A Dark Song - Kobrakei's painting log - Darkshroud

[Kobrakei]

Come traitor, and let my brothers' weapons sing you a tale of woe.'

 

Luenoc Bueni, Master of Sanctity, Crimson Shrikes Adeptus Astartes

 

[Kobrakei]

'Power Armour will win a battle. Terminator Armour will end a war.'

 

 - Unattributed

 

So, I've been working on Squad Zelaange for a little while now. They've been one of those units where I've been concerned that they might not look as great as I'd hoped, but when I painted the silver they all seemed to click nicely. The black and silver needs highlighting, and the other few details such as eyes and purity seals will need doing, but they're rapidly getting there.

 

As for the guy in black at the back, well, Deathwatch Terminators are cool, right...?

 

[That Guy Matt]

Yeah they are...:-) Keep it coming.

[Kobrakei]

Keep it coming you say?

 

Oh, OK then. If I must...

 

 

Short of some Vanguard Vets, and main battle tanks (a couple of Vindis are calling out to me) this'll be the last main purchase for the Shrikes. There will be small units of things after, but it seems an ending is in sight I guess

 

Some interesting ideas running around in my head for these units. You want a hint? Everybody loves hints! Try and guess who this could be about.

 

'Three. There are always three. No more, no less. They are the Equilateral, and we are witness to their wrath.' - Attributed to Zaidan Shraane, Captain, III Company, Crimson Shrikes Adeptus Astartes.

Edited June 22, 2015 by kobrakei

[JeffTibbetts]

I was going to say three drop pods for the Skyhammer formation, but I think you would have mentioned that. 

[Argent aquila]

i'll throw out a wild guess and say predators.....

tanks are fun, afterall! (not to mention, 3 stormravens would be a "little" overkill.) 

[Kobrakei]

Ah gents, at the risk of making it too easy...they're in the picture :P

[Aqui]

Short of the required Tactical units, might you be aiming for a Demi Company or two?

[Kobrakei]

Oh, I have the Tacticals ;) Three squads all painted. Funnily enough, I'm not a massive fan of the Demi-company. I usually use Pedro Kantor, and like using some Sternguard as well due to the Obsec they get. The demi-company limits that quite a lot, plus I tend to play 1500 so it can be tricky to fit the Demi and some other fun toys in there. I'm sure I'll run one at some point, but probably at 1750 at minimum.

[Argent aquila]

Ah gents, at the risk of making it too easy...they're in the picture

 

haha, oops!

centurions it is, then.

[Aqui]

Oh, I have the Tacticals Three squads all painted. Funnily enough, I'm not a massive fan of the Demi-company. I usually use Pedro Kantor, and like using some Sternguard as well due to the Obsec they get. The demi-company limits that quite a lot, plus I tend to play 1500 so it can be tricky to fit the Demi and some other fun toys in there. I'm sure I'll run one at some point, but probably at 1750 at minimum.

I figured you had The units in the picture would have finished off two Demi Companies, even if at min level.

 

I had a (re)introduction game last Tuesday with a 1500pt Demi Company (nothing else). Whilst I lost, it was good fun. It was also the third ever game I played with the army I took

 

I am looking towards adding units (Terminator squad most likely, as Stuarts Ultra Gladius booted me 6-16! ). It'd be cool for us both to have a game at some point and do a B+C battle report, if you're interested?

[Kobrakei]

 

Oh, I have the Tacticals Three squads all painted. Funnily enough, I'm not a massive fan of the Demi-company. I usually use Pedro Kantor, and like using some Sternguard as well due to the Obsec they get. The demi-company limits that quite a lot, plus I tend to play 1500 so it can be tricky to fit the Demi and some other fun toys in there. I'm sure I'll run one at some point, but probably at 1750 at minimum.

I figured you had The units in the picture would have finished off two Demi Companies, even if at min level.

 

I had a (re)introduction game last Tuesday with a 1500pt Demi Company (nothing else). Whilst I lost, it was good fun. It was also the third ever game I played with the army I took

 

I am looking towards adding units (Terminator squad most likely, as Stuarts Ultra Gladius booted me 6-16! ). It'd be cool for us both to have a game at some point and do a B+C battle report, if you're interested?

 

 

Absolutely! I'd be very much up for that! And Yeah, that's my issue with the Demi...I always run a solid core of three Tact sqauds, but like to get inventive after that. The Demi is a little too restrictive for my tastes. I also lost my last game in GW against mono-Tzeentch Daemons, which you might have seen running about as the gent who runs them is in most weekends. I have some store-based personal honour to regain!

[Aqui]

Absolutely! I'd be very much up for that! And Yeah, that's my issue with the Demi...I always run a solid core of three Tact sqauds, but like to get inventive after that. The Demi is a little too restrictive for my tastes. I also lost my last game in GW against mono-Tzeentch Daemons, which you might have seen running about as the gent who runs them is in most weekends. I have some store-based personal honour to regain!

I haven't come across them yet. Whilst I get alternate weekends off, I don't always have time spare to linger in store when I'm off. If I can get enough painted soon, I'll play my BA DIY successor against you (if that isn't a reason to get off my butt and get my ETL vow(s) complete, I don't know what is! )

[Kobrakei]

Sounds grand...get painting! :)

[deathspectersgt7]

Want to see that fight . 

[Kobrakei]

Remember Martyr Blue? In that little tale, I also talked about his Brother-Knights 'Cerulean Invective' and 'Celestial Indigo' and the Knight House of Erritian. It's a little piece of background I'm especially pleased with, and something I've always wanted to expand on further, especially as they're very different to the noble Knights spoken of in the Knight codex.

 

How's this for an expansion?

 

[Kobrakei]

Here's what happens when you wait for Elder Scrolls Online to install. Banged some Cocteau Twins on and went to work! That pot of Nuln Oil was full when I started :S

 

Celestial Indigo is the Warden on the left, while Cerulean Invective is the Gallant on the right. Very eager to get stuck in, and they really shouldn't take long to paint, thanks to having painted Martyr Blue first.

 

[Kobrakei]

More work. What would a Knight of House Erritian be if he wasn't slathered in grime and corrosion?

 

[JeffTibbetts]

I love it. Someone needs to make a Typhus dip can. I'd buy it.

[Kobrakei]

The stuff is great, and really forgiving. All I do is slather it on, then remove varying amounts with a tissue and a clean brush for those hard to reach areas. But for such little effort it creates so much character :)

[MagicMan]

Those new Knights are looking good! 

 

 

Any chance of a group shot when they're done? Knights, Shrikes + Inquisitor. :)

[Kobrakei]

Absolutely! I've been meaning to get a Shrike group shot up, but it'll be so much more impressive with three Knights in the background right? And thanks, I'm hoping both Knights will be pretty rapid to get done, so not long to wait (he says) :P

[Kobrakei]

Seriously not sure what's got into me, I've done more work on two Knights in the same amount of time it took me to paint the silver on Martyr! Celestial's silver and griming is now done, and the next step before painting armour plates is to pick out areas in bronze and add some Nilkanth Oxide to get the weathering looking good. But in the meantime, here's some pictures of Celestial and a brotherly photos. You know, for the parent (me).

 

 

You know when you paint a model and some part of it stands out to you, the effect you've gone for seeming to have just worked perfectly? Looking at Celestial's battle cannon barrel makes me giddy. for some reason it's just worked perfectly with the grime and drybrushing.

 

And as for the armour plates, do you think this is enough of them?

 

 

The weather here in the UK is insanely hot for us at the moment, so spraying's out of the question for now. I'm hoping it cools down and I can get these plates ready to go by Sunday. We'll see, got a local three-day festival and a wedding to go to, so it might all get a little hazy!

Edited July 1, 2015 by kobrakei

[JeffTibbetts]

Funny you mentioned the barrel, because it jumped out to me as well. Really pulled it off. In fact, they're both coming together really well. Keep going!

[Kobrakei]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKHblp1BLz0

 

'Legend would have it that the Astartes know no fear. A funny tale, almost as if our transhumanity was not enough to intimidate. I feared something once, the same thing most of us would tell you. A small death on some forgotten hellhole, my deeds unremembered. When I was pierced upon the thorns, I saw the manner of my end. 

 

I do not die inglorious.'

 

Rylo Zelaange, Sargeant, I Squad, I Company, Crimson Shrikes Adeptus Astartes

 

'Within the first company of the Crimson Shrikes, informally known as the 'Thorn Wreath', there exists a distinct group of elites. Warriors that turn the tide of wars, turning certain defeat into outright victory. They fight exclusively clad in Terminator armour, teleporting into the heaviest fighting in a battle. We know them as the Laniidae.

 

When the Crimson Shrikes were founded, a cadre of twenty-nine neophytes were initially trained by three veteran warriors of their parent chapter, the Raven Guard. In honour of this, the Laniidae number exactly thirty-two Astartes at all times, never more, never less. They do not fight as per Codex structure, but in loose brotherhoods of between five to eight Astartes. To join the Laniidae is to become almost legend within the Shrikes, and rare is the Captain who was not directly promoted from their ranks. 

 

When a member of the Laniidae is killed, the rest of the First Company will meet and nominate one brother from each squad of the company, for a total of seven potentials. These seven are taken by the Laniidae squad they potentially will join into the wilderness of the Shrikes homeworld. There, the potentials and Laniidae will begin a great hunt for one of the great araknowyms that live within the megafauna. Immune to weaponary that would level a Baneblade, the hunt is long and arduous, and allows the Laniidae to decipher who will be the best fit for the unit. This will not only be at a physical level, but spiritually as well. When the hunt ends, the Laniidae will choose a successor for their fallen brother. The remaining Shrikes (if any survive) will return to their squads, never speaking of their ordeal. The new Laniidae will bcome a darker, morose soul, and some believe that the visions that take place during the First Company initiation ritual are somehow enhanced, telling the Laniidae of his eventual death. Whatever the truth of this, the Laniidae are shock troops beyond compare, willing to throw themselves into battles that even other Shrikes would consider unwinnable.

 

 

Squad Zelaange were foremost within the fighting during the Shrine War, taking on missions that other would have considered suicide. The fact that not one brother of the squad was killed is testamount to both the strength of Terminator armour, and the skill and self-belief of the Laniidae wearing it. It is however rumoured that Squad Zelaange were somehow aware that none of them would die during the conflict, and this resulted in their almost suicidal attacks, knowing this would not be their time to meet the God-Emperor. Whatever the truth, the Laniidae are heroes all.'

 

'Rituals of the Raven Guard and Successors' - Tominas Rotajz

Edited July 13, 2015 by kobrakei