On My Table: 2/27/2016 -

Painting my first batch of bloodletters is progressing well. At first, I thought I got them too orange, but by comparing them directly to the box under natural light, I found they matched the studio version pretty closely. I like the new larger base sizes included for them, as they actually stand up with little trouble now!

This guy.... well this is eventually going to be my "counts-as" herald/herald on juggernaut/skull throne. I plan to strap up the throne bit onto my DooM daemon, fashion a lead/collar from small chain I have around here somewhere, and create a system of removable base rings to increase the size of the bases they are both on. Should be fun.

Finally, I got a picture of the Void Shield generator in natural light (on my front deck, in fact) so that you could fully appreciate the blood effects!

Void Shield Generator of Khorne: The Bloody Orb (How To!)

So here's the story... I was beating my head against a wall all week long on the list I was going to take to a local tournament this weekend. I wanted it to be the most brutal, cut-throat, take-no-prisoners kind of Khorne Daemonkin list I could cobble together. I figured, for that, I would need a Khorne Void Shield generator (to take the punch out of 1st Turn shooting). I decided this exactly 1 day before the tournament was supposed to take place. So how to churn out an appropriately Khorney Void Shield Generator based on what I had available?

Lucky for you, I documented my slapped-together process:

I took stock of my materials. I had:

• a printer and some paper
• a chunk of MDF wood (about 5"x5")
• A 4" styrofoam ball from the craft aisle of my local Walmart
• Hot glue
• PVA glue (aka Elmer's, or in my case, Roseart)
• Plaster of Paris
• Cardboard (cereal box variety)
• Basing material (aka dirt and sand from my driveway)
• Cheap paints from the craft aisle
• Cheap black spraypaint
• A wood stick, longer than a toothpick but about as thick. In my case it was the burnt end of an incense stick.
• A variety of crafting tools (scissors, hobby knife, etc)

So first thing I did was find a Khorne symbol, and printed it out about 4"x4". After doing so, I traced it out four times onto my cardboard. To save time and make it more sturdy, I did two pieces joined together at a time, like that pictured below-

Having completed that, I put the main structure together on the MDF wood base, using the hot glue to stick it together. I wasn't particularly careful with the hot glue. It's all going to be covered up anyway, and it added a bit of a 3-dimensional quality to the surface. Once I was done with that, I took it outside and sealed it up with a coat of black enamel spraypaint. I was sure to use a flat black so it wouldn't be too glossy.

As you can see, while I was waiting for it to dry, I started mixing up my coating. I used PVA glue, Plaster, a little bit of water, and some basing material to make a kind of thin paste that I applied onto the entire structure. If you want some kind of exact formula, I have bad news for you. I just kind of fiddled with adding water and PVA glue to a cup or two of plaster until it was the consistency I wanted, thin enough to spread easily but thick enough to cling. Really pile it into the middle, get a decent amount there to build up the center and give the orb something to stay up on.

Setting that aside to dry (it took an hour or two, even when left in front of my heater), I started on the orb itself. Mixing PVA glue and craft paint in approximately a 1:1 ratio, I created a very dark base color using "Cherry Red." In hindsight, I should have done this after the next step. But I applied this to the entire foam ball, sticking the wood rod in the bottom and propping it in a soda can to catch drips. I really doused the thing... it's important to do so to seal up the styrofoam.

At this point, I had to wait for everything to dry. So I took a break for an hour or two. When I came back, everything was hard as rock, exactly as I wanted. I decided that rather than just painting on rings and swirls onto my orb, however, I wanted them etched into it. So I took the cap to a spray paint can, and etched curved lines into the visible parts of the orb with it. This is why I was saying that in hindsight, I'd have painted and sealed the thing AFTER doing this bit. It still turned out ok, but it would have made it easier.

Taking my longest-bristled brush I had, I used very thinned-down red paint (about 5 parts water to 1 part bright-red paint) and started filling in the lines. This worked ok, but I discovered that an eye-dropper worked better eventually. By applying the runny paint to the top of the curve, it would follow the line down beautifully. 

The plaster was too light upon drying for my taste, so I applied some very thinned-down black paint. Very liquid, it was approximately 15 parts water to 1 part black craft paint. I had a lot left over, so on a whim, I used it on the raised portions of my orb and decided it looked pretty bad-ass. Leaving the rod in the bottom of the orb, it propped itself up rather nicely in the center.

To finish it up, I drybrushed the structure. I started with a dark grey, then did a light grey, then a white/light grey mix (approximately 1:1) on only the top down. For extra Khorne cred, I applied some wicked blood effects around the base of the thing. My secret for the spatter? Taking a short but stiff bristled brush (an old toothbrush also works for this), I liberally juiced the brush up with paint, and used my finger to pull the bristles back and whip or flick paint onto the model. I did this twice: once with my dark red cherry color, and once again with my bright red. In hindsight, I should have mixed the bright red directly with some GW 'ardcoat and really gone the extra mile! I only slapped some hardcoat on over some of the splatter with a brush to give it a wet effect.

And there you have it! Finished Blood Orb for the Blood God. Providing a cheap and effective way to protect me from the alpha-strike on my first turn.

Sadly, I didn't get to test it, as I had to refrain from entering the tournament due to family commitments. Maybe one of you out there can build one and give it a go for me? Otherwise, it'll have to wait until my buddies and I can give it a go.

Hope this How-To inspired you, looking forward to seeing what you all come up with!

-Teun135

On My Table: 2/17/2016 - Post V-Day

I hope all your Valentines were happy with your attention on the big day! As for me, mine went well. I managed a small surprise for my dear one that got me some brownie points. With my birthday being next week, I was bad and bought myself an early present:

Now I can cut out some of the proxies I was using for my Daemonkin! Unfortunately, this adds a lot to my work load, painting wise... :P

On My Table: 02/11/2016-

Finished! 1 Squad of Khornate CSM

Now working on my next project, a conversion of the FFG model from the DooM board game!

Khorne Daemonkin: How To Paint Red (In Batches)

So you want to paint some Daemonkin (or otherwise Khorney) CSM? The biggest problem is getting the reds to pop. You want something that stands out on the battlefield, but you don't want to have to paint all those CSM individually with highlights? I have got the solution for you.

1) Black Primer
2) Khorne Red base coat
3) Agrax Earthshade wash
4) Wazdaka Red drybrush
5) Squig Orange zenith drybrush (top down)
6) Baal Red (or whatever the new equivalent is) wash to finish it up

Bam! Now you can put your brass on, pick out some black details, metal up the guns... give those bits a wash and call your CSM finished. And they really pop with that red color too! This method allows for batches, without spending all that time highlighting and blending each model. The 4 CSM above were completed in 2 sessions, approximately 4 hours of work. An hour a model ain't too bad, huh?

It's actually probably less than that... I have already applied base coats and the first wash to the remainder of two whole squads (16 models). So I am on course to having these two squads done by Friday, when I have a game with them.

Crunch time!
--Teun135

On MyTable: 2/8/2016 - Daemonkin and Nids Showdown!

So after looking at the Khorne Daemonkin rules for CSM and Daemons, I decided that I wanted to give them a go. I've always liked painting red anyway. So I found some proxies for the daemons and enlisted my fiance in a 2000 point game.

Someday I'll have enough space for a full-size game table. But for now, this one had to do. It's a 4'x4' table, primarily set up for Cities of Death battles.

My fiance had picked up a roughly 2000 point army of tyranids from a local guy for about 200 bucks. Quite a steal. So since she has had them for several months, it was time to test them out in battle. So we blocked off a time slot in the weekend and had a several-hour long battle to test out our new armies.

I trounced the poor girl pretty well. I robbed her of charges, and did not give her very good targets for her mid-range shooting models. Highlights of the game included:

• A 5-model Bloodcrushers squad chewing through 22 termagaunts over the course of 2 turns
• My Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage going toe-to-toe with not only her Flyrant, but also 3 carnifex and a unit of hormagaunts (killing the tyrant, along with 1 carnifex and 8 of the hormaguants)
• A squad of Gargoyles swooping in to assault my Possessed, but then receiving a charge from a 20 man cultist squad and drowning in a wave of angry minion attacks.

She played her Nids very passively, which is a generalship thing that she will have to improve upon. Both these armies are clearly designed for high-aggression (especially Daemonkin with their Blood Tithe rules).

I never got to use my Blood Tithe rules. We both ran standard CAD lists, to make it easy, and so I didn't run the Daemonkin Blood Host formation which adds a Tithe point every turn. Since I had pretty much tabled her at the bottom of turn 3, we called it at that point.

Next weekend, she wants to play again, enlisting the aid of the Little General to help her play. Before that, I will further test the Daemonkin in battle against a local player's Ork army.

Until that game, I am working on painting a lot more red.

So until next time,

Teun135

Campaigns in 40k 7th Edition?

I've played a few games in 7th now, and am starting to get back into the local scene with a few friends. Friendly games are fun, but after a while the missions get pretty repetitive, and simply do not provide the narrative that makes the game so entertaining for my friends and I. So we discussed creating a game league, or doing a narrative campaign. Both ideas would reinvest interest in the game, but which one to pick?

Being a small area with a couple dozen players total, fewer of which would even participate in weekly matches, it seemed best to go with a narrative campaign. The Planetary Empires rules where a bit out of date though...

Then my friend suggested I read through Crusade of Fire. So I did. And I loved it.

Planetary empires... but new! With maps for different planets! And special scenarios for gaining ground on a new planet (like Planetstrike) or attacking a Hive city (Cities of Death). Better yet, it arranges its players into 3 factions. This sounds like pure gold... rather than have two sides gunning for each other all the time (or worse, every player for him/herself), you have 3 faction politics and all the hijinks that goes with it (If you have ever played Planetside on PC, you know what I mean!).

With 7th edition, however, and the prevalent use of Formations and Superheavies, the campaign system is going to need a glance over. I'll be brainstorming with the other campaign GM (seems like we are heading towards splitting duties) and I will keep you updated with what we come up with.