Friday, December 31, 2010

Stormblades - Cygnar Unit


The brain child of King Leto using the voltic power supplied by Commander Nemo, the Stormblades have become a signature of Cygnar's mechanikal approach to war.  Each trained in the traditional art of knightly combat, they are armed in protective armor and trained to use the Storm Glaive.  Able to sunder their opponents with these might weapons, they can also discharge blasts of voltic energy at short distances.  the Stormblade Sergeant's glaive is assist his mens own weapons, increasing their lethality and range.  Stormblade Officer's have learned how to employ these voltic blasts as they charge forward to weaken their targets, and their standard bearer further amplifies their weapons devisation as the voltic energy explodes outward to encompass enemies surrounding their target. 

Difficult to assemble and time consuming to paint,  they are worth every second.  I really enjoy the Stormblades as they usually hold my flank and bring on the pain when they get an assault off.  A second unit waits patiently on the painting table for me to get around to them.  I really had fun painting the Cygnus freehand as it aids in new plastic kits. 

Journeyman Warcaster - Cygnar Solo


Cygnar is always on the lookout for new warcaster talent and believes is frontline experience as the best teacher.  Each Journeyman recieves initial training at the Strategic Academy.  Before being granted a commission, they are assigned to an experienced warcaster to complete education.  They fill a vital role in the Cygnar Army, employing their unique skills and arcane magic to field additional warjacks and bolstering their troops survivability. 

At the time my local store was fresh out of the variant and being impatient I picked up the male.  Unlike his female counterpart, the male leaves some to be desired and I really couldn't get into painting him.  One day I will get the female and probably end up stripping this one so I can convert him into a more dynamic pose.  Still, he fills his role on the battlefield admirably. 

Hunter - Cygnar Light Warjack


The Hunter, no other Cygnar light warjack is as intimidating.  The shadowy silouette of a Hunter as its muzzle flash dies away and its ordnance rips through its target gives pause to many experienced commanders. Extremely agile, the Hunter is built to traverse through forests and rough terrain with ease.  Armed with a hunters axe for close engagements, it uses its curved edge to deflect its enemies attempts to bring it down as it breaks free.  Its primary purpose is to move ahead of its warcasters forces by use of an advanced cortex, allowing it double its distance while still being able to relay information to its warcster.  It softens up the enemy Long Arm cannon.  With impressive range and armor piercing rounds, it takes down warjacks and heavy infantry alike. 

I am a devoted fan of this guy.  I have plans to build up my numbers of this deadly little warjack to an unhealthy eight.  It is my only warjack without a Cygnus, something I will remedy sometime in the future.

Cyclone - Cygnar Heavy Warjack


A forgotten, but much played treasure, the Cyclone has proven its worth many times over.  I painted this warjack nearly four months ago and just forgot to take pictures until today.  He is finally up and I hope  you guys enjoy.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Squire - Cygnar Solo


A pargon of Cygnarian and Cult of Cyriss technology, the Squire is every warcaster's best friend.  Designed to amply the innate magical power of its assigned master, the Squire is paramount assistant.  I continued my studio paint job on my first squire and I was pleased with the way it turned out.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Lieutenant Allister Caine - Cygnar Warcaster


Second to none, Lieutenant Allister Caine is the gunmages gunmage.  As my forces began to shape up, the need for Lt. Caine became apparent.  His resculpted figure was a vast improvement over the original sculpt and I enjoyed painting him up.  He is one of my more played with casters, and his reputation is well deserved.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Defender - Cygnar Heavy Warjack


The Defender Heavy Warjack is the corner stone of my preference for combat.  I play on the defense, and the Defender is master of ranged combat.  I chose Cygnar for that reason, they are always (except for that nasty business with the invasion of Sul) on the defense, struggling to hold onto their kingdom against all other forces.  I really enjoyed building the plastic warjack kit and the lack of a pre-molded cygnus gave me a chance to practice my freehand by painting one on.  As with the Ironclad before I chose a visual pleasing placement for his weapons and he is a struggle to get base to base with due to his massive heavy barrel cannon. Defender 1 of 2, the other is patiently waiting behind a long line of projects sitting on my desk.

Ironclad - Cygnar Heavy Warjack


Cygnar's iconic warjack, the Ironclad Heavy Warjack is far deadlier than its simple design would suggest.  As my first warjack, he was built from the original metal battlebox.  Subsequently he recieved an overhaul with a new plastic quake hammer and head from my spare bits from a Defender I purchased later.  I angled the quake hammer arm for visual pleasure and didn't have the fore thought on how difficult it would make it for getting base to base with my own jacks when forming a wall (primarily with Darius).  He is one of my favorite warjacks, and its plastic brother will be joining him on the battlefield in the near future.

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages - Cygnar Unit


The true power behind Cygnar, the ATGM is their claim to arcane supremacy.  Here is my first unit of ATGM's and they are painted in the traditional colors of Cygnar, unfortunately I have yet to complete the officer, something I really must get done before Adepticon.  Like many I found the cuff designs to be a total pain to paint.  In truth, I spent more time on the cuff's than I did painting the rest of the unit.  I have learned the secret now, so when I paint the second unit sitting in my To-Do box I will hopefully have a much easier time. *crossing fngers*

Captain Kara Sloan - Cygnar Warcaster


Captain Kara Sloan was the reason I chose to play Cygnar.  Her figure was so unique and her backstory really caught my attention.  Her whole feel really emphasizes the power of the Cygnar gun line.  I love the figure, her relaxed pose was open enough for me to do some good detail work on her.  I am contemplating getting a second Sloan for conversion purposes, so I ca have her staring down her target and pulling off the kill shot. 

Monday, December 20, 2010

Warmachine Cygnar Army 12-06-2010


Here is my Cygnar Army thus far.  The picture isn't the greatest, but it gives an accurate feel for what I have completed.  As I have time I will add individual pictures of each piece.

The Beginning

Greetings to all those who are visiting my blog.  I started this blog to give me a place to display and discuss my long time hobby of war miniature painting.  I have been into miniature painting since 1996, when I discovered a little hobby store ran by a group of long time gamers and I just fell in love with the place.  I had always been into fictional writings, mainly the classics like Lord of the Rings, Dante's Divine Comedy, and the Narnia series.  I had heard of Dungeons and Dragons but had yet to play.  Soon after my discovery of North Shore Games I began playing Classic Dungeons and Dragons.  I had found something that to this day has been a source of hours of enjoyment.  Despite the imagination involved I wanted to be more hands on and soon found Classic Battletech and then Warhammer 40K.  For years I dabbled in painting, for myself and others.  As my skills developed I expanded my interest to other games.


I joined the military after highschool and I took a break to concentrate on my obligations to the nation.  When I found the oppertunity to pick back up the brush I jumped back in full force.  Fate had much greater plans for me and I fell in love with the woman of my dreams, Amy.  She encouraged me when she saw how much I liked painting and is one of my greatest critics and the ones who's opinion I value most.  We were soon proud parents of a little baby boy, Lycan Jude. 


Fairy tales usually have their bad guys, and this one is no different.  A year ago I was diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and it was a dark time of uncertainty that hasn't completely passed but is getting better a bit at a time.  It cost me my career in the Navy, and has left me with several undesirable after effects.  With the love of my wife and son I know that I have the most important reasons to push on with my dreams.


About six months ago I grew tired of the constant rules changes around Warhammer 40K and looked into other table top miniature games.  I recalled a RPG game set in the Iron Knigdoms with group of sailors I served with and looked to see if there were miniatures for the line.  Imagine my surprise when I found a full fledged game already developed.  I was instantly hooked as I perused their vast line of high quality miniatures.  I have since been steadily painting several different forces for the Warmachine and Hordes games.  I am active in their forums and have finally decided to take to the Convention scene, my first being in April 2011 at Adepticon.  I will be posting my finished projects here on this page and I really hope to become more entrenched in the Iron Kingdoms universe. 


I hope you all enjoy my blog.  Feedback is always appreciated.