2013's Grand Figure Tally

Adding things up, this year's total came to:

204 Figures
13 Vehicles
16 Terrain Pieces (or sets)
1 Marker

Compared to last year's

145 Figures
25 Vehicles
18 Terrain Pieces
12 Markers

Analysis
My overall theme for this year was paring down my list of anchient projects I have been wanting to do. I think I made great strides in this.

Obviously in figures this year blew last year away by a long shot. This year's focus was primarily on Dark angles but my Black Legion was a close second with finishing off my Ultramarines a close third. My goal for next year will be to finish off the Dark Angels (what I have purchased currently) and maybe add a Terminator squad to the mix, using Deathwing parts to sex it up. I would not mind a couple small figures for my Black Legion (scorcerer's and the like) and maybe a couple monsterous creatures but I think they are done for the most part. We'll see after I pick up the Black Legion supplement.

Vehicles not as much in quantity but cerainly in quality. I am really happy how well my two ork scratchbuilds turned out this year and will look forward to doing more in the future. Da Hind especially-I have had the base model for that build sitting around for at least five years to knocking that out finally and it turning out as well at it did was pleasing. I still want to build a rectangular base for it as a counts-as battlewagon and I still need a flight base for the T-hawk as the old one is missing, but again, really happy to get those done.

Terrain pieces were the real winners of getting stuff done. Some of those bits and unpainted parts dated back to 2000. I had give large boxes of bits for conversions and it has been pared down to two. Of course in the process it created six boxes of terrain but that is a small price to pay for progress right?

Next year I am going to be going through some massive life changes with a lot of uncertainty. I plan on using the hobby to keep me sane during this time but my purchasing time and power may be severely limited. Like any good hobbyist, I have plenty of projects on backlog and materials purchased to see me through so the theme of completing unfinished work will continue.

I wish you all the best in the new year and thanks for visiting!

End of the Year Closeout 2013

My last three models of the year are first, this repurposed original Terminator Librarian which I painted up for my Dark Angels. This figure is probably older than some of you-you can tell because it is made out of actual lead (I can hear the overprotective mothers of the world gasping). Sorry for the blurry photo-still getting used to a new light and closeup pics on my iPhone:



This land speeder was an Ebay purchase that I thought was for a classic metal land speeder that I had intended to use for 30k. I had to strip it down and buy weapons for it as they were not included. However I am please with how it came out and it deserved to get a quick paint job.



Finally, to end the year on a bang, here is the repaint of my scratchbuilt Thunderhawk. With Escalation out and the proliferation of Apocalypse in the local area, maybe I will get it back to the table this year.

Last Dregs of 2013

A couple late entries. To crew Da Hind, I knocked out these guys (Warning-some of these miniatures may be older than you!):


This group includes some original plastic orks spruced up with bits from newer kits as well as some Rogue Trader era metals.

Finishing off my third Deathwing squad I did these guys:


And for help in a game I didn't get to play due to illness I had painted up these guys:


Year-end roundup to follow. I've got a couple left that need a few finishing touches.

Da Hind

Here is the big push for Orktober, er Orkvember-Da Hind. This thing is huge and I don't really mean for it to be a flyer so rules wise I am considering using either a Kustom Battle Fortress or a Stomper:



Yes, that is an Ork boy for scale.













I have one last mob of boyz to paint then back to either finishing off the Dark Angels or knocking out some Ultramarines. Decisions, decisions...

Orktober (Late)!

My big plans for Orktober went off the rails for a dozen reason. However, I was able to get these counts-as Deffkoptas using some leftover Robogear parts:

Darkness Continues

October starts with me knocking out my first two squads of Ravenwing:



And my first two squads of the Deathwing:



And even though I have three more assembled and primed squads of Deathwing waiting, I am going to take a short break from DA's; in order to clear out some of my projects box and I plan on celebrating Red Orktober! Details to follow.

Dark Update

Knocked out a few units for the boys in green:

Devastator Squad


Command Squad


Chaplains and Dark Vengeance Goodies


Librarians


Budget Azrael and Friend


And some odds and ends. Somehow I keep winding up with dogs. No idea why.

Short Update then Back to Work

Just celebrating a narrow win on The D6 Generation-it came down to three of us for their Art Description contest and the dice were kind to me. Either way all the entries were good but the two I was up against were excellent; I would have been honored to lose to any of the entries but either of them especially. Every time they have these contests I have to really step up my game to remain competative so it is good to be challegend by worthy opponents!

Meanwhile I am in a "build" phase; I'm knocking out my Dark Angels. I have always meant for this to be a small army. I mentally assign it a diffent block than my Ultramarines so that 1) I don't feel the need to replicate everything twice; i.e. play the Dark Angels like green painted marines and 2) I'm not upset that the goodies they got don't overlap with the goodies in the new Space Marine codex. I know a lot of people have been upset and there were some really good toys that frankly there is no real reason the Dark Angels should not have gotten (although I suspect that the Blood Angels and Space Wolves are going to miss out on some of these units as well) and the fluff reason put out is a little lame [bad grammar alert] BUT Dark Angels will now be my premier Terminator and Bike army whereas the Ultras will fill out everything else. I should really do up a Kanban board like The Independent Characters started to organize all my stuff but in the mean time my goals are:

Paint
Dark Angels Devastator Squad
Dark Angels Command Squad
Dark Angels Librarians (2)
Dark Angels Budget Azrael
Dark Angels DV Captain
Deathwing Terminator Standard Squad (x3)
Deathwing T-Hammer Squad [Going to ignore the FAQ outlawing SSTH Sgts. Really GW?]
Deathwing Knight Squad
Ultramarines Heresy Era Heavy Weapons Squads

Assemble and Paint
Ultramarine Stormraven
Armorcast Wolfhount Titans

Revise and Paint
Thunderhawk (not happy with how main cannon turned out.

Closing out the post I ask what is better than a new Space Marine codex? A new Space Marine codex and kittens!

Visions of Saint Diego

Visons of Saint Diego

++++Thought for the day:++++
++++The eye sees much the mind cannot handle.++++
++++File Number LERHGE88877ZZ++++
++++File begins. The Imperium is filled with countless saints, some beautified and honored by entire segementums, others barely known and their veneration limited to one minor planet. St. Diego was one of these minor saints. Although screened and found negative of psyker taint, as a common priest St. Diego was doing a mind recording of scriptural lessons for his congregation when he began having visions. These visions seem to record heretical figures and events that were not known of at the time. They would have been dismissed and Diego purged as a heretic (albeit a reluctant one) when a vision resulted in preventing an assassination on the planetary governor by a disgruntled minor noble. At this point his works were sealed by the Inquisition and he was taken for further cerebral interpretation. His role in saving the governor’s live however resulted in his name being circulated among the masses and his legend grew. He was beautified fifty years after his death and ultimately declared a minor saint. His first images appear below as recovered imagery from recent attacks indicated that they may at last be coming to fruition. The discovery of ruins on Zeta Omnicron V match the ones he first envisioned. We are now debating on actively summoning the Dark Angels Space Marine chapter, although cryptic signs hint that they may already be involved in the region.

++Replay begins++ [Voice of St. Diego] And here we shall have a pict of a lad being switched with the phrase, “Penitence is the path to righteous-“ [Image shakes as St. Diego starts to convulse.

Image blacks out then new images stream in.] [Voice of St. Diego] I see the ruins of the [unintelligible] system….Vor [unintelligible] for which they seek!

[Image changes] Several lords of Chaos! Several champions! One seeks power in the black legion-his breastplate taken from the noble Blood Angel and painted in shadow. The second shall gather many around him for his dread master. The third cares only for the blood he spills and the last, not a lord one given in wholly to slaughter! Their brother, trapped in living death has traded his soul for skulls and power in his walking tomb!



[Image changes] Cultist! Foul traitors who have bartered their souls for fleeting power but their deaths will be for naught as they join others of their kind. Their leader, cobbled together from many sources-his face a mask of gold, his cape of human flesh!

[Image changes] Angels of Death! Angels of Darkness! Do they brink redemption or salvation!?? I Know not!!!

[St. Diego screams in torment and blacks out. The image goes to static as the machine spirits of the recorder reject the images coming from his mind.]

++Replay ends++
Troubling. I fear we have not seen the last of any of these individuals. I am assembling a kill team in order to- ++++Connection Lost++++
++++Reload Fail++++
++++Reload Fail++++
++++Reload Fail++++
++++There is no record of the file you seek++++

Dark Angels and More Terrain

Here is my first two squads of Dark Angles (that are mine to keep): These guys have been a total nightmare. First I simply bit off more than I usually chew and getting up the gumption to do twenty was harder than usual. Add to that I have had primer issues with the bases (basically what do you do with primer that refuses to dry!!!???) so I had to rescrub those all down and try again. Clearly I only partially learned my lesson because a could still turned out bad. Then the shoulder icon decal on the meltagun guy has been a pain in the butt and I am going to have to go back and redo that somehow. Currently debating either freehanding it (which I suck at) or doing up a press mould. The other big time drain was working on this project: My only New Year's resolution this year was to knock out some projects that I have had sitting around for some time. This was one of them. Like most of my stuff it is supposed to be a multi-function engine/pump. It would be at home at the heart of a starship engine room, part of a promethium processing field, or on the floor of a hive factory. Equally important is that it blocks terrain but also has some points figures can climb for high ground. Good to get that one off of my chest. Now I think I will brave my Thunderhawk rebuild.

Cheap Terrain

I have two generic modules made out of Burger King Kid's meal giveaways and a ton of crates made out of soda bottle lids. The only thing better than decent looking terrain is decent looking terrain that was dirt cheap. I don't know who invented the soda lid crates, or maybe there were one of those good ideas that multiple people discovered at once like fire or the atlatl but they are super easy and look good with very little work.

Toys for Tots 2013

The Chinook is done and off to the client who was apparently pleased. On to the next: These are my contributions to the 2013 40k Radio Freebootaz Toys for Tots Ebay Auction. I present to you Tas Squad with Multimelta, Meltagun, and Veteran Sergeant with Power Sword.

More Chinook

I've reached the 90% mark on the Chinook: Last thing is drill out the heavy bolters and build the benches for the inside and I'll call it complete.

The Liberation of Salem Part IV: Sell Swords Broken

The Liberation of Salem Part IV: Sell Swords Broken The landing pad was secure and reinforcements began to pour down from the skies. The Chaplain knew that so long as the mercenaries were free, they could be used by the enemies of the Imperium to interfere with restoring His law. Therefore, before they could manifest in force again, they would need to be crushed. He assembled a short tactical squad, a devastator squad, scouts, and a Storm Talon, recently arrived from orbit. At Captain Sicarius’ insistence, he donned his terminator armor. The Ultras advanced on the enemy encampment on the edge of the urban cluster, catching them by surprise. They were armed with several Chimeras, a platoon of troops equipped like guardsmen, and unfortunately, a Hydra. The Storm Talon made short work of the Hydra as the scouts opened up on the closest squad of mercenaries, wounding the gunner. The devastator squad cut through the Chimera supporting that squad with their krak missiles. Unfortunately, the enemy opened up with everything and a lucky multi-laser shot took down the Storm Talon. It spiraled out of the sky and exploded-a grievous loss. The second mercenary squad moved forward, as did another Chimera. The chaplain and two squad members took hits as they charged forward, intent on eliminating the squad in the middle. Meanwhile the scouts and devastators were less effective in their role. The devastators would need to report for range penance if they did not improve their aim! The closest squad was cut down by bolter fire as the second Chimera advanced in retaliation. The mercenaries advanced under the cover of the pylons, taking snap shots at the chaplain and his men. The chaplain and his squad rushed the Chimera, tossing their melta bombs and krak grenades. They damaged the behemoth but failed to destroy it. In return, the sergeant was cut down by the advancing mercenaries. The chaplain turned and charged the mercenaries, losing one of the tac marines to blistering but desperate fire. In turn he and his remaining companion cut the traitors down. At last the devastators redeemed themselves and the remaining Chimera was destroyed. The leaders used the opportunity to slink away. Their threat was ended for now but the Chaplain was left with an uncomfortable feeling with them left behind as loose ends. Upon investigation, a strange device was found in the mercenaries’ camp. Clearly of foul Xenos origin, it emanated some form of mind control. It was logged and the information passed on before purging it. Meanwhile, above in the ship, systems continued to fail, hampering, but not stopping the flow of troops and materiel to the planet’s surface. It was time to focus on the true threat to Salem. It would be liberated in the Emperor’s holy name!