Epic Imperial Guard Steel Legion additions

I recently painted a large Imperial Guard army as part of the 8th edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

Now as both you and I well know, an army is never really *finished* despite whatever spurious claims we might make at certain points along the way. So it was always kind of inevitable that I would add to the army and guess what? It's happened already!

Two extra Baneblades turning a lone chappy into a full squadron.

Another squadron of Shadowswords, this time the old skool first edition versions. They look absolutely tiny compared to their Forgeworld resin brethren!

And finally another squadron of Griffons. At 50 points a pop they are great for soaking up hits meant for more dangerous and expensive things like Leman Russ.

Next up on the blog? Some pics of the latest addition to my Warhammer Fantasy Empire army.
Stay tuned!

Cheers,
Millsy

Sunday Workbench

I've been pretty quiet of late, struck down by a near-terminal case of man-flu, combined with rebuilding my PC and lots of actual real life work. Occasionally though I've managed to find time to twirl the brushes, plugging away at a bunch of post-Challenge leftovers.

On the painting table at present are a 95% finished unit of Altdorf Halberdiers for my Warhammer Empire army. This is the last (thankfully) of a total of 60 of the buggers. Just a little touching up to do and finish the basing...

There's also a number of additions to my Epic Imperial Guard Steel Legion in the form of a second company of Shadowswords, extra Griffons and two more Baneblades to turn a single guy into a full company.

Once these are complete it'll either be more bits and bobs or I might kick into full swing with the Scottish Project depending on motivation.

Cheers,
Millsy

Epic Armageddon City Terrain Repairs

Last weekend Russ and I played a game of Epic Armageddon and it was quite apparent that our city terrain was looking the worse for wear. It was based on thin card which had then had sand, black paint and a dry brush applied. In theory all good but the card was splitting, turning up at the corners and some of the building were coming free and suffering real life damage.

I decided I needed a break from all things cork so I spent a couple of mornings and afternoons pulling it apart, fixing to new timber bases and redoing the groundwork that surrounds it. There's still some work to go with some form of weeds / grass but otherwise it's good to go again now.

I've also sold off a couple of units of Empire plastic knights (for a great price!) and reinvested in a new Imperial Guard army. It'll be either Steel Legion or Minervans... or probably both depending on my mood :-). I had no plans whatsoever to do this until Russ and I played a single game. Obviously being on leave with too much thinking time is a dangerous thing. Like I didn't already know that...

So now its back to the Boxers, at least until some teeny tiny tanks arrive in the post.

Cheers,
Millsy

Off and running in Painting Challenge VII

So with about a week of hols under my belt (to say nothing of my own body weight in Christmas munchies) I've made a modest start in this year's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

My first post was something of a pick-n-mix of stuff to round out various projects...

There's more pics and some background on the Challenge blog.

Cheers,
Millsy

Two more major projects completed!

I'm a man possessed! Exactly what I'm possessed or and/or by is debatable, however the consequences are undeniable. Today I've completed another TWO major long term projects.

First up is my 8,000 point Epic 40K Squat army. These wee 6mm scale "space dwarfs" have been a labour or love (and not inconsiderable expense) and now they are DONE. Well, there's still a bit of basing to do but that's on hold until I can order a metric tonne of tufts. Here they are in all their red and white glory...

Secondly, with the completion of these three Space Marine Landspeeders I've also wrapped up another of my long running 40K projects...

All up this army tops out at something like 4,300 points using 5th edition (which we refuse to give up!). The purists will note that the weapon load-outs for the speeders are non-standard. That's simply because I had a missile launcher and a pair of autocannons leftover from my Catachan Sentinels and wasn't willing to shell out a lot of shekels for extra bits when these look the business anyway.

So, now I need to decide which of my major projects to clobber next. But first, a nap and the Sunday arvo pie/footy combo. Bliss!

Stay tuned...

Cheers,
Millsy

Epic Squat Progress...

What with 2016 being the Year of Getting Shit Done Projects Completed and all that I've turned my focus to my Epic 40K Squat project this week. A good few hours of squinting and I've managed to complete all the remaining vehicles on hand. Here's how they look prior to basing...

2 x Mole, 1 x Cyclops, 7 x Termites and 8 x Spartans

That leaves me with just two infantry formations to paint and base this week. Once done I'll have a cool 8,000 points of Squat red and white goodness. I'm still hunting for the ubiquitous Land Train and a Hellbore but these are just icing on the cake so to speak. Oh, an ONE single Gorgon model curse it!

More soon...

Cheers,
Millsy

Paint Table Saturday

The paint table is something of a chaotic frenzy at present as I attempt to both prepare for AHPCV and at the same time finish a bunch of half completed projects I want done before it starts.

At present I'm still working my way through my Epic Squats which was held up for a period by a bunch of eBay auctions, all of which have now arrived. In the interim I went back to my Savage Orcs which have also moved along as you can see with another unit of Arrer Boyz nearing completion and a second set of trolls in the works. Pretty much none of this is challenge material apart from yet more of the Savage Orcs so it all needs clearing out quick smart...

Stay tuned for a couple more blog posts this weekend as I try and get some stuff shifted, plus catch up on a batrep and a few other bits and bobs from the last two weeks or so.

Cheers,
Millsy

Epic Squat Project Update

This was supposed to be a Paint Table Saturday post but I was called away on a search and rescue op with the fire brigade at short notice. Instead of painting I got to have a very, very long walk yesterday over some incredibly rough terrain in the heat. 8+ hours of near constant walking, climbing, navigating and searching through the bush all the while. I'm feeling it today but that's to be expected. It takes it's toll on the fittest of us, especially those pushing 45 years.

Easy enough to get lost in. Harder to get found in...

Anyway, so that means this will have to be an Epic Squat Project update post instead. Great progress this week with the mojo well and truly discovered and returned to full service...

Artillery, air support, fast attack and infantry with transports

Two sets of gyrocopters and an airship. Another two airships to go.

Warrior brotherhood and spartan transports

Hearthguard and robot cadre

I also got my first order from Warbases which helped move things along. Unfortunately I was somewhat boneheaded in the execution thereof and ordered the wrong sized bases for infantry.
A second order has been placed and despatched so no a major hold up.

This week I've also managed to win a bunch of fleaBay auctions for termites, a few infantry bits and bobs, a leviathan, a colossus plus spotter plane and another two airships which seriously fills out holes in my war engines and transport. Still looking for moles, a hellbore, a cyclops, a pair of thunderfires and another goliath. If you have some and want to sell or trade speak up!

That's just about it from me apart from taking time to welcome rct75001, Tarty, Clint, Brian English and Dannoc. Great to have you aboard!

And a final shout out to my lovely, talented wife whose wonderful painted fabric entry took out first place in the textile and craft section of this year's Blue Fringe Arts Compo yesterday.

Cheers,
Millsy

The Epic Squat Project

If that headline isn't enough to to make you wonder what you're in for clicking the link then I don't know what would. Fortunately for yours truly Google is smart enough to work out what I mean when I type "Epic Squats".

Not these EPIC squats! The other ones!

OK, so anyone who hangs around me or has read the blog for a while knows I have a soft spot for the left-field and/or less popular faction from any given game system or genre. That being the case, if a collection of models was produced by Games Workshop in the late 80s to early 90s and is now loooong OOP, plus the race behind the models was subsequently (and unfairly!) killed off in their 40K fluff I'm more than likely going to be interested.

That brings us to the Squats in Epic Armageddon, GWs mass combat game that was so specialist and so popular and so *not* 40K it had to die. Squats eh? Dead race? Tick! Long OOP? Tick! Hard to find? Tickety-tick! Comparatively expensive to collect? Tickety-flipping-tick! Never actually an official list even though they made the models? Tickety-tickety-dang-tickety-boo! Heck, they've got the lot! Like a Labrador outside a pie factory on baking day there was zero chance I was going to be distracted by something else once I came across these wee chaps...

Anyway, over the last couple of weeks I've been faffing about the painting table desperately searching for my mojo and guess what? I found it painting little hairy space men and their over-compensatingly large vehicles and weapons red-white-black. Here's a sample...

That's better. Although the buns were admittedly rather nice...

So this is the beginning of yet another slightly mad project. Once I get a shipment of bases from Martin and Diane at Warbases I will really kick into it but for now I'm just enjoying myself again at last. Stay tuned!

PS. Yes that *is* Snow White painted on the nose of the airship 1940's bomber style. What else would Space Dwarves [ahem!] Squats paint on there?

Cheers,
Millsy

6mm Sci-Fi Terrain

I've been scratching about looking for projects or even just odd jobs to try and win back a bit of modelling mojo.

I'm slowly getting there and when I couldn't sleep this morning the following items of terrain for 6mm sci-fi / Epic Armageddon got completed at long last. They are made entirely from wombled items from my terrain bits box, including lids, tyres, gears, pipes, plastic nuts and even a toy chest.

Power generators / reactors / things that might explode

Command bunkers / ammo stores / things that might also explode

Not too shabby for something that cost next to nothing, took very little effort and which I enjoyed putting together and painting. In terms of the generators there is little to identify the scale so the can easily be used anywhere up to 28mm too.

In other news I've also been working on some fantasy miniatures I picked up last weekend at MOAB in Sydney including some Reaper Bones. I've got mixed feelings regards those but an explanation can wait til I post the finished items.

Lastly, I've just realised this is the 77th post this year which equals last year's total. It looks like we might break the 100 post mark this year for the first time and as we're currently sitting on 197 followers I'd say we'll break the 200 mark there as well. To everyone who pops by or follows a big thanks.

Cheers,

Millsy

Epic Armageddon Necron Army

One last quick post on Epic before I move onto other stuff. Here's some images of the whole force as it stands. Remember to click for larger versions of the images.

Necron Infantry Phalanxes
5 units of these, each comprised of a Necron Lord, 6 stands of Necrons, 3 stands of Immortals, 1 stand of Pariahs and 3 stands of Tomb Spiders. These are Dark Realm Andrayadas apart from the Tomb Spiders which are 40K Scarabs.

Flayed Ones
2 units of these, each of 6 stands.These are also Dark Realm Kraytonian Ketzali.

Wraiths
2 units of these, each of 6 stands. These are also Dark Realm Andrayadas.

Destroyers
4 units of these, 2 as ordinary or heavy and 2 as mixed. Each is 6 stands. These are also Dark Realm Andrayadas.

Obelisks
2 units of these, each of 6 stands. These are a copy of a single master made from a very old toy.

Monoliths
6 stands which I typically play as individual units. These are plastic crystals glued together and then painted. Until I can make a decent proxy Monolith these will do. To be honest I kind of like em...

War Machines
A pylon on the left and an Aeonic Orb on the right, both scratch built as I explained here...

Nightbringer
My C'Tan and Supreme Army Commander when fielded. This is a Reaper Miniatures 28mm figure.

And finally the whole army together. Too much to play at once except in REALLY large games. 5,000 points is roughly 2/3 of this force.

Happy to answer questions and accept comments ;-)

Cheers,
Millsy