TOR MEGIDDO

This weekend a hearty bunch of hobbyists met up in Helsinki to take part in Tor Megiddo - a completely insane multiplayer Inquisimunda game (mixed up with Gorkamorka rules for all the crazy vehicles and riders) set on the desolate industrial planet Tor Megiddo.

It was a total blast - literally, as the game ended with one of my frenzied Nurgle cultists firing an appropriated battle cannon at the main prometheum stack, which of course caused it to detonate and take half the battlefield along with it. Good clean fun.

Ana of Gardens of Hecate fame, has posted a great write-up on the game so head over there to read it - others will certainly follow.  Gardens of Hecate - Tor Megiddo

I´ll just post some of my own pictures here and would also like to take the opportunity to thank Alexander Winberg for arranging this spectacle. Now feast your eyes on all the amazing miniatures that turned Tor Megiddo´s orange sands red!

DEATHWATCH SERGEANT DUKAS

Finally managed to get this guy finished! It took seemingly forever to paint, but ultimately I think it was worth it.

Went for a slightly sleeker, less gritty, look for this one compared to the other Metatron marines as befits the technologically advanded black opsy Deathwatch.

The Metatron and the Ordo Xenos have extremely close ties, and almost all veterans in the chapter has served in the Deathwatch. Many of them are granted the right to wear the black livery even when they return to their home chapter.

Rotstalker II

It certainly seems I´ve got my hobby mojo back! Haven´t been this productive in a long time, and though much of this creative energy is focused on the slowly expanding primaris astartes force there´s a back log of finished or semi finished conversions that also deserve some attention.

For example this rotstalker for my long gestating plagueborg gang who´s been sitting on my desk for at least a year. This weekend I finally found the inspiration to give it a lick of paint.

Here he is with his counterpart, painted two years ago. No1 is among my favourite models so it´s hard to beat. But, while Rotstalker no2 isn´t perhaps quite as effective an conversion as the first one, I do like his creepy withered tiny arm...

The plan is to field these guys in the Tor Meggido game in october. The minis has been produced a model here and a model there over a period of about four years but I find them surprisingly cohesive despite of this. Guess my style hasn´t changed that much.

Reiving and pillaging

The first rievier squad is done! Had a go at batchpainting the last three but to be honest I think it´s more time effective to paint them individually as I find working on several models at the same time so abysmally tedious...

Oh well - this small army is now up to ten models with more on the way!

I´ve also started work on a Deathwatch lieutenant - I´ll have a few of these guys in the army as the idea is that the Metatron has extremely close ties with the Ordo Xenos and virtually all of the chapters veterans has served in the Deathwatch. Some are allowed to retain their armour and equipment when they go back to the home chapter.

Last but not least (though somewhat vertically challenged compared to the primarines) is a hardy squat warrior I threw together for my long gestating band of mercenaries. He´s based on one of the new Duardin Overlords with a headswap and armed with a Phobos pattern bolter - incidentally my favourite bolter design.

Really like how this crew is shaping up - there´s something no-nonsense and down to earth about these guys.

Sarge!

A determined sergeant joins the reiver squad.

He came out fine but I like the first reiver better for some reason. Might be the mask. Oh well... 

Anyway - three to go for a full squad. Having a go at batch painting them this time. Well see how that goes - I do not enjoy batch painting...

Astartes in colores

As promised, here some technicolor shots of the first Metatron squad!

But that's not all - I've also finished my first reiver.

These guys are amazing up close. Love 'em. They're just so quintessentially "Goodwinesque" - a bit like the original 90s assassins. He simply screamed out for a black paintscheme so black it had to be (kept the Metatron grey on the knee and right shoulderpad though).

I converted the boltpistol somewhat to make the profile sleeker, but it's still the only thing about the design I don't quite like. Might replace them with standard bolt pistols on the other guys.

First astartes squad done

Well, that took a little more time than expected. In part this was due to a rather severe cut in my left thumb, incurred while trying to work with the awful, abominable, rock hard, probably adamantium laced plastic that makes up GWs scenic base kits. Hobby models really shouldn't need diamond tipped instruments to cut them. 

Anyway, now I've finished the first squad for my Metatron chapter. None of the photos I took last night came out the way I wanted them to, so you'll have to make do with a monochrome sneak peak for now. I'll be back with technicolour pics soon. 

Three down...

Two to go, for a full squad.
After that we´ll see what happens - might do more of these guys or move on to something else. I´m sort of waiting for the full kit so I can really go to town on some properly sized deathwatch models. In any case I´ve got some of my hobby mojo back!

And they shall know no fear

Wow. Haven´t updated this poor blog since mid-april. I guess time flies when your work consists of drawing pterodactyls...


But - nothing to shake one out of ones hobby slump like the arrival of GW´s first official true scale marines!


As far as I'm concerned the sculptors utterly nailed the stature and proportions of these guys - they´re exactly as big as I've always felt an astartes should be. The primaris are simply great models (if a bit too "techy" for my taste). The contrived background for them is another story, but that´s been discussed to death elsewhere. I´m just gonna ignore it and view these as regular properly dimensioned marines.

So without further ado here´s my first take on the new and improved defenders of humanity. It's built straight out of the box, apart from the helmet which I swapped for a Mk IV (my favourite mark).

The iconography and paint scheme was inspired in part by the bearded true scale Questing Grey Knight I did a few years ago. https://convertorum.blogspot.se/2013/10/good-knight-part-iii.html

Not sure about what I should call the chapter, but leaning towards "Metatron something, something" (Metatron as we all know being the biblical archangel acting as The Voice of God). Either Knights of Metatron or Sons of Metatron - or simply the Metatron chapter. Something along those lines at least.

Plagueborg

I've got a huge and rather different Nurgle project in the pipeline. 

More on this soon, but as a warm up I cobbled together this plagueborg for my long gestating nurgly dark mechanicvm gang. He/it came out slightly more saturated than his fellows, but I'm still pretty pleased with the result. 

Second mini of 2017

Hi guys! 

Yes yes. It's been very quiet, I know. Haven't done much hobbying lately, but a new exiting communal project "Tor Megiddo" masterminded by Alexander jolted me back into action. Check it out here: http://s3.zetaboards.com/The_Ammobunker/topic/9023310/1/

Just to get back on the horse I picked up an unpainted mercenary and slapped on some paint. Not my best work but it was fun to break out the brushes and just zone out. 

More to come soon. 

Hopefully.