FTW Collaborative Post: My Worst Painting...

I tend not to have any minis around for very long that I dont like the look of. I usually put stuff that I'm not happy with on ebay and use the money to buy new stuff. This means that there is no real 'chain of improvement' in my painting: from early mishaps to where i am now. I sometimes regret this. I wish sometimes that I had kept the first space marines that i painted when i got back into the hobby last July. It would be good to see the improvement.

So, In answer to the collaborative post, my answer would have to be "...are no longer in my possession". Having said that, rummaging through my painting box I did find my Blood Angels captain, which i suppose is technically the worst example of my painting that I currently still have.

I bought the mini as part of the first Black Reach boxset last year (I've probably bought about 3 more since then). I flogged the rest of the minis early this year, but kept this - no idea why. I can't think of a single thing that i like about it. Everything that i did with it, i now know how to do better; from highlighting to painting skin etc etc. Even the base isn't very good. The cloak has greenstuff on it when i was experimenting with making a cloak for a homemade Vulkan for my Salamanders.

Hopefully there is a big gap between him and Typhus, which is the most recent mini that I've painted.

LOTS of Pics - 9,000pt Game, Nurgle etc etc

A BIG photo update for the weekend.

First some shots of the 9,000pt game i played with Rob and Ian earlier in the week at the Wargamestore:

The Salamanders arrive via drop pod

The state of play at the half-way point. Lots of speedbumps for tanks, but still everything to play for (check out the old skool landraiders, rhinos and predators)

The endgame - a draw

and now for some Nurgle:

Firstly, here is the big cheese himself, Typhus. I've been reading The Flight of the Eisenstein this week, so I felt suitable inspired to paint him up last night and this morning. I'm really happy with him - especially loving the purple & yellow pus dripping all over him.

More details on the purple and yellow pus. The top of the termi armour looks really great: nice and festering. Speaking of festering, here are my plaguebearers:

I just have 6 more to paint to make 21 in total.

Again, I'm really loving the dried blood on the weapons and on their bodies.

More coming soon...

Looking to Interview Warhammer 40,000 Fanfiction writers

In an attempt to bridge the worlds of work and play, I've decided to write an article for eventual publication in an academic journal on the phenomenon of W40K fanfiction. Over the last decade or so, there has been a growing body of scholarship on fandom and fanfiction in particular. However, most (if not all) of this has focused on the types of fiction that female fans write and no one to date (as far as I am aware) has paid much attention to what males write.

For the project, I will be looking to interview as many fan-authors as possible on their reasons for writing among other things. The interviews will probably take about an hour and will be recorded for data analysis (any responses will be kept confidential and anonymous). I'll try and do as many face-to-face interviews as possible, but I'm suspecting that the majority of the interviewing will take place over the telephone.

Everyone who takes part will receive a £5 GW voucher as a way of thanking you for taking part. You will also be given a consent form to fill in to show that you have agreed to being interviewed (if you are under 18 this will also have to be signed by a parent/guardian)

For more details, just drop me a line

Second Nurgle Rhino

You *know* when you've been Nurgled!

I went to town a bit on this one lol :-)

New Project: 1k Nurgle CSMs

A return after a short break, with an idea for a new project/army: 1k nurgle CSM:

HQ

Daemon Prince (Mark of Nurgle, wings, warptime) 175

Greater Demon 100

Troops

7 Plague Marines (Champion, power weapon, 2x flamer) 163

Rhino (Havoc Launcher) 50

7 Plague Marines (Champion, power weapon, 2x flamer) 163

Rhino (Havoc Launcher) 50

HS

4 Obliterators (2 squads of 2) 300

1001 pts in total.

Pictures of the project so far:

The Rhino:

First plague marine squad:

CSM 1000pt Project Update: Complete!!!

After a weekend burst of creativity, I managed to finish off my 1k of CSMs last night. In total there are 1049 pts (counting the Terminator Lord as a Daemon Prince with wings). I might get the DP down the line, but at the moment i can't be bothered (plus I'm always saying that I don't want to paint another metal mini):

HQ

Daemon Prince (Mark of Slaanesh, Wings, Lash of Submission) 155

Troops

10X CSMs (Aspiring Champion w Powerfist, 2 meltas) 210

Rhino (T/L Bolter) 40

10X CSMs (Aspiring Champion w Powerfist, 2 meltas) 210

Rhino (T/L Bolter) 40

9x Berzerkers (Skull Champion w Powerfist) 229

Rhino (T/L Bolter) 40

Heavy Support

Predator (Sponson Las cannons) 130

The plan next is to take them up to 1.2k and then 1.5k by Xmas. A friend has given me a Defiler which would take my army up to 1.2k easily (running it with 2 close combat weapons). After that I will either go for another 10 CSMs (if for no other reason than I love painting them), another Defiler or maybe even another Daemon Prince. I'm edging towards another defiler though at the moment. I've also bought some Bloodletters on ebay last night for a tenner that I might use either for this army or a daemon army down the line somewhere.

CSM 1000pt Project Update: All Vehicles Now Painted

The three rhinos and predator of my 1k list are now complete. All things being equal, I will paint the last 10 CSMs and then I will have my 1k force ready for their first game (and hopefully expansion up to 1.2k)