From the Deep

Starting young...

2012-04-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

Here's son James, concentrating on getting a 'Nuln Oil' wash on his Deathskull grot tank. I managed to secure 8 but he was so desperate to add to his small but growing armies, he persuaded me to hand one over. What the hell, the Deathskulls would've nicked it anyway!

Dark and bloody times

2011-12-14T09:05:00.000-08:00

Just got an email back from Forge world; 'there are no plans to produce either shoulder pads or doors for the carcharodons in the near future. This might change in the future'.

That's pretty sad news to my ears, what say the rest of you mysterious and enigmatic brethren get on to them and get this changed? Our loyalist brother Minotaurs are getting plenty of attention at the minute, even the secessionist Astral Claws have had their turn, so how about the carcharodons?

For my part I shall not rest until we receive our ancient armour!

carcharodon carcharias out

Contemptor and rhino

2011-12-04T08:08:00.001-08:00

Finally got around to getting more paint onto the contemptor, some work on it's base and managed to get a razorback built, painted and weathered. The dreadnought is such a joy to pose and paint, I use it as a treat when the more mundane painting starts taking it's toll.

As you can see I'm a firm fan of heavy, heavy weathering; these guys have been in the field for centuries not weeks, apart from keeping them running there's no time to clean them up. My eventual goal will be to have a number of rhinos in various states, as the Carcharodons don't appear to have the ability to produce these, so scavenge what they can from the field of battle. In that case I expect that they would respray (or is it strip down) to the grey.

Still got another contemptor to finish, Tyberos is still in bits, and a stack of razorbacks to build, plus whatever Santa brings (armoured proteus perhaps), so I'm off to break out the brushes.

carcharodon carcharias out

Kill team

2011-11-10T06:01:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a dogs age since I've posted, but life just gets in the way. That and I had to build my 1750pt BT army for the Throne of Skulls in October, so the contemptors continue to gather dust.

I love the idea of a carcharodon kill team (and a Black Templar one if I'm honest), anyone got any suggestions on what to take, go fluffy or serious I'm happy with either! Just fancy getting creative with the scalpel and brushes...

Carcharodons (still using my BT as counts as)
Termies with thunder hammers? Lightning Claws?
I'll get to use Tyberos - nice!

Gotta love GW

2011-09-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

No really, I was lucky enough to receive the beginnings of a Dark Eldar army from relatives, however, after reading the codex, and checking out the forums, they really don't suit my playing style (see previous post), so I asked the local store if I can swap these around.

So long as they are unopened and sellable, no worries, so I've ditched the warriors, wyches and ravager and picked up 3 drop pods for the Templars. Sweet. Next week I'll be using those instead of Coke cans*

*other beverages are also available

carcharodon carcharias out

EPIC fail - lol

2011-09-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

Played my 3rd game last night, same opponent, same army list, and to quote Mr Henry Ford; "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." I play aggressively (not me personally, I don't growl or get all up in your face), regardless of the mission, the opponent, the time of day etc, etc.

Last night for example, 5 x Templars, 1 with a melta gun, jump out of a drop pod in front of a completely unscathed ork horde, needless to say with an average 30 dice coming my way (per unit) they didn't last long. Rinse and repeat with 3 other identical units. 2 of my 3 dreadnoughts fared better, one taking out a trukk and the other holding down a unit of ork nobz bikerz. At the end of turn 3 (took us 2 hilarious hours to get that far), we called it quits as he had 5 kill points to my 1, and I had yet to get the last dreadnought in pod on the table along with 2 other Crusader squads in their pods.

Our post game chat led me to the above epiphany, and I'm really looking forward to playing my DEFENSIVE drop pod army in a less attacking format next week. Yes, I know the clue is in the title blah, blah, blah. A big thanks to Marshal Laeroth over at http://www.implausiblenature.net for his ever useful advice and the army list itself - well worth checking out.

From the Carcharodons point of view, another week goes by with little progress on Contemptor 2, but let's see what the weekend throws at me, and I'll take some WIP pics on Sunday night.

Until then, brushes wet, dice rolls high
carcharodon carcharias out

Daemon Day

2011-09-05T03:31:00.000-07:00

A huge thank you to all who helped make Daemon day such an amazing day, attendees from Jersey, Norway and Estonia made my 50 mile trip seem like a walk in the park.

The event was well attended, I have to admit I was quite insular and spent more time on my own min, and what I wanted to learn rather than look around and see what everyone else was up to.

When I did rear my ugly head, there were some amazing pieces, a lot being worked on for the upcoming Games Day, and the ones brought in by the 'teachers' were mind blowingly good. Actually getting to pick up and see the detail on Ali McVey's and Tommie Soule's work in particular was inspiring rather than intimidating, which was the first of many revelations on the day.

There was no structure to the day, you brought in what you were working on and they helped you with a particular technique, this worked really well, and I think that everyone got the one-to-one attention they wanted.

Lunch was part of the package, plenty of it, and again the guys and Ali mingled throughout just happily chatting about mins and painting, a very relaxed, informal environment, and the bar was an added bonus.

The shop was very well stocked; GW, Dust tactics, Warmachine, Avatars of War, Infinity, Micro Arts Studio, Army Painter just a few I can remember, all with a 10% discount - nice one!

As you can see from the photos, I wanted to improve my rusting techniques (I also have Orks) and I figure this guy has been around for a 1000 years and is bound to be a little busted up. The pale underbelly was Tommies suggestion to underscore the shark theme, and the blue eyes were to provide focus, as I'd keep them black. I reckon I've got another day on this to pull it all together and get the base detailed, the knocked back and snowed up. All my mins have snow on them, no exceptions - I don't know why?

So will I be going back to Daemon Day next year? Hell, I'd go back every week, the team were so giving and care so much about painting these little bits of plastic, metal and resin, and when they show you a technique it just "clicks".

Tommie is a real character (ok they all are) but he's sooo enthusiastic and creative and knowledgeable, a real character too, very engaging, he really wants to learn and understand how it all works. Dave is the same, very rock 'n' roll kinda guy, 4 Golden Daemons and 10 finalist pins, he rocks. Mike is very laid back, and he has an endless knowledge on mins and painting, whatever the question he has the answer, and his first tutorial on wet blending set the tone for the day. Wow! Ali sure can paint, she was the most hands on of all, very encouraging style, it was her that set me off on the rust/weathering so the Contemptor is dedicated to her.

What would I change about the day? Nothing. 10:00-5:00 is bang on for 5-6 hours of painting, more than I usually get. The variety of styles and personalities worked superbly, even the way Tommie uses a palette compared to Mike couldn't be more different, and I'll finish with a quote from Tommie if I may; "What happens on the palette happens on the miniature".

See you all next year (if not before)
carcharodon carcharias out

Daemon Day - the night before

2011-09-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

Well here he is in flat colours; grey and black. I finished literally chucking paint and transfers on the only Contemptor I had managed to build, and finished at 01:30 Saturday am, just time to grab a few hours sleep before the simple 50 mile journey to Mansfield!

The heavy gloss is only on the areas that took the transfers (excellent quality from Forgeworld), the battle damage is cruder than I would normally allow, particularly as the other attendees would be bringing WIP of their Golden daemon projects.

The base was hardly touched as I figured better to work on the dread first. In between waiting for coats to dry (how amateur am I!) I started on the plethora of metal pieces, I'll keep this low key as I want the focus on the dread not the floor.

Next post will be all about the Daemon Day, and photos of where's he's now at in the painting stages, after my day down there.

Also got as far as cleaning up Tyberos and the other Contemptor, Hunger and Slake are both a bit off so will require the warm water and re-set technique before undercoating.

'Til then, carcharodon carcharias out

Counts as... I think not!

2011-09-01T05:33:00.000-07:00

Da Umperial Looterz, the Ork horde I was due to face off against for my 3rd game in 3 weeks has cried off due to a batch of rotting squigs disagreeing with 'em! My erstwhile colleague graciously offered it up as a technical win, which I've declined. Besides, I can fill the time tonight with sorting out the Contemptor's for this Saturdays painting session. Woo hoo!

Get well soon Warboss Green and see you next week for game 3.

carcharodon carcharias out

One down, one to go...

2011-08-30T01:55:00.000-07:00

First of the mighty Contemptors built on Sunday night (took two hours), sooo many positioning options - absolutely amazing. He's not yet glued to the amazing base, as it needs trimming slightly. You can't see on the photos but the right foot is just resting on a thin piece and looks wrong.

This is the chap that's going along to Daemon Day this Saturday, where hopefully I'll be able to do him justice with a top notch paint job.

His brother is having magnetised options for the weapons and a more static pose.

I'll get photos up of him asap, fingers crossed I'll get another night of building in this week.

'til then... carcharodon carcharias out.

Fight, fight fight!

2011-08-25T02:12:00.000-07:00

Taking the Black Templars up against the Orks this evening (my second ever 'proper' game) so another night goes by without Tyberos or the Contemptors getting some love! The Daemon Day is Saturday September 3rd so I'll have to get all 3 built up this weekend (ok Sunday night). I'll upload wip photos then.

Keep watching the skies
carcharodon carcharias

So it begins...

2011-08-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Carcharodons transfers ordered from Forgeworld, nothing's stopping me now!

carcharodon carcharias

Carcharodons attack

2011-08-24T03:58:00.000-07:00

Without warning they come! I love the fluff from IA10, and Tyberos the Red Wake from www.forgeworld.co.uk ain't half bad either, so I've taken the plunge towards another 40k army (Black Templars, Bad Moon Orks and Grey Knights filling the rest of the garage already), and received Tyberos and 2 x contemptor dreads last week.

I'm lucky enough to be attending Daemon Day at Maelstrom Games in Nottingham in a couple of weeks where I'm hoping to take them along and pick up some tips from some world class painters.

Once that's sorted I'll post up the wip of the above and start building the army from there. In the interim, the BT's will play as counts as Carcharodons.

Until then, keep your brushes clean
carcharodon carcharias out