GrimDark Blood Angels Blog 24/09/19 *new warlord conversion*

[neonmole]

Thanks brother_b. Your really kind.

 

The honest answer is I have owned an airbrush for about 6 months. This Blood Angels project is the first time I have ever used one (in this thread you can see literally every model, barring failures, that I have done with my airbrush)

 

I wanted to do a BA army and decided I needed to buy one after seeing Luther’s mighty brush blog, I loved his look and wanted to borrow from it, but realised I couldn’t do it by hand.

 

I messed up quite a few minis in the beginning, probably went though 5 or 6 tactical marines learning it, and I think I ruined my first rhino too, so it wasn’t all plain sailing.

 

I think a big big big part of getting started so quick was not having to worry about the recipe, or colours etc, since i borrowed so much from Luther to get started - meaning I could concentrate entirely on execution. I mean, I would never in a million years have come up with his method of pre-shading/achieving red in a million years.

 

Short version... I’ve ramped up pretty quick, so it’s definitely possible. It’s a learning process; but one that is manageable due to how much incredible information is out there now (YouTube, blogs etc) from people with far far more legitimate talent than me, and have put the time in to figure things out!

Edited December 29, 2017 by neonmole

[LutherMax]

You’re absolutely killing it man, keep up the good work!

 

By the way, since I came up with that recipe / method, Vallejo released the Game Air range and there are a couple of reds (Gory Red and Scarlet Red) which I think achieve a very similar tone (perhaps a little darker) without the yellow step. It’s on my to-do list to do a new tutorial and take some pics, but in the meantime you might want to check them out and have a go!

[neonmole]

Thanks so much Luther! Your praise means a lot!

 

I’ll have to check out those new colours - always good to have a backup option. I almost had a heart attack when they changed the name of the red...

 

While I am sad you decided to move on from BA (mine feel like a successor chapter of sorts!) your Raptors are on another level, the stuff you have posted (Assbacks/preds in particular) are just magnificent.

[LutherMax]

Thanks mate :)

 

Yeah that name change was a real head scratcher! I’ll always have a soft spot for BA, and will come back to them from time to time :)

[Charlo]

That land raider is bloody beautiful.

[neonmole]

Cheers Charlo Edited December 31, 2017 by neonmole

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work, overall. Personally, I think the hunter-killer missile should be mounted on the multi-melta (I believe the US Army designed a weapons mount for the HMMWV that can simultaneously mount a TOW missile launcher and a general-purpose machine gun), but the colors and the weathering effects are well done.

[Firepower]

This is army is glorious.  Well done.

[Damon Nightman]

I've been thinking, with Luther away from BA at the moment, it's been really nice seeing your work!

 

Keep it up! :)

[neonmole]

Hi guys!

 

So it’s a little bit of a different post today to kick off the new year, and starting off the the next phase of this blog!

 

In 2018 I will be attending a couple of events, the first being the No Retreat 6 event in Gibraltar, which I could not be more excited for!

 

For motivational reasons, and to share my experiences, I thought I would use this blog as a vechicle document my journey to the event, and to write a report of he games I play over the weekend. So over the next 7-8 weeks you can expect lots of painting, maybe some thoughts on practice games I play, as well as other random thoughts relating to the project!

 

The event is 10th/11th March so time to get started!

 

I hope you enjoy joining me for the ride!

 

 

For No Retreat 6 I will be taking the following:

 

Captain ThunderSmash (JP, TH [Hammer of Baal], Plas Pistol, Death Visions, Legendary Fighter)

Mephiston

Captain (Power Sword, Storm Bolter)

6 Sanguinary Guard

5 Scouts (Bolters)

5 Scouts (Bolters)

5 Scouts (Bolters)

Razorback (Asscans, HKM, Storm Bolter)

Razorback (Asscans, HKM, Storm Bolter)

Razorback (Asscans, HKM, Storm Bolter)

5 Assault Marines (2 Plasma, Plas Pistol)

5 Assault Marines (2 Plasma, Plas Pistol)

5 Assault Marines (2 Plasma, Plas Pistol)

Predator (Twin Las, 2 Lascannons, HKM, Storm Bolter)

Predator (Auto Can, 2 Lascannons, HKM, Storm Bolter)

Predator (Auto Can, 2 Lascannons, HKM, Storm Bolter)

 

2k on the nose, 7 CP.

 

With about 7 weeksI need to paint (95% assembled):

- 15 Assault Marines

- 15 Scouts

- 3 Preds

- 2 Captains

- Sanguinary Guard

Soooo... it’s gonna be tough!

 

However, I made a dent in the 30 infantry models this weekend, so I am off to a meaningful start! (Missing heads since they will be yellow of course / gold for the sergeants, and painted separately)

 

 

 

(Second pic includes some of the other units in the list for my own colour reference)

 

Hope you like them so far, and I hope you enjoying following my journey to NR6! Stay tuned for more progress soon...

 

Cheers guys!

Edited January 15, 2018 by neonmole

[Aothaine]

Good luck man! Give the spider a hand shake from me if you play him! I want to head to No Retreat myself eventually but I'm years away from that goal still. ^_^ Looking forward to a post about your experience there as well! Keep up the great work!

[Shaezus]

Following.

If you see Dave W of 101 marines / nids fame (tho he's doing DA this year I think), give him a tickle too. It looks like such a really well run and enjoyable event.

 

Nice list too, a trio of razorbacks always makes me drool for some reason. Good luck!

[Firepower]

Have you ever done a step-by-step tutorial on how you do reds?  With pretty pictures?  Or even a video?

 

One day, one glorious day, I may return to my BA roots...probably not, but I'd like to know where to start :D

[neonmole]

Have you ever done a step-by-step tutorial on how you do reds?  With pretty pictures?  Or even a video?

 

If you search back in this thread you can see that I borrowed the vast majority of my "red" technique from Luther, who has an awesome tutorial of how to do it on his blog "The Mighty Brush". It is much better than any tutorial I could ever produce!

 

 

In other news! A gaming update...

 

I played my 2nd practice game with the list yesterday evening, at the Warhammer Gaming Guild club in London. My opponent was playing a Nurgle list, which was something close to the following:

 

- Belakor

- Typhus

- Epidemus

- Death Guard Sorceror

- Death Guard "Bell Guy"(?)

- Nurgle Herald

- Several Cultist Blobs

- Several Pox Walker Blobs

- 30 Plague Bearers

- Hellbrute

- 3 Bloat Drones (twin flamer thing)

 

The game went very well for me, winning the Primary mission (Eternal war - Relic) and the secondary (Maelstrom - Kill Confirmed), by wide margins. In the end he had the Pox Walkers/Sorcerer/Bell Guy left, whereas I only lost a couple of Razorbacks, some scouts, and some individual models.

 

To give a brief summary.

 

- I was able to out-deploy him a little bit, due to the fact I am a lot more mobile. Essentially I baited him into putting the pox walkers and some death guard characters on one flank, which I then completely abandoned, meaning they didn't end up doing much as they were then simply too slow to get back into the fight.

 

- He was able to get a first turn charge with Typhus, charging one of the razorbacks and shutting it down. This turned out to be not great in the long run though as Mephiston was able to counter attack and kill him. I got off quickening & used red rampage so... it was graphic! 

 

- Mephiston was also able to do a big chunk of damage to Belakor who made long (11"?) charge into another razorback. Mephiston was in range however to make an intervention, and still had quickening on from my previous turn. He's such a beast...

 

- Predators were able to deal with the bloat drones and hellbrute over 2-3 turns. I think I used killshot twice. This was despite some good use of the LoS blocking terrain by my opponent, the damage output with killshot was just too high.

 

- Game really ended on my turn 3, which is when I brought down the 3 ASM units, Sanguninary Guard, and ThunderSmash, for a killstroke. A ton of rapid fire plasma, a DoA charge on the SG, and a lucky 9" on the captain and the game was all but over.

 

Some thoughts/learnings:

 

- Mobility is a huge strength of this army, makes it very hard to pin down in assault, and very good at playing maelstrom style objective games.

- The 6 vehicles put out a tremendous (more than I really appreciated) amount of firepower.

- Its not necessary to get all the vehicles in captain re-roll range. Its ok for the razorbacks to operate independently, for a more flexible deployment, better mobility/board control. 

- Timing is more important than alpha strike with the deepstrike elements in this army. You want to hit HARD at the moment when you have targets of opportunity, when it counts, rather than just ASAP. The deepstrike element has big potential, but its also fragile - needs to be used precisely. If you can use it turn 1, fine, but its better to wait than waste.

- Its all about the counter attack from an assault perspective. Do your damage at range for as long as you can, and attack with the assault element when the enemy is vulnerable, or over commits. 

 

 

Overall, really happy with how the army performed in its second game, and I think i learned a lot about how to use it effectively. I've now been able to beat two very different armies - resiliant Nurgle, and a very shooty Cawl led Ad-Mech (and I went second), so my confidence is growing that I can represent the Sons of Sanguinius well! 

 

I'll probably have another game next week, and hopefully some hobby progress to share over the weekend...

 

Cheers! 

Edited January 16, 2018 by neonmole

[Charlo]

Nice job on the battle!

 

I like your list, it's a deceptive amount of Dakka that can be pretty much anywhere when needed and doesn't overly lean into assault, yet is more than capable of performing it when the time is right.

 

I'm a fan of the Assault Marines loaded up with specials, they just seem so useful (precise, mobile concentrated firepower) - especially when you can drop them with Captain Blood Smasher for re-rolls and let off your shooting before he plows into something juicy.

 

That said, the DG list looks to be lack in teeth. The biggest threat in the list really is Be'lakor and the Bloat Drones, the rest of the army is just buffing the Pox Walkers to be a screen for... Well nothing! So i'd say if you play smart (like you did, especially with deployment) you pretty much get to have fights as your leisure.

[neonmole]

Hi Charlo,

 

Thanks for your thoughts! Always appreciated :)

 

I basically agree with your assessment, the DG list was fine but not great. Had some decent elements but overall lacking in an overall “winning” game plan. With that in mind, it was a good opportunity to assess the relative strength of my own list, and learn how to use its elements better, rather than a real trial by fire against a hardcore list!

 

Next time I’ll see if I can get a game against something a bit filthier!

[barjed]

Keeping the fingers crossed for the nightmare  pleasure of batch painting 30 infantry models at once :D. Your plog is a great inspiration as usual!

[Firepower]

Argh...starts off with a Vallejo primer? Must find an alternative...V primer no good :(

 

Still, thanks for pointing me to the tutorial :tu:

 

Edit- seems they have that color as a regular paint too. Nice :)

Edited January 16, 2018 by Firepower

[neonmole]

Hi Guys,

Some progress to share!

So I have decided to proceed with maximum efficiency, and paint all the red in the army before moving on to the detail of any single unit. The main reason I’m really doing this is so that there is greater consistency in the red, as it’s actually quite hard to repeat precisely if you leave if more than a couple of days between doing it.

I have been stricken by the flu today, which sucks, but it has also allowed me some time at home to press on and paint my Predators! Here they are in all thier red glory, I’m very happy with the results so far!



And a close up for you, they are all pretty much the same.



I think I am going to paint the head of the gunner(s) blue, like a devestator! Since they are a firepower unit. I think this will look pretty cool, and it’s consistent with the gold head of my land raider gunner - a “veteran” vehicle.

In terms of gaming news, I have succeeding in finding something filthier to test myself against!

I recently sought another game for the coming Monday at the Warhammer Gaming Guild in London, and found an opponent who wants to practice for an tournament he is imminently attending with his orks. Turns out to be the LVO!! So I must imagine his list has some serious teeth... wish me luck!

I haven’t actually played orks yet in 8th. If anyone has any hits I would greatly appreciate!

Cheers

Edited January 18, 2018 by neonmole

[Charlo]

Aha, I meant to attend the WGG a year or so ago but my plans fell through (assuming it's the one in Covent Garden?), how is the club normally? Good atmophere/ tables etc? :)

 

Tanks are looking so nice. Again, your red is sublime.

[Jønke]

It all looks amazing. Might have to give Luthers painting tutorial a shot after all.

Also its good to see that you use assault marines. Recently it seems like there is no love left for them compared to veterans. So its nice to see them on the table :)

 

Keep up the great work. You'r productivity is inspiring.

[neonmole]

Aha, I meant to attend the WGG a year or so ago but my plans fell through (assuming it's the one in Covent Garden?), how is the club normally? Good atmophere/ tables etc? :)

 

Tanks are looking so nice. Again, your red is sublime.

Yeah it’s the one in Covent Garden!

 

Overall great place to get a game. I would say that there have been a good 30+ players when I have been down, so no shortage of opponents or variety! Terrain is pretty good, not the best but decent. There is a bar too, which is really nice companion to an evenings game!

[neonmole]

Painting update!

 

Friday and Saturday have been most productive! I feel like I’m in a really good groove now!

 

All three predators are nearing completion! I would say this guy is about 80% done, the other two about 70%...

 

 

And a preview of mechanised part of the army is shaping up to look like... behold, the mailed fiat of Baal!

 

 

I have a free Sunday tomorrow so hopefully I will get them finished for my game against the green skins on Monday! I’ve I’m gonna get wrecked I might as well do so with painted models so I have something to look at!

 

Cheers

[MeltaRange]

These look amazing. Could you just list the colours you use for the pre shading (before the yellow?)

[brother_b]

I just purchased my first airbrush, and have been looking for a compressor to follow. I have used the airbrush a little in some projects with my friend. I still don't get the whole pre-shading (I mean, okay I get the idea, but am stunned at the results).

 

Why yellow and not, say, white? Or light grey?