A foray into the Unforgiven, Deathwing style

[Lachdannan]

Greetings hallowed veterans.

 

I have decided to stalk down the corridors of The Rock and try my hand at an army I have always wanted to give a go. Long have I looked at them from afar and thought I wouldn't go there, I have plenty of yellow to paint, but that time has come.

 

So with that in mind I have been stalking this forum and looked at some most excellent plogs, specifically Stobz comes to mind, and have found myself inspired. That and the Space Hulk Deathwing game also got me suitably inspired to tackle this project.

 

At this stage I have collected the following to make a start of a force.

 

Belial

Terminator Chaplain

2 squads of Dark Vengeance Terminators

2 boxes of Deathwing Terminators

 

I have at this stage assembled and undercoated 1 squad of the DV Deathwing, though I am unsure how to assemble the others.

 

I would, therefor, be greatly indebted to those who could help me with the other squads loadout. I think I am planning on assembling a Deathwing champion, ancient and perhaps 2 apothecary's with the Deathwing boxes and then converting some of my BA Space Hulk Terminators to fill the gaps.

 

Seeing how effective missile launchers are, I thought I might assemble some with them. That said, I am open to any suggestions.

 

If it helps at all, my regular opponent will be running Genestealer Cults, which will make for some very inspiring games. I would also add I am not planning on getting anything else till I have made a dent into these, but you know how it is. That's what everyone says.

 

Any help for this neophyte would be most appreciated. I will also endeavour to post my progress when any is made.

 

Cheers for any help.

 

 

 

 

[Chaplain Lucifer]

Check the army list section for ideas and listen to no one that DW is not good. They may not be tournament winning material but if you like Terminators you will have fun games despite being outgunned and outnumbered!

[Interrogator Stobz]

Welcome to the Rock Brother, please head straight to Chamber 42 for a lovely chat with the Interrogators about your recent desire for knowledge about the Deathwing.

There won't be tea and cookies.

 

 

Thanks for the props and as Chaplain Lucifer says there is plenty of great info around here, although I will always recommend magnets for TDA, the effectiveness of their weapons changes every edition so prepare for a lifetime of being Unforgiven.

That is if you make it out of the 'chat'.

 

:D

Stobz

[G8Keeper]

Welcome to the Rock Brother, please head straight to Chamber 42 for a lovely chat with the Interrogators about your recent desire for knowledge about the Deathwing.

There won't be tea and cookies.

 

 

Thanks for the props and as Chaplain Lucifer says there is plenty of great info around here, although I will always recommend magnets for TDA, the effectiveness of their weapons changes every edition so prepare for a lifetime of being Unforgiven.

That is if you make it out of the 'chat'.

 

Stobz

 

Bah what's a meg-net?? Just buy more models! 

 

Welcome to the Rock, Deathwing can be very rewarding and often put the willies up opponents for some reason.  An army of them can get very expensive points wise, very fast so choose wisely.

[sneakybamsen]

Ideally I'd have a 10 man unit with 10 storm bolters and 2 cyclone launchers to burn Deathwing Assault. When going full on deathwing, might as well make the most of it. Powersword on the sergeant. Land Belial with them and unleash hell.

 

From then on, you can either go for two 5 man squads with an assault cannon in either, or build no sergeants from the Deathwing Terminator boxes and just go with 1 additional 10 man unit.

 

Deathwing knights are cool and pack a punch in melee, they easily outperform terminators in CC. You should consider getting a squad of those, maybe even 7 or 8 models as some people like to run.

 

Of the command squad, apothecary and champion rarely see playtime as far as I know. Ancient does have his aura which is decent, but he is pricey imho. You gain the most from just running terminators with Belial. Company Masters (Captains in other legions) don't do as much for Deathwing as Belial, and interrogator chaplains aren't really worth their points. They are cool though. If you want characters besides Belial and you want all TDA, I'd say a Librarian is sensible. But a jump pack lieutenant helps boost the output of your army quite a bit.

 

If you want some really cool terminators, that do just that and not much else, a squad of tartaros with dual lightning claws is a sight to behold imho. I've been considering getting 5 or 10 of those, but my army just feels vast enough already. Why tartaros? Well, they move further than regular TDA without any disadvantage (apart from not being able to take heavy weaponry). Some people swear to cataphractii with storm bolters and lightning claws, and they do look badass, but they are so slow once they've landed. They are really good at clearing chaff, once they get in and make their charge.

 

I haven't thought out a list for you to consider, but I hope you can use the input nonetheless.

 

And welcome to the Rock.

[Lachdannan]

Cheers for the warm welcome and the advice!

 

Having looked around the army lists and gone through the codex, it would seem to be in theme to go for the Deathwing Assault stratagem. In which case a full 10 man squad would be a good idea. At the moment am thinking I might give them assault cannons to lay down the dakka, though that said, magnets seem a very sensible option, so I probably will do that in case I want to try something different.

 

I think I also need to try a test model, so I can see how it looks. I will try to limit myself at the moment, as I believe the ETL is coming soon?

 

Anyways, thanks for the input. I will try and post a test model soon.

[march10k]

My ideal DW contingent (currently running it with a Azzy lascannon farm firebase, actually) is Belial, Ancient, 10 tactical terminators (no missiles, but that's partly a points saving thing and partly just not needed because I run 8 twinlinked lascannons...in a pure deathwing list, you need the cyclones!), and 8 knights.  Drop the tactical termies with Belial, DWA away, drop the knights and the ancient. 

 

Now, if the knights' target had bubble wrap that the DWA just punched through, then I guess the knights are dropping in front of the stormbolters.  in that case, drop the ancient in between the two units.  The knights won't benefit from Belial's twinlinking, but they will get the extra swing from the ancient. 

 

If your DWA was to perpetrate garden variety xenocide, then you can drop the knights next to the stormbolters, and you have two chances at charging the same target.  If either unit makes it, they leave a tail to get +1A and twinlinking.  That's the main reason for more than five knights...if you have to leave a tail on a turn one charge, that means only 2-3 models fight!  5-6 is plenty for most jobs, and you generally only need the tail that one time.  After that, you continue to benefit from the larger squad because you can absorb some casualties and remain effective.  5 man terminator squads start whiffing hard in melee when they lose a model or three.

 

That said, if the ten man squad makes it to turn 2 without casualties, you have the option of paying a CP to combat squad them...if you need more units, like to spread out and cover objectives.  In a lot of scenarios, though, I keep them together even if I have the option.

 

In a few months (after a move), I'm going to start on some inceptors...I'll end up dropping the knights, not the tacticals.  Knights wreck face in melee, but I think the hate that tactical terminators bring is a little higher because they fight in two phases.  Knights are great for bringing down big models, but ten twinlinked stormbolters brings a lot of horde control, and twinlinked powerfists aren't particularly ineffective in melee.  They reliably pile wounds onto the big boys, though not as well as knights, and you don't feel as bad about wasted wounds when they punch troops.  One of the things I really, really love about 8th is that basic deathwing boys are back in the game.  It was "thundernators or go home" for far too many consecutive editions.

 

/edit/

 

About the assault cannons...take them for the rule of cool, but not for the dakka.  Dropping 9" from the target, a stormbolter gets 4 shots to the ass cannon's 6.  Not worth the points!  You can split fire, of course, but I found myself shooting the stormbolters and ass cannons at the same target almost every turn, so I dropped them.  I would recommend cyclones, though.  You still get the stormbolter hate, and four twinlinked krak missiles is real value added!

[Lachdannan]

I have finally assembled some models, and I am pledging the following for the ETL. I'm quite excited, as it has been awhile since I have done an ETL.

So i have in the pipeline for the first vow;

Belial

Deathwing apothecary

5 Deathwing Terminators (the heavy is madnetised)

I really wanted to use my Space Hulk terminators, so I took the time to shave off all the Blood Angel iconography and drops. Very happy to finally use them, plus they are very fitting, since my regular opponent will be using Genstealer Cults.

In addition, I have also had a 1200pt game with my Deathwing against Genestealer Cults in a ZM game. Just used the Necromunda tiles for the battlefield and made for a very atmospheric game. I leaned a lot about the Deathwing in that game (Storm Bolters are amazing, especially with Belial's reroll). Belial was a beast, so I can't wait to paint him up and I really liked the Ancient giving +1 attack to my lightning claw terminators. All told, I did pull out a close win in those dark corridors. Next time I will endeavour to take some pictures.

Still, next step is to make a start on my vow, thinking I will a standard terminator to try out a few schemes.

Anyways, thanks for the advice and encouragement.

[Lachdannan]

Like many on the forum, I have made a start in my vow. The first step would prove to be the hardest, as I haven't tested any schemes yet for my Deathwing, but I think I have one that ticks all my boxes. So let my take you on a journey through how I picked the scheme I ended with.

It started with the Deathwing story in this book. A very cool story which had a bunch of Deathwing Terminators liberate a world from a genestealer infestation, with only a couple of survivors at the end. However, it was while researching the Deathwing that I stumbled upon this....

A super old game of Space Hulk. Would you believe, I used to have the old floppy discs for this game back in 1993. It was really hard, but had a killer opening scene.

Just loved that white armour and hazard striped gloves.

Another inspiration image was this one from the old Space Hulk expansion.

Such a cool scene, and again with that cool white "ash" armour.

And the latest incarnation of it was this.

Another super cool game which is very atmospheric, and again with the predominantly white armour.

So after all this research and rediscovering the old artwork and games, I settled on a white scheme. He is my first test piece.

I picked the Mechanicum bases as they screamed more Space Huilk to me, and I am a big fan of Space Hulk. I have yet to add some red OSL for the lenses and some minor battle damage, but thought I'd post my wip.

I would like to add more colour depth to the base, but am unsure what to add, so any advice would be appreaciated.

Hope everyone is going well with their vows.

Thanks for stopping by.

[Interrogator Stobz]

Now that’s what Deathwing should look like!

Great proper white Brother :tu:

[Tonius]

That's why I keep my DV box !!! :)

 

The paint scheme is awesome, nicely done !

[march10k]

Very nicely done.  But I shudder at the thought of painting that much white.  Bone is nice because it's so easy to get consistent outcomes without needing 17 layers of the same color :)

[Interrogator Stobz]

Two Thin Coats March10k Sir!

[Lachdannan]

Now that’s what Deathwing should look like!

Great proper white Brother

Cheers! High praise indeed!

 

That's why I keep my DV box !!!

 

The paint scheme is awesome, nicely done !

Thanks very much, I think it fits well.

 

Very nicely done.  But I shudder at the thought of painting that much white.  Bone is nice because it's so easy to get consistent outcomes without needing 17 layers of the same color

Cheers! Considering though that the paints these days tend to have more pigment in them, they do cover a lot better than they used to. That and this took way less coats than my usual Imperial Fists!

 

Two Thin Coats March10k Sir!

Quite right!

[march10k]

Two Thin Coats March10k Sir!

 

 

Cheers! Considering though that the paints these days tend to have more pigment in them, they do cover a lot better than they used to. That and this took way less coats than my usual Imperial Fists!

 

Yep...yellow is definitely harder than white!  But I still have nightmares about trying to get smooth and evenly pigmented white on my devilfish and hammerheads.

[Lachdannan]

For week two, I have finished my first two Deathwing. Here they are!

As already stated, I am a huge fan of Space Hulk, so I wanted the bases to reflect that and I couldn't resist doing some hazard stripes there. I was also going to do some red OSL, but it didn't turn out like I hoped so I have scratched that for the moment.

Next I am trying to get another two members of the squad done by next week, so we shall see how I go.

Let me know what you think.

Cheers!

[Hantheman]

That. Is. Beautiful.

[Interrogator Stobz]

Yes.it.is.

[Lachdannan]

Cheers guys! Thanks for looking!

[march10k]

Loving it.  Not normally a fan of weathered/bloodied/muddied marines (because they're so meticulous/obsessive about restoring their honored armor to pristine condition between engagements, even in a longer lull in the middle of a battle), but since this is space hulk inspired, it works for me.  Those terminators are getting no respite and their armor is definitely taking a beating! 

 

That said, a few of the 'chipped paint' bits look like paint glopped on thick, they're visibly raised above the level of the surrounding paint, defeating the illusion.  It also helps if the edges of the chips aren't rounded, it's hard to imagine what would blast the paint off without leaving jagged edges.  the 'gloppy' ones actually look more like molten metal dripped onto the armor and cooled/hardened.

[Lachdannan]

Thanks march10k! Appreciate the comment. You are quite right about the battle damage. I must admit, it has been awhile since I have done some painting, and I went a little heavy on the sponge. I will be more careful with the next two.

 

Cheers!

[Lachdannan]

Well, it has been quite a while since my last post. With building a new house, moving and having another baby, it has been hectic to say the least. However, despite failing (again) at the ETL, I have made progress in the last week or so. So here is what I have been doing lately.

I do apologies about the photos, as they are a little washed out, and I have yet to locate/unpack my photo booth. Hope that is okay.

Anyways, I have finished the first squad I pledged so long ago.

I must say I wasn't a fan of the wings, so I simply cut them off! I like him a lot better now.

This one is magnetised, as I wanted a few options, especially as I plan to take the squad into Space Hulk as well.

This arm, although red, was a little experiment that I plan on doing with the next squad. The inspiration is from the Space Hulk: Deathwing game. But more on that in the next update.

Squad complete! Feels so good! Only took most of the year!

I also have made progress on Belial. I kept him basically stock, but added a cloak as I thought it looked rather nice. He is about 92.7% complete. Hope to get some spare time and finish him off soon!

I did replace his sword with the Deathwing box sword, as the resin was atrocious.

Well, that is it for me.

Apologies for the long hiatus, though I do hope to be more prolific this year!

As always any C&C is most welcome!

Thanks for stopping by, cheers!

[Lachdannan]

I have made some progress with my Deathwing and finished my Belial!

Here he is in all his glory.

With him finished, I thought I would put some paint on my other HQ, a Librarian in Terminator Armour.

Still a long way to go, but at least the basic colours are blocked in.

Any c&c most welcome.

Thanks for looking.

[nusphigor]

Beautiful army brother!

You actually made me want to xhange my colour scheme to white! XD

[Lachdannan]

Cheers nusphigor!

 

Appreciate the kind words!