Packing!

Not much going on for me at the moment. Managed to some how crash my operating system (linux: PCLoS07) and am running it off the boot disk for the time being, unfortunately this is also slowing my computer down terribly and preventing me from uploading any pics. Blast.
I'm all packed up to take off... kinda... I want to finish painting my Reavers first before I pack them and everything that'll be on top of 'em. All I got left on them at this point is the layer of Golden Yellow and touch ups with Chaos Black.
Just finished reading World War Z. I enjoyed it thoroughly, despite the restless nights as I struggled to fall asleep. Haha. Yes, despite being a Marine I in fact did become quite spooked by this book. The author paints this beautifully graphic and disturbing that will leave you 'chilled' for hours. More haunting than the scariest of movies!
Unfortunately, I'm not left bootless until I visit the base exchange in a few days... Maybe I'll pick up a good magazine at the airport or something.

Thats it for now. Don't expect many updates in the coming weeks... I'm going to be a tad busy with settling in to my next unit, shopping for a car, and whatever else life throws at me. Hopefully I'll find a hobby store to get a game in sometime in the near future though. I haven't had a game since July...

Woah! So Much Going On!

Alright, first up, here's a picture of my latest WIP; Hakanor's Reavers. Upfront and center is the Aspiring Champian who has the option between a Power Fist or Power Weapon for his wargear. I built him before actually knowing the rules of the game... dun dun dun. Anyways, no matter, he has a bolter and bolt pistol per his codex entry anyways. Hopefully I don't bump into any WYSIWYG nazis. :/

I also realized something blatantly obvious recently. Hakanor's Reavers are nothing more than Black Legion CSMs with lava legs! Wha!? Shocker! Haha.
All I got left on these guys are to touch up around the gold with some Chaos Black and add lava lines to the legs.

Some news from my life now... I'm moving again! What!? Again!? You've only just settled in finally!
Well yeah, but things change. I'm heading back to the D.C. for some stuff.... What stuff exactly I don't wish to disclose, but I'm just happy to be going back to America. Lets leave it at that.

Managed to pack into two foam trays the majority of my army.... Around 35 Terminators, 9 Chaos Chosen, 12 Obliterators, and 4 squads of CSMs. Also is my Chapter Master (counts as Abbadon) and my Slaneshi Jump Chaplain as well as 20 Raptor jump troops.

I really oushed to fit as much as possible in these two containers. This is all the WH40K I'll have with me for probably a month or two... Minus and additions I make while back in the states... And I want to be able to play from the git go. With no mech I won't be playing any competitive lists, but no bother... I just want to get some games in.
My squad of 5 magnetized terminators really took the cake here. Managed to fit 4 of them into one biker space. :D

You really gotta love battlefoam. I ordered an extra Terminator and Assault Marine insert a few weeks back in preparation of this move. Having packed all my Assault Marines (raptors) in the other foam insert, I had 20 spaces to spare which I was easily able to double up normal CSMs in. Awesome!

Made a new addition to the side of the blog. I'm not posting books I've recently read, ratings, and what book I'm currently reading. I'd like to post some book reviews as well, but my writing is so out of practice I really can't bare to embarrass myself here. Having been out of school for thee and a half years (minus some b/s online college), my writing abilities are pretty sorry. I full well intend to fix that when I start attending college next year as part of my post-military life. August 2010 can't come soon enough!

Reset the Clock!

Today I'll leave you with a little treat I found while reading Dan Ambnett's Ravenor Omnibus. He drops a lovely little easter egg in chapter 3 of Ravenor Rouge. In it Ravenor's contracted ship master is discussing his family's supposed origins which appear to be rooted in popular myth of the 40k universe.

'it is much derailed, in places high and low,' she heard the shipmaster saying, 'that there ever was a race of beings of the name the squats, and many scholams and those of the high mindful claim it's just a myth, a thing that never was, but my direst old grand avuncular sweared to me that the Unwerth lineament has some timbre of that blood in it, right back in all perspective, I mean...'
-Ravenor: The Ominbus; pg. 693.

Oh Mr. Abnett, how could you!

For those of you who have yet to read Ravenor, I highly suggest you purchase a copy as soon as possible. It's a truly enjoyable read. Pick up a copy of Eisenhorn while you're at it. You won't be disappointed.

Heroes: Season 3 Volume 4

After the first half a season three of Heroes I find myself a tad burnt out. The way it seems rushed, cliche and over the top really left a bitter taste in my mouth. I found myself disappointed with the direction the show has taken since season two. Its as if the writers don't really care about the content so much anymore, they know it will sell anyways.
Anyways, I finally decided to give the second half of season 3 a shot. Volume 4: Fugitives proves to be more of the same rehashed garbage that the writers have been throwing around for what seems like forever now. Characters have sudden persona changes to fit the plot, powers still turn on and off from quirky gimmicks and there are more loose strings than I can even count. New characters are introduced and dropped like its no big deal, they're just left stranded in thin air while old ones make a cameo for a brief moment only to vanish from existence again.
The Petrelli family continues to bicker and fight as always, Cheerleader continues to have daddy issues, Peter can't stop being emo and Matt Parkman continues to make goofy faces and be the annoying ass I find him to be. It doesn't help that every one, well almost every one... but I'll get to that in a minute, are terribly predictable. The only characters who really aren't predictable are the villains!
Well, Nathan Petrelli isn't really predictable, but that tends to happen when his character's persona is rewritten time and time again. Sylar is the main attraction of the show though. Sure he has daddy issues still, but that doesn't change a thing. Sylar is still the be all end all BAMF we all know and love.
At the moment I'm at episode 22, about to kick it as soon as I wrap this up. There plot has seemed rather incoherent and sporadic throughout the season so far, contrary to the well pieced plot of season 1. I'm hoping that things start clicking together here at the very end...
And now..... *clicks play*

Today I....

Did a whole lot of nothing.... Hobby related anyways.
Up until 1700 in the afternoon I was under the impression that my detachment was still scheduled for an inspection from our Region XO tomorrow. I also had overslept till 1300, which really didn't help me out time management either... So anyways, I cleaned all day and put away my giant mess of a hobby workspace so that the XO wouldn't flip a switch on me tomorrow when he toured the MSGQ.
By time I learned the whole inspection was canked I was too lazy to bother fooling around with my plastic crack. I instead busied myself with reading Ravenor, as I finished Eisenhorn over a week ago. I also then snuck into the gym for some heavy lifting while the rest of the Marines were out... Not supposed to be lifting for awhile per doctor's orders but I really can't resist myself. :P
Got the morning shift tomorrow followed up with a lovely chat with my GySgt... Hopefully it won't get ugly... And hopefully come the end of the week I'll be packing my bags to PCS back to the states. Who knows...
Wish me luck.

A Couple More Veterans

As I've mentioned previously, I've got a new box of Catachans and SM Scouts and am thus pre-occupied with rounding out my IG Veterans Squad. This is number 8 of the batch and was going to be my third melta gunner, however the sword draw and demonic face really pulled me away from that idea. Instead I made him another shotgun toting bad ass and gave him an extra sword to suit his evil look. Now he's really wicked! After the green stuff finishes curing I'm going to clean him up a bit.

Making Your Veterans Stand Out

Imperial Guard Veterans are a heavy favorite on the tables at the moment. With BS4 and the ability to pack 3 meltas, who could blame ya for packing a couple squads in Chimeras and letting loose?
But here we've got a slight dilemma, what models should you use to distinguish your vets from the every day body in the meat grinder? What would be a suitable way to make them really stand out? Some players simply buy a different model to use to separate the vets from rank and file troopers, but others such as myself prefer to convert something a little more catchy. Here's a step by step walk through of how I made my latest one.

Tools you'll need

• Gue (plastic or super)

• Clippers

• Saw (the GW hobby saw that is)

• Drill

• File

• Green stuff tool

• Green stuff

And the parts I used

• Catachan arms

• Space Marine Power Pack

• Plastic Meltagun

• Cadian Torso

• Chaos Space Marine Head
  

• Space Marine Scout Legs

• Various accessory bits

Do forgive the poorly lit photos. Lighting in my room is pretty dismal. And the electricity here is fairly sketchy... I keep blowing out my AC and light bulbs on a regular basis.

First off I took the Cadian torso and the CSM head and drilled holes in both of them where the neck should be. This is to set a decent groove for the greenstuff to graft on to.
I also chopped off the exhaust vents on the backpack. That doesn't need to be done at this stage, but it doesn't hurt.

I then fiddled around with the arms to get them set up to hold the meltagun level. Its important to do this before mounting the head so that you can have the figure looking in the same direction as the gun barrel.

I then rolled up some greenstuff and stuck it in the hole I had drilled. Set it in the hole on the torso, smooth things out with your tool and cut away excess. Looking good.

Now for attaching the back pack. You'll want to clip off the little nub on the back of the torso so the pack can align flush with the models back.

Add on some accessories. I like to stick ammo pouches, grenades and knives and such on my models.

A shot of my finished product. Shortsword on the rack, sheathed sword at the hip, ammo pouches along the side of the pack and a canteen on the other side.
Scout lets tend to make the model appear as if its leaning forward. I stuck some green stuff under the right toe of this guy to give him a more upright look.


And there you have it. Sharp looking IG Vets that you can crank out fairly easily. These guys can be a bit costly considering the different sets the bits come from, but if you've been in the hobby long enough you're sure to have enough to spare for a squad or two.

Finally! I'm Back!

Misfortune recently fell upon me and I found myself hospitalized for a stomach virus of all things. Embarassing story that I feel no need to give the details of, but the gist of it is that I was out for the past three days. Its amazing how disconnected three days of no internet leaves you... Proves just how addicting the interwebz really is.
So here I am back at work again for another lovely stint of the night shift. Found a couple of pleasant surprised when I came in too. Mail! What'd I get?

-Terminator/Assault troop tray from BattleFoam
-Catachan Command Squad
-Space Marine Scout Squad
-Tube of Green Stuff
-'Tank Shock' Edition of White Drawf

The troop tray was a big thing for me. I have the 1520 battle foam load out already (minus the bag) and that doesn't provide enough space for my plethora of Terminator and Obliterator models. I currently have (thanks to space hulk) 35 Terminators and 12 Obliterators! Yikes!
With the new Catachan and Scout bits I can now finish my IG Vets squad. I want to build a whole army in the manner of my Afriel Strain vets, but its freaking time consuming and costly!
The green stuff was actually a mistake on my part. When I ordered it I was under the impression that I was out of my own stock... turns out I just didn't look hard enough and I still had two full tubes. Now I got two n a half.
Having moved from Vienna to Muscat, Oman recently; my subscription to WD got lost in transition. I finally got the replacement copy I ordered though. Hopefully I can get my next copy before I move again.

Also had sitting in my room, much to my surprise, four giant boxes of all my house hold goods that got shipped in from Vienna. They've been sitting in Oman's Customs department for the past three weeks and finally got approved. Yay! I'm not going to open them though... I'm hoping to be rotating back the the states here soon. Or so I pray.... This country is driving me mad!

Space Hulk!

So here I was this morning, at work minding my own business and enjoying life in my glass box when one of my fellow Marines walks in with a box. A big box. A heavy looking big box. So I think to myself, what could any one have ordered that comes in a heavy looking big box... I know I ordered something, thats for sure. So lo and behold, Space Hulk has arrived! Whooooo!
After I finished assembling everything I took some silly pictures. Enjoy.

They thought the mission was over, that the hulk was cleansed. They partied it up in the style of the brothers of Fenris. Little did they know, something came back with them....

Complacency kills Marine! Don't let this happen to you!

They swarm rises up to claim their prize....

Too much blue? Too bad. Haha. Can't wait to get this lot painted up.
*Sigh*
It will have to wait though... Hakanor's Reavers are holding the painting table and look determined not to let it go.
Now all I need to do is convince one of my fellow Marines to play the game with me....

Hakanor's Reavers

Here we have my latest squad to hit the painting table, a small retinue of Hakanor's Reavers. The armour of these warriors burns with a magical heat, causing it to constantly crack and reform like lava. The very first time I saw them in the CSM Codex, I fell in love. I had to have a squad of these guys.
Halfway through painting up my demo man I learned a few tricks with my camera to take better pictures. Its not the lack of a photo box that had affected my pictures, but merely not having my camera set up adequately. Big thanks to the Chicago Terrain Factory for giving me some pointers.

Started this guy off with a Chaos Black base coat. I then moved on to give him a light drybrushing with Codex Grey.

Along the legs I drew the cracks of the armour with the foundation paint Mechrite Red.

I then went over the cracks with a light touch of Blazing Orange while trying to make sure to allow the reds to still show underneath/outside of it.

I finished up the cracks with an even thinner lining of Golden Yellow.

I painted on Burnished Gold for the shoulder trim and top arrow of the helmet.


Followed up with Boltgun Metal power pack and weapons washed with Baal Red followed by Badab Black. I don't think I'll wash the Boltgun Metal on any additional models. It throws of the look to me.
Painted the eye lens and chapter sign with Mechrite Red followed by Blood Red.
The horns were done with Bleached Bone washed with Greyphone Sepia and lightly drybrushed with Skull White.

And there we have it, one completed Reaver for Antony's Warband. Now its time to line up the rest of the squad and get an assembly line started. Shouldn't take too long.

Need a Photo Box Bad!

Here we have the test model for a new squad I started months ago. Being a Chaos Warband, I have no problem incorporating different color scemes and such into my forces. My original intention for this squad was that overtime their dedication to Khorne corrupts their bodies and souls resulting, which is depicted by the gradual progression of the blackness and flames. The squad was originally going to be in my chapters colors, however I've decided that only a few models will feature the blue and red of the Eclipsed Light. This squad is a small detachment of Hakonor's Reavers, and as new inducties from the Eclipsed Light spend more time in the unit they are slowly warped into the beserkers that the Reavers are.

Here's a shot of my painting table and the whole squad primed and ready. Originally I was going to name the squad 'Long Horns', but have scratched that. They will recieve a proper Latin name that has yet to be decided. Also, you may not the marine on the right lacks horns. He'll be getting replaced ASAP. Just need a new can of primer to prep his replacement...

I've hinted at my corupted Chaplain, Seti Ubaid, from time to time. Here's some more pictures of him and a bit of fluff on the character. The pictures are crap, I know. New pics of my entire army will be posts as soon as I PCS back to the States and make a photo box.
Seti Ubaid, or Seti the Faithful, is one of Antony's trusted advisors from his 'Gypo Legionaires'. Seti is known as the faithful for the fact that despite being a chaplain to the ruinous powers, his heart is still dedicated to the Emperror of Man. He's sold his soul to grant his brothers (both loyal and corrupt) safe travels through the warp and has continued to conduct the sacrifices and sermons required to keep the dark god's favor.

Game play wise, Seti is one of my Slanesh Jump Lords with Lash. I'm cheap, I know.
He was painted Scab Red and given many generous coats of Badab Black to darken it to my liking. He has Hawk Turquois trim on one shoulder pad to show his loyalty to the Eclipsed Light, which is the former name of Antony's warband.
The top of his staff broke off and needs replaced. That will be done some day... eventually...
Also, I plan on placing a book of Chaos in his upturned hand. Possibly sculpt some green stuff flames to levitate it on. Not too sure on that as my GS skills are very rudimentary.