Stormeagle and Heresy!

Whew! I've been neglecting my little corner of the inter webs for quite a while lately! While I've been busy with some travel and a personal life, I have still managed to paint and even *gasp!* play a game! Waaaay back in May I treated myself to a Forgeworld model for my Heresy Era Imperial Fists - the stalwart Stormeagle Gunship. In preparation for a big game against a friend who already had a flyer, I lit the fire under my ass to get the big craft done.

This thing is MASSIVE. I was seriously intimidated by this thing and the reputation for it being difficult to build.
I put off working on it for so long due that rep. In the end, it was no more or less difficult than any other resin kit
I've ever built. I just went slow and steady and didn't rush the process.

I replaced the regular Techmarine head with a MKIII helmet to fit with the rest of my Imperial Fist army.

I'm super happy with how this all turned out - its an awesome model in-game and a stunning centerpiece to my force.

I think I pulled out every trick I know for weathering, decals and freehand on this cat.

I even broke out my airbrush to basecoat and pre-shade this mutha!

It took me about a week and a half to assemble and paint - and I finished up just in time to square off against the forces of the traitorous Emperor's Children! For this game, we broke out all the toys and decided to play a Blitz mission where the Imperial Fists would be trying to crack the defenses of the Emperor's Children. The game was a lot of fun and resulted in massed carnage!

Initial deployments. The Emperor's Children are deeply fortified ready to fight in depth. 

The Imperial Fists prepare to launch an all out assault on the front lines!

Uh-oh! The enemy has a flyer of their own! A Fireraptor Gunship ready to bring the pain!

Massed Traitor forces stand ready to repel the attackers!

The bombardment commences! The Imperial Fists begin their inexorable advance!

The Stormeagle screams forward, ready to disgorge a wave of assault units.

Sword Brethren and the Command Squad launch an attack after the Stormeagle is blown out of the sky! I got one turn out of it!! Thankfully, the mission allowed me to recycle destroyed units, so I wasn't too salty. (OK, I was PRETTY salty!)

The Fireraptor ploughed into the Fists' line, living up to it fearsome reputation. A withering hail of lascannons and a stray Demolisher shell soon sent it crashing into the ground!

Eventually, the Imperial Fists over-ran the first line of defenses. Digging in, they were nearly impossible to move!

The Emperor's Children held on to their final redoubt, but it wasn't quite enough to ensure victory. The Loyalist forces carried the day, but just barely!

This was the game of Horus Heresy/40k that I've wanted for a while - it looked amazing and there were some real back-and-forth moments (as displayed by how uptight two guys "playing for fun" were sometimes getting!). Its given me a bit of a passion for more Heresy stuff. We are already planning our next game and badgering away on more forces. 

I'm so close to finishing a third Tactical Squad to bulk out my forces.

Welp, I'm gonna try and be better at updating here - wish me luck! 

Cheers!