GrimDark Blood Angels Blog 24/09/19 *new warlord conversion*

[barjed]

I just purchased my first airbrush, and have been looking for a compressor to follow. I have used the airbrush a little in some projects with my friend. I still don't get the whole pre-shading (I mean, okay I get the idea, but am stunned at the results).

 

Why yellow and not, say, white? Or light grey?

 

Red is translucent, so a yellow undercoat will push it more towards an orange hue than with a white base.

[MeltaRange]

From Luther's article its hard to tell whether or not he leaves any primer showing for the mid range. Do you? Or do you mostly completely cover it with various shades of the blue and white?

[neonmole]

From Luther's article its hard to tell whether or not he leaves any primer showing for the mid range. Do you? Or do you mostly completely cover it with various shades of the blue and white?

So I think when Luther does it he does leave primer shower for the mid range... Obviously you would have to ask him though! My intention originally was to replicate his technique exactly, however, as you might imagine with something like this, the particular "hand" and style will play a role in the end result. When I do it I do not leave any primer showing, in fact I basecoat the whole model with Steel Blue before starting the highlight. Again, you are never going to replicate someone else stuff precisely with something like this, everyone will have their own spin! My best advice is start with Luther's tutorial, accept you are going to have a learning curve, but just give it a go & experiment!

 

So, a couple of updates:

 

Hobby update!

 

I'm thrilled to report that the Predators are all but completed, the major work is finished, I just need to edge highlight (still a very important step) all of the colours, and then they will be done! Here's how they look, and then a second shot of all the vehicles together... To be honest, I'm really chuffed with how these are turning out, I think if I can deliver on the Scouts and the ASM the army will look really striking!

 

 

 

Gaming update!

 

So. I played the LVO attending Ork army... And I won! Final score was 19-17. (ITC Champs mission 5)

 

He had an interesting army, which I found quite intimidating... It made my investment in anti tank seem pretty redundant.

 

Battalion:

Ghazghkull

Big Mek

Painboy

20 Boyz

20 Boyz

20 Boyz

5 Flash Gitz

Dakka Jet

5 Kommandos

5 Meganobs

 

Spearhead:

Kaptin Badrukk

Warboss on Bike

5 x 1 Mek Gunz /w Kustom Mega Cannon

 

Supreme Command:

4 x Weirdboy (2 Da Jump / 2 Warpath)

 

So, a ton of bodies, a ton of board presence... lots of psychic, and deceptively threatening shooting.

 

In terms of secondary objectives, I took Reaper, Headhunter, and Kingslayer (on Ghaz), he took Recon, Old School, and Big Game Hunter.

 

To give a summary:

 

- I screen scouts across the board to protect against Da Jump on the first turn, with the rest of my army behind this buffer. This means the only unit he could potentially charge using Da Jump on the first turn would be Scouts... in theory. He deploys spread across the board to take advantage of his secondaries, and to push back my deep strike.

 

- Unfortunately this doesn't pan out, as he rolls an 11+ for smite against one of my scout groups, kills them all on a 5, and opens up the screen! He follows this up with Da Jump on his Meganobs, and proceeds to make the charge on my Razorbacks!! Due to the way I deployed them (thinking I was safe) he kills one, and ties the other two up in combat... I am thinking this is not looking good now.

 

- I respond my DoAing ThunderSmash into the Meganobs, who ends up wiping them (using red rampage), and killing his warboss on bike + one of the boyz units with a combination of my ASM's coming down, and the rest of my army. I am using Lascannons on Boyz at this point!

 

- Its looking pretty close, but the game is sealed on my turn 3, when I make 2 big moves that work out. I managed to get off both quickening & wings on Mephiston, who flies like a missile at Ghazghkull, adding in Red Rampage, he kills him in one round of combat, netting me 5 VP's for maxing Kingslayer, and a pt on Headhunter. On this turn I also bring in my Sanguinary Guard, who DoA into 2 of his weirdboyz, killing both, and netting me a further 2 on Headhunter (which maxes me there as well, I have also already maxed Reaper through killing Boyz, so full 12 netted on secondary).

 

Some more stuff happened after this, but that was the deciding moment. In terms of "damage", at a glance I think I had more left on the board, but the scoreline (19-17) was very close as his army was cleverly designed to ensure he was consistently winning on the ITC objectives.

 

 

All in all, really fun game, opponent was really great guy - I'll really look forward to playing him again!

 

I'm super happy with how the list is panning out. I need to get some more competitive games in, but it feels pretty mean so far!

 

Cheers.

Edited January 23, 2018 by neonmole

[neonmole]

Small hobby update, just because I couldn’t resist posting this! So happy with how it turned out!

 

Here is the lead predators gunner, in his devestator colours!

 

 

And a shot to show how it looks in context (and because I can’t resis a group snap!)

 

 

Can’t lie.. I’m really happy with these! (And the gunner in particular). I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and it’s very rare that I am totally satisfied with my own stuff, it’s a nice feeling for a change!

[Paladin777]

That’s a lot of very pretty anti-tank right there! And anti-horde too I suppose... Edited January 23, 2018 by Paladin777

[brother_b]

A fan of your work. Very very clean I love it.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the tanks.

[9x19 Parabellum]

That red is just pure sex, man.  Deep Ferrari red, I love it.

 

I like a little bit of off-color in my tanks (I do the "recessed" area under the headlights and down the flanks in black).  But still, beautiful tanks, bro.

[sockwithaticket]

That is a very nice looking collection of armour.

[neonmole]

Thanks the very kind words as always guys.

 

I should have some hobby so share with you all shortly (I've made a big dent in the scouts!) but for now, a gaming update, but also, a final list consideration that I hope you will help me decide on...

 

Gaming Update:

 

So I played another practice game on Monday, this time against Eldar, and happy to say I was able to pull out the win again. This was only the second time in 8th that I have played against the pointy ears, and man despite the fact I won, they are really god damn tough. So so many powerful stratagems to pull from, so many powers, it really feels when you are playing them that they can stack the deck in their favour. Which is not really a bad thing, its quite fluffy really! 

 

His list was: (Ulthwé)

- Eldrad Ulthran

- 2 Warlocks

- Flying Autarch

- 20 Black Guardians (used deepstrike stratagem)

- 10 Dire Avengers

- 10 Dire Avengers

- 10 Striking Scorpions

- 10 Howling Banshees (in wave serpent)

- 5 Wraithblades (in wave serpent)

- 2 Wave Serpents

- 2 Fire Prisms

- 8 Dark Reapers

 

All in all really tough game. And I'm pretty well aware his list wasnt super optimised, still, its decent I think, and he was actually a pretty astute player by my assessment. I was pretty sure I was going to lose this one until quite late in the game, basically it came down to me having more staying power on the board. Once I managed to deal with his Fire Prisms (took a lot longer than I would have liked) his ability to deal with my armour started to show and I was able to whittle him down and win the objectives. All stars this game were Captain ThunderSmash/Slamguinius/Smashypants (etc.) who killed about 12 Guardians, 5 Wraithblades, Autarch, and 2 Warlocks. Not Bad. Assault Cannons also clean house vs Eldar. Aso - Honourable mention to the scouts! They really pulled their weight in combat, wounding on 2s is no joke! Already got the next practice lined up, this time against Dark Angels, again on Monday. Maybe I should remember to take some pictures this time!

 

Question:

 

The final tweak I am considering making to my list is carving out some points for a Storm Shield on Captain ThunderSmash. I didn't have enough points to get one in the first draft, so I just went with a plasma pistol (which I still like), but it feels like that 3+ invul has the potential to be game changing... and is probably the optimal choice. 

 

So the question...

 

The only this I think I can reasonably drop to make the points (the rest is WYSIWYG and already built) is a member of the sanguinary guard, which would drop them from 6 to 5. In exchange, I think the best set of things I can grab is a (1) a storm shield on thunder smash (2) upgrade from a power sword to a relic blade on the backfield cap (3) I guess spend 10 pts to give a scout squad a heavy bolter?.. maybe I'll desperately need hellfire shells at somepoint, who knows. 

 

Its probably worth stating that I am most of the time running the backfield captain as the warlord (for denial reasons) with artisan of war on his sword, which is why the relic blade would be extra nice. He's a real counter charge threat at that point.

 

So overall, choice is a SG (6->5) model, or the wargear options above. Which would you guys favour? 

Its probably worth stating that I am most of the time running the backfield captain as the warlord (for denial reasons) with artisan of war on his sword, which is why the relic blade would be extra nice. He's a real counter charge threat at that point.

Edited January 31, 2018 by neonmole

[MeltaRange]

You only need 8 points to upgrade the Plasma Pistol to a Storm Shield.  What I might do is drop all the Plasma Pistols on the Assault Marine Sergeants (21pts) and use that to upgrade him + the other 13 points to maybe spice up the backfield captain a bit (maybe even find another couple points to make him into Captain Tycho) or perhaps give all your Scout Sergeants Power Swords?

[neonmole]

I think that would be a decent way of doing it MeltaRange, the unfortunate thing though is I can only drop models since literally everything is build to WYSIWYG. Unfortunately I didn’t have the foresight to magnetise the ASM sergeants!

 

The SG are literally the only squad that isn’t already at Kim size!!

[Aothaine]

I think that would be a decent way of doing it MeltaRange, the unfortunate thing though is I can only drop models since literally everything is build to WYSIWYG. Unfortunately I didn’t have the foresight to magnetise the ASM sergeants!

 

The SG are literally the only squad that isn’t already at Kim size!!

 

What do you mean by Kim Size?

[MeltaRange]

Weapons swaps aren't that hard...

 

I'm a big "boys over toys" guy, so I'd personally leave it as is before removing a full Sang Guard model.

[neonmole]

@Aothaine - Just a stupid iPhone autocorrect. Should have read “min” sized!

 

I agree with you MeltaRange, I’m in the boys over toys camp (most of the time), and if they were not already half painted I would agree with you that a swap would be easy, but I don’t want to mess up the paint at this point.

 

Also, while definitely not the motivating reason, I have one less model (SG) to paint this way! Silver lining ;)

[LutherMax]

This is looking awesome man! Love that blue on the Predator gunner helm..!

[neonmole]

Thanks Luther! I was really happy with the Predator dude!

 

Hobby update for you guys!

 

So the international was to have all 15 scouts done by the end of this weekend... So that didn't quite happen. Painting the faces turned out to be a lot more challenging thats I expected. Im not very experienced with faces, at least not in recent times - relative to the current standards I try to hold. The long and short of it is I screwed up 3 of the faces... So they will need to be stripped. In addition to that there is also the heavy bolter guy, who was a late addition to the list.

 

All that said, I think the 11 I have completed turned out pretty well! I many well add some shoulder transfers, but that's is dependant on procuring some of the sheets which have the right size on them! Lets see...

 

Group Shot (Mephiston photo bombing!)

 

 

3 Sergeants, happy with these guys!

 

 

 

I made the intentional choice to not paint the eyes with whites/pupils, it just didn't feel like it was going to be a good look given the style I have gone with over the rest of the army. I didn't want them to look to cartoony, and I wasn't very confident in my ability to pull them off without that happening... Instead I went with a pretty simple bit of violet glaze in the eye sockets to add some shadows.

 

Hope you like them! Will have a gaming update tomorrow after my game against the Dark Angels! Wish m luck....

 

Cheers.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Scouts.

[brother_b]

Love your stuff so clean keep it coming.

[neonmole]

Thanks for the kind words guys! (as always)

 

Brief gaming update...

 

So... my game vs the Dark Angels, did not go well.. at all! Thoroughly dominated. There were a combination of factors involved:-

 

- His army (while he didn't design it in such a way) turned out to be a pretty hard counter on paper

- I rolled appallingly badly (16 2+ Sanguinary Guard saves, failed 9!!)

- I didn't play with the mission, and the strength of his list in mind

(documenting this is actually really helpful in thinking through what went wrong and how I could play this better next time.)

 

His army:

- Azrael

- LT

- Ancient (lets a dead guy shoot on a 4+)

- Jump captain

- 5 Intercessor

- 5 Intercessor

- 5 Scouts

- 3 Plasma Inceptors

- 3 Bolter Inceptors

- 3 Bolter Agressors

- 6 Devestators /w 4 Plasma Cannon

- 6 Devestators /w 4 Plasma Cannon

- 6 Devestators /w 4 Lascannon

- 6 Devestators /w 4 Lascannon

- 5 Hellblasters

 

So, basically a :cuss load of infantry based anti tank, which unfortunately hurts my armour, but also renders my own investment in anti-tank redundant! 

 

As you might imagine, his plan is basically to deploy in a big castle, with the 4 devastator squads being buffed by all his re-rolls, azraels invuls, and the shoot on death banner. In a really bad bit of luck I got seized on. From there I went on to lose a shooting battle as unfortunately I failed a couple of key charges that would have resulted in potential game swings (tying up and killing his castle), ah well, such is life.

 

The key thing is the mission. In hindsight, I didn't play it well at all, comes down to me panicking a little bit at his firepower, and trying to out muscle him - rather than utilising my mobility. I think by using my mobility could have played for a draw (even with the bad luck) with quite a high chance of success, and maybe won. 

 

All in all, a good learning experience. It hurts to get pounded like that, but it reinforced why playing the mission is so critical, ironically (given I lost badly) made me better understand the lists strengths, and I'm sure I will do better next time I'm in a similar position! 

 

Cheers guys - should have the final 3 scouts & a coupe of Sanguinary Guard models finished later this week!

[Brother Aether]

In addition to having beautifully painted models (I'll admit it ... I'm quite jealous!) I like your writeups, neonmole – I find your experiences (alongside those of Morticon and others written up in the forums) to be really helpful when thinking about my own tactics, lists, etc. I don't get a chance to play much at present, so it's really helpful for theorycrafting and list building in anticipation of a [hopefully] freer schedule in a few months.

[neonmole]

Hi Guys,

 

Apologies for the silence on here! I have neglected posting for a bit, probably because I have had to really get moving to ensure the army actually gets done! We are now... t-minus 14 days to my flight to Gibraltar!

 

I was actually somewhat ahead of schedule... But unfortunately, what can only be described as a catastrophe struck...

 

I was about 50% through painting the 15 ASM (the last full units), with a week and a bit time invested... and yeah - catastrophe... Basically I went to shake up a bottle of silver paint (you see where this is going) and the lid wasn't tight on.. This resulted in a silver splatter across my ASM - In response I rushed them to the bathroom and began washing off the models in the hopes of saving them. This actually worked, the silver paint was totally removed, but something very strange had happened. Upon closer inspection when they had dried, the water had done something very strange the base layer of red paint. Basically it looked kind of "blistered", as if there were bubbles under the paint. I can only image the water penetrated the airbrush layers resulting in this unsightly result. The red is really the big thing I strive for in my models, so this resulted in a very distressed stripping session of the ASM, and a start over, losing over a week of progress. Initially I thought this might mean I needed to change the list, but it now looks like I am going to get it done! (which is a good thing since I submitted the list already!)

 

That aside! I have some progress to share. I hope you like!

 

First of all, I (finally) finished the scouts. Here are shots of the 3 squads. Some models are better than others (especially the faces) but overall Im happy with the result here. I resisted getting scouts for a long time because of how bad the models are, but with the headswaps, they are a lot better than I feared/expected. Models I am happy to play with :)

 

(apologies for the less than ideal photography - very much "off the desk"!)

 

Scout Squad 1:

 

 

Scout Squad 2:

 

 

Scout Squad 3:

 

 

 

Next... I need 2 more Sword Sanguinary Guard (broadly speaking I think the other weapon options for them are pretty junk in comparison). Rather than make more (especially given my new time constraint) I decided to convert my two Axe guys to Swords. I figured this was a good approach anyway since I was unlike to use them with the Axes at all. At least not WYSIWYG...

 

Massive Claymore Dude SG!

 

 

Katana Looking SG Dude!

 

 

 

And finally, a WIP shot of the ASM (and the two Characters) the 2nd time round. As a consolation to myself. I think I did a better job of the red the second time, having done it once and having the benefit of knowing which highlight placements I preferred etc. I haven't actually figured out what technique I am going to use for the yellow heads yet.. The couple of tests I have done were not satisfactory... But Im sure I'll figure it out! If not Ill just steal Luthers technique (go-to policy) ;)

 

I think if I can pull off the yellow heads these boys are gonna look pretty ballin' when they are done!

 

 

I aim to have the base colours finished by the end of this weekend. That leaves a week to finish up the highlights... And a couple days that I have off work before I fly to devote to the characters... Its coming down to it!

 

Hope you enjoy the pics!

Cheers.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Scouts and Sanguinary Guard members. Edited February 23, 2018 by Bjorn Firewalker

[Majkhel]

These models of yours are truly great! I've never thought of making naginata-like glaives. Pure awesomness! 
One thing that strikes me is the very silver look of those blades. For me this makes them a little flat-looking. I would definitely be putting more darker tones to them. Also in line with the "grimdark" look of which I'm a great fan myself.

[Jønke]

I always dreeded the heads on the new scouts, no idea why i havent thought of anything as simple as a head swap -.-

You really made the scouts look good. Also really digg the claymore sg.

 

One thing! Drill your barrels :D

 

It all looks stunning mate. Will cheer for you in Gibraltar.