Its red and black all over again...

o/

The other day I decided to just paint a mech in whatever caught my fancy and I ended up doing red trimmed with black. In hindsight, this proved to be reminiscent of the Kell Hounds (okay, a direct copy), there are several other units within the battletech universe with the same color scheme as well due to a collective lack of imagination I guess. 

I've never been a fan of the Hounds due largely to the lame 'phantom mech' incident. You're targeting equipment can't get a lock? How bout you line up your guns visually on the mech sitting right the fuck in front of you and then just pull the trigger?   So dumb. If ever there was a textbook case of 'plot armor' that was it.

Amusingly, I realized that this color scheme is just a reverse of the commission I did of my buddy Dana's Night's Watch mercenaries.

Ya know...I'm betting a Kell Hounds decal would look perfect in that black triangle on the Swayback's rear...

Other obvious choices are the FedSun's Robinson Rangers (though they usually use an Orky red/black camo) and possibly the various Draconis March militias, and speaking of Draconis,  these scream the Swords of Light to me even though that brigade doesn't use black trim (well, officially).

Like The Night's Watch, these also paint up quickly and painlessly, and I cranked out both a Swayback and my last Whitworth in just a few hours. With a bit of luck I'll manage to paint up at least a lance, if not a demi-company's worth before burnout sets in, but we'll see... 

DISASTER AVERTED!!!

o/

Our all too real worst nightmare situation...

Just a quick follow up to my last post. 

Its been a few tense days after the postal service delivered my commission package to the WRONG ADDRESS!!! I checked the tracking and told Dana that it was in his mailbox to which he replied with 'no it's not...'. The tracking numbers don't work after a package has been delivered...somewhere wrong. Fuck.

Given that Dana lives in an apartment complex, you would think whomever got it by mistake would just drop it by the door of whichever apartment it was supposed to go to. However in this day and age, relying on the good of humanity to come thru is a sadly dim prospect. 

Luckily Dana was able to catch his mail man and explain the situation. Turns out the package was where it was supposed to be, in the larger parcel box (like in the image below), however he/she had mistakenly put the key for it into the wrong mailbox (which apparently hadn't been checked by it's owner yet).

Luckily they weren't warped into oblivion despite spending a few days in one of these during the daily 110 degree daily high temps!

So minis are now in his possession, and he was so pleased with them that he sent me an extra 50% in payment along with a mention of potentially 'a few' commission pieces out of his Catalyst KS minis. Luckily, I have a year at the least till I have to worry about those...

This is it! This is THE END!!

Of my 1st painting commission, and only one month late...

I present to you:  The Night's Watch Mercenary Company!
(presumably two have already fallen as casualties)

Whew! 10 mechs doesn't sound like much, but for me to get 10 of anything painted in a consistent manner is a near impossibility.  Indeed, the 10 mechs for Dana's Night Watch mercenaries equals the number of painted models I have for my Marik Militia force  of 8 mechs and 2 tanks. 

A slightly better angle to see the big guys in the back.

Whilst his color scheme was relatively simple to paint, I can assure you that you won't be seeing anything on either of my blogs being painted in a red and black color combo for the foreseeable future! Now I can instead focus on my own minis again. Speaking of, my TBAGers have all been primed (or re-primed in the case of my previously painted Awesome), and they will be at the top of my Battletech painting queue.

The last two in the line to be painted.

As for the Night's Watch, this was an interesting experiment. I'm not sure if I want to delve any further into the commission painting field or not, especially as my own hobbying suffers heavily for it. Also, if real life (TM) interferes with my hobbying well...so what? I can deal (begrudgingly), but it adds a weight of guilt as I couldn't meet the deadline of my client as a result. Luckily for me Dana's yet to even mention much less  complain about my tardiness. 

I'll be mailing these out via a USPS 'dropship' tomorrow, and am hoping that they'll survive both the ungodly heat and the postal service's total lack of TLC whilst they're in transit. 

Almost there...

o/

Just a quick post today in regards to my painting commission: I've now finished the 8th out of 10 mechs. All I have left are the 2nd Wolverine and the Griffin out of the Battletech Beginner's set. 

I can assure you I won't be using a red and black color scheme of my own any time in the foreseeable future...

It's starting to become a slog, especially as I have a bunch of new toys of my own that I'd rather be working on. Luckily for me, Dana's color scheme paints up quickly and easily. Indeed, I pretty much cranked out his T-Bolt out in one sitting, whereas mine required layer, after layer, after layer of yellow. The end is in sight though and if I'm lucky I can crank out the last two and get 'em shipped out this week.

Well, that's the plan anyways...

Getting back in gear...

o/

Death by a thousand paper cuts!

I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. Hoss and I played a game the other night after we decided to skip our planned game of Rogue Stars (largely on account of we haven't played it in forever and couldn't remember how). With our printer dead, I was left to hastily assemble a force using existing record sheets, whilst trying to make a list that wasn't a carbon copy of one used previously. 

This was our first Battletech game on our awesome new Jasper dining room/gaming table. 

As such, I ended up with my GRF-1Ar (the prototype PPC swapped out for a standard one), 3 Whitworths (my first time trying that), 2 base models and a single 1S, a tank lance consisting of 2 standard Scorpion light tanks, an AC-2 Partisan, and a defensive variant Demolisher. Lastly I had a token laser infantry platoon which did manage to hit a few times, but nothing memorable. Not the best but it ought to do in a pinch. 

Hoss' ability to roll a turret 12 critical hit location is despairing. Whilst he was grinding thru the Demolisher's armor with alarming speed, the 'crew killed' roll rendered the defensive model's thinner armor moot. Sadly, I only managed 2 AC20 hits on that Enforcer before the tank's demise. 

Hoss' PANDA-MONIUM!!! had the usual bane of my existence: the 8Q Awesome, as well as his custom 6A Jagermech, a 2H Shadow Hawk, an Enforcer, a 1N Griffin and a 6M Dervish.  

FOUR potential internal torso crit rolls in one turn on that damned Awesome, but my dice wouldn't have it and I didn't get a single one! So I'd have to content myself with having destroyed the right arm and no doubt knocking it out of service for at least a little while...

After 6 turns of the Partisan consistently landing 4-5 AC-2 rounds on his Jager every turn, Hoss' commander turned and unloaded into the Partisan. Everything hit the same, side location easily carving thru it's cardboard armor and killing the tank in one volley much to Hoss' amazement (but not mine). 

I only snapped a few pics so this isn't really a bat rep. Perhaps it should have been though as this was Hoss' first, solid win! Only a single Scorpion tank, the infantry (which he ignored) and the Whitworths survived the game, whereas he suffered no losses. We had fun though, so its all good! I was pleased with the Whitworths overall, though I'm not sure how often I'll run all three together in the future. 

6 down, 4 to go...

On the painting front: I've finished the Shadowhawk from my last post, and am about halfway thru the Battlemaster. I plan to work on that some more here shortly, with the Thunderbolt being next in line.

Play Battletech and see the world!!

No really, it's a thing.

Okay, so maybe not, but it sorta is. Just gimme a sec and I'll explain below...

Believe it or not this pic is actually relevant to this post, and not just a desperate attempt at click bait. 

Okay, so...June was in a nutshell: awful. Seriously awful. However we're back on track now and once again approaching a sense of normalcy. Hobbying pretty-much died, with the extent being two squeezed in games, one was X-Wing, the other 40k. I did have a Battletech game scheduled with Kushial but it was postponed since there's really not enough room to play the game in a hospital room (see, told you it was awful!). 

Progress! Finally!

A game with Hoss is tentatively penciled in for the 17th, so hoping that will happen. Also, my commission on Dana's Night's Watch (which ought to be in his hands right now) has recommenced. 

a 20 ton mech stepping on a '10-ton' APC that's the size of a Savannah Master...seriously Iron Wind Metals, WTF?

I finished the locust shortly after my Urbie, but all hell broke loose and pics were never posted. Currently the Shadowhawk has been slathered with a wash and is drying, and the Battlemaster is next. I'm hoping I can crank the rest of his force out quick and get it shipped out to him soon.

Oh, and that 'see the world' bit and the pic above? My (distant) cousin Lindsey is traveling the world and is vlogging it on youtube. Subscribe to her channel (please, it'll make her happy). Currently she's in the UK. I haven't actually met her in person so comments saying 'Da Masta Cheef sent me' will likely result in total confusion (so by all means...lol).

Told ya that pic was relevant. 

Its a shiny green killin' machine!!

Hey! Stop laughing!

Like the cars on the bases of the Night's Watch Catapult and Wolverine, the minibus is also from Steelwarriorstudios.com.

This past Saturday, instead of a day filled with some much needed 'adulting', I instead opted for an enjoyable afternoon of painting. In doing so, I took a bit of a break from exclusively painting red, black and silver on Dana's mercs. That said, in addition to doing this Urbie from start-to-finish, his Locust and two of my tanks are also about halfway done.

Judging by the ruins of the city it's standing in, I'd say this Urbie is doing a stellar job!

Just as in real life (TM), shit rolls downhill in the battletech universe. By most accounts the Urbanmech is at the bottom of that hill. However as this particular Urbie plays 'kick the can' with a Home Guard minibus, you'd best think again! 

Painting commission: the 1st lance is done!!

It'd be best if you didn't think of the children
crying in their car seats...

Yeah, yeah, I know this ought to have been the first pic, but the one above presents a more compelling thumbnail!

So yes, progress is being made! Luckily for me, Dana's color scheme is easier to paint than my usual convoluted choices...i.e.: yellow stripes over dark green? Why yes please!

The side their enemies never see...

Anyways...I doubt the Night's Watch will field this bunch as a specific lance as weight/battlefield role-wise they're all over the place. Still though, I think they look alright (but then again, my opinion isn't the one that really matters in this case). 

0-60 in 7 strides!

It also seems that they have a penchant for playing in traffic, not the best of ideas as mechs generally don't corner too well on pavement. 

How much you wanna bet that poor bastard was only 2 payments away from paying off the car?

Having achieved the 40% complete mark, I'm hoping the next 60 won't be too arduous. At least I'm not sick of painting black and red...yet.

Enter: The Night's Watch...

I'm doing a commission job for a buddy of mine. Readers of my other blog, Da Long Ways Dezert Groop may recall my recent minor foray into the commission field in which I went rather high on the price as I wasn't too keen on the idea, and the client predictably declined to respond. In this case, I already have the miniatures in my possession. 

The Nights Watch unit logo. Luckily, he's ordering decals from Fighting Piranha Graphics, so painting the above is NOT my problem!

Dana (the client) is an old buddy of mine going way back to when I was about...19ish? For those wondering I'm starting to get dangerously close to 44!?! We've been gaming adversaries, drinking buddies (especially back when we were in the SCA), wingmen when on the prowl, roommates, etc., etc.. Regardless, we've always kept in touch and have both traveled several hundred miles to be at each others weddings. In short, he's kinda like an older brother to me. 

So, having seen several photos of my mechs posted in a Battletech FB page/group that we're both in, he asked me if I'd be interested in doing a commission to paint his new starter box minis for him. We settled on a price (no, no high ball this time...in fact my Beloved Wolfy thinks I went too low), and he sent the minis to me. 

Like the logo above, they're to be black with red highlights/accents. Nothing else to go by other than that. Of course I've threatened purple with pink polkadots, but I would never do anything like that... (hehehe)

We've already hit a snag...

I'll think of something I guess. I intended to prime them all this evening, but it seems my can was empty resulting in little more than a sad speckling (well now that just sounds wrong...). So starting this project will be delayed by a few days.