Adeptus Titanicus - Secutarii Hoplites

I bought these guys a while ago, but never got around to putting them together.  They're a hybrid plastic/resin kit made by Forgeworld.  They're sort of AdMech, but not really.  From a technical game standpoint in 7th Edition, they were Adeptus Titanicus faction and could only be fielded as an Elites unit in a Skitarii Battle Maniple Detachment.

I'm assuming that they'll be more generically available in 8th Edition.  My plan is to get these sanded and primed sometime over the next several days, weather permitting.

I dig the new backpacks.

Assembling these guys left me with two full sets of weapons and heads...  Ranger and Vanguard, plus all the special weapons.  To use them, I ordered 10 sets of legs and bodies from Anvil Industries.  I went with hazardous environment suits and short greatcoat legs.  I saw a picture on DakkaDakka and decided to replicate the effect.  Here's the pic I found...

The model on the left is what I'll be making.  I think it fits the aesthetic of the army pretty well.  They're a hair shorter than regular Skitarii, but I think that's going to work out just fine.  The real goal is to just bulk up the army with some unique looking troops.  The bodies, incidentally, have a pretty cool backpack setup...

More to come...

Prepping to Paint

I've been working a little here and there on some of the models I got from the Showcase Comics game swap.  Over the last week or two, I've assembled, based and primed...

• A Tech-Priest Dominus
• Two Kastelan Robots with their Datasmith
• Five Corpuscarii Electro-Priests

My plan is to try to get some of these in fighting shape...  i.e. painted to a table standard... by this weekend.  I know I won't be able to paint all of them, but I should be able to get about half done.  The people I've been playing with mostly have painted armies and are always making progress, so it's a solid motivator.

Robots!

This is the Kastellan Robot kit I picked up at Showcase Comics' Game Swap last week.  The two 60mm bases were missing, but I have a small box full of spare bases.  I think these guys are going to be really effective in game.  If they perform well enough, I might have to get a second box.

I'm super up in the air on how to paint them.  The fluff gives two options.  Option #1 is to paint them to match the other AdMech units in my army.  Option #2 is to recognize that Kastellan Robots are ancient and individual.  They sometimes have their own paint schemes based on their individual histories.  In either case, I'll need to do some serious weathering.

Kastellan Robots

I'm in love with this kit.  I still have the other robot and the Datasmith to assemble.  I'm using alternate heads that I picked up from WargameExclusive.com.  They do great work.  I couldn't decide between ranged or melee, so I just glued on one of each arm.  I think the gun hand plus fist hand looks good together.  In game, I'll just do one or the other and let my opponent know which I've taken.

Belisarius Cawl has SO MANY PARTS!

I think I may have mentioned that my friend bought a Triumphirate of the Imperium box, but didn't want Belisarius Cawl.  I picked it up from him for 1/3 the cost of the box.

Three full sprues for one infantry character...

This guy has some seriously creeping looking legs.  There is actually a ton of sculpted detail on the bottom of the model.  I think in the past, GW would have just had a flat surface or a hollow robe.  Cawl actually has fully modeled legs and a weird power train thing on the bottom.  I wish I had taken a photo before gluing him to the base.

Here he is, fully assembled.  I've been putting models together for years and this was a pretty tricky kit.  There are so many small parts that connect in multiple places, that I'm not sure a beginner would be able to properly assemble it.

There are rons of cool bits on this model.  My favorite is this little servo skull holding up a small length of cable.  Alas, it snapped off almost immediately when I picked the model up.  Sigh.  Oh well, It's impossible to tell that something is missing.

I also like this little spider thing.  It's connected to the underside of his robe by a long cable.  Seriously, this guy would be terrifying in the real world.

Hard to tell from the image, but he also has a pretty fierce looking manipulator claw.  He's pretty solid in close combat.

Finally, to give a full idea of how large he is, here he is standing next to a couple of Skitarii Rangers.  The plan is to get him painted up sometime in the near future.  It's going to take awhile, given all the detail.

Bin Projects #9 and #10 - AdMech Skitarii Rangers/Vanguard - Basing and Priming Complete

I really need to roll the sand stage into the assembly stage in my mind.  For some reason, I assemble the model, glue some cork to the base and call it a day.  Then, when I go to prime the model I realize that I need to glue sand down and then wait for it to dry.  Ugh.

So, here is some sand...

This first guy will be the Prime for the 10 man Rangers unit.

The 6 man Vanguard unit...

And the 5 man Ranger unit.  One dude is already painted, so he's not pictured.

And thanks to the magic of leaving this window open for several hours, a primer coat!

Bin Projects #9 and #10 - AdMech Skitarii Rangers/Vanguard - Assembly Complete

I haven't been doing much assembly lately and got the modelling bug.  Instead of filling my empty project bin with something already assembled - and Emperor knows I have plenty - I decided to throw in a box that needed some work.

I bought a second box of Rangers/Vanguard a while ago and only pulled out the Arquebus bit to give my first unit two.  I can't believe only one of each weapon comes in a 10 man box given that the rules allow you to take three of each in a 10 man unit.  I was left with 10 bodies, two Plasma Calivers, two Arc Rifles and a whole host of Prime bits.

After a relatively small amount of thought, I decided on two 5 man units.  One will be Rangers with the two Arc Rifles, an Arc Pistol, an Arc Maul and an Omnispex.  Here they are...

You'll note that there is one painted guy.  I decided to take one of the spare bodies and make a proper Prime for my previously painted 10 man unit.  I haven't quite decided how to equip him yet, but he's replacing one of the painted dudes in the first 10 man unit.  That'll make these 5 guys quicker to paint.  This is my Haywire squad.  They're vehicle killers.

Next up is the Vanguard unit.  You'll notice that there are 6 of them and that one looks a little...  non standard.  The tracked body is actually a Taurus Gun Tractor base from Anvil Industries.  If you're unfamiliar with them, you should check them out.  They're awesome.  The Taurus Gun Tractors can be purchased here.

I gave the two Plasma Caliver guys fancy looking heads.  I did this partly to set them apart and partly because they have little optics on the side of their helmets.  That will totally make the dice roll better...  right?

The Prime has the cog mohawk helmet.  I gave the tracked Vanguard dude the Omnispex.  I'm optimistic that he'll look better when he's painted.  The body is the unused hatch guy from the Onager Dunecrawler kit.  I think he looks like a tiny Kataphron.

The goal is to get these guys sanded and ready for priming in a day or two.  I just don't have it in me right now.  I know that's ridiculous since it only takes about five minutes, but it is what it is.

Project #8 - MOAR 40k Admech Skitarii Rangers - Complete

I got some additional motivation and decided to complete my ten man Skitarii Rangers unit by finishing the second five man block.  If you visit my blog with any regularity, the rest of this post is going to look very familiar.

I primed the last dude and let them dry a little.  It was pretty hot and windy outside today, which is basically perfect conditions for a primer coat to dry almost immediately.

I started with a dry brush of Leadbelcher on all of the appropriately metallic looking bits.

I then based the coats with Xereus Purple.  On a side note, I tend to use a lot of cool, dark colors.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  The first is that I like them.  The second is more important.  They're easy.  The human eye is awesome at seeing red and green.  The human eye is not good at seeing blue or combinations thereof.  Purple and blue are both forgiving.  If I were painting the coats green, I'd have to do a much better job at getting a smooth coat.

After the Xereus Purple, I did a quick highlight of Genestealer Purple.  This mainly makes the hoods pop as well as the corners of the coat.  Without this highlight, the models look a little flat on the battlefield.

The appropriate bits were picked out in Balthasar Gold.  It's not really important that the models all have the same bits picked out.  The idea is just to provide an accent color.  This color is nice for these guys since that old coppery color works well for the clockwork nature of the models.  If I was really motivated, which I'm not, I would do a turquoise patina to make the copper bits look old and corroded.  Not really worth it for this army.

The eyes and lenses are picked out in Moot Green for a little contrast.

The basing gets the standard Rhinox Hide...

...Steel Legion Drab...

...and Flayed One Flesh dry brush treatment...

...with Steel Legion Drab rims.

And of course, the models are finished off with tufts of Mordheim Turf.  I think I'm going to need to buy more of this stuff soon.  I've been using a lot of it lately.

Here is the newly painted five dudes hanging out with the five I recently painted.  this completes the ten man Skitarii Rangers unit.  The pointing guy is the Prime.  I didn't really see any point in giving him upgraded weaponry.  In my experience, you're almost always better off having a longer range gun than a pistol.  Also, upgraded melee weaponry seems silly.  If these guys are being assaulted, I've already lost them.

And here is a group shot showing the entire army.  On deck I have another box of Rangers/Vanguard that will probably be assembled as a five Rangers and five Vanguard.  I'm dong this so I can take advantage of the fact that I'll be able to put two special weapons in each five man unit.

I'll probably pull my light box out soon and take some higher quality shots of the individual units.  I like to post the better quality versions on various forums.

My AdMech Army

This is just a quick run down of where I'm headed with my AdMech Skitarii army.  The Skitarii Maniple Detachment is great to work with.  You only need two Troops choices to start an army...

There are tons of optional things you can take.  Also, unlike the overwhelming majority of non-Combined Arms Detachments, you're allowed to take a Fortification.

As I type this, I only have one Troops choice painted.  Project #8, "MOAR Rangers", is currently in process and will be the second Troops choice.

I think I'll end up with this, which is basically a Battle Maniple Formation with an extra unit of Rangers.  I have to finish painting 5 models and then assemble/paint 15 more.  That's basically 4 "bin projects" of 5 models each using my current organizational scheme.  Should take a couple of weeks, depending on what else comes up...  like new Tau?

• TROOPS
• 10x Skitarii Rangers (5 Complete, 5 In Process)
• 5x Skitarii Rangers (Owned, On Sprue)
• 5x Skitarii Vanguard (Owned, On Sprue)

• ELITES
• 5x Sicarian Ruststalkers (Owned, On Sprue)
• 5x Sicarian Infiltrators (Complete)

• FAST ATTACK
• 1x Sydonian Dragoon (Complete)

• HEAVY SUPPORT
• 1x Onager Dunecrawler (Complete)

Project #8 - MOAR 40k Admech Skitarii Rangers - Basing Complete

I need to paint up more Rangers to get my AdMech army to a playable state.  I bought a second box and pulled the big, sniper looking gun out of it.  The goal is to ultimately have a ten man unit with two of the big weapons and then to assemble my other ten dudes as two five man Skitarii Vanguard units with one special weapon each.

Nothing much to report here, but as you can see, four of the models are already primed and ready to go while the fifth requires a primer coat.  I would have done it tonight, but it's pitch black outside.  Heavy cloud cover and no real outdoor lights equals priming isn't on the table.

More to come soon.  I hope to have these painted before the next update.

Project #7 - 40k AdMech Skitarii Rangers - Complete

It's kind of funny.  Since I instituted my new organizational scheme, I've been cranking models out left and right.  My intent was originally to show my process over the course of several days, but I'm really just saying "Oh, here's something new...  it's finished!"  I can't really complain though.  I'm ecstatic that I'm getting through my backlog.

This was the first unit I purchased for the AdMech army.  I assembled them and then got immediately annoyed that not enough special weapons were included to make full squads using the same weapon.  So, I grumped.  The act of grumping, in case you don't know, involves just sitting with your arms crossed and saying "HARUMPH" in the general direction of anyone who walks near.  I don't know...  I just find it super irritating that the kits don't allow you to equip a standard unit how the rules say you can.

Enough complaining.  Here is what you came for...

Here they are primed.  You'll notice that one dude in the back is already painted and has a wet transfer on him.  He was my initial test model.  I can't remember exactly when, but I painted him months ago.

I started out with a dry brush (as I so often do) of Leadbelcher on all the appropriate sections.

I them moved on to a base coat of Xereus Purple...  on the coats.  Get it?  Base coat on the coats?  Tip your waitresses, all be here all week.

I did a very quick highlight of Genestealer purple on the corners of the coat and on the hood.  Check out the hood on the left especially.  It's really just three lines.  The corners of the cloak are like slightly concave triangles.  Super quick.

I then painted certain bits in Balthasar Gold.  I think I hit the shoulder pads, the knee pads and a couple other odds and ends.  I didn't take a picture of the backs, but I hit a couple of spots on the backpack to make it stand out a little more.

The eyes and a couple of other optic looking sensors got him with Moot Green.  I was a little too sloppy in places and had to clean up the hoods.  I was using a standard brush and should really have used a fine detail brush...  which was waaaaayyyyyy over on the other side of the room.

Base...  standard...  Rhinox Hide...

...followed by Steel Legion Drab...

...and finally Flayed One Flesh.

Don't forget the Steel Legion Drab rims!

Or the Mordheim Turf grass tufts.  And that's it.  I think these five (well, really four as one was already painted) took me about an hour total.  They won't win any awards, but this is more about getting them painted and on the table.

As you can see below, my AdMech Skitarii force is slowly growing and is almost to the point where I can field it.  I think the army is starting to look really nice together.