Anathema Assault Tank - Part 1

...Aaaaand the hobby fund falls into the double digits. Just yesterday I was thinking to myself "Gosh, I pretty much have everything I need for all the armies I have. Yup, gonna be able to just paint a mess of stuff and rebuild the hobby fund for a while". Then I made a pass through my favorite sellers on ye olde ebaye and ran across this:

Curses!

Dubbed the Anathema Assault Tank and made by a fellow I've done business with in the past, I'd missed out on the last one and was pleased to get a second chance at picking one up this time around. My sinister plan is to utilize it as a proxy Malcador for my burgeoning Adeptus Mechanicus army. The weapon loadout is rather close, though this sports a twin-linked Heavy Bolter that the Malcador lacks but forgoes a rearward-facing bolter. All in all I doubt my opponents would kick up much fuss about using it as a proxy.

It definitely looks different enough from the traditional Imperial Guard designs that I feel it would look out of place with the Mordian 7th, but it'll fit right in with the Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator Force Chi Xi as a field expediency trials test vehicle. Following this purchase (and one at the end of the week) I have to impose a moratorium on buying new models until such time that I paint and sell off some of the existing stuff. Hopefully I can get in some good brush time next month!

TOEMP #10 - Scoundrels and Wyrds... Complete!

A lazy Sunday afternoon doing laundry afforded me some time to finish off the last of the models for the 10th Tale Of Even More Painters challenge - the final two Psyker Battle Squad models, Sanctioned Psyker Morrin Dannel  and Commissar Lord Fidel Arden.

With these done, the Psyker Battle Squad is complete. In most games the PBS will be accompanied by the Sanctioned Psyker. As I read it, the fact that he is part of the squad will mean the unit will count as having 8 psykers for purposes of determining their psychic strength.

I wanted to keep the Overseer stylistically connected to the unit but as he isn't a psyker himself I decided that he shouldn't wear the standard green of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. Instead I gave him a leather coat based on the tips that Ron posted over at From The Warp. I did attempt to paint the symbol of the Astra Telepathica on his back banner, though I'm not sure that it 'pops' enough against the green background.

With these, and the King Russ tanks from the last challenge, I really feel like I made some good headway on the army. I'd updated the painting chart and was pleased to see that at this point all the Elites are complete! Once I finish off the Techpriests and servitors, the HQ will be finalized as well, so I think I'll be attacking them next...

Getting closer and closer to finishing off the army. ...Of course right about here is where I start thinking "Hmm, what if I replaced this with that, and maybe add a couple of these?" I'm doing my best to resist such urges however!

TOEMP #10 - Scoundrels and Wyrds... Part 2

More than halfway done with the tenth challenge for the Tale of Even More Painters at this point. I had a quiet evening yesterday to finish off Dunno's Deadeyes, a 5-man group of Ratling Snipers seconded to the Mordian 7th Regiment:

Fairly straightforward paint scheme, though they were rather fun to paint as they each have a lot of personality. I went with grey fatigues as they are an Elites choice (the veterans all wear grey fatigues and red armor), but since the Ratlings don't really wear armor, they ended up being a bit monochromatic. That works for me however, as the bright red armor would sort of stands at odds with the Ratlings sneaky nature.

Some folks asked for a scale shot of the Termites that I picked up from Ramshackle games, so I pulled out the Drop Pod and snapped a quick picture. It was nice enough outside over the weekend to get a mess of stuff primered, and I'm actually quite looking forward to painting the Termites, they should come together pretty quickly.

Four more models remain for this stage of the TOEMP challenge, three Psykers and the Commissar which I hope to finish off over the weekend. Once that's done, all the HQ and Elites for the Mordian 7th will be complete!

Better call the exterminator, I think I have Termites - Part 1

Another package arrived in the mail today, from one of my favorite alternate sci-fi companies; Ramshackle Games. I've ordered a selection of models from them in the past and thus far every transaction has been a smooth and pleasant experience - not to mention being awesome sculpts and surprisingly clean casts. This package was full of transports for my growing Adeptus Mechanicus army:

A trio of "Boring Machines" that I'll be using for Termite Subterranean Transports, in game they function the same way as drop pods. I really like these models, with the addition of a little 40k detailing I think they'll work really well! They're about the same size as the old Armorcast Termites, and I personally think they have better detail. All in all I'm very pleased and I'm looking forward to painting them.

...If we get a break in the weather that is. More snow forecast for tomorrow. Sheesh.

Hypaspist (Tech-Guard) test models, part 1

While I was pulling out the models that I plan to get painted this month, my eye fell upon the package that I'd gotten from Pig Iron a couple days back. I'd been gathering bits to make a few squads of Hypaspists (Tech-Guard) for the Adeptus Mechanicus army, and spent a little time last night making a couple test models.

 

I'm using a mix of High Elf Archer legs, Cadian torso and arms, some plasticard and Pig Iron Kolony Ferals heads. I'm trying to keep the conversions simple and repeatable, using as many commonly found bits as I can, as my greenstuff skills are relegated primarily to the gap-filling persuasion. Nevertheless I'm going to try my hand at sculpting some scalloped pauldrons over the top of the armor on the shoulders, and perhaps some elbow armor plates. The power pack is made from a Vox Caster that has had a bunch of the bits shaved off and repurposed - for example, the muzzle of the hellgun is the cut-down aerial from the Vox pack, which I think makes the weapon look a touch more "tech-y".

  

For the tribune I went with the bionic arm carrying a power sword from the Cadian HQ set, and added a leftover servo arm from a spare FW techpriest. I'm liking the models look so far, I'd initially thought about replacing the boots on the High Elf legs with ones from the Cadian legs, but decided that I rather liked the look of the original feet, not to mention going that route would mean that several of the legs that come with the High Elf Archer sprues would require more greenstuff sculpting than my meager skills allow. Seeing as I need to build 36 of these guys, I'm trying to keep the conversions as simple as possible!

TOEMP #10 - Scoundrels and Wyrds... Part 1

So I've spent enough time messing about with the Ad-Mech and I figure it's past time for me to work on the Guard again. The next TOEMP challenge gives me an opportunity to fill in some holes in the HQ and Elites squads - as I won't have much time to paint before the deadline this time, I settled on keeping it small and simple:

First up will be Dunno's Dead-eyes, the Ratling sniper squad attached to the Mordian 7th. Their efficacy in battle is suspect, but I like the models - when in doubt I rely on the Rule of Cool every time! I'm going to take a whack at camo fatigues on these little gits based on some of the fantastic camo examples out there.

 

Following that will be the last three models for the Psyker detachment of the army. The far right model will represent Morrin Dannel, the Sanctioned Psyker that appears on the original list. The far left model and the Overseer in the middle will finish off the PBS and will include an example or two from each era of the GW Psyker ranges. Working in concert with Dunno's Dead-eyes, one would imagine that the natural combo would be the LD-reducing Weaken Resolve power followed by shots from the snipers. Of course, it never quite works out that way on the tabletop...

Finally, to keep all these shady characters in check - the repaired and partially re-painted Commissar Lord to represent Fidel Arden. Still a bit more to do on this model, but it should go fairly quickly - the nice thing is all of the sculpts are very characterful, and they should be a lot of fun to paint!

TOEMP #9 - Heavy Metal, part 4

I managed to get the King Russ tanks painted up, but the weather is so cold I'm unable to seal them and add the water slide transfers:

Vanquisher and Battlecannon turrets - The Vanquisher is the must-have variant for me. It definitely makes my marine opponents sweat!

Punisher cannon and Heavy Bolter sponsons for maximum horde-killing!

Executioner and Plasma Sponsons - All of the turrets are swappable, and along with the alternate sponson weapons, I will be able to arm the tank in all sorts of combinations. The one thing I really like about the new Leman Russ kit is the swappable weapons. Definitely nice for flexibility!

I've been gathering bits to build an Ordinatus Minoris for the Adeptus Mechanicus, and the newest addition is a set of interesting-looking tracks. I'm still working on how I want it to look, the intent is to make a gantry section in the back using some Necromunda bulkheads, but I'm unsure how I want to approach the front section. Many sketches have been made and rejected, though I'm leaning towards using a Chimera kit and a mess of plasticard to extend and bulk out the command section. It's not going to be super-massive like the huge Ordinatus Majoris from the old epic game, but I do want to make it an homage to its style:

This will definitely be a long-term project. I don't want to rush into it, and I'm still gathering appropriate bits. I'm going to focus on the Guard for a while though, there's a lot of little projects left for the Mordian 7th that I need to polish off before I hare off on some monstrosity!

Knight Errant option complete!

It was warm enough yesterday to primer some models I'd built over the last couple weeks, and so I took advantage of that and then finished off the alternate arms for the first Knight Paladin to allow it to be outfitted as a Knight Errant. The first painted models of the new year!

This Knight is magnetized at the waist and both arms to allow for easy storage.  The newer Paladin is simply pinned at the waist as the model goes together in a way that doesn't allow for a magnet large/strong enough to hold the torso on. Not a big deal though, as the pin is more than sufficient to hold the torso in place.

This was definitely a fun model to build and paint, and I used some of the things I'd learned building this one in the construction of the new Paladin (a much more interesting base, for starters). I think I'm going to use a similar paint scheme on the new Paladin, I think the sections of green with white/black hazard striping sets off the main red and gold nicely.

Back up on deck are the King Russ tanks. I'm hoping to get them finished off and sealed this weekend while it's nice outside.

Shameless Plug: The Knight Paladin/Errant is up on the auction block along with some other odds and ends at the moment as I need to offset the cost of some airline tickets. ...Not that air travel these days is exactly a pleasant prospect!

2010, and the state of the hobby

Happy new year everyone - I'm looking forward to seeing what the hobby brings this year, as this past year has been surprisingly productive! Thanks to the awesome 40k blogging community it has been full of great blogs, each one chock full of amazing conversions, stunning paint jobs and helpful articles that have inspired me in innumerable ways. Thanks to all of you!

I'm not one for resolutions, but I figured I'd make an appraisal of where things stand and try and map out what needs to be done. As actually pulling out and organizing the miniatures is an enormous undertaking, I went through all the boxes and updated the painting charts. So here's what I'm planning on working on in the upcoming year:

Mordian 7th Regiment, D Company

Obviously, the glorious 7th is the main reason for the blog, and I'm planing on giving them plenty of brush time in 2010. After updating the chart I was pleased to see that I'm actually getting close to the finish line on the army, at least as far as recreating the original list goes (denoted with the blue unit headers). However there are a few things that I'm planning on doing to make the army more closely aligned to the original list, most noteably by replacing the veteran models with new grav-chute equipped models. I'll likely fold the old veteran models into the ad-mech army as Tech Guard.

Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator Force Chi Xi

I finally settled on what I figured would be the most appropriate name for the  Adeptus Mechanicus army. I actually made some headway into getting the Ad Mech painted this year, which I was happy about. I'm still holding out for the rumored plastic Storm trooper models to use as Hypaspists for the army, though in the short term I want to dabble in kit bashing some out of a mix of Cadian and High Elf parts, some plasticard and greenstuff. The Ordinatus Minoris is in the design sketches phase, following the purchase of some interesting looking toy track units from an old GI Joe toy. I figure before I take another crack at building the Leviathan I should start with something a bit less ambitious.

Craftworld Alaitoc Eldar

The Eldar are my secondary backup painting choice, which I'm keeping around for those times I need a break from the unrelenting grey and red of the Guard and Ad Mech. The squads are small (5-10), and nearly every unit has a rather different paint scheme, which means I can branch out a bit and do some (gasp) blues or greens for a change! It's having those kinds of fun side projects that helps me maintain my overall enthusiasm for the hobby when the army painter's fatigue rears its head.

Crimson Fists Assault Force

And finally (in both the list and my current painting queue), the Crimson Fists. I'll admit that at the moment I have zero interest in painting these marines, and they've been relegated to long term storage in the depths of the Closet of Doom. My intent was to use them as an assault force to complement the Mordian 7th, as well as be an homage to the original paint scheme I'd chosen for my first box of beakies back in the day... However, at nearly 6500 points, the Guard don't really need allies on the table. Hah!

I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of the community comes up with over the next year - here's to a good 010/M3, everyone!