Mandragola’s Legio Astorum (and Mortis and stuff)

[Mandragola]

Thanks, and sorry for stealing the idea out of your head Dallo.

[Mandragola]

Bit of an update. I've got these three Mortis engines up to a point where they're ready for weathering. That'll start with some rust effects.

 

 

I've done close ups of the knees because it took me quite a while to figure out a scheme I was happy with.

[I_Am_IronSam]

Have you repainted Lucy? Or is that a same pose mortis engine? 

[Mandragola]

Have you repainted Lucy? Or is that a same pose mortis engine? 

Partially, kind of. I used Lucy's leg bones with a new body for that engine because I thought the icons on the old artwork looked more like Mortis than Astorum. Lucy got a new running pose and I moved the leg armour plates across. So I didn't repaint any of the armour plates.

 

Here's what Lucy looks like now.

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by Mandragola

[Brother Dallo]

Lovely work on the decals. I’ve just started to use them and they really add to the model.

 

If you haven’t seen them, I’d recommend taking a look at the 40k Armigers transfer sheet. There are some useful designs there.

 

Keep at it.

 

Dallo

[The Yak]

Wowzers!!! This is one of the greatest plogs I've seen. The amount of cool content has blown me sideways. From the lovely painting, the great battle reports and the truly inspiring (and also damn helpful) conversions, it really is a credit to you mate. I've been wondering about a belicosa Warbringer for a while but now feel confident I could have a crack at it seeing how you've done yours.

 

The Psy Titan has left me drooling and looking forward to seeing the finished specimen.

 

It has also led to me having probably the most unproductive working from home day in existence but thats something I'll gladly live with!

[Mandragola]

Wow that’s very kind. Glad you like the plog.

 

GW have now done a 28mm bellicosa for the warbringer. It makes me think the AT one will appear before too long, either in resin or as a plastic sprue. They just have to reduce the cad file down. That said, if you’ve got the bits around there’s nothing stopping you doing a conversion.

[Gederas]

I have to echo The Yak here. I referenced your running Warlord for one of my own (though I did it in a far worse way than your very well-made one) for my Legio Ignatum :yes:

 

GW have now done a 28mm bellicosa for the warbringer. It makes me think the AT one will appear before too long, either in resin or as a plastic sprue. They just have to reduce the cad file down. That said, if you’ve got the bits around there’s nothing stopping you doing a conversion.

I think they already confirmed the AT model as "soon". But you know... Covid and all :lol:

[Mandragola]

I have to echo The Yak here. I referenced your running Warlord for one of my own (though I did it in a far worse way than your very well-made one) for my Legio Ignatum

Cool. I think the Warlord is a really fun kit to work with for posing. I've got one on its sprues now that I'm probably going to add to my Mortis force. I'm looking forward to building it.

[Mandragola]

Ok so like pretty much everyone, I got a Warbringer. It arrived last Monday and I've now mostly finished building the thing. And by that I mean that I have basically a heap of bits, mostly containing magnets. Seriously, this thing is going to weigh a significant amount more than before I started.

 

Anyway it's now ready to undercoat. There are so many little bits waiting to be sprayed that I was worried I'd lose them. So I've used the magnets they've all got inside to stick them to a couple of saw blades. This actually might not be the worst idea I've ever had. It still leaves a huge number of sub-assemblies to paint separately, and the armour still to paint on its sprues...

 

[Lord_Borak]

I know your pain! I used 34 magnets on mine and that's not using the missile launcher or Flamer as I can't see any scenario when I'd use either of them. I regret sticking the little shields on chains to it now. They're really delicate and I'm sure they'll have broken off my the time it's painted. 

[Mandragola]

Yeah the shields on chains are still on the sprue. I think I'll paint them there and then see if I can attach them. I agree it seems extremely likely that they'll break off and disappear somewhere.

[Mandragola]

Check this out: I did a bit of work. "Inspired" by Borak's Warbringer I did this conversion on my Bellicosa WB's head:

 

 

 

This was fairly straightforward to do. There was a bit of a job to get the right bit of the grille cut out and then to carve a hole in the original faceplate where it would fit. Then I made some edge trim from grey stuff to hopefully make it all feel like it goes together.

 

Quite happy with the result. Not so happy that the Warbringer in question remains about 80% painted still, so long after I got the thing. I should really finish a project! My defence here is that I was kind of curious to see what the official FW offering would look like. It's pretty average, so I'm happy to keep working on this one and get it done.

 

Meanwhile quite a lot of paint has gone on the Warmaster. I've done a lot of yellow/orange transitions on armour plates and the skeleton is virtually done. Now I need to do the job of painting flames on ~20 armour panels, plus some astronomical symbols. I'll get there eventually.

 

Now and then I also think about my Psi-titan. One day...

Edited May 24, 2021 by Mandragola

[Lord_Borak]

Nice!!! also, serious dedication drilling those heavy Bolter Barrels. 

[Mandragola]

I forgot I’d done that. I got some tiny drill bits online. Did the barrels of my knights’ avengers and everything. The warmaster should probably have some attention actually.

[Gattopardo]

That Warbringer head is very cool. I like it a lot. I think it's much better than the official one and also better than the alternative one in the art that they're seemingly not going to bother releasing. The edge trim is very cool too. Did you use a mould to make it? Or sculpt it?? I may have to copy this myself!

 

I'm wondering if with all these Warmasters being built, there'll be more 2000+ point games of AT getting played. That would make the Psi Titan more viable too, you'd think. I'm quite keen to try the Psi Titan myself (either playing with or against it) but I missed the boat when it briefly came back in stock again recently. Which of the two do you think you'll game with more?

[Mandragola]

I just sculpted the trim. It's not too hard to do when you have two cut off ends to fit between, though it's not completely easy either. I got this grey stuff that's supposedly a bit easier to make sharp edges with than green stuff, and that seems to be the case. I've actually used a lot of it on my own, still WIP, Psi-titan.

 

I don't know which out of the Psi-titan and warmaster I'll use most. Maybe the Psi-titan, because so many people seem to have warmasters now. My issue with it is that the "best" option is probably to have it sit back spamming psychic powers, probably with a quake cannon and gyro-stabilised apoc launchers, but that's boring.

 

Once things are opened up again I'm actually most interested in running out a full Extermigus maniple, which would certainly require big games. I'm going to an event later in the year where there'll be a 2500 point game. For that I might bring a 3-warlord Extermigus, Lucius Praetorian and a Psi-titan... or three Warlords and a Warmaster. Dunno. This of course relies on getting any of these models finished!

[Sherrypie]

I would throw my lot with the psi-titan, since it's an utility toolbox with huge range compared to the midrange fire magnet that is the Warmaster. In larger games being in the front line is a death sentence for any single unit, even a sturdy one.

[SkimaskMohawk]

I'd also tend to agree with the psytitan. While it's arguably the best titan, you can also just use it more than the warmaster. Its inherent strength also allows you to make up some whacky loadouts without losing all effectiveness.

[schoon]

I just sculpted the trim. It's not too hard to do when you have two cut off ends to fit between, though it's not completely easy either. I got this grey stuff that's supposedly a bit easier to make sharp edges with than green stuff, and that seems to be the case. I've actually used a lot of it on my own, still WIP, Psi-titan.

 

Pro-Create (aka grey stuff). Don't leave your hobby bench without it!

[Gattopardo]

I just sculpted the trim. It's not too hard to do when you have two cut off ends to fit between, though it's not completely easy either. I got this grey stuff that's supposedly a bit easier to make sharp edges with than green stuff, and that seems to be the case. I've actually used a lot of it on my own, still WIP, Psi-titan.

 

I don't know which out of the Psi-titan and warmaster I'll use most. Maybe the Psi-titan, because so many people seem to have warmasters now. My issue with it is that the "best" option is probably to have it sit back spamming psychic powers, probably with a quake cannon and gyro-stabilised apoc launchers, but that's boring.

 

Once things are opened up again I'm actually most interested in running out a full Extermigus maniple, which would certainly require big games. I'm going to an event later in the year where there'll be a 2500 point game. For that I might bring a 3-warlord Extermigus, Lucius Praetorian and a Psi-titan... or three Warlords and a Warmaster. Dunno. This of course relies on getting any of these models finished!

 

Thanks - that's a useful tip about Grey Stuff - I'll look into that.

 

As for the Warmaster vs Psi-Titan debate, I agree with Skimask and Sherrypie I think. I'd vote for the Psi-Titan. You can always take it with a more mid-range loadout and role in mind, even if that isn't strictly optimal - accepting it's probably likely to die quite often. 

[Mandragola]

I think that I'll only occasionally use either one, to be honest. They're kind of odd things really, at a larger points scale than the is good for the game, I think. Still, they've fun to make and I'll definitely give both a run out when I can. I'm not sure I have a preference between them. 

[General Zodd]

I haven’t had a chance to give my Warmaster a run out yet, so elements of my choice is theory-hammer, but I think I would go Warmaster just from a reliability point of view. The Sinister can be amazing, it’s done great things for me in the games I’ve used it (not super often, mind), but I’ve always felt I got lucky not to have any perils of the warp type shenanigans, and no crits to the head. It’s actually not that difficult to end up with your Psi-Titan essentially being an overpriced and under-gunned warlord. Even failing a command check for a psychic power can have a big impact on getting the most out of that expensive investment. The Warmaster, while far from invulnerable, is a pretty safe bet in terms of what you can expect it to achieve. It’s also around twice the cost of a Psi-Titan, but I reckon is a safer investment in a big enough game. If you prefer a bit more risk with your reward, then the Warlord Sinister is probably the way to go.

 

As for whether they’re a good thing for the game (Warmaster AND Psi-Titan), it really helps expand the scope of the game. You’re spot on that in smaller games they impact balance. They warp too much of the victory result around how effectively they can be dealt with. The first time I used my Psi-Titan I played the rest of my force terribly, lost every single other engine, but the Sinister just kept rocking and managed to pretty much single handedly win me the game. What they *do* do is enable you to upscale the size of the game without having to go deep into double figure activations which would be difficult to keep track of, I think. If you want to play 3k+, it’s almost necessary, I would argue, to include the expensive behemoths to keep the game manageable. I can’t imagine keeping track of 15 Warhounds would be a whole heap of fun, for example!

Edited May 27, 2021 by General Zodd

[Mandragola]

I've been making stuff: buildings! I managed to get hold of another of the sectors with the spires so I should have about enough for decent coverage on a 4x4 board.

 

I decided to make some LoS blockers to start with. So these are pretty big slabs. The plan is to add a bit more to their height with some sort of roofs and spires. This is all the wall bits built though. I'll make another like the one in the middle with the hex ends I think. They're intended to take the stupid hexagonal spires or roofs at either end.

 

 

And here are assorted odds and ends that I've put together to play around with. More roofs needed here and there I think.

 

 

I've also got a set of the Admech stuff. I'm not totally sure how to integrate the sets, or whether I even will. Maybe I'll just have a separate industrial area.

[Sherrypie]

Integrated stuff tends to look better though, as you can avoid the disjunct look of "kit A here" and "kit B there". Also kudos to creating hexagonal ground floors for hexagonal towers, always bugs me to no end when shapes are mashed together like the default kit, argh :D