Day 10 - Faith in Wargaming Restored

Ah, WH40K 5th Edition!

So in the morning, I go get my lamps (thank god!!!) and get to buy a new fan for the loft, and grab tables for next weekends trip. I have to watch my amount of ER next week. With getting sent home early this week, plus the ER I have taken while being sick, I afigure I am about down to 30 hours this week.

Believe it or not, I just returned from a much needed night at the game store. I headed down after work to see if I could get a game, or demo to try out some of the new 5th Edition rules. Not much for gaming, but I was able to sneak a peek at the new 40k Core Box.

Okay, so I have been out of wargaming for almost a year, and I am trying to get a Chaos Army Assembled and painted in 30 days, but man - o - man, that new Core box kicks some major ass.
For $60 you get 112-page Mini Rulebook, Dice, New Military Style Templates, and almost 50 Citadel miniatures, including: a Space Marine Captain, 10 Tactical Space Marines, Five Space Marine Terminators, a Space Marine Dreadnought, an Ork Warboss, 20 Ork Boyz, five Ork Nobz and three Ork Deffkoptas. All new sculpts and pretty freaking nice! A PLASTIC WARBOSS!

I like it alot! Looks like I will have to squeeze $60 for the core. Iggy, one of Talon's regulars have offered to trade me Space Marines for Orks out of the new core, so for $60, I will have a pretty nice start on an ork army.
Not bad for:
2 Ork Warboss's
40 Ork Boyz
10 Ork Nobz
6 Ork Deffkoptas
Add 2 battleforces, each containing 20 Ork Boyz, 3 Ork Warbikes and an Ork Trukk, and you have:
2 Ork Warboss's
80 Ork Boyz
10 Ork Nobz
6 Ork Deffkoptas
6 Ork Warbikes
2 Ork Trucks

Not even sure what this will give me point wise, but I intend on being ready for the "Ard Boyz event coming up soon!

To give an idea of what this will look like on the table top:

All I need to do is get that Chaos army painted and then get it sold. Then I can go ahead with this new plan, and actually have an army again. Same horrific orange and blue camo scheme I used before, just because I like it so much. Alley Viper FTW!!!!

Day 7 - 9 Sucks getting sick

Trying to get stuff done when all you want to do is sleep!

So the past 3 days, i have been fighting off my yearly fight with chronic bronchitis. The chest is congested and I am coughing up some pretty stuff. Everyday I try to grab a nap when I can to get some extra sleep to combat this so I can operate at at least 85% for the Yuma trip.

I was asked a question about the GW style primer.
What happened to the old stuff? The new formula that came out about 2 years ago has been a thorn in everyones side since it came out. It takes a lot longer to dry, but has a lesser chance to "chalk" if the primer gets used in less than optimum settings (like Arizona summers) The new primer stays wetter longer, but does provide a better base coat that masks less detail than the old stuff.
Do I wish I still had the older stuff? - Oh hell yeah. The matte varnish I have is the old stuff, and for speed painting the old stuff was the best, but now, I just have to make sure that models are assembled and ready to go, and then prime models during breaks from painting already primed models. I haven't had time or the room to prime here, because my priming times would be about 2 pm, the hottest part of the day here in Phoenix, so I have resolved to prime at night on Fridays.
Tomorrow I will prime up what I have assembled, and then concentrate on assembling all of the models for the Yuma trip. Also have a planned trip to storage on Saturday to get lamps and tables for the trip.

Day 6 - Assembly *sigh*

Assembling Models You Hate

I hate Khorne Berzerkers. Or at least the models. For game play, I love the chain axe wielding loonies. I scream "Blood for the Blood God" when they move and assault. My problem is with the models.
Complaints about them are as follows:

1. Poseablility - Even thought they are "modular," they lack any real posability. Most have their arms tucked firmly to the sides of the bodies, making dynamic poses all but impossible without major converting
2. Variety of gear - the older sprues (10 years old) lack any real cool bits to spruce the models up. Just swords (I thought Khorne favored axes), some pistol holsters, and a few grenades (tiny by the way)
3. Falling legs - They have 2 sets of legs per sprue that are suppossed to be "running" The look like the guy tripped and is falling. matched with the lack of posability, it makes for some strange looking models.
4. Details - Compared to the newer Chaos Marine models, the Berzerkers lack a lot of really cool details. When you swap in parts form the newer marines, they make the model look mismatched. The bolt pistols are also sculpted pre-3rd edition, so they look really hokey and large. Not the slick looking BP that come on the new marines.

All in all, I should have converted them to be Thousand Sons......LOLS! But for game play wise, the Berzerkers are a nice add in, especially with the Rhino to transport them to the front, and then summon a CC equipped Termie unit to back them up next turn.......WEEEEEEEE

So Sunday was pretty much a waste. Berzerkers assembled. :) I did get in some good movie time with the wife though, so can't count it as a total loss.

On the advise of Adam, I am going to pre-assemble everything that will get painted in Yuma. I'll also pre-prime as the newer GW primer sucks and I need to be really careful and allow it to fully dry before trying to paint on it. I'll just need to add an Army transport to my list of items to secure from storage next weekend.

Still no lamps yet, but since I have tons to put together, I will just do that and start the painting when I get to Yuma.

So the order of battle with what is assembled:

1. Obliterator Cult - 3 models ASSEMBLED
   
2. Plague Marines - 10 models (Yuma)
   
3. Chaos Terminators - 5 models (Yuma) ASSEMBLED
4. Possessed Marines - 10 models (Yuma)
5. Chaos Lord - 1 model Main Character (Yuma)
6. Berzerkers - 8 models, with 1 Rhino to match ASSEMBLED
7. Spawn - 3 models ASSEMBLED
8. Chaos Terminators - 5 models ASSEMBLED
9. Plague Marines - 10 models
10. Defiler - 1 Tank

And I am having another conundrum. The paint scheme. I really want to paint these up to match an army out of the book, for saleability, and I am not sure that the Purge are it. I have been favoring a Black Legion paint scheme,since they are featured all over the place in the books and everyone that plays Warhammer40K knows who the Black Legion are. Simple enough to do the change on the paint scheme, just need to have it all settled before I lay brush to model.

Day 5 update - Assembly bags done!

Assembly Bags

Okay, so the reasons of the assembly bag is this:

1. Transportability - Easier to tote baggies than loads of sprue. Finished models can be wrapped in paper towels and repacked into a larger baggie
   
2. Make sure I have the parts I need without losing bits off the sprues
3. Keeps me focused on the task at hand - Painting 26 models in 2.5 days could be a train wreck waiting to happen

So this is the easy part. All you need is some ziplock bags, your clippers and your parts
Layout your squads so you know what you are going to clip. Get the parts settled in for each of your models and the sling them in the baggie. Mark them with a Sharpie, and you are all set!

*note - I have found I am one model short of 10 Possessed. I have added all but the legs for the 10th model into the baggie, in hopes that Adam will have an extra set of Marine legs laying around.

A few notes for the day -

1. To make up ground for the lost 2 days, I have started assembling some of the other units. Currently, I have the new Termie squad all converted and assembled (using parts from Imperial Termies, and Leftover bits from Chaos Termies.
2. The army list is about to change. In looking at the other Chaos Termies I have, the older ones are begging for a mark of Khorne........hehehehe. That will also allow me to summon them off of the Berzerkers to add to weight of my assaulting force. The Plague Marines are good, but can take no heavy weapons, so I may change them out to Chaos Marines Squads with Heavy Bolters. Not quite sure yet, but I probably need to figure that out soon.
3. I also have a squad of Dark Angel Marines that were slated to become "Fallen Angels for my Word Bearors army. These may make their way in as some Chosen Chaos Marines, or possibly just another squad of Chaos Marines. Not entirely sure on that one yet either.
4. Did some Ebay research on painted armies selling. Looks like the market is not too hot right now, but I may just post them up and see if I can net a good $800 to $1000 on this army once completed. If not, I'll just hang on to it. Who knows when I am going to want to play again :)
   

Day 3, Day 4- Valuable Time Lost - Day 5 - Makeup Day!

Oh where does the time go?

Day 3 was filled with children not napping and dogs freaking out. Had to put the fires out with those two points, and then headed off to work.

Day 4 was a totally different ballgame. I normally get 3-4 hours of sleep each night, starting on Tuesdays, and by Friday I am generally pretty wiped. So I napped with the kids. Had to have them up early because the AC man was coming by to tell me why the rooms are so damned hot. Woke up at 330pm, and headed off to work.

Day 5 - Today I will be getting units broke down into assembly bags. Reasons for this:

1. To get the units planned out so I stick with my army list.
2. To ensure I have all of the parts needed for the units.
3. To make them easier to organize so confusion stays at a minimum.

With the pending visit to Yuma, and the ensured madness of painting the hell out of some stuff for 2.5 days, I want to make sure that I am not taking too few or too many units to complete in that amount of time. Based on my old average of a 10 man squad in 5 hours, I am looking at taking 2 x 10 man squads, 1 x 5 man squad, and the Chaos Lord

The order of battle will be as follows:

1. Obliterator Cult - 3 models
2. Plague Marines - 10 models (Yuma)
   
3. Chaos Terminators - 5 models (leftovers from the Word Bearors Army) (Yuma)
   
4. Possessed Marines - 10 models (Yuma)
5. Chaos Lord - 1 model Main Character (Yuma)
6. Berzerkers - 8 models, with 1 Rhino to match
7. Spawn - 3 models
8. Chaos Terminators - 5 models
9. Plague Marines - 10 models
10. Defiler - 1 Tank

Of course, my planned units are at the top of the que, so I will be working lower in the list while I am still here.
So later in the AM, I will be grabbing my supplies from the storage and getting some work done on some models and getting my assembly bags done up!

Day 2 - Inevitable Delays

Inevitable Delays

So in preparing to start my new painting binge, I realized something very important......I am missing some key pieces of equipment:

• Lamps - Very important, I use swing arms lamps much like these, grest for moving the light to just where you want it!
  
• Light Source - Use Daylight Flourescents like these. Regualar lightbulbs give off yellow hue that can change your perspective on color.
  
• Paint Pallet - Always use a pallet to thin out your paint to a good flowing consistancy. I prefer a plastic cutting board. These can be cleaned in the sink, without fear of it falling apart, orbeing terribly hard to clean.

Now I have these items, buried in storage, so I will probably just buy new ones for the new project. $50 is too much to spend for now, but I may have to postpone the new painting schedule until I can fish those out. Saturday at the earliest. *sigh*

So new plan is to start getting stuff assembled instead. Bad part about that is that I like to assemble as I go, keeps from getting myself overloaded.

So tomorrow's plan, Schedule units to be painted, and maybe start up some assembly bags.

Day 1 - Setting up the challenge - Painting as therapy

The Challenge

For those of you who know me, you will know I have not painted models in almost a year. I spent almost 10 years painting professionally, ran a successful studio, and an almost successful game store (don't ask).

So I decided that I need to paint. Leading up to painting for hire, I used to paint a lot, finishing an army of 1500 points (WH40K army size) a month. A good friend used to refer to me as the "painting machine." I also used to paint models as a form of therapy, to help ease my troubled mind.

So here is the challenge - At the end of August, I am heading, with my family and my buddy Shane in tow, to Yuma AZ to visit my buddy Adam and to get some serious painting in. The goal is to get at least 2 hours of painting in a day, 7 days a week, and attempting to get this whole heap painted in about 30 days.

So I present to you the Heap

Contained within this pile:

Name

Base Size / Tank

Berzerkers 8

8

25mm

Chaos Lord 1

1

40mm

Chaos Terminators

5

5

40mm

Chaos Terminators

5

5

40mm

Defiler 1 tank

1

Tank

Obliterator Cult 3

3

40mm

Plague Marines 10

10

25mm

Plague Marines 10

10

25mm

Possessed 10

10

25mm

Rhino 1 Tank

1

Tank

Spawn 3

3

40mm

First Victims - Obliterator Cult

Okay so I am cheating a bit. These were left over from my last Chaos Marine Army, a Word Bearors Army, and are about 30% finished, but I will need to change the feel of the models to fit with my new "the Purge" Nurgle Chaos Marine Army. The selection of "impurity seals" will be painted to look like flesh hanging off the models, and the overall color scheme will be to fit in with the rest of the Army.
Based on the "fluff" of Obliterator Cults, these guys will retain most of the standard "Iron Warrior" color scheme of silver and bronze, but the hanging flesh parts and the fleshy growths on the models will be done in Rotting Flesh, and the bases will be identical to what the rest of the army will look like.

The basic color scheme looks like this, with alterations for Champions, Lords, etc: