Knights of House Cydonia, Taghmata Omnissiah and Skitarii

[JeffTibbetts]

Nice! Great to see them getting some table time. Do you plan to do some proper battle reports? I'm still wrapping my head around how to use Skitarii and Cult Mech, so I could use any advice or tips you come up with. 

[Battybattybats]

Hmm i'll see about some full-size battle reports, they are fun but i do have to avoid spilling too many beans in the campaign if any of my players view this thread and getting turn by turn pics can be tiring on my CFS. Also for a while there'll be just skirmish games and battlefleet gothic games in the campaign as people snatch up unaligned systems and do narrative skirmish missions for the first bunch of campaign turns, full sized 40k games won't be occurring till people try and take claimed systems.

I did discover the Techpriest is a solid beast, they took down the wounded Tyranid Prime in melee comfortably when it tried to tie the priest up while Termagants were dragging the Astropath (named Jani Mnemos ;) ) towards the board edge, then slaughtered most of the Termagants too stopping the Tyranids from claiming victory and then massacred the rebel guardsman (though in a truly epic moment he took 1 wound from a guard officer shooting a laspistol!). Most of this damage was done with the Macrostubber!

The rangers were pretty good especially when they got to rapid-fire range though i lost almost all of them in one round to an orbital strike from a master of artillery. I only used the Skitarii Doctrina in this battle, and they are very potent indeed, I'm going to need to practice those and the Canticles to make maximum use of them.

The Spyrers under the employ of the Rogue Trader Vasco Van Colombo (whose meeting with the Astropath was disrupted first by Tyranids pouring out of the manholes in the street and then the arrival of the other factions) took heavy losses but one managed to get the Astropath off the board. Vasco himself however was taken down by Termagants. I'm using the survival table from Horus Heresy book 4 but the Rogue Trader has an emergency teleporter rigged to teleport him to his ships Apothecarium the moment he loses consciousness so that would count as a +1 on the table.. which shifted him from dead to captured. So it was decided that a Termagant was the one teleported onto the ship!

So i'm currently planning a multiplayer Hunt The Termagant game using space-hulk tiles to see how many crew the Termagant can ambush and slaughter before it can be killed, then it'll be a multiplayer Battlefleet Gothic game as the ships that brought our skirmish forces to that world try and compete to get that Astropath off the Rogue Trader's Dauntless light cruiser!

[JeffTibbetts]

That sounds mad in all th right ways. Wow.

[Battybattybats]

Some not-great but it'll do pics

First the Astropath and the plastic Techpriest

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0007_6.jpg

I went with the bubble-look container on the back as used in one example in the Crusaders of the Machine God painting guide, i like to think of it as a grimdark lava-lamp :)

Here's a closeup of the bases

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0012_3.jpg

On the left one of the Sector Imperialis bases, on the right i used the circle-cutter tool to make one of the diamondplate plastic card, i thought of adding more to it but with this figure i felt keeping the base fairly plain seemed to work better. Though i plan to paint in some scuff marks from the spider-feet when i neaten up the black base rim.

Next up, my campaign NPC Rogue Trader Vasco Van Colombo

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0018_4.jpg

I painted him up very quickly while watching Nigel Kneale's The Stone Tape, the miniature is a VERY old plastic Imperial Wizard that came free with a white Dwarf long long long ago, i didn't base him or convert him as he'll likely return to fantasy use when the campaign is done and most of my friends are sticking with square-based old world fantasy rather than AOS.

Beside him of course are a team of Spyrers from Necromunda, after all a Rogue Trader certainly would have the wealth and opportunity to find and hire them.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0019_5.jpg

I've been playing with these miniatures since they were new, but only got to painting them for this campaign. I had forgotten that they are so old they have Marauder Miniatures not Citadel Miniatures on the slotta-tab, back when GW had some miniatures made by both companies!

Back in the day i contemplated the standard bright colours for the Spyrers but as predatory stalking murderers down in the Underhive, and also stinkingly rich 1percenters slumming it to murder the poor, i think that something both dark and wealthy looking would work better.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0020_4.jpg

So a dark dirty bronze highlighted with gold seemed just the ticket. And the bases i made much more rusted corroded and warped than usual.

[JeffTibbetts]

Spyrers were so creepy, and they still are. I didn't realized they were made by Marauder. They were a wholly-owned subsidiary, to get around monopoly laws, right? 

 

Anyway, some good stuff here. This is a fun project to watch. Keep it coming. 

[Battybattybats]

Yeah, going with the darker scheme really brought out the creepiness where i found the old bright colours as cool as they were at the time just looked to super-hero-y and were somewhat de-creeping.

I don't know the facts around Marauder but i did always assume it was as you say.

My next lot of work is some crew for the Rogue Trader's ship, so some of my inquisitorial henchmen i'd planned to be mechanicus characters will be put to use, i'll finish up some servitors and other things as crew hopefully if time and circumstance allows.

[Battybattybats]

No pics, but while i'm working an a myriad of things i found the short story Myriad at black library, a sequel to the novel Cybernetica which i read this morning and which i must admit has got me very fired up and excited :)

I'll also be getting the new Kill Team edition when i can afford it, i'm especially exited to see that Dragoons are allowed in the new Kill-team!
However it may be a few weeks before i can afford it because.... a plastic version of the Void Shield Generator is coming! At last this gorgeous piece of mechanicus terrain will be mine and the dread tragic wrong of the original being sold out before i got home from picking up my copy of the white dwarf when it was released will be made right!

Also i should mention that my Black Library art-print of the over art of the Skitarii Alpha from The Beast Must Die arrived and unlike the pics on the website the Skitarius isn't against a white background but has a fully painted backdrop! I'll snap a pic when i get some more of the minis i'm working on. It's just dull mold-line removal and circle-cutter work for now, but i'm working on a 1st ed servitor which will be part of the crew in the Hunt The Termagant game so it'll be an interesting experience once i put paint onto it as painting early edition GW minis always is.

[JeffTibbetts]

That Skitarii print looked great on the white background. I'm excited to see what it looks like. And yeah, a Skitarii kill team is absolutely in order for me as well. I really enjoy KT games and it seems to suit their fluff to a tee. 

[Battybattybats]

First, the art print!

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0001_4.jpg

The numbers are limited, here's mine

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0007_7.jpg

There's a lot of interesting details in the piece, not the least of which is the Skitarii Alpha seems to have the Orks behind him! But i particularly liked the dating detail in the sky.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0011_4.jpg

The old style imperial ships now almost entirely used by chaos by 40k but this book is set in the early post-heresy Imperium. A nice touch!

Now onto my projects.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0018_5.jpg

A mix of old and new there

Quite interesting looking at the games day exclusive forgeworld Arbite an the 1st ed servitor side by side! I think that servitor is half-ogryn or maybe this is what gene-bulking looks like.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0019_6.jpg

Some that i'd already done most of the painting but not yet based of i decided to base using the diamondplate so i had to carefully pry them off their bases and rebase them.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0022_1.jpg

And finally another angle on the cyber-mastiff. The trickiest part of the sector bases can be getting the miniature sitting well with the texture, in this case i moved the dog very far forward as this suited both the base detail and the sense of movement even though it's much further forward than i usually go with.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0026_1.jpg

Edited August 30, 2016 by Battybattybats

[JeffTibbetts]

That art is amazing. And yes, the ships are a great detail. Frankly I'm surprised the artist got that detail right. Good to know they're well-versed in the lore. 

 

And I'm liking the way these bases are going. Yours mesh well with the Sector Imperialis ones, I think. 

[Battybattybats]

So today i got a nice little something... the plastic Void Shield Generator!
I see what they mean, it's pretty complex a build in the pylons, and will be interesting to assemble. But one thing i noticed has me extra excited. And it's a little detail of texture.

Take a look at the huge opus part.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0002_5.jpg

Now that awesome texture on the cog.. that could be nicely done as perhaps beaten copper, but i'm thinking maybe having it (red) stone instead. It might be a bit of a challenge to paint though, so tips would certainly be appreciated.

[JeffTibbetts]

Man, I just want to mold that and make a bunch of them to put on my car, computer, around the house, etc. What a beautiful piece. 

 

As for the stone effect, I think a strong base coat, simple wash and drybrush will be your best friends. The texture is already there, so all you need to do is allow the wash and drybrush to bring it to life. The new (can we still even call them new?) washes have such a wonderful formula they should create great blends and transitions for you.

 

I'm really curious to see how this looks when you're done. It's a cool model that fits the Ad Mech aesthetic very will, I think. 

[Battybattybats]

Well if you do end up putting opus on your car, computer etc you have to post it up!

[JeffTibbetts]

I'm sure I never will because I don't plan to buy that VSG. But man, that's a heck of a base for terrain projects or real life applications. Imagine casting them in a durable resin and making them into all kids of stuff.

[Battybattybats]

Well i'm sure the bit-sellers will break up the kit a little at least, so the option of just getting that part may well be there for you. And indeed it would have a ton of uses from ensuring the Omnissiah's blessing falls upon the family transportation through to an amazing base for a display miniature or a small diorama.

Say perhaps putting in some damage to it and then pitting a Mechanicum and Dark Mechanicum miniature against one another atop it as a nice little Horus Heresy diorama.

[JeffTibbetts]

...Arena style. :D I like the idea of it suspended over a lava pit. ;) 

[Battybattybats]

Now it's time for some pics, a few snaps of some non-combat mechanicus.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0001_5.jpg

On the left is a 1st ed servitor who perhaps is a bit gene-bulked using some Ogryn, beside it is a 2nd ed cyber-familiar from the Skulz arch-magos, which i got second hand. Rather than a cyber-familiar i see this as one of the little short obese mechanicus adepts that the rulebook an edition or two ago was peppered with. Tradition has long forgot why the diagrams of maintanence repair and construction are to be printed on blue pages, but the book is so precious as to be locked and chained to him. On the right is a metal servitor, currently unbased as i haven't decided how to base the techpriest enginseer and servitors that i use currently as my techpriest auxilia unit in my Mechanicum (though i'll get the forgeworld ones eventually), there's still one more heavy bolter servitor of those yet to paint.

I forgot to get some good shots of the worn off stripes on the saw blade but this angle sows them a little bit and gives a better shot of the 1st ed servitor

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0013_7.jpg

Now for some more. Two are old friends i posted here before included just because i've finally based them but the rest should be new.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0017_3.jpg

A pair of inquisitor retinue figures that are very very mechanicus on either side of a plastic sword-bearing watcher-in-the-dark whose sword was removed and a little sculpting done to fix the robes.

So there we have a selection of civilian mechanicus. I'll make more from kitbashing at a later stage but for now these will serve a variety of narrative campaign purposes, most imminantly being the maintenance crew of a Rogue Trader vessel's engines that will have to deal with (i.e. try to survive) a pesky Termagant till the security forces of the ship arrive.

[Battybattybats]

Working on some fortifications and i thought i'd throw some progress pics up.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0002%202_1.jpg

I'm working out my fortification scheme, i'm deciding whether to do the ring in the middle of the panels gold or scuffed red, also what to have so on the outer facing of the buttresses.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0003%202_1.jpg

The turret is more done, but still needs the highlights on the bone and other details.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0005_5.jpg

The top i went with scuffed Gold, though not much of that is visible when the turret is on.

Meanwhile the Void Shield Generator is in a group of sub-assemblies

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0010_4.jpg

The large cogs are just sitting in place, they will be all painted before final assembly and hopefully the cogs will still turn when it's done, though i might need to varnish the cogs contact points so paint doesn't wear off from that. (someone somewhere surely must be putting a motor as well as lights into one i am sure!)

[JeffTibbetts]

Looking good! I think that ring would look great in gold. 

 

As for turning cogs, that's an amazing idea... 

[Cretheus]

Great use of old and new models. I forget how characterful alot of the mid 90's sculpts really are.

[Battybattybats]

Looking good! I think that ring would look great in gold. 

 

As for turning cogs, that's an amazing idea... 

I hadn't been expecting the kit to be designed so the cogs would still turn which was a nice surprise. A motorized one would be magnificent on the table, though might need a little care and a weak gentle motor, my long hair sometimes snags minis on the table as it is and the hobby is dangerous enough for fingers as it is without having them crushed by a terrain piece.

 

Great use of old and new models. I forget how characterful alot of the mid 90's sculpts really are.

Thanks! Yeah that period had such an explosion of creativity and artistic talent that the game has been carried on it's foundation for decades. It will be interesting to see how much returns with the new specialist games coming, Necromunda especially.

[Battybattybats]

Returning to a piece i started a while back...

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0021_1.jpg

I'll show a variety of angles for this one.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0022_2.jpg

First attempt with the tentacle maker, a bit tricky to get into place but i managed it well enough without too much loss of detail.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0023_3.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0024_1.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0025_1.jpg

The cog doesn't quite touch the jar but i kinda like that.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0026_2.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0027_4.jpg

So there's still the matter of liquid in the jar and to hold the brains in place.
I've had this for years without using it...

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0028_2.jpg

But i hear it may not be the best for the job. I have some old embedding resin, but it tends to be a little yellowish and i've not used it in maaaaany years and it may have gone off, so i might need to grab some new stuff which i hear can get a much more clear result. Advice is definitely welcome on that :)

[JeffTibbetts]

Yeah, two-part resin has a relatively short shelf life so I'd buy new. Kind of depends what you want, but I think a yellowish or milky fluid might even look better for this job. The model itself is great. I'd like to see a cap on that jar just for believability's sake, but I'm sure you're already planning that. 

[Battybattybats]

I was thinking the lid is currently under the robes in the (or an?) other hand. I'm planning to put a little blood for the blood god on that skull dropped at it's (feet?) and a little trail of it at the edge of the jar and another spot or two. which should tell a bit more of the sinister story :)
I might try a little yellow glaze in the resin to get a tint of yellow to it maybe. I'll give that some thought.

[Battybattybats]

Some more progress.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0006%202_1.jpg

It's now nearly complete, though i still have to decide on it's many small eyes

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0010%202_2.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0012_4.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0013_8.jpg

One down, another to go, that one to have the Battle Canon, however i may prioritise a few other things before i finish that one.

I also got the Deathwatch Chaplain, which originally was only available in the command tank set. It comes with a lovely sculpted base.. that it barely fits on which really emphasizes the need for the base size increase. So what to do with this lovely base?

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0015_5.jpg

Well i'd been meaning to base a number of inquisitors and others i'd planned to undercoat ages back and been delayed. Well now a number of those have sector imperialis bases. But one in particular fit quite nicely into the footprints of the chaplain (in more ways than one!)

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0018_6.jpg

Now i had been planning to put him on a diamondplate or mesh base, as he might end up on a ships bridge as often as on a battlefield but he fits too perfectly on that base, oh well.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f250/supreme_martian_overlord/DSCF0021_2.jpg

I guess i better hurry and decide on the colour scheme for my Astra Militarum. For the corpses on my Wall of Martyrs terrain, for some units to accompany my Mechanicus and Knights, for use in the Blackstone VII campaign and for some other less loyal uses not for this forum.