Trench Warfare - part 3.

 

With the Trench Build continuing on, in the rare moments I'm having to hobby at the moment I took the opportunity to clear something from the desk and had an entire painting session drybrushing the hell out of these pieces to get the finished and table ready.

So in order, we have piece "1A", front:

And rear:

This is piece "2A", from the front:

And the rear, showing off the sandbagged area:

And piece "3A", the larger firing step area from the rear:

And "3A" from the front with the scorch marks:

In order to match my own collection of miniatures, I long ago worked out a generic diet formula for bases which I liked and use on everything of mine (other people's miniatures vary in basing style and that's fine, I just like all my stuff to match).

So from the previous post where I had taken the trenches to the dark wash stage, I start with a drybrush of Baneblade Brown and then go strsight up to a highlight/drybrush of Ushabti Bone.

I occasionally hit the very highest of ridges with a VERY LIGHT drybrush of Ulthuan Grey, but very very lightly, just to emphasize the ridge.

Craters and scorch marks start with a base of Abbadon Black and then fret drybrushed in order of Corax Black (Heavy) Mechanicus Standard Grey (Medium), Celestra Grey (Light) and finally Ulthuan Grey (Lightest touch).

And because I couldn't resist when I laid them out, I dug out the platoon of Fraser's Krieg army which I have finished so far and added them to the trenches fora few photos:

And this panoramic photo along the finished trenches, very cool:

I'm starting on piece "4A" which will make this section four feet long, and an alternative "2A" piece which will have a bunker added and can be swapped out depending on the narrative of the game.

I can live with the slight gaps in the slope between the modular pieces as these are mainly for gaming, and some I'll take a battering as tike goes on, plus I don't think it's that noticeable once things are in motion.

I think the only addition I want to do in future is to add some grass tufts along the slope, so it's not as barren/desert looking, but I'll need to find a colour set which I am happy with for the overall look and a bulk seller of them.

This is set "A" as I want to build set "B" which will run across the opposite side of the table eventually and enable me to play games between the two lines.

Running assaults across no-mans land, trench raids, etc.

The next piece of terrain I have started is a shatter wood on a hill, based off of some historical photographs off the internet, and I'm going to need yet more Craters to populate no-mans land with.

Until next time, have nice day...

"Tiny" a Bloodbowl spectator and sometime unwelcome player.

 

A quick post of a model I have been working on for Duncan.

This is Tiny, a hardcore Blood Bowl supporter who follows whichever tram has the shiniest kit when he looks over.

Obviously he's a giant from GW, but Duncan converted him with the huge sign, made out of plasticard planks, distressed with a Dremel for woodgrain texture and then a layer of green stuff roughly flattened out for his sign.

The Beer-Hat was cobbled together with barrels, GW rope bits from the old Empire sprues and some stiff wire for the drinking straws.

I took the time to follow a skin tutorial off of eBay in order to get a bit more life to it, with a purple wash in there for Shadows rather hen using straight Fleshshade or such, it gives a different feel straight away.

As well as stippling the highlight colours on rather then drybrushing to get some more texture.

The tattoos started as freehand with Talassar Contrast Blue, and then stippled over with the main skin highlights to make them seem weathered and faded like real tattoos.

For the various rags which make up his trousers, I took various Empire trooper colours and some generic leather browns, and added in the blue-white stripes for some fun.

Washed down with Earthshade and layered back up messily to get a dirty, old feel to them.

So there he is.

The base and banner are purposely left blank, as Duncan can base him to match his team/giant army for AoS, and the banner can be added to when he settles on a design for it.

A fun project which was a good diversion from my main 40k grinds at the moment.

Until next time, have nice day...

Trench Warfare - part 2.

 

Trench Warfare continues as the first three sections of trench have now been completed, giving me and entire three foot stretch of trench to cover my table with side to side on the short length.

These are all very generic coded throughout to be used with multiple games systems, as that was always the endgame with these.

Lots of coffee stirrers were chopped up for the wooden duckboards and revetments holding up the firing step.

I also had several plates of nothing but sandbags printed for me, and have been using them by the dozen each time I picked up a piece of terrain.

I also tried to make each section have a bit of a narrative element but fit in with the next pieces along.

For example, section 2, shown here, has a crater blown in the frontline, but has been shored up quickly with a couple of lines of sandbags until the engineers can repair it properly.

Meanwhile, section 3, shown here, is a larger firing area suitable for heavy weapons teams to set up a strong point.

I also added little details, like the extra supported firing step and the planks with securing's fastened over them,.as if the engineers were disturbed during a maintenance session and left them there to fight the enemy off...

Section 3 in full from above.

After the build was finished, I took some brown spray paint for priming and giving everything a cohesive look.

This step also has the added bonus of locking in any loose sand and ground cover which hasn't quite been grabbed by the layers of PVA glue.

And painting begins, sandbags get a bone/off white base, anything wood got a Baneblade Brown basecoat and military equipment gets a neutral Death Guard Green base which is a lighter NATO style green.

And finally the entire terrain set gets washed with a homemade black-brown wash to shade everything and get it ready for drybrushing up to finished level.

And we leave them there for now, the next update (hopefully) shouldn't be as long in coming.

Until next time, have nice day...

Hobby Spending - June 2025.

 

The hottest month of the year so far has passed, with no end of the heatwave here in Britain looking like ending anytime soon.

Unfortunately it's also been one of the busiest months for us at work as the Steelworks are ramping up production, so our trains are in motion constantly and we're STILL short staffed...

This means that I, yet again, haven't had much time for hobby, but did make a purchase after the seller sent a discounted off through DM on eBay.

This Bunker, in 28/32mm scale is FDM printed (I normally print in resin), and is really nicely detailed and proportioned for what it is... essentially a box with wings.

It's pictures here put together, with Kriegsman Karl on the roof for scale.

I need a sheet of 6mm MDF from a hardware shop to make a base for it, but I'm planning on making it fit into my modular trenches as a replacement section if used.

I'm not going to add anything too 40k overtime to it, so that just like the trenches themselves, I can use it for anything from WW1 historical up to 40k and with some Warmahordes thrown in as well (eventually).

The numbers;

Purchases:

3D printed Bunker - £8.

Total for June: £8

Budget for June: £50

Over/Under Yearly Budget: under budget by £132.97.

There you have it, a short and to the point post, but that's all for now.

Until next time, have nice day...

World Eaters Lord Invocatus.

 

The offerings to Khorne had been great...

Centurion Skaldast, elevated to one of Khorne's favoured champions now rode maniacally down the Imperial defence line, slicing heads and arms with his massive eviscerator chainsword as he went. His Juggernaut goring at Imperial soldiers or trampling the wounded into a bloody paste as it charged, the heating from it's furnace body cooking off munitions as it passed

Ahead, a tight knot of guardsmen were forming around an Autocannon team, being commanded by a Commissar. Rounds sparked from the iron hide of the beast and Skaldast's armour as they hunkered down into a full speed charge.

A lucky shot smacked into the meat of his arm, piercing the soft seal of the elbow joint. Skaldast grunted at the momentary pain and braced to take the Commissar's head.

Like a force of nature the superheated daemonic monster hit the soldiers, crushing two which were unlucky enough to be caught by iron shod hooves the size of their chest. It lashed out and kicked the Autocannon mounting into the air, the weight of the weapon slamming another guardsman into a paste.

As the Juggernaut reared and swung it's head in a vicious arc, a guardsman close to it was blow apart by his lasrifles cooking off and exploding against his chest as Skaldast launched himself from it's back, bringing his chainsword down in a two handed swing.

He missed his target as the Commissar stepped aside, and the chainsword bit angrily into the churned earth, revving loudly as it threw soil and blood about in equal measure.

With a riposte and strike, the Commissars own chainsword swung and sparked along Skaldast's shoulder plates, marking the rune of Khorne embossed in brass. He struck again hitting the side of Skaldast's helmet and momentarily causing the helmet lenses to fill with interference.

The butcher's nails were screaming in the back of Skaldast's skull, demanding he do something to this upstart mortal who has struck him twice.

Blindingly fast, he ripped the eviscerator from the ground, whirled it over his head and slammed it through the chainsword of the Commissar, causing the lesser weapons motors to explode, taking the Commissars hand with it.

With a roll of his shoulders, Skaldast redirected the momentum of the swing and separated the head from neck of his prey.

Stopping to retrieve the head, and Commissariat cap, he turned to find his Juggernaut waiting for him, impatiently pawing at the earth, digging huge clops of turf from the ground each time.

Around them was pure carnage as body parts mingled amongst a growing pool of blood, as the attack moved on again...

*****

Back with another World Eaters model and another Character.

This time a Lord Invocatus*, the character who could have easily been an Aspiring Champion mounted on a Juggernaut.

I used the same red scheme as I did in my last post about the Master of Executions, basically Flesh Tearers Red, Berzerker Bloodshade but this time I layered back up with a little Khorne Red, on the top third of the armour panel.

Likewise the bronze is same scheme being Retributor Armour and Berzerker Bloodshade.

The main difference here though is the Juggernaut, being coal black and having a furnace type look to the rest of the body.

The furnace glow had to be tackled first, and started with a basecoat of Gryph Hound Orange, this was then stippled with Trollslayer Orange, Fire Dragon Bright and then Averland Sunset.

It was then washed with Berzerker Bloodshade, before having a very light drybrush with Averland Sunset again.

The main armour panels were tackled after all this was done, starting with a layer of Corvus Black and then washed with Berzerker Bloodshade, finally being layered back on with Corvus Black, but only a third of the way down each panel.

Metals are the same Bronze as the Lord and the silver is simply Leadbelcher washed with Berzerker Bloodshade, I also took the time to pick out the various trophy skulls and the World Eaters symbol** on his shoulder.

Basing is the usual rocky/deserty scrubland, I used some extra grass tufts which i haven't before on this model, the slightly darker ones.

I normally buy from Warpainter.net 

These new ones I bought from a model railway shop in Caistor, North Lincolnshire, whilst at work*** and they are produced by the model railway manufacturer Peco.

They are darker then my usual go to tufts and a lot more rigid as I cut them in half to make better positioning around the rocky surface I built up using cork.

Whilst slightly more expensive, being 60 tufts for £6 instead of 114 tufts for £5 from Warpainter, I do recommend the Peco tufts for variety and quality.

So, Centurion Skaldast gives me another 20 points for my OPC total for the Plastic Crack podcast, I'm well down on my target, but the year is only halfway gone.

Until next time, have nice day...

*GWs naming convention gets worse and worse.

**I would have preferred generic chaos shoulder pads, but Fraser had already built everything before giving me his army, so I can't complain really (and I wasn't about to fuck around and find out, trying to get the pads off these models and ruining a lot of models in the process... I'll keep them as World Eaters, just allied alongside my Black Legion).

***Being a modeller and Wargamer I am always on the lookout for model supplies wherever I can find them.

The fact that I was driving to Boston to work the Steel Coil train and passed the model shop on the way was a bonus, I called in on my way back to our home yard at Scunthorpe and ended up in a conversation with the elderly man who owned the shop about working on the railway as a career.

Building a better Master of Executions - part 2.

 

"Brace, Brace, Brace for impact" the monotone warning from the servitor sounded within the Deathclaw troop compartment.

Kail stood at ease in his restraints, he hefted his executioner axe and felt the weight of the ancient weapon, passed through the hands of his predecessors.

With a bone jarring impact the assault pod slammed into the enemy cruiser and fired it's metal charges breaching the outer hull.

Every Berzerker within stumbled upon impact causing curses as the nails bit deep at the affront.

They heard the percussive thump of Heavy Bolter fire as the point defences opened up as the servitor droned on.

"Impact successful, creating vacuum proof seal, defences firing, defences firing, defences firing, ten seconds until vacuum seal established"

Kail almost tore his restraint from the wall as he moved, other Berzerkers were with him, but none got in his way, not after the butchery he meted out on his last challenger, who's freshly polished skull now adorned Kail's backpack.

"Five seconds"

The nails dug into the meat of his head, desperate for him to unleash any sort of violence. Other members of the warband we're cursing at the delay, almost coming to blows.

"Four seconds"

Kail backhanded on Berzerker who was trying to punch the warrior next to him.

"Three seconds"

"Control yourself" Kail boxed, shaking his head he added, "pathetic wretch".

Through force of willpower he fought the nails, their base urge to spill blood tore at him, he held it back down, holding it until the enemy were within sight.

"Two seconds"

He gripped the haft of his axe so tight, the bindings creaked, threatening to tear within his grip. The motor for the chain teeth revved, sounding like a predatory animal growling low, waiting.

"One second"

The jostling of bodies stopped as all the Berserkers went still as one, waiting for that delicious moment when...

"Vacuum seal formed, opening Assault Doors"

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!"

Kail screamed as he led the charge, forcing the doors open even as the motors whined and moved the thick blast proof steel.

"SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!"

A tide of bloodthirsty Astartes surged into the decks of the enemy ship and the slaughter began...

*****

It's been a while since I posted anything, but real life tends to get in the way sometimes.

Anyway, the drought is over and the river flows once again.

So, a while ago I converted up a Khornate Master of Executions and then...did nothing with him...

Well, Kail (as I pulled up on a name generator) has been painted and finished for about six or seven weeks now, I just haven't had time to post him up. Until now...

I went for red and brass, and the off-white armour to make him stand out amongst the rank and file Berzerkers to come.

I also wanted a darker red then official GW paint scheme as the newer World Eaters just look like spiky Blood Angels.

I am starting with a Flesh Tearers Red basecoat, along with Retributor Armour and then washing them with Berzerker Bloodshade to give a really deep feel to the colours.

Whilst I didn't highlight the gold, leaving it that grungy bronze colour, I added a sporadic highlight of Evil Sunz Scarlet here and there to him to add that extra level of detail a character model deserves.

The off-white is actually Wraithbone, washed with Bloodshade and then layered back up with Pallid Wych Flesh, finally with Ulthuan Grey on the very highest, light catching areas of his armour.

His greatcoat is Snakebite Leather washed with Earthshade and highlighted with Baneblade Brown to finish off.

Basing in my usual desert/scrubland style with a black rim on the edge of the base.

This model was a joy to kitbash/convert with the spare parts I had at the time. He's got a real, striding to meet the enemy character pose about him and works really well at the head of a World Eaters warband.

He adds 10 points to my hobby total for the year and I've kept track of that during my absence.

As Fraser GAVE* me his World Eaters army the just other week back, I've started work on a few more of the models, but think I'll leave Angron** until last, or very nearly...

Until next time, have nice day.

.

*"I have too many unpainted armies, and I don't play the World Eaters anyway, now that I have my Battle Sister force, do you want them?"

Seriously that was how he opened that conversation.

**Yes he gave me the fucking Daemon Primarch as well....

Hobby Spending - May 2025.

Whilst it's been a drought hobby wise because of work, I have managed to do a little (updates incoming) and more importantly, I took the time to go out for the day and meet up with Dave and Fraser at Element Games for a gaming day.

I didn't bother to record the day as it was just a relaxing gaming meet up and I borrowed Fraser's Battle Sisters for the day and got thoroughly trounced thanks to a couple of lucky shots on the first turn.

As it usual whilst at Element though, hobby purchases were made...this time after a lot of thinking and planning in the week leading up to the visit, whilst strapping loads to wagons at work*.

Arbitor Ian gave me a Brain Itch with this series and the animated map in particular.

So much so, that I have decided to get a few bits and do a small Badab War project.

To this end, all the purchases were planned out, I'm going to use converted Primaris scaled marines (either Primaris, Kromlech Tortuga Bay or 3D printed) to make them all true scale, and whilst there will be a few vehicles, the majority will be infantry and dreadnoughts because the Badab War features a lot of boarding actions and void warfare.

So Space Marines get to be actual Marines!

The Lieutenant model, for example, will be used as a basis to make Executioners High Chaplain Thulsa Kane, it's a great starting point, with some converting and kitbashing I'll have a great unique model to lead one of my favourite chapters of marines in the war.

The Kromlech purchases, likewise, the Salamanders bodies, king of obvious as the chapter was involved, but I'm going to use them for HQs and unit leaders as they have lots of detail on them, so they'll stand out in the force.

The Heavy Shields will make great Breacher style shields, something useful for the close confined firefights of ship to ship combat.

And the modelling chain, a: because it was there and b: it was cheaper then I can get on eBay!

The numbers;

Purchases:

Space Marines Lieutenant: £20.39.

2* Kromlech Heavy Shields: £16.20.

Kromlech Salamander Marine bodies: £15.29.

Kromlech modelling chain: £3.15.

Total for May: £55.03

Budget for May: £50

Over/Under Yearly Budget: under budget by £90.97.

So there you have it for another month, work is still crazy as customers are blocking back to British Steel since the UK Government took over, this translates for us as a LOT more trains running and so we're busier then ever.

Hobby is being taken as and when, but things have slowed massively on this front.

Look out for some hobby updates over the next few days though as I have some finished stuff to post up, and also news about an old Hobby Community we are trying to rekindle again.

Until next time, have nice day...

*Strapping the loads to the wagons is mind numbing and you don't really have to think as it's the same thing over and over again, sometimes up to fifty times in a shift depending on the length of the train.