Results from the 2018/19 Hobby Season

Well, it is time to bring the 2018/2019 Hobby Season to a close.  I had a great year of hobby and I'm excited to share my accomplishments.  I continued to build on the momentum of past seasons to get into a cadence that produces results without burning me out.  In all I completed 31 infantry models, two dreadnoughts, one Imperial Knight and seven Adeptus Titanicus Titans this season.

And there have been a great number of new releases to break up the monotony as well.  Some were not expected and so I pretty quickly diverged from my original to-do list to work on many unexpected things. As the season unfolded I decided to commit to three primary projects:

• 1000 points of 30K Dark Angels for Horus Heresy (a special challenged with a gaming buddy)
• 40k Blades of Vengeance Primaris successor chapter force 
• A full maniple of Legio Tempestus titans for Adeptus Titanicus

Anything else was a bonus - those projects emerged from the year as my key focus. Unfortunately this put some things on the back burner for now, such as the excellent Blackstone Fortress minis and several kill team projects.

Here's a summary of the models I was able to complete.

Custos Martis of House Taranis

The season started out with the exciting completion of my Questoris Knight Paladin.  This model started out as a planned Freeblade project, than sat unloved of a long time...maybe a year or more? It got a new lease on life when I decided I really needed to get in gear with my House Taranis project. Here the paladin stands leading four previously completed Armiger Warglaives.

House Taranis Knights

Next up, it was time for DreadTober 2018.  I took the opportunity to complete a Forge World Custodes dreadnought I had sitting on the shelves for far too long.  Do you see a trend here? I had a lot of fun completing this model.

Legio Custodes Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought 

Then it was time to get to work on my Legio Tempestus maniple project for Adeptus Titanicus.

Two Reaver Battle titans seems a good way to get started and practice my art before taking on the Warlord.  The main challenge here was learning to paint an effective camouflage pattern, to match the art in the Black Books. While it came out a bit too chunky on these Reavers, the learning helped me power into the Warlord and later titans with much better results. Custom checkered decals were also a new thing...

Legio Tempestus Reaver Battle Titans

Next, it was time to kick off a 30K Dark Angels project as a challenge with a buddy who wanted to make progress on his 30K Thousand Sons. We committed to get 1K painted over the winter and I chose to get right into things with a couple tactical squads. 

First Legion Astartes Tactical Squad (Terrans) in mkIII Armor

I have a weakness for the fluff, so of course the units had to be divided among Terrans and Calibanites. This approach gave an opportunity to show the special permission offered the Calabanite squads personally by the Lion himself: Forest green shoulder pads in recognition of their service on Caliban during the wars to slay the beasts.

 First Legion Astartes Tactical Squad (Calibanites) in mkIV Armor 

Wow, time for Squaduary already??  Nothing to do but soldier on with the 30K challenge by pledging two support squads. No way the Terrans were going to let the new guys handle the ancient (if twitchy) tech. So the first squad are Terrans with plasmaguns.

 First Legion Astartes Tactical Support Squad (Terrans) in mkIII Armor 

But missile launchers were fine, it seems. All of these infantry models are a mix of GW plastic and Forge World upgrade parts. The fancy new breast plates and helmets were reserved for the Calibanite squads under the rationale that they were all issued new armor, while the Terrans were largely wearing their original 1st Legion gear. That and the shoulder pads make it easy to pick out the various squads on the table.

 First Legion Astartes Heavy Support Squad (Calibanites) in mkIV Armor 

With Squaduary 2019 a success, and a great deal of my 1K challenge completed, I returned to the Legio Tempestus project and pledged a Warlord titan for #MonsterMarch3. It was time to take what I learned while painting the Reavers and get serious with this Warlord. This was an amazing project and I enjoyed every bit of it.  I like to think that comes through in the final model. These AT titans are just terrific to work on.

Legio Tempestus Warlord Battle Titan for AT - Ascraeus Magnificat

At the end of March, and a little more than halfway through the season, I was feeling very good about my goals to complete a maniple of AT titans and 1K of 30K marines.

The Legio Tempestus Maniple Grows

The Deredeo Dreadnought came next as I entered the final push to complete the 30K Dark Angels project. This dreadnought is one odd duck.  But it was fun to paint and looks great on the table with the rest of the force. I used an Imperial Guard transfer cut in half as a battle honor for this Dreadnought.  The interred marine is a Terran veteran of the Unification Wars who fought along side the Emperor as a member of His first Legion Astartes. I also had fun with some kill markings on the left ankle armor.

 First Legion Astartes Deredeo Dreadnought (Terran)

The final project for my 1K of 30K Dark Angels project was a cheap HQ choice.  This model can serve as a Consul and will be a Legion Champion for larger games where I can spare the points.

 First Legion Astartes Champion (Terran) in mkIII Armor 

With the Dark Angels challenge complete, I moved on to the remaining Warhound titans for my Legio Tempestus project.  Lots more camouflage practice and loads more custom checkered decals. I'm very pleased with how this little group of four turned out.

Legio Tempestus Warhound Battle Titan for AT - Turbo Canis

Legio Tempestus Warhound Battle Titan for AT - Facta Belli

Legio Tempestus Warhound Battle Titan for AT - Dente Ferrum

Legio Tempestus Warhound Battle Titan for AT - Lux Curet

With the four Warhounds finished, the plans for a maniple were complete. These four Warhounds were my most ambitious project for the year and took basically the entire summer to complete, though I was away for a two week holiday in there. These models are great fun and I'm, psyched to have a load of miniatures for the greatest game I will likely never play. ;)  A second Warlord was built this season and stands ready for paint as well.  Not to mention a load of tiny Knights.  So plenty to do in 2019/2020 with this project.

The Completed Maniple for Legio Tempestus 

In addition to the painting work, I built A LOT of models as well. I have another 1K of 30k Dark Angels ready to paint.  The new models represent a Zone Mortalis force and introduce a new Dreadnought and terminators along with a breacher squad.

Two Cerastus and two Acastus knights for Adeptus Titanicus are build and waiting for paint along with three Questoris knights.  I even built my Forge World Cerastus Knight-Castigator for the House Taranis 40K project.  That model might just be what I paint up for #MonsterMarch4.

Many Kill teams got build as well, my favorite being a Chaos Fallen team. Not playign much Kill team right now, so they got put to the back of the queue.  I built all of the Black Fortress heroes, but still need to assemble the bad guys. I'm looking forward to playing that game.  I keep collecting all fo the expansions for the day I DO finally play it.

And last up, I built all of my Primaris models as Blades of Vengeance.  Some of the Characters are on the painting table now so expect to see a lot more of them this painting season.  DreadTober may well see one of the knew war suits painted too...

And with that the season comes to a close, a least in terms of finished projects.  After a final summer weekend camping trip, I will be back with a Vengeance (see what I did there?) to kick off the 2019/2020 Hobby Season.  Hope to see you there.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!