Paint Supplies

I popped into my local GW store this morning and received my first encounter with the new painting line.  One of the gaming tables had been cleared to set up 6 painting stations along with a bucket of plastic space marines free for the public to test out the new line.  Now, I did not actually paint up a mini with the new paints but I took a close look at what some people had done.

Over all I'm excited for the new range to hit the shelves.  The foundation and basic (layers) paint selection has been expanded which is always nice.  In particular, I tend to paint out of the pot (watered down) and try to avoid mixing colours.  Time being my enemy, I've found I spend too much of it trying to recreate past tones or hues.  With an expanded range, that gives me more tools that require less time to use.  A win win situation for me.

Another big win, as far as I can tell, is the new class of base paints.  No more basing with sand and elmers glue.  The new process if pretty slick, the sand is already mixed into the paint and provides a nice texture for your bases allowing for a finial dry brush and flock.  Speaking of drybrushing, another new line of paints is tailored just for this purpose.  I did not get a look at how effective this new style of highlight paint is but I did peer into the pot.  Its not really paint at all but rather almost a solid state chalky substance.  I'm interested to see how it pans out.  Also I peered into a glaze class paint and it looks like a watered down ink.  A couple of final thoughts: white foundation colour, ohh, I really want to see how this works.  Then there is another class of paints to be used for utility functions (such as liquid green stuff).  I take it there will be a paintable primer that I'm thinking would be quit handy.

So over all I can honestly say I'm actually really excited to get my hands on these new paints.

Eldar Hybrid List Viable?

So this is my 1k Eldar list that I plan to finish painting when I switch back.

HQ:
Farseer - Doom, Singing Spear, RoW

Elite:
4 Dragons + 1 Exarch - Heavy Flamer, Wave Serpent, Stone, Shuriken Cannons

Troops:
10 Avengers - Wave Serpent, Stone, Shuriken Cannons
10 Storm Guardians - flamer, fusion gun, warlock, singing spear, destructor, Wave Serpent, Stone, Shuriken Cannons

Heavy:
2 Fire Prism's

I put the farseer in with the Avengers so they have an anti-tank shot.  I like the list from when I played it and want to stick to it because it is the fastest road to finishing 1000 points painted.  I still want to use scorpions and rangers when I expand and have been thinking about building my second 1000 points as footdar.  the 11th company pod cast had a good recap of the codex just recently and ultimately they concluded footdar is the way to go in the twilight of 5th edition.  Over on the Spirit Chamber Yriel has had great success with running a hybrid list (though I'm sure most of the credit goes to his experience as a player).

At any rate I've been thinking of adding a unit of wraithguard as troops, and a unit of pathfinders.  An infiltrating Scorpion unit and Eldrad leaves me with some points to beef up my avenger squad with an exarch and add another dragon with a few points to spare on some star engines for so of my vehicles.  I really want to include a unit of scorpions and figured they could support the unit of wraithguard in assaults should they need it.  Eldrad would be attached to the wraithguard fortuning both the scorpions and wraithguard and doing what he does best.  It seems harlies are the way to go but I want to finish painting up my unit of scorpions.

Any thoughts or ideas of developing my army this way?

Planning my return to Eldar

I've settled on my 1k list for lizardmen that I will finish before I switch tracks back to 40k.  At the rate I'm going I should have it done by the end of March.  The list is as follows:

Hero:
Skink - General, Level 2, Diadem of Power, Ruby Ring

Core:
24 Saurus Warriors - Banner, Musician, Spears
11 Skink Skirmishers
10 Skink Skirmishers

1 Stegadon

2 Salamanders - Extra Handlers

I've nearly two thirds of the models painted.  I'm thinking it will be a good list to learn the ins and outs of fantasy.  I decided to drop the scar-vet for a stronger mage (plus on paper the diadem of power is awesome).  Any deficiencies I incure by taking the stegadon I believe will be made up by the presence of two salamanders.  Also, even though 90 point cannons can make short work of the stegadon, it leaves my salamanders free to burn up the table.

So with the first phase of my lizardmen drawing to a close I've been turning my eye back to 40k.  I was thinking of starting up my flesh tearers again but the siren call of the Eldar is beckoning me.  The smarter choice (read competitive) is to pick up where I had left off of the Flesh Tearers.  But with 6th edition around the corner I could end up painting an army that will be obsolete with a new rule edition.  In my heart I'm an Eldar player.  I dig the fluff and the models also it was my army back when I played as a teenager.  So I'm going back to them after the first part of my lizardmen project is finished.

First order of business then is to get 1000 points completed.  The above photo highlights where I'm currently at with that endevour.  After my 1k list is fully painted I've set my sights on a 1500 point list that I will be aiming for.  I picked 1500 points as my goal because it is the army size for the first mission in IA 11.  I should also say that IA 11 has done wonders for rekindling my love of the Eldar.  For some cosmic quirk when I first started playing Eldar I had chosen Alaitoc as my craftworld.  Actually it was no accident I choose Alaitoc because that was how the metal guardians were painted when the rogue trader box set was released.  I sure am glad I choose Alaitoc due to the growing wealth of fluff that has been developing with respect to that craftworld.  Because I'm a fluff bunny at heart I'm thinking that the 1500 point list I want to build will include iconic Alaitoc units.  What do I consider iconic?  Well two units in particular: Pathfinders and Scorpions.  So after my 1000 points are painted I will expand by first including those two units.  The following is a list that should be fun to run:

HQ:
Farseer - RoW, Spear, Stones, Doom, Fortune

Elite:
4 Scorpions + 1 Exarch - Claw, Stalker
4 Dragons + 1 Exarch - Fire Pike, Crack Shot, Wave Serpent, Shuriken Cannons, Stone

Troops:
9 Avengers + 1 Exarch - Dual Catapults, Blade Storm, Wave Serpent, Shuriken Cannons, Stone
10 Storm Guardians + 1 Warlock - Fusion Guns, Singing Spear, Wave Serpent, Shuriken Cannons, Stone
5 Pathfinders

Heavy:
2 Fire Prism's
1 Falcon - EML, Holo-Field, Stone

Total Points: 1497

The list is in no way min/maxed but it is thematic.  The way I figure it why struggle with putting down a competitive Eldar army when you can put down a fun army to play using the models that you drew you back into the hobby to begin with.  As it happens I think this list fits an Alaitoc theme well which will make playing the IA 11 missions a blast.  On a final note who knows what the new rule set will do to the game.  I hope that by sticking with staple Eldar units, when a new codex does come down the pipe, a new army will not necessarily need to be built.  That's all really for now.  Thank you for reading.

Skink test model dipped

I dipped the skink last night to see how it will stand up against the saurus.  Its a low res photo so it does not pick up much detail around the eyes.  I had attempted to shorten my paint time by using scorpion green on the eyes.  The model will be ready tonight for the mat spray.  I kind of bollixed up the yellow under coat.  Rather than allow the primer to dry and apply a second coat, I soaked the model in the spray.  There has been a noticeable reduction of detail in the model as a result.  Once I finish this unit of skinks I'll paint up a second and take my time with the undercoat.  I do like the way the colours work though between the saurus warrior and skink skirmisher.  When I get to my temple guard I'm thinking they will get the same colour break down as the saurus except for painting their shields orange.

Here is a higher res photo:

Started working on my skinks.

Just need to do some final touches on the banner then the saurus are ready to dip.  Thought I would put some skinks together and see how they look painted with the saurus.  I got to say, I really like the army painter coloured primers.  When I go back to 40k, I might use them on a new project.  I'm willing to bank that Chaos Space Marines will be included in the 6th edition boxed set.  I'm also thinking of picking up a battle box and a box of khorne beserkers.  After reading legon of the damned I've had a hankering to build a chaos space marine army of khorne beserkers.  After I finish a thousand points of lizardmen, I'll probably stop painting my fantasy army and go back to 40k.  That way I have 1000 points of lizardmen painted that I can take down to my FLGS to start learning how this game works.  I figure I need to get a few games under my belt before I build up the list.  I'm pretty firm on this being my first 1000 point list:

Scar-Vet - BSB, Light Armour, Shield

Skink Priest - Plack of Tepok

27 Saurus Warriors - Musician, Banner, Spears
10 Skink Skirmishers

Stegadon

2 Salamanders

Total Points: 1k on the nose.  I know not the best list going but still its got some great units in it.  It will allow me to take part in the magic phase, learn how to use a stegadon, and see how well cold blooded works with a BSB.  If I dropped the Steg I'm sure I could have a better list at 1k but I'm not too worried.  I don't expect to win much anyway with my first series of games.  One thing for sure though, I'm digging the idea of playing with a completely painted army.

Taking two stegadons at 2000 points

The picture is of my original planned 1500 point list.  To take it to 2k all I would need to do is add some skinks and an ancient steg.  It would mean a lot less painting which is a great bonus.  I don't think it is optimized but it would look good on the table and I suspect fun to play.  The list I'm thinking about is as follows:

Slann - Dispel Scroll, Standard of Discipline, Focus of Mystery, The Focused Rumination

Scar-Vet - Light Armour, Shield, Venom

27 Saurus Warriors - Full Command, Spears
11 Skink Skirmishers
10 Skink Skirmishers

20 Temple Guard - Banner, Musician
Stegadon

Anctient Stegadon
2 Salamanders - 1 extra Skink

Total Points: 2000

At any rate I have some time before I decide how to focus the list.  Going to finish my saurus block this weekend and start painting my next block of minitures.

Looking ahead

Taking a break at work and thought I would post some thoughts on how I want my lizardmen to look at 2000 points. Last night I was putting skinks together and getting ready to paint up my next batch of units when I realized I should probably get an end game plan going for my army. So I came up with this list today, keeping in mind what models I own:

Slann - Cupped Hands, Standard of Discipline, Focus of Mystery, The Becalming, The Focused Rumination, BSB

Scar-Vet - Light Armour, Shield, Venom of the Fire Fly Frog

27 Saurus Warriors - Full Command, Spears
2 x 10 Skink Skirmishers
5 Chameleon Skinks
20 Temple Guard - Musician, Banner, Banner of Eternal Flame
10 Cold One Cavalry - Gleaming Pennant
2 Salamanders

2000 Points

My big problem is that I want to build this unit:

I want to build a fun army but I don't want it to get rolled over consistently. I posted the list up on Lustria-Online so I'm hoping I get some feed back. Anyway I should get back to work.

One Dipped Shield

A photo taken with one shield dipped.  The shield still needs time to set before the anti mat spray is used.  Over all I'm really happy with how the saurus turned out.  I had posted some images of painting steps on Lustria Online to get some feed back.  I'm glad I did because I would not have ended up using the yellow on the shield.  Oh so close to getting the unit done.

Shields Done

I screwed the shields up a bit by putting too many layers of paint on.  Not to concerned though as I figure the dip will cover up most of the blemishes.  Reds and Whites then this unit is ready to be dunked.

Tentative 1000 point Lizardmen list

As my first unit is nearing completion I've been tossing around some ideas to set my sites on 1000 points.  I'm thinking now that I have my anvil I'll focus on chaff and flankers.  Plus I want a mage to take part in the magic phase.  This is what I have in mind:

Hero:
Scar-Vet - Light Armour, Shield, Warrior Bane (really only taken to give him magical attacks)
Skink Priest - Dispel Scroll

Core:
27 Saurus Warriors - Banner, Musician, Spears
2 (10) Skink Skirmishers

Special:
3 (5) chamelian skinks

Rare:
2 (1) Salamanders

Total Points 1000

Now I really don't know what makes a good list but I figure this is as well rounded a list I can make that includes the models I own.  My goal is to get 1000 points painted then perhaps switch gears and work on my Eldar (IA11) or Flesh Tearers for a bit.  One thing though, in order to get the chamelian skinks I need to try my hand at converting.  The plan is to cut off the fins and tails then green stuff eyes and tails.  I'm building this army on a budget.  An alternative list that I'm thinking about is dropping the chameleon skinks for 5 Saurus Calvary.  I've been told I need a hammer unit to work with my saurus block.  I know Saurus Calvary are frowned upon but I like the models and it would mean less painting and no converting.

With respect to the paint scheme It was pointed out to me that I may have made a mistake on painting the shields green and I think I agree.  Consequently I'm going to spray them with the demonic yellow primer from Army Painter to provide some interesting contrast in the unit.  I had picked up the spray can to use on my skinks and salamanders (yellow skin and orange scales).  I'm thinking the yellow shields will tie the skinks and saurus together thereby giving the army a nice effect when viewed as a whole.

As an aside, next on my painting que after the saurus is to paint up 20 skirmishers and 2 salamanders using common colour schemes.

Baby steps

Got quite a bit done tonight.  Next step is to glue the shields onto the lizardmen.  I think I'll scrape the paint where I want the two pieces to connect then use plastic glue.  I don't want the shields to go flying when I'm shaking the dip off the models.  Once the shields are in place, I'll finish up painting the gold bits on the shields. Then I'll paint my reds and whites and the models should be good to be dipped.  Slowly but surly the unit is coming together.

Thinking about my 1850 Flesh Tearers List:

I've been working hard on my Lizardmen and will not stop but I've been thinking about taking my Flesh Tearers out for a spin.  I put together a 1850 point list last summer and only got a couple of games in with it.  It is a fun all comers list built for playing down at my FLGS and I'm thinking its time a shake the dust off of it.  Since this photo was taken I've managed to add a little bit more paint to the army (namely Seth and some Assault Marines).  I might try my hand at painting up the storm raven after I'm done with my Saurus block.  I've got some Death Company doors from Forge World for it and I think it would make a nice center piece to my army.  

Bogged down by gold...

Calling it quits for the night.  Man the gold details has really bogged down my progress.  The final touches of white and red should go a lot quicker.  I've ended up painting right out of the pot and painting the gold on thick.  I don't want to have to do layers with watered down coats.  I've still got all the gold trim to do on the shields yet as well.  I'm starting to think that I won't be dipping until next weekend.  No worries though, every night I chip away at getting the block of saurus painted.

A weeks progress

Think I'm going to wrap it up for the night.  My first block of saurus is starting to come together.  Just started painting all the gold bits and pieces.  I'm hoping everything will be ready for the dip mid next week.