Restructuring and Rebuilding the Aquamarines (long and pic heavy) [Draft]

I started writing this post in 2013 and worked on it little by little over the years. 

[Chart done, in progress, and want]

A Landraider re-build with second paint job circa 1998
(click on image to enlarge)

As I have mentioned before, I started playing 40K back in Rogue Trader days--The year it came out in the US actually. I think I played a friend's Ork army in my first game. Soon after, I started collecting my own figures.

Back then for $20 you could buy a boxed set of 30 Space Marines, a boxed set of 3 Rhinos, or a boxed set of 2 Land Raiders! That was $60 for an entire army !! Yeah, yeah, inflation you say. According to DollarTimes inflation calculator, $60 in 1987 is equivalent to $124.67 in 2013.  Just for giggles, let's do a comparison. In 1987 I paid $125 (in 2013 dollars). For that, I got 30 Tactical Marines, 3 Rhinos and 2 Land Raiders. Today those models will run you... $380.25!

Over the years, I have painted a fair amount of Aquamarines-- Models pained in different styles and different levels of proficiency. Every time I got back in the hobby and started painting, much of my efforts were spent in re-painting and reorganizing models to the current codex. Still, I never managed to get a large force painted.

A long time ago, I made a rule for myself. The intention was to not assemble figures until I was ready to paint them... something I have mostly kept true. However, I have never given myself a restriction to buying models--There are only external limits like my pocket book and my wife.

My most recent attempt at reviving the Aquamarines (around 2009), was creating banner art in CorelDraw, and then adding a painterly-style shading in Photoshop. I finished the Squad banners and most of the character banners, but the chapter banner was left incomplete.

Chapter Banner WiP
(click on image to enlarge)

At the moment, I am still unable to field a cohesive and painted force. This post is the first step in achieving that goal. I am taking a que from Admiral Drax by creating a spread sheet (I love spreadsheets!) of all the models and plotting the stage that each one is in.

Tau Kill Team Update

I'm pretty late to the party, but I made some progress on my T'au Empire Kill Team for Shadow War: Armageddon. I have only made a little bit of progress since my last update.

Some detail shots of the Shas'uyi, a specialist, and a Recon Drone. I have started adding edge highlighting.

40k Statue

Today we have a repurposing of a very old miniature--A Rogue Trader era Marneus Calgar, Ultramarine Commander.

At one point, I had attempted (and failed) to convert Calgar to an Assault Marine leader. This unfinished conversion left poor Calgar without a right leg, leaving me to convert him back to his original pose.

I have glued Marneus, his bolter rack, and his cloak/helmet stand onto a Coke bottle cap. Which was then glued to a 40mm base, and finally on a larger bottle cap. Three metal shields were affixed to the lower bottle cap at 9, 12, and 3 o'clock.

Here is a series of 360° shots. I wanted the to look like aged and petinated bronze on top of a stone pedestal. To get this effect, I used...

Statue and Bronze Elements:
Citadel Warplock Bronze
Citadel Agrax Earshshade
Valejo Brassy Brass
Citadel Agrax Earshshade
Citadel Seraphim Sepia
Citadel Nihilakh Oxide
Citadel Seraphim Sepia

Pedestal:
50/50 Citadel Adaddon Black/Citadel The Fanf
Citadel Nuln Oil
Citadel The Fang
Citadel Fenrisian Grey
Citadel Agrax Earshshade

Xenos Jungle Terrain WIP

This is a continuation of the Fungus Among Us project I started in 2013, and is part of my Modular Terrain System™. Yeah, I know, I'm not very good at finishing projects. Four years later I'm still not done... but I have added more to the project. You can trust me when I say that I have made progress. Really.

The base component of these alien 'trees' are Lotus Pods Stems that I purchased at a local craft store. The seeds and stems have been removed. The pod glued to a Citadel Wood base. Then that is glued to a CD. I bought my first Airbrush with X-mas money earlier this year. This is the first project I airbrushed.

I'm also working on some aquarium plant scatter terrain. Not exclusively 'jungle' but still part of this project.

Tau Color Scheme Test 3

In a follow up to a [distant] previous post Tau Color Scheme Test 2, I have finally decided on a third color scheme for my "Scout" models/units. I had already painted a Sniper Drone unit in this color scheme as a secondary color to my original Tau color scheme (see second pic below).

In the end I decided not to repaint sniper drone unit and use it for all "light" units with scout/stealth/shroud. I think this 'Maroon' scheme fits nicely with the new stark White/Red/Black scheme of the rest of the Army.

Below is a WIP of a partial unit of Pathfinders that are pulling double duty as my Shadow War Kill team. Included are samples of the three main color schemes of my Tau army. The Pathfinders in the front row are sporting the same color scheme as the Sniper Drone Team.

In the second row are the Special Operatives available to the Tau Kill team. The Ethereal is magnetized for optional Hover Drone load out. The Pathfinder's drones are also magnetized for easier storage. The last row has previously painted figures for reference.

Following is an itemization of the new color scheme by model/unit for my entire army. There are now a total of 6 color schemes, although two of them are slight variations of the Standard Uniform. The color samples below are broken down into the following categories: Armor Plates/Trim/Under Armor/Markings. Colors are GW unless other wise specified.

Warlord Uniform

Black + White + Mephiston Red + Fenrisian Grey

Commander

HQ/Team Leader Uniform

Mephiston Red + White + Black + Fenrisian Grey

Etherial

Shas'vre

Standard Uniform

White + Mephiston Red + Black + The Fang

Cadre Fireblade

Firewarrior

Riptide

Crisis Battlesuit

Drone Sentry Team

Remote Sensor Tower

Drones

Piranha

Heavy Gun Drone

Hammerhead/Skyray

Broadside Battlesuit

Light 'Stealth' Uniform

Black Red (VMC) + 50/50 Black/The Fang
+ 50/50 Burnt Umber (Craft)/Uniform Brown (Reaper)
+ 50/50 Faded Khaki (Reaper)/White

Darkstrider

Pathfinder

Kroot

Vespid

Sniper Drone Team

Armored 'Stealth' Uniform

The Fang + lack Red (VMC) + Black + Fenrisian Grey

Commander Shadowsun

Stealth Battleuit

GhostKeel Battleuit

Remora Drone Fighter

Auxiliary Uniform

Troll Slayer Orange + 50/50 Burnt Umber (Craft)/Uniform Brown (Reaper)
+ 50/50 Faded Khaki (Reaper)/White + Black Red (VMC)

Gue'Vesa

Additionally, the common colors throughout the army are: Tech (Black), 'Orbs' (Hammered Copper (VGC) ), Lenses (Altdorf Guard Blue), and Missile Tips (Lemon Yellow (VMC) ).

Salamander Tanks WIP 2

A small update.

I couldn't find a set of standard Predator Sponsons plus weapons within my budget of $10. But I was able to score a pair of Baal Predator Sponsons.

The Blood Angel marking were scraped off with a hubby knife. I also drilled out the barrel. For now Deathbot will have to settle for Heavy Bolters, but I will magnetize the assembly so that Lascannons can be added at a later time.

Here is the tank assembled and waiting for primer.

FLGS Used Score

I have a new FLGS!

Earlier this year, my FLGS of 30+ years closed its doors. A few weeks ago, my son went to Guardian Games for the first time. They have a huge space and Deathbot and I took our time taking it all in.

We both had a little bit of coin in our pockets and were looking for deals.

I searched through the Warmachine and Warhammer 40K used bins. I found two things of interest:

Image taken from internets without permission.

Warwitch Siren Cryx Solo for $6 (Retail $11.99) and a...

Image taken from internets without permission.

Tau Empire Sniper Drone Team (in metal) for $6 (Retail $41.25). Both were complete un-assembled models (minus packaging)

From the video game section, Deathbot scored:

"Gauntlet Seven Sorrows" for Xbox (the first) for $5 and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" RPG for Game Boy Advance

All-in-all $21 spent between the two of us and a nice pile of booty taken home.

Salamander Tanks WIP

New additions to Deathbot's Salamander force.

I assembled a pair of tanks the other day. Both of these were hand-me-downs from Laertes from his last purge just before moving to Arizona.

Land Raider. This was my first "modern" imperial tank build. I added the quotes because(I don't think this is the current version of the model. All of my previous tank builds are from the Rogue Trader era.

I am going back and forth weather or not to magnetize the doors and sponsons. In the meantime, I need them off to prime the interior.

Predator. My second "modern" tank! The kit was actually a Chaos Rhino. I put the chaos sprue in my bitz box, and added a turret aquired from a previous eBay purchase. The turret was broken when I got it and needs some green stuff repair.

Currently, I am looking for a pair of Predator sponsons with weapons for around $10-12 or without for about $6-8 to finish up the build.

I'm not sure if the kits were missing the accessory sprues when I got them, or if I had already canalized them. Whatever it was, when I dug the models out to build them, there were none to be found. Fortunately, I have plenty of hatches in my bitz box. However, I was all out of smoke launchers and searchlights. Since taking these pictures, I found a set of 10 of each on the ever-giving eBay for about $12.

Here is the most recent Progress Chart. There is a lot of painting ahead, and Deathbot reminds me every day!

Until next time!

40k BatRep – Space Marines vs Tau 1750 pts

A 3 on 1 game! Deathbot invited two of his neighbor friends to play.

Jay and Dom live next door. They came over to visit during Deathbot's and my last game. They showed enough interest in the game, I decided I would endeavor to play 40K with a 6, 9, and 11 year old! To my surprise, all three kidos stuck it out for 6 hours!!

At first we were going to play 2-on-2 (the youngest on my side), but after Jay and Dom arrived, the three compatriots decided to "gang up" on me.

They agreed to split up Deathbot's Army between them. I pulled Deathbot aside and suggested he let his friends choose first--He happily agreed!. After a 15 minute Q&A about each unit/vehicle, it was settled: Jay took a Tac squad and the Lord Commissar/Command Squad, while Dom took both IG Vet Squads. Deathbot controlled everything else with the understanding he would lend a unit to Jay or Dom if they lost one of theirs.

ARMY LISTS

Space Marines with Imperial Guard allies

This time Deathbot wanted to use his Scout Marines. I tweaked his list around to accommodate the addition.

• Terminator Captain (120): Iron Halo; Storm Bolter; Power Sword
• Dreadnought A (120): Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Assault Cannon; Power Fist; Storm Bolter
• Dreadnought B (100): Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Multi-melta; Power Fist; Storm Bolter
• Terminator Squad (210): Sergeant; Storm Bolter x4; Power Fist x4; Power Sword; Hvy Flamer
• Tactical Squad A (190): Sergeant; Bolt Pistol x10; Bolter x7; Chain Sword; Flamer; Hvy Bolter; Rhino
• Tactical Squad B (190): Sergeant; Bolt Pistol x10; Bolter x7; Chain Sword; Flamer; Hvy Bolter; Rhino
• Scout Squad (55): Sergeant; Bolt Pistol x5; Chain Sword x5
• Predator (150): Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; TL Lascannon; Lascannon x2 (side).
• Lord Commissar (80): Carapace Armor; Bolt Pistol; CCW, Melta Bombs
• IG Command Squad (180): Company Commander; Flack Armor; CCW x4; Lasgun x3; Medi=Pack; Regimental Standard; Vox Caster; Plasma Gun; Chimera
• IG Veteran Squad A (180): Sergeant; Flack Armor; Melta bombs x10; CCW x8; Lasgun x7; Laspistol; Autocannon (HWT); Flamer; Grenade Launcher; Demolitions; Chimera
• IG Veteran Squad B (187):  Sergeant; Carapace Armor; CCW x8; Shotgun x5; Laspistol; Grenade Launcher x2; Lascannon (HWT); Grenadiers; Chimera

Total Points: 1762

Tau Empire

I did not change my list from the previous game.

• XV8 Commander + Bodyguards (361): Fusion Blaster x3; Missile Pod x3; Plasma Rifle x3; Target Lock; Shield Drone x6
• Cadre Fire Blade (84): Pulse Rifle; Shield Drone x2
• XV8 Crisis Team  (273): Fusion Blaster x3; Missile Pod x3; Plasma Rifle x3; Shield Drone x6
• Stealth Team (170): Shas'vre; Fusion Blaster; Markerlight & Target Lock; Burst Cannon x4
• Fire Warrior Team (205): Shas'ui; Pulse Rifle x10; Devilfish w/ Disruption Pod
• Drone Sentry Turret Team (220): TL Burst Canons x4
• Kroot Carnivore Squad (260): Kroot Shaper; Kroot Rifle x20; Kroot Hounds x10; Krootox/Kroot Gun x3
• Hammerhead (177): TL Smart Missile System; Railgun w/ Solid & Submunitions; Disruption Pod; Seeker Missiles x2

Total Points: 1750

SETUP

Deploy Zones tinted in red.

We rolled for the mission: Annihilation/Spearhead. I like to stand next to the book shelves (far side of table), plus there is much more "wiggle" room for the three boys on the other side. So I chose sides, letting them place and go first.

This was very much a learning game, but I took plenty of pictures anyway.

TURN 1

Jay and Dom chose to deploy already disembarked from their vehicles. Deathbot chose not to, kept all Deep Striking models in Reserves, and Infiltrated his Scout Marines on top of the tall red building.

I deployed evenly across my table edge, Infiltrating the Kroot, and keeping all my Deep Strike troops in Reserves.

No casualties this turn.

TURN 2

In the middle of the board, all three Chimeras and the Predator fired at my Fire Warriors. To my left, Team Deathbot focused everything else at my Kroot. Surprisingly, I took far less casualties than I expected.

My Hammerhead trashed the Scout Marines, and my pounded a Tac Squad.

TURN 3

The boys decided to bring more forces against my Kroot. They placed the Terminators in assault range and diverted the Commisar, IG Command Squad and a Chimera. I lost 10 Kroot that turn.

My Fire Warriors did nothering. But my Kroot destroyed a Dreadnought. Then my Commander and Bodyguards arrived, disarming a Chimera.

TURN 4

The hail of fire raining on my Kroot finally burned them all out. The kids were ecstatic with their victory!

Unfortunately for them, my Hammerhead had not missed all day. Predator destroyed. Another bout of bad luck for the boys came when I tried to place my Stealth Suits in the middle of their main force. The Suits scattered to the back side of the hill, giving them full view of a Chimera side armor. Dead Tank.

TURN 5

After loosing 2 tanks last turn, the boy's stopped working together--They each chose what to do independently without consultation with their team. I strongly suggested they do not split up their force as I still had two units in Reserve. But they did not take my advice.

Dom went after my Commander and Bodyguards, Jay stuck it out with my Stealth Suits, and Deathbot made a dash towards my Fire Warriors. They caused zero damage.

I tried to place my Crisis Suit Team in front of the on coming Space Marines in an effort to protect my Fire Warriors and Fire Blade. I scattered off the table. The kids were able to place the unit. This made them laugh out loud. They placed the unit to the far side of my Fire Warriors.

The last Scout Marine was hiding in the grey church. 28 Pulse Rifle shots failed to take him out 2 turns in a row! The boys conveniently placed my Crisis Suits right next to him. Dead Scout.

TURN 6

By the time turn 6 started it was pretty late. Everyone was tired and loosing focus. The boys rushed through their turn, knowing they lost.

Things were getting a bit tedious for me in the last two rounds. 40K isn't the most complex game, but at 1750 points and wrangling 3 young boys, my patience was definitely tested! But in the end, fun was had by all! That's what counts, right?