I love you, painting. Painting, I hate you.

Shake your paint. Shake your margarita.

Before 'Ard Boyz, I reworked and rewrote my entire Tau army list, radically changing much of what I was bringing to the table. Many of the units I previously relied on have since been taken out completely, such as my Hammerhead and Piranha, while several others were added, like the Pathfinders and Broadsides. I have become less enamored of my Crisis Suits and Fire Warrior teams and more hooked on my Kroot squads.

When I first started playing the game, I had no idea how the units and their stats would really operate during the battle. I purchased units based on how cool the model looked (Not necessarily a bad thing since it is a modeling hobby.) or how I suspected they would work during the game. Experience, specifically the experience having my ass handed to me game after game, has taught me quite a bit. The Tau is not a forgiving army. One lousy assault phase and I am toast. Yet even as I rework my army list, reconsider what units I am going to use, and play more games, one thing has remained the same:

It's not an army until it is painted.

In a previous post I wrote about this in greater detail. To summarize, anyone can claim they have a 5000 point army, but if it isn't painted it's just plastic that has been glued together. A credit card does not an army make.

My goal is to have my Tau army completed by January 1st of 2012. I love my Red Star Cadre, but it is time to start a new army and enjoy playing a different style of game. Despite concurrently working on my Raven Guard Space Marines, my focus at the new year will be my Orks. I would like to play a radically different army from the Tau and I look forward to using the assault phase for more than jumping my Crisis Suits away from the fight and picking up my miniatures. I have a few scattered units of Orks painted, but come 2012, my focus will be on the Boyz. That is if I finish my current Tau force by 2012. Here's what remains the be painted:

• Devilfish (x2)
• Helios pattern Crisis Suit (x1)
• Broadside XV-88 (x1)
• Carrot Kroot Squad (x20)
• Banana Kroot Squad (x20)
• Tomato Kroot Squad (x20)
• Krootox (x3)
• Kroot hounds (x4) 

I will be updating this blog with photos from the finished models as they are done. Here is their current state of completion for future comparison:

Two Tau Devilfish for my Pathfinder teams. The gun drones and flying bases are already completed.

Carrot Squad Kroot. Each of my Kroot squads are named after a vegetable or fruit.

The XV-88's guns have been magnetized to his shoulders and are painted separately.

Helios-pattern Crisis Suit. He will be part of a matching two-battlesuit team.

I doubt I will ever use the Tomato squad Krootox in a competitive game, but they look cool and will be finished.

Here are my Banana Kroot squad. Also, Raven Guard Terminators that I am working on as part of my Pinturama Painting Campaign. I work on the Space Marines piecemeal as a break from my normal painting duties.



Although Kroot hounds are not a normal part of my 1500 point list, they will be used to fill out larger army lists.