Let's talk about the elephant in the room...

Well, as you've hopefully noticed, I've been conspicuously absent from this blog for a little while now. Life has been busy, there have been other outlets for the hobby content I create, and I've been working on an odd assortment of things - those are all true and convenient excuses for my absence.

I think, however, the main reason I haven't posted any hobby progress here for a while is that I have fallen out of the blogging rhythm. Those of you with blogs will know that there's a certain rhythm to the way you post. Some post after each big hobby session, some post on the completion of a project, some when they have some great ideas to lay out for the world. For me it was a mix of the first two approaches, and I just haven't had too many cool things to show/talk to you all about.

I hope to remedy that in the future, but won't promise too much.

Anyway, if you'd like to see/hear some of the things I have been up to while I haven't been posting here, you can check out the weekly podcast that I'm guest co-hosting - Combat Phase - that typically releases every Thursday/Friday (although we are taking a break this week). You can find the Combat Phase website HERE, and our Facebook page HERE.

I've also joined Rick Ankney on the Game Trade Media Facebook Live show "Painting Happy Li'l Minis" each Tuesday and Thursday afternoon (2-3pm EST). This should be a fun chance to sit down and paint in a different environment and help folks in a different way. You can find the Game Trade Media Facebook page HERE, and the Painting Happy Li'l Minis Facebook group HERE.

Additionally I've written an article series for my mates at Beasts Of War. The first article published last week (HERE) and the second should be due out anytime now. This is the start of something larger I'm working towards for next year. Hopefully I can provide more concrete details in the next month or so : )

And if you'd like to see what I'm working on commission-wise, head to my Instagram account to see some fun WIP photos of the massive Legio Custodes force.

Thanks for your patience, dear blogging world. Speak to you soon.

Cheers
Dave

BURNING OF PROSPERO - the first Charity Raffle of 2017!

Oh my goodness, it seems that I have neglected to let you all know about the super-cool Charity Raffle we have going on for the NOCF this month!

Some very good friends of mine have banded together to paint up a set of the Burning Of Prospero board game by Games Workshop. Each of the models has been assembled as they are typically shown for the box set, and the painting styles are very much those of the various painters involved. This group of hobbyists has netted (over the years) more than 15 Crytal Brush trophies, 70 Golden Demon trophies, and 4 Slayer Swords! In addition to all the miniatures, you also get the board game itself, plus a few other cool accessories!

I invite you all to head on over to the NOCF website and purchase a bunch of tickets. We will ship to ANYWHERE in the world with a valid mailing address, so feel free to purchase wherever you happen to live in the world!

There are only 1,000 tickets in total, so if you buy 10 tickets, you have a 1-in-100 chance to walk away with this very valuable collection of minis. Far better odds than any other raffle/lottery out there : )

Ahriman was painted by Damon Drescher, a master or power-armored painting.

Damon also painted up the Tartaros Terminators for the Thousand Sons. This squad is completely unique as they were converted by Chris Borer and contain scratch sculpted parts like those you can see below.

Celso Mendez Jr joined us on this journey by painting up these 10 Thousand Sons Marines, all ready to defend Prospero against the marauding Wolves.

Brian Sobb helped us by painting up these 5 Thousand Sons Marines (above) and Jeff Jenkins rounded our the so-called traitors with these 5 Thousand Sons Marines (below). Jeff also took all of the excellent photos for this presentation : )

I was keen to mess around with a Space Wolf (a foreshadowing, perhaps) and painted up this Geigor Fell-hand for the project. I love all the gold decorative elements.

Rich Erickson took on the bulk of the Space Wolves, painting up this pack of grey hunters.

David Pauwels painted up this wonderful unit of Sisters of Silence. I asked him how he achieved the gold on their armor, but he was quiet about it.

And finally, I painted up the Custodes. It was cool to paint these mighty gold heroes again (it has been over 12 years since I painted my original army). There will definitely be more Custodes in my future.

Please join us in raising money for Doctors Without Borders, and to head on over to the NOCF website and purchase a bunch of tickets. Again, we will ship to ANYWHERE in the world with a valid mailing address, so feel confident purchasing tickets from wherever you happen to live in the world!

The Big Game!

Over the last few months I've been corresponding quite a bit with Alec Peters, the guy who bought my Legio Custodes army. Alec, as I think I've mentioned before, is a huge geek. He is incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about a lot of very cool things. He even started a company that auctions off the costumes and props from movies like Iron Man and TV shows like Battlestar Galactica!

Anyway, Alec is a huge fan of the Apocalypse style of gaming. So much so that he started a blog and a forum and has been very active in bringing together a lot of other like-minded groups of 40K gamers out there. This has been very successful, with gamers not only from SoCal (Alec's hunting grounds), but much further afield: Europe, Asia, and Australasia too.

Over the last couple of months Alec has been building plans for, as he calls it, "The Big Game" - an Apocalypse gaming event that currently has over 15 locations around the globe participating.

January 22nd is when it all goes down. Click on either of the links above to track down more info on how you can get involved in the Apocalyptic action. While this is obviously a single day event, Alec isn't the kind of guy to let things die off after that. There'll be plenty more fun gaming and opportunities to connect with other folks who love the Apocalypse!

Cheers

Dave

PS. I know I haven't announced the winner of my Steel Legion Army List contest yet. There were over 30 lists submitted and I'm still sorting through them all. Thanks for your patience.

Only one day to go!!!

Only one day left to go in the auction of my Legio Custodes army! As you can see above, I've received the tokens and templates from the guys at Gale Force 9, and they look great! The team took the eagle icon from the side of the Land Raider and used it on all the templates, turn counter, and tokens. Not only that, but everything is in a striking red/white or red/gold scheme, just perfect for the army.

Ebay seller, theplayerscove, has also offered up a $100 coupon for her store to the winner of the auction. Her generosity will reward the generosity of the winner of the auction! Thanks Kat : )

And finally, the latest on fund-raising efforts. Jim Bailey from Grindhouse Games contacted me last week to see if there was anything his small company could do to help out. We decided on him sending me a complete set for their great game, Incursion, that I would paint up and we could auction it off. Jeff from Dragon Forge Design donated the round-lipped bases (from his Tech Deck range) you can see underneath the Sturmzombies and Bomberzombies that I've started on already. The bases are fantastic, and really suit not only the Incursion setting, but also the quality of the Incursion sculpts. Excellent and a joy to paint.

Keep an eye out for the charity auction of this great set in the next few weeks.

For the Legio Custodes army auction, head here.

And for more information on what it's all about, head here.

Cheers

Dave

Auction Update!

UPDATE!

I have just heard that Gale Force Nine will be donating a set of themed tokens and templates for the army, and Battlefoam will be providing a P.A.C.K. 432 case and custom foam for this army. I have just sent the tracings of the army off to Battlefoam and hope to have the case very soon. Note: these two donations are added to this auction. It will greatly enhance the pleasure of gaming with this army (great tokens and templates, plus no worries about transporting it anywhere)

In addition, my employer (Battlefront Miniatures) will be shipping this army completely free of charge to the buyer, to any destination in the world!

THIS JUST IN! 40K Radio will be adding a Beer glass, t-shirt, key chain, and autographed hat!

Thank you to these three businesses, and everyone who has bid so far, for your support!

Cheers

Dave

Doing the right thing

Update! Both Justin and John's paypal addresses are here now!

Well, things are going along very well with the auction of the army. Still plenty of time for those who are thinking of testing the waters. Check it out here.

I've had a lot of people ask me how they can help out (as they don't have the spare cash to buy the army), and that is just awesome! I've been bugging Justin (surfer) and John (father), my friends, for their Paypal addresses so that if you would like to help financially (and directly) you can send a few dollars their way.

John's Paypal address is: soundeagle AT aol DOT com

Justin's Paypal address is: mcconnelljs AT gmail DOT com

Over the years I've met a lot of great people in this hobby,and spent a ton of time talking about collecting, modeling, painting and gaming with toy soldiers. This has meant I have a lot of contacts who run very popular websites and blogs all about toy soldiers. Their help already has pushed this auction a long way, and garnered it a lot of attention. It would be wrong of me to let all that attention just fade away, so here come the preachy bits...

• Back in April I was involved in a car accident that totaled my car (I was completely unhurt though). The shortfall between the insurance money and the cost of a similar replacement car was going to be considerable. The fine readers of this blog stepped up and helped me out.

• In May I was approached by John and Mike from Santa Cruz Warhammer to participate in a collaborative army building project for charity that really developed a run away life of its own, the Storm Wardens Army Build. A group of 8 or so bloggers raised $16,000+ for Doctors Without Borders, a worthy cause indeed.

• In June and July, two of my friends and co-workers suffered tragedies. Both events not only left their own emotional and physical scars, but also quite a few of the financial kind. That's why I decided to get back on the charity bandwagon. It's a great feeling to do what you can for those who need help. If you know those that need help, then all the better.

So, I think the real answer to the question "What can I do to help?" is a two parter:

a) if you can help Justin and John out financially, then drop them a few dollars via the Paypal addresses above. If you know them and can't spare the bucks, drop them a line or give them a call. Support is always appreciated.

b) take a look around you locally, think about something you can do to make the life of someone around you a little better. Donating to a charity, helping out at a shelter at Thanksgiving, hosting a dinner party for friends, volunteering to cook the hot dogs for your block party, building some terrain for your FLGS, or giving your grandmother a call to chat about her week - there are plenty of things you can do to . I'm a big fan of small steps and beginning locally.

Preachy bits over.

Thank you all so much for your support.

Cheers

Dave

It's Official! The Legio Custodes are for sale!!!

So, my Legio Custodes has finally made it onto the mighty eBay auction site. While I was assured by friends that selling on eBay was incredibly easy, I must admit for a first timer (and Luddite) like myself, it was nowhere near as intuitive as I had hoped.

The auction can be found here!

Anyway, the auction is running now, and will conclude in ten days, on Sunday October 10, at 11:12 pm for my European bidders, 10:12 pm for my UK bidders, 5:12pm for my East Coast US bidders, and 2:12 pm for my West Coast US bidders.

For more information on the army, and why I'm selling it, check out these posts here and here.

Bid high, and bid often ; )

Cheers

Dave

Legio Custodes Army. Lots of Pics!

So I took a few photos over the weekend. Photos of my Legio Custodes army. Tonight I spent a bit of time correcting levels and contrast and montaging a few images, all in preparation for selling off this army.

I originally built this army in 2004, after my Genswick Rifles army got a really good reaction at the Baltimore GT. It took me a while to get all the ideas together, but once I had them together I hunkered down and got to work. Sometimes the conversions worked smoothly and I'd get three or four models done in an evening, sometimes I'd stumble and it'd take a few nights to get one done.

Originally I ran this army as a Space Marine army with two squads of allied Grey Knights. It worked pretty well, a fairly balanced list. It lacks a little on the anti-tank front, but as long as you don't meet a mech-list, you should be ok.

Of course, now Grey Knights can't ally with Space Marines, so I think this army could now work as a Blood Angels list, not the most competitive BA list, but good for friendly games : )

First up, this is the HQ model for the army. I used to use it as a Chaplain (hence the black armor, to avoid confusion), and in the BA list it could be used as a Reclusiarch.

Above is the first "Grey Knight" squad. It's an eight-man squad with two incinerators.

Above is the second "Grey Knight" squad. An eight-man squad with two psycannons. If you went with the BA list idea, these two squads of 16 men could become two squads of Sanguinary Guard (each with an Inferno pistol using the psycannons) plus an Honor Guard (with two flamers) and a Captain. You could do a little shuffling, or use the banners as banners (I never did in the games I played, they were just there for the aesthetic).

And here's a shot of a few of the cloaks. All of the "Grey Knight" models have these custom cloaks.

Above: this is the Terminator squad. At the moment I have two heavy flamers in the mix, but I'll replace one of them with another stormbolter before the army goes up on eBay.

Above are the two tactical squads in the army. The first has a Sergeant with plasma pistol and power fist, plus a plasma gunner. The second has a Sergeant with plasma pistol and power sword, plus a melta gunner. Below you can see a few of the cloaks on the Tactical Marines. All models in these two squads have the cloaks.

Above: My first Custodes Dreadnought is rocking a twin-linked heavy bolter and DCC with heavy flamer. It was built for the 3rd edition SM codex when that was a possible option, then the HB was used as an Assault Cannon when we lost that option in 4th. The torso is based on the torso of Inquisitor Tyrus from GW's 54mm Inquisitor range.

Above is my second Custodes Dreadnought, equipped for long range support with a twin-linked lascannon and missile launcher. The torso was based on the chair of Inquisitor Lord Karamazov from the Witch Hunters range.

These are the two Rhinos (typically used for the Tactical squads): Gladiator and Imperius. They are the MkII Rhinos with Forgeworld armor and side doors. On the Imperius I hinged the left side, rear, and top hatches.

And finally the Land Raider centerpiece. This is the Forgeworld MkIIb Land Raider, built with the Eagle doors, and with a significantly large addition to the top. I wanted to build something special so I added the sarcophagus/shrine of an Imperial Hero. Lots of plasticard and bitz work here.

Anyway, that's the army. I hope you like it.

More details on the auction to come.

Cheers

Dave

More Charity Goodness to come!

So, after having a completely great time working with a team of wonderful bloggers on the Storm Wardens Project, I sat back and thought about some good that my toy soldiers could do closer to home.

Recently two friends (and co-workers) suffered some very tragic occurrences in their lives.

One friend was body surfing and was dumped by a wave. He hit the bottom and broke his neck. Not only was he fortunate enough to not drown, but he was also not permanently paralyzed. He did, however, have to take a chopper ride to shock trauma where he underwent three emergency surgeries to save his life and future mobility. He is currently undergoing the early stages of his long rehabilitation process (and painting some Wood Elves as a dexterity building exercise). The real tragedy here is that he was "in-between" employer-supported insurance programs, and has some pretty big bills to pay.

My other friend was fortunate enough to be with his wife when she gave birth to their first child. Less than a week later, his wife passed away from a pregnancy-related complication that really could never have been spotted. It took the coroner two weeks to determine the cause. That's how obscure and hidden it was. My friend is now back at work and raising his son. As any of us with spouses and kids know, that is really tough - emotionally, physically, and financially.

A bunch of us from the Battlefront office will be engaging in a series of events and activities over the coming year, all based around raising money to help these two guys. Keep an eye out for other things I'll be plugging. Hopefully soon we'll have a schedule of stuff to present to you.

So, where does the Legio Custodes army come in to it? Well, I figured that the least I could do is sell off a couple of armies that I don't really play with anymore. If I was going to do that, I really should sell off a couple of armies that have a pretty high profile in the gaming world.

To that end I'll be selling off:

• my Legio Custodes army (some pics shown here, full coverage in an old US WD)

• my Hive Fleet Kraken Tyranid army (pics of which can be found on pages 216-217 of the Warhammer 40,000 5th Edition Rulebook)

Over the next month I'll be taking plenty of photos of the armies, plugging their sale, and most likely selling them on eBay.

All proceeds will go to these two guys.

Please let your friends know.

More news to come.

Cheers

Dave