Calling in the Support!

I finally managed to get this guy wrapped up. He's been sitting on the edge of my desk for the last few weeks, biding his time, unsure of when he was going to slip into the queue. Now, for my larger games of 30K, I have another way for my Death Guard to bring down some pretty nice damage.

I love the wonderfully executed homage to the original, Rogue Trader-era, communications Space Marine. This is the right way to update a model.

And don't forget you have just over 72 hours to purchase your raffle tickets for the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation 2014 army projects. To by tickets for the Ultramarine army, click on the image above. To buy tickets for the Tyranids, click on the image below. To buy tickets for the other armies, click HERE.

All the best to those who have supported the projects this year!

Darkfire!

Here's the latest addition to my Mechanicum collection, another Castellax picked up in the same trade as the three Thallax I mentioned in an earlier post. 

As I already have two Thallax wielding multi-meltas, I wanted to try a Darkfire Cannon conversion for my fourth Castellax. The Darkfire is made from an old melta weapon from the Inquisitor range, I'm not sure what that weapon was called. Dragon Forge cables join the cannon to the power source which is an inverted homing beacon from (I think) the Battle for Macragge boxed set. Please let me know if I've screwed up any of these things.

Anyway, This model is now awaiting primer so that I can get stuck into painting ALL the automata : )

And while you're checking this out, I invite you to check out the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation project for 2014. For a minimum purchase of 10 tickets ($10) you could win one of five great armies.

Please check it out and donate HERE. Only six days left.

Cheers
Dave

One week left for the NOVA Open Charity raffles!

There is just under one week left to buy your raffle tickets for the chance to win one of five great armies as a part of the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation's 2014 project. Your purchase of raffle tickets (each specific to one of the five armies) can go towards helping great charities like:
• Doctors Without Borders
• Child's Play
• The Fisher House
• The Wounded Warrior Project

As I've said before, I helped co-ordinate the two Macragge armies - the Ultramarines and the Tyranids. More than 20 artists gave their time and talents to contribute to the cause. One of these artists, Chris Dubuque (aka Jawaballs), sent me his Ultramarine veterans to finish (basically add the snow to the bases). Sadly the box these models arrived in was stolen from my front porch. I was furious and disappointed, all at the same time. But as the show must roll on, I dug into my old Ultramarines case and pulled out a Sternguard Veteran squad to take their place. I was able to rebase them on a spare set of the Omega Bases (still available from Secret Weapon Miniatures , but only until next Sunday).

Here are the four classic Tyrannic War Veterans.

Three more Veterans wielding combo-weapons and adorned with trophies of their struggle.

And the final three of the squad. The sergeant has a lightning claw fashioned from Tyranid talons, and the other two tote heavy flamers, perfect for hosing down swathes of termagants and hormagaunts.

Equally disappointed with the tragedy that was the theft of the minis, Chris has sent his life-sized, award-winning Ultramarine banner (valued at over $500) to join the Ultramarine army. This really pushes that army over the top : )

To buy your raffle tickets, head to this page and start clicking. NOTE: The armies WILL BE shipped to ANYWHERE in the world and you DO NOT have to be present at NOVA to win, so it doesn't matter where you are, you can win!

And please, spread the word.

Cheers
Dave

Back from GenCon, and some new Mechanicum

So, Wednesday of last week I packed up my miniature case and headed off to Indianapolis for the biggest gaming convention ever - GenCon 2014! Despite living in the US for the last 12 years, I've never been to GenCon before. To say it's impressive is to do it a disservice. You'll note that above right there's a large sign on the floor of the arrivals hall at the Indianapolis Airport welcoming all gamers to the town. A great touch that puts you in the mood.

Given my naiveté regarding GenCon, I waited until fairly late in the day to buy my ticket, and was required to pick it up from the Will Call booth. The photo above shows the first half of the Will Call line as I joined it on Thursday morning. Around 400 people were in front of me in the queue, but thanks to the (apparently improved) processing it took less than 25 minutes to get from this point to draping my lanyard around my neck.

It was then a wander around the hallways that lead me to the mezzanine overlooking the hallway outside the Exhibit Hall. On the left you can see dozens of people taking photos of the crowd, on the right you can see thousands of people out in the crowd, just before the doors opened.

Once inside, there were 370+ vendors all ready to sell their wares, it was amazing to see the wide variety of booths and booth sizes and products on sale. It was certainly gamer geek heaven.

The main gaming hall was just as big as the Exhibit Hall, with hundreds of games being played at any one time. Apparently the gaming halls hosted over 14,000 ticketed events over the four days of GenCon.

And here's a sneaky pic of my good friend Dave Pauwels having just received a demo of MLP, so that he could teach his daughter the game when he got home.

There was plenty of cosplay going on too, here are a couple of photos I took for my daughters : )

Food was to be had in abundance. Here's a look at the Ultimate Gamer Breakfast Burger (or some such title) that could be had at the bar in the JW Marriott hotel - a massive buttermilk biscuit, with two sausage patties, bacon, cheddar cheese, a fried egg, sausage gravy, and jalepenos, sever with tater tots and a chipotle mayo. I stuck with a regular burger this day, but two friends across the table rose to the challenge and devoured one each.

And I was even lucky enough to collect a few Honorable Mention ribbons for my Death Guard Contemptor Dread and my Malifaux Relic Hunters.

Do yourself a favor. Go to GenCon at least once, and do it with friends. Have lots of fun!

Thank you to all my friends, old and new, who made it such a great first-time experience. Particular thanks go to my room-mates James, Josh, and Lionel for not snoring too much, as well as Joel (Mordian 7th) for organizing a meet and greet on Saturday : )

Anyway, back to the minis. After the Old Line Massacre event back at the beginning of June, my friend Marc Raley started to think of ideas to deal with my pesky Thallax (I ran a unit of nine at the event). He let me know that he'd bought three Rapier platforms, all with quad heavy bolters, just perfect for chewing through Thallax. My response was to order another nine from Forgeworld. They arrived with the Thanatar. Shortly after, I picked up another three in a trade and now have 21 of the automata. What could possibly go wrong?

This morning I finished converting three "special weapon" Thallax who are ready for primer. The top model carries a multi-melta, and the other two have my version of a phased-plasma fusil. I really can't wait to get these guys out on the tabletop : )

Oh, and I have a Castellax to build before I start on the paint job for them all.

As usual with my Mechanicum, the bases and cables are from Dragon Forge Design.

Cheers
Dave

Mechanicum - Thanatar progresses... and GenCon!

Not much of an update today. With my family beach vacation last week, and my first trip to GenCon this week, hobby time has been sparse. Rest assured, however, that while a lovely Knight Lancer is on its way from Forgeworld I have been able to attach the ammo feed to the Thanatar and prep it for painting. Fingers crossed I can work on it over the next few weeks.

Also, GenCon is absolutely crazy! For gamers it is no doubt the destination for experiencing all the games you could ever need. As huge as the event is, it isn't really aimed at miniatures gaming (although there are a lot of big booths in the dealer hall) or miniatures painting (despite the valiant efforts of a dedicated team of instructors and volunteers). It's just SOOOOOOO BIG!

More notes and thoughts on GenCon in my next post.

Cheers
Dave

Horus Heresy - Death Guard Rapier complete... and all the bits you could want!

I have finally completed the painting on the Death Guard Rapier. I first posted about this little find (and subsequent kit bash) back in February. Where did the time go? Do you have a few hours to sit and listen? ; )

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, although the weathering powders look a little too orange in these shots.

Here's a link to the original post, some six months ago.

Additionally, my mate Alex is selling off the last of his GW Bitz inventory from his old business (Battleroad Games & Hobbies). He is doing it in typical Alex fashion - all or nothing. But this means you get a great chance to walk away with 4.5 pounds (just over 2 kilograms) of Warhammer and 40K bits. Enough to keep you and all your buddies converting for years (possibly decades) to come!

You can find a link to his eBay auction HERE.

Next up? My very first trip to GenCon!!!

Cheers
Dave

Infamy - Gameplay video! And the final few days.

The Infamy: Welcome to the Big Smoke Kickstarter is drawing to a close - less than three days to go now - and it has exceeded James' expectations (not hopes and dreams, but he's a realist). In these closing stages he has finally been able to put up the first of three gameplay videos. You can check out the details of how the card/blackjack approach will work in the game in this update HERE.

Additionally, James has just shown off a few new pieces, like the Talullah Belle and Mad Pete artwork above, and the new "add-ons and alternatives" for the Suppressor kit below.

I'm currently in discussions with my friend Alex from Ironheart Artisans about a gaming table. Hopefully in a week or two we'll have an Infamy surface all sketched out. : )

Cheers
Dave

Mechanicum - A Knight Paladin on deck

It has been a while since the last Imperial Knight graced this blog. I've been working "behind the scenes" to add more to the Knight Warden. Hopefully I'll have most of it sorted by the end of summer : )

In the meantime, I decided to get cracking on my Knight Paladin. A little bit of work to create a cog-like look on the shinguards and shoulder plates, all part of that "I can't just leave a model alone" thing.

The base is from the Tech Deck range from Dragon Forge Design. Jeff has a bunch of different themed Knight bases just ready and waiting for you to purchase.

The second to last thing to do on this Knight was to create a smooth faceplate that will receive the glossy, black glass look that my Thallax and Usarax have.

The final thing will be building a new left arm, something that will work as the chainblade, but also have a bit of a shield feel to it.

Cheers

Dave

Infamy - Kickstarter, Charity, and The Toad

The Infamy: Welcome to the Big Smoke Kickstarter continues to gather (pardon the pun) steam, and is currently within spitting distance of breaking the £70,000 mark. I'm currently pledged for the Full English level, and I've started talking with Alex from Ironheart Artisans about developing a gaming board for Infamy's London.

But that's not what I wanted to talk about today. James Griffiths not only runs a great company (Infamy Miniatures), but in the middle of his crazy KS campaign, he has decided to put together a charity auction (on eBay) to benefit Anti-Slavery International.

I urge you to go and check out his auction HERE (loads of cool Infamy stuff, including collaborating on a character with James), and maybe even bid : ) If you can't bid, please share the auction with all your gaming friends.

I've decided that the first gang I'll be working on will be The Toad's motley crew of riverside rabble. Badger and Mole have already been unlocked as part of the KS, so hopefully Ratty might make an appearance before the end of it all (Sunday August 10, don't miss out!)