Iron Skull Best in Show

Happy bank holiday everyone!

Apologies for another interruption before more on the Praetorian v Bad Moon 5k battle report, we will get back to that soon, we have some more urgent news to get to today. This weekend I attended the inaugural 40k London GT and Iron Skull painting competition run by Siege Studios.

Tournament-wise I did pretty well and finished as the best Guard general with 4 victories and a loss. I played some fantastic games against some great opponents.

The real success for me was in the painting competition. I managed to come away with 1st place in Sci-Fi single miniature, Sci Fi Squad and Fantasy miniature, 2nd place in Sci-Fi vehicle/monster and even walked away with the Best in Show!

And to cap it all off the great guys at Siege Studios even took some proper photos of my models so you get a break from the rubbish I usually post. Lets take a look.

Above we have my winning 40k Squad which also walked away with best in show (and a cash prize!). Sadly Colonel Winterborne and the real command squad were busy on deployment in the best army nominations so this cobbled together rag tag bunch of officers were thrust into the competition!

The whole army even managed to win Best Army. Never have I been more proud of these fine men of Praetoria!

Next up the Macharius Vanquisher. It finished second behind a Tau mega-super-massive-suit (no idea what its really called) which was beautifully painted. The judge said it was a damn close run thing and picked me up on me not weathering my freehand panels very much. Solid feedback and one which will be taken into consideration when I come to add some extra weathering and tank stowage to this behemoth.

Next up the might Nork. While his brother ogryns were smashing face on the gaming table he was engaged in some part time modelling work and walked away with 1st place in the Sci-Fi single miniature category.  The judge was particularly complimentary of the flesh on this guy, noting the seamless blending and smooth transition. I think this is really one of my best painted models. I'm definitely going to pick up some more bullgryns/ogryns soon as I love the models and really enjoy painting them.

Finally a rare treat for those of you who also like Warhammer Fantasy! A Bretonnian Knight painted by me all of 15/16 years ago! Covered in countless hand painted flur de lys and a direct copy of the original 'eavy metal paint job. Years back in entered him into Golden Demon in the young bloods category and was a finalist. I didn't place in the top 3 (I was robbed!), the reason given by some of the GW staff that I knew was that the judges had concerns that I hadn't actually painted it...

It was a brilliant weekend, a big thank you to all the organisers of the London 40K GT, Siege Studios, my great opponents and those who voted for my army in the main competition.

I was definitely getting a nudge to enter more painting competitions and Golden Demon next time round... Thoughts?

The Glorious IV Praetorian Mechanised Infantry

In preparation for the posts covering my army's biggest battle to date it's only fitting I share something I always love to see on other peoples blogs, photos of the whole army!

This post will look at the army current as of last weekend (21st May 2016 for the record). It started way back in the late nineties and in its current form back in 2011 when I started this blog and got back into the hobby properly.

I've got to say that getting it all out on the table and realising quite how big it now is was really quite something. It's been added to fairly regularly over the years and is really something quite special now I think.

For my whole army photos I've returned to the Tomb Kings desert board at Warhammer World. I took a photo of the army here about 3 or 4 years ago and thought where better to revisit their progress than there.

Apologies in advance, this post will be very photo heavy!

Without further ado lets take a look at a fully painted 5000 points of Praetorian Imperial Guard.

There we have it, the whole army on parade. Takes about 30 minutes to unpack and set it all up! But absolutely time well spent.

A few photos of various units coming up now. These two (above and below) have the Macharius Vanquisher front and centre. What a tank, for me its still the crown jewel of the army, such a gorgeous model.

Another angle of the army showing you more of the markings that all the tanks have on their flanks. There are particular designations for artillery units, infantry platoons, super heavies, so on and so forth.

Still quite a lot of space in the second half of this board... I think I will have to see if I can fill it!

Now a few more close up shots. Apologies for not the best photos, I was borrowing a camera I hadn't used before and focusing wasn't my strong suit!

The commissar I think is one of my best paint jobs to date. I loved painting the model and I think it shows. The model is so well detailed and I really like the pose. I think the gripe I had with the stock version (minus head swap) is that somehow, whether it is the hat or the paint job, he looks to much like he is skipping. No danger of that here with this Patrick Stewart lookalike.

Another photo of the Macharius with the Chosen Men creeping into the shot in the bottom left.

Flight Lieutenant Corvus 'Rook' from 219 squadron of the Praetorian Navy. I said when I original completed this guy, and still say now that I would love to add more fliers and continue the chess theme throughout them all. I so nearly bought a Marauder Destroyer up at Warhammer World but luckily for my bank balance common sense prevailed!

I nice photo of the Baneblade. This is another newish addition to the army, being less than a year old in terms of painting.Such a great model and featuring Col' Gravis' tank commander from Curious Constructs.

Another different angle with more of an aerial feel. Perhaps those sneaky orks were conducting reconnaissance flights...

In anticipation for the big game that weekend I made sure I added to my infantry tally. The infantry ranks have definitely swelled over the years but I still have a lot more regular guardsmen that I want to paint.

I finally finished my 3rd objective marker last week! I converted it when I originally converted Colonel Winterborne himself as this was the original Krieg banner. I greenstuffed over the skulls and then painted it. The banner I kept simple and in the colours of the army.

Another look at some of the infantry and one of the Taurox.

The commissar Lord commanding one of the many Praetorian firing lines.

A close up of the regimental banner and some of the command squad. Nork being the latest addition adding a lot of character to the unit.

Here we have the complete Command HQ, replete with the Colonel's dog and a master of ordinance/officer of the fleet.

Another closer look at the right flank of the army. I still feel the army is very light in terms of AT and Leman Russ. Perhaps that is something I will need to expand in the future.

Finally some of the heavy ordinance in the arm. The slightly different shade are all related to when I painted them and the paints that either GW changed or a heavier drybrush/wash. There are quite a few different shades throughout the army but I quite like the character I think it adds.

So there you go! 5000 points of Praetorian Imperial Guard.

I really hope you enjoyed seeing the whole army together, I know that I certainly did. 

Soon I will be returning with 5000 points of Warboss Gorblud's fiendish Bad Moon Orks and then we will move on to the main event. The final show down between Winterborne and his nemesis Gorblud...

Thanks for reading!

Battle Report preview...

A quick teaser post for you all. This weekend Colonel Winterborne faced off against his old nemesis Warboss Gorblud!

Without giving too much away at this stage, the points were about 5300 per side with a special scenario that we wrote for this battle. 

Have a look at the photos below with more coming in a proper battle report soon!

A few more Bullgryns...

A quick post to update you on my painting.

The final two bullgryns are almost done, and I hope to finish them tonight. Just  a bit of freehand to do and few minor alterations to make.

Here they are with the friends and a commissar.

Need to get these fellas finished for a trip up to Warhammer World this weekend! Gorblud and I are having a 5K per side battle on one of their lovely fancy boards - Jmigan Bridge. If anyone who follows this blog is in the area by all means come along and say hi!

I think I'm also going to be paying a visit to Forge World for some new additions. A Gorgon has been mentioned and I'm sorely tempted...

Finished Praetorian Bullgryns

Welcome to another post showing off a few of the new additions to the army.

This time we see a few more finished Bullgryns. I actually still have two more to do (with the slab shields) but this is now a finished legal unit of 3 so I thought I would show them off.

I'll also apologise for the photo quality in advance, my phone (which these are taken on) has a few issues and I don't have a working proper camera nor a good photo location at the moment... Far from ideal! Anyway, let's have a look,

Here we have what is probably the best photo of the newest two Bullgryns. Lets now turn to a WIP to see how we got them there. 

In this photos I still have the black to work on and the silver in the weapons. Bullgryns are relatively straightforward for me to paint palette wise with the armour painted like my tanks, and all the flesh and fatigues basecoated Cadian Fleshtone and then highlighted and layered accordingly. 

Here the two fellas are with the above bits filled in. Also there was weathering on the armour and the tanks tracks. Its not immediately apparent but there is blue worked in to the silver on the Mauls around the power nodes (for want of a better explanation of what those long stick bits with a ball on the end that are on power weapons are).

The one bit of freehand I allowed myself on these guys you will find on the (rather classic ork inspired, remember those old goffs anyone?) disc on the back of their armour. I have painted a bullgryn decal of sorts, which would find its way on to their eventual transport too (should they ever get one).

A photo of the two of them reunited with their pal who I think I painted well over a year ago. I seem to have this annoying habit of not finishing units. Take my Lifeguards (based of of DKOK Grenadiers), I still only have five painted and they were painted over 4 years ago! But fear not they are now base coated and will get done eventually...

I absolutely love the Bullgryn models. I'd add more of them to the army in a heartbeat. Lots of fun to paint and they look great. I'd probably add some regular Ogryns if I have a moment of madness and buy some more. I've got the two with slab shields to finish first and they should be done within a week or two (and before the London GT in any case!)

To finish off we see the three of them lining up alongside a variety of other Praetorian Infantry. All infantry have now also been rebased to match and the army is looking so much better. 

Up next will be a few photos of some more updated tanks with all manner of stowage, new weathering and new painted detail.

Please feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts!

Finished Praetorian Commissar

Greetings all! 

Firstly, thanks for the comments on the army list in the previous post. The deadline for early submission is this weekend so I will be sending it in any day now. I don't expect to do great in the games but I hope to have lots of fun with a list that should surprise a fair few people in terms of the units taken.

As previously mentioned there have been a fair few models that I've painted this year. One of the more fun to paint additions was the plastic commissar. 

Scroll down, have a look and let me know what you think. Next time there will be Bullgryns for you...

The conversion work for this was very straightforward. The face of the commissar is actually a separate piece to the cap on the sprue. It was very easy to replace with the empty pith helmet that you get with the Victoria Lamb heads. The eagle is actually from the original cap and I simply added it to the helmet. Only a little green stuff was needed to fill a few gaps around the back of the head. 

Colourwise he follows the Commissar Lord and the general palette of the army. The only way in which this guy differs is that he has a lot more purple and its a bit more of a 'genestealer cult' purple.

This guy is one of the few characters with no facial hair but I decided to give him a little stubble to stop him looking too baby face. I kinda think he looks like Patrick Stewart now... 

As previously mentioned next time, Bullgryns! Thanks for having a look!

Army list for London 40K GT

Hi everyone!

I've been busy the last few weeks and have finally finished a unit of 3 bullgryns, painted a new commissar and another squad of regular guardsmen. Photos of those to follow in upcoming posts.

What I am posting today is a draft army list for the upcoming London 40K GT that I will be attending this month on the 28th May. Might anyone who follows my blog be going?

Essentially, I havent played a proper game of 7th, or if I have it has been so long that I have utterly forgotton. Unperturbed, I intend to do what I always do, which is take some fun units that look good and road test the newly painted models!

I've got a draft of the army list below and have maxed out pretty much all my options in a standard Force Org Chart (is it called a CAD now???), taking the little loved units such as ratlings, rough riders, scions and even the bullgryns!

280 points for the 5 bullgryns is such a points sink it makes me almost physically sick, but they need to be taken because they look bad ass.

I'm well aware I have no real anti tank or AP2, also nothing above AV 12. It's definitely not my usual army list. All alternative incarnation sees me taking a baneblade, but I can't help but feel that really is a wast of points.

I have little understanding of the meta at the moment beyond it being likely to be lots of marines, knights and wraith knights.

Please have a look at the list and let me know your thoughts. Any tips advice or tactics greatly welcomed.

Thanks!

Unit	Wargear	Points
HQ
Command HQ		60
Chimera		65
Commissar		25
Priest		25
Elite
Life Guards (Stormtroopers)	flamer	75
(T) Taurox Prime	taurox gatling cannon	90
Ratlings		50
Bullgryns	3 Bullgryns with power mauls, 2 with slab shields	280
Troops
Command Section		30
(T) Chimera		65
Squad 1		50
(T) Chimera		65
Squad 2		50
(T) Chimera		65
Squad 3		50
(T) Taurox		50
Veteran Squad	Missile Launcher, grenade launcher	80
Chimera		65
Fast Attack
Rough Riders squad	5 Roughriders, 1 melta gun, 1 Plasma gun	80
Hellhound		125
Heavy Support
3 Thudd Guns		150
Thunderbolt		180
Wyvern		65
	TOTAL	1840