The Bar-L Penal Legion - Heralds of Ruin

Quick update - Heralds of Ruin (and possibly lots of spare time over Christmas) has given me a great kick up the arse to get some painting done.

Now these guys are going to serve me well as conscripts for my Imperial Guard, Armsmen for my Rogue Trader, and Gangers for Necromunda.

Extremely quick and dirty paint job with a bunch of head swaps from my bits-box help them look like a bunch of rag-tag cannon fodder.

Also, a bonus Ratling sniper for my IG which i knocked out while the washes were drying.

Then a group shot of the IG Kill-Team so far...

More soon!

More HoR! - Normal Service to resume shortly

Cool! i'm very happy to have finally found a 28mm warhammer 40k rule set that ticks all my boxes!

http://heralds-of-ruin.blogspot.co.uk/

• Uses my existing collection of minis - I've got lots of half started collections of about half a dozen factions, which just so happens to be the perfect amount for lists between 200-500 points!
• The rules are pretty simple, and negate all the things i hate about vanilla 40k - Area terrain, no true line of sight, squad wound allocation (OK this still exists, but its rare as most units are single models)
• Nice fluff/narrative games and a nice looking campaign system to allow for multiple players
• Small table size, small army size, quick games - playing on 4x4 with lots of cover is cool, and being able to carry your army in a wee box and be done and dusted in under an hour is excellent!
• fun list building, with what i hear is quite a well balanced force selection.
• Manageable painting goals!

So i've played 4-5 games now over a couple of nights and i think we now have the rules down to the point where we aren't making too many mistakes and i'm really enjoying it. It has also given me a boot up the backside with getting some models painted up I've had lying around for decades, as well as some insight on what stuff i can safely let go of in the future to free up space.

Looking at what i have now i should be able to field decent forces of Space Marines, Imperial Guard, Assassins, Chaos, Eldar, Tyranids, Genestealer Cult, Rogue Traders and Inquisitors without too much effort and almost no expense!

Also, you may be glad to hear that Epic is coming back - 12,000 Point min-campaign starting in January with Loyalist Marines and Guard against traitors! will update when it kicks off.

Anyhoo, here's whats fresh off the production line;

The Errant Astartes and Armsmen with shotguns for my Rogue Traders.

The Heavy bolter toting Arch-Militant for my Rogue Traders

The Full Rogue Trader Kill-Team

Assassins Kill Team (90 points each before you buy their war gear - could be interesting!)

Rogue Traders vs. Imperial Guard

The explorers are searching for treasure on a long forgotten battlefield - although for a fanatical lost detachment of Guard, left behind when the planet was evacuated, the war is far from over!

Dark Angels vs Word Bearers

A world left barren by the taint of Chaos, an elite Dark Angels team is sent to investigate rumours that a fallen brother is hiding amongst the ruins, and just then the trap is sprung. (Note: Terminators are the ultimate de-friender)

Test colour scheme for my guardsmen - 1 down, 15 to go!

Rogue Traders - Heralds of Ruin

Finally put some paint down on my Genestealer cultists and got a test model ready.

Initially they'll be used as Armsmen in my Rogue Trader kill team for HoR - so i'll be painting up 4 with shotguns and a flamer for some close quarters boarding action!

After that they will be a Necromunda gang, either as cultists of 'count as' Van Saar or Delaque.

Anyhoo, here's the scheme - went for an Orange/Cream vibe to show they are some sort of ships crew/civilian workers rather than anything too military.

Hopefully they will add a bit more colour to my RT team and wean me off painting everything red!

Kill Team Assemble! - Heralds of ruin

In a bid to branch out, our little gaming group is looking at other games to play - ideally without having to invest too much time or money, using stuff we have laying around.

Necromunda is still on the cards for next year, but in the mean time 'Heralds of Ruin' the free, fan made 40k skirmish rule set has piqued our interest.

I've never played much 40k, but have picked up quite a few models along the way, so this is perfect for me. It gives me the chance to spruce up some of the stuff i have sitting in boxes, half-painted and isn't too daunting either.

I reckon i probably have enough models to run 7-8 factions, which is great as i don't need to spend (an additional) penny!

The games run at 200 points, which is generally about 5-20 models. My first foray (as i don't know what i'm doing) will be to take the ever dependable Space Marines, with a bit of each unit type thrown in to see how they work!

It uses a campaign system, so you can build your pool of models over time and i have plenty more guys in storage eager for a new lick of paint and a re-basing!

Just go for it! - Painting motivation

Sat at my desk the other night fixing a broken model for a friend and figured i could start painting something while the glue dried.

My nemesis is starting something and only getting as far as priming or base coating, then loosing motivation and letting it sit in my to-do list for ever more.

My new technique is to trick my brain into powering through a model in a single sitting. it might not achieve the cleanest results, but it gets the job done and i can move on.

Last night i decided to give my X-Wing miniatures YT-1300 Millennium Falcon a bit of a custom paint job. Spurred on by the fact that mine came with this weird greenish tinge that some print runs of the X-wing mini's have, and it looks crap next to my friends.

So, from start to finish in about 2 hours (including drying) using just 3-4 paints, here we go.

First off, there is no need to prime these models, and definitely no need to strip them - I've seen some horror scenes from doing this. The factory paint job is a nice base for most jobs.

So i start with a light coat/heavy dry brush of Ulthuran Grey (which is almost white, but lets you go to white for highlights)

Then a wash of Nuln Oil, Red details in Miphiston Red, washed with Agrax Earthshade and then highlighted in the base colour. Engine weathering with Nuln Oil and Earthshade and then a bit of highlighting with the Ulthuran grey again and some clean up.

I'd say the results are 'OK' and i'm happy with that - i just need to get away from painting everything red at the moment, it seems to be my 'go to' colour!

2 posts in a month! Like an unstoppable leviathan!

Not only 2 posts, but 2 completed minis!

I think I've finally found my 'style' for painting, and i'm pretty happy with it - who knows if this will change in time, as the way miniatures are painted definitely follow a fashion of sorts. I'm really enjoying the results of bold base colours, washing, then highlighting with strong edge highlights.
For one, it is pretty damn quick! the mini below had been sitting primed for a week before i found time to start painting. and it was all done and dusted in 1.5hrs, including drying and basing.
For two, i think it looks great on the table, at playing distance - making bold highlights is something i'd neglected in the past, but now i see why people do it. It can look a bit of mess close up, but from 2-3ft away it really 'pops'.

So this little war band i'm building (for no particular purpose) is now about 1/3rd complete. I'm enjoying the narrative too. This chap was a collection of bits in my box last week. The body of the famed Ultramarine Scout, whose name escapes me (edit: Telion). a Tau Pulse carbine and arm, a space marine hand and space marine Sgt. head.

But now!

He's a veteran scout who was abandoned on a Tau controlled planet, he hid for months evading them, and eventually surrendered to them, they learned to respect them, and when the planet was eventually invaded again (by... eh, i don't know, lets say the Imperium?) he took up arms and fought with the Tau, and helped lead them to victory. Only to be eventually captured by the Inquisition and given a choice to serve with them on a witch hunt that needed a good tracker, or face extermination.

Or some such nonsense! (borrowing heavily from dances with wolves of course)

Anyhoo - after these guys are done i'll be moving on to the New Neophyte Genestealer Hybrids, which i thought looked so good i actually bought 'new' models from GW, which i vowed i'd never do again.

Underhive Assasins - 28mm

Once again my painting has taken a back seat in place of playing, which i'm not going to make too many excuses for!

X-Wing has well and truly overtaken epic as our go-to game, probably simply due to the time it takes to play and to teach new people. Considering i only picked up the core set at Christmas last year its fair to say that Fantasy Flight Games have hooked me, and landed me, as there is now only a few models i don't own from the range, and i have doublers/triplets of some of my favourites!

Anyhoo, there is still talk of getting a Necromunda or maybe 40k Kill Team campaign going in the new year, so i'm practising my rather rusty 28mm painting skills with some old models in my collection.

I've also ordered up some of the new Genestealer Cult stuff as they will make a great Necromunda gang and look fantastic... So hopefully i'll blast though them when they get here and will have another update soon!

Progress! (Epic, X-wing, and Necromunda)

Yeah, yeah... i know! Its meant to be a blog, and 2 updates in a year do not a blog make.

But in all honesty I've been playing more and painting less, so not completely dropped off the radar hopefully!

Here we go.

Epic - Iron Warriors;

Slowly working my way through a box of minis. Got the big guys (Leviathan, Warhounds) done, all the terminator infantry is painted, but not based, and i've made a start on the artillery.

The X-wing minis are great - and the paint jobs are really nice, but i couldn't resist a wee bit of tinkering, so here is my HWK-290 'Moldy Crow' interpretation

Nercomunda;

Finally managed to convince some folk to start a small necromunda campaign. 

I've got plenty of 40k stuff to proxy. so i'm going to paint up a fresh gang of Chaos Cultists to use as Cawdor.

The keen eye'd amongst you may have noticed my paint table has had an upgrade.
grabbed some Hemnes furniture from IKEA and it now is almost all hidden away in a nice bureau when not in use, which should save a few arguments in the future :)

Happy New Year!

Oh wait, I'm a wee bitty late there...

Hmm, moving house has put my hobbying and blogging on a bit of a hiatus, but all sorted now and back in the groove, and i now have a dedicated 'man-cave' as well as nice big dining table, that i've made a 6x4 overlay for! Happy days!

I'll start 2016's news with some progress and goals.

1. Started a 35,000 point NetEpic campaign, with game 1 under the belt and god only knows how many to go! link here for those who wish to follow it > http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=30910

2. Built/painted some desert scenery to go with my new GameMat.eu mats, and for the campaign

3. Painted some more IG units to fill some of the gaps i had in my collection

4. Started an Iron Warriors army, as my first dip in to Chaos, i like the fact they aren't too deamony/magical, its more just good honest siege warfare from them. So far i've got a Siege Century painted, and some test models for the rest of the force, but they are pretty quick/simple to do, so will hopefully have 3-5k in no time!

5. Also started playing the X-Wing Miniatures Game from Fantasy Flight - Can't recommend it enough, very simple to learn/play, but with the depth of an ocean in terms of advanced gameplay, the models come nicely pre-painted, but lend them selves well to a bit of sprucing up if you choose.
Its also nice to have a quick game to play, that is still being produced! The novelty of going into a shop to buy new stuff still hasn't worn off!

So in no particular order, here's some snaps!