Hell Talon, just a quick update

I have had a bit of time over the last couple of days to rough in the fixes for the bad gap and alignment issues on the Hell Talon and start on the color base for the paint. The paint is rather ambitious, and I'm not sure how the final product will come out, but in theory it should look really nice.For now this thing is VERY work in progress.

Here is the gap under the fuselage, near the engines. I have it roughed in now, and I will clean it up with liquid greenstuff before I go into detail paint. I got the main shape in place and then decided to test the paint idea I had before I got it boxed in. I still need to add rivets and clean up the vertical edge.

I ordered a custom flight stand from Dragonforge to help support this behemoth. It isn't all that heavy but the stock GW flight stand does not inspire confidence on a model this size. That will require a round 1/2" hole cut into the bottom of the cowling at the top of the picture above.  Since I still have to do damage to the bottom of the model before I can add much in the way of detail to this area of the model, I am am not in huge rush with this.

Next I can't decide which way to go with the topside engine intakes. On one hand there are the fleshy tendrils or muscle striations you see people do a lot on Nurgle based models, and on the other hand I can box off the openings to hide the gap by matching lines. I THINK the tendrils are the way to go as the gaps are not even, and trying to match the lines will throw off an already visually unbalanced model even more.

So the last thing is the paint scheme. I had the crazy idea of mixing the two Thousand Sons schemes on the same model. I am working for a fade from Midnight Blue to red base color, with the raised lines fading from Metallic Gold at the nacel tips to bright White at the back of the plane. If it works out it will be cool, but I have to reserve judgement. At this point the fade is in place, but there are tens of hours of brushwork left to solidify the scheme and get it detailed. Wish me luck!!

Hell Talon SLOW WIP....and I mean SLLOOOWWW

The Hell Talon is coming along, and it is really a beast of a kit. I have had some bad Forgeworld kits before, but this one is bad combined with being an old mold. The wear is really obvious, and the kit design is such that the pieces just sit up against one another. There are quite a few flaws even after HOURS of hot water re-shaping and clamping.

First up, this is a BIG kit. I know that tape is hard to see but this thing is 14-15 inches long. It is HUGE. That in itself, when combined with the long flat front nacels should raise alarm flags for anyone who has worked with Forgeworld resin before. Those long flat pieces seem to always be warped. These weren't bad at a glance, but the resin is JUST thick enough to make straightening them a total bear. After 4 hours on these alone they look like this....

Obviously not optimal....

Then there is the central hull assembly. The two wings glue to either side of a central core that houses the cockpit. You then add the top fuselage and wing, then flip it over and do the underside details including the engines and bombs. This is a lot like a plastic model airplane unless your joints look like this after you clean them up....

Now this stuff can be cleaned up with green stuff....a lot of green stuff....but still. I mean look at that line above the engines.....At least it is hidden by the engines and retrieval hook! The worst offender IMHO is the engine intake pods that sit on top of the wings. These are meant to tie the wing parts to the fuselage behind the cockpit and solidify that joint. But as you can see they are more joint than solid.

Again, several hours of repeated hot water and clamping and this is the best I can get. I can cover SOME of that with green stuff, but either I go Nurgle and add muscle and tissue strings to make it look intentional or they will end up out of balance. Now I have two of the Hellblade fighters, and they had the same issues with their intakes. The shape of that smaller model allowed me to clamp them down with glue, and that fixed them....I don't own a clamp large enough to reach these. Might be time for a trip to the hardware store for bigger clamps!

All the assembly gripes aside this is a gorgeous kit that has one hell of an intimidating profile. This thing most certainly will work on an opponents nerves!

I hope to have primer on it in the next few days, and MAYBE paint after I decide on what direction to go with the putty on those intakes and engine exhaust!

Boltgun's Battle coming September 20, what to take?

Normally I go into this one blind, intentionally letting my own selections play out. This tournament is a HUGE event locally. It is a hobby based tournament that regularly draws the best of the best in the mid-west. Locally Jeremy McClung has taken top honors every year with his armies...they are truly works of art, and everyone essentially gives up the best army award when he walks in the door. His army for this year is the wolves. We have seen bits and pieces of this one for a couple of years now. I'll let this speak for itself after reminding you that this is ALL truescale....

Then there is relative newcomer to Boltgun Joe Elverson and his Eldar. Joe and I have a running grudge every year at Buckeye Battles. His armies are all beautifully airbrushed and done. This is a WIP (!) picture of a couple of his wave serpents.

Look at these closely and you can see the level of competition at Boltgun's Battle every year. These two are just 2 of 30 that play and most of the armies at this tournament show up like this.  Sportsmanship is the most coveted prize and it is not an easy one to win when everyone at the event is having such a good time.



I'm pretty happy with my knights, but I wanted to take my necrons. I need a couple of units to fill the list, but they are not gonna happen in time, so it's likely knights again. I have a list im pretty satisfied with, but at 1750pts i'm pretty limited with them. I'm still looking for ideas to pair with the knights in about 250 points as a rapid objective holder unit, so we'll see where I land.

The Slaughter is over

Summer Slaughter was today (ALL day) and it went really smoothly. Hobby Central is a good 45 minute drive for me, and I haven't visited there before, but it is a really nice place to game and get your hobby on. Super friendly staff and a clean environment win every time.

I went 2-1, with the two wins being tables...total wipe out wins. The loss in round three was to the eventual best general winner. His tau with 4 riptides combined with the mission rules allowing him to recycle most of the units I killed helped him out BIG.

I noticed a few things from my first real competitive experience with an all knight army....people do NOT know what to do when faced with 5 super heavy walkers....they panic. Even my last opponent who should have known better was making mistakes. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to get in your opponents head. If you can force them to make mistakes, even little ones, it is that much easier to win from the start.

Also, NOT taking the Adamantine lance formation is just dumb. If you are fielding at least 3 knights, take this thing, its that simple. re-rolling saves and extra Hammer of Wrath is incredible. Throw in void shields FTW.

Round one I played Dark Eldar, something like 14 lances....and a cobra destroyer. By all rights his lances should have eaten me, but he scattered his shooting around, sandpapering instead of killing. In the end his paper airplane skimmers just fell apart to all the high strength shots and templates. 

Round two I played Dark Angels. His army was almost all infantry, and with two devastator squads holding 8 rockets, plus a twin lascannon dred I should have been hiding....but he just locked up and didnt think, once again sandpapering me. It didn't help him that his 470pt command squad deepstrike mis-happed and destroyed itself.....OUCH.

Aaron and I discuss the way the cards are falling

Round 3 was as mentioned 4 riptide Tau....He must have had 30 marker lights and knew how to use them. Aaron and I have played before, he is an exceptional list builder and a deadly opponent....but 5 knights got in his head.....again sandpaper for the first few turns. I have to say this was the BEST game of 40k I think I have ever played, and i've been playing 20+ years. EVERY MOVE and action was a nailbiter for both of us. Both of us were hanging on every die roll  and save. We were really into it and having a ball laughing all the way through. Now the mission here allowed all but super heavy and tanks to respawn and auto arrive from reserve the turn after they are killed. So I had 4 riptides and 30 kroot and 20 fire warriors and almost 20 pods and....it all came back if I killed it. So how do you score when half the objectives are just re-occupied the turn after you blow units off of them? The mission might not have hurt as bad if there weren't 4 riptides I didn't want to kill shooting at me with all those marker lights....

On Parade after round one for Judging

In the end I took best overall. The scores are not yet up on Warscore, so I don't know the details yet, but I HAD to do something right in there somewhere. My list was up about 2-3 posts back, so you can find it there.

Now, on to Boltgun's Battle on September 20th. What to take, what to take....


*Edit results are up now...apparently people liked my army despite how much trash talk I took over it! 

Summer Slaughter 48 hours and counting!

Ok, so Summer Slaughter is in 2 days...the army is essentially done. I could do a bajillion more hours in detail on all the models, but I'm happy with them where they are. I am reading the 7th edition rules more thoroughly and making sure I have everything straight. This is my version of Gerantius, The green Knight (less the $20 decal sheet), before final clean ups.

Gerantius, The Green Knight

Prep for Summer Slaughter August 16

With my list entered and my army well into painting, I have only one model to buy yet and I will be all set. Im into weathering on the last 4 and then I'm done other than that last....single....model.

With a low model count (30) at any scale, especially at 2500pts you would think I could cruise through those models quickly.....well NOT when they look like THIS.....

Raptorus with no weathering or washes yet. looks good as a start, but a long way to go!

Dominus, only first stage weathering done. Lots to do, lots to do....

This is "Hounds Tooth", again, no weathering yet!

Pretty happy with this emplacement. might add a decal or two for detail.

Everything here is all color blocked and ready for final details except that flyer....has a LONG way to go. I'm not sure what to do with the bases on the Quad launchers. They nee more detail, not sure what yet. If you have ideas post 'em, and I might steal 'em!

Summer Slaughter is a t a store about 45 minutes away from me I have never been to. I know the TO to be a stand up guy, so I'll give it a shot. This army is just for fun, and allows me to get to the "ALMOST There" stage with the knight army I am building. I have all the plastic knights I will need (or will this week). Now I need a lancer and a Castigator from Forge World. I am really looking forward to seeing my opponents faces when I walk in with this many super heavies in an army....and it's LEGAL 40k.....now if I can just stay away from assault terminators....

Sutekh Magna Knight Paladin Warlord
Dominus Atum Knight Paladin
Graendal Knight Errant
Jacynthus Knight Errant
Raptorus Arkhus Knight Paladin

Lord Commissar, Emperors light, carapace
10 Veteran guard 2 meltaguns, heavy flamer, grenadiers and demo experts
2 heavy quad launchers with extra crew
Valkyrie "hounds tooth"
Vengeance weapon battery with 2 twin-linked icarus lascannon and void shield

That's a nice firebase, a mobile objective team, and plenty of in your face....

MUST OWN!!!!!!

2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat
707BHP
550 LBFT of torque......

Ill let those numbers sink in while you watch this.....remember this is right off the factory floor, NO mods other than tires!

Utterly SICK!

Palladium Books must WANT no one to buy their Robotech game....

So I bought into the Robotech RPG tactica kickstarter last year, just like 5000 or so others. I expected delays and over-runs on the product given how large and complex the game is. I gladly told them to take my money when it came time to pay up just to get a copy of this wonderful looking game! I played a couple of demos last summer and got even more excited, as the game even played well. But now Palladium has done something TOTALLY wrong....


From The kickstarter project update:

PLEASE NOTE: We do plan to bring a selection of Robotech® RPG Tactics™ Wave One product for display and sale at Gen Con Indy. I know that will disappoint some of our Kickstarter supporters, but it is vital to successfully kickoff the launch of this exciting new product line. Gen Con Indy is the San Diego Comic Con of gaming. Not only are there tens of thousands of gamers, but a lot of media. We NEED it to be there, and for sale, to create buzz and take advantage of the excitement that will generate. I hope our backers understand this. We appreciate you, but we also need to do what’s right for the future of this product line. That will benefit you and all Robotech® fans for years to come.

So they decide to sell to the public before the backers get their product......DICK move Paladium. 
I for one will never buy another thing from Palladium if they go forward with this. Don't get me wrong, I can wait patiently to get a quality product, but I don't like being lied to. And Palladium has done that over and over. First it was the ship date. I let that slide. Then it was seam issues blamed on PVC, they aren't using that material and they look worse than expected. I can fix that, Ive been gaming for 20 years now. I'm no stranger to mold lines. But now you sell retail first when you promised to NOT do just that....game over Paladium.

Support for the knights, the 54th Psian Jackals

The 54th Psian Jackals are a Militarium Tempestus unit that specializes in hunting Tyranids. I am adding them to my knights as artillery support and a little air cavalry. They will make an appearance at Summer Slaughter in August. Here they are ready for primer.

17th air cav. Team group Shot

Demo specialist Greko

Trooper Venic

Captian Yannik

These are the new millitarum Tempestus models with Max Mini "Space Police" heads. I have an idea bouncing in my head for an Adeptus Arbites army. These should fit in nicely.

Welcome 7th tournament at Game Tabel Adventures

The tournament went well with only 12 players, which is low attendance for GTA. The armies being at 2500pts and the allowed Lords of War scared a few off. After having played several games of 7th at full throttle I can tell you it is NOT as bad as people see on paper. The sky is NOT falling, and 40k is more FUN than ever. The system is now wide open to allow you to create a force that will do exactly what you want on the tabletop in a way that works for you. The Lords of war were the big scare point (that and warp charge) and neither turned out to be an issue.

In 12 players there were 3 warhounds, 4 baneblades of various types, and the rest fielded knights. Now, if you look at the available lords of war on the Forge World website here, other than Astra Millitarum most armies only have a couple of options, and some not at all. Other than the Eldar titan and the C'tan I don't see any that are over the top. For all intents and purposes, its all broken, so none of it really is. I really think this MIGHT just be the best edition of 40k yet, given a limited perspective of only a couple of months.

Now we don't see a ton of warp charge stacking in our local meta for a couple of reasons. When 7th released, GTA's owner actually saw the combo potential and played a game with a local daemon player to see how it worked out. The daemon player lost. Now they got in 4 turns and quit, just like Reecius from Fontline Gaming. It was just like their game, LOOOOONNNGGGGG and boring because of all the paperwork and model movement. Also, basic squads of daemons die easily to shooting, and that was something Dan's Salamanders had in spades. Will I try it at some point? Yes, I likely will, but not at a tournament. You simply do not have time in the round to push it far enough to be effective (30+ charge turn 1).

I ended up 2-0-1, upper mid pack. Two wins, but they were not crushing victories. The draw was a near thing against Tyranids. They are still a unicorn for me. In this case they simply stayed in the air where I couldn't hurt them effectively while I mopped all their troops. Outcomes aside I had three great games, made some mistakes, learned a lot and had a great time.

The tournament made me want to do a whole army of Knights for an upcoming tournament, only to find out that knights are now ONLY available as detachments...WTF GW?  So I can field a whole army of them, but it is made up of detachments of 1-3....and this tournament only allows 2 detachments, and no allying within a codex, so I can only take 3, and have to stack something else....

So for now it's back to the drawing board for me....though I do have a maniacal plan that MIGHT just work!