We're Knights of the Round Table!

I'm nothing if not a traditionalist. Got my Bretonnian Battalion last thursday. Started assembling it almost  immediately, haha. Somehow the glue I was  using was drying literally half as fast as it had in the past. Small two-pack of superglue purchased at Lowes, you have failed me for the first time. Things sped up on Friday when Robert came over to watch movies and assemble his rat-men. Hobby Lobby glue, for one of the first times, proved the most effective way.


That being said, on to the army! Don't play armies you don't love. Don't let the fact that somebody else is playing the same army ultimately deter you from buying it.  I wish I'd been playing Bretonnians all along, haha. I love the Arthurian mythos. I am really digging these models. They are wonderful, and they're also pretty old. I don't think GW has touched the Bretonnian range in 7 or 8 years, and you know what? Even the most basic troopers are some of my favorite GW plastic models. And who doesn't love knights?

So far, I've only painted seven models. 6 men-at-arms, and one knight. A lot of the Games Workshop Bretonnian Knights are just... over gaudy. They don't look at all weathered, no realism at all. I know, I know, it's fantasy, but... Maybe I'm rambling. It probably doesn't make any sense. Anywho, my Commander will bear the same heraldry as the men-at-arms, since the foot troops will be his own household force, while the vast majority of the Knights will, of course, all bear their own heraldry. Here is my first knight, who has earned the nick-name The Black Boar.

 He is, as you can plainly see, black and white. Very crisp colours, but not gaudy. He looks very distinct without looking too silly. I think the paint scheme has a lot of dignity. But that might just be me. After that I'll be painting red and green  and blue and yellow knights. Knights of every colour of the rainbow!! haha.

Footnote: I'm fighting any number of urges to model every single knight after characters from A Song of Ice and Fire. Great stuff. Check it out. Coming soon to HBO.

And next, the Men-At-Arms. I wish they had better stats, you guys have no idea how much fun  I think these models are.

What do y'all think? I LOVE the way the shield transfers turned out. SO much easier than putting those blasted little things on space marine shoulder pads. I only have 34 Men-at-Arms, 32 peasant archers, 7 regular knights and one Pegasus knight. Until next time.

Update, no new pics.

Grettings, minions! Or, minion. I have a follower. That's nice, thanks Hilton. It's appreciated. Time for some updates!

The only Guard stuff I have left to paint are two autocannons, 10 Ogryn, and maybe a handful of random models. And one Commissar. And the Baneblade. Not a baneblade, it's one of the variants that I can't keep straight. I promised myself awhile ago that I wouldn't buy any more wargaming stuff until my guard army is done.

But I ordered a Bretonnian Battalion on Friday. I'm going to start a fantasy army, from scratch. I'll probably chronicle it here, too. But they won't be getting  here for awhile, so I'll endeavor  to finish my guard force. Also planning on buying the Imperial Sector, a week or 2 down the road. We need more buildings.

So, anyways, if you're reading this: Become a follower. Leave insightful or sarcastic comments. Is there anybody out there?!?!?! haha.

My next post will be all about my Commissar models, and close ups of a few well painted Guardsmen.

HERE IT IS! My company of the Cadian 8th Regiment, the Lord  Castellan's Own! Most of them aren't all that well painted, I have to admit. I've been working on this army for 8 years. EIGHT. haha. Man, the Eye of Terror Campaign was awhile ago, wasn't it? That's the main group shot.




Now, the more cunning and sharp-eyed among you will have noticed, and perhaps asked yourself "Why, it looks as if the Tanks are painted an entirely different scheme than the everything else. What's up with that?" Well, the answer lies in fluff. Ever since the Horus Heresy, Imperial Guard formations have been entirely made up of one type of unit. Infantry regiments are full of infantry. Tanks go  in the tank  regiments, and IG can't control spaceships. That way, if heresy takes root, a would-be Warmaster wouldn't have the full range of units at their disposal. So, while my Infantry are a solid force of Cadians, I've decided that their allied Armoured units would be from a Valhallan armored regiment. I'll probably slowly work towards an armored apocalypse force, the Valhallan somethinghundred-and-fifth.



 Here, we see the Valhallan Armored force pushing forwards, while the Cadian  infantry advances alongside and uses them for cover.



I personally really enjoy the grey-brown paint scheme. I have to learn how to get some more detail on the tanks. I've been focusing on getting my army up to the 3-colour standard.

Here, we have an Officer of the Fleet. I really like the model. Also, see his Bodyguard. I like it, thematically, since when I beef up a command squad, I always have an officer of the fleet,  and I always have bodyguards. It  made sense to me that a high ranking officer  of the Imperial Fleet wouldn't be unaccompanied by a personal armsman. Also, I had a spare Mordian lying around. So, here they are together.



And, because this post has dragged on long enough, I'll add a  picture of  my favorite commissar.



Anyways, I hope whoever's reading this enjoys it. Have at it, let  me know what you think. I guess I'll post about tactics or  something else next time. I still need to post pictures of the Stormtroopers, the other Commissars,  and some of my unpainted stuff.

*FOOTNOTE* I'd almost forgotten. You might also notice how there are three different paint schemes for the infantry models. Since I've been building this army for 8 years, there have been some changes. I'm working on getting them all up to the exact same standard. They all look fine. For now, I've decided that the FLUFF explanation for this  is that it's only natural that the newer  arrivals  to the unit would have cleaner,newer uniforms, some  would be a little more weathered, and the oldest models (from when I base coated my older models olive drab to save time painting the armor, haha.) So, they're a mixed batch, but I enjoy my horde of guardsmen.

An Update, Excuses about Updating, and some Rants

Heyyyyyyy everybody. Not sure if anyone's really reading my blog, at this point. I  have  no 'followers' according to the right hand  column of the blog, but  it's whatever. Only one real post, no pictures up yet, I didn't expect much more. I keep meaning and planning to take pictures of my army. They're all lined  up on  the kitchen table, just waiting. I'll have pictures up tomorrow,  and a post of some more substance, honest. As for now, that's what's up. Haven't played a game in a few days, I hope to work one in tomorrow night after work.

Let's see. What are some things about 40k that annoy me?
Thunderwolf Cavalry. Absolutely the stupidest idea I've heard in 40k, ever. Giant super human Space Marines... riding wolves. That's just really, really stupid. I can't fully express how very much I hate and loathe this idea without resorting  to lots and LOTS of profanity. Absurd. Utterly absurd.

A minor annoyance would have to be the way that rules handle weapon sponsons. A vehicle  should not have  to fire all it's weapons at a single target. You have a main gun for engaging your main target, and you have machine guns on the side to blast infantry. I really, really think that side sponsons should be able to engage any target they can see. That's just how things work.

Vehicle squadron rules are an annoyance to me, but I'm probably only saying  that because I'm a Guard player. It's only fair though, since  I can fit 9 heavy support  vehicles into 3 heavy support slots. I guess I get it, but  still.

Things I really like about 40k? I'd have to say it's mostly fluff things that I truly love. The fact that Blood Angels have horrific psychic visions on the eve of battle of their beloved Primarch, lying dead at the feet of the greatest traitor in human history, and this drives them to outrageous feats of rage and courage. That's really, really hardcore.

Everything about Gaunt's Ghosts. "A new Tanith, sir? Like the men talk about, when they're drunk or dying?"

The diversity of the Imperial Guard. There are, what, a million worlds in the Imperium? Some world have billions of people, some only thousands. Let's say that each world tithes only 100,000 (some less, many many more) men to the Guard. Not including the PDF, the Imperial Guard. Does that sound fairly reasonable? That means that there could be easily 100,000,000,000 Men and Women in the Guard. Imagine, then, every idea and image about the military you've ever seen. That's the Guard. They have entire divisions of elite soldiers comparable and superior to today's Special Forces, they have army groups drawn from worlds both feral and medieval, and glittering, brightly uniformed forces still marching to battle with drums banging and banners flying. So much diversity. I enjoy the immensely rich tapestry that this provides.

That's honestly what drew me to 40k in the first place. The incredibly rich storyline and backstory.

So, to turn this in to a magically interactive blog all of a sudden, I address YOU, the reader! What's your favorite piece of 40k fluff? Your favorite tidbit about the universe. Go for it.

Tomorrow will be about my own army.