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Blood Angels Space Marines Grey Knights Miniatures Warhammer 40k

My first game of 40k since 1993: Blood Angels vs. Dark Angels

Despite a near-lifelong simmering love for the 40k universe, until this past weekend I’d only played 40k once or twice. That was back in 1993, when I pitted a box of Squats against my then-girlfriend’s Tyranids for a game or two. For a variety of reasons — some good, some irrational, let’s file them all under “it’s complicated” — I wrote off 40k for the next, uh, 27 years.

In 2020, I decided to start painting 40k minis with an eye to maybe playing the game again at some point. The pandemic’s “official” start date, March 12, was about two weeks later, so I spent the next three years painting 40k minis without actually playing the game. That got me properly into miniature painting as a hobby in its own right.

But once things opening up again lined up with a shift in my family’s pandemic risk calculations, it was time to kick those 40k tires. So on June 10, 2023, I met up with my friend Shay to play the first game of 40k I’d played in 30 years — with two fully painted forces, on a fully painted table, to boot! It was a blast.

Blood Angels vs. Dark Angels

We played a stripped-down 9th Edition Combat Patrol learning game: no CP, no stratagems, no secondary objectives. Shay is a veteran 40k player, but hadn’t played in several years; we muddled through things together.

40k, at least in 9th edition, is an odd mix of relatively simple rules but a complex array of extras, fiddly bits, and exceptions. Even with all the stuff we ignored, it still took us two hours to play two rounds. A fun two rounds! But it’s a commitment.

I know we got some stuff wrong, but despite that, and even after just a single game, the strategic and tactical decision space has opened up for me. I learned stuff; I’d build my force and play differently next time. I came away with plenty of rules questions, but those will smooth out over time. The bones are sturdy. This is a game I’d love to keep playing.

A light battle report

Due to some technical hurdles, we had to work out Shay’s points on the spot with only my copy of the Adeptus Astartes Codex for reference. Those points have changed over the years since that book came out — which didn’t occur to us at the time — so in hindsight I had an unintentional 52-point edge on Shay. I’m also pretty sure 2x Plasma Cannon isn’t a valid option, and I forgot to get my Sergeant out of the case (the first Blood Angel model I painted for 40k, no less!).

Our scenario was Incisive Attack, minus the secondary objectives.

Blood Angels, 497 pts.

  • Chaplain Arrius
  • Close Combat TerminatorsSquad Barakiel – 1st Company, 1st Squad – 4 Terminators led by Sergeant Barakiel (5x Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield)
  • Tactical MarinesSquad Karios – 2nd Company, 1st Squad – 7 Space Marines (6x Bolter, 1x Heavy Bolter) led by Sergeant Karios (Chain Sword and Hand Flamer)
  • Primaris InfiltratorsSquad Dolos – 2nd Company, 3rd Squad – 4 Space Marines led by Sergeant Dolos (5x Marksman Bolt Carbine)

Dark Angels, 445 pts.

  • Terminator Captain (Storm Bolter, Power Sword)
  • Terminators – 5 Terminators (4x Storm Bolter and Power Fist, 1x Assault Cannon)
  • Tactical Marines – 10 Space Marines (8x Bolter, 2x Plasma Cannon)

We played two rounds and the start of a third, and called the game at that point for a late lunch. My Blood Angels won, but again: points imbalance.

The fun was the important part, and man is it every bit as fun to play with fully painted armies as I’d hoped it would be! There’s a real immersive joy to seeing these little dudes on the table.

It’s Bolter time!

My pictures didn’t turn out great, largely due to a mix of interior lighting and my desire to focus on the game rather than the photos. I’ve spared you the irredeemably blurry ones.

Mustering our forces. I’ve had that dice tray for 15 years, but I think this is its first usage for a minis game.

We played at Mox Ballard, which has excellent gaming tables and terrain. It was great to be able to uncover only the amount of battlefield we needed while using the covered half of the table for dice and storage.

The first draft of our table. It got a few tweaks before we actually deployed our minis.

Looking at the Incisive Attack mission map after the fact, I see that I somehow put our deployment zones too close to each other. If we’d deployed differently, that really could have turned this knife fight in a phone booth into a chainsaw fight in a phone booth.

I think this is turn one. I’ve just deployed my Infiltrators on objective 4, and both of us still have our Terminators in their respective Teleportarium chambers.
Squad Karios in the foreground, Squad Dolos near the top.

Our Tactical Squads took plenty of pot shots at each other, which is how I learned that even vanilla Marines are pretty tough.

Dark Angels with a commanding field of fire.
Shay’s Deathwing Terminators make their entrance.

This was my decisive play, although I didn’t realize it at the time. Once my Terminators started taking fire, I got to see just how tough they really are — especially with Storm Shields. We both spent a lot of points on our Termies, but man were they worth it.

Squad Barakiel (right) teleports in next to Squad Dolos.
My Terminators make a push for objective 2 — and Shay’s Tactical Marines.
Close combat ensues.
The scrimmage from afar.

My Terminators clinched things by wiping out a chunk of Shay’s Tactical Squad and claiming objective 1.

This fight proved decisive. Storm Shields and Thunder Hammers are amazing.

We both had a ton of fun with this short match. The glitches, shortened game, and outcome played no role in how much fun this was for me. Getting to play 40k for the first time in decades, with my friend, with an army I painted was an absolute hoot.

We’re on the cusp of 10th Edition, so this might turn out to be the only game of 9th Edition I play. I’ve already started learning the 10th Edition rules.

What’s that on the horizon? MOAR TERMINATORS

And, somewhat predictably…I’ve also started planning a fifth army. Terminators were my favorite thing in the 40k universe before I saw them in action. And now, after seeing how well their performance matches the fiction — they just laugh at small arms fire! — I love them even more.

Just a couple hours after our match, I started drafting Grey Knights lists. Terminators as troops! Tiny knight helmets! The Baby Bjorn of doom! Terminators as far as the eye can 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.
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Blood Angels Space Marines Finished miniatures Lightbox photos Miniature painting Miniatures Warhammer 40k

Squad Barakiel is all wrapped up

On November 5th I finished what I’d previously thought would be the final squad in my first 40k army, but which is now the penultimate squad.

Squad Barakiel, 1st Company, 1st Squad

I saved my favorite unit in the WH universe, close-combat Terminators, for the end, both because they’re my favorite and so that — theoretically — they could benefit from the experience I’ve gained over the past several months. I can see improvements in my commitment to details and in the delicacy of my highlights — with lots of room for further improvement!

Paging Dr. Barakiel to the lightbox

Sergeant Barakiel (center) flanked by two veteran battle-brothers
Rear view of the trio
My favorite member of the squad is on the right
Rear view
The full squad, exceeding the width of my tiny lightbox

And since I now have two squads of Termies, how about one of Squads Ultio and Barakiel, with Barakiel’s designated transport, Judgment?

Judgment (rear), Squad Barakiel (left), Squad Ultio (right)

Next up: Squad Caedes, the make-up unit that will complete my initial army. I was able to get on the list for a second-wave Indomitus box at my local GW store, and ditto for the Blood Angels Combat Patrol box (with its much fuzzier release date of “2021”), so I see a ton of Primaris units to paint in my Nov/Dec/Jan future!

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

WIP it good: Barakiel, Feo, Caedes, Remiel

Time to clear out the picture roll in my phone, which covers late October and early November!

The final touch-up on Squad Barakiel
Squad Barakiel fully touched-up and ready to shade (I think)
One of my busiest painting areas ever!
Squad Barakiel and their four wash/shade colors
Feo’s texture paint drying (for days…) and Squad Caedes freshly primed
Washing Feo’s texture paint and painting the scenery on Caedes’ bases

November is kicking off with some good momentum, and I have plenty more Blood Angels in the works for December and beyond.

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 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 WIP it good

WIP it good: Zahariel and a dash of Barakiel

One of the things that works for me about maintaining my miniature-painting streak (as I write this post on October 17, I’m on day 238) is that “dormant” periods — the days I don’t really feel like working on minis — still involve forward progress, even if it’s minimal. And then when I do feel like painting, it doesn’t feel like I’m grinding the whole machine back into motion — because it never came to a dead stop.

This past weekend, rested up from a relatively light week on the minis front, I tucked into Squad Zahariel in earnest. I spent five hours or so doing their touch-ups and shading on Saturday, which was a blast.

The long road
Oops

Of course as soon as I started working on their Abaddon Black base coat, I realized that I’d paired two Jump Pack tops and bottoms incorrectly, resulting in one with braided cords appearing from nowhere, and another (less of a problem) with them disappearing without an actual termination.

I was long past the point of re-gluing, so I slapped a couple of spare purity seals on the most egregious of the two figures and called it good. Fully painted, I don’t think my goof will be too noticeable.

Painting black over white primer is so fiddly
Roping in Squad Barakiel

I hate wasting paint, so as always I had another unit on deck to absorb any leftover colors on my palette: Squad Barakiel — my final squad.

Zahariel’s base coat finally done, little spots of color appearing on Barakiel
I like the studio color scheme for the Blood Angels Terminator Assault Squad, which is heavy on black and silver and light on gold, because it’s the opposite of my instincts
Zahariel now fully touched-up

I tried out a new Velvetouch size for touch-ups that I absolutely love: 20/0 Monogram Liner. It’s perfect for precise dots of color nestled between other colors, as well as for lines which cross an area of a different color — both of which the Death Company models have in abundance.

…And fully shaded!
My battle station as of this past Saturday night, with all 16 highlights/layers for Zahariel, and their matching brushes, teed up and ready to go

I’ve only painted one black-armored figure for this army so far, Chaplain Arrius, so he’s out as my reference for doing the highlights on Zahariel. The Death Company minis have so many cords, seals, skulls, and other elements which cross over their expanses of black that a fair amount of shading comes into play — which I dig, because not shading the actual black knocks out one of the techniques on which I rely to produce minis I’m happy with.

I feel like Squad Zahariel has had enough WIP shots devoted to them, so I’m going to call it here. Next time they show up, it’ll be in the lightbox.

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 WIP it good

WIP it good: the once-far horizon is now visible

As of September 1, I now have paint on every unfinished model in my Blood Angels army. Squad Adamo is mostly base-coated; Squad Zahariel, my Death Company unit, is primed and fully based; and Squad Barakiel, my Terminator Assault Squad, is primed and partially based.

Starting in on Zahariel’s bases
The tail end of my Land Raider’s varnish-curing period overlapped with both Adamo and Zahariel, making this feel like a proper little painting area
Zahariel fully based, I think (not sure if they were waiting for terrain wash or drybrushing when I snapped this)
Adamo nearly base-coated, Barakiel freshly primed

I’ve painted 15 Space Marines in a month before, so it’s doable for me to completely finish my first-ever 2,000-point army in September. But I think it’s more likely that I’ll finish Squad Adamo and either fully or mostly complete Squad Zahariel in September, leaving Squad Barakiel (and the balance of Zahariel, if any) for October.

Actually playing, which once felt like a possibility at the end of this summer, and then seemed more realistic to imagine in spring of 2021, now — depressingly — feels like it might not happen until 2022. On the flipside, it’s not unreasonable for me to imagine that I could paint another 2,000-4,000 points of Blood Angels in 2021. I’ll take my silver linings where I can find them!

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 Miniatures Warhammer 40k WIP it good

WIP it good: assembling the final squad in my first 40k army list

After wrapping up assembly on Judgment, I had just one squad left in my current (and first) Blood Angels army list: Squad Barakiel, my close combat Terminators — for whom Judgment will be the designated transport.

Little piles, just like always

I started with the sergeant, of course, and then made little piles for each Terminator based on whatever felt right (“skull-covered legs, must love skulls; he gets the skull hammer”) — but this kit has some pretty specific suggestions about leg + hammer pairings.

They are just suggestions, of course, but every time I tried other variations and then the suggested one, I could see why they were paired the way they are: The studio poses look awesome.

The thing is, I’ve got two more boxes of these guys (plus a box of generic close combat Termies). One will be an all-Lightning Claws squad and the other will be 3x Thunder Hammers/2x Lightning Claws, so that I can mix and match. (For example, swelling the ranks of Squad Barakiel with three more hammer boys fills a Land Raider Crusader to capacity.) So to avoid duplicates I’m going to have to go off-book at some point, no matter how cool the studio poses are.

Partway through, I realized that this kit was even more specific about its poses than I first thought: each torso/head piece is matched to a particular body/leg piece. I was building the banner guy when I noticed that the guide had his head turned, which made no sense because 4/5 of the heads are pre-molded…until I figured out that it meant he needed Torso X to match his legs and pose.

Sergeant Barakiel

I went with “Barakiel” because the random website I often use for angel names said that was the angel of lightning — which is a perfect name for the sergeant of the forthcoming all-Lightning Claws squad. But the one I’ve just built are all armed with Thunder Hammers and bearing Storm Shields. What do you get when there’s a storm and thunder? Lightning, of course!

Plus I wanted a “B” name and it sounded cool.

Squad Barakiel, 1st Company, 1st Squad

In the end, I mostly went with the studio poses and leg/torso/hammer pairings, mixed it up on the shields, picked tilting plates and other bling to match, and tweaked a couple of the poses just a hair (far right’s hammer is much higher; the sergeant is in more of a “come at me, bro!” stance; etc.). Second from the right is my favorite: hammer at ease, but ready. What at badass pose.

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.