Wargame Con report

It was a insane weekend. Very fun, congratulations to BOLS for putting on a great event and thank you again to the vendors who showed up. Here is how I did..

Painting: 29/30 points

I was hoping for 27 and would have been happy with anything over 25. At 29 points I am ecstatic! I saw a lot of great armies and to score that high is a real ego boast. There were 4 perfect scores of 30/30 and only 10 29/30. So it was a 10 way tie for 5th place. Out of ~100 gamers in the Rogue Trader bracket that is not bad. Only one person in the championship bracket tied me. So a very strong showing for a quick painted army.

Sportsmanship: 54 points (all good and 2 great)

I would say I had 6/7 great games. They were fun, relaxed and smooth. There was a minimal amount of rules arguing and lots of 'its close go ahead' moments. Only one game was hard to get through. As for scoring I was again tied with 17 people for 5th place. Only 8 people scored better in either bracket (4 in each all tied with the same score of 56). A very strong showing.

Battle: 36/~90 points

I was a solid 63rd. I only out score my opponent in one game all weekend and gave up the full 30 points in 3/4 games on Saturday. On Sunday when the brackets where split and the Battle points where rest, I scored points in all the game Sunday. Some my battle score was luck (I know, I know, snow... uphill), but 3 of my opponents commented on how really bad my dice were rolling. The photo from above was an actual game photo. It was a to wound roll from my S10 AP2 Vindicator Cannon on a GK Terminator command squad with feel no pain... yes he made the 1 inv save and ate my tank. I have a couple of photos almost this bad... just saying. I would not say it was horrible, but I defiantly could do better.

Total points: 119

55th place out of 100 in the Rogue Trader bracket and I will safely say everyone (33 folks) in the championship bracket are better players. So there you have it.

Full Rogue Trader Bracket Scores
Full Championship Bracket Scores

I will post my thought on games and armies later when I get caught up with life.

Off to Wargames Con!

The army is complete and packed. A couple of more thing to put in a suit case and I hop in the car... see everyone there!

Project: Imperial Fists, milestone 2000+ points painted

Not really much to say, after a long night of painting and weathering. I now have 2000 points in painted Imperial Fists. I have a couple of thing left to do before I am ready for War Con, but if I had to drop the army in the car and go it is ready. Now the focus is on doing the last couple of things that can raise my painting score and finish the dozer blades. But enough about that on with the pictures!



The whole force in all it's glory. I am happy with the way they look at the table level. They are starting to get the numbers that motivate me to paint the rest of the 3rd company.



The Dreads came out ok, once they were weathered all the brush stroke that annoyed me are harder to see.



The whole army looks good together, not just because it all yellow, but the weathering makes it blend together better. The infantry and vehicles look like they have been in the same dirt. Ron FTW is right, you want to tie the model into the environment.



I really like the look of the army on the table. it makes such a difference for me in the game when you have painted armies on a nice looking table. I know they are not the best painted army, but I am proud to put them on the table and I think folks will enjoy lining up their armies against them. That is what counts.

On The Bench: Dreadnoughts Done

The Dreadnoughts are done with 5 day and 8 hours to finish the Razorback and Vind. There are a great deal of things that I would like to do like a display board. There are so ideas running around in my head but not sure I have time.

On The Bench: Dreadnoughts

I have run into painters block in working on my dreadnoughts. All three dreadnoughts for the 2,000 point list are sitting on my bench staring at me. The main issue is how to tie in the armies red accents into the scheme. I have some ideas on weathering, but with 8 days left before the GT, I don't have a great deal of time to work out a plan.

The lesson here is; back when I was doing my paint tests, I should have painted a dread to make sure the paint scheme worked for all the models in my army. That way I would not being trying to figure out how these units would be painted under a time crunch.

I am sure they will be fine. It is just going to take longer to get motivated than if I knew exactly how they were going to look. That is the way my brain works, once I have an image in my head getting the model done is quick.

On The Bench: Getting ready for WAR Con GT

I forgot how much work getting ready for a GT is. As you can see from my bench things are coming along and very busy. Everything is yellow that needs to be yellow. The Drop Pod, vindicator, marines and razorback are ready for ink and weathering. The Dreads need a ton of work, they are the new worry now that the Drop Pod is coming along. The dozer blades are ready for paint. These are temporary until FW one come in. I don't want the worry of not having them in hand hanging over me.

Looking at the painting scoring system for WAR Con, it looks like I will get 24/30 points. Not bad, I may enter the Master of the Arsenal into the painting contest as my fist entry ever. I don't expect to win anything! He is good for me but there are so many talented painters in the single mini group, he won't even stand out.

All and all though I am happy with my speed painted Imperial Fists army. 2,000 point of Imperial Fists, 46 figures and 11 vehicles in 11 months. That is 2 figures a week plus a vehicle every month. That is with building an Eldar army and a 10th company army to test play. I have a full time job, I have not gotten divorced and my son still knows who I am... not bad.

Imperial Fists 3rd Comp - 2000 point Punch List

We are shooting for Wargames Con 40K Tournament in July. This means I need to get painting to finish the 2000pts list. Here is a picture of the current status:



There are getting there but there are 5 models not started with painting.

Not Started with Painting
1. Drop Pod
2. Dreadnought w/Assault Cannon
3. Ironclad Dreadnought
4. Assault Marines
5. Tactical Marine w/Multimelta

There are 9 models that are in progress:

WIP
1. Dreadnought w/Twin Linked Lascannon and Twin Linked Autocannon
2. Assault Marines
3. Assault Marine w/Flamer
4. Assault Marine Sergeant
5. 3x Tactical Marine
6. Vindicator
7. Razorback w/Twin Linked Lascannon

I think I am in good shape, but I do need to focus. Right now the Vindicator and Razorback are on the bench and some troops are staged. Eldar and 10th company have been put on hold.

Imperial Fists Space Marine Master of the Arsenal

Doing some work on character models and thought I would share a quick pict. I am going to put the Master of Recruits into my 10th company list and fluff wise Master of the Arsenal is the leader of the 3rd Battle Company. So they may see the field some day. Right now it is just painting fun.

Project: Imperial Fists, chaplain v2 day 3

So, he is close to completed. He needs some Fist Icons and he should be ready to dispense the Emperor's justice. Chaplain Xander 2.0 ready for duty

Project: Imperial Fists, chaplain v2 day 2

So the chaplain is coming along. The base colors are done and ink washes are applied. All the highlighting and detail are next. Looking at him this morning I need to gun metal the intake jets. I am really happy with the Crozius handle the red came out great.

Painting black is always a process of cleanup. I started with white primer as light under coat. I find it helps pick out details, like the grenade under his arm. Would have never seen that had I started with a black under coat.

Being mostly black I will be relying mostly on lining to do highlighting. my current technique is too use a strong light source from above and paint the places where light strike the model. The secret is use a strong light.

Project: Imperial Fists, chaplain v2

Thanks Heresy Is the Only Answer I have a new jump chaplain . I have been using a converted walking chaplain up unitil now. Painting the new terminator chaplain was a great deal of fun, so I am looking forward to this. It is also good to get back to Project: Imperial Fists which has lag a little with me being distracted by Eldar.

I am going to use this opportunity to re-work my jump squad a little. Right now it is 8 man squad including a flamer, a sergeant with plasma pistol and power fist. I going to drop the plasma pistol and power fist and bump it up to 10-man with 2 flamer. The power fist has been under performing and I have only killed myself with the plasma pistol. On the other hand the flamer have done great job in almost every game. This will also give me the option of combat squading them. All for about the same point cost, roughly.

Project: Imperial Fists, milestone 1000+ points painted

Tonight, I passed a milestone. I now have 1000+ points of Imperial Fists fully painted. 1,224 points to be specific. Two Vindicators, Assault Squad with Chaplin with jump pack and Three tactical squads are complete! Next I am going to work on the 2 Dreadnoughts, Razorback and Drop pod I need to finish out the 1,850 list.

Project Status - Imperial Fists Full 3rd Battle Company part 2

So after some more assembly, I need to stop gluing and start painting. There is a point where you have too much bare plastic in a project. I find that it can hurt my motivation. Completing a squad at time you have this vision of what the whole will look like. There is an identity to the project and the more bare plastic the less I can see it.

All unpainted armies look the same to me. But with paint on them they turn into something more real. It is like without yellow this project would be about plastic which I have no real emotional tie to. Paint them yellow and I suddenly they are now Imperial Fists connected to all the great books, fluff and other painted Imperial Fists armies I drooled over.

So I have two painting projects before I have to have the airbrush setup. There are 4 marines that need weathering and two of the Rhinos need detail work and weathering. After that it is get the airbrush setup or die.

Project Status - Imperial Fists Full 3rd Battle Company

Here is a state of the project for Imperial Fists 3rd Company. Yes I am building the whole battle company. After looking at it I am not that far off. It was kinda a wild off in the future statement when it was suggested, but now I can see it coming together.

A tip of my hat to paintedpotato over at dakkadakka who has already completed a Imperial Fists Full Battle Company.

HQ 50%

• Buy Master of the Arsenal (Captain)
• Assemble Apothecary, Standard Bearer and Command Squad

Tactical Squad (1) 95%

• Paint Lascannon

Tactical Squad (2) 80%

• Paint Lascannon, Sergeant and Flammer
• Finish Weathering Rhino

Tactical Squad (3) 80%

• Paint Sergeant and Plasma gunner
• Finish Weathering Rhino

Tactical Squad (4) 20%

• Paint Squad
• Assemble Rhino

Tactical Squad (5) 10%

• Paint Squad
• Assemble Rhino and 5 Tactical Marines

Tactical Squad (6) 5%

• Buy a Rhino
• Paint Sergeant and melta gunner
• Assemble Rhino, 7 Tactical Marines and Heavy weapon

Devastators Squad (7) 10%

• Paint Sergeant and 5 Devastator Marines
• Assemble 4 Devastator Marines

Devastators Squad (8) 0%

• Buy one more Devastator box
• Assemble Sergeant and 9 Devastator Marines

Assault Squad (9) 90%

• Paint 2 Assault Marines

Assault Squad (10) 0%

• Buy one more Assault Squad box
• Assemble Sergeant and 9 Assault Marines

Armory Support 60%

• Paint 2 Dreadnought s
• Assemble 1 Vindicator

So to finish things out I need 1 Assault Squad box, a Devastator box, a Rhino and a Master of the Arsenal. Everything else, I have already. Need to assemble 3 Rhinos (maybe two more for the devastators), 12 Tactical Marine with bolters, 13 Devastators plus another Sergeant, 10 Assault Marines, command squad and a Vindicator. Painting is coming along, but has a long way to go. Once I get the airbrush set back up I will start cranking through that again.

I think tonight I will work on Rhinos.

On The Bench: New work area

We’re in the new house and things are getting back to normal. So it is time to set up the work area and start painting again. I thought I would write up my thoughts on setting up my new bench to get back into the blogging habit.

Here is the new work area. The airbrush setup will need to move to the garage. I will be setting that area up in a couple of weeks once the house is unpacked. As you can see I have a smaller area but lots of storage. So far it is working well. With the area being more central to the rest of the house I can paint and be around the family. The old painting area was in the dungeon area of the house and so far away as to be out of reach if I was needed.

So first up on the bench is finishing off the Space Marine assault squad. I am done with the ink wash and will weather them tonight. Once I get the airbrush set back up I will start on tactical squads again. I have a set of sergeants for each squad (one with bolt pistol and chain sword and one with bolt pistol and power fist). This way I can change out weapon load outs as needed for adjusting points. My 500, 1000, 1500 and 1850 lists are stabilizing (more about that later) and I need to complete all of those models.

I am starting to line up projects again. Here is what I have on the horizon:

Complete Battle Company (3rd) of Imperial Fists

• Planning - Done
• Buying - 90%, 1 Rhino, a couple of assault marines and HQ models left
• Assembly - ~45%
  
• Painting - 30%, 2-3/6 Tactical Squads in process, 1/2 assault squads and 0/2 devastators

Build an Imperial Fist 10th Company Army of Scouts and Bikes

• Planning - Theme/Paint Scheme done, working on army list
  
• Buying - ~60%, 2 squads of scouts and most of the bikes
• Assembly - 0%
• Painting - 0%

Eldar Army

• Planning - Vague idea of what type of army I want to play, not paint scheme yet
• Buying - ~20%, Battle Force, Fire Prism and Warp Spider, Ranger and Farseer boxes
• Assembly - 0%
• Painting - 0%

Magnetized Imperial Guard Shadowsword / Stormlord

• Planning - Researching
  
• Buying - 100% being shipped now
  
• Assembly - 0%
• Painting - 0%