Citadel Finecast: You Be The Judge

With all the hubbub about Citadel Finecast, I thought I would present these photos for you to be the judge of "hot or not".

I found myself in need of a new Terminator Librarian (as my metal one has gone missing). So, with the arrival of Finecast, I thought I'd get one and check it out. My FLGS was nice enough to hold a new Terminator Libby for me and I picked it up today.

I took these pics with my phone's camera, which is pretty decent, but not fantastic or anything.

So, without further ado, here's the "unboxing" pics:




If you'd just like to see the Picasa album (and much higher-res pics), here it is.

So...what do you guys think?

It's like...

...plastic Christmas.

The new Grey Knights terminator box, that is.

It is stuffed full of all sorts of little prizes, and dripping with exquisite little details!

And since when did GW actually include actual INSTRUCTIONS in their kits? Real live, readable, USEFUL instructions? You know, the kind that actually TELL you what all the parts are, what all the options are....heck, what all those little extra doodads are? It almost brings a tear to this old geek's eye. :)

Building an Army from the Ground Up

So, remember that gaming-related content I promised you? This is me, delivering it!

I told you I have two armies I'm going to be sharing with you. Because I want to milk these armies every drop of bloggery-related content I can (hey, at least I'm honest!) I'm going to go over the components and some WIP stuff before I actually drop the army itself on you.

It's no secret that I worked on the Star Phantoms army for the Badab Campaign. The real tragedy is that I never got to play this army, not even once. Remember all those thinly-veiled references to a life out of control in my "back to blogging" post? One of the victims of my life de-railing over the last half-year or so was my ability to participate in the Badab Campaign. I can't tell you how sick it makes me, or how incredibly sorry I am to the guys that ran the campaign that I wasn't able to take part in it.

Anyway...moving forward.

When I began the Star Phantoms, I decided early on that since this was my second Space Marine army, I was going to try and make it my "showcase" -- more accurately, I was going to paint it using the best of my abilities, pushing myself to hopefully get better in all aspects of modeling and painting in the process, with the goal of having something I could really be proud of when I was done.

I'll let you be the judge of whether or not I succeeded after I've posted the pics and all the stuff about it up. But for now I want to talk about the very ground level of your army...the base.

It's become a trend lately to use custom resin bases to really make your army stand out. I wasn't totally sold on the idea at first, since I hasn't actually seen any of the resiny wonders in person. But the fine crew of gaming elite at Austin's very own Battleforge Games made some kind of distribution deal with IronHalo.net and once I saw the Battlefield of Thran set...well, I knew I'd found my bases.

That's right, bases. As in, my goal was to base the entire army on resin bases. Yeah, I know, it's a bit much...but remember, "showcase army" OK?

Anyway, here's a few pics of a couple of sets of the bases I've used. Unfortunately these were taken pretty late in the process and I don't have any "true" WIP shots.









This set of bases has craters and voids and ruts and the like, and since I was already in WAY over my head I thought, "Hey, why not put some water in those holes? That'll look cool!" It took me 2 hours and three hobby stores before I found a "water kit" with these simple instructions: "Pour this crap into a hole and leave alone for a day." Imagine my surprise when it came out looking...well, half-decent, I think



These last couple of shots are a little more close up, and should give you an idea of just how much detail is packed on these bases. You'll notice the pipes in the ground (which was my inspiration for putting "water" in the voids). The rust on those pipes I'm pretty happy with, especially considering the technique I used for them. And by "technique", I mean I brushed over them with one of my new best friends, the "Floquil Enamel Paint Marker" in "Rust" color. One step rusty pipes? Hell, yes! I'll take two please!




...and there you have it, bona-fide gaming-related content!

What little projects have you guys been working on? Make any discoveries lately that turn a complex process into a one-step dream? Ever started a project, committed to a theme and standard...and about halfway through it realize you must have bumped your head just before you made that decision? Well....share it! It'll make me feel better. :)

Terminator Pics (or, "Screwing Around Trying to Learn the Camera, Light-box and Lighting")

Holy crap, it seems just like yesterday I was talking about putting up some sample pics that resulted from taking some test pics with the light-box. But it wasn't "only yesterday", come tomorrow it will have been a week since that post -- which means, ultimately, is that I should have been able to smell the FAIL in that idea. :)

Fast-forward through this craptacular week until last night. I was finally had the time to pull it all together and take a few pics with the new gear. Adding new gear into your photo-making world is pretty much like adding a new brush into your painting tools. Sometimes making only a change or two can have fairly dramatic (and sometimes unforeseen) consequences and will take time for you to learn how to use the new tools and smoothly integrate it into your processes. It can also reveal deficiencies in your existing gear, too -- I realized almost immediately that I don't have enough "proper" light sources to use the box most effectively. These photos have fourescent, CFL, and incandescent light sources...and that's probably the worst mix of light temperatures to attempt capturing the subject's color accurately. Don't get me wrong, I knew this going IN to this little "photo shoot" but I made the best with what I had on hand. Needless to say, a trip to Lowe's is in order to purchase more "shop lights" and "daylight" CFL bulbs before I try to take any more pics.

Luckily, it's Photoshop to the rescue (as it often is when you're dealing with digital images). If you're unfamiliar with digital image manipulation software, there's a halfway-decent tutorial on CMON that covers the very basic basics. And if you don't have Photoshop (and it's an expensive beast, I'll grant you that), well that's OK, you can always use The GIMP. It's free, open-source software that works, and works very well (having most of the core functionality of Photoshop).

Like most things, though, do a little research and a little reading and you'll quickly learn how to "clean up" your images with minimal effort.

Also keep in mind that I did VERY little image manipulation on these pics, spending only a couple of minutes on each one. So while they look pretty good...they could look a lot better if I wanted to spend the time to do it -- but for my purposes at this point, I think they're acceptable.

Another trick I need to learn is improving the "detail" shots -- you know, when you want to highlight a specific detail or two on the mini. Planning the shots out before (or while) you've got the camera on the tripod will really pay off. One thing's for certain, you're probably not going to get that nice "money shot" of those details if you didn't take some good pics of them in the first place. :)

Now if only the Blogger editor could handle image placement in blog postings, we'd be in business. But for some reason, it doesn't, and by that I mean, "Yes, it does, but BOY does it SUCK." If anyone has any tips or knows of a way to place images in blog postings using a WYSIWYG editor, please let me know, because the stock editor is FAIL.

Oh, and before you even suggest it: No, I'm really not interested in cranking out some custom HTML code to make pictures display exactly where I want them to. C'mon guys, it can't be THAT had. I'm pretty sure both Microsoft Office and Sun's OpenOffice have word processors that'll do it...get with the program, Google, and suck less! :)

Anyway, enough about that. I mean it's not like you can't place images in the posting at all (obvioiusly, huh?).

This final image is the one I'm most happy with (or should that be, "least disappointed in"?). I did a tiny bit more image manipulation on it (though the background -- at least in the image presented to me in the Blogger editor -- looks kinda like ass and could definitely use some tidying up.

Ah well, that's a project for some other time. :)

So what do you use for taking pics of your minis? Any specific gear? What about where you take those pics? Indoors? Outdoors? In your secret underground lair? What about touching those pics up before posting them? Any specific steps or procedures you'd like to share?

The "Secret Project" to Make Something That Will Make One Part of This Hobby Easier...

OK, longest post title ever...but it basically sums up what I've spent a few hours working on lately.

Here's a pic (taken with the camera on my phone, which is "eh" at best for this sort of thing) of the almost-completed light-box I built to make taking close-ups of minis easier.

I was going to go the "cut up a cardbox box to make the frame" route, which certainly works and does what a "light box" or "photo box" is supposed to do...but for some reason, that just didn't seem like sturdy enough (and yes, I know just how crazy that sounds). I figured if I was going to take the time to actually build something like that, I might as well make it so I only have to build it once. I know me, and knowing me, I'm pretty sure if I'd built one out of cardboard I would have damaged/destroyed it before getting more than one or two uses out of it.

I had a couple of ideas floating around in my head for a possible design. I was thinking about making the frame out of PVC tubing, or something similar. Not wanting to re-invent the wheel, I paid a visit to one of my most favorite sites in all the Internet: Instructables. A quick search yielded a potential design using electrical conduit, but that seemed perhaps a bit too involved. However a little more searching and I discovered this design, which utilized expandable window screen units and was "folding" for easy storage/travel and actually looked very professional. We had a winner!

I wasn't able to find "squard" window screens, so I had to modify one of the screens with the trusty Dremel to make it square for the back panel, but other than that I followed the plan from the instructable pretty closely.

I'm very pleased with the results. I picked up a "utility light' (basically a light-bulb socket and an aluminum reflector) and a couple more "Daylight" (6500K...supposedly, anyway) compact flourescent bulbs and I can pretty well flood the interor the light box with bight, diffuse light.

All that remains to be done is adding the "diffusing material" (yep, I used a cheap bed sheet, too) to the back panel (which I'm going to do today) and then do some trial runs. I'll post up some the results of the trial runs either today or tomorrow.

Anyway, that's my latest little tangential project to enhance my hobby experience. What little side projects have you taken on make something that will make some part of the 40K/WFB hobby easier, better, or simply more "professional" looking? Have you ever had an idea for something -- a new tool, some object, or maybe even a new process or way of doing things -- that you think would enhance your hobby in some way? If you have....share it! You never know what kind of inspiration you may get -- or give!

Back for the Attack!

So...it's been a while.

When I last updated, I was talking about getting my motivation back. Well, it's come back with a vengeance! I've been painting or modeling pretty much every night for the last couple of weeks.

What I've been focusing on is "learning to suck less at painting". I've been experimenting with new techniques, new paints, and even -- gasp! -- bought a "real" paintbrush...a Winsor & Newton Series 7 Size 0.

I've learned how to make a wash out of regular ol' paint. I've even learned some very rudimentary glazing methods. The one thing you'll notice in the pic is something "new" I've been working on, and that's highlighting. I'm far from great at it but I'm finally learning how to do it and I'm pleased with my progress so far.

I've spent a LOT of time haunting the Reaper Minis forums, especially the Painting Tips & Advice section. There are TONS of very experienced painters there, and all sorts of tutorials and advice and pretty much everything I've learned over the last few weeks I've gleaned it from there (or followed a link or two from there). If you'd like to learn more about painting, I'd recommend you check it out.

Plus I broke in the wife's new super-sexy Canon SD1100IS camera, and that's why I actually have a picture to show you (along with setting up a little area to actually photograph minis). I have some other things I want to share but I was just trying to get a decent pic out of out it and I think I did all right. Expect more to come in the future now that I have the camera and photo-place more-or-less sorted.

Anyway, about the mini in the picture. He's my new veteran sergeant (well, they're all veterans now, but that's the way I'm used to thinking about them). There's some minor conversion work in there, mainly the arm holding the pistol. I took one of the old "pointing hand" arms from the old Devastator set, whacked off the pointing hand and replaced it with the hand holding the bolt pistol. I had to use some green stuff to smooth out the join to the body, and it's not super-smooth but I'm OK with that, considering it's my first try at something like that. I had the pose in my head as what I really wanted to do and finding that pointy arm was the final piece to the puzzle. I would like to note that while I've heard they actually make one or two models with them, I can't for the life of me find a right-handed power fist! So I went with what I could find and I'm very pleased with the results.

As for paint, I used the Reaper Master Series "Ultramarie Triad" (which contains Ultramarine Shadow, Ultramarine Blue, and Ultramarine Highlight) for the majority of the work, though somewhere in the middle of it I purchased the RMS Blue Liner, and pretty much immediately switched to that for shading/shadows/darklining. The Blue Liner is superb -- dark, smooth, doesn't need much thinning (a trademark of all RMS paints, actually) and it plays very well with pretty much any shade of blue. I also picked up the RMS Clear Blue and did some glazing experiments with it (though not on this mini) and I'm very pleased with it, too.

I still have a couple of touch-ups to do here and there before I'll consider it 100% done, and I'm working on a base that isn't the ol' "rock and flock" (which I've used pretty much exclusively in the past).

I've also completed the terminator I talked about in my last post. I'm pleased with how it turned out, too. I'll get some pics of him up soon. I'm especially happy with his cyclone missile launcher.

On the painting table right now I have one more veteran sergeant and two multi-melta guys. They're very close to done as I worked on them at the same time I was working on this guy. Right now their bodies done, including highlighting, and I'm working on finishing the multi-melta parts and the power fist and bolter arm for the other sergeant and then they'll be ready to go.

When they're done, here's what I'll have left before my current Ultras list is fully painted:

Captain Agemman (A "counts-as" Lysander, so I'm using the Lysander model with some conversions)
8 Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Terminators
2 Vindicators
1 Razorback
1 Land Raider

The vehicles will actually be pretty easy to do, as I'll fire up the ol' airbrush and knock them out. The TH/SS termis will take a while, but one of the reasons I've taken so long on the 4 guys I have on the table in progress is I've been experimenting and learning with them so doing the termis won't be a matter of conquering a learning curve. I'm not deluding myself, it's going to be a lot of work but I'm actually exciting about doing them now that I feel that my painting had taken a "next step". :)

I've also managed to play at least one game a week (except for last week) since I last updated, and that's gone very well. I've even played against a new guard list and pulled out a win (though admittedly there wasn't much of the "cheaty stuff" in the list, so I don't consider it a "true test"). I'm hoping to play JWolf soonish (note to self: talk to JWolf soon and see about arranging a game with him). I know he'll hand me my ass but it's all about the learning, and I'd like to see just how bad the new Guard is, and I'm pretty sure he'll be happy to show me. Painfully. :)

So, anyway, that's the news. I have quite a few posts planned in my head so stay tuned (or something like that).

How about you guys? What's on your painting table? What have you been pushing yourself to learn lately? What are your hobby plans for the next six months?

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?

First Picture of AoTC Defiler

We'll call this a "teaser" picture. I hope you like it, and by all means feel free to comment/critique.

The Army of The Crowing Defiler Completed!

With the application of the model glue and the placing of the final armor plate over the scratch-build/converted defiler CCW, I'm finally finished with the defiler for The Army of The Crowing.

Pictures, of course, are to follow, as the wife has said she will be happy to let me borrow her super-camera for mini-picture-taking-duties (she's awesome, that wife of mine!).

All I can say is that the defiler turned out to be a much longer and harder project than I've ever done. It being the first chaos vehicle I've ever attempted, I tried to keep it very stock (even though, I know, there are those that feel chaos vehicles need tentacles and slime to make them look "chaos-y"...I'm not one of those people). The first lesson I learned actually came at the suggestion of the wife. She took one look at the first leg armor plate that I completed, all nice and smooth...and said, "It's too clean." She was right, it was, so I had to re-think how I was going to paint the model, and I came up with a base coat of Reaper Master Series Coldstone Grey followed by a wash of Badab Black, then a drybrush of Coldstone Grey again. This process actually evolved towards the end as I realized I could do a basecoat of Reaper Master Series Stormcover Grey and then a drybrush of Coldstone Grey with much the same effect.

The trick is going to be getting the same "look" with the other vehicles in the army (several rhinos, a vindicator, and a land raider). We'll see how that goes, it'll definitely be a very different process than what I do for my Ultras, which involves a nice smooth application of Ultramarines Blue with the airbrush. :)

Anyway, I'm very pleased with how it came out and I'm excited to get some pictures up of it soon so you can critique my work.

What's the most challenging project you've ever completed? What did you learn completing it? How satisfied did you feel showing off your new centerpiece?


tell me did the bones collide? why did the bones collide? little lover's so polite, so polite, so polite.

Dremel Wizards, Anyone?

Recently my dad gave me a Dremel with a box of accessories, and I'm all a-twitchin' to put it to use.

I have a couple of questions I thought I'd put out there for any Dremel wizards that might be lurking to hopefully answer.

I normally use chopped up paperclips for pinning purposes. I have a tiny pin vise drill bit that I use to make the holes, which is the exact right size. Can -- or should -- I use a Dremel for this? I have some metal models that are going to require pinning and I would much rather use the Dremel for this if possible.

I have Lysander and I need to remove some Imperial Fists iconography (odd for an Ultramarines player to have to grind off icons, I know, and the irony of it hasn't escaped me). I'm assuming I should use one of the "grinding wheels" for this -- either one of the pink or one of the green -- but I'd rather not "practice" with a "production model" if you know what I mean. :) So...what should I use?

Is there an accessory that I can use to polish/smooth some things made of green, brown, and grey stuff? What about regular plastic? I'm thinking with some practice and a steady hand the Dremel could possibly be used for mold line removal chores. Any thoughts on this?

What other uses have you found for this amazing tool? Any hints/techniques you'd like to share?

Gesso = Awesome

Ah, priming.

The bane of my painting existence.

Like most of you, I started out with the rattle-can. Oh, yeah, sure, it works. You hose on the paint and your mini winds up whatever color you've chosen.

The problem is, using the rattle-can is submitting yourself to tyranny.

Spray paint is ridiculously susceptible to variances in temperature and humidity. If you get outside of the recommended temperature range, you're going to have problems. Humidity is even worse. Anyone that's hosed on a coat of primer from a rattle-can knows what I'm talking about.

And then there's the "you've got to go outside" business. Plus, it's messy and time consuming, what with setting up an area to paint, and then hosing it on, followed by the clean up. It's a mess.

So, wanting to free myself from the tyranny of the rattle-can, I investigated paint-on primers. After some trial and error, I discovered Reaper Master Series black primer. Add in some Reaper Anti-Shine Additive and you're in business.

Well, mostly.

You always have to add the anti-shine stuff. And it's expensive, in the long run. Plus, you've got added time and effort involved what with the whole mixing up the primer and the additive. Now, make no mistake, the results are amazing, and I can highly recommend this solution. But I wanted something more, honestly, I wanted to find the ultimate solution to priming minis with minimal effort for cost.

Enter Ron's post about priming with gesso. The funny thing is, I remember reading the original post on WeeToySoldiers.com a long while back and while I thought it was interesting, at the time I was more interested in finding a "paint" solution, and so I filed the whole gesso idea away for later investigation. Ron's post reminded me about gesso, and I thought it was time to check it out.

One trip to the local Hobby Lobby later, I walked out with an 8 oz. bottle of Demco Artist Series Gesso, color black. Cost: $3.99 plus tax. I also picked up cheap-ass #10 shader to glop it on for $4.99 plus tax, making my total investment around $10.00. Not bad for an experiment, right?

This evening I got a chance to try it out.

Here's what I did: opened the bottle of gesso, dipped the brush in, and glopped it on three different test minis: two chaos space marines and one chaos knight horse.

The result?

Pure priming nirvana.

Coverage is ridiculously fast, as in one coat and you're pretty much good. Neatness? Forgeddabout it. Drag your gesso-loaded brush over the mini and be done with it. You'll wind up using quite a bit of the stuff, as it's very viscous. When you're done you'll have a wet, shiny gloss black covered model with some of the detail obscured.

Now set your mini down, and let it dry. Give it a while, as in a couple of hours or so.

When you look at the finished product, you'll be amazed. You'll have a flat black mini that's ready to paint, with no loss of detail. As stated in the other article, gesso shrinks as it dries, and your details "magically" come back. The chainmail on the chaos knight horse? Perfect. Ridges on the helmet hoses on the chaos space marines? Perfect. In fact, setting down the horse I "gesso-ed" and the one I rattle-canned (yes, even I use the rattle-can sometimes...) I can't tell the difference.

The only thing I noticed on the horse was a tiny amount of visible brush stroke on one little part -- and that came about because I tried to "smooth" over a section with my brush. I should have left it alone, as that's what I did with the other side and it's perfectly smooth. Also, there's a tiny "pinhole" or two here and there on the marines where the gesso shrunk, but these "pinholes" are fractions of a millimeter in size and will be easy as pie to cover up.

The best part? It took a total of about 5 minutes to cover all three minis, and a couple of minutes to wash out the brush.

I know what you're all thinking: "Yeah, sure Joe, sounds great. Pictures or it didn't happen."

The good news is, the fiancée got a sexy new camera for Christmas, and as soon as she decides that I can use it, I'll get up some pictures (don't hold your breath or anything, it may be a day or three). If all else fails, I'm probably going to inherit her old camera, which is a damn sight better than the one I have now, so either way, it means good things for photos in my blog. :)

In conclusion: Gesso = Awesome. If you're thinking about giving it a try, DO IT! It's cheap and very time/effort efficient, and the results will blow you away. CJ says, "Check it out."

No, no...

OK, this will barely pass muster as an "update", but I had to share this little moment:

My fiancee took one look at the Chaos knight I was building and said, "Ooooh, it's a PONY."

To which I replied, "No, no...it's an EVIL pony."


...and so now I'm building an army of EVIL PONIES. Oh well...

The Army of The Crowing

What you see here is the color scheme for my CSM army, what I have named "The Army of The Crowing". If your curious, the name comes from the music of Coheed & Cambria, my all-time favorite band (all of their albums are concept albums, each one a "chapter" in a story, a very interesting sci-fi story in fact).

I had a conversation with a fellow Austin gamer, Robert, who was also my Week 5 Macharian Crusade opponent (if you want to see his Mordian Iron Guard, you can look no further than BoLS "Armies We Like" section, and let me tell you, his army looks amazing -- as good as those pictures are, it looks even better in person). Robert is a long-time Chaos player and he's (obviously) a good painter. He and I agreed that the "Black Legion" was over-represented here and that something new would be a good idea. After the Macharian Crusade ends, I'm planning on dunking my existing CSMs into the Simple Green and starting over -- and when I do, this is the color scheme I'm planning on going with.

I know it's a pretty simple scheme, but that's part of the reason I like it. The idea is to use a gloss finish on the (Merchite) red trim to give it a little metallic sheen, which I think will give it a little oomph. What do you guys think?

P.S.: In case some of you are thinking, "God-Emperor dang it, Joe, the name of this blog is Ultramarine Blues, not Chaos Marine Blues. When are you going to talk about your Ultras again?" the answer to that question is: next post! A conversation with Abe at BFG got me to thinking and re-thinking a unit in the new marine codex that I had pretty much written off: Vanguard Vets...and my next post is going to be about them! Stay tuned!

New Workspace

Now that the move into the new place is more-or-less complete, I've gotten my new desk set up, and that means my new workspace is finally fully functional.

After a quick trip to my FLGS yesterday afternoon to pick up supplies, I got my hobby area set up and ready to go. I'm not busily working on the balrog/daemon prince conversion, thanks to a bit (look in the bottom right of the frame, it's the long pointy bit) given to me by a friend.

But first...I'm going to the Texas RenFaire with some friends today. So, no modeling today. Modeling tomorrow.

...and now, here's Joe with the weather.

Now that I finally got the whole Disqus thing straightened out, and have actually had a few moments to breathe (and get caught up on some professional and personal things) I thought it'd be a good time to get everyone caught up.

The last few days have been a mixed bag. I wound up having to miss the last couple of days of work due to being under the weather, but that's what doctors and prescriptions are for. So far, so good on the recovery. Next week is going to be very, very hectic, too, as the long-awaited move to the new place finally happens. What this means is that gaming and modeling are going to have to take a brief back seat, but once the move is complete it should get a lot better as I'll finally have a dedicated workspace. I'm really, really looking forward to this and (hopefully) the golden age of productivity that will come with it. I have several projects either already in progress or planned and I'm definitely excited about getting started or moving forward on them!

All right, let's talk about the Macharian Crusade.

The first game I played went pretty well, all things considered (as previously discussed). I promised I'd do a little "what did we learn" about that game, so I'll get that out of the way.

• Khorne Berzerkers are awesome. They are the main reason I wanted to pick up a CSM army to begin with. They're the only "cult" troops I have at the moment, and they're worth their weight in gold in CC. I know this isn't news to anyone, but I wanted to point out that they were as awesome as I thought they'd be.
• You can never have enough meltaguns when you're playing against a vehicle-heavy IG list.
• I really shouldn't have taken the MoK on the daemon prince. The DP really needs some shooty, and that means psychic powers. MoK will be dropped in the future in favor of Doombolt (hey, same points cost either way).
• I could really use another Vindicator or two.
  
• Infiltrating a squad of Chosen into your opponent's backfield is a dirty rotten trick, but definitely the only real reason to take them. I wish I'd given them 4 meltaguns instead of 4 flamers, though. I was thinking there'd be more troops back there for me to barbecue.
• Summoned lesser daemons are a neat diversion, and can certainly crank out the wounds in CC, but man do they die quick. Oh, and they can't use transports. Oops.

Week Two of the Macharian Crusade pitted me against Chris "The Dude" Long and his Methalor Penal Legion. Chris, along with being one of the Fly Lords of Terra, is definitely one of Austin's best players (and he has the tournament wins to prove it) so I was really looking forward to this game as we've never faced off before. This game was a little different for me in that it was 1500 points. I can't remember the last 1500 point game I've played, so shaving down the list a little was a challenge but I think I did all right. We played a very tight, very close game and it literally came down to the wire. In the end, I made a couple of mistakes that wound up costing me big. At one point, I held both objectives, with a squad of CSMs on my home objective and my Berzerkers on his. Alas, it didn't last, though. Some good shooting followed up by a brutal round of CC between my remaining 'zerkers and his command squad and HQ (a Crusade-only special character) ended with the Khorne-boys wiped out to the man and a Demolisher close enough to contest my home objective. Oh, but it was a close, fun game the entire time. Chris told me at one point he was "playing for a tie", and considering how good a player he is, I felt pretty good about that. I had a brief post-game discussion with Chris after I'd had time to think about it, and we both agreed that I made a few crucial mistakes:

• I should have moved my Land Raider the full 12" instead of 6". It probably would have survived the assault from the unit with the priest and the "guy with the eviscerator". Yup, 2D6 on the penetration roll will go through even AV14. Had the Land Raider moved the 12" and survived, it would have been contesting Chris's home objective.
• I mis-directed the final assault of the Berzerkers, not realizing that the SINGLE model accompanying the HQ model was a "troop". I'm pretty sure I could have wounded that "troop" had I directed my attacks towards his unit. Had that model died, Chris wouldn't have been able to claim his home objective (and coupled with the Land Raider, I might have at least been able to contest it).
• When Chris moved his Demolisher to tank shock my CSM unit holding my home objective, I originally declared a Death or Glory! with the PF-equipped AC...and then for some reason, changed my mind and backed out of it. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have popped that tank, what with it being AV14 on the front and all, but I really had nothing to lose. If I had, well, then I would have held my home objective uncontested.

...OK, so maybe those post-game thoughts don't mean as much without having a little more context, but you get the idea: I made some serious errors, and it cost me big time. However, even though I've been playing for a year now I still consider myself in the learning stage, and that game definitely taught me some very good lessons. I have to add that Chris is an excellent player and that game was pure fun.

That brings me to current and upcoming projects.

I'm enjoying playing the Chaos Space Marines. They're similar enough to my Ultras that it's not a huge learning curve, but the different units and options really do make it entertaining. They're not going to become my main army but they do make for a fun diversion. Having said that, though, I've decided that I really want to work on my daemon prince. I have a balrog model and I think it makes a great DP. However, there's something about it that bothers me: the little "fire knife" it has for a CCW. I've decided to attempt sculpting an appropriately-large sword for it. I've made a couple of base forms out of brown stuff and have begun the long and demanding task of carving, cutting and filing. I'm using one as my "test" and the second as the "production"...but there's a long way to go before either of them is even near done. BTW, if you're interested, I found this tutorial on sculpting swords that I found most useful. It's a little hard to read at first as it is presented in multiple languages but definitely worth a look.

Last but certainly not least, I have some plans for my Ultras. I have two lists in mind, one that uses drop pods, Sternguard and a libby, and lots of tacs. The other list replaces some tacs for some scout bikers. I really need to decide on my HQ, too -- which is really a choice between Sicarius or Pedro -- and once I've finalized that I need to get the model and get to work on painting it up. Needless to say, I have a LOT of work in store for me with my Ultras but I'm definitely looking forward to getting it all together, painting it up, and then playing with the new codex.

You'll notice the details are a little light on the upcoming stuff for the Ultras. That's because I really haven't finalized a whole lot yet. I'll let you know what I come up with, though.

So, now that I've blathered on for probably way too long (hey, if you made to the end of this long-ass post, thanks!) I'm wondering: what have you guys learned from recent games? What projects are percolating up? What plans have you made?

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?

Black Reach to Sternguard

So here's my plan for getting some Sternguard converted up on the cheap.

1. Take a few of those Assault on Black Reach tactical marines. You know you bought the box, it was simply too good of a deal to pass up, and now you have marines-a-plenty. Pick out five.
2. Grab your files and get busy grinding off that stupid "tactical squad" arrow. It just doesn't fit on a Sternguard.
3. Use the two bolters that have scopes attached to them, and then the two bolters that have the slings. Pick a plain one for the fifth.
4. Look in your bits box and find 3 more scopes. You know you have them. They come with every tactical marine frame.
5. Attach the scopes to the bolters that don't have them.
6. Voila! 5-man basic Sternguard squad, ready to go. Prime and paint, not forgetting to use white paint on the helmets and shoulder pad trim (or whatever your chapter color scheme for vets).

What do you guys think? I've already made 4...

Things that Seem to be Mocking Me Lately

In my ongoing effort to make this blog suck less, I broke out a crap-tacular digital camera I've had hiding in a file cabinet in my home office and thought I'd see if it would work for getting a few simple pictures. You guys are lucky! I'm sharing the results of my experiments with you!

As I've mentioned, a series of RLEs (Real Life Events) has kept me from doing any modeling or gaming lately. I've forgotten what the inside of my FLGS looks like. My fingers itch to hold a handful of dice in them.

The problem is -- and this is a strictly personal problem I'll admit -- I feel like when you take such a hiatus from your gaming community, when you come back, you should come back hard, with a large completed hobby project that blows everyone away, as if to say, "See, I wasn't slacking! Look! This is what consumed all my time and kept me away from the game tables!" Which is all well and good if you've actually done some impressive project, but if you're like me, and you haven't, but feel like you should have...see what I mean?

Anyway, here's a few of the things that have been vexing me lately. Things I have at least started working on, but due to the afore-mentioned RLEs, have languished...

Ah, yes, first off is my VERY WIP terminator librarian. As you can see, not much progress. So many little details on this mini! I'm pretty happy with the face, though.

Next up on the ol' Hit Parade of Shame is a trio of the "snap-fit" space marines from the little $8.00 box they're selling now. If you're like me, and you suffer from COMBS (Compulsive-Obsessive Model Buying Syndrome) you really hate to leave a FLGS without buying something. Last trip I made to the FLGS, these were by the cash register. They're all ready to be primed and painted. Oh, this picture has some shame bonus point content, too. In the plastic container these guys are standing on is a complete 5-man tactical squad, also with all mold lines removed and ready for the ol' prime-and-paint.

Ah, yes, these guys. All sitting in their box, still on the frame. *sigh* I was going to build them all with lightning claws. Looks like that's going to change with the improved storm shield in the new codex. With that in mind, I guess you could say not getting these guys done sooner has worked out in my favor.

Last -- but certainly not least -- this is something that will actually help my whole modeling situation. Yep, that's a new desk/workspace. It's still in the box (sound familiar?) but for a good reason. I'm moving to a new, more spacious apartment in October. Since I really don't have the space for it in the current place I thought I'd just leave it in the box for easier moving and then assemble it after settling in. Finally! I'll have a dedicated space to work on my hobby stuff! I can't wait!

So...what's been vexing you lately?

Work, Sicarius, and a Few Random 5E Thoughts

So lately, work has been kicking my butt.

In my line of work, sometimes you have quite a bit a free time, and sometimes you really don't. I've been going through a "don't" period over the last couple of weeks, and as a result, I haven't even so much as picked up a paintbrush. This...is not good. Well, it's not good in the sense that I'm not getting any painting done, but it is good in the sense that come the next paycheck, I should have a little more spare cash to spend on models (wait, didn't I recently say that I wasn't going to buy any new models until after I had painted up the ones I already had?...yes, I did...what I meant to say is that I'll have more money to save for when the new SM codex releases so I'll be able to plunk down the cash for the new Sternguard Vets. And a Redeemer. Oh, and a Thunderfire Cannon. And some drop pods. Yeah, that's what I meant to say...).

In other news, I picked up a Captain Sicarius model -- the limited edition Medusa V release one, with the twin lightning claws -- from a local guy and now he sits there, staring at me accusingly, taunting me to paint him. I know I won't be able to resist that siren's call for very long. Hopefully, if all goes well, I'll actually have a decent camera within the next couple of weeks, and if so, I'll be taking some photos so this blog won't be so image-bare.

Having played a few 5E games now, I can honestly say I really, really love the new edition. True LOS rocks -- I never did like the "area terrain blocks LOS" rule. Luckily, my FLGS had a terrain-making party recently and there's now lots of LOS-blocking goodness to be had. It really does add another dimension to the game (if you'll pardon the unintended pun).

Running is probably my favorite "new addition", though, as it gives the occasional tac squad something to do when they're out of bolter/melta range. Just remember that the other side gets it, too (and if you don't, you deserve what happens to you when, oh, say, that gaggle of Khorne Berzerkers makes it to your dev squad...).

My next favorite thing is the change that states that ICs with a retinue count as an "upgrade character" until the retinue is dead. This means no more getting your commander/chaplain/librarian running with a command squad singled out in CC, which is, IMHO, a good thing. Well, at least until the new codex comes out. Hopefully, SMs won't lose the ability to take a command squad...but we'll see, right?

Lastly, I'm happy to report that 5E works seamlessly in Apocalypse games. In fact, it seems to make Apoc games run smoother in general.

Anyone got any 5E thoughts they'd like to share?

That pile of models staring at me...

It's hard to believe that I only started in this hobby about 8 months ago.

Between then and now I've managed to get a decent 2000 point army that I can play with and enjoy painted and based -- which is good, because it allows me a little more freedom in that I don't have to be painting models because I need to add them to my army right away. That's why I'm not seriously concerned about not working on the terminator librarian at the moment because while using him is part of a larger plan, he's not necessary right now, so I can take my time with him, and I'm hoping the end result will show that.

Anyway, I was looking around my home office and I noticed that I have quite a few models staring at me from my shelves.

A Whirlwind. A Predator. A tac squad. An assault terminator squad. A few other things. We won't get into the other army I've been gathering models for, because it's going to be a pretty major undertaking to get it ready (I call it my "volunteer chaos" army...it's almost 100% composed of models I bought off Ebay or from other gamers...I seriously don't even have an overall plan for it yet...).

However, looking at all that virgin plastic I've decided that I'm not going to buy any new models until all the new ones I have now are done.

Unless, of course, the new space marine models -- such as the tasty, tasty Sternguard -- are released before I finish the models I have now (Are you with me? Do you honestly think I can resist those models? Can you??).

What this does mean is that I have quite a bit of "utilitarian" painting ahead of me. By that I mean I'm not going to lavish huge amounts of time on a tac squad -- and my airbrush makes pretty short work of vehicles.

So that leaves the assault termies...I really want to make them look good, particularly the lightning claws.

Which means I'm going to also need to get that terminator chaplain to go with them.

Oops.

I might have to renege on that decision sooner than I thought...