Salute 2012 #2

Jump to Part #1

Post coffee discussions out of the way, Evi and I went on a second 'round' of the venue and it's retailers. I had decided this time to avoid Forge World, as my experience with the staff last year had left had me weary, and also I buy so much Forge World on a weekly basis that I was up to date. I understand that there were some advance releases, and perhaps if they had been Minotaurs orientated it would have been a different story but alas no overpriced Space Marine resin crack for me. Instead found myself at Maelstrom games and Banelegion's expensive fantasy resin crack!

Anima Tactics: Lynn Steiner WIP #1

Off to a good start with the Black Sun collection. Having chosen the route of pain i.e. NMM (non metallic metals), I cleaned and primed Lynn as this weekend's project. I have gotten further than I had expected, with the armour complete and the trousers in progress, I will have to think about a colour filter to use before proceeding any further, but I am sure once I have come to that decision, it won't be very long at all until the model will be fully painted (maybe tomorrow?). So in contrary to the one toed sloth ideal, it seems I can get stuff painted quickly...as long as they are not Minotaur Space Marines. Either that or it is an indication that I am finally back in my painting comfort zone, meaning I have remembered the majority of my old techniques, colour recipes and gotten use to the new paints I have at my disposal. It should be noted that prior to my return to the hobby some two years ago (after a 6 year break) I had been exclusively using GW paints or the counter part from Vallejo (VGC), it is only after some six months using VMC, that I can finally say 'I am happy with the paints'. Time and practice, that is the key.

I am quite happy with the NMM armour, considering the choices I had before me. I was intending on going a more blue steel look, but unluckily I did not have the colour I wanted as a base. In the end I went for a more silver look and added a subtle tint of blues to the mix and I must be honest, I am happy with the result. For now, I have the notion in my head of getting one Anima Tactics figure painted each week (at weekends), but again this will be subject to how comfortable I am with the figures. If I get into a decent rhythm; I will naturally get more than one done; but as with all things...we shall see.

Some more new toys arrived in the post this morning, but I have been so wrapped up dealing with Lynn; that I forgot to write about them; I hope to cover them in some detail tomorrow.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th legion

Inspired? Pick up a paint brush and some paints from: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Anima Tactics: New arrivals

Reinforcements for my Black Sun faction have arrived this morning in the shape of Kingsley Warlock and the rather lovely Lynn Steiner. While Kingsley is an older sculpt, he is a welcome addition to the collection leaving only one figure left before I am up to date with the entire Black Sun faction. Lynn is part of the latest Anima release wave from Cipher Studios and is a beautiful, if very fine sculpt. The sword has been sculpted as a rapier and by nature is a very thin piece that will require care when handling. 

I am feeling particularly energetic this weekend and I hope to start painting one of the figures in my collection this weekend. If I do manage to ignore the Strain long enough to paint some Anima, I will naturally share it here first. But in the mean time I still looking out for something big and beastly for the Black Sun...

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Sedition Wars: The Strain Phase #2

Right on schedule, I have built the Brimstone and Cthonian and as with the smaller figures, these are excellent casts with very little in the way of impurities. I only discovered one or two air bubbles and the amount of cleaning was minimal making for a pleasant hobby session.

I am going to give the miniatures one more check up for any stray mould lines I may of made etc and then its priming time. I have been bothered by one thing though, I can't figure out where this random bit from the Cthonian comes from, I initially thought it was head armour but alas no joy trying to fix it there. 

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Sedition Wars: The Strain Phase #1

I have decided to take a break from painting bronze this week and have started working on what was my favourite purchase from last weekend's Salute event: Sedition Wars - The Strain. The faction represents individuals infected by a nano-tech virus that has mutated with alien matter, the sole agenda is to spread the infection. The faction and miniatures are divided into basic Necroform carriers,the forced evolved Protoform carriers and the monstrous Exoform, which seems to be the final stage of evolution (for now?).

Salute 2012 #1

I have to be honest, this year my health seemed to be an issue on the day and as a result I could not stay for the entire event as with previous years. I got as many shots as I could without annoying fellow hobbyists and although the post will go across two entries, I was not able to get as many shots as I would have liked. For this I do apologise.

As with previous years I made sure Evi and myself were armed with Advance Tickets, the advantage of this is that you join a separate entry queue which takes priority over the 'entry on the day' queue. We were lucky this year being quite close to the front and getting into the venue at around 9:40, meaning we could take a leisurely stroll around the vendors (and have a chat) before they were swarmed. However we were distracted by Star Wars cosplayers and like a kid in Disney Land, Evi just had to have her picture taken with them...

Badab war: Vanguard Veterans 20/4/12

Bronze armour stages complete, just need to fill in details and do the reds, I am happy with the weathering on the veteran stripes and will be using what I learnt from that to do scratches on the armour and weapons. I was overly optimistic at thinking I could get this unit done by the end of this week (namely because I paint as fast as a one legged sloth) but the results; in my opinion; are better than the previous squads I have completed and therefore worthwhile. Once I have gotten the technique sorted, I will be going back over the other miniatures and adding additional fine details. 

I am probably not going to do anymore hobby today as I stayed up until around 3am last night, fuelled by coffee and enthusiasm, and am now feeling the negative effects haha. I also need to save my energy for the inevitable wallet abuse throughout tomorrow mwahaha. I know recently I have been very slack on the Forge World news, I am well aware of all the nice shiny things they have recently released, but have been snowed under with work this end. 

I hope things will be back to normal as of next week.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Inspired? Reinforce today with: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

The Night Before Salute 2012

Tomorrow is Salute, the largest wargaming event in London. Sadly this year I will not be entering the painting competition as I under estimated how long I would need to finish my entry *cue sad panda face*. However this does mean I can run amok on the retail stands and pester Mike McVey, depending on whats available I will probably be looking to add to my ISC Eden war band and most likely buying a Sedition War set, of course anything goes and if its a beautifully sculpted miniature, I will probably buy it...much to the lament of my bank account.

If you see me running around and fancy saying hello or even arranging a game, please do so!

Me (DiStudios) & Evi Salute 2011

To find out more about Salute 2012 including travel details click HERE

Thanks for reading and hope to see you there!

DiStudios
The 14th Legion

The Badab Veterans Forum

Silar of the Fallen Princes: Badab Veterans blog has just launched his forums, so for chat on all things Badab (and other things too) click the link below and sign up.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Badab War: vanguard Display Mockup

Managed to get a lot more done last night than anticipated, including most of the texturing of my Vanguard Veteran's display base. The Veterans as you can see are pretty much done, I am just waiting on some more green stuff icons to finish curing but other than this, the figures are ready to be primed. I still have the shoulder pads to clean and convert up but have decided to do these last as they should be the shortest part of this project to complete. I am very happy with the way the Sergeant has turned out, the shoulders make him (and the other members who use the same pieces) look really intimidating, just as a Minotaur shock team should be.

These guys when complete should look really good in my display case and will be a great boost to moving forward with the Shaprias project. I have not forgotten the other units that preceded this one; the Terminators are on the last leg of the painting circuit too and I expect to have a strong finish to April with two units fully painted.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Inspired? Reinforce today with: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Badab War: Vanguard Veterans 15/4/12

Some nice progress on the veterans this weekend, all little fiddly bits that nearly drove me nuts such as the riveted jump packs. Still a long way to go before I will be happy enough to start painting and there is still the some segments that will need extensive green stuff repairs. In the future I will have to make a sixth and final veteran, and once that figure gets done I will be able to strike another squad from the Shapria's list.

Introducing Evi's Dark Eldar

I would like to introduce the newest member of the 14th Legion blog team: Evi, she is a new gamer who has been collecting on and off for around two years. She originally dabbled with a Warmachine Cryx army, but been enticed to Warhammer 40,000 by the malign forces of the Dark Eldar. Her articles will come under the title 'Evi'.

Badab War: New Reinforcements

A quiet Easter on the 14th legion blog, but by no means an indication of lack of progress. I made a few orders here and there to supplement the next phase of my Foot Slog League army and of course with the holidays, it took longer for all the parts to arrive. I have decided this month to revamp my old Vanguard Veteran assault squad; one of the first units I built for my Minotaurs project in 2010. Originally the unit consisted exclusively of MKIII Iron armour; and were to be on foot; but I found them looking a little plain and not to the theme I eventually set out for the army. Some elements of MKIII remain such as torsos and legs but I have made sure to 'modernise' the overall look by adding MKVII helmets and the more elaborate pieces from the  Red Scorpions honour guard kit. There is still a lot of detailing to be sculpted on, but I am happy with the new look and am just awaiting arrival of the jump packs before I start thinking about painting.

Battle Report: Sons Of Horus VS Minotaurs Space Marines

Welcome to the first 14th Legion Warhammer 40,000 battle report. This match actually replaces the originally planned game I posted about last month; sadly that game never came to pass due to some issues that occurred  on the day; but hopefully this battle report will make up for it. The intention is for this to be the start of something more regular and hopefully will result in battle reports featuring monthly on the blog. The game features a new army from a gamer some know as Wolf Lord Mjolnir; I know him as Dave (of Gondor) and we actually started collecting and playing against each other some 20 years ago or more at school and all the way up through college/six form. The points limit was 1000 and our lists extremely un-competitive, the intention was to move away from the mass tank battles that are common and move towards having to think and rely on the common foot soldier, as a result our lists are infantry centric back up by dreadnoughts at the most. This is a trend I am intending on continuing as the months go by and if all goes well we will eventually include Forge World characters and units. A slight warning here, this is a long post with lots of pictures and some story telling, and if I have it my way the starts of a narrative campaign.