Here’s a little old/new paint job comparison. It’s not night and day, but I can see the benefit of experience!
From left to right, the Infiltrators are July 2023, May 2020, July 2023; Chaplains are July 2020, July 2023.
I put in a couple sleepless nights getting the three new models ready for a 40k game. It was great to get back to painting Blood Angels!
The biggest changes are attempting proper edge highlighting, pin washes rather than all-over washes on armor, and being sparing with the final highlights. My brush control isn’t where I’d like it to be yet, but it has improved.
Thinking about how these will look in play, older paint jobs mixed with newer ones, reminded me of something I wanted to get up here on Yore for posterity.
A few years back I saw a post on Twitter that has quietly become one of my miniature-painting hobby touchstones. (I wish I’d taken a screenshot!)
It was a photo of thousands of points of 40k models from the same faction, some of which were quite clearly painted differently than the rest.
The poster noted that those were his older models, and that instead of being frustrated they didn’t match he looked at it like this: It’d be sad if they didn’t look any different, because that would mean he’d never made any progress as a painter.
I love that.
Digging Yore? Check out my book!
The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is available in print and PDF.
“I’ll get to play with these” has been a powerful motivator since I got rolling in 2020, and I’ve always speculated that “I played and I like/didn’t like X, I need to paint some Y for my next game” would be similarly powerful.
Kill Team has produced that cycle for me, except instead of X being my team and Y being something new for my team, Y is just more teams. Every time I play, especially when I’m “curating” the whole experience in home games (providing the board, terrain, minis, rules, etc.), I want more options available.
That cycle has now kicked into gear with my Blood Angels, my largest and oldest 40k army. I’ve played two short games, enough to get an idea of what I like in play and what I wish I could field, and now that I’ve got a larger game — 1,000 points! — on the calendar for this week, I’m scrambling to paint three minis so I can field them right away.
Helix gauntlet and comms array Infiltrators on the left, Chaplain on the right
I want a sixth Infiltrator to form a complete kill team (joining the five I already have painted), and he and a seventh have the wargear I didn’t model on my Infiltrator squad because it wasn’t free in 8th or 9th and I needed the points. Now that it’s free, and I’ve seen that Infiltrators are fun to play, the helix gauntlet and comms array should come in handy.
I had to kitbash the helix gauntlet, which doesn’t come in the kit. Google turned up a great idea on Funnyjunk, of all places: use the comms array guy’s arm, shave down a couple of grenades for the medical lights, and add a needle. I had an extra comms arm; I trimmed off an Infiltrator backpack antenna for the needle.
I’ve also shied away from fielding my Death Company lads because of their mechanics: They’re not as good without a Chaplain, but they have jump packs and my Chaplain, Arrius, does not. So it’s time to paint a jump-chap, and hey I have this resin guy just hanging around…
Hello, resin, my old “friend”
Chaplain with jump pack color guide
Same base as my other Blood Angels, of course, and as always these recipes are based on the GW studio recipes with some tweaks. Nothing is drybrushed unless noted.
Jump pack jets: Caledor Sky > Drakenhof Nightshade all-over wash > Temple Guard Blue > Baharroth Blue
It’s been ages since I painted a purity seal, and I’ve forgotten what color I used to scribble the freehand “writing” on the parchments. This time I wrote it down!
Digging Yore? Check out my book!
The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is available in print and PDF.
Most of my wargaming has been done with folks I already knew, or if it was with folks I didn’t know it was in the context of a convention (where that’s kind of the norm). Until today, I’d somehow never actually met up to play a game with a stranger before.
My local shop, Mox Boarding House, has a Discord server where folks arrange games. Jason and I set up a match online and met up to play on July 9th. I suggested the Seize Ground because it’s a straightforward classic (and my go-to for introducing folks to the game).
I brought the same team I’d played two days before, my Blood Angels Tactical Marines: leader with a bolter, 3 grunts with bolters, 1 heavy bolter guy, and Mr. Plasma. Jason brought 10 Veteran Guardsmen, which is too many for me to remember all their special roles — but they were all painted like Catachan/Vietnam War/Predator dudes, and modeled after ’80s action icons. Awesome!
(I confirmed beforehand that it was cool to take and share these pics.)
I like deploying in three two-man teams. It’s served me pretty well every time.The rad ’80s action warriors deployed.Our board layout using the shop’s terrain library (which is pretty danged nice).First blood (ahem). This Guardsman got his ass shot off…within range of the medic. The variety of the Guard roles is really nifty.
Through clever deployment and play, Jason kept every Guardsman but that one completely out of harm’s way in turn one. Lots of conceal orders in cover meant zero uses of Bolter Discipline and zero overwatch shots for me.
A steady advance, claiming objectives.
Jason’s sniper ascended to a vantage point in turn one, advanced to a firing position in turn two, and was a menace. He could fire with a conceal order, and short of me abandoning my approach (all Bolter Discipline, a steady advance to his side of the battlefield) and scrambling up there there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
Next to him, also perfectly concealed and still 100% active? The spotter, who called in a guided missile strike in turn two and an airstrike in turn three.
The source of about a third of my problems.
This was my first encounter with a melta gun — ever! — and now I want one in every squad. Jason used the Confidant Guardsman to pair up Rambo (on the right) with the melta dude, and that melta straight-up deleted my leader.
The Guardsmen are individually fragile, but they have a ton of neat tools in their bag of tricks.
My leader moments before he got microwaved.Towards the end of turn two.Lesson learned: Do not, under any circumstances, engage Sgt. Slaughter and his chainsword in melee combat.Near the end of the game.
I haven’t had a dud game of Kill Team yet, and this one was no exception. Jason is a super nice dude and a cagey opponent, and this match was a blast.
Tactical Marines are straightforward in ways I can wrap my head around, and their relentless consistency allows them to apply a lot of pressure. I’m learning that an apparently slow first turn, which has been a feature of both of my last two games with this team, isn’t necessarily an ill omen.
As long as I’m taking good firing positions and controlling objectives while moving up, I can maintain that pressure — and the opportunities for most of the squad to double-shoot all at once will come.
Although looking at the other Space Marine fire team options, the way I play these guys I should really paint up a team of Intercessors — who can only take various bolters, punch better in melee, and have more wounds — and run them as an all-Bolter Discipline force.
Digging Yore? Check out my book!
The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is available in print and PDF.
Reagan and I got together on July 7th for our second match, Tyranids (him) vs. Blood Angels (me) playing the Secure Archaeotech mission.
I’m not sure I have the stamina to post a battle report for every game I play, but as long as I do and it’s fun I’m going to keep doing it. It’s just so damned exciting actually seeing my little war mans running around and getting played with!
The ‘nids are the first team I’ve painted up explicitly for Kill Team, so for now they only come in one version: 3 Tyranid Warriors (venom cannon plus melee, weaponbeast, and deathspitter/melee) and 4 Genestealers (2 scything/rending, 3 double rending).
This was my second outing with my Blood Angels, and I’d fought against them once, so I knew what I wanted: Bolter Discipline. My plan was to buy that ploy every single turn, so I had my leader with a bolter, 1 heavy bolter guy, 3 grunts with bolters, and 1 plasma gunner. (In hindsight, against a team where 5/8 have an invulnerable save, I should just have foregone plasma for a sixth bolter.)
Board layout is definitely more art than science, but take three — with input from both of us — was the most fun setup yet.
I put something like 25-30 hours into reworking my Genestealers and painting up the Warriors so they’d be ready for today. Having an upcoming match on the calendar is a great painting motivator!
This meeting of G.R.O.S.S. (Get Rid Of Slimy Space marines, shout out to my fellow Calvin and Hobbes fans) is now called to order.My squad during deployment.Reagan’s tendril of Hive Fleet Balaur deploys in conga line formation.Marines move up.Angry space bugs approach, ominouslyStepping out for the first shot of the game. I need to name this guy at some point.
For the entire first Turning Point, I felt like I was living Aliens. I’d built the Tyranid team, so I had a good idea how fearsome they were. Six dudes against eight of these multi-limbed monstrosities felt like it could only go one way (badly for the six dudes).
Reagan held me, if memory serves, one dead Genestealer and nearly zero shots on his entire team, and I don’t think I got a single overwatch shot. This felt like a perfect first turn for the bugs, and it was super frustrating to play against (in a fun way!).
A Tyranid Warrior advances.
I adore the way base size matters in Kill Team. I figured the Tyranids — on 50 mm bases — would be easy to shoot, but maybe also have good lines of sight for shooting because their heads were so high.
What hadn’t considered, and what Reagan immediately figured out, was that it’s really easy to keep a model on a 50 mm base with a conceal order in cover, denying the shooty red lads all their shooty.
The conga line breaks up.A Marine is about to have a bad day.Bolter Discipline, step up to ensure zero cover, dakka dakka dakka.One heavy bolter, 17/18 wounds on the Warrior!This felt very tactical, very Space Marine-y: spread out but with good reason, taking cover and vantage points, advancing with purpose.Venom cannon vs. plasma. At scale, that cannon is like 12 feet long!The venom cannon continues to put in the work.One of our final confrontations, Reagan’s leader vs. a Marine who was carrying one objective and hovering around another.
My die rolls were consistently good, while a surprising number of Reagan’s rolls really stank. If he hadn’t been rolling cold, this could easily have turned into a win for the bugs.
Pretty much every time a bug got into melee, a Marine got deleted. I stood off as best I could, and in hindsight (as in I’m realizing it right now, as I write this post!) those early activations when I couldn’t shoot much weren’t such a bad thing. They set me up for a pivotal turn two, when advancing on my dudes meant getting shot a whole bunch.
Kill Team is really hitting every mark for me, and it’s a 9/10 game well on its way to being a 10/10.
Digging Yore? Check out my book!
The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is available in print and PDF.
He didn’t have a strong preference for a team, so suggested he play the Marines. We built our teams from my available options, and I set the board up for the Seize Ground mission. This layout used everything I learned from my first board, plus an additional piece of terrain.
We skipped equipment (learning game!), but did use secondary objectives.
The board after initial deployment, Skrudd’s Krumpas on the left and Squad Karios on the rightDeployment from my sideReagan’s initial deployment
This game was when I started seeing Kill Team as a series of decisive moments. Sometimes you know it’s decisive and plan around it, and other times it’s not revealed to have been decisive until the match has ended. This one one of those moments: Reagan parking his Missile Launcher Marine behind cover with a clear lane of fire caused my problems for the entire game!
So many booms
The pressure from Reagan’s Marines was relentless. I don’t think I landed a single shot on them in the first TP, and I didn’t land many in the second. His positioning walled me off from his half of the board.
Mr. Pink Hair survived more rockets than I expected (my picture stinks, but I wanted to commemorate the moment)Pretty sure this is during the second Turning Point
Playing as the Orks, it was hard to poke my head out because every time I did a Marine shot that Ork’s ass off. Lark had the same experience. I resolved to push through that as best I could so my guys could get properly stuck in. TP one was figuring out potshots were going to lose me the game, TP two was getting into position for charges.
Advancing on the Missile Launcher Marine’s position was one of my most decisive playsPlasma + vantage point: just as brutal for my Orks as it was for Lark’s Orks in my previous game
The board was much more cluttered and engaging this time around. We agreed it might even be too cluttered in places, especially where the gaps were too narrow for bases. It’s hard to think about every angle when setting up the table (art, not science). I learned some good stuff to take into my next setup.
Getting stuck in
I can’t remember the VP tally at the end of the first Turning Point, but it was either tied or Reagan had a slight lead. In the second, I held him to a 0-0 tie for that round’s scoring. I lost Orks in both rounds.
Turning Point three was where I clinched the game, taking out 5/6 of his Marines while I still had enough bodies scattered about to claim objectives — the fruits of my careful second turn getting into position. Orks in close combat are pretty fearsome.
The death toll partway through the third Turning PointBoard state in Turning Point three, with the Plasma Marine on the board’s central vantage point — a devastating position, but also very exposedMy best roll of the game, a shot with my Rokkit LaunchaMy MVPs, although they spent the early game mostly hiding; in Turning Point three, they put in the workSkrudd and a Boy claiming two objectives; if Skrudd had died, this battle would have gone differently (and he got close!)The final showdown between Sergeant Karios and an Ork Boy on the brink of death)Board state at the end of the final Turning Point (three)
This game was a delight! Reagan and I have been friends for years, but I don’t think we’ve played a wargame together before. He’s a great opponent.
A second game really opened up some of the strategic and tactical depth Kill Team offers. I’m not even engaging the layer of “this team vs. that team means X,” or optimal play of my team, or the wider meta. But even just at my newb level, there’s a lot to chew on here.
Using secondary objectives was a lot of fun. Reagan almost scored one of his, but the turning tide of kill counts axed it. Out of our other five cards, we scored zero of them — but agreed they’d been fun to consider (and mess up) during play.
We got a few things wrong, but also tackled some corner cases and learned a lot during our game. I’m holding more Kill Team in my head now, which I like.
Another match is already on the calendar, and I’m furiously painting Tyranids and Grey Knights so our team options can go up from two to four.
Digging Yore? Check out my book!
The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is available in print and PDF.
One June 21st, Lark and I played our first game of Kill Team, and it was a blast. This was also the first time I’ve ever played a minis game where I’d painted everything on the table.
Skrudd’s Krumpas on the left, Squad Karios on the right
I got out all the valid options I had for two teams, Greenskins (two Boyz fire teams) and Astartes (one Tactical Marine fire team), Lark picked the Orks, and then we each knocked together a team in BattleScribe based mainly on which minis looked the coolest.
All of my model options for these two teams
Like playing BattleTech with my kiddo for the first time, this whole experience was an absolute joy. It would have been a joy even with Lego people and cereal boxes, but having everything painted was the cherry on top. We both found it immersive to play with painted minis — honestly, I’m still shocked how much of a difference it makes.
The final teams, Skrudd’s Krumpas vs. Squad Karios
A light battle report
We played a learning game, leaving out equipment and secondary objectives; I figured we had enough rules to think about for a first game without those. I set up the board based on feedback from r/KillTeam about my test layout, making sure both teams could deploy in cover, no single vantage point could dominate the board, and both halves were similar.
I picked Loot and Salvage for the mission, since it seemed straightforward: long-edge deployment, simple objectives.
The board setup
Lark took some of these photos, but we were just passing my phone back and forth so I’m not sure which ones. If it’s a good photo…it’s probably one of Lark’s!
Half of Srkudd’s Krumpas at deploymentThe other halfMost of Squad Karios at deploymentMy other two MarinesPlasma + vantage point seemed like a good ideaWe tussled over this objective for about half the game
In this mission, you score 1 VP every time you loot an objective. Lark was really good at trading Gretchin for 1 VP (a good trade!). My Marine’s toughness kept all of them alive for the first Turning Point.
All tied up at the end of the first Turning Point, but no Marine casualties yetSecond Turning Point, Ork viewSecond Turning Point, Marine viewOrks moving inOrk Boyz with ‘eavy weapons
I had to pick Sergeant Karios as my leader — he was the first Blood Angel I finished back in 2020. I forgot he was in my case for my first 40k game, so this Kill Team match was the sarge’s first deployment.
One of the key fights in the second Turning PointSquad Karios hogging objectivesThis guy survived a lot of fireThis Boy and his Big Shoota put in the workAs did this Marine and his Heavy BolterMr. Pink Hair cleaning out objective 5Mr. Pink Hair (we both really liked this guy, and he was fun to paint)I can’t remember who had a very bad day here, but based on the number of dice the shot had to be from Lark’s Big Shoota or my Heavy BolterSkrudd, near death but tough as nails
We called the game partway into the third Turning Point. We cleared every objective, but I cleared more in the second Turning Point.
End of the second Turning Point, during which Lark wiped out my Plasma guy
Lark and I both had a great time with this match, and we’re already looking forward to our next one. Lark’s a sharp kid with a real wargaming spirit, and an excellent opponent.
It’s been three months since we first planned to play, partly because I’m a pretty slow painter. Deciding not to wait until the teams we originally picked — Novitiates and Corsairs — were done, and instead to play with forces I already had on hand, was a good call. Playing trumps not playing!
Post-match thoughts
I missed some stuff in the rules, no surprise there. The biggest thing was not being able to select an action more than once during an activation — part of why we cleared all six objectives (18 loot actions) in less than three Turning Points. That’s what learning games are for, though, and after one play we both had a pretty solid grasp of the game.
With the benefit of hindsight and one play worth of experience, this match-up was a challenging one for Lark’s Greenskins. If I were to do it over with these two teams, I’d recommend that the player with less wargaming experience play the Marines: They’re good at everything, quite tough, and you don’t have a pile of models to worry about.
This board probably had too many relatively clear fire lanes (which also benefitted my Marines more often than it did Lark’s Orks), and felt like it needed one more piece of medium/large terrain. (When I set up the board for my second game, a couple days later, I worked on remedying that.) KT boards are more art than science, and I can see how every iteration will make it easier to spot the potential hang-ups in a given layout.
End-on view of our board for this game
Kill Team combines 40k and Necromunda into a tight, rich package that’s relatively easy to learn, quicker to play than 40k, and full of tactical and strategic depth.
I also dig that I’ve reached the point where I can provide all the stuff for a complete game: board, terrain, two teams, etc. I can’t do that with 40k, and won’t be able to for ages. All of that combines to make KT much easier to get to the table than 40k.
As I write this post I’ve already played a second KT game, also a blast. Kill Team is shaping up to be one of my favorite games.
Digging Yore? Check out my book!
The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is available in print and PDF.
While working on my Corsair Voidscarred kill team, I spent a few days reading about Aeldari and Corsairs and noodling about names. I adore the warband name “Sunblitz Brotherhood,” and that’s the energy I wanted to capture.
I jotted down all sorts of ideas, but eventually returned to one of my first good ones: the Void Tigers.
WIP shot: My Corsair kill team, three of Lark’s Novitiates, and a pile of KT terrain (March 18, 2023)
Yes, there are already Void Dragons and Void Warriors, but there are also Eldritch Raiders, Sky Raiders, Dusk Raiders, and several other Raiders (and Sky Reavers and Skyslayers). There are thousands of Anhrathe warbands and kill teams out there, and the Aeldari know a good theme when they see one. I’m cool with some overlap.
Void Tigers lore
The Void Tigers are a tight-knit band of pirates, a mix of outcasts, escaped prisoners, looters, hunters, assassins, and freebooters. My kill team is part of the Golden Dirge warband, united by its members’ common belief: The universe is in its final centuries, so why not kill, plunder, and have some fun on the way out? The Void Tigers live by this credo, carving a bloody path through the stars and living it up on their ill-gotten gains.
The Golden Dirge operates from a fleet of voidships, giving them the ability to strike just about anywhere. The Void Tigers’ ship is the notorious Final Embrace, which has plagued the space ways for centuries.
Kill team roster
As of March 2023, I’ve built nine Void Tigers. My rule of thumb for Aeldari names is, “If Kylo Ren thought of this name while he was shopping at Hot Topic, would he think it was cool?” They’ve gotta be the right amount of extra, emo, and 40k — which is a fun balance to try to strike.
Felarch: Iradel Voidlight, Strider of the Glittering Way, a flamboyant pirate who thinks “too far” is a good start. Raised on Alaitoc craftworld, Iradel chafed at the stultifying purity and boredom of Aeldari society.
Heavy Gunner: Morroruin Vathesh Maulathar, who left the Lugganath craftworld to experience this world for as long as it exists, rather than fleeing into the Webway with his kin.
Kurnathi: Celayla, Daughter of Isedra, Wielder of the Star-Shards, an assassin who once trained with the Harlequins.
Kurnite Hunter: Ralial Firehawk, devout follower of Kurnous. Imprisoned for poaching on Ulthwé craftworld, Ralial is now a bounty hunter who excels at finding valuable targets for the Void Tigers.
Shade Runner: Xynha Veshan of the Bloodweb, an assassin and former Drukhari Wych Cult member hiding out from her comrades.
Starstorm Duellist: Xirhadru Meleer Eth’ar Lidaena Duskwarp, a reckless thrill-seeker who loves nothing better than a good duel and the excitement of combat.
Warrior (shuriken rifle): Vyparis the Bloody Thorn, a Drukhari pleasure-seeker who grew weary of his Kabal’s obsession with pain.
Warrior (shuriken pistol and power sword): Ylloné of the Citrine Shadow, a brash swashbuckler who spent centuries in the employ of various rogue traders before finding the Void Tigers.
Way Seeker: Siac-Zar, who abandoned the Iyanden craftworld to its fate so that she could live a life of excess among the stars.
Void Tigers color guide
Revised 7/1/23: I was originally planning to paint each Corsair differently, but in hindsight I think that’s been making the project feel too intimidating. Plus the classic warbands all have a color scheme — it’s how you know who’s stealing your shit.
So I’m going to paint the Void Tigers with armor in matching colors, plus a unifying element: orange and black tiger-striped back “blades” (or Blink Pack, for the Shade Runner).
As always, the recipes below are the Citadel studio recipes with some tweaks. Nothing is drybrushed unless noted.
Bases
The main recipe comes from the White Dwarf Basing Cookbook.
Back “blades” and Blink Pack: Jokaero Orange > Abaddon black tiger stripes, applied in a single coat > very light Jokaero Orange drybrush along the edges only, to provide highlights
Leather: Dryad Bark > Agrax Earthshade all-over wash > Gorthor Brown > Baneblade Brown
Gems: Stegadon Scale Green > Coelia Greenshade all-over wash > Sotek Green in a crescent from 2 o’clock to 8 o’clock > Temple Guard Blue in a smaller crescent over the Sotek Green area > dot of White Scar at 11 o’clock
In early 2021, I did a year-end retrospective photo for 2020 — the year I got back into miniature painting. I painted 97 miniatures that year, and I had a blast; returning to an old hobby I’d never quite clicked with (it’s complicated) was a perfect lockdown activity.
By contrast, 2021 saw my enthusiasm flagging. I started the year strong, but finished just keeping my hobby streak alive. I didn’t do a year-end photo.
2022 was about the same as 2022. I wasn’t planning to do a photo for last year, either, for pretty much the same reason: I figured it’d be disheartening.
But in December I got back into BattleTech, and also saw how close I was to finishing some killer 40k terrain pieces, and got excited to crank some stuff out. So I finished the year stronger than expected, and that led me to get off my butt and take retrospective photos for 2021 and 2022.
Everything I painted in 2021
In 2021, I painted Deathskulls Orks for my Waaagh!, Moonkrumpa’s Megalootas
I painted 15 models in 2021: two Killa Kans, Skraggit (left) and Stikkit (right); a Deff Dread, Facepeela; my Taurox Trukk conversion, Da Fancy Wun; and a squad of Boyz, Thragg’s Deff Ladz.
2021 was my first time trying an ambitious conversion, mashing together a Taurox with an Ork Trukk; I documented the whole process in a five-post series. (Here’s part one.) 2021 also marked the first time I used green stuff as well as the first time I magnetized any models. (Facepeela’s lower arms are magnetized.)
As I got these minis off the shelf for their photo, it was like seeing old friends. I’m not an amazing painter, but every mini I finished in 2021 brought me joy — and they still do. Skraggit and Da Fancy Wun are two of my favorite models I’ve ever painted.
Everything I painted in 2022
I set out to finish a Kill Team board’s worth of terrain in 2022, and while I didn’t quite get there I came pretty close.
All of the 40k terrain I painted in 2022, plus five Genestealers and a mantis
In 2022 I painted 25 models: 18 pieces of 40k/Kill Team terrain, 6 Genestealers (for Kill Team), and a giant mantis as a Christmas gift for Lark.
Terrain feels all fast and exciting at first, with a big ol’ sprayed-on primer and base coat in one, and a big ol’ wash. And then the details start to add up, and add up, and it’s not a breezy summer morning anymore. But it’s still fun!
I enjoy painting terrain. It’s a great palate cleanser, with big brushes and bold sections and — with the vibe I’m going for — plenty of excuses to weather with gusto.
It was also fun combining two 40k terrain lines, Manufactorum and Mechanicus, into what I think is a cohesive dystopian manufacturing facility. Both incorporate tea/bone and dark red, and I’ve built all my stuff to be durable, interoperable, and still offer a decent amount of customization for layouts and variations.
Here’s a top-down shot showing one possible layout.
Most of my finished 40k terrain
All of the walls/railings on the gantries are placed so that pieces can still connect in a couple places. Ladders are placed and oriented with the same goal in mind. And all the ground-level pipe connection points are tea/bone, so (hopefully) the two terrain sets blend into one another.
I guess technically I’m combining the Munitorum line as well, but those containers, crates, and barrels are so plug-and-play it hardly counts. I do them in colors not present in the other stuff, so they’ll stand out.
I’m glad I got all this stuff out an photographed it. 2021 and 2022 combined didn’t match my output in 2020, but I painted some stuff I’m proud of — and hopefully I’ll get to use it eventually.
And I got a surprise in January: Lark expressed an interest in playing 40k and Kill Team. I’m pretty sure I can cobble together two Kill Teams or two 500-point armies, so if I finish my last few pieces of terrain — a huge gantry/tank combo, another ruined building, a sacred radiator, and some scatter terrain — the two of us could get some games in this year. That would be awesome!
Digging Yore? Check out my book!
The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is available in print and PDF.
I never thought I’d hold a box of 40k Squats again!
Happy day!
Squats were my first 40k army back in the mid-1990s, although I had an “army” of maybe 1-2 squads and 40k didn’t really click for Past Martin. When I got back into the game, and really became a miniature painter, in 2020, Squats hadn’t been a 40k army in many, many moons.
Now they’re the Leagues of Votann, and called Kin rather than Squats (except when they’re not, I guess, since these are Ironhead Squat Prospectors?), with awesome lore, a more serious treatment, and an updated look — which someone on RPGnet described as “practical blue-collar sci-fi,” and dang but that’s a perfect description.
I don’t play Necromunda (yet…), but my plan is to buy every model GW puts out for the Leagues — and either 1) start playing Necromunda, which I should be able to do with the terrain I have for KT and 40k, or 2) kitbash or otherwise use these models, or bits therefrom, in a 40k Kin army, Kill Team, or both.
Space dwarves rule.
Digging Yore? Check out my book!
The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is available in print and PDF.
Last night I finished my first minis since May 20, 2021: one Hive Fleet Balaur Fire Team for Kill Team, a unit of Genestealers. These guys were a ton of fun to paint, and given that I started them on April 8, went on a short vacation, and worked on my Warriors during the 16 days it took me to finish them, I feel pretty much back on track with painting.
Hive Fleet Blue Steel
Their underbellies creep me out a bitGolden anglesFrontBack
I figured I’d shoot one with some terrain, too.
Hive Fleet Balaur scuttling through the ruins
And why not take advantage of the rare opportunity to do a before/after? I painted the blue/pink Genestealers (from Space Hulk) in 2012. It’s not quite “10 years later,” though, because I didn’t paint anything from 2012 to 2020, when I got back into painting and starting both taking it seriously and actually enjoying it. So it’s really more of a “two years of progress” before/after, since this is how I was painting in 2020.
Current way vs. old way, front viewRear view
Nid thoughts
This was my second time glazing, and the first time I haven’t painted over my efforts and gone with a different technique. (I tried glazing a Custodes sword several times, but just couldn’t get it right.) My glazing isn’t great, but these first four Scything Blades taught me quite a bit; I’m hoping to improve my technique as I work on my Warriors.
I’ve also never used dotting tools before. Still room for improvement there as well, but there’s just not that much surface to work with on Genestealers and I didn’t want to overwhelm their shading. The Warriors’ carapaces are a larger canvas, so I’m looking to step up my game on them.
As a splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Leviathan, I like how my twist on Leviathan’s color scheme turned out. There are at least two official Leviathan color guides out there (one in White Dwarf and one on Warhammer TV), but the main differences between Leviathan and Balaur are the toxic green claws and spotted carapaces.
My goal for these Genestealers was to evoke brightly-colored bugs and poison dart frogs, and to combine that with a “snake’s underbelly” body color for an unsettling — maybe even unpleasant — look that befits the terrifying nature of Tyranids.
Digging Yore? Check out my book!
The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is available in print and PDF.
Digging Yore? Check out my book!
