As I mentioned in a recent “artboard” post I’ve recently become interested in the intense, deep, gothic sci-fi table-top wargame and fantasy book series Warhammer 40k.  I love it.  The lore, the races, the strategy.  It’s everything I’m interested in all rolled into a compact expressive, creative package.

Admittedly I only became interested after playing the excellent Space Marine on PS3 (my favorite game of last year) and became more obsessed after I played through the Dawn of War series, read some Black Library books and an old 3rd edition rulebook from a local used book store.

Like Hans Gruber from Die Hard (maybe not the best role model…) I always enjoyed models as a kid but hated painting them.  All those tiny parts with horrible paint that never went on cleanly…  I just wanted to put my tank together.  Putting together Citadel miniatures has been a new experience.  Not only do I like putting them together but I actually enjoy painting them.  It requires a lot of focus, steady hands, and patience, which thankfully I do actually have (thanks to years of drawing and old-school gaming…)  Though I have a couple of battleforces in boxes ready to emerge onto the battlefield, I started with the easy-to-put-together miniatures that came with my starter paint set.

These guys were supposed to be Dark Angels but because I grew to love the Dawn of War Blood Ravens characters I decided to go with that paint scheme.  They aren’t finished (I haven’t put any wash on them and I plan to print off some chapter-specific insignia) but I thought I’d share my progress!

It’s my first time painting anything like this…definitely anything this small so there’s nothing but room for improvement but I’ve enjoyed it and I hope the future models will only get better.

The Dawn of War series also introduced me to the Orks and I love those guys.  Their gruff, simple demeanor.  Their remarkably descriptive slang.  Their ultimately unruly appearance and junkyard tech.  Gotta love orks.  Because I’ll mostly be playing with myself (hey, you in the back, stop laughing.  Care to share what you thought was so funny with the rest of the class?) to learn the rules and get used to the complicated ins-n-outs of the game I bought Assault on Black Reach at a local hobby store and started painting the Orks as well.  Not only are they a lot more details in their equipment and appearance than vanilla marines, but they also present a lot of variety and possibilities in painting.  I’ve only painted some of them so far, but I feel my abilities and techniques have improved from what I did with the Marines.  They are still very beginner but I’m happy with them so far!

I hope you enjoyed my first painting attempts.  As I go on and get a little more experienced I plan to share more.  Once I get into live firefights I’ll be posting on those as well!. It’s been a fun, and fascinating entry into the 41st millennium so far!