060 - My Favorite Minature

After getting all excited about Codex: Imperial Agents I dug out a load of my old Inquisition miniatures. Among them was my favourite Games Workshop miniature of all time. This guy:

This model is a savant from the Daemon Hunters from 3rd edition. I love the way he is hunched over and quite grumpy looking. He is such an evocative model with tonnes of personality.
I should have really finished the base though!

059 - Inquisition Excitment

So Codex: Imperial Agents is out soon and boy am I excited. I have always loved the Inquisition from back when I first got into the universe of Warhammer 40,000. I remember reading the stories featuring them in White Dwarf and being really intrigued. The thing that made me fall in love with them was this page from the Codex Imperialis from the 2nd edition game.

The Inquisitors were really exciting and I had a metal Inquisitor in Terminator armour that I used in my 2nd edition games. Unfortunately he was lost in a house move somewhere.
Fast forward a few years and the Inquisitor game came out. It had loads of background and really highlighted the political infighting between the factions of the Inquisition. At this time the Eisenhorn novels came out in support of the game. Dan Abnett  wrote a trilogy which is one of the best stories I have ever read. It gave me such a interest in the universe after a bit of a slow patch. I would recommend these books to anyone who hasn't read them.
As the codex was coming out I decided to dust off some of my old models. Here are some of my Inquisition warband members

This guy is converted from a Mordhiem Witch Hunters Warrior Priest.

This used to be a Necromunda Redemptionist however I think he is definitely a WIP.

I really liked using the Redemptionists as henchmen. I think they really look the part.

This is a metal Space Marine scout with a green stuff fur cape and a enlarged shoulder pad.

Finally this assassin was the original Rogue Trader assassin that came out before the assassins were revamped in the mid 90s.
So that is a few of my Inquisition models. I am really excited about the new codex as I rarely get to field such an eclectic range of models in a cohesive force.

058 - My Favorite Iron Warriors Units

As the new Iron Warriors are being created I think it is time to consign the old models to storage to make way for the new guys. I have painted up quite nearly 150 models for this army with painting ranging from "okay" to "my first paint job". But before they go into a KR case here are my three favourite units from the army.

The Heldrake was the first big kit that I had to put together and man is it complicated. Its looks huge when it is finally completed. Just don't try and pick it up without using the flying stand!

The cultists get in here not just because of the natty paint scheme but because this is when I felt i had cracked batch painting and could churn out a decent amount of models at a good pace.

The Helbrute was one of the more complicated miniatures with alot of detail to paint but I feel I did model justice. The dynamic pose is pretty cool too!
Despite the Iron Warriors being a little rough round the edges I will always have a soft spot for this army due to it being the one that got me back into the hobby. However I feel it has had it's day and I now have to crack on with my 30k Iron Warriors and do the sons of Olympus justice!

057 - Iron Warriors Daemon Prince Conversion

After finishing my Daemon Prince I had quite alot of spare bits leftover. I wanted to use these in something but didn't have any success. Inspiration stuck however and I popped the arms and a head on a Dark Vengeance Helbrute and with a little bit of hobby magic here we are!

The idea behind this model was rooted in the rules for the Ferrum Infernus Dreadnought from Imperial Armour 13 where they can become a Daemon Prince or a spawn. Obviously this guy rolled the right number!
This was a fun little conversion that worked out nicely and shows that taking a risk and doing something that seems a little crazy can really pay off!

056 - Minotaurs Test Model

I finished my Minotaur test model which is a metal Space Marine Captain. I was quite happy with the finished paint job and it wasn't too difficult to complete. The bronze went on quite well and I can do the red easily as well.

I think this colour scheme is easy enough for me to complete a whole army with. I am going to do a tactical squad of old plastic marines next just to make sure the colour scheme is okay for a group of miniatures.
Overall I am quite happy with this test and can't wait to make a start on the rest of the army!

055 - Maybe Minotaurs?

I love Space Marines in 40k. Well what's not to love about an armour genetically enhanced super warrior? They are such a deeply developed faction with great power and horrendous flaws. As iconic factions go Space Marines are the poster boys of the universe. Stripped of their humanity they are the bulwark against the dark for all of the people of the Imperium.
As you probably know the Space Marines were organised into many different chapters after the events of the Horus Heresy. They all have different character depending on the chapter and are fairly autonomous however some are rigidly adherent to the Codex Astartes than others.
I chose my chapter from an existing one rather than create my own. I saw the Minotaurs in the Badab war books and was bowled over. The High Lords of Terra use them as their personal attack dogs and they put chapters which don't tow the line back unto place. They have the pick of equipment and fight as a whole chapter rather than break off which makes them a little different to normal chapters. The psycho-indoctrination process is more rigorous and this makes them ultra loyal to the High Lords.
So with this background floating around my head I cracked on with my first model. Here is a work in progress picture of the test model.

I wanted to do a test model as the main thing I look for when starting an army is if I like doing a colour scheme and find it fun to paint. I will do this guy and a small squad of plastic marines to see if I can stomach doing fifty or more of these guys.
Hopefully this will turn out well and lead to a whole new army.

054 - The End Of The Stormcast?

Following  a problem with my last unit of Stormcast Eternals that ended up ruining my Prosecutors I have decided I am going to leave my Stormcast army as it is for the time being. The Lord Celestant and the Lord Relictor seem like amazing models but I think they will suffer from the same problems as the Prosecutors did with regards to assembly and me being a clumsy oaf. 

So I have fourteen big Order miniatures painted which is just under 500 points. This will be a large chunk of a decent sized Order Grand Alliance force. 

I will definitely add more Order dudes at some point and tie them in with the bases and colour scheme. I think Flagellants and a Warrior Priest may be a good choice but one of the great things with Age of Sigmar is that the choices are wide open. Did some one say Sylvaneth?

053 - Procesutor Pains

I had that really annoying moment when you damage a model so badly it can't be completed. I've been able to repair most of the damage I've done to models with dropping and such but the one I have just destroyed was the Prosecutor Prime from the Age Of Sigmar boxed set.
I have enjoyed assembling the Stormcast models and painting them. However I felt the Prosecutors were too flimsy and had to many details that could snap or chip. Especially those big old wings. They look great but are super delicate. Unfortunately I was rushing the assembly and messed up the gluing of the wings. They are all fused at the back and it's a shame I was unable to fix them.
I will probably turn the other two Prosecutors that went together fine into some scenery. I could do some pretty good statues with them. I don't fancy buying anymore to make a unit of five as I was dreading painting them.

They are great models but just not for me. I think I will stick to ground based units from now on. There are quite a few models in the Order Grand Alliance that I like so I have quite alot of choice to make a great army.

052 - More Liberators

I have completed my second unit of Stormcast Liberators for my starter set of Age of Sigmar, They were pretty good to paint as I like the slightly bigger models with lots of flat armour. The colour scheme really works with the weathering and is relatively simple to do. 

The bases are pretty good as I can add new troops from other Order factions and they will tie in with the rest of the army. I have my eye on some wizards, Elves or possibly even flagellants when I have completed the models from the boxed set. Watch this space!

051 - Stormcast Retributors

Next up on the Stormcast conveyor belt are a unit of three Retributors. They are great hulking models with their massive warhammers and bulky armour. I painted the backpack separately then assembled them and weathered the model as a whole.

In matched play they are not a full unit so until I get another two it's not optimising the points. However I will still take them as they are quite cool and are visually quite impressive. I am really enjoying the weathering process and can't wait to crack on with the next models.

050 - Word Bearers Display Board

This is my display base for my Word Bearers army that I have been doing for the Independent Characters Hobby Progress Challenge 2016. The Independent Characters website is here.
I haven't done anything like this before and I am defiantly going to be more ambitious with the next one I do. However I thought it was good for a first attempt.
Here it is without models (apart from the Predator which is basically scenery itself):

And here it is full of mighty Word Bearers!

I could have done a backboard for it and possibly added more details as it is a little plain at the moment. However this means that when you look at the display it's more about the models than the display board. I can also reuse this board to display other armies in my collection without having to pull off bits of debris. 

I'm quite happy with the finished board and really chuffed that I have got enough points for a gold award on the HPC 2016!

049 - Istvann Five Salamanders Tank

I really love the Salamanders Legion. They exemplify everything that is good about the Space Marines and are true heroes in the grimdark that is 30k and 40k.
Vulkan is a fantastic Primarch in the fluff and the Forge World model in my opinion is one of the best Primarch models they have done.
I have wanted to do a Salamanders army for a while but can't really fit it in with my other projects. I also had some old Rogue Trader models floating about which need refurbishment that I also didn't have time to do.
I have been doing a Word Bearers army for the Independent Characters Hobby Progress Challenge 2016. The Independent Characters website is here.  I started the army in February and had to do a commitment a month until I have 10 completed commitments. As an extra achievement you can create a themed display board for your army. I wanted to do a Istvann V board to match my bases.
I wanted black sand dunes but I didn't want the board to be featureless. So I took  a battered old Predator tank and started painting it in Salamanders colours. After a hefty amount of weathering I had a suitably battered opponent for my Word Bearers.

The completed model came out quite well. I am just finishing off my display board and hopefully it will all come together. Glory to the Word Bearers!

048 - Knight Questor

I really like the new Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower boxed game. The models are fantastic and I bought a couple of White Dwarf issues just to get the rules for Age Of Sigmar. I particularly liked the Knight Questor and bought an extra on off Ebay just for my Stormcast army. This may seem a little excessive but I wanted the one in the game to match the box art colour scheme and the one in my army to match the silver and blue theme that I am using.

The story behind this guy is that he is a Knight Questor that has completed his quest and gone on to rejoin his brothers in the Stormhost.

I painted him like the rest of my army and really got stuck in with the weathering on his cloak. I could imagine it dragging through the mud.

To make him stand out a little I put a bit of blood along his sword blade to make him stand out. He is a great model and could be a fun hero to use as the army general in slightly smaller games.

047 - Muddy Stormcasts

The effect I used for the bases on my new Stormcast Eternals is the Mig Jimenez Heavy Earth Mud. This is an enamel based product so have to use cellulose thinners instead of water to thin them down.

I t was really good fun to slather it all over the bases. I used sponge weathering to add the mud and Typhus Corrosion technical paint to the models.

It's great to make my miniatures look beaten up and more real world than a parade ground finish. I'm really enjoying painting these guys and really look forward to doing more of them.

046 - Weathering Stormcasts

So on launch day last year I picked up the starter box for Age of Sigmar. I got it home and even posted about it here. However it just sat of the shelf gathering dust. So when Silver Tower came out and I wanted to get on board with that I made myself a promise. I would paint at least one faction completely from the Sigmar starter box before I started Silver Tower.

I decided to go for the Stormcasts as they are new and look amazing. There was a bit of a backlash against them but for me they hit the nail on the head. 

I went for a simple silver and blue colour scheme which kind of matches the Hallowed Knights Stormhost. They fought in the realm of life against the forces Nurgle so I wanted to give them a very dirty weathered appearance. I kept the armour and colour scheme quite clean and simple so the weathering really stands out.

I banged out my first unit in short order and really enjoyed the whole weathering process. It was quite good fun slathering on enamel mud and Thypus Corrosion on the models.
This seems like a fun project and I will have a small force and potentially add other Stormcasts as the whim takes me. For Sigmar!

045 - Ebay to the rescue!

SO it recently got to the point where gaming wise I hit critical mass. The gaming desk was full and the top of it was piled to the ceiling. I had also looked at the bank balance and saw how much I was spending. Extra things and no money? Ebay to the rescue!
So I was honest with myself. Was I really going to paint that 40k Space Wolves army? Did I even want a Rogue Trader Blood Angels force? Not in a million years says Mr Honesty. So on Ebay they go.
I had a big long thought about my limited edition models still in clam-packs. I have a Navigator and a Space Marine Captain from the new Forge World website. Both great miniatures but I feel I will paint the marine but not the Navigator so on Ebay he goes.
Tabletop Minions do a great video about not hording miniatures here. It's good advice and I definitely opened up some room on the gaming desk!
It also allowed me to buy this beauty!

With the money I made off the sale of my old models I wanted to get a big model like a Knight which is more likely a model which I'd paint. It's huge but I have more of a compulsion to paint this than two armies I'm not that invested in.

044 - Best Book Ever!

I finally got my grubby little paws on the Crusade Imperialis book for the  Horus Hersey. It's absolutely brilliant. I got it mainly for the militia list to add a few extra units to my 30k armies as allies but was blown away by the quality of the whole book. It has three complete army lists in it, the Solar Auxilia Crusade Army List, the Questoris Knights Crusade Army List and the Imperialis Militia and Cults Army List.

The first section is the Solar Auxillia. I really like these guys especially the Ogryns! Sadly until I get a lottery win I have no chance as they are very expensive to buy from Forge World. The models are beautiful and some of the colour schemes I have seen really make them standout from other armies.The second is the  Questoris Knights and while I have not had a massive yearning for an army of super heavy walkers this updated section makes me want to add a Knight to my Word Bearers which you can do with the newly released Age of Darkness Army List book.
My favourite section is the Imperialis Militia & Cults. The list is one of the most versatile and flexible army lists I have seen in all the years I have been involved in the hobby. The wide selection of troops and the way you can customise them with both wargear and provenances of war open up massive opportunities. You can go from swarms of rabble to power armoured elites and pretty much everything in between.
The Militia list would be an excellent choice for a guard player who wanted to port their army over from 40k but equally could be used with other units that Games Workshop sell. For example, got a Beastman army? You can now represent it in 30k? Same with Flesh Eater courts or even a Bloodbound force. Obviously not everything will fit in but use your imagination and you can have a really crazy army with a really strong theme in no time.
After a round up of spare cultists models in my collection and small splurge on Ebay I have quite alot of cultists ready to go. I can do some allies for my Word Bearers and see where I end up. With the large squad sizes in 30k I will be doing a fair bit of speed painting to get them table top ready but the advantage of having 50 models in a unit is that the eye looks at the whole rather than just individual models.
So I have a few more of these guys to paint up!

The red books are excellent value. They may not have any fluff but that's what the big books are for. With these red books you can have almost a complete new game system for just over £30. They are an absolute bargain and I would recommend them to anyone interested in playing 30k!

043 - Objective Markers

For the Independent Characters Hobby Progress Challenge 2016 one of the extra "achievements" is to create some themed objective markers for your army.
Here they are:

I went for some kind of sacrificial stones with either a skull from the Ungors set, a marine helmet or a Vexella. The numbers are in dried blood which fitted in quite nicely!

The helmets were going to be Ultramarines but the paint scheme didn't quite match so ended up being Alpha Legion!
The Hobby Progress Challenge has been great fun this year. Check out the Independent Characters here.  They have a great community and a great podcast.

042 - Attic Treasure!

I was in the attic looking for some important documents and lo and behold I found a Black Orc nestled in between my degree and my bronze swimming certificate. Turns out it was the 2000 Game Day miniature sculpted by the very talented Brian Nelson!

I must have painted him back when I was in university. I was quite happy with the paint job I did back in the day so this guy has gone into the display cabinet. It's brighter base makes it really stand out on the Age of Sigmar shelf.

Its great to see a model that I painted a long time ago. I may even dig out some models from when I was obsessed with the Inquistion and take a few photos. I just have to fight my way through some really old bubble wrap!

041 - Smugface

I now officially have a smugface due to getting my last commitment into the Independent Characters Hobby Progress Challenge2016. The Independent Characters website is here.  I started the army in February and had to do a commitment a month until I have 10 completed commitments. As you can see I have got done quite early. This is mainly because I have made quite manageable commitments because I knew if I fell behind at all I wouldn't get the project done. But I did complete it and here is the army in all it's glory:

I chose 30k Word Bearers on a bit of a whim due to the fact they are in the Betrayal at Calth. I really got into the army while I was painting it up. 

I was really happy with the colour scheme and the red that I managed to get on the models. The shoulder pads are red rather than black but I just wanted my models to stand out a little.

The  army is a little light on infantry but I find painting big blocks of small models quite a chore and that the quality really starts to suffer after a while so I tried to mix it up with different unit types.

I am super chuffed with the army. It was a sprint finish at the end but it's completed to a decent tabletop standard which is what I was aiming for. I am going to do some objective markers and possibly a display board soon but I'm proper chuffed to have got the models done. I may add new units in the future but right now I think I need to paint something that isn't red!
I'm not a very good nor fast painter so it is a bit of a chore to me, so doing the HPC was a revelation. I was so motivated and really hope to do it next year but maybe be a little more ambitious with my commitments. Big loves to all the commentors with the advice and really friendly comments and finally a big thanks to Loopy on the forums for setting this up. You are awesome man! I can't wait for next year!

040 - Rhino Rush (Well not quite)

I am currently finishing off my Word Bearers force for the IC's Hobby Progress Challenge. I haven't used the newer Rhino kit which is a bit sad as it came out about fifteen years ago! Here is a work in progress shot:

They were really good models to put together and relatively easy. I could see these being a mainstay of any future Marine armies I do.
However the basic Rhino costs 35pts and the real life cost from Games Workshop is £22.50 it make it one of the poorest pounds to points models in the entire range. Not quite as bad as Mechanicum Thralls but getting there!
I fancy doing a few more of these in the future and possibly even some of the variants suh as Razorbacks and Vindicators.
I only have a couple of more
units to go before my Hobby Progress Challenge is completed so I better get cracking!

039 - HPC Halfway

So in January I decided to get a little more structured with what I was going to paint. I started recording my painting progress with a Kaban board and keeping a better record of what I have done. I have also joined the Independent Characters 2016 Hobby Progress Challenge. The Independent Characters is an amazing podcast that is back after a year long hiatus. The website for the podcast is here and the forums for the Hobby Progress Challenge can be found here. The rules are simple, you just commit to painting a unit (or units) each month and post a  photo of the unpainted miniatures on the forums. You have a month to paint them and when they are done you post a photo up of them completed. 

So lets have a look at my first five commitments:

January was a Betrayal at Calth Contemptor Dreadnought. I really like the model and feel like people were a little down on it compared to the rest of the boxed set but it ticks all the boxes for me. I did quite a few layers of Khorne Red to get the smooth surface on the model.

My second model in the challenge was a Land Speeder that I had leftover from another project and I used mk4 armour to model the crew. I like the fact a "Chaos" army can use a Land Speeder and was quite happy to put the Octed symbol right on the front of the model. I am going to go back and add a havoc launcher to it so it has a little extra firepower than a single heavy bolter.

I converted this Mortis Comtemptor from the Betrayl at Calth Dreadnought by just swapping over the close combat weapon with a spare assault cannon. I also popped a radar dish on the top to represent the Helicial Targeting Array.

This is my first tactical squad.I kept them quite simple to paint with minimal equipment modelled on them. I wanted them to look like foot sloggers rather than the super elite of the legion. 

This the second tactical squad. I have painted them shoulder pads red rather than black as i wanted them to look slightly different to other Word Bearers armies. I like the fact there are hundreds of thousands of marines in a legion so there can be some variation with the colour schemes.

Doing this challenge has been a great shot in the arm and I will have a decent looking army by the end of the year if all goes to plan which for a slow painter like me is very exciting. I would recommend this kind of scheme for projects. Next up are some characters to lead the force. Maybe even some tanks as well!

038 - Deathwatch Marines

I was really excited when Deathwatch: Overkill came out. The game looked good but the thing that seemed to really catch people's eye was the miniatures. The Genestealer Cult is great. It is an update of iconic models and concepts which were a fundamental part of what defined Warhammer 40,000 when I first got into the hobby. However the thing that really got me was the Deathwatch!
The Deathwatch are a cool idea and the new models represent the diverse chapters working as different parts to become more effective as a whole. This mirrors how the original twenty legions were designed by the Emperor to work together and compliment the strengths and inherent abilities of each other.
One Deathwatch marine stood out for me was the Iron Hand Ennox Sorrlock. I wanted to use that model as the basis for a Heresy era Techmarine. The body fit in with the right armour but this left me two Deathwatch arms and and a combimelta which didn't fit in with the time period. So having a few marine spares I cobbled together a Deathwatch Iron Hands marine which I intended to be just a one off model for a bit of fun.
But Games Workshop brilliantly released rules for both factions in the board game. So armed with rules I began thinking I could make my own Deathwatch team with the same wargear and use the rules that have been released.
It may only be eleven models but I can stretch this out and do a few models at a time and use it as a bit of palette cleanser between bigger squads and vehicles for other projects. I won't feasibly be able to substitute certain models without putting in alot of work so the Salamander, Imperial Fist and White Scar will be bought off Ebay and converted somehow to make them look a little more individual.
So my first models that are going to get made is my version of squad Donatus.

I have the basis for the models and the parts for the weapons in my bits box. I will have to buy the Deathwatch upgrade sprue for the shoulder pads but I am okay with that. as that will give me enough pads for all eleven and a few spares as well. 

Here is a quick work in progress picture of my Dark Angel, Space Wolves and Iron Hands marines.

I am quite excited about this small project and hopefully it will keep my creative juices flowing in the future. 

037 - 2016 Half Century

So it's 2016 and I said at the start of the year I would document my painting progress. Having a quick look at my makeshift Kanban Board I realised that I was on my 50th model for the year. Luckily it was a nice character model. So say hello to my 50th model, my 30k Word Bearers Chaplain.

I was quite happy with the paint job and it all seemed to work out so go me!

However I have to try and paint 100 models or more for the entire year. Boo pressure!

036 - Inside The Silver Tower

I got all excited and bought Warhammer Quest Silver Tower. I haven't had chance to play yet but wanted to do a few photos of what you get in the actual box.

So here is the front. Gorgeous art work with the Stormcast Eternal featuring really prominently.

The box is rammed full of contents. To save a copying a load of text down here is a shot from the back of the box.

I'm a big fan of the amount of miniatures you get and you can download warscrolls to include them in the Age of Sigmar which is a nice touch. You can get them here. My one criticism of the original Warhammer Quest is just using the models in the game as game pieces and not on the tabletop but this is a great solution!

First up are the heroes, the Gaunt Summoner and the Ogroid Thaumaturge . The Ogroid Thaumaturge is a fantastic new addition to the Chaos Grand Alliance and the model is a great sculpt. The heroes have alot of detail and some really nice touches.

The you get two sets of this sprue with the lower level gribblies on it. I'm looking forward to getting some paint on the Grot Scuttlings.

You also get some hero cards a couple of decks of really nice cards and a few different rulebooks.

The board sections look fantastic and they are surprisingly big and thick!

So that's a very quick run-down of the contents of the box. I will do some posts when I either get t play or when I paint some of the models. The quality is the usual high Games Workshop standard and I'm really happy with what I have got with this game. I can't wait to get stuck in!