Cheers Para, it is odd with you not having been around for a few days, you must be busy. These are some of those weird minis that just seem to paint themselves. They have also given me the itch to paint the 30 odd Chaos cultists that I still have hanging around. With the 20 odd I already have done that would be one hell of a blob...I could even Alpha Legionise some.
Edit: posting from Kendal is the EU rather than UK? Excellent
It'd be an interesting experiment to see if you could mix and match some Stealer and Chaos cultist parts for a bit more variety... Obviously the 3rd arms on the Stealers and some of the more chaosy Cultis parts would be out, but you could probably make a pretty unique generic space/post apoc rabble to supplement either Chaos or GSC forces interchangeably with the odd arm/weapon/head swap.
Yeah, been very busy this week. Essay that's taking a loooong time to do and I was out today paintballing as well. Normal Dakkaing and painting service should resume shortly!
Only time I have been paintballing was on day 3 of a stag do. Needless to say that about 75% of those hit with a headshot did a technicolour yawn...an odd day.
Good call...on the mixing. I already have my eye on a 2nd Overkill set to make a 1k Cult army.
@Grim: Dakka's Geo location thing often sends up some odd results. I saw, they do seem well suited to This Is Not A Test.
A bit more progress on the Minions Of The Four Armed Emperor....
In other news I am really struggling to get motivated to paint more Algoryn for the monthly challenge, somebody slap me around the head please.
So 3 more Cultists done, and some WIP on the Primus:
We call him "Doc":
I also need to paint the 6 Terminator models for my Alpha Legion then the first of my BaC boxed sets will be done. I have a nice free weekend so hopefully I can see some progress to that end.
I currently have the two Familiars and two Aberrants on the painting table but they are only basecoated...I do not tend to take photos at that stage as it is a bit dull. I will definitely be going purple on the purestrains and probably a beige with purple accents skin colour on the Aberrants.
Your Overkill cultists are looking amazing. You're really cranking them out and maintaining a really nice standard while doing so! Hopefully I'll have mine in hand this weekend.
evildrcheese wrote: Awesome. You'd think someone would get suspicious if they saw a piece of industrial equipment that requires 3 hands to use!
Opera guy looks great too, very dramatic.
EDC
Not really. They usually have a servo-arm attached. That and the Imperium doesn't mind mutants if they're working for them. Which is why Ogryns and Ratlings are allowed to serve in the Astra Militarum.
Fantastic work on your cultists. I love the way you've painted their skin, and your purple looks great. I've always struggled with purple, pink and yellows, you've nailed it.
Cheers Paradigm, at this rate we can take my blog to pm's .
A bit more progress today, have added up my painted Alpha Legion and it tops 1300 pts so that is good. I do still need to paint 5 Tactical Marines to have the 'legal' two troops choices as the support squads do not count.
Cheers gents. Hopefully I can get the other set painted up by the summer, a few tanks and all should be good. I am thinking a Sicaran and maybe a trio of Whirlwinds or Land Raiders.
Up next is probably more Deathwatch: Overkill and I really needto get my Harris into gear on my Algoryn for this month's ( of which a week is left?) challenge.
Cheers Jan, a nice easy day doing some Algoryn drones thus afternoon. Should get some pictures up post workout and dinner ( including an exciting broccoli, cider and walnut side dish that I have thought up).
Automatically Appended Next Post: Just a little bit of progress today on some GoA Spotter Drones, nothing spectacular here:
Scale shot with an artillery crew member:
Am also after some feedback on my DW:O Aberrant skin colour scheme, I wanted to show the transition from the more humanoid cult members into the purples seen on the later generations, any thoughts?
Very cool stuff. I think you've achieved a great transitional look on that Hybrid's skin tone. The Algoryn are coming along nicely. Have you played many games with them yet?
Alphas are looking fantastic. Do you plan to add decals or other markings to them? I know the AL have all manner of iconography. I also wonder if you plan to slip an Alpha Legionnaire into your Deathwatch forces?
I fancied painting something a little different yesterday so I dug a couple of Assassins out of the vault. So here are my Vindicare and Eversor:
@Azazel: A few small games of GoA, have really enjoyed them. At a bigger level it seems like it could be very tactical with a lot of depth.
Alpha Legion wise I have the FW transfer sheet, so marking will be happening soon. As for a Deathwatch AL, that is a very interesting idea...he would have to be a Black Shield though so any identifiers to his chapter would have to be removed.
URL=http://s25.photobucket.com/user/pauloso151/media/deadzone/DSCF5563_zpsjzjtdhma.jpg.html][/URL]
I'm open, thow me the ball , Makes me want to build a 40K bloodbowl team.
I like the transition from cultist to stealer that you have going on with that abberant.
Also you Alpha Legion is looking great. You could use the GS cult guys as Alpha Legion Cultists (genetically modified for infiltration in 30K)
Re the transition on the skin, it might be worth looking at (I think) the GW video for the Glottkin or Maggoth Lord. If I remember right, they have some nice pointers on blending different skin tones.
@Theo: He does look a bit Blood Bowlie....I like it! I still have plenty of Cultists left to paint up, and a fair few will be Alpha Legionised but that is a good call.
@AoV, I will check it out most of the videos have done really cool tips in them.
The other two Assassins are currently on the painting table, hope to get them done by midweek.
Got my "Tale of Gamers" entry in on time for March, namely my X-Launcher and Spotter Drones:
This is the army after 3 Months on the Tale of Painters (sounds like one of those "I lost 2lbs after eating only 300 calories a day for a year" adverts):
That takes me to 81 miniatures painted in 2016 as well, I figure that 25 a month gets me 300 for the year so I am on schedule.
500 pts is recommended as the smaller sized game to play and I have about that painted now. The few games I have had have been really enjoyable, and locally we have a handful of players, that is before looking a bit further afield. All told it is a great game from my point of view.
80 odd done yes, hope to get a fair few more done over the weekend.
Here is my April pledge for the Tale of XX Gamers, an Algoryn Infiltration Squad and an Intruder Skimmer Squad.
Am very impressed by the resin casts on the skimmers, minimal, minimal flash and nice crisp details:
Background:
"The Intruder is a lightly built and armed machine designed for scouting and reconnaissance operations and sometimes for raiding, in which capacity its turn of speed and high degree of manoeuvrability make it ideal.
Intruders are armed with Twin Mag Repeaters, and squads can also carry compactor drones enabling them to tow support weapons into advanced positions and crew them. They are protected by a composite skin, and reflex type armour with internal hyperlight boosters, creating a high-energy hyperlight envelope for rider and machine.
The intruder is buoyed upon suspensors that carry it easily over most ground surfaces and employs pulse thrusters to attain high speeds and rapid acceleration."
The other part of the pledge is an AI Infiltration Squad, these are exclusively formed by female Algoryn:
"Armed with Mag Repeaters, Infiltration Squads are able to launch a devastating burst of fire at close quarters. Exclusively recruited from Algoryan females, they employ stealth tactics to take enemies by surprise, emerging with all guns blazing - their deadly hail of fire rarely missing it's mark."
Finally I am going to be painting up some more of my GoA Concord over the weekend as well, including this guy a Nuhu Concord Mandarin (?!?):
He is quite a tall fella:
"The ruling elites of this society are New Humans or NuHu. Hyper-intelligent, tall, and eerily androgynous, the NuHu are the undisputed Mandarins of the Panhuman Concord. They are very few in number and spread thinly amongst the vast population of the Concord.
What makes the NuHu different from other humans is that they have co-evolved with the sentient integrated machine intelligence – or IMTel - that controls all aspects of Concord society. They are its living symbiotic component, simultaneously masters and slaves of an all powerful, benign technocracy."
I also plan to finish the other two Assassins so busy, busy, busy.
Got the Culexus and Callidus Assassins done. The Culexus is a PITA to photograph due to the downward angle of the skull mask so I have no real detailed photographs of him as they all came out extremely blurry, and the Callidus is not much easier to take pictures of either. But here they are, Assassins Assemble:
Am really happy with them as a group, doubt I will ever get a chance to run all four in a game, but you never know.
@Zambro. I think I will get onto the NuHu Mandarin some time this week, I like him and fortunately GoA has got me back into dealing with metal minis.
I did something daft today and finally ordered my Sicaran and a whatever the Deimos bases Whirlwind is called*, it's primary weapon is stupidly destructive. And again, Forge World's postage tax sucks.
*Aha, it is a Deimos Pattern Whirlwind Scorpius, sounds very dangerous.
Yeah, it does! I could almost stomach some of FW's prices for some of the nicer units, but the extra 14% or whatever it is even for domestic shipping is a killer! Looking forward to what you do with these, though!
Thraxas Of Turai wrote: @Zambro. I think I will get onto the NuHu Mandarin some time this week, I like him and fortunately GoA has got me back into dealing with metal minis.
I did something daft today and finally ordered my Sicaran and a whatever the Deimos bases Whirlwind is called*, it's primary weapon is stupidly destructive. And again, Forge World's postage tax sucks.
*Aha, it is a Deimos Pattern Whirlwind Scorpius, sounds very dangerous.
Whirlwind Scorpius has some pretty nasty missiles if I remember right.
The STAP based influence is definitely there, still think they look cool.
Got my Intruder Skimmer Squad done, the only question is do I add weathering?
Last week I bought the AOS Order: Grand Alliance book and really enjoyed reading it, the possibilities of joined "Order" forces are very interesting as there are so many combination that were previously not available in the Warhammer World.. As a result I also did a test on an AOS Dark Elf (I forget their new name). Nothing special but just a quick rank and file job:
Finally a question:
I currently have an unmade SM Landspeeder, I want to add it to my Alpha Legion, is adding Mk IV heads and shoulder pads enough or do you feel it needs some conversion to make it feel more Horus Heresy? If so has anyone got any links to any blogs on any such conversions?
Those look very nice indeed! For once, I'm going to say hold off on the weathering, since the rest of the force isn't too beat up.
I reckon the land speeder ought to be fine, there is a HH version but the regular version was presumably still discovered by Arkhan Land (hence the name), so must predate the Heresy.
Chheres Para. True, my Algoryn are state at the art at not getting shot at or dirty on the battlefield .
I do not have the stomach to buy any more FW for a while, and the HH 'Speeder at £50+ is a bit rich for me. I am looking at the sprues but cannot really see a way to convert it effectively, but easily, into a MKI Speeder. I will take more of a look at it later.
The more I see of GoA the more I like the look, even the boromites. Too bad they tainted the name with not having all of this done before the Kickstarter. Stillmighteventuallyswitch, but not soon.
Cheers Jan, got a bit more work done on the "March to 100" with miniature number 95, this time it is back to my Alpha Legion and a second Tactical Sergeant. Once I get these 5 done I can actually run a "legal" army. I am liking the contrast with the white helmet so I am definitely going to carry that on with my as yet unpainted Veteran Squad. Does it belong in an AL army? No idea, I like it so it is going in.
Just to show how much the base coat and wash make of the AL Marines:
Finished the other 4 Legionnaires today so that means I can now run a legal, fully painted HH army:
It also means that (if I include the terrain piece in the middle) I have painted 100 miniatures in 2016. Mainly Alpha Legion and Algoryn but here they are:
So ultimately I am very happy with my progress this year. Hope I can keep up the pace but also get a little better. Looking at the miniatures as a whole I am happy but there are a few individual minis that I am not totally satisfied with.
****Edit*** One of the Contemptors is not ment to be in the picture, but what the hell it looks cool anyway.
Thanks for looking.
I like your alpha legion color and it also works well on the gates of Antares figs too. I like the algoryn speeder sleds, but I just want one and add humongous wheels on it.
300 to go... don't buy anything and you'll have a clear backlog by the end of the year! Good work on the Cultists, and I can't wait to see those AoS characters, they're a little pricey for my blood but bloody lovely sculpts all the same!
Maybe not the end if the year but at my current rate it does not seem that bad...just have to hold off the purchasing and hope that GW hold off the boxed game releases as I cannot resist them. Luckily my latest pre order only has two minis and a scenery piece .
You are right Para the new AOS stuff is daftly priced.
Thraxas Of Turai wrote: Maybe not the end if the year but at my current rate it does not seem that bad...just have to hold off the purchasing and hope that GW hold off the boxed game releases as I cannot resist them. Luckily my latest pre order only has two minis and a scenery piece .
You are right Para the new AOS stuff is daftly priced.
Look! New Titan Boxed Game, 2 for 1 pricing
Love you models man, subbed to thread and PM'ed you regarding your Skitarii scheme!
@Bottle I plan to finish the Genestealers Cult soon, however I am a bit daunted by all the black armour on the Deathwatch. The very same reason has seen my Death Company remain unpainted for about a year.
@Joyous-Oblivion, thank you very much for the kind comments . And indeed Renegade will be mine.
Got another five Cultists with Autoguns painted up, again very basic but also poorly photographed...hooray!
I also got a ride painted up for one of my Alpha Legion support squad. I adore the Deimos pattern Rhino. But I just cannot justify paying basically double (once the FW postage tax is added) when compared to your bog standard MK II Rhino, so MK II it is:
Excellent Rhino, the symbols really bring it to life! How did you find the wash-based painting method on the larger surfaces, if you used it?
I kind of feel I ought to take the plunge and paint a Rhino or two for my Crimson Fists, but that's all done with washes so I'm not sure how easy it'd be.
Rhino is looking great there mate. Funny how the same colour appears so much lighter on the larger surfaces - just like in real life. Great work on getting all of those models painted so far this year, you've certainly been productive! The schemes fo rthe Algoryn and the Alpha Legion look similar enough that you could probably use them together in some way...
@Zambro...freehand? No chance! Decals all the way, even though I still call them transfers. The Cultists do the job, have a fair few to churn through as well.
@Para: The wash over larger areas is a bit of a pain, I did paint it that way but would have been better suited just going for the recesses.
@Az: It does look a fair bit lighter....more surface area for the light to reflect off of I guess?
Also did an AL Landspeeder today, nothing revolutionary just MK IV bodies, helmets and the old style heavy bolter. I also filed off the Imperial Eagle.
Got a couple more Cultists churned out today, including my favourite of all the Cultist sculpts the Heavy Stubber. Again minimal work really as they are effectively a blob to prevent other things getting shot at. As it stands this little spree has seen me churn out 18 Cultists with Autoguns, Add that to the 15 I had done last year for Assassination Force and soon I will have two units of 25 (one autoguns, one hand weapons). So just 17 more to go until I never have to paint a Cultist again!
Stubber:
This year:
All together now:
I promise to paint something more interesting, and to a far better quality soon.
Thanks for the kind words gents, certainly gives a boost to the motivation. An issue for me recently is that I cannot resist a boxed game from GW, and the have been releasing a lot. In reality I could limit my hobby budget to just big boxes and I would be happy, hence:
The two baskets atop the photo are cat beds, but they tend to eschew them in summer so may just put the Knights to sleep there instead.
Also of note is the additional colour to the instruction/construction booklet:
No idea on which houses I will paint up yet, but on will certainly be a Renegade. On AngelOfVengeance's recommendation I also got some Leadbelcher spray so that should help in getting the base metals done. It will be nice for this fella to have some friends too:
What colors are you planning for the new Knights? I'm curious, do the game rules have you using preset builds, or does it let you equip the knights however you want?
There are no prescribed builds, you can arm them however you want, your only limitations are the weapons in the box.
I think I am going to go the Freeblade route, either the Green Knight or the Crimson Reaper. As for the Renegade Knight I currently have no idea, I may just try and copy the scheme used in the boxedset which is "The Living Litany" Knight with added Chaotic taint.
Construction is done...probably bar a bit of mould line removal. The Renegade Knight may be a bit shooty...armed with an Avenger Gatling Cannon, Battle Cannon and twin Icarus Autocannon. I may add some bits to "Chaosify" him a bit more but we shall see. The traditional Knight has a Battle Cannon, Stormspear Rocket Pod and Thunderstrike Gauntlet.
Both are currently not glued at the waist for ease of painting. I hope to get started over the upcoming Bank Holiday Weekend here in the UK:
@Theophany: it is a very tempting idea! Beyond my modelling skill though.
@AOV: Indeed he is a Freeblade. Aureo ( Latin for gold, modern English for "filled cookie") has denounced his previous house mainly as I didn't think I could paint any heraldry.
Well if your not going to use the Idea then I just might . Actually the Dreamforge leviathan kits I have have removable arms and legs......I just never thought of painting one black .
Plus don't sell yourself short, your skills are great, and all you need is practice....maybe not on a $100 kit, but that's what dollar store toys and walmart specials are for.
Mand'alore Fett was once a Noble of House Cadmus, but an unknown dishonour during the defence of Gryphonne IV saw him exiled from Raisa to wander the galaxy as a Freeblade Knight. Early in these dark days he was manipulated by the taint of Chaos. His carapace still bears a bastardised version of the slain mutant found on the House Cadmus' crest, but rather than the slain mutant of Cadmus this mutant is alive and ready to kill...now totally insane he fights not for honour but merely the thrill of death, destruction and the glory of Chaos.
A Freeblade Knight.... in a Boba Fett-inspired scheme... painted to an exceptional standard... in less than a week...
How do you get so much awesome into one post? The speed you painted that up at, I'm beginning to think you chose that avatar pic because you have an actual TARDIS stashed away somewhere, and you're routinely hopping back in time to double your painting time...
Awesome work... now, it's a bank holiday weekend, so naturally I expect Knight number 2 done by tomorrow evening!
A: Expense
B: No idea how to use one.
C: They are cheating ( I jest).
The Leadbelcher spray helped a lot though.
@AoV: Hope it brings you some inspiration.
@Theo: That is where his name comes from, although it is more a nod to his WCW manager Sir William (Memphis legend Superstar Bill Dundee) when Steven Regal was a Lord circa '93/'94.
@FSU, thank you.
Now just the terrain to go and that is the whole box set done. I want to add the...Errr...groin penant to Sir William though.
Nice looking Knights, Thraxas. Did you magnetize the waist joint? I'm kind of tempted to try it, but I'm afraid my magnets won't be strong enough to fully support that upler body weight.
I went for the Deimos Pattern Whirlwind Scorpius in the end, all told about £9 with postage as a result of the voucher.
Just a quick update, got the terrain from "Renegade" done as well. Nothing spectacular, I plan to revisit it and add detail in the future but it means that the boxed set is done:
It even all fits in the box...and you can close the lid.
Aov is right, no magnets on the Knights, they really do sit atop well at the waist join without them. If you want alternate weapons magnets are obviously the way to go.
Just a couple of figures done yesterday, firstly:
Captain Ansiel of the 4th Company.
He has been sat around with a red basecoat and aggrax earthshade wash for too long, so I decided to finish him up yesterday. It has motivated me to do a bit more work on my BA. Apologies as the light was not too good this morning but I am really pleased with him:
I also finished off the final of miniature of my "shooty" cultists:
Finally a marine captain that remembers to wear his helmet . Good stuff Thraxas , He is also not over blinged, yet still pulls off the character role nicely.
Got the Aberrants and Purestrains from Deathwatch: Overkill done. I am not the biggest fan of painting skin so the Aberrants were a bit of a pain, but they fit in well with the other cult miniatures I have done. The purestrains are more bright in colour to represent the descent (or ascension if you are that way inclined) of becoming a true alien.
Group shot:
Onto some hybrids later today, my Deimos pattern Whirlwind Scorpius arrived today and is currently having a bath and it is onto Warhammer Fest tomorrow.
So a touch of progress, got the Whirlwind Scorpius made up. This was my first FW tank kit so I was a bit daunted, but it went together fine as the plastic rhino provided a stable and reliable chassis to build around.
At Warhammer Fest today I did not go mad, just bought a few AL additions, namely Armillus Dynat, an AL Contemptor (who will get 2 Melta arms courtesy of Betrayal At Calth), the AL dice and the Age of Darkness Legion book.
I also found something that money cannot buy...
And this beast too. I want one whenever they are released but will not be paying the £300+ to get one:
Ah the whirlwind scorpious aka the great friend maker . The genestealers are looking great so far also! I do hope that they make those legion dice for all of them because I would buy the crap out of the raven guard ones.
Ustrello wrote: Ah the whirlwind scorpious aka the great friend maker . The genestealers are looking great so far also! I do hope that they make those legion dice for all of them because I would buy the crap out of the raven guard ones.
Nice buys T. It's as well I live in the other side of the world as I don't dare go to WHW or any events. I would max out credit card limits and the rest!! The daft 30% Korean customs tax is another prophylactic against me hitting up their webstore!!!!
Looking forward to seeing your next stuff getting Alpha'd
Great work. The Genestealers look fantastic, as does the Blood Angel and the Knights. The Boba Fett scheme is inspired.. I might have to rip it off down the line sometime.
@Jan: The postage tax in the UK is deterrent enough, but a 30% sales tax? That is killer.
Got my Contemptor and Dynat constructed. Both are beautiful sculpts and cast and luckily did not require that much flash/etc removal. After a lovely overnight bath I put them together this morning. The only issue was lining up Dynat's arms was a PITA but luckily my love for him saw me persevere.
Just a few quick and easy phone pictures:
Rotating the right arm plastic melta was very simple to get it to fit the left arm, why we love plastics I guess.
Finally drilling out barrels, how do you ensure that you do not go wonky? I just do not have the knack.
@Thraxas - yeah - anything over the value of $150 coming into the country (for personal use) gets smacked with a 30% customs/import tax. Makes getting a good load of FW stuff prohibitive. When I do, I have to send to my house in Ireland and then wait till I'm home there to pick it up. Pain in the nads :/
That's a great looking Contemptor. I have to say, these new 30k parts and models - and the paint that people here have been getting done have inspired some real interest in legions that I've never had the slightest interest in before like the Word Bearers, and yes - Alpha Legion!
Armillus Dynat: Harrowmaster Of The Alpha Legion, Griefbringer, Instar-Nine.
I have been quiet of late due to work and a trip up to Leeds for some cricket this past weekend, and the coming week will probably be quiet as I am off to Wembley on saturday to hopefully see my beloved Sheffield Wednesday get promoted to the Premier League but I have gotten Dynat done. Annoyingly there is a hair in the photograph, but I am very happy with him:
Proof that any miniature is 75% cooler with this scenic base:
Chain of Command:
I have currently done 0% of my "Tale of XX painters" for this month so I really need to get my butt into gear.
Cheers everybody, it really is a cracking sculpt. I just hope that whenever Alpharius or Exodus (basically an Alpha Legion assassin par excellence) are released that they live up to Dynat
I aim to crack on a bit more tonight and tomorrow so will hopefully have some more progress soon.
Got my Tale of Painters entry done for the last minute, they are a Concord Mandarin NuHu (with Nano Probe),Concord Strike Squad and Algoryn AI assault squad.
Excuse the poor pictures but the light has been awful today:
Algoryn AI Assault squad, these come with Mag Guns and the wrist mounted D-spinners:
Mandarin NuHu:
Strike Squad:
And all of my painted Concord thus far:
As ever I have no idea where the paints will take me next, thanks for looking
Great work on the GoA. Luckily for me, my backlog does help me resist buying new things for games I'm not already invested in. I especially like the work on the HuNu - very characterful
Got a bit more progress done over the past few days, a dull 5 spotter drones for my GoA Concord.
Add one of these to a squad and you can re-roll a missed shooting roll, they are also good for support weapons as you can draw LOS if one drone is within 20" of another it can use that that drones LOS to draw LOS to another target via what is called "patch sighting". So have your weapon hunkered down behind a wall and if set right you can still draw LOS if you are set up correctly.
Poorly lit photo agogo:
I also got my Whirlwind Scorpius painted up, this takes my Alpha Legion beyond 1700 points painted up.
Have also lined up a game of GoA with someone at a local game store today, I am providing both sides so here are 500 points of Concord:
You mean 1700 points of troops wearing legion colors I'm sure , I'm sure there's more points done, just might be sporting a brother legionnaires wardrobe.
I think painting some of the ultramarine tyrannic war vets up and painting the sword through the Ultra symbol bloody would be a nice infiltrator look .
@AOV: I hope it does somewhere down the line. Drones are everywhere in GoA but the Concord ones do certainly owe something to the Tau.
@Paradigm: 500pts represents the smallest game the rules recommend, about 40-45 minutes play.
We managed that today and after 6 close turns called it a draw. The NuHu can be devastating.
@Theophony: Good call, the Alpha Legion are everywhere. The 1700 points actually only includes 1 HQ option so I can add a Cataphractii Praetor to that, Skorr and the Calth Chaplain type model
Nearly have my third Contemptor painted up, expect to see him (and the full Talon) by midweek.
I could not resist getting started on the C3M4 Combat Drone straight away, I really like this kit. The easily interchangeable weapon options, it is just a plug in system, is something I wish that other companies would also do:
Size comparison with a Rhino:
Again I am really impressed with Warlord's resin, this is the main part of the X-Howitzer prior to any clean up:
I hope to get quite a bit done in the next few days before embarking on my most massive painting project to date...decorating the house
The GOA stuff is looking good, but my favourites of your (how bloody many??) recent posts are the Alpha Legion. I love that Whirlwind and the Contemptor Talon especially.
Wow. That contemptor with the sweet alpha legion dragons/snakes/whatever and the dual meltas is awesome. So is the whole force. That combat drone is really spiffy too. The antares game looks neat with all of the drones, very scifi.
Thanks gents, I am on a real GoA kick at the moment, mainly propelled by the game itself, the new Xilos campaign (which is both a supplement and online campaign) and thankfully Azazel's Tale of Painters that has really seen me motivated to get my GoA miniatures painted up. I got another 5 Strike Troopers painted up:
That takes me to 160 miniatures painted in the year, so I am on target for my 25 miniatures a month goal, with about half the month to go to hopefully get a bit further ahead.
That means that my painted Concord army looks like this:
And my entire GoA collection looks like this:
I plan to paint a weapon support team and command squad next, and then probably onto some AL or BA.
You are making GOA sound and look really good , I would never have thought those colors could work together but they make an excellent pallet for your army.
First the Targeter probes. These are a measly 20 points and fulfil two useful roles. They are what is called a "sharded unit". This means they count as a unit and add an order dice to your side meaning that for cheapo points you get the chance of another order to hopefully outmaneuver or beat your opponent to the punch. Being sharded means that they are purchased as a unit but act independently on the battlefield, so these go zooming across the battlefield and once they are in base to base contact with an enemy unit they give you a positive modifier on your shooting rolls.
Secondly is an X-Launcher team. These are pretty cool, they are not just for blasting at opponents. A variety of ammo means that you can slow opposing units movement, pin them in place and still have a few other options:
I have recently bought very little in the way of miniatures...but this release meant that I will now be getting a third GoA army in the form of Rebel Ghar:
Thraxas Of Turai wrote: Interesting Theo, so what is it about those colours that made you think that they would not work together?
I just didn't think yellow and a lavender could work well together. I'm no color theorist, and never tried those two side by side, especially since I didn't have a lavender color. Also it's just not a pairing I've seen before. Very nice blend of colors that gives them a unique style.
@Theo: I see what you mean, the grey/lavender is Slaanesh grey which is basically on the lilac side of the grey spectrum. I really like it as a colour.
With the release of the recent "Xilos" Campaign book you got a lovely bonus miniature...namely this rebel Ghar. I have pretty much copied the Warlord Studio scheme as I like the colours. So here he is:
I am not a fan of the flat Warlord bases so recently put in an order for some 25mm rounds of bases from GW. To ensure that I did not just get a boring box of bases I added Captain Tycho to my order. Not a bubble/miscast in sight...had GW started with this finecast recipe then maybe it may not have been so derided as it is.
So Tycho. Do I go with the classic golden theme or do I go for Tycho on the eve of his death on Armageddon when he has joined the Death Company? Any feedback would be welcomed.
I am usually quite decisive on colour schemes, but just cannot decide on Tycho. Game wise the DC one is only 15 points more with a few more fluffy special rules. Army wise I already have Dante and a unit of Sanguinary Guard representing the golden boys...so many choices.
As for black, do you find highlighting with a blue or grey to be better? My Death Company are still staring at me demanding paint
Ghar guy looks interesting. The cloak looks reptilian. I assume it's a cloak...?
As for the paints, it's a hard choice. I'd personally go for buying another Tycho and painting one of each scheme. Grey works better for gaming models, since blue is much more subtle and harder to see, as Ustrello points out., It can also give a "dark blue" look to the armour, rather than the black that DC wear. You don't want them to look like a Night Lord splinter, after all...
Oddly enough my favourite band name check Liberace in their song "The Lonely":
"Just like Liberace
I will return to haunt you with peculiar piano riffs
So take it back, back to the start
Rip out your lily-livered hearts
And hand them over in a vacuum-sealed jar"
Anyway...have decided to get working on the Deathwatch from Deathwatch:Overkilll. Given how the game was only released four months ago I am happy with my progress on painting the Genestealer Cult so now my attention turns to the "good" guys.
Namely:
Jensus Natorian: The Vengeful Son.
He is a Blood Raven but given his markings he will fit easily into my Blood Angel army. I have never been a fan of Librarians (in the 40K sense, purveyors of books I have no issues with) but really enjoyed painting him:
Havealso started wotk on two of his brethren, Ennox Sorrlock and Zameon Gydrael:
The parchment on his left leg looked kind of like hazard stripes for a moment. Must be because they are sculpted with equidistance between the sheets. Is the name jensus from the game? I quick read it as jesus . Reminded me of a buddy I used to play against that had elder and the scroll work on his pendants said ❤️Sesuj in stylized runes. This was back before I was saved and I started laughing one day and said during a game with spectators "why do your eldar have banners saying Jesus Loves on them backwards? " he was not happy that I "outed " him.
@Theo it's Jensus. His background fluff is pretty awesome. He's basically a psyker thats been groomed by an Inquisitor for the Deathwatch. When they first found him (as in unmodified human) he'd murdered an ork mob with his bare hands and psychic power.
Aye, Jensus it is. He is known as "the vengeful son" as he went a bit ballistic after seeing his parents killed at the hands of Waaaaaaagh! Gutsplitta, that saw his patent psychic ability rip the Orks apart. Whether the GW took it from something Biblical who knows?
@AOV. Have I only played the first mission and really enjoyed it. Obviously that gives you a very limited Kill Team so I hope to move onto some other missions soon. What are your impressions of the game?
Shame about the cyber eagle, it is a very brittle piece.
It's awesome, but after mission 1 it can be a hard slog. Basically the first mission is the Deathwatch tearing it up to distract the Cult.
So far I've won 3 missions and my brother has won 4 lol.
Do you find that any of the Deathwatch seem more useful overall than others? I assume that Cassius is awesome but would need to take a look at the rules cards. I guess that mobility plays a big part as well as you want to avoid close combat most of the time.
So of Overkill and Silver Tower which do you prefer?
Thraxas Of Turai wrote: Do you find that any of the Deathwatch seem more useful overall than others? I assume that Cassius is awesome but would need to take a look at the rules cards. I guess that mobility plays a big part as well as you want to avoid close combat most of the time.
So of Overkill and Silver Tower which do you prefer?
Close combat wise, your Deathwatch should be able to handle just about anything. Purestrains, Aberrants and the Patriarch are pretty nasty though. The key is to keep moving as much as possible. In some of the missions it's easy to get bogged down and overrun by the cultists. My brother and I played it in campaign mode, so you get to experience each of the Deathwatch marines at one point or another. For me, the MVPs were Donatus, Cassius, Grytt, and Branatar. A word of advice though- keep Grytt out of melee combat lol.
To be honest, I enjoy both games equally. Both a huge amount of fun
Thanks everyone. Had not really considered it Jan but he does look like a very angry fellow, at least he has lots of Genestealer Cult members to take it out on!
@EDC: Are the photos working for you now? I was very worried that all of my work had been lost.
@AOV: Cheers for the down low...I want to paint two more Deathwatch just so I can have a fully painted team of four. With that on mind here is one of the five members of "Squad Donatus" namely Zameon Gydrael of the Dark Angels. This is one of those joyous miniatures where he looks a lot rougher in th photos than he actually is
Thanks everyone, they are really nice sculpts to paint and as each miniature is basically a character model it makes it less of a chore. Next up is Ennox Sorrlock of the Iron Hands:
I'm hoping to see plastic MKIII armour in the next HH boxed game. So hoping for that.
Thraxas - I've been going through your stuff again in more detail as I updated the ToG OP. I think you may have sold me on those GoA combat drones. Not sure what I'll actually use them for yet - something in a 40k context since I don't want to start even more new games, but something.
Thanks to the pictures I have actually revisited him and tidied up some of the more clunky highlighting on him, especially around the legs and knee pads. It is indeed a magazine for the combi bolter.
@Azazel, just this week they have released a transporter version of the drone...maybe that will have more use? Must have been a labour of love updating that thread, there was so much stuff in there.
Hope to get an update with Captain Tycho finished later today (currently over here it is barely today but Alvin my black cat was insistent that I wake up) and maybe a bit more Deathwatch.
Never saw any Firefly so shall have to check some out.
Have gotten Captain Tycho: Master Of Sacrifice done. He has always been one of my favourite characters in all of 40k, the heroics on Armageddon, the look, the disfigurement (that dissappears upon his death?). He is all round one of the great characters in the universe of Warhammer 40,000. I hope I did him justice.
I have not gotten a lot done for my Blood Angels this year, but am happy with the characters I have done:
I set out with the only brief that the only yellow on him would be his hair. I half considered a personal back banner for him but they just seem generally out of place in 2016.
A bit more progress on Deathwatch tonight, have started on the Salamander Branatar and am nearly done on whatever the Raven guard lad is called. Must be having a senior day as I could not even remember the Raven Guard chapter name for a minute there.
Thanks everyone, I was quite happy with him. I really do need to press on with some more BA tactical marines and as such I have chosen them as my entry in this months Tale of Painters.
Have gotten Edryc Setorax done, boy is that a name that hardly slips off the tongue. I may have to just call him Ed.
Have also begun work on Branatar, very early days here:
So with Eddy done I finally have a Deathwatch Kill Team that I can use in the smallest Overkill missions:
You know there are some nice Blood Angle bits and bobs out there that you could make a custom Tycho from right? So here's the new plan, make a Deathwatch Tycho . of course you could call him Fred or something else, but that would be cool as .
Have gotten Branatar basically done, just needs a tiny tidy up on some of the whites and metallics. Again like all of the Deathwatch sculpts I was originally dreading painting him but he was a real joy to paint.
Garren Branatar: The Walker In Fire.
Next up are some Blood Angels, here we have 5 Sternguard and 10 Tacticals in various states:
So when it comes to a "modern" 40k army is it seen as acceptable to have Mark IV armour dotted amongst the Mark VI and VII armour?
If anything, mixing up armour marks in modern 40k makes more sense in 40k than 30k! In the HH, a Space Marine's armour is just a tool, he'll replace it with the best available option without a second thought, whereas in 40k, each piece is a relic with millennia-long histories, if a suit of MkIV would have some significance to the Chapter/Squad/individual using it and would thus be used even if an objectively better suit is available. Particularly on Veterans, it's not out of place at all!
That was my thought really. Just a question of if the Mk IV all hang around in the same squad or are dotted amongst other Tacticals of later marks. I think it would also be cool to fit some of the mk IV with modern grav guns etc. Ultimately they are all marines in blood red armour.
It has NOTHING to do with me being fed up of the overly detailed/blingy BA tactical kit .
Thraxas Of Turai wrote: That was my thought really. Just a question of if the Mk IV all hang around in the same squad or are dotted amongst other Tacticals of later marks. I think it would also be cool to fit some of the mk IV with modern grav guns etc. Ultimately they are all marines in blood red armour.
It has NOTHING to do with me being fed up of the overly detailed/blingy BA tactical kit .
BA had a fair amount of MkIV during the Horus Heresy if I remember right. Go for it. (no pun intended)
I completely forgot that both the modern BA Tactical kit and Death Company have a fair amount of MKIV amongst the parts. So I think I will mix them in the units. Here is my test Marine, I think he fits in well:
And here he is amongst the only Tacticals I have painted so far, seemingly aeons ago last summer: (note the guy pointing in the centre, is that a mkIV variant?)
I have also done a bit of tidy up on my old tacticals, refining the highlights and even replacing the head on the heavy flamer marine as the paint looked like it was laid on with a trowel:
So today the plan is:
Revisit the skin on my BA scouts, it looks very flat.
Paint up more Tactical Marines.
Thanks everyone, slow progress at the moment as I am in the middle of the working week (11 hour night shifts, so sleeping at 30C degrees during the day has been fun) but I am getting there. Am 28 odd miniatures off 200 painted for the year as well.
@Jan: Both the Space Hulk and standard BA Terminator kits are full of bling, that is why I am happy with my Vanillla BA Terminators with the odd BA bit.
I went a bit left field with my painting over the past few days. Things started simply enough with another MK IV Blood Angel:
Then it all went a bit AOS.
Firstly with Ionus Cryptborn, Stormcast Lord Relictor. He had been in a partially done state for ages so I am glad to have finally gotten him done:
I also painted up the unit of three Retributors, I do not think that units of 3 are an actual warscroll choice any more but they are done none the less:
That leaves just 5 Liberators and the 3 Prosecutors and my AOS starter set will be done.
Here is my Stormcast army so far, about 600pts worth:
3 Retributors are fine for Open Play, in a Matched game you'll still have to pay for 5 (unless you can houserule per-model costs, something I might be putting forward to my own gaming group).
I think that is the sensible way to go. It seems to me that things like a Prime's extra attack, or special weapons rules like a Thundersoul Mace are basically free upgrades. To that end a Retributor is 44 points and a Liberator 20 points etc etc.
Have put in a little order with Element Games for the Stormcast: Start Collecting box.
And the Shattered Dominions Realm of Battle Board. Whoops.
I've put up the painting tutorial if you're looking to paint it up a la Aqshy, the Realm of Fire . Alternatively the white dwarf this week has some cracking lil guides.
Your Stormcast force is looking good so far . I like the Lord Relictor's paint job especially.
Cheers AOV, your work in posting up the various tutorials is always appreciated and I have already watched it a few times to get some ideas. I have the White Dwarf as well, it was all the images in that that sold me on the idea (well that and 20% off at Element). The Arcanabulam (sp?) tile looks especially impressive.
Have already started work on the next unit of Liberators.
@Para: Reading the Generals handbook for Pitched battles they use a specific example of a unit of 3 Retributors being charged at the same points cost as a full strength unit. I think your house rule is a lot more sensible. Oh and reading the Order handbook units of 3 retributors are an actual unit. Excellent. I will be getting 2 more with the Start Collecting set anyway.
I may well copy the scheme on the video/in White Dwarf. The main thing I cannot decide on is what colour I will paint the liquid in the pits of the earth. Lava? Blood? Gunk? I do not really know yet.
I may copy the effects from my Baleful Realmgates from last year:
Have made a bit more AOS progress this week as I have got my second unit of Liberators done. That leaves me with just the three Prosecutors to paint and then I have completed the AOS Starter set.
I also impulse bought the Numinous Occullum yesterday so have started work on it today, still a while to go I think:
I really like this kit, but getting the metal dome/cage thing to line up was a bit of a PITA. Thankfully I got it done in the end.
To be fair I think that all of the new terrain is pretty cool, the price points are the main stumbling blocks though. Even worse are some of the OOP prices of the old (I say old but they were readily available just 3/4 years ago) Warhammer terrain pieces...ouch.
How did you find the construction of the Dais? I am assuming that the Archway was simple enough, basically being an l-shaped wall.
As for the Occulum it is all done...I may have gone a bit overboard with some of the technical paints.
I am also floundering with this months Tale of ...Painters challenge, just three marines to go but I really need some motivation to get them out of the way.
Thraxas Of Turai wrote: To be fair I think that all of the new terrain is pretty cool, the price points are the main stumbling blocks though. Even worse are some of the OOP prices of the old (I say old but they were readily available just 3/4 years ago) Warhammer terrain pieces...ouch.
How did you find the construction of the Dais? I am assuming that the Archway was simple enough, basically being an l-shaped wall.
As for the Occulum it is all done...I may have gone a bit overboard with some of the technical paints.
I am also floundering with this months Tale of ...Painters challenge, just three marines to go but I really need some motivation to get them out of the way.
I got the Dais for my brother's birthday, but it seemed relatively simple to assemble.
Nice work T. Those stormcast have come out very nice. Definitely prefer the silvered scheme to the overly gold one. Turquoise hs come out gorgeous accompanying colour. Tidy stuff
Cheers gents, am surprised that the Archway is a pain to put together. I may have to investigate that.
Here are the pictures of the finished Occulum. It is a sizeable chunk of scenery so I tried to break up some of the stonework with blood and the odd bit of green glaze to try and create some interest. The gold also got a fair whack of Nihilakh (yes I had to google that) Oxide.
Cheers Para, the Stormcast are not that bad to paint up quickly due to all of the armour and I am pretty happy with the scheme as well.
Managed to pull my finger out yesterday/this morning to get the last 3 Blood Angel Tacticals done for this months tale of painters:
All 5:
And here they are integrated with the Mark VII Marines as a full squad, I am very happy with how they look:
The Occulum lends itself as some sort of ancient civilisation/Xenos piece of terrain as well:
Am just eagerly awaiting my Real Of Battle board to be delivered tomorrow, will probably start painting it after me and the missus have had our regular holiday to the Edinburgh festival next weekend.
I am really impressed by the R.O.B board, such great details, though that should be expected from something that retails at £200. Was not really prepared for the pure size of it, it will certainly be a paint eater. So onto the details:
So the first step will be spraying the black undercoat, I am glad that I stocked up on rattle cans at the Pound shop...
The original Shattered Dominions scheme, one of the new paint sets snuck its way into my order as well
Rather than painting them all at once I am painting a test board first, just a matter of deciding what colour(s) I want the various liquids in the rents in the earth to be...
I am also quite happy with the warscroll rules you get in the Stormcast start collecting box:
That certainly adds to the toughness of the various units, though keeping them in the 12" bubble may be a bit difficult.
Automatically Appended Next Post: A fair bit of progress on my test board piece, am quite happy with the results thus far.
Still to do:
Paint The Arcanabulum (top right corner).
Add a layer or two of blood for the blood god to the relevant areas.
Seal the board -any recommendations on this would be heartily welcomed.
Cheers gents, am really enjoying painting up the board thus far. Have got the Fell Chasm section painted up:
I like that in spite of the board obviously being sculpted mainly for AOS that sci-fi miniatures fit in well on it, to with a Deathwatch Kill Team battle Alpha Legion marines on a Xenos planet:
Thank you Sirs, nice little supply drop today, in the form of the new Death Masque boxed set. The sheer amount of parts on the Kill Team sprue is staggering, so much customisation and so many options to be had...phew. The kit bashers and converters out there are going to have a field day with this one. Here are a few shots with some of my favourite parts:
A few heads to represent various famous chapters:
The DW Storm shields are to die for (or probably to prevent death)
This is my favourite of the heads (from the upgrade, rather than Kill Team, sprue)
Holy mackerel, that's a lot of awesome on those sprues! Can't wait to get clipping with those! Personally, I think I'm just going to treat the DW, Upgrade and Vanguard sprues as one mega-kit and go to kitbashing Valhalla!
It didn't take long for this to show up in people's hands. So there's a proper Dwathwatch Kill Team sprue and a Deathwatch upgrade sprue? I'm guessing that the upgrade sprue is more for the Assault Marines included, right? It's obvious how the Deathwatch are going to be painted, but how are you going to do the Harlequins?
Sweet monkey jesus. Nice haul thraxas . Mine should be with me shortly i think. Definitely going to be fielding my deathwatch alongside my Dark Angels.
Thraxas: In my sig there's a link to the WarhammerTV advent calendar thread- 1st page there should be the tutorial video for Harlies.
Have done a little bit of connstruction tonight, namely Artemis, the Dread and the Death Jester who is a bit fiddly but I adore the miniature.
As far as the Deathwatch load-outs go is it basically anything goes?
@Para: I do not think I am going to stray too far from some of the pre-prescribed builds in the campaign book. Many see the power swords as sub-optimal but they look so cool. I am going to have to check out the differences in the Void and Star weaver, the advantage with the Dreadnought kit is that you can build and swap the plasma cannon, assault cannon and twin-linked lascannons.
@Barzam: The upgrade sprue is mainly to provide the 5 shoulder pads for the Vanguard vets...but that leaves 5 shoulder pads, 2 more for Terminators, 2 heads and vehicle icons. It looks like it is going to be packaged with a lot of kits to make them Deathwatch.
The Harlequins will be purple, grey, white and black with absolutely no intricate patterns.
@AOV: Cheers mate, I shall check it out.
@Bottle: Not half as much as I will enjoy seeing you get through Deathwatch Overkill.
The full Deathwatch rules have appeared in the N&R thread, but the pertinent bits are:
Any model can have Stalker Boltgun, Shotgun, Heavy Hammer or Special Weapon, up to 4 can have Heavy Weapons, only the Sarge may use the Necron sword and one model may be a Blackshield (no wargear restrictions, double attacks vs characters, monsters or when outnumbered) and that's about it.
Shame there is only the one Stalker on the sprue, and are all special weapons available to the DW including Grav? (have never painted a grav gun to my shame).
Cheers for the info, that thread is a pain to keep up with.
Yep, Grav Guns are available to any Veteran in the standard squad, as are flamers, meltas and plasmas (all in both regular and combi-form if you don't want to give up special ammo)
Oh you lucky sod!!! Can't wait to get mine. What's the deal with GW on preordering (I've never preorder something before) - do they mail it to you on release day or mail it so you receive it on release day??
@Jan: Have not ordered direct from GW via the web for an age, but I have had orders that arrived on release day and that were posted on release day...can anyone else confirm what the recent trend is?
@Ustrello: Hopefully.
@EDC: Do you work nights EDC, or just start early? Any compliments are gladly received. Should have some more AOS up over the weekend.
So got a fair bit of DeathWatch constructed:
First Kill Team:
Artemis:
And the Venerable Dread:
The most fun part of the DW minis is choosing which chapters they came from, so...name that chapter!
Your cultists are looking awesome 
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, Makes me want to build a 
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Too many good ideas, not enough cash, time or talent. Story of my life 
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. Looks great Thraxas. You knocked them out in short order 
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. Reminded me of a buddy I used to play against that had elder and the scroll work on his pendants said ❤️Sesuj in stylized runes. This was back before I was saved and I started laughing one day and said during a game with spectators "why do your eldar have banners saying Jesus Loves on them backwards? 
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