Any subscribers to my Raven Guard blog will know what my painting speed is like, which is to say that I move with all the speed and dynamism of a striking tortoise, but I am proud to say that I have found a way to reform, at least temporarily, my wicked, slothful ways.
Two months ago, when I was visiting from University, I and two other members of my local gaming club decided to set ourselves a challenge. We would each work to finish our respective projects by the 26th of June. I would finish a 500pt Tau army, while the other two set slightly less ambitious goals. There was no prize for winning, except possibly bragging rights, but any who failed their challenge would have to pay a forfeit to the ones who succeeded.
Being the diligent, hard-working soul that I am, I got to work and, despite the exam season and coursework deadlines, or maybe because of them, I have finished my project on time. While I am loathe to blow my own trumpet (Spoilers: I ain't), the results are some of the best paint jobs I think I have ever done.
So with that, here are images of my new 500pt Tau army.
First up are two Fire Warrior teams. The 1500pt version of the army will have four of these six-man teams, the idea being that 4 small teams can better benefit from the Tau's inter-unit synergy. Each team has a Drone for the added fire power and the pinning effect, a Shas'ui because we don't want them running off, the little scamps, and a hidden Markerlight to further improve each squad's output. Around half of the squad members have been subtly converted to represent the equal numbers of male and female soldiers. The Tau are not bound by the same archaic notions as some Imperial regiments.
To bolster one of the squads, and generally 'fluff things up' a bit, I attached Fire Warriors from two other teams to one of the full-strength squads, this gives me a big, healthy unit to carry my Fireblade's buffs and to protect her when needs be.
As you can see, each squad has its own markings, including the remnants. I love the turqiouse colour of the Bork'an sept's markings.
The Broadside Shas'vre is the only battlesuit in the 500pt army, he sports a hefty Rail Rifle and Advanced Targeting Relay, which allow him to pick off individual models and deal with light vehicles at long range.
Finally, here's easily my favourite model in the army. Shas'
el Yano Xao L'ing. I'm tremendously proud with how she turned out. Her head came from an old, metal Shadowsun model, which I converted by filing down the nose and cheek-bones to change the shape a bit, and sculpting a suitably eastern-looking haircut for her. I wanted to limit the amount of turquoise I used on this model, opting instead for a vibrant red to make her stand out. I did, however, use some turquoise to give her hair a bit of shine, as well as a slightly anime-esque feel. Her name translates roughly as 'With Eyes Shining Like the Moon' (It actually does. I'm tremendously clever, you see.
) and I worked to reflect this, giving her model brilliant white eyes.
On the inside lining of her cloak, Yano has embroidered a haiku by the Female Haiku Master, Chiyo-ni Fukuda, who wrote:
From the mind
Of a single, long vine
One hundred opening lives
Now, I used a Tau alphabet to translate this, and changed the number to sixty-four, as the tau use a 'base 8' numeral system. I was worried that I wouldn't fit it all in, but it really came out well.
And here's the outside of her cloak. The design is a stylised version of the Bork'an Sept's icon, depicting the core planet itself and its moon. Also included are flowering vines, echoing the poem, which I feel gives the cloak a great Japanese connotation. I opted for a pink highlight on the cloak, and the Broadside's markings, because I feel pink is an underused colour, and really stands out next to the light blue of the armour.
