Freakiq

But, are Tyranid so simple? Tyranids in 40k is symbolic to life. Is life so simple? Do we just give it categories to give our self a sense of understanding we do not understand? Would it not be simpler to understand the motivation of a character(Horus) that was created by man, than time to understand the will or motivation of a species that was craft through billions of years of progress in the madness of life. This is a pet peeve of mine. Tyranids are not simple, they are complex, beyond the point of our limited understanding them. They are 40k version of nature with a twist of lovecraft/aliens thrown in, even if you can categories them as that in implies in the most basic terms. I'm not going to stop you from reading deeper into the working of the hive mind or keep you from writing a compelling background for your army. For me though the basic drive behind the hive fleets is simple enough that it can take a back seat. I don't have to worry about how the Swarmlord morally justifies his actions or what political ambitions he has.

The Tyranids didn't really stand out to me until I saw the black and red paint scheme of their 3rd edition codex as well as the way their weapons looked like they grew out of their hands rather than being two wholly separate entities. It reminded me of the creepy feeling of watching Alien at a very young age and being fascinated and terrified by the biomechanical look of the monster and the alien ship. Tried to get a Tyranid army started several times but I've always found my skills couldn't live up to my aspirations. Now with 8th edition here I decided to take a break from my Minotaurs until their place in the new background is explained a bit more. Background is very important to me and I have to at least on some level empathize or at least understand the motivations of the army I play. My army in 30k is the sons of Horus and I struggled a lot with understanding Horus' reasons for rebellion on a deeper level than just accepting that chaos manipulated him. With the Tyranids their motivations and goals are much more simple, I can just focus on making my army look good and enjoy playing the big bad monster.

I love how the Rhino turned out, this whole army looks to become awesome. Thank you for showing how you painted up the Rhino, been struggling with how to properly weather bronze vehicles. Will definitely steal some of your ideas and methods. ;)

Look up a "ye olde" type font and try copying it with a fine detail brush. Making it look old and capturing the general shape of the letters is more important than it being readable.

Started work on a Venerable Dreadnought as my MKIV Ironclad hasn't arrived yet. Still unsure how to paint the arches on the torso, debating just leaving them black and just adding a gloss effect to make it look like obsidian. As for the head I'm debating between giving it a Chaos Warrior skull-helmet, a Dark Vengeance Chaplain helmet or just a regular MK7 helmet. Depending on the helmet I'll paint it either white or steel. Sorry for the bad picture, just took a few snaps before I'm off to bed. Will provide proper pictures once it's finished.

Yeah, I know I've been lax with updates recently, and now there won't be any painting done for another week. Might buy some nice Forge World toys while in Nottingham, unsure what to get though. In the meantime here's a Chaplain I started on while being bored at the club today:

Made some progress on squad 1. Decided to go for the quartered kneepad signifying them as 5th company. Also change the recipe a bit by adding a wash made up of Nuln Oil, water, Gloss Varnish and Lahmian Medium Will try to get these finished this weekend as I'm off to England this monday.

Thanks everyone for your comments. ^_^ Decided to go with the Dark Angels company markings, specifically the quartered 5th company. Won't give any more promises for updates lest I break them, but I'll try to get something done today. Wild Rider Red mixed with Lahmian Medium 50/50, then add 1/3 water to the mix. If it goes on too heavy just use a damp brush to quickly remove it, alternatively just paint over with thinned-down White Scar.