On the Workbench [December] - Legions Imperialis!

 

Hello and welcome back! The blog has been still for a bit, but we haven't been idle over here at 262krieg.  I picked up my copy of Legions Imperialis and couldn't resist the lure to start assembly.  I've been painting pretty steady for a while now and the break before the (already busy) holidays has been a treat. I've been plugging away building a handful of detachments each night over the last week or so to get to this point. Not much to share on a day-to-day basis!

As it is, I have just the one picture to share today. Above you can see Solar Auxilia on the bottom tray and my completed Adeptus Astartes models on the tray above.  Besides the Legions Imperialis game box, I picked up a box of Rhinos, Karatos tanks, and Baneblade tanks. The kits are fun to build - maybe a little fiddly for my large old hands - and go together pretty well. I am missing one 25mm base from the box set apparently, so I subbed in an old traditional beveled 25mm base for one walker.  Should be easy enough to pop him off later should I manage an extra base somewhere.  Otherwise it's playable enough as is.

Last up will be to build the Malcadors and Leman Russ tanks from the box set. Then I'll be done with this initial batch.  There are still the two warhounds, of course, which will get built at some point.  However I have a large number of Adeptus Titanicus titans for any game I wish to field them in all ready painted up.  I have a handful of Aeronautica Imperialis planes painted too but I need to paint up more variety for the space marines.  My marines will of course be drawn from the First Legion, Dark Angels. Not sure just yet when I'll get to putting paint on these bits.

I would have loved to love the rules more.  I don't know that they are bad - I was just hoping for some simplification like has been seen with Titanicus and esp. Aeronautica Imperialis.  Scanning the rules here, this feels like a big game of Warhammer 40K with smaller models.  Which is certainly cool, of course.  Who doesn't want to field large varieties of big tanks, titans, aircraft, etc. without the high cost and storage of the 28mm cousins (OK, fair point - Legion Imperialis is not cheap either to play at scale!). 

I just don't see this getting played much, is all. Tiny plans and titans is just going to be easier to set up and get going with the handful of folks I can still muster to game with on the table.  

Regardless, they are still going to be a blast to paint up and a welcome, nostalgic bit of kit to have in the collection.

Hope you are enjoying this holiday season how ever you choose to celebrate it.  

Cheers and Happy Gaming!

On the Workbench [December] - Dark Angels Replusor and a Surprise!

 

Greetings and welcome to another edition of on the workbench.  This month I'm sharing the first tank introduced to my growing Dark Angels Primaris force.  I've been sitting on this Repulsor in the box for quite some time. After painting a couple dreads, bikes, the ATV and a ton of infantry, I felt it was time to reward myself with something bigger.

What a beast.  It took a few sessions of bingeing Netflix for a couple hours each to get it all together, but I'm happy with the time spent. I've said this before here, but I do love the building aspect of the hobby...probably a bit more than the painting truth be told.

A quick trip to the bits box came up with plenty of Dark Angels icons to plaster to the all sides of the tank.  I still have to attach the stowage that comes with the kit, prior to priming for paint.  I chose an odd, yet mechanically fearsome looking head after seeing the cool mini-gun that comes as a turret option.  Since crew are often techmarines, this seemed a fitting and simple change to the kit. This guy looks plenty ready to lay down some covering fire as the squad inside disembarks. I think it's the exposed head from the Primaris Techmarine kit.

There is space for lots of Dark Angels icons in this tank...

And so many guns!  In 10th edition, it doesn't seem to matter what you pick for the defensive weapons (grenade launchers, storm bolters, etc.), so I went with all grenade/rocket launching options. Otherwise this bad boy is set up to move out and break armor, once it deploys it's cargo onto an objective. Maybe an odd choice for a transport, but the rule of cool wins every time. I've also grown tired of magnetizing everything when I hardly play any games.  I end up with lots of fiddly weapon bits laying about to keep track of with no real use for them.

And now for the great reveal!  For the first time since 3rd edition, I'm entertaining a new 40k xenos faction.  Anyone who follows the blog knows I have stuck close to imperial forces since the beginning.  The only exception has been specialist games where I may paint a few xenos (Aeronautica Imperialis and Blackstone Fortress come to mind). I had a sizable collection of Tyranids starting w/3rd edition that predate the blog.  Those were given away to a friend during the era of 4th edition and I never looked back...until Leviathan.

It's probably because I've slowly grown weary of painting power armor, but these Leviathan era models have really captured my imagination.  A second motivator is the drive to have a second force to play against my various marine factions when and if I'm able to con any friends into tackling 10th edition.  That is not very likely to happen - tiny titans and airplanes have proven quicker to play and just as satisfying for a pickup game - but I can dream.

So that's what I have on the workbench.  Expect to see the Screamer Killer during Monster March next year, at the very least.  Squaduary may see one of the other broods on the table.  I haven't abandoned my other projects, and I now have Legions Imperialis in the backlog...so we won't go all buggy at once.  But the bugs will make an appearance through out the rest of the season here and there (and on into the next season, no doubt).

I'm looking forward to trying my hand at painting something more organic.  This force allows me to run a combat patrol game and that may be where it stops.  But there are certainly a few other great new Tyranid kits out there. However, unless some serious gaming comes out of the wood work, I will not add to the force until it is entirely painted and in the done pile. That's my commitment.  No need to pile on a bunch more models I'll never get to. 😂 If you are thinking "Too Late!", you are not wrong.

That's it for now.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!!