Epic Eldar

A group of us decided to paint up some ancient GW Epic Armageddon armies so we can enjoy some 6mm gaming. Rather than create an army list, I just painted everything I had. This was a mistake. I have so much more epic than I need it is absurd. At least it was fun fast painting and we now have a new game to play.

6mm Epic 30K Building

I wanted some new Epic 30k buildings, so I designed one use CAD and printed it at home using a cheapo DLP printer. This is the first print painted up to a usable state. I didn't spend much time painting this model, the goal was to see how visible the print lines were. I'm fairly please with how it turned out, but there is some waviness to the front of the building. Weirdly, if I print the building at a 30 degree angle instead of straight up, it prints better. Lesson learned. (or relearned in this case thanks to my helpful guru Brian)

Epic 30k Table

We got in a little learning game of epic 30k last week, and despite lots of rules questions, I am sold on the game. Epic 40k has an almost Bolt Action feel to it, which I really like. The ability for units to go on overwatch really changes how involving a game can be. Suddenly fire lanes matter, and properly positioning forces requires skill. Sure, it can be played fast and loose, without relying on supporting elements, but I suspect players who play that way will quickly grow frustrated at the lack of momentum they are able to maintain with their forces.

This is a good game.

Terrain-wise, I think thing the quality of the mechanics and miniatures is going to dictate that a new table be constructed. I might start with this existing table as a base, and just clear of the stinky resin pools. Alternately, this table could go to the table graveyard that is my storage unit, and wait for the day when we can have two or more epic tables in play at the same time.

World Eater Thunderhawks and Troops

In my sprint to get enough forces together for game, I managed to put together some additions to my World Eaters force. I think it might be a field-able army now. I am a little light on infantry, but I am running out of epic space marines. I have closets full of epic, and yet I can't find any more assault marines or terminators.

Painting wise, the World Eaters are dirty and battered in contrast with the Sons of Horus. It should look really good when I put the full armies together.

Thunderhawk Transporter & Specialists for Epic 30k

My Sons of Horus now have HQ and specialist stands for the troops. The librarian was especially fun to paint. You can really see how much better GW plastics got in the later models. The scale, design, and form is vastly better. GW could do epic easily today. Next up are some World Eaters.

On The Painting Table: Thunderhawks & Reinforcements

After all of those dwarves, I needed something to jump start my painting. Some unfinished Epic models fit the bill perfectly, especially since there will likely be an Epic 30k event shaping up in the future. I'm a bit rusty with the air brush, but I think once I've applied a filter, these will fit right in. I still need to come up with some flight stands for the thunderhawks. After seeing Brian's drop pods clapped to telescoping rods at NOVA this year, I think these need to come in on tall stands. That is unless they are flying at the nape of the earth. You know, giant bricks are so agile that they can do that. :)

Epic 30K

With some new display cabinet space available I decided to break out an Epic force I started a while ago. Why did I stop painting this? Epic is incredible. This is the right scale for 40k.

Epic Scale World Eaters

Continuing my trek in to all things Epic, I have painted the first part of my World Eaters legion force. I have so much epic in the painting queue that I had to just dive right in and get painting. This time around I did not bother to do panel shading on the models. (If you look at the thunderhawk below this post you can see what panel shading looks like if you don't already know) The question is whether it is as effective. I think the force looks good, but maybe it lacks the same depth as the Sons of Horus force. On the other hand, I takes so much less time to paint that I was able to get all of these done in a single evening.

Sons of Horus Thunderhawk Epic Scale

Epic 30k has really caught my imagination. It is played at a scale where Thunderhawks and super heavy tanks make sense. Naturally, I had to have a flight of Thunderhawks. Yep, you heard that right. I have a full 8 of these guys to paint. They are split evenly between transporters carrying rhinos, and the traditional gunship model pictured here. I plan to paint at least two different legions, possibly four, in order to play Istavaan III, so quite a few were needed. When they aren't being used for Epic, or Aeronautica Imperialis (think X-Wing but 40k), they will sit on the shelf fueling my imagination.

On The Painting Table: Lightenings, Marauders, and One Tiny Thunderhawk

Rejuvenated post Fall-In, I jumped back into painting Epic 40K models. I am really happy to have found a thunderhawk to add to my Sons of Horus force. It is still glossy from the varnish, but I think it will look the part once it is one the table with my marines. The Marauders and Lightenings are for the Imperial Guard force, which will be run as a local PDF force. I am planning a narrative game that will let us play the first betrayal, where the legions purged their ranks.

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