No Retreat 7 Application Complete!

Hey hey hey,

The No Retreat Tournament, run by the amazing guys over at SN Battle reports, is literally acclaimed worldwide for being an amazing tournament. The demand for places on this 42 person tournament is so high that you have to apply and be selected to compete!

I have long wanted to go to a No Retreat tournament and this year the stars have aligned to give me the time and money to go. However, I still need to be picked! The application process requires you to send some details about your hobby history and what you are up to these days, as well as send in some photos of your army. 

These pics are the ones I sent in and have a unit you haven't seen yet! Fingers crossed the marines are dressed to impress :P

I'm going to be sitting down and answering comments later today as well :) I have been snowed under with PhD work, both writing my thesis and some papers for publication recently that have sadly taken priority! I thank everyone who comments for your invaluable guidance and your patience with me :)

That said, then end is in sight for the PhD and hopefully it will be submitted in the next 2 months and I can show you what I have been working on, somewhat secretively...

Peace out,

Rob

Chipped Armour Practise - AK interactive - No Airbrush

Hey ya,

So! With the release of Fogebane I have 2 boxes opened in my flat with the mechanicus taking their place on my ever swelling to-do pile! I am keen to have this army look quite beaten up and spend a lot of time (too much time one might say) on their bases for a really characterful army. 

I'm not a huge fan of the painted on chipping damage myself, I will be making use of it for the Sons of Wrath (when I can be arsed) but I wanted to have a go with the old chipping methods that are described on the interwebs. 

The main problem with this is that they require and airbrush according to every damn tutorial I have watched, which is many. I'm not a big fan of airbrushes, I find that they homogenise the painting style of people that use them and have quite a samey quality. That said if I had the spare money and space to use one for the very few things like this then I would get one. As it is, I cannot justify the cost nor do I have a safe space to use one.

With that in mind I wanted to try using AK interactive Heavy Chipping Fluid by painting the fluid on AND crucially, painting the layer of paint over the top of it. As you can see at the top I have a couple of example that I did on some spare bits lying around. 

Test 1

This door was sprayed leadbecher and washed with nuln oil before I sprayed it with matt varnish. After the varnish I applied the AK interactive. Then I painted one side khorne red and the other side thousand sons blue. After that dried I applied water over the top of the paint then waited for it to work its way through. 

Then... I attacked! With a tootpick... I didn't have a spare toothbrush to hand as it was. After I had sated my paint rage I lacquered the door in dullcote, let it dry, and then painted all the additional layers and highlights on top. 

Thoughts

You can paint on top of the AK interactive, but you have to have almost zero paint on the brush, otherwise it starts too remove the chipping fluid immediately. Patience is key and a virtue in this regard. 

The chipping fluid itself tends to pool together, something about its viscosity and the varnish prevents it from being painted on in a seamless layer, so multiple applications were required. I think this issue would be absent when applying thinly from an airbush (le sigh). 

Test 2

With the shield, I wanted to have a look at a rustier type of chipping/weathering. I primed the shield black and then painted browns and oranges on the shield, too conservatively I think as it was. I could have gone for brighter tones which would have saved additional work later on. 

I also decided to see how it would work if I painted all the paint on apart from the final highlights before I started the chipping. So, after the varnish I applied the chipping fluid, let it dry, and then painted all of the purple and cream paints on top (with the same caveat of patience and little water). 

I then chipped away after some water with a toothpick and sealed it with lacquer. After sealing I highlighted the chips and added traditional rust effect. 

Thoughts

I'm happier with how the shield turned out to be honest, though I don't know if that's a factor of the colours or the rusted nature of it. 

I think a certain amount of the effect is just ensuring you get the chips in the right places, which I don't think I did with the door. The shield has less of a problem with this as it looks like it would take a battering from all angles. 

Overall

I'm happy that I can achieve this effect without an airbrush. BUT I am keen to try out hair spray instead of the AK interactive chipping fluid. I think this will give me a more consistent later over the under paint before I apply my top layers. 

Honestly, the biggest issue I had was actually applying the chipping fluid. Whilst painting over it required patience and thought, it wasn't all that difficult in the end, just don't use water and apply very slowly and in thin coats. Patience!

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated to distract me from my thesis and despair....

Peace out,

Rob

Deathwing and Ravenwing Army Overviews + My Stupid Voice

Hey all,

So this is a short video going over the whole Dark Angels commission that I painted up, consisting of Deathwing and Ravenwing. The total points value for the entire batch is around 5600 points! I'm quite pleased with how they turned out in the end. 

Apologies for the slightly low lighting, I'm hoping to buy some better lighting soon-ish so that I can make more videos of this ilk. To that end, comments on the content and delivery would be welcomed. Apologies if I come off slightly weird, I'm certainly not a natural for this sort of media communication!!

Peace out,

Rob

Three Times Foetid Blight Drones and Finished Typhus!

Before the End Cometh Rot,

Greetings true believers! I have actually now completed by Primaris Army the Sons of Wrath such that each model is at the same standard and I now need to go that bit further with them and apply all the decals and battle damage as well as jet glow to them, before they can be considered truly complete. I will have pictures of the whole army in due course, as well as some close ups of the Plasma Inceptors and Primaris ancient that are the latest and final (for now) additions to the force. 

But for now they are going to sit on a sunny holiday in the gray foam of their carry case as I pursue additional projects both new (Mmmmm forgebane) and old!

At the present time I am trying to clear the final remnants of my work for Winters Seo and thus we have here the finished Typhus, now complete with blood, pus, guts and gore! In addition I have the final 3 foetid blight drones that have bee in my possession for some time. Two of these are not the ones that came in the Dark Imperium Box Set but are the stand alone set, and by golly they have some beautiful alternative face plates! These ones are also equipped with the Blight Launchers rather than the Plague Spitters. So much fun to be had with them. 

Apologies for the somewhat shoddy camerawork! These were taken in a great hurry before they were packed away and I ran for a train to drop them off at the esteemed Winters Seo's house (and engage in warfare of course!). I tried quite hard with all 7 of the blight drones that I painted to vary the scheme enough that they don't just look like replicates of each other. Mostly through fleshtone, but also horn colour and where I placed the brass versus steel coloured metals. 

Stay tuned for some close ups of the Primaris as well as a video overview of the Primaris AND all of of the Dark Angels. 

Peace out,

Rob

Quick Look - Typhus - Lord of Contagion

Hey all,

Super quick post today with limited hobby time over the past week as I've been going hell for leather at work, trying to publish a couple of papers. Spent some time on Mortarion's favoured son for Winters' End of All Things. Enjoy!

Peace out,

Rob

Sons of Wrath - Army Performance Review vs Winters Seo

With wrath we come, for we are it sons, and by our hand you shall burn,

Hello and welcome to another day in the mess of my mind. In today's episode of mediocrity we are going to delve into the game I played vs Winters Seo's Admech. If you haven't watched the battle report then you catch it through this link here. Be warned, if you proceed too far down this post you will be subjected to spoilers. 

To give people some space in case of accidental spoilers on long monitors I'm just going to recap the list that I played with. This list is just north of 1750 points as its all I had at a standard I was happy to put on the table to play with. 

SINGLE BATTALION

HQ

Ansgar Hutto - Captain (regular marine) - jump pack, relic blade, combi-plasma, armour indomitus

                         Warlord Trait - Storm of Fire (additional -1 AP on 6's to wound)

Lieutenant Friedrich - Lieutenant (regular marine) - jump pack, power fist, power sword

TROOPS

Squad 1 - 5 x Intercessors - bolt rifles

Squad 2 - 5 x Intercessors - bolt rifles

Squad 3 - 5 x Intercessors - bolt rifles

ELITES

Axion - Redemptor dreadnought - plasma macro cannon, storm bolters, underslung gatling cannon, icarus array

Uther - Redemptor dreadnought - plasma macro cannon, storm bolters, underslung gatling cannon, Icarus array

FAST ATTACK

Alpha Squad - 6 x Inceptors - assault bolters

Delta Squad - 6 x Inceptors - assault bolters

HEAVY SUPPORT

Squad Imperator - 5 x hellblasters - plasma incinerators

Squad Deus - 5 x hellblasters - plasma incinerators

The Hammer - Inceptor Bomb

So, overall a relatively low body count and, overall, a relative lack of mobility. This army hinges on a critical alpha strike. The ability of both HQ's and the 12 Inceptors to sit off the board is crucial in directing a precision strike that wipes out key targets. 

Obviously the Captain and Lieutenant provide their re-roll of 1s for wounding and hitting, vastly increasing the efficiency of damage output for the 72 shots that both squads of Inceptors can put out. This coupled with the additional -1AP on wound rolls of a 6 makes them incredibly efficient at rinsing squads at T5 or lower. The S5 of the assault bolters puts you in a middle spot where you will very rarely wound on 6s but equally very rarely will you wound on 2s.

We saw this go off perfectly in the game vs Winters' Admech wiping units out left right and centre. Additionally the mobility of Inceptors give you real flexibility in terms of object scoring, which did come into effect through the game. Finally, they also have the fly keyword, meaning they can effectively tie up weak combat units, like the dune crawlers, yet retain their shooting efficiency afterwards. 

The Anvil - Redemptor and Hellblasters

With the Inceptors off the board, the fury of the opponents army will come down on the remaining elements turn 1, should I go second. This is the biggest weakness of the army, however this is somewhat mitigated by cover for all infantry units, coupled with the generally longer range weaponry of Primaris Marines. 30 inches allows you to sit 36 inches back, move up 6 inches and still touch the enemy units. Line of sight block terrain will aid in defence at this point. 

The Redemptor dreadnoughts, if caught first turn by a well built army, will go boom and bye-bye. I would argue they are by far the weakest link in this army, suffering incredible vulnerability to dedicated anti-tank fire. Line of sight will mitigate this somewhat, but any -4AP weapons will burn straight through their armour, where infantry in cover would still retain a 6+ armour save. 

That said, going first vs Winters allowed them to bring their prodigious firepower to bear. I personally think the heavy onslaught gatling cannon is a better choice for the main gun arm. However, in this particular army, the higher strength and AP of the plasma cannon makes up for the general lack of anti-tank weaponry on show. The Inceptors already excel at massed mid strength fire so it's pointless to double down with the Redemptors on that role. 

The Fury of the Ancients Stratagem was one I employed every turn the Redemptors were alive to benefit from it, and that makes overcharging the plasma that much safer and more reliable. However D6 shots in 8th, for me, does not cut it in a competitive environment, and set shot numbers are much much better for planning strategy around. 

The Game Overall

Winters and I actually discussed our lists beforehand, as we always do, in case balancing is required to make the game more fun. We actually discussed changing Winters' list to make it a little softer, as he was convinced that given first turn he would blow me off the board, and given 2nd turn I would't do enough damage. 

Whilst confident in my army list, this was my first game proper with them and I wasn't sure how well they would perform. Obviously, they performed well, VERY well!! The constant in your face threat of the Inceptors performed as hoped, both in damage output as well distraction carnifex qualities. Allowing the rest of my force to slowly move up and lay down fire as it did so. 

If I had wanted to crank out more pain, I should have used Bolter Drill on a squad of Inceptors too, but by the time I thought of that I had already done such a crippling blow I thought it would be a dick move...

The 2000 Points

Below is how the army will look next time I face Winters (coming soon) against The End of All Things - his Deathguard Army I have been painting. 

HQ

Ansgar Hutto - Captain (regular marine) - jump pack, relic blade, combi-plasma, armour indomitus

                         Warlord Trait - Storm of Fire (additional -1 AP on 6's to wound)

Lieutenant Friedrich - Lieutenant (regular marine) - jump pack, power fist, power sword

TROOPS

Squad 1 - 5 x Intercessors - bolt rifles

Squad 2 - 5 x Intercessors - bolt rifles

Squad 3 - 5 x Intercessors - bolt rifles

ELITES

Axion - Redemptor dreadnought - plasma macro cannon, storm bolters, underslung gatling cannon, icarus array

Uther - Redemptor dreadnought - plasma macro cannon, storm bolters, underslung gatling cannon, Icarus array

Primaris Ancient

FAST ATTACK

Alpha Squad - 6 x Inceptors - assault bolters

Delta Squad - 6 x Inceptors - assault bolters

Omega Squad - 3 x Inceptors - Plasma Exterminators

HEAVY SUPPORT

Squad Imperator - 5 x hellblasters - plasma incinerators

Squad Deus - 5 x hellblasters - plasma incinerators

The squad of Plasma Exterminator Inceptors adds additional weight to the alpha strike, allowing me to pump 6D3 plasma shots into higher toughness or save units, overcharging with the re-roll 1s to hit coming from the Captain. The Primaris Ancient is more a function of points than strategy, but he will sit by the Hellblasters, allowing them to fire again on a 4+ when they perish. 

I would describe this army as mid-tier competitive, by which I mean I think in a tournament setting it will win between 40-50% of its games. Closer to 40% though. Below are some thoughts on improving the army in a purely competitive sense, whilst still retaining a degree of the character of it. 

TROOPS

Despite this being a predominantly Primaris army, to up the competitiveness of it, I would drop all the Intercessors and put in 5 units of 5 scouts. These would put out more fire at 24 inch range AND have 10 more bodies on the table. Primarily though, they are there for deployment shenanigans to prevent enemy deepstriking, bubble wrapping and screening the Redemptors and Hellblasters. This should also help claiming objectives in the early game. 

ELITES and HQ

I would drop the Ancient completely and take a regular marine Lieutenant barebones. This would allow me to take the Inceptors in an Outrider detachment, netting me an additional command point, AND provide the hellblasters with re-roll 1s to wound, which is more valuable than being able to fire 50% of the time when the hellblasters die. 

I would probably drop the Redemptors if I wanted to go super super more competitive, but then that dilute the army to much from its original form and I like the miniatures too much! Not sure what I spend that 400+ points on though.... Perhaps a knight errant if I could squeeze some point out somewhere else...

CHAPTER

So, I will ALWAYS run these as Imperial Fists, because that is my fluff and I won't compromise on that for competitive sake. However, if I were to build this list anew, purely with competitiveness in mind, then I would definitely take Ravenguard. It would allow that much more survivability for the units that start on the board, due to the -1 to hit.


And that is that for today!

Peace out,

Rob

The Sons of Wrath vs Winters Seo

How do everyone,

A little late to my own party, but here's the video uploaded a few days ago of my playing Winters Seo with the Sons of Wrath in their current form. This was a brutal match and I will do a post on Thursday breaking down my thoughts on the army and where its going from here out. 

Peace out,

Rob

Master of the Ravenwing - Sammael AND Ravenwing Complete!

Let our foes look to the sky and know fear,

With special characters I often like to keep in line with the "official" colour scheme, as to my mind there is only one of them, and they would not necessarily have the same scheme as the rest of your custom chapter, but rather be leading them as a specific honour to their name. 

With that in mind, Sammael is somewhat cleaner in his painting than the rest of the Ravenwing, but I am very happy with how he has turned out.

The final instalment for this Ravenwing force is the fliers, and here they are!

And so, finally, the Ravenwing are complete. The fliers have been based but not pictured in this blog post. The next you see of this, and the Deathwing, will be a video flyover of the whole army showing it laid out before it is picked up. 

I hope you've enjoyed the gestation of this army as it has come to fruition :)

Peace out,

Rob