MajorNese Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Greetings, fellow believers in reasonably distanced dakka. A while ago, I started my Tau project, essentially as I grew fond of them in DoW1. The whole battlesuit gundam style and clean, tron-like look isn't what I want, so I rather based them on a regular army. Tanks, infantry, fliers, drones. Everything else will require conversions to make it look the part, even other xenos races (like rekroots). Paint wise, I tried to emulate the FW paint scheme colours from the Tiger Shark, but still got a bit to experiment with the weathering techniques and paint composition. First I'll assemble enough to play a 1250p game in December, and figure out the weathering later. The bases are regular GW bases with resin casted on it, my flexible technique of creating any base size, shape and required number. As I tried airbrushing the shade (brush on larger surfaces is awful), something went a bit wrong with the first two batches of models. The different thinners went from horrible (devilfish) to still-left-the-deeper-recesses (everything else), my next try will be with a generous amount of Lamian Medium instead. The glow is with the new GW ghost color - a bit weird consistency, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. Next up will be the remaining two dozen infantry models for said game, then I'll go over the bigger vehicles. As I'm working quite a lot abroad, this will be a rather diverse army. The infantry got painted in Mexico and Turkey, a piranha is from Scotland, and the remaining infantry will be finished in Indonesia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Not a fan of that colour scheme at all but still great work at executing it nontheless! :tu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pounder Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Off to a good start! A well travelled force indeed. I like the scheme personally. The red makes for a striking look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Blaire Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Is it a Vior'la Sept force? It's a bit confusing to me, since it looks like the XV-88 ochre color usually found on the Tau Sept (which would have white markings), but the brighter red markings read Vior'la, but the armor doesn't look like camo for the bases - it looks more like a desert sand scheme. It looks well executed either way, but I'm having trouble seeing the "glow" made with GW's new "ghost" color (do you mean the new technical paint?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Is it a Vior'la Sept force? It's a bit confusing to me, since it looks like the XV-88 ochre color usually found on the Tau Sept (which would have white markings), but the brighter red markings read Vior'la, but the armor doesn't look like camo for the bases - it looks more like a desert sand scheme. It looks well executed either way, but I'm having trouble seeing the "glow" made with GW's new "ghost" color (do you mean the new technical paint?). Good point actually. I assumed it's Vior'la with desert camo but the bases indeed don't fit the camo then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorNese Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 Is it a Vior'la Sept force? It's a bit confusing to me, since it looks like the XV-88 ochre color usually found on the Tau Sept (which would have white markings), but the brighter red markings read Vior'la, but the armor doesn't look like camo for the bases - it looks more like a desert sand scheme. It looks well executed either way, but I'm having trouble seeing the "glow" made with GW's new "ghost" color (do you mean the new technical paint?). I'm not fixed on any particular sept, just used FWs paint scheme as reference. The desert camo doesn't fit the bases, but that's intentional. For one, it's a proper contrast, for the other, RL military often uses what they have, not what would be ideal. Soldiers regularly use gear in woodland camo when entering deserts, until the proper gear gets delivered in sufficient amounts. That should tie in with the later additions of battle damage, field improvisations and more gear. The goal is to be a contrast to the clinically clean tron-style look, which I just dislike as too unrealistic. Might fit well with my previous project, which didn't exactly go the clean and brightly-coloured way too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Blaire Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 I think it's a well executed version, was just wondering if the red was truly intended to be Vior'la sept. I do agree it's a good contrast to the bases - do they have any significance for your force (specific world or city type they are fighting in, or is it supposed to be something more of where they came from)? Still wondering about the "glow" you talked about - is it in the engine exhaust areas that we can't see, or somewhere else? As far as real life military forces, not sure the Tau have that much in common with them (I like to think the Earth Caste does a lot of work outfitting their forces for the environment before they ever go in, and they probably use drones for a lot of recon first), but if you are basing them off a specific unit/military, that's cool! I personally don't worry about matching camo to anything base-wise, since I paint mine as Farsight Enclaves. What field improvisations do you have planned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorNese Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 I think it's a well executed version, was just wondering if the red was truly intended to be Vior'la sept. I do agree it's a good contrast to the bases - do they have any significance for your force (specific world or city type they are fighting in, or is it supposed to be something more of where they came from)? The bases are what I want to use for a fun side project, as well as the next Armies on Parade board. Besides, my previous bases were either sand/PVA or self-casted industrial bases, this was just supposed to be different. Still wondering about the "glow" you talked about - is it in the engine exhaust areas that we can't see, or somewhere else? Everything green (besides missiles) is white + Hexwraith Flame. It's visibly more vibrant than the usual white + Waywatcher Green glow, but not actively glowing. And a weird consistency, but that'll work. As far as real life military forces, not sure the Tau have that much in common with them (I like to think the Earth Caste does a lot of work outfitting their forces for the environment before they ever go in, and they probably use drones for a lot of recon first), but if you are basing them off a specific unit/military, that's cool! I personally don't worry about matching camo to anything base-wise, since I paint mine as Farsight Enclaves. What field improvisations do you have planned? To be honest, Tau were usually a bit too plot-armoured for my taste - they always fought on their own terms, and if things went wrong, things didn't really go wrong because of crazy random happenstances. Imperium attacks? Tyranids distract them. Tyranids attack? Imperium shows up. The first time they had to suffer considerable losses and make due with what they had was the 4th sphere, which was the deciding point of starting this project. Camo doesn't match? Doesn't stop you from going there and shooting guys, this isn't a fashion show. Fancy battlesuits are undergoing repairs? Take tanks, those are simple to maintain and still work. And if all else fails, just bring all the pulse rifles/carbines/blasters you can find. Which is why I'll convert reKROOTs - just motivated personnel with basic pulse weaponry, but not the fancy armour and targeting equipment of trained fire warriors. As far as the field improvisations go, stuff like damaged burst cannon turret on a devilfish, fixed by having fire warriors as door gunners or a sponson gunner. A rear gunner for a piranha (WW2 style), maybe (if time and modeling skills permit) have holes shot through vehicle plating, exposing troop compartments or internal workings. A lot of experimental or outdated stuff - I managed to get 2x TX42 and 6x XV15, converted the hammerheads already, and if the sizes match up, I might combine a stormsurge and hammerhead model to create a superheavy tank (with stormsurge weapons/profile). A lot planned, which I can try out once the basic units are on a playable points level, and my work abroad is over for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 I can see the glow now. I don't think the green works that well with your other colours tho. Especially not on the bigger areas like the Hammerhead windscreen (or however it is called for futuristic xenos hover tanks lol). Maybe blue would've worked better? Not really sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorNese Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 I can see the glow now. I don't think the green works that well with your other colours tho. Especially not on the bigger areas like the Hammerhead windscreen (or however it is called for futuristic xenos hover tanks lol). Maybe blue would've worked better? Not really sure. Works better than glaze on smaller stuff like gun barrels and optics. That's where glaze is either too much or not enough. But yes, on larger areas I might have to move back to glaze, the consistency doesn't work well there. And no, the combination of red and blue is definitely not my taste, which is why it's green instead. Recently played DoW1 again, red Tau units with blue glow just look wrong to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Red units with green glow is perfectly fine, but your units are mostly ochre and not red and your green glow is very pale compared to the green lenses etc. we normally see on 40k models. ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brother_b Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Awesome force looks great. How have your battles been going? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorNese Posted November 18, 2018 Author Share Posted November 18, 2018 Awesome force looks great. How have your battles been going? Thank you. For now, I only played 2 games of killteam, which convinced me to stop doing killteam with Tau. First real game will be in a month, I'll be out of the country until then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brother_b Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Haha yeah tau is hard in kill team without some nice combos. I look forward to reading about your battles. I'm slowly building my tau up as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorNese Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 Reinforcements have arrived. That's at least enough infantry for said first game (or killteam), I'll do the remaining 2 tanks of that particular list when back home. For now, all the stuff in my luggage has been painted. Crappy cellphone pic incoming, I'll do a proper group shot when the tanks are done... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MithrilForge Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 i like the green glow .... it works for me well done on your force,not many people have fully painted forces but like to make negative comments about others that do.... Cheers, Mithril Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorNese Posted December 11, 2018 Author Share Posted December 11, 2018 Thank you. I tend to always fully paint - otherwise I'll never get over the backlog. And unpainted just breaks the immersion. Anyhow, the next 2 tanks are halfway done. Will do a full family pic when those are done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pounder Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 I couldn’t agree more, a fully painted army is one of the greatest pleasures in the hobby! Well done. Looking forward to seeing the group shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorNese Posted December 13, 2018 Author Share Posted December 13, 2018 Group done, everything ready for Sunday's game. Next up, some heavy hitters - Tiger Shark and his Barracuda wingmen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triszin Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 AWESOME Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MithrilForge Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 "AW YEAH" .... ... ... great work! cheers,Mithril ++EDIT++ Question - is the Green glow just hexwraith flame over white?... (i got a necron moment idea just then ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brother_b Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 That's awesome great job. Very clean looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorNese Posted December 14, 2018 Author Share Posted December 14, 2018 Thank you. Just the vehicle shading isn't as clean as I hoped, but I'll get there... Question - is the Green glow just hexwraith flame over white?... (i got a necron moment idea just then ) For smaller things like lenses and muzzles - yes, with a generous amount of the latter. For larger areas, I use Waywatcher Green instead of Hexwraith because of consistency. Compare the central viewport of the left devilfish (waywatcher) with the right (hexwraith) and you'll see why - waywatcher creates an even look, hexwraith pools here and there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MithrilForge Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 Ok thanks for that, hexwraith sounds good for quick lenses !, Cheers, mithril Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorNese Posted December 17, 2018 Author Share Posted December 17, 2018 X-Mas Clash is over. 5 players per side, 1000p each...and the parking lot of 3 players right in front of my units (2 lazorbacks, 3 Leman Russ (Pask, commander, regular), DG mortar tank + blighthauler). With a rather vehicle-centered list (2 devilfishes, 2 hammerheads, piranha, pathfinders), I did use the huge range to my advantage, otherwise my tanks wouldn't have survived beyond turn 2. As it turns out, those slow IG tanks blocked their allies long enough for me to get the job done. Only move 5" (shoot turret twice) through a narrow path means I can shoot one tank per round and keep the plasma tanks just out of range. Longstrike + hammerhead were enough to kill one Leman Russ per round, though my markerlight providers died immediately when in range as they were the only targets in range. Bonus points for the lone piranha to survive razorback lascannon overwatch with 1W, consolidate into Plasma Pask and preventing both from shooting when my allies made a dash for the objective of the game (randomly placed christmas package). Vehicle-based drones were useful too, dashing out of cover to claim randomly dropped auxiliary christmas packages. Those tend to blow up, but provide an army wide bonus if not. And losing a few drones on them was worth the investment. All in all, I had to play a lot more defensively than I intended - the amount of anti tank was just too much to sacrifice units early on, while the objective of the game wasn't even placed. The regular hammerhead was down to 2W after being on the unhealthy end of the Leman Russ battlecannon, but after that LR died I managed to keep it together until it counted. Transports and content filled the area around the objective after it got placed, so it was the way to go after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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