Project Thunderbolt Part 2: Building A Base (Pic Heavy)

I wanted to make a cool display base for my Thunderbolt, but needed to come up with a solution to offset the flyer.  After lots of thinking and mind changing I decided to make the base with Epic scale models and do a "strafing run" scene.  This required a heavy base to accommodate my idea.  Luckily, I work at a steel fab shop and know how to work the CNC plasma table.  So, I sketched up a quick oval sized what I thought would work on the computer program and burned the base from 1/4" steel hoping this would be heavy enough without going overboard with thickness.

Above is what I came up with.  I also took a small strip of flatbar and hand-formed it using a piece of pipe to get some radius.  Above is what I came up with after welding it together.  I got pretty lucky and this was perfectly weighted.

I finally decided I wanted to do a desert canyon scene with models trying to flank, kinda like in some Black Library book I read.  Above is what I sketched up on some old cork tiles.

After roughly breaking the tiles on my marks it started to come together like a canyon.

A shot of all pieces broken out, with some small bits for the top to break up the flat surface.

The completed canyon before adding the sand.  I glued this with a hot glue gun initially.  Not a very good idea as the small one I have couldn't lay down enough glue fast enough before it started to cool.  I had to add some white glue around edges where it was pulling apart and weight down with books to complete process.

Another shot of the canyon before adding the sand.

A view of the canyon depth.  Came out around an inch deep and was perfect for the epic scale models I was using.

A shot with the sand added.  I used the GW basing material for this.  I have several kinds of basing material, but decided this was the best option with the very small sand and larger "boulders".  I say boulders because the models on the base are 6mm scale.

Another shot showing the pegs that are used to hold the Eldar Falcons I was able to find on Ebay.  I really wanted to use some Forgeworld Epic Tau Hammerheads, but found these were almost impossible to find.

Above show the slot I milled into the bottom of the Thunderbolt using a Dremel tool.  It's a little rough, but the fit is tight and lets me position the flyer at different angles of entry.

The only other shot I have showing the Falcons in place before painting.  

I think the first picture of this post shows exactly what I was aiming for when the idea popped into my head for a "strafing run" shot.  The nose of the flyer can be repositioned up to hide the stand, and this will be shown in later pics.  When I envisioned this, I wanted to be able to look over the tail of the Thunderbolt and have the image of small targets rapidly approaching firing range.  From the side view, it is a little odd and out of scale, but the "over the top" view makes this look much as I wanted.

I also built a smaller gaming base about the size of the Valkyrie base from steel to.  This will be shown in later posts.  It is very strong and heavy and will keep accidents from happening during gaming.

Well, that's all i got going with the base until I show the painting of it.  Next post will show the initial primer and weathering stages using the salt weathering technique I showed a while back on some Tau test models.  I also used the airbrush for the first time on this model doing some camouflage, so that will be shown as well.

Project Thunderbolt Part 1: Building My First Flyer

Finally, I'm gonna try to get something on the blog about this project.  My cousin, who posts here as reklawsj, is the only 40k gamer I know besides me in my county.  He bought me this Forgeworld Thunderbolt because I wouldn't stop talking about how awesome it was, and I got him a summer job at where I work, so he says, I think he just wanted me to get this thing on the table so he could shoot it out of the sky first turn played and dash my dreams.  

So, as usual this thing sat in a bag for a year before I decided to tackle it.  I started building this last June, so yeah it's taken a while, work, new house, wife, 2 year old and baby, you know the usual suspects.  At this point I have finished painting this thing, except for some weathering powder experiments I am going to do on it.  I ordered a few powders from Secret Weapon Miniatures and expect them in the mail this week.  I'll let you know how this experiment turns out.

On with the build.  First I laid out all the parts to make sure everything was included and got to work with flash removal(shown below).  This was extremely messy and I did it when my family was gone so I could get everything cleaned up safely.  Resin dust is bad for you.  A couple of the pieces needed a little heating and straightening in some hot water, but nothing major.

Then it was onto the soap bath.  I usually soak my parts overnight and scrub several times.  These ended up being in the bath for many days, because I couldn't get time to get back to them.  None of this matters, just be sure they are nice and clean if you intend on keeping the paint on the model.

After cleaning, it was time to assemble.  And yes, what you see below are all the instructions given.  The back of one of those pages shows the parts laying out and the other is blank.  Pretty much they show you a picture of the fuselage without engines, with engines and then plane done.  Even with the lack of instruction, it is a pretty self-explanatory model and with some test fitting and additional sanding it was finally assembled.  In a few of the main joints I put some pins and some balls of Green Stuff to strengthen the model.

Below are a couple of pics in its "ready for primer" stage.  

I wish I had taken a few more pics of the build-up of this thing so it would be a little more informative for people trying to build one themselves.  Sorry.  Next installment in this series of posts will be the base I built that holds the flyer about a foot and a half out of the center.

I'm trying to get back on the hobby wagon now.  I organized my paint area last night and hope to paint up my Hordes army next before getting back on the 40k stuff.  I can't decide which army I want to paint that is built. I have went to my local game store and played Hordes for the first time now, so I'm pretty excited to get the Trolls done and on the table more.

"Hobby List of the Week": Sallie Wing

So back when the shiny new Space Marine codex came out I was one of the many who came down with Vulkan fever. Twin linked meltas and flamers? Yes please! I immediately bought way too much Space Marine stuff (can you have too much) and started an army. I now have a wide range of Salamanders to choose from for a great variety of games. One thing I might have went overboard with is buying Terminators. Salamanders love their terminators right? Right! So I have 40+ different terminators, half of which have never been used in a game, because well, there aren't enough slots!

But a few weeks ago something wonderful happened. They FAQ'd Dark Angels. I don't like Dark Angels, never have, too many secrets. But I figured "hey, every chapter has an elite first company, better yet they're still green!" So this is my approach at the Salamander DeathWing or Fire Drakes as they're known.

HQ
Belial w/ Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield

Chaplain Interrogator w/ Terminator Armor


Troops
5 Terminators
Company Banner upgrade
Apothercary upgrade
4 w/ TH/SS
1 w/ Cyclone Missle and Chainfist

5 Terminators
4 w/ TH/SS
1 w/ Heavy Flamer and Chainfist

5 Terminators
2 w/ TH/SS
1 w/ Cyclone Missle and Chainfist
2 / Powerfist and Storm Bolter

5 Terminators
2 w/ TH/SS
1 w/ Cyclone Missle and Chainfist
2 / Powerfist and Storm Bolter


Elites
Venerable Dread
multi melta
heavy flamer
extra armor
in Drop Pod


Heavy Support
Crusader w/ pintle storm bolter

Land Raider w/ pintle storm bolter


2000 pts
4 scoring units
10 kill points
25 models



The plan: So Belial and the Chaplain will ride with the command termie squad in the crusader. The other CC squad can ride in the other land raider. They can start on the table and in the first turn you can deep strike in one of the 2 termie squads in reserve. Then hopefully around turn 3 or 4 you get a dread comin in and the other termie squad.

I really like the idea of Belial with a command squad of termies. 2+ save with 3+ invlun, and FNP? I'm salivating. I could trade out the 2 land raiders and get 2 more squads of termies to come in, but Land Raiders are just fun and fit the fluff. The Dread may not do too great but again I'm a fluff player and I think he fits in really well. The chappy is just there to get some rerolls in CC. I'm used to TH rerolls with my sallies so I think that squad should be pretty amazing.

This may not be the most amazing list but should be fun to play and in my opinion is the most important thing. I think it may also be a tough list to play since I'll most likely be outnumbered even my Grey Knights. But seeing this many Salamander termies on the table should be a really cool sight.

Now if I can just figure out a way to get those flamers and meltas twin linked again......

"Hobby List of the Week": Huron's Red Corsairs

Red Corsair Chosen Unit with Space Wolf Bits

Chosen Rhino

Finally, I made it through the holidays and need to get something back on the blog.  I am gonna get back to the hobby list and hope to start showing something on Project Thunderbolt when I have time to put together a series of articles and finish the final paint details.  Work has been too busy for me to even pick up a model lately.

This week I'm gonna do a Red Corsair list using the Chaos Codex.  The Red Corsairs are a cool band of renegades.  Pretty much, you can throw together everything you like and it would make a perfect band of Chaos pirates under the employ of Huron Blackheart.  So here goes the list, lead by the man himself.

Huron Blackheart

Chaos Sorcerer - Mark of Slaanesh - Lash of Submission - meltabombs

Chosen Squad - 9 dudes - Champion with Power Weapon - 4 flamers - Mark of Khorne
     Dedicated Transport - Rhino with Combi-flamer

Chaos Terminators - 3 dudes - 2 with combi-meltas - 1 with Heavy Flamer and Chainfist

Chaos Space Marine Squad 1 - 10 dudes - Champ with Powerfist - 2 meltaguns - Icon of Chaos Glory
     Dedicated Transport - Rhino

Chaos Space Marine Squad 2 - 10 dudes - Champ with Powerfist - 2 meltaguns - Icon of Chaos Glory

     Dedicated Transport - Rhino

Chaos Space Marine Squad 3 - 20 dudes - Champ with Powerfist - 2 Plasmaguns - Icon of Tzeentch

Chaos Bikers - 5 dudes - Champion with Powerfist and meltabombs - 2 with meltaguns

Vindicator - extra armor - dirge caster

2,000 pts

12 killpoints

3 scoring units

63 models

Okay, so this army just has a little bit of everything you need with some things that are just cool, like 20 crazed bolter-toting Chaos Marines on foot with a 5+ invulnerable save all the time.  This unit is where I would attach the Sorcerer, as it will take a lot to make this unit go away completely.  I would put Huron in the Chosen unit for the 5 flamer template action, as well as plenty of power weapon and powerfist attacks using the Mark of Khorne.  Add to this a couple 10 man units of CSM with meltas and re-rollable leadership for staying power.  The Bikers are the fast threat that can be brought in from reserve to help where needed with there meltas.  The termies need to deepstrike in using one of the Icons to help any unit in trouble.  They are mostly expendable, but being termies they will need to be dealt with.  And last is the Vindicator.  Not only does it draw fire off other units early game, it will also be nice if you can get Lash off on a unit and bunch them up.  Not always a sure thing, but when it happens, it is glorious and pleases Chaos much.

The modelling side of this army is great.  It includes some unit of every mark of Chaos except Nurgle.  Each unit can be modelled up using normal Space Marine parts as well as Chaos bits.  The painting can vary wildly, with some models keeping some parts of their armor painted as they had from whatever chapter they defected from.  My idea of Huron's renegades is that they are a bunch of like minded Space Marines that are tired of following the Emperor.  Some of these guys will have turned completely to Chaos, while others will still be Space Marines at heart, just not Emperor-loving Space Marines.  This idea gives the modeler a great range of opportunities when it comes to conversions.

So, there you go, my idea of a renegade band of Space Marines lead by Huron Blackheart.  There are so many modelling possibilities when it comes to Red Corsairs that I can't even begin to list them all.  Maybe you think renegade Space Marines are as cool as I do, or maybe not, but you have to admit the modeling aspect of the army is awesome.

The pictures at top are of my Chosen unit that Huron rides with.  I converted these using Space Wolf bits.  I figure when Huron hijacked the Wolf of Fenris, a few of those guys decided to work for him instead of being tortured and raped by the Slaanesh guys in Huron's warband.  And I figure Huron, having read the new Space Wolf codex, would make them his personal bodyguard, hoping they would give him some secrets on becoming the strongest army on the internet.

2010 in review....and what to do in 2011

2010
This year has been pretty slow on the modelling side for me.  Mostly due to having a new house built, moving and all the things that go along with making a new house livable.  Also in  the summer my son was born.  This was a great time and having a 2 year old and a baby in the house is always interesting.  So this year real life was a lot more exciting than the hobby side.  I have built a few models and actually painted a few.  I played in 40k 'Ardboyz and made the semi-finals which was pretty exciting for me as the only games I play all year are in this tournament.  I think I played 2 other games of 40k and a couple of the new Space Hulk which was fun.

The few things I have managed to do I have been able to catalog on the blog.  I almost averaged 1 post a week on here, which is a goal I had set for my self this year.

2011
Next year I would like to continue with my goal of at least a post a week here on the blog.  I also want to have at least 2 a month that actually show something I have built/converted or painted.  I also want to detail more techniques I use or experiment with.  My favorite blog posts from others usually contain a new technique or tool to help further my hobby experience and keep it interesting.  It is fun to try using others ideas and making them fit my skill level.

On the hobby side I want to first find the time to finish my Forgeworld Thunderbolt I have had in progress for at least 6 months.  I wanted to finish this before end of year, but instead of getting more time around the holidays I got way less due to working 60 hrs a week.  I really want to finish this before posting a series of articles on it, but I may start putting up some posts up to the 60% painted point it is in now.

Other than the Thunderbolt, I plan on painting more of my Trollbloods to get a playable, fully painted 35 pt list.  I have a few models I want to purchase for my Space Marine army and a few more for my Chaos army.  I am really torn about whether to start painting a full 40k army.  Chaos interests me the most, but I really want to get a new codex before jumping on a painting project like that.  So, I'll probably just pick and choose a few select models and go from there.

I really want to play more games this year, but again the majority will be probably be limited to the 'Ardboyz tourney.  I really want to place in semis this year and have been thinking about the list I will take for a bit now.  At the moment it is a Loganwing with Thunderwolf Lord Deathstar Hybrid List.  So lots of podding termies(5 units) dropping to provide screening for the Wolf Lords(3 with unit of Fenrisian Wounds) advancing with a couple Scout squads coming in behind the enemy.  I will put more up about the exact list at a later time.  Oh and it will be all Chaos counts-as with all models being WYSIWYG to limit complaints.

My last plan for the year is to finally start selling off at least 10,000 pts of my 14,000 pt fully built Orcs & Goblins army. I have multiples of every unit in book and with the new book and hopefully new models looming I hope to settle on one list and just have that.  Well, it's that or sell my other fantasy armies and only have this one, but I like having more than just a sea of greenskins.  Selling stuff I already have is the only way I fuel my purchases of new things.  This year I probably spent less than 100 bucks of real hard earned money.  The rest was made from selling old stuff.  This is getting harder and harder though as most of the stuff I have left are things I really like.  The only thing fueling their sell is the realization that I can never paint or play with all of it.

Almost forgot about the Grey Knight release, I bought into that army as soon as it was released before and now want to see how they expand upon the meager selections that were only in codex and lots of plastics please.  I personally am glad they did away with allies.  Small games at tournament levels should be kept in-book, while apocalypse allows for using multiple codexes to make an army that looks like the fluff and Black Library say it usually is.

Well, probably a boring post, but at leasts it's on the interwebz where I can check it out and see how I did come this time next year.  Now if only I could figure out how to live on no sleep, instead of my usual 5-6 sporadic hours, I could get that Thunderbolt done.

"Hobby List of the Week": Blood Angels - Dread List

Couldn't find suitable pic, so showing my Khorne Landraider again

This week I'm gonna put out a list I came up with a while back.  Everyone knows the BA codex allows the use of lots of dreadnoughts.  I wanted a list with plenty of them, but not going overboard.  There is no real fluff or story to go with this list.  I just thought it would be cool to drop a bunch of dreads on the table using Drop Pods.    On with the list:

Mephiston

Sanguinary Priest - meltabombs

Assault Squad # 1 - 10 dudes with 2 meltaguns - Srg with powerfist and meltabombs
Dedicated Transport - Land Raider Redeemer - multimelta

Assault Squad # 1 - 10 dudes with 2 flamers - Srg with powerfist 

Dedicated Transport - Land Raider Redeemer - multimelta

Furioso Dreadnought - Blood Talons - Heavy Flamer in Drop Pod

Furioso Dreadnought - Blood Talons - Heavy Flamer in Drop Pod

Dreadnought - Multimelta - Heavy Flamer in Drop Pod

Dreadnought - Multimelta - Heavy Flamer in Drop Pod

Dreadnought - Assault Cannon - Heavy Flamer in Drop Pod

2,000 pts

18-20 killpoints

2-4 scoring units

34 models

This list is very light on numbers of models, but is really heavy on killpoints because of all the pods.  Pretty much you just hope for a good first turn.  This means zooming the raiders as far forwards as possible(probably toward strong flank) and dropping your choice of 3 dreadnoughts on the weakest flank of the opponent.  I say this because with so few models you want to split your opponents army into two parts.  Hopefully, one of your sides will do really well and need no support.  If this happens you have two more dreads in pods to support the side of your army that falls apart.  The Sanguinary Priest rides with either unit and lends his bubble to hopefully both units.  Mephiston follows either Landraider until he gets there and then starts beating face.  Army includes enough melta to get the job done on mech with some luck and enough templates to make foot armies think twice about getting to close.

Mainly, this army relies on confusing your opponent with multiple targets.  All targets on the board will present major threats to most armies.  Three dreadnoughts in your deployment zone must be dealt with.  Also, 2 landraiders full of Assault marines must be dealt with, especially if they have the Feel No Pain and Furious Charge bubble.  Mephiston is a really big threat also.  So, it should be fun getting in there and taking names with this army.  On the other hand, three Long Fang missile squads and a bunch of lascannon Razorbacks could spoil your game before you even started good with some hot rolling.  And probably wouldn't be a good idea to just throw this army at a Vulkan-melta & TH-SS spam army.

All in all, not a real competitive army against other really competitive armies.  But, if you're just out to have a good time with some buddies, it would be something to pull out of the bag.  Hope you enjoyed seeing my take on a multiple threat army list, using lots of hard targets that don't leave you a lot of time to deal with them.  Similar lists can be made with books other than the Blood Angels, but lots of armored dreads, a couple Landraiders and Mephiston are some of the hardest units in the game, all in one book.

"Hobby List of the Week": Crimson Fists

This week, I'm gonna do my personal favorite Space Marine Chapter, Crimson Fists.  This has been my favorite chapter of marines since I learned about 40k.  In this case I don't think the fluff pulled my in(because I didn't know what fluff was at the time), but the color scheme.  I like the striking blue with red fists colors.  I always wanted to paint a sweet army like this.  Sadly, while I have built a giant force of marine, the above terminator is my only painted one.  Oh well, I get them done before I die.

Now that I know the story behind the colors, I want my force to be post-Rynn's World.  This means I want a force consisting of staunch veterans that made it through that tragedy, while also including many scouts.  The scouts are part of the rebuilding process and are there to learn from the vets.  This means I don't take any tactical squads, only Sternguard and Termies as the veteran side.  I still get plenty of scoring units thanks to Pedro.  On with the list.

Pedro Kantor

Terminators x 10 - 2 with Cyclone Missile Launchers, one other with Chainfist

Sternguard x 10 - 3 with Combi-meltas, 2 with Missile Launchers, 1 with Powerfist

Dedicated Transport - Razorback with twin-linked Lascannons

Sternguard x 10 - 3 with Combi-plasmas, 2 with Missile Launchers, 1 with Powerfist

Dedicated Transport - Razorback with twin-linked Lascannons

Scout Squad x 10 - Heavy Bolter with Hellfire, 9 with Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks

Scout Squad x 5 - Bolt Pistols and Close Combat Weapons, meltabombs, teleport homer

Scout Squad x 5 - Bolt Pistols and Close Combat Weapons, meltabombs, teleport homer

Land Speeder Storm #1 - Multi-melta

Land Speeder Storm #2 - Multi-melta

Scout Bike Squad x 3 - Grenade Launcher - Power weapon - meltabombs

2,000 pts

12-16 killpoints

5-7 scoring units

57 models

All Units in army Stubborn

This army doesn't really offer a multitude of conversions to make the army standout as some of my Chaos counts-as armies do.  Decorating the veterans in the army with medals, purity seals, etc would certainly add to the look.  This army relies on a cohesive color palette to carry the look that you would be going for.  

Now for how they would perform on the table.  This army doesn't rely on any gimmicks or tricks, just solid elite choices with backup fire provided by the scouts.  Personally, in most situations I would combat squad the Terminators and both units of Sternguard.  

One unit of the Termies would have both Cyclones and Sergeant while the other would include the chainfist and four powerfists.  The unit with Cyclones would be a mini-devastator squad, setting up in cover and firing, while protecting an objective holding unit of scouts or Sternguard.  The one with Chainfists drops to a position, hopefully close to enemy using teleport homers on scout squads mounted in Storms.  They are more of a "deal with me now" unit or face 5 termies walking around ripping up your armor.  

The Sternguard combat squad with one unit consisting of the powerfist and combi-weapons.  This unit hijacks the Razorback and does its thing.  Its thing is sit back and fire the lascannons early, then move out seeking objectives and targets laters.  One of them also picks up Pedro.  Ideally, I would keep both Razorbacks close together for the Pedro "attack aura" and so there are more than 5 dudes in one place.  The two other halves of the Sternguard pick up the two missile launchers and also become mini-devastator squads, though these are scoring, so they can camp an objective.

The Scout squad with the snipers usually infiltrates(or not) and camps on an objective you hopefully placed in cover.  They will just be really annoying with great cover saves and handing out pinning checks each turn.  It would be good to keep the Cyclone strapped Termie squad near this unit for support in close combat should the enemy close.  The other two scout squads zoom up in their Land Speeders to be annoying and make sure the Termies drop in a good location.  The Storms also have multi-meltas, so if you have first turn, you can scout forward 24" before game, then pop whatever you choose in the first turn.  Of course, make sure you stop the scout move near cover and drop off scouts in this before moving out in the first turn to get within 12" of target.  This leaves the scouts with some support(the cover) and hopefully stay on the table long enough for their teleport homers to bring in the terminators.  The Scout Bikers are in the list, because they look cool.  They can outflank, I'm pretty sure, so they could come in and rear shot tanks with grenades and be a general pain in the arse.

Well, there's my "lot longer than I expected" tactical thoughts on this army.  This army would definitely take some practice to play well.  And there are lots more options on the tactical side that I didn't mention.  In general, this army could be played many, many different ways without changing any models.  With lots of practice, you could develop different tactics for different situations, scenarios, opposing armies, etc.  Ideally, this is what I want in all my armies.  I want the same army list to be capable of handling many different challenges without changing the list.  It keeps the boring part out of the picture and keeps opponents(even regular ones) guessing at what you will do this time.  This list isn't just a spammed army of the 2 best units in a given codex, where the only tactical changes you can make are "Should I reserve" or "Should I not reserve".  

This kinda starts another topic of how to build great "all-comers" lists.  A great "all-comer" lists doesn't have to include flamers for hordes, melta for tanks, tanks for mobility, psykers for anti-psyker work, you get the idea.  A great "all-comers" list just needs "adaptability".  The great thing about adaptability is that GW is now building this into their new codexes, you just have to know where to look.  This means using some special characters to open up new abilities, using units that can change there setups from game to game without changing the army list, i.e. combat squadding, units that have special rules like scout and infiltrate that allow moving forward before game, setting up outside your deployment zone or coming in from reserve on board edges.  This is adaptability.  But this type of army will require lots of practice so you can hone your skills at using the right special ability at the right time.  Otherwise, you could look like a fool with an army consisting or all different units that have no idea how to work together to achieve a common goal, this goal being winning.

Okay, I'm gonna stop rambling right there.  You may have picked up a little bit of my thought process that goes into writing army lists that I would actually want to build and play with for a while.

Wow, just checked the preview and that is one helluva text wall, good luck and thanks for reading the blog if you got this far.