Over the weekend...

Since Friday night I've been a busy little hobbyist.

Decided to play in a 2K point "Doubles Tournament" hosted by FLGS Dragon's Lair (yes, there will be a much more detailed post on that soon). I teamed up with one of Austin's many great 40K players, Darkwynn, a.k.a. Nick. The tournament rules were each player brings 1K points of different-codex armies, but only one HQ unit between them. Nick wanted to run his Witch Hunters/Sisters of Battle, so that meant I had to bring Vulkan. Now, before anyone cries, "cheese!" keep in mind that DL's doubles tournaments have a bit of a reputation for being very competitive, with players trying to constuct the most hard army-combo lists they can. It was ruled that Vulkan's special rule would apply to the Sisters, so it was definitely Flame On! (and Melta On!) time.

The problem was, I didn't have a Vulkan model, considering there's no "official" one, so that meant it was conversion time. I followed Eek's most excellent Vulkan He'stan Conversion Tutorial, and I have to say the results were very nice. I didn't have a Dark Elf Corsair cloak laying about, so they model as it stands doesn't have one (but I will be acquiring one soon) and I used a lance/arm from a Chaos Knights model to make the Spear of Vulkan. Anyway, I got this thing made in a few hours and also put together a Razorback turret assembly and built 3 scout bikers. All of this was to give us the options we needed to play one of 2 or 3 lists Nick had come up with. Turns out the only model that got used was Vulkan, but hey, that's how it goes. :)

The tournament was Saturday, and it took pretty much all day (as these things do). I'll talk about the results in my full tournament post.

Finally, Sunday I finally got down to doing some basecoating on my TH/SS assault terminators. Not really much, mind you, but at least it's a start.

What did you guys accomplish over the weekend, hobby-wise or otherwise?

Black Reach Tacticals to Sternguard (with pics!)

Due to popular demand, here's how I'm doing the Black Reach tacticals to Sternguard conversions, with pictures (admittedly, very crappy pictures, but hey, better than nothing, right?)!

The first thing you'll need to do is find the bolters that don't come with scopes. There are two in the box that come with scopes, so you can use them straight away. However, for the others, just pick out 3 more. I prefer the bolters with attached slings (again, there are two of them in the box, so you'll need to use one "plain" bolter for the fifth). File a little bit of the ridge that runs along the top of the bolter away to make it flat with the rest of the bolter body. Leave the little raised bit towards the rear.

Next, dig around in your bits box and find three scopes. Since you've probably never used them before, and you get one with every tactical marine frame, you should have plenty!

Glue that scope onto the bolter, and you're in business! Somehow that plain ol' bolter looks like a more specialized tool with the scope attached, doesn't it?

Next up, file off that "tactical squad" arrow from the shoulder pad of each Black Reach marine model, as the Sternguard are both veterans and elites. This photo was taken while in mid-filing. It's pretty easy to do with a good set of files.

Lastly, attach the bolter to the Black Reach marine, prime and paint. Don't forget to use the color scheme for your chapter that denotes veteran status. In my case, they'll be ultramarine blue with a while helmet and white shoulder pad trim.

Compare and contrast to the still un-released Sternguard set:

...and you'll see that about the only real difference is in the pose (they are definitely more "dramatic"), ammo magazine (I suppose you could use storm bolter magazines if you wanted to duplicate them more closely) and a little bling (purity seals, terminator honors, etc.). I will probably go back and add a bit or two to each model to give them a little more "pop" and make them stand out, but honestly, I don't think it's absolutely necessary. The main thing is these guys all have bolters with scopes and slings (well, except for the combi-melta guy) and that's pretty much what we've got with the conversion. Plus, in the Black Reach set there's a couple of marines with "crusade" helmets (the same kind that comes with the company champion model). I've used both of them for my Sternguard, because it just felt right. :)

Anyway, I know that this is a very basic conversion (but the first I've ever attempted, honestly) and there are probably much better ways to do it. Considering Sternguard are basically veterans with "blinged-up" bolters, I think I've covered the basics pretty well. I know that ultimately what will sell this conversion is using the veteran colors/paint scheme, as that will leave no doubt as to what kind of unit they are. :) And hey, you're getting those marines in the Black Reach set at such a bargain, I somehow enjoy the idea of making Sternguard out of them.

All right...what do you guys think? Have any conversion ideas/plans you'd like to share?