Hive Fleet Solerön

[WarriorFish]

A long time ago I was considering some Tyranids. I liked the models and was looking for something different to my existing armies, but then GW revamped the Dark Eldar and I was enticed by their great new models. By chance I have now rescued/inherited some nids - good things come to those who wait?

There's some proper old school metals too, it's plenty enough to make an army for now from but first things first: a colour scheme. For those that don't know I tend to take a while settling on them - Guard and Marines: 1 repaint, Dark Eldar: 2 repaints... at least I repainted the DE after only a few models rather than all but entire armies with Guard and Marines It's running joke territory... it's an important decision to make though in my defence, and I have time because I'd like to round off a few projects before looking at starting my nids proper from later this year

That said, I had ideas of generally what I wanted to do with the colours chiefly in that I wanted an orange, and a snow base as I've been trying to get these on a scheme for ages. A few extra colours like a white or near to it and a near black and as it turns out I ended up having a scheme come together sooner than I expected:

Top picture is base colours, went with a firm favourite in Rakarth Flesh and as it turns out I only have the Lugganath Orange edge paint for oranges so a bit of mixing with Tau Light Ochre gave me roughly the colour I wanted in a not too bright orange. The centre line is another classic in Charadon Granite for a black that isn't in your face (now Skavenblight Dinge I think). I've checked and Fire Dragon Bright or perhaps Troll Slayer Orange if I want a bit more would be good matches for the mixed orange.

Second is after a light wash and with some details picked out such as the mouth, hooves and claws were just a couple of washes but turned out nicer than I expected. The carapace patterning needs some more at the least using a finer brush for more natural curves edges but overall I think I have what I want at least in colours and pattern.

As much as I would have liked more orange I think it'd be overpowering, but maybe there's scope for swapping colours? Perhaps orange as the main carapace colour or something, though I do quite like it currently. The base will probably be a muddy one maybe with some grass with snow.

I'm not sure on eyes, maybe simple with gloss black like my Daemonettes and I need to decide what I'm doing with the joints/soft bits - perhaps white base with orange wash? Or maybe a red as an accent? Or would that be too fiddly, as there will be a lot of gribbly nids to paint...

I am broadly there I feel but need some help on final colours and the like so all ideas welcome If I can finalise the scheme properly I will likely be tempted to do some more as it was very refreshing compared to what I usually paint - not a piece of metal or gold detail in sight

[battle captain corpus]

So cool to see you doing a long awaited project! Excellent! Can’t wait to see some proper old school minis either. :)

 

For the black maybe stippling it on in a line pattern? The core colours work great and “clash” nicely!

 

BCC

[Gederas]

I like it.

 

The plates with the white, orange and black remind me of the Cerberus faction in Mass Effect (same exact colour-scheme as them, including the "black in orange stripes") which is honestly a really nice scheme.

 

So, I approve of these filthy Xenos in an aesthetic manner :yes:

Edited July 30, 2020 by Gederas

[WarriorFish]

Years in the making? Or thought processes at least Something to embellish the lines on the two colours further than better curves is a good idea but I've no idea what to do. I've never got on with stippling for some reason, but that could work - I'll see about painting up a second test model and how it looks with a more natural edges first perhaps.

 

As I can see I'm almost there I'm keen to jump the final hurdles to complete the scheme, though I will need some hobby supplies before I can start proper. I'm leaning towards trying the red wash on the inner bits, perhaps being cheeky on top of the Rakarth Flesh to help speed things up a bit. As much as I'd rather not do more test models I do have some pre-built and painted that will need painting anyway so room to experiment.

 

I am a little out of date on nids (I didn't know there were new Zoanthropes), but I have plenty of experience of playing against them over the years so I'm more than familiar with the basics - I'll be spending some spare time poking around on the B&C to get up to speed Such as it is, I imagine many are still adjusting to 9th

[Arkaniss]

I like the scheme! It's definitely unusual but it works. I think the eyes need to be brighter, maybe a yellow would work well? Red or orange for the muscle/riibbed bits? Maybe orange would be better. It could be done before the main wash too which will make it a bit easier to paint. Also I really like that orange so more of it will be good! Fire Dragon Bright might be a good match but I think the colour you've done won't have a direct GW version.

 

You're definitely onto something here though, just the last few things to sort out :tu: The base will round off the model nicely. Will be nice to see some of the larger models in this scheme

[The Pounder]

The colour scheme looks good.

 

Reminds me of a tiger (an apex predator if there ever was one!)

 

Remember you will be painting a LOT of models of varying sizes, you need a scheme that’ll be easy for you to recreate on the large stuff too. I feel your current scheme fits the bill perfectly!

 

 

I’m interested to see more.

[WarriorFish]

Thanks everyone, yes it's just the last bits I need to sort as I think I have the main scheme parts As much as I want to make them pop a bit I'm wary of making it too complicated so there's always that sweet spot. I'm thinking/hoping that tidying up the lines so they have a bit more going on with the curve should give it enough refinement I was being a bit lazy on the test scheme with the brush used as I wasn't sure it'd work (and that's Blood for the Blood God on the tongue because I didn't have a red handy )...

 

I will set myself the task of aiming to finalise the model colours this week with a view to ordering required supplies - at the least for the base as I need both mud and snow texture paints.

 

I am focusing on the painting side of course but will be looking to peruse rules and such so advice here also would be most welcome as I explore

[WarriorFish]

A bit more work, nothing too major but I did try the red wash on the joins etc and I think it works:

Repainted a Hormagaunt ready but I've decided to wait until I have the orange I'll be using before going any further. There's another five or so gaunts painted up in a couple of colours to repaint so I might busy myself on them so they're ready for when I do have the paints I need

[Arkaniss]

The red wash works :tu: Easy to do as well which considering the number of gribblies you'll be painting is a very good thing :)

[WarriorFish]

I think the scheme is coming together very well, seemingly without much effort too! I think I'll stick to black eyes as the last piece of the puzzle but I can decide later and go back to paint them without much hassle. I'm thinking of giving the blades a gloss varnish so they stand out a bit more compared to the hooves and less stabby claws? Otherwise I think I pretty much have all the various parts of Tyranid models cover aside from wings? One of the advantages of the nid models being very unified in their approach

 

Things are going so well the last thing I did yesterday was order an orange and some mud and snow texture, should arrive early next week There are three Termagaunts and another Hormagaunt that are painted so I will repaint them as above ready for when my supplies arrive - the rest of the collection is unpainted and unassembled so will be starting from scratch. Let's see if I can enjoy assembling them as much as I do painting

 

Once I've got the painted models finished as the proof of the scheme I will be keen to get some Warriors done as I really like the models, and they will be a good test for the scheme on a larger model but I'll try and be good and get some gaunts done too

[Xenith]

Looks great - kind of like the flag of the Russian Empire:

 

The white on the grey carapace is ace. Have you considered trying it with mutiple glazes of contrasts from white through orange to black? Depends whether you'd want a feathered gradient or something more stippled/mottled. But it looks great as is.

[WarriorFish]

I've thought a little bit about the colour lines, but not a great deal on how I could achieve more. I don't want to make the scheme too much work and I'm not sure how much practical room there is to play with on the small carapace on gaunts (or rippers ). I may experiment with the models to be repainted, see what methods could be done.

 

It's a good idea to let a scheme "bed in" for a while before you look to adjustments anyway to see how you feel, so no harm in delaying the proper start especially when I have other projects to also be working on

[DarkPhoenix]

The red was is a great addition. Looking forward to seeing further progress.

[WarriorFish]

Hobby supplies arrived nice and early, so I found a bit of time to complete the Termagaunt:

I think the mud turned out nicely as did the snow as a nice finishing touch. These snow texture paints are a lot better than the previous ones! Sadly it isn't all good news, the closest fit orange turned out to be too bright:

I can't seem to find an alternative, so it looks like I'm mixing this paint. I have a empty pot to wash out for the role but I'll experiment to try and find a good ratio that's not too much hassle - the perils of making do when coming up with a scheme I've made my bed now though. Overall I'm happy though as the base turned out well and I've refined the scheme so it's a bit quicker.

I've also learned that tails need a protective coat as they're the likely holding point Hopefully I can resolve the orange soon and get the remaining gaunts repainted, then I'll have a small foundation block to continue with

[Arkaniss]

The base looks grand as always! Finished off the model nicely, it all works :tu: Still think that maybe yellow eyes would be the icing on the cake though. A shame about the darker orange, the lighter mix is definitely better.

 

That said the final bottom right picture the darker orange does look better than in the other picture? Might be a trick of the light making it appear lighter?

[WarriorFish]

Thanks! I'm still not sure on the eyes yet but it will be easy to go back and repaint when I am so I'm not worried about them The brighter orange is a nice colour and probably what I would have gone for originally if I had it, but I like the paler colour. The left picture is a better representation of the colour, I will mix it with the Tau yellow to see how much of a match I can get.

 

The Hormagaunt isn't finished yet obviously, but the main difference is I didn't put an extra wash in the carapace recesses nor highlight the white. It doesn't look that different so I'm going to ditch the white highlight, maybe it can be a little extra for the larger models

[WarriorFish]

Attempting to mix the colour with the orange didn't work very well, so I decided to mix it up from the original two - if I'm to be mixing paints anyway may as well go for it right? Couldn't get an exact match but near enough:

The Lugganath Orange needs a bit more to match better, but the paint is exhausted. I'll need a new pot anyway and I'm due a supply run on paints so I will see about the last bit when I do - it's close enough to work with, and for finishing the repaint models to perfect the scheme. I decided to put the white highlight back on to round the carapace off, so I'm about there for refining the scheme I think - eyes aside!

I really like how the bases work, but I will need to expand the repertoire for larger bases. I think some water for some melted snow would work a bit here but I'll need a little more. Might see about some small rocks and the like? I'll see how long it takes to finish the repainting queue then set about assembling my first nids

Likely some more gaunts before anyone gets too excited, but got to start with the bread and butter

[Arkaniss]

It may not be a perfect match but it's very close You can repaint the orange on the original model to match the others easily enough?

 

I'm a big fan of snow bases and it works well so I think the paint scheme is pretty much there now :D Some big critters will be good to see in time in these colours but I'd like to see a unit or two of gribbles. All those models should look wonderful in a horde :tu:

[WarriorFish]

The three other gaunts are now done:

Together for a grand total of five:

Just the other Hormagaunt to update the colour on and finish and all the painted models are done, so I can move to some assembly I still need to decide on what I'm doing for the eyes, and what I could do to make the front bladed claws to stand out a bit more but I'm pleased with how things have gone. I will be able to speed up a bit with some assembly lining, especially with the wash stages

I will probably try out some melted snow on the remaining model and think about how best to do some little rocks here and there but there's no rush. I'm really enjoying the different painting experience so my nids have definitely earned themselves a place in the hobby queue for the foreseeable future

[WarriorFish]

I decide to play a little for the first list...

 

Hidden Content

+++ Hive Fleet Solerön First List (Warhammer 40,000 9th Edition) [3CP, 500pts] +++

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Tyranids) [3CP, 500pts] ++

+ Configuration +

Battle Size [3CP]: 1. Combat Patrol (0-50 Total PL / 0-500 Points)

Detachment CP

Gametype: Matched

Hive Fleet: Leviathan

+ HQ +

Hive Tyrant [180pts]: 2x Monstrous Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Power: Hive Nexus, Power: Paroxysm, Power: Smite, Resonance Barb, Warlord, Warlord Trait: Adaptive Biology

Tyranid Prime [79pts]: Devourer, Scything Talons

+ Troops +

Hormagaunts [60pts]
. 10x Hormagaunt: 10x Scything Talons

Termagants [50pts]
. 10x Termagant (Fleshborer): 10x Fleshborer

Termagants [50pts]
. 10x Termagant (Fleshborer): 10x Fleshborer

Tyranid Warriors [81pts]
. Tyranid Warrior: Devourer, Scything Talons
. Tyranid Warrior: Devourer, Scything Talons
. Tyranid Warrior (Bio-cannon): Barbed Strangler, Scything Talons

 

Granted, I don't have much of a clue what I'm doing but everything starts somewhere Maybe the Warriors are better kept basic as a general rule of thumb?

[WarriorFish]

Repainted the remaining gaunt:

So all six of the repaints are complete:

Next means some assembly of course

Not bad models to assemble, though there's a lot of surface area to clean across bits. The box I grabbed had four Termagaunts and 20 Hormagaunts so I'm guessing the others are in another open box as they've been mixed up, but as I'm starting out it doesn't make much difference

I'll stick to the plan of 16 models as that's enough for now, as much as a production line will speed things up not if I drown in models I noticed that the Hormagaunt talons had extra spikes on the elbows to match the arms but I thought this would limit poses so I chopped them all off for mixing and matching as much as I liked. I think I got some good variety in poses, I know it's not a big deal on the expendable masses but I prefer it.

A few skulls to spice up the bases (including one upside down, because why should skulls always land the right way up?) and I'm set for priming once the weather cooperates It doesn't feel this will be in the immediate future so I'll probably do some more assembly for other armies, the project queue is mostly empty after all!

[WarriorFish]

Still too warm for priming today but I expected that. Instead I'm getting my Tyranid fix by poking through options. I'm guessing the Warrior sprues I have are pretty old, but I've not checked in detail I'm presuming they have the Prime bits or at least one box should as it looks newer. I'd like to have one for a cheaper HQ option as in the list above but speaking of I need help with HQs generally as I have questions:

1. I've always liked both ranged and combat on my units (i.e. Dreads) as it's flexible, I'm guessing this is a good plan with nids also.
2. What sort of weapons should I be looking at for the bigger beasties (and smaller)? I feel like the bigger guns are better, at least on the Monsters to provide long range and heavier support.
3. It seems the Swarmlord is a kind of character, but looks expensive - worth considering?
4. What sort of foot Hive Tyrant builds work? Or as this is the metal model, is he the Swarmlord build?

I will need to go through some of my boxes to see what's inside, might be missing a lot of bases (and instructions). I played with my list again but it feels like a decent small list for what I want, I did change the Hive Fleet rules though. I've decided to roll my own: Adaptive Exoskeleton to give the gaunts a 6++ seems useful as I'll have a few and it's better than nothing, plus Metamorphic Regrowth so the bigger critters can regenerate a wound each turn. As I plan to have a lot of Warriors this should help them out

[Arkaniss]

Those gaunts are looking great :tu: Starting to get a decent number of them for the horde effect! You made quick work of assembling more too, that really will be a sight when they're all painted.

 

Can't really help with the army list I'm no 'nid expert but it looks sound, you've got some big gribblies, plenty of small gribblies and some medium gribblies which seems like the right mix

 

I don't know about now in 9th but I'm pretty sure the Swarmlord was a good choice back in the day? You could always use some counts-as to begin with to run him and see how it goes.

[The Pounder]

If the Guants are anything to go by your swarm will be very striking on the table!

 

Keep  up the good progress!!

[WarriorFish]

Thanks Jud, timely too as I've just finished up for the day and they're making good progress:

Termagaunt is the odd one out as I got him to this level to make sure I was ok on the scheme previously, I'm focusing on the Hormagaunts currently and the production line is working nicely. I've never painted so many models at once, even for Guard Still enjoying them so I expect to get to my reward Warriors squad before long (they're Troops so count as bread and butter!)

That said though this stage is the main colours done the remaining parts aren't particularly quick as there's a few washes and detail work left plus bases always take a little bit of time but so far so good. There was a stage where I regretted having the stripes on the thigh chitin but I'm sure this will pay off when I get to the larger models