Ultramarines Sicaran Tank

Warhammer 30,000 - The Horus Heresy line continues to pump out cool plastic kits, which are significantly easier to work with than the previous resin versions.

Ultramarines - New Recruits

Warhammer 40,000 – The Ultramarines force I’ve been painting just got some new recruits. The gun platform and ATV are some of the newer models in the range. Pretty simple models that add Primaris Elements to the force that were sorely missed in the initial waves.

The gun platform is cool but I don’t know that it was really needed. The ATV is a neat model that fits with a very popular kit-bash that turn the old bikes into ATV’s.

Ultramarines Indomintus - Outriders

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Warhammer 40,000 – I think the coolest models to come out of ninth edition are the Outriders. At least in concept, the models that came with Indomitus are cool but I feel that when the “real” box comes out they’ll be even cooler.

This project is a simple Ultramarines scheme to match the force I’ve been painting up over the past year.

Devestation Protocol - Space Marines

Warhammer 40,000 – I’ve been painting Ultramarines for this force for quite some time. My client decided to clear out his collection and get everything he already owns painted up while in-store gaming isn’t available. It’s a good plan that I think everyone should try to practice.

This batch is a bit unique because he wants to paint the bolter marines himself and base them so I was asked to leave these bases blank. Just in case he wanted to swap in the heavy weapons into a tactical squad.

I imagine these guys are going to see significantly more play with their improved wounds and weapon stats,

Ultramarine – Force Additions

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Warhammer 40,000 – Ninth edition is on it’s way. Everyday more previews and leaks are being released as the newest edition of 40K prepares to launch. Overall 8th Edition was good, the abundance of errata and changes due to the competitive meta was a bit much to keep up with at times. I know in my group some of the guys that only got to play once a month or less often felt lost or frustrated when the army list they’d been working on for months suddenly was over/under costed or just not legal. My hope is the new edition will have less of that “constant tweaking” and the loop-holes of the previous edition will be sorted out. I think making vehicles viable and making command points more standard across game sizes rather than having to min/max to get the most points to spend on tricks will also be a huge help. I haven’t played 40K proper since Christmas time (Necromunda and Kill Team are easier to fit in), so after updating Battlescribe I started looking at the lists I made for 8th Edition and the trend was definitely towards getting the most CP possible (2) minimal battalions with a special formation seemed to be the sweet spot, my “Nightlords” force was a Spikey 17 Red Corsairs Battalion with a Nightlords Outrider of Raptors and another Battalion of cultists, and Terminators. While the force was ok, it was clear I was forced to diverge from my all flying Raptors, Daemon Princes and teleporting Terminators that I began building at the start of 8th.

In previous editions, your force was valid until it received a new codex or the edition changed. There may have been external reasons to change your army such as meta shifts or power creep, but for the most part if you built a 2k force it’d stay a 2k force until a new book came out, giving you a shelf life of several years. In 8th you knew for sure that at a minimum of annually points would be adjusted so that investment in a new force could require reworking in a year. However in addition to the annual points adjustments, core rule of the game would change every six months or two weeks after the release of a new book. Which was happening at least every two months if not more frequently. While the attention and finessing to make things a better experience for everyone is appreciated it got to the point that if you took your finger off the pulse for a fe weeks the game could be drastically different.

That tangent brings me to the latest project to cross my table, more Ultramarines. This time around Sargent Chronos, some Terminators, another Landspeeder and two Landraiders. All of these units will benefit from the changes that have been announced so far. Chronos and the Landraiders won’t be hitting on 4’s or locked in combat any longer, Terminators won’t be over-watched to death and the Landspeeder can zoom around and shoot without penalty.

Ultramarines - Force Upgrades

Warhammer 40,000 – With a new edition on the horizon I anticipate getting an influx of models to flesh out 40K forces. It seems several of my clients have been finding good deals in the used bins as well as getting things put together that they’ve had in storage.

This batch has a few more Hellblasters and Landspeeders. Pretty basic Ultramarine scheme.

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Space El Camino - Ultramarines Latest Ride

Warhammer 40,000 – The Impulsor is an odd vehicle. As one of the only reasonable transport options for Primaris Marines it's becoming more popular. I suppose the open back makes sense for rapid deployment but not so much for protection, although the passengers being encased in power armor makes a solid argument for them not needing a roof I suppose.

Also in this batch of the boys in blue are a few more eliminators. This time around they are equipped with the las-fusiles. This are interesting choices, the models have a wire that connects to the scope which looks pretty cool. To make them different than the standard plasma glow I went with green on the exposed coil.

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Minecraft - More Ultramarines

Minecraft - More Ultramarines

Warhammer 40,000 – Incursors are one of my favorite Primaris Vanguard units. With a boatload of special rules they seem to be adapt at many roles. With concealed deployment they can push forward to grab objectives or slow down your opponent. The haywire mines let you set traps. Ignoring BS or to hit modifiers mean they can always shoot something and hit it effectively. Paired combat blades get them exploding sixes in close combat and they ignore cover. Somebody in the rules department has embraced the “power of and”.

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Assaulting Devestastion - Ultramarine Centurions

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Warhammer 40,000 – Units come in and out of favor every time there is a new release for 40k. I’ve been painting a variety of Ultramarine units for this client. He’s working on rounding out his collections and getting all the units he might want to filed painted up. With the new space marine codex I feel like he’s going to be adding quite a few more units to the collection since almost everything got cheaper and/or better.

When they first came out Centurions were ridiculed as something silly and dumb, why would a marine in armor don a second armor suit, and why did look like the Power Loader from aliens with power fists and guns strapped below them. But being as their initial release was during the “Reign of Grav” they saw significant play. The assault variants were pretty universally dismissed as not good.

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In 8th edition Centurions don’t tend to see much play. Some tweaks and new rules will probably change that however. If your list is a straight-up gun line these guys fill a solid roll.

Paint on these matches the previous Ultramarine schemes I’ve done which you can read about here.

On the painting table ... A Knight's Tale

On the painting table ... A Knight's Tale

Warhammer 40,000 – I love Imperial Knights. The giant stompy robots are a great addition to Warhammer 40K. Not as powerful as their bigger brothers and far less cost prohibitive the Knights bring a sense of epic battles to the tabletop. The difference in scale between your average trooper and one of these makes such an amazing scene on the table.

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Battle for Konor Week One – Three vs Three Team Battle

Battle for Konor Week One – Three vs Three Team Battle

Warhammer 40,000 – Our week one event went off with only a minor hitch. Two of our players couldn't make it which left us with 6 guys. It would have been easy to play a team of two and a one vs. one game, but because three of the players hadn't played since 6th edition and hadn't had any play experience we opted to do a team battle of 3 vs. 3 (total of 1500 points per side).

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The Primarch's Return

Warhammer 40,000 - The last set of the Gathering Storm models is probably my favorite. Although I can't stand the Ultramarines in general it's pretty cool to see Robute wake up and do the action hero thing. It's also cool to see Cypher doing the Clint Eastwood, Man with No Name pose for the new kit. The Grey Knight Grandmaster is the weakest of the models but he still looks pretty amazing.

Grand Master Voldus is a typical Grey Knight model. Lots of details all over the armor but other wise its a similar pose to other terminator characters. For this one I painted to match the clients other Grey Knight models which don't use metallic silver for the armor.

Roubute Guilliman is an imposing Monsterous Creature. About the same size as a Daemon Prince he's an imposing figure. My client asked that I paint him a pale blue so that it looked better with his Salamanders and Grey Knights. I'm happy with how the blue looks next to the gold it feels a little more regal to me than the traditional blue and gold. For the sword and torches I used fluorescent paints with a yellow wash to get that bright flame effect.

Air Support - Ultramarines

Air Support - Ultramarines

Warhammer 40,000 – The boys in blue make a return to my table. To go along with the rest of the project, I'm working on a Landspeeder Storm and Storm Talon. The Landspeeder was partially assembled incorrectly, so I had to do my best to make it look ok, the plastic glue my client used was to strong of a bond to break apart without damaging so this will be a unique version of the vehicle.

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