New Year, New Army… Or Three

So given that it is a new year (and we're already at the end of January), what are the hobby plans? Do I have any hobby aspirations for the year?

The first part of the year will be taken up working… on the upcoming Anvil 8 releases. We've got a monster of an RPG book to put together as well as getting collateral ready for this year's gaming shows. That's going to leave very little time for personal hobby goals.

However, this last month I have got back my excitement for 40k. I dug out some of the old models and have been doing a lot of reading of blogs and books. I really want to get my Mk6 Dark Templar project off the ground – I know, I know… again! In the past there has always been a plan, but the scale of the project was just too overwhelming to get stuck in. As a consequence the project never really got out of the gate.

I've also really got a bug to do some Crimson Fist space marines. I've wanted to do them for years, but never did, and it would allow me to use up some of the Imperial Fist bits I've got left over from that doomed project. To complicate things more, I like the idea of doing some Blood Angels again – they were the first chapter I was drawn to all those years ago. Maybe some Dark Angels too – the colour scheme I borrowed for my Dark Templar for all those years.

But if I can't get one army started, then the notion of starting 3 is ridiculous. I was being torn in lots of different directions – leave the Templar on the back burner, do Primaris Crimson Fists, so Mk7 Crimson Fists, do Primaris Blood Angels, pick up the Iron Warriors again, arghh!

Then this morning, whilst purchasing a boat load of plastic miniatures to be a part of whichever route I take, the answer came to me – Kill Team!

Kill Team requires only half a dozen models or so to play (in the case of marines). I can create multiple viable 'armies' for each of these chapters by building and painting only half a dozen of each chapter. Just enough to dip my toe into a particular paint scheme before moving on – no time to get bored. In addition to this, each model is it's own character in Kill Team, so there are no rank and file models to paint – again, no reason to get bored. Even I can paint six models (if I put my mind to it).

Hopefully this solution will allow me to scratch an itch or two I've had for a while, and have playable armies at the end of it. But where to start?

The first thing I need to do is re-read the Kill Team book, see what's available for each chapter, and get some starting lists down on paper. This will give me a shopping lists of the models I need to build, and then the fun can begin.

Fingers crossed there is some progress!

How I Paint Stormtroopers

After last months game of Star Wars Legion, and the fact that my Stormtroopers looked rather pitiful, I decided to do a test model to see how I could effectively paint them. Stormtroopers should be very easy to paint but somehow have proved challenging, both for Imperial Assault and now Legion.

(Apologies for the shocking colour balance on the photos!)

Originally this leader model had been spray undercoated (poorly) with GW Corax White, which is actually more of an off-white. I found a similar paint pot and gave the model a good undercoat of Celestra Grey.

Then I got started on the White. Relatively thin consistency was applied to all the armour plates, leaving shadows and joints untouched. This continued for several layers, repainting over the armour, concentrating more and more on the highlighted areas to get a (sort of) gradual effect. I went back with a thicker white to the purest highlights to make sure it was a pure white.

Then came the tricky bit – painting all the black elements of the under armour, vents, etc. These we highlighted with sparing amounts of Mechanics Standard Grey then a tiny bit of Administratum Grey. Once dry it was washed back with some thinned Nuln Oil, which was also used on some of the deeper recesses in the armour.

The red shoulder pad was base coated in Khorne Red and highlighted with Mephiston Red.

Content that this was complete. I covered the base in Astrogranite Debris, highlighting with Dawnstone and Administratum Grey. I then daubed a mix of snow flock and PVA to a large proportion of the base (my Hoth theme) and left it for 24hrs to dry.

To finish, I gave the whole model a matt spray varnish then went back in and brushed on gloss varnish to the armour plates.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with how he came out, although it took an age – an hour or so per evening over a large part of the working week. Not sure how practical that is for the remaining three squads, but I'm prepared to put more effort into the leaders, so I'll continue with those first.

The Empire Invades Pevensey

So given that Mr Awdry had a birthday last week, myself and Bull braved torrential rain on Saturday to visit Awdry Towers and participate in a first game of Star Wars Legion.

I had spent the last week feverishly painting my Imperial troops… and failed miserably. Mr Awdry on the other hand managed to paint most of his troops and build an Ewok village and Imperial bunker. In truth I had spent the majority of my available time reading through the rules and watching gameplay videos (which proved far more useful).

We started with the basic tutorial and went through everything step-by-step. It proved to be quite an exciting game. Han Solo showed his roguish tricky side that we all love (or not, grrr) and Vader turned out to be the intimidating, deadly presence I had hoped (albeit moving at a pedestrian pace).

After a brief interlude for pizza and a chinwag, we jumped back in – Bull taking over the command of some of the Rebels – with lots of our shiny extras, including a rather slick looking snowspeeder. My Imperials had nicked the win in the last game, but it was not to be this time. The flyer proved to be a tough and deadly addition to the Rebel lineup and a distinct lack of cover on my side of the table left my Imperials exposed from almost all directions.

Despite being disappointed that my shiny purchases had not lived up to expectation, I came away quite taken by the game. On paper it's rather 40k like, but in reality it's not – it shares more in common with Imperial Assault and X-Wing (which is to be expected). There are a few neat mechanics and overall it feels balanced (though I still don't quite understand why a trained, "precise" and more expensive Stormtrooper is a worse shot than a Rebel trooper!)

Expect to see more Legion stuff coming soon(ish).