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I'm starting an IG regiment called the 501st Nightside. These guys dwell on what is essentially a nightworld at the outer edge of the Balanor system near the Eye of Terror. Named Nightside (designated 18158), the planet has one side permanently facing away from their sun (they dwell on the dark side hence the name). Like Cadia, the Nightside regiment was raised to guard against Chaos incursions and Black Crusades and generally be a forward monitoring station. The population dwell mainly in the temperate zone near the planets terminator since the intense heat from the star "spills" into the dark side of the planet and life can sustain itself there (albeit in the dark). There are masses of pine forests and mountains surrounding their facilities and cities and they're all blue/gray in colour and of a certain alien nature. Teams of miners tunnel out under the burning hot side of the planet (it's seriously a blasted, molten desert) and huge mining and production operations take place beneath the surface on that side - the heat however is intense so environmental hazard suits must be worn by these personnel (will look in to this much later I think).

Deeper into the centre of the dark side of the planet, strange and terrifying beasts dwell in the cold and the pitch black. Sometimes these beasts come hunting into the populated zones near the demarcation line and wreak havoc before being killed or driven back. Some warriors seek out this wilderness and hunt there frequently to test themselves or to explore - or both. Strange things are said to happen to such men and women who go out into that wilderness for extended periods. Some return pale, complaining that lights in the habitats are "too bright" but being able to function and see perfectly in perfect darkness. Surgical study on past subjects has indicated the presence of a new reflective layer grown over the retinas - a Tapetum Lucidum, similar to those observed in nocturnal creatures such as the cat or the owl. These mutations appear permanent but not threatening in any way - being purely a physical mutation (some say due to the proximity of the EoT. Troopers afflicted by this mutation are pressed back in to service for the Emperor, to use their gift in the fires of combat - they are usually feared by their fellow troops who refer to them as "Shadowlurkers" or "The lucid Ones". One such name they take for their units - The Bright Eyes.

I'm working up a camo scheme for the 501st and didn't want to go black so I started on a blue/urban scheme but also wanted it to reflect their environment. I started a test sample on a spare dozer blade (picture below) and thanks to suggestions from @Slipstream I have continued to re-work and (hopefully) improve my Camo scheme with darker markings which will reflect the pine forests and murky wilderness of the dark side of the planet.

I'm really looking forward to expanding the fluff for these guys as there's all kinds of stuff that can happen because of the wildly different areas on Nightside. The hazardous environment suits are going to be fun to work on but I only recently had the idea and so far I'm not sure how to work it in to the game. Food for thought. The Bright Eyes are intended to be used as Stormtroopers since they're already scary, wilderness-dwelling veterans but I'm going to give them Night Vision/Acute Senses at maybe +2 points per model (not sure if this is fair so I'm open to suggestions). In any case, I'm stoked to hear from anyone about this project and I'll try my best to post regular updates - I'm doing a diploma, work part-time and am in a band too so I'm partly doing this to inspire me to work harder at my painting.

I'm working on a Chimera and my first infantry squad at present. I have no lack of troops (all up I have 10 squads with no heavy weapons and some special weapons), so this may take a while. I play only once a month as my gaming crew are all just as busy as I am. I have a lot of painting to do

That looks really good. A nice jaggedy pattern with the patern covering obviously man-made aspects of the vehicle. Nice work!

Tank, what tank, foom!

Thanks very much! Going to get an airbrush soon to make the workload easier - I still have another 11 tanks to paint and 2 infantry platoons hahahahaha. I really like the black that Davidian used on the camo on this Ork Bomba (link below) but I want to make it a little more subtle. Perhaps some white even but not enough to make it look like a snow scheme. Hmmmmm decisions, decisions!

I like the scheme of the Chimera, but I would suggest that the pattern needs a dark colour added to 'earth' it a bit? By that I mean it needs a darker colour to offset the lighter colours and would give a more sharper camo effect.

@Slipstream: Thanks for the feedback! I agree, it needs more to tie it together, what colour would you suggest? I was thinking black, but a really dark blue or grey might work just as well.

Question: is the lighter color grey or sand colored? It looks sharp. I think Slipstream has a point in that you need a darker color, even if only in dots and dabs. Looks sharp.

Thanks everyone for the feedback, it's very helpful! The lighter colour is Shadow Grey which almost looks like a sky blue once dry. I think it might be the halogen lamp on my desk which gives it that sandy appearance. I think I'm going to give the dark colour idea a go and also layer the whole thing with a few washes of watered down Badab Black or Asurmen Blue.

Does anyone have any tips in watering down and applying washes? They're too thick straight out of the pot.

The lighter color is shadow grey? What's the darker one, then? I figured the darker one was shadow grey and the lighter was either codex grey or khemri brown.

It goes Shadow Grey, then dark jagged bands of Regal Blue, then (on the dozer blade example only) irregular squares of Space Wolves Grey and then stroke-dash things of chaos black which is the part I'm not sure about.

I might do small irregular triangles of chaos black or really dark blue over the final thing instead of the needle things.


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Of course, most of these colour selection names will be obsolete by now with the new paint range but I'm sure there are replicas.

So I've completed the camo on the Chimera after much testing, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Pretty happy about it, I tested some dark markings that I wasn't too happy with on a spare panel (picture below) and tested some blue and black washes on the same panel - wasn't stoked on that idea so I went with a set of markings designed to portray the bracken and dried pine needles of the Nightside forests - and this turned out way better so I'm now sold on this scheme - I also experimented with some gloss varnish and a Tamiya paint that @Slipstream suggested (Nato Black) which I think I'll be using a fair bit more as it did the job well. Still need an airbrush, this takes too long and I don't have a lot of time on my hands. Much more to be done on this tank but for now, let me know what you think, I need to start doing some homework that I've been putting off hahahaha.

This is a very impressive scheme you have going here.

Coming from you that's a real compliment! Love your Cadian force, the amount of armour is impressive! I'm looking forward to being able to field a force that size, a long way to go though

The color scheme is really cool, well done. Consider me subscribed

@Scrazza - thanks very much, I just wish I could dedicate more time to this. i.e. ALL my time!! Hahahaha.

Seriously though, this is definitely a labour of love which is going to take a fair while to come to fruition but the joy is in the journey as they say so I thank you for your indulgence.
So last night I was awoken by my gf to chat about something or rather and since I then couldn't get back to sleep my mind wandered to the 501st organisation and insignia. I've been thinking about this for some months now and had sorted out a few things but last night it all fell in to place and I found myself furiously scribbling beneath a lamp at 3am. Today I drafted out a better copy and the resulting insignia, company names and a rough guide to company troops types is included below.

Each infantry company will be made up of 6 platoons of 6 squads, each armoured company will be made up of 12 sqaudrons of 3 vehicles. I think that's how it goes but if you have any criticisms, suggestions or ideas please feel free to weigh in. Within each company I thing I'll use a mixture of numbers and alphabet for platoon/squad insignia - example: D squad, 4th Platoon, Midnight Company.

In any case, your feedback is most welcome. Will be back in 5 days or so with more updates. I HAVE to get this homework done or I will be screwed.

Thanks for the compliment on the Cadians, although I think you got me beat on style. Looks like you've really thought this army out. Im looking forward to seeing more.

My apologies, I've been very quiet of late - mid term folio is due in 3 weeks so I've been working hard on all that jazz. Still been working on the 501st however, modifying and preparing 2 Basilisks and a 2nd hand Shadowsword for painting. Will post some pics in midweek when I get more than a half hour to myself!

Also started my first infantry squad and nearing completion of their dedicated Chimera - I have a tonne of infantry and command squads to get through, it's just that it's hard to paint infantry when there's a whole bunch of ordnance tanks staring at you - more updates soon!