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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Tau Sept: Shas'O R'alai

Long time viewers of my blog might notice that the banner has changed for Tau. That's because Im trying to make it so each army from here on out has a unique banner or some form of it. We'll see how well it goes. Today I present a new addition to my growing Sept. Shas'O R'alai!

At the store ( I bought the forge world broadside too!)

This model was purchased for me by Bandogora01 at his local game store. Old armies are traded in for store credit and I happened to be there over Christmas break when I spotted Shas'O R'alai and a Forge world Broadside. Both very hard pieces to come by (without paying Forge world prices here in the states). As such I wanted to pick them up and had my friend who worked there hold them for me until I got paid. Bandogora was nice enough to ship them to me once I paid for them and they arrived in good time. The initial model weren't much to look at. Black primer and a weird brown color base coat. This was removed easily enough with LA's Totally Awesome and then the true fun began.

Cleaned up and ready (Spoilers for future post)

I primed the model and then set about painting it in the color scheme of my Sept. Long time viewers know that the color scheme usually takes about a week from start to finish. Shas'O R'alai took two weeks of off and on painting. This was because as a HQ unit I wanted to make sure extra attention was paid to the model in the process. Once the model was finished I set about making a few fixes on the model before calling it done.

That same weekend, I took Shas'O R'alai out to the game store with my brother. We played a 1500 point game. Tau vs Guard. Crisis Wing (Farsight) vs Armored Company with a mission from the Monk'ta Book. Needless to say, I lost. However Shas'O R'alai proved his worth killing many guardsmen, a chimera, and a sentinel before dying to massive lasgun fire. His warlord trait: The Assassin really did make him a terror for independent characters. 1d4chan claims hes the tau version of Abbadon, Yarrick, and other heros who can "tank" their way through the enemy. I didnt see that as much as I saw a long ranged killing machine who could bring a lot of hurt for very little cost. Shas'O R'alai's markerdrones hitting on a 3+ really did make it easy for markerlights to be used for his squad. In the future I think Shas'O R'alai might become a more permanent addition to my forces. My brother on the other hand reverted back to the normal "Tank-Mander" build stating he felt that Shas'O R'alai wasnt within his play style. To each their own.

Back View

Marker drones

Tell me your thoughts on Shas'O R'alai, is he truly a terror like Dante or Yarrick or is he more akin to our regular Tau commander. Share your thoughts below.

Till next time!

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Tau Sept: A Rising [Rip]Tide

Today we present you with a real treat. A Tau Riptide done up the Jar'Kia Sept scheme. This Riptide was a Christmas present from my father and was a gift I had been wanting for a few years now. Riptides are commonly though as OP (Overpowered for you non gamers) and so they are not given much mercy on the table. In the last three games I've used proxies for it, it has not died and in fact has killed a ton of points back.

So, how did I go about starting this build? Well first I clipped off the pieces and then laid them out to do sub assemblies on them. I highly recommend sub assemblies for this model due to its size and height.

Next, I set about doing painting all the parts in jade with a purple ink. After that I did the metals first with a bronze and then with a tin color. After that, I broke out my air brush and set to work doing all the jade parts you see before you. While the purple ink took two full days of on and off work, the jade only took 5 minutes with a air brush. A airbrush makes the job so much easier and enjoyable.

After the airbrush work, i let the model dry before going onto the detail work. First was the highlighting on all parts of the model. Then came the recessive highlighting with the purple wash. I then washed the blacks with nuln oil before adding a highlight to the black. Next came the metallic parts (again due to over spray with the airbrush) and then the washes on top of the metal parts. Lastly came the orange which I had stupidly left at my girlfriends house over winter break and so was forced to put that part of the project on hold for a long while. I then added a brown tone to the base and added some agrellian earth to the bottom in order to make the model look completed.

I have yet to try it in game yet but from what Ive seen of it played in proxy play, it is a beast of a model. Stupidly, once i finished the model I had burnt myself out on it and left the Burst cannon and secondary systems partly done. This has seen been corrected but it was a pain in the arse to go back and finish them out.

Overall it was a fun model kit to put together. While I am in no rush to get another Riptide, I do intend to buy 2 more someday. I think running a riptide wing would be fun (and cheesy as heck). Maybe I should save it for tournament level play?

In real life news I have found out that my Masters Thesis has been approved. This is a huge milestone for me and one that means life is about to get really busy for me. Not that i'm complaining though.

Leave a comment, say hi, or just let us know you were here. Every little bit helps!

Till next time!

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Tau Sept: Stealth Suit Ready!

Another unit that has been along time coming. Today we present to you: Tau Stealth Suits.

These models were done over the course of two weeks in batches of three. Special attention was given to the unit in order to make sure it looked like the squad was matched to the rest of the army.

These models are some of my favorites having been the original stealth suits of the Tau back in 2006. I much prefer this smaller and sleeker look to the bulkier plastic models that came later. With this squad I wanted to get back to painting bright colors after having painted blacks and reds for so long with my Tanith. It was a joy to be able to paint something that did not have to be grim and dark.

These stealth suits showed up in the battle report a few weeks ago. As a unit of four, they were able to inflict some heavy causalities on the Tanith guardsmen. The burst cannon is a nasty piece of tech for removing GEQ models (Guardsmen EQuivalent). A week later my brother and I replayed the same list as done up in the battle report. This time the Tau and the Guard were forced to withdraw after a lengthy battle that saw both sides reduced to very few in number. While I did not get any images of that battle, it felt good to get back into the fight.

This Tau unit of stealth suits saw action during that engagement. They were able to deep strike deep into the enemy lines and killed the priest that was accompanying the Tanith Veteran Squad. The next turn they were gunned down by the angry Tanith and removed from play. Still, the battlefield is ever changing and my brother might take them again. I'll have to be on guard against them.

As the year draws to a close, these blog post are going to become more spardic. I imagine that I will only get 1 or 2 more post in for the year and then we'll be in 2017.

Till Next time! Say hi, leave a comment or just let us know you were here. Every little bit helps!

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Battle Report: Battle for Hive Desolation

"There was fire and smoke, they killed a few of our guys and we killed a few of theirs. In the end we were the ones left standing. The Emperor protects" - Unknown,  Attributed to one Captain Jonus Reamus of the Phantine 44th Skyborne. 

Turn 1

So today I come with news of another battle report. This time at the 750 point level. We played on a 4x4 table with Inquisition + Elysians vs Tau. This time we fought for Hive Desolation.

Turn 1

We set up the table and each player picked a side. He went first. The Tau moved up and fired a few shots into my guard. Nothing hit.

My turn, i get my orders thrown out and move up some. The Chimera comes up the left side of the field and the Tarous speeds forward. At this point i open fire and killed a few fire warriors. The Tarous injures the broadside but fails to kill it. My other Tarous kills a Crisis suit earning me first blood.

Turn 2

Turn 2

He opens fire again and damages the chimera some by dropping a Crisis suit behind it. The first dune buggy is destroyed but the second one survives to fight another day. The fire warriors open fire on my guardsmen and Inquisition warbands but fail to injury any.

My turn. I move up and throw out orders. The pykers cast their powers (Presence) and the Inquisitor and his warband get out of the chimera to attack the suit behind them. Shooting goes off seeing another Tau squad killed and another damaged. In the backfield, the Inquisitor and his warband open fire with their pistols before charging into CQB with the crisis suit. One round of very close combat sees it dead. The team then consolidates 5' and goes back towards their transport.

Turn 3

Turn 3

He drops another crisis suit behind my three man warband and moves some fire warriors forward. He opens fire and kills off one of the warband. The broadside kills my chimera and explodes it killing 3 members of the Inquisitors warband. At this point its just the death cult assassin and the Inquisitor himself. The crisis suit burns a few of my guys but they make their armor save.

On my turn i throw out orders and have my squads all gun down his crisis suit. The now 2 man warband opens fire and kills a lone fire warrior. The Dune buggy kills a lone pathfinder. The other squad guns down the rest of the pathfinders.

Turn 4

He moves up some and opens fire on me. All shots either fail to hit or are saved. My dice were rolling really hot that day.

Turn 4

Turn 4, I throw out orders and fire on a few fire warriors. At this point he decided to concede defeat.

Victory goes to the Guard 4-2

Fire and smoke were coming off the now destroyed Tarous. The two man crew burned to a crisp inside. The Tau had pulled back for now but the day was won. Captain Jonus Remaus looked around at his tired and bloody men. All veterans of many jumps. Now working for the Inquisition under Xeno Inquisitor Umarus. The Tau Commander had been killed in action or so he had believed but Umarus had told him that the xeno had escaped. For the moment however, Jonus didn't care. sheathing his power sword he sat down and found a spot to relax. In moments, sleep overtook him. However his dreams were anything but peaceful.... 

The Kill Team game

Afterwords we decided to mess around and do a 3 way 250 point kill team game. Imperial Guard Tanith vs Inquisition vs Tau. Overall it was a very fun game. Kinda silly but enjoyable. Finally we had to leave and called it a day.

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A Tau Crisis [Suit] Story

Panoramic Shot of the Crisis Suits

 So once again, its time for another update! This time from the far eastern fringes. In what is a first for me, I have finally painted all 12! of my Tau Battlesuits. For the advanced Tau player this might not be much but for a Cadre that started out in mid 4th Edition, its been a hassle just getting to this point.

Top down view of the teams

Every time Ive painted them I have never liked a scheme enough to stick with it. This time however I have found one that really spoke to me. I started with a few of my regular suits to get to scheme down and then proceeded to continue on with a new suit each week. Overtime, the suits started to get better looking which helped me feel as if they were getting done. All of the Crisis suits have been converted to some extent since my cadre is using the XV-46 Crisis suit, a variant found in the DeathWatch RPG series. Of course since there is no official pictures of the suit, I went with what i felt best could be achieved closest to the writing of the material. The XV-46 is used a close range suit, designed to work in hostile, close quarters combat such as ship boarding and Zone Mortalis type games. My Cadre however, has requisitioned a few for field testing against their common foes of Necrons and Orks.

Another view of Commander MirrorWater

All the Crisis Suits line up by teams

So whats next? Well im not sure if I want to return to do some more for my Imperium armies or stay working on the Tau. I thought out moving on to the Stealth suits but they get so little game time it wouldnt be worth it (although it would be fun to paint!). Other considerations are the (old style) broadsides which have been converted or maybe a vehicle or two to transport my Fire Warriors. Im going to have to see how time allows me to do these. Im hesitant to work on the vehicles without a airbrush due having always burned myself out on them,  Readers, what would be a good airbrush for a beginner?  Let me know in the comment below! As always leave a comment, say hi! or just let me know you were here. Every little bit helps.

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Wargaming and Attitude discussion

This has been a topic that I've been heavily considering writing on a for a while. In the course of painting models, a few topics came up the other day on one of my recent pictures posted online. The paint job in general was considered "unfinished" , "Just primer" and "Shit" by many that commented on it.

First off, let me make something clear. This is not a whining post! 

This is a discussion on how we as war gamers are not always welcoming to others that might wish to join in on our hobby of plastic soldiers (No matter the system!) When I posted the picture I never imaged the hatred I would receive from people that were looking to either boost their own egos or put down others. The worst part was that this was a group of gamers that I frequented often. This group has a wonderful membership but the fact remains that people will begin to feel uncomfortable posting their own models if they are only going to get told that their work sucks.

Over the course of the last few days I have been watching the group. In that time I've painted a few more models here and there. Detailed a few and enjoyed painting. However I am hesitant to show anyone my work. If I, a veteran painter and player am hesitant to post my work, how must a new player feel watching the community tear itself apart over one or two "bad" paint jobs. This is unacceptable.

Primer or Paint? Can you tell the difference?
side note: This was not the model in the discussion

The facts remain on those models. First off, it was not "just primer" or "unfinished". There were two coats of paint and two different washes on there for just the body alone. The rest of the model was covered in colors ranging from golds to grey. Secondly, anytime you call somebody's work "shit" or "unfinished", please realize that you are not adding anything to the conversation. A more helpful attitude would have been to suggest a way to better the model or talk about what the positives of the model were.  Thirdly, if the model in question is not one that you like or feel is to YOUR standards, instead of posting on it, leave it alone. It cost you nothing. I will be the first to admit that I am not a class A+ painter. However, this was shockingly below the average post quality of the group in question.


So what can we do to encourage people to post their work and not feel judged? Be welcoming for starters. Encourage people to show off your work and give helpful, good advice on what they can do. Be friendly, even if it is the internet, people still want to feel good about their models they put time into. "The Thin your paints!" and "My eyes drill your barrels" post are funny but tried memes at this point. Offer painting tips to new painters and new players alike. Finally, realize that people paint to their own standards. What might be "Unfinished" to your eyes might be a new timers "master piece".


I hope these ideas and topics encourage you to think about your own painting. If you got anything to add post in the comments below!

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Pictures from the Eastern Edge

So what do i have for you all today? Not much to show in terms of pictures I'm afraid. School has been busy driving away all of my free time. I've also taken to running a VTT (Virtual table top) Role playing game over the net. Its a site called Roll20.net. If you haven't tried it out and your into RPGs its a must for all gamers.

This army started small and grew to around the 2,500 point mark. It has served me well over the course of four edition changes and has started to be repainted in a new Turquoises and white scheme that i hope to show soon! 

Also on the menu for today are my Tarantula Sentry Turrets. These conversions are made out of Heavy Weapon Teams from a standard box of Imperial Guard and some pieces of other kits to make them stand out as turrets. These turrets will be a part of my Elysian (Phantine) Drop Troopers and also used for other measures as required. Im not too sure on the basing but i hope to get them all done up soon. 

Till next time, Keep rolling those dice!

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