It's been a while

Not that I've got out of gaming, although it did get toned down in favor of more adult entertainment for a while, just that all my posts ended up over at MWC.  I guess I should copy them back here too at some point.  Actually had plenty going on still, just at a slower pace. 
For 40K I've ended up with 2 new armies.  Both only 1250 kind of size but still something to play with.  I've added Tau, which comprise pretty much 100% of FLGS consignment case, swap meet and ebay purchases.  And, I've added Sisters which I got from a friend who was thoroughly pissed off with them and was going to chuck them.  My Warmachine stuff has been slowly building and we've had some fun games of that.  And, recently I added Dust Tactics/Warfare as a quick to play alternative.  Anyway, over at MWC we were going to add galleries of the various folks armies.  I figured I'd show some quick stuff here first.

Lets start with Dust Tactics.  For one it is a fun, easy, quick (less than an hour per game) board game.  Cheap as the revised core set can be enough if you just want to play at home.  Cheap still as the models are less detailed and lower quality than GW.  That's not to say they don't still look great, just that they suffer from Forge World barrels pretty badly.  Still, $20 for a medium walker that is twice the size of a GW dreadnought that itself costs more than twice the amount.

One thing, its a board game with pre-assembled, pre-primed pieces.  I decided I wanted to paint them quickly, way quicker then GW stuff.  For all these I did partial base coats to add some color, but left them predominantly their base color.  Then a dark wash (specifically the new GW Nuln Oil which I wasn't impressed with to be honest) and a light dry brush and game over.  Going to throw some weathering powders on the bases too, but all quick and effective.

Now to find the original core boxed set at a decent price.  :)

Space Marine the review

What, you hadn't noticed this game was coming out?  You live in a cave with no internet access?

I've really enjoyed the Dawn of War series of games and even a few of the others like Fire Warrior and Squad Command so when I saw this one was being offered I couldn't resist.  A quick trip to Steam and a preorder had me playing the two demo levels and eagerly awaiting the full game to unlock.  Was I happy with it?  Just click below to find out.

And in case you don't like suspense, or have a weak heart, yes I liked it.  My painting table will sadly gather dust for a while.

Warmachine

I guess this was actually something I got started on last winter, but became a side project.  Something to paint and occasionally play with the kids.  Suddenly there is interest in it from the rest of the friends I game with.  My rag tag band will be joined by 4 more armies shortly, and I've picked up the pace on painting mine.

I've got Fletcher's army, about 35 points of Menoth.
Morgan's army, about 35 points of Khador
My army, about 20 points of mercenaries
Some Cygnar.  OK, a lot of Cygnar thanks to ebay and the FLGS consignment case.

They are going to be up against some more Cygnar, some pirate mercenaries, and two as yet undecided armies.

We've had a few games, so far I'm 2:2 on win loss, but most importantly this has been a big help to learning the rules.  I've won with Khador (against Cygnar), won with Menoth (against Khador) and lost twice with my mercenaries (against Cygnar both times).  Last nights second game was a lot of fun and pretty close.  I was busy destroying his army, and probably would have had him knocked out in one more turn as all he had left with three troops and a crippled jack.  He'd managed to injure my warcast earlier though with a lucky shot from his Defender warjack.  He pulled off a flank with his warcaster and managed to get a shot on mine.  Coupled with the earlier damage it was enough to drop him.

I think we'll be mixing in quite a bit more Warmachine in the future.  Now I have a better understanding of the rules I'd like to get my kids back playing it (rather than just playing with the minis) as well.

Airbrushing

OK, I'm new to the world of the airbrushing and still working on perfecting parts of my technique.  I've tried a few vehicles and the whole hairspray/salt thang.  I had a  bunch of Warmachine troops that I'd wanted to get started on having picked them up used and depainted them quite a while ago.  The family was off camping so when I got home from work I set up for an airbrushing session.  Got The Overlords (.co.uk) playing on my computer and off I went.  3 hours and 5 minutes later I had painted...
12 dreadnought weapons
1 heavy warjack
2 light warjacks
3 Khador Man-o-wars
6 Rangers
6 Arcane Tempest Gun Mages
6 Winterguard
18 Long gunners
3 Stormsmiths
1 Man-hunter
1 Warcaster
1 Widowmaker Marksman
13 bases
OK, none of those are finished, I can't do detail, but these are all primed, base coated and then a highlight coat.  42 troops, 6 jack size things, and 25 bits.  Not bad.
Oh yeah and halfway done on a Spitfire MkVb.
Pretty damn good for a bit over 3 hours.  Would have taken weeks otherwise.

Grey Knights vs Raven Guard at 1000 points.

Another fun game, quick too when you only play 1,000 points and elite armies.  Apologies for just one crappy photo. I Completely forgot until too late.

The Grey knights

Inquisitor with rad and psychotroke grenades.

Venerable Dreadnought with Assault Cannon and psybolt ammo.

6-man Purifier squad with 2 psycannons, 3 halberds, and a master-crafted daemon hammer.

5-man terminator squad with daemon hammer, halberds, psycannon, sword.

10-man Strike Squad with 2 psycannons, 3 halberds, justicar with master crafted falchions.

The Ravenguard.

Chaplain

10 Assault Marines, sgt with power fist and storm shield

10 Scouts loaded for close combat

10 more scouts loaded for close combat

5 more scouts loaded for close combat, riding in a Scout Landspeeder

An Ironclad dreadnought in a drop pod.

Game type was Seize ground with 5 objectives, deployment in the corners.  I won the roll off and elected to go second.