Final Painting Challenge Entry - 30k Raven Guard Command Figures

Hi folks - here is my final submission for the Sixth Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge - a command group of Raven Guard, loyalist Space Marines from the XIXth Legion in GW's 30k Horus Heresy setting.  I apologize for all the blather in this post, but if you have visited before, you already know I'm just like that.  So here we go.

The figures are a mix of kits and accessories from GW and Forge World, including some spare plastic bits from the "Betrayal at Calth" box set, some Mark III armoured Space Marines from Forge World, and GW's basic plastic Space Marine Command set from the current 40k figure line.

Up first is a "Praetor", a senior command figure for the Space Marine Legion.  He is wearing the bulky Mark III armour (my favourite variant), embossed with extra fancy features owing to his status within the Legion. This is a figure from Forge World.  I should comment on his wee pistol - this is an "archeotech pistol", a nice little bit of fluff buried in the Forge World 30k rules supplements.  I do enjoy how the pistol appears to be so small and out of step with the rest of the Commander's ominous armoured bulk, and when you know the background on these "archeotech" pistols, it really fits.

So what's with this pistol? The standard (if you can call it that) in the 30k/40k setting is generally that "older is better", and that even though the technology within their reach is far ahead compared to our contemporary world, to them it is a time of slow and gradual decline.  In the perspective of the 30k/40k human denizens, very old armaments, bits of tech etc. are from a prior age of unimaginable technological ascendancy - even to them, never mind us - and lost to subsequent dark times.  This little pistol is from those older times, so even though it looks small, it can probably blow away a tank.

And of course rather than seek to innovate or explore how to replicate such a device, the Space Marines and the Imperium they serve treat it instead as a dark and dangerous relic, to be trusted only to a senior officer until it breaks down or is lost. Anything else would be superstitious silliness. I love it! To me, the Praetor is standing there with his bonkers pistol drawn, staring down some implacable rebel Marine or alien abomination, saying "Quoth the Raven, motherf***er..."

Then we have a standard bearer from the XIX Legion.  This sort of anachronistic silliness (a standard on a dark future battlefield) is absurd, and I just love it.  I've done one for each of the Legions I have started to collect so far, and I generally love having them on the table.  Given the involvement of the Raven Guard in the "dropsite massacre" I particularly wanted to have one for them to gather around and mount a final defence...

There is a small group of bodyguard marines to go with the standard.  These fellows are wearing the bulky, ominous and heavily segmented and riveted Mark III power armour.  It looks spooky and medieval, and I just love it.  Two of these chaps are carrying plastic "combi-bolters", spares from the "Betrayal at Calth" box set.

Up next is a "Legion Champion" - really just another fellow in fancy armour, a noted and highly skilled combatant ready to bash some heads at the side of the Preator.  He is a blend of plastic 40k bits and 30k Mark III armour bits.

Neither last nor least is the "Apothecary" - the medic.  I love having these models for my Space Marine forces as they underscore the dystopian nature of the times portrayed.  A medic as we might imagine them, even a combat medic, is there to provide care, to save and preserve lives (at least those of his or her comrades).  The Space Marine "medic" is there to extract genetic bits from fallen Marines in order to make future ones - and any Marine so judged ready for this "treatment" who might still be alive receives a bolt straight to the brain first.  All of the odd ball kit on this figure is there with this goal in mind - extraction of genetics, not preservation of comrades.  But of course, the Marines don't care, as they are all out to die for the Emperor regardless...ah, I love the 30k/40k setting... 

I thought I would do a little group shot of the Raven Guard painted so far in the Challenge.

There are a total of six figures for this submission (there is a seventh model there, but he was painted back in November of last year as a test model to work out the colour scheme, so he doesn't count).  This gave me 30 points for my total, and a final total of 1,241 points.  So I exceede my goal of 1,000 points, which was nice.  Even better, this rounds out the very basic core elements for a force of Raven Guard troops for the gaming table - two troop units and some HQ guys, the bog-standard 30k/40k of many years (or at least it used to be).  While there is of course much more to be added, I'm hoping the lads will be up for a scenario where these figures make some manner of pointless and bloody last stand during the Istvaan drop operation. I can imagine that Praetor blowing the bad guys away with his whacky little pistol to the bitter end...

While exceeding my goal was great, I lost all of my side duels.  Oh well. For my defeat, I will be painting a figure for Byron, for Jamie M and for David B.  Jamie has already sent his request (stay tuned for that!).  Byron and David, you guys are next...

13th Painting Challenge Entry - Another 30k Raven Guard Squad

Raven Guard tactical squad for GW's 30k setting

The end of this edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is now in sight.  I've been diverted a lot lately by my dive into "Team Yankee", but my actual goal back in early December had been to use this Challenge to make progress on my 30k collection. You know what they say about plans...I don't even know why I bother...

From left - comms trooper, sergeant and vexillary

The detail on these models is really top shelf - I love painting them

There are still a few days left in the Painting Challenge, and I'm going to try to hit it hard - and try and get back to my original "plan".  Here are another ten troops from the XIXth Legion, the "Raven Guard".  These are loyalist troops in GW's 30k Horus Heresy setting.  The models are from the GW "Betrayal at Calth" boxed game, enhanced with embossed shoulder plates and comms conversion pack from Forge World.

It's an expensive taste, but I absolute love the embossed shoulder plates with the Legion logos..

These multi-part plastic models from GW are top-shelf.  GW itself may be run by a pack of incompetent asshats who are determined to obliterate their own hobby, but every so often they malfunction and accidentally release good stuff.  These "Betrayal at Calth" boxes fall into that category, and I have quite a pile of them in various states of assembly. 

Some decals on the shoulders - those are from Forge World as well

This gives me a grand total of 20 Raven Guard now.  Not very many (well, they would do for a Rogue Trader game, but otherwise pretty limited) but I have many more on the pending pile and I hope to add a few more to my total before the final horn sounds in the Painting Challenge.  Stay tuned...

Painting Challenge Theme Entry - 40k Tau Gunslinger

Tau "gunslinger"

The last bonus theme round for Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge was "Gambler/Risk-Taker".  For this round I submitted this "Tau Gunslinger" from a company called "Wargames Exclusive".  They make all manner of borderline GW-themed sculpts which are either clever enough to avoid the hilarious IP enforcement battalions of Nottingham or simply are not significant enough to attract their interest to begin with.  I am no lawyer, and I leave that to others of appropriate education and background to opine upon...

Scenic base is a nice touch

I thought this very cool sculpt was at once clearly a Tau, and decidely not-Tau in his appearance or demeanor.  Your "typical" Tau is a smug combination of psuedo-social-democratic political outlooks, caste cultures and rail guns. The Tau generally let their guns do the talking, but it is usually big guns. Like, really big.  Not sidearms.  Over the years the Tau have evolved into one of several factions which have served to ruin the prospects of balanced 40k games, although the models have always had a cool look to them, and over time have seen a number of (generally) even cooler new releases.   

I tried to make his cloak "pop" with a bright red

This fellow, however, doesn't seem to need a Riptide suit (over whatever it's called).  He's prepared to walk right up to you and quick-draw with the blasters.  Of course, knowing how advanced Tau weaponry is, the pistols are probably armed with subatomic ammunition or something...but anyway, I liked this figure a lot.  The sculpt was well done, and it was a real joy to paint - the first Tau figure I have painted in close to 12 years, I think. 

The detail on this sculpt was lovely - very, very well done

"Go ahead - make my greater good day..."

The Sixth Analogue Painting Challenge concludes this weekend.  I've passed my points target, and I've managed to hit all of the bonus theme rounds, so I'm feeling good about that.  On the down side I'm poised to lose all three of my side duels.  In fact, I'm getting obliterated in my "sci-fi" side duel, but I may find a way to catch Byron in the "modern mayhem" duel...we'll see...

12th Painting Challenge Entry - US Mechanized Infantry for "Team Yankee"

US Mechanized infantry in 15mm

Submission number twelve to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Paiting Challege was another "Team Yankee" offering - US mechanized infantry and M113 armoured personnel carriers.

Modern US infantry in 15mm from Peter Pig

It has been nearly two months now since Battlefront "released" their US mechanized infantry figures for their new "Team Yankee" range. Many companies can experience delays in getting their products shipped, but the supply chain Battlefront uses is so glacial that I often snap my crayons, give up waiting, and use an alternate product.  I used Eureka 15mm Soviets in place of the Battlefront motor rifles, and I have opted to use Peter Pig modern US troops instead of waiting any longer for the Battlefront "releases" to reach Canada via whatever snail-driven hot air balloon they use for shipping.

More US grunts

US Mech Company command stand - blue flowers to denote officer

The Peter Pig troops - actually listed as "US Marines" in their website - are a little more modern than the ones from "Team Yankee", more 1990s-2000s than 1980s.  The body armour is a little different, small differences in the harnesses etc.  The only really noticeable difference is the portable anti-tank weapons.  In "Team Yankee", this is the M-47 Dragon missile launcher, but these figures are carrying the AT-4 rocket launcher.  I'm not 100% sure, but I think the AT-4 is a little later than the M-47...but I have no idea what the differences actually are...also, the Peter Pig line does not have a casting carrying an M72 LAW rocket. 

But Peter Pig figures have one marked advantage over Battlefront's - when you order them, they arrive in the mail and you can then paint and use them.

AT-4 teams stand in place of the Dragon AT teams

A view of the camo and webbing

Despite the differences, the Peter Pig castings stand in very well. Peter Pig makes, in my opinion, some of the best 15mm castings out there.  The sculpts are excellent, and the casting quality it top of the line.

The blue flowers denote platoon command base

Painting camouflage is the bane of any hobbyist, but the US Camouflage of the 1980s is particularly challenging.  I try to give an impression of the pattern more than copy it faithfully, particularly in a smaller scale. The results are not too bad.

Propaganda photos - US infantry confront Soviet dismounts near a rail line...

AT team has a surprise for that T-72...

To be mechanized, these fellows need a ride.  The M113s from Battlefront were nowhere to be found either, but it finally clicked that I could just order a box of Jordanian M113s from Battlefront's "Fate of A Nation" game and get the same models, so that's what I did.  Four M113s are enough to mount on platoon of troops - enough to at least get a game in.

M113s...ugliest APCs in existence

I think all of us have some models or figures in particular periods or settings that we dislike or dread painting, and for me, one of those is the M113.  I hate the look of this vehicle - it's just a lame box on some treads.  Whatever its merits in real life (and they might be considerable - I don't know personally, I'm a civilian) in the hobby perspective, these things are totally, totally lame.  The BMPs look waaaay cooler.

Nice models of terrible vehicles

You will notice that none of these M113s have tread covers on...the crappy quality of the plastic struck again, with the tread covers snapping when I tried to clip them off the sprues, so I just avoided them entirely on these models.

Battlefront plastic strikes again...

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And now a short diversion on something I noticed in the "Team Yankee" rule book.  One thing I do appreciate about Battlefront is their painting guides - they have a lot of them in their books, and I find them to be generally helpful.  They often combine art work from Osprey books with Vallejo paint recommendations. I was particularly pleased to see one for the US infantry camouflage in the "Team Yankee" rule book, and once I received the figures from Peter Pig and started painting, I opened up to the guide and noticed something odd...

I thought this was really, really dumb.  Like, really?  I don't know the stats, but I'm confident a large number of the front line troops in the US Army of the 1980s were African American.  So, there was no way to give us a painting guide for that? Just....this was really, really dumb. I hope some copy editor is banging his head against the wall...

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So there are a total of 47 infantry and four vehicles, all in 15mm size, in this submission - worth enough points keep me within a possible striking distance of Byron in the "Modern Mayhem" side duel.

Completed US forces to date for "Team Yankee"

With this I will have concluded my little "modern tear" over the past couple of weeks.  I have enough 15mm stuff on hand now to play a few games and get a sense of the rules - and we even got a game in with these little fellows when Curt visited over the weekend.  Stay tuned for more on that in a later post...

This submission took me past my points goal for the Challenge. Just in time too, as the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is nearly done. I REALLY need to get back to some 30k stuff - I hope I will have more to share before things conclude...

Painting Challenge Theme Entry - 30k Frigate "Eisenstein"

Another Bonus Theme Entry for Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  This theme was "nautical" - and while it is not as odd as "l'amour" or as painful as "defensive terrain", "nautical" is still an area I avoid.  In fact, the one thing I am less motivated to paint than terrain is nautical stuff.  Nothing against it - ship games are awesome! Just not my cup of tea.  These bonus themes are open to wide interpretation, however, and so I thought I might be able to tie "nautical" to one area where I do pick up the brushes - 30k, and space gaming!

We all have models that languish in the "pending stage" - or at least I like to say we all do, so I don't feel like such a dunce about my own hoard - but this model was particularly patient - it has been waiting for six years!  Oh well, at least I got to it eventually.

So here is the frigate "Eisenstein", painted in the colours of the Death Guard. Horus Heresy fans will recall that one of the things that made the Space Marine Legions so scary was that - in addition to their massive size, terrifying weapons and primarch leaders - they had their own war fleets! A ship like the "Eisenstein" hardly stands out in the Legion war fleets, packed as they were with scary capital ships - but the "Eisenstein" is notorious in that it was the vessel seized by loyalists who escaped Horus' fleet at Istvaan to raise the alarm about the Heresy.

In fact, as GW has started to mine the Heresy story more and more over the years, a novel was even published about the Eisenstein's escape:

Of course, there is no actual model for the "Eisenstein" or any other 30k era ships.  This model is, I believe, a "system monitor" from GW's vanished "Battlefleet Gothic" game.  Of course, I hope this model shows there is no reason some selective painting cannot be employed to create 30k-era fleet engagements with Battlefleet Gothic models. 

While I'm not about to launch on a project connected to this right away, I have managed to source a few old cruisers which I hope to paint in Legion colours, to keep my ambition/dream of one day running a series of linked games which begin with a fleet engagement, move to a game of Epic, and finish with a game of 28mm 30k...one day perhaps.  A single escort-sized model for Battlefleet Gothic hardly took any time to paint, but I'm too locked into "Team Yankee", Epic 30k and 28mm 30k to divert into a bunch of Gothic ships for now.  But sometime...
 

There is one theme round left in the Challenge - "Gambler/Risk Taker".  If I can make that round too, I will have managed to get something submitted for all of the Bonus Themes this year, which will be a first for me - and a surprise, as I had expected I would end up missing nearly all of them.  But I haven't accomplished anything yet - I do have some models lined up for that last bonus theme - just need to get them painted in time.
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Be sure to check out the excellent submission by Byron as well - some Langton Napoleonic-era sailing ships - incredible stuff.  I hope he will post them here on the Fawcett Blog, but you can go see (and vote for) them now at this link.  Incredible work Byron!

11th Painting Challenge Entry, Part 2 - WarPac BMP-2 Motor Rifle Company

This is the second part of the "points bomb" I dropped into the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge over the weekend - a WarPac motor rifle company mounted in BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles.  There is also a BRDM-2 recon vehicle.  The BMP-2s are multi-part plastic kits from Battlefront.  The infantry are from Eureka.  The BRDM is a metal kit from QRF.

Multi-part plastic kits make me grumble quite a bit, particularly for 15mm size vehicles, but I have to hand to Battlefront, they came up with a really, really nice kit.  Assembly was tricky, but pretty straightforward - and that is by the standards of a total grouch like me.  Each box has five models which you can assemble as either a BMP-1 or BMP-2 (and if you are one of those ninjas with the little magnets, you could theoretically make them as both).

I did encounter one confusing element when approaching these model kits, relating to the IR lamp to the right of the cannon on the BMP2 turret.  Here are examples of the lamp from some photos:

But when I checked over the instructions on the assembly, it didn't seem to have one...

And when I checked the photos in the Battlefront products, it looked like there was no lamp beside the cannon either...

But the actual part is on the model sprues, and it fits quite nicely beside the cannon. So I don't know what sort of mixup may have happened with Battlefront - or perhaps I am mixed up, and maybe not all BMP-2s have that lamp beside the cannons? Perhaps a sharper treadhead out there can enlighten me.  At any rate, it was a small bump, and I was able to figure it out after only messing up one of the models :)

Battalion commander and his ride

I managed to sort out the IR lamp beside the cannon

The infantry are 15mm sculpts of modern Russian troops from Eureka.  While Battlefront has apparently "released" their own line of 15mm modern Russian troops - and they do look quite sharp in the pictures - my order for these figures remains nowhere to be seen.  I got tired of waiting, so I decided to go with the Eureka Russians instead.

Eureka motor rifle troops

PKM LMG stands

The Eureka Russians are, I believe, intended to represent the Russian troops who participated in the initial Chechen War in the early 90s, and so their kit is not the same as the troops from the era of "Team Yankee", which is late 80s.  The Eureka Russians are also lacking a sculpt with an RPK squad automatic weapon.  But with 15mm figures, it looks close enough to me - in fact, I'm not sure how different an RPK would look as compared to an AK-74 in 15mm.  The Eureka range has troops with RPG-7s, RPG-18s, AKs with underslung grenade launchers, and also things which haven't found their way into the "Team Yankee" rules as yet - HMGs, mortars and the terrifying automatic grenade launchers!  It's a great little range, and I quite like the look of the figures.

Another shot of the PKM LMGs

"Team Yankee" gives three different sizes for Motor Rifle Companies in the Russian force lists - this is a middle sized one - seven AK-74 stands, two PKM LMG stands, and six RPG-7 stands.  I've also done one battalion command stand.  And there are 10 BMP-2s to have the whole lot roll into battle.

Propaganda photos - Hind covering the BMPs

Motor rifle dismounts sweep the town...

PKM LMG team deploys

Marksman in position

Hind deploys troops behind the NATO lines...

The last little bit is the BRDM scout car.  Again, no stats or rules for this vehicle in "Team Yankee" as of yet, but I'm sure it won't be too long, and it won't be hard to bodge some in the interim.  This is a little kit from QRF - the quality there is hit and miss, but this one was not too bad.

A nice little disposable recon asset

Here is a group shot of the entire force from this past submission:

Ready to assault on the west...

The delays from Battlefront on the second wave of "Team Yankee" products are significant - even by their own standards.  I'm not sure what the hold up is, but if you are impatient like me, I recommend Eureka, and you can also try Khurasan, who has two different versions of modern Soviet motor rifle troops in 15mm.

As much as I enjoy tank battles, having infantry for both sides I think is important to round out the game, so I'm now trying to work on a solution for the NATO mechanized infantry. But I'm looking forward to getting these guys on the table soon!