Buenos dias, Ninjabread readers. Today my Mexican-flavoured vintage Space Marine army gets some Adeptus Mechanicus reinforcements. An “Adeptus Mexicanicus”, if you will.

This Marine is one of the vintage Mark Copplestone designs, wearing a modified suit of Mk 6 power armour – instantly recognisable from its chest cabling and beaked helmet. What makes the Copplestone Techmarines really stand out is the wealth of bonus tech details – the toolbox, the magnifying lenses, the drillbit and equipment mounted on the belt. They’re a joy to paint.

The gnarly witch hand sculpted onto the right shoulder is the original symbol of the Adeptus Mechanicus, before it changed to the skull cog of today.

Back in the olden days, Techmarines were just basic lads with a bolt pistol, who you had to field one for each vehicle or support weapon in your army. Over the years they’ve grown in stature and are now mighty HQ choices striding around the battlefield with an exotic array of wargear and special rules. So that I can field this miniature in modern games of 8th edition Warhammer 40,000 and still have it backwards compatible for Rogue Trader, I modelled his modern wargear as a separate little drone.

The drone’s chassis started life as an upside-down 6mm Epic-scale Land Raider with the smoke launchers and sponsons sliced away. The weapon is the business end of the standard Rogue Trader Imperial Conversion Beamer, mounted on the much meatier body of a Eldar D-Cannon.

To descale it, I added big chunky rivets made from sliced down plastic tubing, and a big fat radio-control antenna with a pennant with the classic Beamer identification symbol.

In games of Warhammer 40,000 he’s been great at zapping enemies, but has yet to unlock his full potential as the army has precisely zero vehicles for him to repair. But I plan to remedy that soon with some solid lead Dreadnoughts, Landspeeders and support weapons!

Ninjabread communication complete!

With Space Marine players jumping for joy that the new Primaris miniatures get jump heavy weapons, I’ve jumped at the chance to do a Rogue Trader era squad – when jump heavy weapons were also a thing.

Stamped out in Warhammer 40,000’s second edition, and now only just reappearing 26 years later – Space Marines with heavy weapons could also select jump packs in a number of ways in the various army lists. Squad Taurasi have done it here by being a Tactical Squad upgraded to “Cobra Squad” status in the 1988 Book of the Astronomican army list – and the highly mobile lad on the far right is toting a Heavy Bolter.

I had a lot of fun painting checks on the jump packs, to give the squad some visual interest, and distract from the assymetrically lumpen sculpting of these vintage Marine miniatures. This design of jump pack commands a high price on the collector’s market and is frequently pirated, meaning it’s taken years of patient hunting to source five genuine castings – so they’re worth lavishing the paitning time on.

Sergeant Taurasi is not actually a Space Marine miniature, but “Female Warrior Jayne” from the RT601 Adventurers range, meaning this blog counts as part of the Choose Your Own Adventurers series I’ve been doing with cheet0r and axiom. Recently, cheet0r has incorporated some of the Adventurer Cyborgs into his Necron army, and axiom has turned an Adventurer Pilot into a Buck Rogers homage – check ’em out!

To spin Female Warrior Jayne as a sergeant she’s received a thigh-mounted helmet with rank stripe markings, and an an Imperial Eagle command trinket (in lieu of an unaerodynamic back banner) on her jump pack.

Squad Taurasi pushes my Crimson Fists force pleasantly closer to the initial 1000 points goal.

SQUAD TAURASI

1 Marine Champion [9], Power Sword [7]
16 POINTS

1 Marine [8], Power Axe [6], Bolt Gun [2]
16 POINTS

1 Marine [8], 2 Power Gloves [2*15]
38 POINTS

1 Marine [8], Plasma Gun [5.5], Hand Flamer [2]
38 POINTS

1 Marine [8], Heavy Bolter [15], Targeter [5], 2 Suspensors [2*2]
32 POINTS

Basic Equipment (all models): Bolt Pistol [1.5], Jump Pack [2], Knife [0], Powered Armour [6] (with Communicator [0.5], Respirator [0.5], Auto-senses [0.5])
55 POINTS

TOTAL: 195 POINTS

Crimson Fists Painting Tutorial

If you’d like to learn how I paint Crimson Fists, I’ve photographed a Marine in between each step of the blue power armour process.

These steps broken down, with the techniques and theory behind them spelt out, the tutorial is available on Patreon.  The skills you’ll learn are transferable to all colours of power armour. The back catalogue of tutorials also covers white armour and brass armour – and will continue to expand every month.

Coming soon – some vehicles and support characters to round out this vintage Rogue Trader force. I’ve been painting a Missile Armour Dreadnought on the twitch, and also powering through the original metal Land Speeder, and collecting the glorious classic Techmarines. Stay tuned!

It was Christmas 1987, and Games Workshop celebrated the festive season by releasing two limited edition Space Marines (or “Spaced Out Marines” as the advertising called them).  I’ve painted the pair for my growing Crimson Fists force.

Crimson Fists, more like … Crimson Pisseds.

These castings came thanks to @DocRods – who’s been sending me an absolute surfeit of vintage beakies and 2000AD bits.  Thanks Doc!  A very merry Christmas to you, more of them appearing painted very soon.

The Battle Brothers have I FEEL FISTIVE and PUNCH DRUNK graffitied onto their armour.

The cigar-smoking Space Marine has a wisp of tobacco smoke sculpted onto his cheek, which other painters have misinterpreted as a casting worm to remove, or a facial scar to paint pink.

There are two varieties of plastic mk6. backpacks – identical except for the placement of the depressions where they attach to the Marine.   One hole is so high up that when mounted on the metal Rogue Trader Space Marines it looks like it’s sliding down his back – but on this one Marine it’s perfect for the drunken dishevelled feel.

The Crimson Fists stagger back from the Candlemas celebrations.  But who-ho-ho is lurking in the woodlands?

Crimson Fists Painting Tutorial

This month my painting tutorials have seen a record number of sign ups in the wake of the Golden Demon victory.  Thanks to all the new Ninjabread patrons who are supporting the photography and write ups, and also the website in general!

If you want to see these steps broken down, wth the techniques and theory behind them spelt out, the tutorial is available on Patreon. The skills you’ll learn are transferable to all colours of power armour.

I’ve brought a pile of metal Space Marines away with me at Christmas, so hopefully it won’t be too long before I can post up some new squads, characters and vehicles.  Will 2019 be the year they can reach the critical mass of a workable army?

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

The Crimson Fists are getting reinforcements, hand over fist.  My 1980s Rogue Trader Space Marine army grows with the addition of another 5-man Tactical Squad composed of vintage metal and plastic Citadel Miniatures.

Time to put the huert on – Squad Huerta.

To my amazement and envy, in the time taken to finish this second squad of Battle at the Farm Crimson Fists, Nico has painted every Crimson Fist for the scenario, plus he’s modelled an evocative scenic base, plus he’s painted all the Orks and – if that wasn’t enough – some Ork reinforcements.  I feel like Falcon running round the park and being lapped repeatedly in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Freehand & Crimson Fist Icons

Again I had some fun adding freehand chapter icons and armour graffiti to the squad.  “THE TRUTH HUERTS” is just punning off the Sergeant’s name.  “INFINITE PLASMA” is a reference to the Battle at the Farm scenario, which Zhu points out gives the Space Marines unlimited Plasma Missiles (as they normally cost 1 point each, it technically means the Marines outclass the Orks by INFINITY POINTS).

I now need to paint a second Missile Launcher so I can reference Elton John’s Rocket Man.

“FOR NOW WE SEE BUT THRU A SCANNER DARKLY” on the Marine with scanner is a 1 Corinthians 13:12 / Philip K. Dick reference simply because he’s holding a scanner.  “FIST OR FAMINE” is from my handy stockpile of fist-based puns.  It’s a treat at the end of the painting process to choose some scrawly handwriting to give the battle-brothers an additional touch of the Rogue Trader era.

Crimson Fists Grand Plan

To fit into my planned 1,000 points (using the Whitescars army list from the Book of the Astronomican) the five Space Marines come out as:

SQUAD HUERTA

1 Marine Champion [9], Power Glove [15], Bolt Hun [2]
26 POINTS

3 Marines [3*8], 3 Bolt Guns [3*2] and 3 Frag Grenades [3*1]
33 POINTS

1 Marine [8], Missile Launcher [30], 12 Plasma Missiles [12] Targeter [5], 2 Suspensors [2*2]
59POINTS

Basic Equipment (all models): Bolt Pistol [1.5], Knife [0], Powered Armour [6] (with Communicator [0.5], Respirator [0.5], Auto-senses[0.5])
45 POINTS

TOTAL: 163 POINTS

Here are the two squads in action alongside each other, with a sneaky eleventh Citadel Miniature tucked away somewhere… can you spot it?

Squads Huerta and Onan fighting in the ruins of Blas in the Gallego system.

Crimson Fists Painting Tutorial

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how I paint Crimson Fists, so I photographed a Marine in between each step of the blue power armour process.

If you want to see these steps broken down, wth the techniques and theory behind them spelt out, the tutorial is available on Patreon.  The skills you’ll learn are transferable to all colours of power armour.

Coming soon – more vintage Crimson Fists to creep the army closer to game legal.

Time to collect a new Space Marine force!  Crimson Fists – the Rogue Trader poster boys.  These Fists are hand-picked from the 1987–1989 Imperial Space Marine ranges sculpted by Bob Naismith, Aly Morrison and Mark Copplestone.  I have a real soft spot for this era of Mk6 design.  There’s a certain je ne sais quoi to the early Warhammer 40,000 aesthetic that was lost when the Mk7 Jes Goodwin designs were introduced in 1990.  There’s a joyful bulbousness to them that reflects the early days of Rogue Trader, before it settled down into the tightly-codified juggernaut that endures to this day.

Fist in, last out – Squad Onan.

Veteran Sergeant Onan’s casting had a damaged head, and has had a new one grafted on from a Golden Heroes Supervillain.  I added the bionic eye during painting to hide the incredibly long eyeball that continued round the side of his head.  The banner is tomato puree foil mounted on a brass rod pole.  The bladed bionic arm with its super-awkward pose is entirely original – if anyone know what he’s actually meant to be doing please leave a comment.

The backpacks and other elements were sculpted with a beautifully ham-fisted assymetry.

I’ve settled on the rule of left-hands-crimson on Battle Brothers, and both-hands-crimson on Veterans.  The Heavy Bolter Marine has Veteran status to justify him wearing a Power Glove.  I particularly love this model as his nonsensical wargear (that’s illegal in all future editions of Warhammer 40,000) places him firmly in Rogue Trader territory.

Freehand Fist Icons

My rendition of the Crimson Fist icon is based on the banner from the Rogue Trader cover, but I’ve experimented with simplifying the thumb/forefinger area between Marines.  Since their armour designs differ so much I’m not going to revisit and amend any designs once I’ve settled on the final iteration.

This hobby is called: The Freehand Fists Hobby.

I couldn’t resist adding the correct weaponry icons and armour graffiti too.  I’ve got to add a Medic to the force simply so I can scrawl “FIST AID” on his armour.  I also fancy a Marine with “FIST BUMP”.  In fact I’ve got a whole list of quickfire “FIST” and “HAND” phrases ready to deploy.

Crimson Fists Grand Plan

I’ve planned 1,000 points using the Whitescars army list from the Book of the Astronomican.  This era of army list is the sweet spot for me.  Space Marines have been rounded out from the single squad type presented in the Rogue Trader rulebook, but it’s before a lot of their iconic troop types have been dreamed up – no Terminators, no Scouts, no Rhinos, no Techmarines.  On one hand they’re recognisable enough to a modern Warhammer 40,000 player, but on the other hand there’s a smattering of ideas like “Cobra squad” and “Reconnaissance squad” that have since disappeared from the background.  I love this particular early incarnation of the Warhammer 40,000 universe where the concepts are still crystallising.

SQUAD ONAN

1 Marine Champion [9], Bionic Arm [30], Bionic Eye [30]
69 POINTS

3 Marines  [3*8], 3 Bolt Guns [3*2] and 3 Frag Grenades [3*1]
33 POINTS

1 Marine [8], Heavy Bolter [15], Power Glove [15], Targeter [5], 2 Suspensors [2*2]
47 POINTS

Basic Equipment (all models): Bolt Pistol [1.5], Knife [0], Powered Armour [6] (with Communicator [0.5], Respirator [0.5], Auto-senses[0.5])
45 POINTS

TOTAL: 194 POINTS

The full force (17 Marines on foot and a Dreadnought) is partially based on the seminal Rogue Trader Battle at the Farm scenario (which was Pedro Cantor plus fifteen Tactical Marines), but I’ve spiced up the weapon choices for the sake of variety and model availability.  Here’s the first squad defending make-shift farm barricades!

Bonus Ninjabread points if you can spot where Tech-priest Theodolitus is hiding.

Sho3box has very generously lent me Skabsquig’s Skallywags for these Battle at the Farm photos.  You can see more of them here and here.

Crimson Fists parading their farm candy.

This terrain I’m using as the iconic Rogue Trader farm is going to launch on Kickstarter imminently from the excellent Fogou Models.  Mr. Fogou sent me an advance casting in return for me taking photographs like this.

Crimson Fists Painting Tutorial

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how I paint Crimson Fists, so I photographed a Marine inbetween each step of the blue power armour process.

If you want to see these steps broken down, wth the techniques and theory behind them spelt out the tutorial is available on Patreon. The skills you’ll learn are transferable to all colours of power armour.

Coming soon – another Rogue Trader Crimson Fists squad and maybe a character!

It’s the first Choose Your Own Adventurers of 2018, a group project where axiom, sho3box and I take turns painting a classic from the Rogue Trader Adventurers range.  This time I present Battle Brother Groma from the Crimson Fists Space Marine Chapter, and Ruin Priest Theodolitus from the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Only the strongest will surv-ey.

This pair came into being as I’ve already painted iconic archaeologist Indiana Jones for the project, and it’s made me want some more Warhammer 40,000 excavation personnel.

Theodolitus is an Adeptus Mechanicus Ruin Priest (not to be confused with the Rune Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus or Space Wolves), specialising in archaeological investigation.  You can see from his hunched back and tattered trousers that Theodolitus has spent his entire career painstakingly trowelling back trenches hoping to uncover archaeotech secrets and alien artefacts from ancient times.  He is a very different adherent of the Cult Mechanicus to the Tech-priest Enginseers normally seen repairing machinery mid-battle; Theodolitus only works on battlefields abandoned centuries ago.  Actual warfare – he wouldn’t touch that with a ten foot pole.

Check out the holstered trowel added to the Ruin Priest’s belt. 

Theodolitus is a minor conversion of the standard RT601 Adventurers Tech-priest.  I replaced his staff with brass wire, but kept the original top with its 1980s Adeptus Mechanicus wing symbol – simply flipping it backwards and adding a ball of putty painted like a survey lens.  On the back of his belt I added his trusty archaeology trowel – “Trenchbane” – made from a diamond of plasticard, a length of wire, and putty.

Theodolitus recording an ancient battlefield containing wreckage of an original Mars Pattern Warhound Titan.

Battle Brother Groma has been temporarily requisitioned by from the Crimson Fists Chapter to serve with the Explorators of the Adeptus Mechanicus.  Groma served in his Chapter as a Fire Support Specialist, relaying the coordinates of the rocket strikes of the Crimson Fists’ Whirlwind formations.  He is equally at home operating the las-survey devices of the Adeptus Mechanicus to record their archaeological digs, though it took him time to adjust to the tedium of measuring points on a landscape without witnessing their fiery destruction seconds later.

Groma’s graffitied survey case and his freehand Crimson Fists Chapter icon.

I converted Groma from the biker-with-scanner torso from the 1980s Space Marine bike range.  His legs are a mongrel of metal biker legs and RTB01 plastic legs.  The tripod is plastic rod, and bits box spares.  The toolboxes with dinky padlocks are courtesy of Ramshackle Games.

I decided on Crimson Fists colours as it’s the iconic Rogue Trader look, and it might lead in to a Battle at the Farm project later in the year.  I experimented with several different blues, trying to keep him away from the Ultramarines Blue as seen on my Rogue Trader Marneus Calgar, settling on a mix of Citadel Mordian Blue, Citadel Mechanicus Standard Grey and Vallejo Royal Purple.  The key to a classic Crimson Fists scheme is staying away from white and gold, and getting in a lot of crimson.

Groma sometimes imagines Theodolitus and his sodding pole obliterated in a storm of rocket fire when he glimpses him through his sights.

Check out sho3box for the next thrilling Rogue Trader miniature!  You can find a selection of the other Choose Your Own Adventurers episodes below.