Dino Debut - Sons of Horus

Hey there guys! 

This will be my first blog post, as university term has just ended and so I've finally gotten enough time to work on my hobbies!

As a quick intro to me, I've been doing wargaming since I can remember, and while I've been playing Games Workshop games for almost 12 years now, I also play several historical and alternative sci-fi games (especially 6mm WWII) which may make occasional guest appearances in my posts!
Within Games Workshop, which is the main focus of the blog, I play pretty much every system they have out now, and a few OOP ones. Every flavour of 40K Chaos and AoS Death are the two main forces, but over the years I've collected a bit of everything. I'm very much a hobby butterfly, so don't be surprised if every post I make has wildly different content! Recently, I've been eyeing up building my own 40K board (finally!) and making it Necromunda suitable, so you may see some Gangs knocking about soon as well!

Moving on to the main part of this post, most of you will have seen Regnak's Alpha Legion over the last few weeks, and we've agreed to do some Zone Mortalis battles to get back into Heresy era gaming. As a result, I bought up some more Sons of Horus to make into a purpose-built Zone Mortalis force, especially as up till now I haven't had any Justaerin! So I took the opportunity and jumped in.

The Sons of Horus Contemptor is one of my personal favourite FW models, and if Regnak is gonna be bringing Alpharius they're gonna need to do a lot of heavy lifting! At least until I finally build up the courage to go for Horus. . .

However, while finding some Custodes bits for Regnak's awesomely in-depth Alpharius conversion, I realised I had 15 Sisters of Silence knocking about unbuilt, so I've started working on those to try and get them up to ZM level, although I've hit a bit of a block because their units are so points cheap compared to the Legions!

Here's a Vigilator Cadre with breaching charge courtesy of some Death Korps

Malign Portents: Sticking with Herzberg Irregulars

I was planning on switching back to my Renegades for the next couple of weeks but have instead cracked on with the Herzberg Irregulars. The main reason? Malign Portents! Since this campaign is running for a while I thought it made sense to get my new AOS army up and running as soon as possible so I can at least get a few games in. This will also hopefully speed up my building and painting backlog.. we shall see! I have started work on Forge World's excellent Elspeth Von Draken on Carmine Dragon kit and thought it best to magnetise the wings to make transporting this beastie a bit easier.

Carmine Dragon WIP #1 - Magnets added to wings

Carmine Dragon WIP #2 - Wings attached

Herzberg Irregulars Progress Report #1

Well these last 2 weeks have flown by! I have managed to get a fair chunk of my Herzberg Irregulars assembled and based. I'm so glad I pulled the trigger on the DragonForge Bases, these compliment the models perfectly. The next 2 weeks will be spent back on the Renegades but before that I thought I'd make a progress report. As always with my purchases from Forge World there were issues with some of the models. Both the Empire Command set and Manann's Blades Command had issues, dodgy shiny resin, soft detail and missing parts.. all the things that have unfortunately become the norm for Me when I order from Forge World. I have sent customer service an email with issues along with photos so hopefully when the hobby project rotates back to the Herzberg Irregulars I will have the replacement kits to work on. Anyway here is current progress:

20x Ironsides inc Command

Ironsides Closeup

Ironsides Command Closeup

10x Manann's Blades

Manann's Blades Closeup

Herzberg Irregulars and Painting Comp

As mentioned previously I have decided to split my hobby months into half AOS and the other 40k. Since we are in the first part of the month work has finally begun on the Herzberg Irregulars. So far I have managed to assemble a 10-man Ironsides unit, 3 Manann's Blades and a model that has been sitting in a box for the last 5 years: The Event Only Warrior Priest.

Ironsides

Manann's Blades & Warrior Priest

And lastly here is my entry for the painting comp I mentioned in my last post. I was one vote away from 3rd place. Was a bit of a rush job and took about an hour to paint, wish I had some lighter colours to make bits stand out. 

Aetheric Navigator

First Post of the Year! 40k Renegades Project is Underway!

First post of the year. I have decided to spend the first 2 weeks of a month working on my AOS Empire army and the last 2 weeks working on my 40k Renegades. Work will begin on The Empire models from the 1st of Feb and thought I'd spend an extra couple of days getting work underway on my new Chaos Renegades project. I have made good progress so far and have put together 2x 10-Man Marauder squads (armed with shotguns) and also 5x Renegade Ogryns. I was also lucky enough to get a Valdor Tank from my Fiancee for Xmas but as with my usual luck when ordering from Forge World their non-existent quality control made sure that work on that would be delayed by "3 weeks due to how busy we are to get the faulty part cast". Why they cannot take a replacement part from one of the others in stock and send that to me to speed things up I have no idea. People always rave about the excellent customer service they provide with replacing parts but shouldn't the mark of good customer service be checking the parts BEFORE sending them out so people don't receive poor quality models that they charge premium prices for? Then add to that making the customer wait weeks before the issue is resolved? Very poor indeed. Anyway, enough moaning.. it is what it is. Here are a few more pics of my progress so far:

10-Man Marauder squad #1

10-Man Marauder squad #2

5-Man Renegade Ogryn Squad

Regnak vs BPPV vs Hobbytime

Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been out of action for last 3 weeks due to BPPV (Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo) that triggered with the slightest movement of my head. I have spent the time basically lying still in bed or on the sofa. My Netflix backlog has reduced considerably but my hobby progress has been ALMOST non-existent. The last couple of days I have felt better and managed to get in a bit of hobby progress. I have almost finished my first 10 Marauders (waiting on a couple of special weapons and a shotgun I ordered from a bitz store) for a Renegade army I want to crack on with in the new year. They look like fairly simple conversions but it was actually a little tricky getting the torsos to sit right on the legs and required lots of cutting, trimming and gap hiding. Evening though they were fiddly I think they work really well and these test subjects will pave the way to a full army in the new year. That's all for now, hoping to add an update or two over the festive period once I'm off work.

Hobby is Happening.. Honest!

Sorry for the radio silence. Life has been getting in the way but I've managed to get a few things done. First up is a Warboss on Giant Cave Squig from Forge World. This model is oozing character, he is the perfect transition between the old and new look Goblins Grots. I repainted the squig several times and in the end settled on the classic red colour scheme which I think compliments that dark robes of the moon clan perfectly.

I have also begun work on Grom the Paunch and his chariot. I am happy with how his paintjob is turning out but am having a surprisingly hard time with Niblet. For some reason I can't seem to get him right, I have tried twice now and keep screwing it up. He's currently sitting in a bath of paint stripper ready for another attempt... when I have the patience that is. Third times a charm right?

And last up something non-Grot related. I have begun construction on a Marienburg Landship! A great looking kit that I am assembling for my future Empire army. I have the army in boxes/FW packets and this will become my next project once the grots are done (...or at least nearing completion :p). More updates coming soon!



Progress, Progress, Progress!

I had a few days holiday from work and was surprisingly productive. I completed another 10 Night Goblins bringing the total to 20 so I now have the minimum unit size that can be fielded. As usual I had lots of fun painting these models, I mean look at them! Whats not to love?! This unit includes a few of the old "Netters" and "Clubbers" models and I plan on adding another 4 in a future update.

Next up is one of the old Squig-Herder teams. Unfortunately the light was crap when I took this photo so the colours have come out looking a little flat but they are painted in the same way as my other Goblins.

And last up for my painting accomplishments is the White Dwarf Subscription Goblin Warboss. This guy was really fun to paint. I did a little work on him every night for a week and I think he ended up pretty good. As mentioned in a previous post the mushrooms are a mixture of the ones you get with the Mangler-Squigs and the ones I reviewed from TheBattleForge. I overdid it a bit with the weathering powder on the rocks and plan at some stage to tone this down. I also need to redo a few of the red and white "Fairy Tale" mushrooms to match the 2 realistic coloured ones but for now I'm calling this done! 

WIP project wise I threw together some simple LOS-blocking scatter terrain using some of the many resin accessories I have accumulated. I have also primed a few bits of terrain such as the Cottage and Wheat Field and pictures of these will follow once I have made some progress painting them.

And talking of the Wheat Field, I found this guy in my bitzbox and think he might come in handy for watching over the crops. He's an old Mordheim model from the "Frenzied Mob" set.

And lastly this Box O' Fun arrived. More details on this soon...

Forge World: Troggoth Hag, Merchants Cottage and Stone Bridge

A quick update to show you all what I'm working on at the moment. First up is Forge World's excellent Troggoth Hag. I have always loved this model and since I have got some Moonclan Grots on the go it gave me the perfect excuse to add Her to my army. Since taking this photo I have sorted out the moldline which annoyingly I didn't notice until after I had taken the picture. I need to do some work on her base and then I'm hoping to get Her primed and some base colours down when I'm next off work.

Next up is some progress on the Merchants Cottage. I used some polyfilla and milliput to level out the base and then added a mix of woodland scenics fine and medium ballast to the base. I need to prime this and then get the painting underway.

 polyfilla and milliput added to base

 

PVA and woodland scenics ballast added

And last up is one of my latest acquisitions. I managed to score a mint in box long OOP Forge World Stone Bridge for my ever-growing scenery collection. I really love the design of this and hope to pair it up with a Re-painted Pegasus Hobbies River Set. More on that soon.

Box Fresh!

Dragons-eye view

 

Troggoths-eye view



Ulver - Trollskogen

Forge World: Merchants Cottage WIP

In my ongoing quest to acquire OOP Forge World terrain I ended up with two of the Wood Cutters Cottages. One I purchased a year or so ago was still mint in box and I have built that stock. The other came poorly assembled by the previous owner complete with a fairly thick splash of paint and has been sat on a shelf awaiting some inspiration... and inspiration has struck! I have decided to turn this "spare" one into a Merchants Cottage. The main structure will remain as is but I have removed the wood pile and axe (as seen in the stock picture below) and attached the cottage to a beveled MDF base. I used a section of fence from GW's "Walls & Fences" kit and then selected some resin accessories to help change the look from "Wood Cutter" to "Merchant". A full product review for these bits and info on where you can purchase them will follow in a future article. Here is the current progress:

The Stock Cottage

First try. Looks ok I guess...

Bingo! We have a winner.

And as always, here is an appropriate song for this post:

Sellsword - Merchants of Menace

Forge World Grot Tanks

This was the most fun I've ever had modelling/painting. These models are so full of character and have lots of little details that you don't notice on first glance. They are still WIP and need finishing off but heres what I have so far. I tired to make the yellow colour on the tanks appear washed out/worn and applied heavy weathering all over for that "fresh out of the junkyard" look. The thing that really makes this kit is the amount of build options. You can swap around the turrets, tracks, weapons and hulls to come up with some great combinations. I'm considering picking up another set of these and also the Grot Mega Tank. I still have lots to get through on my work bench and you should see some of this progress in future posts. I also need to choose some foam trays for my army having recently picked up an empty Battle Foam P.A.C.K. 720. Will post more on that later.

Engineers.... Engineering....

I'm still going. Damn this horrible hot weather! Here are some WIP shots of my Engineers... all 20 of them! I still need to add transfers to all their shoulder pads and tidy up the colours and bases but here is a quick pic to show where I'm at. I wish Forge World released more poses than the standard 5. I've tried to convert them but theres only so much I can do! :p

Grenadiers Squad Almost Done....

I got these done yesterday. They have been sat assembled but unprimed for nearly a year and its about time they got some love. I set out to get the squad done within a day. They still need a bit of a tidy but otherwise they are almost done. I also converted up a Death Rider Command HQ Squad and put some base colours on a Artemia Pattern Hellhound and a Leman Russ Vanquisher. This weekend will be a "Hobby Weekend" so expect some more updates soon.

Hades Breaching Drill WIP

Been working on my Death Korps over the last few days while my friend has been assembling his Necrons and testing out some paint schemes. I'm not going to post any of my troop photos yet as I'm batching painting and all you'd see is a some squads primed white with only the coats and helmets painted! So instead here is a WIP shot of what every Death Korps army needs... a Hades Breaching Drill! I still need to do a few touch ups and add a bit more rubble on the conveyor belt but I'm pretty happy so far with how its turned out.

Death Korps of Krieg 2.0

Yep, I've gone back to the well. A friend of mine has reignited my passion for 40k by picking up the new Necron Battleforce and a few other bits. He has never played 40k before or any other games systems. It all started when I recommended he pick up Space Marine for the xbox. He knew nothing about the fluff or factions apart from the occasional peek at what I am working on or listening to me waffle about the latest Black Library book I have read. After picking up the game and playing it through and then spending many hours online together on the multiplayer modes he started asking questions about the 40k Universe. I lent him my copy of the 40k rulebook and after reading through this and looking on the GW website I met up with him a week later to find he had picked up the Necron codex, Command barge and the Battleforce boxset. We have arranged to have a 500 or 750 point game as soon as we both have our armies ready. I have dug out my unfinished Death Korps and began working on a new scheme and list for our first game. I have lots to paint and I'm working on a tough conversion for my army commander which will be part of the Death Rider command squad. Lots of updates to come as I make progress and also some ideas for a list that I'll be using, until then I leave you with a look at my "almost finished" Grenadier Centaur.  Enjoy!

Progress?

Well, I'm late. Story of my life :) Managed to pretty much get the FW limited edition Ork done. Also nearly finished up with Molly. Pics of her "soon". Plan on building an all girl Malifaux crew what with the Dead Doxies coming out soon. Pics are a comin'. Sorry for the delay....