New Year New Army: My return to the Hobby

So, it has been a long time since I have posted anything to this blog and an even longer time since I did anything serious with the hobby.  This lack of time was largely due to my PhD program and in the last year getting back in the swing of "working" for a living.
For the past year I have also had an open debate about what I wanted to build. I knew I wanted to get into 30k (naturally their will also be side projects in other games), but choosing a legion took me forever.  Particularly when you see where I wound up...

As the pictures clearly indicate after much debate I opted to build a Space Wolves Legion, or as I prefer to call them the Rout.  The Rout was my first 40k army and eventually I became disenchanted with them for a variety of reasons.  I sold my army about half way through my PhD program and shelved all of my custom ideas for the army.

I have now pulled down that file and begun work on a 30k era Rout great company. Beginning with a chaplain/wolf priest:

 Although it does not show well in the photo's the model actually has six different shades/textures of gray.  I also still intend to add snow to the base, but I want a few more models finished before I mix up the snow.  Also my thanks to Brother Captain S. for the suggested conversion to the weapon.

Next I am going to take the only survivor of my original army shown below and convert him to match my new army. Then I will wrap up work on my first unit; a veteran tactical squad.

The last of my old wolves

Paragons of Honour and Duty

This past weekend I complete the first five (of ten) Invictarus Suzerains for my Horus Heresy era Ultramarines.  These five are all equipped with bolt pistols, boarding shields, and Legatine power axes.  The next five will include one equipped that way, two with plasma pistols, and two with Thunderhammers.  Thanks to Jason, my brother, for kitbashing from his bits left-handed Thunderhammers.

Leading from the Front

The models are very detailed, giving plenty of opportunity to break-up the blue of the armor and depart from heavy amounts of gold.  Other Invictarus Suzerains I have looked at make the shields blue and keep most of the details gold.  I departed from that.

Washes & Layers on the Suzerains

Slow, but steady progress on the first five Suzerains.As I began to apply the washes, the models really came to life and details started to pop.  The layers assured some details were differentiated.

Suzeriains in Progress

Based Suzerains and Tanksgiving

I only achieved progress last night on the Suzerains, completing the base colors before writing this post.  The past week has been busy, filled with plenty of driving and various events.

I recently added a Dreadclaw (1 of 3) to my slowly expanding list of projects to assemble and paint as well as additional Ultramarines torsos and a few Space Wolves torsos for Burning of Prospero/a Space Wolves Veteran Squad for my Ultramarines forces.

Lastly, I also picked up at a discount Potecknov’s Bears for Team Yankee.  The set is 9 T-72 tanks and 2 Hind helicopters.  My intent is to field a Polish Mechanized Infantry Battalion from the mid-1980s.  At the moment, the rules only allow for Soviet forces, but that doesn't mean that paint can't be Polish.

Slow Start on Suzerians

I have slowly begun painting my first 5 Invictus Suzerains.  I am slowly working on the base colors.  There are a lot of little details on these models, which makes each of them fairly individual.  Hopefully more to come next week.

11 XIIth Terminators

5 Cataphractii and 1 Praetor added!

I was motivated to paint this weekend!  I completed basing and then finished painting the 5 Cataphractii I started on two weeks ago and completed the Praetor today!  The Praetor is the "cleanest" of the models as he is my Loyalist commander unless I expand the World Eaters significantly.  For my Zones Mortalis list, the Cataphractii and Praetor can replace Kharn and the Butchers almost point for point (and may actually make the list more viable).

Loyalist XII Termies Initial

Basic Pallet Front

Just a short post, I am getting back into the swing of painting by painting up my "loyalist" World Eaters Terminators.  This is the basic color pallet for them and I have gotten the squad of five started.

In addition to the 5 Cataphractii from the Betrayal at Calth box, the special edition Paetor in Tartaros Terminator armor will follow these guys.

Hopefully more to come in the next weeks as I try to get back into the swing of painting.

Basic Pallet Back

More Assassinorum & New White Dwarf

I have really slowed down on painting and modelling over the summer for a variety of reasons.  I am trying to get inspired to spend some solid time painting something in the next few weeks.

Over this past weekend, I hung out with friends (4 total) and built a buddy's copy of Assassinorum: Execution Force as well as played 3 games of it.  The first game was a success, using the standard rules.  The second ended in a hard failure, as we attempted to get to succeed with the Cultist going "On Alert" as we entered rooms.  The third game was just 2 of us and we succeed using the Culexus and Callidus.

I also picked up a copy of the new version of White Dwarf.  I like the return to the thick format and the extensive multi-page discussion of all aspects of the hobby.  It was well worth it for 20-pages of additions to the various boxed games that Games-Workshop has released .  I hope the next issue will be equally as good.

We also spent a night out in Bryce Canyon.

View from Sunrise Point

Changing Warcasters & Gunmages

I am slowly working on building up my Cygnar force.  In addition to a unit of Gun Mages (not pictured).  Pictured is a Centurion, Gun Mage Officer, and Captain Jeremiah Kraye.

Lots of distractions, keep being tired at the end of the day. and plenty of projects to work.

Journeyman - Starting Cygnar

At the beginning of the month, my brother informed me of a Journeyman league and encouraged me to participate.  I had been looking at Warmachine/Hordes for a while and had already settled on Cygnar as my force.  About two weekss ago, I purchased the new Cygnar starter box and assembled it.  I also picked up a Minuteman warjack the next day to be my first expansion beyond the core box.

Starter Box + Minuteman (far left)

The first weekend, I played two games and learned the core mechanics of the game.  This past Saturday/Sunday (weekend 2), I painted up one of the 'jacks to get my paint scheme down (see below).

Once more into the Breach(ers)

Corny title, I know.  I have completed another five Siege Breachers, completing my Ultramarines Breacher Squad (or at least the first 10).  This adds the Vexilla and Nuncio-Vox to the squad, which I think of as near standard for most squads of Ultramarines.

More pictures including the full squad and pre-weathering of the five through the link.

Heroes and Overwatch

Simply put, I have been distracted the past few weeks with Blizzard's Overwatch.  During that time, I worked off-and-on on two heroes of the XIII Legion, a Veteran of Terra and a Master of Signals.

Pair of Heroes

These two are HQ units for my Ultramarines.  The Master of Signals is an Ultramarine standard Support HQ.   The Veteran of Terra will fill multiple roles like being a basic Praetor or a Legion Champion depending on the size of the game and available models.

I am starting on my next 5 Boarders.

Some more images follow.

Blood Covered Halls

Unfortunately, those halls were mostly covered in the blood of my World Eaters, another World Eater force, and an Emperor's Children force.  Overall, I went 0-2 and in both cases found my priciest unit, Butchers up against units it could not hurt - an Ultramarines Dreadnought and Mechanicum Kastalans.

Sergeant & brothers hold a door way against Mechanicum Cult forces

III Legion Astrates prepare for the incoming Ultramarine Dreadnaughts

This past Sunday, I took part in a local Horus Heresy Zone Mortalis (ZM) event.  Each player was told to bring a 750 point Combatant list (after the break).

Tactical Options

I had a rather busy weekend and week, but I did get three more Ultramarines painted.  These three Astrates provide options to the completed Tactical Squad, allowing it to either be fielded as a fully equipped Veteran Tactical Squad (like a 40k Tactical Squad or a squad in Betrayal at Calth) or just swap in the Nuncio Vox in the Tactical Squad.

3 Options for Tactical/Veteran Tactical Squads

Up next: Veteran of Terra & Master of Signals

First 5 of 10 Breachers

This past Saturday, I completed the first 5 of 10 Breachers for my Ultramarines 106th Company.  These are a bit eclectic due to it having the Sergeant, 2 of 3 Bolter Astrates, 1 of 4 Power Sword Astrates, and 1 of 2 Melta Gun Astrates.  I am also waiting for a Forgeworld order to come in with a Vox and Vexalia for the other set of 5 Astrates that will complete the squad.

In Defense of Lex Konor

From the side

Overall, these models were great to paint.  Since I had completed the 10-man tactical, I had settled upon the techniques involved and overall scheme.  The  fact that they are in Mark III Power Armor and Breacher shields gave some great variety.   Their bases are also those I showed previously and I have tried to position them all such that they appear to be "holding the line" at the patterned tiles.

In progress shots after the link.

Tiling

Just a brief update this week as the past two weeks and weekends have been busy with various activities.  Almost two weeks ago now, I assembled and painted bases for the first 5 Breachers and here they are.  Hopefully get back to painting this week.

Tactical Squad Complete

On Thursday last week, I weathered the feet of the Legion Tactical Squad, completing the first 10 Astrates for my XIII Legion force.  I am very pleased with the overall result.  I am starting to write-up some background for what Chapter of the Legion they are and what they are doing during the Shadow Crusade and associated units. 

Wading through the dust 

Preparing to Weather

These are the first 10-man Astrates prior to weathering.  I have a reviewed a few guides about weathering and have the pigments.  I intend to start with the pigments and then sponging mainly the areas with transfers.  Most of the armor material is not paint but intended to be the appropriate material and while the Astrates are weathered, they will not be overly damaged.

106th Company Astrates before civilization crumbles around them

10-man Squad in Progress

I have been making steady progress on my first XIII Legion Tactical Squad.  I am regretting attempting to go after a full 10-man squad right away.  I feel like I would feel further along if I was starting my second 5-man, having finished the first 5-man.

All this being said, I have not really used any new techniques on the XIII models yet.  But I have settled on the plan to do basic weathering 1) using powders and 2) light sponging.  Next weekend, I intend to buy at least a pack of Vallejo pigments (Stone and cement, city).  I intend to weather the lower calf and feet of the Legionaires with a light dusting of a light grey pigment to represent them defending the shattered civiti of the 500 Worlds of Ultramar.   My XIII Legion are now having to forgo superficial maintenance and thus I will "chip" and "mud" where I think it is appropriate.  But that is all to come.

For now, I will finish up highlights on black and apply transfers over the next week.

Winning on Objectives

Slowly Advancing Death Guard

I played another game of Horus Heresy Zone Mortalis this weekend.  This time against a Death Guard.  In this instance, I ran Kharn and the Butchers as stand-ins for Loyalist World Eaters Praetor and Terminators.  It was another Pyrrhic victory, with just the Praetor and a single Rampager surviving, again.  I won by managing to keep the Death Guard from my deployment zone and rolling a six to end the game on turn 5.

MVP

The MVP of the game was definitely the Death Guard Mortis Dreadnaught with a pair of Kheres Assault Cannons and my inability to roll successfully.  Over the course of two turns, the Dreadnaught caused my two tactical squads to break and run, off the table.   My only actual success was my Praetor slaying three Grave Wardens and breaking the unit.

The ongoing failure of my World Eaters to achieve casualty success is rather annoying.  I am heavily considering investing in a Tactical Support Squad carrying Plasma Guns.

On the modeling/painting front, an Ultramarines squad is in work.  Taking on 10 Astrates is a bit of a task, right off the bat.

Bloody Victory

End of Turn 2; No Blood Split Yet

This past Saturday, I played another game of Zone Mortalis against Salamanders (same opponent).  I learned from last time, sort of.  I attempted to slow down my advance and generally did not run headlong into the Fire Drakes (aside from the Butchers).  The Fire Drakes dominance are making me heavily consider adding another unit, not just the loyalist swaps, to the army.

I made the right plays in the late game.  At the bottom of turn 5, I had two models - Kharn and a Rampager.  The lone Rampager was sent to claim the all important objective.  The Fire Drakes were out of place.  Kharn made a mad-dash at the Pyroclast looking to claim the center objective.  He took a wound on the way-in, but slayed a Pyroclast in return.  More shots through the link.

Beginning Legion XIII

Astrates Sergeant with Gladius

Having completed my Traitor World Eaters this past weekend (other than Kharn's scenic base), I have begun to assemble the first squad for my Legion XIII, Ultramarines.

Almost 20 years ago, I began the hobby reading through the background of the Chapter in the 2nd Edition Codex: Ultramarines.  Ultramarines are my first and largest army for Warhammer 40,000.

I continue to be attracted to the core themes of the Ultramarines.  In contrast to many other legions, they are not destroyers of worlds or even builders of great fortresses for defense.   The Ultramarines, especially under Roboute Guilliman, take the next step of creating or re-establishing civilization from the ashes of conquest.    Today, the idea of not only achieving victory, but securing victory by establishing civilization continues to be a theme I am attracted to.  Add to this my on-going fascination with the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire and the Ultramarines are simply my Legion.

Traitors led by Kharn!

Kharn the Bloody

I have finished my 1,000 points of World Eaters (Traitors), completing Kharn this past Sunday.  I have transferred him to a 32 mm base in the same style as the rest of the force.  The Martian red has been a great basing choice for the World Eaters.

Kharn was great to paint and an excellent culmination of the techniques I practiced throughout the rest of the force.  As one should, I paid extra attention to details that I overlooked on the mass infantry.

I am most looking forward to playing some more games of Zone Mortalis with fully painted force.  Hopefully, my number of opponents will also increase.  I have yet to settle on my next project.  One of them is to add loyalist replacements for Kharn and the Butchers to my World Eaters collection, but we will save that for next weekend's blog post.

Kharn's Zone Mortalis assault force

More shots of Kharn past the link.

A Second Ragnarok and Korsor Squadron

As a break from painting World Eaters before painting Kharn, I painted a second Ragnarok and a squadron of three Korsor Corvettes.

Danes do like to fly the flag

First Blood

This past weekend (12 Mar 2016), I played my second game of Horus Heresy Zone Mortalis.  It, like the first was against the warriors of Legion XVIII, Salamanders.  The short version is that Fire Drakes are an incredibly tough unit, especially against other Astrates.  This includes thrashing Butchers.  The World Eaters nearly brought it to a tie, but failed to dislodge a unit of Salamander Breachers from the tying objective.

Battle begins and the World Eater force is engaged by Fire Drakes

Butchers

Blood covered, crazed super-humans locked into their armor by their keepers and let loose upon their once brothers - World Eaters Butchers are a unit that typifies the slipping of the World Eaters away from the Emperor.

Sorry for not posting more often, but I have been ill-disciplined about hobbying during the evenings.

Bloody Butchers

Once Proud

These models were great to paint and then bloody with the Citadel Tecnhical - Blood for the Blood God.  While I had used the paint on the powered-armored Astartes, the front of the butchers is covered in gore.

Rampagers Ready

Angron's Gladiators

I have completed the five Rampagers and am satisfied with the result.  The biggest challenge on getting these Marines painted was simply spending the time to do so.  I have been distracted by video games in the evening again, which delayed what was a few night effort for several weeks.  I finished them up fairly quickly this past Saturday.

I am not focusing on my approach to the Butchers and getting Kharn onto a 32 mm base and still being able to go on his scenic base.

Rampagers close

Highlighting and basing remain

I used MLK day to put a solid dent in painting up the five Rampagers for my World Eaters.   I got the main colors on the model, leaving highlighting, detailing, and basing to do this week.

I feel like I am a bit behind where I want to be in terms of getting the World Eaters done, but also feel confident I can get them done before the end of February.  Depending on how this week's schedule is, I should be done with the Rampagers before the weekend, leaving the Butchers and Kharn to paint.

Primarch arrived, slow start on Rampagers

Just a short status update post.  My brother's Christmas gift of Roboute Guilliman arrived this past week, along with 5 Suzerains from Forgeworld.   Both of these have been tucked away with the rest of the Ultramarines that I have been collecting for a "big-push" once the 1,000 points of Zone Mortalis World Eaters is complete.

Roboute Guilliman
A single model which should as much attention as a whole squad or more

Speaking of, I have been distracted by playing Destiny with a good friend and have only begun to add the base layers to the Rampagers.   I intend to spend some more time on them in the coming days and will at the very least dedicate time next Monday to painting them.

Sang Squad

Sang Squad prior to sealing

As I said previously, painting Space Marines is somehow very relaxing.  I think it comes down to having zero decisions to make once I have settled on the paint scheme.

This is my second World Eaters Tactical squad, equipped with Chain-Axes.  Their Sergeant equips himself with a pair of Lightning Claws.  They are the fifth squad of their company.*  They go by the name moniker, Sang Squad in reference to the ancient Terran (French/Latin) word for blood.