Batrep and WIPS - Bikes/Ratskin

Ah tis the weekend, its sunny, and all I want to do is paint. Its been about a month since any real painting has been done, but recently I've got a few bits that have helped me get on with some projects. First of all however, me and Alun played a 2k game last monday, My Marines vs his Dark Eldar. My list was rather unusual, in that I took just two vehicles, being two storm talons. I had three tactical squads, assault squad, devastator squad, and two ten men squads of the legion of the damned. Mission was purge and deployment was lengthways. 

If ever a game of two halves, this was certainly one. In the first two turns I pummeled Aluns transports and troops, three vehicles going down in the first turn alone. With bad armour saves a lot of the troops died too, my 'only' loss was these...

I assaulted into a transport, blowing it up. However, a nearby Archon and incubi sliced my marines up. The captain survived...

But fell soon after as I assaulted back in with him. Archons are bad eldar! After Alun was beaten around at the start, the two, yes TWO archons had reached my lines and began to reap a heavy toll. 

For the most part the Stormtalons controlled the air against Alun's two flyers. The helped me get to the now hiding archons later in the game and I was able to finish one off. 

Despite the points being I think 16-9, it was a lot closer. Although neither of my Legion of the Damned squads had taking any casualties, they and the stormtalons were pretty much all I had left. Alun had a couple of troops left that I was out of range of but we ended the game there due to time. Such a good game though, I didn't think an infantry force would do well, but when you look at it not being in transports means you're shooting everyturn, and that weight of fire builds up. Had a couple more of Aluns squads survived I'd have been able to do nothing and may have lost badly. As it was, the firepower at the start of the game was immense and kept Alun at bay until the Archons came out to play. 

No Quarter was played, and Bam mentioned to me in the week about how he jumped one of his guys off onto an aligator and killed it, before one came from behind and ate him. I only took one or two pics but I did take a pic of this! 

Currently, my desk is a mess. I've bought another box of bikes, and having three already I needed to get them done. Quick look on ebay got me three bases so along with these I've got a drop pod being painted as well as a couple of pieces for an upcoming Necromunda project. 

This is how my biker collection is going so far, and I dare say its not over! I want to make a version of my Chapter Master on a bike, and possibly build them up to have 2 ten strong units with three attack bikes. I'd also like a couple more landspeeders. I have one but it needs repairing, but I will be getting this sorted soon. Ive got another game against Alun on Monday, although I'm not sure what he's taking, and its 4k each! Should be an awesome game!

The first of the Necromunda models is a Ratskin Shaman, I've had this guy for about 12 years and wanted something different to paint alongside my marines, and brown is different to red, blue and purple! Hes coming along nicely, got some highlighting to get done on his skin and a few other bits then basing. Really like this model fair play!

This is the second guy I've been working on for play in the Underhive. He's a catachan officer, but I think he looks awesome either as a scum, bounty hunter or ganger. I'm going to be making some characters up for people to hire before each game and pinning their stats on a noticeboard, should be good fun! 

And thats it for now, I've got a 4k list to write, the bikes to get done and a big roast chicken dinner to lie off. Also, if anyone is interested I've got some Tau, Transformers and Dwarf team from Blood Bowl I'm selling on my Ebay page. Money is going towards equipment for my new business so if interested please bid! Thanks for reading anyway, expect a post in the week about mondays game and possibly some more WIP pictures.

Golden Daemon: Retro 2

Welcome to part two of my fresh series looking at some of the older Golden Daemon winners. This post is dedicated to war in all its glory... the Battle Scene. The battle scene should capture a moment in the heat of battle, comprise of interaction between the models and still be of an incredibly high standard.

This first look is at Matthew Parkes Gold entry which also won him the fabled Slayer Sword in 1995. What strkes me with this is how bright and well presented the piece is. The orky wooden outpost looks fatastic, the grots going about their business and the Runtherd starting to shout through a megaphone to get the attention. The Ork being shot by a lasgun shot still looks fantastic to this day, and is a lesson in interactivity. The other little details too, the rag over the missile launcher, little mushrooms dotted about and the grot revealing his derriere on the splattacannon all add to the overall scene that certainly helped it win the Slayer Sword.

This next piece was by Chris Blair in 1996, and depicts a scene froma gang war on Necromunda. Whats nice about this is the Technology versus Nature theme, with the Spyers and the Ratskins fighting it out for survival in the dumps.  The first thing that struck me was the size of the piece, and helps show that Necromunda is played on more than just one level. The models, from what my eyes see, have had little conversion work done, but still interact well. The little bits on the floor look great, especially the sewage coming from the old tank and help convey how gritty and grimy the underhive is, and is highly deserving of its first place.

The third and final piece I've chosen is this little beauty. Nigal Carman decided to depict the chaotic brawling of a Gorkamorka scrap, and promptly took away first place. Its jam packed with models and vehicles, even a deffkopta is flying in on the action. Like the the second entry, this represents what Gorkamorka was all about. Orks fighting, riding around in trukks, looking for scrap and generally being insane. The base is another example of theming, with a really awesome looking 'Gorkamorka' title and the scrap pattern around the rest of the base really sets the piece off and shows the character of the orks really well. 

Hope you enjoyed these, I shall return once again with some more examples of Golden Daemon goodness!