Old Stuff Day 2025.

 

Old Stuff Day 2025 has rolled around, and it's that time of the year to take a look at some older blog posts, ones your proud of, but may have been relegated to the dusty archive feature on the blog page.

My own contribution is:

Chaos Warhound Titan

I am really really proud of the fluff which I wrote here, a real high peak of writing for myself and something I hope to recreate.

From Xarfai Engle:

High Elves

The colours on those High Elves and Juvenile Dragons are sublime. The colours chosen really complement each other on the models.

From Rob Hawkins:

Undead Old World Army

Rob Hawkins projects are always inspirational, his Bat/Vampire Lord conversions are fantastic.

This is a showcase of his undead army, laid out in regiment form for The Old World, a game I'm getting into recently.

From Marc:

Iron Snake Contemptor

Marc, at Old School Gaming has a lot of great projects over the many, many years of blogging. This Iron Snakes Dreadnaught jumped out at me for several reasons.

The paint job and iconography are on point, I do like some ancient greek flavour to different settings and Brothers of the Snake is one of my favourite Black Library books ever, Dan Abnett really hit the nail hard with that book.

I hope you've seen something inspiring and enjoyable to read, with another Old Stuff Day finished, I'm hitting the paint table.

Until next time, have nice day...

March for Macragge - part 1.

 

It's March, and with "Monster March" a no-go this year, I decided to join in with the "March for Macragge" project on Reddit.

Ever since I bought the starter set and painted all the Tyranids from it and built up that army, even playing a couple of games *shock* against Cardboard Fortress, I have been collecting a few bits to make a small Ultramarines army using the Primaris Marines from the box.

The "March for Macragge" project is to paint anything Ultramarines related throughout the month of March, so I decided to go for one of my favourite models from the Primaris range refresh.

Chief Librarian Tigurius:

He is one of the few Primaris Marines who have a Back Banner, giving that classic space marine character silhouette, the fact that he is a badass as well is just the icing on top.

And I don't mean badass in that he kills everything he looks at etc, but one of the best pieces of fiction with him in details the defence of Boros, and he's in charge of a loosing holding action, saved by the appearance of the Legion of the Damned, who lead the counter attack against the Orks leading the way to victory.

I'm going to base the Ultramarines on Urban bases to match the previously painted Tyranid army to play a small scale campaign against.

Maybe some Damned Legionaries will turn up again?

As well as Tigurius, I am also going to start this squad of five Infernus Marines, not my most favourite of models from the range, but worth getting out of the way to get to more interesting stuff like Terminators.

"We March for Macragge".

#MarchforMacragge

Death Korps Riders 1st Squad.

 

"Recon the top of the next ridge and then swing South-West to complete our patrol" the Sergeant said and kicked his mount into action as the other members of his squad raised their lances in salute and followed.

The Death Riders rode their mounts through the rocky terrain up the ridge, the beasts clawed hooves finding purchase in even the worst conditions and loose scree.

In a loose line the five riders crested the ridge and came to a halt, looking over at the vista before them.

The Van Meersland wastes stretched in every direction they could see, and more importantly the defence lines of the Vraksian renegades were laid out in great detail as they observed.

Great diagonal zig-zag trenchlines spread in either direction, communication trenches and gun pits moving away from the front, but the skyward pointing barrels of the artillery pieces were clearly visible, silhouetted against the sky.

The Sergeant pulled a picter from his backpack and began taking picts for high command and army intelligence to look at.once he was finished, his men looked to him to set the pace as they began the long March South-West and back towards friendly territory.

*****

The next models of the 261st Siege Regiment have been completed and these are a mounted section and accompanying Commissar.

These models are 3D prints of STLs from the creator RedMakers on MyMiniFactory. I was taken by the more dynamic poses of the models as opposed to the more static poses of the Forge World models which used to be available.

These men follow the previously described paint scheme of the Grenadier's, as this is the uniform of my chosen regiment, and I must say I am more then happy with how they have turned out.

The Sergeant and a Lancer:

I wanted these to reflect a little differently then the standard line troops, so the white stripe down their shoulders was added as a flash detail, the red pennant was just a "what colour can I pick up without looking" choice.

Another Lancer and the Flamethrower:

In the normal rules for the Death Riders, they are not allowed to have a special weapon (Meltagun/Plasmagun/Flamer) but after seeing the STLs I decided to play loose and fast with them in order of Rule of Cool!

These are the first unit for a squadron of Death Riders, I have three five man squads printed and a five man command squad, I just need a fourth squad to complete the squadron in the future.

The Mounted Commissar:

This was the model which started this section of the army, as RedMakers were offering him as a free STL, very heroic posed model that he is.

The red scabbard on the sword was to tie in with the riders, the rest of him was painted as the other Commissars from the previous post.

His mount, like all the other Death Riders, is simply Reikland Fleshshade straight over a light grey undercoat.

I use a cheap grey primer I picked up from The Range, but Citadel Grey Seer would work just as well as a base for this.

The bases were finished in the way previously described, with sand, sawdust and AK diorama paste mixed together and then some modelling barbed wire added.

I am only claiming a Rank and File box on my Hobby Bingo card for this post, as I have better character models I want to paint, so I am keeping the boxes available for them in the future.

With that in mind, it fills one box for 10 points and setting myself up for a line with the Elites box later on,:

For the OPC, there are six riders and six mounts, and at ten points each, gives my score a boost by 120 points!

This leaves me with 330 out of 6,000 points completed.

Until next time, have nice day...

Death Korps Grenadiers 1st Squad.

 

Morning rose on Vraks, the sunlight hazy through the dust kicked up by the artillery duels continuing day after day.

In the dull morning light, the Grenadiers of the 261st Siege Regiment finished their prayers and gathered their gear.

Weapons were slung over shoulders, ammunition packs counted and stocked up, along with any grenades needed. Metal rattled against metal as the armour plates they wore were checked for damage and securely fitted.

They moved along the trench towards their jumping off point from the orders circulated from higher command.

Other platoons of the regiment gave them salutes or nods as they passed, for these were the Grenadiers, the ones who had already made their peace with the Emperor and we're essentially 'Dead Men Walking'.

Ladders were finally pulled into place and each man took his assigned position. Ready to climb out of the security of their trench and charge across No-Mans Land, to glorious death, in service of the God-Emperor of mankind.

*****

With some time for hobby, I made a good start on my Krieg force. The models are 3D printed and whilst not direct scans of the out of production Forge World grenadiers, are close enough for my liking that I am comfortable printing a force of them all together.

I decided to start with a Grenadiers squad including a Heavy Flamer team (always loved the FW model, so when I found the STL it was a must have), and a couple of Commissar models I found at the same time.

My choice of regiment is the 261st Siege Regiment, because I preferred their old colour scheme in the Imperial Armour books:

I really liked these with the more British looking Khaki overcoats, as opposed to the more French Blue scheme I've been painting for Fraser.

I also liked the contrast of the dark grey body armour over the lighter khaki greatcoats.

So the full Grenadiers Squad look like this:

I took extra time on the bases, covering them with a mixture of AK Desert sand paste and sand with some sawdust thrown in as well, then as it was drying I added more sand on top and some coiled model barbed wire to add details.

Eventually I want to get some AK wet effect, and add some puddles into some of the dips on the bases for puddles and mud.

The squad sergeant and special weapons:

For a bit of a spot colour, I painted the power cables of the weapons in yellow and washed them with Earthshade to make it a dirty, weathered look, but still bright enough to draw the eye to details.

The Grenadiers with their Hellguns:

These will be the meat of the army, as they are the mainstay of the units.

To get the weathered effect on the armour, I started with a Basillcanum Grey base layer and washed with Earthshade. I then layered up the grey with Mechanicus Standard Grey leaving the darker patches as either dirt or camo as you choose to look at it.

Next I pulled a couple of Commissar STLs and printed those, here are the results:

The Commissar with the chest plate and the bolt pistol held out will join the higher command squad for the company, whilst the second man with the sword and the "Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer" held behind his back will join the platoon command squad keeping the men moving forward. 

As a size comparison, I wanted my 3D printed models to be scaled to match the proper GW models (in this case a FW one).

I wanted to scale them to match, as that way I can add my forces to Fraser's for a future big game if we choose to do one at Element Games.

Turning to the points for Hobby Bingo and the OPC this year.

Hobby Bingo, these models give me a "Rank and File" box and a "Leaders and Heroes" which adds 20 points to the total and ticks off another two boxes on the bingo card.

As for the OPC, at 10 points each, these models give me 120 points off of my 6,000 point total.

There are a lot more Death Korps coming, along with the renegade Vraksian forces as well. The first couple of battles for the campaign will have to be played out using counters as I haven't got the time at the moment to commit to finishing two full armies, but as things get finished expect to see more from Vraks.

Until next time, have nice day...

February fun.

 

A Valentine's Day message:

Until next time, have nice day...

The Siege of Vraks campaign.

 

"Herein follows an examination of the most lamentable Siege of Vraks, bastion and Armoury World of His Most Divine Emperor, of the plans of those treacherous and heretical rebels that led to its downfall and the glorious sacrifice of the Emperor's Imperial Guard among the grim and hardy regiments of Krieg, and those misguided Mortals who have unwittingly venerated the Powers of Chaos, at a terrible cost in blood, but worst still -- to the eternal damnation of their own souls".

+++Inquisition report on the Siege of Vraks+++

*****

Welcome to Vraks, a system in the far off Scarus Sector. We are making planet fall on Vraks Prime, armoury world of the Administratum and recently turned renegade by apostate preacher Xaphan.

So I'm a member of the FB group "Vets* of Vraks" and the creator of the group wanted to run a large scale campaign over the year following the course (or our course) of the Siege of Vraks.

Having a Krieg army I signed up, and started to print and paint stuff as fast as I can (not fast enough) in order to take part.

The Siege of Vraks was a series of books by Forge World around 2010-ish and the trilogy covered the war from its humble origins, as most wars generally start out in the 41st millennium, all the way up to the full on Chaos invasion and Daemonic assault of books two and three respectively.

They basically covered everything which Forge World had released for either the Imperium or Chaos at the time, minus a few things like the Elysians which had their book before.

These were also the books where the model range and look of the Death Korps of Krieg were solidified, as beforehand they had simply been an alternate paint scheme for the Armageddon Steel Legion.

So the organiser of the campaign drafted in a fair few of us from the group who wanted to take part and assigned us a place on the campaign map below:

This is the actual map from the books, as the fighting takes place in the trenches over the Van Meersland Wastes.

My assigned area is in the 30th Corps, as the 261st Siege regiment, famous in the books for being the first to force a breach in the first defensive line, we'll have to see if I can live up to that.

We're going to get given a mission each month and have three weeks to play the battle out and report back our results, either victory, minor victory, minor defeat or defeat.

We can use whatever set of rules we want, from the original books all the way up to current 10th edition 40k if we want.

For my part I'm going to stick with my tried and true 5th edition 40k and use the Imperial Guard codex for the Krieg and Renegade Guard lists, and when space marines show, I can use the Marines and Chaos codexes respectively.

I know this seems like a strange choice, but I don't want to dig out everything from storage in the loft to find the older books when I have this set on my bookshelf ready to go.

I'll be posting after action reports on here as the campaign progresses (hopefully).

So back onto painting...

Until next time, have nice day...

*Meaning Veterans not animal doctors!

Death Korps deployed to Vraks.

 

Until next time.

Vraks secedes from the Imperium!

Until next time...

Hobby Spending - January 2025.

 

A new year, means a new hobby budget to track and keep track of purchases going forward.

January has been a bit of a quiet month, mainly because everyone dropped sick at work and I was one of the last men left standing, so was pulling overtime shifts up to the maximum hours we could work* so I've not had much time for hobby or spending or much really.

One bargain I found though, was this physical copy of Sundered Isles and the Oracles book:

I already have a physical copy of Ironsworn, which was the first solo RPG book by Shawn Tomkin which is a dark age/medieval setting.

Sundered Isles is the nautical/pirate type and I've only ever seen it on DrivethruRPG for £18+ each for physical copies, so £13 for both was a bargain.

Unfortunately I cannot play this yet, as it turns out this one is an expansion setting for the sci-fi solo RPG - Starforged. So I'll have to keep looking for that one.

Next week have a simple dinner tray:

I picked two of these up for £1.50 each from Poundland as a way to organise projects going forwards. One big problem I have had is that I have to drag everything out piece by piece and then pack it all away again at the end of a hobby session.

The idea with these is that I have a project kept on the tray until it is finished, its easy to pull from the cabinet to work on and store.

So, in theory, should improve productivity...

In theory...

Purchases:

Sundered Isles and Oracles: £13.

2x Dinner Tray: £3.

Total for January: £16.

Budget for January: £50.

Over/Under Yearly Budget: under budget by £34.

*On the railway we have working time directives, which are put in place to protect staff from fatigue. So we can work so many days in a row, or so many hours over shifts per week and then we have enforced rest days, where work cannot contact you at all.

Askurgan Trueblades.

 

Tempted by the goblet of blood, Tanek stood before the entrance to the Far Peak. In his previous life, they had all heard the legends of the terrible vampire haunted mountain and stayed well away accordingly, but things had changed.

During the last defence of their town, when he was alive and serving in the guard there. He had been drained of blood by the vampire leading the attack, one of its acolytes in a cruel joke gave him what he now knew to be the Blood Kiss, and he awoke later on after the battle had finished.

However he awoke with a terrible hunger. A hunger which had led him to slaughter five people nearby. Filled with shame, he had fled into the wilderness. Days, maybe weeks passed and he knew he was loosing himself and becoming a mindless beast, blood drunk and no better then the things he had culled when he was human still.

When he had purpose, control of himself, a calling to serve...

Then the new calling had begun...

Of his erstwhile creators there was no sign, but something pulled him inexorably towards the Far Peak. 

An unknown time had passed before he was at the entrance, a goblet of fresh blood  sitting on the stone altar testing him. Behind was a hooded figure of dark grey skin guarding the steps carved up the mountain. Great stone arches graced the route upwards, each carved with ancient Askurgan runes decrying the beast and exulting in control and honour.

How did he know that?

The guardian shifted his dark robes swished slightly disturbing the dust, they were tied by a coarse lilac dyed rope around it's waist, a strange splash of colour on the otherwise monochromatic figure.

"You have done well to heed the call young one" it whispered, yet Tanek heard it clearly, "Your choice stands before you, take the goblet and be cut down as a beast, or face the challenge ahead and be reborn on the peak!"

Tanek stepped around the altar, growling involuntary as he passed the blood. Immediately a blade flashed infront of him, the flat holding him in place. Eyes flicking from the metal edge, along the haft of a glaive he found himself staring at a different vampire entirely, this one wrapped in orange robes and dark-iron armour. The same lilac rope hung about her waist as she snarled at him.

"First lesson, you keep the beast in check, growl at blood again and I'll take your head"

Tanek turned and looked back to the hooded figure which had greeted him, but who had now disappeared, a slight mist hanging loosely close to the floor. As he turned back, the glaive was gone, as was the vampire.

"Scale the mountain and be reborn" a deep voice whispered in his mind.

Tanek took to the steps, the overwhelming scent of blood filled his nostrils from further up the mountain calling him, yet he had to resist the urge to charge as he now knew that would only end in death...his death.

The path to control had begun.

*****

The Askurgan Trueblades are a warband for Warcry, the skirmish game set in the Age of Sigmar universe, which has some of the most unique and brilliant models GW have ever produced for fantasy*.

When this particular faction was previewed on the reveal shows, I knew I HAD to have them to paint, but why?

Well, basically they are Vampire Zen Shaolin Warrior Monks (and given my predilection for far east warriors/warfare it was a given), therefore they were painted with element of Shaolin and Sohei elements.

I went with the starker, dark orange robes of the Shaolin temple this time, but tried to work in the armour style of Japan on the plates on their legs.

Their chest and shoulder armour is very mainland Asia themed as well compared, so took from Korea with the un-laquered metal effect (yes I did do some research).

There are two members who don't have the orange robes, these being the leader and a somewhat interesting character story wise. I chose to change the colours on these to reflect their positions and responsibilities within the warband.

The leader got a pale grey/white set of robes as white is the colour of death and mourning in Japan, it is often worn to funerals and in the past it marked someone in a position similar to the grim reaper in western mythology (imagine if Viking Berserkers wore white and you get the idea).

The Pariah wears a dark grey robe because I enjoyed the contrast to the rest of the warband, it also marked him out from the rest due to his unique position.

The main element which ties all the warband together are the lilac ropes tied around their waists. I saw this element was immediately reminded of the first season of the anime Naruto and the main villain Orochimaru, who other then his ability to turn into a snake, his main recognition piece is a large purple rope ties around his waist.

May as well run with that idea as it was memorable!

Askurgan Acolytes:

Acolytes are new recruits of the Trueblades. Many, having just received the Blood Kiss, are horrified by their new existence and seek out the order to learn how to control their eternal thirst. Reaching the secluded sanctums alone is proof of their potential, but they must further prove themselves to their new kin.

Askurgan Ascetics:

Ascetics are the elite warriors of the order. They seek transcendence through battle, searching for secrets that could not be found from contemplative study alone. These warriors fight through the carnage of battle until they are knee-deep in gore, yet through battle-mantras and the martial kata that allows them to appear as blurring specters, they repress their hunger.

Curseblood and Pariah:

Cursebloods are the result of Trueblades losing the battle against their inner beast. The result is a hideous and painful transformation with muscles growing larger and larger while facial bones elongate into a maw. The rope that symbolizes the Askurgan remains flapping around their waists as if mocking them. Yet they are truly mindless, having just enough self-awareness to avoid attacking their fellow vampires.

Pariahs are rare Cursebloods that manage to leash the beast and regain their humanoid form. To revert, they must engage in a harrowing trial observed by another vampire ready to execute them in case of failure, as the process risks the Curseblood losing any remaining sanity. Even if they survive, the physical marks never fade and must live on the margins of their society, both respected and feared; despite being able to regain control, one that slipped the leash may fall again.

Askurgan Exemplar, the Warband Leader:

Exemplars are masters who have confronted their bestial nature many times and has always emerged the victor. They can be found meditating upon platforms surrounded by lakes of blood or on mountaintops surrounded by pounding storms.  Many Askurgan vampires dream of learning weapon arts directly from such masters, but approaching one means they must first get through the copious amounts of gore that surround the exemplars without succumbing to the beast within.

With these off the painting table, it marks the first unit completed for 2025 and the first box filled on my Hobby Bingo card:

I chose to use a supernatural box, as well, they're Vampires after all!

This gives me 10 points for Hobby Bingo.

For the OPC challenge, these are 8 infantry figures over 12mm in size, so provide another 80 points to that running total, putting me up to 90 points out of my total of 6,000.

I have the Blades of Karanak and Chameleon Skink warbands for Warcry to do next, and love the others so may pick one up the next time i go through the Element Games for a gaming day.

Until next time, have nice day...

*It really is a thing that the further you get from their core games, the better the models overall.

Necromunda is the obvious example, but Warcry and Kill Team have some fantastic models which otherwise wouldn't be made.

Blackstone Fortress and the various Warhammer Quests games have had their share as well, as has Underworlds.

Death Korps of Krieg Commissar.

Impassive, unreadable due to the gas ask covering his face, Commissar Juan Boerkaunt watched the assault begin. He has heard stories of the Death Korps of course, they all had as they received their postings from segmentum command.

He had been slightly put out by being assigned to a siege regiment, rather then an assault regiment, where he felt his skills would be of more use, but he was slowly beginning to be impressed with these fanatical men of Krieg.

The son of a tank officer, born on the volcanic world of Tallax IV, Juan had been inducted into the scholam on his seventh birthday and was earmarked for Commissariat duties. 

With this new campaign, his second as a full Commissar, he had been expecting a posting to a regiment which needed a firm hand and led by example in combat.

In truth, the Krieg were so well disciplined that he found himself rather bored, having to deal with the other regiments around them in their interactions with his men. Now with the prospect of some action his mood had lightened.

He observed the quick, smooth movements of the assault platoons moving forward, the autocannons, already sighted in began their statacco drumbeat rhythm of firing, chewing great chunks out of the side of the building, itself already a ruin.

The Captain, Sain-Stagier, appeared alongside him accompanied by his command squad.

He gave a satisfied nod and turned to Boerkaunt.

"A smooth assault don't you think Commissar?"

"Yes, I am impressed with the regiment and your company, Captain, I will pass that on in my reports up the chain of command".

Sain-Stagier and the Banner Bearer who had heard the conversation straightened with pride.

"Shall we observe a little closer Commissar, I've no doubt the men will fight harder knowing their Commanders are nearby".

"It is rare to find a senior officer who chooses to advance, lead on Captain, the Emperor protects".

*****

So here is the first finished miniature of 2025.

This Death Korps of Krieg Commissar was a Christmas present I bought from a Chinacast supplier* for Fraser to join his 352nd Regiment.

The drawing the sword pose was certainly the most iconic of the Krieg Commissars, and in general of Commissars I think**, even my favourite of the Black Library Ibram Gaunt's models have been rather lackluster compared.

So I began as usual building up the urban ruined base, as is custom for this army. Lots of torn 4mm cork and plastic rodding/detonator wire to add detailing, before liberally covering with sand in the joins for crushed cement, etc.

I took the time to get a lean on the slab he is standing on correct, the original Forge World model is leaning slightly backwards, with his weight on the rear leg, as if he's going to cast forwards with a cleaving motion.

I wanted him to be stood taller and more imposing, so positioned him to be leaning forward, looming down off of the ruins.

Painting wise, daily standard, although I decided to follow the techniques of Andy at Mediocre Hobbies, in that he uses contrast paints as a base layer, hits the model with an overall wash, and then layers up and highlights, because this gives a much better indication of where the shadows are naturally.

Starting from my preferred grey undercoat I started with black Templar, Blood Angels Red, Iyanden Yellow and Basillcanum Grey contrasts.

The metals were picked out in Leadbelcher and Retributor Armour, and his mask was Vallejo Khaki.

Everything was then hit with an overall Earthshade*** wash and then I chose my layering colours.

The coat was Corvus Black and highlighted with Stormvermin Fur, where as his hat, because I wanted a different texture, was done with Abaddon Black and highlighted with Standard Grey.

His uniform was Standard Grey and highlighted with Vallejo Light Grey, Epaulettes were Averland Sunset, Done Yellow and then a shade with Seraphim Sepia.

The red cuffs and sash are Meohiston Red and Evil Suns Scarlet to really get that highlight.

Metals were just layered up with Leadbelcher and Retributor Armour respectively.

So there we have it, a Commissar for the regiment and another miniature finished off.

I'm hoping to get the time to highlight up Red Platoon for that regiment soon, but I must concentrate on my own 261st regiment and opposing Militia in order to get my games in for the Vraks campaign (more on this soon).

A sneak peak at what's coming:

Lots of Deathriders!

As I'm taking part in the Plastic Crack Podcast OPC this year, he gets me off the mark with 10 points of my 6,000 point goal.

Until next time, have nice day...

*

**The only one I think is better is this guy, which I am fortunate to have in my collection:

Although I would like to get the other two Commissars from this time period as well.

***Cardboard Fortress asked about what was our favourite wash on his Facebook page recently, and I replied Earthshade rather then the more common Nuln Oil. 

I personally prefer the warmer shadows Earthshade gives, especially on living things, vehicles and constructs...well, it depends if it's oily or dusty really.