Well, I finally got tired of painting Judge Dredd figures, so it's time to reinforce my Blood Ravens. 

Zooooooooom! 

Citi-Def COMPLETED

After comming around to a completely different scheme for my Citi-Def I've had a flurry of activity on them, finishing all the full squad and building up some of the additional details. I present them, completed!

The nice thing about this scheme is that it means the figures will work for almost any 28mm skirmish game, so I expect they'll get a bit more action. I've tried to keep the colour schemes to a limited colour palette too, so greens and browns and metallic, as a reflection of the more limited range you get in older comic art.

Anyhow, just waiting for my StormRaven order to arrive, and then I'll be on with that, the biggest vehicle I've done to date. 

Starting Over..!

You remember when I said I was happy with the citi-def scheme? Well I got back from a weekend away and decided that I wasn't. I hated it. I tweaked it a bit on a couple of other figures, then tweaked it a lot, and finally just repainted the whole squad over and started again. This time I've gone for a more "realistic" Forest Camo pattern, which is essentially a series of grey, black and green splodges with a green wash to blend it all down and make it look "camoflaguely". For something done in anger - or at least a bad case of the grumps - it's turned out OK in the cold light of day.

Heavy Weapon Guy Again. 

Twin Pistols. You won't hit anything, but you'll look cool (not) doing it. 

Bazooka Trooper. This shot looks like she's just swapped her arm for the weapon. 

6th Edition Lessons...

I've got to admit i've struggled to paint the last week or so. I just don't seem to be able to get something done with the Citi-Def that I'm happy with. I don't think it's the models, which are nice, characterful sculpts, and I'm still fond of the colour scheme, but I there's definitely something I'm just not engaging with at the moment. I've really enjoyed doing the Judges, but maybe I just need to move onto something else for a bit.

Zooooom! 

On the plus side, me and eldest offspring had our first game of 6th Edition recently, which was great fun. With both sides "full up" at 1500 points each, it was a busy fight over 5 objectives and he just - just - pipped me when the game ended on Turn 5. Given that his Orks are made up of units he thinks are cool, and mine are made up of units i've bought to paint, a certain mis-match is inevitable, but even so we had a good time and learned a lot about the new edition.

Flyers are fun, aren't they? We only have one between us, my StormTalon, but it was a disruptive little monster, especially against smaller squads it could force into morale checks. It only ever looked vunerable the turn I slowed it down to make some turns, whereupon it drew a lot of fire, and I suspect in future I may just leave it zooming on and off the board merrily carving up any squad unfortunate to be underneath it.

My other big lesson was the Power Klaw Nobs (one of the new additions) are horrific agents of death limited only by what they can reach. Ouch ouch ouch, was my general experience of being assaulted by them. Now he wants a Battlewagon to put them in. I'm comming to the conclusion that the Orks may be a good "starter" race for younger players, as whilst not the most straightforward to play, they are excitingly random, you get to roll lots and lots of dice, and there is a generally cheerfully violent tone to them that seems to appeal.

Old Dublo Castle sets make for great impromtu terrain. 

Although maybe that's just us...! 

Colour Test for Citi-Def

Citi-Def are the National Guard of Mega-City One, a cross between an organised Peoples Militia and gun-toting lunatics with access to high-grade firepower. They're often portrayed as the halpless cannon-fodder of whatever crisis is engulfing the city at the time. Naturally I wanted a daft, cartoony scheme for them, which would be unique to their particular Hab-Block. This guy is the test figure for my Cit-Def force (although they'd also be good for Necromunda or the like), a resolute defender of Howard Overman Block. 

I should be able to production-line these guys through once i'm happy with them, as they're not that complex a figure, and after that I expect to go back to my Blood Ravens. I'm actually quite close to a half-way decent 1500 point force, although if -as the rumours indicate - the StormBrick becomes available to Vanilla Marines, I'll have to get myself one, just for the fun of painting it. 

Justice On a Roll!

This is the last of my Justice Department figures, a Lawmaster (and Judge). I've tried - with moderate success - to create a OSL effect around the headlights, which isn't brilliant, but is passable. Its all about creeping up that Learning Curve, right?

Continued Judge-ing

This weeks Judge Dredd Miniatures Game figure is the capable and awesome Judge Giant (jnr, I presume)

I'm really enjoying these figures, they're a nice change of pace from the Blood Ravens. That said with all the rumours going around about the StormRaven becoming open to Vanilla Chapters, I may have to get me one.