I've always wondered why the general GW hobbyist and "hardcore" scale modeling community have such a different approach towards how our models are done and presented. After all we are both doing roughly the same thing. Only difference I felt was that their community seems more "serious" while we are normally just seen as "gaming geeks".
I know that there are also many "hardcore" modelers and painters within our own community as well. Me being one of them who much prefers painting and modeling to gaming itself. Although how "hardcore" I am is totally subjective.
As we know the modeling part of our hobby has always been evolving and progressing. Just take a look at the painting styles and finish of 2nd edition 40K models compared to the stuff you get today and you will understand what I mean. Today we get so many interesting and advanced modeling techniques that these "hardcore" scale modeling community has been tinkering with even when we still had colorful armies and goblin green bases for everything!
Today I am going to try to see how some classic scale modeling techniques will enhance my own hobby. Using weathering chalks.
Here I have used artists chalk pastels. I bought it fairly cheap. SGD$14 for this box. Alternatively you can buy single colors for SGD$1.50 per stick. However I would suggest buying various colors to mix because if you only use a single color the results would not be as realistic. Do not overlook black and white as well. These are vital for lightening colors on darker areas and black soot is always found somewhere on our models especially vehicles.
What you would want is to get them into powder for application. Simply use the hobby knife to scrape the edges of the chalk and you should have a nice gathering. Don't be afraid to scrape more. As we will be using quite alot when we weather.
I am not going to show work in progress shots because applying the pigments is simply a matter of using a dry brush and dipping into the powder and applying generously onto the desired areas. Not much advice I can give here except do not be afraid to "spam" the powders as most of it will "disappear" when you seal it with dullcoat again.
Why again? Before you apply the pigments. First give it a light coat of dullcoat to first protect your finished paintjob, and also to create a rough surface for the pigments to hold on too when you apply it on. You might find yourself going over with the pigments again and again after giving several light coats of dullcoats to finally achieve the desired effects. Once again nothing much I can advice here except trail and error!
Here are some shots of a Command Chimera that I have weathered with chalks.
All those gas masks comes into handy with such dusty vehicles!!!
A shot of a "clean" and "dirty" tank!
~Hope this helps those who are thinking of applying chalks to their models. And if anyone of you have more information or experience with them. Please feel free to share it with us!
Well I'm sure most of us has seen this video and heard the news.
8th edition warhammer is already upon us, the next thing we know we'll be busy showcasing our Fantasy armies and discussing about how to make the nicest, strongest, coolest movement trays for our armies. And believe me when I say movement trays since all the news and sightings of the latest edition points at the return of big blocks of units and their advantages.
I personally skipped 7th edition Fantasy altogether. But remember vaguely how units of 10 models in 2 ranks seem to be the configuration of choice. Heck I even read in on of the comments on Bols that finally "fantasy games are going to have more models than a 40k game again!"
All this sounds like great news for a horde lover like myself. And I am already excited with the prospect (spending money) of new armies to collect, and which old one to finally dust of the shelves to see battle!
I am going to use this opportunity to finally finish up my Dark Elves and am seriously thinking of starting a Bretonnian army!
~ So folks I am sure many are already "fantasizing" about the upcoming edition. Would be good to hear your thoughts on this and armies that you are going to do once Fantasy gets into full swing next month!
Original article was found on: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=4900028a. I am currently using this technique to paint my Hive Fleet. Absolutely love the colours so am making sure this article remains with me for a long time by creating an archive of it here!
Painting Hive Fleet Leviathan
If you have already read and followed our Tyranid assembly guides then you'll no doubt be eager to crack open your pots of colours and start painting. Nick Bayton has obliged by showing us how to paint up the three most infamous Hive Fleets. We've used a Tyranid Warrior for the following examples but obviously the following steps can be easily adapted to any Tyranid model as they all share the same, broad characteristics like armoured carapaces and scything talons.
We begin with the purple and off-white pattern that adorns the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Leviathan.
Hive Fleet Leviathan The greatest of the Hive Fleets encountered so far is Leviathan. Where the majority of other Hive Fleets to date have pierced the intergalactic void upon the Eastern Fringe, Leviathan attacks from a different quarter. The tendrils of Leviathan are funnelling up from beneath the galactic disk. A terrifying prospect as the great doom that has been roughly contained in the eastern arm of the galaxy no longer seems so far away, and the heart of the Imperium lays exposed to the Tyranid threat.
Note that due to the predominance of light colours, Nick started by spraying an undercoat of Skull White.
Stage 1
Before picking out the separate areas, use the Spraygun to coat the entire model in Bleached Bone. Claws – Paint Chaos Black. Mouth and tongue – Paint Chaos Black. Weapon – Paint with a mix of Mechrite Red and Scab Red (1:1).
Stage 1 Rear
Carapace – Paint Chaos Black.
Stage 2 Flesh – Wash with Warlock Purple. Claws – Feather on Scab Red. Weapon – Layer on a mix of Mechrite Red and Blood Red (1:1) then wash with Chaos Black directly into the recesses.
Stage 2 Rear
Carapace – Feather on Warlock Purple.
Stage 3 Flesh – Highlight with a mix of Bleached Bone and Skull White (1:1). Claws – Highlight with Blood Red. Weapon – Highlight with Blazing Orange. Eye – Paint Chaos Black. Tongue – Paint Liche Purple. Teeth – Paint Khemri Brown.
Stage 3 Rear Carapace – Feather with a mix of Warlock Purple and Fortress Grey (1:1).
Stage 4 Flesh – Highlight with Skull White. Claws – Feather with Fortress Grey and then wash with Baal Red. Weapon – Highlight with Dwarf Flesh. Eye – Paint with Iyanden Darksun and then apply a gloss varnish. Tongue – Highlight with a mix of Liche Purple and Bleached Bone and then apply a gloss varnish. Teeth – Paint Bleached Bone.
I had completed my committed vehicle. The drop pod. Teaser picture below.
You can see more pictures and some tools I use when painting this drop pod over at my blog.
Daniel (Beardy one) also posted his "SPARTAN!" scouts for the Tale of 6 Armies 1st challenge over here. He completed his scouts on time but did not post them due to faulty internet connection.
Guess what boys... I woke up today and found a package containing Canis Wolfborn on my door. I'm trying to figure out who sent it as there was no note attached. What I please surprise...
I know I have commitments to do my spearhead tanks but this model is something else... I'm not a fan of Canis as I think his hair looks like spaghetti plopped on someone's head but I may need to digress a bit and finish this guy first as I love seeing all my heroes complete like a family. lol
Here's a great tip for modelling something to help in your deployment! All it takes is some plasticard, a compass to measure and a modelling knife. Fast, easy and looks great!
I am keen for each of the contributors to "place" their army on Anything But Ones hence this tutorial.
Just upload a photo, include a short description of things such as your idea, motivation and maybe some "history" of the unit/tank/creature's performance. Once the post is put on the blog, I will create a permanent link on our blog so that it remains there for you and others to enjoy.
As you complete more models and add to your collection, snap a photo, return to the permanent link and edit the post by including the pictures of the new models. Also include the necessary description etc. It will take a long period - slowly but surely like the photo above.
For example:
My Gants are actually on the blog now. I will snap a few photos of my Warriors this weekend and will include a new entry but still within the same entry so it is all neat and in one place.
Here's my Imperial Spearhead collection. Finally I can get to use them all in a battle! Let's plan for an Apocalypse cum Spearhead battle when we all get together!
I know we love our game a lot but there are things which help enhance the game further.
The first one of this is Army Builder. If you have not tried it, I recommend you give it a shot. You will spend hours on it just tweaking your lists to your heart’s content without having to worry about the math! I give it two full thumbs up!
The other thing which I think we all loathe to do is to carry our well painted minis only to arrive at the gaming centre all damaged. Albeit costlier than using plastic containers, army transports with foam is such a welcome. In Singapore, most of us use the Sponge Transport system by PI. However, there is one that is growing in popularity in the US – Battlefoam. Custom foams to suit your army too. A friend here in HK uses it. The only thing is the heavier cost of sending it to Singapore.
Other gaming aids include Galeforce 9’s line of products such as turn counter, wound markers etc. Having played Warmachine and Hordes, I love GF9’s markers. I have purchase myself a set for Fantasy which include Captured Banners, Fleeing and Charge tokens. Great for larger games of 2000 and above.
I made a massive order in the recent 17% sale from Maelstrom. Looks like they were out of stock on most things but they did send out my stuff in two packages. The first arrived today.
The GF9 Tac template is good for horde armies. 2" will help me keep those gaunts separate from those pie plates. Also, I got another Broodlord.
Don't we just love school holidays? Serious painting time is just abundant! Finished up my 80% done Hellhound with Chem Cannon. I used an old Hellhound model with the drum barrels to differentiate from the other two "new" hellhound models armed with the generic Inferno cannon. And a look at one of the "new" hellhounds! One more to go.
Introduction:
I have been collecting Tyranids since Warhammer40k 3rd Edition came out. It was to serve as counterpoint to my elitist army, Eldar. The large broods of Gaunts, fearsome monstrous creatures and Starship Troopers sealed the deal. This Army Profile is a work in progress where I intend to place pictures of completed models - each army profile has a permalink on this blog effectively serving as a blog within a blog. These completed models will basically come from the Tales of 6 Gamers that I am running.
Troops Termagants: The beginnings of the swarm. These 10 were painted part of the first Tale of 6 Gamers challenge. Am very pleased that I have completed them to a high enough quality level for the grunts they are. I chose Spinefists back in 4th Ed not because it was powerful but because it looked more feral.
Tyranid Warriors: One of the best models in the Tyranid range in my opinion. Jes Goodwin did a very good job with the proportions of these models giving them an aggressive look. In fact, these models were painted first as my test models prior to the Gants above. While these are armed with the Deathspitters, I am planning to create another brood with Wings and Boneswords.
Genestealers: With the improvement with the plastics and rules in the codex, I just could not help but include them in my army in the droves. For bigger games I tend to take 2 broods just to scare people. However, I would hazard spending too many points on them as they tend to be expensive points wise! Toxin Sacs is a good choice with them as they allow rerolls.
Elites
Hive Guard: Another brilliant sculpt by GW. I just love the chunkiness of this model and it's big gun! It was such a pleasure to paint these guys with their over the top weapons, claws and of course no EYES! A must have for this edition of the Tyranid codex, their main strength lies in the ability to put down 2 very precise shots per turn each at BS4, Str8. Perfect for taking out biker mobs (T8 instakill), Raiders and anything with an armour of less than 12 (4+ to Glance). I never leave home without at least 2 broods of them (either 2:2 or 3:3 depeding on pointage)
Heavy Support Carnifex: Beautifully sculpted model. While this model is armed with two sets of Scything Talons, it can swap those arms out for other weapon options as they are all magnetized. The rules for the Carnifex has been toned down to make for the introduction of the Trygon into the Nid list. I have been using the Fex mainly as a proxy for my Tervigon until GW actually makes the model.
Had a very cinematic game with Nick over the weekend. It wasn't so much the miniatures were painted or anything but the photo taking and the placement of models made the game very GW-esque. Peek into the photos that I took to see what I mean. I do believe it's due to the number of models and for some odd reason our placement of these models. I wish they were all painted though!
Hi there, in my recent conversations with Ray, I was saying how anythingbutones is really lacking some tactical content. I think mainly this is due to the nature of our game that we do not power-game. We are professionals at what we do for a living; we have vibrant lives and beautiful girlfriends. We are not your average geek-freak. BUT…. Nonetheless I think it is crucial we explore some of the ins and outs of 40k with some of our own experiences.
This time, I will talk a little bit about the combat philosophies behind playing against Tyranids as they are the army that I play against most. Please note, I ain’t claiming to be a gaming guru so if I am wrong, take a chill pill… You will get over it. I promise… J
As a space wolf player, I am very used to being outnumbered. Get used to it, learn to work with it, learn to love it as this is the way of the space marine. Lets face it, 40k is about creating and defending the options available for your units to execute on the playing field. If you lose a unit, you lose a set of options available for that unit and hence also to your army. How well you make use of these options depends on the way your list of units mutually support each other. Realistically to win at 40k is to preserve your units; keeping them alive so they can do more in the game.
Against nids, to win or break is governed by your deployment. There are a few reasons for this:
As sw fighting nids, chances are their initiative is higher than mine. Any foolish assault can yield horrible outcomes
Generally, space marines are better at shooting. Heavy weapons need to be stationary to shoot so an optimum vantage point for these units is very important during deployment
Nids are very fast. Their combat motive is to come to you. Let them do so while utilizing the distances the nids must travel to get to you as a killing field
The way I play it is to create tiers of defenses for the nids to cut through instead of leaving a big concentration to be gangbanged. Usually to do this, you want to funnel your opponents into your fire lanes.I do this with tanks. Since my grey hunters do not want to be out in the open, they will camp around ruins near objectives so that frees up my rhinos with double storm bolters to act as a mobile wall. There are many benefits to this as having only 6 turns to a game; the enemy must waste 1 turn to shoot/assault these rhinos. Sporting double storm bolters and also having the chance to explode on the nids is a huge benefit often overlooked not to mention it’s wreck could also become difficult terrain. In short, you need to micro manage the nids into chewable bite sizes.
Next topic to cover is the mutual supporting edges your units give each other.
I will start off with my vindicators and whirlwinds. The bottom line is since these units have a difference of range, the vindicator must be ahead of the whirlwind. And the vindicator must always shoot first being the stronger weapon. Whatever the demolisher cannon fails to kill, the whirlwind will mop up. Even against armies with better armor than nids, you still want to take weapons that use the large pie blast template. 40k being a game of chance, you force your opponent to take saves. With enough saves forced on your opponent even the strongest units will start taking wounds. Another reason to keep these units apart is the characteristic of a nid rush is usually a whole tide capable of multi-charging. Do not risk the chance of losing 2 units together if at all avoidable.
Dreadnoughts must always be around tactical squads. Many fluff driven players are mistaken in thinking dreadnoughts are super tanks able to take a lot and walk away. Basically they are beefier terminators with AV12 that can shoot heavy weapons and assault. In CQC, the tactical squads must take the blunt of the charge first. After the initial wave is absorbed, the dreadnought joins combat with a powerfist to mop up the unit or to further diminish the enemy squad. Being initiative 4, they are not too good 1 on 1 in CQC. Try to avoid the dreadnought being isolated as they are very very easy targets to kill.
HQ choices should be area control units. Some units CQC beasts but that doesn’t mean they should lead the charge all the way to the other end of the table but remain in close support range of your troops. I have said before on this blog that 5th ed. 40k is all about controlling the mid field. My rune priests are designed for this duty further digesting the tyranid tide into smaller pieces.
Finally in respect to target saturation, after all my games I always ask my opponent if they thought anything was especially scary. The best answer you can possibly get is “NO” . The reason for this is simple; you do not want anything glaringly powerful as they will often be the target of high priority. My trainings as an architect also echoes this thought as the strongest most enduring buildings are not the top of bottom heavy structures but buildings with the structural integrity to “share” the bulk of the load.
With all respect to the players that support and vouch their game to their named chapter heroes, you are treading in dangerous waters. Like a building, once the main beams are located and destroyed, the rest will also crumble.
Another more eye catching reason not to take named characters in below 2000 point games is the cost of these units. I try to run my lists as plain as can be. Some people argue decking out units with a macabre of wargear. I personally do not feel this is needed as all unit entries in the codex’ are inherently good at something if used properly. The key is to figure out what unit is effect against which unit and fielding them accordingly.
They say “knowing is half the battle” , Sun Tzu’s Art of War says “ If you don’t know yourself and don’t know your enemy, you will lose all the time; if you know yourself but not your enemy, you may win half the time; if you know yourself and know your enemy you will win ALL the time. Lets hope there is merit with Sun Tzu’s words in 40k.
To those who have read our Wargamer series, you would have realised that Comics Mart was a haven and a meeting spot for many of us especially those in this Group. The news below came in today and surprised me so I thought I would let you guys know about it first.
Comics Mart Closure - The End of an Era
As I am sure everyone is now aware of the closure of Comics Mart. After having spoken to quite a few of their customers who have dropped by recently, PI has decided that until the 18th of June 2010, we will be offering a 1 for 1 redemption per person with each Comics Mart Redemption card for PI membership (1 year validity).
In addition (that's right), we are giving away a $10.00 store credit voucher with each purchase ($20.00 spending and above) with each redemption.
So my Forgeworld Order arrived. And man was I excited at the prospect of many dreadnoughts for my new Blood Angel List!
First was this Furioso Dread. I could not resist the beauty of the Venerable Dread Model. I found the wings very appropriate for a BA dread with all the bling and wings the new range is getting! The arms are metal furioso arms from my old collection. And the Blood Talons are from the Bjorn the fell handed Dreadnought model. (I actually got this bitz from GW nottingham HQ when I was on holiday there in year 2000!!! Gosh it's been 10 years?!?!)
This Death Company Dreadnought 1 is my my old Furiosio Dread (that I have since not painted). And I have used the new forgeworld Close Combat Arms to represent the blood talons.
Similarly using the forgeworld CC arms on this simple Assault on Black Reach Dreadnought. I simply shaved off a little detail on the front. This shall be Death Company Dreadnought 2.
All the dreads for a groupshot! The painted dread at the back is a normal Multi-Melta Armed Dread. Now I'm awaiting the 4 droppods that I ordered from Maelstrom!!!
