In The Emperor's Name- Dark Angels

Dark Angels Strike Team Astrael

I spent some time this weekend working on a few models for In the Emperor's Name, a 40k skirmish scale game using an interesting set of rules. Combat is fast and bloody, but unfortunately the rules are a bit scattered to the winds. I've been able to (for the most part) get them together in my hands, but I don't think I have the entire weapon statistics page. What I do have is a collection of weapon costs and ranges, but not a list of special rules that apply to them. It's enough to get started though, and provided I can:

A) find an opponent
and
B) enjoy the game

I'll start a profile on their forums and ask for some clarity as to the nature of some weapons. For now I'm just painting up retinues for the game, and the first to be completed is my Dark Angels. Here are some individual pics of the minis:

Librarian Astrael

Brother Erasmus

Brother Sephiroth

Brother Elazul

Brother Lazarus

I'm pleased with how they came out, and while not my greatest accomplishments ever, I think they're to a higher standard than I normally paint. Next project: Chaos Space Marines for them to do battle with. Let's see how I paint red and black.

Dark Angel Deathwing Disaster?

Well, my Deathwing Assault Squad is fully painted. How did they turn out? Keep reading to see the answer!

I of course started with a bonewhite primer (thanks Army Painter!) and built up from there. The conundrum I faced from there was how to shade them. I decided on a Dark Fleshtone dip based on Vallejo paints. I got out my chemical agent dish (a little thing I picked up from my grocery store dedicated to stuff I wouldn't want my cooking to share a dish with) and squirted some Dark Fleshtone into it. Afterward I thinned the paint out with Pledge floor wax, leaving me with this stuff:

A heavy layer across the entirety of the models left me with all the shading I needed. Sorry about a lack of a picture at this stage, but I was on a roll.

Like the rest of my Deathwing I then went over all the weapons and shields with black paint. I then picked out all of the metallic areas with Chainmail and Shining Gold. It was at this point I realized I had made a grievous error- the metal areas were not dipped! I again mixed up some Dark Fleshtone dip and set about touching up the neglected areas. Following that I went over the neglected areas with Dark Angels Green and gave the electrified plates on the Thunder Hammers a Purple Ink glaze, and came up with the following:

A quick application of the Deathwing broken sword wrapped up the endeavor.

No real flaws other than the shade not quite matching the rest of the army, but on the table you can"t really tell.

Sorry about the short article, but it was a short painting process. Until next time, seeyuh!!!

Dark Angel Debacle?

Guess who's back.

Well, it's been a while since I painted anything, and it'll be a while before I get another game in, so I decided to rummage through my gaming cabinet. While in there I stumbled upon my long neglected Deathwing army. Feeling sorry for them, I pulled them out and started playing around with army lists in Army Builder. I was shocked to find that I was but a single squad away from a (hopefully) fully functional 2,000 point Deathwing army. Now, I haven't used them in a while, mainly because they regularly get the tar knocked out of them, but since Dark Vengance is on it's way (the new 40k boxed set) I decided to finish my army. Honestly, there's not too much in there I'm really interested except for that gorgeous looking squad of terminators. Them and the portable rulebook. Well, there's that Hellbrute for my Plague Marines too...

As usual I digress. Inspired, I ran over to my FLGW and grabbed a box of Assault Terminators. This time they would be outfitted for killing stuff properly. I eagerly went about putting them together, outfitting the sergeant and three veteran marines with Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields, and the final marine with a Heavy Flamer and Chainfist. Nothing would stand before my glorious legion! Nothing, I say!

Now they sit, fully assembled, based, and primed (in bonewhite) waiting for the tender caress of a paintbrush. I hope to get some work done on them tonight, but one thing stands in my way- I no longer have any of the dip I used on the rest of the army! It dried in the can months ago, and there's just no way I can rationalize spending another $40 or so on a can for a single squad.

This has led me to ponder color matching. How can I approximate the same color I got from the dip with the paints I already have? I'm thinking some really thinned down Devlan Mud, but the color just isn't the same and I really need to save that jar for my SSU infantry. No, what I really need here is some homemade dip.

I still remember the recipe, it's not that hard. Just add the desired color to some acrylic floor wax. the issue of color again arises. can I find just the right shade of brown to match the Army Painter dip? Only time will tell...

Another Possible Deathwing Solution?

More tooling around with my army construction software, and I've come up with another possible army list:

Belial (Thunder Hammer / Storm Shield)
Deathwing Squad with Assault Cannon & Chainfist
Deathwing Squad with Assault Cannon & Chainfist
Deathwing Squad with Cyclone Missile Launcher
Deathwing Squad with Cyclone Missile Launcher
Deathwing Squad with 2x Thunder Hammer / Storm Shield, 2x Lightning Claws, Chainfist & Heavy Flamer
Deathwing Squad with 2x Thunder Hammer / Storm Shield, 2x Lightning Claws, Chainfist & Heavy Flamer
Ravenwing Land Speeder with Multi-Melta
Ravenwing Land Speeder with Multi-Melta
Ravenwing Land Speeder with Multi-Melta

A little more Ravenwing saturation with this list, which in all honesty the last lists needed. I'm not totally sold on an Interrigator Chaplain- the re-rolls are nice, but is he really worth his whopping 145 points? Against many armies he'll never even see combat.
The two dedicated close combat Terminator squads are for either counter-charge or objective baby-sitting duty. With their weapon loadouts they're better for wound-allocation shenanigans as well.

Perhaps one day I'll drop the two Assault Cannon squads and replace them with naked Land Raider Crusaders. That will help deliver my two hand-to-hand squads into melee, and give anti-tank assets something else to focus on as my infantry advances.
...Of course there's just that certain something about 31 pairs of feet on the ground clad in 2+ save armor.

It's a shame in a way that the new Dark Angel FAQ came out as soon as my army was completed. The new Deathwing build of choice seems to be Cyclone Missile Launcher saturation, which seeing as they're now Heavy 2 I can get behind. Unfortunately for me, however, I had just finished two squads with Assault Cannons.

I'm just baffled by this army. My Dreadnoughts will just die the turn they arrive, Land Speeders would get picked off too quickly, and the Chaplain is just so situational. I guess I'll have to keep picking at this army list.

Random Deathwing Wishlisting

As I sit here at work, I've been considering my Deathwing now that I've finished my Thunder Hammer / Storm Shield Belial mini. As it stands now, the list looks like this:

Belial
2x Venerable Dreadnoughts with Multi-Meltas & Extra Armor in Drop Pod
2x squads of Terminators with 1x Chainfist & Assault Cannon
2x squads of Terminators with 1x Cyclone Missile Launchers
1x squad of Terminators with Chainfist, Heavy Flamer, 3x Lightning Claws, Thunder Hammer / Storm Shield

I have come to believe that the Dreadnoughts are nothing more than fire magnets, arriving one at a time just to be annhilated by heavy weapons fire. This is not okay.

So, out comes my army construction software, and I sit down to write a revised army list. The final product looks something like this:

Belial
Interrogator Chaplain in Terminator Armour
1x squad of Upgraded Terminators with 1x Chainfist, 1x Heavy Flamer, 4x Thunder Hammer / Storm Shield, Apothecary, Standard Bearer
2x squads of Terminators with 1x Chainfist & 1x Assault Cannon
2x squads of Terminators with 1x Cyclone Missile Launcher
1x squad of Terminators with 1x Chainfist, 1x Heavy Flamer, 3x Lightning Claws, 1x Thunder Hammer / Storm Shield

OR

Belial
1x squad of Upgraded Terminators with 1x Heavy Flamer, 4x Thunder Hammer / Storm Shield, Apothecary, Standard Bearer
2x squads of Terminators with 1x Chainfist & Assault Cannon
2x squads of Terminators with 1x Cyclone Missile Launchers
1x squad of Terminators with 1x Chainfist, 1x Heavy Flamer, 3x Lightning Claws, 1x Thunder Hammer / Storm Shield
2x Land Speeders with Multi-Melta & Typhoon Missile Launcher

I'm honestly torn here. The top army build has resiliance in spades. Nothing has less than a 2+ armor save, and the command is almost entirely 2+ armor / 3+ Invulnerable, plus Feel no Pain and an extra attack on the entire squad.

The second army is a bit more flexible. With a possible eight missiles a turn and two Multi-Meltas, this army will hunt armor better than the first. Of course, any half-way savvy opponent will figure this out immediately and take out the Land Speeders ASAP. Missile Launchers, being little better than any anti-infantry weapon against my infantry, will be drawn as if by magnets to the speeders, which will go down like flies unless they are cared for with the utmost caution.

In the end, the question is what do I spend my money on the next time I have some cash? I'm leaning more toward the first army, but I just can't be sure.

For Whom the Bell Screams

Today, as you may be able to tell by looking at the "On the Workbench" bar to the right, I finished most of my recovered Skaven miniatures. This post will show you how the models came together. Of course, all the miniatures were first cleaned with Simple Green, and washed under hot water with a toothbrush. That bit was already covered in a previous post. After that, it was time to re-base everything for the current Skaven army book. The Screaming Bell needed a 100mm x 60mm base, the Doomwheel a 50mm x 100mm one, and the Jezzails and Warpfire Throwers needed cavalry bases (25mm x 50mm). The Gutter Runners were based on current 20mm x 20mm bases just for good measure.

The Doomwheel was left apart at this stage so I could prime inside the wheels.

Next, I had to cover all the unsightly gaps in the cavalry bases/ This was achieves by tearing up an old receipt and gluing it down to the base using Elmer's Glue-All. This is the stuff I use for all of my basing, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Once the glue had dried, it was outside for priming. The Screaming Bell and Doomwheel got a black coat, while the Grey Seer, Bell Ringer, Jezzails, Gutter Runners, and Warpfire Throwers got a coat of Army Painter's "Army Green" primer. It's a nice dark green which goes together nicely with the dirty dark yellow I use for the rest of the uniform.

Thus primed, I set about painting the models, along with my new conversion for Captain Belial for my Deathwing. Once all the colors were laid down, I glued the Grey Seer and Bell Ringer to the Screaming Bell carriage.
Now it was dipping time. Eager to finish three armies in one go, I spent the evening, brush in hand, dipping every last Ogre, Space Marine, and every Skaven except the Warpfire Throwers. This was because I already have two painted, and have no current need for three more. Also, I was running out of steam.

Today I set about basing my Skaven. After coating the bases (including the Ogres' bases) Khemri Brown, I Then flocked all the Skaven bases, and finished them with a few clumps of static grass. Finally, into the humidity-controlled confines of my bathroom for Matt Varnish.

And thusly are my Skaven reinforcements completed. Now it's a matter of getting a 2,250 point game in to try out my two new engines of destruction. I keep hearing such great things about the Doomwheel...

Damage Done

Well, here's what happened to my poor Deathwing:

I don't know how to turn this picture to face the right way (it's turned 90 degrees in my computer), but you can see the "crinkles" clearly.

...And my freehand Deathwing symbols:

Not the worst ever, but a far sight from the best.

Needless to say, I am not pleased with the final outcome of this army.

By the way, yes, that is every book in the Redwall series in the background. Cluny the Scourge rocks, and these books are the reason I play Skaven.

The promised pictures of my Dark Eldar will be up soon, it's just that these were a bit of a priority.

A Preview of Doom

Well, I screwed up my Deathwing. Just when I thought I had done the most damage to them possible by free-hand painting the Deathwing broken swords with wings on their shoulders, I decided to varnish them.

Now, I live very near to Washington, D.C. and they had a big ice storm last night. I, in my infinite wisdom, did not check the humidity before applying a nice coat of Krylon Matte Finish to protect my "works of art" from the rigors of gameplay.
Now, to be fair to myself, I had gone back and highlighted all the sharpest edges on all the models before befouling them with my freehand chapter logos, so they had that much going for them.

...Had...

Now every white bit on my Terminators has at least one little crinkeley (I cannot come up with a better word) bit on them. The tops of their armor, their arms, even the doors of my Drop Pods are all messed up.

Needless to say, I'm not pleased with this.

I know I owe you pictures of my Dark Eldar BFG fleet, but I think I'll start with this disaster. A whole army ruined in a few minutes. I'm so very disappointed with my carelessnes.

Now, I know I could strip them and start all over, but I just don't have it in me to start from square one.

Total bummer, man.

Freehand Fears

Well, it seems that Vallejo's Bloody Red is closer to the old G.W. Blood Angel Red (a red-orange color) than actual red. This means one of three things: either I buy the $15 Dark Angel transfer sheet and a new pot of paint and re-paint everything; buy the $15 transfers and accept that they'll be a different color than every other red on my minis; or freehand every last Deathwing logo on every last mini.

I chose the freehand option. I probably should have re-painted everything and bought the transfers. Too late now as I'm not going to strip and re-paint my whole army. Besides, I don't really care what the minis look like in the end. The army is to goof off with in the end, so whatever.

The Good With the Bad

Well, as I feared, Demitra wiped the floor with my poor Terminators. Looks like if I want to play more competitively I'll have to use my Plague Marines. I heard Deathwing were a challenge to play, and I'm really starting to believe it.

That's a lot of red...

 

On a brighter note, I got my first game of Battlefleet Gothic in a few years today. It was a learning experience for both my opponent and myself. New rules abound:
-Ordnance no longer runs out
-You can measure at any time
-Torpedoes use the same size template regardless of the size of the salvo
There's probably more, but I just can't think of it right now.

In the end it was less of a crushing victory for the Dark Eldar than it initially appeared it would be. His one remaining Idolator class escort just whomped my crippled cruiser and three escorts before it went down. I was not pleased with the lackluster gunnery of my ships' crews either. On multiple occasions one of my Corsair class escorts should have taken out that Idolator, but instead missed, leaving him in a position to fire up my cruisers' tailpipe.

All in all two very enjoyable games against good opponents. That's what this hobby is supposed to be like, and I really need a refresher from time to time. Consider me refreshed.

Just In The Nick Of Time!

Since Demitra's on his way over, I decided to pull up the Dark Angels FAQ. Imagine my surprise when I found out that they had just updated the file!

Cyclone Missile Launchers are now Heavy 2!
Drop Pods are now BS 4!
Storm Shields give you a 3+ Invulnerable Save everywhere!

Suddenly I'm feeling just a touch better about my chances today. I'm still using an over-costed army, just a little less so now.

Deathwing Retouch

I got around to giving all my Deathwing Terminators their own individual heraldry. I'm terrified to start putting the Deathwing insignias on freehand. I don't trust the steadiness of my hands or the quality of my brushes. The alternative is a ~$15 sheet of decals from Forgeworld.

While looking closely at my models, I noticed that my dip had missed some of the recesses. It's not noticeable on the table, just annoying.

I'm pleased with the look of most of my models, save the Drop pods where the dip pooled on the front of the doors. Again, nit-picking at gaming models, but still a big annoyance.

Well, here it is- my very own wargaming blog. The first entry will be brief (and likely misspelled) because I am at work and have very little time remaining before I must return home.

Today I had a game against a Red Scorpions army with both the Chapter Master and Chief Librarian. This game was not fun. A quick rundown of the models' abilities if you will.

-Chapter Master: Strength 6, 4+ Invulnerable save, Terminator Armour (I will, for 40k purposes, use the snooty British spelling), Weapon Skill 6, an extra attack for each point his Weapon Skill exceeds his target's, and Eternal Warrior. Wrecked Belial in a single round of hand-to-hand combat. Granted, Belial is not the strongest HQ, but still...

-Cheif Librarian: a psychic ability that gives him a 2+ Invulnerable save (which CANNOT be countered), the ability to use three psychic abilities per turn, and the dude knows almost every psychic ability in the book.

My poor, freshly painted Deathwing army got tabled. I wasn't even able to put up a fight.


...And this on the heels of a crushing loss to Teclis. To be honest, I never should have moved my unit into those woods, but Teclis?

Any way, I'm looking forward to a friendly game against Demitra this week, so win or lose it should at least be an enjoyable game. Also, I may go looking for an unfriendly game with my Plague Marines tomorrow.

I'm beginning to worry that the local gaming scene is re-igniting the Powergamer Gene in me. I really don't want to be the guy who runs two Hellpit Abominations, but c'mon- Teclis? Double HPA suddenly doesn't look so bad in comparison, and I'll save some points over my big block of Rat Ogres...

Food for thought I suppose.