Some "Beakies" For XII Legion Astartes

XII Legion Astartes tactical squad in Mark VI armour - chain bayonets solve problems!

Posting things to the blog...once you take a break, it's sure easy to keep taking a break! So I haven't posted in a while - insert the usual reasons of life, work being busy etc. But I have been managing to paint, and finally take a few photos of stuff, and at last I'm getting around to posting some of those photos. Let's get started on the catch-up with this Space Marine tactical squad. They are clad in Mark VI "beakie" power armour and wearing the colours of the XII Legion Astartes, the World Eaters. These are multi-part plastic figures from GW's "Age of Darkness" setting.

A couple of the new grunts.

Some detail of the rear legs and power packs.

I have been a Horus Heresy fan pretty much ever since GW came up with the story. I started collecting the 28mm figures from Forge World back in March of 2014, more than ten years ago! The Horus Heresy was just going to be a small project...? At any rate, the World Eaters were the first Legion that I painted in 28mm, and those few squads became the first of what has since grown into a large collection of Horus Heresy figures from different Legion in different scales...these days the Sons of Horus are the main rebel faction in my collection, but I still have my World Eaters. They have been neglected for years now - the last model they received was in January of 2017. 

It is a golden age of lovely plastic "beakie" Marines, and I figured my XII Legion collection should have the opportunity to get in on the action. In particular, I thought the chain-bayonet accessory would go well with the World Eaters' approach to warfare in the far future - so here we have a basic tactical squad, sporting those chain-bayonet that really stand out as a symbol of the darkly whacky vision of the future GW has created.

Officer sporting the common combo of whacky comb, power sword and plasma pistol - note his slightly odd left leg.

View of the Sergeant's great, and the back of the Vox operator's kit.

Painting white armour is always a bit tricky - especially when you haven't really done it for seven years, but I have to credit GW's "Apothecary White" Contrast paint as being particularly useful for working these fellows. I also opted to use a lighter/brighter shade of blue for an accents on the shoulder plates and power pack. Otherwise, they match the look of my older figures nicely - a little battle worn and dirty, but avoiding the absurd blood-covering-everything Flanderization so common to the general portrayal of the World Eaters in the lore and in the game.

There was also an adventure with the Sergeant...keen-eyed visitors will notice his left leg has a knee plate, which is not a feature of the Mk VI armour. Well, when assembling this model, I sort-of-accidentally cut the leg off during an imprudent removal of components from the plastic sprue...to address this, I cut a spare left leg off an unused set of Mk IV plastic legs...hence the knee plate and leg studs. Far from the smoothest conversion, but like so many conversions, it turned out OK once painted up!

Handy decals to provide a Legion symbol on the shoulder plate and leg greave.

So that is ten more Marines to join the next XII Legion mass infantry assault on the gaming table. Maybe they need an APC to carry them? Will have to see about that...anyway, that is all for now. Thanks for reading!

Conscripts at PrairieCon 43!

Well the Conscripts didn't have a ton of quantity at Prairiecon this year but I think we had good quality. The scheduling was a bit... unusual as there were too many games scheduled (lots got cancelled for lack of players signed up) but since I waited till the last minute as usual I only got one on the schedule - Otherworld Miniature Skirmish Dungeoncrawl, same as I ran years ago. I had five players for it (including Conscript Mike F), only one no-show.

Mike took the Orcs of the Porcine Visage and their buddy Phil, the two-headed Ettin. Unfortunately Phil met a sticky end at the hands of the Vampire gang and Mike's Orcs subsequently bottled out of the game.

I had a surprise in store for the players who made it to the Wizard's conjuring room at the centre of the dungeon... an "Eye Tyrant". Unfortunately while it used its Web spells to good effect, the pesky assassin with the crossbow was able to sneak out - twice - and killed the monster with shooting. Damn!

Anyway after the Eye Tyrant was killed the last two players battled it out for access to the treasure room. More shooting did for one of 'em but...

                                            
A "Wandering Monster" card was drawn in the treasure room and whoops! Giant spiders!!

Anyway Mike ran a game there too - "The Doomed"! It looked really cool, some post-Apocalyptic monster-hunting. The guys playing really had a blast and it seemed to come down to the last die-rolls!

 

On Friday night I ran an extra-curricular game of Lunar for founding Conscript Curt and his buddy Jeremy, who drove out from Regina.

Lunar is a really fun game and I think Curt and Jeremy had a good time. 

Curt also ran a beautiful game of Hametsu (also from Black Site Studios!). Curt did send me a pic he took of me and Jeremy with the table, the terrain and models were off the hook as usual for Mr. Curt :-)

Other than playing and running games I also put in a couple hours at the registration desk and auctioneered as usual. The Prairiecon auction is an institution - a great place to move along games you no longer play or pick up some that you think you might, someday. I think the oddest item this year was a copy of the Barney Miller board game. It got no bids as it crossed the block but I was told later that it sold. Somebody got a beauty there :-) But three hours of standing, waving around 10-lb Kickstarter boxes over my head, and constant loud talking (I ditched the mic as it wasn't working well) was plenty for me. But I always have fun doing it and will be back next time, if they'll have me.

See you in Brandon next year!

Tornado Warning!

Something completely different done on a whim... it's back to Team Yankee and the Bundesluftwaffe. Long version: Conscript Greg was planning a visit to the Meeplemart and I noted that they had the "new" Team Yankee Tornado flight in plastic, in stock, for the very reasonable price of $35CAD (as opposed to the old resin aircraft that were an extortionate $53 for two). I thought I might ask Greg to get these for me, but I already have one painted Tornado... and there's no need to have three. However I'd had a Revell plastic Tornado kit on my eBay watchlist for some time and this was the prompt to finally buy it, for well under $20 shipped. 

So last week the kit arrived and was quickly assembled. I left off some of the bits specific to the "ECR" version and built it identical to its squadron mate already in my collection.

Painting was pretty simple - it's a three colour scheme - I just copied it from the plane I'd painted before. However I just tried to look up "Wings Palette" where I'd sourced the scheme in the first place... and nothing - the site seems to be defunct. Too bad as it was an amazing resource for aircraft color schemes :-(

Anyway the Luftwaffe Tornados are in a three-colour scheme - I painted this in black highlighted Dark Rubber; Castellan Green; and Castellan Green highlighted Death World Forest; the whole thing then washed with Nuln Oil. 

Here it is with its squadron-mate, not a bad match despite the fact I had failed to record the colours used on it. Happy to finish the second Tornado to join the first, and that'll complete the Bundeswehr's air support for Team Yankee.

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! 

Some More Otherworld Fantasy Models

Continuing to get ready for PrairieCon in two weeks' time and keeping those brushes moving... I'd put in an order with Otherworld Miniatures and have gotten a few done. Here they are: two Barbed Devils and a Griffon.

Right outta the Monster Manual eh!! These are some very characterful - but delicate - models. The one at right needed his arms and head attached, the one at left had a separate barbed tail. Easy to assemble.

The Griffon is really a lovely model. It came with separate wings but again, was a doddle to assemble.

Keep your equines well clear of this fellow, Griffons love nothing more than a meal of horseflesh! 

These were really fun to paint, certainly well up to the usual standard of Otherworld. Great minis from a great company. Plus these were on sale!

Anyway that's it for now, we'll see if I can get some more fantasy models painted before PrairieCon!
 

A Barbarian and Some Space Wolves!

Back at the brushes after a little time off. I thought I should paint a new model or two for the Otherworld Fantasy Skirmish dungeon-crawl game I'll be running at PrairieCon 43 in Brandon later this month. This is the barbarian from FGV201 - Thief and Barbarian, sculpted by Mark Copplestone for the Frostgrave range.

It's a really nice model, typical Copplestone quality, and metal of course. I had to put him on a 32mm base as he was just too wide-stanced for a 25mm round.

Every adventuring party needs a barbarian with a giant sword and this guy is just about right.

The other models I finished last weekend were these Heresy-era Space Wolves - the Praetor from the Betrayal at Calth box, and five legionaries from the new MKIII box.

The Praetor came in for some minor conversion - I stuck on a Space Wolves decoration from the accessory sprue and sculpted long hair and a beard from greenstuff, as there are no clean-shaven Space Wolves are there!

This is a really nice model, the SW accessory looks sharp too I think.

I quite like the new MKIII Marines, these ones have had their helmets swapped for old-style ones 3D-printed for me by Conscript Byron.

The paint scheme will be standard Space-Wolf issue: basecoat Mechanicus Standard Grey, wash with Agrax Earthshade, heavy highlight with Fenris Grey, wash with Nuln Oil, highlight Fenris Grey again. The armour trim is Scorpion Brass.

Decals are from the Forgeworld Space Wolves transfer sheet.

Shoulder pad is basecoated Zandri Dust and highlighted with Averland Sunset, then washed with Agrax.

Now to paint 25 more of these guys...
 

Legions Imperialis - Sicaran Tanks for the Sons of Horus

A detachment of Sicaran tanks, ready to prowl the gaming table in support of the Warmaster's war of liberation...

When you manage to obtain a "Legions Imperialis" starter box, you are likely to really love the models, but maybe be a little...perplexed...at the inclusion of four Sicaran tanks, niche vehicle designs of relatively recent design for GW's "Horus Heresy" setting. Like, why no Land Raiders? Well, whatever...even if it's an odd choice to include in the core starter box, the Sicaran tanks ARE very, very cool vehicles in the 30k setting, and the models are really, really neat. Naturally, given my collection preferences, I opted to paint the first ones I assembled for the XVI Legion Astartes, the Sons of Horus. 

Similar to the Predators, you have choice of weapons for the turret and for the sponsons. The classic twin-autocannon loadout, in addition to providing some terrifying fire support, is also intended (I think, at least) to serve as an AA weapon against flyers in the game. The plasma loadout, meanwhile, give this tank a powerful anti-tank capability. 

A "classic" Sicaran loadout - with a commander in a cupola to signify a squadron leader, should such a marker be needed on the table.

The choice of main weapon can be augmented by choice or either lascannons or heavy bolters for the sponsons. In all, you can opt for a Sicaran that is designed to wreck other tanks, or a more classic Sicaran that is designed to wreck enemy infantry and light vehicles - and (I think) aircraft. With this detachment of four tanks I opted to split the difference, with two each of an anti-tank and more classic anti-infantry weapon selection. 

I think these are called "Omega plasma arrays" (or something, I can't recall exactly) but the main takeaway: big time anti-tank firepower.

Assembly of these models can be tricky - there are some very, very small components on these sprues. All of the usual warnings about building these little models on or near a carpet - especially one of any shade that matches the grey plastic - definitely apply. But as with the Rhinos, and with the Predators, the quality and detail of these little kits is really remarkable, and as long as you are a little careful and a little patient (both areas where I struggle, but still), you are going to end up with a great little bit of 30k kit. 

Another view of the detachment, showing some the detail on the rear deck and engines. 

I might have the terms wrong, I think these can comprise a "medium armour detachment" for the Space Marine Legions, which can be added on to the various formations (such as the Legion Demi Company). And Legions Imperialis holds the promise of letting players use the Sicaran tanks in the fashion they are intended - a fast moving tank option, faster and hitting harder than Predators, but slower and hitting a little less than the various versions of the Land Raiders. 

That's all for now - thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more!