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Hey cats,
I'd love any feedback you've got.

Sigilite Main Battle Tank


Praetorians:



Balisterai:


Melta-armed hypaspists:

Better Balisterai pics:



Techpriests:

COGs (Combat OGryns)



Hypaspists:

Thanks very much for the comments, guys – much appreciated. I have to get this army finished in a month for a campaign weekend and I'm struggling to keep motivated!

It may be the pics, but the Praetorians' skin looks too purple to me.

Yeah, I stupidly used white instead of bleached bone and it looks too vibrant, doesn't it. I'm in two minds whether to go back and repaint the flesh, or simply paint over it as armour. Thoughts?

Boss Salvage wrote:I don't remember getting what the Balli standing with the tripod device are - some kind of heavy weapon? Mortar maybe (ground distortion device) or perhaps lascannon (power-spike inducer)?

Drake_Marcus wrote:I love the Balisterai- very unusual looking guns! What do they do?

To answer these questions, I'd like to read a poem.

*cough* *deep breath*

Boom boom boom boom
Boom boom boom boom
Boom boom boom boom
Boom boom boom boom...


Unpainted as yet, but the Depressors (gunners) will operate these Bombard Mortars; hence the weird techy-thing. For the record, the loaders are Multipulators and the spotters are Omnivisors (all made-up names, but thought they were fun).

Drake_Marcus wrote:What's the plan on your regular trooper's bases?

I'll be using these rolled shoulder resin bases throughout the army – they give the (fairly fragile) pieces some weight and protection.

Kid_Kyoto wrote:Awesome stuff man, can you give more of an idea how they were made. I see bret men at arms, green stuff hoods? I forget the name of the company but I recognize their hooded cyborgs. And some forgeworld stuff.

The hypaspists, balisterai and sagitarii are mainly men-at-arms with FW renegade bits and Greenstuff (GS) hoods, though there are heads from all over the shop; the Praetorians are MicroArt Studios Iron Brotherhood with FW arms and Phoenix club bionics; Marines are terminator bits and GS; the COGs are mainly FW renegade ogryns and plasticard for the chainaxes (though there's a squiggoth tail on the big one!); the Skulz set provided most of the techpriests, though a couple are Enginseer conversions, one is a Mordheim Possessed magister, one is a Necromunda scavvy and one is a FW Nurgle priest; and there're also various bits from smaller companies – the mortar tracks are from Ramshackle; there's a couple of Hasslefree models dotted here and there, too; the tanks are a mishmash of Predators and Chimeras and the big Sigilite is based on a Land Raider with Baneblade bits. In short, lots of junk from all over the place! Oh, and the angled shoulder pads are trimmed angled plasticard in three different widths (seemed a good idea at first... but too many drives you crazy!)

Bubbling under in the plasmaforges:





...and if you'd like to browse piccies of the force at your leisure, please feel free to visit Braun VI:
[ur]http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m150/Cpl_Saint/Braun%20VI%20Skitarii/[/url]

All to do in a month – Eep!

Man, you totally have to do some Dark Mechanicus minis for your Chaos army... I've been tempted to do some based on flagellants, the new ghouls and a mteric ton of the new spawn; but the loyalists have to take precedence for the moment.

Why not, eh?

Hey guys,
Thanks for the comments. There are a few questions there, so I'll do my best to answer 'em – apologies in advance if I miss something!

Bastirous666, DaMaGe, The tanks are Lokis; Chimera-chassis based APCs:



WIP detail:

manowar2 wrote:I would like to know though what models those praetorian guys are?

They're from Micro Arts Studio in Poland. I wrote a review of them not long ago, so you should be able to do a search for 'MicroArts' or 'Iron Brotherhood' with all my thoughts on these models.

nemissary wrote:Once again, your army is certainly a work of art!

Savnock wrote:I like the reduced number of exposed rivets vs. the original Baneblade, making it look slightly higher-tech, and matching it well to the Land Raider bits. Good blend work there.

Thanks – wasn't sure anyone was going to notice that!

Praetorian skin
Right, not much love for the armour idea, so I think I'll just bite the bullet and repaint 'em in the proper skintone. I've got another fourteen to do, so I can probably just batch paint them. In fact, I can do it at the same time I reskin these guys:


They're menials.

More random shots:

Boss_Salvage wrote:Question for you Saint:
How do you paint your red?

With great ease! After a few different recipes (including a hundred coats of Red Gore – too slow; and using Mechrite Red – too pink!), I've got it down to a five-stage affair:

1) Prime matt black
2) Paint all red areas with Dark Flesh – this has great coverage.
3) Paint all the Dark Flesh with Scab Red
4) Use Red Gore to add first highlights, covering virtually all the area
5) Use touches of Blood Red on extreme highlights.

That will give you this:


Nice and quick and simple.

Boss_Salvage wrote:Excellent! I can handle that, got all the paints in fact. Will have to see how it works out for 54mm dudes :S

As if by magic:

Very WIP, but should give you an idea of how it works on the 54mm models. I would say that the Gary Morley sculpts don't have a great deal of recessing on the robes, so they tend to look a bit flat. I'm really tempted to try some elaborate decoration on 'em and make a virtue of it – perhaps square spirals all over it.

Boss_Salvage wrote:A general question, what's your metal there? Boltgun + black ink wash? I'm used to drybrushing metal, but as my drybrushes continue getting wrecked - and as this is 54mm! - I'd like to try the wash for real now. You dilute then add dish soap?

Ah, I suck at metals – just really need to knuckle down and try harder. If you want my advice (i.e. not what I actually do, but what I *should* do), start with a flat wash of boltgun metal over black, then add a dilute wash of 50:50 Chaos Black and Regal Blue; then highlight with boltgun, then sharp highlights with Chainmail.

Additionally, I've found that adding some brass to servoarm plates etc. really helps add some detail. Using Macharius Orange as the base (instead of black) will give you a rust effect, and using Jade Green and Beaten Copper/Dwarf Bronze will give you a verdigris effect.

Count Bonchula wrote:this is one of my favorite armies thats been posted on dakka in a long time. i love how gritty it is.
the big tank is awesome. i love how chunky it is. also a huge fan of the ogryn servitors, especially the one with the searchlight type faceplate. i think someone already made a bioshock reference, but ill make it again, its rad.

Thanks very much!

Count Bonchula wrote:im glad to see someone taking advantage of the micro art servitor/techpriest looking resin guys. did you pick up any of the creepy little midget ones?

Yep – they'll probably end up either as menials (basically fearless conscripts without guns) or simply wound markers. Fun little models!

Count Bonchula wrote:the only criticism i have is on the Loki tanks. I really dig the concept, but feel like the turets have too much of a 'neck' between them and the bodies. if they sat more flush on the top of the chassis i would love them.

Yeah, it is a little thick. I may go back and lower them, but it'll have to wait til after Dark Stars.

Count Bonchula wrote:im also curious what codex you are using when you field these guys, and which guys represent which units.

I started off using them as Witchhunters with Guard allies, but now use the Tempus Fugitives' Codex: Cult Mechanicus. There's a free download here, and I really can't recommend it enough. It really captures the spirit of the Ad Mech while remaining simple and elegant:
http://www.tempusfugitives.co.uk/index.php

If anyone would like to look at any of the pictures from the start of the project to now (and still updated!), please feel free to browse my photobucket account:
http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m150/Cpl_Saint/Braun%20VI%20Skitarii/

Some WIPs:

Boss Salvage wrote:Are the autoguns on the big guys really all from the Vrak FW renegades? I'd really like say 20 standard autoguns sans arms to convert cadians with, but have little idea where to get them from without shelling out enormous $$$ to FW

'Fraid so. I went halves with a mate who's using the pistols etc for his genestealer cult, and defrayed the autoguns by selling on the excess special weapons and vox-bodies. It worked out to £2.00 for ten (+p&p) with some careful trading.

However, were I to do it again, I probably would simply buy the cool weapons packs from Hasslefree – great prices and service, and the guns fit right in. They even do Aliens-style pulse rifles.

As regards an army profile, I'm going to do one of those just as I finish 'em up for Dark Stars. My mate Graham's a keen photographer, and he'll do a much better job of shooting 'em than me.

If you'd like to read some background and follow the development of the army, please feel free to look at my log here:
http://warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64306

There's a heck of a lot of background that'd be too time-consuming to repost here, but I'll try and work the good bits into the Dakka army profile when I come to make it.

+++Edit+++ Well, lookit that: I just got promoted to being a Sagitarius with a big f'in gun. Awesome!

Wait, there's no 'F' in gun...

Centurion Assault Engine]
Skitarii Assault Engines are heavily-armoured walking vehicles that mount some of the more unusual weaponry available to the Adeptus Mechanicus. The Centurion variant is equipped with a slaved multi-melta, but its primary armament is the conversion beamer, a broad-beam weapon that uses a wave-form emitter to rapidly convert energy to matter and vice versa.


Originally developed to harvest seams of ores and minerals, the rapid cycling of the military version quickly results in explosive results on anything in its area of effect. Short-ranged but extremely powerful, the conversion beamer is more effective the better-armoured the target, making it extremely useful against vehicles and heavily-armoured infantry.


Assault Engines are fairly rare on Braun, but their great versatility and fearsome reputation means that they are deployed where possible.

Archmagos Veneratus (basically a ten-thousand year old magos in a battlesuit of unique design):













...and a scale picture:

When 10,000 years old you reach, look so good you will not. [/yoda]


The Archmagos himself is indeed far too old to be doing anything so run-of-the-mill as actually fighting – he's in the holding tank at the back of the beast:


The two on top are Magi mind-slaved by the Rite of Pure Thought to the will of the Archmagos...

Boss_Salvage wrote:Personally I don't really like the girl on there, messes with the theme / dark future of the piece. She provides scale and is nifty in herself, but the school girl outfit and pigtails makes he a no-go for me.

Fear ye not; once I've got some greenstuff on the model, she'll fit in a lot more.