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I'm looking into making a chosen squad maxed out on flamers. Thing is, I don't think the standard CSM kit represents them well, along with the fact that I'm short around 4 flamers. Are there any 3rd party bits/models that will fill the role? I'd also prefer to avoid FW, as I'm not sure I want to drop that much on their infantry, as nice as they are. They don't have to come with all the flamers, either (I doubt any single kit will have enough )

I'm using Sternguard, mixed with some bits from various CSM kits to dirty them up a bit, but I'm doing Emperor's Children so eagles all over the shop are fluffy.

TBH, all Chosen are are ordinary CSM with better hardware, but check out Spellcrow, they've got some nice alternate CSM bits, but it depends what you're looking for.

Yeah, eagles everywhere won't fly (lol). I'm mostly looking for something that looks a little older and ornate than the current set. That, and using the same set for similar units is confusing.

I think the DV chosen have spoiled me...

Don't overlook kitbashing, the Possessed and Warp Talon kits both have useful bits, plus there's thing like WoC in Fantasy to raid too.

The Spellcrow stuff looks good (I'm not pushing them for any personal reason, their stuff just strikes me as good looking)



Those are their Tzeentch torsos, there's legs and heads too, variant weapons plus Nurgle and Slaanesh ranges and some vanilla pieces like cloaks and loin cloths.

I think Puppet's War has some stuff too, been a while since I looked, some of their stuff tends to disappear when it sells through.

I find that Evil Craft have some absolutely gorgeous Chaos models. I've been considering getting some as Chosen for myself, but money is a bit tight at the moment so it'll have to wait. They're a tad pricey, though not much more than regular GW models, but I'd say that they're worth the money.

Well, in fairness they charge more for 5 than GW do for 10 CSM, and with less options, but yes, I'd forgotten about these guys, much better (more than justify the premium) and probably spot on if you like the DV Chosen.

Evil craft renders look good, though not sure on their reliability I placed an order with them about a month ago never got any shipping notice, emailed them no response.
Anyone had any luck with them?

I like Puppet's War's Barbarian line, has the kind of twisted look I was aiming for. Do you know how compatible they are with GW parts? Or if they come with bases? I'm getting the feeling that they don't have two-handed poses, but that's fine.

EDIT - Holy ! Those Evil Craft ones are gorgeous! Ridiculously detailed, but gorgeous! The price point sounds like a major hurdle (seeing as I'm looking for a 10-strong squad), but if I could I would! Even though painting them would kill me

They're the same scale, so they should be fine, and if they don't have the right arms or whatever, just use GW bits.

 Azreal13 wrote:
Well, in fairness they charge more for 5 than GW do for 10 CSM, and with less options, but yes, I'd forgotten about these guys, much better (more than justify the premium) and probably spot on if you like the DV Chosen.

Let's be honest though, when (if?) GW come out with a chosen kit, it'll be like the Sternguard; £10 more (at least) for half the models. And with kit bashing, you have to pay extra anyway. Not that I'm disagreeing that those are expensive, but if there was a GW alternative it's not going to be any cheaper.

muribundi wrote:
Evil craft renders look good, though not sure on their reliability I placed an order with them about a month ago never got any shipping notice, emailed them no response.
Anyone had any luck with them?

I got 4 sets from them when they first came out. The models are exactly as advertised, they have a ton of pieces to put together and are capable of a lot of poses. In terms of delivery times, I did have to wait maybe 8 weeks for them to arrive, but they got there at some point. They had weird European postage and I was not exactly sure of the country of origin - I remember thinking it was from Poland.

If you are into modifying miniatures you could have a go at building chosen from the standard box.

Take horns/spikes/blades from unused helmets, racks and knives. Cut them down a bit and then add them to shoulder pads, backpacks and leg armour of your chaos marines. Use pictures of the DV chosen as inspiration.

Don't be afraid to modify the stock helmets; Reposition the angle or position of horns, replace horns with top knots for that Britney Spears look, have single horns protruding from foreheads for the rhino inspired appearance.

Free hand screaming daemonic faces and bone designs onto undecorated areas of armour plates. Freehand additional trim onto the armour. Add loin cloths and stowed weapons to increase bulk of the marines.

Painting wise take your shadows deeper and your highlights higher to make these models really pop.

Using other kits will really give you potential to go far; Possessed torsos are pretty similar to the design of the DV chosen. Chaos knights have great weapons and helmets you could be using. Robed bodies from the Dark Angel sprue really gives that acolyte of the gods feel.

Buy a lot of dark vengeance boxes

I think that is your best bet. You can get the DV chosen for dirt cheap. They are plastic monopose but are easy enough to convert. I converted a whole squad with plasma guns with no problems.

 Musashi363 wrote:
I think that is your best bet. You can get the DV chosen for dirt cheap. They are plastic monopose but are easy enough to convert. I converted a whole squad with plasma guns with no problems.

While I enjoy the level of detail the DV chosen have, I really don't like the idea of either chopping each one up to get what poses/weapons I need on them, or having an entire squad built from the bolter pose (painting them all would be a nightmare, the exact same thing over and over!). That and hunting them down doesn't appeal to me. The Puppet's War models, on the other hand, have my interest. Thanks for all the suggestions so far, really helps to know what's out there!

Hotrod wrote:
I find that Evil Craft have some absolutely gorgeous Chaos models. I've been considering getting some as Chosen for myself, but money is a bit tight at the moment so it'll have to wait. They're a tad pricey, though not much more than regular GW models, but I'd say that they're worth the money.

How is it that Chapterhouse gets sued to oblivion for IP infringement by GW, but these guys slip right past without a 2nd look? Those are not generic evil space troopers, these are flat out GW-style chaos marines!

Actually, GW got their EBay store closed down earlier in the year, so they've not been entirely unmolested. They also closed for over two months "for the holidays" and the skeptic in me wonders if that was related too.

I second Evil Craft, those are some quality models. No flamers so far, but they do have plasmas and meltas. They've posted pictures of new items a few days ago on their FB page, so I imagine they're still active and accepting orders.

https://www.facebook.com/evilcraft.miniatures

Puppets War has a handful of cool bits, and Spellcrow has an entire range of CSM parts, from legs to weapons. Kromlech has a few, as well.

I used chaos knights bits... you might want to check out my gallery...

For getting lots of cheap flamers, look on bits sites for the Centurion underslung flamers. They're a little more compact, but they take very little effort to convert for regular Marine purposes. The same is true for the rest of the Centurion weapons on bits sites. Be warned, though; their helmets look cool, but unfortunately they're large enough to look rather comical on a power armoured body.

As for other Chosen, I'd recommend getting as many different things as possible. It might not be economical with postage to get things from different companies, but several of them have quite a selection of heads. This goes for standard GW Space Marine bits as well. Make each Chosen unique. Give each one his own distinct character. Perhaps one is a former Havoc; obsessed with the pure and divine nature of the gun, he has a modified bolter (you could make this easily by clipping off the camera thing that is mounted on almost every Terminator's neck ring and sticking it to the side of a bolter along with other modifications like an extended magazine), ammunition pouches all over his body, the GW targeter helmet, and other embellishments to get across his individuality (since you're giving them all flamers - which should be magnetised! - you could put this modified bolter on his back, or put it in his hands and the flamer on his back). Maybe one of them has a particular hatred towards Ultramarines, bearing one of their helmets or hands about his hip. Another could favour close combat, covered in extra knives and other weapons (including a bayonet for his flamer, which would be really easy to make with an Astartes combat knife).

Stuff like that. Paint them differently, too. I'm not a fan of Chaos Knight torsos or helmets, but some of their shoulder pads fit nicely with power armour.

I'd try snagging some of these OOP raptor flamers on eBay, which come up from time to time:



More dubious individuals might suggest recasting, but I could never encourage such an evil act...