Astra Militarum - Leman Russ, Two More

     I finished up two more Leman Russ tanks. That leaves me with two more to paint up and I can call it for a bit on my Leman Russ collection. I own nine, but I don't see myself playing more than seven for a bit, and don't want to build what I won't see myself playing yet.

Leman Russ Exterminator and Vanquisher

     The next two will be painted up in a different paint scheme, however, as I want a less uniform look to the army, and doing the same colors is getting a bit boring (and exhaustive on my paint collection). 

Warhammer 40k - Update and Recap.

     Took a bit of a painting break yesterday, but I did manage to swing in a game. I had to bloat up my upgrades to hit 2,000 points, but Camo Netting is never a bad idea. I added an Inquisitor and some upgrades to my "standard" 1,750 list I wanted to try out, including making the Battle Tank that accompanies Pask into a Punisher Leman Russ for more dakka.
     The game didn't go too well in my favor, as my opponents (played a game against two others looking for a game) rolled a lot of well-placed 5s and 6s, and my rolls weren't the greatest. To be fair, I understand my list doesn't have a ton of rolling to actually do, and puts most of it's faith in averages, but when your opponent needs 6's to glance, and takes out three leman russ tanks in one turn - well, you tend to notice those kinds of spikes a lot more. Oh well, that's the nature of the list, honestly. I know how to improve it to be more competitive, but that's not the point in the first place, so will keep trudging along. For the most part I had fun, but I think the younger opponent I had was doing a bit of cheating, as he called out dice rolls that didn't occur, given I have better eyesight than he thought I did. It's not a huge deal, and not something I cared to address, but it's hard to test out a list when the dice are stacking up against you as well as soon "number fudging".
     Further thought into my list, I'm really stoked for the plug and play nature of it. Once I get my 1,850 points painted up, I can just move towards taking out "X" formation and adding "Y", so I don't have to build completely new lists and can slowly add to my collection. It's a really nice side effect of the current state of 7th edition, and something I'm very happy about. I don't think this applies to every army, but for Astra Militarum it definitely seems to function that way (the new Decurion-style Cadian stuff, anyways). I can take out my Emperor's Wrath Artillery formation for the Baneblade variant with a 7" (maybe 10"?) Str 10 AP 1 Ignore cover, or take away Pask's command slow for a Lord Commissar and an Infantry platoon for screening. And so on.
     As for painting, I did begin this morning with weathering up my next two Leman Russ tanks, and now just need to black out all the metal and color areas, and do that stuff. The blacking out is the longest step left, so should fly by if I can focus some tomorrow morning. That'll leave me with an Inquisitor, two Enginseers, two more Leman Russ tanks, and two Wyverns for a fully painted list. It's not a terrible amount more to go, and I have until June 12th to get it done. Because, you know... MkIII Warmachine!

Astra Militarum - Chimera and Manticore

     I finished up the airbrushing the other day, and spent yesterday painting up two of them. I didn't want to push through four vehicles since weekend plans would get in the way, so spaced my time out with the Chimera and Manticore only. Here's the result:

Imperial Guard - Chimera and Manticore

     I went heavier with the wash-weathering this time to give it a bit more color, and will probably stick to that in the future. There's still a good bit more to paint and build, and I'll try to filter in either a Lord Commisar or one of my Enginseer's I have left before I finish off the next two vehicles so I don't feel like it's getting too repetitive.

Astra Militarum - Squad 1 Completed

     Still early, so let's see if I can get some layers of airbrushing finished up on some tanks that are crying to be painted up!

Imperial Guard Veteran Squad

Warhammer 40k - I played a game and I liked it!

Got in my first game with the Astra Militarum last night. It was a lot of fun. The list I ran was the last one I posted up, so we just did 1,750 so I can test out what I have so far. Luckily I managed to snag a few Leman Russ tanks from a friend in a really good deal, so now I only lack the 2 Wyverns to actually own the full list.

My opponent ran Sisters of Battle with some Inquisition allies. That's a good army to stress test my armor - so many meltas, multi-meltas, and exorcists. Unfortunately we both had some wonky dice, and a few random Invulnerable/cover saves early game on his part ended up being a huge deal. I'm terrified of Dominion squads, particularly when playing so much heavy armor, and deployed... interestingly. To be fair it was my first game with the list and the Codex, so that inexperience was terrible. And what mission did we roll up? Contact Lost, of course. You get as many Tactical Objective cards as you control Objectives, so that was against me.

It was a great game with a lot of fun times involved, though. My list plays like my Tau list did, but less mobile ("no jetpack moves"), but it has the benefit of -NOT BEING TAU-. I didn't deploy well, as stated, and that really messed with my ability to castle-advance with a pile of Leman Russ tanks. Lesson learned, though.

He ended up Outflanking with the three Dominion Squads, and failed to bring any in on turn 2. That means I had three play turns (I went first) to get my tanks to the middle of the board, which I knew but didn't actually do. We had a lot of LoS, and I chose my side poorly and got the biggest LoS piece that was furthest in the deployment zone. Unfortunately this bottle-necked ME from the get go because of the movement and positioning I did.

In the end, I was tabled, but the VPs were actually kind of close. If I deployed correctly, I should have been able to largely forgo shooting first turn and just flat out all my tanks in to a better position with the Kabe's Herald on Pask. This was even more pronounced by being out of range with my Multi-Melta sponsons on my Vanquisher tanks, which reduced their firepower substantially (and I don't mean out of Melta range, I mean out of 24" range, uggh). I lost because I didn't play better, and that's a fate I'm very happy with. Losing without being able to figure out your mistakes is always the most annoying thing.

My MVP was my Plasma-cutioner, because he ended up killing Coteaz, about 6 melta guns, and a sizable amount of Sisters.

But I'm still short 100 points for the standard tournament point, and shy 250 points for my "for fun" games I play with non-competitive players in my area. 100 points means upgrades, and I failed to unlock the true potential of my Company Command Squad in such a list, and a few well-placed upgrades might be a really good idea. A Master of Ordnance would just add another Str 9 AP 3 attack from anywhere on the board at only 20 points? Wait, that can't be right! Another 150 points from there might just want to see another Company Command Squad, since I have points for little else (unless I add to a Leman Russ Squadron or pair up the Wyverns and grab a Basilisk, another Wyvern or two, or a Hydra - fliers being the biggest weakness of the list at the moment after meltas).

Astra Militarum - Dudesmen

     Having a very frustrating morning. Between the power going out in waves due to a downed line (or something) and the tedious nature of painting guys en masse, I'm calling it for the day. Progress is at a good point, I feel. While I'm only painting up 12 guys, it's two more than I'd like to - with one of them being a weapon team.
     But can't play Astra Militarum without some Dudes. Once I streamline the process and only do squads/lots of 10, it'll be much better. I'm basically just at painting all the black areas various shades, and just started the basecoating for that. Here's the progress on one of them, which puts them all in the same spot as far as quality. I will say I'm happy with the quality versus the time I'm spending on them, and will decide if I want to keep this standard or make it a bit more simple.
     I'll note that I'm looking towards painting tons of dudes while playing this army, so I want them all to be the same standard and not take forever to paint.

These guys will be done tomorrow at the latest, and with my three days off coming up I plan to paint up some more tanks if I can buy/get them built. The tanks will paint quickly, so I'll use any free time to just relax since I'm really feeling like I need to break and chill for a day or two to refuel (and I don't just mean for painting).

Update 5/19:

     I got some more work done, but this is all taking longer than I thought. I finished blacking out all the areas, and am closing in on home stretch. All that's left are black highlights (which should go by pretty quickly) and then some metal. I have all day at the house to myself, so I hope to finish these guys and prep some more tanks I grabbed last night (4 Leman Russ ones!).

Astra Militarum - Pask and Company

     It's been a long morning, but I finished up my tanks! Instead of posting how they all came out (pretty much the same minus camo pattern), I figured I'd just take pictures of the Pask tank after he was adorned on top of it. So here he is:

     Now I just have to paint up 10 guardsmen and a Heavy Weapon Team, play one 40k game, and get my gift certificate so I can grab more tanks!

Astra Militarum - Leman Russ

     Ahead of schedule. Started the Leman Russ tanks this morning. Just the metal, blacks, and finishing the weathering left!

Astra Militarum - Hammer of the Emperor

     Alright, now that I have more access to sources, books, and .pdfs, I've done some early list revision on my initial Astra Militarum assessment. I'm positive I want to do tanks, at least at first. I want to buy, build, and paint up a bulk of tanks, and this is going to happen with my current list. I'm still at a loss for some points, but here is a much more accurate "force to be reckoned with".

Hammer of the Emperor: 1,750 POINTS----------------------------------------------------

Command Detachment:
-------------------
- Knight Commander Pask, +70 points to Leman Russ
           Leman Russ Punisher (140 points), /w Heavy Bolter Sponsons (+20), Kabe's Herald (+20) - 250 points
     - Leman Russ Battle Tank(150 points)

Total: 400 Points


Emperor's Fist Formation:
-------------------------
- Tank Commander, +30 points to Leman Russ
           Leman Russ Exterminator (130 points) - 160 points
     - Leman Russ Exterminator(130 points)
          ( 290 points )

- Leman Russ Squadron, "Fury"
     - Leman Russ Vanquisher, /w Multi-Melta Sponsons, Lascannon (165 points)
- Leman Russ Squadron, "Rage"
     - Leman Russ Vanquisher, /w Multi-Melta Sponsons, Lascannon (165 points)
- Leman Russ Squadron, "Mr. Deathwish"
     - Leman Russ Executioner, /w Plasma Cannon Sponsons (185 points)
- Enginseer (40 points)
- Enginseer (40 points)

Total: 885 points

Emperor's Wrath Formation:
-------------------------

- Company Command Squad (60 points), /w Chimera (+65 points) - 125 points
- Wyvern (65 points)
- Wyvern (65 points)
- Manticore (170 points)
- Enginseer (40 points)

Total: 465 points

----------------------------------------------------------

It sports some serious firepower and armor, has a ton of tanks, and manages to maneuver enough of the bulk of tanks I'll need for the moment. It's still shy 100 points, but upgrades can easily take that to whatever point limit I play at. But that doesn't mean just adding more models wouldn't be the superior option. I'd like to buy and try the list as it sits right now, and I can make that choice after I see how it goes.

I'm pretty happy with this, and think it can be pretty good. There's always the possibility it crumbles against any serious competitive list, but they better bring Optimized Stealth Cadres, tons of Str D, or ways to mitigate AV 14. Between the Manticores and Wyverns, it deals with infantry of any variety extremely well, especially if I pass Ignore Cover to the Manticore from the Company Command Squad. That leaves the Leman Russes to play anti-armor and generally try to be bullies. I kept squadron sizes down on purpose, and the points just sort of fit that, too. Pask is nasty, but the Tank Commander handing out +1 BS and whatnot is a reason he's in a cheap Exterminator (still anti-armor, and tries to keep him less of a target to make threat decisions more difficult).

If I could swing Camo Netting and can go first, I can pretty easily get a first strike alpha that could be pretty disastrous to my opponent, while getting myself a 2+ or 3+ cover save depending on Night Fighting or not. Could be hot.

Astra Militarum - Pask

     I got some serious work done on my Pask "conversion". I've added a lip on the inside of my Pask Tank so he can just sit in there and be glued in easily after I paint the tank. This guy is a few highlights from being finished, but work is work and I needed to get to it.

Astra Militarum - Enginseer

     Back from a family funeral, and back to my normal/sporadic painting schedule. Trying to paint up what I finished building recently, which is about 750 points worth of Astra Militarum (accounting for list upgrade bloat). I started with the Enginseer and will try to paint up my Lord Commissar afterwards. Then some tanks and some infantry and we're done. I'd like to be finished with what's on my 40k paint table by Wednesday morning, which is very possible.
     This Enginseer is going to set the standard for my infantry painting standard. So much to paint, I'm looking to take a step back from higher quality so I can pump through models as I need to.

Enginseer

     I also finished some Vampire Counts painting, and I'll update on those a bit later. Nothing too spectacular, as I went with incorporeal units/models.

Warhammer 40k - Leman Rus... err... Astra Militarum

So while surfing through a lot of texts and documents and PDFs, I think I may have finally found a formation/army that I'm super stoked about for Warhammer 40k. It's not the greatest thing ever, of course, but it plays a game I really like to play, and I'd be quite happy to give it a go. As for now, this is something I really want to model and paint up. So we have:

Emperor's Fist Formation:

-------------------------

- Knight Commander Pask, +70 points to Leman Russ

           Leman Russ Punisher (140 points), /w Heavy Bolter Sponsons (+20) - 230 points

     - Leman Russ Exterminator(130 points)

     - Leman Russ Exterminator(130 points)

          ( 490 points )

- Leman Russ Squadron, "Fury"

     - Leman Russ Vanquisher, /w Multi-Melta Sponsons, Lascannon (165 points)

- Leman Russ Squadron, "Rage"

     - Leman Russ Vanquisher, /w Multi-Melta Sponsons, Lascannon (165 points)

- Leman Russ Squadron, "Mr. Deathwish"

     - Leman Russ Executioner, /w PLasma Cannon Sponsons (175 points)

-Enginseer (40 points)

-Enginseer (40 points)

Total: 1075 points

This formation grants +1 BS to all the Leman Russ tanks that are within 12" of the Tank Commander (Pask). So it enabled some fun combinations with weaponry, knowing that BS 4 can get some work done. "Mr. Deathwish" is just for some fun flavor, and while he may kill himself before anyone could even fire on him, 5 Str 7, AP 2 Blast templates could be a load of fun. The Enginseers also force opponent's to roll an additional die on the vehicle penetration table and drop the lowest result. This increases the survivability of tanks considerably.

But then I'm in sort of a state of confusion. Where to branch out from here? I am lax on the standard large blasts you'd expect from Astra Militarum, but I think supplementing that with some Wyverns could be a serious firepower addition. So that leaves me with trying to fit a CAD in there. Since my local game store is still running their "buy a Start Collecting box" deal. This deal enables you to buy any armies Start Collection box, build it, paint it, and play at least two games, and then you get a $40 gift certificate. So, basically nets you a Start Collection box for $45 bucks. This means that I will be picking up the Astra Militarum one, so I'll already have, at minimum, a Lord Commisar and 10 guardsmen at hand. But if I take up 2 Start Collection boxes, 2 of the Leman Russ Tech-Command boxes, and 2 Leman Russ Battle tank boxes - that gives me the above formation ready to go, and enough dudes for Veteran squads, sans Chimeras, for a CAD. So we could add:

HQ - Lord Commisar (65 points)

Troop - Veterans x10, x2 Melta, x1 Flamer /w Chimera (150 points)

Troop - Veterans x10, x2 Melta, x1 Flamer /w Chimera (150 points)

Heavy Support - Wyvern (65 points)

Heavy Support - Wyvern (65 points)

Total: 495 points

Which brings the point total up to 1,570. The extra Lord Commisar is probably going to converting up the tank commander "Pask" to looking quite interesting, so that's where that model goes.

In an 1,850 list, I'd be left with 280 points. Which is plenty of points to figure out stuff to do with. By barely touching into the CAD, there are plenty of slots available to do whatever with. Or I have models to work on the new Cadian Detachment thing, but to really do that I feel I'd need to commit pretty readily to fielding Dudesmen, and I'm not sure that's where I want to start with my first Astra Militarum list.

With those points, I could cut out the Chimeras, grab a TON of dudesmen, put them all in a bulk 50 man squad, grab a 50 man conscript squad for dirt cheap, and just have 100 bodies floating around. If that frees up enough points for Camo netting (for a 4+ cover on all my tanks) by running enough of them in front of them, that could be sweet.

Pink Horrors Complete. Finally.

Chaos Daemons Pink Horrors

     There are still some steps I could go through to make them pop even more, but I'll probably not worry too much about it for now. I own 60, so this is just a third of them. When I paint more, I'll do them in batches of 10 so I can grind them out a bit faster without tiring myself out, and that'll allow for the extra steps. But for now they are finished, which is splendid, because I have a ton of stuff coming up that's very exciting. Infinity tables, more Thousand Sons, Tohaa, Chaos Daemons Frostgrave warband, and more and more. It's already quite a busy year.

Thousand Sons Sicaran

Thousand Sons Pre-Heresy Sicaran Battle Tank

Sicaran WiP, Flamers, and Pink Horrors. And some Tohaa.

Sicaran WiP

     This beauty arrived on Saturday and I had it assembled by that evening. I started painting it this morning, and will try to be done by tomorrow morning. The Sicaran Battle Tank is probably my favorite tank model ever, and I'm happy to finally be painting one. 

     My Flamers are finished, but it's more of a state of limbo. I don't like the look of the models, they are pretty terrible on the tabletop, and painting them is a chore - but I got base colors and some stuff done, they just look a bit "meh". A few more highlight layers will have them finished up, but that'll be an indeterminate amount of time in the future. For now, I'm just happy they are behind me.

     I originally went after the Flamers first because I figured 9 models should be faster than the 20-man Pink Horror unit. But not only will the Pink Horrors be infinitely more entertaining to paint, their features, and lack of extras minus a few jewelry, should have them painted really easy. I'm behind on my self-imposed paint schedule by five days, but there's an extra model tossed in, so it's okay. I have a few more days before I get a nice package in the mail:

Infinity - Tohaa---------------------

     My Haqqislam army is gone. I wasn't looking to get rid of it, but an opportunity to get a little bit of cash and a huge Tomb Kings army presented itself, so I made the trade. The army itself isn't anything special, but it has some very key bits I need for my Thousand Sons stuff, and has a few untouched kits, including Nagash and one of his big mounted dudes. There's plenty of conversions in there, and I may even try some skeleton-Tzeentch Cultists since I have enough floating around.

     But the decision to get rid of Haqqislam was made easier by my waned interest in the army. There is nothing wrong with Haqqislam, or any Infinity army for that matter, but I'm OCD when it comes to bases, and with only 3 or 4 armies total, two sharing the same basing concept just can not be allowed. I searched for an army, looking for something interesting and unique, but also an aesthetic I hadn't tackled before or didn't share similarities with my other armies. I settled on Tohaa.

     I purchased the starter and a Makaul box. And then I went to eBay and grabbed more. And the more I read the more I purchased. Everything was interesting and engaging, and the army is still so small in total unit count that it was like purchasing an entire Sectorial List, but for a main army. Now that my buying is over, I can proudly say I am the owner of Tohaa. All of it.

     Since I haven't even built one model yet, I will assemble and base everything at the same time. Then it will all get primed. From there, I'll just pick and choose what I want to paint as it interests me. Unlike Warmachine or 40k, I can take my time and not be really penalized. Even if I paint 6 models a month, that would mean 2 months would leave me with a fully painted army at a very high painting standard, so that's always nice. My Haqqislam army was my best looking army, and I want to step it up a notch with Tohaa.

Chaos Heldrake

     Falling even further behind due to my wife getting sick, but the Heldrake is all kinds of finished and ready to start flaming things dead-dead.

Thousand Son Pre-Heresy Heldrake

Happy Holidays!

     I had a pretty good holiday, and I hope everyone else did as well. We had a lot of presents to load into the car, and expecting that, I opted to not bring my painting stuff with me and just brought a ton of stuff to put together. So by the end of my vacation, I had built and prepped for painting:

- Tactical Marines x10

- Support Squad x10 (x5 with meltas, x5 with plasmas)

- Librarian/Sorcerer

- Terminators (x2 wolf claws, power weapon + combi-plasma, chainfist + combi-plasma, power fist+combi-plasma)

- Mortis-Contemptor Dreadnought

- x20 Pink Horrors (since I was behind on these guys)

     My Heldrake is really close to being finished. I completed all the base coats on the main body, and only have the gold on the wings left. Then a bit of a wash over it all, then just metal highlights, which should be wicked fast. It should be done tomorrow. And then I'll airbrush the Horrors and Flamers and get to pumping those out.

     Ideally I'll be spending my Friday cracked out on Warhammer between a new Rogue Trader RPG I'm running and a game or two I can hopefully fit in at my local store. Pictures of everything painted will be taken once I finish all the December painting.

Heldrake WiP and 2016.

Heldrake WiP

     There's still a sizable amount to be done. I'm hoping to at least finish the steel metal on the wings today, and at least start the gold work before I leave for vacation. I'm not bringing any models to paint with me, but I'll be bringing a ton of stuff to assemble and prep for when I get back. It's unlikely I'll get the Flamers, Horrors, and LoCs done by Jan. 1st, but I am still hoping to do the Horrors and hopefully the Flamers.

     I saw a game going down of 30k, and it's got me really pumped to get more Thousand Sons 30k/40k Friendly stuff ready to go. I assembled my Mortis-Contemptor Dreadnought with twin Kheres Assault Cannons yesterday, and got a ton of bits I needed to do my Sorcerer/Apprentices up. Woot! And to top it all off, I ordered the following from Forge World:

- Sicaran Battle Tank

- Deimos Vindicator with Laser Destroyers

- Spartan Assault Tank

- Typhon Heavy Siege Tank

     Sooo much excitement. Once they get here, I'll be working to assemble and paint those ASAP. They are almost 1,000 points worth of tanks, so just doing those for a month worth of painting will be great, but I also want to try to knock out in the next few months:

- Tactical Marines x10

- Support Squad /w Plasma x5

- Support Squad /w Melta x5

- Sorcerer/Apprentices/Multi-Use Characters x4

- Mortis-Contemptor Dreadnought

     If I can prep all the marines over my vacation, it is definitely doable. I want to save up a bit of money for once the Thousand Sons book comes out, any 40k Tzeentch-related stuff, and Thousand Sons pre-heresy specific units once they get released (hoping for brotherhood of pyskers).

     There's also a handful of terminators I want to assemble, although I probably won't get to paint them for a bit.

Faster! Faster!

     Some stuff is taking longer than I was hoping. I'm not trying to rush, and had a loose schedule to begin with, but I was still hoping to be a bit further along. The Chaos Marines are finished, and I'll take pictures once I finish the Heldrake, which I hope to be this weekend sometime. Yesterday was quite productive - not only did I finish the marines, but I also built and prepped my Screamers, Flamers, and the Bases needed for the Flamers and Horrors and Heldrake:

WiP Sand Bases

     There are only two more days off before I get my vacation, and they are tomorrow and Wednesday. I'm also a bit unsure as to whether or not I want to bring stuff to paint on my vacation or not, but I'll just see where I'm at and if anything is easily transportable or not. If I don't bring stuff to paint, I'll at least bring whatever needs finishing prep work so when I get back I can rock out painting and by done with everything.

     Tomorrow will be a lot of priming and airbrush work on the Heldrake, Screamers, and Bases, and I'll use the remainder of the day afterwards to choose what I want to work on. As long as nothing interferes with my plans, there's no reason (with all of those airbrushed), I can't finish them up on my work days and have Wednesday to completely paint the Flamers. That'd leave me on Pink Horrors and the LoCs.

CSM Progress.

    I didn't get done as much as I was hoping over the weekend, but I've powered through all the base coats and am on the home stretch. While there's still a good bit left, it's the fun stuff:

Pre-Heresy Thousand Sons WiP

     Stuff left to do:

          - Finish up all the black

          - Armor washes and highlights

          - Free hand work

          - Dull cote

          - Armor Highlights

          - Pigments

     Seems like a lot, but it'll be fast since I'm over the hump. They need to be done by noon(ish) on Wednesday, so I should be fine. I'm planning on taking my Lord's of Change with me on my vacation to finish up, assuming I can get the airbrushing finished with, so the next week and a half will be trying to power through all the infantry left. 38 models, a Heldrake, and the LoCs - gogogo.

     There was a good auction on ebay this morning that enabled me to get 20 more Pink Horrors built and ready to paint for dirt cheap, so that's exciting. I had 40, but having 60 makes me much more comfortable.