And a special treat for the holidays, I ‘shopped you a pretty picture in honor of the birth of our Lord and Savior, aka. Star Wars: the Old Republic. Enjoy!

Go ahead and click if you want the 1600x1200 wallpaper version.

No, not that kind of inspiration, Duke.

I’m talking about finding the inspiration to pick up the brush. Or, perhaps more accurately, inspiration to pull out your wallet and drop an unhealthy amount on something with a freakishly high badass:practicality ratio. Something like Forgeworld armies, for example.

As per my usual after-work routine, I went partially comatose and clicked my way through a series of links until something jumped out at me. The army above is a totally badass pre-Heresy army, beautifully painted and with an awful lot of thought put into it (see the bit about the Librarian and his iconography taken from the Angels of Death codex). I don’t even want to think about how many hundreds of dollars an army like that would cost, or how many hours it would take to paint. Just amazing work.

I can’t tell you how excited I was to see a Pre Heresy army fully converted and painted using these kits. I’ve been in love with them for a long time (especially the MkIV Maximus armor and the Contemptor Dreads) but it’s been agonizingly difficult to find any examples of showcase quality paintjobs on more than one or two models.

Okay, so Golden Demon level Contemptors aren’t exactly rare, but you know what I mean. Whole squads. Characters based on the books. Armies worthy of the word “Legion”!

Personally, every time I read one of the Horus Heresy books, I immediately want to make an army for that Legion. An army of the loyalist Luna Wolves would have been sweet. An army of gleaming MkIV plate emblazoned with the Emperor’s Children livery would be a thing of beauty. Word Bearers using some Dark Angels and Grey Knight bitz for robes and runic script would be very easy to do, plus you get to add a unit of red Gal Vorbak to use as Veterans/Possessed/maybe even Legion of the Damned. Definitely a great centerpiece unit. As I’ve said before, a Thousand Sons “counts as” Grey Knights army could be a lot of fun, as well. Iron Hands and Space Wolves are definitely tempting as well; Iron Hands because I already have Raven Guard and Salamanders armies, so I would have the trifecta of Istvaan V Suckatude and Space Wolves because Dan Abnett actually found a way for them to seem cool. Not having any of them ride around on wolves the size of tanks was a great idea… I wonder how he got that idea…

I actually have a couple of these shiny Forgeworld models coming my way soon. I gave a friend/ex-GW staffer a handful of 20′s the other day, as he’s selling off a lot of the armies and Forgeworld goodies he picked up before he left the company. IIRC I’ll be getting a squad each of MkIII and MkIV marines, plus some weapon kits and upgrade packs. Can’t wait to get them, but obviously I have to decide what the hell Legion I’m going to do them up as.

Once I make up my mind, I’ll probably start chipping away at the project by ordering a squad or vehicle here or there, when the opportunities arise. Armored Proteus, Contemptors, Mk1 Rhino/Razorbacks, the chance of possibly getting some old school Terminator kits eventually… I would be stoked to get to work on any of those. And that’s saying something, as I have stated my hatred for painting vehicles on many occasions!

Doing up armies like this certainly isn’t for everyone. They cost a fortune, take a lot of time to do right, and not everybody is going to think the theme you choose will be cool. But hey, if you don’t like it…

The first is The Tale of Painters blog, which features regular updates from a number of really talented guys and also showcases some great work from around the web. By all means, check them out. You’ll probably recognize a few of their minis from the GW What’s New Today blog, which is pretty cool.

The second one is called Rust and the City. It doesn’t look like the biggest blog out there, I’d never heard of it before today, but he’s got some very cool conversions for a Chaos army so I thought I’d give him a shout out! Plus, he’s got a Child’s Play charity build banner up, which is totally awesome. I’ve done some charity auctions to benefit Child’s Play in the past, donating 100% of the proceeds from a Goblin Warboss that I had painted. It really does feel good to do something nice.

Now that I think about it, why not link the project itself? These guys are painting up a Blood Ravens army for charity. Go toss them a few bucks, there’s kids in hospitals all around the world that will have some toys and games to play with as a result. For a kid with a serious illness, that little bit of happiness can go a long way.

Next up is Razza Mini Painting. You might not recognize the name, but you’ll recognize the work of Darren Latham when you see it. This guy was an absolute stud for the ‘Eavy Metal team for the last decade or so. He’s taken his first steps into the mini design world, having recently completed his initial trial period as a sculptor with GW. Well done Daz, can’t see what you get up to next.

Finally, I bring you Ninjabread. This is what happens when you mix a talented hobbyist with a completely warped sense of humor. Whether it’s webcomics, ridiculous t-shirts (see above) or an edible Eldar Falcon grav tank sculpted entirely out of cheese, he’ll find a way to put a smile on your face. Curis also has a cool long-term project thread on Coolminiornot, entitled Every Tzeentch model ever – Project Change. Well worth a look.

Trading this…

For this…

Has nothing to do with it. We’re really just going there to be with Ward on his special day. Totally.

I know you guys will be terribly bored without my sporadic posts to help you pass the time, so I’m gonna toss you a cool link to tide you over until I get back in a week. I spent a few hours recently checking out 3T Studios. They have a very cool terrain building site, full of galleries, tutorials, and reviews. You can’t argue with a site that rates a $5 airbrush kit as three blenders and one jumping chicken. That’s pure science.

That little Eldar dude shows up in most of their photos. He really gets around.

I hope you like the quick example of their work. Great scenery with a little Photoshop magic makes for some pretty inspiring stuff. Makes me want to bust out the old foamcutter and bitz box!

I’m gonna keep this short and sweet.

Please fix the statline for Triarch Praetorians in your online store. 2A is wrong, they only have 1A in the book. This could lead to some confused Overlords who think their dudesmen are way better than they really are.

Cheers,
-Dan

Thought for the Day: The rewards of tolerance are treachery and betrayal.

UPDATE: GW is aware of the problem and it shall be fixed.