Painting Challenge Submission #2 - Loyalist Armour for Legions Imperialis

A squadron of Imperial Fist Sicaran tanks for GW's "Legions Imperialis" game.

The 15th edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is well and truly underway! Several members of the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts have been painting up a storm. It's been over a month since the Challenge got under way, and I have (of course) been delinquent in cross-posting my efforts - so time to get a bit caught up on that. 

This second submission was a little "palette cleanser" of an entry - a unit of Sicaran Tanks for GW's rebooted Epic 30k game "Legions Imperialis". These are multi-part plastic kits from GW, and they are painted in the colours of the VII Legion Astartes, the tiresome (if stoic) Imperial Fists.

Heavy plasma-type cannons in the turret and lascannons on the sponsons - this configuration is ideal for engaging armoured targets, like other vehicles or some of the scary walkers.

GW botched the rollout of this new game quite comically in 2023. While some of the issues relating to supply of models have alleviated since the game launched, you can still sense the impact of the failed release for the game in a lack of enthusiasm among the local 30k community. It would not be accurate to say nobody is playing it, but interest is quite limited and I frequently encounter hobbyists who had been keen to try it, but gave up when they could not obtain it, or subsequently gave up on it due to lack of models. I still haven't found an opponent to give the game a try - even those who have small collections have them put away, or are more focused on the main 30k game etc. 

Yellow armour for hope! You can see some of the different decal options used on the vehicles.

I remain undeterred! As an old-time fan of the original "Epic" game from GW, I am still working on a collection myself - after all, I find the models remarkable in their quality, if somewhat tricky to assemble owing to their size. There is no game or event pressing me to get moving, so my pace of painting these figures has been very, shall we say, "stately" (i.e. laughably slow). A chance to play the game will come along whenever it comes along - until then, it is fun to slowly accumulate painted forces.

Autocannons in the turret, and heavy boaters on the sponson - this configuration is primed to take out light vehicles and flyers.

One advantage of this slow pace is how it allows for time to enjoy the models. And to swear constantly at the yellow paint! The Imperial Fist colours look striking when you are finished, but wow...what a pain! Even on little tanks like these!

There are scads of different tanks for GW's Horus Heresy setting. The Sicaran tanks fit somewhere in the middle in terms of size and impact. They are pretty fast, have slighter armour, and can pick different weapons load outs to emphasize anti-personnel, anti-tank or a mix of both. One model has a vehicle commander popped out of the hatch, so it can serve as a command tank should such a thing be needed in the game.

That's all for this submission - after all, it was just a "palette cleanser" - but I hope to get caught up here on the Fawcett Blog over the next little bit. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out everyone's tremendous work over at the AHPC Painting Challenge page!

AHPC Submission #2 - Legions Imperialis - Painting and Ranting

A detachment of Space Marines for the "Legiones Imperialis" game from GW. Or maybe this is a "formation"? Whatever.

For my second submission to AHPC XIV, I combined this modest assortment of very, very small Space Marines and some of the slightly-less-small-but-still-small Dreadnoughts which support them in battlem with my thoughts on the return of "Epic", which has returned under the (comically absurd) title "Legions Imperialis", but which long-suffering fans of the company's maligned "specialist games" simply recognize by the name "Epic". These figures are painted (of course) in the colours of the XVI Legion Astartes, the Sons of Horus.

Space Marine Legion command stand.

I am a HUGE fan of GW's "Epic" game, and of the setting in which the game takes place, the so-called "Horus Heresy". This game first appeared in the 90s as "Space Marine" and would appear and re-appear in different forms over the years in various names, including "Epic", "Epic: 40,000" and finally "Epic: Armageddon". It disappeared under GW's clown-addled leadership circa 2008 or somewhere in there with the other so-called "specialist games" of the day, but fans kept a candle burning - and kept playing - all through the subsequent years.

A couple of the dreadnoughts; you get two on each sprue of Space Marine infantry.

And lo and behold, the game did arise and return! You would think a fan like me would be just thrilled, and this post would be brimming with enthusiasm...but...well, that is just not the vibe I have with this game. 

Why is my vigour and passion for this game at such a low ebb at the very moment of its return to the commercial scene? Who knows? I can think of a few things contributing to my much-dimmed enthusiasm...let's review some of them...

A look at unit of tactical marines. Or maybe a formation of them. Or maybe a detachment. Or maybe a group. Bottom line - there are 20 little tactical marines there.

Maybe it was the years and-years-long delay to essentially re-launch the game, wasting time to re-do rules when they already had them, and simply had to re-issue them, but instead sat there for years in the studio getting wanked around through GW's constipated product process... 

Maybe it was the completely unnecessary "re-scale" of the figures, just to try and f*ck over the old time collectors?

Wee little heavy support marines.

Maybe it was the extra months-long delay in the actual release of the game, caused by some unknown f*ckup within GW's painfully slow corporate processes. 

Tactical support marines...they have plasma guns...or, at least, I know they do...not sure what they might look like to most normal people...

Maybe it was GW's tone-deaf decision to continue with their drone-like promotional roll-out for the game even after this Air-Canada-sized additional delay was confirmed, when every single announcement was met with a chorus of "WHEN WILL YOU RELEASE IT?" and GW never saw fit to answer that basic question (although it still mustered the resources to generate a corporate graphic pouting about this feedback, which just says so much, but anyway). 

The LI game had been meant for release in August, but was delayed at the last minute, and no date was given. This was GW's hilarious and tone-deaf response to the venting of fans being fed months of promotional photos for the models and rules, while having no actual date on when said models or rules would be released. When a corporation says "we hear you", they generally, absolutely, have not. The game finally did arrive in mid-December.

Maybe it was the drip of tiresome online content from "influencers" who get these things sent to them in advance while the rest of us plebs must content with GW's Kafka-like online pre-ordering system. This systems exists on GW's POS "upgraded" online store, and it is truly a marvel that, in the age of online product ordering, GW found a way to spend money creating an online platform where one must be in an online queue in order to join another online queue! 

Not only does this waste your time, but it ensures that most people will either not get access to the product, which sells out in minutes. Fans who miss out face the choice of a) having no product, or, b) trying to get it from a FLGS, and hope said FLGS itself was not itself f*cked over by GW shorting its orders, or, c) dealing with douchebag scalpers online, or, d) waiting for GW to replenish its stock. Note, this stock, if and when it appears will again sell out in minutes while you struggle to log in to the "new" POS web store, because somehow a company that must sell stuff to make a living is yet utterly unable to reliably stock and supply the stuff it wants to sell?

Step 1: join the queue to...be in another queue.

Step 2: after the first queue, wait in the second queue, while the product sells out online without you.

Maybe it was the fact that, having navigated the above, the new updated rules, once they arrive, are a total B-team effort in terms of presentation, combining tiny fonts and wasting vast amounts of page space?

Maybe it was the fact that, once you hurt your eyes and start reading, you find rules which probably contain a good game, but read as though they were written by an AI chat bot trained on a blend of EU climate treaties and a cut-and-paste of the "Patrol Phase" from Chain of Command? Why are the concepts of "formation" and "detachment" mixed up? Why do they call turns "rounds" when they should be called "turns"? Why do they try to make "overwatch" a verb? It's not a verb. Nobody, anywhere, "overwatches". Seriously what f*cking Sports Illustrated chat bot wrote this book?

A look at a single stand of assault marines.

Maybe it was the fact that the c*nts, having taken years to develop the game, did not include rules or stats for Land Raiders or Whirlwinds or so many of the other basic main vehicles in the core rules?

Maybe it was the fact that the new infantry models, while being "larger", somehow still contain both seriously unfortunate "cuts" that leave weird look on the tactical marines when seen from certain angles, but are ALSO often multi-part? I mean - take one approach, or the other...but both? That is weird, I don't get it.

Multi-part epic scale Space Marines. "I have always wanted multi-part figures this small" said nobody, ever, anywhere.

Maybe it was that one thing that wargamers loathe the most, even more than changing the scale of the figures...it was THE BASES. GW has attempted, with this new game, to change not only the basing size and shape (to round 25mm for basic stuff), but also saw fit to include only bases with "scenic" pavement/urban elements sculpted right into them, and...I despise them. I enjoy a game set in an urban-type terrain, but while a miniature with relatively generic "outdoor" terrain looks fine in an "urban" wargame setting, a figure with specific urban terrain built on to its base looks ridiculous on any other kind of terrain...

More dreadnoughts. You can see here an example of the Imperial symbol from the "pavement"...I let that peak through, but otherwise try to cover up the pavement.

...and let's continue the rant here. The pavements on the bases are not even broken up or anything. They are just random flagstone pavements so...like, the lines, which are visible, don't even necessarily match whatever given piece of "urban" terrain the model/figure might be placed on, causing immediate dissonance even if you do paint them up and then place them on GW's custom urban terrain plates (which you probably could not manage to buy as they sold out while you waited in an online queue to join another online queue)...

...let me just cover one more time how much I hate the bases....yeah...it must be the bases. F*ck these new, thin, stupid bases.

I did make an honest attempt to at least try to use them, but that lasted less than 24 hours before I was applying basing material to cover the stupid pavements, leaving the odd imperial symbol peaking out. 

A look at the Terminators

Is it all bad? Well, no, of course not. The game is back. It took forever, but it IS back. I think the rules will be good once I get them translated into English. The new models are fiddly, but they have many, many nice features (if you can find them for sale anywhere), and while I may not be a huge fan of multi-part 6mm infantry, once cannot argue with the detail it does allow for, assuming your temper can survive assembling them. Warning - do NOT build these anywhere near a floor with a carpet...

I think there is some great stuff here, but I totally get why people are turning en-masse to 3D printing options, as GW can't even get its sh*t together to sell you the stuff if you even want to buy it. I WANT to be a fan of this game, I don't understand why GW insists on treating customers in this manner when it simply doesn't have to...how does this company, which is publicly traded, not have an activist investor not lining up to beat this management group into small pieces? 

And, of course, whatever problems I have had acquiring "Legions Imperialis" pale to those experienced by the folks keen to get their hands on the Warhammer Fantasy re-boot, "The Old World", which was a complete hash...but perhaps more on that another time...

Group photo, one more time!

 

I hope to have more to say and share about "Legions Imperialis" in future posts. And throughout this edition of the Challenge, I do hope to paint more of these new models and build up some forces to try a game sometime. The rules ARE a very hard read, but I think they are quite good (not as good as "Epic: Armageddon" - but still good). In the meantime, the painting continues, be sure to check out the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge through the winter, as various Conscripts continue to pile up the points!

Epic 30k Land Raiders

Some Land Raider tanks for Epic 30k action - these are "Armoured Proteus" variants.

I've been keen to get some more 30k stuff off of the painting desk, and not just titans, so here is a detachment of Land Raiders for Epic 30k. These are "Armoured Proteus" variants, and they are painted in the livery of the 14th Legion, the "Death Guard".

I tried to do the embossed legion logos on the doors some justice...was a bit tricky.

A view of the not-at-all-carbon-neutral emission systems.

These had been sitting in the "primed and basecoated" pile of shame for about a year or so...anyway, I thought it best to get them finished off, as I have not painted much Epic 30k stuff for some time, and I feel like it might be time to change that up!

The Land Raider is an iconic piece of Space Marine kit.

Lascannons and heavy bolters galore, plus some troop-carrying capacity.

Not a lot to add in this poost...the painting approach was pretty basic, but it was nice to get some practice in on these sorts of models again. Thanks for reading, and stay safe out there!

Other Long Weekend Painting Bits - Epic 30k Falchion

An Epic 30k Falchion-class super-heavy tank for the Death Guard.

I meant to follow up Part 1 of my Thanksgiving Weekend painting-fest sooner, but other things got in the way, and in the meantime, Mike and Dallas had some great stuff to share, and I wanted to let their posts stay top shelf for a few days. In particular, it's great to see some of the other folks here tipping over into the new Adeptus Titanitcus...great stuff!

Quad lascannons on the sponsons in addition to the huge friggin' main cannon.

This post doesn't have too much to share - while I was working away at that Canadian mechanized infantry platoon for "Team Yankee", I also pulled this out of the huge "soon-to-be-painted-which-turned-into-months-of-waiting-while-primed" pile I have downstairs - this is an Epic 30k Falchion super-heavy tank.  It is painted in the colours of the XIV Legion, the "Death Guard".  I have not painted an Epic 30k tank in some months, and knocking this off gave my brushes something to do while waiting for the Agrax Earthshade to dry on all of those Canadian models.

"Let's power up for that kill shot..."

I had painted three friends for this guy back during Curt's most recent edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, but for some reason I didn't finish this thank even though it had been prepped and primed at the same time as the other three.  Who knows what distraction caused my squirrel brain to move on.  Whatever the cause, this tank sat primed and based, waiting for paint, since January of this year.

The Falchion is a "super-tank-destroyer" among the ranks of the Space Marine Legions' super-heavy tanks.  It's got a giant super cannon which can knock out opposing super-heavies, and even enemy Titans, in just one shot.  And in keeping with the design-to-overkill tradition of the Space Marine Legions, it also has two batteries of quad-lascannons mounted on sponsons.  I suppose the crew use those for sport in between blasts from the main battery.

Death Guard super-heavies on maneuvers in my kitchen.

So I now have an ominous-looking force of Epic 30k Death Guard - to join Byron's fantastic collection of Epic 30k Death Guard :) If nothing else, we'll be all set for a major confrontation between Space Marine heavy tank companies!

Painting Challenge Wrapped Up - Epic Warlord Titan and SAGA Warlords

The seventh edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has concluded.  In fact, in concluded, like, nearly a month ago, on March 21st...man time flies! Anyway, after a slight delay caused by real life etc. here are the concluding submissions I made to the Challenge.

SAGA Warlords

These figures were submitted as part of the final theme round - which if I recall correctly was "characters from a movie, book, TV or song" or something along those lines.  Anyway, if anyone out there has listened to "Horse Soldier" by Corb Lund, you will recall some lyrics referencing the opponents of the Crusades.  This lined up nicely with my SAGA project, so I did two warlords - one for the Crusaders and the other for the Saracens.

These are 28mm figures from the Perry's incredible First Crusade range. The shield decal on the Crusader Warlord is from LBMS. These shield decals are a total life-saver, as there is just not enough time in the world to be painting all of the shields...

Warlords for my SAGA Crusade warbands...Crusader on the left, Saracen on the right, both 28mm figures from Perry Twins' amazing range of First Crusade castings

Completed four point SAGA Crusader warband

The Crusader warlord figure finished off my four-point SAGA warband for the Crusaders.  The Saracen warlord is the first figure I have painted for that warband, and while I'm keen to get that finished, the Saracens are at the back of the priority list again for now as I try and track down some different figures, and the general waxing and waning of different painting interests. You know how it goes...

Anyway, for the second year in a row I managed to submit something for every theme round, and that worked out rather nicely!

Epic Warlord Titan - "Curtgeld"

Warlord Titan, old school style!!

In each edition of the Painting Challenge Curt will ask participants to submit a figure in line with a theme that strikes his whimsy as he organizes the proceedings.  These figures have come to be known as "Curtgeld". There was a twist this year as he asked for participants to work together - the Curtgeld had to be some kind of joint effort between at least two of the Challenge participants.

WIP photo - you can see all of the black sections and the unfinished base...that would fall to Iannick to complete!

Challenger Iannick suggested we team up for an "all-Canadian" Curtgeld. After we bounced a few ideas back and forth we settled on doing an old-school plastic Warlord Titan from the original "Adeptus Titanicus" game.  Curt loves Epic and loves the old school GW models, while both Iannick and I are big fans of the Horus Heresy, and Iannick is a recent convert to the madness that is Epic 30k.  I was pretty psyched about the project.  Fortunately I had a few of these lovely old plastic models still on their sprues in my hoard, so I dug one out and got to work on it. 

These classic models lend themselves very well to the unique challenge of sharing the painting duties on a single figure. The pseudo-medieval markings used by the Titan Legions, and the style of armour plating they wear, make a divided/reverse marking pattern possible.  It's still tricky, but possible.

I did the basic assembly, priming and metal components, and painted the purple "half" of the armour sections.  Iannick painted the other half of the armour, and finished off the ground work, completed the base (which included the old void-shield-counter wheel!) as well as the Marines on the base, which add a lovely sense of proportion to the machine.

In our hobby-ing I think we have all, at some time or another, over-painted, re-painted or heavily updated a model or figure that we either received second-hand or just wanted to re-do. In fact, as you can see elsewhere in this blog, my good friend Dallas is quite the master of that kind of project.  But jointly finishing the painting of a single figure would be really tricky, and I have to credit Iannick for the outstanding results, because he had the hard part - the finishing!  He did a great job with the bands on the leg armour, the colour and the basing. The model benefits tremendously from his smooth, careful painting style.

The photos of the finished model are so nice thanks to Iannick and his hipster light box.  He did a very helpful set of tips on miniature photography as well, so go check that out on his blog.  You will also see cool halflings, hilarious theme submissions, and more Epic 30k awesomeness, and that is just from the recent Painting Challenge. In fact, Of Marauders and Citadels is a blog you should add to your list!

Great work Iannick - this was a lot of fun!  Your painting skills are tremendous!  Thanks very, very much!

It will also be great fun to light this thing up on the table during a game of Epic sometime...

The Missing Curtgeld...

I was also collaborating with former Conscript Sean M on a Curtgeld, but Canada Post did us in, as Sean's work did not arrive at my place for completion until the day after the Challenge was finished. I have committed to Sean that I will finish it regardless, so watch this space for progress on that score - before the summer I hope. Life has kept me away from the painting table for a few weeks, but I hope to be back at it soon.

***

The seventh edition of the Painting Challenge was a real blast. I had a great time in my side duel with Iannick, Jaime and Alex, particularly because I was successful! While it was a lot of fun to send a figure over to Jaime's collection last year, I had been plotting for revenge for nearly a year, so it's nice to see a plan come together!

The best part of the Challenge, however was the spirit of fun and encouragement that built between the participants, and letting your own priorities and focus be tested (and bested) by inspirational jolts which come courtesy of the other submissions.  While I did finish a lot of 30k stuff (yay!) I also ended up dusting off and painting up figures from my Warmaster Collection as well as ending up dipping into a new game and period (SAGA Crusades).   It's more than my own fiddly attention span - it's also the excellent and inspiring work of the other participants!  And while the others continue to inspire my wandering, it is also a lot of fun to see some of the settings and scales which I am so keen on spreading among other participants.  I expect next year will see even more 30k, and particularly Epic 30k, even as I'm already plotting some kind of "Hail Caesar" insanity...

A number of the very talented participants in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge will be testing their skills in the "Lead Painters' League" as well, so be sure to check that out.  If you can sort out the Lead Adventure Forum and the League's byzantine rules etc. you can even vote for them!