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

ChrisP's Orks - April - Rank and File 3

Evil Sunz Nob on bike with plasma gun - 39pts

5 Evil Sunz on bikes - 235pts

Total 274 points

 

 

The speedy contingent of my army grows with these warbikers. The models are mostly standard, with a few small conversions to replace components lost or broken over the decades. Naturally they're red, with the yellow gun-muzzles inspired by an even older warbike that I remember from White Dwarf battle reports. 

Next up will be another fast and reckless mob - Stormboyz in May!

JohnR's Month 4 - Rank and File (71 Points)

 Another month long on traveling and short on painting but I do have the Grenadier civilians done!

 IIRC these were sculpted by the legendary Mark Copplestone in the before times, long ago. Mark is one of my favourite sculptors and I have miniatures by him from Grenadier, foundry and GW as well as his own recent ranges. No doubt this doesn't come close to doing his extensive career justice and I'd be interested to hear who else he has sculpted for if anyone knows?

 

The civvies join the pirate army. They're a poorly equipped bunch with no clear 'leader' model and the points reflect that. I like the idea that they're simple citizens of the Imperium caught on the wrong side of a factional power struggle or bureaucratic SNAFU and forced to fight for their lives in a situation they don't understand. (Think Jonathan Pryce's character Sam Lowry from Brazil, one of my all time favourite films.)

 April Points:

12 Basic Humans: no armour, 6 stubguns, 5 autopistols and 2 autoguns to share between them: 71 points 

 

Finally, while continuing our European road-trip, we happened across the hot springs at Saturnia and I was struck by what a chaos tainted landscape it seemed to be. The photo's don't capture the stench of sulfur, but you can see the steam rising from the water which gushes out of the ground at 40 degrees. 

 

We also found a Bretonnian Castle, just up the road from fellow OWACer JamesP's house :) 

 

So, that's it for this month, hope everyone else's challenge is progressing well !

ChrisP's Orks - March - Rank and File 2

 Snakebite Nob on boar with bolter and power axe - 29pts

7 Snakebite Boyz on boars - 126pts

Total 155 points

 

A challenging month for sure - these boarboyz are covered in details, and I really wanted to do them justice. Four of them are the same torso sculpt, so I did what I could with other components and colours to add some variety. I'm happy with the result, and it's always a pleasure to get more grinning green faces on my shelf!

JohnR's Month 3 - Rank and File (97 points)

 Just a short update this month. We've been abroad since the 21st so these minis were actually painted and photographed before then ready for uploading, I just didn't get around to it before we left!

Rogue Trader goodness. These are some of the minis that originally pried me away from 3rd edition WFB waay back at the release of Rogue Trader. Other people love the beaky Space Marines of RTB01 (and don't get me wrong, Space Marines are cool and all) but I always preferred the quirky uniqueness of the Adventurers and Space Pirates. 

The Army so far - seen here exploring the ancient ruins found on Ryk's World.

March Points -

9 basic Humans in Mesh Armour with Lasguns, Laspistols and Frag Grenades led by a Human Champion equipped the same - 97 points

 

The missus and I are away touring in our motorhome. I've brought a case of paints and some minis with me but whether I get any painting done is 50/50 at best!

Fortunately I have a unit from the challenge in hand (as it where) and I must admit some of the places we're visiting are certainly inspiring.

Above the snowline in southern Bavaria - Zissou the dog in foreground, Alps in background. Very evocative of the Old World (the scenery that is, not the dog).

Venice - this could easily be somewhere in Tilea and possible inspiration for a future OWAC mercenary army? Though now I just want to play Carnevale again lol

Anyway that's all - this is a miniatures blog not a travel blog!

Onward and sideways and see you all in about 4 weeks.

 

ChrisP's Orks - February - Leader Month

 This month I've painted my warboss, and also a little diorama.

 

 

 

 Like I hoped, Thrugg Bullneck works well in Evil Sunz colours.

This diorama is my attempt to re-create this classic artwork:

 Of course, it's not a one-to-one copy of the art, but I think I captured the spirit of it. I used a modern Horus Heresy marine because it's so large, making it easy to arrange all 3 orks around him. The orks were bashed together out of all kinds of bitz, from plastic zombies to chaos warriors. And yes, that's a marine shoulderpad on the screaming ork's head. For the colour scheme, I wanted something grimy and earthy to contrast with the marine, so I chose a "pre-clan" paint scheme for the orks. This was inspired by another artwork, the cover of the classic supplement 'Ere We Go.

JohnR's Month 2 - Rank and File (195 points)

God I hate February - might just mulligan it next year 😜

Did get my painting quota done though :)

 Mutant Space Pirates!

These are more BigMrTong minis and were great fun to paint. I used a similar palette to January's space pirates to give the force so far a cohesive look.

 

 Mutant Troopers - armed with lasguns.

 Special Weapon Mutants - 3 boltguns and a lascannon.

 

Mutant Champions - lead by the Hero 'Butterbean'

Points:

Mutant Minor Hero - Plasma Pistol, Power Sword, Refractor Field = 49 points

Mutant Champion - Mesh Armour, hand weapon, Laspistol, Frag and Krak Grenades = 17.5 points

Mutant Champion  - Refractor Field, Laspistol and Hand Weapon = 16 points

9 Mutants - Mesh Armour, 5 Lasguns, 3 Bolt Pistols, 1 Lascannon = 112.5 points

Initially I was going to list all the mutations but they don't count for points values and are pretty obvious on the minis.

 

Finally I have my offering for this year - a Skaven plague monk - Squeeg Pussboil.

 

I always do Goblin Green bases on my WFB minis but for a change I experimented with a non-goblin green base. I don't like it and will never do it again 😅

 

That's all for this month - see you all in 5 weeks time !

 

ChrisP's Orks - January - Rank and File Month 1

War Buggy with heavy plasma gun - 50pts

Deathskull Nob with bolter and chainsword - 18pts 

6 Lootas with 3 kustom kombi-weapons, 2 heavy plasma guns and 1 autocannon - 185pts 

 

Really happy with how this lot turned out. I stuck to my new year's resolution to paint for at least a few minutes every day, and I think it paid off. The buggy was fairly straightforward - I looked for some good examples online, and brought in the elements I liked most. Deathskulls can be more of a struggle, since it's easy to make them very visually confusing, so I stuck to a limited pallette for the clothing. There's also a little tribute to my Deathskull wierdboy from a a couple of years ago, with his pinkish sunglasses. I hardly ever risk freehand work, but I have no regrets this time.

JohnR's Month 1 - Rank and File Month 1 (177.5 Points)

 Rank and File month #1

 

I decided to start with some of the BMT minis this month so this is Jos Crabbe and his band of Space Pirates.

 

 

Crabbe and his lieutenant - Silas Reiss 

 

 

 

A couple of BMT mutants that I included to bulk up the numbers and provide some variety. 

 

 

Missile Launcher and some pirate goons.

 

 

More pirate goons

 

So that's it for this month - off to a steady start. Think I'll do the mutants next month, or possibly some of the GW minis.

January Points:

Jos Crabbe - Human Minor Hero, Carapace Armour, Chainsword, Laspistol = 40.5 points

Silas Reiss - Human Champion, Mesh Armour, Bolt Gun, Las Pistol, Frag Grenades = 11.5 points

10 Pirates - Ordinary Humans, Mesh Armour, Las Pistols, Frag Grenades. 9 Autoguns and 1 Missile Launcher with Frag and Krak Missiles = 125.5 points. 

 

JohnR's OWAC IX Intro Post - Rogues from Beyond the Stars!

 

One of the things I love about the OWAC and the Oldhammer movement more generally is that it gives me an excuse to collect, paint and play with miniatures in much the way I did as a kid.

There's no one telling me I'm collecting, painting or playing 'wrong' and no massive multinational corporation trying to get me to buy their latest thing.

If I like something, and it fits with the setting and the story I'm telling, it's in.

On the downside this is a somewhat unstructured, scatter-gun approach to wargaming. Which is fine with me.

To that end here is my entry to OWAC 9: the Rogues from Beyond the Stars. Space Pirates!

 

Group Shot.

 

Old GW Rogue Trader Space Pirates / Adventurers. These have been in my collection pretty much forever and they really deserve some paint, having waited so long.

 

Some Geedub goodness and some more recent figs. My leader model in the center is a BOYL mini - perfect as a Space Pirate boss!

 

 

 

 Space Mutants by Bigmrtong - the main inspiration for this army.

 

Old Grenadier armed civilians - suitable as space ruffians and ne'er-do-wells, at a push .

 

 

More Bigmrtong minis - privateers and space brigands. I have a few more of these but I already started painting them.

 

 

 Leader types, aliens and psykers.

 

 

 

Imperial Robots - captured and reprogrammed. These didn't quite make it into my last Rogue Trader OWAC entry - hopefully they'll make it in here.

 

 Finally the artwork that, obviously, inspired this madness.

I also have a few other bits and bobs that didn't make the photos - mainly vehicles - an RT Predator and Rhino and some Toon Tanks. I might include them, if the mood takes me, though most likely they'll wait for a MKVI beaky Space Marine army in a future OWAC.

Anyway, on to the painting. "Avast you planet-lubbers and break out the hyper-rum me space hearties, Yaaaar !!"

 

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. 

Pokrzyw's Sisters of Battle - Month 3 - Rank & File 3 - Heavy support OWAC VIII (280pts)

 "With its twin heavy flamers, a single Immolator can wreak untold destruction upon the battlefields of the 41st millenium, cutting a flaming swathe of carnage through the enemies of Adepta Sororitas"

Plans for March:

I started month painting transports for already prepared two squads of sisters. I couldn't buy it, but my friend gave me a birthday gift - two printed rhinos/immolators. It triggered me to start month from vehicles not touching planned infantry.

Realization:

Although militia received basing and zenithal basecoat, I haven't touch them with brush. Shame, but tomorrow I would start painting.

Vehicles were glued and primed. Painting goes quite fast - drybrush, base colours and a drop of wash.

Final Galery:

Rhinos could be nice shield for expanding Sisters of Battle

Immolators are more powerful.

Unfortunately I have not gunners..

View from above

Points:

Two immolators (2* 140),  summary 280 pts

Optionally can be used as a rhinos (2*50).

Plans for April:

Militia!!  I feel that these guys will bring me a lot of fun.