Unboxing - German Heer leFH 18/40 10.5cm howitzer (1943-45)

Behold, more frivolous purchases!

I finally caved in an bought my self a treat....amongst the many other treats!

I've recently met someone who has never watched Band of Brother - who doesnt love Band of Brothers right! As such, it must all be watched again. It doesnt take long to get to the infamous Assault of Brecourt manor with Winters' attack on a fixed gun battery.

In this sequence Easy Company take on a German artillery battery which, although initially thought to be 88mm guns, turns out to be a battery of LeFG 18/40 10.5cm Howitzers.....funnily enough, I know a company who makes those!

Helpfully, Warlord gave many people a voucher recently - under the guise of a survey to see why I havent bought anything recently....needless to say I spent MUCH more than they gave me in discount so they win again!

Its a nice looking kit....I'll take 4! (and two MG42s!)

The kit is, currently, unassembled still. This is because larger things are in the works. It does look very tidy. Nice casting as usual from warlord, and the addition of the three equipment, ammo and gear boxes is nice. Once the plans are revealed I will start some assembly and let you know how it goes together!

Did someone say shame?

Pledges - April 2018

Progress! Lets keep it going.

Der H

I, Der H, do hereby pledge to complete my Dreadclaw drop pod for my IIIrd legion!

Brother Handro

I, Brother Handro, lacking time and Tau HQ choices this month, do hereby pledge to complete Aun'Shi AKA Tau Rambo...Tau'Mbo, if you like.

March 2018 - Pledges Complete

Behold! I FINALLY finished something!

Der H

Some time ago...I, Der H, pledged to build, prime and paint to completion my conversion of Lucius "Soulthief", "Fulgrim's Champion", "Blade of Aeons", "Scion of Chemos" or, as he who would become known, "the Eternal"....and so it has come to pass!

Brother Handro

Meanwhile, I, Brother Handro, pledged to paint 10 Slugga Boyz and a Nob....

'Focus...focus!'

I'm actually really pleased with how the Boyz turned out...less pleased with how many more I still have to knock out...

WIP - IIIrd Legion Librarian

During the hobby day this week I made  start on my IIIrd Legion Librarian conversion.

A relatively simple conversion, it’s a few pad changes, a Phoenix spear, and a new (god specific) summoned daemon.

The work so far is all around that daemon and the associated flame effect. 

Brother Handro helped me with the choice of flame colour, colour therory suggesting green (Der H:   “Good shout Brother!”  ) 

Earlier stages!

Near completion.

I aimed for a bright green flame at the claw, with a fade to black smoke around the daemonette. This merged with her robes, also black, and provided a clean backdrop for the silver armour and pale skin. 

Still needs some work, but it’s getting there!

Thoughts? 

Der H 

WIP - Lucius (aka by the Almighty Emperor, painting!?)

It’s finally happening, Der H is painting something!

Today saw a flourish of progress from both Brother Handro and I - more on Brother Handro’s progress another time!

Lucius is more than just purple! 

An early wash saw me set me off slowly - needing to let washes dry has delayed many a project!

Other projects always need some paint too!

Not much in the way of WIP pictures - I often think models look much worse before they look better - but here we are with all colours blocked out, just waiting a few more details, highlights, and other finishing bits!

Stay tuned for the completion in the next week or so!!

Der H

House Mortimer

Der H: "Well, I don't think I have enough projects going on right now....lets start another!"

Sit down children and let me tell you a story about House Mortimer...

A long time ago there was an issue of White Dwarf (#126 to be precise) which brought up the story of the Imperial Knight Houses (I'd recommend you read it dear listener!)

The rules are interesting, the fluff is great, and the focus on Eldar Knights is something different from the current Knight range!

They also included some colour schemes, including an interesting addition...

No fluff was given for House Mortimer, just a garish colour scheme...

The yellow and purple scheme is...interesting...and the intensity of the colours does make one feel a little off.

Of great interest is the house crest...

Clearly this is a Tyranid bioform, it looks almost as though it is pregnant, and the colour gives it away as a genestealer. The same issue of White Dwarf includes the release of the Genestealer expansion for Space Hulk v1.

So, why am I telling you all of this? Well, I have decided that our lost friends in House Mortimer need a bit more publicity. I have scores of old Tyranids from my childhood collection, a new set of Genestealer cultists from the Deathwatch Overkill box, and with Forgebane around the corner I have decided to merge them into one.

The setting will include me love of Red Scorpions, Deathwatch, Inquisitors, Knights, Genestealer cults and the Tyranids. I'm aiming for an Anphelion project esque vibe.

Imperial Forces:

Inquisitor [REDACTED] (i.e. TBC) with retinue

Red Scorpions - Terminators of the 1st Company

Deathwatch - Kill team under Captain [REDACTED] (i.e. also tbc!)

Possible Astra Militarum support - TBC

House Mortimer:

Knight House Mortimer

Imperial/Mechnicum/Cult populace - Mixed Militarum/PDF/Mechanicum and civil populace

Tyranids - splinter aspect of Hive Fleet Leviathan

The Fluff:

The Industrial/Mining world of Osterion II was long lost to the Imperium, and only rediscovered by a Mechanicum explorator fleet in early M31 (roughly 002.M31).

The system contains 3 planets, Osterion I is a dead world and Osterion III is a gas giant surrounded by a number of moons. Osterion II is a dry, hot world, rich in minerals and ore. It was discovered during the early days of the Imperium, but never developed more than a mining outpost. During the age of strife the world received survivors of a lost colony fleet, and slowly grew in its isolation. It is at this time, that House Mortimer was formed.

By the time of its discovery in M31, Forge World Gryphonne was by far the leading Mechanicum strong hold in the sector, and House Mortimer quickly bowed to its superiority. Mortimer remained loyal throughout the Horus Heresy, and was able to remain relatively unscathed owing to the remote location and limited strategic value of the system. House Mortimer Knights were seen throughout the Scouring and the millennia that followed...

More fluff to follow in the coming weeks, but for now, behold the glorious emergence of House Mortimer...

Xenos sighted!

Welp, hot on the heels of my plans for the Glorious return of House Mortimer, we have a test scheme!

God I hate mold lines...

Zandri dust spray, agrax wash [Brother Handro: "aka Magic Brown"] then ushabti bone overbrushing -> clearly a win!

First coat of jokero orange...

Works....but not great yet. I almost feel that i need to do Zandri dust, jokero orange, yellow/light orange stark highlight and some stripes/patterns and then wash it all down with agrax before overbrushing the whole thing with ushabti...

first steps work well...

orange....less so!

I feel the genestealers themselves might need a simple Zandri/Ushabti with purple wash in the soft bits! hopefully with the details like claws, teeth, eyes, tongue and some purple wash It should work well!

Let us know what you think guys!

Der H

More purple!

Good lord.....the wave of progress continues!

Not much progress yet, but I got a little bit of time in to paint a few more older projects in purple...

[Brother Handro: "old! you've barely started them!"]

Fingers crossed for more!

Der H