Dreadtober 2019 Part 4: The baby squiggoth is DONE!!!

...and just in the nick of time! Truth be told I didn't think I'd have the time, but in the end I did what any responsible 40-something would do, I put aside adulting for a few hours and instead said:  fuck it, I want to paint my miniatures!

And promptly did so.

lol, anyways...I'm really happy with how it turned out. Technically, this still needs another coat of matte varnish followed by 'ard coat over the eyes, tongue and entrails that are hanging out of the trunk. However its raining and with 100% humidity outside, and I don't want to risk the varnish fogging, so that part can wait till this front passes thru in a couple of days. 

Anyways, here are the completed pics:

Whatever that huge skull belonged to has been dead long enough
for the local flora to grow through it, and die as well.

Just a close up of some of the requisite human skulls.

An overhead shot of the entire model, base and all.

Thanks again to Mordian7th for organizing another successful Dreadtober!

Originality in 40k

Yeah, good luck with that...

o/

I was talking about custom space marine color schemes the other day with my buddy Sam. He had come up with a 'new' color scheme for his Kill Team marines, Purple and gold. Like the Hawk Lords I asked? and his shoulders just slumped. lol, no worries dude, finding an original color scheme in this game is nigh impossible. I mean hell, that's also the pre-heresy Emperor's Children colors...but whatever. So I just told him to go with what he liked and don't worry about it.

Not only is this an inconclusive list of Space Marine chapters (wait, where are the Smurfs?!), but its also an inconclusive list of the marines I've fielded over the years (which includes those missing Smurfs, the Storm Wardens...etc.).

Speaking of, I've also been searching for a chapter to use for my newly acquired 40k space marines for Kill Team ($20 for a NIB tac squad, why yes thank you!). However it seems like I'm just looking at the same old, same old, and/or rehashing something I've run before. In looking online for a bit of inspiration, I mis-read the name of the Angels Revenant and me being me I just ran with it, coming up with the following:

The Angels Irrelevant 

In keeping with their chapter name, this enigmatic chapter of Adeptus Astartes is all but unknown. An official search into the Imperial Archives of Terra, instigated by the Ordo Hereticus revealed little to nothing. It would seem that the the adepts responsible simply couldn't be bothered to record anything for posterity. No chapter lineage, founding date, home world, fleet and/or unit strength, only the rare and scattered reports of an unknown Astartes chapter engaging in small unit surgical assaults (indeed, they were the same such reports which lead to this investigation in the first place). The knowledge that there is more known of the so-called Legion of the Damned than there is of the Angels Irrelevant alarms Ordo Hereticus to no end… 

The only troop types thus far encountered have been Tactical and Scout marines, and never numbering more than a dozen or so individuals at any one time. Leading investigators to assume that their total Chapter strength to be less than one company. 

The name 'Angels Irrelevant' is only known due to a single, garbled vox intercept of inter-squad communications, believed to be rallying their battle brothers to prevail upon the enemy.

Livery is black and dark grayish-blue armor with a dull silver Aquilas. Tactical Arrows are displayed on the helmet and presumably display the company color. Scouts wear black armor with dark grayish-blue fatigues, but neither tactical marines nor Scouts show any other insignia aside from their chest plate Aquilas. 

Gee, that sounds familiar...

Curiously, a few tactical marines have been seen wearing Deathwatch heraldry. However inquiries into the matter sent to the Ordo Xenos have been ignored by the highest levels of the Ordo.

So will I use that? I'm so indecisive (like you couldn't already tell...), all I can say is: maybe. Then again I have a bunch of cool, custom decals that would work for the Black or Star Dragons so maybe I'll choose one of them instead. 

Or, maybe something all together different...who the fuck knows at this point.

30k Blackshield Centurion

o/

As a follow-up to my last post, I finished my Centurion for the Blackshields. Unlike my recon marine squad (well, the 3 painted so far), he didn't choose to completely obliterate his old Emperor's Children colors. Instead merely the legion/company markings were removed. Add to that, the constant wear and tear of battle which hasn't been repaired/cleaned off, and the resulting look would qualify as a criminal offense within the EC's pretty boy ranks prior to the Horus Heresy!

The rear view on the left gives a good view of his bionic arm, the replacement for the flesh and blood appendage which was taken from him via the accursed Xenos blade that he now carries as his own.

Actually, rather than paint everything precisely, and then dirty it up, I opted to just go for basic and splotchy base colors to further add to the lacking in maintenance look of his armor. Amusingly, I can't any difference from my regular methods on the finished model (which may speed up future paint jobs significantly!). An air bubble on the chest plate (thank you for that Forgeworld) has been turned into a puncture wound in his armor. Indeed despite the robust and recuperative qualities of an Astartes' physique, it seems as though one of his 2 hearts are bleeding out (and onto a fallen Alpha Legionnaire's helmet).

My meager painted force thus far...

Next up will either be the remaining two recon marines, or my Techmarine. I was going to ask if anyone knew whether or not 30k techmarines painted their armor red like their 40k counterparts do, but its kindova moot point as I'll probably just paint him predominantly black anyways.

The Sundered and the Black

Disclaimer: Real life events weren't too kind to us late last week, and as a result it torpedoed our gaming plans for this past weekend, as such look for Da Fort's return to GorkaMorka and hopefully some Bolt Action action next week. Luckily like most gamers, I suffer from the hobbyist's version of adult ADHD and thus have more than one thing going at once. I usually hang onto these sorts of side projects to blog about when RL tosses a wrench into the works, and this is one of those posts:

*****

I've been wanting to start a 30k army and so far my handful of minis have been hopping from legion to legion with little to no paint to show for it. However we've all seen the 'plastic 30k' sprue pics floating about, and with that news my interest in starting a small 30k army has been renewed once more but my problem persists: which legion?  Well, how about none of them? Or better yet, maybe a conglomeration of several legions...

Recently I found the following story & accompanying artwork in the Horus Heresy Book 4 - Conquest, along with a few other references from the previous HH FW books, and they've really piqued my interest. As such I've started work on my now former Emperor's Children Centurion, and my also former but not Imperial Fist recon marines are good to go as is. Additionally I won't have to worry much about decals and legion insignia which is convenient. Anyways, here they are:

The Sundered and the Black 

Almost from the outset, the war of the Horus Heresy was a vast cataclysm and one whose events moved with such quicksilver pace that mystery, supposition, lies and simple ignorance cloaked much of the bloodshed even as it occurred, casting a veil over much that would never be lifted. Though the roll call of Space Marine Legions, Titan Legio, Auxilia regiments and Mechanicum Taghmata that sided with the Arch-Traitor and those who remained loyal is largely known and accepted, the full truth is far more complex and far more mysterious than commonly believed.

Of those who fell at Istvaan V during the Dropsite Massacre, there were survivors, remnants and fleeing fragments shorn of command and driven half mad by treachery; from that point onwards they were isolated, alone. These were the shattered Legions and, while some swiftly returned to the Imperial fold, some did not or would not. Some would go on to wage a bitter war of vengeance alone, some would simply disappear, their fates unknown, their stories untold. But there were others of a darker hue. It has long been refuted, but is indelibly the case that in the Legions that remained loyal there were elements, sometimes whole companies and commands, that did not. In some cases the infection of the Warmaster's 'warrior lodges' has been blamed, while in others perhaps grievances long smoldering were the cause, just as infiltration by outside forces, or simply a darker truth applies, that given the option, some legiones Astartes believed Horus had the superior cause and the superior right to command their allegiance, not the Emperor, while some retained the loyalty to their Emperor and the Great Crusade over that of their own Primarch's will. It is true that some quietly slipped anchor and turned their coats to serve another master, and that this happened on both sides of the divide.

Thus can perhaps be explained, at least in part, persistent stories and evidence long since suppressed of midnight clad warriors in defaced Night Lords heraldry savagely attacking Traitor forces at the liberation of Estaban III, or of recurring reports of multiple Space Marine strike forces seemingly in the resurrected livery of the Dusk Raiders thwarting the Iron Warriors at Kibron and Malinche's Fall. Likewise also should be considered the long-denied evidence of a Great Company of the Space Wolves Legion bearing the symbol of the Serpent's Eye slaughtering millions at Neo Cadiz in 008.M31, or of a company of Legiones Astartes present at the Siege of Mezoa bearing the hybrid arms and panoply of the Iron Hands and Sons of Horus Legions both. These were merely a handful of still infamous cases, but here are many more unsubstantiated or simply now forgotten which paint a more complex and uncertain picture of this great civil war than is normally accounted. Further to this, and perhaps an even more sinister enigma, are the persistent reports of Space Marine forces appearing bearing no sign or seal of heraldry or origin at all, or stranger yet, heraldry which bears no mark known during the Great Crusade.  Although whether the "black" Legionaries were merely turncoats or, as some have whispered, perhaps raised by the Traitors from the chimeric gene-seed of the Istvaan dead for their own terrible purposes, none can now say for certain.

Story and Artwork copyright of Forgeworld and/or Games Workshop, and obviously used without permission as they came from an illegally made Russian PDF of the Horus Heresy Book 4 - Conquest.

Scouts, why does it always have to be Scouts?

o/

With Space Marines on my mind after the rant in my last post, I decided to paint a scout/recon sergeant, and partially repainted two grunts with bolters. Then I went on use them alongside my Storm Wardens in a game this past Saturday night. (on a side note, I found another stupid Aurora Scout with a sniper rifle this weekend! Most worthless unit ever!!! I sold that infernal squad years ago to somebody in Stockholm Sweden which has plenty of icy waters to drown them in, yet they still keep coming out of the wood work around here, what the hell?!?!)

...and with that outta the way, here's this week's painting:

The two with bolters were repaints of the Recon Marines I was going to use for the Emperor's Children in 30k (which is such a laughable notion considering our finances right now). Honestly, despite purple being my favorite color, I didn't like em as they were. Painting them black gives me some options on what to use them as, although the Imperial Fists are my preference. I really like the Breacher Marine minis (and their Legion specific rules requires Breachers as compulsory troops choices). Also, recon marines probably wouldn't work too well if they're wearing bright fucking yellow armor. So the black works for that legion as well.

2nd ed 40k starter box marines, vs. old Warzone starter box Imperial infantry converted into Astra Militarum (Cadian arms fit them perfectly) and fighting over The Imperial Forestry Service who were acting as objectives. Miniature-wise it was a battle of the ancients! Indeed, virtually all of the infantry in this game were as old as, if not older than my opponent!

In my game this weekend, they served as regular 'old codex' scouts.  Fielding a squad of 5, the three newly painted ones not only survived their first game, they took out a basilisk that was deep in cover as well! Easily paying for themselves (which made up for them not showing up till turn 4...). In the end the game was a close one and ended in a tie, though had it gone one more turn I probably would've been tabled.

30k: Centurion and Techmarine

o/

Whew, its been a wild week! I had the whole week off, but there was little hobby time as we had family in from out of state, and of course Christmas day which included me surprising just about everyone when I popped the question to Wolfy (she said 'yes')! So needless to say, it was a really good week for me!

Just prior to Christmas, I put in a bid on ebay for the crew of a Forgeworld Rapier Laser Destroyer (without the Rapier itself or shoulder pads for the crew). I didn't have the $$$ for it, but they were a good deal, so I placed a minimum bid, knowing I'd lose but wouldn't kick myself for not trying. Naturally, I won the auction. Yay, one more charge for the already screaming credit card. Oh well, Friday and Saturday were kinda quiet and so I put the two together.

First up, my Centurion:

I'll probably paint that helmet on his base in EC colors as well, leaving one to wonder if it belonged to friend or foe...

One thing the Emperor's Children were known for was trophy taking. If they defeated a particularly worthy foe, they would take a weapon from their victim as both a trophy, and for use on future battlefields. As you can see, my Centurion has done just that.

Its not really visible, but the arm holding that blade is actually a bionic arm. So it leaves you to wonder if his organic arm was separated from his body by the very blade that the bionic replacement now wields...

I'll count it as a Charnabal Sabre which is a CCW that confers +1 initiative and is rending.  Beyond the exotic blade, he's a bit of a no-frills type of officer who is outfitted with a bolter, bolt pistol, and grenades. I intend to field him as just a standard Centurion, not one of the optional Consuls.

The other Rapier crew-marine (the one who is normally mounted on the Rapier itself) has been converted to a Techmarine with Conversion Beamer:

Armed to the teeth and looking for a fight!

This guy is something of a blasphemy I guess (no doubt why he was slated for termination by his traitorous brethren) as he's an amalgamation of actual Forgeworld and Chinese knock-off resin parts! I had gotten the Astral Claws Techmarine via China but didn't care for some defects in the casting of his torso (though to be honest, it was no worse than some of the actual FW purchases I've made). As such, it was never painted. With the demise of my Astral Claws, I omitted the offending parts and added the rest to the 30k gunner's body.

He looks kinda comical with such an enormous backpack, no doubt his servo-automata (servitors with bolters) help to keep him upright when on the move. Of course the conversion beamer gives my fledgling force some much needed heavy firepower which will also make this guy target priority #1! Thus the servo-automata will also serve as a few ablative wounds to keep him alive a little longer as well!

So, all I need now are some squads in the 'Troops' category (my recon marines sadly are a support squad, so can't be used for compulsory choices). Currently finances don't permit that but...I still only have two of my 30k marines painted so that's alright I guess as there's plenty to do in the interim.

Note: for anyone running short of Mk III shoulder pads, some of the CSM shoulder pads work just as well!

With New Years day falling on a Thursday, I'm not sure if I'll have another post this week or not. So in the event that I don't I'd like to wish all of you a happy New Year to come!!!

The State of my 30k: Emperor's Children

lol, I guess this is slightly off topic for the first of my 'State of my 40k' series.

Current Disposition:

My apologies for the crummy photos.

Yes folks, I actually painted a pair of Space Marines this week! It is the first time in months in which marines of any sort have landed in my painting lineup! Sadly (as you can see) I don't have the FW recon marines, but lowly scouts…albeit with minor conversions done to them. Recon Marines are fully fledged marines and not in-fact 'lowly scouts' however they can switch to 'scout armor' which reduces their save to a 4+ in exchange for outflank.

The Night Lords Vigilator I had intended to pair with this unit originally is going to go into the Simple Green for a repaint (again!?!). Not sure what I'll do with him to be honest though. An infiltrating, Warlord with a 4+/5++ sounds great on paper, but a few test games with him resulted in all but giving my opponent the Warlord VP! Hell, the fucker never lived beyond turn 2! So needless to say, I intend to have someone else serve as my Warlord. I also wanted a more 'generic' army than the Night Lords list (true, that's optional, but the only Legion to wear the Aquila was the EC, not the NL. If anything my force may end up being a mix of beleaguered loyalists rather than just the Emperor's Children.

Ya see, unlike the usual 'pretty boy' appearance of the Emperor's Children, mine are (as is so typical of me) dirty and grimy with battle-damaged armor. These guys are loyalist (and thus short-lived) survivors of the Istvaan III betrayal. Forewarned of the impending virus bombing by Captain Saul Tarvitz, this squad took shelter in an abandoned drop pod after resealing the hatches. Luckily the pod was undamaged (ensuring a proper hermetic seal) as the Life Eater virus would have otherwise resulted in 100% casualties for the squad. Following that, they weathered the subsequent firestorm in the pod as well. Such an inferno was more or less 'just another day' in the life of a drop pod, and so was a safe place to continue to hold tight. Suffering psychologically from the outrage of betrayal, these marines fought to the last against their former brethren…and they certainly look the part!

In addition to this squad, I have an unpainted/assembled Techmarine with conversion-beamer, and his retinue of servo-automata (servitors with bolters and chainswords), and my old 1st. generation Predator, the aforementioned Vigilator and…well, that's it.

Future Recruitment:

God I wish! Currently even the Chinese knock-offs are financially out of my reach. Though going that route, It looks like about $130 would bring my force up to about 1K in points. For the time being, I'll have to content myself with painting what models I have. Of course given that I only ever manage to paint 3-4 models for any one project at a given time (at most), that ought to keep me content for quite awhile. If someone wants to play 30k, then I can (hopefully) borrow from Bob if needs be, as he has a sizable Emperor's Children force (or at least he does compared to me).

The Ebay Threat:

Zilch. If anything, ebay will be my answer to someday financing more 30k Emperor's Children, rather than finding themselves on it!