Necromunda - The Brotherhood of the Argent Spiral resurfaces!

In the wake of all the World Eaters semi-monochomatic armor, I felt the need to break out some different colors. Right around the same time GW released the most recent wave of Genestealer Cult models which are all amazing - Though I have no intention of doing a full-on 40k army of 'em, I had to paint 'em, and what better way to justify a bunch of character models than by working them into a new Genestealer Cult gang for Necromunda?

Following Adepticon I'm planning on running a Necromunda campaign for a group of friends, and have been working up a number of miscellaneous bad guys, critters, monsters and mutants for use in special scenarios, and one of the 'storylines' I have planned is a cult uprising which the various players can attempt to stop (or align with, depending on how things play out). Should be fun!

Definitely went a little more colorful on these guys than recent projects, and varied somewhat from my usual 'three colors' idea. Blue and yellow always set off nicely against each other, while the red and white offer up a separate contrast (and the red sets off against the blue and yellow as well). Most of the red cloaks/coats will be getting a spiral motif (hence the cult name) in white/silver, which whould hopefully look pretty neat!

Still a ways to go, but they're well on the path!

Blackstone Fortress/Necromunda - The Ambull Arrives!

Just a quick hit this morning - Swung by the local GW shop yesterday for some odds and ends and had to pick up the new Ambull model for Blackstone Fortress! I happen to have one of the old original Ambulls (it's one of the few models that I have kept from 30 years of hobbying) and was really jazzed to see them give it an updated model!

I guess 30 years underground means the Ambull got HUGE! The intention is to use him in Necromunda, as part of the upcoming campaign - With the knowledge that the Am-Bot should be released soon, I have a vision of doing a little pit fight scenario with beast vs. machine! 

The original model came out in 1988 and cost about six bucks at the time. The new one was sixty bucks, but for a hit of nostalgia like this, I gladly paid it. To be fair, the new kit comes with a few other gribbly critters and a whole mess of add-on cards and adventure potential for Blackstone Fortress, quite looking forward to giving it a try in that game as well!

Armies & Legions & Hordes arrives on the scene!

A little while back the tremendously talented Dave Taylor made a Kickstarter for his book "Armies & Legions & Hordes" and I immediately chipped in, knowing that it was going to be something truly special. The Kickstarter was a success, the book arrived earlier this week and it is absolutely fantastic!

It came in a beautiful slipcase and in general size and shape reminds me of the awesome Imperial Armour books from Forge World, always a good comparison!

The book spools through Dave's history with gaming and offers a ton of insight into his time working in the hobby, all of which is fascinating. Accompanying this glimpse into the process are a metric TON of fantastic photos of his work throughout the years, many of which have graced the pages of White Dwarf, Wargames Illustrated and more!

It's not all GW stuff either, Dave has explored many other systems and the book is chock full of beautiful miniatures from other games such as Dark Age, Bolt Action, etc.!

It also has a ton of insight into how he approaches all the crazy and wonderful conversions he's done over the years including the Genswick Rifles, his stunning Army of Morr and many more. Many Morr?

The book also includes several articles from other folks from around the hobby adding their insights into various aspects of wargaming goodness, and I'm quite humbled and honored to have been able to contribute some of my inane ramblings to the book - The painting chart that I'm so fond of using made its way into the pages alongside articles from some of the true giants of the hobby. So cool!

If you didn't get a chance to pick up a copy as part of the Kickstarter, as I understand it plans are afoot to get the book out into the wild for public ordering. As I find out more I'll be sure to get the info out to you all - It is a tremendous book from a tremendous chap, and I cannot recommend it highly enough! Cheers, Dave!

UPDATE: Info on ordering the book post-KS from Dave:

Post-KS Availability!  

With the recent deliveries here in the US I have had a lot of people ask about availability. Well I can now announce that there are quite a few ways to get a hold of the book, in both physical and digital forms. Please pass this information on to your friends who might have missed the campaign.  

In the US 

- in March, your FLGS will be able to order the book from Alliance Game Distributors. So if, like me, you like to support your local store you can still do that. 

- Ironheart Artisans now has Armies & Legions & Hordes in stock in their webstore: https://ironheartartisans.com/shop/  Head to their store and click on the Dave Taylor Miniatures button to take you through to the Hardback book (including limited quantities of the KS slipcase) and the PDFs of the book, plus the Bonus PDFs that I created for BackerKit. 

- Winged Hussar Publishing will be carrying my book at their booth at the following shows: Cold Wars, AdeptiCon, Historicon, and Fall-In.  

In the UK/EU 

- Warlord Games have stock of the books which can be either ordered in to your FLGS or you can order directly from their webstore: https://store.warlordgames.com/products/armies-legions-hordes  

In Oz/NZ 

- Mighty Ape is, I think, being supplied by Warlord, and will hopefully have a restock soon. 

- Alternatively, check with your local supplier of Warlord goodness and see if they can get it in.  

Rest of World 

- Ironheart Artisans or Warlord Games will be your best bet for securing a copy. 

Thanks again, everyone! You have set something very cool in motion, and I look forward to creating quality products for you for years to come.  

Cheers Dave

Heresy Era World Eaters - Adepticon Force 90% done!

Now that the bases have arrived I'm in the home stretch with the World Eaters force for Adepticon - All that remains is a trio of Contemptors of which I'm awaiting delivery! Had some time yesterday to break out the photo tent, brace yourselves for a tidal wave of pics!

Kharn and Khargos Bloodspitter

Command Squad

Skane's Destroyer Squad

Tactical Squad

Assault Squad #1

Assault Squad #2

Dreeadclaw Drop Pods

Heavy Support Squad

Rhino

Sicaran Arcus

Proteus  Land Raid

The all-important painting chart!

Starting to get a  little anxious about the contemptors arriving (they're from a garage casster in the UK, so it's understood that they're being done in his spare time), so I'm scheming on someme alternate plans just in case they don't arrive in time for the con. Fingers crossed!

Heresy Era World Eaters - All about that base...

Work continues apace on the World Eaters force for Adepticon, and while I've been diligently beavering away in the background on a mess of models I haven't posted much in the way of pics as I'd been awaiting the delivery of all the bases. They finally arrived earlier this week and I was excited to get stuck in!

The original plan was to do a combined Word Bearers/World Eaters force all on the white marble Armatura bases, but after a couple test assemblies I really wasn't happy with the white-on-white look with the World Eaters. Sometimes what makes sense in your head in the planning stages just doesn't work out on the tabletop and you have to be flexible. New bases were ordered and I decided I'd go with a darker warm tone with them to set off against the cooler whites and blues of the Eaters of Worlds' armour. Busted out some paint stir sticks and tacked a whole mess of based down and got cracking!

Kept the dirt really dark and added in some sandstone to contrast, and then sprinkled on some static grass there and there to jazz them up a bit and add a little spot color to set off against the colors on the infantry. Once that dried I popped 'em all off the sticks and set to pinning and gluing up all the dudes.

Once everyone was glued in place I went through and blacked in all the base rims and gave them a penultimate sealant pass. Quite pleased already with how much better the models pop on the bases compared to the earlier white marble, where they all just sort of blended in as a big white blob!

Next up is adding some blood spatter and some chipping here and there and they'll be table-ready for Adepticon! In the home stretch now, just a trio of dreadnoughts and a Rhino to go - With the advent of the recent FAQ, there were some point cost drops in the force I had planned, so I have to come up with a few extra models and wargear here and there to make up the points. So far, so good!

Necromunda - Gang Plank and Guilder (Venator) gang ready for Adepticon!

Been plugging away on projects for Adepticon, and between World Eaters stuff I took some time and sorted out the Necromunda side of things!

One of the things that's been in the backlog for a while is an MDF "Gang Plank" from Prometheum Forge (available here: https://everylittlewar.com/products/gang-plank-event-tray). I'd picked up a couple a while back and other than having built them I hadn't done much. Busted out some nice bright colors and got to work!

It's a cool little magnetized tray that can hold the cards, dice and tokens for the game, and offers a nice way to display and transport the models between games. I've settled on taking my Guilder gang out to Adepticon, Count DeMonet and his cronies are ready to engage in some skullduggery and profit in the Underhive! From left to right (front) Harry the Hump, Minka the Ninker, Count DeMonet, Dr. Whirlygig, Biceps McSixpack, and Eats Bad Fungus. (back) Frellin' Tom, Brother Hameln and his Bomb Rats, and Mr. Hand. 

Back to the World Eaters next, the deadline is bearing down worryingly quickly!