Six Month Half Army Painting Challenge – Legiones Astartes Kratos Squadron

The 6 Month painting challenge of half an army is coming along smoothly.  This Kratos squadron and the two frames of Infantry I painted represent about 2/5 of the Legiones Astartes Box Set which is my goal.  All I need to do is paint one set of frames per month to stay on schedule.  Remaining frames are Fast Attack, Support, and Rhinos.

However, this completion marks the end of my necessary obligations for March!  Anything else I do is bonus!

Coming up next in March to prepare for the rest of the year:

• Take stock of Escher gang for Q2 Skirmish painting challenge, possibly adding on Hangers on or other models.
• Convert one Flash Git (the original Flash Gitz squad I converted from Nobs only had nine members because the tenth was a Painboy in 5th edition)
• Convert two Stormboyz Nobs from the old pewter Stormboyz
• Strip Trukks and write article about new stripping agent.
• “Loot” old Battlefoam Space Marine Case to make it worthy for the new foam I ordered for the Orks

And coming up next for painting:

• Escher Gang and Hangers on for Q2
• Finish Legiones Astartes box for Half Year
• Ork Year Long Army for Q2:
  • Deffkilla Wartrike
  • 3x Warbiker, Nob w/Power Klaw
  • Trukk
  • 5x Stormboyz, Nob w/ Power Klaw
  • 5x Stormboyz, Nob w/ Power Klaw
  • 10x Kommando, Nob w/ Power Klaw, Skorcha, Distraction Grot, Bomb Squig

That’s a lot of work for three months!  Hopefully I’m up to it!

Squighog Boys – AFK Year Long Army, 1st Quarter Complete!

The Squighog Boys are ready for WAAAAGH! Gitsmasha!

I painted the Squighogs in a style reminiscent of a tiger shark.  The bottom 1/3 is Apothecary White while the top is Space Wolves Grey with Basillicanum Grey stripes.

The various pelts on the boys were painted using some of the reject colors that didn’t make it to my main paint scheme, but it ended up paying off by making the pelts look similar but just different enough from the main scheme.

Because this was the last unit in my 1st quarter queue, here is all of Q1!

Next: Legion Imperialis Kratos to round out previous Kratos squads and finish my obligations for March!

Daenan, Redemptor Dreadnought of the 4th Company – AFK March Large Model Submission

Daenan fell near the end of the second war against the Orks on Altea, and ended the war in the shell of a Redemptor Dreadnought.

This model was bought second hand from a time when I was financially not too well off, and it had several sprue wounds and the stripping process was not fantastic, but I worked hard to cover those sins and the model is more than tabletop ready.

This represents a return to my forays in freehand, adding a portrait of Antonius to the right shoulder.  I also did dynamic lighting effects on the glowing plasma and the overheated gun barrels.

Next: Squighog boys to finish the 1st quarter army painting!

Ork Boys Squad – AFK Army Challenge 1st Quarter

Included in these lads is the Ork I used as my model for the paint scheme.

Next: March Large Model challenge – a Redemptor Dreadnought, then Squighog Boys and one more selection of Legion from the box set to cover March!

Gargatok Gitsmasha, the grumpiest Ork Warboss – AFK Year Long Painting Challenge

The Warlord for my 2000 point army is complete!  Gargatok strides into battle with my first Blood For The Blood God effect.

Next: Legion Imperialis infantry, and that clears me for February!  After that anything I paint for the Orks or LI puts me ahead of schedule!

Year Long Painting Challenge – Ork Meganobz and finalized paint scheme

The first entries for my first quarter part of the year-long army painting challenge at AFK are complete!

First: one Ork boy, the finalized prototype for my paint scheme:

Recipe: Slapchop over black primer with Administratum Gray and then Pro Acryl white.  Skin is Mantis Warriors green.  Armored areas are Asurmen Blue.  Cloth is Gore Grunta Fur, Frostheart, or (not shown) Basillicanum Gray.  Metal is Duncan’s Sir Coates Silver with Nuln oil wash.  Teeth and nails are Skeleton Horde.  Rust effects are Dirty Down Rust.  Hand painted checks and dags in Pro Acryl White.  Bases are a coat of Rhinox Hide with technical Agrellan Earth and Pro Acryl black on the rims.  Plants are Gamer Grass.

With those basic colors, behold the first completed unit: Five Meganobs!

These old pewter minis may not be as capable in close combat as the new plastic ones with killsaws, but they still hit like a freight train and have decent shooting in the Taktikal Brigade.  Plus they are SOLID pewter which means that if they can’t, they can simply be thrown at the opponent for maximum damage.

That being said, these old sculpts are LOUSY with wires.  There’s wires everywhere!  I spent a whole day finding and picking out wires to make the details pop.

Next: Gargatok Gitsmasha himself in Mega Armour!

Primaris Inceptors 19th Squad, 4th Company – February AFK Submission

February’s submission completed in five days!  These Inceptors just fell from orbit, making their armor streaked with grime and their thrusters and anti-grav tech overheated with exertion.  The burning grass effect was done with cotton from a Q tip.

Because of all the painting challenges, my year is full of things to do!  Here is what I’ll be working on:

• Monthly Challenges:
  • January: Single Model – Valerien (Complete)
  • February: Unit – Primaris Inceptors (Complete)
  • March: Large Model – Redemptor Dreadnought
  • April-June: Skirmish – Finish all Escher Gangers, pets, and hangers-on
  • July: All Paint the Same Unit – Unknown
  • August: Mono Hue – Space Marine Sergeant, Star Cyclones (Orange)
  • September: Random – Unknown
  • October-December: Finish it! – BFG Tau Kor’or’vesh fleet including Nicassar and defences
• 6 Month Challenges:
  • Jan-Jun: Legions Imperialis Space Marine Box Set (Infantry, Fast Attack, Support, Rhino, Kratos)
  • Jul-Dec: Legions Imperialis Solar Aux Box Set minus Baneblades (Infantry, Support, Dracosan, Leman Russ) and an additonal Leman Russ Exterminator box set
• Yearly army challenge (quarterly split) – WAAAAGH! Gitsmasha!
  • Q1: Warboss, Meganobs x5, Trukk, Squighog Boys x4
  • Q2: Deffkilla Wartrike, Warbikers x3, Boys x10, Stormboys x5, Stormboys x5, Kommando x10
  • Q3: Beastboss, Beast Snagga x10, Flash Gits x10, Lootas x10, Trukk
  • Q4: Big Mek w/SAG, Nobz x10, Trukk, Shokkjump Dragsta

Next: Orks Galore and Legion Imperialis Infantry!

Primaris Captain Project – Alain Valerien, Captain of the 9th Company – January AFK Submission

Valerien’s new model is mostly the new Primaris Black Templar Marshall, just as his previous model was the limited edition Captain that was painted as a Marshall in the Armageddon codex.  I did some arm swaps with regular Primaris arms to get rid of the massive amounts of chains.  I also clipped out the stockaded skeleton in the Iron Halo as that’s not Valerien’s style.  I added a brazier to the axe from the Salamander upgrade kit.  I also swapped the shoulder pads.  His left pad (on the right in the pic) was a huge pain; the original was a sort of straight line pad instead of curved, and I stupidly did not dry fit before priming.  I had to take a dremel and some putty to the shoulder and re-paint a decent part of the cape.  Always dry fit, kids!

–

Alain Valerien is the only recruit from Nouvelle Provence, an unassuming moon populated by an unusual group.  Strict discipline has kept their language from changing at all for forty millennia.  They are proud of their odd way of speaking, only learning Gothic to speak with outsiders.  In their tongue, they refer to it as “La Langue Douce” or “The Sweet Tongue” in Gothic.

Valerien was recruited during routine resupply long ago before the Azure Flames had changed their name; back when they were the Sons of the Salamander.  He rose though the ranks through perseverance and skill.  Unlike most Chapters, Valerien shares duties with the 10th Company in the newly created role of Master Instructor.  He prepares anyone from full battle brothers to the newest Neophytes in matters dealing with anything other than combat.  However, unlike the Master of Recruits, Valerien maintains an emotional distance from his pupils.

–

This will be the last part of the Primaris Captain Project I upload for a while.  Thanks to the staff at AFK games in Holt, I’m kicking my hobbying into high gear!  I will be participating in 11 different painting challenges over the course of 2025.  Valerien is my entry for the January challenge of a single model.

Next: February’s challenge will be a unit of Primaris Inceptors (full unit of 6).  Additionally, I will be starting the 1/2 year challenge of a roughly small force which will be an entire Legiones Astartes starter box for Legions Imperialis to add to my Sons of Horus.  Finally, the year-long project will see the revitalization of my Orks under the leadership of Gargatok Gitsmasha!  Stay tuned!

Chapter Master Liam Perseus – Primaris Captain Project

Along with all of the Captains, I stripped my original model of Liam Perseus, and made new arms.  The sword arm was a Grey Knight sword capped with a 3D printed copy of the end of Voltron’s Blazing Sword, courtesy of a buddy with a 3D printer and a lot of talent.  The other new arm is a Storm Bolter, which I find superior to the Combi-Weapon for a model meant to lead a unit full of Storm Bolters.

The paint job is similar to the old with one BIG exception: Perseus’ new sword was painted with non-metallic metal techniques.  This is to make it look otherworldly so that it is unlike anything else in the army.

Perseus has a backstory in the previous post, but an added note is that He, Atrus, and Antonius were recruited by Inquisitor Eric Boucher to be a part of the secret society of the Scutus Sinistratum: a force in the Imperium dedicated to preserve humanity by any means necessary, even if the Imperium collapses.

Next: More Captains, and then probably back to Legion Imperialis.  Plus, I finally scared up a deck of Pariah Nexus so I might return to the tabletop!

Primaris Captain Project – Zhuang Shan

Zhuang Shan was the youngest scion of the Zhuang family on the mining world of Taihang.  Despite being young, he was press ganged into a conscript legion when the forces of the Archenemy invaded.  Like so many of his brothers, the Azure Flames recruited him once they had come to the rescue of the benighted world.  Zhuang had made Corporal in the legion by surviving against impossible odds and being one of the few in his company alive at the end of the war.

Zhuang made a name for himself in the Scout company, and had the shortest recorded time from induction to ascension to full brotherhood (until Antonius broke this record).  He is still the only Azure Flame in existence to survive the final trial of the Scouts and leave the trial chamber under his own strength.  Zhuang’s reputation as incredibly tough and lucky were well earned, and he was promoted to Captain after the first devastating conflict with the forces of Victor Kalan’s Alliance.

During the Omega War, the entire Second Company of the Azure Flames was tasked with mining out and destroying the hardline connection that allowed the Omega Station’s Command Tower to communicate with the Engine Complex.  Zhuang helped hold off wave after wave of Tyranids backed up by the Cult of the Eternal Dawn while technicians in Termite Assault Drills bored through a literal kilometer of the crust of the Omega Station and severed the gigantic cable system.  Without this hardline, Gorath was unable to stop Leonidas and Voldo Canis from sending the Omega Station to collide with a nearby asteroid.

After the Omega War, Zhuang met his greatest failures.  Tyranid forces invaded Tashka, a system near to the Azure Flames homeworld of Iperin.  Though Zhuang fought nearly to death, the Tyranids had an inescapable foothold on the promethium-rich world.  Disgusted, Zhuang was forced to commit Exterminatus to set the oceans aflame and deny the Tyranid fleet such nourishment.  Zhuang’s failure was not in vain, as he was able to blunt other Tyranid incursions into the Azure Flames’ territory.

However, recruitment for the 2nd Company was insufficient after this, forcing Zhuang to arrive too late to save the newly founded Acacia Marines from the forces of a Chaos Ark of Omen.  Three Acacia Marines survived, and Zhuang escorted them to the nearest Watch Fortress of the Deathwatch.

Zhuang agreed with Chapter Master Perseus about converting the entire Azure Flames Chapter to Primaris, and was the first to volunteer outside the 4th Company.  After his upgrade, he worked tirelessly to forge Duan Chui, his Thunder Hammer that glows as if constantly forging iron, and Long Xi, his overpowered flame pistol.

Full of Determination, Zhuang left for Nocturne, where he placed last in the Salamander Hunt.  His was the largest that year, but Duan Chui pulverized the prized skin of the Salamander badly.

Zhuang participated in the re-cleansing of Altea when the 4th Company was besieged by Orks.  He often leads near the front, seemingly an unstoppable force of nature,

The new Zhuang uses Lieutenant’s legs and Primaris Jup Pack Captain’s torso.  The hammer is a modified Grey Knight hammer with a brazier from the Salamander upgrade pack.  His head is a Forge world substitute and his pistol is an old Astartes flamer with a tank from the Invictor Warsuit flame cannon.  The Mantle is a good old Dark Elf bit.

The old Zhuang was from the Masters of the Chapter box, modified to have a Storm Bolter instead of a Power Sword.

Next: more captains!