As I continue through with my consistent hobby progress, I have decided to paint the army with a Non-Metal Metallic scheme. While on the offset, with a multitude of infantry, dozens of battle tanks and several Titans and super-heavies; painting NMM may not seem like the best of all possible ideas in the world. I understand this, but I have a plan!  

The primary reason I decided that the NMM scheme will nicely blend into my already existing Grey Knights army. Over the last few years I have painted just short of 5,000 points of Grey Knights and I have had the army on the BoLS site twice as well as twice on the Games Workshop White Dwarf Daily. Being able to easily ally in my army or have them all match in larger games (APOC!) was a big goal of mine. However, to me this meant I had to paint them at the same level, which is a big challenge in of itself.  

My Grey Knights Force as of Adepticon 2012 (it grew a lot since then!)

The Iron Saint, a Shadowsword Super-heavy tank that I had painted a few years ago. I am really proud of this model in particular. It looks great and it has an impressive kill count. In two Apoc games, it took down no less than four Super-Heavies (Two standard Stompas, a Big Mek Stompa and a Brass Scorpion). 

Infantry Squad Markings:

I have been a bit inspired by the White Dwarf and the hobby exploits of those around me concerning unit identification markers for the guard. I have been wrestling with how to properly identify the average guardsmen in the force and I have been a big fan with how Loopy (local player and one of the hosts of Masters of the Forge) has his Ork Boyz organized. He has individual units with different colors or different specific bits. This looks incredibly striking on the table and it allows for him (and his opponent) to quickly and easily see what is currently on the table.

Furthermore, in the April 12th issue of WD they picture guard squads with “regimental” colors painted on in bands of orange. I really liked this idea and immediately adopted it (using orange, blue or other primary colors).

For the Veteran Squads I’m looking to use the older metal Karsakin and Storm Trooper models as it’ll make the units more distinct. Furthermore, I’ll be kit-bashing some of the left over bits from the Scions sets to make the individual guardsmen in the army look more distinct and further separate my Imperial Guard from others (especially handy in Apoc games).

Current Infantry Design: 

Vehicle Markings:

One of the goals I have with this army is to make it look different on the table when compared to other Imperial Guard forces. I figure that the codex is going to eventually be more popular and a few people are going to dust off their Chimera tanks (which is all good of course- you know…for the Emperor!). With that goal in mind I’m looking to convert all of my Leman Russ & Chimera tanks in one way or another. This includes using healthy amounts of plastic card and extra bits to achieve this goal. In this way both myself and my opponent can clearly make out what tanks are still on the board and have a more visually appealing game to boot.

As I complete additional units for my commission projects and Titans, I will be sure to post them up here. I am also working on some back story for my growing army as well; which will also be posted.

Thank you again for your time. 

In the recent few weeks I have discussed the concept of starting a hobby blog with several fellow Nerds within the local community. It has been something that I thought of starting for a while now, but I never quite took that final step (primarily because I'm awful at creating webpages and technology in general). I hope to have this page updated in the near future to make it look a bit more professional as additional hobby progress is posted.

Hobby Blog Goals:
- I want to try to become a more vocal individual within the small niche hobby community of Warhammer. I figure that starting a blog is a great way to help facilitate that goal, as well as provide folks out there with some hobby ideas/ basic tutorials.

With the formalities out of the way...

Short Term Hobby Goals:
- I have signed up for Adepticon this coming Spring. This will be my first time at the convention since I made a run of it back in 2012. While I had a blast back in '12; I am nervous about this time around as last time I got back home with a large supply of unpainted models... included the Shadowsword (Tanks again Loopy....Tanks again...). Those projects were only just finished up after three years sitting in various bits boxes. I also cannot express in words my potential fear of the Forge World line...and what tragic fate could befall my wallet.

- Last time I attended Adepticon, one of my Grey Knights ended up gracing the Adepticon Facebook Banner. This has been a great honor for the last few years to have one of my models displayed on their site. I want to see if I can top this for the coming year!

- For event itself I want to have two more models completed minimum with my army. I want to have my Knight-Titan painted so I can play smaller 1500 point games with my current list (I'm not participating in any of the tournaments- only in free play at Bootatown and any open tables). I have also signed up for the Adeptus Titanicus event, which entails my completion of my Armorcast Reaver Titan. Its just two models right? Right?!

- I have been asked by several of the local players if I would paint up some models for their lists for Adepticon. As I am not formally participating in any of the tournaments, I am interested in seeing how a painting judge rates these models (let me know how much I need to improve upon and where).

Long Term Hobby Goals:
-  My long term and primary hobby goal for the 2015 year is to complete a sizable Mechanicus (Grey Knights counts-as), Astra Miltarum and Legio Metallica force. I have pieced together the army to equal out to around 6,000 points (however, I may jump it up to 7,000 after Adepticon).  I have accumulated a lot of guard models over the last four years, and getting that Apocalypse list will see a sizable chunk of that army fully completed. Note that I wrote sizable....there are just so many things to paint...

- I want to run a campaign with a few local friends with my growing army. I'm slowly writing back stories and fluff for my growing army, as well as tying it into what other local folks are using and other events.

The Starting Line for the two God- Machines:

The Reaver Titan:

The Knight-Titan:

I had started on the Knight after I initially picked it up last Spring when it came out when I was living out west.

Here is my current 6,000 point army list/ hobby goal list for the new year of 2015:

Army Units highlighted in Green are fully completed and ready to play. 
Army Units highlighted in Orange are works in progress (WIP). 
Army Units highlighted in Red are either in a box still or not yet worked on properly. 

Infantry Support Units:
Ministorum Priest
Enginseer
Primarus Psyker- Level Two
Primarus Psyker- Level Two

Head Quarters Units:
Commissar Yarrick (Counts as model)-Warlord

Leman Russ Tank Squadron- 3 Leman Russ Battle Tanks-Command Vanquisher Tank- Pask with hull mounted Lascannon, Pintle-Mounted Heavy Stubber, and Sponson mounted Multi-Meltas 
-Leman Russ Executioner Tank- with hull mounted Lascannon, Pintle-Mounted Heavy Stubber, and Sponson mounted Plasma guns
-Leman Russ Punisher Tank- with hull mounted Heavy Bolter, Pintle-Mounted Heavy Stubber, and Sponson mounted Heavy Bolters

Troop Units:
Infantry Platoon-
-Infantry Command Squad- Vox Caster & Autocannon
-Infantry Squad One - Vox Caster, Flamer, Lascannon Team and Sergeant with Melta Bombs
-Infantry Squad Two - Vox Caster, Flamer, Lascannon Team and Sergeant with Melta Bombs
-Infantry Squad Three - Flamer, Lascannon Team and Sergeant with Melta Bombs

-Sabre Weapons Support Platform Battery with Twin-Linked Lascannons

Veteran Squad One- Flamer, 2x Melta guns in a Chimera Tank with Multi-laser and Heavy Flamer

Veteran Squad Two- Flamer, 2x Melta guns in a Chimera Tank with Multi-laser and Heavy Flamer

Heavy Support Units:
- Avenger Strike Fighter with 2x Auotcannons, Armored Cockpit, Distinctive Paint, Hull-Mounted Avenger Bolt Cannon, 2x Lascannons

Leman Russ Squadron
-Command Battle Tank- hull mounted Lascannon, Pintle-Mounted Heavy Stubber, and Dozer Blade
-Battle Tank- hull mounted Lascannon
-Battle Tank- hull mounted Lascannon

Wyvern Support Battery- 2x Wyvern Support Artillery Tanks with Heavy Bolters

Lords of War:
- Reaver Battle Titan with Apocalypse Missile Launcher, and 2x Laser Blasters 

-Shadowsword Super-Heavy Tank with Pintle-Mounted Heavy Stubber, Twin-Link Heavy Bolters and Lascannon sponsons

Grey Knights Allied Detachment (Counts-as Mechanicum units)
Headquarters Unit:
- Librarian with Cuirass of Sacrafice, Warding Stave, Storm Bolter and Psyker level 3

Troops Unit:
- Grey Knight Terminators x5 with Nemesis Demon Hammers (x5) and a Psycannon

Heavy Support units:
-Nemesis Dreadknight with Personal Telaporter, Heavy Incinerator and Heavy Psycannon

-Nemesis Dreadknight with Personal Telaporter, Heavy Incinerator and Heavy Psycannon

Imperial Knight Detachment:
-Knight Paladin with Rapid Fire Battle-Cannon

-Knight Paladin with Rapid Fire Battle-Cannon

As you can tell, the current list is a bit of a riot of different colors, with different projects at various stages of completion. This is a bit unlike me as I generally concentrate on one specific project until its' fully completed, before moving forward. I'll be updating this blog with a bit of my older content and information from when I first started out with the Astra Militarum. However, I will be adding in new ideas and concepts as a I do so.

Thank you all for your time!