Old Bloggers Never Die

Nope, I'm not dead yet. :) Trying my best not to fade away, either. I'd say it's therefore time for a little bit of updating.

After staying busy throughout October, my family and I then hit a rough patch at the start of the current month. Nothing too dire, mind you, but stressful enough to kill most of my hobby and blogging motivation for the past few weeks. Normally painting is a great relief for me but I was in too much of funk to even pick up a brush for a while. Fortunately everything seems to be working out for the best now and I've started to get my hobby-groove back. Yippee!

Thus with the will to paint having been restored I finally got down to business and began working on my Sea Dog for the charity auction Project: Orange Crush (Hunger), part of Foodmachine 2011. (You can see my original post about getting involved here if you like.) I finished painting my pirate this past weekend and I'm really pleased with how he turned out. I had planned on keeping this under wraps until the auction goes live but I'm simply too excited to wait that long. Therefore I'm going to hold off from showing any further photos for the time being, though I cannot resist presenting at least one shot of my contribution to the effort. I'll have plenty to say later on about painting the miniature and the project itself, but until then here's the first look at my Sea Dog:

While painting my pirate I also spent some time thinking about the hobby in general and what I would really like to be doing with it. To help me out I reconvened my war council so as to determine the best use of my hobby time. After some discussion concerning various army projects and the different game systems with which I've been experimenting, it became apparent that I have not adapted to my new environment and instead I have continued on as if I were still living in a hobby wasteland. Despite moving more than six months ago to a much more gamer-friendly city, I have been slow to take full advantage of these new opportunities.

Once again I had allowed side projects to take precedence over my painting time, neglecting what I had initially intended to focus upon after moving to Asheville. While I am still very keen to get deeper into Dystopian Wars, Infinity, Malifaux, and Flames of War, there is just no way these other games can compete locally against 40k with regard to the availability of opponents and the potential to play games on a regular basis. I was starved for gaming in Charleston, yet now it would be no problem at all for me to play a few games of 40k every week should I choose to do so. I have been dissatisfied however with the state of my armies for quite a while and so, in order for me to get back into proper 40k-gaming form, I have decided to rededicate myself to working on my Raptors Space Marines.

Ideally I'd like to have 1500 points worth of Raptors painted by the end of this year. From there I will continue to expand the army with the goal of having significantly more painted in time for the release of 6th Edition. I always feel like I'm caught flat-footed whenever a new edition comes out and so this time around I want to be prepared as much as possible by having an army I'm happy with painted and ready to go as soon as the new rules drop. And in the meantime, if all goes accordingly, I'll have something I can take to the FLGS so as to enjoy these waning days of 5th Edition. That's my plan for now at least and I'm starting off by painting a squad of sniper Scouts.

The last thing I want to mention for this update is that starting tomorrow I will be doing another little giveaway for those of you Following my blog. I'll most likely post the details sometime tomorrow night (November 24th) though I'm not exactly sure when due to it being a holiday and the potential for post-turkey lethargy. At this point I just want to give everyone a heads-up in case you're interested. It's going to be a simple random drawing so all you'll need to do is check in occasionally to find out if you've won.

Okay, that's it for now. I hope everyone is doing really well... happy painting and gaming!

My First Time Stripping

I'm having a go at stripping the paint off a batch of miniatures, a hobby first for me. For this I am using Simple Green and the incessant chanting of the Litanies of Purification. By doing so I hope to salvage a combat squad of Space Marine Devastators for my Raptors army, the models having been terribly fuzzed by priming them when it was too humid. This was at the start of the summer when I still lived in Charleston but right before we moved, and thus it seemed an appropriate note on which to depart the city.

I began soaking my minis a couple of days ago but presumably it is still too early to report on any results. I'll likely let them float around in the Simple Green through the upcoming weekend before I try to remove any of the paint. I don't know if this is going to work as the miniatures were really heavily textured by the primer. I admit that at this point I am skeptical but am eager nonetheless to give it a shot.

Swim my pretties, swim!

After dropping in the Space Marines there was still a lot of room for more miniatures that could be added to the chemical bath. I recently came across a small box of minis that hadn't been touched in ages and which also happened to be in need of cleaning, mostly thanks to some very sloppy priming. In this case however the primer has sat on the models for perhaps twenty or so years. I don't have any plans for these other minis but stripping them seemed like a good challenge for the Simple Green, just to see what the stuff can do. So those minis too went into the sauce...

Squats. Why'd it have to be Squats?

Again I am not sure what effect this stuff will have on these minis, but I'm in the mood to experiment. Maybe they will turn out well or maybe they will melt, who knows? It's not like there is much else I am going to do with some silly little Space Dwarfs. I've considered adapting them for use in an Imperial Guard army but that currently doesn't have much appeal for me. It would be kind of fun to chop up some of them to decorate the bases of my Tyranids. That however might be too cruel even for me as it would be like rubbing salt into the wounded collective conscience of Squat-players. Hmm, then again some 'Nid-themed terrain showing Squats bubbling around in the digestion pools would be a hoot. :)

Well I suppose there's no need for me to worry now over the fate of my Squats. For the time being I'll just let them and the marines hang out in the jar on my desk, like some creepy exhibit in a Mütter Museum for OOP 40k. I hope to start working on the Raptors soon assuming this Simple Green trial is a success. I feel inclined to start using Space Marines again in my games so that has motivated me to focus on them for at least a little while.

Happy painting and gaming!

Initial Plans for Raptors Legion

Well once again I apologize for the unplanned absence from the blog. Busy times, family stuff, taxes, etc... you know the routine. I am sorry though that I haven't gotten a chance to write anything lately, I'll get back to the Adepticon business soon enough hopefully. Staying true to diceRolla form, I'll be ready to go over my experiences at the convention once any remaining interest in the thing has finally died off. Tonight however I want to chat a little about the plans I've been working on for the Raptors Legion, a project which, along with my Dark Elves, I expect should receive a fair amount of my attention and hobby time for at least the next several months.

Sometime ago I decided I would aim for collecting an entire Battle Company of the Raptors Legion along with supporting elements attached from the first and the reserve companies. Once I began to seriously consider the scale of such an undertaking, it seemed a bit intimidating and so I realized I would need to break it down into more manageable chunks on which to work. But before writing any lists or building any more models for the army, I thought it would be best to check out the latest fluff concerning the chapter's organization and approach to warfare. So with all of the hustle leading up to Adepticon now past, I finally spent the previous few nights planning out the composition for my Battle Company, having only this past weekend opened my copy of IA9 for the first time.

I'm not too far into the book but based on what I've seen I am impressed with this first volume covering the Badab War and think it looks like a cool resource. All the background material provided concerning the Raptors chapter seems fantastic to me and I am really quite happy that I picked them out. I've a minor quibble or two with their special character, Lias Issodon, but otherwise I think he presents some interesting options for the army and should be a fun model to build. In general though I don't anticipate having to do anything drastically unusual in collecting and designing the army so as to stay faithful to their fluff. Although they are described as being an unorthodox chapter of Space Marines, my impression is that they are not distinguished by having an unusual organization or selection of equipment and weapons. Instead they come across as more distinctive attitudinally with regard to their combat doctrine and wider strategic vision. Refreshing stuff for the 41st millennium. :)

Enough about background for now, let's get on to the army lists. So as I mentioned above, I've decided to break up this project into several large sections to help me move things along and not get overwhelmed by the total number of models still to be built and painted. First off I want to be ale to start playing as soon as possible, and therefore my initial focus will be on getting a usable army ready to hit the table. With this army project I want to take the time to include squad markings and all those other fun little details I usually end up leaving off for the sake of flexibility with my collection of miniatures. To help me stay consistent with the assignment of minis to their various squads, over the weekend I wrote out a master list for the complete Battle Company from which I will select units to build whatever size army list I need.

Therefore to guide my early efforts on this project, I have put together an 1850 point army list along with some simple variants for different sized games. These are largely based on what I had already assembled before looking over the Imperial Armour book, and so I do not mean to suggest there is anything particularly characteristic of the Raptors Legions with the lists. Also a primary goal of mine was to use full units as they will appear in the completed Battle Company, and with their dedicated transports, so this is certainly not meant to be an "optimized" list either. Once the first 2000 points of my Raptors are built and painted I will figure out the next block to work on, but for now this is all I'm going to be concerned with. Like I said, I'm eager to begin playing some games while still being somewhat deliberate in my approach.

HQ

Space Marine Captain - combi-melta, power fist

ELITES

Dreadnought - heavy flamer, multi-melta, Drop Pod

Dreadnought - twin linked autocannons x 2

TROOPS

Tactical Squad - 5 additional Space Marines, plasma gun, lascannon, power weapon, Rhino

Tactical Squad - 5 additional Space Marines, meltagun, multi-melta, combi-melta, power fist, Drop Pod

Tactical Squad - 5 additional Space Marines, flamer, missile launcher, melta bombs, Rhino

Scout Squad - 5 additional Scouts, sniper rifles x 4, heavy bolter, camo cloaks

FAST ATTACK

Assault Squad - 5 additional Space Marines, flamers x 2, power fist and combat shield

Land Speeder Squadron - 1 Land Speeder with a multi-melta

HEAVY SUPPORT

Devastator Squad - 5 additional Space Marines, missile launchers x 4, Rhino

TOTAL POINTS = 1850

2000 point variant: Add an additional Land Speeder with multi-melta, add a Predator with Heavy bolter sponsons, add melta bombs to the first Tactical squad sergeant.

1750 point variant: Drop the 5 additional Scouts, the camo cloaks, and the sniper rifles from the Scout Squad, drop the melta bombs from the third Tactical squad sergeant.

1500 point variant: Drop the first Dreadnought and Drop Pod, drop the Scout Squad, drop the Captain, add either a Chaplin with a jump pack OR a Librarian with a plasma pistol (Null Zone and Might of the Ancients, perhaps?), switch the Drop Pod for a Rhino in the second Tactical Squad.

So all of that should keep me busy for a long time to come, as well as providing ample time for me to plan out the next block of Raptors that I will work on once these guys are done. I have a fairly clear sense of what units will comprise the other half of my Battle Company, in addition to some extras I will want to include. I imagine however there will be lots of occasions in which I can refine my plans as I get some experience playing these initial army lists. For now though I am happy with my starting point and feel comfortable enough with the lists to begin in earnest.

Hmmm, I suppose that's it for tonight. Happy gaming, everyone!

Painting Notes for Raptors

Following on from last night's post about using this blog as a place to keep my painting notes, I'd now like to revisit those Raptors marines I started on last December. I foresee working on them intermittently all year long and beyond as I've decided for this army project my goal will be to collect and paint an entire Battle Company of the Raptors Legion. I expect this will take me a long time to complete, making this record of how I've chosen to paint them rather important for me to keep updated.

I haven't worked on these guys in almost a month (last seen here) and likely won't get back to them for another couple of months more as I really need to begin devoting my hobby time to WHFB. Adepticon is fast approaching and only today did I at last settle on what army I will be working on for the 1000 point Fantasy tournament for which I've registered. Once I have finished my Frog Fighters, I'm going to put everything else on hold while I focus in on the square-based side of life. Therefore lest I forget how I painted the first members of my Raptors Legion, here then are my painting notes for them:

Basecoat: Color Primer Army Green

Power Armor: Devlan Mud (twice), drybrush of Traitor Green, edge highlight sparingly with Thrall Flesh, Orange Rust weathering powder

Equipment: Thamar Black, Greatcoat Grey

Auspex Screen: Gnarls Green, Iosan Green, Wurm Green, thin lines of Morrow White

Eye Lenses: Iyanden Darksun, Moldy Ochre, Sulfuric Yellow, Gryphonne Sepia, dot of Morrow White

Chest Eagle and Weaponry: Boltgun Metal, Badab Black, Mithril Silver

Name Plate: Tin Bitz, Dwarf Bronze, Shining Gold, Devlan Mud

Purity Seal Wax: Mechrite Red, Skorne Red, Khador Red Base, Leviathan Purple

Purity Seal Parchment: Hammerfall Khaki, Menoth White Highlight, Morrow White, (Am I missing a wash here? I think it might have been Gryphonne Sepia.)

Skin: Tallarn Flesh, Ogryn Flesh, Midlund Flesh, Ryn Flesh

Base: thinned Umbral Umber, heavy drybrush of Bootstrap Leather, light dryrbrush of 'Jack Bone

Base Edge: Scorched Brown

As I discussed above, I will soon be turning my attention to Warhammer Fantasy. I need to try my best to make up for all the time I lost the last few months while vacillating over what army I'd want to take with me to the tournament. I'm starting from scratch with an all new army and I haven't played any games of Fantasy in years, at least as far back as sometime before 7th edition. This means there is indeed much to be done so this project is going to have to be my top priority. But I will talk more about these plans in the days to come, for now I just want to get back to painting my space frogs. Goodnight!

I'm a Gamer, Get Me Out of Here!

It's official, we're moving in February! We had initially expected to move to Asheville, NC at the end of summer or early autumn of 2011, but the window of opportunity to do this kept creeping closer and closer until it's now only two months away. It feels rather sudden and leaves quite a bit to be done in the time left so getting ready will likely not be much fun. Otherwise I am quite excited by this development and look forward to once again being a resident of North Carolina. I foresee better gaming days ahead. :)

Meanwhile these are going to be busy times for me over the next several months. I don't know for certain how this will impact things on the hobby front though I imagine there will inevitably be less free time to spend on my miniature wars. With AdeptiCon looming at the start of April I've decided I need to take a more organized approach than I normally do in order to have everything finished in time. This weekend I'm going to review and assess all the projects I have underway and come up with some basic priorities for them. I believe this will also be useful as I begin considering what hobby plans I want to focus on in the coming year.

These past few days have however turned out to be rather unproductive as Father Nurgle has continued to bless my household with his gift of the flu. It's therefore been a little painting here, little painting there type of week. Slow but steady progress at least and I have also been working on army lists for the Raptors to give me a sense of direction. Right now I have some spare minutes in which to paint so I'll catch up on that other business later. There's power armour to paint... bye!

Raptors Test Mini Update

My plan was to refrain from any weathering on the test mini for my Raptors project until I had the chapter markings in place. As it turns out I could not resist and went ahead with the first of my dirtying experiments. While that may complicate things when it's time to apply the transfers, I was too impatient to wait and by now have lost confidence in Forge World coming through for me in a timely manner with my order.

I've never tried to use weathering powders before so this was all new for me. Derina, author of both the Irons Hands and more things and Brigannion 4 blogs, suggested I go with rust powder to achieve the dusty appearance seen in some Raptors artwork. That's the look I want for this army so I took her advice and have made my first attempt at brushing on some dry pigment, using Orange Rust from Forge World. It wasn't quite what I expected but I feel like I started to get the hang of it towards the end. There were a few areas where the powder clumped a bit or went on streaky, but otherwise it was easier than I thought it would be.

(No worries, I've gone back and painted that little boot cable.)

Overall I think I'm satisfied with how the weathering powder worked and I'm happy with the choice of color. It surprises me how much it changes the tone or feeling of the miniature even though the effect itself is rather subtle. I applied the powder in two passes and was fairly cautious as I did not want to overdo anything and I now wonder if I should perhaps add even more Orange Rust. I may also try adding some darker earth-colored powder to his boots and legs but for now I'm going to leave him alone. I've started in on the first batch of Raptors and will be working on them this weekend. Yesterday I primed them and even had time to apply both coats of Devlan Mud. With those steps out of the way I'm ready to begin painting and am eager to find out how quickly I can get them finished.

Okay, that's it for now. I hope you're all having a great weekend so far... happy gaming and painting, everyone!

Raptors Test Mini WIP

I'm almost finished with this test of the Raptors Legion color scheme for my Badab project and so far I'm happy with the results. What is particularly nice is that it has been easy to paint and not time consuming either, exactly what I wanted for this army. I'm still waiting on my sheet of chapter transfers from Forge World so whatever weathering I'm going to attempt on him will have to wait until those are in place. Otherwise I don't think there's much left to do with this one. Good!

I'm quite pleased with how my first Raptor Space Marine is turning out and so I plan to next paint the four remaining Devastator Marines that make up the test mini's squad. I may attempt to also paint those Assault Marines at the same time depending on how things go. I'd like to work on building up my painting speed as I go along since I have a fair number of these guys assembled and ready. I'm about 80% sure at this point that I will use my Raptors in the Combat Patrol event at AdeptiCon so my goal now is to have them painted quickly to allow me time to become comfortable playing them and hopefully try out a variety of lists at that point level.

Also I've had more fun painting this test miniature than I had first anticipated so I think that's a positive sign for this new army. In fact I want to get right back to the painting so I'll just say goodnight and happy gaming, everyone. Bye!

Badab War - I'm In!

Na na na na, na na na na, na na na na, na na na na, BADAB! Na na na na, na na na na, na na na na, na na na na, BADAB! BADAB!!

I've decided to build a Raptors army from the Badab War and have a few squads worth of models already assembled. Years ago I started work on a Crimson Fists project but realized after painting five Tactical Marines that I was not really enjoying the experience that much. So I began experimenting with other color schemes but did not find any that I liked significantly better. I therefore set them aside to work on other more compelling interests. That was back in '05 or '06 I think.

In that time almost two squads worth of Marines and a Dreadnought from the original Crimsons Fists group were taken either for use as color tests or for other projects. What's left however should still provide for a solid core from which to build the new army. I'll likely add in the models from my AoBR set and some vehicles, then go from there. I expect with this army I'll just add units as they catch my attention rather than building to a particular list. Here though is what I'm starting with that's ready for priming:

Chapter Master/Captain with power fist and combi-melta

Chaplin with plasma pistol and croizus

10 Tactical Marines - plasma gun, lascannon, and a power weapon

8 Scouts with 2 sniper rifles and a heavy bolter

6 Assault Marines with a power weapon

6 Devastator Marines with 4 missile launchers

The miniatures are very basic Marines largely without adornment which is okay as my aim is to get this army painted quickly, whatever that means. I ordered a sheet of Raptors transfers from Forge World to save me from the embarrassment of trying to freehand the chapter badge. In the meantime I'll add these guys to the painting list and see what happens. I don't know anything about the chapter other than what's on Lexicanun (Raptors, Badab War) but I doubt any of what's assembled will be inappropriate for this army. I mainly like the color scheme for the Raptors and anticipate it being fairly straightforward to paint which would be nice.

It's been an edition or two of Codex: Space Marines since I last played vanilla marines so this should be an interesting challenge learning how to make use of what the current book can do. It does feel nice though to have finally figured out what I want to do with these miniatures after hanging onto them for so long. Also I really like the background for the Badab War so I'm excited about having found an aspect of it to add to my own hobby schemes. Neat!

Okay, that's it for now. I'm still plugging away at those trees so back to the painting for me. I hope everyone had a great weekend, bye!