Tunnel Rat - Tyranids

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Warhammer 40,000 - Eighth Edition Warhammer 40,000 is out! With the rules that have leaked out so far I've had several clients bring by units that they never would have used in previous editions to get painted up to match their existing forces. Being able to assault out of reserve is a big deal and the Tyranids have a cool burrowing horror that can do just that, it can also bring along another unit to join the party. This seems like a pretty strong option, hence I have a Terragon on my table waiting for the purple and white of Hive Fleet Leviathan.

Little Snots - Nurgle Three Color Daemons

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Warhammer 40,000 - The next batch of Daemons is done. These are part of an economy commission I'm doing for one of my clients. It's a fairly simple "three color" scheme that's meant to look messy and gross.

To get the effect I start with a olive drab basecoat. I then paint any of the metal either brass or gunmetal. A quick dry-brush of an almost neon green pulls out the details and adds a interesting texture to the metal bits. I then got into the mouths, pustules and wounds on the models with a light pink, which is pretty jarring looking at this point. To tie the while model together and tone down the super bright colors I do a full wash of Crimson. This fills in the recesses, tones down the color and makes everything look infected and sore. Once the wash dries I dot the eyes with neon yellow and pick out the teeth and horns with ivory.

At this point these are done to and economy standard. If I was painting these to a higher level I'd do some pale yellow highlights, add some washes of purple, yellow and green to really bring out that infected look and probably add some Nurgle's Rot and Blood for the Blood God Technical paint. I have a feeling when my client has his characters ready I'll be taking them up a notch.

Mining Complex Part Four

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Warhammer 40,000 - Here's another piece for my mining industrial terrain set. At this point it's playable but no where near done with painting. My goal with this set was to get it together, base coated and washed as fast as possible so I could get it on the table to play Shadow War: Armageddon. Now that 8th edition has released I'm thinking I'll get back to this project after I finish the Genestealer Cult army that is supposed to match this terrain set.

I stopped working on my own armies to focus on terrain until the rule set was released and I could confirm what I was working o was still playable.

8th - Warhammer 40,000 is fun again

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Warhammer 40,000 - I've enjoyed almost every edition of Warhammer 40,000. (with the exception of fourth when I experimented with warmahordes briefly). With every edition change you tend to have some things you miss and other things you can't understand why it didn't always work this way. You also tend to see corrections to rules that posed a problem in the previous editions. As such shooting, assault, psychic phase and vehicles have all experienced a time when they were amazing followed by a time where they were almost irrellevant. Not only did phases of the game become more or less relevant but codexs varied in power level based on when in the release cycle they came out. In addition you had lots of rules that were shoehorned into and existing game that didn't make sense. Each time you'd get a significant outcry because something broke the game and events would make up their own rules to "fix" the edition. It was inevitable that the game needed a hard reset with all armies starting out on the same floor as far as power level and points cost.

So far I'm loving the new edition. The rules are simple and easy to follow. The biggest problem I've seen is "remembering" prior editions and many of the weird interactions just don't exist. Cover being nothing but a +1 to your armor save makes it simple and a definitive "is your model infantry is is standing on cover?" is much better than arguing over if they're in or not.

The varied movement stats give each army it's own personality and feels less forced. I love the fixed BS and WS tied to each unit and the simplified to wound chart makes so much more sense. (Even though it's similar to the old one, not having a cap gives more variation).

I'm looking forward to playing more games a will probably do a series of article discussing the evolution on my lists. Right now I'm planning on focusing on Genestealer Cult for this edition. Once they're painted and I'm happy with a few list variations I'll go back to working on my Space Marines. The Night Lords are getting shelved for the moment as I'm a bit bitter about having a cool Legion book for six months and now being back to ground zero.

Shadow War: Building a Mining Complex Part 3

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Shadow War: Building a Mining Complex Part 3

Warhammer 40,000 - This is the third part of my series about building terrain for a winter themed mining complex. My goal is to get a full table built and playable as quickly as possible to take advantage of the excitement my group has about SWA at the moment. More detail will be added to these pieces at a later date.

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Shadow War: Building Landing Pad

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Warhammer 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.

 

 

 

Night lords Kill Team

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Night lords Kill Team

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. 

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Good Bye 7th - Imperium Games Team Event

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Good Bye 7th - Imperium Games Team Event

Warhammer 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.

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Genestealer Cult Kill Team

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Warhammer 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.

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Just Plain Gross - Nurgle Plague Bearers

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Just Plain Gross - Nurgle Plague Bearers

Warhammer 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.

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Edition's End - What to do with this stuff?

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Warhammer 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

 

Sister Showdown ... Battle Report

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Sister Showdown ... Battle Report


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.

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Off the painting table - Chaplain Xavier

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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. 

Off the painting table - Imperial Guard

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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.

Off the painting table - Sorcerer Supreme

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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.

Off the painting table - Broadside Bash

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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,

Off the painting table - More Triumvirates

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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.