Explicator Bromley Complete!

Continuing with my experiment with "Slap Chop 2.0", or should I say concurrently - I have completed the Inquisitorial Acolyte Explicator Bromley.  Bromley has appeared several times now in the Vadinax Global Campaign as well as in my upcoming new D&D campaign as a variant human wizard.

Overall I'm fairly happy with how he turned out.  Contrast worked pretty well for the robes and face, as well as the parchment.  On both the Multi-Melta Devastators and Bromley, I experimented with an undercoat of Iyanden Yellow contrast before using a second coat of Blood Angels Red contrast to really warm it up.  It worked great.

I also used a drybrush technique to do the flames on the torch/flamethrower staff.  I think it worked out well and it was very simple.  I used the Artis Opus technique and brushes.  I probably could have used more orange, red, and black/gray, but its still fine, just a bit hotter of a flame.  A lot of examples of the model had painted the brazier dark metallic colors, but since the flames were leaping out a bit, I felt the illumination/heat effect looks realistic enough.

Overall the model came together in a total of just over 9.5 hours.  When compared with other character models that I've painted recently, contrast cut the time roughly in half.  I would say that the "Slap Chop" technique is really great for troops, especially ones with a lot of skin or fabric type surfaces, but for characters I think the savings in time dramatically fall off.  You're going to want to be spending time on details, and characters are usually small batches of models, so at that point I think traditional techniques perhaps augmented by contrast tinting make more sense, or I guess at that point it becomes using the right paint technique for the job.  Again as before I have the same criticism of the zenithal quality from a rattle can - it probably looks better with an air brush.

I didn't go for any OSL effects from the torch this time, but I suppose I could revisit that maybe, but probably not though.  Those effects could have been potentially achieved in the beginning step using some tinting undercoats perhaps, but again an airbrush would have probably been the way.

The model itself is a classic OOP metal miniature and I think the date on it was 2003.  Its found in the 2005 Catalogue as "Witch Hunter Acolyte 2: 9947010804803" - I was lucky to find it on eBay exactly when Inquisitorial Acolytes were added to the Vadinax Campaign to attach to your army to provide a re-roll bonus.  It was the perfect chance to paint up a fun miniature that could also easily double as a steampunk D&D wizard!

Multi-Melta Devastators Complete!

This squad was a study in using the so-called 'Slap Chop 2.0' technique.  While I've used contrast paint before on DA GOFF ROKKAZ and a few D&D miniatures, this was the first time trying it on the flat panels of power armor.  I was also adding in the technique of using a zenithal highlight of gray on black with white highlights.  This is the basic 'slap chop' technique that has appeared online somewhat recently (2022 or so?).  Then there some prolific painters that put forward a 2.0 version that basically uses colorized airbrush steps instead of a grey zenithal, and then does edge highlighting in key areas to make it 'pop'

Since I don't have access to an air brush, I couldn't try the colorized zenithal or anything, but I was able to do a bunch of edge highlighting to do an approximation of the technique.

There was definitely a learning curve here - part of it was using Ultramarine Blue Contrast - which I hadn't really used at all, and getting this to match the standard paint formula that I use for Ultramarines which is closer to the 2nd edition colors rather than the 'modern' 9th edition colors (soon to be 10th edition) of today (2023).

Once I got it figured out though, I was actually surprised at how it turned out, its somewhat close.  I also compared the time it took to paint the models (per model) with my last devastator squad using my standard technique.  The last squad took an average of 594 minutes per model (or about 10 hours), while this 'slap chop 2.0' method took 257 minutes per model (or 4 hours and 20 min).  This is a significant reduction for approximately the same quality.  I think this has been beaten to death already online, but I wasn't sure if it was an acceptable paint job quality level for me.  Turns out I think it could be for troops of the line level models, and elements of the technique could be applied elsewhere.

What really lets it down for my set-up is the grainy spots from the rattle-can zenithal highlight.  I imagine a real airbrush significantly improves this effect, but for me I was seeing grainy spots up close.  Furthermore, with limited rattle-can options in colors (and an unwillingness to buy anything other than black and gray right now), I wasn't able to take advantage of the effects to undercoat with browns or yellows to create deeper or more interesting colors/lighting.  Thus they look a bit flat and faded compared to my standard scheme, even after adding the highlights.

Still it wasn't bad.  I kinda got a more painterly effect going since I had to add in a bit of my ligher 2nd edition blue in a weird midlevel step between the contrast shade and highlight.

The squad itself is not quite an actual squad, but rather 4 multi-meltas to finally form a solid anti-tank devastator squad, plus another las cannon and an armorium cherub.  I was a pair of legs short to create another sergeant (oops) but I still have enough to field everything I need.  Its for the best, I can add another sergeant perhaps with the grav-pistol that I got at a later point when I don't have higher priority things to get to.

Two of the models are very ancient:

First is Heavy Weapon D1 from the 1988 Citadel Miniatures catalogue

And next was D3 also from 1988.  Both were designed by Aly Morrison and Mark Copplestone

I couldn't find an older listing, but these were some of the first miniatures in my collection.  D1 is especially wonky with his weird pose and the way his chest hose connects to his helm.  They are pewter (or maybe even lead) and pinned together so the weapons should be pretty well connected.  They're very interesting because they dont have the backpacks that would become standard, but instead they have kind of unique backpacks built into the sculpt.

The rest of the models are extremely modern, plastic, and nothing really to write home about.  I do like the modern 'first born' kits though.  After 40 years they've nailed the best look for the Mk VI 'Beakie' and Mk VII helms, and I really like how you can customize their poses.  It is a bit hard to get the arms, shoulders, and weapon cabling all lined up right when you go to glue though.  

Anyway, I think its kind of fun to mix in modern models now into my army to make it all seem like each marine has his own unique armor.  I think at this point my army has infantry units spanning most eras of 40k.  One of the newer models is a Horus Heresy style Mark VI body and Mult-Melta.  Again its fun to mix in pretty much all of the different configurations of this weapon - underslung, shoulder mounted, and the conventional pistol grip.

The armorium chereb was fun to do, but really kinda shows the problem with the zenithal technique here.  I probably should have tried to get a bit more gray under.  The effect creates a really dark shadow, which might be realistic in a way, and then the flesh has a kind of ashen tone to it.  But perhaps this is reasonable for a creepy flying cyborg baby.

Battle Report: Vadinax Campaign - Mission 8 More Orks

The 8th Vadinax campaign mission was a bit of a clunker for me.  I had upgraded my Order of Battle to 2000 points which had me increase the Vanguard Veterans unit size, and I had upgraded my chaplain to a Master of Sanctity.  But this made it hard to take a good 1500 point list.

I knew it was a bad idea not to take any tactical marines, but yet I did it anyway.  

Battle Report:

Ruleset: Core Crusade 2023 Arks of Omen Grand Tournament - Strike Force, 2023 Q1 Balance Datasheet & Points, and Goonhammer Vadinax Crusade rules
Mission: Arks of Omen GT: Tide of Conviction
Points: 1500

My Forces:

**Chapter Selector**: Ultramarines
Battle Size [6CP]: Strike Force(101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points) [6CP]
Game Type: 4. Chapter Approved: Arks of Omen Grand Tournament + Crusade

+ HQ +

• Primus Leo Exevio Faustus - Captain in Terminator Armour: Rites of War, The Sanctic Halo, Power Fist, Wrist mounted grenade launcher, Storm Bolter, Warlord (Warleader)
• Praelior Tarquinius Iulian Regulus - Chaplain in Terminator Armour:  Benediction of Fury  Storm bolter, Canticle of Hate, Litany of Hate, The Imperium's Sword, Master of Sanctity, Mantra of Strength

+ Elites +

• Chief Apothecary Hulm Singa - Apothecary: Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Selfless Healer, The Armour Indomitus, Conversion Field, Custodian of the Future [Lost Leg Scar]
• Venerable Brother "Fury" - Dreadnought: Dreadnought melee weapon w/ Storm bolter, Twin Lascannon
• Squad Nox - 5man Terminator Assault Squad: Teleport Homer,  5x Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield
• Squad Tourbillion - 5 man Terminator Squad: Teleport Homer, Power sword, Storm bolter, Assault cannon, 3x Chainfist, Power fist
• Kill Team Rubrum - 5 man Terminator Squad: Teleport Homer, Power sword, Storm bolter, Heavy Flamer, Chainfist, 3x Power fist
• Squad Velox - 10 man Vanguard Veterans Squad: Relic Blade, 5x Storm Shields, 4x Thunder Hammers, 5x Lightning Claws (pair) [Disgraced]

+ Heavy Support +

• Squad Nero - Devastator Squad: Power sword, plasma pistol, 2x Lascannon, Missile Launcher, Plasma Cannon [Walking Wounded]

+ Fast Attack +

• "One Charlie" - Land Speeder Tornado: Heavy flamer, Multi-melta
• "Two Charlie" - Land Speeder Tornado: Heavy flamer, Multi-melta

Agendas: Quest for Atonement (Squad Velox), Reaper, Guide the Chapter

Ramfist's Waaagh!

++ Arks of Omen Detachment ++

+ HQ +

• Dekk Ramfist - Warboss in Mega Armor
• Graz - Weirdboy
• Urggzob Rustmelta - Big Mek in Mega Armor

+ Troops +

• Da Yellin' Boyz- Boyz
• Shoota Boyz - Boyz
• Slugga Boyz - Boyz

+ Elites +

• Da Big 'Unz - Meganobz

+ Fast Attack +

• Flyboyz - Stormboyz
• Da Ex-Jet - Megatrakk Scrapjet

+ Heavy Support +

• Looted Tank - Battlewagon

+ Lord of War +

• Big Smashy - Morkanaut

+ Dedicated Transports +

• Da Jeep - Trukk

Takeaways & Analysis:

Learned a lot in this one.  Cheap troops - while now not compulsory, are still critical to have to screen and bubble wrap the hard hitting units.  In this case, if I had brought some troops to initially contest my objectives, the Orks would have charged into them instead.  Then I could have counter-charged my elite units (terminators, vanguard vets) and gotten solid first strikes with them.  And of course, my opponent might not have even walked into that, so I would have had less pressure initially.  So that one bad choice (which I knew but still did anyway) had me mad at myself the whole game and got it off to a bad start right away.  

Some poor rolling with my anti-vehicle units, vs a vehicle heavy list was a disaster.  I'm very close to adding some more anti-vehicle models which should help.

Finally, I was sloppy with positioning, and it was one of those games where the opponent was capitalizing on them and it had the feeling of a competitive match rather than a narrative match.