Monthly Archives: January 2024

Horus Heresy Lists and Progress

As the house remodel saga continues. Hobby progress has stalled because my Hobby Room is in the remodel area. I have the entrance sealed off with plastic so as little concrete dust as possible can enter. I am much larger than dust particles.

We are getting new fancy floors in our basement. Unfortunately, our house is 120 years old, and the basement is not level. There is a lot of grinding, jackhammering, and laying new concrete to get the new flooring. Lots of dust. Progress is slow. Maybe by the end of the week, I might have access again.

To expedite hobby progress, and because I wanted to. I did purchase a new airbrush for my workplace. It is a budget airbrush but should work nicely for priming and zenithal highlighting. I may even try it on the 3d printed soviet trucks.

I should be on track for the 2nd week of February to complete the full 3000 pt Word Bearers Army. My Ravenguard has been arriving; pictures will be taken later this week.

Here are the Army Lists for the Two Starter Forces

Word Bearers3000RavenGuard3000
Praetor/W Command Squad235Centurion Master of Signals95
Contemptor Dreadnought Talon w/Drop Pod325Praetor Cataphractii W Command240
Destroyer Assault Squad2052 Contemptor Dreadnought390
Veteran Squad w/Rhino150Mor Deythan Squad150
Veteran Squad 1 Missile Launcher135Mor Deythan SquadW Storm Eagle360
Despoiler Squad100Terminator Cataphratii Squad325
Recon Squad w/Storm Eagle344Assault Squad145
Tactical SquadW/ Rhino145Tactical Squad100
Tactical Squad/W Rhino145Tactical Squad W Rhino135
Outrider Squadron91Tactical Squad W Rhino135
Proteus Land Speeders2102x Land Raider Carriers505
Sky Hunter Squadron105Basilisk Squadron200
Land Raider Squadron250Sicaran Squadron220
Basilisk Squadron200
Predator Squadron360

There is very little method to my madness for these lists. I think I have enough transport capacity for the Ravenguard for every unit to be mechanized. I hope the fast attacks on the word bearers can work as screens to prevent the Ravenguard from crossing over the bridge. Some hard-hitting tanks, some dreadnoughts. Coming from someone who has never played, this seems like a fun list to play.

The Raven Guard will be 100% complete once they arrive. I have started priming the Word Bearers Tactical Squad in a silver primer and painting the main areas in Flesh Tearers Red. I didn’t like the look on my one test model. One thing I am trying to push myself with is brighter colors. Way too many of my models are muted color-wise, and I would rather they pop on the table. I am going to try a 100% airbrushed marine with a gradient to see how it looks. Then pick out a few silver details. I am not sold yet.

My 100% airbrushed marine makes me much happier. Base/primer coat of Vallejo German brown. Followed with Vallejo Game Air Blood Red and finished with Safety Orange from Army Painter Airbrush paint series. Used Grim Black from speed paints on the blacks. Silver from Vallejo game air on the silvers, and some Army Painter Red Tone for a little more detail. I underpainted it with a shot of Vallejo Royal Purple.

You can see the side-by-side comparison; the gradient model came out much bolder. I will base both models on the next just to see how they look complete. I literally have 250 Horus Heresy Marines lying around. If one or two become sacrifices, I will live.

It is very interesting to me how a base can absolutely change a model. Some dry brushing is a must on the one on the left, a little bit of silver on the blacks with some yellow on the armor. Also, skip the silver toes and maybe go with something else. Silver markings on the pauldron, maybe.

I used the same colors on the marines as I did on the vehicles. I followed this guy’s YouTube guide on how to paint the vehicles. For my first couple of attempts, I am decently pleased. The next step is adding some transfers and a little weathering.

Time Grows Closer

I have a few things left to finalize the opening battle of the Stalingrad campaign.

Paint German Halftracks, Flamethrower Team, Medic, Spotter
Paint Soviet Bannerman, 5 Trucks, BA 20 Armoured Car, Dog Mines Team

Base all of the above-painted models.

For the Word Bearers

Almost everything needs to be painted. I have most of the models primed which would be good enough to start the campaign I think. Although I have some time Saturday and might be able to bust out quite a few models.

I need to acquire or kitbash 10 Man Despoiler Squad, and 10 Man Destroyer Assault Squad, Legion Chosen models.

I have ordered Destroyer Squads from GW but they have 0 Destroyer Assault Squads. I will add a few jump packs and call it good. For the Despoilers, a box of MKIV marines and the despoiler upgrade should work fine.

Legion Chosen are a little more challenging. I have acquired a couple of Legion Chosen single models, including a bannerman. I still need Legion Chosen marines, so I might just paint regular marines with gold trim instead of silver.

One big thing lacking is the river. I am anxious about painting the river and then filling the pieces with epoxy. It was a very expensive model.

Finally, as far as the future of the campaign. While it is necessary to plan ahead. I also think it would be interesting to look behind. Units can grow. I want to name especially stubborn or heroic units, and maybe, at times, it would be worth losing and withdrawing than going all out and losing your valuable upgraded units. I’ll work on it.

Stalingrad Forces Hobby Progress

The first image you see was where we started on Friday. I needed to paint about 30 infantry, 2 vehicles, and 5 weapons teams. I was also missing the following

1 German Medic
1 German Flamethrower Team
1 German Anti-Tank Team (skipped and replaced)
2 SDFKZ 7 Half-Tracks

1 Soveit Flag Bearer
1 Veteran Panzerfust
1 Veteran LMG
1 Soviet Standing Sniper Team
1 Dog Mines Team
5 Trucks
1 BA 20 Armoured Car

All items are on order from Warlord and it will just be a waiting game for when they come in.

The pictures below are what I got done the past couple of weekends.

Most of the Soviet Infantry fully painted, just not based.

A couple of tanks and weapons teams.

Also a nice bridge.

As for paint recipes.

Soviet infantry

Zenithal

Vallejo Primer Red brown

Mid German green brown Vallejo Primer

Top desert sand Vallejo Primer

Skin

Base coat reaper rosy skin

Fill contrast guilliman flesh

Bayonets 

Vallejo model air steel

Guns 

Wood

Express color wasteland brown

Blacks

Contrast black legion

Leathers

Mix 

Contrast gargjaks sewer

Contrast skeleton horde

Model wash

Citadel Athenian camoshade 

Drybrush

Reaper jade green

Tank

Base cost airbrush soviet green

Black ls vallejo air primer

Drybrush reaper jade green

2024 Resolutions

I have seen many posts about hobbyist posting their hobby goals and thought it was high time I did my own. 

Last year, I failed.

  1. Complete Horus Heresey Word Bearers Army
  2.  Complete through scenario 15 of the Stalingrad campaign
  3.  Complete a Warhammer Fantasy Army, either high elves or Beastmen
  4.  Inventory my terrain
  5.  Spend less money and focus more on 3d printing
  6.  Paint 6 Skirmish forces, either Warcry, Necromunda, Carnivale, Malifauxe, Kill Team, etc. 6 of them.
  7.  100 Blog Posts

That should take it. Let’s take a deeper dive.

Items 1 and 2 go hand in hand. The Word Bearers are my campaign’s crossover force, and I want them to be fully painted and realized on the table. The Stalingrad Campaign will be the blog’s feature for the next year, and 15 episodes and 30 total battles are very doable. I won’t have the first encounter before the first of February because of the remodeling work in my basement.

Item 3, The Old World, excites me; my two favorite factions are High Elves and Beastmen. Other than Seraphon. The Seraphon will not be supported. Therefore, I have to make a sacrifice and paint some elves. I started the elves last year with 80 archers in identical poses and lost motivation quickly.

Item 4, there is so much terrain. I have started. I have. So much terrain, and it’s just in boxes. Many, many boxes. I want to know what I have and where. It helps make my life simple.

For item 5, I have three working 3D printers and two others I could work on. That is more than enough to print armies and terrain rather than buy. Saving money is essential for everyone. A good thing to blog about?

Item 6, I will be excited to paint some of these small skirmish forces. Necromunda and Carnivale, in particular, sing to me and what I enjoy as a gamer.

Item 7, I gave up on the blog last year. This one will be better.

Until tomorrow, I have pictures of completed Soviets and Germans; I just wanted to get this done first.

Bolt Action Stalingrad Box Review

Yesterday, I received a massive haul of miniature plastic from Amazon. The Stalingrad 2-player set from Bolt Action. Wow, there is a ton of toy soldiers in this box. Here is what Warlord Games includes.

  • Ruined MDF factory
  • Barmaley Fountain
  • 5 resin craters/shellholes
  • 3 resin barricades/rubble
  • 3m of barbed wire
  • Sd.Kfz 139 Marder III
  • T34/76
  • Soviet Sniper team
  • 56 plastic Soviet infantry
  • 42 plastic German Army infantry

Also included were a couple rule and scenario books, build instructions and some unit cards to ease play, some decal sheets and damaged vehicle markers.

The contents of the box were as advertised. Although the sprews were not bundled together and my German and Soviet troops were thoroughly mixed together. The resin pieces were nicely covered in bubble wrap for protection. The MDF securely covered the bottom of the box. My biggest complaint came from the items in the box not fitting tightly. Part of the mixing of factions but it also caused several torsos for the German winter troops to fall from the sprew and just be loose in the box. I was a little annoyed that there were 6 sets of winter Germans but 4 sets of Winter Soviets and 2 sets of regular.

One of my favorite parts of Warlord Games models is the clearly labeled sprew. Each section had German Infantry (winter) or Soviet Weapons clearly stamped into the sprew. Something very consistent across all Warlord Games lines. Compared to a Games Workshop or Atomic Mass Games this is really helpful when leaving a project and returning to it weeks or months later.

Best Parts of the Box

Terrain. The MDF ruined buildings are way more sturdy than you would think. The resin barricades are nice, and the fountain is cool. I wish there was a little more elevation or platforms in the buildings.

The scenario book is nice and unexpected. The scenarios are designed to be used with the box and is a nice touch.

Worst Parts of the Box

German unit variety, no HQ’s or MMGs, or Flamethrowers. A huge miss here that I think really hurts the new player. Especially the lack of a machine gun when that is a German special rule.

Soviet Winter/Summer split. I get having all German units as winter garb, but the Soviets should have followed suit instead of being split.

Building instructions. I play a ton of Games Workshop, and their instructions are typically easy to follow. These were not especially for the infantry.

Packing quality. The items need to be secure in the box. They just do.

Who is This Box For

While typing this review, I have to say this is my biggest question mark. It is not good for the New Hobbyist; the instructions are far from clear and instead of saying piece one glues to piece two etc it gives you a sprew with torsos legs, arms and weapons and says glue together. I think someone brand new to the hobby would really struggle with this product. It kinda seems designed that way as well because it is a battlefield in a box and the included scenarios are very simple.

The Stalingrad box set is also not good for new players. On the Bolt Action website, you are encouraged to build a platoon with MMGs, Snipers, Anti Tank teams, mortars etc. This box doesn’t include any of those. No artillery, no HQs it is just infantry. I think this is a real miss for Warlord because it seems like this is a box that is designed to be open and play for two players.

Stalingrad is also not a great box for returning veterans of Bolt Action. Generally you buy two boxes of 30 troops each, a tank and the weapons teams when you are starting out. I have I think only needed more than 60 infantry twice playing Bolt Action. One was a simulation of D-Day on a 20ft long table with 10 players and 3,000+ models. The other time a friend wanted to do a Thin Red Line style game where half the Soviets didn’t have guns and they simply rushed the German entrenched lines. Long story short, most seasoned players don’t need gobs of riflemen.

Verdict

I have a tough time recommending this box to anyone. If you want the MDF buildings and could use the troops or have someone split them, go for it. If you are really into Stalingrad, by all means. Otherwise, I would have to suggest a pass. There are better options for your money. Even the terrain, you can just go on Etsy and buy what you need fully painted for less.

Last Bridge Over the River Don

The opening battle in the Stalingrad Campaign is the Last Bridge Over the River Don. The main objective is for the Soviets to hold the bridge while their force retreats and then blow the bridge. Game is on a 6×4 table with a river running north to south. In the middle of the river is a small bridge. Eastern side of the bridge has a small village. Western side has a few hills and balkas.

Soviets can attempt to blow the bridge. The objectives give 2 pts for each soviet unit to cross the bridge, and the Germans get 1 pt for each destroyed unit and 5 if the bridge is intact.

For terrain, I intend to use my Kallistra grass hexes as a base with assorted hills. I have a river from Tabletop World. It should sit nicely down between hexes. The river is 6″ wide, however, and if that doesn’t work, I have a neoprene river set and a few bridges that should work nicely. I need about 10 small buildings for the town where Dwarven Forge City Builder should also fit in nicely. I have 3 or 4 buildings for variety that are a high quality cardboard including a church that will make good variety.

Here is the Soviet T34 on the bridge. This will work well.

The army lists are below. Both lists are 1167. I don’t have a good reason for picking this number.

Germans1167Gates of Stalingrad
Leutnant50Regular
Here infantry905 Rifles 1 LMG 1 LoaderRegular
Panzgrenadier975 Rifles 1 LMG 1 LoaderRegular
medic30Veteran
artillery forward observer1001 ARRegular
Heer infantry1107 Rifles 1 LMG 1 LoaderRegular
heer pioneer771 Rifle 4 SMGSVeteran
mmg50Regular
medium mortar60add spotterRegular
flammenwerfer50Regular
sniper team50Regular
Anti-tank rifle team (removed)Regular
50mm pak 3875Regular
Sdkfz231100Regular
Panzer iii Ausf E,F1402nd MMGRegular
Sdkfz 7 halftrack44Regular
Sdkfz 7 halftrack44Regular
I based the German list on what an advancing army might look like. Mechanized infantry with early war armor support. Decent equipment. I could have made the squad sizes a little larger which would have brought me up to 1500 pts, as well as a few trucks, but this should make for a decent fight. I think the game plays well at 1250 to 1500.

Soviets Don Volga

Rifle Squad012 RiflesInexpierenced
2nd Lieutenant50SMGRegular
Veteran squad853 Rifle 1 LMG 1 LoaderVeteran
Rifle squad568 RiflesInexpierenced
commissar15SMGInexpierenced
assault engineer squad805 SMGsVeteran
rifle squad817 Rifles 1 FlagInexpierenced
rifle squad497 RiflesInexpierenced
veteran squad1034 Rifles 1 LMG 1 PanzerfustVeteran
Mmg35Inexpierenced
Dshk heavy machine gun team49Inexpierenced
Sniper team50Regular
Dog mines26Inexpierenced
Tank hunters20Inexpierenced
Medium mortar35Inexpierenced
Light mortar24Inexpierenced
45mm antitank46Inexpierenced
Ba20 Armoured Car52Inexpierenced
T-34156Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
The soviet list is based on an army in full retreat. Supplies and such were not a huge issue at this point of the war. I was happy to give them full equipment. The soviet army was very experienced at this point as well which I reflected in the list.

Initial Impressions

Reading over the rules, it seems like the Soviets have a real challenge. You have to get as many units over the bridge as possible and still blow the bridge. The initial turn the fuse is lit you have a 1/3 chance of blowing the bridge. The next turn its 50/50 and 2/3 the following turn. You don’t want to blow it early because it costs you points, but you can’t wait till the last turn either. Although the game does continue until the bridge blows or the charges are defused. The way the reinforcements work for the Germans I want the bridge blowing turn 6.

Also I wouldn’t consider this a good introductory scenario for those new to Bolt Action. It is a pretty complicated fight with many rules and deployments.

Hobby Items

First and foremost getting the two forces fully painted. I have about 3 weeks from now util the floors are completed and I have a game room back. That easily should be enough time for 50 odd infantry and a couple vehicles. Right……. right. My Germans are largely complete already. Maybe 10 models. The Soviets need around 40.

I need to paint the river. It shouldn’t take too long. It is nicely textured. I have 10 pieces that are 9″ long and 5″ wide, 8 curves, a large stone bridge that is just wide enough for a t-34. There is also a mill somewhere which would be cool to do eventually. I think there are 4 river battles and it is a terrain feature in 3 more. I may also try the resin thing where I fill the river with resin to create a water effect.

Other hobby items. I will most likely 3d print a building or two. They will need painted. I also need to paint a few hedges that I have 3d printed.

Next time should be some painted models progress, after the weekend.

Horus and Stalingrad

During my one-week vacation, to watch my beloved Wyoming Cowboys take on the Toledo Rockets in the Arizona Bowl. I was able to accomplish quite a bit and I am excited to introduce the next campaign I will be running.

Now this campaign is going to take a ton of work to accomplish. Hopefully, there will be 44 or 45 battles over the next two years, with 6 different armies and tables upon tables of terrain and 3d prints.

I am going to fight the Bolt Action Stalingrad Scenarios. All 22 using the RAW. By the same token. I will run a campaign using Horus Heresy, the same 22 scenarios following Horus Heresey Rules. With two new painted armies I will get to show off in addition to painting needed units.

The first scenario should be fought the first of February. We are going to have our basement floors redone, meaning my gaming room will be out of commission until then. That gives me one month to prepare about 40 Soveit and 60 German Models. As well as paint a Horus Heresey Word Bearers Army.

Expect to see many pictures as well as pictures of the terrain and the tables.

I am very interested in running the same scenarios with two different game systems, and I am curious how a historical scenario will play with a rules-heavy Horus Heresy. This is my first time playing Horus Heresy, and I know there will be some bumps on the road. It will also be interesting to see how different systems fit on the table together.

One really interesting component will be the same scenario on the exact same table. I am going to alternate playing Bolt Action first and Horus Heresy first so one system doesn’t get the advantage of seeing the table 2nd every time.

For factions, the Soviets and the RavenGuard will be the same, while the Germans and the Word Bearers will be the same. I absolutely detest the army-building system for Horus Heresy that are available. So I am going to create my own on excel using drop down lists. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it will be superior to what is on the internet today. I will build the bolt action lists using the warlord’s system.

Hopefully, I can do a few model reviews, some painting tutorials, and some scenery building. But for now, you all know what is coming over the next year.