Testing... Is this thing still on?

Rumors of my demise have been slightly exaggerated, and I must apologize for my absence over the last month.While it would be easy to offer up a litany of excuses, the main point is I've been remiss in keeping the blog up to date, and it's high time to rectify the situation - While I haven't been posting, I certainly haven't been inactive!

So over the next few days I'll be curating and updating a number of projects (as well as taking a lot of new pics as I'm finding several shots that look good on a phone screen are garbage on an actual monitor. Doh! First off will be one of my most anticipated recent releases, Blackstone Fortress!

Honestly the first 40k box set I've been excited about since Necromunda - Specialist Games, how I adore thee!

Gotta have the group shot first. While I liked the Rogue Trader and entourage that came with Kill Team, THIS is what a proper Rogue Trader group ought to look like with all the strange and esoteric members!

Gotta love stripey pants!

Possibly my favorite model of the bunch, I love the aesthetic and got a chuckle at the name-check nod to Lustram Locarno in the 1st edition Rogue Trader rulebook.

Gotta love a fat priest! Thoroughly enjoyed painting this guy's outrageous rainment.

Burn baby, buuuuuuurrrrrrnnnnn! Dig the model, though it's a bit overpowered in the game itself I'm finding...

"Beep boop. I am a completely normal Imperial Robot and not an abominable intelligence. No sir."

Perhaps the most characterful of the entourage, the ratling twins were a hoot to paint and are quite amusing in-game as well!

If I was only going to paint one Kroot, I basically HAD to paint him up like an archetypal farmyard chicken, right?

The Eldar Ranger was so stealthy it was only at this point that I realized the pic was way out of focus. Derp. Reshoots required!

Quite liked the shades-of-green cameleoline cloak, and took a crack at the Biel-Tan thorny vines thing with marginal success.

Really, really liked the traitor guardsmen, but was really disappointed to find out they didn't do full ten-man squads. Still, great new sculpts full of character!

The second seven got the reversed color schemes on pants and jackets, but it's sort of hard to tell. In game they're sorts of grabbed at random so they all end up hanging together aesthetically at least.

The two rogue psykers are simply exemplary models!

Who doesn't like beastmen? Well, a lot of people apparently but I for one miss having 'em in 40k and was jazzed to see 'em in the set!

The Negavolt Cultists are some very evocative models, and would love to see more of this sort of thing on the Dark Mechanicus side!

The Spindle Drones were a neat new addition to the mix, though it was at this point my cunning plan to trim the slotta bases off the models sort of bit me. Trimming and gluing them down to the new bases was fraught with danger!

Interestingly, the models I'm most proud of are the ones I was least excited about in the whole set. I did some experiments with washes and color modulation on these guys and really dug how they turned out!

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed painting all the models, and the game itself is a blast to play (though does require a bit of a time commitment)! Next up, diving headfirst back into the Heresy with a surprise shift in direction due to some late-breaking news...

Heresy Era Word Bearers - Contemptors and Chaplains and Venators, oh my!

With the recent release of the Adepticon events registration, I was finally able to zero in on what I would need to get completed for the Word Bearers. I've got a Zone Mortalis game at 500 points and a big 3k game vs. Xenos, which should be interesting! In both cases I've decided I was going to continue the "Assault on Armatura" theme for my force and run a very infantry-heavy army. That said, there needs to be some anti-armor punch and you can't go wrong with a talon of Contemptors to do the punching.

While poking around on the Oldhammer site, I ran across some embiggened RT-era Dreadnoughts, which tripped my nostalgia trigger hard and I absolutely had to get a few. I'll be running them as a Contemptor Cortus talon armed with twin dreadnought close combat weapons each with a twin-linked bolter. Cheap and cheerful Str 10 mayhem!

I'm really jazzed by how they turned out, however after getting them painted I realized I never ordered any 60mm bases to match the rest of the force, so they're on hold until the package shows up from Secret Weapon...

While I was about it, I also got the Sicaran Venator more or less complete as well! I always loved this model, it's just such a mean-looking tank! It's rather fearsome on the tabletop as well, though in my experience the lascannons are superfluous as the main gun is an Ordnance weapon which generally precludes the ability to fire the sponsons. As the tank will take a lot of fire, having the extra weapons to soak up the inevitable 'weapon destroyed' results isn't a bad thing though!

While going over the lists, I realized I needed a 'vanilla' chaplain to fulfill the Word Bearers FOC requirements (in addition to the warlord, the force must include either a chaplain or champion), but rather than just use the Betrayal at Calth model as-is I figured I'd chop him up and make something a bit more unique! Kept the torso, cape and backpack, but gave him some alternate legs which changed the stance dramatically. Swapped the crozius over to the left hand, and pillaged the Thousand Sons sorcerer bits to come up with a warp flask and creepy hand. Your basic skull helmet is essential for any self-respecting chaplain, and he's ready to get painted up!

Speaking of, it's been a while since I updated the painting chart and am quite pleased to see how close to the finish line the force is. Well on track to get everything completed for Adepticon, and with it being almost entirely infantry it should hopefully be easy to transport!

NOCF Fall Charity Raffles ending soon!

Howdy folks! Just a reminder that there's only two days remaining to pick up tickets for the fall session of charity raffles from the Nova Open Charitable Foundation, which includes a mess of Bark Eldar, I mean Exodite Aeldari!

 

For a mere $5 you can enter for a chance to win these pointy-eared gits, as well as all sorts of awesome other models!

The raffle launched on Monday, October 15, and runs until November 25, so there's just a few days left to get your tickets - the money goes to a number of fantastic causes! 

Here's the scoop:

• Tickets are available from novaopenfoundation.org

• We will ship to winners anywhere in the world (with a valid mailing address)

LINKS:

Home Page                 https://novaopenfoundation.org/

Links to the various raffles below!

Armies                         

·       2018 FALL ARMY: 40K Board Game, The Lost Patrol

·       2018 FALL ARMY: 40K Exodite Aeldari

·       2018 FALL ARMY: Dark Age Forsaken St. Isaac Army

·       2018 FALL ARMY: FOW Mid-War Italian Tank Company

·       2018 FALL ARMY: FOW Team Yankee – American Armored Cavalry Company

·       2018 FALL ARMY: Necromunda Underhive

Models

·       2018 FALL MODEL: 40K Nurgle Chaos Knight

·       2018 FALL MODEL: Banshee Anonymous Bust 1.0

·       2018 FALL MODEL: Banshee Anonymous Bust 2.0

·       2018 FALL MODEL: Ogre Bust

Cheers everyone!

Kill Team - Elucidian Starstriders and Gellarpox Infected painted!

As soon as I saw the initial leaked pics of the Killteam:Rogue Trader set I knew I had to get my hands on it (and I'm in a similar boat with Blackstone Fortress), and over the last couple weeks I've been working my way through the dozens of models. Finally got them to a point where I could take some pics!

While I really wanted the box set for the Rogue Trader minis, I knew that if I didn't paint up the Nurgle dudes first I might not ever actually find the motivation to paint them. Don't get me wrong, they're beautiful, characterful sculpts but if I'm honest I don't much care for the Nurgle aesthetic. I'm a Tzeentch man at heart! Nevertheless, I held my nose, pulled out all the gribbly greens and yellows I had and got to work!

The set includes a ton of insects, slugs, bugs and nurglings! I really dug that every single one is different and they are quite characterful. I tried three separate green skintones across the various models which is more evident on the nurglings. It's subtle, but I think it helps them from being too same-y.

The three corrupted servitors are probably my favorite models from the Gellarpox side. A rather cool fusion of the Plaguebearer and Servitor look!

The four 'big guys' were entertaining, and you can really see the skin tone variations on them. Thoroughly disgusting models all around, and at the end I'll admit I had a pretty good time painting them.

Once the Gellarpox Infected were complete I could dig in to the models that got me interested in the box set in the first place, the Elucidian Starstriders! Thoroughly enjoyed painting each of the models in the set and I kinda wish there were more of 'em!

First up were the armsmen and I'll admit the color scheme sort of got away from me on 'em. I try to keep my colors to a three-set maximum, but after getting the red, white and blue down on the clothes and armor, I knew their weapons needed to pop, and they got yellow housings. Riotous, but perhaps befitting a Rogue Trader entourage - A group of folks not known for their restraint!

The other five models in the set are each a bit more individualist. The medicae got the contractually-obligated white labcoat and the tech-envoy got the usual -Martian red. The death cultist was done up in red and black (naturally) and the good boy got some armor to match the armsmen and a doberman color scheme. Finally the rogue trader herself got some Mardi Gras green/purple/yellow to help her stand out from the rest of the force a bit.

All in all this was a really fun bunch of models to paint up and I'm 100% looking forward to taking on the wider array of models coming out with Blackstone Fortress next week. Can't wait to get 'em in front of the painting servitor!

In other news, got my event tickets purchased for Adepticon, which mean that there's more heresy on the horizon now that I have a better idea of what I'll need to take with me to the event. In a slight change of pace I'll also be participating in the Necromunda campaign on Saturday out there, and am already scheming on what to take! Gonna be good times!

Necromunda - House Cawdor gang painted!

More Necromunda today with the Brotherhood of the Benificent Creator, a House Cawdor gang! I really dig how GW has been tweaking the background and aesthetic of the various gangs, and House Cawdor is no exception. They really changed up the rag-tag look of the models, but still maintained some design cues with the old metals which I appreciate. They're definitely more emaciated and ragged overall and while my initial gut impression was less favorable, once I had them in-hand I have to say I did a 180 and absolutely adore them!

In a callback to my old metal gang from back in the day, the new version got a blue-and-yellow paint scheme which always pops nicely. I tried to ensure that each of the repeat poses got a mirror image color scheme (one got yellow pants and blue shirt and the other got blue pants and yellow shirt, for example).

The gang leader and champion are both just dripping with character, I love all the candles and scavenged equipment!

The idea that the members of House Cawdor saw soem art of the Adeptus Custodes and atempted to build guardian spears to emulate the guardians of the Emperor is really a nice touch, and I had to add four guys swinging around these unwieldy monstrosities!

On the other end of the scale I like having a few gunfighters in my gangs so several guys got a pair of pistols, a pistol and axe combo, and one brother with a scavenged autogun and a molotov cocktail, because you can't go wrong setting the unbelievers on fire, now can you?

Rooting around in the Closet of Doom I uncovered a pair of old metal Juves (still bummed that GW hasn't done any bespoke Juve models in the new sets), and was pleased to see they fit right in to the new aesthetic. Hoping the get them running through the underhive this coming weekend!

Necromunda - Spyrers, Hired Guns, Hive Scum and Robots!

Howdy folks! Been having some issues getting new pics uploaded to my galleries, but finally got it sorted out and have a whole slew of new pics ready to go! After working on a ton of heresy stuff, I thought I'd take a breather and switch gear to do a mess of Necromunda models who have been lurking on the to-be-painted shelf for months, if not years. Buckle up for a couple weeks worth of painting!

First up is one of the oldest models that have been rattling around the Closet of Doom for decades, the Spyrer Patriarch! I essentially had to paint him in the green and yellow of the classic "Doc Ock" scheme, and I'm going to be hard-pressed not to refer to him as "Apothecary Cephalopod" now!

Figured I ought to take a quick snap of the whole hunt team. Part of me want to see if I can find the alternate poses for each of the four 'basic' spyrers and get them painted up as well!

Next up are a trio of Hired Guns from the recent Forge World releases, Grendl Grendlsen, Belladonna and Eyros Slagmyst. Really enjoyed painting them up, especially Grendl - Had to give him the classic House Mjolnir paint scheme!

As a contrast, I also painted up a trio of old hired guns from the original release back in the day - Biceps McSixpack, Frellin' Tom, and Ever-Ready Evan.

As a callback to a friend's old gang, Eats Bad Fungus the Ratskin Scout got a lick of paint. I always loved this model, it's by far my favorite of the Ratskin sculpts.

Similarly, as an homage to my dubby Dave's old Pit Slave gang, Dr. Whirlygig the Pit Slave Champion is ready to rampage through the underhive!

In other news, I love to trawl the interwebs for likeminded folks who enjoy the old Rogue Trader era minis and aesthetic, and ran across a fellow who had sculpted up some robots based on some art from the 1st edition rulebook. I had to get my mitts on a few!

They're scaled to fit on 40mm bases and I don't really have any use for them in 30k/40k, but they'll work really well as some counts-as Ambots for a planned Necromunda scenario in the near future!

More stuff to come shortly, as I work through the photo backlog!