Lucumon's Blood Angels Task Force

[Lucumon]

Ah, progress... at work, not at the hobby table. I finally finished the last 3 dude-bros of a tactical squad:

So, interesting thing about these last 3 guys... I did some experimenting:

The one on the far left was one I completed a year ago, or so (May of 2015 if you look on page 2). Fairly basic: base in black, Mephiston Red, then Evil Suns Scarlet highlights with a final Wild Rider Red top highlight.

The middle one is a change in the base red using an airbrush: Khorne Red sprayed from below, Mephiston Red from the top after the black basecoats has dried. Then, after those layers of red dry (see, I learn lessons...), from the bottom-left I used Wicked Crimson (non-GW - Createx) and then Wicked Red from the top right. This provides a distinct difference from the left and right sides of the model. The GW paints are dull reds while the Wicked ones 'pop'... not sure the picture does it justice. I then highlighted as before with Evil Suns Scarlet and Wild Rider "Red".

The one on the right is another subtle change: the base reds were done as above but the highlights were done with Mephiston Red (as the airbrushed red was dull) and Evil Suns Scarlet. Here are pics from the other sides:

Right side:

Left side:

Back side (because it's never done):

Thoughts? I am not sure the colors really show, but I am thinking of continuing with the Mephiston Red/Evil Sunz Scarlet instead of the ESS/Wild Rider Red...

[Charlo]

They really DO show!

 

The middle one especially have some lovely and subtle transitions in there.

[LutherMax]

First of all, lovely clean paint job and a great looking squad!

 

There is a huge difference between the older baldy guy and the two new ones. The difference between the two new ones looks very subtle in the pics, but my preference would be for the right-hand one as it looks slightly less orange-y in tone. Just personal preference really they both look good!

[Lucumon]

I've completed the 4 Stormtalons, now to find a tournament where no one is expecting 7 Imperial flyers to show up turn 1:

And another angle:

Also, I've been helping a buddy with his Dark Angels and it has yielded this:

And

Work has prevented me from playing more than a couple games since I posted last. It's so much easier to find the occasional half hour to paint.

Next up:

- Finishing the last 4 dudes of the 6th tactical squad

- Updating and basing the 3nd tactical squad

Then... a couple squads of devestators, a razorback, and other randomness I've been meaning to put a brush to for years.

That or I will pick up another box of Sanguinary Guard for a Golden Host to compliment a Ravenwing Task Force (turboboosting re-rolling jinks with teleport homers anyone?) and a skyhammer annihilation force to come down the same time to prevent overwatch...

[Slothysaur]

Can't wait to see your sanguinary guard painted up! Love the stormtalons btw

[Tyriks]

Quality work!  I wish I could paint this well!

[Lucumon]

Can't wait to see your sanguinary guard painted up! Love the stormtalons btw

Thanks! Not sure how useful the Stormtalons will be once my opponents catch on... but I've been thinking about pairing Angel's Fury up with the new formations... more to follow there...

I have one squad in bits on my workbench and another on it's way from ebay. I've got a Sanguinor laid out and Dante is in a Simple Green bath in an ultrasonic cleaner soaking for the final scrub to get the old paint off.

I am going to do all 12 models in the same batch after I finish these tactical squads... only 4 arms away from having 4 full tactical squads complete!

Quality work! I wish I could paint this well!

Can I introduce you to the Holy Order of the Airbrush? My current red scheme is as follows:

1. Airbrush black Vallejo primer from the bottom

--> let dry

2. Airbrush white Vallejo primer from the top

--> let dry

3. Airbrush GW's Khorne Red from the bottom

4. Airbrush GW's Mephiston Red from the top

--> let dry

5. Airbrush Wicked Crimson from the bottom right

6. Airbrush Wicked Red from the top right

7. Highlight sparingly with Evil Suns Scarlet.

8. Paint details with one to three colors (like only a metallic over the buckles or the eyes are a light metallic with Waystone Green overtop for a quick and decent table top standard)

After this... I am in flux. I used to use a mix of black, water, and future floor wax but then moved to using Nuln Oil. I picked up some Army Painter Quickshade Dark, Strong, and Soft Inks (not to be confused with normal Quickshade... which I will be playing with soon)

Below is a comparison of how they worked out: A front view, with the Nuln Oil/Future Floor Wax/black primer wash on the left, then Dark Army Painter Quickshade Ink 2nd from the left, then Strong AP Quickshade Ink, then Soft AP Quickshade Ink. Note the dude-bro on the left is the same guy as the one a few posts ago to give you a baseline and to see how using a different lighting can change the way the model shows.

A right side view: The Dark tone one is a little too dark.... although, if I was better about wiping away where the ink pooled and shouldn't, it would probably look better. Check out the shoulder pads on all of them: the ink pooled just right... whereas the baseline model on the left was just black-lined rather than washed.

The Strong tone for me is a winner. Note how the ink let the larger/flatter surfaces let the red pop through but settled into the cracks.

This picture just shows you another angle of the Angels... and that I forgot to drill one of the bolters. One thing that you not see easily in the soft tone ink on the right is that when washed over metals, it gives it an obvious (in real life) brown sheen that means either our Battle Bro is poor at maintaining his weapon or it's just not a good fit.

Next up is either a couple Terminator Assault squads or a Golden Host. I do want to try Army Painter's Strong Quickshade on them. I am going to follow steps 1-7 above (with gold paints instead of red for the Golden Host... but the same idea) then try the "Dip and Flick" method. Then, for the GH at least, a drybrush of golds.

Has anyone any experience with Army Painter Quickshade for Blood Angels?

Oh, also, another minor update: My 2nd Squad, a Tactical Squad, was updated with 2nd intead of 5th Company markings and they were based with Martian Ironearth. Another thing I did was where there were chips to the paint, I dabbed black primer on the spot, then a dab of metallic paint, then a Nuln Oil wash. The best example of this was the front right lascannon. Also, this works when you make a mistake on a model: black, metallic, wash, and call it 'battle damage'... like on the front Stormtalon's left engine above...

[Lucumon]

With the end of the holidays and the return to the grind, I thought I'd drop a note to show that I've made progress... just not a lot. I assembled an OIF and was able to play test an OIF/Skyhammer/FTSF this past weekend and it was awesome. The highlights of the match were as follows:

- He ran an Iron Hands decurion that included a Skyhammer Annihilation Force, a Battle Demi Company, and a CAD with a fortification with a battle cannon.

- Deep striking and assaulting terminators is quite nice.

- There is a great deal of humor in opposing Skyhammer Devs causing each other to go to ground due to failing a morale test on 3D6 due to SHAF special rule. This came in handy when I charged his 5 man Dev squad with 4 grav cannons with an attached captain in that armor that gives slow and purposeful. It's what helped one of my roving band of thunderhammers charge in without fear of overwatch.

- The OIF were in pods... so dropping 7 pods into the enemy deployment zone really helped me control the battle by getting in his face and forcing in on the defensive.

- I had a chaplain and sanguinary priest drop in another pod later and eventually link up with one of the terminator squads... they really need some boost. The disordered charge really blunts how awesome (like not quite scatterbike or riptide wing level) they could be.

Here is the assembled OIF:

Here is what's up next on my assembly list:

I am torn, however. On one side, I was thinking of assembling and waiting for the next ETL to paint. But, I want to get the Terminators into a tournament ASAP. However, I have been working on these two and have 9 more to follow:

And

I am not sure I should have posted these two Tzeentchian sorcerers here... and should start a plog in the Chaos forum or the painting one. The idea is that it's going to be 10 Sorcerers and Cypher... and that's it for 1850.

The reason I bring this up is how these guys were painted differently than before. I used the multi-color and angle airbrush approach I did with the red (except blue obviously) above. I then painted the details and highlighted.

Then I used the dip and flick method with Army Painter Quickshade Strong Tone. Not sure it's the right one for these guys, but I am going to try it with the terminators and it will be awesome. More to follow, but I hope to have an update in less than 4 weeks...

Also, another thing to point out is the skulls on the base that still need to be painted... those are wound counters magnetized to the base instead of putting dice down and forgetting they are wound counters...

[Arkangilos]

Looking great!

[Charlo]

There seems to be a running theme of BA and 1KSons player, myself soon to be joining them hopefully.

 

The allure of running an army of just ten wizards is pretty amazing.

[Jolemai]

I am not sure I should have posted these two Tzeentchian sorcerers here...

I don't see a problem with it and certainly my Inquisitor(s) and Knight will be/already have appeared in my plog already. Provided this is kept for BA stuff primarily it's fine having the odd exception to highlight something else... of course, if this does go off on a tangent it would be best to have a plog elsewhere on the boards.

As for Charlo's comment, I had a thing for the Thousand Sons back in the day too. Even bought the fifth edition GK Codex to run them with (pre-heresy 1kS). At the end of the day though, I've only got time for one army meaning everything else is shelved/mothballed.

[Charlo]

I am not sure I should have posted these two Tzeentchian sorcerers here...

I don't see a problem with it and certainly my Inquisitor(s) and Knight will be/already have appeared in my plog already. Provided this is kept for BA stuff primarily it's fine having the odd exception to highlight something else... of course, if this does go off on a tangent it would be best to have a plog elsewhere on the boards.

As for Charlo's comment, I had a thing for the Thousand Sons back in the day too. Even bought the fifth edition GK Codex to run them with (pre-heresy 1kS). At the end of the day though, I've only got time for one army meaning everything else is shelved/mothballed.

What an image!

I only have time for one army but that doesn't stop me planning (and accidentally buying...) stuff for others... Oops.

[Lucumon]

So... the posting of the Sorcerer had a purpose... a test model for using Army Painter Quickshade has been applied to a Blood Angel Terminator!

Steps to this creation... arms were magnetized so they are completed off camera:

1. Airbrush black Vallejo primer from the bottom and airbrush white Vallejo primer from the top, then let dry:

2. Airbrush GW's Khorne Red from the bottom:

3. Airbrush GW's Mephiston Red from the top, then let dry:

4. Airbrush Wicked Crimson from the bottom right. If you look at the bottom left of the model you can see where it gets shiny... which would be easier to see if I had snapped the pic properly.

5. Airbrush Wicked Red from the top right, then let dry. Again, a potato quality pic but you can see where it gets shinier... this is from the Wicked airbrush line.

6. Paint black over parts that are not red armor:

7. Paint the details... use 3 or 4 colors to highlight and trim as normal

8. Apply Army Painter Quickshade: Dark Tone. I used the 'slop on' method: using an old brush to paint the quickshade on, then waiting 30 seconds to wipe off where it pools, then waiting a minute or so and wiping off the excess again. Then let dry 24 hours. At this point it will be super shiney... but never despair!

9. Spray a couple light coats of Testor's Dullcote, letting the first one dry before applying the second. The picture below is comparing the terminators previously painted here on the left and the quickshaded one on the right.

9 more to go until my OIF is complete!

[LutherMax]

Shades nicely without staining... do you use it straight from the pot? What do you use to clean brushes?

[Jønke]

You really do get some nice results using the dip. Paintjob still looks really clean. Might have to give it a go.

 

I can totally see the charm in making a 11 model army. Theres something neat abouth bringin a 1850 point army to a game in your coat pocket :D

 

Keep up the great work!

[Xenith]

 

I am not sure I should have posted these two Tzeentchian sorcerers here... and should start a plog in the Chaos forum or the painting one.  The idea is that it's going to be 10 Sorcerers and Cypher... and that's it for 1850.

 

 

 

Great looking sorcs, I'm happy with how flexible that box is - as an aside, just to remind you that Cypher will not allow that blob of 10 sorcerers to infiltrate - in the core rules.

 

You could infiltrate a fallen squad with him, and have D3 sorcerers join him using Ahriman's trait, but that's it.

[Lucumon]

Shades nicely without staining... do you use it straight from the pot? What do you use to clean brushes?

 

Yes, I've tried both the dip and flick and the slop on... going back every 30 seconds to wipe off where it pools is key.  I use mineral spirits to clean the brush... and when I am trying to break up some of the Quickshade.  it will get firm within a couple minutes and the mineral spirits dissolve it if its on a flat area where you want the red to be clean.

 

Then again, I need to get better at 'battle damage' so imperfections shouldnt be unwanted... they just shouldnt look out of place.

 

In terms of speed, I was able to do 3 more models yesterday using the above method...  had I devoted the entire day, I could have gotten through another 3.  Pics to follow once I get the squad completed.

 

 

Great looking sorcs, I'm happy with how flexible that box is - as an aside, just to remind you that Cypher will not allow that blob of 10 sorcerers to infiltrate - in the core rules.

 

You could infiltrate a fallen squad with him, and have D3 sorcerers join him using Ahriman's trait, but that's it.

 

 

Thanks! The experience with them has made me like the Quickshade... and how easy it applies to Blood Angels.  Although, I've been using the Dark Tone instead of the Strong Tone... I will paint up the 2nd terminator squad in Strong Tone to see the difference and provide a way to visually break up the squads.  If I dont like it, I can always sell them on ebay and start over.

 

Cypher is there to help with (And please correct me if I am wrong):

 

1. Shrouding: Stick them in ruins and give them a 2+ cover save with that sweet re-roll of 1s (due to the blessing) as an alpha strike counter... unless it has ignores cover

2. Hit & Run: with his stupidly high initiative, not getting stuck in a tarpit is helpful

3. Str 7 AP2

 

I thought about including him in a BA force.. but he just doesn't fit well.  For H&R, you've got Dante who I prefer as he is more mobile.  You dont really need as much alpha strike protection because, other than usually being the alpha striker, you arent going to have 1 unit of 11 models... and AP 2 isnt something we struggle to find.

[Lucumon]

Work has gotten pretty intense, and my 1k Sons War Coven/Exiles has been taking priority, but here are some completed terminators:

I will start the 3rd and last squad soon... so as to get some hot deep strike and assaulting action going soon!

[Father Mapple]

They look good! Seem very crisp and good detailing.

[Jolemai]

Looks good! Any tips for painting the Crux Terminatus on these? I've changed my mind about them (again)...

[Charlo]

Quickshade looks good, great to see the outcome on some 40k - especially red 40k!

 

I'm tempted to try it on some of my projects... Seeing as I essentially use Agrax to do the same thing on my current painting style.

[LutherMax]

Termies look great!

[Lucumon]

Looks good! Any tips for painting the Crux Terminatus on these? I've changed my mind about them (again)...

 

So, I've been conflicted as well.  My1st Term squad uses the bone look for the Crux Terminatus.  It was a highly involved process using a brown base, building up to bleached bone, and highlighted with a grey-white or pure white.

 

The formula for the ones above is stupidly simple:

 

After priming and airbrushing:

 

1. Paint Balthasar Gold all over the Crux Terminatus

2. Heavy Highlights with Gehenna's Gold.  Using a wet brush, fading from the dark gold to the light isnt a terrible idea, but given how much detail exists, it's not always required

3. Highlight with Liberator Gold

4. Army Painter Quickshade Dark Tone wash.  You feel like you are cheating... and you are.  But it saves time when you are busy and cant devote a lot of time (or have the skill) to painting to Den of Imagination levels

 

 

Here's a better pic from someone else that calls out this process... except I am not worried about getting paint in the cracks as the Quickshade will take care of that:

 

 

For my next squad, I am going to try the same technique with Army Painter Air Bronze, Rust, and Copper type colors to both see what the difference is and to visually distinguish the 3 squads.

 

 

Quickshade looks good, great to see the outcome on some 40k - especially red 40k!

 

I'm tempted to try it on some of my projects... Seeing as I essentially use Agrax to do the same thing on my current painting style.

It's amazing. Be aware that after you dip and flick (and then use a brush to wipe away excessive pooling that will blob over detail or create shading in the wrong spot), it takes 24 hours to dry and comes out super shiny.  This shiny-ness is solved by 2-3 thin coats of Testor's Dullcote spray.

[Lucumon]

So, I went 2-1 at a tourney this past weekend... it was a great learning experience.

Here is my list, comprised of 3 formations:

1. Angel's Fury Spearhead - 3x Stormravens, 3x full tactical squads with heavy flamer and meltabombs

2. St Tylus Defense Force - 4x Stormtalons with skyhammer missiles, Cassius, 4x Tyrannic War Veterans (Sternguard with 2+ poisoned bolters)

3. Inquisition Detachment - Coteaz for seizing re-rolls

Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of Game 1. I lost to an iron star: an iron hands detachment that revolved around a 3+ or so feel no pain squad on bikes with an attached librarian conclave and celestine as a tank. Overall, I felt Dark Angels can do this better.... buuut, i still lost due to some really horrible rolling. I lost one Stormraven and we ran out time on turn 3... it was the situation where I had eliminated all what could hurt my fliers but, alas, it wasnt so.

Game 2 was against an all-drop pod army of half deathwatch with melta/grav/etc in large numbers and half Imperial Fist Sternguard with special ammo. The general idea was:

Turn 1: Thanks to Coteaz and the strategic warlord trait that improves my chances of seizing, I killed his warlord with focused air power. Half his pods came in, and pretty much wiped out one tactical squad holding an objective.

Turn 2: I flew around and shot stuff. More pods came in.

Turn 3 to end was me killing off the rest of what could hurt my fliers, then dropping into hover mode and pretending to be a lawn mower... if drop pods counted as grass. There were 6 or 7 in my deployment zone to get rid of.

This was a big win for the BA.

Pic of part of his list (sans a few drop pods)

\

Game 3 was against an Ynnari Reborn host of all normal eldar: scatbikes, wraithlord... and... the Crimson Death formation! Here's a pic of the list:

It's amazing how fast and powerful then can be. I went second, and was concerned about the scat bikes taking first blood from one of the Stormtalons...

Turn 1: She tried shooting the stormtalons but only managed to take one hull point. She did something weird and zoomed her warlord farseer with some scatbikes to the objective in the middle while her wraithknight and Wave Serpent with D-sycthe-armed wraithguard advanced.

During my turn, the Stormtalons made short work of the farseer and accompanying scat bikes while the Stormravens popped the wave serpent. Left over shots took a couple wounds off the Wraithknight. Since the Wraithknight was close enough, the Wraithknight got to move forward... again! The rest of the game was me killing something and forgetting about soulburst.

Turn 2 had everything but the swooping hawks arrive. The Crimson Hunters took a couple hull points off one storm raven and popped a storm talon... and the rest of the game was our flyers zooming around, her Wraithknight smashing things, my tac squad, coteaz, and cassius in combat with the wraithguard. The remaining scatbikes, warp spiders, and swooping hawks captured objectives. Overall, she won Maelstrom while I took the Eternal War... but, since I had first blood and slay the warlord and she had line breaker, I ended up squeaking the win out by a single point. Here are some pics the TO took of the 2nd turn when here Crimson Hunters arrived:

I wonder what 8th edition will bring for this list... its all flyers and troops :)

[Jolemai]

This list of yours sounds really interesting. Congrats on making a good showing :)