We March-er...or-uh, mosey(?) for Macragge

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Its been a busy month for me so far and as you can tell by the title, odds are that I'm not going to get all 20 of my remaining Smurf intercessors and hellblasters painted like I had originally had hoped to. Indeed, two weeks in and I've managed just five so far. 

Judging by the color, I'd say the guy in the middle pushing his plasma incinerator a little too hard...

That said, they look pretty good, and I'm rather pleased with the glowy effect on the plasma guns. The three Hellblasters bring me up to a combat squad of those guys, whereas the two Intercessors round those out to a dozen painted. Ignoring these two intercessors, I can now field 635 points of fully painted Ultramarines! So yeah, still a long ways to go. 

Beneath the grime, you can just make out some campaign badges on their thigh armor plates.

I had only intended to work on basic troops as they are both the most numerous and least exciting to paint. However after my last game with Neverness, the Librarian has wormed his way into the next batch of Smurfs to paint thanks to his glorious psychic deeds in combat! 

The next five on deck. 

Likewise the 2nd squad's sergeant is in there as well due to consistently rolling 6s to hit & wound with his bolt pistol. He's even successfully wounded a Carnifex with said bolt pistol! Curiously, he also brings 5 chainsword attacks to the table (Suck it assault intercessors!). Backing that up is another 27 CCW attacks, which ought to make even basic intercessors a worrisome target to charge into.

With luck, hopefully I'll get these five (and maybe a few more) done before the month is out. 

Ultramarines Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon

 I'm thinking that this might be my first ever leap year post. 

What d'ya mean you can't see him?

This past Saturday evening I elected to not go out and game and instead I painted this guy up. I did a minor arm and head swap as I didn't like the chitinous, replacement, hillbilly armored pauldron and, well I just prefer for my marines to be helmeted. 

Zzzzz commented in our group chat that he couldn't wait to see the matching terrain that was to go with his armor's color scheme. 

As such, I put this guy in front of the Tennessee equivalent of Zzzzz's famous Brick of Scrutiny. Personally, I think this Lt. blends pretty well in a concrete environment.

In hindsight I ought to had added a few kill markings on the side of the combi-flamer.

At first I didn't quite know what to think of this model or its utility. However at some point it just clicked that he's basically a Space Wolves' Lone Wolf, albeit one for any chapter. Sure he lacks the customizability of kit, but most primaris marines suffer from that trait. 

Unlike the rest of my Camo-Smurfs, this guy's camo covers the pauldrons and helm as well. 

Come here bug, I'm gonna cut ya!

Given my Marines' repeated pummeling of Hivefleet Neverness, I was tempted to paint the 'nid gribbly under his foot in Neverness' nids' color scheme. Rather than add yet more bluish tones to this model, I opted for something with more of a visual contrast. Thus, I picked the colors on a whim, I have no idea if there's a known Hivefleet in these colors or not. 

Aside from simply 'a dead one', does anybody know what sort of 'nid gribbly it is that he's crushing underfoot?

Edit: Neverness brought to my attention a new (to me) painting challenge along the lines of Dreadtober, only for Smurf players called 'March for Macragge'. As such I guess this guy can kick that off for me as the Emprah knows that I have hordes of primed Smurfs awaiting paint. 

Ultramarines update

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My last two Ultramarine assault intercessors are complete. The other five will go to the Black Dragons.

I'm really liking the laser cut plants!

The squad as a whole.

While a Star Wars legion AT-RT and a handful of Black Dragon Intercessors are vying for total control of my hobby time at the moment, that doesn't mean that there aren't any other side projects in progress as well. For example, this week I finished up my last two Ultramarine assault intercessors which you can see above.

The painted army thus far.

This brings the painted portion of my army to twenty minis. Due to my short attention span, I'm pretty sure that I haven't had that many marines painted in the same color scheme since going all the way back to my Storm Wardens from about a decade or so ago.

Both the Ultramarines and Black Dragons will each get at least five Hellblasters apiece. As is the case with most squads, in that they only come in numbers of five and ten now, it remains to be seen as to which army will get the remaining five.

Here of late the Black Dragons have been syphoning off units from this army. As if I was ever going to paint 30 intercessors all in the same color scheme anyways. Nonetheless, both forces easily clock in at 1000 points each, though I can't field them side-by-side, as unpainted minis slide freely back and forth between the two armies. 

I'm thinking that the female space marine in back will be promoted to be the sergeant of my 2nd, 5-strong squad of intercessors. She'll be taking one of the AGL gunners with her, meaning the next two painted Ultramarine intercessors will still go to this squad.

Lastly we have Captain Horridus, the Company's Ancient, and the only vehicle in the army, my servo-strike turret.

Here be Dragons... (v.2)

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Scary aren't they? No really, they are. Seriously!

They even have rules that say they are...

I'm sorry Zzzzz I tried, I really did. It just didn't work out. For those who aren't aware, Zzzzz is the one who named my Incandescent Coyotes chapter after seeing their initial paint jobs. As such he was rather fond of them and was somewhat appalled to have found out that they went the way of eBay. 

These were more or less no frills speed paints.

Simple & easy which bodes well for their future.

The Coyotes were all Firstborn marines, which outside of 30k are unsurprisingly going the way of the Dodo. Their color scheme was difficult and laborious to paint. Indeed the Gryph-Hound Orange contrast paint was the real culprit. Unlike the other contrast paints in my inventory with which I've had considerable success, I just could never get the Coyotes' orange right. 

I need to get some of the alien tufts which are red, blue &

hot pink as opposed to these which are just dead.

So, on a whim...I thought I'd try and resurrect the Coyotes with a Primaris reboot, reversing their color scheme of orange with black trim to a more manageable black with orange trim. All was going well until...I started fighting with the damned orange contrast on the pauldrons. Multiple coats to smooth it's appearance out, difficulty with the Coyote emblem on said pauldron again as well, and then...

I said: Fuck it. 

All black it is. Sorry Zzzzz, the Coyotes are lost to history. Looking at my decal sheets I found a considerable number of still unused Silver Drake decals and I instead revisited a chapter that I toyed with years ago: the Black Dragons. Rather than retell their appeal, you can just reread it in this old post here. 

Unlike that first foray which resulted in just one painted mini and several subsequent blog mentions, I now stand at a five-strong squad of reivers and had just enough black primer for a lieutenant before running out. With Battlescribe up and running again for 10th ed, after making a 1k list for the Smurfs I then syphoned off the rest of my marines for the Dragons.

The primer didn't go on too smoothly, likely due to the ridiculously hot & humid weather. This is most evident on their combat blades.

Currently the Dragons clock in at somewhere between 600-700 points depending on whether on not they inherit my Chaplain or not. Meaning you ought not expect to see them on the table top anytime soon.

Especially as we just returned from a vacation to Boston Massachusetts which left my bank accounts almost empty (frighteningly so), while additionally adding far too much to my credit card bill for my liking. It was well worth it though! Thus no purchases for this new army will be made for a good while.

*****

One last thing of note, and on a different subject:

Red & white stripes removed.

After being used as often as not as a captain rather than a lieutenant, Lt. Siph Horridus has been officially promoted to captain of my Ultramarines 3rd Battle company army. He received his helmet repaint just yesterday. Huzzah! 

Those 'Wild Boys' from the 7th Company

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Firstborn Lieutenant Wild of the Ultramarines' 7th Reserve Company.

In the Indomitus era, Primaris Space Marines are king amongst the armies of the Imperium. Primaris Marines form the bulk, if not the entirety of most chapters' battle and veteran companies, whilst the Firstborn, recently graduated from the 10th company's scouts are relegated to the reserve companies until they've proven themselves worthy of crossing the Rubicon divide. 

Amongst the ranks of the Ultramarines, the Firstborn of the reserve companies spend most of their time performing such vital tasks as standing guard in the various hallways and thresholds of the unassailable Fortress of Hera on Macragge, practicing's parade drill for the tourists of Ultramar, and if they're particularly lucky, garrisoning some imperial backwater, freeing up the Primaris marines to do the real work of smiting the Imperium's foes. 

Lt. Wild is headquartered in the Fortress Of Hera's Obsidian Tower. Here he is seen surveying the wreckage of said tower, as upon hearing of his new orders, Lt. Wild suffered a very Kylo Ren-esque temper tantrum and the Obsidian Tower suffered heavily for it. 

The reserve companies are lead by by a hidebound, prideful and some would say an embittered cadre of officers who steadfastly refuse to cross that Rubicon divide. Indeed they see the Primaris marines as an afront to the Emperor's great work in creating the Space Marines. Lieutenant Wild is one such Firstborn officer, who is assigned to the Ultramarines 7th Reserve Company.

Recently, the Ultramarines'' 7th reserve company was rewarded for their particularly efficient cleansing of the roadside trash along the Roboute Guilliman (no longer) Memorial Expessway's entire length. Thus they were honored with the privilege of guarding the porta-johns along the parade route leading to the Imperial palace on the forthcoming Day of the Emperor's Ascension celebration on Holy Terra.

Note the bionic arm, his biological arm was lost in combat with the treacherous Red Corsairs.

 As the 7th company prepared itself for it's sacred duty, thru what can only be explained as a clerical error, Lt. Wild, a combat squad from one of the 7th's tactical squads, and a razorback transport and it's crew were requisitioned to detach from the rest of the company, sully their newly polished armor by repainting it in urban camouflage of all things, and report to the staging grounds of the 3rd Battle Company's Strikeforce Horridus where they were to be attached in support of an unspecified mission.

Outraged at these various indignities, Lt. Wild and his accompanying marines nonetheless followed their orders to the letter and presented themselves to the 3rd's staging ground in time for the boarding of their transports. Puzzled at the Firstborn's arrival, and in matching camo no less, the 3rd's Primaris Chaplain paused in his exhortations of 'In the Emperor's name, GET YOUR ASSES MOVING!' to inquire: 'Are you little guys lost?'

Orders or not, the camouflaging of his armor could only go so far...

Thus far, most of the 7th's 'actions' have been spent guarding the halls of their Strike cruiser from the depredations of  chapter serfs who have lost their way, or their landing zones from the local flora and fauna. The Primaris marines of the 3rd company have taken to calling their firstborn brethren 'The Wild Boys' in mockery of these ridiculously mundane tasks. 

On the rare occasions in which 'The Wild Boys' have been engaged in combat, they operate more in conjunction to, rather than in support of their Primaris brethren. Indeed the only support that they've directly provided on the battlefield is the transport of Primaris casualties* back to the transports via their Razorback. 

*For those who insist that Primaris marines cannot fit into a Razorback, I would like to remind you that those would be 'whole' Primaris marines, whereas casualties tend to not be...

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.

Ultramarine Hellblaster Sergeant (v.2)

 o/

This squad is now a third of the way painted.

If you haven't already stumbled across it, to view today's actual blogpost, just scroll down to the post *published* on 'December 19th' (and not on Christmas Eve when I actually typed it) due to a typo when scheduling the date and hitting 'publish' icon.

I would complain to blogger, but this is a free service and you get what you pay for. 

Ultramarine Hellblaster Sergeant

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For Macragge, fire on my mark!

I hope everyone had a good (and warm) Christmas! I certainly am sure I will (I'm writing this on Christmas eve). As my fiancé doesn't purchase minis, my only holiday hobby acquisitions will be limited to a Tau Broadside from Rob (mwuhahaha...) and some squad differentiating rings for my marines from Screech. Pics to come on the latter as they are still in transit, but he has them himself and they're pretty neat (you can see them in my last sort-of battle report). 

Speaking of...

I seriously doubt that the tank got painted this week as well.

In that game, once Frankie started rolling dice so that they all didn't come up as a '1', his Hellblaster sergeant pretty much withstood an ungodly amount of literal Hellhound fire. Something like 8 or 9 successful armor saves with only 1 command reroll (that succeeded unlike every other command reroll ever). I should add he was already down to a single wound when this feat of dice rolling commenced! As such that mini earned a paint job and as you can see it got it. 

This marine commemorates his prior service to the Deathwatch with apparent pride. 

In hindsight, the leg plate wearing the chapter icon on it ought to have been in Ultramarine blue rather than black, but oh well. I was going for symmetry and don't feel like repainting it. 

It does still need to be clear coated. However, as all of my fellow Americans are painfully aware, when I painted this mini today (Christmas Eve) and just prior to writing this, outside temperatures resemble those of Hoth (its warmed up to a balmy 1 degree Fahrenheit at this moment). 

Indeed, even the basement which has become my alternative priming/clear coating venue this winter, is also too cold for clear coating right now. Looking at the current weather report, it looks like he'll get his clear coat somewhere around New Year's Eve. 

Thankfully September has come to an end...

 o/

Loren succumbs to the lure of Chaos...

Yeah, September wasn't a good month for me. It started out alright, however at about the week following my last post a coworker who thought he 'just had a cold' instead gave me covid. Which I in turn gave to my fiancé, who inadvertently gave it to her best (in the pic above), and its a 50/50 as to which of us then gave it to my stepson Frankie. 

We've all since recovered, but there was a lot of suck in those last two weeks (and that's just on the covid front, I'll spare you the rest). 

Doesn't even look like a repaint, just don't look at the other side of that gun shield!

The Drakes were strong with this one as it took multiple attempts (and decals) in order to get that icon to properly affix to his pauldron!

Another view from the business end. They're not in any of the pictures, but two more assault intercessors are also in-progress

Like my first time with the 'rona, once I started to feel better I started to paint minis during my enforced quarantine (unlike the last time, the quarantine wasn't 10 days, and I no longer live alone meaning I didn't paint 10+ minis this go round). 

First up I partially repainted the Firestrike Servo-Turret since the rest of my painted Silver Drakes have redeployed to the Connecticut subsector. The lack of availability in acquiring the needed metallic blue paint led to that army's demise. Given that the vast majority were unpainted, my Smurf army just got a BIG boost in numbers!

This is probably the equivalent of a Renault FT.

With the Quar equivalent of General Patton riding in the turret.

Space marine belt pouches for stowage.

The Servo turret added to the background for scale.

On a whim, I also painted up my 15mm Quar tank. I was so enamored with it that I then went on the zombiesmith website and ordered another one (different type) along with some other cool little vehicles. I'm thinking that I'll introduce Frankie to Bolt Action's rule set using the 15mm Quar in my caves terrain.  

Moving onto October...

...and it's DREADtober! My paltry entry into this year's event is my Day'lth Tau's Sub Commander Firestorm. Firestorm has thus far led my Tau infantry horde to a string of costly defeats. No doubt these were if fact diversionary assaults, drawing forces away from the actual invasions rendering said defeats into victories For the Greater Good! 

Coming to a close combat near you!

I've outfitted him/her with 3D printed, twin-airbursting fragmentation launchers (mortars) a shield generator and a prototype Thermoneutronic Projector. I thought the frag launchers looked cool and opted for them before I realized that mortars were the meta (ooh how I hate that term) weapon of choice. 

However, both pre- and post- mortar nerf, they've accomplished little. Most likely because this guy has a penchant for suicide charges into close combat where that projector is pretty much cheese on a stick! Suck it Farsight! 

No idea whose Rhino door it will be that Firestorm is striding over.

Whilst less than effective versus Neverness whose Termies all choose to hide behind the one guy with a storm shield when making armor saves, yet not when making their attacks (speaking of cheesy), Firestorm has sent a fair few of Rob's plague marines to their unexpected deaths! 

I doubt a proper paint job will improve his/her leadership capabilities, however it's high time this mini was painted since it leads and army that has 40-50ish painted models already, and is by far my most painted of armies. 

Are those the Sisters you were looking for?

 Licking their wounds following multiple engagements, the Incandescent Coyotes strike cruiser Blazing One disappeared into the warp. However, shortly thereafter the Ultramarine's Strike Cruiser Self-Righteous Son exited the warp in roughly the same vicinity. 

Following astropathic echos in the void they began scanning for traitor activity. A quick scan of vox intercepts of the nearby planets revealed an order of Adeptus Sororitas whom had strayed from the Emperor's light (no doubt the very same ones the aforementioned Coyotes failed to locate). 

After a brief orbital bombardment revealed that the Sororitas' convent's void shields were unfazed, marines of the Ultramarines' 4th battle company under the command of Lt. Siph Horridus, along with a smaller detachment of the Silver Drakes' 7th company under the command of Lt. Warmonger deployed to cleanse these traitors the old fashioned way: with bolter and blade. 

Mike had originally expected Rob to be in attendance with Necrons, instead though Rob bailed at the last minute after being ensnared by an unexpected 'honey-do-this' barrage. We also had tried to coax Neverness out of his mountain lair to no avail.

 As it was just Mike and I by this point, we opted to just keep it simple, dispense with any objectives and just kill each other. Standard 12" straight across the table side deployment, with 1000 points per side.

No preliminary army pics this time as the lighting was poor and they looked atrocious. Pictured here are my Smurfs, consisting of Lt. Horridus, a Std. Bearer, 5 Hellblasters, a combat squadded Intercessor squad with bolt rifles and lastly 5 assault intercessors.

 

My center (nothing was deployed on my right flank) were the Silver Drakes. Fielding Lt. Warmonger, 9 Intercessors with Stalker bolt rifles, and the autocannon armed Servo-turret.  

Going first, the smurfs advanced enmasse, while blazing away at the immolator Proxy and retributors in the bunker to it's right. 

The assault intercessors advanced 11 inches, with pistols blazing (not that they accomplished anything). Hower remembering doctrines this time around, the Silver drakes pummeled the SoB squad in front of them.  

Apparently, Mike didn't like that and a new threat to my Drakes revealed itself...

His incinerator rolled 6 hits, and (4) 6's to wound (causing 4 mortal wounds), which along with standard wounds gutted my assault troops in one go!

Still, in my following turn they'd survive the overwatch fire and charge in to where nothing much happened for awhile. Apparently the 'armor of contempt' rules cuts both ways rendering a lot of weapons bonuses a moot point.

The Drakes were firing in earnest now, though to minimal effect. Only killing a sister or two and putting maybe as many wounds onto the tank. 

Withering fire sent the last surviving Retributor into hiding, and the Immolator proxy repositioned further away. Mike's prior round's shooting also whittled down my forward Intercessor combat squad. 

This round would see the Immolator finish them off!

I came around the table for a better pic only to learn that FUCK! There was another squad lurking unseen in the ruins!

Slowly grinding the squad down. Luckily that power maul was really just a chain sword. 

I believe this pic is supposed to be captioned: 'the Hellblasters want to get painted.'

Eight wounds in one volley of plasma fire means that they likely deserve it!

Finishing off the Sister superior, the assault marines consolidate 3" towards the next squad only to be summarily cut down by said squad. 

Alive only due to a command reroll, The Techmarine blazes away with twin-autocannons before finally succumbing to his fire fate. 

Indeed, casualties were starting to mount...

One last volley and the immolator proxy explodes, wounding the closest marine with fiery shrapnel. 

Avenging the turret and a few of their now more crispy brethren, the Drake intercessors hammer the tank with stalker fire! (that '1' represents the tank's last wound rather than it's first)

Curiously, the accompanying sisters pullback, as if anticipating an explosion...

...and explode it does, though luckily the Drakes are about half an inch outside of fiery death range.

On the other side of the field, the hellblasters do what they do best and erase the nearest SoB squad.

At the start of his turn 5 Mike ran up the white flag and we called it. There was little he could do had he played his round as his only viable targets were the Drakes whom had weathered considerable fire already in their hard cover. Glory to the Smurfs  and friends!