Tom's Sisters of Battle: Month Four - Troopers (222points)

SOMEONE has misinterpreted the Emperor's Will...

Month Four - April. 

Well, things have gone great guns for me in this OWAC. I have a plan, and I have pretty well stuck to it. Most (if not all) of these models posted here in April's submission have been painted in previous months, which has given me a spare month in which to muster up the painting mojo to start those flagellants/militia (Fingers crossed I don't get side-lined into painting something else please), and the safety net of the Mulligan is still there.

I was talking with a friend about army painting the a while back, and I thought that I would note down here some things that I have found useful when faced with a hoard of unpaintedness. Don't get me wrong - I have a huge pile of unpainted minis, but I  also seem to have magically painted far more than I ever thought I would - and all very much thanks to the OWAC!

I have been a proper hobby butterfly in the past - only having the attention span for painting maybe one to five minis of a unit and then moving on to another army.

 The Old World Army Challenge has really helped with a solid goal and TIMEFRAME. Having a sense of accountability really works for me, as does the challenge part. Hereing about other peoples life challenges whilst they still compete their months quota is very humbling and really does motivate me to DO.

It's not a competition. 

The challenge is to actually paint consistently throughout the months. M O N T H S ! These pointers are kinda what I try to adhere to to survive the OWAC...(fingers crossed please that I've not just jinxed myself now...)

Prelims: Gather all the fluff about the army. Get immersed 

Gather and sort through the huge pile of prized models, and put them into one place.

Pick fifty (50) models out as your army. Gotta start somewhere, and restrictions will help the motivations. This is the 10 model minimum, plus a month of nothing.

Pack. The. Rest. Away. 

Remember you can switch out the units later if you really want, but my aim is to make it a chore to do so.

Prep the models. That's assembling, pinning, mouldline removal, priming and movement trays if that's your bag. 

Paint and brushes. I like to start a project with at least ONE new brush! 🙃 I try to pick out 12 colours for a scheme - a white, main colour, secondary, contrasting. The amount of paint pots will undoubtably increase, but it's a nice start to try and limit it from the get go.

Clean the paint station. Essential. As is having an easy access paint station.

I like to start by painting the leader, and some other stand alone models. I think that I experiment with the paint scheme a little bit - in both colour choice, and time taken on these first few models. Motivation is high at the start, and I like to get the more complicated models behind me. 

Nothing sucks more than grinding through the complicated stuff to complete the set.... Besides, when painting the rank and file, I find that the paint scheme and painting technique will naturally refine itself, and these first models naturally stand out a bit more because of that.

Disclaimer: the trap here is thinking that the leaders need to have your best paint. They kinda do I guess, but don't lose sight that their part of an army - not a stand alone display piece. Motivations are everything - stay motivated, and don't let perfect get in the way of finished.

Batch paint a set of three to five rank and file models. I find it really does nail down the painting process to the bare bones. Things will be simpler/clarified, after this batch paint.

The rest! Switch out models as you like - even from beyond the fifty you chose, but only ever have 8 models max on the paint station. I know that if I see too many models in different stages, it really makes me feel overwhelmed

Everyone's different. so it might not work for you, but it's a rough idea of my approach to the 6months of painting mayhem. 

...Anyhow, first up and teased in last month's post, and also painted in the first month, this Sacred and Blessed Dreadnaught 👇

  

And - in the holy presence of the Dread, Sister Leeta breaks out the axe and starts shredding 👇

These hounds to protecc and to attacc. Originally from the Necromunda Adeptus Arbites range, and now requisitioned as the Sisters own loyal doggos. 

👇

More floaters ❤️

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A holy pigeon! Truly the most feared battlefield animal.

Sister Bernadette and her trusty flamer

👇

Fearless Sister Heidi

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Sister Susan with autogun. I found her really hard to photograph - she looks much better in hand. That fuzzy bit between her hand and the autogun muzzle seems a lot crisper IRL!

And the second version of her...👇

A great model - evocative of the famous McVey Blood Angel Captain conversion👇

A Rhino to drive them closer! Quite a bit of reflective shine due to the varnish though ..👇

And when stealth and precision is key, this Assassin comes in handy... Looking back now, I think the eye lenses would be better in orange, but he's done now :)

👇

I've also spent quite as bit of time painting up some scenery, most of which is in that leading photo at the top of this post (and another right there at the bottom). It's the modern Necromunda terrain, painted with that blue I remember from the cardboard hive of yesteryear. Hopefully I can get enough of it painted to properly display all the Sisters and their war machines, on!

So... That's April complete. I now have no models left in reserve to make the next few months easier. Hopefully this will force me to paint those flagellants for the remaining trooper month, leaving my Wildcard/Mulligan as a safety net just in case...

This month's breakdown and the usual links back:

Intro: Army list - link

Month one: Leaders - link

Month two: Troopers - link

Month three: Troopers - link

Month four: Troopers:

172... 6 x Sisters (I added points for the extra sister+flamer)

50... Rhino

FREE... Dreadnaught 

FREE... 3 x Dogs

FREE... 3 x Cherubs

FREE... Assassin 

FREE... Holy pigeon

TOTAL: 222

Thanks for reading, catch youse next month!

An infestation of Orks is swiftly cleansed.