The Neurode Crusade

[Brother Christopher]

Sorry Brother that I failed to answer your question! Shame on me for that. I usually use a spare part, but I've also had success with making moulds from already painted models, without doing damage to the paint (even in the case of metal Sword Brethren models!). So no rule here.

 

I am currently working on a squad of 5 initiates with magnetised hands, so that I can swap melee and special weapons as required. These will use seargeants and sword brethren rules in 'regular' crusader (tactical) squads, but also may act as a command squad. Here's a work in progress on one of these guys. The main body is mostly done. For the time being, I'll probably arm him with a storm bolter and power sword. I'm also 80% into painting another one, this time bare-headed, who will get a combi-plasma and power axe.

 

Here are photos of the first guy:

 

 

 

 

The other three, whom I haven't started work on, I'll probably pledge for the Imperial Fists expansion. It's a shame I overlooked the event, as I could've submitted the entire squad before I started work on Saturday.

 

EDIT: Here's the other initiate, I mentioned before:

 

 

 

 

I'm quite pleased with the result. My only real complaint is that in my zeal I rushed the undercoating and primed the miniatures in sub-perfect conditions. In result, some detail are not as sharp as they should.

 

I'm looking forward to getting these guys done! With the addition of combi weapons, I feel that I'm steadily moving towards the moment when I'll have a reasonable/fieldable army painted and eligible for some group photos.

Edited October 2, 2017 by Brother Cristopher

[Marshal Reinhard]

Beast.

[The Spanish Inquisitor]

Good work, very characterful Sword Brethren !

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks guys for the comments!

 

I know that I said I'll finish the models above soon (or I even implied that they're the 'next' ones to be finished), but I found in my WIP case another initiate that was 85% done. The only things that needed to be done were the red eye lenses, purity seal and bolter. That is why... I figured it won't take much time to finish him before actually doing the two veteran initiates/sword brethren above.

 

 

 

Now, before I start painting stuff tomorrow (or in two days' time) I need to make up my mind on how I want my power weapons painted. I'm planning to do some research in my spare time. This is a huge step for me because I always painted them in plain metallic, without any glow or lightning effect. Now, however, I'm looking for new ways of adding colour to break the blacks (and monotony) and this seems like a good idea. I probably don't want to go crazy with the added colours, though; just something subtle, but I still don't have anything specific in mind. Do  you have any tips?

[Marshal van Trapp]

I usually paint my powerweapons with a colored glow, usually red, by first painting them silver, then going over them with super thin layers of red just to give rhem a red sheen but particularly focusing on the edges to give it a glowy effect

[Brother Christopher]

Interesting (with reservation that I'll probably go with blue or turquoise). Do you mean watered-down paint by 'super thin layers'? Watered-down and transparent, having almost wash consistency?

[Marshal van Trapp]

Basically yeah, you want the flatter part of the weapons to only have a sheen of the color and the edges to have a bit more to make it appear almost glowy

[Brother Christopher]

Okay, thanks! The way I imagine it, this should work. I'll give it a try soon.

 

***

 

In the meanwhile, I tried to put together another list. But I'm at a loss here and need some feedback from the more experienced brethren. The point limit is 1500. I'm not interested in 'competitive' gaming, so I'll be looking for someone wanting a friendly match. The list is a result of many compromises (that I'm afraid might have compromised it!).

 

Here's what I've come up with:

 

HQ:

Captain, MC bolter, power sword (assists troops)

Chaplain (goes in Stormraven)

 

Troops:

Crusader squad, 5 Initiates, bolters, grav cannon, combi-plasma (goes in Razorback)

Crusader squad, 5 Initiates, bolters, grav cannon, combi-plasma (goes in Razorback)

Neophyte squad, 5 Neophytes, bolters or shotguns (infiltrates)

 

Elites:

Venerable Dreadnought, TL-lascannons, missile launcher (stays backfield)

Ironclad Dreadnought, chainfist, hurricane bolters, heavy flamer (goes in Stormraven)

Sword Brethren squad, 6 Veterans, powers sword, pair of lightning claws, power fist (goes in Stormraven)

 

Heavy Support:

Predator, TL-lascannons, heavy bolter sponsons (stays backfield)

 

Flyers:

Stormraven, TL-lascannon, TL-heavy bolters, hurricane bolters, stormstrike missile launchers

 

 

 

This leaves me with 41 more points to use for additional bodies and/or equipment (like special melee weapons for the Crusaders or another Neophyte with a heavy bolter/missile launcher).

 

I'm worried that the list does not have enough bodies or mobility. I hope that I have decent anti-infantry (2-3 heavy bolters, 2 grav cannons, 2 assault cannons, hurricane bolters) and anti-armour (6 lascannons, 1-2 krak missiles) potential, as well as a distracting close combat element. I'm thinking whether I should trade a backfield unit (Predator or Venerable Dreadnought) for more infantry?

Edited October 5, 2017 by Brother Cristopher

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

It all looks good, depending on what you're facing. About the only thing I would suggest would be to consider dropping one of the dreds and supplementing a CC unit in it's place, maybe.

Edited October 5, 2017 by SWORD BROTHER RYAN

[Marshal van Trapp]

Question, where is the stormraven some of those units are supposed to go in? Did you forget to add it or was it not even counted yet?

[Brother Christopher]

Well spotted, sir! What an oversight on my part! I've just edited the post with the list.

 

@Ryan, I'll think about it. There's still room in the Stormraven, after all. So maybe a second squad of Sword Brethren armed with power fists (I don't have models with thunder hammers yet). But I'm not sure which Dread to get rid of. I'd like to give the Ironclad a go and it could benefit from the mobility ensured by the Raven and re-rolls from the Chaplain. However, if I decide to drop the Ironclad, then the Predator will be left alone in the backfield.

Edited October 5, 2017 by Brother Cristopher

[Marshal van Trapp]

Honestly the zealous templar in me says to drop both the dread and predator and put more crusaders with cc weapons in but you need some tank busters just in case of knights, although i like triple lascannon predators so there is that

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

In my experience, the predator in the backfield will be just fine on it's own, no matter what you decide to do. I find that I can usually keep mine out of range of scary fire & still lay down the hurt on whatever I need to. But, I see the point of giving it the back-up of the VenDread. I don't have much experience with the Ironclad, but looking at it's stats tells me that putting this on the SR will definitely get it to where it needs to go.

 

Whichever way you decide to go, I wish you the Emperors Blessings.

[Brother Christopher]

Here are my two finished* Crusaders:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Finished for the time being. Obviously, the bases are not done yet and I'm planning to return to them after a longer period of time to retouch the highlighting and detail. I really have to remind myself to press on with my painting to get more of my Marines 'battle ready,' as I often get carried away and 'waste' time on detail I don't have time or skill to do properly.

 

For the next project, I'm thinking about something different. I realised that I have quite enough of infantry to put together a decent list, but my armour is lacking. Therefore, it seems a reasonable option to paint or update some of my tanks.

 

DISCLAIMER: You may see a Redemptor Dreadnought box in the background. To those of you who remember that I (to put it mildly) were not a fan of Primaris, much hasn't changed in that regard. I still find the idea behind them (with its implications for both the real world and the setting) disgusting. Unfortunately, it seems I'm showing double standards here and I feel rather bad about this, especially that I "bought something from GW" (and sent them an anonymous message which they have to interpret as me enjoying their new concept and line) despite being unhappy with the lacklustre Codex.

 

I therefore apologise to those with whom I stood firmly in the 'no-Primaris' camp.

 

What about the double standards, though? Having said that, despite this mild betrayal, I still stand firmly 'against' Primaris infantry. It's just... My lame excuse is this: after seeing the Dreadnought with the sarcophagus amour opened, I thought the model looks amazing and I want to give it a try. However, for the purposes of my fluff, this mech has nothing to do with Primaris (non-existent in my timeline) - it is just another 'Neurode pattern' vehicle, just like my scratch-built Stormraven or my scratch-built Vindicator/Rhino or scratch-built Land Raider or my WIP Caestus. It just happens that the Magos on Forgeworld Neurode together with my Crusade's Master of the Forge respond to the demands of the raging conflicts in unorthodox ways.

 

Following this line of reasoning, I'm also considering adding count-as Primaris, especially the 'broken' Hellblasters (these really should be more expensive in points!!). This might happen after I start playing and see for myself how beneficial the improved stat line is. The idea for the conversion is to use some of my excess number of Terminators as a base - the bulkier, more reinforced armour would represent the +1 A and W. Luckily, I'm successfully holding this idea at bay and not going through with it at the moment. After all, why waste precious Terminator armour?

[Kisada]

Confused by your complaint about a lackluster codex yet desire for a points increase for hellblasters because they're "broken".

 

Do you mean lackluster specifically for Black Templar?  Or Space Marines as a whole?

[Brother Christopher]

It needs stressing that the statement that the Codex is lacklustre is a personal opinion based almost solely on my feelings, so there isn't a strong "objective" argument behind it. It refers to the entire Codex, which probably could (or even should) be called Codex: Ultramarines, wherein the blue brand of Astartes is the only one that matters. The Black Templars, as I've always seen and played them, got even a relatively worse treatment because they are still a part of a ruleset that does not favour close combat. In result, we get nothing in terms of even a minor melee boost (with the exception to special rules bound to quite expensive special characters) to support the crusading and witch-hating theme.

 

So what makes me feel rather apathetic towards the book is what I'd probably call "a lack of options" (or access to the "wrong" kind of options, like needing to remember a list of stratagems). Having access to a handful of general rules/doctrines akin to our vows in the 4th Edition book would be nice and probably help with the blandness of the book. As I remember it, we always had rules helping us get into melee, often triggered by squad loses (and the CT doesn't cut it here, sorry) and some kind of psychic-protection. Now not so much.

 

On Hellblasters, they are just another shooting addition to the Space Marines already extensive line-up. The fact that they are cheap and good (and, regrettably, I like them) doesn't help with my issues outlined above. My complaint about their price is where I tried to be objective: with the 'stock' rifles having improved range and AP, they are the go-to Heavy Support choice. I just think it would be nice if point costs of the different plasma weapons would encourage more variety. As things stand now, it seems it is difficult to justify taking a non-Primaris plasma weapon squad.

[Brother Christopher]

I must say that I'm in a strange place now, when it comes to the hobby. On the one had, I'm still crossed and disappointed with GW to the point I consider at times to get rid of my army and am angry at myself for embarking on a Black Templars cruiser and starting the Eternal Crusade a Black Templar army. On the other hand, there are days I put an effort into forgetting about the disappointments and simply enjoy the hobby.

 

This is one of the latter days. I think that playing an actual game might help, but I want to have a fully painted detachment. In my attempts at putting together an army (while ignoring the reportedly terrifying smite spam, my army has not defence against which), I find myself including a bare, standard Chaplain. The problem is this: I don't have a bare Chaplain model. I have one with a Power Fist, one on a Bike, one or two with plasma pistols, but not one with the stock crozius abd bolter/bolt pistol.

 

In this predicament, I remembered that I had once bought a squad of used bikers which included a ruined cherry. Among the bikers, there was a torso of an OOP Chaplain.

 

 

Although he is severely wounded, the Neurode Crusade shall make sure he recovers and the days of his dacades-long glory do not pass. Hence, Chaplain Oldy will be fitted with suitable bionic replacements for the missing limbs and compensated for non-limb losses with the Crusade's finest artificer's armour and adamantite mantle.

 

This means that I want to go cheap and restore the model to a servicable state. And I intend on having a lot of fun in doing so! I haven't done any proper converting for a long, long time.

 

For the legs, I've already chosen the most plain, regular, old, squatting tactical legs that I scavenged from another used model. However, I want to repose them and add green-stuff ornaments to the greaves. Apart from the regular press-moulding routine, this time I will need/want to do some rudimentary green-stuff sculpting, as I would like to make some Emperor's Chamption-style sabatons for the Chaplain. He will also get a cloak (which I'm not brave enough to sculpt, but instead want to give press-moulding a chance! I'm curious whether I'll be able to reproduce such a large piece with acceptable success), a tabard and some fancy, custom ornament on top of his backpack.

 

I'm not a huge fan of this Chaplain's sculpt, but it is a classic model and every such model deserves a second chance (or life). Sure, today's designs are more detailed and more flashy and, arguably, 'better' but I feel that the old one's deserve some love, or maybe even respect, especially should they find their way to a devoted. I just hope I'll be able to carry out all my ideas in a way to do this old piece of metal justice.

 

I'll post updates as soon as something meaningful is done, which will probably take a while because I'm limited by my skills and the curing time for green stuff.

 

Cheers!

[Cognative]

Don't worry too much about smite spam and the likes. Unless of course your play area is WAAC-y. I have had great success in 8th edition with my Templar. Land Raiders are terrifying once again. The Emperors Champion is straight murder. Helbrecht and Grimaldus are good picks for melee armies. Dreadnoughts are better. My win rate is approximately 80% in 20-30 games (generally 2k games).

 

Yes, melee is still weaker this edition. But only if you plan on playing high end competitively should you worry about the Templar not holding their own. I'm not thrilled about our rules, I wish Chaplains could DTW, but let me tell you when you make an 11" charge on the reroll it feels :cuss: good.

[Brother Christopher]

I am sure you're right! The thing is, I'd like to have a counter to more threats on paper. On the tabletop, I probably wouldn't care much - I believe in the Templar zeal which is a guarantee of success.

 

I also leave a photo of the progress on the Chaplain.

 

 

I hope that you'll be able to see something in the picture; the aquila and the skulls on the shins are press-moulded, the rest is the result of my (*cough*) craftsmanship. I'd like to assure you that in real-life this looks way better. Frankly, at this stage I'm even quite confident that after I apply some paint to the model, the legs will look great. Well... I hope so.

[Marshal Wolfhart]

The greaves look awesome considering where they're from :P  i get a feel they would look very impressing when painted like stone/marble (which would also make the tiny cracks a boon!), which would in turn support the old venerable vibe.

 

Considering smite spam and such: If you cross people who play the system for power, you gotta go with it and add some allies that fill your needs, turn down such games or roll with the punches and make the best of it.

In my experience 8th is really fun and i do have some serious douchebags in the local store which go from slight mistakes (from the old edition, you know, they're not fast learners) to outright cheating if things don't go their way, on top of some rock hard lists. I enjoy standing next to the table, helping their opponents and dismantling their rules mistakes and cheats :P Still i always feel like i have a chance, and i didn't have a onesided game besides my very first in 8th (my eldar got tabled by an ork horde turn 3).

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for the feedback. The stone/marble idea is a nice way of adding colour to the model; I really need to think about it, although I usually refrained from adding stone bits to my Templars, the sole exception probably being a couple of Terminator Cruxes.

 

The Chaplain will be ready for priming today. I'm waiting for the most recent green stuff additions to cure and now only need choose an arm and weapon. any suggestions regarding the latter? A bolter? A bolt pistol? Or maybe nothing, with the implication that he has a holstered pistol?

 

Here's what I came up with the backpack.

 

 

[Brother Christopher]

The converting is done. The OOP pewter Chaplain stands again. Now I only need to get the base done and his ready to be painted!

 

 

 

 

 

Can't wait to get to painting him.

 

Let me know what you think!

[Marshal Wolfhart]

I#m not jealous. I just got a really bad urge to learn how to do press molds all of a sudden. Got nothing to do with that handsomly restored chaplain, i swear

[Brother Christopher]

It isn't hard, I highly recommend it! It's a great way to customise your miniatures in unique and (after the initial investment in green stuff) cheap ways if you're not comfortable with your sculpting skills. If you want to get into it, you should look into Instant Mold (if it's still manufactured) or Blue Stuff.

[The Spanish Inquisitor]

Kudos for the green stuff sculpting, especially on the legs