My 4 months in America have been incredible. But I'm back now, in the UK, and more than ready to get my teeth back into wargaming! The 4 months weren't a complete black hole for gaming. I got my Conquest cards sent out to me, and snuck in a handful of games of it. Not to mention, I was in Nevlon's neck of the woods, and we met up and played a game. You should check out the battle report. Teaser...
Spoiler:
But now I have returned, and I have my whole collection to look at and get back into. I bought the new SM codex, and it arrived today. I've looked through it (yet to fully read it, though), and a few things stand out as awesome. More on that soon...
Hobby wise, I need to relearn to paint. It's not like I've lost the ability to paint, just need to refamiliarise myself with holding the brush. I'll probably do a test model or two before I jump back onto the IFs. As for the Fists, I'm pushing forward with them! On the horizon is another Devastator box (the new box, no less), and probably another Tactical box. I need to sit down and work out a list to build towards ASAP, but devs and tacts will definately be included so they are a safe bet.
There are a whole new group of people in my FLGS. They've been doing meet and greet games etc. so I'm hoping to push for 1000 points as quickly as possible and catch the last few small games of that.
I have some American friends coming to stay with me this weekend (which is going to be awesome), but it will eliminate any and all hobby time. It's likely to be a few days before I start up on the Fists, properly. Stay tuned for my relearning to paint updates
So I headed out to the gaming store today, and spent a small fortune. Most of it was on X-wing. I bought almost every ship I needed. I was really getting into it before I left, but I didn't get anything for it knowing I was going away. Now I'm invested (heavily). But I did make some 40k related purchases:
The data cards were an impulse buy. Not really bothered about spending £7 more when I'm spending so much anyway. But I did want those Devastators, and I'm excited to put them together.
I have organised some games with a friend tomorrow afternoon/evening. We haven't figured out points, but I have put together a 1k list for the Fists, and will figure out another 500-1000 points of Scars to ally depending on the size of the game. I wanted to build the legs/body of the devastators so I could use them in the list, but apparently I dont have any glue. So will need to pick that up too tomorrow. The list is spoilered below:
Spoiler:
HQ: Librarian w/ Mastery Level 2, Auspex - 95
Troops: Tactical Squad w/ +5 Marines, Plasma Gun, Heavy Bolter, Combi-Plasma, Melta Bombs - 180 Drop Pod - 35 Scout Squad w/ +5 Marines, Heavy Bolter, Combi-Plasma, Melta Bombs - 133
Elites: Venerable Dreadnought w/ Twin-Linked Lascannon, Heavy Flamer, Extra Armour - 160
Fast Attack: Assault Squad w/ Jump Packs, 2 Flamers, Power Fist, Melta Bombs - 125
Pretty balanced. Room for the Scars to pick up slack. And most importantly, almost fully painted! Will have 5 proxy devastators, the rest are painted.
I also did a little paint session. Just enough to remind me how to use a brush. Few issues I ironed out. Brush control is still a little lacking. Needed to swap from a Size 1 to a Size 0 to hit narrower parts. I know I could have got them with the s1, but still a bit clumsy.
So, nothing was done over the weekend (was hosting friends), but I put together the Devastators:
I'll be priming and basecoating them tonight, and putting down the first layers tomorrow.
Tomorrows trip to the FLGS will be a busy one. Signed up to a charity X-wing tournament on saturday. Not played X-wing since May, so need to cram a few games of that in. But I have already scheduled a 40k game, and I'm playing in the WH40k: Conquest organised play too. Not to mention I want to watch the demo game of the Batman... It'll be a busy one! My time away has made me a fiend for gaming!
Looking good. I assume once you paint these guys up you are going to swap halves with your other squad? If not you are going to need to paint a lot of basic bolter marines so you can combat squad.
Planning on using the cherubs that came with the kit, or building some counts-as?
@Nev: Yeah, these are getting split into 2 5 man squads using the other devastators. I'll make up the armorium cherubs when I do the bases. They're a bit too small to glue them to a base and pop them off when I come around to basing. Same with the servo skull thingy that will sit on the sarge's base. I'll put that one the same way, too. @Thraxas: I worked at a summer camp for 3 months, then travelled for a month after that. It was a truely awesome time. Still yet to play any Xwing. I've got my brother to play a few games later tonight. Those few games should refresh my memory.
So progress wise; they are primed and in the process of being base coated.
So the sargeant has been based and washed. He is wainting for his 4 buddies to catch up, then decals, battle damage and rest of details. The 4 guys are halfway through their silver pass, then I'll check again for red, do anything else that needs a base coat and then wash. Will probably be done on the weekend.
At the LGS, we're doing a league type series of games. I've made my 2k list, but I think I'll be changing it around again. All I'll need is 10 tactical marines and 2 drop pods. For the rest I'll use my Scars as appropriate stand ins.
Well, more around the weekend. Thanks for reading. Z
@Nev, Knightley, Azalle: It starts with a smooth coat of yellow. The Airbrush helps a lot. Then, instead of loading the brush up and slapping the wash on, I wipe most of it off and paint the wash on making sure there are no pools on flat surfaces. It takes a mini or two to get used to doing. Especially if you're used to just slapping wash on.
We have some finished pictures of the Devastators I finished them last night, and airbrushed the Matt Varnish on them this morning. I have no place to set up my lightbox near a natural light source, so infront of a piece of paper will have to do.
Not terribly unhappy with them. They're rushed in a few places, but it just means I have something to improve on with the tactical marines I'll be getting next. It's always hard returning to painting after so long. I had completely forgotten the process I follow to paint my Fists. The weapons cases are the wrong shade of grey, for example. I did the wash at the wrong time so the reds aren't as they should be. And I also did red lenses, not blue.
Like I said, not too big a deal. Calling them done and moving on. Tactical Marines are next. I want a demi-company in our upcoming league, which means I need to bite the bullet and get another 20 marines under my belt. Fortunately I can proxy 10 marines using the Space Wolves I have (old ally contingent for the White Scars). That just leaves 10 marines in need of doing. And after that, I'm thinking of basing (Is it finally going to happen?!)
One test would be to see how they mix with their previously done fellows, as you need to swap anyway. When you stick all 4 HBs together, can you tell the new from the old? Could we? And could anyone tell from arms’ length?
There have been a few times where I wrote down how I painted something. I did it for my basic scheme, not for my own benefit, but to answer “how do I paint an Ultramarine” threads. The other big one was how I do tabards, as I needed to remind myself on what paints I used. I will also frequently check back on my blog for how I did things, and often take a completed example of something I’m doing more of to the bench as a reference.
Subtle difference in styles not withstanding, they look great.
@Para: Thanks Para! @Nev: I can tell the difference between the new bolters, and the old. You could too if I posted side by side pictures and you looked a little harder than nromal. But casual lookers will not notice. @Thraxas: I use sponge. If you have pick 'n' pluck foam trays, that's great stuff (and what I use). Dab the sponge into the paint, then dab most of the paint off onto tissue/paper then on the model. Very easy, and solid results.
So, I went to Dragondaze today. It's a small gaming and mini-comic con in Newport. I played in an X-wing tournament there. It was a casual tournament, with 12ish players. I was bottom tier, but I smashed my first game (100-0, the best win possible). All down hill from their I managed to walk around a bit between rounds. Lots going on. A lot of TT games being displayed, and a whole boat load of board games being displayed. There was cosplay, too. An Alpha Legion marine and a Khorne Berzerker. It was a really nice showing of the hobby. More hobby stuff than comic related stuff, which is a problem I normally have with comic con. Oh, and it's all for charity.
I also snagged something awesome from one of the bits sellers...
Perfect for basing!! Friday at the gaming store, I came so close to buying a GW terrain piece. Infact, that's what I went into the store area looking to buy. I couldn't find any, and thought I'd order online another time. Then I came across the bits seller at Dragondaze. I think its a combination of pieces, but the variety is awesome! And perfect for urban ruins basing. Not to mention, it costs me £10! Lots of stuff there, but here are a few pics of clearer pieces:
I was also doing some digging around in the attic, and found my old black GW carry case. I took a peek inside, and found a bunch of things. The things of note are the 2 Land Speeders:
So I'm going to strip them tonight. Along with the Ironclad Dreadnought from my White Scars. I think it's about time to repent for the fluff heresy of a Dreadnought in White Scars colours Plus, it'll fit nicely in my Fists army.
Anyway, that's it for now. Looking forward to tomorrow, to play with the basing stuff!
Nice haul of bits there, it'll certainly cover your basing needs for a while!
I think stripping the Dread is the right call. Nicely painted as it was, I think a Dreadnought (and particularly an Ironclad) fits the MO of the Imperial Fists far better than the Scars. I'm sure they've had one or two over the centuries, but it is certainly more fitting in IF livery!
They all had 2 45 minute baths in Biostrip 20. Then I put the land speeders in for an hour and a half extra. It's not perfectly clean, but I'm happy enough with how much has come off, and it'll be unnoticeable when I start putting paint down on this stuff.
I got myself another tactical squad I know they're not hugely interesting, but they're necessary. I promise something a little less generic next
Paradigm wrote: Cracking stuff, the sarge and beaky especially (don't know quite why, but I've always thought Beakies in IF yellow look great! )
And just for you, Para:
So they're together, awaiting priming and basing. I'm off to the LGS tonight. I think I will pick up some an additional pack of basing accessories - ones that I've been eyeballing for the longest time. Hopefully I can start putting together one or two bases over this next week.
I got myself another tactical squad I know they're not hugely interesting, but they're necessary. I promise something a little less generic next
To be honest, the new Tactical Squad box is probably my Desert Island Kit, in that if I could have just one box of minis to work with (but with all the usual hobby supplies, paints ect), it'd be that. Tacticals as a unit might be a little bland, but there's just sooo much potential in that box if you're willing to do a little cutting, sticking, kitbashing and stuff.
I got myself another tactical squad I know they're not hugely interesting, but they're necessary. I promise something a little less generic next
To be honest, the new Tactical Squad box is probably my Desert Island Kit, in that if I could have just one box of minis to work with (but with all the usual hobby supplies, paints ect), it'd be that. Tacticals as a unit might be a little bland, but there's just sooo much potential in that box if you're willing to do a little cutting, sticking, kitbashing and stuff.
Looking forward to seeing them!
In full agreement here. The tactical box is one of the better ones out there. It’s just packed with options and different marks of armor. On a pedantic note: did you intend for that beakie to be in full Mk. VI? Because I think that’s a Mk. V chest. Mixing and matching armor is fine, just curious. I know you can get full suits of Corvus armor out of there, as I built modern replacements for my RTB01 squad out of the tac box.
Tactical marines might not be sexy, but they are the heart and soul of a marine army. Always nice to see them going together.
@Para: Yeah, the Tacticals box is so nice! Lots of pieces, all of which are such good quality. They make a solid addition to any bitz box. @Nev: Definately something a little more interesting going together next, though. Still on the fence about the monthly comp entry, though... But I garuntee it's better than tacticals. @Spacewolverine: Thanks man, and welcome to my blog I am starting to realise that I like selling and acquiring armies I'm trying to trade my WoC for Daemons currently, after telling myself repeatedly that my 40k armies are not being sold.
More on the marines front today: These guys are base coated completly. Just waiting on a wash (right after I post this), decals and battle damage. Then another pass to get the rest of the details and done. Probably finishing them on the weekend.
Here are those speeders that I stripped.
I had to break it down completly to get the Biostrip 20 out of all the recesses. That stuff is thick, and doesn't dry or evaporate. So I needed to get right in there to clean it out with some Q-tips.
I put it all back together, and with the exception of a few pieces I broke, it should look fine when painted. And even the broken pieces, I'll make it look like battle damage. I'm going to paint the speeder before I worry about putting together bodies to driver. And I need to figure something out about the heavy bolters that will sit on that metal rail. The rails broke. Got to look into replacing those.
And lastly, some Terminators that have been waiting a long time to get stripped. They have since been stripped in Biostrip 20 and are awaiting some attention from me.
Will update you on the weekend. Hopefully with finished Tacticals! Z
Haha... Pop culture reference out of the way... I've finally started the process of basing my minis!! *cheer*
I popped the scouts off of their bases and went to work on them.
I found it tough to get 'scenery' on the base with it being so small. Then I asked myself, why did I start with the smallest bases that my army will be using? So I popped my VenDread off his base and fixed that up.
I like the size of the dread's base. Gives you a lot of room to work with.
And while I was priming the bases with the airbrush out; I did these:
They are ready to go when I am.
On the Tactical Marines front, I'm not quite there yet. A few more and I'm finished. They'll be my next update. Not too sure if I'll get to their bases before then.
Bases look good. How much more are you planning on doing to them? Going for the grey ruined look? How old are these ruins? Recent, where there should be soot marks on the walls, and maybe a small fire in a corner? Or older, where tufts of hardy grass are starting to take hold? All the way to ancient, when the non-rubble parts get flocked/static grass?
Are the buildings concrete, marble, or sandstone?
What did you end up going with to attach the HBs to the speeders?
I'll be doing urban ruins. The plan is for fairly recent ruins. So, so some weathering, etc. I'm glad you posed those questions, because I really havn't put all that much thought into it
I drilled into the HB and the chassis, then put a piece of wire into it. It doesn't look as good as the bar, but it'll hold well enough to hit the table.
I've finished painting the bases and the Tacticals! Here is a photo dump
How do the bases look? Would appreciate any comments on them. Marines will get their bases soon, too. I'm looking to work through the backlog of bases next.
I will most likely take real (better) pictures over the next day or two when I update the front page with an end of month army shot (Thanks for the reminder, Nev )
I've been waiting for this day for a while now... A FINISHED unit (or two...).
I know you have seen these before. But now that the bases are finished, they are legitimately completed I'm going to start up a showcase thread where I'll drop pics of all my IF stuff into once it's done.
The one thing you might want to consider for future bases is to vary the grit a little. Ruins and rubble are not going to be reduced to a uniform consistency. You could just chop up some spare sprue to mix it up a bit. The dread looks like he has some of that going on, but I’d carry it over to the troops as well.
Thanks everyone! It's good to finally see completed models.
Nev, you hit the nail on the head regarding varying the grit. I think that might be it! Thraxas, Thanks dude! Someone commented in the showcase thread that my checkerboard makes them look like lamenters... Atleast there is a Fists icon on the shoulder
Anyway, it's the first of the month, which means I have an end of month picture for you guys. I have added a Devastator squad, and a Tactical squad through september.
My aim for september is the 2 Land Speeders I'm working on, and the Ironclad Dreadnough. Plus the entry for Para's monthly competition (If I ever decide... Keep going back and forth on 2 minis...). Oh, and the rest of the bases. My priority are bases then comp entry.
You are going to need a bigger lightbox. Didn’t you have some terminators done?
Almost at a demi company. Although if you split up one of those tac squads you could do it now. Barring the HQ. You going for a captain or a chaplain?
Speaking of company organization, are you planning on putting squad marks on the footsloggers? I notice the jumpers have them. Makes it harder to swap guys around when list building, but makes for a very cool looking cohesive force.
Oh sh*t, I forgot the termies It doesn't help that they are stored with my White Scars, and not the Fists...
As for Chaplain or Captain... Neither right now. I'll be getting Lysander (which I guess is a Captain...) when my force is approaching the 1500-2000 point range. I'm quite happy running a Libby for now.
1 Tactical squad from a demi-company, and 15 marines away from demi-company numbers (50 PA marines). I will be getting another box of tacticals for a demi company. But not this month.
It's just the way the photo was taken, with angles and such. All my marines have markings - they're not quite codex complacant, but close enough. Black trim, chapter icon on the left pad, and tactical arrow, assalt arrows or dev chevron on right pad. Looking at the pic, they are all right shoulder forward If you look at the bottom pic, the devastator squad on the right has their squad markings visible and the right hand tactical squad in the same pic has their arrows somewhat visible.
Well, para, it's very marine heavy atm. Hopefully this month will be padded out with 2 speeders and another Dread. I'm looking at getting another 2 Drop Pods for a demi company of podded marines. Not really sure when they'll be picked up, though.
Thanks Knightly! I would love to have a display cabinet... but I dont have the space. My painting station is the dining table, and everything has to go away once I'm done. Everything is consolidated to 3 stackable boxes :( And the army pictures at the end of each month, I think, are a sweet way to look back at my progress.
I was looking at the assault’s “VII” on their jump packs. So squad markings, not by type, but as actual numbers.
Black trim should put you as 5th company. Unless the Fists are divergent about company markings. Squads 1-6 are your tacs, 7&8 assault, and 9&10 devs.
You don’t normally see people do squad numbers, but there are codex marking for them. I know I mentally number my squads, and there are a few things that separate them. But I haven’t put numbers down.
Now if you are collecting only half a company, you will need to figure out which squads you have. These things are important!
No pictures today, but I have news: I bought the Legion of the Damned! They should arrive on Tuesday. I also ordered some 32mm bases. They should do nicely for my guys that dont have them.
They are my entry for the monthly comp. And should fit nicely as an addition to a Drop Pod marine army.
Progress is slow with the Land Speeders. I've blocked the base colours in, I just have to wash it. I haven't realised until now how few vehicles I have painted. Might have to fix that
Nev: To be honest, I only really put the numbers on the assault packs because that area was blank. I didn't want to do another assault arrow, so I went with numbers. I could see myself going back and numbering each squad. As far as swapping in and out goes, I run the same loadout on my Tacticals each time. combi-plas, plas, HB. combi-melta, melta, MM. In my mind, I would have those load outs on 2 squads each. Then, the remaining 2 squads that are in the company would get a grav loadout. I can't see myself changing that.
Having squad numbers also means I can number the rhinos and not have to balance models on top to say who is where... but that is a moot point in a drop pod force... But it does give potential
I'm not really sure what I'll be doing with them. Their paint scheme is still a wip in my mind. I know I'm not painting them black. I'll settle on a dark grey like the bolter cases on my marines. Bouncing back and forth on grey or grey-blue highlights. The grey highlight will make it look more black, and the grey-blue will make it look somewhat spectral (I think?).
I'm excited for the flames though! I had a salamanders force a long time ago, not done flames since then. I wonder if I can get back into it.
Either case, I'll be researching pictures of LotD minis over the next few days. First stop: Jah's blog. He's just finished some and they're spectacular. Time to give them a very close look.
The LotD arrived today. Unfortunately I was asleep and I didn't answer the door to get them They're at the Post Office depot now and I've got to go and get them...
But I have done some work on the land speeders: I really wasn't looking forward to doing the wash step on them. So much surface area! Nevertheless, it got done. Not doing anymore on them today - It was a real slog to get through it. Tomorrow will see some decals and chipping.
And before i jumped into the speeders, I started on some more bases. I popped the metla tacticals off of their base, and started basing them. Also, I dug out the terminators I forgot I had and started on them, too. 2 of the terminators wouldn't pop off their base, so I left them on. They look sunken into the base, but awell :( The mixed grit looks a lot better than uniform grit. And just some words of advice, base your minis as you go! It's killing me doing so many bases. So boring! It takes at least 2 days to do them. Firstly I glue the bits on and add GS where needed. Leave it for 24 hours for the GS to cure thoroughly. Then PVA glue the grit down. Leave for several hours to dry completely. Put watered down PVA over the top, and leave to dry completely. Then paint. Such a long process... Only 31 more minis to go (inc. LotD).
Having said that, I want this month's end of month army pic to have them all based... So it's got to be done.
Speeders are coming along nicely. Vehicles are just so big They start fun, but after a while it turns into a chore dealing with all the area they have. I don’t think I’ve ever done one where it didn’t bog down into a tedious chore near the end.
Bases look good. The mixed grit really does make a difference. An I hear you about doing it as you go. I’m still slogging through doing my whole company, and am using a much simpler scheme then you. On the bright side, I think the next army I field should have enough done that I can field a whole based army.
My LotD are currently on the desk, waiting to go! Here are some built pics:
...I see a mould line on the PC I'm gonna get.... Not a terrible kit, all in all. Lots of flash (as per with finecase), but no warps/bubbles. I really like the pieces! Looking at pictures online really doesn't do them justice. I had to play around with the plasma weaponry. The sarg comes with a PP, so that is fine. But I had to add a Cannon and PG. Not too hard a task, but some pices had their bodies sculpted to shoulderpads and arms. Which limited my choice of bodies for the weapons as I didn't want to go hacking arms/shoulders off minis. In the end, I went with the guy who holds the flamer in GW stock pictures to have the PC. That body has no arms attached, and no backpack attached. So It's a matter of using the PC arm, PC backpack and LotD other arm. And the PG wasn't bad at all, just a matter of sourcing a left hand and it was able to go on the body with no issues. They still need a little bit of GS attention, which I'll in all likelihood get to today. Then they're ready for their primer. Oh, and they're not glued into those bases. They're just there for support whilst painting. I have 32mm bases ready to use for them. I'll pop them out and cut the tag away when they're ready for their base.
Nice looking guys. Glad to hear the finecast wasn’t that bad for you. I’ve sworn off the stuff. But when it works, you can get some nice minis out of it.
I got a photo dump for you today. Nothing new - I had a lot on over the weekend and didn't make much progress. I also gave my camera to my Sister, who has gone to Sicily for a week (lucky!). So I used my Dad's camera, and it's fantastic. Might need to bust that out when I'm taking photos in the future.
Anyway, first and foremost, progress on the speeders. Washed, decalled, damaged and started on the black's edge highlight.
And now the bases of the Tactical Marines and the Terminators.
So there! Another 2 units [completly] finished!
Now, progress is going to be slow over the next two weeks. I literally just landed myself a teaching assistant job, and that'll be occupying my time until the half term holiday.
I'm not sure when the next update will be, but I promise you, I'll come! Z
You need to finish up the rest of your terminators you you can sort the squads out properly. It’s a little odd that the old style LC guy has his claws off, the the modern ones are glowing. Looks good though, he’s got enough menace in his posture he doesn’t need the blue.
The speeder bases are in fact old. They're stripped and repainted Salamander's speeders, and that's how I did bases back then. Once I finish the main speeder, I'll do the pilots. Then I'll clear off the base and do it in the current scheme.
Warkitten, that is a FW Cataphractii terminator. Honestly, I'm not sure where I acquired him from, but he made my terminator's numbers up to 10 and an equal mix of assault and tactical. I got another 5 to do and then I can make 2 squads of 5 for each assault and tactical terminators.
Nothing to report today. Been busy busy busy...
This weekend is lining up to be a good one. I'm considering playing some games on Friday evening. Also, a friend has all day sunday free (with family out of town) and he's hosting a board games day. I'm looking forward to it. We'll be doing Star Wars: Imperial Assault and taking a look through Decent (another campaign board game). Plus a bunch of other stuff... The only downside will be I cant paint on Sunday :(
Bottle wrote: The whole army is looking great! Your weathering looks really good. How are the metal chips down?
It's dark brown paint sponged onto the yellow areas. Literally that simple. And grey sponged onto black areas, which needs a little more control because the black areas are really small (shoulder rims, for example).
Apologies for going MIA for the past 8 days
Not too much to report, I'll let the pictures to the talking:
Everything but the base.
I also made a start on the LotD. Didn't bother with a picture, because one has a layer of black down (obscuring the details) and the others are primed grey which looks no different to the pictures of them before priming because finecast looks a lot like grey primer!
As we head into the weekend, I plan on getting some more done. It's going to be really quiet around the house over the weekend so I think that'll boost productivity more over the weekend, Z
Thanks Para. No... Still not had a chance to play Batman yet :( The initial 'ooo, shiney' has worn off. But there is still a desire to paint a hand ful of their minis (especially after seeing the clown prince of crime being painted for this month's painting comp).
Warboss_Waaazag wrote:Looking good so far. Drill those barrels!
Yes, Sir!
Adamski Alders wrote:Speeders are looking good
Thanks a lot!
OneManNoodles wrote:Those speeders have turned out a right treat, nice work on the salvage!
Yeah, thanks! I definately cut a few corners knowing that there were salvaged and were never going to be perfect. But they definately get the job done!
Ok, so after doing nothing for the best part of a week I decided to crank out the first LotD last night. I went to sleep more or less straight after I finished, so tired eyes might have missed something. Take a look:
I dont think the highlights have come out too well in the pictures. Mostly my own fault for not setting up my picture booth and taking them properly, I'll do that when I have more than 1 mini's picture to take.
Thanks for checking in, I'm putting down the base coats for the next LotD right now, so expect more soon. Z
I'm still plugging away at them. Second one is almost done. Was going to work on him today, but my painting time consisted of me basing everything. It's supprising just how long 31 bases take...
Questionable pictures... but you'll get better ones when there are marines striding to battle across them. With less than a week until the end of the month, I'm pleased to have finally caught up on so much basing! Just have the LotD left to do, now. And then I can take end of month army pictures, with so many complete units!
On a hobby related note, I have good news and bad. The good news is that I have decided to take up Dark Elves. Which means that my hobby time is split between the Fists and Dark Elves.
I've had warriors of chaos for about a year now. And I was loving playing End Times games - even though I was losing like 30% of my games I was away when Age of Sigmar was released, but nothing is compelling me to play that. I might humor myself and play a test game or two in the future, but for now, it's just very unappealing. Back when I got my WoC last year, there were only a few of us. Now, we have a solid group of 5/6 regular Fantasy players, and a handful of irregulars. They were continuing to play 8th edition (because of a tournament that happened last weekend), and they are engaged in a Campaign using 8th ed rules. Between the group we've agreed to wind down the campaign (over the next month), and switch to The Ninth Age. For those that dont know, The Ninth Age is a ruleset for Fantasy, based on 8th edition. All the rules are free to download and are what 9th ed Fantasy should have been. Anyway, I'm building myself a Dark Elves army to play The Ninth Age. I'm super excited, because of all the super cool Dark Elves models that are made by non-GW companies. So yeah, that's what I'm excited for.
@Matthew: Regarding painting yellow, I airbrush my yellow, and paint ontop of it. Cheating, I know, but it's effective. Just a few things I've learnt: Dont ever put washes onto your yellows if you want them to be bright. A black was on yellow will dull it right down and make it grimey, same with brown. I dont brush paint yellow, so I cant comment on how to brush paint it. @Vim: Thanks dude! Welcome to the blog! @Thraxas+Nev: Thanks mate! Just got to get the end of the month pictures done properly. I'm hoping for a nice bright, sunny day for the best pictures I will be tackling Purple with the Elves. Purple is one of my favourite colours, and I've never really had a chance to paint it on a large scale before. I'm excited to do it some justice. The GameZone Dark Elf minis are great, and will form my core Spearmen and with a hand swap swordsmen, too. A few other character models from other companies, too. The majority of the GW line is great, like Nev said. @War Kitten: Thanks dude!
Here is the second LotD:
Terrible pictures, unfortunately. But it's late and hopefully tomorrow I can finish off the 2 Plasma LotD. Getting pushed for time as the end of the month is pretty close... 2 plassma LotD tomorrow, and hopefully the leader on Friday for a Saturday photo shoot and final picture entry.
Pushing ahead with the LotD. Almost there. Unless something drastic and unexpected happens, I should make the deadline Really appreciate your words of encouragement, guys. It's helping a lot!
These guys definately feel rushed. They'll all get the going over again, for a final clean up before the final pictures. But I'm not sure if a quick touch up will 'fix' them. I'm happy with how the other two look, but these less so.
Awell, onto the leader tomorrow! Oh, and my Dark Elves are starting to arrive... Been looking over the sprues and I'm excited to get to work on them. Z
You have some very demanding standards Zam, these look great. Am loving the work on the bone especially. And glad to see a plasma cannon, many bemoan its effectiveness but IMO it is the coolest looking heavy weapon.
So the GameZone Dark Elves are on sprues? Never knew that.
So will you be cracking on with the DE straight away, or finishing off what's left of the Fists first? Looking forward to reading your thoughts on the Gamezone stuff, the designs are great but I'm interested in what the material's like to work with. They say plastic resin (ie. Restic) but that can range from great to crap as a material depending on the makeup of the mix.
A couple more pictures of them in my Gallery, but they didn't come out too great.
And now, the end of the month army picture:
I know the bases on the LSs dont fit... but I wanted them in the pictures.
And some pictures of the models that had their bases finished this past week.
There we go! ...I told you I had a lot of pictures... lol. So there you have it. You've got pictures of every army unit, so far. Current count puts me at 1448 points completed. (1588 including LSs - which need to be based before I count them )
I'm going to put my Dark Elves in here, and make this my hobby blog (instead of just Imperial Fists). I've had so many projects in here (Fists, WS, IG, Eldar...), might as well continue the trend Although, I still have some Fists to work on. At current count, I have an Ironclad Dreadnought, the other 5 terminators and 2 bikes. Plus Lysander, which I plan to buy for November's painting comp. So enough to carry me into December, maybe even to Christmas. Which should be around about the time I get my next IF supply drop. @Para: The GameZone stuff looks great. The sculpts are awesome. But they look brittle. There is no flash, and very few mould lines. But the spears are slightly bent - which is to be expected when they are packed in bags. We'll see just how brittle it is when I try and straighten them out. Expect a bit more of a write up in a few days when I sit down and look at them properly.
A tip for the Elves, if they're resin plastic like it says then submerging them in a hot water for a few seconds will allow you to bend the spears back into shape, then hit them with cold water to fix them in the new position.
@Matthew: Thanks dude! I didn't paint all of that in a day... Some of those models that I have just based (Assault Marines, for example) were finished back in January, lol. Last week, I was painting for about 4 hours a day(ish). I work in a school, and it was half term, so I had the week off. Maining rushing through the LotD for the comp.
@Para: Thanks for the tip! Really worried about breaking it :( It'd be a pita to fix if I snap the spear shafts.
@Thraxas: I wouldn't say quick... Like I said, some of those units were finished in January. But I guess getting 1500 points fully painting in 10 months (with a 4 month break) is 'quick' for some people @Adamski: Yeah, I cant wait to get stuck into the Dark Elves. Looking forward to starting some test models.
@Evildrcheese: Thanks man!
@SickSix: Thanks! I'm loving the gritty look, too.
I've been working on my Dark Elves (or should I call them Dread Elves?). Some exciting stuff has happened with regards to The Ninth Age. They have released the BETA rules! Army books for each army, new magic and a complete rule book. And, there is a Ninth Age tournament in Feburary in my LGS. Which I think I will be attending.
I think I mentioned before, but I'm using GameZone's Dark Elf infantry as the core of my army. They have a unit of 30 spearmen, for 25 euros. Which is a great deal. I've been cracking on with them, cleaning and getting ready to rank up. Here is a picture of a few in progress.
I love that they are a mix of male and female models. But the one gripe I have is that they have tags on their feet, but come with regular bases not slot bases. Cutting it off isn't that big a deal, so all in all its a really good unit. And the two on the right haven't been cleaned. So you can see just how much flash and mould lines you need to deal with. There are literally two things to cut off (below each hand), and maybe a mould line down the side and that is it. So a really good buy, all in all.
As for the colour scheme, my Elves will be somewhat cliché. I'm going for the dark purple look. With some dark red in there, with gold and silver. Green as a spot colour, and for the raptors. But I haven't started painting yet, so nothing has been decided.
Oooh!
Excited to see your work on the dark elves! I've been eye-ing up the gamezone minis for a while so waiting excitedly to see what you do with them =D
Been making progress on my Elves the past few days. Got the spearmen built up, except for the shields, will leave them off for painting purposes. Just thought I'd show a picture of the command group: Really friggin cool, imo!
Still waiting for a bunch of my stuff to arrive. Dont buy things through FB trade groups... Not having a good experiance with it right now. Although something did arrive today... My November entry for Paradigm's competition.
He'll get some attention over the weekend. And I washed and put decals on my Ironclad Dreadnought. So slowly marching forward with him.
Just dropping a picture of my army. Had the Knights and Warlock riders for a couple of days now. But the executioners and battalion came today from a trade on Facebook. Had a few issues with the trade, but finally after 17 days they arrived
Those blisters packs contain a GW sorceress on Raptor and a Mantic foot sorceress. Just have to find myself a BSB (I think i'll bash one together from spares), and I've got my desired 2400 list. Just have to put it together before I start playing.
Cut and cleaned Lysander, too. Fairly good sculpt. No warping, moderate flash, and I didn't notice any bubbles. Will check again for bubbles before I glue.
It's been a slog to get them all built, but it's done.
Not had a game with them yet. I'm working the next 3 sundays, and not a lot of Fantasy happens outside of a sunday. So plenty of time for the glue to dry...
I had a game with my Fists today (for the first time in a while). Lost. But it was very close!
I played a tournament space wolves list. He had 450ish points tied up in a Typhon super heavy (and didn't give me a 'heads up I have a super heavy' before hand, either). Plus 2 nasty SW fliers and 2 squads of 5 jump pack infantry, and 2 squads of 5 grey hunters w/ his warlord. Nice enough guy, but nasty list. I had no skyfire, and no real answer to the Typhon. Will spoiler my list below.
I basically hugged LoS blocking terrain to deny the Typhon's 7" blast shots, and targetted his infantry first.
Anyway... I cleared all of his infantry and had is warlord to 1 wound by turn 2 or 3. He made a comment about my list being 'really stong' (which made me chuckle). I was handling his army like a pro, lol. Anyway, I got a really, really lucky shot off on my Devastator around turn 4 or 5. Lone Lascannon snap shooting his flier. Rolls to hit: 6. Rolls to pen: 6. Immobalised. He rolls for the flier immobalised: Falls out of the sky. It was the luckiest, most helpful shot ever. I loved it. It finished with him being 2 points up. We were playing the scouring, so it came down to him having a slight advantage due to the distribution of the points on the objectives. But all he had was his Warlord on 1 wound, Typhon and a hovering flier.
First time ever playing with LotD. They folded to small arms fire, and were finished off by combat with his warlord. But they took 5 grey hunters and all but one wound off his warlord on the turn they came in. Definately looking to play these again! The ICD also hit the table, part painted. Fed him to the typhon on turn 1 :(
It's given me quite a bit of incentive to paint some more Fists. I got 6 days to finish off Lysander for the Monthly painting comp. He's next up.
Left my monthly painting comp entry too late (again). Looks like another last week rush to finish. And I'm working the next 4 days... Going to be a push to finish
Here is the man himself:
Got most of the base colours in, and the wash done. Time to put the decal on, add battle damage then go from there.
Good progress. You should be able to finish him for the deadline, assuming you can get brush time in.
Your list looks pretty solid. I’m sure as you get more games in you will work out the kinks.
LotD do seem to have a weakness to small arms. They are, after all, just T4 guys who save on a 3. Now they get that 3+ vs everything, so can shrug off plasma just as well as lasguns. But those ones and twos are going to come up. Good to hear the plasma worked for you. I built mine that way, but was debating if a melta load would be better. Got to have something to deal with the superheavies.
Great stuff on Lysander so far. The white looks fantastic! Blent very well, his hammer from the picture looks just sublime I don't even know if its finished, or just primed and washed haha but regardless it looks really lovely to me You can reach that deadline mate! We believe in you churn out a solid session or two and he'll be looking dashing and complete before you know it.
The Typhoon is a tough nut, but sounds like you had the right idea in hiding from it, force it to move so it's range is reduced. Drop dreads would probably do all against it too...
Missed the Monthly comp by a day, unfortunately :(
Got a few touch ups, and I need to actually finish the Crux Terminatus. Maybe I should revisit the hair? Doesn't look quite right. But probably just an hour worth of work left on him. Then I'll glue him for final pictures. LDP - You're right about the hammer. I love how it looks, and so simple for a layer and wash
I stripped my (White Scars) ICD a while ago to repurpose as an IF. He's going to get some attention tonight and tomorrow.
Getting quite close to finishing all of my unpainted Imperial fists. I'm going back and forth on what I want to buy next (Payday is a week before Xmas), but on the cards are; Vindicators, Drop Pods or another tactical squad (for a demi company). Also entertaining the idea of veterans... So much potential!
Hopefully another update tomorrow or the day after with Lysander and the status of the Iron clad. Z
I think the hair is a bit too close to the armor. I’d try to differentiate it a bit, either with a wash to change the tone, or a totally different color. Looking quite nice overall.
Do you just have the one pod? If so you need more. They are painful and boring, but a sad necessity for play. If you are going to get another tac squad, it might be worth looking into if people are breaking up the new HH box. You don’t need 30 of the guys, but it might be fun to have a squad of Mk. IV in your army. Either as tacs, or as sternguard.
@Nev: You're right about the hair. I dyed his hair to a colour that clashed less. Not too sure on the HH tacticals. Might save them for intermixing with Sternguard vets... But then again, it wouldn't hurt to have some MK IV tacticals... Got a couple of weeks to decide... @Thraxas: Thanks mate. Skimming through the Codex, I think I've owned every option at some point or another excluding Cents (as they were introduced this codex) and Vindis. ...Just saying... Who knows what could happen. No set start time on the Delves. It was a long slog to cut, clean and assemble them all, and I'm still waiting for things to arrive (coming from Canada and hopefully it'll arrive this or next week). I wouldn't expect anything until around the new year. @EDC: Yepp! Changed the hair colour, and it looks more reasonable now.
Ok, so I was taking photo's of my minis and half way through I realised I can use my old man's fancy looking camera (I think it's a bridge camera). And with the exception of one slightly blurry pic, they look better than my compact digital camera.
Here they are:
I got a few details left on the Ironclad Dreadnought and then he'll be done, too.
Had a burst of inspiration, and cranked out this fella:
The old White Scars dread, repainted and repurposed for service in the Imperial Fists. Nothing ground breaking with him. Just a basic job to move him across the table (He was getting a little to comfortable on that table...)
And while I was thinking about repurposing WS as IF... I cast a glance over all of my stuff to potentially repaint. And came up with this:
The white from the old paint job was pretty much a base coat. Just airbrushed yellow onto it and will go from there. need to clean up the overspray and beat it up then it should be good. Will probably pass on painting the Techmarines again. Red for techmarines is standard across the Codex Astartes, so no need for a repaint there.
Hopefully another update towards the end of the weekend, or early next week Z
Pushing ahead with the Fists, and getting stuff done! I worked on the TFCs, and they were a pleasure to work with. Especialy seeing as I had pretty much all the base colours in, it didn't take long at all. Rebased the gunners, and suitably dirtied up the cannons:
I like them, and they'll definately see the table under the new Imperial Fist paint job.
And here is everything else for 40k I have:
Going to finish up the ruins on the LS's bases today, and finally call them finished. And then I'll be working on the terminators. I know 1 termie doesn't have shoulderpads, waiting for them to arrive in the post from a bits seller.
And a tease for what could be coming soon... I think I know what my next supply drop will be. 2x Vindicators, 2x Drop Pods and a box of bikes. Having 3 drop pods will give me lots of options for list building and games, and ultimately I can get by well with 3. The bikes will give me a squad of 5 (will probably load out with Grav), and form rapid assault for most lists. And the more I'm painting infantry, the more I want tanks.
I got the next 3 days off, so look out for some more updates over the next few days.
Good job! Goes to show how far a wee touch up can go Good luck with the remainder of your stuff, looking forward to your hopeful surge over the next couple days
Really like the Thunderfire cannons Zam, nice how the Techmarine scheme really fits in with the army as you have used red as a spot colour in other bits of the army.
You will soon have a lot of armour to paint too, keep it up.
@LDP: Thanks mate. Touch ups are great, whole different look with maybe an hour and a half worth of time. Definately worth it! And my supply drop should be towards the end of next week (to coincide with payday).
@Azalle: Thanks for the compliments, matey! @Thraxas: I'm trying to keep the army looking relatively cohesive. Using red and black as spot colours on the marines means that every now and then I can do red and/or black marines and still have them fit in well. The techmarines should fit in nicely, just like my black scouts do. Once I finish my next supply drop, and a bit closer to the end of the year, I'll do a full army picture. Rough estimate, I'm in the 2000-2500 point region of fully painted minis.
I finished the bases for the Land Speeders. So these guys are completly finished now!
And I've been making progress on the termies, too.
Just finished the decal and weathering stages. Time to go in with a fine brush and get those details. Then the bases.
@DrCheese: Thanks mate. The contrast with the hair looks a lot better now. Glad I changed it.
@Adamski: Thanks! Past month or so I've been looking at their bases thinking, "maybe tomorrow?". But now they are done, they are officially finished, and I can move onto other things.
@Para: Thanks a lot!
This morning saw me doing final touch ups and photo shoots of the terminators.
Not sure when (or even if) they'll hit the table to bring death to the enemy. But they are ready none the less!
The 5 I finished go with the 5 I did some time back to make 5 tactical and 5 assault terminators.
I wont have anymore updates until sunday/monday when you can expect the 2 bikes to be finished. Maybe I'll slip a WiP shot somewhere inbetween, we'll see what happens.
Next update is ready for you!
Not much of a painting update for you, more of a hobby update - But I have pics!
Firstly:
Very early WiP.
If you know what Company they are from (without looking it up in the codex), I'll give you a bonus 10 points*!
I painted their shoulder pad rims after the wash. I need to wash the rims down, to make it less bright. It's a bit garish and eye catching atm. Will weather appropriately, too.
The irony of working on IF bikes when I have about 3000 points of painted White Scars isn't lost on me...
That's it for IF painting progress. Everything else is finished. Just waiting on Friday for some reinforcements And on that note, I decided to not get the 2 Drop Pods this week. 3 Bikes and 2 Vindicators is enough for me, I'm going to spend the money I would have spent on DPs on hobby supplies and paint for my Dark Elves (The DPs will happen, promise!). I played my first game of 9th Age Warhammer Fantasy with my Elves, and I'm hooked. I'll be starting to prime and paint them over the next day or two.
I also volunteered to paint our characters for our Descent: Journey into Darkness campaign. I already started before it struck me to take a picture, but here are our characters. We dont have a group name yet, but I'm leaning towards Three and a half women.
I bought the Game of Thrones (2nd Ed) Board Game about a month ago. I've had a few games of it recently, won my last 2 as Stark and Greyjoy, before that. A really fun game, if you've got a few hours to spare on a rainy day. A bit like risk, in the sence that you build an army to conquer the world (Westeros). But with some really cool additional mechanics like supply, house cards and wildling attacks. Plus it's easy to get the friends involved, im my experiance. Lots of people like the GoT TV show/Books/Universe, so it's easier to sell when figuring out what to do.
This is turning into a longer one than intended, but I'll leave you with a final question: Are you doing anything special that's hobby related this Christmas? I think I'll do an all dayer playing Fantasy at some point after Xmas, and we're in the process of organising a board games all dayer, too. What about you? Any all dayers/campaigns/socials?
Z
*And by points I mean that you get bragging rights and a doffed hat from me
Those bikers are coming along nicely Zambro. I'm going to guess that they're from the 3rd Company (the rims look red, although that could just be my eyes tricking me again). The descent characters are looking great as well.
War Kitten wrote: Those bikers are coming along nicely Zambro. I'm going to guess that they're from the 3rd Company (the rims look red, although that could just be my eyes tricking me again). The descent characters are looking great as well.
I went to quote you to say “ninja’d”, but it turns out you changed your answer! I should have quoted you before you edited. They look orange to me. As the 6th company is the reserve tactical squad traditionally trained on the use of bikes, orange rims are appropriate if someone is splashing a few into their list.
Looking good either way. The characters look like a fun lot to paint.
To answer the question about holiday gaming plans: I have nothing. Maybe some board games with my brother a/o nephews. Sometimes we go for the more complicated ones like War of the Ring if it’s my brother and me. We can rope The Wife (and sometimes my folks) into more new-style games like Agricola. But not the more aggressive ones. No miniature wargames there anymore though. And if the kids are playing, it’s got to be good for 6-9 year olds, which limits options.
War Kitten wrote: Those bikers are coming along nicely Zambro. I'm going to guess that they're from the 3rd Company (the rims look red, although that could just be my eyes tricking me again). The descent characters are looking great as well.
I should have quoted you before you edited. They look orange to me. As the 6th company is the reserve tactical squad traditionally trained on the use of bikes, orange rims are appropriate if someone is splashing a few into their list.
I thought they were orange at first, but then I looked at it again and thought they were red. I was probably right at first, but I wasn't sure. My eyes are really bad at the moment
The Descent characters will be a nice change for you, and hopefully there will be not too much yellow on them! I hope that your Dark Elves motivate me to make a start on mine.
And finally over Christmas I am due to have a mega battle with my nephew, he is quite new to the hobby and only 11 years old but it will be a fun game with simplified made up rules just to make things go a bit quicker with less bookkeeping.
Bikes are looking good. My gut feeling says 6th company, as that's what makes sense with the fluff!
I don't have a huge amount of wargaming lined up over Christmas; One last 40k game at the uni this Friday (hoping I can finally take the Shattered Legions to victory, they're 0-3 at the moment, due in equal part to my not having played 40k for about 2 years and the Legion list being very constricting at low points levels), and then it's home, where I shall be playing a lot of BMG with my brother and also taking the headlong dive into X-wing... Can't think why, but I'm really hyped about Star Wars at the moment....
I doff my hat to Nev, Paradigm and Adamski. And probably War Kitten as he had it right first time around They are orange and indeed part of 6th company. I'm trying to build my IFs as "Codex Compliant" (with a few caveats here or there...), and seeing as I want 5th company as my main company, I've got to go else where for the 'shiny' stuff. I've already got the basis of 2 Devastator squads, so any more devastators or Centurion Devs will be done in 9th company colours. Bikers as 6th company. Any more than 2 assault squads will go into the 8th company, although I doubt I'll get that many assault marines. Vets and scouts as 1st and 10th, as per.
While I'm buying and painting Fists for now, I'm keeping an eye on the long term goal. I want a 'mega' army. A Battle Company as the foundation, then all the trimmings. I eventually want one of everything in the codex, but that's a long way off Imediate goal for the Fists is to finish the list I posted a few weeks back. I really like how it plays, and I'm only a bike squad away from having it all painted and based. After that, I'm not really sure. I'll probably get some more 1st company vets and finish of the demi company.
@Adamski: They'll probably be similar to my WS bikers. I'm already looking at ways to incorporate the special weapons into the bike. I'll have 1 bolter and 1 special weapon in the front of the bikes, instead of the marines carrying them. That's one change I'm working on. Also going to continue with my battle damage. Which isn't really a change, but there was limited weathering on the WS.
The descent characters are... interesting to paint. Way less detail then GW minis which I almost exclusively paint. They're also smaller. They're a nice change, though! I'm not really looking to do anything ground breaking on them. Just a good TT paint job so we can play Descent with painted heroes.
Glad everyone has something hobby related lined up over Xmas (or atleast trying). I dont have anything set in stone yet. I know there is a day of gaming on the 1 day between Xmas and new year that I have to work. If my leave goes through, I'll have most of that day off, so I should be able to catch some of it. And I think that there is something being planned for Sunday after Xmas. I'm non-committal to that. We'll see what actually gets agreed and how I feel closer to the day. But I'm getting (and currently have) board games. Which I will be playing over Xmas. We're having a total of 14 people here at Xmas... Should be able to round a few people up for Splendor, Pandemic or The Game of Thrones Board Game. Unless the annual game of monopoly takes too long (I seriously hate that game).
Past few days I have made some progress on Widow Tarha, and picked up some VMC paints for my Dark Elves (Test schemes in progress). A trade I did with a Dakka member in early Nov arrived today, too. So some nice new Dark Elves to look at. Also placed my 40k resupply order at my LGS. A bike squad, 2 Vindicators and 2 drop pods are making there way to me now. (Yes, I cracked and got the DPs too ). I'm greatful for the 6.5 days off over Xmas... got a lot to be working on
Started cutting the bikes out and putting them together. I'm working this week, then it's Xmas. And family over on the weekend.
Nothing significant will get done untill early next week...
But I am eager to crack on and get the vindicators and bikes finished for the end of year army picture.
Drop Pods, my nemesis. Good luck building them.... I gave up on ever having a drop pod army because I can't stand building those things, I'll take my Rhino Rush thank you very much
Zambro wrote: @Adamski: They'll probably be similar to my WS bikers. I'm already looking at ways to incorporate the special weapons into the bike. I'll have 1 bolter and 1 special weapon in the front of the bikes, instead of the marines carrying them. That's one change I'm working on. Also going to continue with my battle damage. Which isn't really a change, but there was limited weathering on the WS.
1 Bolter and 1 Special? So a bit like the Chaos Bikers with the Special weapon on the front fairing?
Loving the addition of more Bikes and Vindicators, two of my more favourite Space Marine units.
PS: What GoT board game? My friend and I are looking for some new stuff for our games nights and that sounds ideal. Also - how can you not love monopoly? It's a British family tradition - carnage included
Hope everyone is having/had a great day!
What did Santa bring you?
Here's my hobby related gifts:
Nice few marines to pad everything out. Tacticals will give me a demi company and sternies will be in one of the Drop Pods.
I also got a glass display cabinet.
I can find a link to it on Ikea if anyone is interested.
Here it is, bottom to top:
The photos aren't the best, but you get the picture Will have to start moving the Scars out as I fill up on Imperial Fists...
The Drop Pods are probably going to be a pain in the ass, but 3 completed Pods will do me well for a while.
@Adamski: It's the Game of Thrones Second Edition Board Game. It's a hell of a game... Can be absolutely brutal if you dont pay attention. Quite fast paced once you realise how to play, but will still take around 2 hours I can recommend Pandemic, too (pictured above). Very good 4 player game.
So far no monopoly... Have I been lucky and dodged it this year?
I'm making forward progress with my Bike Squad. Got the first 2 members done:
They feel... meh. I look at them and they dont have any sort of 'wow' factor. They're just bog standard marines. With a bog standard paint job. On the bright side, I have the desire to go above (and possibly beyond) the standard paint job with my next few bikes. I'm thinking extra red marking's to denote a sergeant. But I'm coming up blank with different paint jobs for the special weapon bikers... Any ideas/suggestions?
Here is my current to do pile:
Bikes first (hopefully before next year), and then Vindis.
tl;dr - T.I.M.E. Stories is an incredible board game/RP game. Buy it. I also have a little hobby update. I play games with friends on Sunday nights and this past Sunday night we played "T.I.M.E. Stories". It was I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E.. Honestly, the best gaming experiance I have ever had. It's a (4 player co-op) combination of a board game, and RP game. You work for the T.I.M.E. Agency, who travel through time and/or dimensions to preserve temporal continuity. Each mission you start at T.I.M.E.'s HQ, and are told where you're travelling to, and what your mission is. Once you get there, you have a certain amount of Time Units to complete the mission before you fail and have to reinsert. You 'take over' bodies of people already in that setting and then you're free to explore and investigate. It works with a few decks of cards; The areas and the items. When you insert into the setting, you start in an area, all cards for that area are placed face down and the image on the back of the cards makes for a panoramic picture. You're characters then choose which 'part' of the panoramic view to investigate and move into that area. You then turn that area over and read/do the information on the back. You cant directly share it with the group, but you can rephrase, describe or talk around what you see. The information on the card builds the setting and gives you information regarding the setting. As you move through the areas, you unravel the mystery and get information and clues to work it out and complete you mission. Not to mention you get puzzles and ciphers you need to complete in order to complete your mission and the clues / cipher keys are in the images / information you get. Dont disregard anything. It plays a lot like a murder mystery. You get lots and lots of information, and you need to deem whats important and whats not and solve the clues etc. It's very cooperative, and relies on team work. Each 'deck' represents a story. And when you play it, because you see the cards and effectively see what happens, it means if you replay the deck you will already know what happens (Basically making it a single play through). Hence why I'm trying not to spoiler anything. Each deck is a different setting/time. The one that comes with the board takes you to the 1920s, the second 'expansion' deck takes you to the 90s and the next one to be released takes you to a fantasy setting. The board and tokens you use is compatible with each deck. The tokens mean a different thing in each deck, etc. You'll need each player to read the rules before you start, just so your all in the know. The first mission reminded me a lot of the DiCaprio film Shutter Island. You're asking questions and being answered with more questions, then as you get to the pinnacle of the game dominos start falling in quick succession and your mind gets blown all over the wall. Just dont google this game, because you'll end up finding spoilers which will deduct so much from the story and play through. Here is a link to the rules. Read the fluff on page 2, and the concept of the game on page 3. It'll take you less than 5 mins. Do it for me. It took us 6 hours to play the first mission. We started playing, got hooked, had our minds blown several times, worked our way through several puzzles, worked our way out of 'dead ends' and when we looked up, it was 1am and we pooled money to buy the next expansion. Story telling at it's finest.
Ah sensual loot! Nobody I know knows enough about the hobby to get me hobby related things which sucks but that display case is wicked! I really want to get one myself - I would love to have the link Bikes are coming along very nicely as well
Actually Zambro, I think those two bikers look pretty rocking! I'm usually not that keen on SM bikes or the fists but I gotta say I'm liking what you've done there. All that mud splatter on them, esp across the faceplate is excellent - really DOES give a touch of wow factor. Sterling work fella
Yeah, I agree, I think you're being a little hard on yourself with the Bikes, they easily look as good as your other minis and great quality paintwork!
Managed to finish off my bikes before we roll into 2016...
That fills out the Grav Bike squad I have used in my past few games. No longer need to proxy a WS bike squad, which means I can run my first 1500 point list fully painted!
I've been running this IF project for a year now... I've just tallied up everything and I'm just over 2500 points!
And here is everything I have done this year, in one big picture:
It doesn't look like much in one picture, but I'm happy with it!
I've done some meticulous book keeping this past year. I have kept account of all hobby related purchases and have a breakdown as follows. But first, back at the start of 2015, I decided to give myself a hobby budget of £150 a month. I've stuck to it (more or less), and at the end of the year I have averaged £132 spent on the hobby a month. For a total of £1588 this past year spent on hobby related things. Looking at the sum objectively like that, it really is a lot of money. I'm not really sure how I feel about having spent that much money... I know I've gotten my money's worth in terms of time spend on those items and enjoyment gained. But anyway, I looked into the details of the monthly spendings and worked out percent wise where that money went. Warhammer Fantasy took the biscuit with 25% of that total going into Fantasy (Remember my WoC at the start of the year, and now Dark Elves). 40k was just behind with 22%. Followed by Xwing (20%), Conquest (16%) and Board Games (3%). Hobby supplies made up 10% and membership at the LGS was around 3%, too.
I'm reasonably happy with that breakdown of the spending. I knew 40k would dominate but I'm supprised that Fantasy was the biggest spend. I didn't take into account money recuperated from selling my WoC, this is just the outgoing expenditure. But seeing as I have played mostly 40k/Fantasy I'm not supprised they were the top 2. I'm a little sad that Xwing was so high. I dont play it any more, and will be Ebaying it off in the very near future. It was huge in the club at the start of the year, but dissapeared when I got back after the summer and bought into it heavily. The rest of the numbers seems reasonable.
I forsee that next year, Conquest will down (Only 1 expansion pack every month or two). There will most likely not be any Xwing. Board games will probably go up and Fantasy and 40k will still dominate.
I seem to recall having a yearly goal to 'stick to one army, and only contribute to that army'. Well... that didn't really happen... lol.
I want this year to be the year of painting. Now that I have a display case, I want to paint random, display minis to really good quality.
My Imperial Fists will likely stay near enough the same. For consistence's sake and I have their paint scheme down. But I want to get other minis - single mini side projectes - and paint them. Testing new techniques, different painting styles etc. Something to really push myself. I've noticed myself becoming somewhat complacent with the Fists. It's time to shake that up and push myself.
Not really sure where I'm going to start, but I've been eyeballing some monsters for my Elves and the BMG minis for a while. When my unpainted pile isn't so daunting I'll look into it (mid-january, maybe?).
The final thing I want to address in my end of year ramble is you. Everyone reading and commenting on this blog. I appreciate it all! Thank you!
Fantastic year's work there! Quality and quantity are both most impressive!
Have you considered painting any of your X-wing stuff before selling it on? It might be a fun diversion, and with the quality of your work, could definitely push the value up, maybe even spin a profit overall.
Thanks for the comments, guys. Hope everyone is settling back into work/university now that the holidays are over.
I have the much anticipated first update of the year:
A horribly backlit picture, but just enough to tease you about the next few updates... I've been working the past 4 days, and I have the next few off. Hopefully I'll get some hobbying in.
There is a tournament in my FLGS for 40k in 2 weekends time. I'll be buying a ticket tonight. It's 1850 points, and I'll be running a mostly Imperial Fist army (with a few WS seconded to the Fists to make up points). Nothing ground breaking, just going for fun to support my group (proceeds are going towards a cabinet at the club so we can store things down there).
Should be getting a test game in tonight. Will see how things go then...
Mmmm. Vindis. Don’t forget the weather the heck out of the siege shields. Being rammed repeatedly through reinforced fortifications does tend to do a number on the paint.
I hope everyone's week is going well, so far.
I've a little mid-week update for my Fists.
The time consuming part is done (the stripes and a wash). Just need to tidy up the stripes add decals before I jump into the weathering.
It might get some more progress today. But I'm torn between working on these 2 or getting the Dark Elves back out and doing another layer or two on them..?
Last night's game was really good! Fists vs. raven-/Deathwing, 1500 points, Maelstrom.
I seized then in the shooting phase rolled 8 6s with my first squad (heavy bolter devs) to pen the dark shourd... And that was the end of my luck. I proceeded to roll below average for the rest of the game. Noteably, my LotD dropped in, laughing at the cover save as they have ignores cover and lots of plasma. Missed, landed in terrain. 2 Died (1 plasma), then, the plasma cannon shoots, scatters back and kills himself...
Anyway, thankfully it was Maelstrom and I played towards the misson. It ended 11-10 to Dark Angels. Getting past the poor rolling, it was a well faught, close game!
I bought a ticket to the 40k tournament, too. It's in 2 weekends time. I'm looking forward to it!
I'm thinking about doing some grey-black weathering around the bottom on the tank, near the treads etc. So it looks like it's picking up all sorts of dust and crap.
Need your advice too... Should I do water marks coming down from rivets etc? I'm not sure if it'll be too much... Thoughts?
@Para. I'll look into taking some pictures of the Dark Elves in the no-to-distant future
Too much weathering? On an Imperial Fist Vindicator? Madness!
Did you do water mark stuff weathering on the other vehicles? There is something to be said for consistency. If you are up for it, I’d give it a go.
Adding dust and rubble weathering along the bottom sounds good. Maybe snag a strand of barbed wire, or a chunk of concrete/rebar in the shield to be dragged around a bit.
I did some run off water marks. I kept it subtle, and didn't go overboard. I like it.
I also went to a Conquest tournament... and won! I took first place, and the nice loot that goes with it: It was very fitting, seeing as I was using a Dark Eldar deck. first time I've won a conquest tournament. I'm pleased with it!
I've got some non-GW minis in the works. My Gaming group's Xmas fund for new games saw us buying "Specter Ops". It's a board game, and there are 8 minis in it. The group nominated me to paint them, so they'll get posted up here when they get done. Not to mention I still have to finish the Desecent characters... I might relegate 40k to "building only", so I can focus on those. I have 2 drop pods, 5 sternguard and 10 tactical marines from Xmas left to do. I think I'll just cut and clean, and put the next week or two into those other minis.
Paradigm wrote: That's a pair of great looking tanks. Congratulations on the tournament win!
What he said.
I’m continuously surprised by what they are putting in board games these days. Guess I’m just used to simple things, like the white pawn being the wizard. Good time to be a gamer.
Just a quick update today;
Tomorrow is Torrent of War. My LGS's 40k tournament.
I'm fairly certain that it'll be a small, relatively quiet one - maybe 10-15 players(?). But I'm looking forward to it, anyway!
Just a casual list, pictured below.
Just have to -ahem- borrow -ahem- two white scars models... A little sad that I can't make a full 1850 list I want out of Fists, but awell...
I'm going to be a bit cheeky and pack away the WS stuff when we vote for painting, maybe I can contend for best painted..?
It's not super strong, but I'm hoping it can hold it's own down the bottom half of the rankings - Not looking for super-competive, just want to support my LGS+Club (proceeds are going towards group storage at the club).
I'll be taking my Camera, and I'll be grabbing snaps, where possible.
Maybe a sunday night / monday morning write up... Aiming for 2 wins (Was 3, but I've seen some lists that will be there...)
Quick day 1 round up, then I'm off to bed. I'm dog tired, and my legs / back are aching like crazy! Who knew 40k was so demanding!
I'm 1-2 (W-L). Half way to target.
First game against Grey Knights. I seized and went first. Nothing ground breaking in either of our lists. He was deepstriking a lot of it, so I was able to manage what he had and stem the flow. Really, really good game (best so far), it ended 11-10 to GK. His dreadknight dived onto an objective last turn, and I should have seen it and moved the obsec Scouts onto it and generally been a little more observant on what his objectives were on last turn or 2. Fantastic game, well balanced armies and really close game-play wise.
Second game was against SW. I seized again and it went down hill [for the opponent] from there. Hammer and Anvil, and I infiltrated my scouts behind his army in the far corner. His thunderwolves all out in the open ready to charge forward took a hammering, dropping 1 squad down to 1 wound left in my turn 1. He had a knight, too. First time I played against Knights... Went well! Dropped 2 HP off between Lascannon devs and the ICD. In shooting. TFC's destroyed his only grey hunter unit. Generally a splash of damage everywhere. His Knight charged my ICD, and we both struck at I4 and killed each other. (Chainfists are bad - for your opponent!!). End of turn 1, he was a Knight and TWC unit down. His dreadnought DP went off the table. We played it as a mishap, but thinking about it, does it kill the unit? Anyway, I tabled him. 20-0 on points. Was nice to win, but not a good game. No edge of your seat stuff...
3rd against Tau. With 50 kroot. And a Void Shield Generator. And big nasties. The VSG basically gimped my shooting first round - did nothing but took the shields down. Just your run of the mill loss. Nothing significant happened. 14-4 to my opponent. Only lasted 3 turns. A lot of it was a lack of Tau knowledge. First game against Tau since I played in Storm of Iron 2 years ago... I don't know their tricks, or tactics or even counters. Took it on the chin, but had a great chat with other player about a range of game-related things during setup which is why we only got 3 turns
There are 10 players, and I think I'm in the middle, with my scoring. Maybe the top of the bottom half. The 20-0 win second game thrust me right up there, but the third loss will average me back down. I'm almost certain I'm facing a heresy World Eaters army tomorrow at some point, and potentially Eldar/Tau... But, that could change... Roll on tomorrow!
Z
PS And typically, I take my camera around and forget to take it out even once. Will make a point of remembering tomorrow - atleast for voting the best painted. Will try and get a pic of each army.
Sounds like that's gone pretty well overall. Tau from what I understand (I also haven't faced them much recently) still do what they used to, sitting still and throwing a metric ton of dice in shooting, but with various new toys and tricks they're just much, much better at it now.
If a Drop Pod scatters off the table, it does count as a mishap (only way a Pod can mishap, actually) so you'd need to have rolled on the table.
Thanks, Para and Thraxas, for the kind words. A good weekend, all in all.
Continuing from my previous post;
Game 4 was against Eldar/Tau (the son of game 3's opponent). Riptide, Wraithknight, scat bikes, seer, devilfish with pathfinders x3. He didn't get invisibility on his psychic rolls (luckily for me). And we spent most of the game in a face off. My dead pile was a scout model, and the cannon (not tech marine) until turn 3, but by then it was too late. He was in his school's league and his scout group's league and he had a good head for the game, but no invisibility and being non-commital with his wraithknight cost him. My gravs were sitting just outside of charge range waiting for the Knight to come into the open. The Fist's held the line well, and I won 17-4.
At this point, I was 2-2 and quite happy. The the match ups for the final round came out... I was on the top table(?), against the Tau player again (game 3). Basically, I had scored so well in all of my games that despite losing 50%, I was still playing the last game on the top table. I talked with the TO about playing the same person again, but when he looked, the Tau player was top, I was underneath then the other 2 people below us he had already played. So if he was playing someone new, it would have been a mid tier army. I went with the TO's ruling that I had to play him again (no big deal, really) and we went for it. It would have been nice to have played someone else, but at the end of the day it's not too big a deal.
Game 5 was very much a repeat of Game 3, but I went for points this time, insead of killing stuff. In what was probably the most closely faught game of the weekend, we were running for our points as much as possible. 3 Marines and 5 scouts charging 2 different units of 10 kroot and winning/cutting them down to get me 2 points for the objective that turn, and generally playing for points. We both knew what was on the line - my opponent was undeafeated in his past 4 games and I knew that if I got more points I could potentially get in the top 3. Anyway, we battled it out, and it came down to 9-8 to my opponent, because my TFC scattered (despite having LoS) on kroot in cover. AP6, ignores cover would have scrubbed the last 4 kroot and got me 2 points. It was also at the end of this game that I got probably the nicest compliment I've had playing 40k. He said that I was the most 'switched on' person he and his son had ever played in 40k. In terms of knowing the rules, game and my army. Making sure I could claim 'toe in cover' saves with everything, flying stormtalons on in such a way that nothing could interceptor/skyfire and dropping dreads in DPs in places that make it a royal PITA to intercept and shoot next turn. And generally not getting lost in the frenzy of combat and doing my best to stop him getting objectives as well as achieve my own. The comment kind of went to my head, but I like to think I can play incredibly well.
And for the final placings: 1st - Marines (nasty skyhammer grav / RGVVs drop army). Truely nasty, and glad I didn't play it. 2nd - Tau (game3/5 opponent) 3rd - Ad Mech 4th - Me!! I was 4 points behind 3rd place. Really happy with placings seeing as I went 2-3. Especially with such a rounded and 'balanced' list.
I'm good friends with the guy who came first, and he thanked me for stopping the Tau player get so many objectives, as he won on points and actually lost to the Tau player earlier that day. I'm not sure how I feel about someone winning all 5 games and coming 2nd. It feels a bit cheap, but it was objective heavy... I wont lose too much sleep over it.
As for painting, didn't place in top 3. However, the TO who is a big and really great painter who won best painted at Storm of Iron (the last tourny we both went to) came over and said he wanted to vote for my army, but because there was a tie, he had to break it... Nice little compliment from him, but a list with FW stuff and 2 knights with freehand have more 'eye catching' stuff than my marine heavy list. I think for a chance at best painted, you'll need a centre piece.
Anyway, a crazy good weekend and it's relight my fire for 40k.
I'll leave this wall of text with some pictures of the armies displayed out. Warning, quality not great.. :(
Grats on 4th. For a new list and style (as opposed to your old scars) quite a good result.
I think you are probably right about the painting. Having something big and eye catching as a centerpiece would really help you stand out. Marines, barring allies, don’t have a whole lot of good options there though.
Riding the high of the Tournament on the weekend, I've cruised right into starting my Drop Pods. I'm almost done with the infinite ball-ache that is Drop Pod assembly.
Just need to drill and install the magnets on the doors then I can do the final part of sub assembly before I start painting.
Hoping to be primed by the weekend.
My gaming group have found a tournament going on in April that is about an hours drive from us. 3 of us, inc. me, have already agreed to go. Not got the tickets yet (5 people buying in bulk gets us a slight discount), but I have until april to figure out what I want to run.
Lysander, Sternguard, Drop Pods, Scouts. That's where I am with the list, needs more thought and more fleshing out. But the restrictions means no formations or LoW etc. So I can go with more casual lists and be ok... At least that is the hope...
It's been a few days, but I have an update for you all!
I'm still churning through the pods. A very long airbrush session yesterday turned all that grey into something resembling Imperial Fists. Still a ways off, but I can get all the boring bits done before I get to the doors and fins - where the pod starts to look like a pod.
I sold all of my Xwing and I got paid a few days ago, and in my money blinded state, I considered buying a Fellblade from ForgeWorld... Needless to say, I reigned myself in. I decided that I want to do some tanks before I get a Fellblade, to practise weathering. If I still feel the same way next month, I reconsider it Oh, but I did buy a Vindicator Assassin. Really love that model.
I've got a game planned for tomorrow. Looking to field my Vindicators for the first time. I'm playing either Orks or Necrons, depending on what he brings... We'll see how they perform.
2Pods. Blarg. Well, good luck with them. You’ll need it you crazy loon.
I like the new assassin models, shame they are priced the way they are. I keep meaning to field my old sniper, but he never seems to make it into a list. I’ll occasionally pack him in case I play at higher points, but never do.
The last picture shows a slight difference between the shades of yellow on 2 of the 3 drop pods. It bothers me slightly, but I'll get used to it.
In terms of the game... Have you seen the film Fury? With Brad Pitt and a few others. That's how my game ended. Turn 1 and 2 was solid, then I was steam rolled. Tabled. Tough pill to swallow, but it happened :( It came down to my Vindicator hunkered down in the corner at the end of turn 5. I had 17 points to his 7 (or so). Game length roll; 1 or 2 and game would end and I'd win. Rolled a 4. Tabled. A win for the Orks. Altough they took a few solid hits from the vindicators; it was fun to blast stuff!
My Assassin arrived today, and I ordered another model for next month's painting comp. Pics on that soon (not IF related, fyi). Current IF paint list: Assassin, Sternguard and Tactical Marines.
I think the variation in yellow actually works quite nicely, they're never going to be fully standardised in-universe, so it's quite fitting really. Anyone who can make Drop Pods look interesting needn't be picky!
Game sounds like one of those ones that, despite the loss, must have been really enjoyable; when it goes down to the wire like that, those are always the best.
Very interested to see what this mystery mini is... 40k or AoS?
Great looking drop pods, you can write off the minor color variations to having been deployed in different environments. One dropped onto a planet with more oxygen in the atmosphere and the heat darkened the color bit more .
Great battle reports by the way , short and sweet with just enough to get the feel of the game.
Thanks all for the comments!
Having been in work over the weekend, I now have a tastey 3 days off. Time enough to get cracking on the next bunch of stuff I want to paint!
I had an airbrush session this morning and primed / based a few things:
The assassin is probably my favourite model. Probably. Because this guy gets me every time:
This is the model that has been tempting me to Daemons for over 2 years now. I really love it. I'm going to work on this bad boy, and hopefully out do myself and really push the boat out with my painting.
A few gaps to fill before I prime tomorrow.
Thanks all! I love the assassin myself. I was aiming for the "blend into surroundings so opponent forgets he is there" look
Can you tell I have a few days off?? Busy Busy Busy... Here is a very early picture of Gluttony. Haven't been able to put him down!
Not really sure what I am doing with the wings. Never painted wings before... Might go for a leathery look [or try at least]. But not sure if it'll blend into the main boney parts. Hmmm...
Read through your blog tonight mate, and as good as your scars are I'm happy to see you doing Dorn proud with the Fists. Love all the battledamage, they look very dynamic!
I was introduced to a group of painters that meet every other sunday at my LGS to paint. Some serious skill in that group and I'm sure I'll learn a lot. I joined them yesterday and made some progress on Gluttony.
I don't think you should worry about the fractionally different colours. There are any number of explanations: They came off of the construction line at different times, they've been used in different environments, one got repaired at a base away from the normal paint suppliers so it is a fraction different to normal, and so on...
Those Sternguard are looking really good so far Zambro. Can't wait to see how they come out, and now I want to start an Imperial Fist army.... curse you.
@War Kitten: Come join us... Would never say no to more Imperial Fists players!! (Bonus points if it's a HH Fist army... )
@EDC: Thanks matey! I've yet to play the assassin... Hopefully he lives up to my expectations...
I've finished the Sternguard. Pics below:
It felt like it took longer to do the image editing that to actually paint the models, but awell...
I think the images themselves need better work. (You cant polish a turd) Better lighting, more care when being taken etc..
What do you think?
Also, did a recount the points I have painted... So close to 3000!!
@Para: I'll see what a black background looks like for these guys, next. I have a few lamps I should use, but the bulbs bust and I've taken ages to get around to replacing them. As soon as I've replaced them, I should be able to take nicer pics and not have to wait for the "perfect" hour and a half when the light is just right in my room
@San: Cheers fella! Red cloth is the easiest thing to do, imo! Was a little worried that the grey drybrushing would take something away from it, but I turned out alright, imo.
@Nev: So close to 3k... When I've crept over the 3k mark (17 points to go...), I'll get everything out for a whole army picture. And I'll look into close up pictures for the sternguard when I get some time to photograph minis next - likely the weekend.
@Kitten: Thanks dude! I sort of ran out of steam half way through them, but they turned out well.
@Thraxas: Cheers mate! I have a box of Tactical Marines and the Master of the Marches model waiting. I have no inherent 'like' for the MotM model, but he is the 5th company captain... And the Tacticals are going to help me make a Demi Company. I might hold back 5 tacticals for next month's painting comp - I read somewhere the theme is Space Marines to mark a year of the comp. I have a hair under 3000 points (2983) - army picture when I'm over 3k...
I have built and primed half of the tactical sqaud. I'm not sure if I want to keep the other half for next month's Space Marines themed painting comp. Or if I just want to get them done and paint something else for that comp... We'll see how quickly I get through these guys.
Also, some progress on my comp entry. But I've hit a wall... I want to go with a preheresy death guard colour armour. But it just doesn't look right, imo. Thoughts?
And my creativity completly dried up when it came to the base, so I bought one...
I think maybe a colder armour colour, more toward blue/grey than yellow/brown, might do the trick. I know that's more World Eaters than Death Guard, but without anyone to compare it to in an army (unless you have a PH DG army planned!) you should be able to get away with it.
Been working away on the 5 tacticals... I've done all the base colours and washed, just a matter of decal, weather then details.
I must say, I do quite like how the dark yellow looks after the wash.
I'm going to crank out the next 5 when I'm done with these, too. I've decided on getting a Command Squad and more Sternguard after - gives me options for next month's painting comp.
I'm thinking about buying them from the GW website. The total is £50.50, which is 0.50 over what gets me an entry into their comp, but I'm rethinking as I might buy stuff only available on their website to qualify for the comp and get the Marines elsewhere... I'll just have to see what is webstore exclusive and how close I can get it to £50.
@Para: lol, no Heresy armies planned... I'd be doing Fists if anything I'll give it a shot on The Big Guy, see what happens...
Tacs are looking good. Fun to see them before they get sent through the meat grinder.
While I do like the command squad box, it’s getting really old. Some of the detail is soft, and the mold lines are kinda bad. It probably needs to be re-cut. Also you have easy access to FW parts. Some the of banners/champions/apothecaries they do are just stunning. If you are feeling lucky enough to try for GW’s sweepstakes, I'd focus on the web exclusives. You often get less of a discount at your FLGS for them, so you don’t loose as much money. (That depends a lot on your local set up)
The command squad box has a ton of cool bits in it. I think I ended up getting 3 of them myself for assorted reasons. If you want one, get it.
How’s the giant demon doing? Pick a color for his armor?
Thanks everyone!
After a bout of sickness, I'm back with the tacticals.
Here is the first 5, finished and awaiting bases:
And I have built the next 5
I'm using the Anvil Industries heavy bolter again. Such a sweet piece!
I've glued the grit to the bases, and I just need to crack out the airbrush to paint them.
@Nev: I agree, the command box is very "soft" on details. I'll have plenty left over from the sternguard box (and not to mention my extensive bitz box) to hopefully make them a bit more eye catching. Not to mention, I ordered some Anvil Industries bits for them, too! Gluttony has made his way to the back of the paint desk... I stalled on painting his armour and now I can't bring myself back to him. I'll give myself a little while before I try again - will most likely miss the deadline for the comp :(
Top work as ever, those Anvil Industry heavy bolters are cool. I have been meaning to pick up some of their own sci fi range miniatures for a while now.
It seems I've missed a lot since I last checked in. Vindicators, Drop Pods, Tacticals and more. Congrats on Conquest, 4th Place in the tourney and amassing 3000 points of Dorn's Finest. Can't wait to see more.
Sick Tacs man, always been a sucker for well painted yellow. You'll love the Sternguard, chock full of fine details everywhere. It's like painting 5 HQs.
@EDC: Thanks man! Too much power armour, recently... might have to do some armour next..?
@Adamski: Wow, really has been a long time since you've checked in... You had a lot of good stuff to catch up on!
@Warboss: Yeah, the sternguard really are great models. So much detail!
@Para: Thanks fella!
As promised, here is the update. (Hold onto your hat...)
I love the size of my army. I feel that I now have such a choice of models when playing a 1500 point game. And next time they head down to the LGS, I'll be running a Demi-Company for sure!
I have a lot of "guys". Which isn't a bad thing, but I want to get some big "feth-off" units to act as centre piece models. I have a few more things to work through before I look into buying more, though.
I have Sternguard and a Command Squad in boxes waiting. I also stripped my White Scars Storm Talons (I know, I know). I'm going to a tourny next month and I want an IF ST... I also need to buy an Attack Bike for said tourney, too. Plus, I want to strip the Rhino I have for my Scars, buy a second and paint them both. That is pretty much the next few months of work for my Fists.
Oh, and also a squad of my Dark Elves have crept onto my desk... I'm batch painting 30 of them. I'll take pictures when they're ready. It might be a while, lol.
Awesome stuff! If you want something big and imposing and have the cash spare, a Leviathan Dreadnought from FW would certainly do the job, complement you existing Dreads (in my opinion, the best models in the force) nicely.
Try no to scavenge too much from your Scars. You did a very nice job on them, and in the long run you might want to be swap between the armies to keep things fresh. I could understand stealing the “Fist-y” things like the TFCs and dread, but the Talon? And scars not on bikes need something to get around in, so try not to steal that rhino if you can help it!
Your Fists look amazing. You’ve put together a good sized army, painted, weathered, and with stuff to swap around for options. The points always creep up on you. A unit here, an unit there, and BAMF! you’f got over 3k on the table. And shockingly, most of yours is playable. A huge percentage of the points in my collection is sunk into HQs, and even with formations etc. there is a limit to how many you can get into a list.
How are you progressing for auxiliary formations? So you can leverage your company into a Gladius. I see a 1st company TF, but that’s it right now. If you are planning on getting rhinos, I might look into whirlwinds instead. One would let you take the armored TF, two the suppression force. And when not needed for that, a quick hatch swap would let you mech up your tacs.
I have just read all 28 pages of this blog in 2 half days at work, though if im honest I skimmed the IG and Eldar. The 2 SM armies are amazing though, especially the Fists. I have never really liked weathering before but you have singlehandedly made me consider if thats still true.
Fantastic work!
Group shot looks great, amazing how army's just grow and you don't realize it until you do take group shots. The sterngaurd were a very nice addition! Still love your weathering techniques but I am not that bold yet to try to sponge apply it like you, that being said it leaves such a unique look that I envy.
@Para: Yeah, my favourite models in the collection are the LotD and the Ven Dread. Another dread would be awesome, but if anything it would be a Contemptor Mortis with 2 Kheres Patters Assault Cannons. Dakka! Dakka! Dakka!
@Nev: A little ways out on most of the formations, unfortunately. I have a Demi-Company, and could do a 1st comp task force, but thats about it. I quite like the flexibility of a CAD, but maybe I should look into a formation to build towards. As re: the White Scars... a necessary evil, I'm afraid. They've been stripped and I'm half way through their repaint (stalled by the fact that I have no IF decals because GW changed the decal sheets to Ultra's only *shakes fist* - ebay order placed). I need it for a tournament, and want to put full IFs down. And if I was redoing 1, I might as well redo the other at the same time. Not touched the Rhino yet...
@Azalle: Thanks man! The yellow I do is easier than it looks...
@JALO: Thanks man, welcome to the blog! The only way to do Imperial Fists is with a health amount of wear on them. Stick around for more!
@WarbossDakka: Thanks dude! I'm not done yet...
@Thraxas: Thanks! I love the consistency too (Except that 1 DP that is a slightly different shade of yellow...). It really holds the army together!!
@SpaceWolverine: Thanks! I've got a few things to work on at the minute. After they're done it'll probably be about a 500 point jump up... The only way is up! You should definately give the sponge method a try. It is literally as easy as dabbing the mini with a sponge - really hard to mess up!
Been quite busy the past 4/5 days. Not really done much.
I have stripped the 2 White Scars STs...
I've base coloured them. Will take another picture when the decals are on.
I've also made a start on The Master of the Marches.
The 5th company needs it's leader... [Even if I dont want it...]
I've magnetised the silly baby-scroll, so I can pop it off to travel with and if something gets into base-to-base it's not in the way.
I'll try to bash this guy out relatively quickly. I'm going to enter him for the monthly comp, because I'm doubting I'll be able to get around to the command squad soon.
At the FLGS today, I'm going to pick up the attack bike. Once that and the ST is done, I'll be ready for early April's tournament.
I've always liked that model, nice to see a SM Commander in a more regal and commanding pose. Same reason I love the new SW Ulrik (but not the price tag!).
I think I have a ton of IF decals (the Chapter symbol ones that used to be on the old multi-Chapter transfer sheet, didn't realise they'd changed it) lying around at home, if you still need some when I'm home in a couple of weeks let me know, you can have them for the cost of postage as I don't use transfers myself.
How did the stripping affect the pilots/cockpits? It looks like there is still some red in there. You going to have to crack them open and pull off WS shoulderpads?
The captain looks to be off to a good start. I like that round of captains they came out with. The issues I have with them are a) Finecast, b) Silly cherubs, and c) WYSWYG. What are the stats on a pimp cane anyway? Probably a power maul.
@Para: Thanks man! Will definately shoot you a message when my current supply starts to dry up!
@SpaceWolverine: The Wires are they just so I can hold it while priming / painting without finger-printing the model. They'll be snipped away when I'm done. Master of the Marches coming along nicely. Been a while since I worked on just a single mini... I'm enjoying it (even though I dislike the sculpt).
@Nev: Unfortunately, I couldn't pop the canopies off, so I've had to paint over them :( I'm going to paint the glass blue. I'm going to try and get a blue tint on them. I might look for alternative effects to try - the blue might be too much of a contrast. The captains they came out with are great. The lord executioner is fantastic (JP + Axe dude). And I'm pretty sure it's a relic pimp cane
I got a game in last night. Snuck a win! Against Tau, of all things. It came down to a single point (and it was First Blood that I scored in turn 2)... I had a strong early start with maelstrom objectives. Luck screwed my opponent and he had a bit of a false start with his objectives and not starting to score until mid game. It ended at turn 4. I had about 10 marines left around and 2 thunderfire cannons. He had a smattering of other guys, 3 broadside suits and a rip tide left. If it went another turn, I think I realistically could have been tabled.
In terms of gaming, the Bristol Vanquish tournament is about a month away. List submission is in 2 weeks. Not "happy" with a list yet. And trying to finalise details for a weekend away with 4 other guys from the club. I'm looking forward to it!
I've been working away on the Master of the Marches:
A few more things to do before I call him finished.
I'm really enjoying this single mini. I think I might pick up another couple of single minis to paint.
I bought an Attack Bike from the FLGS last time I was there. Planning on building and priming it today.
@SpaceWolvering: Thanks dude! I appreciate the criticisms. I was tempted to just leave it with a fleshtone and wash (as pictured above). But you called me on it so I did another layer or two to clean it up
@Theo: Lol, opportunity missed! It's a very narrow carpet... Maybe he prances down it on his tip toes... Twirling his baton...
@Thraxas: Hehe, thanks man.
He's finished!
A picture says a thousand words.
Also working on an attack bike:
I expect to prime it today.
I went to another Conquest Store Championship... Took 4th place, grabbing myself another play mat and deck box. Really enjoying this game at the moment!
Oh, and I impule bought something...
Spoiler:
I fancied a change of pace to power armour. These guys will lurk at the back of the desk for those times I'm really not getting along with my Marines.
Steady hand there on the scroll. I could never keep the spacing that uniform. Good looking marine overall, I particularly like the cloak. Good folds, little dusty.
Did you pick up the deathwatch box? Would go well with your new acquisition.
He looks stunning my friend. I love what you did with the Cherub and the scroll looks just jaw dropping. Excited to see what you do with the attack bike and those bugs. It can be a nice change of pace. The get started boxes are pretty genius of GW.
yeah, i'm afraid i'm just old . Id'd make some sort of Justin Bieber reference, but I'd have to pay attention to that then and I have better things to do.....like make jokes on DakkaDakka.
Not had much motivation to paint recently, so not a lot has been painted over the past week.
I re-did the compilation picture for the comp, as I needed 5 or less pictures (not 6). Here's how it looks now:
Back at the end of December/start of Jan, me and my board gaming group pooled some money and purchased a group game. After some research and collective agreement, we purchased Spectre Ops. And with me being the "best" painter in the group, the job of painting the minis fell to me. I wasn't rushed to paint them, so I dipped into them when I was bored of marines. And they were fantastic to paint.
The Beast
The Prophet
The Gun
The Puppet
Blue Jay
Orangutan
Cobra
Spider
The Prophet, The Beast and Blue Jay are my favourites. With Spider being my least favourite. A very pleasant 3-month side project!
And gameplay details/background, for those interested:
Spoiler:
Raxxon Global, a global corporation, has 'conquered' humanity. Everyone works for Raxxon and Raxxon produces everything for humanity. Part of Raxxon's military experiments includes gene splicing, cybernetic retrofits etc. (The usual sci-fi stuff). Anyway, a group of employers have broken off and formed Agents for a Reclaimed Kingdom (ARK), a dissident group devoted to the fall of Raxxon and the reclamation of humanity. Raxxon has labelled ARK a terrorist group, and are at war with them. That's the background, anyway.
The gameplay is based in one of Raxxon's military warehouses, where the ARK player has to get to and capture the information. The remaining 4 players play as the Raxxon defenders. The ARK player has hidden movement (kept secret on a seperate pad), and will only place their mini on the board if a Raxxon agent is in direct line of sight to the ARK player. The ARK player has to get 4 objectives and get out while the Raxxon players need to kill the ARK intruder. There is a turn limit, and a bunch of 'extras' in the form of equipment, innate abilities and a motion sensor. Also, there is a Raxxon traitor who is secretly alligned to the ARK's cause, and doesn't have to reveal the ARK player's position if he can see the ARK player.
The hidden movement aspect of the game is what got us (being the group) super excited about this game. Plus the co-op vs 1 nature of the game should make for some fun banter! Not to mention the rules are incredibly short and easy to learn. It'll be our first play through tonight - I'll write up my thoughts tomorrow, most likely.
Still need to do my Stormtalon for the 40k tournament next weekend. I'm also painting a Bunker for my friend who's going to the tourney. He's running something like 50-60 guardsmen with accompanying vehicles... (sucks to be him, lol). Anyway, that's what you should be seeing over the next week.
Blitzed out these stormtalons today and yesterday. Got a tournament tomorrow so I had to push through quickly.
Not too shabby for a repaint job. Honestly, I'm not happy with how the stripping process left these talons. It was really patchy in some places, and not all the paint came away. I think the rough weathing masks some of it. I might go back and touch a few of the details and maybe do something with the canopy. The flat dark blue looks too bland.
I also did a quick job on the Bunker and Comms Link for a friend. He just needed some colours blocked on so he could at least field it this weekend at the Bristol Vanquish Tournament.
I'm looking forward to this weekend's tournament. Their rules dont allow formations/detachments/superheavies/GMC/LoW. So I dont feel bad for showing up without any of them, and it'll level the playing field. The army I'm fielding is essentially the same as the army I ran in Torrent of War, except minus 1 dreadnought.
I agree that the canopies could use a little something.
From the pictures I can’t tell if there was a patchy strip under the paint. Looks fine to me, which means from most table-top views they should be fine.
One thing that strikes me as “off” is the soot from the engines exhaust. I know the talons are VTOL, but it seems like the bulk of the soot should be blown back towards the tail of the talon. You have more of an even spread.
All told, nice looking batch of stuff you have there!
I love me some Stormtalons, great weathering on them too. I would have no idea what to do with the canopies, although there are probably plenty of ideas out there.
I've not really been doing much with this blog recently. I'm about to change that and get back into the swing of making regular updates! Starting now:
I believe that I purchased these back in February... The bits in the bags are alternative running legs, Power Mauls and bits for urban basing.
I'm about to start cutting / cleaning and should have a build pic soon!
This past weekend, myself and 4 other members of my Wargaming Club went to Vanquish - A 40k tournament.
It was awesome. The biggest tournament I've been to. 60ish players. Overall, I placed 32 - mid table. I went in wanting to win 2 games, which I did (Just!).
Quick game reviews:
Spoiler:
My first game was against Daemons. Nothing super crazy. 2 soul grinders, 14 Hounds, a daemon prince and some blobs of daemon troops. It was a good game. It was close in the sense that it teetered back and forth, but eventually a loss for me. However, my Ironclad Dreadnough killed a Soul Grinder! (Ol' Dready is normally dead when he steps outside of his Pod).
Second game was against an Armoured Battle Company IG/AM list. 2 big blobs of infantry, 3 Chimera vets, 3 LR Vanquishers, 2 LR executioners. I thought, after my first game, the Lascannon devs would have a field day. Unfortunately, the under-performed again. Fortunately, my ICD went on an absolute killing spree. 2 Chimeras, 30 guardsmen and a LR Vanquisher... My first win!
Third game was tough. Really tough. The objective was to have scoring units in my opponent's table quarter. I faced Daemons/Orks. 2 units of 14 Hounds and a huge unit of Warbikers with special characters in. It favoured him, run forward smash then score all the points as I can't get out of my deployment zone. Anyway, my Infiltrators blocked his scout moves, then I seized! Focus fire from the army murdered half a squad of Hounds turn 1, then he surged forward. Combat with the dread speed-bumped the force, taking some bikers with him. Then turn 2, I murdered the rest of the hound squad, and because of the way terrain was set up, he was bottlenecked. So I arranged for 5 scouts to block movement forward, then 5 marines, and another 5 marines and so on, effectively slowing him to having to chew through 5 marines at a time. I was doing well to take models off the table and speedbump his surging horde, but I couldn't move around get the objectives. A tough fought loss.
Game 4 was Chaos/Daemons. 2 Flying Daemon Princes, 2 Fire Raptors, A Helldrake, a Hellblade and a Blight drone. 7 fliers. What?! The biggest loss of the weekend. With the exception of 1 nurgling base and 10 PB that were summoned I scrubbed his infantry and started stacking wounds on both DPs, but realistically I was never going to win it. Really great opponent, though! I was fighting for killpoints as the secondary and trying to keep infantry to a minimum so no one could collect the relic. A loss.
Game 5 against Salamanders. Vulkan, drop pods, Stormraven, you get the gist. Set up well, and was all prepared to go first and hopefully cripple the deployed army for the get-go but he seized! It was a really close game, ending in 21-18 to myself. I had a squad of 5 marines in cover on objective 2, he draws objective 2 as his objective. It took 3 rounds to clear them off! There was a turn where 2 guys took fire from 3 drop pods, and a collective of 10 marines (3 combat squads w/ special weapons), and neither marine died. Contesting the objective and denying him the points for his maelstrom. Lucky me! I had a stronger board presence toward the end of the game, but it was close none the less! My second win.
An amazing experiance, all in all. 3 close games, 1 tough game and 1 impossible game (but fun, none the less).
After that tourney, I want a Fire Raptor. Those things are mean! And super cool! But it probably won't happen any time soon :(
But while I daydream about my Fire Raptor, I've got those vets to work on, and the Forgeworld order to expect.
Running them pure bolters? Interesting. I enjoy a little HF action with mine, but then again, I don’t get that sweet, sweet, bolter drill all the time on the special ammo.
How are you going to build the command squad? So many options there.
I also did a quick job on the Bunker and Comms Link for a friend. He just needed some colours blocked on so he could at least field it this weekend at the Bristol Vanquish Tournament.
Hi Zambro, nice looking tower ! I've seen this one (or something closely resembling a Comms Tower) in other pics as well, but never found one. Is it scratch built, or can be purchased from a 3rd party ?
Ah, figures why i missed it ! Never liked the bastions
Thanks a lot, your help will be much appreciated by some Mechanicus who were nearly left out of comms
LE: I would also like to apologize to OP for my shameless ignorance of his painting skills, though this thread will be used for future reference as i plan a 30k Fists force - the Ultramarines part of the Betrayal at Calth ...
@Nev: Bolters all around for the sternies. Rerolling special ammo is going to be awesome! I saw just how potent flamers can be (played Salamanders in the tournament), but the utility of special ammo wins out!
@Ciuncky: No need to apologise! Hope you enjoyed the read! Good luck with the foray into 30k. Are you having Iron Warriors as the other half of the BaC box? It would fit, thematically.
@Warboss: Thanks! Looking forward to the AP3 rounds, rerolling those gets hot!
I've built up the Command Squad now. I was really torn between what loadout to go with. In the end, I settled on a choppy unit to accompany Lysander in a Drop Pod. Making use of Anvil industry bits, I came up with:
What do you think?
I've got 6 spare legs, and as all marine players know, the legs are the hardest part to source. I think I'll throw together 6 random marines and paint some random chapters.
What’s the big stick counting as? Power maul or thunderhammer? The WYSWYG pedantic in me would like to see a holstered bolt pistol on him. Looks cool though!
That apothecary scares me. Chainswords, while used from time to time on foes, are also “surgical” tools. That chainaxe is going to make for some brutal field amputations.
LC/SS is a decent option for CC, but a bit pricy on command squads. Might be worth swapping one out for an axe, just for some AP2. Or a fist if you want to go big/expensive. (not recommended)
Champ looks ace.
Not standard bearer? I get that mechanically they are a little sub-par, but if you are building random marines you might want to put one together. Or kit up a furled/stowed banner to attach to one of your guys.
You might want to look into vanguard vets on foot as a bodyguard. You give up the FNP, but gain heroic intervention. And pay less for the same gear. As Lysander already gets FNP from his warlord trait, it’s not a bad swap. You could count your champ as a VV sarge w/ relic/SS, the rest work as-is. Just need to put together one more choppy guy to replace the medic. Honour Guard are also not a bad option to be stepping out of a pod.
@Nev: Initially I had a power maul in mind. It could conceivably be a TH, too... I know what you're saying about a standard bearer, got to have something to wave around at the enemy. That is part of the reason I included a backpack banner.
@WarbossDakka: Thanks mate! My personal favourite is the last LC/SS marine. He looks like he is just breaking into a sprint ready to maul someone! Apothecary is second favourite, though!
@Ciuncky: No need to apologise! Hope you enjoyed the read! Good luck with the foray into 30k. Are you having Iron Warriors as the other half of the BaC box? It would fit, thematically.
Not really, i actually fancy the World Eaters. Simply because i like their colour scheme
But will have to start sooner than later, as i'm sick of using my Death Guard proxies and arguing which was a special weapon and which not
Also put together a few 'extra' marines. I want to try out some power weapon and plasma effects, hence the PS/PP combo on all three.
I've painted most of the loyalist chapters at some point or another over the years. I fancy trying some of the traitor legions! First up, an Emperor's Children marine!
I've got a bit of an update for you today!
2 of the Sternguard vets are finished. Started putting base layers down on a Command Squad, too. And you get to see my FW order!
I forgot how enjoyable putting together FW stuff is, even if you run out of super glue half way through and have to stop! I'll let the pics do the talking:
The top missiles have been magnetised, so I can run with/without them.
I've had my eye on this guy for a long time. Such a stunning model, all in all! Can't wait to get some paint down. Plus this guy is my 'Relic' for Para's monthly comp.
I played a 2k point game on Friday. First game of that size in ages, and I ran Lysander for the first time with the CS in a Pod. They dropped in front of 3 dune crawlers. In their shooting, they got 3 wounds with the heavy stubbers, I go to tank it on Lysander, and what do I roll? !! I managed to FNP 1 of the wounds, but still! I was not impressed! I won the game, after some late reserves came in and swung the game in my favour. But Lysander and the CS were unimpressive. They killed 1 Walker and 1 Dune Crawler, all game.
And the Tyranid box I bought a while back has been finished. They're now the only minis on display in our club's cabinet.
Spoiler:
I'll be cracking on with my vets for the next few days. Should see some more pictures of them later this week.
Z
@Nev: The dice gods are hard masters! I took Lysander & Co. out again last night, and they tanked shots like a pro, but only managed to kill 4 sniper scouts before they died. I have 2 mind sets with them; They don't kill much, so take them out, and, everything else survives because the enemy are shooting at them, so keep them in. I know 1 thing for sure - play more games with them!
@LancsHotpot: Thanks mate! I can't wait to clear some room on the table for the dread! I haven't primed him yet, I keep knocking him over and breaking legs/gun mounts!
@EDC: Thanks! The mace is from Anvil Industries. And so are their legs. They have awesome alt pieces for SMs, plus awesome minis in their own rights.
Pushing ahead with my vets. I got the mace guy finished:
While putting the pics in, I notice i've missed one or two things. Will go back for them!
Namely the bit on his base, and the hosing on the back of his legs.
I also painted the 4 bare heads I have on the vets. I did my best to use washes and shades to add subtler colour... What do you think?
My favourite is the second LC/SS guy.
Those 3 marines I build just to try some different colour schemes degenerated into my painting Emperor's Children. I couldn't get the purple right, and the first one ended up caked in paint. Moved onto the second one and the purple still wasn't 'right'. I think I've found the right shade for the final one, just need to get the rest of the details then I will share.
Apologies if you've answered this earlier in the thread, but can I ask how you do your dirty armour weathering? Is it splatters of brown paint, or weathering powders?
@Groundh0g: The brown weathering is brown paint sponged on. Super simple and easy to do.
I've been working on the sternguard and have them finished.
That leave 4 Command Squad vets and a Contemptor Dreadnought in progress. I'll look to making more progress on them later in the week.
I also made some impulse buys...
I was supprised to see MEdge stocked in my LGS. And having been following the discussions on Dakka and having read the two novels, I decided to buy into it. I'll be starting up another blog for it - I'll come back and post a link in here for those interested.
And painting the Emperor's Children made me want to paint Heresy models... So I bought the box set... The models are really really nice, but I only wanted 10 marines and the Captain. I looked on Ebay and realised it would be cheaper to buy the boxset and sell the stuff I dont want.
Also have some bad news... I'm going to America for 4 months this summer, which means no updates over that time :( I'm looking at leaving around the 20th May, which means only another month of updates before I go. I dont know what I want to paint before I go, but I know that I want to leave with a fully painted army, no WiPs.
Finally got around to priming and basing the Contemptor:
I have 9 days to paint it for Para's comp - plenty of time!
Been working away on Maelstrom's Edge a fair bit the past couple of days.
I decided against making a blog for it, so you'll get the occassional MEdge udate in here Everything is built and based. Started priming yesterday and I've finished a test scheme for the Epirian Foundation.
Thoughts?
I'm going to start putting base layers down on the Command Squad and Dreadnought this afternoon.
I like that Epirian scheme a lot; I'm still in two minds about MEdge, the Karists all look really cool to me, as do the robots, but something about the Epirians (probably what look like quite static, lego-ish poses) puts me off.. As that proves, though, they can definitely be saved in the painting stage!
What would you say about the quality of the minis?
I like the color scheme as well, but I'm in that same camp about the figures themselves. I've seen great conversions, but right out of the box I dislike the square shoulders and hat.
Didn't get any hobby time in today, but managed to play a few games. I played against Harlequins / Corsairs... In the nicest possible way, they were steam-rolled. They're just so... weak. They hit moderately hard, but fold to bolter fire so easily. It was heading towards a tabling and my opponent conceeded in turn 4.
Also got another test game of MEdge in. Still learning the basics. Really starting to enjoy the suppression element of the game, and the unit by unit activations is such a refreshing change to 40k.
And in terms of their models, I was where you are now. I thought it looked cool. And it took buying and reading the books to push me over the edge and buy into MEdge.
@Para: The minis are top quality. I'd compare them to the tactical marines boxset, in quality. Except the Karist elites and troopers. The plastic is a different shade of grey, and the details are 'softer'. I'm finding it harder to paint the fabrics on the Karists are the folds are a lot subtler.
Good work, that Dread should be awesome when it all comes together!
I think the Karist could be improved with a spot colour, red, blue or yellow stripes/markings would do it. Think Star Wars Clone Troopers, with the same clean white armour then coloured unit markings.
Dang Zambro, you have been plugging away! What are the legs on the Imperial Fist with the mace? He looks great! (Also where is that mace from?) That dread is beautiful too, I really liked the tracks on the base, those were a nice touch.
The Karist could always rock a red helmet/weathering and you could change the weapon's colour for a quick improvement.
Just finished up the dreadnough.
I'm very happy with how it came out.
My entry for Para's painting comp is complete, with 3 days spare.
@Para: I think you're right on the spot colour. I think I might try some red freehand pattern work on the armour pannels to break it up a bit, and some silver on the weapons.
@Lancs: Get one! They're great to work with!
@Stormwall: Thanks mate. The marine parts are from Anvil Industries, great selection of stuff on that site. Going to work on some patterns on the Karist... Should have pictures soon
)
They're at the Post Office depot now and I've got to go and get them...
but that display case is wicked! I really want to get one myself - I would love to have the link 
then and I have better things to do.....like make jokes on DakkaDakka.
