Curse of the Alabaster: Arbites compete!

The sentence is DEATH.

Although the Curse of the Alabaster event has come and gone, we feel that we would be remiss if we did not show you the last two models from the Adeptus Arbites squad, alongside the entire group! I am pretty thrilled to have finally finished the group, the five models taking longer to paint than I anticipated. The last two Arbites in the squad to be painted were Jian Zhou, the squad’s technical specialist, and Ada Fortescue, the unit’s sniper.

Curse of the Alabaster: Arbites warband rules

Justice has a price. The price is freedom.

With the Alabaster event only days away, we decided that now is a good time to reveal the rules that we designed for them.  They were created using Migsula’s “Dozens” system, with the Necromunda ruleset.  In addition to the rules themselves, we also included the warband’s basic objectives for the games as a whole.  Let us know what you think!

Curse of the Alabaster: More Arbites enter the field

To be just, our law must be cruel.

With the Alabaster event less than a week away, I figured it time I share a few more of the Arbites that I painted for it.  The first is the only male in the group, Marion Helm, the group’s medic.  The second, Valentina Radonovich, is the team’s demolition specialist.  Both were painted like first, with drab earthy hues, covered in dirt and grime, befitting the long operation into the cursed hive.  Rather than drone on, I will let the pictures speak for themselves!

Curse of the Alabaster: First Arbite painted

The Emperor's work is never done.

While it has been a long time in coming, I am happy to say that the first of my converted Arbites is painted! I started trying to paint three of them at once and when I got to highlighting their jackets I had to stop and paint them one at a time; otherwise I feared that the quality of the painting might suffer.

Curse of the Alabaster: Arbites assemble!

Into the breach...

Having finished assembling the first two arbites with shotguns, I was excited to start building a few more for the Alabaster project.  For the others, I wanted to create some different weapons suitable for long-term operations, while maintaining the compact nature seen with the shotguns. Additionally, I was interested in exploring the idea of giving the different team members unique specializations; after all, the team was formed from members of Adeptus Arbites precincts all over the planet.

Putrid Blightkings: Death Guard Terminator Conversion 3 Finished

Death to the False Emperor!

With the first two Deathguard terminators completed, I was down to a single model to complete. For each of the others, I explored different aspects of Father Nurgle, from the corroding smoke stacks and boney spikes of the first, to the bloated corpulence of the second.  With the third Death Guard terminator, I decided that I wanted to explore another iconic aspect of the XIV Legion, the Deathshroud. The Deathshroud were chosen from the elite of the Death Guard Legion, and served as bodyguard for their Primarch Mortarion. Each member was suited in terminator battle plate and carried a two handed power scythe known as a Manreaper. Additionally each was equipped with a wrist-mounted flamethrower fueled with potentent chem munitions. I was never very impressed with Forge World’s Deathshroud offering, finding them very plain with oversized scythes, so I set about trying to make something more to my liking (with the added benefit of mine being post-Heresy, when they fully embraced Nurgle).

Putrid Blightkings: Death Guard Terminator Conversion 2 Finished

Their number grows...

After the success of finishing my first Death Guard terminator, I was excited to start working on the others, and see what Nurgle elements I could explore.  For this second Death Guard terminator, I really wanted to show a warrior who has been blessed by Father Nurgle, a bloated and corpulent warrior, nigh on bursting from the seams of his armor. I am happy to report that the 2nd Death Guard terminator is finished and awaiting paint.

Putrid Blightkings: Death Guard Terminator Conversion Finished

A fell wind blows...

The year is already well past the halfway mark, and up until this point, I have not shown any progress of one of my favorite projects I started last year, my Blightking/Death Guard terminator conversions.  I am happy to say that the first of my Death Guard terminator conversions is finally complete! Now that the first terminator is finished, I thought it would be a good opportunity to talk a little about how I went about the conversion and my thought process. Also with a little luck I will be showing you completed versions of the other two Death Guard terminators in the coming month!

INQ28: Painting Beltran Destrieux

We are all but a weapon in the right hand of the Emperor.

The release of the Skitarii Rangers was an exciting time for the Inq28 community, giving a wealth of excellent conversion opportunities (and finally some plastic Adeptus Mechanicus models!). They where also the perfect models to base Lucanus Molnár’s first companion, Beltran Destrieux, a soldier in one of Stygies VIII Explorator Fleets. Having finished all the conversion work on the model, the next step was to devise a color scheme and then get to painting him. The backstory that Eric and I created proved a good place to start. Thankfully we were able to find Stygies VIII color scheme in the Skitarii codex. Unsurprisingly, it had a major emphasis on red (Hail Mars!), with all of the armor being a deep crimson. Unlike the other Forge Worlds, it also had a large amount of black, with all their coats and robes sable.

Unboxing: Tech-Priest Dominus

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Although the Skitarii release was a very strong one, with a host of excellent models, I could not help but feel a letdown when it was confirmed that there would be no HQ choice in the codex.  This was a shame because with an army themed around esoteric, archaic technology and ritual, there certainly is not a shortage of ideas for creating exciting character models.  When rumors about the Cult Mechanicus started to circulate, however, I was pleased to hear that they were going to correct this, by releasing an HQ choice in the form of the Tech-Priest Dominus.  And after seeing pictures of the model, I think it was worth the wait, and think that the Dominus may be the best Adeptus Mechanicus model that GW has released. These are words I do not use lightly, considering the excellent Rangers, Sicarians, and Kataphron servitors.  I got the Dominus as soon as I could, and having assembled him, wanted to let everyone know what I think about the model, both aesthetically, and in terms of ease of assembly and quality.

Skitarii: Progress Report

Servants of the Machine God assemble.

Games Workshop continues its relentless release schedule, having just finished the Eldar and the Imperial Knights, it is about to complete releasing a set of kits for the new Cult Mechanicus, just a few months after the Mechanicum entered the scene through the Skitarii. Despite our excitement for these new Mechanicum models, we work pretty slowly at Between the Bolter and Me, and are still hard at work finishing our Skitarii. So before the internet floods with new Cult Mechanium models and conversions (and we break down and buy some too), we decided it was a good time to show everyone the progress that we have made with the Skitarii, namely how the Rangers and Infiltrators are coming together, in addition to the Inquisitorial operative, Beltran Destrieux.

INQ28: Skitarii Ranger conversion - Beltran Destrieux

The machine spirit guards the knowledge of the ancients.

Having finished Lucanus Molnár last month, we at Between the Bolter and Me have been musing about his background quite a bit, and decided it was time to share some of it, particularly how he became a member of the little know Ordo Machinum:

Although initially a member of the Ordo Xenos (with an obsessive fascination with the Ghost Warriors of the Iyanden craftworld), after his investigations into an aberrant technovirus (OTAV1X) led him to the to the forgeworld of Stygies VIII, Lucanus Molnár shifted his primary allegiance to the Ordo Machinum.  The shift went largely unnoticed in the Pacificus Conclave, and seemed a natural transition for the technologically minded Molnár.  Even the Mechanicum’s quick acceptance of his presense did not raise eyebrows, with the prevailing thought that his timely aid with the OTAV1X scourge opened doors.  The truth of the matter is more iniquitous, and while garrisoned on Stygies VIII, he uncovered elements of the heretical Xenarite sect.  The Xenarites, scholars and archivists of xenos technology, were thought to be eliminated in the Inquisitorial purge of 335.M36.  Instead of reporting the sect’s existence to the Conclave, Molnar saw a potential ally, one who might aid in his search for technology (human or xenos) to restore the Emperor to his former glory.  And so a tenuous union was formed between Lucanus Molnár and the Forge World of Stygies VIII; the Mechanicum would aid Molnár in his holy work, providing the limitless material resources and wargear that only a Forge World could supply, and Molnár would ensure the less “open-minded” members of the Inquisition would not learn of the thriving Xenarite sect within their midst.

Unboxing: Adeptus Mechanicus Sicarians

Hail Mars!

Games Workshop have certainly hit the Adeptus Mechanicus release in stride, with one exciting release after the next. After the excellent Ranger/Vanguard box, one of the strongest releases GW has had in recent memory, I felt we would be lucky to get something even half as inspired.  Amazingly, the third kit they released for the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Sicarians Infiltrators/Ruststalkers may outshine even the Rangers. Venturing away from the more subdued Ranger design, they created a group of esoteric, inhuman assassins, perfect for the cold data-fueled logic that commands the Skatarii on the field. I got my hands on a box of the new unit and wanted to let you know what I think!

Unboxing: Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii Rangers/Vanguard

Glory to the Machine God!

Having only just unveiled a high profile release in the new Harlequin models, Games Workshop continues its relentless pace with an even more exciting release, the Skitarii of the Adeptus Mechanicus!  Although the followers of the Machine God have been in 40k lore since the beginning, and have been explored extensively by Jes Goodwin and John Blanche, there have been very few models to represent them in Warhammer 40k.  Back in 2000, GW’s Skullz program gave people a chance to get a few promotional Mechanicum models, but it was really only when Forge World started to create models for the Horus Heresy that people began to seriously consider starting armies dedicated to the Machine God.  So when rumors started to circulate that Games Workshop might create a line of plastic Mechanicum models, it was hard not to get excited, particularly when the FW models are so stunning.  I am pleased to say that these rumors have become a reality, and although the models are quite divergent from those released by FW, they are no less imaginative and exciting.  Always being partial to the line and file soldiers of an army, I decide to get a box of Skitarii Rangers/Vanguard (the troop choices in the new codex), to see what the new models are like.

The Unforgiven: 2nd thunder hammer storm shield terminator

Storm of Vengeance!

When starting to build the first Deathwing terminator with a modified thunder hammer, I really just wanted to see if I could do it effectively.  It seemed like a good way to start out the year, something rather straightforward that I could easily pick up later, expanding the unit.  The first went so well and was so fun to make, however, that I immediately wanted to make another!  Now, less than a week later, the second Deathwing terminator is complete, ready to crush the skulls of those stand before him!

The Unforgiven: Building a better thunder hammer

Faith is the sturdiest armor. Hatred the surest weapon. 

I have been playing a Deathwing army for a long time, starting sometime back in the 3rd edition of 40k. Since then, terminators have changed quite a bit, but it was in 2008, with the release of the 5th edition Space Marine codex, that they really saw a boost in their combat prowess. I am speaking, of course, about the storm shield, and its boost to a 3++ (invulnerable) save. For the first time ever, it was easy to get an invulnerable save that had a greater than 50% chance of succeeding (it was, as they say, the new black).  It took awhile, but eventually the Dark Angels got an FAQ that improved their shield to that of their Ultramarine counterparts. I was thrilled, and immediately purchased a box of assault terminators, intent on adding a new unit to my Deathwing force. But after carefully trimming all of the pieces, I stopped. Having the models in my hands, I finally convinced myself of something that had been troubling me for years, their thunder hammers were simply too big. So I resolved to convert them, but nothing really seemed like a suitable base for new hammers, and the terminators sat in their box. Now, many years later, after playing some games of 7th edition, I realized my army would really benefit from a few thunder hammer/storm shield terminators (THSS).  Adam and I began to discuss possible ways to make some improved (in our opinion) THSS terminators.

Between the Bolter and Me: 2014, a year in review

2014, a fine year for conversions.

It is hard to believe that Between the Bolter and Me has now been around for over two years. The blog has served as a tremendous way to encourage all of us to continue pushing our abilities as hobbyists. This past year has been particularly successful, with us completing more conversions than ever! Furthermore, we have tried our hands at increasingly complex conversions. With 2015 just beginning, we wanted to review the most notable projects from the past year. This will serve as a means to help highlight those projects that still need to be finished and also provide inspiration for new projects.

The Ghost Legion: Building Alpha Legion Headhunters

I am Alpharius. 

It has been a little while since my first post about starting an Alpha Legion strike force for Zone Mortalis. I have been making steady progress on the force and can now finally show the results of my efforts! As I hinted at in my previous post, I have been hard at work on converting a Headhunter squad. The idea of a small cell of Space Marines that excel in infiltrating and sowing dissent and confusion in the enemy ranks is fascinating to me.  Particularly because, although always described as remarkably skilled and determined warriors, Space Marines are rarely likened to assassins (with the exception of the Alpha Legion’s Headhunters). Building a squad of these espionage agents presented an interesting challenge in trying to implement those unlikely themes into a unit of Space Marines.

Dark Eldar: Duke Sliscus conversion complete

"We learnt long ago that the inscrutable universe turns upon an axis of suffering, because pain is inevitable."

The past month and a half has been a busy one for me, as I prepare for my PhD thesis defense. Despite that, I have found some time to spend on the hobby and used it to finish my conversion of the Dark Eldar Duke Traevelliath Sliscus. Started sometime last year, the conversion was very close to completion when I was distracted by all manner of other projects.

Ork: Burna Boy Conversion

Slammin’ 

The past few weeks have been interesting ones for Games Workshop as they have been focusing on releasing a new range of ork models. Considering it has been years since any new ork models were released, one would think it would be cause for wholesale rejoicing.  However, Games Workshop are going about the release schedule differently than any in the past, and rather than releasing the Codex and a multitude of kits within a week or two, they are releasing individual kits at a snail’s pace. In a span of three weeks they have released the Gorkanaut/Morkanaut, followed by the Flash Gitz, and now the Mek Gunz and a Shock Attack Mek. But still the Codex book, which would give us the rules for these models in the context of the ork army as a whole, is nowhere to be seen. During this awkward interim, I have been doing some thinking about the orks myself and I thought that it would be a fantastic time to revisit them myself and convert a model or two (who doesn't like ork conversions?).