GENERAL: Brass neck

I worked on the head of my Praying Mantis stalk tank yesterday but didn't get a lot done. I'll be much happier when I have the head sorted out, then I can move on to the Scorpion cannon. Once that's complete its just the additional 'pretty' bits to tart it up and then it'll be on the paint table.

If you've been following my Daemonhunter battle reports you should enjoy my latest instalment. This game was against Jamie's Crimson Fist Space Marines, and despite only being 1000 points per side it turned into a bit of an epic. Check it out here.

MODELLING:

After much huffing and puffing, and many delays, my Chaos Space Marine army is totally complete. That means I can now move onto phase two of my 40k plans.

And that means Apocalypse.

I have already built and painted my Baneblade, so my second and final super heavy (for the moment) will be my Brass Scorpion conversion. It is loosely based on the Stalk Tank from Dan Abnett's novels - you can see sketch of one on page 89 of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade book.

Here is how she looks at the moment.


I've lengthened the legs of the defiler and put the main body on the back. This has made the whole model bigger and longer. I haven't glued the legs to the body yet so she keeps sagging down and losing some height. I plan on mounting her on a scenic base when she's finished so fixed position legs won't be a problem.

I'm now trying to build the neck/head parts which have me stumped at the moment. I've done the first part which detaches from the body for easy transportation but I'm not sure how to do the second part of the articulation. Real life Preying Mantis' have long slender necks but I don't know how to represent this on my model.


Anyway, I'll plod on with my modelling for the next week or so and see if I can come up with any answers.

While you're waiting for modelling updates you can read my latest Daemonhunters battle report here. This was a brawl against the Black Templars, no doubt getting wind of Inquisitor Severus' penchant for using Daemonhosts. Naughty boy.

PAINTING: Blood for the Blood God!

Apologies on the quality of the photos but it's summertime in the UK which means it's overcast.

Khorne Berzerkers. Done.

The final four marines had been agonisingly close to completion for a week or more but I just couldn't find the time to paint them. This morning I sat down for a couple of hours and did the silver metallics, pouches and black lined them. I also touched up the armour and painted in the eyes. Finally, I stuck on the transfers.

Here is the whole squad; a fluffy eight members. Once the paint dries thoroughly I'll stick some static grass on the base and the last job of all will be to varnish them.

And with that I will have painted the last regular Chaos Space Marine models I own. Wow, what a sense of accomplishment. An entire army, probably around 4,500 points in total, done.

This afternoon I plan to spend a little time building my Brass Scorpion.

If you're still hungry for more 40k action why not check out my latest battle report. Again this features my Daemonhunters and they are confronting Ken's Witch Hunters. Someone from the Ordo Hereticus obviously thinks Inquisitor Kurven has become a little too radical.

GENERAL: The big game

Gary and I got in another exciting game in our Blood Bowl league last night. It was a crucial game between two of the big hitters in the Old Albion Premier League; the Wolfenburg Shadows and the Gorechildren. Check out the game report here (second one down).

Meanwhile my Berzerkers gently weep.

I had the choice of updating my Blood Bowl league while the game was fresh in my memory or finishing the Berzerkers. As you can see I went with the Blood Bowl game. I probably won't have any time tomorrow night but I do have Friday off work so I plan to complete them then. For the rest of the day I want to finish off building my Brass Scorpion conversion.

Here's hoping.

GENERAL: eBay day

I have worked a six day week this week and then was staying at a friend's on Saturday night so my gaming time has been severely restricted over the weekend. Nevertheless I've got a quick update for you.

Here's my latest 40k battle report - Daemonhunters versus Space Marines.

Sunday is rapidly becoming eBay day for me; two of my auctions have just ended successfully and contributed some cash to my New Model Fund. I'm not content with that, though; I've put two more books up for auction this afternoon.

First up is Listen Up, You Primitive Screwheads!!! A referees guide for Cyberpunk 2020 but it is usable for any RPG.

The second book is Media Junkie - Take One, a collection of four small adventures again for Cyberpunk 2020.

I'll hopefully be back on track shortly with my completed Khorne Berzerkers.

GENERAL: Lost and Damned

I'm just swinging by to flag up another battle report. This was a fluffy encounter between my radical Daemonhunters and Wayne's Lost and the Damned.

I've no pictorial proof but I promise I am almost done with the Khorne Berzekers. Tonight I painted the grenades, holster and pouches, gloves and scabbards. The last bits to do are the silver metallics and then blackline everything to tidy it up. Despite being away over the weekend I hope to have them complete by Monday.

I hope to be back in time on Sunday to watch the end of my two eBay auctions. In case you missed them in an earlier blog here they are.


Cthulhu Classics
A full-length campaign, five more heart-pounding adventures, and a full-colour mythos gallery.

Escape From Innsmouth is based on H.P. Lovecraft's popular "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," a haunting tale of a nearly forgotten town cursed by a blasphemous pact.

Both are currently selling and should bring in some much needed funds for the New Model Fund.

GENERAL: Dwarfs versus Wood Elves

Gary and I managed to squeeze in another game of Blood Bowl last night. It was the first game of week two of the Old Albion Premier League and brought together two winning teams from week 1; the Lorien Avengers and the Moriar Crushers. You can read the game report here. We're hoping to get a lot more games in over the coming weeks before the new edition of 40k hits the shelves.

Meanwhile, I'm frantically trying to finish painting my Khorne Berzerkers - the last four models now have red armour and are awaiting their green grenades and holsters.

Aaaand...My first two eBay auctions ended on Sunday and both of my Cyberpunk books sold, so I'll have some cash for the New Model Fund shortly. It's just as well considering the cash I have already spent on my Sekrit Projekt...

GENERAL: Necrons/Cthulhu

I'm continuing to re-post my battle reports at pace, and I have another Daemonhunters game to show you. This is notable because it was the first I ever played against Necrons. Check it out here.

Meanwhile, I'm also ramping up my eBay sales. First, I'd just like to remind you that I have a couple of books still up for sale but the auctions will be ending within the hour.

Cyberpunk

Night City sourcebook

As these are about to end I've put two more RPG books up for sale. These are both for Call of Cthulhu.

Cthulhu Classics
A full-length campaign, five more heart-pounding adventures, and a full-colour mythos gallery.

Escape From Innsmouth is based on H.P. Lovecraft's popular "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," a haunting tale of a nearly forgotten town cursed by a blasphemous pact.

GENERAL: Purge the mutant!

Hi there.

Just a short post to point you all in the direction of another Daemonhunters battle report. This was a fluffy game between my radicals and Wayne's Lost and the Damned.

Oh, and I'm all excited today because I just booked a holiday to the west coast of America. Woo-hoo!

PAINTING: Skulls and Blood

I have just two units on my Chaos Space Marine 'to do' list now; my Khorne Berzerkers and a Brass Scorpion. I knuckled down and slapped some paint on the Khorne Berzerkers first. Here's what I achieved.

I managed to totally complete four of them. That's half the squad (it has eight members, of course). I largely finished one of them a while back so I mainly had to concentrate on the other three. I had also already painted the brass bits of the models.

I got the armour by painting Mechrite Red straight over black then mixing in a lot of Blood Red for the second coat. I shaded it with the new Baal Red wash. The holsters and grenades were painted with Orkhide shade followed by Knarloc Green and then a final highlight of Putrid Green. A Thraka Green wash tied everything together.

The silver metallics were painted with Boltgun Metal with a Mithril Silver highlight and a Badab Black wash to finish. Next I worked on the scabbards which I covered in Khemri Brown and edged in Dheneb Stone. Lastly, I applied a Gryphonne Sepia wash.

I edged the guns with Charadon Granite.

Although the picture here doesn't really do it justice, the head of the standard bearer is pretty good (even if I do say so myself). I wanted it to be fairly light in tone so that it could withstand a heavy wash so I started with Tanned Flesh and worked in more and more Bronzed Flesh.


I washed it with Ogryn Flesh wash and it looked great! I added another wash of Badab Black over his chin and the top of his head to represent short stubbly hair and he was done.

The washes seem great based on the short run-out I gave them today. They are quite thick and heavily pigmented but the washes clung into all the right places and dried very quickly. You seem to need a lot of wash on your brush for each application so I think I'll go through the pots very quickly. I'll keep you posted as I continue to experiment.

Alright - I'm finally getting somewhere. Just four more Berzerkers to go then I'm onto the last model. Bring it on!

GENERAL: I love it when a plan comes together

Since I overhauled my painting desk with painting racks back in April I had a few pots of paint rattling around with nowhere to live. I bought some of the new Citadel Washes last week and this exacerbated the problem. So, to keep things neat and tidy, I ordered another rack.

I put it together last night and it had dried sufficiently by today to whack all my spares in it.

There we go. By my reckoning I must have 96 pots of paint altogether. Does any painter really need so many?

And yet there are still gaps in my colours; I have very few blues or flesh colours. Hmmm...maybe it's time I expanded my palette. In any event I'll certainly be experimenting with the new Washes in the coming weeks.

And before I forget - here is a link to a battle report I blogged a couple of days ago. It's another game featuring my Daemonhunters against Ken's Khorne Chaos Space Marines. I seem to remember he had a great army, full of conversions and good paintjobs. Pity I never took a photo of it.

GENERAL: Give thanks, men, to lone pilgrim and the brave 300!

lone pilgrim is 300 blog entries old today!

As another milestone has arrived I thought I'd take the opportunity to look back at how things have gone in the past and look forward to the future.

This time last year I came up with a masterplan to organise my gaming activities over the 2007/2008 gaming season. Regular readers might remember that blog entry; everyone else can check it out here. I refined that plan in my 200th post in November of that year here.

So how did I do?

I had originally planned to build and paint 1500 points of Forgeworld Renegade Imperial Guard. Later in the year I changed the plan to put back my Renegade IG and concentrate on my Blood Angels instead. I decided to carry on with my Exigator Chaos Space Marines as my current army.

This new plan could still potentially work. I'm just finishing off the last of my Chaos Space Marine models now (the Brass Scorpion and 8 Khorne Berzerkers) and when I complete them I will be totally finished with the army. If that takes two months, until the end of July and the end of the tournament season, I can then move smoothly over to the Blood Angels. This will be just in time for the new fifth edition of 40k. It will mean that my Blood Angels will have missed virtually the whole of 4th edition but it means they can be optimised with 5th edition in mind.

The only potential problem is with their army list. There are all sorts of rumours flying around as any new edition of 40k is followed swiftly after by a Space Marine codex. Will the Blood Angels use this new codex or will they continue to use their White Dwarf list? By October we will know for sure. My aim is to build and paint what models I already have until the Space Marine codex is released and then reassess.

Other rumours state that the revised Imperial Guard codex will be released in 2009. Again this fits neatly in with my plans as I'll hopefully have my Blood Angels finished just in time to start working on my Renegade Imperial Guard next year.

On the scenery front I had aimed to finish my trench gaming board (which is currently half built). I haven't done any work on this yet but I do plan to complete it so that Gary and I can play an Apocalypse game or three. Ideally I'd like to do this just after I finish the Exigators and before I restart the Blood Angels. I'd also like to add some more moveable terrain pieces like craters, trees, bunkers, etc. Here's hoping.

I had also planned to expand my blogs starting with subsector 1 (the Salazar systems) for the Skolarii Sector. I have got nowhere with the Skolarii Sector but I have added another blog; the Old Albion Premier League reports on my Blood Bowl games. It's likely that Gary and I will have finished the 2500 season that we are playing currently by the end of July and I will have added lots of my old material from my old website. Swings and roundabouts.

My other computer based project was to get all my battle reports up on my website, around 150 of them. I've done pretty well with this; since September last year I have added about seventy battle reports. The only reason I haven't got the rest up there is that I played the Pheonix 40k campaign against Gary and it took up so much of my time writing up new battle reports for that that I couldn't add the older ones. Now that campaign is over I can begin again.

I love painting models but I have had my ups and downs over the year. Mainly this was due to time, and conflicts between updating my blog, playing games and painting. Just recently I tried to address this by completely revamping my painting set-up. I re-organised the storage of my paints, basing materials and tools and added the new Foundation paints. This has led to a resurgence of my interest in painting models and I hope to carry this forward in the coming year.

So what have I painted since last year? A quick tot up shows I painted 52 figures. 48 of these were rank and file (16 Marauders, 9 Plague Bearers, 9 Bloodletters, 5 Blood Angels, 8 Plague Marines and a Khorne Berzerker), one Greater Daemon, one tank (the Baneblade!) and two character models (Abaddon and a Terminator Captain).

That's pretty good - it would add up to a decent sized 40k army if all the models were for the same race/game. As it is I have all but finished painting every last Chaos Space Marine and Chaos Daemon model I own.

Still, I'd like to improve that total - double it to over 100 models - next year. That's only an average of two models per week. Easy peasy. Errr...

To recap, here are my aims for the coming year.

• Paint 100 models.
• Paint 1500 point Blood Angel army to a high standard.
• Complete the transfer of all my battle reports to the blog.

I've learned from my previous masterplan and reduced my aims to make them achievable. Anything else is a bonus. I'm hoping that by leaving a little bit of a window I have enough room for 'fun' projects that will refresh me without impinging too much on my 'core' goals.

Games like Aeronautica Imperialis fall into this category. I could paint up two squadrons and play some AI with relatively little financial outlay or taking up too much painting and modelling time. I have to remember to enjoy myself; it is a hobby and not a job after all.

Here's hoping I make it to 400 posts.

REVIEW: Ravenor

Available from The Black Library
Written by Dan Abnett

Review This bit doesn't give the plot of the book away

Dan Abnett revisits the Inquisition in another trilogy of books. I gave his Eisenhorn books an excellent review and Ravenor compares favourably. Abnett re-uses some of the same characters from his earlier works; Ravenor himself was a pupil of Eisenhorn until he was crippled on Thracian Primaris. Despite being confined to a force chair he is a potent psyker and has made the rank of full Inquisitor. He is like a cross between Eldrad Ulthran and Stephen Hawking. Harlon Nayl also makes a welcome return.

We pick up the action in a grimy Hive city and this allows the author to flex his style muscles. He generates a dsytopian atmosphere that is so dark you can feel the grit under your fingernails. Dan writes in a hard-boiled, film noir way, reminiscent of Raymond Chandler or James Ellroy.

Away from the battlefields of Warhammer 40,000 Abnett can get at the motivations of his characters - and sex always seems like an option. There is a sexual tension between some of the Inquisitorial Agents, and Kara Swole and Patience Kys frequently use their sexuality to aid their schemes. I haven't read a Black Library book that felt as adult in a long while.

I got the feeling that Dan really enjoyed writing this book and the writing reflects that; it just flows off the page. His dialogue is excellent as usual, his settings are distinctive, the characters are well drawn and his scenes are memorable. He even finds the time to add bad puns 'Someone's going to have a really bad chair day!'

The book is very densely plotted despite being a standard detective story (everyone hunts down X, he gives them name Y, Y gives them name Z, etc). All the elements that have been carefully seeded throughout the book come together for a strong end - and that is one area I have criticised Abnett for in the past. Lots of threads are tied up while enough are left hanging for the second book.

If I had one complaint it would be that psychic powers in general, and Ravenor's powers in particular, are used too often as deus ex machina. It detracts from the predicament of the characters if we think that Ravenor will simply swoop in at the last moment to save the day. The range and power of the psychic abilities are immense and I'm not entirely sure if they hang together consistently with the 40k background.

These are small misgivings, though. This is a terrific book and comes highly recommended.

Summary
Ravenor is a rattling good walk on the wild side of the Imperium.

Score 9/10

Scores

All of my reviews end in a score out of ten for the product. The table below explains what that score means.

• 10/10 Perfect, absolutely nothing better
• 9/10 Excellent, highly recommended
• 8/10 Very good, recommended
• 7/10 Good
• 6/10 Above average, some problems
• 5/10 Average, some good points some bad points
• 4/10 Below average, some redeeming features
• 3/10 Poor, major flaws
• 2/10 Very poor, avoid if possible
• 1/10 Absolutely appalling

REVIEW: Ravenor synopsis

Available from The Black Library
Written by Dan Abnett

Synopsis [Spoiler alert] This bit tells you exactly what happens in the book!

Zenta Malhyde, 397.M41. Zygmunt Molotch is trying to excavate Enuncia carvings. As he makes the critical discovery he is attacked by Inquisitorial agents working for Ravenor; Harlon Nayl, Carl Thonius, Kara Swole and Patience Kys. Molotch tries to escape in a flier but is shot down.

Eustis Majoris, 401.M41. Ravenor is investigating the illegal Flect trade. Zael, a teenage Flect addict, is forced to reveal his dealer by Nayl. Meanwhile Kys and Thonius worm their way into Umberto Sonsal's confidence. Swole is attacked by gangers as she follows a lead. She is arrested.

Nayl and Zael fight their way through to Genevieve X, the dealer, but she has already been gruesomely murdered. Nayl and Thonius use their Inquisitorial authority to rescue Swole from Rickens and Plyton of the Magistratum. Kys gets the name of Sonsal's Flect dealer: Drase Bazarof. Sonsal overdoses on Flect.

Kys escapes Sonsal's residence. Inquisitor Ravenor uses his psychic powers to watch the Magistratum investigation. Mysterious men show up. One is Kinsky, a powerful psyker and another is Ahenobarb, his burly minder. Ravenor is chased away by Kinsky. The Inquisitor decides to make planetfall on Eustis Majoris. He brings two more agents; Mathuin and the psychic untouchable Frauka. Thonius takes a Flect from Zael.

The team capture Bazarof along with his friends Lunt and the insane Bergossian. Bazarof confesses that he was supplied with Flects by Duboe from the Carnivora circus.

Kys infiltrates the Carnivora with a group of gangers. Swole poses as an acrobat. Nayl and Mathuin sneak in with fake ID. The team capture Duboe but Kinsky arrives.

Ravenor and his team are taken back to Lord Governor Barazan's palace. Jader Trice, head of the Ministry of Sub-Sector Trade, Barazan's private enforcers, tells Ravenor that Duboe was in league with Feaver Skoh. Skoh is a Xeno hunter who operates with Kizary Thekla, a Rogue Trader. Trice believes that Skoh is using the Carnivora to smuggle Flects with Thekla.

Ravenor and his retinue are joined by Kinsky, Madsen and Ahenobarb. They head for Flint with Duboe in tow.

Kinsky uses his psychic powers to discover that Bartol Siskind knew that Thekla had cancelled his planned trip to Flint. Ravenor interrogates Duboe and gets the words contract 13, but he does not know what they mean. He also discovers that Kinsky has secretly been questioning Duboe.

The authorities on Flint discover Kinsky's use of psychic powers and raise the alert. Kinsky, Madsen and Ahenobarb flee leaving Thonius and Kys behind. Thonius is cornered and has an arm severed in a brutal fight. Ravenor and Kys combine to rescue Thonius.

Thonius has his arm re-attached. Zael starts having psychic nightmares. Ravenor, Kinsky and Madsen clash verbally. Nayl finds Siskind and Ravenor questions him. He discovers that Thekla had set up a meeting with Siskind on Bonners Reach. Siskind and Thekla are distant relatives whose grandparents were directly involved with the Cognitae; a training program for genius malcontents run by a disgraced Inquisitor.

Ravenor and his retinue travel to Lenk. Thonius secretly tries a Flect.

Everyone arrives at Bonners Reach. Swole sneaks onto the planet's surface. Zael's dreams worsen and warn him he is walking into a trap. The team, under ship mistress Preest's direction, meet a trader, Sholto Unwerth. He tells Preest that Thekla is here and that the Flect trade is controlled by Akunin. Madsen, Ahenobarb and Kinsky seize control of the Hinterlight, Preest's ship, which Ravenor and his team are using. Frauka is shot dead. Preest and the agents on the surface are taken prisoner by Skoh's brother.

Skoh boards the Hinterlight to hunt down Kys. Preest and the others are bundled onto a lifter. Swole sneaks aboard.

The lifter docks with the Hinterlight. Swole rescues Preest and the others. Mathuin kills Skoh's brother in the process. Mathuin and Preest head to the Enginarum to regain control of the ship.

Duboe is released. He attacks Ravenor who has been crippled by a psychic limiter. Kinsky attacks Preest. Kys removes the limiter from Ravenor's chair. Ravenor kills Duboe. Nayl fights his way toward the bridge. Thonius is too cowardly to join the fight.

Ravenor and Kinsky fight psychically. Skoh takes charge. Madsen and Ahenobarb leave the bridge to attack Preest. The Hinterlight is drifting toward Bonners Reach's star. The Oktober Country, with Thekla at the helm, starts shooting at the Hinterlight. He wants Ravenor dead even if it means killing his co-conspirators.

Kys kills Ahenobarb and Madsen. Nayl fights Skoh. Frauka comes back to life and snaps Kinsky's neck. Ravenor knocks Skoh unconscious. He also forces Thekla to lower his shields so that he can fire missiles at the bridge of the Oktober Country. Thekla dies.

Ravenor interrogates Skoh. He reveals that contract 13 is an arrangement between a consortium of Rogue Traders and the Ministry of Sub-Sector Trade to recover tech salvage from the Mergent Worlds. The Flect trade was a side enterprise. They lured Ravenor into a trap at Bonners Reach to kill him away from the power of the Imperium. The Flects are shards of broken glass from the ruined Hive cities of the Mergent Worlds, tainted with Chaos.

Thonius secretly recovers Flects from the Oktober Country. Ravenor approaches Unwerth to take his team back to Eustis Majoris as the Hinterlight is too badly damaged. They will go back secretly as everyone thinks they are dead and they do not know who they can trust.

NEW MODEL FUND: The future never looked so bad

I've done battle with eBay and PayPal this afternoon and gotten two items up for sale.

They are old role-playing books: Cyberpunk 2020 and the Night City sourcebook. They are rare and long out of print being published in 1990 and 1991 respectively. If you're interested in bidding for them here are the links.

Cyberpunk

Night City sourcebook

I'll be putting any monies earned from these toward my New Model Fund deficit. I probably won't make much but they're just a start; there are a load more RPG games, magazines and comics to follow.


Elsewhere on the gaming front I have been spending money which I don't have. I wandered into Games Workshop and placed my order for 40k 5th edition. After some deliberation I plumped for the gamer's edition. Having all the counters, and the box will come in handy. By all accounts the box is metal and useful for carrying tanks. I also ordered the LOS marker. I'm sceptical about this change to the 40k rules (area terrain has largely been dropped in favour of true line of sight) but I'm willing to give it a go.


While I was in the shop I picked up a pack of the new Citadel Washes. I have high hopes for these pots and I plan on using them extensively on my next few models.


In order to store my new paints I've put in another order for a paint rack from Miniature Scenery. It'll take up more space on my desk but will tidy everything up nicely.

Righto - I'm off to paint up some Berzerkers...

PAINTING: Abad-done

Despite my manflu I have managed to complete Abaddon this week.

This is a major achievement for me as I have been in a painting funk lately and just as I seemed to be getting back into it I fell ill. Unfortunately I had a lot of important stuff to do at work so I couldn't go off sick. I was dog tired every night but I stuck at it and continued to work on the model and it payed off.

Since my last post I had to paint the face, trophy poles and base. The photos don't really show this as they are poor quality but the face is the part I am most proud of; it's the best detail work I've done in ages.

The trophy poles were very fiddly to complete. In retrospect I wish I had painted them separately and then glued them in place because it was very difficult to get to the bits on the 'inside.'

The red I achieved on the Space Marine helmet was closer to the red I wanted for Abaddon's topknot and tabard but hey ho - at least it's on the model somewhere. I also painted his shoulderpad Eye of Horus symbol and orangey-red with a black 'cats-eye' pupil.

I overbrushed the base Calthan Brown then Tau Sept Ochre then added some Dheneb Stone for a light drybrush. A bit of static grass and a Goblin Green rim finished it off.

If I was scoring myself I'd give this model a six out of ten. Although it is technically okay - the paint is on the bit of the model I wanted it to be on -I think that being ill did affect my painting. I'm not entirely happy with the red, as I've said, nor the detail on the sword. I could have added more detail around the trophy rack and the skulls aren't perfect. However, this model is not destined for a painting competition or display, it is mainly going to be used for Apocalypse battles. In that context his paintjob is perfectly acceptable. I've used more of the Foundation paints, tried out a couple of new techniques and completed a model in under a week. Result!

So I only have two more projects on the 'to do' list; the Brass Scorpion and Khorne Berzerkers.

For those of you following such things I've posted up another battle report here. This game was my Daemonhunters against Jamie's Tau on a heavy terrain board.

NEW MODEL FUND: Halfway there

Despite my recent vows I haven't put anything up for sale on e-bay. But I have still made a contribution to my New Model Fund.

I raided my penny jar again and managed to come up with £16. This has cut my deficit by half in one fell swoop.

This is how the fund looks at the moment.

• Total income from sales (and my penny jar) £380.36
• Less selling fees £31.02
• Less models bought £366.16
• New model fund -£16.82

The only black cloud on the horizon is Aeronautica Imperialis. You see I had this credit card that promised me a free flight to New York if I spent over £100 and I just happened to be looking at Forge World's website...

Anyway, more about that later when the payment actually comes off the card.

If you'd like to read my latest battle report check out this link. This was another game against those pesky Eldar.

Now I'm off to try and finish painting Abaddon.

GENERAL: Atchoo!

I was hoping to play a game of Blood Bowl and maybe finish off Abaddon tonight but I have a lousy cold and I'm doing nowt.

There is another battle report up on my Battle Reports Blog here. This game was against one of the most competitive gamers I have ever played against, Ken, and his magnificently painted Eldar army.

PAINTING: Skulls for the Despoiler

I've managed to snatch a few minutes painting time on Abaddon.

As you can see I have painted his hair and tabard red. It's a Mechrite Red basecoat with Chaos Black and Mechrite Red shading and Dheneb Stone and Mechrite Red highlights. The red wasn't quite as vivid as I wanted so I washed it twice with Magenta Ink. It helped but the colour still isn't exactly as I wanted it. I'll leave it for now and see if it grows on me.

The other part of the model I painted was the skulls. I tried something different from my usual recipe. I got this from the latest White Dwarf (UK 342) in the Skulltaker masterclass. I worked the colours up from Charadon Granite, Bleached Bone and Skull White. My skulls look nothing like the ones on Skulltaker so I think they may have left a few steps out in the magazine!

So the last few bits I have to finish are the face, trophy poles, and the base. I'm hopeful I'll get Abaddon done by the end of this week despite a six day working week.

As promised I've dug up another Daemonhunters battle report for your delectation. This was a memorable game against Steve who was commanding his own radical Daemonhunters.

GENERAL: Free radicals

I've done so little painting on Abaddon (just his hair and tabard) that it's not worth posting a photo.

I did get a really old battle report up on my dedicated blog, though. This was played way back in 2003 using 3rd edition 40k. It was a pretty fluffy encounter between my radical Daemonhunters and Wayne's Lost and the Damned.

Check it out here.

I'll be working my way through all my other Daemonhunter battle reports in turn (and there are about thirty of them) so keep your eyes peeled.