The weekly round up...

The ever wily Neverness during last weekend's game. Yes, he has a battle report in the works... 

 

So this week I painted...

Actually I didn't do a damned thing right until I took the following photos and then wrote this post. Once again I have Papa Nurgle to thank for this (no, the shot I got last month didn't help at all). Monday at work was a nosedive into oblivion (I was masked and thus my coworkers were spared), and today is the first day in which I feel halfway-ish human again. Well mostly.

 But enough of that shit, on to the fun stuff:

Its a Tau House! Lacking any windows, I would imagine that little pre-fab structures like this would serve as weapons caches, listening posts, guard shacks, and a myriad of other uses. 

Not sure if this particular shack is being overrun by the local fauna do to a lack of use/maintenance, or if it's simply an attempt at camouflaging worst of those egregious print lines.

Models can go inside for close combat purposes, though if you think I'm going to paint details on the inner walls then think again!

The first container started is the last one finished, how ironic. The doors aren't glued in place which is annoying, but they'd just snap off otherwise I would need something for a 2 inch x 9 inch base Neverness, this is exactly why I was 'distracted by a piece of balsa wood' at the FLGS last weekend. 

The 'office' end of the container. The box off to the right likely doubles as a seat.

Look how neatly organized that stuff is, there's a view of the contents here.

All of the containers together. I don't think it's visible in any of my prior pics of it, but somebody apparently died quite messily while next to the yellow container.

Dreadtober 2022 (1st Post)

 

Doesn't look too impressive in front of container # 67 back there.

I totally didn't start off Dreadtober by painting a 3D printed Munitorum container. Totally...

That said, I have at least gotten started and have achieved the good ol' stand by, tournament benchmark of the 3-color minimum. Sure, its a fugly, base coats only 3-colors, but hey-they're on there at least and it's only the 5th of the October!  

Lotsa metal bits on the top and back sides.

We'll see just how good that container looks after it takes a few frag rounds to the starboard side!

As such I'm off to a good, if somewhat mediocre start.

A rusty box o' Smurf stuff.

 o/

I've been busy painting on my Battletech terrain but that isn't relevant to this blog. Approaching burnout on that project, I opted for a bit of a 'speed paint' on a primed, 3D printed Munitorum container that's been taking up space on my desk for a bit. 

Ya have to wonder what the radioactive contents are? Power armor/plasma gun power supplies? Or maybe just the space marine's lunch...

I knocked this out in a little under two hours, and it took that long only because of the time needed to apply a whopping 16 decals! I wanted there to be consistent markings on all sides, top and bottom excluded as those will likely be hidden under other stacked containers whilst in transit. 

A better view of the lower side markings which mimic those up top.

Originally primed black, this barely surpasses the 3-color minimum with Macragge Blue, Leadbelcher and Ryza rust being the only colors used. I went rather heavy on the rust but am pleased with the end result. Clearly container 190 has been in use for centuries...

I have two more of these still unprimed, plus an actual GW 'open' container buried somewhere.  

****

In other news, the stars aligned this past weekend and Neverness and I were able to play a game of 40k! He has a battle report in the works, so keep an eye out for that here shortly! 

Here he is, carefully chronicling the proceedings in real time...

My various works in progress...

 

o/

I'm progressing on multiple fronts here of late, painting lots whilst finishing little...well, technically. First up are my caverns. Currently I've finished 50 (!?!) cavern hexes, yet I have many more to go. So yes, I am finishing individual pieces though the project as a whole isn't done (and I'll likely just buy MOAR when it is).

Soon these will be overrun with a horde of 15mm scaled Orks (which arrived in the mail the other day). 

I was thinking that I had about 60 or so cave hexes, but apparently I have more than that. I'll get an accurate count when I finish painting the lot as I've been keeping track of the number painted on a painting progress chart I have. I've dispensed with 'ard coating any more surfaces to make them look wet (as caverns so often are) because ultimately, it's barely noticeable and thus a waste of time. 

Differing somewhat from those tiles with the multicolored funguses, this tile apparently has a small opening to the surface in the roof above. Thus allowing for sunlight, rainwater and seeds/pollen to descend into the depths to sprout some limited green plant growth. 

Next up, I have my mediocre Team Yankee M577 from my prior post. I added two more plasticard bits to the front to cover up the still awful looking area where the tracks and front hull meet. Am thinking I'll get some cheesecloth to make some camo netting to hopefully cover up at least some of the multitude of still visible 3D printed flaws, maybe add a decal or...something.

Looks almost halfway decent...

Making progress on painting up my caverns.

 o/

One of these is not like the others...

Welp, this project is going faster than I expected. After trying one or two color combos I just opted to go super easy, with a simple dry brushed layer of Bleached Bone over Testors Light Earth flat spray paint. 

Amusingly, my generic base flocking works quite well in the caves.

Mad Cap Mushrooms?

To break up the monotony, I've added a few little tufts here and there in a variety of colors representing alien shrooms, fungi, or flowers that apparently don't need any light. Several columns and wall sides are also 'ard coated to look wet but that doesn't show up in these pics. 

I have 2 of each type of entrance. 

No cave trolls spotted...yet.

The two cave entrances that I have painted thus far are flocked mainly on the outside and around the arch undersides, representing the forest beyond. 

The simple dry brushing really ties it all together nicely.

Zone Mortalis in 15mm!!

These are fairly quick and easy to do, and am batch painting them at a rate of a half dozen at a time. Already about a third of the way done, I'm hoping I can push thru the rest before running out of steam, with my hobby butterfly wandering off to paint something else. 

The underworld expands!

I ordered another set of caves and they arrived this past week. I just love these things and probably spent an hour or so just putting this layout together, assembling and reassembling so as to use every piece that I have. 

The full layout though as always, once disassembled the same layout will never again be made. 

15mm marines performing a sweep and clear. 

The marines consist of a Lt., and (3) 5-man tac squads of 'first born' bolter grunts. It's all straight up 40k with just their movement rates halved.

'Movement detected up ahead...'

...and then there is my Quarmy. Easily representing IG in 15mm, albeit with a few minor alterations.

Both forces clock in at 250pts., though for an almost kill team-esque option, the Quar split in half evenly enough to make two, 125pt forces. I mean let's face it: in tunnel fighting, marines are going to slaughter the IG.

Squad sgt. watching the Sentinel tank as it advances up the narrow passage way.

Company CO bellowing out orders via megaphone...it's no wonder the marines can here them!

It's called Zone Mor-what?!?

The Commissar ambling along in the rear, shooting any stragglers for his own amusement.

As always I want more, but am thinking I'll hold off on any more purchases till I get these painted up. Yeah I know, everybody says that...but this will more or less just be an exercise in dry brushing using a color palette reminiscent of the vastly larger Triceratops I painted some years back. 

I sent the layout pic to my GF, and almost immediately this meme is what I got back in return...lol.

The caves have arrived!

 o/

With the pieces fitting together like a puzzle without a picture to go by, I'll likely never assemble the same board twice. 

I love this stuff and as I've stated previously, I need moar!!! This bunch here clocked in at $100 and it almost fills a third of my game table. Better yet, it fits under the table top meaning it can be left in place when we're done playing.

These won't really work for spess mahreens and their 32mm bases, indeed 25mm bases are the biggest that'll fit but really, this screams 15mm gaming!! May have to sell some 40k armies to finance some more hexes. Anyways, enough jabbering just look at the pics:

Damned Hobbit sized entrance!

As you can see, 25mm bases just barely fit into the passageways.

And even those are a bit too big for some hexes.

Psst, you see anything over there?  yeah, umm...no peeking over the cavern walls, lol.

High crested helms are probably not recommended in caves and caverns. 

15mm minis on the other hand...yeah they're prefect! I've been wanting to break into some sort of 15mm gaming for awhile due to the vastly reduced cost and storage needs. Even going so far as to simply halve the ranges of everything in regular scale 40k for simplicity's sake. If anybody could recommend a good system it would be appreciated. 

A much better fit!

A squad of my 15mm marines getting ambushed by some sort of alien horrors!

Going underground with Zone Mortalis...

 ...and/or Kill Team, Mordheim (this stuff SCREAMS Skaven of which I still have hordes of), Necromunda (ah yes, the good ol' sump...), Turnip28 (more on this later), and just about anything else I can think of. The pic below is from Alter3Dimensya of my first batch of terrain. 

I can totally see myself selling an army to finance the purchase of enough of these to fill up my gaming table!

There isn't a 'map' available of the starter set, so I just winged it and ordered that and 1-2 of every available piece. The above is what that all amounted to (the mini is just for scale). Interlocking like a puzzle and completely modular, I may end up ordering more before this first order even arrives!

Also, I'm going to need a lot of paint for whatever color scheme I decide to use on it. Various shades of brown? 50 Shades of grey? Or white and greys to represent something like Hoth? 

I guess we will see, regardless I already know that I NEED MOAR!!