Blood for the Blood God (Skål's 4th troop month)

 

Gotta love the chaos of moving to a different state. The things we do for our jobs! This month I have 10 Khorne Bloodletters ready to be summoned to the table for the Blood God.

These were a quick and dirty airbrush, oil wash, and pick-out details to get them battle-ready. I went with these buff and bulky versions of Bloodletters as this is what I originally had for my Chaos Marine force at the end of 2nd, the beginning of 3rd edition. Now I need to get some troops and an Icon of Khorne to be able to summon them to the battle. 

Till next month

Skål

Nurgle Chaos Lord (Skål's Leader month)

 This month was a hectic one, to say the least. I ended up getting moved from Alabama to South Carolina (can I get a "hell yeah"). So the ability to get anything painted quickly came to an end only a few days into the month. Luckily for me, I had the perfect model to paint up. I'm not sure who produced this resin model but I remember picking it up at my LGS back in the 90's when I was getting into Chaos marines. A quick painting session using the airbrush and some sweet Blood for the Blood God technical paint, a dab of fluorescent green on the drip for a pop of color and I was done.

Till next month

Skål

Renegades of Funk (Skåls Rank and File month 3)

INCOMING!!!!!

Emerging from the warp's swirling maelstrom, Chaos Renegade Marines materialized on the planet's surface, their twisted armor adorned with blasphemous symbols. With ruthless efficiency, they descended upon the Imperial stronghold, their weapons singing the discordant hymns of Chaos. Blood-soaked battle cries echoed as they stormed through defenses, leaving only carnage in their wake. The air crackled with dark energy as they unleashed unholy fury upon their foes, driven by a malevolent thirst for destruction. Amidst the chaos, the Renegades sought to sow fear and despair, a grim reminder of the ever-looming threat of the warp's malefic influence.

Month three is here and then it's gone in the blink of an eye. But what a glorious month it was. This month was a tribute to my gaming buddies from Maryland who got me back into playing Rogue Trader. Because of the grumpy gamers I have painted up several forces to use in the chaotic scenarios that the master of chaos himself dreams up. Yes, Brian, I am talking about you.

Above is the crew in all of their chaotic glory. From left to right, first, we have Brian the tentacle flamethrower, next to him is Four-Armed Will the Conquer, in the middle is Titillating Psychedelic, Cool Jeff, followed by the Killer of Hopes and Dreams of Others, Andrew, and finally the Misfit of the crew Tom the Legend himself.

As if the five above was not enough, I painted another five Renegades to make sure I could field a squad of 10 or two squads of five. In this group, second to the left, we have Ben the Never-Present brother of Tom. Finally in the middle is me Skål the Ever Angry always ready to paint new $hit. 

I wanted to make sure to call out the Misfits logo on Tom the Legends backpack. Tom is a good buddy of mine and I wanted to make sure to include the Misfits somehow into his Renegade.

Till next month.

"Here's to us,

And those like us.

Damn few and they're probably dead.

Cheers!"

Skål

 Renegades of Funk

Skål's Veterans of the Long War (Skåls Intro)

This is my sixth OWAC and I have learned a few things along the way. I know that I need to have options for things to paint as I get distracted easily. This OWAC I will be painting up a force that I can use in 2nd or 3rd edition 40k. My inspiration comes from some of the amazing books that I have poured over since they came out oh so long ago. 

Some of the squads in this force will look like they have been fighting for 10,000 years since the Heresy was quashed. Other squads will have a more Hersey look to them as if they have been in the warp and come out the other side with only a few years between the fall and the present 40k timeline.

So without further ado here is a look at the models I will be picking from and painting up over the course of this OWAC. I know I have way to many squads but I know how I am. I could get hit with a painting vibe and roll through a bunch of models.

First up is a unit of Tzeentch Flamers and a Chaos Space Marine Sorcerer of Tzeentch (He looks like he's a Fun Guy).

Next up is a unit of World Eaters and an Icon Bearer of Khorne. This squad might get a little bloody.

I really love the Nurgle sculpts and I knew that Plaguebearers had to be included in this force. Oh those nasty Plagueswords are killers of mortals.

This is the Renegade squad that I will talk about a little more when I cover them in my monthly. I love these sculpts.

Next up is a very corrupt Death Guard unit. Note they are in the proper number for Papa Nurgle. Squads like this are one of the reasons I have a few "extra" units in my selection pool. I want to make sure I hit my minimum troop of 10 but I also want to pay the proper respect to the Chaos gods.

The plan is to make this a Sons of Horus squad who stepped out of the warp fresh from a battle during the time of Hours. I really like the idea of the warp playing with the various squads and pulling them from different time periods.

Remember how I mentioned 3rd edition? Well here is a little "only a mother could love these ugly babies" squad of Obliterators that will count as Chaos Terminators in 2nd edition. These are truly ugly sculpts and the next versions were so much bulkier and better looking. I remember having six of these so I figured I would try to include six in this force (currently only have five, so I am hunting for the sixth).

Here is my selection of Leaders/HQ for this force as well as my Chaos Dreadnought. I had to include Kharn in this force as I ran a lot of Khorne Berserkers when I played 3rd edition. I also have a Nurgle Chaos Marine Sorcerer and a Nurgle Daemon to round out my choices. The Chaos Dreadnought is from Hybrid Miniatures and is an absolute beast standing next to the other miniatures. 

The Classic Tzeentch marines from Rogue Trader have so much character that I knew I needed to include them in this force. The idea of bright pink and blue for a color pallet sounds good in my head so why not.

Noise Marines are run in pretty small squads in 2nd and up to ten models in 3rd. I figure I can run either one or two squads of these depending on the edition. I'm not concerned with what the models are armed with as I will make sure to designate who has what during games. I will be using the Rogue Trader Classic Noise Marine to act as a champion for this squad once he arrives.

To all of the Veterans of previous OWAC's its great to see you all again for another six months of painting. To all of the new hopeful's my advice is don't look the Veterans in the eyes till you have survived one OWAC and always remember "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.'

Till next month.

SKÅL 

 

Skål's Necro95 wrap up post

 Another OWAC in the bag. First off congratulation's to everyone who finished this season. We had a lot of great projects this season and it was awesome to see how much everyone did. You all have done some impressive painting as well as put up some outstanding Oldhammer vibes. Well done everyone.

I had a lot of fun finally painting up some Necromunda gangs. I have been wanting to do this project for quite some time now and OWAC was the perfect excuse to break into my old gangs and get some paint on them. Here is my OWAC entries for this season.

Thoughts enviability start to wander into what should , nay what could I possibly paint next season. Will we be allowed to do like we did this season and I can dive into more Necromunda gangs. I mean I really do need to paint up more gangs and I could do another whole season to get through the rest of them. Or do I wander into the far reaches of 1997 and break out some Chronopia? I do have enough to perhaps build two forces to contest the great lands that the Old Gods deserted? Or perhaps the Great Overlord brings us back to the old ways and we are only allowed to do Oldhammer and Rogue Trader. What then? Do I continue to build my Wood Elves or Dwarves? Do I keep going with my Eldar? Or just maybe I dive into a new Oldhammer project? Do I finally let Chaos into my welcoming heart and rip the Old world asunder with the mighty forces from the Realms of Chaos?

So many choices. So much time to change my mind a thousand times before we kick off the next season. 

But wait I am getting ahead of myself. I will enjoy the victory of completing another OWAC and not sub-coming to the Field of Bones.

To the profound ignorance which we brought to this endeavor; because had we known what was ahead, we never would have started.

Here's to the sweet smell of success.

Here's to General Douglas MacArthur, who said, "There is no substitute for victory."

To victory. As Alex Haley said, "History is written by the winners.”

Let's have a drink,

Let's have some fun.

Because at last

The job is done.

SKÅL

Leading cause of death in the Underhive. (Skål's "Leader" month see what I did there)

 The leading cause of death in the Underhive can be blamed on may things, lead poisoning, unexpectedly falling from unsurvivable heights, the rest of your gang bottling while stuck close to the enemy with no cover, NO COVER!!! All of these are explainable causes of death. 

But the leading cause of death currently is unexplainable. Tough as nails gangers are being discovered missing important parts that help them survive daily life. No Im not talking about their knives, their primary weapons or even their best pair of ass kicken, name taking boots. No I am talking about their heads and spines. More and more gang members have been found lacking these vital components for life in the Underhive. Sure gangs have lost their heads in the past but typically that has only been a figure of speech and after a few drinks at the Glory Hole, that is up until a few months ago.

As I have been painting up my Necro 95 gangs I have also been painting up a leader for each gang so for me I needed to do something different for my Leader month. While looking through the Necromunda Compilation vol 1 I found a great article from back in the day about the films of Arnie Schwazernegger called Necromovies. The article is PURE GOLD. I have had this Predator miniature in my collection forever. I think its from Hasselfree Miniatures but I am not for sure on that. So I figured it was time to get some paint of this Leader of Predator's in the Underhive and use him for what he was intended to do, cause chaos, fear and panic in the Underhive.

So without further ado here is my take on this Leading cause of death in the Underhive.

(Blacklight)

In the rules it mentioned not revealing the miniature right away and this got me thinking of Space Hulk and how the blips were a green auspex screen on one side. I thought why not take that one step further and make the miniature look like you are looking at it through old tech like night vision goggles. So a few coats of various shades of green later I have my Predator.

I have included the rules the rules so you can torture your friends and fellow Underhivers with your very own Leading cause of death. 

(No Blacklight)

MAKING THE PREDATOR 

Either roll 19 times to max out a Malcadon to a Great Killer randomly, or choose the advances to produce a character as close as possible to the Predator of movie fame. I chose the latter. Here is my Predator creation: 

ADVANCES 

Thickened Armour xl (4+ save) 

Motive Power x2 (incorporated into stats) 

Weaving Spinners x2 (1.5 inches blast) 

SKILLS: Leap, Catfall, Jump Back, Dive, Evade, Infiltration, Ambush, Step Aside, Killer Reputation (naturally), Nerves of Steel. 

WARGEAR: No change from Malcadon in Outlanders book. 

GAMEPLAY 

The Predator could be used by one player against a gang, or by an Arbitrator against several gangs. Alternatively, a Predator could be added to any other scenario if played by an Arbitrator :- for example, a gang fight. If the gang ratings in a campaign are getting too high the Arbitrator could always introduce the Predator to an existing scenario now and then to keep them in their place ... 

SETUP 

If including the Predator in an existing scenario, follow the rules for setting up that scenario. The Predator infiltrates. 

The gangs set up 8 inches within one edge of the table. 

PREDATOR OBJECTIVE 

Take gangers who are 'out of action' and remove them to a base as 'Trophies' or to harvest their organs! When carrying a ganger, the Predator cannot double his movement unless he drops his Trophy. If attacked in hand to hand combat, he will drop the Trophy and fight. If shot upon, the hits must be randomly allocated between the trophy and the Predator and dealt with as normal. Blast weapons will hit both the Predator and the Trophy. The 'out of action' ganger is left at the Predator's base rather than taken out of the game. The Predator MUST take Trophies back to it's base and will only stop if attacked or engaged in hand to hand combat. 

INTENSE FEAR 

Seeing your gang members disappear before your very eyes is a terrifying experience. Any gang member within 8 inches of a member of the same gang, who is taken by the Predator, must take a Leadership Test. If this is failed, the gang member empties his/her weapon wildly into the Underhive in sheer terror. The weapon is now useless for the rest of the scenario, just as if it had failed an ammo roll. If the member has more than one weapon then choose one randomly (but it must be a ballistic weapon - not a knife, sword etcetera! Grenades may be expended if no ballistic weapon is available). 

NEAR INVISIBILITY 

The Predator is a skilled and wily adversary who rarely shows himself to the gangers. Cf the Predator remains still in it's movement phase it gains a -2 to hit modifier when fired upon. When using the Predator for the first time an Arbitrator can increase the suspense by initially using a counter instead of a miniature to represent the Predator. When the first gang member is captured replace the counter with a Malcadon miniature to reveal to the gangs the true horror of the situation! 

GANG OBJECTIVE 

Avoid becoming a Trophy and take out the Predator! Gangers taken by the Predator can be liberated by reaching them at the Predator base and remaining in base to base contact until the gang's next turn . Liberated gangers are still 'out of action' and are removed from play. Gangers taken from a Predator whilst in transit to it's base must be left on the board - the Predator can attempt to come back for its Trophy later, just like in the film. 

FINISHING THE GAME 

The game ends when the gang bottles out, the Predator is taken out of action, or all the gang members become trophies. Because of the desperate situation, the gang will only voluntarily bottle out - it is never forced to bottle out. The gang may only voluntarily bottle out at 50% casualties or more. 

EXPERIENCE 

                                                    + 2D6 For each ganger that survives

                                                    + 10 for liberating a Trophy

For the ganger that takes the Predator out of action: 

+ 10 experience points

150 credits (all that equipment to sell!) 

If the Predator is played as part of another scenario the gangs should receive the experience and income from that scenario as normal and in addition to any income or experience from the Predator scenario. 

THE FATE OF TROPHIES 

Liberated Trophies: These are dealt with as normal 'out-of-action' gang members. 

Unliberated Trophies: Roll 3 times on the serious injury table for each gang member taken as a trophy and not liberated by the end of the game. This represents the Predator harvesting bits and pieces (a hand here, an eye there ...... !), Re-roll captured results.

On to the finish line next month.

SKÅL

The Elite of the Elite (Skål's R&F 4)

These creatures are not devils or ghosts, as the Underhivers know all too well. They are the sons and daughters of the Noble Houses that rule Hive Primus and the whole of Necromunda from the fastness of the Spire. These siblings of noble blood are cast down into purgatory to prove themselves tough and resourceful enough to take their place amid the ruling families. In a hive containing so many billions of souls, only the most dynamic and merciless individuals can expect to rule, or indeed to survive.

 This month I painted up the Spyrers from the Outlanders expansion. This gang was a fun one to paint up. I first had to strip most of them of their 1990's me paint jobs as they needed a fresh, dark look to fit in with the rest of my gangs from this project. So after a good clean up I dove into painting this little team up. I originally was going to use this month as my Wild Card month but I ended up being able to paint up 10 Spyrers, all different, all original (besides the Patriarch and Matriarch).

The Orrus embodies the most brutal aspects of the Spyre Hunters. Its distinctively oversized powered arms and hulking shoulders betray the Orrus’ fearsome combat style: that of crushing and battering its opponents to a bloody pulp. Ranks of armoured pistons power the arms and its blunt, claw-fingered hands, and each fist is backed by a rack of bolt launchers to blast apart opponents at a distance. Though the Orrus is the slowest of the Spyre Hunters it is also the most indomitable.

I painted each of these between two different days. I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do with them and just sort of grabbed what I had on my desk that I thought might fit with my vision.

The Yeld is the most bizarre of the Spyre Hunters: a winged fiend with pinions of chameleonic metal and claws of laser energy. When not in use, the Yeld’s wings sweep back to form a pinioned cloak of steel and reveal the heavy forearm units bearing laser tubes that are its primary weapons. Its wings are jagged with edges sharp as razors so it can slice its victim as it swoops overhead. 

I was lost at first on how I should paint these two. At first I was just working on one and then I was hit with the idea of shooting them both from the top with a dark grey blue and then hit them from underneath with various reds. So in a fury of inspiration I was able to knock these two out rather quickly. 

Malcadon are cunning and subtle in their hunting, trapping their victims in webs of iron-hard silk before tearing them apart with steely claws. Two bulbous spinarets for creating the web threads are mounted on the suit’s arms and connect to the Malcadon’s hunched back amidst a snake’s nest of tubes. The rest of the elongated limbs and back of the Malcadon are covered with downward pointing spines and overlapping plates of armor.

With the Malcadons I went with the classic red and purple schemes. I always loved the classic colors of the originals and though it would still fit in with the style I was going for for the gang. I was very happy with the way they came out and the glow of the eye on them.

Here are two you don't often see in the wilds of the web. I had a hard time finding any good images of the Patriarch and Matriarch, so here is my take of the lovely couple as they visit the Underhive to lend a hand to their murderous children. So here is my take on the both of them.

The Matriarch has a very Khorne vibe looking at the fig so I rolled with it and let her embrace her darker side.

The Patriarch on the other hand gave me a Horus vibe so I thought it would be fun to give him the glow from his armor's life support around his head. His armor was a lot of fun to paint up and it comes off as older but kept up, like it has been passed down from father to son for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

Last but not lease is a group photo of the entire gang. I realized once I had put away my scenery and started to write this post that I did not get any solo shots of the Jakara models. You can catch a glimpse of them in this family photo. I painted one in a very subdued color scheme like the rest of the gang and on in a very bright orange. The reason I did this is the orange one will draw the eye of the opposing player and draw fire while the rest the the gang can move up. I am still on the fence with her being orange and I may dip her and paint her to match the rest of the team. We shall see.

In all this Hive, why I do think

There are five reasons why we drink:

Good kills,

good ammo,

lest we be hunting

and till our oaths are filled.

SKÅL