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Imperial Guard: Chimera Conversion

So I have been assembling and converting my Chimera over the past week. Things are going really smooth. I still have all my fingers and I only made one mistake that will require some Plasticard/Greenstuff work to fix, otherwise, everything else has gone together nice and easy. As I was working on the turret I snapped some pictures so thought I would share my quick mod.

The first thing you need to do is cut off the lascannon off of the predator turret. I did it before gluing it together using a new, sharp, Exacto blade.

Next, take the multi-laser and trim the square nub off. Now is a good time for a PSA. It’s probably obvious, but I will point it out anyways. If you are using an Exacto, be VERY CAREFUL! After putting at least 3mm of the tip of the blade into my hand I can tell you that there will be a bunch of blood and it will hurt, a lot.

Ok, after you stop the bleeding, glue that bad boy on however you like. I haven’t glued mine on yet, but I will probably glue it so the rail is above the barrel of the laser.

I also did an aesthetic mod, and this is kind of personal preference but, I shaved off the skulls on the turret and the rear ammo box. I like the plain look the best, partly because it is much more Imperial Guard looking without them and partly because I am not as much of a skull enthusiast as GW.

There you go, all done! You can see that the Chimera tracks are mounted backwards. I didn’t take any pictures, but I accomplished this by flipping the side they were on and trimming away bits of the plastic lip they would slide up against. Basically, it’s the same modification Marshall did with his Chimera’s that I posted about last time.

All that’s left now is to Plasticard and Greenstuff back end where there is a hole that would normally be covered by the tracks and then glue it all together. I still haven’t decided if I will glue the rear door or leave it, I will probably leave it until it annoys me.

Well, that’s all folks! I just started putting together what will probably be a Vendetta and Dave and I got our first game of Dreadfleet in (one of the best games I have played in a while), so expect more posts soon.

Update: Imperial Guard

What day is it today? Oh, yea it’s Thursday. It should be Friday, or at least that’s what I keep thinking. It was only a four day work week, but somehow it feels much like a regular five day one.
So what’s new in the hobby? Well, I finished up my High Elf Dragon, took me almost 3 months of procrastinating to put it together, but it's done! Also, I moved all my High Elves into a cabinet I bought so my room looks less cluttered. This was on my resolution list so I can check it off. The year looks to be on a good start so far!

All that aside, I have been cleaning and organizing to prepare for the Imperial Guard. Most of the items I purchased were from different vendors so there are probably around 10 packages of things coming to my house in the next week (the first arrived yesterday), kinda exciting.

So, while I wait I have been browsing the forums and various blogs looking for conversion/theme inspiration for my IG. Currently there are two main sources of inspiration and I’d like to share them with you and give some credit where credit is due. Click the links below to see some awesome stuff!

Showcase 1
Showcase 2
Showcase 3
Showcase 4

So this Marshall guy has some amazing talents. I don’t expect to be able to paint like this guy any time soon, so you shouldn't expect to see such a rad paint job on my dudes (yea I said rad).

 

The plan is to convert my Chimera’s similarly, if not identically, to what he has done. On the blog he shared some of what he did to accomplish the look, all simple conversions which I feel like I can handle. The turret is a SM predator turret with a multi-laser glued on. For the treads, he flipped them around to make the back end stick out, sort of like a Bradley Fighting Vehicle. On closer inspection the turret is elevated significantly from the hull. I have seen conversions with the Predator turret and they sit kind of low, he must have increased the height somehow and I plan to try and replicate this with a few ideas I have 

Rad right?

The Valkyrie conversion I’m on the fence about and will most likely not do (I really like the stock Valkyrie), but I thought I would post a picture because it is still very original and very awesome! 

Go Go Go!

I love the idea of having some Guardsmen repelling down my Valkyries, it looks bad ass. Marshall has something similar, these pictures are from Senji Studios, check them out. 

So there we go. These are the blogs and conversions that inspired me to start the Imperial Guard army. I'm still searching for a good way to add some night vision goggles to my guardsmen to give them a more updated look. More than likely I'll be doing some Greenstuff sculpting and if all goes well I'll try out some casting too. Hopefully I'll have some work in progress posts and maybe some tutorials on the casting if I ever figure it out. 

Peace!

New Year’s resolutions

Apologies for not posting recently, I have been busy with the holidays and such. Nothing too crazy, mainly friends are back in town and I have been meeting up with them most nights after work to get a drink and catch up. Dave and I played a game of Space Marine Exterminatus on Wednesday in lieu of getting together for some wargaming this week (both have been busy). As life returns to normal, I’m hoping we can get a game of something in next Tuesday, anything (Dreadfleet, AoBR, or WHFB) would be good as far as I’m concerned.

Anyways, this post is about resolutions and as we all know the New Year is almost here. Now, I normally don’t make any New Year’s resolutions, however, I thought it might be fun (and motivating) to make a few regarding the hobby and wargaming. So here it goes, my hobby/wargaming resolutions for 2012.

Paint more models than I buy!

Found this at Constantly Risking Obscurity

Painting is my least favorite thing about the hobby (well, besides the price). I don’t hate it, but I’d rather be playing games or thinking up cool lists then painting 40 Spearman. That being said, there is nothing quite like seeing two fully painted armies go at it on a board, this then unfortunately makes painting a must do. I’m not sure how I will accomplish this one, but I imagine the trick here will be to stop buying models, or at least, paint the ones I do buy in a timely fashion. Not to kid anyone, this goal will be difficult (especially if I’m going to start an IG army), but I know I can do it if I set my mind to it, just need some discipline.

Finish my Dark Elves!

So when I say finished I guess I mean to a level that I am happy with. For example, I am contemplating not painting any of my metal Blackguard or Executioners. If anything, they will be finished last. There are rumors (only rumors) floating around that they might be getting plastic kits. If this is the case, I will consider selling off my metal ones and picking up plastic kits as I go. I know some people love metal models so I’m sure I’d be able to eBay them without much trouble, might take a loss, but whatever plastic is king (in my mind). All that said, getting the main bulk of my Dark Elf army finished this year would be great (based and everything) and not that hard to achieve (most of it is painted already).

Develop the blog!


I’d like to expand the content on the blog even more, basically create some useful articles that could be a resource to readers. Ideally, we would have articles about strategy, hobby tips, and product reviews. I find when reading other blogs these are of the most interest to me. I’d also like to figure out Battle Chronicler so that I could do some detailed battle reports. I have read some amazing battle reports using that software and I’d like to achieve something at the same level.
Finally, it would be nice to get some outside authors from the FM wargaming community to write articles for the blog.  I’m not sure how to make that happen, would be nice to incentivize it in some way (maybe some kind of best submitted article prize at the end of the year). I guess we just need to keep building the content and trying to spread the word locally.

Play more 40k!

I think I’m in love with 40k, at least from what I have experienced and read so far. With 6th edition looming I was on the fence about how much I want to learn the system and invest in an army that could potentially be broken by the new rule set. All that changed when I started to put together my theme based IG list. It will be something based on the Army Rangers, highly mobile infantry all with transports, mainly by air. So I will be building an army, but have resolved to do it slowly at first. In the meantime, I’d like to meet up with some of the local 40K players (especially the guys with Imperial Guard) to get some experience. This one might be hard to accomplish, even with an army my schedule doesn’t always afford me a lot of play time down at the FLGS. Time will tell, there is always AoBR with Dave.

Paint Dreadfleet (and play)!

I haven’t even played a game yet! There will be no Dreadfleet played in 2011, but I think I can find time in 2012. I’d like to paint the box up this year. I might try to enlist Dave in this task, I offered the honor of painting the Dwarf Ironclad up and I think he was interested. Only seems right, as he is knowledgeable in Dwarf things. While he is at that, maybe I can try and talk him into painting some other ships or some of the terrain, I may have to resort to blackmail though. All this, however, will have to wait until I can get outside to prime, the weather just isn’t good enough (even though it has been awesome by North Dakota standards) and I don’t have a suitable indoor area for it.

Invest in an Airbrush (and learn to use it)!

I want one, I think it will make painting a lot more fun especially if I’m going to paint a bunch of IG vehicles in the future. Like all things, I will do my research first and make sure I’m getting the best one for my purposes. I’ll also have to save up for this one, they are not cheap.

Invest in a better work area and miniature storage!

This will be the last one on my list. Right now I paint at my computer desk, before that, I painted at my coffee table. I’d like to get a dedicated workstation separate from my computer desk. I also need to find a better way to store my miniatures. I’m not really looking at buying a bunch of foam for them to sit in when not in use, but would like something a bit different then what I do now. I think I might buy a cabinet with closing doors and shelves. The doors would hopefully keep a good deal of dust out and I could store them somewhere easily assessable, but not out in the open (it just looks too cluttered to have them always on display on a book shelf)  when not being used.

I think that’s a pretty good list for New Year’s Resolutions. Best to make it small and avoid setting myself up for failure (example: no way in hell my High Elf army is getting painted anytime soon). If I can accomplish this stuff in a year I think the hobby will be going strong into 2013, that is, if the world doesn’t end before then.

Oh, for some last bit of news, I just picked up an Imperial Guard Chimera and a Predator turret. My intention is to do a bit of a conversion and swap out the turrets to make the Chimera look a bit more like a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, something I saw on another blog. I’ll post some pics, and do a write up of what I would like to accomplish, along with a tribute to the IG army that inspired me. If this conversion goes well, it will set the stage for putting the whole thing together.

See you in 2012!

Imperial Guard: Redux

So as Dave had mentioned, I had the Plague last week. It was terrible, probably the worst I have ever felt and just short of giving myself over to Nurgle my fever broke and I started to feel better on Friday. Anyways, while I was lying on my couch (which is really just a futon that could just as well be a pile of bricks, comfort wise) I had some time to agonize over 40k.

Enough said!

I have been going back and forth. First it was whether I should start 40k or not (I got AoBR, problem solved). Then it progressed to what army I should play: Space Marines or Imperial Guard (I have both books). Finally it has boiled down to what Imperial Guard list to play: Mech or Air Cav. I know I posted my Air Cav list (I also know there is an error in it), but for a while I thought Mech would be better (Probably would be more forgiving for a noob).  Having run through every angle and studied a bunch of lists I am now I’m pretty much sold on Air Cav regardless of ease of play or what’s best.

I love the smell of plastic in the morning!

I put together two lists with the same basic Air Cav theme and similar to my last post. The first list is a pretty bare-bones, put as many boots and gunships on/in the ground/air as possible. The second list is a bit more of a “fluff” list with the inclusion of a Master of Ordinance to call in off-board “support”.

List A:

Company Command Squad
Plasma Pistol for the Commander
X4 meltas
Astropath

Veteran Squad
X3 meltas
Veteran Squad
X3 plasmas
Veteran Squad
X3 plasmas

Valkaries Squad (2 valkaries)
Each with MLRP
Vendetta
Heavy Bolters Sponsons
Vendetta
Heavy Bolter Sponsons

List B:

Company Command Squad
Plasma Pistol for the Commander
X3 meltas
Carapace Armor
Medic Pack
Krak Grenades (Not sure what else to do with 5 points)
Astropath
Master of Ordinance
Chimera, Turreted Heavy Bolter, Hull Mounted Flamer

Veteran Squad
X3 meltas
Veteran Squad
X3 plasmas
Veteran Squad
X3 plasmas

Valkyries
MRP
Vendetta
Heavy Bolters Sponsons
Vendetta
Heavy Bolter Sponsons

So there you have it. I think List A would be, everything in reserve coming on after the first turn and then picking targets. List B would probably have the CCS and Chimera deployed near the home objective or behind cover in the first turn and “calling” for the Air Cav in the following turns. I know the Master of Ordinance would need to get out of the transport to do his thing so I couldn’t just sit in the tin can, but again, part of the “fluff” of the list. Both are probably not very competitive lists, but I think they would be a lot of fun and have room for expansion (I could easily get enough models to run both).
 

Kinda like that...

As for possible changes, in list A I might consider putting the vendetta’s in a squadron and splitting up the Valkyries. As for List B, I may change things around to ditch the Master of Ordinance (and all the other junk on the command squad) and take a Primaris Psyker to make it more competitive, but we will see how things go. Only other thing I might change to List B is swapping the CCS meltas out for the Plasmas on one of the Veteran Squads.

Tonight, I’m going to try and finish my Christmas shopping. God, I dread the thought of fighting off the crowds at the local Mall and other stores in town. You think it wouldn’t be a big deal around Fargo, North Dakota, but I will tell you this: everyone here sucks at driving to begin with, add in the fact that they are all hopped up on coffee, thoughts of scoring the best gifts, and enough Yuletide cheer to kill a Reindeer and you get a recipe for Carmageddon! We will see how this all shakes out. If I survive, life, limb, and wallet, I will probably order some Valkyries.

Pics of the Battle for Black Reach

I just dug out some pictures from the game of Assault on Black Reach Liable and I played last week. Things didn't turn out too well for the Ultramarines. The Orcs took quite a bruising too! Damn it.

Nearly Silvered Out

No warhammer this week, not even 40K. Liable got himself infected with some sort of biblical plague. There's talk of vomiting, festering sores, and appendages dropping off. Maybe not. Probably just a cold or something.

In the meantime I had to do something productive, having been denied the pleasure of ripping Liable's army apart. I got to work on painting all the dwarfs I primed a couple months ago. I've been trying to keep the silver dark so I can put highlights on it later.

I don't use the Games Workshop paints because I want my guys to have a little more of a personal touch(plus I'm cheap) so I spend quite a bit of time mixing and experimenting with different colors and tones. I wouldn't recommend it for most people since the GW paints are really nice and immediately make the figures look awesome.

Liable's dudes, for example, look bad ass. Check over some of the earlier posts with his Dark Elves and Hydras. I love how vicious they look. It doesn't take much to imagine them tearing into my Dwarf warriors for some fresh meat.

I still have six more primed guys to put silver on. I keep being surprised at how long it takes to put the paint on each guy. I start out thinking it's only going to take me an hour to finish 16 guys and an hour later I only have, at best, half of them done. It's just silver!

Quite a ways to go on painting these guys but the silver is an improvement over the dull black  primer.

Painting is one of favorite parts of playing Warhammer. Even so, it's hard to get past how daunting it is to look over a table full of models. Getting them done will be worth it though. I can't wait to start putting pictures up here of my fully painted army battling it out.

- DK