The 25mm Warrior

To All Warpians!

Dude come over and check out this guys blog at www.clubworkshed.blogspot.com

Not only is he a cool guy but his painting stuff needs to be seen. With the kind of minis he's putting out on his site you got to see it. Not to mention he's got some stuff about The Army painter as well. His Eldar look fantastic dipped in the quickshade.

It breaks my heart to see a fantastic looking blog with great content have only 5 followers. Go check out clubworkshed now! It's a great little stop :)

Well nothing really.

Except of course if your using Confederate troops as a test for a uniform color scheme.

My uncle's real passion is historical wargaming. You name the era, the country, the battle he's got it and has done it. He has always been ready to play whatever game I've wanted. Growing up it started with Battletech and moved on to others in the realm of fantasy and science fiction. However I never played anything historical and he never pushed it on me.

Recently (and much with the advent of The Army Painter) I realized I really didn't care what I paint... I just want to play games. I am not a painter, I'm a gamer and with him moving away from me just on the horizon to a new life on the east now more than ever I find myself wanting to spend time with man who stepped in when my own father stepped out. So I went to him and told him I would play whatever... it didn't matter to me.

We chose the American Civil War.

As we sided up (him to the Union, myself to the Confederacy) I remembered a picture I saw of a Death Korp trooper. His uniform was gray and about the folds of the cloth it had a dingy, worn look. So I'm thankful I can try out my color scheme for my expensive Death Korp minis on my not so expensive Confederate troops and I think it turned out just fine.


Yeah we got Colonel Sanders from KFC right here baby!


You can see where the army painter makes the gray look dirty. Perfect I think for Death Korp



Used Krylon Matte Varnish on the whole lot of these troops but also on the flag that was cut out from a sheet of plasta-paper. Took the shine right off and you can see how well Krylon matte works just as well as the expensive stuff.


This guys pants turned out just the way I would want for Death Korp troops.


18 troops fully and completely painted and based in three days time. Why people don't use The Army Painter is beyond me.

Also I am happy to report that my first batch of Death Korp is on it's way...

Our chosen hobby if fraught with overpriced merchandise. No one needs to be reminded of the cost of their armies. Being in a blog ring united by our common love for Warhammer 40k we see first hand how much money we all shell out to do what we love. It seems a bit strange that a guy who is about to start an Death Corp army is writing a blog about money saving tips. Actually it makes perfect sense. I have to pinch pennies where I can. A Death Corp Army runs well over two hundred and fifty bucks per four hundred points! In a hobby that tries to shake us down of all our cash they force us to cut corners, mind every nickel and pinch those pennies hoping we can get more bang for the buck.

I have four tips that I use when looking to save a dollar or two and I hope they'll help you all out there in the Warp.

1. Never Buy Direct From The Manufacturer...

It's true, they have it all. The manufacturer is never out of stock, has all that you need and is always willing to send you stuff right when it becomes available... for a price. By buying direct you end up paying the the most that company is trying to get for their product. If you got the cash then great but if your looking for a deal check out tip 2...

2. Find a Good Online Store...

Ahh these are great and can be a true friend to the gamers wallet. Usually most internet dealers cut you a deal by shaving off 10,20 sometimes 30% off the "suggested" price since they know you got to shell out at least 5 bucks for shipping. The War Store.com is a great example of an online dealer who cuts deals constantly. Another great example is The Discount Games Store on ebay. This guy sells discounted 40k swag with free shipping. Usually bidders end up with a great deal saving about 5 bucks off the price since he only ships the sprues and not the box. Shop around you'll be surprised what you find.

3. Pet Store Terrain...

I'll never forget the night Opiewan came over to game with a bag full of desert terrain pieces. To my surprise he told me he got all of them at our local pet store. Surprise turned to shock when he mentioned he got all of it for 50 bucks. We've gotten tons of complements From The Warp on our terrain set up. None of it came from a game store where you may end up paying 20 bucks or more for one piece. Never has putting a good looking board together been so easy and affordable.

4. Buy Krylon Matte Varnish

My wife shakes her head every time I come home with name brand cans of painting supplies. So one day she hands me Krylon Matte Finish from Wal Mart. At first I objected. I stated how "gamer" painting supplies are made for what we do specifically, how they are tested and true, that to use anything else is a risk to my precious minis. Sure enough it worked like a charm. Anyone who uses The Army Painter knows you need tons of matte varnish to take away the shine the dip leaves on the mini as it dries. I've spent 15 smackers on cans of brand name matte varnish. My wife spent 3 bucks on Krylon Matte Finish. Yeah, she said "I told ya so ya dork."

Now we can't save a lot of money on our hobby. It's high prices are the nature of the beast. However there are alternatives, short cuts and other ways we can "stick it to the man" for shaking us down. No matter what they may charge nothing beats the imagination of hobbyists. The passion alone breeds original thinking which is characterized all throughout the Warp here. I hope my little tips help you out and save you a buck or two so you can super size your next meal or have enough gas to get to the tourney.

Cheers!

While my strengths in painting are shelling out large quantities of nicely painted troops in no time, Opiewan's is detail. He's a sucker for it, good at it and will spend more time on a trooper than I ever would. A few weeks back he grabbed my leaders (Captain, Terminator Sgt, Sgts) and took them home. Knowing his artistic ability I knew he was gonna do something spectacular however I didn't know when I would be getting my minis back.

A couple of nights ago when he came over for our weekly game night he laid this on me...



Oh my gosh! My mouth was on the floor. My buddy is a good painter but I didn't know he was THAT good. You can really see the improvement to the detail he did by looking at the mini before he got pimped.



See what I mean.

Once he gets done with the other minis I'll post them. You'll know I'm showcasing Opiewans stuff because it will be titled "Pimp Minis" and then whatever I'll be bloggin about. I'll close this one with more pics of that Terminator and stay tuned after the pics... got a special announcement at the end :)






Opie informed me he just got another Rhino and will be working on a tutorial about how to do the Marble effect. I will get that up as soon as it's finished!

Thanks again Opiewan!

You have let your voices be heard brothers and the loudest voice cried for the Death Korps!

It has been written so shall it be done!

So last night after the polls were in I cruised on over to Forge World's website to take my 400pt combat patrol list and see how much it would cost...

I came up somewhere around 300+ bucks!

Wow, did that discourage me? Did it scare me into not honoring what I said I would do? Would I cower in fear at the thought of telling my wife I was gonna spend so much for something so little !!!

HELL NO!!! (and I'm just not gonna tell my wife)

um j/k :)

So the force is gonna take longer than expected, no biggie. Actually it will give me the chance to actually have what I bought painted before purchasing the next part (a nasty habit of mine. It just leads to playing with unpainted minis on the table). I was also taking a look at the list and remembering what the gimmick is, to have pinup chicks on the tanks. So the list needs tanks not sentinels I think. With all the rumors about cheaper squads and cheaper Chimeras I think that is the best way to go.

I also need your feedback on something.

The other plan was to have card suites on the platoons as markings between them. That would be easy for Cadians because of their shoulder pads but I'm not seeing where you could do it and make it look cool on the Death Korp troops. If anyone has an idea out there please let me know:)


So since the Death Korp is gonna take awhile and miniatures are cheap for the Orks because of the whole starter set I'm gonna work on the Orks too in the mean time. I got be able to play 40k still and the voting was really close so why not just do em both!

Alright guys I hope your week is a good one and thanks for voting!

The last one of these was such a success I've decided to make the entire army like this! Now you get to vote on which Imperial Guard force should be the core of the 147th Imperial Legion! Again The 25mm Warrior is having a hard time deciding between two different Imperial Guard armies and only you can decide which one it will be!

Cadians

or...

Death Korps of Krieg

Now the the force will continue to have pinup girls on the tanks. It's gonna be up to you which one those lovey ladies will look best on. The poll for this one and the rest of the army details will be just 3 days! So hurry on over and tell me what you want to see..

Again the choice is yours!

I got two guys I play 40k with on a regular basis and if you've read my blog before you may have heard me mention Opiewan Kanopie. I've known the bloke since high school and for nearly 15 years since we've been gaming together. Funny thing is he's been working on this army for about 10 years. Hmmm been playing 40k for a couple of months, subtract the one, carry the 5... well you do the math :)

Needless to say both of us are very long time in coming players. I hate to paint and Opiewan loves to in a OCD fashion that would make Howard Hughes proud. He's quite a talented painter and sculptor and never backs down from a hard paint job (unlike me, I cower in fear... for more info read my Army Painter stuff). Only he doesn't stop there... if he doesn't like a mini he converts, clips, staples, spits and glues one until he gets what he wants. Not to mention he does great detail work on eyes and lightning swords (a future post will show you all what he did to my Blood Angels Sgts and Captain). Well I do believe I talked the guy up enough. Time for you to see his work for yourself (now if only he would finish the stinkin army...*hint,hint Opie*)

Oh and don't forget to click on the pick for a full picture:)

The whole crew so far


Inquisitor squad done up by mixing Imperial Guard troops and Space Marines with some Bretonian minis. All the symbol work is hand painted and the hoods are sculpted with greenstuff along with details like the eye monocles and crest symbols . Great looking squad... one of my favorites actually.


Ahh Seriphim... how I hate thee! It's bad enough that your kick ass but you have to look friggin mint on top of that! The flame sword was sculpted with greenstuff and the leader chick is something special too, just can't remember what(Hey Opie, explain whatever I get wrong or don't cover in the comments will ya)


It's not entirely done yet but who cares, the marble work on the hull is absolutely amazing! Props to him for erring on the right side of trial and error and using a awesome but simple technique to pull it off. The effect was achieved by dipping a crumpled up plastic bag in the paint and dabbing it on the hull!



His Sisters. I got to hand it to anyone who paints using white. It's damn hard to pull off but it's an easy feat for 'ol Kanopie :) The hoods are again sculpted from greenstuff :)



The Cannoness. You can really see how well he pulls off faces, eyes even lipstick effects... things I have a bitch of a time doing.


Pimpin ain't easy yo!


It's great to have a buddy that challenges your style of painting and uses other facets of the hobby that you would never use. It doesn't hurt that he's a great sport, great player and a great friend.

Well done Opie!

P.S. Do me a favor in the comments guys... bug him to finish this please!!! Ha! I've just sic'd the entire From the Warp community on you Opie!

Deal with that Batman!!!

The Imperial Guard with Pinup Girls!!!

Before we get into anything else I want to thank everyone that voted and participated in deciding which way my army and blog should go. You guys rock and I appreciate all the interest you show this little slice of 40k blogging. The turnout with an unprecedented 72 votes floored me and shows everyone just how involved and supportive we all are to our hobby, gaming and each other...

Here's to ya! *gulp, beer....mmm*

Since the Imperial Guard are getting an overhaul with new minis and such I think it would be awesome to start with a small force. Combat patrol seems the perfect mission to toss brand new armies into the grinder seeing how they do and hold up. I came up with my own combat patrol list...

Imperial Guard 398pt Patrol Force

Troops-Infantry Platoon
-Junior Officer Squad: 40pts (1 Officer, 4 Guardsmen)
*Heavy Bolter Team: 10pts
*Vox Caster: 5pts

-Guardsmen Squad: 60pts (1 Sgt, 9 Guardsmen)
*Veteran Sgt Upgrade: +6pts
*Heavy Bolter Team: 10pts
*Vox Caster: 5pts

-Guardsmen Squad:60pts (1 Sgt, 9 Guardsmen)
*Veteran Sgt Upgrade: +6pts
*Heavy Bolter Team: 10pts
*Vox Caster: 5pts

-Guardsmen Squad:60pts (1 Sgt, 9 Guardsmen)
*Veteran Sgt Upgrade: +6pts
*Heavy Bolter Team: 10pts
*Vox Caster: 5pts

Fast Attack-Sentinel Squadron x2: 70pts
*Cadian pattern x 2: 30pts

Now the theme will be to have card suits painted on the Guardsmen shoulders and Pinup Girls on the vehicles. In this case the ladies will be pinned up on the Sentinels with the obligatory cursive writing underneath the decal. I found some great looking decals on ebay. Check em out at http://stores.ebay.com/RETRO-DECALS

I am interested to see how YOU! would do up a Imperial Guard combat patrol. If your a Guard player let me know how you handle your troops, if your tactics work and your Army Lists for 400pt Combat Patrol.

It will be a little bit of time to get it going. I'm gonna start with a Guardsmen box of troops here in a week or so and patiently wait for the new minis to show up on the store shelves so the force looks as up to date as possible. The ultimate goal is to have each platoon made up of troops from every Imperial Guard unit (the reason for that to be explained in a fluff blog coming up soon).

In the mean time I'll be posting more polls to see which direction you want the army to go, give a gander at some battle reports, show case Opiewans Sisters of Battle, Get my Ork painting tutorial up, make a bid for world domination, you know the usual here at The 25mm Warrior

Stay tuned fellas! More is yet to come!!!

P.S. My wife voted for me to save my money... *pish* YEAH RIGHT! *pish*