Summoning Up Motivation

Every so often, there's a blog post where I'm genuinely chuffed with every single element of it.

This is one of them.

First up is a Daemon Prince for my 40k Tzeentch Daemons. It's made with the basic (and surprisingly affordable for GW) plastic kit, with only a small bit of kitbashing to give it a bird head from the Burning Chariot kit (along with a tongue made from a Screamer tentacle), to make it more reminiscent of a Lord of Change.

I went with a sword and malefic talon as its armaments as I didn't want it to be too 40k looking, so that it could do double duty in games like 7TV: Fantasy.

Arguably, I made a couple of mistakes with the sword arm. I could have chosen the other option which wouldn't have the blade almost tangled with the wings, and I accidentally left chunky mould lines on it, and only really noticed them after I'd finished the skin.

However, despite being nervous about it, I took the plunge to scrape the lines off after the fact, and fix the skin. It worked.

In terms of painting, the skin was done with a base of Grey Seer, a was of Drakenhof Nightshade and a heavy drybrush of Blue Horror.

The claws and beak were done with Ushabti Bone and Skeleton Horde, the loincloth is Flesh Tearers Red and an Emperor's Children highlight. The gold is Retributor Armour with an Agrax Earthshade wash.

The wings were actually done first with Black Templar contrast paint over Grey Seer. I then did a drybrush of Adminstratum Grey and drenched them with Drakenhof Nightshade when I was doing the skin, to tie them to the overall blue of the rest of the model.

I'm really pleased with this model. I've not done something this size (barring WW2 tanks) for some time, and I really enjoyed it. He's a suitably impressive leader for my army until a potentially even bigger bird materialises.

These standing stones are from a Mantic Terrain Crate I picked up half price for my birthday. I've said it before, that the chunkier contents of the Terrain Crates are really good pieces and these are no exception.

Done simply, with a dark grey base coat and a light grey drybrush, these are likely to show up in all sorts of games: pulp, fantasy, superhero, sci-fi and so on.

The beacon is from the same set and is equally chunky and good. I can see it being used in my burgeoning Rohan village for Lord of the Rings.

The flames were done simply with a heavy wash of Cassandora Yellow over white. I appreciate that the flames are backwards and the orangey reds should be on the out parts of the flames. However, I actually like the cartoony look of the flames, so I'm leaving it as is.

A fun element of the beacon is the fact that the flames are removable, which makes this a useful interactive piece of terrain for scenarios.

I've really enjoyed this batch of painting, and I think I'm on my way out of the slump.

In terms of my tallies, I'm only counting the beacon and flames as a single model, but that's still six more in the painted pile. However, on the last post I forgot to add three Doctor Who miniatures my daughter bought me.

Acquired: 81

Painted: 73

Brimming Over

I've been struggling with motivation to actually paint recently (rebasing doesn't count).

This is something that happens to me for time to time, and in these circumstances I tend to look for easy wins to get me started. In all my years in this hobby, there have been few wins easier than these.

These are Brimstone Horrors for my 40k Daemons of Tzeentch army. For those who haven't been keeping up with all things Warhammer, when a Pink Horror does it turns into two smaller Blue Horrors, and when a Blue Horror dies it turns into two even smaller Brimstone Horrors.

Paint on these was incredibly quick. White undercoat, drenched with Tesseract Glow and then the eyes picked out with a green wash. I don't really think that they need any more than this, and I quite like that the Tesseract Glow hasn't taken on some of the high points of the models.

Arguably, the bases (done in the same way as the rest of the army) took more work...and before anybody says anything, the grass isn't catching fire because the Brimstone Horrors are made of magic flames - that's why it's green.

I got the Brimstone Horros as part of my birthday haul, which included a similar number of Blue Horrors and a Daemon Prince for 40k; Treebeard, Merry and Pippin for LotR; and a fantasy Mantic Terrain Crate that Warlord Games had in their sale.

I have a bit more birthday money to spend, so my tallies might take even more of a beating before long.

Acquired: 78

Painted: 67

All Your Base Are Belong To Us

I spent yesterday finishing off the full rebase of my Blood Angels using the Base Ready Scrublands from Geek Gaming Supplies.

I was only delayed by needing to order a load of 32mm bases. 

I don't know why GW changed the base size for the old style Space Marines (but I can guess), but I actually like the fact that it makes each model into more of an individual diorama.

Removing the old bases wasn't too much of an issue because I tend to use super glue for everything and so they were carefully snapped off.

The metal models (of which there are more than you'd imagine, needed clipping, trimming and filing. I didn't bother pinning them because I'm me.

One of the metal Death Company was gripped by the black rage, flung himself out of my hands and dismantled himself on my floor.

However, using super glue for everything and not pinning has its advantages, as it broke in the right places and so was easy to fix.

There was a little bit of touching up of chips and glue stains that needed doing, but the process of using the Base Ready product was as easy as before, although you do need to paint the base rim again afterwards due to the dusty nature of it.

I'm now calling this army finished. It's at 2000 points (which is as big a game as I can imagine playing), I find painting lots of similar things a bit dull, and the rebase has meant that there is no more space in their drawer.

I've also go the Tzeentch Daemons to work on, and I think I'm going to aim at getting them to 2000 points as well.

Again, I'm not counting these towards my painting tally as I should have done proper bases when I repainted them last year.

All About That Base (No Trouble)

I'm struggling with motivation for painting as I'm currently in a bit of a 40k mood and I've run out of 40k things to paint...until my birthday later this month.

However, I've taken this as an opportunity to start the process of rebasing my Blood Angels.

As you may remember from the pictures in my previous post, my Blood Angels were based with the simplest of 90s themed lurid green flock.

I wasn't trying to be retro, I was trying to be quick and cheap when I first painted them (and it wasn't retro back then). However, they were in sore need of sprucing up.

And so I've invested in some 'base ready' products from Geek Gaming.

If you're not familiar with these products, they're essentially pre-mixed flock/sand/clump foliage provided in a variety of types to suit different landscapes.

I've gone fo 'Scrubland', as it seemed suitably generic for use across a variety of systems.

Basically, you pile PVA glue on the base and scatter the base ready flock on, and you're good to go.

I have no idea why I haven't been using this stuff forever, because its it's unbelievably easy to get a good result.

I've gone a little bit further by adding some slate and larger stones to the larger bases, along with some grass tufts to vary heights.

I didn't bother removing the old green flock first, because it doesn't matter if it shows through here and there, and it made life easier in the with not having to worry if I got PVA everywhere, especially under the Captain's cloak.

I've only done the Terminators and Dreadnought so far as this seems like to perfect opportunity to switch the regular Marines onto 32mm bases (when did that happen?) and I'm waiting for them to arrive.

I did, however, manage to finally add the missing Chapter badge to the extra Terminator I painted earlier this year.

I would highly recommend Geek Gaming, the base ready products are excellent and they were delivered in record time. Luke, who runs it, also does an excellent YouTube channel (sometimes called Luke's APS) which focuses on making terrain.

This process was so easy, I'm not even going to claim these as painted models.

The Lessons of War

Having spent much of the last eight months painting or repainting two armies for Warhammer 40k, and with games against other human beings appearing on the horizon, I figured it was time to actually try playing the game...

The aim of this solo game would be to try to get a handle on the rules, specifically those of my two armies. I have watched a fair few YouTube games, but they are limited by only really showing well constructed forces made from the best choices in the lists...a description which does not fit with my selections.

I limited myself to 500 points a side (I did try using Power Levels, but that did weird things). I also didn't bother with strategems other than those in the main rulebook, as I had plenty to think about. I used the basic Only War scenario.

Blood Angels

Librarian Tyborel

- Force Sword, Boltgun, Artificer Armour

- Shield of Sanguinius, Unleash Rage, Smite

Veteran Squad Sevrael

- Sergeant Sevrael: Bolt Pistol, Power Fist

- Brother Morlaeo: Lightning Claws

- Brother Urrel: Bolt Pistol, Chainsword

Tactical Squad Rafael

- Sergeant Rafael: Bolt Pistol, Power Sword

- 1 Tactical Marine: Flamer

- 1 Tactical Marine: Missile Launcher

- 7 Tactical Marines: Boltgun

Dreadnought Furio

- Multi-Melta, Combat Weapon, Heavy Flamer

Daemons of Tzeentch

The Fluxmaster

- Staff of Change, Impossible Robe

10 Pink Horrors & 3 Blue Horrors

3 Flamers

Exalted Flamer

5 Screamers

Deployment

Tyborel ordered his forces to make as much use of cover as bright red armour would allow, and took to the centre with his Veteran bodyguard and the mighty Dreadnought.

Squad Rafael were split, with Sergeant Rafael leading a thrust to the Librarian's left.

Meanwhile, the missile launcher took up a firing position on the hill to the right, beneath the signal tower, and close enough to secure one of the objectives without moving.

The forces of the Changer of the Ways also made use of cover where they could, in the full knowledge that it wouldn't hinder their movements.

Flamers stalked in the undergrowth.

Gibbering Horrors clustered amongst the ancient ruins.

Turn 1

The Blood Angels took the initiative and began to advance through the jungle, with the Veterans leading the way.

Librarian Tyborel took the opportunity to cast Shield of Sanguinius onto the Dreadnought and Unleash Rage on himself, just in case he got jumped on by some Screamers.

The Dreadnought's multi-melta taught one of the Flamers what real heat was, whilst a frag missile managed to bring down a single Blue Horror.

Teaching Moment #1

By adding the 3 Blue Horrors to the Pinks, I'd accidentally made the whole unit more susceptible to blast weapons.

The Deamons flooded forwards, their ability to fly giving them much more maneuverability than the Marines in the dense terrain.

In a display of total ineptitude, the Horrors failed to cast Smite, the Fluxmaster had Smite denied, and then failed to cast Flickering Flames. The Flamers and Exalted Flamer all failed to hit or damage the Dreadnought.

Teaching Moment #2

Although I failed to hit a lot, I didn't realise that the Fluxmaster improved the strength of units within 6". This might have improved the effectiveness of the shooting. I'll need to learn to position him well.

The Screamers swept forwards into assault on the Veterans, whilst being careful to stay out of 3" of Tyborel to avoid heroic intervention.

Teaching Moment #3

Don't let characters get separated from the units they are accompanying. It leaves both more vulnerable.

They then proceeded to eat the Veterans who died wishing that the Librarian had put Shield of Sanguinius on them.

With their meal finished, the Screamers consolidated to deny the Dreadnought control of an objective and reduce the Blood Angels ability to score.

Turn 2

Furio advanced on the Screamers that had savaged his brothers and poured fire (literally) into them, whilst Sergeant Rafael took up position in the pool and directed fire at the Flamers, destroying one.

Feeling somewhat exposed, Tyborel dropped back to the missile launcher squad and they also opened up on the Screamers, whilst another frag missile flew across the battlefield and killed another Blue Horror.

Teaching Moment #4

Tzeentch invulnerable saves are not to be sniffed at. The Screamer weathered some severe firepower, and only lost two of them.

Furio charged into assault, and the combined effects of the Red Thirst, Shock Assault and Unleash Rage saw him rip them to shreds.

The Daemons repositioned tour everything they had at the Dreadnought lumbering towards them. Two Smites and a torrent of flames saw the venerable warrior reduced to two wounds.

If only they had more firepower...

Teaching Moment #5

Dreadnoughts don't degrade like other vehicles, which was a nice surprise at this point.

Turn 3

Furio advanced into the face of the fire, supported by Tyborel and Squad Rafael.

The last Flamer was finished off with a psychic Smite. Punishing rapid fire from the Tactical Marines brought down the Exalted Flamer.

The Fluxmaster would have been banished back into the warp by the multi-melta, had not the Impossible Robe got there first when Tzeentch was out of Command Points.

With the Blood Angels bearing down on them, the Horrors, which had taken 3 more casualties to the missile launcher, had to go on the offensive.

Leaping forwards, the Horrors let loose a Smite at Furio that Tyborel somehow failed to deny twice, finally bringing down the the valiant hero.

They then saw the opportunity to gain vengeance for the banishing of the Fluxmaster, as the Librarian was alone and vulnerable.

Teaching Momemt #6

It was at this point I realised that the Horrors have a shooting attack, which Battlescribe had contrived to place on a different page from the rest of the profile. 20 shots per round might have had an impact on the game...

Unleashing a torrent of flames, the Horrors leapt towards Tyborel, his Arrificer armour buckling as he was left on just two wounds, and only able to fell one of the capering daemons.

He might not survive another round of combat...

Turn 4

Seeing the Librarian sorely pressed, the two halves of Squad Rafael acted as one and ran towards the fray.

Noble savagery was unleashed a the Horrors were ton limb from limb beneath the blades of the sons of Sanguinius.

Teaching Moment #7

Oh. My. Word. Blood Angels in combat. That is a LOT of dice! And this isn't even a close combat unit

Tyborel stood amidst the carnage and uttered a prayer for the fallen. Orders were given for the gene-seed to be retrieved and contact was made with the fleet.

Firstly, a request to retrieve Brother Furio and see whether he could be refitted for combat.

Secondly, a report on the daemonic infestation which would clearly need purging. There was no way the Blood Angels had seen the last of the servants of the Changer of the Ways.

...

Well, that was fun.

There's a lot to keep track of (especially running two armies), and even more so if I add in the elements I missed.

The Daemons seem to need more careful handling than the Marines, as things went south quickly and, apart from the Screamers, they aren't very good at close combat.

The Blood Angels felt very forgiving, and were able to respond effectively throughout the game. With the added versatility of having more units to pick from, this match up doesn't seem like it will be a fair fight for a while.

I've got plans for the Daemons, so I might wait until I have somethi g else painted before I try again. I should probably buy their book too at some point...

We All Scream For Eye-Scream

What with going back to work recently, my painting output has slowed considerably. However, I have managed to put the finishing touches to my Start Collecting: Daemons of Tzeentch box by getting the unit of five Screamers done.

This is a unit that I've expanded by exploiting the versatility of the set. The two Screamers that come with the chariot kit don't actually have useable tails for mounting them individually. 

Fortunately, there are spare tails in the Screamer kit, allowing those from the chariot to be repurposed, if you can pick up a couple of extra flying bases.

Personally, I think five of them will have more impact in a small game as a fast attack strike force, rather than having two of them be part of a massive bullet magnet.

In terms of painting, I did a base coat of Caledor Sky, a wash of Drakenhof Nightshade and then drybrushed with Caledor Sky again.

I then did a drybrush of Blue Horror on different parts of each model to give them a more organic look and a bit of individuality.

The horns and teeth, of which there were many, were done with Ushabti Bone and a coat of Skeleton Horde. 

The eyes, of which there were also many, including some underneath, were done with white given two coats of Casandora Yellow.

All in all, I'm quite pleased with them and I've now got a 500 point army to start playing around with when games are back on the agenda.

I think I'm going to give them a run out against some of my Blood Angels to get my head around the rules over the next couple of weeks.

In terms of painting, I've not quite broken even since my last update as a few deliveries have arrived (including one that included the spare flying bases I needed).

Acquired: 40

Painted: 57