Battlefleet Gothic: Mars Class WIP

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

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

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?

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!

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

Some of Pete Ceretti's sweet Malifaux

FW Proteus: Love

Photo via Forge World all rights reserved

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?