Pre-game Report: I'm fething tired

Ever pull an all-nighter to work on your models before a big event? So today is my 40k Escalation tournament that I've been looking forward to. I haven't been to a tournament in literally years, not since 5th edition at least, and I am relishing the idea of getting back into the mix.

Having a painted army is a big part of my motivation to get my stuff done. I like to have every piece I am taking painted to a minimum standard of quality. Today, that will not be the case. I spent too much time fooling around over the last two weeks to get as much done as I wanted to have done. However, I have most of my army painted to a 3 color minimum, so I suppose it is at least "tournament-legal" even if it is not to my personal standard.

In other news, the "Little General" got his birthday present a week early last night, for being such a good sport at a long practice game I had. He was pretty excited, in case that wasn't evident by the look on his face. I knew he'd like mecha suits ;)

What's On My Table: 03/10/2016

So a lot of things going on for me this week. I have a practice game tomorrow, in preparation for this weekend. On Saturday, I plan on attending my first tournament since 5th edition... a 40k Escalation tournament (in which we gradually increase the points limits over the rounds). First and foremost in my list is my CSM lord with a "jump pack" which I made sure to be fully painted and ready to go. You may recognize him, though I used some new colors to brush up his paint job and bring him into line with other models I have painted more recently!

Next up is my Forgefiend. Being one of the only models I have that can provide me with any sort of anti-aircraft cover outside of Bloodthirsters, I put this guy in every level of the list (also because we have to... we are required to take the same units in the 1850 list as we did during the 1250 list. And the 1250 list must contain units chosen in the 750 list... and the Forgefiend was an early take for me.)

He's coming along nicely, much better than the giant lump of red plastic he was before today. Still a long way to go on that one, but he's tournament legal already with a 3-color standard.

Third for today, and probably the biggest undertaking, I have somewhere around 30 cultists being made table-top ready. Ideally, I want them to match the previous batch of 10 I completed, but that was years ago and I have a different set of paints now. I will try to replicate it as close as I can, and bring the other unit to match with the new colors if I have time.


I was going to post the lists I planned on taking to the tournament, but I think I'll wait and do more of an "After Action Report" type summary, and I'll include it there. This is the last time I am likely to update before Saturday, as I have a lot of painting to do so that my force is up to minimum standards! I don't even know if there is a standard of painting at this tournament, but I'll be darn sure to exceed it. Call it a personal challenge.

-Teun135

On My Table: 03/05/2016

On my table lately, I've just been trying to find a scheme I like for the Juggernauts in the Bloodcrusher unit. I finally settled on this one, as the bronze/gunmetal contrasts nicely with the bright red of the Bloodletter riding it! This is a WIP still, have some washes to do, but the unit definitely pops on the battlefield so I am pretty happy with it.

Speaking of battlefields... Finally won a Maelstrom game with my Daemonkin! It was a narrow margin of victory (7 points to my opponent's 6) but I finally feel like I am starting to get a decent grasp on how the army handles. I also have started moving away from what internet lists tell me to do, which helps since internet lists are not my local meta!

For example... internet wisdom says that Forgefiends are not a viable unit for the codex. I disagree... my Forgefiend has been a reliable source of S8 shooting that my army badly needs. Could I do the same with Heldrakes? Sure, but I'd be cutting 4 of my S8 shots out for a unit that costs approximately the same points, and has to remain zooming to be any more resilient. The Forgefiend already has a 5+ Daemon save so the extra autocannon is worth it to me. I can pretty reliably strip 2 HP or more off a AV12 vehicle with it each turn, which is very valuable. It has become a valuable anchor to my rear lines.

Anyway, I'm on a tangent. I should be getting a lot done in the next few weeks, as I have a tournament coming up on March 12 that I want my models to be completed for.

As if I could get any paler!

-Teun135

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!

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