There’s nothing more satisfying than when an army project finally starts looking like an actual army. You have several units done, some vehicles, and some characters, and you can lay them all out in front of you and bask in the glory of their assembled might. Now, we’ve finally reached that point in the Arena of Escalation at The Army Painter, our Warhammer 40,000 escalation league! We’re at the halfway point of our league and our contestants have been painting furiously to get their collections to a place where they’re happy with them.
The “official” goal for this checkpoint was to add about 500 points worth of models from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 to the army and some have exceeded that, and some have added a bit less, but it’s all part of the hobby journey. The one thing everyone accomplished was to add some awesome looking models to their armies, which is what we all want to see after all!
Thomas: My police force is taking shape!
For this update, I want to show my riot-shield-carrying guys as well as two of my sentinels. I also painted two more characters just in case I needed them – an Inquisitor and a Priest. Last but not least, I also painted a squad of Voidsmen at arms, simply because I think the models are awesome!
Also – Please notice the freehand markings on my riot-shields and shoulders, as well as the markings on the sentinels. It takes a while to paint that much freehand on that many models, but I think it’s well worth it! I found it easy to do once I found a good balance with added Warpaints Stabilizer and Retarder, and a Wargamer Detail Brush. The Stabilizer will thin the paint and make it easy to control the flow from the brush, and the Retarder will prolong the drying time – when using a detail brush to paint freehand that’s a good feature to have!
Next, I need to add some artillery and then a small force of Mechanicum in the shape of Servitors, an Engineseer and some Ogryns that look a lot like Riot Robots!!
You can follow Thomas' progress on his Instagram @coltaupainting.
Erasmus: Finishing Phase 2 of the arena finally gives me my first look at how this Ork force will look like as a complete army on the table. 20 Boyz is nothing to sneeze at, but I do think my hard work paid off. Finding fun ways to pose the Boyz was great since they are already so dynamic in their poses.
I especially dig the Boy hiding behind the plants poking his shoota out. It was a great idea from my wife who had a lot of great ideas for the bases - with even crazier ones to come!
The groundwork I did by painting up the Deff Dread first transferred nicely to the Deffkoptas. The vehicles are a lot of fun to paint take much longer. I think this Waaagh is starting to take shape and all those puny humies better watch out....
Oliver: Hello fellow army painters - I present to you the next sphere of expansion for the Tau Empire!
Commander Farsight spearheaded the project with his retinue of Crisis Suits, but now the backbone of the force arrives.
For battleline troops, we have Fire Warriors in a Devilfish. Their long-range weaponry is supported by a warband of Kroot mercenaries - clearly the Greater Good is embraced by all! More battle suits join the fray, with additional Crisis Suits, Broadside Suits, Stealth Suits, a Ghostkeel, and even a second Commander to help Farsight guide his growing force. A unit of Pathfinders adds some new strategic options, and even though I imagine Farsight scoffs at their camouflage, he probably does see the merit in not having bright red armour in a scouting role...
I have more painted models ready, but they are for the next sphere of expansion. Big things to come.
Jonas: Phew! Applying my paint scheme on a larger batch of miniatures was more of a challenge timewise than I had originally thought. A ton of real-life stuff was happening, which basically meant I didn’t paint for a month on these. To me, they aren't arcane Grey Knights if they don't have all the detailed scribbling on the tomes and purity seals, and I can't apply the glow effect until I have everything else on the miniature up to the standard I want. So, I ended up spending more time on parts you don't notice as much since the glow effect draws the eye so much. Going forward I will see if I can dedicate more time to the things that are visually striking and less to the things only I notice.
I'm super stoked about how my Dreadknight/Penitent Engine kit bash turned out. I really need to thank Lasse who donated the Penitent Engine parts (I owe you a beer, mate!) and also to MoonriseRunner on the Grey Knights subreddit for giving me the initial inspiration for this. Creativity is synthesis and we don't get great ideas in a vacuum.
As for the next phase I'm going to tackle the object of my desires. The whole reason I committed to this crazy journey in the first place - a Cerastus Castigator Knight!
This centerpiece is important for me, so I plan to take the time with it that I feel it deserves. That means finding a cool pose, building a great scenic base, and making customisations to the sculpt, but that is all the creative process and it's the part that I'm here for!
You can follow Jonas' progress on his Instagram @paphoved_design.
Danni: Last month I painted my Hekaton Land Fortress for my Leagues of Votann. This was the first large model or vehicle I've ever painted, so it was quite the project to tackle. Luckily, I had Thomas to help me out by guiding me through a bunch of tips and tricks for how to make such a large model more manageable to paint. I'm really happy with how it turned out.
In fact, we recorded the whole process for it as a video! It was such a large model though, and I had to edit the video for it as well, that I didn't manage to finish any additional models. It's still a huge chunk of my army though, and while everyone else is working on their large centrepiece minis, I'll be able to knock out some more infantry and smaller vehicles instead. I got the Leagues of Votann Combat Patrol to work on next and I'm excited to dive into all of the units inside.
You can watch Danni's video for his Hekaton Land Fortress below!
You can follow Danni's progress on his Instagram @beertasticbear.
Check back in later this week for the second half of the armies and let us know which one is your favorite!
Be sure to check the Arena of Escalation hub for more updates in the future, as well as on our social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), YouTube, and TikTok. You can also follow along on everyone's personal social media accounts with the hashtag #ArenaofEscalation.
