My Crazy Army Plan - 17 Down and onto Tomb Kings (again!), Eldar on hold for now, 2,000 Points for each Army!

[BIG]

So progress is being made on the remaining tanks of the Guard army (there are only three of them left). And the massive hurdle of getting the base colour done is finished.

I think I have done a pretty reasonable job of matching what I had done previously, especially since it has been a while since I last did a few units for this army.

I have added the completed Hydra into the mix so I could compare my colours as I went.  I also think the proxy Hellhound and Devildog aesthetically work quite well with the actual Guard vehicles.

Time to start what I expect to be a long process of detailing the tanks.  Although the scheme is fairly simple, the Stormlord in particular just has so much going on it is likely going to be a pain.  I am thinking of making use of some yellow and black hazard stripes on edges and hatches if I feel it needs a little extra something.

An aerial view to really show off the size of the Stormlord compared to the other tanks of the army, still not big enough to actually position 20 passengers on the firing deck, 

Glad to have the base colour sorted out on all three tanks, using the big scenery brush helped a lot to get the drybrushing done in a reasonable time frame.  I have doubts I will get the whole army finished for the big game, but at the very least I should have the armoured contingent in a position to make the table.  

Thanks for reading.

[BIG]

So bit of an update on the painting front.  The previous Imperial Guard army was led by an Officer that I used a Commissar model to represent.  However, with this new army having so many abhumans it only makes sense that they should actually have a Commissar to make sure everything is above board.

So, I will use the Officer model that comes with the Baneblade kit to take over as the Commander of the previous Imperial Guard army and the Commissar will slide into this new army.  

And on that note:

The new and improved Specialist Murdoch, Company Commander of the 5th Armoured Detachment, 34/87th Tullarium Armoured on the left and Overseer Tobias Martinez attached to the 17th Tullarium Immovables on the right.

But what could that enormous track next to these two Imperial Officers be...?

That would be the 34/87th Tullarium Armoured 2nd Super Heavy, 1st Street Fighter Brigade “Ever Hungry”.  It is pretty much done for me.  Once I have finished the other two outstanding tanks (Hellhound and Devil Dog) I will come back and apply some transfers to all the tanks in one go, but as far as painting goes I feel I am done.

The Stormlord next to the Hydra that was completed some time last year.  I think I have matched the paint jobs pretty well.

I think this one gives a real sense of the scale of the Imperial superheavies vs the normal sized tanks.

I have even somehow managed to keep all the turrets with full mobility, although when I finally get around to varnishing it that may change.

I think they actually look better with only two side sponsons, but who can go past that much firepower.  The Heavy Stubbers sitting over the top of the rear sponsons bugs me a fair bit, bit what are you going to do?

The rear of the tank where the most detail is.  Quite enjoyed the shrine.

No way 20 soldiers could fit up on the firing deck, but at least enough to look busy.  I tried to tell a bit of a story with the tool boxes and loose las pistol.  I also tried a bit of oil "spatter" below the coils/cables/springs in the top left of the picture that I think worked pretty well.

The Megabolters I feel are a bit of an underwhelming main gun, when you compare how much plastic is in almost every other main gun, these seem a little puny.

40 passengers, one ladder...methinks it would be a slow procession to get on or off.  I did stick a ladder on the other side, even though it wasn't meant to be for some reason.  Hazard striped to add a little interest.

I only noticed it as I started to paint the Hellhound last night, that it has the same armour details as this kit (those silver bits above the tracks and the hinged armour plates).  I wonder if the sculptor of that 3D print used this as inspiration?

It is a giant hunk of plastic and trying to deploy the thing on a table will be a pain in the backside, let alone trying to move it around.

And to sum it all up some people to hitch a ride.  I think I also managed to match the armour of the crew to the guardsmen that have already been painted.  Probably needed to go heavier with the drybrush looking at this photo though.

Well there it is, the Stormlord is largely finished and I got a good amount of the initial detailing onto the Hellhound last night as well so hopefully the armoured contingent of this army will be finished soon.

Thanks for reading.

[korocite]

That is a very tidy job. You have matched the existing colour scheme perfectly. 

[BIG]

Hi all, more progress has been made on the latest Guard army.  It is amazing what the motivation of the big game has had on my motivation.  Deadline is the 31st of August; I don't need to get the whole army done as we probably have enough models to handle our needs, but if I get them done they will make it onto the table (to be more than likely fed to a Warhound Titan.....)

But enough talk and onto the pictures:

Up first is my proxy Hellhound.  Really happy with this one and I think the trailer is a really cool addition.  I had toyed with the idea of running a pipe from the trailer to the turret, but although there is a likely spot on the turret for the hose to connect to there isn't one on the trailer itself that makes sense.  Any ideas?

You can see the transfers that I stole off the Baneblade transfer sheet, this guy is now "Iron Duke" with a serial number of 501812.  I have added a few kill marks by the way of small skulls and figure the hellhound would rack them up faster than the other tanks that are more single target hunters.

It's a little hard to see, but I am really happy with the "pilot" light of the flame cannon.  In fact, most of the lenses came up pretty well on this guy.

I tried to have the fuel having been spilt during refuelling, I figure anyone crazy enough to get in one of these wouldn't care about a bit of spilt prmethium.

Now the Devildog, less kill marks as I said as this guy is hunting enemy armour rather than masses of infantry.  The tanks went very swiftly as the main part is the base colour and it was done a little while ago now.

This tank got the name "Nemesis" serial number 479816; hoping this guy can at least get close to the Titan and give it a scare.  Perhaps it will be ignored as there will be a Shadowsword taking potshots at the Titan as well so I have a chance.

Since these are proxy models they lacked the iconography of the Imperium so I made sure to plaster the Eagles all over them, happy with how well some of the larger Aquila's fitted onto them.

I revisited the Hydra to add a few transfers to it too, now dubbed "Dauntless" serial number 2301 to bring it in line with the other tanks.  I forgot how much I like using transfers, it was quite therapeutic sitting next to my 6 year old while he built his lego and I did the finishing touches to the tanks.

I also went back to the Stormlord and added some transfers, I was a little surprised how little flat space there is on the model and struggled to use any of the larger transfers.  But I am happy with the results.  Maybe the other superheavies have more room?

In my head each of the crew that are in the sponsons (my head cannon is one in each) gets to display their own "heraldry" on the outside of the sponson, so each one is different.  The Stormlord also sports white and red kill markings.

The other side and other sponson heraldry, I was pleasantly surprised how well the white transfers show up, initially I was sticking to black thinking they would be the better choice and was surprised how obvious to the white ones are.

I really like the logo above the door to the interior, one last message of devotion to crew and passengers....

The group as a whole.  Very happy with them and now more than half the army is painted, should have taken a shot with the Guardsmen that are already done, but that was too much effort for last night.

I do wonder how they would fair if I arrange them into a spearhead for the rest of the Imperial force in the big game and just drive them straight into the Deathguard lines on the day?

So I now have 10 Ogyns, 10 Bullgryns, 20 Ratlings, 7 Psykers and a Primaris left to paint for the army, think I can make it by the 31st of August?  I have managed to get the Ogryns undercoated and the fatigues on them basecoated and washed.  So hopefully the motivation continues.

Thanks for reading.

[BIG]

Hi all, the Ogryn's are now done and progress rolls on.  So let's get into the photos...

I plan to run these guys in two squads of 5 (would have run them as a group of 10 but the maximum size in 8th edition is 9...).  So I added a couple of details to a pair of them to represent my Bone Heads, one is carrying a whip antenna on a backpack (will show up better in a photo later) and the other more unfortunate seems to have some strange implant on his head...

Squad 1 with their pretty green stripes.  I decided that all of the Ogryn's needed to have red hair (the few that actually sport some).

The yellow stripe guys, I tried to copy the colour scheme that I used on the infantry previously which made this a lot easier to get into.

You can see the Bone Head details much better from behind.  Overall they came together pretty easily which was nice.

Here is a comparison between one of the Ogryn's and one of my Sergeants.  I think the colours have carried over pretty well.

And the final photo of the update, A shot of the two from behind.  

I am moving onto the Bullgryn's for the next squad in the army.  Although I am running them as a 9 man strong squad and will also use an Ogryn Bodyguard that will use a Bullgryn Body.  Planning for him to have Bullgyrn Plate, Ripper gun and Brute shield to make him a little different to the rest of them.  Plan to do a headswap for a left over Ogre model to really make him stand out from the crowd.  Will also need to convert the Ripper gun so may see what I have in the bits box to act as a suitable alternative.

Thanks for reading.

[korocite]

You are powering through! I don’t think there is much doubt that you will get everything done in time for the game. That red hair suits them nicely - makes me think of an English rugby team.

[BIG]

I have my doubts I can get it all done, but I will try.  Everything left to paint has been undercoated now and I have done the conversion work for the Ogryn Bodyguard.  Hope to start the basecoats on the Bullgryn's tonight and may my paint supply not run dry.

[Plasman]

Why the hell haven't I looked in here in a long while? Chef ****ing kiss at the Imperial steel! I really want one of those russes, I actually downloaded the files yesterday but with a filament printer they're going to take over 24 hours each, between all the sections ;_; (Wait they're chimera hellhounds not russes right?)

Edited July 30, 2024 by Plasman

[BIG]

Yes they are Hellhound proxies. The files had all the bits for any of the 3 variants and I have gone with Devildog and Hellhound.

[BIG]

So time for a big update.  With the looming deadline (and awesome motivation) of the large 40k game on the horizon I decided to abandon painting the remaining models unit by unit and defaulted to my tried and tested batch painting.  Unlike the Eldar (which I will return to eventually) this army shares a fairly limited palette of colours and therefore leant itself to being painted all at once.  And the good news is it worked...the army is complete and ready to show off.  As I often do, I will go through the units and then give some army shots.  Onto the updates...

First up, this is the HQ selection for the army, you have seen the Company Commander and Lord Commissar previously, but the Primaris is new.  In hindsight I should have left her until last as the batch painting wasn't as kind to her and she is a tad rough around the edges.  

Some may have noticed I swapped out the model I had intended to use as my Primaris, but I felt he lacked the oomph to really pull off a Psyker Lord and he will make an appearance in one of my Inquisitorial Henchman bands (probably the Ordos Malleus one in the future).

Next up a quick refresher on the Troops of the army, my 3 squads of plucky Guardsman, again, nothing that hasn't been posted previously...

Starting off the Elites are my Ogryns, again I they have had their photo glory previously so moving right along...

...to the next couple of elites, my two squads of Ratlings.  Although they lack the super detail of the GW Ratlings, I have grown to really like the more drab "serious" look of these sculpts.  Although they lack adornment which does make them a tad boring.  Hoping that twenty sniper rifles will count for something.

Next up is my Choir of Wyrdvane Psykers.  This is a mix of GW metal (there are three of them) and some printed resin ones to round out the number.  Kind of hoping to get them in a confrontation with a Titan in the big game and see if we can burn something to the ground....

Next the heavy hitters in the form of nine Bullgryns, with all the armour and gear they look huge.  Compared to the Ogryn they are a tad larger, but I figure with all the pipes and cables they have been chemically enhanced.  But if I had my time again i would probably print them at about 90% to just bring them down a tiny bit in size.  Have a mix of Brute and Slab shields as well as the Maul and Grenade Gauntlet.  Planning to stuff them into the Stormlord and hopefully wreck someone's day.

The final elite entry for the army and possibly my favourite is my Ogryn Bodyguard Malaga.  He has his Ripper Gun special and a brute shield to keep a watch over the Commanders of the army.  Enjoyed the conversion and think he stands out enough from his brethren.

The fast attack elements in the previously seen Hell Hound and Devildog.

It sounds odd for a Guard army, but the sole Heavy Support choice is a Hydra...need to encourage my regular opponents to invest in some air power so this thing can show its worth.

The final piece of the puzzle is the Stormlord. 

Before I get to the army shots, a bit of a size comparison between the Bullgryn/Ogryn, Human and Ratlings.  

The army in all its glory.  I think they have come together pretty well and in plenty of time for their debut in the large game.

I like the idea of the Ogryn Bodyguard shadowing the Commander no matter what and I also like the Commissar keeping a watchful eye on so many Psykers under his "care"...

A bird's eye view of the army, all ready to get a couple of coats of varnish to help protect them.

So there you have it, my next army complete and ready to roll.  The motivation of the upcoming large scale 40k game has done absolute wonders to keep me focused and moving forward.  So hopefully they give a good showing, although I will more than likely be on the Deathguard side of the table for the clash.

As with tradition I will be switching to a Warhammer Fantasy army next and I decided that I will be doiing the second Tomb Kings army that I have planned (and the army was much easier to access than the Skaven I was considering doing....).  This one is known as the Alabaster Army of Quatar and will heavily focus on the Tomb Kings constructs.  It is pretty much all second hand so I will need to get the paint stripper out for some of it as particularly the Screaming Skull Catapults are so thick with super glue they have new appendages...stay tuned and hopefully skeletons will start popping up before you know it.

Thanks for reading.

[korocite]

That 's a huge effort, well done! The army looks superb! I like the ogryns and bullgryns better than the GW originals. Watching this army progress has made me wonder who the priority targets will be for the Deathguard. One moment its the bullgryns, then the psykers, then the stormlord. Too many options...  

[BIG]

The below is the next Tomb Kings army I plan to do.  Unlike the first one that was almost entirely made up of core units (this is based on 8th edition) and took inspiration from the Nagash trilogy and was based on the Bronze Host of Ka-Sabar, this one (also inspired by those books) is inspired by the Alabaster Army of Quatar so features as many constructs as I could jam into the list.  Ultimately the plan for doing a couple of armies from each faction gives me building options should I wish to change things up in a game and also allow me to stretch to larger games. 

Hoping that this army comes together fairly quickly, although I do have a lot of paint and glue stripping work ahead of me as some of the second hand models have not been shown any love for some time.

Lords:

Amunharten, Conduit to the Gods - Liche High Priest

Heroes:

Makertanun, Architect of Quatar - Necrotect(60)

Khamuen, Herald of Quatar – Tomb Herald(60) with Battle Standard Bearer(25)

Core: 

The Labourers of Quatar - Master of Arms Usef, Musician, Standard Bearer, 47 Skeleton Warriors

Guards of the Builders – Master of Arrows Kataph, Musician, Standard Bearer, 17 Skeleton Archers

Sentinels of Construction – Master of Arrows Emir, Musician, Standard Bearer, 17 Skeleton Archers

Special:                     

Dune Stalker of Quatar – Tomb Scorpion

Desert Guardian of Quatar – Tomb Scorpion

Conclave of the Gods – 3 Ushabti, Great Bows

Effigy to the Gods – 3 Ushabti, Great Bows

False Idols – Ushabti Ancient Arten, Musician, Standarrd Bearer, 3 Ushabti

Rare:

Avatar of Djaf - Necrolith Colossus with Additional Hand Weapon

Asaph’s Idol of Bone - Screaming Skull Catapult

Fury of Quatar – Screaming Skull Catapult

Thanks for reading.

[BIG]

Hi all, it has been some time since I have managed to get online.  The usual excuses are to blame, but I think I needed a bit of a break from it all.  Not to say I haven't been doing things hobby wise, but I don't have a lot to show off as yet.  Have been doing some experiments on paint stripping and may drop the Tomb Kings in favour of finishing off the Eldar first thing in the New Year.  Time will tell and all that.  What I thought I would drop here is of that large game that we were organising (that I was pushing to get the Guard finished for).  

I don't have blow by blow photos (I am pretty sure other players were taking happy snaps, but I haven't asked for their photos).  I will try to get some sort of chronology to the photos and describe what I can remember, but I was generally down the right hand flank of the Death Guard so I missed a lot of the action at the other end of the table.

It is quite a photo dump so bear with me....

This is a shot down the length of the table in Korocite's very lovely back room that his family so kindly vacated for the day.  I think its fourteen feet by four feet playing area.  We then placed a number of objectives across the board with whoever controlled it at the end of the game turn scoring a victory point.  From our experience with the last big game we felt this would create a more dynamic battlefield as units raced to try to stop their opponents scoring.

The models that I provided for the day (Imperial Guard and Death Guard) would start on what was the Guard's left flank.

Korocite's model contribution would handle the left.

With his beautiful river section dividing the board in half.

This was the first army I ever painted on my current painting journey as per my painting blog, glad they still get to stretch their legs.

The newest army in my painting journey valiantly join them, looking a fair bit more cohesive....

Korocites amazing Imperial Guard collection, I do believe that he has at least one of every tank (plus some older options) that are available to the Guard.

My Death Guard contribution (sort of, this is the Death Guard army I did as a commission for a friend, this is the last time I will likely see them in a game as after this they were packed off for their trip down to Tasmania for him to finally take possession of them).

Korocite's Death Guard, I really liked the contrast between the two Death Guard armies, really felt like different Cohorts had come together for a shared goal.

Turn 1 Deployment, due to the sheer amount of models we decided that a staggered deployment would be used.  HQ, Troops and fast attack would come on Turn 1, Elites and Heavy Support Turn 2 and the  Super Heavies would get their crack in Turn 3.  I think it worked out pretty well as the escalation of forces meant deployment and the first turn were reasonably quick.  We also would allow each player (so three per side) to bring on a unit of power level 10 or less as a reinforcement each turn once destroyed.  This perhaps hurt the Death Guard more as they had little that actually was PL10 or less.  But, they had a Titan coming....

The Death Guard's deployment was pretty limited first turn, but the Pox Walkers that deployed around the satellite dish at the top of this photo (which conveniently had an objective nearby) couldn't be shifted the whole game so scored every turn for their side.

The other Guard first turn deployment, we weren't entirely sure if we should have the Tank Commanders roll on as well.  But ended up deciding since there was a Daemon Prince sitting on the otherside of the board it was a good idea.

A better look at the other half of the Death Guard first turn deployment.  Those Blight Haulers are really tough and drew a lot of attention.  The Daemon Prince did his best to shield them with his Psychic powers throughout the game.  

The Guard surged forward with their Sentinels, determined to claim early objectives and make the Death Guard push them back.  The Sentinels (and Hellhound variants on the Left Flank really enjoyed the more open terrain at this side and proved to be quite useful.  It appeared that the Sentinel pilots had fitted their faithful walkers with dead man switches as all but one of them exploded when they were destroyed causing many mortal wounds across the Death Guard forces.

Enemy sighted, shots fired.  Multi-lasers are a really disappointing weapon against anything with armour.  But the Scout Sentinels controlled the objective on the landing pad for the first two turns so they more than paid for themselves.

Reinforcements arrive and the Tanks of the Imperial Guard started immediately to make their presence felt.  The Hydra's (one in each army) initially were thought to not have a lot to do this battle until it was pointed out that Bloat Drones have the 'flying' keyword, all of a sudden the tracking augurs lit up and they became a priority target.

The Death Guard were a lot more conservative in their approach at this end.  Reasoning that they would grind the squishy Guard down in a war of attrition (plus they are just so damn slow and we rolled poorly for advance rolls).  But we knew it would turn into a meat grinder eventually and wanted to limit the amount of Leman Russ that could thin our numbers.  You can see at the top of the photo the aggressive approach of the Guard paid off as they seized the objective that was the central bridge and had a pair of sentinels and a Hellhound (which absolutely torched a massive Pox Walker unit) to hold it.
At this stage of the game the Guard on my end of the table had jumped out to a commanding 5-2 lead on objectives.  I am pretty sure the other end of the table was even at this stage.

The Devildog was a bit of an ace in the hole for the Guard on our end, it was fast and hit like a truck.  As the Death Guard pushed forward the Guard revealed their plan to give the ground they had seized early to preserve their own troops and make us pay as we advanced into their guns.

This is a photo of the extreme left of the Guard line.  The Hydra anchoring it as the Bloat Drones had tried a foray down this side to try to turn the flank.  The Ratlings having actually put some mortal wounds onto the Drones used their shoot and scarper ability to start moving to a more advantageous position as they only really had armour to shoot at down here.  They would have been more useful in the middle of the board I think.  You can see our Plagueburst Crawler and Defiler preparing to unleash.  We played these vehicles terribly during the game, being way to conservative with the Defiler (it was such a hero of the last big game) and far too aggressive with the Mortar which effected its shooting abilities.

The formidable tank line of the Guard started to form, but odd lucky pot shots were beginning to knock wounds off them.  The Death Guard had managed to seize the landing pad by now and had control of two of the objectives (out of three) that were on this table.  But the Guard still held the bridge.  Again, I think the other end of the table was still locked in a stalemate and was becoming a real meat grinder.

The battle for the bridge begins to get congested.  The Hellhound that had made it to the bridge exploded causing a horrendous amount of mortal wounds to both sides, being less than PL 10 another one rolled onto the board almost immediately.  The Death Guard teleported in Blightlord and Deathshroud Terminators as well as a Lord of Contagion to either pressure the bridge in a pincer or try to overwhelm the bunker in the bottom left that contained an objective and by this stage three units of grizzled Veterans armed to the teeth.  But first they had to clear a lot of things out of their way.

Brothers in arms.  We ended up doing the exact opposite of what we should have done with these two.  For some reason the Defiler ended up trying to be a gun platform instead of a can opener and the Plagueburst Crawler advanced to support the infantry thinking it was some sort of assault tank meaning most turns it was shooting with a penalty to hit.  I honestly do not know what we were thinking.

The density of terrain hampered both sides at the other end of the table and the Land Raider found itself facing off against a very well trained Tank Commander in a Vanquisher with his Vanquisher offsider.  They really made it pay.  It did survive long enough to scoot forward and dump out a heap of terminators who would try to take the bridge.  A loan Blight Hauler did manage to make the bridge, but after chewing on a couple of Sentinels (who both exploded) it too exploded.  Never in all my time gaming have I seen so many vehicles explode.

The wall of Bullgryns is a formidable sight as models and when we decided to test them out and drop a unit of Terminators on them we were shocked as they got to grips with the Terminators and bludgeoned them to death in a suitable display of violence.

This is just before the Death Guard threw caution to the wind and charged around the landing pad.  We had massed our forces and went for it.  I have never, ever seen overwatch to be so punishing, but it was too late to turn back now... The Terminators at the top of the photo suffered the worst as we had decided to declare charges on the Veteran squad (with lots of flamers) and their Chimera (with two heavy Flamers).  We rolled appallingly for armour saves, but at least it meant the Deathshroud and Lord of Contagion could assault unmolested.

The Death Guard did manage to whether the storm and got past the landing pad as the Guard began to run out of room to retreat.  The Bane Wolf sacrificed itself to slow the advance (again exploding and killing the last three Plague Marines that had assaulted it... and mortal wounds on the Bloat Drone to boot).

It was time for the super heavies and whereas the smaller tanks had plenty of room to manoeuvre the Stormlord was quite restricted.  Fortunately for the Death Guard it was limited in places it would fit and its guns only really had the pox walkers that had started to swarm up the satellite dish as target practice.  Nothing more amusing that four lascannons shooting at Pox Walkers.  We moved the survivors behind the building so we wouldn't be blown off the objective.

The Shadowsword came on at the other end of the table, again, space was at a premium for the big boys and I am not sure any of us really put a lot of thought into the fact they were coming.  It also didn't occur to anyone (and only later did it occur to me) that it was a MASSIVE advantage to the Death Guard to be moving second in the game as it meant that the Imperial Guard super heavies moved on and we could see where and how best to bring on the Warhound.  Since the Shadowsword and the Warhound essentially could one shot each other it was going to come down to a showdown between the two and we came out trumps as we weren't on the board first.  

Not having a Titan to shoot at the Shadowsword simply deleted whatever tank it wanted to.

They are such impressive models. Really makes me want to add a few Super Heavies to some of my other armies.

Rewinding a little, this is before the Stormlord starting picking on our poor Pox Walkers.  The scuffle in the middle with the Terminators and Veterans will soon be over and they decide to beeline for the bunker as the Daemon Prince was personally dealing with the remains of the bridge defence.

With a suitable space cleared by the former Land Raider the Warhound made its appearance, this thing is offensively quick and soon was sitting in the middle of the table, knowing the immediate threat is the Shadowsword it powered up all guns and in a blaze like the setting sun it annihilated the tank where it sat.  It was impressive that it wiped out its biggest threat in one go, but a little disappointing we would see a multi turn duel.  The Bullgryns wanting to try and protect their little friends decided they should have a chat to this thing and would end up locked in combat with it.

The fight for the bridge had well and truly turned in the Death Guards favour as Deathshrouds were backing up the Daemon Prince on this side of the bridge and Deathshrouds and a Lord of Contagion were pushing on the otherside meaning the Guard couldn't bring anything to bear to help, especially as they now had a Titan sitting in their midst.

 

I am not sure when this happened in the game, but the massed Infantry of the Guard swarm to secure a Tyranid specimen.

The safest place against a Guard army is in assault so in the Pox Walkers went.

Before the loss of the Shadowsword some Blight Haulers do their best to hide from its attention.

The assaults through my left flank were progressing well, especially as there was now a Spartan covering the advance from the middle of the board.  Its two quad lascannons meant that the Leman Russ couldn't brazenly advance on my assault units and we were slowly grinding our way toward the bunker and the objective it contained.

A unit of Ogryn try to push Plague Marines off an objective so the trailing Guardsmen can swarm over it.  Neither unit was able to quickly sweep the other and it turned into a protracted fight, it really shows the benefit of having some dedicated melee weapons available.

The Bullgryns valiantly try to hold the Warhound in place, little do they know it can't stop it shooting and if it really wanted it could just move away, but it decides it wants to spend a bit of time squashing a few of them.

Going back to an earlier picture, the Ogryn were eventually victorious and the Guardsmen swarmed in, but the Blight Haulers were moving in to wipe them out.

The bridge became (and remained) a contested objective for most of the game, after the early success of the Guard in claiming it quickly it got bogged down as the Death Guard's inexorable advance kept being met with hurried reinforcements thrown into the meat grinder. 

The entire game these Vanquishers (one a tank commander) held the centre keeping up a withering rate of fire and punishing any armour that presented itself.  The Wyrdvane Psykers formed a human shield using their powers to try and keep the tanks safe.

And the final photo of the collection, a forlorn objective not in control of anyone and the hint of the Titans foot in the picture.  

It was a good game, I think we learned a lot from the mistakes of the big game last year and this was a lot smoother.  Using the super heavies was fun even if they only got a couple of turns of activity.  If we ran them again we would probably use less terrain as moving them was a tad difficult.  The mismatch between the Titan and the Guard Tanks was fairly apparent, but even with the Shadowsword out of the picture between the Vanquishers and other tank variants, the Guard probably could have put a dent into the Titan, but would have suffered horrendous losses in the process.

We played until a set finish time (very sensible in a game like this) and you know I cannot for the life of me remember who actually came out on top, the Guard surged to an early lead, but as is perhaps fitting the Death Guard started to grind their way back into it.  I believe it was close in the end but ultimately the result doesn't matter.

Thanks for reading.

[korocite]

That’s a superb write up - well done and thank you. I did not notice you taking so many photos during the game. It was a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to another big game…

[BIG]

It was a combination of photos that I and Cam took. I had intended to take more and with a little more blow by blow. But I ended up distracted.

I am looking forward to another big game. Wondering if I could get some Eldar super heavies together to change up the forces for the next one. 

[korocite]

As it happens, I’m working on some new Eldar at present.

[BIG]

So last day of 2024, it has certainly been a rollercoaster for my family with too many downs compared to ups.  But we made it through and am looking forward to 2025 and hopefully some big changes.  I have been lazy with posting anything and have very little to show since I was last posting, but I thought I would put up the one and only model I finished for Christmas and he forms an ongoing gift to my Brother.  

Saunguinius, Primarch of the Blood Angels.

I had to do some conversion work as unlike the other Primarchs I have completed thus far you are were supposed to either have him permanently attached to his scenic base or not use it.  Also unlike the other Primarchs his scenic base was limited edition so I do not believe it is available anymore.  So I carefully carved off the hand that was gripping the daemons horn so I could make it so he was removable from the scenic base for use in games.  Not sure what GW is thinking with this one as its a departure from the rest of the range.

But he is now done and stands besides the 8 others I have done so far.  

Hope everyone has had a good Christmas and hope 2025 brings everything that you are hoping for.

Thanks for reading. 

[korocite]

Well done getting him done at this time of year. How did you achieve that effect on Sanguinius's armour? 

What is next on the painting table?

 

[BIG]

It was achieved with a lot of angst and a LOT of paint. I can’t remember how many coats of paint went into it but unusually for me most of them weren’t metallics. 

[BIG]

I have the remnant of the next Eldar army to paint (couple of aspect squads, wave serpents and Avatar) that I have lost some level of motivation for. 
Plus a whole Tomb Kings army bow ready for paint, but don’t want to do that until I get some bi e spray and will undercoat and base coat the whole army in one go so need to get some spray paint before I start them. 
So maybe I will paint a couple of Battletech mechs to get the painting mojo back first.