Loyalty and Mayhem - Aspiration

[hushrong]

Enjoy your vacation! Looking forward to seeing more work on these sternguard when you return.

 

I must also say I love the use of bits (that helmet really does it for me) and the pose of the champion. I think he would be more fitting with vanguard or assault marines but despite where you put him he will look like a boss. As for weapon load outs I am starting to go the way of "rule of cool" because if you are armed to the teeth with awesome weapons why not use them? Plus, it just looks cool.

[Pearson73]

Cheers hushrong, I am now refreshed and ready to crack on after some german sun.

As for the champion, I've been waiting to use that helmet for a while and combined with MK VIII armour it looks brutal, perfect for a merciless veteran killer. I rarely game as well so the rule of cool often takes precedence over function.

Made some slight progress on the Sternguard which have been vowed for the Imperial Fist Expansion, they need washes, metallics, neatening and basing, but here's some rough work:

Thanks for looking.

[hushrong]

Good to have you back! The Sternguard are also looking good. Did you magnetize the combi weapon selections?

[Pearson73]

Washes and metallics have happened so the squad is much closer to completion, mainly basing and weathering left now.

Squad:

@hushrong: Thanks brother, only one member of the squad has a magnetized weapon.

Thanks for looking folks.

[Pearson73]

Hi folks, the Sternguard are now complete:

Squad:

Sergeant:

Combi-Melta:

Combi-Grav (Magnetised):

Bolter:

Combi-Melta (Melta pistol attached to backpack):

I'm pretty happy with the squad and feel that my kitbashes blend in well with the metal casts. Returning to the command squad I've started scraping together a banner bearer which is proving tough due to the lack of body parts in my bits box...

Thanks for looking, all comments are appreciated.

[Pearson73]

Hey folks, been press molding some icons from vehicle parts for the Gordian Sons, they might be making their way into the command squad I've got lined up...

Still a bit rough and ready at the minute, but I'm pleased for a first try. I've also attempted this with the barrel of a multi-melta to see how it works on smaller components.

[deathspectersgt7]

Looking Good Brother . What no Chequred Bases ? you got me hooked on doing them.:)

[Pearson73]

Well folks, it's been one heck of a gap whilst I've been at uni, travelling and working and so on, however I'm now back for a few weeks and have plenty of projects going that I'd like to share and hopefully complete to an extent before I disappear again...

To start off with my Death Guard are looking to receive some gribbly reinforcements, unfortunately I've lost the WiP photos of the construction of this guy, but as can be seen, it's just layers of simple sculpting over a pingpong ball.

Continuing with the scratchbuild theme, my Warriors of Mayhem are set to receive some heavy support in the form of Land Raiders (still pondering which varieties these will be):

@DSS7 Thanks brother, glad to hear I've got you onto this most stylish (and tricky...) of basing, however I think I'll be limiting the marble halls to the feet of the Warriors, whilst the Gordian Sons and Death Guard slog through the mud.

Thanks for looking all, and here's to hoping that I can manage to focus and properly crack on with the hobby!

[Pearson73]

Fairly productive morning on the spawn, I learned that adding the tentacles before spraying was not the most brilliant idea, as they all formed clumps and became rather frustrating to paint; in future I'll paint the body and tentacles separately... I'm pretty happy with the painting of the body as it matches with the zombies and also the flesh of the Helbrute and Terminator Lord already in the force, however I'm really not sold on the colours I chose for the tentacles, so any feedback or ideas there would be great.

[hushrong]

Oh ho ho! Crazy, creepy spawn and you are building land raiders! Awesome!

[Pearson73]

Quick update on the Raiders tonight, the first one is nearing completion and is just having the details added, I'm also working on the weapon systems, specifically the lascannons and trying to work out a good way to scratch build them. Press moulding is an option I'm exploring, as is rolled paper/card as I don't have sufficient actual plastic lascannons or chaos cannon heads to kit out these Raiders and leave spares for future projects.

Lascannon Development:

Raider Detailing/Construction:

[Vairocanum]

That's pretty cool, the body of the landraider is looking good so far! 

[Pearson73]

A tad more progress with the Raiders, mainly just putting the other bodies together and starting to add the detailing to them. I've had a change of heart with regards to the loyalties of the Raiders and will probably be painting them in the colours of my loyalist Gordian Sons, I reckon I'll be building them as an Achilles, Hyperios/Phobos and either a Redeemer or another Achilles, but of the chaotic variety.

I've produced a possibility for the Achilles mortar, however I fear it may be too beefy for the stats, as it looks more of a siege cannon to me:

Additionally, true to my style I've started up another scratch build whilst waiting for the Raider sub-builds to dry...

Thanks for looking.

[Vairocanum]

I think the mortar will look fine after you add the four barrels to the tip. Drop pod is looking good so far!

[Pearson73]

More progress on the Raider weapons tonight with a prototype heavy bolter turret:

@Vairocanum: Thanks for the feedback brother, the pod is a great little project and is coming along pretty quickly now, it's about half done and looking like this:

Thanks for looking.

[Pearson73]

The pod's nearing completion now, just need to add the last few details:

As for the Achilles, I've added the four smaller barrels to the mortar/cannon, though they're certainly a bit rough at the moment:

[Pearson73]

Now then folks, paintwork has started on the pods, but the cream paint I use has completely dried up over my absence so I set to a bit more building...

Pod Progress:

As can be seen in the bottom of the above photo, I've been building up a reserve of press sculpted details for my loyalists:

I also realised that my marines are lacking in the sergeant department so have started knocking up a couple of officers to fill the breach:

Thanks for looking, feel free to comment and crit below.

[hushrong]

You need to get your hands on plasticard and start a forgeworld!

[Pearson73]

Recently I've been reading the Horus Heresy series and I've started to hanker for a legion force, however starting a new force isn't viable at the moment and I'm too fond of my DIY chapter to repaint them as First Founding. Now I've always thought of my loyalist chapter to be quite backwards looking, holding true to the Imperial Truth and acting more like a legion in it's organisation, so I'm thinking of following Legion rules (more as inspiration, as I barely play at all).

I'm torn between using Iron Hands and Imperial Fists rules, as my Chapter is, currently, descended from Dorn's sons, however from what little I've read, I'm preferring the Hands, both in character and in terms of warfare - brutal and crushing application of heavy force. The description of The Fall of the Lords of Gardinaal in Massacre is exactly how I imagine my loyalists to fight these days with cohorts of terminators holding the enemy in place to be crushed by squadrons of land raiders. Ruleswise I can see elements that I like in both legions, specifically the heavy use of breacher squads.

Regardless of the legion I pick, I know I'll want breachers in my force, so I started messing around scrapping together some shields:

As you can see above, I've also started putting together some officers for my force, first off, an apothecary/medicae. I'm unsure on what to do with the arms at the minute, though I'm happy with the main pose and head choice, so I've mocked up a couple of arrangements, he'll be receiving some additional pouches and containers too:

Irrespective of Chapter or Legion, all marine forces have company commanders and captains, and the Gordian Sons will be no different, I need to connect his sword hand to his upper arm yet, but I'm pleased so far:

@hushrong: One day I will brother, cardstock's all well and good, but it's certainly got its limitations.

Thanks for reading through folks, please weigh in on the above if you've got any comments or advice.

[Vairocanum]

The heavy bionics on the sergeant look cool! The captain is looking great too, nice choice of bits, looking forward to seeing more!

[hushrong]

Legions are always awesome! I go for the Imperial Fists as they were my first painted army but I am using that term very freely. As for following old edicts it makes me think of the Marines Malevolent.

 

Liking the officers. Do you have a narthecium for the apothecary?

[Pearson73]

Another update, another pair of legion officers:

Captain:

Breacher Sergeant:

Eventually I will start to bulk out the background and fluff for the Gordian Sons chapter and its members, I've had a loose idea since the force's conception, but have yet to commit to writing.

@Vairocanum: Thank you, that's great to hear coming from you, considering the combinations of parts you use to bring your characters together, I've never really dabbled with bionics on my marines before, but I'm starting to explore this option more, especially considering how common they would actually be in marine forces.

@hushrong I'm still wavering at the moment brother and leaning towards the Hands if I must admit, however I've read little of either Legion and certainly less on the Fists, so I'll wait til I've developed a better sense of each force's character. I have the chainsword/narthecium arm from the MKII apothecary, however it really doesn't mash with the view I've got in my head, so I'm having a mess around with different parts and have removed the chainsword, to see what I can do.

[hushrong]

Reading is always a great way to get a glimpse into a particular force. Majority of the army's I've tried to build and play was from reading books. My EC for example were highly inspired by the first Warhammer novel I ever read: Fulgrim. Taking your time is also a good idea. Would suck to buy a ton of legion pads for one and then change your mind.

 

Let me know if you need a narthecium, I have a few lying around. Also, let me know if you want some shields. They're the FW boarding shields that will need so,e TLC but there is nothing I can use them for. Look in my EC log for a pic if you would like.

[Vairocanum]

Nice officers, the BT chest works surprisingly well with the MKIII armor. I think for the shield it would look better if you put a curve in it instead of leaving it flat. Good luck with fluff writing, and looking forward to seeing the force grow!

[Pearson73]

A slight change in allegiance for this post folks with a few leaders for my Warriors of Mayhem:

Jump-pack Lord (just the stock model here):

Aspiring Champion (weapon haft is out of sight in this shot, however it's suitably long enough to retain good proportions):

Chosen/Sergeant (considering switching head for an imperial, but undecided):

Chosen/Sergeant Two:

Unfortunately this'll be the last update for some time now as I've returned to uni and left all my hobby gear back home, however the further I read into the lore, the closer I'll be to deciding the parent Legion of my loyalists, which should result in some fluff appearing.

@hushrong: Thank you very much for the offer brother, next time I'm back home, I'll try persevere with my apothecary problem and if nothing presents itself, I'll be sure to take you up. As for the boarding shields, I'd like to press ahead with scratch built for the time being (so long as they look good), but again, if that proves fruitless I'll know where to turn. If there are any parts you need for your projects, just let me know!

@Vairocanum: Aye, I was certainly surprised that I didn't need to fiddle around with putty or trimming edges to get that fit. Regarding the shield, I think you're right there and I'll set out to amend that when I'm back with the hobby.