The Stout Smurf's Ultramarines vs. Jawaballs' Blood Angels Drop Pod List....

To All,

On Saturday night I went over to Jawaballs' basement to play a little 40K. When got there I found myself walking into Jawa and Fritz (of Fritz 40K) live-broadcasting a couple of games they were playing during the day on USTREAM. I brought my Ultramarines 2000-point Thunderfire Cannon list to play but when I got there found out Jawa was practicing his 1850 Blood Angels Drop Pod list for a tournament the following day. Luckily I had my computer in the car with Army Builder on and was able to adjust my list very quickly. We played a Kill Point mission and with a little help from Fritz, and some early Drop Pod mishaps, I was able to grab a surprise victory.

In a nutshell here is the set-up:

Jawa won to go first but deferred to me. Knowing he has 9 drop pods coming in I decide to put everything on the board and spread out in deployment. A naked 5 man tactical squad, "V," in a razorback with TL Lascannon on the left flank and the tactical squad Lambda, Meltagun and Multi-melta, in a rhino on the right flank. In the middle are the Terminators, Chaplain, and Librarian buttoned up in the LR Crusader with the last tactical squad, "Two" with Lascannon and flamer, following behind. The Techmarines bolstered the ruins on my side of the board and deployed the thunderfires in the ruins. I left the Ironclad to support one of the Thunderfires, infiltrated the scouts in a ruin on Jawa's side of the board, popped smoke, and waited for the drop pods to start falling (which they did).

On the first turn one of Jawa's pods mishaped and was destroyed, thus elimiating one of his Dreads and giving me 2 kill-points. The rest of the game he couldn't make up the two points.

If you want to see our game you can check it out here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/22712611

That link starts after I have deployed - If you want to see the set-up click on this link and go to the 1:38:00 point and start watching there: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/22709813

This is the link to the Jawaballs channel: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jawaballs-live

Here is the list I played:

28mm Basic Skeleton: 2nd batch....

To All,

I have one more batch of basic skeletons to paint up. I'm going a little more "step-by-step" this time around.
The figures have been flashed, filed, primed black, and then hit with Army Painter Skeleton Bone. You can see those steps in a previous post.

As you can see, Spraying the Skeleton Bone from above hits the bone and yet leaves the black in the recesses. For this batch I did not have to touch up the Skeleton Bone at all.

The next step was to highlight with Skull White. On the skull and torso I just brushed straight down. Below the pelvis I went side-to-side. Here is the result.

Here is where I will pick up tonight.....

....more to come!

28mm Skeleton: Painting part 2....

To All,

So this is where I left off....

I highlighted the edges of the weapons, shields, and quivers with Mithril Silver....

...the raised details of on the shields and the buckles on the belts were painted with Dwarf Bronze....

The flights, already base-coated with Mechrite Red were highlighted with Blood Red....

....and then Blazing Orange.

Then the entire figure was washed with a 3:1 water to Badab Black wash. Although they are not dry, this is the finished result. I'll post a dry picture tomorrow.

Skeletons: Painting part 1....

To All,
Painting the 28mm skeleton.

I primed the Skeletons with Krylon black primer.I used Krylon here instead of Army Painter black because all the primer on the miniature will be covered by another color or wash.

I stood the miniatures up and sprayed them with Army Painter Skeleton Bone.

The key to this step is a roughly 50-60 degree angle when spraying:  

I did the one figure above as an example. When I did the unit they were lined up so I could spray the fronts and backs cleanly:

This is the result. As you can see the recesses still have the black in them.

I dry-brushed with Bleached Bone.This was just a quick stroke straight down on each side of the figure just to make sure all raised bone has color on it.

Quick dry-brush with Skull White. Just straight down on the head and torso, side to side on the legs. This will be your highlight. 

I base-coat all the wood with DecoArt Americana Bittersweet Chocolate. Each pose has different "wooden" parts. The shafts of the spears, the inside of the shields, the bow and quiver on the archer.

Dry-brush with Dark Chocolate

Dry-brush highlight of Milk Chocolate on the wood.

Final highlight with Honey Brown.

I hit the weapons and outside of the shields with Boltgun Metal. I highlighted with Chainmail. Here is where I will pick up tomorrow night.

Skeletons: Size Comparison....

To All,

Viscount Eric had asked for a size comparison picture. The gnomes in the pictures are from Brigade Games' Gnomes at War range - the one on the left is an Orangeman and we have a German on the right. Three pictures follow:

These are poses from Emperors Choice Skeleton (basic) range:

These poses are from the Skeletons of the North range:

These poses are from the Skeletons of Melkalund City range.

Skeletons: So it begins..(sort of)....

To All,

I'm sorry I haven't posted the painting tutorial for skeletons yet - I have been trying to figure out the best way to get the bone done. These are the three samples I'm happy with - What do you think? Concentrate on the bone - the weapons still need some highlights and finish work.

The 28mm/32mm skeletons are available from Emperor's Choice. These are from their "Basic" line

I'm really looking for constructive criticism here so please post a comment.

28mm skeletons, 28mm skeleton