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I was wonering what to do for trench crusae terrain, and you've given me a lot of ideas and inspiration, thanks. Your stuff looks great!

 PaddyMick wrote:
I was wonering what to do for trench crusae terrain, and you've given me a lot of ideas and inspiration, thanks. Your stuff looks great!

If I had a single 'redo' I think I'd have split the hill piece into two pieces - made it so that the small hill can fit perfectly atop the big one and be removable using a magnet or four to hold it in place perhaps. That way it could be it's own thing elsewhere. The challenge with 'actual damaged terrain' is that there isn't enough flat space to mix them effectively without it looking weird.

Hi all, Double Post Time!

I have the day before Thanksgiving (here in the states) off of work, but tiny human daycare is open so today is a great day to get some work done! Here's the current status of the Black Templar Sword Brethren.



80% done I'd say. If I was really smashed for time, I'd finish their bases and call it a day. But I have the time, so I'll be adding another layer of grey-white, then red highlights, then the black highlights with incubi darkness. I've brought two minis up to white scar white level of shoulder pads, and honestly, it looks super chalky and I'm not very happy with it. So instead I'll probably stay with the Corax white level (which is the next step to do).



Cloaks! Not my method as I found it online (thanks youtube shorts). Method is straightforward and suprisingly easy to do (and shorter to do than layering up tons of layers with a brush like I normally do).

Sponge Method - Spray paint black, all over paint khorne red, carronburg crimson wash, sponge khorne red back up, then 50:50 mix Khorne red & Mephiston red, then just mephiston, then wazdakka red for final highlight. All using a sponge and going lighter each time. Use a fine tipped brush to get the smallest areas hidden by the backpack. To also be transparent, in the video they didn't even bother with the first two steps, starting from a dark red sponged on immediately after undercoating. Just make sure you're being a bit light with the sponge to avoid the bumps of too much paint, but I a loving the texture.

Now to focus on the Combi Weapon Lieutenant (who nearly made the Shorehammer list, but I decided to switch him to an Execrator at the last minute. I'm beating myself up over this a bit as I have four characters but only 'space' in my two big attack blobs for three of them, so likely the Emperor's Champion is going to be left out of a blob and just...hang out nearby).









No Cloak cause he's sneaky, and two close combat weapons because that's what the model comes with. Kitbashed from a Sword Brethren (which is an amazing kit for bits & character making if you're even moderately a kitbasher). Really particularly proud of the leather work on this guy as well. Still trying to figure out how to do the tabards differently than my normal style, so I figured the crosshatched would look okay. Not sure if I'll keep it or just paint over that.

8 painting nights till shorehammer (eek!)

Keep on building!

blockade23

Great work on the Bretonnians and the terrain. Good luck finishing that force for Shorehammer.

Cheers,

CB

Amazing work ! Truly inspiring keep it up !

Captain Brown wrote:blockade23

Great work on the Bretonnians and the terrain. Good luck finishing that force for Shorehammer.

Cheers,

CB

Thanks! Making some progress as you'll see - I even managed to get primer on the scouts so all the painted minis should be my own.

SarpedonofSotha wrote:Amazing work ! Truly inspiring keep it up !

Thanks! Here's some more mini pics as a thank you!

It's the yearly 'it is Thanksgiving in the USA and I'm not cooking anything so instead I'll post."

Pictures probably look a little bit repetitive, but other than basing and black highlights and maybe some metal work (the least of my concerns right now) I'm nearly done!

The whole crew. (7 Sword Brethren & 2 Characters)






Icon Bearer for the Sword Brethren - not that they have special rules, but this guy could always represent another character if needed and I love the banner/religous icon.

More Combi Weapon LT work in progress - He'll be my Castellan for my Shorehammer List


Finally Execrator progress - he's the closest to being done (and now has painted skin too even though it isn't in these pictures.)




That's it for today's progress & likely tomorrows as well. Next post will be the finished group shot and probably the whole army shot prior to shorehammer!

Happy Turkey Day for those of you celebrating, and if not, happy Thursday :-)

Robes are looking great on that Execrator - must have been all the practice on those cloaks.

Looking forward to seeing the whole army together!

Also love that your bitz box in the background matches the colours of the army very pleasing aesthetic.

Thanks for sharing!

Trench crusade board looks amazing! With 10 minis and I’m assuming a small sized board it would probably double up as a kill team board too.
Great work smashing out the Templars. I too love a bit of sponging, gives a lovely texture and more consistent than stippling can be

The weathered red and white on those marines is terrific!

So I promised some photos, and here I am to deliver! It's been a busy two weeks, but I managed to take some photos. Shorehammer is a Highlander Style Tournament, so only one of anything/everything! 1250 points.

My list...

Helbrect
Castellan
Execrator with Enhancement (the fights first one)
Emperor's Champion
5 Sword Brethren
5 Space Marine Scouts (Sniper & Missile Launcher)
5 Intercessors
10 Assault Intercessors
Land Raider Redeemer (w/ Multi Melta)
Repulsor (Just a regular one)

The usual suspects of photos.



Scout uniform close up (cause I'm pretty happy that I did it so well)




Land Raider



Okay so rough overview - Played Tau, Dark Eldar & Orks.

First game, hung tight with a Mont'ka (the all units get assault heavy weapons things) for about 3 turns. I've not played Tau in... two years maybe? It was close but my opponent definitely had more tools to deal with things than I had. I was not as aggressive off the bat as I should have been, so I lost one of my two tanks in my own backfield even though I had first turn. Ended up in a 88-43 defeat. Only photo is from turn 1 where I still had an army.


Game two - Dark Eldar. Didn't take tons of great photos here, but played a good friend from my own club! T12 is hard for the DE to take down, and both tanks survived on 1 HP way late into the game. 60-31 victory for the BTs.

Game Three - Orks! Another army I rarely play other than my friend's orks every shorehammer. Almost entirely close combat.

Here you see Helbrect getting ready to wipe out a big squad. Game swung back and forth over several turns, ending with just Snikrot and 8 gretch alive, plus (as usual for the stars of the entire tournament) the regular intercessors and the landraider. The raider took zero wounds all game, but my intercessors were down to just two models and the last ones left to hold down any objectives. A tight game, but a loss at 73-68.

So 1-2 for the tournament. I wish I had been able to pull out that last game, but as usual I met my goal of one win, had a blast, and even talked about running a trench crusade tournament next shorehammer perhaps. We'll have to see!

Also, here's a new photo - clearing out older minis that need to make the upgrade to Black Templars.

That red on the Landraider looks like it came out well and even.
That can't be easy on those large flat surfaces.

Thats a nice little army there! Great effort at the event.

Nice work all around- that scout cloak is the bomb!

Love the Army shots, as the others have said, the red on the Land Raider looks great! Sounds like you had a good time at the tournament

Tommygun1918 wrote:That red on the Landraider looks like it came out well and even.
That can't be easy on those large flat surfaces.

Zambro wrote:Thats a nice little army there! Great effort at the event.

Meer_Cat wrote:
Nice work all around- that scout cloak is the bomb!

gobert wrote:Love the Army shots, as the others have said, the red on the Land Raider looks great! Sounds like you had a good time at the tournament

Thanks for the kind comments! I can't claim to have done anything special - but there was a solid brown undercoat beneath all the red.

But I have news! Good news - just before New Years Eve news.

I have finished Master Julien's Men At Arms, the cobbled together 3rd peasant unit for the army. 26 infantry + a 4-person unit filler + 1 damsel!

Master Julien's men are hard-scrabble, desperate men, pulled from the taverns and roads of Lord Leniad's outer territories. Some are empire deserters, equipped in better gera than their peers. Others are down-on-their-luck pilgrims or travelers caught by Master Julien's chief officer - Jesse of the Hilt, and convinced to join the unit. The men currently protect a recently uncovered icon on the lady, cast in pure bronze, but with several miracles already associated with it. Master Julien is known for being a steadfast man, able to keep his motley crew together even in the worst of situations. Forming a larger backbone to their Yeoman companions, they frequently find themselves playing second-fiddle to the better trained, equipped, and armored Yeomen. Nevertheless, they serve Lord Leinad with devotion & loyalty. Frequently accompanied by The Damsel Sarah, a follower of the Timeless Lady, the group has been at Lord Leniad's side throughout several campaigns.













Hope you like.
I'll post tomorrow or the next day with a year in review. It's pretty good for me this year. The bretonnian project has really helped me push my completed quota.

Another great looking unit. Keep them coming through 2026!

That is a glorious looking unit of peasants, really good work. I can see why they’d fight for the damsel as well

You’re also tempting me to dig out my Empire Army at some point

Zambro wrote:Another great looking unit. Keep them coming through 2026!

gobert wrote:That is a glorious looking unit of peasants, really good work. I can see why they’d fight for the damsel as well

You’re also tempting me to dig out my Empire Army at some point

I mean, rank and flank is a beauty to see all on the tabletop. Thanks Gobert & Zambro! I already am planning on expanding on 2025's record, which I think is my highest to date! The Old World Really helps bump up my numbers since I've got multiple 20-30 man units finished. First though, the finished lot!



So that's roughly 148 minis by my counting & record keeping.

So... Bretonnians!

1 Lord & 1 Helper on Foot
3 Damsels (2 afoot, 1 on Horse)
1 Banner Bearer on Horse
3 Pegasus Knights
24 Peasant Archers
20 Crossbowmen (Border Brigands)
30 Men-At-Arms
24 Yeomen
6 Knights of the Realm
1 Bretonnian Bombard with 5 Crew

Roughly 1800 points of miniatures here, really proud of myself for this.
To Do
The Duke/Baron on Royal Pegasus (Still needs to be finished)
3 Pegasus Knights (Unit 2) - To Be Assembled
Knights of the Realm Unit #2
Foot Knights (20)
Bombard #2 & Crew - To Be Assembled
Trebuchet & Crew - Trebuchet needs some love & work
10 Mounted Squires


Honestly, these are really the focus for the next year as well. I want to clear them out and finish this army!

Black Templars
1 Gladiator
1 Land Raider Redeemer (repainted)
1 Redemptor Dreadnaught
5 Scouts
7 Sword Brethren
1 Combi Weapon Lieutenant
1 Execrator
3 Centurion Devastators (repainted)

Not done yet - roughly 40 guys that need decals (annoyingly so, but also necessary.) These guys also need bases tufted, etc, etc.
Also need to finish a ten man squad of Primaris Crusaders. They're built and table playable but not up to snuff yet. I also need to turn the 5 other scouts into Initiates so I can run a 20 man squad! I'm also repainting a ton of my older Crimson Consul models into Black Templars to match the new edition so they have a home.


Bayard's Revenge - The Special Release Mini
Legion Kratos - Yea, I know it 'doesn't count' for anything now in 40k, but I'll use it as my catch all superheavy for the Space Marines
5 Space Marine Scouts - Unbuilt)
Primaris Crusaders 'Clean Up'


Everything Else
3 - Age of Sigmar Models
2 - D&D Models
16 - Trench Crusade Models

I have one more Trench Crusade Warband to finish, plus one more model for the Court of the Seven Headed Serpent. That will be my Goal for January, so... yay!

Anywho, I think this has been my best year painting thus far, and I look forward to seeing what will happen next!

Oh my lord that group shoot took my breath away. You nailed it, ranked square bases are a thing to behold! With some circle friends for good measure...lol.

Beautiful colours and the cloth work in particular is impressive. Terrain looks great too - love the weathering on the roofs (rooves?)

Congrats on the huge year, here's to another one in 2026!

Loving the colour scheme on those bretonians, great job on the completed unit!

Great summary photo, there is something appealing about a well painted rank and file empire or bretonian army! And you have done a lovely job. Your black Templar army looks stunning as well, the land raider is beautiful.

If you keep last years painting rate up you will have both armies completed in 2026 and will be on the look out for something new for next year!

Congratulations on your most productive year painting! Keep it up in 2026

Love an Army photo… and those brets could quite easily be serfs for the Templars great painting progress, with plenty of exciting projects for 2026

January has been off to a smashing start. These guys were an interesting challenge to paint up. Lots of metal work that I figured wouldn't actually be painted down, so I ended up with a lot of somewhat shiny armor. I actually like it though, it provides them with a distinctly different look from both my New Antioch Ethiopians & the Court of the Seven Headed Serpent. I've been working on slowly improving my basing and I think these guys look better with finished bases. I went ahead and finished the rest of the bases for the other trench crusade warbands as well. I'll likely need to purchase another few heavy armored guys for them and the Ethiopians to help them out facing the magic of the Seven Headed Court.

Anywho,

Here's the whole gang,



The Leaders. I liked the customization options, but in retrospect I wish I had gotten more of them customization options.




Purple capes were fun. I used the same leader minis for all of the basic infantry too. I didn't get any of the most basic infantrymen, an error in retrospect, but the purple cloaks really link all of them together.



The Trench Clerics, Medic & Sniper Priest.


The Basic Bois - Foederati & Varangians. Just five of them, but I figure I can always pick up some more if I need to. Assuming I ever get a chance to play this game.




So all in all, a productive two weeks and change so far. I'll likely switch back to some of the Bretonnian Knights, but I needed a damn break from painting blue & cream. Plus I actually have a lot of building to do with both the last bombard, Trebuchet & 2nd Group of Pegasus Knights.

Lots to do! Also, I'll be keeping track of being net hobby positive this year. Fairly certain I was last year as well, but honestly I didn't keep track. This way, I can!

Purchased: 0
Painted: 12
Gifted to me: 1

They looks good, and combination of reddish gold and purple looks great

A lot of great looking models here, the templars look awesome.

kabaakaba wrote:They looks good, and combination of reddish gold and purple looks great

itsonlyme wrote:A lot of great looking models here, the templars look awesome.

Thanks guys! I have good news - I've been snowed in and thus instead of painting tons I have been assembling because... well... Hobby ADD. No more templars (for now) but lots of things that needed to be built got built.

Let's start out with the group shot



So naturally I took a photo with basing and pre basing but didn't put the walls back.

Scenery - I de-sprued the walls & fences from the Warhammer Manor kit - I'm saving the main buildings for a wall conversion but I have SO MANY WALLS that I was like 'might as well put the in the to be primed category'. Of course it's below freezing here, and has been for two weeks (and will likely be for another month, so that project goes back onto the backburner).

Cannon - a Cathay cannon with crew - I converted the heads and some accoutrements with them to turn them more Bretonnian & less Cathayan, but this will be my second Border Prince Bombard. I wanted to make it look like a more motley crew that somehow found itself in the service to a new lord rather than a traditional Cathayan lord.

Trebuchet Crew & Trebuchet - I had an absolutely horrible 3D printing experience with a specific vendor for this - the pieces warped horribly, especially the flat panels. I don't own a 3D printer, and using warm water in an effort to bend it back resulted in one of the two main sides snapping. Frustrated, I did what any crazed miniature building does. I scratchbuilt both side panels. I did use the 3D print as a template(ish) but I'm pretty happy with the results. Trebuchet Close Ups



Here you can see one of the Cannon Crew - head is from a Lumineth Kit I believe (may be wrong here).

Later on, I managed to get some paint on (since just building indefinitely is not a good idea for me. I already have so much assembled gray plastic.



I know the heraldry is a bit sloppy right now. Since them I've managed to paint the horses as well. These are just base coats but next I'll add the metals, finish them, then do the rest of the cloth and leathers. This unit is for the Independent Characters Hobby Progress Challenge Cavalry Bonus point plus will satisfy my February goal. Yes, it is still January, but I prefer being ahead of the challenge.

Finally.... I couldn't stay away from terrain.





Every good fantasy town needs a gibbet. My Trench Crusade board needs one too. Could this be used in the 41st Millennium? Sure! Sometimes inspiration hits and you don't want to paint. Of course, now I have to paint this too.

Also, I made my first purchase of the year. Had two gift cards to a store, but discovered they had Warhammer on their website. Ended up getting some Jump Pack Intercessors for $13. So...guess I'll be painting more BTs in the near future.

Keep up the fight.

From what I can see they look great, but they aren’t mobile phone friendly. Keep up the good work and hopefully it will be ready for the table soon!

itsonlyme wrote:
From what I can see they look great, but they aren’t mobile phone friendly. Keep up the good work and hopefully it will be ready for the table soon!

Sorry I made the photos super big I suppose!

Wow! That’s a lot of minis built! Should keep you busy for quite some time! The knights are coming in a treat too, the purple and beige looks great together