Here we are, clutching a shiny new edition starter box for us to fail to paint before 11th Edition comes out in 2026. Let’s look at what people got done in the last burst before 10th Edition hit. Everyone who tried to paint something is a winner. Everyone who finished a project is a double-winner.
And we’ll announce the super special winners at the end.
Thank You to The Army Painter
Of course before we dive in we’d like to thank our sponsor The Army Painter for sponsoring this competition and providing prizes to our winners – each will receive a Wet Palette from The Army Painter.
Thundercloud
I pledged 5 heavy intercessors, 1 Primaris Lieutenant, 1 Brutalis Dreadnought, 3 Outriders and 5 Desolator marines. A total of 15 models.
What did I actually get done?
2 Primaris Lieutenants (a spare assault intercessor body gets you two from the new multipart lieutenant sprue), a Primaris Company Champion, 5 Heavy Intercessors and 5 Infernus marines. I got the new Terminator squad to a tabletop standard but not based, putting me within spitting distance of having the new marine combat patrol completed.
I didn’t paint what I’d pledged, but I got 3 squads and 3 characters done, so I’m happy with that.
Summer Tao
I pledged to complete 5 Assault Intercessors with jump packs, 5 Primaris Tactical marines, and 3 Primaris Outriders. I was working under some extra time pressure as I had to complete my project before 14 June because I travelled away for a month on a family engagement.
I’m happy to report that I completed my project ahead of schedule and above standard. Which is something you’d never hear in engineering.
The Outriders got some simple conversion work to bring them in line with my chapter’s doctrine of using bikers as a recon force, rather than an assault force. That meant some climbing gear, long-range comms equipment and less aggressive rider poses.
The 5-person Assault Intercessor squad was just a shot at putting some jump packs onto Primaris bodies. I may expand this to a 10-person squad and run them as Vanguard Veterans or something. I think it’s frankly criminal that we haven’t gotten a good jump pack Primaris kit yet. Just a few scattered single models and Suppressors who still can’t be obtained on their own. Like, what?
The Primaris-scale Tactical Squad was my favourite part of this project. I saw fit to give 9th Edition a send-off by building a homage to my very first 40K kit. I started in 7th Edition with a box of tactical marines and it marked the beginning of journey I’m still part of.
This Tactical Squad consists of the classic two combat squads (no longer a thing in 10th Edition). The first combat squad is a short-ranged element led by a veteran sergeant and former Deathwatch trooper. They have a smattering of short-ranged weaponry for doorkicking and similar operations. A good excuse to break out some Deathwatch bits.
The long-ranged element gets a designated marksman with a Stalker rifle, a missile launcher, and a comms trooper. It’s led by a sergeant with the old-school Mk. VII head – a nod to the classic tactical squad.
As usual, my units are done up in my homebrew Iron Panthers colours, and I’m very happy with my current tabletop standard presented here.
Ian Donovan
This is the biggest single model submitted. A Thunderhawk. It could probably kill everything else in the competition in 1v1. The subdued blue-grey on this scheme was a good pick, as it mutes and otherwise complex and busy model. The highlights and details are that much more prominent because of the contrast afforded by a simple basic scheme.
Michael Nichetta
Michael’s Lion El’Jonson strides from mystic forests ready for war. Lords of War make for phenomenal painting projects since each one makes for such a large chunk of effort and points. We’ve got some nice detail work on the belt and notably, Michael opted for the pre-Heresy Dark Angels colour scheme in black and red – a nod to the Lion’s origins.
Thomas Jeffries
Thomas came at us with a scenery piece. Scenery often gets neglected or rushed when it’s just as much a part of the game’s immersion as our models. We love to see a deviation from the classic walled defence line in this bunker-style piece. Good on ya, Thomas.
Adam Parker
Sometimes you need a big centrepiece model, and for many editions of 40k, dreadnoughts were those models. Red works on this as the accent colour, contrasting nicely with the black, which is a great base for the chapter symbols and markings.
Shouting Fungus
This is an entry that I actually really love. The Wardog models are great, and a Wardog actually makes a great centrepiece for a small army, or a great addition to a Chaos force, let alone a full Chaos Knights force. I’m old enough to remember a time when a model this size would be the the centrepiece model, but they weren’t as detailed back then.
This is a great paint and transfer job, and shows what you can do with patience, a lot of transfers, and a good idea.
Finishing the morning of release still counts, right?
Build and paint: 72h, 24min
Transfers: 14h, 49min
Number of transfers: 196
Total time: 87h, 13min#Readyfor10th https://t.co/sF7G7aj7fD pic.twitter.com/CxDAxd7YXw— Mark (@ShoutingFungus) June 24, 2023
Jeff Vyman
More Chaos Knight action, this time with getting close to 1k of knights painted up. Getting that amount of stuff done is a great achievement, and gets you putting an army on the table and playing games with it.
101 Phase
Necron time. The Necron half of the elite starter gives you a nice start on a Necron army, and 101 phase has made a great start on a Necron force here.
Hell of a challenge! Built and Painted #Necron half of the 9th ed Elite Starter. Overlord inspired by General Grievous, Warriors and Destroyers inspired by Terminator, Scarabs and Plasmacyte inspired by War of the Worlds Tripods #readyfor10th #goonhammer pic.twitter.com/iRfqjpK4P0
— 101Phase (@101Phase) June 28, 2023
Ankur
Ankur has painted a mixed group, consisting of two Kill team sized units and a classic 2nd edition Predator with metal turret. I started my Blood Angel army putting together a Kill Team and expanding out, and getting Kill Teams finished gets you playing games. The 2nd edition Predator with metal turret is a kit I have fond memories of, and it’s great to see one restored to use in games.
Adam Couch
People are loving Word Bearers out there in the wide world, and this Horus Heresy army (which I’ve been assured comes to over 12 points and can be used for small games) is what happens when you follow through on a planned project and get it finished. Tactical marines are the bread and butter of a lot of heresy armies, and getting that many done is where a lot of players struggle. The paint jobs are neat, transfers are well used, and it’ll look good when it hits the table.
Vulkans Forge
Test models are actually something I’d recommend a lot of people do, especially if they aren’t certain or a scheme or how to achieve it (with my own Blood Angels I’ve vaccilated between the Eavy Metal style and a grittier more Richard Gray style, and the MK6 I’ve done are painted in the latter). Test models let you see how it will look, try to techniques you are thinking about and see if you’ll actually enjoy painting the scheme. So congrats to Vulkans Forge for experimenting and taking a risk.
Threw together another test model aiming to get the devourer colour to go with the rest since it looked to be quite a harsh contrast before 😅 heading in the right direction I think 😃 #PaintingWarhammer #WarhammerCommunity #Warmongers #Tyranids #ReadyFor10th pic.twitter.com/WXtEHESLYF
— FromVulkansForge (@Vulkans_Forge) June 14, 2023
Sanya Labra
I really like these. I’ve got a soft spot for the Forgeworld robots, and they make great stand ins for demon prince sized units. I also know how much of a pain painting that much white is, so you have my admiration there.
‘Just finished a ‘Daemon Prince’ for my Clean Death Guard… 🙂#WarhammerCommunity #warhammer40k #Readyfor10th pic.twitter.com/dL4XjNJbLE
— Sanya 🏳️⚧️ (@SanyaLabra) June 7, 2023
Brian Smith (Beer and Rockets)
This one is a link to a thread of pics, where Brian get’s into painting up chaos knights and custodes. And yes, it’s about finishing that one last project.
Starting a mini-thread for Goonhammer’s #Readyfor10th #NEW40k painting challenge. Had aggressive goals, and then life happened. I was going to just give up, but I re-read this sentence, “It’s about getting one last project done before 10th Edition hits.” https://t.co/zhSKAUmOx6
— Brian Smith (@BeerAndRockets) June 21, 2023
Winner: Neal Hoffman
Neal painted a lot of Word Bearers, and we mean a lot of them. Enough to conquer some Imperial worlds, or terrorise an unready garrison. We’ve got everything here. Terminator leaders! Obliterators! Warp Talons! Cultists on Chaos Juice! Abaddon the Despoiler (guy could use religion after all these years)! There’s a ton of stuff here, making it arguably the winner of our “most shameful” category. Or Most Prolific. Whatever, we like these.
Some special kudos should be given to the decal work on the Terminator Champion and Rhino. Experimenting with decals can add so much to a model that simple brush painting can’t do. It gives us results like the finest freehand work in a short span. The addition of text, unit markings, and heraldry can elevate even the simplest unit to new heights.
Knocking out this much stuff in a short span reflects a measured and steady pace of work that most of us have difficulty with. That, or a few nights of feverish, energy-drink addled brushwork. We’ll never know, but Neal clearly put in the hours.
Winner: Alex Whitney
Black Templars get purple trim and cloaks in this force from Alex. The red basing makes the black armour pop, and the weathering and armour scratches gives a lived in feel to the models. We really like the heraldry on these and how they turned out, as well as the dust on the bases. Great stuff.
Winner: Love to Pronk
Well this person got the most done. Just gigantic piles of stuff. An absolute painting legend that would give RichyP a run for his money. They are also our top winner, if we had to pick just one. But we don’t. I won’t talk over much (though getting that amount of terrain done and it looking great is always a massive achievement) but the quality is outstanding here. Congratulations!
Finally done with the boarding action terrain, just in time to be #readyfor10th ボーディングアクションテレインやっと完成しました！#WarhammerCommunity #warhammer40k #PaintingWarhammer pic.twitter.com/ky1TXeng50
— Tommy (@love2pronk) June 21, 2023
Finished up my magnetized Starweaver / Voidweaver! Please bring back Harlequin detachment rules and I’ll be #readyfor10th ハーレクイン塗り始めたら一気にアーミールールなくなるのは悲しいすぎる！#WarhammerCommunity #PaintingWarhammer #warhammer40k pic.twitter.com/OxDp0JiM1U
— Tommy (@love2pronk) June 30, 2023
Last 3 Tau Breachers bring my total to 20 fully painted! #readyfor10th ずっとダラダラしてたが、最後の3体やっと終わりました！タウ・ブリーチャー20体揃いました！#WarhammerCommunity #PaintingWarhammer #paintingminiatures pic.twitter.com/YsVDO8mk1I
— Tommy (@love2pronk) June 24, 2023
But it’s this that clinched him as our winner.
Finally finished Farsight – does he count as a god of war? #readyfor10th #armiesonparade2023 コマンダー・ファーサイト完成しました！#WarhammerCommunity #PaintingWarhammer pic.twitter.com/YlWDcDYprW
— Tommy (@love2pronk) June 27, 2023
Everyone who submitted their projects did great, and congratulations again to Love2Pronk. I’ll see you all again in the next painting challenge.
Have any questions or comments? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com.
