Gardening with the Greater Good

I believe they refer to this particular 'potted plant' as the Doombud!

Hrmmm...seems there's a few touchups needed on this side. 

This week has seen some halfway decent progress on the Fem Fa'Tau v2 front. As you can see, my lone support turret is finished and expertly camouflaged in an amongst some glowers, lol. In truth, all of my Tau will have bases like this one. Btw, for anyone considering the above option for an ENTIRE ARMY, do note that this is easily the most EXPENSIVE basing option available. Luckily that ought to make it unique. 

She's standing astride a Mk IV marine who's laying on a chaos chain axe.
Sorry Siph, that means it may have been one of your boys...

I also assembled my new Crisis suit commander. It's just an XV8, equipped with a plasma rifle, missile pod, shield generator and a purely ornamental Xenophase blade. The new kit is vastly more dynamic in its posing than the old static ones. Am debating on whether or not I'll keep the clear flight stand on the finished mini or not...my one gripe with the new kit: the fragile ankle breakage point seems to not have been addressed. 

The cloth portions on these three will be lighter than the norm,
as I am currently out of the previously used shade of brown. 

I also started work on a trio of Fire Warrior Shas'uis. Behind them you can see the latest recruits, a squad of Pathfinders to supplement the one that I already had. They were purchased from eBay for a reasonable price, I just scraped off their basing and added some battlefield debris to said bases before adding them to the queue. 

As such, it's about time for the ol' hobby butterfly to land somewhere else and on that note, I did reequip a new Incandescent Coyote Sergeant the other day...   

Inquisitor Oblivi'Anna and her Retinue

 o/

She looks so much better under natural light!

Young Anna started life as an orphan in the hands one of the Imperium's many Schola Progeniums. Unlike most children suffering thru this misery of a childhood, Anna took to the Schola's religious teachings with an unparalleled zeal. Originally singled out for a transfer to an Adeptus Sororitas convent, Anna was enroute aboard a Sororitas vessel when Inquisitor [REDACTED], also a passenger, instead took her into his service as a pupil. Protesting this move though not willing to countermand the Inquisitor's request, the Sororitas crew relented and Anna's life of Imperial servitude took a significant turn. 

I'm quite certain that the blood coating the chainblade's teeth
is 'baked on' at this point.

Rising over the course of years from simple (if fanatical) grunt, on up to interrogator, and eventually an inquisitor in her own right, Anna has more or less left a scorched trail of heretical (and collateral) damage from one end of the Imperium to the other (prompting her colleagues to dub her 'Oblivi'Anna', a name she took to enthusiastically much to their chagrin). Less than subtle in her ways, she is nonetheless effective in the rooting out of heretics and the cults they foment.

If I recall correctly, originally there was a book clipped to her belt. I have no recollection as to why I removed it way back when, but not wanting to leave the area blank, I opted for an Inquisitorial 'tramp stamp' decal on her backside.

Of course any inquisitor worth their salt has assembled a quirky retinue of misfits who aid and abet their Mistresse/Master both in the hunting down of and later interrogation/execution their quarries. The following details Oblivi'Anna's own little band of henchmen:

Heh, from this angle his bolt pistol looks as if its almost as big as his boltgun!

First up: Hensley. Something of a heretic in his own right, Hensley's knowledge of the criminal underworld's 'mentality' has enabled Hensley to not only survive, but indeed he even outlived Inquisitor Themis herself, who originally took him (forcibly) into her service. Unfortunately he wasn't the only survivor of Kill Team Themis, and rather than slip the Inquisitorial yoke, he was instead assigned into Oblivi'Anna's 'care'.

He's as heavily armed as he disheveled in appearance.

Hensley has simply been rebased with a bolter added to it as well. Like most of the rest of his kit, it is strewn haphazardly at his feet.

This poor bastard has been waiting in line to be repainted for years now! No idea where I got the dog bit from though.

Second is: Ekon*.  Whilst that original mini is long gone, I've always liked the name, though I wasn't much of a fan of that conversion. Conveniently though, I've had this Catachan Lt. hanging around unpainted for quite sometime. Lacking a suitable 'army', he's perfect for an inquisitorial retinue. On his base is the retinue's attack dog & mascot 'Mongrel' (though the dog is likely of purer breeding stock than any of the humans around him...) .

He'll make a note of that skull and forward the Ork's presence on to the Ordo Xenos. 

Next up: Kudzu. This is an old Dwarf sniper is the lone survivor of my old Warhammer Dwarf army. His old paint job has been touched up along with rebasing. The old, tattered 'ghillie suit' was reflocked in a few spots as well. Whilst less than effective in their current, semi-desert environment, this half-blind little bastard honestly can't tell the difference. Kudzu's backstory:

Born into a mercenary's life, Kudzu wasn't anywhere near the Squat home worlds when they were lost to the Great Devourer. Unlike most surviving Squats, Kudzu never felt any shame and guilt about this. Having neither never seen said worlds, nor ever receiving a paycheck to defend them. 

Wait! Wait-ah yes! I do think I see something...um...well maybe.

Eventually he found his was into Inquisitorial service in the employ of Ordo Hereticus' 'Inquisitor Kemp. Kudzu was the only survivor of Kemp's retinue whilst they were investigating, and later combating a newly discovered Hrud infestation. Kudzu however did not survive unscathed.

Since then, the cantankerous Squat often complains about his ravaged physique following his Hrud encounter. Bitter at having a body that is aged well beyond his years, he oft laments that he is as weak as his human compatriots (much to their collective annoyance). Likewise, whilst he once served as a quite deadly sniper armed with his superiorly hand-crafted Squat rifle, Kudzu is now near-sighted to the point of virtual blindness. 

Indeed, he does resemble a shrub with a very thorny disposition...

Refusing 'human grade' optical bionics and despite mounting the most powerful scope he could find atop his rifle, he can't even see (much less hit) targets within mere bolter range. 

I didn't want him to be just another bolter grunt, Kudzu instead serves as a 'counts as' Acolyte with hot-shot lasgun. The effects of the Hrud's entropic effects explains why his stats are no better than the standard humans around him.

Originally, I had posted that I was also going to paint up a 'counts as' Jokaero mini, however the 9th ed detachment building mechanics have essentially made it a redundant model (unless I fielded a vanguard detachment and made every acolyte an individual elite choice to make the required minimum which is dumb). As it is, Oblivi'Anna will take up a no force of slot and her retinue will be an attached auxiliary support detachment that quite honestly isn't worth the -2CP (but I'll field them anyways). Thusly, the platypus has wandered off to join the Fem Fa'Tau and will be appearing within their ranks in a future post (that said, it is however now fully painted).

Ready to cleanse the Steppes of the Appalachian Subsector of any and all heretics!

So there you have it. Oblivi'Anna and her retinue, ready to purge with bolter and blade (and not just a little bit of purifying flame). Many thanks to Neverness for hosting his first (annual?) Inquisitorial Conclave Challenge!

****

*The 'Little Big Ekon' is a state forest I used to frequent when I lived in Florida 20+ years ago.

A productive week of painting.

 o/

Not bad for just one week!

Aside from working on my Inquisitor for Neverness' Enclave challenge, I've also been cranking out minis at an alarming rate (well, for me). No, no, I can assure you that the Ork Bomma is sadly not on this list, and as such hasn't been painted in anyway since my last post that mentioned it. 

The Fem Fa'Tau, v2.

First up, my 'retirement' of the Fem Fa'Tau naturally piqued my painting attentions. I don't want to revisit the prior paint scheme(s), other than to keep the color pink. No, the green test mini from my prior post won't be used for them either, My Beloved Wolfy loathed OD green, probably a holdover from being an 'army wife' in her prior marriage (that mini is instead 'guarding' my desk at work). 

Previously, her cloak was orange.

Instead I took my two Farsight Enclave Tau and added pink to their paint jobs. I'm thinking that'll work. It was quick and easy to paint originally, so they ought to paint up fairly easily. I did opt for the lots of grassy/flowery tufts for their bases though. The Cadre Fireblade not so much, but her base is sculpted. 

The armor plate worn by the one on the left was crafted from Smurf power armor. 

As an homage to the Fem Fa'Tau's original paint scheme, I've decided that the Kroot contingent shall be purple in color. We were both fond of the Kroot minis, despite the fact that they absolutely suck rules-wise. Hell, their piss poor rules offer the most likely chance of their survival in-game, as there are vastly more dangerous units to shoot at! Their bases follow the same method as their Fem Fa'Tau brethren.

They have a very WWI French look about them.

Lastly, I also painted three 'test models' for my forthcoming Astra Militarum Imperial Guard army. These are based the same as my baby squiggoth, so I guess they're Ork fighters...or at least have been shipped to an Ork infested warzone. 

Note the Squad emblems on the bottom of their coats, the wash
seems to puddle there, so may need to move those... 

These are Wargames Atlantic minis, which clock in at $35 for a box of 24 minis. I found 2 on sale, totaling $63 including shipping for 48 minis. To those I added these three that I already had for filling out a survey last year. Were I to have bought the same old, tired Cadians, 50 of them would have clocked in at approximately $150. Up your game GW! Not everybody wants just primaris space marines all of the time!

Anyways, they were painted fairly simply which is kinda required given that I normally can't paint more than FIVE of anything before I lose interest. Whilst individually they don't look all that impressive, hopefully a fully painted horde of them (pause for laughter at that notion) would...

Retiring the Fem Fa'Tau (for now...)

I have a whole sheet of these decals, none of which have been used.
I'll remedy that...someday.

Several folks have inquired about the fate of My Beloved Wolfy's Fem Fa'Tau army. Locally her army was infamous for a time though it has been inactive since the end of 7th ed. Whether that infamy was due to it's groan inducing yet glorious name, my trash-talking beauty who was in command of said army, or simply her penchant for vaporizing enemy characters with railguns (indeed, Tyberos the 'Red Mist' and Neverness' Big Mek with the Shokk attack gun both come to mind) is a matter of debate. Likely it was a combination of all three. 

The Fem Fa'Tau's small completed menagerie. 

I can assure everyone that they'll never appear on the auction block due to sentimental reasons alone. That said, there is one oft sold/given away/recycled squad that was originally mine, went off to fight on other fronts, and was 'donated' eventually back to her that may well get sent off once more. Hoss, a mutual friend of ours and aspiring Tau commander himself would I'm sure like to have a portion of her old army (such as it is) in his new one. That and quite frankly I'm sick of seeing it. She only used them as they were fully painted, though neither to her taste, nor her army's color scheme. 

Two Fire Warriors and two breachers alongside the 'pin-up',
who was often a sniper specialist in games of Kill Team.

Speaking of paint, sadly I painted only a handful of her Fem Fa'Tau minis, and there isn't much consistency among those few that are painted. Ironically, I think her favorite amongst her painted Fem Fa'Tau was the 'pin up' Wargame Exclusive fire warrior that Neverness gifted to her at Christmas? her birthday? something like that some years back.  

She didn't dislike Smurfs anymore than any other loyalist chapter. Chaos marines however, were the only marines that she actually liked!

Her vehicle pool is almost all partially painted, perhaps if I had concentrated on just one tank rather than three... The half paints consist of a hammerhead (a 2nd is simply primed black), a devilfish and what's the small skimmer...a remora I think? (edit: Piranha). I doubt they'll ever be painted in her army's last color scheme (which is kinda guesswork for vehicles as none were complete). Though I might leave the pink engine cowls as is...who the hell knows at this point.

So unassuming, yet so deadly...

Lastly, her Tau Commander was originally my only painted Crises suit, and later her only one as well. It is painted in a color scheme that predated my meeting Wolfy altogether. Still, she insisted that it's colors never change after it was dubbed The Belial Slayer by another gamer after one particularly glorious, multi-turn, hand-to-hand slugfest vs. the aforementioned, and eventually deceased Dark Angel. Indeed, her Stealth suits always seemed to fare rather well vs. the Dark Angels in hand to hand as well. If not by winning, then at least by refusing to die! Which reminds me, I believe there are a few painted Fem Fa'Tau stealth suits now that I think about it. No idea where they might be at the moment though. 

*****

Looks like he's kneeling in my yard which is of a
similar height were I to kneel in it right now...

I do like the look of it though.

Also on the Tau front, I did a speed-paint (for me) test model the other day. I wanted to see what it would look like to have the base be entirely covered in those little adhesive tufts of grass. I like it though wouldn't likely again cover the entire base due to the cost of said tufts. but maybe half or so, more than the usual one random tuft we so often see. 

Also fear not for Oblivi'Anna. She's up to 4 colors now, just the basics but it is a start.