Count as Kasrkins

 This time round we have my count as Kasrkins, the Wargames Atlantic Bulldogs from the Death Field range. The box actually comes with 24 models but I am only using 20 here. The other 4 are being added to my 3 Grognards (also Wargames Atlantic Death Fields) that I have had lying around without a home for a while. These 7 models are being used to form a command squad, Commissar and Castellan for the army, I’ll try and post some pictures of them sometime soon, if I remember!

First up, the group photo, with test model front and centre this time!

Both squads are pretty much the same, the only difference being the special weapons within each squad. 

The first squad contains flamers and grenade launchers. While these might not be the greatest weapon options to the Kasrkins, I wanted the two squads to be different for no other reason than I want to have all the options and not just some cut and paste super units. Both squads also have the Hotshot marksman rifle, because why wouldn’t you? The rest of the squad is formed of a Sgt and some riflemen, not vox casters in here though, I decided that it wasn’t really necessary as they are going to have a Castellan with them to issue orders and they can also issue themselves an order per turn, so the vox caster abilities are not really needed, plus I didn’t have any suitable vox caster (I actually do, but I forgot when I started building these and now they are primed I’m not going to bother changing them now as I really don’t think a vox caster is needed) 

There were some issues with these models. Most of them went together nicely with out any issues, however the grenade launcher just does not fit at all. The only way to get the launcher to fit without modification is to put it in some random awkward position that just looks really unrealistic. With some modification to the torso and weapon you can get a reasonable fit and look to the launcher. The flamer on the other hand works fine but i wanted to show off the gas mask fitted to the two flamer models. This was because I decided that these two guys would need some extra protection when so close to the flamers and to deal with any potentially leathal toxic fumes from the flamer or anything they flame. I think it makes them stand out a bit as well. 

Lastly from this squads we have the Sgt, and when you have a hand holding a tea cup you can guarantee that it will be getting used! So the Sgt is carefully carring his cuppa in to battle, just in case he gets thirsty or runs in to a problem, cos everybody knows there’s no problem that cant be solved over a cuppa tea. 

Pistol at the ready just in case.

All of the Riflemen in both squads are equipped with the SMG style weapons. I did think about using rifles for all the models but decided to keep them for just the marksmen and there weren’t enough carbine arms in the pack, so i went with the SMG style weapons. All of them also carry backpacks, as the bottom of the pack and not carrying any specialist equipment, they are lumbered with carring the extra kit and ammo. 

The second squad is armed up with the plasma guns and hotshot volley guns. In theory I will be able to mix and match these squads as I feel like, rather than being fixed squads but I probably wont change them around much. 

Hotshot volley gun and plasma gun. The plasma gun looks a bit like a plasma cannon but it’s just a plasma gun. I really like the hotshot volley gun, looks very much like the old Lewis guns of old. Luckily there were no issue with building these guys, they went together perfectly, although the arms on the volley gun were a bit fiddly.

The second Sgt has his sword and pistol out. Now, the best option for the Sgt is the plasma pistol and I could probably have kit bashed one together but the scale would have been off if I had used GW and I didn’t have any other options to hand, so I went with the standard hotshot pistol. 

These models are next up on the paint table once I have finished the Navy Breachers. Next up however is the test paint schemes and the reasons behind the choices for the colours. 

Navy Breachers

 These pictures were taken pre-primer as I’m priming these black and we all know how well black primed models show up on camera. These models came out of the Imperial Agents Boarding patrol and i have built up both squads to field in my latest Imperial Guard army, because i really need a 4th 2000 point guard army!

All the models 

And before anyone says anything, yes, there is a painted model in there at the back. You’ll see more further down but there will be a post coming up with better photos and some discussion on the paint scheme used but for the moment I’ll just show off the models. 

This first squad is the full on Kill Team squad, with all the options for the specialist models and extras, including the CAT and Gheistskull. The two models are not playable in 40K but are important in kill team and so will be getting painted up along side the other models. 

As you can see, I’ve made a minor kit bash with these models but swapping out the standard navy Breacher helmets for a set of WW1 style British helmets. These were from the Wargames Atlantic Bulldogs set, more of which will be along in the next post. The main reason for this change was to add some flavour to the force and also to take some inspiration from the WW1 Royal Navy Divisions who fought on the western and Gallipoli fronts. Again, more on this in a later post. 

I really like the look of the “Brodie” helmets and they fit very well with the rest of the models, giving them quite a different look to the standard model.

Of course, the Sergeants have a different helmet, in this case it’s a peak cap. Now, i think it’s supposed to be a Service Cap but it looks a lot like the Forage Caps. Either way it does make the Sgts stand out.  

The CAT and Gheistskull are very nice little models and look like they will be quite good fun in Kill Team if i can get the hang of using them properly but there are no rule for there use in 40K, which is a shame but that fine, they’ll go in the box once painted for the occasional Kill Team.

These two are probably my favourite two models, but for very different reasons. It’s kid of hard to see on these pictures due to the poses and also the rubbish lighting I was taking these photos in. (I really should get a light box or some decent sets of lights for my pictures) 

The Endurant model has been given a gas mask version of the helmet. He is the only one that has this version and it’s because I thought it made more sense fluff wise. Fluff wise, this man is the first though the door / hatch / hole / breach or whatever it maybe and in being first you never really know what’s on the other side of the door, so he has to go in expecting the worst, hence the gas mask. Now, i realise that each model has a oxygen tank on their back, so the point is a little mute but in my mind, this is the emergency supply, linked to the gas masks as part of a re-breather style set-up and most of the guys only use it in an emergency but the Endurant has it all the time, hence the mask and twin tanks. It makes sense in my head anyway! However, i just like the pose and look of this model, big, beefy and ready for anything on the other side of the door. 

I also really like the Grenadier model, but for very different reasons. I think his rules are rubbish and I would have built him if it wasn’t for needing him as a Kill Team option. I also don’t think the overall model is very good, its to big and bulky for my liking but i really like how it fits with the Brodie helmet. The helmet first almost perfectly with the shield in front of his face and looks like he could very easily just toss his demo charge and then Turtle up inside his suit by pulling his chin down to his chest and sealing up the helmet and shield sections. 

The second squad is a very basic squad. There is no special operatives or characters, just shotguns and a melta. 

There are seven basic troopers with shotguns (including model with the test paint scheme!) 

Plus a Sgt. with shotgun and Endurant with shield, because these are compulsory choices. There is also a melta gun. Why a melta gun and not plasma or Las-volley? Well, every weapon in the squad has a 12 inch range and so I though that it made sense to have the special weapon be a 12 inch range as well, I could have used the plasma and used the 12 inch rapid fire range but I decided to go with the melta and have a little bit of anti-armour in the squad.

Endurant with his trusty shield and gas mask.

I’m looking forward to getting these models painted up and I’m working on it as this goes live and i hope to have a post up here fairly soon. 

Elysian Starstriders

One of the reasons that I was in need of some more spray paint was because I had been persuaded by my children to spray up these models to let them paint. Now I do have plans to run these models in games, well the Rouge Trader Retinue anyway, as the Star striders are not as good as other units that I can run. 

Anyway, I used the last of my grey spray on these guys and girls, not that I mind at all, as it meant that my eldest two spent at least two afternoons sitting together painting without arguing (well, not very much anyway).

I thin my son ended up painting the majority of the models but I think that was down to the fact that he is more use to painting, having painted all of his own Tau models, where as my daughter has only painted a couple of models and none very recently. 

I believe that my daughter painted most of these models, especially the Lectro-maester and Death cult assassin. While I wasn’t to sure when I was informed of the colour scheme that my daughter wanted to use, I actually think that it works quite well. 

My son painted the Voidsmen and went for some more traditional colours. I do like the red visors, they really stand out from the gold. 

It’s a bit hard to see by my boy also painted the hair on the Void Master orange, to match his own!

And we cant forget the bestest boy in the universe. Although I think that its more of a Doberman my son decided that he wanted to paint it more like a German Shepard, it looks good though and if I do ever field the Voidsmen then I will also field the doggo. 

I now have my new spray cans and I will be moving on to the Kasrkin proxies and Navy Breachers. 

Imperial Knight Legs

 This is very much a slow burn WIP model, with just the legs and a few other bits finished. As you can see, just the basic leg structure has been built at the moment, without any of the armour panels or extra bits attached. This is as I extend to paint every thing separately and then combine them all towards the end of the build. The reason that I built and painted this model is because I was waiting to get some more spray paint to base all the infantry models that I’ve got built. 

I was planning on waiting until I had built and painted my Navy Breachers before starting on this model but having run out of grey spray paint and being very low on Matt black spray I decided to continue building until I could get hold of some new tins. I did actually have a black spray, that was supposed to be matt black, however it was a different brand to the one I usually use and was a lot more runny and more of a satin spray. I will use this for other pieces, such as scenery but not for models as it just isn’t very good. 

Anyway, once I hand picked up a couple of tins of spray paint, i decided that I might as well spray up the legs and give them a dry brush of silver. Now, I had been wondering about what colour to dry brush this models, as my two Armigers are dry brushed silver and gold, to make each one a little more distinctive, so I thought I should do this a different colour, but the only options are copper or brass, neither would work for the main Knight. So in the end I went with silver but I will do a lot of the highlights in gold, something the Armigers don’t have. 

In addition, I have also built up the model of Sir Hekhtur. I have no plans to run Canis Rex, it’s still a cool model and so why wouldn’t you build it? He has received his base dry brush and will get a full paint job shortly when I am painting up my other infantry units. 

I have also built up the head unit ready for painting.

Lastly the cockpit with Sir Hekhtur, also ready for painting. Both the this and the head will get some paint at some point soon, however, the main knight will have to wait awhile.

Some prep work

 Further to the last post, i have spent a couple of hours playing with some of my new toys. I don’t actually have any plans to do anything more than what I’ve done here but i was interested to see what could be done with them and if i could fix some of the issues with the models. I’ve only posted picture of the land raider here but i also had a look at the drop pod which had one of its doors stuck open. 

The land raider in its original form. In general the raider is in pretty good shape. The main hull is well built with no gaps, the assault ramp doesn’t quite close You can see on the picture below the front side doors are missing and there are some extra bits stuck on (clearer in the picture further down). Not sure what there’s bits are, I suspect there parts for different side sponsons but not sure. The crew are also a little lop sided and in need of some TLC. There is also a storm bolter missing from the rear model and I’m not sure what the front one is supposed to be doing? 

The extra bits on the front doors.

So, in a quiet moment, I decided to have a little look at the model and I ended up stripping don’t the model in to several components. The side sponsons came off relatively easily, as did the front heavy bolsters, which just fell off! The two crew took a little more persuasion but came away in one piece in the end. 

The hull of the Raider, as I said, is actually relatively well built and doesn’t need any work on it. I would like to have fixed the gap with the assault ramp but i think that’s going to take a lot of work and I’m not that bothered about it to try and split the whole side off the model and get at the mechanism. I will also look to see what i have on the spare sprues and look at switching over at least one of the crew for a different hatch. 

Luckily there were some spare side doors in the pile of loose bits, so they will be attached at some point to fill in the open doors on the side. I would have liked to switch the sponsons and the doors around but i think trying to break the bottom half of the sponsons off the main hull will be a little risky, so they will remain on the rear. 

In addition, i have also had a quick look at the drop pod and managed to release the door that had been glued in the open position. Unfortunately there has been a bit of damage to the bottom surfaces which will need some repairs or patching before painting, plus this door and one other door are no longer attached to the hull of the drop pod, so they will likely be glued shut, which leads to another problem as the death wind missile launcher inside the pod faces one of these two doors, so I may well have to sort that out, or I’ll just leave it as is. 

It will be a while till i actually get around to painting and sorting these models as i want to concentrate on my new models first rather than these second hand models but they will get sorted in the end.

Surprise addition to the pile of shame

 So the other week on the local facebook sales page someone put up a collection of old Warhammer models and bits. I wasn’t really going to go for it as the seller wasn’t wanting to split the collection and I thought that it would be more that I would be willing to pay, however, the sell wanted rid and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. So I am now the owner of a sizeable collection of old 40k models. There was a right old collection, with some eldar, nurgle marines and deamons, Orks, guard and some AoS skeletons, along side a number of marines. 

This is the completed marines, or part completed marines, that I have decided to add to my own collection of models. Mostly these are another tactical squad and part of a command squad, some old metal sternguard, some assault marines with jump packs and some scouts. In addition there is two Dreadnoughts, a Land Speeder and the Land Raider. The land raider will be finding its way in to the Eagle Knights Primaris list, even though its a first born item, mostly due to its transport capacity and assault ramp, bot of which are prefect for my blade guard and some accompanying characters.

There were also some spruces of Catachan Jungle Fighters, 17 complete bodies. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with these bodies as I really don’t need any more guard models at the moment. I will most likely keep hold of these and see whether or not the Catachans get a new release with the codex and if they do, what changes this will make to my forces and then use these bodies to fill any gaps that might appear.

A hole heap of sprues full of marine bits and pieces. There are a number of nearly full or half full sprues in here, including the remainder of the Marine Scouts who will eventually be built to join the first born Dark Guardians. Also in here are some marine bodies that will be put aside to see if there are any holes that need filling with the new rules, as I still haven’t worked through all many lists to see what’s what. There are also a number of vehicle bits that might be useful for conversions or upgrades, with at least one Razorback turret in there. 

The last item on the list is this drop pod. I’ve always fancied a drop pod but never really needed one or had the funds to buy one, as there have always been other item that I actually needed / wanted more. Now I have one however and this will also be going with the Eagle Knights primaris army, although it I will have to wait and see what units it will be taking, possibly some Intercessors will be taking a ride down.

So, some more marine units that I didn’t really need but couldn’t pass on the opportunity. How soon i get around to painting and sorting these guys I don’t know but I will.

Repulsor Executioner

 The first of my birthday presents in finished. It’s only taken a month or two to get finished but here it is. This will be going with the Eagle Knight Primaris force and was intended to carry my command elements to join the Blade guard who were supposed to ride in an Impulsor. However, with the change in the rules and the rumoured Jump Pack Assault Intercessors coming soon, I’m still not 100 percent sure who going to be riding in this beast. I suspect that some of the independent characters will end up riding in this. 

Your can see the squad marking on the front black sections, showing that this is the Command vehicle of the third company. Plus for good measure there is a Mechanicus logo by the engines. 

The rear has the same treatment, with HQ and company number alongside the Imperial Aquila, just in case anyone gets around the rear and wonders whose ride this is. I should probably paint on the Eagle Knights logos on somewhere on the side or front, as it doesn’t have any at the moment. 

What it does have however is some kill markings on the turret, I’m not sure what these are representing yet but it’s taken out two of something and one of something else. I imaging that it’s going to be two large tanks and another important vehicle with the big cannon and maybe two important characters and another character with the plasma cannon below. 

The whole lot is not glued down to make transport easy and the weapons are just push fit in, including the two main guns, so they can be swapped around as I want.  

The gunner/Tech priest on the top which still needs his chapter badge. You can also see the the various small arms dotted around the turret including the anti-air weapon at the back, moved from the turret to the rear as i think it looks better and is a little bit more realistic (not that 40k is realistic!). 

I really like this model and i will be looking at getting at least one Impulsor but with the new jump units coming out i wont be looking at multiple vehicles like i was. Also, you’ll see there has been a few more acquisitions that will also change the army list somewhat.