Ryza Forgeworld Project

[Smoke Frog]

I did a 24-hr paint job on Friday and finally started my fledgling Admech force.

RIght now on the army roster I have the following:

• Techpriest Dominus
• 10x Skitarii Rangers with two arquebuses
• 10x Skitarii Vanguard with two plasma
• 5x Sicarian Infiltrators
• Sydonian Dragoon/Ironstrider
• Onager Dunecrawler
• Archaeoraptor

Everything is magnetized for multiple options except for the basic skitarii infantry:

I am loving the huge amounts of detail on these models, they are a huge departure from my orks! And that archaeoraptor flyer is such a beautiful model. I loved putting it together, it hurt to have to drill into it to magnetize the wings and weapons options between the flyer/bomber configuration.

So far my Sicarian infiltrators were done, they seemed to be the easiest of the bunch to finish fast. Good models to test out my orange and washes on:

Right now they are magnetized but I only have enough arms to do the power sword options. Will find some more bits to use for the taser goads later.

Cheers, super excited to continue this project!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Ruststalkers.

[Magos Takatus]

Nice one! Ryza is a really great colour scheme and you're pulling it off well. The Archaeopter is coming along nicely. It's also interesting that we are both working on Admech and Orks at the same time. Clearly you've got some Magos/Big Mek overlap going on. :D The extra magnetised stuff will help in the long run. Are you going full Skitarii or are you going to include more Cult Mechanicus elements further down the line?

[Smoke Frog]

Yup the Mechanicus are a nice departure from the orks, I have really enjoyed assembling, magnetizing, and painting them so far. I may add some more Sydonian Dragoons if I like the one I am putting together now, and am planning to add a unit of plasma kataphrons and a unit of kastellan robots.

I did just finish one of my units of five rangers:

Enjoying how they look with the infiltrators!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Rangers.

[Magos Takatus]

I advise sticking with the Dragoons. They can be tricky to assemble and paint but in my opinion they are well worth it for the finished result.

[BolterZorro]

I advise sticking with the Dragoons. They can be tricky to assemble and paint but in my opinion they are well worth it for the finished result.

They are indeed superb. In addition to this, they are not so hard to magnetize for both builds/all weapons. (but you need quite a bunch of lilly magnets).

The hard part is number: you need at least 4 of those guys in a reasonable army (3 is a bare minimum, ideally up to 5 but if you magnetize and in the actual state of the game, more is never enough ;-) )

[Magos Takatus]

I've got to agree there. I charged my two into a Mawloc in my first game expecting to wipe it out, they bounced off completely. They eventually took out my friend's crippled Haruspex but they just weren't putting out as many attacks as I expected.

[Smoke Frog]

Definately going to have to get more dragoons, this guy was fun and pretty easy to paint up!

One of the magnetized variants:

Actually did some highlighting on this guy, need to go back and do the same for my rangers (who look waaay flatter in the photos than they do in real life for some reason).

Also I realize I forgot to paint the Ranger's backpacks so I will fix that along with the next batch.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Fine works.

[Smoke Frog]

Up next, finished the next five rangers.

This time they have backpacks, and the barest of highlights for their cloaks.

The squad leader with his power maul:

And here is both squads all complete!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Again, fine works.

[Smoke Frog]

Tech Priest Dominus is the next thing I finished up:

Close up:

This guy wasn't quite as much fun to paint as the rangers (kept messing up the metal bits when I painted the cloak, then messed up the cloak when I went back to do the metal bits which then messed up the cloak, and so on ) but he looked good when he was finally done.

Also fully magnetized for his weapon loadouts:

[Magos Takatus]

You Dominus has a nice grimy appearance, like they have been in the field for a long time. Good work. :)

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Tech-Priest Dominus. Edited September 18, 2020 by Bjorn Firewalker

[DanPesci]

These look really great.

 

Really love the choice of base colour against that orange

[Smoke Frog]

Thanks!

Archaeoraptor is also in the works (still very WIP), also magnetized to be either the fighter or bomber:

This is one of the most expensive single models I have ever purchased, but also one of the nicest. I was really impressed when I was putting him together.

Magnetizing those wings were a bit tricky, but will help a lot for storing him when he is done.

I also really like how the flying base is made to easily be able to come apart... I didn't even need to magnetize that part!

[Smoke Frog]

I finished my two squads of five Vanguard today:

These guys were NOT nearly as much fun as the rangers were. I thought they would be easier, and as much as they did have fewer steps (no hood, all the helmets were just metal w/ brown wash), those guns were terrible to paint. I kept messing up, and am still not entirely happy with the finished product.

Squad 1 along with the Alpha:

Alpha and plasma gunner:

Squad 1 with the data-tether:

Second plasma trooper:

I do like how the alpha is posed, and he looks pretty good up next to the Ranger Alpha:

Both alphas have their main weapon attached to their backpacks. It was convenient having the extra weapon just laying around in the box:

The only thing I have left to do for my original start collecting box is the dunecrawler itself, and the gunner is now also complete:

The dunecrawler is almost done!

[DanPesci]

Looking great! Really like what you did with the weapons attached the backpacks on your alphas.

 

I feel your pain with those radium carbines - i actually lost count of the times ive repainted my guys carbine/plasma coils earlier this year  

[Smoke Frog]

Thanks!

Dunecrawler and all his variants are now complete.

Neutron Laser:

My favorite, the Icarus Array:

Love the tiny missiles

Eradicator beamer:

And the phosphor blaster:

With that, my Adeptus Mechanicus Start Collecting box is (finally) complete.

Last admech unit still on the painting table is the flyer!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Onager

[Smoke Frog]

Finished my Ryza Archaeoraptor:

Fighter variant, with his lascannon out back:

Sad to say the glass frosted a bit after it dried

May go back and fix some of the metal later at some point too, a lot of it was more stained than I had planned for. He was a hard one to paint but I am calling him done for now.

Fully magnetized, here is the bomber variant:

Bombs!

And all the magnetized components:

Glad he is done, only have one last dunecrawler to complete before the end of the month and my admech force is done!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

You did an excellent job on the Archeoraptor, but the pictures remind me just how AWFUL Games Workshop's designers are. A bomber whose bombs are mounted vertically, meaning the pilot can't use dive bombing, skip bombing, or toss bombing techniques, or replace the bombs with missiles to counter enemy air defenses? A fighter whose main weapon is mounted in a rear turret, meaning it can't be used against enemies in front or above the fighter, and the pilot can't replace it with long-range missiles? The heavy stubber barrels that are just begging to be melted into slag during atmospheric reentry- or is the Archeoraptor only useful in a sufficiently dense atmosphere, like the Ork Deffcopta?

 

(My suggested redesign: Replace the rear weapons mount with a ramp, like that of the CH-53 cargo helicopter. That frees us to replace the side doors with weapons pylons and/or weapon bay doors, like those seen on the RAH-66 attack helicopter- the weapon bays protecting the weapons within from damage during atmospheric reentry.)

Edited September 29, 2020 by Bjorn Firewalker

[Magos Takatus]

All valid points Bjorn, the biggest issue I had is that there is a huge heavy compartment for two heavy stubbers when they should have been replaced by an internal bomb bay. The little carousel on the outside doesn't look like enough bombs for a really dangerous bombing run. I suppose they were inspired more by the Mil Mi 24 rather than more modern scout/attack helicopters (The Comanche looked awesome btw).

 

Anyway, Nicely done Smoke Frog, we finished our aircraft at the same time. Nice work on the magnets. I didn't bother with magnets myself. I suppose I could have put the effort in and put magnets on the nose cannons but I didn't get round to it. Seeing the finished result held together with magnets really makes me wish I'd put in the extra effort.

 

Good job on the paintwork too, That bold orange will really make it stand out on the battlefield.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Magos Takatus

[Smoke Frog]

Very true, I also found the rear-mounted bomb rank a little funny looking, and would have preferred some "bomb bay doors" along the belly of the craft; but then again it was probably easier to mount the test model on the flight stick this way.

I would also have enjoyed a second cockpit where the rear bombs/lascannon goes, similiar in design to the front cockpit like those old WWII bombers. I think I saw something like this in the original concept art.

And in subsequent news, I have completed my second dunecrawler, marking it as the last model I had left to complete for my Ryza Adeptus Mechanicus force to be complete!

This guy was a bit faster and cleaner to paint than the first one. Having the experience helped!

The second dunecrawler was modelled to have the binoculars as a stand in for a turret gunner.

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE TOTALLY NOT AN AI CONTROLLING THIS CRAFT!!!

MACHINE SPIRITS IN USE ONLY!!!!

The pair are now both magnetized and ready to take the field:

Until I get a second neutron laser constructed and painted up, I will just be using the first batch of gun mounts for the crawlers. Most likely using the Neutron Laser for anti-tank and the Icarus Array for anti-air (and any infantry that get too close)