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!

035 - Winding up the Wolves

So I'm finishing one of my armies. I'm going to stop adding to my 30k Space Wolves. The intention before was to do a massive army but with my Word Bearers and other projects taking my time I decided to finish the models I had assembled and have a completed army.  If I'm honest with myself I won't keep adding models here and there and it would be best just to finish the whole thing rather than disappoint myself in the future.It's around 3000pts which is a decent size and I have quite alot of variety in there so I'm pretty happy with it.
I just finished my last model which was my Praetor which I made from The Betrayal at Calth Chaplain and some bits from the plastic Space Wolves upgrade sprue.

So I have got well into collecting my 30k Space Wolves. The initial plan was to kit bash most of them not only because of the lack of Space Wolves Forge World models at the time but also due to the fact I love modelling. However I didn't want them to look like 40k Space Wolves with a different colour scheme so I'm reigned in the use of the 40k kits. I was initially unconcerned about the "official" Space Wolves models eventually coming out from Forge World figuring when they came out I could either mix them in with the kit bashed models or use them as veterans or a command squad depending on how different in tone and style they are. But when I saw them they seemed completely different and wouldn't fit in with the other guys in the force. I don't feel like I've failed in making a good looking Heresy Space Wolves army but I wanted a cohesive force and mixing my kit bashed models and the new resin just wouldn't sit right with me.
As for the size of my army I intended to do a unit for each slot in the force organisation chart. This would have been a massive sized army and although the intention was to have this project last a couple of years, I feel it has ran it's course. I didn't rush painting and collecting this army and feel like I have a decent looking balanced force.
I will do a full gallery of the army in  the future as I'm quite proud of it. Until then happy gaming!

022 - Plans for Betrayal at Calth

I am mega excited about the new boxed game from Games Workshop. But what to do? I have now purchased two boxes. Boo bank balance.
In the box you get:
A Praetor in Cataphractii Armour
A Chaplain
30 Tactical Marines
5 Cataphractii Terminators
A Contemptor Dreadnought.

All in all a pretty good haul. Points wise I would be going to go with just over a thousand points in the box as there are quite alot of options for just the basic marine models with the choice of Veteran Tactical squads, Tactical Squads and Support Squads.
So with my two boxes I am planning to add quite alot to my Space Wolves. After my pillaging I will have about twenty marines, a Contemptor and one set of characters. I suppose I could stick these guys on Ebay or I could start a small force of traitor marines. Hmm.
I'm not sure which legion I could go for. I definitely wanted ones of the bad guys. Either the Word Bearers, Sons of Horus or Emperors' Children. All the Legions are so cool I can't make my mind up yet!
These extra  guys may well sit in the cupboard for a little while until I get tired of painting grey on the wolves but will be a good start on a new project in the future.