More Like Necro-FUN-da, Amirite?

Hive gangers battle it out with a Genestealer Cult

Necromunda is one of those iconic Games Workshop products that takes me back to my college years and always brings a grin to my face. Its not to say the game doesn't have a lot of warts, but by its very nature it created great stories and a real sense of immersion and attachment. Its been 22 years since the game was released and I can still remember those games vividly - my roommate planning a death-from-above attack with a grav-chute equipped ganger, getting so many Juves from Settlements that I could field 21 guys in my gang, so many memories.  

I wasn't aiming to exactly recreate the original buildings that came with Necromunda - more just the feeling of them.

The catwalks are just plasticard with plastic mesh glued on top. The plastic mesh is used for lining
the bottom of flower pots.

I finished up a small set of scenery that I built using some of the original plastic bulkheads that had come into my possession. The buildings and catwalks are made from scrap plasticard and were painted with lots of staining and dry-brushing. With some of the other 40k buildings I've made, I can cover most of a 4'x4' table. I'm looking forward to trying out some skirmish gaming on it. 

Adding some of my scatter terrain really ties it all together.

One thing I'd suggest to anyone is to vary up the colors on buildings. All grey or gunmetal
cityscapes are boring and un-realistic.

Next on deck is finishing up some my Hive gangers and then a small coven of Chaos cultists.

Cheers!

Mixed Bag 6 - Hivomunda Edition

This has been a weird week for me hobby-wise. I've been "cleaning up" little projects on my desk while creating more stuff in my backlog. Every step forward seems to put me two steps back. First up, I finished 3 more Hive Scum for some 40k-themed skirmish gaming I plan to do soon. That plan has side-tracked a lot of my other projects lately.

Hive gangers, criminal scum, maybe a deep space mining crew? 

To add some muscle to my gangers, I'm adding a dude in power armor. I'll end up arming him with a bolt pistol and a mining pick from the Neophyte sprue.

The torso and legs are an extra Iron Hands Deathwatch marine,
the pack is from a Dark Angels marine, and the head
is from Puppetswar.

I've also started building some quick terrain from a load of Necromunda plastic bulkheads I acquired and some scrap plasticard. I still need to build some gantries and walkways to connect everything and get some paint on it all.

Added to my collection of buildings made from electrical boxes and this should make a fine Underhive.

Some elevated firing platforms.

Next up, I built some plastic Chaos cultists for more skirmish fun. This is a really nice kit that uses the two piece models from the 40K starter Dark Vengeance. I like quick to build models and they were easy to carve up and convert a bit with head swaps. I really like the idea of a single Traitor Marine leading a rag-tag group of degenerates in battles beneath a hive.

Still a few more guys to build and add.

Finally, after nattering on 40k stuff all week, I got around to finishing the last two Stormcast Retributor models that I needed to make the squad game legal. These guys are intentionally painted up simple - I just wanted a second force to throw down when playing Age of Sigmar. I used to do this a lot - making fast armies that friends can borrow or that I can play to keep games fresh. I really should get them all together and take some photos. Eventually.

Stop! Hammer time.

Cheers!

Hive Ganger Scum!

"Abdul Goldberg has crossed you for the last time - it was pure luck that your paths crossed on this isolated planet outside of Imperial control. He and his crew are relaxing down at Greasy Kim's Bar and Diner, unaware that you and your crew are ready to pounce. The Diner is mostly deserted, with only a few lonely vac-heads and spacers to witness the fight."  - Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader, pg 243-244.

"Look sharp, you space-rats!"

I really didn't get much hobby stuff done this week, mostly due to the fact that I was either exhausted or busy after work. I did manage to get a little paint on some Hive gangers/scum conversions I've been building. I really like the idea of exploring the grubbier side of 40k and the new Genestealer neophyte kits really evoke some of that civilian feel. I took some of the less "stealer-ey" bodies from an extra copy of Deathwatch Overkill and added some mercenary heads from Puppetswar.eu and viola! Some spacers and vac-heads!

Just a small selection of the custom heads Puppetswar makes.

This was the first ganger I made. Just a head swap and some ammo from the Ork sprue.

Eat yer heart out, Starlord!

Duke Nukem' rounds out the last of this scurvy crew.

I'll probably do a gang of 12 models or so - I want to pick up one of the Neophyte squad kits so I can have guys with shotguns, heavy stubbers, et all. This should give me a nice little skirmish force for a Necromunda-style game.

Cheers!

Knight Warden marches off the Assembly Line

It is done and ready to deal hot death to tiny men across dinner tables everywhere. This is just a fantastic kit and probably the best fitting and logical build that Games Workshop has ever made. While it looks super intimidating on the sprues, this kit just goes together like a dream. I managed to get the whole thing built and painted in about a week and a half.

A noble knight of House HazArd is ready to take to the field.

Detail shot of the head.

Carapace detail. I added some comm antenna made out of florist wire.

I had wanted to mirror the pad on the opposite side, but the decals wouldn't allow it.
I was a super sad panda when I figured that out.

Detail of the chain-sword-fist-thing.

This thing is crawling with detail over every surface.

I had such a good time with building and painting this model. If you get the chance to ever work on one  I'd suggest you take it. My friend Marky let me build and paint this guy for him and I hope he has as much fun stomping his enemies as I had bringing this Knight to life.

Cheers!

Goliath Rockgrinder Done! Imperial Knight Begun!

I apologize in advance for the low quality of the photos in this post - I just didn't make enough time this week to get proper shots like I wanted to. That being said, I managed to finish up my Goliath Rockgrinder finished up and I'm super chuffed with how it turned out. It was a nice cap to my Genestealer Cult project.

All aboard!

I think the orange suits really tie the room all together, man.

Just when I thought I was done with hybrid neophytes - 5 MORE!

Love the dude about to huck a bundle of dy-NO-might!

I also started work on an Imperial Knight kit. Ever since it was released, I've been itching to paint one of these big goons; but despite that I seem to paint a bunch of 40K I actually rarely PLAY the game - so justifying the price tag to myself was a little tough to do. Turns out, my buddy Marky had purchased the Imperial Knight Renegade set and had two of these guys hanging around. He generously allowed me to paint and assemble one of his - so hopefully this gets it out of my system.

The kit assembles fast - I managed to get this far in less time than painting the Goliath.

When I started the build, I wanted to spray the whole thing a metallic color as base to start from. I knew Games Workshop made a Leadbelcher spray - but at $20 there was no way I was buying it from them. Thankfully, having worked on the professional side of the hobby, I know that all the major hobby brands are subcontracted out and that there HAD to be a comparable color available at my local hardware store. After a little sniffing about, I settled on "Aged Bronze" from Rust-oleum. Sprayed on after a black primer, the color was virtually indistinguishable from Leadbelcher.

Cost all of $5.

The main chassis sprayed and dry brushed with Runefang Steel. DONE.

Going for a sort of Howling Griffons classic color scheme.

All the detail on this model is just lovely.

So work will continue apace on the Imperial Knight for this week. Feeling good about getting him done by next weekend.

Cheers!

Goliath Rockgrinder WIP

This week, I managed to get a lot of work done on my Genestealer cult's Goliath truck. I plumbed for the Rockgrinder variant based solely on the fact that the dozer blade with all the grinding drills on the front is so damn cool. I opted to leave the back of the vehicle exposed so that I could put other crew models on it. I know its not technically how the vehicle is supposed to be built for 40k, but I just really built it for how cool I thought things would look - not for the optimal build in the game.

From the first time I saw the model, I was reminded of the Martian mining
vehicles in the original "Total Recall" movie. Love at first sight.

I assembled the kit in about 4-5 hours - there are a ton of parts and lots of options. I don't think I've built a Games Workshop tank kit in at least a decade - and they've learned a lot in that amount time. I tried to leave certain elements separate as sub-assemblies so that I could get to all the different parts easier. I left the big flame-thrower, the dozer blade, the wheels, the crew and the main chassis all as separate
elements.

The dozer blade was dry brushed with multiple shades of metal, then I painted the
hazard stripes and yellow over top (leaving metal showing). Finally the weathering
was dry brushed on.

The flamethrower was pretty straight forward to do. I glazed purples onto the
front of the weapon to show heat stress on the metal.

Here I've glued the tires on after I laid down the base color and weathering on
the main hull.

I knew I wanted the vehicle to feel old and well-worn, so I really tried to go to town with weathering and chipping. The gene stealer neophyte color scheme I'd chosen really felt like Rebel flight crews from Star Wars, so I looked at stills and models of X-Wing fighters from the original trilogy. Once I was ready to paint; my first step, after assembly, was to prime the vehicle black. This was followed by a coat of grey spray and then a pass with white. After that, Everything was blended together by carefully drybrushing the whole thing from grey to white.

I added a lot of rust streaks by thinning down Brown Ink and streaking it on with
a detail brush.

All of the weathering was done with a big, soft dry brush and the chipping was done with a bit of torn foam from blister packs and stippling with a small brush. I was really trying to push the idea of a vehicle that worked in an iron mine - where iron oxide dust and the rust on the vehicle became indistinguishable from each other. This would also help tie the vehicle into my army's orangish color scheme.

Everything put together.

All that's missing is the crew.

I love that back bed. It reminds me of a shitty truck my dad owned when I was a kid.

I still have to do the actual crew - the machine gunner, the flamethrower operator, and a handful of hybrids hanging out on the crew deck. Hopefully that shouldn't take me too much longer. I plan on having that done by next week with any luck!

-Cheers!

New Year, New Army

Happy 2017, all!

This past week I completed a 15mm scifi army thanks to a sweet, sweet holiday break. It was nice to be able to get this project off my desk - I've got a bunch of little projects that I want to get through before diving into my Burning of Prospero set. I have a few Stormcast to paint, 2 Napoleonic ships to finish and then rig, and some French Lancers to do before I can move onto other stuff.

Rebel forces of the Mita Gottum core worlds.

This army represents a local uprising against my Zark Industries forces. The army is primarily composed of local civilians and militia, but, the rebels are supported by alien troopers and heavy hardware from the infamous Black Nova Mercenary Company. Power to the People!

Black Nova Titan Assault Unit.
Model by White Dragon Miniatures.

Mark XV Command and Control Drone.
Model by White Dragon Miniatures.

Capable of compiling data faster than a living mind,
the Drone knows what the enemy will do before they do.

A pair of APCs made from the chassis of toy tanks.

A Black Nova support squad.
Models by Khurasan Miniatures.

A strike team of mercs ready to take out hard targets.
Models by Khurasan Miniatures.

The army is primarily made up of the human populace. Here is an LMG team.
Models by Khurasan Miniatures.

A human RPG team.
Models by Khurasan Miniatures.

This force was designed to be used with a homebrew set of rules that I've been working on for generic scifi gaming. Its a less granular system that focuses more on maneuver and good command decisions rather than the specific differences in gear. My friends and I have played a handful of times, and so far its been a lot of fun. I might make the rules available on the blog in the future.

Its nice to have a pair of armies that I can square off against each other a have a cohesive story line. One of the pitfalls of 15mm scifi is that everything is so diverse that battles some times don't have a real storyline. Fortunately, these armies are so cheap that its not a huge issue to buy and paint up two opposing forces.

Cheers!