What I done in 2019. A review.

Greetings. As we near 2020 many blogs contain some sort of status hobby update and this one can join in. I did one in 2017 and failed to do one in 2018 so I can't call them annual. Probably Biannual at the moment.

Painting

Well I've managed to paint over a hundred models this year. Mainly Genestealers or members of the cult. I managed to get some Aeldari done too but mainly the bulbous headed destroyers of humanity. Citadel contrast paints helped me achieve this. Some of the first models completed this year was some Brood brothers and assorted humans (and not so humans) to join the glorious revolution that was the Genestealer Awakening (or whatever). Some Necromunda models were also completed including Karloth Valois who will be murdering for the Imperium when I next use Astra Militarum in a game of 40K. There was a good bit of focus on the GSC as I really like the models and they are hard as nails in the game. Quite a lot of Aeldari was coloured in also and they saw a bit of table time interfering with the lesser races. I painted up rangers (scouts) Swooping Hawks and Jetbikes. All great for being mobile and sneaky.

Modelling

Well not the catwalk kind, the making-stuff-out-of-other-stuff type thing. Can't say I've really created  much, except for the little Catachan Brainleaf over on the left. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out but it hasn't been used on the tabletop as a very dangerous plant intent on taking over the brains of sentient lifeforms to prune themselves. I've done a bit of painting some kits; Tectonic Fragdrill and the killteam terrain to name two. Both kits are detailed as fuck and took a lot of labour intensive activity to finish. The Fragdrill (on the right) is actually a weapon for use in games but as I've pretty much worked out my favourite lists for 1500 point games (my most common type) I find it difficult to shoehorn a 75 point model into it as it sometimes seems there are plenty of passengers in the list as it is! I also virtually finished a castle and some storage containers but not enough so they get their own posts. They will do of course, but not today.

Gaming

Stuart's Tyranids

Billy's Custodes

I have recently started recording my battles onto an Excel spreadsheet to keep tabs on how I'm doing with the possibility of me learning something from it, so far no insights but here are the stats; played 14, won 7, lost 4, drew 3. A 50% win average.  Not bad for a randomly determined game. 12 games were with the Genestealer Cult and two with Aeldari. There is a running joke in our group on how OP GSC are currently in 40K. Not sure how much I agree but they seem to be doing ok so far. It is probably far more accurate to say I am a military genius along the lines of Hannibal, Napoleon or Jervis Johnson. I managed 8 battle reports out of the 14 so that's an achievement in itself. Speaking of battle reports they are getting more attractive as more and more models are getting finished by myself and my opponents.

The Future

One thing I've alluded to in my last post was our gaming group starting up a league. 10 combatants each playing one another once per calendar month leading to 9 months in total with a 1st/2nd place playoff to have a grand champion. Sounds like fun but logistics will tell. Other plans for the coming year is to play a few games using a Ynnari force, hopefully with all types of the Aeldari armies. Obviously I wish to paint up at least another 100+ models but if contrast paints are willing I hope to do a lot more. Scenery-wise I want to add some more alien plant life so I can fill a table with freaky flora. I'm also trying to make a board themed around the webway but that is still very much in the scratching my head without a clue stage of the process. Whilst on the subject of modelling projects I intend to work on my scenery a lot more and one of the things I want to finish asap are two more medieval townhouses and two adobe style buildings for my sort of desert type terrain. Anyhow time will tell if my ambition once more far exceeds my focus.

All that remains for me is to wish all my fellow gamers, followers and accidental visitors a Happy New Year and a 2020 full of hobby excess.

Thanks for reading. 

Getting my Genestealer Cult On!

Bonjour. Here is probably my last post of the year with new content anyway. Having had a dose of man flu that very nearly killed me, I bravely dragged myself out of the bed to paint up some more Genestealers for something exciting occurring in the new year. That is a 40K league within our gaming group C.L.A.W. It's a 1500 point league where each participant plays every other member once. There are 10 participants. 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw. we're going to play the first 9 scenarios as they appear in the Chapter approved 2019, alternating with the first Eternal War mission then the corresponding Maelstrom of War one. The two at the top of the league then have a play off final so we have an overall champion. That should prove very exciting and I may even be able to put up some batreps about it on here. Another member of the group has decided to create a blog exclusively about the league so there will be more news on that when I get it.

The Assembly of D'Keddes

The Assembly of D'Keddes is the new moniker of my GSC army. Basically derived from battlefield banter so I thought the name is as good as any other. the aforementioned man flu enabled me to finish some sections of my army and as I'm pretty much off until New Years Eve I may even be able to squeeze in a couple more finished models before 2020. The models below are all finished with the aid of GWs contrast paints, hence the fact that there are quite a lot done in a short space of time.

Brood Brothers

Ten Brood Brothers that are armed with a variety of weapons (some are illegal, but hey, Brood brothers don't follow the rules). The sergeant has got one of those dead giveaway extra blue arms so how he managed to pass the basic medical for the PDF is testament to either the jobsworth nature of the tester or a damning indictment  of the corruption within the organisation. 

The D'Keddes uniform, brown and grey. Classically stylish.

 Aberrants

Next up is these eight window lickers. Aberrants are pretty great models that when you slather in Magus Purple they look even better. They also pack a flip of a wallop! They are also, sadly rather thick, as their constantly  questing tongues alludes to. One of the best aspects of Aberrants is their Bestial Vigour and the probably get this by constantly tasting stuff they shouldn't, building up their immunity to such an extent they could consume the contents of cattery's industrial sized litter tray with a hint of a weepy eye.

Flexing and licking things are an Aberrants favourite two things.

 Various Hybrids and Metamorphs

With the league looming and me toying with the idea of using the Twisted Helix cult I have come to the conclusion (along with the Aberrants) that the +1 strength bonus is a very useful thing to have with these extra-attack-having weirdos. To be honest having used Twisted Helix cult creed with ordinary Hybrids impressed me greatly in a recent game. They have some pretty good all round options but to me the best combo is a Metamorph claw and rending claw which gives you good versatility. In the background of this picture is an oldskool 90's Hybrid who I haven't armed with anything so he can just mill about at the back and try to not get in the way, until of course, I want him to get in the way of taking a bullet for his betters.  Or a blade, radioactive shell or whatever else the GW design team can think up.

Four Metamorphs and Glenn, the slightly blurry Hybrid.

 Legless Hybrids

As all the GSC infantry kits have more torsos than pairs of legs, it is necessary to get a bit creative with the deficiency. Of course I could always just build the correct number of models that the box says or I can get a bit more Hybrid or Neophyte for my buck. So I have three Hybrid heavy weapon operators all emerging from things. Firstly on the left is Graham who is climbing out of an Astra Militarum  green piece of Adeptus Mechanicum equipment, kindly donated by Stuart. Next is Wayne who has used a rock drill to tunnel his way out of a Killteam pillar. In the centre is Slobodan who is coming out of a manhole (possibly hybridhole) with his heavy rock saw. second from the left is Barry who is emerging from a pile of rubble where he may (or may not) have killed an Ad Mech Scitarii. Finally there is Neophyte Penelope poking out of a barrel to shot some enemies of the cult.

Five freebie models!

Also here are some more  Hybrids coming out of pipes (20mm plastic conduit) which will have some water effects applied to it (again kindly donated by Stuart) to make them look like they're sewage commandos. Also a Metamorph and my Iconward to finish the group.

The Iconward probably needs a bit more work on the banner but he's certainly tabletop ready. As far as the two pipe dwellers they may get another mention if the water experiment goes well.

Finally a group shot.

Thanks to the contrast paints these models look pretty great and are finished quickly. So quickly in fact that I may even get some more finished before December 31st. I really must create an end of year progress report and the best thing about that is I won't feel as embarrassed as usual. So until then have a great rest of the year with lots of hobby related presents or games to enjoy.

Thanks for reading.

Imperial Architecture & Some Industrial Mining Equipment

Greetings. Having had a recent spurt of enthusiasm I have finished more gaming items. not really models but terrain. Quite a while ago I bought Killteam and put the terrain together. Sadly I undercoated them grey, painted up a couple of bits in suitably drab slightly darker than the undercoat grey and stopped. Mainly because I found them very time consuming and I wasn't overly happy with the result. Then came along sorcery paints (others might know them as contrast paints) and I bashed out the stuff below in 3 or 4 hours.

Ruined Buildings

The non contrast colours I used on these lads were Vallejo Silver, Army Painter True Copper and Army Painter Gold, all drowned in Army Painter Strong Tone. The walls were Black Templar  and the floor sections were Leviadon Blue. Happy with both colours on grey undercoat, I actually thought it was a bit of a con when GW said you'd get two different effects depending on what colour you primed it with. So anyway, my battle reports will look a smidge better now.

Hiding behind the big ruins is my Mantic Landing Pad. As it's not the star of the post that's all I have to say about that.

Same model from a bit closer.

After moving slightly to the right I took another pic.

Tectonic Fragdrill

Funnily enough I finished the Fragdrill before the ruins bar the tiny wheels, I painted the drill with mainly contrast paints. Nazdreg Yellow for the platforms, Black Templar on the structure which as you can see gives a very different look as this model was primed white, Warp lightning for the drill body. Same method for the metal parts. silver and copper with a strong tone wash, voila! Some models for my tiny men to fight over. I'm not sure if I like the rules enough to actually use it as a Fragdrill but it's a class model that will see plenty of passive battlefield time.

Another piece of scenery lurking in the background is my castle, not quite finished so it may be in a post in the not too distant.

This model isn't actually glued together so I can detach the drill so it can moonlight as a deathstrike missile that burrows rather than flies to it's target. 

So there you have it, my scenery collection is getting prettier. Soon everyone will be clamoring for some batreps! Next on the scenery list is my armoured containers again with contrast paints them might see there own entry before the new year!

Thanks for reading.