Badab War: Tactical Squad 2 wip 28/01/12

A long time coming, but here is a updated wip shot of tactical squad 2, the shoulder pads arrived last week after being in the post for some three or so weeks (not the sellers fault in the end). My lack of work and posts has also been affected by the Dreadnought Assault dlc for Space Marine (Xbox)...once again I have been spending far too much time on my digital Minotaur then my plastic ones. With the new pads in place and painted up, the squad is starting to look as intimidating as the first tactical squad.

I am now sitting down to add the highlights to the bronze and with a little luck and no interruptions) will have the squad finished by the end of month and be ready to paint the figure chosen by you the readers via the poll above. I am now searching my bits box and sourcing materials from sellers to finish the third and final tactical squad (for now), and am looking forward to working through the Rhino's in early spring.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Inspired? Reinforce today with: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

40K - 25th Anniversary Model Advance Order

It's here after a few weeks speculation. To celebrate 25 years of Warhammer 40,000 Gamesworkshop are releasing a fine cast model of the Crimson Fist character from the first edition Rogue Trader cover. It comes with a 25mm and 60mm display base and features the iconic severed Ork head. My only issue is that he seems to be holding a modern plasma pistol as opposed to the plasma gauntlet depicted in the artwork, despite that, the figure will look very nice as a display piece or as a conversion for any Space Marine army (especially the power fist and severed head).

This figure comes in a very nice box with wrap around art, which opens up to reveal more pictures of the figure in all it's glory, being a Finecast figure, it is limited to 5 per customer and is listed as 'While stocks last', I don't know if other retailers will be able to order this one in though. According to the shipping estimates, these figures go out around the 24th of February.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Badab War: New project

Coming soon to the 14th Legion Blog: Legio Crucius

Space Marine: Dreadnought Assault First Impressions

I just downloaded THQ's Space Marine: Dreadnought Assault add-on this morning, along with the new Death Guard skin. Firstly I am really happy to see lots of dlc for this game despite the costs as it is one of the few video games I play and actually enjoy (probably too much hence the unpainted figures). Anyways I just had my first match and taste of Dreadnought Assault...

*Lets get things perfectly clear from the outset, I am the Orks in the above picture*

Badab War: Help! What Should I Paint Next?

Welcome Badab fans, the missing shoulder bits for my second tactical squad arrived and I am now in the process of finishing it off as part of my personal January vow. My eyes are now turning to the rest of the 1000pts list and I really can't decide what I want to do next. Under the Followers tab there is a simple poll with the options I have available to me, please vote and and keep me motivated to further this project.

Voting ends on the 31st of January and on the following day (1st of February) I will start working on the number one choice.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

**Birthday Celebrations**

Today is my birthday so apologies for the quiet hobby week, much has been going on. Tomorrow resumes my blitz on the Minotaurs project and I am looking forward to sharing the newest conversions and painting with you all.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th legion

Badab War: Minotaurs 1000pts *Final*

After spending most of the weekend with in-laws (and losing precious hobby time!) I was only able to flick open a codex and work on yet another 1000pts list. I wanted to go the Terminator route (similar to the 1500pts list) as opposed to Sternguard, in order to field a more fluffy Minotaurs force (Full stocks of Terminator Armour and MK VIII). The result is a less competitive but more visually exciting (in my opinion) list for me to play around with.

Librarian

Psychic Powers: The Gate of infinity, (plus something else)

Terminator Squad (5)

Cyclone missile launcher or Assault Cannon - still can't decide!, chainfist

Dreadnought

Multimelta, replace storm bolter with heavy flamer

Drop pod

Tactical Squad (5)

5 additional Space Marines

Meltagun, missile launcher

Rhino

Tactical Squad (5) 

5 additional Space Marines 

Meltagun, lascannon

Rhino

Predator

Heavy bolter side sponsons

Grand Total: 1000

So I lose an additional vehicle, lascannon and some utility mid range fire power (twin plasma guns + Sternguard Special ammunition) and exchanged it for some heavy infantry. Logic has won over cool factor, so the Cyclone missile launcher is in giving me two additional str 8 weapon shots. This means the Terminators can add some first turn firepower, at the cost of losing potential anti AV 14 (not that this list has a lot compared to the first list!). As per usual, the Terminators gate with the Librarian and generally annoy exposed infantry (such as Long Fangs), while the predator and tactical squads attempt to pop light to medium armour, very simple stuff especially for 1000pts. The list will struggle a lot with anything that contains AV 14 (Ork Battle wagon rush/Imperial Guard with Leman Russ chassis), but I am hoping that the extra mobility granted by Gate will allow me to target more side armour with krak missiles...Hmm I am thinking that at this points level, Assault Cannon may present more utility due to rending, and lower  AV saturation, I will need to field test.

Please remember these lists are in no way competitive, I stopped playing that way a very long time ago. These lists are designed to have a little fun and tries to mix in units that would normal camp the display shelf.

Thanks for reading

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Inspired? Reinforce today with: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Badab War: Tactical Squad #2 wip

Tactical Squad 2 is progressing at a nice rate with all shading complete, I am hoping to get at least all the highlight stages completed by the end of the weekend and time permitting even move onto detailing. I am a little bemused on how I will paint the lascannon as the last time I painted a Space Marine lascannon was during 2nd Ed (really). Now that paint is on the squad, I feel happier about the poses and base placement and am hyped up about getting this unit done by the end of January. I think it would be a good idea to concentrate on the Rhino's after this to accompany the Tactical squads, once these are complete that will be my two Troop choices fully taken care of.

Of course once complete this will mean I have all the lovely special toys to paint up such as the Tactical Terminators and Contemptor Dreadnought. All of which will be lovely treats I intend to spend a lot of time working on with pigment dust and oils. However on my mind now is expansion, I don't really want to be in a position where I paint up a third tactical squad and end up having to replace it with Forgeworld MK VIII, but on the other hand this will mean not having the third troop choice in my 1500pt list...decisions...decisions. Do I wait or go ahead and convert more of my own MK VIII? My ones have their own unique look to them, but of course I am expecting Forgeworld's to look far better and with more torso variety. Perhaps it would be best to stick to 1000pt games (using the two troop choices I have) and work on the non-gaming elements of the Shaprias list such as the Achilles and Caestus?

Ah well, something for me to sleep on. Here's to a productive weekend ahead!

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Inspired? Reinforce today with: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Remembering The Other Games

I owe Frontline Gamer for this one, check out his awesome blog HERE.

As regular readers are aware what little hobby I did during 2011, almost all of it was Games Workshop orientated. Games Workshop today represent a small majority of what I actually own in my wargaming/miniatures collection. Like most wargamers I have an extensive collection of Kingdom Death, Privateer Press miniatures including the entire Khador range, many Anima tactics models, Eden, Dark Age and of course a whole load of random miniatures from McVey/Hasslefree/Rackham/Anima Tactics etc. The focus of today's post however is Infinity, a anime inspired sic-fi skirmish game.

I started collecting the Aleph faction from Infinity on a whim, I saw a new faction (only the starter was available at the time) and really liked the design, so I decided to pick up a rulebook and intended to purchase every Aleph release until the subsequent refocus on my Minotaurs project. Despite being up to date to Achilles, the collection became largely forgotten, until I stumbled on January's release.

As soon as I saw the Posthuman box set, my interest was immediately re-lit and I went ahead and ordered the missing elements from my Aleph army. I am hoping that in-between painting the Minotaur units, I will get some of my Infinity miniatures built and  perhaps painted, having not played the game (but owning the rule book) I still doubt very much that I will actual play the game at all. But in the short term, getting some of these lovely figures complete will fill the sparse gallery and give me something interesting to work on and show you all. I look forward to sharing these (and other ranges) throughout 2012.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

The Full Infinity range is available from: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Badab War: A look at Lord Asterion Moloc

Fellow enthusiast and leader of the Badab Veterans; Silar has recently completed his Huron and in his celebratory post asked what unit would best suit his character (to which I made a contribution post), read it HERE. Inspired I decided to look at my own chapter master Asterion Moloc and see how I would field him and how I would use him in my games.

Badab War: Minotaurs 1500pts

Ok, taking time in-between paint drying to share one of my potential 1500pt army lists, I have gone for an odd ball list. The list is basically a 500pt add-on to the 1000pt list I wrote about at the start of the month and model wise is not too much more work to upgrade to. However I have swapped out the Sternguard/Razorback combo platter with Tactical Terminators armed with an assault cannon and upgraded the Librarian to Terminator armour with the idea of gating or throwing vortexes around. The Sternguard in Razorback would be a more competitive choice but I really want to see Terminators of a non-assault variety on the table as I really like the conversions I have built.

Badab War: Sieging up my Minotaurs

Early birthday gift from the missus arrived this morning, in the shape of three Rhino dozer blades. This is good news as it means as soon as I finish the second tactical squad, I am ready to move on to some of the armoured units without waiting  for parts as I already have enough extra armour packs/Minotaur doors to spruce up my tanks. With all this bits I am hoping that the end result will visually push forward the siege mentality of the Minotaurs Chapter.

The lascannon parts have also arrive which means the 10th member of tactical squad 2 is now present and accounted for. The squad is in the base colour phase and I am intending to get the bronze complete by the weekend and move onto detailing. The Contemptor Dreadnought has not changed since last weekends post, but there are parts on the way to customise it. With any luck the end of this month should see two troops and an elite unit finished and ready for a 'glamour' shot, fingers crossed!

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Inspired? Reinforce today with: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Badab War: Ironclad Axed...Contemptor built!

The Ironclad Dreadnought has been axed! It didn't make my check list (again) of a)not fitting the look I want for this arm and b) Not being in any of my lists. However the lovely base I slaved over, did not go to waste. In fact it is now home to my Contemptor Dreadnought which had been sitting in it's box since day of release, this is just the bare bones phase and there is still a great deal of detail to add to both the base and the Dreadnought too but for now I am very satisfied with the set pose. It is quite bizarre really...with Tactical Squad #2 built and primed (except the lascannon - still in post) I found myself ahead of schedule, resulting in the me being able to finally work on this great miniature, I will be honest the  large amount of pieces did intimidate me a little which is probably why it has been sitting in box for so long (like the Achilles!).

Both the arms and the head are magnetised, allowing for weapon swaps and the ability to look left or right. While this seems a minor thing it can actually change the whole look of the model, just by moving the head and changing photo angle. As I mentioned above though, this is the bare bones stage and there is a lot of little details I will be adding to this beast over the weeks in order to make it look Minotaur esque and unique. The tactical squad remains the priority for January, but if I am able to keep this momentum up then the Dreadnought will get work done to it also, In the spirit of things I have even named this figure 'Ajax' in honour of the fabled hero and my dog and will be writing a small history for him as the days go by :)

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Inspired? Reinforce today with: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Anima Tactics: Morrigan

This beautiful figure is shipping this month, I stupidly did not buy her when I saw her a couple of days ago and now the Coolminiornot Store has sold out of it's allocation (sad panda face). Since the art work came out for her, fans of Anima Tactics have been eagerly waiting a sculpt and the preview at last years GenCon merely increased excitement and demand among Anima Tactics fans.

A truly stunning figure and one I will be trying desperately to get this coming week, I have already ordered a large resin base to use for her, I just hope my painting skills are up to the task of bringing this creature to life. I have no doubts that for Warhammer fans out there, this miniature could make a very interesting Slaanesh conversion of some sort!

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Badab War: Tactical Squad #2 wip

Continuing with the MK8 theme to keep my army looking unique, the first combat squad of Space Marines tactical squad #2 are built. The second half of the squad is not far behind with most members built with the exception of the lascannon, which is yet to arrive in the post. With this in mind, I should be on schedule to prime and begin painting tactical squad #2 from next week.

I am again making sure to have some movement in my tactical squads in order to try and capture some of the care free/aggressive attitude described in IA 10, so lots of space marines charging forward with knives drawn or shooting. I will again use cinematic effects in this squad as it was so effective with tactical squad #1.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Games Workshop: Krell, Lord of Undeath

It is very rare that I look to GW these days for random figures I just want to paint normally I find a faction I like and stick to it.  Also with so many other companies out there that do great individual collector pieces, it gets harder and harder to justify paying for a GW character sculpt....BUT this January things take a change. While the January Vampire Counts release is nothing new, I am making a small post concerning Krell, Lord of Undeath. I love the story of Krell's resurrection and it is great to see him make it back to Fantasy with a brand new and a very awesome re-sculpt. While the temptation is there to chop his head off and use it as a Minotaur's Chaplain I will resist (with my initial one) and paint him as is.

The entire advance order looks very impressive indeed, and is an indicator of GW's design intention for future figures, it does actually look like they are trying to live up to the self imposed title of best toy soldier makers in the world....a tall order for those of use who still remember/have Confrontation figures and other brands etc. Despite price hikes and viral advertising, this type of design quality looks like it may win the day and generate sales by appealing once again to collectors and army builders alike, and while I will not be collecting a Vampire Counts army myself, you can be sure that Krell and Isabella will feature in my display case along with any future sculpts that match this design aesthetic.

The entire Vampire Counts Advance Order is up now, with estimated shipping dates of 13th to 15th January: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios
The 14th legion

Forge World: Minotaur Character on the horizon?

What I can only assume is a Minotaur's Chaplain or even the mighty Ivanus Enkomi has been previewed  in the latest Forge World news letter. I like the fact that the crest has been added to what should be an officer model, keeping it consistent with the event Boarding marine from last year. As we know the next IA book will feature Tzeencth vs the Minotaur chapter, so now is a great time to start or add to a Minotaur force as there is an excess of resin accessories currently available and from the looks of things lots more in the future. Feast your eyes on the following:

While it is obvious that the second picture is of crusade armour, the question is it just Space Marine crew or an entirely new vehicle? I am sure we will find out as January progresses, either ways it presents a way to feature a pre-heresy version of the Chronus tank character from the codex. But even if you are not a fan of the Chronus character I am sure some fans will be thrilled at having this alternate armour marks available for their pre-heresy tanks. Naturally I am really looking forward to skull face at the top...my money is firmly on Enkomi!

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Badab War: Minotaur Tactical Squad Update

The tactical squad is now for all purposes complete! I am just waiting on pigment dust to arrive before I finish bases and add transfers. Construction work has already started on tactical squad #2 and pose wise it is already starting to look pretty funky with lots of inspiration taken from 'Space Marine' the game. I am currently looking into adding scratches to the whole squad but that is a luxury detail I can do at any time and not something I intend to do as part of the paint routine as I don't trust myself to do it quick enough. As the test group for my Minotaur's army, there was always going to be lots of questions and time taken to perfect a scheme I was satisfied with, now that it is complete to a level I am happy with, I can carry the standard throughout the collection.

Badab War: Minotaurs 1000pts *amended*

Well a belated Happy New Year to you all and apologies for the lack of updates these last few days. I am stuck in that annoying process of having to wait for numerous bits and supplies to arrive, and being the stubborn person that I am, I will not budge (painting wise that is) until those bits have arrived. On the plus side it has meant getting some game time on Space marine (Xbox) and finally hitting level 41, anyways on to the list.

The new list sticks to the format formations in the Shaprias check list so it keeps me on target in terms of painting and collecting: