Genswick 33rd Rifles Regiment, 1st Company - The HQ

Back in February I started to post some of the models from my Genswick Imperial Guard army. I've taken a few more photos since then, and thought I'd given you guys some more toy soldiers to look at. Here they are, the HQ choices for my Genswick 33rd Rifles, 1st Company.

The Genswick Rifles were inspired by the troopers of the same name (Genswick at least) from Dan Abnett's Straight Silver, the fifth (I think) novel in the Gaunt's Ghosts series. The Genswick are the first troops the Tanith encounter on the front lines of a tragic trench-war that has lasted for more than four decades. I really got the impression of an army that had been beaten down by not only the relentless grind of 40 years of toil in the mud, but also by an incredibly archaic command structure. When I built my army, I wanted the commanders to be awful stereotypes of incredibly obnoxious aristocratic fops in the best tradition of General Melchett from Black Adder Goes Forth.

Thus, Major Barnabus Collins was born. You can see him in his incredibly clean dress uniform above. He is attended by his personal physician, the regimental Standard Bearer, and 1st Company's only two functioning plasma guns. When such things existed, I had him rated as a "Junior Officer", so that I could not benefit from strong leadership, I also did not give him the Iron Discipline "skill" that I reserved for the NCOs that lead the platoons (but more on them in another post).

Above you can see my second Command HQ squad. I built this squad when we were working on an "Alien Hunter" article for US WD. I can't remember the issue number though, perhaps someone can remind me.

This squad was obviously inspired by the opening scenes from Zulu, as Michael Caine returns to his command after a successful hunt. Amusingly enough, the commander (who I never named) looks a lot like General Melchett.

And finally, I know these guys are part of the Troops section of the army, but I felt they needed to be here. This Conscript Platoon, dressed in their parade uniforms, is the bodyguard of Major Barnabus Collins. Following a bit of a snide remark I made about the static posing of the Baneblade commander model on its release, I was sent quite a few of them by amused co-workers. I was then required to assemble them and paint them up in their dress whites.

Anyway, that's it for today's post. Next time we'll take a look at the Troops that fight under the "Fighting Badgers" banner of the Genswick 33rd Rifles.

Cheers

Dave

A rummage through the Archives

I've been pretty busy over the weekend, off playing a great game of Flames of War, wine-tasting at a house-warming party, and a hearty nap on the couch. I also did quite a bit of modeling work that is not quite ready to be seen, perhaps tomorrow.

Until then I didn't want to leave you hanging too much so I thought I'd dig into the archives and pull out a few pieces from my Genswick 33rd Rifles army. This army is my homage to the brave troops fighting on Aexe Cardinal in Dan Abnett's Straight Silver, the sixth book in the Gaunt's Ghosts series. The Genswick troops, while not the most colorful, are certainly the most indicative of the archaic grind of the forty year trench war against the Archenemy.  These hardy troopers are the very essence of the "more grist for the mill" mentality of the Aexegarian Alliance High Command.

When GW released the Bretonnian Men-at-Arms sprues I just knew that they would work perfectly to represent the hard-bitten warriors of Genswick and that their broad-rimmed helmets would instantly evoke a visceral connection with the most brutal trench war in human history.

Above you can see an under-strength assault platoon (only 35 of 55 men). I have the other two squads of the platoon buried in another case somewhere. This platoon is designated as "assault" because it has no heavy weapons to hold it back, each squad has a trooper wielding a flamer (perfect for trench clearing), the command section has two troopers with grenade launchers (for keeping the enemy's heads down), two combat veterans, and a decorated Staff Sergeant with his vicious cyber-mastiff (power fist).

Of course, this platoon needs some help to get them into the enemy trenches...

Enter the mighty Gorgon! I've loved the Gorgon idea ever since I saw it in Epic games over 15 years ago. I even converted a Space Marine Land Raider into an enclosed Gorgon when it was released back in 2000. When Forgeworld released it's Gorgon I was incredibly excited, but didn't pick it up at the time (not exactly sure why). It wasn't until the plastic Baneblade made its appearance in October 2007 that my next creation would begin to take shape.

I think it was around January or February 2008 that I completed the Gorgon you see above and below. Layer upon layer of plasticard sheets, strips, rods, and rivets were used to create this beast, built up from the Baneblade chassis. I have 5 Ogryn that I can field in it (as well as the under-strength assault platoon shown above) and I'm sure I'll have to build more of them once the new IG codex is released.

I hope you like the tour around this massive troop transport!

Genswick 5th Armored Regiment, 3rd Company

Alrighty then, while my painting output has slowed a bit thanks to a persistent cold and my wife's business trip to Florida, I figured I'd finally get around to starting a series of posts on my 33rd Genswick Rifles army that people seem to be quite fond of (well, I know I am). I started this army at the end of 2003, just as the new Bretonnian models started to arrive in the US. By adding Cadian lasgun arms to Bretonnian Men-at-Arms bodies it was actually pretty easy to create and army that had a distinctly WW1 feel and a strong 40K aesthetic.

On to the first installment of an ongoing feature.

Strangely enough, I didn't start the army out with any tanks (proper tanks that is). After playing a bunch of games with it, including the 2004 Baltimore GT, I felt that this was an army I could keep adding to over the years. In 2006 I started work on the armored company you see below.

First up we have the Company Command Tank, a short-barreled Vanquisher, #301 or The Forbes (named after a friend and colleague who passed away while I was working on this project). I had shortened the barrel so that it could be comfortably be used as a Leman Russ in tournaments, without too much hassle. Other features include an extended hull and trench rails, all hand cut from plasticard - a common feature of the tanks of 3rd Company. A street light from the CoD sprues serves as a loud speaker for blasting the Imperial Creed as the brave boys of Genswick advance. When the Apocalypse command frame was available, I added the Imperial eagle radar dish. You'll also notice a number of triangles painted on the front, right track guard. This is the number of enemy armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) that the tank has taken out in combat (well... actually... not really in my battles, but just in my background story). Finally, the heavy bolters in the sponsons are Ork Big Shootas from the metal Deff Dreads, the same parts that I used for my infantry HBs.

Next up we have 1st Squadron of 3rd Company, tanks #311, 312, and 313 (or Saviour of Aexe Cardinal, Golden, and something starting with a G and ending with an F - if only I could remember it...). These guys are sporting a fairly standard Leman Russ armament of battle cannons, hull-mounted lascannons, and sponson-mounted heavy bolters (made the same way as the command tank. As with the command tank, I added the tops of armored sentinels to the turrets to switch up the profile a little bit. For this squadron without track guards, kill markings are painted on the side of their turrets.

2nd Squadron of 3rd Company are another trio of Leman Russ Tanks. #321, 322, and 323 are known respectively as Kratzenberg's Hope, Iron Gate, and Thracian Arch. This squadron obviously does not have the heavy bolters and so takes on a more mobile role.

And 3rd Squadron of 3rd Company are a set of Leman Russ Demolishers. I've always loved the Demolisher cannon, and three Strength 10 AP2 ordnance templates dropping down on something is always very tasty! Throne of Khan (#331), The Arbutus (#332), and Xerxes' Hammer (#333) are always a firm favorite! To all three I've added some of the old, old Chimera armored plating from back in the day.

So there you have it, a look at the 3rd Company of the 5th Armored Regiment. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any thoughts about what the name for #313 is, please leave it in a comment below.

Cheers

Dave

"Hobby Promises" - 2011 and 2012

And so another few days whips by leaving me wondering "Where is the time going?" The answer is, of course, to my family... and extra sleep. It has been an interesting six weeks since my second daughter was born, and I'm starting to learn a few things that probably should've been evident before. But more on that later...

2011 Hobby Promises

Around this time last year I made a few promises about things I was going to do during 2011. Let's see how I did:

• Participate in the huge charity project with the Storm Wardens team - DONE
     - We went very large and raised over $31,000, thanks to everyone who gave of their time and effort,  and thanks to everyone who pitched in their hard earned cash for a worthy cause. But boy was it grueling! I'm going to take a back seat in what ever comes next.

• Finish my Artillery Train of Nuln at some stage - DONE
     - Not only did I finish it, but I entered it in the Armies On Parade competition. It won at the local level but didn't quite make it on the National stage.

• Add a few more units to my Blood Pact and Genswick 33rd - FAILED
    - I even bought models to add to these two armies, but got caught up in other projects. As I don't expect to see too much new IG stuff from GW this year, these armies might be my 40K projects for 2012.

• Complete another 120 models for my Napoleonic British army - DONE
    - With two units of Highlanders, two units of Caçadores, two units of Dragoons, and a handful of Command bases I think I hit this target. Not too shabby : )

• Add four more tutorials over the year - FAILED
    - Strangely enough, I thought I had hit this one, but a quick search reveals not. : (

• Participate in four painting competitions over the year, with some models specifically painted for the comps - FAILED
    - I participated in three comps, not four, and mostly with existing models. Hopefully this year will be a bit better in this aspect of my hobby.

• Attend a Masterclass Seminar by Mathieu Fontaine - FAILED
    - I didn't allocate the time or money to attend one of Mathieu's classes last year, and I don't think baby number two will allow that to happen this year either : (

• Paint another Flames Of War army, with Infantry in it, and play some games - DONE (mostly)
    - I painted about 1,700 points of Infantry- army based units that work well with the tanks I painted in 2010. It was a great exercise in switching up my hobby and feeling for FOW. I did not, however, play any games with it. Perhaps 3rd Edition in 2012 will get me going there.

• Continue to have a fantastic time working on Wargames Illustrated and talk about it more often on my blog - DONE
    - Another great year had, with more shared on this blog, and another awesome year planned for 2012, including a massive WI300 issue!

So, nine "promises" with five DONE and four FAILED. That's not a particularly good score.

I know I have a tendency to take on too much at once, and that sometimes I can let myself down by not completing tasks. I'm always looking beyond the next deadline and getting annoyed when I come up short. At the same time, however, I just can't float along without structure. My mind won't let me work like that. So, I've decided to reduce my number of goals this hobby year, and see if I can't get that percentage up ; )

On to 2012 "Hobby Promises"

• Participate in the (now) annual charity event in a much diminished capacity. I'll be doing something, but I won't be leading anything.

• Add four more tutorials this year - I have a few thoughts on what they will be too.

• Participate in two painting competitions with models specifically painted for those comps.

• Start work on my Napoleonic Russian army

• Paint up those new Genswick 33rd and Blood Pact units!

• Work hard on the Procession of Morr army for this year's Armies On Parade.

There we go, only six promises. Should be easier to keep, particularly as most of them are suitably vague ; )

Take care, everyone, and has a glorious year of hobby goodness in 2012!

Cheers
Dave

Happy Birthday Blog! - and 2011 re-cap.

Ghazgkull Thraka vs Commissar Yarrick 

(painted by Mathieu Fontaine and Kirill Zhilkov respectively)

Well, it would seem that "happy" has been the intro to my last three posts (Holidays, New Year, and blog birthday). It has certainly been a happy time for me and my family as little Lucy keeps us all smiling (and awake at all hours). Not much hobby stuff has been done, hence the lack of solid content, but I'm sure I'll get back to more of the good stuff once we settle into a routine that doesn't involve waking up at 1am and 4 am etc.

Anyway, here's a bit of a look back at 2011's cavalcade of hobby goodness:

2011 saw another 346 folks join the "Blog Followers", and everyone got to see me reach my goal of two posts per week (110 posts in total, although a few of those might have been fillers).

My "Hobby Tracker" says that I painted 603 miniatures, not too shabby. That's almost 12 per week. I counted every single miniature as one model, so a 15mm German was 1, a Steel Legion Chimera was 1, and a Marienburg-class Landship was 1. I'm quite happy that I achieved what I did, but I'm completely sure I won't get anywhere near that many models painted this year, so I'm not even going to count ; )

2011 Month-by-Month

January - I added three new units to my Napoleonic British collection (Highlanders, Rifles, and Royal Horse Artillery), painted up a model for charity, and announced the winner of the Steel Legion Army List competition (which cunningly went on to be the list we used for the Heroes of Armageddon project later in the year).

February - I jumped into work on my Armies On Parade - the Artillery Train of Nuln, added another unit of Highlanders to my Brits, and showcased my Genswick Armored Company.

March - I got to show off the chariot I worked on for Gorgon Studios, and built a few Space Marines as part of a charity auction to help raise money for my flood-ravaged homeland. It wrapped up with a few work-related jobs - the building of Napoleon's Rearguard and painting the GF9 Fantasy miniature done for Adepticon.

April - Saw the launch of the Heroes Of Armageddon charity project with plenty of talk about what the benefits would be (and a guest post by FTW's Ron Saikowski), some painting done on Napoleon's Rearguard, and the Greatswords for my Empire army.

May - A showcase of the HQ units for my Genswick army, the artillery for my Empire army, and loads more work on the HOA Steel Legion army.

June - This month was focused completely on Heroes Of Armageddon and Armies On Parade, lots of tank weathering and final touches on Empire artillery.

July - So many posts about the Heroes Of Armageddon. They must have done some good as we raised over $31,000 for Doctors Without Borders. Wonder how much we'll raise this year?

August - A look at the HOA at Games Day, a closer look at the Golgotha and Landship, and a bit of a departure for me - a whole bunch of 15mm Germans for a Flames Of War collection. Oh, and some more Tanith models from my ongoing commission.

September - Tanith, Germans, Ogres, and some cavalry for my British.

October - More Napoleonic cavalry, some BIG Ogre models, and I started preparing for upcoming baby expenses by selling off a few of my models.

November - I finished up another unit for my Napoleonics, wrapped up the Ogre Thundertusk, started posting on two other blogs (Celebrity Dreadfleet and Guns Of April), and launched into my next Armies On Parade project - The Procession of Morr. Most importantly my second daughter was born!

December - More Morr, a start on the command stands for my British, and the sale of my LatD army and my Grey Knights army.

All in all it was a crazy, busy year with all sorts of things going on.

And now it's getting late, 2011 "Promises" to be reviewed in my next post, along with my 2012 "Promises".

Until then, keep painting and have fun!

Cheers
Dave

Solar Auxilia - The Dracosan Transports, plus some Bombards and a dilemma.

Although these three Dracosan Transports for my Solar Auxilia did not arrive before Christmas (despite my wife ordering before the FW deadline), I was very happy to receive them the day after Christmas! That weekend they were scrubbed clean, and assembled last week. In a conversation with friends about what armaments to give them, I was reminded of the joy of rare earth magnets.

So, all three transports can be equipped with either the twin-linked lascannons or the demolisher cannons. I can also pop the hatches and slip in some pintle-mounted multi-laser gunners if I want. These are a pretty decent choice, particularly for a demolisher-equipped tank, as it not only adds firepower, but also reduces the chances of losing your demolisher on a Weapon Destroyed result.

These are now on the priming bench and will hopefully meet with my airbrush this weekend.

I have also assembled two Bombards to go with my Solar Auxilia. I bought these back when I was building my Blood Pact and had originally thought to include them there. My Blood Pact haven't done much recently, so I felt it was alright to drag them back to the Imperial fold. Note: the foreshortening of my camera makes those big guns look HUGE!

And now to the dilemma. After seeing a few other evolving Solar Auxilia forces using the lovely Forgeworld Mars pattern Leman Russes, I'm seriously thinking about not using my Ragnaroks (above), but repainting my converted Mars pattern tanks from my Genswick force (below). Ultimately it would give me more flexibility, and while they might seem a bit more "stock", the trench rails I scratch built would match well with the Dracosans (at the top). A bonus is that as my Genswick force is green and grey, switching the tanks from green to grey wouldn't be too big an issue for their on-table support.

Anyway, let me know what you think in the comments below : )

Cheers
Dave

I am writing a BOOK!

That's right, fellow blog fans! I've decided to write a book about painting wargaming collections. It will be going to Kickstarter this Friday, March 16, at 3pm EDT (which is 7pm GMT, 12pm PST, and 6am on the next day for those of you on the east coast of Australia).

What is going to be in the ARMIES & LEGIONS & HORDES book? 

I'm glad you asked. I'm going to be writing down a lot of my thoughts and philosophies on the army building and painting process in the hope that it will be helpful for everyone who has occasionally struggled with finishing an army project. I'm going to take an in-depth look at Inspiration, Goals, Expectations, Planning, and Motivations - with the goal of helping the reader to be able to map out a path to success for their own projects. This book will also be "game system agnostic", the principles described can be applied to any wargaming project, regardless of genre or period.

I'm also going to be putting together some photo-heavy features of armies and projects I have completed over the years along with a few completely new projects. The list looks something like this:

• Sci-fi Mass Battle – 40K Genswick 33^rd Rifles

• Sci-fi Skirmish – Dark Age collection and terrain

• Sci-fi Big Project – 40K Warlord Titan
• Fantasy Mass Battle – Warhammer Nuln Empire army

• Fantasy Skirmish – Fabled Realms collection and terrain

• Historical Mass Battle – Napoleonic British collection

• Historical Skirmish – WW2 American collection and terrain

• Post-apocalyptic Skirmish – This Is Not A Test collection and terrain

What is the Kickstarter for?

I would really love to see this as a printed book. I'm running this campaign to help fund the creation of a 120+ page hardback book, so that's really the focus. I want to keep the campaign very simple and focused on "The Book". There are six reward levels - one is the obligatory $5 pledge for thanks, and the other five are for a PDF version of the book or a printed version of the book, or some combination thereof.

Stretch Goals are focused on adding some of the other armies that I have created over the years.

What prompted you to write this book?

As a part of the services I offer through Dave Taylor Miniatures, I was laying out a rulebook for a friend (Disposable Heroes II for Sinister Laboratories). I had also taken the photos and was editing the book as I went. The key thing I remember was thinking "I'm really enjoying this. Seeing all the elements come together. This is something I really like doing."

So, with the skills to take photos and design and layout books, I just needed a subject to write about. They say "write about what you know" and with over 10,000 miniatures painted since 1991, the topic seemed pretty obvious. This book isn't a "How to paint..." book. There are plenty of those on the market from great painters. This is a new kind of book that focuses not on the techniques, but the psychology and planning behind big projects.

What's next?

I'm sure I've forgotten something, so when I think of it I'll post again, but really all I'd like to do know is ask you to pledge your support when the campaign goes live, and share the hell out of it with all of your wargaming friends. If we can make this a great success, I'm going to be able to explore lots of other cool ideas with other talented folks and bring their dreams to life too!

Check the campaign for ARMIES & LEGIONS & HORDES out on Kickstarter from Friday, March 16th!

Mechanicum - Krios Venator Tank Destroyer - Overhauled.

So, I'm pretty sure I've decided to go with my own Krios Venator Tank Destroyer for the Old Line Massacre this coming weekend. Yes, it will be the only piece of armor in my arsenal, but apparently the big gun is quite nasty, so if I can get a round or two of shooting off with it, I'll be golden : )

Anyway, I built this model way back in 2006 (or something like that) to accompany my Adeptus Mechanicus army of the era. It was based on a piece of artwork from the Horus Heresy Visions artbooks. Originally it was painted a military green, to keep to connected with my Genswick Rifles army. Obviously I've gone and changed that up.

I hope you like the red.

And here's the original scheme. This image can be found on the Sepulchre Of Heroes blog, and comes up as the number two image option on a Google search for "Mechanicus Tank". Regular visitor (and fellow blogger) Mordian 7th has an excellent tank that comes up as number four : )

Cheers
Dave

An Announcement!

Well, now that the dust has almost settled on the Storm Wardens project, with just the winner to be drawn (this Sunday, July 25, in a special episode of Jawaballs Live!), I've had a chance to take stock of everything going on in my life.

• Home life (taking the time to have fun with my wife and daughter)

- Fantastic!

• Work life (co-editing the premier wargaming magazine in the world, Wargames Illustrated)

- Fantastic!

• Commissions (Propping up the hobby fund with cool and exciting projects)

- My cup runneth over!

• Sleep (recharging the batteries)

- not so much.

• Hobby time (working on cool armies and having fun painting what I feel like)

- not so much.

"Wah, wah, wah, quit yer cryin' Taylor!" I hear you say.

On the whole I'm VERY happy with how things are going, but I'd like to get a little bit more time in on my own hobby, or at least some more time to do a few more altruistic things (like the Storm Wardens project). So something has to give.

I can't give up anymore sleep, and I'm not giving up my family or job, so the crunch has had to come with my commission stuff. I will be completing all the jobs I've agreed to do at the time they've been agreed, but as of today I won't be taking on anymore new jobs. I'll take stock again in January 2011, but until then I have to close the doors and get some of my hobby groove back.

I'm thinking of focusing on a Beastman army first up, the one I talked about back in February. More Minotaurs, some Centigors, finish up that Jabberslythe. I also need to paint up FOW Early War German Panzer Company soon and get rolling across the fields of Poland and France, as well as paint more of my Napoleonic British. There are also things I'd like to do for my Blood Pact and Genswick Rifles armies. And keeping up the quality of this blog would be nice too. So little time, but so much to do.

Oh, and there's Games Day coming up. I'd like to have a few quality entries for that : )

In the meantime, check out a job that has just arrived at the client's doorstep this week.

This Herald of Tzeentch is designed to fit in with his unit of Horrors made from the classic Familiars (still available from GWs collectors range, I think).

And this Herald of Khorne on Juggernaught. I added some armor plates to match the bracers he wears, added the banner instead of the sword, and then sculpted the legs emerging from tendrils of smoke/daemonic energy flowing from the belly of the Jugger.

Until next time, take care!

Cheers

Dave

Wait a minute Mr Postman!

The last couple of weeks have been fun on the "What's the postman going to deliver today?" front, with a few orders turning up, along with my copies of WI281 : )

First off I'll show you some stuff from Secret Weapon Miniatures. Earlier in the month I ordered some Raphael 8404 from misterjustin, along with some of is backpacks. You can see the three different types of packs below going onto the next batch of Tanith I'm working on.

From left to right you can see the small backpack, the large backpack, and the comms backpack.

They're all very nice, and will mix in well amongst the various GW packs I'll also be using.

Nice guy that he is, misterjustin also threw in a few of his very cool Oni Mask heads. Perhaps I'll have to use them for some Blood Pact models later this year? Now if someone just made backpacks like the ones I modeled for my Pact it would be much easier.

Last week I also received my order from Victoria Lamb Miniatures, in Australia. I first met Victoria many, many years ago when I lived in Adelaide, opening up the first GW store in South Australia. She's a lovely lady and one hell of a creative person. If you've got a bit of time, make sure you trawl through her website. Lots of great stuff there.

Along with the conversion parts for 45 Highlander Guardsmen, I also ordered her fantastic Imperial Noble and Billy Bagshot (Halfling Gunslinger) models. You can see the first model assembled below. I think these models will be modeled and used as an assault platoon of veterans for my Genswick army.

The final package to arrive this week was from a fledgling mini company in France. I've been emailing back and forth of the last six months or so with a former colleague who has been doing some wonderful scratchbuilding work. This work is about to see the light of day as Blight Wheel Miniatures edge ever closer to getting their webstore up and running (around late March I believe, I'll let you know once I know). Laurent is slowing building an interesting inventory for a post-apocalyptic universe. I'm looking forward to seeing more from them.

Thanks to my friendship with Stephane, Laurent was able to sell me a few early casts of the Staghound Mk4. The models are very cool, a little smaller than I was expecting, so I think I'll use them as Centaur stand-ins for my Blood Pact and fill them with nasty vets! The casts are incredibly crisp, and look like they'll be a real treat to work with.

Lots of fun on the horizon with all these great kits : )

Cheers

Dave