Space Sharks - more rhinozerback progress

Well I had the day off and mostly to myself so I made sure I got quite a bit done on this puppy.
Finished drybrushing the armour and have given a basecoat for most extra details (except metal, did black last and needed to let it dry) tonight I will hopefully get another coat on each (and the coat of metal) so I can look to start with decals and weathering soon.

Single storm bolter, dozer blade & hunter-killer missile.


Twin storm bolter and razorback configuration (both with searchlight).


I'm particularly pleased with the way the front 'teeth' came out, so it looks good whether the dozer blade is added or not. I need to sort out the side 'teeth' as well, and I was thinking the headlights could maybe be red to look like eyes? Comments/criticism welcome.

distraction!

Well it was bound to happen. Of course I have about a week to finish my rhinozerback for the BoLS challenge, but I didn't have the right green for the weapons which means a delay until I can buy one tomorrow. So being bored I pulled out the Undead Blood Bowl team I primed a couple weekends ago. I know, I know, I should be finishing my Orc extras - but I just felt like doing something different and I have been planning to experiment with painting the Undead team.

Basically wanted to try a paint scheme where there are minor colour variations, and I do plan to try my hand at dipping these guys in wood stain. So I came up with this - basically a wash over main 'dead' area with a cool colour (blue, green or purple - I've got a light and a dark of each), with a drybrush of some type of flesh (dwarf for zombies, bronzed for ghouls, elf for vampire) or bleached bone. I plan to use a very dark grey for most of the clothing, with a rusted/bronze metal colour and some orange details.

light/dark purple wash
elf flesh/bleached bone drybrush


light/dark blue wash
bleached bone/dwarf flesh drybrush


light/dark green wash
bronzed flesh/bleached bone drybrush


Any comments on the colour scheme? Hopefully using just dark grey and orange/orangish (rusted) metal colours will tie the team together - while still having some variation.

Space Sharks - razorback turret.

Well the masses (all 30 of you!) have spoken, nearly 3/4 of you voted for the razorback (73%) so I've begun work on one of the turrets I had started (twin lascannons were done).

Now this has been made from a LR sponson weapon, so it's not a proper razorback turret. I don't care as I want my Space Sharks equipment to look well used and sometimes thrown together. However I'm not sure if this will help or hinder my entry to the BoLS Badab APC Edition hobby challenge, so I'm asking you to vote again (sorry!) based on the look of the turret - would you enter it as a razorback?

Here's a couple pics to show it off.


I'll update the poll now. So... what do you think?

2HD Blood Bowl league - day 11

Played two more games at Two Headed Dragon tonight. Both 1-2 losses to Matt, neither game was really eventful. Both did a fair amount of casualties in the second game. My troll had to sit out the second game (Matt's moment of glory for the day) and I have 3 guys sitting out next match. A blitzer and my lineman with block both gained advances, skills to both. Tackle for the blitzer and Dauntless for the lineman.

Currently
W/D/L
3/2/5

Space Sharks - rhinozerback (now for entry in BoLS Badab APC edition hobby challenge)

As promised here are some pics of my Space Sharks magnetized rhino. Not yet glued together, am ironing out the kinks in painting the interior. I want to glue it together before I drybrush the outside to try and get it looking smoother.

Please vote as to which direction I should take it for the BoLS Badab APC Edition hobby challenge.

You can kinda see the blue wash I gave the windows in this pic


Detail of interior


Two shots at rear-ish angle to show the turret magnet.



All the bits plugged in

BoLS Badab APC Contest - PERFECT TIMING

Some of you may have seen my post about magnetizing a rhino for my upcoming Space Sharks army.
I have made some progress on it to this point, it is primed, washed with some drybrushing/detailing on the interior.
I will take some more pics tonight to show you my progress, but how happy was I to see this post (http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2009/02/40k-hobby-challenge-badab-apc-edition.html) on BoLS today.

Great timing. Now I have some decisions to make - I have 3 razorback turrets I built from Land Raider sponsons, however they are not completely ready as I need some big washers to mount them to the magnet, and something to cover the rest of the hole in the turret rhino top (as used for preds/razorbacks/whirlwinds).

So do I put some effort into getting at least one of the turrets completed, so it can be displayed for the contest as both a rhino and a razorback? Or do I just run with the bits to make it a rhino for now? I've created a poll - cast your vote!

I should have no problems meeting the March 4th deadline. Need to get some decals printed, and resolve my method for painting the armour. Wish me luck!

2HD Blood Bowl league - day 10

Got two games of Blood Bowl in at Two Headed Dragon tonight. A 1-3 loss to Matt (brutal game, total of six casualties) in which I made a number of bone head mistakes - the biggest of which had to be forgetting my apothecary and letting my star goblin take a -1 MA injury!! :'( Four of my guys did get advancements though, one blitzer got mighty blow, the other strip ball, just gave the lineman block and gave the gobbo jump up, hopefully fooling some forgetful players. Second game was a 2-1 win over Karl (even with 450K of inducements to him), scoring twice with one of my blitzers, yet causing no casualties. No more advancements, but I finally rolled well for the gate, and currently have 130K to spend. I might need to hold off spending it to keep my team value down.

Currently
W/D/L
3/2/3

Index Astartes: Novamarines (mk1)

Well some folks really liked the fluff I wrote (several at Two Headed Dragon and even garnered top spot in Ryan from On the Painting Table's Monday Top Ten for this week) so I've decided I'll post it up here for download. What I really like is there's tons of room and options for creating more fluff. I definitely hope to develop further detail around Avra - my companies captain, Ashurtanival - my Tigurius 'Counts As' as well as Aniravvash - my dreadnought and the yet to be named Deathwatch marine.

IA: Novamarines

Tale of 2HD Gamers = Victory

Whew, what a fun day. Played two games of 40K, losing both. Took first place in the challenge (yay!) and I wanna congratulate Thomas for making it interesting. Had me worried when he started pulling out objectives, I was definitely glad I wrote up the fluff and built terrain. Being the only two entrants who completed the challenge we split the 3rd place prize. I ended up with the AoBR box (to be ordered) and $10, while Thomas has $50 to work with. I really found this motivating and hope I can get some minis for the Tale of 2HD Gamers - WHFB.

Update - calculated the final scores, I'm in bold.
Month 4 scoring;
9 Thomas - fully painted, 1 game, 1 win, 2 objectives, 2 terrain pieces, best painted
9 Tristan - fully painted, 2 games, 1 objective, 2 terrain pieces, written fluff

Final standings;
29 Tristan - fully paintedx4, 7 games, 2 wins, 3 objectives, best paintedx2, 2 terrain pieces, written fluff - complete
24 Thomas - fully paintedx3, partially painted, 3 games, 2 wins, 2 objectives, best paintedx2, 2 terrain pieces - complete
6 Ian - fully paintedx2 - incomplete
5 Ken - fully painted, 2 games - incomplete
4 Josh - fully painted, 1 game - incomplete

For reference (Grey Knight)
16 Karl - fully paintedx4, 2 games, 2 wins - complete

Then played a great game of blood bowl with Karl, orc vs orc. It was pretty much a ruckus from the get-go. I stomped my way down the field, losing and re-gaining the football before scoring in the last turn of the half. Karl flung his gobbo for a touchdown. Fouling and the ref were much in evidence. My troll didn't go stupid once this game, and caused two casualties. Karls troll however spent much of the game stupid, costing him 2 wasted re-rolls failing his loner test, and at least two Blitz actions. Late in the game I had a failed attempt at using Hail Mary Pass with Diving Catch, and Karl started passing the ball upfield. He managed to get it to a lineman who I managed to get a tackle zone on by blitzing his troll with mine, and running my thrower in. I did run a lineman in but he fell. Karl went to blitz my thrower and failed his go for it without any re-rolls. I got a second chance at the Hail Mary / Diving Catch combo. Gobbo still managed to scuffle it. Game ends as a tie, 1-1. Awesome.

Tale of 2HD Gamers - the day of reckoning!

Well the day has arrived. Last night I packed up my Novamarines to bring into Two Headed Dragon for the final date of the Tale of 2HD Gamers challenge. I also took my point form fluff and fleshed it out to proper paragraphs (for the most part) with some added detail. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I've also got my completed terrain piece made for the store (hopefully scoring a bonus point just to lock it up) but I doubt anyone will have a camera - which is disappointing as I thought the army looked great all setup on some terrain at home.

Fingers crossed I'm walking outta there with a new AoBR box - hopefully Eng (one of the employees) has his AoBR there so I can leave with two sets of Space Marines.

For the Emperor!!

2HD Blood Bowl league - day 9

Another thursday night @ Two Headed Dragon. Played a single game against Matt. He managed to score in the first turn with his star gutter runner, MA 10 with the sprint skill! I had some pretty unlucky dice rolls early on (and I think my troll had 2 turns where he wasn't stupid!), however made it back scoring with a pass to a blitzer, and the highlight - fouling his #2 (the gutter runner) straight DEAD! He had an apothecary so this took two 61+ rolls. Ahh #2 - you were so hated I got a round of high fives. Nearly brought a tear to poor Matts eye. Second half he only had 9 guys to setup, and then his kick off landed in the hands of one of my black orc blockers - who promptly caught it (needing a 6!) and led a push all the way down the field (killing outright another skaven), scoring my second touchdown. By the end of the game Matt had 5 players left, most prone or stunned.

Gained me an advancement for my thrower, the black orc scorer and a lineman who had a casualty and got MVP. Gave the thrower hail mary pass (my star gobbo has diving catch - hehe), block to my black orc (duh) and I gave the lineman guard, just for something different. Also gained 50k gold, which I'm gonna save because I really think I should get another thrower since Hurt Warn'r has +1 agility and hail mary pass - he can put the ball where I need it - but he's bound to attract some negative attention.

Novamarines Fluff - historical timeline

I've taken the bits of fluff I could find, and themed my stuff around babylon due to the ties with astrology.
Here I've tried to add further details, and flesh it out a little point. Mostly point form stuff.
I hope to have something typed up to bring on Friday for the Tale of 2HD Gamers.
Just not sure which way I should go for their home worlds' sun dying. A or B - what do you think?

History:
021.M31: Second Founding
* chapter founded and gifted the world of novalon as it's homeworld, with a sacred quest to follow the insights gained by their astrologers to combat the four monsters of myth (chaos gods - see below)

Chapter Master - Nur-Vuen
M37: The Novamarines are scattered throughout the galaxy, and have not fought together as a chapter since the early years of M37.
* purposely scattered. following the direction of librarians to effect change in key incidents.
* each battle company recruits as they travel, usually have scouts.
* time of colour scheme change. each battle company has been sent on seperate missions, and are are periodically reinforced by reserve company units. the quartered scheme represents the split of the battle companies in different directions. each mission is devoted to fighting the 4 chaos powers.
Most renowned questing Chapter Master - Hannuravi

The novalonians?/honorums?? have their own names for the chaos gods.
Qingu (mankind's blood) = Khorne (questing company: 5)
Namtar (deadly illness) = Nurgle (questing company: 4)
Zu (the winged lion - shapechanger) = Tzeetch (questing company: 3)
Resheph (plague & war - shapechanger) = Slaanesh (questing company: 2) nb. plague mistranslated meaning mutate

499.M41: Ashurtanival becomes Chief Librarian.

901-912.M41: Badab War
907.M41: Novamarines and Howling Griffons are brought into Badab war allowing the Red Scorpions and Fire Hawks to return to their duties in the galactic east.
912.M41: The Novamarines were granted salvage rights to spacecraft and a portion of booty for their part in the Badab war.

914.M41: Sometime after this date – chapter symbol changes?
Chapter Master - Sansu-divana - chapter master at the time of darkness (sacking of novalon)
Fulfillment of chaos (zu?) plan (to combat novamarines quest to influence key incidents against chaos)
causes the sun for novalon's system to
A] supernova, results in most living on novalon to perish from heat,
B] burn out unnaturally, results in arctic shift causing those without underground shelter to freeze,
followed by an attack though the world survives and is renamed honourum for those who died.
Chapter Master - Vannash - institutes symbol change

940.M41: Chapter Master - Aniravvash dies fighting Tzeench cults revolt on planet Chicano and is interred as a Dreadnought, the world is lost.

Current Chapter Master - Tivtanzi
Current Captain 3rd Company - Avra, named after Avra-Hanin, hero of the flood myth - new disaster foretold.
998.M41: Novamarines task force Septus under attack from Chaos Renegades believed to be in the employ of Huron Blackheart.
999.M41: Abaddon's Thirteenth Crusade
Sent 6 companies, largest combined action by Novamarines chapter
* All four battle companies plus two full reserve companies

Novamarines - definitely army looking!

Well here's a sneak preview of my completed 1000+ points Novamarines for the Tale of 2HD Gamers challenge at Two Headed Dragon. It includes;

• AoBR Captain (Avra)
• Converted Librarian (Ashurtanival)/Tigurius 'Counts As'
• AoBR Tactical Squad
• Converted Deathwatch Sergeant + Extra Bolter Marine
• AoBR Terminator Squad + Converted AoBR Heavy Flamer Terminator
• 11 Scouts - 2 Bolters, 3 Shotguns, 3 Sniper Rifles, Heavy Bolter, Missile Launcher, Converted Sergeant with Combi-Flamer.
• AoBR Dreadnought (Aniravvash)
• 3 custom objective markers (ammo dump, lost terminator helmet, wounded veteran)
  

Sorry for the crappy pic. Short term plan is to get lots of games in. Longer term I'm planning to treat myself to 2 bolter scouts and 2 bp/ccw scouts (hopefully ebay turns up something cheap) to round out to 15 and really give me lots of options as to arming them. As well once I'm happy with my scratchbuilt drop pods I'll eventually want two (one for dread, one for tac) so even setting up first I could not have a model on the table. One I get those final scouts painted up I will also go through the whole army for at least a round of highlights.

Scratchbuilt Drop Pod mk1

Well I figured I'd get in on the action and post up a pic of my first try (mk1) for a scratchbuilt drop pod. Of the three door dreadnought variety, I really want at least one door to fold down. Also found the cardstock just too thin to give it any depth - may continue to use it for doors, but I'm going to switch to plastic card for details.

I still need to add little half rolls of card under the door to represent the hinges, and a design cut to lay on the doors. Truly not happy with this though - so I think I'm going to donate it to Two Headed Dragon as a terrain piece. The doors look all beat up anyways. I'll still probably paint it in Novamarines colours though. Maybe just leave it at the store so I have something to do in between games.

Space Sharks... Magnetized Rhino pics

OK, since I need to prime this sucker tonight/tomorrow I grabbed some pics of the magnets while it's not completely assembled. I've highlighted the various magnets and what they're for.





11 magnets used so far. For the smaller attachments I've just glued paperclips to the area.
For the sponsons/turrets and vindicator cannon I will probably use another magnet to ensure a strong enough bond.