Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Let's talk Italian Renaissance inspirations for the Blood Angels.

 

So many people throw that out there as part of a "Dark Angels are Knights Templar, Ultramarines are Greco-Roman, RavenGuard are SF-in-space, BA are Italian Renaissance vampies" sort of shtick.

 

The whole idea of "Renaissance," aka The Renewal is absolutely a philosophical theme to Sanguinius on Baal....taking disparate tribes barely able to fend off mutants and convalescing them into a cohesive group that could actually afford the luxury of studying the past and striving to find their humanity again in the arts. So yea, I get that sort of philosophical theme.

 

I also get that BA tend to have pseudo-Italiany names at times, but that's always been a bit hammer-to-the-head in the same way that Wolfy McWolfrider born under the sign of the Wolf is a Space Wolves commander.

 

But in terms of organization, preferred tactics, weaponry, etc.... how much of that comes from Renaissance influences? Researching "Knights Templar" you can easily draw some connections to the DA. Tuetonic Knights the same with Black Templar. Prussian ideals found in Imperial Fists? Yea, there's traces. Curze as Vlad the Impaler? Yea, there's some historical references there. So on and so forth. But I have to confess, aesthetics and the "big picture" Renaissance mindset I mentioned above, I really don't see the connections between Blood Angels and Renaissance Italy. Upon deep-dive inspection of the non-military aspects...yes....but definitely nothing that would come up in a passing military context.

 

What am I missing?

Well, it is canon that the BA post Sanguinius death and the Emperors entombment were too busy reeling from the triple hammer blow of losing their Primarch, the Emperor, and the first stirrings of the Black Rage to worry much about how Sanguinius' sons would go to battle organizationally speaking, rough quote from Azkaellon in our codex somewhere.

 

So we adopted the Codex Astartes seemingly whole-heartedly, for organizational purposes, with a few noted tendencies and the addition of our specialist units.

Hence why were the closest to *Codex Astartes compliant* of the varied non-vanilla chapters.

The DA remain a legion in all but name, and the Templars and Wolves barely give the codex any merit at all, and the Grey Knights are very different, because their purpose isn't the same.

 

That and our chapters tend to produce "Renaissance Men" so to speak.

BA seek to excel at everything, with a broad base of higher virtues, appreciation of art, music, wine, philosophy, history, etc.

 

Though I would dearly love some baroque power swords styled like rapiers to show up sometime.

Edited by The Unseen

I'm getting a feeling that GW has forgotten or abandoned that idea. Apart form several names still exisitng somewhere (Dante, Space Hulk Termies, Delassio).
In terms of weaponry, we're getting a bigger version of  cutlasses (single edge, with a slight curve) which is either of English or French naval provenance. The Encarmine Glaives are glaives in name only unless we once again treat that word as french, cause then it would basically mean "sword".
Although it's worth mentioning, that BA kits contain lots of straight daggers, that actually fit Renaissance theme pretty well. 

The rapier does not sit well with my idea of Space Marines. Maybe it would be good for pre-heresy Emperor's Children. I remember there was a Word Bearer in one of the HH books having a rapier power weapon. It felt really strange.
However how do you think our generic power swords would look like with a rapier-type guard protection for the hand?
http://www.weapons-universe.com/Swords/Rapiers.jpg
 

Edited by Majkhel

I'm getting a feeling that GW has forgotten or abandoned that idea. Apart form several names still exisitng somewhere (Dante, Space Hulk Termies, Delassio).

In terms of weaponry, we're getting a bigger version of  cutlasses (single edge, with a slight curve) which is either of English or French naval provenance. The Encarmine Glaives are glaives in name only unless we once again treat that word as french, cause then it would basically mean "sword".

Although it's worth mentioning, that BA kits contain lots of straight daggers, that actually fit Renaissance theme pretty well. 

 

The rapier does not sit well with my idea of Space Marines. Maybe it would be good for pre-heresy Emperor's Children. I remember there was a Word Bearer in one of the HH books having a rapier power weapon. It felt really strange.

However how do you think our generic power swords would look like with a rapier-type guard protection for the hand?

 

<snip>

 

Personally, I think the naval sabre/cutlass would actually make kinda the most sense as the "standard" issue power sword given the marine part of Space Marine....with more knightly chapters like Dark Angels et al having the more medeival broadswords to distinguish them and the Ultramarines/kin using the more Roman style gladius short sword. Not sure where that leaves us since we'd be torn between all of those (of course).

 

For my take on the BA, I kinda like the idea that the BA are both practical and artistic enough not to settle on a standard issue of sword/axe/spear/hammer etc... Maybe I'm retroactively justifying my own cobbling together, but I like to think that there's an onus on personal skill and initiative with the choice of weapon, especially if they are learning to care for them and/or smith them themselves.

 

I do LOVE how our "special" knives kinda resemble the famed Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife which was purpose built as a "fighting knife" in 1930's Shanghai. Nothing clean or fancy about it, just the most efficient brutal way of neutralizing the opponent as possible. We don't have any special rules or anything for them (nor should we?), but I equip all my DC, SG, Vets, and Commanders with them as a subtle way of hinting that they had to have dragged their knuckles through the mud at some point:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairbairn%E2%80%93Sykes_fighting_knife

 

Death Company/Sanguinary Guard/Upgrade knife:

knife-blood-angel-bitz.jpg

Sorry to change the subject. Lately I realised that I avoid painting more and more, and come to think of it, the biggest reason is that I'm afraid to base coat my minis with rattle cans. The weather where I live is really bad, 9 out of every 10 days its windy as hell and also very humid. I had many cases where I had to paint strip models that I had just sprayed the day before.

 

I've been thinking that an airbrush might actully help alot with that. From what I've seen you can airbrush models inside the house and undercoating is much more controllable than with a rattle can. Now, I have no clue about airbrushes. I've seen some sell for 20 euros and some for 100. I guess what Im asking is 1) if anyone can confirm that an airbrush will help with my problem and 2) if anyone can suggest me one or at least at what price range I should move. :D

 

I'm getting a feeling that GW has forgotten or abandoned that idea. Apart form several names still exisitng somewhere (Dante, Space Hulk Termies, Delassio).

In terms of weaponry, we're getting a bigger version of  cutlasses (single edge, with a slight curve) which is either of English or French naval provenance. The Encarmine Glaives are glaives in name only unless we once again treat that word as french, cause then it would basically mean "sword".

Although it's worth mentioning, that BA kits contain lots of straight daggers, that actually fit Renaissance theme pretty well. 

 

The rapier does not sit well with my idea of Space Marines. Maybe it would be good for pre-heresy Emperor's Children. I remember there was a Word Bearer in one of the HH books having a rapier power weapon. It felt really strange.

However how do you think our generic power swords would look like with a rapier-type guard protection for the hand?

 

<snip>

 

Personally, I think the naval sabre/cutlass would actually make kinda the most sense as the "standard" issue power sword given the marine part of Space Marine....with more knightly chapters like Dark Angels et al having the more medeival broadswords to distinguish them and the Ultramarines/kin using the more Roman style gladius short sword. Not sure where that leaves us since we'd be torn between all of those (of course).

 

For my take on the BA, I kinda like the idea that the BA are both practical and artistic enough not to settle on a standard issue of sword/axe/spear/hammer etc... Maybe I'm retroactively justifying my own cobbling together, but I like to think that there's an onus on personal skill and initiative with the choice of weapon, especially if they are learning to care for them and/or smith them themselves.

 

I do LOVE how our "special" knives kinda resemble the famed Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife which was purpose built as a "fighting knife" in 1930's Shanghai. Nothing clean or fancy about it, just the most efficient brutal way of neutralizing the opponent as possible. We don't have any special rules or anything for them (nor should we?), but I equip all my DC, SG, Vets, and Commanders with them as a subtle way of hinting that they had to have dragged their knuckles through the mud at some point:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairbairn%E2%80%93Sykes_fighting_knife

 

Death Company/Sanguinary Guard/Upgrade knife:

knife-blood-angel-bitz.jpg

 

 

I usually glue those daggers (along with bolt pistols) to shooty units like tacticals to signify the fact that even though they're holding boltguns, the're not completly useless on melee.

Sorry to change the subject. Lately I realised that I avoid painting more and more, and come to think of it, the biggest reason is that I'm afraid to base coat my minis with rattle cans. The weather where I live is really bad, 9 out of every 10 days its windy as hell and also very humid. I had many cases where I had to paint strip models that I had just sprayed the day before.

 

I've been thinking that an airbrush might actully help alot with that. From what I've seen you can airbrush models inside the house and undercoating is much more controllable than with a rattle can. Now, I have no clue about airbrushes. I've seen some sell for 20 euros and some for 100. I guess what Im asking is 1) if anyone can confirm that an airbrush will help with my problem and 2) if anyone can suggest me one or at least at what price range I should move. :biggrin.:

 

There's a difference between priming and base coating. Not sure if you're aware of it since you usually don't base coat models with rattel cans and you usually don't prime models with an airbrush.

Also if you really really really can't help it you can try priming indoors. Just make sure the room is well ventilated and you don't breath in the fumes directly (using a mask would be a good idea). I do that from time to time because I'm lazy but I'm aware of the risks and take appropriate precautions.

 

About airbrushs, I'm no expert at all but I recently got a Gocheer beginner set as birthday present from friends and the first attempts of basecoating were pretty successfull. The set is about 50-60€ on amazon and includes pretty much everything you need except for cleaner and paint thinner (though for my first tests I thinned my citadel paints with just water and it worked well enough for now and I've read for cleaning alcohol works fine for citadel paints and I already have a bottle of bio ethanol for stripping purposes so I had no issue with that either).

 

Sorry to change the subject. Lately I realised that I avoid painting more and more, and come to think of it, the biggest reason is that I'm afraid to base coat my minis with rattle cans. The weather where I live is really bad, 9 out of every 10 days its windy as hell and also very humid. I had many cases where I had to paint strip models that I had just sprayed the day before.

 

I've been thinking that an airbrush might actully help alot with that. From what I've seen you can airbrush models inside the house and undercoating is much more controllable than with a rattle can. Now, I have no clue about airbrushes. I've seen some sell for 20 euros and some for 100. I guess what Im asking is 1) if anyone can confirm that an airbrush will help with my problem and 2) if anyone can suggest me one or at least at what price range I should move. :biggrin.:

 

There's a difference between priming and base coating. Not sure if you're aware of it since you usually don't base coat models with rattel cans and you usually don't prime models with an airbrush.

Also if you really really really can't help it you can try priming indoors. Just make sure the room is well ventilated and you don't breath in the fumes directly (using a mask would be a good idea). I do that from time to time because I'm lazy but I'm aware of the risks and take appropriate precautions.

 

About airbrushs, I'm no expert at all but I recently got a Gocheer beginner set as birthday present from friends and the first attempts of basecoating were pretty successfull. The set is about 50-60€ on amazon and includes pretty much everything you need except for cleaner and paint thinner (though for my first tests I thinned my citadel paints with just water and it worked well enough for now and I've read for cleaning alcohol works fine for citadel paints and I already have a bottle of bio ethanol for stripping purposes so I had no issue with that either).

 

 

Why not prime with airbrush? Vallejo primer works pretty well and I think in terms of price-quantity you are able to prime way more models  than with Citadel can for the same price. In my country 50 EUR will give you a decent airbrush. But airbrush won't help for climate issues so deffinetly follow  sfPanzer's advice concerning the mask and ventilation

 

 

Sorry to change the subject. Lately I realised that I avoid painting more and more, and come to think of it, the biggest reason is that I'm afraid to base coat my minis with rattle cans. The weather where I live is really bad, 9 out of every 10 days its windy as hell and also very humid. I had many cases where I had to paint strip models that I had just sprayed the day before.

 

I've been thinking that an airbrush might actully help alot with that. From what I've seen you can airbrush models inside the house and undercoating is much more controllable than with a rattle can. Now, I have no clue about airbrushes. I've seen some sell for 20 euros and some for 100. I guess what Im asking is 1) if anyone can confirm that an airbrush will help with my problem and 2) if anyone can suggest me one or at least at what price range I should move. :biggrin.:

 

There's a difference between priming and base coating. Not sure if you're aware of it since you usually don't base coat models with rattel cans and you usually don't prime models with an airbrush.

Also if you really really really can't help it you can try priming indoors. Just make sure the room is well ventilated and you don't breath in the fumes directly (using a mask would be a good idea). I do that from time to time because I'm lazy but I'm aware of the risks and take appropriate precautions.

 

About airbrushs, I'm no expert at all but I recently got a Gocheer beginner set as birthday present from friends and the first attempts of basecoating were pretty successfull. The set is about 50-60€ on amazon and includes pretty much everything you need except for cleaner and paint thinner (though for my first tests I thinned my citadel paints with just water and it worked well enough for now and I've read for cleaning alcohol works fine for citadel paints and I already have a bottle of bio ethanol for stripping purposes so I had no issue with that either).

 

Well its not only the weather (tho it is indeed terrible). I feel like Im really bad at using rattle cans. Im always afraid I'll spray too much paint on the models. It happened to a couple of models with too much detail on them, I had to paint strip them and I damaged the models. That's why I was wondering if with an airbrush you have more control.

 

Edit : Also I'm pretty sure I said under coat not base coat. With rattle cans I spary chaos black as a primer and then Mpehiston Red as a base coat. I think with an airbrush I'd do the same? Undercoat black base coat red.

Edited by dread05

 

 

Sorry to change the subject. Lately I realised that I avoid painting more and more, and come to think of it, the biggest reason is that I'm afraid to base coat my minis with rattle cans. The weather where I live is really bad, 9 out of every 10 days its windy as hell and also very humid. I had many cases where I had to paint strip models that I had just sprayed the day before.

 

I've been thinking that an airbrush might actully help alot with that. From what I've seen you can airbrush models inside the house and undercoating is much more controllable than with a rattle can. Now, I have no clue about airbrushes. I've seen some sell for 20 euros and some for 100. I guess what Im asking is 1) if anyone can confirm that an airbrush will help with my problem and 2) if anyone can suggest me one or at least at what price range I should move. :biggrin.:

 

There's a difference between priming and base coating. Not sure if you're aware of it since you usually don't base coat models with rattel cans and you usually don't prime models with an airbrush.

Also if you really really really can't help it you can try priming indoors. Just make sure the room is well ventilated and you don't breath in the fumes directly (using a mask would be a good idea). I do that from time to time because I'm lazy but I'm aware of the risks and take appropriate precautions.

 

About airbrushs, I'm no expert at all but I recently got a Gocheer beginner set as birthday present from friends and the first attempts of basecoating were pretty successfull. The set is about 50-60€ on amazon and includes pretty much everything you need except for cleaner and paint thinner (though for my first tests I thinned my citadel paints with just water and it worked well enough for now and I've read for cleaning alcohol works fine for citadel paints and I already have a bottle of bio ethanol for stripping purposes so I had no issue with that either).

 

Well its not only the weather (tho it is indeed terrible). I feel like Im really bad at using rattle cans. Im always afraid I'll spray too much paint on the models. It happened to a couple of models with too much detail on them, I had to paint strip them and I damaged the models. That's why I was wondering if with an airbrush you have more control.

 

Edit : Also I'm pretty sure I said under coat not base coat. With rattle cans I spary chaos black as a primer and then Mpehiston Red as a base coat. I think with an airbrush I'd do the same? Undercoat black base coat red.

 

 

Try to do it from further away then. Don't be afraid to 'waste' paint by spraying the surroundings of the model you want to prime. I'd show you how to do it irl but it doesn't seem we live anywhere close to eachother. :sweat:

 

You didn't say under coat. Just look at the quote. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry to change the subject. Lately I realised that I avoid painting more and more, and come to think of it, the biggest reason is that I'm afraid to base coat my minis with rattle cans. The weather where I live is really bad, 9 out of every 10 days its windy as hell and also very humid. I had many cases where I had to paint strip models that I had just sprayed the day before.

 

I've been thinking that an airbrush might actully help alot with that. From what I've seen you can airbrush models inside the house and undercoating is much more controllable than with a rattle can. Now, I have no clue about airbrushes. I've seen some sell for 20 euros and some for 100. I guess what Im asking is 1) if anyone can confirm that an airbrush will help with my problem and 2) if anyone can suggest me one or at least at what price range I should move. :biggrin.:

 

There's a difference between priming and base coating. Not sure if you're aware of it since you usually don't base coat models with rattel cans and you usually don't prime models with an airbrush.

Also if you really really really can't help it you can try priming indoors. Just make sure the room is well ventilated and you don't breath in the fumes directly (using a mask would be a good idea). I do that from time to time because I'm lazy but I'm aware of the risks and take appropriate precautions.

 

About airbrushs, I'm no expert at all but I recently got a Gocheer beginner set as birthday present from friends and the first attempts of basecoating were pretty successfull. The set is about 50-60€ on amazon and includes pretty much everything you need except for cleaner and paint thinner (though for my first tests I thinned my citadel paints with just water and it worked well enough for now and I've read for cleaning alcohol works fine for citadel paints and I already have a bottle of bio ethanol for stripping purposes so I had no issue with that either).

 

 

Why not prime with airbrush? Vallejo primer works pretty well and I think in terms of price-quantity you are able to prime way more models  than with Citadel can for the same price. In my country 50 EUR will give you a decent airbrush. But airbrush won't help for climate issues so deffinetly follow  sfPanzer's advice concerning the mask and ventilation

 

 

As I said I'm far from being an expert when it comes to airbrushing. I just haven't seen people actually priming their models with them so far.

woops my mistake. I had undercoating in mind. Sorry for that. Yea I dont just spray Mephiston red on minis. Tho I did do that with retributor armor for my guards. Mostly turned fine, a couple had issues tho and I had to strip them. Wings unglued in the process, it was a mess.

Edited by dread05

I do everything with an airbrush in my garage. Never had an issue. Priming. Basecoating. Whole schebang. Best investment ever. Go for a solid iwata and some crappy air compressor and you’ll be golden.

Keebler has it right. Just to elaborate a little more, I would get a compressor with a tank. It gives a much more consistent air pressure and won't be running 100% of the time. Addititonaly a luxury item that I cannot see myself living without is a spray out pot. Such a hassle saver, does exactly what it says on the tin and it holds your brush when not in use.

 

I myself use an iwata eclipse and have absolutely nothing I can complain about it.

 

I was in the same boat as you with the rattle cans, dread; I live in a literal swamp and my older models show it...

 

I do everything with an airbrush in my garage. Never had an issue. Priming. Basecoating. Whole schebang. Best investment ever. Go for a solid iwata and some crappy air compressor and you’ll be golden.

Keebler has it right. Just to elaborate a little more, I would get a compressor with a tank. It gives a much more consistent air pressure and won't be running 100% of the time. Addititonaly a luxury item that I cannot see myself living without is a spray out pot. Such a hassle saver, does exactly what it says on the tin and it holds your brush when not in use.

 

I myself use an iwata eclipse and have absolutely nothing I can complain about it.

 

I was in the same boat as you with the rattle cans, dread; I live in a literal swamp and my older models show it...

 

 

Already what I do with rattle cans is paint each model individually so I figure an airbrush will let me do the same thing just more controlled. Less chance to muck it up, less paint wasted.

Edited by dread05

 

 

 

I do everything with an airbrush in my garage. Never had an issue. Priming. Basecoating. Whole schebang. Best investment ever. Go for a solid iwata and some crappy air compressor and you’ll be golden.

Keebler has it right. Just to elaborate a little more, I would get a compressor with a tank. It gives a much more consistent air pressure and won't be running 100% of the time. Addititonaly a luxury item that I cannot see myself living without is a spray out pot. Such a hassle saver, does exactly what it says on the tin and it holds your brush when not in use.

 

I myself use an iwata eclipse and have absolutely nothing I can complain about it.

 

I was in the same boat as you with the rattle cans, dread; I live in a literal swamp and my older models show it...

Already what I do with rattle cans is paint each model individually so I figure an airbrush will let me do the same thing just more controlled. Less chance to muck it up, less paint wasted.

You're absolutely right! If you linger you might get a bit of paint running, but I have yet to clog the details of a mini. I think I've had my airbrush for a little over two years now, haven't clogged any details yet. Compare that to my old rattle can days where each squad generally had one model I needed to strip and scrub. I don't miss those days.

 

You can get really carried away with accessories too. I invested in a spray booth with a built in fan and extendable exhaust vent. I can put the vent out the window and airbrush in my "hobby room" without being fumagating. I still use a mask though, juuuuuuust in case.

 

Tl;Dr: I think you're on the right path! Join the Order of the Airbrush!

 

 

 

 

I'm getting a feeling that GW has forgotten or abandoned that idea. Apart form several names still exisitng somewhere (Dante, Space Hulk Termies, Delassio).
In terms of weaponry, we're getting a bigger version of  cutlasses (single edge, with a slight curve) which is either of English or French naval provenance. The Encarmine Glaives are glaives in name only unless we once again treat that word as french, cause then it would basically mean "sword".
Although it's worth mentioning, that BA kits contain lots of straight daggers, that actually fit Renaissance theme pretty well. 

The rapier does not sit well with my idea of Space Marines. Maybe it would be good for pre-heresy Emperor's Children. I remember there was a Word Bearer in one of the HH books having a rapier power weapon. It felt really strange.
However how do you think our generic power swords would look like with a rapier-type guard protection for the hand?
 

<snip>

 

Personally, I think the naval sabre/cutlass would actually make kinda the most sense as the "standard" issue power sword given the marine part of Space Marine....with more knightly chapters like Dark Angels et al having the more medeival broadswords to distinguish them and the Ultramarines/kin using the more Roman style gladius short sword. Not sure where that leaves us since we'd be torn between all of those (of course).

 

For my take on the BA, I kinda like the idea that the BA are both practical and artistic enough not to settle on a standard issue of sword/axe/spear/hammer etc... Maybe I'm retroactively justifying my own cobbling together, but I like to think that there's an onus on personal skill and initiative with the choice of weapon, especially if they are learning to care for them and/or smith them themselves.

 

I do LOVE how our "special" knives kinda resemble the famed Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife which was purpose built as a "fighting knife" in 1930's Shanghai. Nothing clean or fancy about it, just the most efficient brutal way of neutralizing the opponent as possible. We don't have any special rules or anything for them (nor should we?), but I equip all my DC, SG, Vets, and Commanders with them as a subtle way of hinting that they had to have dragged their knuckles through the mud at some point:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairbairn%E2%80%93Sykes_fighting_knife

 

Death Company/Sanguinary Guard/Upgrade knife:

knife-blood-angel-bitz.jpg

 

 

I usually glue those daggers (along with bolt pistols) to shooty units like tacticals to signify the fact that even though they're holding boltguns, the're not completly useless on melee.

 

 

 

Thats a Quillion dagger not a Fairbarn-Sykes

 

 

as for the Glaive's, meet the Swiss Sabre from the 1530's and at a guess the inspiration for Sangs sword on the FW model

 

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2080/1501/products/Swiss_sabre_A489_finished_2.2.JPG?v=1523140550

Edited by Nova_Dew

Job's done.

gallery_40907_9492_960871.jpg

gallery_40907_9492_675102.jpg

gallery_40907_9492_156708.jpg

gallery_40907_9492_879361.jpg

gallery_40907_9492_134881.jpg



So I like this method of painting. I think it gets real good transitions and really grits the guys up. Edge highlighting didn't work for me so I went without on the squad even though it went on the sarge. The real winner was the 1 USD makeup brush I bought to drybrush the colors. Best thing ever and so cheap. I won't have to care if I ruin it at all.

This is the painting technique I will be using for my 30k army I am heading into. Edited by Spagunk

Priest is more useful than the Techmarine. Although one can always go for the more neglected character to asure his army's support ;)

Well I may be in some trouble there. I cant find a servo arm/harness for my bike techmarine, and I'm not sure how i want to do the Sanguinary priest on bike. I've seen some cool conversions but i feel like I'm lacking.

I managed to pick up some DA bikes from the Dark Vengeance box recently. They tend to show up here and there usually at a nice price. My point is, they have some legs/torsos with robes that might be used for our Priest or Librarians as well after you shave off DA iconography.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   1 member

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.