Painting Log!

So here are some pics of some models I finished painting. One Sanguinary Guard squad and one Assault Squad down!

Batrep! Angels Encarmine vs Plague Marines 1300pts

Figured it was about time to get a game in, so my buddy and I met over at Comic Asylum in the Richardson, TX area. Unfortunately, it was a Tuesday. And we all know what that means: everyone is ready to go home, so everyone closes shop early. But, gamers can only sometimes be choosers so we decided to make a go of it. To be honest, I don't know why we played at 1300 points, its a weird point level, and any army list likely to come out of it will not be usable anywhere else. But, weird encourages flexibility, so I'm not opposed to it. So, here is my list, and below is his, to the best of my memory:

librarian: jp
x2 sanguinary priests: x1 jp
2x10 assault marines: x2 mg, pf
x7 death company:  th, pw
drop pod (for DC)
3x5 devastators: x3 ml

x2 demon princes: wings, wind of nurgle
2x7 plague marnines: champion, x2 melta
2x rhinos with icons
2x 7 or 8 zombies (counts-as demons, i believe)
greater demon
2x obliterators

Upcoming Tourney this weekend!

So I haven't posted about it, but I've got a tournament this weekend! It consists of three missions: spearhead with four objectives, pitched battle with capture and control, and dawn of war with victory points. Pretty sure its that combination, if not its some other combination of those three. Oh, and its 5th edition rules (on account of it being 2012). So, now I've got a choice: Play Tau (my first plastic love), or Blood Angels (my second plastic love). On one hand, I like Tau, and I play them most. They're a challenge, and every fight has cinematic potential. On the other hand, my Angels are itching to go, and having a chance to devastate my opponent in the assault phase has me kind of excited. So which did I choose?

Team Tournament!

So, got a couple thoughts for you. There is a chance in my area to attend a 1500-pt team tournament, 750 pts per side. Each one has to bring at least one HQ and at least one troop choice. And, unless the special rule states otherwise, such as ethereals and morale check re-rolls, they apply to your allies army. Well, I own two armies: Tau and Blood Angels. So, I'm going to talk about combining them!

One More, so I Don't Forget

Oh yes, and I did a bit of conversion work the other night. Generally speaking, I am bad with greenstuff, and I avoid metal models. However, in an odd conversion of improbability and rarity, I decided to play with both. I needed another Death Company with a power weapon, but I haven't bought magnets for my existing DC. Oh, and I had a metal torso from some Space Marine from an edition gone by. So what did I do you ask? Go on, ask. Its ok. So what did I do? I blinged it up! I have an army of helmeted guys, because I hate painting flesh, but I had this rebreather head I really wanted to use in some way. Also, I an inflexible boring metal body that needed something to spruce it up. So, I used greenstuff for some hair on the rebreather head, i used the arm-with-the-robotic-hand from the DC thunderhammer arm, some blood angel shoulder pads, a DC backpack and BLAM! there you have it. Here are the pics. Enjoy!

This Week: 1500 Tourament!

So apparently the 3rd weekend of the month is tournament weekend at Comic Asylum. I went, I conquered somewhat, it was fun. As far as armies, there were Blood Angels, Grey Knights, Space Wolves, Chaos Marines, Chaos Demons, Necrons, Vanilla Marines, and Eldar that I remember. The missions weren't published initally, so I wasn't sure what I was getting into, but I figured i'd bring my Blood Angels! They haven't seen a lot of use, due to the awkward nature of my model collection and my desire to only play with painted armies. By awkward I mean that my collection comprises most of the support/ fast attack/elite choices i'd want to play with, but i need another squad or two of assault marines. So, here is the list I went with:

Swappable Blood Angels Furioso / Librarian

Finishing up assembling my new BA dreads and hit a quandary. The death dreads will stay as-is, I haven't come up with a list where I want anything besides basic guns and talons on them. The Furioso is a different story. I want it to have a hot-swappable left arm and torso. The arm is easy, a simple magnet will do the trick. The torso is trickier due to the hollow interior. So, if you know an easy way to accomplish this, please let me know. Pics and tutorials are both always good.

Until Next Time!

~Shas'el Mike

For Sale: Converted Blood Angels Captain!

Greetings readers! If you are looking at this post, then you will know I'm selling my converted AoBR Captain. He started out life as  an AoBR Captain, and I've added the thunderhammer and done a solid job painting him. He is painted as a Blood Angel, specifically the Angels Encarmine. Because of the Red Thirst which figures so prominently in both the Blood Angel fluff as well as rules, I've painted the Captain as if he's fallen to it. Here are some pics. They're at full size, so if you click on one you can open it to a huge size. He'll be on eBay, i'll post the link shortly!

Oh, if you're curious as to why you'd need a Captain, they fit in any list where you need someone who has multiple wounds and packs a mean punch. Like this list at 1500 pts, for example:

For Sale: Terminators

Greetings readers! If you are looking at this post, then you will know I'm selling my terminators squad. They started out life as AoBR Terminators, and I've added the special weapon and done a solid job painting them. They are painted as Blood Angels, specifically the Angels Encarmine. Because of the Red Thirst which figures so prominently in both the Blood Angel fluff as well as rules, I've painted the sergeant as if he's fallen to it. Here are some pics. They're at full size, so if you click on one you can open it to a huge size. They'll be on eBay, i'll post the link shortly!

Oh, if you're curious as to why you'd need shooty terminators, they fit in any list where you need someone who is extremely resilient, absorbs a ton of shots, and can destroy vehicles and soldiers alike in the shooting or assault phase. Like this list at 1500 pts, for example:

An Update.

Fire Warriors Look Awesome

Firstly, I have not published anything Tau-related in a while. While they are my favorite army and the one I almost always choose to play, most of what needs to be said has already been said. There is very little strategy for them, sadly, which has not already been covered. It is disappointing, but the only choice I make when putting my army together is whether to take more Broadsides or more Hammerheads. However, i hope to be posting a new batrep soon which will bring some fresh Tau content to you.

I proposed an article to The Escapist Magazine, a worthy website which you should frequent almost as much as my humble blog. However, it was turned down. I was interested in writing about the link between modern DRM, digital distribution, reduction of single-player content, and the loss of the classic PC game. By classic I mean a game whos quality is so exceptional that 18 years after its release you load it up and play it again. There may be emulators, or system tweaks, but it is still doable. Always-on connections and server-side authentication will end such things, and the consumer will be so much the poorer. Perhaps I will post it here. You never know.

Awesometown

While I have not been able to play any 40k games recently, my Blood Angels army construction continues apace. I have 11 scratch-built drop pods ready to be painted, and two squads of Vanguard Veterans kitbashed from Death Company and Sanguinary Guards that I need to finish assembling. Also, I have two Terminators I scratch-built Cyclone Missle Launchers, which need new Storm-Bolter arms. They came with Assault Cannons, which I still have, but for now lay dormant in my bitz box. Also, I am looking at posting a couple well-painted Tactical Squads and a AoBR Captain w/ Thunderhammer on eBay. If it weren't for their awesome appearance, the termies would likely join them. Neither quite fit in the jumper or drop-pod based assault armies I am building. So naturally I built a list with them, with two variations:

x1 librarian: bolt/sword
2x5 termies: cms
3x1 sang priests: x2 infernus pistols
2x10 tac squad: ml, melta, combi-melta
x6 devs: x4 ml
2x1 dreads: hflamer, assault cannon

x1 librarian: bolt/sword powers, combi-melta
2x5 termies: cms
3x1 san priests: x2 infernus pistols
2x10 tac squad: ml, melta, combi-melta
3x5 devs: x4 ml apiece

They both come to about 1500 points. The idea is to build a BA army that uses Blood Chalices to protect them while they stride slowly across the battlefield. One version, the devs provide a firebase set off at an angle from the rest of the force. In the other version, the Dreads go with the rest of the army, providing alternate threats as well as cover for the infantry. My goal was to use shooty terminators in the 1.5k range. I think these lists are about as good as it gets without introducing units that will fast outpace the termies.

And in other news... I will soon be finished with Mass Effect! Living under a rock and all, I am a bit behind the PC Gaming times. But I must say this game does live up to its hype. I hope to begin reindulging in Starcraft soon after this.

"prosper, as Tau shall"
Shas'El Mike

BatRep pending... and Greenstuff!

Apologies Universe about the lack of posting... I've moved to the "Big City," so delays there, and I don't get my internet hooked up till Tuesday morning... so yeah its been tough. While the last two days I've had internet due to running Android off a little 2gb micro-sd card I bought for the purpose, prior to that I had zilch.

Anyways, current projects. Firstly, I got a game in at Comic Asylum, and that batrep is pending. First I have to track down my pics... * spoiler * Ironclad Dreadnoughts are wicked against little green commies. * end spoiler. *

Other Projects... my AoBR Dreadnought is kind of plain, rather generic. Also, since he is a discount-dread he didn't come with smoke launchers. Now, I haven't got around to doing a bitz order for a while, and since im in cheaphammer mode I converted some! This was a tail-end project after a night of manic greenstuffing (first time, dontcha know). Also, used a bunch of bits from a couple Raven Wing sprues I had lying around. And here is the result: 

I had initially bought the greenstuff to fix a couple of Assault Marines that i'd picked up off of eBay that were broken. As an aside, who the heck puts 4 knives all over a Space Marine? He's not freakin Rambo... grr. Anyways. I wont post pics of the repair jobs because that is boring. however, I will announce that:
I GOT SANGUINARY PRIESTS!!
Two of them are the old metal ones. Nothing special to them, only one of them if painted like Cortez. I kid you not. However, I did also luck out and get some of the plastic bitz from the Command Squad for the same price. So i built myself one, and I like how it turned out. Sort of a spray-the-area-in-front-of-you-with-gunfire-in-a-gangsta-sort-of-way motif:




















Also, I finally got another pair of legs and built my Devastator sergeants.  In the Blood Angels fluff the Devastators are actually the oldest most experienced soldiers, since they are less likely to go blood ragey. Also, some of the guys I've purchased are ancient (3rd ed) models, so I wanted my sarges to look old. And, since my first (and only) Dev kit purchase was a 1993 kit, I have the old-school signum. So I followed a similar path with these two guys:














 
So once I was done, I wanted to experiment with greenstuffing a couple marines. I've got two bike riders that I have no use for, as I don't have any bikes. And then the idea hit me: epic poses! I know I would like to convert a plastic jumpy librarian, but these two might be too unweildy. But they do make awesome display models. Not sure what I'm gonna do with them, I may not field them at all. Also, it helped me release my frustration about my recent Tau-induced losing streak. Very few things are as satisfying as modeling a Fire Warrior about to get his own personal exterminatus after a couple games where the Cadre let you down. Also, this was my first experience cutting them up and greenstuffing them back together. Sadly I didn't think about WIP shots but if your interested I can probably remember everything I did. Probably. Looking at the robes now that they're done, I can see some work I need to do to make them more robe-like. So you'll certainly be seeing more WIP pics of them later on! So without further ado, here they are: 

Blood Angels

So I have finished my first batch of Blood Angels. Mostly. I still have not painted the purity seals, the shoulder insigna, nor the faces of the captain and sergeants. I decided to go with the Angels Encarmine, which are characterized by slightly darker red coloring, black backpacks, gold chest wings, and black-lined shoulder pads. Here are some pics: Enjoy!

Death Company Conversion

During my after-Christmas buying splurge, I picked up enough Space Marines models to run a 900-something point Blood Angels army. I love the fluff, and the pathos of the Death Company. However, I didn't find any good deals for death company models or accessories. However, I do have 25 Tactical Squad Marines when I am only interested in 20. The downside is, they are all from AoBR, or Assault on Black Reach for the uninitiated. While this did make them inexpensive, I was unaware that the models themselves were rather static, a single piece for the body, a piece for the weapon, a stand, and a piece for the backpack comprising each shoulder. However, I have some spare arms laying around, and I picked up some spare parts from Ebay, so I began converting!

The first step is to remove one or both arms. Death Company allows for the choice of bolt pistol OR bolter, in addition to the chainsword as basic armament. It is important to keep at least a couple bolters in the squad to prevent undesired assaults, now that 5th edition neutered the Chaplain. If the bolter was to be retained, i would only cut off one arm. Then, I would cut the hand mouldings from the bolter and repostition it, as well as the chainsword arm. If it was gonna be a bolt pistol, I cut off both. Then, because one arm is molded to the body, I would need to cut down that half of the stomach area to mimic the chest armor curve on the other side. Once this model is painted, that trimmed down area should appear to the casual observer as a natural part of the torso. Death Company has a WS of 5, as well as FNP, and Furious Charge. So, they are brutal in the assualt phase. I often run into nasty vehicles or Chaos Demon Princes, so having a power weapon in the squad is important. So, i realized that even as a troop choice the DC can get thunderhammers! Picking up a two-handed thunderhammer, I decided to go ahead and model one to carry a hammer. So both arms came off. a little bit of trimming to remove SW symbolism off the hammer and it was ready to go. I had previously converted a couple AoBR sargents to have better weapons, so I had a couple chainsword arms from them laying around, plus a chainsword arm from my Assualt Marines after I gave their sarge a power weapon. So, I used those plus the above mentions arms to do my thing.  The models currently only have one or neither shoulder pads, and no backpacks. That is because I will be ordering the DC accessories to make them look proper. More on these guys as I progress!








































"Battlesuits on Ready"

Shas'el Mike 

Repairing Assault Marines, or Ebay is my Friend

So I recently began a side army project, a Blood Angels army to be precise. While I love Tau, sometimes I want to run an army that looks great, and is able to throw itself in CC. Also, there is an unwritten rule among my play group that every person must have at least one Space Marine army. So, I too shall adopt the rule. Still working on which chapter to go with, more on that as time goes by.

I price-checked Assault Squads retail, than took a look at Ebay. If you have not checked the worlds greatest garage sell, you should. I picked up a 5 man squad configured illegally with a melta-gun and plasma-pistol on two guys, two with bolter pistols, and one missing his gun hand. All for 17 bucks shipping included. And they were fully painted. And none were configured as sargeants. So, I grabbed my Ravenwing upgrade sprue and popped off a suitable head for the sarge. Then, I grabbed the power-sword arm from the same sprue. A couple mins later, the guy with a missing hand was designated as sarge. The day before last, I had 2.50 in ebay bucks set to expire. So, I picked up a set of 4 bolter pistol arms. Got them in today! Which excites me. So, A little bit of work later, the sarge is done. I have one arm left for the plasma-pistol guy. I have not yet decided whether to leave him to be added to my next squad or replace him. While the 'Gets Hot!' rule says take a scalpel to him, the s7ap2 says wait. So, included are some pics.

"For the Greater Good"

Shas'el Mike