Epic 30K Troop & Army Shots

I had a packed of GW rectangular style bases arrive and decided that meant it was time to paint up some infantry. I have one detachment of tactical, three stands of devastators, four stands of terminators, and one captain stand. Once I complete two war hounds, I will have the basics of a nice little Sons of Horus force. I plan to paint up a World Eaters force to complement these. The change in color pallet will help keep the painting interesting. After that, I might have to tackle the Imperial Guard army. I managed to find two pristine Imperial Guard detachment boxes from the Epic 40k relaunch, which includes Valhallans and Catachan jungle fighters. I think those boxes are going to be a bast to paint.

Four Dreadtober Sons of Horus Dreadnoughts Completed

The Ork dreadnought is on hold while I decide if I want to paint it up for display purposes, lacking it, I had to find something to paint in order to fulfill my Dreadtober pledge. Enter Epic 30k. I had a lot of fun painting up a full unit of these guys, even applying panel shading on them as if they were 28mm instead of 6mm models. Since I had the paint out, I went ahead and painted up some land speeders, some original plastic land raiders, and three shadowswords for the force. The last shot is just a photo of what I have painted so far. Once I get some stands of infantry painted I will have a usable force. I've been holding on painting any infantry until I figure out how to base the minis. The crackle paint bases are serviceable, but rather dull. 

(ok I know 6mm dreadnoughts is not what Greg had in mind when he cooked up Dreadtober, however I found a way to make it work! You know what, I think I probably painted the most dreadnoughts for Dreadtober. Go me!)

Sons of Horus EPIC 40k

I am falling in love with Epic 40k. The game died years ago, but somehow a whole community has grown up supporting it. After reading one of the two free rulesets, I was struck by how similar Epic 40k is to Bolt Action. The basic idea of suppressing instead of killing works very similarly in both systems. In Bolt Action it is part of the pin marker mechanic. In Epic 40K it is the blast marker mechanic.

So with rules I like, the question was whether I could paint up some old epic models and make them look cool enough to enjoy a game. The models here are bad casts, so I did not feel particularly bad about laying down a quick test paint scheme. I like it. These guys are 6mm analogs to my 28mm Sons force. This is exciting as I have some FW resin Thunderhawks coming in, as well as some warhound titans. We should be able to get a good 4 legion game together in the near future.

NetEPIC one of the two rulesets.  A direct link to rules here.

EpicAU  great resources, especially for Epic Heresy

Army Builder For Epic 30K

Army Builder For Epic 40K

World Eater Rampagers (Updated Photos)

I tried to make these guys look a little bit less savage than the models really are by using soft blues, and green-grey colored whites. I also tarnished a lot of the brass parts on the armor so all of the extra spikes did not show up so much. I know these guys are supposed to be wracked with pain, and overcome by the urge to kill, but there was a point before they completely fell to chaos. I'd like to think that my painting pushes them a little bit back from that edge. The chain axes are blue mimicking the blue axes I painted for Angron.

I must apologize for the photography, I'll update this page when I find a way to take better photos.

30K World Eater Rampagers On The Painting Table

Angron needed a few soldiers, so after years of neglect, my World Eater Rampager squad is on the painting table. (yes I know both Abbadon, and Loken are not yet completed!) I am looking forward to seeing how these guys turn out, especially because they will be the only rampager squad I own. Putting these guys together was like some kind of demented arm puzzle. In the end I had to use a hair dryer to make the arms flexible and just bend them into position. In any case, my new favorite blue is XF-18. I really like how muted it is. What's on your table?

Loken WIP 2

Loken is slowly progressing. I debated doing a two tone cape, but in the end it seemed more reasonable for me to make it match the cape on Horus. After all, they should probably look similar since Loken is a member of the Mournival.

Loken WIP

The base coats are now done, and the fun can begin. In the photo above the model has already been sealed to protect it from oils. (the head is not glued on though) I like to paint a base coat on everything prior to varnishing even in the cases where additional layers are planned. Basically it lets me see more of a finished model before I add brown, black, and rust colored oil paint. The model won't last long in this mid-tone purgatory, so I thought it might be nice to upload a few photos of the before oil shots.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner

I've started enjoying painting flesh tones. Despite it being Dreadtober, I decided to pick up some models that have been sitting unpainted on the very bottom of my display cabinets for years. (much like Angron!) So who am I painting. Points given for picking the right legion and extra points for the specific characters.

Happy painting!

Angron Complete

Despite the varnish problems, I really enjoyed working on Angron. I think my take on the World Eaters is different enough from others out there to merit a small force. It helps that I like pale orange and pale blue colors. With that said, Angron joins his brothers Horus and Fulgrim in my display cabinet. I'm not sure I've posted photos of my display cabinet reorganization until now. In order to make more space, I picked up some clear acrylic organizers and used them as mini shelves. 

Angron WIP

With the major color blocked in, Angron is starting to look like a proper primarch. Oils are next. Seeing him at this state, maybe I should skip the oils and keep painting him with acrylics. I like what I see so far, and oils always have an air of uncertainty. (ok not the oils but the varnish needed to protect the base layers from them)

So Angron is happening, but so is something else so weird I almost don't have words. There is a game of Age of Sigmar going on at my house, and I am not part of it. I have been spouse banished so my wife can play AoS with her new friend. Ok, so this is happing. I'll just be quiet and printed like I don't really want to go out and watch the game. Weird right?

Angron WIP

I've had Angron sitting in a drawer since he came out. Never satisfied with my color scheme for my World Eaters, I let him sit unpainted for years. The thing that made them work for me today was using a very pale blue for their shoulder pads. I am definitely going to paint up a small force of World Eater loyalists now. The pale blue and touch of orange on the bases really works for me. (less so for the camera which struggled here!)

One note about the chains on the wrists of two of the troopers. I know they signify killing a superior officer in gladiatorial combat. One would think loyalist World Eaters wouldn't engage in that kind of activity. However, I think it makes sense that Loyalists would have gone along with gladiatorial challenges as necessary to simply exist within the legion prior to Angron turning traitor. Dueling to the death was simply a fact of life within the legion. I think NCOS and officers would not have had a choice on whether to engage in the practice or not.

*Just learned that the World Eaters are the 12th legion not the 8th! Looks like I put those decals on upside down. So, these guys are the 8th chapter of the 12th legion. How about that! I kind of like the symmetry here. The ones who remained loyal are the mirrored image of those that did not.

30K Ork Dreadnought Size Comparison

I've been thinking out how to paint this taller than usual ork dreadnought, and I think I am going to go with yellow. Yellow is pretty common these days, but I think I can come up with an original recipe for it that works for this model. I am also considering a teal-ish green with cream colored checkers. Ultimately I think my tall Orks should look good with my 30k armies and Death Korps, so they'll get what is becoming my standard basing of destroyed concrete.

Stylistically, if I am to create a 30k Ork force rather than just a one off, I think I need add more realism and barbarism to the models. In my mind this breaks down to super detailing the kit and painting them darker and more realistically. I have a bunch of chain left over from one of my conversions. I think the Orks would make heavy use of it on their vehicles. I am tempted to channel a little mad max and have Orks riding on top of the dread like a boarding party. It might be too much, but I like the idea. Plus it would let me paint up some ork skin tones. Now I just need to find some characterful orks to add.