Digging through the project box..Hobby ADD: Tau Pathfinder

Today, another day..another random model painted!

This time, it was a Tau Pathfinder I didn't even know I had until couple days ago!  I was going through my Tau stuff and found this guy in the bits. The only thing wrong with him is that the tab had come off the bottom.

I remember at the time, being unable to know how to get around that problem..seems so odd now as simple pinning fixed it.   That was more then 4 years ago however.

Not only the modeling, but the painting. Nothing really wrong with the paint on my Tau despite being so long ago, but I do notice the paint isn't thinned well and the edge highlights aren't great..probably from trying to use a crappy brush.  This guy is miles ahead of where I was then.

Anyway not very exciting but to me a very interesting note on hobby progression.

Pic, then bed. 

Let the hobby ADD continue..Meganob, Vengeance Weapons Battery

After dry brushing metalics on my weapons batteries, I stared at them for a while unable to decide how to go further. So I started doing other stuff.

First, I finished my OFCC display board by gluing together and to the board the frame.  The $8 I spent on the miter box was totally worth it.

Then I started going through my project box, and instead of going to bed I pulled out a long-forgotten Meganob and started painting.   This was mostly driven by a weird desire to run Ghazzy and Farsight in the same list..

Tonight I finished the Meganob, that gives me 5 total.  I use Tin Bitz for the color, which is one of my favorite colors of all time. My current pot is nearly dead, but I have a brand new one hiding, waiting for the day it's needed. Tomorrow? I need to build a list lol.

Codex supplements - Best thing ever, or blatant money grab?

So I recently posted a video of my review of the Farsight Enclaves supplement.  First comment, was from someone who usually I greatly respect but in this case I think he's way off.

 

"All of this should have just been in the main codex..  this is little more than blatant cash grabbing."

Ugh. no.  First, and most importantly..these supplements (especially the Black Legion one coming next month) have been one of the things people have been asking for, repeatedly, for a long time.

Basically GW does what it's customers ask for, yet still gets belittled for doing it? Damned if you do, damned if you don't, eh?

So the response to this was:

"it should have all been in the codex, especially when released THIS close to the initial dex's release.. they obviously had all of this in mind when releasing Codex Tau. If you feel that charging the same amount for an additional book containing roughly 3 pages of actual RULES which still requires the main codex to play is NOT gouging, then congrats on being exactly the type of customer GW feeds on and why everything they sell costs so god damn much."

Oh bugger.  Really? No, it should not have been in the codex. First, this supplement and the Iyanden supplement have both been, what 50% or more as big as the codex.  So including all of this in the main codex would make it much more expensive. For content only a fraction of the customers will ever use. He seems to think people only care about rules.

However, nothing could be further from the truth.  Most people love the armies they play not because they beat face at Adepticon, but because they love the background, look, play style or some other aspect which can be unique to one army or faction within an army.  My Orks, for example, are slowly moving towards Blood Axes.  Not only are Blood Axes a fairly rare look among Ork players, but the fluff fully matches my play style.  And camo is fun as fuck to paint.  If there were ever a Blood Axe supplement, you would be damn sure I'd eat ramen for a week to get it.

The other important point, is that supplements are OPTIONAL. Completely, totally optional. No one is required to buy one to play, unlike say..models.  If you don't like Farsight or Iyanden, and most people who play those armies don't, then don't buy the supplements.

A lot of Space Marine players hate Ultramarines.  So, having a Space Marine codex that isn't Ultramarine centric isn't a bad thing. Then those people that do like them, can buy the supplement to fully conform to the Codex Asartes.

My opinion stands. Codex supplements are not only something people WANT, but want them for their army.  They can't put 50 plus pages for each of 2-3 factions in the codex (say Beil-Tan and Saim-Hann for eldar) .  If they tried, then you suddenly have a 250 page codex. Then he would be complaining about the price of the codex!

All I have to say is, keep it up GW. Giving people what they ask for can never be bad, and fuck the nay-sayers.

P.S.  Blood Axes, please?

Hobby ADD kicks in again - Cynar models based!

Last couple of days I've been wondering between projects.  Yesterday I worked on my next 5 Grey Hunters. I based and washed them, then pulled off the non-helmeted heads and painted those. Then started working on some dry brushing.

I got bored with that. However I did it mainly to try out my new GW dry brush. I have been using flat, cheap synthetic brushes for drybrushing but they die very, very quickly. My goal was to see if the GW one would last any length of time. I have more to do to find out for sure, but I can say the results are miles ahead of the cheap flat brush. I'm going to try a cheap round brush to see if it gives the same results.

Today I started by priming my Vengeance Weapon Batteries. I was going to start painting them, but have not decided fully on what exactly I'm going to do with them.  So I started organizing my hobby stuff..starting with my resin bases.

Which lead me, irrevocably, here.  I found the resin bases I bought for my Cynar that I had completely forgotten about. So I grabbed them, some plasticard and went ahead and based all my models. I really, really wish I had the money to finish buying my 35pts. Sigh.  Anyway I have a nice industrial decking theme from the resin bases I did buy, and just built my own for the rest.

So that's it for now.  I can't seem to concentrate on any one project long enough to finish it. 

Who says yellow is hard to paint? - Imperial Fist test model.

I might have a chance to pick up a commission, some Imperial Fists. I read about this method of painting yellow back when the new GW paints first came out, but I had to try it myself to see how it came out.

It is really, really easy to get this quality of yellow. 

White primer. Base color of Ushabti Bone, wash with Agrax Earthshade. Layer back the Ushabti bone, then a 50/50 mix of white and bone, and finally a final highlight of white.  After that, two coats of Lamenters Yellow glaze transforms the model to this color.

I might have to change the ratio on the first highlight.  It showed up really well when painting on, but lost a lot of the change when glazing.  It needs to be more dramatic to survive the glazing process.

I also need more dramatic highlights on the red, especially on the corners of the shoulderpads, but the point was to try the armor scheme..I know how to highlight red.

So that's it for this quick update.  Feedback always welcome!

First Grey Hunters complete!

Finished the 5 Grey Hunters I've been working on lately. I used a base of The Fang which gave me much more dramatic differences between the shadows and highlights I missed on the Rune Priest (which used a base of Space Wolves Grey).

I've decided to make each Grey Hunter's right shoulderpad different instead of trying to make each squad different. That way I don't have to worry about what models go where. The colors for the shoulders came strait from the Space Wolf codex.

The basing is the same as my Tau army as the Space Wolf detachment is mainly designed to be an ally for them. Unlike my Blood Angels I'm doing chipped paint and pigments to make these guys much more battle worn.

Being lead by a Rune Priest

I'm extremely happy with the way these guys are coming out, especially since they are really the first guys I've painted fully assembled, so I learned quite a bit.

Again, this was done mostly with drybrushing on the armor, gold and fur.  It's quick enough yet looks more then good enough for me.

Farsight Enclaves supplement - Error in Kindle version?

I broke down and spent real money on the Farsight ebook instead of waiting for the hardback copy in  October.

I bought the Kindle version for my Samsung Galaxy, as I'd rather play with Flashgitz then buy an Apple product.  I was looking through The Eight and found a strange entry that didn't match up with other leaks I'd seen.

Now what is odd is that the stats match up to a commander in Iridium armor..which is what the ibook version has (over at places like 3++ they have images).  Same points, but the Kindle (.mobi format) has him in a Riptide with XV8-02 stats.

Video up soon on my thoughts of the Enclave.  Hint: It makes Tau even more broken.

Project reveal - Orky Vengeance Weapon Battery

I finished up the prototype for my latest project, an Ork-ified Vengeance Weapon Battery.

I think this fortification could be fun..if only mildly useful..as a support for an Ork assault army. Even though I have not played an assault army in ..like 3 years.. I still think a couple of battlecannons for 170pts would deter an opponent from certain actions. I'll have to play test some.

But what I know for sure is that I didn't want to spent $50 on the kit and be stuck with the Imperial look of the wall of martyrs.

So I built my own.  I guessed on the size based on the pic GW put out where a Khorne Berzerker is standing next to one of the batteries.

Here is the prototype all ready for primer.  I'm working on a how-to for the 2nd one.

More to come shortly.  Comments welcome!

Hobby ADD kicks in yet again..another new project.

Just as I had put away everything..and getting ready for bed..an idea I had been stewing on for a couple days just got the better of me and I had to do something with it.

What it is, I'm not telling quite yet.  But I'm sure someone will figure it out soon enough.

After I finish the prototype, I'll make a full how-to video. Hobby ADD I tell ya. I still need to finish my OFCC display board. It's sitting here black bombed. It really won't take me long at all..that's why I'm not rushing.  Plus all the Space Wolves I need to paint..

Anyway..NOW I'm going to bed..and only because the glue needs to dry.

Tau Quad-gun conversion complete.

Just a couple pics of my quad-gun built from old metal broadside railguns.

I really like how this came out.  I just wish the guns were not so unbalanced. They are held in place with poster tack in these pics. I also painted the 4 other rail guns that are magnetized for use on actual broadsides.

The base is a 1" piece of plastic tube and I used resin sprue leftovers from forgeworld to make the bits off the bottom. I should have done 4 now in hindsight.  The middle is from the actual quad-gun.

Now I just need to figure out an Aegis that matches.

Drybrushing: not to be overlooked.

Once again, going against conventional wisdom will usually give you better results then following blindly.

"They" will tell you that dry brushing is for beginners, and "real" painters will always blend. 

Sure, if you don't mind taking 18 months to paint your army. 

Getting a good blend and highlight can be done with drybrushing, plus it is super quick and easy.  To do it right, however, does take practice and patience.  Once you master it, though, the results are great.

I've decided NOT to spend forever blending and/or highlighting my Space Wolves. I've decided to go the drybrush route. I've never really done much of it, pretty much only for terrain, bases and the occasional slugga.

Getting shadows and highlights with drybrushing requires similar approach as blending, getting the high areas or even using zenith highlighting.  This is all stuff I'm working on, but since I've only done 2 guys so far I'm still very happy with the results I've had.

The other trick to effective drybrushing is masking.  Here are some picks of me doing the chest and belt buckle gold on my first Grey Hunter:

Here is the masking. I based the gold areas with Balthasar Gold and then washed withNuln Oil. Masking tape is Tamia tape and poster tack takes care of the details.  The masking took less then 5 minutes.

And after the drybrushing is complete. Started with a drybrush of Balthasar Gold, followed by Auric Armor Gold, followed by Golden Griffon (the dry paint).  I washed with sepia, then re-highlighted with Golden Griffon.

Here he is once the masking is removed.  Perfect job, good depth and highlights. Maybe too much Golden Griffon, but still very happy with it.

I should note this was the first time I've tried the GW dry paints..and omg they are awesome.   So much pigment that controlling it is a bit difficult but what I've tried so far (the metallics) are just fantastic.

So that's it for now.  More Space Wolves to come, as well as my OFCC display board.

Allies for Tau part 1 - Space Wolves

When talking about allies in 6th, a lot of people will say if you need allies then the army book isn't well balanced. Well this does not really apply to Tau, as pure Tau plays just fine and has many viable builds.

So when planing out allies for Tau, there really are not many holes to fill.  Tau has plenty of access to melta (unlike say, Orks). It has a lot of mobility, ignore cover, monstrous creatures, flyers, etc. 

The two main holes are lack of psychic defense (which is getting very scarce these days), and any real close combat punch.  This is where Space Wolves really come in, as they have plenty of both to spare.

Now I'm going to concentrate on allies with Tau primary, so it limits the number of units available.  Tau as the allied detachment is a completely different discussion.

Here is my first Wolf ally list, which I am currently working on painting:

Primary: Tau
HQ: Commander; Iridium armor, shield generator, Multi-spectrum sensor suite, Puretide Engram Chip, Missile pod, vectored retro-thrusters

Troop: 8x Firewarriors, Shas'ui
Troop: 6x Firewarriors
Troop: 19x Kroot, sniper, hound

Elite: 3x Crisis Suits, 6x Burst Cannon, Shas'vre, Target lock
Elite: 3x Crisis Suits, 6x Fusion, Shas'vre, Target lock

Fast: 5x Pathfinder, Shas'ui
Fast: 5x Pathfinder, Shas'ui

Heavy: 3x broadsides, 3x missile pods, 2x velocity tracker, 1x Target lock

Allied: Space Wolves
HQ: Rune Priest, Runic armor
HQ: Wolf Lord, Runic armor, t-wolf, fist, stormshield, Saga of the Bear

Troop: 10x Grey Hunters, 2x Meltagun

Fast: 2x Thunderwolves, 2x Stormshields

Heavy: 6x Long fangs, 5x Missile Launcher

The best part of Space Wolves is that they can take 2 HQ units per slot, even as an ally, which is in the FAQ.  This allows both a rune priest for the "I say no" runic weapon and a powerful assault Thunderwolf Lord.

You also notice I pack a lot of melta in this list, with both Crisis Suits and Grey hunters maxed out. This isn't for vehicles as much as it is for Riptides and Wraithknights.

The commander goes with the Broadsides, to soak up wounds and make sure they always ignore cover so I'm not dependent on the Pathfinders.  (I would normally take marker drones, but the pathfinders are cheaper and more flexible here, giving me more shots if needed)  And if they do get assaulted, with the 2+ save and the invul they could survive more often then not and have a chance to get away since Hit and Run uses the highest initiative instead of the average.

The Rune Priest will usually go with the Long Fangs to doll out prescience.  I will keep JoWW against Riptides or Necrons.  I was thinking of some plasma cannons, but the S8 is a great help against the constant thorn that is Riptides/Wraithknights. 

The thunderwolves will move up to take pressure off my gunline, but the best part of this list is the wolves don't have to go in alone, they can get support from Kroot and/or deepstriking suits. Saga of the Bear is a must-take, with even a Riptide able to instant-death him before he gets to swing. Dropping in 24 S5 shots will soften up any target, if need be.  They probably won't deep strike too often, though.

I have a few more guys to assemble before I can start play testing, but I expect this list to do very well especially against the meta I face locally.

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Now if  you don't take the Thunderwolves (they do eat up a lot of points after all) then you can really go overboard on the shooting, going with 3 full units of 3 Crisis Suits all with 2 burst cannons.  Not much is going to survive that.  Add in more Grey Hunters, maybe one unit in a rhino or drop pod to go for an objective as well.  I've seen this style on the table before, as one guy plays it, and it's pretty nasty.

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That concludes part 1 of my Tau allies.   I still have Orks and Bloo...*cough* Red Space Marines. I tried some Codex Marine allies before the new Tau dex came out, and it wasn't bad...running Assault Termies out of a Skies of Blood-ruled Stormraven.  After that I'll dive into the TauDar uber combos.

Quick project - megaminis.com Grot missile launcher

Looking through my box of abandoned projects, I found this little guy I had totally forgotten about.  I bought him from the same place, at the same time, that I bought my rocket-pack Goblins for my Doom Divers. I thought he was too cool to pass up.

Mega Minis is where I got all these guys.  They have thousands of different metal models to choose from, goblins, humans, robots, fantasy, sci-fi, scenery, accessories, etc.

Or they did.  I went to there ebay store, found it empty. Checked out the website and it says they are closing at the end of the year!  They are still in business for now so most of the catalog is available and some stuff is getting sold to other companies. I would highly recommend taking a look at what they have and buy what you need now!

So anyway, back to this guy.  He's just too awesome.  Painted him like the rest of my grots, and he'll be manning a lobba or kannon soon enough.

Love the happy face on the back.  How appropriate is seeing a smile before getting blown up!!

First completed Space Wolf - Rune Priest

First completed Space Wolf model, a Rune Priest.

The majority of this model is drybrushed, and with some practice I should be able to get better shadows on the armor then I got with this one. I really didn't want to blend up the highlights since they are allies to my Tau, and the Tau has none of that (though I should go back and do line highlights).

I am going to build 3 thunderwolves (1 being a lord), a bunch of grey hunters and a unit of 5x missile long fangs. 

Enjoy!