Intercessor Interruption
So, recently I finished my Eradicators and wanted to find a place for them in my case.
When I opened it, a squad of half-painted Intercessors glared at me, accusingly.
Fair enough. I started painting these when I planned to use them on a vacation to visit Lexington of Red Wunz Go Fasta (and soon the owner of a new Space Marine Chapter: The Ashen Swords). However, COVID happened and then a lot of other stuff too, which made me less inclined to paint.
However, I’m back in the saddle and pleased to present the squad, finished!
The Sergeant’s hammer and brassiere are from the Salamanders Primaris upgrade sprue, and the flame is painted with the new Talassar Blue Contrast paint over white, with a bit of drybrushing at the edges.
From a modeling standpoint, I’ve painted three Primaris units, and I noticed a significant difference from the design philosophy of the older Space Marines.
Firstborn Marines are, of course, multi-part which allows greater posing and customization. You can choose to add grenades, pouches, or holstered pistols at your discretion.
Primaris Marines are mono-pose. They’re going to look a bit same-y in larger armies (which should be combated with extensive conversion IMHO). Also, they have pouches, pistols, etc, sculpted directly onto their belts. While this takes away your choice, I have to say these pouches look more real to me. The older glue-on pouches never perfectly matched the curve of the waist, and always left a bit of a gap at the front or back. These look like they’re really on the belt, which is a bonus.
Next, more Indominus marines! I may even get off my ass and do an old-fashioned On My Plate post!
Indominus Part 1 – Eradicators
Got the Indominus box and decided to go with my love of Gravis armor first. Here are the Eradicators!
Oh, no. Wait. That’s THE Eradicator, the menace of squash courts everywhere.
Here are MY Eradicators.
These are much nicer than the Aggressors. There’s not too much detail and they don’t have random relics hanging in front of their junk. But they are detailed enough to be interesting visually.
Next: Outrider Bikers!
Painting Competition entry: The Star Cyclones
A while ago at AFK Games, when contrast paints came out, they passed out some easy-build Intercessors, and had a painting contest.
I was called away before finishing, but came back to finish the next day. I wanted to challenge myself…
…with orange.
Not a lot of chapters are orange! So, I did it. Here is an Intercessor of the Star Cyclones chapter.
Next: Indominus Marines!
Thomas’ Deathwatch Azure Flames Marine – A Proud Tradition Continues
At the wonderful local game store AFK, you can sometimes find Thomas, who is proud to play Deathwatch. After several heated games, he made a request.
He wanted an Azure Flames shoulder pad so that one of the Flames could join the Deathwatch.
It took me a while but I eventually found an older pad on a disused marine.
The pad was awful.
So, I tidied up the paint job and delivered it to Thomas. Here’s the result:
This as-yet-unnamed Battle Brother is joining the ranks of the Deathwatch to fight aliens with a signature Bolter-Melta. How will he fare? Hopefully better once the Deathwatch get their Psychic Awakening book and become somewhat competitive again.
Next: a special surprise!
Lieutenant with Jump Pack
I’ve been using this guy for a while, but he’s been awkward as he kept falling off his base because he wasn’t painted.
No more!
Next, the other Jump Pack lieutenant!
Modular Primaris Aggressors
As promised, here are the Aggressors that I modded, fully painted and ready to go!
For convenience, the inside of the gauntlets are color coded.
Speaking of color, that’s a lot of green for the Azure Flames… Are these members of the 4th Company? Is that an Eleven as their insignia? Is this foreshadowing to events that may happen to the Azure Flames?
Yes.
Well that killed the mood. Next, Tyranid Escorts and more Primaris!
Khalil, Captain of the 7th Company on Bike with Thunder Hammer and The Shield Eternal
Khalil has been in pieces for several games, so I prioritized getting him painted up and ready to go. Here he is! Doing a sweet sideways skid as he climbs out of the seat to swing his Thunder Hammer. Two Storm Shields on the faring of his bike represent The Shield Eternal.
Math time! Bike characters start at 5 wounds. With the Warlord Trait “Iron Resolve” it bumps him to 6 with a 6+ FNP which is functionally a 7th wound.
The Shield Eternal halves all damage, rounding halves up, so D6 weapons like Lascannons instead do the equivalent of D3. On average, two apiece, so you’d need 4 Lascannons to get through the shield to kill him.
The Shield is a 3+ invulnerable, so you’d need 12 total wounds.
Toughness 5, so a S 9 Lascannon wounds on a 3+ so you’d need 18 hits.
Guardsmen are BS 4+ so you’d need 36 Guardsmen Lascannons, or 27 Space Marines at 3+, excluding any re-rolls. That’s hearty!
Conversely, those 7 wounds could be eaten by about 54 Ork regular close combat attacks, which one squad of Orks could do in a turn. That’s how a Smash Captain goes down; force of saves!
Next, more painting!
Land Speeder Heavy Flamer Gunners
I’ve been using these gunners a lot (6D6 auto hits, S5, -1 AP and +1 to wound with Flamecraft) but they’ve always been bare plastic. Now they are fully painted. I even jeweled all of the eyes!
Next: more painting!
Battlefleet Gothic Azure Flames – Spear Squadron Gladius Frigates (plus new case!)
It feels good to get a brush back in my hands. I started with the Armourium Cherubs for Big Game VI, but in the course of unearthing some old bitz for the Guard models I lent Scott, I found six Forgeworld Gladius cruisers. Seeing as how my Space Marine fleet is severely lacking when fighting… certain opponents… I decided to give them a go.
So, the latest addition to my Space Marine fleet: Spear Squadron. Complimentary to Sword Squadron, I can now field two full squadrons of Gladius Frigates. For… reasons…
Certainly not specifically to fight the Eldar. That would be a ridiculous speculation and I resent the very idea.
But it would work.
What doesn’t work is my current case for the Azure Flames for Gothic. Currently, they live in the same overly complicated tackle box with my Epic Armageddon Azure Flames. (Yes I own a representation of the same army three times. It saves on paint.) However that case is so jam packed I keep Epic scale Rhinos in the top compartments with no padding. There’s not room for one more escort, let alone six.
That’s why family is a wonderful thing.
Last Xmas, my cousin’s husband confided in me that his business had a rather unique by-product. He sets up audio rigs for small churches. A lucrative endeavor as new churches spring up all the time. His deft hands compile the necessities of an audio system into a convenient roiling cabinet. What’s left over is an empty microphone case. He had more than 100 empty padded cases.
I took about 16. I used one as a transport for my Guard to Big Game VI. And now…
…it holds the fleet. Granted, there is no room for me to expand further, but I see no need (unless twelve Gladius Frigates are insufficient for the Eldar…) so I consider the collection complete. The case has a makeshift padded interior left over from various pluck foam and matress pad endeavors. The top is padded with further foam.
It’s not pretty, but given that I did it with waste foam, a free microphone case, and my wife’s glue gun, it was practically free! It also gave me a chance to use something I’ve had for a while:
A custom luggage tag, to mark it out! I plan to have several more of these cases for other armies for Gothic, Epic, Necromunda, Blood Bowl, and so on. So, a while ago, I designed luggage tags to mark out the cases. This is the first one I’ve had a chance to use.
Next: more batreps, more painting, and more fiction!
Big Game VI Eve’s Special: Creepy Robot Babies!
Big Game VI is tomorrow, and what better way to prepare than by painting some Armourium Cherubs for my Devastators!
Plus, all stories leading up to Big Game VI are done! Check it out on the sidebar!
Next: BIG GAME VI!