How I did it: Primaris Redemptor Dreadnought

- I have seen worlds burn and crushed nations underfoot, torn down the idols of false gods and slaughtered kings like cattle. Presume not to order me, tiny man, for I am war, and you are no more than chaff before the scythe... -

Venerable Targas

   Ok! This is not meant to be a whole long, boring, tutorial on every single move I did on my Iron hands Redemptor Dreadnought, but instead a smart look on some of its details, such as its base, positioning etc. If you want to start anew the model following some good (and fast) adivices to create black foundations and weathering I suggest you to have a look here, before reading this post.

   

Showcase Me!: Iron Hands Clan Company Sorrgol (demi-company)

- We must learn to pace ourselves. Tactical restraint. To hit and run, and not to be greedy and trust in overwhelming power as of old. We must learn the tactics and techniques of those thrown in with us and respect them. We must take our iron and alloy it with the mettle of the others who were shattered alongside us. We must mix our broken strenght with other broken strenghts to forge a new, unbroken edge. -

Shadrak Meduson

   Here we are, finally! I have got my first demi-company full painted and currently planning the second half! I bought, over the years, a lot of space marines stuff and each time I have been in Nottingham I've always taken the occasion to buy some special Iron Hands products. So I found an astartes patrimony in my hands and, a few months ago, I finally decided to give it a shape.

    Hope you like it!

How I did it: Space Marines Razorback (Iron Hands)

- I believe in three tenets of battle: firepower, firepower and more firepower. Should the Omnissiah have wished otherwise, he would not have provided me with such a mighty tool as the Razorback.

- Iron Father Kardan Stronos, leader "de facto" of the Iron Hands Chapter

   Hello my friends! My latest trip was through the cold and merciless Medusa's plains as I finally decided to take over my first Space Marines project and give it a definitive shape. I've always been battled between two (or three, yeah better say three) loyalist Astartes Chapters: Imperial Fists, Iron Hands and Raven Guard.

    Talking about the first, IF, I liked their color scheme, as I love yellow (you can see traces of yellow in almost every army I painted); and, you know, it's quite important digging on when you paint. On the other hand I almost hated their BG; although the defending of Terra is quite evocative, they are definitely too zealous for me.

   Raven Guard and Iron Hands instead offered me both a great background to build an army, even if I didn't like their schemes so much. Black is a beast, and you can make striking black models, but at the very high cost of time. It is also true that if you want to go fast and have some experience, things will simplify. My final choice fell on Iron Hands for I liked much more their way of making war (and play); tanks, dreadnoughts and tactical marines. 

   I know now for sure that my choice was the best and even if it took 2 years to see something born, it was worth the wait. 

Background Backdoor: Epoch Hounds

- "Only the faithful", Tegrus murmured, and swooped into the path of the beam, hammers crossed. The energies tore at him as they splashed across his armour, causing the god-forged sigmarite to bubble and melt. The light from his wings grew brighter and brighter as he plunged through the beam. His hammer blackened and began to crumble in his hands, but he did not stop, or veer away. It was too late for that now. It was too late for anything except taking his foe down into death with him.

"Only the faithful."

Tegrus, moments before his last death,

 "War in the Hidden Vale" - Realmgate Wars

   I paint models only after deciding who they are, where they come from, which battles they have won and how, and which ones they've lost and why. Sometimes I create traditions, history, words with particular meanings and more... I know that many of us do the same, making wonderful backgrounds for our battles and campaigns on the tabletop. Well, this is our corner!

   This time we'll see the story around one of the most secretive and heroic stormcast chambers of the Guardians of the Ages, Vanguard's Epoch Hounds. In particular we'll get to know about them following the wanderings of their undomitable leader, Lord Aquilor Aefirin, seeing how his sad story is tied to that of his brothers Aefar.

     

Lord Aquilor Aefirin, Bane of the Immortals, riding Flere, his Gryph-charger

Showcase Me!: the Forgotten One's Finger

- The bad guys need to get lucky every time. The good guys just need to get lucky once. -
Steve Murphy

I could pretend that these six months have been a complete mess and look for some kind of excuse, but I simply had nothing remotely interesting on the workbench. I finished the last two elite guys on the Khorne batch from the basic game set, and they were just decent. Nothing awful like my misbegotten Reavers, but simply not worthy the time to write down a post about it.
Luckily, my vow ("thouh shall not commence a machine before completing the AOS box!") has been fulfilled and I had a ludicrous amount of ideas.

Like a quite radical conversion involving a Rhino/Stalker, a Sherman, a KV1, and a gargantuan s.F.H.18 howitzer.

Sometimes, size does matter

How I did it: Blood Bowl Troll

   - I don't do High Fives.

Branch

   A goblin team needs a Troll. Fact. Goblins are weak, and break easily, so a big boy on the line of scrimmage helps a lot, making almost possible to finish a game without 9-8 KOs or so. Not winning a game, for sure, but maybe holding enough to score a TD (that is, believe me, one of the most satisfying things a man can experience, since goblins are not for competitive play) (currently I scored just one in my whole career with them, and I'm feeling so accomplished!).

   Not for competitive play, absolutely; but for fun. A lot of fun; and a Troll makes its own part in the process... you can try to score a one-turn TD throwing the goblin holding the ball, directly over other team's players, straight to their end zone. Of course, you have to be lucky, the Troll can always simply eat the goblin, spitting out the ball... ah, it's so hard to hang fire when you've got a tasty greenling so close to the mouth, who could say otherwise?

   As you know, if you have read something around from this blog, I am a real fan of greenskins so, when GW made the Blood Bowl Troll model I fell in love; and this time I've decided to use lighter tones for the skins, something I felt would be better fitting on a river-drooling beast with a dead instead of the brain (it's not related, isn't it?).

   Let's see how!

Showcase Me!: Blood Bowl Human and Goblin Teams

   Hi folks! 

   Today, and during these weeks, I'm very busy with my main job (I'm running a restaurant on the hills of Tuscany so, you know, in July, with a lot of sun, it means a lot of customers) so I'm posting just a brief showcase for my Blood Bowl teams; just to let the world know I'm not dead and my BB project goes on! Soon we'll have a goblin tutorial and a troll tutorial but for now, behold!

   I present you Talisa's Revenants, and Rotten Wood's Manglers!

How I did it: Blood Bowl Human Team

"Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships"

-Bear Bryant

   I've always loved american football and always watched at Blood Bowl with curiosity and interest. I thought that it was a funny game, something to play while having a break from fantasy or 40k, although all GW's universes are someway filled with "dark humor". 

   As a matter of fact I didn't know absolutely anything about that; for Blood Bowl has a tactical depth I've rarely seen before and this surprise pushed me hard to get in this fantastic game. However I decided to take Blood Bowl as a funny break from AoS and 40k in any case. I bought the starter set and shared it with a friend of mine, picking humans on my own, but just after painting them I switched to goblins. I love goblins (I've got a huge army of them in AoS) and I wanted to play BB really for fun and personal (modeling and gaming) amusement.

   I painted humans, my Talisa's Revenants, according to my Stormcast Eternals color scheme. I know it's a different setting but I already moved (both in my mind and in reality, changing bases and background) all my fantasy armies to Age of Sigmar and so I decided to set in it my Blood Bowl teams as well.

How i did it: Stormcast Eternals Lord Aquilor

- Pain may be my flesh

Death may be my fate

but Victory is my Name

- Tylos Stormbound's Honour Scrolls during the Crucible of Blood's war

Reamlgate Wars - Stormcast

   

   After their second Battletome's release, Stormcast have become a very solid army. almost unbeatable for the majority of AoS factions. I managed to bring havoc on any challenger in my local gaming club: Nurgle, Dwarves, Khorne, Ironjawz, Slaves to Darkness, Death, Skavens, Seraphon, Beastclaw Raiders, Flesh Eaters ecc... Only against Tzeentch I lost a bunch of matches. Exploiting their new command trait Staunch Defender, which adds 1 to any save rolls to any unit within 6" from your general (if not charging) and combining it with Lord Castellant skill on a 15-20 men unit of Liberators will make your 300/400 points Battlelines unkillable; with shields their saves shall be at 2+ with rerolling 1's.

    So be it, but many players begun to grumble about that, and with reasons; so unless I'm playing against Tzeentch or an equal I started to use Vanguard Chamber in the majority of my matches, avoiding Staunch Defender (that's quite un-thematic for an army that rely on speed and ambushes) and using Aefirin, my Lord Aquilor, as general.

   That helps you to change quite a lot your playing style, too; the classic Warrior Chamber set-up was becoming boring, really powerful but boring. This is one of the things I love more in Stormcast: they are unyielding warriors but they have a very yielding way to wage war, able to adapt to each situation on the tabletop very easily.

    Ok... but this is not a tactical corner, although I always love to chat about that, so straight on to the painting tutorial for him, Lord Aquilor, a striking model and a real beast on the battlefield!

Showcase Me!: Stormcast Eternals Vanguard Palladors

- From the Darknest night shall rise the Raven, shall take flight in the shadows, shall reveal the nature of its kind.

Prepare yourself for its coming, for the faithful shall be elevated to take flight with the Raven, the rest be forgotten to walk upon the ground, clipped wings and shame.

- Prophecy of the Raven God, World of Warcraft

   Ok... they are not Anzu's copies but you have to admit they're quite similar. To be honest, the very first time I got to see their pictures I suffered a throwback to the days I was playing WoW. So I took some inspiration from those times and made my Palladors blue-ish, which perfectly fits to my Stormcast main scheme and, in the result, are very similar to my first attempt on the first Gryph-hound I painted.

   I am not sure about their Temple's name and history but I have already a full storyline for their chamber, Auxiliary Vanguard "Epoch Hounds". You can always check this page if you are interested in some background hints about my whole stotmhost, Guardians of the Ages, and here for a dedicated Vanguard Chamber's background.

   Let's waste no more time and get straight to the paintjob!

Bastet's Corner - Baptism (Performance)

Mission Entry: None
Log Entry N°: #01/001

Day 01, Hour??

It's not easy at all. Having to both keep up with my target's swift and erratic pace, and to stay as inconspicuous as possible is proving to be quite taxing, even for a scout as good as me.

How I did it: Militarum Tempestus Scion

  - I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor. From now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be "Sir". Do you maggots understand that?

- Full Metal Jacket

   I know that it's been almost one month since the last post of the Chamber (and this surely is our longest blank time so far), but hey! Here we are, rocking and modeling as usual! I've painted a lot of things in this month and Francesco hasn't been idle either, completing for now his massively personal Bloodbound reading; I'm sure we will see soon enough the last chapter of his blood adventure.

   Talking about me, I can say that I've finished painting my Stormcast Vanguard Chamber from my mighty Guardians of the Ages stormhost and very soon I'll start too a series of post depicting them, the "Epoch Hounds": with tutorials, fluff and showcases.

   For now I'd like to share with you an easy tutorial about Militarum Tempestus; a friend of mine, from the new club where I'm playing atm, challenged me in a 40k Maelstrom Match vs his Necrons... so I decided to dust off one of my armies and get over my donkey waiting for a new edition of my (once) favoured boardgame. Funnily, to complete that army and play full painted (as this boy is a painting machine as well as me) I miss just one model, a Tempestor. 

   So I painted him in 2 hours the night before the game in the same way I had painted all the rest of the army, nearly 3 years ago. 

Showcase me!: Stormcast Eternals Vanguard-Raptors (Longstrike CB)

   -Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.

-Sun Tzu, The Art of War

   Good morning Mortal Realms!

  There were hard times here in the Chamber (at least for me)... in the last 3 weeks, because of this mortal coil, I decided to change gaming club and store, moving to a new and very crowded one in Florence and I spent a LOT of time and energy meeting new players, playing games with them, exchanging painting thoughts and stuff, just to be, as soon as possible, part of the new community I discovered.

   This, alongside my job and family, kept me away from my painting table... but not for long. Recently Sigmar reforged me as one of his Knight-Painters, even I hadn't noticed it, in a manner of speaking, and tasked me to paint a new chamber. 

   So welcome aboard on one of the last Stormcast painting journey. Guardians of the Ages have a new Auxiliary Chamber, Vanguard Epoch Hounds, here the first little post, showcases Vanguard Raptors, more to come!

How I did it: Khorne Khorgorath

-You're gonna need a bigger boat. -

Brody

The Khorgorath is a strange model.
It has some of the most intriguing bits I've ever seen for a "starting kit" and, at the same time, some of the silliest.

Showcase me!: Cult Mechanicus Tech Priest Dominus

   Aye folks!

   Today I want to share my Ol' Tech Priest. I call him Silonus Kevil Shrike quoting from some of my favourite sci-fi series and books, Battlestar Galactica and Simmons' Hyperion and I painted him during the very day of his release, back in the first half of 2015, if I remember well. 

  The model blown my mind away... I saw it as a change of direction in GW's way of making miniatures, and I loved and love the new direction.

The Mewperor's business...

This is meant as a strict follow up post to my brother's last report of Bastet McPaw's adventures...

For all ye Inquisitorial types... Suffer not the witch to live!

Bastet's Corner - Baptism (Pursuit)

Mission Entry: None
Log Entry N°: #01/001

Day 01, Hour??

Well, curses.

The amount of curses my brain is making up out of nothing is impressive. The further I dash across this woods, trying not to lose sight of that creature while doing my best to avoid contact with... well, basically anything else, the more I tend to believe I'm trying to cope with a weasel, rather than a rat. Or, whatever that thing might be. Its agility is well beyond impressive, even for someone like me. Granted, the suit isn't exactly helping right now, but even if I was just wearing a normal one, I would still have quite a hard time in keeping pace.

Showcase me!: Extremis Chamber Dracothian Guard (Desolators)

  - "Fight, Stormcasts!," Grymn snarled. "Only the faithful shall be victorius. Only the faithful shall see the spires of Sigmaron again. Fight, Fight! Fight!"

-Lord Castellant Lorrus Grymn, inciting Hallowed Knights

The Realmgate Wars - Ghal Maraz

   Hey folks!

   Just want to share with you my freshly painted Dracothian Guard Desolators, they are Guardians of the Ages' finest, as they serve among ranks of Time Templars, the stormhost only operative Extremis Chamber.

   Led in battle by Lord Celestant Aefandrun, they are a force both brutal and divine, the true retribution of the Heavens.

How i did it: Lord Celestant on Dracoth

   - You are my avengers! You are all, each one, warriors who cursed chaos with your last breath! Who called upon me for strenght, not salvation. Strenght! And I answered.

Sigmar addressing Celestial Vindicators

The Realmgate Wars - Storm of Blades

   My personal journey through Stormcast Eternals' dimension go on, reading books, playing tournaments, writing background stories and, of course, painting them. Painting the Guardians of The Ages, my custom stormhost. 

   These are very good times for them; these very days their second Battletome will come out, and many new models are about to join the fray, and the battle for the Mortal Realms, such as the Vanguard Hunters. I'm already planning a new Chamber, but first I wanted to finish the Extremis one, so I bought my first two Dracothian Guards and painted them in few days: tomorrow I'll have the second box of them and, waiting to find enough inspiration for the Stardrake, I'll surely hurl them on the tabletop in my never-ending campaign against a friend of mine who plays the Bloodbound.

   So I decided to share with you a brief tutorial about Guardians' dracoths. Soon we'll move forward to the new range so the time is right.

How I did it: Khorne Bloodstoker

"Chalkface", the butcher

-Ears and noses will be the trophies of the day. But no hand shall touch him.-

Bill Cutting

When I saw the Bloodstoker for the first time I was puzzled. How was this chubby fellow supposed to fit between the ranks of an army where even the so-called-priests look like Dwayne Johnson's cousins? 

Showcase me!: Stormcast Eternals Errant-Questor

 -As he fought Theodrus spoke the names of his kith and kin, every man, woman and child amongst them. He let it steel him, his desire to avenge them keener than any sword [...] 

"Avenge them!" he cried, tears of grief and hate filling his eyes, unseen behind his impassive mask. "Avenge them!" 

  No amount of retribution would ever be enough, but on he slew.

The Realmgate Wars - War Storm

   Hi everybody, friends! I just finished painting my brand-new Errant-Questor and i really want to share him with you. This model has inspired me a lot, not for being a Warhammer World exclusive, nor because he's called "Errant" (who does not love a knight errant, come on), not for having a MASSIVE runeblade in his own hands or for the awesome rules... Actually it's just for the fact that he's got a face!

   A. Face. Not an helmet.

  

  Ok, let's go to the paintjob. I named him Rugard (of) Outerland, the Minstrel-knight, and he is going to be the most epic of all Guardians of the Ages (for now)!

hush, he's got head, just go on

Bastet's Corner - Baptism (Prelude)

Mission Entry: None
Log Entry N°: #01/001

Day 01, Hour 2235

Do you believe in Fate?

Do you think that prophecies, premonitions, and everything that goes with them, is it all to be considered of any value?

Do you think that things happen because they simply have to happen, that everything is predetermined, in spite of personal effort?

Imago: Octavius Baptist

-That then, is loveliness, we said,

Children in wonder watching the stars,

Is the aim and the end.

Being but men, we walked into the trees.

Dylan Thomas, Poet

Octavius Baptist, Ordo Xeno's psyker

Imago

Act I

Day one, Jactura

"The only way not to breathe the fog, is not to breathe" You would say, my beloved Lord and friend, Nicolas; and Your sentence suits perfectly to Verno's weather. Don't You think it is quite odd that this 
planet's name means, in ancient Terran, 'spring', while its elements behave as death?

How I did it: Khorne Blood Warriors

They just want you to try and stop them...

-Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys!-
Ugluk

I know, I know... but lend me your hear: I have a proposition.

I will skip the part when I start complaining and crying about my curiously time consuming last months (trust me, there's material for a couple of movies) and I'll just get straight to these little fellas.

Deal?

Good.

Believe it or not, the amount of time effectively spent "per miniature" on these Blood Warriors has been quite limited, compared with the endless Bloodreavers.
From a certain point of view, the structure and the overall combination of parts and materials on the miniature is less chaotic, but at the end, it's all because of the sculpt, far more precise and detailed even if we're talking about the starter kit version. Clearly a couple more of detachable heads and arms would have been much easier to paint, but I'll have more time on the other guys waiting in the box.

Background Backdoor: Guardians of The Ages

  - Among my people, when I had a people, it was said that a man who had never felt fear was one who had never truly lived. [...] The fear of starvation, of daemons in the night. The fear of pain, as your enemy's blade draws close. The fear of... surviving, where others died. -

Zephacleas

  I paint models only after deciding who they are, where they come from, which battles they have won and how, and which ones they've lost and why. Sometimes I create traditions, history, words with particular meanings and more... I know that many of us do the same, making wonderful backgrounds for our battles and campaigns on the tabletop. Well, this is our corner!

   In this occasion we are going to see how, and why, a human tribe lost millennia ago in the waves of time, the Aefar, has been chosen by Sigmar himself to become a powerful Stormhost. Named Guardians of The Ages, they bear a strange bond with an ancient Realmgate: the Chrono Gate of Hysh, ultimately a Time's threshold.

Aefandrun Bear of Esca, Time Templars Lord-Celestant, with Veive, his merciless dracoth

 

Leaving the Chamber: Marnaldur spotted on White Dwarf January!

   Wow! Marnaldur Gaze of Mork, my beloved Megaboss on Maw-krusha, and Asheaters leader, has been published on White Dwarf January! They've wrote my name uncorrect but there's no actually way to question its paternity, i believe.

   I want to extend my deepest gratitude for all the support i received from the growing modeling community around us; i think this is a great way to start the new year and a chance to get better in the next works.

   Happy new year from the Chamber!

   May the Mewmperor protects you in 2017!

Ludicrous Speed: Stormcast Gryph-hound

   

- I'll be there for you.

K-2SO

  It's been a while since the last time but our speed painted corner is here again, more important than ever! We all want to have painted minis on our tabletops and battlefields so better to know few tricks to make all the easier, when we're struggling for a good looking force but ain't aiming to win a Golden Demon with them!

   So, it's time for a ludicrous speed post for a ludicrous speed painted miniature; in the planned Guardians of The Ages army we've got on the desk a well known model of last generation, made for the first time in Warhammer Quest's Silver Tower and then put aside Lord Castellant and Veritant as loyal and mindful companion: Gryph-hound!