Mordian 95th Rifles

Santa might have pulled me back in...

2010-12-29T09:29:00.000-05:00

So When opening my Christmas presents I found this sitting in my lap...

A very cool piece. Will have to assemble it and see how hard it will be to magnetize / modify it so I can swap out the Maticore for the Deathstrike.

The next question that comes is...How does this fit in the "Theme" of the army. I suppose it could be "Horse Rocket artillery"

Course I might not want to jinx the model with the accuracy shown by the Horse Arty in the video above. ;)

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and got lots of sweet gaming loot from Santa.

Hiatus from 40k...heard the call of Battletech again.

2010-09-28T16:14:00.001-04:00

Been a few months since my last post. Figured it was more than time for an update as to my status.

I've gotten a little blog happy as of recent. In July I started up a 40k campaign with the local gaming crew.

Using Planetary empire rules. Made a blog for the players to follow online and set up battles at their own homes. Unfortunately, if fizzled rather quickly, with only 3 of the players meeting after the first two months. Campaign is still going on, though updates will be very few an far between figuring it might be months before anyone gets a game in. You can see the details at...

http://acadia40k.blogspot.com/

What am I doing now? All my gaming energy is going into running a Battletech campaign. For years the guys have been bugging me to run another Battletech campaign. Finally after some dedicated harassment from a couple of players, I broke and jumped in to the campaign creation process with both feet. We had our first game 2 weeks ago, plan on playing once a month. You can see the campaign details and follow the progress of the Campaign over at...

http://operationbulldog.blogspot.com/

Til Later,
Rangerrob

Group Shot and summary of the unpainted.

2010-07-25T09:39:00.000-04:00

Click for the Large image

Here they are...The Mordian 95th Rifles. Six full Veteran squads to the left. HQ's, Two command squads and Elites in the center. To the right is the extras, Flamers, Heavy bolters, Mortar stands.

In the back we have our Armor and Transports.

I purposely took the shot with the flash on so when I come back to look at this pic, the unpainted minis really shout out "PAINT ME!". So what I have left to paint for infantry figs:

Ratlings with the Shakos added

Sharpe
Harker,
Teresa,
5 Ratlings,
3 Mortar crewmen,
a Heavy Bolter
and 2 mortar tubes

As for the vehicles,


Hornblower in an Executioner (Worth the points)

Leman Russ Exterminator tank
Leman Russ Demolisher Turret (Magnetized)
Punisher, Demolisher, Vanquisher barrels, Lots of sponson weapons
Vendetta with all weapons magnetized.

You can see the unprimed Demolisher turret, I got that as a bits purchase. I have one of the old Exterminator Leman Russes. In my opinion the worst Russ option. I would probably only field it against Eldar where the Autcannon and triple HB set up would come in handy. So looking at all these spare barrels that you get with the Demolisher kit I figured that swapping the turret out, you give me much more flexability with my armor builds.

That's all for now, time to get painting.

How to paint the Valk?

2010-07-15T16:11:00.001-04:00

I've also finished magnetizing my Valkyrie. Used the left over Land Raider LasCannon sponsons from a Land Raider Crusader box that allows me to convert the Valkyrie to a Vendetta should I want to. Trouble is I'm kind of stumped as to paint it up as. I've got some ideas running though my head and I just wanted to run them by the followers for input.

To me the Valkyrie doesn't really fit with the Sniper Vet themed army. So I'm figuring Sharpe requisitioned one outside of the normal supply chain. Why does this matter? Well it lets me be more flexible with the paint scheme. Before I get into the various ideas, some back story on Sharpe and the 95th that might be relevant. On of my favorite of the Sharpe movies is Sharpe's Eagle. A British Major dies and losses the Kings colors (Flag) to some French Calvary. He was just following the poor orders of his Colonel, but anyway. As he is dieing in Sharpe's arms, he asks Sharpe to get him a French Eagle (Aigle de drapeau). So Sharpe later in the show storms through a French line as it is disrupted by some line fire, and gets the Eagle.

So here are the Ideas I have had in no particular order.

1) Great White Shark scheme. Grey-Blue on the top, White on the bottom. Black eyes under the cockpit, no open mouth decal, just a thin black line for the mouth. This one is kind of an inside joke, due to my irrational fear of sharks. Saw Jaws at too young of an age or or was on the Indianapolis in a past life, or something who knows.

2) Streaky French Tri-Color. Fifteen to twenty years ago there was this ad in a magazine for the Concorde. Image was looking head on to the Concorde the was painted in the colors of the French flag, only the paint job looks like it was applied in a Wind tunnel. Made the Concorde look faster than it already looked if that was possible. You think I could find that image...my Web-Fu failed me. But I found this shot to the left so you get the basic Idea. This fits with the "Eagle" reasoning from above.

3) Union Jack. Fits with the 95th, British theme.

4) Modern Fighter Grey. Emphasis of the army should be on the 95th and not the support craft. Each Valk also comes with Imperial Wing waterslide transfers. So this option could have the white imperial eagle wings, keeping with the "Eagle" theme.

5) Standard Green Valk. The one you have seen dozens of times over on the GW site. With or without the white imperial wing decals.

6) ME 262 Paint scheme. Just cause of all the aircraft paint schemes I've ever seen, I've liked this one the best.

I'll be making a poll over on the right, feel free to vote there, and if you want leave your comments below.

Thanks,
Ranger Rob

Comandante Teresa Moreno

2010-07-13T16:24:00.003-04:00

Followers of this blog know that the theme of the army is the fictional stories of the British 95th Rifles Regiment. Mostly drawing from the television series that follows Richard Sharpe and the 95th Rifles.

You have seen that I have found minis and army listings to represent some of the major characters of the Sharpe shows. Sharpe is a Commisar mini that counts as Straken. Harper is Harker. Hornblower a Mordian Lascannon gunner cut off at the waist and stuck in a tank as Pask...OK that one doesn't really come from the Sharpe stories, but it fits the theme and time period of the army.

Anyway, having finished green stuffing Harper, it is time to move on to my next character. Comandante Teresa Moreno.

In the Sharpe stories, Teresa is a leader of the Spanish partisans fighting the French. She works behind enemy lines, harassing the French, spying on them, and disrupting their ability to make war. Sharpe gave her the nickname of "La Aguja" ("The Needle"), for her skill with the blade.

To me there is only one character in the Sharpe stories that fits this description. Marbo. Yeah there is a Major Pyecroft who is an explosives expert that could have been Marbo, but the Behind the lines fits the role of Teresa better. Besides, all my armies have at least one female model (Eldar, Dark Elves, Escher gang...)

So now I needed to find a female mini that I could use for Marbo, First I looked for the pistol, had to be look enough like the ripper pistol on the actual Marbo model. Second I wanted a GW mini, just to have the option if I wanted to field the 95th in an 'Ard Boyz tourney eventually, I'd be legal. Looking through my Escher minis I found just the one. This one will make a great starting point.

First, I'll cut the sword from her hand and add a Space Marine Melta Bomb to represent the Demo charge. Then I'll trim off the pouches on her left leg and add the envenomed blade in a sheath there. Finally the most risky part, I'll trim her top knot and green stuff her some "Curly" hair.

I have all the parts, I'll post some pics when she is done. I've played with Marbo twice now, One time missing the Demo charge throw, the other time taking out 4 Terminators, both times Marbo getting gunned down the turn after she pops out. To me the Demo pack is more important to display on the mini than a knife that will rarely see combat.

That's all for now.

Redone Harker

2010-07-11T09:51:00.000-04:00

Well after much commentary, Harper lost his hat. All of you were correct, he looks a lot btter with just his curly hair. So what did I do with the hat? Gave it and some others I had to some Ratlings I picked up.

The shot above is from a game of Planet strike I recently played. Vet squads given free immobile Land Raiders with 6 fire points (Bunker Annexes) is kinda like cheating. You can see the details of the game and the campain over at http://acadia40k.blogspot.com/

Final shot is my Vendetta that I finished assembling...fully magnetized to swap back to a Valk.

That's all for now.

Going on Campaign...

2010-06-22T16:30:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, been a little busy setting up a campaign with the local group of guys I play with. You can see above what my painting time has gone into, finished up the Planetary Empires tiles last night. It is going to be a major undertaking we are using all the rule sets for 40k. Planetary Empires, Cities of Death, Planetstrike, Battle Missions, Apocalypse, and Spearhead are all viable options for our campaign. Even added in the Winter War rules from the GW website.

Guess I've gotten a little obsessed with the campaign setup as I have made a Blog about it as well.

http://acadia40k.blogspot.com/

Figure that the campaign will get me even more dedicated to finishing up the few unpainted models I have for the 95th. Will probably get me to add to the 95th too.

That's all for now...

Painting chart, Army theme, Characters and Tank names.

2010-05-26T12:29:00.003-04:00

I finally got around to making a painting chart (Big props to Admiral Drax for this idea.) Putting it on "paper" like this was great to see how my force lines up. It also shows my build options. As you can see I don't have many basic guardsmen (riflmen) left. So building a traditional guard force is not a viable option. Sure I could probably build one full platoon. Then what, lots of heavy weapon and special weapon teams. Nah, I like the elite guardsmen route the army has taken.

This left me with quite a few heavy weapons and crew to spare. I mean, I'm not going to put one mortar in a veteran squad, so what am I going to do with all these crews? You can see what I did on the painting chart. They got drafted to be either carry a vox or a demo charge. The mortar crews are a good example of this I use the loader as a Demo charge guy, easily spotable. The gunner's "trigger device", looks like an oversided cell phone / walkie talkie that a vox caster would use to communicate, the lascannon gunners have the same "trigger device" so the vox guys have a similar look.

The theme of the army is BS4. With the preferred special weapon being the sniper rifle, and the preferred heavy weapon being the lascannon. I've added demo charges here and there to slow the advance. I could add one to all 6 veteran squad if needed as I have the spare mortar loaders.

I've added many of the named characters from the Sharpe series, and linked them with named character that best fits their style. I have "Inquisitor" Lord Wellington with his mystic command staff, not for the anti-deep strike...well that helps. But the Inquisitor Lord allows me to take a Vindicare assassin and call him, Rifleman Daniel Hagman. Those that know the series, know why Hagman has to be a Vindicare and not just another veteran with a sniper rifle.

Then there are the Tanks. It was hard to justify fitting Leman Russes into a Napoleonic themed guard army. I was thinking, maybe I could tie in the British Navy and treat the tanks like Ships of the Line. That lead me to using Knight commander Pask as Horatio Hornblower, and naming all of the armor in the force after ships that Hornblower commanded in his stories. Hornblower is currently in a basic LRBT, but will be moving over to the Executioner once I get it assembled and painted.

That just leaves how I named of the Valkyrie, but I'll save that story for another day. Though most of you will be able to figure it out.

Thanks for reading...

Harker to Harper with Greenstuff

2010-05-20T20:07:00.002-04:00

So some of you may not know who Sgt. Major Patrick Harper is...

From Wikipedia...
Harper is a large, fierce-seeming man from Donegal, Ireland. He joined the 95th Rifle Regiment as a rifleman. Harper and Richard Sharpe are enemies initially, but Harper becomes Sharpe's best friend and most reliable companion, rising in rank to sergeant and later to regimental sergeant-major. Along with Sharpe he is one of the principal protagonists of the series, and appears in most of the books.

As in an earlier entry I said I would be using the Harker stats to represent Harper. To see Harper in action... head about 3 minutes in and enjoy the rest. You get to see Harper and Sharpe do their stuff...note the multibarrel gun that Harper uses.

Anyway...I finally got some greenstuff, and converted my Harker mini to a Harper mini. I had to sacrifice an old commisar minii for the Epaulettes, I really liked that mini, but it was worth it. Plus there will never be a commisar in the 95th (Sharpe would kill them before they layed a hand on one of his Sgts.)

This was my first go at this amount of greenstuff. The camera really shows what my eyes couldn't make out for mistakes. I'll be going back and touching him up, but for a first try I think he came out OK.

That's all for now...

Found my Sharpe.

2010-05-05T16:12:00.004-04:00

So after a year of looking I finally chose the mini I will use to represent Sharpe, for my Commanding officer. Turns out he was right under my nose all along.

I went back to the guard page on the GW site just to look around and I saw him.

Figure I will paint him up to look like this...

Still undecided if I will take the head off and replace with a Boromir head from their LOTR line. I probably won't due that, do to the goatee on all the Boromir figs.

Sharpe at times wore a great coat, but it was always muddy/dirty, so I'm not sure I will want my commanding officer looking like this...

I'll be using the following website to assist my painting to be sure I get the colors right.
http://seanbeanonline.net/compendium/uniforms.html

And on a side note I have begun to assemble the Valkyrie. The paint scheme I plan to do for that is a story for another day.

That's all for now...

Painted a little more on the bunkers

2010-04-28T17:29:00.002-04:00

As promised...some more pics of the wooden box bunkers.

Got the Sandbags on all of them, and the "concrete" part painted.

Here is one with a typical 95th Veteran squad.

Did I mention the top comes off? Glued 4 wooden dowels into the corners. Figure when the bunker is destroyed, I can take out the lower portion and just leave the top as ruins.

And they are big enough to fit a good sized squad.

You can take 6 bunkers if you take the "Bunker" card in Apoc...so I made 6.

There are firing slits on the sides and the whole length of the back (front?) of the bunkers. Next up is to paint the doors and those vision slits a metallic color, and patch up the sandbags that I dropped getting ready to take this shot. :)

That's all for now.

Planetstrike and Apoc terrain...on the cheap

2010-04-26T12:48:00.007-04:00

So looking at the core of my guard force, veterans with their old 5+ armor save I thought about building them some terrain.

In both Apoc and Planetstrike there is the ability to have Bunkers and or bastions.

I really like the idea of putting my guys in an armor 14 fire base. The downside is ability to give orders takes a hit as you can't order guys set up in buildings...unless you are in the building. Anyway here are some of the buildings I'm working on...(Ignore the Space Marines, these are older pics I'm just getting to post now.)

First a building...

Next up...a Bastion. Used a "Mega-Jug" from KFC as the tower. A tile, 4 cardboard tubes, and 4 1" cubes to the top. Door way is made from some broken keychain flashlights.

But having played a game with just one bastion...I decided to make a few more.

Finally, a bunker. First I found this wooden box at Micheals for $3.00.

Remove the latches, add some wooden coffee stirrers, and blocks.

I'll round out the top by adding sandbags made from super scuplty.

the new Fortifications...

More images to come...I got the sand bags done for the bunkers and painted them up this weekend.

Ard Boyz list...maybe

2010-04-23T10:28:00.002-04:00

So I've been giving some thought to running my guard in Ard Boys rather than my Eldar. With my Eldar, I know how they play, their strengths and weaknesses. I haven't played the guard that much. Mostly in Apoc games, where the Baneblade does most of the damage.

The 95th is a themed army, with priority given to having BS4, sniper rifles and lascannons. Not the best build for Ard Boys, where cheese is on the table. But it would be fun and a challenge. Our FLGS usually has a poor showing for Ard Boys...maybe 8 people, so if the dice are with me...

I missed last years Ard Boyz with family stuff. I brought my Eldar two years back and built an Anti-Marine force. There were 8 players that year, 3 marine, 1 chaos marine, 2 Ork, and a dark eldar. Course I get Ork, DE, and Ork for my draws. Finished in 4th, losing the 1st game and winning the next two. anyway back to the 95th...

I had been using just a generic commander for Sharpe, but looking closer I think Straken fits him well. Tough to kill, a beast with a sword, and always charging into combat with riflemen.

For 65 points how can you go wrong with Marbo? I added him or let me say her. I'll be using an old Escher figure and calling her Miss Teresa. Spanish resistance leader who was nicknamed "The Needle" who harassed the French behind enemy lines.

You have already seen my Harker / Harper comments from 9 months ago...I got to check in more often, sorry folks.

I added Pask (Hornblower) to one of the Russes. The added BS fits the army theme. For guard heavy support I only own 3 basic LRBT and one Exterminator...which one would you leave home?

any way I'm rambling...here is the list...

2500 Pts - 5th Edition Roster - Mordian 95th Rifles, Ard Boyz

HQ: Company Command Squad @ 255 pts (Flak Armour; Close Combat Weapon x2; Lasgun x1; Sniper Rifle x1; Heavy Weapons Team; Colonel 'Iron Hand' Straken; Master of Ordnance; Chimera)
1 Heavy Weapons Team (Close Combat Weapon x1; Flak Armour; Lasgun x1; Lascannon)
1 Colonel 'Iron Hand' Straken (Flak Armour; Refractor Field; Close Combat Weapon; Plasma Pistol; Shotgun; Cold Steel and Courage; Gung-ho; Man of Adamantium; Senior Officer)
1 Master of Ordnance (Flak Armour; Close Combat Weapon; Laspistol; Artillery Bombardment)
1 Chimera (Heavy Bolter; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Turret Multi-Laser)

HQ: Company Command Squad @ 95 pts (Flak Armour; Close Combat Weapon x2; Lasgun x2; Regimental Standard; Heavy Weapons Team)
1 Heavy Weapons Team (Close Combat Weapon x1; Flak Armour; Lasgun x1; Lascannon)
1 Company Commander (Flak Armour; Refractor Field; Close Combat Weapon; Plasma Pistol; Senior Officer)

Elite: Guardsman Marbo (1#, 65 pts)
1 Guardsman Marbo @ 65 pts (Demolition Charge; Envenomed Blade; Flak Armour; Melta Bombs; Ripper Pistol; Fearless; Fleet; Hit & Run; Move Through Cover; Stealth)

Elite: Storm Trooper Squad (10#, 215 pts)
9 Storm Trooper Squad @ 215 pts (Carapace Armour; Krak Grenades; Close Combat Weapon x9; Hot-shot Lasgun x7; Hot-shot Laspistol x9; Plasmagun x2; Special Operations)
1 Storm Trooper Sergeant (Carapace Armour; Close Combat Weapon; Krak Grenades; Plasma Pistol; Power Weapon)

Elite: Ogryn Squad (6#, 265 pts)
4 Ogryn Squad @ 265 pts (Flak Armour; Ripper Gun; Chimera; Furious Charge; Stubborn)
1 Ogryn Bone 'ead (Flak Armour; Ripper Gun; Furious Charge; Stubborn)
1 Chimera (Heavy Bolter; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Turret Multi-Laser)

Troops: Veteran Squad (10#, 105 pts)
7 Veteran Squad @ 105 pts (Flak Armour; Krak Grenades; Close Combat Weapon x7; Lasgun x4; Sniper Rifle x3; Veteran Weapons Team)
1 Veteran Weapons Team (Close Combat Weapon x1; Flak Armour; Lasgun x1; Krak Grenades; Lascannon)
1 Veteran Sergeant (Flak Armour; Krak Grenades; Laspistol; Close Combat Weapon)

Troops: Veteran Squad (10#, 105 pts)
7 Veteran Squad @ 105 pts (Flak Armour; Krak Grenades; Close Combat Weapon x7; Lasgun x4; Sniper Rifle x3; Veteran Weapons Team)
1 Veteran Weapons Team (Close Combat Weapon x1; Flak Armour; Lasgun x1; Krak Grenades; Lascannon)
1 Veteran Sergeant (Flak Armour; Krak Grenades; Laspistol; Close Combat Weapon)

Troops: Veteran Squad (10#, 105 pts)
7 Veteran Squad @ 105 pts (Flak Armour; Krak Grenades; Close Combat Weapon x7; Lasgun x4; Sniper Rifle x3; Veteran Weapons Team)
1 Veteran Weapons Team (Close Combat Weapon x1; Flak Armour; Lasgun x1; Krak Grenades; Lascannon)
1 Veteran Sergeant (Flak Armour; Krak Grenades; Laspistol; Close Combat Weapon)

Troops: Veteran Squad (10#, 125 pts)
7 Veteran Squad @ 125 pts (Flak Armour; Krak Grenades; Close Combat Weapon x7; Lasgun x4; Demolition Charge; Melta Bombs; Grenade Launcher x3; Veteran Weapons Team; Demolitions)
1 Veteran Weapons Team (Close Combat Weapon x1; Flak Armour; Lasgun x1; Melta Bombs; Krak Grenades; Heavy Bolter)
1 Veteran Sergeant (Flak Armour; Krak Grenades; Laspistol; Close Combat Weapon; Melta Bombs)

Troops: Veteran Squad (10#, 170 pts)
9 Veteran Squad @ 170 pts (Flak Armour; Krak Grenades; Close Combat Weapon x9; Lasgun x6; Demolition Charge; Melta Bombs; Grenade Launcher x3; Gunnery Sergeant Harker; Demolitions)
1 Gunnery Sergeant Harker ('Payback' (Heavy Bolter); Close Combat Weapon; Flak Armour; Krak Grenades; Melta Bombs; Catachan Devils; Feel No Pain; Relentless)

Troops: Veteran Squad (11#, 245 pts)
9 Veteran Squad @ 245 pts (Flak Armour; Krak Grenades; Close Combat Weapon x9; Lasgun x6; Demolition Charge; Melta Bombs; Meltagun x3; Sergeant Bastonne; Chimera; Demolitions)
1 Sergeant Bastonne (Carapace Armour; Hot-shot Laspistol; Krak Grenades; Power Sword; Melta Bombs; It's Up to Us, Lads; Never Give Up, Never Surrender!)
1 Chimera (Heavy Bolter; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Turret Multi-Laser)

Fast Attack: Valkyrie Assault Carrier Squadron (1#, 145 pts)
1 Valkyrie (Extra Armor; Searchlight; Lascannon; Multiple Rocket Pods x2)

Heavy Support: Leman Russ Squadron (1#, 235 pts)
1 Leman Russ Battle Tank (Battle Cannon; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Lascannon; Heavy Bolter Sponsons x2; Knight Commander Pask)
1 Knight Commander Pask

Heavy Support: Leman Russ Squadron (1#, 185 pts)
1 Leman Russ Battle Tank (Battle Cannon; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Lascannon; Heavy Bolter Sponsons x2)

Heavy Support: Leman Russ Squadron (1#, 185 pts)
1 Leman Russ Battle Tank (Battle Cannon; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Lascannon; Heavy Bolter Sponsons x2)

Validation Report:
Roster satisfies all enforced validation rules

Total Roster Cost: 2500

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Sgt. Major Patrick Harper

2009-07-21T09:02:00.008-04:00

I'm still waiting for a friend to download some pics of the Lucky 13's battle we had this weekend. It was pretty bloody, but I'll save the after action report for when the pics are available. (Wife had our camera)

So in the rush to get everything done for this weekends game, I realized that all my Mordians were painted. Yep every single last one. I have been given a Valkyrie for my birthday, and I'm scrapping together an Inquisitor Lord and retinue, but for Mordains I'm done.

My plans now is do up some of the major characters from the "Sharpe" series. I've posted earlier about Major Sharpe. Still have to find a Gaunt figure for him. I think I have finally found Sgt Major Patrick Harper. Sgt Harper in the movies carried around a volley gun. It shot 7 pistol balls at once, and it was claimed by Major Sharpe that Patrick was the only man big enough to shoot the damned thing.

Well, there was a photo recently shown in the Italian White Dwarf of the new Sgt Harker mini.

Harker...Harper...both large men...both carry weapons not useable by other men. Any chance GW got the idea for Sgt. Harker from Sgt. Harper? Nah, I didn't think so either.

Anyway...this one will put my limited Greenstuff skills to the test. Yep that is right, I'll be takin the Harker figure and putting a Mordian uniform on him. Should prove a challenge worthy of the final piece to the Mordian 95th Rifles.

Lucky 13's, Part 3 - Setup

2009-07-16T16:09:00.007-04:00

Well, the fates have smiled on me and I will get to roll some dice on Friday. The same group of guys is coming over and we will be running the Lucky 13's - Scenario #3.
www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m220468a_Lucky13sChapter3Scenario.pdf

The above photo is the table without all the terrain on it.
We will be playing 3500 points this time, 2000 in Guard and allied Deamonhunters with 1500 in space marines vs. 3500 in Chaos Marines.

I can't speak to the Space Marines or the Chaos Marines, but here is the Guard force I'll be fielding.

Command Squad: CO, 2 Sniper Rifles, Regimental Standard, Vox
Veteran Squad #1: 3 Sniper Rifles, LasCannon, Vox
Veteran Squad #2: 3 Sniper Rifles, LasCannon, Vox
Veteran Squad #3: 3 Grenade Launchers, Chimera
Veteran Squad #4: 3 Melta Guns, Chimera
Ratling Snipers: 3 of them

Inquisitor Lord: Termie Armor, Lightning Claws, Psycic Hood, Scourging, 2 Mystics, Warrior W/ Flamer, Familiar.

Vindicare Assassin:

Leman Russ Exterminator: 3 HV Bolters.
Leman Russ Battle Tank #2: LasCannon, Hvy Bolters
Leman Russ Battle Tank #3: LasCannon, Hvy Bolters
Baneblade

OK, here is my plan...poke holes in it as you will.

I will use my Strategic Asset for "Bunkers", which lets me place up to 6 bunkers. These bunkers will make a ring around the Landing Pad. However these bunkers will be interconnected both on the roof and internally. Here is how we will tweak the rules. (Cleared this with my oppenents before hand.

1) 6 Bunkers, AV14, 4 firepoints, 1 unit max. Unit may not be split between being in the bunker and on the roof (As the roof is not part of the bunker). These "Bunkers" are 1 sided, and offer no cover from the inside of the fortress. Not every bunker section must be occupied at the start of the game. Template weapons will only hit the section they are shooting at and not the whole fortress. Or we could just play the whole building like a 6 part ruin and give those on the lower lvl a 3+ cover save.

2) Rooftop is open terrain, just like regular tabletop. Standard true line of sight, 4+ cover saves from the sandbags. Models can move about freely between the various rooftops. Models can deep strike onto Rooftop or jump infantry may "jump" up onto during the regular movement phase. Non-jump infantry wishing to reach the roof must use the Roof access ramp in the center of the fortress.

3) Should a bunker section be destroyed, the roof section above the bunker becomes Dangerous & Difficult terrain...but remains at the same height. We can throw some rubble down to represent that section is destroyed. Models in the bunker when destroyed, may either jump out the window, move to the roof checking for Dangerous terrain, or fall back to the roof access ramp area. Models may directly access the roof from a destroyed section of bunker (meaning they don't have to use one of the two doors.)

4) Entry Points (Green arrows), There are 2 Doorways to the Fortress.
We can play these two ways.
* Give them an AV 12..and once down they stay down.
or
* Give them the new "Force Plyon" rules from planetstrike, where any enemy unit must have grenades to pass through.

The Landing platform will be raised high enough to see from the whole table. The landing pad can be reached without destroying any of the bunkers, by taking down the door then reaching the roof access ramp, or by deepstriking or jumping onto the roof.

Here are some shots of the fortress with the completed landing pad...

Imperial Firebase "Emperor's Speedbump" with the new landing platform, stands ready to face all foes.

Sgt. Blackreach says "This here paint is wet! Don't touch it, yah hear?!"

Lucky 13's #2 - 5500 pts Chaos vs. Imperials

2009-07-06T12:18:00.006-04:00

Well, we finally got to play the Lucky 13's event that I had been thinking about for so long.

We played 5500 per side.
Imperials were 3000 Guard (Rob), 2500 Marines(Fabby).

Chaos was 5500. (Chris and Jay).

Game ended in a draw with each side holding 2 objectives. Serious firepower and hand to hand happening all over the table.

I went with Obstacles and a Disruptor Beacon for the imperials. the Obstacles were used to set up a 2nd line of cover in the minefield (the boxes) and a row of razor wire to disuade any flank marches. The Disruptor beacon was to limit the popping up of demons / terminators next to the vital objective. Turns out my opponents didn't take any deepstrikers, so I didn't need that one at all. The one I did need would have been my 3rd choice, as his psychers bounced at least 5 units into the super deadly minefield.

Chaos didn't fare much better with the strategems, they took orbital bombardment and a vortex gernade. The Gernade did a number on a verteran guard unit, and they missed with all 4 rounds of the bombardment.

Imperial Performers of the game...

1) Land Raider Crusader: Drove up and unloaded it's payload of Assault Termies, then blew up. How does this make it a performer of the game? The wreckage blocked line of sight between the Chaos Shadowsword and Imperial Baneblade for 2 turns...Keeping the Baneblade alive long enough to do it's damage.

2) Commisar Yarrick: Didn't do a thing the whole game except sit in the the vital command HQ bunker until it blew up. But his adding Fearless to his unit kept them on the board the last turn, keeping the game a draw instead of a loss for the imperials.

3) The Baneblade: HOLY! The 10" pie plate is death. The Baneblade might have taken out double it's points, eating up a good portion of 4 units of Berserkers, 4 units of Plague marines, and a few stray Black legion marines. Might have been even better if I remembered that cover saves are calcualted from the center of the blast...so many of the coversaves the bad guys made would not have been available. No biggy though, the Baneblade eat up enough troops to keep ithem from being scoring units.

Honorable mention to the marine Devastor squad who keep the Shadowswords maine weapon from shooting 2 of the 4 turns we played.

Chaos performers of the game...
1) Chaos Sorcerer with the Lash. As I feared all game long he was moving imperial troops around into the minefield, which was setting off mines at about an 85% rate rather than 50% the dice should have rolled. I think the Imperails lost 300-400 points of stuff to their own minefield.

2) Chaos Conclave...I think this is what it was called. Like 5 major Chaos named characters and their units. This gave the them a disruptor beacon, which any reserves an deep stikers within 48" of any of these character on a 4+ they could chooose the spot they deployed. This worked for both units we placed within 48". The key one being the Stormtroppers, which rather than gunning a swath through the berserkers, landed in the minefield. Not even gonna mention the combat that took out the assault termies and Calagar with his Honor guard. Guess I just did...It was Abbandon with a squad of Assault termies. Chaos player playin Apoc should take the conclave every time.

3) Kharn...of the obsene amount of berserkers on the table I think there were only two left on the table and Kharn was one of them...standing on top of the burning hulk of the Baneblade that he took out all by himself.

Honorable mention to the Shadowsord that blew up the Imperial HQ on the last turn.

That's all for now...

What we have here is Failure to Communicate...

2009-06-22T18:36:00.006-04:00

I'm gonna rant for a bit...then get to what I did this weekend. As I have posted here the plan was to play the Lucky 13's second scenario Saturday at the local gamestore. Well, those plans fell through.

Turns out the town the local store is located in has a summer festival once a year. Big to do, shut down the street the store is on to vehicle traffic so that people can walk the downtown, side walk vendors, music...stuff like that. Anyway, that turned out to be last Saturday, when we were planning to play, but I didn't know that. The store owner isn't thrilled with opening on that day because our hobby doesn't attract the general public. Ususally people just come in the store to use the tiolet on these festival days.

So just after I've loaded my army / books / terrain in the car, I call the store owner to see what time he was going to open, hoping he could open a little early. He informs me he hadn't planned on opening until mid afternoon due to the festival. I'm like..."What?". Then he asks if my opponent had called and talked to me this week. I say no then he says he is sorry, he thought I knew about the festival and that my opponent had spoken with me. He says he would open up for me, but I should talk with my opponent first. So I call my opponent who thought the store owner had spoken with me about the festival and that I knew we were not going to play, and he made had other plans. :/

Oh well, things happen, plans fall through. My stuff wasn't finished being painted yet anyway. I'm really disappointed, cause with a Wife, 2 young kids, a 2nd shift job and part time college my slate is pretty full. I get maybe 2 days a year where I get a 4+ hour window on a weekend where the schedules align just right and I can roll dice with my friends. This was one of those times. Hopefully I'll get to get these guys on the table before the end of the summer. I'm trying to drum up interest at the local store for Ard Boyz...but that is like pulling teeth, and I'm not even sure If I can go yet. End Rant.

So rather than sulking about, I redirected my energy into something constructive. I've had a spare set of AoBR Termies that I primed up. A friend just picked up the Assault Terminator set and gave me the extra weapons that he didn't use. Building my guard force I relize that I have a gaping whole for anti-psycher. So I built an Inquisitor Lord. (Ignore the two ThunderHammer Termies - they are getting added to the Assault Termie unit my friend just made.) I used the AoBR termie sarge, cutting the arms just below the shoulderpads and adding the lightning claws. I placed shoulder banner hanging off each pad, to add some size to the mini. The back banner came from the second AoBR commander I had. Figure I'll paint him in a nice shade of Red, with lots of gold highlights. Glowing green lightning claws...maybe blue. I plan on using greenstuff to add the Inquisition badge on the blank shoulder pad.

I'll be pulling the Inquistor Lord from the Deamonhunters book. Giving him Termie Armor, Psychic Hood, Lighting Claws, The 4+ fixed save thingy. Adding a couple of mystics to the unit to give the anti-deepstrike ability. Adding a couple of warriors to the unit to increase his WS. With this addition I take care of enemy psychers, enemy deepstrikers and add a counter assault unit to my guard force.

That's all for now. Thanks for listening.

End of Week update.

2009-06-12T09:58:00.002-04:00

Got a little bit done this week. Above is the Baneblade "Indefatigable" that just needs decals. I've had this model for 15+ years, and finally got it painted. It has never hit the table, so I'm curious as to how she will fare the weekend after next.

This is the last batch of Mordians that need to be painted. I'm hoping to have them done by June 20th for the big Apoc game. I needed a 3rd Meltagun armed guardsman for the force, so I spent an hour hacking away one of the lasguns and adding a plastic Marnie Meltagun. Came out ok, it's the one with the black gun in the pic above. I finished modding the sniper rifles. I didn't have any more Space Marine bolter scopes, so I scrounged around in my bits box to see what would pass for a scope. One scope was made from the barrel of the Lasgun I had just hacked off for the Melta. The other 4 are the Plasma Cannons from the very old Epic Space Marine Land Speeders. They are the grey scopes on the pic above.

Have a great weekend everyone.

3000 point force for Lucky 13's - Scenario #2

2009-06-09T16:09:00.006-04:00

I've never actually played a game of Apocolypse yet. My first one will be the Lucky 13's - Scenario #2. I know the terrain (seen in the pic) and that one opponent will be bringing Chaos Marines. There might be a couple more that show up , but from the response from the store's forums, it might just be us two.

The scenario seems pretty straight forward as an objective grab. LUCKY 13's - Scenario #2 I have deveolped a force with the 95th Mordians, I'm gonna throw it out there for comments and criticism.

HQs
CCS #1 - Lascannon, Sniper Rifle, Vox, Bolt-Pistol, Master of Ord.
CCS #2 - Lascannon, Regimental Standard, Vox, Bolt-Pistol, Chimera
Commisar Yarrick

Elite
Orgyns (5), Chimera
Ratlings (3)
Stormtroopers (10), 2 Plasma Guns, PW, Airborne Assault

Troops
Veteran Squad #1 - Lascannon, 3 Sniper Rifles, Vox
Veteran Squad #2 - Lascannon, 3 Sniper Rifles, Vox
Veteran Squad #3 - Lascannon, 3 Sniper Rifles, Vox
Veteran Squad #4 - Hvy Bolter, 3 GLs, Vox
Veteran Squad #5 - Hvy Bolter, 3 GLs, Vox
Veteran Squad #6 - Bastonne, 3 Melta, Chimera, Demolitions

Hvy Support
LRBT #1 - Pask, Lascannon, HB sponsons
LRBT #2 - Lascannon, HB sponsons
LRBT #3 - Lascannon, HB sponsons
LR Exterminator - HB, HB sponsons
Baneblade

2999 points.

We have an agreement to limit the force to 1 superheavy each. I have read that having an uneven number can be very unbalancing to a game. The Chaos forces have a Shadowsword, a survivor from their Legion days.

Battle Plan
Here it is, poke some holes in it.

Force A - CCS#1 & Vet Squads 1-3 and Yarrick will be defending the HQ building. Yarrick and one of the Vet Squads will be in the building. The other two and the CCS will be set up either to one side of the minefield, in cover. The CCS will issue orders to the two squads to snipe away at any "Lash" princes out there. I have no desire to be lashed into the minefield, and as you can see from my force, I have no Anti-psycher ability other than firepower.

Force B - CCS #2 & Vet Squads #4-5, LRBT 2 & 3. This force will try to claim the objective I place in no-mans land. The Vet squads are on foot, so the CCS will be gving them the Move order from the chimera to get them into position as quick as possible.

Force C - LR Exterminator, Bastonne Vet squad, Ogryns. This force will be tasked with getting the objective my opponent places in the neutral zone. I almost put Yarrick in with the ogryns, but I think he will do more good in the HQ building to fight off the eventual storming of that building. I am curious as to how a Twinlinked Demo-Charge will work.

Force D - Stormtroopers. These will be kept in reserve, and re-roll their deepstrike when they land. They will either Drop in on the objective in my opponents zone if the game is going very well for me. Most likely they will be a count-attack force to re-take/secure one of the other objectives.

Force E - Baneblade, Pask LRBT, Ratlings - All of these guys are firesupport to be placed and shoot until they can't shoot anymore.

Target priorty will be...
1) Lash Psychers
2) Shadowsword
3) Assault troops

I'm leaning towards taking the Disruptor Beacon as the Strategic Asset. Anything deepstriking into my lines will cause me major pain. This will give me a chance to keep them away from the HQ and the neutral zone objective I place.

My other idea is to take Obstacles. This would let me place Vet squads 1,2 and the CCS #1 in the minefield, just in front of the building in 4+ cover. It would also let me place a line of razor wire along the back edge of the minefield, to prevent any Flank Marchers from walking right in the back door. But all that cover is pretty useless if a squad of termies drops in behind them.

So what do yah think? Any other ideas for strategic assets?

Prepwork for Planetstrike

2009-06-02T17:12:00.001-04:00

Had to post some new picks of the Firebase I've gotten ready for Planetstrike. Ok, OK, it was ready before I even knew about Planetstrike...But Darn nice of GW to make some rules for me to use this baby.

Been pretty busy with the summer school semester, fighting off a cold, clearing the scrub brush out of the back yard, having a burn pile. In short here is what is currently on the painting tray.

Three Guard Objective markers, a Chimera crewman, 21 Marines for my Greenhouse Guardian force, and a Wraithlord. The Wraithlord had been on the table for a while...but keeps getting bumped for more Guard figs. Heck once those 30 Mordians are done soaking in the Pine Sol...That Wraithlord will get bumped back again. ;)

June 20th will be the first battle for the 95th Rifles...and an Apoc battle none the less. We will be using the 2nd Lucky 13's scenario that was recently posted over on the GW site. I don't think that is the actual weekend of the event, so it won't count to the national points. But we will have fun none the less. I will be sure to bring the camera and prepare a full battle report for you all.

Things I need to do before June 20th...
1) Finish painting my Baneblade.
2) Workout a 5500 point force of 95th Rifles, and Greenhouse Guardian Marines.
3) If I don't have enough painted finish those marines on the tray, and figure if I will need to finish those Mordians getting stripped.

That's all for now...

Painting Progress...

2009-05-22T15:49:00.003-04:00

Finally got some pics taken of the post dipped and dull coated Mordians.

Here are the three Mortar teams. Usually I won't be fielding these, but using the gunners as a Vox-Casters and the loaders as a Demo-charge veterans. I know I shouldn't put terrain on the base, but if there is ever an issue of LOS...I can always just spin the mini around to the opponent can get an unobstucted veiw of them. Truthfully, if my mortars are getting shot at...I've already lost.

Standard Bearer. Took the backbanner from the tactical Space marine set, mounted it on an Antenna from the old Leman Russ set. The Trooper is actually unmodified, he is supposed to be holding back one hand in a "Hold up a sec guys, I think I see something" pose. I know...it's really simple and very bland looking...but then so was the banner from the "Sharpe's" movies.

Up next? I landed 30 Mordians on Ebay...thought they were just primed, but they were primed over another paint job. They are getting the Pine Sol dip right now.
They will round out the remaining 3 veteran squads and finish my 2000point force.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Weekly Progress Report.

2009-05-15T17:03:00.003-04:00

Well it was a good week. I got a little side tracked after seeing the the latest Transformers Movie Trailer. For years I have been creating a set of Wargame rules based on the Transformers universe. This week I built a blog about my progress where you can download the rules and check them out.

Transformers : The Wargame

But enough about that, on to the Mordians.
This week I finished up 49 Mordians by giving them the dip. I'm pretty pleased with how they came out. I'm holding off on the pics until I can finish up the Heavy weapons that I had re-based.

I finished up "Hornblower"...or Pask and mounted him in the turret of Leman Russ #1.

I also finished up the Standard Bearer, with him I just decaled an imperial double eagle on the banner with the 9 and 5 decals from the Land Raider decal sheet. It came out very plain looking...but the 95th banner from the movies was very simple as well.

(Ok, Ok...I'll get the camera fired up this weekend and post pics of all this work.)

Thanks for reading...

New 2000 pt build...Veteran heavy theme army.

2009-05-07T18:11:00.006-04:00

Ok here is the revamped list. Should prove interesting to play for a theme based army (BS4, Sniper rifles).

HQ: CCS, LasCannon, Regimental Standard, Vox, Bolt Pistol, Chimera (147pts)
HQ: CCS, LasCannon, Sniper, Vox, Bolt Pistol, Chimera (137pts)

Elite: Ogryns x5, Chimera (265 pts)
Elite: Stormtroopers X10, Power Weapon, Plasma X2, Airborne Assault (205 pts)

Troops: Veterans, Vox, LasCannon, Melta, Sniper, Sniper (115pts)
Troops: Veterans, Vox, LasCannon, Melta, Sniper, Sniper (115pts)
Troops: Veterans, Vox, LasCannon, Flamer, Flamer, Sniper (110pts)
Troops: Veterans, Vox, HB, GL, GL, Sniper (100pts)
Troops: Veterans, Vox, HB, GL, GL, Sniper (100pts)
Troops: Veterans, Vox, HB, GL, GL, Sniper (100pts)

Heavy: Leman Russ Battle Tank, Pask, LasCannon, HB Sponsons (235pts)
Heavy: Leman Russ Battle Tank, LasCannon, HB Sponsons (185pts)
Heavy: Leman Russ Battle Tank, LasCannon, HB Sponsons (185pts)

Total: 1999 points.

Plan: Gunline with the Vets, CCS giving orders from the Chimeras, mostly the anti cover or anti vehicle-MC order I'm guessing. Lots of chances to pin between all the snipers and the tanks. Stormies will paradrop near an enemy held objective. Ogryns will wait to counter attack, or advance in the chimera depending upon the enemy.

My favorite part is that only the Ogryns and 2 tanks are BS3...the rest of the army is BS4. I could reduce the ogryns by 1 and take some ratlings, just for more sniper shots, but that is another couple easy kill points I would be giving up. I know it will take me a few games to align my special weapons correctly. I know I will be wasting shots with this force having Lascannons in with sniper rifles and flamers. I spread the rifles out rather than bunching them to give the best chance of pinning multiple units. My thought is that the Leman Russ Tanks will be the primary anti-tank force.

Any suggestions as to how to align the special / heavy weapons? I do have 3 mortars on the shelf I could swap out the other heavys with. You can see all the specials that I own at this time.

Thanks!

Weekly update...Do Bolters need scopes? Nah!

2009-05-04T16:43:00.007-04:00

Just a brief update on what's happening with the 95th. Been busy the last week finishing up the school semester so not much progress has been made.

1) Tweaked my 2000 point build from two posts ago. First up I dropped Creed and Kell, kept the voxes, add added a 4th tank with Pask. I put two standard LRBT in a squadron, kept one LRBT by itself, and the 3rd heavy choice would be Pask in an Exterminator. Also added a Regimental standard, and modeled one.

2) Then I made the mistake of hitting Ebay. I landed 3 full squads of Mordains for pretty cheap...well cheap compared with what GW is charging for 10 of them. This let me rebuild my force yet again.

3) The new build has 6 squads of veterans, 2 Company command squads, Ogryns, Stormtroopers, and 3 LRBT one with Pask at the helm. The command squads and ogryns have chimeras. The Stormies will have to drop in without a vehicle. Voxes all around. The command squads have Lascannons. Of the vet squads, 3 have Lascannons, 3 have Heavy bolters. As of their special weapons, each squad has 3 now. I now have 6 GL, 2 Melta and 2 flamers special weapon Mordians. How does that fill all 18 special weapon slots in the 6 veteran squads. Well, I've been busy modding.

4) I took the Mordian basic trooper that has his lasgun in the firing position, and his head down on the sights. Then I looked at my unpainted Marines and notice that a bunch of them have scopes. Why the heck do bolters have scopes anyway? First time they fire they would have to be re-sighted. Lets just say they no longer have scopes. I glued the scopes onto the lasguns. Then I exteded the barrel of the lasguns, using the missle body of the old hunter killer missles I had in my bits box. They were the exact diamater of the lasgun barrel so they fit perfectly. Very simple sniper rifles. Did up 5 of these guys...now I have to find more marines, with scopes they don't need, to fill out the remaining special weapon slots. The sniper rifle fits the "theme" of the 95th rifles, so now each veteran squad will have at least one in it. The plan is to use a massive gunline to slow the advance 6 chances to pin each turn (not counting the LRBT's).

5) I'm doing it again. My painting tray has all my (pre-latest ebay purchase) Mordians on it, about 50 figs. I have base coated them green and black. I'm about halfway done the brown/wood colors for the guns. I know I should just paint one squad at a time. But I can't help myself. I want a uniform look, and I do plan on using the dipping method. Figure this way they whole army (except the 30 from the ebay purchase) will be done.

6) I'm going to try and break free this weekend for a lucky 13th apoc battle down at the local gamestore...we will see if this will happen or not. I'll bring the camera and take some pics for a battle report if I do make it.

7) I've also almost completed my tank commander. I just took a spare Mordian Lascannon crewman, the one with the raised hand and binoculars. Cut him at the waist. Thanks to some early comments I have repainted him. He originally was the Rifles green, but he really blended with the tank. The new scheme is that of a british naval officer of the napoleonic era (Blue, white, gold and yellow). I'll be renaming "Pask" to "Hornblower" for the 95th. That BS 4 he gives will fit nicely with the theme of the army.

That's all for now...

Ogryns Finished....

2009-04-26T08:07:00.001-04:00

Finished up the Ogryn squad on Thursday. Just never got about to taking some pics so here they are...

The more pics I take the more I realize I need a photobox to properly show off these guys. The colors don't look right under the cheap flurecent lights in the basement.

Rough Draft for the 95th. 2000pts.

2009-04-21T21:38:00.001-04:00

OK, looking through all the rumors that are out there, I think I have a rough draft for my Guard list using the new codex.

When building this force I was limited / guided by two things.

1) The number of Mordian Guard that I own, both basic troopers and special / Hvy Weapons.
2) The 95th Rifles theme. I want them to be the most accurate Guard army possible.

So Here goes...

HQ: Company Command Squad with Creed(Sharpe), Kell(Harper), HB team, Vox, Chimera, Astropath
HQ: Company Command Squad with Standard, HB team, Vox

Elite: Ogryns(5), in Chimera, given Infiltrate from Creed(Sharpe)
Elite: Stormtroopers(10), in Chimera, Two Plasmaguns, Power Weapon, Infiltrate

Troops: Veteran Squad, LasCannon, Melta, Vox
Troops: Veteran Squad, LasCannon, GL, GL, Vox, Demopack and Meltabombs
Troops: Veteran Squad, LasCannon, GL, GL, Vox, Demopack and Meltabombs
Troops: Veteran Squad, HB, Flamer, Flamer, Vox, Demopack and Meltabombs

Heavy: LRBT, Lascannon, HB Sponsons
Heavy: LRBT, Lascannon, HB Sponsons
Heavy: LRBT, Lascannon, HB Sponsons

This is a start...I know I have a bunch of units many are not thrilled with (Orgyns and Stormtroopers). I'll give this build a shot and see what she does. The plan is to find cover with the 4 troops, outflank with the elites, order with the HQ's, and pound the enemy with the LRBT's. Everyone in the army has a 4 BS except the Ogryns and the Tanks. Two of the troops will move up with the 2nd CCS for objective grabbing later in the game. Orgyns or stormies, or LRBTs will hopefully contest those in the opponents area.

That is all for now...I'll let yah know how it works out.

Batch Painting Tanks, Part 2

2009-04-17T15:08:00.000-04:00

I had a little more free time today so I made some good progess on the tanks. Finished up the pre-Dip detail painting and then applied the Dip. Here they are.

Russes...

Chimeras...

I also realized I never posted a finished version of the 1st Russ that I dipped.
Here she is...

For the amount of time I put in to painting this one up...3 hours tops...I'm pretty pleased.

Batch Painting Tanks.

2009-04-16T16:49:00.000-04:00

I was pretty happy with the final result of the Leman Russ tank I painted, using Silly Putty. So happy that I bumped the Ogryns off the painting bench to finish up the reamining tanks that I own for the Guard. I have three Chimeras, Two more Leman Russ Battle Tanks, and one Exterminator Battle tank. Boy was I giddy to hear the Exterminator was put back on the active roster for the Guard. I know not a 1st choice for many, but mostly my Guard army faces off against Eldar, which tend to dislike accurate Autocannon shots.

A friend who I'm teaching 40k is a historical Model builder. He is the guy that told me about the Silly Putty trick. He was so impressed by the look of the finished tank, that he bought me a bunch of silly putty...enough to do the rest of my tanks at once.

So here they are "Puttied" up.

Then Hit with the Green...

Then with the putty removed and tracks painted black.

If I ever assemble another tank...I will leave the tracks off, paint the mini, paint the tracks on the sprews then glue them on.

Thats all for now...

Re-Basing Metal Heavy Weapon crews

2009-04-16T16:15:00.000-04:00

The rumors of Heavy Weapon crews having 2 wounds on one 60mm base had me a little concerned. Would it me a big deal if I were to show up with my old Mordian gun crews with seperate weapons. At my local game store, noone would think twice about me keeping my guys old school. But then there is that perfectionist in me that rears it's ugly head every once in a while.

I did some pricing online for the 60mm bases and saw GW was selling 3 for $4.50!?!?
These are bases right? So when I popped my head into the local game store and saw a 15 pack for $5, I couldn't buy them fast enough.

Now that I has the bases, I was ready. Then I had an idea...what if I were to make each 60mm base like a mini dispaly piece with the cut out positions for the crews. That way I could remove one of the crew when the base took a wound, and leave my guys on the current round bases they already had. I found some Plumbers Epoxy...think greenstuff, that you can't sculpt only a lot cheaper...rock hard in about 20 min and takes paint pretty well. Anyway...here is the Lascannon rebased.

Silly Putty and Tanks...Part #2

2009-04-10T11:46:00.000-04:00

After a brief detour to finish up those Stormtroopers it was back to the Leman Russ. Took a little time to clean up the Bolters / Lascannon, painted up with emblems. Basecoated the tracks black then drybrushed with Boltgun metal. Here is are a couple of pics and a video.

And here she is post dip.

All that is left now is to...

1) Blacken up the barrel of the battlecannon a bit.
2) Jewel the headlights
3) Touchup with the smoke launcher
4) Attach waterslide transfers.
5) Dull Coat to kill the shine.
6) Finish up tank commander and re-attach.

That's all for now...

Stormtroopers Completed

2009-04-09T12:46:00.000-04:00

Finished up the Stormtroopers today after the dip yesterday. First painting points of the year. Like I said I have two sgts. One will stay with the squad, one will be assigned to the command squad as either a body guard, Veteran, Medic...codex and opponent will determin where he goes. I have a loader for a Heavy weapon as part of the squad. I had been using him as Vox caster, but rumors are the effectiveness of the vox is about to be nerfed. So he will just be another trooper for now.

The Squad...

The SGT.

This was my first attempt at doing a "Woodgrain" paintjob on the stocks of the guns. Not really pleased with how it came out....but hey they are done.

Dipping: Stormtroopers

2009-04-08T18:04:00.000-04:00

Well I finished up the base coats on the StormTroopers. Today I gave them the Dip. I use Minwax Polyshades, Antique Walnut to dip my minis, one of their darker shades.

Sgt. Before the Dip...

Sgt. After the Dip...

Whole Squad before the Dip...

Squad after the Dip...

Now all that is left is to...
1) Hit them with a single dull coat to cut down that shine.
2) Paint the Eyes, and jewel the targeter/spotlight thingy on the backbacks.
3) Paint and turf the base...
4) Final Dull coat sealer.

Objective Markers / CoD Stratagem markers

2009-04-08T16:08:00.000-04:00

With the importance of Objectives in 5th edition, I figured it was time to make some up. Looking through my bits boxes I came across an old Tank crew blister.

I thought it would be a good idea to make a "Saving Private Ryan" style objectives. Using the three Guardsmen as the centerpiece of the Objective. The rest of the bits came from the old Chimera / Leman Russ sets. Figure that the two made from the Hunter Killer Missles could also act as Strategem markers for Citiees of Death games.

#1) Hiding in the wreckage of the dozerblade.

#2) Why the heck am I guarding Lasguns?

#3) Don't use the HK missles as cover.

These are all I have for "Guard" themed objectives. These are down the list to actually get paint put on them. I'm sure I will eventually...hopefully before the Lucky 13's starts up.

Progress this week...Redcoats for everyone

2009-04-03T16:06:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since I posted an update. I plan on using the dipping method to paint most if not all of this army. That means getting a solid crisp base coat down. As I have said in some of my earlier posts, all of the non Mordian minis will be painted up with a traditional British Redcoat look (Red coats, white pants, black hats...). I'm also going to go with a wooden stock for as many of the guns that I can.

First up the Stormtroopers. Have 11 of these old style guys. Two plasma, and Two Sgts. My plan is to make a single squad of them (As stormtroopers) and use the extra Sgt as a Bodyguard for my Company Command squad. I don't own a Valk yet, so they will either be part of the Line, or be placed in one of the three Chimeras I have. Most of my decisions will be made once the new Codex comes out.

Second is my Veteran Unit. These guys are not GW. They are older minis from the High Command series put out by Folio Works. Really like the look of them. Too bad they are no longer made. The basic trooper weapon looks very much like a bolter with a smaller barrel. I'll be using them as Shotguns. I had an extra Flamer and Melta which I added to the unit. The guy in the middle of the back row, is actually a GW Guardsman from the very early days. Took a stormbolter and an Hvy flamer nossle from scrap leman russ parts and made him a Heavy flamer. I'll show better pics of him when they are done. The Sgt really looks like he has a Bolt pistol. Will have to wait and see what is in the actual codex to see what he will get.

Next up the Ogryns. Yeah I will be fielding them. I know they and the Stormtroopers are overpriced. But I have the minis, and can bearly field 2000points with the minis I have. I also have one of the old Yarrick minis... The thought of him attached to a unit of Ogryns popping out of a Chimera intrests me.

Finally the Silly Putty Leman Russ. Might change over the Mordian crewman to a different color scheme. Not sure yet.
That's all for now.

Lone Pilgrim Painting Points

2009-03-31T16:10:00.000-04:00

Browsing some of the other 40k Blogs out there I stumbled across this...

An inventive system for tracking one's progress painting and compare it with others was posted awhile back on Lone Pilgrim. It is a cool system that is being picked up by some blogs, so I have decided that I will join in the fun.The basics of the system are that a participant earns points for each model painted. The number of points earned depends on the size of the model.

Infantry = 1 point
Cavalry, bikes, or 40mm Monsters (Ogryns) = 2 points
Heavy Weapons Team = 3 Points
Monster or Dreadnought = 5 points
Vehicle = 10 points
Superheavy vehicle = 20 points

Special Thanks to Lone Pilgrim for introducing such a fun idea to the 40K blogsphere.

So far this year I have...0 Points.
I do have 50 points sitting on my painting table at the moment. All Guard. 3 mortar teams, 11 Stormtroopers, 10 Mordians, 10 Veterans, and one Leman Russ. All started after Jan 1st.

Silly Putty and Tanks...

2009-03-21T22:20:00.000-04:00

I debated for a long time how to paint up the Leman Russ and Chimeras that I have for the 95th Rifles. I decided to just do the standard Cadian camo scheme that you see in all the books.

I have always brush painted my tanks, but a friend suggested that I try a different approach. He suggested two cans of spray paint and some silly putty. Here are the first three steps I have done so far.
Step #1: Spray whole tank with base color (Tan) and apply Putty.

Step #2: Spray Secondary color (Green)

Step #3: When Dry, remove Putty.

From here I have to brush paint the tracks black.

Detail the Guns, hatches and treads.

Wash or Dip the whole tank in a dark brown.

Dry Brush the whole tank.

Apply decals.

So yeah I have a LOT left to do on this tank. I'll post more when I have made progress.

Found a command figure...sort of.

2009-03-18T16:58:00.001-04:00

So I have been looking and looking for the right guy to represent the commander of the 95th. I think I might have found him.

Currently I have two guys swapping duty, depending on how I equip them. (These pics are pulled from the GW site and not my paintjobs, just showing them for the mini)

The first...
By the book...Mordian Officer Mini. I could be happy with this guy, but he just seems to portly / Old. Those of you who have watched the movies...I think he looks too much like Obediah, which kinda ruins the while Sharpe's Rifles theme to the army. Plus he has a Chainsword. Really want a Power Weapon on my commander.

The Second...
Yeah I know he is Valhallan and not Mordian, but the hat fit the army theme, so did the epaulets. Close enough to pass for a Mordian Officer. But he has a Hand Flamer (weapon that is not even in the game any longer), I've been calling it a Plasma Pistol, and again with the Chain Sword. Plus he looks like a dork with buckteeth, ok maybe that is just the paintjob they gave him.

I did a little looking and found two possible options to represent "Sharpe".

First...

Colonel Ibram Gaunt...looks the part, power sword and all. not sure if I like the cape though.

Second...

Death Korps Commisar from Forgeworld. I would have to mod this guy, chopping off that head, and trying to save that awesome Hat. The Jacket and the Uniform are too nice on this mini to pass up.

Just some random thoughts... What do you guys think?

Worst Unit in the Imperial Guard.

2009-03-17T17:57:00.001-04:00

I'm in the middle of a game, teaching a new player the game. I started him with the Marines, and I took the Guard. We have left the game set up down in the Bullpen, so most all of my Mordians are on the table.

I had a little free time today, so I figured I would put some paint on some minis, and grabbed the squad of Orgyns, that got a basecoat of flesh many months ago. Why on earth would I paint the Orgyns, them being the worst unit in the Guard? Well one to be different. Two, I hope they get a little bit of a bump in the new Codex that is due out in May. They are the best close combat option the Guard...they just suffer from a statline that does not match the figure or the point cost to field them.

Getting back to my paint scheme. With the rumors of the new codex, and the much lower cost of basic guard...I might not have enough basic Imperial Guard troopers. At $35 for 10 metal Mordians...getting a new full platoon will be very expensive. However I could get 20 Cadians for $35. So keeping the 95th Rifles theme...I guess I will just paint the Mordians in the green coats, and everyone else in the standard british uniform redcoats, white pants, black boots and hat. By everyone I mean Stormtroopers, Cadians if I get them, Commisars, Psychers, Ratlings, Tank crew...and Ogryns. Yep red tattered T-shirts for the big boys. No pics at this point, just got the basecoat of red done and about 1/3 way through the blacklayer on them.

I do plan on keeping this whole army simple, and dipping them for details. I'll be making a detailed post of how I dip my minis with detailed pics at a later date.

Starting Point...

2009-03-14T08:22:00.000-04:00

Ok here is what I have to work with.

One Platoon of Mordian Iron Guard, numerous special weapons, lots of extra crouching HW crew that I have been using for Vox carriers.
One Command Squad
Three Lascannon teams
Three Hvy Bolter teams
Three Mortar teams
Three ratling snipers
Squad of orgyns
Sqaud of the really old Stormtroopers with extra sgt and two plasma guns
Three Commisars
One Psycher

Now for the Tanks...

Three Leman Russ Main Battle Tanks.
Three Chimera armored transports.
One Leman Russ Executioner Battle tank.
One Baneblade battletank...(ignore the eldar stuff)

More to come...

The 95th Rifles?

2009-03-13T23:19:00.000-04:00

I'm a big fan of the Richard Sharpe Series, both the books and the Movies. So when it came time for me to choose a color scheme for my Mordians, the choice was easy. I was very tempted to do them up as U.S. Marines in their dress Blues, but i just could not pull the trigger on that one.

So here is the look I was going for...

And here is how the test subject came out...

Got some work to do painting up the rest of these guys, and all their tanks. But I think got some help to paint those up.

More to come...

Three Army Project...Day #1

2009-03-13T21:43:00.000-04:00

Hey Folks,

Welcome to my Three Army Project. I have over the years collected many miniatures for the tabletop wargame Warhammer 40k. The three being Eldar, Imperial Guard and Space Marines.
So I have created three blogs, one of each army in an effort to kickstart my painting again. You will see links to the other blogs over to the right.

When I started this blog project I would say I'm 60-70% finished with my Eldar. The Mordian Iron Guard are assembled and primed, and one whole figure has been painted, of the 60 or so that I have. The Space Marines are about 25% done.

With each of these sites, I intend to write a little background fluff for each of the armies. Give reasons for why and how I collected and painted the minis. To show off my works in progress, and to hopefully inspire my friends to do the same. Finally to have a historical record for my kids to look at when they choose one of these armies for their own.

Hope you enjoy...
RangerRob