The New Year is here and that means new beginnings, new opportunities and most importantly new hobby projects! For this year’s Tale of Gamers we’re also going to be mixing things up a bit and running a 3 round league at the same time. At 1k, 1.5k and 2k everyone will be throwing down with their new armies for that most important reward: Bragging Rights! (and a cool custom trophy)
Month 1 is done and dusted so lets check in and see what armies everyone are collecting and what they’ve got finished.
Alex: Back in the annals of history, when I was a young lad and Goblin Green bases were all the rage, Blood Angels were actually the first army I ever collected. This was back before the days of fancy internet tutorials so these guys ended up with the whole suite of hobby crimes. No primer, all mouldlines and any paint that was applied was put on with one VERY thick coat. So while 12 year old me was quite proud of them they eventually got sold on and new hobby projects took over.
Fast forward to now when I’m looking for a new army and there was really only one choice that came to mind. The Sons of Baal are back!
To kick off the army I started with my absolute favourite Blood Angel character: Mephiston, The Lord of Death! I’d actually had this guy converted before the new model came out so now was the perfect time to get him finished and ready to hit the table.
With Mephiston done he needed some troops to lead so in came a unit of 5 Primaris Infiltrators. While the rest of the army will be all about in your face close combat these guys will be performing the crucial task of securing objectives and screening out any deep striking threats.
One of my favourite parts about Blood Angels is the variety of colour schemes in the Chapter. From the different helmet colours to the black of the Death Company and gold of the Sanguinary Guard there’s always something different to be painting. Which should prove for a really fun project moving forward.
Speaking of moving forward, next month will see me cracking open an Indomitus Box and working on a unit of Bladeguard Veterans. I’ll see you then!
Army Progress:
Models Completed : 6
Total Points: 275
Pledge for next month: 3 Bladeguard Veterans
Si: Well finally I get an invite to the Tale of Gamers! I feel honoured and privileged!
When Alex asked me to join in I saw this as a perfect opportunity to get the project I started back in April 2020 going again. If you listen to my Podcast (Tip of the Spearhead, let’s get the plug in early) you’ll know that in March last year as everyone was panic buying loo roll and soap I was panic buying Space Wolves and paint. I’d decided to go back to a much loved army of my youth (2nd edition..I’m old) and give it a Primaris Marine modern revamp.
Firstly, I love the Primaris range. There’s no bad model as far as I’m concerned. As a painter they are amazing to work with as well. From a fluff perspective I know it ruffled feathers but it is what it is and they are here to stay (so suck it up Chris 😂)
For this project I wanted to fast-forward a couple of hundred years. Primaris marines are now the “new normal” (sorry not sorry for that) in the Space Wolves and since one of the early adopters was Ragnar himself the Blackmanes seemed the way to go for this. The premise is that after seeing their Lord get a power up they all wanted to have a go. The Wolves back down from no challenge after all and crossing the Rubicon Primaris was the challenge to end them all. I also envisage that Cawl would keep a steady supply of replacement Clones…I mean Primaris marines coming as well.
So here we are in the future and this will be a full Primaris project. Where I need to use a none-Primaris option they will be converted using Primaris models. However these will be fairly light in the army as a whole (Thunderwolf Cavalry and a surprise visit from a Special character to come in the future!)
Last year when I thought this up the first thing I did was test out this new Primarisification*. Originally this was to be a Smash Captain but has been repurposed as a Battle Leader with a Jump pack since 9th. I’ve seen people go the Phobos armour with the Jump pack blades route but that didn’t feel very “Close combat tank” to me so I decided to use an Inceptor as my base. The Power fist has been made from a Bolt Aggressor with the gun carved away. All in all it ended pretty cool. Pop a Master-crafted Boltgun on him and he was all done and I was chuffed with it. Mission accomplished!
So once I did that I decided I needed a Troop choice and a Taxi for them to drive around in. So a Squad of Intercessors and an Impulsor have followed.
Finally in January I broke my tradition of saving the coolest model in a project until last and painted my Converted Wolf Lord. In my fluff this is actually Sven Hammerfist, right hand man to Ragnar and leader of Ragnar’s personal bodyguard.
He was a blast to convert and I loved making the shield look more “Wolfy” as the Skeleton look was a little too Battle monk for my tastes. I wanted him to look like he’s worked his way up from one of Cawl’s first Primaris deliveries and I just loved the idea of him getting this massive slab of a shield and basically lashing his previous shield onto it. Of course he has other personal effects from his ongoing saga so he has a Wolf pelt on the front too and what I envisage as the combat knife he got in basic training on the inside. You can never be sure when a knife might come in handy after all! It’s always a joy to paint a cool model and I’m only sad I don’t have him to paint again later!
So there is January’s bits all done and I hope you like the look of my Wolves. February I’m pledging to get my pack of 6 Assault Intercessors done so I can get onto some of the cooler converted bits after that!
*Primarisification is totally a real word by the way.
Army Progress:
Models Completed : 8
Total Points: 460
Pledge for next month: 6 Assault Intercessors
Tange: Its a new year and that means a new army! I weighed up the various competitive factions and after some careful consideration I’ve somehow ended up with Tau as my pick. I think this year may set a new record for losses until they get their 9th edition book.
Full disclosure I’ve never had an interest in the big battlesuits and massed drone meta lists Tau could field back in 8th edition. Now they are considered one of the weakest factions I’m taking the opportunity in 2021 to build a list that has more variety and that I’ll find more enjoyable to play.
For Month One I’ve had a slow start due to work commitments so I’ve only managed to paint up a Broadside Battlesuit and a small squad of Pathfinders. As I’m fleshing out the full 2000pts I think I’m going to settle on all of my units being in one detachment of Farsight Enclaves, so its going to be a year of base painting a ton of Mephiston Red.
To mix things up I’ll be painting my Infanty and Troop carriers predominantly in a black metal with red accents, so I don’t go insane and think I’m a Blood Angels player.
For Month Two I’m looking at painting up a Breacher team with a Guardian Drone and a couple of Piranhas armed with fusion blasters.
Army Progress:
Models Completed : 6
Total Points: 160
Pledge for next month: 10 Breachers, 1 Guardian Drone and 2 Piranhas
Rhaz: This year I thought I would opt for a lower model- count army. (I’m quickly running out of shelf space and my pile of shame is getting out of hand) Like a magpie, I was attracted to the shiny gold armour of the Adeptus Custodes. I definitely think they are one of the best looking armies in the Imperium so I’m looking forward to painting some golden boys!
With my Retributor Armour paint at the ready, I got to work on my first batch of Custodian Guard; two kitted out with a spear, and two with a sword and shield. I’m pretty happy with the way they’ve turned out, especially the swords and spears which I was nervous about.
Next, I painted a cheeky Shield Captain. I’m not sure if he will ever make it to the Tabletop as I prefer the Captain on Bike but I thought I could use some practice with painting faces after spending a year working on the robotic Necrons.
Next month I’m planning on painting up some Allarus Custodians, which are always a key addition to any Custodes force. I’m also going to add some Sisters of Silence to my army. They’re a great looking unit and will go nicely with the Custodes.
Army Progress:
Models Completed : 5
Total Points: 309
Pledge for next month: 3 Allarus Custodians and 5 Sisters of Silence
Kev: WAAAAAGGHH!!!!
Easy to guess what I’ve chosen to collect for this year’s Tale of Gamers.
I’ve been in the hobby for about 25 years and have loved Orks forever but never collected them due to the thought of hundreds of models and just not having enough time in my world to ever get them finished. However with an army idea in my head for some conversions and a modest number of models planned, it’s finally go time.
I started with the Boyz to get an idea of the general scheme. I tried a few different skin tones and weathering effect’s which I’m pretty new to but I think they work quite well and at least I will improve as the army goes on.
The bases I already knew that I wanted a desert/ dried earth effect and tried out a few mushrooms made with a hot glue gun. Arming this unit with plenty of dakka and a Nob with buzzsaw for back line defence and objective holding.
Next up was my big Nobz and I was surprised at how good these models actually are. Loads of character and just cool minis. Part of my mission for this army is to try new painting techniques such as using chipping medium but I haven’t had consistent results for me to go fall Ball and to try and master my airbrush by the end.
They’re all armed with Big Chopperz and one with a Power Claw. Perfect for clearing off an objective or giving a bit of support in CC (12 x Str7 2dmg and 3 Str 10) these boys should definitely pull their weight if played right.
Army Progress:
Models Completed : 16
Total Points: 229
Pledge for next month: A Deff Dread and a Warboss on Boar(Bike)
Dean: Do you hear the voices too?
Well this year I’ve heard the plague fathers call. I’m going to be painting up a Death Guard force over the course of the year.
I had planned to have a roadmap to 1000pts laid out for the first few months, but the plague bestowed upon our material realm delayed the codex and (at the time of writing) its only just come out so I haven’t got my hands on it yet.
Instead, before we get to the first few miniatures, I want to lay out the ambitions and a brief history of my interest in the Death Guard. I haven’t always been drawn to the Death Guard, at heart and historically I was actually an Iron Warriors player. Over the past few years however I’ve been experimenting with, converting and sculpting more unique Nurgle miniatures.
I think I’ve had a good amount of success with this and as time has gone on I’ve been more and more inclined to go all in on a major sculpting/painting project to explore that aesthetic. I tried this under the 7th edition rule set, and learnt a few things about sculpting during that project. Now it’s time to turn those skills to a new project with the relatively new Death Guard miniatures.
What’s in store for the future? Well you’ll need to keep an eye on this for the final results but I’m doing a complete repose with a large amount of re-sculpting for Mortarion aswell as a bunch of unique character models.
Month one however involves the First Captain himself, Typhus;
I had a lot of fun going into the detail on this bad boy, including all the little markers of decay and rot. I’m pretty happy with the end result as he sets a base standard for the rest of the army.
Of course, he’s brought a friend:
This plague surgeon is the result of me not being a massive fan of GW’s decision to remove his neck when sculpting him, so I’ve cut out the original knife and head and replaced it with different parts to give him a more unique vibe.
Army Progress:
Models Completed : 2
Total Points: 240
Pledge for next month: Kargo Murnal and a Plagueburst Crawler are coming.
What’s on your painting table at the moment? Started a new army of your own recently? Let us know in the comments.
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