Cratos Skitarri Regiment Background

Here's the background for the Imperial Guard army that I'm working on. Comments and criticism are welcome.

The regiment is an Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarri force based on the Forge World Cratos. Cratos is 'east' of Terra in Ultima Segmentum. The planet resembles Mars from the Dark Age of Technology with its red soil and abundant resources.

The Mechanicus established Cratos as a Forge World in M34. ArchMagos Technicus Hest'phus is the current administrator. A small council of Magi oversee the day to day operations of the planet. They supply the Imperium with all manner of standard Imperial Guard equipment. Cratos is also home to the Legium Cratum Titan Legion.

Magos Genetor Leten, who specializes in genetic manipulation, takes particular interest in Cratos' Skitarii regiments. He has continued the long held tradition of directing the growth of all potential members to make them better soldiers. This is accomplished with a three step process. First selective breeding and genetic screening is used to ensure that only the most fit are allowed to be born. During puberty the prospective soldiers undergo simple brain surgery to remove un-needed emotional ability. Shortly thereafter they begin a rigorous chemical-based therapy to condition them physically for the rigors of combat. This cocktail of drugs is administered routinely throughout their lifetimes. By the sixteen years of age a soldier is fully mature and is ready to serve as a Hypaspist (regular trooper).

Some troopers have additional physcial modifications based on their role in the regiment. Sagitarii (heavy weapons teams) are often integrated with their weapon of choice. A Rune Priest will accompany Sagitarii into battle to ensure they function at full performance. Balisteria and Cataphractii (artillery and armor) units are also integrated into their vehicles. Techpriest Engineseers are on hand for these units anytime they are deployed. Tribunes (officers) are bred for their roles and given even more physical and mental modifcation than other soldiers.

The basic platoon is composed of Steel Legion models. I really like the coats and rebreathers. Veterans are Cadian models with a rebreather head swap. I also like to use Penal Legion squads and have modeled them as Cadians with a different rebreather head swap. I hope to do some more detailed conversions on the heavy weapons teams, officers and tanks. For now they are just modeled and painted so that I can add to them as inspiration strikes.

Will's Army History

I've been playing 40K since late 2001. Some friends in college encouraged me to start playing a few months after they started. I picked up the Tau codex and went from there. The Tau army that I started with has long been sold. I spent a solid year losing games with them in third edition while I learned the rules of the game. My regular opponents were a Dark Eldar player, an Orks Speed Freak player and a Blood Angels player. All were fast armies that assaulted me on turn two and made for some pretty discouraging games. It was a running joke that the roll to go first was also called the "roll to win".


I also had a third edition Eldar army. I say third edition because I built it using Ulthwe rules and min-maxed it for a Rogue Trader Tournament. I did win the tournament but never had much fun playing the army after that. I tried to use the army with the fourth edition Eldar codex but didn't want to add the units that made it effective, namely three Falcons and Harlequins. The army sat in its cases for years before I sold it to a guy through Bartertown. This experience really taught me a lot about how and why to choose an army.


The third army I picked up was a Khorne based Chaos army. I never made much progress with them before I sold them. At the end there were a couple of painted squads of Berserkers and Daemons.


In January of 2008 I started with Necrons. I spent a lot of time labouring over the army selection decision. I wanted something that complimented my playstyle, had an enjoyable background and that I would enjoy painting. I have a fully-painted force of ~4000 points including a home-made Plyon. On top of that I acquired a couple more thousand points of models in a trade that have not been painted yet. I have a few projects to work on that are Necron related but they are on the backburner until we get a new codex. Did someone say Gargantuan Creature Deceiver?!


My current project is an Imperial Guard army. I bought a Cadian army from a local player and combined it with a college friend's Steel Legion. The army is assembled and about half painted. I have enough to play an Apocalypse game of about 3000 points painted and can easily swing the local 1850 point tournaments. I probably have another two thousand points of unpainted stuff and several Apocalypse size things that are in various states of construction. My goal with this army is to spend some time on conversions and give it a very strong theme that is easily recognizable when you first see it. I'll post more on this in the future.

DIY Indoor Airbrushing Station

I live in the frigid northeastern US where the weather doesn't always cooperate with my priming and airbrushing schedule. I put together this airbrushing station this winter so that I could work indoors.



I have been airbrushing, priming and even using the dremel at this station all winter. It's basically a cardboard box with a furnace filter and shop vac. The vacuum pulls stray paint particles through the furnace filter so they aren't deposited all over your work area. It doesn't do anything for paint fumes though so prime indoors at your own risk and make sure you have plenty of ventilation.

I had some Forgeworld stuff to assemble this winter and used this station to dremel the parts with a rotary sandpaper bit. The vacuum sucked up most of the resin dust so that it was much easier to clean up afterwards.

Here's how I put this one together:

Materials:
16"x16"x16" cardboard box
16"x20" furnace filter - I got these in a pack of four for under $10.
Shop Vac - Also useful around the house and in the workshop.
Tape

I cut the side out of the box and then assembled it like so:



Notice how the box flaps are oriented. I did this so that I could swap out the furnace filters as they get clogged and need to be replaced. The furnace filter I use is a little larger than the box so it fits in at a bit of a slant. I haven't noticed any issues with this though. I angled it into the box so that I have the most room at the bottom of my work space.



Then at the back of the box, behind the filter, I cut a hole for the shop vac hose to fit.



That's it! Just remember to turn on the shop vac before you spray and always wear a respirator mask. Just because you're using acrylic paint doesn't mean that it's okay to breath it in.

Custom Case Solutions

To me, an important part of starting a new army is determining how you will store and transport your miniatures. Why spend literally hundreds of dollars and hours purchasing, assembling and painting your models if they're going to get scratched up the first time you take them to a game? I've seen lots of people who toss their minis in a shoe box or a plastic bag then have to sort them out when they show up for a game. It frustrates me to no end.

In my miniature gaming career I've gone though several different case solutions and have come to rely on custom cases for most of my models. I still own the occasional GW figure case for regular sized infantry but find that they are rarely ideal.

My first foray into custom cases came with my first 40K army. I needed a way to store and transport the tanks I bought for my Tau army. I was in college at the time so I didn't have that much free cash nor a lot of room to devote to the hobby. This case is a tackle-box that has been lined with foam to help secure everything.

Foam is key in protecting your paint jobs. This particular foam came from inserts used to secure a window air conditioning unit. They are simply hot glued into the case. The Devilfish chassis are stacked on top of each other with a layer of foam placed between them. There are also spots for Crisis Suits and Broadsides. The top part of the case holds models on 25mm bases. I stored Drones and Kroot there.





I made my next custom case for Eldar Wave Serpents. Again, this is a tacklebox that has been lined with foam. This time I used electrostatic-safe foam that came from a computer motherboard box. There are also some GW foam squares from blister packaging. For this case I had to use my Dremel tool to cut some of the plastic away from the case to make room for the tanks. The foam was hot glued into place.




Next case! Necrons and another tacklebox. This is a large case designed to hold three Monoliths. I spent a lot of time measuring tackleboxes in the store before I found the right one. The Monoliths nest into the case and small pieces of foam slip between them to prevent the paint from rubbing. The foam used for this case came from a pick-and-pluck tool box insert.




Up until this point I have been using a custom case and a GW figure case in tandem. With my Guard army I decided to go custom foam all the way. I picked up many more layers of the pick-and-pluck tool box foam and went to town making figure trays. The models go in head first to maximize storage space. This has the added benefit of allowing me to write notes on the bases. The best part about this system is that all my layers fit into a standard cardboard box for easy transport. This is by far my favorite system and the most cost effective. It's easy to add a layer or completely re-work a layer as the army grows and expands.







What do you guys use for cases?

Suppression Fire

I just read a very good article that I must share.

http://kirbysblog-ic.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-to-suppression-fire.html

It makes me want to build more Autocannon Heavy Weapon Teams.

Running a Successful Apocalypse Game, Part 1

Time to get something off my chest... I'm an administrator. By that I mean that I enjoy setting up events, planning things, making lists and following processes. I can almost hear one of my friends yelling "NERD!" as I type this. With that in mind I have run many Apocalypse games and am going to share my knowledge on the subject and some of the lessons I've learned while trying to make them successful events.

I've run both pre-planned games and pickup games with more experience doing the pre-planned variety. Members of my local club and I have played games ranging from 4,000 to 20,000 points per side. More planning done before the day of the game leads to a higher quality game experience for everyone involved. Today's post will cover how to plan for a succesful game when you know who will be playing and can form teams beforehand.

My club, B.C. Adeptus, uses forum software to communicate with each other during the planning stages. We start by picking a theme for the game. This could be simple like Imperials versus Tyranids with the Apocalypse mission. It can also be pretty complex with a well thought out storyline, different objectives for each players, etc. Then we pick teams and build lists. We've tried planning with private forum areas that segregate the two teams and we've done open planning where everybody can see everything. There are pros and cons to each style.

I prefer open forums when all the players know each other and are willing to be transparent. It makes it much easier to keep the opposing armies roughly balanced in power (which is a topic for another day).

Here's a timeline of what we do:
4-6 weeks prior: Setup the scenario, pick teams, agree on house rules.
2-4 weeks prior: Begin planning army lists and tactics. Make sure there will be plenty of terrain and tables.
1 week prior: Establish start and end times for the game. Confirm that everyone will be able to show up. Address other details, lunch plans, etc.
Game day: Everyone shows up and the game starts! No need to spend five hours doing prep work.

This is what works for us and we've had a blast playing in this style. I plan to cover how to manage pickup games of Apocalypse in a future post. In the meantime, what experiences have you had with Apocalypse?

First Post and Introduction

Welcome to the first post of The Nob Squad! I'm Will. Some friends and I are starting this blog to chronicle our painting and modeling exploits. I'm mainly a Warhammer 40K player and have been with the hobby for about nine years now. I've dabbled in Fantasy and currently have my eye on a Napoleonic-era naval wargame of some type.

I have been through several different 40K armies over the years. Right now I own a large Imperial Guard army that is a slow work in progress and the pieces to a large Necron army. I'm sure my attention will focus on the Necrons when they get a new codex. I also own a small Lizardmen force for Fantasy that has been neglected for a few months.

I consider myself a casual gamer in the sense that I like comp heavy tournaments and play for fun. Apocalypse is a blast and I try to play a game every couple of months.

I play with B.C. Adeptus in the Binghamton, NY area. There's a great bunch of GW fans in the area and we have a very good store, Jupiter Games, that supports the club.

I've got a few modeling and painting projects in the works that I'll share here over time. In the meantime expect a few posts from the other authors of this blog.

-Will