Saturday, January 23, 2016

Space Marine Statue

This statue debuted in the first game of our Pulp Alley 40k campaign. It is from Games Workshop's Honoured Imperium terrain set. I spent a while deciding how to paint it: grey stone, sand stone, marble effect (didn't think about that one for long to be honest - I'm not that brave!) Eventually I settled on a bronze scheme. This is a great tutorial.

First off, a heavy drybrush with Vallejo Game Color Tinny Tin. I have to say, where has this paint been all my life? I can see myself massively overusing this paint: it's a wonderfully dark, moody metallic colour.
Next, lighter drybrush with VGC Brassy Brass.
Now for the fun bit: the verdigris. Then a wash two parts Model Color Turquoise, one part VMC Flat Green, one part VMC Russian Green, lots of parts water. I didn't have nearly enough water, so the 'wash' ended up more like another coat of paint.
That meant I needed to go back and drybrush Tinny Tin and Brassy Brass.You can't really see a whole lot of the verdigris in this picture,but it is there!
Finally, I popped the statue on a plinth from BlueForge Terrain, with a few custom cracks added.
You can see the verdigris here! (You can also see blogger being a pain and refusing to centre my photograph...grrr)

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Op Shop Score

Popped down to the local Vinnies today to buy a book I'd seen there earlier. Book was gone, but I found these!
 The 1/72 figures still on sprues, the 1/35 stuff still all in bags. The Airfix figs went to the boys. The Germans; I'll use their bits for my 40k stuff. Not bad for $2!

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Even More Chaos Cultists

These couple of guys featured in the battle report just gone, but after the action shots, here's the studio portraits.
I love the flamer - the long barrel, the industrial appearance of the thing; it looks primitive compared to most of the other 40k flamers. Perfect for a cultist. The mask is a bit weird. If I did this guy again, and wasn't racing to finish him, I'd definitely do a head swap.
As for the other guy, well, full metal acne. At least it's just on his back: doesn't mar that pretty face! I've finished all but two of the basic cultists from the Dark Vengeance set. I don't know when I'll get to them, though. When will I next need more cultists on the table than I had last game? (The guys in the campaign may not want the answer to that question!)

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

The Last Stand - a Pulp Alley Game

Sinastras IV, hive city. Hosting the 714 Infantry Regiment as it rests and refits after a triumphant campaign against Chaos. 

A livid explosion of twisted humanity. A vast but undetected chaos cult rises in revolt, seeking vengeance on the 714th. The shock assault results in slaughter. Everywhere soldiers are cut down before they can begin to regroup and resist.
Our three heroes find themselves among the very last remnants of resistance. Farov Payne, Lamenters scout, returned from the same campaign. Romulus Decima, mechanicus operative, working with elements of the 714th. And Trooper Burns, part of the internal security detail in Sinastras IV. (Note, all three characters are sidekicks in game terms).)
They are joined by a handful of 714th troopers and an Earthshaker fire support robot. Their mission, to hold out until they can be evacuated.
Objectives: the banner of the 714th must not fall into enemy hands.
A beacon to call in air support. Pass a challenge and the air arrives the next turn.
A radio to call in a transport for evacuation (players have to grab the radio and pass a number of challenges to call in the transport).
The starting positions for the three groups.
Each moves towards the objectives.
Scattered cultists begin to move forwards across the table.
Our heroes approach the beacon and the radio.
More cultists and the first hits against the soldiers.
Decima takes over the radio. For a mechanicus chappie, he was spectacularly inept at getting it working. Probably put the batteries in the wrong way round!
Large steel robot versus small, squishy cultists.
The first scare for the heroes: the cultist flamer lights up Burns. A lot of the heroes' firepower suddenly turned on the flamethrower!
Payne, standard bearer in tow, pulls back.
Reinforcements for the cultists. Complete with napoleonic tactics!
But, right place at the right time, here comes the air support!
The next turn saw a distinct threat upgrade. More reinforcements, higher quality (Allies rather than Followers), and scarily close!
However, Decima is much better with a gun than a radio and, covered by the gunship, he pulls back, leaving casualties in his wake.
The cultists follow up, and there is carnage in the graveyard.
Favourable recovery rolls for the heroes, consolidating on the high ground.
The flamer is back in action, but Payne survives.
The cultists press, taking down the remaining soldiers. However, strong shooting by the heroes leaves them decimated.
As darkness falls, the cultists lack the numbers to press home their assault. But the evacuation shuttle still hasn't been called in.
The heroes slip off into the gathering gloom, but how long will they be able to maintain their freedom?

A memorable game! It was nice to get all the new stuff on the table: it was the first game for everything except the Necromunda figures. Plenty of toys on the table: the robot and the gunship were especially fun to play with too.

The heroes did exceedingly well. They had a couple of anxious moments as they faced wave after wave of cultists, but they dealt out enormous amounts of damage. What they couldn't do, was pass checks to bring in their evacuation shuttle.

For the cultists, it was a case of almost but not quite. There were a couple of moments where they really looked dangerous: when the flamer got going and then when they knocked down Decima and the soldier in the graveyard. However, they were unable to maintain the pressure and let the heroes back into the game. They also had a psyker who spent the entire game trying (unsuccessfully) to destroy or takeover the robot. Had they managed to do that, things would have looked very different.

Ultimately, no one was going to win in a hurry, and so the fade to black. A slightly unsatisfying end, but it does set things up nicely for the next stage of the campaign.

Continued...

Saturday, January 9, 2016

The Heroes of Sinastras IV

Sinastras IV is a hive city much like any other hive city. Seething, frantic, grasping. A city of crime and wealth and decadence and despair. Nothing out of the ordinary. 

But everything changes. Sinastras IV hosts the 714 Infantry Regiment on r&r after a gruelling but triumphant campaign against Chaos. And parts of the city stir as they have never stirred before. Sinastras IV is the forge of heroes.

Continued...

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Internal Security Trooper

Not every heresy or crime demands the attention of a space marine or even a member of the adeptus arbites. Although there is this...
Looking more closely though, are they actually marines or are they power-armoured cops? They have what look like unit numbers on their pauldrons rather than chapter symbols...any wisdom on the matter?

Anyway, I digress! For some crimes, the local internal security is enough.
Simple build. Mostly Cadian, with a stormtrooper head and a lasgun + flamethrower = shotgun conversion.