Come the Apocalypse...

That's apparently what it'll take for me to update this thing.  In any event, I'm not dead; I've just had a great deal going on.  New job location, new house, new son, new codex(!), etc.  Life is busy, but that's why they call it life I suppose.  In any event, here's some pictures of what I've been up to.  I may not be blogging, but life couldn't keep me away from the game!

The New Hotness.  I had to get in on this right?

I also had to get rid of some of those damn brass etchings that I had laying about...

And some more brass etching...

Here they are with a bit of paint.  Prime black, base with Knarlock Green, go over with Snot Green.  No idea
what the new names for those colors are.  Something appears lacking, yes?

"The New Hotness" doesn't come on a standard sized base, the way God intended.  GW in their infinite heresy
decided they would go with wonky 50mm bases.  Dark Arts Miniatures, the lads who made my gorgeous resin
lava bases don't have an equivalent.  So, a bit of cork and some assistance from my lovely daughter and I had it
sorted.

A closer look.  I was skeptical at first about what I was going to do, but after my daughter asked if she could help
They've become my favorite bases in the whole army.  Parents will understand what happened here.

It's wasn't all infantry.  Part of The New Hotness includes fliers, so here's mine.  I'm not a fan of the original kit,
so I had to borrow liberally from the internet to get a conversion I was happy with.

Drop pod fins for wings, removed the lower rear stabilizer, magnetized the weapons on the outside of the engines,
switched out the over-sized assault cannon for a converted land speeder version.  You know, the simple things.

Again with the brass etching, again with the non-standard base size that needed cork and my daughter to render aid.

There's probably a bit of highlighting yet to do on this guy, but frankly I got tired of painting Snot Green at this point.  If the Easter Eggs in some of the above pictures haven't been clue enough, I sold off my Tzeentch Daemons after their new codex dropped (and I absolutely did not like the way that new book played) and replaced with them with something else sinister:

An ancient Necron Dynasty has awakened, and they are pissed.  But it's not what you might think.  They were pretty cool dudes, but someone left a hatch or two open in the tomb, and now they're all corroded and even their ceramic has seen better millennia.  

Giving the new paints a go (Prime with Army Painter Brown, base with Rakarth Flesh, layer with Wych Flesh.  Metallics done with Warplock Bronze, Hashut Copper, & that new Oxide Technical Paint.  Use that stuff folks, it's so easy it feels like cheating.  Giving the textured paints a try on the bases as well.

So now we're all caught up.  I can't say I'll be regular, but I can say you'll see more of my Necron project log.  I'll likely have a few posts on the new paints and new techniques I'm trying out (tried a bit of sponging on the ceramic as you can see).  I won't win any painting contests with this army, but I'm having fun again and I'm testing my hobby skills.  And for me, that's what it's all about.

New Salamanders Stuff!

Forgeworld is releasing some new Salamander's stuff, presumably for that Badab War business that they've got going on right now.  While I have not read any of those books, there appears to be some love given to my chapter, so I ordered a few sets of these bad boys this morning.  I am hoping that they come through with brass etchings for them as well.  I need to add something to my vehicles, and that might just be the thing.  Of course, I could always head over and read CVinton's article on tank weathering....

Anywho, now that we've got that out of the way, I'd like to congratulate the Team Snake Eyes crew for, what happens to be, our 100th post.  I've never considered myself a serious blogger.  I actually don't think I'd want to be.  I enjoy my hobbies, and I enjoy sharing that with folks, but I really enjoy reading up on "real" bloggers and how they do what we do.  A few interesting facts about the Team Snake Eyes Blog:

Top Five most viewed posts:
Ol'Seth's Traitor Guard Baneblade
Army Showcase: Salamander Headquarters
DieCon initial debriefing: I gots STUFF!
Army Showcase: Ol'Seth's Biel Tan Eldar Host
Battle Report: Salamanders vs. Lusty Loganwing

We've had just over 27,000 page views from 107 countries.  Ever heard of Mauritius?  I haven't, but that's the latest country to stop by.  Granted, I think many of my foreign visitors might be proxy servers for spam or some such, but my delusions of owning an International Blog of Mystery please me.  So don't burst my bubble.  A very special thanks to the 57 folks kind enough to "follow" the blog as well.  You're all far too kind.

Lastly, I'd like to thank the two blogs most responsible for sending visitors my way.  From the Warp, and Dark Future Games.  I won't lie, I got into this business, albeit in an amateur fashion, because of these two blogs.  They have served as my inspiration and they have supported my site on their own.  Thanks for all that you do gentlemen.  I owe you some drinks.

Edit (05/26/2001) - Games Day France 2011 picture of a Salamanders Venerable Dreadnought.  Too, too sweet.

Salamander Character Dread from Badab War books?
Photo from Thomas Fritz

Blog Banner Art Contest over at Dark Future Games

How bad has my final semester of grad school taken me out of the loop?  One - I didn't know that the fellas over at Dark Future Games were having a Banner Contest for their blog.  Two - I didn't know that Aerion, my brother from another mother, submitted an entry to their contest!  What?!?  I don't know about you folks, but I find that very cool.  There is no voting, since the contributors and friends of DFG will choose the winner, but please go on over to Dark Future Games and look over all the excellent submissions.  They have their work cut out for them!

Yes, I have asked Aerion why he submitted an entry to another blog's contest before designing one for our own (heck, I didn't even know he could do that...man of many talents I tell you...) and he assured me that is something within the realm of possibility.  I think it will be tough to design a banner for TSE since we have the white background.  I'm a huge fan of the white since I find some other blogs a little difficult to read at times, so we'll just have to see what he can come up with!

Blog Down! Blog Down!

Anyone with an ounce of "blogger-sense" know why the frick my right hand column is way the hell down at the bottom of my page? I hate being ignorant.

Working On It...

This is for the three of you who may read this blog...I'm in the progress of updating the layout of the blog to a three column format and I lost all of my links and such to do so. Will rebuild as time permits.

Resource Expansion...

If any of you that read this (all two of you) have some spots you like to go on the internet for tactical or hobby advice on your armies, send me the link and I'll add it to the blog. We've got some team members new to their codex/edition and one is brand new to the game (looking at you veteran Ork & Eldar players here) and I'd like to do what I can to reduce their learning curve.

EDIT: If you see some poor schmuck who's listed on the team roster as "some-X-guy" please inquire as to their prefered internet name. Larry and I reserve the right to veto any dumb names. We have a "no douche names" clause on the Team's by-laws. :)