5 Minute History: Leman Russ

The Leman Russ Battle Tank is a main battle tank used by the Imperial Guard army in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The tank's appearance is reminiscent of World War I-era tanks with completely exposed tracks and armed with sponson mounted weapons. Atop its rhomboid hull, the Leman Russ sports a Battle Cannon mounted in a boxy, angular turret.

Painting: Alternative to brushes

I got an idea from washing dishes the other day, I decided to try using a sponge to make a wet pallet / tank brush for blending large edges...

Fear is the Mind Killer

I'd like to begin my blogging endeavours with thanking Tallarn for the trust to write in his space. I'm not the caliber of painter, gamer, or writer that he is but I try and he understands that about me.

Fear has stopped me from writing on occasion. Why? Criticism. I often take things waaaay to personally in real life and that bleeds over into the internet as well. I have to remember that I will be harsher on myself then anybody can ever be and not to worry so much. We all have to go with it most of the time. Our hobby almost demands it as a prerequisite!

I'd like to share with you a 'one off' piece I've been painting in my spare time over the last month. With everything it has to begin with a good model and the Warp Wolf Stalker from the Hordes range is outstanding in my opinion. From the very first time I saw the model in previews I knew, actually knew, I was going to get this model just to paint. Another first for me since I have this thing about 'power armor'.

The base isn't done because I want to write a quick tutorial on how to do bases since I think basing is also part of our hobby. People, even when they paint well, tend to let this last step go by the wayside.

I've named him 'The Great Wolf Nigel Humperdink'.

All my friends love a lowrider: Part 4 - Complete!

Well, the clear coat is drying now and here are a couple of shots I took outside while she bakes in the evening sun:

Deep Thoughts: Paint Etiquette

In a typical weekend I might play two games, multiply that by playing two or three weekends a month and I get to play around four to six games per month. In the last few months I have played against one fully painted army while the rest were all either partially painted or straight GW plastic grey. Which begs the question – where did all the paint escape off to?

5 Minute History: Titans Part 3

Around 2002, a 40K scale resin Warp Hunter was produced. It was sculpted by Michael Bard and produced by an amateur fan project calling themselves Deep Strike Miniatures as an "Alien Tank Hunter". Also around 2002, Dragons Den Armoury produced a single 40K scale “Gabriel” Knight Titan that looked remarkably identical to the GW Epic Paladin Knight. These were only sold on ebay at US$250 and were only available for a couple of months until they were closed down for breach of GW intellectual property.

Observation: Grey Knights Marketing

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last 24 hours there is some breaking news: There is a leaked PDF of the Grey Knights codex out there. It looks polished and well put together almost like a preproduction test created for game testing and editing. Which begs the question, is it a trap?

All my friends love a lowrider: Part 3

All the elements have come together save one part; communications! So out came the hacksaw to remove the lasgun, add in a las pistol and chop up a Tau drone blaster thinger and add an antenna - and you have a long range handset for communicating with the HQ squads...

Deep Thoughts: Just Win?

I recently moved back to the city I grew up in after 10 years out in the ‘real’ world. During my time away I lived in 3 other major cities in the US (Seattle/Tacoma, Washington D.C. and El Paso) and played in multiple other 'local gaming scenes' during my time away. I have seen all sorts of local ‘meta games’ and enjoyed some, disagreed with others and shook my head in disbelief at a few. Moving back ‘home’ after years away became very exciting while anticipating going back to the old local gaming store, where I learned to play, and getting back into the local scene.

5 Minute History: Titans Part 2

Soon after Mike’s association with Games Workshop ended John Richardson of Modesto, California and some other friends approached Games Workshop with a proposition. They asked GW for the right to reproduce Mike’s models and other new ones on a large scale production basis. GW agreed and gave them a license. They formed what we know of today as Forge World Models.

Modeling: Choose, but choose wisely

When it comes to modeling and creating custom pieces for your army, 50% of the battle will be decided before you even pick up a hobby knife, glue, green stuff or a sculpting tool. Selecting the right model is often times the difference between conversions that look great on the table; or a conversion that never quite lives up to what you, or anyone else, had envisioned for it. When selecting which mini you will use for the basis of your conversion there are many important factors to consider, none the least of which is the material involved and the modifications you plan for it.

All my friends love a lowrider: Part 2

In part one we looked at the positioning of the tracks, construction of the Medusa cannon and the modifications required for the hull. In part two we bring those elements together and begin adding the small pieces that will make this into one 'cohearant' project.

Using an extra plate that was lying around from another Chimera kit we reinforce the front end while adding one half of the fuel barrel to each side to close up the hole where the skull and wings plate would normally go. Adding the three small rungs to each side really helps to bring out the character of the tank:

Deep Thoughts: Whither to Blog?

In all the realm of geekdom you have two vastly different choices with which to bestow your infinite knowledge for all to absorb on this crazy ship we affectionately refer to as ‘teh interwebz’ (as founded by the great ‘Goracle’ many moons prior to our arrival on this plane of existence). You can join with the masses and frequent a web forum, which will provide ample opportunity for you to present your work and have it critiqued by all knowing demigods of geekery, who will no doubt shower you with such mind blowing offers of superior intellect as, "Sweet! Awesome! OMG, that is so great I just crapped my pants! U r teh Uber Sumo!" Or you can choose a blog, which probably won’t reward you with comments or critiques on a consistent basis but will give you free reign for the unfettered release of your creative juices all over the unsuspecting masses.

Game Time: 1500pts

Small tourney at the LGS this weekend, probably 6-10 players, 3 rounds of 1,500 points. Most of the guys run pretty normal armies except for one Nidzilla (brutal army with multiple T6+, W4+ and SV 2+) and a truck heavy Nobz army. So im not going to design something just to take out the Nids because the 'Mech Wolf" and 'Footslogger IG' will eat my cookies. So im going for a balanced list to try and bring some pain to their front door.

5 Minute History: Titans Part 1

Warhammer 40,000: Rouge Trader, a place beyond space and time. The year is 1988 and Games Workshop has exactly two vehicle models, both of which reside in the Space Marine motorpool – the Rhino and Landraider. Along comes Mike Biasi onto the scene as a talented artist and sculptor, with university level courses under his belt, who produced a 40K scale Titan modeled on the early Games Workshop Plastic and metal Epic models for Adeptus Titanicus. After seeing Mike’s products, the Warhound, Reaver and Baneblade, Games Workshop gives Mike a copyright license to produce 40K scale models of Epic vehicles and Mike named his company Mike Biasi Studios. Word soon got around about these models and Tim DuPertuis began publishing ‘Inquisitor’ magazine that included rules for these new models in it.

A Fist Full of Bitz: Sly Marbo

Got bored; not good in a house full of bits. SO I remembered a blogger waxing on eloquently about Sly Marbo (you know Marbo is really just the letters from 'Rambo' scrambled up, right? Huzzah for original thought!) and if he was worth the points, and I was thinking about making a Stormtrooper / Veteran squad...

All my friends love a lowrider: Part 1

One of my older works, a Medusa conversion - lowrider style. I really went for an old school bombard type of look with this particular piece and here are the first portions of the conversion.

Our humble Lowrider Medusa begins life as a lowly Basilisk kit. Starting with the positioning of the sides, I used 1/4 inch square plastisctuct rods instead of the normal wheels to separate the hull portions. This gives us a slimmer profile that will really help tie in the conversion once the tracks are done. Additionally the back section of the tank was cut out for additional room. I then used plastistruct thin sheeting in long strips to cover the gap between the two sides of the hull. In this picture you can see two of the rods I used to space the hull plates as well as the gap covering flat sheets:

The net is vast and infinite

First a bit about myself - my screen name is Tallarn and I have been playing 40k since 1992. Back when you could put out some books in your basement and fight with unpainted armies over coke can objectives. I have stuck with my original army through it all and have over 100 painted Desert Raiders, including one of the unpublished Tallarn Sniper. I have a cabinet full of tanks and a ton of conversions. Sitting on my shelf at the moment is an Armorcast Reaver Titan that will be stripped and painted soon enough.

What can you expect to see on this blog? Pictures of my older works, progress on newer projects, weekly history lessons, round up of the best of the Blog sphere and most importantly, my random thoughts.

Free from the chains of life as a moderator at the Astronomican I can finally speak my mind without fear of insulting, irritating or bothering anyone. And where does the newborn go from here? The net is vast and infinite.

5 Minute History: Legion of the Damned

Sergeant Centurius was a special "limited edition" miniature, thought to be sculpted by Jes Goodwin, released by Games Workshop during the opening of the 100th Games Workshop store, March 2nd and 3rd 1996, hence the name 'Centurius'. The rules and background for Sergeant Centurius were found in White Dwarf 195. The model is no longer available, and regularly sell for over $100 dollars when they become available. However, collectors should be wary of imitations and reproductions of this highly sought after mini.