Tag: goals

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Blood Angels Space Marines Miniature painting Miniatures Warhammer 40k

The next 1,000 points of Blood Angels

Having set my next painting goal — finish another thousand points of Blood Angels — I started thinking about what might comprise that thousand points.

Here’s what I currently have assembled as of October 27 (and in some cases, further along than that:

  • 1x Redemptor Dreadnought, Feo — 181 points (2x Storm Bolters, Onslaught Gatling Cannon, and either Macro Plasma Incinerator or Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon; points are the same for both main weapons)
  • 1x Contemptor Dreadnought, Duro — 153 points (I’m not sure I can avoid gluing his main weapon, unless I magnetize it, but the points are identical both ways)
  • 4x Sanguinary Guard, Squad Remiel — 136 points (Death Masks, 2x Encarmine Swords, 2x Encarmine Axe, 4x Angelus Boltgun)
  • 1x Sanguinary Ancient, Brother Abaoz — 85 points (Death Mask, Encarmine Sword, Angelus Boltgun)
  • 5x Primaris Infiltrators — 120 points (5x Marksman Bolt Carbine; points are the same whether they’re the back half of Squad Dolos or a new 5-man squad)

That’s 590 points right there (under 9th Edition rules), so a pretty good start.

I’ve been itching to paint a few other units, so I’ll drop them in here to get a feel for what might be good to include after the 12 models above:

  • 10x Hellblasters — 330-340 points (165 points per 5-man squad if I split them up that way; swapping the sergeant’s Bolt Pistol for a Plasma Pistol is +5 points per squad)
  • 5x Devastators — ~148 points (I haven’t delved into this kit in detail, but if I just pick my favorite weapons this is where I wind up)
  • 1x Stormtalon Gunship — 165-185 points (not sure what loadout I’d take on this one, I’m just excited to “convert” it to use the Stormhawk canopy)

Those three kits shake out around 650 points, with some fuzz factor — but even trading down to cheaper wargear they should certainly total more than 500 points. I’ve got some other kits on my radar, including a second Terminator Assault Squad (this time with 5x Lightning Claws) and a plain vanilla Tactical Squad — plus a couple of one-off kitbashes, like Captain Aphael and a Terminator Ancient.

It’s surprisingly easy to hit 500 points with three kits, especially if one’s a vehicle and one’s an elite unit. Nothing wrong with that! I’ve got some options to mull over, but my next thousand points is going to be fun to build and paint.

Out now: The Unlucky Isles

The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is now on DriveThruRPG.
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Blood Angels Space Marines Miniature painting Miniatures Warhammer 40k WIP it good

Five units of WIP, Terminator color guide, and a new painting goal

Lots of ground to cover in this omnibus post!

Post-army painting goal

I’ve been mulling over what painting goal to set for myself after finishing my initial 2,000-point army, and this morning it hit me: a new point total is the perfect goal for me. So that’s my next miniatures goal: paint another 1,000 points of Blood Angels.

Unlike “finish the 2nd Company,” which limits what I can paint (because of the Blood Angels’ force organization), painting another thousand points gives me freedom on that front — but also a manageable, specific goal. At my current pace 1,000 points should take me 3-4 months to complete, and will give me lots of new army options when I can finally play the game.

Terminator Assault Squad color guide

Squad Barakiel includes a few elements I’ll forget in a month, so as always I’m writing down the colors I used for them. This is GW’s parade ready guide with a couple of minor tweaks.

  • Red: Mephiston Red > Agrax Earthshade > Evil Sunz Scarlet > Fire Dragon Bright
  • Gold: Retributor Armour > Reikland Fleshshade > Auric Armour Gold > Liberator Gold
  • Black: Abaddon Black > Eshin Grey > Dawnstone
  • Metal: Leadbelcher > Nuln Oil > Stormhost Silver
  • Parchment and cloth: Rakarth Flesh > Agrax Earthshade > Pallid Wych Flesh > White Scar
  • White skulls and braided cords: Celestra Grey > Drakenhof Nightshade > Ulthuan Grey > White Scar
  • Hammer grips: Khorne Red > Agrax Earthshade > Wazdakka Red > 50/50 blend of Wazdakka Red/Kislev Flesh
  • Purple gems: Screamer Pink > Agrax Earthshade > Pink Horror > Emperor’s Children
  • Green gems: Moot Green > Agrax Earthshade > Moot Green
  • Eyes and lenses: Moot Green > Agrax Earthshade > Moot Green
  • Sergeant’s sensor cable: Macragge Blue > Drakenhof Nightshade > Altdorf Guard Blue > Calgar Blue

WIP it good, WIP it miscellaneous

My main project this week is finishing up Squad Barakiel (the last one I need for my first army!), but because I never let my “minis queue” run dry I’ve also got four other units on the go in various stages:

  • Feo, my Redemptor Dread, is getting primed
  • Duro (“harsh” in Italian), my Contemptor Dread, is assembled and awaiting basing
  • Brother Abaoz, my Sanguinary Ancient, has emerged from storage and is getting base-coated alongside…
  • Squad Remiel, my Sanguinary Guard, who I cut from my army when 9th Edition made everything more expensive, points-wise
Squad Barakiel partway through base-coating
Feo, 1st Company Contemptor Dreadnought

The Contemptor is perhaps the cheapest date I’ve encountered yet, assembly-wise — he’s simpler than some of the single Marines I’ve put together! The downside is that he has almost zero posability, which is always a bit of a bummer. But I put him together in under an hour, from sprue to fully assembled; for a large unit that’s pretty minimal.

I have a feeling he’ll be one of those figures that shines once he’s painted, when his boring pose comes to life.

Barakiel (left, on the handles), Feo (front and center), and Abaoz and Squad Remiel (back edge of the mat)
Dang, my lamp is really dusty!
Squad Remiel seeing paint for the first time since…August, I think? Maybe July?

I think of this stage as “a clown ate a bunch of crayons and took a shit on these minis,” because they look so bad when I’m done base-coating them. Then the clown cleans up a bit of his shit during touch-ups — and after that, every stage makes the mini look better and better. Needing to believe in that future while I’m base-coating is part of what makes this stage take so long.

The clown has finished relieving himself — Squad Barakiel is now fully base-coated!

I’m driving pretty hard at wrapping up Barakiel before the end of the month. Will it happen? We shall see!

Out now: The Unlucky Isles

The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is now on DriveThruRPG.
Categories
Blood Angels Space Marines Miniature painting Miniatures Warhammer 40k

Post-army goals

When I started painting my Blood Angels army, my goal was to have 2,000 points done by the end of summer so that I could start playing at my local shop. Over the summer it became clear that the pandemic was going to make that impossible, and by August I was pretty sure that “sometime in 2021, maybe” was a reasonable target for actually playing 9th Edition 40k for the first time.

Losing that goal was a bit of a motivation-killer. But I still had my main goal: paint my first 2,000-point army, sometime I’ve wanted to do for 30 years. That one remains a powerful motivator.

But given that I’ve spent most of the past three decades not being a miniature painter (except sporadically, and generally only as a means to an end), I want to make sure “paint just for the fun of it” is a viable goal. And on its own, I think it needs a little something to make it work. Because while it does feel liberating, as I look at the 11 partially painted models that remain to paint for my first army, to think about painting whatever the heck I want after that, I know me; I need a concrete goal.

Squads Zahariel (left) and Barakiel (right), so close!

So what could that goal be? One idea that occurred to me this morning was finishing out the 2nd Company. I’ve always notionally considered myself to be painting a 2nd Company army, despite really painting a strike force composed of elements of the 1st, 2nd, and 10th Companies (not to mention the Reclusiam, etc.).

I have seven squads unassigned in the 2nd, and doing them as a mix of old-school and Primaris Marines, plus their dedicated transports and my planned kitbash of Captain Aphael, should provide a pleasing mix of units to paint for the next several months.

In terms of other possible goals, “Paint units that give me new options” makes some sense — but it’s a bit fuzzy since I haven’t played yet and don’t know what new options will actually appeal to me, rules-wise. And it’s pretty close to just painting by Rule of Cool, which is fine but not a terribly concrete goal.

“Paint Blood Angels-y units” might be a good refinement on that one: deep strike squads, close combat figures, and the HQ units to support them. But I know if I go that route I’ll be wistfully eyeing the Stormhawk, Razorback, Devastators, and other kits under my desk which don’t quite fit that brief but are going to be a blast to paint.

At the moment, “finish the 2nd Company” is the best goal I’ve come up with. I’ll see if any others shake loose.

Out now: The Unlucky Isles

The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is now on DriveThruRPG.