On the Workbench [June] - More tiny stuff!

 

Today, we're looking at the workbench where I've been assembling the latest batch of Legions Imperialis releases. Above are the latest Astartes releases, dreadnought drop pods and some Vanguard units. I also built Stormhammers and  Dracosan armored transports, which I'll share below.

The dreadnought drops pods are much like the Astartes drop pods. The doors will open if you assemble the models carefully. I chose to assemble mine purely for dreadnought transport, ignoring the Palisade option.  With only four pods in the box, it just didn't make sense to me - similar with the Astartes drop pods where I chose not to build the missile version.

The outriders are Mk VI marines on bikes, pretty straight forward, with only three torso options across the 12 bikes.  As you can see, I just accepted that and made four identical bases.  I'm using poster tac to hold the models down for now, so I can pull them off and paint them separately. Probably not necessary, but easy to do here.

The tiny jet bikes are so fun!  these come on with their own stands.  I chose to keep them, but there is latitude here for modelling alternative stands, perhaps using wire to vary the pose? These models have the same issue with only three poses across the 12 models.  Here the posing makes them awkward to switch around, so you are sorta fixed on how many ways you can pose them. I'm using poster tac again here to hold the bikes down, so they can be removed and painted separately.

The tiny Javelin speeders appear perfect replicas of their 28mm cousins. I chose all lascannons, but there is a missile option as well. I hope to use mine to hunt hard targets while also swooping in to incinerate infantry as needed (awkward pairing of the heavy flamer w/lascannons). The missile launchers probably pair better w/heavy flamers for a dedicated infantry hunting unit.

Lastly (for the Astartes) we have my least favorite model of the Horus Heresy range. After seeing all of the other Astartes equipment, it's hard for me to disbelieve the foolishness here of hanging your (admittedly armored) body out to dry on the front of a block of thrusters.  I don't recall the lore, but in my mind I assume there is a mini void or refractor field making a bubble around the crew. But please, no insult or judgement intended on how you enjoy your toy army men. 😂 These opinions are simply my own.

Here we move on to the Solar Auxilia.  I'm not sure why we needed Stormhammers at this point - I'd have preferred the other variants that were recently previewed - but they are pretty cool for what they are. I dropped in magnets to make the turrets less fussy (they will otherwise tumble off without regret during handling).  Plus the design team continues to give us sockets for the purpose, so why not?? You get everything a hobby tanker wants with these tiny behemoths - all the guns and all the details. Did I mention the guns?

Last up are the Dracosan armored transports.  These are fun and I'm assuming the design team relied on the Malcador for much of the design.  Many of the parts feel very similar during assembly. I put gunners on all the roof decks because transports are going in hot and you need to keep the chaff off your ride! Pew pew pew!

That was my palate cleanser between painting projects.  Lots of fun models.  I also added new Battle Foam trays to hold things.  This has expanded the collect beyond a single box so now I have separate Solar Auxilia and Astartes boxes.  Fun!  I hope to constrain the collection there though...we'll see.  Between Titans, airplanes, and these models, its already a lot of boxes - but no where near the space 28mm would require - so that;s how I sleep at night. 😁

Now it's time to slap some paint around. I'm still not sure what I'm going to paint next. I feel momentum to continue with tiny Astartes...but maybe it's time to balance things out with some Solar Auxilia?  Or do I tackle the Tempestus Warmaster?  Or the Lion and his boyz??  So many choices...

Best of luck for your own projects.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!