Ol'bessie gets a face lift.

Hmm, one old Leman Russ tank lying around, one new forgeworld vanquisher turret in the bits box. What to do, what to do?

Put the two of them together of course! Voila! Company D has a new command tank.:)
Thanks to my buddy Jim, a pair of heavy bolter sponsons were added on to keep the grunts at bay. I've also added on an old Catachan tank commander, may use him as a stand in for Pask from time to time.

And here's she is.....



May have to add more camo-netting in the future, but that will do for the time being.

Projects

Thanksgiving has come and gone again, still in a fog from all the turkey, must resist napping......

I spent most of my recent time off working on a couple of projects I've had on the shelf for awhile.

First up, Karl sporting his new ride.....



Isn't he just adorable. Yes, the imperial dragon my not be the best choice, but he'll be loads of fun for a turn or two.

Next we have the almost complete 3rd platoon....



Yes, I said almost complete. I still have to aquire two chimeras, a second special weapon squad and three heavy weapon squads, thinking a third mortar and two lascannon equipped.

I'll be painting Karl the old fashioned way, taking my time. The 3rd plt, I've decided, I paint using the army painter green color primer, and quick shade. The more I've seen the army painter stuff used the more I like it for painting large blocks of troops and vehicles. I've already switched to using their brushes, when my GW ones finally wore out, with nice results.

Well, that's all for now, until next time........

The project backlog.......

My oh my how stuff starts to pile up.....

Ok, I admit it. I suffer from the "oh look shiney syndrome". Can't help it the way I am. What doe this translate into, way to many projects "in the works". I just got done straightening up my work space and sorting though various piles of boxes and bits..... well, I have enough stuff to keep me busy for the next ten years!

Why, well, I have a master plan for both my Empire and Imperial Guard armies, about 10,000+ points worth... each. Plus any assorted terrain projects I can cook up. (Thank you Mr. Bugbait over at Warseer). How does this fit into actual game mechanics? Don't really care. I enjoy the modeling aspect of this hobby and when I do get to play, it usually involves large battles. I may not win a whole lot but I have a lot of fun!! For some reason fielding 3 full IG platoons makes some people nervous;)

So just what do I have going to look forward to in the comng months...

Hector Rex w/retinue
3 squads of stormtroopers
2 chimeras
1 hellhound
1 sentinel
3rd platoom
2nd platoon
3rd veteran squad

Karl Franz on a dragon (because I can)
swordsmen lots of swordsmen
3 great cannon
steam tank
more greatswordsmen
more flagellents


painting, painting and more painting.......

1 Fortress... well everybody should have a home, right?

Oh, look.. its a warjack..;)

So its been a while.........

I'm still alive.......

.....and there will be cake.

Well, you can't expect a whole lot from a gamer with a trunk full of commitments: family, job, karate, biking, archery, more work.... I do occasionally get a game in there somewhere.

I, however, have not exactly been idle either. I have managed to finish a tank squadron, most of my recon company, get 35 stormtroopers/kasrkin assembled. Throw in a baneblade for fun and its adds up to quite a bit of work. I even got to go to Gamesday last month.

Speaking of Gamesday. I've been following the convention circuit for a few years now, I just never seem to have gotten the time to go. This year my buddy Jim and I got our tickets and made the 4 hour drive to Baltimore. We got there early, it through registration easily enough and then off to Warhammer nirvana.......

...right into the hell that was the Forgewold line.. OMG! You'd think that after so many years at this those guys could come up with a better system. SO, there I stood, two hours later I get to the table. I was after a Griffon Mortar or three. NADA, NOT ONE... I could've gotten any other tank but that one. A staffer, informed me that they kinda sorta forgot to bring more than a couple of those along, nice enough fellow and I did walk away with a vulture, Hector Rex, and other bits. I though about picking up a Reaver Titan but thought better of that. (you'd have been sleeping with the dog- MB)

The rest of the day was a bit underwhelming. I came away with new modeling ideas. After viewing the armies on parade display Jim and I both think we aren't so bad anymore. I did manage to take lots of pics of the army displays and had an interesting chat with the artist who worked on the BADAB WAR book. The final nail in the coffin on mediocrity came when I went to get a look at the Golden Demon entries. Another long line only to find that the judging had long been over and a large number of the entries had been picked up already, its 3 in the afternoon the event ends at 6, go figure.

So here are a few pics of completed and in progress stuff......

Inquisitor Rex and a whole lot of stormtroopers..



My Recon sentinels..



Everything else....





ENJOY!!

This is how it starts.....

Legos... Lots of Legos. My son recently had his 7th birthday. He got and already has several sets of Legos. What's he do after the new sets are assembled? Have a WAR! He turned the living room floor into a raging war zone, complete with bunkers, and roads and rules of engagement. Yes, he has rules, I have no idea how they work, but then I'm not a seven year old.

So today its Legos and green army men battling for control of the living room, tomorrow scads of model aliens marching across the tabletop. War gods be praised!! Makes papa proud.

At least by then I'll know what the rules are...

Before the Imperium there was.......

EMPIRE!!!!!!!!

This blog is for the guardians of mankind after all;)

Ah, the Empire. My first foray back into the Warhammer universe. Let's face it I've got a fondness for soft, squishy, swarmy armies. Something which was going to drive The Boss insane if I had continued to take up counter space, but that is another topic altogether.

My other really long term project: The Royal Hochland Guards



Long story short, A Hochland Regiment seconded to the Reiksguard, answerable only to the Emperor.

It's actually gotten a bit larger since that photo was taken. I've added handgunner detatchments to the units along with more knights and great cannon. The theory is to be able to field a front of 5 units supported by cavalry and artillery.

All I want to do is field a small force of 12,000 points or so...:)

Paint drying, please stand by....

While the paint is drying..

I'm working on building an extensive Imperial Guard army, Catachans, for WH40k, and a massive Empire army for WHFB. Why? Ah, why not.

I didn't choose Catachans, rather they kinda chose me, sort of. My buddy Jim, had a bunch of'em lying around collecting dust and since at the time he was more of a tread head, only guy I know who can field an entire steel legion tank battalion and his own Titan Legion, transfered them over to me. A bit'o trading here and there... now I'm upto my eyeballs in Catachan parts. Now my attitude toward them was kinda, yea, good way to start..., but I've grown rather fond of the little Rambos.

So, you take a bunch of muddogs, add a few vehicles (what's the IG without 'em) and presto.. The 2nd Catachan Regimental Combat Team is born.

I decided to use the Straken mini, being Catachan and all, and well.. I like him. He is in charge of the Catachan 2nd Regiment. The RCT part of this equation comes into play in the basic force organization chart and my need for coheasion in paint scheme and markings. RCT's were self sufficient infantry regiments formed during WW2 and Korea. Throw a bit of US 3rd Armoured Calvary into the mix and you get the RCT. On paper, 3 INf BN's, 1 Air Cav BN, and a Support BN.

The infantry battalion consisting of 3 infantry companies, a tank company, an artillery company, a recon company and finally a air defense company. My goal is to be able to field an entire battalion in an Apoc game if I so choose. Delusions of Grandure are cool, aren't they:)

Straken w/ his Regimental Command.


1st Battalion Command.


Demolisher Tank from Comapny D.


Some of Nork's family dropping by...


So, still have a ways to go..

I'm currently working on the command squad for Company A, the platoon from last post, two plasma tanks, a squad of stormtroopers(still tossing ideas around on how fit them into fluff of the unit). Oh, yea, few sentinels kicking around too.

Ok, I think I've rambled on long enough for now... see ya'll on the battlefield

It had to happen sometime.....

Thus begin the ramblings of a madman...(as edited by his wife)

Well.. here I am. You hang around the net long enough and sooner or later (and in my case later) you start tinkering around with blogging...SO, I though I should at least start with a topic I am familiar with. Besides I got to have someplace to show off my efforts:).

This is definitely going to be a work in progress so bear with me, I am not the most computer literate person around and thank god for spell check.

Just what does all this mean, well, I'm a big fan of Warhammer and Warhammer 40K. It started years ago with Battletech (back when FASA was around). I was one of those gamers that had all the source material I could lay my hands on. I had a number of innershpere mechs and an entire clan galaxy--painted. Then gripped by a momentary lapse of reason, I divested myself of the whole lot.....(been regretting that ever since)

So years later when my sanity finally left me completely, I started getting the itch to not only build models again, but game too. So there I was, what to do what to do.. as if with work, family and life in general I have time to do this... Well, I wandered into my local hobby shop, saw all the pretty GW stuff lining the shelves, watched a couple of demo games... and have been hooked ever since.

It all started with 40k... Space marines... then came the High Elves... I've since moved on from those humble beginings... I now (and why this ramble began in the first place) have amassed a sizable force of Empire, The Royal Hochland Guards, and Imperial Guard, the Catachan 2nd RCT. Hence the title of this Blog.

Anyhow this is where I'll post my ongoing progress in army building and terrain construction and adventures in gaming....

To start with, I give you:

1st Platoon, A Company/2nd Catachan RCT.