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Hello everyone!

I've been a lurker in these forums for a couple of years now, but never felt like devoting my time for a hobby related blog here until very recently.

So, this is my first ever post, in which I intend to start a blog about the Raven Guard army I'm currently building, along with some of the other stuff I paint and like.


I originally started the Hobby with the LoTR SBG games, moving on to 40K with the Dark Angels half of the Dark Vengeance set. I really didn't like the army, to be honest, and the things I painted then, I hope to forget forever.
Then I sold all my 2500 points of DA and started an IG army, which is still my main army and is almost entirely painted, if not to a very high standard - then again, I was into batch painting at the time, 30 dudes in a single sitting.

In the past year, however, I felt like my painting work matured a lot, and decided it was time to start an army to which I could truly invest time and care into painting each dude, instead of painting a bunch of them at the same time.
And so the Raven Guard idea was born.

The idea behind the army was to have a 10th company strike force working alongside some of the other battlecompanies (I haven't decided which one yet), so I plan on having a lot of scouts and a regular demi company of marines.

It all came together when I bought the Shadow Captain Korvydae mini and realized the character played exactly alongside the stuff I liked -- jumpy dudes as troops and a lot of scouts in support -- both in fluff and crunch.

So, without further ado, here's everything I painted so far!



Here's Korvydae, which was the first mini I painted and isn't exaclty great, to be honest.*EDIT* - I repainted him after months of practicing with the rest of the army, and he looks much sharper. So forget that earlier comment As you can see, instead his original head, which is part of the plan for the army: no one, besides scouts, goes without helmets. *EDIT* - Yeah, I'm starting to make dudes without helmets on. Rule of cool wins.




Speaking of scouts, here's how I'm painting them. I'm giving the regular scouts my usual pinkish skin colour, but the vet sargeants get white shoulderpads and the light skintone the Raven Guard marines develops over time due to the Geneseed mutation.




My second HQ is this lovely Jumpy Chaplain, Chaplain Roderick (named in honour of the friend who sold it to me), which was great fun painting, although he's kinda badly balanced and has already chipped from being dropped during games.



And here's a painted Demi assault squad -- I'm going full beakie-or-older Mks or power armour on this project, at least on the helmets and cuirasses.




A demi tactical squad along with their Rhino.



The company's Dreadnought. He was originally painted as an Imperial Fist, sold to a dude who took no care of the mini AT ALL (it was inside a showbox, thrown around). So I gave him a new painting and a new purpose.



A Raven Guard contemptor dreadnought. Not very fluffy with a 10th company, I guess, but I couldn't pass the chance of painting this miniature.



Full army shot!

This is it so far, I hope the pics look good, since I took them with my phone. Gotta get myself a nicer camera to get better pictures of this army.
As I get the hang of this forum I'll post some WIPs, assemblies and other models, but for now I'll keep it short.

Any criticism and comments are appreciated!


*EDIT* -- added better pictures to the whole thing
*edit 2* -- emperor's bowels, my images were all terribly compressed, here's hoping they finally look decent
*Edit III* -- Traded the pictures for some taken out of a Real Camera now. Also added new stuff.

First of all, Welcome to Dakka. And congrats on starting your blog. I like the theme and especially the scout heavy part. (I have always loved scout models, even if they have not always been a wise gaming choice) As for the C and C, I do have one question: what color are the finished bases going to be? Are they going to be that black volcanic look from the chaplain or something else? I think the black armor would pop really well against a lighter base, maybe light brown earth or grasslands? At any rate nice work. I am excited to see where this goes.
Keep it up!

cheers.

Hello welcome and everything good like that! Beakie Raven Guard sounds like the sort of thing I love, so I hope you find time to post more of your work!

Looking good so far, really like the Scout.

EDC

Thank you guys for the replies, appreciate it

 brushcommando wrote:
As for the C and C, I do have one question: what color are the finished bases going to be? Are they going to be that black volcanic look from the chaplain or something else? I think the black armor would pop really well against a lighter base, maybe light brown earth or grasslands?

That's the only thing I've been struggling with in this project. So far I've been basing them all in that black volcanic earth kinda look, which make the models look way too dark. I was thinking of either repainting the bases to something lighter, brownish, or adding some clumps of grass/shrubs to break up the black but keep them dark. Could also paint the edges in a lighter tone, like a grey, to offset the blackness in the whole thing.

I'll make some experiments and post them later.


I haven't got the hang of the multi-quoting thing, but I'm glad people like the theme of scouts and beakies, it's the two elements that brought me to the Raven Guard -- it's how I make my marines as unique as possible.

Also, scouts are great fun on the table, they either destroy some valuable backfield asset on the enemy or work wonderfully as distractions for the real heroes, the Jumpy Marines.

I experimented with basing, so here are the 2 options I'm currently considering


Light brownish base


Black-grey base with shrubberies, ignore the unrelated mini.

Which one looks better? I like both, really.


Also, today was a beautiful day for the raven guard and the raven guarders, cause bitz arrived!


How's that Bullgryn buckler for a Vanguard Veteran storm shield?

Depending on when you are doing your raven guard you could do a drop site massacre type basing

I could see either one of those working. Is it possible to add the shrubberies to the brown base? As for the storm shield, i could see it working up down, but it might be two wide if oriented as such...
At any rate, good stuff. And I would love to see a picture of those finished scouts should you get the time.

Nice start here, mate. I look forward to seeing it grow over time.

I like the black/grey base with shubberies. Shrubberies are always a plus.

Ustrello wrote:Depending on when you are doing your raven guard you could do a drop site massacre type basing

It's mostly a 40K project, but I'm trying to build it in such a way that it won't be unfluffy to use it for 30K. And for that timeframe I was considering right after the Isstvan V Massacre. What's a drop massacre kinda base look like?

brushcommando wrote:I could see either one of those working. Is it possible to add the shrubberies to the brown base? As for the storm shield, i could see it working up down, but it might be two wide if oriented as such...
At any rate, good stuff. And I would love to see a picture of those finished scouts should you get the time.

Ask and thou shalt receive


That's a (crappy, I'll admit -- gotta get myself a decent camera) group shot of everything I had painted and based so far, haven't got a decent close of the scouts yet, though.

Azazelx wrote:Nice start here, mate. I look forward to seeing it grow over time.

Thanks, I'm using my vacations to get as much done as possible.

amazingturtles wrote:I like the black/grey base with shubberies. Shrubberies are always a plus.

I gotta buy better shrubs, these I have are from a craft store and they're actually just sawdust painted green.


Now for the real update, the Heavy Jumpy Dudes with the kitbashed storm shields:





I've used bits from the MkIII armor set, along with a MkIV jump pack, power axe and a Bullgryn buckler. I was planning on using them as Vanguard Veterans in 40K and probably as a Command Squad with artificer armours in HH.
The fluff is that (at least for 40K) the Vanguard Veterans are heavily armored shock troops, wearing the oldest and most revered pieces from the chapter's armories, which are incidentally suits furnished during the aftermath of the Dropsite Massacre, and therefore made with different Mks, as a desperate measure. Despite the chapter's preference for stealth and quietness, the soldiers armed in such a way are very valuable during the times where brute force and resilience is needed, without having to resort to the much more valuable and bulkier Terminator armor.

I like the way the shield looks, even though it's much bulkier than the small, crux-shaped SS from the vanguard veterans kit. I'm still not sure about the MkIV jump pack, maybe a regular one or maybe a MkII pack would look better.
The one comment I received on that from a friend, incidentally, was that he "Looks cool. Not very jumpy, though". I want them to look jumpy but at the same time bulky and strong.


Here's the pose I was thinking for the second storm shield guy (I wanna do 2 of them in a 5 man squad), a little more mobile pose this time.

So, whaddya think? Does that kitbash work? Need more pictures?

I intend on finishing assembling these guys and then paint the last of my first tactical battle squad, which I'll post later.

I do like those scouts. Eventually I want to get myself a squad with shotguns like you have. Also nice work on that conversion. It works really well actually.

An itsy bitsy update:



The two Storm Shield veterans, assembled. I liked the poses, but I'm still conflicted over whether or not they should have jump packs (received several comments about how MkIII armour is too heavy to jump and etc).



Also, here's a half assault squad I have assembled but not yet painted


I just took some better pictures of the whole army, so I'm gonna edit the first post with everything I have painted so far.

Cheers!

Another little update, I'm finally getting the hang of taking pictures of my dudes

So I've got 3 things to show today




These are the vanguard veterans, wearing the Relic Mk3 armor, assembled and primed. There's the fourth, axe wieldying dude missing in this pic, but I already have pics of him, so whatever.
I was very worried they'd not work well with the jump packs but I'm quite happy with how they turned out. I based them with the bits that come in the new assault squad kit, that I had saved to use on something nicer than the multiple regular jumpy dudes I'll end up fielding.


Here's their Sarge. I used different armor on him, and am currently considering whether or not to equip him with the same style of jump packs as the other guys - I have recently acquired Shadow Captain Shrike, whose jump pack is very stylish but doesn't fit his body very well so I might just give Shrike a Mk4 jump pack and this sarge Shrike's pack. I don't know, whaddya think?

Also this!


He's a pretty big guy. Raven Guard Contemptor Dread with a multimelta (which I managed to magnetize) and a chainfist.


So far, everything in this post is at the bottom of my painting schedule. Right now I'm working on a demi tactical squad.

Here's a little taste


There we go, with everything assembled (so I can play with them unpainted hehehe ) I shall finish painting this squad and then put them in here for your appraisal.

The jump packs look real good, i am enjoying every bit of progress.

i always did like the raven guard and you're doing them good justice here i think

I'm totally stealing that Bullgryn shield idea for my Vanguard Vets

Nice! I really like the maximus armor!

amazingturtles wrote:The jump packs look real good, i am enjoying every bit of progress.

i always did like the raven guard and you're doing them good justice here i think

Thanks, man, I appreciate it. I'm trying very hard to build myself the kind of army I'd like to play against, both in terms of fluff and painting. Here's hoping I get there

War Kitten wrote:I'm totally stealing that Bullgryn shield idea for my Vanguard Vets

Steal away. It would have never occured to me if those bits weren't laying around the vets when I started them! I look forward to seeing your rendition of this kitbash.

brushcommando wrote:Nice! I really like the maximus armor!

Me too, and it's such a joy to paint -- crisp, straight lines. I'm preserving the MkIV bitz I have as much as possible, spreading them around my units to add a certain flavour.


So I finally painted enough of my first Battle Squad to show them around in another update (I'd say about 90% done, gotta look at them together to tie details like metal colors and stuff together + base them all).

Here's some reasonable-ish quality pics (again, gotta get myself a nicer camera, I've been using my Iphone 4's cam)


The squad's Sarge, armed with a combiplasma I converted from a bolter and a plasma pistol. He's wearing a Mk4 plate, Mk3 helmet and nuncio vox and one of the Mk6 running legs from the Assault Squad kit.


The squad's Marksman, with a Mk5 helmet and other assorted bits, along with a scoped bolter.


The Special weapons specialist, with a plasma gun I took from a space wolf kit, Mk4 helmet and assault squad legs (I really liked using them for tacs for these action poses).


A battle-brother in Mk6 armour, reloading his bolter -- that was a real pain to convert, since I only had the older tactical squad sprues, and there are no reloady hands there, so I had to splice a grenade throwing arm with a bolter right hand and fingers from a bolter left hand to hold a magazine I cut out from a failed combi-weapon conversion, but I really like the outcome. He also has a Raven Guard backpack, which is really neat.


At last, the grenade-throwing, heretic bolter wieldying, Mk4 armour dude I already showed last post.


This is it! I still gotta base them, so I'm back at the whole "black with shrubbery or brown or maybe brown with shrubbery" dilemma.
Otherwise, C&C welcome!

Good work! I really like the reloading guy. And I also really love the variety of kit in terms of armor marks. It reminds me of the two page spread in the Space Marine's 4th edition codex if you've ever seen it.

 brushcommando wrote:
Good work! I really like the reloading guy. And I also really love the variety of kit in terms of armor marks. It reminds me of the two page spread in the Space Marine's 4th edition codex if you've ever seen it.

I know exactly the one! With the marines in file and some censer wielding chaplains going around, right? That's just the feel I wanted to get with this army, so score!

Mini update of the day:

I've been busy with college, they're jamming all the end of semester work in a wouple of weeks because of some issues with the calendar, so not much time to paint.

But I got one vanguard veteran pretty much done, aside from the base.


I've had him described as "glam", which I didn't like much at first, but I think I can live with it now.

I thought of maybe painting the edges of the armour plates on his front side with a golden colour too, but I don't know. Whaddya think?


I also painted this guy here


Training NMM techniques to paint that Stormcast eternal hero from Silver Tower -- a friend of mine got a box and I asked to paint that miniature which I think is lovely, but I gotta git gud so that it looks absolutely great

That's it, cheerios

Good work on the standard bearer. I actually didn't realize it wasn't metallic paint until I read it.

I'm back.

Was without painting for months, too much stuff happening everywhere.

Here's a post detailing all I've done since the last time I posted.


First of wall, I painted my Rhino


It felt a little empty of details, though, so I attempted some freehanding.





Feels much better, no more idle space!

I also looked over my first post and realized how much of an eyesore Korvydae is (the pic is a little too bright, but my paintjob wasn't helping) so I also gave him a bit of a makeover

I washed the hammer, improved the effect on the lenses (lining them with black), and overall cleaned up the miniature a little. I loved the highlights on the green laurels on his shoulderpad!

Last, but not least, today I just finished painting this beautiful beautiful little ancient

After buying some static grass I finally started doing more interesting bases -- I have realized a reasonable base helps make a good model a great one.


That's pretty much it! There is still room for improvement and a lot of models to paint, but I'm enjoying it a lot.

Nice update. That rhino with the Ravenglass icon looks awesome. Excellent work.

EDC

Greetings fellow XIXth legionaire! I see you have started your journey with the Sons of deliverance. I will suggest (speaking from expierience, I own a 30k Raven Guard army) that you buy the FW transfers. The sheet has enough for your whole army. Also the resin MK VI armor from FW is awesome. You should consider buying some.

Good luck!

Ember

evildrcheese wrote:Nice update. That rhino with the Ravenglass icon looks awesome. Excellent work.

EDC

Thanks! Painting freehand looks way harder than it is, at least for simple and big designs such as the chapter`s symbol. I made a preliminary drawing with white crayon and went on from there.

EmberlordofFire8 wrote:Greetings fellow XIXth legionaire! I see you have started your journey with the Sons of deliverance. I will suggest (speaking from expierience, I own a 30k Raven Guard army) that you buy the FW transfers. The sheet has enough for your whole army. Also the resin MK VI armor from FW is awesome. You should consider buying some.

Good luck!

Ember

I don't like transfers, cause they always go bad after a while (or maybe I don't know how to apply them properly), so I bought some Etched Brass from Ebay, which I'm still to attach to most dudes. I haven't any FW MK VI, only the bits I could scrounge from the tactical marines kits here and there, but I did buy some of the conversion bits with the cool heraldrics and ravenbones all over. Next thing I'll buy will be some MkVI's, I have few complete suits of it!

A friend of mine got a single Rapier Laser Destroyer from somewhere, and traded it with me for some other miniatures. I don't really care about the gun, although I will eventually build and field it, but the bits in there. Oh my the bits!
The moment I eye'd those sweet gunners I knew I absolutely HAD to use them to make something cool.

So I converted this Veteran Sargeant, for my second Tactical Squad!



I wanted to have him holding his helmet, but didn't see any conversions of that kind around, only a couple of results on google, so I decided to engineer it myself.

It's made out of bits from the gunners, the body and crested helmet, a MkIII left arm, a CSM bolt pistol arm, with attached combiplasma, and the cyborg head from that sprue with the storm bolter and tank rider that comes with the Rhino kit. He looks like a proper, strict and ruthless NCO, I love it.
I know I wanted this army to be all about being smart, and everyone wearing their helmets, but the rule of cool got the better of me this time, I just couldn't resist. At least he still has the helmet and can put it on at a time's notice!

Your blacks are improving, and that sergeant sculpt looks awesome!

If you're having issues with transfers, be sure to apply a layer of Lahmian medium or another shade over it, to keep it from flaking.

Nice job on the Sgt.

EDC

EmberlordofFire8 wrote:Your blacks are improving, and that sergeant sculpt looks awesome!

If you're having issues with transfers, be sure to apply a layer of Lahmian medium or another shade over it, to keep it from flaking.

Thank you for the kind words and the council on transfers. I'm distrustful of them, but it might be worth the investment, to make my dudes look fluffier.

evildrcheese wrote:Nice job on the Sgt.

EDC

So, I just updated the First post with better pictures (again). Finally managed to get access to a real camera instead of potato cellphone cam.

Here's the WIPs of the day!



First of all, WIP of the rest of the Tactical squad. The only guy left to paint is the Heavy Weapons specialist, and then I'll clean them all up, do some basing and add them to the painted list.



There's also my Librarian conversion WIP. Made him out of bits from the assault squad, a MKIV jump pack and the head from the Lord Executioner miniature (the one with the power axe and jump pack). The psychic hood is a converted shoulderpad mounted on his chestpiece, and the cables are guitar strings.
I'm very happy about his face, and about the fact that I actually managed to give him eyes that aren't crazy eyes. He looks very suspicious. As he should, for he is Raven Guard, who must be always weary of counter ambush.



Couple of pics with the Force Axe effect I tried later on. Also painted the studs on his shoulderpad blue. Not sure I like them, what do you guys think?

AND FINALLY




I got the courage to start painting the Chapter Master of the Raven Guard: Kayvaan Shrike! He still has a captain's statline and a hefty cost (since he was promoted in-fluff during Kayuon and didn't get the proper Chapter Master profile updates), but I love this mini and can use it as a regular captain with clawwy claws. It's a metal mini, got it on ebay on sale for a great price. Which is cool but also a curse, cause the paint flakes kinda easily. Gonna have to varnish the hell out of this.


/end transmission

Excellent work on the Librarian, the skin tones look brilliant.

EDC