The Neurode Crusade - Updates and Fixes to HQs and Elites

[Brother Christopher]

Love to see where your Land-pulsor goes. Was thinking of making one for my BT force.

 

I made a land-pulsor already for my raptors army if youd like to see it.

Thank you for dropping a comment! I would like to apologise for my late response - I've been away for a holiday and wanted to remain offline as much as possible. Sure, I'd love to see your version of the vehicle - I'm still looking for inspirations!

[Marshal Reinhard]

Love to see where your Land-pulsor goes. Was thinking of making one for my BT force.

 

I made a land-pulsor already for my raptors army if youd like to see it.

Land-pulsor is now my official terminology for any conversion of this nature.

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

What about a Repulsor with Hurricane Bolters? Would that count as a Repulsor Crusader?

[Brother Christopher]

What about a Repulsor with Hurricane Bolters? Would that count as a Repulsor Crusader?

Don't tempt me, don't mention this ;) It's taken me way to long to decide on the weapon configuration and I intend to try to keep it more or less in line with the original vanilla Repulsor; so two sets of stormbolters it is! Only they will be probably mounted on a small, automated turret on top of the main turret. It remains to be seen how it turns out, though.

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

 

What about a Repulsor with Hurricane Bolters? Would that count as a Repulsor Crusader?

Don't tempt me, don't mention this It's taken me way to long to decide on the weapon configuration and I intend to try to keep it more or less in line with the original vanilla Repulsor; so two sets of stormbolters it is! Only they will be probably mounted on a small, automated turret on top of the main turret. It remains to be seen how it turns out, though.

 

But tempt I must! I'm magnetizing an upgrade kit onto my Executioner sometime after KnIghtfall is over! It just doesn't feel BT enough without them! I know it'll only be a cool add-on and only used in friendly games, but it's a fix for the GW model, like your Land-pulsor.

[Brother Kraskor]

The hurricane bolters would fit so well on an executioner... so much dakka!

[Brother Christopher]

 

 

What about a Repulsor with Hurricane Bolters? Would that count as a Repulsor Crusader?

Don't tempt me, don't mention this It's taken me way to long to decide on the weapon configuration and I intend to try to keep it more or less in line with the original vanilla Repulsor; so two sets of stormbolters it is! Only they will be probably mounted on a small, automated turret on top of the main turret. It remains to be seen how it turns out, though.

 

But tempt I must! I'm magnetizing an upgrade kit onto my Executioner sometime after KnIghtfall is over! It just doesn't feel BT enough without them! I know it'll only be a cool add-on and only used in friendly games, but it's a fix for the GW model, like your Land-pulsor.

 

 

Okay, I promise to keep on open mind in this regard ;) I'll need to see how the project shapes up to be and how draining it'll turn out. I even have a set of spare hurricane bolters from a Storm Raven. It probably wouldn't hurt to magnetise that...

 

The hurricane bolters would fit so well on an executioner... so much dakka!

Yeah, and it would fit the BT aesthetics. I kind of wish that GW didn't go in the direction of all the dozens of (different) rocket pods and stubbers and go with hurricanes instead, especially for the BT's. I mean, the meltas are nice, but apart from them being a novel option for the LR when LRCs were first introduced, I never felt that our chapter has a special affinity for guns that kill people by burning and/or melting them (when typing this, I also consider the new flamer thingy for Primaris Crusaders).

 

I am also happy to report that after my holiday, I recommenced work on the Land-Pulsor. Since I absolutely suck at designing things, I spent 1.5 hours today trying to design and glue symmetrically the front armour panel in place (with moderate success); as a reminder I am trying to recreate the front of a LR Achilles for this stage of the project. In the future, I might leave an option for a magnetised cover (using the top part of a LR assault ramp) to make it look more like a Repulsor. This, however, remains to be determined.

[Brother Christopher]

Depressing content! Read at your own responsibility!

 

So, it seems that my quarterly serious doubts about the sense of pursuing the hobby has hit me this week. It's sill amused with how I process this and that I have these quite regular relapses of thoughts like "all of this is a waste of time" and "I should sell this junk". I think that this time is a bit different - it's not the usual stuff that used to bother me and which I managed to get over with like the alleged superiority of Primaris Marines or the time I still need to process my stuff but rather a more general "what's the point of all of this". It kind of struck me how much shelf space it takes to store the models in boxes and it got me thinking how much space I'd need to display the models (which is one of my main sources of motivation). But, more importantly, I realised that it's very unlikely that I'll use the models for gaming. And it's not about the BT rules or even the rather apparent phasing out of non-Primaris Templars (the fact that there are no regular Sword Brethren or Emperor's Champion options is a disgrace) but rather the rules bloat (core rules, confusing and sometimes counter-intuitive keywords, 'big' relics, 'small' relics, stratagems, warlord traits, litanies, not to mention specific-mission rules or the crusade mode) - the learning curve to get into regular gaming seems to become more and more monstrous. In the great scheme of things, I don't even bother waiting out an entire edition, but 9th will probably still stick around for some time and, considering the direction the game mechanics are heading into, I'm quite pessimistic about the potential 10th decision.

 

Luckily I think myself to be quite a reasonable person. Even though I become quite emotional and pessimistic about my involvement in 40k, I still have enough willpower to recognise the moments of weakens and sometimes reforge them into something positive. In other words, over the years, I've managed to learn from these experiences and locate sources of my problems with the hobby and my attitude thereto (when everything is okay, I tend to get complacent and not introspect too much).

 

End of introspective content.

 

This time, I concluded that enough is enough - the Neurode Crusade is completed* - all things considered, I am quite certain that I will definitely not be buying anything more*, including potential new models. I am still considering selling my collection of bikes, though. However, knowing me, I'll probably keep them - after all, a BT force needs some light cavalry!

 

In other news, because of my grumbling and low motivation, I will temporarily suspend progress on the Land-Pulsor - I think I'll need to paint a miniature or two for a mental boost: after all, it's nice to work on something quickly achievable to see that projects can be closed. My indifference to the Knightfall event doesn't help either. I'll need to work on that and maybe push myself to prep an actual, fieldable unit and pledge it for the event.

 

I also counted my Rhino-sized tanks and ordered some black and grey rattle can primers so that I can start working on infantry models that I recently assembled.

Edited November 23, 2021 by Brother Cristopher

[9x19 Parabellum]

This was the most depressing thing I've read in the last week, fo sho.

[Brother Christopher]

I'll add a depression alert! Sorry to hear that, but it's not all bad - from this kind of sombre stuff, I usually emerge with a boosted morale and make a couple of pushes on the hobby front. I'll just need to recalibrate my motivation. One thing's for sure, despite the occasional recurrent negativity, I'm not quitting! The Neurode Crusade will be what I wanted (but couldn't afford) it to be some 8 years ago, regardless of the how 40K changed.

[Brother Kraskor]

The Neurode Crusade can complete... and the Primaris BT crusade begin 

[Brother Christopher]

Completed - as in mustered - is very different from completed - as in painted ;)

 

We'll see in two years' time - I'm not saying no since I've been toying with an idea of a kill team or other small force (max. 20 models) comprising of highly-converted models based on Primaris. I rally want to avoid adding more models to the to-do list, so until I get my stuff done, no purchases for me ;) This is also very healthy since I'd probably spiral out of control, again.

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

I'm using Knightfall as an excuse/reason to get these bulky boxes of models I've been collecting for 2+ years painted finally. Maybe when you get a model or two under your belt, you can join and get that motivation back. If not, then take your time and enjoy what you have. I think we all need to be able to step back and say "Yeah, that's good." and call the collection complete before we turn around and realize that we've spent the games' namesake in money on little plastic men! (40K=$40,000 or equivalent)

[9x19 Parabellum]

Well at the end of this Knightfall, I will have, after Grimaldus/Helbrecht/Crusader/Sword Bro kits get released, around 4,500 pts of fully painted primaris Black Templar force.  At that point I'll be calling it quits for BT and moving on to another project.  But I'm hoping that 2022 sees a LOT of BT play because I intend to make up for lost time with my BT next year.

[Metic]

Your kit bashes were always a joy to look at and it was always an inspiration.

[Brother Christopher]

I'm using Knightfall as an excuse/reason to get these bulky boxes of models I've been collecting for 2+ years painted finally. Maybe when you get a model or two under your belt, you can join and get that motivation back. If not, then take your time and enjoy what you have. I think we all need to be able to step back and say "Yeah, that's good." and call the collection complete before we turn around and realize that we've spent the games' namesake in money on little plastic men! (40K=$40,000 or equivalent)

 

Oh, incidentally this week I made a rough estimate of how much I could get for the army if I wanted to sell it quickly, rounding down the prices significantly... The amount is quite staggering and I expect to have paid twice that over the years - luckily this one thing doesn't concern me.

 

In the end, I decided to join the event - I remembered that quite recently I got a couple of metal models that I wanted to work on, so I stripped them of paint and primed them. Thanks for pointing this out, I mean how fun and motivating Knightfall can be.

 

Well at the end of this Knightfall, I will have, after Grimaldus/Helbrecht/Crusader/Sword Bro kits get released, around 4,500 pts of fully painted primaris Black Templar force.  At that point I'll be calling it quits for BT and moving on to another project.  But I'm hoping that 2022 sees a LOT of BT play because I intend to make up for lost time with my BT next year.

 

That's quite a force, Brother! I hope that you'll put it to good use and have a lot of opportunities to field it, preferably with success, but at the very least for the fun times of playing the game!

 

Your kit bashes were always a joy to look at and it was always an inspiration.

Thank you, Brother! That's very nice of you to say - I don't consider myself a good kitbasher, i.e. I feel like I don't do that too often. Still, I have some conversions in my force that I'm quite proud of! I'm honoured that you liked them and found them inspiring :) Also, I feel that I haven't seen you for a long time here, though! It's nice hearing from you.

 

***

 

On the topic of progress, as mentioned above, for the short-term thrill of being able to complete something, I decided to join Knightfall with three pewter models: two from the box - if memory serves me well - sold as "Master of the Chapter", i.e. a cool, laid-back guy casually resting a rather unique thunder hammer on one shoulder, and angrily clenching his cape and another holding a helmet in a power fist; as well as a Techmarine which, when I got into 40k, used to be my favourite Techmarine model that I couldn't get because the rules weren't that good and the asking price for that miniature was brutal for my student budget.

 

Also, I made an important decision regarding... furniture. I decided to get a glass display cabinet thingy to showcase my army. Provided that there are no problems with supply, I should get it on Saturday and - I must say - I don't remember being this excited for a piece of furniture ever. 40k aside, I'm excited for freeing up quite a lot of storage space in my cabinets!

[Brother Christopher]

A quick update - I've started painting the Techmarine. I managed to get the base colour of his armour, the remaining biological part of his face, purity seals done, as well as get the first layer of silver metallics done.

 

 

 

Once again, I totally improvised with the red Mechanicus armour. But I think it turned out quite well - painting it was a blast and I felt I got nice results very quickly, unlike with black armour.

 

I decided to paint him all red; with the next Techmarine (the one from the Techmarine + Servitors kit), I think I'll incorporate more black to show his devotion to the chapter of origin. I'll end up with a nice mix of liveries for my Techmarines; one is already all in red, while another has an equal mix of black and red.

 

Maybe I'll add a bit of black to this guy's arms (to symbolically show that while he is a devoted servant of the Mechanicus, his arms - an important tool! - are still at the Chapter's disposal); I feel that this might work well. The same goes with the casing of servo arms.

 

Let me know what you think about the progress so far!

 

On the topic of the display cabinet I mentioned, I didn't get it. It turned out that it sold out overnight and Ikea is waiting for a re-stock which is due by the end of the year. That's a real bummer since I don't like going to Ikea, but my missus was very happy about or little trip. The most annoying thing is that I can't find a similar piece of furniture anywhere, especially in that price range.

Edited November 28, 2021 by Brother Cristopher

[Brother Christopher]

I seem to keep making the same mistake over and over again. I set out for each painting project with the intention to cut corners and speed paint stuff and end up spending way too much time and effort on miniatures. It sure is a pleasure, but it's not good for getting through the backlog.

 

Another WIP photo of the Techmarine; with between 4 and 5 hours already in, I still need to get the servo arms done and he'll be ready. The model is the best example of old-school Warhammer clutter - yeah, he's busy as hell; the hands and weapons are way out of proportion, but - as is the case with many model models - once you get around to painting, you keep on discovering more and more little details.

 

Please try and disregard the glossiness - with medal models, I tend to use a brush-on varnish now the moment I finish painting a model or a part thereof - it's too easy to damage the paint so I want to reduce the risk of ruining my work and wasting my time. I will remove the gloss later, probably in spring :D when I can use my rattle can varnish outside.

 

 

 

And a close-up of the remote thingy:

 

I discovered that, unfortunately, the model isn't the original thing It turns out that he's using a slightly different axe than he should. The previous owner must have used the axe from the Techmarine and Servitors kit; luckily the design isn't that much different and the price for this OOP model was great. Still, it's a bummer that I don't have the right piece of wargear.

 

I think that I'll alter the axe for the my other Techmarine (in Finecast, unfortunately, which should make conversions easier).

Edited November 30, 2021 by Brother Cristopher

[Brother Christopher]

Aaand, with a couple of more hours in the bag, the model is finally ready:

 

Close-ups of some details:

- top/back of his head:

- plasma-cutter:

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Lovely !

[Urkh]

A true scion of Dorn and the Omnisiah.

[Brother Carpenter]

Looking good.

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for dropping a comment! I greatly appreciate it and, frankly, it fuels my motivation. And a mix of fuelled motivation and slow business professional-wise results in more progress on the Knighfall vow!

 

 

 

I hope that you don't mind me posting half-finished things here. The model with the power sword and power fist is basically done (well, obviously minus a head and backpack); the other one is around 60% done. I also feel that finally, after all those years, I beginning to get a hang of shading capes... It's about time. I'm quite happy with the sword+fist guy's cape; the thunder hammer guy's cape turned out worse, but it's mostly because of the texture and imperfections of metal (i.e. apparently I didn't prepare the model well enough!). However, I don't mind it - at this stage, I really want to focus on the big picture: the army is supposed to look nice as a whole... one day.

 

I mean, I'd like to be able to devote more attention to individual models and up my painting game, but I feel that the current standard is more than enough for my needs and already leans pretty heavy on the 'time' aspect of the quality-to-time scale.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Brother Cristopher

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

Looking great! And you posting half or mostly finished pieces is great. Keeps me motivated to make progress on my own vow. 

[Brother Kraskor]

I've always liked those models but thought it difficult to convey 'Templar' from them. But that maltese cross on his left shoulderpad does it just right imo.