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[list]So, I've decided to start building a counts-as IA8 Elysian drop troops army. This is for multiple reasons: 1 - I absolutely love the valkyrie model & so the opportunity to build them is great. 2 - the valk was just screaming at me to convert one into a vulture. 3 - I played a drop troops army using doctrines in 3rd/4th Ed (drop troops, cameleoline, light infantry, grenadiers, veterans) & loved the style of dropping troops from the sky & relying solely on boots & sentinels to do the job so now that I can include buggies, valks & vultures it just became all that much better! 4 - c'mon, 1st Cav for the win!

All that considered, I put together a christmas list for my wife & sent her on her merry way (lol, no pun intended). Apparently she went through Neal at the warstore.com & between her & christmas $ from in-laws & store credit at my FLGS from our last tourney/painting contest we acquired the following:


That's 2 Valkyries, 1 each of cadian & catachan battleforces & 3 cadian squad boxes (which were originally ordered as 3 boxes of the snap-fit cadians but apparently through an error we got the full squads instead, score!).

Here's the backstory of my army:
Praxis is the only moon of the planet Tarsis Secundus in the Tarsis system. The entire moon has been setup as a base of operations for the navy & marine corps of Tarsis Secundus. The Praxis Air Corps is an elite regiment schooled in air assault & rapid insertion tactics. They saw action during the third war for Armageddon & the defense of Cadia during the 13th Black Crusade performing precision strikes against renegade & traitor operating bases. Unbeknownst to the Tarsian government, the Iron Warriors had sent spies & operators ahead to sew unrest & dissent among the populace regarding food & materiel being shipped off-world to supply the beleaguered defenders of Cadia which had created a shortage for the locals. Riots began at daily food rationing stations & before long a full-blown uprising was in effect. It was at this time that the Iron Warriors decided to attack the planet while such large portions of the systems military & navy were away. The Praxis Air Cav launched multiple surgical strikes against the enemy encampments & staging areas, inflicting heavy damage & casualties while suffering massive losses themselves.

Upon hearing of the potential loss of a manufacturing world to the enemy, Creed agreed w/ the Imperial commanders that such a vital supply line could not be cut & dispatched a fleet including a strike force of Imperial Fists. For the Imperial Fists, this was personal, never missing an opportunity to rub dirt in the eyes of the Iron Warriors. However, it would prove to be too little too late as, by the time the fleet had arrived, the planet's capital had already fallen & ultimately the war had become a fighting withdrawal by the remaining loyal soldiers as they had resigned themselves to losing, but making the enemy pay for every inch of ground w/ blood.

After only 4 years of fighting, the planet had been completely overrun & occupied by the Iron Warriors invasion forces including Iron Legion army infantry. However, despite numerous attempts at taking Praxis, the invaders repeatedly failed due to the moon being totally inhospitable on the surface & the underground caverns housing the Praxis Air & Marine Corps bases being too deep to be collapsed from orbital bombardment it forced the invaders to fight underground in unfamiliar terrain against troops who had spent their entire lives in the caverns training & living. Thus, Praxis became the home of the Tarsian resistance movement. The loyalists had to become very creative to move troops & supplies to & from Secundus as the enemy fleet had setup a relatively effective blockade. However, between the constantly shifting asteroid field around Tarsis Secundus & the cooperation between resistance & Imperial Navy fleets the blockading ships were kept on their toes.

The Praxis Air Corps is made up of several distinct unit types:
First & foremost the bulk of the Air Corps is made up of the Praxis Marine Corps, soldiers whose training encompasses shipborne & airborne combat, being trained & accustomed to being inserted from dropship & launching assaults out of them then pushing on while the Tarsian Army secures the ground gained.

Next up are the ODSTs or Helljumpers. Orbital Drop Shock Troopers - These men & women are specialists in covert ops warfare. They are tasked w/ carrying out more dangerous missions such as rescue or psy-ops. They are carried in via valkyrie or alternatively dropped from low orbit via drop pods into areas too hot for a dropship to get into. Only the best & brightest of the Praxis Marine Corps are offered the chance to train as an ODST. The job of the ODST is more than just a soldier, he's also a pilot, a weapons specialist & an expert in guerilla warfare. In fact, it was due to the presence of ODSTs in various resistance engagements that helped to turn many potential defeats into victories for the beleaguered freedom fighters.

Finally come the glory boys as they're known, the storm troopers. They're the best trained & equipped, their job is to insert from aircraft in high altitude via HALO/HAHO operations. There are far fewer of them as it takes years & years in the field to get the opportunity to volunteer for the storm corps & even then, volunteering is no guarantee of acceptance. In fact, most volunteers are former ODSTs.


Color schemes to follow as well as shots of the beginnings of the army.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok, here's my planned color scheme for the troop models:

I'm open to suggestions on the aircraft.

I have assembled so far:
1 Vulture w/ TL Punisher Cannons
1 Valkyrie w/ MRPs

CCS - CO, grenade launcher, vox, mortar, 2 aux grenade launchers, FLO (fleet liaison officer)
LGS (long-range ground scanner) w/ 2 crew

Infantry Platoon
PCS - JO w/ lasgun w/ aux GL, grenade launcher, vox
30 Marine/Infantry troopers w/ 3 grenade launchers, 3 demo charges, 1 vox caster, 3 sgts w/ lasguns w/ aux grenade launchers
2 AT units w/ 12 crew, 6 missile launchers
1 mortar unit w/ 6 crew, 3 mortars
1 gun unit w/ 6 crew, 3 heavy bolters

ODST (veteran) assault squad - 1 sgt w/ powerfist/shotgun, 1 lascutter (w/ shotgun), 2 melta, 1 flamer, 1 demo charge, vox, 4 shotgunners, demolitions
ODST (veteran) sniper squad - 1 sgt, 3 snipers, 1 heavy bolter, vox, 5 aux GLs, forward operators

5 stormtroopers - 2 plasmaguns, 1 sgt w/ power weapon/plasma pistol

2 MM sentinels

In the process of scratchbuilding:
2 Tauros Venators w/ lascannons
1 Tauros w/ grenade launcher & homing beacon

Still have leftover - 10 infantry models w/ catachan bodies/legs/heads & cadian/catachan arms

I plan to order w/ my next major financial aid refund:
4 valkyries
1 cadian squad box

To build:
1Valkyrie Assault Carrier
2 Vendetta
1 Vulture w/ autocannons & MRPs
10 man ODST (veterans) support squad - sgt, 3 GLs, vox, 6 aux GLs

Here's the planned ORBAT of the force at about 2500 pts & my intended build-to goal:

Mecharius wrote:it all looks and sunds good, my only gripe is that the IW do not employ "agents" they do not sow dissent, that's an alpha legion and word bearer trait.

Perhaps, but I took this to mean that they're not above the nasty back-alley politics side of war:

Right after they set up their fortifications and before the initial bombardment, they will commonly send infiltration units ahead of the main force to disable the enemy's defenses and set up ambushes and flank attacks while the main force charges the fortifications.

First off here's a shot of the whole army assembled, as it stands right now. I'm hoping I can convince my boss lady to let me buy the other 3 valks I need sooner than Feb lol.

Left to Right: Back Row- Valkyrie Assault Carrier (Ml, MRPs), Multi-melta drop sentinel squadron, platoon AT squads 1 & 2, platoon mortar squad, vulture (TLAC, MRPs).
2nd Row - Demolitions Vet Squad (2 Melta, 1 flamer, demo charge, lascutter, shotguns, sgt w/ PF), platoon HB squad, Infantry Squad 1, Infantry Squad 2, Infantry Squad 3, Tauros Assault Vehicle (scratchbuild).
3rd Row - Stormtroopers (5 men, 2 plasmagun, sgt w/ PW/PP), PCS (GL, vox, Lt w/ aux GL).
Front Row - Ground Scanner Team (2 men), CCS (mortar, GL, vox, 2 aux GL, CO), Forward Observers Vet Squad (3 sniper rifles, heavy bolter, 5 aux GL, stealth, homing beacon)

Command Squad

Left to Right: FLO (fleet liaison officer), vet w/ vox & aux GL, CO, vet w/ GL, vet mortar team

Ground Scanner

From the front

Action Shot

Stormtroopers

2x plasma, Sgt w/ PW/PP. Their hotshot lasguns are meant to resemble drum fed shotguns

Veterans Squad 1

These are my forward observers containing 3 sniper rifles, a heavy bolter, a vox & 5 aux grenade launchers on their lasguns. They also have stealth & a homing beacon.

Veterans Squad 2

These are the demolitions specialists containing 2 meltas, 1 flamer, everyone has melta bombs, one vet has a demo charge, one has a lascutter, all have shotguns, the Sgt has a shotgun & PF.

Tauros Buggy


Scratchbuilt Tauros Buggy made from card, coffee stirs, lego wheels & bits.

Drop Sentinel Squadron

Converted to look similar to FW elysian drop sentinels.

Valkyrie Assault Carrier


Multi-laser, multiple rocket pods, heavy bolters.

Vulture


TL autocannons, Multiple rocket pods, heavy bolter.

Ok, that's it for now. I've still got the entire infantry platoon to post later on.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok, here's the final installment of the army until I'm able to paint & then buy more aircraft & finalize some trades to build another vet squad & flesh out my stormtrooper squad not to mention scratchbuilding a pair of venators. Lots & lots to do.

This is my infantry platoon:
First up is the command squad -

Left to right: Vox caster, guardsmen, Lt w/ aux GL, GL, platoon standard

Fire Support Section for the platoon:
Weapons Squad (Heavy Bolters)



Mortar Squad


Anti-Tank Squad 1


Anti-Tank Squad 2


Now for the bred & butter of the platoon, the infantry:



All 3 squads have grenade launchers, demo charges & the Sgts are armed w/ a lasgun w/ aux GL. One of them has a vox caster. In game they're run as a single combined unit & use the vox to communicate w/ the long range ground scanner since a 30 man squad combined w/ FRFSRF & twin-linked is now a force to be reckoned w/ as that's 72 twin-linked flash lights at 12" or 48 at 24". Nasty.

Ok, first painting update, I've about finished the valk, save for decals which I haven't quite decided on just yet & the base.







I've about finished the vulture as well, I'll upload it tomorrow once the paint's dry I'll take some pics. Also, the platoon & company command squads & the ground scanner are about finished, pics of those tomorrow as well. You'll see, I've changed my color scheme a bit & I'm experimenting using just straight washes over the grey primer coat I used (also the first time I've ever done a grey primer, I kinda like it) & lastly, the Tauros which will be the only non-venator in the army is being equipped as the A-Company command Tauros as this allows me a cheap HQ & lets me use 2 FA slots for a pair of vendettas since they suffer w/ squadron rules IMO & then run a pair of venators as a squadron (just need to build them lol).

Oh & PS, watch this blog for an upcoming special drop troops related apocalypse project.

killykavekommando wrote:I like this a lot, but the straws for m203's isn't working for me. Having seen them in real life, the barrels are much narrower, but with the same length as you have made. I am loving the vendetta, the freehand (?) is spot on!

I know, I've handled them as well, however, being that 40K is so OTT on weapons I wanted them to be easily seen & identifiable to my opponents so there'd be no question who had em & who didn't y'know?

I tried to be a little more realistic w/ SM aux GLs for my honor guard but people kept saying "oh, I thought they were just flashlights"


And thanks on the valk, yes the diving eagle, crew names & aquila wings are all free handed which was not that easy to do lol.


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Ok, today's update will feature the mostly completed company & platoon command squads, respectively


Sans FLO, he's not done yet, I have to detail his map scroll & his decorations.


I obviously haven't painted the banner yet, nor have I decided what color hair to give the grenade launcher. I have to say, I'm not that pleased w/ his head anyway, it's a SM scout head so the chin is just... ugh.

Bring it on you filthy greenskins! If they can tangle w/ Iron Warriors, Orks are nothing lol.

Fattimus_maximus wrote:You sir, do amazing things with a simple kit bash and that buggy makes me do the happy dance!

Thanks, I strive to make my armies as unique as I can but still able to get them built & on the table in a decent amount of time.

Ok, another update:

Firstly, shots of the Vulture:





Next up is WiP of the A-Company Tauros command vehicle:


Last, WiP Drop sentinels:

Andrew1975 wrote:Watch those missile launchers, heavy weapons teams should be on the large base. I get grief for it periodically because I have the old teams. Generally if someone calls you on it they are a jerk anyway, but still, new models new rules.

I know, but since it's an IA army anyway, most likely anyone I play against won't be such a y'know?

Ok, here"s the surprise: A scratchbuilt marauder destroyer:
Front

Top

Top

Ball Turret

Tail Turret

And finally, a shot of all 3 aircraft thus far:


Further plans? 1 more valk, 2 vendetta, a TL punisher cannon vulture, 2 Tauros Venators, another squad of vets, 5 more stromtroopers & a thunderbolt or two as escorts for the big boy (and to take on all the lousy ork & DE flyers that seem to show up as well as enemy storm ravens & valks too).

I have purchased another valk just today, got 3 more on the way, next week I'll pick up another squad box of cadians to finish out my 3rd vets squad, week after that a final squad box to give me the needed torsos & weapons to finish my storm troopers up to 10 men. All the while going to college & scratchbuilding 2 venators & at least 1 thunderbolt plus trying to get it all painted & ready by march.

Thanks for stopping by.

doktor_g wrote:Not stoked about facing these bad boys with my boyz!

Grover

Well, if it helps, the IA:8 Elysians are not a super powerhouse list. They don't have any tanks, can't take autocannons or heavy weapons in infantry squads, plus the command squads only get 1 special weapon as opposed to the 4 of a 'normal' IG army. It's a more fluid army designed more for decisive action rather than reaction that IG do so well. Besides, the really big stuff will only be used in apocalypse games anyway lol.

Thanks for all the kind words guys! This army, moreso than any other I've ever done, is a labor of love. It's not one of the best known or one of the most powerful but it is a 100% for fun army.

I'm working on the second valk right now armed identical to the first. For apocalypse I've got a thunderbolt in the works as well. Just not sure how to arm it. I'm thinking about bombs maybe?

More pics of the marauder destroyer from multiple angles w/ detail & decals

Here's the second vulture conversion, this one w/ TL Punisher Cannons for mowing down hordes:





As you can see, the first vulture was a testbed prototype, this second one is even better. I felt more courageous knowing how the first one turned to make the second one even better!

Joker, it's a pretty easy build IMHO. The fan intake housing is a 2" PVC cap. From there I just picked parts that looked good & got gradually smaller. As you can see from the first vulture compared to the second, the first is alot heavier looking while the second is slimmer. The outriggers for the tail on the second were done using foamcore. I think the build was like $70 including the PVC parts and paying $66 for the kit from my FLGS. From there, the steps I use are:

1- build the engine/fan housing as one single piece, let it dry.
2- assemble each wing/tail boom piece as a seperate piece, including landing gear let dry.
3- build the cockpit as one piece, let dry.
4- once the cockpit's dry, cut the sides of it so that when looking at the assembly as a whole from the side it resembles a backwards L, as you can see in the side shot above.
5- I take a spray paint lid, lay it down on a piece of cardstock & trace it as it's almost identical to the interior diameter of the 2" PVC cap. I then cut that out & fold it into quarters & trim about.... 1/4" off of it, then cut a smaller circle in the center of this larger circle. I cut wedges from the edges (lol) in toward the smaller cutout but not all the way. Then I take each wedge & twist it individually to created the fan blade look. After this I cut a piece of dowel the interior length of the PVC cap & glue it in place inside the cap, dead center. This is the axle for the fan blades you just made. I then glue those on about midway down.
6- once that's all dry, glue the cockpit in place against the end of the dowel & the fan housing.
7- this is the hard part: level out the airframe fuselage w/ the nose gear on a flat surface & put something under the engine to hold it up flat. Now glue each wing in place & prop them up while they dry, keeping the landing gear level. Also glue the horizontal tail stabilizer on at this time to help you get it all straight & level, plus you'll probably need to push the sides in at the back to make them meet up for this piece anyway. I used the sensor/weapon housings from the sides of the valk to help attach the wings/struts to the engine housing as well. Leave this alone, walk away & let it dry & it will take a while to dry & set up firm.
8- while waiting, build your rear landing legs by taking the passenger compartment doors & the original rear landing gear pad (not the leg/strut, you don't need that). Turn the doors upside down. Cut the landing strut in 2, lengthwise. Now glue each seperate "foot" to the new door bottom, you can get an idea of this in the photo of the rear.
9- once everything is good & dried well, leaving the bird supported on the brace it's been on, glue the new landing skids in place & then glue the heavy bolter arms on them to look like hydraulics & also to provide them w/ more stability to support the weight of the craft if you choose to have it off its stand.
10- from here, the sky's the limit on detailing, I cut apart the valk engines & glued them all about to add to the looks.


Anyway, anyone has any questions, lemme know.

PS - I'm looking for suggestions what to do w/ the 2 passenger compartments from the valks I turned into vultures. Oh yes, 2nd Valk is about 80% painted, vendettas 1&2 are just finished being primed. Pics to come soon!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just for fun here's all the birds, just waiting on 1 or 2 thunderbolts which I need to scratchbuild.

Ok, time for another update.

Today first off is my PiP Thunderbolt #1, just been primed & washed, letting wash dry overnight before highlighting & detailing



And here's Tauros Venator #1 just assembled, letting glue dry overnight before adding more detailing including rivets:



I just need to buy a couple boxes of cadians to finish off the army up to 4000 pts along w/ the thunderbolt & venator #2 awaiting assembly as well. However, I have to flesh it out a further 1,000 pts by mid-march, not quite sure how to do that just yet. I'm thinking maybe another infantry platoon & a sky talon to transport my MM sentinels. The sky talon will be converted from a regular valk. I am considering building an arvus lighter as a cheap flying transport to deliver my suicide vets (demo charge, 2x melta, flamer, shotguns) plus I have 2 drop pod fins that would make good starts on wings for an arvus.

Today, a few shots of the thunderbolt in ground attack camo:



And the venator primed grey:

Update, first in a while.

To start is my supreme commander, Field Marshall Marco Kimball (counts-as Creed)


Next is my regular marauder bomber, freshly primed:


Finally, is my WiP scratch/bitz box built Arvus Lighter

Ok, on my way to building a 5k apocalypse ready army. Today's updates...

First is a lightning interceptor, it will be equipped w/ 6 sky strike missiles, once I find 6 missiles that are the same, to deal w/ things like storm ravens, barracudas & vendettas.


And lastly, the commandeered cargo shuttle that's had a pair of multi-lasers spot welded onto it, had fire controls hardwired to the cockpit & a grease pencil crosshairs drawn on the canopy.


I still have yet to build the second venator or the second thunderbolt, though I hope to build at least one of them tomorrow. I have another valk on order w/ my FLGS to build a sky talon to transport my MM sentinels to the rear armor of the most threatening super-heavy.

Ok, winding down the army, probably not alot left to update after this, maybe.... 2 vet squads, the painted supreme hq squad, painted tbolt #2, venator #2(if I ever build it) and then a sky talon once it's built.

This update will begin w/ my first attempt at major sculpting:
Behold, my Astropath

The torso is a complete sculpt, as are the robes, the staff is brass rod & the rest is greenstuff. He's a wip in terms of painting.

Ok, next is my supreme command hq:

L to R: Artillery Officer, Astropath, (Counts-as) Creed, Fleet Officer, Autocannon Team, Veteran Sniper, (Counts-as) Jerran Kell

Finally, a shot of the entire aerial fleet, as it stands before the sky talon:

L to R back row: Punisher Cannon Vuture, Valkyrie Transport, Vendetta, Marauder Destroyer, Rocket Pod Vulture
L to R center row: Vendetta, Valkyrie Transport, Marauder Bomber, Fighter/bomber thunderbolt (bombs)
L to R front row: Arvus Lighter, Lightning Interceptor (6x sky strike missiles), Ground Attack Thunderbolt (helffury missiles)

So, that's my Imperial Navy detachment for this army, sans one vehicle, the sky talon which I'll be converting up this coming weekend.

The list, as it stands, more or less, for an apoc rumble:

HQ
Supreme Command (this is the only codex IG entry in the list, the rest is IA8)
Creed, Kell, sniper, autocannon, camo cloaks (stealth)

Company Command
CO, grenade launcher, mortar, 2x aux grenade launchers

Ground Scanner - 2 crew

Elites
Stormtroopers - x10, 2 plasma guns, plasma pistol

2 drop sentinels - multi-meltas

Troops
Infantry Platoon
PCS - CO: aux GL & homing beacon, GL

Infantry blob - 30 men, 3 GL, 3 demo charges, 3 sgts w/ aux GL, commissar

4 Heavy Weapons Squads - 1 mortar squad, 1 heavy bolter squad, 2 missile launcher squads

Vets 1 - demolitions (melta bombs, demo charge), 2 meltas, flamer, shotguns, lascutter, vox, powerfist
Vets 2 - forward observers (stealth & beacon), 3 sniper rifles, heavy bolter, 5 aux GL, vox
Vets 3 - grenadiers, lascutter, shotguns, 2 flamers, GL, powerfist
Vets 3 - forward observers, 3 GL, ML, vox

2 Valkyries - Multi-laser, MRPs

Fast Attack
Tauros buggy - heavy flamer

2 Venators - lascannons, 2 HK missiles each, smoke launchers

2 Vendettas

1 Arvus Lighter

Heavy Support
2 Vultures - 1 w/ TL punisher cannons, 1 w/ 4x MRP

Lightning - TL LC, long-barrel AA AC, 6x sky strike missiles

Thunderbolt - 4x bombs

Thunderbolt - 4x hellfury missiles

Sky Talon - HB, 2 MRP

Apoc Datasheets -
Marauder Destroyer - 8 hellstrike missiles
Marauder bomber

Catachan Deathtrap Ambush Patrol - gives 1 free ambush strategic asset per turn as long as one of the 3 vet squads is alive, all 3 squads have infiltrate & move through cover, can trap a single terrain feature per turn that's up to 12"x12" w/in 12" of a unit from the formation.

These aren't part of my drop troops per se but they are being built as alternates for my Apoc army mainly since we frequently seem to have points discrepancy due to uneven numbers of players on each side so frequently we need to buff our points a little and these are going to be my extras.

First is my truck (counts-as chimera)






And these are my Ogryn converted from AoBR nobz & an AoBR warboss:

Today are the PiP Ogryns:
First the squad-


Then, the bone 'ead, made from an AoBR warboss-


And the Ogryns themselves, from AoBR nobz:

Last aircraft to be built - Valkyrie Sky Talon





It's primary job is to carry in my multi-melta toting sentinels & put them in the rear arc of something very nasty.

Ok, even though I wonder if anyone actually reads this, I'll still continue to update it.

Thunderbolt #2 - PiP


Sky Talon - PiP



Friday or this weekend I'll post an army-wide shot of the entire aerial & ground contingents & TRY to get it all into one big glory shot, but I'm not too sure how easily that'll go due to the amount of space it takes up.

Since I had a class cancelled today, thought I'd post some pics of the leman russ I converted from a chimera, card & bits for the codex version of this army for those times when I can't get an opponent's ok w/ an IA army or if I wanna play in a tourney:





I've still gotta build another of the MRAP style chimera trucks. When completed, this army will include (in all)

HQ
Supreme Command (this is the only codex IG entry in the list, the rest is IA8)
Creed, Kell, sniper, autocannon, camo cloaks (stealth)
Chimera

Company Command
CO, grenade launcher, mortar, 2x aux grenade launchers

Ground Scanner - 2 crew

Elites
Stormtroopers - x10, 2 plasma guns, plasma pistol

2 drop sentinels - multi-meltas

Sly Marbo

5 Ogryn led by Commissar w/ Power Fist
Chimera

Troops
Infantry Platoon
PCS - CO: aux GL & homing beacon, GL

Infantry blob - 30 men, 3 GL, 3 demo charges, 3 sgts w/ aux GL, commissar

4 Heavy Weapons Squads - 1 mortar squad, 1 heavy bolter squad, 2 missile launcher squads

SW Squad - 3 sniper rifles

Vets 1 - demolitions (melta bombs, demo charge), 2 meltas, flamer, shotguns, lascutter, vox, powerfist
Vets 2 - forward observers (stealth & beacon), 3 sniper rifles, heavy bolter, 5 aux GL, vox
Vets 3 - grenadiers, lascutter, shotguns, 2 flamers, GL, powerfist
Vets 3 - forward observers, 3 GL, ML, vox

2 Valkyries - Multi-laser, MRPs

1 Chimera

Fast Attack
Tauros buggy - heavy flamer

2 Venators - lascannons, 2 HK missiles each, smoke launchers

2 Vendettas

1 Arvus Lighter

Heavy Support
2 Vultures - 1 w/ TL punisher cannons, 1 w/ 4x MRP

Lightning - TL LC, long-barrel AA AC, 6x sky strike missiles

Thunderbolt - 4x bombs

Thunderbolt - 4x hellfury missiles

Sky Talon - HB, 2 MRP

Leman Russ MBT - hull LC

Marauder Destroyer - 8 hellstrike missiles

Marauder bomber

Warhound Scout Titan - dbl barrel turbo laser, vulcan mega bolter

It comes out to just over 6000 points of the Emperor's Hammer.

butchyboy73 wrote:

Ok, even though I wonder if anyone actually reads this, I'll still continue to update it.

Well I can't speak for anyone else but I'm glued to this blog I love your stuff, mate. I was beginning to this I was the only person with a "counts-as" Elysian army using IG figures. I'm glad to find I was wrong and I stand in awe of your accomplishments. All those fliers, I'm amazed. Stunned even!
How do they fare on the field of battle? I've only had a couple of games with mine but I love 'em. I'm fortunate enough to be starting the IA8: Raid on Kastorel-Novem campaign with one of my chums at my local group and using drop troops is a refreshing change from using Raven Guard or Blood Angels.

Well, I haven't gotten to test them out in 6th yet tbh. In 5th the army was a blast to play, but a real challenge to play well as it's much more of a finesse army than standard IG. However, that being said, it definitely requires some balls to play as it's a very aggressive army, so you have to be willing to DS that infantry blob where it will JUST fit & hope for the best to get into good position for the 3 demo charges & grenade launchers to devastate the enemy, especially if you FRFSRF.

I actually used the entire army in a 5k apoc game where it basically kicked ass majorly. Thanks for following my blog, I'll repost my Avenger over here in a bit


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I built this for a local painting competition. The rules: buy a flyer off the shelf, build & paint it by 4 August. Well, I decided to give the damn dirty Orks a taste of their own medicine & loot a bommer. I chose build an Avenger to go with the rest of my Air Cav IG army since I already done (at least) 1 of everything in the Imperial Navy except maybe an aquilla lander and the starfighters.
Front

Left

Rear

Right

Top

Bottom

Some closeups of the gunner & pintle heavy stubber

I designed the rear cockpit to look like the gun is in an armored pivot with traverse up & down, on a track to slide left & right, thus maintaining the sealed environment in the cockpit.

Pilot & controls (I know this one's a bit fuzzy, for some reason no matter how hard I tried & adjusted the settings, it just wouldn't focus well on the control panel)

Finally, the base


The base pics didn't come out real well, but since per the fluff the Avenger's a tank killer I wanted it to look like a strafing run on a dead Red Corsairs tank, one crewman is dead, the other is pinned under some of the smoking wreckage defiantly firing his bolt pistol up at the passing aircraft.

I wanted this aircraft to feel like an SDB Dauntless or F4U Corsair with the looks and styling.

butchyboy73 wrote:Great stuff. You're right about a drop troop army being a blast to play and they are very diffferent from the standard IG army. My experience, which as I say is limited has been against a beardy Termie DA army and they basically kicked my ass but that was as much to do with my poor appreciation of how to get the best from my army (and rotten shooting by my sentinels when I needed them to do better ). That was in 5th Ed.
I played them last week in the initail battle from Raid on Kastorel Novem and that was a blast, even though I got beat cause I was daft enough to think "Yeah, my captain and the last two members of his command squad will easily kill that Mega Dredd in close combat!!" as you have probably guessed they didn't but even at that, the rest of the army, in particular the fliers were great. I intend playing them as often as I can.
I like your take on the Avenger. Funnily enough I was thinking a similar idea of retro building an Ork Bommer into an Imperial flier as Orks ain't known for their inovation; they must have got those fliers from somewhere.

Keep up the inspirational work

Thanks for all the kind words! Just wait til you do the rolling road scenario. It's great! With the allies rules allowing us to ally with codex IG now we can grab some things like sentinels with heavier weapons, a CCS with an astropath & ordnance officer, dedicated assault troops & even psyker battle squads, sanctioned psykers, tanks & chimera vets.

Anecdotally, my vet squad with demolitions, 3 meltas, a lascutter & a Sgt with PF actually smote a hive tyrant & his guard in assault in which he charged me & cast whatever the hell power makes you WS1.

butchyboy73 wrote:
and a heavy flamer and 2 normal flamers and using them to assault Ork boys etc, basically anything with weak armour; lob an assault grenade, toast them with the flamers and shoot them with the shotguns and then kick the crap out of anything that's left (it'll all end in tears no doubt )

I'm looking forward to the rolling road scenario. Not got Tauros's though, I'm planning on using these guys (apologies in advance if I've stuck ths link on here before )

http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/viper-armoured-reconnaissance-vehicle.html

I've got 3 of them in their virgin state, just got to convert them for 2nd mission in a couple of weeks time

What's next for you're air cav? And do you like the new fliers rules?

Next for my air cav is probably going to be working on the allied guard contingent as well as an allied GK contingent, depending on my mood and the opponent. I'm gradually going back, little by little, and detailing the army more and more. They've been backburnered a bit though, I confess, as I did a complete facelift on my IF & SW armies.

If the avenger is squadronable (I know that's not a word) maybe a second one of them out of a valk kit, like I saw someone else do on here. I've got a Straken model I'm working on to look more like a military officer than a jungle fighter (using that very same blog lol) and a Nork Deddog counts-as (based off an AoBR Warboss) to have his back. I'm currently building a deuce & a half style hydra to go with my deuce & a half chimeras. Beyond that, a squad of Rough Riders as a linebacker unit to keep deepstriking termies and blood angels out of my infrastructure. As for the new flier rules, I think they're great, take some planning though to get into good firing position but the sky talon & vulture having vector dancer as well as the vulture having strafing run is a HUGE boost I feel.

It's funny you mentioned Antocitis Workshop! I just bought a warthog adv that is my counts-as landspeeder storm that my stormtalon escorts for my IF army. Love their kits, very nicely detailed, priced & designed, no casting flaws & very little flash on the one I bought.

cormadepanda wrote:Love another air calv guard army. Yours is very nice looking! i was considering doing the sky talon, how did you do it?

Ah, that took some work! It wasn't an easy conversion. I built the engines, tail, wings & cabin roof as normal. That's where the standard assembly ended. I took the cockpit assembly & cut it at an angle, filled in the gap with card & cut the lower nose back to the first segment, to make room for the 2 bases I used as the chin turret. I completely covered over the WSO's cockpit & attached the forward fuselage to the former cabin roof, making sure the nose gear was level with the wing gear. Now the primary fatal flaw with the valk is she's so damn tail heavy, which would not be the case if it were real, the engines, weapon mounts & avionics would weigh considerably more than the twin boom tails, but it likes to sit on that tail just the same. So to combat this tendency, I built a pair of foldable support legs at the rear of the wing area right where the two triangular nubs are for hull attachment, these consisted of some cocktail straws, IG heavy weapons team tripods & the heavy bolter arms from the valk kit.

For the magna clamps, I attached the heavy bolter swivels to landspeeder lower sensor booms at the fore & aft of the top plate in position to mate with the roll cage of my Taros venator scratchbuild or to fit 2 sentinels comfortably apart from each other (in squatted position). I'd be happy to answer any further questions you might have, as always, thanks for looking.

Thanks for all the kind words guys. This last flyer just won me 1st place in our local competition today!

Ok, I've built a fleet for BFG to accompany my EDT army. Since Praxis is the moon of Tarsis Secundus which is located in Segmentum Ultima, I painted my fleet in the corresponding colors.

So I give you the Ultima Segmentum 35th CAG


L to R: Alpha Flight, Omega Flight, Wolf Pack, Castielle's Honor, Phoebus, Defiance, Hydra Flight

Alpha Flight

Lunar Cruisers - "Wrath" and "Devastator" flanking Dictator - "Resolute" with forward scout Endeavor - "Imperious"

The Wrath & Devastator are the workhorses of this fleet and have been present in every engagement in the sub-sector. The Devastator is credited with the destruction of Styx & Murder class cruisers herself after her sister ship, Wrath was crippled in the engagement. Resolute is an older ship, having seen lots of combat & her hull is pock-marked from her multiple trips through the asteroid fields surrounding Praxis. Imperious is the scout of the flight, using her superior speed to draw the enemy's fire away from the larger ships.

Omega Flight

Defiant Class - "Arrogance", Emperor Battleship - "Valiant", Exorcist Grand Cruiser "Venator"

Omega Flight is the backfield firebase of the 35th CAG. The flagship "Valiant" has served for over a millenia & was actually built over Tarsus Secundus. The Arrogance was pulled from convoy duty and used as a blockade runner to deliver the Praxis Air Corps strike forces to Tarsus Secundus right under the noses of the Iron Warriors' pickets. The newest addition to the fleet, the Venator was actually kept in storage until the invasion began, at which point many older disused ships were secreted away into the asteroid field where they were crewed by evacuees & made ready to bring the fight back to the Iron Warriors. Her primary function is support carrier, brought online to meet the traitor fleets enormous attack craft superiority. She lends her fighter and bomber wings to the fleet while retaining her heavy broadsides to defend the Valiant when the enemy get too close.

Castielle's Honor


Once the pride of the fleet, the aging Mars Class has seen alot of action recently. In fact, after the rendering of a Hades class cruiser to a drifting hulk, an AdMech explorator team recovered some sensors used to upgrade the Honor's targetting sensors, greatly increasing the efficiency of her broadsides.

Phoebus


Dominator Class Phoebus typically functions as the fleet sniper. She hangs back with Omega Flight & Castielle's Honor, using her Nova cannon as an area denial weapon & to keep enemy interceptors clear of the blockade runners ferrying supplies, men & materiel to the surface of the embattled planet.

Wolf Pack


The pickets of the fleet, they often pull double duty as "guardians" for the blockade runners, helping to screen the support craft from the enemy ordnance. The Aeternum was once the scout of the fleet but now serves as the command & control ship for the flight, providing heavier weaponry & communications for the light ships while still maintaining pace & maneuverability with them.

Hydra Flight


The eyes & ears of the CAG, the flight of light vessels lay down an efficient spread of torpedoes to eliminate inbound attack craft when they threaten the capital ships in the fleet. The Vigilant is the muscle of the group, using her refitted prow to add to the spread when needed to threaten capital ships that get too aggressive.

Defiance


An independent, forward operating cruiser, the Defiance fills the role of hunter. She lingers, watching & waiting while Alpha flight's firepower is applied to the enemy & pounces on the weakened vessel. She also employs her lances as a "can opener" against heavily armored enemy vessels either in conjunction with Alpha flight's lances or with the Wolf Pack, depending on the situation at hand.

Thanks guys! Just got back from a funeral.

The fatigues on my infantry is achieved by priming flat grey, then several coats of (then) gryphonne sepia followed by a highlight of a khaki tan color.

First model painted up. Not yet based. This is how the army will look. Sorry for the crappy quality, camera is charging so I had to use my phone. Even the macro setting is crap.