Tauros Venator

Forgeworld have just put this baby up for pre-order

In the words of Will Smith: I have gotta get me one of these!

The Stalk Tank ideas are being shelved for while, i want one of these to convert into my Hellhound. I might make some transport varients of it too.

And it happens to be my birthday next month, so guess what i'm asking my family to get me.

Procrastination on the subject of Stalk Tanks

I've been doing some thinking into how to make a Stalk Tank for my Blood Pact and as far as i see it, the donor model will depend on what i want it to count as:

Option one: Sentinel

I could go the route most people take and have it class as an Armoured Sentinel, in which case it's simply a case of adding more legs to a Sentinel body and shifting them into a Spider-like pattern. However, i think the Sentinel rules make for a vehicle that's a bit 'light' for a Stalk Tank, which is often portrayed as spearheading Archenemy assaults.

Which leads me on to...

Option 2: Leman Russ

This idea would tie in with the assault vehicle aspect of the Stalk Tank, able to mount multiple plasma weaponry (something mentioned in the books)and even represent the command configurations that are out there for it (using 'counts as' Pask)

If i go for this route, it would be an in depth conversion, involving stripping down a CSM Defiler and mounting Leman Russ weapons and mounting it all onto a Valkyrie base (to keep the same basic footprint as a 'Russ).

Only problems with this option is obviously the extra cost of models, as well as the fact that as i'm entering a league soon, if the organiser doesn't approve of the 'counts as', it won't be able to be used.

What do people think?

All thoughts and opinions are welcome

Various Progress

Work's begun on the body of my Manticore. It's surprisingly simple to build. Considering it's my first ever Forgeworld tank kit, i was expecting it to be more complicated than it is



This is a fallen Inquistor/ Big Bad Chaos Dude, built simply by raiding my bitz box. I'm planning to give him a plastic chaos knight shield in the near future.

In game he's going to be a 'counts as' Daemonhunter Inquisitor, who, along with his Mystics is going to have the job of spotting (and arranging the shooting of) pesky deep strikers. I'm also working on a plasma cannon servitor for him to help out.



Finally for today, this bloke's going to become my 'counts as' Creed or Straken (havn't decided which yet, it still needs playtesting). Either way, it's an old Al-Ulric Model, which i found going cheap in my local independant retailer.

Oh my good god!

Hear that sound? That's the sound of my Soul Drinkers rejoicing, for in april the Blood Angels get their long-promised new codex.

I woke up about ten minutes ago to an newsletter from GW confirming it. Looks like they get assault marines as troops and lots of deep striking units now.

I've always wanted to use my Soul Drinkers as BA, but the pdf codex and the quite frankly awful librarian rules put me off. But this looks like it could shape up to be truely awesome. I'll be keeping a close eye on this

New Year Hobby Resolutions

1. Buy less, paint more

I have no less(but probably quite a few more)than 250 unpainted models at the moment, mainly for fantasy, but also a lot of 40k. I seriously need to get some stuff painted.

Plus money’s going to be tighter for me this year, so I’m planning a single big purchase (a realm of battle game board), then only bits and pieces as time goes along. If I limit myself to £20-30 maximum hobby spending on average a month, it should be fine.

2.Complete an army

Tying in with the idea of spending less and painting more, I actually want to get at least one of my armies fully painted and I’m giving myself a deadline of 31st December 2010. This army is most likely going to be my Blood Pact, who are mainly being built out of stuff from my bitz box and models I already own (but not necessarily opened)

3. Keep track of my painting

Using that points system that I’ve seen various bloggers use to keep track of my painting. If someone could direct me to someone who uses it who I can copy it off, I’d be most grateful

Demogaur Vash

Here's the Storm Trooper seargent i talked about yesterday.

I replaced his Hell Pistol with a plasma pistol from my space marine bitz box and used the wires left over and a skeleton head to make a servo skull for him.





The plasma pistol arm has been turned into a mutated one due to the fact that the hand holding the pistol was the wrong way round.



I've also been working on another bio-mechanical weapon 'team'

Death Brigade and more...

Right, here's the pics of my first Death Brigade, based off the Kasrkin Boxed set. I just need to do the seargent now.







And my first completed Blood Pact squad. They all need a once-over with a file to remove/defile imperial insignia, but other than that, they're more or less good to go for painting, just need one more grotesk on the flame troopers

Trooper and Heavy Flamer



Seargent and Vox. The vox bloke doesn't have a grotesk, as i figured he'd need his mouth clear for working the comms, instead he has a cloth over his mouth, so he can still show respect to the Gaur and the Blood God whilst still performing his duty



Troopers






Flamers. the twisty green stuff thing you see on the right is going to become a fleshy mutated arm




Family shot, minus one or two troopers who fell victim to formatting issues with the pic



Oh and i've built this as an unusual weapons 'team'.

And you thought you were having a bad day...

Right, just a quick update to show the work i've been doing on my Manticore turret.




I've got a Death Brigade fully built now as well, but they can go up later when i have more time, as i'm about to head out for my weekly gaming night.

Progress, of sorts

After getting feedback from my last post, i've filed down the dark elf helmets in an attempt to make them fit in with the Cadian helmets.

Here is the results

Cadian and Dark Elf head side by side



The 'cloak' is going to be painted up as a bundle of skin/ hides, adding a chaotic twist to the idea of a squad sniper.

I've also started on an Autocannon team, crewed by mutants. I got one mutant done, the other i'm still finding bitz for.




And a Missile Launcher team




A Rough Rider i've also started on. I decided to use scout bikers as a base, as i don't like the idea of rock-hard pacters riding horses into battle. They need iron steeds.
I just need to make a head with a grotesk now




I got myself a box of Stormtroopers and started converting them into my first Death Brigade, filing off or greenstuff-ing over all their imperial icons and symbols. More on these later.



Oh, and managed to dig out my FW Manticore and if i can steal a few moments over the festive period, i'll be scrubbing it and prepping for building.

First of the Pact

Ok, it's not 'tomorrow', like i said, but i've finally pulled some stuff together. The main factor that's been stopping me doing much is that this is the view out my window at the moment:



And that shed you see in the corner is my painting shed. With no heating and plummeting temperatures, it's easy to see why i've got very little painting done recently.

However, i have managed to scrape together the following:



This is going to be my company command squad. As you can see, i've only painted a few of them, but i'm getting there. I've begun sculpting Grotesques onto their faces, even with my limited sculpting skills, i think they're ok.

The Servitor's going to be my Master of the fleet, representing Dark Mechanicum support and the big mutated thing is my 'counts as' Nork Deddog. Also, the imperial banner will be suitably defiled during the painting process.

As soon as i can access my painting shed without dying of frostbite, they'll be all be painted.

In the meantime, i've been building the first of my 'Pact rank and file. They aren't Death Brigades, as i see Storm Troopers to be more fitting for those. Instead, these are going to just be a veteran squad with flamers and a heavy flamer (in preparation for the 'Nid codex landing in january). Progress on them is slow, due to the sculpting of the groteques, but i've found that Dark Elf warrior helmets work really well sprinkled about as grotesques, providing a bit of contrast to the IG helmets.




Also, i found some of my old attempts at Blood Pact, which have since been incorperated into my other Chaos IG army. These will be 'repatriated' back into the Blood Pact in due course.



I have a FW Manticore, which i bought at games day that still needs building, so my 'Pact won't be short of fire support.

I've also had a thought for a sweet artillery piece - A Skaven Screaming Bell, crewed by Pact members! It'd certainly be different and could be used as any piece of artillery i liked, using 'counts as'.


It might not fit the idea of the Blood Pact looting IG equipment (as they're most commonly portrayed in the books), but it could be rationalised as being one of the more crazy things 'donated' to the Anarchs elite by the other warlords, as well as providing an interesting and eye-catching piece.

What do you guys think?

Also, constructive criticism of my WIP's would be welcome