From SimonM: ACW, General Blackblood, More Robots & Deathwing Terminators (Caprica, Arrakis & Cybertron) (117.5 points)

For my sixth post I thought I would move on from the Death Star and pay a visit to Caprica so as to tackle a painting subject concerning “doomed” or “ambush”. Looking over the various current projects on my hobby table my eyes soon fell upon a couple of primed strips of Epic 15mm Confederate Infantry by “Warlord Games”, as I recalled the title of a particular article I read on the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History website whilst researching the American Civil War entitled: “The Confederacy:  Doomed by its Foundation”.

To be honest the seven-page article is probably more interesting for the extensive bibliography at its end than its summary of reasons as to why the Confederate States of America lost the war. But it galvanised me into applying a brush to a batch of soldiers which had sat unloved since I got them as a freebie sprue with Issue 393 of "Wargames Illustrated".

The figures were all primed using a double-coat of "Citadel" Abaddon Black and then slowly had their somewhat intricate details 'picked out' from the ground up. Originally, I was awfully tempted simply to stick to basic black for all of their shoes, but as with the first line of troops I painted, I decided to apply a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade to the footwear of three models.

I then did something similar with the miniatures’ trousers too, as I didn't just want all of them to be marching in the colour pants. As a result I pigmented six with "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil, a couple with Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and the remaining two with “Vallejo” Steel Grey and “Citadel” Drakenhof Nightshade.

For the Confederates' jackets I either went with a mixture of "Vallejo" Sombre Grey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil, "Vallejo" Heavy Blue and "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade, or Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. Some of these colours might seem a little odd for a Southern unit but as this unit was going to represent Alabama, many of its recruits apparently wore "a dark blue frock coat" and "black broad brimmed felt hats at the war's start."

I gave all the Kepi hats a dash of "Vallejo" Sombre Grey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil, their blanket rolls a smidgeon of either "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna or White with a wash of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and their belt buckles a touch of "Vallejo" Gold and (more) Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter". Finally their hands and faces were layered with "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone, shaded in "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade, and later highlighted with extra dabs of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone.

With the fourth of my outer ring locations completed, I then decided to simply whizz across to the Middle Ring planet of Arrakis and tackle a miniature whose comic book alter-ego absolutely drips Machiavellian manoeuvres - the traitorous General Blackblood. Once “the most feared of the Volgans' war robots”, this “sadistic killer with a penchant for drinking the oil of the robots he killed” was supposedly reprogrammed by the A.B.C. [Atomic, Bacterial and Chemical] Warriors to fight against the Volgans on Mars. However, his original personality was kept intact so he was constantly scheming to betray his team-mates, and even cunningly attempted to escape them by living under the alias of businessman Bunyon Snipe on the free robot planet of Mekka. Ultimately, Blackblood unscrupulously manipulated colleague Mek-Quake into unwittingly helping him release the General’s former Commander - the Volgan warrior wizard robot Volkhan.

Produced by “Mongoose Publishing” and taken from the aforementioned pages of the British comic book “2000 A.D.” I noticed that Blackblood’s colour scheme was predominantly green according to most of the cover illustrations which he graced. However, having recently used "Scalecolor" Emerald Alchemy on my Ro-Jaws figure, I decided to adopt the metallic silver palette used when artist Bryan Talbot was pencilling the character within the pages of “Nemesis The Warlock: Book Four”.

The 28mm metal figure was therefore undercoated using “Citadel” Abaddon Black before being layered with "Vallejo" Gunmetal, shaded in “Citadel” Nuln Oil, and dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo” Gunmetal. The automaton's knee-pads and epaulettes were picked out with Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson, whilst his braid was treated to a combination of “Vallejo” Gold and “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade. Finally, I applied some “Vallejo” Heavy Grey and “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green to his firearm and officer’s cap.

With the nearby planet of Cybertron now in my sights, I decided to paint up a couple of Robot(s) or rather Robo-Dogs (also by “Mongoose Publishing). Whilst Blackblood didn’t have any actual canine guards in the comic books, at least of which I’m aware of, I still thought they’d look rather fun alongside him on the table-top.

The two 28mm multi-part figures were undercoated in "Vallejo" Grey Surface Primer before receiving a double-helping of "Scalecolor" Emerald Alchemy. I then shaded them using "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green, before dry-brushed the pair with (more) "Scalecolor" Emerald Alchemy. To somewhat break-up the all-green colour scheme, I decided to ‘pick out’ their tails and teeth with "Vallejo" Gunmetal and “Citadel” Nuln Oil.

Lastly, I found the time to re-paint some second-hand metal Terminators I recently received through the post. These long OOP 6mm figures by “Games Workshop” were re-primed in “Vallejo” White (so as to cover over their original dark blue paint scheme), and then shaded using some heavily watered-down “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade, as I wanted them to be the off-white Deathwing Terminators of the Dark Angels Chapter. Finally the figures were dry-brushed with more “Vallejo” White and had their stormbolter’s picked out with “Vallejo” Gunmetal” and “Citadel” Nuln Oil.

Hopefully this latest AHPC entry will provide:

20 x 15mm ACW Confederate Infantry – 40 Points

Caprica – 20 Points

28mm General Blackblood - 5 Points

Arrakis - 20 Points

2 x 28mm Robo-dogs - 10 Points

Cybertron - 20 Points

5 x 6mm Epic Terminators - 2.5 Points

Total – 117.5 Points

Good work, Simon! Your Confederates look suitably ragged and 'doomed'. I like Blackblood's hair and fancy epaulettes! The dogs are a good shade of metallic green. And the termies take me back. You've captured the Deathwing ivory shade perfectly.

Barks

NB Don't forget to label your Planets!