2nd Edition Army Challenge: June

 

Hi folks,

Just a short post today, as I am burnt out as all heck. After 6 months of effort, and no small amount of joy, I have completed the 2nd Edition Army painting challenge for 2025. This year I was working on Imperial Agents from the Codex Army Lists book (the "Little Black Book"). The models were mostly from the Inquisition, Grey Knights and Mechanicus portions of the list; no Sisters of Battle or Arbites. 

Finding proxies for some of the models and making new stuff look old was a real blast this time around. I especially have a soft spot for my Electropriests, so much so that i painted them a Rhino transport, lovingly named the "Voltswagon". The Electrohull vehicle card causes models that charge it to be thrown back, giving it room to deploy some frenzied electro-psychos into the mix! I also painted a Mechanicu Predator armed with a Conversion Beamer, using the vehicle conversion rules from the Dark Millenium book. The model itself is from the Horus Heresy range; what a beauty that kit is.

It has been another great journey this year and most of us are already planning for the challenge next year, assuming we can convince someone to run it. Now, though, I am tired. Teaching isn't getting easier and my father has been in palliative care for 12 months. I am still recovering physically and mentally from surgery 12 months ago. Without going into too much detail, things have been hard. I can't help but feel like I am in a liminal space at the moment and not sure at all what comes next. If you have stuck around with me this far, I thank you from the heart. I have the greatest respect for my "Blogger brothers".

See you across the table,

Marc

2nd Edition Army Challenge VI: April

 

Hi folks,

We are getting towards the pointy end of the challenge now and April was a busy month on the home front. With school holidays spent at the beach and a week of school camp supervision, there wasn't much time to mess around. I probably finished this Dreadnought in the first two weeks and just got smashed the next couple of weeks, failing to get any of my bonus models completed. That leaves me with a bit of a backlog of models that don't really count for the purposes of completing the challenge, but that I don't want to leave unfinished either! I am going to put in a big push this month to see what I can catch up on. 

The Dreadnought itself is not really a vintage model; it is a more modern Venerable Dreadnought sculpt. It is such a great kit, though. It came with a huge amount of options that allowed me to give it a Grey Knights vibe. I added an extra purity seal to the sarcophagus and an old school autolauncher that I had left over from my Legion of the Damned Dreadnought from a few challenges back. Autolaunchers can have a huge impact on the game in 2nd Edition; "popping smoke" can lay down a large barrier that obscures line of sight and can persist for a significant amount of time before it drifts away. It can protect both the Dreadnought and other nearby units as well.

The twin heavy bolter was another vintage addition. It was kindly donated from a fellow old school gamer, Kharnifex, who I have had the pleasure of playing a couple of games with. He is an all-round good bloke who gives so much back to the 2nd Ed. 40K community back here in Australia, and he is particularly great to play against; his patience is amazing (most of us can only remember 50% of the rules at any one time!). The weapon was originally from a chaos dreadnought but had had one bit of the iconography filed away. I went the whole way and ground out everything I could, except for the ammo feed gargoyles. A couple more purity seals sealed the deal.

The close combat weapon is from a Blood Angels Dreadnought kit, with a storm bolter attached in a very Grey Knight-adjacent way. I think it looks super cool next to the squads which have such a similar look to their wargear. 

Next month I have some Rapier Laser Destroyers to paint and I am sweating on a delivery of 3D printed servitors from Germany to crew them. Hopefully they make it before the end of the month. Then it will just be bonus material until the end of the challenge. So... once more to the breach!

See you across the table,

Marc

2nd Edition Army Challenge VI: March

 

Hi folks,

March has been a fairly productive month on the hobby-front. My first job was to complete the bonus model I missed out on last month. The Tech Magus is the commander of my Mechanicus troops. He isn't quite as powerful as other commanders, having a ballistic skill and weapon skill of only 6. This isn't bad for taking out basic enemy troop choices but he is going to struggle with other commanders. Thankfully, the Inquisitor Lord I already have for the Grey Knights is at the other end of that scale and has an advantage over just about anything short of a Greater Daemon. 

A Tech Magus comes with a power axe, so giving him a plasma pistol was an obvious choice; it gives him an excuse to wield the axe two-handed every once in awhile. The armour and grenades section of the Imperial Agents list is pretty generous; I have selected a displacer field for him to complement the power armour he already has. It also allows me to slip some rad grenades into his pocket! This frees up wargear slots I would usually spend on survivability and grenades, giving him a solid three additional options. I have spent those on a warp jump device, bionic leg and bionic arm. Tooled up and under 160 points, he has a ton of survivability and mobility. 

I also painted a second squad of Grey Knights. These sculpts are what most people remember when they think of Grey Knights back in second edition. I always thought they looked a bit like Mexican Wrestlers, but I resisted painting them that way! Overall, they were great fun to paint, though the weird textured armour still drives me nuts. Using the rules from the Codex Army List, these Terminators aren't particularly powerful, though there force weapons make them scary for daemons. They can sling out a psychic power as well, which is certainly a force multiplier. Using the Dark Millennium rules, however,  they are fantastically deadly. Expensive, but lethal. For about 700 points I can teleport them in as a Level 4 psyker unit wielding strength 8, -5 save mod. force weapons, with multiple defensive saves. 

They cost AND hit like half an army.

To finish off the slice I painted a full squad of Electropriests. These models are proxies I ordered from a 3D printshop overseas. They were pretty good value for money, despite the postage. Electropriests are a really unique and odd entry in the Codex Army Lists book. They don't have any ranged weapons, but hit in close combat at strength 8. This allows them to punch down just about any other infantry. They are also effected by frenzy, which increases their number of attacks and makes them immune to the kind of psychology daemons like to wave about. If they are broken in combat, however, they drop dead from exhaustion, as the electrical charge they have whipped up dissipates. 

For Armour in April I will be working on a special 2nd Edition inspired Dreadnought for my Grey Knights. I may be able to fit a bonus model or two in as well, depending on how quickly I can get started on the Dread.

See you across the table,

Marc

2nd Edition Army Challenge IV: February

 

Hi folks,

February was a ridiculously busy month on the family front. It made it tough to build any momentum hobby-wise. For the challenge I was working on a squad of five Grey Knights and they were a bit painful to paint. Each had the detail of a character model; just the bodies alone had 17 skulls each!

Things went right down to the wire and I submitted my contribution directly on the midnight deadline. Taking photos of them was also pain, but here is a shot in the display cabinet.

I'm tempted to go back over the Nemesis Force Weapon hafts in black, but it is 2nd Ed., so bright is also usually better. I'll see how I feel when I do the next lot.

I missed old stuff day again after a pretty rough weekend. I'm hoping to take a trip down memory lane tonight and hopefully build a post out of it.

See you across the table,

Marc 

2nd Edition Army Challenge VI: January

 

Hi folks,

For the challenge this year I have picked a list entirely from the Codex Army Lists book. This book was in the 2nd Edition starter box and gave you a basic army list for all of the models GW was thinking about releasing. It was delightfully speculative, including a bunch of cool things that were never released (well... not until recent times anyway!). My Imperial Agents list focuses mostly on Grey Knights and this month I tackled the Character portion of the list.

Supreme Grand Master Geronitan

I have used an old Inquisitor Lord miniature to represent my force commander. It states somewhere in the Grey Knights Codex that Grey Knight Masters are all highly ranked Inquisitors, so it made sense to use the profile and model of an Inquisitor Lord. This model has been converted to include a Nemesis force sword from the old Brother-Captain Stern model. He is also equipped with a storm shield and bionic leg, providing ample parry opportunities and an extra attack, with the ability to knock a model down with his kick at the end of combat. What a boss move!!

Mech-Sanctifier Kallus Draeven

Techmarines aren't in the Imperial Agents list itself, so I have included one as an ally. This will allow me to field a Dreadnought, which is going to be in the Grey Knight scheme. The "Techmarine tax" that Space Marine players have to pay in order to take certain support units is a little onerous; I made sure his name reflected his exact reason for living in my army list. The model is a very old prototype Terminator model from the Rogue Trader era. I find these things fascinating; I'll let you spot the design influences that were ditched in the later models and those that were refined. 

Medicant Primus Tiber Acastus

If you are going to take a ~ 300 point commander in your army list, you may as well take an Apothecary to keep him alive. Every Grey Knight he saves is worth an absolute bucketload of points as well!

Tech-Priest Squad

With a couple of days left over until the end of the month, I decided to have a craic at some Mechanicus allies. The Imperial Agents list had a couple of Mechanicus choices, which were never released as models. I can remember experimenting with them back in the day, using proxy models. It was awesome fun repurposing some modern models to finally bring them to life. These Tech-Priests are armed with needle rifles and one plasma gun. I have a lot of plans for this part of the force; I hope I get around to doing it all.

February is Squaduary; so I am hoping to paint a full squad of Grey Knight Terminators this month. It is going to be a tremendous challenge, because they are all so beautifully detailed.

I have said it elsewhere on social media, but it would be remiss of me not to thank Dave Weston over at Confessions of a 40K Addict. He and his mates put together a care package of vintage models that are just perfect for these challenges. It was like opening up a box of dreams. 

See you across the table,

Marc

2nd Edition Army Challenge VI: Imperial Agents

 

Hi folks,

For the challenge this year I will be working on a collection of Imperial Agents figures, with the army list coming straight out of the 2nd Edition "little black book". This is another army I used to dream about back in the old days, but had no way of collecting. I have added some anti-armour punch with three 3D printed Rapier Laser Destroyers, because Grey Knights can't afford to muck around with the usual support options. I have snuck in a newer Venerable Dreadnought as well, with the hope that I can add some retro touches to it. Here's the full list:

Inquisitor Lord (psychic mastery level 4, terminator armour, nemesis force weapon, storm shield, bionic leg): 293 points

Techmarine (Terminator armour, storm bolter, power glove, targeter, refractor field): 89 points

Apothecary (Terminator armour, storm bolter, power glove, targeter, medi-pack, refractor field): 91 points 

5 x Grey Knights (psychic mastery level 1, nemesis force weapons): 350 points

5 x Grey Knights (psychic mastery level 1, nemesis force weapons): 350 points

Dreadnought (Twin heavy bolters, power fist with built in storm bolter, auto-launchers) 165 points

3 x Rapier Laser Destroyers (Servitor crews): 162 points

I still have a few modelling problems to solve and haven't settled on a paint scheme, but very excited to get started. The challenge kicks off in January; I'll post a link to the intro post when we start.

See you across the table,

Marc

Blanchitsu Lictor TO-DONE!!!

 

Hi folks,

July was the last month of the 2nd Edition Army challenge. I had a couple of models lined up, including some bonus projects that were not in my original pledge. As usual, no plan survives contact with the enemy and I ended up just scraping through a single model.

I wasn't really in the mood for painting my usual scheme on this model, so I decided to have a go at an idea I have had rattling around my head for a while. I decided to have a go at painting it in a "Blanchitsu" style, using the kind of colour palette we see in John Blanche's iconic artworks. If you are not familiar with his work, this would have to be my favourite, a Dark Mechanicus character from the Horus Heresy:

I mixed a bunch of these colours on my wet palette and just dived into the flow-state, not surfacing until it was finished. It was quite liberating to not worry too much about where each colour was going and just paint for once. I am really happy with the result; I will let you decide whether it was a successful foray into Blanchitsu or not.

Strangely enough, the Lictor doesn't look that out of place with the rest of my Tyranids. The use of fairly neutral colours was very forgiving in that regard.

When the final post goes up on the challenge website I will do a wrap up article with some shots of the final army.

See you across the table,

Marc

2nd Edition Malefactor TO-DONE!!!

 

Hi folks,

This month I have been working on a Tyranid Malefactor for 2nd Ed. 40k. The Tyranid army list of that era was conspicuous in its lack of transport options for Tyranids. Many players at the time were ok with this, as transports were considered to be rolling coffins anyway, except perhaps for Landraiders, which were very expensive. Armorcast released this beauty, which is capable of transporting a mid sized brood of beasties into the heart of combat. 

It has some lightweight point defence weapons, which have the tendency to nibble away at a few models that get too close. It can also attack in close combat, which elevated it above the level of other transports in my opinion. It is like having a Rhino with two powerfists!

Of course, in 10th Edition, every transport can make close combat attacks with its tracks, etc. But in 2nd Ed. it was a real novelty to be able to hit back.

Painting this model was a real joy, though all the orange/brown blending did drive me a little crazy. It is just a great old sculpt, well worth headhunting if you are an old school Tyranid collector. I particularly love the gills/spiracles at the back, where the Nids can probably chill out during transport.

With one month to go in the painting challenge I can feel myself running out of steam. My health has been declining as well, which means I am going to have to make the final push to finish a little earlier in the month than usual. 

See you across the table,

Marc

2nd Edition Gargoyles and Friends TO-DONE!!!

 

Hi folks,

Month 4 of the 2nd Edition Army Painting challenge is done and dusted. My slice has been many months in the making, with the construction of these Gargoyles completed in 2023.

I have been quietly dreading this paint job, the Gargoyles have such tiny features where the flamespurts meet the mouth and hands. I think I managed to do them justice in the end, but it really was a real challenge for me. The flamespurts in 2nd Ed. use the flamer template, so a brood of Gargoyles can really disrupt enemy squads and open-topped vehicles (the driver is going to take a hit). 

To top off the slice, I painted 8 Spore Mines to use with my Biovores from last month. I used some older models which I feel have a little more character. I think they look like little see creatures. I really love how they turned out; the extra time I spent on blending in some lighter green shades was worth it.

I have already started on my June slice, which includes another massive Armorcast figure. The Maleceptor can be used to deliver a brood deep into the heart of an enemy formation, or... It can burst into goop and take the brood with it; them's the breaks in 2nd Ed.!!

See you across the table,

Marc

2nd Edition Exocrine and Biovores TO-DONE!!!

 

Hi folks,

During April I spent some time painting some fire support units for my old school Tyranids. The large one is an Exocrine, produced by Armorcast. I think the Hive Fleet Proteus scheme works on it quite well, particularly the bright green ribbing. It was yet another exercise in "trusting the process"; I was really sceptical about painting the eyes yellow, but heavy black shading around the edges helps to differentiate them from the orange armour.

In 2nd Edition, Biocannon has a whopping 4d6 + 8 armour penetration. On average you are getting 20, which is enough to penetrate the track on some of the heaviest tanks. You still need to roll well to penetrate the hull or turret, but it can manage it with a maximum penetration of 32! The front hull of a Landraider, it's toughest value, is only 22. Penetrated locations continue to take damage every turn, which makes Exocrines the bane of vehicles.

Biovores are only 20 points each, but limited to 1 per 750 points of Tyranids. The reason for that is that they are very effective. Spore mines can mess up infantry, and have a solid armour penetration of 2d3+d6+10. An average of 17 will chew through a track nicely. The kicker is, once penetrated, the hit will continue to do damage, to random locations. So a penetrating hit to the track may lead to a crippling hit to the hull or turret. This makes them excellent!

Next month is going to be tricky, with a bunch of spore mines and gargoyles to do. I am not sure if I will be able to get it all done, but I will give it a shot.

See you across the table,

Marc 

2nd Edition Genestealers TO-DONE!!!

 

Hi folks,

This month I worked on some classic Genestealers for the 2nd Edition Army Challenge. They were very much a case of "trusting the process", as it was very hard to tell throughout the paint job whether they were going to look any good or not.

I really like it how these old Genestealers share the same design elements on their back as the old Screamer Killer Carnifex; painting the bright green ridges was so satisfying!

Their faces took an entire paint session to do; hours of painting individual tiny teeth. Thankfully, the rest was pretty easy; it's time to roll out the giant bloody stamp!

For April I am working on some fire support with two Biovores and a huge Armorcast Exocrine, all primed and ready to go.  I can't help but feel I am procrastinating, though. The Gargoyles I have to do seem like a much greater challenge than anything else I have left. Ahhh,  well, we'll see how it goes...

See you across the table,

Marc

2023 Hobby Year Review

 

Hi folks,

Well, it has been awhile. This year has been a quiet one on the hobby front, if painting a 2200 point 2nd Edition army can be described as such. Participating in the Cowabunga 2nd Edition Army challenges is both awesome and utterly time consuming, taking me out of the mainstream of modern 40K for 6 months in the year and leaving me fairly burned out for the following 6 months. 

I started off the 22/23 hobby season with some palette cleanser projects, painting some Ravenwing bikes (which are about to leave the modern scene forever) and a Redemptor Dreadnought for DreadTober.

I have since dropped the bikes from my modern list, so they are left warming the shelf as a nice reminder of how waiting too long to paint stuff can come back to bite you. The dreadnought has made its way into a 2000 point list of 10th Edition Dark Angels I will be working on.

You don't have to scroll too far back to see the models I painted for the 2nd Ed. challenge. My Hive Fleet Proteus nids were fairly well received in the old school community, the paint scheme seemed to tick the boxes in terms of colour choice and overall vibe. My Termagants managed to earn me some Terminator Honours in the first month, which I am very proud of.

Towards the end of the challenge I helped write a short campaign pack for 2nd Edition: Return to Hamelia XI which takes a lot of inspiration from the Jurassic Park films. I wrote some of the terrain rules for the campaign and it was awesome to see some hobbyists really run with those ideas and create entire gaming boards to play the campaign. I managed to play a game with my son, which was his first experience playing 2nd Edition. I think he has a greater appreciation for the streamlined game we play in 10th Edition, though he misses the vortex grenades! I have also been able to connect with some 2nd Ed. players in the mountains over here, about 1.5 hours from where I live. We are hoping to play some games together to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of our favourite edition. 

 

Over the Christmas break I spent a couple of nights playing Kill Team at a local FLGS with a gaming club. The games were fun and I got along with the people pretty well, but ultimately I had trouble turning up regularly after work. When real life turned the screws, it was one of the first things I dropped, which I really regret now. I can't think of any way to change things, though. Family has to come first [shrugs sadly].

With 10th dropping recently, I have reconnected with some mates to learn the new game and throw down some dice. So far I have enjoyed the fact that stratagems are taking a back seat. The additional streamlining hasn't really effected anything that I care about, so the faster games are purely an advantage for me. I have played games with my Nids, "first born" Dark Angels and Iron Snakes, all narrow losses I can easily chalk up to army selection and bad luck (as always!). The key thing is that all the games were fun. I'll be playing more regular games from now on, so my Primaris Dark Angels will be a key feature in my To-Do list next year.

I'll finish the season with a photo from the last game that I watched; I was too tired to participate but happily played the part of rulebook checker! Here is a photo of Mephiston drinking some quality Ork brew, outside an old school Ork pub, deep in turn 5; a worthy objective if ever there was one.

See you across the table,

Marc