Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey everyone thanks for stopping by! I normally only live in the Project Log forums but I decided to post over here since I've recently completed my Tempestus Scion army. This is very exciting for me as it's the first time in my 15 year hobby life that I've ever painted every single model I have for an army. If I want to add to this force I have to buy more models and that a very exciting feeling. Anyways I hope you guys like this force and will stick around as I take more photos and get the whole crew updated here in the coming days. Any comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.

Some notes about the force:

-One of my primary goals with this army was to practice a more "tabletop ready" standard of painting. It's not my best work but it isn't meant to be. There are LOTS of mistakes (which I tried to mitigate but I didn't bust my ass to correct either) and cut corners. I got many of the models second hand and had to strip them (which was a learning experience) which caused some damage. Also I know sprue clipping was not greatly done as you'll note on the prime here. I thought I caught most of it but clearly some were missed, particularly on the pre-built models as they messed with my usual clipping/cleaning routine. A poor excuse I know.
-This is also a gaming force. My goal was to have an army that gave me several build options whilst allowing me to play almost 100% WYSIWYG as much as possible.
-After years of Aeldari and especially Drukhari play I really got sick of transporting my fiddly and easily broken models. This force is built to be easy to transport and convenient to just throw in a foam case and not worry too much about possibly breaks. Scion models are fairly durable after all and I got creative with the vehicles on this front.
-I wanted a force that was also fairly "beginner friendly" should I loan it to a player who may be thinking of joining 40K and wants to try it out or someone new to the game that wants to learn against an army that doesn't have a million "gotcha" strats or unit rules. Scions are reasonably strong to put up a fight without feeling overwhelming against newer players with just enough tools in the belt to help me go toe to toe with our more veteran players.

Ok with that out of the way on to the first models! Here I have my two Tempestor Primes. I opted for a more "Scion" aesthetic instead of using the big overcoat. At the core Primes are still a Scion and I wanted leaders that still looked like the men and women they command. The overcoats would later get used but on a completely different model. To make these two stand out I did put on the chained gorget(spelling?) to bulk them out a bit and I came up with my ranking system within the force. Tempestors have a white arm(left) and my Primes, being higher rank, have two white arms. To further simplify distinguishing models I painted one Prime to have a white helmet, for the purposes of any game mode where knowing who your opponents warlord is the one with the white helmet and arms outranks the one with just two white arms. These are my two models however that are not WYSIWYG. I run them with command rods which take up their pistol but truthfully I thought they looked stupid with a sword and a stick. I want soldiers not parade dancers. So I ditched the stick and gave them a bolt pistol (of which there are none in the rest of the force). I like to think they get to issue an extra order now because their pistol is bigger and scarier than the others. Ork logik I know. I still struggle to get white to show up properly in photos (though I feel this is my best result to date) so please just trust me when I say the white arms actually have more depth than what is showing, they have a pale blueish tinge in the recesses when you see the models in person. Same with the guns and swords.

I really like the colour scheme! It's a lot more subdued than the official GW scheme and the contrast in the colour palette really make the models pop out. Great job!

Nice looking good job. I think somebody using it as a loaner to get into 40K, would be very happy.

Thank you guys very much thesilverback and Grimskul! Continuing today with a single model from the command group is my Tempestus Medic. He doesn't see much table time as Scion medic rules are... underwhelming to say the least. He was still a fun little side model to paint and hopefully he finds a proper place in my army lists in 9th once the new codex comes out.

Truly a shame that the medic rules are really poop for IG. It's bizarre that SM Apothecaries get to do 3 different things but IG medics can't even heal the models that need it like Bullgryn, hopefully they have more of a use in their next codex. Looks great as always though, keep up the great work!

Thanks Grimskul, yeah I'm hoping in the new codex that medics will either auto-heal wounds or rez 1 guy per turn or maybe even pump the points up a bit extra but allow D3 guys or wounds per turn. Medics on marines are great because they're valuable bodies but guardsmen and to an extent scions as well just don't carry that value to bother trying to heal.

Alright now we're getting in to the meat of the army. The scion squads themselves. I've divided my models by role so today is the leaders of each squad, Tempestors! To denote rank they have only their left arm painted white, one down from the Primes. I have 4 with chainsword and hot shot las pistol and 2 with chainsword and plasma pistol. The plasma pistol Tempestors lead my two melta gun squads so they can help damage the big guys. The others lead my other squads to grab objectives and harass enemy infantry. It's a shame that Tempestors can't take a hot shot lasgun as well or in place of the chainsword. Especially on a 5-man squad I really feel the loss of the extra hot-shot lasgun in terms of firepower. At least they were kind enough to allow the vox caster guy to carry a lasgun instead of just the pistol, that's one step in the right direction.

As for todays update we have the absolute core of any scion army: Tempestus Scion with Hot-shot Lasgun. Simple, effective, deadly on to wound rolls of 5+

Since these guys have no real rank (other than being a Scion which in itself makes them outrank most Imperials) they don't have any white other than their gun. I apologize for the light flaring in the second photo, I struggle with balancing that on the best of days. Hope you guys like them and as always let me know what you think.

On to todays update: Vox Casters. It's always seemed odd to me that in 40k troops were never equipped with meaningful comms equipment as standard (barring SM I suppose?) and that for a unit to receive orders they need this massive bulky radio pack. That is part of the charm of 40k I suppose, but then it makes me wonder what the wrist computers and antennae on every Scion shoulder is for... At the very least I do find it strange that a Vox Caster only lets you send orders 3 times farther than you can yell. You'd think those things could at least reach to the borders of the engagement area. Oh well they're still worth a chuckle to "fire on my position" when the opportunity arises!

For today we have Volleyguns. Man it's amazing how much firepower just 2 of these things in a 5-man squad can pump out. If you're not playing to capitalize on FRFSRF within 9" range then these things are the way to go for volume. Sad they're a heavy weapon and suffer on the move.

Since I'll be leaving today to head outta town for the weekend and won't be back until tuesday I'm going to post up the other special weapons as well. First up we have Grenade Launchers, I really want to love these things but I do feel they are the weak link in my army. They don't have volume or damage potential to threaten vehicles reliably, nor the AP and volume to threaten elite infantry (probably their ideal target) and S3 on the frag portion is underwhelming (especially if you roll a low number of shots). Having said that I still put them in because they just feel like a very guardsmen weapon to use given they are fairly unique to them. They've done some work for me and I'll continue using them but I often catch myself thinking 6 extra volleyguns could do the same job better especially after our PA boost with point-blank efficacy.

The meltaguns are next. Between the Valkyrie drop strat from PA and and the weapon boost to being D6+2 in half range I've put these things to excellent use. Four shots can feel like it's not enough oftentimes thanks to how many high-priority targets have invuln saves but overall they still tend to at least cripple what they need to then die valiantly as a terrifying little distraction unit that can't be ignored by your opponent.

So now we're on to vehicles. I have three Taurox Primes and I must say these things are what makes the force work. They're fairly fragile but they bring much needed mobility and speed to the force. So many of my matches have hinged entirely on if these things can get the kill or snag that objective. I've magnetized every weapon option on these three and even came up with a handy transport system for taking them to games. Every piece of gear tucks nicely inside its respective Taurox and the roof just slips right on top. Hopefully you guys like them. Sorry for a bit off a photo explosion on this one.

Here's the last transport for the force, a Valkyrie. I flip-flopped on whether this was going to be added to the army at any point since GW made them such an iconic model for a Scion force yet did nothing rules-wise to incentivize them. With PA that all changed and we then got some strats that help the Valkyrie actually feel like part of the scion faction. As with my Taurox Primes I magnetized all the weapon options. I didn't like the idea of figuring out the door gunners along with my transportation ideas so I opted to scratch that, glue the side doors shut and instead modify and mount the heavy bolters under the wings. I ended up really liking the silhouette this had and I'm fairly proud of the results. All the weapons store inside the Valkyrie when not in use as the back ramp can open giving me tons of space. I hope you guys like it.

Ok on to the main event; the army shots! I don't have a nice photo box big enough for the whole force so you guys and gals are getting my kitchen table. In 9th this force as I run it comes to around 1250 points with spare models for substitutions or additions. This was the perfect number I feel for a starter/training army to play at points levels to help understand the different scales of 40k battles without intimidating them with a full 2000 point army. It also offers enough models to build and have options in a crusade army. Sorry for the harsh light flare from one of the photos, I kept it in there and didn't retake it cause I felt it was kind of cool like the Emperor shone his light upon my beleaguered Scions. I'm also quite happy that with this force done I was finally able to fill the third display case I have, looks much better now without that sad empty case next to the others in my opinion. You'll also note some models in here that I haven't showcased individually yet, they're auxiliary units that I'll do some close shots of in the coming days. I won't be doing it right away but long-term plans will be to eventually add an Imperial Knight to my collection that will often be assisting these guys, it'll be a great way to help them reach closer to 2000 points without having to paint a million more scions.

So without further ado I present to you: The 55th Deltic Crows!

Ok on to some of the auxiliary additions to the force. Today we have some Ogryns bodyguards. For my gaming purposes I seldom dished out the points to get the unit of three, I would just buy the single bodyguard elite and he can sit in the backfield camping an objective while my more mobile Scion force pushed up. A fine investment in points I enjoyed but now playing crusade it seems the bodyguards PL is wayyyyyyy out of whack with reality. The specific guarding rules he has also don't work well in 9th sadly since LoS has changed drastically (for the better in my opinion but that has left the bodyguard rule feeling awkward and antiquated). I've built all three weapons so I could have a WYSIWYG bodyguard in my lists and it was also just good fun to have the variety to paint. Hope you guys like them.

This is my officer of the fleet made from a basic guardsman body, a bit of green stuff and the Scion greatcoat. I wasn't originally going to have one in this force but after PA came out and I saw the strat that, in my opinion, makes them useable I decided I needed one. I was experimenting with a more "painted" style with his coat, not sure if that description really makes sense though to be honest. The results don't hold up well on close inspection but from tabletop distance the coat actually stands out nicely, I definitely learned a lot about how I would later attempt this style with other models.

Glad to subscribe to this!

Thanks for subbing Meatshield, glad you like the force. I have one last model to showcase and then that's all I have in this force.

The last model to showcase for this army is the Callidus assassin. She's been instrumental in my matches, bleeding CP from my opponent whilst successfully taking down Grey Knight Librarians, Necron Overlords, Wolf Lords, Harlequin Death Jesters, and most recently a Lord of Contagion. I hope you guys like her, as always comments and critiques are welcome.

I also want to thank everyone who stopped by and especially those who commented on this force as it was showcased, it means a lot to me that people took the time to check my stuff out. I don't have any plans to add to this force in the near future, likely an Imperial Knight down the road. Once again, thank you all so much.

Nice looking miniatures

Thank you very much FeindusMaximus