Farewell Bretonnia - The legend will never die

Did you hear the news? Bretonnia are about to be removed completely from Warhammer. When I heard I couldn't help but take a look back at some of my old models and at an army that will always have a special place in my heart.

They were some of the first models I ever had - perhaps the very first as I had the good fortune of coming into this hobby right at the start of the 5th edition. Together with my brother I got the box set for Christmas, and roughly 20 years later I can say that neither of us really ever looked back. At the time I played with the Lizardmen and my brother had just started collecting Dwarves (due to a birthday present mishap rather than design- as who actually likes dwarves). This left the Bretonnians as a third army - one we loved to fight. I've probably played several hundred battles against these models - they were there when I first learned how the "fear" rule worked, it was their remains that were found at the feet of my first Steggadon, they were the unappreciated masses and for that I salute them.

The proud men of Bretonnia were also a testing ground for both of us - their grey plastic was ravaged by dozens of coats of thick sloppy paint, and their armour shone with the light of only mythril silver. They were also suitably converted in line with their new finery. Look below for some fine examples of these luxurious pieces:

An old Beastman fist on your head looks like a Grail right? I'll complete the motif by gluing paper grail shapes all over him .... Grails are orange too right? I'M THE GREATEST CONVERTER EVER!!! Taste my huge space marine knife lance!

Peg Leg in all his glory

Finally, I can only look back with misty eyes now that they're almost gone. I was there from the beginning until the end and it's been one hell of a journey... Lance formation one last time just for me guys!

Well that was sad, anyone want to buy some fugly OOP models for way too much money? (That guy with the grail must be worth like £100 on eBay any day right?)

Brown?  I didn't miss with the paintbrush - it's called shading dumbass

Salamanders Bike Squad

One of my more recent 40k armies is a fast attack oriented Salamanders force. I know it might not be the most characteristic thing from a background perspective, but a focus on high quality flamers and plenty of melta weaponry combined with manoeuvrability was a tempting thing. I also have a rule about new armies - they have to feel/play differently than something I already have. Being as I have a large mostly shooty Chaos Marine army (Emperor's Children), my loyalist force would have to be different - with plenty of units Chaos can't have. For that reason I chose fast attack - as I could have plenty of Land Speeders/Storms and really enjoy a different style of play.


Anyway, in this post I've got some pictures of my finished bike squad. I'm particularly happy with the banner that I salvaged from some Militarum Scions that weren't using it!


The bikes themselves are converted from the Dark Vengeance ones - you just can't beat the price compared to the real thing!

Replacing Orks in an all Grot army

When I first started my all Grot army I knew that there would be one place in the force where the inclusion of Orks would be unavoidable; Runtherdz. I needed to create a model that would have the weapons of a slaver, and would be an obvious proxy. In the end I created "Cybork Riders" using a selection of spare parts (like most of the army, converting with green skins is a free form pleasure!). For this model one of the legs and a large portion of the body is actually a burna, combined with a burna boy head that I got from the bitz box at my local hobby store. I also used a few spare stikk bombs as the make great robotic looking parts.

I really like the tall gangly look - if only it didn't make them so vulnerable in games!

Grabbing a Nice Bust Part 2!

Hormones rage and innuendos abound in the second part of Tabletop Apocalypse's Bust Saga.

In the last episode we established what it took to make a nice bust - shapely, well formed, and certainly of a good size! In this episode we'll be catching up with my on-going project, so strap yourselves in and prepare to plumb the depths of some beautiful busts.

Those who read the previous article will know that it ended on a mostly postman related cliff-hanger (as I was waiting for delivery). Well the parcel has arrived and I now have my package firmly in hand .... that didn't sound right, I mean I've got my hands on my junk, ... my junk on a nice bust, yeah that'll do. Anyway, with the wait finally over there was nothing to do but spread it open and enjoy the goodies.

One thing was clear from the beginning; I was dealing with a very well formed bust. In fact the quality was high enough that I resolved to build and paint her to a competition standard. I was also certain that I wanted to follow through on the sci-fi theme.

The conversion begins in earnest

With my goal in mind I raided my blitz box for some suitable junk to slap on that bust (Man these innuendos are getting a bit strained). I added armour in a few places as well as other sci-fi looking details. I also decided to go sort of "Ghost in the Shell" with the styling.

Space marine for scale purposes.

One other thing was clear - I was dealing with a seriously big bust; something I could really get my hands wrapped around. In turn that would make it different than anything else I've ever painted. I've decided to try and finish it for Salute in London - where I will probably enter under the miscellaneous category- which gives me about a month of painting time. Unfortunately for the blog, I'll be keeping the final build under wraps from now on until the competition, so those crummy work in progress shots are all you're gonna get! (I know it's really gonna burn for the 20 or so people that will read this article. To appease my adoring fans here's a picture now it's in paint (I'm still not giving much away - playing it close the the chest you might say...)

WAAAGH Makari!

The 2nd edition legend returns and this time there will be blood!

When I first started working on my all grot army for 40k I had a epiphany of sorts. The army needed a leader, someone with pedigree and class. There could only be one contender - the only gretchin special character to ever exist - Makari. Back in 2nd edition he was Ghazghkull's banner bearer and his only power of note was a 2+ invulnerable save attributed to the favour of the gods, or perhaps just dumb luck. When the new model for Ghazkull was released Makari disappeared from the game and the background and into oblivion - except for a short piece of text that said that Ghazghkull sat on him and subsequently fed him to a squiggoth.

Makari in 2nd edition.

Clearly this wouldn't really be enough to kill the legendary Makari. In my version of the history he escaped death by fleeing in an old suit of Ghazghkull's Mega Armour. Through blind luck he rebuilt himself as more machine than greenskin and then began to lead a colossal Waaggh of grots against their oppressive Ork masters. Also he had become quite clearly insane after his transformation!

With these fanciful ideas in mind I bought the first model for my grots - an old metal 2nd edition Makari. I then did some fairly heavy conversion work to mash him into a suit of Ghazghkull's armour. For sheer comedy value he also had to be outrageously big, so I added more armaments to the already bulging suit of armour and finally a scenic base to make him even taller!

After a few coats of paint the mighty Mekka Makari was finally finished and ready to bring the a 

gaming world to it's knees.

That's one big Grot!

Da Lucky Stikk makes a comeback. This time with Makari's personal heraldry.

Imperial Fists Vindicator Laser Destroyer

I recently finished painting a Laser Destroyer for my Heresy Imperial Fists force. Taking inspiration from the background I wanted to make a footslogging infantry heavy army, but it still needed some solid anti-tank for backup. That and a Vindicator is pretty much the most Imperial Fisty tank there is!


It helps that the thing is a monster on the tabletop too. Running in it's overcharged mode it fires 3 BS4 twin-linked S9 AP1 Ordnance shots (so they re-roll hits and armour penetration and then add 2 to the vehicle damage chart!). It's about the only thing that will have an Imperial Knight shaking in it's giant metal boots!


Painting wise it was the first vehicle that I've ever done with a white undercoat which was a bit labour intensive, but there's just something impressive about bright colours on the tabletop.

Emperor's Children Converted Noise Marine Champion

I created this model with the idea of a Pre-Heresy Lucius the Eternal in mind. Admittedly it was only loosely based on him; I mostly just let my imagination run wild. Anyway, I use him as the Aspiring Champion for my Noise Marines - equipped with a power sword and Doom Siren.

The body is a Forgeworld Sons of Horus Reaver. His sword is from Hector Rex and the Bolt Pistol is from the plastic Raptors kit. The cape is a cut down piece of Chaos Warrior cape and finally the head is actually the bare head from the plastic Eldar Guardian Squad with more hair modelled using greenstuff.

For more photos of the rest of the squad find them here.