Night Lords 18th Battle Company (Treadhead)

[mega_marines]

I figured the dislike for the bat-heads was just in the execution of the models. They didn't really exude any scariness. They gave more of the impression of a latex Halloween mask, the sort where Night Lords would skulk around before leaping out and yelling "Boo!" The Oogy-Boogy Marines.

 

More recent artwork and models have done better at adding a more appropriately sinister touch.

 

 

As much as I love my Night Lords, I agree with this. The heads right out of the pack are just wings sticking out akin to a Khorne Berzerker's status, albeit goofier. To make it look about 100% better, I pull both sets of wings back to make them look swept back as opposed to stand straight up. Essentially I push the wings against the side of the helm for a more sleek but evil look.

[Loken86]

hi dan great work bro i was wondering how did you merge that posseded helm with a normal marine helmet on your wraith?

[Pulse]

Although the model is great i am inclined to agree - the bat wings should go, they spoil the image of the Nightlords and turn them into something very gimmicky

[Firepower]

Although the model is great i am inclined to agree - the bat wings should go, they spoil the image of the Nightlords and turn them into something very gimmicky

 

Oh, no, no no no. Not the intention I had in mind (though I obviously can't speak for others). It was the old pewter heads that GW sells as upgrade bitz which seem silly. The idea isn't bad at all, it was just that particular incarnation which was....off. Those of either more sinister and authentic desing )pointy, swept back) and those of clearly deliberate ceremonial design (like those pictured in the recent 'First Claw' artwork thread) are another matter altogether.

 

I'm quite fond of the wings on this guy's pack. Though with those already on, I think adding wings to his helm now may indeed look a bit silly.

 

The notion that the chapter's stealth is the source of their terror I do not agree with. That's for Corax's kids. The Night Lords are quite happy to make it known that they are the ones in the shadows about to rip your throat out, and a scary silhouette makes it all the better. Being unseen is scary. Being seen when you will it, and letting the enemy know that it ultimately won't do them any good regardless, that's terror.

Edited May 6, 2011 by Firepower

[Brother Garrod]

The notion that the chapter's stealth is the source of their terror I do not agree with. That's for Corax's kids. The Night Lords are quite happy to make it known that they are the ones in the shadows about to rip your throat out, and a scary silhouette makes it all the better. Being unseen is scary. Being seen when you will it, and letting the enemy know that it ultimately won't do them any good regardless, that's terror.

that actually sums up Nightlords pretty well , in all the books to date ( both the current ones and lord of the night ) night lords only kill from the shadows to build the terror up , and then by the time they show themselves , its too late

while im not too fond of the space batman look myself , if handled right , it can work very well , the helmet wings from Fantasy Graveguard are a good example of this

Edited May 6, 2011 by Brother Garrod

[popkhorne]

That comic was hilarious did you draw that?

 

 

Furthermore, I believe reports of the nightlords stealthiness have been greatly exaggerated, terror is their main thing in soul hunter a quote from malcharion states that the element of suprise is all but useless and its better the enemy know(and fear) your coming. the nightlords want to scare the enemy by being as flashy and horrifying as they can be not hiding, thus they augment their armour or crucify dudes on the front of their rhinos like they do in the Ultramarines series. sort of like what firepower said. think of it like a horror movie, they dont show the killer often but when you do see him hes got to look really scary or its disappointing. like when you finally see the aliens in M. night shyamalans signs and they just look like green guys with big heads who get killed by water.

[Dawnrunner42]

That comic was hilarious did you draw that?

 

 

Unfortunately not, I pulled it up from the bowels of my /tg/ folder :sweat:

[robot530]

That guy is wicked Dan! My recommendation in general would be to not get sidelined by sticking to modelling formulas. Lots of skulls may work on one model and not on another. Be pragmatic and do what works. There are all sorts of evil and fluffy numbers for the amount of skulls that a model sports. Although 18 is pretty funny! Some dudes may be really hard and not even worry about honouring that tradition. Regardless you have established it as part of your Company already and it is a great addition! Awesome work.

[Night Talon]

amazing work looks great

 

as for them batwing helmets, I like them and agree with Firepower about them, I use the on all my model for my night lords army, follow the link in my sig to see

[Emp. Champion]

I'm in complete awe, hope I can reach that level one day!

[Pulse]

The Night Lords are quite happy to make it known that they are the ones in the shadows about to rip your throat out, and a scary silhouette makes it all the better.

If a Nightlord popped out of a shadow in front of me the bat wings would be the last thing i would notice, i am sure. :P

Edited May 7, 2011 by Pulse

[Zincite]

I have just read through all 43 pages, and I will now never be happy again, for I will have to wait to see the next update. The Dark Gods are cruel...

 

Utterly awesome work. You have earned yourself another subscriber...

[confused]

Instead of revising, I read through your log, all 43 pages of it, joined B+C and now feel i should tell you that you make some gorgeous models.

 

Really wish i could sculpt on my Night Llords as well as you do on yours.

 

Basically i just wanted to say i'll be following this as you add more, you and ADB have inspired me to redo my own NL's.

 

Awesome work.

 

Confused

[Doghouse]

I have to say I really like the wings on the back pack, it gives it a very sinister profile.

[malika666]

BTW, did you check the latest FW newsletter? It has Astral Claws' shoulderpads in it, lion heads...Nostraman Lions...Terminators...remember my past suggestion? ;)

[Dan The Deamon]

Doghouse, I must say, i like them too. Recently however I've been missing the creative mark on some projects, and have to send those feelers out to see if what I'm producing looks worthwhile.

confused, thanks man. Welcome to the B&C. Reading all 43 pages is daunting work, i've tried it once and barely got halfway through. If you started at the beginning, you'd notice that my GS work, kitbashing, and painting started off with some trouble. Keep chugging away at what you carve, paint, and model. Getting better is like growing older, it just takes time. Saving certain aspects until you're more comfortable with them; sculpting and painting for most people, just prolongs the process of getting started and doesn't prepare you much. At least that's what i've found.

Zincite, here's an update for you!

robot530

That guy is wicked Dan! My recommendation in general would be to not get sidelined by sticking to modelling formulas. Lots of skulls may work on one model and not on another. Be pragmatic and do what works.

You speak words of wisdom. The only reason I was compelled to give him 18, was that i managed to luckily fit 18 on the dread, then came up with some hair brained reason why. The reasonable corners of my mind immediately thought fitting 18 on a power armor was pretty delusional, yet i can't describe why i still tried it. ;)

It led to almost completely wrecking the model as i tried to salvage what i could. The legs were destroyed for days, and i spent a couple weeks brainstorming and building some new versions of them. I tried these...

which by definition may have been cool, but i didn't have the leg required to make the pose natural and authentic. He ended up looking off, and i had to re-evaluate.

fast forward a bit, and i've recently got him to this point..

Back to a neutral stance where I may have lost some really nice composition but decided to move forwards. Not a fantastic picture, as i only took it to compare it to a change i was considering, this;

...Which I fell for pretty hard. Since the days of Star Wars: Galaxies an abysmal mmorpg in the mid 2000's, I've been a sucker for halberds. I started the Pike-man skill set because i loved the look of a giant pole-arm with wicked blade, regretfully it turned out to be the single worst class in the melee category, which was handicapt further from a pretty mediocre game system. The love never left, and back on page 1 you can see where i tried a polearm on my old lord, which was never executed rather well.

i'm caught between the two weapons at this point, as the model is pretty much wrapped up in most other categories. The blade on the polearm wouldn't stay the way it currently is, i'd have to give them some evil modeling love, similar to the sword, but i'm still undecided. I've gotten some good insight already, but would love some more.

What do you guys think?

Dan

[carnosaur93]

you should give him the wing-axe from your old "chaplain"... its mighty night-lordy, and he IS an executioner afterall, so what could be better than an axe? ;)

[Firepower]

First of all, nice to see an update and a reworking of this model.

 

Now then, I'm inclined to side with the sword. It's hard to describe what exactly I see in the aesthetic of the sword (particularly the natural hilt as well as the brownstuff wings) but the best I can sum it up as is 'sleek and pointy.' This is a facet, as idiotically described as it is now, which fits the Night Lords very well in my opinion. See the previous argument of big, dull and broad wing-heads over sleek and scary ones present now for example. It just fits.

 

The Halberd, not so much. The blade in particular is just too broad in my opinion. It looks more like a machete on a stick (which is fairly cool in it's own right, but out of place on this particular guy). If its blade could be modified to be about as wide as the sword, it'd probably fit the sleek n' sexy n' scary look that this guy has going, but as is it looks unfitting.

 

Just my humble opinion as ever of course. There's something to be said for personal preference as you outlined for the Halberd, too.

 

Edit: Actually, I think I have a clear way to sum up the Halberd model~ it's stuck in an identity crisis between a spear and an ax, without the iconic simplicity or beauty of either. A fat indiscriminate and brutish blade atop a long and elegant haft.

Edited June 3, 2011 by Firepower

[Dan The Deamon]

you should give him the wing-axe from your old "chaplain"... its mighty night-lordy, and he IS an executioner afterall, so what could be better than an axe? :P

I literally spent days contemplating that very action. Then thought without the axe, the termi lord would be somewhat incomplete, and i couldn't find a suitable replacement weapon for him. I made a handful of similar axe/wing styles from some older bits i had, but none worked that well, which led me to the sword.

 

malika666

BTW, did you check the latest FW newsletter? It has Astral Claws' shoulderpads in it, lion heads...Nostraman Lions...Terminators...remember my past suggestion? msn-wink.gif

 

I did see those not moments ago, and thought the same thing. getting those expensive kits in order to build semi fluffy termi models didn't seem particularly appealing. Considering making biggerized termis are a pain in the rear, and I have more than i can fit in the lists I currently play. Maybe someone, somewhere will take that plunge. It has some pretty cool hobby potential, just isn't for me.

[popkhorne]

I honestly like the sword alot, and just think big swords in general are really cool, but for the model in question i think id go for the halberd as it just looks more natural to me in that pose. I think i already said this a few posts back but the way the executioner has his arm up and the sword not resting on anything looks weird to me. so in short epic model as always and once again my vote for the halberd. if you dont end up using the sword on him though i definatley would say reuse it as it looks awesome.

[confused]

Wow Dan thanks for the encouragement.

 

Personally i think the sword fits better with the models flow (aesthetically it just works better - I think firepower mentioned sleek lines and how the sword added to them). Just my feeling though.

 

Cant wait for the next update - i love the use of the enforcer head and am interested to see how you paint it up.

 

Keep up the amazing work.

Confused

 

ps would you please post up a quick tutorial on how you sculpt the bat wings? I've been trying but they just wont come out the right shape. Many thanks.

[Khestra the Unbeheld]

If you're on the fence about the halberd, recall that First Captain Sevatar of the Night Lords used a chainglaive as his personal CC weapon during the Heresy. I think your guy's halberd fits the Night Lords fluff delightfully. :D

[Quixus]

i'm caught between the two weapons at this point, as the model is pretty much wrapped up in most other categories. The blade on the polearm wouldn't stay the way it currently is, i'd have to give them some evil modeling love, similar to the sword, but i'm still undecided. I've gotten some good insight already, but would love some more.

 

What do you guys think?

What's wrong with the blade, except making the weapon a glaive instead of a halberd?

Besides preferring glaives to halberds aesthetically, I like it if the weapon looks like it has been looted from a Grey Knight even though the Night Lord unfortunately would have to use such a weapon as a regular CCW.

 

BTW how does a Chain halberd look like? are there chains on the pike and hook as well?

[Soulblight]

Im in sutch an awe over your works that i almost dont want to write here in fear that my mispelling and grammatic mess will somehow destroy your creativity.

 

But if you can let that pass, i would want to point another weapon that I think could work; The humble Sickle.

 

With this weapon you can keep the halberd theme, get something between an axe and sword and that still looks frightening.

 

Just my 2 cents...

 

(Do please excuse my poor english, im not use to write in it anymore.)

 

Edit: Tried to insert picture of what a good looking Sickle. Failed.

Edited June 4, 2011 by Soulblight

[Quixus]

Are you sure you are talking about a sickle and not a scythe?