Malachi’s Gambit, Shadow War in Segmentum Pacificus

[Laughingman]

Decided I needed a proper Age of Darkness Thread, for my thematic dark angels list I am building up... Slowly...
 
 
 
The force I am building is supposed to represent a “vigil” Demi-chapter sized deployments of Dark Angels in the Fleets of Rogue Traders, this particular vigil (the 501st) was deployed under on the edges of Segmentum pacificus as part of an expedition by a Rogue trader  looking to penetrate the outer dark. However, word of the Heresy reaches them, and they formulate a plan to fight a shadow campaign against traitor assets in the Segmentum. I intend to build out a 2500-3000 points list in three parts :
 
 
n  Merchant raiding of traitor supply lines in the early years of the Heresy (1000 point ZM force largely done at this point) 
 
n  Intervention in the Atar-Median Arachnis civil war  (Adding two Rhinos, Two Contemptors, and a land raider Proteus, possibly some kitbashed destroyers)

 
n  Raid on Word Bearers recruiting faciilites on Khur/Colchis (superheavy of some kind, Maybe an allied count as solar auxlia detachment, to represent the allied rogue traders forces being deployed)
 
side note: The thread is called Malachi's gambit because Malachi the Consul Delegatus in charge of my force, Is what I image a Post-Human
 Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck would look like  leading a effective harrowing-gurrilia campaign to tie down resources in a Segmentum of limited strategic significance...
 
 
Picture of the ZM force That largely done, gonna rebase the squad with Necromunda bases, which are surprisingly cheap compared to resin bases. 
 

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Very cool idea mate, looking forward to seeing where this project goes

[Supe robot gangster #1]

Is that a 40k death guard I spy in there? Looking good so far mate!

[Laughingman]

No 40K death Guard, Lots of 3rd party bits though, Kromlech hooded heads and Trolls under a bridge axes....

 

Yet unnamed redemptor chaplain with plasma pistol and maul, Since dark angels already wear black, I figure his Thunderbolts of unity and possibly faceplate in gold could instead herald him as representing the emperor directly (the emperor loved wearing gold) 

 

 

WIP  Apothecary with converted Kromlech Arm... Useful for large 10 man plasma support squads I intend to run...

 

WIP Line officer with Power fist, Has early crusade honors (noted by thunderbolts of unity on chest)

 

 

WIP Malachi with Trolls under the Bridge axe 

 

 

Other stuff I am looking at...

 

-2 Contemptor dreadnoughts freshly arrived from the UK.

-Primus Medicae potently using the servo equipment from the Primaris Apothecary or Fabius bile backpack to represent specialized medical equipment

-Converting a Land raider to a Land raider proteus (Blood and skulls tracks, Ghetto plasticard assault ramp delete)

 

Stuff I need actually sit down and do...

 

Actually finish Malachi (started but screwed up and had to strip it once) not sure what color I want the robes Off-white with black trim?

 

-Two Squad Sergeants with power axes

-The Apothecary 

-Renforcements for the heavy bolter Squad...

-Kitbash a master of Signal for the heavy bolter squad

[Supe robot gangster #1]

Ahhh ok! The dude with the mace looked like the DG dude with the stick grenade from afar!

[Laughingman]

The gambit was simple… Deny the traitors the principle tools to effectively wage war, sunder their shipping, burn their muster world, and consign their forges to oblivion. It was dreadful work, but a necessary evil given the dark times... 

 

-Honored Percival: Angels of Absolution chapter, Former Line officer of the 1st Legion, - circa 830.M34 

 

Work continues, still waiting on the Necromunda bases to finish up the line squads 

 

Worked some more on the Apothecary 

 

 

The castraferrum dreadnought Dubbed Honored Pelagius Is done, just need to find the right base for him (ZM themed)

 

 

 

Sergeant with a Calibanite blade (Need to get the bolt pistol done)

 

[Laughingman]

To wage war one requires three things: men, materials, and logistics. By tying such assets up in Segmentum Pacificus we effectively deny them to the Warmaster's efforts in other sectors 

 

 

Lance Consul Malachi circa 006.M31

 

 

Progress... 

 

Support has arrived for Heavy support squad Beta-Omicron in the way of two more legionaries...

 

The squad in full 

 

 

 

Finished the sergeant with a calbanite blade 

 

 

 

Fluff is coming... I just need to base  the miniatures and get a decent camera... I'll never be as eloquent as the Apologist, but I'll try....

 

"test fluff" ported from my old thread and edited....

 

 

Other stuff I am working on....

 

Still need to finish the Delegatus....

Likely will kit-bash a squad of Mixed Despoilers to represent a squad of Legionaries inducted  post-ullanor....

Power axe sergeants (waiting on some Badger ghost tint I want to try)

Possibly another apothecary 

The two contempter dreadnoughts that need to be built...

[Laughingman]

Then you will rule over ashes and cinders...

 

 

-Captian Adragain: Judgment of Alki II  009.M31

 

 

No new painted things, but decided to cannibalize a Carcharodon project that had long stalled and was not going anywhere. Gonna turn 8 or so MKIII marines into another heavy support  armed with heavy flamers ... Figure they could be useful in a Land raider, pop out and burn things...

 

Mock up of the second heavy support squad, Heavy flamers are From Kromlech, they have distinctly slimmer arms and ill designed offhand grip, but otherwise seem ok

 

[Supe robot gangster #1]

Ohhhh very nice! Gotta love heavy flamers! Shame FW aren’t making them anymore. What’s the quality on the kromlech ones like? Might have to get some to round out my half finished HF squad

[Spinsanity]

Ohhhh very nice! Gotta love heavy flamers! Shame FW aren’t making them anymore. What’s the quality on the kromlech ones like? Might have to get some to round out my half finished HF squad

FW's site is down so I can't link to them, but I'm pretty sure they only LastChanced one of the two designs and the one seen above is still available...

[Laughingman]

 

For those wondering, I consider the Kromlech heavy flamers slightly better then forgeworld in quality, every example I had was fairly clean but have some mold lines and casting errors to clean up. One example lacked the hole for the forearm grip, Most of the arms had some sort of error on them, etc...My main gripe is the sprue attachment points they were  Ill-designed, as the nub under the forearm grip is prone to over-sanding and ruining the flamer. The forearm grip is also finicky and prone to breaking, Also worth noting, on plastic MKIV the arms look overly long and skinny, they look better on MKIII in my opinion. 

 

 

Work log: 

 

 

After screwing up and starting over several times, I tried my hand at Malachi again, putting down a layer of what I though was a off-white color, Miniature desolated beach. which it turns out is quite brown, and well a as Miniature Coal for the black, which was more grey then I wanted... Figure Ill use them as initial pre-shade on the model when I go back with a true Bone white.

 

 

Painted up a Veteran with an combo melts...

 

[Laughingman]

By deception thou shalt do war

 

Terran proverb circa M.2...

 

Did not get to the airbrush today, but did mock up and pinned several parts of a FW contemptor dreadnought, Did not come with directions, but I believe I have assembled it correctly (I figure someone will call me out if I did it wrong). 

 

[Elzender]

Brother, I think his left shin is the wrong way around. If you take a look, you'll see that the grooves in the shin are different, and I think the one with the square on the top part is the front face. You can also see it in the opening for the foot, there is more space for it to move in the face with the square groove. I also struggled when I tried to build my contemptor, you must really spend some time to figure out how to build the legs.

[Laughingman]

Indeed the left shin (from the dreadnought perspective, is indeed on backwards)... Thank for the heads up, Its the first FW dreadnought I've worked on, so there is a lot of figure it out yourself involved in making it

[Laughingman]

An Ignominious tactic for a ignominious age 

 

Redemptor Chaplain Jacque : On the 501st vigils Merchant raiding campaign, circa 006.m31

 

 

Update time, received a bunch of Necromunda bases, painted about 20 of them... Actual painting of models has stalled contingent on me getting more minitaire raven black (part of my dark angels black recipe, minitaire 2/3 raven black, minitaire 1/3 Dark green). Badger minitaire paint is a pain to get in my area, but it is my preferred airbrush paint, my backorder online has been filled and shipped, I just have to sit tight...

 

 

[Laughingman]

Update: repainted the ZM bases because they ended up overly streaky, when washed. Went out on a limb and sprayed the Wash onto the bases (mixed with golden airbrush medium), it actually works reasonably well. gives a interesting oil stained effect...

 

[Laughingman]

Whatever the Imperium remembers of the great treachery ,  it will not be us. We did not fight at are primarchs side, we did not partake in the great engagements, fleet actions and campaigns that came to define the conflict. We fought a different war, a war in the shadows, a war unheralded and largely unremembered. That is why I commit word to parchment, to ensure that my brothers as well as the mortal men and women who fought alongside and died along with us are not consigned from memory, Thus I remember….

 

Master Caradoc: Angels of Vengeance Chapter  circa 525.M31 

 

______________________________________________________________

Honored Pelagius was once a Lance-centurion who specialized in leading starship boarding actions, A role notorious for high mortality, and short service life. Despite the odds Pelagius had spent some 70 years in the role before he was mortally wounded during the boarding of a Khrave Web-Ship, when he took the brunt of an Extinction carbine to the chest. He was recovered and placed within a then new MKV Castraferrum pattern dreadnought. He spent the next several decades deployed among a variety of expeditionary fleets and was eventually deployed with the Dark angels Forces assigned to the 501st Vigil.

 

 During the great crusade and heresy that followed, the Castraferrum pattern chassis was considered a somewhat specialized Dreadnought, intended for void operations and Zone Mortialis environments;  As was Pelagius role. To complement this, he was equipped with a variety of specialized weapons, including an inferno cannon, a weapon purpose designed with burning out confined spaces like space ship corridors. 

 

[Laughingman]

Update time: the seven man heavy support squad is painted, based and varnished, ready to go:

 

Also finished a variety of sergeants and line officers to lead my marines, I felt that at least a couple should have Power swords/Calibanite blades even if they are somewhat lackluster against Artificer armor that is prevalent in 30K. 

 

[Pearson73]

The pink/purple of the power blades and plasma works really well against the black and red.

[Laughingman]

I used the pink/purple (VMC Royal purple/VMC magenta)  combo because I got bored of painting black.

I am actually experimenting with Badger ghost tint at the moment, it makes a interesting translucent effect.

Similar to the OOP Forgeworld translucent paints but a 1/3 of the price stateside (your Mileage/Meterage might vary in terms of price) 

 

Badger ghost tint blue on a Trolls under the bridge axe (Note the hands do not fit MKIII arms that well, they work better with MKII arms in my opinion)

 

[Laughingman]

Update:  The tactical support squad is painted based and varnished, ready to put down obnoxious amount of templates or bring down Dreadnoughts with massed Melta fire (They are magnetized with flamers and melta guns, ,mostly because they are significantly cheaper to acquire then plasma guns on ebay)

 

[Pearson73]

That axe blade is very nicely done.

[Laughingman]

Finished another Sergeant this time with a power axe (sans base) And another Heavy support Legionary (needs eyes)

 

 

 

 

[Laughingman]

Update: 

 

Pinned and assembled the lower half of a Contemptor Mortis dreadnought on a scenic bases. Also magnetized the Lascannons. Open to suggestion about upper arm and torso poses, Since its not glued together yet.

 

Edit: Technically I assembled the legs wrong (The square on the thigh is supposed to face out, Most people will not notice.)

[Laughingman]

Update: primed,  put down a coat of black, and did the metallics on a Rhino. It has a aftermarket dozer blade and Cupola. Not really sure what colors the Pre heresy dark angels vehicles had. I assume black with metallic highlights.