Sarcophagi

Battlefleet Gothic: Torpedoes

2012-02-19T20:47:00.002-05:00

I got my hands on some first-gen BFG ordnance sprues which I think may have been early versions of Chaos fighter craft, as they were shown in the first Warp Storm and seemed lined up as a flight of fighters, not torpedoes, in the picture. The casts were so bad I just turned what I could into torps for the game. Nothing fancy, but nice to have.

Eldar Abyss 2

2012-02-17T22:36:00.000-05:00


Dice color? MATCHED.

Eldar Abyss

2012-02-16T15:45:00.003-05:00

I had originally intended that my Eldar ships look like the "UFO's" from The Abyss but by choosing green for the solar sails, I moved away from that. While looking at the Necron fleet sitting in a box I realized that I had crossed the streams, so to speak, in using GW's Scorpion Green with the Eldar. I was planning on using that for "Necron glow" when I paint the 'Cron fleet.

My buddy Joe knows that I have this obsession with finding dice sets that match my army color schemes and true to form, I picked up a cheap Chessex set that matches my Eldar fleet scheme well. Seeing the purple/blue/mother-of-peal dice was a hint to maybe try and tie the scheme back toward The Abyss.

To that end, see the color matching tests I did off of the Chessex dice above. It's a tricky match because you have to get the tones right one level up on the value table, to account for it coming down again when I add the iridescent tinting medium on top, which adds a lot of sheen and that mother-of-pearl look. I'm going to do up a test Eldar frigate in the paint method above but then paint the solar sails in these matched colors instead of green and see what it does for the overall look. After that test ship is done I'll post it and you guys can let me know which you prefer.

Add clever Space Marine vs Eldar caption here.

Battlefleet Gothic: Virtual Planetoids

2012-01-02T02:56:00.001-05:00

Forge World or Death World

Next up, some planets for BFG. These were originally made by an old friend named James but they were really busted up by the time they got to me, so I repaired, remounted and repainted them. The Earth-like planet only had mild touch ups and embellishments but the Forge World and Penal World were complete repaints. The Forge World/Deathword was just a meteor but I painted lava onto it for some jazz hands. Each of these are mounted on standard bases.

Agriworld

Penal World

Battlefleet Gothic: New Year, New Fleet

2012-01-01T12:21:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

I finished this battlegroup over the Christmas holiday break and sealed them on New Year's Eve. At some point I know I want to add another paint feature to the ships, like painted running lights, but I met my goal of a Navy fleet before the year was out, so I'm happy to have them as-is for now.

The Phoenix, a Mars Class battlecruiser, amidst an Eldar raiding force.

Battlefleet Gothic: Mars Class WIP

2011-12-21T13:17:00.000-05:00

The Phoenix, Imperial Mars Class Battlecruiser WIP

The Imperial Fleet is about a week away from completion. I think the goal at this point is to get it table-worthy and then fuss about details like engine glow later. I know for a fact that Santa is bringing me Assault Boats, Chaos bombers and enough 2" bases to mount the lot. I aim to get the Assault Boats done next week as well.

Still left to do on the Mars Class pictured here is a wash of GW Ice Blue + Flow Enhancer, to make the GW Mithril Silver metals colder than they look now, giving them some pop. Also, I'm going to try to paint arcs onto the bases to clean up gameplay.

An interesting note about this ship: Somebody else had built it in a configuration that I don't see anywhere in any BFG resource. It was the last Imp ship I had in my big box of BFG after assembling the rest of this fleet. During my attempts to remove the errant weapon bays I had pretty much destroyed most of the ship, including breaking off the prow. I wanted a Mars class and that is a unique vessel, so I decided it was appropriate to embellish the reassembly of this ship with Imperial Guard icon bits, a battering ram assembly, WHFB Skeleton skull, putty, cutting and reattaching/trimming while getting it all back together again in its traditional shape, plus improvements.

So, the worst looking hulk in the fleet is now the flagship.

Now I just need a name... EDIT: Got one! The Phoenix. Thanks stranger!

Battlefleet Gothic: New Imperial Fleet

2011-12-05T11:51:00.001-05:00

At least the fighters and bombers are done...

Here's a WIP shot of my "new" Imperial Navy fleet for BFG. I say "new" because we all know how old these models are. I inherited them from my buddy Wil who gave up the BFG ghost and so passed a mighty box of models my way. I parsed out the box amongst friends, including some Space Marine ships to Joe over at Rocketship Games. Since then, I've been painting steadily, building up a very large fleet for Chaos, a starter fleet for Eldar and now a decent-sized one for the Imperials. The only thing I added on my own to this Imperial Fleet was the Emperor class battleship. I intend on painting hash marks onto the bases for arcs, something I've been doing with Warmachine from the start so here's hoping I can pull that off here.

I have a game of BFG in January against the local guru's Ork fleet, so I want to have this fully painted before the end of the holidays, just so it looks great when he cleaves my fleet into spinning, shredded debris fields.

When the fleet is done I'll post up a color list/process.

Straight Silver-ish: Machete Man-day

2011-11-30T09:50:00.001-05:00

Sometimes a guy just has to go out and buy a machete.

Monday was that day for me. I noticed the Gerber Gator Pro at the local Dick’s Sporting Goods on Sunday while looking at shotguns and realized that of all the years I did pro landscaping and lived/played in the outdoors, I never tried one out.

Not sure what I waited for.

I went back on Monday and I brought it home, took the “lawyer edge” off of it with a bastard file and then honed it up to a real edge. I took it outside into my overgrown tree line and reduced the thickest knot of bracken down to a pile in about 20 minutes. Unreal. What a deft swipe couldn’t sever, a flip of the wrist brought the back edge saw blade to task… zip! Done.

It held its edge all afternoon, had fine balance, was solid and safe (remember to use the lanyard!)

All this and it was only $25.00 US.

Finally, it was completely therapeutic.

I highly recommend one if you have the work that warrants it.

BFG: Engines Lit?

2011-11-26T21:21:00.001-05:00

So... I'm painting an Imperial fleet for BFG and I'm not totally sure about painting engine glow. Frankly, even on expertly painted minis, I'm undecided on the effect. I tried it on this Dauntless WIP. Thoughts?

It works as a detail on the fighter markers, which are about the size of the "the" in this sentence. Strange how I'm not feeling it on a larger model.

Happy ThanksbirthgivingDay!

2011-11-24T10:37:00.001-05:00

Let’s all give thanks for family, friends, health and also for Sarcophagi, who is a precocious 1 year old today! Chewing solid food, playing with others nicely and almost being ready to make boom-boom on the potty that is the Internet are just a few of the things this plucky youngster is up to!

As a treat, let’s all sing along with the Hill sister’s 1930's classic “Happy Birthday to You”, Warner Chappell be damned…

Random Pic: Pete's Malifaux

2011-10-26T08:44:00.002-04:00

Some of Pete Ceretti's sweet Malifaux

FW Proteus: Love

2011-10-22T09:34:00.003-04:00

I've looked into the eyes of Forge World's Land Raider Proteus and it's like the first time I heard The Beatles: See the Forge World Land Raider Proteus be sure to read the experimental rules.

I'm still toying with doing a Space Wolf force or, perhaps better, bring this relic to my aging Plague Marine force where it would look fantastic with the old Nurgle models. The high school junior in me just squeeed, recalling the days of plastic Land Raider kits and unstoppable rage (mine from high school, not the land raider's).

I really like the experimental rules. I'm not sure about the points cost but the features it brings are... interesting. I "play" guard so I'm aware of what the Master of the Fleet and Astropath do to enemy plans. Proteus does the same. Proteus also dislikes melta spam and just feels like the precious WOPR from ages past. It might not be a total detriment to putting down on the table just because it looks so damn cool.

So what do you marine players think?

Battlefleet Gothic Action Report: Chaos at the Gates

2011-10-17T00:26:00.000-04:00

The Slaughter becomes crippled with a deadly lance strike aft.

Orders: Cruiser Clash
Location: Flare Zone, Hammerfall IV Primary

The Nochsi (Knocks-EYE) Gas Giant (Gas cloud, 8cm x30cm)
Von Stryen's Belt (Asteroid belt, 15cm x 5cm)
2x Solar Flare rolls

Fleet Composition: 700 points

Chaos: Slaughter class X2, Carnage class, Devastation class
Imperial: Mars class, Dominator class, Gothic class, 2x Cobras, 2x Swords + Cobra (via Unexpected Help)

Sub plots:

Blood Bond: Chaos
Unexpected Help: Imperials

Finn and I had a casual BFG game Friday night, acting out a chance detection of a Chaos reconnaissance fleet and a picket of Imperial warships. The game was started late and so we called it on turn 5 (out of proscribed 8) around 1 AM. It was still a blast, literally.

The Nochsi Gas Giant

Von Stryen's Belt

There were 4 Celestial Phenomena in the Flare Zone of Hammerfall’s inner solar system and we had to roll for 2 solar flares in each of our turns as well. Phenomena played no role in this game, save for the Chaos Devastation cruiser prowling the shallows of The Nochsi gas giant, intending to descend into the immense gas cloud if cornered, where the loss of shields and disruption to reactor containment was preferable to standing up to Imperial broadsides.

The Chaos Fleet

The Imperials (minus Unexpected Help)

Forces deployed, note the Swords and Cobra LRRP in the foreground, AKA Imperial Unexpected Help)

Turn 1 and 2: The Imperial cruiser picket moved into a chevron formation and closed on the intruders, firing Nova Cannons as Chaos shifted to allow the Carnage to skirt towards The Nochsi Giant with the Devastator behind. The 2 Slaughter cruisers drifted together on minimal power, undetected by the Imperial fleet, ready to crash-start and speed 30cm a turn towards the Imperials once the Carnage gains the Imperial left flank.

From left to right: 2 Slaughters, Devastation and Carnage

The Imperial Nova barrage was long, but the Imperial gunners recomputed trajectories based on telemetry while hundreds of ratings hauled massive nova shells into cavernous cannons again. The Chaos Devastator launched 4 waves of fighters to patrol for Imperial torpedoes as auspex on both sides monitored the sun, watchful of dangerous solar flares. The surprise arrival of an Imperial LRRP asset hailed the fleet as it came around from the asteroid belt outlying the sector. The 2 swords and lone Cobra moved expertly amongst the outlying fields of rock and into formation with the Imperial fleet.

Turn 3 and 4: The Imperials split into a pincer formation, as the ordered Swords and Cobras broke station from the thrumming wakes of their convoy out into the void between the fleets. Nuclear lance projectors stitched back and forth, flaring shields and slicing hulls asunder. Weapon batteries miles long flared along ship hulls as savage ordinance streaked out and detonated against energy fields that could not withstand the megaton concussions. A Slaughter was detected by Imperial Fury interceptors that had been launched and reported directly back to the Imperial Gothic class. Coming about in sprays of attitude thrusters, power levels spiked as the veins of energy and ammunition coursed into batteries which bombarded the Chaos ship. The Captain of Slaughter 1 sacrificed crewmen to Father Nurgle, who gave him warp sight enough to know to order the helm to blast port thrusters and adjust their aspect to the Imperial shots and receive the Imperial barrage spread from stem-to-sterm instead of concentrated into one already molten, gaping wound.

In textbook synchronization, building-sized missiles were launched towards the struggling Slaughter from the Imperial Dominator cruiser, which were met and destroyed by lurking squadrons of Swiftdeath torpedo-hunting fighters.

Chaos fighters run down the closing Imperial torpedoes.

Chaos lances illuminated streaking Imperial nova shells that plowed through molten metal that had ejected from impacts along the Slaughter’s hull and then cooled into tumbling, hill-sized parodies of coral. Below deck in the putrid bowels of the stricken Slaughter, hundreds of diseased crewmen perished as atmosphere ignited within compartments or sections of ship breathed them out into the frozen, crushing void when a Nova shell crumpled the port thruster stack of Slaughter 1.

Turn 5: The Chaos Carnage came amidships of the Imperial Line as their aft watch reported a massive Nova detonation against the trailing Devastator. Communication had been lost with Slaughter 1 while Slaughter 2 was ordered all ahead full to no avail. Starboard compensators flared as the Carnage’s port batteries and lances filled the void around the incoming Cobras with such incandescence that even their pierced and stabbed reactors breaking free from containment fields seemed but a spark amongst the bonfire of the disintegrating Cobra squadron. The Imperial Gothic shuddered as her shields flickered through the bands of explosive forces dealt long range by the Carnage cruiser.

With launch bays still open and issuing fighter waves, a Nova cannon shot detonated with such close proximity to the Chaos Devastator that the Nova’s plasma wave carried just-launched craft back into the hangers like twigs carried on floodwater, to immolate in the estuary line between void and oxygen-filled holds, which burned from the inside out.

The Imperial commander called for reports as the Chaos fleet seemed to go dim and dissolve from his command lectern screens, indicating disengagement. Gunnery sections confirmed the Chaos contacts changing from hard to intermittent to silent. Damage reports streamed in from the fleet and the commander ordered the vanguard section into a Search turn towards the last position of the Carnage, leaving the bloodied Devastator for the mysteries of the enshrouding Nochsi gas giant which swallowed the cruiser whole. The limping Slaughter 1 was savored by the green gunnery crews of the Imperial Dominator to cut their teeth on instead of being taken as a prize.

Notes: Neither of us had used Nova cannons before so the what-fors and how-to’s took some time. Also, neither of us thought to take a true fleet commander with inherent Leadership and reroll. Given more time, I am sure my flanking Chaos fleet would have maneuvered around hard enough to cross the T of at least one Imperial cruiser but the Nova cannons had already found their range and it would be an attritional fight, perhaps helped by my now-triggered Blood Bond. I was disappointed that there were no solar flares all game... it would have been cool to see the havoc they would have caused and possibly the mess created between the tension of Imperial and Chaos fighter waves on the board. Finally, I had forgotten a major Special Order, Brace for Impact. I can only chalk my failure to use that up to the late (and great) night.

Terrain How-To or Talkin’ Trash: Defense Line on the Cheap, Part One

2011-10-13T21:42:00.002-04:00

Goal: So I got a new office at work. With the new office came new furniture and with that, these plastic corner guards, protection for the furniture in transit. As soon as I saw them I grabbed as many as I could, eleven in fact. They seemed a good scale and possibly workable as far as material goes, so let’s learn together and see if I can make these things into a group of chevron bunkers. I only wanted to spend about 20 bucks and counted on the other materials I already owned to bring this thing home.

I'm rich, beyotch!!!

Style: Here you can see that each of these can hold almost a 10 man squad. With a 3"x3" piece of foamcore in it, the bunker holds about 8 or 9, 2" GW based models. Good enough. Without the foamcore "floor", the head of your average GW trooper won't see over the lip. With foamcore, it does. I wrangled with how to tackle this LOS issue and felt that the floor, which elevates the troopers, is better for LOS and more dramatic-looking. I like what these corner guards convey as bunkers, the rounded sides would be a good design for deflecting rounds and would look ok both in 40k and Warmachine, 2 games I play.

No floor: This sucks!

With floor: Much better! Watch me scream!!!

Color: So the Carnifex in the room was the fact that painting plastic is a huge pain in the ass on almost any day of the week. I'm still not convinced these things are more plastic than they are rubber. But, sometimes you just have to be brave, go for it and see what happens. I wanted a sorta weathered iron look or maybe like a lava rock, picturing what the Ad Mech would churn out in droves and plop onto the battlefield. I stopped at the local DIY and picked up some Rust-oleum direct-to-plastic brown spray and a spray texture in a brown-earthen tone. I mistakenly thought I bought a plastic spray-primer and that was not ideal. 1 coat of brown spray undercoat and 2 of the texture went on well enough but probably won't wear very well from what I could see. My tests show that something like a brush-on plastic primer is best for plastics like those I'm using here. Something else I didn't do at first, but did later, is to wipe down the plastic with paint thinner first for best paint adhesion; that made a difference. Scuffing the plastic with fine grain sandpaper may have have helped as well and would be mitigated by the spray texture to an extent. I'm counting on the fact that these bunkers will be handled well (by me) and so I'm not sweating wear too much. So, learn from my first mistake, make sure you get a plastic primer when you need it and don't skimp. Here is a sample of the color on the test bunker...

While warm, I think the color still works in a "cold"climate

I thought I grabbed plastic primer on the left but it was just direct-to-plastic paint, not as good but it'll have to do.

Details: I intend on adding some frost, weathering and snow to the bunkers themselves and creating the bases using my Gorilla Glue technique. I'm planning on making two into "command" bunkers with searchlights and maybe an emplaced heavy stubber. Details can eat up the real estate normally occupied by models in play and nice touches like stubbers end up breaking off eventually so I'm weighing my options heavily.

Money spent so far: $9.00US for direct-to-plastic brown paint and spray-on Brown earthen texture.

Up Next: Part the Second, The Killing Floor

BFG: Terminus Est Completed

2011-10-09T17:23:00.000-04:00

So here she is, the Terminus Est. I may touch up a few things here or there like making the sails more putrid looking but that's basically it, she's ready to get underway. I added some old raptor jump packs to the side and a good amount of greenstuff. To see the WIP, go here.

Here is the stock GW model for comparison (image from GW's website)

BFG: Terminus Est WIP and new Recruit

2011-10-04T22:17:00.000-04:00

Here's a WIP of the Terminus Est conversion I started a bit ago.

And here is a Chaos cruiser built and painted by my 7 -year-old son, Nate! That's my boy!

Yeti News: Russian and US Scientists Form Bucket of Water and Shape of a Gorilla to hunt Down the Yeti

2011-10-04T16:30:00.000-04:00

Well crap.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/10/04/russian-and-us-scientists-gather-to-hunt-down-yeti/

40K: Medusa Completed

2011-09-19T12:20:00.002-04:00

It totally figures that I finished my Medusa kit-bash over theweekend and then see the Release Rumor on BOLS about Medusas.

Anyway, here are a few pics. The siege gun is a Earthshakerchopped up and mounted backwards. For the muzzle I used a highliter cap. Theearlier version was maybe a tad cooler but I couldn’t get it to fit into agunsheild so that was that.

The weapon platform slides into the bay, just like theEarthshaker platform does. I’ll get some detail on the bits I used at somepoint if anybody cares, otherwise, here she is.

Random Pic: Pete's painted Malifaux

2011-09-19T11:44:00.000-04:00

My buddy Pete's Malifaux warband for our learning game a few months back. Pete LOVES games with poker-style decks (i.e. Warlord.) He owns all the factions and has all of them painted. He's the fastest high-quality painter I know. More Peteifaux soon.

Hope for the Future: Pete

2011-09-15T19:52:00.000-04:00

I was just informed via text by my buddy Pete that he got me a copy of Space Marine for Xbox 360. And you believed thoughtful giving and complete generosity was dead, huh? Well you are wrong, so screw you, he's my friend and you can't have him.

Thank you, Pete.

Random Pic: Hardened Vets Stand To

2011-09-14T09:22:00.000-04:00

40K: Tyranid Objective Marker and Lightning Fighter Rebase

2011-09-13T00:39:00.000-04:00

Here is the complete 'Nid objective marker that I started below. I added a textured rim, snow and some polyurethane on the Niddy parts. Had I thought about it more, I maybe would have made the 'Nid Whatever That Is poking through a crack in the rocks, instead of a pool. At least it stands out.

Also, I redid the base for my finished Forge World Lightning fighter.

WIP: Tyranid Objective Marker

2011-09-06T22:38:00.004-04:00

I went as cheap as possible on this objective marker, one little Nid bit in themiddle of a GW base and then a bunch of freehand to fill up the flat space. Imay skim coat a clear epoxy layer on top of the 'Nid organism after the earthen rim is done, we’ll see.

40K: Hellhound Deaths through the Years

2011-09-04T13:30:00.001-04:00

After a recent game against my buddy John and his Nids I took a moment to reflect on the fact that the Hellhound (or cousins) explode real good almost every game.

So to the point, here is my Hellhound exploding 4 years ago to some Genestealers:

And here is my Hellhound blowing up again, last Tuesday night, to some Genestealers.

They ~~blow up~~ grow up so fast.

Random Pic: Memoir '44/Sword Beach

2011-09-03T20:00:00.000-04:00

Hard to see in the pic, but I bought a large piece of plexi-glass for Memoir '44. This allows the board and tiles to be set up, then the plexi-glass put on top, protecting the tiles from being knocked out of position as units move around the board... critical during long Breakthrough missions and the customary switching of sides/resetting the field after the first game. I got a 30"x36" piece of plexi-glass for $20, which covers both the 28"x34" Breakthrough maps as well as the standard 28"x20" standard maps.

Random Pic: Spectre 6

2011-09-01T12:56:00.004-04:00

A Valhallan Leman Russ, call sign Spectre 6, supresses heathen Dark Angel Terminators from the hilltop while an armor-hunting tactical squad of Valhallans flanks right.

For a more in depth but still brief description of my game against Jason Woolf's Deathwing termi army (damn it) please see his blog: http://headwoundminis.blogspot.com/

I say again, Irene

2011-08-27T18:25:00.002-04:00

Like many, my painting desk is in the basement. Like many here on the East Coast, I have built water channels outside, tried to hire an arborist to remove house-killing trees and generally pulled together with neighbors to create overlapping-fields-of-helpfulness. Among the flood watches, tornado watches, promised power outages and battery price gouging, I had to make sure the sump pump worked. I forgot about the sump pump, good ol' sucky.

Ol' Sucky who is right under my paint table and so had to be moved. Well, I went all-in on that and tried to scoot it out of the way without being careful figuring the earthquake this week didn't do anything. Yeah I sloshed projects right onto the floor.

And Ol' Sucky just stared. Friggen Irene. So the lesson here is to ignore the hurricane outside and just paint.

Good luck East Coast!

Space Marine Video Game Demo: Review

2011-08-25T08:08:00.005-04:00

Alright folks, I think we have a winner. I downloaded and played through the Space Marine demo on Xbox 360 tonight. I’m more than a little happy with it.

They give you two levels with what seems like full features and options (sound/video/controls/skill/etc.)

I won’t ruin anything by getting into the levels, though I don’t think it spoils much. Still, skipping some give-away details, I’ll just say that I’ve never wanted to be a Space Marine more in my life.

The sheer power that the Ultramarines have comes right across as you romp straight into mobs of orks. There are practical mechanics to the melee, like restoring health, gaining better attacks/weapons and combos. Granted, I played it on easy to get the controls but I did die to the press even then. There is little detriment to going hand-to-hand, since it is actually necessary to maintain martial honor and stay alive.

The camera gets some getting used to, that is to say, knowing that the more you melee, the more combat slows down to a flow-like slo-mo, allowing you to pan the camera, sweep your zone and redirect attacks around you, including to your six, which always has a flanking greenskin in it. Also, evading pig iron choppas via 700 pound combat rolls works well too… deliver that charge, never take one. You will thrive on learning the combos.

Grenades aren’t overly powerful, they soften up mobs the way the math works in 40k, like a buff/debuff. Rapid firing your bolter into the closing throng then going to bolt pistol/chainsword/power axe is fluid and satisfying. I think this is one thing I really love about this game. So far, I haven’t seen anything that I’d say, “there’s no way that would happen on the table.” The moment is probably coming, but who am I to judge? You play a Space Marine hero and this is true to what we know already about them by years of buckets of dice (and the occasional train of 6’s.) Some incredible things are bound to happen. Departures will afford some surprise.

I played through the first level with bolt pistol and chainsword before I realized that he had a loadout of bolter, sniper-style bolter and some sort of time delay grenade launcher I’ve never seen before, useful for laying ambushes.

Players familiar with traditional shooters like COD and Halo will get the ranged aspect fast. Players of God of War and Gears of War will appreciate the CQB ability the marines have and the role cover plays… as well they should since the grim darkness of the far future has wet work across everybody’s resumes, the marines most of all. There is room for Devastators holding ground and Blood-for-the-blood god.

The environments are epic and illustrate so much of the atmosphere we’ve come to love on paper. The level design is solid; the voice work and sound effects pretty damn solid too. The story is about what you’d expect and it looks like most of the popular kids are at the dance in terms of races/usual suspects.

I think I have two gripes at the end here. One, ork blood is black, not red. Two, I don’t own this game yet. This will definitely be a rent and play-through if not a flat-out buy, (which it will be for me.)

We can now forget Firewarrior!

As a 40k fan and video game fan, I give the whole deal a provisional A, pending the quality of the rest of the game upon release.

Chicken Pox and Chop Shop

2011-08-17T10:07:00.007-04:00

Over the weekend I was slated to play 40K with John and Dave, two guys I know that had just jumped back into the game after a 2 year and 10 year hiatus. Both have large, earlier edition armies.

They both picked up their “new” Nid and Eldar dex's and we were gonna get our thing on as a learning game (which I need very badly.) But my kids had chicken pox and that nixed my participation. Zehr lame. Thanks Nurgle.

So lacking the Saturday game, I retreated back to my table and basically tore apart the Medusa gun I built before and finished it all over again. I really wanted a big ol' Basilisk gunshield on it, but the previous version wouldn't allow the gunshield to fit. I also finished the Punisher turret I started a bit ago, using leftovers from the gunshield I cut apart for the Medusa. I tried to finish my 3 melta hardened vets over the weekend but my jeweler's saw blade broke. It’s like that sometimes.

In other related news, I'm helping the Nid player John figure out a Mycetic spore on the cheap so I picked up a $7 foam gourd from the local craft store. I think it fits the bill in terms of cost and size as a start. I'll add some bitz and a base. Any reactions from the Nid players out there?

BFG: 1K Point Eldar Fleet Done

2011-07-31T11:33:00.004-04:00

Here is an Eldar fleet I finished up last night. It comes in around 850 points without compulsory Pirate Captain/rerolls and is a mix of what I think works well and what I actually own. With the Pirate Captain and 2 re-rolls, this list is an even 1k pts. From the top, clockwise: a Shadow class cruiser, a flight of Nightshade missile destroyers, an Eclipse carrier cruiser and a flight of Aconite frigates.

On the priming stand is another Eclipse and a Void Stalker to up-point the group to about 1500 points.

From there I have another Shadow cruiser, more escorts and another Void Stalker to run out at some point.

WTF WIP: Eldar Fleet

2011-07-27T16:09:00.007-04:00

Stand to and prepare to be bored! Engage Eldar Poetry Slam!

I have no idea why I am painting Eldar ships. With so many other things more practical waiting to be done than space elves for a game nobody will play with me... well... it doesn't make sense.

But, I do like painting them and the gratification is pretty instant since BFG can paint up quickly and I can make starship noises in my basement for a reason, unlike the other times. Church is awkward in that way too.

So with the Shadow cruiser already done and the Eclipse plus escorts almost finished I guess I can hook up a brother with that mission when the Eldar come to the Imp's rescue vs. Chaos.

The 2011 Eldar Poetry Slam will feature appearances by Big Daddy Mensha Khaine, Adam Hicks, Sabrina Le Beauf and special guest host, Langston Hughes in a Spirit Stone

Terminus Est WIP: Basecoated

2011-07-14T18:42:00.003-04:00

The Terminus Est is basecoated and the purple foundation laid down for the putrid fleshy areas that come later. I think I may make the tubing running around the ship purple as well. Still have to decide what color to make the sails... maybe a blue with botches.

BFG: Imperial Fleet Paint scheme

2011-07-10T16:35:00.009-04:00

Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms said...

"Hey Matt! I saw your BFG ships on the Rocketship Games blog and had to see more! Could you tell me how you got that awesome gold effect on these ships?Your Nurgle fleet looks awesome and I bet that Terminus Est will make one badass flagship. Keep up the good work!
Best,
Joe"

Hey Joe,
The Imp ships aren't really gold, more like a tannish-brown though what I did would be the prefect base for gold paint.
I used GW colors in this order, with a medium round brush for the drybrushing and detail brush for everything else.

1. Basecoat black.

2. Graveyard Earth drybrushed 2x. First coat heavy, the second, lighter.
3. A light drybrush of desert yellow on the high points of the ship and edges to warm up the area.
4. Rotting Flesh drybrush, again, along highpoints and edges.
5. Metals are Mithrial Silver with a wash of Ice Blue and flow improver.
6. The light blue is a Kraft Cote off-white that has a touch of blue in it. You could simply mix a dot of Ice Blue into White for the same effect.

I think after the brown/tan foundation you could simply dry brush gold along the highpoints and it would look pretty damned good since most gold is undercoated in browns and tans. Let me know how it works out for you.

Best,
Yeti

Battlefleet Gothic WIP: Eldar

2011-07-05T17:42:00.003-04:00

I inherited a box of BFG from my buddy Wil less than a year ago. In it were "some Eldar ships." Yeah, I did the math last night, there's almost 5000 points of Eldar fleet in the box, most of it still in blister.

So, in addition to the Chaos and Imperial fleet I have in process, I did a test Eldar Shadow cruiser to get the color scheme/paint list figured out. I'll probably get it to tabletop quality since that is the only hope I have of any of it being painted to completion as a fleet. That said, I like the scheme. It's easy, fast and reproducable since it is mostly drybrushing 3 distinct colors and no mixing colors at all. The highlights on the solar sails is thinned white painted along the edges and then the Scorpion Green basecoat glazed over it again.

Terminus Est WIP: Primed

2011-07-02T13:41:00.001-04:00

I think it's starting to look suitably wicked now...

Terminus Est: Greenstuff Done

2011-06-30T20:43:00.002-04:00

BOOYAKASHA! greenstuff is curing. Black primer tomorrow. Bet.

BFG WIP: Terminus Est WIP

2011-06-30T08:20:00.000-04:00

A’ight, The Est is coming along. I pinned the old raptor jump packs to the hull which was a fussy pain in the arse.

Today I’ll add some green stuff/bitz details to the gap aft of the stem, cover up the pins with some green stuff Nurgle sacs on the "wings" and then it’s off to primer land this weekend.

And…

I tell you, the stuff a guy gets into waiting for a Valkyrie kit he ordered to show up....

Opinions Wanted

2011-06-25T21:40:00.008-04:00

Ok, my Terminus Est is built and ready for priming but I feel it needs something. I do like the sleek look. Still, I'm thinking of adding old raptor jump packs to the port and starboard sides.

Here are the pics as-is:

Looking at other battleships of the same displacement, you see a lot of finials and such on the sides of the ship: shield projectors, sensor clusters and warp arrays. The Terminus has none of that.

Looking at the aft bridge stacks I noticed that the old raptor jumpacks (which I disliked) look similar to the stacks both with the pipes and cables of the bridge. I think they fit the description of the port and starboard Hives of Nurgle in the ship description here on page 4.

So I blue tacked 2 on to see...

Does this look good? Bad? Close but not quite? Suggestions?

Losing Loser

2011-06-24T15:05:00.008-04:00

YOU COCKY COCK!!!

So I lost my Battlefleet Gothic game Wednesday night (12 vp’s to 7) and I lost my Memoir ’44 game Thursday night (5 medals to 3), the former being my first BFG game in about a year and the latter the start of the Normandy Campaign from the Memoir Campaign book.

The trend here is obviously about losing, not actually playing games two nights in a row, a different trend that is easily explained for the rarity it is: my whole family is on vacation without me. BFG is what it is but the Memoir loss is actually something like my 12th straight loss in a game that I’ve played regularly over the past few months.

It is easy to laugh off a Battlefleet victory that detonated like the reactor of my Carnage class cruiser, leaving only super-heated sadness and frozen chunks of hope burning up in the high atmosphere of my dreams.

But the Memoir’ loss cuts deep.

I’m so mad at the losing streak that I’ve started to ding the mechanics of the game I love, to growl about card distribution, random chance or even, God help me, the pathetic cry of the heartless gamer: I’m too stupid to play this game. Worst of all I thought, I now own every item of the game line except the breakthough map expansion. That’s a lot of loss on many levels, which equals a lot of regret, almost like realizing I didn't marry the girl of my dreams but I actually married a drag queen who carries a fast-wielding folding tanto and has both night terrors and narcolepsy. As ugly as that all is, I have to admit that it isn't working out and it isn't you baby, it's me.

So after the emotion has ebbed and the Maker’s Mark has been put away I sat and started looking at win/loss ratios, random chance and tactics to improve my game. Also, I reflected and realized that yes, my record is dismal. But many of those games I count have been teaching games and in effect I played myself through the majority of them (since many victories come down to who breaks a stalemate by making just one mistake.)

So this isn’t about making excuses about your play, your record or what the game owes me. This is about finding reasons for why my game went the way it did and what lessons the game taught me.

I’m still figuring that all out but the process is cathartic.

How do you handle losing streaks?

My Nurgle Daemonship noticed my Facebook was changed to "single." Awkward!

Ministorum Priest Completed

2011-06-18T18:43:00.000-04:00

WIP: Terminus Est Gap Filling

2011-06-15T21:51:00.005-04:00

Ok, I got an email about using caulk for gap filling so I figured I’d post this up real fast.

By caulking I mean using white acrylic painter’s or white household caulk to gap fill. I don't use greenstuf for gap filling unless there is a need for a structural reinforcement or sculpted detail.

Below you see the port side is caulked and the starboard side is not.

Which side looks better?

I’ve been using caulk on minis as a gap filler for about 10 years. I say that because I don’t want to imply that it is easy to use or best for all tasks, it can be tricky and take time to use well. Since I come from a construction background, I have had literally hundreds of hours working with painter’s caulk and the knowledge to make it work. That said, I don’t think it would take anybody as long as that to try it out and make it work for some projects.

Appropriate: So looking at the Terminus Est here, you see that it is a wonky-looking ship to begin with. As far as BFG goes, gaps on smaller models don’t matter so much to me but bigger ships... the partitioned look really stands out. The three plug in batteries really don’t look seamless unless you kill the gaps and since that is something you want, let’s fill them.

A little goes a long way. Here, a dry brush is used to apply some caulk to gap. A damp brush will be used after this to smooth out the caulk since caulk doesn't stick to damp brushes.

A few suggested guidelines:

Use a dry brush to dab on the caulk you need. A little goes a long way.
Use a damp brush to move the caulk around, pushing caulk into joints.
When you have the gaps filled, use a wet brush to either thin out/remove the extra caulk or use a damp brush to blend in the extra caulk since water thins or reduces caulk. Watch you don't ruin the parts you got right with the clean up.
You can use a pick or razor to remove over flow or extra caulk.
Half dry caulk shreds when you try to push it around so remove it while wet or let it dry and take it off with razor or pick.
Squeeze out a little ball of caulk and put that on the end of the tip of tke caulk tube when you are done and that will keep the rest of it wet inside and usable for up to a few months.

WIP: Ministorum Priest and Terminus Est

2011-06-14T22:10:00.000-04:00

The priest received some base layers of browns and I blocked in foundation colors on metals and flesh. Obviously I'm trying to make him parson-like. I also blocked in the scars which will get some pink adjustment later.

Fast update: Terminus Est is assembled and ready for some gap filling. It was a fiddly kit, needing much off-center placement and bending with pliers to get alignment right. Fortunately, Chaos has little tolerance for precision, literally, and this Nurgle warship is no exception. If it was a Tzeentch vessel it’d be different story. I’ll hit it with some painters caulk for gap filling and some greenstuff to reclaim some details.

Master of Ordnance Complete

2011-06-06T21:26:00.006-04:00

Added some details, some lenses, etc. Now working on the Ministorum Priest in between doubled work load at the job and finals at class. Whee.

"Holy shit that was danger close... my bad."

Remember Vectrex?

WIP: Master of Ordnance

2011-06-02T18:55:00.001-04:00

Just a fast update in the MoO. I put base coats down and then some layers here and there to spice up some flat surfaces. I suspected that a brown gas mask with red lenses probably looks better than my Hardened vets with their grey gasmask/green lenses so I tried the different scheme on the MoO and liked it better. I'll repaint the Vet masks soon in the same way.

I just have to add some details here and there, clean up a few things, finish his base with snow after Dull Cote and he should be nailing my own front line with a S9 AP3 barrage in no time!

WIP: 2nd Leman Russ, scratch built Master of Ordnance and converted Ministorum Priest

2011-05-30T00:44:00.005-04:00

Happy Memorial Day Holiday to those celebrating. Just a fast update on the efforts over this long weekend.

The 2^nd Leman Russ is an update/partial repaint with a brand new battle cannon turret added on. I am working on a Pask model for the cupola too. Stowage and searchlight will be primed tomorrow for this tank.

I built a Master of Ordnance out of an original plastic stormtrooper, Pig Iron gasmask/combat helmet head, conning tower from a BFG Chaos cruiser mated to a vox pack from the Cadian set, throttle control display hand from the sentinel pilot to act as a sort of auspex/ranging display and foregrip from metal autopistol as the top of his trigger device in his right hand. All-in-all a fast build and I think he conveys the look a preoccupied officer calling in a danger close fire mission would have. At very least, he was free to build if nothing else.

The Ministorum Priest is the original metal model with plasma rifle and arm cut off, filed and then a plastic tank commander arm glued on, with plastic pistol added. Catachan combat knife and canteen hide the chopped up waistline. I think I'm calling him Mad Eye Moody.

Mordheim POV: Ichabod and Ozzy's Furry, Scary Time in Mordheim

2011-05-24T21:56:00.014-04:00

Not THAT kind of furry-scary. Actually, that's pretty accurate...

The PAGE group saw a furry, fun and rather scary Coreheim 3-way game Sunday night at the studio in downtown Philly, for what we hope is an ongoing trend in the club: steady forays into Mordheim.

Edit: See The Goblin perspective on Jason's Fine Blog SOuND OFF

Steven (Skaven) Jason (Goblins) and myself (Undead) knocked the dust off of our ancient Mordheim understandings and grafted on the fresh changes that Coreheim brings to the blasted lands of Mordheim in a gorgeous row that ambled about the board like a true monster. Rawr.

I brought my original Mordheim demo board that I built in... 2001? Stephen brought a great building ruin and I threw in my original cardstock Mordheim terrain. We elected for a king-of-the-hill scenario, winner controls the top floor of the center building. Crap! Zombies climb at Initiative 1!

View from the Undead deployment area. The Skaven deployed opposite and the Goblins to the right. The objective was to hold to third floor of the tallest ruin for 3 turns.

View of "the surface"

To get us up to speed, Ichabod and Ozzy, ghoulkin followers of the Vampire Lord, discuss their experiences following their Master into the crypts of Mordheim...

Ozzy: Uuuuugh, where am I? What happened?

Ichabod: You’ve been unconscious for hours. You’re bleeding from your eyes and ears and you are still a moron.

Ozzy: Is that good?

Ichabod: Sure, why not.

Ozzy: They took my shield. Then my net. Then my club. Then… my pants for some reason? But why?

Ichabod: Right. Just sit there and let me get through this. No, there. Sit! There! SIT!

Ozzy: Whose pants am I wearing now? Are these my pants?!?

Ichabod: Silence! Our lair was invaded. So when we got to the lower crypt, the Necromancer raised 7 zombies and sent them into the shadows of the ruins after the squeeks and snarls we heard in the dark, the Skaven interlopers. The zombies ignored the trauma to their putrid flesh as rocks rained down from the broken façade. Suddenly…

Ozzy: OH!

Ichabod: Shut up! Suddenly, we heard clamoring behind us as that wretched greenskin fungus known as goblin followed down the main stairs with spears, shield and all manner of savage intent. They must’ve followed us from the hinterlands!

Ozzy: Why are my knickers filled with gravel?

Ichabod: That’s normal. So no sooner had the vermin lord skittered to the top of the ruins, exalting his claim on our territory, did our Master surge forward like a magnificent blur, incensed, his warspear wickering against the 3 vermin warriors that cowered at the base of the ruins. The dire wolves flanked around the left side of the ruins to trap the Skaven in the middle while the damned goblins hurled insults and arrows our way from the right. We couldn’t stop the Skaven as they crawled up through the ruins, they were too fast!

Ozzy: I named those mean doggys Rash Mouth and Drippy. I remember our Master was hit in the groin and belly and laid down on his back. A lot. And the Rat Ogre seemed nice...

Ichabod: Ssshh. Anyway, that usurper Necromancer called upon dark magics beyond life to make himself more powerful.

Ozzy: It smelled like toast and boom-boom.

Ichabod: Our Master kept rising up over and over and over, to the horror of the ratmen until he ran one Skaven through! The ratmen despaired to see their warrior writhing in the agony of death! Our Master refused to slake his thirst on such dirty blood! The vicious Rat Ogre continued to fight in the zombie throng, hurling corpses to and fro.

Ozzy: Zombie thong? You talk funny words.

Ichabod: I’m glad you’re bleeding again. The Necromancer pressed the zombies in with whispered words to protect our fallen Master. The goblins were so excited to fight that they literally cartwheeled down the slopes, crashing to the crypt floor, a clatter of weapons and curses!

Ozzy: Then what?

Ichabod: Then the damned goblins got closer and a wild Skaven jumped three stories down onto a Dire wolves back, stabbing and biting it.

Ozzy: Whoa, that is amazing. You put different pants back on me?

Ichabod: That was about the time I fell down the slope trying to help The Master. Then a crazy-ass Skaven doffed you cold as you looked at shiny stuff on the ground.

Ozzy: Gravel is shiny.

Ichabod: No it isn’t. The Rat Ogre drove off the Necromancer and zombies. The dire wolves followed the Master as we slipped into the catacombs. The Ghoul chortled at the both of us and made off with your pants.

Ozzy: And the goblins? The ratmen?

Ichabod: They are still fighting. The Skaven lord still holds the ruins. The Master is not pleased.

Ozzy: I’m itchy where a sexually active person is.

Ichabod: I hate you.

Undead Summary: 4 zombies destroyed, Ozzy KO'd and robbed of all equipment. The Vampire showed stupid toughness which was good. They found 2 shards of Wyrdstone, one cashed in for a Talisman for the Necromancer. 2 pieces of gold and 1 shard left in the coffin, er, coffer.

Goblin Summary: They fell down a slope, wounded the Rat Ogre and killed a large rat. +1 WS to spear henchmen, +1 BS to archer henchmen, talisman to shaman. Solid second place finish.

Skaven Summary: 1 warrior dead, one large rat lost, one wound on the Rat ogre and a crap ton of advances plus Wyrdstone. Steven elected not to cash in or explore. Overall, the big winner of the night, holding the objective and getting a ton of loot for little loss.

Mordheim: Zombreinforcements

2011-05-22T15:58:00.000-04:00

I just added 4 walking dead, 3 dire wolves and one big-ass vampire bat objective marker to my Undead Mordheim band.

Not sure there are objective markers in the game, but whatever.

Diagnosis: I have Turrets Syndrome

2011-05-19T10:42:00.004-04:00

Custom Punisher Turret WIP

With First Platoon done, mega-travel on the wind (for work and personal reasons) and with most of my mixed batches of red paints dried out, I am loathe to do anything I threatened to do over the last few weeks, be that Warmachine painting or Valhallan vehicles.

I just returned from taking the family to Disney for 5 days. At night I had a heart-to-heart with my painted forces, codex and Excel formulas.

Out of that coming together I realized that 3 Leman Russ are good for pretty much what ails my possible Playing of Games™ with Heavy Support at all points levels but that is also a hole in my painted lists becuase I don't have all the turrets I want built or painted.

So, work and school being what they are I’m going to labor on three turrets the next week or so while I recharge my infantry painting battery for both 40k and Warmachine. I have one vanilla BC turret with stubber, and another with open hatch and pop-in Pask plus heavy stubber. For Demolishers I plan on two Forge World Demolisher turrets, the only ones I like.

By now you have noticed that the third turret is indeed a Punisher. Yea, I know. Get your derision out now and let it rain on me, I already put down a tarp. Done? Good. I don’t think the Punisher is a weapon for every game, or many games for that matter. What it is though is an awesome modeling opportunity and a chance to use some bits from my box (no idea where these came from) and maybe kill some Ork, Gaunts or traitor IG during a game at some point.

So yeah, turrets.

Interwebs refilled with number fluid/Completed 1st Platoon

2011-05-14T08:49:00.005-04:00

Ok, the blog outage is over but updates are sorta wonky still. See last post below to be all caught up, as I fly with my family to Disney World. See ya'll in a few days.

-Yeti

1st Platoon Done: Class Pictures

2011-05-13T22:09:00.002-04:00

Alright, 1st Platoon is done plus a few extras you probably saw already. Here are the class photos. On to about 15 mortars and another squad... the start of 2nd Platoon. Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know. Get the Vendetta done too.

1st Platoon Pics

CCS:

Company Commisar Ritrade:

Sanctioned Company Primaris Psyker:

Slobo Reznov (Sly Marbo)

PCS:

1st Squad:

2nd Squad:

3rd Squad:

4th Squad:

5th Squad (Hardened Vets)

First Valhallan Platoon= Complete

2011-05-12T09:06:00.000-04:00

Well, the pic is more a whimper than a boom but these three guys represent a completed max-squad 1st platoon. I'll get a pic of the full platoon up tonight at some point, just for kicks. I'm still on the fence about an actual standard for the standard bearer, since much of the feedback has said don't bother, the bare Aquila on a pole looks good:

Eversor WIP: Amputation

2011-05-06T10:14:00.000-04:00

Ok, his scything arm was too long so I trimmed it down. It's more proportionate.

Before:

After:

Got some more Valhallans to prime this weekend and more work to get done on the Valkyrie before some Coreheim on Sunday!

Eversor WIP: He’s a Master of Karate and Friendship for Everyone

2011-04-30T15:58:00.003-04:00

Just some snaps of my Eversor WIP. I never liked the severed-head-show-n-tell pose and yet, I really liked his backpack with mushroomcloud pistol stowed, so I wanted him to look like he was going into a scrum 100% hand-to-hand.

I cut him in half at the waist and then repositioned him using a pin, green stuff and then an epoxy overcoat to smooth out the join, give him a more skulking look and to appear to be a bit more like he's fighting when placed next to other models.

I used a Necron Wraith scissor hand plus plastic Catachan bits for his arms and grenades/pouches. The bare hand is a zombie hand and the shoulder guard is an old fantasy Chaos warrior bit.

He still has some flash that needs cleaning and some joins that need filling but that’s basically it.

It seems like his arm with talon may be a bit long.

Thoughts?

40K: Valhallan Basilisk

2011-04-20T23:10:00.002-04:00

The Basilisk has been finished off, with updated colors, decals and some tweaks here and there.

40k: 3 Guys Short of full Platoon

2011-04-18T09:03:00.002-04:00

It has been a busy start of the school term and slow again on the model front. Work/school/life balance is a bit better though and I’m steadily working on things here and there, which is cool.

Last night I pulled out the Valhallan IG to verify that what I’m working on right now is smart, given my goals.

I set out the completed IG, tallied it up and saw that I’m just 3 guys short of a completely painted Infantry Platoon. That’s pretty exciting as I’ve never had that before in 20+ years of painting. That’s why I’m painting Yarrick as a reward, though looking at his stats, I’m not sure what it is I’ll ever do with him on the table.

Also, I pulled out all the Mordheim buildings I own, repairing tears and gluing breaks here and there. Looks like we have decent terrain for those games since I’m too busy to be busting out Mordheim terrain.

What are you guys working on this Spring and how is your progress?

Proud Plug: Going on Campaign

2011-04-13T15:05:00.002-04:00

Just a quick (and overdue) plug here for my buddy Col. Corbane’s site, Going on Campaign:

http://goingoncampaign.blogspot.com/

You probably already know Col. Corbane from Corbania Prime (link to your right.) If you play 40k for any length of time then you owe it to yourself to check out what campaigns are really about... and Going on Campaign is a great resource for that.

Not only do you get to use (and breath new life into) most of the crap you sat around building and painting, you get to use those creative juices you brewed by playing games to form richer playing experiences that no one-off game could ever convey. Not only that, you can participate in the campaign community at large, which is rewarding on its own and lends depth to your understanding of how game systems actually play.

Did I mention fluff? Campaigns generate fluff faster than a cotton candy machine. Yum.

A good intro to campaigns is the PDF that Col. Corbane put together, codex-style, to get the ball rolling. It is well produced (and even features some minis from yours truly) so check it out and get those summer campaign planned!

Going on Campaign PDF: http://goingoncampaign.blogspot.com/2011/02/narrative-campaigns-pdf.html

Enjoy!

-Yeti

Zombie Jazz Hands Reloaded or Return to Mordheim

2011-04-11T16:45:00.011-04:00

In 1996 I learned I’d be attending Games Day with my friends Wil and James (both of who ended up with Golden Daemons that weekend.) I was so inspired that I threw together a Mordheim Vampire warband and custom base over 1 week, just to join in the fun of entering.

I can haz first cut?

It didn’t win, partially because it was a slap-dashed unfinished product and primarily because others did amazing jobs with their work. Happily, one judge loved it and took time after the event to sit with me and tell me what to do next time to score better, if I ever wanted to compete again. That was the first and last time I entered anything in formal competition though I did place first in a few internet-based competitions; good constructive feedback, those.

Flash ahead to a few weeks ago when my buddy Jason starts up a Coreheim league at my local club, PAGE. I pull out the old warband and decide that while I’d love to do a new warband for the league (Cthulhu!) this ancient group is still owed some blood and hey, it’s already painted so I can just add some ghouls and henchmen at leisure.

So I repainted the scenic base and gave it jazz hands with new flock mixes, washes and some lichen shrubbery in a nice path, that isn’t too expensive.

I have Dull Coted the miniatures and will rebase/touch up a few things here and there but basically will be leaving the figs alone.

The Vampire is part Dark Eldar Haemonculus (upper) genestealer (hands) and Chaos Cultist (lower) with various bitz and a lot of greenstuff

Ghoulkin

Ghoulkin armed with a club, shield and net

The Necromancer is converted from a Chaos Cultist lower, bitz, green stiff and fantasy bit upper

Good Ol' Hatchetback

Ghoul, soon to be replaced by plastics

My Possibly Unique Way to Magnet Mount Leman Russ Sponson Weapons

2011-04-04T22:48:00.017-04:00

Ok, a buddy asked me recently to describe how I started mag-mounting my weapons on my new Leman Russ’ sponsons. I haven’t seen anyone else do this, so if they have done it this way, my apologies, didn’t mean to rip you off and not give credit.

I basically wanted a fast, forgiving way to mag mount sponson weapons so this is what I improvised quickly one night. it worked well enough that I wished I had thought of it earlier for my earlier Lemans.
Note: I'm using the previous Leman Russ kit. to my knowledge, the following still applies to the new kit.

Materials needed:

Leman Russ kit
Pin vice with small drill bit
Xacto
Unwaxed dental floss
Small hobby magnets
Krazy Glue
Vehicle stowage (i.e. GW stowage or Tamiya)
Greenstuff and basic greenstuff experience (tools, handling skills)

View from inside the Leman Russ side panel, looking through the hole I cut, into the bottom of the sponson. Note the hole for the weapon post and mag sunk in greenstuff behind it.

1. I cut a large hole through the Leman hull, smaller than the footprint of the sponson tabs on the hull (see pic below.) This hole is necessary so when you change weapons, the thick weapon post has a way to rock in and then sit level in the bottom hole. You’ll see what I mean as you start assembly. I took the lid of the sponson and scored some cris-crosses along the top with the xacto, from about the middle going forward. This is a texture anchor for some greenstuff later. This will need to be covered by stowage or whatever you want so don’t over do it. A small strip the width of a pencil and the length of a sharpened tip about center should do it. Assemble the sides of the sponson and glue to hull as normal, DO NOT GLUE THE SPONSON LID.

2. I filled and leveled the bottom inside of a sponson with green stuff. Then I counter sunk a magnet into that greenstuff “bed” and skim coated over it so the mag is embedded and still level (see pic below.) The mag will need to be essentially directly to the rear of the hole for the bottom post of the weapon that goes in the sponson. You’ll want the magnet very close to the surface of the greenstuff, even visible through it. If it dries too thin, just give it a coat of crazy glue afterwards and let dry.

Remember to orient your magnets properly before glue and greenstuff!

3. In the meantime I took a long length of unwaxed dental floss and glued an end of the floss to either the top or bottom of the other magnet. When that has dried, I wrapped the magnet a few times in floss and then glued it again, orienting the floss so that it is glued in the center of the magnet and leading straight up and away from the center. This is tricky and will result in glued fingers if you rush the steps and forget to let everything dry. Treat what you created with care until you can get to the next step.

4. After that glue is dry, I made a small, “tear-drop” shaped cone of greenstuff around the magnet on the floss, including its sides and up the floss a few mm. Remember to keep your fingers wet for that part. The idea here is to embed the knot of wrapped floss and protect the floss that hangs the magnet. I put that to the side and let harden. As that hardened I tapped a small hole into the sponson lid, roughly over where the magnet is in the bottom of the sponson. Just eyeball it, it doesn’t have to be laser-precise.

5. After all green stuff had dried, I dangled that tear drop magnet hanging from the floss through the sponson lid, and let it grab the mag in the bottom of the sponson. I trim the tear drop as necessary, making sure the weapon in its sponson mount can traverse without being impeded by the tear drop. Shave very little here, the magnet can move laterally if it really needs to, you want that magnet staying in the greenstuff.

6. Once that was good I put the sponson top onto the sponson and fit it together, making sure the weapon (in this case, heavy plasma cannon) is fully seated in both bearing holes and traverses normally. It does. The floss was still poking out of the sponson lid at his point.

7. Holding down gently on the top of the sponson lid, I lead the floss across the top of that criss-crossing on top of the lid from earlier, starting from the hole, just a few mm’s towards the front. You should take up the slack of the floss inside the sponson and make it tight without breaking the magnet bonds. Glue it with crazy glue right to the sponson top. Leave it together while the glue and floss dries before you try pulling it apart. After that is dry, trim off the extra floss with xacto and reinforce with a small blob of green stuff on the that texture to lock it all down. At this point I used that greenstuff to anchor a piece of Tamiya stowage to hide the hold, floss and greenstuff.

Mr. Pask likes flexability. And pigment. One out of two ain't bad.

That’s it! All-in-all, minus dry-time, it took less than 20 minutes to mag both sponsons. I also mag-mounted the front sponson but that was done the more traditional way (more later.) I dry-fitted all Demolisher weapons and sprue weapons and they all sit tight while popping out easily.

If you have ways of improving on this or run into issues trying it out, lemme know.

Best,

Yeti

40K: Valhallan Reinforcements Done

2011-03-31T22:54:00.005-04:00

Ok, these are finally done (for now.) I'll add some black to the flamethrowers at some point but for now, they are table-worthy.

This allows for an autocannon in three squads and flamethrowers for the PCS.

I'd really like to get a Psyker Battle Squad to the table next but I think I can only afford a kit-bash at this point.

40K: Valhallan Reinforcements

2011-03-29T10:13:00.002-04:00

There is some progress on the reinforcements for the 1500 point list: 2 more autocannons and flamers as well as a sarge and some troopers for the mix. This should get me to fully painted after they are touched up and based. Flamers need some soot/scorch on the nozzles and fur needs some white (forgot that before I stained them.)

Auto Pilot

2011-03-25T15:06:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the silence. I had three classes this term at university and still have my full time job to boot. I finished the term with straight A's but had no time for painting or playing. It happens.

That said, I'm back to painting this weekend and maybe some Memoir at some point soon.

I have 3 more classes this term but I'm hoping I'll have a breather for room enough to paint once a week for awhile.

Stand by for some updates.

Best,

Yeti

Memoir '44: Breakout at Klin

2011-02-10T17:18:00.002-05:00

WWII's most famous Russian, videogame Gary Oldman.

Memoir '44: Breakout at Klin

Those that play Memoir ’44 are familiar with 2 things already about the Eastern Front expansion featured in this write up: Eastern Front is probably the best army expansion to date and many people have already reviewed how the army works (so I’ll avoid a run down, better supplied by better reviews like this one: http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11710.phtml

Instead, I’ll just share my impressions of how it went for me as a desperate Russian force in a holding action, trying to stem the tide of advancing 1st Panzer Division looking to break out from their faltered offensive against Moscow in early December, 1941 (aka, the first time I played with these new rules.)

My cousin Patrick played the Germans in this scenario. Pre-game I presented him with some brass actually fired from an M1 Garand. I thought he’d take it easy on me because of that, but no such luck.

Set Up: The interwebs seem to peg this scenario as an average 80% chance to win for the Germans. I agreed with that before I even played the scenario. See the mission here, page 12: http://cdn0.daysofwonder.com/memoir44/en/img/mm_eastern_en.pdf

The Eastern Front has an interesting mechanic meant to demonstrate the political influence on Rooskie forces in the field. For those versed in Memoir, you are used to the cards in your hand simply being played turn-to-turn. Not so with the Russians. Basically Russians have to decide which card to play one turn ahead, putting the selected card under a “Commissar” chip next to your hand, signifying the infinite wisdom and stubborn inflexibility of a paranoid, dysfunctional Russian military machine (read: inflexible and slow to adapt but win by attrition.)

A few exceptions to the harshness of Russian card rules aside, it did bring awesome depth to the play, I felt like I was a frustrated Russian officer at disadvantage, just not getting the support I needed as I marshal a fighting stop, and counting on a lot of luck for my men.

I suppose this is great for fluff players and frustrating for power players, if such a thing exists amongst Memoir players.

Russian Pre-Game Prediction and Tactics: Russian loss. Looking at the mission I figured it made the most sense to play left flank cards as priority from the start to abandon the vulnerable positions the 2 infantry units held North of Golyadi. The town itself gave two medals for German occupation in a 6 medal game, so why feed two unit medals into that inevitable attack, lead by elite German armor of all things. I could almost loose the game on that left flank (which is historically accurate) and that is pretty much what ended up happening in real life.

Assuming I could disarm the ticking West flank, I would then try to consolidate enough of my back line to absorb a German push down the center and a German flank to the Northeast of Nekrasino. I counted on mob tactics, pincer assaults. From there I would get a feel for the Russian Command Rules and also try to adapt to the German’s wealthier card play as best I could.

Game Highlights: Unfortunately for Russia, Patrick rolled with 6 command cards to my four, went first and early-turn trounced my Golyadi pickets almost immediately, not even giving me a chance to redeploy them to the woods in the South.

Ouch. 2 medals early game and the elite 1st Panzers sped into the Western outskirts of Golyadi.

To their credit, my infantry bled the Germans well in terms of the time it took to give up Russian medals (the second squad stuck to a man and ignored retreat flags, stubbornly.) But it didn’t look good.

CRACK. THUD. BOOM.

Still standing.

By turn 3 or so Patrick had 4 medals out of 6 by holding Golyadi and inflicting casualties.

I had played 2 or 3 hands with the Russian Command rules and already felt the stress of holding “good” cards for the predicted enemy movements and mulling when to get them under the Commissar chip to play next turn. In this scenario, Russians held 4 cards, which meant that card management flubs were extremely unforgiving.

With my one Air Power card essentially committed ahead of time (reducing its effectiveness when played too) and a Recon 1 card held as a wild card (see Russian Command Rules on pg. 3 of the PDF) that left 2 cards to consider and have as options. Through the game I held mostly left flank cards which didn’t do me much good after Patrick wrapped up Golyadi. I also found I didn’t have much time to “burn” useless cards from my deck on a weak play but I may have to try that in the future more. I did have one particularly stubbon squad of infantry in trenches hold off combat engineers (who ignore dice modifiers for terrain.)

This guy right here... this is the guy

Mid-to-End Game: I was able to play the Counter Attack card once which helped ultimately get a medal and my Air Power card did thin his artillery and reserve tank units a bit but the Commissar chip delayed the opportunity for a strong Allied air attack (I almost never get to roll two dice in a section!) A German thrust down the center sealed the deal for Patrick. At one point the Luftwaffe sent Stukas against the Westernmost T-34’s, forcing them to retreat into the frozen river near Nekrasino and then loose a tank to the thin ice.

Conclusion: 7 turns, 6 Germans medals, 2 for the Russians.

I love this expansion so far. I need more games under my belt to internalize how the average Russian card play will be influenced by the Russian Command Rules. This mission seems a German certainty (Germainty?) from the start but that’s why the Russian flavor imbued in the rules works so well… you like playing the missions despite the plodding feeling the army has, or at least, I did.

You may be Great Partriots or from The Fatherland but ya'll made in China, beyotches.

What Next: Fresh Troops/Chimeras or Vendetta?

2011-01-25T12:28:00.001-05:00

Based on what I see of my army group shot so far, I think I should update a few other pieces of armor so they are done and get back to painting infantry again.

But then I think about the Vendetta kit I own and haven’t built yet. It seems a must-have piece of gear, especially for groundpounders like the Valhallans.

What do you guys think I should do next? Chimeras and more troops or a Vendetta?

Current Valhallan Group Shot

2011-01-19T22:26:00.008-05:00

Click for larger image

Here's the Valhallan force so far. I still have less than a squad to finish up for my specific 1500 point list (the pic shows more than that.) From there I'll get two more Leman Russ to the table then move to more Chimera and my Medusa.

Switcheroo

2011-01-14T15:36:00.005-05:00

Let me put my poems in you

Since I’m closing in on a solid 1500 pt painted Valhallan IG list I figured I’d take a small breather from GW and look to finish off the Khador Greylords that I have sitting around. I had started them before contracting GW IPV (Infantry Painting Virus.)

Overall, I’m continuing the “cold” look with the Greylords, as seen with my Butcher’s skin tones above.

Here’s the Koldun Lord WIP

And Ternion WIP

All the color is essentially blocked in. I’ll look to go back, smooth out some colors with layers and some shading. The Koldun Lord’s insignia of rank was a mystery to me until I got the Forces of Khador book and saw what the sculpt was supposed to be. Up until that point I was painting it like a Star of David. I'll be reclaiming some of that tabbard with some brown, Terracotta and then Blood Red. Then details and finally, basing.

40K: Valhallan Company Command Squad Done

2011-01-01T14:38:00.004-05:00

Valhallan 554th Company Command Squad (minus rocket team)

Here’s Captain Gloval and his company command squad, finished up earlier today. They'll also be joined by the previously completed rocket launcher team to round out the squad to 4 vets.

Captain Gloval:

As described in an earlier post, here is Captain Madison, company liaison to Battlefleet Tiamat, in direct support of planet operations on Hammerfall V:

Company Standard:

You'll notice that the vox officer and standard bearer are the same model. The standard bearer uses the pitchfork pole and zombie hand from the Zombie sprue, Aquilla and antenna whip from vehicle accessory sprue. The pitchfolk pole goes straight into the base and is anchored with greenstuff under the base. His hand is pinned so it is very secure. These models are both ammo loaders for the Valhallan heavy bolters, which I'll have a few of in the army later. At some point next week I'll try to design up some paper banners for the banner bearer and squad pennant bearers.

Up next, melta vets and another squad.

100% Total Hurray

2010-12-30T17:10:00.004-05:00

From BOLS:

Being a Khador player, I fully support this concept and hope that the model looks half as bad-ass in real life as this magical Leman Russ does in the picture.

WIP: Officer of the Fleet

2010-12-29T17:28:00.006-05:00

Here's a quick update on one model that I'm really liking right now. I have the Company Command Squad on the paint table and they are about halfway done. Attached to this squad is an Officer of the Fleet (OoF)and building a suitable model has been fun. It was either him or Demolitions Doctrine for the Hardened Vets at the same points. I have a Master of Ordnance and Astropath being built right now too.

I think the currently available OoF model is really awesome but I don't think he totally fits into the look of my Valhallans... plus I'm totally broke. Further, I have 2 decades worth of bitz so if I can't scratch build one for free then I may as well hang it all up.

I did an image search and saw a few people doing a conversion using the old tank commander model, one that I still have and never used. I think this bit works well because my officers all have frogging to tie them together and this tank commander does too.

Here’s the original bit over at Dakka Dakka:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/42-Commissar%20Tank%20Commander.html

The challenge would be to make him look like the off-world Naval advisor that he is, be WYSIWYG/apparent, still look "cold" and still look unique without being distracting.

He didn’t have legs so I trimmed the current standing Tank Commander plastic legs until he was in proportion and lined up well with the Valhallan models. I sawed/trimmed some pouches and original sidearm away and then added a plastic las pistol/holster. I filled a minor gap at the waist and then primed him.

Converting was easy but the color theory wasn’t so cut and dry.

I decided that I’d use a light grey so his overall tone is lighter than the Valhallans but the stain wouldn’t deviate too much from the overall feel of the models. I hoped for a monochromatic result. I trusted the stain wouldn’t make him too dark and the final appearance would be complimentary blue/grey to the powder blue of the Valhallans. The silver with ice Blue wash took to the stain nicely too, some nice glint accent.

Here are 2 WIP of the model right before final paint

And just after stain

I’ll post up pics after he is Dullcoted and based.

WIP: Melta Vets

2010-12-25T13:07:00.001-05:00

Non-traditional I know but pretty much as I expected them to look and so, I'm happy. I think their look backs their fluff (they are ex-miners) and so the steadycam look is ok. I may add a melta power cell somewhere too but I don't want them too bulky.

I had hoped 3 points of glue would hold them without pins but that ain't happening. I need to pin them.

They need some greenstuff and pouches too.

40K CHRISTMAS OATH COMPLETE

2010-12-23T22:16:00.001-05:00

Well, I hit 50 painted Vahallans by Christmas so I'm feeling pretty good about myself, almost as good as when I got zipper pants for Chirstmas in 1984. On to some pics...

40K: Christmas Oath Home Stretch

2010-12-22T09:18:00.003-05:00

I haven't had the heart to tell my 6 and 9 year old that the countdown in this house isn't for Christmas... it's for 50 painted Imperial Valhallans.

So here's a WIP... the squad that takes me just past 50 guardsmen have texture drying on the bases. After that dries the bases will be painted and then Dullcoted sometime tonight. Tommorow will be snow and then that's-that.

I'll be trying to jam out 3 melta vets over the weekend, to properly fill my demo vet squad and maybe getting that Company Command squad done next week.

40k: Medusa WIP

2010-12-19T19:45:00.005-05:00

My Basilisk was built years ago, with an Earthshaker platform that slides out. That forethought allowed me to add another platform later.

Later is now.

For this I used an Earthshaker breach and chamber turned backwards and trimmed down, the armature from the tank plow, also trimmed and shaped. I built a pivot on the armature itself and then used a Lego hinge shaved and placed to allow the Medusa to aim directly and indirectly through two points of articulation. The motive assembly for the gun is an extra Tau ion cannon or somesuch I had lying around.

Finally, I used various bits from the bits box to detail. The muzzle is a marker cap. Not shown is the breach door or bearing races installed.

The breach fits used 9mm casings from the last time I was at the range. At some point I’ll build some Medusa rounds and a crew for loading the Medusa.

Overall, I’m happy with it, given the time I put in. I’ll prime and paint it at some point this week but priority number one is the 5^th squad, which is well underway.

40K: Stowage

2010-12-14T16:46:00.003-05:00

So just a fast update this frosty December evening in Philadelphia...

Over finals and exams last week I updated and detailed a Leman Russ and Chimera, previously started years ago. They are essentially done but I may add some touches like spall marks along the hull and scorching around the heavy flamer. Also, I think the blue is a little too intense, I may tune it down. But that will be later, good enough for now.

Also, I painted up and glued on some stowage. I think it adds character to the vehicles.

40K Question: Medusa or Colossus or Griffon?

2010-12-10T18:52:00.006-05:00

I'm thinking about some arty for the Valhallans. The default is to just build a Medusa gun for my already-completed Basilisk. The bassie has too great a minimum range to amount to much in games that I may play.

Marines in cover? Colossus deads 'em like d-CON but the minimum range is a drag for the average game as well... and the model is all-around expensive too. Great for apocalypse though.

Medusa has some versatility with two differet rounds available, fires direct and has good range for the average table (and no minimum range.)

But looking at stats, I think I like the Griffon the most, at 70 something points and re-rolling scatter, it kills most things in open ground and seems a great value for what it does. I can easily build a heavy mortar to sit in my salamander and park that puppy in a back corner.

Thoughts?

Christmas Oath: Current Model Count

2010-12-09T09:37:00.003-05:00

So my oath was 50 painted Valhallans by Christmas, started on October 1st. I checked last night and I'm at 40 completely finished models. Sweet.

Only 10 more to go. So the painting order will switch up this weekend as the stowage for the tanks is done.

I will paint the 5th squad next week, which includes a grenade launcher and autocannon. And that will be the oath completed.

Hot on the heels of that I'll be trying to finish painting up my list for the holiday bat rep... hard to do since I'm still not sure on what exactly to run.

Malifaux Freikorps

2010-12-08T21:20:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I'm thinking about it. Finn, Pete I'm looking at you, you pimp mothers.

40K WIP: Melta Vets

2010-12-08T13:39:00.003-05:00

Well I was just able to pick up 3 Necromunda Delaque Heavy Stubber models from Ebay, perfect fodder for some melta gun vets to go with my Hardened Vet squad. Pricy in a few ways, but worth it in the long run.

When they arrive, they will have their heads lopped off like the others and the heavy stubbers will be swapped for meltas and finished the same way as these guys.

They will probably be my eleventh hour project before the holiday bat rep... and probably not the only one.

Priming in Cold

2010-12-07T09:54:00.001-05:00

Just thought I'd share my thoughts on priming in the cold since it is about 1 degree outside.

I’ve found that it helps to do 4 things when it is cold:

1. Not let the miniature get cold.

2. Not let the primer can get cold.

3. Not let the primer “fan” go very far in cold air (i.e. spray from far away.)

4. Not let primed minis dry in the cold. This is probably most important.

So what I’ve been doing is opening a window and priming right there on the sill, holding a box with the minis on it... I haven’t dropped any yet. The rush of warm air out sucks the paint fumes away sorta like a spray booth. So technically you are spraying outside as far as the fumes go but then you bring the minis right inside to dry there. Way less fumes that way too. Usually takes 2 coats this way.

Or, you can find an area outside that is sheltered from the wind then just spray primer there but the trick is the further the spray goes in dry cold air the more it dries by the time it gets to the mini… the dreaded “frosting.” So get your sprays closer with tighter bursts and then get them right inside to dry. I used to spray prime under my front deck during winter months.

40K WIP: Vehicle Stowage and Autocannons

2010-12-05T23:39:00.009-05:00

It'll be a short week, with a paper and final due by next Saturday, so I'll only try to paint 3 autocannons and some vehicle stowage for the tanks this week.

I'll be using all of the stowage I have nested away for outfitting the tanks in this company; Forge World, GW and Tamiya parts.

As for the autocannons I think the theory of what they do for a squad holds up well: good against troops, transports and skimmers. Getting orders works well for them too as a bonus (which can't be counted on.)

I took the sight blades off the muzzles of the autocannons with Xacto and file. I also tapped barrel holes. I left the crew shields off too, obviously. I may add them later, not sure.

The two already-completed squads will each get an autocannon. The third squad on the paint table will only be 8 guys plus an autocannon and two painted guys from the other squads.

After that I'll get to the Company Command Squad and to whatever remaining things need doing, like scratch building a Medusa gun and getting something going for a Master of Ordnance.

40K: Completed Valhallan Platoon Command Squad (Sorta)

2010-12-05T22:18:00.011-05:00

So the Platoon command squad (PCS) is done. I already decided that the melta gunners will probably end up in basic squads or with the Company Command squad (CCS.) As the CCS gets painted, I'll do up some flamethrowers to put into this squad, to replace the reassigned meltagunners. Seems to me BS 3 frontline meltas may not be so bad... especialy if they have the possibility to get Bring it Down orders. I figure the PCS will probably ride in a Chimera anyway and stand off.

PCS in process...

Some point soon I'll make some Banners in GIMPshop and get the guardsman with a stick some flag to fly.

Overall, I'm happy with how the squad came out, but there isn't much time to admire anything. My goal is 50 painted IG by Christmas.

... and completed.

40K WIP: Valhallan Commander

2010-12-04T14:47:00.005-05:00

Valhallan Commander

Here's a mock-up of the Valhallan Commander. I used Solar Macharius' cloak for the back. I completed him with the binoculars and arms from the tank commander sprue.

In his previously painted version, he had a plasma pistol and power fist. I've since disassembled and stripped him. This time around I'm looking to give him a power sword and plasma pistol.

I think these bits work becuase:

He's in a more realistic "commander" pose. He looks like he's moderating the fight.
The tank commander arm bits have frogging and that will tie the commander visually to the Lt's in the Platoon Command Squads who also have frogging. Commisars have that as well.
Macharious' cloak has a sheathed power sword poking out, good for arming the commander. The bigger area of fur on the cloak will tie him in better with the fur lining of the troops while bulking him out a bit.

His arms/hands aren't really styled like the other Valhallans but I'm fine with that. I could bulk them out with greenstuff but I'm on a deadline.

The final model will be trimmed and put together tighter but that's basically it.

Let me know what you think.

40K: Valhallan Company Standard Idea

2010-12-02T13:44:00.003-05:00

I was just cruising the news on BBC.com at lunch. I saw an ad for The Economist, showing an article with a painted illustration of a Communist in uniform riding a horse while holding a very young Korean or Chinese boy.

Check it out here: Next of Kim, The Economist: Next of Kim

I think I may do something with that for my Valhallan company standard... with a battered Valhallan riding a horse over piles of dead orks, with ice mountains and Aquila in the background, a Valhallan youth in his free arm.

Movies

2010-12-01T09:46:00.006-05:00

I try to watch a good movie to stay inspired with my projects, something that you can put on even while you paint and just to listen to it. To me, a good movie is something that you can watch in your mind as you listen to it while concentrating on painting/building... and it brings ideas to you army.

Right now, I've got Where Eagles Dare on in heavy rotation as inspiration for my Valhallans. One idea from the movie I used with my Valhallans was making snow plows for my tanks, similar to what was on the bus at the end of the movie.

Besides being a war monger classic, it combines 6 things I love in life:

Mountain warfare
British accents
Clint Eastwood perpetually annoyed
60's dramatic "BUM BUM BUUUUM" music
Bill Murray, I mean Richard Burton
Nazi M*A*S*H* helicopters

Check out Where Eagle Dare on IMDB but skip the fan synopsis, it's not accurate and leaves out the awesome.

11/30/10 Update: Valhallan Platoon Command Squad WIP

2010-11-30T22:33:00.008-05:00

Just a fast update that the Platoon Command Squad is coming along. The Company Command Squad will be started right after this and I'll be moving the Meltas to the CCS so they can take advantage of BS4. The flamethrowers painted with the Company Commnad Squad will move to the Platoon Command Squad.

Also, here are some more angles on the second sentinal finished over the weekend.

Gallery Updated

2010-11-29T13:40:00.002-05:00

I updated the Gallery with some BFG, Hordes and Nurgle Marines I did awhile ago. Just sayin'.

40K: The Numbers of the Beast... 4 and 3

2010-11-29T13:38:00.006-05:00

Jason just slid by to roll for mission and deployment for our upcoming Warhammer 40K holiday bat rep. We agreed to find out what the mission and deployment is but not share army lists.

We got 4 and 3, Capture & Control and Spearhead.

We will also be playing on a small board, 4'X4' so 1000pts of IG vs space marines within shouting distance to start should be interesting, bloody and photogenic.

Knowing what I know now of the mission I'll have to build an objective counter...

What a Year

2010-11-29T08:28:00.008-05:00

Valhallan Armored Sentinal 2, 3rd army group

I am totally thankful for what I have... thanks to 2010.

One of my best friends Joel died suddenly in June, leaving behind a wife of just over a year and a legion of people who sorely miss him. My mom is still with us, enjoying life with her grandkids though she is terminally ill. I was diagnosed with prostate disease in good ol’ 2010 and that has been a challenge too. It has been a year like no other.

These are the type of things that help “focus your lens” and maybe see things a bit straighter than before. I “see” my wife and kids more clearly. School and work seemed to fall into a rhythm. I’ve really learned what a friendship is.

As hard as it all has been, I’m grateful.

One smaller ripple on the rough pond of 2010 was my attitude towards painting and armies in general. I looked back at the pile of unpainted stuff I had and really took stock of what I’ve accomplished over the last few years, hobby-wise: I learned to purposely paint layers after almost 10 years. I improved my color theory skills. I improved my notation skills, documenting all the schemes and formulas I devised. I improved my terrain-building skills and completed some ambitious projects. I used new materials in builds. I left others behind.

All of that said, I still had a nagging little imp in my brain, strumming his harp to the tune of “na-na-na-na-naaaa”.

I never completed my IG army. I barely even got any of it done.

Commisar Ritrade

So with that in mind, I put aside my Warmachine projects and went back to my Valhallan Imperial Guard, an army I’ve played on and off since 1996. At first, I thought I was going to auction them off since I couldn’t make progress with them. Thinking about this year, a year of regrets, I knew I would regret not getting this stuff done. It'd be like dating a girl for 15 years and not marrying her, while having all the conveniences of the relationship. Yeah, I’m saying this army has screwed me on occasion and I, it. I think anybody who played IG long enough can attest to that. So I’ll stick by the old girl and go outside my comfort zone to get this done. I owe it to myself and the army.

This project is very personal. It means I’ve accepted that it takes me a really long time to paint minis, since getting them all finished has never really been my goal, painting them is. My buddy Pete is the king of production as far as I'm concerned and I admire how he is able to bang out great minis at an alarming rate. I am honest with myself enough to say I will NOT paint 100+ guardsmen with layers of paint and micro-detail the army to death.

I do not have that kind of time. I don't think anybody really does.

So with completion in mind and coupled with the lessons learned from a hard year, I took to getting a large Imperial Guard army “finished.”

Better yet, I figured out HOW that will be accomplished. So thinking about my conversations about future plans with Joel before he passed I remembered talking about my experience working in a paint factory and the idea struck me on how to let go of my meticulous style and let the medium do more work for me.

So I’m painting the bulk of my Valhallan army with water-based stain. It is and isn’t as simple as it sounds. More on that later.

The start of this project is documented here, at The Imperial Guard Debriefing Room: http://commissar.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Painting&action=display&thread=11630

Look to have me start posting the bulk of updates to this blog while staying involved with my excellent brothers and sister at the Debriefing Room. I will port over the procedural stuff I wrote so it's here, all in one place, at some point soon.

My goal is to have 50 guardsmen painted by Christmas, about 27 days away. I’m in the 30’s already with what is painted right now.

On top of that, I have a date to play over the Christmas break against my buddy Jason Woolf’s Dark Angels. We aim to have the “fully painted” bat rep to prove it, so stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy some shots of some of the recently completed Valhallan 554th army:

Master Grumman, Primaris Psyker

Viktor Reznov (Sly Marbo)

Squad B

Valhallan Armored Sentinal 1, 3rd army group

Squad A

Welcome. Please die.

2010-11-24T01:43:00.014-05:00

Lesson One: All gamers die but projects can drag on forever

Nice to have Sarcophagi back after 9 years. I've done a few things since then and posted my projects here and there on various forums but I'm just tired of having my stuff on different websites at the same time.

At the urging of friends I decided it is time to boil it all down in one pot.

I'll start by posting up some recent stuff I'm working on, like my Valhallan IG infantry company for 40k and a small display board.

Later, I'll catch up my past projects and form a portfolio of work.

Best,

Yeti