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Raven Guard 2nd company - In progress !


GreyCrow

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Hello guys !

 

Here are pictures of my work in progress Raven Guard 2nd company, I really felt in love with the colour scheme after doing a test model, then with the little fluff surrounding their Captain, Aajz Solari and my goal is to make a demi company for the 1850 points mark !

 

I'm not a terrific painter by far and I'm okay with that ! That said, I4d love to get tips from you guys to make good effects with quick techniques ;)

More specifically, I am awful at freehanding, and I have no idea how decals work (especially that you have to print your own for Raven Guard armies) and I'd love to have your advice on how to decal the Chapter badges and the squad symbols !

 

The first milestone will be finishing painting my 1000 points strikeforce, which I have the models for so far. Then, I will aim for 1500 and 1850 points consecutively.

The goal is to make a fast moving infantry heavy force :)

 

Without much wait, here's the first batch !

 

 

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Aajz Solari, Captain of the Raven Guard 2nd Company

 

 
Notorious for leading Assault Squads into battle on a regular basis, Solari is a tall man, even for a Space Marine. Aajz's paper-white skin and ebony-black hair speak of the long years of service to his chapter. Recruited from Deliverance itself, Captain Solari comes from the most ancient of families of the large moon: his ancestors descended from the original slaves. His ferocity and combat prowess are legendary in his Chapter, as is his disregard for formality. Over his 23 years in his current commission, Solari's performance has been erratic but highly successful. His ability to work within any situation and meet the changing needs of the battlefield is unquestionable, but there have been times when Solari has left more to luck than tactical doctrine would dictate. At times he had brilliant successes, at others disastrous failures. At his core Solari is a gambler, willing to play the fates to win a battle, and only his track record has spared him the ignominy of a court martial.
- Lexicanum
 

Aajz Solari

 
So, I wanted a "frontline" Captain with Aajz Solari, leading by example like a Champion with an equipment that would provide a strong boost to assault squads, as well as an aggressive stance. I also wanted to depart from the usual Lightning Claw captain for the Raven Guard. The Relic Blade and the Stormshield seemed like natural choices and help keep the Captain cheap but still efficient against a wide variety of targets, save from the toughest ones. :)
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Tactical Squad Robenz "The Shade Stones", First Tactical squad of the Raven Guard 2nd Company
 
The Raven Guard Chapter is known for its surprising assaults and for striking from the shadows, and the 2nd Company is no exception. Experts in ambushes and disruption, Squad Robenz is often tasked with leading the 2nd Company to battle and lay devastating attacks on the enemies of the Imperium. Known for his adaptive tactics and his unyielding reputation, Sergeant Robenz has been a trusted advisor of Captain Solari for several decades since he was appointed Sergeant of the First Squad.
Squad Robenz' recent battle honours include single handedly ambushing and halting the advance an armoured column of renegade Guardsmens, holding the line against scores of conscripts, veteran squads and Leman Russ Punisher squadrons until the flanking elements of the 2nd company arrived and trapped the survivors.
 

Tac 1

Tactical squad Pier Combat squad 1

Tac 1 C2

 
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And that's it for the first batch ! On the table I currently have a Librarian, 2 5-men Tactical squads, 2 Razorbacks, a Rhino, 2 Attack Bikes and a Stormtalon... I guess I'm not going to be finished anytime soon ! ^^
 
Thanks for the comments and the tips, and have a great week end !
 

First batch !

 

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Thanks for the comment smile.png I'm still learning a lot and improving over time. I've been surprised by how easy simple highlights are to do even though they are time consuming. But they give such a great effect on the black armour, even with just a simple layer highlight of Eshin Grey !

Since 100% of the comments have been positive so far, I just finished another batch !

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Tactical Squad Pyotr "The Raven's Eye", Second Tactical squad of the Raven Guard 2nd Company

Sergeant Pyotr and his squad are used to operate alone for extended periods of time behind enemy lines, taking on the company's recon missions when Scout squads are not available. The intelligence they have gathered had allowed to properly size countless armies and identify hidden assets that would prove key to the enemy's battle plans. In addition to their role as the Company's recon squad, they have often been tasked to launch diversionary strikes and psychological operations in order to weaken the opposing force cohesion prior to and during battle.

Tac 2

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Epistolary Maddeus

Much like any other company of the Raven Guard, the Second Company often operates on its own for extended periods of time, far from its brethren and it is a very rare and grave day when the Chapter is reunited as a whole. In order to maintain cohesion and communications within the Chapter, the Master of Shadows Corvin Severax ha dispatched Epistolary Maddeus to the Second Company, both to maintain long range astrotelepathic communications to monitor the operations of Shadow Captain Solari, but also to provide a much needed psychic prowess on the battlefield.

Maddeus, in direct opposition to the Codex Astartes, does not wield a blue armour denoting Astartes Psykers, both out of pride for his Chapter colours and because it is operationally more practical for the Raven Guard's preferred engagement doctrines. He, however, maintains distinctive signs that marks him as a Psyker. On the battlefield, he is often found on the front lines, providing guidance and psychic defense to the Tactical squads.

Libby

So, the model is the Citadel one, but I swapped the helmet for a Vanguard Veteran's to still make it different, because I want every Marine in my army to have a helmet. I like the looks of helmeted Marines, I find that more reasonable on the battlefield, and for some reason since I started putting helmets on everyone, I'm making many more armour saves, so I'm definitely going with the flow there !
You guys might have noticed that I'm going with green eyes instead of the standard Raven Guard red eyes, that's because I find that they give a quite nice "night vision" feel over the red version, and the fluo appearance contrasts with the black helmets, and the white helmets make the glow a lot stronger !
In battle, Maddeus is played as a simple ML2 Libby with Force Staff and usually rolling on Biomancy or Telepathy or Pyromancy, depending respectively on whether I need a stronger guy, a force multiplier or more anti-horde. smile.png
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And that's it for today ! It's a smaller batch because I pain very slowly (the first batch was done yesterday), and the Libby has a ton of details that weren't easy to reach in my humble opinion. I also tried freehanding the squad designation markings and that was a total failure which took me time to erase ! If anyone has an advice for me regarding that smile.png
I also went back and added very simple squad markings on each squad, both for the looks and to make it easy to sort them out ^^
Taking a quick break from the infantry, I'll try and get a Stormtalon ready tomorrow ! If that goes quickly, perhaps a few extra vehicles smile.png
And here's the force so far (roughly 500 points done so actually one third of my 1500 points target biggrin.png !)

Second batch

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Hey guys ! I've been carried away by real life stuff as well as a very nice game yesterday, so much that I forgot to update the work in progress !

 

Today, we have 3 additional squads, for your eyes only :)

 

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Devastator Squad Yanis "The Heavy Horsemen", 9th squad of the Raven Guard Second Company

 

Even though the Raven Guard is a Codex Astartes compliant Chapter in general, each Shadow Captain is sufficiently free spirited to adapt the operational translation of the Codex general principles to suit their preferred way of conducting their operations. Because traditional Devastators squad are unable to reposition quickly enough during hit and run warfare that is mandatory in the current operational theater of the Second Company, Shadow Captain Solari followed the advice of fellow Shadow Captains and assigned Attack Bikes and Land Speeders platforms to Devastator Squad Yanis. This choice allows Squad Yanis to catch up with the more mobile elements of the force and provide the appropriate amount of fire support when and where it is needed by the rest of the strikeforce. Jokingly, this squad has been nicknamed "The Heavy Horsemen" because they often act as the relief cavalry bringing heavy weapons.

Sergeant Yanis often supports the offensive from afar as a Devastator Sergeant, directing his men to the appropriate fire positions and his presence often detersthe enemy from advancing uncautiously. However, he does not shun leading his men in a piercing assault, taking half of his squad with him and leaving the Land Speeders as fire platforms. At full strength, the squad mans 3 Attack Bikes equipped with Multi-Melta as well as 2 Landspeeder Typhoon.

 

Dev Squad 1

 
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Tactical Squad Nugrix "The Black Hunters", 3rd squad of the Raven Guard 2nd Company
 
Sergeant Nugrix and his men are often tasked with assassination and sabotage missions, aiming at the enemy's key personal, vehicles or defense stratagems. They scour the battlefield undetected, passing like shadows amongst firefights, behind or in front of the enemy without been seen, until the time to strike is right. Such is their skill that without their expertise at Wraith Slipping, many engagements of the Raven Guard Second would have been lost before they even began.
Sergeant Nugrix has served in the Deathwatch along with Epistolary Maddeus, and are often sent together on investigative operations at the core of enemy lines. Both have profound respect for one another and Nugrix's is most proud to be able to fight along his old friend once again.
 

Tac 3

 

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Stormtalon "The Featherblade"

 

For their most recent campaigns, the Raven Guard Second Company rely heavily on air support. Named after his agility and devastating firepower, the Stormtalon "The Featherblade" is often deployed as an interceptor, ensuring air superiority and halting the advance of both enemy troops and armour alike through a punishing rain of ammunition.

 

Stormtalon

 
So, that was my first try at a vehicle using that new colour scheme and there are many things to be improved ! I need to sharpen the highlight as well as paint the cockpit window in a dark metallic tone, to keep with the "stealth fighter" motive :)
 
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Hope you guys enjoyed it ! The force is getting stronger by the weeks and soon I will have some new, fluffy additions to the force :)

 

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