The Grim Badgers Grim Legion in Midnight Clad.

[The Grim Badger]

Hey folks! Been doing some work a new Heresy era project - the 8th legion, better known to you and I as the Night Lords. I wanted to do something a little different to my Iron Hands, and also go traitor with my force for balance. The proposed list is below in spoiler tags, any and all feedback welcome

Night Lords (2000pts)

Legiones Astartes: Crusade Army List (Age of Darkness) (2000pts)

Rite of War: Terror assault

• HQ
  • Legion Praetor 'Falko Iagus' - The Ripper

    Artificer Armour, Digital Lasers, Iron Halo, Jump Pack, Master of the Legion, Mastercraft a Single Weapon, Pair of Lightning Claws.

• Troops
  • Terror Squad 'Squad Khalid'

    7x Executioner, 7x Volkite Charger

    Deflagrate, Fear, Infiltrate, Legiones Astartes, Precision Strike, Preferred Enemy (Infantry)

    • Headsman

      Melta Bombs

  • Terror Squad 'Squad Dragomir'

    7x Executioner, 7x Volkite Charger

    Deflagrate, Fear, Infiltrate, Legiones Astartes, Precision Strike, Preferred Enemy (Infantry)

    • Headsman

      Melta Bombs

  • Terror Squad 'Squad Strix'

    4x Executioner 4x Volkite Charger

    Deflagrate, Fear, Infiltrate, Legiones Astartes, Precision Strike, Preferred Enemy (Infantry)

    • Headsman

      Nostraman Chainglaive

• Elites
  • Contemptor-Cortus Class Dreadnought Talon 'Mordeghast'
    • Cortus Dreadnought

      Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon with inbuilt twin-linked bolter, Extra Armour, 2x Graviton Gun

• Fast Attack
  • Night Raptor Squad 'Squad Iago'

    7x Night Raptor

    Legiones Astartes, Onslaught

    • Huntmaster

      Artificer Armour, Nostraman Chainglaive

  • Primaris-Lightning Strike Fighter '588th Night Bombers 'The Night Witches''

    Battle Servitor Control , Ground-tracking Auguries, 2x Two Kraken penetrator heavy missiles.

• Heavy Support
  • Legion Sicaran Battle Tank 'The Blade in the Black'

    Lascannons

• Lord of War
  • Konrad Curze

    Primarch

    Adamantium Will, Bulky, Eternal Warrior, Fear, Fearless, Fleet, Independent Character, It Will Not Die, Lethal Precision, Murderous Strike, Shrouded, Sire of the Night Lords, Stealth, The King of Terrors

    • Master of the Legion

      Terror Assault

      Master of the Legion

And also a few tactical notes on the lists use here:

Tactical Notes:

Night Lords seem geared toward anti infantry with Terror Assault as they must take 3 units of Terror Squads who all have preferred enemy infantry, infiltrate, and the option to take Volkite Chargers. This enables them to get up front nice and early and pick their targets (Heavy support squads, etc). One squad I've deliberately kept at 5 men so that they can more easily infiltrate 12" away from the enemy and stay out of sight... tricksy.

The main draw back for the 8th legion seems to be anti tank, which is why the lightning is in the list carrying two sets of two kraken missiles, as well as the Sicaran tank with lascannons, providing a decent punch with the added mobility of a fast chassis. There are also melta bombs on some squads, and the contemptor cortus with two close combat arms and two grav guns... rage on the charge turns this guy into a wrecking ball.

Praetor chills out with the Raptor Squad, hopefully chewing their way through infantry whilst Konrad can either join them as a death star, or go on solo missions himself.

At 2000 points I think Konrad is one of the only Primarchs that is worth 25% of your force. His excellent mobility means he has no need for an expensive transport to get him to his targets, and forcing night fighting gives him a beast of a cover save. He can happily handle most infantry squads by himself, and his presence buffs the entire army in really helpful ways.

So with the above out of the way, lets look at some models! I took a different tac with this army, and decided to build everything all in one go, and then start painting it as a whole. As its only 2000 points and includes a Primarch, its a fairly small army which makes this a lot easier! Take a look below

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_1150.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_1166.jpghttp://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_1162.jpg

When building the Terror Squads above, I wanted to give them some character where I could. After all, these are far more than just tactical marines. I've gone with a mix of close combat weapons from various GW kits, and a liberal splashing of heads/skulls/chains etc. where ever it seemed appropriate. Pictured directly above: Barry the Chopper!

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_8965.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_8966.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_8967.jpg

As the only ground based armour in the force, I felt that the Sicaran Venator and the Contemptor needed a little extra something, so I acquired these corpse trophies from a 3rd party company. I think they add a nice bit of jazz to the ensemble!

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_9056.jpg

I wanted to build my own Primaris lightning, partly to save a little cash, and partly because I quite liked the idea of going for something a bit different! This is result, made from the Dark Angel flyer kit, with a couple of parts from the Valkyrie kit I had laying around.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_9022.jpg

Once I had built everything, I got straight into the undercoating, both with a grey primer I use on my resin models for better adherence of paint, and the standard GW black primer, but latter only on the bottom halves of the models, sprayed at an angle to produce a little pre-shading.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_9024.jpg

I also knocked up a batch of heads, going for a more pale (and seemingly a little purple..!) look than my previous armies.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_9026.jpg

I then airbrushed the entire army from a roughly 45 degree angle with 'French Blue' from the Vallejo model air range, and washed everything down with a generous amount of Drakenhoff Nightshade, which tinted the parts that had remained black with a nice deep blue colour.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_9030.jpg

The whole force after washing, not including Konrad (who I am saving for last) and the Lightning conversion, which is still not undercoated.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_9052.jpg

Then it was time to approach the famous lightning! I watched and read many tutorials online and in the end, went with an amalgamation of approaches, quite happy with the end results on that!

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_9066.png

A little while later, and my first model was finished to completion. I am happy with the result, especially the 'gold' trim which I have played down simply by using leadbelcher and some agrax earth shade as a wash.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/13388923_10157217448665727_1791650163_o.jpg

Progress to date. A long way to go, but really feeling the VIIIth Legion goodness! What do we think folks?

[Runefyre]

Very Impressive! There really aren't many other words to use.

[Teetengee]

where are the trophies from?

[Isengrin]

It's always nice to see a Night Lord with a freaking big cleaver. Exactly how it's supposed to be. You got a good-looking blue there, but I sure hope the volkite coils will be red when finished.

[Soldier of Dorn]

Only thing that bothers me is the positioning of the corpse on the front of the Sicaran, directly in front of (what I always assumed to be) the driver's viewscreen -- I'm afraid that army-wide Night Vision won't help you there! :P

 

Other than that, things look nice. The builds and paintjobs look nice, and I'm especially fond of Barry the Butcher's blade: I assume it's a Fantasy Ogre bit?

[Sabadin]

Only thing that bothers me is the positioning of the corpse on the front of the Sicaran, directly in front of (what I always assumed to be) the driver's viewscreen -- I'm afraid that army-wide Night Vision won't help you there! :P

 

If they shoot the wrong side, they probably had it coming anyway.

[Teetengee]

-snip- I'm especially fond of Barry the Butcher's blade: I assume it's a Fantasy Ogre bit?

Quite so, it's a favorite of mine.

[betrayer41]

wow these are awesome. I love how much you can do with NL, great Job

[Soric]

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/Night%20Lords/IMG_1162.jpg

Barry the Chopper!

 

 Some excellent looking Night Lords you've got here. Definetly approve of the FMA ref also :D

http://orig03.deviantart.net/d3fb/f/2007/012/b/4/66_aka_barry_the_chopper_by_dazwolf.jpg

[Aeternus]

Ah, I recognise that painted marine! Good work, again, Brother! Looking forward to seeing how this comes along :tu:

[The Grim Badger]

Very Impressive! There really aren't many other words to use.

Thank you very much :) I'm really happy with how they are shaping up!

where are the trophies from?

The trophies are from a 3rd party company that sells on eBay here

It's always nice to see a Night Lord with a freaking big cleaver. Exactly how it's supposed to be. You got a good-looking blue there, but I sure hope the volkite coils will be red when finished.

Aaaah I thought someone might pick up on the Volkite. I did consider the red glow on the coils, but to be honest I am tempted to keep it gun metal grey. In all of the reference materials, they don't actually look much like a glowing part to me. Plus, OSL like that can really impact the look of a model, and I don't want to detract from the red of the legion badge, or the eyes.

Only thing that bothers me is the positioning of the corpse on the front of the Sicaran, directly in front of (what I always assumed to be) the driver's viewscreen -- I'm afraid that army-wide Night Vision won't help you there!

Haha, yes I thought the same thing! Hey ho, I can just assume they are using sensors or one of the other viewing ports to drive the thing :P

-snip- I'm especially fond of Barry the Butcher's blade: I assume it's a Fantasy Ogre bit?

Quite so, it's a favorite of mine.

Spot on, both! Ogre Kingdoms was my fantasy army back in the day so I have plenty of bits knocking around from that project :)

wow these are awesome. I love how much you can do with NL, great Job

Thanks man! Yes, they really do give you some freedom to spice things up a bit when it comes to conversions.

Some excellent looking Night Lords you've got here. Definetly approve of the FMA ref also

Glad someone got it! I wanted to give him two, but it looked a bit odd :P pretty sure I gave him a skull helm to suit!

Ah, I recognise that painted marine! Good work, again, Brother! Looking forward to seeing how this comes along

Hehe, yes I may have posted them about a bit :P thanks man! Updates will be coming in regularly I hope.

[The Grim Badger]

Small update: managed to complete the first terror squad. Pic below for your perusal :)

 

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n240/mankindben/13388989_10157225558220727_1507779555_o.jpg

 

Play a game with my full 2000 point list as written in the first post this week. Oh my goodness. Konrad is such a beast. 

 

Not sure what to paint up next, may go straight into another Terror Squad, might opt for the Contemptor to spice things up a little... we shall see :)

[yeahhluke]

Love these, the blue is just spot on and the trophies add loads of character to them aswell, something I'm doing with my Night Lords.

 

Love the dark angels flyer conversion, I had the same idea for mine so nice to see it works when I finally get round to it

[Soric]

Some excellent looking Night Lords you've got here. Definetly approve of the FMA ref also

Glad someone got it! I wanted to give him two, but it looked a bit odd pretty sure I gave him a skull helm to suit!

Apologies, I didn't mean to sound ungrateful.

I do wonder if there's somewhere to get a smaller meat cleaver part from that would fit the part, so he could have two :). Regardless the big one looks cool all the same. If I may ask which kit did Barry's chopper come from?

[Nostramar]

How did you do the lightning - it looks excellent! Your color scheme is fantastic. Looking forward to see your Konrad Curze

[The Grim Badger]

Love these, the blue is just spot on and the trophies add loads of character to them aswell, something I'm doing with my Night Lords.

Love the dark angels flyer conversion, I had the same idea for mine so nice to see it works when I finally get round to it

Thanks! The blue really was just one of those occasions where the test model ended up looking better than I could have hoped for. The trophies, as you say, add loads of character and really help them stand out from the other legions :) The flyer was actually really fun to work worth, its a great kit if you can get the knack when it comes to removing the moulded iconography.

Some excellent looking Night Lords you've got here. Definetly approve of the FMA ref also

Glad someone got it! I wanted to give him two, but it looked a bit odd pretty sure I gave him a skull helm to suit!

Apologies, I didn't mean to sound ungrateful.

I do wonder if there's somewhere to get a smaller meat cleaver part from that would fit the part, so he could have two . Regardless the big one looks cool all the same. If I may ask which kit did Barry's chopper come from?

Haha, you didnt sound ungrateful at all sir. If anything, I am grateful that someone knew what I was talking about ^_^ There may be a smaller cleaver somewhere, but like you I am quite fond of the big one, haha! Thats a good question, I will try to figure that out for you - I just had one kicking around in my ogre bits box.

How did you do the lightning - it looks excellent! Your color scheme is fantastic. Looking forward to see your Konrad Curze

Thank you! The lightning is a a jagged line of Alaitoc blue, with a thinner line of Barroth blue painted over the top of it, and then blue horror painted over all the points where the forks meet. I've then added to this by doing a very light, watered down airbrush of white over the top to brighten the panels, as if the lightning has illuminated it :)

I am really looking forward to painting Konrad as well! Finally got his arms stuck on this week. Pics to follow, as I have a mega painting week ahead next week.

[ThatOneMarshal]

That seargent model is really cool!