The Curse Of The Wulfen

Yesterday I ended up in hospital as a result of a viral infection that was exacerbated, I think, by heat exhaustion. So I didn't do any painting - these poor Space Wolves must be cursed!

Today I've been wiped out, sleeping more than anything else, but I did manage to pick up some old Ral Partha wolves that I got many many years ago and give them some TLC to bring them up to scratch. I first painted them around the turn of the Millenium, probably in 1999 or 2000, which is now - distressingly - a quarter of a century ago. I also finished off the random Space Marine Scout, turning him into a Flesh Eater because why not.

Ral Partha wolves, originally for a 5th Edition Warhammer Fantasy Undead army I think

These were originally painted at a friend's house - I remember sitting at the table in their kitchen drybrushing them - so it must have been 1999. I was 12 or 13 at the time

All I did today was touch up the faces and give them shiny new bases

This was a Scout from Miniature of the Month a while back that my friend C sent me

Flesh Eaters! Because subtlety is for losers

A nice simple paintjob - washes and some basic layer highlights

It had originally been painted with a speed paint by C, and it has caused the paint I put on top to act very strangely - you can see this in what looks like chipped paint on the base of the right pauldron! I ended up trying to seal it all with a matt varnish

Assuming I feel well enough, tomorrow I really really want to make headway on at least one (1) Space Wolf and some of the commission stuff.  

Painting Points:
Today: 3
This Week: 15
2025: 341 

Dabbling In Oddities

A while ago C sent me a load of sprues and some random unpainted figures, two of which - a Votan ranger type and a Primaris Scout - I thought I'd have a little play around with. I did some basecoats and gave them a coat of Agrax Earthshade to prep them for some highlighting and details, and then (at last!) restarted work on the commission spaceships. Nothing huge - I just put the main basecoat block of orange onto one of the ISS Vanguard landers, the Faust. 

 Tomorrow I think I'll finish off the two random miniatures, and try and finish off the Faust and make more progress on the other landers. I'd really like to get the commission stuff done in the next few days, but that might not happen.

Apocalypse: Spiral Prime

Tonight, my friend S is coming up from Kent to prepare for a trip to Nottingham and Warhammer World tomorrow. Why? Well, we're going to have our annual(ish) Apocalypse game. This time, his Angels Sanguine and some of his Chaos Space Marines will be there, along with my Iron Warriors.

I get Scenario Writing Duty for these things, so here, then, is the scenario we will be playing tomorrow:

Hive Spyral Prime - ASSASSINATION!

Imperial Forces Briefing:

Abbadon the Despoiler has been positively identified as being present in the ruined hive of Spiral Prime. A small task force of Astartes has a chance to strike against him, removing a major threat to the continued existence and stability of the Imperium. This objective must be achieved at all costs.

Primary Objective:
Eliminate Abbadon.
Abbadon must be reduced to 0 wounds and removed from play before the end of Turn 4. This can be achieved by any means. (9VP)

Secondary Objective:
Destroy at least 50% of the enemy force.
Completely destroy at least half of the enemy’s total number of units. (6VP)

Tertiary Objective:
Ensure your commander remains alive.
At the end of Turn 4, your commander must have at least 1 wound remaining. (3VP)

Chaos Forces Briefing:

Abbadon, Chosen of the Gods, has arranged a meeting with a force of Iron Warriors in order to negotiate their support during the next phase of his Black Crusade. It is imperative that you ensure that Abbadon’s security is maintained.

Primary Objective:
Ensure that Abbadon remains alive throughout the negotiations.
At the end of Turn 4, Abbadon must have at least 1 wound remaining. (9VP)

Secondary Objective:
Ensure that any attacking force is destroyed to allow Abbadon and the other dignitaries to escape.
Completely destroy at least half of the enemy’s total number of units. (6VP)

Tertiary Objective:
Make sure that the Iron Warriors are still in a position to aid Abbadon afterwards.
At the end of Turn 4, the Iron Warrior commander must have at least 1 wound remaining OR at least half the Iron Warrior units must be at or above half strength. (3VP)

This is the battleground. I'm looking forwards to the battle - expect photos!

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!

Lock Achieved - Weapons Hot - Fox One, Fox Two, Missiles Away

Today I received two TIE bombers in the post, which was jolly fun. Lots of little resealable bags to keep all the cardboard tokens in, and more options for my Imperial Navy starfighter force in X-Wing, which now stands at 10 little ships, which are really quite lovely pieces.

TIE Advanced-X1, as flown by Darth Vader:

TIE Interceptor:

TIE fighters:

TIE bombers:

The starfighter group so far:

Hopefully my next purchase will be less twin ion engine and a bit bigger. We shall see!

In other news, I've sold off my Armageddon Steel Legion infantry, and have put eBay auctions up for:

A Baneblade super-heavy tank of the Balurian IX Armoured - auction here.

An Imperial Knight Titan - auction here.

Captain Cato Sicarius of the Ultramarines 2nd Battle Company - auction here.

And a small Warhammer Fantasy Battle Warriors of Chaos army:

Chaos Lord and Tzeentchian Wizard - auction here.

Marauders of Slaanesh, wielding either hand weapon and shield or flails, depending on who you put in the front rank. Auction here.

Chaos Warriors. Long OOP, these are the original multi-part plastic warriors. Auction here.

Daemonettes - led by Dechala the Denied One, a now long out of production special character figure, and with a Juan Diaz Daemonette too! Auction here.

There'll be more auctions to come in the near future, too. Watch this space!

Going Old School

This morning, I removed the old metal Razorback parts I've had since I was 11 (I got them in a swap with a schoolfriend) from their Fairy Power Spray bath, and gave them a good toothbrushing.

Then I rummaged around for my camouflaged, ex-Imperial Guard, ex-Lost and the Damned RH1N0, and started snapping bits off and cutting and scraping and gluing.

And before long, I had a Mk I Razorback infantry fighting vehicle to ferry my Righteous Fist Captain and his Command Squad around:

I have added an Imperial Guard (2nd Edition) searchlight and bulldozer blade, as well as a tow hook, communications pack, and various other parts from Guard tanks. The scrollwork on the front armourplate is from the more modern RH1N0 kit. You can probably spot that I have also paint stripped the standard bearer. He had three or four layers of paint on him and I could barely make out his eyes...!

This really is burrowing into the Unpainted Mountain, I've had some of these figures (unpainted) for years and years, and the Razorback parts have languished unloved for so long that I've lost the gunshield that once sat over the lascannon.

Tactical Dreadnought Armoured Space Marine, with personal heraldry, power fist, and storm bolter. Finished him today.

Painting Points: 1
2013 Total: 159 (108x 28mm, 2x 54mm, 3x tanks, 2x spaceships, 2x 28mm 'cavalry')

Spaceships And A Space Marine

I dug out my copy of Battlefleet Gothic today, and discovered two things:

1) I have a sizeable Chaos fleet and a reasonable Imperial Navy Fleet,
2) I need more flying stands.

I also touched up the Plasma Cannon gunner from Squad IV of my Righteous Fists, and designed what is likely to be a fiendishly difficult 40K scenario for me, JY and JS to play through on Thursday night.

It's very late and I should be in bed, so here are some pictures:

Battlefleet Paridon - Strike Group Invictus elements: 'Red' Squadron (Cobra-class destroyers), INV Radamantine (Dominator-class cruiser); 'Ghostmaker' Squadron (Firestorm-class frigates).

Righteous Fists Tactical Squad heavy weapons Marine carrying plasma cannon.

No painting points this time as all I've done is some touching up. I hope to build some scenery tomorrow night and maybe get another Marine done.

"I Use Diplomacy!"

So we finished the mini-campaign tonight. Sia-Lan Wezz and Rann I-Kanu's last mission saw them tasked by Naboo Defence Force Brigadier-Gen Dannt and Queen's Advisor Sabe to accompany Special Operative Lilla Tane to a camp outside Theed to infiltrate and reconnoitre 'the Movement', a shadowy organisation led by a mysterious man known only as the Master.

After a shaky briefing ("Kryptonite? What?") the pair of teenage Jedi drove in their speeder to the swamp that housed the threatening organisation... and crashed. A falling tree hit their speeder and smashed it up, scattering their gear and soaking them. They were then attacked by a swamp beast, and Rann I-Kanu dealt with it pretty quickly - his lightning reflexes really helped - despite at first attempting to, well, use Diplomacy.

They camped out and were roused in the early hours by Tane, who had heard some noises - this turned out to be three Gungans who, despite only being able to communicate by mime, took the group to the Movement's camp. There was a minor hiccup where they all fell in some quicksand, but otherwise, uninjured apart from their pride, they all reached the sinister, dark encampment safely.

A Sith Lord attacked! But it was an illusion, broken by Rann moving faster than the attacking Sith and hitting it for 13 damage... breaking the illusion. Which hadn't affected Tane at all, or the guards on the gate. Nor did it put the Padawans off, and they entered the camp (Rann using Diplomacy! to keep his lightsabre).

After talking for a while to various NPCs about the Movement, they were invited by the man who'd met them at the gate, one Comrade Kibbs, who took them to see The Master.

This is where it all unravelled. Their carefully thought out deception "Yeh we're err Jedi who err left! yes we left. We killed our Masters and came here to look for... umm... power!" was useless, because the Master was none other than Lo-Jad, Sia-Lan's missing teacher!

It turned out that Lo-Jad and Rann's Master had stumbled across a Sith artifact, the Dark Throne, in the ruins at the heart of the swamp. The Dark Side was strong here, and Lo-Jad had succumbed, killing Ali-Vor and gathering an army of mercenaries, pirates, and weak-willed reprobates around him to who knows what end.

He attacked, knowing he had to kill the Padawans in order to maintain the element of surprise. Tane's life was snuffed out instantly, Lo-Jad snapping her neck from afar with the Force. Then Lo-Jad leapt across the room, aiming a kick at Rann's head - to which the response was, predictably, "I use Diplomacy!"

It didn't work.

Lots of acrobatic fighting occured, and eventually, after much blaster fire and lightsabering, Rann got the killing blow in, and Lo-Jad died. With his death the Movement fell apart, as it had been held together by the Dark Throne's power channelled through Lo-Jad.

Obi-Wan Kenobi himself arrived the next day with a unit of Naboo Defence Force troops and Brig.Gen. Dannt to tell the Padawans that they had to return to Coruscant and the Jedi Temple to be fully debriefed... and debriefed they were! So impressed by their actions and their foiling of Lo-Jad's evil, the High Council saw fit to knight the two on the spot.

The next campaign will see us revisit Rann I-Kanu some ten years later, as the Clone Wars begin. Stay tuned!

In modelling and painting news, I've been busy the last few days:

The last five figures from the first third of my Traitor Guard army, 'B' Company, XV Karaboudjani Kataphraktoi. L-R: 3rd Platoon 2nd Squad Sergeant, Company HQ Bodyguard, and three members of the Weapons Platoon's assault squad (three flame-throwers!). These chaps kind of mark the completion of an army, sort of, were it not for the fact that I still have to paint three Sentinels, a Demolisher, and a Hellhound just for B Company. Then I have started collecting figures for A Company and intend to do C Company as well as Battalion Command and various other attached assets. Ho hum. But it's a start!

 

Another squad of Deathwing, this time made from the amazing Deathwing Command boxed set. So may bits! The only gripe is that there is only one possible pose for the Sergeant's power sword, and more than one Terminator doing that in an army will look ridiculous. So I may be forced - forced, I tell you - to pick up a box or two of standard Terminators just for the power sword arms.

Dark Angels Librarian from the Dark Vengeance boxed set. A beautiful model that's a lot simpler to paint up than he at first appears. He is for sale in my eBay shop for just £20, with free postage!

 I have also been busily rebasing and touching up my Righteous Fists Space Marines in line with the Amalthean Crusade project. They have gone from a temperate warzone to the desert! I think the brown bases really compliments the colour scheme and makes the figures pop like they didn't before. I am keen to knock them on the head - I have a few figures to paint and then I can declare them 'half done' as a force (they need another two Tactical Squads and some armoured support really).

Scouts - old metal ones, including (centre) the old Veteran Sergeant Naaman special character figure released in 1997? Game wise a bit jack-of-all-trades and master of none, but I like the background aspect of two sniper teams led by an angry drill sergeant type.

Tactical Squad II Polix. A deadly force! Meltas up the wazoo and a Veteran Sergeant just to top it off. I really like these figures even though there are still mold lines and sloppy painting from when they were originally done all over the place. Oh, and Polix needs a back banner.

 Last time these fellas saw action was against my old friend SRB's Space Marines way back in 2004? Might even have been 2003. I remember them jump packing up the center of the board and laying into something power-armoured. Now they're gunning for Tau...

Newly painted stuff! Well, work in progress anyway. The Sergeant got assembled yesterday from various bits and the armless Heavy Bolter gunner was worked up from pale grey to what you see there today. The two Rogue Trader marines I bought at a Bring and Buy in Colours 2001 I think.

So there we have it - a pretty long and picture-heavy update! Hopefully more like that soon. In the meantime, why not head over to my eBay shop and see if anything catches your eye, or go over to Dragon's Hoard and e-mail me if you fancy getting your hands on new release Eldar at 12% off RRP? Tell me you swung by my blog by heading your e-mail 'The Weeks Work' and I'll give you a 15% discount!

Painting Points: 6
2013 Total: 140 (95x 28mm, 2x 54mm, 3x tanks)

Blast From The Past

Tonight JY and JS came over to try out my copy of the now out of print Wizards of the Coast Star Wars RPG. We played through most of the missions in the introductory boxed set, with JY and JS taking the roles of, respectively, Sia-Lin Wezz and R.I.K, two Jedi Padawans seperated from their masters in Theed, capital of Naboo, during the Trade Federation Invasion.

Much fun was had - it was the first time I'd GM'd for some time, and using the counters and scripted missions was great, enabling me to grind back into gear and proving a blast for both Wezz and R.I.K:

Mission 2 - Wezz and Rik engage a light force of Battle Droids and Niemoidians to rescue a group of Naboo soldiers, airmen and civilians. The laid-out counters closest to the camera caused much consternation of this nature:

It wasn't. The Trade Federation really were that useless.

However, in the end, the two brave Padawans wound up in a POW camp after bravely sacrificing themselves to allow a decoy Queen, a handmaiden, and two Palace Guard to leg it into the palace and, together with the real Queen, Obi-Wan, Anakin et al, defeat the Trade Federation.

How did they get caught? Well, Wezz tried to Force Push too hard and knocked herself out (on a d20, rolled a 2, used a Force Point, rolled a 1, used her last Force Point... and rolled a 1) while Rik took on a battle tank and lost.

But they got so far and did so well that they levelled up to Level 3 and will be getting a secret mission on Monday, concluding the mini-campaign and potentially seeing their characters - well, best not give too much away.

A welcome blast from the past; I'd bought all my Star Wars RPG stuff in 2006, in my first year at university!

In between missions, while they sorted out new skills and suchlike, I started to rebase and repaint my Righteous Fists. No longer fighting in the temperate zones, they have been posted to the deserts! Pictures up tomorrow probably once I've finished the Scouts. I also built a squad of Deathwing today, and reassembled some of my broken Righteous Fists so that now I have a functioning army: 2 HQ choices, 2 Elites, 2 Troops, 2 Fast Attack and 2 Heavy Support. I could do with some more vehicles probably, and maybe some more Tac Marines, but for now they'll do (once I get them rebased, and in some cases painted that is!).