War Griffons Warlord Titan for Adeptus Titanicus

So in the accumulation phase of the Adeptus Titanicus buildup, I ended up with two Warlord Titans - one from the original "Battlegroup" box I bought at Warhammer World when we were there last year, and one from a subsequent purchase of a secondhand "Grandmaster Edition" box set.

I painted one of the Warlords for the Princeps of my Legio Krytos Titan maniple, and had fully anticipated bolstering the forces of the Warmaster with the second Warlord as well. However... when Conscript Greg decamped from Winnipeg to Parts East, I re-evaluated that plan and considered that maybe since his huge Loyalist Titan force would be not likely be seen again soon at the Conscript Towers gaming table, I'd better start on some Emperor-loving opposition for the Warmaster's crew.

But what Legio to choose?? I looked at the "history" of Legio Krytos in the Heresy, and by far their coolest-liveried opponents were the legendary War Griffons of Legio Gryphonicus. So I decided to paint the Warlord in LG colours with the thought that if Conscript Greg ever did return for a game with his Titans, LG could be represented in even greater numbers...

I painted this Titan in a notably different style to Greg's - I tend to go to a bit of an extreme with the weathering, probably because I like the "campaign look" and tend to get a bit lazy about painting neatly and cleanly. 

This Warlord was basecoated with Mechanicus Standard Grey and XV-88, which were overcoated with a light stipple of Administratum Grey camo and Averland Sunset, respectively. Mechanical bits are Leadbelcher and Brass Scorpion, with the latter also serving for the armour trim. Of course the whole was copiously washed with Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade, then decals were applied. After this came the rust streaking (Reikland Fleshshade punched up with Doombull Brown) and the sponge shipping (craft black and Rhinox Hide). Groundwork was painted Rhinox. Mournfang, Steel Legion Drab, then drybrushed lightly with Rakarth Flesh, which was carried up the legs as well for a bit of dust blending.

"Juliet balcony" back there for the Titan crew.

As Greg's noted in his posts, the Warlord takes magnets superbly. Here it is in its component parts.

I like to be able to position/rotate the waist joint so I magnetised that as well. 5mm magnets go on the bottom of the Warlord's torso...

...and stick to the washer positioned at the top of the pelvis. Using the washer has the added benefit (for me) of allowing some final adjustment of the attitude of the torso. In this case I positioned the washer to point the torso a touch downward to compensate for a bit of backward tilt that crept into assembly of the legs.

So that's it - Warlord done. Up next for the War Griffons will be a pair of Warhounds, with more on the way of course. Escalation waits for no man!!

Stay safe friends!

Bolt Action and Crusader early-WW2 German Infantry and Support Weapons

 While Conscript Dallas was busy painting up his platoon of early war German infantry in preparation for the attack on the Polish Post Office scenario, I was working on a backlog of miniatures by Bolt Action and Crusader, some of which have been based and primed for years, Others were still unassembled in the original box or zipper bag in which they were shipped. Just as an indication of how long these have been on my 'To Do' list, a number of them are no longer in production, or the sculpts have been changed since I bought them.

In total I completed a ten man infantry section, two additional LMG teams, an anti-tank rifle team, a MMG, two mortar teams, a 75mm infantry gun, a 37mm anti-tank gun, and a bailed out Panzer crew.

Bolt Action infantry section

Close up of the rifle group

Close up of the LMG group

 

Crusader LMG teams, and Bolt Action anti-tank rifle team

 

Bolt Action 37mm anti-tank gun (Panzerabwehrkanone 36)

Bolt Action 75mm infantry gun (7.5 cm leichtes Infanteriegeschütz 18)

 

Crusader 50mm mortar teams and MG34 on a tripod

Bolt Action bailed out Panzer crew (OOP) with a Corgi 1/50 diecast Panther

The infantry section, infantry gun, and the MMG will all see action in Danzig at the Polish Post Office. Currently on the work bench are additional support weapons. More to follow.

Ork Fighta Bommerz For Aeronautica Imperialis

Headz up! Here come more Ork flyers!

Back in the summer, I posted about a new project - the re-booted Aeronautica Imperialis air combat game from GW. I predicted this would be a "summer project", and proceeded to...not touch any of the models during the ensuing summer months. Granted, I was busy preparing to move, but that's my squirrel-like hobby brain for you: one minute, something is "the next big project", and suddenly it ends up on the back-burner...oh well, I like to think a lot of hobby folk have the same challenges. :)

Tail guns turrets - both behind the cockpit and right in the tail assembly - provide extra protection.

Since the new version of Aeronautica is a hex-based game, I thought it might have some potential to play over Zoom, and so I dug the stuff out and took a brush to it again. I am still working on models from the starter box. I made a start back in July, finishing the three "Dakka Jets" which had come in the box set, and so I turned to work on the other Ork craft that came in the set, the two "Fighta Bommerz". I finished them off last week. 

You can see some of the underwing ordnance available for these fighter-bommerz.

These craft are more "multi-role" than the Dakka Jets. Where the Dakka Jets are essentially Ork MiGs, the Fighta Bommerz can engage Imperial interceptors and ground targets. They have enough maneuverability to dogfight a bit, and they also have rear turrets for extra protection against enemy interceptors who outmaneuver them. 

You can mount bombs, or extra guns - or both - under the wings to provide some extra flexibility for different missions. These aircraft have no internal bomb bay, so if there is going to be a ground attack aspect to the mission you will need to put bombs or rockets on under the wings. The model kits come with all of the possible options to mount under the wings, but there is no reasonable way to magnetize the weapon mounts on these models, so I just added an assortment - one of the craft has bombs, the other has some extra "shootaz".

From this view you can just make out the smaller "shootas" mounted right into the tail assemblies.

These new models Aeronautic Imperialis models are very, very well done by GW, quite intricate and detailed. The Ork craft are spot on with the current "look" of the 40k Orks, and any fan of the 40k greenskins will likely enjoy the assortment of models available. I find this look to be neat, but also a bit of a struggle to paint, as the slap-dash nature of their construction is one that does not necessarily lend itself to orderly assembly-style painting. The consistency of Ork equipment and vehicles is only very broad and and general, and each one would be a little different in so many ways.

Ready for the "skies" - hope to get a game in with these sometime and try out the new rules!

All this to say that, for smaller models, these took up more time than I would have hoped. That said, I enjoyed the whacky outcome. I am now turning my attention to the Imperial craft from the box set, so the Orks will have someone/something to shoot at. Stay tuned for more on that - in the interim, thanks for visiting the blog - hope you are safe, sane and able to enjoy your hobby amidst the lockdowns. 

Foundry 28mm early-WW2 German Infantry Platoon

In preparation for Conscript Frederick's planned "Assault on the Danzig Post Office" game, I've painted some Foundry models that had been sitting in the lead pile here at Conscript Towers for some time.

Foundry had a brief flirtation with WW2 subjects some time ago and I think I've bought and painted the great majority of models they produced... they made British Home Guard (check), Paratroopers (check), Chindits, and Commandos (check) and some French partisans (check), as well as German Fallschirmjaeger (check) and these humble Heer infantrymen. OK, so I don't have any Chindits... sue me.

The sculpts are just excellent, in my opinion. Nothing over-the-top or outlandish, just basic early war troops. The only criticism I have about them is the "interesting" array of field gear... half of these guys aren't carrying breadbags or entrenching tools... some of them don't even have water bottles (!). But all of them are carrying their faithful gas mask canisters at least, with one exception noted near the end of the post.

I guess another small niggle is that the sections don't come with a leader carrying the ubiquitous MP40 - they have to make do with a Kar98k just like the rest of the lads. Fortunately for the upcoming game I can press the third crewman from the Lafette MG34 teams (again, see below) into service to lead the infantry sections.

First, we run this way...

Achtung...

Kehrt um! Everybody run back the way you came...

Lovely detail on the sculpts.

I also had three MG34 on Lafette mounts to paint in this batch. That's a lot of lead headed downrange.

The third crewman is armed with an MP40 and will serve as an infantry section leader where necessary.

I also made up three of these MG34 teams, using Foundry's "Heavy Weapons" pack. These chaps would normally be firing their MG34 from an AA mount but how often do you see one of those on the game table? So I improvised the infamous "future hearing damage" pose so often seen in period photos.

Strangely, although the web strap was sculpted onto the gunner, there was no gas mask canister to accompany it. This bugged me so I ended up sculpting one from scratch. Well, not from scratch exactly... I found an appropriate piece of round sprue scrap, cut it to length, and glued it in place. Then I covered it with a thin layer of greenstuff and sculpted in the corrugations and lid, as well as a strap. Not pretty by any means but gets the job done.

Painting formula for these chaps was Mechanicus Standard Grey for the helmets, gas mask cans and trousers (the latter highlighted heavily with Administratum Grey), Mournfang Brown and Leadbelcher for the rifles, MFB again for e-tool handles and canteen covers, some yellowish tan for the web straps, off-whitish colour for the breadbags (washed with Agrax Earthshade), Vallejo Dark Rubber for black highlights, and Vallejo German Uniform for the tunics. Most of the model was then washed with Nuln Oil and basecoats reapplied as a highlight. Done.

Here's some I did earlier... like maybe 15 years ago or more! This fills out the platoon nicely, together with some officer-types I also had done before. And although these are Heer models, they'll stand in OK for the Waffen-SS (or I guess it was technically "SS-VT" at the time) "SS-Heimwehr Danzig" troops in Frederick's scenario.  

Hope everyone is keeping safe and sane! 

Chaplain Tarentus

For my birthday I received the limited edition terminator chaplain Tarentus from GW. It does not bode well for classic marines that the latest addition to the range is a limited edition. Oh well, take what you can get I guess. The model is one of those easy to assemble push fit kits. The model is very well detailed with almost no mold lines, but the push fit gimmick makes it seem a bit cheap (though the price tag will quickly correct that belief). It also doesn’t lend itself well to conversion. I wanted to add some Minotaur insignia to it, but the time commitment for such a small change didn’t seem worth it. It would be nice if you could even slightly adjust the pose to add a little uniqueness.  In the end, I like the model and the details really nice. It also painted up nicely and the push fit meant you could paint the 3 pieces separately and assemble later without issue. I'd recommend it, but that's a bit pointless since it’s no longer available :(