How long does it take to build a squad of Hellblasters?

 o/

Most folks would agree that it takes just a few hours, and they would be right. In my case, it also took just a few hours though said hours were delayed by 15 or so months between the time of purchase and the removal of the box's shrink wrap. 

Here of late my poor marines have been finding themselves increasingly outgunned on the table top, with only my Hellblaster squad seemingly able to hold the line effectively. That said, I only had 6 of them making the squad both over-taxed and easily eliminated. However now that I have 16 ready for battle, I'm hoping that they'll even things out a bit for me. Only time will tell though...

These two combat squads will each gain 3 more marines

out of my pre-existing squad.

The Smurfs are now my only marine army with the Incandescent Coyotes (all 23 of them) currently redeploying to the Illy-Noise subsector. Their fully painted 'Woolly Bear' Razorback has taken up residence in my display cabinet, whereas the Coyotes' half-painted rhino was reprimed in anticipation of being (eventually) repainted in Ultramarine colors. 

Not many of the unpainted Coyotes were retained due to all of the Space Wolf Coyote accoutrements. Like the also defunct Silver Drakes, the remnants of the Coyotes were folded into the Smurfs making it a rather large army at this point. 

Full circles are painted models, empty are unpainted, and half circled are works in progress.

DreamForge Games Grav-Stug

I hope that everyone had a good Day of the Emperor's Ascension, and that you found all of the hidden Tyranid eggs. Don't worry if you didn't though, because whatever was in them will soon find you!

I have wanted one of these for so, so long! 

I backed both failed Kickstarters to no avail, and figured that that was that. Then I saw one of these pop up on Dwartist's Facebook page where he stated that they were being sold by Dreamforge as 3D prints in limited runs. I found one on eBay, hesitated...and it was gone. Fuck.

While it did require assembly, it was easy and quick to build.

Last week, on a whim I looked again and there one one left (this one) out of the eight originally available. 20+ people had it in their watch lists, hesitating as I had. I learned my lesson though and bought it immediately!

No vindicator is complete without a pintle mounted stormbolter (and hatch leftover from the Kratos) for point defense.

I'm thinking that this will be a prototype grav-drive Vindicator to go with my handful of Firstborn Smurfs. Sure the cannon barrel isn't obscenely over-sized in proper 40k fashion, but it ought to fairly obvious as to what the gun is. 

Not sure what these bits are supposed to be exactly...

Perhaps it's the anti-grav drive protected by spaced armor plating...

Not sure how soon it will be till I fully paint it, but I do need to paint the recessed areas under the forward side, spaced armor. Given how little they will be visible, am thinking they'll just be leadbelcher dry brushed over black.

Alternate main gun options.

Honestly the railgun/lascannon to the far left is the best looking of the main gun options, but there really is no space marine equivalent that I can think of for it. Unless of cource I put a Tau hatch on there instead of the stormbolter equipped one and use this as a counts as (Hogziliary?) Hammerhead with no burst cannons...

This week in random paint jobs (part 1)

 o/

With no games planned, Saturday night seemed a good time to finish off several half-painted minis.

I believe this was February's Robot of the Month Club's offering.

I love these things. I have 3 more to paint (Including a cybernetically enhanced mouse which arrived Friday). This bot is currently staring win awe in amongst my wife's house plants. I do wonder how long it will take her to notice...

These are from Diehard Miniatures' E-Corps range. Am guessing that they're sci-fi mercenaries or something of the like.

These two have a very old school 40k feel to them which is why I bought 'em.

I have no clue as to what I'll do with these two blokes. I like their cobbled together, sorta or perhaps at one time formerly fully powered armor. Paint wise they don't match anything else that I have in my collection, but who knows, maybe I'll find a use for them at some point.

Characters and squad leaders (currently just this one) have fancy bases. 

The shady as fuck livery from their parent Forge World of Hel is on full display. 

This is the entirety of the painted portion of my Skitarii force. 

I finished off my Skitarii squad as well. The squad leader's colorful base has the markings of the Mordian Iron Guard on it. Whatever happened to those guys anyways? I guess they didn't survive the transition away from metal armies (which is ironic considering the plastic cyborg standing atop said base). 

Also present on the left is my Skitarii warlord, Techno-Archeologist 808 Linum, as well as the Ordo Adeptus Inquisitor MS-D05 on their right. MS-D05 has been most perturbed here of late by whispers in the warp saying that he won't be able to ally with the forces from Hel, though the veracity of that has yet to be proven...

What's part 2 you ask? Well, you can see that here.