More 30k in 15mm - SoH Reinforcements

Sons of Horus tactical marines wearing Mark IV armour - 3D prints in 15mm. 

More 30k-themed models have been crossing the painting desk through the summer, but I've dipped back into the 15mm project once more. Here we have a nice pile of reinforcements for the Sons of Horus - a big 20-man tactical squad and a 10-man assault squad. All are clad in Mark IV power armour. These are all 3D prints from Byron, with assorted decals sourced from various GW sets. 

Tactical Squad

Officer on the left, with customary scary pistol an scary sword; Vox-equipped trooper on the right.

No matter what scale you partake, when it comes to the Horus Heresy, these huge 20-man tactical squads are all kinds of fun. 

Closer view of a couple of the tactical troopers.

The 3D prints of the Mark IV armour really turned out nicely. The only real hiccup with these guys is the size of the integral chunk of resin at their feet...I find removing them to be fraught (as the resin can snap in funny ways) and I lack the hobby infrastructure to safely sand/grind them down, so I resorted to doing the best I could to shave them down with a hobby knife...not the smartest decision, and this was abandoned after a couple of the figures! 

Horus for hope!

Anyway, they look fine, and will be even better after I re-supply on grass tufts and can go on a little binge adding them to these figures. 

Assault Squad

Assault squad ready to jump into the action!

It's good to get the classic jump-pack craziness of the Horus Heresy going in my 15mm collection. I had actually started painting these guys...I dunno, a while ago, such that I was sure I had already put photos of them on the blog? But I couldn't find them...anyway, in the event I've doubled up, my apologies in advance...

Fancy weapons for the officer, as per usual.

Working class bolt pistols and chain swords for the rest of the lads!

I do love the look of the Mark IV armour on the jump pack-equipped assault marines, and I also like the style of the jump packs themselves, based around a single large jet - a layout that seems somewhat more sensible than the huge twin-jet set up of the classic armour packs - but for all that the Mark IV jet pack itself it still large enough to be very dangerous, and therefore "fit" properly with the setting. 

Lots of fun to work with these little castings!

So that's another 30 troops for cause of the Warmaster! I guess I'll need to do something to balance things out for the Loyalist side...stay tuned for more on that at some point later this summer...

Summer Painting Update Pt 1 - 15mm 30k Bits

Reinforcements for my 15mm Sons of Horus. 3d printed 15mm sized resin figures.

Well...hey, I'm still here! I'm still puttering about the hobby painting desk! I just find that once one "takes a break" from posting to the Blog then...it is very easy to keep "taking that break". A body at rest staying at rest...you know how that goes...but I have been painting since the end of Curt's Analogues Hobbies Painting Challenge, and it's past time to share some of the work. Up first, another couple of bits for my 15mm 30k project. 

These are 15mm-sized 3d prints provided by Byron M. There are two different units to share here, both from the XVI Legion Astartes, the Sons of Horus. We have some sinister Justaerin Terminators and then a devastator squad equipped with autocannons. Watch out, loyalists!

Justaerin Terminators

"We're heavily armed, heavily armoured, and...really grouchy!" It's the Justaerin, the elite of the XVI Legion Astartes!

The Justaerin are one of the "elite" formations found among Horus' own Legion. They are noted for their dark armour, preference for spikey-type adornments and a generally dour attitude that seems to find joy only in hitting other people. Now, I recognized it can be confusing, given that this describes like 80% of the Space Marines at the time of the Horus Heresy, but I credit the GW armour designers as the Justaerin armour manages to look quite grouchy, and so they still manage to stand apart in what might fairly be considered as a crowded field. 

Power axes for everyone!

These chaps carry combi-bolters and big, scary power axes. For a firepower boost, one fellow is equipped with a multi-meta, but note that he ALSO has a giant axe to smash people. Because 30k, right? For the power axes I went with a bit of an extreme color contrast, to help the blades stand out. It looks a bit silly up close, but from "gaming distance" it comes across nicely.

Another pair of "regular"" Justaerin fellows.

View showing some of the engineering bits on the back of the armour. You can see the fellow on the left lost his axe handle...had an unfortunate encounter with the floor...

The chunky 3d-sculpts have lots of fun little details, capturing the assorted engineering bits on that back of the suit, the recessed helmets and the flashy top-knots. One fellow lost the handle on his axe when the miniature fell to the ground and it snapped away, but I just covered the damage with paint, and figured he would go forward as an extra-grouchy fellow. 

Heavy Support - Autocannons

Mad minute, anyone?

I painted a few autocannon gunners for the loyalist side of my collection, and so naturally the Sons of Horus needed some as well! These guys are wearing the Mark VI "beakie" power armour, and there is now a whole lot else to say...I love how they look! 

Lots of ammo to keep those weapons going!

Lovely details on these 15mm figures...the 3d prints give a great result that paints up rather quickly!

Five autocannons will come in handy when the time comes to mow down some of the new loyalist figures I painted back in April during the Painting Challenge. 

That's all for this post - but stay tuned for more, on this project and several others! I hope to get at least one more painting up shared later this week. Thanks for reading, and have a great summer. 

AHPC Submission #12 - 15mm Imperial Fist Space Marines

15mm/1-100 scale Imperial Fist Space Marines and support vehicles. 3d prints all around.

One of the great things about the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is inspiration provided by fellow Challengers. The inspiration can be a particular jolt when you see another Challenger working on similar projects to yours, and even more fun when those projects are somewhat "niche" by gaming standards. I was pretty happy to see Challenger PeterA sharing some 15mm 30k Space Marines earlier during AHPC XV - and duly inspired, I worked to get some of my own 15mm 30k figures back under the brush!

It was a couple of years ago (during an earlier AHPC, or course) that I noticed Byron starting up with some 15mm 40k stuff. I loved how it looked. I am sure many gamers can relate to that experience of different gaming trade-offs offered by different scales of miniatures. 28mm figures (and larger) offer fantastic, detailed sculpts. Smaller scales, on the other hand, give more room on the table and engagement ranges that "look" a little better on a 6' x 4' table, particularly for settings that involve more vehicles. 15mm size/1-100 scale models can really provide a nice balance between these two aspects of miniature gaming. 

Naturally I immediately thought of GW's Horus Heresy as a great setting for 15mm gaming - and it is! Here are a few reinforcements for the Loyalist side of my 15mm 30k collection. These are all painted in the bright colours of the VII Legion Astartes, the Imperial Fists.

Veteran Tactical Squad

Tactical squad from the VII Legion Astartes.

These are classic Space Marines clad in Mark VI Power Armour - the famous "beakie" helmets.

Sergeant and banner-bearer.

Missile launcher - of the classic "shark fin" variety, and melta gunner. 

We have one officer with a power sword and a bolt pistol, and two other marines in the squad are equipped with support weapons - a missile launcher and a melta gun.

Two regular marines.

View of the rear detail and the power packs.

Two more of the regular marines.

Decals thankfully can be found among the sheets sold for the GW's existing 30k miniature ranges, so that is a nice touch for the shoulder pads.  

Dreadnoughts

Let's party!

The loyalists will be pleased to benefit not only from some extra firepower, but some extra "punch", as you can see from the power fists. One dreadnought is equipped with an assault cannon, and the other a plasma cannon. 

Assault cannon, and an aggressive attitude! Getting results in the defense of The Emperor...

Plasma cannon on this fellow.

I love these dreadnought designs - particularly the one that is pointing! 

Whirlwind  

Whirlwind APC and spotter/observer Space Marine.

The Whirlwind is another "classic" Space Marine fixture, an MRLS-type support weapon based on the ubiquitous Rhino APC chassis.

View of of the back tracks and ramp.

Great details on this 3D print.

I also painted up a figure as a kind of command figure/forward observer type (he's up there by the tank).

Big thanks once again to Byron for printing all of these models for me! Hope to add more during some lazy days of the approaching summer (should summer ever actually arrive). 

Grimdark Future Game with 15mm Space Marines!

A couple weeks back I was fortunate enough to be in Toronto for work, and got to drop in on Conscript Greg for a delicious dinner and a game. Greg had planned a very cool 15mm 40K game using the "Grimdark Future One-Page Rules" and I'd brought along the 15mm Blood Drinkers Space Marines I'd painted in the most recent Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. So for both his Sons of Horus and my Space Marines, this was their first tabletop outing. LET'S GOOOOO!!!

Greg had set up the three-objective scenario described in the OPR Grimdark Future ruleset. The objectives were pretty evenly spaced down the middle of the table, with the Blood Drinkers coming on from the left long edge and the Sons of Horus from the right. Greg had picked up some really cool new terrain when we were at Meeplemart earlier that day - some prepainted scale-agnostic desert stuff from GF9. It looked just as good with the 15mm Marines as it will with 28mm models! 

The forces were pretty evenly matched - I had three Rhinos (each with a 10-man tac squad in it) and a Land Raider with the command squad and a couple extra Marines. Greg had two Rhinos full of Marines and two Land Raiders ditto (one of them was actually a Spartan model standing in). My cunning plan was to leave the rightmost objective to Greg and try and take the left and centre ones. Above you can see the objective just behind my Rhino.

                                        

The Marines deployed from the Rhino just in front of the objective and awaited contact with the Sons of Horus.

This happened quite quickly as the Sons rocked up and with the help of the Land Raider, wiped out most of the squad. 

The battle in the centre turned into a general fracas with my Land Raider and many Sons of Horus assets becoming engaged. Greg had already grabbed the rightmost objective and the scenario rules dictated that once an objective is obtained, it stays under control until the enemy grabs it. This allowed troops to roll over objectives and not have to worry about leaving a unit behind to hold it, as long as the enemy couldn't reach it themselves.

Here's a good view of the centre. Lots of combat and death here! But keep in mind that the objective itself is behind the Blood Drinkers Rhino at top left...

Endgame in the centre. Unfortunately for the Sons of Horus they just couldn't wipe out the Blood Drinkers and get to the objective. The centre holds for the sons of Sanguinius.

Meanwhile over on the Blood Drinkers' left, a Rhino got blown up by Greg's Land Raider. The passengers bailed out and started movement towards the objective on the hill, just visible at top middle.

The other Blood Drinkers Rhino and missile launcher/meltagun wielding Marines managed to take out the Sons' Land Raider and caused a bailout. The Marines from the destroyed Rhino at bottom started to move towards the objective.

The command squad moved up to intercept the Marines moving toward the objective, but were defeated by the Blood Drinkers.

So that was basically the game, a Blood Drinkers victory, two objectives to one. I quite liked the ruleset and the game fairly rocketed along, lots of stuff died quickly, including the vehicles. Opinions may differ on how those are treated, in the rules as written even bolter fire can chip away at Rhinos and Land Raiders. I don't mind that, because bolters are supposed to fire mass-reactive explosive shells and there's no reason why vehicles would be totally immune to those. But it's something to keep in mind if you have a strong feeling the other way.

My thanks to Greg for setting up the game and for a great visit. It was fun to try out the Grimdark one-page rules and to get our 15mm Space Marines out for their first games!

More 15mm 30k

"So...who gets to go first?"

My somewhat quixotic 15mm 30k project is continuing, with a couple of new additions to the lineup. On the rebel side we have a trusty Contemptor Dreadnought, combining significant firepower with impressive "punch stuff in the face" capabilities which appear to really come in handy that far in the future. The loyalist side, meanwhile, benefits from a heavy support group rocking out with some autocannons. 

Contemptor Dreadnought

Contemptor Dreadnought in 1/100. 3d printed.

Conscript ByronM continues to find the best STLs and manages to scale them "just right" for printing in the 15mm size-1/100 scale used for this project. The models come out lovely, and paint up very nice. I had a couple of different heavy weapon arms to choose from, but the assault cannon is a favourite, and seems just right for the first dreadnought into the collection lineup for this scale.

Ready to punch people and things...

No doubt the nearly-killed-but-not-dead marine inside this Dreadnought frame will fight hard on behalf of his Warmaster in the hopes of bringing positive change to a galaxy threatened by the tyranny of the so-called "Emperor". 

Also ready to shoot people and things...

These 3d prints have very nice details and are just a lot of fun to paint. Just need to find an STL for the Deredeo class dreadnoughts now...

View of the low-carbon emission system - after all, the XVI Legion believes in "the green transition", so to speak...

Heavy Support Squad

Heavy support squad, ready to lay down supporting fire.

The loyalist bit of my 15mm 30k forces get a nice boost in the form of a heavy support squad equipped with autocannons. While these weapons do not do too much to heavy vehicles, they are very effective at damaging lighter vehicles and enemy infantry. This group will lay down impressive covering fire for Rogal Dorn's VII Legion Astartes lackies.

Hope they have a lot ammo in those packs....

The "beakie" Space Marine is a classic look, no matter the scale, and these 15mm fellows do not disappoint. They are a treat to paint up too, a fun little "palette cleanser" between projects. The whacky autocannons add to the aura, with the long barrels, oversized packs and heavy ammunition belts. 

Officers gets the classic red stripe on the helmet...

In order to take on enemy vehicles, a bit more higher-order firepower will be required. In particular I expect that will come from...other vehicles. So watch this space for more on that later this year!

Thank goodness for the smaller legion symbols being available as decals...I don't have huge numbers of them around, but enough to equip a couple more infantry units...

Will these guys ever get into a game? Well, I really have no idea...I mean, I hope they will, and in the fullness of time I'm sure I'll concoct some way to get them on to a gaming table (even if it means they all get crammed into a suitcase for a flight back to Winnipeg for a game with the Conscripts). But I do love the idea of 15mm size 30k gaming, so there will definitely continue to be some more 3d prints under the brushes in the coming months. 

That's it for now - back to the other 30k scales/sizes for a bit, I expect. Thanks for reading! 

(Even) More 15mm 30k

"For the Warmaster!" - 15mm Marines deploy from their Spartan APC.

The mad pursuit of GW's "Age of Darkness" in 15mm continues. Here we have some more 30k figures in 15mm/1-100 scale, 3D prints courtesy of Byron. In this post we have another 10 man veteran tactical squad, as well as a standard bearer and a senior commander/character. We also have a mighty Spartan carrier to escort the whole lot into battle! All are painted in the colours of the XVI Legion Astartes - the Sons of Horus.

XVI Legion Centurion in Mark IV armour.

Wearing a nice red cloak, as one does...

The hopeful Eye of Horus on the banner...

View showing the details of the Mark IV armour plate.

Ready to defend the honour of the XVI Legion...

As before, painting these little Space Marine models in this size is a real treat, and the assortment of STLs out there is really incredible. 

The classic veteran tactical squad.

Sergeant on the left, missile launcher on the right.

Standard issue bolt gun, and a melta gunner.

View showing the detail on the rear.

Pair of marines with standard bolt guns, Mk III armour.

The Spartan carrier is a beast in the "Age of Darkness" game, able to carry 20 Space Marines into battle, protected by thick armour and supported by banks of scary lascannons and heavy bolters. It turned out marvellously, and is a great example of why 15mm/1-100 has so many possibilities for this setting - a 15mm game would give players the opportunity to put a few of these on a 6' x 4' table while still allowing for some room to move around. 

Space Marine Spartan AFV - carries over 20 Space Marines to battle in style and comfort.

View from the side.

More impressive top detail, amazing 3D print quality.

The "business end" - assault ramp covered by heavy bolters.

Size comparison with a Land Raider painted earlier this year.

I want to thank Byron once again for his 3D printing know-how, and for printing up these models. I love the look, and hope to have a game with him in this scale when I next visit Winnipeg. 

***

Speaking of different scales for the Horus Heresy, we are, of course, on the eve of the re-arrival of Epic, in the form of "Legiones Imperialis". As a hobby-life-long fan of the original GW game "Space Marine", and then its various subsequent versions ("Epic", "Epic 40,000" and "Epic: Armageddon"), I am of course very excited to see this happen. We are very nearly past the "online-douchebag-influencers-saying-'oh-wow-GW-sent-me-these-models-you-can't-get-yet" phase of the rollout, and moving into the part where actual real-life hobbyists have the kits - I hope to share thoughts and pictures here very soon!