Current projects, Traveling with minatures(and PAINTS)

Well its a little later than expected but here is the update promised. First a look at some of the projects I was working on before flying out.

Valkyrie providing air-support and transport for the Mordian 19th. This model is semi-painted and needs some finish work to complete the details, sadly there is another Valkyrie and also a Vendetta awaiting construction/completion.

  This is my current work on an Imperial Bastion. As you can see the roof crenellations and the Icarus Lascannon need to be completed, but again I am pleased with how this project is progressing.

This is a used Baneblade I picked up off Ebay for a phenomenal price just before apocalypse rumours started coming fast and furious. No slight on the original painter, but I need to repaint this beast in Mordian/urban camo scheme. The sheer size makes this particularly difficult work but I am excited by the challenge, and the fact that this will be a centre piece of the 19th.

As I outlined in my previous post, I was traveling with a whole platoon of Mordian 19th requiring painting. I thought I would share some insight with how they handled air travel. on of the cases opened up and a few Minis got mixed in with my socks, solution, either buy a tougher case, or at least tape the latch holding the case shut. The paints... faired less well. The combination of old dry paint in the lids, and a non-pressurized cargo-hold led to catastrophic leakage of some of my more well used paints, Runefang Steel, Kislev Flesh, Ghanna Gold.

 As you can see the plastic bag absorbed most of the damage. I am fortunate that since these are commonly used colours for me, I have duplicates of the spilled colours. Next time I will use a case that allows for upright transport and hopefully limits spills. Next post will detail the project platoon that I will be working on during my downtime. Thanks for looking/reading
-MedicMike

Lightning Strikes.

Well folks, I had planned to do a big photo spread of a couple of projects I was working on and the directions I was going with them. I was also going to reveal some exciting personal news that will benefit my completion of the Mordian 19th, unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans. In a display of awesome ferocity, the thunderstorm that rolled through town took out power for about 11 hours. No power means no wifi, no wifi means I can only blog from my iPhone (as I am now). This severely limits my ability to post pictures (not to mention chews into my data plan something awful. So with that being said, we will postpone the current projects photo spread and skip straight to the news. I took a third job, and this one is contract based and remote, so for the next 19 days (surely a providential number) I will be 3400km (roughly 2100miles) away from home. But the job affords me some downtime where I can work on the 19th with virtually zero distractions of any kind. So I packed my stuff (and 55) of my regiment, and I am currently sitting in the airport lounge. Wifi is apparently doable where I am going, so with any luck I will be updating the blog on Sunday the 21st of July, or Monday the 22nd. This isn't the 19ths first voyage, as they frequently travel by vehicle to the planet: vacation (in case of crummy weather) but it is certainly my first trip of this size. I'll try and post regular updates on the progress being made on the platoon I have with me.
Thanks for reading,
-MedicMike

Beta Platoon (Part 2)

Check range, elevation, load... Fire

The Mordian 19th Beta Platoon is a full platoon designed to provide suppression fire and support to other advancing units. The previous post: Beta Platoon (Part 1) looked at the structure of this unit, and the unit it in Parade Formation, today I will cover the command and individual squads.

Platoon Command Squad with Lieutenant Archer leading from the battlefield while the commissar enforces discipline 

 The command squad is equipped much like the rest of Beta Platoon's infantry squads, grenade launchers to provide versatile ranged support and some command presence for issuing orders, and lending discipline to the stalwart Iron Guard squads

Providing both discipline and support a commissar allows the platoon to be harder to break in the face of enemy fire, and can also be called upon in the event that the worst happens, the bane of Imperial Guard commander\s existence: assault and close combat. 

If you have read previous posts, you will know that most of my commissars have Regal Blue accents to help tie them with the 19th regimental uniforms, this commissar was actually painted to match my urban Cadians, but in fluff terms it is simply a resupply from the commissariat, schola progenium, or the munitorium.

A trooper from Beta Platoon, armed with a lasgun, not effective alone but when he and forty of his friends defend and objective the lasgun provides excellent fire against advancing light infantry while the heavy and special weapons chew away at tougher enemy units

   This is Beta Platoon, they are impressive laid out in formation, and they are tough to dislodge from the back field. Many a stormtrooper squad and assault veteran units owe their lives to the heavy rain of mortar shells, pining the enemy down and softening up any positions before a push against enemy lines. Next post will detail some upcoming projects and detail some personal news, that will impact the Mordian 19th in a positive way.
Thanks for reading/looking
-MedicMike 

 

Beta Platoon (part 1)

First, Why Beta Platoon? Surely that implies that their is an "Alpha Platoon" and indeed their is. I decided to detail Beta Platoon first, because they have only 1 possible configuration, which is designed to provide artillery, suppression fire and ranged support to forward and advancing elements of the Mordian 19th. A single configuration means the squads and members, including their equipment load out is static, any battle including Beta Platoon will have them participate as described. Only very special circumstances would cause them to re-equip (close order skirmishes, ship boarding actions and worlds with vastly unfavorable gravity or topography). In contrast Alpha Platoon has two possible configurations designed to be adaptive, but more on that later.

Beta Platoon mustered for support action.

 5 squads and a platoon command squad led by Lieutenant Archer (he was featured in a previous post Where it all began ) Each squad is equipped to provide ranged fire using 5 mortars and a combination of plasma guns and grenade launchers. This is employed to send the enemy scurrying for cover, or if already in cover, to force them to keep their heads down to avoid the high volume of fire and concussive explosions. In practical terms this squad can be "blobbed" in cover near enough to contest an objective, while supporting an advancing infantry or vehicle element. Beta Platoon is designed to be near stationary, deployed in medium to heavy cover, only moving when a tactical withdrawal is necessary to consolidate a position. The inclusion of a commissar means that the legendary discipline of the Iron Guard will be enforced even if the face of enemy advance and returning fire.

 Dispersed formation

 In practical terms this is a parade formation, normally the mortars are grouped together, and well behind the infantry, shielding them from enemy fire cutting into the ranks.

First Squad of beta platoon preparing to attack their foes

 This is a typical squad who make up the platoon. The heavy weapon is a mortar, while the special weapon (not shown) off to the left is either a grenade launcher or a plasma gun. There are 3 Grenade launchers in squads 2-4 and a plasma gun in squads 1 and 5. allowing for maximum versatility and ranged effectiveness.


Some house-keeping blog issues. Firstly thanks to Natfka over at Faeit212 for putting me on his Blogroll, giving the Mordian 19th a large boost in readers, to those who are new, welcome. You may note that the picture quality has improved, many thanks to my girlfriend and resident photographer, Al. Regarding some issues around the 19th's age and presentation: the models need to be based, I have over a kilogram of black sand to accomplish this but I am likely to wait until the regiment nears completion to have some sort of Base-a-palooza weekend (or week given the project's size). Also I am aware of the lack of 65mm bases for the heavy weapons teams. I will acquire some, but anyone familiar with Mordians, or the other classic Imperial Guard ranges will know that the heavy weapons were 2 separate models with no base for the weapon. when funds permit I will acquire some bases from eBay or attempt to craft my own. Next post will be a continuation of Beta Platoon including the command squad some other pictures and info.
Thanks for looking/reading
-MedicMike 
  

Good Help is Hard To Find (Part 2)

The post tonight will be a continuation of the previous post looking at the Mordian 19th's command staff advisors. Again it's fairly late here so probably another picture heavy and somewhat text light post, but this represents the last of the current command staff and advisors for the 19th.

 

 This is the classic Psyker used as a Primaris Psyker by the Mordian 19th. I actually like the new model also, but I want the color to match this Psyker. This particular mini was painted using "fire Dragon Red (purple) I still have the citadel paint pot (its an old generation 1 paint pot, perfectly round with a flip to cap and the large "Citadel" on the label) the paints in rough shape, if anyone knows anything about reconstituting old paints, or a color equivalency, please drop me an email. I love the color and want to duplicate it, but I have been largely unsuccessful.

This is the first of 4 Tech Priest models I have planned to complete, not because anyone would want to use that many, but because I have always really liked the "Priesthood of Mars" and I have some vague notions of doing a destroyer tank hunter (Imperial Armour 1) in Mechanicus colours and making it either an objective or a unique mission. This mini is missing the backpack, I seem to be short one, so I will likely need to find one in an Ebay Bitz auction.

This concludes the Command Staff of the Mordian 19th. The next feature will be a post detailing Beta platoon which is the mortar artillery support platoon. Thanks for reading/looking
-MedicMike

Good Help Is Hard To Find

Tonight's post will be short and picture heavy, as I have been working so much lately that I have no time to sleep, let alone paint Mordians and blog. I average, in a typical week, to find the time to paint at least a squad or character mini/piece of terrain, but with work being what it is, I think I have managed to complete maybe 4 Mordian troopers in about 10 days. That, however is new stuff, and we are still looking at some of the original Mordian 19th characters, tonight's post focuses on advisors to the command staff.

 This is my officer of the fleet, I think he has a distinctly Mordian feel about him, but there is enough of a difference to mark him as the ranking imperial navy officer. The coat is the same Regal Blue as the command staff of the 19th. His paint job is in many ways superior to a lot of the Mordians, primarily because 1) he is a character model, I typically take about 5 times as long on a character model as I do a rank and file trooper. 2) he is recent (2-3 years ago). I am not an artist-extraordinaire, but I have improved a lot since some of the early paint jobs featured earlier in the blog. 

The Master of Ordinance has a distinctly Cadian look, but again I think it sets him apart from the other staffers, I may do a Mordian conversion (I know I have at least 1 spare of this particular mini with no paint yet) but for right now he fits in nicely.

The Lord Commissar is one of my personal favorites, he is painted similarly to my other commissars with black fatigues and cap with Regal Blue accents that set them apart from the average troopers, but still tie them in with the regiment. The Lord Commissar has a brilliant gore red cape that sets him apart from the blues used throughout the army.

  The picture isn't very good, and the mini is in desperate need of touch-up and repair, but this former lascannon loader has been retasked as a medic. If I get around to touching him up I will post an updated pic. The model is a loader with a Catachan head swap (the dour looking bandana one) and a little shave and fill on the lascannon power cell to make the medi-kit.

I think that's where I will end it for tonight, the Astropath, Tech-Priest, and Psyker can wait for another night.
As always thanks for looking/reading.
-MedicMike

  

Who's in charge here?

The Mordian 19th is such a large regiment (or at least it will be once painted) that they warrant a sizeable command staff as well as a host of advisors, retainers and attendants. Today I thought I would feature both the Captain and the Colonel (under various editions of codices they are both senior officers, company commanders or as I have chosen to maintain: the Captain and the Colonel)
Both are conversions of my own design, and they were done quite some time ago, so both are showing their age and could use some touch-ups. I will detail them individually and in a later post delve more deeply into their own unique fluff backgrounds.

First we have the Colonel, the most senior officer of the Mordian 19th that will ever likely see on the battlefield (I have toyed with the idea of creating a "General" to oversee apocalypse level games, but until I find both the miniature and inspiration the Colonel is the ranking officer on the field)

   So as you can see the model is based on Commissar Yarrick. Complete head swap for a lieutenant's head, removing the trademark eye and saving the hat. The overall effect is good, a little bit of paint touch-up would blend the disparate head and bodies together better. Yarrick's battle claw was removed, and a right handed power fist was installed. The Colonel was created in an era when Games Workshop still had a bits ordering system and the right handed power fist was the only one available and attributable to a non chaos model at the time (it came from a metal Space Wolf mini as I recall). Since then many, many, more sculpts of right handed power fists have emerged, especially Cadians both metal and plastic. The decal is off of either a tank sprue or an Epic vehicle sprue and is appropriately labeled Mordian/Mordia. The only issue with this mini is, based on the current (5th edition) codex, the model is armed with a stormbolter, which is and invalidated wargear choice. Most opponents have no problem with it being a master-crafted boltpistol/bolter. In a future post I will try and get improved pictures.

The Captain is also based around Yarrick but using the earlier model (old lobster-claw) he is showing his age too and could use some TLC brush attention.

So this Yarrick also received a head swap, but this time the original hat was not salvageable as I was still learning (as a teenager) to use a metal cutoff wheel and jewelers saw from my father. The sword should be fairly recognizable, its Azrael's, The old combi-bolter has been cut off and replace with a generation 2 plasma pistol, I kept the ammunition feed and endeavoured to make it look like a power supply (think hot-shot plasma pistol). This was one of the first conversions I ever did for my Mordians and is still one of my favorites.

Stood next to each other, the uninformed may have trouble differentiating between who outranks whom between the two miniatures. The answer is simple: to Colonel has a bigger hat, therefore he is in command.
Thanks for reading, up next is the advisors and command staff.
-MedicMike

Home Base, State of the Army

So at present my Mordians currently reside on the planet F.P.R.T.A Shelving (Flat-Pack Ready To Assemble).

Currently I have a multitude of Warhammer 40k Projects on the go: 1)finish the Mordian infantry, 2)finish the Valkyrie, 3)finish the Bastion and Aegis Defence Line, 4)finish the Mordian Rough Riders, 5)complete the Kasrkin squad, assemble 3 new Chimeras and 2 more Valkyries, 6)paint Mordian heavy weapons teams, 7)repaint the Baneblade and Leman Russes that just came in the mail, 8)answer the "Praetorian" question, 9)way too many Cadians. 

So I may have a little bit of what might be considered a herculean task list, but I have and abundance of time and considering the Mordian project has progressed to double the painted miniatures I started with 6 months ago (after several years hiatus) I think it may be attainable. Here is the current state of my Mordians (I am many things, adequate photographer isn't one of them)

  
To give you a running tally, that's 2 full platoons painted (the Platoon Command Squads are on the shelf above) and 3 squads from a third platoon. Total painted: 150 Mordians including command squads. This is where I am starting from, I have 13 more squads to paint, plus their platoon commands and all the heavy weapons. When I get too tired of painting static metal Mordians I will work on many of the other projects listed above. My goal is to complete this project by Christmas or early 2014 (definitely prior to the rumoured release of the new IG codex)
Next up: individual squads and characters, starting with the command staff and attendant advisors.

Thanks for looking,
-MedicMike July 12th, 2013

   

Why the 19th???

Every regiment needs a name, and a regimental unit number, the Mordian 19th, called Centurions of the Citadel, defenders of the Tetrarchal Palace, actually got their regimental designation based on one of my favorite series of novels. I am sure there are other Mordian 19ths and some might have even picked the designation before I did. I know there is reference in Imperial Armour 1 to the 19th Mordian Armoured division, This is no way an attempt to follow that piece of fluff or build on that backstory. I chose the number 19 because of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.

While I admit that some of King's work is a little bizarre, he is one of the authors I most enjoy, and this particular series is one of my all time favorites. The number 19 is a recurring theme that binds the protagonists together. Other characters and facets of my regiment borrow some names and  features from literature I have read, both historical and fictional.
A quick glance at my bookshelves makes it obvious that I have penchant for science fiction and fantasy. some other authors that are tops of my favorite list include: Robert Heinlein (all wargamers should read "Starship Troopers" the book is nothing like the movie), Tolkien; both the novels (although I still cant finish the "Silmarillion") and the movie treatments of Peter Jackson, Neil Gaimen, Isaac Asimov, and Ray Bradbury. Special mention goes to Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman for their work on Dragonlance and to various authors of both Star Wars and Star Trek novels. I am sure I am forget some other big names.
That's where the regimental number came from, the name "Centurions of the Citadel, defenders of the Tetrarchal Palace" came from my own brain, and fits nicely in with the Mordian fluff from the various Codices Imperial Guard.
MedicMike July 11, 2013    

Where it all began...

So the year is 1996/97 and thanks to some encouragement from my friends and their older siblings I got into Warhammer 40000. I must confess Imperial Guard wasn't my first choice, I wanted to play Eldar, but the group already had an Eldar player, so I chose Imperial Guard as my second choice and haven't looked back since. My first purchase was:

These guys are the first models I ever purchased or painted, aside from minor touch ups I have never repainted them since 96/97. Before you judge them to harshly remember I was 12 years old.

Troops aren't much good without someone to issue orders to them and keep them in line, my troops need an officer, so my second big purchase was:

note the massive anime-esque eyes, safe to say their was some cartoon influence here, But this guy took me days to do, and I was so exceptionally proud of him at the time I never had the heart to repaint him

Being 12 years old isn't really conducive to an expensive (relative compared to current prices) hobby but I had a job delivering newspapers, *back when there was a morning and evening edition, no digital copies, or paywalls and the 24 hour news cycle wasn't fully implemented yet* So I saved my coins and bought my first piece of 40k literature:

Speaking of cost, I think the Imperial Guard codex, cost $18-21 CDN and the troopers and lieutenant might have been $8.00 and $6.00 respectively, which is still a month of saving on a paperboy's salary 

That's where it all began, I bought more troopers and got some of my own paints for my birthday, and a couple of boxed sets for Christmas. Even in the second edition codex you needed a lot of troops, and the way you attached specialist units depended on incorporation of basic infantry squads. I was going to continue collecting for the next decade and a half

Just a couple more pictures of the original three, my start in the hobby. 

-MedicMike July 10, 2013