Summer Painting - 30k Iron Hands - Medusan Immortals

Some Medusan Immortals for the 10th Legion - loyalist troops for 30k gaming.

The deep summer has arrived in Canada! When July and August roll around, my wife and I try and spend as much time as we can at our cabin in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. We have a little place on the eastern side of Whitefish Bay of Lake Superior, and it is probably my favourite place in the world. It's a great place to relax, visit with family, and do cabin-type-things like swimming, kayaking, riding ATVs and other stuff.  But it's also a great place to paint! I don't paint as much during the summer, as the outdoors take precedence, but I do try to bring a nice stash of stuff with me to make progress on.  This summer I thought I would try to get some more 28mm 30k stuff painted.

Bionic arm visible for the trooper on the right...meanwhile the fellow on the left is going action-movie-style...one arm with the bolt gun, shield down...

And I have made some progress! Here is a 10-man squad of "Medusan Immortals" from the 10th Legion, the Iron Hands. Yes...some loyalists! 

A lot of character and detail on these fantastic sculpts...I loved painting them.

The Medusan Immortals are troops who have, in some way, failed the Iron Hands (I assume this failure somehow occurred in battle, but maybe they just brought Ferrus Manus cappucino when he had wanted a latte).  These disgraced warriors join the ranks of the Medusan Immortals, and as part of these units, embrace the toughest battle assignments, hoping to win back their honour and place in the Legion.

For the sergeant I swapped in an officer's head from a Mark III power armour suit.

The Medusan Immortals are kitted out as breaching marines.  The sculpts are excellent, with a lot of character.  They have embossed shoulder plates, and really snazzy embossed boarding shields. The figures also show a lot of bionics - there are many replacement legs and arms, and several of the helmets have cable connections pointing to some bionic replacement bits on the warriors' heads.

The level of bionic replacement is consistent with the background of the 10th Legion - supposedly noted for their near-mechanicum-level familiarity and favour of technology.  It could also be meant to show the "failure" that led the Legionnaire to join the ranks of the Immortals in the first place involved heavy battle damage...sounds like a rough gig!

Flamer-armed legionnaire ready to support his fellow Immortals.

The figures also have lots of spare ammo clips and grenades attached - overall, they are a menacing sort of forlorn hope.  I really liked these figures, and I'm glad I have another 10 to paint. 

Graviton gun can be seen on the trooper in the middle...

This first squad is equipped with bolt guns, and supported by a flamer and the whacky graviton gun. They will give a tough fight on the table (doomed, of course, because they are loyalists, after all), and will join the small force I started painting during Curt's most recent painting challenge once I get back to Winnipeg.

Summer Reading
 

The Siege of Terra begins with "The Solar War" by John French...

I've also got some summer reading going too.  The Horus Heresy novel series is finally, after what seems like about 378 books,  moving to the story at last to the Siege of Terra. I picked up a copy of "The Solar War", the first book touching on the siege, written by John French (author of the amazing "Praetorian of Dorn").  It was...OK...a solid 'C+'.  YMMV.  There are many cool parts to the book - I love the description of Terra and the situation in the Solar System during the heresy. But there are also too many Primarchs and their assorted silliness. And while I hope I don't give anything away, the big plot twist is not at all a surprise if you have read "Prospero Burns"...it was easy to see coming.

But hey - we all have different things we like, so I still encourage you to check out the novel.  It will help inspire 30k and 40k painting if nothing else!

I do sort of wonder why GW doesn't have any other Siege of Terra stuff out to accompany this book though...nothing special from Forgeworld, or another Horus Heresy box game...like, the Siege of Terra is THE penultimate moment of the Horus Heresy...that should be a bigger deal.  GW is strangely siloed, it seems...why would you have a box game for the stupid Ultramarines, but no game for the actual Seige of Terra?

Hey, wait, there is something new coming for Adeptus Titanicus! Oh, wait...just more Knights... 

But GW has released something else kind big this summer...

New Edition of Apocalypse
 

Some new rules from GW to contemplate...

Some other summer reading - GW has issued another set of "Apocalypse" rules for 40k. I'll say more about this in a separate post but...while the price is, of course, appalling, these rules look really, really cool...yes, that's right...I think they have something potentially awesome here for us...

Thanks for visiting - I hope everyone is having a great summer, wherever you are!

A sunset at the cabin...have a great summer, everyone!

Cerastus Knights for Adeptus Titanicus

More loyalist reinforcements - a pair of Cerastus Knight Lancers for Adeptus Titanicus.

 More elements for Adeptus Titanicus in this post.  Still painting Knights, but these are of a different sort from the previous bunch - these are "Cerastus"- type Knights (as opposed to the "Questoris" sort which I have been painting previously).  These Knights, which can see from their equipment, are the "Lancer" variety - equipped with a shock lance and an ion gauntlet (aka fist to punch things) as well as a shield.

He'll poke your eye out...

These new models were released...earlier this year, I think? Or maybe late 2018? I can't remember exactly...the pace of new releases in this game has been so slow, and the levels of stock so low, that I have been losing track.  They come two to a box - and yes, the price remains exhorbitant. But the model kits are brilliantly done, and you get a great decal sheet to use with the models.

Gives you an idea of the relative size of the Cerastus Knights...a good bit taller than the Questoris machines.

The Cerastus Knights are a good bit taller than the Questoris ones, and they are a little tougher as well. But there are limits to the size of their "Banners" - they top out at three machines, where the Questoris banners can have as many as six machines.  I have just painted these two for my loyalist forces for now, but have others in the queue - hoping to have a "Banner" of three machines for each of my loyalists and rebels.

The models have an excellent sort of "loping" motion...very well done by GW.

While the Cerastus are tougher, they are also easier to target because they are larger, and the big scary weapons like the bellicosa volcano problems will blast them to pieces. Fortunately the Cerastus Knights also move fast, and have a good command rating, so you have a better chance to give them orders.  The shock lance can be extremely damaging to even mighty Warlord Titans if they are able to charge home - enemy Princeps will need to keep an eye on these fellows, and ensure the flanks of their God-engines are covered.

You're going to need that shield...

The Cerastus-type chassis can carry other weapon assortments - a big flamer, a big heavy bolter, and different sorts of blades for "close combat" situations - but those models (or maybe just separate weapon sprues?) haven't yet been released by GW.  I believe GW intends to release them...but it's hard to know, as they have been so hot-and-cold when it comes the re-booted Adeptus Titanicus.

Thanks for visiting the blog, hope you are having a great summer. 

More Knights - and a building(!) - for Adeptus Titanicus

Some more Adeptus Titanicus painting...three more Knights, and a building.

A few weeks ago I added three more Knights to my Adeptus Titanicus forces so as to be able a full "banner" of six machines for an Adeptus Titanicus demonstration game we were hosting at Prairiecon XL.  Well, here yet again is another trio of Knight models - this time for the loyalist side of my collection.

More Knights for the loyalists...more targets for Horus...

I don't have much time or interest in the back story of the Imperial "Knight Houses", but these models are really tremendous.  They can be painted relatively quickly, but there is a stunning amount of detail on them, which will reward the extra effort if you want to dive in.  I tried to split the difference, going for a pretty straightforward paint job, but pulling out some fun details here and there.

Amazing detail on these models.

They also come with great decal sheets, and they make SUCH a difference, very, very cool.  I made liberal use of the decals, and wow, do they ever help make these models even nicer.

Thermal cannon...gets results!

Gatling cannon...scratches paint...not much more...

The Knights are also represented well in the re-booted Adeptus Titanicus rules. They are small, yes (I mean, it's all relative, but they are small compared to the Titans), but they move quickly, and in a group the "banner" can really cause damage to enemy Titans.  Some of the Knight weapons are scarier than others - for example, I do find the "avenger gatling cannon" to be a fairly useless weapon in the Adeptus Titanicus game (in a game of Epic 30k, that would be another story).  But the battle cannon and thermal cannon can bring the pain - particularly if the Knights get close, and start making hits from inside enemy void shields.

I know have two full strength "banners" to deploy in my collection - one each for the loyalist and rebel factions. 

Building assembled from the bits in the new Adeptus Titanicus box set.

The buildings kits are great - very modular, and can be assembled in all sorts of ways.

The building is assembled from the new Adeptus Titanicus building bits that came with the new game.  They are really cool...you can build them in a bewildering number of different ways.  The downside is that you have to paint them...I'm slow to paint terrain.  But every so often I get to it, and I finished this one building quickly while painting the Knights. 

Updated collection photo showing the loyalist and rebel forces.

Legio Gryphonicus maniple and allied Knight Household support.

Legio Mortis and allied Knight Householder support. Horus for hope!

Stay tuned for (hopefully) more painting progress to appear soon...thanks for visiting the blog, and have a great day!

Just paint it already!

The kill Team box came with several pieces of terrain. I opted to put all the pieces together to make a ruined cathedral. After assembling it I promptly set it aside. After months of looking at it and saying ‘someday’ I decided to just paint it. Nothing fancy here. Just dry brushing greys and adding metallics for detail. Then I washed the whole thing with nuln oil. Good enough I figure.

PrairieCon XL Horus Heresy Siege of Terra Game

For PrairieCon this year I ran a Horus Heresy game set at the Siege of Terra. I had previously created two imperial wall sections to represent a breach in the wall. The legions involved were Imperial Fists and Blood Angels trying to hold the breach while Sons of Horus and World Eaters stormed through. The mission was a modified Blitz mission from the 40k 8th Edition rule book. The traitor forces earned 1 victory point for having models within the first line of defense. If they got models within the second line of defense they earned 2 points per unit. The game looked great and we got to showcase some models that we don't normally use in a game. The only downside was the game was set late in the day on Sunday (Father's Day!) and several of us had to get back to Winnipeg , so the game was cut short. Here are some pictures of the game:

The Loyalists set up everything behind fortifications. The World Eaters started on the board and got fist turn

The Sons of Horus moved on the board first turn, but were mostly mounted in transports.

The Imperial Fists scored some early kills, but the arrival of the Fellblade was an ominous sign.

This was the first game for the Cerberus. I knew its fate was sealed, but Conscript Curt valiantly commanded it to destruction!

The Cerberus has an unstable reactor rule which has a chance of exploding catastrophically! It of course exploded catastrophically during the game and killed several loyalist models.

The Sons of Horus hit the first line.

The Fellblade goes to work.

By the time the game was called, it was basically a draw. The Traitor Legions had several units in the first line, while he Loyalists had killed several Traitor units and earned victory points for each. However, the Traitors had a clear path to the second line on the right flank and would likely get into the Blood Angels lines. The Fellblade was also going to be a problem that the Loyalists didn't have a solution for. I guess that outcome is basically how the siege went down. Horus had the material to win, but he ran out of time!

Nearly 40 Years in the Making - Grenadier Orc

Well... how to explain this post! This Grenadier Orc has been in my box of fantasy figures for almost 40 years, unpainted till last week. It was one of the couple-dozen figures I bought when I first started playing D&D in the late '70s/early '80s and it's really a corker innit?
 

Sculpted by Grenadier founder Andrew Chernak and bearing a copyright date of 1980, this model was one of my favourites as a kid. Unfortunately the axe hadn't entirely withstood the test of time, but I wisely retained the broken bit and was able to drill and pin it.

The model was available both as part of the "Orc's Lair" AD&D figure set and also by itself in a blister pack (or as I recall, a small header carded bag). It was in the latter packaging that I purchased it, likely at the Hobby Hut on 10th Street in Brandon :-)

Good stuff eh???

One of the best things about this model is how it stands up in size against today's scale-crept specimens. The old Grenadier Orc really looks like he could stick it to that Otherworld fighter!

Once I had this figure painted I went on a webcrawl to try and find some more similar sculpts. Unfortunately, though, I found that this appears to be the high point of Chernak's Orc sculpts as in my opinion the rest don't nearly measure up to the awesomeness of this one.

Perhaps I'll go back to the bin for more old stuff to paint! And stay tuned for more fantasy models from the old school...

Gaslands at Prairiecon XL, Plus More Gaslands Terrain!

Well, last weekend was the epic gaming event known as Prairiecon XL - yes, the fortieth (!) running of western Manitoba's oldest (and greatest) gaming convention. The Conscripts were well-represented there too, with Conscript Greg staging an amazing-looking Adeptus Titanicus game with an assist from founding Conscript Curt, Conscript Mike wheeling out his incredible "Walls of Terra" for a Horus Heresy 30K game, and yours truly debuting my Gaslands game, times two.
 

I have to say that my Saturday was not the best planned, as it comprised running a Gaslands game (9am-1pm), a stint on the registration desk (2-4pm), auctioneering in the famous Prairiecon game auction (7-9pm), and ANOTHER Gaslands game (9pm-12:30am). Wow! Although 15-year-old me would've licked Saturday and likely gone to a party afterwards, 40-something-year-old me was thoroughly beat after running 7 1/2 hours of games and volunteering for four more hours.

Murdercycle at top lines up another two-wheeler...

...and wipes him out with his Gatling MG. Good times!

Anyway, the first running of Gaslands at Prairiecon had seven players brand-new to the game, and I think they all had fun. The last man standing was Dan from Niagara Falls, Ontario (!), who took home a copy of the game, three Hot Wheels cars, and some guns and other bits courtesy of Winnipeg FLGS Maxx Collectibles. Thanks Garth!

Our 9pm session had another seven players, including Conscripts Mike and Greg. Again, all except the two Conscripts were new to the game but everyone picked it up quickly.

Eventual game-winner Kevan confabs with Prairiecon luminary Craig D.

Carnage was the name of this game in both the 9am and 9pm sessions.

Good sport Murray (for I think it was he) nabbed the booby prize (some Pixar "Cars" toys) for first player to have both cars eliminated from play. Attaboy!

Did I mention there was carnage? This is the aftermath of an out-of-control car careering into (and destroying) a pickup truck. Fun! 

 

You can see in the pics that I've added some new terrain - these are 3mm MDF Shipping Containers from Lasercraft Workshop.

They were a snap to assemble, and although they're designed to have opening doors, I ended up gluing them shut. They were designed without a "detente" to keep the doors from swinging backwards and it was just too much of a pain to fix that.
 

After assembly, I painted the containers in block colours, washed them with Nuln Oil, and did some sponge-chip weathering.

The branding was printed off from the Internet, cut out and applied with white glue. I lightly traced the "character lines" from the container onto the paper with Nuln Oil, just to give the impression that the logos were painted on. I think it worked OK.

Here's a pic with a typical Hot Wheels car, for scale.

The containers come eight to a pack, four large and four smaller ones.

In a pinch they might even do for 15mm games - here's a pic with Battlefront West Germans and a PSC Leopard 1.

The containers were a great hit, but Gaslands went over even better. It's the perfect convention game - visually impressive, easy to pick up, and fast playing. I'll definitely be adding it to the regular Prairiecon rotation!