waaaaggghhhhheeeddd!!!!

I gone into my local GW store a couple of days ago and got orkdified. Played 2k points of my guard against 2k points of boys, a squad of nobs and one squad of lootas or to that matter. The game took 3 hours to play; to long for my taste because we only went through 2 1/2 turns with pitch battle set-up with 3 objectives. He pretty much set up on line and rushed at me I was pretty much done because I did not have much to shoot him up with. At the end of the game I had control of one objective with two heavy weapons teams armed with mortars and a Lord Commissar and contesting the other two objectives with 2 5 man stormtrooper squads armed with 2 plasma guns. So I technically won at the end of the game but would have been tabled after 2 more turns. What I came out with this game was I that I need more fire power in my list then man power. The highlight for me was that my opponent deep struck his weird boy with a group of boys behind my two chimeras intending to assault my mortar teams because of the pain they were bringing his army. What he didn't expect was two 10 man veteran squads coming out of my chimeras with shotguns and grenade launchers. The boys recieved 26 shotgun blasts and 6 krak grenade launcher shots in the face.
Right now I am planning to start a mini campaign with my brothers so they can get caught up with the new rules with 5th edition. they pretty much skipped 4th ed. like I did I are willing to learn the new rules so we'll see what happens from here. Till next time...

"Howling Thunder"

This is my 171st Cadian Regiment all together for the first time. I finally have all my models that I generally use completely painted. YEAAHH :) In my regiment is 25 Harakoni Warhawk Stormtroopers, 30 Medusan Veterans, 20 Cadian Kasrkin Veterans, a 46 Cadian platoon with female commissar and platoon command sqd, 6 mortars teams, 3 priests, Company Command Squad with Harakoni Officer of the Fleet, Cadian Master of Ordinance, Regimental Standard, 2 Medics, 2 Leman Russ Battle tanks, 1 Leman Russ Punsher, 3 chimeras, 3 Scout Sentinels, 2 Vendettas, and 1 Valkyrie. Their are various weapons throughout the regiment including flamers, grenade launchers, sniper rifles and more.



These are my objective markers in the front two rows. The 4 girls are the slave girls from the old Dark Eldar range. The scientist and two beacon like markers are from the 4rth ed. Battle of Macragge starter kit and the wounded guardsmen is from the old IG command box set. In the back is old Yarrick, an Ogryn bone'ead to represent N'ork, and the commander and medic from the old IG command box set.



Company command squad.



45 guardsmen platoon with female commissar and medic from the old Gaunts Ghosts box set.



6 mortar teams.



Vet Sgt with shotgun for my first Kasrkin Veteran Squad. I used the old metal space marine scout with shotgun and some green stuff to make my sgt. I used the Kasrkin Stormtrooper box set to make my vets. I cut off the tips to make the lasguns look mor like shotguns.



The Sgt. for my second Kasrkin Veteran Squad. I cut off his sworn and used green stuff to make a power fist resembling the power fist the IG officers modles have. I also used the Kasrkin Stormtrooper box set to make this vet. squad.



25 Harakoni Warhawks with 4 plasmaguns and 2 meltaguns. I used the IG kasrkin Stormtroopers to make my warhawks.



3 stock chimeras, 2 stock Leman Russ battle tanks with Heavy Stubbers, and a Leman Russ Punisher with heavy bolter sponsons.



3 scout sentinels with autocannons and Hunter killer missiles. 2 of the 3 are the old scout models.



3 10-man squads of catachan fighters, including old metal models. Some are bits bashed cadian/ catachan plastic models. Also are Escher modles from Necromunda. These squads represent 3 Veteran squads of Survivors from Medusa 5 that my regiment adopted in. They can also be used as Penal Legion squads since Medusans also had alot of gangers in theeir world.



Vendetta with eagle hand painted scheme. It was originally red but I decided to make it similar to my other Vendetta and decided to go with thise theme.



Valkrie with Hand painted sceme.On the Front nose it says "Cadian Belle"; in homage to the original paint scheme of the "Memphis Belle".



Vendetta with hand painted "Flying Tiger" paint scheme.



3 priests.



A closer look of my Female Commisar. I had 2 models originally but I traded one for a new Manticore/ Deathstrike Missile Launcher to a friend which isn't built yet.



My Master of Ordinance using the Creed model with a Necromunda/Mordheim dog model.



Last but not least my Regimental commander using an Inquisitor lord model from then Deamonhunters range now Grey Knights and Commissar Gaunt model to represent a regular Lord Commissar. Sorry if the post was long but what do you guys think?

War Trophies

I was listening to a recent episode of The OVERLORDS podcast and heard a good segment about modelling war trophies on figures and reflected on what htey were saying. Having trophies are cool and show what your army has gone up against. This can also display fluff for your army and have something to talk about to your friends. So here is my opinion on what I think about war trophies on models.

THE GOOD


The ork hunters unit recently displayed for the Heroes of Armageddon is a good example of having war trophies on your models. Weapons and armor show a certain veteran status that displays that they have gone through hell and back and can prove it. The picture above show some guard veterans that have ran into some orks and re armed themselves to re-engeage more enemy units.


THE BAD


The ork hunter above looks as if they were going into the right direction but blew it by having a kroot head being held up in his right hand. It would look good if you were fighting a Tau army with kroot as troops but very odd if you were fighting a Tyranid or Space Marine army.

THE UGLY


Some times having to much trophies will make your unit look like a clutter ball making the model unrecognizable and somewhat deminishing the appeal of them.

So trophies are cool in my opinion but used wisely. If used wisely they can make the unit look even better if they didn't have them. So what arre your guys opinion on it? am I right or Wrong?

1st Griffon Commandos

I was finally able to finish Harker and his 1st Griffon Commando Squad. I have Harker represented as a Harakoni Grunt. In his squad are two Harakoni light riflemen, a Medusan female riflemen, and 7 Catachan representing a Missile launcher team and 3 snipers. I used the Rocket Girl from Schaeffers Last Chancers, 2 Catachan Sniper models, MAD Larkin and a female model from Gaunts Ghosts, an escher ganger and the rest were bit bashed from Different ranges of IG sets and Space Marine Scouts. I'm still looking into replacing the 3 snipers I have for 3 grenade launchers most likly to represent Medusan rifleman.
The reason I used Harker as a Harakoni then a Catachan was that Harakoni prefer using Heavy Bolters and Plasma guns and I have ALOT of Catachan in the squad already. I wanted the squad to represent "The Best of the Best" from my regiment in one squad.


In front I have Harker put together using Catachan bits, the heavy bolter arms from the scout space marine box and green stuff for his boonie cover. Next to him is an escher ganger with a green stuffed patrol cap.


Here I have the old catachan female figure Oop with green stuffed beret and a shoulder pad from the valkyrie gunners and shaved down grenade launcher. Next to her is a guardsmen using a set of Tau fire warrior arms, a bandolier from the scout marine box, guardsmen legs and torso, and a scout space marine head.


On the back of the rifleman is a boyonet and behind Harker is a Bond staff from the Tau sprue to represent him as a veteran from the Medusa 5 campaign and as a "beat you down" stick :) If you have any questions on the conversions or want more pics let me know and I'll be happy to provide them.



Also These AWESOME weapons came out from Chapter house studioes so check them out when you can

My new models

I am building some new models right now. I am working through a Manticore/Deathstrike kit, a valkyrie, 5 stormtroopers and a veteran squad.

The Veteran Squad (Harker unit) I mentioned before are almost finished. All I need to paint up now is Harker himself.

I finished putting together a Valkyrie which will be kitted with rocket pods and be hand painted similar to this P-51 mustang.



I will be painting 5 more stormtroopers as Harakoni Warhawks whick complete 3 10-man squads. This will allow me to have a complete Stormtrooper Strike Force to play an Apocolypse game(pics of the complete unit later) :). So far so good. The only thing bad to report is that a AgR has shut down recently were I play Apocolypse and wish the old owners best of luck.

Green light!

I'm back once more going a slower pace but a pace non the less. I felt burnt out from the hobby because of the environment I was in. More on that later.

I was at my FLGS and spotted an old scout space marine model for a buck and bought it right away. I loved the old scout models back in the day but didn't get around to buy them because GW used to sell them at $15 a piece, if I remember right. I bought the model with MARBO in mind since I converted other old scout models as sergeants in my guard before pictured in my old blog.

I used bestial/scorched brown mix on the armor to be similar to the Marine Corps coyote brown to represent a Medusa 5 unit and green stuffed a backpack to hid the scout armor look. I think I got it down. I will be applying the mix to another unit to see how they will come out also. Pics of that unit later. Hope you guys like my new Marbo. Cheers :)

STANDBY...

Aaargh. Sorry, things got super busy for me lately with work and in my personal life. I'm working to have things started up again here soon. That is... as soon as I get time and paint on my new models and vehicles :) soon! really! -vmreyes out.

1st Griffon Commandos - WIP

Here are some Pics of my new veteran squad I'm working on. They will be known as the 1st Griffon Commandos or something else the name is still in the works. They will consist of Harker and other veterans. Their background will consist of them being veterans and survivors of Medusa 5 but more on that later. I'm using some scout marine bits for the upgrades on the models. The scout box is GREAT :) for bits to make Guard veterans stand out from the other guard models. I'm also using Tau Fire warrior bits for some of their weaponry. More details on them when I'm done painting them so I can show them better in detail. Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

Zombie Apocalypse

A Zombie Apocalypse can occur so says the Centers of Disease control and prevention. J/k seriosly though the CDC came up with this fun blog to get everyone prepared for any natural (or Unnatural) disaster. So take a look and get prepared :)

Tango Down

Sunday was a great day for many around the world when hearing the news of Bin Laden getting aced. Not everyone thinks this way though and in my opinion should rethink their position. Imagine the years and trials that he would have gone through if he was captured. The mess this would cause and the money no one has that would be spent for all this to occur. I guess it was cheaper this way. For those that want to argue about the outcome don't come to me because I wasn't one of the operators in that room when everything went down. When you do find them let me know so I can congratulate them with a job well done.
In celebration of this event I am going to create my own Seal team 6 type team in 40k. I will be using the veterans team and be naming them 1st Griffon Commandos. Leading the team will be a character using the Gunny Harker Rules because a friend of mine despised the gunny during a friendly match against his forces, even though he won. For the conversion idea I will be using Tau, Space Marine Scouts, and of course Imperial Guard bits. More news later since I am busy with my college finals these next few weeks. until next time, stay safe:)




Something from Ranger Up

Birthday Bash

Sorry for I have been busy celebrating my birthday with firends and family plus reading some great books. So for my birthday I recieved the new Grey Knight Codex and a Imperial Guard Codex ...... AND some other great stuff I barely remember LOL.
I would like to talk about the codex but there are some great reviews available out there already by Podcast The Eternal Warriors and The Imperial Voxcast. I aslo been reading Black LibrarY book Rynns World which is AWESOME..anyway when I get more time here shortly because of school more reviews models will be up. Goodbye for now. Take care everyone :)

Defender of the Imperium

Synopsis: The legendary Commissar Ciaphas Cain, lauded as one of the great heroes of the Imperium, finds himself thrust onto the battlefield again. Cain wants nothing more than to keep out of trouble and get to the other side of his commission in one piece, but the war-torn 41st millennium has other ideas. Confronted with the powers of Chaos and hordes of alien foes, our intrepid Commissar seeks to sidestep danger and talk his way out of trouble. Yet each time he survives his legend only grows, and his life is in ever-greater jeopardy… Defender of the Imperium contains the novels Death or Glory, Duty Calls and Cain’s Last Stand, plus the short story Traitor’s Gambit and a new introduction from author Sandy Mitchell.

Content: It starts with a short story called Sector Thirteen. The story takes place while he was attached to a Valhallan Field Artillery. Great short story that starts the pace of the next story which is Death or Glory. Death or Glory is the story of when our hero crash lands on the planet of Perlia. He fights a lot of orks while trying to meet up with local Planetary Defense Forces. During his trip to safety he meets up with a lot of stragglers while in ork territory. They unknowingly turn the tide of this long fought war while trying to survive from the orks in ork territory. Duty Call was the second book that involved him and the Inquisition and his main squeeze Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Amberly Vail. Another short story was included called Traitor's Gambit which was pretty good. The Third of book included is called Cain's Last Stand. Cain finds himself on Perlia again this time during the 13th black crusade and awaiting the attack from Abaddon's forces.

Review: I rate the book a 4 out 5. Overall a great book and recommended read for those who play guard and who like to read books about heroes.

(Spoiler ALERT): I loved the short stories and the fist novel Death or Glory especially how Cain gets into the fight with the Ork Warboss. A lot of side content was included that makes you think of your armies more; such as the two different ways Sisters of Battle are portrayed in Duty Calls and Last Stand. Traditions through out different Regiments were talked about such as a blue feather worn by Drop Regiments such as the Harakoni Warhawks to signify a Drop Veteran. Another cool fight was when Ciaphas fought a rogue psyker by using his thinking skills other then his tactical fighting skills that always gets him out of trouble. I also liked how his partner Jurgen was more of a partner then a lackey follower and was expressed by Cain himself. The pair reminded me of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. The great thing of the compendium is that all the stories intertwined one way or the another which gave the stories depth.
The things I hate was the time it took to reach to the plot. A large part of the story dragged on with nonsense writing (I like short to the point). Also the repetitive description of how his friend Jurgen obnoxiously smells is annoying because its expressed almost every paragraph in the book. Other the a few other things Ciaphus Cain and Jurgen are BAMF. :)

Sky Marshall Celine Soleil

I Was able to finish painting my model this week and am pleased with the results. Let me know what you guys think or any other ways I can make her look better. :)

Female Sky Marshall

This is not an April Fools. trick. she is real:)I wanted to use an Officer of the Fleet and make the model special from the rest of my models on the board. It would only make sense to have a Harakoni Officer as my Oof to deal with reserves since I start my Harakoni in reserves. While looking up images and icons for the Harakoni I found this pic. What better way to represent someone unique then to have a female Oof. I decided to take the hard task to re-create her in my army and began thinking of ways to convert a female Harakoni officer. I came up with the model above. I used the power sword with robotic arm and the right pointing arm from the I.G. company command sprue, Green stuff, pistol with holster from the space marine captain sprue, a set of Cadian Imperial Guard legs, a Tau fire warrior upper torso, a Kasrkin stormtroopers backpack and a sister of battle head that comes with the vehicle sprue of an Immolator. So far I'm happy with the results. I'll be painting her up soon. Let me know what you guys think. :)

Harakoni Warhawks

I was contemplating on changing my stormtroopers color scheme for awhile now because I wanted my stormtroopers to stand out away from my veterans. My veterans use the same models and grey/ black color scheme as the stormtroopers. When I first started with my IG in 3rd edition, I painted my guard to the Harakoni color scheme mentioned in the the 3.5th ed. codex. This last month I found an old printed color copy of the Madusa V campaign book, that was free from GW in a PDF form at that time, and decided to read the copy completely this week. I noticed an old drop troop strike the Warhawks conducted against the TAU and recalled that I was part of that attack during the MADUSA V Campaign.
So I decided to repaint my storm troopers to their original color scheme I ounce had them. Pictured above are my three veteran Sergeants. I am very happy with the change I made and hopefully they will see action on the table-top here again with their old color scheme.

Orktimus Prime

Here is the link to Orktimus prime

Seen this very cool conversion of a transforming ork trukk online while researching for some conversion ideas. :)