Stormcast Eternals - Thunderstrike Brotherhood

Last month, when the new Age of Sigmar Soul Wars was announced, I decided that now was the time to get off the fence with getting into AoS.  I really wanted the new Nighthaunt army but I also needed a good alternate opponent army.  Since both the old and new box sets include Stormcast Eternals, and since this seems to be the baseline army for AoS, I decided to go with them.

The contents of the first edition box plus one extra model.  This is the Thunderstrike Brotherhood.  This force is now available as a start collecting set.

I knew that the new Nighthaunts would really pull me in so I decided that I would have to work on the Stormcast first or they would likely not happen.  I was extremely luck and was able to buy a first edition starter set on clearance for a really nice price.

Lord Celestant on Dracoth.  This model can also be Vandus Hammerhand and in fact that is what it is called when you buy it on its own.  No matter how you play him this guy is a blast in the game.

The first task, obviously, would be assembling all the models from the set.  I went ahead and build the Khorne army as well.  I can see now why Games Workshop is stressing the easy build features of the new set.  These guys were kind of a pain in the ass to build.

Lord Relictor.  Early in the game call down lightning on your enemies and later in the game use his healing powers to bolster your force.  This guy is only available in the old starter set or the new start collecting box.

I was really amazed at the fine details of the models as well as how delicate some of the parts are.  I have mostly worked on GW sci-fi stuff and those models are beefier for the most part.  Many of these feel like they could break just touching them but it turns out that they are fairly durable.

Prosecutors.  These guys are fast and have a long reach.  They represent your ranged attack unit as well as your fast strikers.  Use them wisely.

Once assembled I had to work out the color scheme.  I cannot tell you how much I detest the gold dominant scheme that GW uses for these. In fact, that scheme was bad enough to really make me question doing the army at all.

Retributors.  These guys are NOT space marine terminators.  Nope.  Don't let the elite and powerful nature of these guys to confuse you.  Afterall, they have Lightning Hammers, not Thunder Hammers.

I decided to go with a scheme that had the armor looking more like traditional armor.  I wanted to go with cool colors and stay away from primary colors as the focus.  I used P3 Trollblood base for the shields and the primary army color.  I selected Vallejo Game Color Hexed Lichen as the accent color.  Once I got going on the painting my daughter pointed out I had selected the classic Arizona Diamondbacks team colors...hmm.

Liberators.  This is the core of your force.

With the right color scheme select the painting actually moved pretty fast.  These are really nice models to paint.  They are big with just the right details to make stunning finished models.  The colors are the key for these models.  I actually fell in love with this army as I was painting.

I need to get a box of Liberators so I can build a few other weapon options.  These are pretty flexible troops.

While I was working on the painting I was able to get in a few games to learn the rules.  Two of those game were with this army.  I really had fun with those games and I am glad I decided to give this army a chance.  I also played one game with the Khorne force from the starter set and it too was good fun to play.

Knight Questor.  This model is from my Warhammer Quest Silver Tower set.  GW has thoughtfully provided AoS stats so you can use him in standard AoS games.  I mostly painted him for quest.

I think I am really hooked on Age of Sigmar now.  In June I had nothing for this game but a lot of curiosity.  By the end of July I have a painted army and two more in the works.  My shopping list for this game is really getting out of hand but I am excited about this game.

US Marines for Bolt Action

My first army specifically built for Bolt Action is done (well, not really done but playable).  This is about 1200 points of US Marines.  All the models are from Warlord Games US Marines line and are pretty nice models.  The core of the army are made of plastic and much of the support is metal.

I started collecting these models a couple of years ago so this has actually been a pretty quick transition from and idea to a usable force.  I am rather notorious for projects taking YEARS before they are ready to play.  My friends and I had decided that when we made the transition to BA 2nd edition we wanted to play new Pacific war armies.

Platoon HQ with LT, platoon sgt, and runner.  The figure to the right is plastic and the other two are metal.

This is the first of two flamethrower teams.  These are both metal models.

The second flamethrower team.  The separate heads, even for the metal models, means you don't have to have an exact duplicate for a models like this.  The assistant is plastic.

Bazooka team of metal models.  You can build a bazooka in the plastics set but the loader would end up being generic.

This is my Forward Observer team.  This  FO is plastic and the radioman is metal from the Marine command set.  This army can have up to three FOs so I am sure I will be adding more.

Marine sniper team.  This one will need some work.  The assistant is actually not 'legal' under the rules as he has a rifle.  The army list actually specifies the assistant has a pistol and can be upgraded to an SMG.  This model will likely become an FO in the future.

M1919 MMG Team.  I really am not a fan of this set.  The gunner comes with a figure base molded to hut butt in a very awkward way.  It took a lot of work to remove this base so the figure would sit correctly on the plastic base.  The M1917 MMG does not seem to have this problem and I will be painting up a couple of those in the future.

81mm medium mortar team.  The mortar crew are metal and the spotter is plastic built from the Marine box set.  I noticed just now that I forgot to finish painting the bases on these.  

Navy Corpsman and Marine stretcher bearer.  The strecherman is a wounded Marine that looks to have been pressed into service helping the Corpsman. A neat little set.

Marine Squad 1.  Ten men with 3 BARs and 2 SMGs.

Squad two configures the same as above.

Squad three is the same as the other two.  I plan to add additional figures to take these squads up to their full thirteen man strength.  You can have up to three shotguns in each squad but I am not sure its worth it.

Action Shots!

OK, I've not played a game with these yet so I decided to pose some action shots to get me excited about getting these on the table.

British Para Army for Bolt Action

My hobby funk issue last month inspired me to just grab some stuff and start painting with no real concern as to why.  I pulled down a large assortment of British paras from the shelf above my paint bench and got to work.  A month later I have added 47 miniatures to this collection.  I realized that this collection has been documented in bits an pieces going back to the start of this blog 10 years ago.  It now seems like a good time to do a full documentation of the collection considering I have now painted all the miniatures I have for this force.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have never really build a 28mm army for Bolt Action specifically and this collection is no exception to that.  The first figures in this collection were acquired from my friend Tom more than 15 years ago.  These first figures were painted by another friend, Kevin.  Even though I was not a huge fan of the paint jobs on these original figures I never went back to repaint them,  As you will see below, I think they still match OK with my painting style.  A style that has evolved over the years.

Since this collection was not built with Bolt Action in mind it is WAY too big.  This is really a company of paratroopers and more than I would ever use in one game.

Company HQ and Support

First up we have Major Howard, a limited edition figure from Warlord Games.  He is accompanied by a Crusader Miniatures para with a captured MP40.  These are both recent paints by me.

This is my para sniper team.  The sniper is a Foundry model painted years ago by Kevin.  The spotter is also a Foundry model painted by me this week.  

The flamethrower is a Foundry model painted by Kevin and the assistant is a Crusader figure I painted about 10 years ago.  You can see the differences in the colors and style that make the figure painted by Kevin stand out.

The forward air controller/forward artillery observer team are Foundry miniatures.  The radio operator was painted by Kevin years ago and the observer was painted by me 10 years ago.

The medic is a limited edition miniature from Warlord Games and is a recent paint job by me.  I am really excited to have this one in the collection!

The 6pdr anti-tank gun team are Crusader models and recently painted by me.  This is a nice set but the gun is a little flimsy for a game piece.  I orginally had the gun and the team on a single base but I did not like the look.  With BA2 now specifying individual bases I will attempt to stick with that whenever possible.

First Platoon

The first platoon commander is from Foundry and was painted by Kevin.  Back in the early 2000's it was still fashionable with my friends to paint eyes.  I got over that years ago.

The medium mortar is from Crusader Miniatures and is a recent paint job by me.  I like Crusader a lot but their lack of variation in weapons team figures makes me sad.  I think I have 5 of the dude pointing.

The Foundry Piat team was painted by Kevin.  Again, the eyes.  Thankfully my eyes are getting to the point that I can't see this except in a picture or if I really study the figure.

This is a Vickers medium machine gun team from Crusader Miniatures recently painted by me.

Squad 1 is a mix of Foundry figures and Crusader.  About half these models are painted by Kevin and the other half are mine from 10 or so years ago.

Squad 2 is almost entirely Foundry with, I think, only one Crusader.  I think all but one of these were painted by me over the years.  

Squad 3 and again we have a mix of Foundry and Crusader.  Paint is also a mix of mine and Kevin's work.  This picture shows the difference in basing from one paint batch to the next.  They don't really match but they still look good together.

Second Platoon

Platoon 2 commander is a Crusader model recently painted by me.

Here we have another MMG team just like first platoon.  Painted by me.

This medium mortar team is from Warlord Games and was recently painted by me.  

Warlord PIAT team is a recent edition to the collection painted by me.

Squad 1 is back to a mix of Foundry and Crusader.  Most of these are older paint jobs by me with  one or two by Kevin.

Squad 2 is another recent edition to the collection painted by me.  These are Warlord Games figures that came in my Pegasus Bridge set. I was a little sad to see one duplicate figure but otherwise a nice set.

Squad 3 is mostly Crusader miniatures with the exception of the Bren team that are Foundry figures.  These are all recent paint jobs by me.  

Even though this represents all the figures I currently own for a British Para force I don't think I can say I am done.  There are still a couple of different gun teams I would like to add as well as Jeeps.  It will likely be a while before I tackle and more projects for this army.

French Napoleonic Army Update

Wow!  Six battalions painted and 2 guns for my French Napoleonic army.  I started this project nearly 5 years ago but in the last year I have made lots of progress.  I am working on the commander for this force and then it will be back to troops.

I plan to add 2 battalions of Warlord figures painted as Swiss.  These will be large units and I think I will add in mounted colonels.  I have some GMB flags on order for these units so they should pretty spectacular.  I will brigade the Swiss with the French so that will give me enough figures for t brigades for Black Powder.

After that I am going to paint 4 boxes worth of Warlord French as Italians.  This will give me a four battalion brigade for Black Powder.  These should be a breeze to paint as they are pretty much all white.  Once those are done I will be complete with my immediate plans for French and allied infantry.  Then it is on to either French cavalry or maybe Russians.

Flames of War US Tank Company

I have been wanting to build a US Tank Company for a long time.  Last year I bought some Plastic Soldier Company M4A1 and M4A2 models from a friend that was getting out of the hobby.  I had already started collecting some PSC models before I purchased the collection.  After playing a few games with my friends old tanks I decided they just were not getting the job done, so I decided to build and paint my own collection.

Here are the first 10 tanks for my new army, along with a couple of extras.

First up are the commander and the 2iC.  The figures are Battlefront and the tanks are PSC.

 The first platoon is also PSC with a Battlefront commander.  These tanks have the M34 gun mantlet and some have the rounded hull.

The second platoon are PSC with an Old Glory commander.  These tanks have the M34A1 mantlet and all have the bolted hull fronts.

This is the classic Battlefront US objective marker.  It is a knocked out version of their M4A1 model.  I never really liked the BF version of this tank.  The slope of the front armor looks wrong to me.

Finally we have the M32 TRV from Battlefront.  I will actually be playing this as the M31 for the time being until I order the correct model from BF.  I really like the new plastic tracks that BF are doing.  They are much nicer than the old metal ones.

Not a bad start on a new army.  This is just under 1200 points.  I have an M10 TD platoon and an M7 artillery battery in process so they will be getting some reinforcements soon.