Posed Terminator

So, I've had this one sitting around for years and today I finally decided to do something about it. The picture is a little dark but this is a Terminator knocking the head off of a Genestealer Hybrid. I put this together several years ago and every now and then I'd look back at it thinking that one day I would paint it and it would look cool. Well, it took years but I finally decided why not and just did it. It's not sexy and Golden Demon winning or anything like that, but it's mine and it's done.

So tomorrow starts something new. My friend who's got IG and hasn't played for years is going to be playing me tomorrow in his first 5th Ed. game. It's going to be a tiny one (500 pts) so he can learn the new mechanics and get a feel for how things work. If he's cool with it, I'm going to make a battle report of it. Sure, it's small, but a battle is a battle. And the plan is for this to be the kickoff of an escalation campaign between us so he has time and motivation to reassemble and paint things. I kinda hope he doesn't field a Russ but, knowing him, he might. On the other hand, the Land Speeder I intend to field may give him some pause...We'll play it by ear and see what happens.

Our other friend who is into Orks gave me a call today. He's really thinking about them and is looking to paint. This is the thing about this friend. He's a phenomenal painter. If he painted more, I think he could have a shot of competing at Golden Demon level. However, he does everything so slowly from painting to assembly. He has Ork and Eldar armies both on par sizewise with mine. However, between both armies he probably has 100 miniatures painted total. And now he has two more armies. He inherited a Necron army and, thanks to Black Reach, he has more than enough Marines to start a small army. When is he ever going to find time to paint them all?

Wish me luck tomorrow. I don't think I'm going to need it, but you never know...

Even More Terminators

Last night I took the evening off from painting, only putting away the Lightning Claws I just finished. Checking through my Termies, I realized that I only have three Lightning Claws, meaning I need two more to finish a squad of ten. More disturbing is the realization that I have 54 painted Terminators of various types and four HQs in Termie Armor for a grand total of 58 painted Terminator models. What on earth does one do with that many Terminators? And what about the 30 more that I have sitting waiting for paint, assembly or whatever state they're in? Eighty-eight Terminators? When I stopped acquiring terminators, I figured that I have a couple of Veteran squads already with plans to make more so 75 Termies with Veterans would make a good First Company. On the other hand, since I have 88 Termies, now I'm thinking why not just get the 12 remaining and have an entire Terminator Company? Sure, fluff doesn't support it since only the most ancient Chapters have entire Terminator Companies (I'm looking at you, Dark Angels) but at this point, why the heck not? Astramalleus fluff already has the first squad of Battle Companies being Veteran Squads of one form or another. Why the hell not?

Oh, and one last thing, I cannot field and entire 3K Planetstrike force in Terminators. I need to paint five more normal Terminators and one with an Assault Cannon or Cyclone Missile Launcher to acheive that...

Assault Terminators

Well, wow... How long has it been since I actually painted a miniature (as opposed to a vehicle or building)? So now I have 5 more Lightning Claw Terminators. I think I have four or five already so I'm close to or now at a full ten man squad. I also think this brings me up to 45 or 50 Terminators painted. When I pulled the unpainted ones out, I found that I had a done one in with them. I was probably using it as my reminder guide and forgot to put it back with the others.

I wonder if someone would like to play Planetstrike? I can field almost 3K in Terminators... Guess I'll have to throw in a couple Dreds to round out the points.

What will I work on next? Your guess is as good as mine. I'm a little tired of terrain at the moment and I have vehicles and Terminators I could work on. Then, of course, I have at least 6 Tac squads and a Dev squad that I've never even touched. Maybe it's time for me to work on Termies, fill out their company with Veteran Squads (I have a couple already but I may use a couple Tac Squads I still have in boxes, sprinkle bits liberally and voila) to finish out my First Company and then assemble the rest of the Tac and Dev squads and see if I can finish out a Third Company. It also occurs to me that if I get to the point where I can field three comapnies, I may just quit acquiring troops and restrict myself to vehicles and support units. Or maybe not.

Assault Terminators

Last night, while I was considering how my two towers from last night looked with walls, I found myself thinking about what foamcore project to do next, most likely another tower. However, a couple of days ago, I was remarking about the new Space Hulk and the possibility of more Terminators being out there and how Terminators are sorely not needed, especially by me. I mentioned this in a web forum and someone immediately offered to take the Termies I had sitting around off my hands. Of course, I demurred. Just because I haven't done anything with them yet doesn't mean I won't ever. So last night, while I was thinking about what to paint, I decided to revisit the Termies I've had sitting around for so long. I had based most them in black with their customary drybrushings in white and Blazing orange. Last night I took out the Assult Termies I hdn't finished (all lightning claws), pulled out the Ultramarine Blue and painted the details (helmets, hands, joints, etc.).

For some reason, Termies always take so much longer than standard Marines and I haven't figured out why. Maybe it's because I choose to take more time with them but I don't think it's that because Termies get annoying after a while. Maybe it's because there's a bit more detail than on a standard Marine but not much more. More likely, it's because there are more details that I actually pay attention to like feet and joints and other little things that add up to make them take longer. Either way, tonight, I'll do the small details and a little highlighting and I should be done. Five Terminators down, thirty to go...

One last note: between these lightning claws and a discussion with my friend with the IG army, I'm reminded of a tip to pass on to anyone who is trying to bulk out their army. When you buy a squad or a box set, don't just buy with no thought. Buy with an eye towards things you can do with the extra bits. Look at these Termies. Notice that one of them is a Black Reach Termie? Well, I bought an actual Assault Terminator set a while back. I've had nine Thunder Hammers for years and wanted a tenth to finish the squad. I used a few for lightning claws but that left several thunderhammer and lightning claw arms. What did I do with them? Put them on some Black Reach Termies. Here's another... I bought the Captain box and used the main parts to make a Commander. But I had left over bits so I put them on a biker and voila! A Commander on a bike! I still have a few bits left but when I build my next Tactical squad, I'm going to spread those Commander bits among them (along with others) and make it a Veteran squad. Don't just look at what they can do for you now. Look at what they can do in the future.

Two Towers

Well, there they are , cleaned up and finished. Simple towers that can serve as simple bastions. I haven't set them up with walls yet to get a feel for them yet, but that's alright because I bet they'll look just fine. Tonight, time permitting, I may try to make one or two more.

I'm running into an interesting problem... So the friend of mine who plays Guard? He has decided he wants to make a house rule. He wants to play with bigger tables and add a turn to the game. Why? Well, why do you think? This is the same guy who said he wouldn't even play 40K again until he could field 6 Basilisks. Now he doesn't like the small size of the tables. To an extent I agree with him. 6'x4' isn't much. It undercuts mobility and vastly decreases the effectiveness of firepower (as if that was king as it is). However, I know him. All he wants is more time to use those ungodly ranges that few else can touch to undo his opponent with big guns. I foresee breaking my own personal feelings and using all drop armies on him a few times to show the futility of that thinking. He wants to tilt the balance to favor himself winning when you should plan to do the best you can with what you have. Having mentioned this to him, he now seems to be more interested in Apocalypse which is cool because I like Apoc and I know he wants the bigger tables. However, when it comes to Apoc, he's fixated on titans and superheavies (which he can't afford and doesn't want to scratch build). And if it doesn't work out for him that way, he's taling about a 'Nid army made up of countless gaunts of all types. Jeez... I love the guy, but he's a total power gamer so playing him will be grating. But it will be playing with a friend So I guess I can live with that.

Two Towers

Well, I got two towers built and mostly painted. Tonight I'm going to do some touchup work and black in the windows and then these will be great bastions and wall towers. Definitely need at least two more but the standing plan is for three more anyway.

Was on Bell of Lost Souls forum while people were talking about the new Space Hulk. Someone mentioned that it would probably come out with more Terminators. Speaking as someone who has 40 Termies painted and another 35 basecoated or unassembled, do we really need more Terminators? I had to make the conscious choice not to get more when Black Reach ones were floating around like candy. I like Terminators, but I feel no need, either fluffwise or as a player, to have an entire Terminator Company. However, your proverbial mileage may vary. When I mentioned that, someone immediately jumped in to ask how much I wanted for the unassembled ones. Different strokes...

Walls & Building Finally Complete

Finally finished up the touch ups on the walls and building. Took me long enough, eh? Now they get to join the pantheon of terrain I already have. Apparently my terrain collection has had an effect that I never originally intended.

You see, I started playing 40k with 3rd Edition. Several of my friends played 2nd Ed and Rogue Trader back in the day and I got a little taste of interest from those (I'll tell you one day about my first attempt at painting, remembered fondly as the "terra-cotta Marine") but what they were playing just didn't do it for me. I didn't like the idea of a tactical war game where one character or one vehicle could literally rule the field by taking on the entire opposing army alone. And that was a good description of those days. Imagine a character with enough war gear to outfit an entire army, multiple wounds and 3 to 5 saves, all of which are rolled when damage is incoming, dealing 10 attacks with power weapons, finger lasers and whatever other kind of craziness could be packed on. Believe me, you couldn't even kill a Land Raider back then. Every new unit was power cranked to be even more devastating. Remember when Warp Spiders used flamer templates and ignored armor saves? I do. :) Anyway, when 3rd Ed came out, they shifted the game away from characters and on to squads. And that's when I got into the game. That's also when those friends got out. A few weeks ago, we threw a little 4th of July soiree and one of them was over. When he saw all the terrain I've made, he was impressed. So much so that he's thinking about pulling out his Orks and playing again. This particular friend, though he hasn't played much in the last decade has still collected minis off and onin that time. He has Ork and Eldar armies that, if assembled and painted, would probably equal my Marine Army points wise. And another friend has been talking to me about getting back in and building a board in his garage and working on his old Guard army. I guess I've given them the bug again and I'm good with that.

This morning I put some templates on foam core for planned desert terrain, specifically two story buildings that I can use as bastions, wall towers or just stand alone generic buildings. With luck, I'll be able to cut them out and assemble them tonight, If I'm really lucky, I'll be able to paint them, but I wouldn't bet on that. Either way, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.