Imperial Fists: Test Model #1

Well now that my Black Templar Army is all but finished and my Sisters of Battle should go by pretty quickly, I decided to start preparations for my Imperial Fist Army. I browsed the web and found a few color combinations I liked and below is my step by step process for my first test model and color scheme.





My Test models are marines I have left over from the last 40K starter box set. The models have been stripped and repainted several times and are starting to outlive their usefulness, but they will work fine for this project as their last job. This is the model after a black undercoat was applied. Then the model was base coated with Iyanden Darksun foundation paint. Lastly I applied a coat of Gryphonne Sepia wash. I allowed this to dry overnight before I moved onto the next step.

My next step consisted of several drybrush layers of Golden Yellow. This took quite awhile to build up but I took my time so as to not fill in recesses where the wash had settled. In my future test minis I am going to touch up the Iyanden Darksun before proceeding to this step as the Golden Yellow had some problem covering some areas where the wash got on the armor plates.

This model was after several drybrushings of Sunburst Yellow were applied to the model. Again this step took awhile but I wanted to build up the layers without covering the recesses. At this point I am liking how the model is looking because the yellow looks weathered and not brand new and that is the look I am trying to achieve for my Imperial Fists












Ok I am not sure what happened but the picture for the next step was corrupted so I will post the final pic and just tell you how I got there. The next step was drybrushing on a 50/50 mix of Sunburst Yellow and Skull White. I used a smaller brush and really only applied this layer to the higher levels on the armor. Once I was satisfied with the yellow of the armor I then added the details you see in the picture. I like how the overall look of the model turned out, the yellow has the weathered looking effect I wanted.



What this test model did show me is that I don't like the black rim of the 5th company so I am going to go with the red rim of the 3rd company. I also did not like the black I used on backpack or the kneepad. I think in my next test model both of those will remain yellow. Overall I think this is a pretty good start and definetely somethign I can work from to get my final color combination. So please let me know what you think and I will be posting my 2nd attempt in the very near future.

-BJ

Friday Projects Update: Long Overdue

It has been a few weeks since I last did a Friday Projects Update, so I thought I should post up some pics of what I have been up to. My largest project has been my commission work for a good friend. He wanted to add some Blood Claws and a few other units to his Space Wolf army I painted for him. Above you can see the 28 Blood Claws I finished for him and below you can see some a few extra Wolf Guard with power fists. All I have left is some Special Weapons guys for his Grey Hunter units, A Long Fang pack and a Runepriest. My goal is to get them finished and out to him by Monday so he has them in time for the new Codex.

My time hasn't been all Space Wolves over the last 2 weeks. I did manage to get allot accomplished for my Black Templars. Above is my 2nd Rhino and below are some Initiates with heavy weapons as well as my Assault Squad. Now that I have finished these units all I have left to paint is my Predator tank and my army will be completely painted. There are still a few models I want to pick up but I will be considering my Templars as a finished army.

Lastly for this update some Warhammer Fantasy Battles. I managed to squeeze in a unit of Skeletal Horsemen with bows among all of my Space marine painting. This leaves my Tomb King army about 85% painted with only the Ushatabi, Carrion, Bone Giant and a few Lords/Heroes left to paint.

So what will be up next on the projects. Well I will be finishing off my Templars and then moving on to my Sisters of Battle for 40K and I will continue to paint both my Tomb Kings and my Dwarfs for Fantasy as I am nearly finished with both armies. Coming soon to the blog with be a few of my color test models for my Imperial Fists. This project is a little ways off for me, but I am looking to get my colors perfected before I start on the actual army.

As always thanks for reading my blog and all comments are welcome!

-BJ

My first battle against the new Space Wolf codex!

Well yesterday I got my first taste of facing an opponent using the new Space Wolf codex. I played at my local game shop against one of the owners who was using the store copy of the Wolf codex. I am going to do an overview of the battle to the best I can as I don't have a copy of the list he was using with me.

The Battle was 1850 points Seize Ground mission with a Pitched Battle deployment. We rolled 5 objective markers placed as below on the battlefield.

Space Wolves

HQ:
Logan Grimnar

Njal Stormcaller

Troops:

7 Terminators: 2 wolf claws, 2 thunder hammer/storm shield, 2 power fists/storm bolter - Mounted in Land Raider Crusader with Logan Grimnar
4 Terminators: 2 wolf claws, 2 thunder hammer/storm shield - Mounted in Drop Pod with Njal Storm caller.
3 Terminators: 1 power fist/storm bolter, 2 thunderhammer/storm shield
3 Terminators: 1 wolf claws, 2 thunderhammer/storm shield

Elites:

Lone Wolf: thunderhammer/storm shield, terminator armor
Lone Wolf: thunderhammer/storm shield, terminator armor

Black Templars

HQ:
Marshal: Lightning claws, Iron Halo, Terminator Honors
Emperor's Champion: Vow-Abhor the Witch, Destroy the Witch

Troops:
Crusade Squad: 7 BP/CCW, flamer, BP/PW - Mounted in Rhino with Emperor's Champion
Crusade Squad: 8 BP/CCW, Meltagun, BP/PF - Mounted in Rhino
Crusade Squad: 8 Bolters, plasma gun, BP/PF - Mounted in Drop Pod
Crusade Squad: 4 Bolters, 1 Plasma Cannon - Mounted in Razorback with Twin-linked Lascannon
Crusade Squad: 4 Bolters, 1 Lascannon

Elites:
Dreadnought: Assault Cannon, Dread CCW, Heavy Flamer - Mounted in Drop Pod
Sword Brethren Squad: 6 BP/CCW, BP/PW, Lightning Claws - Mounted with Marshal in Land Raider Crusader

Deployment:

I managed to seize the intiative, but in hindsight I probably should not have even tried. I deployed my Rhinos in the center with My Crusader and Razorback off to the right in cover. I then placed one of my small crusade squads near the objective on the right in my deployment zone, While the other deployed near the objective on the far left.

The Space wolves deployed with a Crusader on the right near the objective in their zone along with a small squad of Terminators. Then another small squad of Terminators deployed in the center. Both Lone Wolves deployed near each other at left-center.

Deployment

TURN 1:

My Rhinos advanced on the center. My Crusader moved around the Left side of the building to Help support the center. My Razorback pulled forward to get line of sight on the Land Raider and both my small crusade squad moved forward with the squad on the right now occupying the objective. My Razorback took a shot at the landraider but had no effect.

Space Wolves: First they drop podded in Njal and the termies with him on the center objective. Then he moved his Crusader forward as well as his other Termie Units and the Lone Wolves. During the Shooting phase he ran his two termie units forward as well as his Lone Wolves. Njal used a psychic power that caused any deep striking unit to take a terrain test once they land. He then did some power that effected the weather but when he rolled for the effect there was no effect this turn. It was at this time I realized I didn't take my free move for Abhor the Witch, Destroy the Witch, but I did remember the ability to nullify the power on a 5+ but failed for.

End of Turn 1

TURN 2:

At the start of turn 2 my Dreadnought in the Drop Pod deep struck near the objective in the Space Wolf zone. He passed his difficult terrain test. The Emperors champion squad disembarked to get into position to charge Njal's unit. The Crusader lined up to open fire on Njal's unit. In the Shooting phase my dreadnought opened fire with his assault cannon on the 3 Terminators guarding the other center objective. I managed to hit and wound with all 4 shots. Then the Space Wolves failed all 4 of their 2+ saves. Next my Crusader opened up on Njals unit
I got 2 rending wounds from the assault cannon and 6 wounds from the hurricane bolters. For some reason my buddy decided to put a rending wound on Njal and then failed his save, so Njal took a wound but the rest of his squad managed to make their saves. Lastly my Crusade squad on the left fired 4 bolters and a lascannon at one of the Lone Wolves but he managed to make all his saves. The assault phase was a disaster as i failed to reach Njal's unit with my Emperor's Champion's unit and I knew that meant I would be facing a charge on the Space Wolf turn.

Space Wolves: Movement was pretty simple, he Moved Njal's unit as well as the 3 termie unit in the center to charge my Emperor's Champion and squad. He then moved both Lone Wolves towards my 5 man crusade squad on the left. In the Shooting phase his crusader shot at my crusader doing nothing. In anticipation of getting a charge with Njal and the terminators my buddy forgot to do any of his psychic powers. In the Assault phase Njal and his terminators as well as the other terminators unit assaulted my Champion and his crusade squad, The Emperor's Champion and Njal squared off and Njal managed a wound on the champion before succumbing to the Black Sword, this would be where my luck started to run out! my Crusade squad attacked the terminators, managing to kill off two but then the Terminators struck back kill 8 of my initiates in a flurry of Wolf Claws and Thunder Hammer attacks. I lost the fight by 5 with the templars being fearless in assault I have to take another 5 saves which I managed to fail enough of to wipe out my unit including the Emperor's Champion they even managed to destroy my empty rhino in the joint assault. The Wolves then consolidated toward my Rhino with a full squad.

End of Turn 2

TURN 3:


At the beginning of turn 3 my crusade squad in the drop pod showed up and landed near the center objective. My Dreadnought moved to assault the crusader and my other crusade squad disembarked from my their rhino. When disembarking I moved from the rear and left doors because he had a few Termies in front of the Rhino and 2 on the left side, so I tried to put myself in a position where he couldn't get both units attacking mine at the same time. In the shooting phase I blasted the crusader with my Assault cannons on my dread and my crusader as well as the Multi Melta on the crusader and the Plasma cannon from the squad on the objective. After all that firepower I only managed to get 1 Crew Stunned which the extra armor turned into a crew shaken. I then assaulted the crusader with my Dread and my crusade squad assaulted the Termies on the left of my rhino. This is where I realized how damn deadly the Space Wolves are. Even though I charged the wolves have counter attack so they get all their attacks as if they had charged. I managed to kill of 1 terminator with my regular attacks but then his thunder hammer took out 3 initiates if my power fist did not kill him I would lose combat again. I was only able to score one hit but lucky for me it was enough to bring down the last terminator of that unit.


Space Wolves: He moved his Crusader closer to my objective and deployed Logan and his large Terminator squad. He moved his 2 termies in the middle towards my land raider and the lone wolves headed for my unit from the drop pod. In the Shooting phase His crusader scored a wrecked result on mine using his multi-melta. The Marshal and Sword Brethren then dispersed from the wreckage only to be assaulted by the 2 termies left in the middle. None of my power weapons were able to get into combat so I caused no wounds to his 4. I then lost an additional Sword Brethren to my fearless saves. Logan and his unit assaulted my Razorback reducing it to a crater several times over. The game was starting to look grim for the Templars.

End of Turn 3

Turn 4:

I started Turn 4 by moving my Dred to assault the Crusader again. I also moved my Rhino to help my whole crusade squad get into combat. I fired my Assault Cannon at the Crusader and failed to do anything. I then fired my Plasma cannon at Logan's squad but he managed his Invulnerable saves. I then assaulted the terminators that were fighting the Marshal and Sword brethren. This combat was a complete disaster as I only was able to kill 1 of 2 Terminators, the space wolves then wounded 3 of my men in return and I lost another to my fearless rolls. The Dreadnought attacked the crusader and failed to do any damage. (At this point I had decided that my dice really enjoy the number 1)

Space Wolves: The crusader turned to face my dread Fired the Multi-Melta and missed in extreme fashion. Logan and his men moved then ran towards the close combat in the center. The only assault was a continuation of the battle in the middle. This time I was able to finish off the terminatos with my Marshal's lightning claws and the consolidated towards logan's and his crew. The lone Wolves assaulted my crusade squad at the drop pod where I lost 6 models and only caused 1 wound to a single lone wolf.

End of Turn 4

Turn 5:


I started by moving my crusade squad and my marshal and his sword brethren into assault position. I then fired my Dred's assault cannon at the crusader again resulting in nothing. I fired my plasma gun at Logan's unit only to scatter complete off of it. I then assaulted my dread into the crusader and managed to immobilize it. Then my marshal, sword brethren and crusade squad assaulted logan and his unit. This should have gone my way but logan used a special ability giving his unit an extra attack, the coupled with their counter attack roll gave them an awesome amount of attacks. Logan himself had 7. After the dust cleared only my Marshal remained with a single wound left which he then proceeded to lose to my fearless roll. Logan's unit then consolidated towards my last remaining crusade squad on the objective. The Lone wolves proceeded to kill off my remaining crusade squad at the drop pod.


Space Wolves: Logan's unit moved to be in assault position if we went to turn 6, one lone wolf moved towards my rhino the other moved towards my drop pod. At this point we rolled to see if the game ended. I would have won because I held one objective but naturally I rolled a 3.

End of Turn 5

Turn 6:

Well my turn was over quit quickly as I fired all I had in my unit, 4 bolters and a plasma cannon into logan's unit. I failed to do any damage. The end was near.

Space Wolves: The lone wolves attacked both my rhino and my drop pod but amazingly failed to damage either one. Then Logan and his unit assaulted y crusade and proceeded to slaughter them to a man, thus winning the game for the Space Wolves.

End of Turn 6

Conclusion:

Well all I can say is the Space Wolves definitely excel in the assault phase. I played way to conservatively in the beginning round as I was not sure exactly what to expect from the new wolves. I probably should have unloaded all my vehicles in turn 2 since he had very little firepower and I could have possibly overwhelmed his termie units with sheer numbers. This would have left me with more marines left over to assault Logan's big unit. I also got too distracted with my dreadnought trying to destroy the land raider.

The Space Wolves have some cool rules. The one I found most impressive was the counter attack. Even when I managed to get off an assault his unit still got all the attacks as if they had assaulted. The only time I did well in close combat was when I was able to cause 7-8 power weapon wounds using my marshal and the sword brethren, but it was too little too late and towards the end of the game my dice would only roll ones. The Lone Wolves were very hard to do anything too. I poured fire power into them with almost no effect. The Lone Wolf in Terminator Armor with thunderhammer and storm shield is a beast to deal with and my buddy took two of them.

Over all I had a blast playing them. The codex really seems to have some cool twists to it and I can't wait to see what other tricks that the wolf players will have up their sleeves. I apologize of this report is hard to follow, this is my first attempt at posting one on my blog so any suggestions on how to improve them are greatly appreciated.

-BJ

Marshal with Jump Pack Finished

This is just a quick follow up to my Marshal with Jump Pack Conversion post. I finished him today and I am pretty happy with how he turned out. I now just have to find a model to convert for my Marshal with Lightning Claws on foot. Once I get that done i will be finished with all of my Templar HQ models.

This was a pretty simple conversion and I just painted him to match the other versions of my Marshal. overall he should be a nice fit into the army and I can't wait to get him onto the battlefield.

Let me know what you think.

-BJ

How do you add to your Army's fluff?

How do you add army fluff? That is the question I am posing to you other gamers out there. Now before you answer let me clarify what I am talking about. I am not referring to army list construction at all. I am referring to some things you do to make your army yours.

One of my armies is the Black Templars. I wanted to stick to the codex for the army look but I still wanted to make them my own crusade force. One of the easiest steps I take is naming my characters as well as squads and individual vehicles. To the left you can see the leader of my crusade, Marshal Gaius Kilburne. I have 3 different models to represent him and I am working on a 4th. I also have my Emperor's Champion Castus Fabian, and my Master of Sanctity, Chaplain Kristoff Thaddius. Another thing I have done is create my own crusade heraldry. It is a very simple pattern but I find a way to fit it onto most of my models.

The last thing I usually work on is a back story for my army. My Templars are from the 2nd Crusade of Prima IV, where they finished a two year war against an awoken Necron force. The crusade now maintains a citadel on Prima IV awaiting the inevitable return of the Necron.

Another of my armies are my Disciples of Magnus Chaos marines. They are not as well fleshed out as my Templars yet, but I have named the main characters such as Daemon Prince Khaldun that you can see below. I am still working on a background for the army, but the main point is they are dedicated to Tzeentch and search the stars looking for arcane artifacts to further the goals of their patron god.

Those are some of the ways I have added fluff to my armies. Some other things I plan on doing is building a special new model for any that do something pretty outstanding in a big game like a Tournament. I also plan on writing short story form battle reports but that is a far off project.

So now that you see what I am talking about, what do you all do to add fluff to your armies?

-BJ