Steel Legion Scheme - Heroes of Armageddon

Just a quick post tonight, covering two things, both Heroes Of Armageddon related.

1) Above you can see the "test paint" model for the Steel Legion Infantry my build team will be producing. Here's a quick rundown of the paints I used for each section:

Tunic

• Basecoat: Tau Sept Ochre

• Wash: Devlan Mud

• Highlight: Tau Sept Ochre

• Highlight: TSO/Bleached Bone mix (60:40)

• Highlight: TSO/BB mix (30:70)

Boots, gloves, webbing

• Basecoat: Scorched Brown

• Highlight: SB/Bleached Bone mix (70:30)

• Highlight: SB/BB mix (40:60)

Lasgun, canteen

• Basecoat: Boltgun Metal

• Wash: Badab Black

• Highlight: Chainmail

• Wash: Devlan Mud

Pants, bedroll

• Basecoat: Chaos Black

• Highlight: Charadon Granite

I hope you like it. There are many more that will be rolling off the painting desk of hobbyists around the country in the coming weeks.

2) The second of the "irregular prize drawings" is taking place on Sunday. The basic idea is that everyone that has already donated to the project is in the draw to win some cool prizes along the way. So, the earlier your make your contribution (by clicking on the Paypal button to the right) the more chances you have to win cool stuff along the way! Head to the HOA blog for more details!

Cheers

Dave

Note: Based on feedback, I have adjusted the colors used on the lasgun, canteen and rebreather unit.

The Artillery Train of Nuln (Part 5)

So, I finally got the chance this evening to set up my lights again (after almost a month without them) and take a few shots of my progress on my "Armies On Parade" army, my Artillery Train of Nuln. We last left off with the shot above, only ten more to go.

After picking up some "rubber steel" sheets from our Gale Force 9 stand at Cold Wars and a pack of magnets from the Warstore, I magnetized all of the bases in my Greatsword and Spearmen units. It has made transporting them to my irregular games of Warhammer much easier.

Anyway, here is the finished Greatswords unit, the Red Bears of Mecklenburg. Lots of shiny steel armor and zwei-handers.

The bear on the banner was based on the icon above, the insignia of the II Polish Corps' 22nd Artillery Supply Company. This unit served in the Italian Peninsula campaign during WW2 and their unit mascot was Wojtek, a beer-swilling, cigarette-smoking, ammo-carrying bear.*

The flashing wall of steel also looks pretty good in a column too.

And here are the first handgunners for the army, well under way. There are two units of Nuln Ironsides models that are "on deck" next. I also am now the proud owner of a Marienburg class Land Ship. Looking at the pieces and the scale of the task ahead, I think I'll take July off to finish it for Games Day : )

Cheers

Dave

* For more information on Wojtek, check out the upcoming FOW book Cassino, or WI284.

Guest Post by Ron Saikowski - From The Warp

Those of you who follow this blog closely will know that I usually don't have "guest posts" on my blog, primarily because I'm too busy/lazy to coordinate them. This time, however, this post dropped into my lap, all ready and job done! I'd like to thank Ron for encapsulating many of the things that I've come to realize over the last year or so. Without further ado, here's Ron's post on charitable actions.

THREE REASONS WHY CHARITY WORK IS IMPORTANT by Ron Saikowski (of From The Warp fame)

Why get involved with charity work when it comes to your hobby?

That's a good question. There are lots of people who don't... and there are lot's of folks who do. But what makes those people who do get involved do it?

1. It makes a difference in others lives.
A while ago, maybe a month or so, I had the opportunity to help out with a local charity, Battle for the Cure. It was to be an auction to raise money to help someone get through cancer.

I had this Blood Angel mini on my desk for a while, I just didn't know what to do with him. Once this opportunity came along, I knew he'd be the perfect fit for the auction.

I never met the person, I have no idea how much money I was able to help raise and I didn't benefit from it myself, but... I know I made an impact in that person's life. Whether it was a few dollars or a few hundred, every little bit helps.

Being able to donate this mini and help raise money for the fight against cancer made a difference in their life. And that's plenty for me.

2. You do things you might not otherwise get to do.
If you follow my work recently, you've no doubt seen this guy. I did this one to help out a fellow hobbyist with a promotion.

I deliberately withdrew my name from the chance at winning as this model was done simply to help get the word out and give myself the chance to try something new.

If I hadn't done this model, I would have never painted a Howling Griffon. Let's be honest here, when am I going to fit that into my schedule? But by getting involved and helping out, I was able to push my painting and weathering skills into areas I hadn't quite been before.

3. It can make you feel good.
The Storm Wardens project. I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am to have been a part of that project.

Knowing that I was able to help raise the money we did to help Doctors Without Borders is an amazing feeling.

This project was huge and while my part might have been small, it was important nonetheless and I poured my heart and soul into it. Others were relying on me to come through with my portion.

Being able to be part of something bigger that has a positive impact on others can put things in perspective in your life. I am very proud to have helped out with this project. In fact more than one person made out in this one, we gave a ton of money to a great cause and a ton of minis to a great winner.

So what can you do right now?
Get involved with the Heroes of Armageddon Project. That's right. The same guys who created the Storm Wardens Project last year are back at it again. And I'm in on it too. In fact, tons of people are.


This thing is going to be huge. It's going to dwarf the Storm Wardens when it's all said and done. So how do you get involved? Easy. There are a two main ways.

1. Contribute. That's right. We're looking to raise money for Doctors Without Borders again and want this one to be off the charts. Each dollar you contribute gets you a chance at winning a number of prizes. Everything you want to know about the project is in one place...

Heroes of Armageddon
2. Spread the word about the project.
You can fly the banner for the next few months and tell everyone you know.
All the information for getting the banner for your sidebar and the links you'll need can be found right here.

As for me, I have a small part in this one too. You didn't think I'd let an opportunity like this slip by did you? I'm still getting all my pieces together, but I plan on doing something even better this time around.

Charity work and plain old helping people out is the right thing to do. It doesn't matter what side you're on either. We've all been in both places... there were times when we all needed just a little bit of help and we've all be able to help someone out before. Get involved. Help us help others.

---

Guest Post by Ron, From the Warp
If you have any questions on something in this post, leave a comment and I'll be glad to answer!
Thanks goes to Dave for letting me share this post.

I'm back from foreign places!

Well, I'm back from my week in the UK on a business trip to visit the Nottingham office for Battlefront and Wargames Illustrated. I met a bunch of guys I've been working with for two years (and discovered one of them used to serve me beers, lots of beers, in Bugman's back in the day), caught up with a few old friends over beers, met some folks in the historical gaming "industry", and had a rather nice time at Salute. No problems with erupting volcanos this year, thankfully. The trip was great, but it's lovely to be back home again.

Anyway, the Heroes of Armageddon Charity Project is well under way, with build teams coming together across the country (my IG team stretches from Massachusetts in the east to Hawaii in the west). If you haven't yet heard my interview with Carl and Geoff from The Independent Characters podcast, head on over and check it out. I talk a lot about HoA!

As we don't have a lot of work completed I thought I'd mention a few things:

a) the regular prize draws begin tomorrow night. Head to the Heroes of Armageddon blog now to find out more about the very cool first prize donated by Mike and the company he works for, Bay Photo.

b) I thought I'd let you know who was on my build team. There's a pretty wide variety of folks (spread far and wide), so here's the roll of honor (wit a link to their blog or site if they have one):

• Chris Borer

• Justin McCoy

• Jonathan Lindgren

• Brien Dulaney

• Joe Marshall

• Marc Raley

• Matt Boles

• Mike De Boer

• John Dickerman

• John Stiening

• Pat Ohata

• Bob Weiss

• Jordan Carasa

• Matt

• Jeff Wilhelm

And here's what 60+ Steel Legion and Stormtrooper models look like taking a bath in Simple Green : )

Cheers

Dave

Freezing French

A little while ago I posted some conversions for a unit I'm working on for an upcoming Wargames Illustrated article. The Napoleonic French are from the Perrys, with a few greenstuff additions by yours truly. You can see the original post here.

Well, I'm working through the painting process (or at least I was in the middle of it before I flew to the UK for work) and snapped a few shots of the first few stands. Above you can see the Voltiguers, spaced two to a small base as befits their "skirmisher" role. Below are is the Grenadier stand, six tall and hearty men rugged up against the start of the dangerous Russian winter. Hopefully I'll finish painting the unit by the end of next week, then I'll spend an evening or two finishing off their snowy base. I'm looking forward to seeing the vision fully realized : )

Cheers

Dave

Adepticon Swag! and Boston BrawlCon

Well it's been a week since the wrap up at Adepticon 2011. It was such a big weekend it has taken me this long to get back on track, just in time for me to head off to the UK for a week (including working at Salute, the big daddy of historical shows in England). There has been plenty of great coverage of the Adepticon show (and the Crystal Brush) and you can find some of it here:

• Rankings HQ

• Cool Mini or Not

• 40K Radio

• The Independent Characters

• Bell of Lost Souls

• Beasts of War

and dozens of other podcasts and blogs in the aethersphere...

I mentioned in the week leading up to Adepticon that the swag bag was going to be pretty big this year. Well here's a pic of one of the first 1,000 swag bags.

On the left of this photo you can see a lot of the "paper product" that was in the bag, including two copies of the Game Forces magazine (both with some wonderful eye candy in there), a Black Library preview booklet, and promo flyers for stores, events, and even one for the Heroes of Armageddon Charity Project (thanks to yours truly). In the lower right of the photo you can see some of the models and bitz that were included in the bag. There's a Hannah Valerius model from Chris Borer, a cinematic effect from Armorcast, magnets from Amazing Magnets, items from Mantic, Soda Pop Miniatures, and Spikey Bitz. In amongst those you can see the Gale Force 9 Warlord Crom that I showed off in my last post here. The biggest item in the bag? A Warmachine starter set and quick play rules to go along with it. Privateer Press sprung a nice surprise on the attendees of Adepticon, and I have no doubt they'll be able to recoup the cost of this "marketing exercise" numerous times over.

There was also the opportunity to buy some nice stuff at the show. Actually there were plenty of opportunities to do just that. : )

The photo above shows the additional items of swag I bought or picked up at the show:

Some more "rubber steel" sheets for my new Empire army movement trays, greenstuff, brownstuff, and greystuff, a couple of 15mm Soviet snipers, some gangsters from an upcoming range called "Bootleggers", a "stubby holder" from my mates at Podhammer, a hat and a set of casino-quality dice from my mates at Rankings HQ, an Alfred the Fearless Monster-Killer model from Scibor Miniatures, the latest Horus Heresy book, and a wonderful hard copy version of the web comic Free Mars (written by my friend Dave Pauwels, with a foreword by Dan Abnett). Not a massive haul laden with Forgeworld goodies, but just the right size for me, perhaps a touch on the extravagant side.

And here are the two Crystal Brush awards I was able to bring home : )

Once I get back from the UK and pick up my lights from the office I'll take a few photos of my winning entries, but here are the links to the CMoN coverage:

• Gotrek & Felix

• Etruscan Chariot

And finally, my friend Alex Akers (from Battleroad Games & Hobbies) is running the Boston Brawl again this year. It's the first weekend in July outside of Boston, MA. You can find out about all of the action here, and buy your ticket here. Should be a fun weekend!

Heavy is the head...

Last week I posted a picture of Warlord Crom, the model Gale Force 9 (part of the Battlefront "family" along with Flames of War and Wargames Illustrated) donated to the mighty "First 1,000" swag bags. The model was sculpted by none other than Gary Morely, famous for many, many models over the years. There's an obvious influence drawn from the most famous barbarian from Cimmeria, but I think Gary has really captured the brooding nature of Crom now that he "wears the crown".

I've been experimenting a lot with Vallejo paints recently(as well as a few others), so I thought I'd try them out on this model. Take a look over the upcoming pics, and I'll give you a rundown of the colors used at the bottom of this post.

Unless otherwise specified, the paints are from one of Vallejo numerous ranges. Here are the "recipes" for the larger areas of the model.

Skin:

• Base - Olive Grey

• Highlight - Olive Grey/Yellow Green mix

• Highlight - Yellow Green

• Highlight - Yellow Green/Bonewhite mix

• Shade - thin shades of GW Devlan Mud and Secret Weapon (SW) Amethyst

Wooden Throne

• Base - Flat Brown

• Highlight - Flat Brown/Flat Earth mix

• Highlight - Flat Earth

• Highlight - Flat Earth/Bonewhite mix

• Glaze - thin glazes of GW Gryphonne Sepia and GW Devlan Mud

Enormous Tusks

• Base - Flat Earth

• Highlight - Flat Earth/Bonewhite mix

• Highlight - Bonewhite

• Highlight - Bonewhite/White mix

Skull

• Base - Khaki Grey

• Highlight - Khaki Grey/Bonewhite mix

• Highlight - Bonewhite

• Highlight - Bonewhite/White mix

• Glaze - thin glazes of GW Gryphonne Sepia

Bear Skin:

• Base - Red Leather

• Light Drybrush - Red Leather/Bonewhite mix

• Shade - heavy wash of GW Devlan Mud

• Light Drybrush - Red Leather/Bonewhite mix

Stone Base:

• Base - Dark Grey

• Highlight - Dark Grey/London Grey mix

• Highlight - London Grey

• Shade - thin shades of SW Algae and SW Amethyst

It's been fun to learn some new colors and combinations, finally pushing my own painting boundaries (in color, if not style or technique). The Vallejo paints have been good to work with, and I'm also enjoying experimenting with the new Secret Weapon Washes. Check them out here for more information.

Cheers

Dave

Here come the Heroes Of Armageddon

Some of you may remember the cool Storm Wardens Charity Project I was involved with last year. If not you can check out all the posts here.

This year John and Mike (from Santa Cruz Warhammer, founders of this craziness) wanted to run the same kind of thing, only bigger... Apocalyptically BIGGER!!!

This year we have four build teams working on four 3,000 point armies. Yep, we've got loads more painters all working hard to raise money for Doctors Without Borders. Over the coming weeks and months you will be able to see the progression of the armies and learn a bit more about the folks involved. The four armies we're building are all linked to the Third War for Armageddon: Steel Legion, Blood Angels, Speed Freaks, and a horde led by Ghazghkull Thraka

Of course, I'll be working on the Steel Legion list. John and Mike gave me the heads-up on the project last year, and I cunningly tricked some of you into writing the army list for me ; )

You can find that list here.

You can start supporting our efforts now by committing some cash to the projects using the buttons on the right hand side of this blog. We'll be closing these buttons down in July, when we'll be drawing the winners of some absolutely unique and awesome prizes.

More news on this project, and some posts about Adepticon (which was AWESOME!) later in the week.

Cheers

Dave

EDIT: There will be a centralized blog for this, run by John and Mike. The blog will be:

heroesofarmageddon.blogspot.com