I've managed to let my blogging slip 'a bit' over the last several months, as life has been moving faster in other areas, so the blog fell to the bottom of the to do list, BUT thankfully, I've been able to make time for my painting and gaming, so the hobby has continued! I'd like to be more structured with the blog, as well as painting more frequently too (more like my 'new years resolution' plan), so I'm hoping I can keep to my schedule. As a lot has happened, which I haven't really been keeping track of, I'm going to try to blitz through the past months in a handful of updates, rather than individual posts. Brief summary and the hobby itselfOver the past months, I think the hobby has evolved for me, or at least my take on it has. When I got back into 40k last year, it was from a simple stance of "I want to play 40k with an army I'm proud to show to others". As the year has progressed that stance has changed and developed:
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Just a short post, but I wanted to share the finished Tech-Priest Dominus model.
Using the feedback from the Rangers, I'm happy with what I've achieved with this model. A few mishaps along the way: I managed to snap off the servo-skull (to which I was able to get advice from the 'Tabletop Minions Paint Showcase Club' on Facebook to repair), and rubbed red paint onto the robe as I was holding it. But overall I'm satisfied! The magnetising of this model worked well too! I was able to drill 2mm holes into the arm joints,and add in a tiny magnet, and the same for the guns. This means I can change the gear depending on the opponent and the models role in my army. I was able to adapt the storage I've bought to house this too, so thumbs up overall! :D
Because I'm using white, it's been hard to do much to highlight that, so for the Tech Priest I've cut back on the amount of white on the model, using it more as a highlight, and left more of the darker base colour to simulate shadows in the deeper folds of the robe.
I checked out the local independent hobby shop and managed to buy one of the model storage boxes I'd liked online. I'll write an entry on that too, because I think it's worth talking about! Sadly, in the process of taking a model to the shop to test it for size, I snapped a Ranger off it's base :( So there may be one on model repair too! Bonus WIP image because I'm really pleased with how this is turning out so far! Moving on from the Rangers (and before I paint the remaining five), I'm going to model and paint the Tech Priest Dominus, which will be a HQ choice for my army.
I'm still not wowed by this model, but having Cawl as an option for my army's warlord, I CAN also take the this model and have him skulking at the back with the vehicles, which feels a bit more fitting. I had originally intended to do a model-swap for the Dominus, using a Forge World titan tech-priest in its place. I'd still like to paint the titan tech-priest, and with the rules released with Cawl, I can keep him in my army as a third HQ choice so I have some more options. The plan for today is to pop into the local Games Workshop to buy some paint (I'd planned for the Skitarii, which don't have exposed skin, so I don't fave anything flesh coloured for him or Cawl), to check out another hobby shop, Wargames Workshop, on the other side of town, and then paint! Wargames Workshop is a place I've been reccomended a few times for local gaming communities, so worth a check out! Something I also want to look into for the larger models is magnetising. Essentially installing tiny magnets into the limbs, which will allow me to change the models equipment.
I'll likely write something about this a little later once I've looked more into it. I've finished my first squad of Rangers! Aside a few minor irks here and there (like not properly removing all the mould lines) I'm really happy with how these have turned out. I plan to increase the unit size to ten models, including an Alpha (a unit leader), so there's yet more to do before moving onto the next model type.
The current plan is to move onto either the Onager Dunecrawler (a vehicle) or the Tech Priest (a larger character) next, then to come back to the rest of the Rangers. Five rangers is enough for playable unit, so those, along with the Priest and Onager would enable me to start playing at the local shop, so I can practice and get a better grasp of the rules.
All of the current posts have been published at once, so the dates are out of sync, but it does that "New posts go at the top" thing which blogs typically do.
There's a link to the photo gallery in the top right, where I've included some more (and more recent) WIP photos of my progress so far Thank you for checking it out :) Against probably common sense, I went ahead and ordered the brand new 'Triumvirate of the Imperium' model collection.
I should finish what I already have! (I'm still only half way through the first ranger squad! And a little more to go to meet this weeks goal) but the Belisarius Cawl model seems really cool, I'm excited to check out the new formations (in case it changes my War Convocation plan), and I've gotten stung recently by hesitating on those transfers I needed, and them being discontinued. The bundle does come with some extra models, which I'm not all that interested in, but, from what I've read in previews of the new rules, I may be able to easily include them into my army, to help patch up some areas of weakness (The Inquisitor figure sounds like a potent way of countering enemy psykers. The Cult Mechanicus don't have anything else which could rival that). I've preordered, so I'll be collecting it in the morning. I'm actually kinda excited to pick it up. I've never preordered GW stuff before. I'm getting there early to try and nab one of the decks of cards released along side the collection too. They sold out on the website really quickly. I'm also debating buying one of the small 'artificer' brushes. They seem to be a higher quaity version of the typical brushes. They were spoken highly of by one of the GW artists during an interview on their live-stream I'm not all that happy with the small detail brush I've been using so far, so one of those might fair better with the tiny details I'm painting. Worst case scenario, I have a spare brush. But no more models after this! I've gotta paint what I have! Determined to stick to my "5 small models each week" goal, I've been working on the Skitarii Rangers which I'd started in the spring. They had been previously primed, one layer of basecoat for the cloak lining, and a layer of basecoat for the metalwork, so I set off with additional layers as needed and continuing with the painting plan as per the guide book I'm following. The painting guide breaks down the model into parts, for example the rifle, which will have several layers of paint applied to it. The guide tells you which paints to use in which order, but is actually pretty vague about the details more than that. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though, as it means everyone will paint their army slightly differently, even if they're following the same guide.
As Games Workshop ave now discontinued the transfers I need for this colour-scheme, rather than doing a bad job of free-hand painting on the icons, I've decided I'll only put decoration on the cloak of the unit leaders to make them stand out. (Usually these would have a different transfer to the rank and file infantry)
Below is the near-finished first model. It's not perfect, but as my very first 'complete' model, I'm really happy with how it turned out, and the quality I was able to achieve! With Xmas 2016 now out of the way, I'd lost a bit of steam from modelling, however I had decided on an army plan! I was going to put together a minimal take on the infamous 'Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation' formation, a combined army of Cult Mechanicus, Skitarii and an Imperial Knight. What this is, is essentially a list of specific models which must be taken together as one army, and gain the benefit of several special rules. Most notably for this formation, any paid upgrades the models would take (bigger guns, more shielding etc) are done so for free! This gives the player the advantage of being able to free up points to take more units in their army, rather than spending them on upgrades, to make up for the restriction of a very specific list. Whilst this formation is actually quite constricting in the units I'd want to take (I much prefer the Skitarii units over the Cult Mechanicus ones), it gives me a solid framework to build my army around, freeing me up from the previously crippling uncertainty.
I rarely set myself a 'new years resolution', but this year I've set myself a goal:
If I can keep to this, I should be able to play my first game within a month or two, and have my War Convocation formation ready by the spring (Bringing it to about a year since when I bought the first models)! Writing retroactively, from December 2016. Throughout the year, Mike, who'd reintroduced me to 40k had been sharing updates of his projects, moving on from his Fleshtearers and onto Necrons (As of Jan'17, he's moved on yet again!), so that, along with obsessing over currently irrelevant details was keeping me ticking over for wargaming. I decided that if the infantry were bogging me down, I'd try something different and model the Onager Dunecrawler:
Those two pieces were reasonably easy, but then it came to attaching the seemingly endless supply of small details: Tubing, handrails, exhausts etc.
Like with the Rangers, I decided building it up into sub-assemblies was the best approach. That way I could build things up enough to handle, but keep them separate enough to keep them accessible. I managed to get as far as base-coating the metalwork before Xmas happened. |
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