The Stygian Lords - a new direction for my Chaos Marines

[Syrakul]

Didn't mean to come off as condescending, and good on you from breaking the collection obsession that you aptly described in the first post.

Do what colors you think are cool and play whatever rules, this game is supposed to be fun!

[Dragonlover]

You didn't honestly. I probably should have waited to reply, brain was firing on about 2.5 cylinders out of 4, so my tone was kind of off.

 

Dragonlover

[Dragonlover]

Since at least one person has said they don't mind seeing squad pics, the first half of CSM Squad 3 is done. I finally got some Warboss Green, so the base rims are getting that special 1993 touch.

I'm gonna work my way through the currently painted guys bases once I get the other half of this squad done I think. I also got some Alien Purple spray through, so there may be vehicles on the horizon, I've got three old Alpha Legion Rhino's I'm repurposing from blue and green.

Dragonlover

[Dragonlover]

Second half of that squad now completed:

That's now three CSM squads, a Lord and Sorcerer done. Next up is supposed to be a Helbrute, however it's not primed yet and the weather here has been godawful recently, which also puts the kibosh on me spraying up the Rhinos I mentioned from the previous post. Looking at my Crusade list however, I do have a unit of 5 Havocs in there and they're undercoated, so unless the weather drastically improves I guess they're up next.

Good thing really, haven't worked out what colour I want my flesh to be for Helbrutes/Oblits etc. I'm thinking pale colours will go nicely with the armour, but I'm not averse to something weirder if it sounds cool and doesn't require too much work.

Dragonlover

[Syrakul]

Pale huh? I find warpfiend grey can be drybrushed over black basecoat for decent free shading, just enough like real flesh but obviously corrupted. Might match up with the purple armor a bit too well though?

 

Nice classic bases!

[Dragonlover]

I was thinking more like really pale, Pallid Wych Flesh end of things, but I'll consider it. The drybrushing might put the kibosh on that though, somehow I've never picked up the knack despite many people showing me and watching several guides. Also yeah the purple tone might not go great with the armour.

 

Currently painting Havocs, and my god there's a lot of trim on these guys. Or at least it feels that way after doing all those CSM.

 

Dragonlover

[Syrakul]

Often I simply do skin with a coat of either palid wych or celestra grey (both easy to pit directly over black) then just wash it with reikland for human skin, but could try a blue/purple/green wash

[Dragonlover]

Ooh, grey with a green wash could work as a starting point. Definitely wouldn't look healthy, which is a plus. I just have to look up what Celestra Grey looks like.

 

Dragonlover

[Syrakul]

These guys skin is just celestra (a tiny bit blue grey) with reikland over it, which helps bring it to flesh color. A few spots like right-most helmet guy i missed a spot with the wash around his neck, you can see the bluish tinge.

Its also a good color for painting directly on black or when working towards a cold white.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Fine work. Just add bloodstains, as befit Khorne worshipers, and the models will be PERFECT. (Eat your heart out, Slaanesh worshipers! Only through Khorne's blessing can one become perfect!)

[Syrakul]

Fine work. Just add bloodstains, as befit Khorne worshipers, and the models will be PERFECT. (Eat your heart out, Slaanesh worshipers! Only through Khorne's blessing can one become perfect!)

If that is in reference to the photo I posted, thanks but as its not my blog was just sharing for color reference (and will takedown on request)

[Dragonlover]

Oh wow, would not have expected it to come out like that with Reikland over it at all. I foresee some faffing around with some of the many cultists I own and some combinations of stuff.

 

Dragonlover

[Dragonlover]

So I'm currently working on Havocs still, got the trim done and just basecoated the bone bits:

It's not often I regret building a model completely before painting it, but there's a couple of these that I really wish I'd left the arms off just so I could get at the faces and some of the trim on the rear.

Dragonlover

[Dragonlover]

Right then, finished those Havocs.

Onto a Helbrute next, then that'll be the core of my CSM done and I can start in on the Death Guard. What's a quick way of knocking out Poxwalkers that doesn't involve an airbrush?

Dragonlover

[Syrakul]

What's a quick way of knocking out Poxwalkers that doesn't involve an airbrush?

 

Dragonlover

I'd guess using a grey/white primer then paint with washes or contrast paint. skin/clothes 2 colors then pick some details and base them

[Dragonlover]

What's a quick way of knocking out Poxwalkers that doesn't involve an airbrush?

Dragonlover

I'd guess using a grey/white primer then paint with washes or contrast paint. skin/clothes 2 colors then pick some details and base them

Yeah that sounds about right. Gonna do a bit of research, but I suspect that's where I'll end up.

Finished the Helbrute. Hated most of it. Future Helbrutes will be converted Dreadnoughts.

On my old plog I used to put what the current update was about into the title. Is that something folks find useful? Cause I can do it again, I've just not been bothered.

Dragonlover

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Helbrute.

[Dragonlover]

Cheers Bjorn!

The Helbrute finishes off the core of my CSM collection. Odds are a solid 80% of what's in the thread up to now will be in any future CSM list I run. With that, my attention is turning to the Death Guard, for several reasons, but namely they have a new codex so the wounds have gone up and more importantly, all the weapon stats are in the book. I have a certain amount of apathy for going to a random PDF during a game.

The core for this will be a Lord of Contagion, Plague Surgeon, at least two squads of Plague Marines and a bunch of Poxwalkers. I've got a bunch of Plague Marines on sprue that are destined for melee weapons, I just need to work out which ones. First up, a squad of Plague Marines:

You'll note they aren't green. I decided back at the start of this, everything in purple and orange, without exceptions. I'm not even gonna do the 'shoulder pad in god colour' type thing. I may come up with a fluff justification, I may not. I just want my entire army to have cohesion, regardless of what models I pulled out of my collection to put on the table.

Dragonlover

[Dragonlover]

Got the orange done and basecoated the bone:

Dragonlover

[Syrakul]

Having the models the same colors throughout is fine, though from a glance with your strong colors might be odd to distinguish on the table during a game. Maybe different spot color or wash to see them from above? Even something like bronze metals

 

Kudos on powering through your set list

[Dragonlover]

The only real issue I can see is for that odd game where I chuck a cult unit into a list with csm in it, at which point I'm hoping the silhouette will be different enough that it doesn't cause issues. I'm also planning on picking out the fleshy bits in pink, which will likely help. Also for Plague Marines at least, the helmets don't have any trim, so are solidly purple.

 

If all else fails, every unit gets a guy with a whacking great banner and I'll incorporate the traditional god colours into that somehow.

 

Kudos on powering through your set list

Cheers! I feel like all the board events I've done were just me learning how to approach a project with the right mindset and its all clicked. I think I've painted every day this month, which is impressive for someone that claims not to like painting.

 

Dragonlover

[Dragonlover]

Continuing the streak with a combination of a day off and some company on Discord, I've finished the Plague Marines and made a start on the Lord of Contagion:

I'm pretty sure there's still details to do on those Plague Marines, but I got sick of looking at them, so slapped on army symbols where I could and based them up.

Dragonlover

[Dragonlover]

Lord of Contagion done. Couldn't work out a good place for the army symbol, will probably look into that tomorrow evening. They really didn't expect people to put any of these models in anything other than a Death Guard army. If I'd thought about it I'd have smoothed out a shoulder on each guy before painting.

Dragonlover

[Dragonlover]

Got the second Plague Marine squad up to the point where all the bone is basecoated over the last couple of days:

Dragonlover

[Dragonlover]

Finished the second Plague Marine squad:

Also did the Plague Surgeon:

I'd just like to rant a touch about the Death Guard range. For starters, why the hell did they put an army where each basic trooper has character level detail in the starter set?? If 14 year old me had had Dark Imperium, those DG would have been sprayed green and then left alone out of sheer bewilderment. Secondly, I've now done two characters, and both of them have *less* going on than the average Plague Marine! I'm honestly baffled by all the creative decisions that went into this.

Up next, if I don't have the materials on hand to rapidly knock out 20 Poxwalkers I'm gonna build five more Plague Marines with various close combat weapons and get those painted up. Also given I'm going to be playing these guys a fair bit going forwards, that includes Crusade. That means I need names, and not the 'Poxblight Boilspout' style that GW uses.

Oh, I also decided on part of the origin story of the Stygian Lords! They're the members of the Vorpal Swords that didn't make it back out of the Eye after the Abyssal Crusade, but instead fell under the sway of Jabar-Woac.

Dragonlover