Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought, Thunderbolts Space Marines. Build and WIP.

Hi All

Bluddtoof here with an update on my progress towards Dreadnought number 11 for my Space Marines; the Thunderbolts. That's right, 11! I may have now reached critical mass on dreadnoughts......or maybe not!
So anyhoo, this is my second contemptor, as I said in my previous post about my latest mortis pattern I'd originally planned on a mortis contemptor, however this was shelved with the build of the mkv. Last month I visited GW HQ with some of the code boys for the FW open day and whilst browsing the store cabinets I saw the iron warriors contemptor and immediately thought "that'd look cool as a thunderbolt". Knowing I had a spare contemptor Lascannon arm in the bitz box I had a quick think about weapon options and plumped for a heavy conversion beamer and cyclone launcher (I've got plenty of assault capable dreads so another fire support dread made sense and the HCB is a nice gun.
I think this load out will make him a threat to pretty much anything non flyer and with 2 mortis dreads I've got flyers covered.
Currently...

I started the build process and straight away decided to go with sub-assemblies, which I don't usually do with my Imperial dreads. I also played with a range of basing and posing options, I considered a braced firing position but the ankles don't rotate enough to get a good look. So I decided on a stoically advancing pose with both feet posed in mid step to convey a sense of motion. I also wanted him to look like he was firing and thought through this too, I've had little success with previous attempts at OSL but I'm going to try it again on the conversion beamer and also I really wanted to try rocket exhaust modelling, (after seeing the fantastic displays at GW) so I did some research and with a little advice from the code boys I got some clump foliage and had a go.
Here's a few pics of the process of building...

The bits laid out awaiting clump foliage for the exhaust clouds.
All the load bearing joints got pinned using 1 mm uncoated jewellery wire, FW resin is very light so the pins are really only there because I don't trust "super" glue, but also to make the process of painting sub assemblies for later attachment easier.
As usual the hardest part with a contemptor is positioning of the legs and feet to get the desired pose, there are a lot of pieces to work with and super glue sets fast so you need to work quickly, again pins and dry runs are the order of the day.

Making the cyclone was really good fun and I'm pleased to have learnt a new technique, here's a series of shots...

The missiles are from the marine tactical sprues, well old ones anyway, I haven't bought a new kit so I don't know if you still get them. Carefully chop out the small, narrow shaft connecting the fins to the missile body and discard. Clean up the new surfaces and VERY carefully drill a hole in the back of the missile body and through the centre of the fin assembly.
Remove your selected missile tip(s) from the cyclone, clean and drill a hole. Fit your wire into the launcher, thread on the fin section and fit the missile body. Just the tiniest drop of thin super glue after assembly fixed the fins in place so that I could fiddle with the positioning at my leisure.
I think it's really important to use different lengths of wire to avoid an unnatural symmetry.
I spent ages wiggling and adjusting the wires to get them straight and in line!

Next the exhausts!

This was surprisingly easy, if you've not used this method then I would suggest you get some NOW! Dirt cheap, a fiver for a huge bag, and easy to use. The clumps break into bits easily but hold size and shape too allowing you to fix a clump in place and then carefully pinch little bits off to get the desired structure. Once it was built I gave the whole piece a good coat of spray matt varnish to hold it and stop the foliage from sucking up too much paint.

All in all very pleased, next post will be with more paint on it.
As ever C & C welcome.

Bluddtoof

If it's not covered in mud or blood then frankly son, you ain't Krieging hard enough!

Evening all, Dark Bristles here with a little update as too what I've been up too of late.

A good few months back I showed off a Krieg Vanquisher tank that I'd finished up....

Well my good buddy and I decided to partake in the doubles tourney this coming weekend at Worcester Wargames and I decided to give my self a (frankly pretty tight) deadline of getting 1K of my Krieg all finished up and ready to war. 

So after sitting up for a while smashing out various ideas for lists, I settled on what I wanted to take and set about pumping out squads of infantry as quick as possible. Bearing in mind however this is my own personal army and a force I've been wanting to paint for a long long time (ever since I returned to the hobby in fact) I was adamant I wanted to keep the standard as high as I could. 

So tight deadline and self imposed high standard. Fun fun. 

I supposed a good place to start was the top of the chain so Company Command Squad with converted Master of Ordanace.....

Infantry Platoon Squads - 2 of these, a Platoon Command Squad and 3 Heavy Weapon Auto Cannon teams 

Cheeky pic of the big guns....

Death Korps Death Riders. My absolute favourite models that's FW produce, I love them. PAIN IN THE BUTT to paint however haha. Found them really tricky! Powered through though and am pleased with the results. 

So this is the complete force....1k of Death Krops of Krieg. Or 15 Blast Templates a turn minimum depending on how you count it :) 

Anyway, this is to be run alongside my friends Militarum Tempestus formation, I'm the shield, him the the spear. Together, the Emperors Hammer! 

I'll be doing my very best trying to take pictures over the course of the three games so stay tuned for a full event write up early next week :)

Thanks for looking guys and girls - Catch you in a bizzle. 

Dark Bristles

Using the Interwebs for Hobby Purposes - Video Battle Reports

Hi All,

Welcome to the second post in the irregular series that is "Using the Interwebs".  The first post in this series can be found here.  This post will concentrate on video battle reports.  As no doubt most of you reading this will know, there is a mass of video battle reports out there.  In fact you could replace TV completely with video bat reps should you wish too!

Having tried to put together a video battle report recently I have clearly realised the decent ones have good equipment, delivery, beautifully painted armies and scenery..... in short they are a challenge to get right.

Video battle reports can be used for multiple reasons.  So what can we gleen from video battle reports?  First off, along with podcasts (a future using the interwebs article) it is often something I put on when I am painting but that's not all.  They can be used to; learn the rules, pick up painting inspiration, consideration of tactics for your army and often understanding armies you don't collect.

Many of the volume video battle reporters are sponsored and run a "freeview" and "pay for" channel. Personally I don't pay for any channels as I don't have the time to watch that volume of battle reports. The other thing to note many of these channels offer a free trial if you find a series of videos which particularly interests you.

So the first channel to mention is Miniwargaming.  They have multiple series, rooms and systems. They produce reports for multiple systmes including warhammer 8th edition before the change to AOS.  Some good reports are:

Warhammer 8th featuring Dwarfs and Tomb Kings (my two armies!)



Warhammer 30K - Horus Heresy - This is a different kind of game using Zone Mortalis.




Last battle report to share from miniwargaming is to share the start of one of their narrative campaigns.  They go into a lot of detail to deliver a narrative but unfortunately put some of the reports in their subscription service the "Vault".



The next channel to mention is Table Top Tactics from Lawrence, Beard and the rest.  I like this channel for understanding competitive 40k and list building.  Well as I would like to "be somebody" here is some links:

First up a competitive practice report vs ACEFACE.  In fact that is another good thing about this channel is the link up reports with other youtube battle report channels



Another report this time in collaboration with SN battle reports and also to mention I love the atmospherics at the beginning of the videos.



On to another of the real big boys of battle reports is Striking Scorpion 82.  This channel in my opinion has the best scenery and some stunning painted models.  Perhaps the main criticism is it sticks too much to the same types of games and missions.  Having said that this first video is Apocalypse battle report different to the normal 1850 reports this channel sticks to in the main:



Another slightly different and narrative game involving Steel Legion and Orks (clearly I am drawn to these types of games!).  This is an attack vs defence game.



Ok, I could put links in forever as I like so many video battle report channels but instead, to keep the post to a readable amount here is a list with clickable links of other notable video battle report channels:

Winters SEO - 40K / 30K channel, mentioned in first Using the Interwebs post.
The Legion Wargamming - 40k
The Long War - 40K, Competitive gaming
Aceface - 40K (as featured in report above), Competitive gaming
Geeks 40K Channel - 40K
Bell of Lost Souls - Pretty much all systems, can be very inconsistent in quality
Once Bitten 360 - Fantastic Warhammer 8th Reports, now moved onto the 9th age (not for me) but the channel has a large library.

I could keep going with links but I will stop there at some of the major channels I watch.  I am sure this list is not exhaustive and would ask for you guys to share the links of your favourite  channels below in the comments.

Enjoy the watching

Cheers

DOC out.........

Deimos Pattern Vindicator with Laser Destroyer - The build

Evening All,

Quick post this evening to show my latest build project a laser destroyer vindicator. A few issues with the build not least the sides which slot together differently to standard rhino kits so watch out for that.  I currently have a plan to go into a build phase for my death guard before a tank batch paint to ensure I get a consistent finish.

Also just to note the next post in the series using the inter webs will hit this weekend and will be all about video battle reports.

Ok quick pick of the completed build:

Cheers

Doc out

MkV Mortis Pattern Dreadnought; Thunderbolts Space Marines

Hi All

Bluddtoof here with a little update on my most recent work; a re-arming of a very old dreadnought. I think this was in fact the 2nd dreadnought I originally painted for my marines something in excess of 10 years ago!
Up until a last year he was a venerable dreadnought armed with an assault cannon and a massive hammer clenched in his power fist, this counted as a power fist and was from way back when I started this army and Marine forces could take traits, I can't remember which edition but the marine codex has changed somewhat! Anyway I used to field a great many thunder hammers, the fluff being that the thunder hammer was a symbol of office for most characters (I'd even converted my old termy Librarian to have a force hammer), I liked hammers I think!
Early in 2015 I decided to update my collection of dreads to have a broader range of weapons, at the time I had 4 venerables with assault cannons. the upshot of all this was a range of dreads (9 at the time) with lots of variety. The big hammer moved onto an Ironclad as a seismic hammer and I was left with this original metal venerable dreadnought with no arms. I figured 9 dreads was sufficient even for the most dread obsessed player! Incorrect! I can NEVER have sufficient dreadnoughts!
So a few months ago I decided to get number 10 armed and active; I'd been long considering a Mortis Contemptor but had just never got round to it, so having recently purchased the Imp Armour book War Machines of the Adeptus Astartes (new version) and already having a quad autocannon mortis mkv I decided to upscale to quad lascannons for that extra punch.
My bits boxes provided me with lots of spare lascannons from many kits, predators, razorbacks, dreadnoughts, flyers and landraiders. The only twin linked ones were from the predator kit but didn't really suit as they are just barrels sticking out from a curved mounting suitable for a turret, not really an arm.
I finally chose to use the landraider lascannons as they had complete power lines and generally looked the best. Admittedly they are pretty huge but I kind of like that, he looks like he means business. It was a simple task to file down the side panels of the lascannons so they would butt up together nicely to form a twin linked pair. The original hole for mounting to a side sponson served well, with a little enlargement, for mounting the pair onto the original shoulder pin, and hey presto...... twin linked lascannons at zero cost! Win!

Pics...

The painting involved a little touching up of the original model where the knife had slipped during the conversion process and some adjustment of original colours (10 to 15 years old!) to match closer to the new paints. I also added a smoke launcher, spotlight and a gothic looking gubbins to represent the helical targeting array.
Overall well pleased for a cut and shut job.
Welcome to the Thunderbolts forge, revered ancient!
That's 10 ready to roll, and number 11 on the way! More on him in the very near future...

C and C welcome as ever....

Bluddtoof