Andrea's additional Leader month - The Seer and the Dreddy

 So, Owacers,

this is the second leader month and I can't be more happy as 1) I turned 50 and still feeling good, 2) I painted the most spectacular Eldar Farseer ever sculpted: the finger-pointing, mosquito-helmet, dramatic-pose Farseer!

The best thing is that, being a fine sculpt, it is as funny as expected to paint: a real pleasure! The shape of the helmet (marvellous, despite - or maybe, thanks to - its mosquito appearance) was abandoned in favour of a more technological-looking and mysterious version (cool, nothing to say) and only very recently recovered in the last Farseer incarnation (that I still have to get it!). 

But, this month is not only about the Farseer but it is also about another old friend, whose aesthetic remained longer on the shop shelves: the Dreadnought. Actually, in the RT era there were three version of it, but all based on the same body which remained basically the same even throughout the 2nd and the 3rd edition. Of the RT three patterns, I got the War Demon one: a Dreadnought apparently made to slap enemies, rather than shoot them down!

And now, of course, a little comparative analysis of its changes through time:

Here are the three main incarnation, form the left: RT, 2nd/3rd edition and 4th edition (the Wraithlord, although the full plastic kit like this one is more recent). 

Ok, I would have like to paint more but time is very tight these days, but still these are 330 points (Farseer, 170 pts; Dreddy, 160 pts). I hope to get more time in the next month!

Keep painting, fellows! and see you in June!

ciao, A

James WRR’s Rank & File 2: Dread Red Treads

Tarantus revved the bike as it crested the rise. The Black Shadow’s spiked wheels were practically choked up with a thick mixture of blood, oil and sand. With a flick of his finger, he commanded the telescope built into his helmet to zoom in on the valley below. His suit’s Machine Spirit protested at the sight, with runes of warning blaring and flashing as Tarantus trained his mechanical eyes on the chaotic forms below. 

The last survivors of the Imperial Army were desperately barricading now. Artillery was frustratingly futile as the Daemons below advanced upon the line. But, still, cannon fire rang out and lasguns painted the surrounding valley walls a bright, fluorescent red. Trenches were being overrun now, with gore-slicked butchers from beyond the stars throwing themselves into the pits to slaughter their defenders. 

Tarantus sighed. Another front lost due to all-too-human incompetence. Thankfully, salvation was soon to arrive. Rhino APCs were speeding towards his forward location as he watched the carnage unfold. Their cargo: squads of his battle brothers in grey. There would be no human victory today, but those who had long-ago left their humanity behind still had surprise on their side.

Surprise, and superior fire power.

Revered Brother Bethor stepped up alongside Tarantus’s bike. The Techmarine could feel each heavy footstep of the Dreadnought, could hear the internal pistons pumping like muscle, feel the poisonous heat radiating from the plasma cannon it carried.

“THEN THE DAY IS LOST.” Bethor asked across secure comms channels, battling the noise of the battle below and the distortion caused by the presence of Warp entities.

“Not yet, big brother.” Tarantus replied. “There is still target practice to be had.”

“HELLFIRE WILL BE GREETED WITH HELLFIRE.” 

“Fire when ready, Brother Bethor.”

With a deep vibration that felt like it came up from the earth itself, then a high-pressure squeal and, finally, a deafening thunder, Bethor fired the plasma cannon. A section of trench below was engulfed in sun-hot plasma. Smoking bodies of both Imperial soldiers and chaotic spawn alike flew through the air. 

“Clear the trenches.” Tarantus commanded as Bethor continued to fire on the front line of defenders. “Oooh, look at that one fly!”

________________________

Greetings, Imperial subjects.

It’s February, the shortest month. And with a bunch of birthday celebrations to organise, it’s even shorter.

And so, like during my previous challenge, I thought it wise to paint as few models this month as possible. And so, I present to you the most mechanised detachment of my Ordo Malleus army.

Tarantus and his mechanised escort

Techmarine Tarantus came to me by chance, after randomly spotting an eBay auction while out to a dinner a few months ago. I knew I needed a Techmarine to unlock vehicles in my army and finding this fellow with his big wrench and his absolutely radical bike was a real blessing. I had to excuse myself from my noodles as I smashed down some bids.

It is funny how these armies come together. You start to gather a lot of interesting memories and feelings as you collect each individual piece — layering on top of the memories and feelings already imparted onto the metal by previous owners. Each model eventually become a little artefact in its own right, and the armies made up of them become playable shrines.

I’d never intended to include a bike in this army, but I’m glad I have as I just love the model. There’s something really nice about the chunky, near-single-piece design. It’s detailed, but not overly engineered like modern plastics. 

In a bit of a break from my original scheme, I decided to paint this mount in a nice, rich equivalent to British Racing Green, mirroring that of my dad’s old Triumph from many moons ago. A layer of dark green Contrast paint over some stark highlights did the job nicely. Of course, it certainly stands out in the middle of the army, but I’m happy with how it turned out. Maybe it’s non-regulation — something the Techmarine just bought off the lot, second-hand, with his own credits.

The Rhino has been painted in a colour scheme much more aligned to the squad that rides in it. Unlike my previous Rogue Trader Rhino, I didn’t have to do any fancy effects to hide flaws and wrinkles. No, this model came to me absolutely perfect, already spray painted silver and all! Again, I think fate must have been playing a hand here. A few checks, flames, icons and angry screeds later and this magnificent vehicle was ready to hit the battlefield.

The Dreadnought, Brother Bethor, was a gift from a friend of a friend of mine who happened to be clearing out a humongous old collection of his own at just the right time. I couldn’t be more grateful to him for this (and the other vehicles and characters he sent over), and can only hope that this paint job does it justice.

The kitbashing of more modern weapons with the stocky “Eddy” type Dread body was a choice of this previous owner. While they might not be the original pieces, I think they look great, giving the model a real timeless silhouette. And the conversion is practically flawless, anyway, so I’m certainly not complaining.

In terms of painting, there’s not much more to add to my January post. The metallic base of the armour was treated with a series of progressively brighter drybrush passes, before getting highlighted for a real pop. Details like checks and flames are proving to be my favourite part of the process, though I must admit I’m running low on horrible slogans to slap on things already. I’ll need to flick through some punk comics to get more inspiration.

I’m quite happy with how the plasma glow came out on the dread, though the vibrant Pro Acryl Bright Green is a colour I certainly didn’t expect to use in this project. I’ll probably put these lovely, electric paints to use in future, less-grimdark projects. Maybe some Second Edition Space Marine stuff? I suppose we’ll see where inspiration strikes.

And that’s about it! Another month in the bag and more painted models in the growing Rogue Trader collection. I don’t think it’ll be too long before I can actually play a reasonable game with these models. I supposed I’d better started thinking up some campaign ideas…

Brother Bethor faces off against the corrupted Dreadnought Neadalus 

But, before any dice are rolled, there’s still more work to be done. We’re charging forth to the painting table again, shaking up silver paint for the next squad.

_______________________________

Army list as of February

Techmarine Tarantus
Techmarine
Basic equipment
Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle
97 points

Brother Bethor
Deredeo Dreadnought
Missile Launcher, Heavy Plasma Gun
Standard Sensor Package, 2 Power Fields, Power Field Synchroniser
270 points

Squad Heliod
Tactical Squad
Sergeant with Bioscanner and Power Glove
1 Marine with Missile Launcher
1 Marine with Flamer
275 points

Bright Sword
Rhino APC with Techmarine Pilot, assigned to Squad Heliod
2 Bolt Guns
387 points

Chris P's Chaos Space Marines - Wildcard Month - The Heavy Hitters

 Chaos Dreadnought with Twin Lascannon and Thunder Hammer: 210pts

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

For my wildcard, I painted a metal daemon prince, and a converted Space Crusade dreadnought. I'm particularly happy with how the prince turned out, there's some great details on that sculpt which took paint very nicely. He doesn't have a points value - the 2nd Edition Chaos Codex gives rules for a deamon prince, but encourages you to invent your own statline and cost. It's more there for narrative scenarios than regular games. Still, it's a really fun addition to my collection. 

 

The dreadnought was kitbashed a little to fit the 2nd Edition datafax. The chunky lascannon from the Mission: Dreadnought expansion works well with two barrel holes as a twin-linked weapon.The thunder hammer was built from the arm which holds a psychic lance on Blood Angels dreadnought, combined with the axe handle from a plastic daemon prince and the head of a hellbrute hammer. I dont't imagine it would be capable of a very dexterous movement, but I'm sure it would deliver a mighty smash. 

ZeroTwentythree's February Eldar - Rank & File (699pts)

February Eldar:  Bombots, Dreads, War Walker (Rank & File - The Heavies)

The OWAC IV phase of the pirate crew focused heavily on regular troops. This time around I'm still painting rank & file, but focusing on support troops & heavies.

So here we have two Rogue Trader dreadnoughts, a Banshee & a War Cry. I definitely wanted to paint a Banshee as that was the model I had in my original Space Elf force back in the day.

War walker. I decided to go with the same purple as on the support weapon platforms & crew. Speaking of crew, I like the idea of having some dismounted crew figures, so I looked through the infantry bits and got as close as I could to the model on the walker. In hindsight, I should have tried sculpting the hair to match. I added a bit of green on both models to break up all the purple.

As I was prepping for this year's challenge, I saw something in the list that had previously escaped my notice:

Bombots! OK, so there were never any actual figures. I gave it some thought and decided to kitbash some hover-bombots. I got some little plastic craft eggs, carefully cut them up, added some sheet styrene fins, little Eldar gems (Eldar love gems...) with greenstuff, and a bit of wire. I don't think they turned out too bad. I had hoped to convert a bombot "handler" but wasn't able to settle on a conversion, but maybe they will appear in a future month's entry.

I also had one old Epic dread that came in a package with some other Eldar stuff for the OWAC4 project. I thought I would paint it up as yet another (small) spirit warrior; build out to be determined.

Lastly, some bonus material.

Continuing my plan for the Grav-Attack Ranch, I made a quick & sloppy, second model. I need to get some cheap putty to finish the base before priming the new one.

Inspired by the power field walls I did in January, I had a couple of other related ideas for personal or portable power field barriers. One is like a personal power field. A "power mantlet"? The other is like a portable field fortification, inspired by the ability of sappers to build field fortifications in WFB 3rd ed. I'm not sure what the plastic end bits are, or even what kit they come from. Something much newer.

Shown here with (previously painted) Kev, for scale.

So my first two months were the sneaky and the heavy support troops. The next few months will involve some more vanilla troops & weapon platforms, weird aliens, and heroes. I think I'll save the heroes for the end. So that narrows it down a little.

Rank & File

War-Cry Dreadnought        140 pts

Banshee Dreadnought        160 pts

War Walker                         349 pts !!!

5 Bombots                            50 pts

Bonus

T.B.D. Spirit Warrior           0 pts

War Walker Pilot                 0 pts

Terrain                                 0 pts

February Total                  699 pts

OWAC VIII Total          1,311 pts

Chris P's Chaos Space Marines - OWAC VIII Intro Post

 It's my third year here, and frankly I'm loving it. OWAC has been a fantastic excuse to paint models I've had since my childhood, or just wanted since my childhood, and I've really enjoyed watching everyone else's project come together too. This year I'm returning to Chaos Space Marines, with a new force which stand on it's own or complement my 2023 army. Expect 

more of the things that I do - kitbashes, eye-watering Red Period paintjobs, and finding joy in fusing new and old.

First up, the general and his cackling chief advisor. I took two incomplete Abaddons from my bits box, mashed together the best parts of each, and replaced the missing parts with appropriate plastics. An even bigger sword than usual came from some old Greater Daemon, the claws of the Talon were heated and bent for a little extra drama, and a plastic spacer helped to repose the head. The sorcerer gained some wibbly bits (technical term) from a plastic Burning Chariot to replace his flying base.

Some champions that I plan to fit in as time and theme allow - Kharn the Betrayer (again, missing parts replaced with plastic) will be appearing as an anonymous hero. There's a very standard standard bearer, and a terminator champion that came into being because I stumbled across the classic terminator daemon sword.

 

A squad of Chaos Marines tooled-up for close quarters, led by a Realms champion who beautifully straddled the line between sci-fi and fantasy.

Ten Khorne Berserkers, bringing together 1990's and 2000's models with a smattering of resin, AoS parts, and whatever else seemed to fit. Khorne cares not from from where the bitz flow!

 

 Nine Thousand Sons and another sorcerer, again a joyful jumble of the last 30 years of Chaos.

This Land Raider is a brand-new model from the Horus Heresy range, chosen for how well it echos the original raider. I've seen some gorgeous 90's style loyalist paintjobs on these, but not a Chaos one yet. 

I painted the metal dreadnought in 2023, and this time I wanted to continue my trend of incorporating a Space Crusade model. After all, as the old Epic kit showed, it's a recognized pattern! The weapons were a bit of a challenge, since the Space Crusade defaults didn't match the 2nd edition codex at all. My solution was fairly simple - the lascannon from the SC expansion is enormous, easily big enough to count as twin-linked, while the Blood Angels librarian dreadnought provided a close-combat arm which fitted the static weapon hardpoint better than a typical fist. I replaced the force-lance with a Daemon Prince axe, although I may swap that for a hammer later.

Talking of Daemon Princes, I'm planning to fit this one in as a wildcard - I always liked this design, and it was nice to see it made available again last year. The 2nd Ed codex allows for a prince, although amusingly it's heavily discouraged. Still well worth painting I think.

 

 

And here's the whole force, ready for the adventure. Provisional army list is as follows:

 

Chaos Lord in terminator armour - 128pts

Chaos Master Sorcerer - 151pts

Chaos Sorcerer - 52pts

2x Mighty Champions - 116pts

Army Icon Bearer - 55pts

9 Chaos Marines with aspiring champion - 255pts

9 Khorne Berserkers with aspiring champion - 345pts

9 Thousand Sons - 270pts

Chaos Land Raider - 220pts

Chaos Dreadnought - 135pts

Daemon Prince ???pts (it's complicated)

 One final piece of business is the tribute model that I've painted for the contest organizers, and I've chosen a Heavy Weapon Renegade. This will be mailed in January.

 

Chris P's Wildcard Month - The Kan

Ork Dreadnought: 120pts

Painboy with plasma pistol and power fist: 32pts

Mekboy with boltgun: 21pts

Total 173 points

 

This dreadnought is a bit of a kustom job. I took a beat-up second hand model from 3rd edition 40k, and added glyph plates, plastic Imperial sponson guns, an Ogre banner and a few handy mekky bitz to bring it more in line with a 2nd edition dreadnought. The plan with the paint job was full-on vivid 1990's excess, to create a colourful centerpiece for the army.

The army list requires a Mek and a Painboy to plumb some lucky git into the kan, so I've painted them this month too.

JohnR's Month 3 - No One Expects The Imperial Inquisition ! (998 points)

 Rank and file month #3

I had a bit of a revelation this month. Painting these minis I realised I’ve spent the last few decades pretty much just batch painting armies.

I have thousands of painted miniatures for a dozen or more gaming systems (sci-fi, fantasy and historical) in half a dozen different scales.

So it was an unexpected pleasure to paint this Inquisitor and his warband as a group of individuals, coming up with backstories and personalities for each of them as I worked. Some of them got quite elaborate so I won’t bore you with the details, I’ll just give an abridged version below their pictures.

 

Inquisitor Valmir Ramius – Ex admiral of the Imperial Fleet, now a veteran Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus. He's pictured here with his loyal Gyrinx pet, Soshka (right). Naturally Soshka regards Ramius as her loyal pet.

 

 

Interrogator Orlov (left) and Benedict Goodburrow (right). Orlov is a cruel and brutal man, well versed in all methods of torture and interrogation. He secretly dreams of receiving the Rosette and becoming a fully fledged Inquisitor. Goodburrow is Ramius’s ratling valet and personal assistant, his longest serving companion and the closest thing he has to a friend (think Samwise Gamgee with powered armour and a flamer).

 

Ruslan and Lyudmila Glinka – Lan and Mila are twins, discovered by Inquisitor Ramius among the petty nobility of the hive moon of Desna Minoris, Lan is gifted in languages, investigation and diplomacy while Mila is a promising psyker. They're the most likely members of Ramius's entourage to achieve Inquisitorhood - if they survive that long of course.

 

 

 

Jan Danko (right) and Petrom Ridzik (left). Danko is a bounty-hunter, pilot and former smuggler: well armed, well connected and very experienced. Ridzik is his co-pilot and close friend; useful with electronics, lock-picks, knives and pistols.

 

 

Three veteran Imperial Army troopers round out Ramius's warband: left to right Corporal Manzetti, Sniper Zaitsev and Scout Trooper Chernova.

Manzetti is a combat medic with some surgical experience, though her aggressive nature frequently gets her into trouble. Zaitsev is an expert marksman and Chernova is a peerless survivalist, scout and tracker. Both came to the attention of the Inquisition during the Ork invasion of Zarodina and joined Ramius after the planet was liberated.

 

I also added a Dreadnought and Robot to the Rogue Trader forces this month:

These will go where needed, though it makes most sense for the robot to accompany the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Dread to be part of the Mercenaries I reckon.

Finally I played the first game of the Rogue Trader mini campaign last week with my lad and a friend. They played as the Ad-Mech and Inquisitor respectively and I played the 'baddies' and GMed. They were searching an old mining colony and uncovered evidence of Inquisitorial malpractice (found by Ramius's warband so unlikely to see the light of day lol), some ancient star charts and the supposed location of a cache of ancient technology on a nearby world that they chose to be the next game of the campaign.

Unfortunately in all the excitement I only took a few pictures, please forgive the unpainted terrain (it was fresh off the printer). This was a lot of fun but kind of a trial run. I'm hoping to play the game again in a week or two with friends at my LGS so more pics might make it into next month's entry.

That's it for this month. If you're thinking of asking for a breakdown of the points values - please don't. Just have a look at the points values pages of the Rogue Trader rulebook (p58 to p60 or pXX to pXX for those with really old books lol) then imagine trying to work out points for a dozen individuals, all with unique profiles and equipment. It took me the best part of half a day and 3 cups of coffee and if I included it here this post would be three times longer than it is and it's already far too long 😂😂😂