Sarah's Substitution Sunday

Yes, I know I'm a pale substitute, but unfortunately Sarah is suffering with the lurgy so Huckleberry and mea are gonna help out today. 

With these two in charge what could possibly go wrong?

Okay! Today we have:

- Two posts from Millsy: one a reinforcement to his Oathmark Arab force and a Kruelboy and his pup;

- Sander has some stompy robots and Saxons;

- Martijn performs a hat trick with Wurttemburgers, Saracens and Lannisters;

- Teemu treats us to a passel of skellies;

and Benito has a Greyhound ready to run.

Who knows, we may have some more rolling in over the day so stay tuned! 

Woof! Woof!

- Curt (and Huck) Actual, Out

From Curt: The Emperor of Mankind and his Thunder Warriors (Treachery) (130 Points)

 Hey there!

I saved this one for Greg's posting day as we have been huge fans of the 30K lore for years and have spent countless hours discussing the stories and characters from the ridiculously expansive 'Horus Heresy' series of books (think Wagnerian opera crossed with a Latino melodrama, but with chain swords). To be frank most of the novels are pretty bad, but there are just enough good ones to have kept us coming back for more.

One of very niche bits of this GrimDark lore is set in the time before the Horus Heresy, before the Great Crusade, back to what is described as 'The Unification Wars' of Terra. This was when the Emperor was just one of the many 'techno-barbarians' fighting to be top dog over a post-apocalyptic Earth. In prosecuting this war, he created 20 legions of genetically modified super soldiers that were called Thunder Warriors (something's rhyming here...). These gene-enhanced freaks, er, peerless warriors became the prototypes for later gene-enhanced freaks known as, you guessed it, the Space Marines.

A Techno-Barbarian by John Blanche

Okay, if this wasn't dorky enough the next few paragraphs will descend into a high level of 30K nerdiness, so feel free to skim forward to the next ***. 

Whereas the Space Marines were chosen at childhood to be indoctrinated and genetically enhanced (yeah, nothing dark there), the Thunder Warriors instead originated from a pool of mature candidates, all fanatically loyal to the Emperor, who's bodies and minds were genetically manipulated for aggression and combat. The process was, um, 'imperfect' where the Warriors often became increasingly unstable, both physically and mentally. 

The Unification Wars were brought to a bloody conclusion at the Battle of Mount Ararat. It was not only the last gasp of the Emperor's adversaries on Earth but also of the Thunder Warriors themselves. Though Imperial propaganda depicts them all dying to a man in the last furious hours of the battle, they in fact were eradicated by the Custodes (i.e. The Great Golden @ssholes) on the Emperor's orders (and here, finally, is my hook to the 'Treachery' theme).

A few Thunder Warriors escaped the culling and eked out lives as fugitives in the backwaters of Imperial society. Black Library has a 30K novel, 'The Outcast Dead', that describes a brutal gang boss who was originally a Thunder Warrior. Some great space opera in that.

The French edition of 'The Outcast Dead'. Why French? Because 'La Mort des Parias' just sounds way cooler.

***

The idea of the Thunder Warriors originated from a series of concept drawings John Blanche (the creator/visionary of GW's 'GrimDark') did in the early 90s. 

Those drawings not only captured the imagination of nerds like me, but also inspired 3D designers to create groovy models based on his vision. 

So I have a small group of eight Thunder Warriors for you today. These are digital sculpts by the talented folks over at Good Game Wargame. I like the nod to the ancient Roman lorica segmentata armour with the scalloped pauldrons waist tassets and open-faced, combed helmets. They have a very neo-imperial look, I think.

In trying to reflect Blanche's baroque art for these I went with a dark copper base, lifted with a mid-tone brass colour, and finally spot-highlighted with an aged gold. I didn't want them too resplendent as that drifts more towards the Custodes, so I tried to keep them darker and a bit more primitive looking.

As a counterpoint, the Emperor is seen here in pristine white Saturnine terminator armour. From the lore, the Saturnine pattern is one of the earliest versions of the super heavy power armour common in 30/40K. The origins of the armour are sort of conflicted but, hey, a bit of mystery is a good thing, right? The model here is from by Sedivalle through Cults3D. 

I did an experiment by painting up a head of a Dark Age viking lord, placing it in the armour's cowl and then filling it with acrylic liquid water from AK Interactive. It gives an interesting murky/spooky effect that you really can't discern in the photos. Still, it was a neat thing to try out.

The armour is very baroque and grotesque, with huge hunched armoured pauldrons and heavy, segmented limbs. I went with giving him two power claws as I can't see the Big E deigning to use firearms when he could create a 'morale building opportunity' by eviscerating things up close. Yup, this armour conveys a big dose of 'just f&ck off'.

I considered doing his armour with more bling, you know, lots of gold with all the trimmings, but I figured that maybe a more austere, anonymous look would be more appropriate, providing a stark contrast between him and his warriors in their garish bronze, brass an red.

_______________________________________

As to points? Hmm, each one of the Thunder Warriors comes in at about 50mm so maybe 9 points each? The Emperor is a hulking 75mm so perhaps 15 points? Based on those estimates the total should be 87 and with the location bonus it should pop it to 107 points, but I bow to our esteemed Wednesday Minion to adjudicate as his astute wisdom sees fit.

To my delight, this entry ticks quite a few boxes across our various duels:

- Another Squirrel Point.

- Points for the 30/40K duel

- Mech Madness for the Emperor's armour

- The Can Opener Duel for various powered armour.

- Finally, as these are a bunch of Warhammer-themed figures, there are skulls aplenty with 44 in total.

Thanks for dropping in (and for your patience)!

- Curt

***

Allow me to summarize my reaction thusly - OH HELL YEAH!!!

I am honoured to Minion this delightful submission! As Curt has noted, our shared interest in the Horus Heresy/30k setting is strong, and reaches back to the very old, John-Blanche-inspiration driven era of the setting, when the outlines of the story were known, but many details were left deliberately vague so as to sustain an era of mystery around the period of "history" in that setting, which in turn was a pillar of the portrait of the grim dark 40k setting, which...well, I could go on and on - and I may at some other post...but TL:DR - this is f*cking awesome. 

The Thunder Warriors are stunning and look the exact part. I think your selection of the metallic tones is spot on, landing at "seriously significant" but south of "regal", and that is perfect, as it was the Custodes who are all covered in gold etc. but who managed, at the moment of great crisis facing The Emperor, to utterly fail at every level, from being unable to fight at the Emperor's side when he truly needed them, to bungling things like a prisoner transfer during the Siege of Terra, thus serving as exemplars for the universal truth that any state organization set up on purpose to be 'elite' will turn into expensive pumpkins...Constantine Valdor had great hot-take-perspectives on the Space Marine "project", but was still pointless in the end...but I digress and digress...you see how awesome the 30k lore discussion is, right? Right?) 

This brings me to The Emperor himself here, and your fantastic realization of that particular entity/character. "The Emperor" in 30k/40k is one of those lore concepts that are, IMO, strongest when left to the imagination to the greatest extent possible (something the assorted authors of the sprawling Horus Heresy series struggled with). I love how you have him here - not only is the acrylic liquid water a cool little hobby triumph on its own, but what a clever way for him to remain "present yet hazy", even in his giant Saturnine armour. The decision to keep the armour itself relatively unadorned adds to this effect. When portrayed in art/propaganda of the setting, of course The Emperor would be all golden bits and crafted eagles etc, but here, in his "work clothes", it is just right. It is all amazing - it "lands" just perfectly to me!

As an aside...how did you approach the pelts? Asking for a friend...

For scoring, I will rate the Thunder Warrior at 54mm. Your proposal for The Emperor is just fine, I will bump this up to a total of 130 points, just on the basis of the acrylic water (!) in addition to general amazing-ness. Really, really awesome dude - thanks!

GregB

From Curt: Mar-a-Lago Militia - The Boggs (25 Points)

Hey Y'all,

I return to my ACWII project with these colourful denizens from the dark, dank swamps of south Florida. I give you the Bogg family. 

In my wondrous, fictitious, fantastical and terrifying 'Merica they they are part of the local Mara-a-Lago Militia, fiercely loyal to Father Dagon and 'The King in Orange' (Yellow being so very passe these days). 

The Boggs (distant cousins to their Yankee Innsmouth relations, the Marsh family) are a spiteful, vain, and oily clan. They revel in their own stupidity, are selfish, hate outsiders and rarely listen to reason.

Yes, they very much have 'the Mar-a-Lago look'.

Cyrus

Cletus

Ruffus

Festus

Jo Lean

These figures are Deep One Hybrids, 3d prints from KLT Studio. I had fun working with their flesh tones, giving them a fishy look about them, but in the end they sort of have a Simpson vibe going on, which makes me smile as I can easily envision an episode where he Boggs cause chaos amongst the good folk of Springfield. :)

The Boggs will give me 25 points and one point for the Squirrel Duel ('ACWII Red Forces'). 

Thanks for dropping in for a look!

- Curt 

The Weekend Begins!

Finally, the weekend is here! 

I probably should not be celebrating too much as it looks like I have my work cut out for me for the next couple of days. Thankfully, I have a strategic reserve of our Old Guard Minions who have graciously agreed to step into the breach to allow me time to get our first theme round organised for display tomorrow. Many thanks in advance to my Grognards for all their help.

I've really enjoyed reading the short bios of this year's merry band of deviants, and so to stay in theme I thought I'd say a few words about my history with the hobby. 

Like many, I collected and played with Airfix soldiers as a young boy (Afrika Korps and British Paras). My mother, who was a teacher and head of our regional library, brought home 'Little Wars' for me to read, which I absolutely loved. The first figures I painted were Ral Partha and Grenadier adventurers for our D&D and AD&D campaigns in the early 80s. I ordered those direct from TSR in Lake Geneva and painted them with toothpicks and sewing needles (pathetic, I know). 

A 15 year old version of me and my first painted minis. 

In senior high I was a big enthusiast of Avalon Hill's boardgames (ASL, Arab-Israeli War, Wooden Ships, etc.) which I often played solo for lack of opponents (tiny town = low nerd quotient).  After graduating I moved to Winnipeg and upon securing a government grant for young entrepreneurs, started a game store, 'Medieval Works', with two other friends - I turned 19 when we opened the shop. It was around the same time that Rogue Trader was released. We were completely fearless, feckless and fierce - lambs to the slaughter, really. Many of the friends I made while at the store I still have today - it was an absolutely fabulous time. 

Me with part of our first big order; the interior of our shop; and a group of us playing a game at the front of the store.

During the store years, and amongst those early, heady days of Warhammer/40K, I fell hard for Napoleonics, which remains my favourite historical and gaming period to this day. Anyway, we ran the store for about 3 years before growing bored of being perpetually broke and so moved on to other distractions. At around 25 I took a hiatus from the hobby to chase girls and go to uni, but came back to it with a vengeance in the midst of graduate school. I hosted a gaming group at my home on Thursdays which became The Fawcett Avenue Conscripts. This group is still going strong after 20 years and is made up of several current Challengers (GregB, ByronM and MikeF, to name but a few). After moving to Regina I started another group, 'The Friday Night Raconteurs' which is composed of another band of terrific guys (PeterD, SylvainR, JeremyM and StacyS). Great years filled with great friends.

There you go, a silly snapshot of my nerd years. 

Okay! Enough banter, let's get on with today's posts!  You're going to be spoiled with the wide variety of wonderful eye-candy today, so stay tuned throughout the day as the entries roll-out.

Curt

From Millsy: AHPC Snow and Surf Report (0 points)

G'day Mates!

Even though I am currently approximately 1,400kms from my painting desk I reckon I can still make a useful contribution to the Challenge. We all know Curt lives in the Frozen North, but some of us live in more pleasant climes.

So here for your edumacation is the first ever AHPC Snow and Surf Report...

Current weather in Regina, Lair of the Snowlord

• -8C (-16C with wind chill)

Current weather at Bundaberg, GIMP Temporary HQ

• 27.8C (air temp)
• 26C (water temp)
• 3C (beer temp)

Frankly I can't be bothered to do the math to work out the difference as this has gone on long enough and it's cutting into my drinking time. Miles, that's your cue matey to get your abacus out and do something statistical. I'm ready to be bamboozled.

Happy New Year peeps!

Cheers,
Millsy

We Call It... 'Friday'

Enjoy your Friday everyone! :)

Curt

Friday's Ode to Cyanoacrylate!

I had a frozen t*rd of a week so I'm quite happy to see it come to a train wreck of a conclusion. 

Sooo, let's all look at pretty minis instead, shall we. 

Onwards and upwards (sniiiiif)!

C

From Millsy: Epic 40K Imperial Guard Steel Legion Army (200 Points)

This is the kind of entry I *really* enjoy - an entire completed army in one submission!

These get a really big chunk of material off the painting queue, provide a significant sense of satisfaction and best of all typically make Curt's eyes spin in different directions. I have in one instance at least made a Canadian swear and that can only be a good thing to my mind. What's not to like?

To be fair, Curt is largely to blame for this effort. To quote his very own words from his Challenge entry pack...

"I will be responsible for  adjudicating the first few weeks and the last days of the Challenge (December 20th to December 31st and March 19th to the Challenge conclusion on the 20th). Unlike the schedule above, during these days anyone can submit as much as they like - so, go nuts."

Right then, Challenge accepted!

OK, preamble aside. This submission is 6mm scale and it's an Imperial Guard Armageddon Steel Legion army for Epic 40K. In game terms its just over 3,000 points, enough for a solid game but certainly with room to grow (I'm looking at YOU fleaBay). In Challenge points terms it's a measly 185(ish) points which made me laugh (it was either that or cry) when I did the math after finishing up.

OK here we go with the show and tell...

Shadowsword Super-heavy Tank Company (Forgeworld resin)
Three bad boys to frighten the biggest of enemy war machines or monsters.

Baneblade Super-heavy Tank
Just one for now but more to be added. He looks weeny compared to his resin brothers but don't let that fool you.

Leman Russ Tank Company
Complete with Commissar and converted Compensator Vanquisher long-barrelled option. These guys put the "Steel" in "Steel Legion" . There's a couple extra tanks in here as I had them lying about. That's two less to paint for the next company!

Drive me closer! I want to hit them with my sword!

Basilisk Artillery Company
Monster artillery barrages are just a radio call away. My mate hates these as they invariably mess up his pretty Space Marine formations. Haha!

Griffon Support Battery
Nifty little infantry close support artillery chappies. They're using a new super-secret refractor field to make them harder to target. Or I could just be a rubbish photographer. I like option one better.

Hellhound Squadron
Just the ticket for scourging heretics and xenos in the Emperor's name!

Hyrda Flak Platoon
Most important for keeping all those pesky Eldar fly-boys off the lad's backs as they get stuck in. More cutting edge refractor field tech in action!

Deathstrike Missile Launcher Battery
Just damn cool. Someone (not mentioning any names) glued a missile on *upside down* and was forced to have a stab at some trompe-l'œil style trickery to make the fins look like they have the proper detail. In my defence it's hard to see stuff like that with my mask on.

Mechanised Infantry Company
Loads of cheap-ass footsloggers ready to shine their deadly flashlights in the eyes of the enemy. The command stand is pretty nifty with the commander and is entourage protected by an Ogryn bodyguard. There's also a commissar to ensure everyone does their duty (e.g. dies to a man). Everyone gets to ride to their death battle in a Chimera transport.

Mechanised Infantry Support
Perfect for buffing up the infantry to a monster sized unit in-game. When you're not much of a fighter then numbers become a big thing. If you thought 6mm infantry were small, try painting 6mm *halfling* infantry.

• Ogryns + Chimera transport
• Snipers + Chimera transport
• Fire Support Platoon + 2 x Chimera transports

Rough Rider Platoon
These are just beautifully detailed minis. They're not much chop in-game but Ill be adding more just cause I really enjoyed painting them.

Thunderbolt Fighter Squadron
More miniature coolness. They'll be joined by some Marauder Bombers at some point.

Phew! That's everything. 47 tracks, 2 aircraft, 6 cavalry bases and 22 infantry bases (5-6 men per base).

All up it took me about five days to paint the army. I've been pretty hard at it doing at least 6 hours a day, sometimes as many as 9. At one point I spent 90 minutes on a hangout with DaveD just painting stowage! I really wanted these to look the business so invested a lot of time in the details and basing. I don't typically base my vehicles but at this scale it looks good and helps protect things like barrels. Kudos to Martin and Diane at Warbases for speedy service and quality product once again.

Not sure that this qualifies as a points bomb as the small scale stuff isn't worth much. There's about 130 infantry here but at 0.5 points each, well you get my drift...

So, the only thing that remains unanswered from my perspective is will this earn me another coveted "An Idiot in Paradise" tag? Go on Curt, you *know* you want to mate. :-)

Cheers,
Millsy

____________________________________

Jeez Louise, that's a HEEEP of beautifully painted Epic stuff, Millsy - Wow.

Your descriptions of the units just cracked me up. I love reading silly sh*t like this when I'm beyond tired and waay over-caffeinated. But seriously, I think the blue, tan and red colour palette that you chose for these looks incredibly sharp, and the little details like the unit markings and crewmen really top them off nicely. Superb work.

As you basically finished an entire army in one go I'm going to top-up your entry to an even 200 points. Brilliant stuff and thanks for sharing it mate. An Idiot in Paradise indeed. :)