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It has been a while I suppose.

Over the last few months I've been working on an army on a budget using nothing but Start Collecting! boxed sets bought at a discount at the local gaming store, slowly building up a 1000pts Militarum Tempestus ground assault formation for a future doubles tourney and general small games of 40k. Just one more Start Collecting! box and I'll have everything I need, but in the mean time I'm getting what I have done, by slowly painting it up, one mini at a time:



About seven infantry models and one Taurox done, about thirty plus infantry and three more Taurox to go. sweatdrop

Though most of my hobby time is still sunk into various Horus Heresy projects, the most recent being a pilot and medical orderly:



The pilot is purely cosmetic and has no real game value, but has been a model I've long wanted to paint, but until recently (see below) never had a good reason to get. The orderly needs to be rebased and combined with something else later down the line before I consider her complete.

And the latest project for an upcoming 2500pts tourney in April, a Thunderbolt heavy fighter:



The Thunderbolt is mainly in the list just in case someone plans on bringing flyers of their own (and due to restrictions, the aegis defence line is not allowed), my army is ill-equipped to deal with that sort of thing, so the best course of action was to put down the last of my Christmas money and invest in some reliable combat interdiction, which in a pinch can work just as well against anything else on the table.

As of right now it has been primed, both black and then several thin layers of grey, to tie it in with the rest of the army. First big step now is working nuln oil into the panel lines and doing basic detailing.

As full of hubris as always, I hope to get most of it done before next Tuesday, when Ghost Recon Wildlands is released. I fear it will be a severe drain on most of my free time for some time to come. sweatdrop

Finished with all the gap-filling then, now that paint's on it? My FW project's on hold until I get my milliput (or find some new stuff).
I only ever see photos of your armies a couple minis at a time, you should take some parade shots sometime!

Aside from weathering, chipping and some really minor touching up here and there, done for now, not to mention on time before Wildlands' release tomorrow. sweatdrop











Thunderbolt "Elysia", which is it's nickname, not its world of origin, possibly a High Gothic bastardized version of "Elysium" or "Elysium Fields" as we know it now.

Nice and clean, less is more and all that. I've also decided to go with four Hellstrike missiles to count as the kinetic piercer missiles (48" S6 AP2 Heavy 1, Missile, Armourbane, Heat Seeker, one use) for the hunting of flyers and skimmers. Getting to re-roll failed reserves rolls when enemy flyers are on table is also a big help.

With that out of the way, my tourney list is almost done, I just need to paint up either 18 more Auxilia with lasrifles, or leave it as is and use 10 count-as Veletarii instead. I may go with the latter, instead focusing on weathering my tanks one by one now, which is something I can de piecemeal and squeeze into quiet moments before work.

As requested, a parade shot of the tourney army. 2500pts, using a regular Age of Darkness force organisation chart (variants are sadly forbidden) and all the other restrictions / whatnots that come with it:



102nd Expeditionary Fleet - 2500 pts

HQ
Rogue Trader - Displacer matrix, digital lasers, grav-wave generator, master-crafted Paragon blade, plasma pistol
Auxilia Tank Commander (joins Leman Russ Vanquisher) - Tank Hunters
Auxilia Tank Commander (joins Malcador Infernus) - Preferred Enemy (Infantry)

TROOPS
Veletaris Storm Section - Power weapon
Dracosan Armoured Transport - Auxiliary drive
Veletaris Storm Section - Power fist, shroud bombs
Dracosan Armoured Transport - Auxiliary drive

FAST ATTACK
Leman Russ Strike Squadron - 2x Vanquisher w. lascannon
Thunderbolt heavy fighter - Kinetic piercer missiles (4)

HEAVY SUPPORT
Malcador Heavy Tank - Demolisher cannon, flare shield, siege armour
Malcador Infernus - Chemical ammunition

LORD OF WAR
Stormsword - Sponsons

Aside from a pair of banners and some repairs to the blue Vanquisher turret, this army is ready. There is the whole ordeal of weathering all the vehicles, but this is something I will work on in due time, one vehicle at a time.



My next project though it to try and get my Ground Assault Formation done. Not so much to get games in, but rather so I can finally be done with it and have something striking on the shelf other than the current see of gunmetal and industrial grey. The last batch of heads and the last Taurox conversion kit have already been ordered from my usual UK third party bits sites and next Sunday I am hoping to pick up the last Start Collecting! Militarum Tempestus boxed set that I still need to fill out any blanks with the required models (one Taurox and four Scions).

41st Omega Banshees - Ground Assault formation - 1000 pts

Commissar - Lord Commissar, carapace armour, meltabombs, power weapon

Tempestus Command squad- Power weapon, 2x flamer, grenade launcher, medic
Taurox Prime - Taurox cannon, twin-linked autocannon

Tempestus Scions (9) - 2x plasma gun
Taurox Prime - Taurox missile launcher, storm bolter

Tempestus Scions (9) - 2x hotshot volleygun
Taurox Prime - Taurox gatling cannon

Tempestus Scions (9) - 2x meltagun
Taurox Prime - Taurox cannon, searchlight



There's also the matter of getting a 4' x 4' table / terrain setup done some time this year, using either the mat produced by Games Workshop or one done by a company called PWork Wargames:



Aside from pieces of GW terrain I've also been delving into various other kits and bits boxes to create some other pieces of clutter to populate tables with:



In future I'm also planning to add armoured containers, promethium pipes, a manufactorum and a Goliath truck to the collection, along with the terrain found in the Shadow War - Armageddon boxed set.

But for now.. more Militarum Tempestus.

More of a personal shopping list, as whenever I send out wishlists people flatout ignore them. emo

I swear, if I get that ******** book one more time.. emotion_donotwant

Second bit, later this year I'm getting a Matilda tank from your namesake Down Under ($80 ******** bucks though.. Ffffffffff-), I'm also sitting on a pair of dodgy St. Gloriana decal sheets. All it needs is a Gloriana tank commander to complete the picture, probably Rukuriri, which is a perfect match given the tank used.

Yeah no, never go full stupid. I'm not doing any of those ******** idiots, not unless you hit three sets of the day or feature on some other big thing or something.

Well whatever, flying pigs and all that.

This was spotted over on Facebook, which will be a future project for sure, whenever the budget and time allow for it:



Though knowing the company in question, it'll probably at least six months or so before it goes on general sale..

Yesterday I've been working on the last missing models from my ground assault formation, so the 1000pts list is at long last complete now. All that remains is to paint the lot.. emotion_facepalm As mentioned elsewhere I'm hoping to get at least one model done before the 8th of April, when Shadow War is released.

Chances are good I'll be picking up two boxes of that along with an organised play pack if the store can get one for me. I already have plenty of Orks, but these may be a good incentive for my brother to play more. If I can't field Tempestus Scions I'll go with plan B, which is to use the scouts, probably as Dark Angels, as I can't paint red nor do I feel like painting more blue, been getting a little sick of that one over time. Been ages since I last painted stuff green, other than viewing lenses and whatnot.

If I'm doing scouts though, they'll probably have something of a personal twist as always..