So These Haven't Been Touched In A While

So way back here, I had started on working with some Primaris Marines. I wasn't going to put them in the actual Lions of Harlech chapter but rather have them go into a spin off successor chapter that is called the Void Lions. The Void Lions are a crusader chapter that are currently returning occasionally to the Cymric Sector to recruit from systems near Cymru.

So the weapons got painted black and then brushed over with Oily Steel. Trim was done with Old Gold while the shoulder pauldrons are in Gunmetal Blue. A Woodgrain Brown for the pouches and purity seal ribbons while Flat Red for the Seals of the Purity Seals and a couple other trim pieces and the power sword. Then a bit of basing and that was it. After sitting in progress for just over 5 years, it's nice to get these off the table and done. I'm trying to make a big push to get my backlog cleared out so I can start pulling things out to deal with like the other Dreads still needing paint and various other Lions of Harlech.

So that's it for now though there should be a Lions of Harlech versus Black Legion versus Tau that was a fun time. Second time playing with Joel this edition and first time with Cheef since early 8th Edition so I enjoyed it quite a bit. I'll see you all next time!

Dreadtober Coming To An End

So as Dreadtober comes to an end, I've made a big push whenever I had a bit of time to see about finishing what all I could which includes a few surprises for you all I hope.  I'm super pleased with how the month went over all.

First up I've managed to complete the painting of a total of 7 Dreadnoughts in all.  In addition to the three Black Reach Dreadnoughts, there is the dual twin autocannon Dreadnought and an assault cannon and missile launcher Dreadnought.  Finally there is a Contemptor and my Eddie.

Here's a bit of a better picture of the Eddie.  He's an interesting model and a great piece of GW 40K history.  I'm happy to finally have him painted.

Lastly for the updates I tackled my Chaplain Dreadnought.  While I made good progress on his paint, I don't believe that I'll have him done before Dreadtober ends but I will be pushing through to get him done.  He's got all the base colors in place but still needs wash layers, basing, some touch ups, and some detailing such as purity seals, etc.  Since I focused on painting the last half of the month, the Primaris Dreadnought only made it to the torso being assembled.  I'm going to see about getting him finished being assembled in November.

So all told, I will finish Dreadtober with 7 Dreadnoughts completely painted and one soon to be finished.  This will put my Dreadnoughts at 13 Dreadnoughts fully painted and based, 1 Dreadnought partially painted and 11 unpainted Dreadnoughts (technically 12 counting the partially assembled one).  For the first time, over half my Dreadnoughts are painted.  I might be having my own personal Dreadcember event to get some more completed as it's been nice to make some serious progress.

Don't forget to check out Cheef's and Neverness' progress on their Dreadtober projects as well.  Being not as talented painter using a much simpler paint scheme I might have painted more Dreadnoughts but theirs are both quite better looking than mine.

So that's all for now and I'll see you all next time.

Dreadtober Continues

So we've got some progress again for Dreadtober.  It's been a rough week and a half but we're finally back on track.

 

First up is the pair of Black Reach Dreadnoughts that I started with for this month.  They're both finally finished so we've achieved our first objective for the month!

Next up is are the Rifleman Dread and the one with missile launcher and assault cannon.  These two are now ready for basing and maybe just a few small last minute touch ups.

And then lastly for Dreadtober, we have progress on the Eddie.  He's now got all the colors added and just needs his wash layers and then his base painted.

Now for an added bonus, I've finished the first Void Lion primaris marine.  Now that the pattern is locked in, it's time to start getting all the assembled ones painted to make room on the table for the unassembled box.

So that's were we stand for now and I'll see you all sometime next week!  Thanks for visiting and hopefully your October has been full of Dreads too!

Ghost Bear's Return!

So other than a small touch up on the paint on the base edging, my Ghost Bear tourman's 44th Provisional Garrison Cluster is complete.  They're based same as my front line Ghost Bear units but the different shade of blue and bronze instead of silver easily marks them as a different unit.  I'm pleased with how they came out and helped to thin out my pile of unused mechs quite a bit.

The Piranhas are an interesting mech for chewing up infantry and light mechs and paired up with a Thor and a Dragonfly makes it an interesting force to deploy.  The non-Omni star of mechs helps mark it as a second line unit.  The two Flashmans have an interesting modification though.  Somehow I didn't notice that I was missing the piece that goes between the gun arms and the main body when I got them as loose parts at Iron Wind Miniatures way back here.  So the arm links are all metal BBs instead.  They fit with the rounded profile of the mechs well and join into the sockets on both parts quite nicely.

Next up is something I'm in the process of reading through that's been very interesting.  I've had the Reunification War and First Succession War for a while now, so it was nice to get a hold of the Second Succession War book this past week.  Even better was finding it on sale and saving about $15.  These books have been very interesting reads and it has been interesting to see how they expand on the stories and lore from those time periods.  I hope Catalyst Games keeps producing these books.

So the last thing is in regards to Warhammer 40K.  I've got a box of Intercessors, a Primaris Dreadnought, and the limited edition Captain to assemble.  The small force of primaris marines will be the now decided upon Void Lions, a fleet based group for more aggressive strikes against the alien (I'm looking at you Elite Grot Mountain Division), the traitor (you know, Khorne Berserkers, Black Legion, Space Wolves ... ), and anyone else wanting to deny the Emperor's will.  I'm still not settled on a paint scheme yet but I'm getting close.

Thanks for stopping by and seeing how the progress is going.  I'm happy to get an item off the to do list.  Next up is finishing painting all the GHQ APCs for the Caselton Militia.  After those are done I'll only need to acquire a pair Pegasus hover tanks and then paint a pair of Demolisher tanks to finish up the unit.  Still exploring storage ideas for bits so feel free to share any ideas.  See you all next time!

Getting Organized

So the organization of my hobby storage, projects, and so on continues.  I'm still looking for a long term idea for bits storage, so keep sending me suggestions if you have them.  I'm also trying to get all my projects and such organized as well.  So here's where the state of my hobby and what's on the list to be worked on.  This is going to turn into a long one I think, so let's get going.

Battletech
Eridani Light Horse, 21st Striker Regiment
This is my unit closest to fully completed and should be able to finish it in the next couple weeks assuming I can track down the tank I'm missing.

1. Need a Rommel/Patton or Von Luckner tank to finish off 1st Arm. Inf. Bat.
2. Finish painting aerospace fighters

8th Donegal Guard
This one will also be done soon.  I've got all the mechs for the 3rd Battalion and it's just a matter of painting and basing.

1. Paint and Base 3rd Battalion of Mechs

Caselton Militia
This one isn't too far from being done as well.  Again it's mainly just painting and basing, though painting all those little GHQ apcs and halftracks .

1. Paint and Base rest of mech infantry platoons and Demolisher Tanks

Ghost Bears
I've got some clan and SLDF era mechs from trades and such that I've organized into a Provisional Garrison Cluster.  Since it's not part of the Alpha Galaxy like the rest of the completed Ghost Bears, they'll need a different paint scheme but still something that goes with them.

1. Paint and Base PGC unit 

20th Arcturan Guard
I have nothing to do to this unit.  It's two lances and no plans to add or mess with this unit any farther.

Terrain
I've got a few ideas of some pieces I want to do, but no immediate projects as I have to figure out the hows and with whats.

Warhammer 40K
Lions of Harlech
This is hands down my largest project to get done.  There are hundreds of marines plus dreadnoughts and vehicles that need painted.  I really need to get myself motivated to start clearing some off these up.  Out of the entire chapter, I'd say close to 35 to 40% of it is painted so a ton of work here to be done.

1. Finish 8th Company, missing 6 Assault Squads
2. Painting and Basing .... SOOOOOOO much painting

Void Lions
This is the successor for my Lions where all the Primaris marines are going.  I've got an Intercessor Box and a Primaris Dreadnought to assemble   I also need to get their background written as well as figure out a paint scheme.  With the Primaris marines from the 8th Edition Starter Box, that'll give me a nice small unit of them that I have no plans on growing.  I just wanted to have a few options of these for use on the table top.

1. Finish assembling Primaris Marines
2. Paint and Base the Primaris force
3. Finish writing fluff for Void Lions

X-Wing
For a while this was played in bulk but seems to have died down for a while.  I still love my ships though and no plans to thin it out any.  I do need to get it all reorganized as it's outgrown my original storage and organization plans.

1. Get cards and ships organized
2. Figure out if I need/want to add any ships

Bolt Action
British Airborne
This is pretty far down the priority list due to there being little interest in Bolt Action lately it seems like.  But I do want to get this group done at some point.

1. Paint and Base entire force
2. Assemble 2nd Bicycle Squad
3. Look into adding a few more Bren Carriers

Mordheim
Dwarf Band
With the news that Mordheim might be being re-released by Games Workshop as well as it's occasional resurgence among players around here, I need to look into getting this force finished.

1. Paint and Base the force 
2. Finish fluff for the force

Saga
Viking Warband
This group is somewhat partially painted and while it isn't played locally, I think I could talk Bob into giving the rules a try if I get the force finished.

1. Paint and Base the force
2. Finish the unit fluff

Space Fleets
This is more of a for fun project than something that will probably every see the table top.  I don't know anyone that plays these.  It includes my BattleTech Aerospace ships as well as generic ships from several systems to use for civilian ships or whatever.  Again no priority on this force at all, but it'll be a fun project to work on at times.

1. Get all the ships painted
2. Figure out basing solution

Organization
I still have a lot of work to do here as well, mainly in getting all the bits still floating on sprues to a final home so I can find what I'm looking for or at least have a decent idea where to look.  A pile of partial sprues on my desk, a large tote of partial sprues and about 4 random boxes with looks stuff in them just isn't working for me any more.

1. Finish sorting hobby source books into boxes
2. Bits storage solution and implementation

Well, that's pretty much it.  There are a few other small things that aren't on the list due to them being so far down the list of stuff to do that they aren't even on the radar.  These include 10mm stuff, Aeronef, Rogue Star force, and Guild Ball.  That's all for now and thanks for stopping by.  I'll see you all next time and don't forget to send those bits storage ideas.

Half A Week Late

Well, this is about half a week after I had intended to get this up, but here it finally is.  The Saturday night before last I got my second game of 8th Edition 40K in, this time against Cheef and his Orcs.  It was a very close fun game and I'm glad to finally get an edition where the focus was back on having fun rather than trying to remember 30 pages of special rules plus all the army and unit special rules.  I'm hoping to get a lot more games of 40K in now.  Once I get the BattleTech cleared off the paint desk to make some room, I want to get the Primaris Marines from the starter box assembled and give them a try as well.

Now this won't be a full battle report but rather an overview with pics with my impressions thrown in here and there.

Here is the force I took with a Captain, 2 Tactical Squads, 3 Contemptor Dreadnoughts, and 1 Venerable Dreadnought.  I love that there is a force chart variant that will let me fit 6 Dreadnoughts into a list but since we were only playing 1,000 points, 4 is what I got to take.  They felt very effective and easy to use in the game, but Cheef's unit of Tank Bustas definitely could put a hurt on them.  We played a pretty standard mission of kill points plus the few bonus VPs for first blood and such.  Deployment was the long table edge triangle one.

Cheef's force deployed in the pic above.  He had a mob of boys, a mob of gretchin, some gretchin artillery, a mek on a bike, an orc weird boy, his Matilda wagon full of tank bustas, Snickrot and some boys. and a trio of buggies.  He managed to steal the initiative and went first.

This is my deployment, I was concentrating toward my left flank to keep my force together to support itself.

I focused early in the game on thinning out the unit of boys and gretchin.  In hindsight, I should have put more into killing the wagon earlier to get more early wounds on it as at the end of the game, it kept hanging on by just a wound or two.

When I finally really focused on the wagon, one dread was already starting to feel the pain and then when I charged it, between the two I just didn't roll well enough to do the amount of damage I needed to do.

Cheef managed to use his orc mystical powers to jump his unit of boys into my zone and then with the sneaky boys ended up over running one of my tactical squads.

It was at this point that the action really got moving and I forgot to keep taking pictures.  It ended up just one point apart and he was close enough to scoring more points that I'm perfectly happy in calling it a draw.  It was definitely enjoyable and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

Now getting back to the BattleTech mentioned earlier.  I have 3 lances of vehicles almost done.  They're not fated to end up in the same companies of the militia unit, but I wanted to test the scheme out on multiple vehicle types with the first batch.  I've got another wash layer to do on them and then they need based.  I'm not planning on putting the large tanks on a base at the moment.

Now this is the part that Cheef has been waiting for, the start of the UrbanMech lance for the militia.  They've been primed and got the first wash layer over the green.  Next up they'll get the red stripe down the side and the silver highlights.  It's a good first progress on them.  My goal is by the end of the week to have the 3 almost done lances finished, the Urbies finished, and I'd like to get another batch of 3 vehicle lances started.  If I can get the 3 mech lances and 4 companies worth of vehicles done, I'll have enough room to start working on the Primaris Marines.

Speaking of the Primaris Marines, I'm still leaning towards a Lion's successor chapter for them and keeping it Primaris only.  This means I will NOT be collecting an entire other chapter, just a decent small group of Primaris to use in games. I am currently leaning towards calling them the Lions Rampant or Ghost Lions but I'm willing to entertain ideas if someone has a great one out there.

That's all for now and I'll see you all next time.

6th Tactical Reserve Company

So the next to last company is finally going to be posted.  I did a lot of digging into bit boxes and other hobby storage containers getting these models together.  It's still 5 bolter marines shy of a full company, but I'm sure I'll come up with those bodies at some point in the future.

6th Company, Reserve Tactical Company "Wardens of Honor"
    The 6th Company is currently held in Cymru as the rapid reaction company.  It's prepared to quickly deploy if any major enemy force is detected or to respond rapidly to any call for assistance by the Imperium.  The 6th Company is slated to exchange duty with the 2nd Company in the near future barring any major deployment needs.

Captain Eamonn Sidhe
    Company Champion Dafydd Gwilyn
    Company Standard Bearer Padraig Haig
    10 Tactical Squads

        Tactical Squad Cyrdaan. Sgt Cyrdaan

        Tactical Squad Madleiss, Sgt Madleiss
        Tactical Squad Arvais, Sgt Arvais
        Tactical Squad Elcadar, Sgt Elcadar
        Tactical Squad Waelim, Sgt Waelim

        Tactical Squad Meidonn, Sgt Meidonn
        Tactical Squad Dassyne, Sgt Dassyne
        Tactical Squad Phaeton, Sgt Phaeton
        Tactical Squad Aldarion, Sgt Aldarion
        Tactical Squad Eirtyn, Sgt Eirtyn
    3 Dreadnoughts
    9 Rhinos
    4 Razorbacks

So that just leaves the 8th Reserve Assault Company that hasn't been posted.  Seeing as it consists of less than 3 squads, it's not going to be up for quite some time.  But all in all not too bad a collection of marines.  Between the 9 Companies, Command Squads, Chapter Leadership, the Grellon, the Deathwatch Kill Team, ... it's well over 1,000 bodies.  Now just got to get about 500 marines painted ....  Until next time all.

5th Company in Retro Style

So back around here I mentioned getting a Calph box set.  Well since then, I caught a sale which combined with some store credit to get me a great deal on a second Calph box.  Then this past week I got a batch of 30K marines off someone in the Tri-City area needing to fund replacing a lost cosplay Mandalorian helmet.  Between the three I've been able to put together an almost entire Company of 30K based marines.  The two assault squads, the Dev sgts, and a couple models in the Command Squad are the only non-30K models in the group.  A trade where I parted with my Bolt Action Americans (I really just like my Brits a lot better, but I kept Lt. Captain America) netted me a Leviathan, plus the 2 Leviathans in the previously mentioned trade puts a nice heavy Dreadnought contingent in the Company.  3 Leviathans backing up 2 Contemptors definitely make an impression.

5th Company, Battle Company "Stone Lions"
    The 5th Company is deployed in squad size forces to major worlds and allies in the Lions area of control.  They help improve those defenses as well as serve as a first line of defense against any incursions.  During an incursion into the Ghoul Stars, the 5h Company was all but destroyed with only a few partial squads remaining.  A few years after, while helping expand and improve the defenses of the Forge World Goedrean, an entire lost bunker was uncovered that was filled with Heresy Era armor and weapons.  The 5th Company was rebuilt with this equipment.

Captain Padraig Blodwen, Master of the Hunt

    Company Champion Hans Odwynn
    Company Standard Bearer Darius Hrothgar
    6 Tactical Squads

        Tactical Squad Bairn, Veteran Sgt Bairn
        Tactical Squad Etainne, Sgt Etainne
        Tactical Squad Malthair, Sgt Malthair

        Tactical Squad Cionnac, Sgt Cionnac
        Tactical Squad Aelhinn, Sgt Aehlinn
        Tactical Squad Grosclin, Sgt Grosclin
    2 Assault Squads

        Assault Squad Tyeron, Sgt Tyeron
        Assault Squad Alberic, Sgt Alberic
    2 Devastator Squads

        Devastator Squad Muirghaen, Veteran Sgt Muirghaen
        Devastator Squad Aedryc, Veteran Sgt Aedryc
    5 Dreadnoughts

        Leviathan Dreadnought Biorgier
        Leviathan Dreadnought Sertoirian
        Leviathan Dreadnought Kraedilan

        Contemptor Dreadnought Gaertir
        Contemptor Dreadnought Blaille
    10 Rhinos
    6 Razorbacks

So we're getting towards the end of the chapter.  For those keeping track ... that's 26 Dreadnoughts.  4 Leviathans, 1 Chaplain, 8 Contemptors, 3 Ironclads, 2 Venerables, 8 Regular, and 1 Eddie.  There is still the 6th Reserve Tactical Company which should be close to full I believe and then the 8th Reserve Assault Company which is no where near complete.  I'm probably going to take a small break from this and get a few other things posted up to get caught up and then back to the Lions.  Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next time.

4th Company

 So this go around, it's the 4th Company, one of the Battle Line Companies.  This is one of the more active companies, constantly patrolling for any threats to their sphere of influence.  After this post, there is still the 5th Company (Battle Company), 6th Company (Reserve Tactical Company), and 8th Company (Reserve Assault Company) left to post still.

 

4th Company, Battle Company "Lion's Claws"
    The 4th Company, like 2nd Company, is tasked with actively patrolling the areas around Cymru.  In addition to pursuing alien and heretic forces, they also bolster and augment the defenses of allied systems.

Captain Rhys Glyndwr, Master of the Fleet
    Company Champion Daerwyn Viserys
    Company Standard Bearer Tomas Stenshoel
    6 Tactical Squads

        Tactical Squad Bleddyn, Sgt Tobin Bleddyn
        Tactical Squad Gwionyn, Sgt Gwionyn
        Tactical Squad Breithal, Sgt Breithal

        Tactical Squad Halpaern, Vet Sgt Jaeme Halpaern
        Tactical Squad Alasdair, Sgt Alasdair
        Tactical Squad Phaidias, Sgt Phaidias

    2 Assault Squads
        Assault Squad Valerius, Sgt Valerius
        Assault Squad Gwyrdon, Vet Sgt Gwyrdon

    2 Devastator Squads
        Devastator Squad Esgalion, Sgt Aemon Esgalion
        Devastator Squad Branne, Vet Sgt Owyn Branne

    4 Dreadnoughts
        Ironclad Dreadnought Gilrain
        Ironclad Dreadnought Glanhir
        Dreadnought Braedwr
        Dreadnought Camedyr
    8 Rhinos
    3 Razorbacks

So next up will be most likely the 8th Company.  I've been using this opportunity to get the Companies put back into foam trays so they're sorted out.

9th Company

 So this time up is the 9th Company which is full of nice shooty devastator squads.  To keep the theme, it even has a devastator squad as the command squad.  And yes Cheef, that's two more Dreadnoughts to acquire.

9th Company, Reserve Devastator Company "Hammer Strikes"
    The 9th Company is another force that is deployed by squads to neighboring systems to aid in their defense.  The largest of these deployments is three squads to the Goedrean System Forge World.  This continued commitment has kept many a world loyal to the Emperor as well as foiled many xenos and heretic raids expecting easy prey.

Captain Breidh Aislinn
    Company Champion Julius Candless
    Company Standard Bearer Piotr Eichner
    10 Devastator Squads

        Devastator Squad Detrien, Sgt Detrien
        Devastator Squad Mordraen, Sgt Mordraen
        Devastator Squad Dorthrai, Sgt Dorthrai
        Devastator Squad Tildaan, Sgt Tildaan
        Devastator Squad Edryk, Sgt Edryk

        Devastator Squad Amagaius, Sgt Amagaius
        Devastator Squad Paulius, Sgt Paulius
        Devastator Squad Taelon, Sgt Taelon
        Devastator Squad Charllin, Sgt Charllin
        Devastator Squad Ochtius, Sgt Ochtius
    2 Dreadnoughts
    7 Rhinos
    3 Razorbacks

I also picked up recently the Deathwatch codex, the Deathwatch Kill Team Box, and the Deathwatch Captain box.  The leads us into the beginnings of a Kill Team that is operates out of Fort Pykman based on  location and my chapter's fluff in regards to the Ghoul Stars.  I really like the Deathwatch books.  It's some great fluff and really fills out that aspect of Space Marines that was really underdeveloped.  I really like the idea of the Blackshields as well.

So the Kill Team I'm working on will end up being an all Imperial Fist and successor chapter force.  It should be a fun force to assemble and fluff out.  So that's all we have for now and I'll see you all next time.