MBA++Blood Angels 5th Company - into the Leviathan's maw

[Majkhel]

Cheers BB! I'm happy you like him

I have 2 more Bladeguard Veterans on my painting station atm. However what I really wanted to show is this:

I'm building it for the fun of it more than anything else. Once finished, it's supposed to be be count-as Captain on bike. I really hope we will get more HQ on bikes eventually. Base is obviously too big for firstborn, but it matches Primaris bikes.

It's based on the AoS Astreia Solbright which I got somewhat damaged but cheap. It's missing part of the base which is now being filled with milliput and the body of a fallen World Eater built around a spare Aggressor torso.

For the moment I'm focusing on the mount. I plan on keeping most of it as it is. Definitely no cyborg (I don't want it to look like new squigs), however I need to somehow show it belongs to the 42nd millenium now. Maybe some tech equipment on the saddle. Definitely I need some way of represent the twin-bolters. A gun in a side holster perhaps?

We'll see ho it goes, I'm in no hurry.

Edited October 21, 2021 by Majkhel

[BloodyB]

Would any of the knee and arm plates from a dreadnought kit work for armour on that noble steed? It looks the right size for some well placed armour. Maybe the Captain will take advantage of his mount's carrying capacity, perhaps for additional ammunition capacity, or maybe some more effective communication equipment? Perhaps such a potent beast of war is branded, an electoo or something similar would be well within the requisitioning capabilities of a Captain.

 

Maybe giving the captain a storm bolter on a strap could stand in as a twin-linked bolter, I would be tempted to suggest a bulkier one, like the ones from the Cataphractii terminator kit. The standard one could work fine, but I feel like a Captain with a choice would take advantage of his loyal mount's stability and opt for the heavier weapon.

 

Just my thoughts on such a conversion. Looking forward to seeing the results.

[Majkhel]

Thanks for all the ideas! I love the phobos combi-bolters Cataphractii are carrying. I need to check if I can source one.
I've been toying with armour plates' idea but they will obscure the otherwise nice and sleek lines of the mount. Dread armour plates are definitely big, but we'll see.

[Majkhel]

So nothing really that special, just another Bladeguard Veteran:

1st Company, 13th Squad this time, but will probably be played as part of my existing 3-man squad.

He's kinda busy with all the extra bling <BANG! Heresy! Obviously there's no such thing as too much bling on a chosen warrior of the Emperor!> so you have to take my word on it, that I struggled to keep him simple in other areas.
The sculpted shoulder pads from Puppteswar are interesting - in a way they combine the cataphractii look with the traditional rounded curve of space marine pads with added gothic feel. Definintely interesting, but they proved a little challenging with the iconography placement. Fortunately I found a smaller yellow chapter decal that fit well enough and I think it works as it is.

I tried another very interesting approach with the NMM blade based on a truly inspiring work by Mamikon Mike Khachikyan (at least that's his name on FB)

Such a simple idea, such awesome result! Never thought of pushing the light blink into the opposing side of the blade

I did my own twist on it to keep things similar across the unit.

Next up will be another BGVet and perhaps another one if I still have the willpower. Other than that I need to increase the size of my painted Sanguinary Guard brotherhood

Cheers!. Edited November 3, 2021 by Majkhel

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Bladeguard members.

[Majkhel]

Cheers Bjorn! Glad you like them :)

[BloodyB]

Brilliant Bladeguard, love the colour choice for that shield. I had a really difficult time picking the colours for my own BG. Those shoulders look real good, as does that axe. I really wish there were actual rules for switching the sword for axes of mauls, it would open up some amazing conversion possibilities. The filigree around the helmet looks excellent, the lighter gold sells the angelic knight aspect that the BG (and Blood Angels) have going for them.

[Majkhel]

Thank you BloodyB!

It was exactly the same struggle for me with the shields to be honest. In the end I chose what I considered the easiest path - bare metal with embellishments in different colours. I did try something else with my Lieutenant and while it's not bad, I think white is not the best colour if someone highlights reds with mostly yellows (although cool ones) like I do. I still have the Indomitus Captain to paint and I might still revisit the idea of a different colour for the shield's main surface.
 

Yes, the axes!  I'd totally use them if i could. In terms of conversions, I do not feel constrained by the fact that they can only use swords in games, quite the opposite. Exactly because of that I can give them whatever I like and it will not be confusing for my opponents. As long as there is "blade" on it, I feel it's justified I was thinking on some kind of spears/pole-arms too. 
Admittedly, if rules were to change at some point I might end up with a sub-optimally armed unit but it's a worry for another time.

Edited November 4, 2021 by Majkhel

[Majkhel]

Coming back here after some time. On the painting front I'm mobilising myself to painting another Bladeguard Veteran. I'd like to finish him before year's end.
Other than that I want to revisit my hobby journey throughout this year. I will definitely not complete the 5th yet but it's not bothering me.
 

On another note, I won a friendly 1500pts game Yesterday against Crimson Fists.
A short summary in the 

He took: Smash Captain build with Imperium Sword and relic TH-like PF, no to-hit penalties, Judiciar and Reiver Liutenant, 2x Bolter Inceptors, 1x3 BGVets, 1 Redemptor, 1x3 Eliminators, 1x5 Intercessors and 1x7 Assault Intercessors, 1x5 Infiltrators, 1 Storm Speeder Thunderstrike

I took: Astorath as Warlord (MoS, Mass of Doom + something else he never used), Primaris Techmarine (forgemaster with Quake Bolts) 2x SangGuard (4 and 5-man unit half swords, half axes), 1x5 DC (3 Hammers), Levi (2x Grav-flux, volkites, 3 HKs), 1x5 Eradicators (Assault +1 MM), 1x3 Suppressors, 1x5 Incursors, 1x4 Assault Intercessors

I won something like 65:11 so I feel kinda bad about it. We played the Scouring mission from GT2021 pack.
My list was quite obviously better and definitely more mobile. My opponent also did some mistakes during deployment (he didn't castle up as I would in his place) leaving BGVets with Judiciar on one flank and Infiltrators alone forward. There was also a gap between BGVets and Thunderstrike, which I was planning on exploiting with DC if I got first turn (which I did). He additionally put Inceptors with Lieutenant in the Reserves which meant I had more room for manoeuvring in my first turn without fear of their Assault Bolters. I think I would have a much harder time if they started on the board.  

His secondaries were Assassinate, Engage on All Fronts and Mission Secondary.
I took Oaths, Engage on All Fronts and Mission Secondary and deployed centrally with only Incursors setup out to grab a flank objective and Eradicators put into Reserve

Overall my plan was to move the Levi to the central objective with Techmarine and threaten everything I can from there for as long as possible, SG blob with Astorath and Assault Intercessors would move towards one flank objective and from there towards Enemy's DZ, Incursors would take other nearer flank objective and try to stay hidden there. Eradicators were to arrive where needed and Suppressors would turn-off any overwatches (Crimson Fists have enhanced Bolters much like IFs). DC would obviously fish for targets of opportunity and cause overall disruption in opponent's lines if possible

I got first turn which played handsomely for my much more mobile army and for my Secondaries. 1st turn I was able to remove the Infiltrators and take 2 nearer objectives initiating the Mission Secondaries on both of them. DC charged the Thunderstrike and Eliminators, but I got greedy and split my attacks so Thunderstrike was left on one wound and Eliminators were unscathed by the chainswords. DC then died but still managed to down the Judiciar after surviving attacks from Assault Intercessors thanks to bumped-up FnP. The confusion they caused was enough though and from there I was basically dictating the tempo of the game and leading with points all the way.
My early fast moves ensured I held more objectives throughout the game (and in this particular mission you have to hold 2 to score anything on Primaries). By the end I was able to basically table my opponent as he only had 2 Eliminators surviving while I lost a 4-man unit of SG, all troops and the Techmarine.
There were some points during the game where I got a bit lucky, like when Thunderstrike (bracketed) and Redemptor (full health) together put only 6 wounds on my Levi, but overall dice gods were pretty fair during this game.

>>Astorath was fun. He took out the Reiver Lieutenant (unsurprisingly as he had MoS on) but other than that he was content with being scary and singing Mass of Doom to the SG all the time and once provided some Warlord re-rolls. 
>>Techmarine was more than useful despite not using his Quake Bolts even once. The +1 to hit for the Levi's shooting every turn was massive. Master of the Forge upgrade paid itself back definitely as every single Wound on the Levi was almost 17pts each and he performed the action at least 3 times during the game. He eventually died to Eliminators' Mortis rounds on turn 4. I could have probably protected him more, but chose to keep him closer to the Levi who was the actual threat of the two.
>> Leviathan was really solid as an anchor to my lines. With invulns he was never taken below 8W and Techmarine was happy to restore him anytime. He was able to take Redemptor down to 1 wound in a single round of shooting with Techmarine's Awekening.
>>Eradicators were also solid despite being used conservatively - arrived in an empty spot, removed the BGVets and then took and held objective doing a Secondary on the way. Plus it would be a pain for the opponent to remove 5 Gravis bodies. They were there to remove dreads and Gravis units.
>>Troops took objectives, performed actions and added to Engage on All Fronts secondary netting me around 40pts out of total 65. They died eventually, but managed to survive a round of shooting from Inceptors comoing out of reserves each which is more than could be ask from them.
>>SG did what they were designed to do. The mix of swords and axes gave me versatility against all kinds of marines' infantry. 2 units meant I had options to direct them at multiple targets or focus against tougher nuts to crack. 
>>DC were supposed to sow confusion which they did. I got greedy with them and it cost me. I was lucky to take down that Judiciar when they whiffed against the Thunderstrike. I like 3 hammers in them. Might try Fists+inferno pistols for the same points. 
>>Suppressors - they were ok. They did turn-off overwatch on an Inceptor unit before SG charge which was what they were there to do. Other than that they plinked occasional wounds from things and performed some screening duties. Their weapons being HEAVY really messes with their output though.

[Majkhel]

I did finish the Bladeguard Today so instead of ending 2021, I started 2022 with it

 

 

Perhaps not my best work, but it's definitely no bad. He brings my painted BGVets to 5.

As it's my first post in the 2022 here, I made the family photo of all the models I've painted in 2021:

34 models in total, 28 for Blood Angels' force including vehicles and assassin.
That's 1685pts added to my painted Blood Angels. I'm glad It wasn't an easy year.

As far as the plan I had for 2021:

- I added 10 Heavy Intercessors to my 5th Company which means I now have 96/100 marines. That's definitely a step forward.
- I added a Lieutenant and a Sanguinary Priest, so my 5th's HQ is also bigger.
- I did try my hand in banners and heraldry. I learned a lot, made some mistakes but also had some successes. I'm satisfied and want to continue.
- I did enlarge 5th's vehicle park adding an Impulsor, a Leviathan dread, Storm Speeder and a Firestrike turret.
- from the 'optional' area I did a unit of 5 DC Intercessors, 2 Chaplains, 5 Bladeguard Vets and a Callidus Assassin.
- didn't start unification of squad designation across the 5th apart from the units painted this year which all have proper squad markings.


So my plan and goals for 2022 would be:
1. Complete 5th Core:
- a 5-man unit of something for a total of 101 marines

2. Complete 5th Company Command:

- an Ancient at the minimum.
- bonus points for: another Captain, 2nd Lieutenant, another Apothecary, Company Champion, 2+ Company Veterans

3. Successively update back banners for Sergeants and squad designation for troops.
- ... -> 3 Intercessors from 2nd Squad done

4. Continue expanding 5th Company vehicle park (any of the below):

- Repulsor (ETL)

- Repulsor Executioner (ETL)

- 1 Impulsor

- Drop pod (repaint)
- 1-2 Stormravens (1 to finish)
- Sicaran battle-tank (to finish) -> done
- 1-2 Contemptor dreadnoughts (repaint)

- Castraferrum Dreadnought

5*. Optional:
Other various characters (any of the below):
- Mephiston
- 1-2 Primaris Captains
- BG Ancient

Other various units:
- 1-4 Bladeguard (ETL)
- 3-6 Outriders (ETL)
- 3-5 Eradicators (ETL) -> 2 done

- 3 Eliminators (ETL) -> 6 done
- Sanguinary Guard
- Vanguard Veterans -> done
- more DC Intercessors
- update paintjob on firstborn DC
- Veteran Intercessors
- 5 Relic Terminators (ETL) -> done

- ....

Edited January 1, 2023 by Majkhel

[Majkhel]

I dug out my Sicaran battle tank from it's hideout.

I bought him somewhere in 2019 as a second-hand Sicaran Omega. It was generally dabbed in Mephiston Red (or something similar). I then 3D-printed an autocanon turret for it and sorted out the paintjob to a basic TT standard (just base colours, no shading or edge-highlighting).
After painting the Storm Speeder and Leviathan, I feel confident enough in my skills to tackle this bad boy so here it goes.

This was the starting point

This is how it looked after I added some gubbinz and then purposefully ruined everything by dabbing it all in brown paint

Then came colour building

And this is how the red armour looks like on the single side I managed to do so far:

Initially I wanted to do every step across the whole model but the size of it coupled with the number of edges beat me. So now I want to do a single side to a certain level, varnish it slightly to preserve the paint from rubbing off and move to the next section.
This will take a while, but it's fun

Edited March 16, 2022 by Majkhel

[BloodyB]

A nicely weathered red for that Sicaran! The hazard stripes on the sponson are the perfect contrast for that shade too.

 

Further back, I couldn't help but notice you chose a shade of purple for the purity seals on the Bladeguard. I have had no end of difficulty try to select a nice shade for the wax myself, eventually I chose a richer shade of green for my own guys. Do you mind if I ask your reasoning for that purple hue? It looks quite good, and I would love to try some out on some Sisters of Battle, once I get some.

[Majkhel]

Thank you very much, BloodyB!

The purple came out during one of the discussions here on forum. Not really sure now weather we were contemplating different colors that work for BA in general or something else, but a frater here suggested it. Another suggestion was taking purple a step forward into a burgundy area which is also nice. Initially I was sceptic as I thought those colors too close to red to distinct itself, but I was wrong. Sure, a purple dot on red field would not be that visible on it's own, but once you add another color in the vicinity like yellow, black, brown, cyan or off-white, it suddenly becomes something distinctive.

I would heartily recommend giving it a try. Purple can have more blue in it for a more cool desaturated feel, or more red to add vibrancy. Obviously both can be mixed together, blueish purple working well in the shades and reddish purple on raised areas.
I'm also mixing now purple with magenta sometimes for that extra saturation.

Edited January 8, 2022 by Majkhel

[Paladin777]

For what it's worth, I used Averland sunset for the purity seals wax on my SG and think they look great. Edited January 7, 2022 by Paladin777

[Majkhel]

For what it's worth, I used Averland sunset for the purity seals wax on my SG and think they look great.

I'm intrigued. Might try that too, thanks!

[Majkhel]

Some more WIP shots of the Sicaran:


i think I'm where I want to be at the moment with the red armour plates on the side and front. I will now be working on the rear section, then the turret and the the upper part. Once I do also the black panels, adornments and tracks, I will add some more weathering on the whole model - some occasional grime streaks, dusting and perhaps some chipping if any area will seem lacking in that regard.

For the fun of it, I also added some decals and I'm overall happy with them.
The green wyvern on yellow check will be the Sicaran's own heraldry. Number 10 denotes it's place in the Company vehicle structure. White chevron in the black circle is an old Heavy/Support role designation. Marking on the right flank denote notable kills during current campaign. I might add some more decals once I complete all the sculpted adornments on the hull. Definitely some mechanicus-related markings around the engine block.

The only thing that came out not as well as it was imagined is the green wyvern on the yellow check. I loved both declas when I found them and really wanted to use both for the Sicaran's own heraldry, but it's tough. The wyvern is not as defined as I'd like and the check is really bright (despite me toning it down with darker hue of yellow and weathering). I need to think of some way to strengthen the wyvern more. it's not bad as it is, but I'd like it better if possible :P

Now that I look at it, I think I need to darken lower parts of the white stripes - they look to bright and new despite added chipping.

Thanks for looking!

[Xenith]

Really nice work, that weathering is superb! 

[Majkhel]

Thank you! 

[Majkhel]

A week later and I'm still working on the Sicaran... But it is a real adventure and I wanted to share another two routes I'm exploring with this project - TMM and glowing metal.

I wanted to do something extra as far as battle-wear goes for the barrels and decided to try out the glowing effect that comes from continuous use after intense firefight.
I did some research, made a few assumptions, repainted the thing twice and here is where I am now:

One thing are the many shades of "iron" applied both with jabbing and glazing metallics with some added inks. Lower part of the barrels got darker shade of silver with added brown and blue inks to make it darker, but still shiny. Upper areas got lighter aluminium-like colours with only a small tint of blue ink. Somewhere in between there were also added multiple random marks of brighter and darker metallic spots which were later glazed over with thinned-down bright metallic to bring it all all together.
The result was supposed to be beaten, slightly uneven metal which would both make the barrels more interesting as well as hide the many imperfections that they got during printing process.
There was also a wash applied to the recesses on both ends and a very light black drybrush mostly on the sides

Totally another matter was the glow. I am generally very unhappy with the popular benzine-like effects that many painters apply - I thought them very unrealistic, especially with the application of violet coloration. I watched some videos of machine guns' barrels getting close to meltdown from continuous usage and it confirmed most of my assumptions adding quite a few revelations:
1. Barrel gets red-hot close to the tip first

2. Glowing extends towards the barrel's mounting in the gun as the heat builds-up.
3. Only once the heat builds up significantly inside the barrel the yellow glow appears
4. There is no violet colour (at least it's not clearly noticeable), but there is a red-to-grey transition
5. Barrels' breaks (if present) are separate from the barrel and as such they have their own way of building-up and diffusing heat.

Armed with this knowledge I painted the tip of the barrels (before breaks) with dark red glazes building the colour up to oranges and a bit of yellow at the very ends. I made the "red-glow" area relatively small compared to the whole barrels' length but at the same time noticeably wider than the "yellow-glow" area. I admit I did this mostly to preserve as much of the metal effect I created earlier as possible. I also think that barrel of this size would have noticeably different heat physics compared to much slimmer gun barrels so lets presume this a good-enough explanation :P
I could have made the yellow glow brighter pushing it even towards white, but that would practically mean a catastrophic barrel meltdown in a combat situation and I didn't want that.
I also applied some of the darkest reds onto the breaks as without that the barrels looked awkward. Breaks also got a heavy black drybrush to imitate soot buildup.
Final touch was to apply mat varnish over the glow effect. Again, without that the effect was looking strange and more like coloured metal than actual glow. Metallics were varnished with satin finish.

It was a fantastic study a great painting experience and think it came out really nice :D

Here is the turret siting on the tank in it's current state of WIP:

Now I think I will repeat the TMM on those rear turret appendages (ammo boxes?). Next will come black armour on the sides, tracks, side sponsons' shields, embellishments and sponson weapons (lascanons and HBs)

Cheers! :D

[Paladin777]

Those turret guns ended up looking amazing! Nice work!

[Majkhel]

Those turret guns ended up looking amazing! Nice work!

Thanks! Happy you like it!

I admit I'm more than a little proud :D

[Xenith]

Hot guns are looking great! 

 

That green icon is pretty eyecatching in these photos, and stands out a bit on the rest of the tank - are you maybe going to weather it? It looked a lot more muted in the photos earlier on this page. 

[Majkhel]

Thanks Xenith and good question. I haven't touched it since so it must be the light. For the moment I think I'll leave it be as I was planning on adding more green accents (for example interior lights like on the turret's hatch). It is possible that more green across the hull will lessen current impact of the icon on last pictures. We'll see

[Majkhel]

The big boi is done! I nicknamed him the Wyvern

A real adventure it was and I have to say I was a bit exhauseted in the end, so for now I will simply let pictures speak for me

 

Cheers! 
 

 

Edited June 27, 2022 by Majkhel

[Dont-Be-Haten]

That's a good looking tank Majkhel. Good use of transition and transfer placement. The little add ons are all quite cool too!

 

I especially like the yellow checkers. How did you do that? Just laid the white checker over and painted them in? Or did you get some custom water decals?