Phantine Air Corp: Tornado's are coming!

                     Since today is July 4th, I've decided to bring you another Phantine Air Corp article. Long time readers of the blog will note that on July 4th, we here at Behind the Lines celebrate American Independence Day. The last few times have been about the Phantine as seen here and here as examples. So we figured we would continue the tradition of talking about airplanes and paratroopers.

Well a while back, I joined the 40k Aeronautica group on Facebook. This group is all about the Air Club. People post their own home made aircraft as well as official GW / FW models.Its a very exciting group to be a part of. The community is great and the admin team is super. Since aviation has always been one of my interest, it seemed like a natural fit for me. Warhammer 40k and airplanes? Whats not to like!

One of the admin had some skills with 3D design and set about designing his own aircraft to use in 40k. This quickly took off (groan I know) and in time the group had funded the design. The admin promised not only patches, but also buttons, pins, and a full model of his first design. The "Tornado" fighter.

The community came together and with the promise of a new aircraft, we set about making it happen. This project will be the first of hopefully many new designs. It  has tightened the community together. The Admin team has already started working on new designs and future aircraft that they hope to be able to bring to the table top.

Lets talk about my experience as a backer. Although the wait was long, it was worth it. This was the first true "community supported" project that I have backed. However, when the cast came in, the models were shipped very fast. The admin team has kept everyone up to date on the process and the project.

 When I got my model about three days later It arrived in a standard packing box. It was in a baggy with not only the model pieces but also my backer rewards. After washing the model pieces in warm soapy water, I sent the model to a friend to assemble. This was because at the moment, I was working on the Blood Pact Commission, which I hope I will be posting more of soon. After it was assembled and primed it was sent back to me. What I got back in return was less than perfect. The model had been rushed and the tail was bent.

I stripped the model and took it apart over the course of a few days. Then after everything was apart, I set about reassembling it. The model is easy to put together. It holds together very well. It does not eat a lot of glue, so you can fit things together quickly. My advice would be to use very little glue in assembly. A little will go a long way on this project.

It should be noted that this project does not come with missiles, bombs ect. You will need to have your own or buy some from other sources. I used GW Valkyrie missiles for mine in my second build. The Original build my friend used was the GW Chimera missiles. Both will work.

It must be noted that this model is MUCH smaller than a GW Thunderbolt or Valkyrie. I like it however. It looks like a fast air to air fighter that it is mean to be.

 I haven't had time to airbrush or paint the model since it was reassembled. Life has been very busy as of late.I hope to break out my airbrush and get some work done soon.

Now I would like to take some time and talk about how this model will be used on the table.

It could be either a Lightening or a Thunderbolt depending upon the players wants. Im going to run it as a Lightening fighter since I own two thunderbolts already. This Lightening will be a part of the Phantine XIX. Also known as "Orbis" Squadron.

 In the books, Orbis squadron was described as deep grey with their fins and tails painted a deep blue. For this aircraft, Im planning to use my standard mix of Basalt Grey from Vallejo for the body and then use a GW Kantor Blue for the blues. The Cockpit will be a mix of many blues that I have collected over the years. For the engines, I will be using a gold color.

To all my fellow Americans, Happy 4th of July! and to the rest of the world Happy Wednesday!

Leave a comment, say hello or just let us know you were here. We enjoy hearing from you. Also check out our Patreon page. Even a 1$ per month would help us bring you new content. If you like what you see please consider donating. Every little bit helps.

If you want to pick up your own Tornado then head over here

Until next time!

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Mortian Battle Tank: A Review

Today I present to you a unscripted post. Mostly because its Here for only a limited time. The Mortian tank! A popular favorite with the Imperial Guard Community has returned and with it the limited chance to get a very nice tank.

I first encountered the Mortian tank in 2015. At the time, I was looking to get out of Game's workshop models and move onto 3rd party stuff. The Mortian tank instantly became a favorite while doing a casual search online. It had everything I wanted. The look of a Panzer with the proportions of a realistic looking tank.

However, I soon found that the designer of the tank had not had his stuff for sale since 2009. Nonetheless, I searched through google and found his site. In a desperate bid to get a trio of the tanks, I sold of my Leman Russes and ordered three Mortian. With  that done, I also found a 4th from a mutual acquaintance. This Mortian you see in the picture was the tank from the mutual acquaintance. When i received it, it was in harsh condition. I was able to fix it up and put it back together as best I could. Finally, I got it into a game against necron. I have pictures from that game but since it was so far back, I don't really remember the details. Needless to say, the model was a absolute delight to play. I soon primed it but then things took a turn for the worst. After 2 months, my orders had not come in yet. Digging deeper, I found that the site was down and with it my order had been lost. It seemed as if the company and the designer had dropped off the face of the earth. I was able to get a refund through PayPal and that was the end of my hopes for a trio of the Mortian. I sold off my Mortian on Ebay for next to nothing and pushed it from my mind. I was disappointed and sad. Mad Robot and Victoria Lamb both had tanks coming out soon I heard. So I waited.

Every so often I would look online at Leman Russ tanks and see the Mortian and remember that it was no longer available. I tried another route and bought three Leman Russes from Game's workshop but soon tired of those too and sold them off to a friend. However with the Mortian now back (Even as a kick starter) it hold a special place in my mind.

The model is beautiful, easy to put together and looks great on the table. For those of you who want a tank that will be sure to turn heads and get comments from people around the gaming table I would highly recommend ordering one (or three!) They really are worth it in the end, even for the rarity factor alone, I would suggest at least 1. They'll look great at any photo op!


Below are some battle report photos from the Battle i used it in back in 2015. I don't remember any of the turns so its best just to leave the photos here.

Until next time!

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Phantine: Marauder Bomber project "G for Greta" Part 1

"Strong men have conquered the land, bold men have conquered the void, between land and void lies the sky, and only the bravest men ever conquer that."

- Dedication to the Hessenville Aviator scholam on Phantine



As per tradition, on the 4th of July I usually release a blog post about something in relation to my Phantine. With that holiday coming up here in the United States that means its now time for me to get this article out of the way. I have had it in my backlog since at least Winter 2016. So today I present to you my biggest (literally) project yet. I am going to assemble, paint and play a Marauder Bomber for my Phantine Air Corp.

At first I was unsure if I wanted to do this as a single blog post or a series. Now having put off this article for a long while, I have decided to release it as a series of post. The model has been bought, washed, and primed for all of its pieces.

I decided that this model will be "G for Greta", which belonged to Commander Oskar Viltry during the Enothis campaign (772-774 M41). This aircraft first appeared in Double Eagle by Dan Abnett and so I have been looking back through that book for details about the aircraft. This will be my first super heavy of any type so I am excited to see what  I can do with it. Since I am a huge flyboy, the Marauder spoke to me as a Flying Fortress stand in that you would have seen in World War II. Having the connection to the books will only make it better when it is out on the table.

Phantine as I have noted before has no ground to muster a PDF on. So pilots and aviators are rounded up for the Guard. Long time readers of my blog will also note that Ive made a small Phantine Skyborne Force too to go with my Air Corp. In the pipeline I also have 5 more Phantine I need to do in order to complete the ground forces of my Skyborne forces. In the future I might expand upon them but for the moment Im going to be long term working on Greta and the Phantine. July is looking to be a busy month for me, so I hope that I am able to keep the 2 blog post a month mantra going. June saw me fall behind with my new job but Im not complaining.


As we celebrate this day, let us remember that in our own world, there are people fighting for us to remain free and risking there life for us. Even though we war game and have fun, we have to remember the real sacrifice that is asked of all who serve.

Happy 4th Everybody!
Till next time!

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Krieg: The Status of the Bloody 18th

*A note about the photo quality. Bandogora doesn't have the best camera but we make do with the shots he can give us.

Welcome to the first official post of the New Year! Today we bring to you something from Bandogora01's desk. His 18th Krieg Assault Regiment and his Warmachine Khador.

Trying to organize the men

Parade Formation

Long time readers will remember that Bandogora01 sent me his first squad of Krieg back in 2015 in order to start his army. Over the course of two years, that army has grown into a nice battle group you see before you. Bandogora has started to prime his models and get down the base color scheme of the Bloody 18th on to his miniatures. He has also acquired some armored support in the form of my old Leman Russ "Lady"as well as my old Storm Chimera and a custom Thunderer I made for him out of the Leman Russ kit. Together his army is coming in nicely about 1400 points before upgrades. Not pictured are two more heavy stubber teams as well as some heavy bolter teams.  The second picture below shows the models a little bit more clearly then the first picture. As the bloody 18th rises, their story is sure to be told throughout countless 40k battles.

Speaking of which I got to teach Bandogora how to play 40k over the winter holidays. We played a small Kill Team game using the official 40k rules. We modified some of the individual movement actions so that Bandogora could see how squads work in 40k as well as get a feel for how a larger point game might go. Out of the three objectives Bandogora was able to shoot me off two of them and won! It was fun seeing his army that he has been working on forever get some table time.

Khador

Seen here is Bandogora's Khador for warmachine. This army is based around the warcaster Scorcha and has actually gotten a lot more table time then my own Menoth. Bandogora wants to do his Khador in a grey and black scheme that will be sure to put the fear of Khador into those who oppose the Empire.

As a Menoth player, I know that Khador is not a easy opponent having been assassinated last time I played against a Khador player.

As the New Year continues to unfold we hope you keep checking back! Give us a comment, let us know you were here and follow us if you want to be kept updated. A lot of really awesome and special projects are in the works for this year.

Till next time

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Updates and Reviews: Tanith First and Only and Warmachine Cards

                          So what has been new with me? Well first off, I got a new job starting this month! Finally I am able to get some use out of my degree that I went to university for four years for. I also quit my old job and started looking towards getting a second Master's degree in order to shore up my current one. You might also notice the new look for the site. I felt it was time for a change so I have changed the site to a new theme. Enjoy and let me know what you think? Enough about me for the meantime though, lets get to some miniatures.

2016 Menoth Deck

A little while back I ordered the 2016 version of the Menoth Deck for Warmachine. This new deck for MK III really did come with a lot of new updates to the game. I even got a game in with the MK III rules. Needless to say I was caster killed but the list nonetheless allowed for me to better understand the new rules. I really enjoyed being about to get out and game for once in a long while. The deck came with enough cards for every model that I had and seemed to be fit to handle alot of new miniatures I hadnt even seen yet. Hopefully Soon I will be able to return to Warmachine and get a few more hours in.

Our local game store in the area has died leaving us that game with a problem. The nearest store is a hour and forty five minutes away, a distance that i dont feel like driving just to game for a few hours to turn around and drive home again. This has caused my ability to game to be lessened but my painting has also suffered because of my busy life and the lack of wanting to paint due to not playing as much. Nonetheless I have forced myself to paint and thats what I am wanting to show off to you all today!

As a running series, I usually try to place the header images with what the topic of the day will relate to. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Today, we will be covering the first five newly painted models of another Tanith First and Only Squad I started working on.

5 New Tanith ready to go!

This 5 man squad of Tanith was a welcome start to my painting again. The process took about a week to complete and each model was given special attention to make sure it was up to par. These lads are going to be a part of first platoon under Colonel Corbec. While no character names have been given yet, the models are now sitting besides there comrades in my case. Hopefully sometime soon I will finish the next five members of the squad and complete them. This army is mean
t to be my dream army and someday I hope to add in some more female models once they come on the market. The Tanith are on the march and my Sabbat Worlds Crusade army is growing.

Action shot of the Battle for Hive Valediction

Just as a quick add, I posted this action shot from a blog post a while back. Thanks to Jayson Molyneux of the Facebook Astra Militrum / Imperial Guard group for making it look like it was taken in the heart of battle. Looks really nice and well done!

Keep Checking back for more!

Till next time.

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Tanith 1st and Only: "Mad" Larkin and Plasma Gunner

The Ebay listing photo

This project was one that I took on a impulse buy and I'm not sure if I'm gonna regret it or not. Wanting to expand my collection of metal Ghost, I turned to Ebay and found this duo. I offered the seller 10$ plus 4.95 shipped for the pair and laughed it off as probably unlikely to be accepted. The joke was on me however and the seller accepted. Now I had to figure out how to turn these ghost from hideous models into true servants of the Emperor.

When I got them I stripped of their horrible smelling bases and dropped them in LA's Totally Awesome. This seemed to do alright but to speed up the process I dropped them next into rubbing alochol (90% proof) and let them sit for two days. Giving them a hard scrubbing, I got them to the next stage as seen to the right.

After their stripping

After that it was time for painting! I gave them a good bath of primer (Not literally) before taking them inside and starting to paint them. I went for my standard Tanith Black / Grey scheme and tried my best to make them up to par with the rest of the army. Each model was given particular attention, especially to the plasma gun. I then added on the basing for each model before letting them dry. Overall this process took about six days.

Sharp eyed viewers can notice the Gideon Tank from Madrobot Miniatures that I ordered. I plan to do a review of them coming soon. Stay tuned for that!

Final Product!  "Mad Larkin" and a Plasma Gunner

"Mad" Larkin is one of the most famous characters of Gaunt' Ghost. Being known as the insane sniper and sniper master, Larkin is a near constant character throughout the series. His character gradually grows throughout the series becoming one of the best that Dan Abnett has written.

The Tanith Plasma gunner was also a lot of fun to work on. While I personally don't recall there being a Tanith that carried a plasma gun in the series, the addition of a Tanith with one is not to be over looked for list building. This model will almost certainly be used to fill out my scout squads or to used as a plasma gunner in a line squad. Overall Ive had alot of fun saving these models from Ebay and making sure that they fill the voids in my Tanith Army. Hopefully next time I take the Tanith out they will be able to make it into the game.


Till next time!

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Phantine Air Show (of what is to come)

The Air Wing in its glory

Happy 4th of July to all my American readers. As we come to a end this holiday weekend I want to share with you a project of mine that is going to be a long time running. Painting my Phantine Air Corp.  As seen earlier, the 'Bolts are already done but ahead of me is much more!

Three Valkyries, One Vendetta, and One Vulture. These aircraft make up the bulk of my air wing and are key essential elements of my Phantine army. With the new airbrush I recently acquired I hope to be able to knock these out fast in order to get them table top ready.

The Vulture (with its Blue nose) and invasion strips is painted off of the 352nd Fighter Squadron from World War II. Also known as "The Blue nosed Bastards of Bodney" these airmen accounted for some of the highest aces in the war. By adding their paint scheme into my army I tied together my love for history with my enjoyment of wargaming.

Closer shots of the air wing

these flyers originally belonged to my friend KatoSniper21 but after he left 40k, i bought them off of him and proceeded to redo them in my own colors. The Valkyries and the Vendetta fought in the war over Ventra Majoris during the Dakka Dakka World Wide Campaign. A campaign my own Detachment D-44 was a part of (if any of you were a part of it, Please let me know!)

As we celebrate this day, let us remember that in our own world, there are people fighting for us to remain free and risking there life for us. Even though we war game and have fun, we have to remember the real sacrifice that is asked of all who serve.

Happy 4th Everybody!
Till next time!

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Thunderbolts of Phantine [XX Squadron]

Commander Jagdea in the lead T-Bolt
Sharp eyed viewers will notice that a cooling duct is missing
a replacement has been requested by the squadron

Here's a project that I've wanted to do for a very long time! A wing of two Thunderbolts from the Phantine Air Corp. First seen in Dan Abnett's Guns Of Tanith and later their own series Double Eagle, the pilots of Phantine remain my favorite Imperial Guard Regiment.

Since Phantine has no ground to muster troops on, their tithe to the Imperial war machine was in the form of pilots, each squadron being 12 (wo)men strong. My Phantine consist of both the Air Corps and their drop troopers known as the Skyborne.

This first T-Bolt is piloted by Commander Jagdea, first encountered in the book Guns of Tanith. Her piloting skills are shown to be second to none and she remains a top favorite character throughout the series as she flies Umbra 1. Since the wiki's are not much help on what the Phantine looked like, I had to resort to the use of the books themselves. They were described as:

"Matte Grey with copper plating on the exposed engines and ducts"

Umbra 2 and Umbra 1 from left to right

This gave me some idea on how to do my own models allowing them to have their own unique feel as close to the book as possible. The Second Thunderbolt is going to be flown by XO Milan Blancher in Umbra 2. Even though Blancher becomes KIA in the book, his character was too cool not to add and since my forces are suppose to be about the time of Sabbat Martyr (773 M41), its possible hes still alive at that point. Besides, with 32 kills to his name, this guy is just too cool not to make a model for!  Someday I hope to add a third and a fourth to the collection but the true goal will be to have a Marauder piloted by another famous pilot of Phantine.

Soon I hope to have my full forces done up in a picture for you all to see!  Keep checking back and leave me a note to saying you were here or just hi! Every little bit helps!

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Hello 2016: A New Year,A New Start!

Hello and welcome to the 2016 edition of Behind the Lines! Like last year I will be attempting to blog about a new project every two weeks. This is not a promise by myself or anyone here to keep to that but we will strive to do so.  2016 hopefully will see many new and exciting works done and updates to the blog. Hope on and get ready, its going to be one hell of a ride.

First off, I will be continuing to paint up my Victoria Lamb Tanith army. This project remains my main goal and will be seen to completion. New Tanks and vehicles will also be joining the ranks as I expand my Imperial Guard army, Hopefully I will be able to keep up the momentum! Of course that all depends on what kind of time school and work allow.

Secondly, my Tau and Menoth armies will be shown here!  You all have seen my Tau before  but not the new scheme I have planned for it. The Menoth Army is a tougher choice on what I want to do with it and Im hoping to get some community feedback on it. Also in the works is a major new army! Yes, an Adeptus Mech from Forge World Metallica is joining the war in the Sabbat Worlds along with another new PC from our Dark Heresy Game! News on that to come!

Finally We have been talking about a big project all year long. This project is still on course and is due out this Year! Needless to say we are excited to show it off to all of you and hope that you all are as excited as we are. I apologize for the lack of information on this but we have been very busy with our real life  as well as preparing this for everyone.

2016 is going to be a major year of big news and exciting new items. Hopefully you all are ready!  Happy New Year Everyone!

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Two Commissars walk into a bar and......

Col. Commissar Ibram Gaunt

Finished painted model

This has been a post a long time (we're talking early February?) coming.

Here we have three of the most famous Tanith First and Only Characters. First off we start with the man himself, Ibram Gaunt!

This model was ordered from Brother Vinni's Sci fi line. The model arrived from the Russian Federation and I immediately wanted to paint it and put it together. After cleaning it in a wash of water and soap, I put it together and started working on the famous Colonel-Commissar himself. Like all of my Tanith models, I tried to keep Gaunt as close to the book description and art as I could.

This model seemed to gather a lot of discussion about it due to its color choices. That stuff has already been mentioned in a previous article, hence why i wont go into it here. Needless to say, it turned out perfectly fine for how I wanted it to be. I still intend to add some Longbeard Grey dry paint to the base but otherwise the model is done.

In one of my recent games, Gaunt was able to kill a necron tomb lord on his last wound with the bolt pistol. It was roll worthy of the heroic commissar

Commissar Hark? or Ludd?  Not sure yet

The next model is another commissar model again by Brother Vinni! This model was suppose to be Commissar Cain from the Commissar Cain series but I instead used him as a stand in for either Hark or Ludd. Im not sure yet. The model was washed and put together. The paint scheme was similar to how Gaunt turned out.

This model has not seen much play but was a fun model to put together. With another Commissar ordered from Madrobotminiatures, I hope to finally decided on if this is Ludd or Hark. What do you think my fellow readers?

Finally we have our last model from Brother Vinni. Known as the "Heavy Gunner" on his website, this model was a perfect stand in for "try again" Bragg. This model was a bit of a pain to put together but in the end, was probably my most successful model. The knee pads and the details added a large flavor to the model allowing him to feel like the gentle giant that Bragg is described as in the books. Even though he will always have his BS 2 shooting (at least in the tanith codex i use), Bragg remains one of my favorite characters from the series.  Everyone who's read the series know what fate befalls this hero. Hopefully this model does the character pride.

"Try Again" Bragg

With this article, I can finally finish up my backlog of articles I had planned to do over the months. I think from now on I will instead take them one at a time. As the year draws closer to a end, I intend to start working on updating the site for 2016. What would you like to see on here? What new details should we add. In the future, we hope to add a few guest articles from Pwnzilla, Bandogora and others.

Keep checking back!

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Tanith Scouts & Snipers....

Where oh where has the time gone?

It seems only yesterday I was starting on this blog post working towards my first platoon of my new Tanith Army. Now its November! What have I been up to you ask?

 Well, first off time has gotten away from me as I have been working on my masters degree. School has formed a large part of my life and kept me up many a night. Secondly, I got a job working at a nearby place. Even though the extra money has been very nice, it has killed my hobby time. Such are the sacrifices of life.

So what do I have for you today? Well we have a couple of shots of my Tanith Snipers. These models were ordered off of Ebay as rescue jobs and stripped in LA's totally awesome. They were then primed and given a new paint job. This brings my total sniper count up to 8. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

I had meant to post these way back during the summer but time got in the way. I've had these sitting in my queue since June.

 The models were painted in the traditional colors of the Tanith First and Only with tattoos added in after the models were finished. Just like the Tanith Trooper and scout seen here, the models have been kept as true to the lore as possible. One addition I have recently added was using the Citadel Dry paint "Longbeard Grey" to go gently over the astrogranite texture paint. This addition to the models bases really helps to highlight the face that they are fighting on the battlefields.

So whats next you ask? Well Ive been working on the Tanith and Verghast models to help flesh out the army. I also have started to repaint my tau forces with the release of the new 7th Edition Codex. This new codex seems to have offered exciting new options to Tau players. Also in the works is BIG news that I am hoping to share with you all soon. At the beginning of the year, I had writtern that this news was to be placed throughout the year. Although ive been mentioning it, I havent been able to talk about it just yet.

Rest assured that everything has been progressing as we had hoped and the lack of writing has seen a greater number of feedback and work being done in regards to this project.

Hopefully as the year draws to a close I can keep you all up to date with not only my Tanith project, but also my tau and my warmachine Menoth army.

Until next time!

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