Dark Heresy RPG group miniatures built

I finished building the characters my friends played in our last Dark Heresy campaign.

Pyrokine Thug Gemma and Deathwatch Veteran Triakis

Rogue Trader Aoife and Malfian Uscar

Not shown are my character, the Interrogator turned Inquisitor: Tertius Nathaniel Haephestus Colemy and the character of our sixth member, Kestalia. Kestalia's player recently committed suicide so these miniatures and the artwork we've commissioned are in memoriam.

"I believe that when we leave a place, part of it goes with us and part of us remains. Go anywhere in the station when it is quiet, and just listen. After a while, you will hear the echoes of all our conversations, every thought and word we've exchanged. Long after we are gone, our voices will linger in these walls for as long as this place remains. But I will admit that the part of me that is going will very much miss the part of you that is staying."

Goodbye my friend, I'll see you beyond the rim.

Workbench 16.10.M3

Now that the blog's machine spirits have been placated, images have returned. Thank you to everyone that let me know they weren't working.

The strangeness of John Blanche and the good work over at Iron Sleet have inspired this group and you can be sure they're up to no good.

Apellant Wretch . Cepa Knight . =]|[= . Abhorrence Plenary

Followers, can you see this image?

After a few posts where followers reported my images were not showing, I've gone back to basics. No more importing from google or copy/pasting into the blog post. Just uploaded from my computer like back in the old days. So, can you see this one?

Triakis, Charcharodon Astra.

Seconded to Deathwatch.

Embiggerized / True Scale Astartes update

I followed Apologist's true scale tutorial and it's working well so far.




And a teaser of what's coming.

Astartes Embiggerizing - Blog new-format take 2

Trying to change the blog format to the fancy new style seemed to break RSS feeds so here we are back to the old style, with a few things streamlined.

Two different Embiggerized Astartes techniques

Some bits just arrived in the mail so I thought I'd tack them together. On the right is an Astartes from Calth. He's been carefully cut at both shins and both thighs, where plasticard spacers were added. The pelvis contains a spacer as well. I think he looks good, but it was a ton of work.

On the left are my freshly arrived bits: Grey Knight terminator torso, Calth terminator legs, head I had laying around. Done. I think I'll remove the grey knight details, including the hood, and raise the head up a bit so it's above the shoulders, which is a good place for it to be on a (post)human(ish) frame.

Cepa Knight - Blanche

+++
Iron Sleet moved me.
The care and dedication that went into Pilgrym was inspiring.
Seeing as I don't play anymore it seems like a good fit for me to concentrate on characters and bringing out the strangeness of the setting, John Blanche style.
The Cepa Knight came to me fully formed in my mind, but seeing the model here I think he still needs a little something. Maybe a bundle of cables hanging down from the back of the helm.

Blood Pact Death Brigade

200pt BloodPact Killteam game

Empyrian be praised, I played a game!  It was a 25 strong platoon of Pact vs 6 wraithguard, so nothing too big or fancy but it was still a game.

I started off a little rough with two plasma-gunners killing themselves but in the end it was a close run thing, with both of exactly at our break point.

I wasn't used to the new victory points and failed to get line-breaker because I forgot it was a thing! 

I think I was 3 models shy of fully painted and with the store's great terrain the game looked inspiring.

What are your favorite versions of 40k skirmish?  Kill Team?  Fan made?  Tell me about them in the comments!

Blood Pact vehicle pool

By popular demand here is a picture of the Pact motor pool.  I've tossed a hellhound in there for size comparison with the Warlord halftrack.  The halftrack looks awfully small in comparison.

On the far right we have an old Corgi Saladin armored car to take the roll of the STeG-4.

On the left a captured Macharius with one last imperial eagle to scrape off.

Blood Pact halftrack and grenade launcher

The new expansion e-book Kill Team has me thinking about the Blood Pact again.

For 5 points a grenade launcher seems like a versatile skirmish weapon so I built one up.  Never able to do it the easy way I converted it to have a rifle stock.

The halftrack is from Warlord games and will soon get a plasticard roof and a turret.

New Blood Pact links

I've decided to post when I update the links here so you, my kind readers are updated when I find a new resource or an old one changes.

Welcome FortWargame to the Blood Pact links.  His work was already over there but is now easier to access on his own blog.  Lots of great vehicles and scratch-building there so give it a look!

JackHammer's fantastic scratchbuilt AT70 is well worth a look.

Walker90234's xenos mercenary gallery shows off his Loxatl, Hrud and Tarrelian dog soldier conversions for use with the Pact.

This wiki page on the Loxatl has great information and a couple pieces of art I hadn't seen before.

_blacklibrary built lego versions of quite a few Gaunt's Ghosts, but more importantly he also did a lego Blood Pact soldier.

I also added links to Blood Pact appropriate heads from Secret Weapon and Blight Wheel, as well as the Blight Wheel mantis tank which would be a great stalk tank.

In other news, I finished painting my chaos rhino!

New Blood Pact models & desk

I was pretty excited a couple months back and posted that Blight Wheel minis would be making a model that was perfect for use as Loxatl.  Well the model will never be put on the market; GW issued a cease & desist order.  So the search for good Blood Pact models continues!

I found these great heads from Blight Wheel that are perfect for Blood Pact.  They're right up there with the ones from Maxmini.  I ordered them as well as their walking tank for fear of GW trying to make them stop production of those as well.

I can finally stop converting helmetless heads to have a mask!

The helmet is bigger than my other models, but it still works.

Grotesk!

The mantis walking tank is much bigger than I imagined a stalk tank, but it certainly works!  Only the large pieces are pictured here, the smaller leg bits and forward grasping arms & top gun are still in their baggie.  I cleaned all his parts up, not too many mold lines, but they usually ran across a smooth surface so they were a bit annoying.

A titan must have stepped on him.

I also went through my Blood Pact links here, deleting the dead ones and putting in more specific links so you don't have to trawl through an entire photo album to find the Pact pictures.

Lastly, I picked up a new painting desk from IKEA that is tall enough I don't have to hunch over to paint or build.

Loxatl sighted!

Updated with five new pictures: March 25, 2013

I just saw this update from Blight Wheel: a perfect Loxatl figure!

Sadly it is only available as a freebie at Salute this year.  If anyone gets one and doesn't want it, I would be happy to take it off your hands!

 

I asked if there was any way I could get them without going to Salute and they said no but they might do a line based on the figure in the future.

UPDATE:

Additional pictures surfaced and it's easy to see the chest flechette gun rig. The base looks like a 40mm round, which sounds right for these guys.

 

New Pacter, Dawn of War Blood Pact and a Paper Tank

I shook some of the rust off and built a new Blood Pact trooper.  I found the bits to make him as I was organizing the consequences of my hording: boxes and boxes of models.  I think I've heard it referred to as the Cupboard of Shame and I should certainly find a cupboard to hide mine.

Not my greatest work, but it felt good to get out the plastic glue and sprue clippers again.

In other Blood Pact news, I found a paper model of an AT83 Brigand that looks pretty familiar.  Click the pic to see the papercraft site.

They did a great job!

Which reminded me of a Dawn of War mod from a while back who's tank also looks pretty familiar.  Click it to see the mod's page.

Looking pretty sharp there, Blood Pact mod group!

My AT83 "Big Red" for reference.  Click it for a screen full of dirty red awesomeness.

Do you hear the voices too?

Honestly I didn't hear the voice of chaos until I pulled all my painted models out and put them in this very nice Ikea case.  It was a gift from my adoring wife a couple years ago and is a quality set up.

Skulls, Blood Pact and coconut monkeys, those Dark Angels must be worried.

I put in a few painted models I had at hand.  Looked pretty good, too.  Then I remembered the Ikea light set I picked up to add more light to each level.  Surprisingly easy to put in!  Then I needed more models since all that light showed how few their really were.  Out come the boxes and all the Blood Pact take to the shelves.   

That's when I started hearing the voices.  The sibilant whispers telling me how great the Pact are, and how proud I am of them.  Just a few models. It couldn't hurt. Besides, lots of people play 40k and when's the last time you got a game in since you left 40k?  Lots of games out there, lots of scales and genres and beautiful models, it's true.  But how many games?  Not enough, that's how many.

So I poke around at the interwebs and find a few new Blood Pact armies online and come here to add them to the links.  (Blood Pact Links on the right, now moved up to the top of the page for ease of community access.)  Blogger has changed a bit since I last logged in, so why not have a look around, post something up?  Sure, I think to myself.  But then I realize that I'm not married to GW anymore, and there were always vehicles I wanted to do but didn't want to scratch build.  Uh oh.

Credit to SniperOne for the pic.

I had thought about picking up a Sd.Kfz 251 in 1:48 scall in the past.  Pretty good fit for size and scale.  Sadly the 1:48 kits are about $30, more for the variants with turret or 75mm gun. This is about the same as GW's $35 for a chimera.  Wait, why am I even shopping?  The voices tell me to hush, and mention that Warlord games just released a plastic half-track for their 28mm game Bolt Action.

Do you have any in red?

Why yes they do, and it's only $24.  Now I always leaned towards the US M3 half-track for the Blood Pact due to a line about a pacter standing in a pulpit on his vehicle, I think any pintle mount is sufficiently pulpit-like to make it work.

So now what?  Are 40k's flesh-hooks in me?  Will I ever pick a damn army?  Ooh shiny, a Bolt Action hanomag construction step-by-step.  Thanks Mr Hairy Painter sir!  Click the pick for more pictures on his blog.

Where do you keep the blood in this thing?  You know, for the blood god?

Falling out of love with GW

It may have been obvious, looking back.  It's certainly been a long time coming.  I've broken up with GW.  We've had our issues in the past and certainly had an on-again off-again relationship for a while but this seems to be it.  I've moved on and started dating other games.

What I want from a game has changed over time.  Money and time invested are both at a premium, which is where the beauty of 15mm and 20mm miniatures comes in.  An entire platoon with vehicles and support for under $100?  Yes please.  Quick to build and paint?  Smaller playing space and easily made terrain?  Yes to all.  Force on Force, GRUNTZ and Tomorrow's War are all solid looking rules sets, with a good online community if you're in to that sort of thing.

I've joined a blog of like-minded gamers to document the new happenings, so check it out over at http://otherwars.grim-dark.com/ if you like.

Here's a preview of my first article:

Models that can be used in 15mm games

Once I started thinking about 15mm gaming I discovered the vast world of 28mm models out there took on an entirely different light once placed beside a 15mm model.  Robots become mechs and dungeon monsters become city-destroyers.  Today I took a look at Reaper miniatures to see what possibilities they might have for 15mm.

First up are XAIRobots, which work beautifully in 15mm (and 20mm):

http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/robot/sku-down/50164

Left to right: 3x Reaper 28mm, Elhiem 20mm, Rebel 15mm.

Reaper also has the old CAV mo...

 Read the rest at http://otherwars.grim-dark.com/

Finished Krieg Hellhound painted with Masterclass techniques.

I had fun painting this model up, which makes me think I should do more like it.  I remember a few years ago when I couldn't wait to paint, but it became a chore to paint everything.  After all this hobby is about collecting, sometimes playing, and painting.  In that order.  :)

I had to use natural light to show the subtle details, but the sun was setting so it threw some pretty harsh shadows.  Even still, the dirt weathering pigment is easy to see in the recesses in this one.  It's also worth noting that the tank commander was painted entirely with washes, barring a few touch-ups.

The oil-paint rust streaks merge nicely with the dirt-pigment on the side of the tank.

Two colors of rust colored pigment, heavily reduced (I think I used water to pull pigment off those pipes 3 or 4 times.  Less really is more.)  I'm pretty happy with the oily fuel drums, the effect was simply built up using layers of Gryphonne Sepia, Ogryn Flesh and Devlan Mud.
  On the plate with the Imperial eagle I'm fond of the sponged paint chipping on the left edge turned out.  The dusting of dirt and rust on its right side also looks nice.

Tracks painted with umber, drybrushed with darkened boltgun and then dabbed with weathering pigment dirt.  They didn't pop until I went pack and blackened each rubber pad.  All the metallics were a mix of Boltgun and black to keep a worn, military feel.  I used blue and purple washes over the barrel of the flamethrower to show heat discoloration.  Then I added a little black pigment at the end for soot, followed by white pigment for ash.

I love the rust spots and streaks created by flicking the oil-paint.  I still have a bit to learn about the pigments, but they are surprisingly easy to use.