Holiday Calm before a Storm?

Washed Squad

Over the past weeks, I had a lull in hobby activities for a variety of reasons from a weekend away to space being taken for baking.

I have put in some time working on the second squad of World Eaters and spent the second half of 27 Dec playing Dystopian Wars.   I got two games in, the first in which Prussians destroyed me and the second in which an alliance between the Prussians and Danes defeated Italy and China.

As I go into the new year, I am glad to have a gaming group to spend downtime with and a wife who allows me to escape for
long hours on the weekend to game.  My primary project will be completing the World Eaters ahead. However, looming on the horizon is the challenge of painting Roboute Guilliman before my brother visits in April, which will need to be preceded by at least a single squad of Ultramarines.   Throw in a mix of potential additions to my Danish fleet and it should be a very full next 12-15 weeks!

Prussia/Danish fleets prepare to engage the Italian/Chinese alliance

Assembly Line & 3 Fleet Engagments

Squad IV in work for my World Eaters

Another quick update on hobby efforts the past week.  Got back from vacation Monday and started to slowly assembly line the World Eaters of the second squad (at right).  I will hopefully get them all done in the next week or so with steady progress on painting each step every evening.

Most of the weekend's hobby time was spent playing 3 games of Dystopian Wars.  I think I came out of the games 1-1-1.  My win was a hard fought game against a Polish-Lithuania skimmer force, my tie was against a Chinese fleet, and my loss was to an Italian force.

Against the Poles, we were very much mirror force choices, but made different selections.   It was interesting to play against a fleet that was only slightly different.  Against the Chinese, I found myself outgunned and was glad to come out with a tie.  Overall the Chinese seemed overpowered and just difficult to come to grips with.  Against the Italians,  I made a poor choice on flanking around 300 points (all my airships in the list), which did not arrive until turn 3.  This left me undergunned and out-activity (a rarity for my Danes).  I came close to a win and was ahead on overall points, but his Commodore escaped my grasp.

Another Squadron of Fafnirs

Fafnirs 5 & 6 and their attached  air wings

Last Thursday, I finished up two more Fafnirs and the supporting SAS for my Kingdom of Denmark Dystopian Wars fleet.  These are the last two capital ships I had to paint of my collection and enable me to deploy my latest fleet list (2 x 2 Fafnir Squadrons) fully painted. I still have 5 mine markers and 6 Korsor Corvettes I can paint, but I currently do not have a list that leverages my 5 painted Korsors. The mine markers have a bit more variance to them.  Either way, I like the idea of having those as an alternative quick project if I am feeling unmotivated about the next project(s).

I really wanted to finish up this squadron ahead of my vacation (which I am on currently).  This means that when I get back, I can dedicate most of my hobby time to the 1,000 point World Eaters Zone Mortalis army.  If I need a break from that effort, I have numerous other side projects available, like Execution Force, the remaining Danish corvettes, Space Hulk, and Betrayal at Calth.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Betrayal at Calth

The Boxed Set

This past weekend, Games Workshop released The Horus Heresy: Betrayal at Calth board game.  I had pre-ordered it the previous week because it is an amazing deal for the miniatures that come with it.  Anyone interested in playing games set during the Horus Heresy should pick it up, even if you do not intend to play the game that comes with it.  The exact contents of the box can be found various places, like these unboxing videos.

I have been weighing two options for its contents. 1) Build the set as it is sold to play through the scenarios, much like Execution Force (another project still on the list to do).  2)  Use the models solely for building out larger Heresy era armies.   Having played a game with and lost to my son (after the break); I am going to go with option 1.

Completed Phoenix

Completed Five Hexes Phoenix Fighter-Bomber

Over the past week, I have worked on completing the last of my Eldar - the Phoenix Fighter-Bomber.  This brings to a close the Eldar Army project I started in June 2013.

This last unit was a good capstone to the overall army and a center-piece I am happy to own.  I really appreciate, as 40k has changed over the past three or four years with the general introduction of flying units and super heavies, more players have become amenable to fighting against Forgeworld models.

On the base are broken Rhino doors, painted in a light seafoam green, similar to the Sons of Horus, like the helmet the Banshee Exarch is stepping on.

In addition, I have created a page showing the whole Eldar army and outlining its makeup.

After the break, some shots of the Phoenix in work.

Relaxing, Painting Marines

Five more Legion Astrates

Over the past several days, I have spent time painting up five World Eaters Astrates for my first Horus Heresy force.  I found it rather relaxing compared to the effort on more recent models like the Shadowseer, Deathjester, or even Kingdom of Denmark ships.   Something about painting such a familiar object, in which most of the scheme and process was already understood and captured just made it very relaxing.

I am close to finishing up the Eldar army and Kingdom of Denmark ships, the World Eaters will take center stage on my painting schedule.  I have completed the first 10 of 31 models in my intial World Eaters army.  I am mulling over the idea of adding 5 Cataphractii Terminators and a Praetor to my collection to field a Great Crusade/Istavaan III force, which adds 6 more Terminators.

After the break, a picture of the full squad and some progress shots.

Full Cast of Players

The Full Cast of Players

Having finished the Shadowseer (hiding in back), the Cast of Players formation is complete.  This leaves just the Phoenix Bomber for my Aliatoc and the Five Hexes army.  The Harlequins have really allowed me to practice the motley technique and build my confidence and skill sets as a painter.  The painting guide Games workshop produced was outstanding for learning these techniques.  As I finish up the Eldar, i am hoping I will be able to transfer these skills into making superb Horus Heresy forces.

Deathjester

Straightforward painting of the Harlequin Deathjester model.  The actual Deathjester was painted using the Harlequins Painting Guide from Games Workshop.  Following the painting guide has really helped me improve my overall technique.

I painted the model up in over the course of Sunday, probably totaling three or four hours of effort.  I really like how the contrast between the sandstone base and the dark colors of the Deathjester turned out.

This leaves two models remaining to paint for the Eldar army I started about almost 2 years ago.  When I complete the Phoenix and Shadowseer, they will be complete (barring an unanticipated addition).

At least 3 more Eldar blog post to come - one for each of the remaining models and a final completed army post.

Progress shots after the break.

Tyr-Assault Boats and Mines!

DK Aegir with Assault Boats

 Last week, I updated DK Aegir with a few more details to match the rest of the fleet and painted up the 6 Tyr-Assault Boat markers.   In addition, I painted up 5 of 10 mine tokens I have (after the break).  For these bases I used George of Full Spectrum Dominance's water effect technique as a guide.  His are much better than mine.

Close-ups after the break.

Asgard-Class Heavy Battle Carrier

DK Aegir, Asgard-Class Heavy Battle Carrier

Nothing particularly spectacular about painting the Asgard model.  Its size made for a lot of nooks and detail.  Overall the process was similar to painting the other ships.  More pictures through the link.

1,000 Points to Paint

31 World Eaters to Paint

I have fully acquired all the miniatures needed for my 1,000 points of World Eaters for Zone Mortalis.  It is a pair of Tactical Squads, one with Chain-Bayonets (close combat weapons) and one with Chainaxes, a squad of Rampagers, a squad of Butchers, and Kharn.  Actual painting is at least a few weeks away as I finish up the other two projects, Eldar and Kingdom of Denmark.

Magni Assault Airships

Squadron of Magni Assault Ships ready to prowl

After I got into it, painting these four ships up was straight-forward.  It followed the same style as my previous ships.  These ships lack ranged weapons, other than Ack Ack (Anti-Air fire).  This makes it hard for them to have an impact unless they can get on-top of a hostile ship.  I have played a few games with these, but I am still learning how to appropriately field them.  In the first game, they were quickly destroyed by my opponent.  In the second game, they were out of position due to coming in on my flank, far enough away to be rather useless for the fight in the middle of the table.

Banshees Complete

Ten Angry Screaming Armed Elfin Women!

After two weeks of working on the Banshees off-and-on, they are complete!  I had originally hoped to complete before my new Danes showed up, but no luck.  Between the heat and a head-cold, I have just not had energy post-work day.

I do like how they turned out.  After the break, I have a few progress shots.  The very light bone armor was an opportunity to really practice the build up of colors all the way from black to the very light bone white.   The Eldar have really been my breakout collection for the use of washes and I am always impressed with how much more depth it gives the model.  My 40k Ultramarines appear very flat in comparison.

A Unit of Scary Ladies

10 Banshees in work

A simple update.  This weekend I have been working on painting up the unit of 10 Banshees.  Once complete, it will leave 3 models* to paint for the Eldar army and then it is focus on new Danes, followed by World Eaters (which will probably only be 1,000 points total).

Lots of wash techniques and purple power swords.  Straight-forward enough with most of the detail work still to go.
*Deathjester, Shadowseer, & Phoenix bomber

Learning to Off-Load Unused Minis

BFG I am selling!

When a person has been playing miniature games for almost 20 years, you end up collecting lots of models.  Many of these languish in boxes until you finally pull them out to work on them and add them to your finished collection.  Others end up not being used for a number of reasons.

A little over 10-years ago, I was building out my collection for some dying games, chiefly Epic Armageddon (EA) and Battlefleet Gothic (BFG).  This effort led me to buy from numerous sources to complete my growing forces.  It also resulted in me buying more than I ended up needing as projects would complete with no push to expand.

More Danes Coming

KoD Surface Assault Group

I am glad I delayed ordering more Dystopian Wars.  As I mentioned in my last post about Dystopian Wars, I was going to expand my Danes with some Prussian Lend-Lease units.  However, with the announcement of the new box pictured here, I am happily holding off to pick it up instead.

The addition of the Asgard Heavy Battle Carrier with its Tyr Assault Boats and four Magni Assault Airships will be far more interesting than any Lend-Lease units I might have acquired.

More Marines for the XII

A rare, cautious World Eater Sergeant

In early June, alongside The Horus Heresy Tempest V, I ordered 5 Mk 3 & 10 Mark4 Space Marines, Mk4 Power Weapons kit, 10 Chainaxes, a set of Mk3 World Eaters shoulder pads, and some Ultramarines bits (for reasons).  I have a plan to get to 1,000 points of World Eaters, mostly geared towards Zone Mortalis games.   At the core of this list is two Tactical Squads, one with additional Close Combat weapons (chain bayonets) and the other with Chainaxes.

A Sergeant with a Power Fist leads the more standard Squad III, while his brother Sergeant with Lightning Claws leads the chainaxes equiped Squad V.  I have decided to go for a mix of armor marks in each squad.  The World Eaters do not seem like a Legion to focus on standardizing equipment, but instead rewarding those with combat prowess (thanks to my friend Colby for the suggestion).  More pictures follow.

Rebellious Danes

Completed pair of Farnir Class Airships

I have played two games of Dystopian Wars thus far; both against Prussian Empire fleets at 1,000 points.  The first game I won very well, despite not having a good understanding of the rules The second I lost because of my starter list put me in an untenable position.  I have been trying to get a better handle on my fleets rules and the rules in general.  All of this has led to a "next acquisition" plan and the development away from the Lindisfarne Battlegroup to the Jylland Battlegroup.

Dwarfs in Age of Sigmar

I mentioned in my first impressions of the Warhammer: Age of Sigmar rules, that I would take out my Dwarf collection and build some armies from the models I have.  I am going to focus on three ways of building an Age of Sigmar list.  The first I call the "Rule of Cool."  I went through my collection and pulled out some of what I think are the coolest models (and thus models that others will likely purchase).  The second will be fielding a War Scroll organization, maybe two!  The last I will walk through and build a list using the Azyr Composition guide put out there by the Louisville, Kentucky wargaming community.

In discussions with my local group, the opinion has been expressed that the old armies/modelsare likely to be under powered and even with well-intentioned carry-over rules are likely to not perform or be as fun as playing Age of Sigmar with models and forces designed for the game.  Initially, this really only is the Stormcast Eternals or Khrone Bloodbound. I suspect there will be a steady release of forces over the next six months.

Age of Sigmar: First Impressions Part 2

Last entry, I commented on the first two pages of the rules for Warhammer Age of Sigmar.  This covered the army selection, table setup, deployment, and victory conditions.  Now onto the actual game mechanics of models moving, hitting each other, etc.  But before we can even do that, there is the matter of figuring out who goes first each round.

Age of Sigmar: First Impressions Part 1

Looks epic!

Before even delving into the rules/changes, I am not enamored with the direction Games Workshop has taken the Warhammer Fantasy world.  I and others in the community felt the impending reset coming almost a year in advance and feared for the investment we had made in our armies.  I stopped working on Dwarfs as it became clear that a reset was coming.  Thus far the new rules are less than inspiring.

Add to this that I have watched what happens to Games Workshop ranges and systems when the company ceases supporting the models/game - it becomes incredibly niche and unplayed.  It is next to impossible to get a new player interested in a game that has near zero company support (see Epic, Battlefleet Gothic, Necromunda, Aeronautica Imperialis, Warmaster, etc).

All of this makes me incredibly skeptical of this direction.

Tempest Arrives

More models to Assemble and paint.

Last week, I received The Horus Heresy Book Five: Tempest from Forgeworld along with 15 Marine bodies and parts to assemble more World Eaters and even a few Ultramarines.  As always, I am thoroughly impressed by Forgewold's books and despite their high cost really enjoy the product they produce.  I got everything I need in this order to build out 10 more World Eaters, which leaves just 5 Butchers for a 1,000 pt Zone Mortalis list.  The Ultramarine buys were am indulgence to get me up to the £250 for free shipping.

Hopefully more to come after this weekend as I work on things.

Korsor Squadron

Korsor Squadron 1

On Sunday, I spent the afternoon painting up these five ships as my test of the fundamental scheme for my Kingdom of Denmark Naval Battlegroup.  These first five have the basic scheme.  I have gone without metallic paint in thus far.   These ships are mix of wood and metal all over, so everything is painted to minimize the impact of the sea (water, salt, etc lead to rust).

I have yet to seal them, but other than maybe marking them with a bright green strip to indicate their Battlegroup, they are complete.

Below are the steps I took to paint them.

Danish Fleet & Magnets!

The box.

Everything that came in the box!

Before the start of last weekend, my Dystopian Wars Kingdom of Denmark Naval Battle Group arrived.  Over the past roughly two weeks, I cleaned up the miniatures, primed the small ships and aircraft, and made most of the turrets attach via magnets.

This was my first experience using magnets and thus I messed up on a ship, causing its turret to be "fixed-forward."  This is likely how most people model their ships.  Magnets allows the turrets to rotate through their full-fire arcs.  Lastly, for ships which are largely static, it adds to the model allowing it to better show what the ship is doing (should the player choose).

Eldar Rangers

Same five Rangers from different angles

This weekend's painting project was the last,  five Rangers for my Eldar.  For these five Rangers, I decided they would be from Craftworlds other than Aliatoc.  Saim-Hann, Ulthwe, Biel-tan, Lugganath, and Altansar each are represented.

This leaves 10 Banshees, a Shadowseer, a Deathjester, and Phoenix to complete for 1,850 pts of Eldar. I have multiple options to consider to bring it up to more than 2,000 pts - expansion of the Harelquins, adding Illic Nightspear, or a squad of Dark Reapers.  I am excited about nearing completion of the army, both for completing the project and I am getting excited about some future projects.

Codex Eldar: Craftworlds Discussion

Army for Armies on Parade

The new Codex Eldar: Craftworlds is interesting to say the least.  The armylist I have been working towards for about a year has become cheaper points wise.  I added Harlequins to fill out the list from ~1700 points (without Illic Nightspear) to 2000 points. Now, the army with the Codex Eldar: Harlequins Cast of Players formation is 1850 points!  Illic Nightspear will bring it back up to 2000 points. The list however has a not insignificant point sink in the Phoenix fighter-bomber.  All of this is a long way of saying that the new Eldar are cheaper and deadlier than before.

Second Storm, failing to match colors

Both completed, very different blues

This weekend, I decided to complete my second Landspeeder Storm for my Ultramarines Scout detachment.  It had been built and base coated months previously and was on the side waiting for completion.  However, I ran into an immediate problem.  Most of my Ultramarines were painted using the old paint range and in a very straightforward scheme.  I could not get the two to match, despite several different layer attempts.

Killer Space Fools!

Troupe leaping into the fight.

The Troupe for my Cast of Players is complete.  These models were really enjoyable to paint and practice/learn new techniques on. These were painted following the guide in Warriors of The Laughing God for the Veiled Path. I was very intimidated by the motley (the checker pattern).  I started it on small/mostly flat surfaces like the Master's coat and two knee pads.  I worked the straight leg first followed by the bent one.

More pics below.

Dystopian Wars: Kingdom of Denmark

As my local Games Workshop closes, I have been encouraged by other local gamers to look beyond the GW ranges.  The group I play with is getting heavily into both Dystopian Wars and Firestorm: Planetfall.  I asked which game they suggest starting with and they recommended Dystopian Wars (or Boats).

Looking through the list of potential fleets and what others were playing, I quickly settled on the minor-power of Denmark (surprise)!  The starting force (see picture) is roughly 1,000 pts, a good starting point.  The rules are free to download and based on watching a game of Planetfall Saturday night, the mechanics similar to Epic: Armageddon, a GW game I really enjoyed. More to come.

Assassinorum: Execution Force (Part 2)

All setup

In Part 1, I talked about the models in Execution Force and the value of the set as a whole.  After assembly, my family of three played a game.

The game's mechanics are straightforward with a little ambiguity regarding the prime target, the Chaos Sorcerer Lord Drask.  The game can be played with 1-4 players and is a cooperative effort.

Assassinorum: Execution Force (Part 1)

Assassins assembled!

On 2 May, my family and I picked up Assassinorum: Execution Force.  The first reason was to acquire the 4 new Imperial Assassins, which are all excellent models (see left).  Secondly, my son was very excited about playing the game and really wanted to play as the Vindicare assassin (big gun).  This meant I spent about an hour assembling the entire set before getting ready to play a game (review in part 2).  Overall, I am very happy with the acquisition and our first play through was fun.

Two Serpents

Pair of Wave Serpents

Late Sunday, I completed the second Wave Serpent.  The pair largely match with the main difference being the "parallel" lines versus X racing strips.  The plan is for the parallel lines Serpent to carry a squad of Dire Avengers and the X Serpent to carry a squad of Howling Banshees.

Given the new rules with Howling Banshees, I am very happy with their inclusion in the list from the beginning.  I however need to order the old metal models as the Finecast is less than useful given the slenderness of the models.

More pictures after the break...

Work on Wave Serpent 2

Based

Washed

I worked on the basing and washing the second Wave Serpent, intended to carry Banshees into combat.  It has been a nice change from the jetbikes I finished up previously.  Painting a tank is simply a different experience, minimizing the repetition found in painting an infantry/bike/light vehicle squadron.

Also I have seen the leaked new Eldar Jetbikes.  I think they are nice looking bikes, but I am a bit frustrated that Games-Workshop did not also create more plastic Aspect Warriors (which are currently only mail order Finecast).  Probably will Ebay old metal Banshees for the last four; I may even order 10 to replace the Finecast I currently have.

I am not sure if the Eldar really needed a new Codex.  They were already a solid Codex.  We will see how it impacts my existing army list probably near the end of the month.  I hope it is still viable.

Nothing after the break this time.

Completed Jebikes & a Game

Five Hexes Jetbikes swoop in.

Sunday night, I finished my Five Hexes jetbikes (played as Windrider jetbikes in my Eldar Army).  I tried to keep the scheme matching my two Vypers; I think they came out well.  Process pictures after the battle summary.

On Saturday, I got a 2,000 point game in against an Chaos Space Marine Emperor's Children army. We had to call it at the bottom of turn 3, I lost 2-1 on objectives.  The jetbikes scored my victory point, achieving Linebreaker.  A longer summary after the break.  (Sorry no pictures)

Formations in 40k

Cast of Players in progress

Formations have been around since Apoc v1 (released 2007).  However, it is only really in the past year that formations have entered into the core game of 40k and been getting smaller.  While large Apoc formations are still there (see the Grey Knights single formation), it is far more interesting to me to consider the impact of medium (<1,000 pts) and small formations (<500 pts), like Cast of Players for the new Harelquins.  These allow someone to complement an existing army with a different set of models and potentially bring something very different from their main army to the table-top.

Jetbike Progress & Harlequin purchase

In work jetbike

Progress is slow on the Jetbikes, but I have completed the basic blocking of colors on one and am assembling lining them at this point.  We will see if they get some attention this coming week or not.  Hopefully I will have them done by the weekend, when I have a game or two planned.

I also decided to pick up Codex: Harlequins, a Troupe, and the three characters.  This will allow me to either field the Cast of Players formation or The Heroes' Path formation. Together, these units will boost the total Eldar force to around 2,500 points when all completed (hopefully by the beginning of summer).

Sorry for just the brief update, but plenty still in work.

Corsair Jetbikes

Three Five Hexes Jetbikes and their Warlock on Jetbike

When I last played my Eldar, my opponent and I decided I had a definite hole in the list, namely another "infantry" unit.  Previously, the 1,500 point list had a Farseer with 10 Dire Avengers in a Wave Serpent, 10 Banshees in a Wave Serpent, 10+5 Rangers, a Crimson Hunter, 2 Vypers, and a Phoenix.   Including the Phoenix and Crimson Hunter at 1,500 points led to a significant chuck of firepower not being on the table early on and thus concentrated fire against units like the Dire Avengers and Rangers.

My solution is to move the Phoenix to the 1850-2000 point list and bring in a squad of Jetbikes with a Warlock.  This will be the Five Hexes "infantry" and deploy turn 1 alongside the Aspect Warrior.  But how to build Corsair Jetbikes.  I went with a combination of the Dark Eldar Reaver Jetbikes and Eldar Guardian parts and a healthy dose of green stuff.  For the Warlock, I picked up the new Harelquin Skyweaver kit and again mixed in parts form the Dark Eldar Reaver Jetbikes and Eldar Guardians.

More pictures follow.

Second Vyper and Sealing

Pair of Vypers

I finished up my second Vyper today.  There is not much different than the first in terms of techniques applied.  Sorry for not having good progress shots on these.  I will endeavor to provide some progress shots with the Reaver/Skyweavers jetbikes that I am going to use for my Five Hexes jetbikes.  Importantly, builds for yellow take a lot of layers.

A friend asked that I provide a tutorial for sealing models.  I think of this as fairly straightforward, but realized there are some important nuances, after the link.

Blooded World Eaters

First five World Eaters

My first 5 tactical World Eaters are complete (other than sealing, rainy day).  They are out of squad III (see picture past the break) of which every company I am playing, at the time.  They have different blood splatter on their bodies.  I tried to keep the blood in areas that would be sprayed by the Marine slicing into their victims.  It is hard to see in the image, but the blades are covered in Blood for the Blood God paint.

Making a Two-Dimensional Zone Mortalis Board

Dark Angels defend their ship from attack by Saim-Hann Eldar.

A follow-up to my 6 December discussion of how to create a fun, versatile, and durable two-dimensional Zone Mortalis board, with additional pictures of my Zone Mortalis board and how to make a Zone Mortalis board of your very own!