Sunday 28 June 2009

Bastion - Flaktower




I made the basics of this tower some years ago but I have scrubbed it up and put a spare turret ring on the top. It is now my Planet Strike Flaktower.

I am still painting the Bastion. It has the base colours and weathering on but now I need to accessorise it.

I am having a firesale of many of my unused miniatures on eBay to fund Planet Strike. The Dr Who stuff has to mostly go and many of my Babes with Guns. Parting with the latter was a real wrench.

John

Friday 26 June 2009

Bastion


I was asked to show an overhead shot, so here it is.

I am currently selling my skyshield Landing Pad on ebay.uk, it is just too big for my gaming table.

John

Wednesday 24 June 2009

Planet Strike, Bastion, Aegis Line, Skyshield



I spent a happy hour or two putting these together.

The Bastian and Defense Line are very, very good. They are just the right size and have interchangeable turret rings so the Comms Unit, Quad Gun and Lascannon are all interchangeable. As well as the Bastion roof mount you get two turret mounts, a mobile mount and a fixed top of building (or top of Chimera for a Hydra conversion) mount as spares. You need a minimum of two defense line boxes though, one is not enough.

I am less keen on the Landing Platform. It is very large, taking up a great deal of space. The hinges on the side flaps are a pain. I suspect that they will mostly be used in the up position, turning the Pad into a fort. The Pad is just not very sexy. Maybe it will grow on me when I paint it.

I have had time to go through the Planet Strike book. It is a bit like Cities of Death, a straight expansion for 40K. It is really an attacker/defender scenario book. There are few rules to simulate a planetary landing other than those we already have. The main drop zone is still off board. Certainly, more units than in straight 40K can deep strike. The book is heavily dependent om the Apocolaype-like stratagems. I am not a great fan of these. In my opinion , they add pointless complexity. I am glad I bought the book but I confess to being a little disappointed.

So, out of five:
Planet Strike: 3
Bastion: 5
Aegis Line: 4
Landing Pad: 2

John

Tuesday 23 June 2009

Skyshield Landing Pad Sprues



And here are the skyshield landing pad sprues.


John

Bastion and Aegis Defense Line Sprues



I was called to the door today to receive a box of shiny toys from a member of the Postal Service clad in orange day-glo jacket and shorts. Englishmen should not wear shorts, unless they are the colonial sort that drop below the knee.

I forgive him his sartorial mistakes because he had a box of shiny new toys from Games Workshop, Planet Strike has arrived.

I enclose pics of the Bastion and Aegis Defense Line sprues. Note the automated guns: a Lacannon with the bastion and a quod autocannon for the Line. it strikes me that the latter would make a fine AA AFV.

Saturday 20 June 2009

Juggar of Khorne



Two suns, three moons and a partridge in a pear tree have been seen in the sky over Vrak.

By the pricking of my thumbs, something evil this way comes.

Cue Vincent Price.

Wednesday 17 June 2009

Substitute Pink Horrors



I am slowly putting together a daemon army for 40K, which I fit in around working on my IG, Blood Pact, Ork, Chaos marines, and Vrak armies.

I am of course, as mad as a mad thing.


Anyway, I don't like metal models because of their weight, cost, storage problems, and my superglue allergy and I don't much like the Pink Horror models in particular. One of the other bloggers suggested looking at substitute models, notably Dryads.


So I did.

The Wabbit Daemon likes them as well.

John

PS I have it on reliable authority that they are purple - pink, purple, what's the difference. It all looks the same to me.

Tuesday 16 June 2009

Shaun's Death Korp of Krieg Infantry









Here are some more of Shaun's Krieg troops.

These are resin models from Forge World.

They are nicely detailed but not easy to model. They are also possibly the most expensive Imperial Guard Regiment on offer.

This lot are on their way to the Siege of Vrak.

Note the mole mortor!


John

Monday 15 June 2009

Shaun's Gorgon




My friend and regular gaming buddy, Shaun, has kitbashed this Gorgon from various bits that he had knocking around his bitz box.

I think it is superb.


John

Sunday 7 June 2009

Vrak Light Armour



Here are a couple of close ups of some of my Vrak armour

The Gryphon is a straight out of the box model with a renegade crew added and renegade markings.

The centaur is a kitbashed Tamiya model of a prewar French carrier made by Renault.

John

Friday 5 June 2009

The Taking of Firebase 812






There was a breakthrough in the siege lines around Vrak in front of Renegade Firebase 812.

Firebase 812 was heavily fortified with plastcrete walls on top of a ridge overlooking a killing zone that was cleared of cover except for a downed shuttle. Heavy mortars from here supported the front trenches. After they fell, the mortars were used to bombard Imperial infantry consolidating on the position. The Krieg infantry requested support and a Cadian armoured battlegroup was despatched through the gap on a deep raid.

Long range artillery laid smoke across the front of the firebase. When it cleared, the battlegroup was within range.

The Renegades were horrified to see two Baneblades on the left flank and a squadron of Leman Russ on the right. Four squads of veterans and the company commander motored up the centre in chimeras. The firebase had just three anti-tank cannon and two dug in Malcadors for protection.

The first three pictures show the start lines and the closure of the battlegroup. Imperial tanks swept the parapets with fire. The defenders hunkered down. Most of the fire was deflected by the fortifications but not all.

The chimeras approached cautiously, firing as they came. This gave the defenders time to bombard the APCs, immobilising a couple. The Lieutenant in command of the chimeras panicked and debussed the Imperial veteran squads too far away from the defenders. Out in the open, the Imperials suffered heavy casualties from renegade shells.

The Baneblades climbed the ridge and fired down into the firebase, causing havoc. At this point, what was left of the renegade infantry and light vehicles poured from the outflanked fortifications to engage the Imperial forces. The Ogryn attacked the chimeras with various blunt objects. They managed to wreck the paintwork before expiring of drug overdose. The renegades had more luck against the Imperial infantry, wiping them out.

The firebase commander and squad threw themselves at a Baneblade, shooting it up with meltaguns and meltabombs. They blew three or four holes in the heavy armour but failed to do anything but minor damage.

The firebase was finished.

The battle took three nights to play and was great fun. I lost about 2K points of my 3K army. I destroyed about 1K points of Imperials. Fortifications are really effective; I only took fatal losses after my perimeter was breached. Heavy mortars are lethal against soft-skins but ineffective against armour.

The Vrak Renegade army list can hold its own against the new IG codex. I lost because I took the wrong army.

Tuesday 2 June 2009

Sek Renegades Life Ward




I am slowly accumulating material for a Sabbat World's campaign Renegade army.

I have a female personality linked to Anakwanar Sek so I needed a matching Life Ward - in Dan Abnett's novels these are very powerful bodyguards.

I came across this miniature in resin. The figure is about nine metres high. I replaced one of her swords with a necromunda pistol. The metal is done by multiple layering of black, tin-bitz, yellow-gold, brown wash, yellow-gold, light red wash.

Ah well, back to tanks.

John