Well, its been 2 years, but I am BACK! Ready and raring to go with new forces, new ideas and (if its actually possible) less of an idea than before. No matter. Time to rock and roll!

I had many ideas for a new army, and many considerations. A few of them were boring, some were trivial, but it came down to 2 overriding ideas and 2 potential forces.

The army HAD to be compact - low model count and sturdy enough to transport wherever I wanted to play on a motorcycle (since thats how I prefer to get around these days). Second, it had to sing that sweet seductive song to me - it had to MEAN something. The force options that it came down to were Dark Angels Deathwing (100% termie/dread/LR army) and Imperial Guard Armoured Company. Since I love working on terminators, Deathwing was selected.

Wait, I hear you say - isn't this an Armoured Company army diary? Well yes, it is. Read on.

So I began collecting the parts for my Deathwing. Got some models, and some sweet bases from Back2Base-ix. Then I lost heart in it, and returned to other ventures. Thinking of Arcanacon and out came the models again, but the colour scheme wasn't working, and I was getting frustrated. Personal issues popped up, and once I came out of those, I had a new focus. The Armoured Company were back as the #1 army, and they won't be changing any time soon.

So, without further ado, in the memory of a true WWII tanker, I present the 23rd Company of the 7th Armoured Division, under the command of Captain Frank Alefounder.

Next up - the army list

23rd Armoured Company, 7th Division Army List

Doctrines: Leman Russ Exterminators, Leman Russ Vanquishers

HQ
Leman Russ Exterminator Command Tank
Turret-Mounted Twin-Linked Autocannon
Hull Mounted Heavy Bolter, Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Pintle-Mounted Heavy Stubber, Extra Armour, Smoke Launcher
254pts

ELITES
Leman Russ Vanquisher Tank Ace
Turret-Mounted Vanquisher Cannon & Coaxial Storm Bolter
Hull Mounted Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Extra Armour, Searchlight
271pts

TROOPS
Leman Russ
Turret-Mounted Battle Cannon
Hull Mounted Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Extra Armour
170pts

Leman Russ
Turret-Mounted Battle Cannon
Hull Mounted Heavy Bolter, Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Extra Armour
160pts

Leman Russ
Turret-Mounted Battle Cannon
Hull Mounted Heavy Bolter, Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Extra Armour
160pts

HEAVY SUPPORT
Leman Russ Demolisher Support Tank
Turret-Mounted Demolisher Cannon
Hull Mounted Lascannon, Plasma Cannon Sponsons
Extra Armour, Smoke Launchers, Searchlight
184pts

TOTAL: 1200pts
Model Count: 6
Break Point: 1

NOTE - list updated to reflect a few minor changes.

OK, so some people might think this is pretty hard for a 1200pt list. But honestly, it isn't. On the right mission and board, OK, its very nasty. Generally however, its pretty flimsy. The Exterminator is very situational, the Demolisher is short range, and the Vanquisher can be outmanouvred. OK, so 3 Leman Russes in a column is a handful, but I don't believe this is a cheese factory, especially given how many times I've been smashed by various forces in the past. Still, each to their own.

next up - painting & colour schemes

OK, so the list is pretty much finalised, for better of for worse. If it doesn't perform on the battlefield, well, I'll revise it after Arcanacon, since I don't have time to finish constructing and painting anything else beforehand. About the only thing I could do is swap out the heavy flamers on one of the tanks for heavy bolters. The rest is pretty fixed. Working on a mounting system for the hull weapons so I could concievably attach a heavy bolter or lascannon as I see fit. More details to come.

Colour scheme is easy in theory and bloody difficult to execute for one of my limited brush skills. Since the REAL Frank Alefounder was a Desert Rat (hence the unit designation) it will be done in a variant on the North Africa desert campaign colours. Specifically, a desert camoflague pattern from around 1944/45, as show on the picture below (note - its not there yet - I'll edit shortly). This is a dusty beige/brown base, with highlights of chalky greys. Accent colours include some darker edging on the greys, plus some rusts, dirt, dust and other effects. I'm no 'Eavy Metal artist, so it has to be doable by someone of my limited talents. if the tanks look roughly like the picture below in the end, I'll be extremely happy.

<<Picture To Be Placed Here>>

I've ordered some ForgeWorld parts - specifically some track guards for the Command Tank, plus an Exterminator and a Vanquisher turret. I selected the Ryza pattern ones as I feel they have the better feel for the quasi-WWII themed tank company. I'm also looking at the Archer line of decals and transfers for some Jerboa and Liver Bird emblems to mark the tanks with. Not that its overly hard to produce those as a stencil with my printer and an x-acto knife.

The biggest issue at the moment is the concept of basing the tanks. I'd like to make a small (probably 2'x2') battle board to display them, plus bases lower the wear and tear on the models themselves. How to attach them to the bases could be an issue. Magnets again I reckon, or a heavy centre stud that the tank can settle into on the base. I'll make some mock-ups and post them for consideration.

For the issue of holding the tanks onto bases:

Try 4 pins on each corner of the tanks going from the base into the track, only need a small inconspicuous hole and they should stay snug and firm.

Nice! Thanks for that tip, I'll absolutely give it a try. Random thought - you reckon this would work with magnets too?

I wonder how large a base for a tank should be. I guess if its thin then you don't need to bother with "base contact" and just play the game as if the base wasn't actually there. Draw LoS to the tank body itself, any assaulting infantry have to hit the physical model, etc. How much stuff could you pack onto the base before it gets in the way. Again, maybe some magnets...

This continues to give rise to loads of thought.

OK, an update and a whinge.

Collected the kits I needed on Saturday morning and dragged them home. Holy crap but there are a lot of small parts for an essentially fairly chunky vehicle. So, the weekend has been spent building tanks, for the most part. I've built 1 x Leman Russ, 1 x Demolisher & 1 Mission Objective in the form of a small radar-guided SAM site (40mm square base) using a few parts left over from an old edition Rhino kit. Came up quite nicely really. Pics to follow this evening.

Now the whinge. GW - please, please PLEASE take some care in your shipping methods. Aside from the demolisher, EVERY SINGLE HULL in the kits (2 x Leman Russ Squadron boxes) is warped (looks like heat warping). They look like bananas or canoes, not tanks. REALLY, REALLY unimpressed with that. I've been able to bend one back so far, but I may have to use some hot water to soften them up later on.

So the construction is coming along nicely. Still sweating over how the hell I'm going to get the painting done. Loads of advice from people here, which is so deeply appreciated, but I'm still nervous as hell about it.

Wow, didn't expect them to be warped. I recently built the baneblade which is huge, and me being out here at heat central expected warpage but it is pristine...

Can't say I expected it either Still very disappointed. Mind you, I seem to luck out this way - I got a Crusader kit that I had to return once as it was unusable.

I took a closer look at the kits. The Demolisher kit (unaffected) is a darker shade of gray (bluer as well) than the 6 Russes, which are the usually beige-grey colour, so it appears to be a combination of heat during shipping and a potentially higher grade plastic in the Demolisher kit.

First photographs of this project - the two secondary objective markers, otherwise known as scenery Note that these are yet to be properly based. Both are on 40mm square bases. Sorry for the very ordinary pictures - I had an electrical short in the kitchen the other night so my usual photographic light sources are currently employed elsewhere in the house at the moment.

Secondary Objective One - Radar-Guided SAM Site


Secondary Objective Two - Rocket Artillery Battery


For those who like to know what parts were used: the platforms are old edition Rhino front plates. I trimmed off the viewport and latches, although the cutout is still there. The SAM is the hunter-killer missile from vehicles of the same era. The radar dish is from the current edition Land Raider. The two rockets and their railings are straight off the Leman Russ accessories sprue.

OK, back to playing with paint - I'm testing the paint scheme on a 1/35th T72 model I had in the cupboard.

First attempt at the colour scheme (my plea for painting assistance thread is elsewhere, I'll keep this to commentary) has been done, actually first three attempts. Two of them sucked badly. This one isn't too bad.

Sample Camoflauge Scheme Attempt #1

(this is a 1/35th T72 model, in case you're wondering why it doesn't look like a Leman Russ)

I'm seeing a few things from this, but still a long way to go. At least it has the right muted look to it at this point. Wouldn't mind a little more beige to it for a lighter sandy look, but at least its a step in the right direction.

Current Arc'08 Status:

Time Remaining: 62 days
Fluff: pending (haven't even named the units yet - I feel dirty)
Uber-Fluff: pending
HQ Tank: unbuilt
Tank Ace: unbuilt
Squadron Tank #1: built
Squadron Tank #2: unbuilt
Squadron Tank #3: unbuilt
Heavy Support: built (mostly)
Primary Mission Objective: untouched, no idea what to make
Secondary Mission Objective 1: built
Secondary Mission Objective 2: built (mostly)

Prediction: I'm so screwed...

Nice, good luck with the time frame.

Usual update. Built up another tank today, so now I have 2 Leman Russes and a Demolisher pretty much fully built. Still need to acquire heavy bolters for the hull turrets, but I bought a couple today from the Buy/Swap/Sell board, so those ought to solve that problem.

Pointless Photo of 3 Mostly Constructed Tanks


The sponsons, track guards and hull weaponry are in a box at the moment. Need to see what my FW track guards look like before I can determine if the box set ones can go on ALL the vehicles (as "extra armour") and the actual track guarded model be easy to identify.

Time Remaining: 61 days.
Current Status: going insane and losing fingerprints from track assembly.

Hey - just a quick tip - in the past two months i have built 3 russ', 2 chimeras and a hell hound, and the best bit of advice i can give you when building the track sections is to start with the longest piece on the bottom with the two teeth just sticking out over the front edge of the assembly, and work one piece at a time around both sides until you can fit the other long piece on top. Doing it more than one track length at a time just makes a gluey mess of the tracks (and your fingertips), and this way you can be sure you have the right lengths where they need to go.

Thanks for the tip for treads - very much appreciated! Should have seen the first vehicle I built (years ago now) - using superglue and I think I got more of my fingers stuck to the model than treads!

I've been starting at the top by positioning the 4-link and 2 6-link pieces, since they line up neatlyat the joins. Then I've worked down the back, to the long base piece. Then I return to the front top and go along that - that way if there are any pieces not quite right, they are in the places that are hardest to see. So far its worked pretty well. I have one of those Contacta needle-point plastic glue dispensers, so I don't have the gluey mess problem.

My big issue with the treads/wheels is that I have giant mitts for hands, so those small parts are pretty awkward for me. Thankfully years of (badly) playing guitars has hardened my fingertips, so I've been able to avoid any injuries from my x-acto knife so far.

Well, that will teach me to speak too soon. Still, it was only a minor nick as my thumbnail caught the brunt of it. Got the tracks and hull of another tank done, still got to do its turret, sponsons and rear end though.

Anyone got suggestions about track guards - paint the tread assembly in its entirity then glue them down? Or have them attached beforehand?

Also need some ideas on how to mount the sponsons so that they are removable.

Think I solved the sponson problem - I've mounted a small piece of sprue inside the sponson to attach the magnet onto, then lined up a second on direct onto the hull. The plastic is too thin to inset the magnet onto the hull plate.

So far I've done up one entire tank with magnetised sponsons & hull weapon. Quite like the ability with the hull weapon to be able to replace the actual casing and just remove the gun - makes it easier to build swappable weapons without butchery of the lascannon itself.

I'll post up some detail pics tonight.

My fingers hurt. I've assembled 2 more tanks in the past 24hrs and I'm getting tread-shaped eyes from all the tiny parts.

So now I have 6 mostly constructed tank chassis, of which one (1) is magnetised. Still got the other 5 to do, so I guess thats next on the list.

Still playing with paint, and so far, NOTHING is working out right. I don't want 6 ugly tanks on the battlefield, but right now sprayed primer is about the only thing I can do. I COULD go back to the 1940-era desert paint (monotone) but I don't think the army would have the same impact.

I'm seriously considering finding someone to teach me how to do the paint correctly.

OK, another update, this time with pictures.

A gratuitous photo of the 6 currently assembled tanks.

The one with the sponsons attached is the magnetised one, see below for more detail on that one. The two with missing turrets are the hulls for the Vanquisher and Exterminator, whos turrets are about a week away (I hope). I didn't build anything from their parts, in case the ForgeWorld turrets need some of the parts. All the sponsons are built awaiting magnets, the hull weapons need some modifying since I need several heavy bolters. I'm going to get some dowelling rod and build up the entire mount piece for ease of transfer.

So lets talk magnets.

Magnetised Weapons, Exploded View

Here's the tank with its magnets visible. I've mounted pieces of sprue inside the sponsons and hull plating so I didn't have to hack apart the hull of the tank itself. Initially I ground down the hinges on the hull, but as it turns out that wasn't nessecary. Not sure if/how I'll plug the holes in the hull plating as yet. Might see if I can come up with something suitably cool.

Magnetised Tank, Magnets Attached

Not too many visible gaps in the magnetised parts (I was reasonably careful to file them down before I mounted the magnets. I'll have to number the parts so that I don't bugger up the polarity or the fit between each tank.

And this brings me to the colour scheme. Here's another attempt at a colour scheme - this one seems to work reasonably well, with the exception of the brush marks, but thats just an issue with a crappily sprayed undercoat and excessive haste on my part. Once again my old T72 model was pressed into service.

Desert Camoflauge 4 Tone Scheme


Desert Camoflauge 4 Tone Scheme, Alternate View


This was done with the following technique, adapted from the GW website.

1. Basecoat with thinned-down 3:1 Desert Yellow:Bleached Bone. I did 3 coats of poorly thinned paint. I reckon the final product will need 4.
2. Ink applied to raises and crevasses. Ink was 3:1:4 Chestnut:Black:Water. It needs some adjustment for the next (and last) test run - I'll make up 2 batches - one with a surface tension breaker (ie: dish soap) and the other with a spot of PVA glue - that way I can control the inks properties a little better.
3. Touch up over inkage with the basecoat.
4. Light Drybrush 2:1 Desert Yellow:Bleached Bone
5. Light Drybrush 3:1 Bleached Bone:Skull White
6. Camo paint on 3:1 Graveyard Earth:Bleached Bone
7. Drybrush camo areas 1:1 Graveyard Earth:Bleached Bone
8. Paint the dark splotches on with thinned 2:1 Scorched Brown:Chaos Black (I need to make these larger in the next run, and keep them on the borders of the camo print but not overlapping them).
9. Drybrush the splotches (if needed) 1:1 Scorched Brown:Graveyard Earth
10. Paint the jags between the splotches and the camo areas with thinned down Bleached Bone (needed 2 coats)
11. Drybrush splotches (if needed) with Skull White

After that process comes the detailing, such as the treads, spring coils, gunmetal, etc. I'm still working on the way I want the treads to look - my original idea, well, sucked. I'll have some tests up soon.

SO, the progress report:

Days to go: 54
Tank Hulls: Complete
Hull Hyperdetailing: Pending (looking at ways to do some subtle wear'n'tear plus other things)
Magnetisation: 1/6 complete (help!... it took ages)
Turrets: awaiting delivery
Painting: yeah, right...

With some conversion parts (ie: heavy bolters) arriving in the mail, I can get back to work. I took a break for a few days to let the skin on my fingers grow back.

So the current short-term goals are as follows:

1. Convert several hull lascannons to heavy bolters
2. Complete the magnetisation process on all 6 tanks (ouch)
3. Properly test-paint something in the colour scheme including details.

I have an old Vindicator around (the old edition GW one) which I'll probably never actually put on the tabletop (I have a newer Forgeworld kit one as well), so its as good a sacrificial lamb as anything else.

I'll keep you posted.

Days to go: 47

I was trying to convince myself it was 74. Actually, assuming all the conversion work goes well, I'll be in a reasonable position to have the army ready, although I have a 14 day lead time at the printers for the army background & codex though.

I have to work through the XMas period at the office, but I expect it to be pretty quiet. So I'll take my painting rig in with me and work here. Lighting is ordinary but I have loads of bench space.

Haven't even looked at fluff yet as I've been too busy painting...slowly.
I'm jealous of your 'free' office time.
I have the basic Public Hols strung together but with the folks coming over for 2x weeks from NZ in early Jan and a new employee starting tomorrow with no holidays accrued I've had to drastically alter my schedule to fast-track training and ensure coverage.
I can see a rush happening towards the end of Jan.

Cheers
Mark

I work helpdesk, so the days between xmas and new year its only my team, security, the bean counters & a guy from networks at the office. I would estimate a total of about 40 calls over the 3 days, and I've got an offsider. 20 calls is barely an hours work, so its a good chance to do the all the basecoating, inking and drybrushing done.

I had warpage on my chimera, i just took it back and they gave me a new hull.
When you're paying $65 for a model that costs them $20 to produce, ship and package, and there's a product fault, then you deserve a replacement.

Was nothing I couldn't fix, thankfully. A bit of hot water (2-3min), quickly dry it off and glue in place - solved all but one hull, and I'll just GS the small gap.

But yeah, I returned the LRC kit I got where all the metal stuff is warped.

Not a lot of work happened in the last couple of days, which I will admit is worrying me a bit. But I DID manage to go acquire some modelling supplies, and put the basecoat & first ink on the final test model before I think about actually putting paint to plastic on the tanks themselves. Actually reasonably happy with the way its come up. There won't be much shadow detail as the camo paint & weathering will cover a lot of it up, but the inking does work pretty well. Just need to put a final tweak on the paint mix for the basecoat (this batch was a little too yellow) and then make up a pot of it so it stays consistant.

Picked up one of the Tamiya weathering kits - looks the goods so far - along with some varnishes and a clear yellow to try and get the headlamps right.

First real disaster though - my decals turned up from the US but they are -WAY- too small, so I have to go with plan B. I've got one of those inkjet decal sheets (and the sealant spray) so I'll have to get busy.

ForgeWorld goodies!!!! My turrets arrived today, and they look pretty sweet (pics tonight, promise!) Now I just need to -=CAREFULLY=- make some modifications to them in order to add some motion to them. Not quite sure why the main weapons are glue in but I'm sure I can sort that out. If GW can articulate a battle cannon, there is no reason FW can't.

Did the last of the hull weapon conversions last night, and thanks to cmdr_roy (who kindly parted with a metal hull heavy bolter for my Exterminator) & faramirsmumma, I've also got enough hull weapons to enable me to swap out lascannons & heavy bolters as the need arises.

So, the schedule is looking a little better aside from the time remaining...

Days Left: 36

Design: finalise design for the flags and run a test. Create decals. Finalise a few colour choices. Finish design on Codex document. Figure out something for the primary objective marker.

Building: attach the track guards to the hulls (I had left them off as I wasn't sure if I should paint the entire tracks first), modify and prep the FW turrets, finish magnetising the sponsons and hull weapon covers. Add final details to the hulls. Build the primary objective marker.

Painting: actually finish the smegging final colour test. Acquire the remaining pot of foundation paint that I still need. Invent a new swear word so when I screw up, I don't immediately lose partner faction due to language violations. Learn how to properly apply a decal. Oh yeah, actually paint the ....ing army!

OPTIONAL: design & build scenic bases & display board.

Steve,

Ensure with the FW gear you give it a nice wash in warm soapy water. I use my Mum's Ultrasonic Jewellery cleaner, (which vibrates the water), hot water and Dettol. Gets into the cracks easier than by brush.

I await your pictures of the FW gear though

Good to finally meet you in person too!

Cheers,

Alex

Yeah, I scrub everything before I prime it, but I take the point to be extra careful (I got a FW vindicator kit about 2yrs ago and had to do that). I noticed an odd feel to the material when I was looking the parts over for mold lines, which I figure is that coating stuff. I have to hot bath it anyway to straighten out the autocannons on the Exterminator turret and the coaxial bolter on the Vanquisher.

Let me know when the track guards arrive in too - I'm still deciding which tank they go on (probably the Demolisher to beef it up some more).

Washing resin, got a dishwasher ?
I put my entire AC through the dishwasher on sprue.
Tanks, sentinels, FW etc.
After the first wash let it cool then run it again without the soapy stuff as a rinse off
No effort required

Don't you mean..."I put my entire AC through Mum's dishwasher on sprue."

Mummy's boy!

Cheers
Mark

Lies and falsehoods!

Fully armoured armies are always impressive on the table top

yeah, yeah... I left work at 7pm, drive home (1hr), collect the future mother-in-law, remove her to the airport, drive home, attempt to sleep, back at work this morning at 7am.

Sorry if I ran out of time. I didn't even get a chance to grab food, and those who know me well can vouch that an un-fed voyager is not a pleasant one.

I'll go do it now.

Tis fine so long as you do it quickly.

OK, as promised (late though it may be) - a photo of the FW stuff.


Forgeworld kit - Vanquisher barrel, 2 Modified Ryza Pattern turrets, Exterminator barrels

As you can see, there is some warping of the autocannon barrels and the coaxial bolter on the vanquisher barrel. Nothing I can't fix with some hot water and a bit of balsa wood as a brace though. Also looking at how to mount a normal 'russ turret plate to the bottom of them. Don't want it to raise up though, so will have to be creative (or give it up as "too hard").

I was going to save this next part for game day at Arc, but all the research and design work I did this morning (waiting 90min for a power outage simply to do a 10min test) made me think a lot about it.

Those who read the first few entries know I mentioned this army is being modelled from a real WWII unit. With the obvious 40K spin on things, and a posthumous promotion, this is the case. I've been doing the unit flashes, badges, etc, and taking references from history to put into the force. So its not a perfect clone, but its a historical tribute.

I'm going to share a little here simply by posting a photograph.


Cpl. Frank Alefounder (left), British 7th Armoured Division, with his Valentine tank. Photo taken in North Africa. I believe it to be between May and October 1939, but its really hard to be 100% sure.

The late Frank Alefounder (1921-2007) was my grandfather. From all the stories, chats with his buddy Les (pictured right), and unit research I've done, I've been able to form up a picture (at least in my mind) of how I can get this unit to look. Sure, I'm going to modify certain things (like, for instance, the unit has to move forwards 39,000yrs) but thats OK, I can work with that.

Another update (with pics). Here's a mock-up of the unit flag and flashes that will be mounted on the tanks. Still finalising where to put the logos - the problem with the Russ kit is there isn't much forward-facing flat surface to work on. I'll be using the turret right side for the unit number & name, so thats out. I may look at shrinking the logos a little and going on the side of the sponsons, however if it starts to just look like a red blob at that size I will scratch the idea. I want the jerboa to be seen clearly.


Mock-up of the unit flashes and flag

All coming together mate.
Considered doing printed deacls myself...will be keen to see how your's turn out as I put mine in the too hard basket and did something else.

Cheers
Mark

With the exception of some additional details like tarps & the flags, I've actually completed 2 model builds, including the magnets. So here is the gratuitous photo of them. May I present (left to right) the RS-74C "Tobruk" & the LX-131 "Percy Hobart".


RS-74C "Tobruk" (Leman Russ MBT) & LX-131 "Percy Hobart" (Exterminator)

Does solve one problem though - I can put unit flash on the track guards as its nearly where the actual flashes would have gone (on the lower hull at the front, but the Russ kit isn't conductive to that)

Try using the aerial as a mount for the flags.

I'm only going to be attaching the antenna part onto the command tank to represent the Improved Comms that it has. I have other ideas for the flags - the picture posted is just a mock-up to check scale and potential positioning for the unit flash. Plus I want the flag on the hull of the tank, not on the turret.

Without giving too much away yet (in case it doesn't work and I end up looking like more of an ass than usual), I have some ideas here. Only trouble is the parts I need are in my other half's beading kit, so I'm going to have to be really careful as to how I go about flogging it.

You can still use the areial just dont use the improved comms set up. I pesonaly think the flag would be better positioned either at the back or on the turret but thats just from my minds eye. NFI how it would actually look on the model. From the mock up i would say it should be lower than is showed.

Quick update as I drag myself away from the workspace once more to get food and see if the house is still here. I've done another vehicle - this time the VHC-8 "Valentine" Vanquisher. Here's a shot of the three (mostly) completed vehicles in their magnetised glory (and yes, I have to tweak that vanquisher turret a little).


LX-131 "Percy Hobart", RS-74A "Bocage" (rear) & VHC-8 "Valentine"

22:30 update - rather than a fresh posting, I'm just taking 5min again whilst the glue dries on what is HOPEFULLY the final stage of magnetising the Demolisher. The rest of them, being fully plastic (not going to split hairs over the single metal heavy bolter in the Exterminator) are relatively easy to do with a bit of sprue, some poly cement, superglue & a pair of rare earth magnets. The Demolisher, with its metal plasma cannon sponsons, is a mungrel. Sure, the magnets are strong enough to hold the Enterprise together at warp 9, but do you think I can brace them sufficiently for these? Of course not. I'm probably going to have to try mounting a second pair of magnets in each, and thats not going to be fun at all. I'll update again if my sanity holds out.

OK, well, after HOURS of fiddling and much cursing, I have actually achieved something. There is a great degree of satisfaction to be had when I look at the photograph below. Short of a few things, the build phase is pretty much done.


1200pts of Armoured Company

All that is left is to await the Forgeworld track guards for the Demolisher (I want it looking nice and beefy, the FW guards are longer than the GW kit ones), and to go add on the tarps, boxes and other small details, plus finish the mounting of the Vanquisher turret.

I'll post up some more background fluff stuff either directly after this post, or sometime later (ie: after I go crash). Feel like I got somewhere with this today.

Mate thats is looking absoloutely awesome! Take a break you deserve it. Makes me wonder if im gonna ba able to do my AC the same amount of justice as you have done?

Who am i kidding probably not?

Keep on going amte thats looking positively bitchin.

Cheers,
Carnex.

A Revised Army List

About time I posted this up. This includes a few revisions plus some of the background fluff. Happy for some feedback on this - I'm still finalising a few things before I paint (which, hopefully, begins Thursday - still finishing the test)

7th Armoured Division, 23rd Company - "Frank's Tanks"

Doctrines: Rare Tank (Exterminator), Rare Tank (Vanquisher)

HQ
LX-131 "Percy Hobart". The Lord Ponsonby, Major Frank Alefounder commanding.
Leman Russ Exterminator (120)
Hull Mounted Heavy Bolter (5), Heavy Bolter Sponsons (10), Pintle Mounted Heavy Stubber (12)
Command Tank (100), Improved Comms (free), Extra Armour (5), Smoke Launcher (3)
255pts

ELITE
DHC-8 "Valentine", Captain Les xxxxx in command (the xxxxx is because I have a brain block and forgotten his surname)
Leman Russ Vanquisher (175)
Hull Mounted Lascannon (15), Heavy Bolter Sponsons (10), Co-Axial Storm Bolter (free)
Tank Ace (65), Extra Armour (5), Searchlight (1)
271pts

TROOPS #1
RS-74A "Bocage", Sgt-Major John Beely in command
Leman Russ (140)
Hull Mounted Lascannon (15), Heavy Bolter Sponsons (10)
Extra Armour (5)
170pts

TROOPS #2
RS-74B "Belize", Sgt George Erskine in command
Leman Russ (140)
Hull Mounted Heavy Bolter (5), Heavy Bolter Sponsons (10)
Extra Armour (5)
160pts

TROOPS #3
RS-74C "Tobruk", Sgt Michael Creagh in command
Leman Russ (140)
Hull Mounted Heavy Bolter (5), Heavy Bolter Sponsons (10)
Extra Armour (5)
160pts

HEAVY SUPPORT
Z-9 "Crusader", Lt. Charles "Jock" Campbell in command
Leman Russ Demolisher (140)
Hull Mounted Lascannon (15), Plasma Cannon Sponsons (20)
Extra Armour (5), Smoke Launcher (3), Searchlight (1)
184pts

TOTAL: 1200pts
Models: 6
Scoring Units: 6
Troops: 490pts (41%)

Currently debating a few things here. I'd like to get some RTM (rough terrain mods) onto the Demolisher & potentially also the Exterminator, but just don't have the points for it unless I strip the lascannon from the "Bocage" to pay for the mods for the Demolisher. That only leaves me with the 2 lascannons. The other option is to downgrade the Plasma Cannon sponsons to Heavy Bolters (saves about 15pts) but that reduces the ability of the Demolisher to do what I want. An easier question (comparatively) is the placement of the 2 searchlights. The Demolisher is an obvious choice with its heavier armour and generally shorter range - it will be spotted anyway. The Vanquisher can sit back a lot further away, but in a typical game probably can not (and will not) do so. I guess I wonder if that should move to a "lesser" vehicle.

Anyway, enough for now. I require some downtime.

Thanks for the feedback Carnex, I hope I don't ruin them with a crappy paint job.

I've completed the detailing on the command tank now, at least all the detailing I can do before painting begins. Some people will undoubtedly think that I have left a lot of it bare, and thats true - the unit flashes need some nice flat surfaces, and there aren't many to choose from. But other than that, its done. There are 5 magnet points on the hull - front weapon, sponsons (2), and flagpoles (2 - the brass wire you can see) - so the tank breaks down quite nicely for transport. Remember I wanted it to be motorcycle friendly for carrying around.

The flagpoles are made from a pair of magnets, the base of the aerial from the improved comms array, and a piece of 18 gauge brass craft wire that I shamelessly stole from the other half whilst she was at the shops looking for cookies. She's not yet noticed it missing - hence why I am still able to type.


LX-131 "Percy Hobart" with full detail

Now its back to the table to complete the detailing on the other tanks, and to finish the turret mount for the vanquisher.

Dude thats looking awesome. I like the as is mate think it should perform well in all aspects. Cant wait to see the whole army finsished and painted mate.