+ Dreckfresser: One foot after the other; and again +

[apologist]

WIP: Simargi of Moroz-Morok.

 

A work-in-progress of Simargi of Moroz-Morok; the leader of my Death Guard during the Tzi'Na Crisis, and one of Kainan's lieutenants (though like all Chaos champions, doubtless harbouring ambitions of his own!)

 

The base of the figure is one of the new Deathshroud models, with the legs repositioned to improve the sit of the hips. It's also given him a bit more height, which I like. I wanted to change the silhouette, so I've trimmed away the arms, too. The distinctive cataphractii shoulder pads will be replaced with domed pads, like those shown (from Master-Crafted Miniatures). I'll likely use the original forearms, but replace the upper arms to give a distinctive pose.

 

The remaining bits and bobs are details. My mate kindly gave me some Tau skulls for the necklace. The barbed wire coronet wrapped around his head is from Hasslefree Miniatures, while the head itself is from the new Intercessors. I've popped him on a 50mm base decorated with some Anvil Industry rubble and bound together with sand paste from Golden Acrylic.

 

Would love to hear your thoughts.

[Deadass]

Simargi looks amazing, I can almost imagine him gazing down on an unfortunate victim, his face barely visible behind that giant collar. Can't wait to see him with his weaponry and, eventually, painted!

[apologist]

Ta. Here's his background and some rules, if you fancy giving him a go yourself.

 

It was clear, and bright, and fresh. A gleaming sun sat in a sky of astonishing clarity, warming a landscape of softly rolling hills, carpeted with glistening grasses and punctuated with copses of yellow-orange tree-analogues. Then came a sour scent on the breeze. 

 

His movements were halting as he lowering himself to the ground, bulky plates scraping and groaning against each other. Reaching out with a filthy gauntlet, he grasped a sod of the soil, and tore it from the ground.  

 

The grass here was almost emerald green, glossy; the earth black and loamy and rich. He lifted it to his face and drew a halting, sclerotic breath, inhaling the clear air of the world. For a moment, his expression flickered; though with anticipation or regret was unclear. 

 

"Harvest-ripe." His voicebox was clotted, his tongue septic and weeping; but his voice was as gold. It rippled out from the kneeling figure. Though a mere whisper, every one of his men heard it, and began preparations.

 

A great tocsin-bell began to toll behind him, sonorous and atonal. Then another. More. The warriors assembled, a host of Plague Angels gathered before their Master. 

 

He had borne many names, all inscribed on the Woe-Bell of Moroz-Morok. Son of Sorrow. Chosen of Daravek. War-king of Calcatrix. He was Simargi of Moroz-Morok; Captain of the Death Guard, and he would have these worlds for Nurgle.

 

+++

 

The establishment of the Tzi'Na Enclave by the Tau has had the side-effect of creating many nascent cults, as freedom of religion was granted by the Tau to the masses. Believing the region to now be fecund ground for conversion to the Pantheon's paths, Simargi has – like many other Chaos warlords – pledged his arms to the Dark Apostle Kainan, adding to the Curdling Armada. Beyond duty to the Plaguefather, it is his belief that the veil can be pulled aside here to draw Mortarion himself to the region, dooming – or blessing – the worlds to the eternal service of Nurgle.

 

As an officer of the Ferrymen, the Death Guard's Sixth Company, Simargi commands a Cohort (that is, a force roughly 500 strong) of the Legion, plus a large band of renegade auxiliaries. His forces – as well-disciplined and reliable as any in the Armada – thus represent a substantial proportion of the Astartes currently present in the region. Accordingly, he has placed a substantial number of transport vessels at the broader service of the Armada – though each remains crewed and maintained by the Death Guard.

 

His appearance in a theatre of war is marked by degradation in the enemy's morale, for chief amongst Simargi's gifts is his softly insidious and beautiful voice – his demands and promises as corrosive to enemy morale as they are invigorating to his loyal warriors. He is also vector of the faith-fever, a dreadful disease that rapidly weakens its victims body with wracking spasms; while simultaneously besetting its victims with harrowing hallucinations that erode even deeply-held beliefs.

 

Considering himself as much a herald and proselyte as a warrior, Simargi's forces contain large numbers of Blightbringers used to spread the word of Nurgle; and the toscin features on his Cohort's banner, along with his personal heraldry, a cockatrice.

 

Clad in Terminator armour, Simargi is typically found in the centre of the battleline, directing his forces with the relic plague-blade Calcatrix. He also bears the grand bludgeon, Deathknell, used both as weapon and as a striker for the Woe-Bell of Moroz-Morok, a device borne to the field and sounded twice – once to announce the Host's presence, and once to declare the end of hostilities.

 

 

+++

+ Rules +

Based on the Lord of Contagion stats with some weapon swaps (Calcatrix is a Plague Sword with an extra pip of damage, while Death Knell is a Mace of Contagion); and the Lord of Contagion's special rules substituted for rules from the recent Character Creation rules in Chapter Approved 2018. Feel free to give him a go in your Open Play games.

 

 

Warlord trait: Rotten Constitution

Edited March 14, 2019 by Apologist

[apologist]

Enjoyable, if subtle, progress on my warband, the Black Vespers:

 

 

I'm finding the models are great fun to paint, and very relaxing. Lots of quick work offset by slower, more considered washes and glazes. They look pleasingly messy at the moment, and I want to ensure that I keep some of that painterly feel when I start to tighten them up. It's nice to try out different approaches on different forces.

 

 

More Plague Marines, including an icon bearer. These are at a slightly earlier stage: the characters at the top have had an additional layer of highlighting, which pushes the contrast further. It's probably a good illustration of what I mean by pleasingly messy – the additional highlights on the upper image are fairly subtle but do a surprising amount to define the edges of the armour plates etc. It only takes a small amount of effort to create impact and move a model from unsatisfying to work you're happy with. 

 

+++

 

+Gifts of Nurgle +

Also, I've been very lucky:

[apologist]

... and more:

 

 

 

[Dont-Be-Haten]

Looking good! What made you decide on blue lenses rather than red or green? Was it to give a good contrast?

 

I like the kitbash for your customized warlord. I've been looking at making a lord from the death guard box and feel pretty inspired by this!

[apologist]

Looking good! What made you decide on blue lenses rather than red or green? Was it to give a good contrast?

 

I like the kitbash for your customized warlord. I've been looking at making a lord from the death guard box and feel pretty inspired by this!

 

Thanks Dont-be-Haten. I chose the blue lenses because it's a cool colour – as a result, it pops against the mostly warm scheme. 

[Dont-Be-Haten]

 

 

Looking good! What made you decide on blue lenses rather than red or green? Was it to give a good contrast?

 

I like the kitbash for your customized warlord. I've been looking at making a lord from the death guard box and feel pretty inspired by this!

Thanks Dont-be-Haten. I chose the blue lenses because it's a cool colour – as a result, it pops against the mostly warm scheme.

Nice! I think I would've gone with green but I like the blue!

 

I'll get around to throwing my WIP thread up for my Lords of Rapture eventually. I want to get a bit more completed first though.

Edited March 29, 2019 by Dont-Be-Haten

[D00M]

Fantastic Plague marines! I've decided to up-scale and have been keeping a close eye on Ebay. You can get the Dark Vengeance plague marine set for about £13 which is a good deal. The easy build set seems to go for about £8 though. 

 

I really want to build a mass infantry force of 70 marines. 

[apologist]

Cheers!

 

I got a couple of small games in with some buddies of mine, to develop our current campaign: the Tzi'Na Crisis. Here's a couple of shots of warfare on the septworld of Or'Na:

 

 

 

 

If you'd like to read the full report, check it out here.

[Slothysaur]

I absolutely LOVE the aesthetic of those battle shots! A lush agri-world farm being invaded by Death Guard. The Tau doing all they can to hold back the pestillent onslaught. Makes me want to break out my DG (but they're not painted; unlike your lovely DG).

[Nixon_DK]

Great blog. Keep up the good work!

[Tallarn Commander]

Wow! That is a really fun blog with all sorts of material. I especially enjoyed the posts related th Iron Warriors and grors.

[Blackheart1223]

I do love how that plague marine looks like it’s about to blow the face off of that kroot.

[apologist]

A bit more movement on the preparation front, I've textured the bases of the next wave of the Bleak Vespers and primed them,

 

 

Nothing vastly exciting in a sea of black-primed figures, but hey, progress is progress, right?

 

Some specialists will be the next group on the painting bench, I think. 

 

I also built this chap; though what he'll be used as I don't know. A Greater Possessed? A Chaos Lord? Answers on a postcard, please.

[Sherrypie]

He could be a Chaos Lord or a Tallyman, less about being an obsessive accountant and more about being a bit tougher NCO with a penchant for inspiring nearby troopers to acts of jolly old face to face violence.

[Xin Ceithan]

I have lurked and marveled at those over at your bog site --- about time to formally tell you once more how awesome those are !

[Slave to Darkness]

This thread makes me wish I never sold off my Deathguard... Now I want to start Deathguard again... 

 

Love the Realms of Chaos influence you have going on, your oldschool vibe you have going on in your army's really warms my cold dead heart. 

[apologist]

Simargi gets some arms, a change of weapons – and a couple of Chosen champions to enact his will:

 

The Marine on the left of the image is a second Blightbringer to really hammer home the 'tolling doom' theme; while the one on the right is a Putrifier. The helmet is a fairly subtle conversion that I'm very pleased with. I wanted to keep the same style of helm I've used for most of the force, but didn't want to lose the distinctive proboscis of the unit type.

 

 

He could be a Chaos Lord or a Tallyman, less about being an obsessive accountant and more about being a bit tougher NCO with a penchant for inspiring nearby troopers to acts of jolly old face to face violence.

 

I think I'm leaning towards Chaos Lord at the moment – he's quite distinctive, and it'd be nice to have a more generalist HQ to bring some punchy goodness to the group. By its nature, the army's never going to be overwhelming in either firepower or close combat, but the few games have shown the Bleak Vespers to be great in terms of taking hits, but a bit pillow-fisted. To this end I'm adding some dedicated close combat squads – after all, if you're going to be walking across the board, why not hit things when you get there?

 

On the painting bench are a few more Plague Marines, hefting a variety of close-in weapons. 

 

Not one for half-measures, some giant choppy axes are also ready to paint. 

 

 

I have lurked and marveled at those over at your bog site --- about time to formally tell you once more how awesome those are !

 

This thread makes me wish I never sold off my Deathguard... Now I want to start Deathguard again... 

 

Love the Realms of Chaos influence you have going on, your oldschool vibe you have going on in your army's really warms my cold dead heart. 

 

Thank you both very much! I just really enjoy painting these grungy, oppressive and frightening figures. Can't tell you how glad I am that I decided to go for a fairly uniform approach of using the spiked mono-lens helmets almost exclusively for the force. The dehumanising effect of uniformity is really starting to pay off en-masse.

[Slave to Darkness]

After much stroking of beard and re-reading this thread I have decided to pull the trigger on a new Deathguard force.... :wub:

[apologist]

After much stroking of beard and re-reading this thread I have decided to pull the trigger on a new Deathguard force.... :wub:

Grandfather Nurgle never turns his back on wayward children... welcome home.

[Slave to Darkness]

What units do you find work well? Just been reading the codex and still trying to figure stuff out, would you recommend smaller units or larger blobs of Plague Marines??

[Soulhunter1995]

Oh the temptation to start up my death guard force...  Looking good as always Apologist 

[Sherrypie]

What units do you find work well? Just been reading the codex and still trying to figure stuff out, would you recommend smaller units or larger blobs of Plague Marines??

Small units are good for getting lots of firepower in Blightlaunchers or plasmas and cover ground, while bigger squads do melee and "grenade shower of dooooom" strategies better under the protection of Cloud of Flies if not stuffed into transports (like a Spartan for properly large blobs).

 

@Apologist, you're right about the monovisor. "The faceless throng" look is pulled off magnificently here.

[apologist]

One foot after another; and again.

 

Another game all lined-up for the weekend, so I've been painting away. The models are still unfinished, but a bit more passable for the table now they've had some basing done.

 

Equal parts pleased and surprised with how quickly these guys paint up for an effective result.

 

 

What units do you find work well? Just been reading the codex and still trying to figure stuff out, would you recommend smaller units or larger blobs of Plague Marines??

 

I'm no expert – I tend to run with what makes the coolest-looking models. My mantra is generally 'everything counts in large amounts', so the eventual aim is for suitably large Legion-sized squads of 15+. I think that'll fit well with the army background, and be a nice balance between unwieldy and min-maxing.

 

@Apologist, you're right about the monovisor. "The faceless throng" look is pulled off magnificently here.

 

 

Ta very much. Hope the piccies above help sell it a little more :)