Tzeentch Sorcerer

Here is a fellow I was playing around with.

The blues are airbrushed.

The golds are Vallejo Liquid Gold "Old Gold"  This is an oil based metallic and in my opinion, is brilliant.

All of the shading on the model was done either with the airbrush, or with a black oil wash.

So drop me a line and tell me what you think. Are we living in a new age of miniature painting?  What are your experiences with new techniques?

Thanks for dropping by,

Dave

Winter Painting Challenge

I have asked to take part in Curt's 3rd annual painting challenge.  Found here: http://analogue-hobbies.blogspot.com/2012/12/we-have-our-47-3rd-annual-painting.html

As of right now I have far to many 15 mm models to complete. I will spend the next few days prepping some minis and working on finishing up a commission.

On the list to prep.

Several hundred ACW Union and Rebs 15mm
A small number of Hundred Years War English I believe that it is 6 archers, 6 men at arms, and 3 Cav 25mm
Around 50 or so Victrix 25 mm naps. I believe they are British Flank Company from Waterloo.

This is all I have, I think.  I suppose some will come out of the woodwork.

To all participating:  Best of luck!

Dave R

15mm ACW Union

Here are a few pics of some ACW Union guys I am working on.  There should be several hundred in the works, here are the first few.

I apologize for the yellowish pics.  I did not have my good lamp down.

Thoughts?

Thanks for dropping by,

Dave

Be Courageous

A song that really speaks to me.

I hope that it speaks to you.

Dave

How much is to much?

I have a confession.  I am addicted to GW's plastic crack.  I was cleaning out the hobby room and stumbled upon a realization.

My name is Dave, and I am a Hoarder.

I have tons of cool and great ideas, according to me, but I feel that I have come to a point where my eyes are bigger than my ability to finish projects.  Now don't get me wrong, I have several fully painted armies, but I am always looking for the next project.  Here was a quick rundown from today.

2000 pts of fully painted Grey Knights
Over 2000 Pts of painted Khorne
Around 3000 Pts of Painted Guard
2000 pts of painted Ultramarines
1000 pts of Tau in progress
1500 Chaos Daemons in the works
1500 of Blood Angels in the works
2-3 full boxes of bits

I am literally suffocating under all of these models.  As someone who would like to, at some point, become what could be considered "good" at this game, I realize that I need to seriously focus on playing one army.  After all, Michael Phelps does not do the Triathlon does he?

This leads me to the conclusion that something has to go.

I think the best thing will be to focus on no more than 3 armies.  So, with that in mind, I think that the Grey Knights and the Chaos will be the first to go.  The Tau will shortly follow suit.

How do you guys deal with Hobby Overload?  Any Advice?  Feel free to drop any and all ideas in the comment box.

Thanks for dropping by,  will return to hobby content shortly,

Dave

Ultramarines in 6th- what works and what doesn't?

With all the talk about 6th edition and what the new game-breaking combinations are I offer up my experiences and thoughts.  Here is a list of Whats hot... and whats not....

This afternoon I played Kevin's Space Wolves, check them out at A Downward Spyrle.

He was playing a heavy drop pod list with all of the awesome things that Space Wolves bring. It included Grey Hunters, Blood Claws (Lukas included), and of course Ragnar.

I was playing my Ultramarines.  I had a command squad, sternguard, and 2 Tactical squads.

So... Whats Hot?

Divination Powers.  My Sternguard with a Librarian and 2 divination Powers.  I went for the Primis power as well as the one that forces the opponent to re-roll armour saves.  These. Guys. Rock.  The ability to choose your ammo as well as focus on one unit means that they can really bring the pain when they want to.

Deathwind Launchers-  While neither of us took them,  we discussed the potential threat that a S5 Large Blast could generate.

Wolf Guard with Storm Shields-  One of these guys held up my Captain with Relic Blade for at least 3-4 rounds of combat.

Lukas the Trixter in a challange-  If you kill him you loose your super powerful character.... end of story.  The cloak of the Doppleganger.... re-roll all successful hits...... with the new wound allocation from shooting, if this guy is first to assault I have to roll two 6s in a row. Wow.

Whats Not?

5 man command squad with FNP does not have the same survivability as it once did.

Deep Striking is still a risk without teleport homers.

Combat Squads are extremely fragile

Placement of models is even more critical.

Overwatch is not as good as I thought.  You really need weight of fire to make it worthwhile.


Overall thoughts?

I really enjoyed my game.... I might tweak a few things with the list but I feel like it has potential.

How has 6th been treating you?  Any memorable moments?

Thanks for dropping by.

Dave

I am in Crisis..... Suit

Just a general hobby update.

Finished off the first of my three XV8 Crisis Suits

I went for the Bleached Bone head that will hopefully denote their "Elite" Status.  How does the pose look?

Where to go form here?

As most gamers do, I have more projects than I know what to do with.  Often times it is helpful to sit down and examine what you have and where you want to go.

Whops wrong type of exam.

Tauriffic!!

At this point I have a few more Tau units I would like to finish.  As most of these are vehicles, I will have to wait until my airbrush is more cooperative. Other than that there are only 3 Crisis Suits, a Broadside and 12 fire warriors to finish, along with 6 Pathfinders.

If anyone has 4ish Pathfinders with rail rifles I would be happy to work out a trade.

Blood Angels- but YELLOW!!!

I also have quite a large number of extra Space Marines that I am planning on painting in Lamenters colors. That tally includes:
8 Sternguard
10 Assault Marines
5 regular Terminators with assault cannon
Terminator Librarian
Regular Librarian
1 Drop Pod








Here come the question.  Where do I go from here?  When I finish both of these little projects I will have 3000 Pts of painted Khorne, 2000 Pts of painted Ultramarines, 2000 Pts of painted Grey Knights, 2500 Pts of painted Imperial Guard, 1000 Pts of painted Blood Angels and Tau. 


For those of you blessed with the skill of math, you see that this is 11,500 Pts of GW product.  I don't have the time to play everything and storage can sometimes be an issue. So do I sell some of it to finance future projects?  Do I slow down and limit myself?  Do I focus more on playing and paint less?  


If anyone has any ideas, please drop me a line.  I feel like I have to many ideas and not enough space/ money.  How can I get more out of my hobby?

Here are a few ideas off the top of my head.

1. Paint to a higher level on individual units.

 Rationale- The better something is painted, the longer it takes, the more mileage out of one GW kit. 

2. Build smaller armies.

 Rationale- Smaller armies, yields smaller number of units which reduces cost. With the advent of 6th edition it seems plausible that the game is better enjoyed at 1500 pts, given the intricacies that have evolved within setup (placement of terrain), shooting (precision shots), and Close Combat (initiave steps and challenges.)

3. Forge more of a narrative.

Rationale- In the past I have been so focused on getting one thing finished perhaps now is the time to write a little background for my armies.

4. Play More.

Rationale- This is a GAME.  Perhaps I should play more....... might get more enjoyment out of the game. Besides, games give the opportunity for Bat Reps.... something that I recently got to experience..... and I enjoyed it. 

I feel like these 4 steps might help to improve my experience.


What do you guys think?  How do you stay fresh with the hobby?  How do you balance painting, playing, forging a narrative? 

Basing Madness!

As a painter I tend to work in batches.  Tonight I was basing a few models..... these are their stories......

First I built some bases for 3 Crisis Suits I had.  I am not a fan of the legs on the suits as I feel that they are not dynamic. I was able to work out how to pose them in such a way to give them some movement.

The bases are composed of layered cork board with ballast covering the cracks.  Then a hold was drilled into the top layer of cork into which a flying rod was inserted.

Here are the results

Dynamic Crisis Suits

 I also built a base for an older broadside. As you can see, the model is lifted slightly off of the base.  I was hoping to give the impression of the "Slow and Purposeful" movement. 

Here are some models that are done with paint and just need their bases done.  I am leaning towards doing all my bases the same so that the allies issue will not be a problem.

Allies?

The tally is 16 Kroot, 12 Fire Warriors, and 5 Assault marines. The AM were left over from my Ultramarines First Company painted up as Lamenters. As of right now, the plan is to paint up around 1500 points as an off the wall project.

How do you guys deal with left over models?  Have the 6th edition allies rules changed the way you paint/ base your models?

Thanks for browsing,

Dave

Eldar Fortifications and a Blast from the Past

Before the advent of the internet and the wealth of hobby knowledge that is now accessible there were few resources to gamers.  One such resource was White Dwarf- the Games Workshop Monthly Hobby Magazine (TM).  Lately it has been called everything from garbage to an advertisement catalogue for the new GW products. There was a time, however, when WD created good articles that showed you how to create new/interesting terrain and scenarios.

Here are a few pictures from two older WD Magazines

Potential Defenses 

Are these articles still relevant in 6th edition?  You be the judge of that.  I would urge everyone out there not to forget to check the old WDs for those little bits of genius that are still worth reading.

Best of luck to everybody who is playing sixth.  Get cracking on your defenses!!!

Dave

Narrative Escalation

With 6th edition fresh in everyones' minds what is the best way to go about learning the rules?

I know several folks who have sat down and read the rulebook through several times.  No one can deny that plowing through "the book" (I suppose Tome is more appropriate) yields content knowledge.

But doesn't this get old?  Aren't there those of us who are learn by doing?  What about practical application?  What is the best way to pursue this?  Some might play 500-1000 point games until they have a mastery of the rules, but in my opinion  this gets dull.

With the new focus on creating a narrative is it possible to link your learning games into an escalation format?

Game 1 500 pts Focus on troops and troop actions
Game 2 1000 pts one FA/Elite/Heavy etc
Game 3 1500 pts Multiple HQ or other more rule focused models

The purpose it to limit the amount of time you are searching through the Tome while still having some sense that what you are doing is actually worth while.

Does anyone have experience with narrative games or escalation leagues?  Will this work?

Thanks for dropping by,

Dave

Courage and Honor!

Here are several pictures of my Ultramarine First Company.

There are several rare/unique models including the GD 05 Captain, 3rd Edition Commander and Apothecary, Several Tyrannic war veterans who are now stern guard.

This army was painted in around one week.  Granted, I was on vacation and got bit by the painting bug, but it still goes to show you what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it!!! 

Thanks for taking a look!

Dave