Reinforcements

++++++++++++FAO: Field Marshal Straun, Commander BG-82
++++++Transmitted: Vallivar System Sector Command
++++++++Received: New Praxis BG-82
+++++++++++Date: 4935998.M36
+++Telepathic Duct: Astropath-terminus Locion
++++++++++++Ref: THX - 1138
Thought for the Day: "If you want peace, prepare for war"

By the authority of the Immortal Emperor of Mankind, this mission briefing (and any transcript thereof) are classified information, for Field Marshal Straun eyes only. Priority Grade: Top Secret Chipmunk

Re: Latest reinforcement requests BG-82

Due to increased inter-system raiding only limited reinforcements are available. At this time no new regiments can be provided outside of the previously authorized reinforcements sent by Fantoma Command in route via Rogue Trader fleet. To ensure their safe journey, Imperial Navy Task Force 3535 has been provided as escorts. Afterwords they will remain in system to combat pirate incursions.

The following Fantoma units are currently in route, you are free to dispose of them as you see fit.

++ 2 Fantoma Drop Troop Companies
++ 1 Fantoma Armored Company

Be advised that these replacements are being transported by a Rogue Trader Duke von Stetson, as it appears that he has some agreement with the Fantoma Planetary Governor. No doubt it is only a cover to meet his own needs, but be carefull to learn any valuable information if you have the opportunity. Current status and numbers in the RT fleet are at this time unknown, as well as the number and type of ships being provided by the Imperial Navy. We expect all forces to be ready for departure within the next week, expected travel time, His most Holy Emperor willing, is 3 weeks Terra standard.

Lord General Sheridan

+++++++++++++++++++++++

So what does all that mean in game terms? Well, it means that I hope to be getting back in BFG next year, and that I might just get around to painting up another platoon for my Drop Troops and add some more armor, with the plan to build a Super Heavy Tank Company. In addition I hope to make a small RT army using the rules from either the DH or WH codex's, and a mix of models from 40k and Fantasy.

Valdor Update

Well after a nice 40k'less Christmas I got the chance to sit down and do a little work on the new Valdor SHT. The main gun is a combination out of tape, Marker pen, and Super Glue bottles. The rest of the tank, as can be seen is paper and cardboard.

The first pic is a front on shot, showing the drives hatch and gun mount. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep the main gun or not, if something new catches my attention in the next few days I will prolly replace it. If not than it will be glued in place. Still have to do the cover though.

Next up is a view of the left side and where the gun will go. I cut out a place to mount the gun like the normal Malcadors just in case. My plan is to build a sponson like FW's and also make a normal one and see what I like better.

And lastly we have a view of the right side, here you get a little better view of the main gun. I'm still working on ideas on what to use to make the power couplings for the main gun. My best idea as of yet is to use straws, you know the bendy ones, I think they'll work pretty good in this case.

Well thats it for now, here's to hoping the bits I ordered get here soon so I can do a little more work later in the week. Comments are of welcome.

Scratchbuild Valdor WIP

So, after seeing the new FW Valdor pics (Link to FW) I just had to have one, and so the following pics show you the first hour of work. Why does it have to be christmas, and why does it have to interfere with me building this tank!!! SO, I hope to actually have this done before work starts on the 5th but we'll see what happens.

I'm not really sure how I'm going to build the main gun or the housing for it yet, so I hope to come with ideas, or better yet do any of you have ideas? The tracks and small details are not a problem, and I was thinking of using a pen and maybe hitting up a DIY store but I have wait a few days, darn holidays, and damn the Germans for closing all the stores at 8pm year round. I could be in walmart right now buying what I need, instead I can only dream.

Which came first, the army or the List?

This weeks ++From the Warp++ round table discussion is, as stated above, how did I (we) build my last army, and what would I recommend to someone just starting out. Oh, and to keep it under 5 sentences.... I think that's possible but we'll see as I write this.

So what came first? The army and fluff came first, the lists are made later prior to each game based on how I feel like playing that day. In other words I wanted an IG army so I thought up a little fluff for a drop troop regiment that gets a little support by armored units, think Operation Market Garden from WW2. You know where 3 Airborne Division capture bridgeheads deep behind German lines and the XXX Armored Corps is supposed to move up and relieve them. Well it didn't work quite as planned, but that doesn't really matter here. What it did though is help me find my army. After doing this I quite literally went out and started buying what I needed, 150 troopers, armor, heavy wpn squads, etc... etc... Needless to say my wife was starting to wonder what all these boxes were and where all our money was going.

Now of course this is an expensive way to go and is not to everyone's tastes. In fact since moving to Germany the most players I've meet do the opposite, the first build a list and start small. What I mean is they start with a 750 point list and slowly work their way up trying out different units as they go. By all means this not a problem in fact unless your a fluff nut, or someone who enjoys the fluff/hobby side as much as a few of do, then I would recommend this option. That said, if you have the time, money and love to put into your army than buy it all at once and see where it takes you.

Well I'm well over the 5 sentences so it won't hurt to write a little more. What I wanted to share was something I thought of last night after writing this. Why not take the third option and comine the two. What I mean is write a little fluff and background while at the same time creating lists and gradually increasing. This way you create and paint your army to fit your fluff, while trying out different ideas with your lists?

New FW Terminator Inquisitor

Well, I don't usually just post rumours and things about new releases and other misc. stuff but this is one that I just have to show. So far FW has released 2 parts of one of their upcoming models, and from I've seen so far I'm just falling in love. I've been playing with the idea of creating an Inquisition force to help out my IG since... well... 3rd Edition. Although I have a few models painted there just wasn't enough motivation or time to get them done. But after seeing this:

Time will be made!!

It’s been a while

Well after a short trip through India and the Med we're finally home.  I for one am ready to get back into working on the 50 or so projects that I have going on.  The only problem is that the holidays are knocking and I don't really see getting a lot done, but there's always hope!

Some of may have noticed the FtW Logo on the right.  Right before leaving I joined a Blogger group over on ++From the Warp++  Basically it's a feed that brings together 40k bloggers from around the world.  I have to admit it was a great idea and really helps to bring everyone together. Follow the link to find out more.

Well expect to see more regular updates again as I get to work on another 2 Malcadors (for a friend), finish up my RT force (Using DH rules), paint another 50 Guardsman,  get the last of my dirtbike Roughriders done  and whatever comes up between now and finishing all this stuff.

Just a little update.

Well once again life has been consuming my time.  I honestly haven't painted anything since my last post, and I realized I never really posted normal pics of my army.  So here they are.  1st up is my Colonel and Rgt. Standard bearer.  Not the greatest but hey, they rarely see the light of day.  Since the photo was taken I finished off the bases and touched up the standard a little, but really not enough to warrant a new photo.

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Next up we have the 3 commissars attached to the Rgt.  I plan on naming them eventually, but just haven't gotten around to that part of my fluff yet.  The one in the front is an old RT era commissar, while the Female one is actually a model from the Necromunda range.  I found her in a box and just had to find a way to get her in my army.

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Ummm...  Troops, nough said really.   Shortened the lasguns, to make them look more like carbines, and used peices from the Tau rifles for the scopes.  One of the troopers on the right also had NOD's, again taken from the Tau rifles, and using plasticard to model the helmet mount.  I'll get a better pic of this up in the future.

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An early stage LR, still needs all the detailing and weathering.

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 As always comments, critisims, suggestions, and questions are welcome.

IG on Parade

Well I suppose it's about time to put up a photo of my entire army, and here it is. Dagger Company, 313th Fantoma Drop Troop Rgt. with supporting elements from the 3/73rd Armored Rgt. and 504th Special Assault Rgt.

As you can see there is still work to be done, I have 50 line troopers to paint, a platoon HQ, and a lot of bases to finish. In the end that will give me 3 Plt's of 3 Sqds, along with the HQ platoon maxed out with support squads. All of this combined makes up "Dagger Company". The armor belongs to the WIP armored Rgt 3/73, which will never be finished because it costs to much, but I hope to add at least another Leman Russ, 2 Bassies, and 2 more Chimeria's (which I still need a name for...). Needless to say I'm sure it'll take me till next summer to get it finished.

Marshal w/Body Guard

As promised here the latest update. I haven't done to much to the Field Marshal (counts as Inquisitor) but I have started on his body guard. Both of them are from the original IG HQ troops. One is the original standard bearer and the other is the original LT. I've added shields from the Adeptus Arbites to help give them a little more of a body guard look. Imagine them jumping in from of incoming fire to defend their master and commander.


These two body guards are going to count as "warriors" so they will get 4+ saves and be armed with hell pistol and CC. Instead of modeling Carapace armor, the shield is what will give them the 4+.

I still need to add a weapon and hand to the one body guard. I had originally thought of giving him a Plasma Pistol, but after deciding to use them as warriors he'll get the standard hellpistol and CCW. In addition to these two, I plan on adding a couple of advisors (acolyte) to help suck up wounds, and either a Sage or Mystic. I haven't decided yet.

Marshal Argos Painting Update.

Well here's the latest painting update. Still have the base, and lower legs, and a little bit of detailing to work out yet. But for the most part I think he's done. Spent the day working on him while waiting for the camera batteries to charge, so unfortunately there were no P.I.P. pictures.

New Field Marshall (WIP)

Well as I've been working on my Chimera's the last month or so I've also been thinking about creating a Field Marshal for my army using the rules from Codex Daemon Hunters. There's a local group here that is starting a campaign and I'm planning on taking part in it. So now is the time to get him done, besides he will fit better into the new fluff for my army as I develop over the next month to fit into the campaign.


The model is the old Macharius, I've removed the leaves from the helmet and added the plum. In addition the sash and accouterments are out of green stuff.

Vergnitz IV pattern Chimera’s (part 2)

Well here's the latest update. It's been a busy week, so this is taking longer than I had hoped, but... Well I've got them pretty much done. I still need to finish the turrets, which I hope to do tomorrow. Unfortunately I'm going to have to arm them with Heavy Bolters because I don't have anymore Multilasers left in my bit-box, nor was I able to find any in bitz stores. Oh well, maybe I'll build a second set of turrets in the future.

As you can see in the first pic I've added the armor and rivets to the fronts of both Chimera's, but still need to do it to the sides. I ran out of rivets so I have to wait for the green stuff to set enough that I can start using it...


Here's a shot of the rear doors and front at the same time, I don't know why but it's one of my favorite pics... Egal, so tomorrow in addition to finishing off the turrets I also plan on at least getting the base coat put on, as I'm hoping to use them in a game on Saturday. Can't play with models looking like paper.


Regarding paper. Yup both of these, like all my scratch builds are done using cereal box and poster board. I know that my work is not the greatest, and for that reason I don't waste my money on plasticard. A cereal box works just as well, especially when you have to make pieces 2-3 times (I hit a quarter at 300 meters, but can't measure a 2 millimeters).

Well see ya'll next time.

Vergnitz IV pattern Chimera’s (part 1)

Well I'm at it again, only this time I'm building 2 at a time. I really need to decide on a pattern name for these... Ideas anyone? After I'm done with these it's back to painting regular guardsmen for a while, as I still have about 50 to paint.

The first pic is just a shot of the track sections So it's not very interesting. I saved the templates from last time so this is actually going a lot faster than the first time. In all it took me an hour to get as far as I did tonight, whereas the first one took prolly 2 hours to get to this point. I've also used a heavier poster board for the roofs, as well as put support underneath. The first Chimera I built started to sag in the middle because of pressure as I pushed on it during the building process. I've also made the back a one piece instead of the earlier 2 piece design, and I think it looks a lot better this way. Well on to the pics.



The roofs are made out of a thicker poster board this time, and support from underneath to prevent sagging in the middle. In addition they are larger and made of one piece instead of 3 like the original.


Here you can see the one piece back. Sorry it's a little blurry, I didn't notice it until now.

Chimera WIP (Take 3)

Well here's the latest up date on my Chimera. I started a little painting as you can see, and also added a few details. I tend to paint as I go instead of waiting till the end. For me it just makes things easier, as small details pieces don't get in the way then. Of course it also means that some things take longer... In this case I don't mind as I'm waiting on my Bitz order to come with the commanders head.


Well I added tie down points to the roof along with a little bit of gear. I'll prolly add more, I'm just not sure what, thinking of fuel cans etc... Also added hinges to the doors, and door handles.


Front view showing pretty much the same as the rear view.

Chimera WIP (take 2)

Well here's the latest update to the Chimera. Seeing that I'm home all day, I had plenty of time last night and today to do some work on it. So far I think it's pretty good, and the templates for it seem to work well. The 2nd and 3rd should be much easier to build using plasticard.


Low angle shot showing the front. I plan on painting the drivers view port under the armored flap, and putting rivets around the front and side armor as well. I'm actually quite happy with the way the headlight came out, but they are a little hard to see in this pic.


Rear view showing the troop doors. So far other than the doors I haven't done anything back here so expect more later.


A view from the top, you can make out the engine compartment behind the drivers hatch, and the two troop hatchs just behind that.

Chimera WIP (take 1)

Well now that the Stormblade is finished, I've decided to get started on a project that has been nagging at the back of my head for a long time. I'm building a few (3 to be exact) Chimera's but I'm basing them off of a Real world tank. I've always loved the look, so this will be my impression of it.






First one to correctly guess what it's going to be gets a cookie. :P

FINISHED - Stormblade

Well here it is, my finished Stormblade. It's only seen one battle so far, but I hope to be rectifying that as soon as possible. It took a few months to get it completed but I'm quite happy with the way it came out.


I moved the ladder to this side because this is where (what appears to be) the crew doors are. It didn't make sense to me to climb up on one side and then crawl to the opposite side to get in.



'nough said. The business end of the things.



I redid the search light to make it look more like the original Stormblade. As well as the headlight covers and track guards on the front.



Rear view, not much more I can say about it.

Busy, busy, busy

Well, as the title says I've been busy as heck lately.  Unfortunatly none of it had to do with my Army.  In the last month, I got married, took 4 Semester exams, the parents flew in for 2 weeks, and we still have another friend visiting from Russia...  needless to say it's been hectic.

I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things in the next few days, but wanted to get a quick note out to let people know not to give up thinking I'm not posting anymore.  Task Force Dagger is still proceeding as planned, as well as Delta Company 313th DTR.

Mortar support

Well I finally got around to building my first mortar support.   Played a 1000 point game the other day against Orks and got my arse handed to me, and decided I needed something that can use the pie plate, and... well... reach out and touch someone.   Seeing that my other support squads are filled, mortars were the only option.



Not the greatest of pics, but more will be coming.   I plan on picking up some of the new washes tomorrow, and seeing how they work out.  Once that's done, i'll update with new pics.

Stormblade PIP

Well after a busy month between school, work, and planning a wedding (my own) I finally had some time and did some painting on the stormblade, my IG Supreme HQ and a few other things.   First up are photos of the stormblade...  Still need to tighten up the Tank and Army markings, as well as shading etc... etc...



Please remember this is still a PIP so there's plenty of work that needs to be done on it.



I moved the ladder over to the other side.  It made more sense to have it on this side as there are doors here.



Mandatory shot of the AdMech shrine.

Basilisk - Finished

Well I took a break after basing the Stormblade and went back to finish the Basilisk that I had started earlier. It was pretty much done but needed a few "touch-ups" here and there. I now proudly present the finished work.

First up is a view from the front. I still may go back and do a little more work on the drivers view port. I'm just not sure I am happy with it the way it is.

Next is a view from the side. Not much to really say about this one.

A view from the left rear. I had originally thought about closing the interior, but then because I had used the WW2 German Waspe as my inspiration I decided to leave it open. To be honest this was my first attempt at such a thing, I'm still pleased with how it turned out.

Right side rear view,

Here's a view looking down the barrel. The cannon itself and all 3 crewmen are either on bases or magnets. This way they can be removed for transport, and in the case of the barrel it can be rotated up to the limits of the armor.

Ready for priming

Here's the latest and greatest update.  It's mostly put together as of now or at least a lot of it is tacked at the moment to take the photo.  Tomorrow I'm going to base it in black and finish gluing  some of the small pieces in place.  For those that haven't noticed I changed the headlights because I didn't like the arch look to the Baneblade ones.  Instead I tried to make them look more like the normal FW Stormblade.  I also modified the searchlight to give it a little more of the same look.

Stormblade WIP

Well I had the chance to do a little work on the new Stormblade this weekend. Of course I wanted more, but I'll take what I can get. It took a while to get all the resin pieces trimmed and fitted. The worst parts are the large pieces of leftover resin attached to the rear of the hull. They cut nice and easy, it's just a pain to get to because of the location. Here is a picture of the pieces I'm referring to.



Next I started building the Baneblade parts. As other's have created excellent walk throughs of this I am not gong to bore you with my version. But here is a mock up of the what it will look like so far. The main gun, hull and engine are just resting in place.



Now on to the part that has me thinking. Should I mount the sponsons in the middle as shown in the picture below or the rear. I know all about the range advantages for mounting them further forward, but I interested in this from a purely "looks" view.

Whats new (Stormblade)

Well I had started working on a few models for my rough riders using some parts that I got for free from a friend of mine. The plan is to build 2 4-wheelers and 4-5 bikes. You can see the current state of them below

.

But in all honestly these will be put off to the side so that I can start building this!! Which arrived today!! From the time I ordered it until the time I received it was exactly 4 weeks.



Yup that would be my new Super Heavy Stormblade!