The 1st PHIG heavy weapon squad is complete!

o/

Looks like I painted the rim of that base the wrong shade of green...

I say first as I've ordered another batch of 36 minis here recently, which will give me enough missile teams for a second squad. That or spread 'em out amongst a platoon, I haven't decided yet. Regardless, this gives me my first painted squad for this army! 

I varied up the shades of brown for their leather pouches and kit as well as the autogun's stock. 

Lacking any battlefield detritus for the base, I just opted for some cork-turned-rock bits and a few tufts.

A better view of the varied leather colors. 

Just a quick little post for today as this is the only painting that I've managed to do in the past two weeks or so. 

When the (mostly) unpainted hordes collide!

 o/

'TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE!'

The last words attributed to Chaplain Schaff of the Black Dragons

Screech and I got together for a game wednesday night, or rather we sorta did. We got a late start due eating out beforehand and that combined with having to work the next day meant we made it thru two measly turns. This likely also saved me from getting tabled. Nonetheless here are the highlights in lieu of a proper battle report. 

My army, that being the Black Dragons & Friends.

The 'friends' being the once thought to be extinct Incandescent Coyotes lead by Lt. Boughtflower.

Screech did his best to keep track of VPs and the scenario, however after a tactical blunder on my part turn one that I was unable to recover from, and quickly seeing which way the flames wind was blowing, I pretty much ignored all that and just tried to kill shit. 

The Salamanders in all of their unprimed glory (note: the one squad that is primed was gifted to Screech in that state). 

Whilst I did kill some stuff, due to the aforementioned blunder (and a few other errors, due to lack of gameplay), a lot more of my troops were getting killed instead. 

Oh by the way, no dreadnoughts were damaged in this engagement.

So what was my unrecoverable mistake you ask? Well, having the first go, I moved towards the Salamanders and their all weapons are assault and can advance and fire (often literally) with no ill effect detachment. AKA: the Firestorm Assault force.

Tactical error number one: Moving forward.

'But Sir, the odds of navigating a Firestorm Assault Force are approximately 3720:1!'

'NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS!'

I normally run the Dragons with the good ol' Gladius task force, but this time tried the Anvil Siege Force. What I should have done, was either stand still and ignore the lack of weapons in range, or better yet, move deeper into my own deployment zone on turn 1. 

These guys ought to have gone into reserve, rather than scouting directly into literal hell. 

Then, when the flaming banzai charge came at me, my troops could simply plant their feet and unleash hell! But, it is what it is, and at the start of Screech's first turn where EVERYTHING started to advance, I realized welp, that was dumb & I'm about to lose. 

The Incandescent Coyotes outflank to bolster my all but incinerated flank. After taking some wounds from the not so far off burna boys, a Terminator squad would deep strike in behind them, unload and...finish off a lone, wounded marine. Yeah, I'm still fine with not having any termies myself. 

I also forgot that when a Hellblaster dies, on a 4+ it gets a parting shot. No idea how I forgot this as they're my favorite type of Primaris marine. As cool as it is for every unit to have a special rule, it ultimately is a lot of crap to keep up with. Sure it is all there on the datasheet, but how much time in each game do we really want to spend reading the fine print?

Anyways, at the end of my turn 2, after the Reiver Sergeant waded thru 32 pyreblaster wounds, and some long ranged heavy intercessor shooting (losing his squad in the process), he decided to go out with just one word:

CHARGE!

The Primaris golf cart is assembled!

o/

How do you say 'DAKKA, DAKKA, DAKKA!' in Primaris?

Yeah, yeah, I know they call this thing an 'ATV" but actual ATVs have ground clearance. This thing would likely bottom out on a street side curb! Space marine bikes (both new and old) have always suffered from this trait as well. 

As you see it above, its outfitted in the infantry killing configuration. On the nose it has the driver operated, twin-linked bolt rifle, as well as the pintle mounted Onslaught Gatling Cannon (weaponry naming conventions clearly don't follow the 10th ed 'simpler' concept). 

Collectively pumping out a whopping 10 shots a turn from this little buggy! Add to that, the bolters rerolling wound rolls, and the gatling having devastating wounds, this little ditty ought to be a priority target. As such, I see some outflanking maneuvers in its future...

mmMMmm...Toasty!

Or swap out the gatling cannon for a multi-melta (the bolt rifles are fixed), and you get what my buddy Rob's commented: 'Fast moving multi-meltas scare me.' Noted. Although, that's not as much of a concern for me, were I to face one of these (Nevereness has one for example), as I tend to run basic infantry hordes with minimal vehicles and elite units. 

Snap-fit for the win!

As you can see above, the pintle mount and the gunner's arms are not glued in place to allow for the swapping of the main armament. Also, both the gunner, driver, the ATV's handlebars and the cross-shaped armor plate in front of them are also removable to make this easier to paint. 

That said, due to all the nooks and crannies even when it is halfway unassembled again, this will likely go to the Black Dragons. Because well, deep down little details will not really be seen, especially when everything is black. Also, it will give me the chance to drybrush on some lavender 'dust & grime' to match the rest of the army's basing which ought be an interesting change from the norm. 

These little guys again?

 

Yeah, not everything measures up to a Space Marine.  

This week my new Zombiesmith boxed game arrived! This time with the Quar in (semi) multi-part plastic minis rather than metal, huzzah! Produced by Wargames Atlantic, I've been waiting quite awhile for this set! You get enough for a dozen each of Royalists and Crusaders, along with a quick-start, skirmish only ruleboook. 

You can cut the box up to make basic terrain printed on the inside, though I don't plan to do so. I have other ideas for my Quar terrain...

The rules are as ever mystifying to me, especially as rules comprehension isn't my strong suit. That said, some folks are working getting some youtube battle reports posted up which ought to help. For example: I have a halfway decent understanding of Star Wars legion due to watching battle reports, despite never playing the game. 

At first these struck me as being even smaller than the old sculpts.

However after some side-by-side comparisons, they're actually bigger in all respects. Though still dwarfed by the Primaris Marine in the first pic above.

Proportionally, they don't gel too well with the old metal minis, though I'm sure folks will mix their metal and plastic forces. I only have a handful of older metals sculpts left, nominally set up for Bolt Action. As such They'll likely be kept separate from these guys. 

These three are a royalist Yawdryl with a Doru SMG on the left and two Rhyflers with Harlech (you read that correctly Kushial!) bolt action rifles to his right.

Note that unlike the Rhyflers, the Yawdryl carries only a food canister and light rucksack with two baguettes sticking out of it. If you couldn't tell by their rotund stature, the Quar like to eat!

These come with flat, 25mm bases akin to those of say Bolt Action, however I've ordered some 20mm bases which are in transit currently. I test fitted them to some of the old, gunked up 20mm bases that I still have and their little integral bases will fit on them just fine without any overhang. 

Two Crusader Rhyflers (one could be a Yawdryl, as they're equipped the same) with semi-automatic Bogen rifles, and one gunner with what's called a Ryshi. Its basically a cross between a Bogen and a WWII Boys anti-tank rifle!

Crusaders tend to carry less gear on their backs than their Royalist opponents. That said, extra Ryshi ammo is spread across the squad. This is important as each squad can have up to three of them!

So why 20mm bases you ask? Because once mounted on 20mm bases, combined with their short height and stooped stature, these Quar will be perfect for some skirmish-styled tunnel fighting in my caverns terrain! Since nobody that I know of locally is even remotely interested in 15mm gaming (admittedly, they're not interested in the Quar either...), my caverns have sat boxed up in the basement, untouched for well over a year now. 

Stay tuned, there will be more about these guys to come!

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

 o/

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

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

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

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

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

The next five on deck. 

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

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

Henry Rollins, Black Dragons Ancient

 

Yes, because he's carrying a Black Flag. 

This guy's been knocking about on my desk for a few months, so I decided to finally paint him up. Like all of my Dragons he painted up fairly quickly being predominantly of just one color: black (you'd think I'd have more of them painted...). Unfortunately said color makes these guys a bit difficult to photograph as they try to turn into silhouettes. 

There are 7 decals on the standard alone, including the first use of the chapter icons from my new decal sheet.

I'm not sure as to just what type of or how many accolades Mr. Rollins has racked up in his long and varied career, but with this model he gains one more: The most decals that I've ever added to a single infantry model; 11 in total, yeesh.

The left pauldron icon, and a white wing on the thigh armor plate which signifies...something.

The right side thigh plate no doubt tells of his epic deeds. That, or perhaps its just a collection of links to his personal website & webstore, Wikipedia page, Facebook and Instagram...

Armed with the Standard bolt rifle, he's not the most potent of characters, though he does make for a nice centerpiece model who will easily stand out amongst the still mostly primed black horde.  

Insert Khorney joke here. 

Ultramarines Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Come here bug, I'm gonna cut ya!

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

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

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