Sons of Horus 65th Company

[hushrong]

Dang! That’s jaw dropping my fantastic! How long did that take you? Didn’t you just get that in the mail a week or so ago?

[Vykes]

Thanks a ton Astartes Consul, I do appreciate it mate!  Always tryin' to get better so it's good to hear! 

 

Good eye Bjorn, aye it's a 30K Mortis engine from around the Istvaan but still from the 63rd expedition fleets.  So It can support traitors if it needs, or Loken's hold outs.  So I tried to minimize both Imperial and Chaos/traitor markings.  Either way it's definitely the start to the more militant look rather than the chaos one.  Duskraider's got that one covered reaaaaal well! Thanks mate!

 

 And thanks ya too hushrong.  It was a bit of a crazy build, can't wait to eventually nab a Reaver to stamp around.  Not that it would see much use at all.  -laughs- it took about 16 hours of build time (I made some mistakes and it cost me an hour or so of time on the feet) and probably 6 to maaaybe 8 hours of paint time, not including overnight drying of primer and first varnish coat.  It was pretty quick, all things considered, but a speed build over 3 days. 

[Pearson73]

Damn, that's some beautiful work on the Hound, very clean and smooth. I do feel it looks a little too clean for a God Engine of war, some weathering and maybe damage could work really well on there.

[hushrong]

Damn. I am a bit tempted to get a titan, a wee knight one, ever since I saw Brother Heinrich start one up for the HH era of his Night Lords. I know it would also take me months to probably built it let try to paint it. And here you did a warhound as easy as snapping a finger.

 

That is incredible stuff bud!

 

I will say a reaver would be pretty rad too. You could always buy even more Titans and host superzised Adeptus Titanicus games. I've seen it before online and I think the Titan Owners club did one recently.

[Golf33]

The awesome in this thread is... Perhaps equal parts inspiration and intimidation, as in, that's how is like my models to look but I'm pretty sure that I'll never achieve it! Really incredible work, just beautiful.

[Vykes]

Thanks Pearson73, I know what you mean. It's definitely one of those things I was gonna do and still probably will for chipping. Man it's hard to weather black without really overdoing it (and it's almost funny how quickly weathering powders disappear into the model. More over, after eve a matte varnish nothing wants to stick). It's weird.

Hah, Hushrong mate, my advice is never get anything bigger than an Acastus Porphyrion, that's a big enough model and it can actually be used in a normal game. A regular knight is pretty awesome in and of itself and the FW versions look terrific. Hah, the warhound was tough but it's more about the physics of working on such a blasted big bloody model. All resin, 3 kg, weird poses, trying to not just fall over itself and break. You learn a lot pretty quick with the terror involved in not wanting to muck up something like that.

A supersized titanicus game would be cool, but I'm gonna have to take on an IG armoured company pretty soon and I don't expect it to last long against Shadowswords and the like. The Reaver feels like a true battle titan so I'm definitely looking forward to that. The Warlord.... not so much (my kingdom for a Lucius pattern). I really should join the Titan Owners club officially, that game they hosted was incredible.

Thanks a ton, Gold33 mate! Hah, I felt the same when I started working with Sons of Horus (Green is a weak colour for me, I can't paint it well. So it's all experimentation.) It's all just fun tricks and leveraging an airbrush, definitely easier than it looks!

Got a few little additions.. kinda, one is a temporary secondment of warriors from the 17th legion and the two knights of legio Mortis,

Two knights, Vectigal Mori and Nilus Astra respectively

[hushrong]

That is a gorgeous shot of your titans and Word Bearers. I love seeing the scale of that warhound among its smaller kin. A Reaver sure would look nice too with them as well! I have to agree, with its height and stance the reaver just looks more like a proper war god. It's cool to see FW put out their own Warlord but I have really enjoyed the ones people made from scratch over the past few years. The details that go into them are crazy. I guess that's appropriate because it is a walking fortress.

 

I wouldn't mind one of those god machines but the price, storage, and transporting it would just drive me over the edge.

 

I think once I finish and paint my current army list I may have to get a knight.

 

As for the Titan Owners club I would have been happy to spectate and have a beer and burger on the sidelines watching the battle play out.

 

Lastly, Word Bearers? Where've you been keeping those in reserve? I saw you had Lorgar but didn't know you had a detachment of them! Are they built and painted from a recent Betrayal at Calth box purchase you mentioned awhile back?

[Vykes]

Thanks mate, I was trying to figure out a way to shove everything into one picture for my latest ETL vow.  -laughs- it was a chore, there's less than a half inch of space on either side of the background there.  Warhounds are seriously big, not quite Hawk big but way more complicated and frustratingly fiddly.  Reavers definitely look like a battle titan (I was actually listening to 'The Purge' 30K audiobook and they mentioned that the Reaver+ sized titans can be picked off from orbit but warhounds are too small and agile.  They are dangerous but definitely 'scout' titans and not 'battle' titans.).  It's really about the upper limit of what's not completely crazy to transport... buckling up a warlord's child seat for a drive to the shop might be pretty tough. Even a warhound is a bit big (that's a 10" clock face base, it barely fits on my 12" road sections on my table... though now I have to have a battle to show that off).  So a Reaver is on the list but I can't imagine what it'll be like.  They look a lot heavier. 

 

Bottom line: knights are way better for everything except staring at (and the FW Caestus are gorgeous). 

 

Oh man, there was a few scratch built lucius (including Commudus's for sure) that look t be absolutely stellar.  I love the scratch stuff because there's no way I could do it in the foreseeable future.  

 

Hah, I'm the sort to join a titan game, get my engine nuked on turn 1 and sit the rest out eating a burger on the sideline.  Even then, no complaints. 

 

Nailed it on the word bearers, they're built and painted from that set I picked up at the time the warhound came in.  They were extras (in so far as I ran out of Sons of Horus transfers that would work), and I've been enjoying playing through Betrayal of Calth.  So I figured 'why not'?  I've never done Word Bearers aside from Lorgar, and I was curious as whether or not I could make them look different from my Blood Angels.  Long story short they still remind me of my Blood Angels but I'll survive. The last 10 from that box are slated as a Volkite Caliver 'Destroyer' Rubric squad. 

[hushrong]

You made everything fit and look good in that pic! You must have a pretty sweet photo studio to do all of that.

 

I didn't know that about Reavers being big enough to be targeted and picked off from orbit. I may have to check out The Purge. It makes a bit of sense since titans are pretty darn large. I just read Betrayer and enjoyed the scant bits of warhound titans in there. Especially near the end. I do not want to spoil it but it was interesting to say the least. As for transporting titans, yeah. I may have to rig up a box with foam whenever I get mine. I'll call it coffin ship junior. I am really taken with the Acheron and the Castigator. I need to look at rules and figure out how I will build a more competitive army and see which one could fit better. I just imagine the folks that own several titans make use of foam and lord, plastic storage tubs...and servitors to move them from game to game in their mechanicum van.

 

There's not a lot in this game that I do not like (just Space Wolves mostly) and Word Bearers are a fun looking lot. Yours look awesome. I really just love the Gal Vorbak and Mhara Gal. I seriously wanted that contemptor for zone mortalis so it could walk through walls. At least I remember that being a rule it had. So *hint hint* at some cool things to build if you continue on with them. What/How do you mean they feel like Blood Angels to you?

[Vykes]

Thanks mate.  Eeeeh it's just a sort of trial and error, knowing how much I can get away with then fudging the angles so that little bits and bobs don't get totally cut off.  I think I had to reposition the knights to keep the shoulder then stubber in frame without it just showing my table and coffee cup in the background. 

 

I always figured that a Titan was big (I remember a passage in some 30K book or another that said that their weapons could threaten landers and theoretically capital ships if they could actually see them.  The reverse seems true too).  It was minor, the Purge so far is... interesting.  And, by serendipity, about Word Bearers.  Oh man, Betrayer... yeah, I know which one you're talkin' about.  That book is fantastic and the warhound bits were great there.  I think I like the Reaver more, but the Warhounds tend to get picked out as having more personality. Coffin ship junior, heh, good call, real good call.  It would be hilarious to have a mechanicus emblazoned cube van.  Basically need servitors to carry something that size and weight for any distance. 

 

Castigators are my favourite knight class, then the Acastus Porphyrion for its uniquness..  I hear they aren't great, but the models look so incredible that it might well be worth it.  Armagers are pretty cool too, if they had rules for 30K I'd be tossing them into my ETL like mad.  

 

You and me both.  I think I'd like a less... um, shall we say 'distinct' Space wolves chapter.  The legion is a little better but still reek of a certain je ne sais quois that never appealed to me.  Word Bearers get that weird Saturday Morning cartoon villain  vibe when written poorly, but when you get First Heretic quality stuff, they're terrific.  And thanks a ton, they really were 100% experimental.  They feel a lot like my blood angels because I used a deeper red that's a very similar shade.  I had meant to get that closer to maroon but I had to shade it up because the primary colour kept getting lost in the black and high impact silver. I was going to toss them onto some grating and industrial bases... still kinda tempted too but I also needed to toy around with basing for an ork army I have laying around in pieces. Gal Vorbak and the Mhara Gal are what kinda pushed me over the edge.  I'm definitely gonna be picking some of the blessed sons up, I wish I had enough time to have them shipped in for this ETL.  hmmph.  

[Krakendoomcool]

Lovely models once again. I’m really enjoying the Titan bases that the marines can use as terrain. Also the slightly faded look of the Warhound. It’s as if it’s so big to look at it your having to look from distance so it has that ‘blue haze’ like in landscape painting.

[Vykes]

Thanks again, Krakendoomcool, mate.  I figure if you're gonna have a base it needs to hold that kind of a model up, so might as well have it decent looking and fun as a display part.  I mean, it's a clockface, it's already ridiculous in size, eh? 

 

Glad ya like it.  I tend to get a little worried with black as its supposed to be faded but tends to end up looking like layered panzer grey, which is one of the major highlight colours before going to that bluish minitaire 'badger fur' and 'concrete'.  I'm glad the effect worked (even if it was discovered 100% by accident).  The difference between it and the gloss true black before the filters was pretty jarring.  I can tell you, I was worried right till the end. 

[Son of Carnelian]

Vykes, you've got talent to spare. Always impressed by your work and the Warhound is a stellar centerpiece. Keep it up!

[Vykes]

Ah, thanks a ton mate. I know that doing this many blasted of the same thing really starts to hone some skills so I'm glad that it's still not too bad rather than slowly degrading to the point of spikey madness. That Warhound was a ton of fun though, looking forward to doing a Reaver next time.

But until then, we got a few placeholders till I can get a better camera day.

Terminator Squad Lynx, after sergeant Kellerod got a promotion and his replacement filled in.

Terminator Squad Lindras, prepped for an assault spearhead.

A somewhat foggy picture of Volkite support Squad Halrus under veteran sergeant Karmanon.

A second Dreadclaw, DP 230

And the FIre Raptor Last Light is out on escort with the Mournful Song, which has now seen some more action with the 65th. (I added my more modern colour filters on it).

[hushrong]

Awesome updates!! Terminators and vulkite marines are looking sharp and deadly!

The flyers are also looking fantastic! I love the wear and tear on them! What do you usually transport in the storm eagle? I’ve had mine sitting on a shelf for years that may need to see some game time.

[Vykes]

I'll admit, hushrong mate, I love Storm Eagles and use them at almost every opportunity. For the most part I just like big choppy squads that overpower with numbers. 30K wise, it's often just a 20 strong legion squad with some extra hand weapons. They also feel like a decent way to move terminators. For 40K it's not far off with chaos squads of 14, a havoc squad of 5 (often with melta or plasma) and a hero. In both cases, they are pricey, but with good positioning they are absolutely lethal, and their speed can really win that positional warfare. As a weird addendum, my typical 40K Blood Angel force is usually 9 tacticals, a lieutenant, and 5 cataphractii, or 8 tacticals, 5 death company, 5 heavy flamer devastators, an apothecary, and a lieutenant. Basically, I try to treat them as a self contained all comers army with a mobility advantage.

I do find that Eagles are a little more points inefficient than a 40K Storm Raven, but I find they perform beautifully as a sort of middle ground key: they have a great transport capacity that needs to be used (in 40K it's even better with multi squads), the las cannons in particular are a solid killer, and rockets and heavy bolters can clear out middling units pretty well. I maaaay own 3 between my Sons of Horus and my Blood Angels, and frankly I'm considering maybe 2 more (1 for Angels to make a full flight of 3, and 1 for Sons of Horus because they're a compulsion at this point).

And thanks mate, I was looking at the Eagle yesterday alongside my Raptor and thought 'man, my style has changed since I started... it needs to look closer'

And minor Update, until more are actually done (I bought 2 Masters of the Chapter sets to convert into a command squad, planning on selling the rest off). Honoured Banner Bearer Xilas and the rest of Command Squad Auras.

[Vykes]

Well, my part in ETL is done and while I wish I could have done more, I'm pretty satisfied. The 65th came out well and I'm satisfied with it. Anyway, I did take a few pictures, still gotta get better ones but it's something. A full army shot is something I've never done, so I broke out the tables and fitted them all together. Feels good to put a full army on the table. Always happy to hear if ya think something's missing, the company needs more of something, or units should be beefed up. Thanks again, eh?

But a few new units first.

Contemptor Revered Ancient Gorros

He's been magnetized so twin kheres is a possibility, as is a kheres and claw. I'm not sure I'm sold on the black limbs though. Thoughts?

A full new Justaerian unit, Squad Adabal, named after their late sergeant (betrayed at Istvaan, but ... details).

Fire Raptor Last Light

One of me' mates tossed me some extra IG hunter killer missiles and I ripped off the casement rockets from the Storm Raven and tossed them on instead. Man do I prefer that look.

Plasma Support Squad Mephit

And for the first time, a full army shot.

Part of a little assault thing, realized I've never shown any of my Emperors Children.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Fire Raptor looks AWESOME!

[Vykes]

Thanks mate!  I know I had fun with the painting process (the model was pretty knackered, so it required a lot of boiling, sanding, filing.) but I do think it turned out well.  Cutting the vents to make it 'armoured' and not just look like an upgunned Storm Eagle felt right. 

 

Well, that's a lot of the 65th for now, got some parts coming in for my first legit vet squad but it's FW, never know how long it'll take.  And I'll see if I can toss up some pictures of some more battles (got a 5K per player megabattle coming up soonish). 

[hushrong]

Oh man, the command squad looks fantastic. Nice to see those sculpts are still very viable for use. They look great and I love that they all have officer's crest. They really exude leadership. 

 

The army shots are also a treat for the eyes! It's a lot to take in but it's glorious bud! You just have an awesome and immense collection of the Sons of Horus. Each mini and vehicle looks great but it is awesome to see them arrayed together. You've built and painted quite an amazing force!

[Ripper.McGuirl]

These are so goddamn awesome.

[Vykes]

Thanks mates!  Aye I was vaguely surprised (but really hopeful) that the command squad would work for 30K and not just look too 40K.  I remember a passage in false gods that said Horus had an honour guard with cloaks and crested helms, so, well, I saw the four that had cloaks and said 'yep, mine'.  Just took a lot of smoothing to get it to work. 

 

I'm pretty happy with where the 65th is, but that horrible part of me says "Just twenty more legionnaires, five more assault legionnaires, apothecaries, then you can justify twenty more breachers... oh, and recon marines as noise marines!  And... and... uh, well, by then you might as well get another Thunderhawk."  You know, the crazy FW part.  I think that voice comes from some demon laced in the resin... because I haven't exactly said no yet, either. It doesn't help that there's a little OCD that says "You need a full battle company," and the other part reminds me that Sons of Horus have no company structure... so I can't even tell that I'd be done when I'm done. 

[hushrong]

The command squad worked out brilliantly. You definitely hit the nail on the head there.

 

As for the army, unless you are interested in starting another full army, or even allies, nothing super wrong with adding more or even improving on what you have. New fluff keeps coming out, new minis & bits are always being made, and it won't stop haha. I also do not know if certain army ideas strike you with a fancy.

 

Maybe a Catulan Reaver based force with tons of assault guys (they can take jump packs if I remember correctly) and marines on foot. Maybe a few rhinos, land raiders, storm eagles, and raptors bearing the black armor of the 1st company, covered with the Eye of Horus, for his eyes are upon them, and cthonian gang sigils.

 

Maybe do a massive Justaerin army with their own land raiders and tons of them deep striking in with Horus. Maybe a few leviathan dreads dropping in pods with them armed to the teeth with world shattering weapons. Maybe knights already on the ground supporting their liege legion.

 

After reading Vengeful Spirit I am all aboard to make Luperci. Maybe shoehorn some Gal Vorbak in black armor led by black clad Diabolist (or whatever their sorcerous units they have) all bearing the eye of horus. They will be WB allies on paper but dang that would look cool on the table. Get Zardu layak, his blade slaves, and the gal vorbak themselves and go to work. I actually want to do this for kill team...but using Thousand Sons rules.

 

Or mix and match those into a new army all together. There are still plenty of things to do if you wish.

[Vykes]

Thanks a ton hushrong, dude.  I'm definitely glad it didn't go flat. I mean, trying to come up with command squads is pretty frustratingly hard for me.

 

Well, I'm holding back on doing my Blood Angels until at least malevolence comes out. Mostly because I'd have to reformulate my red scheme once again after Word Bearers took off with it.

 

The Sons of Horus have a lot of potnetial in them to be dramatically different, and having little kill squads of allies is always gonna be a strong possibility (like that platoon of Word Bearers, World Eaters are nearly a certainty), so the option is continue with the Sons of Horus or maybe go with a few Death Guard and just fully hedge on an Istvaan III 'contingent'.

 

Hmm, more Catulan reavers and proper reavers is definitely a good one. Aye, they can take jump packs and look pretty great. Black hulled transports and such, Hmm, that would be pretty great. Especially with the metric ton of extra Cthonian Gang glyphs I have as I used so few in my terran dominated 65th.

 

Hah, one of my friends outright said I should get more Justaerin because she wants to borrow them every time a mega battle comes up. Drop Pods and Kharybdis seem like a lot of fun, and as soon as Armagers get the 30K rules they're gonna definitely be a thing for my Mortis contingent. I like the idea of Luperci, I still need to read the passage to actually get what they look like. I do like adding 'cult troops' as they were, feels unique. And I think you nailed the name, Diabolist I thought was their thing. Hmmm, that's a pretty awesome idea for Thousand Sons.

 

Aye, I'm definitely gonna see what I can play around with. I have some FW bits coming in for a grey vet squad, and I picked up yet another Prospero set today. Not sure what to do with it, but it was 30% off so... I couldn't not get it. Might make some allied Emperors Children Vets out of them as I do have the extra mk. IV heads, but after taking a gander, I could turn them into SoH as well.

 

[Krakendoomcool]

Great updates!

 

I’m a sucker for a flying dreadclaw. That banner is very nicely done too.

 

The shots of the army all together are spectacular. It’s such a good (and huge) force.