Death Company Guinea Pig

182347APR10
One of these days I'm going to follow my own damn advice to myself and paint to an actual "table" standard by minimizing things like highlighting and extreme details. That way, a model like the one here will only take an hour or two instead of the 7-hour mess it ended up taking.

To be fair, part of the reason this guy took so long was because of the experimentation with the colour (blast it, it's "color" in American English, not "colour") scheme for the Death Company. And experiments with things like the black armor, the loincloth, the red areas, etc. Despite the length of time, it was time well spent as the next four Death Company models going into the GW Sugarland 5-model painting competition (I think I can do another 4 in two weeks) won't take nearly as long, even with little detail I normally skip like eyes and teeth.
Not a bad bit of work, methinks.

Wolves, Angels, and Marines

170044APR10
Hope everyone remembered yesterday, being the 16th of April. Especially my fellow Hokies.
Right, moving on to the stuff you came to see. I have a few random pictures for you, to show I have not been idle with the hobby and haven't just been sitting around making lists.
The first is a Grey Hunter armed with a plasma gun.

The effect on the coils is achieved by making the coils white, then washing it with severely watered down Ice Blue. Having successfully done it with just the coils, now I've got to figure out how to do some directional lighting (time to visit HuronBH's tutorials, mayhap). This brings the total number of Grey Hunters done to 6; another 14 to go, plus 9 Blood Claws, 5 Wolf Guard, Logan, and a Rhino. (Argh . . .)
Next up is a Risen Angels Assault Terminator.

This was mostly trial-and-error on the color scheme applied to a Terminator. You may notice the helmet, however, uses the technique I mentioned before: Mithril Silver with 3 Gryphone Sepia washes to get a fine highlighted gold effect. You can see a hint of the chapter emblem there (went back to the single-winged sword), that's free-handed rather than using the old method of cutting off a wing from a Dark Angels transfer. Best part is he didn't take too long, either.
Lastly, I admit to having caved: I started building up my Blood Angels' "Descent of Angels" list. I started with 5 of my 10 Death Company Marines.

Note the fellow in the middle, in the process of leaving the ground. So much for not doing Blood Angels . . . well, let's face it, they're awesome.

BA list revised

151936APR10
Clearly I need to take a math course again. I horrifyingly miscalculated the cost of 10 Death Company, which meant I actually was quite a few points short of 1,500.
Anyway, with the numbers fixed I went back and added some much needed wargear to the squads (it seemed more useful than adding, say, a Sanguinary Priest). So here it is, hopefully fixed.

The Descent of Angels
HQ: The Sanguinor, Examplar of the Host: 275
Elites: Sanguinary Guard with death masks, the chapter banner, and one infernus pistol: 265
Elites: Chaplain with melta bombs and a jump pack: 130
Troops: Assault Squad (10) with two meltaguns and a power fist: 135
Troops: Assault Squad (10) with two flamers and a power fist: 125
Troops: Death Company (10) with jump packs and two hand flamers: 370
Total point cost: 1,500

No change in strategy, except now one Assault Squad is essentially a dedicated tank buster unit while the other is an infantry hunter. The Sanguinary Guard is now capable of taking on enemy armor to clear the way to the enemy HQ.

Second thoughts and a BA list

141443APR10
Sadness. After painting a Tactical Marine and a Terminator for the Keepers, I find that this new theme just doesn't speak to me in the same way as my original one did. Simply put, I don't like it.
So now I find myself torn on how to rectify the situation. I don't want to just keep trucking along on a theme I don't feel anything for, and I find it somewhat difficult to think of a another brand new one. Inevitably, I think I'm going to be returning to my original theme and design.
I'm undecided right now, but I'm thinking the Keepers are going right back to being the Risen Angels. I don't know if I'll use the old Risen Angels chapter symbol (single-winged sword) as it was far too often mistaken for Dark Angels (the color scheme didn't help, either). Maybe a one-winged angel? (I've watched Advent Children too many times it seems.)
Speaking of angels, Scribd has a copy of the Blood Angels codex on it now, which meant I was able to write up a theoretical list. For what I wanted to do I found that 1,000 points was too small, necessitating a jump to 1,500. Thus, I give you the first incarnation of a theoretical Blood Angels list that is becoming more and more likely to be made:

The Descent of Angels
HQ: The Sanguinor, Examplar of the Host: 275
Elites: Sanguinary Guard with Death Masks and the Chapter Banner: 255
Elites: Chaplain with jump pack: 125
Troops: Assault Squad (10) with power fist: 215
Troops: Assault Squad (10) with a flamer and power fist: 220
Troops: Death Company (10) with jump packs: 410

This list plays to a theme based on the Descent of Angels special rule. Everyone has jump packs and are made for getting in close combat. There is no long-range support in this list, so I had to make up for that with the power fists in the Assault Squads. It's also very small with all of 37 models, all jump infantry, so there's no time to dally; get close and get punching.
The Sanguinor can't join units if I'm not mistaken, so his job is to go find the enemy's HQ and tear them to pieces. The Sanguinary Guard would move with him and make sure he gets there, taking out any units around the enemy HQ and clearing a path. The Chaplain moves with the Death Company as the main effort, there to destroy as much as possible. The Assault Squads will support the Death Company and capture objectives as needed.
Hmm . . . so much to do, and so much more I want to do . . . no wonder nothing gets done.

On Wolves and Vampires

121141APR10
No, I'm not talking about yet another incredibly bad vampire movie.
For anyone concerned that I may have been neglecting my Space Wolves in favor of everything else, including my still list-less Imperial Guard army, fear not. The Space Puppies too well fit my play style and too well appease my love of the 40k lore to be ignored and are still my primary army. They've now gone through a much-needed expansion that now allows me to start mixing up my lists somewhat.
Anyone who has played against me or has at least seen my lists knows I'm not a big fan of named characters. Not because I don't like their rules or their stats or their model (generally), but rather because I vastly prefer to create my own characters with their own backgrounds, then make their own histories and legends on the "battlefield." Unfortunately, that deprives me of some of the edge of any army I play. With my Wolves I have finally decided to change that outlook, and so I picked up Logan Grimnar and a box of Terminators. Logan will be my next masterclass, so don't expect him to be painted anytime soon (I have to practice painting Terminators in general, then Space Wolves Terminators in particular, before I even consider that).

The fellow next to him is my take on Arjac Rockfist, the upgrade character for the Wolf Guard. There's not much different from a straight-up Wolf Guard Terminator, other than his base. The head is different; I wanted to get it as close to the picture of him in the codex as I could without spending hours with green stuff and a hobby knife, so I took the closest looking head I could find and removed the hair (he's bald with a beard in the codex). The hammer on his back comes from a Space Marines Assault Terminator sergeant's thunder hammer with the skulls removed (vaguely resembling the anvil on his back). I also removed the cabling connecting his hammer to his arm, as it would be awfully difficult to throw it at anything if it's attached to his armor with a short cable.
In terms of Logan's usefulness, it's more for his personal power and some of his special rules rather than some desire to make a "Loganwing" army. First of all, that would supplant my desires to make a Deathwing army at some point in the future. Second, I don't have a huge desire to see that man Wolf Guard Terminators on the field at once. What I do see myself doing is using Logan and his Wolf Guard Terminators in conjunction with Morkai and his jump pack-equipped Wolf Guard. In fact, to my mind having access to Wolf Guard as Troops doesn't scream "make lots of Terminators!" Wolf Guard are by far the most flexible units in the Space Wolves codex; why would I sacrifice that just so I can have that many Terminators? They're also expensive in points, which tells me that they're a supplement to the primary Troops of the Wolves, Grey Hunters and Blood Claws.
That's just my opinion, of course, feel free to agree or disagree as you see fit.
In the painting department, I've (finally) finished a Grey Hunters Pack. It's not the whole pack--I normally run 10 Grey Hunters rather than 5--but it is now codex-legal. They're shown here coming out of my second Drop Pod (which, typically, they do).

The fellow with the power fist was something of an experiment in alternative paint schemes. The nozzles on his backpack are actually Boltgun Metal rather than the gold that everyone else has (a surprisingly great look, very complementary to the Space Wolves color palette), and there are a few gold areas on his armor I used a different technique to achieve. Normally I basecoat with Khemri Brown, then put Shining Gold on top of them. This time I used a method described on GW's site last week I believe: Mithril Silver base with 3 Gryphone Sepia washes. The result was spectacular (belatedly I realize the picture above doesn't show the results, as I only did that to the gold on his power fist), and will likely see that becoming a more common method of painting large areas of gold for me.
Changing tracks here, it is becoming increasingly tempting to at least pick up some Blood Angels models and paint them up. I'm particularly in love with the Sanguinor and the Sanguinary Guard. I see that was a slippery slope, though; if I pick those up I'm going to have to make a Blood Angels army. If I do it will likely be another 1,000 point "experimental" list, and I believe it would feature lots of jump packs. To me that's one of the key parts of the Blood Angels' imagery, Angels of Death descending from the heavens on wings of fire, destroying the enemies of the Imperium in the fury of hand-to-hand combat (too florid, you think?).
If I get a hold of a Blood Angels codex (which is increasingly likely), I'll write up a list and post to show you what I mean and what I see as a "proper" Blood Angels list. Don't worry, I don't see them ever supplanting the Space Wolves as my favored army (giving their codex a read-through the other day didn't inspire that "I have to make this army!" feeling I got from reading Codex: Space Wolves the first time).

More Blood Angels stuff and the War of the Ring

121543MAR10
If you'll permit me a moment of bitching, does anyone but me think it's abominably rude when you make a head call (more commonly referred to as going to the bathroom) in the middle of your turn? Seriously, you couldn't do that as I was doing my movement, you have to wait until your shooting phase? That was the first, and hopefully only, game of 40k during which I struggled to maintain a sense of sportsmanship and decorum with my opponent, as well as the first and hopefully only game I did not have fun.
Moving on from the complaints section, after actually looking through the Blood Angels codex a little more thoroughly, I discovered there's no way to have an all Dreadnought army (except the HQ choices). Alas, but they've got awesome models strewn across their choices anyway (and damn but I can't wait to see what they come up with for the Stormraven). I came up with an experimental 1500 point list; I wrote it up quickly without really working on a strong plan for it, but still . . .

HQ: Captain Tycho (Death Company variant): 175
Troops: 15 Death Company with 2 power fists, 2 power weapons, 2 hand flamers, 1 infernus pistol: 405*
--Dedicated Transport: Land Raider Crusader: 250
Troops: Death Company Dreadnought with magna grapple: 140
Troops: Death Company Dreadnought with magna grapple: 140
Troops: 5 Tactical Marines with flamer and chainsword: 90
--Dedicated Transport: Razorback: 55
Troops: 5 Tactical Marines with flamer and chainsword: 90
--Dedicated Transport: Razorback: 55
Heavy Support: Whirlwind with hunter-killer missile: 100
Total: 1500 points
*No there was no rhyme or reason for those weapon selections, I did it to fill in the points

That list is liable to get modified in many strange ways before the Blood Angels actually get released (likely in the form of being shrunk down to 1000 points, as that is my "experimental-army-I'm-just-trying-out-for-now" size).
Changing tracks here, I've built up my Lord of the Rings army to be fully playable for War of the Ring. I don't have a rulebook, so someone might be able to point out something terribly wrong with it (I'm fairly sure the Epic Hero or Legendary Formation leading it can be an ally; at least that's what I'm banking on). I'm hoping more people jump on this system (kind of like I keep hoping to find more Fantasy games . . .), as it is abominably fun. Here's what I have:

Epic Hero: Gandalf the Grey: 200
Common Formation: 3 companies of Dwarf Warriors with a Captain and a Banner Bearer: 205
Common Formation: 2 companies of Dwarf Warriors with shields and a Captain: 130
Common Formation: 2 companies of Dwarf Archers: 70
Common Formation: 2 companies of Dwarf Rangers: 70
75 points of Fortune
Total: 750 points

It may be a bit odd to have Gandalf leading a dwarf army (I really need to get a Gimli model or something . . .), but that provides the army with some crazy magic that the dwarves don't otherwise have access to. All I need now is an opponent (which exemplifies my general status with Fantasy, now that I think about it . . .).
I never know how to gracefully end these posts . . . Old Booj, Out.

WIPs and Blood Angel thoughts

072051MAR10
I have now empirically proven that a great way to get funny looks (which I would advise against) is to interrupt the Commanding General in the middle of his address with a hearty "Oorrah!" Unless, of course, you want to irritate all of the colonels and sergeants major around you.
Reflex reactions may save your life one day, but they can also leave you feeling mighty uncomfortable on another.
Anyhow, Gamer's Lounge has put up their second podcast, go listen. Apparently Jay and Bill read this drivel because they mention my last post in it. Grand stuff, though I must point out that I'm not making a Traitor Guard list; that's Cathal at 4 Ones (http://4-ones.blogspot.com/). I hate pointing out errors in an otherwise delightful podcast, but I'd rather not be known as a Traitor player. The irony is that I have yet to play a game against either of those two. One of these days I'll have to take care of that; they'll probably wreck me, but that's immaterial to the notion of the amount of fun to be had.
As the post's title points out, I have some works-in-progress for you. The first is one of the new Space Marine Venerable Dreadnoughts. This kit is, without a doubt, one of the most awesome kits I have ever messed with (that may not be saying much, but whatever), and even if you don't play Space Marines or 40k, you may want to get one just because it is awesome. I have left the arms unglued so I can swap them out as necessary.

You ever see that great picture of a bomber (a B-52 if memory serves) with its payload laid out in front of it and a football-esque caption? That's what I think of. "The Xenos have won the toss, and have elected to receive."
Next up is my codex chapter's (the Keepers) Captain. He's not done, but should look all manner of awesome when he is. (He's also taken two days to get to this point, so it won't be anytime soon.)

His cloak is something of an exercise in blending, and his shoulder pad (and eventually the banner) is one in free-handing.

Finally, some finished works. The first are a bunch of Space Wolves; the fuzzy-ish one on the left is a Long Fang (and dear God what a pain his shoulder pad was), the ones other two are Grey Hunters. Difficult though they may be, I am rather pleased with how they turned out.

The fellow on the far right has proven himself in the Kill Teams scenario in the new Battle Missions book. Great book.
Finally, we have a Fantasy Imperial Marksman. Note the Outrider's cloak, I think it gives him a rather romantic (or, perhaps, elitist) look.

On a completely separate note, I stopped by GW Sugarland earlier today (to pick up their last Venerable Dreadnought), and found an absolutely delightful surprise: the black box containing the Blood Angels preview. Those sprues are amazing, and just based on those I feel compelled to make a Blood Angels (or, more likely a Blood Angels successor chapter) army. What cinches it, however, is what I found in the codex itself, specifically the Blood Angels army list: the Furioso Dreadnought, an Elites-choice psyker (yes, psyker); the regular Dreadnought playing Heavy Support; and, best of all, a Troops choice dreadnought whose name I can't remember at the moment. That means you can field up to twelve (!) dreadnoughts per army. Alas, there is no choice for an HQ dreadnought (like the Wolves have), but you can bet, without any shadow of doubt, I will be making a Blood Angels army consisting of a mass of dreadnoughts, properly upgraded, likely in Drop Pods (if I can convince myself to make and paint more of the blasted things), with the final points filled up with HQ choices. Will it be a successful list? Probably not, but let's face it, a mass of dreadnoughts would be ridiculously fun to play with and an awesome sight on the field.
That's all for now. Old Booj, Out.