Spartan APC for 30k Thousand Sons

A Spartan carrier for the XV Legion Astartes.

Well, it's been more than a little bit since my painting flurry of the recent Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge concluded. My brushes have been busy, but other distractions have come up and dented my hobby time, so I have been delinquent in terms of getting stuff finished, and even more delinquent in terms of getting some posts up on the blog even when I have managed to complete something. Let's make a dent in that today...here we have a serious armored reinforcement for the Space Marines of the XV Legion Astartes - this is a Spartan, the big scary troop carrying tank of the Horus Heresy setting. This is a multi-part resin model from GW's Forge World studio.

A giant slab of armour, and tons of guns...just full-on 30k silliness!

Yes, you read that right...even though GW has had a multi-part plastic version of this model available for YEARS now, here I am, in the year 2026, still finishing off painting one of the old resin Forge World version of this kit. Needless to say, this thing has been in the "pending pile" for a LONG time - and sure, I have a nice assortment of excuses: moving several times sure didn't help, and the usual distractions of other periods, settings, scales and figures have all taken their right and proper place...but still, even for me, this is a monument to hobby delay/procrastination... 

A close-up of the beast! I added some extra light rocket launchers on the cupola, because why not?

I was going to "paint it during the Painting Challenge" (the justification for many a project!). I even got started on it January, painting the quad-lascannon sponson weapons (the part of this model I found the hardest to paint, because oddball hobby reasons). But I just couldn't get around to finishing the rest of this beast in time to include in my Painting Challenge production. 

One of the quad lascannon batteries on the sponsons. For whatever reason, I just can't stand painting those things...

In fact, I was more-than-half-tempted to even "leave it for the next Challenge", but that was a bridge too far, so I just buckled down and finally finished it in April. 

Why so slow? Well, I think we all have subjects or specific models that turn into a real drag, for whatever reason, and this was no exception. I have also found that I just have trouble finding the motivation to paint big 28mm-sized vehicles in recent times. Finally, I have to admit that the 3rd edition of the Horus Heresy rules have just not landed well with me. To put it simply, playing HH 3.0 just feels like work. I still love the story, the setting and the figures (or, nearly all of them), but these days I am just not motivated to play the game and this has materially slowed my motivation to paint more 28mm sized 30k figures. 

Lovely decals from the Forge World decal sheet help provide the necessary "crazy ancient Egypt" vibe for the tank.

But for all that, this beast is at last over the line! And I'm sure the Sons of Magnus will be pleased! I've been adding a number of units to my XV Legion collection in recent years, but when it comes to vehicles, well, they've been stiffed! Their motor pool to date consists of a single Rhino APC - useful, sure, but not exactly a sign of armored might! Well, that all changes now...

Ready to roll!

The Spartan is a bonkers AFV, just absolute peak Horus Heresy. It is armed to the teeth. It has the heaviest possible armour ratings you can have on a vehicle in the game. And it carries more than 20 marines on board - enough for a great big tactical squad, or a big terminator squad, AND some flunkies. Even Space Wizards like to ride in style, after all!

Final Painting Challenge Submission for AHPC XVI - Some Space Marines!

Siege Breaker Consul and assault marines from the Sons of Horus. Resin figures from GW/Forge World.

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge wrap-up concludes at last. I wanted to conclude my run in the XVIth edition of the AHPC with something fitting, and I figured some Space Marines from the XVIth Legion Astartes would do the trick. Here we have a Siege Breaker Consul and three assault marines in the fine colours of The Warmaster's own, the Sons of Horus.

Siege Breaker Consul

"So...anyone have anything that needs breaking?"

What does a "Siege Breaker Consul" do? Sounds like a bit of a made-up job...one has the impression he conducts sieges...but job title implies he "breaks" sieges so maybe his job is instead to bust up sieges attempted by opponents. Who knows? But he clearly is out to break things. I mean, look at that hammer. Like they say, when you walk around with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Woe betide the foes of The Warmaster when this chap shows up. 

In addition to the giant hammer, he obviously has a really amazing wireless plan, with unlimited 5G data, great roaming options and no hidden fees!

Love that 5G intergalactic roaming in the year 30k...

I like the little portable data terminal attached to his power armour, with a little projected 3d map, presumably of some target he is about to annihilate via an orbital strike or some other manner of Age of Darkness doom. 

Bright yellow "safety grenades" on the rear of the power pack. This chap has all sorts of grenades.

This is a resin figure from GW's "Age of Darkness" range. I'm not the biggest fan of GW's resin, but thankfully things were not too bendy. Besides, he is wearing the Mark VI "beakie" power armour and, well, I'm a sucker any models wearing that kit! 

Assault Marines

Ready to jump into the action...

These are old, old resin figures - the marines are wearing Mark IV armour. They are resin models from Forge World, circa 2012. I have re-painted them to ensure their green armour matches that of the other Sons of Horus in my collection, part of my ongoing long-term program to placate the OCD hobby monkey in brain. 

Will re-painted figures suffer the same fate as newly-painted figures?

The officer has a comb on his helmet (hilarious) and an extra-large chainsword, for those jobs that need serious two-handed chopping. The other marines are kitted out in the more traditional bolt-pistol-and-chainsword combo common to the Astartes assault troops. With these three finished, I have completed the necessary repainting to put my old squad of 15 of these fellows back into the battle line - with a tone of green armour that will match that of their colleagues and thereby sooth the rampaging OCD hobby monkey in my head.

Love the double-handed chainsword. A silly weapon made even sillier. Brilliant.

And that was it for this most recent edition of the Painting Challenge! One never does get as much stuff painted as hoped-for - much less "planned for" - but some useful progress on various projects and areas of interest was achieved, and that is all one should truly hope for in the end. Sundry ongoing painting shall resume - watch this space! And that's all for now - thanks for reading!

Painting Challenge Submission #13 - Onward to Orleans!

"Forward! God has shown me the way..."

I'm continuing with the AHPC XVI wrap-up posts! We switch from GW settings to a historical one - and my on-again, off-again work on the Hundred Years War in 28mm. I thought the Painting Challenge would be a good chance to work on some more figures for that project, and I did get a few over the line prior to the Challenge wrapping up. 

Jean de Dunois directs the defence of Orleans - while his half-brother sits in England as a captive.

This was inspired mostly by the "Resistance" theme round in Curt's AHPC, for which I painted the wonderful 28mm sculpt of "Joan of Arc" from the Perry Miniatures range. That particular pack includes two other figures: Jean de Dunois, the "Bastard of Orleans", and Étienne de Vignolles, a.k.a. "La Hire". With Joan painted, I thought it would only make sense to paint the two companion figures. Both of The Bastard and La Hire were prominent in French efforts to defend the city of Orleans, which came under siege in late 1428 and was miraculously relieved in 1429 via a series of battles where Joan of Arc played an inspiring role. It was the famous turning point of a famous conflict. 

Sculpted heraldry right on the figure - very, very helpful when it comes to painting!!

When some is referred as "The Bastard", you tend to expect they were unpleasant and/or rough to deal with. I understand that Jean du Dunois was certainly a tough character, but his nickname arose from his semi-legitimate origins as much as from his disposition. When the time came to defend Orleans, the other male family leaders were either dead or captives of the English following the disastrous defeat at Agincourt. He was the only family member left so he had to step up. Dunois led the defence of the city and, following the lifting of the siege, helped see the Dauphin crowned in Reims, taking the fight to the English and their Burgundian allies as the tide in the Hundred Years War turned.

Soldiers of the King of England, you will face the wrath of God!

La Hire (pronounced "La EEeer") was another hard man - in fact, I believe this nickname has some kind of alignment with "the ire" or "the wrath" of God. Sounds like a guy you would not want to confront lightly, especially if he has armour and a sword. La Hire was a prominent figure in Joan of Arc's miraculous run through the historic turning point of the Hundred Years War at Orleans and on to Reims - although he could not save her from the matyrdom which awaited her...

"For the Dauphin!"

The heraldry on these two characters is sculpted right on to the figure - that is something that I really like! I hoped I found the right set of colours for the heraldry for each one but...oh well...he at least they looks like they are in charge. 

Finally, I need to add more mounted knights and men-at-arms for my French, so I thought I would do a couple to accompany these commanders. I...really don't have a lot of confidence that I am taking the right approach to painting these kinds of guys. I'm trying to figure out the right way to represent the full-on knights versus guys who are "only" men-at-arms. On the plus side the multi-part plastic kits for the period from Perry Miniatures give you a LOT of options to work with. So I have tried to represent Knights with more complete armour, lowered visors, chain-mail on the horses etc. while the men-at-arms have less armour, or maybe only a bascinet...

A mounted man-at-arms from the Bastard's retinue.

I thought one of the men-at-arms should come from the Bastard's own retinue, so I tried to hand-paint the coat of arms for Orleans on his small shield. I think I'll try and add a few more, as he likely had many men-at-arms in his retinue.

The Maid of Orleans leads the French to glory! God wills it!

I wanted to crowd all of the Knights I have completed to date into a big group shot, so I have done that here!  I am aiming to play "Never Mind The Billhooks" in this setting, and for that I need to finish probably another 10 or so mounted knights/men-at-arms for the mounted component of me HYW French. Hopefully I can add a few more over the summer, and keep chugging along on this work. 

Thanks for reading - I'm nearly done with the Challenge catch-up, I swear!

Painting Challenge Submission #12 - Saturnine Terminator Squad

It's Saturnine time!

As AHPC XVI reached its conclusion, the time came to cram a few more submissions over the line in a desperate rush for points! The best place to start was with some things I had told myself that I would "definitely finish some time during the Painting Challenge", but had been procrastinating about for one reason or another. It is in this spirit that I painted this Saturnine Terminator squad. These are "28mm" multi-part plastic figures from GW's "Age of Darkness" setting (a.k.a. the Horus Heresy) painted in the fine colours of the XV Legion Astartes, the Thousand Sons. Because space wizards want to wreck sh*t too. 

"Let's blast something! Or smash it! I'm good either way!"

"Saturnine" kit is the "new big thing" for the 3.0 edition of GW's Age of Darkness rules. There is surely some lore for this armour variant and...well, I would share but for the fact that I haven't bothered to give it even a cursory scan, as it amounts to a farcically clumsy ret-con into the Horus Heresy story and I sort of don't care about the story. Suffice to say these are really, really big suits of powered armour, with impressive battlefield capabilities, big guns etc. etc. 

Note the blaster mounted on the power fist - so he can either punch someone OR shoot them even more!

These specific models are equipped with...I think that is some manner of "disintegrator" weapon on the one arm, while the oversized fist also sports a shorter-ranged blaster or flame-weapon of some kind. I would get the names, but that would involve encountering the Age of Darkness 3.0 rulebooks and...I can't be bothered. Rest assured the kit is all suitably super-duper-kill-things oriented.

I did not pose the legs very well on this one...looks like he is trying to step quietly or something, which is pretty silly, but whatever, he'll still fight on the table!

These models have a lot of components, and the instructions are not exactly clear in terms of the best ways to assemble them. To the credit of the designers, they want to offers hobbyists different options in terms of posing the feet and hands/weapons...but this goodwill is undone by the sheer "chonk factor" of these brutes. They crowd their bases, so there is not all that much to do with the legs, and the huge oversized, turtle-style upper shoulder sections crowd out any effort to meaningfully pose the arms. 

Close up on the ranged weapon. Cool looking gun - I'm sure it is super safe to use and poses no risks at all to its own side...

I recall GW came out very quickly with a "hey, here are a few tips from the studio" type article for assembling these models not very long after they hit the shelves. Naturally enough the studio guys offered an approach quite different from the one in the instructions....sigh...

Sub-assemblies - the "collars".

More sub-assemblies - the helmets. Took the opportunity to stick transfers on them too, before sticking them in the model.

A mid-point WIP photo. 

In terms of assembly and painting, these models are best thought of as small dreadnoughts, and there are so many overlapping sections that I recommend painting them in sub-assemblies. The "turtle shell" tops do not assemble easily, and you should probably put them on last AFTER you have painted the rest of the model, because they are so dominant that they make significant parts of the figure unreachable with a paintbrush - and yet they do not cover the ENTIRE top area, and so will leave any unreachable sections visible if they are not painted...that is the sort of combo that makes the OCD hobby monkey in my brain MENTAL.  

Close up on one of the helmets.

The head is a real challenge too - once more, a sort of "collar" goes over the head, but small parts of the internal area around the helmet will be visible even though the fit it very tight...so once more, sub-assemblies were called for. 

Maybe this is why these things sat around my painting table for so long. I had primed all of the bits prior to the start of AHPC XVI, convinced I would get them finished as part of my Challenge plan. But as my enthusiasm for Age of Darkness 3.0 really faded, I found other fun stuff to paint, telling myself that I would "do those Saturnine guys at the end." Well, here we are, so better get them done, right??? 

"Let's hit the town fellas!"

Good to have them over the line. If I ever do get them into a game, I'm sure they will cause a fair bit of havoc - even given the doom all newly-painted models seem to face, the rules for these Saturnine guys are pretty silly so they'll have a fun old time. I think you can even give them a psychic power? Which seems...bonkers...but then, to be sure, I would need to crack open the rule book and...I'll just figure it out some other time. 

That's all for this post - just a couple more wrap-up from AHPC XVI. 

Painting Challenge Submission #11 - Leopold's Leopard Company

"Leopold's Leopard Company" is ready to meet an opponent's charge...

The XVIth edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is now wrapped up, but I have (naturally) fallen behind a bit on the blog posting, so I am quickly adding posts to cover the last few entries I had submitted. This one was a particular treat to share - another Regiment of Renown from GW's old "Dogs of War" collection - here is Leopold's Leopard Company, and they are ready to stand in your battle line - so long as the deposit is paid up front and on time. These battle-hardened pikemen are long-OOP metal castings from Games Workshop and the glorious before-times.

One of the front-rankers, pike set, ready for the clash.

A back ranker.

Leopold and his men started out as guards of the Temple of Lucan and Luccina in the Tilean city of Luccini. It was fancy, well-paid duty. The unit is resplendent in fine armour adorned with the symbols of the temple - in particular the visage of the leopard who had guarded the divine twins! They are further adorned with the pelts of leopards. As military units go, the Leopard Company dressed the part!

These chaps are ready for a fight too!

How did the Leopard Company end up as mercenaries? Well, let's just say "local Luccini politics" intervened. In the midst of some civil strife there may, or may not, have been a siege of the temple in which it may, or may not, have become necessary for Leopold and his men to, er, "borrow" the gold offerings stored within which in turn may, or may not, have brought down some kind of divine curse which can only be held at bay by traveling the Old World, fighting as mercenaries and sending a portion of the gold they earned back to the temple to, um, "repay" their "debt."

Leopold and the command group. He is carrying healthy-sized "sword" (more of a cleaver), and I love the pistol tucked into the belt.

Naturally the command group has the nicest collection of pelts!

It is a real thrill to get this unit over the line for a couple of reasons. First, this is a Dogs of War unit which I had not previously painted back when I owned my original collection. I had wanted to take a crack at them, but a) already had assembled a decent-size force and b) was kind of intimidated by all of the leopard-style pelts. Nearly every figure in the unit is wearing a pelt. The studio models in the army book looked amazing (of course), but painting those spotted pelts looked really tricky and beyond my brush skills at the time.

Another ranker.

25 years later wariness of painting the pelts was still holding me back, but I was determined to try...there was a lot of trial and error on the first couple of test figures, but I managed to work out an approach that seemed OK, and in particular looked pretty good when the troops were massed together. Even if the spot pattern is not exactly that of a leopard, I can always push the fantasy-escape-button. "Oh, you see, those are the pelts of the, er, 'Tilean Mountain Leopard', and the spots look...just like that..."

From this aspect you can see some of the assorted small details that add character. Like the chap at the rear with a portion of rope, the different types of packs etc. 

Each time I have completed one of these units, I have commented on how wonderful these old sculpts are. This time will be no exception - let it be said, again, that these old sculpts are just wonderful! So much character, brilliant metal sculpts from the Perry brothers. While there is, of course, broad similarity to the figures, there are a number of small little variants among the sculpts that add just enough difference, and a little touch of character, to let each figure be slightly unique while preserving the overall uniform look to the unit. It has been such a treat to paint these figures, with their crisp, proper metal lines and details. 

I love these big pike blocks!

So that is now three large, chonky pike blocks completed to serve as a solid backbone for my "Dogs of War" army, but this project is still not yet complete. The army will require some artillery support and a bit of cavalry to round things out. Time in this edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is running short, so those elements are likely to have to wait until the next one, but who knows what might be possible before things conclude? 

"Ready lads!"

That's all for this entry - stay tuned for a couple more posts to cover everything off from AHPC XVI. Thanks for reading!

Little Bighorn Project

 

Better late than never I guess, but here is the first sizeable tranche of my 2026 project, the Little Bighorn in 28mm. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the battle and as I've said before here, I have some stuff planned, so I have to get off my kiester and get painting.

The models here are a mix of Foundry packs - some from the Young Bloods, and some from the Dog Soldiers packs. Above L to R we have Bear Licks With Tongue, Three Fingers, and Wolf Looks Back.

Here are Running Rabbit, Goes Walking, and Little Crow. As you can see from the photos these models are all characters and don't really lend themselves to "assembly line" painting like the Seventh Cavalry models do. But I did the skintones the same on all of them - GW Doombull Brown highlighted with Ratskin Flesh. I hate the name of that paint but I think it gives a good Indigenous fleshtone.

                                     

 Lastly we've got Pawnee Killer, Touch the Sky, and Plenty Coups. I did put warpaint on a few of the models but I may go back and do a few more as I like the look. 

The apex of the Indigenous resistance against white settlement and colonization was of course the Battle of the Little Bighorn, where a coalition of Indigenous warriors wiped out - to a man - five companies of the US Seventh Cavalry led by Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer (often referred to - incorrectly - as "General Custer" owing to his holding the rank of brevet brigadier-general in the Civil War).

                                 

Well there's the first bunch of Plains Warriors done. Only about 40 or 50 more to go...? Shouldn't be a problem this summer as long as I can stay away from Khornate distractions. We'll see.

                                        

As for the Seventh Cavalry, here's the first bunch. I've painted some troopers here (Foundry) as well as an officer, guidon bearer and trumpeter (not sure who made those!)

This first bunch are mostly Foundry models, I have a lot of them to paint. The command group above are from an unknown manufacturer, I'm sure someone out there knows who. The guidon is of the type used by the Seventh at Little Bighorn and was handpainted by me on paper.

The last eight models in the post are Foundry's "Old Sweats" pack, sculpted by Mark Copplestone.

They're super-nice models as you'd expect from the Foundry. Paint formula is Kantor Blue highlighted with ancient Ultramarines Blue for the jackets. The pants have been troubling for me. The blue should be light blue but not TOO light... these ones were too light and I toned them down with a blue wash, but still not happy with them. Will do some more experimenting with the next group. Black hats, leather equipment and boots were highlighted Dark Rubber. The yellow is Averland Yellow with an Agrax Earthshade wash, then re-highlighted. Rifle stocks are Dark Brown highlighted New Wood.

Anyway here's one interesting thing about the models... when I was at the Little Bighorn battlefield in 2008 I filled a jar with dirt from Last Stand Hill (as you do) and a little bit was sprinkled into the groundwork on each of these models, just to connect the models directly to the place where it all happened. Having the actual dirt also helped me do the colour for the groundwork - it's AK Khaki washed Agrax, then re-highlighted.

I'll keep posting as the project continues!

Dallas