Friday, May 30, 2014

Another quick Kill Krusha update

I've finished the next stage of the Kill Krusha, finishing off the chipping and detail painting.

After everything cures it will be ready for gloss varnish and the oil wash.

pic?  done.  other stuff to do!


Wednesday, May 28, 2014

7th edition Ork FAQ. Relevant for all of what..3? weeks.

The 7th ed FAQs hit the interwebs today, and after going over the document I've got a couple things to say.

First, that there is nothing in the FAQ that stops all nobs in a unit of nobs (or Paladins for that matter) from being characters.  Yep, the faq that stopped it from happening was in the 6th ed rulebook FAQ, and not the Ork FAQ ..which I just confirmed with the copies of both I have on my computer.  Since the Nobs are specifically listed as Characters in the Ork FAQ.

However, that does not mean..well, anything. Characters (or IC's) no longer have precision shots, wounds from challenges bleed over so no reason to throw a Nob into one to help save the unit, and finally the changes to Look out Sir! means no wound shenanigans. 

So ya, Nob bikers are all characters..for nothing.

Next is the changes to wierdboys.  We can no longer take book powers at all (that goes for Blood Angels and Space Wolves as well).  The warp'ead option is gone replaced with a 25pt upgrade to a level 2. Not bad. They could have kept the warp'ead option as being able to re-roll the power like it was before. 

Still, a level 2 psycher for a mere 75pts is pretty awesome. 

The rest of the FAQ pretty much just reiterates everything in 7th edition language. 

At least we get to keep the Ramshackle table..for now!

Monday, May 26, 2014

7th edition op ed: scoring units.


So what's the big deal? Well, unlike every other edition of the game I've played, vehicles can be scoring in 7th.  There is no longer said restriction.  In fact, the only restrictions on scoring is a zooming flyer/FMC, a unit falling back, a rule that specifically says otherwise (aka Death Company) or an unoccupied building. That's it. Also notice the swarm rule isn't a restriction anymore either.

Such a complete swing from 5th/6th editions.  A complete 180 from what we've been doing for what..6 years now?

On the flip side I do really like the Objective Secured rule as a great, tactical complement to the opening up of scoring units. It still gives the troop slot a special place on the battlefield.

That being said, you will still see an almost instant reduction in the troop slot in 7th, leaving more points for more deadly units.  Unless, you're an Ork player where the troop slot is your best slot!

Armies like Seer Council were already very light on troops, but now they will be even more so, and without any real penalty for doing so. I mean it's not hard to contest an objective controlled by 3 jetbikes.

White Scars though is almost entirely troops as it is, so they will only gain in power from that. 

I'm really limiting myself to those two builds as pretty much all the other scary 6th ed builds are nerfed..anything TauDar, anything Space Marine/Tau which is what I played, etc.

Now for the fun part..Orks!

The first thing that came to mind was the Ork Dreadnaught.  Sure, vehicles are still fragile but just a little less so with the change to the damage table (plus we still have the KFF).  But what makes the Dreadnaught fun again is that they can be taken as troops!  So now not only can the Dread score objectives, but with a big mek will gain Objective Secured at the same time! That's just freaking awesome as far as I'm concerned.

I'd also like to see Kommandos again, especially Snikrot.  Sure they can't assault but they can still carry 2 burnas and now they can score objectives.  Say playing tactical objective missions, you place as many as you can close to the board edge.  Then Snikrot comes on, taking whatever objective you need for the card you have.  It can be spendy for just one point, but any pressure taken off boys or lootas is worth every lost kommando.

Same goes for Defkoptas. Not as flexible as Snikrot but can turbo-boost to almost any objective on the board.  And if they jink, so what? Just like all Orks making snapshots, you're really not losing much.

Orks don't really have a lot of options for deployment tricks and reserves.  In fact, those two above are it.  However both of them are great options and have their own positives and negatives. 

I might just have break out Snikrot again..before the new book hits.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

7th edition op ed: why isn't anyone talking about jink?

As I was reading through the rulebook last night and tonight, the one thing that stuck out more then anything was the change to the jink rule.

In 6th, skimmers, bikes and jetbikes just got a cover save for moving.  Flyers could choose to evade for a cover save.

Now, in 7th all of them must choose to jink or not. This is done *before* to-hit rolls are even made.   If you choose to jink (for an improved 4+ cover save instead of 6th's 5+), then you can only snapshot the next turn.

This is a big difference and really challenges the effectiveness of Wave Serpents, Hammerheads, and bikes of all kinds.  I know I loved giving my Hammerhead and Skyray a 4+ cover save (disruption pods) just for moving a nudge.

No more.

I don't think this will curb the enthusiasm for White Scars bike armies much at all, but any decent amount of AP3+ shooting will mean making a hard choice.

It will also take a smidgen of survivability away from Seer Council.  Not much, but that means any decent amount of AP2 shooting is a lot more dangerous then it once was.

Waveserpents though will pay the heaviest price IMO.  They will really need to make hard choices between saves and shooting, especially at the 36" range of scatterlasers.  Hanging back may fix that but it means losing the twin-link on the serpent shield. 

For Orks, it means the Dakkajet may actually gain a bit of survivability, but Defkoptas loose some.  I'm still a fan of them, and despite the change to jink I think they have a nice role to play in 7th.

More on that to come.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Quick Kill Krusha update: base colors done.

So with my days off finally here, I was able to get the hairspray and colors on the Kill Krusha.

I'm especially happy with the hazard stripes. The yellow was done with Lamenter's Yellow glaze over the base light grey paint and came out great.

I masked the tracks, obviously. I don't plan on doing a massive amount of chipping on the model overall, i want to try and preserve most of the color.

I will also probably hit it with oil washes instead of acrylic washes.


Well I'm off to pick up my new 40k rulebook. later!

I finished an actual model kit: Revell EC145 Demonstrator





With 7th edition nigh and unable to work on the Kill Krusha I've worked on other stuff. First was to actually finish my helicopter model.  This was a lot of detail work.   The Badger Minitaire gloss varnish worked better this time but a few spots are still light and not shiny.  It did work very well over the windows though..that made me happy.

Very happy to have this finally complete after so long.

Last few days with not much else to do I've been working on Blood Angels. Yes, actual Blood Angels. With magnets.  I built a tactical squad and 10 more Death company.  I'll probably wait for their new book before painting though, just in case.

I've got another Imperial Fist Storm Talon on it's way soon, plus combing through 7th of course.

More to come!

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

7th edition psychic powers leaked...WIERDBOYS HO!!!

ORKS GET BOOK POWERS!!!!

Leaked pics here

I'm almost giddy over this. Orks have access to the 2 schools of Daemonolgy and Force power.

After going over the powers, the ones that stand out to me are:

1. Hammerhand. Whole unit gets +2 Str. ..the WHOLE unit..plus TWO strength..
2. Sanctuary.  Gain +1 invul save, which means gaining a 6+ if you have none. Great boost to cybork Nobs, and even a whole unit of boys with a 6+ is not shabby at all.

Also it seems double force org is out.  Which means I'm limited to 3 Wierdboys.

Of course, this is only for a few weeks before the new Codex hits.  We'll have to see what happens after that.

So the 7th edition Allies matrix has been spoiled..oh where art thou?

Oh man the impending Ork book better be good considering how much they get screwed in the allies matrix. And snap shots.

The only Allies of Convenience is Chaos Space Marines - which, honestly, I've wanted to build a detachment of them forever anyway.  Glad I didn't spend any real money on a Blood-Axe painted Tau detachment..well I actually have not spent any considering the 12 Firewarriors I do have i bummed off my cousin..

So the question will stick with me a while..do I build a "normal" CSM detachment or an "Orkified" CSM detachment..

The other thing that really hurts is the rumor that snapshots will be -2 BS.  Hopefully that does NOT mean Orks can no longer snapshot at all being BS0...

And lastly is maintaining Eldar and DE as battle brothers.  Seer Council is a LOT less scary without the Baron attached..

Anyway only a week an a half before 7th hits. I will of course sacrifice food for a week to buy the books and dive right in!

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Quick Kill Krusha update

I've moved forward with the Kill Krusha, starting with a lot of rust.

Most of this will remain covered. I don't plan on removing a lot of the paint..mainly just edge chipping.

Except the tracks. those will be unpainted.

I will also do hazard stripes on the front ram.

But I need a day off to hit the airbrush first.



I think I'll go with my original camo colors, the same one I used on 2/3 of the Dakka Jets and the Stompa.

More to come!

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Painter's block.. but never stop working!

So with still having painter's block over the Kill Krusha, and not wanting to start on the Riptide quite yet I've been working on my heliocoptor.  I did not realize it had been over 2 years since I touched it last!  But it's getting closer and closer to finish now, with the last 2 nights working on decals. There are A LOT Of decals, and without micro sol it would be downright impossible.

But one whole side is now done.  It's coming out pretty darn cool, despite all the issues I've had with working on it. Small, fragile parts are not my forte.  Many pieces have broken off, and like the tail rotor has broken off and been fixed so many times it's all fuckered up.  But hey,  that's why I'm doing this is to learn.







Just the sheer amount of decal work plus some touch ups means I'm still a few days of work away from finishing it, but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel.



On another note, I took this pic right after finishing the last Imperial Fists commission, showing how much mess it makes getting through a project.  I have since cleaned this up, putting everything where it belongs but when you're busy working you need to keep everything you need handy.


So that's it for now. 

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Showcase: Imperial Fists Storm Talon & Bikes commission.

So this is the commission I've been working on over the last 2 weeks that was the subject of my painting log.

Logging the progress is a good idea, gives me an idea of what it takes to actually finish a project. It's something I probably should have been doing more.  Dunno. *shrugs*

Anyway, lots of pics!








I don't know what company makes the weapons, but they make pretty good Grav Guns.  The combi-grav arms are not for these bikes, but previous Sergent bikes I've done.

That's it for now! I have to stare at the kill krusha for a while until I figure out what I'm doing with it.

Friday, May 9, 2014

My first adventure with oil paints..and painting log part 2.

I've been working a lot on this commission to get it out of the way and it's really close to done.  Just a couple steps on the Storm Talon then I'll post pics.

First thing is I finally decided to bust out the oil paints I bought a few months ago. I got a set of 12 paints at Michael's for like $5, and then it costs like $10 for a small bottle of oderless thinner. I know I could get more expensive paints, but for just experimenting why bother?

Anyway all I did with the oil paints is the pin washing on the Storm Talon..and the panel lines and such. I hit the whole model with the Badger Minitaire gloss varnish and then use a thin burnt umber and capillary action to get the wash in the lines. Any excess I just wiped away with my finger. It worked great, but now it has to dry.  It added a lot of definition to the model with very little work.

All that is left on this commission is to let the oil paint dry, hit it with Dul-Cote and then glue on the cockpit. 

The paint log:

Day 10 (day off): work on combi-gravs
Day 11: finish combi-gravs, final washes on bikes and riders.  Finish blacking out storm talon, drybrush metal areas, clean up main color, first highlight.
Day 12: Finish paint on bikes and riders and assemble, start cockpit of storm talon
Day 13: Gloss varnish prep for decals. Finish cockpit and pilot, final highlight and first glaze on stormtalon
Day 14: Decals on bikes and combi-gravs  Final glaze and finishing base paint on stormtalon
Day 15: Finish grav guns
Day 16 (day off): final varnish on bikes, arms, grav-guns.  Gloss coat, decals and pin wash on storm talon, finish flying base and cockpit window

So to celebrate finishing off this work, I base coated my Kanvass1 Kill Krusha with Vallejo Model Air black metallic and also worked on the heliocopter some more.






I didn't build this awesome piece, but I need to figure out how to paint it.  It has to be Blood Axe of course, but not sure exactly what I'm going to do yet.

so that's it. Another day another post!

Friday, May 2, 2014

I need to make a post! Ok, not really but tracking painting progress.

I took on another small Imperial fist commission of 3 bikes, a Storm Talon and 11 loose arms/weapons, and with nothing else to do I've been tracking my daily progress.  I should have been taking pictures, but oh well.

Day 1: Pick up mini's after work, Cleaned up a few mold lines, wash and let dry
Day 2 (day off): Prime all mini's, let cure overnight
Day 3 (day off): Base coat all minis with Ushabti Bone
Day 4: block out black areas on bikes, combi-gravs, most of the Storm Talon
Day 5: Wash recesses of bone areas
Day 6/7: Layer up over wash
Day 8: Highlight bone areas, finish glaze
Day 9 (day off): Base the bikes.  After getting back from The Lego Movie, finish base coating bikes, riders and combi-gravs

Progress is going great on the bikes, they will be done in no time.

Then it's time to dive in on the Storm Talon, which really shouldn't be too bad.

Also, in and around this project I built my first Riptide.  Expect to see it in a game soon.

Also, 2500 sub contest announcement tomorrow! Woot!