More Progress, More Paints

I see why everyone uses Vallejo paints once they get serious.  I just got my first set and they are very nice to work with so far.  And I've found good resources to match them up with the old Citadel paints.

 Made more progress. More little details.

 I really had to do the warning stripes to fit with the classic Rogue Trader look.  I didn't do all of them that way though, I think it will look good when done.

Terminator Update

I have been making solid progress.  I have gotten the white helmets and red armor to the second (or third) to last highlight stage and am waiting for everything else.  I've started the chest eagles and am now going on to weapons and smaller details.

For the chest eagles I use a technique of brown -> orange -> chestnut ink -> yellow -> bright yellow.  I just finished the ink phase after learning more about how to use flow aid.  The articles were here:

https://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/A_basic_course_in_Acrylic_Mediums

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/261541.page

Warrior Priest for D&D

This is a bit of a diversion from 40K:

I just started a D&D for the first time with some good friends and I chose a paladin based on the warrior priest archetype from Warhammer.  The bonus was that getting a cool mini was right up my alley!

I like how he turned out!

I like the matte sealer which takes a bit of shine off the armor but still gives a great look.

We can say the eyes are glowing with holy might and thus no pupils.  The truth is I tried a few times but just couldn't get them.  Need more practice there.  I'm really happy with how everything else turned out since I dont have much experience with fabrics.

More Red

More incremental progress with red.

Starting to add lighter shades on this one to try and match the others

Still a bit darker, we will see how it looks when we add the lighter white.

Terminators - I’ll be back

As is usually the case with this hobby - I can go on years long breaks, but after 5 years I’m back.

Now that I’ve mostly finished the Ultramarine tactical units it’s time to work on my terminators.

 I have a Citadel painting guide dated from 1989.  In it was the inspiration for my Terminator Captain.

Many years ago I commissioned a friend to paint him in a similar style to the image in the guide.  At the time I wasn't confident in my abilities.

 At the same time I had two other terminators painted by the same friend.  While my army is Ultramarines, when I picked them back in Rogue Trader (1st Ed.) era, it was more ok to play around with color schemes.  I always liked the look for the Blood Angle Termies in the Compilation and Compendium books so I wanted the red scheme.

 

Years later, I am now working to finish off my remaining terminators in a matching style.  Since I'm not exactly sure how my friend did them, and I want to do them my own way, I've started with the tricks learned from the Tac squad and sergeants.

First step is an undercoat of brown and grey from which I will build up. (I've found my reds show up better with a brown undercoat first, rather than black).  Note, my friend had left 3 others in various unfinished states.  I am pretty sure she used white rather than brown under the red which explains why they are so bright.  Since my style is to build up from shadow, it will probably look different, but I think they'll match and maybe even look a little better ;)

I have 6 models that are I believe are the original cast variants (maybe even lead), and then 4 more that I think are 2nd or 3rd edition vintage that I picked up ~5 years ago to fill out the squad.  Hope to continue updating!

Face painting

I have been busy with other things, however, when I am painting I am currently working on faces.

I have three marines without helmets, and one of them has some heads he has collected as war trophies! Thus, I have 5 heads to paint. I found a really good guide online detailing the technique to use. The link is here: http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?99163-How-to-paint-faces-and-skin

For the dead heads I left the base color of black for one and dark red for the other, while the marines got brown as the base coat. Next, I used chestnut ink to shade the lines around the nose and eyes. Next, because I don't have all of the colors in the guide I mixed some elf flesh with the brown to get something that might be like dwarf flesh and applied to the marines and the red head. I used kind of a gross mix of brown and red and flesh to make almost an orange color for the elf head that still had black as the base.

I then mixed an even lighter shade and applied to all faces and then finally used pure elf flesh for just the highlights.

I'm still working on them, next I need to do the hair, wounds for the injured marine and trophy heads, and the eyes. And also the other details. But I think it was pretty successful for the first shot

First Contact: Tau

My second game was at around 750 points against a Tau opponent. It was a friendly match and we didn't follow all of the Eternal War rules. His HQ unit was Aun'Va. An observer pointed out that he wasn't a legal choice in games under 1500 points.but it was still a chance to see how things would turn out.

Mission: Purge the Alien
Deployment: Dawn of War
I won the roll and elected to deploy second. My opponent set up in a line so my troops were literally walking into a firing squad. My plan was to try and focus all of my units on the right flank and take out the HQ. The special rules for Aun'Va indicated that if he fell the remaining troops would have to take a morale check. It seemed to be the only hope as it was too late to switch in a Land Raider. I broke my units into combat squads so the heavies wouldn't have to move.

Turn 1
I had positioned Faustus in the front to absorb incoming shots with his +2 save. It worked in that he absorbed ~50 shots and only took 1 wound. Unfortunately I also lost by vet/sergeant with the power sword.
On my move the rocket launcher and plasma cannons took out 4 Tau while Faustus and company ran forward. I didn't get the melee elements of my tactical squads far enough up on this turn.

Turn 2
Faustus falls to the heavy sustained fire from the entire Tau line. After he fell most of the squad was wounded leaving only Vitus standing.
On my move I had an ultimate, lucky shot from the plasma canon: it missed and scattered right into Aun'Va! He failed to save and was instantly killed! It was great. Unfortunately, however, all of his units passed their morale checks.
Next, the sole surviving member of my HQ command squad, Brother Vitus, charged into the remains of Aun'Va's honor guard and killed 2 xenos causing a route. As they retreated he destroyed the remaining 25 units with his sweeping advance. Wow!

The remainder of the game I pushed forward and eliminated the stealth suit unit as my numbers fell.

Tau: 7 victory points including First Blood and Slay the Warlord
Ultramarines: 3 victory points including Slay the Warlord

Takeaways:
As I've read and now seen you need to move up and melee Tau as soon as possible. Transports, drop pods, and/or deep strike or fast attack would have helped a lot but was hard to get in at 750 points. I wonder if it would have been different if I had moved first and/or he had brought a legal HQ.

Story:
----

Aun'Va, Master of the Undying Spirit, proponent of the Greater Good, is a xeno abomination in the eyes of the Emperor. Purgation would not be straight forward commander. Our simulations indicate that their numbers make them quite formidable even if their stature and technology are less robust.
As weak as the xenos appear, our simulations also indicate that their will may not be assuredly broken with the loss of their spiritual leader Aun'Va in a direct assault. Indeed, the sight of their fallen leader is just as likely to inspire their troops to find some courage.
Primius, it is recommended we deploy assault squads and drop troops directly onto the enemy. At range they have hope thus a direct crushing blow from the fist of the Emperor is necessary to insure
victory.
ANALYSIS TECHMARINE GUSTOV ILODIES
COMPLETE 4043013.M42