Suddenly... Chaos Space Marines!

Well, the siren song that is 40k called to me, and I just had to answer. I picked up Warhammer 40,000- Dark Vengance the other day from my FNSLGS, and as soon as I got home, in a flurry of snippers, X-Acto knife blades, glues of various kinds, ballast, and spray paint, I had the beginnings of a "learn to play" Chaos Marine army. I've been working through mastering my understanding of the new rules system, and I must say that apart from a few things, it's still 40k at its heart.

After skimming the rules a few times I got to laying brush to mini. I wanted a nice pallet from which to work up my color scheme. After coming to the decision that Word Bearers just weren't for me (I really just don't care for the Dark Apostle mini) I decided that my own home-brewed chapter was the way to go. From there I decided that I wanted metallic armor with colored trim. I hadn't used Nauseous Blue for a while, and so it was decided. Bronze armor with blue trim!

I had bought a ton of flesh colors for my Amazon army, but since my 135 missing spears still have not arrived from The Wargames Foundry (I would recommend them less and less) that army is in stasis. I decided to try my hand at massive areas of flesh on the Hellbrute! With my colors decided, away I went.

You can see the result below as my "less than stellar resolution" period continues. I have access to the camera again, so pictures should return to normal soon, I promise. For now, be contented with the fact that I'm back to painting 40k for a while, which will lead to more and more stuff to show off here in the future. Next: Chaos Lord and Cultists!

A Ponderance of Cobras

I suppose you could call me a "cobra commander".

Nope, that's not some term for a large volume of cobras, that's what I'm doing right now.

Thinking about Cobras.

Do I really need two right now? I mean I one-shotted several walkers yesterday, and that makes me think about the need for walkers. Granted, they have their place in an army, and for the most part I have found that it is folly to do without them, but two Cobra walkers has shown me one thing- they provide a shooting gallery for anti-walker walkers (I'm looking at you, Wotan). I lose them before they get into position, and that's just a plain ol' waste of points. Now, I'm not saying they're done for in my army, but I'm wondering if two is overkill. Maybe it's just Demitra rolling hot dice. Maybe I just don't know how to use them properly. Maybe I'm just plain old unlucky. Whatever the reason, with my tendancy to watch my walkers go *poof* I want to downplay their role in my army.

A while ago I posted this picture:

It doesn't have the three walkers I run currently, but the two that are there present a very real threat. It's a pretty well-rounded force, and I figured I'd put a new spin on it:

Faction: Allies ( 300 / 300 )

---  Combat Platoon (153)
Upgrade: Additional Resources (10)
Command Section: "The Boss" Ranger Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "BBQ Squad" Assault Ranger Squad (21)
3rd Section: "Death Dealers" Ranger Weapon Squad (20)
    + M9-D Bazookas (1)
4th Section: "Death Dealers" Ranger Weapon Squad (20)
    + M9-D Bazookas (1)
Support: MCW M3-D "Cobra" (35)
Support: "Crack Shots" Sniper Team (12)
Support: "13 Foxtrot" Observer Team (8)

---  Elite Platoon (147)
Command Section: Rhino (22, Hero)
1st Section: "The Hammers" Heavy Ranger Assault Squad (28)
2nd Section: "Grim Reapers" Heavy Ranger Attack Squad (30)
4th Section: "Tank Busters" Heavy Ranger Tank Hunter Squad (35)
Support: LAW M1-A "Wildfire" (20)
Support: "Crack Shots" Sniper Team (12)

The basic force is the same, it just has the upgraded Death Dealers that I wasn't able to run before (no Operation Hades) and it also has some spotters to call in my Long Tom strike and allow my command section to (hopefully) stay out of harm's way.

Now I just need to Dullcote my newly painted dudes. Word is I'll be able to use the camera again soon, so I'll be able to post nicer pictures of my stuff.

Fingers crossed.

Even Shoddier Picture Time

Yeah, I really need to get my camera back...

I forgot that I had finished Johnny One-Eye as well in my post yesterday, so here's a substantially sub-standard image. Enjoy as best you can, and I really hope to have a legit camera back ASAP.

More Pictures Taken With My Phone

I still don't have access to the actual camera, so you'll have to bear with these shoddy pictures for a while longer. I've finished up my Fireball, The Priest, and I've got a group shot of what is done so far. I'm a layer of Dullcote away from finishing a spotter team, a second squad of Red Devils, and Action Jackson. Pictures of them will be up as soon as I get my hands on some more varnish.

Camera Disappearance = Low Quality Images

Well, my fiancé, having taken pictures of her wedding dress, has hidden the camera. This means you'll have to live with less than stellar images of my now fully painted Allied army (this version any way). Today I have an image of my fully painted Gunners, Cobra, and third sniper team. Later today I hope to have a picture of my Fireball and The Priest, which are drying right now.

Painting Frenzy Force

I've been painting some allied units these past few days- a squad of "The Gunners", a sniper team, and my second Cobra. This makes me want to use these minis in a game ASAP, and I've been tooling around with the Dust Warfare Force Builder in order to build an army that includes all of these elements.

This is what I've come up with:

Faction: Allies ( 300 / 300 )

---  Combat Platoon (209)
Upgrade: Additional Resources (10)
Command Section: "The Boss" Ranger Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "Grim Reapers" Heavy Ranger Attack Squad (30)
2nd Section: "The Gunners" Combat Ranger Squad (17)
    + Replace one M1+UGL with M9 Bazooka (3)
3rd Section: "Death Dealers" Ranger Weapon Squad (20)
    + M9-D Bazookas (1)
4th Section: "Death Dealers" Ranger Weapon Squad (20)
    + M9-D Bazookas (1)
Support: MCW M3-D "Cobra" (35)
Support: MCW M3-D "Cobra" (35)
Support: "Crack Shots" Sniper Team (12)

---  Assault Platoon (91)
Command Section: "Hell Boys" Ranger Attack Squad (25)
1st Section: "BBQ Squad" Assault Ranger Squad (21)
    + Rat Fighters (1)
4th Section: "Crack Shots" Sniper Team (12)
Support: LAW M1-A "Wildfire" (20)
Support: "Crack Shots" Sniper Team (12)
It's a little sniper heavy, but it integrates all the elements that have a fresh coat of paint on them. I'll have pictures of the fully painted army, as well as the newly completed Fireball complete with newly added waterslide transfer tomorrow.

Amazonia

My latest project has to do with me coming in third in the Dust tournament. I went ahead and used my gift certificate to get a box of Amazon warriors from the Wargames Factory. This got me thinking what I could do with these minis. I went ahead and built a War & Conquest (what Warhammer Ancients became) army. These are built using the Greek city-state army list, and while not at all historically accurate (purely in terms of gender), this army will be keeping me busy for a while as I paint it up. Hopefully despite the fact that they're all women they'll pass as an acceptable enemy for the other players of W&C at my FNSLGS. They are after all armed correctly.

We'll see how they turn out with my painting skills and chosen pallet.