In the Beginning

Yesterday, I started basecoating the three Sisters I primed. I can already see that I need to work harder at getting my paint properly thinned and on my patience. Focus.

This Is The First Day Of My Last Days

Today is Sunday. This is the day of the week I both dread and enjoy the most. On one hand, I must go to work a full 2 hours earlier than my other early day, three hours earlier than my standard shift. The upside is that I get to ride my Triumph to work. So, no free time on one hand, motorcycle time on the other. At least there is a chance that I will get out around midnight, so bully for me.

Today is also the last day that I will let pass without lifting a paint brush. I have dedicated myself to painting every day, even if I only have 20 minutes to spare. I guess I can live without Mafia Wars for a day, right? My plan is to paint my Sisters of Battle at a steady pace. I have a philosophy about painting that basically states this: Miniatures are too expensive to paint sloppily, hastily, and badly.

I feel it is my responsibility to paint my minis with care, precision, and effort. I am not a 'Eavy Metal level painter, but I can do good work if I am patient and focus. My plan of attack is to paint in batches of 3-10 Sisters, increasing the number per batch as I go. I am starting with the standard Sisters, then the Serephim, then the Celestians, then the characters, then the tanks. I have two Penitent Engines that will be painted last, so that I can paint them to a high standard. After all of that has been painted, and I do mean all, I will reward myself with a unit or two of Mordian Iron Guard. Mordians are my second favorite models, behind the Sisters, and are something I have always wanted to do. They are a little pricey, but I think I can justify a platoon to use as an adjunct ally, if I paint all of my Sisters first.

My Sisters of Battle paint scheme is adapted from an old issue of White Dwarf. I will be painting the armour bone and the cloth red. The bone colour will be achieved by working from a Codex Gray undercoat to 2:1 Codex and Bleached Bone, 1:1 Codex and Bone, 1:2 Codex and Bone, and a final highlight of Bleached Bone. The red will be a much simpler transition from Scorched Brown to 1:2 Scorched Brown and Blood Red, to a pure Blood Red highlight. I am going to use a variety of hair and skin tones because I want to try painting as many skin and hair tones as possible and I hate the clone look that many people use. Personal preference, but a strong one at that.

So, until tomorrow, keep your head up and your brushes down.

Step One of a Journey

I primed three Sisters with helmets white today. Tomorrow I will have no painting time, so Monday is the start of the process.

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together

Yesterday, my primer and Vallejo paints came to the house. I needed Codex Gray and Bleached Bone for the bone coloured armour and Scorched Brown to use as a base for the Blood Red fabric. I'm going to use Bubonic Brown and Codex Gray for gold and steel, with silver being the only true metallic paint I use. I have quite a bit to do, so I better get cracking, eh?

Why Sisters of Battle, Part 2

Theme
One of the strongest reasons I can think of for wanting a Sisters of Battle army is the theme. These are unaltered humans defending mankind from threats, inside and out. They are resolute, sure, and faithful. Plus, they carry flamethrowers. Space nuns with flamethrowers!

Today, The Lawn

I am supposed to mow the lawn today. That is going to be unpleasant.

Why the Sisters of Battle?

The Sisters of Battle are one of Games Workshop's worst selling army, a force of human women fighting genetically altered humans, Orks, Tau, Necrons, Chaos, and Tyranids. For such an unforgiving, and frankly butch, universe, it might seem strange for a straight, married 30-something dude to want to have an all-female army. Because of this seeming disconnect, I am going to explore the appeal of the Sisters, as I see it.

The Models
It might seem obvious, but the models are simply some of the best that GW has ever made. They are simple, elegant, and, best of all, metal. Metal minis are an increasingly rare treat. The weight, the heft in my hand, makes me savor each metal mini I own. The feel of unfinished metal minis is unattainable with plastics. I wish there was a better way to express this, but I cannot find it. The best way to see what I mean is to hold a metal mini in your hand and then a plastic. Plastic has it's place, in the making of tanks and Space Marines and the such, but a metal mini feels special and has a magic to it that no amount of bitz on a sprue can equal for me.
Aside from being metal, it's the design of the thing. From the nun-cum-armour suits they wear, to the tasteful use of fleur-de-lis, the Sisters are well designed. The tanks are also cool, using gothic imagery to be less wargame-lite than the Imperial Guard.

This Blog's Name

This blog's name, My Hatred Heaps Upon This Fire, comes from the KMFDM song Ultra, from the album Nihil. This is my favorite KMFDM album and the lyric comes to mind when I think of the Sisters of Battle. I am not entirely sure why, but it might be the flamers...

About Me

My name is Chuck. I have played Warhammer 40K since 1998 or so. Maybe 'played' is too strong a term. I have been around Warhammer 40K since 1998. My friend Brian painted minis and played a bit and introduced me to the hobby. I was vaguely aware of Warhammer from the ads in Dragon Magazine, but it was an article in InQuest that set me on my path. I was a long time roleplayer and Magic: the Gathering player, at the time, but I was attracted to the artistic elements of Warhammer and 40k, so I kept it in the back of my mind.
In the summer of 2000, my then girlfriend Heather and I moved from the tiny town of Chanute, KS to the college town of Lawrence, KS. We got a little apartment and lived happily, if not lavishly. Lawrence, being a college town, had a vibrant gaming scene. I ended up getting hooked on Warhammer 40K to the point of trading my Magic: the Gathering collection for an Imperial Guard army. That army was traded for a Tau army, which was traded for a Space Wolves army. That Space Wolves army got swapped for a Dwarf army I still own. Simultaneously, I had picked up some bargains on Eldar, via eBay. Without a new codex on the horizon, Eldar values plummeted. I was able to gather almost an entire army for under $100. That army got traded for a mass force of Orks, which I most probably should have kept. The Orks were traded for some Space Marine stuff. That Space Marine stuff sat unused for a couple years.
Uninspired by the upcoming Space Wolves Codex, I decided to trade my army for one that always seems to be available, the Necrons. I like the Necrons visually and the lack of viable army list options is more of a boon to someone like me than a minus. I put my ad up on Bartertown and got a reply hours later. A dude named Rob offered me some Sisters of Battle. I was almost faint.
The article in InQuest, now departed, featured a picture of the then new Sisters of Battle alongside the text. I was enamored by the Sisters for reasons a later post will explain. Each time I traded armies, I looked for someone trading a Sisters of Battle force, but the fates never put one in my path. I took this golden opportunity and traded with Rob. Now I have a Sisters of Battle army of my own and a mission.
I will play a game of 40k, with my own, fully painted army, by next summer. This blog is designed to goad me into continuing to build, paint, and, hopefully, play this army. I mean, does it count as 'playing' 40k when you have not played a game since 3rd Edition? I doubt it.