Commission: Blood Pact Infantry

First 5 members of the squad

"They hide their faces in snarling iron, but the cruelty in their hearts is manifest in their burtual deeds. We are lost and we are done. May the God-Emperor forgive our failure and protect our souls." - Last Transmission of General DeLesstt, Urdesh

Back of the first 5 members. Notice the cloak done up in the style of my Tanith

So I've been commissioned again and this time Im painting Chaos. I never really thought I would paint chaos. However since this commission was something that was close to the Gaunt's Ghost series, I decided that it would be fun to paint. The Blood Pact are the main villains of the Gaunt's Ghost Series. A chaos force that has built itself up as a massive threat to the Imperium in the Sabbat Worlds. Having read the entire series, I was excited to paint red, lots and lots of red after painting my Tanith army for so long.

These traitors are the first squad of Matt's new Blood pact army. In order to get them ready, I ordered them from Mad Robot Miniatures. His Crimson Pak models make perfect Blood pact! Next I washed the models in warm water and soap. After a 24 hour wash, I dried them out and prepared them for paint. After a lot of intense airbrushing, I saw these models primed and readied for paint. After they dried, I started to add the base colors. I used Vallejo red for the base.I then used Vallejo Black-grey for all the black colors.After a Nuln wash, I then highlighted the reds and blacks. The bronze was Games workshop Bronze and the silvers were Vallejo silver and Vallejo chainmail. Both colors were to help the models look closer to their artwork. Sharp eyed viewers will notice that I added some dead Tanith models onto the bases and that the sergeant is wearing a ripped Tanith cloak. This was a request by Matt, both as a personal joke against my Tanith army and as a way to connect our two armies together from the book material.

Second 5 members of the squad

My poor attempt at Photoshop

To complete the look of the models, I added in a special "blood wash".  Since I dont have Games workshop paints available to me here, I mixed my own paint using Nuln oil, agrax earthshade, 4 different types of reds and lots of matte mediums. It worked very well I think.

Back view

Matt did request that I not base these models since he wants to add them onto his chaos army. However, the few pieces of Tanith bodies, stocks, and guns helps to make the model feel as if it is on the battlefield. In the future, he hopes to commission me again. Eventually this army will grow into a full force. One that will rival my Tanith on the tabletop. Matt has already started talking to me about doing a few Blood pact Chimera for him in order to transport this squad across the battlefield. Before too long we might see a few Leman Russ Tanks.


Now onto other news. We here at Behind the Lines have set up a Patreon page. This Patreon would to support us in bringing you new content such as painting tutorials, gaming reviews, blog post and eventually videos. If you would like to support us please head over to here. Even 1$ a month would help us out to bring you more content. The team has been gearing up to add a lot of new content that we are excited about.

As always, leave a comment, say hello or just let us know you were here. If you would like to get a commission price as well you can message us here or on Patreon.

Until Next time!

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How to Paint Tanith: The Uniform and flesh tones (Part 1)

                   Today I present to you our first paint guide! I have decided that I am going to show off how to paint the Tanith First and Only models. The squad I am using is one of my many Tanith squads. I messed up these five Tanith models painting them and so after stripping them in LATA, I decided I would use them for the painting guide. When done, they should look like the first five Tanith you see in picture 1. It should be noted that this guide is not the only way to paint Tanith. This is simply my method.

Finished Squad

Picture 2 is the one of the models from the second squad of five after they were stripped in LA's Totally Awesome. After I got the models stripped, I realized that I was out of primer and so had to go get another can. Finally getting another can of primer, I was able to prime the models and prepare them for the paint job.

Step one is grey primer. The primer I choose to use is from Rust-Oleum and the type is 2x Ultra cover primer. This primer is the best grey I have found for miniature in rattle can form. If I were to airbrush more often, I would recommend Vallejo Grey Primer. After letting the primer dry, I brought the models in doors and set about on the second step.

Stripped in LATA and ready to prime

Step two was the base colors. I chose Vallejo Black-Grey and put it all over the model. The hair, as well as the gun strap was also done up in black-grey. After the black-grey dries, I then added on the flesh tones. The base color is Vallejo Rosey Flesh. Once I got a solid base of flesh, I switched over to Citadel Leadblecher and did up the metal parts on the gun. I also did up the buckles on the uniform and the metal straps on the gun strap. For the cloak, I used P3 Baston Grey. P3 paint can be pretty thick so you need to be careful when applying this color to the cloak. Lastly we add some steel legion drab to the stock of the gun in order to get that Nalwood look.

Just before the wash stage (and optional eyes)

Step three sees the model covered head to toe in Nuln Oil. Be sure to avoid the flesh. We dont want to get the skin covered in Nuln oil. We also want to avoid the stock of the gun if possible, although if some does get on the stock, then its easier to fix. We will need to let this wash dry. About a hour will do to allow for the wash to really get into the crevices. After the wash dries, we need to check the model and make sure the wash got everywhere.

Step four is optional but can be used to make the models look a little bit better. Eyes. Lots of people hate doing eyes but I have found a way to make them easier on models. Where the eyes would be on the model use Ulthuan Grey and paint around the eye area. After the paint drys, turn the model upset down and getting a small 10/0 brush draw a small black line down the center of where the eyes would be. Once you are happy with the eyes turn the model right side up and then let it dry. If the model seems a little bit crazy looking at this stage, DONT WORRY! We will be cleaning all this mess up.


Thats all for today. Join us next time when we clean up the eye sockets and proceed onto making this model table top ready! If you a new reader let us know what you think of this new series. Would you like to see more? Maybe another army? Comment Below!

Until Next time!

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Tau Codex: Warlord Traits and Dreams

Hello everyone, my name is Jerry and today we will be talking Traits, my feelings on them and just a general review of them. Jon will be posting this for me but lets move on.

To start off, I would like to point out the “Named Character and Warlord Traits”. Of the six named characters, there are two from different Septs, the rest are T'au. So if we want to run a Battalion or Brigade from another Sept, we HAVE to have either a Fireblade or a Ethreal in it because of the COMMANDER limit. Already not a fan.

Another thing I would like to talk about is that we only really have three “types” of Warlord (excluding Longstrike and Darkstrider). We have the Ethreal, the Cadre Fireblade, and the COMMANDER. When looking at a lot of these traits, a lot of them seem to have been built for suits in mind. Precision of the Hunter, A Ghost Walks Among Us, and Examplar of the Mont'ka come to mind, but we have a limit to one per detachement

There is good too though. For example my favorite Trait thus far has been Through Unity, Devastation. This thing takes your average gunline and makes it a slightly more deadly or turns your Crisis Suits into Assassins. Say you have a Fireblade with this Trait and you've got fourteen Pulse Rifles that have a target within Volley Shot range. On average, with only re-rolls of 1, because that is all I use my Fireblade for is Markerlights, they are needing to save against sixteen shots, and of those about five are at -1. Now my math maybe a little suspect, but those Sixteen shots alone would usually kill any infantry in their way. But those Five -1's, when going up against stats like 2+/3++ *Cough*Custodes*Cough* give that little edge on possibly nicking more health off it. Hell, it helps against most MEQ in general and can even flat out kill some GEQ. The idea is that whether you're spamming pulse fire, or Ion cannons, it makes your dudes that much more lethal.

                                                            The Good

Through Unity, Devastation: Like I talked about above, this Trait gives all your 6+ wound rolls an additional AP when within 6” of the Warlord and against a single unit. Helps that gunline focus fire and annihilate more armored foes. Best part is it works on any toughness.

Academy Luminary: What's not to like? It increases the range of your three HQs abilities and gives you an additional CP. I personally haven't thrown it on anybody but Aun'Shi and a Kroot blob, but the thought of throwing it on a Commander, and advancing a gunline Via Mont'ka to cover a large swath of board without losing aim is great!

Precision of the Hunter: So this is one of those Traits I mentioned earlier that was meant more for a suit. I cannot think of a good reason a Fireblade or Ethreal are re-rolling 1's vs. MONSTERS and VEHICLES when most things that have that keyword they will be wounding on 4+ or worse. If it wasn't for the fact it is really, really good on a Anti-heavy 'Mander, this would be Bad. But when I get to re-roll wound rolls of 1 against things I am wounding on 4+ or better, yeah, really helps when my Fusionmander is burying 3 Blasters into a tank and really wants that gooey Marine or Guardsman inside.

Seeker of Perfection: Again another suit made Trait. For each 6+ hit roll, +1 to wound roll. The Fireblade is not pumping out enough shots to make this reliable and the Ethreal will most likely die before it can really see it's use with it's 5+ save in melee. Kinda in the same ballpark as Precision of the Hunter in the sense that it is great at making sure your shots go through, but feels more like it is built for large volumes of fire with weaker guns. Say for example a Coldstar decked with burst cannons and HBC. He is going to be wounding most things you wanna throw volume fire at on 3+ so adding 1 for every 6+ hit is kinda neat and it seems to stack with Overwatch. So it seems that every time you hit in Overwatch you get to add 1 to your wound as you need a 6 to hit in Overwatch as Bork'an Sept.

Hero of the Enclaves: This thing is awesome! Now T'au should never in their right minds get in melee, but when it comes to the Farsight Enclaves, sword range is where they like to be. And no Trait better emphasises this fact than by letting you Heroic intervention 6” and basically as long as you don't stay in melee you get to re-roll FAILED hit rolls. So even though average 'Mander is hitting in melee on 3+, that “all failed rolls” part makes you that much more of a Kung Fu badass. And with Fly, there is no reason you aren't making sure the conditions for the Trait aren't met. By far this Trait is the most reliable and possibly the most potent...as long as you have some Fusion blades because you still don't have melee weapons and still have AP 0, D1 fists.

                                  The Bad

Exemplar of the Mont'ka: So let's start off with Mont'ka. Back in the Chapter approved, this rule read “Your Warlord can Advance and still shoot as if they hadn't moved this turn”. Frankly kinda busted because then my Darkstrider (who I got a tonne of use in Index) or Shadowsun could just run down the field and in Darkstrider and a Fireblade's case, Markerlight on 2+ still, and on Shadowsun she could bounce up to some tough guys with her min 9” move and blast them in the face with her Blasters. Now with the Codex out, Darkstrider no longer get's this, nor does Shadowsun and Fireblades are more prone to standing around with their gunline. I can see it's use on a non-Vior'la Fireblade keeping up with some Carbine warriors still wanting Markerlight, or maybe a COMMANDER that want's to save points instead of being a Coldstar but otherwise is overshadowed by Vior'la Tenant.

Through Boldness, Victory: Great if you didn't already hit on 2+ and usually is able to re-roll 1s's. Also doesn't work during Overwtach, which admittedly would be busted, and not when outside 12” which is when all other armies -1 to hit ability no longer applies. It's good when you no longer have re-rolls, and  when you have lost you mind and are allowing something to stay within 12” of your Warlord without being an Assassin or Meat Grinder. Risk is too great for a payout that you easily get already.

A Ghost Walks Among Us: Let's bring back Darkstrider because he gets this. Pretty good for him because he gets to be all zippy on the field with his 7” Vanguard, 7” move and now +6” advance. Other than that, not that great. Ethreal can get it, but only good thing I see coming out of it is keeping up with Kroot mob. Fireblade is prone to standing around and if he advances he can't shoot anything that turn anyway (unless Vior'la but even then only the rifle can be used) and when it comes to COMMANDERs, there is the Coldstar who has a better movement (though I am unsure if you can stack it with a Coldstar as the Trait says specifically when rolling a dice).  The point is that it seems the Units that would get the most use out of it are heading into melee, which we don't want our Warlord most of the time (see above, Hero of the Enclaves.) or have a unit that does this better for 18 points more.

                                  The Ugly

Strength of Belief: I hate this thing. It reminds me that T'au have no Psyker defense, have no reliable mortal wound generator (see Seeker missile) anymore, and the thing is useless anyway. First off it is put on our Tank Commander. Other than a handful of guns, there is nothing else but Psyker powers that dish mortal wounds. And most Psyker powers that do mortal wounds hit the closest unit. I don't know about you, but my Longstrike is far away from any Psyker unless it is Grey knights or some Eldar units that like to get close. Even then there is a unit in between Longstrike and that Psyker.When not on Longstrike, the only time I see it's use is from snipers, but sniper rifles and most other weapons are not reliable mortal wound generator to see it's use unless you opponent spams those things.

Overall I think when it comes to Traits, there are some that will see way more use than others, but overall I can't say we did terribly. Next time I will be Talking Tenants and kinda do an overview much like this for it.

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Tau Codex: 8th Edition Review

The Tau are back! March 17th saw Games Workshop release the first 8th edition codex for the Tau Empire and what a codex it was! New Sept Tenants, Stratagems and even a list building restriction found nowhere else in the game. Tau really did get it all. However after getting the codex, I decided that it was worth a look through. These will be first impressions from the codex between myself as a veteran Tau player and Jerry2die4 as a brand new Tau player. Each of us has written a segment of this article. We hope that both the veteran players and the new players see what has come out of the Eastern Fringe.

Jon's thoughts as a Veteran Tau Player

First off, the good. TAU SEPT TENANTS! Finally! This is something that I've wanted since 4th edition for the Tau. Now that we have six sept tenants, we have the ability to actually have some uses for certain units. Since my Jar'Kia sept is a world that was taken by the Bork'an Tau, I felt it was only natural for me to take the Bork'an Sept trait.

Next comes the warlord traits and there are a lot of them. Tau got a few in 6th and 7th when the warlord traits first came out. However this edition has seen the number raise drastically. Each Sept is getting its own trait and this allows for the player to have a lot of say on how their warlord is run. I plan to have my commander running a triple Ion blaster and some shield drones. However, the 1 Tau Commander suit per detachment is kind of a bust. More on that later.

The Stratagems that  Tau got were really nice. We even got the return of the Doomsday bomb from 4th ed. A pleasant surprise for those long time tau fans. I think as a Tau veteran player, the most noticeable thing about the codex was a the number of options that it opens up. I like how each stratagem allows for the flexibility of play. A tau player should be able to pull of between 10 and 15 command points allowing many tactical options for the average player. Stratagems allow for the Tau player to be able to play his or her army with a lot of synergy. Whereas the Imperial Guard is about numbers, Tau is about fire power in the right spot at the right time. Each piece of war gear and stratagems allows a Tau Shas'o to be prepared for anything and everything.

Victory for the Tau over the Forces of Chaos

Now on the bad and the ugly....

First, Crisis suits are still very expensive. The base cost for a crisis suit is seemingly too high for the output of damage that it does. With the loss of Crisis suits being troops, the usefulness of the unit has gone down. This also damages Farsights ability to "Farsight Bomb" the enemy with crisis suits.  Secondly, the uselessness of the Tau Key word for Jetpack. When keywords first became a thing, it was hoped among many Tau players that this keyword would allow for us to Jump-Shoot-Jump. However in the codex, the Jetpack keyword was not given any abilities. In essence, its useless.
Riptides, although better priced are still very expensive and usually die very quickly. Other units like the forge world Barracuda went up in points and are not worth fielding. Another problem is that some of the Special Characters like Shas'O O'Ralia are unable to be fielded due to their specific Sept Keyword which is not in the codex. At the moment, taking O'Ralia is more of a hindrance to you than to the enemy.

Now the ugly. The elephant in the room. The only 1 Commander rule for Tau is a major hindrance to the army at the moment. With no other army facing this restriction, Tau seem to have been (un)fairly treated in the restriction of their main HQ unit. I never used the Commander Spam and I understand why it was removed. However, what we got in return put a hamper on the army as a whole. For those who like to run multiple commanders, the limitation is going to hurt. With the March FAQ coming soon, hopefully this issue will be addressed.

As the codex starts to gain some age, Tau players will have to adapt to the coming meta. Already many list are aiming for as many command points as possible. The Tau Septs with their special rules allow for players to have all types of play be it defensive or offensive. Time will tell where the codex falls in the power levels. As a long time Tau Veteran, I am both excited and hopeful to see the army recover from its index era and move onward into 8th.

Tau'va Shas'la!

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Ad Mech: Electro-Priest of Metalica and Tournament play?

"Sons and Daughters of Metallica! The Enemy cannot hear you! Play your metal song and drown the enemy out! For Metallica! For the Omnissiah!" - Tech Priest Magnus Nicodemus

It's that time again for another blog post! Today I have finally finished the electro-priest that I talked about last time. Although there are a few touch ups I know could be done, I have spent the last 3 months on these guys. Im done. At least for the moment. Maybe in the future I will return to them and get them a little bit more up to snuff but I can't bring myself to do it for the moment.

Lately I've had a hard time motivating myself to paint. It seems that this is not a unusual occurrence for me around this time of year. Usually around the summer time my painting picks up and I do a bit better at keeping on track. In the mean time I have restarted my Dark Heresy Game. Once again, the team is going out into the grim dark in order to stop the enemies of the Imperium. Will they be able to survive or will they perish? Only time will tell.

Finished Electro Priest

Game 1 featured the team meeting a new member. Death Watch Marine Uriel of the Minotaurs chapter. This character will be played by my friend and contributor to this blog Matthew Rodgers. What will the Bull think of the war band? If the first session is any indication, things will certainly be heating up. Speaking of war bands, the new Esienhorn model is coming out from the Black Library.  This is exciting. With new rules for the famous inquisitor, it might be time to play a mixed Guard and Inquisition list.

So now onto the new topic of today. This past weekend I went to my stores ITC tournament. While I did not participate I certainly enjoyed seeing the tournament players from our local area play to their fullest. One of the main games I watched was a Imperial Guard vs Blood Angels game. The Guard player was playing a Cadian doctrine and was successfully able to hold out against the angelic host.

While the game was going on I was able to grab a few shots of this wonderfully painted army. The armies owner was able to take the Guard all the way to the finals and ended up winning our stores ITC tournament. Second place went to the Space Wolves. Third went to another Blood Angels player playing Flesh Tearers.

BaneBlade!

What stood out for me though was the work and dedication each of the players had put into their own models. From highlights to washes, every model on the tables was painted and done up. Long time readers of my blog will know that im not a fan of using grey models but I have in the past. However, these action shots really motivated me to start working again on my own armies. Hopefully this will bring me out of the lull I've been feeling.

While writing this post our group updated the stats. One local player lost every game but we a great sport about his games. In honor of the spirit of the game, our local admins gave him a best sportsmanship award.  What a neat idea! While winning is always fun, this is a game at the end of the day. A contract if you will between two people who are going to roll some dice and move models on a table. Fun should always been near the top of priorities in any war game.

Another group of photos I got were of the Sisters of Battle from Raging Heros. These models were awesome to look at. The paint job done by the local admin team was beautiful. They had chosen to do bright colors for the sisters. It is rare to see a nicely painted sisters army on the table and these were done well. Although not all of the army way painted, the models that were, allowed for a idea of how the army would look when they were done. I was excited to see how the army played since I have not seen a sisters army played in 8th Edition.

Overall it was a fun weekend and I really enjoyed seeing all the painted armies. Hopefully next time I will be over this lull and onto my next project!

Until next time!

Leman Russ tanks

Infantry Rush!

Tank Park

Sisters Walker

Raging Heros Sisters 

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Ad Mech: Electro-Priest of Metalica (WiP)

Today I have a real treat for you all. Since the beginning of the year, my time has been filled up with work and real life task so this blog has suffered because of that. However today I hope to fix that. Originally I had planned to start a new painting series but since my time for painting has been so limited, Ive decided to put that new series on hold for the moment.

 Instead Im going to show off some Works in Progress. Bare in mind that these are not done but have been sitting on my work bench for a while.

Adeptus Mechanicus models always seem to take the longest for me to do, and since I wanted to have something to show for February, Ive decided upon these electro-priest. I first tried the electro-priest on table top simulator against my friends Death Korp of Krieg. Seeing how powerful the unit was, I quickly set about ordering myself a squad of 5. When the squad got in, I set about assembling them and then got them primed. Long time readers will know that I play Forge World Metalica and so I have set about painting them in the white robes of the priesthood. As mentioned earlier this year I plan to redo my Metalica list and in doing so adding more Electro-Priest to my army.

This rebuilding of my army is going to be a slow job but its one that will be enjoyable over time. I have planned for this build to take me on towards 2018-2019 and in doing so will be allowing myself ample time to paint each unit. Our local store is doing a Path to Glory game and so this is the perfect time in which to build my forces up. Once this squad is done, I hope to be able to break out my airbrush for another unit that Ive been eyeing to complete. More on that later.

In other news, I have gotten my knight primed up and base coated in a silver spray. When the weather gets clear here, I intend to break out my airbrush and set about painting up the knight. My plan is to add it to House Raven, which is allied with Metalica.  As we work our way further into this new year I hope to have a few more exciting new articles and models to show off to everyone.

Until Next time! Keep rolling those dice!

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2018!: New Year and New Projects!

Hello and welcome to the 2018 edition of Behind the Lines Gaming.As a new year gets underway we look forward to the new start that a new year will bring. Like last year I will be attempting to post every other week but real life might  get in the way. As with last year, this is more a attempt to regulate myself than a true schedule or promise.

Projects for this year include finishing my Tanith 1st and only army as well as my Phantine and Pardus 8th Armored. Good progress has been made on this army and I can only hope 2018 sees to it that more good things are to come.

My Menoth forces will also continue to be worked on. This army is a small one and I am unsure if any more models will be added to it. Time will tell. What use to be a nice 50 point army is now somewhere in the 40 point range. These point changes, as well as the game going up to 75 points has left a sour taste in my mouth.

My Adeptus Mech forces might also grow some in 2018. I am planning to completely rebuild my list with a new force and build up my forces to 2000 points.

With the lack of a Tau codex for 8t Edition, The Tau Sept has been shelved until the codex hits. Once the codex comes out, I will see how Tau have transferred over to the new edition. 

The Deathwatch force remains small while the Black Templar army I bought in 2017 has been stripped and primed. Im still not certain what I want to do with them at all. I might at some point sell them. 

2018 is going to be a exciting new year that we here at Behind the Lines gaming hope everyone will be excited for! Stay tuned for a much more to come!

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Battle Report: Ambush at Outpost 352

So its been a while since I did my last post. My new job has been very busy and in that regard im grateful. Its good to be working full time in a career that I enjoy. However, what that does mean is that these post are going to get infrequent and so Im planning to do 1 per month now.

 So what do you all have in store today? I present to you the Ambush at Outpost 352. This game took place right after the Imperial Guard Codex came out but before the FAQ so some of the rules might sound wrong for those who are on the look out for such things.
Lets Begin

Turn 1: He castles in the objective on the far left of the table. It was secure and control. Each player has to hold their objective and try to seize the enemies. I had set three chimera's with troops and platoon leaders off the table to use the Tallarn Ambush doctrine. Therefore his only targets were my Valkyrie and three Leman Russes. He fires at my Leman Russ and does a number of wounds on it. His Lord and Sorcerer deep strike close to my tank line and throw out a smite and a wound. Nurglings are also summoned via the Lord and so I have to deal with daemons now.

Turn 1: My chimera's come on to the Table. Doing a drive by they push up the right side of the table. Meanwhile my Tanks back off the Sorcerer and the Chaos lord. My Valkyrie flys forward 20' and prepares for a round of shooting. 2 Tanks fired on the Sorcerer and kill him. The 3rd fires on the nurglings and kills them as well. First Blood goes to the Tanith! Meanwhile my Chimeras fire on the lord dealing some damage to him. The Valkyrie fires a few missiles into the fortress where all the chaos marines are holed up with the objective.

Turn 2: Turn 2 saw him move his lord up and get closer to my tank. On the other end of the board a few of his marines in the castle moved around to get better shots. The lord cast a power of smith on a tank causing a wound. The marines fired wounding two of the three tanks and aiming to hit the Valkyrie doing a little damage. The chaos lord fails to make his charge and the turn goes to me.

Turn 2:  My Turn 2 saw my chimeras move up. My Valkyrie did a 90 degree pivot and flew away from the castle gunfire. My Tanks backed up nearly to the board edge. Now after orders were kicked out in the shooting phase it was time to strike back. My chimeras fired upon the fortress and killed a marine. The Command Chimera shot at the lord but missed. The tanks fired upon the fortress but missed due to being badly damaged. Overall it was a very bad turn and things were looking bleak!

Turn 3: His turn 3 saw him summon daemons of slannesh and nurgle. The nurgle daemons were spawned near his castle with the marines. The Slannesh daemons were summoned by his lord to chase a chimera across the board. The Chaos lord moved towards a tank. In the shooting phase, the marines fired at my chimeras doing a few wounds. Another squad fired at my Valkyrie damaging it. Another squad also fired at my tanks damaging them too. By now my tanks were starting to get low on wounds. The Slannesh daemons were able to make their charge in the assault phase and wounded one of my chimera's. The other escaped with a failed charge.

Turn 3: My two chimeras drive off away from the assaulting daemons. The Command Chimera goes for the middle of the board. The Valkyrie does a 90 degree pivot and comes back around. The Tanks push forward a little bit. Ibram Gaunt and a Command squad outflank onto the board and arrive to cap my objective as seen in the picture. In the firing phase, the command chimera fires and kills a few of the daemons of slannesh. The Valkyrie fires upon the newly summoned nurglings killing them and damaging the three flying blight drones. One of my chimeras is unable to fire but the far one is able to fire on the blight drones wounding it. The Tanks then fired killing a blight drone but failing to kill the lord who by now was down to his last wound.

Turn 4:  His Slannesh Daemons moved up chasing the Chimera. His blight drones move up towards the Valkyrie. The chaos lord moves up to attack a tank. Shooting phase sees him fire upon my tanks causing tank #3 to die. The Valkyrie is hit a few times but suffers no wounds. The Chimera is fired upon but also suffers no wounds. Assault phase sees him assault the chimer and blow it up. Three Tanith die in the explosion but the survivors get out ready to push cold hard straight silver into the daemons. The Fight is nasty but at the end a platoon commander and 6 Tanith are alive. Having killed four daemons they remained locked in combat. The chaos lord assaults my Tank but fails to wound it.  The Valkyrie is assaulted by the drones. The drones are wounded but remain locked in combat with the Valkyrie. The Valkyrie is also damaged as well.

Turn 4:  My troops disengaged from the assault and move forward by advancing. The Command chimera goes for the middle hill. Chimera three goes towards the blight drone attacking the Valkyrie. The Valkyrie disengaged and flew off somewhere else. Gaunt and the Command squad hide out on the objective. The tanks back behind cover. Shooting sees the Valkyrie fire and kill another Blight drone. One tank fails to kill the chaos lord but the other does kill the last blight drone. The Tanith on foot gun down one or two slannesh daemon and then unleash a flamer upon them killing 3 more having used the "Get back in the fight" order. The Command chimera fires on the chaos lord but fails to kill him.

Turn 5: He moves his daemons towards the Tanith on foot. The chaos lord sees Gaunt and the Command squad and decides to duke it out, moving towards them. The chaos marines in the castle fire upon the Tanith killing two on foot. They also damage a tank and blow it up but do little else. The Chaos lord fails his assault charge but the Daemons catch up to the Tanith on foot and whittle them down in the fight phase wiping the squad. They then turn and head towards the Command chimera.

Turn 5: My turn I move Gaunt and Company away from the Chaos lord but still within capturing range. The Last tank moves up to add Gaunt and company. The Valkyrie turns around to aim at the Daemons. The Command chimera drops off Corbec, Hark and a squad of Tanith. The Other Chimera moves towards the Daemons to aid Corbec's boys. Gaunt and his squad fire on the Chaos lord failing to kill him. The Tank fires upon the chaos lord and finally with the lascannon kills the chaos lord. Corbec and his squad on the hill First rank fire second rank fire into the Daemons along with Hark. They kill a few daemons.  The Valkyrie fires upon the Daemons killing a few more too. The Chimera fires upon the Daemons from the rear but the squad of 20 daemons is still going strong. Corbec is about to prepare his squad for a order to affix straight silver when the daemons and the chaos marines disappear!

Game over at Turn 5

5-3 Tanith Victory!

Talk about a match! The Tallarn doctrine was great and the outflanking really felt like i was playing a Tanith army. Everything went back and forth all game long and so it was a great match. Since the FAQ came out however, Hark and the Ambush doctrine are no longer as good as they once were. What do you all think of the changes to the codex FAQ? Let me know in the comments below!

Here are some screenshots from another battle that I did the next weekend. This battle was also verses chaos. This time Alpha Legion. This battle ended up with a Tanith Victory wiping out the enemy forces to a man. The Alpha legion player was new to the world of 40k and so I consider it more of a training game than a true game victory. However, it was a lot of fun to see the Matilda out on the table. Enjoy the screenshots from the game highlights.


Until Next time!

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Forge World Metalica: Seek and Destroy (Part 1)

 Today I present to you some of my recent work. Finally, after along time, I have finished painting up my Metalica breachers and Ruststalkers. Readers of my blog will remember that I have posted my breachers before. However, now I have the full shots of them all done up together and so ends my journey with these models.

These models are stand in models that I got from Exclusive Miniatures. I have never been a fan of the Games workshop Breachers and so I went looking for something that I felt would represent my idea of the models better. With Exclusive miniatures I got a female magos and two squads of their first set of stand ins. However I was sent a wrong order of the female models and so they sent me a third set. I converted the second set to a proper loadout of breachers and so was able to run three squad of breachers back in 7th.

 My friend  Praetorianofthe_east gave me a few of his Ad mech models and so the army grew from a lousy 500 points to 750.  One of the gems of this army was the Ruststalkers he gave me. Those too have been painted up as seen here today.

So whats coming next down the pipe? Well I got a Knight! Yes, for my birthday i decided to get a knight for my Metalica force. I have decided upon House Raven for its ties to Metalica. This, like the riptide done earlier this year, will be one of my biggest challenges to date. The Marauder Bomber is also still in the works but has hit a snag. A snag I hope to change soon.

 In the meantime, I have also picked up a Black Templar army from Praetorianofthe_east. This army will stripped of the horrible paint job it has and will return to the battlefield as proud Templar. However that is a while down the road. At the moment, I am trying to prepare myself for August and the return of the school year with it.

Till next time! Leave a comment, say hello or just let me know you were here. Every little bit helps! Stay Tuned for Part 2 where I will be showing off the Ruststalkers and talking about how I painted them.

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Battle Report: Investigaton at Hive Felix (7th Edition)

"Foolish Mon-Keigh, thinking they can save this city. Let us show them the true meaning of Pain" - Archon Linnaeus before his raid into Hive Felix

Today I bring you another battle report from the front lines. This battle was between my brother's DE (Proxying with tau here) and my own Adeptus Mech forces of Metallica lead by my Female Magos with Inquisitional support. The mission was kill points with a extra point award to me for every Heavy support choice that i killed and claimed with my forces.

My brother and I rolled off and he claimed turn 1. Turn one saw him move up his forces and shot a bunch of my ruststalkers. He killed two. The raiders shot at my Onager but missed and the Ravager did as well. The Inquisitional Chimera was killed during this turn by a Raider. He also claimed two objectives during this turn.

My turn 1 saw my forces move up and claim a objective. My shooting however was ineffective and so I did very little damage to him.

His Turn 2 saw him move up again and fire upon my magos. Those shots went wide and missed mostly. The breachers were the next target and he got off some good shots. However the breachers made their saves and were able to tank the fire. His Raider had moved up and the warriors inside the raider fired upon my ruststalkers killing two of them. The incubi hide and held a objective in the back.

My turn 2 saw me move up again. Having lost most of my right flank, my forces were forced to close off that flank and leave it to the Dark Eldar. My Ruststalkers moved up and prepared for a charge against the Dark Eldar warriors. The breachers moved up and fired upon the warriors. Many warriors were killed by the breachers and Skitarii rangers. I was able to kill 2 of the Raiders on the left flank at this time but still the Dark eldar held. My ruststalkers charged into the Dark Eldar but failed to make their charge leaving them open to splinter fire.

His turn 3 saw him move up and fire upon my forces again. The jetbikes moved up and the warriors fired upon my ruststalkers. The ruststalkers were killed to a man. More fire was placed upon the Magos and Onager. Both tanked the fire and refused to die. Two breachers were killed to splinter fire. At this time, he charged his forces into my Dunestrider. The dunestrider survived and was able to kill off one reaver jetbike.

My turn 3 saw me move up some of my rangers as well as my Magos and breachers. I was able to kill off a squad of warriors and seized a point in the middle away from his witches. On the left flank, the breachers killed off a few more warriors and tried to get in range to charge the jetbikes. They would ultimately fail to make the charge. However, the Rangers and the Inquisitor were able to make the charge and killed two jetbikes.

His Turn 4 saw his second witch squad move up as well as his warrior squads on the right flank which had fully collapsed for the Ad Mech. The Magos and Onager were fired upon again but tanked it and the Dark Eldar Archon let out a sigh as his forces failed to do any damage on the left flank to the dunestrider / Rangers / Inquisitor.

My turn 4 saw my forces move up and proceed to fire upon the remaining warriors. The warriors holding the middle point were finally killed off but the breachers had a lot of room to move up before they could capture the point. In the assault phase the Rangers / dunestrider / Inquisitor were able to kill off  the last of the jetbikes and secure the objective.

At this point the game had to end due to time. Dark Eldar had earned 19 points to the Ad Mech  15.  It was a significant Dark Eldar victory but the Ad Mech had proved that they would not let the xeno off without a fight. Hive Felix had been cleansed of all those who had lived there but the records would at least indicate that the civilians had not been killed but dragged off to a fate worst than death.

Archon Linnaeus looked out over the battle field. The slaves had already been captured and dragged back to the slave pits. Now with the mon'keigh forces broken he could escape. His forces had taken a serious hit but he knew at the end of the day his Kabal would gain wealth from the slaves. He smiled to himself, A victory such as this was one that he could celebrate back in the halls tonight. With that last though, he stepped through the webway portal and left the world behind.

Now on to some 8th Edition discussion. Since 8th Edition is coming this next weekend, we here at Behind the Lines Gaming are going to hold off on the blog posting till 8th drops. At that point we will resume with our bi monthly posting as well as give you all our first impressions of 8th Edition.

Stay tuned, Exciting things are happening and we hope to be your leading source for all the newest changes coming to 40k.

Till next time!

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Sisters of Battle: Squad Hana and 8th Edition

"She was like a angel, a divine voice sent forward by the Emperor to testify in his name. When she spoke nobody wanted to turn away but instead listen to her word upon which we all wanted to listen to."  -  Deckhand 32245 "Arthur"  Port side  Imperial Navy Cruiser Tempest in relation to Sister Hana

Today I am here to show off my newest additions to my Inquisitional force: Sisters of Battle. This squad is Squad Hana. Those of you who are frequent readers will remember that Hana is one of the player characters from my Dark Heresy game. In the past the character has been done without power armor representing her time with the Inquisition. Today, I present to you her in her power armor once she left the Inquisition. The colors of her Sisterhood are those of the Ebon Chalice. This squad is my first 5 (wo)man squad of sisters and it might in the future lead to a small force of sisters of battle.

I started off this army by painting with Vallejo black-grey. I then washed the models with a nuln oil wash before highlighting the armor in Vallejo rubber grey. I then did the metallic paints with washes before applying the flesh paints on the face. The red and white robes were the hardest part but gave the models the best effect. Once the models were finished I then applied a astrogranite paint to the base.  In the future I hope to add a few more sisters of battle as well as a leader unit for the army. For the moment these models will be a part of my Inquisitional task force.

With 8th Edition coming the game is about to get a massive shake up. To this end, the blog might be on hold from the end of May till the release of 8th Edition on June 23rd. This will be not only because I have gotten a new job, but also t
o account for the release of 8th. To my loyal readers, I am grateful for your continued support.

Brother's WiP Archon (2017)

Also, my brother has just gotten a 2000 point Dark Eldar army. He has asked me to help him strip, clean and paint his models so he can get started playing. In the future, we might see a few of his models show up here. As a teaser im going to post his Archon WIP. This is his first model and his first time painting miniatures that are his own. Tell me what you all think?

Till next time, say hi, leave a comment or just say hello. Every little bit helps.

Brother's First Model (2014)

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Tanith 1st and Only: Another Squad reporting In!

First 5 Tanith done

This post has been sitting in my drafts for a while but its about time I think to break it out. Today I present to you another squad of Tanith First and Only. This squad has been done up at since at least last year but I've been distracted with work and school. Today I hope to rectify that.

Like my other Tanith Squad, this one was done up in the colors of the First and Only. Altogether, this squad took two weeks to paint and finish but at least it means I'm one step closer to completing my Tanith for the moment. Only two more squads to go until i am fully painted with all my Tanith. However, this will not be the end of my Tanith. I plan to go back and add highlights as well as their tattoos for every model. I truly want these to be the best model I can present for my work. Time will tell though.

Second 5 Tanith

 In the future I hope to add some more Victoria Miniature models to the army in the form of female Verghast. With the release of the new Matilda tank too, Victoria Miniatures is looking like a nice place for 3rd Party fans to find things they would like for their Guard.

This leads me to the next point. Pardus. Last post I gave a teaser to the Armored Company list I've run a few times at my FLGS. This list is made up of Tanith in Chimeras with Pardus 8th Tank support and Phantine air cover. It is a favorite for how much pain it can bring to the table. Now that the Inquisition detachment allows for the Inquisition to bring all flavors of the Imperium it has become a even stronger list. My plan is work on the vehicles for a while and get them at least base painted and away from their primer. Then try to get back on track with painting.

Squad view

Its been a odd start to the year. It seems (at least for my blog) that I always peter out around this time of the year. I'm hoping to change that but we'll see.

Keep checking back. Till next time,

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Tau Sept: Shadow sun

To Follow any other path other than the Tau'va is to doom us all. Only together through courage and discipline shall we stand victorious. Fight with fire and courage and nothing can stand against us! - Shadow Sun (Tau Codex 4th Edition) 

So I hope you all will forgive me but I have been busy this last month with school and work. Today I present to you something thats been in my "to write" list for a while. Tau Commander Shadow Sun! 

This model is from Wargame Exclusive and is the Greater Good Dash Commander model. Sharp eyed viewers will notice that this version of Shadow Sun is a lot more "anime" than Games workshops version. The design was fine for what I wanted it for and so I put in a order for it.

 This model took about two weeks to get to the United States and then I washed it as per normal. Afterwords I put down a purple ink layer and then did the jade wash on the model. From start to finish the model only took 1 full night of work. This was unusual for me and I carefully checked to make sure that I did not miss any detail on the model. I tried to also highlight her face as to make it seem more "cute" but I dont think I did as good a job as I could have. You be the judge. 

Lately I've been searching for a better job and so my post have become fewer and far between. This means in the future I might be down to only 1 post per month. Hopefully I can keep the pace up but we will see. How do you all feel about WIP post? I usually try to make sure a post is about a finished project but Ive been thinking more WIP post might help me to get more motivated? Let me know in the comments!

Anyway Today I also broke out my air brush and did two more chimeras for my Inquisition and Tanith Army. After they were dried, I got out my tanks and took a group photo as a tease of what I want to do a future post on for my "Armored Company" list I play at times. So since I've had you all wait for so long I hope this teaser will do. 

Work In Progress Armored Company. Notice that the red chimera is a Inquisition Chimera as is the one on the far left in the same row.

Till next time! Keep rolling those dice! Leave a comment, say hi, or just let us know you were here. Every little bit helps.  

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