SAGA Anglo-Danish Hearthguard + 100 followers!

Real life has been getting in the way BIG TIME of late. Firstly my son has started a programming course near where I work two nights a week. Whilst I am very proud of the little chip off the old Millsy block, it means staying back rather late after work and consequently not doing much modelling. Add to that a LOT of search and rescue work with the fire brigade and, well, nothing much has happened recently. Until now...

This weekend I got my life back (such as it is), got the brushes going and finished 3 points (12 figures) of Anglo-Danish Hearthguard for SAGA. Woot! These guys are Crusader metals and a real pleasure to paint. Lots of detail but not too fine, lovely proportions and plenty of character in the poses. Unfortunately there are only four variants of the long-axe wielding chappies but a bit of careful painting are they are sufficiently different so you won't notice on the table.

In the dozen hearthguard there are 2 x 4 groups with long-axes and 1 x 4 with a mix of weapons. This means I can field the long-axes as a larger block of 8 at times to change things up. Here's a couple of quick shots of some of them from the rear as you can't see all the shields in the frontal views.

I've got 8 levy bowmen left to paint and then I've got a full 6 points finished - warlord, 4 x long-axe hearthguard, 4 x long-axe hearthguard, 4 x hearthguard, 8 x warriors, 8 x warriors, 12 x levy bowmen.

Finally, we've been quietly ticking towards 100 followers over the last few weeks despite the lack of posts. Welcome aboard to James Brewerton, Guidowg, 1/72 figures, Paul's Bods, Grigork, Baconfat and number 100... Secundus. Hope you all enjoy what we have to offer! We're well on the way to 50,000 views as well and should pass that milestone in a month or so. At that point I guess we'll have to do the obligatory giveaway huh? ;-)

Cheers,
Millsy

Workbench update

I've been away on a mini holiday this week which has halted my painting efforts. I wasn't going to let a holiday completely put me off modelling however and I picked up a WH40K Space Marine rhino on the way down to our cottage.

It rained a lot while we were there (not that we cared!) but that gave me plenty of time to assemble and customise my first armoured transport. My number one tac squad will be rolling around inside this one and she has extra armour, smoke launchers and a pintle mounted storm bolter already installed. I've assembled the roof with the option of running it as a razorback with las cannons when I need a bit more punch as you can see.

Since I've been back I have managed to get some painting done though and I've finished another ten scouts. This gives me enough for two five man assault squads with heavy bolters plus a five man sniper squad. Cory has a couple of spare scouts which I'll customise a bit so I can run a ten man assault squad as an alternative.

Things are moving along nice and quick at the moment. Next up will be some more work on my armour, some terminators and possibly the dev squad. I reckon I should be able to get to 2000pts within another month or so. Not bad for a project I hadn't planned on touching 4 weeks ago...

Cheers,
Millsy

SAGA Scots Hearthguard Complete!

Well, it took a little longer than I would have liked (I plead a shortage of decent matt varnish and excessively rainy weather), but the 2 points of Scots Hearthguard for my SAGA warband are now complete.

The basing, shields and varnishing are all done, and (for better or worse) here's the result.

All that tartan can be a headache to paint, but I'd like to think that perseverance has paid off in this instance. The Plain Thane (lower pic, second from left) is now not so plain; I thought I'd keep the red cloak and give it a decorative border in black and gold to reflect his high status. Not quite Book of Kells standard Celtic knotwork, but what the hey, close enough for the wargames table! The only downside is that I'm now going to have to make the Warlord look really splendid so that he stands out like the proverbial.

The shield transfers are by Little Big Men Studios, and I have to say that not only is their graphic design first-rate, with a nice weather-beaten look, but they are ludicrously easy to work with. They do give a nice finishing touch to a figure, and I plan on using more of the transfers on my next warband.

Next up, I have to complete the 12 remaining warriors for the warband, and then figure out what to do about the warlord.

Stay tuned!

Cheers,

Ev

Workbench update

Work continues at a slightly slower pace on my home grown Space Marine chapter. Still, any progress is progress! This time it's a 10 man Blood Angel tactical squad with missile launcher and flamer. These haven't been based yet as I'm waiting to finish a larger batch of troops before I bother.

The colour of the bases is a clear indication of these guys having been stripped of their previous paint job. From memory these were in an *awful* state, with paint so thick you could barely see the detail. It was so bad I'm thinking of opening a branch of the ISPCSM to help out their brothers. Anyone? Anyone?

Next up is another 10 scouts...

And that's it for the workbench at present. My enthusiasm seems to be rekindled which is great. Last night I even ordered an extra 3pts worth of Anglo-Danes for SAGA and a bunch of basing material from Tajima1. I'd best push on with the scouts and make sure they're done before the mailman arrives.

Lastly, welcome to Ken, Ben B. and Andrew J. McCory who have joined us recently.

Cheers,
Millsy

Angelicus Mechanicus - WH40K Space Marine Successor Chapter

About a week ago Russ suggested we play Warhammer 40K for our long weekend game, and rather than our usual "big bash" we should play some small skirmish style games. We agreed on 500pts and that was that. Or was it?

At this point I started thinking about my Necrons and how I *seriously* needed a break from them. On top of my lack of enthusiasm for playing my Necrons again I've also been suffering from a massive attack of figure painting apathy, clearly evident in all the terrain I've been making of late. So why not put all this to good use? Time to get working on a project I've been planning for a loooong time but never gotten round to executing - my own successor Space Marine chapter.

So here they are below. 8 days worth of painting later we have 650 or so points of Space Marines. There are plenty more to come. Everyone will have the Adeptus Mechanicus symbol on his shoulder if at all possible and everyone will have a red or green theme where appropriate.

Firstly, a Reclusiarch with jump pack and a 5 marine assault squad, also with jump packs.

Next up, a 5 man scout squad.

And a 10 man tactical squad.

And finally, a (badly flash burnt dang it!) dreadnought.

And now, in the Emperor's name it's fluff time...

[Fluff] *
Angelicus Mechanicus is spawned from two of the main Space Marine chapters, the Dark Angels and the Blood Angels. Within the ranks of each chapter are marines with a divergent gene which give them an affinity with all things mechanical. Initially it was feared these rogue marines would need to be cleansed from the gene pool, however the Adeptus Mechanicus offered them a home in the form of it's own new military arm. Given the heritage of the marines forming the chapter, it was named the Angelicus Mechanicus.
[/Fluff]

* Disclaimer: That's all the thinking I've done or am likely to ever do. I like painting Space Marines, especially the old skool metal ones. I like red. I like green. I like the Adeptus Mechanicus symbol. I don't pretend it makes sense. I don't pretend it fits well with any other fluff or the universe. If you are a massive GW fanboy and want to have a rant about how none of this makes sense or could never happen then feel free to leave now. ;-)

As is always the case I learnt a few lessons along the way:

1. Don't assume those funky big mechanicus shoulder pads with allow you to glue a backpack on when all the painting is done. You might just have to trim them down with scalpel at them same time as not trimming yourself. All ten of them. Without cutting yourself or damaging your paint job. You idiot.
   
2. Don't think you can drill and pin all the arms and weapons in ten minutes. It will take at least 15 minutes per miniature no matter what you think.

That's it for now. Thanks for popping by...

Cheers,
Millsy