Heresy Era Salamanders---First Tactical Squad Built

Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! It has been a busy time here now that the rains have finally let up but I have managed to get some 'hobby time' in. I have been bitten by the Heresy Era bug and have been working on my Heresy Era Salamanders. After getting the custom holsters all sorted out it was time to get stuck in and build the first 20-man Tactical Squad. Here are some various shots of the initial assembly process before I got busy with the Greenstuff.

I added a 'squad marking' symbol to the right shoulder pads:

At this point the squad was built but still did not seem 'Salamandery' to me, they looked like any other Space Marine Heresy Era squad. It was time to try out some Greenstuff work on them! I am not a sculptor and my Greenstuff skills are lacking but I wanted to give it a try. I wanted to add some Drake Scale areas to several (not all) minis and I wanted some 'Fetish/Trophy' Strings (with Drake Teeth and Drake Scale sections) on some of the minis. I was intimidated to say the least but one must challenge oneself from time to time! Here are some looks at the Greenstuff work that I attempted:

The start of the 'Fetish/Trophy' Strings:

Occasional sections of Drake Scale armor added to the Mk IV armor:

Here is a group shot before we look closer at some of the built and customized minis:

Sergeant Mas'Kini:

Nuncio Vox Operator:

Thought this guy turned out rather well:

Another look at the Squad Symbol. I am not sure what this squad's nickname will be based on the symbol. Suggestions?!?

Another cool marine, this time with a grenade and bolt pistol:

Shoulder 'Fetish/Trophy' String, custom Salamander holster, and Squad marking; this guy has it all:

I liked this pose, clearing the roof tops. I customized his backpack as well since the Salamanders are known to customize the equipment:

Well the group of 20 are outside now being primered since the weather is so nice. I have another 20-man Salamander Tactical Squad staring me in the face right now. For those that might be wondering about the bases, these are just 'painting bases' while I wait for the resin bases to be sorted out. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. Take care!

Salamander Holsters Greenstuff WiP

Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! It has been a crazy week here, there have been massive floods with roads being washed away and what not. I actually had to spend a fair amount of time bailing out the basement which had flooded. I needed a break today so I decided to get some hobby work done as a bit of a reward to myself. I am pressing on with my Legio XVIII Salamanders force so with the upheaval in the house I started with a bit of organization, then moved on to washing/cleaning resin goodies for 2 20-man Tactical Squads, and finally decided that I needed a whole bunch of holsters for the Marines (each has a Bolter and Bolt Pistol). I know Forge World makes special resin holsters for the Horus Heresy but I wanted Salamander looking Bolt Pistol Holsters! So I set off to work out some Salamander looking Holsters which I could then duplicate across the whole force. I decided that I wanted holsters that have: fire, drake looking stuff, and scales; here is the first steps on some fire holsters:

After the first layer dried I went in and added a little more in certain areas to help build up the flames a bit (it is hard to tell but it did help the flames raise up a bit):

Here is a group shot of the others I did up as well:

A couple of shots from the sides:

 These were really hard to take pictures of because they are so freaking tiny!

I am not even remotely good at greenstuff work but I think these turned out fairly well and definitely have that Salamander's feel. It was time at that point to break out the Instant Mold (for previous use see here) and make some press molds:

After the greenstuff dried I popped them out of the press mold where I found that some worked well and a couple did not (no big deal):

Here is one of them that I quickly got cleaned up before real life called again:

Here is the workbench with the first of the Salamander 20 man Tactical Squads waiting to be assembled now that I have an unlimited supply of Salamander Holsters:

Yes indeed Vulkan is watching over the assembly of his Legion! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!

Into the Fires......Vulkan Strides to War

Greetings once again InterWebs!!!!! Well there has been some talk of a big Horus Heresy event taking place in January at the Memphis World of Battle (GW HQ for the US) and I am seriously thinking about going. I have been bitten by the Heresy-bug lately and it would be awesome to get some Horus Heresy gaming going here in the states. Myself and Mordian 7th went to England last year to do some Heresy gaming with the Tempus Fugitives gaming group and that was a lot of fun but it would be awesome to get the same thing going here stateside. To really motivate me while I wait for the second Black Library Horus Heresy book (with the Salamanders inside) to become available I decided to put together the big guy himself......Vulkan!

The miniature is a Legendarion Miniature from the Ukraine. It was a bit of a struggle to get the miniature but I think it was well worth the slight trouble. The miniature came as several pieces all of which were made from dense hard resin. There were very few mold lines to deal with and overall the miniature went together like a dream. Here is a shot of the various pieces:

Here are several shots from various angles showing off the detail on the miniature (of which there is a lot):

Now for some close-up shots:

Love the Gauntlet of the Forge:

 The Spear of Vulkan:

A shot of the face of Vulkan:

 Shoulder Pad A:

 Shoulder Pad B:

To show the rough scale of the miniature I grabbed the closet miniature I had available. After a little propping up of the 'normal' miniature (to bring the feet level with Vulkan's) here is the scale shot:

I got this miniature awhile ago and have been waiting to put it together. I am sure the Forgeworld version of Vulkan will be stunning and I will have to buy it when it comes out but for now this version of Vulkan will do quite well. I can't wait to get some paint on this guy but the weather has been a little to hot and humid to do any spraying so Vulkan will have to wait a little longer for some paint. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. This is will be a fun journey, come along as I bring Legio XVIII to life!

Battle Report: Blood Angels versus Imperial Guard with a twist

Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! Last Monday saw a Holiday in the US, it was Labor Day, and Mordian 7th and I had the day off. We decided to celebrate with a little 1250 point battle in the morning. Instead of being a normal battle we both decided to play each other's list; so instead of my usual Transhuman Killing Machines I got to play with some normal guys with flashlights. It was actually a whole lot of fun! On to the pictures and some reporting........

My force for the day, a bunch of guardsmen, a Vanquisher, a Thudd Gun, and a couple of Sentinels:

Led by Ciaphas Cain Hero of the Imperium!

Mordian 7th had some rules he found which we both agreed represented Ciaphas Cain and his bodyguard Jurgen very well. It was a blast to use him and have him trying to save his own life during the game.

The board setup which was surprisingly not a city fight:

The guard went second and deployed hunkered down in the the defense line. The guard needed all the help they could get!

The Blood Angels setup, ready to sweep the Guard off the table. This is not a sight I am used to seeing as I am usually on the controlling side of the Blood Angels:

The Blood Angels went first and swept forwards rapidly. The Baal Predator unleashed on the Guard Command Squad in an effort to 'cut the head off the snake' but only managed to kill poor Lt Schilling:

Having first-hand experience with how devastating a Baal Predator can be I had to knock it out quickly. Oh looky, I have a Vanquisher:

At this point the Blood Angels are down 1 Baal Predator and the Guard 1 Lt Schilling, I would call that a very good trade off for the Guard. The second turn saw no reinforcements showing up and a lot of maneuvering by the armies and vain attempts by the Imperial Guard to blunt the Blood Angel Assault Squad's upcoming charge:

Turn 3 and the Blood Angel Stormraven Gunship shows up:

Turn 3 also saw the first (of many) Imperial Guard casualties. Here the Blood Angel Assault Squad (having lost its Melta gunner and was suffering from the 'Red Thirst') forgoes the Chimera troop transport to charge into a hapless squad of Imperial Guard. Oh the humanity! Flashlights (lasguns) do not work so well against power armor:

Yeppers, it went about how I figured it would:

The Blood Angels begin lining up for their next targets:

Turn 3 for the Imperial Guard did have a couple of highlights amongst all the screaming and dismemberment. First off Ciaphas Cain's personal driver Jurgen (who has robust driving style as a rule) decided to get the Hero of the Imperium away from the crazy (and thirsty) Blood Angels ripping apart the Guardsmen behind him. If you have ever read any of the Ciaphas Cain novels you will understand that this is perfectly normal for the Hero of the Imperium! Jurgen cleared the far defensive line with ease but I wanted an 'action' shot:

The other highlight for the Imperial Guard was again the Vanquisher which I had been taunting Mordian 7th with all morning, telling him "I will snap shot the Stormraven out of the air"! Well, I got darn close. 6 to hit, 14 total armor penetration, but only blew the Multi-Meltas  off of it:

The end of turn 3 with the Blood Angels pushing the advance on the Imperial Guard line (and the Guard's Objective):

Blood Angel Assault Troops loose in the backfield is a terrifying problem to have:

Turn 4 was the make it or break it turn it seemed. The second Blood Angel Assault Squad (with Librarian) finally got tired of the movie being shown in the Thunderhawk Transport and decided to show up to confront Ciaphas Cain the Hero of the Imperium. Unfortunately they did not stick their landing all that well:

The Stormraven Gunship (carrying a Sanguinary Priest and a Combat Squad of Assault Marines) felt it was time to get away from the Vanquisher and its brutally effective gunner. As it was zooming towards my table edge it unloaded its payload of Transhuman Killing Machines deep in my lines:

Turn 4 for the Imperial Guard showed a glimmer of hope against the onrushing Red tide of Blood Angel Assault Marines. First off, Jurgen decided to Tank Shock the Blood Angels in front of him forcing them out of Squad Coherence:

The final unit of the Imperial Guard show up (just in time!) to deal with the 6 new Blood Angel Assault Marines recently deployed from the departed Stormraven Gunship. Rough Riders......Charge!!!!!

The Rough Riders gutted a bunch of Assault Marines with their Power Lances, however I am not sure it was enough of them. The 2 nasty ones are still left standing, the Sanguinary Priest and the Sergeant with a Power Sword:

Turn 5 and it would be the final turn saw the Blood Angels trying to secure both objectives while denying the Imperial Guard any chance to secure them. The Blood Angel Librarian and his squad finally assaulted and blew up the Hero of the Imperium's Chimera:

Having butchered the rest of the Imperial Guard Command Squad last turn the one surviving member of the first Blood Angel Assault Squad to hit the lines decided he need to kill the Imperial Guard Squad holding the Objective which he did! Here you can see the Guard breaking a fleeing:

Turn 5 for the Imperial Guard held a lot of surprises! First off the Rough Riders (not shown) managed to slay the Sanguinary Priest and not all die to the Sergeant with his power sword. The fleeing Guard Squad regrouped just as the team of 3 Lascannons blew away the Blood Angel Assault Marine holding the Guard's Objective:

The now ride-less Ciaphas Cain Hero of the Imperium and his penal squad scurry into the woods and seize the Blood Angel Objective.

That is were the game ended with the Imperial Guard winning 3-0. I must say it I had a bunch of fun playing the Imperial Guard against my normal army (the Blood Angels) and I hope Mordian 7th enjoyed his time playing the Transhuman Killing Machines. Thanks for stopping by taking a look! Take care!