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Like a lot of people, I grabbed Blackstone Fortress when it came out. On the whole, it was a joy to build and paint, with just enough variety to keep from getting bored. I kept all the models within a pretty limited palette, mostly greys and purple, to suggest a bit of a slaanesh influence. I'm not wild about the basing, but I can't think of anything better, and I figure complete is better than incomplete.




Drones:


Guardsman:




Rogue Psykers:



Ghouls:


negavolt Cultists:


Beastmen:



CSM:



Chaos Lord:



Heroes:

Woo! Done is done!

--B.

Lots of good-looking models there. Nicely done.

Next up we have some more Guild Ball, with the Falconers making an appearance! I wanted to replicate the box art, but between the soft detail in the board game plastic, the lack of good reference photos, and (mostly) my own limitations I don't think I got very close. This was the sort of side project that should have been fun, but quickly became highly frustrating. There are few elements I like, such as the verdigris on the bronze, but overall this wasn't my best work.







More recently, my buddy sent me the new Miners, and for whatever forsaken reason, I looked at the ridiculous drill tank, and thought of construction vehicle yellow. These were painted mostly using Warcolors, and I also added some pigments for the first time.

























I find the guild ball minis to generally be a fun diversion. Their asthetic is more detailed and whimsical than PP's take on steampunk, but not nearly as bizarre as Wyrd's.

Let's shrink things down to a very sexy 6mm... it's time for Epic 40k Eldar!

Gaurdian Warhost:



Seer Council:


Bright Lance:


Heavy Weapon:


Windrider Jetbikes:


Swooping Hawks:



Harlequins:


Howling Banshees:


Striking Scorpions:


Exarch with striking Scorpions:


Fire Prisms:


Falcons:


Wave Serpents:

Nice! Getting back into Epic?

 Briancj wrote:
Nice! Getting back into Epic?

I was toying with the idea. I've had the army for years and years, and a couple of guys in Baltimore expressed some interest. they're easy to paint (at least to table top standard) and kind of fun. Unfortunately, I moved to a gaming desert in June. (The move overall was a good thing in my life ) At this point I'm just focusing on painting and hobbying.

I'm pretty much the same, while I'm in a highly populated area, that also means people are into 'the newest thing' and 'highly competitive.

Okay, let's get back to some IG! First up is the accumulation of multiple ebay coupons, a full brick of bullgryns!



these were some of the first "modern" GW plastics I've worked with in a while, and they're an absolute delight. They assemble nicely, the detail is super crisp, and even if I don't love the aesthetic, I appreciate them as models.

Next up are pretty much the opposite... original metal Catachans. Single piece, all metal, and just full of character oozing out of them. Also included are some of the circa 2003 catachan officers, which shared a design space, but are much more richly detailed and modern models. Looking at them, I can't help but miss the days when GW had a wider range of sculpts in metal.









and finally, a little bit of a tease for when I want to run my Praetorians under Catachan rules:

Praetorian PAYBACK.

All right, it's time for some more Praetorians! These are winding down, but over the summer I made a big push to work on infantry. It started with a tub of stuff I took to work on in the extended stay while we looked for a house:

o.O So many... O.o

--B.

Time for some more praetorian infantry, this time heavy weapon teams!

autocannon:


missile launcher:


Mortar:


Lascannon in resin base:




Group Shot:


And then a group shot of recently painted models:

Deeee-lightful!

--B.

Man, your Praetorian army must be huge by now.

Super impressive progress, full OG metal Guard armies are the business. Especially Praets

Briancj wrote:Deeee-lightful!

--B.

thanks!

JoshInJapan wrote:Man, your Praetorian army must be huge by now.

Ominous foreshadowing!

Boss Salvage wrote:Super impressive progress, full OG metal Guard armies are the business. Especially Praets

Single piece metal models have a some advantages in horde armies. They're durable, the poses are all excellent, and they have a real heft. The cost and lack of variety is a bummer though.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
This is a photo heavy post, celebrating the completion of an entire playable army in a mass combat sci fi game: that's right, Enforcers for Mantic's Warpath! And not Warpath Firefight, the sort of RC Cola version of 40k, but proper Warpath, with unit basing and all!

I had picked up these enforcers over time, including a big bag of resin Deadzone models at an auction, door prizes at Mantic Night at Adepticon, and some that I straight up bought. I was motivated to paint these to enter the Mantic Brush with Death contest, which does include a full army category. While I did not win (unsurprisingly), I can safely say that I had best Warpath army in the contest

I also used this as an opportunity to play with basing technique and some weathering. I didn't have the time (or motivation) to apply pigments to the full army, but those that I did looked good. I also liked the look of cork on the bases.

Congrats!

 Briancj wrote:
Congrats!

the joke is, I had the only Warpath army in the contest. The rest were KOW armies

I had no idea there was a unit based version of Warpath I assumed it was all a not-40k skirmish game, not a KOW in Space deal as well. Congrats on the army either way, looks great

Nifty! I love Mantic's Enforcer models, and you really did a great job on them. Have you actually played Warpath?

 JoshInJapan wrote:
Nifty! I love Mantic's Enforcer models, and you really did a great job on them. Have you actually played Warpath?

I have not. The game was virtually DOA, and between some gaps in the release schedule, some really heinous and obvious balance issues, and 40k 8th Edition sucking in all the air, it really never found a foothold. Mantic sends a huge staff to Adepticon, and it's not even played there. It's a shame, because on paper I love the idea.

 Polonius wrote:

 JoshInJapan wrote:
Nifty! I love Mantic's Enforcer models, and you really did a great job on them. Have you actually played Warpath?

I have not. The game was virtually DOA, and between some gaps in the release schedule, some really heinous and obvious balance issues, and 40k 8th Edition sucking in all the air, it really never found a foothold. Mantic sends a huge staff to Adepticon, and it's not even played there. It's a shame, because on paper I love the idea.

That's a shame. I backed the KS, but not having a regular gaming group, I haven't had a chance to try it out myself, despite the huge number of DZ models I own.

Next up are some IG characters. These are mostly completed, but they still need flock and a few details.

Commissar:



Primaris Psykers:






Ogryns and Bodyguards:

In the home stretch for my IG, I dug out my remaining unbuilt vehicles, and I finally got them completed.

Taurox Prime, a model which is slowly growing on me


Taurox with Victoria Miniatures Wheels. They completely transform the vehicle from something kind of goofy and like a GIJoe toy into a top heavy armored car.



A deathstrike Missile Launcher. this is the last model I bought, I found it built at a swap meet. I didn't own one, because there has literally been no reason to do so since the rules came out in 5th edition. Still, it's hard to claim you have a complete IG army without every option, so here it is!



Speaking of options, here is a Wyvvern with Victoria Minis heads on the crew. While I have old Griffon Mortars which I use "counts as" the Wyvvern, it's good to have the official model.



And finally, while I've had plenty of models with exposed crew, I ordered the official model for the man, the myth, the legend, Knight Commander Pask! Sharp eyed readers might note that he rides in the only current generation LRBT in my army.

"I bought it so I could have the official model." You hoarder*.

--Brian

*also a hoarder

As the year wraps up, this blog is almost caught up to my current projects. Today, we have the last few IG infantry, some of which I've shown as WIP.

Third edition Ogryn. Models which need a fairly subdued, muted color scheme, because they have character popping all over the model, bordering on the cartoony.



Rogue Trader Ogryn. These are OG models, oozing with charisma. Frankly, they take a modern paint job very well and look good overall. It helps that for early pewter, they were multi part, which gives them a bit more dynamism. Overall, I like the abhuman, but not really ogre look of this generation (and the modern ones) more than the "Ogres in space!" of 3rd edition, even if those models had their charm.



Modern Ogryn Bodyguards, modeled as plate/slab/maul, bruteshield/maul, and plate/slab/ripper. I got a box of bullgryn in a trade, and I already had a full brick of nine. I figure in a pinch, they can also bulk out bullgryn squads.



Catachan tank crew and cadian at ease. The former were direct only models, while the latter was an event special and one of the most widely available rarity in the hobby. Interesting little project, stuff like this was great back in the day.



A flock of commissars. I'm not sure what a group of commissars would be call. A scowl? A scowl of commissars? This includes the legendary "beer gut" commissar that was included in the limited edition Praetorian box, which leads to some people claiming it was also limited edition. I have about a half dozen of them despite never seeking him out, so while a fantastic model, he ain't rare. speaking of not that rare, this also includes two of the female commissar which was, I think, a games day model. She is, as you can tell, a mediocre sculpt. Got them in a trade, and just painted 'em up.



Big brain boyz. I low key love painted up wizards and psykers, so these guys were great to paint. I'm particularly please with the blue effects on the left most model.



And finally, painted up in all his glory, is Gunnery Sergeant Algernon Harker:

A bit of a treat for me: I got a chance to lay out all of my IG stuff and take some pictures. Despite having an eight foot table, I still had to take pics of the vehicles and infantry separately:

DUDE.

Inspiring legion of men and machines, extreme props

Great googly moogly! That's a truly impressive army. How much more do you have left to paint?