What do you do when you don't feel like you've finished a project in a cool 15 years or so? Stomp your way into a full blown army full of throwback and retro models, new school bits and bobs, and a few techniques you haven't touched in just as long of course!
Enter: The Star Phantoms.
A little while through last year I decided I was going to start a Star Phantoms army to jump back into The Badab War. I have a long history with the conflict, and ArbitorIan had just done another fantastic breakdown about the Star Phantoms over on Youtube. I had some old models, and a gaming group that's interested in the old stuff around me so I thought, why not! The ensuing months of model prep, conversions, metal model stripping and pinning, and new techniques have been a blast. It's like getting to relive some of the old days only this time with the wonderful resource that is the Forgeworld books at hand from the very start (I built most of my Sons of Medusa force years before they even launched those!).
As you can see above I have the bulk of an army in a good state. With one squad of terminators finished, another nearly done, and a captain ready to lead them. The main composition of the army adds that tactical squad, devastator squad, predator and dreadnought to the mix. I also may have gone a little overboard with how many characters I built out the gate, so those and a few extra wargear options will be on the back burner until the main group is complete.
As you can see above I have the bulk of an army in a good state. With one squad of terminators finished, another nearly done, and a captain ready to lead them. The main composition of the army adds that tactical squad, devastator squad, predator and dreadnought to the mix. I also may have gone a little overboard with how many characters I built out the gate, so those and a few extra wargear options will be on the back burner until the main group is complete.
It's been exciting to bring these old models back to life. Some of the terminators have been with me since I first started playing Warhammer 40,000 back in the early days of 3rd Edition. In fact a lot of models in this army have been with me for nearly as long. The biggest change is putting them all on appropriately sized bases for current edition play. And if I'm honest, they all just look way better on bulked up larger bases all around.
The army itself has been worked on all at once for the armor. Primed grey, zenithal white, decals, oil wash, chipping, and initial base color happened in one big rush. It was a bit crazy if I'm being honest. But it really got them looking like something quick. The process from here on will be squads of 5 or so taking my time to work on the basics of brush control and paint consistency.
When I get this force finished, I'll be sure to do a real write up about how I went about painting them by giving a full breakdown of colors and steps. Until then, I'll be sure to share the progress as each unit is finished. All the best. -GD
