Killteam Genestealers ( Part 3)

The brood grows.

I took a break from my other random projects to randomly finish another Genestealer miniature for my Genestealers Kill Team. This is another of the original metal models which I like a lot. He stands out from the plastic ones due to the pose of course but also due to weight (he is an original lead mini).

The two metal models in this Kill Team will likely be used as Specialists. Again, this is because their unique poses mark them out from the others.

I made a slight change to the purple highlight by using Genestealer paint over Worm Purple, and then added White Scar mixed with Genestealer for the final highlight. It works well I think.

I think I like how these miniatures have turned out so far, and maybe I can finally get these guys into some action? I would love to run these as Genestealer Cult, but that would likely require an investment of some of the newer Cult kits which I am not presently able to do. So I think I will be sticking with the Codex Tyranid list then...

The reason this Kill Team took so long to get together was that I was missing the key model for the unit, my old running Patriarch. Well, he has been found! In early October, while working on my Dreadtober project I needed to refer to my only finished Bad Moon ork model, and when I opened the box that it was in I found him consorting with the Genestealer Patriarch. And here he is:

Papa Claws.

Something about those big medallions got me calling him 'Pappa Claws', which though silly, seems to work for him.

Ragglebum Foulbreath Jr. (Rogues Gallery Spotlight)

Who is Ragglebum Foulbreath Jr.? And why is he probably the most important miniature in my collection?

Suffolk, England, 1989. My best friend and 40k guru Dr TSG and I had been taking shopping trips into Ipswich and Colchester to build up 40k armies. I had amassed a sizeable collection of blisterpacks throughout the year and the time had come to try to figure out how to paint them. He had this really cool fantasy orc that had been painted up in a professional standard (as it was back then anyway) that we both admired. We chose that as how we thought ork skins should be painted. He asked to try out painting that scheme on one of my minis over a weekend to see what he could do with it. What he brought to me on Monday morning is what you see pictured here.

The Ork range back then had an awesome character to it. It was as if they were Mad Max mauraders in space. They had the craziest gear that looked like it was pillaged from the closest space port/hive/ dystopia tbey could raid. Yet, this also gave them a fun vibe at the same time as some of their trinklets were just odd. For example this mini with his inverted horns and ski goggles, more pouches than Bat-Man, and what appeared to be a pair of wellies, was just so cool in that way.

He painted this model using the Citadel and Humbrol paints he had gathered at that time. His use of Bilous Green over a dark green became the template that I would follow when it came to painting the rest of my orks. This alone made this miniature the most important one I owned for so many years. I referred to it often, always trying to top it.

Why is he called Ragglebum Foulbreath Jr? Back then we, our circle of gamers that went to Woodbridge American Highschool,  named every model in our armies*  and some of us put their names on their bases. Most of Dr TSG's minis from this era had names on their bases, and they earned their name usually when he finished painting the model. So when he presented this finished mini to me I was surprised to find out this chap's name. Close to 30 years later, and I have no idea who Ragglebum Foulbreath Sr. is, but I am sure he was a powerful and influential Ork in his day.

The painted job that inspired a legion. Not only inspired me, but set Dr TSG on his own course as well. It was not long after this model was painted that the plastic Space Orks box set was released and we both wound up with ork collections. He continued to evolve his ork skin scheme by incorporating a water-activated calligraphy ink that gave him some crazy blends that still look great today. My own ork skin scheme evolved from Ragglebum as well, and I think the apex of my usage of this influence is the Ork Nob I painted in 2015.

In our games Ragglebun Foulbreath Jr was just a frontline grunt who rarely did more than die. Usually because he was "the painted one." A curse that befalls many players I believe. The mini has held up well, save for a few chips on the paint, and sometimes he might even find himself back on the frontlines contributing to the dakka.

*The armies back then were much smaller and much more intimate compared to today's fodder-filled armies.

Death Castle (Part 9)

PART 9

Posted on 9/1/2008 on Warhammer-Empire.

The doors have been attached to the tower. 

The tower has doors. 

This was more difficult than I imagined, but so far the results look good. I still need to figure out how to make handles and hinges but I figure I can work that out bit later. Note that the upper level door will be opening up to a deck/balcony that will be used as a fighting platform.

Add caption

This pic shows how the tower is going to relate to this section of the castle and I put a few models near it to get a vibe of what it all should look like after I complete it. As you can see I’ve base coated the castle walls already. I’m going to take the whole castle up to one more level of painting before I permanently mount it to the base.

Back to the tower, I began work on the tower’s crenelations. The main crenelations were made from the pieces originally cut from the walls at the start of this renovation project. As they are only vaguely the same size I’m hoping this unevenness will give the appearance that this castle is old and weathered.

This first pic shows the first two corners with a model on the tower’s top to give me a sense of scale. Note that one corner has a metal tube ‘bracketed’ to the tower’s base. This will be a banner holder. Once the project is complete I will make a series of interchangeable banners that can be switched out during play for different occupiers. The metal tube came out of an old Motorolla cell phone (Nextel i90). It’s amazing what kind of cool junk you can get out of old tech devices, but it’s usually more appropriate for 40k instead of fantasy.

Here is the tower with all of the main crenelations. In between them will be a short wall that extends the main wall up a bit provide a tad more cover the men on top. I’ll be adding that on tonight I hope. Again, the unevenness of crenelations will help convey that old worn-torn weathered look that I’m going for. Hopefully when the whole project is down one will think that the castle and tower were always part of the same model. I’m not sure how well it can be seen in this pic but there is now a wooden door in the center of the tower roof.

PART 9.1

Note: This 9.1 post was never posted on Warhammer-Empire for some reason, and the next post, Part 10, posted almost 2 months later, covers some of the things I wrote below. Never-the-less, for prosperity's sake and the simple desire for completeness, I shall include it here . 

I’ve finished the basic construction of the tower. I took a long time to fill in the gaps. By the way, I used Jo Sanja’s Texture Paste to do this. Texture past is usually used my painters to provide rugged surfaces for some embellishing techniques, or to fill in and smooth out a canvas before painting. I’ve found it works great with Styrofoam and cardboard. Some of the smaller gaps I used Elmers glue.

I then carefully added on the arrow slits. I’m glad that I bought these when I did as I’ve discovered they can be a bit of a challenge to find now.  

I then decided the doors needed more detail. I added crossbars to the 3 doors, and handles using wire rings.

This is basically a progress shot of the whole project.

What still needs to be done:

Painting, but at this point just base coating and maybe the second layer.

The tower’s balcony still needs to be completed and attached to the tower.

Expanding the main castle’s upper deck/ramparts of the walls.

Majestic in it's base coat. 

And the whole thing needs to be attached to the base. I’ve noticed, and you can see it in some pics throughout this thread, that since the two halves of the castle were joined together, it resulted in slight warping which is preventing some wall sections from touching the base. I’ve come up with a few ideas that can correct this and may actually work to the overall benefit to the castle’s overall look when completed.

The Ambull

I have wanted to paint my Ambull miniature for many years now. I was first really fired up about doing it back in late 2010 when the 5th Ed Dark Eldar Codex was released. I thought that the Ambull would make a great Clawed Fiend for use with a Beastmaster. I was stuck on a paint scheme until I saw Gholascale's Ambull. It seemed perfect to me, though I wouldn't go with blue for it's mandibles. Anyway, I kept that idea in the 'mental file' until such time that I could get around to it. With our local group still playing Kill Team, I figured it was a good time to finally bring this seed of an idea to fruition.

Beastmaster and Beast.

After scouring the web for painting ideas I settled on sticking with something close to what Gholascale did and the orignal ad from White Dwarf.

The orginal White Dwarf ad.

Note the word "slave" going up the left side of the image below the Chapter Approved stamp. Is this justification for using this as a Dark Eldar Beast?

Primed with base started.

I chose Apple Barrel Color Indian Red for the basecoat.

Indian Red.

I then used an old, barely functioning, Citadel paint called Dark Flesh. It made the perect step up from Indian Red.

Dark Flesh layer.

Next, I drybrushed on Folk Art Buckskin Brown.

Buckskin Brown.

After a thinned Brown Ink glaze, I drybrushed on Calthan Brown.

Calthan Brown

The weird external guts was painted using Pink Hirror on top of Indian Red followed by a Baal Red ink wash before topping it off again with Pink Horror.

Weird gut bitz colored.

It was now done enough to assemble and take to war!

The original Clawed Fiend.

And it performed well in it's first outing.
It moved fast, in contrast to it's lumbering appearance. You can read about it here.

Cleaning up the trenches.

A week after that game and I am looking to touch it up. I chose a yellow color for the eyes by Folk Art called Lemonade as it is a very bright light yellow and contrasts perfectly against the dark recesses. I brighted up the gutty bitz as well using Rose Blush mixed with White. And finally, for much needed contrast, Blood for the Blood God was splatterd on to the claws and mandibles.

Finised in all it's gorey glory.

And after the addition of some grass tufts, it was now finished. I enjoyed working on this old  Ambull miniature, as I have wanted to paint it since that first White Dwarf article from way back in '88.  And it was fun having it chase around some of Da Masta Cheef's Orks in that last game. I look forward to fielding it again.

...and in this corner:

"Oy, take me to ya leada!"

Welcome to another tale of woe and carnage from the 40k warzone. This time we played another 4-way Kill Team game set upon the same table as our previous Kill Team game but with the scenery rearranged. However I opted this time to bring my Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors for some poison elf fun.

Dark Eldar class photo.

I had less models than I typically deploy as I opted to try my newly assembled kit-bashed Beastmaster and her beast, a classic Ambull, both of which I painted/assembled earlier that day. (An impressive achievement for me actually).

Da Ork gatha.

In the corner to my rightside the Orks of Da Masta Cheef deployed. They were led by a cunning  brute that he sometimes uses as a Painboy, but today was just a nob, called Da-13th-Dokta.

Marines. 

To my left were Space Marines played by Chyanne and Jim. They used the Dark Angels list this time, but Jim used Blood Angel models to stand-in for Assault Marines and to help them keep their minis appart.

Craftworld Eldar

And in this corner, diagonally opposed from me was Bob's Craftworld Eldar. Swooping Hawks and Dire Avengers prepared to bring pain.

In this game we are fighting for three objectives  in the middle of the field, and it is dark the whole game. The darkness rule is a great benefit for me right off the bat as Dark Eldar have Nightvision and ignore the effects of it. After all the set up dice and been rolled, and initiatives stolen, etc. it would be Bob going first, then Space Marines, Orks and finally Dark Eldar.

The Eldar advance.

Bob's forced pranced forward, striking at the Orks and the Space Marines. Both the Orks and Marines struck back. Jim launched his Assault Marines right at the Eldar while Cheyanne took a more defensive posture. I think they were concerned that I was going to send the Ambull their way. They were right as I did indeed move them to the Macrocannon that seperated our teams.

Beastmaster and Ambull take the Macrocannon.

The Orks and Dark Eldar ran through the trenches towards each other while trading shots. I was astounded by Cheef's uncanny ability to make his 'ard Boyz armor saves, and would continue to be awed by them throughout the game.

Advancing thru the trenches.

Turn 2 and the battle between the Eldar and the marines raged on. With some shot from my distant Splinter Cannon peppering their members of their kill teams. But these teams were really tearing into each other.

Note the Dire Avenger in the crater.

When dice say "die!".

A turn highlight was Jim's flamer immolating a Dire Avenger in the crater. This allowed us the excuse to use one of Jim's new fireball markers to add some... um... flare to the moment!

On my turn I had the Beastmaster and Ambull redirect towards the middle objective as the Orks proved surprisingly resilient in the previous turn and the Eldar and Marines were killing each other just fine without my help. Meanwhile the the Dark Eldar Warriors moved in to target the orks.

Closing in on their prey...

The shooting phase cleared some of the orks from the trenchline while the Beastmaster slaughtered the ork that was on the objective with his whippy-agonizer while the Ambull crawed through his target. It was a good round for the Dark Eldar, but the Orks were not out of the fight yet.

...the Orks are cleared from the trenchline.

Turn 3.
The Craftworlders strike back hard, all but eliminating Jim's marines.

Jim's last guy was a duel-pistol wielding chap that was being stymied by the Swooping Hawk with a wrist shield who kept making every save the Marines forced him to take. It was amusing how much firepower that guy deflected!

An Ork came in from Reserves and got right up on my line. His failed attack justified my ignoring of him on my turn. The Beastmaster was shot off her skyboard and was out of her inaugural game. Meanwhile the axe weilding Nob charged at one of the Dark Eldar goons, chopping him to death.

"Oy, 'o wants to taste me axe?"

The Dark Eldar strike back, ripping into the Orks with their splinter weapons. The Nob fell, as did a few more Orks leaving only one 'ard Boy to hold the objectives in this section of trenchline.

Poisoning the Orks.

Turn 4, and the Astartes and Xenos continue their clash. The Craftworlders, now broken by the Orks that have attacked them from the trenchline, only have a few models left. The leader, the Dire Avenger Exarch, is pretty tough to kill. He takes the objective, taunting the Marines to come and get him.

Craftworlders take the objective.

And they do, killing the Exarch and effectively tabling the Craftworld Eldar once the final Xenos falls.

Astartes clease the Objective from xenos filth.

The Orks, having broken the Craftworlders, and are now themselves broken, but those that stick around are here to rumble. They break from the trenchline with a mighty "Waaaargh!" and start dashing, and shooting, towards the marines.

"Time ta go ov'ah da top boyz!"

The Dark Eldar think they got it made, but the last Ork left in the trenchline snuffs out the their Team Leader before he himself is turned into a poison porcupine! (Or maybe the Ambull ate him too? I forget...). The Kabalite Warriors move in to take the Objective.

Dark Eldar claim an Objective.

Turn 5
The Space Marines move in to secure the objective, bracing themselves for the rush of oncoming Orks being led by Schultz!

Space Marines hold an Objective! 

The Orks, the few of them left, push on towards the Space Marine line, setting themselves up to be able to challege the Objective next turn.

The Dark Eldar, pretty much holding their side of the table, secure both Objectives while sending the Ambull towards the final Objective being held by a gutsy Space Marine.

Objectives secured!

And at the bottom of Turn 5 the die was rolled and the game ended. This is how the Victory Points tallied up:

Space Marines: First Blood, Kill Leader (Craftworld Eldar), Objective (x1)
= 3 VPs.

Craftworld Eldar: Break Enemy (Space Marines) = 1 VP.

Orks: Break Enemy (Craftworld Eldar), Kill Leader (Dark Eldar & Space Marines)
= 3 VPs

Dark Eldar: Break Enemy (Orks), Kill Leader (Orks), Objective (x2)
= 4 VPs.

So through guile, cunning, and fairly average dice rolls, Dark Eldar pull off a win!

It was a crazy fun game, and it would have fun to have another rounds as the Ambull could have reached it and probably would have dined on some enriched Astartes meat, but it was just not to be. But, the Orks also might have made it there too.  And assuming that no one bottles out, it would have been a battle royale for that final Objective!

Imperial meat: denied.