The Neurode Crusade - Updates and Fixes to HQs and Elites

[Brother Christopher]

How about going for Honda's design, adding crosses similar to your design, then some chains or if you can the vows from the 4th ed. Codex?

those usually work well...

 

As for chains, here's what I did with my Raven, hopefully it might give inspiration...

http://i1151.photobucket.com/albums/o622/Marshal_Roujakis/New%20Templar%20Box%202014/DSC00303_zpsircgcdnp.jpg

 

Do-not-tempt-me. The vows, these are a great idea. Probably something way beyon my skill level, but. I. Probably. Could. Give. It. A. Try. (I feel I shouldn't).

 

I could always pick a small sheet of plasticard, prime it and scribble something there. This way, I could protect my paint on the model from me redoing the letters over and over again.

 

By the way, your Stormraven is great; a brave selection of colours! The cockpit is cool, with all the (I assume) gauges and info projected onto the interior of the canopy; the nozzles are also very interesting; and the chain - hats off!

[Golf33]

Lightly draw the vows on worth a graphite pencil, then go over them with paint. When the paint has dried (give it longer than usual e.g. overnight) you can gently erase the pencil with a soft rubber.

 

Practicing on a spare bit of painted plastic is a good idea too.

[Brother Christopher]

I just want to let you know that right now I'm descending into madness building a squad of three Centurions. I have a lot to do now and the only free time that I have, I'm wasting on playing Civilization VI with my girlfriend. Unfortunately, even though it's a turn-based game, it doesn't allow me to paint things -- I tried that and it doesn't work for me. However, to mitigate the waste of time which is casual gaming, I tried to scratch build something, and surprisingly it works better to fill in the breaks between my turns.

 

The Neurode Centurion idea (which now turned into a project) was something I managed to keep at bay for around two years. I even got myself a second squad of Centurions to have a total of six, something I aimed at, and avoid wasting time on the conversion. Unfortunately, the urge to check whether it's feasible turned out to be stronger and... well, yeah. What I have now is acceptable/satisfactory.

 

I'm basing my conversion of snap fit marines. I mutilated three of those and am currently at around 80% of progress with the legs.

 

I haven't made up my mind regarding their weapon loadout. I want these to be Assault Centurions, that's for sure. I also do not want to magnetise them because I want to end up with one squad of Devastators with grav cannons, one squad with all weapon options magnetised and one scratch build squad of Assaults.

 

In terms of the planned alterations to the original design, this is what I want to achieve somehow:

 

- sleeker, but more 'enclosed' leg armour, extending to the sides of the legs to hide the (at least as I see it) fragile servos and most likely to the back, providing additional protection to the pilot/operator;

- tabard;

- shoulder pads which offer better protection to the 'shoulder' joints;

- belt-fed hurricane bolters (either mounted on the shoulder pads using small servo arms extending from the back plate or chest-mounted, like in the original; with the two options, I'm leaning towards retaining the original design to save some time maintain the Space Marine/Imperial aesthetic, as there are little or none vehicles with shoulder-mounted weapons).

 

I also want to build my Centurions with proper fists (i.e. with 5 fingers), so they'd be able to hold a melee weapon. What do you think about ignoring the standard assault drills and replacing them with a single, large, double-bladed chainsword (or a hammer or an axe), or two underslung chainblades making two chainfists?

[Bjorn Firewalker]

For Centurions, I think the Hurricane bolster should be turret-mounted over the wearer's head, i.e., in the same position as a Terminator's missile launcher.

 

As for melee weapons, a chainfist-wielding Centurion will look AWESOME. Will you add storm bolsters to the weapon, as seen on Nassir Amit's suit of Terminator armor? (Amit was the Flesh Tearers' first Chapter Master.)

Edited May 4, 2017 by Bjorn Firewalker

[Bjorn Firewalker]

It may be easier to use Terminator power fists if you want to give your Centurions five-fingered gauntlets.

[Brother Christopher]

I'll give the turret-mounted bolters a thought. Would you see them a one piece, with 6 barrels; or rather divided into two guns with 3 barrels?

 

The weapon configuration is something of a problem for me. I can't make up my mind. Thanks for referencing the Flesh Tearers' Chapter Master - I looked him up and some of the artwork and conversions look great. I thought about building Contemptor-type fists, with in-build bolters, for my Centurions but came to a conclusion that it won't work due to the size of the fists. Above that, I still prefer the look of power fists for my models.

 

So, to answer your question about the added storm bolters - I'm not sure ;) I want my models to look in a certain way and I hope to end up with a leaner look than the somewhat bloated originals. I also want their weapons to correspond to the actual weapon selection on Centurions; so hurricane bolters (or maybe I'' add one with the frag launchers) + a flamer/melta + a melee weapon. I other words, I don't want any additional guns. Having said that, I also wanted to attach the hurricane bolters to the fists, but then there's the problem with finding a suitable place for the meltas/flamers. I think that two sets of weapons will add unnecessary bulk to the arms and I rather want to avoid that (I'm repeating 'rather' or 'think' because I'm not yet sure where I want to go with the model and where I'll eventually end up - sorry for that!).

 

As for Terminator power fists - I'd love to do that. Do you know which kit will give me three right fists to make a pair? As far Lighting claws go, they are rather out of the question because of the claws themselves.

[Brother Christopher]

With all the fuss caused by 8th Edition appearing on the horizon, it seems all to easy to let the true nature of the Crusade to become somewhat forced to the side. Yet, while editions and rules change, the Crusade is Eternal. In this vein, reminded myself that reading snippets of rules and worrying about the so-called Numarines slowly replacing the current range brings me nowhere nearer my ultimate goal, that is a fully painted Black Templar force.

 

The Crusade is also Eternal because I get side-tracked a lot and waste my hobby time on scratch building stuff and hoarding models, instead of actually painting something. I finally found some time to work on my Stormraven. I did most of the pre-highlighting (they need tidying up), as well as the stripes on front sides.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060228_zps8xv62wcg.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060227_zpshbiklhbx.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1060226_zpsabjcx8cp.jpg

 

I've made a bit of a mess with the stripes (got too many layers of paint in some places), as well as with the chains (which are not as even as I'd like), but overall I have to admit that I am rather pleased with how this turned out. After all, this is my first attempt ad painting stripes. As you may remember, I intended to add some small Maltese crosses on the white stripe, but I'll pass on that idea. Firstly, I am a bit lazy and don't want to make the extra effort - after my experience with the chains, I suppose that making the crosses symmetrical will be a huge problem; secondly, I don't want to mess the white stripe with additional layers of paint and I know that some corrections will have to be made to the crosses; and thirdly, the details I've already painted are quite nice and I don't want to make the front section too cramped - on top of everything, there's also the front wing/stabilizer that will go into the way of the crosses.

[AndrewChristlieb]

I like the chains, very cool.

[Marshal_Roujakis]

Tip on crosses and how to make them easily symmetrical...

 

I often do this on my vehicles, but if you want to add a Templar cross, then use a transfer, then paint over it...

they are a hell of a lot easier to apply on flat surfaces and painting over them makes it harder to determine if it's a transfer...

 

an example:

http://i1151.photobucket.com/albums/o622/Marshal_Roujakis/New%20Templar%20Box%202014/DSC_0403_zpsb3726d70.jpg

 

notice the smaller cross on the Assault Cannon...

You could do the same thing with a small white cross from the Infantry Transfer sheet from Forge World...

 

edit: quickly looked at FW... they don't sell the Templar Transfer sheets anymore... what you could do is put the black cross from the GW infantry transfer sheet and paint it white... that way you could get it symmetrical... also it should have a different sheen so you could spot it easier...

Edited May 15, 2017 by Marshal_Roujakis

[Bjorn Firewalker]

I like the colors. What do the chains symbolize? Are they meant to reflect those a Templar would use to bind his weapons to himself, or do they have a different meaning, i.e., "chains of command" (the Stormraven is a command vehicle)?

[Brother Christopher]

@Roujakis: I generally try to avoid transfers, after my initial failures with adding them way back when I took my first steps in the hobby. I dismissed them to the extent that I either completely ignore their existence or tell myself "nah, this isn't for me, I like to go full hardcore with miniatures". In a way, you reminded me about transfers and as I have so many sheets stacked somewhere, I actually might give applying them a try, with obviously 'masking' them with paint afterwards. Thanks for that! I'm not yet sure that I'll use them, but I'll do some testing later this week.

 

@Bjorn Firewalker: Great to hear that! Regarding the chains, apart from me going like "well, I've seen chains somewhere in BT iconography and I suppose it looks cool", I definitely lean towards using them on my Raven to represent Templars binding their weapons not let go of it even after death, or binding witches when the Marshal feels like making a proper bonfire.

 

On a different note, I got some special Warhammer money as a bonus and I'm planning to buy something. I'm considering getting a used Land Raider with the awesome, old, metal Hurricane Bolters and two sets of TL Lascannons or Saint Celestine with their bodyguards. What would you recommend?

 

I'll provide some additional context. I don't need or want any more infantry or Rhino-based vehicles. I already have three Land Raiders, but in the end I want four in my Crusade. The Raider available for sale is in a 'mixed' condition, say 7/10. The model is assembled and painted, so it will require a lot of effort on my part to strip the paint and I won't be able to paint the interior, which is honestly quite annoying.

 

Celestine is probably the only "Imperial hero" (apart from maybe Dorn) that I find fluffy enough to join my crusade. I also like the model a lot. The kit I can buy is new, all parts still in their sprues. There are also the 'Talons of the Emperor" - the miniatures are cool and the box itself is good value for money, but I struggle to find fluff reasons why a bunch of Custodes and Sisters of Silence should join my Crusade. Especially that I find bringing them to the tabletop by GW quite problematic, as it takes away from Custodes' mystery and awesomeness as the 'elitests' warriors and the Emperor's personal guard.

 

With all the talk about the New Warhammer, I am planning to restart actually playing the game, so I'd like my purchase to be viable for games. But there isn't much to work with in this area, because we don't know what changes will affect LRs and Celestine (or how will she stack up against Guilliman). I assume that she will remain capable of joining Imperial forces and provide buffs. Considering my aversion to witches, that is why I kind of hope that she might be an asset to mitigate the absence of psychers in my army. On the other hand, the old-school LRC is amazing.

 

The third option that I remembered about while typing this is a Stormhawk. I hate the idea of a SM Interceptor; I already have two Stormtalons. But the model is unique - it's the only SM flyer GW managed to do right

 

There's also a fourth option, save the money for later or buy something proper, not toys

 

I'd appreciate any and all opinions; I'm really torn here.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Brother Cristopher

[AndrewChristlieb]

Old school Landraider all the way. Despite the issues with buying used it's a great looking piece and unlike the other options you never know when another may pop up for sale. Being Templars I'd rate chances of using a lrc in game at some point as 100% and given we don't even know if Celestine will be useable by us or what they're going to do to flyers... 50/50 at best right now.

[Brother Christopher]

Yeah, I kind of know that. The thing that puts me off from buying the LRC is that I got recently a bit tired of reclaiming used miniatures. I had an utterly terrible experience with a squad of assault marines which -- as it seems -- were not even glued, but welded. And I feel a bit hesitant to sing money in a larger, more expensive used kit. Having said that, the LRC itself looks okayish. And the metal parts are not only OOP (and as such I see them as a collector's item), but also indestructible. And I think that the hurricane bolters look better than the plastic ones.

 

Still, I imagine that Celestine will be a choice for all Imperial forces and should remain a viable pick. This conviction leads me to believe that I essentially want to choose between a BT collector's item and a character boosting my army on the tabletop, when it comes to playing.

 

It's a shame that I need to make my decision now, with limited info about the new edition. 7th bloated to a considerable degree and each time I tried to come up with a list, I felt that what I am producing is automatically 'sub-par' because not only I don't want to field psychers, but I don't want to (or can't) use proper characters available to Imperial forces and my only 'big' ally is an Imperial Knight, which doesn't compare to a Primarch, despite them costing roughly the same points. Celestine would kind of change that, but GW appears to be marketing an more all-rounded, troop-oriented approach to armies, so who knows.

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

Maybe this will help you...

 

 

 

Do it... it may hurt a bit now, but you will NOT regret it in the future!

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for more inspiration and not allowing me to forget how cool the old variant is. I'm trying to negotiate a better price. Though, my intention to buy something has grown somewhat weaker after GW releasing official info about the new Marines. Luckily, I already have most of my Crusade assembled and have the luxury to completely ignore the new stuff if need be.

Edited May 16, 2017 by Brother Cristopher

[Marshal_Roujakis]

Maybe this will help you...

 

 

 

 

Do it... it may hurt a bit now, but you will NOT regret it in the future!

 

As indestructible as those guns maybe... I'm still disappointed that you didn't drill the barrels... or at the least painted a black dot to represent barrel holes... how're those guns going to fire Brother when they don't have a place to eject bullets out of... :p

[Brother Christopher]

As I don't want to spam Canadian_F_H's thread, I'm taking this here.

 

Marshal_Roujakis, on 16 May 2017 - 1:13 PM, said:

    @Brother Christopher: I'd take you on... but I kinda smell a Crusade Expansion coming... []

 

Yeah, I've been thinking the same. Something's coming. Regardless, will you indulge me and accept the challenge? Paint a squad of 5 Marines and I shall respond in kind. Just to remind ourselves in this dark hour that Space Marines are cool without needing to be further beefed up on steroids by some uncanny acts of heresy committed in tandem by Guilliman and Cawl?

 

The challenge is also out there. If you feel uncertain about the new Marines, save your time and take up your brushes. I. Dare. You.

Edited May 16, 2017 by Brother Cristopher

[Marshal_Roujakis]

As I don't want to spam Canadian_F_H's thread, I'm taking this here.

 

Marshal_Roujakis, on 16 May 2017 - 1:13 PM, said:

    @Brother Christopher: I'd take you on... but I kinda smell a Crusade Expansion coming... []

 

Yeah, I've been thinking the same. Something's coming. Regardless, will you indulge me and accept the challenge? Paint a squad of 5 Marines and I shall respond in kind. Just to remind ourselves in this dark hour that Space Marines are cool without needing to be further beefed up on steroids by some uncanny acts of heresy committed in tandem by Guilliman and Cawl?

 

The challenge is also out there. If you feel uncertain about the new Marines, save your time and take up your brushes. I. Dare. You.

 

No Pity! No Remorse! No Fear!

These have been the credence of our Chapter founded even before the Arch-Traitor's Father broke from his Oaths to the Emperor and the Imperium... A Chapter which once belonged to a Legion of Heroes that stood and struggled when the Emperor himself fought among his Angels of Death. To speak these words in moments of hatred or in moments of triumph is to call upon the blood of our gene-fathers to boil hot in our veins. To don the tabard and the cross of Sigismund is to become these words.

 

Accept Any Challenge, No Matter the Odds

These are more than just words, these are convictions spoken aloud during the beginning of a Crusade, when the anointed Champion repeats the same words of Sigismund upon the Gates of Terra 10 Millennia ago during the greatest war of all time. This conviction brings out the stalwart heart in all of us, to rise up against all challenges until there are no longer any obstacles to face or that we have been completely destroyed. Conviction to go against any and all enemies until there are none left standing in our path, these are the vows that lie within each and every letter of those words. To be a Black Templar, these words are no longer a conviction, but a way of life.

 

TLDR: Challenge accepted...

Edited May 16, 2017 by Marshal_Roujakis

[Brother Christopher]

I am pleased to hear this, brother (I prefer the longer version, but "TLDR" always makes me chuckle). Shall we agree on a deadline? Let's make this a 'mini challenge' with before and after pictures in our respective threads, shall we?

[Marshal Wolfhart]

A squad of five it will be! Challenge accepted!

[AndrewChristlieb]

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

Paint 5?

 

​CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

 

Just name the parameters!

[Marshal_Roujakis]

Brother... what have we done!?

 

:D

 

Well, my thread is due to a mere recent update... but I really suck at organizing things like these :p

Maybe the deadline will be on the release date of 8th ed.?

I know the release date should be the same day that they unleash those NuMarines... so that should make it

ironic and appropriate ;)

[Brother Christopher]

Wehey, awesome! I'm excited to see the zeal spread.

 

Before the Dawn of a New Age

++ The Challenge ++

 

Some Context: With the release of official information about the Primaris Space Marines (I still struggle to accept the cheap name), I found myself wasting too much time reading comments online and worrying about the fate of the current Space Marine range. While I still find GW's decision abhorrent, I relatively quickly came to terms with the changes and decided to move on. For the time being, I doubt that I will include any of the New Marines in my Crusade and stick with the army I chose all those years ago, which as I think of it, has always been subject to 'mistreatment'.

 

What saddens me is all the time I let pass in my grim pessimism and worry. I decided to reforge my uncertainty and anger into action and I appreciate that others expressed the intention to join me in this symbolic 'Crusade'.

 

The Purpose: If we happened to falter, to remind ourselves that the Black Templars, even those turning into 'Squat-Marines' (or for that matter, especially 'Squat-Marines') are as awesome as ever and their status in no way is or ever will be impaired by the New Marines.

 

The Details: Paint and base a squad of 5 Power Armour Crusaders, preferably Initiates, but any PA choice will do. The preference is motivated by them being troops, just like the 5-man Primaris Squad we officially know exists. This way we will prove that our knights not only may match, but also can outdo the New Marines thanks to their experience, organisational flexibility and brotherly bonds. Regarding their wargear selection, I see no reason why we should adhere to the wording of the Codex, so I propose full flexibility and freedom of choice. This will allow us to fill any potential gaps in our force and scoff at the restrictions the New Marines follow. We shall complete the models not later than the day 8th Edition is released. Moreover, to prove our devotion and further spread zeal we shall provide at least two pictures (before and after) of the Templars selected for the Challenge in our respective Crusade Threads.

 

tl;dr

What should I do? - Do something for your Crusade. Paint and base any 5 PA Marines. Take and post before and after pictures in your threads as well.

Why? - Just for fun. And to show your burning zeal and spread the fires of wrath.

Any time restrictions? - Yeah, make sure they're ready before 8th Edition drops.

 

 

PS: To anyone interested, we could agree on a shared Crusader Badge to paint on the guys.

[Marshal_Roujakis]

Why don't we have a thread for it?

 

A small Crusade Expansion should be fine for the moderatii... someone just needs to keep tab of it and change the initial post once in a while to see who has finished and who has not... that way we can even have a small banner for it for our signature... especially since the bloody skirts couldn't be  to have an ETL this year...

 

Maybe we could pm one of them so that this becomes official... Ace and Honda will definitely be jumping in on this...