We have had a few submissions for the ObSec painting challenge from readers of the website so I thought it might be cool to show off what people are up to – we have 3 to share today. Keep them coming in guys!!
Reader 1 – Bruce
With the re-release of the Thousand Sons and the Wrath of Magnus book, I had my mind made up for me about starting this as my next army. Like many people, I have always loved the art work and look of the Thousand Sons as well as the story line behind the legion. Add to the fact that the army borrows heavily on Egyptian theme and my wife is crazy about all things ancient Egyptian, it was like the gods of chaos had spoken. How often do you get pre-approval to start a new army.
The look of the army is the key thing with the TS. While I have painted a few army’s, I am not someone who normally follows the exact look of what games workshop puts out. This time that’s exactly what I want to achieve, right down to following that step by step painting guide they brought out in white dwarf.
Once I had opened my first TS box I realised how much detail was in each model. In game terms they maybe plebs but they have the detail of characters. So at that point I decided that was the path I was going down. What this means for me is no mass painting. I want to get that detail in those hard to see (and reach) places, so that means paint as I make. I also decided to give them the shattered dominion bases that GW do for AOS. The thing with these bases is they fit with the fluff as the TS home world of Prospero was destroyed.
Up first was the the only TS I could get my hands on at the time.
Ahriman. I got very inspired after painting him.
Currently I’m slowly working my way through a standard rubric marine box. Currently it takes me just under a week to finish one TS marine. I’m hoping to speed up as I refine my technique. I hope these are hitting the mark . As for the list its self, I will be building to a tournament competitive list but with the new edition of 40k about to land I’m just going with the basic 1 of each TS unit to start with. Best to get back to painting, until next time! Bruce
Reader 2 – Sly Dave
While I have been wargaming for the better part of 20 years now, Warhammer 40k was the beginning for me. Back in second Edition when I started playing I was drawn to Eldar. Ever since then while different armies and different game systems have caught my attention, I have always been drawn back to the Eldar. Throughout the Eldar force, one unit has always been my favourite, the harlequins. When I was younger I wanted nothing more than to field a full harlequin army, but as a poor teenager I could never afford it and the rules just weren’t there.
Still, I played and collected my Eldar for many years, until real life caught up and my gaming time dried up. Even still, my eldar collection grew and I would keep an eye out every now and then for new Eldar stuff. Then one day a new harlequin Codex was released, and my prayers were answered. Following this the Death Masque box was released and the final piece of the puzzle fell into place. A couple of boxes and a few extras and the harlequin army was now a reality.
Then, after getting the (majority) of the army together, this painting challenge came up. For me, working a full time job with a new house and young family, my spare time is limited. Being an avid gamer, this limited spare time is spread across many activities in all facets of gaming. As such, painting is usually fairly low down my list. Even back when I used to play 40k regularly, I would much rather play games then paint models, and it was usually only for tournaments that I would get models painted. So a challenge like this is perfect for me as it gives me a deadline to work to and something to strive for and motivate me to get the army finished, but gives me enough of a time frame that it will not be too time consuming for me allowing me to be a bit flexible with my painting.
The Army
First and foremost, I needed to work out a list to work towards. Having been out of 40k for a while my knowledge of the current rules and meta is severely lacking. Luckily for me I had two things going for me. Firstly, the datasheets are great in helping to put together an army list. Taking the Cegorach’s revenge option really does 90% of the army building for you, which for a returning player is a good thing. Secondly, I am old mates with Massaen who happens to be an expert on all things Eldar. Being able to run ideas past him and get an idea of what is good and not is helpful indeed.
So the list I settled on and will be my initial target for the painting challenge is
Solitaire
12 Harlequins
8 Harlequins
8 Harlequins
Inriam’s Spectre
2 death Jesters
3 Shadowseers
Blades fate
4 skyweavers
2 Void weavers
With 8th ed around the corner, I’m sure things will change, but luckily I have plenty of spare models to cover any changes that may come. I also have older harlequin models that I may try and incorporate in to the force, but will have to see how that goes.
April/May focus
First and foremost my focus is to sort out a suitable colour scheme. My Eldar force is Ulthwe and originally I wanted to keep the harlequins to a similar colour scheme (matching to an already painted unit of harlequins I already have for my ulthwe army). However, with this painting challenge in mind, I thought it would be a good opportunity to branch away from Ulthwe (there is only so much black that you can paint). So my plan is to come up with a new colour scheme that will give me a bit of variation to paint, but not too far from my Ulthwe army that it would look out of place. I have a couple of ideas of a colour scheme but need to try it out on a test model first and see if I like it. Hopefully I will get to this shortly and then can make a start on my first unit of 8 harlequins. If I can get this done in the next few weeks it would be ideal and should give me a good start on the challenge. Hopefully I can report back in a couple of weeks with a colour scheme I like and the first squad ready to go. Who knows, I might even manage to play a game!
Reader 3 – Mark
Hey Mark here from Albany. I’ve decided too use this challenge to motivate me to paint more.
I don’t actually have any set list or new army I’m working on but I do have a few things to flesh out my 30k wolves and my 40k list I plan on bringing to the WA Obsec 40k Masters.
First thing I have to paint is Celestine the living saint and her meat shields… arrhhh body guards.
What’s been awesome for me is seeing people inspired to paint and share things with the community at large – This sort of motivation will hopefully push each other to keep painting and get models off the sprues and onto the table. If you want to share what you are up to – get in touch via email obsec@optusnet.com.au with a paragraph or 2 of what you are working on and a pic or 2 to share!