Aria Of The Damned: A Dynasty Rises

[Mileposter]

THE KAGETAKH DYNASTY

"Stars crumble into nothing at my command. Worlds burn at my whim. It is but for your treasures that you yet live - tribute unto the Necrontyr and the rebirth of our Empire. Revel that you may play such a part."

-- Lord Bekashet

C

rafting our own playspace is part of what makes the realm of Warhammer 40k so immense. That we can build each army into its own story, and let every match become a chapter of that chronicle. This is my feeble attempt at much the same: My own Necron Dynasty, tailored and trimmed to eke out its own space in the realm of B&C. I have never been good at the concept of a blog, but I intend to utilize the space for far more than simply "look at what I did!" in hope that the difference will help fuel my ambition and attendance. Adventure, ho!

The Idea:
The Kagetakh represent for me an attempt at taking my skills - in conversion, modification, painting, and basing - a step farther than the projects I've done thus far. What I've made has been very skilled but in most cases it cannot be said that they have been ambitious or unique. Part of this has been because of the simplicity of the aim with those projects, but also part has been a simple lack of a strong goal. Converted weaponry, characters modeled into unique poses or added bits, creative basing - all these I have dabbled, but these do not speak to the greater opportunities that some models offer. I have no reason or desire to step so far outside the box that they borderline scratchmade, but I want to build something that is as much artistic as it is practical this time around.

The Method:
A Necron army is being built from ground up for this particular project. The point is to build one model/unit, paint and base it, before moving on to opening the next box. This should help me focus on the appearance of each model/unit singularly and hopefully help me stay on track with the army. The build order is determined by what I must finish to be able to field 50 Power Level of Necrons, then 1000 points, then 1500 points, then 75 Power Level, et cetera. Should I prove capable with this method, I'll take it all the way to 2000 points and 100 Power Level.

My aim is to not only use this thread as the WIP space that it is, but to also invite feedback on my crafting technique and proposed methods before I apply them - so as to either confirm my ideas or improve my skills if inaccurate. I would then be able to provide a tangible product of that feedback. In other cases I look forward to taking suggestion as to what direction I go with certain models, to add that challenge for myself. Hopefully the back and forth helps with motivation and encouragement. Should this be successful, I expect the makings of several HOW-TO's can be found in the imagery of the project and I hope to return that experience to those walking the same path.

The Challenge:
Since part of the point is to expand my experience, even if I may find that I already possess the skill to accomplish some of the advanced techniques or develop my own, I laid out some basic requirements for my construction of the army:

1. The entire army must be built for WYSIWYG play.
2. Required to be a nonstandard, minimum three-tone gradient paint scheme.
3. Each character must have at least some custom-sculpted Green Stuff addition.
4. Infantry units must be identified and 'squaded' in a lore-friendly manner.
5. Vehicle units must have some kind of technical addition to the model.
6. Replace all clear bases without breaking gameplay.
7. 'Flight Stems', large and small, must be replaced.
8. Bases must make use of elevation techniques.

I may add more, but this seemed like a reasonable place to start - the first two may seem like a given for some crafters, for example.

The List:
For 50 PL:
Overlord - Construction
20 Warriors
5 Lychguard - Painting
Triarch Stalker
3 Canoptek Scarab
Canoptek Spyder
Ghost Ark

For 1500 pts:
Lord - Acquired
5 Immortals
3 Canoptek Scarab
2 Destroyer
Heavy Destroyer

For 75 PL:
5 Deathmarks
3 Canoptek Wraiths
10 Warriors

For Fun:
Night Scythe
Monolith

Comments, questions and suggestions always welcome - including any suggestions about list composition. Edited September 21, 2017 by Pentharian

[Atia]

Sounds good so far

 

Did you already decide on a paint scheme?

Edited August 29, 2017 by Atia

[Draakur]

Sounds just jolly. Count me in!

[Mileposter]

Did you already decide on a paint scheme?

I have decided on a main red scheme, with black undercoat and brass highlights. Haven't entirely settled on the shades thereof as yet - but that'll happen soon.

 

Acquired the first boxes for the army. Lychguard and Overlord. Going to be starting on the Lychguard that way I have some Necron bits left over to use when modifying the Overlord.

 

I have a vague idea of how I want to model the Overlord, but I'm going to need to do some research and refine the idea. Kinda want him stepping out of something menacingly. Like a plume of smoke or something. Might make a portal for him to be stepping through or something. Have to be careful, though, to keep it small enough to not affect standard LOS on the tabletop.

[Mileposter]

Lychguard prepped and ready to go. Car blew up, so I didn't get to actually glue them up as I had planed, but I was able to figure out what poses and positions I wanted from them. Should be finished with the modeling tonight if all goes well.

 

Did do some consideration on the 'squad' markings: While the Necrons don't care so much about identification for the lowly Warriors, and so don't particularly care for marking them as such, I had the thought that vehicles and assets of that sort do have some value. As such, Some Warriors might be marked as beng 'owned' by a particular Ghost Ark and bear the ankh of their Ark. Working theory, needs some refinement.

As for the practical concern of it, I have decided so far to turn to the Necron transfer sheet for my solution. The following three symbols are on the standard transfer sheet, and I couldn't find any meaning for them in my research, so I figured re-purposing them to mark my 10 man units wouldn't be bad. If these do have some meaning I haven't found, feel free to smack me upside the head.

Squad 1

Squad 2

Squad 3

[Mileposter]

So... I'm embarrassed to say that the Lychguard have... Melted? Apparently the aerosol got into the GW primer I was using and added it's own texture to the models. After warping them a bit. Needless to say, that's gonna put a damper in getting them up and going.

 

So I'm going to have to start up on either the Overlord or the Ghost Ark for the first bit.

 

And perhaps not do the dumb this time. >. <;

[Mileposter]

Reacquired a Lychguard box, so those are back on the menu. I really want to get these guys through first, largely because the Lychguard shields and poses showcase the color scheme better than the other options.

 

The Overlord is on the slate for the second unit, and I've gotten a bit more solidified ideas on what I want to do with the custom bits. I'm thinking of acquiring a model from Warhammer fantasy - the 'Spirit Hosts' - to use as bits. Theory being that the floaty ghosty bits can be collectively modified and carved into a nice energy shroud or some such that the Overlord can be rising out of. Or a flame pillar? Or just to use as smokescreen that the Overlord can be emerging from. I really like the idea of the Overlord 'emerging' out of some sort of effect. Thoughts?

 

The regular Lord I have also acquired the bits for now, and the modification requirement on that one is pretty commonplace I think - going for my take on a female Lord (NOT a Phaerakh) to represent Lord Bekashet. Theory on this one being to avoid the simple "Put boobs on it" approach and actually go for a more conservative curvature to the breastplate, simulating medieval female armor, with some small adornments appropriate a more feminine bent. Too little? Perhaps something more overt?

[Mileposter]

With the hurricane coming through, project was put on hold for a bit - but, been back to it, and have the main body of the first Lychguard done. As expected, these guys show off the color scheme quite well.

 

 

This is my first time actually using the 'pin and paint' method, since this is the first time I'm doing the bases separate from the models themselves. Gotta say, I understand now what all the fuss is about.

[Draakur]

That looks veeery nice. No doubt, that's a gorgeous scheme.

[Mileposter]

Thanks! Only had my phone on hand, so the picture is not quite quality - it's hard to see the brushed highlights on the dark carapace.

 

Gonna need to go through and optimize the phone settings with one of those guides before the next shoot.