A "small" diversion...

 BATTLTECH!

This was my first miniature game. As I mentioned in my last post, Battletech holds a dear place in my hobby heart. I remember doing odd jobs when I was 12-13 to scrounge the money to buy the starter box:

 Funny story about that. Despite being release in 1985 I first saw this back in 1988 when I was 12 and fell in love with the box art and the description of the game. When I finally had enough cash (I want to say it was $20?) the local store was sold out!! With no online shopping options for a 12 year old in 1988 I instead turned to the only other box they had:

I still have Citytech to this day. But Kickstarter has changed it. In the past year Catalyst Game Labs has "re-released" Battletech and I joined in day 1 of the Kickstarter despite having not played the game in a long, long time. I received the Battletech Kickstarter just over a year ago (I know, grey plastic shame on me!) but decided to wait until the Clan Invasion (Wave 2) came out this year to open it all up and paint it. Here is what I accomplished:

20 Inner Sphere Mechs painted

12 Clan Mechs w/ 2 stands of Elementals.

I am awaiting Wave 2.5 which will basically see my forces double with the addition of all new mechs for both sides! Until then here are some sample pictures of how I painted them all up.

The "core" generic mechs for the Inner Sphere have been painted up as the 8th Lyran Regulars (House Steiner) with 2 lances painted up in Guard colors:

8th Lyran Regular Marauder and Urbanmech

Urbanmech

Marauder

Lyran Donegal Guards Battle Lance

For the Clan side I went with my personal favorite clan - Clan Ghost Bear!

Clan Ghost Bear Heavy Striker Star

I planned to do some insignia work but found a spot online that sells scale decals for all the different units in the Battletech universe so I will be ordering those. Until then I feel this meets my "Play it painted" standard for a few games to reacquaint myself with the rules and system. 

My eyes are also drawn to the Alpha Strike rules for Battletech as it plays in a more "modern" way with open movement and simplified management of your mechs. I will be trying it out for sure! The beauty is the game can be played either way and you don't have to pick one and stick with it - a great idea!

Now that all these mechs are painted I am looking at a massive heap of plastic sprues that are my Ogor Mawtribes army for AoS and I think that may be my next project. As its over 3000 points worth I feel that will qualify the Ogors as my #newyearnewarmy project. So I will start assembly now, in the hopes to start putting some paint to plastic over the Christmas holidays.

Stay tuned for some more Battletech distraction along with more Games Workshop and Star Wars Legion content!

Cheers,

Ca$h

Blood Angels Arrive

 This post is basically a photo dump of the Space Marine half of the Indomitus boxed set. I finished them all with a Blood Angels successor chapter idea in mind. one that is currently on campaign and the wear on their armor is showing. I used a lot of metallics and chipping effects. I think it turned out well enough for how quickly I can turn them out!

The recipe is as follows:

1. Metallic zenithal highlight (airbrush) over black primer (rattle can) 
2. Fleshtearers Red Contrast paint over the armor
3. Weapons and other dark areas are Black Templar Contrast over silver
4. Eyes: White with Escorpena Green (Game Air) over top
5. Dab silver with foam over red for damaged look
6. Other colors used for non red/black parts are :
• P3 : Jack Bone, Khador Red base, Ironhull Grey, Quick Silver
• GW: Fleshtearers Red Contrast, Black Templar Contrast, Iyanden yellow Contrast (for gold)
7. BASES : Cork, GW Astrogranite Debris, Grey (P3 Greatcoat Grey w/ matt medium), Drybrush w/ White - Wasteland Tufts.
   

Click on after the break for pictures of all the characters, bikes and other units!

Necrons rise from the ashes of a lost time..

 With the release of Warhammer 40k 9th edition I purchased the Indomitus box on a whim. Yes, it was a $200CAD whim but the amount of new models inside was simply too good to pass on despite the fact I haven't played 40k in years. 

What is inside?

GW Site showing all the contents

As you can see, that is a ton of models for $200! I didn't really have any plans for the Space Marines but the Necrons really caught my eye. More so, they caught my 8yr old sons eye. He was VERY excited to see them assembled and ready to play with so I obliged him. Truthfully is doesn't take much to encourage me in the hobby space these days haha!

So we started with Necrons! I build and painted a quick table-ready scheme based on his input. He chose all the colors and basing. He has been painting Stormcast for Age of Sigmar but wanted me to do it so "they look great on the table against your army dad" - so I got started. 

He wanted them to look "new" like they are just being built and deployed for battle. He know the lore to the extent that they are like zombies/undead and rise up on planets but wanted his to be like they were found in a warehouse or factory. I think it was a neat idea and helped with his color choices - blue, silver, and purple. I also wanted something I could get finished quickly but still look decent on the table. This whole force took me a week - from sprue to varnish! With his input as to what colors he wanted (and where!) we ended up with this:

Click on after the break for more pictures of all the Necrons!

The last of the Imperials....for now!

 Hello again,

I have spent the last week assembling and painting up the last couple units for my Imperial forces in Star Wars Legion.

I was able to finally pick up two boxes of Shoretroopers after they had been unavailable due to stocking issues at Fantasy Flight for months. Here are a couple pictures:

Click on after the break for pictures of the other unit and how they faired in their first battle last Friday!

AT-ST and on to some 40k!

 In an effort to complete the models I already own, I have finally completed the AT-ST for my Star Wars Legion Imperial forces. I think I picked this up when it first released back in 2018? For $55 it was a steal of a kit and I am so happy to see it finally completed. Here are a couple pictures:

I tried to keep it simple. By that I mean when I went looking at pictures of the AT-ST from Return of the Jedi I noticed it was basically all grey - the guns, the hull, the hoses even. It was all very matt, dull and singularly toned. Attempting to recreate that definitely makes it look a little "bland" in miniature form but I feel it conveys the purely utilitarian approach the regular Imperial forces take. I can't wait to get it on the table!

With the AT-ST complete I have ordered the last remaining unit(s) I need for my Imperials - Shoretroopers. They have been out of stock for a long while, months I was told by my FLGS so I ordered a couple boxes off amazon. Until they arrive I have also started on the Necron half of the 40k Indomitus special release boxed set for 9th edition. My son loves the look of all the killer robots and is keen to learn how to play 40k with them. 

The plan for now is to get that Necron force painted up and to start playing small skirmish games with him to re-learn the 40k game myself. The Necrons in the box total around a 1000 points so its a perfect size starter army for him - and me! I am still unsure what I will do with the Space Marine half. Being all new releases, I am tempted to start a whole new marine force, but I also kinda want to start something new and different for 40k 9th edition. I already have 2000+ points of Emperor's Children Chaos marines so a second marine army doesn't seem to be as exciting despite how amazing the new models are. We shall see what I decide but for now, Necrons are calling. Once I complete the Necrons I will probably swap back to the the two units of Shoretroopers just to get all the Legion stuff completed so stay tuned to see where my hobby journey this year takes me!

Of note, we are putting out live streams roughly once a week on the Dice Devils YouTube channel linked above so please go check it out and let us know how we are doing. We are improving our equipment and layouts for the games each week and really enjoying it. So far it is just Star Wars Legion but it will expand to include whatever I am playing - perhaps even small learning games with my son!?

Cheers,

Ca$h

More Star Wars and....live streams?

 Hello again!

It's been a busy October on the painting front, and especially related to all things Star Wars Legion. Matty and I have been getting games in a couple days a week and I have been painting up furiously to get new Imperial units on the table. I have added 3 new units and a smattering of characters to my force and I wanted to update you all with some pictures.

Before I start posting beauty shots, I also wanted to note that we have built a Dice Devils YouTube channel and are starting to try our hand at live streaming our games. This will improve over time as I get better cameras, set ups, overlays etc. so please bear with us while we learn. I have added a direct link to the menu bar across the top. For now the channel has a few of our recent Star Wars Legion games but the plan is to include any/all systems I play - mainly AoS (Age of Sigmar) and 40K along with Legion.

Here are the units I have completed in the past 2 weeks:

Director Krennic

R4 Astromech

Medical Droid

More pictures after the break of the Death Troopers, Imperial Special Forces, etc!

Stegadon Number 2 and some Noise Marines?

 It is done! I finally managed to complete my second Stegadon. This one is built out as the "Engine of the Gods" featuring a Skink Priest and strange Slann magical contraption/portal on top :

 I ended up choosing a more "ancient" look for the stegadon. The red and grey really helped convey the age of this elderly beast. I think it turned out well.

Click on after the break for some more pictures and what I am starting to work on next!

Starting to learn 40k 9th Edition

 I know this is a bit of a surprise considering all the painting and hobby time I am putting into my Seraphon for AoS but I recently received an invitation to try out the new release of Warhammer 40,000 (40K). I jumped at the chance to hang out, have a beer or two, and try a new system that is getting a lot of hype online. I pulled out my old (and shockingly badly painted) Chaos Marines and headed out the door!

My CSM are actually Emperors Children - the first founding legion devoted to Slaanesh. For the uninitiated Slaanesh is the Chaos God of Excess (be that pain or pleasure). A local fellow gamer dad invited me over to his place to play a socially distanced and mask wearing small game of 500pts. The list I took was the following:

• HQ

  • Sorcerer [5 PL, 90pts]

    Selections: Bolt pistol, Delightful Agonies, Force sword, Mark of Slaanesh, Warlord, Warptime

    Categories: HQ, Faction: <Legion>, Faction: <Mark of Chaos>, Psyker, Infantry, Faction: Chaos, Faction: Heretic Astartes, Sorcerer, Character, Warlord, Faction: Slaanesh

• Troops

  • Chaos Space Marines [4 PL, 70pts]

    Selections: Mark of Slaanesh

    Categories: Faction: Chaos, Faction: Heretic Astartes, Infantry, Faction: <Legion>, Faction: <Mark of Chaos>, Troops, Chaos Space Marines, Faction: Slaanesh

    • Aspiring Champion

      Selections: Boltgun, Chainsword

    • 4x Marine w/ boltgun

      Selections: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Boltgun, 4x Frag & Krak grenades

  • Noise Marines [5 PL, 115pts]

    Categories: Faction: Chaos, Faction: Heretic Astartes, Infantry, Faction: Slaanesh, Faction: <Legion>, Faction: Emperor's Children, Troops

    • Marine w/ blastmaster

      Selections: Blastmaster

    • 3x Marine w/ sonic blaster

      Selections: 3x Bolt pistol, 3x Frag & Krak grenades, 3x Sonic Blaster

    • Noise Champion

      Selections: Power sword, Sonic blaster

  • Noise Marines [5 PL, 115pts]

    Categories: Faction: Chaos, Faction: Heretic Astartes, Infantry, Faction: Slaanesh, Faction: <Legion>, Faction: Emperor's Children, Troops

    • Marine w/ blastmaster

      Selections: Blastmaster

    • 3x Marine w/ sonic blaster

      Selections: 3x Bolt pistol, 3x Frag & Krak grenades, 3x Sonic Blaster

    • Noise Champion

      Selections: Power sword, Sonic blaster

• Elites

• Sonic Dreadnought [7 PL, 110pts]

  Selections: 2 x Blastmaster, Helbrute fist

  Categories: Faction: Chaos, Elites, Vehicle, Faction: Heretic Astartes, Slaanesh, Helbrute, Faction: Emperor's Children

Richard (Thank you again for hosting!) was trying out his beautifully painted Indomitus Space Marines painted up as Nova Marines. His force had a Lieutenant, 2 units of 5 Space Marine Assault Intercessors, 3 Blade Guard and 3 Space Marine Suppressors (Jump pack troops with Autocannons!!?!). 

Click on after the break for some pictures and a quick rundown of how the game went!

Fall In 2016 Pictures: 40K, Epic, Frostgrave

A few of us went down to Fall In this year, and while we played historical gaming, there was some 'Fantasy / Sci-Fi' stuff that still looked amazing.

(40k Regional tourney called Mechanicon).

On display were some armies and also two massive Titans.

Using today's exhange rate, that Warlord is $2074 CDN !!

Trip Down Memory Lane PLUS Some WIP Shots of Cottage and Trenches

40k Squats, aka Space Dwarves

So, someone was using old pictures I had posted on DakkaDakka way back in 2007 to promote his commission painting website.  So I had to make my own site and put my own pics up.  What was interesting was how I had not looked at my old 40k stuff in a dogs age.  So, in all its splendor, here is my old converted Squat 40k army, that won a variety of 'Best Painted's along the way, and caused a lot of my bosses (GW) at the time some consternation, especially at Staff GT :)

40k Squats

Now for some WIP shots..

The Great Army Restoration Part 1

Ugly, unfinished, messy, half-assed, incomplete, boring, lazy...all words that might describe the above picture, and all are true, to an extent. We all have armies that need some TLC in one form or another. Most often these get pushed to the wayside as the next shiny thing comes out and our hobby brains gravitate towards that. This is my 2016 plan to change that for one of my oldest and most loved armies, my marines for Warhammer 40k.

A New Venture, An Old Army!

Hey guys, JO here again to show you what's been on my workbench the last few days. I was getting bored with my current Space Marine Bike Project so wanted to do something new. 

After looking around my hobby room I found inspiration in the oddest of places, my box of incredibly old 40k models. 

So started a plan to make a small (1000 points) Ultramarine army using only my old Rogue Trader Era marines.  Here are the first two guys I've managed to get done:

A chaplain and librarian to start, but I have a command squad based and ready for paint and 2 tactical squads assembled. I have to locate my old Mk I rhinos in my bitz closet but they will be next on the build queue. 

Thanks for looking and you can follow more updates on my twitter feed @MartyRayHart

Cheers, 

JO