I’m going to save my comments for the individual entries and let everyone get to reading Wave 2 of Month 1!

Since signing up for this painting challenge I was able to get a hold of some rogue trader orks! I was so stoked to now have some era appropriate boyz and not have to use the 3rd ed boyz. As we all know the change in aesthetic from 2nd to 3rd. 

This mob will go in a battlewagon as all self respecting Evil Sunz would never walk into battle. The warboss will also join them in the battlewagon. 

Evil Sunz Boyz Mob – 158pts – 9 Boyz (108) with Boltguns (9) and Bolt Pistols (18), Nob (13) with Bolt Pistol and Powerfist (10)

Wachtmeister: Gazamataz scored big getting these era appropriate Boyz for his challenge, and he really knocked them out of the park with the pain scheme.  Red Onez go fasta and with the bright red’s and yellow’s on these guys they look fast as the battlewagon they’ll be going to battle in! 

Here is what was completed for January and the Blood Angels. Overlap with a upcoming series of games being run by me at a local gaming Con are the reason for the slower start. Chaplain, Tycho and Dante complete. 

Wachtmeister: I don’t think three highly detailed characters while painting for a convention game are a slow start so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what Damien will be pushing out in the coming months!

Having already based and primed the entire army last year (both pledge and a lot of bonus minis), January was off to a good start. I’ve been quite productive and managed to get a lot of minis through the assembly line. I even went so far, that I almost forgot about the actual pledge for the month. So leaving the mass of the army behind, I started focusing on the 11 minis in the first slice.

In this slice we find one of the very few minis in the army, that isn’t a 2nd. edition mini. As we saw with some of the classical 2nd. edition Imperial Guard armies, the Mordians never got their own Colonel mini.

The solution for this challenge, was luckily presented to me when I got the collection, as the previous owner had thought of this. As part of the collection was a Commisar (4th edition if I remember correctly), that fits the bill perfectly. And as I already have a multitude of Commisars in the army, the choice was easy.

Besides the newly appointed Colonel of the High Guard Company of the Screaming Camels we have the Lieutenant of the 1st. platoon and their retinue units, as well as one of several Commisars I’ll be painting for the army.

I’ve really had a good time painting these minis, especially the Colonel was truly fun to paint (I guess its easy to have fun painting single minis, when you’re also batch painting 100+ Mordians). For some time after getting the collection, I couldn’t decide between painting the Mordians in a desert theme to match my 42nd Tallarn Regiment, or to do them in the original blue and red codex colors. In the end I decided to go with the desert theme, and I’m very pleased with the choice and result.

I’ve had the color scheme down for some time, but of course some last minute details came to mind (I’m not pointing fingers at another contestant, that may or may not have come up with an idea so good, that I obviously have to do it.). However as it came to light somewhat late, I couldn’t decide how to finish it in time. So even though I’m not happy about possibly having to go back to otherwise finished minis to add more details, I’m still hoping that I at some point figure out how to do it, so I’ll be able to show it off in later slices.

What is this particular detail You ask… well, that’s for me to know and you to find out 😀

For the Emperor and the Screaming Camels

HQ – 142 pts

Colonel (Power Fist, Bolt pistol)

4 Guardsmen

– Grenade Launcher

– Mortar

Command – 142 pts

Commisar (Power Sword, Bolt Pistol)

Lieutenant (Chainsword, Bolt pistol)

4 Guardsmen

– Grenade Launcher

– Mortar

Wachtmeister:  I am thrilled to see Mørk went with the Tallarn scheme for his Mordians.  We have talked about this a few times and I think having a coherent force is really nice.  I’m doing my third Imperial Guard army and while that gives off 2^nd edition vibes I’ve done the basing different for all three so it would make things look a little odd if I had to mix and match.  I look forward to seeing the formal version of the Tallarn’s hit the field!

Maddix, Orphidian 23rd (Imperial Guard Black Codex)

<<<Message begins>>>

Arrival in orbit as predicted. Scanners reveal infestations on Secondary continent. Beach-Head to be established at defensible point on main isthmus.

<<<Message ends>>>

<<Col. O. Hexham, Ophidian 23rd CO, Private logs>>

I have dispatched Captain Chylton-Merriwether and 3rd Squad on a reconnaissance mission, to accompany Inquisitor Krane before we establish our main camp. This planet mostly has Terran norms as far as the Flora goes, but the recent infestation has caused some of the Fauna to change. Once we have our supplies, we can start to purge the enemy from the face of this planet.

<<Log entry ends>>

Well, it’s been an interesting month… apparently painting old RT models is great fun and highly infectious. I’m currently trawling thorough my “reserves” and working out what Rogue Trader models I can assemble, prime and paint as bonus entries for this challenge!

This month I tackled the largest mandatory amount of models that I had down for a slice – the main Command Squad and a Tactical Squad to go with it. Did a little bonus Inquisitor in Power Armour to go with it too.

The Captain model was one of the first ones I ever bought and painted, but I’m pleased I stripped his 30+ year paint job and put him in proper colours.

I will admit, I might come back to these models and assign squad insignia once I see what models I’ve actually done too, but they are complete enough for my entry 😉

Still not sure which squad to do next, but I’m sure the correct whim will strike!

Sidenote – really need to sort out my camera…

Maddix

Wachtmeister: Maddix is cruising along, pumping out his Rogue Trader guardsmen.  If you know his Chaos attachment you know grey is an awfully suspicious loyalist color for a guy who loves Malal as much as he does.

Although on paper I had a nice army mapped out, I have a number of conversions that I need to do to the Delaque gangers for the special and Heavy Weapons. So I’ve ended up painting only models that don’t need further work. My main inspiration for the colour pallet was the convicts from Alien 3, drab greens and browns. I have it in my mind that these guys would spend long hours running around space hulks being picked off by Tyranid Lyctors! The assassin model isn’t an official GW model, but it’s based on an old rogue trader artwork, so I think that legitimises it’s inclusion! I was originally going to paint her in a full black scheme and try and make it look like the proper 2^nd ed. assassins, but I eventually went for something more in the lines of the Adeptus Arbites, I could use her as a Judge instead, which I probably will. 

Lets call it:

10 x IMPERIAL GUARD Troopers (100 points)

IMPERIAL AGENTS ASSASSIN (100 points)

TOTAL 200 points.

Lore of the 1st Necromunda Penal Legion

In the grim darkness of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the 1st Necromunda Penal Legion stands as a testament to the lengths the Imperium will go to maintain its military might. When recruitment for the Imperial Guard dwindles, the Adeptus Arbites often assist local governors in meeting their quotas by rounding up criminals from the depths of Necromunda’s hive cities. The methods employed by the Arbites to amass such large numbers of offenders remain shrouded in mystery; however, it is widely speculated that powerful House factions may be complicit, offering up their most disloyal and troublesome members in exchange for leniency regarding serious breache of Imperial law.

This arrangement serves a dual purpose: it reinforces the rule of law while simultaneously supplying the Imperial Guard with fresh fodder for the relentless grinder of war. The Penal Legion is overseen by the Wardens of the Outer Orbit Penal Station (OOPS), an organization native to the Necromunda system. While they are officially accountable to local governance, in practice, it is the judges of the Adeptus Arbites who wield true authority over these facilities.

The Wardens possess considerable power and resources, allowing them to procure superior weaponry and armor from Necromunda’s renowned Van Saar houses. This equipment stands in stark contrast to the standard-issue lasguns and autoguns typically issued to penal legionaries, giving these troops a significant edge on the battlefield. Clad in black uniforms reminiscent of their Arbites overseers, the Wardens project an aura of intimidation designed to keep convicts in line.

Interestingly, the tradition of forgoing helmets originates from the convict gangers themselves, who view going bareheaded as a mark of honor within their brutal culture. This practice has rubbed off on the Wardens, who adopt it as a means of solidarity with their charges. However, this cultural exchange has not gone unnoticed by their Arbites superiors. On occasion, Adeptus Arbites have intervened to remove Wardens who have embraced this “gang culture” too wholeheartedly or who have been suspected of accepting bribes from criminals.

The OOPS has a storied history, having once been cleansed by a Deathwatch kill team after a Tyranid Lictor was cornered and eliminated by these very convicts. This incident not only reinforced the unpredictable capabilities of these penal troopers but also highlighted their potential for valor in dire circumstances. Such events have contributed to a complex legacy where former criminals can become reluctant heroes—or simply more expendable assets in the eyes of an uncaring Imperium.

Thus, the 1st Necromunda Penal Legion embodies both a grim necessity and a harsh reality within the Imperium—a force forged from desperation and maintained through fear, where lines between enforcer and enforcer are often blurred. 

Wachtmeister: This is a great example of how good the Necromunda figures fit in with a 2^nd Edition army.  I love the color scheme Vectis has gone with, and the assassin figure definitely says old school with that big studded shoulder pad.  I think he’s right, she would make a great Arbite Judge! 

Much to my disbelief, January is already coming to an end! How did it pass so quickly? No doubt the fickle gods of the Warp are playing tricks on my all-too-human mind…

It’s been a busy month, and on the 26th, I found myself staring at a group of airbrushed Tactical Marines and a Rhino still in pieces. With less than a week to complete them, I got to work. I am delighted to report (and show) that, with the Emperor’s divine guidance, I succeeded. The first installment of the mighty Army of Ultramar is complete!

This marks the first half of my Tactical Squad, the backbone of my force. Leading them is a Sergeant wielding a power fist, followed by three Tactical Marines armed with bolters, and a fourth Marine carrying a flamer. Alongside them, I also completed the Rhino, ready to transport them into battle.

This unit totals 219 points, bringing the force one step closer to readiness.
I painted 6 models this month, and with the full army consisting of just 20 models, we’re already 30% of the way there!

Next month, I’ll complete the Tactical Squad and explore better ways to capture their glory in photos.

Remember: “An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.”

— Sam

Wachtmeister:  Wow.  I don’t really know what else to say.  Sam has captured the vibrant colors of the Ultramarines and the goblin green bases of 2^nd Edition in only a few days of painting.  These models could easily have popped off the box art, they should be the envy of any gamer, let alone those of us from the 2^nd Edition era!

Painting 200 Points of 2nd Edition Khorne Bezerkers – A month of challenges and reward in equal parts!

This month has been a real grind as I worked on painting 200 points of Khorne Bezerkers – resulting in 5 models. What should have been a straightforward project turned into something far more time-consuming, largely because of the models I got in the job lot for this whole 6 month challenge. While I expected a bit of prep work, I underestimated just how much these minis had suffered in their previous lives. Thick layers of paint, questionable conversions, and an overall rough state meant hours of stripping, scraping, and reassembling before I could even think about priming. But I’ve now got that all done for the remainder of the project!

At the same time, I had another major distraction looming: a massive Bone Grinder Giant and 20 Black Orcs for an upcoming narrative game in early February. Meaning the Chaos Marines were jostling to be the main focus, this side project constantly pulled at my attention. The Giant, in particular, was an intimidating undertaking—big models always demand extra care in shading, highlighting, and detailing to make them stand out on the tabletop. The Black Orcs, while more straightforward, were still a time sink, especially since I wanted to do them justice for the game.

Balancing these two projects has been rough. Every time I felt like I was making progress on the Chaos Marines, I’d remember how little time I had left for the fantasy side of things. But despite the struggles, there’s something satisfying about seeing it all come together. With a little luck (and a lot of late nights), everything was ready in time!

Wachtmeister: Having to suffer through rescuing these old minis and working on a side project MDixson then had to suffer through all that trim the Chaos marines are famous for.  He did a terrific job working on multiple projects this month and I’m glad we got to see the Giant lurking in the background, that’s a month project on its own!

Back into the fray once again.  But hang on?  Surely this isn’t me? 1am local time and only barely finishing 6 figures?  Writing this entry while being too tired to be sure I’m intelligible?  

No excuses.  My entry is in.  

Following my own view of chaos being chaos, I painted each of these figures as an individual.  They started as 2 green, 2 blue and 2 purple drybrushed and washed and added additional colour from there.  

Finished the blue and orange one first.  Upon working on the second I had a big bare shoulder pad.  I didn’t want to just do 8 sided arrows everywhere so looked up some other chaotic / satanic symbols and went to town.  Having done one figure up I decided to put at least a little on all the figures in the squad.  It ended up being quite chaotic.  One even has an anarchy symbol.  helps to unify them a little.

Just a little lascannon devastator squad, all ready to reach out and touch somebody.  255 points.

Will make a solid attempt at more figures for next month.  A slice and a bonus rather than the bare minimum.

Thanks all!

Adrian Bell 

Wachtmeister: While Adrian seems disappointed by his model count this month he more than makes up for it with the detail on these guys.  Not only is the freehand impressive the unique colo(u)r scheme shows the amount of work he put in these guys.  I read the entry before looking at the paint jobs and I expected three sets of two similar schemes but the really do all look different.  Great job!

As proposed I got the army built, primed and airbrush based.  Pushed the paint forward on a few models as testers.  Still trying to find the right goblin green stand in.

Wachtmeister: Master Splinter got his whole army base coated and managed to finish this awesome assassin.  He sent pictures of both but I really wanted to show off the awesome job on this finished mini, especially as he did such a good job with a color as difficult as black! 

This month I have 5 Khorne Berserkers painted as Black Legion Armed with: 2x chain axes, 1x plasma pistol, 1x power axe for a total of 194 points.

I’ve divided the small army as neatly as I can for each month so the points will fluctuate a bit.

I had a fair bit of stripping and repair to do this month, unfortunately the paint on these was incredibly resilient to stripping. I fixed up some of the broken weapons and added a little bit of height to these old models.

I’m not entirely happy with how these came out, I kind of rushed the paint job and wasn’t sure how I wanted the final result to be when I started, I hope to refine this on the ones for next month. My steel paint seems to have gone funny so I’ll need to fix that for the next batch.

Overall, a good learning experience on what I want for this project, I’ll be more organised for the coming months so I can be happy with what I put out.

Cheers,
Psykka

Wachtmeister:  Khorne Berserkers are giving multiple contestants a hard time, whether they are the 2^nd Edition mono pose or the 3^rd Edition multipart kits.  I hope for their owners sake they cause as much pain to their opponents in the combat phase of future games!  I’ve never seen these models in anything other than typical red, they look great as Black Legion!

In at the wire, per usual! It’s to my great shame this month, for the first time in three challenges, I have had to use a mulligan. Thanks be to the Wachmeister and his mercies in extending one to us! Due to some unforeseen family events, I have been unable to paint for the last two weeks. I ended up getting three-quarters of the way through my pledge for the month, but that progress ground to a halt. Next month we’ll be back at it. The swarm can only be paused, not stopped!

However, that is not to say this month was unproductive. I spent the majority of the first two weeks wrapping up a bonus pledge I had begun at the end of last year’s challenge – five genestealers and a genestealer Patriarch. These models are great – a combination of Rogue Trader and Second Edition models, most all of them are metal and from the early Purestrain cult models. Of course, I couldn’t only paint five genestealers and ended up rounding the contingent to twenty genestealers and the Patriarch! So, not my original pledge, but I did get some paint on models this month J

Also, rumors abound that a few larger Tyranid monsters have been sighted on the horizon. Time will tell if any of them make an appearance over this challenge!

Good luck all! Keep painting!

Bonus Models – 20 Genestealers (560 points) and a Genestealer Patriarch (72 points)

Totals: 21 models, 632 points

Wachtmeister:  TJM showed the benefit of submitting something even if you don’t think it counts as in my opinion this is an early bonus entry, not a mulligan!  These guys fit in well with both the cult and the Tyranid fleet so there is no reason not to count them!  I’ll hold it against you next time though TJM! 

Greetings loyal readers of the 2nd army challenge! (This thing’s been going on for almost five years now, there have to be some loyal readers)
Normally this would be the part where I wax on about what army I’m painting this time, how I’ll use them in battle and maybe something about how I painted them.  However I’m on a theme park vacation with my family and I just glad I got my models painted before we left.  So this month will be short and sweet and we will save the long winded paragraphs for next month.

The challenge is awesome, I’m painting Space Wolves this time.  The Wachtmeister is a hero of the Imperium for coordinating all this and a hearty salute to the OG Dr the Viking for starting all this madness. 

The first five grey hunters were painted this month.  See you next month with the rest of the squad. 

Jaurskald’s Hunters – Grey Hunters combat squad.  Wolf Guard champion and 4 marines – 156 points. 

Wachtmeister: Jon has done an excellent job of making his combat squad coherent looking despite the range of editions the unit is comprised of.  If memory serves me this is the first time he is branching away from green bases, I think the purple tufts really make the models pop!

Thanks for joining us for Wave 2 of Month 1, see you all next week for Wave 3!

-Wachtmeister