Bike Librarian

Well, there he is, completed and built.  He's not exciting.  Well, sort of.  If you look really, really closely, you will see I sacrificed a Dark Vengeance Librarian to build him.  Not only did I use the force weapon arm, but I also cur off the shoulder pad to mount on the front and the book on his side to add to this one's side.  What I really wanted to do was cut off the force sword and put it on another, more dynamically posed arm.  I also realized I don't have a ton of time to get all that done.  I want to try to have him painted by Friday and I'm not sure I'm going to get that all done.  Monday evening I'm busy, Tuesday I'm working, Wednesday the family goes out for Halloween, and Friday my inlaws come into town.  Add to that that the weather has just gotten pretty cold so it's not a very good time to prime.  I don't think the weather is going to be back into the 60's until Wednesday.  I might be able to find a few hours during the week, but I really doubt it.

Oh, well, even if I don't get it done in time, I've got it built and that means I will get it painted sometime in the next few months along with all the other bikes.  I guess there's something to be said for getting it assembled.

The one other thing that this reminds me is that my bits box is very, very depleted of "flair".  No cruxes, scrolls, books, or a lot of other cool dealies and bobbers.  I had to really dig in to even find extra purity seals.  I may have to bite the bullet, gather $20 and buy some stuff on line or something.  I don't really want to spend money, but I guess I have to put some money to this hobby every year.  I think I've only spent $7 this year and I guess it's time to drop a little more.  Poop.

One last thing...  I acquired templates for a 3d printable item that is remarkably similar (but in no way infringing) to a Drop Pod.  Now all I need is a friend with a 3d printer and I might make a few...

Bike Librarian

Well, this is the beginning of the Bike Librarian.  It's a bike with a couple dealies on the other side.  Also stuck a book on the bike that he can consult while driving.  Note the improvised Psychic hood...  OK, cute, but nothing stellar.  I'm holding off with the weapon arm until I can acquire a force weapon.  It should be easy with the Dark Vengeance Librarian all over the place.  In fact, it is because I have one on the way to me.  I think most of his awesomeness is going to have to be demonstrated via paint job.  I'm going to have to figure out a way to replenish bits soon.  Oh, well.  C'est la guerre...

I also assembled an attack bike, but I didn't take pictures of it.  By the time I was done, I was sick of looking at it.  JB Weld is really good for some things, but the wait time for it to begin to set seems like forever.  That having been said, I applied a little bit to my lancers' hands and spear.  Hopefully, they won't come loose for a very long time.

More Bikes

So,  I got two more lancers done.  I added a few decorative bits and some weapons and now I think all I need is a Sarge and the Black Lancers will be ready to basecoat and maybe even get around to painting.

I notice that my bits box is running out of little decorative stuff.  These are the last of my purity seals.  No bangles or bobbles or cool little things to separate the special from the merely mundane. I'll have to figure something about that.  I may have to raid my unopened Tac Squad box for bits.  I sure never use them on Tac Squads...

That having been said, I have to also admit that I am crazy.  Why do I say this?  Because I was searching for something and ran across another Devastator Squad.  It's a new one so there's actually 8 heavy weapons.  I went through the bits and pulled out every other heavy weapon I have.  So, I think after I'm done with bike stuff, I'm going to put together every heavy weapon dude I can.  I have the unopened box with 4, these 8 I found, three heavy bolters (two of them are old Rogue Trader ones!), three missile launchers, and plasma cannon, bringing my up to a grand total of 19 (!!!) heavy weapons which comes out to four whole crews and three to put in Tac squads.  I'll need two of those teams to create Dev squads for that my current demi-company.  I also know that I have more than enough  to make another Assault squad and another Tac squad to actually fill it out into a full Company.  Many of the others will probably form the Dev squads and the Tac squad heavy weapons for the next Company I start.

Man, I got a lot of stuff...

Bikes! Lancers No Less!!!

I was looking at a box when I noticed that it had a few bike parts in it.  I found two Bikes that I didn't know I had.  So I resolved to do something with them.  I started putting them together and then I was inspired to do something more.  About a thousand years ago, I got a bunch of brass spears and other weapons.  Unfortunately, being 25mm, the other weapons were too small, which is tragic because an assault squad wielding scimitars would have been awesome.  But the spears were fine.  I never did my original idea, but I had come up with the idea for a squad of Veteran Bikers.  I promptly dubbed them the Black Lancers.  I had a set of black Dark Angel bikers from a friend.  I dubbed them the squad in question until I got around to creating my own or until or got around to retrofitting the old ones.  I'm not the kind of guy who goes back to older stuff that often, unfortunately.

The point of all this is that when I put these together, I decided it was time.  I'll give them some spiffy iconography to make them look more veteran, but I've started.  Soon there will be at least 2 more.  Good for me. :)

Hopefully, I'll be starting on a Bike Librarian soon.  I found a guy who's supposedly sending me a force weapon for him.  Part of me is thinking it's probably just a power weapon but I'll give it a chance.  I may have to make something up on my own.  In theory, I'm doing it as part of a competition and it needs to be done by Nov. 3rd.  In reality, I just want to get it done.  It's been in the back of my head for so long I'm a little excited at the thought of getting it done.

Bikes Without Bikers

So I cracked open the boxes and assembled the bikes.  The outer two are the old school ones.  The one in the middle is the newer one.  It's also the one I'm going to use for my bike Librarian.  That's all I had time for last night.  Hopefully I'll be able to assemble the other bikes and the attack bike tonight, but we shall see.

Which also reminds me...  I need to get my hands on a Force Weapon for him.  I'm not anywhere good enough to sculpt details onto a weapon.  I guess if I can't fins one in the very near future, I may have to try.  I do have some two handers I was using as relic weapons that I don't have intended for something else at the moment.  We'll see...

My Next Project: Bikers and Devastators

I feel a little like I'm cheating with this because I'm actually not done with my last project: painting vehicles.  I still have two Preds and a Rhinoback to finish, not to mention my instarted Speeders.  But, as I've mentioned previously, I'm tired of painting boxes right now and want to do something else.  So, digging in my undone stuff, I found a perfect target.  I've got four bikes and an attack bike that I got from someone somewhere  and three bikes that never left their original boxes.  I think one of those bikes will be used on a long envisioned but never started project.  I've always wanted a bike mounted Librarian.  I think now might be a good time to do that.  I also think that I might take this opportunity to redo my Black Lancers "Veteran" Bike Squad.  I might start giving these guys the brass lances I've had sitting around for so long.

The other thing I found (or, rather, ran back across) while I was there was an old school  Devastator Squad.  I've got some heavy weapons sitting with some of my other stuff so I think I'll put them together while I'm at it.  I'm sure I'll find a use for 8 heavy weapons somewhere.

I guess that's about it for now.  Tomorrow night, I hope to get started.  I think I can have them all done before the end of October, but I'm not making any hard deadlines...

Astramalleus Inventory!

So, the inventory has started!  After having taken all the pictures, I realize that my estimates of what I have painted have been a little inflated.  I've managed to add in things that I either haven't started or haven't completed yet.  That having been said, I believe my estimate of 13-15K is still pretty close.  At some point, I'll write it all down, and run the numbers.  But not right now.  Here they all are...

Good old tanks.  Pred x3, Vinddicator x3, Whirlwind x4.  Two of those Whirlwinds are actually Rhinobacks so good on them.

 More tanks.  Land Raider x2, Land Raider Crusader, Speeder x5.  A couple of notes: if you look really closely, you'll see that two of the speeders have assault cannons mounted on the sides.  I like the idea of the AC-130H Spectre; how it turns around the target, firing the Vulcan cannon out the side so it can maintain fire on a target longer than most air support can.  This seems like the kind of thing sited to the speed of Speeders.  My other note is about the Land Raider in the center.  The entire thing is made of plasticard and masking tape.  I bought that from a guy when I started playing 3rd Ed., back when there were no new Land Raiders and old Rogue Trader ones were going for $200 or more on the wild west that EBay.  I've only fielded it thrice, twice it died first turn, once it died to a deviation from that older Vindicator in the previous picture.
 

Dred x8.  Half are plastic, half are old school metal.  Note my now patented ghetto assault cannons on the lead Dred, as well as the converted Chaos hammer arm.

Assault Bike x5.  I've got a couple more in pieces.  I'll get around to them eventually.

Terminators x66, Termie Commander, Termie Chaplain, Termie Librarian.  I have many, many more waiting to be completed.  And one of these is a cheat because he's missing an arm, but it was one of my first Termies and, even though I have a replacement arm now, the army isn't complete without him.  The First Squad is the "Star Hammers" themselves.  I had a full 10 man Thunderhammer squad before they were cool.

Veterans x49.  Some of them are Vanguard.  Most are Sternguard.  As you have no doubt noticed, I can field an entire First Company if I want.  However, in my fluff, my battle companies' first squads are Veteran Squads so I better get some more Termies done because some of these guys shouldn't be there.  The "Sergeant" of that first squad is actually my Chapter Champion and the squad are his White Swords.  His (and therefore their) job is to guard the Company and Chapter Standards at home and away.  They are rarely together like this and they have their own personal Rhino a little further down.

These guys are special.  My best friend, who is twice the painter I'll ever be, painted these guys for me as a Christmas gift.  I've only fielded them once, but they're so much better than anything I've ever done.  However, to balance out his ability, I'm ten times more productive than he is.  So there.

Ahhhh, the Second Battle Company of the Astramalleus, the "Red Legs".  Tac x6, Dev x2, Assault x2.  Commander, Chaplain, Librarian.  The company is named after the 7th Devastator squad.  I've been fielding those guys for a long time and won more than a few battles because of them.  Actually, as mentioned before, the first squad should be Vets, but I'm not going to quibble about that right now.  And that Librarian was the first HQ I ever had.

 A Demi-Company composed from the Seventh Reserve Company.  Tac x4, Assault, Jump Commander, Jump Chaplain.  I've got more than Tac and Dev squads to fill this up once I actually assemble them.  Can't remember if I have another Assault squad to finish out this company.

Bike x10, Bike Commander, Bike Chaplain.  The black bikes are the Black Lancers, a Veteran Bike Squad.  In reality, I bought them from a friend who did Dark Angels, changed a few details, and called it a day.  I do actually have brass lances for them and one of these days I'll get around to touching the bikes up and attaching them, but not this week...  

Scout x5, Commander x5, Techmarine, Apothecary, Standard Bearer, Marines x2.  The rest of the dudes.  When I was pulling them all out for pictures, I forgot that the central commander up front is the designated Commander of the Red Legs, my long running, named badass Commander.  I'm not going to retake the pictures or invoke Photoshop, though.  There's also a reason the Chapter Standard is more like an IG standard than a Marine one but that may or may not change in the semi-near future.  And one more thing: I can't stand Scouts.  I dislike them so much I came up with fluff reasons why I never field them.  I picked these up somewhere.  I used to have Scout Bikers, but I think I used their bikes for the Commander and other things.

Transports!  Rhino x12, Razorback x3.  The black ones are designated for Veteran Squads.  A couple of these are Rhinobacks so god on them.  The three Rhinos in the back on the left are the ones that get me the most attention.  They're actually made of wood with Rhino parts glued on.  I can't count the number of time someone has been watching one and trying to figure out what's not quite right about it.  I have a fourth one somewhere, but it seems to have been AWOL for this.  That worries me a little but I'll live for now.

  

My buddy who got out of the game and gave me his stuff several posts (and over a month) ago?  Well, these are his and now my Black Templars.  I'll never get around to repainting them so they will be my eternal allied Contingent.  Besides, since Templars aren't getting any love from GW, they're just fine as generic other Chapter.  Tac Squad x3, Assault Marines x5, Scouts x10, Commander x2, Emperor's Champion.

And lastly, the Templar Rides.  Land Raider Crusader, Rhino, Razorback, Predator.

And those are the current battle ready roster of the Astramalleus, Hammer of the Stars, Lords of Besradine, Keepers of the Yada Yada Yada Blah Blah Blah.  As mentioned last post, I hope, in the next couple of weeks, to go through all the stuff I haven't assembled or completed yet.  That's going to be a much rougher task.  But after this, it's time to kick back and relax a bit...