2017 a hobby review.

Wow its been a year! And what a year it has been! CSM getting a reboot in the first quarter, and then 8th ed drops for Warhammer 40k!

I was just sorting out my photo album, well primarily trying to find photos to keep or delete and I was surprised what I have painted this year.

List of personal goals accomplished

1.)     Buy something ugly on ebay cheap, repaint it, and resell it!    

The BEFORE photo, bought them off ebay at $0.70 each! #ultramarines #ebay

FINISHED as WHITE SCARS, and sold them off on #ebay and more importantly learnt a few techniques that I put to use on my #Deathguard.

            2.) Complete an iron Painter challenge

IronPainter was a 24 hour painting challenge,  where you have to paint something in 24hours and present it at our local hobby store later on.

I managed to chart my progress on instagram which is also another big thing for me this year, as the lazy blogger in me, just preferred to snap a photo and upload it. Plus all the instant 'likes' can be gratifying.

Search for me! im 'hobbieswithmazz' on IG

and heres my squad of #DeathGuard legionnaires, completed at 2pm the next day.

In hindsight it was really good fun, though the lack of sleep was really painful. and trying to solve a clogged airbrush at 3am was also another memory that I dont wish to repeat.

2017 was also a year for Netflix! My companion through all the long nights huddled infront of my wet pallet.

I think I have watched everything!

One of the few good offshoots from the IronPainter Challenge, was that I was inspired to paint and build faster. I have a habit of painting 40k minis in parts and then assemble them together, which takes just too long. At least for a few months, I was painting the models fully assembled.

I've since gone back to my old ways though =p

My Good Deed for the year!

2 weekends after the ironpainter challenge, Melvin invited me to join him in painting Andrew's Marines. Andrew's a friend of ours who has hoards of unpainted marines and we took it upon ourselves to help him reduce some of his backlog. Probably the most generous thing I have done this year!

Andrew's Dark Angels all painted for him! Really happy with the 24hour paint job too!

My ork collection also received a minor boost this year, again inspired by the Iron Painters Challenge.

 

So I got off my butt and finished another group of orks. Figured in any list combination, I would be covered if i had at least 60+ boyz nicely painted ork boyz.

Boyz ready for the great waaargh of the 8th Edition!

Wierdboy converted from a Warhammer Fantasy Savage Orc, added the trophies to give it a more 40k feel =) and plus to commemorate a great day of gaming, (see Ray's post of DP's 1k tourney)

the Butt Shot. NSFW!!! Sorry couldnt resist this photo =)

and so here rounding off the year is the mandatory family portrait... 

Man! have the Deathguard legion grown! #DeathGuard #legionXIV

 

and the great waaargh just got more awesome too!

CHEERS TO AN AWESOME 2018!

M

Sicaran Battle Tank

Some of you must have spotted my Sicaran Battle Tank in the battle report with Marshall. 

Completed the tank but didn't manage to prime it in time for the game

Doing work from Day 1

I chose to bling the Sicaran out with the Forgeworld Etched Brass kit for the Blood Angels. Fantastic piece of kit to distinguish your tanks from the generic Space Marine armies. 

Thin but detailed enough to provide real interest for the tanks

Primed it black 

I had actually hit the tank with Vallejo Game Air Dark Fleshtone from the underside. The idea was to create natural shadows without it looking too dark. I had also targetted the joints between armour to create some shade

Here I have hit the tank with VGA Scarlet Red which provides a great foundation for the next stage

Now the fun really began as I tilted the tank at a 45 degree angle to keep the shadows in the recesses while hitting the top parts of the tank. This included the top edge of the tank and the "face" of the tank. I also tried to airbrush it using the Modulation Technique which involved creating light and dark surfaces in alternating turns.

After I hit the Sicaran with Bloody Red

I felt that the contrast was not strong enough so I went back with my paintbrush to hit the hard edges with Blood Red.

Hit the tank with more Bloody Red followed by a highlight of VGA Moon Yellow. I then washed it back down with Corroburg Crimson 

I hit the model edges with Blood Red and added whites to the angelic icons

I added weathering to the tank treads 

Added decals to indicate tank number and company badge

Love the look! I even bling it up with various Brass Etch from FW

I christen thee Blood of the Fallen 

This was supposed to be part of my pledge for Month 2 of the Slowburn but I did up majority of the paint job by Month 1 so I am submitting it as part of my Slowburn army for month 2. I will be adding another 250 points separately to make roughly 460 points for Month 2. 

Batrep: Altansar vs World Eaters - The Curtain Draws Open

You Cai and I finally got to play our game. 1850 a side, YC would be bringing a 30k army using the Forgeworld ruleset. I crafted a short narrative capturing the dark work that the Eldar do in the background. The stage was set, let the battle begin! 

The Curtain Draws Open

Farseer Turendas felt rather than see the the approach of the cloaked figure. 

"It is time" said the shimmering figure. 

"This is no mere mortal you tasked us to assassinate. He is a beast among their kind", replied Turendas. He had his suspicion that no matter his query, it would not change the outcome.

"You serve as others have before you. Morag-Heg has Her purpose", replied the fluid image. 

"Then it is done" acknowledged Turendas. 

He knew that the Harlequins broke no discussion when the decision has been made. Farseer gathered his Runes and Ghost Helm and sent out the message to gather the warhost. Altansar goes to war. 

Pre-game

YC recently completed his Angron model and we were gearing up for our ABOcalypse in about 1 month. I set the narrative up as a battle that took place way before Angron was caught in the Heresy, back in 30k. This was after the Eldar failed to assassinate him when he was a child.

What is known is that Angron was discovered by a slaver who chanced upon the battered and bleeding figure of the young Primarch surrounded by scores of alien corpses, high in the northern Desh'elika Mountains. History does not record what species these aliens belonged to, but many Imperial scholars believe them to have been Eldar who attempted to kill the Primarch, due to some psychic foreknowledge of the plague upon the galaxy he would one day become. Angron had been badly wounded in the combat, but remained alive.

-- taken from Warhammer40k Wiki

Now that the Primarach has reestablished contact with his Chapter, Angron was tasked by the Warmaster Horus to bring an outer-rim world to compliance. Upon completing this task and prior to departing to another system, the Eldar set a trap to isolate him from his main force and bring him to the ruined city of Brakenn V as the spearhead. 

Primarch Angron painted by YC

Batrep: 1850 Altansar Eldar vs Alpha Legion (30k Army)

Managed to get YouCai (aka CrazyRat) out to play a game of 40k with me. It has been quite awhile since I played with him. I brought my usual 1850 of Altansar, hoping to continue testing this army. I tweaked it a little by changing out the Scatter Lasers for Bright Lances.

Ray's Eldar Altansar, 1850 Points

HQ

Farseer: Jetbike, Witchblade, Runes of Witnessing
Farseer: Jetbike, Witchblade, Runes of Witnessing

Troops

Dire Avengers x5: Wave Serpent (TL Scatter Laser, Shuriken Cannon, Holo Fields)
Guardians x10: Wave Serpent (TL Scatter Laser, Shuriken Cannon, Holo Fields)
Guardians x10: Wave Serpent (TL Scatter Laser, Shuriken Cannon, Holo Fields)
Jetbikers x3
Jetbikers x3
Jetbikers x3

Fast Attack

Warp Spiders x8
Warp Spiders x8

Heavy

War Walkers x3: Each armed with Bright Lances x2
Wraithknight: Heavy Wraithcannons x2

Only the Dire Avengers left that is not base coated! 

Work on the War Walkers is almost complete. Just the weapons left

The big guy with preshade and basecoat done. Now left with the panel lines

YC always had a soft spot for anything Horus Heresy. He even lent me his Book 1: Massacre. Thanks YC! It's no surprise that he brought a 30k army that he is working on. 

YC's Alpha Legion (30k Army)

HQ
-Armillus Dynat
-Saboteur
Power dagger

Elites
-Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought multi melta *2, Ded Transport: Dreadnought Drop pod
-Legion Terminators *5 SGT power fist, Ded Transport: Anvillus pattern dread claw drop pod
-Apothecary

Troops
-Legion tactical squad *10, Vexilla, Ded Transport: Rhino
-Legion Tactical Squad *20
-Legion support Squad *5, Melta Gun *4

Fast Attack
-Headhunter Kill team *5, SGT: Artificer Armour, Combi Melta *3

Heavy
-Legion Vindicator

-Death Storm Drop pod

YC's Alpha Legion

Probably the most expensive collection around

YC is working hard to complete the models

 Pre-game

My Farseer 2 managed to roll up Guide, Fortune and Foreboding

While my Warlord Farseer got Guide, Doom and Forewarning. He rolled Command Traits and received Coordinated Assault

We rolled for Big Guns Never Tire and Vanguard Strike. We rolled up 4 objectives so each of us took turns to put 2 in our own deployment zones.

Deployment

YC kept most of his units in Reserve (Deepstriking and Flanking)

20 strong Legion unit with Apothecary in the building with 1 Obj

Remembering the hard hitting Deepstriking army with Meltas of Patrick, I kept my Serpents back to the corner and out of range of his 24" guns

Deployed my first unit of Jetbikes behind this LOS blocking wall

YC's units in Reserve

My units in Reserve or in the Serpents

Turn 1

The first few drops fly in. My Serpents were ripe for the picking without their cover save

YC advanced his Rhino and Demolisher up the middle ground

The Melta armed Dread does 1 HP on my Serpent with the Guardians

Eldar Turn 1: I cast Guide and Fortune on the Wraithknight. 

Focused all fire on the Dread as it was one of the few things in YC's list that had an answer to my Wraithknight

Managed to ping 2HP off the Dread, leaving it limping on 1HP

Turn 2 

More Chaotic reinforcements show up. This special character has the ability to cause Penetrating Hits when the moves in, taking out my Guardian Serpent. YC killed off another 4 in the ensuing blast

He dropped in a unit of Headhunters (ironically without heads) behind my Knight, hoping to take it out from behind

YC dropped a funny droppod with the missile pack in the heart of the table. Unfortunately the Rhino runs aground trying to go through the wall! Anything BUT ONES! 

Terminators deploy via Dreadclaw droppod. That thing is nasty when it falls! Does 1HP and stunned my Serpent

CRRRASHH

YC opens up and does 3 wounds on the Knight. Fortune is useless with that many AP2 weapons

The pod opens up and does 1 wound on the Knight

And fires off another onto my Jetbike unit at the back

Eldar Turn 2 sees the arrival of most of my stuff except for the Warlord and 1 unit of jetbikes

Warp Spiders, Jetbikes and War Walkers all arrive

YC moved his Dread back when he realised that a stunned Dread could not charge

With the Terminators in my backfield, I had no choice but to put pressure and try to Bladestorm him

After I moved everything

Guardians did me proud today and took out all 5 Terminators after a round of shooting

My Avenger Serpent backed up and took out one wound from the character

The War Walkers took out that pod

Totally fluffed my shooting so I charged the Knight into the Demolisher

While a combined charge by the Farseer and 3 jetbikes managed to kill off the two last Marines

Pulled back most of my force and shuffled them about

Pulled the Farseer into the safety of the ruins

Turn 3 

The Dreadclaw moves! It kills off 3 Guardians from the 2 units and does one HP on the Serpent

The Dread finishes off the Serpent by putting in one more shot, crippling it. Thankfully the Serpent didn't explode

YC charges in with this character but failed to hit

In my Turn 3, I moved my Knight behind his tanks and surrounded his Dread with my Guardians. Buffs all around

War Walkers took out the Rhino with 10 Marines

After shooting into this unit I charged my Knight into it

They fled and my Knight proceeded to wipe them out

Regrouped my army now to face his 21 strong unit

Destroyed the Dread with a few well placed shots and took out the Special Character with the Spiders

Removed 2 HP on the Droppod

Turn 4 and 5: YC didn't do much, he had only his unit of 20 left but he played on. Good sportsman!

Converged my entire army onto that building

Opened everything I had at that last ruin

Advanced while staying out of his 24" bolter range

Pushed into his deployment zone in Turn 5

In Turn 5 I went in to contest the last objective earning me Line Breaker as well. 

Captured for 3 - Big Guns allowed Heavies to capture

Captured for another 3

Another 3

Game ended at Turn 5

YC's list may need a little work. 20 strong unit is not doing much holding on to objectives. While hard to shift, they soaked up most of his 1850 points too. YC is going to tweak his list and come back harder I am sure!

The Wraithknight and Guardians really worked today, taking out a number of the major threats. My Walkers worked well too, ensuring that anything I targeted would be deleted. I am still figuring out how best to use my Farseers. Keep them in Reserve and they miss out at least 2 turns of casting. But against a Deepstrike army, putting them on the table would end up with a dead Seer in Turn 2. I will keep testing.

Hope you guys enjoyed the batrep!