More Vanguard Veterans

So, as I said I would do last time, I put together more vanguard vets.

In the back right, I have a squad of 5 with power axes. Being a big believer in finding things to do with older stuff, I found a use for something I didn't like. The old veterans box (before they were split into sternguard and vanguard) was five metal minis I realized I couldn't stand. Their poses were strained and crappy looking, their weapons kind of boring and ununified. And, being metal, there wasn't much I could do about them. So I took most of the separate arms and used them on other minis, leaving the bodies themselves to sit in containers. But now the one with the stupid looking axe pose I never liked makes a decent sarge with relic blade for a team of all axes.

For the back left team with all power fists, I made a sarge with double power fists. I'll never field something like that normally, but a) it was kinda fun and funny to make, and b) the very idea of double power fists is so ridiculous that I had to have at least one in my army. I had to do a lot of cutting and such for this squad. Though there are right and left handed power fists, there aren't a lot of left or right arms that aren't intended to hold bolters. So I had to do a bit of arm chopping to make up for that.

In the front, I made a few monastics with what I think will be easily understood as relic blades. These guys are going to be part of the Chapter Master's honor guard, though, I will no doubt use them in standard vanguard vet squads from time to time (assuming I ever play any time in the next 5 years). I do wish that I gave one of them the bolter/plasmagun I had sitting about, but that's a minor inconvenience. If I really get bothered by it, I'll change it out before I try to paint them.

Once I get these painted and do one more jump vanguard vet, I will be done with them. Three squads is enough. Heck, it's more than enough. I can't imagine using all three in anything less than an Apoc battle. I also used a lot of shoulder pads, heads and body bits to make these guys. For the first time in a long time, my supplies in those areas are starting to run low. I may pick up some heads and shoulder pads on EBay to replenish the stores. I'm also thinking or beginning to resin cast legs. All the other stuff can be gotten cheaply and, as I've learned from my first experiments, trying to copy small bits or stuff with a lot of undercuts (like power weapons) is difficult if you don't know what you're doing yet. Legs, on the other hand are bigger and more basic. If I mass produce a bunch of those, it'll go a long way towards my eventual goal of an entire Chapter. :) And it'll give me practice for the day when I can make small bits with lots of undercuts.

But that is the future. Let us continue on and work on the now...

Jump Vanguard Veterans

Well, Holy Crap! How long has it been? Almost a year! Heck, I had another kid since the last time I posted here! So I guess I've got some catching up to do painting wise...

So, I decided to tackle these Vanguard Veterans I've had sitting around for a long time. I didn't have a lot of time and, to be honest, I don't really expect to use them much so I didn't do anything special with them painting wise. My Veterans wear black so a little drybrushing to bring out contours and some detail painting like blades and purity seals and what not and that was pretty much it. You'll also note that there are only nine of them. Well, forever ago, I bought the actual Vanguard Veterans box. Unfortunately, one of them is a beakie and those of you who have been following this for a long time (which is really nobody, but that's not really here or there) know I pretty much hate beakies. So I gave it to Battleforge Games which is now a distant memory. So I need to make one more to finish this squad, but for now, I'm cool with only nine.

No, I haven't finished the Fortress of Redemption. And It taunts me, sitting there unfinished. I should do something about that.

Recently picked up a bunch of close combat and power weapons so I intend to make at least one more Vanguard squad on foot. I'm thinking that I'll have five with power axes and shields as their own team and maybe one with all power weapons, too. I'm definitely making one with all relic blades to be an Honor Guard on the off chance I ever field a Chapter Master.

The other reason I picked up a bunch of weapons is because I have recently started experimenting with resin casting. i made some molds for some power swords, a power axe and a power fist. My first experiments haven't been great, but a few of them are usable and I think I know what I've done wrong (not having the molds warm enough during casting). A couple of them haven't been too bad and even the not great ones could have use so this has potential. Eventually, I want to cast legs and torsos so I can just put on some of the bazillion extra arms I have for things and fill out Tac squads that way. I especially want to do building parts. If I could make my own panels for Imperial buildings, Watch out! I'll have the most awesomely large and complex buildings you can imagine. I've already got a lot of ideas I would make if I had enough...

Other than that I've made some more acquisitions. Picked up a handful of 2nd Ed. Tac squad jobbers to add to the ones I already have. As you all know, I think they're great fillers to squads. Picked up twelve old school Space Hulk Termies. There's even a couple od librarians in there. Don't know what I'll do with them. I already have an entire Termie company once I finish painting them all. I'm sure I can find some grognard like myself to trade them to or something. Picked up a couple of Honored Imperiums but only one is assembled at this point. Finally got a Venerable Dreadnought. Been wanting one because I like the detail on the model and it looks like fun. It also brings me up to nine or ten Dreds now. I do believe that this will be the very last one unless I decide to make an entire Chapter and even then I'd have to consider it. Lastly, I picked up a new Devastator squad. Part of me feels a little bad about this because, if you scroll back a few posts, you'll see a picture of the one I still haven't opened yet. However, I think that the latest iteration of the Dev box is now my choice for best value of all (my previous choice was the Commander box since it had enough bits to make three commanders). The Dev box comes with two heavy bolters, two lascannons, two plasma cannons, a multimelta and a missile launcher. Yes, that's eight heavy weapons. That's two Dev squads worth of weapons and you know I have enough bodies to build them all. I may get one more and then I'll have enough Devastators for Companies three and Four. And with all the Tac jobbers filling the other spots, they'll be full squads, too.

Lastly, my foamcore empire has drastically shrunk. The apartment doesn't have enough space to keep them all so I kept a few key pieces and have been giving the rest to Dragon's Lair. It's good to know they're being used. And I must admit, I get a little thrill when I see a battle report video on Bell of Lost Souls and I see a piece of my terrain.

Alright, that's all for now. Heck, it's enough. I should have more to talk about in the near future. This man's gotta build and this man's gotta paint...