A detailed account of my various commission/hobby projects.
Warhammer 40,000 - This is the second article in my series about building a winter themed mining complex for Warhammer 40,000 and Shadow War: Armageddon. You can read the first part here.
Read MoreWarhammer 40,000 - Terrain is vital to create a immersive game. Miniatures can only take you so far. I've always been a terrain guy, no matter the system I build at least one new terrain set anytime I start anew game. It's been forever since my group played Necromunda so any terrain I had has long since been trashed or donated. While I really like the new terrain kits Games Workshophas put out I wanted to do something different. I still had a bunch of Mantic terrain from the first Deadzone Kickstarter that I never did anything with so I took that, some cans I've been saving, pink foam and some parts from the industrial terrain to build a new battlefield.
This terrain set is going to go on an Alpine FAT Mat that I picked up before FLG and Tablewar went their separate ways. It's a nice thick mouse pad style mat with a beautiful snow/rock print. When I resurface the top of my gaming table I think I'm going to invest in a few of these to replace the textured boards I usually use. Dice roll better on them, they're easier to store and the flat surface makes it easier to place terrain in various positions without getting caught up on some random rock of sand bit.
Once I finish painting all the pieces for this terrain set I'll add some snow effect to the edges of each base to help them blend in to the mat and tie the whole theme together.
The first piece I built for this set is the landing pad. It's primarily made out of Mantic Battlefields panels with a MDF hexagon for the landing pad. I detailed it out with some Games Workshop bits from my bits box and other random resin pieces I've made copies of over the years. (I've found that if I find a cool bit its best to make a silicone mold of it because I'll inevitably forget where it came from or be unable to track down more in the future.)
After laying out the panels in a rough idea of what I wanted to do I used a jigsaw to cut a piece of MDF that I textured previously with drywall tape and cardstock. I then glued pink foam to the base and used a razor knife to carve out the shapes I wanted. From there it's just a matter of gluing the parts in place and painting.
I base coat everything with a Behr paint and primer that I had the guys at Home depot match to the hobby paint I use. The wash is a Minwax water based stain that I thin down 2 parts water to 1 part stain. A base coat, dry brush and wash gets this piece to a playable state quickly and I'll detail it out after I've tested it in game to be sure nothing needs to change.
Shadow War Armageddon - recently I had a chance to run my night lords kill team in two multiplayer SW:A games. In multiplayer I the game feels very different, potshots can come from anywhere and you never know who will find a temporary alliance to their benefit. Rolling for initiative every round made a significant difference in how everyone played no longer could you rely on the player to your left always being predictable or counting on the guy that's pinned not to getup before you can go.
Read MoreWarhammer 40,000 - I recently had a chance to play in a team tournament at Imperium Games (formerly Flatlands Games). The event was a team event where each player brought a 750 point CAD and played as a team through three missions: Purge the Alien, Relic and Tactical Escalation. Over all the event was really fun my opponents in the second and third rounds were amazingly cool guys and were a blast to play against.
Read MoreWarhammer 40,000 - I love Shadow War so much so that I built a second Kill Team from my Genestealer Cult army. I wasn't loving how the GSC played in 40k right now, so I temporarily shelved them to work on my Night Lords. With 8th edition looming I'm reluctant to do to much more with either force as the formations that make up the lists might not be valid or optimal under the new rules. So instead I'll work on small kill teams to play in Shadow War right now.
Read MoreWarhammer 40,000 - One of my Chaos Space Marine clients recently dropped off a bunch of Nurgle Daemons to get painted. He's starting up new force in preparation for 8th where it's thought that Nurgle will see some serious love. Based on what I've seen in the rumor mill and in the official releases that should be the case.
Read MoreWarhammer 40,000 - Soon a new edition of 40K will completely replace everything you own. Let that sink in for a second. EVERYTHING. Something like this hasn't happened since the change from second to third edition. Crazier still is the sheer amount of content that came out during 7th edition, between the multiple codexes for most armies the warzone books and the gathering storm books I think I bought twelve books. Add to that the fact that I abandoned my Space Marines only pledge when the Genestealer Cult and Black Crusade books came out, now I'm sitting on a pile of psychic cards, strategy cards and other stuff that won't be usable in the new edition.
I know that I can probably repurpose some of the stuff and the books all have really good stories and background info, but it's a little over an entire shelf taken up by this stuff. I'm just not sure what to do with it as I'm sure 8th with probably have a plethora of stuff to replace it
Warhammer 40,000 - I miss being able to play 40K 2-3 times a week. Back when I could play more often I think I was either significantly better or my opponents were significantly worse. Regardless I was glad to take some of my toys for a spin on the new terrain set I've been working on to make sure it's functional before I finish painting up this set of mining company terrain. I'll post about it's construction at a later date as I need to make a few more pieces to fill out the table.
Warhammer 40,000 - Time is something no one in the hobby has enough of. Which tends to work out when you're a commission painter.
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Warhammer 40,000 - Games Workshop has been bringing back some of the older metal models from their ranges with a cast on demand program. It's a cool idea that gives players access to models they may have missed before or lost over the years.
One of my regular Salamanders clients recently picked up Chaplain Xavier and sent him over to be painted. Sadly this character doesn't have rules in the current codex but you can build a replica with the current armory.
Warhammer 40,000 - Not all the commission work I do falls within the level two table top or higher end display quality. Quite often a client will come to me with a model that has been previously painted and need me to match the quality and style as close as possible. Most of the time this falls into the three color or economy levels of painting.
My most recent Imperial Guard project is one of these match it projects. My client had about a dozen heavy weapons teams and a few special characters that needed to match the sample model he had.
Overall it's a simple scheme castellan green, raw sienna and an earthshade wash for the uniform. Gunmetal and sterling silver for the guns with a Nuln Oil wash. An a simple flock base.
Warhammer 40,000 - My Black Legion client recently gave me Ahriman to paint for his growing chaos marine force. He asked that I paint the sorcerer supreme of the Thousand Sons to match the rest of his Black Legion. I worked in a purple cape to give a little pop to the mage and make sure he stands out from the other psykers I've painted for this force.
Warhammer 40,000 - I feel bad for whoever has to be on the receiving end of this missile packed bad boy. Combined with the 14+ Marker Light Drones I just painted for the same client someone is going to be in for a world of hurt.
As with the rest of the force this follows the studio scheme for Tau. I really like how the white looks it's so much more striking than the old tan and brown scheme that used to be on pretty much anything Tau you saw from the studio,
Warhammer 40,000 - The Triumvirate of the Primarch seems tobe a pretty popular box as I've done two separate commissions for them over the past week. This time around the client wanted them to be closer to the studio schemes.
Cypher is a bit darker with Dark Angels Green as a accent color. I like how this ties into the current scheme for the Dark Angels as a throwback to the studio version of the old Cypher model that was painted with green armor. (Dark Angels armor was black pre-heresey which is where Cypher is supposed to come from as one of the Fallen.)
The Grand Master Voldus is done in the traditional metallic silver scheme. I really like how this looks and the metallic paint really pops.
Roboute Guilliman matches the other Ultramarines I've been painting for this client. The Maccrage Blue base with a Drakenhof Nightshade really pops against the gold trim. For the flaming sword I used fluorescent yellow, orange and red followed with a wash of Casandra Yellow. The result is pretty good for a Level Two Tabletop Finish.
Warhammer 40,000 - Shadow War: Armageddon seems to be a popular topic as of late. I was always a fan of Necromunda, the idea of a gang war in the Underhive was just so cool. The setting was such a different take on the epic scale conflicts that the rest of the 40K universe focuses on (if you can find them the novel series that came out with the last release of the game are really good).
That gang war idea was so appealing that I jumped into the now out of print Judge Dredd Miniature game as a replacement. It's a shame most of the models for that were so dated looking and focused on the early Dredd comics. The system was great to create whatever you wanted with the skill trees and seemed to do a decent job keeping a reign on one gang running away with it. Since this is now out of print I've been reading Rogue Stars which reminds me quite a bit of Rogue Trader with the focus more on a narrative play rather than a straight up beat down.
I'd love to have more of an opinion on the new Shadow War release but it sold out everywhere and I don't get a feel good feeling paying significantly more to get the terrain and rules separately. I'm hoping they reprint the box set with the updated book at some point. Honestly The only reason I pick up the GW box games is because they're such a value compared to buying the individual boxes. fingers crossed they listen to fans and bring it back like the "limited release" of Space Hulk that seems to come back around every Christmas. (I still need to get that one.)
This small squad of Tyranid Warriors is a team for Shadow War: Armageddon. I haven't read through the rules yet but my client is really psyched to get these on the table. His group is planning on running a campaign for the next few months and is using this as his force. At some point he's going to have me paint up some genestealers and a few more warriors which will turn into a full force once the next edition of 40K comes out. It seems that several of my clients are hovering on their next force until they are sure it will work in the next edition.
Paint on these is pretty straight forward. I followed the Hive Fleet Leviathan color scheme which constists of a Pallid Wych Flesh base with some Carroburgh Crimson in the recesses. The purple is Naggorath Night with a Xereus Purple and Genestaler Purple Highlight. The red is Khorne red highlighted up to Wild Rider Red.
Warhammer 40,000 - The last set of the Gathering Storm models is probably my favorite. Although I can't stand the Ultramarines in general it's pretty cool to see Robute wake up and do the action hero thing. It's also cool to see Cypher doing the Clint Eastwood, Man with No Name pose for the new kit. The Grey Knight Grandmaster is the weakest of the models but he still looks pretty amazing.
Grand Master Voldus is a typical Grey Knight model. Lots of details all over the armor but other wise its a similar pose to other terminator characters. For this one I painted to match the clients other Grey Knight models which don't use metallic silver for the armor.
Roubute Guilliman is an imposing Monsterous Creature. About the same size as a Daemon Prince he's an imposing figure. My client asked that I paint him a pale blue so that it looked better with his Salamanders and Grey Knights. I'm happy with how the blue looks next to the gold it feels a little more regal to me than the traditional blue and gold. For the sword and torches I used fluorescent paints with a yellow wash to get that bright flame effect.
Warhammer 40,000 - The Gathering Storm Fall of Cadia introduces some pretty amazing models to the Imperial Soup. Any of these models can be used as an HQ Choice in any imperial detachment. It's pretty clever as it pushes the idea that imperial forces work together and should be considered a single force on the table top more often than not. With a new edition on the horizon it's likely that these models have some hints at what we may see, I'm not big into theorizing what the changes may come in a new edition I just hope that rules for the models I own remain current or are updated quickly to the new edition.
Enough rambling about what may come to pass. It's time to focus on the here and now. The first model in this batch is Bellsarius Cawl a Mechanicum priest who plays an important role in the story as it advances. This is a plastic kit that is fairly complicated toput together compared to the standard squad kits. You can really only assemble it one way so there's none of the possibility that you'd usually get in a GW kit. As a special character that's forgivable (especially considering the old metal and finecast sculpts).
Paint on this one is pretty straightforward I put down a gunmetal metallic, aged bronze and mephiston red before doing a wash of earthshade over the model. I then followed that up with a clean up layer that acts as the first highlight. I followed this up with a coat of wild rider red, sterling silver and pure gold. The end result is a pretty striking figure that looks nice on the table.
Saint Celestine and her two flying canonesses were fun to put together. It's surprising how strong the bond is between the scrolls and the plastic base is when you use plastic cement. These are also part of the ongoing Inquisition/Grey Knight force I've been working on over that last year or so.
The final model in the box is Inquisitor Greyfax. This is a pretty straightforward model that has similarities to the previous models that were part of the Witchunters range. The pilgrim hat and specialized power armor make this one of my favorite models in this set.
Warhammer 40,000 - I never really got the maritime references on all the Tau units. I've heard they're fish people but it seems odd to me.
The next big addition to the Tau project I've been working on is wrapped up. The stark white, red and gray scheme is really working nice. It's fun doing something outside my normal style.
Warhammer 40,000 - Having tested my Black Crusade list against a Battle Company it was time to try my luck against an opponent of a completely different nature. Tyranids are a very different type of opponent and I was curious to see what my mishmash of Chaos could do against them.
Read MoreWarhammer 40,000 - The Terminator Annihilation Force is a nasty formation available to Chaos Marines in the two latest supplements. Initially I think the idea of small combi-melta units dropping in to take quick kills on juicy targets was a big lure. After seeing them in action having some heavy weapons as an option is important.
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