Totally Tau - More White Wariors

Totally Tau - More White Wariors

Warhammer 40,000 – With changes to the points costs for several Tau units one of my clients has opted to add some additional firepower to his existing force. I painted the bulk of said force last year which you can read about here. It sounds like he wants to do a mechanized force backed up by various suits. As there is only one vehicle in this batch I expect that there will be many more as the year progresses.

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3D Printed Terrain - Check this Out

3D Printed Terrain - Check this Out

Terrain – 3D printing is all the rage these days. There are some amazing designers selling stuff on Shapeways, super creative generous people that upload designs to thingiverse and a plethora of etsy shops that specialize in table top accessories. In fact there’s so much cool stuff out there it’s sometimes hard to cut through the clutter and find the best stuff.

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Three's Company - Dealing with an Odd Number of Players

Three's Company - Dealing with an Odd Number of Players

Warhammer 40,000 – With a new year I’m working on running a new campaign. Rather than get complicated I’m opting to try the “Battle Honors” system presented in Chapter Approved 2018. Most of my group has committed to playing and painting a single 2000 point list before the end of the year. Which makes it really easy to have fixed unit cards that will allow us to keep track of the units experience during the campaign. I picked up a fancy hole punch to keep it official, so after the game honors can be doled out.

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Cabinet Treasures: Captain Smash and the Robo-Wizard

Warhammer 40,000 – Way back when the Blood Angels Librarian Dreadnought kit was released I picked it up along with a Storm Raven and decided I’d run my “Raven Guard” as Blood Angels. The new kits were really cool and the codex seemed to be a slightly better fit for what I wanted to run than what I could build with the “standard marine” codex. Sadly I lost interest before I finished painting any of the list and it found its way back onto my shelf of silent shame … I think at that time I was disappointed with 40k and moved to play Malifaux and other skirmish games as a replacement.

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Men In Black - Death Watch

Men In Black - Death Watch

Warhammer 40,000 – This fall has bend quite full with commissions. While I’ve managed to get through them all, it was a bit of a challenge to get through them all. Part of the reason is most of these were fairly large model count batches. Which is typically easier for me to grind through when everything is similar in color or shape. Deathwatch is a bit different.

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Big Timers - Primaris Death Watch

Warhammer 40,000 – With this year’s Death Watch codex the Men in Black of 40K got a big boost to their available units. Intercessors will give them a bit more range and a few more wounds to help stand up to the various Xenos threats that plague the Imperium of Man.

To make the marines stand out as coming from a multitude of far reaching chapters I painted some of the shoulder pads in off-colors and applied a decal. Much like the old-pallet swaps in video games subtle changes make something into something brand new.

Rush Job - Nurglings and a Herald

Rush Job - Nurglings and a Herald

Warhammer 40,000 – For some of my regular clients I offer a rush service. For a slight premium they can get bumped to the front of my queue. This option is very popular with some of my more tournament minded clients who have crazy list ideas pop into their head and need a few models to add to their existing force.

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Bring in the Big Guns - Death Guard Heavy Armor

Bring in the Big Guns - Death Guard Heavy Armor

Warhammer 40,000 – Death Guard continues to be on the top of my commission list. It seems to be flu season or something with all the infected that are crossing my paint desk lately. The most recent batch include some of the tracked guns, a landraider and a group of Terminators with scythes.

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Unleash the Hounds of Hell – Khorne Fleshhounds

Unleash the Hounds of Hell – Khorne Fleshhounds

Warhammer 40,000 – There are few models more hideous that the metal Fleshhounds of Khorne. Even the new plastics that have been revealed aren’t my cup of tea. Something about the neck frills just doesn’t do it for me. And event though I think a Daemon Prince or Bloodthirster leading a pack of hounds would be cool and effective on the table the look of the models didn’t fit with my army so I never pursued it.

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Off the Painting Table – Legion of the Damned

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Warhammer 40,000 – One of my regular clients regularly comes across oddities and old models that he likes to add to his army. Many of these gems have been abandoned in favor of the shiny new plastics but for those of us that remember when these kits were new it’s like finding hidden treasure when one crosses your path. ‘Member Berries are strong stuff as anyone who has tried to track down toys from their youth or other items you foolishly thought you had outgrown or had no further use for. As my grandparents used to say it all comes back around…

The latest gem to hit my table is a small unit of Legion of the Damned. These guys made a big splash in the standard marine codex a few years back with some updated metal sculpts. During the insanity that was sixth/seventh edition they even got their own “codex” now relegated to a tiny index entry you rarely see them on the table.

Off the Painting Table – Old Hammer: Salamanders

Warhammer 40,000 – One of my clients loves finding old models. He works in a Friendly Local Gamestore (FLGS) and always seems to come across good deals for guys getting out of the hobby with ancient models. These models eventually find their way to my table to get painted up to match one of his existing armies.

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This time around we have Marnies Calgar on a throne, several Tech-marines (The Hands of Mars) and several Chaplains. All of these are destined to get the “bright” Salamanders scheme to match up with the rest of his force. This is the same client that I did the Terminators through the ages job so it’s fun seeing this variety of model in one army.

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Off the Painting Table - KillTeam: Gellar-Pox Infected

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Warhammer 40,000 – Nurgle has never been my jam. The models are always really amazing looking but the slow-grindy playstyle and general idea of embracing decay and despair never push-ed any of my buttons. However since the boxed set and narrative campaign included both the Star-Striders and the Infected I felt like I should paint these guys up to match my other chaos forces.

Upon looking at the 40k rules it seems like these creepy crewmen might be a good add to my Night Lords force, but giving up a proper warlord to get access to their 3CP and special Stratagems seems like a steep price to pay.

I don’t like the typically rotting green colors scheme you seem on most Nurgle stuff. It feels very comical and not quite as terrifying as I feel it should be so I opted to go with a swollen, irritated fleshtone with bloody gore. I think the effect works and it helps them fit in with the rest of my Night Lords.

Off the Painting Table – Killteam: Star Striders

Off the Painting Table – Killteam: Star Striders

Warhammer 40,000 – Rogue Traders have always been an idea that intrigued me. Essentially the Han Solo’s of 40k (of course not scoundrels..) they travel the furthest reaches looking for riches, power and glory. Although, I guess they’re really more like Columbus travel out at the behest of their ruler into the unknown looking for power, riches and glory. Fantasy Flight did an rpg system that focused on Rogue Traders and was a very enjoyable read. Playing it was another story … best saved for another time.

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Something Sickly This Way Comes – Death Guard Characters

Something Sickly This Way Comes – Death Guard Characters

Warhammer 40,000 – The Death Guard has been very popular with my clients as of late. I doubt that the fact the core models were easy to acquire in the core box for a discount is the only reason I’ve seen an uptick in commission requests for these followers of the Plague God. I think having a resilient force able to hold objectives or tarpit your opponent is probably the more likely reason these guys are finally getting some love from my clients.

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Genestealers, Spores and another Tyrant - Leviathan Rising

Genestealers, Spores and another Tyrant - Leviathan Rising

Warhammer 40,000 – Hivefleet Leviathan has spawned a few new beasties to aid in their consumption of the galaxy. One of my long-standing commission clients decided to add a large batch of models to his army to fill out his list for an upcoming GT. This batch includes some Spore Mines to annoy opponents, 26 Genestealers to rip apart opponents and a second Flying Hive Tyrant to lay waste to troops at range.

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