40K Space Marine Terminators

Here is an Elite unit of Terminators for the McQueen's Marauders Chapter.

I've been reading up a bit on the rules and think these are a good unit to have - they look pretty cool in any case - especially the guy with the wings.

The bases still need flocking - I think I'm just going with sand and some pebbles (or kitty litter). Going for an urban environment; maybe some debris and such - no static grass.

WHFB Helblaster Volley Gun

Another kit picked up from the recent 50% sale. Opted for the Volley Gun over the Helstorm Rocket Battery as the rockets are way too temperamental. They can be switched out later if needed though as the upper portions fit into a slot on the carriage without the need for gluing.

The crew are painted up as Marienburgers as the recent Handgunners. The guy with the ramrod has a Pistolier's head, and the Engineer has a helmeted head from the Order Knights kit.

This gun will be used in the next game - possibly next weekend - against Pat's Lizardmen army. Hopefully it'll do better than the Steam Tank did during the last game where it had two Misfires in a row trying to build up Steam :Points.

I'm also waiting for a Space Marine Terminator Squad to arrive from an ebay purchase.

WHFB Marienburg Handgunners - Reporting for Duty

Here's a small unit of handgunners attired in the colors of that rich and aloof city Marienburg. The city that bought its independence from the Empire with gold during the reign of a corrupt emperor. Because of their great wealth, through trade, they can afford to hire mercenaries for their protection. They can also afford the best in weaponry and gear, as attested to by the latest style handguns and also helmets normally only seen on elite troops of the Empire.

This particular unit is assigned as Air Marines for the Marienburg Air Ship used in trading and also to impress and intimidate other less fortunate peoples.

They can also fight on land in close order formation.

Good as they may be, I wonder how they'd stack up against a unit of Space Marines?

WHFB Marienburg Handgunners - WIP

These are the guys I picked up at the going-on-of business sale last week - 50% off remaining GW stock. Most of the good stuff was already gone, but thought I'd use some of these handgunners to crew the Airship. They are painted in Marienburg colors - which is similar to the current Vatican Guard colors; yellow, blue and red. Here they are below after a fresh wash of Minwax Tudor Satin stain. I still have about a quarter of a can left - once it's gone, I think I'll switch to Future Floor Wax "magic wash."

The block painting only took a couple of hours as I only used the base colors over a white undercoat. Colors used were Flat Flesh, Flat Yellow, Blue and Red for the uniforms; Saddle Brown for the gun stock, leather accouterments, hair and shoes; and Silver and Gold for the metal parts. I did use black as an undercoat for the silver and gold areas too. I used the larger brush for all of the painting except for the stripes on the Marksman with the Hochland Long Rifle - the smaller brush was used for that. BTW, the cleaner-looking bottles of Vallejo were also picked up for 50% off at the sale.

It's funny that just last week I thought I wanted to paint more Empire stuff, but I'm now feeling the urge to paint up Space Marine stuff. I felt obligated to paint these handgunners up before moving on. Oh, I almost forgot to mention some of the heads are from the Pistolier/Outrider and Demigryph kits.

WH 40K Space Marines - Captain Papillon & Sergeant Bullitt

Here are Captain Papillon and Sergeant Bullitt (saving the name of Jake Holman for the Terminator leader).

I'm not good at free-hand lettering, so left off any clever writing on the scroll of the Captain's banner. I did try my hand at painting those electrical currents on the sword.

Still need to get some nice flocking material for the bases - rubble and possibly skulls would be in order. I will take a group photo once I flock all of the bases - including the previously painted Space Marine troops.

WH 40K Space Marines - WIP +1

Finished the troops, but still need to paint the Sergeant and Captain.

The bases also need flocking - I will have to research to see what would look appropriate. I don't think they'll look right if I flocked them the same as historicals or even Fantasy Empire.

After the Sergeant and Captain, I'll be on the lookout for a Land Speeder.

WH 40K Space Marines - WIP

Well, never say never...here is my very first attempt at Warhammer 40K - a unit of Space Marines - not even sure what type, although I picked up a Space Marine codex (I think that's what its called) from a store that was, unfortunately for the owner, going out of business and selling remaining stock at 50 percent off. I feel for the guy, but figured I was helping him out by buying something. The Space Marines themselves were an ebay purchase that was too good to pass up. The Captain is also another ebay purchase - again for a fraction of the cost new.  Anyway here there they are painted with the basic uniform colors of light blue and orange.

 

The colors are based on the old Porsche 917 Gulf Racing colors - the one used in the movie Le Mans with Steve McQueen.

I suppose the fluff would be the Chapter originating on the planet Le Mans with the original Chapter Master being one Stevonius McQueenus.

For the record, I tried using the Drakenhof Nightshade Citadel Shade (wash) over a white undercoat, thinking I could easily get a nice light blue finish. It didn't quite work out - the wash made some areas a dark blue, almost black. So I went ahead and gave the figures a dry-brush of light blue. This was my first use of Citadel paint of any type and don't see any real advantage over Vallejo, which is what I've used for several years now.

Lizardmen 1 - The Empire 0 - WHFB Grudge Match

Pat L (Socal Warhammer) and I met at the Gig Harbor GW store (run by a nice young lady). My Empire guys totally crushed his Lizardmen - well, that's what I wish really happened. As it was, the Lizard King still rules. I did get the first kill though - defeating and over running some of his units early on. Here are a few pics of the game - Pat's Lizardmen army looked awesome too. For this game the Empire troops left the Hurricanum and War Altar back home in Talabheim. As usual I managed to roll misfires for my Steam Tank steam points - but, as usual the Demigrpyhs and Knights did well.

Pat used his spells to good effect and kept successfully getting some of his units to appear behind my lines. Hence the crossbowmen with Wizard facing about.

I can't complain much, though as I didn't plan on using my Wizard at all - I wanted to run a "human-only" army strong on shooting troops. Okay, the Demigryphs are a concession to Fantasy - but they always do well - even with only 3 figures. We did stay at 2,500 points though.

I didn't get to use my Pistoliers too much, as they were killed off early on - but next time, I plan to use them more aggressively.

It was a good to play again as I hadn't gamed for over a month. I also haven't picked up a brush in awhile too, but have several projects pending - including some 40K Space Marines! Haven't played 40K yet, but chanced upon some really good deals on ebay and wanted to try painting some up.

Pat really has some very cool Fantasy armies - and he is a really good coach and mentor.

WHFB Empire Airship - Test Flight

Edit: some outdoor photos -

Finished the balloon and added it to the top of the ship. It's fairly secure, but I may replace the mast with a wooden dowel that would run through the bottom of the ship to a movement platform.

The fins are made from card stock, and the netting is another old Lego find in a box of odds and ends. The flag on the top of the balloon is from the Demigryph set.

The rigging was modified by joining to sections to lengthen it to meet the netting. The joint between each section of the rigging are beads from Joann's.

The balloon was given a wash of Future floor wax mixed with Vallejo inks. I think I'll switch to the Future "magic dip" once the can of Minwax stain runs out. I like how fast the Future dries - about 15 minutes or so. It is also much easier to clean up - with water.

Tomorrow is a local Warhammer Fantasy Battles tournament at the FLGS - The Game Matrix. I'm using a mostly "human" Empire army. No Magic, Wizard, War Altar or Hurricanum. Taking two Witch Hunters though. There will be 5 games over the weekend, so much like the WAB GT earlier this year, but much closer to home.

WHFB Empire Airship - WIP +2

Started on the balloon. Two Styrofoam cones have been blued together with yarn glued along the length to replicated the seams. The ends of the cones have Lego parts from a kit long forgotten, but odd pieces fortuitously kept in a bin.

Tissue paper will be added over the foam once the yarn dries. Netting will then be draped over the balloon to accept the rigging coming up from the ship itself. Well, that's the plan anyway. Oh, and fins will also be added to the rear and possibly the front top. More to follow shortly.

A Watch Tower for The Empire

This was a pretty straight forward kit - not too many major components for the tower itself, but a fair amount of optional parts. It was first given a light coat of white spray paint, and then block painting select areas like the center blue band and yellow trim. It was then given a wash of Minwax Tudor Satin stain. The stain was a bit hard to control due to the size of the model. After it was dried and given a finish of Testors Dullcote, dry-brush highlights were added.

The smaller building can be used separately or placed on top of the tower.

The tower can also be the mooring for the airship.

 

Being my first GW terrain kit (besides the terrain board piece), I was suitably impressed with the ease of assembly and with the variety of optional/spare parts that I will likely get a few more select pieces in the future.

WHFB Empire Airship WIP +1

The ship is done - as well as the Master Engineer who pilots it, and one of the crewman - a gunner for the Repeater Handgun mounted on a swivel on the forward deck.

Added shields that were extras from the Order Knights kit. I believe the skull mounted at the rear is also from the Knights kit.

Here is a closeup of the Master Engineer peering through his navigating scope - a spare from the Hurricanum/Luminark kit. The Engineer's cape is from the Pistoliers kit, his arms are from the Archers kit.

The Repeater Handgun from the Pistoliers kit is mounted on a pedestal from the Hurricanum kit. The gun rest is from the Pirate Ship - not sure what it's for originally, but found it on the sprue and it looked useful.

The ship is now basically finished - once a proper hot air balloon is mounted rigging from the Pirate Ship kit will be added to platforms around the sides of the ship. The balloon will rest atop the top of the crow's nest at the top of the mast.