Marines, Bikes and Priests- 21 November update

Assault Squads

All 30 are now base coated red (armour), with a single heavy wash of Carroburg Crimson in the recesses. I've worked out that to do the armour, helmet and pinning onto the base each marine owes me an average of 1.5 hours. So even ignoring the construction time/ prepping and painting the bases, thats about 45 hours alone just to get the three assault squads done. I've also taken delivery of a fancy new Battlefoam Assault Marine tray, I can get 5 full squads in there. Pretty neat:)

Thats one tray full of rage right there, and I can fit another 20 in as well!

I've also been finishing off the meltagunners for the squad- here's three with their 'hazard stripe' meltas - this is my second-edition 40K roots showing... three left to do, just ran outta time tonight. The melta arms jsut slide on snugly and aren't attached so i can finish all the other details later. As the pics will attest, this is a simple basecoat of yellow for the stripes- will wash and tidy later on.

Come at me armour :P

Bikes!

The bikes are all basecoated red, I'm in the process of assembling the riders and gunners, with three multi-meltas (melta spam!! everywhere!!) as I jsut cant justify bikes with heavy bolters. And besides, the bolters on the bikes have a 24" range, just like the multi's, so i'll get to use them as well :) Was initially tossing up whether or not to take the attack bikes, now Im glad i persevered, they're such great looking models!!

Moar dakka coming soon...

  

Sang Priests

I'm pretty happy- these are cool looking priests, and with the right combo of parts and a vague idea they came together quite quickly!!  Been researching people's tacticas regarding the use of SPs, mine will be put in the middle/rear of the Assault Squads, although if covering multiple units (6" range to buff squads with FnP and FC) I'll place them out on the unit's flanks. I think T5 2 wound Attack Bikes getting a FnP save will be highly amusing...

Greenstuff Grails and "cut 'n' shut" narthecium/chainsword conversions- surprisingly easy...

Im also thinking that these guys are going to get challenged, which works fine for me- I can refuse the challenge, and I'm just losing a few Str4 attacks, which means my Sgts will be freed up to deliver power weapon hits here there and everywhere- i'm relatively sure my opponent will want to cut down the Priests firstly to remove the Feel No Pain. Although the WS5 Sang Priest should be able to hold his own with a possible jump infantry 'Impact Hit' and four Str5 (furious charge) attacks in the first round.

That and any shooting hits on him can be negated with a Look Out Sir! of a 2+, as he's an Independant Character attached to the squad.

Just need a basecoat of red on these guys, maybe some gold to pick out the grails, and some white on the 'X' shapes on the jump packs and Narthecium arms,  and that will do for this weekend's game.

What's next? 

At this point in time i've only got a few small tasks ahead to get my BA army ready for the Apoc on Saturday. The metal parts on the second Stormraven, maybe tidy up the red a bit more,basecoat the gunners and riders on the attack bikes (just blu-tak' in place for this game), and then go back and re-check everything again. Two thousand points of Blood Angels assembled and Basecoated in a couple of months: done. But completing a solid 1850 list in the next two months in order to make Cancon?? Its looking like a 50/50 chance at best... maybe the holidays will give me more free time, who knows??  

Thanks for having a read, its appreciated. Comments and feedback most welcome!

Keep on keepin' on- 30 October update

Blood Angels- my hands are constantly stained red...

Progress on my army is going okay, I believe I'm going to need around 10- 14 hours per week for the next 12 weeks painting and assembling time in order to get it all done for Cancon (!). And by done, I mean something along the lines of an army that could compete for 'players choice'- high impact, high detail with lots of cool freehand and interesting stuff to look at, the kind of army you'd like to own.  I might not get there but im giving it my all, most nights I can at least basecoat and shade an Assault Marine, which takes a while when you're trying to not paint up all the other detail on the legs, chest and jump packs- a good 40 minutes to get a nice even coat down followed with a wash. I've taken to filing down, undercoating and basecoating/washing the heads whilst they're still on the sprues, once the base red and wash is on and dry i then glue the head in place. Even right now with no shoulderpads, a basic red/black colouring these yellow heads make the guys 'pop' on the tabletop heaps, and im happy to use them in games at this point in time.

14 in base red 'n' yellow, with 16 to go! (and, who are still all on sprues...)

Looting the Ravenwing

I also decided that it was time for some more units, and to this end I decided to strip down all my terrible old DA Ravenwing bikes, which were only ever black spray undercoated (and not well..). Thanks to my previous use of poor quality superglue they came apart quite easily, with the only casualties being a couple of sets of handlebars (eBay is my friend here for replacements). The tentative plan is to run three attack bikes with heavy bolters for some tough long range support and a six-strong bike squad, packing two meltaguns. However, I might drop the meltas and swap the Sgt's power weapon for a powerfist, i'm undecided at this point. Should be relatively easy to get them painted up, all I need to do is source two more attack bikes, some bitz and some more bike- specific bases from B2B.

About to swap allegiances. Just don't tell Azrael.

 Go Furioso!!


So my Furioso Dreadnought (see last post) ended up winning the Second Sphere 'Elites' comp, staving off a strong challenge from a very nicely painted set of Sanguinary Guard, so the BAs were the main winners here :) It does feel nice to have finally won a 'main' (ie FOC slot- specific) contest on Second Sphere, having come runner up or third many a time(including back in the old Tau Online days, before 'the exodus'). And, as is the way, nothing motivates me more to paint than an impending deadline, be it a tourney, a big game with the boys or a painting contest. I'm never one to bring something along if i cant at least paint it up (or at very least throw down a basecoat and shade wash).

Charlie approves of contest- winning Dreadnoughts.

 So if there's anything to be said, its that having a baby really changes things; you're suddenly the most time poor person in the world, and hence organisation is key when you want to keep going with the hobby. Hence my earlier comment regarding how long I'd need to finish this army- I factored in all the required steps for each unit, and a rough estimate of the time required to do a good non-rushed job. At this point in time there's around 12.5 weeks till Cancon, so i've gotta keep the pressure on and keep going. Nothing motivates me quite like a deadline!

In saying that, we're throwing around ideas for a small Apoc/ large 40K team game around late November, which I'm looking at as a way to test some of my new units as well as get some painting done :)

Anyhow, thats enough carrying on from me for one night.

Cheers,
Tempest

     

Furioso- completed!

Today is short and sweet- my Furioso is now completed, after a very quick and brutal paintup in time for an online painting comp. While the finish is not as smooth as I would have liked its still quite nice, all things considered. Might chuck some more orange on the claws for some more definition, but he's basically done.

I particularly like how the script on his leg turned out.

Hazard Stripes will appear here and there in my army- a nod to 2nd edition 40k.

Brother Adiel, ready to rock n roll

These new paints, washes and glazes make painting a breeze, should have some infantry updates soon.

-Temp

Assault Marines update 25 September

More progress here on my Assault Marines- i've now got 16 assembled, with 6 base coated and washed, the rest are still sitting around in black undercoat waiting. Once the red + wash goes on i've been painting the raised areas of the collar and small sections you can't get to easily and then gluing the helmet heads in place.

The 6 red amigos so far. Even in base colours they look swanky. The urban bases certainly help!

I'll be very happy once i've got all 30 Jump Marines assembled and red basecoated, even though there'll be quite a lot left to do to get the army completed. Still, continuous progress and getting an hour here and there in is making things happen!

Oh, and I played a game with my mate Alan last weekend, still trying to learn the game. Learnt several valuable lessons here:

1. Imperial Guard can rapid fire 24". In a blob squad this means unbeleveable casualties if a poor marine squad deepstrikes scatters into range. There is only so many rolls you can make before the ones appear. The marine adage of "look to your wargear brothers!" wont protect you from 40+ hits from a lasgun...
2. Wound allocation in 6th edition (assuming no insane variations in armour types per squad) is easy to get your head around, and is reflective of exactly 'how it happens' in real life combat. Death comes swiftly from the direction of fire OR the front line of the melee.
3. Be careful who stands closest to your Sgt or other IC, they're the one who gets to take the Look Out Sir! bullet, not some pleb at the back. Once again, as it should be.
4. Feel No Pain may circumvent AP2, but its useless against twice toughness (ID)... damn you Leman Russ battletank!
5. Rolling 1s and 2s for Reserves is fine when you have men on the board, but when you start turn 4, fail to bring in a Stormraven with Terminators and Librarian AGAIN, and you are down to 4 men, you hope for the best.... However these guys were staring down the barrel of a Leman Russ, a Grey Hunter Squad, several squads of Tallarn Desert Raiders and a Hydra AA tank. Long story short, I lost all my infantry, my Dread and his Drop pod were both gone and I ended up with no models on the board. Instant Game Loss!!



At least the urban city boards are painted LOL




Alan's Wolves array for battle, covered by his newly assembled (but still WIP) Hydra and the Leman Russ that caused me so much pain!! A solid list at 1500pts.


I think my own 1500pt list is useable, but I need to work on where I drop my Furioso, and how to deploy and take action with my jump squads. Ive never had a lot of jump troops to use before, so the coordination of three full squads is something i'm yet to work out- maybe some Internet tactic searching will help.

Thats enough for now! Any comments or feedback is welcome as always!

BA Librarian update and paint-range musings..

A short update today, as I'm flat out with work...

I've gone a bit crazy with purchases for this BA project, and have recently bought a whole bunch of the new range of GW paints (can we still call them new??), specifically the complete sets of blues I needed for the two Librarians I'll be running, from the dark basecoat through the the topmost highlight, including a wash and glaze as well- 6 pots in total. Im not a fan of mixing colours, so for me just purchasing all the required shades is best, and the glazes seem to tie all the differing colours together. I understand this is not the approach when you're chasing painting awards but consistency across the entire army is my main focus, to that end I wont blend or mix anything.

The stash so far- I am still using older washes like Devlan and Badab, as you'll never know if i swap to the later versions, as their uses in this army are a lot more subtle. I've also continued to use the Boltgun Metal I bought only a few months prior, I havent seen any reason to swap out to Leadbealcher as they look identical to me...

 And here's the Librarian after a quick Caledor Sky coat. I've also added a few test sections of Teclis Blue for minor highlights, with Lothern Blue to go on for the final 'reflective' highlighting on the uppermost raised sections.

Once his greenstuffed foot pedestal is painted up to match his base he'll really look even better. But happy with the results so far.

Assembling, Painting, Basing and Lists- *Updated 12/9*

Its been a hard slog trying to get any hobby stuff done in the last few weeks- I've had some health issues (which turned out to be nothing in the end) and some very busy weekends socialising and whatnot. But I'm back on the bandwagon now and going to try making a dent in this new endeavour of mine.

Just under a month now to ANUCON, and I'm a bit behind to be honest. Half the Assault Marines are assembled (well, legs torsos and jump packs at least), and have had bases allocated, pins inserted and I've started putting down a lot of Meph red. I've also completed the base coating on the Terminators, the picture below shows the one on the left after reapplying the Mephiston Red again (leaving the Carroburg Crimson wash in the recesses), with the one on the right still just the washed over basecoat. Even at this early stage its starting to look good- Terminators lend themselves to a nice defined paintjob. In this photo the bases are just bare resin.

 

And below is a group photo of the squad. In these pics all bases have now been black undercoated, then basecoated with Mechanicus Standard Grey. The very left base was used as a test- i've applied a wash of Agrax Earthshade (Devlan Mud), then drybrushed the Standard Grey back on, and then a highlighting drybrush of Dawnstone (similar to old Codex Grey). The other four are just basecoated only.

Forgeworld Shoulder Pads are now attached, arms just blu-tac'd on for test fitting.

EDIT: Updated pic, the base blue is all laid down now, and I gave him a wash of Drakenhof Nightshade... although, I now realise that both shoulder pads should be red, not just the one (going off the GW Space Hulk paintup anyways). Easily rectified if thats what I choose. I initially wasnt liking this mini from a painting view but I'm slowly warming to him. I think its the colour, I'm not used to blue, yet??

Actually took over an hour to apply the blue, there's a lot of detail here!

There's also another Librarian on the way who should appear fairly soon, he'll be getting some 'chapter conversions' and a jump pack of some description, and I've been dummy assembling a Sanguinary Priest as well. Whilst some people are declaring that DoA (Descent of Angels) armies to be 'dead in 6th' thats making me all the more adamant to run a jump heavy list- to show that you dont need to drop from the sky to make these lists work.

There's the possibility of some gaming in the next month or so, assuming I have everything at least assembled I'll start trying out my prospective 1500/1850 lists (ANUCON and CANCON respectively). 

For the time being this what I'm roughly working with for 1500:

• Librarian- Terminator Armour, Force Axe, Storm Shield
• Librarian- Force Sword, Jump Pack
• Assault Terminators (5)- 5x TH/SS
• Furioso Dreadnought- Blood Talons, Drop Pod
• Sanguinary Priest- Power Sword, Jump Pack
• Assault Squad (8)- Sgt with Power Axe and Meltabombs, 1x Meltagun
• Assault Squad (8)- Sgt with Power Axe and Meltabombs, 1x Meltagun
• Assault Squad (8)- Sgt with Power Sword and Meltabombs, 1x Flamer
• Stormraven Gunship- TL Plasma Cannon Turret, TL Multi Melta

This list comes in at 1492pts

The basic premise is flexibility of delivery- as the Furioso rides in a Drop Pod it's ignored from the unit count for determining reserves (as is the Stormy, as its a Flyer). So with these removed there is seven units in total, which means half (rounding up) of my units can be reserved, which is four. The Terminators and Termy Librarian will almost always be riding in the Stormraven, which still leaves me with two more units I can reserve.

Anyhow, thats enough for now. Hopefully will have more details up soon, assuming I can keep the momentum going!  

 



Im gonna be busy!!

Quick update for today!

My parcel from the States arrived- this is what 20 Jump Pack assault marines, 10 Death Company marines and a Stormraven looks like- the amount of sprues is insane!! I've since undercoated them all- doing this prior to assembly means there is undercoat on parts that may not get sprayed when the minis are assembled. You just give them another light hit with the black once they're assembled, and away you go :)

30% cheaper than anything I could source locally! Just had to wait two weeks.

Here's another pic of my latest assembly job- Furioso with Blood Talons and underslung heavy flamer upgrade. Infantry beware!

Step 1: Charge Dread into a squad.

Step 2: Blend, liberally.

Step 3: Enjoy administering the judgement of the righteous.

All I need for him now is a Drop Pod and a lick of paint. You may have also noticed his spiffy new resin base- all my Blood Angels will be rolling on these, they are cracked concrete rubble bases, with plenty of space for heroic feet braced stances... very happy with them, but as always, adds to my workload!


I've also started assembly on my Terminator Assault Squad who will be rocking the TH/SS combo that is almost mandatory now for 6th. Will be perusing the Death Company frames for some nice BA trinkets to adorn them all with, and the Sergeant is getting a head from the Sanguinary Guard frame. With all this and the Forgeworld Shoulder pads they should look very chapter specific which is what I'm after.

Should have some painting progress photos up real soon. Thanks for stopping by for a look!