Road to Glory --

Inside the 5th edition warhammer 40k rulebook there is a 5 stage campaign. It is generically written, open for anyone to play. William and I will be playing this campaign ... setting up the story line to have the following basic story plot.

"A long standing war has raged between Dark Angel and Eldar forces on a small world dotted with imperial outposts. The imperial forces were working to establish a stronghold when the Eldar first attacked the planet. The two have been deadlocked ever since. Recently new developments have occurred allowing the long running stalemate to finally be broken. The Eldar forces have recently acquired the insight of a prominent and powerful Farseer. The imperial forces have received a small relief force of Dark Angels Space Marines. With their forces recently bolstered the scales of war may finally be tipped to one side or another ... and a victor may be declared."

Battle 1: Seize Ground; Dawn of War Deployment - [Victor gains vital intelligence in the final battle]

Battle 2: Capture and Control; Dawn of War Deployment - [Victor becomes attacker]

Battle 3: Seize Ground; Pitched Battle Deployment - [Victor chooses deployment type in Battle 4]

Battle 4: Capture and Control; Various Deployment - [Victor chooses deployment type and if night-fighting will be used in Battle 5]

Battle 5: Annihilation; Various Deployment - [Victor wins the campaign]

In addition to the above summary of the battles - our Road to Glory Campaign will use the Veteran Ability / Gaining Experience rule found on page 263 of the rulebook.

Our first match is slated to be played 10/16. Expect photos and a battle report ... I'm currently working on a table to have 100% playable.

William, give me your thoughts on the points for each battle ... i was thinking the following - but you can tell me what you think.

Battle 1: 1000pt

Battle 2: 1000pt

Battle 3: 1200pt

Battle 4: 1200pt

Battle 5: 1500-2000pt ... dependent on our playable army sizes.

So this previous Sunday, we started the third branch of a new 4e campaign (in which each player is fielding a character in each branch). One of my characters, Arkan, is shown below in a state of near completion. Just as these pictures are sub-par, Arkan himself has some touch-ups and detail work yet to go. That being said, I wanted to get some points up on the board, and will repost with all three minis in a couple days when I have better lighting/photo conditions.

Because this character is a hybrid Rogue-Warlord with some background as an assassin, I wanted a miniature that looked physically solid, though stealthy, and had an urban feel. Similarly, I wanted to shy away from the greens and browns that can sometimes dominate in a game that deals with the wilderness quite often.

Particularly in my fantasy minis, I like to give each item a different color - where sensible. IRL, my leather shoes barely match each other due to various environmental experiences and wear; so I figure a character's gloves, boots, bags, and hilts ought to be recognizably different unless there is military uniformity involved. I accomplished this above with varying mixtures of Citadel's Scorched Brown, Snakebite Leather, Terracotta, Devlin Wash and Black Ink. Cloth and leather are my favorite materials to simulate because they can vary so greatly in a single item, and mistakes sometimes turn into wonderful, realistic imperfections. For the first time, I also made an attempt at giving a character a bit of stubble. I think it turned out well here and makes him look rather stern, along with largely blacked out eye-sockets rather than the goofy anime eyes that I sometimes end up with.

To get that city feel, I tried for a "contemporary" style of urban camouflage on his cloak, which is conveniently reversible, with a brown interior - there aren't many good reasons to be sneaking around in a city, so I trust he'd wear the brown on the outside most of the time to avoid any unwelcome attention from city guards. Anyway, others can judge my success, but the simple vertical grey markings on the bluish-grey cloak add the sort of color differentiation I wanted as a painter, and facilitate a king-slaying practicality required as a player, while hopefully avoiding glaring anachronism..icity.

Works in Progress

Just 2 quick cell phone shots of my Eldar Guardian unit in process ... basic armor coating on each mini ... still lots of work too do...

Tyranids!!!

Group shot! I painted up three termagaunts, each a different color scheme to try them out.

I went up to my local nerd store (plug here for Warzone) and purchased a single sprue from a box the owner had open.

This guy is my favorite, my homemade bleached bone color was used on the skin, and the carapace was a mix of reaper's blood red and my craft paint orange.

Each of the tyranids claws, hooves, and teeth were left base coated white.

I used the pink from the other termagaunts skin to color the open wounds on the arms.

This lucky guy had a deep blue carapace and a homemade version of rotting flesh.

I added the little skull for fun!

Here is a close up of number three. Each of the 'nids were dipped, and you can see just how nicely the tone came out, seeping into the recesses, and leaving the surface only slightly darker then the original color.

I left the carapace base coated white on this fella, i think he turned out pretty nice, for only have the base paint of white, pink skin, and strong tone dip on him.

Obviously the dipping method isn't a golden demon winner. However, the time it took for each of these guys is only about 4-6 minutes each. With a colored spray paint base, i could cut that time down a bit. They still look great. These guys where sprayed with the matte varnish (it was significantly less humid). They came out very matte, which would have been perfect for guardsman ... but not for slimy aliens. So i added an additional mildly glossy varnish for just the right amount of reflection.

Eldar! Continued

I spent at least 30 minutes on this figure, if not more. It's not really noticeable in the photo, but even from arms length it's visible. I base coated the armor in a deep green, and the undersuit in brown (i use a vareity of paints including GW, Vallero, 50 cent craft store, liquitex, and krylon).

I layered progressively lighter shades of green onto the armor ... perhaps 4 coats.

I did the same with the under-suit, but only 2 coats. I wanted it to remain subdued. The gun, was only highlighted once.

I finished it off with a low gloss varnish. I've gotten in the habit of varnishing everything. One, i think it adds an element of completion to a model. Two, it gives a nice protective layer vs. oily finger tips and "table top battle wounds".

I really like how this guy turned out, and it was only a few minutes total of work. I base coated him in a green mix (GW foundation green + lighter tone craft paint). I also base coated the gun in a homemade version of GW bleached bone. Then i gave it a dip in Army Painters Strong Tone.

The same as above, except with a black gun, and different tone of green. Army Painter dip is like a colored varnish (comparable to Minwax polyurethane) which really shades the model and adds an excellent protective layer.

The army painter does leave the model incredibly glossy, which is why i use a matte finish over the model. Army Painter does provide a spray finish ... which worked best on the tyranids.

Lastly, i'm very please with this model. He took perhaps 3 minutes total working time, and for the time put in, turned out best. Base coated black I put two thin layers of a craft paint green (two layers, because craft paints have terrible coverage). I painted the gun bleached bone, and the face plate black. After that i just gave the mini a dip in the Army Painter, and shook him off.

When dipping a mini you need to shake the excess dip off. If not you get a globby mess. I saw a neat video that attached the mini to a drill, and you can then use the drill to throw the excess of the mini ... that works really well. You then leave the varnish to dry (24 hours) and put a matte finish on... then presto.

To me, the layers and dry brushing creates far better looking mini's. But in terms of speed the dip is very efficient, and for basic troops and core units, can't be beat for those who want to start playing with assembled painted mini's. The big catch is making sure that if you matte varnish your boys ... it doesn't ruin the paint job you had ... no matter how simple it may have been. The next batch of guardians will hopefully be free of the white specks of doom.

Eldar!

Okay, so the eldar are the army i actually play in Warhammer 40k. But the tyranids and orks were mini's i wanted to paint, and that we benefit from in the Dark Heresy game we've been playing. Below, however are my first 5 guardians painted with slight variations of the color theme i'm going with: Green and Brown.

Orks!!!

Above is a shot of a different technique for my base from all the others. Every other base i have used bird gravel/sand. This one used saw dust. Not to shabby ... but not as textured as i'd of liked.

Here's a rear view of the Ork. I spent no more then 5 minutes total painting this figure.

Again the above is a very quick speed paint job. A few basic colors. I single highlight to the skin. Then a wash over the whole figure. I probably spent just as much time on the base as i did on the painting. Still reasonably table ready.

The above Gretchin was a little more involved. Same basic technique, solid colors with a wash. But i spent more time focusing on where the wash went.

Also, after painting i put a matte varnish on the figure; a spray matte varnish to be specific. I quickly learned that the can should be shaken 3 times as long as indicated, and that humidity affects the spray. It left a ghostly white residue on several of the mini's. I worked diligently to reduce the affect and at arms length you can't really tell. But on the close up photos you can see it.

That said, let me point out that my close up photos are rather mediocre. I have a great camera ... but very poor lighting to give a reasonable representation.

One ork ... One gretchin ... 2 points.

I reached my goal...

So I've reached my goal of 10 points for the first week of September. 10 points set, 10 points achieved. I painted up 1 old-school Ork and 1 old-school Gretchin. I painted 5 Eldar Guardians and 3 Tyranid Termagaunts. I used a variety of painting techniques and methods on each mini, tried some washes & dips, layering and drybrushing and assembly-line painting. I'm happy with all of them ... though some are significantly better than others.

However, my camera ran out of juice just as i was taking the last photos, so i will go get some batteries and post the pics in a short while.