I'm blaming the Chucking Monkeys blog for this...

...actually, I'm getting ahead of myself. So lemme back up a bit and explain. 

So, the Primaris marines...yeah those, more of a gorilla in the room than monkeys, but we'll get there. Their fluff is in general hideous, no need to revisit that. Personally i think that the Intercessors look alright though and I gotta cheap squad aways back to bolster my Rainbow Warriors. 

However aesthetically they don't fit. My rainbows are the last dregs of the chapter, adorned in a motley assortment of scavenged and standard issue armor, and all have at least one chapter specific, and time consuming to paint shoulder pauldron. Whereas the Primaris' armor all conforms and being easy-build models, they have generic pauldrons meaning I'd have to come up with something more even more difficult (like free-hand painting) for the chapter iconography. In a word: no.

Then there's the Salamanders. I did paint one Primaris marine for them but...originally being a 30k force, with a color scheme as laborious to paint as the Alpha Legionnaires they were supposed to replace...I think I'll just ebay the last of 'em and be done with that failed project.

Yeah I can't paint this good! This was lifted straight from the Chucking Monkeys blog, which is linked below...

Which brings us to Chucking Monkeys, and his beautifully painted Primaris 'scouts'. Actually all of it is beautiful, check out that Ancient! Anyways, the idea of Primaris scouts struck a chord...no doubt harkening back to my Aurora 10th Company debacle of an army. I like the idea of scouts...well, the old scouts, with the WS/BS of 3 (hitting on a 4+ for you 8th ed only noobs out there), and I thought: Why not take the ol' Primaris' down a peg and use 'em as poorly trained scouts? Might make 'em a bit more palatable too (kinda like Space Wolf Blood Claws, just without the pretending to be the ANGRY MAHREENZ!!! part)!

So that's what I set out to do. Great Idea MC, glad you thought of it! Given the 5-6 painted models that I average befor-squirrel!,  I decided to just do a Kill Team of them, and skip 40k proper in its entirety.  

First up I needed a chapter. I figured I'd just make 'em an Ultramarine Ultima Founding chapter, but none in the SM codex caught my interest. I dunno, with each just having a color scheme/name/icon, and fluff blurb, you can tell the GW game designer's hearts weren't really into the primaris marines. Then I pondered making up my own chapter from scratch, and was going to go that route till I found a good halfway point: The Silver Drakes (The warhammer wiki page seems to be far more detailed, until you realize that its just a repost of the generic Primaris fluff). 

The Silver Drakes are a canon chapter who's sole existence is a small blurb on pg. 39 of the Nid codex. They have no colors, chapter icon or anything else known about them. Talk about lazy...sure I'll just use that, write up a blurb of my own which (hopefully) justifies the 2nd rate stat line, come up with my own colors and to top it off, I can use the fallout hobbies decals I had made for my abortive Black Dragons army (which totaled just that one mini...).  

So here ya go, the Silver Drakes in Kill Team:

I won't make any changes to the point values
as those are already nonsensically allotted.

Well that was easy enough to do. Next up, and easy but good looking color scheme. My first test model was kinda meh and after it was finished, I gave it a good once over and summarily submerged it in some simple green. Here's my 2nd try:

In all honesty, the couple-three layers of white on the base felt like the hardest part. Also the aquila color denotes the company, the 7th in this case.

A detail view of his wrist comms.

Much better me thinks, and relatively quick and easy to paint as well! Speaking of the paint recipe (just so I don't forget) is: GW's leadbelcher for the silver, Coat D'arms' enchanted blue for the metallic blue, GW's mechanicus standard grey for the gun, Army Painter strong tone for the wash, GW's bleached bone drybrush as per the norm, and whatever shade of Vallejo's white that I have for the base (its the only white paint I have). The remaining colors for the other little details, bits, and bobs don't really matter for consistency.

I'm hoping that I can manage to paint up the squad before I inevitably get distracted yet again...

Kill Team: Chaos Cultists vs. Genestealer Cultists

Just as it should be!

o/

I finally got in another round of Kill Team with my rescheduled game with Matt. He fielded a mix of genestealer cultists and genestealers, vs. my horde of chaos cultists lead by my female Nurgle CSM aspiring champion Donna Rhea. We played the sweep and clear scenario, with specialists but no command points to keep it a bit simple as this was only my 2nd. game. 

The following is my usual photo dump/highlight reel/half-assed excuse for a battle report:

The battlefield following deployment,

the 4 objectives are the ammo crates.

My wiley opponent Matt.

The battlelines quickly merge, including the dreaded charge of a genestealer right up the middle!

Luckily the dice were not with him and I counter charged my specialist (+1 attack) HTH cultist (who summarily died) into the melee. The other cultist would however prove to be rather resilient!

I love the Ymarl genestealer heads! I love 'em even more when they're wreathed in flames and removed from the board on turn 2!

Lacking a decent target to shoot, another hapless cultist

charges into the fray!

By this point the high volume of chaos shooting has thinned the xeno-loving herd considerably, though my casualties were getting frighteningly high as well!

With her bolter, Donna Rhea dispatches a wounded stealer fruitlessly trying to hold an objective late in the game.

Yul-somebody (the Genestealer cult leader) charges my guys in order to seize the objective. However it turns out that cultists, of both types suck in general and another long melee ensues...

Holding all four objectives, Chaos turns the tide and starts mopping up the enemy.

That accursed seismic cannon gunner had been a continuous thorn in my side, having accounted for my flamer specialist and several grunts over the course of the game. In the end my heavy stubber gunner and it would finish out the game trading ineffectual long ranged shots at one another. 

With my 2nd HTH cultist dead and the other grunt shaken and useless, Donna Rhea enters the fray...

...and with a single power sword swipe eliminates the last genestealer!

At game's end, both sides were shaken, however I held all 4 objectives for 3 points a piece, plus had killed 10 enemy models (for 1 KP a piece) giving me a grand total of 22 KPs. Matt on the other hand had totaled 12 KPs, all acquired via models killed. The game was a blood bath and much fun was had on both sides. 

Going forward, Matt's looking to organize a KT campaign soon, and I'm looking forward to it, though I'm not sure which force I'll use just yet.  

*****

As we were leaving, Courtland's DKK army was advancing into the guns of Mike's Dark Angels. I have no idea who won this grueling battle but from what I'm told, this 1850* point game lasted for at least 5 hours! (((shudder)))


*edit.

The first 8 Chaos Cultists are complete!

Khorne would be pleased...that is his number right? Speaking of:

 Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows, only that it flows... 

They look kinda like an IG Penal unit that got the better of their captors...

Conveniently, the battlefield debut of these guys is happening this coming Saturday in a KT game I have set up with Matt. As such, they're no doubt doomed to die as all newly painted minis rightly are. This will nominally be a grudge match/turf battle as Matt is fielding his genestealer cultists...or rather I think he is. 

It seems he was intending to bring only genestealers. I mentioned that that would make for a completely 1-dimensional game of 'shoot them before they kill us in close combat'. Even a horde of the deranged followers of Chaos will ignore any given scenario in preference for mere survival when there's nothing but 'stealers coming for 'em!

Looks like they've turned tail and are running for
their lives...an all to possible scenario!

In hopes that he'll mix his force up a bit, I mentioned that I haven't faced genestealer cultists since a game of Necromunda played almost 20 years ago vs. Warfrog. I remember little from that game (and none of it good actually). 

All I recall was first, that I hadn't even ever heard of their being a legal list for Genestealer Cults in Necromunda. Followed shortly thereafter by the nightmare scenario of both Vansaar heavy stubbers jamming simultaneously, leaving their gunners to get torn to ribbons by Genestealers in close combat! In the aftermath of our game, so many of my gangers died (including both heavies, along with the loss of all of their gear) that I rage-quit the league we were in. 

Anyways coming back to the present, I'm hoping this weekend's game of Kill Team goes a bit better than that one did...

Batch Painting Chaos Cultists

Bleh.

Batch painting, in a word: Sucks. 

I'm really notta fan, and I don't think its all that fun. However, as is so often seen on the Mordian7th blog* its the best way to get a bunch of minis painted up fairly quickly. For example: Nine and a half months into 2018 I've fully painted, from start-to-finish the following:

January:
Cadre Fireblade

February:
Kushial's Leviathan Dreadnought
Rebel Ghar Commander
30k Black Shield

March:
(4) WHFB stone walls
An IG hillbilly

April:
Rainbow Warriors Predator

May:
Wreck-Age Technical
Ork Kommando

June:
Salamanders Primaris Sergeant
30k Blackshields Medusa
Ork Nob

July:
Awesome Battlemech

August:
Grymn Vanquisher battle tank

Over the course of 8 months, that's an average of 2.125 miniatures painted per month. Yay? 

That brings us to September:

Whilst nothing has been fully painted yet...in just three painting sessions spread over as many days, I have EIGHT minis about 3/4 painted. All that remains to be done is a light dry brushing of their clothing to soften the inking a bit, then dirty 'em up (again), pick out a few colors for pop (eye lenses, hoses, etc.), base 'em, and clear coat. I might add a decal or two if I'm feeling froggy, but don't count on it. 

That's entirely doable for this week or at the worst, this month. So, even though I'm not fond of batch painting I'm thinking that this may be the way to at least grind through some of the basic minis, and then I can lavish a bit of extra time on the squad leaders, heavy/special weapons' troopers. 

Or...knowing me, I can stop at this point and paint some other random mini cause that's what I usually tend to do. 

*Mordian's in a class of his own when it comes to batch painting!

Tau Muppet Auxiliaries

The peaceful Jaloof Confederation was located deep within the unexplored (by the Imperium) regions of the Eastern Fringe. They maintained cordial relations with their distant neighbors of the Tau Empire along with limited trade. Unfortunately the Jaloof were easy prey for the then strengthening Hive Fleet Gorgon, with only the smallest fraction of their population surviving the onslaught and destruction of their worlds. Escaping in a few small, ragged flotillas to Tau space. 

'...cry havoc and let slip the muppets of war!'

Indeed, some of the Tau Water caste have theorized that it was their Jaloof neighbors who had inadvertently lead the Hive fleet directly to the Tau, but they've not been held to blame and all accusations of such have been suppressed. Such are the ways of the Greater Good. Following the destruction of Gorgon, the scant few thousand Jaloof survivors left were resettled within the protective realm of the Tau Empire.

That's a lot of gear for those little legs to hold up...

Shattered psychologically and on the verge of extinction, the majority of the remaining Jaloof have found both their niche within the Empire, as well as a degree of mental solace in the production and distribution of wholesome, educational video-programming, with which they entertain the youth of the various Tau castes. A few somewhat unhinged individuals however, embittered by their losses have taken a different path and fight to defend the last dregs of their species, alongside the Tau's Fire caste warriors.

Looking down upon the remains of the infamous Hoominz ,
against whom their Tau allies have fought both with and against.

Possessed of a shockingly light build (enough to make an Eldar look rotund!), the Jaloof are a species ill suited for war. However their long legs aid them well in advancing (and retreating) quickly. As such, they're currently training with both Fire Warriors and Pathfinders, though they have yet to prove themselves in battle...

Enter the Dark Mechanicus...

o/

Whilst I've long been a fan of the Tech-Priest Dominus miniature*, I was not a fan of its price tag! Whomever it was a GW who thought that single, mono-pose miniatures are worth $30+ ought to be shipped over to China, and forced to package every last damned one of them by hand for the rest of their miserable life, but I digress...

I'm quite certain that this mini will be a beast to paint!.

Luckily though, I found one on ebay via one of my favorite bit sellers for less than a third of that price, and quickly snatched one up before they sold out of 'em! I wanted to do a conversion of this kit after coming across this amazing one done by WilhelMiniatures. Using that for inspiration, and perusing thru the various pages of parts in Blackdagger's store, I opted for a simple arm/hand swap which worked out quite nicely I think. 

The rear arm claws are from some sort of Plague-drone model.

Rather than use this for 40k, I'm thinking that it'll serve as an Auxilia Force Commander, leading a small allied contingent alongside my Blackshields with the cyber-augmented provenance. The chaos cultists always struck me as looking mildly cyber augmented anyways, and personally I think my Dominus fits right in with them aesthetically. 

Clearly its not a very high up on the totem pole Dominus, as its
schlepping around with a bunch of minimally-augmented menials...

*Image is a copyright of Games Workshop and used without permission.

Chaos conforms to no posting schedule!!

Which sounds like a valid excuse for no Monday post right? Right. Notta whole lot to report actually as we opted for a lazy weekend after three weeks solid of waaaay too fucking much going on! Seriously my Beloved Wolfy and I needed the break. 

The Cult of unpainted conformity, coming to a hellhole near you...

So we skipped the game shop, though as you can see, I did manage to assemble these guys for use in Kill Team and now Necromunda! But that's it I'm afraid. We're still settling in to our 'new normal' so hobbying will continue to be spotty for the foreseeable future. I may have a 2nd late post this week, not sure yet.