The Fang 2016 - Staff entry

I feel like a total fool for forgetting to post this picture.
The Fang 2016, Staff category, I managed to get first place!
A big thanks to everyone who voted for me! That made me want to improve and keep painting!

Abaddon the Despoiler VS Blood Angels Captain

Cheers!

WIP - Abaddon & Bringers of Despair

Only one week left to The Fang - The biggest painting competition in Oslo.
As a staff member I'm not allowed to enter (since I'm also judging the competition), but the staff members are entering in a separate category where teh customers gets to cast their vote!

So here's a sneak peak of my entry - Abaddon the Despoiler!
Converted using parts from the Chaos Lord, Abaddon the Despoiler, Ezekyle Abaddon (different version) and Horus himself!

And no Warmaster is complete without his bodyguard! The Bringers of Despair have gotten a small conversion; a head-swap with the 30k Justaerin (which served as Horus' bodyguard (Abaddon was the Captain of the Justaerin, as it happens!)).

Hopefully I'll be able to grab a first place this year!
Will show the finished result after the competition.

Until then!
Cheers!

Revisiting the Black Legion

It's been a long time since the last post, a bit too long for my taste.

I had a game againts the "Duke Brothers" (just a nickname, don't kill me), and the original plan was to have a full battle report. Didn't happen because of following reasons:

1: I was so focused on taking pictures after each turn, showing the entire map, that I forgot to take close-up pictures. Too boring to make a full battle report.

2: I lost so badly that didn't want anyone to hear about it.
My deployment was so stupid, Julian had 4 Riptides (or was it 3?), I played my Imperial Knight COMPLETLY wrong, Rikards deathstar unit was impossible to kill, and my Deep Strikes served as a free victory point for my enemies...

Oh well, lesson learned, and here's a picture of the humiliation...

So much regrets in one picture...

Another reason for the gap between posts is that I have no idea what to do now that I'm done with my Mechanicus. Have been painting some Blood Angels, but Rikard has been mentioning how he wants to fight my Black Legion... Won't happen as long as they are unpainted, so I've started repainting them!

Retributor Armour gold on the trims = Awesome!

Problem is that black, gold and metal doesn't look too impressive on the table, nor the blog, so I need a spot colour. Was thinking orange for that retro-2nd. ed look to my army.

Why haven't I considered Maulerfiends before?
Moves like spawn, punches like a Helbrute and is hard like a Forgefiend!

I'm also working on my entry for this years Armies on Parade, and it seems I will spend a fortune on texture paints...

3rd time's the charm...

Third reason for blog-tardiness is that I've just started working as a Capoeira Instructor for kids on Sundays, which used to be my hobby days, so getting a game in the future will be very difficult unless I can get a friend to take over the training from time to time...

The hobby progress won't stop though!
Can't stop the signal...

WIP - Black Legion

No update last Sunday due to a Martial Arts workshop. Had training Friday and Saturday, then sat at home in pain on Sunday.

Even though I didn't have time to post, I haven't been idle. Here's the latest progress on the Black Legion. 20 marines, a 9 man squad of rubic marines and a Daemon Prince!

WIP - Black Legion

Make Abaddon proud!

The Black Legion - Phase 4: Painting

It's been a long while since I made a post about the Black Legion.

I've finally reached phase 4, the painting of the army.

After spraying the figures black, I used Abaddon Black to fill all the parts the spray didn't cover.
Black, in my opinion is one of the hardest colours to paint. I've seen people use blue to highlight, or even red (in the case of Dark Eldars), but I prefer grey.

After the Abaddon Black had dried, I used Administratum Grey (the lightest shade I could find) and heavily drybrushed the entire figure.

Wash the figure with Nuln Oil.

Gold details were painted Balthasar Gold, then Auric Armour Gold.

Metal parts were painted in Leadbelcher, the weapon cases were highlighted Runesteel Fang.

After these details were finished, I applied another wash of Nuln Oil, covering the entire figure, not just the black armour. Gold and Silver was washed as well!

The cloaks, peturges, top knots and eye lenses were painted Khorne Red. Not sure how to proceed from here. The red will be highlighted, but I don't know how much.

Yellow icons will be painted on the banners and shoulder pads.

That's it for todays post.

Until next time!

Cheers!

Psychic Warfare!

I know I promised you some Black Legion progress, and in a way, that's what I'm giving you.

Mons just started his vacation and got the new Eldar Codex, along with the entire new range of figures. He was up for a match and wanted a larger point limit.

Around 4000 points should do it.

So we met up at my place and set up the terrain, deployed our forces and rolled for an INSANE amount of psychic powers! Like that wasn't enough, I also had several Rewards for my Daemons. 

 The Eldars deployed behind a home-made Aegis defence line with a beautiful converted icarus cannon.

 I tried to do the same, deploy everything with a clear line of sight and in good cover. At 4k there wasn't much room left so I had to leave a lot in reserve.

 First turn, and 3 warlocks dies from perils of the warp! I was in luck!

 The Bloodletters advance with covering fire from the skull cannon. The cannon managed to kill a lot of storm guardians and dire avengers. On the right, the spawn runs into cover, only to be charged by the storm guardians.

 One lucky hit from a wraithguards weapon manages to inflict an instant death on  my flying bloodthirster. A serious blow to my morale!

 The bloodcrushers charges with furious anger. The Rhino with dirge caster denied the wraithguard their overwatch, helping a few crushers to survive the trip.

 The combined fire from the dire avengers and jetbikes cut down all bloodletters and leave the herald to his fate. The spawn, having cut down almost all guardians are charged by the wraithlord.

 A wave serpent carrying 5 wraithguards with low AP template weapons deploys in front of my battle lines. they cut down the entire chaos marine squad and a couple of plaguebearers. The pink horrors blessed the plaguebearers, and together with the plaguemarines they chopped down every single wraithguard! Again, a rhino with dirge caster ensued their survival while charging.

 The portalglyph is deployed and starts spewing out daemons. The spawn, having killed the last of the guardians starts clawing at the wraithlord, and manages to bring it down, but a great cost to their own unit... only one spawn is left. The screamers bite their way through the hull of the wave serpent.

This was some of the highlights of my latest game. The Wraithknight is an awesome figure (and huge!), but i felt it didn't contribute anything major. We'll see on wednesday, when another game with Mons is planned. This time at a 2k limit though...

And I got myself some styrofoam, and using a technique I saw on Warseer, I have started to add texture to the plates, without gluing stuff on. It's still in the very early stages, but given some more texture (And I'll probably add some stuff too) and a decent paintjob, it will be a great board for my city table.

So next post will (probably) be another battle against Eldars!

Until then,

Cheers!

P.S. Totally forgot to mention the outcome of the game - Which ended with an Eldar Victory. 15-9 victory points, but I managed to dish out some serious hurt...

The Black Legion - Phase 3: Assembly

I've reached phase 3 in my project: the assembly of my bits and ideas.

First photo is of figures from the defensive company. Everyone got mark 2 or 3 helmets, because it makes them look sturdier. The second figure also has a boarding shield - which I've mentioned before - will represent the mark of nurgle. The third figure carries a converted autocannon made from a Space Marine heavy bolter and an Imperial Guard autocannon. The last figure is a Sergeant, or Champion. I used a spare mark 3 armour. It really goes well with the shoulder pads and arms.

Second photo is of figures from the assault company. This company wears as many mark 4 and mark 6 armours as I could get my hand on. The third figure is a Sergeant or Champion. He has a wolf cape and a Space Marine banner. I like banners, as they make it easier to spot the leader of a squad (which will come in handy since you can have 20 man in a squad). And to continue with the theme of banners, the fourth figure, the icon bearer will carry a Space Marine banner.

Bear with me, I'm tired, but I'm well aware of that I'm repeating myself.

I just can't remember what I've told you before...

 Anyway, on to the third and last photo. These are my Captains, or Lords. The mutated arm is the only mutation my figures got so far. The Space Marine Captain arm made it look too much as a loyalist. Haven't got the head yet, but I'll expect it to arrive sometime next week. The captain on the right is finished, I just decided to glue his arm on after I've painted the figure. That goes for all the figures holding a weapon across their chest.

This weekend sees the release of the new Codex: Daemons. I've booked a game with a friend, and first my plan was to field my Black Legion, but now I'll field Daemons with Black Legion allies.

It's gonna be the first time I play an army on the same day its released.

Will be fun to see the outcome.

Until next time!

Cheers!

The Black Legion - Phase 2: List & Bits

I've now reached phase 2 in my project, which I like to call List and Bits.

First, I decided to make a list of what I wanted to include in the army.

In the Horus Heresy books, I get the feeling of captains running around everywhere, and I wanted to incorporate this in my army. With only 2 HQ choises in one army, this was kind of hard to represent, but I made it work.

The army will mainly consist of legionnaires from 2 different companies; one that is assault based, led by a Captain/Lord with power weapon, and the second "company" is ranged, including Havocs and marines with long ranged weapons.

One problem I'm facing now is how to mark the different units, since I don't know what kind of markings the Sons of Horus used, but so far I stick to specific armour designs for each company; Mark 2 & 3 for the defensive company, and mark 4 & 6 for the assault oriented company.

My intentions is to make the markings from each squad from the same company as similar as possible so I can merge the squads for bigger games, but still be able to tell them apart in smaller games. It's gonna be a tough one.

But enough with the list, on with the bits!

Raptor helmets are perfect for representing corrupted mark 4 helmets, without standing out too much. The bolters got bayonets, loyalist mark 6 legs got studs on the left leg, and the mark 6 torso got an Eye of Horus in its chest. I managed to find a lot of studded shoulder pads on bits sites, along with 10 mark 3 helmets!

My bitbox is filled with chaos and space marine bits, so I managed to find a lot of parts for my project.

And the bad glue batch is up to no good again, but this time it worked out in my favor. I managed to remove all the terminator heads, arms and spike racks, to give them the justaerin look. The Black legionnaires I didn't sell off was also picked apart to receive minor modifications.

 That's all for today. Next phase will see the figures taking form!

Until next time!

Cheers!

The Black Legion - Phase 1: Inspiration

So I managed to sell off my Black Legion, got the money, and I'm shipping the things tomorrow. 

But I don't intend to stop playing Chaos Marines, on the contrary, I'm re-building the army and even expanding it!

This time, I want a theme. This is quite difficult since there isn't much artwork on the Black Legion. The Iron Warriors, Word Bearers and Night Lords are quite straight forward, as are the cults; Death Guard, Emperors Children, Thousand Sons and World Eaters, but as I said, there's not much artwork on the Black Legion.

But there's plenty on the Sons of Horus.

Picture from Codex: Chaos Space Marines - page 6. Used without permission.

And that's how I will build my army. I will make a Sons of Horus theme, but still paint it as the Black Legion. Maybe the army could be the Sons of Horus, right after they changed their name.

So right now I'm on phase one of building an army:Inspiration.

I look at pictures on the internet, artbooks etc to find a theme.

Son of Horus

So far, this is what the figures should look like.

*Pre-heresy helmets, avoid horns and add top-knots to the heads.

*Studded shoulder pads and legs.

*Think Legion, not Warband.

*Leather straps/tabards. Don't know what they are called, but the thing Abaddon has under his belt.

*Eye of Horus

*Wolf pelts and/or capes.

I'm not going to use Terminators a lot, but I still have to have one unit, and they will look like the Forge World Justaerin Terminators, although I won't use that model.

 Justaerin Terminator - Forge World Copyright, used without permission.

The next phase will be gathering bits for the big project. Bits sites and friends bit-boxes will not go safe!

Until the next time!

Cheers!

Relaxing productivity

After the deadline work I had for the Apocalypse game, I feel I should take a break from Chaos and focus on my Blood Angels. 

I feel done with Chaos. Actually, I'm so done with them that I'm actually selling 25 marines and 2 Rhinos. More on that later, but first, here's my work in progress.

First up is (almost) the entire armoured support of my Blood Angels. Finished painting the details and used a healthy amount of Forge World weathering powder. Missing in the picture is 2 Storm Ravens and 3 Drop pods. I'm also waiting for 2 Whirlwind turrets from a bits site, and Death Company rhino doors from Forge World. The Razorback will double as Razorback/Whirlwind, and a Black Rhino will be added to the force. Never really enjoyed painting tanks, but the weathering powder is really enjoyable using.

...I realize that it sounds like I'm snorting the stuff (which I do NOT!!).

 

And here's my unit of mark VI 'Corvus' armoured Vanguards. The entire unit is also fitted with single-thrust jump packs. Took me a while to get them painted (although the red was finished, highlighted and shaded), I guess it's because the unit is really expensive, and in most cases not worth taking. Will have to try it out though.

Hard to get the picture right due to poor lightning conditions, but here's a close-up of one of the veterans. Wielding a power sword.

 And the bad glue keeps following me like a curse. Although I have stopped using GW glue, I still find old figures assembled with the bad glue. Luckily, these figures were unpainted, so I only had to remove the glue (using sharp tools) and re-assembly it using Army Painters glue. I decided to just switch the Scout Sergeants torso with a fresh one while I was at it...

And yes, I'm selling my Black Legion. Or most of it anyway. Not that I don't enjoy playing Chaos Space Marines, but I realize that I didn't have a plan or a theme when I made the army. 

I have no idea how to separate the squads, or how to show they carry a specific mark. I considered Iron Warriors for a while, thinking that a 'normal' squad could be unmarked, Forge World Boarding Shields could represent mark of Nurgle, and close combat weapons and an Apothecary could represent mark of Slaanesh. But I have painted most of my stuff in Black Legion colours, so I decided to stick with them. What I want is to keep the look of the Sons of Horus, but paint them as Black Legion. I already have some ideas and have begun going through my bit boxes. 

So next post will hopefully show some of new Black Legionnaires.

Until next time!!

Cheers!!

Random rabblings.

First off: A verrry late Happy New Year!!

After a short x-mas vacation I decided to post my work on my blog, but I have so much on my desk that I just continued painting instead. Finally, I managed to pull my thumb out from my Eye of Terror to bring you the results:

I've been trying out the Forge World weathering powders, and the results was to my satisfaction. I enjoyed working with the powders, and the result, that I just continued painting Blood Angels tanks.
I also built one of my drop pods. painting the parts separately was easier than painting the finished model, but putting it together when painted was difficult. Be warned!

I'm also preparing for the Apocalypse in 2 weeks! Sorting out rations and support to survive the weekend. I made a list in November/December sometime, and started painting what was unpainted. Then a couple of days ago I decided to re-write my list. Shit happens, but I got stuff painted.

 The Soul Grinder got icons of Khorne here and there, and I replaced its front legs with the big claws from the defiler set. The Warp Talon in front will act as a Chaos Lord leading the raptors.

Using some spare parts from my Forgefiend, I aim to rebuild my second Soul Grinder to resemble a Maulerfiend. My fiancé pointed out the the right hand looks like its supposed to hold something, so it stands between a weapon or a victim...

The bad plastic glue issue is still haunting me. I had complained about some Blood Angels being affected and I'm getting them replaced as well. I'm also finding several Chaos Marines affected, but I'm done complaining, and just try to repair them. It's a lot of work.

And right now I'm in a mood for painting Blood Angels, but I have vowed to finish the Chaos Marines (at least the ones for the Apocalypse) before I pick up the Blood Angels again. I've barely touched the Traitor Guard...

On another note, rumours tell of Daemons getting a new Codex and Armybook in february, meaning my Greater Daemons probably will get replaced by plastic ones (one can hope), and I will have to add whatever new stuff that's being released.

And that's it for this time. I'm occupied with training and work next week, but I hope I will be able to squeeze in a post someday.

Until next time!
Cheers!

Funpocalypse Now! - The Zeradath Cataclysm

I'm a member of a small group of people who are dedicated to arrange and play games of 40k. Primarily we are arrainging Apocalypse games, but we also meet up to play smaller games or even campaigns.

But recently, we have started planning a huge Apocalypse game. The game is going to be held at a members office, where we can be holed up the entire weekend.

As for now, we are 5 players and the point limit is 15.000 per side. This is how I envision how the battlefield will look like.

In the left upper corner, there will be a city ruin. This will be the Imperial deployment zone. The lower right corner sports a chaos fortress...

The ruins of the Imperial city.

 The Fortress of Chaos.

And as a little bonus, I wrote a short background story on why the fight took place.

- The Zeradath Cataclysm -

It all began year 874.M41. The Black Legion of the 42nd host had begun an all invasion on the planet Zeredath Prime, a large hive planet. After the relentless crusade throught the planets cities, the Black Legion begun constructing a Tahalamen Fortress. In reality, it was more conquering a fortress and corrupting it into a Tahalamen Fortress. The construction was well underway when the Warrick Rifles showed up. 

Only a small contigent of the Chaos forces was defending the fortress when the Warrick Rifles attacked. The battle was over in a week. A large company of Rifles was stationed to hold the Fortress. The Black Legionnaires that weren't killed fled the battlefield. The rest of the Black Legion gathered in the city ruins and for a while, it seemed like they were gathering for an attack. The attack was never launched though.

Tense and nervous, the Warrick Rifles started to grow tired and worn out in the Tahalamen Fortress, who was slowly corrupting its occupants. Paranoia and hatred spread within the ranks of the loyal guard. 

Then the relief forces arrived. A strike force of Black Scorpions, Ultramarines and Elysian drop troops made contact. The Warrick Rifles were ordered to withdraw, and be replaced by fresh troopers.

Jealous and selfish, the Castellan of the fortress refused to leave it in the hands of the Astartes. The Castellan and his company turned from the Emperor and prepared for the inevitable attack. That's when help arrived, from the most unlikely ally.

The Lord of the Black Legion host offered the Castellan to defend the fortress and defeat the Imperial relief force. He even offered the Castellan to keep the corrupted fortress, for it had already served its purpose.

Vastly outnumbered, the Imperial forces prepared to fight for their survival when the Eldar arrived.
Having forseen the construction of the Tahalamen Fortress and its destructive future, they joined the Imperial forces under no conditions. It was help unlooked for, but not unwanted.

And so it begins...

New Codex tryout.

With Mons as my opponent this week, I finally got to try out the new Codex: Chaos Space Marines.

Mons is a undefeated opponent. At least that's what I think. If I ever won against him, it must have by such a small margin that it barely counted.

Even though he plays one of the oldest codices on the market, the Eldar, Mons still finds a way to completly whip me good and proper. His list contained much of the usual: 2 Dire avenger squads, a Farseer, a Wraithlord, a big unit of Striking Scorpions and 3 outflanking War Walkers. This time he also brought 2 ranger units and a Forge World flyer (Can't remember the name).

I got to choose the deployment zone, so I chose the one with the tallest buildings. I deployed my obliterators very high up, Rhinos in the front (packing Chaos Marines and Berzerkers) and infiltrated with a Nurgle dedicated Chaos squad and Plague Marines. In reserve I had a Blight Drone from Forge World. The cherry of my Chaos-cake has to be my Forgefiend with Hades autocannons and an Ectoplasma cannon.

Slowly, I moved forward with my Plague Marines, Rhinos speeding towards the Eldar line, and my Nurgle marines and Obliterators holding ground. I managed to shoot down a lot, and take minimum casualties.

Mons outflanked with his War Walkers, targetting my Forgefiend, but failing to destroy it. In return, the rhinos fired their combi-bolters (and plasma pistol passengers) on the walkers, along with 3 Assault cannons from the Obliterators. All 3 walkers were destroyed.

 

While a 10-man squad of fearless Chaos Marines (thanks to an Icon) were locked in combat with the Wraithlord (blasting it with krak grenades), the Berzerkers went... well, berzerk on the Farseer and his Dire avenger squad. After they delt with them, they just continued their rampage through 2 buildings, killing both units of rangers. In fact, the Berzerkers didn't do very much. The Chaos Lord killed averything in his path!

The Blight Drone was a nice addition to my army as well! Sporting a large Maw cannon spitting Phelgm on the eldars, it was really worth its low point cost! I actually went into hover mode the second turn since I wanted to stay and fire. With it being a Daemon and all, it got an invurnerable save against all hits.

In the end, Mons only had 4 Dire Avengers left. A great victory for me, not only because I finally defeated Mons, but also because this was the first time I played with the new Codex!

We played kill points and the game ended 13-4 in my favour. Next on my agenda is painting my buildings and finish the army. I'm still waiting for a Forge World delivery, and when it arrives, I'll be adding some more punch to my army.

Until next time!

Cheers!

Let the galaxy burn!

With the release of Codex: Chaos Space Marines just around the corner, I figured I would paint my Chaos Marines, just so I wouldn't have too much to paint when the new figures come out.

So let's get straight to it!

30 Chaos Marines, either for use as 3 times 10, or a big 20 man squad. 

Chosen from the Dark Vengeance set. Considering getting another one of theese.

Hellbrute, from the same set. Also considering another, but painted as a Nurgle Dreadnought.

 8 Chaos Terminators.

 Assorted Chaos Lords. 2 Lords and a Sorcerer. 

Plague Marines and a Daemon Prince of Nurgle.

Thousand Sons Rubic Marines.

Rhino APC.

 

And finally some WIP. 8 Khorne Beserkers and a Blight Drone. I'm currently waiting for an order from Forge World. Tell you more when it arrives.

As for the new figures, I have ordered Obliterators, Warp Talons, a Forgefiend, the Codex of course, and a set of Psychic power cards. I considered the Helldrake, but I really didn't like the looks of it... It looks like a big turkey. But no one knows what the future holds! If it turns out to be frikkin' awesome in game I might consider getting one.

I'll try posting on saturday, after I pick up my toys!

Until then, Cheers!