, 2 with Fusion Guns, 2 with Power Swords
The Black Guardians – Warlock Leader Siarain, 12 Storm Guardians, 2 with Flamers, 2 with Power Swords
Citizens of Yarn Le’ath – Warlock Leader Reantha, 11 Guardian Defenders, Heavy Weapon Platform with Shuriken Cannon
Defenders of the Crystal Gardens – Warlock Leader Huirien, 11 Guardian Defenders, Heavy Weapon Platform with Star Cannon
Final Stand of the Eldar – Warlock Leader Jorgamund with Singing Spear, 11 Guardian Defenders, Heavy Weapon Platform with Bright Lance
The Stoic Few – Warlock Leader Pursuiman, with Singing Spear, 11 Guardian Defenders, Heavy Weapon Platform with Eldar Missile Launcher

Sins of the Ancients - Hemlock Wraithfighter

Wings of the Gods - Falcon
Messenger of the Gods - Falcon with Scatter Laser
Nature’s Malevolence - 3 Vaul’s Wrath Support Weapons with Vibro Cannons, Warlock Leader Myan


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/18 08:22:16


Post by: Archer


Hi all, I have been a little silent on my own Blog, although I have made sure to be a persistent nuisance on other peoples. But I have kicked back into the painting groove and have a few pictures to update you all to where my Eldar are up to. Plus I have a concept to run by the readers to see if I should do something that has been wandering around the wilds of my mind recently. But first a little splash of color.......


Here are all of the Warlocks that I will be using in my Ulthwe themed Eldar army. I had to change the list a little (as can be seen in my previous post) and that actually increased the number of these guys I needed. But it now works out that every squad (artillery included) will be led by one and then I have a squad of 6 running around making a nuisance of themselves (hopefully). I probably will have them riding in one of the Falcons to act as a mobile reserve. Not sure that it will actually work. But time will tell.


This is all of the Witchblade armed Warlocks. Half of these guys were already painted from my previous Eldar armies, but I did a few more coats of paint to repair damage and freshen the unsteady hands I once had. I also changed the blades on their weapons (the spears too) to be bone rather than the metallic green they once were, believe me they look 100% better. I think overall they work quite well, especially as a stark contrast to the primarily green of the Guardians.


And here are the Singing Spear wielding Warlocks. I have always been amazed at the difference in spears that GW has had on the Warlocks over the years. But then again I know back in the day they could have Force Rods and all other manner of weapons not just Witchblades and Singing Spears.


The final picture is showing off the conversions (standing next to the normal model) I have done in the squad. They are all simple weapon swaps but help to just break up the duplicates that I have. I am planning to use the Warlocks with the Yellow hair or horns as the individual squad (although I am one short of the 6 I need) so I may add a headdress or mowhawk to one of the other Warlocks to act as the final member of the squad. I will see how I feel.

I am really happy how these guys have turned out. They stand out really well among all the Guardians and are even quite different to the Farseers. I am now left with 2 Falcons and a Hemlock Wraithfighter (yet to purchase) to paint to complete this army. So I find my thoughts turning towards the next army on the block and this is where I would like some opinions on my current crazy thoughts.

So, I have already decided to do a Tomb Kings army. This much has already been decided and I have been gathering the required forces from eBay. The idea that I have been considering with this army is to attempt a 24 hour painting challenge. Yep, that's right. I am considering attempting to paint the entire 2,000 points in one 24 hour period.

Now I have specifically chosen this army as I figure it will be fairly easy to paint as most of it is bone and the army is a fairly simple one with none of the big beasties and a mix of Skeletons, Horsemen and Chariots. A couple of rules I have decided on in thinking it out is all assembly is to be done before hand and everything can be undercoated. Also, basing will not be included in the 24 hours (unless of course I am that good.....) and will be done at a later date. I was also thinking that I would keep a computer close during the process and update the blog every hour so if anyone is interested they can watch me slowly descend into madness as the hours tick by. Plus it will keep me focused as I have an hourly update to tap out.

So, what does everyone think of my chances and should I attempt it? It would certainly give my army collecting plan another massive kickstart as I would be an army up in a day. Sort of.

Oh and if anyone is interested my wife will be out of the country for work when I plan to do this so no irate wife to worry about. If i do go ahead with it I have 5 weeks to finish off the Eldar, collect, assemble and undercoat all of the Tomb Kings and get some quality sleep in advance of the event.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/19 11:58:10


Post by: GrimDork


Damn... it sounds like madness but if it was going to work for any army it would be some kind of skeletons....

Are you planning to use a lot of dip/wash and drybrush techniques I guess?

I say go for it, if you think you can and are willing to try


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/19 18:41:37


Post by: GiraffeX


That's totally mad. I think you would be better doing two 12 hours sessions otherwise tiredness will getter the better of you and you could (will) make mistakes.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/19 19:02:09


Post by: EyeamRai


Sounds like complete madness.

I think you should do it, of course.

Your eldar are looking sweet.

I especially like the conversions!!


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/19 22:18:36


Post by: Azazelx


The Eldar look great. They're coming along really strongly, and I also like the conversions you've done to vary their weapons.

I'm not so sure on the Undead Army paint plan though - on one hand it'd be great to get something done that fast, on the other hand, by hour 18 (or 20!) you'd be able to fit into your own Zombie Regiments (if you were playing VC, at least).

The other concern from my perspective at least is the cost of the army vs the finish you can get in such a tight timeframe. Figures aren't cheap, after all, and I'm sure there would be a bunch you'd rather spend more time on individually or as units.


My Crazy Army Plan - 16 Down and onto Aeldari (again..)!, 2,000 Points for each Army! @ 2015/05/20 02:48:45


Post by: Archer


Thanks for the thoughts guys. The paint plan would be to spray 2, maybe 3 different shades of bone/white/off white onto the models at different angles to do some instant shading. Then wash/dip the model to try and blend the spray together. I would repeat that for all of the bone on the entire army (apart from characters). Then interest would be added via finer details like clothing/armour and weapons/shields.

Azazelx and GiraffeX you are both probably right and sounding a lot like my conscience perched on my shoulder ;-) that a 24 hour stretch may be too much (especially if I want to try and maintain some level of quality).

Maybe I can set a different type of speed goal? I just see all this bone and think I should be able to smash them out.