Yesterday and today I finished off four more militia:
They’re still drying, so no lightbox pics yet. I’ll take one of the whole squad so far, once they are.
Edit: ta-daa!
Ten more to build & paint.
BATG score: +57
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WOOF
I just sold 52 Chaos Cultists. I kind of accidentally fell into collecting Chaos quite early in my hobbying life, and have never really managed to kick it. These guys kind of fell into my lap at some point and the moment I took a good look at them they went in the “too hard to paint” basket. I don’t think they’ve ever seen a table.
So, they’re off the pile. I’m definitely counting these ones - they take me within a bee’s whisker of zero, so let’s see if I can get to the end of the month with a negative score.
After some discussion in the main BATG thread I’ve decided these don’t count towards the main BATG score, but I will pop them into the Shame Golf count.
Spurred on by the brief flirtation with single digits, I painted up five… dudes… last night.
Truly the kings of multi-purpose models, these kitbashed lads can serve as Imperial Guard in 40K, Imperial Militia Levies in 30k, and potentially Freeguild Riflemen in Age of Sigmar - note that I’ve painted all the bionics brown so I can say they’re wooden prosthetics!). I’ve desperately wanted rifle-armed flagellant units for ages and ages and using the Skitarii galvanic rifles has made it possible.
A lovely simple scheme, I start with a zenithal prime, and basically follow Oxymandias’ guide. The robes are Nighthaunt Gloom, the hair is Skrag Brown and the wood bits are Wyldwood but it’s the same principle. I got them done in about an hour!
I experimented with Army Painter Strong Tone as my final shade - since I’m not impressed with the new Agrax Earthshade formula. I’m not sure how I feel, it gives a much lighter finish but is also more tricky to work with. We’ll see how I go with the next 25 or so, I guess.
Five off the pile.
BATG score: +52
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No painting updates today, but I have a big assembly update:
Some friends are having a 40K 10th edition launch party on the 1st of July, and I felt like treating this as a challenge.
I built the rest of my Cadia Stands/Astra Militarum Combat Patrol set, all with peaked caps so they can get done up as Mordians. Based on what I’ve seen of the combat patrol previews there will be locked loadouts, which is why I’ve built a missile launcher rather than just two BFGs.
I’ve done a test model, and I like the look, so they’re all getting the speedy treatment, so long as I can get either some decent weather to spray prime or some decent time to do a bunch of airbrush priming (which will be the wrong colour but OH WELL).
I’m not sure which is less likely 
Wish me luck!
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The challenge proceeds.
I braved the cold and headed out to the garage to do some priming with the airbrush. It was very cold.
For Christmas I got a nice new Iwata airbrush (that I have put had a chance to use yet!) and I was excited to take it for a spin, but I found that the lid of the paint hopper was stuck fast. I spent a while working at it to no avail, and went back to my cheapo airbrush, which sputtered its way through the job but got it done.
As I was packing up, I had another crack at the Iwata and it immediately popped open.
/sigh
I got a window of decent humidity and sunlight and slunk outside to get a heap of rattle can priming done:
All my Mordians are undercoated and ready for paint.
The big obstacle is surmounted - now to half-arse my way to victory!
We have here the first completed fruit of the challenge tree: the Armoured Sentinel
I followed the suggestions from Chris Peach’s army in 12 hours video, mainly around painting the main basecoat over drybrushed metallics. It was a lot of fun, and I’m confident I’ll eventually want some more sentinels to practice this look on!
I’ve also broken the project up into smaller parts, and will do ten infantry at a time, broken up by the field ordinance batteries, finishing with the command squad.
Using Black Legion as the primary black has been a huge pain, since I have to agonise about spilling it on anything, so I’m switching to Black Templar for a more forgiving basecoat for the leathers and so on.
BATG score: +51
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I’ve had a productive weekend (maybe not productive enough, but we’ll see!) and have completed a squad of Mordians and a Field Ordinance crew:
In line with my previous log, I’m counting the Field Ordinance base as 3 models the same way I count Heavy Weapon Teams as 2 models.
So that’s -13 from the count!
BATG score: +38
2 Likes
This weekend I actually played a game!
I got demolished, both in game and physically - I forgot how much effort it takes to play Warhammer!
EDIT:
I also handed off the Allarus Custodes Tom earlier this year to the friend who gave me a lift, so that’s a -3 from the score while I’m editing.
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I didn’t finish the Combat Patrol in time, but here’s the final progress picture:
I’m pretty happy about what I got done in a fortnight or so: I’ve almost got a fully-painted Combat Patrol and a start on a Mordian company to supplement my big Imperial Guard collection.
Before the game day, my lift needed to pick up his Index Cards, and I needed a tape measure. Then, he saw the collectable coins and realised he wasn’t going to hit the spend requirement to get one.
So, I slapped my tape measure on his tab and also picked up another Field Ordinance Battery so I can run two of each weapon:
So it’s a +6 on the count, in line with me counting crew for my score.
EDIT:
I got a few minutes to paint this afternoon, so I popped the finishing touches on the second field ordinance crew:
That’s 3 crew members, so -3 off the count.
EDIT:
All up, this weekend was a wash! Zero movement in the end.
BATG score: +38
2 Likes
This evening I got in some hobby time while my fiancée attends work meetings, and finished off the second Mordian squad for my Combat Patrol:
Now I only have the Command squad to complete and the box is finished!
I’ve also been inspired to get out my old Cadian collection and make sure they’re ready for 10th edition:
Lots of spare models there, to give me options for how to run everything… which means more stuff to build and paint!
I started by bringing a lascannon team up to date:
Today’s efforts are -11 off the pile, which takes me to a nice round 100!
BATG score: +27
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Today I finished up the Command Squad for my modern Mordians:
I think the banner is the only thing in the entire set that I actually put any effort into, and it was hella fiddly to get that border in nicely. I’m very happy I took the time to get it right, though.
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With that, I have finished the Combat Patrol from my Cadia Stands box set! It only took seven or eight months.
I’m actually really happy with them, so I’ve given them the scenic treatment in my display case:
Not that anyone will see them, the display case is very much out of the way, but it’s the thought that counts.
That takes five off the Grey pile, one Shame Golf bonus point for completing a unit, and five Shame Golf bonus points for finishing a faction starter!
Now to address that big pile of 150+ Cadians sitting on my desk…
BATG score: +22
2 Likes
Today I received some Cadians in the post.
A little purchase, to round out the squads for my company of old school Cadians because I’m running low on parts. This should be the last models I buy for this collection!
BATG score: +27
2 Likes
Over the last few days I’ve finished refurbishing 2 more lascannon crews for my Imperial Guard:
I really should have taken a before picture! Aside from one more medic, these are the last models from my 2003/4 era collection that needed bringing up to date, although I have kept one model untouched so I can do a retrospective look back.
Also, a metal plasma gunner arrived in the post to round out the infantry:
I’m 90% sure that’s the last model I need to have 3 platoons of 4 squads each, with options to run them with 2 special weapons each, 1 special and 1 heavy each, or as 20-man combined squads.
Soon, I will put this colour scheme to rest.
Count for today is -3 since I’ve always counted the crew separately on heavy weapon teams.
BATG score: +26
I’ve been off on a holiday, and when I got back I had a real hankering for finishing some models.
So, I pulled out the Justaerin from my Sons of Horus collection that I started a while back, and started on the last few touches… which took three days!
I’m not sure what it is but my Sons of Horus take aaaaaages to paint. It drives me mad.
Anyway, here they are:
They look great but it’s just wild how long they take. Also, the lightbox is busted so it’ll be temporarily retired until I figure out how to replace the LEDs.
That’s four more dudes finished since I got one done a while back.
BATG score: +22
I painted this dude:
Maybe I’ve been watching Codex Compliant too much but the Rogue Trader Imperial Guard have been calling to me for a little while and this guy was superfluous to my Mordian Combat patrol.
Lightbox is still dead, so handheld close-ups remain in vogue.
1 model off the pile.
BATG score: +21
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Today I had little spare time and zero energy but really wanted to put away some painted stuff so I cranked out these shipping containers that I put together a little while ago:
(My lightbox is still dead, so this lightly-edited photo was set up on a spare table).
Continuing the theme of painting my Kill Team terrain according to the terrain rules, they are “heavy cover blue” and “elevation brown” on top. The icons are finger-smudged to get them across as weathered paint.
They’re not much, but they’re honest work, and although I’ve probably used that meme before in this log, they’re 7 models off the pile.
BATG score: +14
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Still on the Imperial Guard kick, I’ve painted the last five “Mordians” from my Cadia Stands box: the alternate weapons in case I want to run the platoon outside of Combat Patrol.
I think that’s it for this scene for now; this kit’s layout makes it really hard to paint outside-in the way I need to work when I’m leaving metals to last; it’s very hard to cover up the mistakes with contrast paints!
If I do more of the new Cadians, it’s likely I’ll be painting them in the retro scheme I posted the other day - which uses almost no metals at all!
This is 5 models off the pile.
BATG score: +9
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This update, it’s a matter of a few steps forward and a few steps back. Isn’t that always the way?
There were some good deals going on a local trade group so I picked up some reinforcements for my Imperial Gurd (not that I need them, but shoosh!). Theres a couple of extra turrets for my Leman Russ pool, which I guess don’t count? And ten guardsmen to paint up as retro style dudes. I’ll need another box to equip them properly but I’m exercising some self-control at the moment: I’m nearly at net zero and I have a wedding to pay for, after all!
There’s hope on the horizon, too - I’ve set up the assembly line to get some serious painting done:
There’s twenty soldiers on the desk at the moment, and another thirty or so waiting once they’re done!
We’ll see if that holds up, of course, but I can feel the negative count within my grasp!
For now, ten models onto the pile:
BATG score: +19
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