Tanks! ACTION ON!

Sorry I've been quiet. Struggling with life a little (OK, a lot). Anyway, enough of the doom 'n' gloom.

First of all, I've 'found' an awesome forum for players of Necromunda, Inquisitor/Inquisimunda, Mordheim, and Gorkamorka - Yaktribe! Go and set up an account if you haven't already got one (I suspect I'm late to the party).

 First of all, I finished that conversion. She looks really rather badass if you ask me, what with her Voodoo-inspired facepaint and her hazard-striped improvised shoulder armour. I see her as being a mentor to the younger members of the HellBitches, looking after them and trying to make sure they don't get slotted too early. Painting see-through clothing is haarrrrrd.

 And then a couple of days ago I thought "sod it, my Space Marine vehicles have been sat in the cupboard unloved for too long", dragged them out, and here's the result. The first one to get finished was the Razorback transport for my Techmarine and his servitors. Now as far as I can remember, the last edition in which they were 'officially' allowed to ride around in one of these was the 4th Edition Codex. But happily that's my favoured edition, so woo!

Then I had a crack at the old style 2nd Edition Predator Destructor, which came out rather nicely thank you very much. 

 And then I finished off the Whirlwind which I started working on... oooh... two years ago? Looks pretty nifty actually, although this probably isn't the best angle (but it is the business end of it).

And this is what's on my workbench. Rhino transports galore (oh, and Iron Warrior Khorne Bezerkers, and Tzeentchian cultists, and some - out of shot - Molgravians for my Molgravian project)! I do have a fourth one, but I got it (and all these other vehicles) second hand, and it had, er, rather a lot of battle damage. So if anyone happens to have any Rhino mk1 exhausts spare (two would do, four would be PERFECT), ideally with their curvy exhaust pipes intact... let me know. Please? Otherwise I'm going to have to source a whole new Rhino mk1!

Speaking of new vehicles, all that remains for my Righteous Fists to be complete are:

A Vindicator mk 1 with bulldozer blade.
A Land Speeder Storm for my second scout squad.
A standard Dreadnought to accompany my Venerable and Ironclad dreads.
A Land Raider mk2B from Forgeworld for my Terminators to ride in.
A squad of Scout Bikers, because they're cool, OK?
A squad of five Sternguard with a Razorback mk1 (with twin-linked lascannon ideally) to accompany my Librarian.

The list has grown a wee bit but there we are. It's not as much as it could be!

Twenty Days' Work

So it's been nearly three weeks (!) since I last posted, which is most remiss of me.

In that time I've fought a couple of games - one ended early due to time constraints, and one a glorious victory for my Righteous Fists.

But more importantly, I have been doing a fair bit of painting; at least by my standards:

 Servitors for my Righteous Fists Space Marines. Mindless half-man, half-machine slave workers used to (variously) fix things or shoot things. Or cut them up (see big industrial shears).

 Flamethrower operator from Tactical VI 'Diokles', 2nd Company Righteous Fists. Just four more Space Marines and five Scouts to go and that's all the infantry done! For the moment.

 The Cypher - Fallen Angel, Loyal Servant of the Emperor, Pawn of the Dark Gods, Propagandist, Terrorist, Warrior, and Mystery.

 Seven Dryads and a Branchwraith (Dryad spellcaster) for my long-dreamt of all-Forest Spirit Warhammer Fantasy Battle army. They'd been sat in my pile for years - I don't know how long, at least since 2004 - and it wasn't until I chanced upon a really handy painting guide in a very old White Dwarf that I pulled them out and started painting. They look really good and they're remarkably easy to paint!

 Unlike  these swines. Soldiers from Talabheim and Talabecland in the Army of the Count of Talabecland. I'm eventually going to sell these once I've painted them all. Four down, 90 odd to go...

Castor, a Predator Destructor. Slightly converted from the 1988 original previously seen here in red-and-yellow tiger stripe! Another relatively easy paintjob, I started and finished Castor one morning before a post-work game with JY (I won).

Painting Points: 23
2013 Total: 219 (138x 28mm, 2x 54mm, 9x vehicles, 2x spaceships, 2x 28mm 'cavalry')

Something Old, Something New

I've not been entirely idle of late - although most of my 'hobby time' has been eaten into by other demands - and I have painted up an old Rogue Trader era Space Marine Dreadnought for my Righteous Fists, as well as another basic Tactical Marine. So six Painting Points for me. Not great but not terrible either.

Rogue Trader period Dreadnought, from the late 1980s. Probably as old as me. I'm using this as a 'baby' Contemptor Dreadnought as frankly I can't afford anything from Forgeworld, and if I could it would be the Mk 2b Land Raider with the correct door add-on set. This, then, is the Revered and Ancient Brother Klyston, First Captain of the Second and who holds the dubious honour of being the first Dreadnought-interred Righteous Fist.

 Then we have Brother Argades, the newest member of Tactical VI Diokles.

And a WIP Predator Annihilator, again a Rogue Trader period piece from about 1988. This one I picked up from JS and I am EXTREMELY happy with it! The T-54 style turret is just perfect. It does, however, need repainting.

My partner suggests that I paint the Annihilator like a tiger. Thoughts? She reckons there will be a clamour of voices demanding I paint it like Tony the Tiger...

Painting Points: 6
2013 Total: 196 (120x 28mm, 2x 54mm, 8x vehicles, 2x spaceships, 2x 28mm 'cavalry')

Bad Photos

As the title says; there are some dreadful photos (rubbish light and awful attempts at fixing it in post production) to follow. But, regardless, they do show an old metal landspeeder which was once resplendent in Ultramarine colours - painted by a 10 or 11 year old me a long time ago in Oxford - and the first three finished members of Tactical Squad VI of the Righteous Fists' 2nd Battle Company, which is almost everything that I've painted over the last week. I say almost because I've also done a Dark Angels Space Marine as part of a squad I'm giving to JY (fully painted) in return for several squads' worth of Terminators.

The other photos were so bad I decided not to show them. Aieee!

Painting Points: 8 (5 for the Landspeeder, 3 for the Marines)
2013 Total: 190 (119x 28mm, 2x 54mm, 7x vehicles, 2x spaceships, 2x 28mm 'cavalry')

Dreadnoughts, Tactical And Otherwise

Unlike the dreadnoughts of the early 20th Centuries, these fellows don't float, but they do "Fear God and Dread Nought":

Revered Brother Kallias, commanding Dreadnought #1 of 2nd Company, Righteous Fists. A surprisingly simple paintjob, made easier by undercoating in two parts - the leg assembly in black, and the torso and arms (and leg armour) in white.

Tactical Dreadnought Squad II Altes, led by Sergeant Altes (with the banner pole). A classic loadout - assault cannon and power fists galore!

Painting Points: 8 (Dreadnought - 5, Terminators - 3)

2013 Total: 182 (116x 28mm, 2x 54mm, 6x vehicles, 2x spaceships, 2x 28mm 'cavalry')

Father's Day

I have two battle reports to write up and post, which I promise to do as soon as possible. But, but, but...

...today, on Father's Day, after delivering a present to Al Front and going to work, I did some painting:

A Stormtalon ground attack gunship from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 range. The Stormtalon is a relatively new kit, but it is my first of the 'flyers' which dominate 6th Edition. I enjoyed making this not-so-little flying brick, and have run around the flat making wooosh and other jet noises with wild abandon.

Its A-10 vibe was reinforced today when I watched Man of Steel, the latest Superman film. It's really rather good, and worth a watch. I am not a Superman fan normally - my comic tastes are much more European than American, and I prefer 2000AD to Marvel and people like Ted Rall and Joe Sacco to DC's output. But this film made me keen for more and if, as seems inevitable, a sequel is made, I will certainly watch it. Even if, by then, I do have to pay to see it!

But back to the Stormtalon. I was tempted to mask the canopy, but decided instead that a steady hand and keen eye would do just as well, and it seems to have worked. I painted it as a reward to myself after finishing:

...Captain Priam!

Captain Priam, Space Marine commander, leader of Strike Force Priam, C/O of the 2nd Battle Company, Righteous Fists, who has seen two battles and 'died' in both on the last turn. Hard as nails, though, with a 2+ armour save and a 4+ invulnerable save meaning that he has waded through more fire than it has taken to wipe out some of my Imperial Guard armies!

Painting Points: 6
2013 Total: 174 (113x 28mm, 2x 54mm, 4x tanks, 2x spaceships, 2x 28mm 'cavalry', 1x aircraft)

Command Squad Marines

Pictures without much background this time:

L-R: Veteran Squad Leader Inaros, Veteran Sergeant and Ancient Actor, Veteran Brother Brygos. Half of Command Squad Priam.

Painting Points: 3
2013 Total: 168 (112x 28mm, 2x 54mm, 4x tanks, 2x spaceships, 2x 28mm 'cavalry')

Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle... IN SPACE!

I was supposed to be painting Terminators this weekend, but I got so excited by my kitbashed, rescued, Razorback that I painted that instead:

 Front: 'HECTOR'. The business end of the Phobos-pattern's lascannon and twin plasma gun main armament. The old bolters look pretty cool too if I do say so myself. The markings signify the second company (yellow rectangles), Righteous Fists (fist marking) and that it's not just a Command Squad's transport (skull) but the Captain's (laurel wreath). The smoke dischargers still have their red warning covers in place as they've not been fired.

 Left: Visible are the gunner's chapter heraldry and the vehicle's tactical marking on the doors. The green box houses tools, I suspect.

 Rear: Brake lights and running lights, as well as a power junction box for the improved communications array.

 Right: Tactical marking again. The gunner has a reversed Mechanicus skull-and-cog on his right pauldron, signifying that he serves in the Chapter Armoury but is not a full member of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Visible behind the searchlight is a box housing more C3 gear.

And finally... I have done another Terminator, so two down three to go (one of whom is currently having a Fairy Power Spray bath). I have the Terminators and the Command Squad sat on my painting table so it's a toss-up who'll be done next.

Painting Points: 6
2013 Total: 165 (109x 28mm, 2x 54mm, 4x tanks, 2x spaceships, 2x 28mm 'cavalry')