Genestealer Cult - Leman Russ Battle Tank

Hello Readers, long time readers of the WeeMen blog may recognise this as one of the long overdue Vraks PDF Leman Russ tanks from the Emperors Fist Battle Company started a long time ago in 2009 - seen here WIP. As I never had the time or patience for an entire Imperial Guard army, I sold 6 tanks and kept the others for a small allied force - perhaps.

With the release of the Genestealer Cult I saw a great opportunity to use older Space Hulk Hybrids, Purestrains and the few completed IG models I have.

So on to the first of my Cult completed models, a re-purposed Leman Russ Main Battle Tank, I finished off the painting, added weathering to tracks and rivets using the Typhus Corrosion liquid - these are no longer being maintained as they once were.

I added Cult Icons and 'burnt' off or defaced the remaining Imperial icons, adding some paint drips as necessary to complete the illusion. The front Aquila was removed using snips and a Genestealer Cult Icon put in it's place.

Here youcan see the defaced Squadron Numbers, overlaid with a tack-welded Cult Icon. I left the recognition numbers and lesser icons on the sponsons as the Cult has little time for these trivial matters.

Finally, the driver was made from a FW Vehicle Crew torso and a head from the Genestealer Cult upgrade sprue, I painted the skin Kislev Flesh with a Purple wash to give a slightly pale alien vibe. I will repaint the IG Squad hands and faces to match too. He also got a freehand Cult Icon on his armour shoulder pad - I will replicate these on the squad when they get new heads and allegiances...

Hope you like my transformation of an Imperial Vehicle to the subverted Cult of the Four Armed Emperor...

9000pt Apocalypse Madness - Picture Heavy

Another weekend, another 40k battle - this time Siph and I decided to go 'old school' with a good old fashioned floor battle - as we had a full weekend potentially available we went for a mammoth 9000 points a side, including titans and superheavies - as we arranged our respective armies together, it was apparent that this battle was going to be colossal, with potentially average 40k armies getting killed in a single turn. (Turn 1 and 2 being the Relictors!!- Siph)

The scenario for the titanic battle pitted the mighty Ultramarines against the Relictors. Each force included Reavers and, for the Relictors a Warhound from Legio Astorum. The Relictors had also included two Baneblades and an Emperors Fist of 10 Leman Russ Battletanks and a lowly squad of 10 Guard (all I'd painted! - Siph) to fight on their side. For the Ultramarines, a Shadowsword and Banesword fought on their side, along with a Vindicare and Eversor assassins.

### (Transmission) ### Marneus Calgar - this is Sgt Abacus, we have located the site were the forces of chaos once fought. The city of Andarc, once a proud Imperial City - now a wasteland of deserted buildings and wrecked tanks. We believe that we have located relics within the city, 5 in total. We have sent scouts ahead to monitor the location, however reports indicate that they spotted a large force heading this way - request further intervention - Lord Calgar - we have spotted titans - aaarrrgghhhhh...(static)(Transmission Ends) ###

## 'Sergeant Abacus, Lord Calger- confirmation- titans?' 'Sergeant Abacus confirm!' ###

### 'Master Librarian Ephesus - Ultramarines have been spotted within the city- how would you like to proceed? '

'Titan Honorum - engage the hostiles'

'Sir? - these are Ultramarines'

'They are here to prevent us taking the relics! We need those relics for the Emperor - engage!' ###

Deployment

As per a normal Apocalypse battle we selected our strategic assets, and the time to deploy. Having played a couple of apocalypse battles before, I knew how important going first was. I decided to opt for a deployment time of 90 seconds- Siph 22 minutes - Thus the mad dash to deploy all my initial troops started- with Siph laughing as I hopped over buildings trying not to cause too much damage. I was quite happy with the facts, that I had 3 trusty strategic assets- careful planning - allowing half the reserves to arrive on turn 1, flank march - allowing my reserves to enter from any table edge and legion relic - a nasty S10 power weapon, that doubles the users attacks, I gave this to my Jump packed Captain - 8 attacks on the charge- nasty!

Siph went for the precision strike - allowing all models firing at a single unit (Emperor's Fist against Terminus) to hit on a 2+ for a whole turn, Orbital Bombardment- apocalypse barrage (4) S8, AP3 of pain (which I forgot to use! - Siph. Doh!), and Strategic Redeployment - allowing any of my forces outside 12" of enemy to move anywhere across the table on Turn 1.

Deployment

Turn 1

Turn 1 saw the arrival of half the Ultramarines Reserves, taking key positions around the relictors deployment. In response the Relictors used the strategic redeployment to re-deploy force to the left flank of the Ultramarines.

Key moments- Saw the arrival of half the Ultramarines reserves, taking key positions around the Relictors deployment. In response, the Relictors utilised the strategic redeployment assets to redeploy forces to the left of the Ultramarines. The Ultramarine terminators supported by Marneus Calgar, and honour guard into the Relictors terminators, with the Relictors taking heavy casualties.

Turn 2

Key moments- Relictor Vindicators turn to combined fire against the Land Raiders- however the blast (even though it was 10inches missed!) Ultramarine Ironclad disposed of the Chief Librarian, and took a wound of the Relictors Chapter Master.

Turn 3

Key Points- Marneus Calgar finishes off the Relictors chapter master, The Leman Russ's take damage from the Land Raider Terminus, however the Russ's take out the marines holding the objective in front of them, the Ultramarine Scouts are blasted apart by the banblades in the centre- again leaving an objective clear. The Ultramarine captain with the legion relic charges into the Reaver, taking 2 structure points- in return the Reaver flattens the Captain with a mighty stomp. Ultramarines down 1 objective.

Turn 4-

Key Points- The Leman russ's charge into take the objective in the ruin- they open fire on the shadowsword by the Ultramarine held objective, causing a hit, which took a structure point, the result of which caused an apocalyptic explosion! (Siph rolled 3 6's in a roll!) the resultant blast killed the Ultramarines holding the objective! Marneus Calgar took all the firepower of the Reaver, falling after several destroyer blasts from the turbo laser destroyer! (simply overkill.... Jedi)

The end of the battle saw Siph holding 2 objectives, Jedi with 0 (due to the -1 legion relic)

Overall a really great battle, with several interesting situations. (I will be working to produce some Apoc House Rules as a post over the next few weeks.) it definitely helped having plenty of space for the battle, and having floor space for dice rolling/discussions/beer drinking. There were a few moments of heated discussions- such as drop podding next to a titan (within void shields) and whether a hit from a destroyer weapon should negate some invulnerable saves (storm shields) These are definitely special battles, which can provide those magic moments- the 3 6's Siph rolled was just incredible- then the apoc blast of 11inches taking my squad out holding the objective.

Vraks PDF Emperor's Fist Tank Company - Pt. 5

So after my last Vraks PDF post, John Lambshead from John's Toy Soldiers was asking about how the Army Painter Quickshade worked out for me. Well John, not too bad.

As you can see from the pictures, after leaving for 48hrs to dry as it is an oil based product (and the Purity Seal will shrink and crack), the shine prevented me from seeing the true results. Furthermore, although you can paint straight on to the Quickshade, it was fairly easy for me to rub the Citadel paint off so I've decided to matt varnish (GW Purity Seal) before continuing to do the detailing, started in the next photo.

As you can see from this photo the Quickshade results arn't all that bad and save a ton of airbrushing/applying washes. I would liken the Strong Tone Quickshade to a wash of GW Devlan Mud. There was a little pooling along the base of the track units however most was dabbed away with a piece of kitchen towel whilst wet, the remains will be covered up by weathering/mud splatter anyway.

Now just ten tanks to detail, highlight, further washes and weathering... oh boy.

Vraks PDF - Emperor's Fist Company Project Pt.4

So a quick update as this is a time consuming job for me. I thought rather than buy a heap of GW washes and spend ages brushing on or using that GW airbrush (which imho is a pain in the ass and very temperamental) i would try out a new (to me) product.

I was ordering some Army Painter Grey Primer to speed up my Relictors painting, which btw is a great match for Codex Grey, so I thought I'd get some of the quickshade too. I bought the strong tone as it recommended it for reds and browns and got to work.

The quickshade is designed for dipping, however a Leman Russ is a bit bigger than the tin so a normal paintbrush (DIY) was used. To prevent getting my finger prints over the finished tanks I also used the lids of the car sprays to act as holders on the underside and this had the added benefit of allowing drops of excess quickshade to drop away rather than pooling on the track bottoms.

So far, so good - i'll look tomorrow as it takes 24hrs to dry, and this stuff is oil based to you will need some white spirit or paint stripper to clean the brushes afterwards. Once dry I'll try Citadel paints onto the quickshade surface but if adhesion is not brilliant, a quick coat Purity seal should take the shine off and give a good surface to continue with the highlighting and detailing. It has the added bonus of acting as a varnish too so that should seal the car spray camouflage real nice.

Whilst we are on the subject of Army Painter, this was one coat of Grey primer on a bright red plastic mini. Not bad, only a few touch ups needed so i'll spray another coat before going straight to Badab Black washes and highlights and detailing... hopefully this will speed up the rest of the army painting!

Vraks PDF - Leman Russ Company Project cont.

Well, I've got the base coat and camouflage done on these beauties before I have had to return to work abroad (until just before Christmas!). This post was a scheduled post to keep Weemen ticking over so hopefully you are now reading it whilst I'm getting frakked at work by the training staff playing wargames for real!

The Company Command TankTank Squadron One - Thick Striped Camo PatternTank Squadron Two - Star Camo Pattern

Tank Squadron Three - Tiger Stripe Camo Pattern

These will now remain in situ until my return. I have yet to do a Devlan Mud wash and then detailing and highlighting. The tracks will get fitted once all the work is done leaving just weathering once it is all put together.

This is a huge project with ten of the beasts to get finished but I am glad it has now got up and running (crawling) after about a year in the partially built stage. One Emperor's Fist Tank Company on it's way for Christmas! Maybe that big pile of yet to do boxes will finally start to go down too.

Once back I will try to set up a production line type of affair doing each stage before moving on to the next, hopefully that will then assure an overall similar appearance.

Imperial Guard - Vraks PDF Leman Russ Update

Just a quick update. Basecoated the first tank in it's Camouflage pattern. This is a Company Command Tank hence the Hull Lascannon rather than a Heavy Bolter for the other Squadron Command Tanks, Searchlight, Track Guards, aerials for Improved Comms and he'll also get a Dozer Blade. 7 tanks primed and Red, 3 to go and 9 to 'Beige up'.

Question is - do I keep the dozer blade bare metal or just paint trims of it Camo, or whole blade Camo? And the Hull and Sponson weapons main bodies - Camo or not? What do you guys think?

Imperial Guard - Vraks PDF Leman Russ Project

So I have finally started to apply some paint to the Emperor's Fist Tank Company I assembled last year. They have sat patiently in the cupboard waiting for some spray paint. The plan is to spray them with Primer, then Red, then mask off some of the areas then spray Beige to create a camouflage effect, then wash and finally highlight and detailing - the same process i did for the Hellhound and that came out okay.

These will form the armoured wing of the Vraks Planetary Defence Force I've started to support the DKK forces eventually. I have already posted the first squad and the hellhound in the same red and beige livery.

This will take some time due to being away at work abroad for 11 weeks out of every 15 but hey it pays the mortgage!