Painted Nebula

Here is Nebula, another superhero (antihero, villain?) for Marvel Crisis Protocol. Perhaps not completely surprisingly, Nebula is highly focussed on stabbing people in the game. Indeed, she comes quite cheap as she has a rule preventing her from interacting with scenario elements. In some ways this is quite liberating as I never have to worry about whether she should stop stabbing and do more to score points; on the other hand, scoring points is how one goes about winning the game. Testing is definitely needed! I feel like I never really saw much of Nebula in the comics I read; she’s always been just a punching bag for other baddies (notably Thanos in one of the Infinity War runs) and doesn’t get to showcase her own powers. Presumably there is a sequence somewhere that really centres on her so please feel free to direct me to any good comics. I do really like her in the MCU films; for someone who pretty much only exists to fight people she gets a lot of good lines.

I greatly enjoyed painting Nebula. Those who read this blog regularly will know that I do love a dynamic sculpt and she certainly has that, literally attached to the ‘tactical crashed spaceship’ by only the side of her foot. Somehow in Nebula’s case painting a comic-style colour scheme felt easy and just ‘worked’, which is a bit of a contrast to some other heroes I’ve worked on, most notably Vision. I went with the card art rather than the (slightly) less crazy colours of the film version and I’m extremely pleased with the end result.

Next on the painting table: Primaris Librarian.

Painted Steelhead Halberdiers

This is a unit of Steelhead Halberdiers for my Warmachine Mercenaries army. They’re about the most bargain-basement of all units in the game, with almost no fancy rules and a price point to match. Luckily this fits well with how I use them in game: mainly to take up space and waste incoming attacks, with a side order of giving me corpse and/or soul tokens in the process. They have stats that make them slightly irritating to kill for a few popular unit types but in general I find that there has been considerable power-creep of attack stats since the Halberdiers got their rules and I am generally not disappointed when I expect them to die in droves.

The sculpt quality for these Steelhead Halberdiers is really poor and it isn’t helped by the nasty resin/plastic hybrid that Privateer Press used for this kit. As a result, these poor folk got a ‘good enough for tabletop’ paint job as I just couldn’t face spending more time on them than necessary. In that sense the painting process for the Halberdiers was quite liberating as I just ploughed through one section at a time. I’ll also admit that it felt extremely satisfying when I got the final stages of painting them, safe in the knowledge that I wouldn’t have to do it again since my other unit of Halberdiers is the older metal kit acquired in a trade with Joe for ancient GW Tau miniatures.

Next on the painting table: Nebula.

Painted Boomdakka Snazzwagon

This is a Boomdakka Snazzwagon, the first part of an Ork army for Warhammer 40,000. Orks in 40K are broadly split into two groups – football hooligans and Wacky Races. Of the two, Wacky Races is very much my preference and now that GW have released a raft of comedy buggies I decided that it would be a great time to pick a few up for painting purposes. Who knows, I might actually play some games with them at some point. The Snazzwagon’s main purpose appears to be clearing light infantry with sheer volume of fire but it also has a built-in penalty to be hit by incoming weapons and is quite cheap so I suspect that it’ll end up sitting on an objective in the backfield somewhere.

The kit is everything I dreamed of from a modern GW kit. It’s loaded with detail and characterful inclusions. For example, the passenger footwell is filled with empty beer cans and spent brass which is think is a beautiful touch considering that the roof pretty much means that this is hard to even see on the finished model. I went with blue and white as the main colours; mainly because I can’t bring myself to paint any of the vehicle green as it would clash with the crews’ skin. Thematically I think that this makes them members of the Deathskulls Klan but of course I’m a filthy try-hard so I’ll play them as whichever Klan gives the most entertaining mechanical advantage.

This chap really exemplifies the Kult of Speed for me – he’s not driving, he’s not even bothering to aim, he’s just hanging on to the back of the buggy and whooping and hollering away.

I love the sheer enjoyment on the driver’s face, but the fact that I missed the huge gap in his shoulder and then made it really obvious with the way the wash pooled is quite annoying.

This little Gretchin is probably meant to be firing the gun in the passenger side but for some reason he’s decided it’ll be more fun to hang out of the window and fire the most useless weapon into the entire game.

I’ll admit that some people might think that the main inspiration for the Kult of Speed is Mad Max and not Wacky Races. Even if they’re wrong, they can quite reasonably point to this blood bank dressed up as Tom Hardy’s character in Thunder Road.

Next on the painting table: Steelhead Halberdiers.

Painted Eliminators

Here is a squad of Eliminators, or snipers as I think of them since I constantly get confused by all the different names for modern Space Marines. Needless to say, they’re going to be part of my Adeptus Astartes for Warhammer 40,000. These particular Eliminators are armed with bolt snipers (the other option is las-fusils) which seems suitable for picking off medium targets. In 8th edition the Eliminators were my bane when playing against Gareth, mercilessly mowing down anything that I put in their way. It looks like some of the silliest rules have now been tuned down in 9th edition just in time for me to start using them. They could be part of a Spectrus kill team if I play as Deathwatch; I suspect that there are probably some shenanigans possible there if only I was good enough to understand them.

The Eliminators were a lot of fun to paint. The presence of the cloaks gives a very different feel compared to the other Space Marines and moves the colour balance toward being more green than white. I’m not sure at what point I decided that their weapons would be all gunmetal colour rather than partly black but I quite like the business-like look. It was only after I finished assembling the squad that I realised that none of them are posed actually using their bolt snipers which is quite an oddity. Finally, I love that on the box art for the Eliminators there are some sample schemes including Imperial Fists with bright yellow armour under a beautifully painted camouflage-patterned coat.

Next on the painting table: Boomdakka Snazzwagon.

Painted She-Hulk

Here is She-Hulk for Marvel Crisis Protocol. I wasn’t much of a fan until I stumbled across the A-Force run of comics and really enjoyed them, so I’ve picked up her incarnation in Crisis Protocol to get some of that energy on the table top (though I think that Captain Marvel is the only other member with a model at the moment). She-Hulk is pretty unusual in the game in that she only has a healthy card side – when she runs out of health then she’s done. Luckily she does have a lot of health to chew through.

The miniature was a lot of fun to paint; AMG are getting very good at sculpts that show the character off as a superhero, and what could be more fitting than this show of strength? Like most of the Crisis Protocol miniatures, I’ve gone with the card art for my colour scheme. I’m still not entirely satisfied with She-Hulk’s skin tone – I feel it could be a bit lighter but it is good enough for me.

Next on the painting table: Eliminators.

Painted Infiltrators

The five soldiers are Infiltrators, another unit of Troops my Space Marine (Adeptus Astartes) force in Warhammer 40,000. Like the Incursors (with whom I constantly confuse them) the Infiltrators are most notable for, er, infiltrating the battlefield. Apart from some interesting deployment options they’re remarkably similar to the Intercessors in game. However, if I play as Deathwatch they do form the basis of a Spectrus kill team.

These fine women are, of course, wearing the same armour colours as my other Space Marines; i.e. white armour with black equipment and green trimmings. The use of alternative heads continues to make a big difference to how engaged I am with the painting and I find it quite remarkable how much Space Marines are a like a canvas onto which to paint my own story. I’ve been trying Martian Iron Earth paint for the basing which has been quite an interesting experience. Getting the right amount of it on the base is a bit of an art in its own right, and I’ve taken to painting a dark brown on the base as the previous step in case the crackle ends up with a gap that goes down to the plastic. I’m working on the basis that it must be a bit dusty and therefore not worrying too much when my clumsy application smears a bit of the technical paint on the shoes of a Space Marine.

Next on the painting table: She-Hulk.

Painted Intercessors

This is a second squad of Intercessors for my Space Marine (Adeptus Astartes) force in Warhammer 40,000. Or they could just be part of a ten-woman squad with the first lot, depending on how I built my army; it is perhaps a sign of how little I really know about the game that I’m not really sure whether I would want to do that or not. These ones are wielding stalker bolt rifles (scope on top if you need to ask) which are long ranged, harder hitting weapons than the normal bolt rifles.

Of course, the nature of a Space Marine army is that there is a lot of uniformity between the miniatures so of course these Intercessors are clad in white, black and green just like the previous ones. I’ve enjoyed the alternative heads and I think that it gives a bit more character to the army than endless helmets. I do recognise the stupidity of wearing unobtainium armour but not bothering with a hat, but Warhammer 40,000 is a setting in which people fly across the galaxy in mile-long spaceships in order to punch each other on the nose so I’m never too worried about the fine points of military rigour.

Next on the painting table: Infiltrators.

Painted MODOK

This is MODOK, short for Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing; a character for use in Marvel Crisis Protocol. I was only vaguely aware of MODOK from my comic-reading days and I feel like he’s a bit of an anachronism now since his backstory is basically ‘I became ugly, therefore I became a baddie’. Still, he’s quite amusing in Crisis Protocol and can unleash a lot of damage from a fair distance while being fairly resilient to counter-punches; in my experience he doesn’t like being controlled very much though. I probably wouldn’t have bought him for nostalgia or gaming reasons alone but I got a good deal and don’t regret it.

I absolutely loved painting MODOK. Although the sculpt is pretty simple – big head, small arms, ridiculous chair – it all comes together so cleanly that I just wanted to make the most of the big guy when he was on the painting table. MODOK’s face was a joy to paint, which I suppose is good since that’s pretty much half of the model.

I dedicate this paintjob to the wonderful Ann’s Summer Solstice Painting Challenge. As the aim is to be best you can be, I doubt that I’ll do better work than MODOK’s handsome grimacing face anytime soon.

Next on the painting table: Intercessors.

Painted Incursors

Here are five Incursors for my Space Marine (Adeptus Astartes) force in Warhammer 40,000. These soldiers are wearing Phobos armour which is always described as being lighter in order to facilitate sneakiness but is actually exactly as effective as everyone else’s power armour in the game. The Incursors are weighed down with a variety of cameras and lenses, apparently to represent their use of technology to further their excellence in genocide. Actually I have to admit that I rather preferred the original depictions of Space Marines in the setting of the early 90s; they were always described as unhinged liabilities best pointed in the right direction and given a wide berth thereafter. The later (and modern) version of them as only mildly crazed warrior monks is somehow just less amusing.

The Incursors received the same white, black and green colours of the other Space Marines, but I did enjoy adding a bit of red and blue onto the various lenses they’re carrying. The decals on the shoulder pads are courtesy of Chapter Creator (edit: my mistake, it’s actually Chapter Customizer) and I had forgotten how much of a pain it is to put a 2D decal onto a 3D surface like a pauldron. Luckily the mess isn’t too noticeable at tabletop range, though it does grate a bit in these photos.

Next on the painting table: MODOK.

Painted Intercessors

Here are a squad of Intercessors, part of a Space Marine (or Adeptus Astartes if we’re being posh) army for Warhammer 40,000. They’re basic troops and, while still elite by most standards, aren’t really laden down too much with silly rules. These ones are armed with auto bolt rifles (you can tell by the box magazine) which gives them more shots at a reduced power. When I originally purchased these I had it in my head to play them as the Deathwatch, in which case these would be the first members of a Fortis kill team.

I deliberately didn’t paint the Intercessors in any specific Chapter’s heraldry on the basis that it would be less confusing if I later want to move them to represent any other Chapter in the game. As it happens, they ended up looking a bit like the Mentor Legion but I’m not aiming for that look specifically. Originally I just tried the combination of white and black for the armour colour but, perhaps not surprisingly, that looked rather dull and monotone so I’ve added green kneepads and pauldron rims. The heads are a mix of Statuesque and Shapeways, though I think that this particular batch are all from Statuesque. It’s been quite fun painting up something as iconic in modern wargaming as a Space Marine; I think that the last ones I did came from Space Crusade.

Next on the painting table: Incursors.