Non-Chaosy Chaos Aesthetics?

[Lokastus Grimm]

Hey Guys,

 

A quick question or two for you!

 

I’m looking into making a small Night Lords force, but I’m REALLY not into the current GW ‘chaos’ aesthetic (gribbly bits, horns etc.). I’ve bought myself some MkIII Marines as a start, and was wondering if anyone had any examples of non-chaosy Night Lords for a bit of inspiration?

 

I’m also in the same dilemma with cultists, as I really don’t like those models either. Has anyone had any success in converting genestealer cult neophyte models into chaos cultists?

 

Thanks,

 

Lokastus

[Balthamal]

Get on over to Forgeworld and look at their legion upgrade kits - pretty much everything you'd want if you don't want the full warp touched aesthetics 

[WarriorFish]

You're not alone in wanting Chaos to be something other than spikes and horns, fortunately you can do a lot mixing and matching bits. The Horus Heresy range is excellent for this, especially if you want to retain the older armour style. I'd recommend MkIV for Night Lords (also in general :P ).

 

Mixing these with Chaos range bits (sans spikes etc, of course) also goes a long way even more so if you take Chaos backpacks. I've found backpacks and helmets tend to "set" the style of the model most compared to other bits. As Balthamal says raiding Forge World is a great way to spice them up with non-spike flavour if you're after more of a Legion look Night Lords are probably easiest of all to purloin other ranges for, as what makes them most recognisable is their colour scheme - that will complete the NL look on any model I'm sure

 

The Genestealer Cult infantry are excellent conversion fodder, so much so they can do a lot from Chaos cult to Tallarn. All it takes is a head swap and maybe a few other bits and you're away, I've yet to see a bad GSC conversion!

[Scourged]

Another decent avenue is the Berzerker kit. It's old, but the torsos have a nice "Chaos sans spikes and gribbly bits" look. Yeah, you may need to file down a Khorne icon or two, but it's real easy. The legs and backpacks are a nice neutral Chaos too. Plus some great shoulder pads. Just not arms... They're a bit... Stubby.

 

With cultists, the sky is the limit. The genestealer kit is begging for it. But really any "human with a simple gun" will work. Imperial Guard with Aquilas desecrated is a popular choice. I favor the Renegades and Heretics kit from Forgeworld. And I've seen a lot of chatter for using Necromunda gangers too.

[Lokastus Grimm]

Thanks guys, I think it’s probably going to be leaning towards the forgeworld Legion look, just with a few chaosy bits thrown in. I’ll just have to sell some organs to afford it!

 

I like the idea of the berzerker bits, and I totally remember the arms being terrible! I really wish I hadn’t sold all my old chaos stuff, as that was a gold mine of berzerker bits!

 

I just don’t quite get the new aesthetic of horns, teeth and spikes that Seem to be predominant. The raptor/warp talon kit is the worst example I can think of. I think they are just too visually ‘busy’ for me, I’d rather have a simpler, cleaner look, but somehow different from the standard space marine line.

 

I bought myself the aspiring champion model a while ago, and just found that once I started painting it, I hated the way it looks. From the ‘mouth’ decoration on the shoulder pad to the inquisition head on the back of the model to the ridiculous trim on the legs.

[Balthamal]

I know what you mean but I can kinda understand why that design is now becoming more the norm - with the exploration of the Chaos Legions, primarily through ADB's Black Legion series, we're seeing more clearly the way the Warp affects those who make it their haven which would indeed lead more towards the whole teeth/spikes etc etc

 

But conversely there's nothing wrong with keeping it "clean" and looking at other kits there's more than enough choice out there to make a really flavourful army whilst holding off on some of the more outlandish decorations

[Soulhunter1995]

I was thinking the same with the Black Legion to be honest, I`ll be looking at the Sons of Horus stuff soon in that regard :) Although that being said, my word bearers are all spikey :P

[Scourged]

Clean is how I keep my Alpha Legion, until i don't. Mark IV, Mark III, some Forgeworld kits, Mark VI for Raptors... because it'll be one hell of a contrast to the 'chaotic' models when they're mixed together. Sleek and clean Mk. IV for the rank and file, but then here come a wave of Possessed from chopped-up DV Chosen kits and other bits, or my eventual plan of Obliterators out of some chopped-up Bullgryn. For me, it's fits an old bit of fluff that the Alpha Legion would hide their mutations until they were face-to-face with the enemy, "adding horror and revulsion to the shock of their sudden attack."

 

Horns and gribbly bits certainly have their place, but not necessarily with the entire army. 

[Lokastus Grimm]

@Balthamal Yeah, that’s true, I just wish there was some more middle ground, maybe a little spikyness but less busy would be cool.

 

I mean there are chaos models that I really like the look of that are spiky etc, but I find they’re the bigger ones like the maulerfiend, where the bits aren’t highly concentrated on a tiny model.

 

It would be so good if they replaced the standard chaos marine box. They could update them with some gribbly bits, some plain bits so that both legion and renegade chapters can be catered for.

 

@Soulhunter1995 The SOH stuff from FW is soooo good! I have some SOH and I find that they are a good example of the kind of look that i’d like to see, spiky but cleaner

[Soulhunter1995]

@Lokastus Grimm Same here :D I was actually having a discussion with a friend of mine a week or so ago and we both said that Sons of Horus kits have just the right amount of spikey-ness :P especially as they look as though the spikes could actually be used in combat instead of being just for display :)

[Trevak Dal]

I wish I could show you my Nightblades. I have painstakingly removed spikes and horns, reduced the jetpack like power pack (inverting the vents so they blow up and back).

 

I even have squad and unit markings that are inspired from stuff about loyalist codex compliant markings. A lot of that is to make it easier for me to tell who is who, from Bolter jock to Specialist/Heavy Weapons Guy while playing from a distance.

 

You could mistake them for loyalists. (That is the idea, they are very uniform and professional, Alpha Legion in fact.)

[+Chaplain Matthias+]

There's a guy on instagram called pnisgeekery who's word bearers have the aesthetic I think you're talking about. He swapped some horus heresy and chaos heads and backpacks onto primaris marines, filed off the aquilas, and bam! Beautiful chaos space marines done right. 

 

Check out this post.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ_eOATDRgZ/

 

I'm with you. I only want my spawn/possessed/defilers to look over the top. I like the heretic look rather than the corrupted look.

Edited March 5, 2018 by +Chaplain Matthias+

[Goreshed]

The beauty of chaos is the ability to make all of your CSM look like the chosen from the DV set or on the flip side use the stuff from the heresy sets, maybe add a spike or two, and get the same power of our side of the grim dark genre.

 

Personally I favor less is more with keeping things in line using the older kit. Doesn't mean I don't think the new kits look bad by any means, just that it's a personal preference.

 

Plus we're chaos. We repurpose filthy imperial stuff all the time so use some of those kits to supplement what you are looking for.

[Lokastus Grimm]

Just had a look at that page on Instagram @chaplainMatthias, and they look awesome!

 

@Goreshed yeah, I like the idea of re-purposed imperial equipment, I’ll have to delve into my blood angels bitz box I think!

[BrainFireBob]

Lookup Evilcraft.eu .

[Ghorgul]

I’m looking into making a small Night Lords force, but I’m REALLY not into the current GW ‘chaos’ aesthetic (gribbly bits, horns etc.).

I also dislike the daemonic/corrupted/spiky aesthetic. That's why my Night Lords force, which is still WIP, is kind of mish-mash of Mk. III, IV and V. Especially the Mk. V armor looks chaosy to me.

 

My Raptors are now Mk. V assault marines with FW Night Lords squad upgrade pieces mixed in. These upgrade pieces are Mk. IV. And also mixed in are FW Night Lords Mk. II shoulder pads, these are the ones with wide rims, in similar manner as standard CSM box has some of the shoulder pads. They are looking really nice to my eye, kind of trashy and non-standardized. I wanted all the marines look like that, but normal troops are just Betrayal at Calth Mk. IV guys for budgetary reasons.

 

I can't provide pictures of any of these as I don't have good photographing setup and my cellphone camera is not up to the task, sorry.

 

Additionally, you may find this topic interesting:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/340571-metallic-night-lord-scheme

Edited March 6, 2018 by Ghorgul

[Claws and Effect]

I'm actually using a bunch of loyalist pieces to represent my DIY warband.

 

They're what's left of the Flame Falcons and never fully embraced Chaos. Stands to reason they'd mostly still have whatever equipment they managed to take with them, and they were a fairly young Chapter to begin with.

 

Chaos influence is going to come through in the paint scheme.

[Goreshed]

And that's the beauty of chaos, that is the very beauty of playing our faction. Given the very nature of the warp we can have chaos Marines who literally just fought at the gates of terra 10k years ago that just now pop out of a storm to find it the 41st and don't have any mutations. Why? Because to them that battle has only been a day/week/month/year/decade ago. Then we could have the chaos Marines who lived out every day of that. Or fell to chaos many years/millennia after that. We are honestly talking about 10,000 (ten thousand) years worth of time. A lot can happen, or maybe not, we are talking about the warp after all.

 

A chaos player who paints up their models to look like any of the legions is just as valid as the model who is mutated with the spikes and such.

 

Crimson Slaughter is a group that embraces chaos to the fullest. The new nurgle models are the same. GW hasn't yet released a model for the mono legions but there is so much potential given the quality of the production now. They have only given us one small portion of a spectrum that is so large we could spend years thinking of new levels to it and still couldn't take it all in.

 

But that is where we come in. As players. As modelers. As people who have a passion for a faction that is one of the most unique to play. We can paint/convert these models to best represent what we have in our minds to represent the warbands/legions/renegades we all hold dear to our chaos corrupted hearts.