Mars' Project Blog

Last week was busy in my non-hobby world, meaning slow within my hobby world. Even still, I was able to make some progress on the small batch of boyz I have been working on. Painting seven models at a time is seeming rather daunting, which doesn't bode well for my intended push of 20 models at a time for the next mob. I will move up gradually one more time before taking the bull by the horns.

One nice thing about building models is that I can be far more mobile in doing it than when I paint. I was able to cobble together the Nob squad I wanted to run, largely in part to a generous donation of kombi-shootas from Brian Haler. They were assembled almost entirely during the viewing of Burn Notice with my wife, via Netlfix's streaming service.

I liked the idea of my Nobs being shooty rather than chopp because there is a very heavy shooting element to my ork army. Furthermore it seems to fit in alright with the Bad Moons theme. I had a great deal of fun putting together my Pain Boy, Dr. J. G. Matthews, OMD. Although not a very orkish name, it?, he? does take his/its namesake from a very generous and incredibly inspiring person who has made this ork project possible. Dr. Matthews, so enamored of the way Space Marine apothecaries are able to heal the Angels of Death, he has decided to emulate them, in order to better patch up his boyz.

Thanks for reading,
T

Bad Moons Boyz Test Complete +

2012-01-23T11:18:00.000-08:00

All in all, these three models weighed in about 6 hours. Not bad for my slow-painting ways. I would hope that that with practice I can get it down to less than 2 hours a model. The build on the black parts/pants went rally quickly, as I just highlighted it up with a mix of khaki, followed by straight khaki. I have already started on the next group.

I played in a team tournament this last weekend with Tallarn from Still Practicing. It is always a good time playing with or against him. The game table at my house has developed something of a reputation for hating me, well specifically my dice. I am not much of a believer in bad dice. They happen, so do good dice. You will pretty much see what ever you are looking for, luck wise, if your are in the frame of mind that your dice are good or bad. Furthermore, I have a little bit of a dice obsession...

I am sure there are people who have many more. But I have my fair share. I refuse to believe that they all suck on my table. Even still, Tallarn was unwilling to risk my multitude of "bad dice", or the off chance that it was just my table that hated me. When I arrived he handed me these:

I was confused but enthusiastic. I mean they were dice, and I always need more dice. But, according to Tallarn, these dice were unlike any I had, outside of color/design, because these dice were blessed. To hear him tell it, no kidding blessed. Like they were purchased in Germany and blessed at a Belgian monastery before being sent over to him. I am not sure on the logistics, but either way it was pretty awesome.

So how did the blessed dice work? Friggin' awesome! Our poor turn two opponents could only shake their heads as I rolled ten "5ups" on twelve dice. Be it divine, or the fact that is was all BS and I just had the plastic cube equivalent of Dumbo's feather, the dice were going crazy. I am a firm believer in averages, so to anyone out there who rolled a lot of crap this weekend, I am sorry. I was riding the high side of the curve. Thanks for taking one for the team and riding the low side of the curve in order to keep the universe in balance.

Tallarn and I didn't win. We were five points out or something, though I still got a prize.

Thanks for reading,
T

Bad Moon Boyz Yellow

2012-01-20T10:53:00.000-08:00

Getting pretty close to finishing this lot. Just the black areas left. I am not sure I am sold on the yellow, weird I know. I really like the color, but I may try working the tone something brighter and warmer. The real hurdle was whether or not I could pull off a quick weathering technique I envisioned and be happy with?

A canny viewer will notice that the sword choppa looks wonkey, weathering wise. That was where I started, and I realized I was doing the technique backwards. Pro, I know. After I got my mind right I was able to accomplish what I was trying in a short amount of time. Hoping it will get better with practice, but it suffices for now.

So will I go back and fix that sword-choppa? Almost certainly not. It will be one boy in a mob of at least twenty. Got to keep moving forward. Backward be damned!

Thanks for reading,
T

Bad Moon Boyz Continued

2012-01-18T11:07:00.000-08:00

Keeping on keeping on with the boyz.

I upped the presence of metallics a little from my original base color. I am striving for more menace than comedy with my Ork horde. Between the severe shading and metallics it might give me a leg up in this attempt. I relied heavily on some washes in order to accomplish this in a "quick" fashion. I feel like it is just enough to add interest, but will not be overwhelming within a horde in effort or appearance. The washes were as follows:

"Silver" metallic areas- Based in Boltgun Metal, washed with 1:1:1 Chaos Black/ Badab Black/ Water, washed the recess with Scorched Brown, washed recesses again with Vermin Brown, and finally highlighted with Chainmail.

Bronze metallic areas- Based in Tin Bitz, raised areas painted with Dwarf Bronze, recesses washed with 1:1 Dark Angels Green/ Hawk Turquoise, and finally highlighted with Chainmail.

That is where we are at for the moment. Eager to get back to them, though I have a feeling I will be spending a few hours behind a snow-blower this week.

Thanks for reading,
T

Bad Moon Boyz

2012-01-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

This holiday season an amazing person, whose generosity is pretty much boundless, ended up hooking me up with a bunch of Orks. It came at an interesting time, as I have decided that this year I will focus all my efforts into painting a 2,000 point army. Of course I would come to that decision when the edition I have been playing unpainted for fiver or so years is coming to a close. So, Orks it is. Why Bad Moons, well the wife picked the klan, and my daughter's favorite color is yellow, though she is just shy of two so I imagine that will change at some point.

In order to do Orks, I needed to be able to paint green skin. I just tried a scheme straight from a few GW tutorials.

Right now the shaded areas look really severe to me, so I will be curious to see if it is still as severe when the other colors are brought up. I decided to use a fleshy tone for the lips just to break up the green.

If you know me, or have followed my blog, you may be thinking, "Why is the world's slowest painter painting Orks!?"

My retort to the doubter is, "You're right. It is a crap idea. Wish me luck."

Thanks for reading,
T

Alaitoc Warlock: Base Coat

2011-11-22T10:10:00.001-08:00

I managed to get the base laid down on my warlock. This was no small task considering I had company all weekend AND got an X-Box with Kinnect yesterday. What I am, only like 10 years behind?

I just blockied in some color to get an idea what the model is going to look like, as well as sketch in some of the lines for the robes. I still plan to add an Alaitoc Craftworld rune and warlock rune to the robe. So far everything is going well. I found it interesting how many coats of blue i had to use to get over the white primer evenly.

Also had a chance to play against the new Necrons this weekend. I pretty much stole a victory, because I have no clue how my Eldar are going to deal with all that AV 13. My warlock squad with spears were all stars. They carried me to a close victory. In all it was a lot of fun, and I think the Necrons are very clever and tricky army.

Thanks for reading,
T

Alaitoc Warlock: White Primer

2011-11-17T11:24:00.001-08:00

I have, in the past, had strong feelings about white primer. I would often proclaim to any who would listen, "I would never use white primer unless I was painting a white army!" This was awhile ago, when it didn't seen utterly absurd to have strong feelings about anything as trivial as primer color. Even still, this silly stance from yesteryear took root in my psyche. The idea of using white primer always seemed distasteful to me, though I couldn't even remember why. So then, as I consulted the vast internet advice on painting yellow, the trope of "white primer" rubbed me the wrong way. Even to the point of defiantly banging my head against the black primer until I finally found a yellow I can live with. Perhaps it was the "victory" that finally caused me to reevaluate my perceived dislike of white primer, and ultimately figure, "What the heck let's try it."

Weirdly enough, the yellow was not the driving the "What the heck bus". As previously stated, I am happy with the yellow. It was actually the ring of Graveyard Earth around the bases. It took like four coats to cover, and it is one of the last things I do. I made me crazy to have to keep painting so close to the finish line. Further motivation existed in the opacity of the Citadel blues that I use. I liked the brighter blue, and wanted it just a touch brighter, without having to change colors.

My primary concern was if the white primer could make things lighter, would it drastically change the way the model looks. I figured it was best to experiment with the base, as that isn't looked at as much as the miniature in most of the stuff I paint.

First thing I did was lay down the Tallarn Flesh base coat, like my other Eldar. I remember looking at the helmetless ultra marines and thinking how much the flesh color jumped off that blue. I figured since I was doing a predominantly blue army I could use something similar to make them stand out from the base.

That ended up being pretty pink. Over the black primer the color was a lot duller, and looked more dirt-like. Articulate term, "dirt-like", word smith I ain't. In order to tone down some of the pink I drowned the base in a Devlan Mud wash.

Once dry, I dry brushed the Tallarn Flesh back in, getting a color I could live with, both fleshy for the pop, and dirt-like.

In some basing article I saw at GW's webpage I saw another base that used this color and they put purple in it. I dug it, so I pretty much bit it. I used Leviathan Purple and a wash brush, basically rolling the brush as I pulled it across areas to create odd sized splotches. I also started painting the rusty-metal-thing by laying down a couple of coats of Dark Flesh.

After that I dry brushed the whole thing with Bleached Bone. It was really hard to get a comparison as to whether or not it looked the same because the bright colors where being outdone by all the white primer on all other parts of the model. I put the base next to one of the storm guardians I had done, and it looked close, but I kind of ran into the same thing. The storm guardian's base looked much darker, but it was also amid a lot of dark colors.

Lastly, I did the rusty-metal-thing by dry brushing on some Blazing Orange, then Macharius Solar Orange, and finally some Vomit Brown. After that I washed the bottom and made some streaks with Devlan Mud. Lastly I liberally stippled some Chainmail on to the whole piece to create the metallic sheen and appearance.

Final conclusion? Seeing them side-by-side, what do you think?

For me it is too early to tell. I think it will be best to just get the model done and compare it to the rest. The good thing will be that I have some leeway as it is a Warlock, not a rank and file guy. If he stands out it is not too disruptive, since they tend to have a distinguishing look in most Eldar armies I have seen.

Thanks for reading,
T

Alaitoc Guardians Complete

2011-11-15T09:28:00.001-08:00

Well kind of. They are sans their warlock atm. This first half of the squad, which I already posted, came out like this:

As stated, I wasn't wild about the camo, or the yellow, so for the last five I went this route:

I like this scheme a lot better. Though there is a difference side-by-side:

As a whole (picture leading the entry) I think it looks fine. These guys were a lot of fun to paint. It is too bad they have turned out to be trash on the table. I am going to get going on the warlock next. And I ameagerly awaiting a go at the Ranger/Pathfinder models.

Thanks for reading,
T

SSSWMB Compromised!

2011-10-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

We have been having a lot of fun with our Planetary Empires campaign, and if you follow Tallarn over at Still Practicing (Which you should!) you would see that he has been doing quite well. The crux of his success, he has hypothesized, is tied directly to the establishment of his Super Secret Space Wolf Moon Base. As of this weekend, SSSWNB has now been compromised. Jeremy's Imperial Fists have taken over the SSSWMB spaceport, but just barely (Needed a "5" and rolled a "6"). The photo leading into the article was shot on my phone in order to accomplish a timely razzing.

I didn't get a lot of painting done this weekend, which I could have called from a mile away, as I just posted something about painting. We had company and autumnal festivities to attend. Was able to get a couple of quick games (And how...) with said company. And in one day I lost not one, but two games, in the first turn. It was something else. There were a lot of contributing factors like scenario, and Seize the Initiative, etc but both Codex Space Marine lists ate my lunch. It was a real-deal butt whuppin', and an excellent reminder that the Space Marine Codex can still be pretty legit.

Painting Advice

2011-10-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

Before we get under way, this post is editorial. If you aren't too terribly interested check back on Tuesday for more painting articles.

I get beat up a lot, by myself more than anyone else, for not having a painted army. Full disclosure, I don't think I can field a painted minimum force org in any army I have. Yet over the last two years I have been painting steady, and completing more models than ever. I have more armies than sense right now, and that is its own editorial. Even still, I have been asked by a couple of people lately how I keep at it? I have fellow gamers, whose skills I respect immensely, saying they are looking for motivation. So I thought I would share some things I do here.

Get your mind right. You "get" to paint, you don't "have" to paint.
There are a lot of reasons why I can't see this hobby as a chore. I do it to unwind, and if it is causing as much stress as my job, well then I will do something else. This hobby is something that the participants are privileged to be part of. Especially now, there are people who can't afford to play, or have no time because they are working a few jobs. "Count your blessings" seems kind of hokey, but there is some merit. Instead of focusing on the things that make it feel like I chore, I remember the things I enjoy, that couldn't come about from any other hobby, then I start slinging paint. Ultimately, it falls to me to make sure the right mind set is there, because otherwise I can pretty much talk myself out of anything.

Be inspired.
I have an entire Pandora play list of music posted on Massive Voodoo. Not only do I like most of their music selections, but hearing the songs reminds me of their blog, and consquently, their work. Art, photos of other minis, even photos of stuff that "feels" like what I am painting, are scattered around my work area. Often times I will paint with my codex open, looking at the unit I am painting or pictures of the army. These visual and tactile props help me slide into a creative mindset where some enjoyable painting can get done. I know I am in the right place when I realize my wife is looking at me funny because I am occasionally making the, what I perceive to be, sound effects of the piece I am painting.

Do it.
Sounds trite. I know. It actually was the advice that lit the fire for me, and ironically enough it was given by someone who only just last weekend finished the first model he has done in a year. It is easy to talk yourself out of painting. It is easier to turn on the TV, X-Box, whatever. Just don't. Find what it takes to not turn on the distractions. Maybe you won't even paint. Maybe you just sit and stare at a wall a few times, but unprogram the need for quick and easy stimulus. I set times. I go an hour a night, 4 nights a week, and then 2 hours on the weekend. This time is for painting, or nothing. No other distraction is allowed in for fear of it taking over the joint. As important as it is to make yourself start, also make yourself stop. Even if you want to keep going, don't. Save it for the next session. Sometimes I can't wait to get to my brushes only because it has been bugging me all day that I am one color, on one guy, away from having the group done.

Thanks for reading,
T

Alaitoc Camo Update

2011-10-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

I had mentioned in my earlier post that I felt like the camo was too subtle. My friend Deke agreed, so I revisited it for the remainder of the Storm Guardian squad. I think what I have found is what I am going to keep. I still wanted the camo pattern to be more subtle than a lot of the ones I have seen, but I needed it to be obvious that it was there as well. Obvious camo, ha!

The blues are a little brighter, to make the contrast more evident. I think this also makes the model more interesting to look at. So far it is working for me, and I am pretty eager to see it with the spot colors on the miniature. I also got some advice on another way to do the yellow, so I am hoping I have as much success with that as I did the camo.Thanks for reading,T

Alaitoc Storm Guardians Half Done

2011-10-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

Truthfully just under half, as I run a warlock with them. But I won't let that rain on my parade. You may also notice I reverting back to this template. I liked the way the dynamic template looked, but I didn't like not have the option to have my banners or a blog roll present. With five of these bad boys under the belt the scheme is coming together...kinda.

I really like the way the bone is working out for these guys. It is a very successful spot color against the blue. It is rich enough to add some real interest. I purposely have not shaded as deep as deeply as I normally do to make the pieces really light.The yellow is still vexing. I am still struggling to get it smooth. I want a more buttery look, but a more yellow color.

For this next batch, I will be more heavy handed with the camouflage and try to smooth out the yellow a little. We will see how it goes...Thanks for reading,T

More Work on Alaitoc

2011-10-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

In the limited time I have had for painting I have been working on the Storm Guardians. They seem to still be holding my interest, and the paint scheme isn't very demanding, save yellow. The camouflage pattern isn't coming out as distinctly on mine as others who paint the Alaitoc. I think the colors I am using cause it too be more subtle, but I have yet to decide if it is too subtle.

The yellow is still kinda kicking my butt as well. I forget how much patience is required to make it look nice with really any yellows, but especially the GW line. I have read a lot of really great tutorials on yellow, and it is just one of those things that requires time, one way or another. Yellow just tends to suck to lay down, but huge pay off when done.Also, winter came to Belsbeth II. This should be the last round of our Planetary Empires campaign. It has been a lot of fun and I am getting very good feedback on it.

Thanks for reading,T

Alaitoc Storm Guardian

2011-10-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

I needed a break from power armor. I have always loved the Guardian models, specifically Storm Guardians. Back when you could run Black Guardians, Storm Guardians were pretty cool. Now they have been kind of clown shoes in a lot of my games. None the less, I dig them, and so I have them, and I thought I would throw some paint down on them.I went for Alaitoc because it is a very painter-friendly color scheme. The yellow and bone spot-colors against that dark blue work well for catching the eye. I also friggin love the Ranger/Pathfinder models, and they are kind of Alaitoc's thing. Lastly, I will probably use this force in an upcoming team tournament army in January, and Alaitoc is the Craftworld that seems to intermingle with the other races the most.Anyway, butterfly that I am, I am sure I will be flitting back and forth between this, AoBR, and whatever the hell else I feel like. Here are some closer pics of the finished "test model". Sadly, my sealing coat left him looking really grainy. That is pretty much the nail in the coffin for GW's Purity Seal for me. I will stick with Testors.

Terrain for the Shed

2011-10-03T09:48:00.000-07:00

From Stuff I Have Painted: Planetary Empires

Yesterday was a little tough, so I needed a victory. First off, my Football Club, Arsenal, choked. That happens pretty early on this side of the Atlantic so there was already a bummer by noon. Then, on top of that, my Football team, the Seahawks, spent the afternoon sucking. It was definitely a day for easy and rewarding painting, a slot well filled by terrain. Also, since I was listening to the Seahawks game on the radio, I wanted to do some painting that required almost no concentration. I tend to be "passionate" about Seahawks football, and think it best to not have small, delicate, or crap I wish I didn't just throw, things in hand at game time.

Special thanks to Magnus at Magnus' Project Log for the grip of barricades he traded me for beer. I got the building from a tournament like four or five years ago so I decided it was probably time to get it painted. The colors came from an Antropologies catalog my wife had. I remember looking at the back drops of the pictures and thinking how cool wherever the hell the models were looked. Unfortunately that catalog was no longer around so I had to go for it from memory.

From Stuff I Have Painted: Planetary Empires

Sorry about some of the crap pics. The Shed's lighting isn't exactly awesome. Anyway, I was very happy with the way it all came out. I would love to do more like it, but I really hated assembling those buildings so unless I get some already built...I don't like my odds.

Thanks for reading,
T

My Assault on Assault on Black Reach Part 13 and more!

2011-09-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

These guys are due by midnight, Saturday, and I am playing on a team tournament all day SAT. Pretty much got five days to finish them off. "Days" is a little misleading there, I should say five days worth of painting time. I got all the base colors blocked in, so all that is left is shading and highlighting. This deadline is bearing down on me, but it is my own fault. I will prevail! Here are a few more base coat pics:

We had our first round of the Planetary Empires campaign come to a close. In the narrative the planet's vegetation has become hostile, as if it is feeding off the violence raging across the planet. Huge vine-like thickets have begun springing up over night. So to reflect this I put a little flock on the tiles to look like clumps of tower vegetation.

In addition, I had it so that whomever won the most Cities of Death victories in the first round got to claim the Hive City tile, Halcyon 5. It was a draw between myself and one other player, and so we rolled off. I ended up getting the hive, go Dark Angels!

Lastly, I implemented a bounty system where in players can place bounties on other players units. The first player to kill them can collect the bounty. Your's truly and his Ven Dred proved hard to kill so a bounty was placed on him by our bug player, Steve. Pat, from this blog right here, collected the bounty in hail of Long Fang fire, and was paid accordingly:

The brand is apropos I think.

Thanks for reading,
T

My Assault on Assault on Black Reach Part 12

2011-09-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

I was just getting to the good part on the dred, the highlighting, when I realized I needed to jump ship. Things got a little hectic last week and I was enjoying the Planetary Empire campaign games so much that I kind of blew off painting. Now I have just 10 short days to complete 10 models for our local club's painting challenge. So the dred is going to get shelved while I finish the tac squad, so I got them underway last night.

About a model a day to meet the deadline. I will shamefacedly admit, this will be a close one...

Thanks for reading,
T

This Blog Post Was To Be Epic

2011-09-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

But it ended up being a "had to be there". For those that were there, we had a great time with a game day for our planetary empires campaign we launched over the last two weeks.

For the first round we were only playing 1k points, and on a 4x4, so we could have a couple of games going at the same time in The Shed. I meant to take a bunch of pictures of this 40k bonanza, as almost everyone there got in three games, fueled by beer and grim dark dark grimness! But, I was having so much fun that I forgot. So instead you get a few pictures of a few games, and Larry's smoking hot ork boyz mob!

Thanks for reading,
T

Not Slacking, Promise!

2011-09-07T09:35:00.000-07:00

My brushes have been resting as I was trying to build my DA force up to a level where they can be used for a forthcoming campaign and some events.

My hobby time has been filled with knives, files, and glue, as illustrated above. That is all done now, so back to the dreadnought. I should have an update soon.

Thanks for reading,
T

My Assault on Assault on Black Reach Part 11

2011-08-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

Got some work done on the dread this weekend. I even found a few spare bits from a Dark Angels sprue I must have had at some point, to spruce it up. I am a pretty big fan of dreds, and am really enjoying painting this.

On Friday, right before I got off work, I was talking some terrain with Magnus from Magnus' Project Log. I got home and decided I should paint on some of the stacks of plastic craters I had sitting in my game room/storage building, affectionately referred to as, "The Shed". When Planet Strike first came out, before any reviews hit, I had preordered and paid for the crap-terrain-crater-things. They had been sitting around collecting dust,because they pissed me off. Anyway, I sat on my porch with some big brushes and listened to the Mariners game. It turned out alright (The painting, not the game. The game was dismal with the Mariners sucking it up as usual...)

Thanks for reading,
T

A Whole Grip o' Stuff

2011-08-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

I am elated, and more than a little proud, to show off this Njal. I didn't do it, my younger brother did. I used to call him my little brother, but he is taller than me, so I had to switch up to "younger". Anyway, I think this model is an awesome achievement, as I can remember just a few months back as I sat with him and showed him the basics of line-highlighting and blending. He has made an incredible leap with this model, and I am proud of him. Here is a few more pics:

Still more "stuff" amidst our whole grip is that myself and some old, and new friends, are kicking off another Planetary Empires campaign. I am using the same tiles I did a year or so back. I snapped a few quick shots of them reconfigured for this planet, before they become all worn-torn and grim-dark-dark-grimness as our battles rage across them:

Lastly, I am still plugging away at my AoBR project. I started on the dred, but might change to the tac squad if they are better suited for our club's next painting challenge. Speaking of that, there were some pretty cool entries listed this month, so if you have a second and a yuku account, go here and vote for what ya like.

Thanks for reading,
T

My Assault on Assault on Black Reach Part 10

2011-08-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

Company Master Brother Nemiel ready to assault Black Reach. In all I am pretty happy with him. There were a few areas that could have used a little more, but my deadline and sanity demand that I move on. I was stoked with the way the sword came out. I was trying to keep it as black as possible as I wanted him to have one of the Dark Angel's sacred blades. Enough talk, though some more pices. Including some of the termies and my damnable banner.

Thanks for reading,
T

My Assault on Assault on Black Reach Part 9

2011-08-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

I am within striking distance of finishing this guy. He ended up being pretty time consuming with all the free-handing. I put in quite a few hours this weekend in order to meet my game club's deadline. So I should be able to make it barring anything catastrophic.

I am not a fan of the sculpted banner. The detail sculpted on is nice because you don't have to free-hand paint it. But then you run into the conflict of pretending it isn't raised, since the design would be flat on the banner, or highlighting it like all the other raised areas on the model. One way or another, I felt like it was discordant. When I highlighted the raised part it made the banner look like it was supposed to have raised areas of the design, and then when I opted not to, which was my final choice, it looks like it needs more highlighting. Cest la ve.

Thanks for reading,
T

Made the Honor Roll

2011-08-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

I am stoked! I am a pretty avid follower of SCWH and so I was really excited to see that my little corner of the interwebz got some love from them. (Edit-I didn't get how it worked, so I thought I didn't make it, but in the comments I was set straight! -T). Thanks for the nod SCWH! And keep up the amazing work, whatever the future shape of it may be.

In a blog related side note, I was able to sport my Massive Voodoo t-shirt yesterday. It is officially the most expensive t-shirt I have ever purchased, since you pay almost as much as the shirt to have it shipped to the states. But I am something of a fan of this amazing blog, so it was easily reconciled. In an odd twist, I wore it all day, and didn't paint a single bit..."It's like ray-hey-aaaainnnnn..."

Thanks for reading,
T

My Assault on Assault on Black Reach Part 8

2011-08-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

Got a little work in on my Company Master last night. I got all the shading done via washes. I may brush in some actual paint shading, but we will see. These colors are light and dark enough, respectively, that I should be able to get away with a few washes.

At the end of the allotted paining time I decided to do so some finishing work. I had to block this guy in with color completely because I wasn't sure how everything would look. With that done, and him shaded, I could start my usual inside-to-out method. I thought I would finish the flesh colors of his face and his hair.

I am eager to get further under way on this guy. I am hoping I can break off a large chunk of time this week, but if not there is the weekend.

Thanks for reading,
T

My Assault on Assault on Black Reach Part 7

2011-08-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

In hopes of competing in my club's next painting challenge which is due in 10 days, I blocked in all the color on this guy over the weekend. Shamefacedly, I admit that it being due in ten days means I am already down to the wire with how slow I paint. Although I was going to save him for last, the captain from Assault on Black Reach works for my current project, and the club challenge, so he got called up early.

This captain is a Company Master in the Dark Angels 'dex. He can't actually have a power weapon and bolter as a load out, so that is just one big and fancy bolt pistol. I wanted the project to be Dark Angels from the 5th Company so I did the banner and cape to match the badge of the 5th.

Because there is going to be so much going on with this model, I wanted to block in all my colors, including the base for a lot of the free-handing. I will shade and paint over a lot of it, but the guide helps me out and gives me a basis to go over when it comes time to polish up and line the free-handing for a "finished" look. The nice part about getting it down early is that you will get some color variation and shading on the free-handing just by merit of shading the garment the free-handing is on, so it adds more depth to the work.

With all the base colors blocked in I will get cracking on finishing this guy up. 10 days here we go!

Thanks for reading,
T

My Assault on Assault on Black Reach Part 6

2011-08-09T09:40:00.000-07:00

Brother-Sergeant Leonis and his Deathwing are ready to assault Black Reach...kind of. While the painting is done, I still need to add decals (Which I am waiting on from Forge World.) as well as some static grass. After that I will give them a shot of dull coat to even out the shine on them. Anyway, here are a few more pics:

Sorry about the crap pics. I am not able to set up my portable light box atm, but I will give them a proper shoot as soon as I can. I used flesh to highlight the reds, and I am not any more crazy about it then progressing up through orange. I am still questing for red highlights I like.

Thanks for reading,
T

My Assault on Assault on Black Reach Part 5

2011-08-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

BONE DONE! Little excited about this...obviously. The complete build was a Dheneb Stone base, wash with Gryphonne Sepia, another wash in the recesses with Ogryn Flesh, reclaimed the major areas of the model with a mix of Bleached Bone and Dheneb Stone (50/50), a line highlight of Bleached Bone, and finally a very thin line highlight of Skull White. In all it was a time consuming process, but I think the final result was worth it. Good thing I would only have to use this color build on a small selection of models if I pressed forward with this army past the AoBR set.

Lastly, I decided to give a go at the crackling-energy effect on a power weapon.

I have a long way to go, but I think I got the basics down so I am hoping they will look a little better the more I do. Practice makes perfect and all that.

Thanks for reading,
T

My Assault on Assault on Black Reach Part 4

2011-08-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update. Spent a lot of time blending the bone armor, I need to remember how I used to do it quickly. A lot of the time was because I would get fixated on certain areas and then all hung up. For me, the more I mess with something, it seems the worse it gets. At some point I could just here my mother's chastising voice saying, "Don't pick at it."

Anyway, got the inside colors like the silver metallic, flesh on the sgt, and the black done. In the name of speed and sanity I will line highlight the bone armor and leave it be. After the armor is completed this group should wrap pretty quickly and I can be on to the next.

Thanks for reading,
T

My Assault on Assault on Black Reach Part 3

2011-07-29T09:14:00.000-07:00

Got to do a little more work on these guys last night. I thought I would get a lot further, but I ended up getting a little hung up on the heraldry. So basically, the stuff I thought would take forever, didn't. And the stuff I thought would go quickly, took too long.

I was having a lot of fun with the armor, but considering how light the bone color is, I figured I should probably block in the rest of my colors on the model and then revert to the usual "inside to out" painting.

I am looking forward to working on these guys more this weekend so hopefully I will have something to show on Monday.

Thanks for reading,
T

My Assault on Assault on Black Reach Part 2

2011-07-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

Had a game last night so I didn't have a lot of time to paint. Not that I am complaining as it was a lot of fun. I played my friend Mike Camin's Dark Eldar to a draw, which is always cool. Even cooler, he likes the Kokanee which I had had in my fridge from someone else bringing it over, and I think it tastes how I imagine horse piss would taste...if the horse drank beer I guess. So, anyway, win-win. Good times had and bad beer gone.

As I was winding the night down I thought I would get a little brush work in on the AoBR project. First off I based the terminators with Dheneb Stone. I should preface this with the fact that I chose to do the terminators first because I thought they would be the biggest pain in the butt. But, the last time I did Deathwing terminators the foundation line didn't exist, so I was pleasantly surprised. With just a few thinned coats Dheneb Stone covered like a dream, and I suddenly found myself with more time to paint then I thought I would have.

As I was poking around the internet I saw a lot of people use Dheneb Stone as the the bone color and shade it with gray, keeping it kind of cold. While I liked the look, I decided I preferred the older look, with the warmer, yellowish-bone. In order to warm it up quickly I washed the models with Gryphonne Sepia.

I should have thinned the wash a little, as I ended up with some splotches and pooling, but it is still going to manageable to paint over or blend out. I was amazed to see that what I assumed would be the hardest part of the AoBR project had taken me like an hour. Busting out the hair dryer I helped the wash drying along as it was getting kind of late and I wanted to get my last shading wash in before bed.

Once they were dry I "lined in" the deepest recesses of the model with Ogryn Flesh from the wash line. Normally I will just thin a normal paint like Scorched Brown for this kind of shading, but since I was working with such a light color I decided to give the wash a try instead. I am not entirely sold, but I am going to reserve judgement until I start bringing up the bone.

Thanks for reading,
T

My Assault on Assault on Black Reach Part 1

2011-07-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

The guys who play at the local game store have this kind of impromptu tradition of going to breakfast together before the tournament starts. Even though I wasn't playing in this particular tournament I met up with all of them. Over breakfast I got to talking with my buddy who plays marines. And then we did some more talking, and then I was pretty much done for. I had marines on the brain. The powered armored demon had a grip on my soul. My Dark Eldar Wracks had to move aside for a bit, I was going to need brushes to exorcise this evil.

I like the Assault on Black Reach marine contingent a lot. I think the models are really cool for what they are, and feel as much like green army men to me as they do models for a specific game. Since I had a set of them, I figured I should probably just do them up instead of paying thirty-something dollars for a box of tac marines.

Since they were already built the next part was pretty easy. Because inevitably their armor will be something dark I went with black primer, and an ample amount of it. Since it was a nice summer day I grabbed a beer (Yeah...it was 10:00 AM so...) and moved my priming operation outside. First I stood them all up and primed around them in all directions. Then face up:

Then face down:

Once they guys were all dry and I had done a good 45 min shift making sure the chair on our back deck didn't get away I picked everyone up and moved indoors. The next step was going to be to base them all in one fell swoop. But I noticed that despite my gallant efforts, there were still parts of gray plastic showing. So I broke out some Chaos Black and thinned it a little with water and grabbed my tank brush.

I went over the models quickly, all the while having the Rolling Stones stuck in my head, getting the gray I saw poking through, which was mainly like the tiny areas of space between the side of the armor and the shoulder pad, or something equally as irksome.

So now that everything was the blackest black in black land I figured I had enough time to get the bases done before I had to move onto not morning-drinking and toy soldiers. My first color for the bases was Catachan Green.

After that it got a wash, well dowsing really, of Devlan Mud. Once that was dry I drybrushed in Codex Gray and then Fortress Gray. Eventually I will paint the ring graveyard Earth, but if I do it now I would just rub a lot of it off as I was painting the models. In the final touches some static grass will be added as well.

That's what I got for now, kinda weak sauce that I made you read a book to see a guy prime and base models. It'll get better, or at least I hope you think it does.

Thanks for reading,
T

More Dark Eldar Warriors

2011-07-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

Put the finishing touches on these guys last night. They are the last of the Kabalite units for my "army", unless Scourge count too. I am not super familiar with the fluff.

This is the second warrior squad that I have sized to ride in a second Venom. The list I have kicking around has two Venoms, two Raiders, and two Ravagers. Something about parity must really appeal to me. I was pretty stoked to finally have a banner come out that I didn't want to instantly paint over.

It is the little things. Up next are some coven units.

Thanks for reading,
T

Dark Eldar

2011-07-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

I tried something, it didn't work. That is about all I am going to say about it right now. I needed to go away from Daemons after the release of Grey Knights. I didn't throw in the towel happily, or even willingly, at first. I ignored the bitching and moaning around me and set out to try it for myself. What I discovered was disheartening. There are very specific builds, which I have no interest in playing, that I am certain could weather the Grey Knight storm. But the army I loved, and was excited about, simply cannot. But enough of all that.

This was the first squad I painted. I really just set out to get to know the warrior models. I liked the big dark lance, and brought the blaster as well, as I used them a lot in my earlier Dark Eldar army. I am not crazy about the squad's banner and hope to revisit it someday. But I probably won't.

After the warrior squad I decided to get to know some Wyches. I found them to be quite a bit more intensive than the warriors, but still very rewarding. I wanted to tie the blue into the warriors kabal and the Cult of the Seventh Woe was a pretty good fit. Rules wise, I am not a giant fan of the Agonizer with this squad so I stuck with just a power sword for the Succubus. This is all complete speculation, as I have never actually played a game with my Dark Eldar under this new codex.

As soon as the Venom kit was released I knew I had to have few. Though not the huge amount that are springing up in tournament lists. I have always loved the Eldar Vyper, and the Venom is very reminiscent of that. Knowing that I would want a few I started expanding my kabal to accommodate one or two of them with a small warrior squad with blaster.

Not hugely fond of their banner either. And again the hope is to go back some day and fix it.

That is what I have been up to. I need a little more for my bases though. I am having a hard time deciding what color static grass to use. I want the bases to look like a desolate or blasted planetscape, so I have narrowed it down to Citadel Dead Grass or Citadel Burnt Grass. If I have any readers left after my hiatus chime in the comments section and let me know which one you think would look best. At this point I think either would work, so I will take whatever one you all think would work best.

Thanks for reading,
T

MPB Sleeping, Not Dead, Until Late AUG '11

2011-05-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

Working on a theory, I will report back in Aug. Talk to you then.

Thanks,
T

Flamers of Tzeentch Complete

2011-04-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

Finished up the "off-color" flamer, who, for now serves as my Bolt of Tzeentch guy. More and more I am not convinced that running him with bolt is the best way. He ends up being 65 points, which seems like an awful lot considering he only gets to shoot one of his guns every turn. We are going to give it a few more games. Bolt of Tzeentch is one of those weird things for me where I would almost rather have it an not use it, then not pay the points for it. I have a heck of a time with a lot of AV as is. Maybe I will continue indulge myself this crutch?

The models were a lot of fun to paint and good for my attempts to "speed up". They are really fantastic once you start brushing on them, and there is the a lot of potential to make them look interesting. But in an attempt to actually finish this army before August I had to suffice for some limited blending and some drastic line-highlighting for contrast. Here are a few more pics:

In all I am pretty stoked about they way they turned out, I think that although a small unit, they should be eye catching. I am excited for a Tzeentch break, having finished all the of the Tzeentch contingent but a herald (Of which I am still waffling on whether or not he is even in the list.) for my current army. So my brush is now devoted to the Blood God, Khorne, for what I hope is only a month or so. We shall see.

Thanks for reading,
T

Two Flamers of Tzeentch

2011-04-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

This handsome duo is two of the three Flamers of Tzeentch in my army. The third one is slightly different, color wise, and was supposed to represent the one with Bolt of Tzeentch. Now I am kind of unconvinced so I may drop Bolt from this squad and just have one that is oddly colored. It shouldn't be too disruptive, and I can always play the, "Hey its Chaos," card.

I am still having a difficult time deciding how I like to paint fire but I think I am getting closer with these models. Here is a few more pics.

Thanks for reading,
T

Horrors of Tzeentch with Changeling Done

2011-04-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

Got the last of these guys done finally on Friday but was a little late in getting them up. They took far too long, and though it seems like I am always saying this, I am still looking to find the "sweet-spot" of quality vs. economy of time.

The last bit I had to do was the icon, musician, Bolt of Tzeentch one (Blue arms.), as well as two rank and file guys. The icon was a little maddening in that it was almost as big as another model. It didn't end up how I envisioned it at all, but it will have to pass. I have a lot of army to go. As an aside, who ever sculpted these models, while doing an great job, clearly never tried to fit them into the formation they have to be in when they enter the table.

I do my best to not talk tactics on this blog anymore, I just don't have the knack for it. I'll keep my editorial on the new Grey Knight Codex to a dull roar. It is extremely disheartening to think that by spending fewer, or no points, a GK player can make all the points I spend useless when it comes to army construction. That is assuming I can get the guys I have paid for to even get on the board on account of Warpquake being free. In all, I do not look forward to GK opponents because it seems like playing poker against a stacked deck. Time will tell.

Thanks for reading,
T

Screamer Squad Complete

2011-03-07T09:36:00.000-08:00

I finished my Screamer squad this weekend, adding the last two members to it. They seem to have turned out pretty well. The models were a lot of fun to paint and I hope that the huge swathes of color will draw the eye.

I painted them in 2's, and tried a different purple build on each pair. I am not sure which I like best, if any of them, so far so I will keep messing with it. It always feels good to have a squad behind you, and now it is on the next.

I am kinda pecking at some flamers while I try and get the horrors done. Hoping to have all Tzeentch stuff done this month, but I hoped that last month too...

Thanks for reading,
T

Behold, I Fail

2011-03-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

The Month of Tzeentch comes to a close, and I find myself only completing four of nine models. What a drag.

I tried to push through the last two Screamers last night, but it wasn't happening. I am thinking I will take the next little bit of time to get the Screamers done. I will probably then table the Horrors and do something else, before coming back to them to finish.

As for this month, I guess I will be setting a slightly less optimistic goal.

Thanks for reading,
T

Pleasant Surprise

2011-02-25T08:59:00.001-08:00

Most people in this hobby have sold minis at one point or another, and probably on eBay. If you haven't don't worry. I have done it enough for all of us. Normally when you sell something it is kind of out-of-mind after the transaction is tendered.

Followers of the blog might recall I took a bombastic deviation into Black Templar a little while back. I was young and I needed the mo-...we wait that was something else. Anyway, I got better, and in order to fund my next project I put the minis I had built up on eBay, as I am want to do. They sold, as they do, and I thought that was the end of that. However after I shipped the neophytes I had built, I got an email from the buyer telling me how much he enjoyed the way I built them.

I thought it was cool the minis could be appreciated, and, as I am a painted model junkie, responded with a, "Thanks. If you get them painted send me some pics." Thought that would be the end of it.

So this week I get an email pointing me here with a note saying something to the effect of, "Hey I painted them, check them out." I can say that even at my most enthusiastic, I never expected these minis to look this cool when I was building them. G.N.O.M.E. did an amazing job with them. His whole project is awesome. You should read about it in the blog. Basically he is taking reclaimed models from auctions and stuff and breathing new life into them with some great looking brush work. I think it is like recycling, or carbon foot print or something, but like, for minis.

I take zero credit for G.N.O.M.E.S. minis. A model converted and primed black, no matter how cool, is just a piece of black plastic or metal. Instead, what I will take is pride in the fact that something I did inspired someone else to keep it going. It is neat to think that some kernel of the vision I had was contagious enough to spread to someone I didn't know, and in a very impersonal internet sale. It made my week for sure. And apparently some other people liked it to.

Killer work G.N.O.M.E, props!

Thanks for reading,
T

Four Screamers Down, Two To Go

2011-02-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

I was able to meet my club's painting challenge deadline. The self-imposed Month of Tzeentch is looking a little grim though. Looks like about 5 days to finish 7 models. Not too likely but I have not yet abandon hope.

The newest additions are still kind of shiny. I will probably hit them with another dull coat when I get home. I have been having some weird texturing with my gloss coating. I am not sure if it is because of uneven coverage or temperature. It is pretty friggin' cold here right now. Either way it is a little bothersome, but I don't think it ruins the model.

Thanks for reading,
T

Off Schedule

2011-02-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

The Month of Tzeentch has had some serious set backs brought about by the other chaos gods. I am not sure why I thought the five days in Vegas for work would be just that. But the five days in Vegas, or what we will call the five days of Slaanesh,gave way to the weekend of Nurgle, where I didn't actually leave my bed. I was delusional to think that I would be immune to the nastiness that abounds in that petri dish called a Trade Show. It is like the best and brightest colds are imported from all over the country to run rampant over an alcohol battered, sleep-deprived immune system.

In short, I have three days to finish one screamer, and they way I am feeling, it will be down to the wire.

Thanks for reading,
T

Two Screamers Complete

2011-02-09T09:32:00.000-08:00

Finished up these two yesterday and snapped some pics. There are four more yet to do in the squad. I think I will do things a little differently for others, like outline the pink scales and so something different with the tusks, but keep the same colors. That is the freeing thing about painting Chaos, not every model has to look a like. It will be pretty quiet around here for a week or so as I travel for work. In the meantime, enjoy this meager offering.

Thanks for reading,
T

Screamers of Tzeentch WIP

2011-02-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

I was able to get a little bit of work done on these guys this weekend, though not nearly as much as I would like. I lost a large chunk of yesterday to a really great game. Congratulations to all the Packers fans and Steelers haters out there. Not really having a dog in the fight I was just excited to see a good game.

My Month of Tzeentch thing is quickly shaping up to be a photo finish. I have not yet finished a model, and I have eleven to do. I tabled the five horrors I was working on to get these screamers done for this month's painting challenge at my game club. I will finish the horrors once the painting challenge is met.

I have seen screamers panned by a lot of daemon players, and they might be right. They are often a bust for me. However, for what I am going for, they serve my purposes perfectly. First off they have melta bombs, so they help me open up armor. Secondly, and far more importantly, they are big long swathes of color. The bright stripes on my display board will hopefully draw people in to see what my army is all about.

Because I am looking for these guys to be flashy I used fairly drastic line high lighting on them. I wanted sever contrast to have them "pop" from a distance, so I gave up some of the blending I would have loved to have done these models. With only the blue and purple done, the severity seems to be working. Proof, my wife, whose interest in my miniatures doesn't extend past her general approval of me doing something I like that is fairly benign, noticed them amidst a horde of other painting projects.

I should be able to get the pinkish scales and bone-colored spines done fairly quickly. I may go for another color on the tusks to visually represent their warp jaws, maybe that blue-green color I have been using for the fire of my horrors?

Thanks for reading,
T

Choosing Colors For Your Army

2011-02-01T09:13:00.000-08:00

Oh man are we in for a treat! Deke Stella of Soda Pop Miniatures has graced the ol' MPB with some of his painting wisdom. Check it out below:

Why Won’t They Look At Me?

Today’s topic is, choosing colors for your army.

It is probably important to note my frame of mind when picking colors for an army. I have metric bleep tons of “one off” models that I did just for the joy of painting or to try out new techniques but when I’m ready to paint an army it’s for keeps. Painting an army is a decent investment in money and a bleep off huge investment of time. If I’m going to commit to it then I expect it to compete on a few levels:

1) That it can hang out and compete for a top prize at a painting tournament.
2) That when I take it down to a shop people will look at it.
3) That it is better than the last army I painted.

Now I don’t expect people to be all about #1. I enjoy competitive army painting and I know it’s not everybody’s bag. I firmly believe everybody is striving for #2, even if they won’t admit it. It is frustrating as hell to bust your ass painting a new squad just to show up and not have anybody notice it. You have a right to be proud of your work. Actually getting something painted is an accomplishment very few gamers achieve. Revel in it; don’t be ashamed of the size of your painting bleep. #3 is the only way you get better. I’ve hit many painting plateaus over the years and the only way you get through them is inspiration and the determination to improve. This article will hopefully help you out with #2 and #3.

The final thing to note is that this is in regards to your entire army as opposed to a single model. Certainly, some similar principles apply but in general you can get away with a whole lot more in your color selection when just painting a single pretty model for your cabinet versus selecting colors for a whole army. That is an entirely different article though.

Okay, let’s get down to business.

Armies have to work on a couple of levels to be truly effective and eye catching. If people don’t notice it from 5-6 feet away they certainly aren’t going to stop at it to look at your beautiful, intricate and subdued paint job up close. So the first thing you need is some brightness. Now brightness isn’t the only thing necessary. Amid the sea of brightly colored marines you need something to break up the main color and to cause people to stare at your army after they’ve noticed it. This is where contrast comes in. After that you need some accent colors to really ratchet up the visual appeal. Last are the neutral colors for the unimportant bits and bobs that just need to stay in the background and not clutter the army.

Despite the fact that I said brightness is the first thing that gets your army noticed, I always start my color selection by determining the contrasts. I do this mainly because once you have good contrast it is a relatively simple matter to beef up the brightness. If the colors on the models are too similar to one another then the whole effect of the army is going to simply be a blur when people look at it.

Lets take a look at the first test gor I painted for my Briar Knights army. As you can see he’s lacking in contrast. As a single model he does just fine. In fact, I kind of like his slightly less saturated and more sinister look, but as an army….no way. From a few feet away the skin quickly blurs into the fur. It is hard to separate the different elements on the model. He becomes something of a muddled mess.

Now lets look at how I fixed that. The blue tint on the skin got pulled almost entirely out, sticking with the browner tanned flesh. While the brown tints were removed from the fur and stronger blue elements were played up. Now there is nice clear color distinction of the key elements (fur, skin, greenery, cloth) across the entire model.

Okay, everything looks good so now, brightness. Most game stores and gaming halls are poorly lit by painting standards and your paint job needs to account for that. I know some painters who refuse to use nice daylight lamps because they know that’s not how the model will be seen. The increased brightness of their painting station causes their colors to trend darker and then in harsh reality the army appears mute. After my Briar Knights, I’m honestly inclined to agree with them. By most standards the gors seem reasonably bright. The green pops, the skin and fur are easy to see, not bad. Now lets look at a group shot.

Bleep. Our good contrasts were tricking us into thinking they were also bright. The location of the skin and greenery make it hard to see from top down, which is your standard viewing angle. The blue dominates and the skin has almost disappeared. They’re certainly interesting models but easy to miss when you walk by. Now take a look at the warhounds.

Pow! It almost looks like photo trickery they’re so much brighter and easier to see but the picture is from the roughly the same angle and is the same lighting. They’re the exact same colors. I just brightened them all up. Hands down my Warhounds get more looks and more comments than my gor herds. For that matter my DMB (orcs) get more looks than my gor herds, despite the fact that the paint jobs are years apart in skill.

So what have we learned from this? Choose two colors that contrast and that you can get bright. Take these two colors and use them for the bulk of your model. Typically one color will be skin and another will be the clothing, armor, or fur. Between the two you will get the bulk of your model painted.

After I’ve settled on my two primary colors I always search for one or two accent colors. On my Briar Knights it is the wine red cloth and the greenery. On my DMB it is the blue weapons and white banners, dags, and checks. These colors usually occupy only one or two points on a model. Their purpose is to break up the two primary colors and inject a little more visual interest on the model. These colors in general should contrast but it’s most important that they’re bright and pop. If they can’t be seen they don’t really do much for ya. Arguably this is a failing of my Briar Knights’ accent colors when compared to my DMB. When in doubt white or bone are your friends as accent colors.

Last but certainly not least you need to choose your neutral colors. Models these days have all sorts of detail. Much of it will never be seen and is effectively irrelevant unless you’re painting for a competition (and even then it’s largely ignored). Stuff like pouches, belts, trinkets, etc. just need to get out of the way and let the rest the colors do the heavy lifting. Like the failing of the Briar Knights on the accent colors I think it can be argued that a failing of the DMB is that they have too many bold colors. An overly complex palette, while adding character and realism to a single model, just makes an army look cluttered. It’s best to stick with simple neutral browns, greys, or blacks with these.

So far I’ve only discussed the hard mechanics of color selection but not really the visceral, how to chose colors. At Tony’s recommendation we’re going to wrap that up in part two of this article which will be on a blog…..somewhere.

Bleeps were added by me, as per the agreement with FTW Blogroll, sorry Deke. Check out more of Deke's amazing miniatures at the Soda Pop website and this gallery.

Thanks for reading,
T

Thanks Deke Stella!

2011-01-26T09:03:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed my new banner for the ol' MPB. I just wanted to say, "Thanks!" to my good friend Deke of Soda Pop Miniatures fame, as well as this blog, for whipping it up for me. There is a lot going on for Soda Pop, including getting picked up by the Warstore and he is a busy guy.

I have been up to my eyes in building Slaanesh. Caught an awesome trade on Bartertown and ended up with a whole other box of Daemonettes as a bonus. I have been assembling a lot of Daemonettes and Seekers all the while cursing their contact points for gluing their arms on. I get why the models were cut that way, just me and my fat fingers hate it.

Should have everything I need for the Daemon list purchased as of Saturday. No more proxies for this guy. From there I will push through to build everything and start to get the paint brush going. The month of Tzeentch has seen little progress, and is threatened by a work trip I have to take, but I think the goal is still attainable. Must build faster!

Thanks for reading,
T

Tzeentch Models Underway

2011-01-20T09:32:00.000-08:00

I have declared from now until the end of February Tzeentch Month. Technically Tzeentch Month has like 34 days, but hey, he's the Lord of Change, it's all crazy. I have set two goals for myself, on attainable and one a wish list.

Attainable Goal
5 Horrors with command.
6 Screamers.

My wish list is the Attainable Goal + 3 Flamers.

I kicked Tzeentch month off by basing the stuff I have, I still need 3 screamers but that will have to wait a few weeks.

Sorry about crap picture of Screamers, dunno what was happening there...

When I am easing into a project I tend to hunt-and-peck a little. Doing a little bit here and there on everything. I also started building the bases for 10 Bloodletters, but they aren't Tzeentch, so they get no coverage!

This multi-project thing works out pretty well, especially when you are base coating and shading with washes. I find that I don't do well waiting for paint to dry, even if I am standing over it with a hair dryer. Instead I will slop a coat on, as is the case for the Horrors, then work on something else. In the case of the horrors that is just the first of probably three coats I will need for good coverage.

Speaking of Horrors, I have been doing some step-by-step photography for them. I will be doing a few posts showing how I did them. It will be a kind of, "Here is what I did to paint mine," thing. Keep an eye out for it.

Thanks for reading,
T

Daemon Prince of Khorne, Mephiston Squasher?

2011-01-18T09:34:00.000-08:00

I have always been kind of fan of Khorne, though that isn't too shocking. It seems everyone I know has, at some point or another, embraced their inner rawr and been enamored with the personification of unbridled rage.

After unintentionally painting a very Khornesque Daemon Prince I decided to have a look at Mark of Khorne for and possibilities having it created for the model. I should preface this by stating that my original intent with my princes was to run them cheap, just basically a 30 point shooting attack and that is it. Playing against my friend Mike's Dark Eldar started making me ponder the value of an armor save, and that kind of opened a flood gate. I started entertaining notions of fully loaded Nurgle and Slaanesh princes, but still never looking at the Khorne.

So then what was one to do when they ended up with an accidental Khorne prince? Take that karma and make karmacorn! Looking through my codex, the very first thing that stuck out was the Collar of Khorne. The mark was kind of exciting, in that it gave another attack, but nothing that made me jump up and down. The collar though...there is something there. I play against Mephiston a lot. And he tears up a lot of things...a lot. Enter my prince. With 6 attacks on the charge, a strength 7 shooting attack, and 2+ save against his force weapon, suddenly the rerolling, Str 10 Mephiston isn't as scary. The best part is, unless I roll really well I probably will not kill Mephiston until his assault phase, which prevents me from having to stand there getting shot in face while covered in Mephiston's gore.

Mephiston could well decide to stay away from my Khorne prince, but that is nice too. If I plant the prince amidst other things, well what isn't better off for not having that monster librarian threatening them? I hope to create a situation where it becomes a piece swap, and I am on the winning end.

Obviously he has uses past Mephiston and I am excited to have a direction in which to go with my new prince. His librarian hunting ways are already swirling around in my head. Cha'dmhaught is on the prowl!

Librarian blood for the Blood God!

Thanks for reading,
T

Cha'dmhaught Done

2011-01-17T09:39:00.000-08:00

Got the prince done and met the deadline. Wish me luck in the voting. Thanks again Greg for the mini!

As a compromise to all parties he will henceforth be known as Cha'dmhaught the Gifted.

Thanks for looking,
T

Must Move On

2011-01-13T09:43:00.000-08:00

Mhaught's skin is "done". I don't want it to be, in fact there are large swathes that I want to do over. This is because I suffer from a similar curse to many miniature painters, wherein, I always want to do more. I am going to say I am done due to a deadline and the words of my mother, sounding faintly from the echoes of memory, scolding, "Don't pick at it you'll make it worse."

It should be noted that I didn't actually quit "picking at it" until a few glazes after the photography. I am still really new to putting striations in the musculature. I glazed them down a couple of times as I thought they were coming across a touch too bright.

The bruising affect I was trying to create failed in looking like a bruise, but upheld its job at being visually interesting. It doesn't look like a bruise so much as just kind of purple, which is ok because it is a daemon.

The full color progression for the skin was as follows: Base coated with 2:1 Midlund Flesh (MF)/Rucksack Tan (RT). First shade was glazed over base with 2:1:1 MF/RT/Thornwood Green (TG) and ample amounts of glaze medium. Final shade was brushed into the deepest recesses with 1:1 TG/Cryx Bane Base (CBB).

Reclaimed the base coat where I was messy from the shading the shading with the base coat. First highlight was 2:1:1 MF/RT/Jack Bone (JB). Second highlight was 1:1 JB/Menoth White Highlight (MWH). Final highlight and muscle striations were 1:2 JB/MWH. Finally mixed a super thin glaze of RT and glazed down the "tops" of the muscles.

I am learning a lot about painting organic surfaces like skin, claws, etc with these guys so it has been a lot of fun. Here is a shot of Mhaught so far:

Thanks for reading,
T

Mhaught Gets Blocked

2011-01-11T10:14:00.000-08:00

I got all the color on Mhaught blocked in. The red and gold ended up being more Khorne, or Skorne, definitely something "orne", than I intended. It didn't bother me enough to change it up though. Maybe for giggles I will run him as Khorne prince some day. In the meantime I will keep running him cheap.

The skin tone looked kind of flat so I decided to add a little color by making the skin around some of tubing look bruised. I am hopeful that the bruising will not only add an organic feel, but the contrast of the purple and the yellow will add more "pop" to the model.

Once I realized how Skorne-like Mhaught was turning out I decide to succumb and give that lacquered gold some of the PP models have a try. I pretty much just used Baal Red wash over the Shinning Gold base. Currently I am not super thrilled about it, but I think with some darker washes to create shadow, as well as reclaiming some of the gold in highlight it will come together. I will also keep the Chaos star as the same gold as the rest of the model in order to create some contrast on the shoulder armor.

I am excited to get this model to this point, which is like 1/3 done, but the time crunch is pressing down. I have five days to finish, and will not get anything done tonight. Yeah for deadlines. Mhaught must be finished!

Thanks for reading,
T

Mhaught's Red Armor

2011-01-07T09:43:00.000-08:00

For Greg's approval and your perusal, I followed Greg's advice and added a little red into this guy. Check it out:

Greg, aka the Greg who gave me the model, aka J.G. "Honeysuckle" Mathews by his friends in "the yard", is a very accomplished painter. So when he tells me to do something with a model I normally hop to.

I used a pretty simple build for the red, shading wise. I started with Mechrite Red as a base over the Dupicolor Gray Primer I use.

Then I just hit it with a generous wash of Baal Red straight out of the pot.

Lastly I lined the places where the shadow would be deepest with Asurman Blue wash, also straight out of the pot.

That deepest shade is a little light for me right now, but since so much of it is flush with that trim which will be gold, I want to see how dark it gets when it collects the shade from the gold colored parts as well.

Speaking of gold-colored parts, I spent the lion's share of my brush time last night blocking in the base color for the metallic parts on the model. Having to do it over, I may have just primed this guy black. Though it would have made the skin tone darker, or take more time, so I think the gray (Which is my color of choice.) probably ended up being about even.

Pretty much everything that looks black in the first picture above is, except the parts that I will be painting gold. In the case of gold, bronze, etc I use a 1:1 Chaos Black/Scorched Brown base. I am hoping to get the gold and silver metallics blocked in tonight, as well as shaded. I have a sneaking suspicion I will not get a lot done him this weekend as I am headed out of town to watch the Seahawk's game with friends. It will no doubt entail drinking to excess during the game, with still more drinking afterwards to celebrate victory. Or the more likely outcome wherein I drown my sorrows. Either way I see some recovery time required on Sunday, so Mhaught will have to be neglected until Monday. That will mean I have a scant seven days to finish him when next he and my brush meet. Down to the wire friends, down to the wire...

Thanks for reading,
T

Gifted Prince WIP

2011-01-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

I would like to thank all my readers, or reader, for his suggestion for the name of my prince. Thus far the names in the running are:

Chad the Daemon Prince
Or
Mhaught, the Frenchest of Ticklers, the Sloppiest of Seconds.

For folks who are fond of banter filled internet jackassery there is s a fella' what goes by the name of Mike over at Scary Biscuits Studios. We tend to leave each other "helpful" comments from time to time. Mike and I went to college together, though he lives in New Zealand now so I am sure he calls it "University" or something equally as pretentious.

Anyway, back in my acerbic gamer youth I felt it was not only appropriate, but necessary, to ridicule those gamers who didn't play the games I did. Mike was the standard bearer of Flames of War, and his WW2 shenanigans were claiming the guys I played with at an exponential rate. We had many a "back and forth" on the internets, but enjoyed each other's company a great deal in person. I think we are also the only people in our club who give a damn about baseball.

Mike has since moved on to work for Battlefront, has a killer blog, and secretly is developing a fantasy game within the FoW scale because he such a fan of the genre (I probably made that last part up, unless it turns out that I didn't. In which case you heard it hear first!). Check out his blog, it is awesome, especially for not having any monsters.

Back to my shiz. I spent a little time on this guy last night. I added the final shade for the yellowish skin (1:1 Thornwood Green/Cryx Bane Base). Then I had a little time to reclaim some of the higher parts of the model with my base skin tone (2:1 Midlund Flesh/Rucksack Tan).

Normally I would finish this color up before moving on another part of the model, but this guys is sculpted in such a way that areas of flesh just kind of become armor and vice versa. I want to get those areas blocked out before I start adding final high lights, chiefly because I don't want to put a lot of time into something I will just end up painting over. I should be able to get some of that down tonight so I at least have an idea of what I am looking at.

Lastly, the interwebs tell me GW is losing money again, or has been for years, whatever. I know that this is in part, perhaps largely, to them sometimes conducting themselves like perfect bastards. Even still, buy GW, or whatever game you are playing. We can't keep playing their game if they go out of business. And if you think they have done some dumb stuff now, wait till you see what they do when they need to drop into a recovery mode.

Ok this was a long one. So summation is thus: Mike Haught, good guy, killer blog. Daemon prince is being worked on. Buy GW, or whatever game you play.

Thanks for reading,
T

Gifted Prince Under Way

2011-01-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

The history of this guy has been alluded to in a few posts, but the skinny on this guy is that my buddy Greg gave him to me for Christmas when I was rummaging through his crap in his super-secret back room. That room is very cool, and loaded with magical GW product. I was over come with flashes of petty larceny at its viewing, but refrained on account of the fact that he is my daughter's godfather, and I figured it would create weirdness if I busted out a good old smash-and-grab.

I am obviously not very far along with this guy, just the base, skin base coat (2:1 Midlund Flesh/Rucksack Tan), and first shade (2:1:1 Midlund Flesh/Rucksack Tan/Thornwood Green with a lot of Glaze Medium and water).

Painting tip, when you wash or glaze large areas with a shading color, do it with the model upside down. Also let it dry upside down if you can help it. I normally have magnets in my base, so I just stick them to the metal pole that runs under my painting table.

I ended up spending a little time with the base, just because there is so much of it. I wanted to keep with the shattered and out of time landscape, so I worked in a little cobblestone into his base.

I have only played a few games with this guy, so I haven't even named him. I have been running him cheap, just basic prince, no mark, with either Breath of Chaos or Gift of Mutation. I think like the idea of giving him the 3+ armor save with Iron Hide, especially with the prevalence of poison out there. Not sure if it is worth the 30 points though.

I still have along way to go with figuring out the best prince for me, but in the meantime who can resist this winning smile?

Thanks for reading,
T

First Thoughts on Daemons

2011-01-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note. From last Tuesday, to Saturday, I got in at least one game of 40k and a twelve pack a day. All of my opponents were gracious enough to let me proxy so a combined Daemon/Tau model force tore forth from the warp to go 1-1-2.

In all, the games were a kick. Daemonic Assault is pretty interesting. Especially because you don't break your forces until your first turn. That pretty much cements in my mind that there are very few instances in which my Daemon army will want to go first. By going second you have advantage in objective missions by going last, in Kill Point mission you deny your opponent the first turn of shooting, and you can see what is down, and where, before you start calling in your vile beasts. (Or in the case of this weekend, some beasts and some fire warriors.)

The Daemon shooting powers are really cool, and I don't want to put them on BS 3 heralds. Much rather have them on the BS 5 princes, but the princes get very expensive with a mark. In all I am still a huge fan of Breath of Chaos, because Bolt is only hitting half the time anyway. But I will need to test it a touch more. My favorite power is Gift of Mutation. The turning to spawn thing is OK, though in many ways detrimental, but being able to single out a model, and use the shooting power in close combat makes me feel like I am getting 30 points out of it.

That is all for now. Going to snap some WIP pics of the daemon prince I am working on and hopefully get him cracked out this weekish.

Thanks for reading,
T

Comin' Through For the Masses

2010-12-28T09:25:00.000-08:00

As I said yesterday, I finished The Changeling. In all, he was kind of a pain in the arse. I am happy with how he came out, though I would love some feedback from ya'll. I have never worked in yellow as a primary color, so I was kinda making it up as I went. He started out a lot brighter, but I dulled my yellows a little to make the robes look a little less plastic.

I wanted to have the model be busy, as he is supposed to always be shifting and stuff. Since he is a Tzeentch guy I tried to accomplish that with lots of scrawling, runes, and mystical writings. That plan did not survive contact, as my best brush for fine detail died because my dumb arse forgot to wash it out the last time I used it. So I had to use a much bigger brush, which made my detail not as precise as I would have liked.

The runes on the robe are a little flat, so I may put a highlight on them, though probably not.

Me and The Changeling are kind of fighting because he tricked me into putting the time into him that I would put into an HQ, before I remembered he was a 5 point squad upgrade. So there is that. Anyway, he is done, we may start talking again soon, but in the meantime I moving on to the next project. A daemon prince that my buddy Greg gave me over the holidays. So stay tuned.

Thanks for reading,
T

Teaser, Kinda...

2010-12-27T09:30:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have seen me busy with the usual amount of travel and familial activities that one usually invests around the holiday time. There was a weekend where I drove 30 hours, which I feel is "above and beyond" however it is was for my wife, and the axiom of "Happy wife, happy life," seems to ring true.

However, yesterday I did get to paint for quite some time before I left to watch my Seahawks get their heads' kicked in. When I got home I decided I was going to get the victory Seattle failed to achieve and finish painting The Changeling. I failed. I didn't think I had. In fact, I put the last "touches" on him at 10 PM and went out to the shop for the first coat of sealer. The plan was to get up this morning and snap some pics.

Sadly, I loaded him into the portable studio and realized through the camera lens that I had completely forgot to paint a vambrace on one of his four arms. Friggin' bummer. Anyway, just like the Seahawks, I let me down. I will finish up the vambrace tonight, snap some pics, and post them tomorrow. Check me out then.

Thanks for reading,
T

Min Horror Squad Done!

2010-12-06T09:36:00.001-08:00

Whoo hoo amirite? First squad done for this army, kinda. In actuality this unit may want to be 10, and have a standard. I am not 100% on if I will use them for anything other than a minimum cost Bolt of Tzeentch. Anyway here are some pics:

I don't have much to say about these guys outside of what I have said in the WIP entries. I will need to clean up my flame technique a little for the standard if I run one because it has a lot. Other than that, I am already on to the next:

I am hoping to have him done by Friday so I can enter him 4 of the 5 Horrors into our club's monthly painting challenge.

Thanks for reading,
T

Skin Done

2010-12-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

So finally got the skin done these guys, sans tongues I guess. The magenta parts came out more pink on these guys than it did on my test model. I am not sure if I like it better or not. I will have to wait until I seen the models all completed to decide which I like better.

A quick note about glazing, do it! The models are pretty skin intensive and so I have been looking for ways to get a smoother blend. I messed with glazing a little while back, but it took too long, and I am impatient. I have been revisiting it for these models, though only one glaze after the color is done, and have been pretty happy with the result.

My glaze is 10:1:1 water, Liquitex(sp?) Glaze Medium (can get a big bottle from Michaels for like 8 bucks.), paint. I Have just been keeping it on the raised areas (musculature, knee caps, etc) of the model and out of the recesses. If some of it works it way into the cracks it isn't a huge deal. Just wipe everything off your brush with a paper towel and then wick it out of there with the recently wiped brush. Takes no time at all.

Hoping to have these guys done this weekend and spend next week on the Changeling. But...hope and reality so seldom coincide in my world.

Thanks for reading,
T

Moojabar the Oft Blessed

2010-11-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

So I bounced back and forth about how to make my herald of Nurgle. I went to a Bitz Swap at the LGS looking for what I thought I wanted. I didn't get anything I wanted, but I got some pieces for my buddy, and got to see a whole bunch of assembled Chaos Spawn. That kit is pretty cool, and I knew I could get a Herald out of it easily. So I started just kind of gluing pieces together taking the comments of, "That's disgusting,," and, "I think I threw up in my mouth a little," from my wife and good friend as indicators that I was on the right track. When the embrace of madness broke, I was left with this guy, who I have named Moojabar the Oft Blessed (Thanks Josh for the name Moojabar.):

Other than screwing about with Moojabar, I spent time on the road for family, had house guests for most of the week, and other excuses that kept me away from my painting table much more than I would have liked over the long weekend. Even still, I did ge a little done on my horros. You may not see much progress between the pic in this entry and the pic in the last entry. But it is there I promise.

Thanks for reading,
T

Still Working...

2010-11-23T09:26:00.000-08:00

With the all the shading done on these horrors I have started bringing up the highlights for their skin, though I haven't gotten too far. This weekend was kind of busy with gutter cleaning, snow shoveling, and a house guest, but I did get to crack away a little as evidenced by the photo below:

I took a bit of brush-break on Saturday to start putting together the next squad. Well "next" after I finish the four horrors shown above, then the other five horrors, so I guess the next squad that isn't horrors:

So there are all kinds of really bad ass precast resin bases out there, but they cost money (I know right!?). So instead I have basically been grabbing anything and everything from my bits box to litter my daemon bases; in a feeble attempt to recreate the coolness of the precast resin bases. The theme I am going for is like a war-torn planetscape where the daemons are perpetually battling the inhabitants. Sort like an ever present entropic force. In doing so I have been using everything from various thicknesses of cork, precut tiles, pieces I think I got around the time planet strike came out, and just about anything else I feel like. I am hoping that this mismatch of clutter will help communicate that "worn and laid waste to" feeling that I imagine for the army.

And I do get a chance to express my feelings towards losing to Dark Eldar last Thursday:

Hopefully it will all translate. If not, I can always drop the, "Hey its chaos line."

Thanks for reading,
T

Dark Eldar, It Has Been Awhile

2010-11-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

Got to throw down with my friend Mike last night with him playing the new Dark Eldar codex. The games was awesome, with me losing 2 objectives to 1, despite a lot of the clunkiness that comes with playing against a new army. That clunkiness was further compounded by the fact that he didn't know what a lot of his stuff did either. If nothing else the game reiterated what I love to preach, but seldom practice in a fun game, "If you have a question look it up!"

Along those same lines, I got my buddy Chris (An amazing Warmachine player.) to come to the 40k fold as well. It is a win-win for me because I have more opportunities to play him. I loaned him my rulebook so he could read the rules, so I didn't have it during this game. This game, which was pretty cut and dry, still had me wanting to look something up at least four times. It is always good to have your rulebook.

I have not played against the new Dark Eldar enough to have a good analyses of them, though one game was enough to give me a healthy respect. This is an army, that in the hands of an experienced player, will terrorize people. The real bummer here is that there aren't models for the vast array of stuff you can bring. It makes playing them kind of hard when the 'dex is new because it is new units being represented by proxy models. The potential for confusion is great.

I look forward to playing against them again, but fear what they will become with experience and a more robust model range.

Thanks for reading,
T

Snails's Pace

2010-11-18T09:27:00.001-08:00

I have been slowly, like glacier slowly, chipping away at this min squad of horrors. I have all the shading on the skin finished. I'm not sure why I have been taking so long to finish these, outside of the fact that I just haven't been painting a lot lately. That fact alone is confounding. While I am at work I think how much I need to get home and paint, then I get home and do everything but paint. Or just paint for a few hours.

There is hope. Even as I type this the first snowy flakes of winter flurry about out my office window. I tend to get quite a bit done in the winter months since there is 'eff all better to do.

Anyway w/o further ado or belly-aching, some WIP pics of my horrors:

Thanks for reading,
T

October Horror Finished

2010-10-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

Just a few update pics. Was hoping to have a min squad done but this week got crazy.

Thanks for reading,
T

October Horrors

2010-10-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

From 2010-10-20

This month our local game club is having a painting challenge involving the color pink. As I am not a very imaginative person, and it is Halloween, Pink Horrors jumped to mind. It was also pretty helpful that they just got some cool new plastics.

So here are a couple of WIP shots of my first one. I am learning a lot as I don't normally paint this much skin. I plan to have a min squad done by the end of the challenge, so once that happens I will post the others up.

From 2010-10-20

A Name Apropos

2010-10-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

That guy looks pretty cool huh? A lot of people may have actually never seen one. Like Bigfoot, you have heard of them, even seen blurry photos, or artists renditions. (See Above.) But you have never actually seen a Tau Etheral in a 40k game. And despite my recent efforts to prove otherwise, there is probably a good reason for that.

I have stated a couple of times I am kind of an internet contrarian. (But wait! I am on the internet! Does that I mean I have to think contrary to everything I say? Oh noes!) So if the Internets tell me something sucks, like the Etheral, I can't get him into a list fast enough. In the case of the Etheral, I am starting to think like the internet.

The guy with the maracas of the future there has hit the table three times for me in pick up games. In all three games he has died because, when my opponent finds out that killing him has the chance of running my stuff of the board, they tend to get an evil grin as they start calling out new fire coordinates. The Ethereal has a rule that makes it so that as long as your Tau (So no bugs, kroot, or drones.) guys can see him they can reroll morale tests, but if he dies all Tau units on the board have to make a morale test at the beginning of their next turn. Your stuff that sticks around gains USR Preferred Enemy. In every game my Ethereal has made at least two squads run, though he has granted Preferred Enemy to what is left. Very helpful, what with all the assaulting my Tau do.

I am gonna give him a few more games. A lot of my units have low Ld because I don't pay for the squad upgrades, so I hypothesize that the reroll can be helpful. But the Etherial is officially "On Notice". Thus far the benefit of the Etheral has been just that. My consternation at this guy only grows when I think that he may be laying the groundwork, wherein a bridge can be built between myself and the internets. With that bridge will come contact, and commerece would increase. Followed closely by treaties, understanding, and eventual acceptence....
THIS CANNOT COME TO PASS!

The next game I think I will bury him a big unit of fire warriors and see what I can see, though that would require me to run a "big" unit of fire warriors. Shit just got real.

Thanks for reading,
T

Jeremy's Sons of Orar

2010-10-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

Got to play a game of 40k with my buddy Jeremy against his stunning Sons of Orar army. This army has been to a few events in the Pacific Northwest, including OFCC and Astronomincon. The army is really sharp, and my craptastic pictures don't do it justice. Even more awesome is the fact that he has an Imperial Fist force, and an Angels of Redemption force that are painted as well, if not better.

Anyway we played 2k points. Annihilation with Dawn of War deployment. I brought my Tau to avoid some marine-on-marine action. I pulled a victory because it was one of those days you get, ever so rarely, where your railguns do what you think Str 10 AP 1 does, and just blew everything up. I was getting Pen "6's" for days. The final score was, after seven turns, Jeremy 9 Kill Points ('Cause Tau give them out like they are going out of style) and me 12 Kill Points. So there is that...

And this, which is a bunch of pics of his army. I am going to reschedule with him and shoot all of his armies in my little portable studio, so some day better pics will follow. Apologies in advance for the quality of these. The lighting was less than optimal and the shoot was somewhat impromptu.

Drop Pod and Ironclad Dread that flamed my fire warriors and ran them off the board his first turn.

With my railguns being "on", I was able to rack up a good amount of kill points early with all the AV 11. Good thing too, as he took at least 2 KP's a turn in turns 6 and 7.

Sternguard.

Jeremy ran Pedro and Honor Guard. While super nasty in assault, I got their truck open early and was able to plink them off with my plasma rifle/missile pod suits on a turn where I got 3 marker light hits.

Jeremy's army's beauty is only surpassed by what a sporting and cool guy he is to play. I always have a good game with him, and this was no exception. Thanks Jeremy.

Thanks for reading,
T

The Independent Characters

2010-09-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

Kudos to the guys producing The Independant Characters podcasts. It has quickly become my favorite podcast for 40k out there. While certainly not G-rated, they are a little tamer than a lot of the others who often swear for swearing's sake or shock value. Their interviews are insightful. They ask pertinent questions and have tackled subject matter with out sounding pedantic or condescending. In all, when I listen to their discourses and opinions, they sound like the kind of guys I would like to hang out with.

Thanks fellas, and keep up the good work.

Thanks for reading,
T

Dads, Friends, and Fandom

2010-09-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

This Blog is linked to my Gmail account via Google Buzz. When I was talking to my Dad last night he said that he was following my blog (Though not actually amongst my 9 awesome followers!) and said my stuff,"Looked cool." That was surprising, because my Dad knows eff all about miniature games. He doesn't have a clue what any of the words mean, he just likes the pictures.

I was thinking about how someone could be "into it", knowing nothing about it? Then it occurred to me that being vested in someone can still let you enjoy it. Deke Stella is without a doubt my favorite painter. You can see his work in the webstore of his miniature company, Soda Pop Miniatures. Now, lasciviously posed, scantily clad, anime chics are about 180 degrees from what I normally think is cool. There are exceptions...

But I digress. I throughly enjoy all of his paint jobs for his miniatures. As a matter of fact I love them. In some instances they even make me like the model more, despite it being something in a genre I wouldn't look twice at normally. Other than, and not looking to gloss over, the fact that he is just really good, I think Deke is my favorite because he is my best friend. Every time I see something that he has done, I can not only see the model, but also the thought process behind it. I can imagine, after having painted for countless hours at his side, the spots where he cursed the model, and the other spots that I know he was stoked to work on. In all, it is just cool that he did it.

As a new father, I am stoked when my daughter just waves. I can guess I can see how my dad could be into this blog with almost no frame of reference. It is all the better when the person you like is also talented, as is the case with Deke.

So thanks, Pop, for being a fan, and thanks Deke for being an awesome painter. Thank god no one I care about, to my knowledge, is involved in reality television. That is just something that I would have to work really hard to see merit in.

Thanks for reading,
T

Black Templar Vows Part 4

2010-09-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

*Picture used w/o permission, glad to take it down if the artist wishes.

Alright. According to the internets we are are saving the best for last. And in many ways I am inclined to agree. Today's vow is:

Accept Any Challenge, No Matter the Odds

This is the most expensive vow at 50 points. It gives all your Templar USR Preferred Enemy. The vow affects dreadnoughts but not Neophytes. The second part of this vow is that if a unit is in range of an assault of an enemy unit it must assault them.

This vow actually took awhile for me to appreciate. The having to assault in conjunction with Kill Them All (A Black Templar rule that requires units to make a Ld test at -1 to shoot at anything other than the closest unit.)made me feel like at times I was not in control of my army. I had some canny opponents who would get an Ironclad or Wraithlord to where my squads had to assault it. The that Templar squad would be tied up all game, or until they were killed. I had even been victim to a very clever use of a Rhino pulling my guys off of an objective late game. And I didn't even get the Rhino since Preferred Enemy doesn't work on vehicles!

However, once you get your target priority worked out, and see some of the tricks coming, this vow becomes pretty nasty for a control type player. What assault army wouldn't love the chance to premeasure their assaults? This vow never states that you have to charge the closest squad, just that if a squad is within assault range you have to charge. It can easily be inferred from that rule that you measure to see what all your squad can charge. This knowledge can be used in a lot of ways to keep you out of undesirable assaults. Be it charging the best target, or declaring an assault you will probably fail, like one 6" away through difficult terrain.

And of course, the obvious, once you do get into assault you get to reroll all of your "to hit" rolls. Which normally makes it so that you crush whatever you are assaulting. This can be a problem, in that you often want to wipe out your opponent during their assault phase so your squad can't be shot at. But that is a different matter entirely.

One thing to note with this vow is that, if you think you are in a position where you will be able to pick your favorite assault, be sure not to shoot. Also, even though it is expensive for Templar, buying Krak grenades can help you out if you get drawn into an assault with something AV 11 or 12. Also, because neophytes don't benefit from this vow, it might not hurt, in lower point games, to leave them at home.

An army I might run under this vow would be small and rely on spending the game locked in close combat. At 1,500 points would look something like this:

1500 Pts - Black Templars Roster

: Emperor's Champion (1#, 140 pts)

   1 Emperor's Champion @ 140 pts (Bolt Pistol; Crusader Seals; Frag Grenades; The Black Sword; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

      1 Armor of Faith

      1 The Black Sword

HQ: Commander (1#, 155 pts)

   1 Commander @ 155 pts (Marshal)

      1 Marshal (Crusader Seals; Power Weapon x1; Combi-Meltagun; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

         1 Adamantine Mantle

         1 Combat Shield

Troops: Crusader Squad (11#, 505 pts)

   10 Crusader Squad @ 505 pts (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x8; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Meltagun; Power Weapon; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

      1 Land Raider Crusader (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 15 models; Access Points: 3; Extra Armor; Frag Assault Launchers; Multi-Melta; Dozer Blade; Twin Linked Assault Cannon; 2x Hurricane Bolters; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine Spirit)

         1 Blessed Hull

Troops: Crusader Squad (11#, 505 pts)

   10 Crusader Squad @ 505 pts (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x8; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Meltagun; Power Weapon; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

      1 Land Raider Crusader (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 15 models; Access Points: 3; Extra Armor; Frag Assault Launchers; Multi-Melta; Dozer Blade; Twin Linked Assault Cannon; 2x Hurricane Bolters; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine Spirit)

         1 Blessed Hull

Fast Attack: Attack Bike Squadron (2#, 130 pts)

   2 Attack Bike Squadron @ 130 pts (Frag Grenades; Multi-Melta x2; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

      1 Space Marine Bike (Twin Linked Bolter)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 65 pts)

   1 Land Speeder Squadron @ 65 pts (Multi-Melta x1)

Total Roster Cost: 1500

Distraction!

2010-09-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get distracted? Me too! OMG are we twins? Anyway, I am going to interrupt this series to show off what I did this weekend, which consequently, was not what I was supposed to be doing.

Players and fans of Warmachine may recognize this color scheme immediately, because I stole it from the Retribution of Scyrah. But I am getting a little ahead of myself.

What happened was Deke and I were talking about color schemes for my Black Templar. I was thinking maybe I wanted to do something other than black and white. As a matter of fact I was just going to have a lot of white. Having never painted white as a majority color, I began flipping through the various books and magazines I have on hand. I was looking to brush up on various painting guides for painting white. One of the first places I looked was the Retribution of Scyrah forces book. As I was looking through their tutorials I kept being struck with how striking the colors could look on a fire warrior.

Next thing I knew, and after laying pavers all day Saturday, my marine was off to the side, and one of my countless fire warriors had taken his place in line.

The guides from the Forces of Warmachine books are really good, and clear. As a matter of fact I have been buying all the "Forces of" books to build a library of good painting guides as nearly all the major colors are covered between all their factions. Though the tinting of the metallics in the Ret book included verbiage like "drop". And my drops and their drops were different, since my base coats came out a lot darker. I a can do a lot better with some practice on shading the white for future models. I will finish a squad in these colors and add it my existing hunter cadre. I don't really care if they are a different color, maybe Commander K' Apow had to call in some reserves?

Thanks for reading,
T

Black Templar Vows Part 3

2010-09-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

Alright. It's Friday, I hope you all are as stoked as I am. Today I am going to give a little run down on my favorite of the Black Templar vows:

Abhor the Witch, Destroy the Witch

This vow affects all units, including vehicles. Before the Scout move, if your opponent has a psyker, all of your units consolidate d6" towards the nearest visible enemy unit. Crusader Seals will let you reroll this consolidation. In addition, any psychic powers that affect one or more of your units are canceled on a 5+. The "down side" is that your units with Infiltrate must deploy with your army.

This vow costs you 20 points. And in quite a few games it won't do you any good. But at the same time it can't hurt you either. I think there is only one entry in the Black Templar's codex that can Infiltrate, and that is at the expense of Furious Charge. Don't get me wrong, I am not excited that I have to pay 20 points to not have to worry about a downside. But I will take it.

Where this vow really pays off, obviously, is when your opponent does have a psyker. If your opponent deploys at the edge of their deployment zone a roll of a 5 or 6 will let a unit in a land raider get into assault even if you have the first turn. It is gimmicky, and highly situational, but it is there if you need it.

Better than any of the potential shenanigans, and the reason I like it, is because this vow is the only form of psychic defense Templar have. Templar can not field librarians, so no hoods. Be it lash, Jaws, or whatever, at least with this vow I am only bent over by it 2/3 of the time. One thing to remember as well, is that in the case of obscured vehicles, you get this in addition to your cover save. So if a brain bug is blasting your tank in cover, you get a 5+ and then a 4+.

Having this vow doesn't hurt you, unless you are a proponent of infiltrating Sword Brethren. And though situational, when facing psykers, you are offered some protection, as well as afforded a few unique opportunities for repositioning or early assault.

The Black Templar list I have been running under this vow looks like this:

1500 Pts - Black Templars Roster

HQ: Black Templars Chaplain (4#, 182 pts)

   1 Black Templars Chaplain @ 182 pts (Master of Sanctity)

      1 Master of Sanctity (Crozius Arcanum; Crusader Seals; Rosarius; Frag Grenades; Melta Bombs; Bolt Pistol x1; Cenobyte Servitors; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)

         1 Rosarius

         1 Adamantine Mantle

         3 Cenobyte Servitors (Close Combat Weapon; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)

: Emperor's Champion (1#, 110 pts)

   1 Emperor's Champion @ 110 pts (Bolt Pistol; Crusader Seals; Frag Grenades; The Black Sword; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)

      1 Armor of Faith

      1 The Black Sword

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 108 pts)

   1 Dreadnought @ 108 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); Assault Cannon; Dreadnought CCW; Storm Bolter; Smoke Launchers; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)

Troops: Crusader Squad (6#, 184 pts)

   5 Crusader Squad @ 184 pts (Bolter x3; Flamer; Heavy Bolter; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch; Razorback)

      1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)

Troops: Crusader Squad (10#, 433 pts)

   9 Crusader Squad @ 433 pts (Bolter x7; Plasmagun; Multi-Melta; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)

      1 Land Raider Crusader (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 15 models; Access Points: 3; Extra Armor; Frag Assault Launchers; Multi-Melta; Dozer Blade; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Assault Cannon; 2x Hurricane Bolters; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine Spirit)

Troops: Crusader Squad (19#, 289 pts)

   10 Crusader Squad @ 289 pts (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x8; Frag Grenades; Meltagun; Power Weapon; Neophytes; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)

      9 Neophytes (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x9; Frag Grenades; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 65 pts)

   1 Land Speeder Squadron @ 65 pts (Multi-Melta x1)

Heavy Support: Vindicator (1#, 128 pts)

   1 Vindicator @ 128 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Smoke Launchers; Demolisher Cannon; Storm Bolter; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)

Total Roster Cost: 1499

The giant squad is accompanied by the Chaplain and his cenobite servitors. Their purpose is far more aesthetic than tactical, however the squad can be surprising from time to time.

Thanks for reading,
T

Black Templar Vows Part 2

2010-09-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

The vow we are looking at today tends to be the red-headed step child of the Templar Vows. In many other blogs the most mention it gets is a single comment like, "Sucks."

As you may have guessed, today I am going to rap a little about the vow:

Uphold the Honour of the Emperor

This vow is the cheapest, at 10 points, and makes it so that no unit may benefit from a cover save. In exchange for this, all units gain a 6+ Invulnerable save and are immune to the effects of Pinning. Vehicles are unaffected by this vow.

Ok simmer down. I can hear the shouts of, "No cover save! Why would you do that?" You are not wrong, the prevalence of the 4+ cover save in this edition is very helpful. It has become something that people have come to count on. So much so, in fact that most people I know who play against marines just build their lists assuming that they have a 3+/4+.

I have seen quite a few lists recently that are designed to kill marines by making them make too many armor saves and leaving AP by the way side. When playing this type of lists, this vow is not that detrimental. If they are flooding the 3+ dice pool, they are certainly flooding the 4+ one as well.

The main thing this vow has going for it, is it makes your mandatory HQ choice cheap, points wise. But because a major aspect of the new edition is no longer available to you, you have to build a list that isn't going to count on cover. Mechanized assault based lists can do well with this vow. Since Black Templar have the "old" smoke, and the vow doesn't pertain to vehicles, your vehicles will still benefit from obscurement, or only get glanced for a turn, letting you run them out there for a turn to set up your assaults. Hopefully you can drop your guys off into close combat so they can't be shot at with AP weapons anyway. Also, when you are in assault, everyone has the outside chance of surviving the power wep/power fist attacks. I am not saying you can bank on it, just that it is possible. Lastly, because you are immune to pinning, even though your transports are being opened, your guys probably aren't stuck for a turn.

Of all the vows, I think that this one completely dictates your army build. That being said, if you enjoy a mobile assault play style this vow can be very helpful. Is it as helpful as having Preferred Enemy (We'll get to that)? Probably not. But with BT's paying more for transports anyway, the cheaper vow can allow you to have more stuff down.

One thing to keep in mind is that bikes are less than ideal under this vow. The save granted from Turboboost is a cover save.

I like this vow against quite a few Tyranid lists. They abundance of MC's makes it so I can get the occasional "6" to live, and most of their shooting doesn't AP so I am not missing my cover save. A 1,500 point list that I might run under this vow would look like this: Note this is one of the few lists where I do not have a Marshal because I am relying on being in close combat as much as possible, where I am Fearless.

1500 Pts - Black Templars Roster

: Emperor's Champion (1#, 100 pts)

   1 Emperor's Champion @ 100 pts (Bolt Pistol; Crusader Seals; Frag Grenades; The Black Sword; Uphold The Honour Of The Emperor)

      1 Armor of Faith

      1 The Black Sword

HQ: Black Templars Chaplain (1#, 167 pts)

   1 Black Templars Chaplain @ 167 pts (Master of Sanctity)

      1 Master of Sanctity (Crozius Arcanum; Crusader Seals; Rosarius; Frag Grenades; Bolt Pistol x1; Uphold The Honour Of The Emperor)

         1 Rosarius

         1 Adamantine Mantle

         1 Artificer Armor

Elite: Dreadnought (2#, 145 pts)

   1 Dreadnought @ 145 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); Assault Cannon; Dreadnought CCW; Heavy Flamer; Drop Pod)

      1 Drop Pod (Unit Type: Vehicle (Open-topped); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Power of the Machine Spirit; Storm Bolter; Immobile)

Troops: Crusader Squad (11#, 459 pts)

   10 Crusader Squad @ 459 pts (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x8; Frag Grenades; Flamer; Power Weapon; Uphold The Honour Of The Emperor)

      1 Land Raider Crusader (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 15 models; Access Points: 3; Extra Armor; Frag Assault Launchers; Multi-Melta; Dozer Blade; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Assault Cannon; 2x Hurricane Bolters; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine Spirit)

Troops: Crusader Squad (11#, 248 pts)

   10 Crusader Squad @ 248 pts (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x8; Frag Grenades; Meltagun; Power Fist; Uphold The Honour Of The Emperor)

      1 Rhino (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Access Points: 3; Fire Points: 1; Smoke Launchers; Storm Bolter; Repair)

Troops: Crusader Squad (10#, 231 pts)

   9 Crusader Squad @ 231 pts (Bolt Pistol x8; Close Combat Weapon x7; Frag Grenades; Meltagun; Power Fist; Uphold The Honour Of The Emperor)

      1 Rhino (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Access Points: 3; Fire Points: 1; Smoke Launchers; Storm Bolter; Repair)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 75 pts)

   1 Land Speeder Squadron @ 75 pts (Multi-Melta x1; Heavy Flamer x1)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 75 pts)

   1 Land Speeder Squadron @ 75 pts (Multi-Melta x1; Heavy Flamer x1)

Total Roster Cost: 1500

Thanks for reading,
T

Black Templar Vows Part 1

2010-09-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

There is no shortage of bad press for the Black Templar's vows. Many have asserted that there is really only one worth taking under the new rules. I don't share their sentiment. Not because I think they are wrong, but because I think that a canny player can find a place for each vow within their army. Over the next couple of posts I will run down some of the value I see in each of the vows. The purpose of this is not prove the internet wrong, or to profess to have a better understanding than others. It is to illustrate that if people would like, there are ways to make any vow work. And because, when building a Black Templar force, you have to have one, you may as well make the most out of them. This post, and the three following, will look at the vows in the order they are presented on pages 24 and 25 of the Black Templars Codex.

Before we jump right in, for those who don't know, every Black Templar force of at least 750 points must include an Emperor's Champion. When you buy an Emperor's Champion you must also choose/buy a vow with him. So in essence, unless playing relatively small games, you have to take a vow.

Suffer Not The Unclean To Live
This vow will cost you 35 points, and comes in as the second most expensive one to take. The vow makes it so that you are treated as +1 STR when rolling to wound in assault, however you are strike at -1 Initiative. You still count your as your normal initiative for catching people in close combat. It also specifically states the bonus to STR does not stack with Furious Charge.

This vow is one that that like two others, makes me feel like I am paying points to be penalized. But there are places in which this vow can really do well. As you imagine, they are on units where initiative doesn't matter.

One of those units is shooty terminators. Because Black Templars are operating under an old Codex a favorite squad of mine is the 5 man squad with two assault cannons and Tankhunter (255 points). I like Tank Hunter with this vow because with the +1 STR not stacking and being primarily powerfists, Furious Charge is all but wasted. This squad, in conjunction with this vow, can get into just about any AV reliably, especially considering they are assaulting vehicles at STR 10 (Fist for 8, +1 for vow, +1 for Tank Hunter).

Yet another silver lining for this vow is that you can easily make up the cost of it by just not giving you rank and file frag grenades (BT's still have to pay for them). There is very little difference between I 3 and going last against other marines. Against the nastier stuff you bring a land Raider Crusader to give the guys that need to assault into cover the benefit for at least one assault.

Although it seems like, because of the vows benefit coming in Assault, this vow would do well in an assault focused list, I tend to find the opposite to be the case. Assault focused lists are hurt badly by going at I 3. This vow is actually more helpful to me in "shooty" lists. I realize this assertion only really applies to Black Templar players. Many would say, "If you want to play shooty marines why play Black Templar?" All of that aside, being able to unload bolters/assault weapons/heavy weapons into a squad assaulting you next turn is going to be nice because they don't hit back. When your guys are finally assaulted, odds are you will attack after the squad assaulting you, but at least at STR 5 you will able to drop a wound or two off on your way out. Really if you have an opponent that eats a turn of shooting, then assaults you anyway, they were probably going to kick your ass no matter what initiative you went at, or they are tossing a Hail Mary.

As a side note, dreadnoughts are also bound by this vow, and if the dreadnought has a dreadnought cc weapon it only hurts them. I don't normally run dreadnoughts under this vow if they have dreadnought CCW.

Following is a list I would play under this vow. It is a primarily shooting list that would use one assault based Crusader squad to for counter attacking:

1 Emperor's Champion @ 125 pts (Bolt Pistol; Crusader Seals; Frag Grenades; The Black Sword; Suffer Not The Unclean To Live)

Commander @ 106 pts (Marshal)
(Crusader Seals; Holy Orb of Antioch; Power Weapon x1; Bolter; Suffer Not The Unclean To Live)

5 Sword Brethren Terminator Squad @ 290 pts (Power Fist x4; Storm Bolter x3; Chain Fist x1; Assault Cannon x2; Tank Hunters; Suffer Not The Unclean To Live; Drop Pod)

10 Crusader Squad @ 448 pts (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x8; Meltagun; Power Weapon; Suffer Not The Unclean To Live)
1 Land Raider Crusade

6 Crusader Squad @ 210 pts (Bolter x4; Plasmagun; Lascannon; Suffer Not The Unclean To Live; Razorback)
1 Razorback (Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon)

5 Crusader Squad @ 189 pts (Bolt Pistol x3; Close Combat Weapon x3; Plasmagun; Missile Launcher; Suffer Not The Unclean To Live; Razorback)
1 Razorback (Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon)

Vindicator @ 128 pts (Smoke Launchers)

Total Roster Cost: 1496

Thanks for reading,
T

This Year's Goal

2010-09-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

So it has been kind of quiet here at the ol' MPB, which is a good indication that the transverse is occurring in my life. It has been a bit of madness over the summer months. We decided to buy a house, a grueling nightmarish, process that took three months to complete, and has claimed every weekend I have had since the transaction concluded.

In addition to that, I did accomplish my goal of attending Astronomicon, Vancouver. I brought my Tau, and while they were not finished, they were completed to event standards. The tournament was amazing, I scored right in the middle, tying for last place in Sportsmanship, which was determined by my opponents. Apparently I was not fun to play against. Maybe there was a communication break down because I am not fluent in Canadian ? I didn't take any pictures of my "good enough" 1,500 point Tau army so you will just have to take my word for it that it was done.

So then, on to the next. Apparently I am, at my core, a 40k masochist. I go from fighting against one outdated codex to another, deciding I need to build a Black Templar force. There are a myriad of issues with the Templar, and I have heard about all of them. Despite that, and because it hurts so good, I have charged head long into my Templar force.

I have already assembled about 24 Initiates, 9 Neophytes, an Emperor's Champion, and the Black Reach captain. On the desk is a Razorback that has just gotten under way. I haven't snapped a lot of pics or anything because I haven't done any all too crazy conversions, and I am sure you all have seen plastic marines primed black.

This is the new goal. While I met the goal last year in that I competed, the "good enough" standard to which the army was done has kind of sapped some of the glory. So this year the plan is take a "finished to my standards" army. Fingers crossed, here we go.

Thanks for Reading,
T

Brun and Lug

2010-07-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

These guys have seen a lot of table time lately, albeit in bare metal. So I figured they would be a fun project to take on. Also, my dwarves had a good showing at a local tournament this weekend, with Gorten and crew winning the whole shebang (Though these guys were not in the list)! I decided to ride the victorious wave and turn it into painting power, always eager to use alternative sources of energy.

Lug was a lot of fun, actually, he was the main reason I wanted to paint these models. This model has never looked very realistic to me, so I decided I had carte blanche when it came to painting him. From there it was just a small step to the realization that the only sensible thing one can do when presented with such an opportunity, is paint an eff-off huge blue bear.

Once I had succumbed to that, the rest of the model unrolled. I used dry brushing on the bear, which I am actually not very good at. The technique itself is always rusty with me because I use it so rarely. It is always fun/challenging/infuriating to try something you are not practiced at. I ended up using a lot of glazes after dry brushing, because he was coming across kind of powdery-looking.

The armor was the same color as my 'jacks, since I use him in my Searforge list. The bright orange plate is a precursor to me using more orange in my other Searforge models, as there is a small piece in the recently released Mercs book stating something to the effect of the dwarves wearing bright colors when on the job to warn people who would try and stop them.

Since I had a big blue bear, my mind wandered to Baloo, and then I couldn't get that cussin' "Bear Necessities" song out of my head the whole time I was painting. It was awful. Though I did decide that if Lug was Baloo, Brun should be a pissed off Mowgli. That brought about me experimenting with the darker, Indian (Like from India) skin tone. I also incorporated the the Hammerfall Khaki and orange color to tie him in with the rest of my Mercs.

You may also notice that the rune stones around his neck look a little flat. I did, when I was looking at the pictures last night and realized I hadn't finished every part of the model. After I had put all my painting stuff away. Quite a few almost cuss words later (Trying to clean up the vocab on account of my little one) and some painting later, and we resolved that. The model is truly finished now, despite the photography.

Lastly, a got a new portable photo studio for like 20 bucks that Deke showed me. These pics were my first attempt with it. I have a lot to learn still, but they look a lot better than my previous pics.

One more quick pic:

Thanks for reading,
T

Skarlock

2010-07-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

I hadn't finished a model in quite some time. In an attempt to just be ready for Astro I have been blocking color in on Tau and moving on. I really felt a strong painting urge this weekend and I was riding high from a pretty good showing with a borrowed Cryx list at a local tournament.

With all that in mind, I borrowed the Forces of Cryx book from a friend and decided to paint a Skarlock using the painting guide in the back. Here is how he turned out.:

This model was deceptive to me. It is far more involved than I thought and I found myself being delighted that they are only FA 1. I was a little rusty as far as detail work, OK a lot rusty, and I needed to remember my own cardinal rule of thin paints (doh!).

I am not happy with the necrotic glue, a bummer because of how prominently it plays into this mini. I haven't used inks on anything other than metallics in so long that I forgot how to work with them. We will "get it" going forward through some trial and error I am sure. In retrospect I probably should have brought the skin up a little more, as the black runes, make it look pretty dark still. Live and learn.

Thanks for reading,
T

Battlefoam Hordes Bag

2010-05-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

Got me one of these here. They are pretty slick. I have all the Circle Models I own in it, which is one of everything but two units, and there is still room for more. The design of the bag is also really cool, with plenty of pouches and pockets.

It was damn expensive, and I wouldn't have gotten it had I not fallen into a little extra cash, but now I am glad I did. I will say that the bag is not for everyone. If I had to decide between like, finishing an army or buying the bag, the army would win out.

The other bummer is that the stock cut 'jack size tray isn't deep enough for a Feral Warpwolf to be on his base and not have the spikes sticking up out of the slot. On his side he rests on shoulder spikes, so one way or another it is a bit of a pain.

Great bag, looks swank, glad I got it. Now I just need to write my name on it so I can distinguish it from the bajillion others that I am sure will be at Privateer Press HQ this weekend.

Thanks for reading,
T

There

2010-05-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday I got to spend the evening with a couple of old friends, and some new friends, at a bachelor party. In many ways this bachelor party was typical of others, but it many other ways it was not.

The venue was a cabin, on some lake north of Spokane, whose name I really should find out so I can answer all the people who ask me. There were no strippers, but there was booze and other bachelor party accoutrement. Quite a few things have stuck with me since this joyous event, some good and some bad, but one thing in particular was something said by a guy named Brad Baxter.

Brad Baxter had another claim to fame that I learned about that night, but I won't go into that. Instead I will speak to how overtaken I was by the gravity of a very small moment.

Choosing to not be much of a drinker lately I spent the evening in a camp chair sitting around fire with my buddy Matt. We kinda held it down as people came and went for poker, more booze, or apparently to jump in the lake. At one point, Brad Baxter pulled up a camp chair and with a simple smile and nod to everyone around the fire said, "I'm there man, I'm there."

At the time I remember thinking how cool it was that he had arrived where ever "there" was. His "there" was not my "there" but you have to be happy for a guy that made it "there". After that I was kind of distracted by other conversations and shenanigans so I didn't think much more of it.

Since Saturday, there have been at least three times where I have remembered Brad Baxter's proclamation of arrival, and each time I feel a little sad. See I am not "there" in much outside of my new family life. I want to be "there" with my hobby, but I don't know if I remember how. I was pretty sure I was "there" once, when I was painting and playing my Dark Angels. Does one only get to go "there" once in their hobby and that is it?

I spend and hour each week night painting my Tau and counting down the 59th minute until I walk away from my table. I am pretty sure it isn't supposed to be like that. I have 3 months and 16 days to get this army done, and I am in entirely the wrong head space to do accomplish it.

So what is the trick? How does one get "there"? Maybe I just need a few beers like Brad Baxter and the path to "there" will clear. Either way, I got to do something to get my mind right.

Thanks for reading,
T

Stripe Happy

2010-04-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

As the basecoat extravaganza continues I found myself working on the drones for my Devilfish last night. I know that a lot of the folks in the Tau intertron-meta scoff at drones on Devilfish in favor of Smart Missile Systems, but I have a very good reason not to use them. That reason being, the Devilfish kit doesn't come with Smart Missile Systems, and I will be damned if I am gonna buy them as bits. Tactical, naw, but 'eff it.

Because of my blatant disregard for strategy in favor of a lesser fiscal burden, as well as my love for Fire Warriors in APC's, I end up with a lot of friggin' drones on the board during the games. In the past, this has caused problems for my opponents because it is seldom clear which drone is with which other drone/s... because my shit wasn't painted. Now that my shit is getting quasi-painted, I wanted it to be pretty clear what drones are what. The drones I had assigned to various crisis suits I just painted the squad marking on, to tie them into their suits.

For the sake of identification I blocked in the markings, not worrying too much about how fine the lines were. This doesn't differ at all from the way I normally freehand. I will always block in the basic design, then wash it it, shade, it, highlight it, and clean it up as I am doing the same thing on the rest of the model with the other colors.

After looking at the various squad drones I realized that, because the Tau markings are often just lines of varying height and thickness, the drones still kind of looked the same between squads. Not a huge deal because there were suits next to them, however on the the drones that operated independently, I could totally see grabbing one and moving it with suits unless there was a noticable difference.

Most of the men in my family, myself excluded, have served in the Armed Forces in some "grunt" capacity. Not too many of my kith and kin joined up for job skills. I remembered one conversation where-in someone in my family accused the Airforce of being "stripe-happy" as it pertained to rank. Real quick, let me just say that I have the utmost respect for anyone willing to give of themselves and risk their life for the defense of this country, so I am not taking a shot the brave men and women of the US Airforce. More to the point, I bring this up because this was the basis for my design on the Devilfishs' drones. I wanted their markings to be fancier, somewhere between like what you would see as Tau Sept markings and the logos on F-1 racing cars. Not only does it add to the futuristic feel, but I figured the hot-shot pilots would their drones to look fancier.

The design is vastly different from the crisis suits drones, easily identifiable, and still within the feel of the Tau, so all in all I think it worked, I guess we will see in my game on Friday.

Thanks for reading,
T

4 Months Today

2010-04-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

The clock is ticking, by this time in August I will have to be done. No pressure right?

I have 16 Kroot, 9 Kroot Hounds, 3 Devilfish, and 6 drones to block in still. Then I make with the details till the deadline.

In the words of The Joker, "And...here...we...go!"

Quickie

2010-04-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

Just dropping a line very quickly to refute the the fact that my last post did not contain any lesbian bondage. It is there, layered deeply in subtext and metaphor. I blog like a fucking Russian playwright. Dig deep, and you will see it, and so much more.

On an actual working note, I did some last night, but not in the Tau direction. I got my Warstore in order so I assembled some Circle Orboros stuff I had coming. Among them was the Pureblood Warpwolf, which I really dig. Most of the time, because of the huge amount of character PP models have, I build lists that would look rad to me in a movie, or a short story. This weekend I placed in a tourney and was able to pick up Kromac without spending any money, and risking the ire of the wife. From there a 25 point list that I was really excited about sprung forth. I can't wait to get my brush to some of these Circle models I have been accumulating.

As far as the Tau/Astro extravaganza goes I am trying to secure the use of an airbrush and some expertise for the vehicles. It will greatly speed things up. I have one big and one little squad of infantry left to block in the colors on, so nearing the finish of the first lap.

Thanks for reading,
T

Preparing For The Worst

2010-04-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I have posted, and a couple people this weekend made sure that shit was flipped for it. The reason is not because I am not working on anything. I am, diligently, and often to perturbation. The lack of communication has been because I haven't finished anything.

See, unless it is a tutorial, I actually hate work in progress (WIP) pics. I guess I also don't mind them if someone is asking for help going forward. While clearly an unsuccessful tendency for someone making an effort to blog about their toy soldier exploits, it is how I feel. Under my new plan, pretty much my whole damn army is a WIP progress pic.

See, even now, with a little more than four months to go before Astro I have realized that I will probably not be able to do the entire 1,500 points up to the standard of my Pathfinders and Fire Warriors. Feel free to chastise my painting prowess and speed, that is what the comments section is for, and odds are you will just be parroting what I have already told myself.

Instead of this realization taking me off course, I have decided to go another way. Each week night, barring catastrophe, I have been sitting down at my painting table for an hour and blocking in color on all the minis in the army. Squad by squad I am laying down base color and dry-brushing their rock bases, then moving on to the next. This has become much easier since baseball season started, as I love baseball but it is not the kind of sport one needs to watch constantly.

Once all the color has been blocked in the models will be based with three colors, a.k.a table ready. Once the color blocking has concluded I will do the same thing with washes, and then with the remaining time detail squads until I have to play int he event. It should be noted that I am not resigned to the fact that my army will not be painted up to my standards, however I feel like a realistic approach is better way to go.

Anyway, once the color blocking is done I will throw a pic up in the name of progress. In the mean time I have been trying to drudge up a few games to used to the list. My usual opponent has kind of fallen off the planet (which is weird because he actually moved geographically closer to me now) so I am having to look elsewhere.

Thanks for reading,
T

Vegas

2010-03-08T10:20:00.000-08:00

I will be in Las Vegas all week for work. While some may find this a delight, I am not one of them. Vegas pisses me off 'cause it has games with dice. Obviously I am prone to such games, as is so often covered in this blog. Furthermore, the Vegas games with dice cost money. And not the kind of money that results in jammed shelves full of crap that you may or may not use before your wife needs room and you have to Ebay it for 20% of retail. No, no, these games you give them money, they give you chips, and then they take those too.

Because I am prone to this vice, I don't gamble when I am there. Furthermore, I have taken a bit of the hiatus from drinking 'cause it is awesome, and I like its awesome. I like it so much I don't want to get to the point where I "need" its awesome. The countless dollars wasted on pewter and plastic men tipped me off long ago to my addictive tendencies within my personality. Therefore I feel an annual compulsion, sometimes bi-annual, to assert my own will over myself. Oddly enough it is always around Lent. Even though I am not Catholic, apparently the need for self-imposed suffering is an airborne contaminant. So basically I am going to Vegas to not gamble, not drink, and work...I am pretty sure that was on of the punishments in Hades for like Sisyphus or some shit.

Thanks for reading,
T

A Long Time Comin'

2010-03-05T08:44:00.000-08:00

Almost four years ago, during the first Privateer Press Invitational Weekend, they held a Hardcore Tournament. In the third round I was up against none other than Matt Wilson himself. He gave some cool compliments on my dwarves, we were both pretty tossed at that point, and then he preceded to kick my ass soundly with Seige.

Nonetheless, during the course of the battle, I drunkenly cajoled and harangued Matt about how Rhulic forces need a mechanic solo. He said something to the effect of, "Oh yeah, maybe..." And Rob Stoddard, who was playing at the table next to us said, "It will never happen. I am pretty sure that is in the notebook." He elaborated that the notebook was a collection of ideas that were deemed unfit for the Warmachine.

A year later Thor Steinhammer was released. Now, I know a few folks who worked for PP who have all assured me that Thor had been "on the books" long before I said anything. However, at the time, it felt pretty cool. It felt like PP was a company that was willing listen to a drunk fat guy from Idaho who had a good idea. Even though the reality of Thor not coming from that game with Matt harshed on my buzz later on, Thor has always had a special place in my heart. The one that I finally painted was handed to me at the second invite, by Matt Wilson while giving me a shit eating grin.

I tried to make him look like he was wearing coveralls, but it kinda failed. In all, I am stoked with him, and stoked to have him painted finally since he has appeared in damn near every Rhulic list I have made.

Thanks for reading,
T

Juggling

2010-03-02T09:35:00.000-08:00

My cold came back with a vengeance yesterday, leaving me feeling pretty shitty by the time I got home from work yesterday. I didn't feel a lot like painting, but I really didn't feel a lot like doing anything. Topping it all off was the fact that my mother-in-law was headed over for dinner so, although I just wanted to crawl into bed, I sucked it up and sat at my painting table.

I am not sure if it was the anti-histamine or what, but I was having an 'eff of a time focusing. I tried to get my fire warriors done, but it seemed after every color I was "done with that". Fortunately I had Thor Steinhammer sitting there, so whenever I got pissed at my fire warriors I just grabbed him and started blocking in color.

There is a guy around the Post Falls/Couer d' Alene area named Bennett Hobson that used you paint down at the game store I spent a lot of time in a few years back. Guy is an amazing painter, and crazy fast at it. I always remember that he would be working on like five things at once. I could never figure out how he got anything done, though he always did, as there was no perceivable rhyme or reason to what he was doing.

But in cold medicine induced haze, I may have tapped into something of his. As I worked last night I found places to pick up Thor and work on something while other things with the fire warriors were happening. Like after blocking in the Knarloc Green for their armor, I didn't feel like shifting gears to washing, so I did some blocking on Thor as well. Then while the washes on Thor's base were drying, I started laying down the gold on the fire warriors. I sort of bounced back and forth between the two models and found my self not getting over exasperated at either project.

I fought off the drowsiness from the cold medicine for as long as I could, as I knew my brush was moving at a pretty good clip. A bit later I was falling asleep at the wheel, and looking at what I had done for the evening I was surprised:

Got all the color blocked in on these guys as well as two of them got washed for shading.

Thor got all his color blocked in and his base finished.

I am not sure that I would subscribe to this random method just yet. However going forward I may always make sure there is something else that needs some kind of paint at the table. It was nice to just pick up something else entirely when the fire warriors were getting too repetitive.

Thanks for reading,
T

Goal Met, Tourney Played In

2010-03-01T09:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday saw my dwarves marching out, albeit slowly, for their first Mk. 2 tournament. I was going on a 0-6 run and expected to just get it handed to me all day. The format was Mangled Metal/Tooth& Claw at 35 points. It was a lot of friggin' 'jacks and warbeasts. Let me just say, real quick, that a lot of people enjoyed and commented on the novelty of the format. To me, this format is annoying. I run 'jack heavy lists all the time so it is not novel. Instead is makes an already focus starved Rhulic mercenary battle group worse. Despite the annoyance the event was enjoyable.

I ended up taking 3rd over all, going 2-1. I beat Epic Irusk and Goreshade in the second turn by using my feat to lower defense and move the casters to where the rest of the battle group could kill them. The games were so short that I asked my opponents if they wanted to play another game to pass time in the round. By the time the last round rolled around it was gonna be my fifth game, it was against the coven, and I was matched up with a guy who was 1-1 so I knew I wasn't at the "winners table". A victory by me and a draw by them, and other various planetary alignments, would have resulted in a win over all blah blah blah, but I digress.

Eric, the guy who was playing the Coven, is a great player, and high focus casters are the bane of the way I play Gorten, so pretty much it was his battle to lose, which he didn't. That being said, I boxed his entire battle group but the Stalker who killed me. And death by Stalker is pretty cool in my book. It was a great game, and I realize I need to read more on how the Coven is activated and damaged. My one attempt at assassination was completely botched. It's cool, though, it was weak sauce anyway.

The tournament itself was all Assassination. It ran smooth, though I was unclear on how one aspect worked. It was like the VP equivalent, and if you killed the caster you got their battlegroup. But then there was some talk of like 'jack points and counting or not counting. I didn't really get it, so I just asked my opponents what size their list was and wrote that down as my VP's.

Oh yeah, and I was fully painted:

The Basher was a lot of fun to paint. The only thing I did differently than the driller was used yellow to bring up the darker brown instead of white. I like it a lot better. It makes the highlight warmer and fits in better with the khaki.

Thanks for reading,
T

Tourney Prep 2

2010-02-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

My fire warriors have officially filed a grievance against me. They are basing it on neglect. In many ways they are right to feel angry, what with me lavishing my brushes' affections on other models right in front them. That being said, my dalliance has almost come to climax and, while fun for a weekend, I am unwilling to leave my spouse that is 40k for another at this time.
As I eluded to earlier, in the case of Gorten and the Driller, the dwarf line for Privateer Press continually makes models that I must paint/play. The Basher is no exception. It has been very rewarding to watch it come to life as it gets paint. It makes me sad that more companies are not more inventive with their dwarves. Especially GW, as then maybe I would be interested in play WHFB. As they stand now, really short people shooting a lot is ok, if the following criteria are met: A chic, wearing fish-nets, in the movie Total Recall.

Anyway, the Basher is all based and washed/shaded now. I have been fighting some nastiness that has laid waste to my office so I have only been able to paint for brief amounts of time between bouts of the cough medicine "kicking in". I should be in a good spot to have this guy finished by tomorrow. He is the last 'jack that needs to be painted in the battle group for Sunday's tourney. I should be fully painted and not have to worry about the self deprecation associated with not being so. I will snap pics of the whole gang as soon as they are ready to go.

Thanks for reading,
T

Feel the Hate

2010-02-24T09:33:00.000-08:00

Magnus always jokes that one of the secrets to his painting speed and ability to finish armies is that, "You have to let the hate of the model fuel your brush." While I am almost certain Magnus doesn't hate all of his minis, there may be something to this. I don't hate the Driller, in fact I love it. Although I had already been playing Warmachine, Gorten's battle box release was the first Privateer Press product that shifted my mind from models I played, to models I had to play.
However, last night, as I was putting the finishing touches on this 'jack, completed in an unprecedented 10ish hours (Sad I know), I felt the hate. I was so eager to be done with the model, and so close, and so pissed that he wasn't done yet, that I just kept going. I was a man possessed. I couldn't have stopped had I wanted to. I blacked out, and when I came to there was just this model and so much blood...er paint.
There is a terrible down side to feeling the hate though. Towards the end, when you are filled with the anger, your quality drops off a little. The last color I did was the darker brown. I noticed my blends more slap dash, and my highlights getting harder. I should have called it there and done a lot of the weathering today. The weathering is kinda sloppy, and makes the over all paint-job look a little shabbier than I intended.
Here he is from the back:

And side:

The last pic is kind of fun. The Driller on the right I painted probably six months after the Gorten box-set was released. It is cool to see them side by side and notice the different direction of painting style over more than five years.

The gray one, coined "Killmouth" by a friend, is still my favorite. Nostalgia and all that.

Thanks for reading,
T

Tourney Prep

2010-02-23T09:24:00.000-08:00

So these fire warriors are what I was supposed to be working on last night. I had this whole thing worked out in my brain where I would paint 40k through all of February and March. Then use April and early May to put some paint on my Rhulic stuff before I headed to Seattle to play in the Privateer Press invite weekend. I have had my dwarves since they came out, and I enjoy the army, even if I can't win with them in Mk. 2. 0-6 so far, hear me roar!

Well what ended up happening was this:

I know, I know, that is not a fire warrior. It is my second driller. Lemme explain. I am in no way the most disciplined painter, duh. But for some reason I freakin' hate going to Warmachine/Hordes tourneys with unpainted models. This not to say that I haven't, been I have made big pushes not too if it is ascertainable. In this instance, the tourney this weekend is a format that is all warcaster and warjacks or warlock and warbeasts, so we are talking ten friggin' models at the most, maybe more for Legion or Cryx? Even still, when I look at Warmachine armies that are unpainted I can't help but have the internal dialogue of, "Really? You couldn't be bothered to paint like 15 minis for a tournament?" If I am the brunt of my own mental chastisement it normally ends in myself calling me a "douche bag". Then myself is mad at me, and I need another hour with the therapist, and that shit is expensive.

Consequently, my buddy Deke, who is more disciplined than me, but a self-proclaimed "slacker" as well, feels the same way about bringing all painted armies to Hordes/Warmachine tournies. He will often bring something less than ideal in his Trollbllod list because it is painted. How weird that both of us would feel this strongly when the company that produces the models releases tournament formats that don't give a shit if the models are painted? Perhaps we are contrarians by nature?

Anyway, this guy was/is fun and a good thing to get back in the Warmachine saddle with. I way over-washed the khaki and spent probably an hour after this pic was snapped putting damn near another base coat of Hammerfall Khakki back on. Fortunately I was having trouble falling asleep last night. I should be able to finish the Driller up Wednesday night, leaving me Thursday and Friday night, as well as a large part of Saturday to finish my Basher. The tourney is on Sunday, I think...

As to my lists, they will be pretty straight forward, everything I got.
List 1: Gorten, Driller x2, Basher, Rockram, Gunner x3, Blaster x2. 35 pts.
List 2: Durgan, Driller x2, Basher, Rockram, Gunner x3, Blaster. 33 pts.

With these lists I am pretty sure my record will bump to 0-9 or 0-10, but at least my shit will be painted.

Thanks for reading,
T

Squad Done

2010-02-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

I got the last three pathfinders of my eight man squad done last night. Stoked to have a squad done, but the squad isn't technically done since their devilfish is still nekkid. I am thankful for the Astronomi-con for, under the current rule set, there is no fuggin' way I would paint a full squad of pathfinders otherwise. Going for perfect comp not so much because I think I have a good chance of winning, but because I think I will enjoy the challenge of constructing and playing a list under their parameters. Or it could chug dick, in which case I still have a painted 1,500 pt army, which puts me closer to the 2k that is required to participate in many of the local area events.

The 'ui was fun, the rail rifles, not so much. A lot of that could be because in my list they are there to eat points and have accomplished dick in the two games I have played with the list. But mainly, it was those stupid knobs that run the top and bottom of the length of the rifle. They proved to be such a pain that I finally had a "fuck it" moment and just did what I could without getting angry. I am pretty stoked about the finished look. I love the idea of a "heavy" weapon in a squad, and it is a lot of the appeal of Space Marine Tac squads to me. Who doesn't want Jesse The Body with a mini-gun in their squad, seriously?

My orange spot color is working out well, I have had some nice feedback on it. However I am not executing it to the point I would like. I am going to try for less yellow of a high light in the next group, mixing in more white to the orange instead of following an unmixed progression. Even at its current execution level it is doing a damn sight more than the bone color did, and will be even more crucial on the vehicles and suits, which will not have a lot (If any in the case of vehicles.) of the blue-gray used on the fatigues. My buddy Magnus is getting some killer use out of orange over at his blog, linked here, so I will pick his brain a little as well. In the mean time, we got some fire warriors on the table now, needing to be primed and rocked. I was going to start on the Basher form PP but I am still feeling a little buzz from finishing these guys, and winning a game over the weekend, so I am gonna ride that high while it keeps me productive.

Oh yeah, also thanks to my sister-in-law, Anna, for making a cool shirt-thing for my kid.

From Family Stuff

Thanks for reading,
T

Bringing It Back

2010-02-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

So if you have been following this blog, which shouldn't be too hard considering how little it is updated, you may notice something a little different about those fire warriors. Both my buddies Deke and Magnus had the same suggestion that I needed something other than the off-white to serve as a spot color for this army. Consequently, they both offered up orange as that spot color, and I took their advice. They were right, the orange goes a long way for grabbing the eye, especially against that green, and should I ever be in a position to do so, I will lavish gifts upon them of exotic oils, spices, gold, and nubile maidens.

But wait! There is more! I am not sure if I have mentioned that my Tau are winning out over my Eldar as the army I am going to paint for Astronomi-con in Vancouver this year. This decision came about because, well I had seven Tau models painted and only five Eldar models painted. The Tau army is also less models, so the selection process was very scientific. Seven is more than five! And therefore, closer to completion. Well last night I took another step closer to completion, finishing four pathfinders.

These guys were done like the fire warriors and pathfinder before them. Only I went back to GW Foundation Paint Knarloc Green instead of P3 Ordic Olive as the base for the armor. The Ordic Olive was a bit darker and made the line highlights a little more "tron", which some people like, but I am not a fan of. Side by side and up close it is obvious as seen in the pic below (Ordic Olive is the guy on the right), but from about three feet they the models all look green anyway.

The other major difference is more of a failure on my part. I was trying to come up with a "quick wet blend" on the cloth to make it look a little more natural. Sadly, within the scope of my own painting skills, there is no "quick" for wet blending. It looks spotty in areas, as seen below:

Eventually I just went back to line highlighting, so the pants look kinda funky up close.

In all, the pants problem is a little nit-picky and falls into the category of "the stupid shit painters beat themselves up over that only other painters who beat themselves up will notice". I have to do an 'ui, though he isn't actually an 'ui in the list, and a couple of rail rifles, and then the squad will be done. I am hoping to get those last three models cracked out this week, so that I can spend the weekend working on a Rhulic Basher 'Jack I ordered. That is of supremely optimistic as my new daughter will be getting baptized this weekend.

I have been able to get about three games of Warmachine Mk. 2 in with my dwarves and I enjoy it a lot. Like everyone else who isn't Cygnar, I can't wait for my book (Mercs). There is a tournament in the Spokane area at the end of Feb. in which I want to use the Basher, so I will take a quick little detour from my Astro list long enough to get the 'jack done.

Thanks for reading,
T

Battlefield In a Box

2010-02-04T08:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went looking in the Spokane area game stores for a Warmachine Prime Mk. 2 book. The only one I could find was hardcover, which is annoying so I passed on it. I finally got to play a Mk 2 game last Sunday and really enjoyed it, thus the need to find the book. This foray about town reminded me of my primary frustration with playing Warmachine in the Spokane area, stores stock the game for shit. New releases are first come, first serve, and reorders are less than regular or disciplined. I feel like the minimum wage kid who is in charge of ordering uses up all his passion in the behemoth GW lines (Because they sell.) and by the time Privateer Press rolls around he/she is just picking crap at random seconds before their smoke break. But, that diatribe has nothing to do with what I actually want to talk about.

There was a silver lining to this failed attempt at acquisition. My mind was set on the notion that I was gonna drop fifty bones yesterday, and by damnit I meant to do it! But on what? My 40k armies had all they needed and then some, and the Warmachine stuff I needed was unsurprisingly out of stock (see above). As I pursued the game store looking for ways to while away my hard earned money-angry wife be damned- I came across the Battlefield in a Box product line from Gale Force 9.

My table at home is pretty cool for Warhammer Fantasy (which I don't play) and Warmachine/Hordes (which I hadn't played in forever) but it was pretty much hurting for 40k. All my hills and trees did little to provide any kind of cover in the new true line of sight rules and for the most part my opponents would graciously smile and make friendly comments about how the game might have gone if they had something novel like cover.

For someone like me, this stuff is great. I needed to get my table up and running at home anyway since we have a new daughter. I barely have time to finish minis, let alone terrain, and I paint so damn slow that the limited time I do have is never enough. Alas, my problems are solved!

Perfect For the Gamer With Money but Not Time/Drive!
I feel like this should have been their advertising slogan. The price point on the terrain itself is not brutal. The pic above is fifty bucks worth. Now I am sure that a lot of terrain savvy people will say that for fifty bucks they could be a whole table, To that I say, "Eff you!" That comes from a jealous place of course. I do not posses that level of terrain-fu and people who do, often sell their stuff at a pretty high price point in order to recoup some of the time they spent on labor. In all, I don't think you get as many pieces as a GW kit can provide, and it certainly isn't as detailed. But, the most effort you have to put forth to get it on the table is opening the box and surviving the god-awful squeaking sound the Styrofoam makes.

Detail and Paint are Pretty Good

So the terrain is pretty much just dry-brushed, but that is all I would have done to it any way. Admittedly, it looks a bit flat cause they just used a gray-white build up, it still adds enough depth for the sculpts. If one really felt inclined they could actually just hit the pieces with a warmer wash (brown, red, etc) in parts and it would do wonders. I am not so inclined and will leave it as is.

The detail is pretty cool too. Again, not as intricate as GW kits, but lacking skulls, which I deem as a huge bonus. The pieces still defiantly look like they are what they are supposed to be.

In all this stuff is really cool. If you can make your own terrain, you probably still should. But for those of us who can't/won't/shouldn't this is a great alternative that still makes a board look nice. I for one will spend the next couple months acquiring a couple pieces at a time until I have all the kits.

Thanks for reading,
T

Couple More Banshees

2010-01-04T09:11:00.000-08:00

It had been almost a month since I had picked up a brush, which was too bad. I had those older third edition models half done. With the craziness of the holidays aside I had a quiet weekend. Also I wanted to be able to participate in this so I decided to gain some small triumph over my slacker nature. The triumph was indeed small, but perhaps it will gain in momentum.

I have been playing my Eldar a lot more than my Tau of late, and even landing a couple of wins here and there. I don't like one better than the other, they are both different. What I am enjoying about the Eldar is being able to participate in the Assault phase more than just jet-packing.

The down side of the Eldar has been two Landraiders, which Travis plays pretty regularly. I have been having a tough go getting them opened. I have a few of the tools, but going from railguns and piranhas with melta to bright lances and monstrous creatures is a big switch. Also the list I have been using does not include fire dragons. I will persevere to keep it as thus, as I already have a few squads of the aspects warriors I like, and am trying to adhere to the Ulthwe theme.

All in all I have been having a lot of fun playing, and painting hasn't been like driving nails in my knees. Here are some pics of the minimum banshee squad I finished. I don't run them like this, I have actually been running a full squad, but it was enough to meet the criteria for the local challenge.