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AdMech Patrol #2 - Progress report
By Bouargh
Blog entries pass and sometimes look like very similar to some previous ones. It is one of the issues when dealing with army building on base of multiples buy outs of the same Patrol Box... Yet we might eventually expect some variation if the models are fitted in different fashion, ain´t we? The Onagre DuneCrawler as already been spoiled in the FOrums, but it has been the major progress of the past week so I will "proudly" republish it there. It is also an unhonorable wa- 1 comment
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Dakota Minor Defence Corps (PDF)
By Mike Zulu
Introduction Like many established Imperium worlds, Dakota Minor has a planetary defence force simply known the Dakota Minor Defence Corps (or DMDC). Most of its number are conscripted from the local population; a small number of citizens willingly join to escape the tedium of farm life that is prevalent on Dakota Minor. The DMDC is organised in a manner similar to Astra Militarum regiments, albeit more limited in their makeup. For the most part, it consists of dozens of infantry battalions- 0 comments
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DarkMyth Dungeon [KICKSTARTER]
Introducing [url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/saucermenstudios/darkmyth-dungeon?ref=3o816f]DarkMyth Dungeon[/url], the ultimate modular, 3D printable terrain set designed for fantasy RPGs and skirmish wargames!
Whether you're crafting epic RPG encounters or building a dynamic tabletop battlefield, this set has you covered. It works perfectly as a stand-alone set or can be expanded with our Assault Series Terrain, including popular sets like DarkHyve Assault.
Create sprawling dungeons, enemy lairs, or towering wizard strongholds with ease using our glue-free 'push-fit' system. Designed for maximum flexibility, you can stack pieces vertically or extend layouts horizontally for endless creative possibilities.
Optimized for FDM printing but also prints great in resin
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Some Traitor Dice Trays
Made some more dice trays for some of the Traitor groups.
Angron, Magnus, Kurze, and Perturabowhat do you all think? I think they came out well!
Love it? Get one here! https://www.etsy.com/shop/TomcatLaserCreations?ref=dashboard-header
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Warhammer 40k Kill Team QRC summaries
What's the problem?
Have you ever thought that relying too much on rule books and summaries makes it slow and cumbersome when playing Warhammer 40k Kill Team?
Above all when you're starting with a new Kill Team, it's hard to keep track of the different operatives' stats, all their ploys, equipment... And if you're sharing the same book with other people in the same game it makes all the experience really slow. You spend more time turning pages around than actually enjoying the game.
While there's some great aids around for printing data cards, if you have a very diverse squad you will end up with a lot of them, and if you change your weapon choices depending on the game you play, you'll need plenty of those. Furthermore, those are amazing for operatives, but they don't include any specific Kill Team ability or the Glossary with all the different weapon rules you will be using, needing to have specific documents laying around.
What's our solution?
The solution we came in is to create a summarized QRC that will fit in between 4 - 6 pages, so it can be printed or browsed directly as a PDF in a tablet or phone.
They show the Faction Archetypes, all the available options for each operative, as well as their main Stats and any special rule (Flying, Psychic...). They also include the Faction TacOps, as well as the special abilities, psychic powers and both Strategic and Tactical Ploys.
At the end of the documents you can find a whole Glossary with ALL the abilities and Special Rules that appear in the whole summary, so you can rely on those as your go-to reference during your games for that specific Faction.
How do I use them?
They're filed in PDF format and you can either print them and staple them (or any other choice) or browse them directly from your digital devices.
Where can I find them?
You can find the available ones in my page for free (or the prize you'd like to contribute with!)
If you'd like QRCs for some team, drop us a line and we'll work on it!
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Welcome back, I honestly didn't think it would take more than 6 months to get back to this, but here we are, and we'll cover my 2022 Commissions, and a little bit of spill over into the early months of 2023.
So, where was I?
Right, Belakor, dragged out for 3 months. Did I learn my lesson and take a break?
No. No I did not.
In fact, I immediatly kicked off the year with two simultaneous commissions, a long slow burn one from my regular client with the Sororitas and Drukhari, and one from a new client for some Custodes.
The Custodes commission included 8 Allarus Custodians, and Trajann Valoris (I still have my own I've yet to paint...). I was matching an existing colour scheme (the client provided a painted model as reference), and these guys turned out to be quite the contradiction for me. I liked the colour scheme and was digging it, and I really, REALLY enjoyed painting Trajann Valoris, but man, did I find the Custodians themselves quite the drag. All that tiny filigree on the shins and weapons meant so much back and forth between the gold and black, but in the end, I think the effort was worth it.
SpoilerThe very same week I set off on the third round of Commission work, expanding the forces of the the Sisters and Drukhari. As it turns out, my client is actually a family group, who are all buying the armies together, and they are adding two new armies to their collection, Necrons AND Slaanesh Daemons, and this commission will add enough models to bring these two new armies up to points to match the Drukhari and Sororitas.
It turns out I'm a glutton for punishment, and you see, I tend to make my job harder for myself. Excluding the rank and file models, personally, I *HATE* seeing the *same* model multiple times throughout an army. So I spend my time time converting the clients models, for no additional cost, because it makes me happy. This is most prevelant in the Battle Squad banner bearers, every single one of them is unique. Initially, the client was very cautious / nervous about letting me do my thing wih their models, and very hesitent with conversions, thankfully now I have erned their trust and have carte blanche to assemble models however I fancy.
The newest Adepta Sororitas expansion included Inquisitor Coteaz, Morvenn Vahl, 3 Pragon Warsuits (with magnetised weapons), 20 Battle Sisters, and a Castigator Battle Tank (also with magnetised weapons).
SpoilerThe Drukhari expansion was a much lower model count, but made up for it with big firepower. It included 1 Succubus and 10 Mandrakes, but the punch came in the form of 2 Forge World Reapers, and a Void Raven Bomber (with magnetised weapons). This Succubus is why the client became more open to conversions. You see this model started out as a Daughter of Khaine model, in fact it was one of the freebie's GW was giving out when the started the free monthly models.
SpoilerAt the start of Q4 of 2021, my health issues once again reared their ungly heads and I was forced to turn down the first of the Slaanesh commissions for the family group. It would of been for 4 Keepers of Secrets and 30 Daemonettes. I really wanted to do them, but just could not function. SO, when it came time for the first expansion, they tasked me with matching the paintworks of another commission painter. Unfortunately, despite a number of attempts at contact, I wasn't able to get a paint list or basic walkthrough of the scheme, and the pictures the client sent through didn't really provide a clear enough idea of how to procede.
When looking at the pictures below, you'll be able to see that the colours of the claws go through a few iterations and repaints until the client settled on the scheme in the top picture. The commission started with Syll'Esske and 10 Daemonettes, but with a late Q3 expansion, they added The Contorted Epitome, 20 Daemonettes, and 6 Fiends.
The late addition of the 20 Daemonettes came with a timer, they were needed BEFORE Xmas, which was complicated by a GW FAQ. Daemonette squad sizes changed, and of the 20 painted, based and varnished Daemonettes, 9 of them now had to become Champions, Musicians, and Icon Bearers.
Thankfully the clients understood that this was a significant request, whilst still needing to maintain the deadline, and offered a more than acceptable "inconvienience fee". Thankfully the Contorted Epitome and Fiends weren't included in the timer, and I finshed those in early January.
SpoilerThe Necrons were the largest of the commissions in 2022, and consisted of The Void Dragon, The Nightbringer, The Deceiver, Imotekh the Stormlord, a Royal Warden, a Plasmancer, 5 Lych Guard, 10 Immortals, 20 Warriors and 6 Scarab Swarms all in the Sautekh Dynasty.
SpoilerBUT, those models aren't Sautekh, are they?
Nope, no they're not.
Several months in to the work, (I'd been switching and changing between the factions to prevent burnout), the client dropped a bomb. They're dropping Imotekh and replacing him with The Silet King, an Overlord, 2 more Plasmancers, and 5 additional Lych Guard AND changing the entire Necron commission to the Szarekhan Dynasty....the day before I was ready to show off the completed models.
This ended up taking the rest of the year and them some to complete the repaints and additional models. Again, I was fairly compensated for the repaint AND Imotekh was mine to keep.
SpoilerThe final piece of this year long, four faction commission was a sizable chunk of terrain. 8 Ruined Sector Mechanicus Ruins, 4 Ruined Walls, 4 barricades, 4 pipe sections, 1 Ferratonic Furnace, 2 Plasma Generators, 3 Munitorum Crates, 2 tank traps, 2 trap doors, 5 3D printed crators.
Sometime about October, I completed another Hero Forge commission for 3 D&D heroes, this was my first referral client, who had seen the first Hero Forge model I'd painted way back in 2020.
and Finally, the last commission I worked on in 2022 was a triplicate of Kill Teams for fellow B&C member, INKS. There were teams for the Scythes of the Emperor, Blood Angels, Iron Warriors, and a pair of characters, Trajann Valoris (again, and no, I still haven't painted my own...), and a Sanguinary Priest (magnetised pack and weapons).
So, I've tallied up all the models I completed (I'm counting the crew/pilots etc as seperate models, as they were all painted seperately prior to assembly), and I completed 189 models in 2022. This is about ~50 or so more models than my first year.
What lessons did I learn throughout the year?
The commission WILL take longer that I think it will, because life happens, work happens, family happens. Burnout is a thing. Sometimes I just *DON'T WANNA DO IT" happens, and I'll go outside, sit down to paint, pick up the model and thhen just not.
One of the things I introduced to facilitate keeping on track was "Marvel Mondays" I began painting my Marvel United figures and posting them on Insta every Monday, I implemented Sunday as "my" day. I never work Sundays (too expensive to schedule), and on Sundays I only do personal hobby and not commission work. This little bit of structure has helped, but it was really only mid 2023 that I worked this one out.
So next time, and hopefully in less than 6 months, we'll look at 2023's commissions, and any lessons I learned along the way.
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Calgar and Vitrix Honour Guard Completed!
After finishing Calgar and his Honour Guard before the weekend, I was stuck waiting for my basing supplies to arrive before I took a few completed shots.
All in all, I'm really happy with how things have turned out. Sure, improvements can still be made, which will show on the next models I do, which, incidentally, are my Leviathan Marines for the Combat Patrol.
Group Shot
Honour Guard 1
Honour Guard 2
Calgar
So, by no means am I a professional painter, nor am I sponsored by any company. But, if I can turn out something to be happy about, think about what the masters can do!
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Medical emergency, delays in shipments.
Greetings,
Unfortunately, my work trip has taken a turn. I am now dealing with a family medical emergency in a foreign country and it looks like my return date may not be the 22nd of June.
Obviously my focus is on my family member's health crisis at this time. All inquiries, and indeed all order shipments will be replied to as I am available, until my eventual return to the office and full availability.
If you have an outstanding order and would like to cancel at this time, please email mcdougalldesigns3d@gmail.com at your convenience. I will process your request and refund as soon as possible.
However, I am also extending the summer sale until whenever i return, If you would like to take advantage of the 5% off your entire order.
This includes preorders such as mantic northern alliance products which are due for release and shipment to my office by mid July.
Thank you to all my customers for your continued patronage, and I truly wish to get back home and fulfill your orders as soon as possible.
Happy gaming ,
Maxwell Mcdougall
Mcdougall Designs
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