2020 Hobby Review

Not having to commute to work the last eight and a half months combined with the launch of 40K 9th Edition and its utter lack of connection with my hobbying mojo meant 2020 became the year of Necromunda.  I had started the year full of earnest hobby goals and trying to actually do more hobbying that just buying and assembling models.  The year definitely turned out to be more productive that probably any previous year.

I started out focused on my Steel Legion IG force thinking it was small enough that I could actually complete assembling and painting it.  Made a bit of progress before pandemic lockdowns and other distractions led me astray.

Steel Legion force.  Mostly metal with some officers coming from a combination of Anvil Industries plus Mad Robot Miniatures heads.  Mobile mortars for heavy weapon teams from Victoria Miniatures.

Another long running IG force are my attempt at Arbites.  Originally conceived using the old rules where you could upgrade non-veteran units with carapace and running lots of veterans units with shotguns.  In 2019 I'd finally settled on Anvil Industries regiment bits to get the carapace look but the 8th edition IG codex had stripped them of official rules to spam carapace but I still liked the concept and I love the Arbites so I dabbled a bit more.

I even got another semi-decent concept of using Genestealer Cult allies as the Detective/Special Forces branch of an Arbites precinct.  There would be some modeling carryover from the main Arbites force visually for some of the GSC characters along with Aberrants as Ogryns and maybe a brood brother counts as unit as a breacher squad or some other such thing.  That plus the ridgerunner vehicle as a patrol/scout vehicle were very appealing. 

I got a few of the characters modeled up but again ran out of enthusiasm and inspiration as the shelter in place continued and economic impacts began to be felt in our family finances.  That and the drop of 9th combined to just crush any remaining interest in 40K.

I avoided pandemic hobby interests like gardening or baking and instead picked up my Necromunda books to read a bit closer and brainstorm some terrain and other underhive hobby activities.  I also fortunately discovered the Sump City Radio podcast which explores the depths of Necromunda lore, modeling and gaming while also doing very creative audio segments as an underhive radio station with a diverse set of characters that they and their friends voice which includes news and atmospheric reports for the dome they occupy along with sports, listener advice and other interesting and funny segments.  The second half of 2020 ended up being all Necromunda as a result.

Only have the Sump City Radio station broadcast tower so far but the station building and fenced in yard should come soon.

Sump City Radio also got me excited about the "House of..." books released for four of the original six gangs through their tactical reviews and enthusiasm for the content.  

My 2020 Necromunda hobby output.

Lots of conversions started...

...many inspired by the "House of..." books.

Painted models for 2020.

Arbites Detective Branch - Magus and Biophagus

Psyker Detective Heath - Tried to make some modifications to a metal fantasy model to bring it more in line with 40K.  A GSC Magus has an autopistol, cultist knife and force stave.  The kukri in her belt takes care of the knife while a Scion command rod becomes the force stave.  She's busy manifesting a psychic power so the gunskull will be her pistol.  It's more of a needle pistol in look with one of greatest bits, a more ornate double vial of who knows what from the Dark Angels Veterans sprue as the ammo feed, but it fits with a detective potentially working more quietly than the standard Arbite in carapace armor racking their shotgun in the middle of the street.

 Magos Krieger is a Mechanicus magos biologus assigned to the Arbites detectives divison.  He'll run closely with the Ogryns who will count as the Aberrants in the force to boost them in game.  I gave him an Escher chem thrower arm as the injector goad while a Mechanicus radium pistol counts as the auto pistol.  The little servo arm coming over the shoulder is a camera recording the combat for later analysis 

The magos and their counts as alchemical familiar.  More usage of the double vial as extra ammo since a single vial is the ammo for the injector goad.

Counts as Patriarch - Judge Press

Less time commuting and more time walking through my neighborhood the past two weeks has given me time to brainstorm more modeling ideas and even follow up with a conversion or two to see how things might work.  Below is a picture of Arbitrator Judge Press built to serve as the Patriarch of a counts as Genestealer Cult force.  Counts as forces are always fun to brainstorm and in this case the intimate local knowledge and the ambush/skirmish nature of the GSC seemed like it would work well for representing how the Detectives and Specialized operatives of a large enough Arbites precinct might function on the battlefield if it had to transition from everyday life to a war footing.

Judge Press and one of his psychic familiars.
I knew the GSC Patriarch was perched on a pipe so I built up the base for
him to stand on.

Then I found the Patriarch model from the Deathwatch Overkill boxed set for
a quick size comparison.  I'd forgotten how big the Patriarch model is on it's own.

So I went back and added some more height to the Judge's base.  Much better.
The downside to counts as modeling is that you can't always match the
presence of the original model. 

Ambots, Arbites and Illness

A week ago I had a busy, productive Saturday that by evening time turned into a nagging cough which by Sunday midday was a fever, chills, aches, etc. For three days solid my mind was clear of all interest in any sort of hobby thought or action.  40K is a pretty constant presence in my daily activities or thoughts so it is always interesting to see what knocks it out.

In the last couple of days I've managed to build the two Ambots that have been sitting in my Necromunda cue.  It was a nice surprise that you end up with two extra pairs of legs and a small pile of other bits.

Converted Arbites bomb disposal servitor moves through Ambot depot.

Arbites are another long running 40K passion of mine.  Below are a couple of Hasslefree Miniatures converted to be a detective and her ratling sergeant/lifeward/gunslinger.  I seemed to be going for dirty concrete bases with limited success.  I need to come up with some background for the detective and her partner.  I watch a lot of detective shows and I like the idea of these two investigating cases mid-hive in what might pass for a normal community of different types of workers, Administratum and other Imperial citizens.  Not quite a cozy mystery if it's at all connected to the broader 40K universe but also not a Judge Dredd, "I AM THE LAW!!!!!" type of setting either.  The Fantasy Flight Games 40K RPG books were the inspiration for the bomb disposal servitor conversion and, while very much were intended to help set the stage for solving 40K mysteries, are also great fluffy sources of detail for life in the Imperium off the front lines.

Arbites "Army"

I've long wanted to have an Arbites army despite their place in the background of 40K making army sized deployments extremely unlikely.  In a universe focused on war, amidst other Imperial organizational factions like the Inquisition and the Ministorium who are much more likely to field army sized forces, I wanted them to be able to take the field in narrative moments of insurrection, invasion and insanity.  

Over the years I have attempted to start such an army several times with the help of other hobbyists like Tim Hucklebery and BoLS.  There were conversions to go along with those attempts, of course:

March 2007

January 2013

Sometimes many conversions inspired again by other hobbyists like John's Toy Soldiers...

February 2013

...but like all of my 40K projects they got no further.  Maybe a few more years passing and blogging about the next attempt will improve upon my current track record.  

2020 Update:  Never finishing means you can always start over which I did in the summer of 2019 with bits from Anvil Industry including their medium armor torsos, shortcoat legs and armored arms combined with the Skitarii Vanguard heads which is another idea borrowed from the hobby community.  The plan has generally been to run them as Astra Militarum veterans with three special weapons.  The 2013 Arbites will be downgraded to local enforcers to fill out a basic infantry platoon and maybe a maxed out squad of conscripts.

June 2019