Two roads diverged in a galaxy, and I…

[Subtle Discord]

… I took the one less traveled by,
 
And that has made all the difference.
 
∙ (Mostly) Robert Frost
 
…
 
Aww [expletive deleted] that! Here, time has no meaning! I have traveled all the roads! Glory to the Dark Pantheon undivided!
 
The re-re-re-building of a Black Legion Warband; and this time, I mean it!
 

∙ A rare visage of the Warmaster will oversee this project. However, I think it is time to move him to a cooler colour pallet. Red is so last millennium, darling… and, no capes!
 
In the immortal words of Barney, upon toasting his successful completion of astronaut training, “It begins!!”
 
I’m usually not attracted to limited edition products but as a long time Black Legion collector when Abaddon cracked Cadia I couldn’t help but pick up a copy of this signed print to commemorate the event; admittedly, it’s not my favourite rendition of Abaddon but those are the whims of the Warp and at least it can’t become obsolete like a limited edition rulebook. It was actually part of an Adeptus Mechanicus bundle which was an odd combination but I was collecting kits for my Adeptus Mechanicus project that I took up as a break from Chaos, biding my time waiting for GW to give up the goods of this current release, so it was a good fit for me at the time with an eye to future plans.
 
With the new Warmaster heralding a significant update to the core Chaos line, now is the time to revive my true muse and first passion, and soon, stop repressing the whispers from the Warp with binaric cants… or perhaps, the cants have been corrupted and subverting me all along. As GW keeps opening a Dark door ever wider it compels me to enter and consider the possibilities of a proper Chaos Space Marines and Dark Mechanicus project made real, and I think yes, it is time.
 

∙ I’m also not usually a sucker for themed dice, but again, the lure of Chaos was too great for me with the Black Legion dice.
 
But first, as another plug for our sponsors and hobby addiction enablers, a brief review. Despite ordering some, I was skeptical and little worried that the gold might be dull and flat. I’m glad to discover that they are a nice proper rich gold colour and it has a nice swirling pearl-like lustre that has some depth. They’re even quite readable at a glance with the pips, points, skulls, and Horus Eye. Good job on these GW. I’ll also be taking a set and painting groups of five with different coloured faces for doing combined rolls, because hey, why not?
 
So, with my Mechanicus project rather close to being complete I’ll still be putting the bulk of my hobby time towards getting that finished so I’ve got a table ready army on deck for when I want to actually throw some dice. However, the acquisition of the required personnel, wargear, and supplies has commenced, is ongoing, and I am eagerly awaiting my next dispatch. The only problem is, there’s too much choice! I can’t, for the life of me, settle on a well-rounded list to make as a core army, so I think for now I’m kinda’ liking this ‘pressure list’ that I came up with.
 
Black Legion Double Battalion – 1,994 points
 
Battalion Detachment – Bringers of Despair
Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour: Combi-Bolter, Power Axe – Foecleaver
Chaos Sorcerer in Terminator Armour: Combi-Bolter, Force Stave
Chaos Terminators x8: Combi-Bolter x4, Chain Axe x4, Combi-Plasma x3, Reaper Autocannon, Chainfist, Power Fist x3
Chaos Space Marines x5: Chainsword, Combi-Plasma, Reaper Chaincannon
Chaos Space Marines x5: Chainsword, Combi-Plasma, Reaper Chaincannon
Chaos Rhino Transport: Combi-Bolter x2, Havoc Launcher
Chaos Cultists x15
 
Battalion Detachment – Soulforged Pack
Lord Discordant: Mechatendrils, Chainglaive, Autocannon
Warpsmith: Mechatendrils, Power Axe, Meltagun, Flamer
Chaos Decimator: Siege Claw w. Hellflamer, Decimator Storm Laser
Kytan Ravager: Great Cleaver of Khorne, Kytan Gatling Cannon
Chaos Space Marines x5: Chainsword, Combi-Plasma, Reaper Chaincannon
Chaos Space Marines x5: Chainsword, Combi-Plasma, Reaper Chaincannon
Chaos Rhino Transport: Combi-Bolter x2, Havoc Launcher
Chaos Cultists x15: Autogun
 
If I drop the Decimator I can swap out the Chaos Lord for Abaddon without changing anything else, so the Warmaster is also a consideration in this list; I wish it could include an Apostle but I don’t want to drop the Warpsmith and/or shave wargear and/or bodies. Still not sure what Warlord Trait/s I’m going to take and if I want to add another relic. Double Battalions gives plenty of CP but it starts to add up when you want to take all the toys.
 
In classic Chaos form, the idea is to simply cram the entire list down my opponent’s throat. As the Cultists, Marines in Rhinos, Decimator, Kytan and Lord Discordant push into the midfield in the first turn, the Terminators can hopefully find an opening in turn two as the other army is trying to deal with all that. I especially like that the Soulforged Pack will mean that the Kytan needs to be all but killed or it can be boosted back to functional with the Daemonforge Overdrive stratagem. You need to knock off at least 3/4 of its wounds or the stratagem brings it right back to the top bracket. If a Kytan with the Decimator tagging along doesn’t distract, nothing will. Now I gotta’ figure out how to get them across the field with few enough holes in them to get some work done. Each of the Lord Discordant, Decimator, and Kytan are dangerous in their own right so even if just one gets through… I think it will work, but then…
 
… there’s those wonderful new Havocs, and I’ve always had a soft spot for Obliterators (and I ordered some Ambots to convert – mine will be Dark Mech, damn-it!) and the big bad guy himself Abaddon is begging for some field time (and I have no choice but to paint his glorious model), and Raptors have suddenly become more interesting, and the Apostle is finally more useful, and I've got a formation of three Predators begging for a chance, and a wonderful Land Raider, and I’ve got things like a Sicaran, Spartan, and Fire Raptor sitting in the wings waiting their turn… Yeah, I’ve been getting ready for this for years, and now… I don’t know what collection of chaotic monstrosities I want to create first! It’s a good problem to have, don’t get me wrong, but it’s sure tempting my hobby butterfly syndrome to flare up and I don’t need that right now. I will be resolute! Cultists and Marines first, and while I’m at that I can contemplate the rest in greater depth. The call of Chaos is gaining volume again, and this time there are more voices in the chorus than ever; chanting their siren song of dark prayers and I have little choice but to obey. They have so many wonderfully Dark ideas to share…
 
As always, comments, questions, general banter and ideas/input for list composition are always welcome. I didn’t even focus on Chaos during 7th edition so it’s been a while since I’ve been thinking about Chaos builds and the game is so different in 8th edition that it’s a bit daunting to get my bearings again. All things Chaos, Mechanicus, and Dark places in-between to arrive in the coming weeks, months, and years, from my personal hobby-bench and from the studio workbench so keep the comm-link active.

[Dragonlover]

I'm pretty sure a Battalion doesn't have a Lord of War slot, so you can't put a Kytan in one.

 

That quibble aside, I'm pretty hyped for this. Can't wait to see what madness you end up creating!

 

Dragonlover

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Yeah, the only detachment that gives a lord of war slot (other than the 2 lord of war detachments) is the supreme command detachment.

 

Looking forward to seeing your updates as this progresses.

 

PS: I too normally avoid themed dice, but the lure was too strong for me too...

[Subtle Discord]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm already starting to tinker a bit when I should perhaps be doing something else, but I can't help myself.

 

Yup, you're right about the LoW slot. Humm, that's no good.

 

*Ponders for a bit*

 

I can get around it by putting the Kytan in its own Super-Heavy Auxiliary detachment and making that a Soulforged Pack. Not sure if I want to spend the CP to do it twice, but I'm mostly after the stratagems for the Kytan, so it's not the worse trade-off to have it isolated.

[Dragonlover]

Yeah I'm gonna do the same for my World Eaters one. Oh man, can't wait to see that in your black and blue scheme...

 

As to the rest of the list, looks fine to me.

 

Dragonlover

[Subtle Discord]

I can't wait to make its fists! The shoulder mounted Gattling Cannon is done, just need to scale up the Kastelan Fist idea to Kytan size. Oooo... it's gonna be sooo good to get back to the Black and Gold, and yeah, I can't wait to see the Kytan in my colour scheme. *Eagerly rubs hands together*

[Midnightmare]

I can’t wait for this Subtle.

 

“The Legion Rises!” :D

[Evil Eye]

I'm looking forward to this. Leaving the cloak off aside, do you have any special plans for modelling Abaddon?

[Subtle Discord]

Thanks again for the vote/s of confidence. As per my current building and panting process, I'll be focusing on the rank-and-file Troops and getting 20-30 Chaos Marines and 40-60 Cultists complete before moving on to more exotic units in whatever list I end up settling on as my starting point. With so many unique units to experiment with and so many opportunities for scratch building, kit-bashing, and converting it's far too easy to be distracted by it all, but I will endeavour to be resolute remember my plan and get the damn Troops done first.

 

With Abaddon, I'm very tempted to replace the Combi-Bolter on the Talon with one that is similar to the original design that had the ammunition feeding in from the side, maybe even with a belt ammo-pouch to feed it. Since the part/s are separate it should actually be straightforward enough to simply create a replacement component. I'm also tempted to change the trophy rack but I'm still not sure; I'll need to see if some inspiration strikes me. I'll also be ditching the scenic base elements. It's such an awesome model as-is I'm tempted to do very little alteration now and then invest in a second at some point and see if the pose can be significantly altered to something really unique. Time will tell, but there's so much else to do in the meantime.

[Subtle Discord]

∙ Within the vast armouries of the Warmaster the endless mundane wargear of the Legions must also be maintained with cut, grind, blow, weld, rivet, bolt, and screw; the Warsmith directs the primitive energies of fire, force, friction, and motive force, to the sacred task of administering the many rites of maintenance, placation, and repair in service to the Warmaster’s grand arsenal. One of many small-but-crucial cogs in the great war engine that is the Legion.

 

I have yet to build any of the other models in the Chaos Marine kit and some Havocs and Terminators just arrived today, so I’m still just taking stock of the kits. That said, I couldn’t help myself, and I dabbled away a little and came up with this personal take on a Warpsmith. I’ve never been a big fan of the ‘cloak of cables’ look that GW has been giving the Warpsmith models so I’m taking cues from the new Lord Discordant who as a better concept of what I’d prefer a Warpsmith to look like. I do still want to add a few more dangling cables and maybe another Mechatendril but nothing as over-the-top as the GW model/s.

 

So far, the level of detail in the new kits is simply amazing, as per GW’s track record the last several years. I’m going to hold of final judgement until I see just how everything assembles and how much room there is for creativity within the kits and throughout the rest of the release and between the larger line. So far I think the base models are really nice and despite any gripes about bits selection or design choices I think they look very promising. I’m looking forward to dabbling with them more, but I’m trying to force myself to keep it to a slow burn lest I get overwhelmed by too much temptation too quickly. I’ve walked the long road for quite some time now,  I know not to rush things… but it can be sooo temping when the lure is this sweet. Truly, I am lost to the whims of Chaos…

[Trevak Dal]

Nice. If I were to get the new abbadon, I'd try to make it so he's giving The Finger with the Talon, with a dead Sanguinary Guard on his base.

[Subtle Discord]

∙ I started the first Warsmith before the new Havocs were in my grubby hands. Once I saw the models an upgrade was in order.

 

He is a 4W H.Q. Character after all so the larger starting model simply suites him better. I still used a 32mm base to keep him in line with other Power Armour H.Q. models; to me the 40mm bases of the Havocs just seems like an excuse for the new models to go back somewhat to their old lunging poses that are less desirable in my opinion. Since I’m changing the direction of pose I needed to add a small shim of plastic to the foot to alter the tilt of the model. It has a bit of a lean/hunch to compliment the intended bits and it needed to change in order to get the new Meltagun arm to cooperate better with the model. Speaking of the Meltagun arm…

 

… I am not a fan of the… unique… solution that GW chose for the wrist connections. The little key tabs, while a little useful in some of the by-the-book assemblies, really seem like an unnecessary complexity that will need to be dealt with all the time during the very common kit-bash of swapping weapons between arms. It’s the K.I.S.S. principle of design; Keep It Simple, Stupid. Beyond this minor quibble and a few other small things (oh look, GW’s up to the bits selection shenanigans, again) there’s a lot to like about the new Chaos kits and it’s going to be fun to see just what concoctions can be mixed up.

 

I like the details in some of the other Havoc models a bit more for a Warsmith build but this one has the pose that best suited the outstretched ‘one-handed Meltagun shot’ bash I had come up with initially and I wanted to keep that. I guess this just means that I need to make another Warsmith (or two) using one of my preferred models. Being the lowest cost Chaos H.Q., I don’t see this as a problem. The entire kit is gorgeous and the extra bulk of the models does a good job of conveying a larger-than-average Character model that would have more Wounds than a rank-and-file Troop. Why not find an excuse (or many) to use the models outside of Havoc squads?

 

∙ I’ve still got freedom in the left arm and I’m having a hard time picking the stance I want the weapon in. I like them both for different reasons.

 

It’s a little thing, but it’s always this point where a bash is reaching the final tweaks that can be the most trying and somehow the most rewarding. I like the more casual pose that’s more static and has a, ‘*Sigh* Now I’m going to shoot you’ feel to it, but with the weapon in a more ready posture it give a ‘First, I’m going to shoot your with this, then…” I’m in the same boat with the head, which I switched to being bare with the small horn; I like it, but I’m worried it’s looking a bit small/sunken in the armour – maybe a thin shim to raise it a tiny bit? But a full helmet deals with it much more readily. Ah well, a few more tweaks and perhaps another gubbins or two and this little diversion will be ready for some primer.

 

∙ As another little nibble at the Chaos cookie I’ve assembled the first ten Marines for the new-and-improved Warband. Mmm… new Chaos… *Nibble*

 

I still wish the wastes were ‘ball joints’ or at least if the torsos could be swapped without it being a major chore, even if there was limited flexibility in the range-of-motion. But with ten wonderful unique models to use as a base bashing and converting up lots of variety in a collection won’t be that hard. I know I’m not the only one who was drawn to Chaos for the opportunity to kit-bash and convert models so I’m not intimidated and more encouraged by the quality of the ever expanding selection of bits-and-pieces to choose from to create with going forward.

 

Damn, this gunna’ geet guuuud! Keep the comm-link active.

[the emperor is scottish]

Dude the new warpsmith looks amazing. Truly can't wait to see more!

[Nixon_DK]

This is amazing. Im in for the ride. Let the Galaxy burn.

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Looking good.  I'm for the "casual" pose - the "active" pose looks unbalanced in the sense that one wonders if he can actually hit anything with the melta, while to me the casual pose looks like he's using the staff to brace himself.

[Subtle Discord]

Thanks for the kind words, feedback, and input. Yeah, this is gonna' be fun.

[Subtle Discord]

Another nibble at the cookie of Chaos with some more progress on the Marine squads, but now I've reached a point where I need to create the bits that will fill some gaps.

 

∙ A bunch of one-armed Champions in my Marine squads can attest to my need for Combi-weapons, that’s for sure.

 

Between the distinct lack of Combi-weapons in the Marine and Havoc kits and the painfully limited number of the new Reaper Chaincannons (Ah GW, you might be improving in so many ways but you still remember your favorite old shenanigans) I've got some work cut out for me if I want to get these squads ready for primer and paint. Have a look at Legion Rising for progress on these and other Chaos bits in the coming days and weeks.

[Kaldoth]

Looking good so far! The warpsmith looks fantastic. I'll put my ballot in for the "relaxed" pose as well. The spear being near parallel with the ground looks like he's struggling to do a bicep curl with it :lol: Where did that arm and spear come from anyway? Given that you're batch building, my only piece of advice on the new kits is to double check for mold lines. I get GW's thought process in designing the kit this way in order to reduce them, but in doing so the few that remain are in obscure places I didn't expect. I'm pretty meticulous about shaving them off but I found I had still missed a few after I got my first squad primed. Looking forward to more!

[Subtle Discord]

∙ Mild insomnia fueled late night (early morning) teaser image because I'm so pleased with the results so far; first up, the Combi-Flamer.

 

Still need to do a final few finishing touches with the Flamer but it's almost done. I've also got the Melta attachment in the final polish stage and a few different magazine/ammo-drum styles but I still need to get the Plasma and second Bolter worked out. Keep your comm-link active, more coming soon.

[Syrakul]

Dude, you're killing it as usual, and combi-weapons are definitely the missing link not just for CSM but in the current power armor kits available from GW/FW Good idea to make those available if you end up with those on your store.

 

I agree the warp-smith weapon pointing up, more official and also easier to pack and group models too.

[Midnightmare]

That looks awesome mate! I love the drum magazine btw :tu:

[Panzer]

Could be nice to have it a bit longer. It looks almost like a pistol. Then again it could be just because it's so bulky compared to the usual rifles.

[Subtle Discord]

∙ Redesigned and fresh from Servitor Solus the new Chaincannon components are almost ready… as long as I don’t make silly mistakes. But damn, do I ever love the new resin I'm using!

 

In the top-right corner, you can see where I overlooked adding supports to some of the points on the four-barrel design. Simple enough to fix, but also an obvious mistake I should do better to avoid. Beyond that little oversight, they’re looking wonderful. Now, I need to figure out where I’m going to attach the vent and how I’ll make the mould. It’s one thing to get a good test print, but then I need a proper production copy so I can make moulds. Soon, very soon.

I also tried to print the updated Combi-weapons along with these, but of the 8 parts I tried to print only 2 turned out, and they’re both the base Bolters so none of the actual Combi-weapons turned out. So I removed the Chaincannon barrels from the layout and tried again… and after 2+ hours of printing, I discovered that all of the parts failed to print. So, I’m discovering that while the new grey Art resin produces excellent results it’s just a bit more temperamental to get it to cooperate. If the print takes proper hold it works wonderfully but those first few critical layers seem to have a bit of a technique to ensure they take properly and I’m still zeroing in on it.

 

Could be nice to have it a bit longer. It looks almost like a pistol. Then again it could be just because it's so bulky compared to the usual rifles.

I noticed this too and I'm not sure why they look so pistol-like in the images. I suspect it's just that there's nothing beyond the hand to convey scale. It forced me to double checked the length when I was 3D modeling and they're actually a tiny bit longer than a stock Bolter. Once I've got a test print I'm happy to show I'll add it to a model and the scale sorts itself out. Stay tuned, take three on printing them is running right now.

 

[Midnightmare]

The detail is always sublime on your stuff and these are no different. It looks like the bullet will actually pass through the barrels! Great work as ever Subtle :tu:

[Panzer]

The chaincannon bitz look awesome so far. Definitely the best ones I've seen yet. If they had more barrels I'd definitely buy some (I really like the look with more barrels GW is running). ^^