I was ready to start. The flooring was complete. My wife and I started putting items away and preparing the game room. Then she grabbed a tape measure. She put on her thinking face. Then she put on her I’m sorry face.
Short story. I have a lot more work to do, long story below.
My hobby room has been a sore spot for her. Items I own consistently drift into the game room and every other room in the house. She looked at my hobby room. Where I keep most models, I do my painting, the magic collection is in there. Then she looked at the game room. A much larger room, but it does not have a door. “What if we put the books from the game room into your hobby room, made it a reading room and all your shit can go into the game room?”
I have a lot of shit. 42 lf of floor to ceiling shelves, plus a few piles and stacks of boxes and the like. We have worked about 14 hours on emptying my hobby room, and we are still incomplete. Four more hours to go. Then we have to organize and put about 10,000 volumes of books into the new reading room. Then, I have to restructure the hobby/game room. Build a new painting station. Put everything back on shelves in the game room. Finish the front den area where most board games are kept, requiring all new Billy Shelves from Ikea. Add a new entertainment center. Then, finally, I have to finish the guest bedroom. Building the new bed frame, etc. All before the first of March. Two weekends away, one of which we will be out of town for. Bleh.
I am very pleased to have the new space. It will work better for everything. It is just a lot of work. The campaign is delayed. I won’t have much time to hobby and paint, but it will begin. It will be awesome. Plan on updates.
Stalingrad is getting closer and closer. The library floors are done, and the river pieces are all painted; now, we just need to apply the epoxy. I also have to move most of the books and bookshelves back into the library and organize them on the various shelves. It should take about a week, maybe a week and a half.
Otherwise, the terrain for the first couple of battles is complete. I do have to paint some 3D-printed hedgerows for the second battle. I also 3D-printed some fenced gardens that look awesome and need paint.
This weekend. I prepared the 40-odd river pieces that are all modular for epoxy. I also painted 5 trucks and a small armored car. I based most of the newly painted units. I will do an inventory in the next day or two to finalize the WWII forces and the Horus Heresey Forces.
My terrain has always been an Achilles’ heel. I can get an army on the tabletop, no problem. The idea of taking 2 hours to airbrush and detail a building is daunting.
My first campaign battle is mostly taken care of for terrain. In fact, I have literally 2 pieces of terrain to make. The field is 6×4 with a river running 2′ from one of the short edges. On the small side of the river, there is a village with about 10 buildings. On the long side, there are some hills. A large bridge over the river.
I will use my Kallistra Hexes as the base of the 6×4 table. The simple grass flock. Easily my most used piece of terrain, and I highly recommend it. I will also use their hill pieces on the long side of the field. Kallistra makes several styles, and I will review my collection to decide what is best.
For the village, I will use several of my buildings. I have a few fully painted MDF, some Dwarven Forge, and I will probably paint a 3D-printed church. I also have some 3D-printed hedges and walls that will take no time at all to paint and some neoprene roads.
My crafting is going to be the river and bridge. Both items come from tabletopworld and are absolutely stunning. I have already painted, drybrushed and detailed the bridge. There is a small house attached to the bridge that I need to paint as well. I want to add some green algae effects to the bottom.
The river pieces themselves are slightly raised. They should fit really well into the Kallistra hexes. I want to paint the bottom. Add some river rocks, then fill them with a blue resin. This river will be used in 5 of the 22 campaign battles, and I want it to stand out. I have never worked with resin before. I purchased several large C-Clamps to hold wood against the edges. Wish me luck.
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 Bearers
3000
RavenGuard
3000
Praetor/W Command Squad
235
Centurion Master of Signals
95
Contemptor Dreadnought Talon w/Drop Pod
325
Praetor Cataphractii W Command
240
Destroyer Assault Squad
205
2 Contemptor Dreadnought
390
Veteran Squad w/Rhino
150
Mor Deythan Squad
150
Veteran Squad 1 Missile Launcher
135
Mor Deythan SquadW Storm Eagle
360
Despoiler Squad
100
Terminator Cataphratii Squad
325
Recon Squad w/Storm Eagle
344
Assault Squad
145
Tactical SquadW/ Rhino
145
Tactical Squad
100
Tactical Squad/W Rhino
145
Tactical Squad W Rhino
135
Outrider Squadron
91
Tactical Squad W Rhino
135
Proteus Land Speeders
210
2x Land Raider Carriers
505
Sky Hunter Squadron
105
Basilisk Squadron
200
Land Raider Squadron
250
Sicaran Squadron
220
Basilisk Squadron
200
Predator Squadron
360
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 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.
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.
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.
Complete Horus Heresey Word Bearers Army
Complete through scenario 15 of the Stalingrad campaign
Complete a Warhammer Fantasy Army, either high elves or Beastmen
Inventory my terrain
Spend less money and focus more on 3d printing
Paint 6 Skirmish forces, either Warcry, Necromunda, Carnivale, Malifauxe, Kill Team, etc. 6 of them.
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.
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.
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.
Wow, every time I considered posting, I just, for whatever reason, found something better to do. I have no excuse other than my own fear and laziness.
So, 10 months. I painted full Star Wars legion forces for CIS and GAR 1200 pts each. 3d printed a ton of geonosian terrain. Painted 30 or so Marvel crisis protocol models. Painted 50 odd figures for DND including terrain. Purchased a couple new airbrushes. Played in multiple leagues once as Genestealers and once as Ad Mech. Fully painting both those armies.
The biggest item is reorganizing my models. I have literally an army for every faction in 40k, Age of Sigmar, The Old World/9th Age, Star Wars Legion, 10,000 15mm napoleonics, 40 odd DBMM Armies, 4 Pike and Shotte Armies, Germans, Brits, Italians, Soviets, USA, Japan in Bolt Action, Germans, Brits, Italians, Soviets, USA in Flames of War, 50+ ships in French, British, Spain and 30+ ships for USA and Russia in Black Seas, and 20 odd pirate galley and such. 6 or 7 lord of the rings armies. All Harry Potter Miniature Adventure Game Models, all Marvel Crisis Protocol Models, 1000’s of DND figures, 3 -4 units of every army in A Song of Ice and Fire Miniatures Game, ummm, most Necromunda factions, most blood bowl teams, most kill teams, most warcry bands. Every Star Wars X-Wing Ship and Armada ship (multiple copies). A couple victory at sea fleets. A Large collection of American Civil War Models, several battlefleet gothic fleets. Some Blood Red Skies, and Aeronautics Imperalis. Recently bought all Star Wars Shatterpoint Models. Also bought all Battletech models. I also have limited numbers of Malifauxe, Carnivale, Conquest, Oathmark, Dead Mans Hand. Whew. Also horus heresey forces. And billion suns 4 fleets.
So that has been happening for two months. We switch from large plastic under the bed style storage bins. To several (10) sheet pan racks 20 sheets high. It has been a chore.
Aiden has been building models after his 2 month break. He has maybe 3 months left of models to catch up on. White Metal Games has finished Orruks, 5 blood bowl teams, Iron Hands, Gargants, and is beginning work on Death Korps. Eric has started on my forge world collection of resin models. The lumineth realm lords are currently 40% complete. Kevin is painting my black seas collection. I have declared war on my mountains of shame and the progress is showing.
I officiated the High School 4A Boys Championship for Wyoming as the Center Referee as well as numerous regional finals. I also centered the Region IX Womens championship match in the college season and did a handful of D1 and D2 playoff matches. Businesses are going well. Upcoming plan on seeing a ton more posts. I have a really interesting idea involving the battle of stalingrad, bolt action and horus heresey.
stonewalljackman 