Hello, 2011...

Despite my vow to post at least 3 times a week, I intentionally took the holiday season off from posting. Bonus is my birthday is on the 8th of January (R.I.P. Elvis), so the "holiday season" gets an extra week in my world.

But now its time to get back to the grind. Back to my 12-step program.

First up for 2011, lay out some goals. You can call them New Year's Resolutions if you'd like.

When it comes to 40k, I'm a bit of a scatterbrain. I plan one project while working on another while neglecting at least 3 more. So many things to do, so little time to do them. So this year, rather than just letting the Year of 40k "happen," I want to take a more direct and concerted approach. So here's a few of the things I hope to achieve in 2011.


SPACE WOLVES

I've been working on my Logan's Hunters project off-and-on in 2010. For 2011, I have three goals I'd like to achieve with the Warriors of Fenris.

1. Finish the Logan's Hunters Terminator project. 3 Squads, 2 Land Raiders, and 3 Dreadnoughts remaining to complete that task. Its all in hand, all assembled, and all primed. All I need to do is paint them.
2. Expand the Logan's Hunters project beyond this initial stage. Yup, that's right, expand this army. I'm sure such expansion will involve a number of posts here at DFIR. So if you're a Wolf fan, stay tuned.
3. Assemble and Paint my Eclipse-Pattern Thunderhawk. I'll admit, I'm a bit scared by this project. Its a tad overwhelming looking, but I think once I get down to it, it will be much easier than I'm anticipating. Wish me luck with this one!

DEATHGUARD CSM

My Deathguard army has really come together in 2010. LOTS of progress on this army. So there's not all that much left to do. But there are at least a couple things.

1. Plague Tower. With my Plaguereaper completed, its now time to turn my attention to making a Plague Tower for my Deathguard force. Don't ask me why, but I am just not a fan of the existing Plague Tower concepts. I do not like the fantasy-style "wooden wheeled siege tower" nor do I like the leering faces on the front concept. Actually, you can ask me why. Its because I think those look silly for a far futuristic war machine of utter destruction. Hence, my Plague Tower will be more mechanized. The base chassis for the model will be a Baneblade, but from there, I'm still toying with a few other ideas. One is to scratch-build the tower part of the model; the other is to use something existing - maybe a Bastion or some Cities of Death panels. I guess we'll see in good time...
2. Daemon Princes. I've recently picked up an off-brand Daemon Prince from Troll Forged miniatures. Specifically "Demon Lord 2" from THIS LINK. I got him with the wings option, and also with an alternate head. So this bad-boy needs some construction (actually began last night) and painting. Related to this, my Ultraforge Plaguedemon is already painted and has seen some action on the tabletop. But he needs wings. Not sure if I'll pick up some pre-fab wings from somewhere or try to scratch-build my own. We'll see. In both cases, I want to magnetize the wings for easier transportation purposes.

MISCELLANEOUS

This isn't everything I plan to do this year. Partly because of my aforementioned scatterbrain predicament. I'm sure there's projects that will creep up during the year. If I had to guess...

1. Eldar. I don't think I can go the whole year without giving my Eldar some love. I have 3 War Walkers built and primed that need to be painted. I also have 10 Wraithguard in their blister packs that need some attention.
2. Emperor's Children. I'm still contemplating an Emperor's Children project. It is "medium-to-low" on the priority list, though, so there's no guarantee that it'll happen in 2011.
   
3. Warmachine & Hordes. Having spent the Summer of 2010 playing "Warmahordes," I'm feeling the need to get back to that game some (those games, technically). I'm actually in the process of weeding my Legion of Everblight hordes army down a taste, with the intent that what's left will be easier to tackle painting wise. I also have a handful more Bane Thralls to paint for my Cryx army - six got painted for an event this summer, which leaves me with 4 regulars plus a Standard Bearer and Officer to paint.
4. DFIR Resident MikeT. [Yes, Mike, I'm calling you out.] ;-) I hope to get MikeT to post something to this blog. This may prove to be the hardest of my New Year's Resolutions, though... (just kidding, it will only be a tad difficult...).
5. COMPLETE a league. All too often, I join a league, only to be called out into the field for an extended time. To date, I don't think I've ever officially completed a league. My goal is to complete at least one such endeavor this year.
   

So there we have it. Some - maybe even too many - goals for my 40k life in 2011. Much of this will be used as cannon fodder for this blog, so if you're really interested in seeing something from my list in particular, comment below and I'll see if I can make it a tad higher on the priority list.

So until next time, keep the Ni-Cd batteries in your Power Swords fully charged.

MJ;-) Project Log: Deathguard Terminator Lord/Sorcerer

Personal Confession. I am NOT a converter. But what I AM, is a Kitbasher.

"What's the difference" you ask?

Converters are the types that can take something and add-to or alter it through the use of scratch items - sculpting epoxy, plasticard and plastic rods, cardstock, etc.

Kitbashers are the types that can combine pieces from different kits into a single model.

So today's topic is how I recently kitbashed a Deathguard Terminator Lord/Sorcerer. The inspiration comes from the existing GW Typhus model. What I wanted was a similar looking figure, but for use as a standard Lord or Sorcerer.

Oh yeah, and my apologies for the horrible pictures. Not only am I not a converter, but I'm also NOT a photographer...



Here we have a literal pile of bits. There's a mix of Chaos Terminator Lord bits, some standard Chaos Terminator bits, a few odds and ends - mostly from the WHFB Zombies sprue, and the coup de grace - a Forgeworld Deathguard Terminator Torso and Shoulder Pads. Ultimately, I did not use all of the bits shown, but I did use most of them.



Here we have the Deathguard Lord taking shape. I glued the Chaos Terminator Lord's scenic base and also used some 2-part plumbing putty to bulk it out a tad. After all, as a Chaos Lord, the guy certainly needs something epic to stand upon.



One of my most extensive Kitbashes to date is the Lord's Daemon Weapon. This one arm and single weapon took bits from five different kits. The most stressing part of this, but by no means was it "hard" to do, was cutting the Terminator Power Mace and hand off at the wrist so that the sorcerer's staff and hand bit would join seamlessly. Mission accomplished. So anyway, with a Terminator Arm, Sorcerer's Staff, Scythe blade from a Zombie sprue, a Possessed hook bit, and a few spikey things from who knows where, I welded all these things together to form a very Typhus-like Daemon Weapon.


In the end, I used my tried and true Lazy Man's Painting Method to give this guy some un-life. At some point, I hope to create a banner for his banner pole. Speaking of which, using mostly Zombie bits, the banner pole features some rotting carcasses/skeletons hanging from the crossbar. Good Nurgle Lord, Good Nurgle Lord...






Again, sorry for the poor pictures, but eh, what can I do...

Apocalypse Battle Pictures

I just realized that I hadn't posted here to announce that the pictures are up from Apoc-Eclipse's most recent mega battle. It was held on 5/22/2010 at Game Theory in Raleigh, NC. They very nicely gave up the majority of the store for 12+ hours (accidentially on a Magic release weekend). Thanks guys!

Gallery 052010

Make sure to check out the videos. They give you a great sense of the game.

Deathguard & Apocalypse

LETS GET READY TO RUMMBBBLLLEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Come this time on Saturday, Yours Truly will be deeply involved in trying to slaughter the False Emperor's lapdogs and the evil Eldar scum helping them.

In other words, I'll be playing my Deathguard this Saturday in a massive game of Apocalypse hosted by our local apocalyptic group APOC-ECLIPSE (wargaming so large it will block out the sun).

I've signed up to field about 10,000 points. Almost all of this is Deathguard/Nurgle in nature; however, I do plan to field about 1 or 1.5 k points of Black Legion to fill-out the points.

This post will discuss some of what is included in my 10k force.

Previously, I posted about the construction of my PLAGUEREAPER model. Well, I wish I could show you a picture of it painted. But its only primed. But paint will be going on that monster tank this evening (and tomorrow evening, and probably even friday evening...). So I hope to post a separate piece on that once it is finished.











Fellow DFIR poster MattP is being gracious enough to loan me a few models. Primarily, MORTARION, Daemon Primarch of the Deathguard.

Matt's got a stupendous model for Mortarion (shown here), and an excellent set of rules for him as well.

I highly doubt my lower brain form will do these rules justice, but I at least hope to remember half of his nasty tricks during the day.





Then there is Typhus (not my picture of Typhus, this is one from AEROPLANE posted as a WIP at Librarium Online HERE).

I've offered to let DFIR poster MikeT take him instead, but haven't heard back from Mike. Typhus has been my main HQ over the last several months. All the internet bitchers will tell you just how junk Typhus is, particularly pointing out his lack of Eternal Warrior.

Bah on them!

MOST 40k Special Characters aren't Eternal Warriors. I've found that Typhus is definitely worth his points, and if anything, puts the fear of Nurgle into my opponents when they see he's about to deep strike with 7 Nurgle Terminators...

Another Special Character joining my force is one I made up myself. His name is Mabras, and I don't currently have a picture of him; however, HERE is his datasheet. This guy's rules started quite a while back, probably in the fall some 6 or so months ago. He started as a home-made version of the Necrosius character in Imperial Armour 8 (Seige of Vraks III). But three major versions later, and he had really taken on his own style. Since the model is a converted Fabius Bile (all weapons swapped and most of the backpack "instruments" removed) that still has the two "tubes" on the back, I wanted to create an attack consisting of a two-part contagion that once mixed, pretty much vaporizes infantry in close proximity to Mabras. Check out the Purgatis Contagion rule on his datasheet (it took a lot of help from MattP, CurtF, and MikeT - THANKS GUYS!!!).

Moving away from characters and whatnot for a moment, let me talk about that little do-dad over to the left. That's a picture of a Vortex Grenade - the limited edition marker that was released along with the first Apocalypse book.

LOVE IT!

USE IT EVERY APOCALYPSE GAME!

And so far (knock on wood), it hasn't scattered back on my own models - partly due to good scatter rolls, and partly because once I unleash it, I get my guys the Hell outta there!

Formation-wise, I have TWO Chaos Terminator Doombringer Annihilation Forces. They both come with scheduled bombardments as well as precision strike strategic assets. I also have an Armored Spearhead (3 Land Raiders) and a Predator Assassin Squadron (3 Predators). Both of those are technically SM formations, but there's no reason in our Apocalyptic world why Chaos can't use them; after all, MY Deathguard are pretty smart chaps, and know a good tactic when they see it used against them...

Speaking of Deathguard, I'll only be bringing a measly 47 Plague Marines (five squads with five rhinos). But I do have a good mix of miniatures. 20 are the OOP metal ones, 17 are Forgeworld Deathguard, and 10 are the "current" Citadel Plague Marine miniatures.

For my Black Legion contingent, it is small, but potent. Abaddon, Terminator Lord, Terminators, bikes, and a Winged Daemon Prince. Theoretically, I could make a 3rd Doombringer Annihilation Force out of the Black Legion, _OR_ I could field the formation "Abaddon and the Lords of the Black Crusade." But I've already got two of the former and fielded the latter a couple Apocalypse games ago. So I'm going to skip them this time around.


So I'm looking forward to it. Like the Apoc-Eclipse events always are, it should be a blast!

I'll see if my mind is not too mushy afterwards to post a vague report of the event. Plus MattP will post all the pictures we take to our GALLERIES (cough**DFIR post**cough, MattP). I should also be able to post some pictures of my PAINTED Plaguereaper too!

In summary, here's my "nutshell 10,000 point list":

Mortarion + 10 Nurgling bases (retinue)
Typhus
Mabras
Nurgle Lord w/ Daemon Weapon
Abaddon
Black Legion Terminator Lord
Winged Daemon Prince
47 Plague Marines + 5 Rhinos
32 Terminators (in 2 Doombringer Forces)
15 Terminators (in the 3 land raiders)
10 Black Legion bikers
Plaguereaper
3 Predators
3 Land Raiders
VORTEX GRENADE

Bring it, you Imperial Pukes!

Plaguereaper Project: Part 1

Although fellow DFIR poster MattP is our resident Apocalypse guru, I thought I'd share my recent (and first) attempt at something truly "apocalyptic." In all of our past Apocalypse battles (which can be checked out at Apoc-Eclipse), I had plenty of models to field a large force including several Legendary Formations. However, the only time I've fielded any Super Heavies was when they were borrowed from MattP.

Time to change that.

I was ecstatic when I received a Baneblade kit for Christmas. Kudos to my wife's family (Bob, Martha, and Kaitlin) for feeding my 40k addiction. On a side note, I should point out that they have always fed my little addiction during gift-giving occasions, but this was the first time they got me the item I had put on my wishlist, instead of a gift certificate. THAT'S SOME TRUE LOVE!

Anyhoo...

Not having an Imperial army, there was no question that this "Baneblade" was destined for greater things in the service of the Dark Lords. Given that I was also working on a Deathguard army, it was also a no-brainer that this was to become a PLAGUEREAPER (featured in the main Apocalypse rulebook), dedicated to Father Nurgle and all of his pestilent ways.

Opening a Super Heavy kit for the first time was rather daunting, to say the least. Half a dozen sprues just chock full o' parts. Thank God it came with an instruction booklet; to bad said instructions were very detailed and somewhat complex. But that was just first appearances; in the end, the thing went together smoothly, nicely, and very easily.


Here's a shot of the project during the early stages (beer label pointed away from camera to protect the innocent...). At this point, I was working on assembling the two sides consisting of the track housings and tracks.

Discussions with MattP indicated that I could go beyond the basic Plaguereaper datasheet, such as adding extra side sponsons (like an Imperial Baneblade can). So I decided early on that I would do just that, mounting sponsons on the front and rear of the three side panels. I also decided to add a Havoc Launcher to the turret. Seriously, can a Super Heavy Tank have TOO many guns? I don't think so...

In hindsight, the whole process of building the baneblade kit was rather easy, but I believe that this early stage of building the two sides was the most time consuming. Once those were complete (couple nights worth of working on them, maybe 3 hours total), the rest of the kit went together very quick (probably another couple of nights, 3 or so hours).


So all in all, it went together nicely, as you can see above. Once the basic kit was completed, though, it was time to sufficiently "Nurgle-it-up." I had a few thoughts about this part of the project. Primarily, I did not like the look of the Pus Tanks as depicted in the Apocalypse rulebook - large, open vats mounted on the sides of the tank hull.

In essence, I had several personal problems with that look. First, the open tanks. Drive over your first hill slope or bump in the battlefield and all your "ammo" is spilled-out onto the ground. Second was the pipes that feed the turret's pus cannon. What happens when the turret rotates? Expanding pipes? OK, so maybe I'm thinking too much about real life physics and mechanics for a game set in the 41st millennium and based on various races that span the galaxy...

Practically (and primarily) , though, I figured my infantile converting skills just really weren't up to the task of hacking off part of my model to put the tanks in - not to mention that it'd take away precious space where I was mounting extra sponsons!

Searching at the Papa Nurgle forums, I turned up THIS idea of how to take care of my problems with the Pus Tanks (see second post down). Thanks, Mabrothrax!!!

The other primary thought I had was to make this Plaguereaper appear to be more of a "new addition" to the Deathguard's arsenal. Not some antiquated thing all rusted and cantankerous, but something representing a "recent fall" from the graces of the Imperium. In other words, I wasn't as keen on "Nurgling-it-up" as much as Mabrothrax's Plaguereaper seen HERE (see second-to-last post on that page).

So, here's what I came up with.

1. Mildly scar up the tank to represent battle damage, and add some greenstuff (but not a lot) to create Nurgle pustules and growths to the tank. This was done with a variety of tools. Pin vice with a couple different sized drill bits to make shell holes. X-acto knife to run some 'cuts' along pieces. And the corner of a flat head screwdriver to "scratch-up" other parts. Obviously green stuff, which was sculpted with a chopstick tip (pretty much the only GS sculpting tool I've ever needed).



2. Use barrels on the back of the turret for the Pus Tanks. I used the bendy parts of several drink box straws to feed the turret (any parent with a small child will have drink box straws in spades). I used drink box straws because their smaller diameter was more in line with the scale of this tank. These were attached with green stuff.
[Side note: I took a close-up of the barrels, but managed to leave it on the wrong computer - I'll add that pic in the Part 2 update (which will cover the painting of this thing). You can kind of see them below, but not all that well. Sorry...] ;-(



3. I also swapped the lascannon barrel ends with the Chaos gorgon head gun barrels. I didn't have enough to do all the heavy bolters, so just did the twin-linked heavy bolter mounted on a mini-turret on the front (see above).

4. Add some growth to the main pus cannon barrel, but again, not to much. So as not to use up to much of my green stuff, I used an air-hardening "porcelain" clay product (the white). I rolled this out into a long sausage and simply spiraled it down the barrel from turret towards end. I also ran a second roll and spiraled it the opposite way. I added a little more of the white clay where the barrel connects to the turret and molded that into one mass - trying to go for a large growth at the turret end that is slowly snaking its way up the barrel. Finally, I did a long sausage of green stuff, but before sprialing it down the barrel like the white porcelain clay, I "twisted" the green stuff log to give it even more texture.




And there you have it. Construction of a Plaguereaper! This weekend will feature some very nice weather AND at least enough time to get this thing primed. I'll post a Part 2 in a week or so when I have the thing completed (painting Nurgle-themed stuff is easy-schmeesy - see THIS post for details.)

Happy Easter everyone! Hopefully you are NOT like me and actually have today off... ;-)

ARMY LIST: Deathguard (2,000 points)

(typhus image by MetalPoison)

This Saturday will see me throwing down for three games at a "2,000 point invitational RTT" event. (That means a friend has invited 10 folks over to his house to play three games of 40k; a "Man-Fest" if you will.)

During this event, I will play 3 games consisting of:
(a) Planetstrike Attacker,
(b) Cities of Death (Firesweep), and
(c) Standard v5 mission.

Given that I've spent the past several months working on my Deathguard army, I will be fielding them this Saturday. I concocted a 2,000 point list some time ago, and have had about half-dozen (or so) field tests with it. It is a solid force; my dice, on the other hand...

Even though fellow DFIR poster MattP will be at the event, it is a friendly enough environment that I have no problem posting my list here for all to see.

However, before I post my list, let me wax philosophical about my style of play.

I'm not a competitive gamer, I'm not much of a tournament player (and when I do go to tourneys, it's to get in 3 games of 40k and a break from 'real life' for a day), I am not a power gamer, nor do I "list tailor" for my opponents.

What I am is a fluff player. I love to build shoddy lists around a great concept, and then loose horribly with them. Trust me, I'm REALLY good at that. And that more-or-less explains my Deathguard list. Although, unlike many of my other lists, at least Plague Marines are tough as nails, so this turns out to be a fairly effective fluff list.


TYPHUS' STRIKE FORCE

• Typhus (225)
• Sorcerer - Mark of Nurgle, Wind of Chaos, Personal Icon (155)
• Plague Marines - 7 including Champion (power fist), 2 Flamers, Personal Icon, Rhino (x-armor) (266)
• Plague Marines - 7 including Champion (power fist), 1 Meltagun & 1 Plasmagun, Personal Icon, Rhino (x-armor) (281)
• Plague Marines - 10 including Champion (power fist), 2 Plasmaguns, Personal Icon (305)
• Summoned Lesser Daemons - 14 (182)
• Predator - Autocannon & Heavy Bolters (100)
• Obliterators - 2 (150)
• Terminators - 7 including Champion (twin lightning claws), Combi-Bolter/Power Fist, Combi-Bolter/Power Weapon, Combi-Melta/Power Weapon (2), Combi-Melta/Power Weapon/Icon of Nurgle, Reaper Autocannon/Chainfist (335)

1,999 points total, 52 models, 4 scoring units (5 if I decide to split the daemons in halves - we can use different lists in each game), 11 Kill Points.


So what do you think, folks? Decent list? Or another one of my classic "shoddy themed lists" that I'll have fun loosing 3 games with... ;-)