Dark Angels/Imperial Guard 1850 Tournament

I'm working on my 1850 DA/IG list for a tourney at the end of the month.  Had a couple of games already, both losses, but this is fine since I've confirmed some issues I thought might come up with the list and made some more adjustments.

Here's what we are looking at right now...

HQ

Azrael

Company Command Squad (4) Lascannon

Troops

Deathwing Squad (5) Thunder Hammer x3, Plasmacannon

Ravenwing Bikes (5) Plasmagun x2

Ravenwing Bikes (3) Meltagun x2

Platoon Command Squad (4) Lascannon

Infantry platoon Squad x4 (40) Poweraxe, Meltabomb, Flamer, Lascannon

Fast Attack

Black Kinghts (6) grenade launcher

Heavy Support

Devastator Squad (5) Lascannon x3

Devastator Squad (5) Lascannon x3

Devastator Squad (5) Lascannon x3

 

 I tried running Ravenwing Command Squad instead of the knights, but the Ravenwing Banner and Apothecary ended up as wasted points: upgrades that slow down losing are better spend elsewhere.  The Knights do all the same for the most part and have a 6th rider for the same emount of points.

I'm running 5 Deathwing instead of 6+.  I had been running into trouble with 5, keeping them alive and useful, so I kept adding more.  Instead I should have been focusing on how I was using them.  Anything that can kill 5 with ease, can kill 6 or 7 just as easily.  Instead I should be making better use of them.  Rather than meeting other elite units head on and losing, these guys should be walking over a couple of troops units, or just sitting on an objective daring anyone to come at them, they are scoring after all!

The Plasma bike squad was always just shy of doing what they needed to and unlike with the terminators I felt like 2 more bodies would make a difference.  5 vs. 7 is very different than 3 vs. 5, especially when they are not fearless.

For the Company and Platoon Command I stopped getting fancy and just gave them each a Lascannon.  No more Plasma and Chimeras or trying to work in Creed to scout the blob forward.  This area was sucking up too many points that weren't doing enough.  I know the Lascannons won't do much easier, but am ok with that considering the cost.  

The Infantry Squad I bumped up to 4 units instead of 3 and went with the Lascannons instead of the Autocannons.  AP4 doesn't do a whole lot for me right now and I feel like this is more effective anti-air.  Giving these guys a re-roll order to hit against flyers, plus the other ranged weaponry should do the trick, without having to blow points on flakk or quadgun.

The devastator squads are the biggest divergence from the other list versions I have been running.  I'm usually running one of these squads, sometimes with another that has Flakk Missiles, and sometimes with Plasmacannons.  The risk I m taking with this is to run them without the Librarian.  Not sure if I am making the right move with this or no and feel like this is where I need the most advice.  65 points gets me a divination librarian.  Guarunteed to get re-roll to hit and could also get ignore cover, full BS overwatch, or make opponent re-roll sucessful saves.

I ended up opting for another lascannon squad instead of the librarian, streamlining much like I did with the bikes and the command squads.  Is this the right call or should I add the librarian back in...with mastery level 2...with a force field generator?

Commission: Cleric of Good Part III

Here's the final product for the Cleric of Good that I delivered last Tuesday.  Sorry for the delay, but I spent the rest of last week on Cape Cod with the folks, wife and kids.  Great weather and a very relaxing break!

Only a little more was done from the last update: mostly cleaning up the fine highlights on the skin and on the hammer. I also made sure to get the eyes and all of the gems adorning the outfit and book. Another 30 minutes worth of work

It took another 5 minutes to get this guy sealed.  Interesting side note...I used a matte varnish for this guy and a satin varrnish on Gundam John's devel fish at the same time.  The satin one was apparently a little older and left a terrible filmy coating on the model, which would not wipe off...pretty much ruined it.  I stopped by the store to watch Frosty and Gundam John play a game and was telling them about how the satin finish messed up the model...then from across the store says, use a q-tip and some olive oil to take that off. John and I both turn, "Thank you mysterious stranger!"  This worked like a charm!  Should have taken before and after pics in retrospect.  I can't explain how much time and effort this saved me.

Any way... I was thrilled with how it came out and thankfully so was the client.  I'm always nervous to see how it goes.  So far my commissions have been face to face transactions through word of mouth, which is fantastic, but I get anxious waiting for the clients' reactions when they see what they are paying for, even when I'm happy with how it looks.

I was really happy with how the primary colors worked out overall.  The blue was an after thought since I thought it was looking too drab.  The red doesn't scream good guy to me, but since that was the customers request I wanted to tone that down by adding in the blue and the white.  This was a nice escape from the grim dark future, but with an 1850 tournament around the corner, I'm excited to get that army in gear as well.  I'm using much of what I brought to the doubles tournament, so those bikes are set to go.  The devastators are also complete.  I just need to get the guard squared away and get started on a librarian on a bike, wielding the Mace of Redemption.

Cleric of Good Part II

More wrk on the cleric today. Wish I had taken a few more step by step pictures but didn't want to break up the rhythm.

 

Got color all over and then wash. Following the I did some gradual dry blending on the cape. The cape surface was not flat enough for me to get clean wet blend so I went dry and very gradually layered up with brighter red then added some orange for the highest parts. 

I originally went with a bone hammer head since it looked like horn or bone. But ended up going back and making it good.  There were not a lot of specifications by the customer for this piece but making the hammer look flashy and stand out was part of the request. I liked the bone better for my taste but it was too subtle for what was requested. I'm happier with this and thinking it is closer to what the client wanted!

Skin and eyes need a little more detail. Needs a varnish seal after that and we are done. Took another 20-30 minutes to get the base coat finished. 5 minutes to wash. The blending and highlights took just under two hours, not counting time for wash and layers to dry. 

I could t be happier with how it looks so far. Will get a few more shots when all the details are wrapped up.