Very Very Variant

I love terminators and I also love weird old 40k models. I originally collected this squad because I wanted my army look more modern than the 'beakie' armies which were just being phased out in favor of the flat faced stormtrooper looking models we now call MkVII armor. Mentors were all about cutting age technology (by Imperial standards, anyway) so I collected a couple squads worth of Mk VIII armor plus a very rare Captain in Mk VIII armor for the same reason.  They're all terribly old fashioned now.

 Very distinct from the standard terminators, yet obviously terminators. I have to admit, I don't see how a person would fit in these suits, but that's just a minor detail.

While no longer modern looking, they are still very cool models.

To become a Sargent in this squad, you have get your power fist arm surgically removed and replaced with a power sword arm. Painful, but worth it.  I just did this conversion so the squad could have a properly outfitted sarge.

1, 2, 3, 4, and 5

Chopped of a storm bolter and replaced with an rogue trader vintage assault cannon. This is one of my first conversions ever, done years ago, and it looks fine.

Scary! 

Forward, march!

-Adam!!!

Tank Hunters

One of the first things I bought when I got back into 40k late last year was a squad of Sentinels.  They were missing the bars that enclosed the cab, so when I saw a set of 3 armored Sentinel upgrades on Ebay, I snatched them up.  I also bought 3 Sentinel Lascannons and mounted them with magnets.  My weapon options include 3 Lascannons, 2 multilasers, and one Heavy Flamer.  Basically an anti-tank choice or an anti-personnel choice, depending on the army I'm facing.

If you know me you know I'm a fan of older models most of the time. The guard Sentinels are a big exception. These current models are easily the best version of this unit in the long history of 40k.  I'm keen to use them ASAP.

I cooked up a simple back-story for the squad last night.  Units 1 and 2 are piloted by a couple of hardened veterans, but unit three is always piloted by a rookie because Unit 3 pilots don't live very long. That's why Unit 3 is so beat up.

This Alt-Terminator got his Power Fist chopped off and replaced with a s Power Sword so he can be a legal Sarge. It worked better than I expected.

-Adam!!!

Rogue Trader Land Raider - First Contact

To be honest, I didn't actually finish the Rogue Trader Land Raider. I painted on it until the wee hours last night and into this morning and it's looks plenty good, but there's lots of rough details I'd like to get to before I call it finished.  No hurry now, and I'm itching to move on to my Imperial Guardsmen now (seems like I should make a Mentor Legion entry for this ML blog. Oh, well.)

Alex and I got down to the GW: Battle Bunker store and while we didn't make it in time to join the tournament. Probably for the best as neither of us are ready for that kind of competition.  We did get to play a more casual 1000pt per player special scenario.  Long story short, Alex's team won, my team lost, and we both had a terrific time.

My phone battery was dying (forgot to charge it last night) so I only got one photo.  Blurry and Alex's head jumped in front of the Land Raider.  Scenario: Imperials stand in the middle and hordes of chaos and aliens surround and massacre us. :)

Everyone I met today was super cool. Everyone.  Are gamers nicer than they used to be? The surliest person I encountered was a staff member, and he was just being professional. With 50+ gamers crowded around, I respect the professional tone as the correct communication style.

Anyway, Alex and I are signed up for the March tournament, so we'll be practicing up for that, both rules and strategy-wise.  It turns out I don't know, or mis-know, a lot of rules.  I'll be giving the rulebook a fresh review, for sure.

-Adam!!!!

Rogue Trader Land Raider - Finishing Touches

Not 100% finished, but getting there. It's turning out better than I expected half-way through this. It's a very old, very damaged model (it's actually two models bodged together) but if it was a real Land Raider it'd be 1000 years old at least. 

It's a bad-assed chunk of ancient technology given life by the machine God. Can I get a hellz ya!?!?

What did it used to look like?

This.

Then this.

I'll get it finished up and ready by Saturday for sure.

-Adam!!!

Land Raider: Prime

Had to take a break and wait for the ink to dry on the Rogue Trader Ultramarine Land Raider. The model is in pretty bad shape, so while it'll look ok, it's never going to win any contests.

Stripped and primed white.  

Glued together. I'll add the lascannons after its painted.

Kinda like the blue and white look, even though that white's just primer.

Meanwhile, Alex is painting \Imotek the Stormlord. 

Painted blue and black and doused in black ink. Once this is dry, it's drybrushing time.

-Adam!!!

25th Anniversary Ultramarines

I'm a little freaked out by all this 25th anniversary business. Why? Because I was there when it all started.  Minis were hard to get in Seattle back then, and many never reached us (not until 2nd edition, anyway.)

Most of my Rogue Trader collection was gathered in the 90's once Ebay took off as a resource for these sorts of things. Also, GW was selling pretty much everything they'd ever made on their website back then, making collecting older stuff a snap.  It's a little tougher nowadays, but I've already got 90%+ of the Space Marine minis they made back then, and here they are.

The whole army. About 2000pts, depending on what Elites I select.

Terminators, plus a Terminator Captain (far left)

Two Land Speeders. I stand my opinion that these are the worst minis GW ever made.

The original Artificer Armor.

Top, Devastator Squad. Bottom, Tac Squad of the original Space Marine models.

Veterans. Each has Terminator Honors (except for the Plasma Gun guy.)

Assault Bike 

Assault Squad. Two squads, actually.

Devastator squad (Lascannon x2, Multimelta x2) and Dreadnoughts in the back. 

These last guys are orphans. They don't currently fit into any squads.

-Adam!!!

The Big Dipper

I have two land raiders. One "Rogue Trader" style from way back in the day, and also one of the newer,bigger, Land Raiders. I like them both.  The older one is painted in the Mentor Legion white and green, and now that I have a modern LR for the Mentors, I'm keen to give my Rogue Trader Ultramarine army some old school Land Raider power.  The model, however, has already been painted at least twice, and has lost much detail in the process.  I can't paint it again without stripping it, something I've been nervous about doing. If I ruin it, I'll probably not be able to replace it.

One Mentor-style Rogue Trader Land Raider. Not a bad paint job, but I can do better.

This is the hard part.  

I'm hoping a couple of days in 25% Simple Green solution will be adequate.  I also hope I don't ruin my wife's Tupperware.

As with my other recent posts, it's my hope that I can get the Land Raider done in time for the 25th Anniversary event.

I'll post more as I strip and repaint it.

-Adam!!!