Sunday, July 25, 2010

Group Shot and summary of the unpainted.

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.
 

Thursday, July 15, 2010

How to paint the Valk?


  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

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Comandante Teresa Moreno

  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.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Redone Harker


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.