Trevy's Painting Table

This post is sort of a long time coming, but I've been lazy and haven't uploaded pictures of these models until recently.

Here are some of the models that I've finished lately - a Space Marine Predator and Necromunda team made from a for an older client.  Both are Level 3, and the Necromunda models are included with assembly, minor conversion and scenic bases.

And last, but certainly not least is the Space Wolves Vindicator that I was working on earlier in all of it's finished glory.  This is a Level 5 model complete with assembly and conversion done for the same client who commissioned the Thunderwolf Cavalry a while ago.

As always, there are more pictures in the Photo Gallery to the left.

Sorry for the slight delay, but YouTube was acting a little slow lately.  Anyway, here's the video report of the battle that I described in the post below.

I played in an Apocalypse game this weekend, forgoing my normal ritual of game-club.  I did this because I was asked by my local game store owner to run the event, which I thought pretty cool.  I guess the success of TAB was an indicator that I am not bad at throwing together one of these type of events.

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, here are a couple of pictures and a movie depicting this wacked-out event!

For more pictures, check out the album in my Photobucket Gallery.

The video is on my YouTube channel and is taking too long to process, so I'll put it up when its done.

August 27th, 9:08 PM.  That's when I was born.  That also means today is my birthday!  Yay!

Actually, funny story about that...

I was born originally in California, and now live in Massachusetts.  For those not acquainted with the geography of the United States, those two states are on opposite ends of the country, California on the far West side, and Massachusetts on the east.  There is a three-hour time difference between where I was born and where I live now.

Now, the exact date and time I was born on was recorded in California, 9:08 PM on August 27th.  Add three hours to account for the time difference and I officially age a year at 12:08 on August 28th.  I have two birthdays.

But this is the one I celebrate.

Anyway, enough rambling, I'm off to partay! 

A little update from the painting table - I've gotten a lot of work done on a Vindicator that I am working on for the game client who commissioned me to do those awesome Thunderwolf Cavalry a while ago.  This is a Space Wolves Vindicator using some very new Chapterhouse Space Wolves pieces.  I actually received these pieces to work on this vehicle before they were available from the store, they are so new.

The tank is supposed to look like it's been in battle for hundreds of years, with new armor plates just strapped on to replace destroyed ones, so hence the messy look of the armor.  The demolisher cannon is also magnetized to show weapon destroyed damage.

I finished the Gnoblars that I have been working on for so long the other day (and was lazy so only put up pictures just now).  Yay for me.

Anyway, the final count of the project consisted of 125 Level 2 Gnoblars complete with units fillers and a standard bearer for the unit.  That was a bear to paint, let me tell you.

Aso included were nine Level 2 Gnoblar cavalry made from Chaos Warhounds in conjuction with the Gnoblar set.  There were some funny conversions and stuff in these guys as well.

Last but not least there were a couple different heroes for the Gnoblars - six infantry heroes and one guy on a Warhound.  They were all Level 3 and had cool laval bases to make them stand out.

A note on those Lava bases - I will add those to any model's base in lieu of flock for no extra cost - it's just so fun to paint!

I changed a few things around about my policy on the Ordering page as well, just for simplicity's sake.  It's not really a big or meaningful change, but just puts into words what was already my policy.

I had a couple of games yesterday with my buddy Corey (who plays the Black Templars that were featured in a past report here), the first ones on my newly finished Realm of Battle gameboard.  You can see a report of the first game on the new board in the videos below!

Unfortunately life nipped my in the butt today (as did a healthy dose of Starcraft II) - a local youth organization is having a meeting in my home and as such it needed to be relatively tidy.  Unfortunately for them, relatively is a relative term :D.  I didn't get much done today as a result and if plans go accordingly I will be away all weekend - sorry if this affects anyone's projects!

I finally got my act together a couple of days ago to paint up the big 'ole Citadel Realm of Battle that I had lying around for so long.  I had bought it at the beginning of the summer but never worked up the courage to actually put paint on it - I was sort of afraid that it would take me too long and I would end up starting but never finishing the project.  Well, little did I know that the entire thing took me only a single afternoon and a couple episodes of Family Guy ("Damn you, vile woman!" :D) to finish up.  Drybrushing is fun.

I bought a bunch of flock to finish it all off with, but I spent so long deciding what color to use - It was a tie between a Woodland Scenics Medium Green, which is too dusty looking, a Gale Force Nine green, which is too yellow looking, and a mix of the two, which inherits the bad traits of both - that I just decided to leave it brown.  It looks good, though, and best of all - it matches my craters!

But now I have to go back and re-do some touchups that I lazily figured the flock would cover...

Anyway, here's some pictures for your undoubtedly jealous enjoyment.

I have an inaugural game planned tomorrow for this board - I hope to have it televised, so stay tuned!  It's going to be Warhammer 40,000 around 1,750-2,000 points... too bad its not Warhammer Fantasy but beggars can't be choosers because Eliot is away (I can't presgang the minion into being beaten by my ravenous Tyranids!).

I played a couple of games today with a newer member of my gaming club.  He had his nicely painted Black Templars while I went against him with first my Tyranids, and then my Tau.

On a side note, I have to admit that in my local gaming circle it is gratifying to see models painted to as high a standard as this particular player's.  I often see models left unpainted or painted to a horrifically low standard by lazy hobbyists or children, and playing against a nice army like this was a refreshing change.

My first game went well for my.  I'll admit that I had my doubts to begin with - the only other game I had played against Black Templars was a horrific wake-up call.  I hadn't played the army before and found that the number of re-rolls and little tricks that it had up its sleeve were appauling, which I discovered at the cost of most of my Tyranid army.

The points size of the game was 1,500, and my list looked something like this (it may not be exact because I didn't save it, like an idiot).

Hive Tyrant w/ Twin-Linked Brainleech Devourers, Armored Shell and Regeneration

2x Zoanthropes

19 Termagaunts

2x10 Genestealers

Carnifex w/ Toxin Sacs and Regeneration

Carnifex w/ Toxin Sacs, Regeneration and Bio-Plasma in a Mycetic Spore w/ Cluster Spines

Trygon Prime w/ Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands and Regeneration

His army list was something along the lines of (standard caveats, people, I don't play Black Templars);

Castellan in Terminator Armor

Emperor's Champion

High Chaplain Grimauldus

10 Initiates w/ Metlagun and Power Fist

5 Initiates w/ Power Sword

5 Terminators w/ 2 Heavy Flamers and a Champion w/ a Power Sword

5 Sword Brethren w/ Lightning Claws and a Power Sword

Predator Destructor w/ Heavy Bolter Sponsons

Land Raider

The deployment was Dawn of War and the mission was Sieze ground.  We opted for a ruined city style deployment, with two large ruins on my left and one across the table on my right.  Two small ruins sat in each opposite corner and the center was dominated by an enormous rubble pile.  There was one objective in each of the smaller ruins and a third sitting in the center.

I won the deployment roll and opted to go second, so my opponent reluctantly placed his models down.  He had a large Initiate squad in the center, and one smaller one on the objective to my left.  His Emperor's Champion went in the center.  On the other hand, my Gaunts deployed on the far right on my objective, with one of my Genestealer units in the larger ruins on my left flank and my Hive Tyrant in the center.

Understandably, my opponent took the first turn and began his salvo.  His Predator and Land Raider opened fire and killed all of two Gaunts.  Yay.

I moved my reinforcements on, my Trygon, Genestealers and Mycetic Carnifex staying in Reserve.  My return fire killed a couple of Initiates.  In a slightly comic mishap, my Genestealers moved six inches out of the terrain that they were cowering in, just enough so that one member was still trapped in the building.  They then rolled a '1' for their run move, and another '1' for the member still trapped in the building, trading a 14-point killing machine for a mere one inch of movement that brought them out into the open, ripe for some defensive fire.

And return fire they did weather, although it only dropped three Genestealers, much less than I had anticipated.  The remainder of the Black Templars troops moved up, the Emperor's Champion gunning for the Hive Tyrant and shaking off the torrents of fire that the monsterous leader was sending at him.  At the same time, a Black Templars Terminator squad deepstruck beside my Termagaunts, and a Sword Brethren squad appeared on the other flank from reserve.  It was looking pretty dicey.

But luck was on my side!  Just as the powerful Black Templars reinforcements arrived, my Trygon also appeared nearby the Initiates in the center, ready to nomnom some Space Marines!

The Hive Tyrant assaulted the Emperor's Champion, but neither powerful hero could wound the other.  Unfortunately for my troops, however, the Genestealers did not fare so well, as they were brought down to just two models by the attacks of the Initiates.  The Gaunts, urged to their deaths by the implacable will of the Hivemind, rushed to meet the Terminators, doing nothing but die as they threw their frenzied bodies onto the enemy.  The Zoanthrope, however, did dispatch a model with a blast of psychic energy.

Terrifyed by the threat that the Trygon posed, my opponent foolishly threw his Sword Brethren into its maw, heroically dealing three wounds (two of which were Regenerated the following turn) before the squad was disposed of by the massive, worm-like beast, who consolidated towards the Initiates that had just polished off the remainder of the Genestealers.  Desperate to gain back from ground that their brothers were losing in spades (heh heh, no pun intended), the Terminators assaulted and easily disposed of the Zoanthrope hovering menacingly near them.

My turn saw the skies open as my last Carnifex arrived in an eruption of dirt and amniotic fluids.  With the beast's arrival, my Genestealers also showed up and jumped onto the board beside the Castellan and his Terminators, who they assaulted gleefully, killing three easily.  The Hive Tyrant also succeeded in besting the heroic Emperor's Champion as the Trygon dispached the remnants of the Initiate squad in the center and began to slink toward the other squad cowering in the corner.  The Carnifex on my right got cocky and decided to try to take out a Land Raider, but was a couple inches out of range and was left stranded in front of the massive war machine.  Ah well, there's plenty more where that came from.

The Land Raider, not wanting to give up this oppurtunity, unleashed Grimauldus, High Chaplain of the Black Templars upon the savage beast before it, dealing two wounds on the Carnifex from a withering hail of fire.  Grimauldus himself dealt another wound with his trusty Plasma Pistol before charging into bloody melee.  Unfortunately the combat was not as spectacular as his entrance, and no wounds were dealt by him or his retinue.  The Carnifex struck back, and would have killed the chaplain were it not for Grimauldus' feirce will and indomitable grip on life (damn that "Only in death..." special rule!).

My Turn was heralded by the assault of the Initiates on my left by the massive Trygon.  Despite their defensive positions, the brave battle brothers were easily smitten down by the huge war beast.  Despite this victory, no more damage was dealt in either combat on the other side of the field besides the demise of a few worthless servitors and Genestealers.

As we neared the end of the game, the bestial Carnifex succeeded in killed poor old Grimlauldus, leaving it and its brood brother to assault the remaining Land Raider, destroying the ancient machine with ease.  On the last turn, the Genestealers finally killed the last of the valiant Terminators, consolidating onto the last objective and claiming it for teh Great Devourer!

With no other troops left on the board - in fact, only a solitary Predator still standin, my opponent had no objective and I claimed victory 1-0!

For some more pictures of this game, check here!

Now, you might be wondering why this post is entitled after a Tau combat tactic if I was playing Tyranids.  Pretty weird, huh?

Well, we did play a second game, and I took my Tau to the table after longing for some armor and mobile combat.  The game was another 1,500 point affair, and our armies changed slighty.  Well, mine changed alot, understandably.

Here's what I ran:

Shas'o Commander w/ Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, Drone Controller, 2 Shield Drones and a Stimulant Injector

Shas'ui Battlesuit w/ Twin-Linked Fusion Blasters and a Targetting Array

Crisis Battlesuit Team w/ 1 Shas'vre w/ Missile Pod and Plasma RIfle and 1 Shas'ui w/ Missile Pod and Plasma Rifle

Stealthsuit Team w/ 3 Shas'ui w/ Targetting Arrays

3xFire Warrior Teams w/ 6 Fire Warriors in Devilfish w/ Disruption Pods, Multi-Trackers and Flechette Dischargers

3xHammerhead Gunships w/ Railguns, Burst Cannons, Multi-Trackers, Disruption Pods and Flechette Dischargers

And he had...

Castellan in Terminator Armor

Emperor's Champion

High Chaplain Grimauldus

5 Initiates w/ Power Fist in a Razorback

5 Initiates w/ Power Sword

5 Initiates w/ Meltagun and Missile Launcher

5 Terminators w/ 2 Heavy Flamers and a Champion w/ a Power Sword

5 Sword Brethren w/ Lightning Claws and a Power Sword

Land Raider

We rolled up Pitched Battle for our Deployment and Capture and Control for the mission.  Already things were looking good, as Capture and Control is one of my most favorable missions for the Tau, so I decided to keep my units in reserve and start coming in Turn 2 to keep my opponent guessing.

Now, for those who don't know or who simply have enough lives to not understand the intricacies of Tau military strategy, the Mont'ka is the centerpoint of most of the Tau way of war.  Roughly translated, it means "Killing Blow."  The basics of the strategy are simple - give the opponent a simple, juicy target for them to attack in order to draw them out, then catch them in a rapid pincer movement as they advance, hopefully destroying or routing them before they can complete their objective.

Looking back at this game I realize that this is a perfect example of this strategy in action.

I'll go over the game quickly to spare boring details and because the hour grows late for me.

Basically, I deployed my objective in the center of the most open ground as possible, making it easy to take, but hard to hold.  The fact that I had no foot-bound troops or units defensively equipped also helped cement the idea that the objective was rather helpless.

Without units to deploy against, my opponent was at a loss as to how to set his troops up (I had been forced to deploy first, and deployed... nothing).  So he set them up in the center to assault my objective.

When my forced began to arrive, they did so on the edge opposite his Land Raider, and therefore as far from his more powerful troops as possible.  I also deployed a Devilfish on my left flank, closer to his troops.  My thoughts were that he would have to divert resources from my main force to take out the Devilfish, and if he didn't then I cound have a scoring unit in behind him fairly easily.

My Battlesuits (besides the suicide suit with the two Fusion Blasters, who went after the Land Raider), all deep-struck in the middle where there was very little terrain and, besides some atrocious scattering rolls, managed to land intact, where they could react to threats quickly and took a heavy toll on the foot-bound Black Templars with Plasma and Missile Pod fire.

By Turn 3, all of the Black Templars transports were smoking wrecks, destroyed by the Railguns of the gunships, and the remainder of his troops were hugging the cover in the center, afraid that they would be the massive cannon's next targets.  Unfortunately, he did get a combat squad next to my decoy Devilfish and was able to destroy it with his Meltagun, as well as do some damage to one of my Hammerheads with his unkillable Chaplain, but these were all minor drawbacks as, by Turn 5, all of his scoring units had been neutralized and I had a Devilfish on his rear objective (behind the building).

Anyway, for more pictures of this game, check out here!

Yeah, I have a Photobucket account.  It has cool pictures on it, check it out.  I'll probably throw it on the sidebar at some point when I get around to it, but for now you'll have to make do.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed.  I'll be off to my local gaming club tomorrow so maybe I'll have some more reports up then... if you're good.  For now, anyway, I'm off to bed.

Hey guys, I have another treat for you!

These are the Level 3 character models for this Gnoblar project.  They are mostly the same scheme as the other models, but they have some really nice looking scenic lava bases done for them which look ace to be honest.

I'm actually tempted to do an army with this style bases.  Maybe Warriors of Chaos... Hmm...