WH40k: Cadian Rough Riders

Hello again faithful readers. I am going to present to you today the reason I had to post a filler post the other week. I have finally finished the Rough Riders.  I have posted several work in progress posts on these guys in the past, from the time I built the first guy to the time I painted the horses.  Last weekend was the Buffalo Beef and Wing Brawl.  A local singles, highlander tournament held by a the Beef and Wing game club.  It's always a blast and this year it was the only tournament I attended.  So, I finally had a true reason to push these through as painting is judged.

The entire squad.

I have always wanted to have a cavalry squad, despite how poor they are cost wise.  Point for point I am better off using something else, but it's guys riding horses in the year 40,000 anf they have explosive lances.  They're just too 40k to pass up.

Standard bearer and Sergeant.  No real rules for the flag but hey, it looks  cool.

Painting the horses was a challenge as I have never had to paint anything remotely similar. I tried to add variety with the sergeant having the fanciest looking horse.  That said I feel now I could have done a better job.

These guys are also holding their pistols. One has a wounded arm and the other a bionic hand.

One thing I think I have improved during painting this squad is the process for infantry flesh.  I wrote down what I did so that I can repeat it and I think that of all of my squads they have the best flesh.

Magnetized riders with lances.

Two of the riders have megnetized arms allowing them to carry their lances, meltaguns, or plasma guns.  I scratch built all of the lances from some skeleton spears and plasticard.  The legs I bought from Curious Constructs.

With Melta guns.

I did a bit more chipping and gouges on their armor than I have in the past.  I hope that this helps to break the monotony of their flak jackets and helmets.  With my guardsmen I tend not to go too crazy on detail.  I save that for special characters and the like.

With plasma guns

Going forward I think I am happy with how the troopers look, but not so much some of the horses.  I will probably paint my remaining guardsmen in this fashion.  However, once I start on my mechanicus troops I will either use my airbrush to do zenithal shading or wet blend them for a much more finished look.  The focus of my guard is always the tanks and characters.  The endless masses of troops should just blend into gray.  Thanks for stopping by!

Filler

First time in a rather long time that I have nothing new to post.  The Rough Riders are one night away from done but I did not get to work on them as I got set back about 3 hours today.  I will most likely finish them Thursday or Friday. Until then. The Emperor Protects....

WH40k: WiP Cadian Rough Riders

It's been awhile, but the blog has finally caught up to me.  I don't have a finished model to post this week.  That's not to say there is nothing!  I have here a long in coming squad of Cadian Rough Riders squad which I have been working on for a rather long time.  I started converting the first one in 2012!!!  You can see a post about that HERE.  I've posted about them here and there since then, but now they are finally getting some much needed paint!

Not being a Fantasy [R.I.P.] player, I've never had to paint any horses before, so that's where I started working here.  I finished them in April or so and then having to do base layers on the riders has caused me to stretch out painting them ever since.  I loathe doing base colors.  Today I finally finished the base colors and even threw a wash on. I hope to keep rolling along and finish them by next week.  That way I can start a new project before the next blog post.

I think I have mentioned it before but they are going to be magnetized to allow for some variation, if I ever use them that is.  Stay frosty!

BFG: Oberon Battleship

Another Battleship for the fleet.  This time an Oberon class.  I know, not the most competitive, but I'd like to have one ship of each class.  I still have an Apocalypse class and an Ark Mechanicus to paint up, so that will do it for my Battleships eventually.  Anyway, let me present, the Void Warden.  

I tinkered with the bridge a bit on this one and instead of one of the crazy huge figureheads added an Admiral's Bridge with an etched brass aquila above on the communication masts.  I used some chaos lances on the dorsal line since those are my favorite style of turret by far.  Lastly it's got a huge stripe to denote it as the fleet command ship.  As if this visual cue would be necessary with all the codes she'd be blasting out into space.  Another note is this is the first battleship where I replaced the stem with 1/8 inch brass rod.  No more breaking!

A close up of the bridge(s).  The Admiral's bridge is part of a Chaos bridge. Does this mean I can ignore the first Bridge Smashed result?

WH40k: Techpriest Enginseer

Ave Dues Mechanicus!  The Cadian 125th Armored Division finally has someone to fix all of those tanks they drive around and blow stuff up with.  This is another model I have been meaning to paint and use for some time.  It's even made of metal, not finecast.  I really enjoy painting characters and such as a standout from the gray of my infantry.  On the tabletop this model should stand out from the blobs and add some nice color to the army.  

This model took me several nights of work to complete with all of the shading I did and the details there were to pick out.  His armor matches the gray of my army, but is heavily chipped with the sponge method.  Again, I really need to improve my photos.  They've been coming out a bit darker than I like.  It may be that my work bulb is getting a bit long in the tooth.

The one thing I don't care for is how the caution stripes turned out on the end of his axe.

WH40k: Ministorum Priest

With the release of the new Imperial Guard codex, priests got a bit better for sure.  This model is my brother's priest from an Inquisitor campaign we did years ago.  I agreed back then to paint it for him.  It may be hard to tell, but the robes are wet-blended brown like a monk's robes.  It actually started out as a rusty red but the years showed their wear and it was really chipped.  I could not match the color and I was about to paint a Techpriest next so I switched it to this brown.   This model really was nice to finally finish painting after almost 6 years.  

His name is Fr. Raul Santiago and back in the campaign he had quite the penchant for being set on fire.  Poor guy.

The chainsword is still as it was when I first painted him years ago, as is the book staff.

He has a lot of nice details on the backpack.  All sorts of weapons and gear and books.  Lots of books.

This set of pictures really shows that I need to upgrade the lighting I use or upgrade my camera.  Or both.  We will see what I buy first.


The Emperor Protects!

BFG: Imperial Navy Reinforcements

So, the first post of the new year.  Happy 2015, even if I am a bit late on that.  As usual it's been far too long since my last post.  Though, I assure you, I have been busy on the hobby front.  I've been painting models from the whole spectrum of my collections.  I spent a good few hours taking photographs and editing them this week to try and pick up the blog slack.  I've got photos for about 11 posts all up and edited on flickr.  So I will probably write a few posts and then set them to auto publish some time in the future.  This will grant the illusion that I am actively updating this blog.  

Now the reason anyone is here, for pictures.  Well one picture.  These are a pair of Imperial Cruisers I painted up several months ago now.  They are both magnetized to be any of the cruiser variants.  For these two ships I tried a new technique in painting these ships.  Instead of picking out different details with different shades I decided to go with a drybrush and wash method.  I am pretty happy with how this worked.  It seems to look better than how I used to paint them.  Some other changes made are the addition of some markings, namely the stripe on the lower fin of one and on the weapons batteries of the other.  I've named these two cruisers Jovian Spear (left) and Infinity (right).

Hope you enjoy the new look of the ships, just trying to keep this game alive for as long as possible.  I still have plenty of these ships to build and paint since I stocked up right at the end, so don't worry about not having any more BFG to see from me.

APOCALYPSE!

So last month our group had an apocalypse game, 6 players, 5000 points each.  It was Imperial Guard, Blood Angels and Space marines on my team and Chaos, Orks, and traitor Guard on the other side.  By the end the Imperial Side was really decimated, and so we called it after the second session. Defilers and their daemon saves be damned.

Week 1 was our set up and deployment Week 2 saw the forces of evil winning 4 objectives to 2 and a slight advantage in kills as well.  Week 3 saw evil with 9 objective points to 3 and the Imperial forces with enough casualties to render them ineffective against a much larger force.  It was a huge clusterfuck but it was still fun.

Here are a few pictures. With the whole album available here.

The Baneblade ZEAL

The Baneblade, the pinnacle of armored warfare in the 41st millennium.  The stories tell of their might, a single squadron can hold off entire companies of enemy armor.  They are a rare beast these days, their loss is keenly felt and difficult to replace.  An entire war was waged to recover Commissar Yarrick's Baneblade The Fortress of Arrogance.

I got my Baneblade kit soon after they were released and painted it not much after that.  Over the last few years it was really showing its age, and I decided last year to repaint it.  I posted then that I was stripping it of its old paint and earlier this year I finally got around to slapping on a new paint job.  Zeal  is again ready to go to war for the Imperium and now I don't even have to only use it in Apocalypse.  Though the best part is seeing it with all the techniques I have learned since the last time I painted the tank.

Here it is now.

More after the break.

The Knights of the Order of Thanatos

Yet again I have to introduce a post after such a long hiatus from the blog.  It's been quite a while since I have updated this blog with the idea of re-shooting my model collection.  That has not happened, but I have not been idle.  As I mentioned back then I did repaint my Baneblade, Zeal, though I failed to take any pictures until today.  In the meantime the release of the Imperial Knight kit by Games Workshop really got me fired up and into painting mode.  My friend Kevin and I immediately decided to order some of them and I would paint them to match.  We've always wanted to start a Titan Legion, but have never spent the cash, so this was a pretty awesome second chance.  We each ordered a Knight and I also ordered a Dreamforge Leviathan, not knowing it would be far too large to join our Knightly Order and will instead he the founding member of a Titan Legion.  In exchange for painting his Knight, Kevin paid for some of my order and also got the expanded decal set.  Three months later and I have finally kept up my end of the bargain and finished the Knights.  Not for lack of effort though as April was the only month I really did not work on them.  But we are going to have an Apocalypse game soon and I really wanted to have them done for that, even if they will be on opposite sides of the conflict.

Without anymore senseless blather, here they are, face to face, ready to fight.

The Imperial Knight is a really fantastic kit and a dream to build and paint.  The only thing I would ask for is a bit more freedom in the legs.

More after the break.

Litany of Hate

My latest project is complete.  My brother bought this Modified Ryza Patter Vanquisher turret from FW last year and I bought the hull from a friend who was selling off his guard army.  As with most of my vehicles throughout the years I added another step or process in painting this one.  On the one side, it means this tank looks better than those which came before, on the other side, it means most of my tanks look slightly different.  The turret is where my new techniques which were mentioned last post can really be seen, as the hull's lines were muddled my old paint which I could not get to come off.

Now, with what I learned on this tank I can make my next one look better, hopefully.  All of the filters and washes and such dulled out the modulation a bit more than I expected them to, so next time I will probably make the bright tone a little lighter.

Here it is, the Leman Russ Vanquisher Litany of Hate:

They see me rollin, they dying.

Destroyer Tank Hunter

So, I finally got around to painting up my converted tank destoyer.  I settled upon the name Armordillo.  This tank will be the lead vehicle for my 3rd Armor Squadron.  The other 2 tanks are FW turreted Vanquishers.  I used a couple new products on this tank.  They are AK productions panzer grey grime and concrete dust effect.  I used these to do some streaking which you can see in some of the side on shots.  Without further ado, here's the pics.


You can see the art I made on the barrel of an armadillo with a cannon in its back.

MURDER: INITIATE!

I don't really care for Ogyrns, I mean sure they endearingly stupid and naive but they're abhumans.  So, here's my solution so that I can use Ogyrns in my army; Mechanicus constructed Murder Servitors.  They're big, they're mean, they have guns for hands.  I built these guys a while back (over a year ago I think) and I finally got around to painting them thanks to an ongoing challenge.  My friend Kevin and I have agreed to paint 1 unit a week for the foreseeable future, barring and sickness or vacations.  If one of us fails to complete something in a given week, then we owe the other $20.  The first week I painted my Recon Grenadiers and he finished his Cygnar Stormwall.  Last week he painted his Mordhiem Warband and I started these guys.  I did not get too much done and wound up owing him 20 bucks.  This week I spent 4 nights working on these guys and finished them!

Here they are ready to murder your troops!

All that skin and muscle detail is the reason they took so long, I will say that I would never want to paint an Ogre army...

That's it for now, next week I am going to try and paint my rebuilt Mordhiem warband.  Last time I used Empre State Troops. I wanted a grittier look so I have remade them using Empire Militia and Empire Greatswords.  I am very pleased with how they turned out.

Stay tuned!

Battle Report: September 8th Tournament: Game 1 Imperial Guard Vs Tyranids 1850 Pts

This month's Warhammer 40,000 tournament at Millenium Games in Rochester, NY was last Saturday.  The format was rulebook 40k, pre-set or 'cinematic' terrain if you like, and 1850pts.  No comp, no painting, the only goal here was to win.  Well, win and have fun.

I usually try to make a balanced list or go with something less utilized.  This month I went with something I have found to always be reliable.  The Leman Russ Tank.  Specifically, the Executioner variant as it very rarely fails me when I use it and I always take it with plasma cannon sponsons and a hull mounted lascannon.
The night before the tournament GW dropped the FAQs upon us and the Leman Russ became a Heavy Vehicle, which helps out with a lot of the variants.  I do like the change, even with the lack of movement over 6 inches.  I think the old lumbering behemoth was very characterful.
Here's my list!

Imperial Guard:
 HQ
Company Command: Power sword, med-pack, Standard, plasma gun, Vox, & 2 bodyguards

Troops
Veteran Squad: Demolitions, 3 Meltaguns, Power sword
Veteran Squad: Grenadiers, 3 Plasma Guns, Power Sword
Chimera: Hvy Stubber
Veteran Squad: Sentries, 3 Sniper Rifles, Lascannon, Vox
Veteran Squad: 3 grenade launchers, lascannon
Chimera: Heavy Stubber

Fast Attack
Vendetta Gunship

Heavy Support
Leman Russ Squadron
1>LR Executioner: Plasma Sponsons, Lascannon, Heavy Stubber
2>LR Executioner: Plasma Sponsons, Lascannon, Heavy Stubber
LR Battle Tank: Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Lascannon
LR Vanquisher: Lascannon, Multi Melta Sponsons

My opponent for game 1 was my friend Chris, who drove me to the tournament, and his tyranids:

Flyrant
Trygon
Tervigon
Shooty Carnifex Duo
Shooty Carnifex(In pod)
3x Warriors
1x Hive guard
10x guants
Tyranid Prime

Game 1 used the Hammer & Anvil deployment and Big Guns Never Tire for scenario.  My warlord trait gave my outflanking units acute senses I do no recall what Chris' did.  We roll and get 3 objectives, he places 2 and I one.  Here's our terrain set up.

I get first turn and deploy as seen below; the Vendetta and the melta vets are coming.  I put the snipers in the ruin and the objective turns out to give a +1 to cover, meaning they gain 1 2+ cover save while camping the objective.  I wish I could get this every game I played.  The command is on the floor below them to issue orders and guard against assault.  Everything else deploys to advance and crossfire.

Here is Chris' deployment.  The Trygon and pod Carnifex are in reserve.  He fails to seize but we do have night-fighting for turn 1.

Turn 1

I advance the Grenade vets in their chimera and the Leman Russ Battle Tank, keeping everything else stationary.

In the shooting phase I put almost everything I have at the Carnifex team, between everything I score a lot of hits, and he makes a good amount of saves but I still end up killing one and putting 3 wounds on the other.  I also put 2 wounds on the Prime from splash and I think kill 1 gaunt.

In his turn he spawns a unit of 15, the maximum without doubles.  He moves up the gaunts, prime, and remaining fex.  He casts some boons to them, I think increasing the toughness or some such.  The fex shoots at the Chimera and manages to stun it.

Turn 1 Summary: Guard 3 (Objective), Nids 6 (2 Objectives)

Turn 2

First I roll for the Valkyrie and it does indeed arrive.  I advance everything but the Grenade Launcher Chimera and the objective holders.  

In shooting I finish off the carnifex gaining First Blood and since it is a Heavy it gains me 2 Victory Points.  The vendetta shoots at the Tervigon and does 1 wound.

On his turn all of his reserves arrive the flyrant comes in from his end.  The carnifex and trygon come in on my side.  Of course, everything else advances.  He spawns 12 guants this turn, still no doubles.

The fex shoots the rear of my other Chimera and stuns it.  The pod shoots and my command squad and kills bodyguards.

In the assault phase the prime charges in on my GL vet Chimera and blows it up.  The squad holds its own in the cover  I lost 3 scrubs.

Turn 2 Summary: Guard 5 (First Blood, Heavy Kill, Objective), Nids 7 (2 Objectives, Linebreaker)

Turn 3

I make another on the near table edge with the Leman Russ, going for the linebreaker.  The lower chimera rotates to face the fex, the executioners turn to face the trygon, the vanquisher turns to face it as well, and the Vendetta turns on the flyrant.

This turn I take out the tervigon, put some wounds on the flyrant and on the carnifex.

It was the first aerial combat of the day.

The tyranids advance again and he spawns 14 more guants. The carnifex moves in on my command squad.  Shooting from the flyrant takes the vendetta down a hull point.  The pod manages to wreak my other chimera.

In the assault phase the fex goes into my command squad, the guants attack my dismounted plasma vets.  The fex is downed by my command but the guants take out the veterans.  The same squad that turned back a unit of reavers a few months ago.

Turn 3 summary: Guard 7 (1 Objective, First Blood, 3 Heavy Kills), Nids 7 (2 Objectives, Linebreaker)

Turn 4

I move the vendetta towards the corner and dismount the Vets with Grav Chute Insertion, they do not scatter and none of them die.  

Shooting does little damage this turn I think I manage 1 wound on the tervigon and 1 on the flyrant.

On his turn he advance gaunts towards my Melta vets and the flyrant at my Executioners.  He shoots at the vets and kills a few and then assaults the Executioners to little effect.

Turn 4 Summary: Guard 8 (1 Objective, First Blood, 3 Heavy Kills, Linebreaker), Nids 7 (2 Objectives, Linebreaker)

Turn 5

I forgot to take any pictures this turn but it mostly involves me killing the flyrant.  He returns fire and kills a couple more veterans from the melta squad and some from the sniper squad with the pod.

Summary

In the end this game was pretty close, at first we thought it was a draw because we forgot to count each heavy killed as another Victory point.  I had some very good rolls this game, and my shooting was especially effective.  In the end I wound up with 10 VP; 3 for my objective, 1 for linebreaker, 1 for First blood, 1 for slay the warlord, and 4 for Heavy kills.  Chris came up with 7; 6 for objectives and 1 for linebreaker.

Mt next batrep may be up next week and will detail the events of my first battle against Daemons.

Rough Rider

Here's a little post of a bit of converting I have been up to.  This is my first Rough Rider of what will be a  squad of 10.  Last month I bought a 10 man Cadian squad and 2 sets of Medieval horses from GW.  I started out by picking the set of legs that was closest to working, then I had to do a lot of cutting and shaving to get them to fit.

Here you can really see all of the material I had to remove.

Then, I had to fill a lot back in with green stuff.  While that was still pliable I started on the torso because I also had to sculpt the hand holding the lance.  I filled in around the neck and all seams on the horse as well.

For the lance tips my brother gave me a bunch of skeleton spears and I took the plainer looking type to use. Much more imposing with a spear tip on there.

Behind the point I added a small box with a light and a wire leading to the point.

That's all on these for now since I do not want to repose and sculpt all of the legs I will be casting copies of this sculpt to use for all of them.  Just ordered some silicon and resin to do so, should have it soon.  I will also make a mold of some of the BFG stuff I have scratched.