This is the second Tactical Squad I bought as part of the Strikeforce. Now I’ve got the other Tactical, Scouts, Razorback, and Drop Pod done from that box. That’s all that I’m planning to do for now, although the idea of the Deathwatch Dreadnought does intrigue me.
Tactical Marines (sergeant group)
Once again, I’m using Custom Minis tactical shoulder pads and GW Ultramarines ones.
This is the fourth tact squad in my adult hobby career, but I use markings for the 5th squad. The first one I painted has plain blue pads. The second and third are marked I and II. I decided to use V on these, since I thought it would fit the raised arrow better than III or IV.
Tactical Marines (flamer group)
Of course, the special weapon is magnetized. Sadly, the only heavy that comes in the box is the missile launcher.
Tactical Marines (missile launcher group)
I finished this unit off just in time for the Inquisition War finale. It’s going to be an apoc-lite game, so it may not even be silly to have four tact squads running around.
Ape-X is another Reaper Bones miniature from the first Kickstarter. I decided that I was tired of doing brown all the time, so went for green. Giant mutant cyborg gorillas don’t have to be realistic, right?
Ape-X
I kept it really simple, just a basecoat, wash, and drybrush. It’s not going to win any awards, but it still looks nice.
I’ve slowed down on the Random Rursday thing. I found it had become something of a chore, and I stopped getting Thursday nights as reliable hobby nights. I also found I wasn’t really giving enough time for paint to dry between stages.
I’m still painting some random miniatures between other projects, just without a specific schedule.
The Griffon is a Reaper Bones model. I like the textures in the fur and in the feathers. The base even is a bit more interesting than most of the Reaper models, with some stones sculpted in.
Griffon
I regret not doing a bit more variation in the front section, especially on the wings. This is a big enough model that it looks kind of sparse. On the other hand, I’m not sure I wanted to spend much more time on this model.
I put some flock and static grass on the base, because I wasn’t very happy with how my painting of the grassy parts turned out.
I think this model qualifies as my longest-running work-in-progress. It’s a leftover from my 2nd/3rd edition days, although it sat as bare, so wasn’t really in progress. In May 2012, I played in a “de-escalation” event at KublaCon. After each game, there was a chance that any models killed would stay dead for the next game. There was a bonus to vehicle rolls if you brought a Techmarine or equivalent. I wasn’t as strict about only playing with painted models then, but I gave this guy a quick red spray with the airbrush so at least it wasn’t completely bare. And there he sat, unloved, for two and a half years.
Part of my backlog is anything with paint, so I needed to get this guy done. I decided to do most of the detail work (wires and stuff) in blue, to try to tie it into the rest of the army a bit.
Techmarine
The model has a power axe, so WYSIWIG demands I take it on my list. It’s kind of a silly upgrade though — he already has a servo arm, which is S8 AP1 Unwieldy. For 15 points, he has can use the axe instead, which is S5 AP2 Unwieldy, but grants an extra attack, since it isn’t a Specialist Weapon. That’s a lot of points for very little utility.
I can’t bring myself to change the model, though. Maybe I could call it a lightning claw. That would give the option of Shredding at S4/AP3, plus give an extra attack with either the servo arm or lightning claw, since they’re both specialist weapons.
I try to shoehorn any newly completed model into my next game, so I took this model in my campaign game last weekend. He pulled his own. I gave him an Auspex and put him in a drop pod with Sicarius and half a tactical squad. He ended up mostly being a cover granting/denying dude. He bolstered a ruin which contained snipers and a missile launcher combat squad, and used his auspex to remove the cover from a pile of cultists.
His unit ended up charging an inquisitor and his retinue, which included a servitor. I was very sad that a random marine took out the servitor before the techmarine could disassemble him.
I think I’m going to turn my attention to a few Reaper models I’ve had primed for a while before coming back to the few remaining marines.
