Bleeding Colors

Lord have MERCY it's been nuts at work lately! I'm working 45 hours a week on average, and large chunks of my nights. The bonus - I guess - is that when I reach 42 hours by Thursday, I get to leave on Friday at noon lol. On the plus side: I really enjoy my job and the people I work with. On the down side, I don't get nearly enough time to work on my models, or my other projects.

But I digress! A comment on the Advanced Tau Tactica forums lead me to reconsider stripping my Tau. My initial attempts had bee unsuccessfuly, but the maybes started creeping in (Maybe I didn't soak them long enough, maybe I was using the wrong cleaning product, etc etc). So, I headed over to Ye Olde Home Depot and picked up a bottle of Simple Green and dunked my Kroot in.

The Kroot that were just painted a flat green, cleaned up perfectly, but the one that I tested that was fully painted barely cleaned up at all. Large amounts of his topcoat stayed on, and most of the base coat. Bummer... So I figured, why not try my Firewarriors. Same deal! More of the top coat came off on these guys, but that white undercoat ain't going ANYWHERE. I don't know what the original painter used, but lordy if it isn't durable.

The problem is, it's that base coat that's causing me to lose my details and have chunky looking paint jobs. When I basecoat new models, I do it by hand, using a flat black paint that Reaper puts out in their Pro Series. It hugs to all the crevices and crannies and gives me a fantastic, solid base coat without looking any detail. Painting over it is a dream. These Tau guys... not so much.

So I'm soaking them again, hoping that maybe now that I've cracked the surface in some places I can scrub the rest of the paint off and get some semblance of clean models to work with.

I forgot to take pictures of the last round, but I'll snap shots of this round for your viewing pleasure!

Thanks for reading guys! Prosper, as Tau shall!
-Aaron
O'Suam'kor

O'Suam'kor - Commander Firebreather

The Manta had crashed to the ground with such a thunderous rumble that even the green-skinned Orks had to stop and stare. Commander Firestorm's unit was dumbfounded. They'd seen the death of their commander and now this Manta - which was ferrying an Ethereal to safety - been brought down by a furious salvo of Krak missles from the Ork camp.

The men were buffeted with and long, loud WAAAGH! As the Ork invaders rushed forward. The lines broke as the Tau Fire Warriors and their Kroot companions tried frantically to recover from their loss. An angry rage was building among the troops, but already they were scattering. One in particular.

Shas'ui Firebrand ran away from the fray, not out of fear, but duty. His path lead him straight to the downed Manta. There was a chance that their Ethereal had survived the crash, and if he did, the he was honor-bound to save them.

Selflessly, he dove into the burning wreckage of the Manta, searching desperately for the Ethereal. A cough from the back of the ship drew his attention and he moved toward it. Half-way there, a bulkhead exploded, blasting flaming chemicals onto the Shas'ui. He cried out in pain, but moved forward still, trying in vein to put the flames out.

He knew his life was all but forfeit, but he would not give up his search.

Outside, the battle raged on. The traumatized Tau were being battered from all sides by the Ork hordes. The sound of heavy bolters and plasma rifles cried out amid the smoke and ash of the battle. Hope was non-existent on this battle field. One after another, the blue blood of the Tau sprayed out onto the field, dyeing the ground purple as it mixed with that of the Orks.

Suddenly, all eyes turned back toward the Manta as a fiersome scream rose above the noise and the sound of a railgun firing off into the sky echoed across the battle field. Even the Orks stopped to behold the site.

Atop the wreckage, Firebrand stood with the Ethereal, his suit still on fire and the ejection of spent air from his rebreather making it seem as those he breathed out fire from his very lungs. The etheral raised his hand, his signet of office glinting against the fires around him.

"Fight, my brothers! For the Great Good, we must prevail!" He cried.

With a furious roar of exaltation, the Fire Warriors turned back to the battle, and began pushing the Ork back. Firebrand stood as lung as he could before letting out a pained whimper and falling to his knees. He was as good as dead, but he'd done his duty and could die with honor.

The next thing Firebrand knew, he was waking up in a Tau medical station. The Ork had been pushed back to their encampment and the planet had been taken for the Tau. Tau emissaries had gone to the Ork camp to attempt to forge a treaty so that the two races might work together for the Greater Good. Rumor had it, those talks were going well.

Shas'ui Firebrand was too badly injured to continue serving as a Fire Warrior, but due to his honor and dedication to his troop, he was given a promotion to Shas'o and command of an elite Crisis battlesuit team. His name was changed, after much debate, to O'Suam'kor - Commander Fire Breather - and his legend preceded him into the ranks.

None question the Fire Breather, for they all know he servers the Greater Good, above all else.

More pics!

Check out the 'We Can Rebuild Them...' for new pictures for my army! The much promise Firewarrior and Kroot pics are up!

Plasma and Vespids...

I've been re-reading my Tau codex and the new 6th Ed rules, and I have to say that I'm really amazed at how pitiful my previous army lists were. No plasma at all? What was I thinking? No wonder I could never beat the Space Marines I was up against.

So, I'm revamping (changing out the gun on my Crisis too, since I modeled him with a burst cannon), and considering adding Vespids to my army. Be a bit before I could do that, but used properly, they could be a nice Flank-and-Pick unit to lighten the oncoming swath of troopers coming my way.

With their massive movement (12" in the movement phase) they can get around the battlefield relatively easily. Their short gun range is made up for my their movement, even though it does put them in range of assaults. That's fine, though, since if I'm careful, I can keep them in cover on most standard battlefields.

Ponder ponder...

I'm still playing around with O'Suam's backstory, too (my Crisis commander). I'll post that up here soon.

Prosper, as Tau shall!
-Aaron

Progress!

One of my Crisis suits now bears my army colors. I'm not 100% satisfied with the finished product, just because the paint is chunky over the old paint job. I still need to finish the base on it, but it'll just be asphalt with debris. Feels good to have a larger unit with my paint scheme. Check out the "We Can Rebuild Them..." section of the site for comparison pics with the old paint scheme!

Added bonus: I had been custom mixing the lighter blue-grey color, but I actually found the correct color today in Reaper paints. Weathered Blue is my new best friend.

Stay tuned for more pics and progress reports!

Prosper, As Tau Shall
Aaron

The Long Lost General Returns...

So it's been over two years. I've moved away from Philly, I'm no longer with my wife (still fighting to battle to get my kid back - OY!), moved to Florida, got a new job, made new friends, found the love of my life... and I've finally dug out my Tau army again. Oh, my friends, it's time. It's been far to long since I've stepped onto the field of battle, my Tau warriors with guns blazing hot. My chances to find a crew to play with have improved as well. I live less than five minutes from a comic book shop that has a weekly 40k night. That, along with the release of 6th edition and the slew of rumors regarding a new codex coming out, make this a perfect time for me to return to the game.

I'm tossing out my previous army lists in order to rebuild some new ones. I've started playing around with a 500pt army to start (I know, barely a flash in the pan, but you gotta start somewhere!). Here's a pic of what I'm starting with:

As you can see, my Crisis suits have seen better days. Both of them are standing on their own volition now, which pleases me. They just need a mad paint job to get them up to my standards. The Kroot at the bottom left are painted beautifully by someone other than me (original paint job when I got this army) and won't be touched. I painted their Kroothound last night. The Fire Warriors are already finished as well, painted by me before my hiatus. That's the theme my army will take; I love that urban camo feel. I'll try and get some better pictures soon.

So, before I can field these guys I need:

1. Mass repairs on my Crisis suits and a paint job
2. Paint job on my Crisis commander,
3. Clean up and paint the last Kroot unit

And then boom, I'm on the field. I've already got an Ork player who's been looking for some action. He's relatively new to the game, and I'm rusty as all hell, so that should be a good match. Stay tuned for battle reports and check out my new "We Can Rebuild Them..." page to track my progress rebuilding and refurbishing my army. I'll also be posting any nifty tactics or methods that I pick up so my fellow Tau players can use them too.

Prosper, as Tau Shall!
-Aaron