Phantine Skyborne: Another Command squad done!

"Green Light! Go Go GO!" -  Major Erwan Grec    44th Phantine Skyborne

Its been a while since I posted and for that I do apologize.  At the current moment Ive gotten a new job that has taken a lot of my time away from painting. This new job however, was my dream job and so Im happy for it.

These models were done over the summer in July. This Phantine Command squad is most likely the last Infantry im going to buy for the Phantine for a while. This is mostly do to running out of room in my case for more Phantine Infantry and also being happy with the amount I have.

This squad was done up just like the others. I needed them to complete my case of Phantine Skyborne and had planned to add them back in 7th as the final steps into my army. With 8th, my plans for the Phantine changed with the breaking apart of the command squad and Company Commanders. I have since played with these models and the nearly won me a tournament a while back. My plan is to add some grav chutes for them one day to make them look like they just dropped out of the Valkyrie.

Now for a look into the future. With this new job, I highly doubt I'll have a lot of time to update in the immediate future. My time for miniatures and painting has dropped to zero. So is this blog going to die? NO WAY! My plan is now to drop the articles so that I get one post per month until I can get caught up with my work. I also plan to add on guest writers to show off their armies and pictures. That way even If i cant post something, somebody else will be contributing to the blog.

Thats the plan for the moment anyway. As always please leave feedback or comments. Let us know you were here. Follow us as well to get updates!

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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Necron of Tomb World Abyss: The Tomb Rises

Wide view

This post is one that I thought I had put in years ago but it turns out that I never got around to it. Today, I present to you Renegade09's  Necron of Nemesor Osyris and Tomb World Abyss.

This Tomb has awoken with a vengeance and was shown in this post here in the fight for Hive Spartacus. Since I never got around to actually posting the Necron warriors, I think today I will fix that. In the fight for Dakka Dakka's World Wide Campaign #2 Hive Spartacus fell to the Nemesor as the Necron pushed on the World of Hera.

Necrons are Renegades09's first army for 40k. He decided that the World of Abyss would be a desert world and that his Necron have awoken from the Imperium arriving on the world. Renegade09's Necron fought my first Tanith army multiple times throughout 2012-2013.

Two of the First Warriors

In order to do his paint scheme, Renegade used a textured spray paint on the models bases. First he primed the models black. He then used Leadblecher for the metal parts of the Necron and added Zandri Dust to the parts of the armor. For the guns, Renegade used Chaos black and then added a wash of Nuln oil. The Greens were done with Dark angels green and then after a green wash, a highlight of warpstone glow were added to the model. The warriors were done over the course of a couple of paint nights that we did.

Another Two warriors of Tomb Abyss

Today, Renegade has started his army again after a long dry spell from 40k. This has been due to work and real life. Hopefully in the future we will get to see more pictures as Renegade returns to his Necron and continues to awaken the tomb.

In Warmachine news, Renegade has also started a Khador army as well. As my blog readers know, I play Menoth in warmachine so hopefully someday Renegade and I will be able to play a few games of Warmachine against one another.

Since MK III's release I have only gotten one game in. This game did not go well for me as I got caster killed turn 3. I plan on mailing Renegade a few 40k pieces that he plans to use to modify one of his Khador Jacks.

Till next time, keep checking back, say hi or just let us know you were here. Every little bit helps!

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Horus Heresy Imperial Fist: 1st Captain Sigismund

I've now written this post three times and gone through countless drafts trying to figure out where this little segment would go. Today I think I'm going to release it as a stand alone and see how it does. There wont be much to this post but in the future there might be more to say about it. For now I have been given a First Captain Sigismund (Siggy) from my friend Bandogora01.

Sigismund is one of my favorite 40k characters of all time. From the Horus Heresy series he is my favorite character. The loyalty not only to the Emperor but to duty and his father makes Sigismund a character that is easy to root for.His ability in dueling and fighting other marines also makes him pretty good on the table top too.

 From my earliest days playing 40k I use to face a lot of Black Templar since they were my first opponent.




40k lorest will know that Sigismund went off with the Templar to fight on a never ending crusade once the legions split into chapters. It was from this early venture into 40k that my enjoyment of the Black Templar and Sigismund began. With the release of the Horus heresy series I hoped that they would write a few stories about him and they have plenty of times. It does make for some of the most enjoyable reading when your favorite characters show up in the story, doesn't it?

 Anyway enough rambling. As I said earlier this segment is going to be pretty short today. Hopefully sometime soon I will be able to get us all back on track with something new. This early part of March has gotten very busy so i apologize for the lack of updates. While I normally try to get two post out per month, March might only see one post this month due to time constraints. I'll keep you all informed as best I can.

Till next time. Keep checking back, say hi or just leave a comment below. Every little bit helps to see that people are reading and enjoying this blog.

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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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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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By Order of the Inquisition: Tech Priest and Arbite Gregory Alexie

Dog and Master

So today is another day for a blog post! This time we bring to you two Forge World goodies. The Adeptus Arbite enforcer from Games Day with his cyber mastiff and a titan Tech Priest!

These are two models that I have had my eyes on for a while. Each one would serve perfectly for our INQ28 games or Dark Heresy and so I went a head and purchased them.

Each of the models were done concurrently while the other was drying. Special attention was paid to the cyber mastiff since its going to be a pet for my Inquisitor in game or a bodyguard for my D-44 Detachment while playing Guard.

Another view

 The Arbite enforcer is going to be be Arbite Gregory Alexie. A Arbite from a Hive world. He was played by my friend Saltybelt back in 2009 and became a part of our warband. Alexie has a tough my way or the highway attitude and served with Inquisitor Umarus during the Ventra Majorus Campaign in 2012. This character has gone through a lot of variations before I decided upon this model for him. The other model I used for Gregory has now become another Arbite for my second warband under Inquisitor Ardastia (from DOW II) which I hope to cover in another post sometime soon.

Titan Tech Priest

Next up is the Titan Tech Priest. This Priest of Mars was done up in the traditional martian colors since I wanted it to be no one character in particular. This model was a lot of work to get right and in some ways I am still not happy with it. I had thought to make it a character from our current Dark Heresy Game but it isn't close enough to the characters description to be so, nor was it close enough to be my own Tech Priest from Dark Heresy. In the end I decided it would just be a genre priest for my guard army or Inquisitor.

This model was a lot of fun to paint and I hope to get another one sometime soon in order to paint one up again for our Dark Heresy Group. As our current game is coming to the end of its currents season, many secrets have been revealed and the party is on edge. Whether or not these secrets will destroy the party or bring them closer to each other remains to be seen. They have already made many enemies, enemies that don't want to be found out by the greater imperium at large.

Back view

Since it is November, I hope to partake in Tanks-giving and get a few Gideon Tanks worked on. I am also putting together a few models for Bandogora01 to give as a gift to him for his 18th Krieg Assault Regiment. We'll see how that all turns out.

Till next time, keep checking back!

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Tanith First and Only: Like Ghost from the Night (Part II)

close up of the five new members

 Another squad painted and just in time for Halloween! Last time I posted, I had the first half of this squad done up and painted. Now I'm here today to show off the second half of the squad. These Tanith took me the course of a week+1 to finish as I was lazy for some days during the course of the week. This squad is going to be part of 1st Platoon, under Colonel Corbecs guys and gals. Hopefully once Victoria gets the female border world rangers bodies done up, i'll be able to put in a order for some more female Verghast.

Another shot and angle

With the completion of these guys, this brings my top tray in my carrying case to fully painted. It'll look good to open my case and see the squads fully painted, even if it is only the top tray. The Tanith are growing and I hope to be able to finish them all and have them painted someday. In the meantime I have also bought a forge world Event only Enforcer with cyber mastiff and a forge world Titan tech priest. These two models are next on my list and will be shown off once completed.

The entire squad

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Product Review: Gideon Tank by MadRobot Miniatures

Look at that Armored Beauty

Its time for another Product review! This time coming from MadRobotMiniatures.

 A quick disclaimer: This was not the first time that I had ordered from the Mad Robot (AKA: Steve) but it was the first time that I had done a significant dollar value order that I felt it would be the proper time to do such a review.

So without further ado, lets get started. The concept for the Gideon Tank first appeared years ago with this concept art piece seen at the top. There it stayed until Steve was able to acquire the rights for it and started in on making this beautiful piece of 40k fan work into a 3D model. After following this project for months, a full view of the tank was finally released in Spring 2016 before its release date in the Summer.

The Tank in 3D render form

When my birthday rolled around I was able to buy myself three of these tanks to start off my armored company list. Steve was very kind and helped walk my through the process of making sure that the order was completed fully. He even allowed me to use my points on his company store to add to the order. A huge thank you to Steve!

Once the models arrived (very fast and in wonderful condition), I set about putting them together. The video on the MadRobot Facebook page allowed me to quickly understand how this beast was meant to be put together and assembly was flawless and fast. It should be noted that there are areas on the bottom of the treads that need to be sanded or shaved off if your OCD about your miniatures like I am. Im not sure if this was part of the casting process or just my batch but it did not hinder the model in any form. Next it was off to be primed before being magnetized. I would highly recommend that for this beast, you get a set of N52 strength magnets in order to make the best use of this bad boy.

Unprimed

So once I got my supply drop in I started painting this tank. First, I primed it in a light grey. Then I did a airbrush spray of German Grey on top of it. One that had dried, I did a Vallejo Grey-black on the treads and the hatch. The Tank commander (Captain LeGuin of the Pardus 8th) was done with Vallejo Khaki and then a brown agrax earthshade wash. Then on top of the German Grey I did patches of Vallejo Basalt Grey.  From there I also did the wheels in Basalt Grey and then did the metal colors. All of the windows were done with a blue base and then a layer before a glaze was added.

Once the colors were done, I added a nuln oil on the metals before a highlight of silver was added.

Leman Russ Tank for Pardus 8th

Rear View

This tank has multiple variations that can be added or taken away from the tank with magnets or putty. Steve has done a excellent job of making this tank a one of a kind German- Tiger-ish tank for those historians among us. My Pardus 8th Armored is done up for city fight colors so I might add one more lighter grey before I call it a day.

Front View

Overall, I would rate these tanks a strong 10/10! Steven and his company have made a strong alternative tank for our favorite wargame that any gamer would want to have multiples of in his or her army. If you are a fan of treads, this tank is a must for your army. For me, it was my love for history that made me want to add this to my army. I know for certain I am going to order at least a few more to finish off my Armored Company. Once the Plasma and other missing variations are released, I can strongly say this tank becoming a top candidate among Tread heads wanting something new in their army.


Until Next Time! Happy Gaming!

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Dramatis personae: Krieger 18D and Sister of Battle Hana

18D and Sister Hana Dressed up as a Commissar

This one has been sitting in my drafts queue for a while and I haven't been able to work on it or share it. These pictures come from my friend Bandogora who is putting together our Dark Heresy party into model format. Today we cover two of the of the most prominent figures in the warband, Krieger 18D and Sister of Battle Hana.

18D needs no introduction having been shown here before. As a former member of the 18th Krieg Assault Regiment, 18D was recruited by Inquisitor Ackermaan and brought into the war band to be the sniper / assassin due to his marksmanship. This he has done with remarkable accuracy having survived having his arm blown off by a auto cannon manned by heretics and cultist. Although the loss of his arm was a blow to his morale, the squad sniper quickly recovered and set on killing heretics.Last game saw him come face to face with a Tyranid Lictor, which he promply stabbed and fired into the creatures gullet. However, there are secrets in the backstory of 18D and some of them could destory the man, should the wrong parties find out. As always the dark gods are watching and playing the long game....

Sister Hana

Next up is Sister of Battle Hana, seen here dressed up as a commissar by 18D after their work with the 18th Krieg Assault regiment. Hana is a young woman coming from a feral water world on the edge of the Imperium. Her order of sisters focuses on relics of the past and Hana is learning what it means to be one of the Adepta Sororitas as her loyalty to the party grows with each encounter. Yet for all the goodness in her, there is a fear that she might not be able to do what is expected of her. With the disappearance of the parties NPC sister, Hana has been forced to come forward as the religious figure of faith for the party, a job she was not yet ready for. Should the secrets that 18D has be exposed, would she still see her comrades in the same light?


Hopefully soon we will have the other members of the party included in a group shot. Each model is being done by Bandogora to the closest extent that he can for the respective backgrounds. Will the party be destroyed by 18D secret or will they be able to handle the terrible truth that lies in wait?

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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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Phantine Skyborne! Ready to Jump!

Command Squad with Scanner

 For the men and women of Phantine, everyday is a fight for survival. Growing up living on mountain tops in closed off cities, the people of Phantine live above the polluted clouds of their world. Called "The scald" these clouds can kill a man in minutes should anyone fall into them. Therefore when the Imperial Guard came for a tithe on Phantine, there was no ground to muster the troops.

Two types of soldiers are pulled from this world: Airmen for the Air Corps and Drop Troopers from the Skyborne. Today we cover the men and woman of the Skyborne. First appearing in Dan Abnettt's Guns of Tanith, the Phantine Skyborne played a vital role not only in reclaiming their world but in the Sabbat Crusade.

A Phantine Sargent

"They were all big, powerful young men wearing cream-coloured quilted jackets and baggy, pale canvas pants bloused into the tops of high jump-boots. The sides of their heads were brutally shaved, leaving just a strip on their crowns. Not as a result of lice treatment, Varl thought. These men kept their hair that way. They were Phantine troopers. Skyborne specialists."  - Guns of Tanith

This description didnt do enough for me so I decided to email the man himself about how the Phantine would look. Dan Abnett was kind enough to respond (for which I am very grateful!):

"I think they would look very much like WW2 aircrew crossed with paratroopers, with the jump-packs being "jet-pack" type units about the size and shape (and appearance) of an un-deployed parachute
Any help?
Dan 

With this information in hand ive set about painting them based off the images I could of World War II aircrews and paratroopers. It is my hope that these are the best representation of the Phantine that I can do.

Scald Squad

My own Only War Character (Captain Jonus Remaus) is a modeled in this army as well with his power sword "Liberus". As a member of the 44th Phantine He is the leader of "Scald" Squad seen here.

Full army shot with Holm Squad on the far right

 The second squad seen here (Far left) is Holm squad. This squad is led by Sergeant "Cowboy". Cowboy was originally nicknamed Cupcake after a superior called him a "cupcake solider",In response, Cowboy bettered himself and during the Ventra Majoris crusade fought against Chaos to protect the world of Sigma Majorus. He is current serving under Captain Remaus and someday hopes to get command of Scald Squad.

My yet un named squad

Seen here is the newest squad of the 44th. This is my last unnamed squad. They are the newest recruits after the Ventra Majoris campaign. Currently they are on patrol with the 44th fighting against Necrons and Orks. Whether or not they can stand against the horrors of the galaxy remain to be seen.

After taking these pictures I realized that I forgot to add in the 2 lascannon sentry guns conversions I had done for this army as well.

The Drop Sentinel in the back is a converted regular sentinel that has been heavily modified to fit the drop role. Its been a big part of this army since the beginning and earned me a few kills of enemy armor during the campaign I ran with my brother against his (read: my) tau forces. It is now a constant part of my drop army.

In the mail I have 2 more surprises coming for this army.  While these are just the ground elements of the army, I hope to be able to show the air elements soon.

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

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