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Made in us
Dakka Veteran





Columbus, OH

Wow they really look great. I don't think I've ever seen a scheme that shows them off so well, they really are nice minis. Keep up the good work!

Thanks,

MegaDave  
   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets





Houston, TX

The Xhorik 87th Drop Troops Regiment finally got some heavy support - relatively speaking, of course...

Drop sentinels of the Xhorik 87th. They have been in the field for a good while, picking up some dust and grime.



The sentinel is a great kit. The legs can be posed an infinite number of ways.



I was experimenting with various weathering techniques and I overdid it a bit in spots, but that's OK. It was a good experiment.



The only reason to use legs over wheels is if you are going to be in some very rough terrain so I tried to make the bases look like they were at least using those unwieldy legs to climb over some large rocks.



The grav chutes on these guys must be pretty powerful to slow the descent of so much weight. I tried to go for a sooty look.



The crew match the rest of the regiment's infantry, except for their unique helmets that are tied into the vehicle's life support system.



The pictures here show their multi-meltas, but I magnetized the weapons and also painted lascannons, mult-lasers, and autocannons.

Xhorik 87th Drop Troops P&M blog https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/775655.page

Project log and campaign featuring Orks, Imperial Guard, Marines, Tyranids: http://www.xhorikwar.blogspot.com/
Currently focused on our Horus Heresy campaign with White Scars, Death Guard and Imperial Militia.  
   
Made in us
Posts with Authority





Boston-area [Watertown] Massachusetts

Those are looking awesome!

FYI, the Genestealer Cult Achillies Ridgerunners are pretty good Tauros stand-ins, size-wise. Will have some images up soon over on my plog.

Falling down is the same as being hit by a planet — "I paint to the 20 foot rule, it saves a lot of time." -- Me
ddogwood wrote:People who feel the need to cheat at Warhammer deserve pity, not anger. I mean, how pathetic does your life have to be to make you feel like you need to cheat at your toy army soldiers game?
 
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

Very nice sentinels there The Riddle of Steel. Weathering always adds that extra details.

Cheers,

CB

   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets





Houston, TX

Briancj wrote:Those are looking awesome!

FYI, the Genestealer Cult Achillies Ridgerunners are pretty good Tauros stand-ins, size-wise. Will have some images up soon over on my plog.


Thanks, Brian. I saw them on your page and I agree they are probably the closest thing in the current GW range. I'll also be trying out a few models from other companies.

Captain Brown wrote:Very nice sentinels there The Riddle of Steel. Weathering always adds that extra details.

Cheers,

CB


Thanks, Cap. I appreciate the encouragement.

The sentinels participated in a battle report, where they tried (unsuccessfully) to take on this Contemptor Dreadnought.







Full bat rep: https://xhorikwar.blogspot.com/2018/05/horus-heresy-battle-report-5-onslaught.html

Next post will have another block of regular drop trooper infantry.


Xhorik 87th Drop Troops P&M blog https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/775655.page

Project log and campaign featuring Orks, Imperial Guard, Marines, Tyranids: http://www.xhorikwar.blogspot.com/
Currently focused on our Horus Heresy campaign with White Scars, Death Guard and Imperial Militia.  
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

I hate when that happens.

Cheers,

CB

   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets





Houston, TX

Medics played such a critical role for the real paratroopers of WWII so I wanted to include a few, even if they do not always have rules in every version of the army lists:

Grav-chute strikes are extremely dangerous so these guys will be in high demand and given no shortage of opportunities to apply their arts.

I love this conversion. Does this medic have his knife out to defend himself in melee? Or to do some rough-and-ready field surgery? Or just to recover the equipment off a soldier who already received the Emperor's Peace?


Conversions are tough for the Drop Troops because of the way the hands are built into the gun sprues and the lack of extra arms from Forge World. These guys use a few third party bits to make them unique.

The other guy is running to reach an injured comrade, while keeping his head low to avoid joining him in the field hospital.

Bundles on their backs contain additional medical supplies.


Comments and criticisms welcome. Thanks for looking!

Xhorik 87th Drop Troops P&M blog https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/775655.page

Project log and campaign featuring Orks, Imperial Guard, Marines, Tyranids: http://www.xhorikwar.blogspot.com/
Currently focused on our Horus Heresy campaign with White Scars, Death Guard and Imperial Militia.  
   
Made in us
Posts with Authority





Boston-area [Watertown] Massachusetts

Very, very nice.

--Brian


Falling down is the same as being hit by a planet — "I paint to the 20 foot rule, it saves a lot of time." -- Me
ddogwood wrote:People who feel the need to cheat at Warhammer deserve pity, not anger. I mean, how pathetic does your life have to be to make you feel like you need to cheat at your toy army soldiers game?
 
   
Made in gb
Storm Trooper with Maglight





Leicester

Big fan of your work man, I've been following online for a long ass time, since the start of your blog, love the style games you and I presume your brother? put out, excellent content always.

+1 vote for keeping the into hell willingly thing; pretty grimdank

GamerGuy
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

Nice little conversions The Riddle of Steel.

Cheers,

CB

   
Made in al
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets





Houston, TX

Briancj wrote:Very, very nice.

--Brian



Thanks for the feedback, Brian.

GamerGuy wrote:Big fan of your work man, I've been following online for a long ass time, since the start of your blog, love the style games you and I presume your brother? put out, excellent content always.

+1 vote for keeping the into hell willingly thing; pretty grimdank

GamerGuy


I really appreciate that Gamer Guy. Nice to know somebody has looked at our blog! Yeah, the blog campaign in me and my brother. We have been playing against each other since we were just yoofs in the days of Second Edition, with several very long breaks in there, but we always come back to it.

Captain Brown wrote:Nice little conversions The Riddle of Steel.

Cheers,

CB


Thanks for the encouragement, Cap. Your armies are an inspiration.


I have been reading another book on WWII paratroopers, Ed Ruggero's "The First Men In". It has me excited and motivated to get together a modest-sized force of these guys, as well as some scenarios for them based on the battles around Ste. Mere Eglise.

Now then, more infantry!


Three more bullet sponges, er... brave riflemen to fight for the fledgling Empire of Man.



In addition to their grav-chutes, they are loaded down with gear for survival behind enemy lines, such as packs, pouches, canteens, ammo, grenades, and knives. Assuming they survive the drop and initial contact with the enemy!


Xhorik 87th Drop Troops P&M blog https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/775655.page

Project log and campaign featuring Orks, Imperial Guard, Marines, Tyranids: http://www.xhorikwar.blogspot.com/
Currently focused on our Horus Heresy campaign with White Scars, Death Guard and Imperial Militia.  
   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps







The drop troops are looking great! And the sentinels - I like the very slight differences in their lines.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
The weathering looks good to me.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/08/02 02:43:23


 
   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets





Houston, TX

A few more infantry.



As I mentioned before, conversions with the Elysians are tough due to the limited number of bits and the way the hands are generally built into the guns. So you have to be happy with the results of even mediocre conversions. I'm still happy with adding something unique to the army and some variety among all the standard riflemen.

Initially, I was thinking I could make him look like he was waving men forward to advance, but it turned out more like "Get down" or "Go quietly", which is also OK. What do you think?



The other guy is just the standard drop trooper kneeling pose.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
 kestral wrote:
The drop troops are looking great! And the sentinels - I like the very slight differences in their lines.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
The weathering looks good to me.


Thank you, Kestral. I appreciate the feedback. The more I look at that them, the more I am ok with the heavier dirt in places. I didn’t want to go too heavy with weathering on the vehicles when the infantry are completely clean and fresh since I thought it might look odd to have that much contrast. Ideally I would love to do burn marks on the grav chutes, for instance, but it’s hard to put even more time in on the basic infantry models that take too long as it is.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/08/12 09:57:19


Xhorik 87th Drop Troops P&M blog https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/775655.page

Project log and campaign featuring Orks, Imperial Guard, Marines, Tyranids: http://www.xhorikwar.blogspot.com/
Currently focused on our Horus Heresy campaign with White Scars, Death Guard and Imperial Militia.  
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

That's the style The Riddle of Steel, two Guardsmen at a time at regular intervals will slowly increase the size of your army. Keep at the painting marathon.

Yes, there was not much in the way of conversions because of the FW kits having the hands attached to the weapons, but that was to keep the really small resin hands from breaking apart.

Cheers,

CB

   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets





Houston, TX

Captain Brown wrote:
That's the style The Riddle of Steel, two Guardsmen at a time at regular intervals will slowly increase the size of your army. Keep at the painting marathon.

Yes, there was not much in the way of conversions because of the FW kits having the hands attached to the weapons, but that was to keep the really small resin hands from breaking apart.

Cheers,

CB


CB, thanks for the support. I notice you posting encouragement on more blogs on dakka than anyone and I appreciate the positive attitude you bring to the community.

And that's a good point on the rationale for tiny little hands. It did leave them with fairly limited pose options, but that makes it a fun challenge to try to add diversity to the units. I'm pretty excited that I found some hands that match well enough even if they are just the tiniest bit bigger.

Xhorik 87th Drop Troops P&M blog https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/775655.page

Project log and campaign featuring Orks, Imperial Guard, Marines, Tyranids: http://www.xhorikwar.blogspot.com/
Currently focused on our Horus Heresy campaign with White Scars, Death Guard and Imperial Militia.  
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut






HATE Club, East London

Wow, those sentinels look really sinister!

(I'll echo your comments about Captain Brown, many positive comments on my thread too.)

Though guards may sleep and ships may lay at anchor, our foes know full well that big guns never tire.

Posting as Fifty_Painting on Instagram.

My blog - almost 40 pages of Badab War, Eldar, undead and other assorted projects 
   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets





Houston, TX

 Fifty wrote:
Wow, those sentinels look really sinister!

(I'll echo your comments about Captain Brown, many positive comments on my thread too.)


Thanks, Fifty. Always good to get feedback.

A few more infantrymen:



These guys are the demolition team with the big explosives (and also chucking a grenade for good measure!). I think the guy on the right really captures the look of just making landfall during a drop.



Although they rarely have an impact in-game (and in some rule sets, they are not applicable at all), I absolutely want my drop troopers to have demolition charges because it would make sense that the sort of missions where you would use drop troopers behind enemy lines would be to demo a bridge or key installation. To me, it makes sense and feels right so they are getting some demo charges!


Xhorik 87th Drop Troops P&M blog https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/775655.page

Project log and campaign featuring Orks, Imperial Guard, Marines, Tyranids: http://www.xhorikwar.blogspot.com/
Currently focused on our Horus Heresy campaign with White Scars, Death Guard and Imperial Militia.  
   
Made in de
Battlefield Tourist






Nuremberg

Really gorgeous scheme on these minis, the contrast colours really pop vs. the beiges and tans. I love your terrain shots as well, your opponents are lucky to have such a nice army to play against.

Those sentinels are excellent as well. Particularly the weathering around the engines.

   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets





Houston, TX

 Da Boss wrote:
Really gorgeous scheme on these minis, the contrast colours really pop vs. the beiges and tans. I love your terrain shots as well, your opponents are lucky to have such a nice army to play against.

Those sentinels are excellent as well. Particularly the weathering around the engines.


Thanks a lot, Da Boss. The feedback means a lot. The talent level displayed on Dakka can be dizzying so it is greatly appreciated to have my own modest contributions to the hobby noticed by others!

Here are some group shots of the infantry units so far:

Here are all twenty riflemen (well, 19 plus a medic). They could be used in this configuration in our Horus Heresy campaign as a unit of Imperialis Militia Infantry.


That leaves these guys leftover. They would normally be the special weapons troopers and the other sergeant when using the Elysian rules from the Taros Campaign book. This would make two riflemen squads as the base for a platoon in those rules, with a few models leftover.


Here are the Grenadiers (HH) or veterans in carapce armor (Taros Campaign), once again.


Models always look better all together in a big group. The force is coming along.

Xhorik 87th Drop Troops P&M blog https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/775655.page

Project log and campaign featuring Orks, Imperial Guard, Marines, Tyranids: http://www.xhorikwar.blogspot.com/
Currently focused on our Horus Heresy campaign with White Scars, Death Guard and Imperial Militia.  
   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets





Houston, TX

A few photos from a game where these fellas saw action (because photos of painted models on painted terrain in a game are always the best). This was a game using the old (fourth edition?) Kill Team rules where my drop troopers were the brute squads and a Death Guard kill team had to break into an outpost and free their leader who was captured in a previous battle.














The Death Guard Kill Team frees their captured Praetor and fights their way out through the drop troop infantry patrols.



Of course the Death Guard sliced through the drop troopers like a hot knife through butter, but this was a cinematic battle that fit with the story of our campaign. Not every battle is a perfectly-balanced chess match where each side has an even chance to win.
Full battle report is here: https://xhorikwar.blogspot.com/2018/08/horus-heresy-battle-report-7-extraction.html

Thanks,


Xhorik 87th Drop Troops P&M blog https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/775655.page

Project log and campaign featuring Orks, Imperial Guard, Marines, Tyranids: http://www.xhorikwar.blogspot.com/
Currently focused on our Horus Heresy campaign with White Scars, Death Guard and Imperial Militia.  
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

 The Riddle of Steel wrote:
A few photos from a game where these fellas saw action (because photos of painted models on painted terrain in a game are always the best). This was a game using the old (fourth edition?) Kill Team rules where my drop troopers were the brute squads and a Death Guard kill team had to break into an outpost and free their leader who was captured in a previous battle.


The Riddle of Steel,

Painted models on painted terrain is always best.

What are those tire piles from?

Cheers,

CB

PS:
 The Riddle of Steel wrote:
CB, thanks for the support. I notice you posting encouragement on more blogs on dakka than anyone and I appreciate the positive attitude you bring to the community.


Anything to help a fellow painter. Feedback always encourages us to paint a little more or for a little bit longer...as long as family are not forgotten.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/09/04 21:02:53


   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets





Houston, TX

Captain Brown wrote:

The Riddle of Steel,

Painted models on painted terrain is always best.

What are those tire piles from?

Cheers,

CB



Cap,

Thanks for the comment. Those are Lego tires glued down to a piece of textured plasticard on a thin base of some kind (I can't recall the material of the base). They are a bit large for something like a normal truck or a Tauros, but it's not hard to imagine them working well for industrial equipment such as large dump trucks. And at this size they make pretty effective scatter terrain. You can see the "LEGO" lettering on the tires more clearly here:


Xhorik 87th Drop Troops P&M blog https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/775655.page

Project log and campaign featuring Orks, Imperial Guard, Marines, Tyranids: http://www.xhorikwar.blogspot.com/
Currently focused on our Horus Heresy campaign with White Scars, Death Guard and Imperial Militia.  
   
Made in de
Battlefield Tourist






Nuremberg

No worries! The minis and terrain in this blog are awesome, so don't sell your skills short.
the shots from your game look like they could be from a white dwarf battle report, those walkways are awesome.

   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

Now I want to get some Lego...noooooo

Cheers,

CB

   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets





Houston, TX

Since Captain Brown is painting a Valkyrie over on his awesome Necromundian Spiders Regiment blog , I figured I should post some WIP pics of my own Valkyrie. His Elysians were a huge inspiration for me, so I will use this opportunity for further inspiration to push me to get this project complete.

To start with, the Valkyrie is a beautiful kit that fits together so nicely, with everything flush and tight. After working on FW resin vehicles for Horus Heresy recently, this thing was a dream to build! Apart from one item, which I will get to shortly...

Firstly, I decided to magnetize the weapons. In hindsight, I am not sure that was really worth the hours for a such a mediocre fighting vehicle, which is unlikely to do much damage with any of the weapon options.
Note: I am using the old (5th-6th edition?) Drop Troops rules from the Taros Campaign book as part of a Horus Heresy campaign, so I cannot comment on the WH40k 8th Edition rules.



For the cockpit weapons, I stuck a piece of plasticard in the recessed area from the back (the opposite side of where the gun attaches) and then glued a piece of X-Acto blade in there for the magnets to stick to (which would be roughly flush to where the weapon attachment normally would sit). I find that just magnetizing the weapon or the vehicle (as opposed to both) usually gives a strong enough attraction for less work, less cost, and less risk of inserting one of the magnets backwards(!), unless the surface areas are very small and the weapons are hanging, such as the hard point attachments under the wings, where I magnetized both the weapon and the hard point attachment. More on that later.




I then got to work on the door gunners. This is the only piece that doesn't feel very well thought-out. Is it just me or do the hands not attach to the guns?



They clearly would not fit where they were supposed to, so I sliced the handles down to size by removing some material from the top and bottom. The one on the left is modified while the one on the right is original.



Much better!



More to come...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/09/12 02:29:59


Xhorik 87th Drop Troops P&M blog https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/775655.page

Project log and campaign featuring Orks, Imperial Guard, Marines, Tyranids: http://www.xhorikwar.blogspot.com/
Currently focused on our Horus Heresy campaign with White Scars, Death Guard and Imperial Militia.  
   
Made in us
Posts with Authority





Boston-area [Watertown] Massachusetts

Bad news, none of those pictures are showing for me, they're all just a white bar in a circle.

Falling down is the same as being hit by a planet — "I paint to the 20 foot rule, it saves a lot of time." -- Me
ddogwood wrote:People who feel the need to cheat at Warhammer deserve pity, not anger. I mean, how pathetic does your life have to be to make you feel like you need to cheat at your toy army soldiers game?
 
   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets





Houston, TX

Thanks for the heads up, Brian. They looked fine on my computer but when I opened them on the tablet, I got the same boxes you describe. I think it was just a sharing permission issue that I just corrected. They are showing up on the tablet now so hopefully you all can see them now, too.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/09/12 02:32:25


Xhorik 87th Drop Troops P&M blog https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/775655.page

Project log and campaign featuring Orks, Imperial Guard, Marines, Tyranids: http://www.xhorikwar.blogspot.com/
Currently focused on our Horus Heresy campaign with White Scars, Death Guard and Imperial Militia.  
   
Made in us
Posts with Authority





Boston-area [Watertown] Massachusetts

All good now!

As for magnetizing the weapons, it's always a good thing to do anyways, but, yes I agree on the potency. the best "loadout" is the 2x rocket pods, multilaser, and 2xHB "sponsons". This makes it a fairly decent anti-infantry vehicle, tossing out a pair of okay pie plates, and nine dice of med-strength weapons. It forces a LOT of dice rolls.

--Brian


Falling down is the same as being hit by a planet — "I paint to the 20 foot rule, it saves a lot of time." -- Me
ddogwood wrote:People who feel the need to cheat at Warhammer deserve pity, not anger. I mean, how pathetic does your life have to be to make you feel like you need to cheat at your toy army soldiers game?
 
   
Made in de
Battlefield Tourist






Nuremberg

Once you start magnetising things, it feels like you can never go back! Looking forward to seeing the finished piece!

   
Made in us
Bonkers Buggy Driver with Rockets





Houston, TX

Da Boss wrote:No worries! The minis and terrain in this blog are awesome, so don't sell your skills short.
the shots from your game look like they could be from a white dwarf battle report, those walkways are awesome.


Thank you, Da Boss. I am glad you like it. For me, the best part of the hobby is game with a good friend using all painted models and a nice-looking painted battlefield.

Briancj wrote:All good now!

As for magnetizing the weapons, it's always a good thing to do anyways, but, yes I agree on the potency. the best "loadout" is the 2x rocket pods, multilaser, and 2xHB "sponsons". This makes it a fairly decent anti-infantry vehicle, tossing out a pair of okay pie plates, and nine dice of med-strength weapons. It forces a LOT of dice rolls.

--Brian



Brian, it's great to hear someone else talking about pie plates again! I was quite sad to see blast markers and templates removed from 8th edition. Truly one of the most pleasing aspects of playing the game is to lay down a flamer template on an enemy squad or a well-placed blast marker. It is usually one of the first things that young players gravitate to (I know I did and I see the same with my kids: they love using that flamer template!). I am painting the door gunners so I think I will have to try your recommended anti-infantry loadout and see how she does. In Horus Heresy games, she seems unlikely to do a lot of damage with any of the weapon options so you are probably right to just throw out enough shots that the opponent will eventually fail a few saves.

Da Boss wrote:Once you start magnetising things, it feels like you can never go back! Looking forward to seeing the finished piece!


Thanks for the encouragement. I magnetized the weapons on my sentinels as my first attempt. That was pretty simple and its been nice to be able to swap weapons. But the Valkyrie has been more work in terms of complexity and labor. For example, the hard points on the wings are not really set up to be easily magnetized. It took me quite a bit of cutting to get the magnets on the weapons to line up with the ones on the hard points, in terms of the depth/height of the magnets compared to the bodies (and the rocket pods just don't fit in those slots, with or without magnets).



I still have some cleanup to do, but this is the magnet layout I went with. As I said, the rocket pod lip does not quite fit in the slot in the hard point. I will scrape a bit more to get it to fit better but it just isn't designed to go in there, I guess. The missile fits in the magnetized slot really nicely with the center part of the fin removed.

Xhorik 87th Drop Troops P&M blog https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/775655.page

Project log and campaign featuring Orks, Imperial Guard, Marines, Tyranids: http://www.xhorikwar.blogspot.com/
Currently focused on our Horus Heresy campaign with White Scars, Death Guard and Imperial Militia.  
   
 
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