Suicide Squad: Deathwatch Kill-Team!

At the beginning of January, I posted some pics of a Deathwatch Kill team that I had pulled out of the closet, and finished painting...

 

Here they are from that post:

 

Since that time, there have been a number of customers coming into the store wanting to do a Kill Team Scenario... so we decided to give it a go!

 

Here are my Deathwatch setup behind an Aegis defense line ready for deployment!

 

John brought in his beloved Sons of Russ...

 

And Chris (who recently finished his Necrons), wanted to lay down his fire power!

 

 

 

With John so close to Chris's deployment area, he was too sweet of a target for Chris's Necrons!  Here is John trying (rather feebly) to use the "jedi dice trick" to get his 3+ saves... with a one, two twos, and a five, we are now trying to put together a fundraiser to send John back to the Jedi Academy for further training! (Sheeeesh!)

 

Here is my Deathwatch, led by Sergeant Kail Vibious skirting the battle area, and coming up the flank!

 

I tried really hard to stick with the Deathwatch iconography (notice Vibious's loin tabard), and painting black armor well is NEVER an easy task!

 

Sergeant Vibious bursts through the door, laying down a hailstorm of bolter fire against the Necrons and Wolves, in order to get his Marines up to the spire to retrieve the Chapter Relic they are after! (3 victory points, baby!)

 

Sergeant Jagatun, of the White Scars, is pointing his Marines down a dark, and dank corridor to surprise the other commanders on the other side of the citadel!

 

(I kept the white scar pattern on Jagatun's loin cloth to add some color to the mini!)

 

Mixximion Voss, with his deadly Heavy Bolter, creeps around the corner to spray the unsuspecting Necrons with a hail of deadly fire!  Librarian Lyandro Karras (otherwise known as the scholar), provides psychic support from behind!

 

(Voss's Imperial Fists Chapter badge is glaringly visible!)

 

Here is the monolithic Deathwatch Citadel under siege!

(Look very closely at the top!)

 

With a tie score between the Necrons and the Space Marines (13 points to 13 points), it was time for a showdown! Lyandro got to go first, and was lucky enough to get a penetrating hit... charging his force made with psychic energy, it was instant death for the Necron Lord!

 

(If you look closely, you can see little lightening arcs on the force mace!)

 

Chris, hanging his head in shame... shaking his fist... asking Nuffle why he couldn't have given him either his 6+ "Feel no pain" save, or his 5+ "It will not die" roll!

 

Hee hee hee! John raising his hands with a chiding grin, celebrating the conquering space marines once again! (okay, so it was a bit overkill with Deathwatch and Space Wolves, but we sure had fun!)

Szobczak: Deathwatch Dreadnaught!

Recently, I pulled out my contingency of Deathwatch Marines which have been sitting in storage for over a decade and decided to finish them up.  That inspired me to finish up a few other pieces that have been sitting in storage 75-80% finished.  This included Szobczak, the ancient and cantankerous Deathwatch Dreadnought formerly of the Imperial Fists Chapter's 5th Company.

 

 

Here he is, ready for battle with his Assault Cannon, Power Fist and Twin-linked Heavy flamer!

 

Extremely gruff and bitter, he has a tendency to relate everything to his past war experiences, and can find even the most tenuous parallels between current events and his actions years before. If and when he becomes attached to a Kill-team, he will, at every opportunity, ramble on about battles long since fought, lost Battle-Brothers, and the particulars of why, in his day, Space Marines were simply better at everything.

 

His left shoulder plating displays purity seals placed there by priests and tech-marines, no doubt containing incantations and prayers that the machine spirits do not fail...

 

At his base I placed numerous expended shells that one would expect to see from such an awesome gauss fired weapon like the formidable Assault Cannon!

 

Szobczak also has a tendency to react with surprising and often inappropriate anger or violence to even the slightest provocation. He can escalate any situation, and excels at making mountains out of molehills.  Perhaps that is why he is equipped with the assault cannon!

 

On his right side plating he displays his Fists Chapter badge just beneath his terminator honors earned while being in service to the Deathwatch.

In all, Brother Szobczak is a very trying, capricious, and frankly dangerous companion, traits that are only just made up for by his unwavering loyalty, his prowess in battle, and his incredible skill and breadth of experience.

 

Here he is supporting a kill-team as they unleash fire from their bolters in an attempt to cleanse the local assigned area of it's denizens!

Information taken from http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Deathwatch

A Pretty Mini Cool Thing!

Well, the results are in!  I probably sound like a broken record, but I am very grateful to all of you who have been so supportive of my endeavors... Thanks to all who got the last few votes in!  Here are the results:

I am no longer "unranked" and tossed at the bottom of the preverbal pile at Cool Mini with everyone else!  I am rather ecstatic to have jumped over 7k artists to be at 2268!  It is nice to have a better idea of where I am at, and am content (for now) with the ranking! Besides, it gives me something now to work toward (like making the top 500!) :D

With that being said, I decided to take another piece out of my age old collection of miniature stuff (don't recall where I got this piece from... probably Ebay), and do a celebration piece!

Here is an old pic of the original model, all gummed up, and painted rather horribly (probably by some young-blood who gave up the hobby):

 

After a feeble attempt to strip the paint off (with some success) I decided that the remaining paint that I could NOT get off would lend itself to a "battle-worn" Rhino...

Here are the results:

Left frontal view with the gunner managing the pintel-mounted, twin-linked Storm Bolter, ready to lay down a barrage of fire!

I put a lot of rust, smoke-stack stains, and blast damage on the tank to help hide some of the paint I could not get off, and to add more character to the model! 

 

Here is the veteran Sergeant barking orders to the tank commander letting him know where to disembark his troops at:

 

The Tank Commander has his chainsword clasped tightly in the clutches of his bionic arm, telling the driver to stop so the tactical squad of space marines can get out and join the fray!

 

This frontal shot gives you a better idea of the extra armor placed on the vehicle along with some rusted out dozer blades and the Hunter Killer Missile ready to be put to use... better launch those smokes Commander, and get those Marines out!

Let me know what you think...

Comments are always welcome! :D

Last Professional Push!

I am a bit befuddled by the crazy downpour of snow coming in right now... everything is shut down! (feels like Wisconsin where I moved from!)

 

Can't thank all of you for following my blog and for the kindness shown.  Below are some of my top ranked minis at Cool Mini or Not.  This is my last serious push for the higher ranked posts I have submitted.  If you could take a few minutes and click the links to vote on each (provided you haven't done so already), I would greatly appreciate it!

 

I am needing to get them over "50" votes each to get an "official" ranking (Several are close wtih 45-48 votes).  Thanks a million! (Feel free to share these with anyone you think my give me a boost over the top!)

1) Wood Elf Team, 2) Treeman, 3) Agememnon the Troll, 4) Eldar Harlequin, 

5) Lewdgrip Chaos Star Thrower, 6) Ripper Bolgrot Troll Star Player, 7) Fezglitch Skaven Star Player

 

Thanks for taking the time to vote!

 

(Here is one individual's take on the great storm that hit North Carolina!)

...A Little More Wet Paint on a Wood Elf Treeman!

Here is another mini that I need some help with... a Wood Elf Treeman!  This was (again) one of the originals I posted up on this blog not really expecting much from Cool Mini or Not, and he has remained one of the high scoring minis on the sight!

Here is the link to the original post along with the link to him at Cool Mini or Not!

I really liked this mini when I came across it, and thought it would be a fantastic treeman blocker for Blood Bowl!  So I picked it up, and pieced it together and painted it up!  Really like the overall effect of how it turned out! :D

 

Do go to Cool Mini or Not and vote on him! Thanks!

Wonder, Wit, and a Little Wet Paint!

Wanted to 'pause' for a few moments and say "thanks" to all of you out there who have posted comments, and continue to make blogging such a rewarding experience!  I remember the first time I heard about it (years ago) and thought to myself, "what's the big deal?"  Well... it is a certainly rewarding to have a place where I can share a little tiny sliver of myself with others, and have folks respond in such a kind way, so again, many thanks!

The one thing that I was not expecting, and I suppose has brought a bit of wonder to me, is how many there are out there who thoroughly enjoy the miniature world of collecting, painting, war-gaming and the like!  It has always been a passion of mine ever since I was a kid, and was a little frustrated (and even a bit perturbed) by the negativity surrounding it in the early 80's and even a bit in the early 90's... my, how faaaaar culture as changed!

I don't know that I have anything terribly witty to share other than the fact that I have found this hobby of ours to be "beautifully simple, and simply beautiful!"

Regarding the wet paint; well, all I can say is it has been very rewarding thus far cutting my teeth into a very dynamic and challenging industry, and I am still a bit 'wet behind the ears' so-to-speak working as a pro-painter.  But my brush always has paint on it, and I always have a project I am working on, which is incredibly rewarding!

Having said that, if ya'll (there is my southern! :D) wouldn't mind giving me my last little boost over a small hump, I would greatly appreciate it!  In order to get ranked at:

...which facilitates other professional achievements, I am just shy of getting an official ranking, and I could really use your help!

 

Over the next few days, I will be reposting six posts/pics that I need just a few more votes on; if you would be so kind as to take just a couple of seconds and vote (provided you haven't already) it would be most appreciated!

 

The first, is a post that is dated November 10th (Happy Birthday to my beloved Marine Corps!) regarding a trophy that was brought back from a competition in Virginia...

 

Here is the pic on the post, which is also a picture of the miniatures that I am asking for a vote on at Cool Mini or Not!

 

I am just a few votes shy of getting it officially ranked... thank you so much for your taking the time to look, and vote!

 

(click the pic to enlarge and vote)

Food, Fighting and Fun!!!

When one paints a lot of miniatures, whether they be for commission work or for personal use, it is a needful thing to get them on the table-top (at some point) and put them to good use!

Last night was a venerable free-for-all of Warhammer 40k!  The battle was taken from the rulebook, 6th ed. pg 364, called "Pact of Blood" where any and all armies are welcome, and (upon arrival) are then teamed-up into likely, or unlikely, allies!

We ended up with: 1) Tau, 2) Chaos, 3) Dark Eldar, 4) White Scar Space Marines, 5) Space Wolves, and 6) Inquisition Grey Knights!  We had experienced vets, as well as noobs wanting to learn how to play... great fun had for all!

Everyone showed up with a standard army list of 650 points not knowing really what to expect, or how things were going to go down!

The "good guys" comprised of Zach, John and myself fielded an army comprised of Space wolves, White Scars mounted on bikes, and some deep striking Grey Knights with an Inquisitor Lord.

The "bad guys" were comprised of Hunter, Mitch, and Leon fielding the Tau, Chaos and Dark Eldar (respectively).... here is Hunter's Tau behemoth, which was a rather devastating factor with it's heavy plasma blasters, until my Grey Knights landed! hee hee hee!

Some of Mitch's Chaos cultists and Greater Daemon of Khorne getting ready to fire it up, and take to the air! (Vector striking by Daemon flyers is nasty!)

 

 Leon's Dark Eldar Ravagers roll an insane amount of dice when shooting, turning the opposition (the good guys) into Swiss cheese!  Kor'sarro Kahn and his bikers never get off the front line! Sheesh!

Of course, John had his own venerable collection of dice with which to choose from as well! :D

Mitch's Chaos Hell Drake blowing up the Scar's Rhino troop transport, forcing the tactical squad inside to disembark and get out and stand and fight!

Zach the "noob" whose entire force (save the deep-striking terminators) was wiped out in turn one, is now gleefully getting ready for revenge on Hunter's Tau forces!

Deep striking terminators coming out of a drop pod... an opponent's worst nightmare!

Hunter's reaction after Zach drops in, making short work of what remains of Hunter's Tau forces! Oh the joy of one' first draw of blood on the battlefield! LOL!!!

The pinnacle of the battle was (of course) getting the greater Daemon into a fight with my Inquisitor Ordo Malleus Lord who, tragically, ended up perishing at the hand's of Khorne!  To my defense, the Inquisitor had already taken two wounds from no less than four squads, over 60 dice rolls to shoot, and making MULTIPLE saves leaving the daemon only "1" wound to contend with! (I'll get him next time!!! Grrrr!)

However, to Mitch's surprise, I did manage to turn him into a little-itty-bitty spawn creature upon getting sucked into the warp, turning his 350+ point model into a 45 point model, that the John could now step on like the inconsequential "bug" that he was!!! Sooooo... I still got my revenge!!! Glory for the Emperor!!!!

Here is the lot of us (I am the vertically challenged one in the middle!), talking smack, hamming it up, with Hunter and Zach still throttling each other after a hard-fought battle!  To quote Lord Baden Powell, this is what "boys" love to get together and do: Food, Fighting and Fun!  "That is the world of the boy!  I guess as one grows into manhood... some things still don't go away!

Imperial Fist, 3rd Company Commander: Brother-Captain Silas Hammerhand

When I first started posting on my blog, this miniature was one of my "test" pieces to see how things would go... little did I know the place I would be in now! With a new store to keep on top of (which includes all the games I need to know); I have had to get back into Warhammer 40K! 

With the 6th edition rules now, I am able to field a pretty severe Inquisitor/Grey Knight army, and the fast attack option that Kor'sarro Kahn (White Scars) means I am needing to go a different direction then the beloved Imperial Fists I used to play back in 3rd-4th edition at the turn of the century.  Lamentably, the Imperial Fist Commander that I custom built: Brother-Captain Silas Hand, Captain of the Fist's Third Company, is need of a new home!

 

This is a one-of-a-kind custom mini that can only be purchased on EBay!

 

This miniature is modeled WYSIWYG: armed with bionics (Feel no pain on a 6+ when wounded) along with artificer armor (2+ Armor Save), an Iron Halo (4+ Invulnerable Save), Master Crafted Relic Blade (+3 Strength, 2 AP), and Combi-Melta gun... pretty cool stuff for only 150 points!

 

 

 

(Cast a vote for him at Cool Mini or Not!)

 

If you know anyone who is currently in to 40k, perhaps they might know someone fielding the Imperial Fists... don't hesitate to share this post with them so they can nab this guy! Thanks for stopping in! :D