An Interlude

Today, being unable to get hold of the relevant paints for my Space Wolves, I instead did a little work on the Rune Priest and Iron Priest before painting the tiny Rhinos from Legions Imperialis as Emperor's Children vehicles:

A mix of drybrushing and line highlights blown up to about four times the size it actually is

I'm really pleased with the way the freehanded Emperor's Children insignia came out

The use of black panelling marks these vehicles out as traitor-operated from the post-Istvaan Massacre period. I quite liked painting these and I'm sorely tempted to get into Legiones Imperialis at some point...

The Iron Priest got an all-over wash of Nuln Oil, while the Rune Priest, who had already had that done a while ago, got Flesh Wash on the gold and bone areas, as well as some work on the psyber-raven.

Tomorrow I should be able to get the right paints for the Space Wolves' armour, so I hope to be getting them moving after that.

Painting Points:
Today: 2
This Week: 13
2025: 303

The Vlka Fenryka Arrive

With the Skaven and the Jade Falcons done, I have been at a loss as to what to paint. I had been thinking about High Elves, but in the end I have plumped for Space Wolves. Weirdly, I seem to be missing a Blood Claw - I had built a group of 8 plus a Wolf Guard, to be accompanied by a Wolf Priest, all in a Rhino - so until I can find that one or build a replacement I'm going to work on the Grey Hunters, Long Fangs, Runepriest, Iron Priest, and Venerable Dreadnought:

Also visible are the two 8mm scale Rhinos for the Horus Heresy Epic game, the name of which escapes me

 Frustratingly I seem to have run out of the blue-grey that I used for the armour on the existing, painted, Space Wolves - I'm pretty sure it's now known as Russ Grey, or Fenrisian Grey. I'll have to pick some more up before I can make much progress, but I can at least work on the Iron Priest and Runepriest.

If I can't get hold of the right paint, I'll probably pivot to trying to finish my Mordheim City Watch warband, which is a counts-as Reiklanders group meant to represent, well, the City Watch who didn't leave the city in the aftermath and who are trying to maintain law and order in the face of the chaos (and Chaos). 

Oh, and because I can, here's a (poor quality) army photo of my Skaven:

Spot the Plague Censer Bearers pretending to be something else...

 

The Guards Die, But Do Not Surrender

Or so the Old Guard are supposed to have said at the end of Waterloo, anyway. Much the same could be said of the Jade Falcon's Falcon Guards unit, which has been destroyed and reconstituted at least twice in the history of the BattleTech universe. Mine are very much in the process of being built up, with much of a Trinary complete now that I've finished the Clan Command Star that I had in the pile of opportunity:

A fairly balanced star, with an assault, a heavy, two mediums, and a light - all OmniMechs - and between them capable of some really quite devastating violence

Rear views - the eagle-eyed among you may be able to spot the jump jets on some of them

The Dire Wolf, or Daishi - 100 tons of Clan-tech war machine

Just visible on the upper armour panelling is the Jade Falcon insignia

Heat exchangers and armour plate: the rear is relatively lightly armoured but honestly if you've got in behind a Dire Wolf then the pilot deserves all they've got coming

Gamma Galaxy's badge on the upper armour - a Jade Falcon against a moon

The Summoner - a heavy OmniMech well liked by the Jade Falcons and feared by their enemies

A side view of the pilot's cockpit and the PPC

Rear view showing the scorch marks on the LRM launcher and the heat-scarred jump jet exhausts on the lower legs

A Clan LBX-AC10 provides significant punch

The Stormcrow is a punchy and tough medium 'mech with, in the Prime configuration, an all-energy loadout

An aggressive look for an aggressive machine, the Gamma Galaxy unit badge can be seen clearly above and behind the cockpit

No jump jets, but it is a quick strike 'mech nonetheless

The Falcon Guards' scheme of camouflage with green accents means their Battlemechs are surprisingly practical in appearance in comparison to some of the Clan colour schemes

The Shadow Cat is a nimble 45 tonner with a gauss rifle that allows it to punch well above its weight class

A closer view of its main gun, a Clan-spec gauss rifle!

Jump jet exhaust vents can be seen at the base of the torso and the lower legs

Medium pulse lasers - visible on the upper right torso and on the outer left arm - provide close-in firepower

The lightest 'mech in the Star, the Mist Lynx nonetheless has a significant missile array of an LRM-10 and a Streak SRM-4, backed up by an Active Probe for scouting and two machine-guns (automatic cannon, really) for defence against infantry

Capable of a top speed of almost 120 kph, the Mist Lynx is a fast and reliable scout

Mounted on the upper side torsos are six jump jets, giving it the ability to leap up to 175m in a single bound, allowing it to get into - or out of - tight spots

The green accent panels are quite visible from this angle, making it look much more parade-ground than it does from the front

In addition to that little bunch, I also finished the six Adeptus Titanicus objective markers, which will make excellent Classic BattleTech map-scale objectives or obstacles:

Amazing what a simple scheme and a bit of washing and drybrushing can achieve

Which means I've almost totally painted all my 6mm scale stuff in my Pile of Opportunity, with just two little plastic Rhinos from the - admittedly 8mm - Legions Imperialis range that I picked up when they were the Miniature of the Month a while ago left to do. The unfortunate side effect of this is that I am absolutely chomping at the bit to get more Battletech stuff to paint, and have none to satisfy the need. So I don't really know what to do next!

I could crack on with my High Elves, or pivot into 40K and work on something like my Space Wolves, or Dark Eldar, or Argent Shroud, or... maybe something else? I'll have to have a rummage and see what takes my fancy.

Painting Points:
Today: 11
This Week: 11
2025: 301

And Now, Stompy Robots

With the Skaven all done, the Jade Falcons called me. I also realised I had a small group of 6mm objective markers (from the Adeptus Titanicus starter set that I briefly owned) and a small metal 6x6 truck I picked up at a Salute in the early 2000s which could do with some painting, so I settled down today and cracked on with the Falcon Guards and associated stuff:

The camouflage on the Falcon Guards is a tri-colour green/tan/khaki brown with an overall wash of Nuln Oil, ready to be highlighted and have details added. The objective markers have been painted in dark grey, light grey, green, and brown, before getting a wash of Agrax Earthshade. They'll have a quick drybrush of a pale grey and then get some detail work and be done, I think

These Falcon Guard Omnimechs were lacking in the green accent strips and panels that the rest of the force have, so I put some on - they still need highlighting up, but I'll do that when I get to it on the other, newer, Falcon Guard 'mechs

 

A 6mm Soviet truck of some description, I think. I bought this so long ago I can't remember who the manufacturer is, or even if I got it at Salute or at Warfare or somewhere else. I was a teenager though. Now it's been done up in generic grey, ready to grace an Alpha Strike battlefield as terrain, objective, or even extremely-low-quality-militia transport!

Painting the truck made me realise I really need to make (or get hold of) some hex bases for the various vehicles and things I have for Alpha Strike. Something else to add to the long list of Stuff To Do in the future.

Painting Points:
Today: 1
This Week: 23
2025: 290

 

At Last! The Machinations Of The Horned Rat Come To Fruition!

Well that's quite a title for a silly little blog post, but there we go. I didn't do any work on them yesterday because I was busy with various other things and then went to bed early, but today - despite going to see the really beautiful Flow at the local cinema with P - I managed to get the last Clanrat block and its Warpfire Thrower team done, which means that the Skaven army is finished! Huzzah!

Warpfire Thrower team from the 8th Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle starter set (I think). This pair are from Clan Skryre, as evidenced by the red hood on the operator.

Rear view, showing the huge wood-and-brass tank of warpstone infused goo that gets turned into a pressurised stream of burning doom

The business end - horrible death for someone, even if it is the operators sometimes

View showing the armour worn by the operator and the huge weight of the fuel tank

Rear (fourth) rank of Clanrats from the Order of the Grey Seers' vast pool of disposable - err indispensable - minions

Rear view, showing what they look like when running awa- tactically withdrawing to a more advantageous position

Third rank, with more armour showing this time as well as an array of quite vicious looking clubs

The armour might not be in the best condition, but it'll stop a blade (usually)

Second rank, with helmets and swords (mostly)

The clothes are ragged, but the hoods are uniform because how else will the Grey Seer know what regiment they come from (not that he really cares)

The front rank, led by an aspiring Stormvermin candidate who actually has white clothing!

I'm a huge fan of the little rat on the musician's bell

Another view of the command group, showing one side of the banner and the details on the Jes Goodwin sculpted champion, which looks not even slightly out of place next to the plastics from nearly 20 years later

Front view of the champion, showing the strange globes of ... something, as well as the chunk of polished warpstone as a decoration at his throat - and a great shot of the little bell-rat

The whole ensemble in their glory!

With the completion of the Skaven, I can move onto the Jade Falcons for Battletech and then, after that, probably stick with the Warhammer Fantasy theme and do some High Elves. But perhaps something else will call to me...

Painting Points:
Today: 22
This Week: 22
2025: 289

Half-Way There

Well, it turns out P and I aren't going to Empire E1 this year after all, for a variety of excellent reasons. To make up for it, I sat down this evening and cranked out all the last little bits on the Clanrats before applying the Agrax Earthshade to them all:

I'm so close! So close! In the next couple of days - certainly before the end of the week - I'll have finished this unit, and with it, my 2,000 (ish - it can go up to about 2250) Skaven army. I'm very excited by this prospect, because it'll mean that I now have viable, fully painted, Warhammer armies for the Empire (~5-6,000 points), the Vampire Counts (~4-5,000), Night Goblins (~2,000), Skaven (~2,000) and Dwarfs (~2,000). I also have a High Elf army that needs painting, and chunks of various other forces - not to mention the rather large Tomb Kings army for The Old World.

Anyway, time to let all that Agrax Earthshade dry overnight and then I can settle into a day or two of finishing and detailing.

Two Things At Once

I cracked and put some paint on the Jade Falcon battlemechs. I couldn't help myself. I was in a paint funk and needed to do something to snap out of it, so on went the Castellan Green that is their base layer - the pale sand and mid brown camo blotches are next.

But, funk broken, I then went in and did all the fur on the Clanrats, which means I just need to do the skin and the little rats (and some wrapping and cloth) before I can slap the Agrax on...

I'm so close to finishing that block of Clanrats, and it seems so far away! 

Leatherwork

Almost no progress today, really, but the leather has all been done now. P also did some more work on the Alpha Strike cards for me, too, but that'll have to go on hold for a while. We're trying to get the backs to line up properly and it's proving weirdly hard!

 

At least now it's just down to the fur, rats, and skin...

Engage Tortoise Engines

 I'm probably not going to get this unit of Clanrats finished before Thursday, when P and I are going to go to the UK's largest festival LARP, Empire, for the first time (as crew). However I am making forwards progress and the Clan Jade Falcon star (now undercoated) is sitting on my painting desk reminding me that once the rats are done I can make a start on the funky stompy robots...

 

What I've done today is to apply all the gold and basecoat the wood areas, meaning now I "just" need to do fur, skin, and leatherwork (plus perhaps some detail on the champion) before I can Agrax them and begin the process of finishing them off.