Its been quiet here of late…too quiet!
Most people will have seen our activity over on Instagram (both The Hobby Butterflies and Brother Handro accounts) or on Facebook.
Today we change from a Facebook Account to a Facebook Page…tedious I know, but the account will be removed at the start of august.
Progress is happening, slowly, and projects about so take a look at our instagram, our facebook page and look out for us at events over the next 6 months (COVID permitting) and stay safe!
If there’s one thing playing games in a 30k environment has taught me, it’s that the bodies of the noble Astartes are but grist for the mill of the heresy, and no matter how superhuman they may be against humans or Xenos, the Iron Hands have the right of it…the flesh is weak!
Join me as I dive into the world of servos and plastek brain wafer-chips to bring you big stompy robots…
(Der H: So you bought a Mechanicus T-shirt and realised you should probably start all those robots you’ve been hoarding….)
The Calix-Thanatar, not as good as the standard, plasma mortar-lobbing one, but way prettier. Also I hate Salamanders.
Now I know what you’re thinking. Handro, Mechanicum are a bit…well, good, aren’t they? Yes, yes they are. You’ve grasped the practicalities of playing Mechanicum straight away! But obviously here at The Hobby Butterflies we like to think that fluff is equally if not more important and the lore behind the Mechanicum is some of the richest and most evocative of the 30/40k universe. Plus if you can think of something cooler than the line of Mechanicum models I’d like to know about it.
So we felt it was about time we had something 30K non-Astartes on the blog. We will both be churning out Mech and Imperial Militia forces over the coming months. (Der H: If we can find them in our piles of shame, that is!)
This is what the Castellax look like!
The initial plan is to complete a 1000 points Allies list for the upcoming return to Melos. So a Magos, 4 Castellax and the Thanatar need to be completed alongside a 3-strong unit of Vorax to accompany a Praevian consul. Plenty to be getting on with, but after that I fully expect to start requisitioning bigger, stompier robots from the forges of…y’know, I should actually get some fluff brewing…and from there, a long, slow descent into robotic madness…
Thought for the day: The flesh is weak, duh.
Handro.
(Brother Handro: do YOU even know how to paint?)
(Der H: Fnar fnaar fnaaar….)
So my girlfriend recently asked if she could paint something. RESULT! one might exclaim! I regularly teach people clinical knowledge/skills and the likes but painting is not something to which I profess any great skill! The opportunity, however, was too great to pass up!
Rooting around for something not too big, not too small, not to complicated, but detailed enough, and (Brother Handro: importantly…) not too expensive, was difficult! In the end my two, sorry looking purple contemptor dreadnoughts caught my eye. Lightly modified Plastic contemptors, resin weapons, a havoc launcher, and an upcoming event in which to use them, provided the perfect palate.
Simple techniques first, with drybrushing, washing and edge highlighting. All proved pretty easy for her. She has some experience in pottery painting, and found the whole process relaxing.
Names for things are a little tricky, but she soon learnt the basics. The basic steps done, we even tried some freehand marble!
It is interesting, given the range and variability in our own hobbies, how constricting a legion paint scheme can be. I was constantly met with “what colour should X be”; I suppose it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme, but if all my lascannons are black and silver, then a red one will look odd!
So far we are onto the weapons, then the havoc launcher and we’re done. I think I will go onto transfers and weathering - she seems eager to learn more!
After this I think I will give her some free rein and paint some blood and Plunder or some ArcWorlde - both games that I like but have seriously under-loved; hell, it might give me chance to use some contrast paints…
Der H
It is well known that I have too many HQ choices…(Brother Handro: Isnt it near 12 now…) but with the Narrative event of Purging of Melos coming up soon (July 2019) we need an ‘event character’.
This character will be discussed more closer to the event, but essentially is a stock centurion with 11 upgrade points. Other than this they cost nothing to the army list, and can progress during the event by surviving.
In my case i wanted a warlord that would fit with a Kakophoni heavy IIIrd company elite list. I also wanted him to be vaguely siege themed as (If I paint hard enough) I was going to have my Death Korps of Krieg Imperial Militia as a siege regiment with Ordo Reductor support (Der H: ….lets see how that goes eh?)
Behold my progress…
As you can tell there are a few bits from a few sources. The torso is from the Palatine blades kit. The head and left arm are from GWs own Slaaneshi upgrade kit. We have a right arm, pad and sword from the legion praetor set and a MKII Emperors Children pad on the shoulder. Some GW plastics in for the form of a chaos backpack, and a AoD dagger and Horn round him out. Phosphex bombs in hand and mag-locked to his legs complete the look!
I was going for a vaguely Joshua vibe from the battle of Jerico… double edged sword, spear (see below) Ram Horn, and suitable Slaaneshi parts to match. Leading a IIIrd company elite RoW force he fits in well, and depending on what else is in my list he may well see some action!
Because magnets are cool, I’ve equipped him to have paragon blade inter-changable with phoenix power spear - depends on my mood!
What do we think? Good? Bad? Ugly?
Der h
(Der H: Well not quite…he isnt that insane…but maybe I am…)
Soon after the crushing defeat that was game 5 of Throne of Skulls day 2 I went to the shop and bought the things…
Now, usually that is how the things would stay for, say, 6-8 months. But this time I wanted to build ALL the things. A day off gave me an afternoon free between the chores of adult life so I sat down to build some models. After a quick character-related warm up, I set about building a Storm Eagle…
As you can see the Krieg were pushed to one side, and the parts clipped, sanded, washed, and bent back into shape. Dreading the warp (Brother Handro: I see what you did there…) so frequently associated with this kit I straightened things during the wash and had both hair drier and heat gun at the ready. The first steps were easy enough, plastics fit into resin panels with ease if they can only fit one way! Pretty soon i was at the vital stage of fitting the door; now comes the serious work.
You may recall that at the Throne of skulls event last month we met Wrights Adventure Guild with an Emperors Children/Alpha Legion combo. James’ Storm Eagle was my new favourite thing ever….and although I’d seen the Shrine of the Aquilla conversion before, I thought James’ was perticularly good.
I had my wish list:
1) Eagle prow (obvs)
2) Maintain the ability to open/close the front door
3) Painted interior (at least the front)
4) Access to the rear interior.
The initial fit, after much swearing, gave a good cosmetic result, but the door wouldn’t really open anymore! The issue was one of the lower edge, and on opening it tended to foul the underside.
A little more whittling gave it the range it needed. At this stage the door was heavier and wouldn’t stay shut…to the magnets!
When approaching the rear I hit a snag. I couldnt seen any way of (easily) making the rear door open/close. The hinge wouldnt be that much of an issue, but the door was oversized by 4 mm, the hinge not the sturdiest, and the rear required some encouragement to align properly - massively helped by gluing the door. This poses two problems:
1) In order to see the inside of the rear portion the rear door must open OR the roof must come off.
2) If the roof comes off it is less sturdy, and the rear is likely to look less well aligned.
Options:
1) Build a new hinge for the rear door, paint separately, glue roof
2) Leave door attached, leave roof detachable, never look at the rear again
3) Leave Door attached and, after painting the front interior, glue it up for ever!
…Tricky descision.
This is how we currently stand! She is looking very tidy (Brother Handro: If you say so yourself…) and the door sits open nicely for a hot ‘combat drop’ from hover mode…
When sitting on her landing struts the door, unfortunately, doesn’t open; Ill have to put this down to a style thing…
She still needs a plan for the rear hatch, lots of filling and a base to be built, but we arn’t that far off! What do you all think?
Der H
Warhammer world events usually come with free exhibition tickets….what’s not to like!
Signus!
The entrance way dio is now Signus Prime! This board is stunning. Mostly Khorne, but some other deities are represented.
The terrain effect is very cool. A dry, dusty/rocky board is scattered with stoney spikes and openings in the ground. These openings are largely blood pits, and various daemons can be seen emerging from them. Awesome work.
The main man himself, Sanguinius!
Titanicus has a display in the hall also! A titan column assaulting a fortification is such a nice idea, and the scene just makes me want to finish my titanicus stuff (Brother Handro: I’m waiting….)
I love the retro section. I hadn’t spotted the Slann previously; the old nids and harlequins are oldies but always nice!
Retro time!
On the retro theme, there was an army which highlighted the flexibility of the Militia list…
One display that always catches my attention is the Krieg/Blood Angels defensive line….no words needed….
A new display, to us at least, is outpost 402; Dark Eldar attacking Imperial Guard in the jungle by an Eldar portal… beautiful terrain, and a great theme!
That about does it for our new spots. As always the Exhibition hall is stunning and makes me very keen to paint, build and play this great game. Check out our old post on the Warhammer World Museum, and keep your eyes peeled for more progress in the next few weeks!
Der H & Brother Handro
It wouldn’t be a trip to Warhammer World without a quick (Brother Handro: Read as “expensive”) trip through the store…
Der H caved in pretty quickly and invested in 3 imperial thudd guns and 3 sets of Krieg thudd gun crew. (Der H: God I haven’t even talked about my Krieg issue yet…)…
…and a box of easy to build Glaive Wraith Stalkers. These are planned to act as Cyber-occularis.
Sunday brought more pain with an impulse buy of a Storm Eagle, IIIrd legion rhino doors, and a box of citadel skulls. The skulls are to scatter through the Ordo Reductor (Der H: Argh, I haven’t mentioned them either!) to blend them in with the Cyber-Occularis, as an alternative to Draykavac…talk about a rod for my own back!
Of course, no self respecting Emperors Children player could pass up the opportunity to have a glorious Imperial Eagle on the prow of their Storm Eagle, and so a Shrine of the Aquila was acquired…
Brother Handro was more reserved (Der H: HA!) and bought Thallax with Photon Thruster, Thallax with Phased Plasma-fusil, the deadly Vorax and a Thanatar Calix***
(***The better looking but worse one)
As you can see...Brother Handro has been much, much (Brother Handro: ...much ) more productive and actually built his! Cybernetica assemble!
Der H & Brother Handro
