Which Grand Company?

I've suddenly realized that I have yet declare a designation for my Grand Company... So that glory on the battlefield is claimed properly, I shall share our heritage with you.

It is not by any random whim or foolish claims of who we are... By the annals of the Black Library, we have a true heritage...

I am the Warsmith Batu of the 996th Grand Company. When shells begin to rain down on your capitol before the thundering Iron knocks on your gates... When paths of destruction are carved through your city as the warmachines roll down your streets... When men of Iron pour from the breaches below your fortified walls.... By then, there will be no quarter given. Your only chance is to surrender before I begin. For once I unleash my Iron Warriors, there can only be devastation.

Current Assembled Army

Now you can see my entire siege army... This does not include my latest aquisition in MK3 armours nor the IW bitz I have setting on the side. My latest project is to polish up my IW codex for normal play. Now that I have finished following and reading "The Chapter's Due", I am ready to put ideals to ink.

When I saw the Breaching Drill, I knew it was something IW would adopt immediately. I cannot wait to get it done. I hope I get a better camera for future photos.

Let's take a quick inventory Starting from the top...

3 Hydra

6 Basilisk

1 Shadowsword

3 Hades Breaching Drill

18 Terminators, metal

10 Terminators, plastic

1 Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour

1 Chaos Sorcerer in Terminator Armour

1 Chaos Champion in Terminaor Armour

1 Warsmith

9 Obliterators

3 Land Raider

3 Vindicators.

12 Heavy Bolter

4 Missile Launchers

4 Autocannons

4 Lascannons

8 Plasma Gun

2 Meltagun

4 Flamers

55 CSM

8 Khorne Berzerker

Chosen of Chosens have arrived

My reinforcements of 20 MK3 Marines are finally here. Sadly, one group of 5 arrived without helmets. I did, however, get an extra set of left arms. The worst part about order these is the cleaning up of the releasing agent.

I think I will wait until all the components are here. Then I can clean everything in one session. Combined with my other group, I now have about 40 Iron Warriors who needs to be assembled. I may have much more than I need... This may not be good after I figured out how I am going to store all these extra men.

The best part about these new armour is how plain they look. The bad part is that I am not too good at forming shapes and icons on bare armour.

Chosen among Iron Warriors

These are my prized warriors. All oop MK2 lead by a Champion in oop MK3 armours. I had also gotten these when Mail Order Bitz were still availabe. Wished I had gotten more when I had the opportunity. The only weakness of this squad is the Champion. Sadly, he came with both Chainsword and plasma pistol standard.

The good news is that I went ahead and ordered some MK3 Armours from FW. Cannot wait for them to get here.

Veteran Squads

These guys are probably my favorite. They are a combination of Iron Warrior bitz and Iron Hands arms and legs. No helms are the same in 2 squads. I am extremely pleased with the Champion. Both of his arms are magnetized for switching out arms for every kind of options available from the book.

I wish it were possible to get those Iron Hands bitz. Luckily, I had gotten them when Mail Order Bitz were still available.

Iron Warriors (metal generic CSMs)

In many ways, I do like the old metal CSMs. In many ways, I really do not like them. Primarily, it is because I do not believe they feel like Iron Warriors. In my Grand Company, I have designated them to be Marines who have swore fealty to Perturabo instead of being born as an Iron Warrior.

I love the new MK2 and MK3 armours from Forgeworld. If only there was an easy way to press some IW iconographies on those blank slates, I would be so happy.

Khorne Iron Warriors

These guys are my Iron Berzerkers. I mixed the Berzerker kit with some IW bitz and shoulder pads. No more than one torso or legs for the marine from the Khorne set. Overall, I am indifferent about Khorne worshipper in my Grand Company. All in all, I would say pray to what ever you want... but be ready to bleed and die when I call for it.

I also preserved the favored number of 8. I do like how to the bitz came together. My only dilemma is how to properly paint them. I was thinking mainly IW motif and paint those Khorne iconography red. This should allow this squad to blend their colors into the rest of the army

Havocs spray death across the battlefield...

Here are my Havocs. Currently, I have 12 Heavy Bolters, 4 Missle Launchers, 4 Autocannons, and 4 Lascannons. I had started my collection back at the end of 2nd Edition. I had played briefly in 3rd Edition. Skipped the entire 4th Edition...

Overall, I think I prefer these older metal Havocs more. They have a more dynamic pose for their weapon in my opinion. I hate those shoulder mounted weapons. I think the only one that should be on the shoulder should be a missle launcher.

I actually do have a few more Lascannon and Missile Launchers now. They are still not put together. I gotten them when I decided to expand on the numer of power armoured IWs.

Terminators Go!

These are my plastic Terminators. I have about 20 of the metal ones. Personally, I much prefer the plastic ones due to how modular I have made them through the wonders of magnets. Just like my Chaos Lord, these also have removeable Head, Torso, Legs, and Arms. It definitely allows me to do any options I want to from the Codex. The worst part about this project was to find enough shoulder pads for all the arms. I think I will be crying when they release actual IW Terminator Pads.

In case you are wondering, those Grey Knight looking terminator heads were from something I found online. It is made with normal Terminator heads. Simply cut at an angle with and then drill the vent holes.

Obliterator march....

I have 3 sets of what you see here. The unpainted one in the middle is what I have been working on. The head is from a modified Khorne Berzerker. The right arm has been green stuffed to house a magnet. In addition, the arm is also magnetized to the torso. I have already sealed the gaps in the center line of the model with the green stuff. Working with these new guys makes me want to go back and alter the old ones. The only thing I would really change out is the heads. I want to put some of the new FW MK3 heads on them. Then maybe make those weapons more cohesive. Right now, the old Obliterator hands have just too much going on.

Another project to be working on....

Lord in Terminator Armour

This is my Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour. I really wanted to showcase him. I cannot get the camera to focus on him correctly. The main thing abot this model is that all the major parts are connected by magnets: Head, Arms, Torso, Legs, and even the Cape. I had armed him with what looks to be two power fists. Each palm also looks like it has a repulsor built in to it. I had originally made it to represent the Tzeentch Daemon weapon, since it allowed both D6 attack and D6 shoots.

I also have all his spare weapons painted. This lord is a fully painted customizable piece.

Super Heavy Tank needs all options finished

This is my Shadowsword with custom schuetzen for extra armour. Of course, they are magnetized as well to allow side sponsons when desired. It is the center piece of my Apocalypse forces.

Where possible they are drilled through to allow for future LED light installation. While I don't have a picture for the back, but I've made a ramp for rear loading and unloading. The top is not glued down to allow for altering configuration among the super-heavy tank choices.

Land Raider still in the works....

My Land Raiders are my most ambitious project. Nearly all the major options are magnetically attached. Starting from the side sponsons, they can be easily change their positions from front to back. Those Frag Assault Launchers are also removeable. The top mounts for radar and smoke launchers have magnets as well. Even the top and engine block has been magnetized. The spikes on the assault ramp are attached in the same way.

All this has been to allow this vehicle to be wired for lights. Still probably a fews good hours before this vehicle can be considered completed. I had gotten the Iron Warrior Land Raider doors not too long ago. Just cleaned them too, but they haven't been primed yet. Too many projects going on at the same time...

Vindicators Unleashed

When long-range barrages and underground tunneling do not produce any results, it is time for these Vindicators. With their Demolisher cannons, I believe any defenses would be utterly overwhelmed.

One of my favorit 1000 pts detachments consists of 3 Vindicators and 30 Iron Warriors. We may not have very long reach, but we make up for it in short-range saturated destruction.

It also happens that my Vindicators are the few vehicles that I do not have any magnets on.

Basilisk Ready

The sleek profile of the Vanaheim pattern gun shield definitely gives the Basilisk a better look. I cannot wait til I have finished the entire lot in Iron Warrior colors.

The hull mount have been magnetized now to allow for the swapping of different weapons.

These Chimera chassis were much easier to put together. No track wheels to contend with and all the tracks were already predetermined. No more guess works in the amount of track needed.



I had placed a pair of magnet on the inside in order to secure the platform and the vehicle. I am hoping this will allow for easy retro-fits in the future. Already, it can be easily converted to a Salamander Scout Vehicle with no mounted weapons. Perhaps, It would be easy to convert to a Colossus in the future as well. I know I can place a Medusa cannon with ease.

The Hydras take to the road...

Now, I will have mobile anti-aircraft cover for my moving columns. These large caliber guns can be just as deadly to aircrafts as to soft targets and lightly armour targets.

As you can see the main things missing are the driver hatch and the hull mounted weapons. While I prefer heavy bolter over heavy flamers, there are definitely times where having one is better than the other.

Arrival of the Basilisks

The Basilisks have finally arrived. They are also being guarded by those Hydras against aerial assaults. There are two full ordinance batteries here, 3 vehicles in each. Aside from the standard gun shield, these models will sport the stylish Vanaheim pattern gun shields. I will leave both the gun shield and gun platform capable of being swapping out in preparations for future load outs. In particular, I am hoping for the potential upgrades to a Colossus siege mortar in the future.

Magnetizing the guns

One thing I am never satified is how static things become when you glue things down. For my AA guns, I want my battery to be able to swivel and dynamically track their flying targets.

For this, I got help from K&J Magnets. I got their strongest magnets as I needed the arching guns to stay in place after moving them. As you can see there are two magnets here working together. Just one was not strong enough to hold the guns in position. The magnets I am using are D601-N52, Disc 3/8" x 1/32", Grade N52

One of the problem I had encountered was that the joint was not wide enough to accommodate the size of the magnets. Luckily, my friend had a great Dremel that helped me drill and sand out the parts. Just remember to do it outdoors as the Dremel will kick up some find particles from the resin.

Building the Hydra

The Hydra complete kit comes with the older Chimera kit. If you never built one before, it is definitely 3 times more work to build from the older design. First of all, you have to place about 11 track wheels on each side of the tank. Then you would have to evenly space out the actual treads of the tank, for which there are even extra treads provided. All this adds to a lot of headache in putting together this simple tank.

The only thing I am missing now is to place some proper Chaos iconographies on them and to provide them with the proper hatches. Unfortunately, the kit does not come ready to serve the Traitor Legions. Minor work is required. Speaking of which, I still need to file off or scrap all the imperial eagles from the models.

Prep work before working with resin

For those of you who have never gotten stuff from Forgeworld... the worst part of the experience is not dealing with warped pieces... It is the need to wash away the releasing agent they use to get the resin out of its molding.

Luckily, I have an electric tooth brush that I had salvaged from somewhere. I think it is definitely better than scrubbing by hand.

What you see there are the Hydra pieces turrets from the complete Hydra kit. Since the other pieces are the normal Chimera model pieces, there is no need to clean them.

Anti-Aircraft and Drill arrived

Before any artillery emplacement can be secured, we must also have control of our air space.

Our techmarines have been hard at work assembling the Hydra anti-aircraft guns. As soon as they are in place to defend our base camp, those Basilisks can start to arrive.

At the same time, the deployment of those Hades Breaching Drills will provide us a two-prong attack on our designated enemy position. While our enemy takes cover behind their fortified walls, our breachers will allow us to take the fight to the enemy.

I wonder if anyone would let me use the exact rules for Imperial Guards and substitute the attached squad to be Iron Warriors.