From Curt: 30K Raven Guard for Killteam (25 Points)

Hi All!

To switch things up a bit I've decided to follow Greg's worthy footsteps and take the plunge into 40K. Well, actually 30K to be precise. While I've enjoyed reading the Horus Heresy books, I've not done much for figures for it. That being said, the updated 'Killteam' rules now allow for cooperative play AND some enthusiasts have released a fan-based 30K expansion that looks quite good. Anyhoo, I thought I could put together a Heresy era Space Marine Killteam and perhaps run some cooperative games over Discord (similar to what I've been doing for 'Hametsu').

So with no further ado, here is the start of my 30K Killteam! I've decided to do up a group reflecting A 'Shattered Legion' force  - an ad hoc conglomerate of survivors who emerged from the 'Drop Site Massacre' on Istvaan V. Essentially, they are composed of the remnants of three legions: the Raven Guard, Iron Hands and the Salamanders. 

A Killteam is typically made up of 8-10 figures which I think is quite manageable. This first group is made up of three Raven Guard with jump packs. One is a close combat specialist with dual power blades, another has a groovy silenced bolter and the last one has a pair of arcane Dark Age of Technology pistols (which probably leak enough passive radiation to poison a good-sized city).  I envision that the completed force will mostly be Raven Guard with maybe an Iron Hand and Salamander popped-in for variety. 

Being a contrarian at heart, I looked for non-GW models. I was very happy to find a designer on Cults (RGANDALL) who concentrates pretty much exclusively on Raven Guard. As you can see, his models are absolutely stunning. The animation and detail are top-tier, with the added bonus that he includes all of this Legion specific iconography, gee-gaws and do-dads that really make them unique. The corker is that all his files are free (probably one of the reasons why GW lawyers have not given him static...yet).

I was surfing the net to get ideas for painting and found a YouTube channel that features GrimDark paint styles. I really liked this gritty approach and thought it fit nicely with this group of isolated survivors who've been conducting hit-and-run raids, and not having been resupplied for months. So, lots of chipping, muddy washes, AK Grime and Streaking Rust. 

I had a load of fun with these, but each one took a good chunk of time to do. I think the process will speed up right after I'm finished. :)

These three fellas from the Grim Dark Future will give me 15 points and the start of a new squirrel entry. Woo Hoo! 

- Curt

***

Dude, this is FANTASTIC! I am so pleased to see you doing some 28mm 30k figures at last, as I knew they would look amazing - and they do! 

These prints are tremendous designs, and they totally match with your vision for some determined survivors of the drop site "incident" (this is how I see Horus-approved media referring to that event). The guy with the dual pistols will make a perfect "Moritat", while the chap with the sniper-bolter combo looks straight out of the "Mor Deythan" units. The fellow with the blade drawn...he looks reader for revenge. And more revenge. And a bit more after that...

I can't wait to see a Salamander wielding a dangerous number of flamethrowers, and an Iron Hand sitting there and pouting because his loser Primarch was beheaded LOL. God the Iron Hands suck. 

You'll have to let me know what base style and size you have used, as I am determined to assemble a counter-kill-team of Horus' followers, committed to hope and, er, "positive change" for the galaxy!

I am awarding 10 extra point just because I love this so much. 

Greg

RhysH - Fantasy, super heroes and Sci-Fi in several scales (49 points)

 This week is a group of models from four different sources.

First off are two 32mm entries from AMG's Star Wars Legion Empire line. They are the customizable Officer and Operative.

These are a new addition to the game. The box lets you build two characters with a ton of options to customize them as you assemble them, but also as you add them to your army.

Rhys did some reflected glow off of the lava bases on the uniforms.

The character on the left is melee focused while the one on the right is a ranged support character.

Next up is a birthday present from Rhys' cousin, who also likes D&D. It's a cloaker, a nasty monster that inhabits dungeons and kills low level players.

It's mottled gray coloring helps it blend into the roofs of caverns where it hides.

This is a large model, easily twice as big as the Empire heroes above.

Next up are two Kings of War models from Mantic Games. The barbarian on the war-goat is for the Northern Alliance while the panther is from Basilea.

Rhys is finally ready to start learning to paint faces.

The models are fighting in the snowy north, where the Northern Alliance is from.

The panther is bendy soft plastic and was very difficult to get based, but he persevered and got it to stick.

Last up are two models for Crisis Protocol, AMG's super hero game. These are Beast and Mystique.

These are 40mm, with Beast coming in quite a bit bigger.

These models can be quite fiddly to assemble. AMG apparently thinks that bigger scale enables smaller attachment points. They are not correct. Rhys said the hardest part of Beast was figuring out that he had to attach the beam to the base first, then put Beast on it.

The heroes use character cards in game and Rhys was able to use those as painting guides for these figures.

This is 3 x 28-32mm figures for 15 points

1 x 28mm cavalry for 10 points

1 x 40mm monster for 7 points

1 x 40mm Mystique for 7 points

1 x 54mm Beast for 10 points

The two Empire characters are Rhys' entry for the first bonus round, EMPIRE.

Total points are 49 points, plus the bonus round when it comes up.

***

Hello Rhys - and Happy New Year! Thank you for sharing this interesting assortment of figures with us. 

Now I must confess - I'm not one for the super-hero genre from Marvel, so those are not figures I would be near myself, but it sure sounds like they were a pain in the rear end to get put together. I'm sure many Challengers sympathize with your experience, managing figures designed by people who don't ever actually put them together, much less game with them...

But congrats on sticking with it! You have some fine results here. I also salute your efforts to work on reflected-glow-effects...that is something I will NEVER have the courage to try myself! Well done!

That's 49 points for you - cheers!

Greg

From Kent G: 28mm Feudal Japanese (pts 120)

Well here we are this is the start of my new project

I went a little crazy earlier in the year and bought 

84 boxes of Perry Samurai and Korean metals

now I finally get time to focus on the and 

give them the attention they deserve.

I kind of painting them in sets for playing TOH

but also looking towards painting for larger battles

I have to admit I still know very little about the period

so please forgive me if I make a few mistakes along the way.

The general in this picture is from one of the sets I purchased

so I painted him exactly as the Perry site

I bought so many sets of these larger banners, and I love them

I have plans to do some highly detailed version but thought I'd start off slowly

I've started my next Clan and hope to show them off in a week or two, 

I got side tracked by another project past couple of days which I'm also 

excited to present this week fingers crossed.

Next up a couple off cool figures from another command pack.

You probably can't see it but the red and purple on

 the horses have five layers of colour, just part of my madness.

For points 20 x 28mm @ 5pts = 100pts

2 x 28mm cav @ 10 pts 20pts

Grand total of 120 pts

From Millsy:

Very nice indeed Kent. Hearing you talk on and off for a while about your Japanese project has been tempting to say the least and these are not helping maintain a level of resistance I have to say.

The bold colour choices and detail you've packed in here really suits them. Lovely stuff!

Another 120 points for your total!

Cheers,

Millsy

From Aaron P: Surprise! Its the War of the Three Kingdoms! (275 pts)

Hello Hello!

The High Elves get some reinforcements and those hidden minis get revealed.

Its ECW/WTK, put your hands up if you guessed. 

Musketeers! Not much swashbuckling though.

These are the sleeves for an upcoming pike block. I based them in a Swedish Salve on two bases per sleeve. The kneeing and crouching fellas are on the front base and the standing fellas on the back with a couple of ranks lined up behind them for good measure. My thought was that I split the bases up and can place them around the pike block for some Hedgehog action and each side has a line of guns aiming. See below:

Ready for pikemen 

Unfortunately I was a little ambitious with the number of soldiers I could fit on these bases so I have another 8 ready for when I paint up the next battalion.

I am pretty happy with how the bases look. I wanted them to look full and I wanted them to have some animation. I think I achieved what I was after.

Next was the High Elf reinforcements. a Noble on Chariot and the Royal Guard.

These two round out the army a little more, giving me some smaller sized bases with some punch, but also something a bit different to paint. I only have one more unit (Silver Helms) left to fill out 1000 points for my High Elves, which is all I currently have printed. Unfortunately I am not sure when I will receive those reinforcements, my printer is currently dead. Hopefully those replacement  parts arrive soon. 

Prepare for lazy photo spam!

Ok so, 

40 x 28mm Musketeers (200pts)

9 x 28mm Royal Guard (45pts)

1 x 28mmChariot (30pts - yes, it's a vehicle + two infantry - Millsy) Does a chariot count as a vehicle?

So 275 points.

I need to make a start on the pikemen while I have this momentum. I am not sure I can sustain this for the full three months.

From Millsy:

Lovely brushwork Aaron!

Are those the Warlord Games ECW minis? I think so but I always thought they were a bit weedy and lifeless so if they are you've managed to add a level of animation I didn't think was there.

The Elf Chariot is a cracker and I live the teal/red combo, really striking mate. It is definitely a vehicle to worth 30 shekels when you include the crew.

Cracking work all round and 275 points well earned.

Cheers,
Millsy

From Kent G: Barons wars 28mm mounted knights (45pts)

This (past year) I've painted literally hundreds of Barons wars plastic 

knights both Victrix and Wargames Atlantic,

 all of my figures are the Wargames Atlantic make.

I hadn't painted any of the mounted boxsets for myself up till now.

The knights you see before you are mounted versions of the foot

 I painted around 6 months ago, must admit I was a bit worried about trying

to match colours but am surprising happy with the end product.

When I painted this same figure mounted in Victrix i had painted the padding in 

4 layers per square which too me over a week and 

I just could bring myself to do it again.

The shields are my favourite part of the paint job and 

I think makes the figure really stand out.

this next figure is more basic but still has a lot of character, i used extra parts from 

the foot knights set to get the look I was after.

Next up is a French knight that I sat down on Tuesday night and spent 

four and a half hours paint most of which was while chatting with the guys. 

It's a great way to spend the night and quite productive if only one figure done.

Yes probably way to many pics of this one

Once I had completed the knight above this one I just couldn’t help

Myself and started this one which I completed just before the fireworks 

Started going of signalling the end of 2025 and heralding 2026

Group pic of my trusty mounted versions of my knights

Well there you have it the first of 12 knights

Way to much fun and probably to much time but 

Each time I look at them I smile

Points are pretty simple 

4 x 28mm mounted @ 10pms each = 40 pts

From Millsy:

OMG, what a first entry to minion! I was wondering how these would look after you mentioned how many fleur de lis you were painting on a recent chat. Simply amazing is the short answer.

How you've managed such a consistent size and shape across all of them is beyond me. Well done mate, absolutely smashing and worth another 5 points every day of the week.

Cheers,

Millsy