2017 Year in Review

This was another good hobby-filled year. So here is a summary of 2016 for me.

T'au Empire (Warhammer 40,000)
I took my T'au to the Harvester this year. While my Index army didn't have too much success, it was fun. Let's hope they get a good codex in 2018. At least I have some newly painted battlesuits.

James' Necrons (Warhammer 40,000)
I guess you could call this a commission. Something I did for my brother so he could attend the Harvester of Souls with us. We will see what kind of codex will come out for it in 2018.

Censers & Tocsins (Nurgle Mortals - Warhammer: Age of Sigmar)
This is an army I have been trying to keep up on with painting. Compared to last year's summary, I only had some built, and none painted. My goal with this army is if I build something for it, I paint it, before building the next thing. There will definitely be more to come for this AoS force.

Forthammer Clan Throng (Dispossessed - Warhammer: Age of Sigmar)
I have had a ton of fun with this army. I took them to the Las Vegas Open, added some cool conversions, and am running them in a campaign, which is still ongoing. I have more on the painting table for these guys, so I am not done with them yet.

The Klad Barag (Dispossessed - Warhammer: Age of Sigmar)
This deserves its own entry here because I consider it quite the achievement. Still not 100% sure what I will use him as, but he will be a proxy for any big dude I want to run in friendly games. Perhaps not tournament legal due to being a proxy and all. I do plan on taking some better photos of this guy and sending them to White Dwarf. Let's hope something comes from that.

Forgesworn Eternals (Stormcast Eternals - Warhammer: Age of Sigmar)
I haven't really added anything to this army, just got completely caught up on painting. Lately nothing has really stood out for the line to get me to want to add here. At least with being completely painted, if I do add anything, I will be inclined to immediately paint it. Like my plans for my Nurgle dudes.

Tempest's Eye Rangers (Grand Alliance: Order - Warhammer: Age of Sigmar)
I only have a couple things here for the army, for now. They are only really ever intended to be for some Grand Alliance army, rather than a start of Freeguild. I would like to paint them this coming year.

Song of Blades and Heroes Stuff
For my favorite non-Warhammer fantasy skirmish game, I have added a lot of Reaper BONES minis to it here and there. And I made some nifty ruins for it as well. But most of all I am still slowly working on the Song of the Deep Empire campaign supplement for it. More on that in the coming year.

And that sums up the year. Lot's of fun projects, and of course, lot's of plans for 2018. Stay tuned.

The Klad Barag - Painted!

 It's finally completed, the Klad Barag! A daunting task and one of the models I have spent the most time painting to date. It's an imposing model and makes a great centerpiece for my Dispossessed.

Amidst a Dispossessed battle line.

Liberator for scale.

One thing that is making this wieldy is how I looked into magnetizing it. There are six 1/4" rare earth magnets in 3 points on the model for easy disassemble and transport (which I am on the lookout for a good modular pistol case nearby).

For the longest time I have been intending to use him as a counts-as Drakesworn Templar, because it's a really big Order model with a lot of firepower and powerful melee that can ally with my dispossessed. But I have found another warscroll which could serve as its rules. A Spirit of Durthu. It may be weird because that is a Sylvaneth warscroll, but every rule fits this guy. Slow move, poweful but short ranged attack, absolutely brutal melee, no fly... this warscroll is speaking its language.

Regardless of what I use it for, the important thing is it will provide that big centerpiece the Dispossessed desperately need, for now. Until GW wises up and makes something similar.

The Klad Barag - Complete...almost

Construction of the massive Klad Barag is complete!

This model was quite an undertaking. With something it's size, you really do have to take it in steps. I started by completely doing the torso, then shoulders, then head, then legs, then arms and weapons. Some adjustments were to be made on the way, and some I was stuck with. However I am pleased with the final product and am looking forward to getting it painted.

However there is one part missing. I want to give it a front pelvis cover, but the part is in another kit which I am looking to get soon. When I get that on, it will be complete.

Carmine Dragon warscroll, reflavored to the Klad Barag. All rules are technically legal.

Now for the rules, I have been trying to figure out what model it will represent, and I think I have settled on Forgeworld's Carmine Dragon. It's a tall figure, which is about the same height as this, and the rules just represent how killy the thing will be in melee. It's ranged attack is fairly weak, however, and the Klad Barag is built to have some powerful weaponry, so I just reasoned that while his ranged weapons are powerful, they are fairly inaccurate.

Forgesworn Eternal Liberator for scale.

The Klad Barag - Weapons WIP

What is a giant steam mech without some nasty weaponry? I have thought a lot about what model to use this counts-as in gameplay, because I while I do want to make this as a display centerpiece, I also would like to use it. After much deliberation, I have settled on either the Drakesworn Templar, or the Carmine Dragon. More on the warscrolls in the later post.

The first weapon of the Klad Barag's impressive armament are the rockets above its torso as seen here. That is the rocket battery.

This is the main battle cannon mounted on its right arm. Clip fed from the bottom, and a boiler in the back that propels the cannon round and can spray scalding hot steam on opponents at short range.

This massive steam hammer may look familiar, as it was designed after Lord Dunhill's own seen here. The idea is the weapon is swung, and on impact the hammer head shoots forward, increasing the force of impact. The face of this hammer is part of the Forthammer Clan symbol, so imagine a Bloodthirster with that imprinted on his crushed hide. hehehe...

This symbols is also used on the banner bearer.

A note on how the hammer is made, to give it some scale, the main round cylindrical part is made of 32mm bases, and the head is made from 40mm square bases (although narrowed a little to make it more rectangular). It's quite heavy with a lot of plasticard, bits, bases, and tubing used. I hope it doesn't mess with the balance of the whole model.

The Klad Barag - Legs and Head WIP

Another progress report on the Klad Barag. This time the whole picture is really starting to come together.

Really all that's left are the arms, which in of itself is going to be a tall order. The plans I have for the limbs I really hope I am able to pull off.

Speaking of pulling off; the shoulder plates, head, and legs all separate from each other for ease of painting. They are just being held up there right now with Blu-tack.

This is all still just WIP. I have more touching up to do with the existing parts as well as finishing everything else.

The Klad Barag - Torso WIP

Well there is no turning back now. I have no choice but to make this conversion project work. I have massacred the Frigate and Knight kits to a point to where they are no longer salvagable on their own. All in the name of making this ambitious (but potentially very cool) conversion happen.

Luckily things seem to be going well so far. I have completed all the bits and plasticard for the main torso. This is meant to sell the majority of the look of the project. My goal is to use as little of the Imperial Knight kit as possible so it doesn't look like it's supposed to be another 'counts-as knight' model. Especially with the armor plates. Those are what sell the look of the original knight, and I want this to be unique. Lucky for me the Arkanaut Frigate kit provides plenty of cool bits that will help sell the duardin look of this.

Of course the kit comes with the main hull in 2 parts, so I had to cut that up significantly to get the plating I need. I utilized most of the hull on the torso here alone, which means I will have to get creative for armor plating for the limbs and pelvis.

Also I have settled on a name for this contraption. The KLAD BARAG! It utilizes some original Khazalid words for "ironclad" and "war machine". A fitting title for this creation.

Conversion Plans - Giant Duardin Steam Mech

As I have insinuated before, I have big plans. I got enraptured by the release news for the Kharadron Overlords, and have been eating up any information I can glean on them. Definitely a cool take on dwarfs, that still helps them retain their dwarfiness. The model range is beautiful from what we've seen so far. The latest White Dwarf fortunately has given us a lot of information about them.

So on to my project. As of right now, I have no plans to build a Kharadron Overlords army, yet. But I will be building something for my existing Dispossessed army. Keeping in the theme of the family of eccentric engineers that is the Forthammer Clan, they of course wouldn't settle at just their last creation alone. The next step is to make a grand idol to Grungni. A massive steam mech.

I have been kicking around an idea for a big mech for quite some time now. I figured the Imperial Knight would be a good basis, but I was lacking some good parts to help sell the dwarf feel of it. Enter the Kharadron Overlords, more specifically the Arkanaut Frigate.

This page from the White Dwarf helped sell the idea on it. Assuming the base is indeed a 120mm oval (as some have insisted it is), then the large endrin (those big floating balls) is the right size to match the imperial knight's pauldrons. From that I can glean the rest of the conversions. I have a lot of ideas kicking around in my head for it.

I will try to do some regular posts on its progress and experimentation. Rumor is pre-orders go up on the 15th, though. So it will still be a couple weeks before I get the kit in my hands. However I think it's going to be a lot of fun.