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Like quite a few people I've started getting the new 40k partwork, and I'm planning to keep a log as I paint them to keep me motivated.

I have other marine armies - a large Black Templar force and a fairly large Scythes of the Emperor army, as well as the beginnings of an Iron Warriors force mostly made from Dark Vengeance stuff. I considered using the Primaris marines to expand the Scythes, but I'm quite happy with the size and composition of the army at the moment and also a bit sick of painting yellow. I decided to do a new purely Primaris force. I briefly considered Ultramarines, but not for long, and wondered about Raptors, but in the end I settled on Celestial Lions, a chapter I've always had a soft spot for. They were almost annihilated on Armageddon by '"ork snipers" after a severe disagreement with the Inquisition, and are one of the chapters being rebuilt almost entirely with primaris marines. They are an Imperial Fists successor, and have close ties with fellow sons of Dorn the Black Templars, so can form an allied detachment for my Templar army until they're developed enough to field independently. There's an added bonus in that the Retributor Armour and Macragge Blue paints which come with issue 1 are perfect for the Celestial Lions scheme - handy as I'll end up with several pots of each.

A quick note - ListenToMeWarriors is also doing Celestial Lions in his Conquest plog. I promise I didn't steal the idea from him, I'd been thinking of it for a while.

The Death Guard half of the collection are pretty much going to be Death Guard, and can always be used as allies for my Iron Warriors.

I picked the first two issues up in my local Co-Op, and built the ETB Intercessors and Plague Marines pretty much according to the instructions. Here are some WIP pics.





I've also subscribed, and got my first delivery containing another copy of issues 1 & 2 this weekend. Obviously I don't want exact duplicates of the ETB figures so I've raided the bits box to modify them a bit. One of the Intercessors has got an auxiliary grenade launcher for his bolt rifle, and I didn't need another champion for the Death Guard so I made another bolter marine.

Good to see another part-works blog and more Celestial Lions.

Both of your forces are looking good so far. Nice solid gold on the lions. The plague marines would probably greatly benefit from a wash though. Agrax or something to give them a bit of depth.
I like the old school bolt pistol as a grenade launcher too. Very clever.

Thanks. Absolutely right on the Plague Marines - that was very much a WIP picture. They're pretty much done now, apart from maybe some tufts or something to make the bases more interesting, and some transfers for the lions when I can get them.

Oh those look much better with a wash on them.
I like that you've kept them basic with a limited palette of colours.

My lawyers are currently in the process of suing you for gimmick infringement

Seriously not a problem, they are a great chapter in terms of look and background and need all of the warriors that they can get. And thank you for the shout out.

A good-looking start, I love the Death Guard range in that once you have laid down the base colours and given them a wash you can pretty much call them done. I look forward to more.

Loving the use of proper old-school bolters on the conversions - it suits the plague marines perfectly and sawing one apart to make a grenade launcher was inspired. Looking forward to seeing more of them.

Thanks. Having nearly 30 years' worth of bitz boxes definitely helps when it comes to converting.

Well I've now managed to paint the second trios of Primaris and Plague Marines:






That gives me six of each. I didn't manage to pick up issue 3 in store so I'll need to wait for my subscription delivery. I did find and issue 4 though, and I figured you can never have too many plague zombies. I just built these as standard. When I get some more in my sub I'll do some chopping and converting to avoid duplication.

Got my delivery of issues 3-6 at the end of last week, but I was distracted by trying to teach myself to sculpt.

Finally got to my Conquest stuff over the last couple of evenings.

I built the 3 Reivers as per the instructions as I don't have any others so duplicates weren't an issue.



The extra plague marines needed to be a bit more extensively converted as they're my third set of the ETB ones. I went for a couple with bolters and decided to branch out with a flail of corruption. Quite happy with these.



The poxwalkers needed converting so they wouldn't duplicate the ones I'd already got. I think the original models are a bit to over the top with their mutations. I prefer my poxwalkers more plague zombie and less tentacled freak. Fortunately I had some zoombie bits in my bits box so I could tone them down a bit, as well as doing some re-posing and weapon swapping.



I'm now torn on what to do with the Lieutenant model from issue 5. I could try to make him look less ultramariney and make him a celestial lion, but I actually quite like the sculpt, and I think it would be quite tricky to de-ultra the sword and scabbard without ruining it. I think I'm going to postpone the decision until I've got the rest of this stuff painted.

I have seen a fair few conversions of the Lieutenant where the sword UM details are covered with purity seals and that works pretty well. Obviously the shoulder pads are easy to change so that just leaves the knee and backpack UM symbol to scrape off. Personally I left him as an Ultramarine but he is a member of the Deathwatch.

Good work on your Poxwalkers conversions, seamlessly done.

Got some paint on the first batch of poxwalkers:





These are very basic as they're very much going to be a horde who will likely be removed in droves (and hopefully bounce back on to the table if the unit makes it to combat). Just basecoats and liberal brown wash, followed by a few splashes of gore and goop.

The orange clothing is to tie them in to my genestealer cultists which are wearing orange mining suits.

Bit of a lack of progress on the Conquest side of things as I got distracted. I suddenly got the urge to dig out my old Battlefleet Gothic stuff and see what I have. Turns out it's quite a lot, but very little of it was painted, or even assembled.

Fortunately, ships are really quick to paint, so I managed to scratch the BFG itch and get it all done in only a week or two. Here's the results.

The Imperial Fleet comprises Battlegroup Vespasian, comprising the capital ships Ajax, Achilles and Agamemnon, surrounded by a vast array of escorts. Admiral Vespasian commands from the Mars class Battlecruiser Agamemnon.



Unfortunately I'm a bit light on Imperial cruisers due to chopping several up an ill advised (and abandoned) attempt to convert Custodes jetbikes about 10 years ago, something I now wish I hadn't started:



Crusader ships of the Black Templars chapter, the battle barge Righteous Zeal and the strike cruiser Sigismund's Wrath.



Of course all these Imperial ships need some enemies, and here I have a ton of cruisers I inherited from other people somehow.

The Iron Warriors fleet of Warpsmith Vathek - Obliterator, Mutilator, Annihilator, Desecrator and Decimator, plus escorts:



A small raiding fleet of followers of Khorne - Gorefrenzy and Skulltaker, plus escorts.



The cruisers Fate's Messenger and Exquisite Agony, devoted to Tzeentch and Slaanesh respectively.



And last but not least the followers of Nurgle, the Contagious, Infectious and Pestiferous (apparently it's a word), plus escorts.



As I managed to get the capital ships entirely out of focus in the group shot here's a detail showing the mutated, organic looking orifices of the Pestiferous' launch bays which vomit forth attack craft to take its pestilential gifts to the enemy.



Anyway, that's why I haven't made any updates on the log lately. Normal service will resume shortly as I get back to the Reivers, Plague Marines and Poxwalkers, hopefully before my next delivery arrives.

Always very cool to see BFG and I wish GW hadn't discontinued it as I've never had the chance to play it!

You've got an impressive range of ship and they're all looking really cool, especially the Iron Warriors fleet.

Distraction is what makes these blogs quite interesting I think!

Back to Conquest stuff with this update!

Finished the 3 extra Plague Marines:



The Flail uses a censer bit from a skaven kit (screaming bell I think). It's not terribly clear from the pic but the smoke emanating from it is a sickly yellow colour - aiming for a mustard gas type effect.

Also got the Reivers finished:



I love these models. I think Reivers look the best of all the Primaris models.

Expecting my next four issues in the next day or two, so I've got to finish my second batch of poxwalkers and decide what to do with the Ultramarine Lieutenant. It occurs to me that in over 30 years (I've been into 40k since the day it came out) I've never painted an Ultramarine! I'm thinking it may be time to break that.

I think it may well be time for an Ultramarine, will be interesting to see your take on Calsius either way. Good progress on your Conquest stuff, I agree that the Reivers ook pretty cool and good use of bits from various kits to change your Plague Marines.

Hey all

Finally got something else pretty much finished, the Myphetic Blight Hauler. Just got the one of these for now, although I may get some more at some point.











I've got various other bits at different stages of WIP - Poxwalkers, Librarian and Lieutenant Cassius. Don't seem to have had a lot of time for hobby stuff the last week or two, although that may be the fault of Netflix and Amazon Prime, to be fair.

Quick update with the second batch of Poxwalkers painted.





Next up I need to finish the Librarian and Lt Calsius.