Hello! This will be the blog for my new army - the Drade 117th Suicide Legion. Drade is only mentioned in Matthew Farrer's Shira Calpurnia series of novels as a particulary rough mining planet with a heavy Arbites presence. I took the idea and ran with it...

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Drade is a mining world in the Ultima Segmentum. An arid wasteland, it's only function is the mining of the ore and pumice flows that lie under it's surface. Life is hard in the labour force, and violence and rebellion are rife, but the merchant government of the planet have put this to good use. Almost every crime on Drade is punishable by the same sentence - enforced service in the penal legions, and it is from these legions that the planet's Imperial Guard tithe is taken. The suicide legionnaires of Drade are brutally treated, all trace of sedition and rebellion erased by a regime of hypno-indoctrination, psychic conditioning and suggestion, physique and loyalty-enhancing drugs and vicious close combat training.

The Drade Suicide Legions are famed for their fast and frenzied assaults, being thrown into the most dangerous parts of the line to effect a breakthrough. As a penal legion, they are completely expendable, but the suicide legions are also completely self-sufficient, each legionnaire carrying with him everything his short life will require. As such, they are often assigned dangerous sabotage, destruction or recon missions behind enemy lines. They travel light, only making use of fast vehicles and limited heavy weaponry, and utilising short las-carbines for ease in close assaults. As a penal legion, they're often assigned support that would disgust normal regiments, including xeno cavalry beasts, stunted choirs of witches, indentured astropaths, bound battle psykers and lumbering ogryns that even Drade's extensive labour gangs couldn't make use of.

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I'll be basing the army on (shock) NON-GW MODELS!!!! Ages ago, when making my Arbites army, I found that I-Kore's Void Junker models were the cheapest source of supression shields. I bought loads, always planning to use the models for something else. Now I've got my chance. I'll be replacing the shotguns with lascarbines, removing the shields, and making sure each model has a big sharp knife.



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I've been discussing possible army lists in the other forums at http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/256073.page and have had some good suggestions. However, I want to be able to build a few different lists with this, so my plan is to build all the units that have been mentioned, and swap out things as necessary. The list of models to build shall be....

Company Command Squad (Officer, Standard, Astropath)
Company Command Squad (Officer, 4 Meltaguns)
Primaris Psykers (2 Psykers)
Commissar Lord (1 Commissar with Powerfist)
Priests (3 with Eviscerators, 1 without)

Psychic Battle Squad (5 Psykers, 4 Guards, Overseer)
Psychic Battle Squad (5 Psykers, 4 Guards, Overseer)
Penal Ogryns (5 Ogryns, 1 Bone'ead, 1 pet Baggage Lizard)

Veterans Squad (Vet Sgt, 6 Vets with Shotguns, 3 Flamers, Heavy Flamer)
Veterans Squad (Vet Sgt, 6 Vets with Shotguns, 3 Meltaguns, Demo Charge)
Veterans Squad (Vet Sgt, 6 Vets with Shotguns, 3 Grenade Launchers, Demo Charge)
Veteran/CCS Options (2 Autocannon Teams, 2 Missile Launcher Teams)

Penal Legion Squad (9 Legionnaires, Custodian)
Penal Legion Squad (9 Legionnaires, Custodian)
Penal Legion Squad (9 Legionnaires, Custodian)
Penal Legion Squad (9 Legionnaires, Custodian)
Penal Legion Squad (9 Legionnaires, Custodian)

Rough Riders (Sergeant, 5 Hunting Lances, 1 Meltagun)

4 Scout Sentinels with Lascannon, Multilaser and Heavy Flamer options
2 Hellhounds
2 Salamanders (used as Chimeras)

Red are unpurchased
Yellow are sitting, unassembled in a bag or box
Green are assembled
Blue are painted

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That's it for now. I'm off back to Kent this afternoon to dig out the required models from my parents loft. I should get started with conversions and photos this evening!

Hi there, Will be watching with intrest and support mate !
looking forward to seeing your army come to flesh so to speak !

Looks like a blast. I love the Junker models and always wanted to pick some up.

I will be watching with interest.The base idea sounds like a good one.

Looks like fun. Are the rough riders for herding the penal legionnaires that stray?

Fanatical Roman Legionnary ish Imperial Guard - sounds cool.

So, I've collected the models, and I've assembled the first few.

These are the plastics, which I'll be using for the rank and file Penal Legionnaires, and as a source of conversion parts. They're a bit less bulky than the metal models shown above, and to be honest I prefer the metal ones, but these are a hell of a lot cheaper (£5 for 10 models) so they'll do for the grunts...I've got 45 of these to convert up. The lascarbines are Chimera port lasguns and junker shotgun barrels, and they've got a selection of different knives. They're missing backpacks at the mo, which should bulk them out a bit as well...

looks like this will be really cool

Is it just me, or does the model with the outstretched arm, just look.. i dont know - out of place? is there any way to change the direction of the arm to give some kinda of unqiueness to it? (i know changing ~45 would be painful but would look a lot cooler)

Heh... I just noticed something about the Junker models... they must all do a whole lot of inner thigh training to be able to consistently wander about in splits (I am a MAN, see how much I can spread my legs!)

I like the las-carbine concept. They look a lot like the original Guard lasguns from waaaaaay back.

Flinty wrote:Heh... I just noticed something about the Junker models... they must all do a whole lot of inner thigh training to be able to consistently wander about in splits (I am a MAN, see how much I can spread my legs!)

I like the las-carbine concept. They look a lot like the original Guard lasguns from waaaaaay back.

Thanks - yeah, those Chimera lasguns are quite old scuplts now, and quite spindly.

Here's a first squad.





And, although this is a bit premature, I wanted so see if a Meltagun conversion would work. I'm gonna add a handle on the top of the gun, but here he is so far




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Right, here's the assembled haul at the end of Day 1



We have the first metal veterans with the original shotguns, and their veteran sgt




And five meltagunners assembled so far



I'm now waiting on a bits deliver of Chimera lasguns so I can carry on with the rest of the penal legionnaires. I might start on the Sentinels tomorrow...

They're look good. I use the Chimera lasguns on my troops as well. Wouldn't mind facing these in the field of battle.

These are looking good it might be worth considering varying the Melta Gunner poses though.

Llamahead wrote:These are looking good it might be worth considering varying the Melta Gunner poses though.

Thanks - I tried a couple of options, but the plastic sets are a bit limited, and they look really odd carrying a melta in one hand. They have two sorts of left arm, so some are holding it securely close to their bodies, and some are pointing them at a target. Not perfect, but a bit of variety! I've got two more to build, if I use different meltas maybe I can do some one-handed poses...

On another note, I just bought a ton of these incredibly cheap things...



They're 39mm tall, which is almost exactly the same as a Chimera, so there'll be three down each side of each of the tanks. Obviously they're gonna need some work - I'm thinking good old Imperial rivets on the wheel facings, and spikes where the tyres would be...

Flinty wrote:I just noticed something about the Junker models... they must all do a whole lot of inner thigh training to be able to consistently wander about in splits (I am a MAN, see how much I can spread my legs!)

They're hardly doing the splits, Flinty. What else would you do all day if you're locked up in a prison cell apart from: push-ups, sit-ups (crunches), squats, pull-ups, leg stretches, bare fist fighting...

Keep up the good work, Ian!

this redefines awesome...

Very cool. I'll be following this.

Any chance you could show a pic of the component parts of these models, i.e. are the heads seperate, or part of the torso? Also, are the weapons separate (shotguns, shields, etc.)

Thanks! Can't wait to see more.

I'm so subscribing to this one.

Win!
Subscription - enabled.

Cruentus wrote:Very cool. I'll be following this.

Any chance you could show a pic of the component parts of these models, i.e. are the heads seperate, or part of the torso? Also, are the weapons separate (shotguns, shields, etc.)

Thanks! Can't wait to see more.

Thanks! Here's a photo of one of the sprues, which does two Junkers. Each model is comprised of 1 Legs, 1 Front Torso, 1 Back Torso, 2 Shoulder Pads, 2 Arms, 1 Head, 1 Backpack, 1 Shotgun, 1 Knife and 1 Shield. The sprue also has a spare unhelmeted head.

Scotia Grendel bought all the old Void stock from i-kore, and sell it at pretty reasonable rates. These sprues work out to £1 each. The rest of the range is metal. These sprues are at http://www.scotiagrendel.com/Products/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=59_64&sort=20a&page=3&zenid=8f6ba21137021975e159b36dca57099f

i just noticed some of your guys have backwards hands....

Looking good man! Perhaps you could add some Imperial Eagles on the armour?

Hurrah! Day two. My first mission was to go out and buy a dremel, so I could get cutting away on some of the more difficult metal conversions. We got a load more platic guys done, but here are the rest...

First up, a primaris psyker, using parts from the IG Tank sprue, an Empire Flagellant, and the Empire Militia sprue. He'll need some wires attacking to his skull, but I'll do all that sort of stuff together once all the other psykers are built!


Next the first priest, made sing an empire flagellant. His laspistol is one of the old 2ed ones, and looks a bit too big (even for 40k). I might dig out a Cadian one and swap. I also need to add some sort of power pack to his chain-glaive...


Right, another Sgt for the Vets is completed, from a Junker Praetorian...


And finally, the dremel meant that I could cut off the chaingunner's chainguns and convert them to big, bulky Grenade Launchers.


More to come, as always

I like the idea. I just feel that the models look too well armoured for penal legionarys, the imperium is sending them out to battle so as to use the miscreants, if they die its one less thing to worry about! so why give them armour.

They also need the exploding collars talked about in the codex entry.

Imperial Monkey wrote:I like the idea. I just feel that the models look too well armoured for penal legionarys, the imperium is sending them out to battle so as to use the miscreants, if they die its one less thing to worry about! so why give them armour.

They also need the exploding collars talked about in the codex entry.

An, but these are SPECIAL Penal Legionnaires....

I'm not really a fan of the 'exploding collar' idea, hence the concept of a hypno-indoctrination facility that makes these guys fanatically loyal (and therefore Stubborn). Round up the convicts, stick them in an indoctrination and training camp, then send them out to the most suicidal missions without any support...

As for armour, they're really only wearing some shoulderpads and a helmet. The rest is a jumpsuit. I think this comes across better on the metal models, though. The plastic ones are a bit catachan in their musculature!!

What do brutal-looking space convicts ride into battle?

Brutal-looking space lizards!!

Cool. Why do't they just reprint Arbites?

Great project Ian, I love armies that dredge up old and/or alternative models and get them fighting. Nice work so far, particularly with those 2-pose junkers.

Also, knives & shotguns ftw!

- Salvage

I've never really looked at the Void stuff before, but there are some interesting bits in there that may just make their way into my project

I do like the look of the lizards; looking forward to seeing how this progresses

When I read "space lizards" my heart sank. You really scared me! They're looking good, better than what my mind conjured up.

endtransmission wrote:I've never really looked at the Void stuff before, but there are some interesting bits in there that may just make their way into my project

I do like the look of the lizards; looking forward to seeing how this progresses

infilTRAITOR wrote:When I read "space lizards" my heart sank. You really scared me! They're looking good, better than what my mind conjured up.

Yeah, I wish I had more but they're quite hard to get hold of nowadays. What's annoying is that I've only got three riders but five lizards - I'm having to convert up the other two riders from the plastics, which will look a little different and too bulky to match. Oh well, I guess it'll be less obvious once they're painted...!

I like them, I once got a ton of them from a local 98 cent store. 2 blisters for $0.98. The only problem was I missed out on the onse that looked like COBRA Commander

Ok, new things

First conversion of the Autocannon firer. There's gonna be a detachable loader on this base, too...



And the sentinels are complete. I'm now waiting on wee magnets so I can do all the weapon options. There's loads of unofficial postal strikes in the UK at the moment, so everything is taking forever to reach me...:/

This stuffs great, that last pic. looks like a SM with less armour. Suprised he fits in the sentinal.

Yeah,
New multipart sentinels! have you actually made a GW purchase? or another zero expenditure trade?

Have you got a colour scheme yet? orange jumpsuits?

Panic...

Panic wrote:Yeah,
New multipart sentinels! have you actually made a GW purchase? or another zero expenditure trade?

Have you got a colour scheme yet? orange jumpsuits?

Panic...

YES! I admit, this was an actual, real, go-into-a-gw-store purchase. Haven't done that for a while! But i wanted all the spare heavy weapons, power cables etc for conversions!

They're gonna be brown jumpsuits with orange armour. Have to have a BIT of orange if you're doing a penal legion...

They look very enforcerish - though im not so keen on those long-barrelled ??las carbines??...

Maybe getting a whole whack of IG las-rifles off ebay and removing the stocks and shortening them slightly would look better.

Also - I would convert those sentinals into something similar to the APU's from the Matrix, just to make it less Guardy and more Penal / different etc.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/241421.page

What's the story with carving up the Sentinels? Is it simply to get the crewman in or have you got something special planned?

infilTRAITOR wrote:What's the story with carving up the Sentinels? Is it simply to get the crewman in or have you got something special planned?

Oh various reasons...

- The Rollbars have been removed - I always thought they looked a bit pointless. My scout sentinels shall just have blokes poking out the top.
- The exhausts have been shortened, because those exhaust things are GOLD DUST (I've got a squad of converted ogre/ogryns in another army that need ripper guns!)
- The side is removed for painting. I wanna be able to paint the leather on the seat, then put the pilot in afterwards...

I like this army a lot - it's great to see non-cadians out there! In particular I like the APU guy. I've been trying to come up with a good alternative to the sentinel model myself, but I think yours looks better.

The lizards and Sentinels are cool. I chopped the top of my last sentinel as well, it looks better. Where did the lizards come from?

wonkobaggins wrote:I like this army a lot - it's great to see non-cadians out there! In particular I like the APU guy. I've been trying to come up with a good alternative to the sentinel model myself, but I think yours looks better.

Aargh! The APU guy is a suggestion by someone else - not my model. Mine are staying as slightly modified sentinels.




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Napalm wrote:The lizards and Sentinels are cool. I chopped the top of my last sentinel as well, it looks better. Where did the lizards come from?

The lizards are from the Void range too. They're Junker Sandrunners from the first edition. I'll be replacing the lances and using them as Rough Riders.

yeah,
I hate it when people post photos of their work in your thread... They should just link to their thread.

The idea someone mentioned of rough rider outrunners keeping the convicts in line, is cool kinda like the mounted wardens with chain gangs.

Panic...

Panic wrote:yeah,
I hate it when people post photos of their work in your thread... They should just link to their thread.

The idea someone mentioned of rough rider outrunners keeping the convicts in line, is cool kinda like the mounted wardens with chain gangs.

Panic...

Now, the Junkers range includes guys called Enforcers, who are basically commissars in long coats. I've got one, and I'll be using this Junkers Enforcers on Foot (the one on the right) as the basis for my Commissar conversion (head swap and arm swap)



Part of the reason I've had to convert two of the roughriders (and why I've got five lizards but only three riders) is because the other two riders are Enforcers mounted on lizards...so I have a few options.

- keep all the roughriders looking like convicts by converting two more riders from the plastics.
- have a mixed squad of three convicts and two 'commissars'
- try and convert some more 'commissars' and have a squad of five of them, as outriders.

to be honest, I don't think my greenstuff skills are up to converting three more greatcoat guys, though...

OR, is there any other way I can represent 'outrider commissars' using the Guard codex? That way I could get two more regular sandrunners and have two 'mounted commissars' running around...

I can't think of any way to represent mounted commissars unfortunately. I guess he could be the rough rider sergeant (or a "counts as" Mogul Kamir?), which is fine from a fluff perspective, but you don't get any benefits for them actually being a commissar.

The only official ways of getting commissars in the current codex is either as a Lord (no mount options) or as an addition to an Infantry squad. Again, no mount option there.

I like the figure on the left btw. Looks like an interesting Arbite officer too

Panic wrote:yeah,
I hate it when people post photos of their work in your thread... They should just link to their thread.

My Bad

endtransmission wrote:I can't think of any way to represent mounted commissars unfortunately.

Isn't there a mounted DKOK commissar? Im sure I saw something like that on the Forgeworld site?? Are there rules that support that?

ironKing wrote:Isn't there a mounted DKOK commissar? Im sure I saw something like that on the Forgeworld site?? Are there rules that support that?

There is one, yes. As far as I know, there are no rules to use him

ironKing wrote:
Isn't there a mounted DKOK commissar? Im sure I saw something like that on the Forgeworld site?? Are there rules that support that?

There's rules in Siege of Vraks, Pt 1 for Death Riders and a Death Rider Command HQ, so there may well be a Death Rider Officer model available, but I couldn't find it on the Forgeworld site.

However, these are only available to the Siege Regiment army list, which is actually quite a lot different to the regular IG list, particularly in it's use of Commissars. It used the 4ed rules, so you buy 0-5 as a HQ choice and then attach them to whatever you want (there's no option to give them a horse), unlike the new rules where the Commissars are bought as part of an Infantry Platoon squad.

I'd actually like a few commissars in the army, but they'll have to be 'counts as' something else, since you can now only take them in regular Infantry Platoons...!

The DKOK mounted commissar is a gamesday special model - you can get them on ebay, they typically go for about £30.

Love your stuff, dude. It's very non-standard and it stands out.

A quick update, been very busy lately, but I managed to get this afternoon free to indulge in a spot of Tedious-But-Necessary modelling. I now present....ALL MY PENAL GUYS! Hurrah! The last shipments of Void guys arrived yesterday along with the lasguns, so I've now built all 45 of my Penal Legion troops. My thumb now hurts from excessive superglue bottle squeezing...

have i told your amazing!

.

DC

Cant wait to see some paint.

And now the lances have arrived for my Roughriders!




And the ones I had to convert from plastics...



And the squad

Vicious.

I am loving this army! It looks great, and it gives me the chance to see how those Void minis work for 40k. I've been curious about that.

Nice work on your imaginative conversions. They are working really well except for one small thing I noticed....

ArbitorIan wrote:
First up, a primaris psyker, using parts from the IG Tank sprue, an Empire Flagellant, and the Empire Militia sprue. He'll need some wires attacking to his skull, but I'll do all that sort of stuff together once all the other psykers are built!

...There's something wrong with that guys right hand. (Hint: it's not his right hand!)

I am really looking forward to seeing this one come to fruition.

Pinky pointing FTW!!!

nathonicus wrote:...There's something wrong with that guys right hand. (Hint: it's not his right hand!)

I am really looking forward to seeing this one come to fruition.

Oh bugger! Well spotted! I think our primaris needs a bit of revisiting!

Great project! I absolutely love the Rough Riders. Do you have any plans for those shields?

Looking wonderful there. The army is gaining a great overall dynamic with model choice. I can't wait to see the effects of painting on the overall 'flavor'.

So, i couldn't wait any longer and had to start out a bit of painting - just so I'd know what the army would look like. I completed the first model today! These are regular line infantry, Penal Legion guys.

First, undercoated a squad with Humbrol Dark Brown (which wasn't really as dark as I'd hoped)


Then, painted the basic flat colors on with Boltgun Metal, Chaos Black and Macharius Solar Orange


Then, dipped it in ArmyPainter Dark Tone and waited a day for it to dry.


Finally, highlighted with Macharius Solar Orange/Blazing Orange and Chainmail and painted the base to match my grey table



Obviously, it's still really shiny - i need to Matt Varnish him once some more models are done, and the bse edges need going over with grey again, but all in all I think he turned out nice - I was actually going for a darker brown scheme, but couldn't find a darker brown spray, and now he's done I don't mind the lighter shade - my other armies tend to be quite dark anyway.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the detailing on the brown bodyglove. I'd intended it to be a single piece uniform, all the same color, but do you think it looks a bit samey? Thing is, I'd rather not do something silly like painting the codpiece orange, or just having an orange belt. Maybe some white legstraps/belt? On the other hand, I'd rather not get bogged down in too much detail for the regular grunts...

Opinions?

Maybe give them the orange as a secondary colour or something like that, but I honestly think they're really good as is.

yeah,
I think he looks ok as is.
You could try maybe paint a test model with the belt+CodPiece+Buckle+AssPlate orange to see how it looks?

PAnic...

Fantasic. Well, on the strength of that, I've just finished and dipped the other 9 guys. Should have a first finished squad tomorrow!

I'm really digging this guy's paint job so far. He looks promising, and hopefully he'll be much better after a dullcoat plus a base rim touch-up. I can't wait to see his other friends!

I was slightly suprised by the fact that you went for Dark Tone rather than Strong Tone. I suppose that it'd make the orange quite dark, but you'd have to use it for the other colours... Which pretty much answers my thoughts. What the heck, I'll leave it in my post anyway!

Awesome Penal Legion. I think your lascarbines are fine the way they are, and I love the guy with the outstretched arm, aiming. I like the special weapons, I wouldn't worry about the same pose personally. The auto-cannon rules - are you going to mount it on a 60mm and add another model for helper? As far as the mounted commissars go, if you want to use them as commissars just throw them into the squads anyways! It's the same base size, and the rules say you shouldn't be penalized for impressive models (long head and tail). Put the RR on RR bases and make their whole models fair game, or just bust out the mounted commies when the RR aren't on there. Even just a Lord Commissar on a Space Lizard would be wicked.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh ya the paint job - it looks great. I wouldn't add any other colours, the brown and orange are perfect, but why not pick out the detail on the jumpsuit a bit? It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like the areas around the neck, the abs, above the knee, back of the thighs and calves, and maybe elbows and hands (everywhere the guy would need flexibility) could be given a wash, or the other areas given a drybrush or both. Don't change the colour, just play with the light/shadow of it. A closeup may help, it could already look like that. Making the beltbuckle metallic would break up the sameness of the suit as well (like on the back where you painted the one panel metallic).

Ok so finished the first squad today.





There's a real difference between the regular troopers and the Custodian. The Custodian is a metal model, and i think the dipping works much better on his more 'natural' looking bodysuit. Also, the fact that he has large holsters/knives on his leg straps really helps break up the sea of brown and, I think, makes the color scheme work a bit better.

I'm happy with this squad, but before I do the next plastics I might bulk out their legs with extra holsters and sheaths, just so I can get a bit of orange around the bottom of the model..

EDIT - having said that, all my metal models are going to be used for veteran squads or sergeants. Maybe that's one of the things that can differentiate them - that the veterans have more pouches and holsters...?

These look great painted the extra gear on the veterans and sergeants make sense to me and the orange bits will make the veterans easier to pick out!

Great to see them painted, they look boss

Brilliant work! I also like the fact that you don't have that much control over the effects of dipping your models. It's more like a "yeah, that's as good as it gets," kind of thing. Don't get me wrong, though - I do like 'em allot!

Have they yet to be dullcoated? I'm guessing that they have been, but I'm not too sure from looking at the photos. Extra pouches etc would be a nice addition, but I agree with Llamahead on this one - Leave it for the veterans/squad leaders. You don't want to make the guys that you have already painted look too different to the ones that you are going to paint.

Keep it up!

Cosmic wrote: Have they yet to be dullcoated?

Nope, these are just as-is - I'm guessing they look slightly less shiny because the photos were taken in daylight rather than under a bulb this time. Either eay, they will be getting a coat of Matt Varnish once I've got a few more squads complete!

Thanks for the encouraging comments everyone!

Nice, liking the scheme.

yeah,
The army will look awesome once you have squad after squad of this colour scheme...

Maybe you could concider a alternitive scheme for the vet squads? Green Shoulder Pads? although that might give the army a halloweenish vibe...
Or inverting the scheme orange suits with olive pads...

Panic...

They look great as is to me, I also agree with Llamahead about the Vets./sergants.

Ok, so I'm off on tour for two weeks, but with four days off in various cities. I thought I'd take the army on the road and get some of the more laborious painting done while I'm away. I can't fit much, so the plan is to take all the currently assembled 'regular' guys and get the base colors done. When i get back i only have to dip them and do highlights and basing. So today I've been undercoating....



I'll be taking with me...

4 Penal Legion Squads
2 Veteran Squads (with all options except Heavy Weapons)
4 Sentinel Pilots
1 CCS with Meltaguns

This means that I'll only have the interesting stuff to paint once I get back - all the regular troops will be done!

Here's the CCS with Meltaguns, including the first Commander conversion (with the crest). I took a bit of the advice on Meltaguns and gave a bit more movement to the last two guys I made...






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Ah, and before I forget, I tried a bit of a basing experiment and painted one of the bases with the darker Adeptus Battlegrey instead of Codex Grey. The idea was to bring out the paleness of the ballast and give more of a 'bottom edge' to the model.

What do we think? Darker or lighter?

I like darker.

Awesome work. Absolutely brilliant. I did have a suggestion for you though. Earlier you said you'd like Commissars but in the new rules they're strangely limited (Why the hell can't a vet squad or a penal squad have them? Personally I think a Penal squad should HAVE to be led by a Commissar) so I have a suggestion for an alternative. Since you're making a penal army I am sure you are familiar with Adeptus Arbities http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Adeptus_Arbites . Why not, instead of Commissars, just make your sergeants and Custodians into Arbities, basically funneling the drug laced convicts into battle? Since Arbities are more than likely as varied as Imperial Guard themselves (I assume anyway) you could really just model them any way you wish really and just make them look authoritarian and paint them as officers of the law. I figure that would fix the idea of trying to use Commissars and give you a unique look and feel to your leaders.

Anyway, that's just my suggestion.

I second that idea.

Rook wrote:Since you're making a penal army I am sure you are familiar with Adeptus Arbities http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Adeptus_Arbites . Why not, instead of Commissars, just make your sergeants and Custodians into Arbities, basically funneling the drug laced convicts into battle?

Why thanks, but you see I already have THIS....

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Ian%27s_Arbites_Army

I'm not sure about painting up even MORE Arbites! But maybe there's a possibilty to include squads as Stormtroopers units. Or even do a game with half and half, or an Apocalypse game with both armies....

ArbitorIan wrote:

Rook wrote:Since you're making a penal army I am sure you are familiar with Adeptus Arbities http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Adeptus_Arbites . Why not, instead of Commissars, just make your sergeants and Custodians into Arbities, basically funneling the drug laced convicts into battle?

Why thanks, but you see I already have THIS....

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Ian%27s_Arbites_Army

I'm not sure about painting up even MORE Arbites! But maybe there's a possibilty to include squads as Stormtroopers units. Or even do a game with half and half, or an Apocalypse game with both armies....

That... is totally badass. I have always wanted to see a full Arbities army I would say, since you got them, just stick a few in with you army and combine their fluff? Eh probably not but that is absolutely cool and seeing both a penal/slave army and an Arbities army played in conjunction in apocalypse would be very nice. If that ever happens you should post pictures I would suggest, if you use some of them as Storm Troopers, throw in some Valkyries and have them be like helicopters dropping from the sky. I have always thought that would be cool.

Ok, first update from the tour - my first day off resulted in a game at the local GW, and an evening painting spree - here's ten undercoated models all ready for dipping when I get back, including some of the veterans. I'm gonna try and get another ten done by the end of the evening!

Looking very nice. Coming in way late on this but I think the basic troops would have looked fine with no backpacks. More fitting for assault style troops in my opinion.

Disagree with Tyyr. The backpacks give a good "campaign" feel. Also, penal legions are notorious looters, probably even after extensive hypno-conditioning. They've gotta have somewhere to shove all that loot!

Nice use of old i-kore goodies. I'm using a load of viridian stuff in my IG force, so it's interesting to see what others are doing. Keep it up matey!

Like the Mohawk/plume. Not sure if it ties in well though.

At least he stands out.

Looks cool. I like the pinky.

Ok, so, a mate just gave me 20 junker legionnaires on sprue - looks like a penal legion to me!

inmygravenimage wrote:Ok, so, a mate just gave me 20 junker legionnaires on sprue - looks like a penal legion to me!

Fantastic! Every guard army needs a couple of squads of crazy legionnaires...

----------------------------------------------------------

SECOND PART STARTS HERE

----------------------------------------------------------
SO it looks like I've got a bit sidetracked there. I went away again in Feb and spent the time updating and finishing my Daemon army ( http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Ian%27s_Slaaneshi_Daemons ) instead. But it's ok, I've found a new motivating force. I'll be attending the Platinum Devil tournament in Canterbury in April ( http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/275792.page ) which is a small 1000pt event. I'm going to try and finish 1000pts before then. I have six weeks.

* Company Command Squad (4 Meltaguns, Officer with Powerweapon, Astropath) in a Salamander (counts as Chimera with Multilaser, Heavy Bolter)
* 10 x Psyker Battle Squad (9 Psykers and Overseer) in a Salamander (counts as Chimera with Multilaser, Heavy Bolter)
* Penal Legion Squad
* Penal Legion Squad
* Penal Legion Squad
* Penal Legion Squad
* 5 x Rough Riders (4 Lances, 1 Meltagun)
* Hellhound
* Hellhound

There's options to have the other Hellhound variants, depending on what I think will be best overall (or if the tourney looks to be heavily mech or something). Of these, a lot of time will have to be spent on the tanks, so the only squad I'd be worried about completing in time would be the PBS. If I don't finish them, I'll replace this squad with a Veteran Squad (very quick to paint), and redistribute meltas across them and the CCS.

Sounds cool. Can't wait to see the Meltaguns don't the Methalor Penal Legions in the Macharian Campaign have a special rule which makes them fearless in LOS of a Hellhound as they know if they run away it'll be used on them. (It's a Bell of Lost Souls campaign set thing)

So, all the troops and infantry for this army are base colored and now dipped! Here's them drying off in the spare bathroom - we have three more squads of Penal Legionnaires, one of Veterans and a CCS. I'll give them a day or so then do all the highlighting and basing at once. This should leave me the rest of the month to work on the more intricate bits - the Rough Riders, Psykers and vehicles....

Very nice work on a one-of-a-kind army! I'm curious to see what the vehicles will look like (Techpriests always want to see the machines).

JB wrote: Very nice work on a one-of-a-kind army! I'm curious to see what the vehicles will look like (Techpriests always want to see the machines).

Thanks! The vehicles are going to look something like THIS - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/280698.page

On another note, I've decided to prematurely retire my pinky-pointing Primaris - he'll make his way into another of my armies, but I've had a few better ideas for this one. I've started another thread asking for ideas over here - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/282211.page

This morning I found time to do the highlights on the first CCS, with Meltaguns. As always, they haven't been matt varnished yet, so a bit shiny....

Mmm... meltaguns. Loos awesome as always.

Thanks!

These things really are bloody fast to paint. I got 20 highlighted and based last night, in about an hour. Here's the next two Penal Legionnaire squads....

This morning, the first squad of veterans were finished. I'm quite happy - they don't look THAT different from the regular troops, just a bit bulkier and heavily equipped. I don't imagine the Drade legions as being particularly worried about rank insignia and differentiation of uniform. They hardly live long enough anyway, so I like the idea that everyone basically wears the same thing, it's just the Veteran Sgts and Officers get to wear the bigger helmets. At least, until THEY die, and the hat passes to someone else.

This is a basic Vets squad, with shotguns, three meltaguns and the Demolitions ability, hence the suicide bomber!

suicide bomber = Win great looking and interesting army, would like to see what you are going to do with your veichles

sweet looking army.

Sweet. The suicide bomber looks cool, though I feel you should add a purity scroll or a parchment, promising him his redemption if he goes kaboom.

I second Khaine's idea, but love the Suicide Bomber!

Thanks guys. I'll see how many scrolls I've got left over once I've built the PBS and maybe attach some.

Speaking of which, here's my first two models for the PBS. As I said, I'm going for the Gaunts Ghosts idea of naked, wretched psykers covered in cabling, being beaten into using their powers by brutal overseers. Each squad will therefore be 5 wretched psykers and 4 guards (the 9 psykers) and 1 metal, crested sergeant (the overseer).

The guard is made from a plastic junker with the bare muscled Flagellant arms that hold the great flail. The flail's end has been cut off. I planned to put a spike on the bottom end of this, to turn it into a shock probe, but now I'm wondering if he looks quite cool as-is, with a club. The club is somehow more 'base' for the army. The only power weapon so far is the commissar lord's power fist.



And then the psyker - a Crypt Ghoul with all the bones and spikes cut off, and a the flagellant head encased in the iron mask. He's going to have wires coming out of any his arms and spine, and various Flaggelant accessories, like scroll and chains hanging from him...



Here's the two together.

That looks really grim dark although it definitely seems fitting for the Penal Legion as after all even they need someone to be worse off than them!

Looking good. Real good. Nice work on painting those Legionaries.

Like the psyker looks all ragged and zombie-ish. Suicided bomber is sick too.

Looking good; how they're positioned right now, it seems the minder struck down the psyker; maybe the psyker's head should be tilted up a bit since now he'll only be seeing dirt?

Hey - finally got a day free to do some assembling, and managed to get both Psyker Battle Squads assembled. We have ten wretched psykers in chains, eight minders with clubs, and two overseers holding the chains.

Psykers



Minders



Overseer



The whole two squads ready for spraying

You have a really nice army. And the Idea with the ghouls looks great.

that Psyker squad turned out Aces!

This is looking top, mate. I'm almost guilted into getting my own PBS sorted!

The PBS is superb! Well done!

Dipped! Normal highlights and details to come, though I think the psykers are going to need to be paled-up a bit. They look a bit too healthy at the moment...

Those look awesome Ian like the component choices mate keep it coming!!

A future-project question: have you considered using Junker buggies as Tauros?

inmygravenimage wrote:A future-project question: have you considered using Junker buggies as Tauros?

That's a good idea - they'd certainly fit in with the Fast Attack idea for the army. They might be a bit small for Tauros, but then they are very cheap from Scotia Grendel. I'll see the rules when they come out and maybe get some....

---------------

So, while waiting for terrain to dry I've finished the highlights on my two Psyker Battle Squads. Here they are, being driven forward by their minders.

PBS 1



PBS 2



Overseer



Minders



Psykers

WOW! That's a nice looking unit.

.....dang man, nice

So, on to the Rough Riders. After this it's only the vehicles left and I have my 1000pt army. I recently had a stroke of luck on eBay, and managed to find three more Sandrunners and riders for only £2. This means that I won't have to use my converted plastic riders to fill in gaps any more. I've taken one of the more 'commissary' looking riders and converted him into a Sgt, and put the meltagun on a nice metal model.

There's also an escape 'baggage lizard' running ahead of the pack. I haven't decided if he'll be part of this squad, or a 'pet' for my Ogryns...

Looking sexy as always!

Looking awesome buddy: so impressed I've just gone and made more riders of my own!

Bright yellow and ready for dipping!!!

(yes, they'll be more pastel desert colour once they're done....)

Those are some nice Roughriders! The giant spears look very stabby!

Damn Double post!

Very nice...what model are the lizard things?

It kind of looks like the riders are hiding behind the paint bottles and the lizard mounts are rushing to find them.

Nightwatch wrote:Very nice...what model are the lizard things?

They're actually Junker Sandrunners from the same Void 1.1 range as the rest of the army. They can occasionally be found on eBay, but like the rest of Void 1.1, they're discontinued. The only conversion has been to add Empire lances to the riders.

ArbitorIan wrote:

Nightwatch wrote:Very nice...what model are the lizard things?

They're actually Junker Sandrunners from the same Void 1.1 range as the rest of the army. They can occasionally be found on eBay, but like the rest of Void 1.1, they're discontinued. The only conversion has been to add Empire lances to the riders.

it's Hard to findVoid stuff (for me) atm. i've been doing random searches periodically with no luck.
Ian, love this project! everything looks great.

You could use, alternatively, viridian saurians. Easier to get hold of, though not cheap. I have one spare, probably...

alarmingrick wrote:

ArbitorIan wrote:

Nightwatch wrote:Very nice...what model are the lizard things?

They're actually Junker Sandrunners from the same Void 1.1 range as the rest of the army. They can occasionally be found on eBay, but like the rest of Void 1.1, they're discontinued. The only conversion has been to add Empire lances to the riders.

it's Hard to findVoid stuff (for me) atm. i've been doing random searches periodically with no luck.
Ian, love this project! everything looks great.

You can find a lot of the original Void 1.1 stuff at ScotiaGrendel, who bought all the dead stock when the line was closed. They don't have the sandrunners though.

Of course, the newer Void/UrbanWar/whateverit'scalled range has new Junkers and new Sandrunners, but they're not as fearsome looking and a bit camelly....

ArbitorIan wrote:

alarmingrick wrote:

ArbitorIan wrote:

Nightwatch wrote:Very nice...what model are the lizard things?

They're actually Junker Sandrunners from the same Void 1.1 range as the rest of the army. They can occasionally be found on eBay, but like the rest of Void 1.1, they're discontinued. The only conversion has been to add Empire lances to the riders.

it's Hard to findVoid stuff (for me) atm. i've been doing random searches periodically with no luck.
Ian, love this project! everything looks great.

You can find a lot of the original Void 1.1 stuff at ScotiaGrendel, who bought all the dead stock when the line was closed. They don't have the sandrunners though.

Of course, the newer Void/UrbanWar/whateverit'scalled range has new Junkers and new Sandrunners, but they're not as fearsome looking and a bit camelly....

does anybody remember that old animated movie "Wizards"? those so could have been in the movie.

Ok, so my Rough Riders are complete. Seven Roughriders including one meltagun, plus a spare baggage lizard, who's either gonna be in this squad or a pet for the Ogryns

As a side note these are the first models I've matt varnished. I was a bit worried about cloudiness, since Army Painter Dip is varnish too, but the Humbrol Matt Sprays seem to work fine...

These are great models! I tried to do the same thing with Bretonnian Cavalry, not as cool though...

grayspark wrote:These are great models! I tried to do the same thing with Bretonnian Cavalry, not as cool though...

Brettonian cavalry? On Giant Space Lizards? How can that not be cool?

So, the last big thing on the list is the vehicles. I started today. The army only features fast vehicles, so I have two Hellhounds and two Salamanders. The Salamanders will be used as Chimeras.

Here's a Hellhound halfway through construction



And here's a Salamander



Now, I want as many options as possible with these, so I've got to work with the magnets. Each of the vehicles has a magnetised hull gun port. The Salamanders have magnetised crew weapons and the Hellhounds have magnestised turret weapons.



And here's the stash of weapons. We have

2 Hull Heavy Bolters
4 Hull Heavy Flamers
2 Hull Multimeltas

2 Salamander Autocannons
2 Salamander Heavy Flamers
2 Salamander Multilasers (converted from Sentinel Autocannons and Chimera Multilasers)

2 Inferno Cannons (from the original Hellhound kit)

I'll be converting some Meltacannons and Chemcannons, as these are pretty hard to get hold of from the bits sites at the moment.



Right, onto the wheel assemblies...

yeah!
Magnatisim, it's the way forward! having all the weapon option available to you, woot! until you can't find the heavybolters just before a game :(...

Tanks are Looking good so far, are they still tanks if they are have wheels instead of tracks?

I'm starting to worry about how much your managing to fit into a 1000pts list!

Panic...

I like what you're doing with the hellhounds, looking forward to the finished vehicles!

Thanks everybody. Wheel sections under construction. The base plates are graphics greyboard with model airplane wheels fixed to them with LOTS of PVA. The triangular supports will hold up segmented plate armour as 'track guards'. This will be made from plasticard and look like the regular guys' shoulder pads.

The ones with the shields in the hubs are for the Hellhounds

yeah,
are you sure about those shields?
They don't look right to me, wood on a flamethrowing vehicle?

would be better if it was a rivited metal shield?

Panic...

Nifty I'm looking forward to seeing more of these. I'll be interested to see how you plan to do the Chem and Melta-Cannon. I'm currently plannign to Twin Link Multi Meltas for the Melta Cannon and I'm just not bothered by the Chem cannon myself.........

Panic wrote:They don't look right to me, wood on a flamethrowing vehicle?

It's special Space wood. Impervious to hellhounds. Obviously....

Llamahead wrote:Nifty I'm looking forward to seeing more of these. I'll be interested to see how you plan to do the Chem and Melta-Cannon. I'm currently plannign to Twin Link Multi Meltas for the Melta Cannon and I'm just not bothered by the Chem cannon myself.........

The chem cannon will be the interesting one - I think my melta cannon will just be a bulked-out multimelta. Maybe a small single nozzle but with lots of pressure canisters, as if there's extra propellant or something....hmmm... have to raid the bits box tomorrow...

Mate, i've got a melta cannon spare, iirc. Also got some extra old-school fuel tanks somewhere, if you're interested. Lmk, we can work summut out.

Wheeled chimeras sound awesome.

Wheel assemblies attached! Starting work on the wheel armour now...

Consider my jaw duly dropped...

And the final bits of construction done. Now I'm off to start spraying...

Very cool army and a nice move on the wheeled APCs! Like the look of those things. The Hellhound turrets on the forward hatch of the chassis looks a bit unusual in my eyes, but nevertheless good. Probably reduces the vehicle's silhouette by an inch or two, too, keeping the gun turret so low.

Glad to see this man, I'm planning to build a wheeled chim myself and this is great inspiration...

Those wheeled Hellhounds/Salamanders are great! Where did you get the wheels from?

Looking good; the wheels fit the chimera chassis better then tracks, IMO.

Looking pretty good. The PBS come out quite nicely, and thse scratch chimmys and hellhounds look fantastic. Well done!

Thanks everyone.... READY FOR DIPPING!!!

(Actually, no dipping will happen as they won't fit in the pot, but i'll brush on and dab off the same dip-varnish I use for the regular guys....)

I really like the results you are getting from dipping. Quite impressed.

Going to be interesting to see how it works on armour. I'm just worried how all those flat places will take the dip if you are brushing it on. Hope it goes well tho!

Well, here's the finished vehicles. I say finished, I may go back and add battle damage, and certainly some crew for the Salamanders, but they're good enough for now...

Brushing on the dip worked quite well. It's a bit uneven, as it had to be dabbed off in places, but where it's uneven on the larger plates it has an ok 'dirty' look. I've put a lot of matt varnish on these to dull down the glossiness.

Hellhounds




Salamanders

They turned out nice even if you had to paint on the dipp it's a real pleasure to watch this army come togheter, your very productive.
keep it up mate

Can you provide what wheels you used? They look good for scratch-built vehicles.

ChaoticMind wrote:Can you provide what wheels you used? They look good for scratch-built vehicles.

The wheels are rubber electronics wheels from

https://www.rapidonline.com/productinfo.aspx?tier1=Electrical+%26+Power&tier2=Fans+%26+Motors&tier3=Accessories&tier4=Model+wheels&moduleno=31305&catref=37-1310#

They come in three different sizes, these are the 37mm ones

Thanks, those will be a great help. Keep up the good work on the army.

Thanks. So, I'm only missing ONE model from my 1000pt tournament army - the Astropath. But since I'm building him from Flagellant parts, I put together the 4 priests at the same time.

The old priest was a bit lacklustre, so I came up with some more imposing Eviscerators using Khorne Berseker chainswords and the Flagellant flails.

The Astropath is a bald flagellant with emaciated Ghoul arms. The idea was to have him seem like a more 'human' version of my Sanctioned Psykers, so he has the same chain details...

Awesome, priets look all crazy and zealous.

Vehicles turned out great.

Great army, very original. i like it.
the wheeled hellhounds/salamanders are pure win.
PBS great!
space lizards are cool.
preists are great.
i give up your army is Awsome with a captial A!!!!!

Having just finished reading "Crossfire" I was immediately interested in this topic. And they're looking good! Wonderful conversions and a great execution all in all - looking forward to a full army picture at some point!

Great stuff thanks for the linkls to them mini's never seen them before no, they look great, whats the size comparasome to the GW stuff, love the battle phyker squad, awsome

Phoenikuz wrote:Having just finished reading "Crossfire" I was immediately interested in this topic. And they're looking good! Wonderful conversions and a great execution all in all - looking forward to a full army picture at some point!

Thanks! Matthew Farrer actually put a lovely link up to them on his blog, which is always worth a read for interesting info. http://matthewfarrer.wordpress.com/

frogboy wrote:Great stuff thanks for the linkls to them mini's never seen them before no, they look great, whats the size comparasome to the GW stuff, love the battle phyker squad, awsome

They're the same size as GW models, Heroic 28mm. I'd say the proportions were slightly smaller than Cadians or Catachans, and more similar to the metal IG model ranges like Steel Legion, which is fine as the plastic Cadians have always seemed way too bulky to me....

Priests



Astropath

I like them! Good job!

Can we get a whole army shoot now please?

Rose_Mountainz wrote:Can we get a whole army shoot now please?

YES!

I'll be playing some test games tomorrow, I'll do a whole army shoot first thing in the morning, when I've got the table and scenery set out. Handily, this means I can Matt Varnish the whole lot at once, too..


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So, first, the whole army is done, and I've laid all the infantry out to be varnished. I'll lay them out properly on the table tomorrow.



Also, since I had some time free, I got around to converting my Penal Ogryns! They're WHFB Ogre Bulls as a base, with helmets converted from the Ironguts. I cut out the face part of the Ironguts helms and replaced it with a dust mask like the rest of the army. Also, like the rest of the army, they're armed with knives and carbines - the original Ogre swords and knives, and the Ork Shoota with the vented barrel as the Ripper Gun. And of course, there's one with the rest of the chain, to hold his pet Space Lizard.

Army so far!

(This isn't the tourney army - that's smaller. This s just everything painted so far...)

which one is your overall army leader?

The one with the sideways crest

ahh he looks great thanks for pointing him out

def. cool army .

Cool army, it is a great and alternative theme for an Imperial Force

Cool army, it is a great and alternative theme for an Imperial Force

D'oh sorry for the double post - our computer is a little out of control from time to time...

Orange and brown makes them look really cohesive.

Following this blog has been loads of fun! I'm especially liking:

-Your commanding officer. His pose is quite striking.
-The lizard cavalry. Great idea, and they're very dynamic.
-Those big, manly wheels on your Chimeras.

person person wrote:Orange and brown makes them look really cohesive.

Thanks. After playing a few games yesterday, they maybe look a little TOO much the same. I'm working on some special markers to remember which squad has which Desperados ability...!

ghosty wrote:ahh he looks great thanks for pointing him out

Owain wrote:Following this blog has been loads of fun! I'm especially liking:

-Your commanding officer. His pose is quite striking.
-The lizard cavalry. Great idea, and they're very dynamic.
-Those big, manly wheels on your Chimeras.

Thanks everyone. He's the commanding officer for the tournament army. In the finished army, there'll be a number of options. Another one of the officers in another CCS, a Commissar Lord, and a couple of Psykers....

Now, I played a couple of games at the weekend and I'm busy tweaking my list. Any recommendations? I've started a post over here to discus..... http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/288358.page#1472383





Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok, some tournament handy finishing to do. Some cunning conversions provided me with Devil Dog and Bane Wolf turrets. Devil Dog turrets made out of half a melta cannon and a lascannon barrel the same size. Bane Wolf turrets made from some LEGO tubing, some pipe, and some solder...




And then, with five Penal Legion squads running around, I made some markers so that I can keep track of which special skill each squad has. Knives for Knife-Fighters. Lascarbines for Gunslingers. Heads for Psychopaths.

Good conversions, and nice ideas for the Markers

Army ready for the tournament. I even spent AGES making a display board out of....um...a plank of wood and some grey paint....

They are a real pleasure for the eye, the orange unifies them with a nice contrast to the brown armour. It's also amasing your high rate that your pumping out your models

Good luck at the tournament and looking forward to see your ogryns later

Great stuff the markers are a great idea and thanks a lot for the link for the wheels I'll have to have a look at these!

They remind me of one at43 army... i dont know which. But they are quite nice realy, are those 2 hellhounds (meaning some vets (are they vets i believe) slog?) or salamanders/chimeras?

w0chtulka wrote:They remind me of one at43 army... i dont know which. But they are quite nice realy, are those 2 hellhounds (meaning some vets (are they vets i believe) slog?) or salamanders/chimeras?

Thanks. There are 2 Hellhounds and 2 Salamanders, which I'm using as Chimeras. The list is....


CCS (Commander with Meltabombs, 3 Meltaguns, Astropath)
Chimera (Multilaser, Heavy Flamer)

Psyker Battle Squad (1 Overseer, 9 Psykers)
Chimera (Multilaser, Heavy Flamer)

Penal Legionnaires
Penal Legionnaires
Penal Legionnaires
Penal Legionnaires

Rough Riders (5 Lances)

Banewolf (Hull Multimelta)
Banewolf (Hull Multimelta)

TOTAL 1000

It's been too long since I've given praise to anyone here on Dakka, but I've got to say that this thread has been an inspiration to me. I think that what you're doing is great, and more importantly, your painting style.

I've been thinking about dabbling with the AP's products for a while now, but I finally took the plunge and ordered some. I dipped two test marines today and I was laughing! I'll never look back.

One day I may finally build myself an army and get to roll some dice... Cheers Ian!

SOOOOO, back from the tournament. The Drade Suicide Legions acquitted themselves very well indeed, and I had joint third place after all the dust had settled. You can read the report and see the photos over on this thread here - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/288976.page

Cosmic wrote: It's been too long since I've given praise to anyone here on Dakka, but I've got to say that this thread has been an inspiration to me. I think that what you're doing is great, and more importantly, your painting style.

I've been thinking about dabbling with the AP's products for a while now, but I finally took the plunge and ordered some. I dipped two test marines today and I was laughing! I'll never look back.

One day I may finally build myself an army and get to roll some dice... Cheers Ian!

Thanks very much, that's great to hear. I was amazed by how simple the dipping method was too, though after two very quick-to-paint dipped armies I've made recently, I'm now about ready for something really complicated and detailed....

Having played against these guys in the flesh today, they really do look the business. (The wheeled Chimera's just edge the rough riders for my favourites...) Congrats Ian!

And, by the by, avoid chem-cannons is my take home message!

Thanks everyone. The tournament was great, time for the next stage. Penal Ogryns!!






And a quick Commissar conversion...

doublebouebooble

I like your use of Ogres as Ogryns, you've managed to not make them look too "dark agey". Nice work

I like the ogryn taking the space lizard for a walk.
But i think the pf looks too big for the commissar.

Commissar Agro wrote:I like the ogryn taking the space lizard for a walk.
But i think the pf looks too big for the commissar.

It does, you're right. But I have no smaller ones. And I'll never use him anyway. It was more that, since I had a spare bloke in a greatcoat lying around, I might as well make him useful. Hey ho, maybe I'll revisit him and either make the huge fist look believable with lots of cables and whatnot, or just swap it for a powersword...

Right, now, I've been assembling the rest of the metal models with all their weapon options. It turns out I have enough for THREE veteran squads left over, plus some extra weapons. These are switchable between the squads and the CCS units. Including the ones I've already painted, the options are...

2 Company Commanders, 3 Veteran Sergeants, 7 Meltaguns, 3 Flamers, 3 Grenade Launchers, 18 Regular Veterans with Shotguns, 2 Autocannon Teams, 2 Missile Launcher Teams, 1 Standard Bearer and 1 Heavy Flamer.

Company Commander WIP (head needs a bit of filing and smoothing)



Autocannon Teams




Heavy Flamer Guy



Standard Bearer

Sweet, new models. Are you going to work on those or what's up next?

Rose_Mountainz wrote:Sweet, new models. Are you going to work on those or what's up next?

Thanks. These are next. Just got to GS the arms for the missile launchers and then I can get painting. Having these all finished will give me a lot more flexibility across the army. Plus, afterwards, I've only got the sentinels and psykers to do...

The ogryns are great, liked how the ripper guns were paited so they didn't look too orky.

The standard bearer looks sick!

nice standard
cant quiet make out what weapon the CC has in his right hand. but looks good

Commissar Agro wrote:nice standard
cant quiet make out what weapon the CC has in his right hand. but looks good

Thanks - he has a laspistol in his left hand and a boltpistol in his right. It's just another CC weapon really, but it makes him look different to the other Commander at least...

ArbitorIan wrote:
Thanks - he has a laspistol in his left hand and a boltpistol in his right. It's just another CC weapon really, but it makes him look different to the other Commander at least...

Your dam right he stands out for other commanders. I like it, consider it stolen.

So, all the veterans and CCS options are now done - the veteran special and heavy weapons are all swappable with the CCS, so it's nice to get them all finished!

Veteran Squad with Flamers and Heavy Flamer



Grenade Launchers



Heavy Flamer and Flamers



CCS



Standard Bearer



Heavy Weapon Teams




The loaders are removeable from the main bases

yeah,
Looking good. How much space have you left in your army case?

Removable loaders are a good way to track wounds. maybe you should paint a skull in the empty space to emphasise his demise. or blood splats.

Panic.

Panic wrote:Looking good. How much space have you left in your army case?
Removable loaders are a good way to track wounds. maybe you should paint a skull in the empty space to emphasise his demise. or blood splats.

Ooh, blood splats might be good. I've got the sentinels in the army box too now, and space for about 25 more models....

Sentinels complete! The have magnetised weapons - Lascannons, Multilasers and Heavy Flamers

All four



Lascannon



Multilaser



Heavy Flamer

Looks good,
Have you left the sentinels open topped like that so you can magnetise the armoured top on?

Commissar Agro wrote:Looks good,
Have you left the sentinels open topped like that so you can magnetise the armoured top on?

Aha - no they're strictly Scout sentinels, I just didn't like the 'rollbar' look....

I prefer the sentinels without the rollcage, makes them look a lot faster. Good work!

Ok, yes I agree that the roll bar dosn't look good.

LAST MODELS!!!!!!

Just got back from Salute and the Forge World stand, where I got hold of two floaty renegade psykers for use as my Primarii. Simple GS conversions to put flagellant heads on and change the face on the belt into a flask/tank, and we're ready to spray...

Clever conversions!

Always thought the Renegade psyker model could be just about anything with enough GS and bitz.

Those are some good looking primaris psykers.
They really fit your theme well.

Thanks everyone. Here they are painted. So, this means that my page 1 list is now entirely blue - the army is FINISHED!!!!

Well, nothing's ever finished, right? I realise I haven't played a lot of games with these guys yet, and there's still space in the box for a few more models, but we'll consider those a second wave for some time in the future. For now, it's finished. As soon as I get a chance, I'll do some full army photos....

Sweet been following it through the whole thing What's your next project?

Rose_Mountainz wrote:Sweet been following it through the whole thing What's your next project?

Well, I'm going to be pretty busy with work over summer so I doubt I'll get as much done - so far this year I've already repainted, based and finished one army (Daemons) and built another (this), and I doubt I'll get as much as that done in the NEXT four months!

I'm taking my Squats to a tournament in August, so they'll be getting a revisit and some more models, and then I plan to start the repaint/base/expansion of my Tau army. Of course, this might change depending on the August codex release....

---------

So, here's the finished army. Apart from building the initial Legionnaires and painting one of the squads, everything here was completed in the last two months. Dipping really is an incredibly quick way to get an army like this together. 120 regular infantry, 15 large infantry, 4 walkers and 4 vehicles in around eight weeks. Thanks to everyone who's posted for the inspiration - these blogs really keep me going...



Legionnaires and Vehicles



Command Elements



Psychic Circus



And a bit of repentance








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Lookin good. They remind more of an elite guard regiment with that armour

Congrats on finishing a really cool, themed army ArbitorIan. I'm really amazed at how fast dipping makes painting!! Great Job.

yeah,
Congratulations!
You only bought those primaris yesterday!

Panic...

Superb, inspiring stuff. Dread to think what's next!

Vitruvian XVII wrote:Congrats on finishing a really cool, themed army ArbitorIan. I'm really amazed at how fast dipping makes painting!! Great Job.

QFT

Simply amazing

This is a really cool army and I particularly like the use of miniatures from a range of manufacturers to get the 'style/theme' that you were looking for.

All assembled, it looks like an army you should feel justifiably proud of...awesome work and I look forward to seeing your next project.

Wow, you actually finish armies. Mine never seem finished, no matter how big they may be . Good job on the army, it looks like a very coherent force!

CommissarKhaine wrote:Wow, you actually finish armies. Mine never seem finished, no matter how big they may be . Good job on the army, it looks like a very coherent force!

i second that. big up!

Wow, read the whole thing through, quite the project to finish in this amount of time. Grats on completing them and may they bring you much victory

very nice!!

HELLO!

Sorry for the revival of this old blog, but I'm now selling all the guys in this army. My Guard force is going to get a major reboot with a massive load of Van Saar infantry, so most of the guys in this army are off to EBAY!

I've put them on the Swap Swop here - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/593106.page#6788320