A Badab War Tale of 8 Gamers - the Vega III Incident

[Thrillhouse]

I think the newer washes are much more pigment-heavy than their older counteparts, and I also think that applies to the glazes (there were glazes before too, right?)

 

My tips is to use an extremly thin layer, that should prevent any pooling and minimize the dullig effects.

 

When I use Lahmian medium i use it to dull otherwise strong metallc effects on my minotaurs. I dont think (but i could be wrong) it will help you with the effect you are looking for.

[Naryn]

Hello all!  My pledge is complete, and the fluff to go with it.  Here it is!

 

Below: Inquisitorial file concerning Squad Merid.

 

“Auxiliary, replay Inquisitorial report 4561128-913M41-D-S-3: the crash of the Fury. Captain Merid.”

 

Black smoke and talons of flame clawing at the surface of the planet. Shattered buildings, streaks of chemical incandescence from the Imperial bombardment, a nightmare landscape of devastation and heat bloom. War had come to Tarsiss Prime, the full fury and red passion of no less than eight thousand Astartes and innumerable human levies.

 

The sky was choked with greasy, black-iron smoke, a trail left behind by the downed Executioners Nova frigate Fury when it effected an emergency landing on the surface of the planet. It had crashed side-on, the immense bulk of the vessel broken in two by the cataclysmic force of its landing. A large swath of the city was destroyed; although the Fury's captain had steered his vessel well, he had been unable to prevent it from impacting on the primary promethium stores of the city. If the crash of the Fury was cataclysmic, the detonation of the promethium tanks that followed was nothing less than apocalyptic.

 

Heavy stone edifices that had stood for a thousand years in the heart of the city of Leto Minoris were blown apart like so many leaves. Ironwork piping that formed the arteries of the city was shredded like parchment, venting deadly superheated gases into the atmosphere. The ground itself cracked open, yawning abysses like the maw of fate howling wordlessly at the empty sky. Where only minutes before there had been a city, now stood only a ruin. Even so, the city's corpse was not fated to remain unmolested.

 

Everywhere, there was fighting. The landing site of the Fury scintillated with explosions—bolt fire, grenades, promethium detonations, and other hallmarks of Astartes warfare turned the ruin into an abattoir.

 

At the border of the devastation, all was chaos. What Imperial citizens had not died in the initial crash panicked, filling the streets. Astartes outrider and scout forces fought vicious hit-and-run battles in the shattered city.

 

Racing through it all was Squad Merid. Six Astartes, veterans of a hundred campaigns in the service of the Imperium, turned secessionist by quirk of fate, engaging in quick, bolter-and-chainsword skirmishes with Astartes they once would have named brother.

 

It was this squad, comprised of some of the most skilled and celebrated Astartes in the Mantis Warriors chapter, that was instrumental in the reconstruction of the chapter at the conclusion of their penitent crusade. Surviving the infamously deadly conflict seemingly by random chance, their expertise and experience were vital to the training of new recruits.

 

Perhaps paradoxically, their survival is owed almost entirely to their gravest foe: the Exorcists. Engaged in a ferocious mobile firefight and melee with mounted Exorcist units, both forces were carried far from the site of the Fury's crash, into the dusty hinterlands of the Tarsiss Prime wilderness. There, with the aid of [Redacted - for full details see Inquis.file//4561128-913M41-B-D-3], they were able to shake off the Exorcist skirmishers. The ensuing destruction of the city at the hands of the Astral Claws' cyclonic torpedo, as well as the subsequent loss of a significant portion of relevant Mantis Warriors command structure at the hands of their Exorcist captors, saw the squad forgotten on Tarsiss Prime. They were not recovered, in fact, until the detente between secessionist Mantis Warriors forces and Loyalist factions was secured some four years later.

 

http://i.imgur.com/mSMcpTQ.jpg?1

Above: Squad Merid, deployed to Tarsiss Prime.  Image sourced from sensors aboard the Fury.

 

 

Below: more pictures.

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/Ul0IVsI.jpg?1

Above: Sergeant Merid.  A distinguished commander before the Vega III incident, he has since proven himself further in the penitent crusade of the Mantis Warriors.

 

http://i.imgur.com/osUoCMp.jpg?1

Above: Brother Eli, forerunner and vanguard, clad in heavy variant plate.

 

http://i.imgur.com/dbOZLdy.jpg?1

Above: Brothers Jamis and Dale, equipped with grav-guns.  Note the heavy sensor augmentation in the helmet, to aid in targeting.

 

http://i.imgur.com/T5QI3Ou.jpg?1

Above: Brothers Anton and Melchor.  Sensor modules on helmets relay information to Mantis Warriors command elements.  Note: Brother Anton was newly assigned to the squad, after the loss of a brother on Novengrin.  He did not at the time of the incident wear veteran markings, although he has since acquired that status.

 

You might have noticed in a couple shots a surprise addition to this week's pledge: an objective marker!  I've always thought these added a lot of character to an army, so I'll be doing one of these to go along with each week's pledge.  The first: a crate of extremely valuable and dangerous phosphex bombs!

http://i.imgur.com/klY2xSW.jpg?1

Above: Squad Merid circles the objective.

 

http://i.imgur.com/t0V2d71.jpg?1

I'm particularly pleased with the design of the flag.  I liked the idea of the flags marking objectives as seen in Dawn of War, but struggled to come up with a decent design until I more or less stumbled upon this one.  This will be objective #3, for the three phosphex bombs.

 

Hush, I wracked my brains a little for a solution to your Executioners problem. I found one that isn't too labor intensive; what do you think?

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/a8jnntI.jpg?2

It's Ironbreaker, with 2 coats of a 1:1 mix of Drakenhof Nightshade and Lamian Medium, followed by a drybrush of Ironbreaker.  Approximately as dark as Leadbelcher, with a blue tint.  Because the wash is thinned down so much, it dried really quickly; I wouldn't say i spent more time on this guy than on any of my Mantis Warriors, who get a heavy wash of Seraphim Sepia.  

http://i.imgur.com/Pvp4ZKv.jpg?2

My phone didn't focus very well, but you can see here the difference between pure Ironbreaker (the blade) and Ironbreaker + the thinned washes.  Thoughts?

 

 

Well, there's my first pledge completed! I'm pretty happy with how things turned out.  Now I just have to decide what to do for my next pledge: Centurions, a Predator, Terminators, or a Stormtalon.  Any votes?

[GrandMagnus]

Wickedly awesome Mantis Warriors. The battle damage is impresive.

[corvus.calvariam]

Thanks for the comments guys!

@Naryn Those bikes are beautifully weathered! Is that Khorne Berzerker torso on one of those guys? I can see we were right to purge your traitorous chapter. The armor is beautiful though, what colors did you use for the green and yellow? And to answer your previous question, yes all the iconography is freehand.

@Stoneheart I will get down to doing inscriptions on some other models, but these guys are the rank and file so they will be codex and bare. In my fluff, only veterans get that sort of treatment, and they earn it every time they kill a daemon. It sort of ties into the fact that it's a requirement to join the Enochian Guard too!

My list to fulfill the first 1000 points is as follows, with more to be added once I get all this done.

HQ

Chaplain - 120

Meltabombs, Teleport homer, Bike

Elites

Terminator Squad - 195

Assault cannon

Terminator Assault Squad - 225

Thunder hammers & Storm shields

Troops

Bike Squad - 185

+2 Bikers

2 Meltaguns

Sergeant w/ Combi-melta

Attack Bike w/ Multimelta

Bike Squad - 145

+2 Bikers

2 Grav-guns

Sergeant w/ Combi-grav

Fast Attack

Attack Bike Squad - 80

+1 Attack Bike

Heavy Bolters

Attack Bike Squad - 50

Multimelta

Here is the Chaplain who has yet to be named.

And the Terminator Squad in my army list has some paint on it already, so I may as well leave them here too. HERE ARE YOUR INSCRIPTIONS STONEHEART.

Anybody have any tips on how to light models for photo taking?

[Dosjetka]

If you have a single lamp, try and point it down at a 45° frontal angle. Also, make sure you have a uniform background, as it helps the camera focus on your mini and not something in the background. If you're using a black background, make sure you have a piece of white paper visible to the lens so that it balances the light levels, but which you then crop out of your picture afterwards.

Lastly, make it a habit to crop your pictures. It helps the viewer focus on your minis and not the clutter on your desk ;)

[sockwithaticket]

Naryn - Really nice work. Don't see many Mantis Warriors around and to see them done so well is a treat. No idea if this was intentional or not (kudos if so), but I really like the way that the targetting optics on the grav-bikers' helmets are one the same side of the bike as the grav gun, excellent symmetry.

raeho - I stick one sheet of white paper on my laptop keyboard and another against the screen, tilt to an appropriate angle, pop a model down and you're good to go. You can go the proper lightbox route, but as a simple solution I find it works pretty well.

[corvus.calvariam]

Thanks for the advice guys, yeaaaa I'll definitely clear up my table next time. 

[deathspectersgt7]

A Clean table is not a productive one.

[Leviathus]

Guys!! Those Mantis Warriors and old skool termies look good!! Bloody fantastic!

[hushrong]

Naryn, Those bikers look great. I used to shrug my shoulders at those outriders bike but seeing them with the paint job, weathering, and battle damage make them look ace! The objective is pretty cool too. I was thinking about sneaking one I built awhile ago into this foray.

 

I also like the way your Executioner came out. I think I am going to go that route very soon. I went to the local GW and talked with the awesome gentleman that runs it and another patron who were showing me a lot of things these new technical paints can do. I'm looking forward to put the materials and all this knowledge to use very soon.

 

Raeho, that looks like a pretty fun list too. Bikes running and gunning and terminators that can deep strike. 

 

Also, those old school termies are AWESOME! 

[Stoneheart]

@ Naryn, that update is awesome and brightened my dull morning at work! The fluff is superb, love the description of the ruined city. The objective marker is a nice touch and well done. I'm impressed with the speed at which you've painted those models too (same to Raeho with his own bikers)!

 

@ Raeho, totally get keeping the scripture to veterans - and it's well executed on those terminators. Highlighting those letters must have been a real chew but it's worth the effort, very nice indeed. Great conversion on the Biker chaplain.  

[GrandMagnus]

Got the 5 first terminators today (as always the spanish postal service is late on their deliveries...), I will have some pre-paint pictures up tomorrow. I've also finally decided on my own symbol for the Lachesis War Clan that will be featured on the army's banner.

[GrandMagnus]

LACHESIS WAR CLAN

 

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/t373/Philip_Breusch_Magnussen/Sin%20tiacutetulo_zpsaxwibcww.png

 

Hi people, I'm GrandMagnus and I will be working on the Sons of Medusa for this project. I'm a slow painter and I won't be part of the project for it's whole run due to real life issues but I will hang in there for as long as I can. And now on to my first update (no fluff sorry, I've had a bit of a writting block.

 

"Oathsworn" veteran squad, under the command of veteran sergeant Ludovic

 

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/t373/Philip_Breusch_Magnussen/2015-12-04%2015.12.49_zpsvd1st0zq.jpg

[corvus.calvariam]

Love the use of the Gorgon legs, will you be painting that symbol onto them?

[GrandMagnus]

Love the use of the Gorgon legs, will you be painting that symbol onto them?

I will try to paint it on some of them. But since the terminator squad will be 10 man strong I'm planning to give one of the terminators a banner and paint that symbol on it and another as an apothecary, still with the same rules as regular terminators but for a bit of converting fun.

[Dosjetka]

Ludovic, eh? Sounds familiar ;)

 

Looks like a good start, Magnus. I look forward to seeing more!

[Guest Royal Cactus]

great to see Badab is still a thing keep up the good work! :D

[GrandMagnus]

First terminator finished, now working on the second, the one with the missile launcher:

 

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/t373/Philip_Breusch_Magnussen/2015-12-092013.24.29_zpsbel6fej1.jpg?t=1449577880

[hushrong]

He's looking sharp, GrandMagnus!

[Leviathus]

Looks great Magnus!

[Naryn]

Looking great, Magnus!  I got into your thread too late to vote, was hoping I could convince you to make that beakie casualty a Mantis Warrior.  Still, great work so far!

 

 I've been too preoccupied with finals to get much done this week, but my forgeworld order did arrive, and with it the final thing I need to field my Mantis Warriors 2000 point list: a Dreadnought Drop Pod!  And man but it's big and heavy; the biggest 40k model I own for sure.

 

Speaking of which, here's my 2000 point list!  It's gone through a couple iterations since I started this project, and I'm pretty pleased with where it's ended up.

Hidden Content

HQ:

Ahazra Redth

 

Elites:

Brother Amal, Contemptor Mortis dreadnought with twin Kheres Autocannons

 

Brother Thoth, Ironclad Dreadnought with Siege Drill and power fist, with melta and heavy flamer attachments

 

Drop Pod with Locator Beacon and Missile Launcher

 

Squad Ulthar, 5 Terminators with Chainfist, Assault Cannon

 

Troops:

Squad Ferenc, 10-man Tactical Squad with flamer and combi-flamer

 

Drop Pod

 

Squad Azrak, 10-man Tactical Squad with plasma gun and combi-plasma

 

5-man Scout Sniper Squad (Tranquility veterans)

 

Rhino

 

Fast Attack:

Land Speeder Typhoon (heavy bolter and Cyclone missile launcher)

 

Land Speeder Typhoon 

 

Squad Merid, 6-man bike squad with two grav guns and combi grav (Legion Outriders)

 

Stormtalon Gunship

 

Heavy Support:

Predator tank with autocannon and lascannon sponsons

 

Ahazra Redth's Vorax Automata bodyguards, 3-man Centurion Devastators with hurricane bolters and grav amps

 

Incidentally, I think it might be a cool idea to post our paint recipes in these threads, so other people can use them on fallen marines and trophies and so on.  For my Mantis Warriors, it goes:.

 

Hidden Content

Green: Death World Forest->Averland Sunset->Elysian Green->Seraphim Sepia->Drybrush Karak Stone>Drybrush Ushabti Bone.  Yellow is the same, but replacing Elysian Green with Yriel Yellow.

[Stoneheart]

@GrandMagnus, as I've said before, that's once nice Terminator.

 

@Naryn - that's one big list! I'm looking forward to seeing your interpretation of Ahazra Redth. Thanks for the paint scheme!

 

So here are my latest additions, rather slow week hobby-wise as had a few family/work commitments to attend to! But managed to build up some Devastators, and also added a Firedrake with some of those nice Temple Guard bitz that finally arrived from the USA. Cameraphone quality I'm afraid but such is life!

 

On an additional note, I've decided to kitbash a version of Harath Shen, the chief Apothecary of the Salamanders, to include as my HQ for this project.

 

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah272/salamander8681/Picture2_zpscswghzsn.jpg

 

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah272/salamander8681/Picture1_zpssm1mybvz.jpg

 

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah272/salamander8681/Picture1_zpsntf46nbs.jpg

 

 

Hope everyone else's projects are going nicely!

 

Stoneheart

[Thrillhouse]

GrandMagnus: the Terminator looks great!

 

Naryn: I like the list, the bikers look really great (perhaps I should weather my Lamenters too?) and I love that you shared your recipe! I will make sure to make a dead Mantis for one of my astartes to step on! Also I will post my recipe once im 100% on it so you guys have a chance to use it to the same effect.

 

Stoneheart: They look promising as always. Its alot more fun to paint when you add some detail to the models and paint stuff that you like doesnt it?

 

 

At the moment Im doing 3 things:

- re-reading the badab fluff in order to write a little of my own

- trying to decide wether I´m satisified with my paintscheme. It looks good up close, but the nuances dont show up from a distance. the weathering could also solve the issue (If i manage it).

- learn to photograph my minis to get some feedback on the above.

[Leviathus]

Great additions guys! Naryn that's one cool list mate!

@GrandMagnus what paints did you use for the Astral Claw helmet? It blends in with the base, I like it! Or is that just the reflection :P Oh and eh, poor Brother Bob... the Tyrant knew him well

[GrandMagnus]

Thank you all.

@GrandMagnus what paints did you use for the Astral Claw helmet? It blends in with the base, I like it! Or is that just the reflection Oh and eh, poor Brother Bob... the Tyrant knew him well

The helmet was painted as follows:

1. A basecoat of leadbelcher.

2. A wash in the recesses with nuln oil.

3. An edge highlight with ironbreaker.

4. A fine edge highlight with runefang steel.

5 And finally a wash all over the armour with agrax earthshade, that's probably what makes it blend :P

I hope that helps :)