This is what happens to those who do not bend to the Emperors will!

  As me and a few friends are getting ready for the Indy Open GT we have all been play-testing and painting furiously. My play testing has not been going so well. But its not due to the fault of the list, its the fault of a TRAITOR! My dice have turned on me for the last time and now one will pay to teach the rest a harsh lesson.  Obey the Emperors will or burn.

Photo and sacrificial dice by MasterShake

I know this really Isn't  a Squat update but I felt I needed to put something up. I had to switch my focus back to my marines these past 2 weeks in preparation for the upcoming tournament. I promise to post more updates soon.

                                                                         

40k Squats Engineers WIP

Here is a pic of my Engineers I've been working on. The one in the center represents my Demo Charge Squat. The guild master is still WIP, hes holding the remote for it.

Enjoy
Beef

Thinking outside the GW box.

  I have been trying to find ways of incorporating fluff into my Squat units. I keep coming back to one line I read. "Squat technology is based upon the heavy mining equipment they brought with them to the Home Worlds. During their isolation from the rest of humanity they adapted it for other uses, notably exo-armour which was engineered from heavy mining suits. Squats continued to innovate and invent while humanity sank into a Dark Age." So this prompted me to start looking outside the GW range for minis that would bring this fluff out and bring my Fighting 55's up to date. It actually proved more difficult than I imagined. After some suggestions from friends and a couple goodies I found on my own I think i found some cool minis that kinda brings this fluff to light.

First off i wanted some sort of mining drone that could have been adapted for security and military use and i found this little guy from Alpha Forge .  I plan on using one in each of my units as a spotter.

Next up we have The M.U.L.E a Traktor Mul from Infinity. I absolutely love this model and plan on some minor conversions to make it like a multi tasking platform for cargo, communications, wounded evac, and small weapons platform. This also will accompany each of my Squat units.

  Oh yeah i cant forget my Engineers. They need to have some added tech too. So i decided to go with these little guys from Kromlech to represent Demo Charges.

Lastly we just cant ignore the Exo-Suits. I myself am not a big fan of the original egg shaped guys. But you just cant have Squats with out representing them in some form. These wont be in the first army build but being overzealous  I've already planned ahead and picked up a few from my good friend Silashand in CO. They are Grizzly Exo-Suits from the Starship Trooper line of minis. Super good sculpt and personally I think these are way better than the eggs. 

  So there you have it. A little help from friends and some leg work from myself turns up some very cool representations of fluff for my Squats. 

  One last thought. If anyone has any more cool suggestions I'm all ears. 

Thanks for reading,
Beef

Not going to cut the mustard.

    I got in what I was going to use for my Vendettas but I don't think they are going to cut the mustard. I can just see these little guys getting judge calls or flat out not able to play them as Vendettas. They are barely the size of one wing on a Valkyrie. Here is a size comparison with a Storm Talon vs Robogear Condor.

                       

   If you are looking for an alternative to Storm Talons this will work nicely. But its just not going to suite my needs ATM. Maybe ill save them for another Squat build using SM.

40k Squats Test Mini Based

  I went ahead and based my test mini for a competition at my local game store. Its not the basses I'm using for my army but It definitely looks cool.

Enjoy,
Beef

Squat 40k Collectors corner.

   So i figured i would try and squeeze in a little collectors segment here. All of us have bought exactly what we needed for x army list. I'm so guilty of this its not even funny. What happens soon after, at least for me is I start finding little guys I don't have and boom I'm full blown buying stuff up. Then the collector part of me kicks in...... my wallet screams and I end up with even more minis. Is that a bad thing? Well if you ask my wife she rolls her eyes. If you ask me or some of the guys i game with you see excitement.

   Generally when researching old minis the first place I go Is SOLegends. There is just a plethora of knowledge and ranges for you to view. Most of the time they are complete other times you get partial information and zero pics. If your lucky you stumble across a collectors guide someone has taken there time to do. Thank goodness for these folks. They always seem to find stuff i miss. Here is a great guide I found for 40k Squats Squat collectors Guide . The next thing i do is look for blogs and pics of minis for that army. After that the $$$ flies out of my wallet.......

  I hope this helps out those collectors out there. Or maybe inspired some folks to just check out some old minis they have never seen.

Good luck on whatever army you collect,
Beef

40k Squat pics of what I'm painting up.

  Well i still have not received all of my new toys. However i decided to go ahead and post up some pics of what i have received over the past couple of weeks. These are the Squats I have chosen to put into the army so far but that is always subject to change when you get your hands on another cool model.

Oh yeah sorry for the bad pics. I'm trying to get better with the equipment i have. Be patient it will get better in time.

40K Squat Engineers with shotguns, Manticore Turret and Gun Emplacement.

                 Heavy Mortar, Thudd Gunns and 2 squads of 10 Squats.

         Manticore Turret, Gun Emplacement, Thudd Guns, 3 squads of 10 Squats,                  Command Squad and Lord Commissar

I'm still waiting on my Hades Breaching Drills, 1 more Heavy Mortar and my Vendettas. I can feel my patience dwindling........ Oh well just have to wait another day and cross my fingers the rest comes in soon.

40k Squats a test mini.

Ok so midst other things i was busy doing this weekend i got a chance to start painting. Here is my first test mini. Hes not done all the way yet. I just wanted to get some colors on the uniform to see if what i had in my head would look good on the mini.

Enjoy,
Beef

What should i use for my Iron Eagle Vendettas?

Well now I'm just a bit unsure which model i want to use for my Vendettas. I already ordered some models from Russia i had planned on using then Puppets War tossed this into my face. What to do...

http://puppetswar.com/product.php?id_product=187

Display Board

   So i decided to get my display board and basses done first. The idea is to make it look like cracked tiles similar to a ceramic mosaic. Here is what i have so far. I used a tea tray as the base and foam board for the insert. I made my template then cut almost all the holes with a whole saw. The ovals i had to hand cut....

The beginning.....

   My name is Beef and i am about to attempt something I never thought i would do. Im going to share my painting and collecting passion with everyone. Im not much of a writer so bare with me…. I have been a Fantasy/40k gamer and collector of dwarves for many years but recently i was fortunate to get an army of 40k Squats. Hopefully i will be able to do them justice and end up with a fantastic looking army that i have been dreaming about for years.

  For about a month now i have had these little guys on my mind. Trying to come up with a theme that would stand out but still be comical.. I found some transfers of smiley faces with 5s for eyes and bullet holes in the center that i thought suited my Squats and the whole idea hit me. I decided to make my Squats Mercenaries (IG) and dub them the Fighting 55s. Later i ran across another smiley face that had “sit on my smiley face” as a caption. So a little play on words and “Squat on my smiley face” became the project name. Since then i have been trying to come up with ways to bring all of my ideas together and i think i figured it out. I really hope you enjoy my blog and ill try my hardest to keep it up to date with new pics and articles.