Thursday, September 25, 2014

1st Denerair Highlanders - 1st Squad Done!


Finally got first squad done for my Denerair Highlanders. It was fun painting these guys up, and it really didn't take that long - just had to find the time to sit and paint.

I'm happy with these guys, and they were assembled rather straight up. The next squad's sergeant will have some arm swaps to get different poses. And the challenge is to find enough bayonets for everyone. The kind people of the 6th Brandenbergers have agreed to donate their bayonets (snip, snip, paint, paint), but I still need to shave off the bayonet hilts from their sheathes before I glue them onto the guys' belts.



But next up will be a Denerair-pattern Wyvern. Denarair-pattern Wyverns were not officially sanctioned war machines from any forgeworld. Rather, they were all battlefield modifications of the Griffon self-propelled heavy mortar. The Denerair Highlanders were never issued with Wyverns, but that didn't stop the hardy mountainmen from fashioning their own versions, which were rather effective on the battlefield.


The agri-world Denerair itself is of little consequence with only 5 million inhabitants, emerging in Imperial records only because of the ravages of the Gothic War, due to its location in the Bhein Morr Subsector of the Gothic Sector. The agri-world did not have a military tithe, but has for thousands of years maintained a militia made up of its onlhy warrior class - mountain tribesmen known as Highlandsmen, or more popularly, Highlanders. Over time, the militia gained formal organization, funding and equipment along the lines of the Imperial Guard.


Durng the Gothic War, the Denerair Highland Militia fought off the predations of Chaos with such ferocity and stoicism that Imperial Guard commanders in the sector found it fit to equip them with and train them in heavy war machines and artillery. In the aftermath of the war, the Militia was renamed the Denerair Imperial Guard, and today fields around 98,000 men organized in 8 infantry, 3 artillery, 3 armored, 3 support, 1 engineer, 1 signals and 1 air defence regiments, plus an additional 8 reserve regiments. While Denerair itself still has no military tithe requirement, about a third of its regiments voluntarily serve off-world in many Imperial Guard armies, and are often found in the thickest and bloodiest of battlefields. On the battlefield, the Highland Regiments march fearlessly into battle with bayonets fixed and the sounds of their holy bagpipes filling the air, driving fear into the enemies of the Imperium.







Friday, September 12, 2014

Stalemate!


The veteran 6th Mechanized Infantry encountered stiff resistance from Eldar xenos forces. Led by Captain Wentz aboard his Leman Russ Vanquisher, the 6th arrayed for battle in extended line, and managed to steal the initiative from the xenos.

Unfortunately for the 6th, while the initial push achieved all of their initial objectives, much of their shooting proved ineffective, as xenos magicks and trickery protected them from the worst of Imperial firepower. The Eldar response was deadly, drawing the battle's first blood when they destroyed 5th Squad's Chimera on the right flank.


Still, the 6th pressed on. While the entire force barreled in from the left, Hellhound no.8 under Sergeant Happe outflanked the enemy from the far right, engulfing the rear of a xenos tank and some jetbike riders in deadly flame. His attack was joined by a Navy Vendetta, further damaging the tank, which somehow survived the onslought. Concentrated firepower also destroyed a squadron of War Walkers, while 5th Squad's meltagunners immobilized and stunned another xenos tank.

The incensed xenos struck back with much fury. Dire Avenger and Fire Dragon warriors emerged from the bowels of their graceful machines and fell upon 5th Squad with intense firepower, who went to ground and stood firm despite suffering horrendous losses. Both of the detachment's Hellhounds were destroyed - one by heavy fire from xenos tanks, the other from a spirited assault by jetbike-borne xenos witches. A sleek Eldar flyer streaked onto the battlefield, and with some impossibly nimble manouvers, got onto the tail of the Navy gunship. Despite the Imperial pilot's wild manouvers, the xenos craft's weapons easily found their mark, turning the mighty Vendetta into a fireball.


Pressing on regardless, more calamities struck the 6th, as the left flank attack, already held up by the lead Hellhound's demise, was stalled again when 3rd Squad's Chimera threw a track when it tried to drive through a rough patch of woods. 1st Squad drove brazenly up the middle of the battlefield to seize an objective, Chimera popping smoke to cover their advance. Captain Wentz' command squad focused fire on a xenos tank and turned it into a smouldering wreck, while a battle cannon shell from Sergeant Gerstacker's Leman Russ managed to immobilize another enemy tank.

Again, the xenos responded with untamed fury, its flyer swooping in low and severely damaging Captain Wentz' Vanquisher. Aspect Warriors charged the survivors of 5th Squad, cutting down all but Veteran Sergeant Hennig, who fought on bravely cutting down xenos with pistol and sword. 1st Squad's Chimera was blown up by a xenos tank, leaving the survivors pinned down.


By this time, both sides were low on men and materiel, and one could sense a final push coming on as human and xenos warriors closed in on each other. Close firefights ensued, which saw the destruction of 1st and 2nd Squads, while an Eldar Guardian squad got cut to ribbons and fled. Fire Dragons were also shot up, but their leader survived the deluge. The Eldar also lost 2 more tanks, and a witch mysteriously fell (no one knows how this witch died - he was seen casting his magick when he suddenly convulsed and collapsed). Unfortunately for the 6th, Captain Wentz' Vanquisher was repeatedly struck by accurate heavy las fire from the xenos flyer, and exploded. Sergeant Gerstacker was lost too, as a Fire Prism lance cut through his Leman Russ front armor and turning the tank into a fiery wreck.

And as the night mercifully descended to mask the carnage, save for the cries and whimpers of the wounded and dying, it remained unclear if one side or the other carried the day.


This was an awesome fun game against Hakim's Eldar. We played Maelstrom Mission #1, and after all the furious manouver and dice-rolling, emerged with a 6-6 score. The Eldar got First Blood, Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker, and 3 more objective VPs. IG scored Linebreaker and 5 objective VPs. I think if the Eldar player was a bit more experienced, he would have easily won the game, but I guess bloodlust and shooting up my army distracted him from achieving objectives. We both had a blast anyways. Anyways, the army lists:

IG: the indomitable 6th Brandenberg Mechanized Infantry Regiment
Tank Commander in Vanquisher, with Exterminator escort
6 Veteran Squads: 4 equipped with 2 plasma guns each, 1 with 2 meltaguns, and 1 with 2 meltaguns and a flamer
The vets were riding Chimeras, all with multilasers and hull heavy bolter, except for 1 with hull heavy flamer
2 Hellhounds in 2 units
1 Navy Vendetta
1 Leman Russ

Eldar xenos scum
Farseer on jetbike, with 6 warlocks on jetbikes
5 Fire Dragons, with Exarch in a Wave Serpent
Guardians in a Wave Serpent
Dire Avengers in a Wave Serpent
Crimson Hunter with Exarch
Squadron of 3 War Walkers
2 Fire Prisms

That was simply an amazing game. Pity I couldn't stick around for another one.

Anyways, next update I hope to have the first squad of Denerair Highlanders done.

Til then, keep them dice rolling ...


Thursday, September 4, 2014

Highlander Test Model


Finally finished the first test model. It was actually pretty fast to paint, and that is one of the requirements for modeling the infantry for this army - it must be quick AND look good. This is why I settled with the simple conversion for the gun, by just snipping off the magazine, and making sure all guns have fixed bayonets. It was my first time using Nulm Oil, and I think I went overboard with that.

The pallete:

  • English Uniform - shirt & kilt
  • Brown Olive - helmet, armor, water bottle (this will also be used for flamers & vox)
  • Green Ochre - webbing, gas mask, ammo pouches (nothing green about green ochre, I discovered)
  • Chocolate Brown - boots, bayonet sheath
  • Beige Brown - rifle
  • Dark Flesh - wood grain on rifle
  • Gunmetal Grey/Leadbelcher - metal parts on rifle, bayonet, metal parts on gas mask, buttons, bits of barbed wire on base (I used Gunmetal Grey on the rifle, but switched to Leadbelcher for the bayonet and other stuff, which I find works better for 28mm models. I'll be using Leadbelcher moving forward)
  • Burnished Gold - aquila on chest, belt buckle, badge on kilt, winged skull on rifle
  • XV-88 - highlight for leather parts
  • Agrax Nightshade - shading for rifle
  • Nuln Oil - shading for everything else
  • The Fang - first layer drybrush on base
  • Fenrisian Grey - second layer drybrush on base
  • White Scar - final layer drybrush on base
  • Bestial Brown - base rim



Anyways, I'm happy with it so far, and your thoughts on this would be great. I do have 90 infantry to paint, so keeping it simple and quick is a priority. In the meantime, I'll start batch painting by squad the base English Uniform and Brown Olive colors, as those are pretty much confirmed.

Keep them dice rolling ...