TheArtilleryman’s Raven Guard Army

[TheArtilleryman]

Whole army as it stands now, 775 points:

 

 

Obvious next choice is what goes in the land raider… What I realised in some of my test games is that I need some decent firepower (another reason for adding the land raider in).

 

The direction I’m thinking I want to take now is that I would like to expand this force to have crossover with HH Raven Guard, so I was thinking the next unit could be a MKVI tactical support squad with plasma guns which I can use as hellblasters in 40K. The Age of Darkness models are quite a bit bigger than old marines so I’m thinking they could work well next to the primaris guys, maybe with slightly raised scenic bases? Over time this would mean I could expand the one army for both systems and kill two birds (no pun intended) with one stone.

 

Edit: I’m totally not just looking for excuses to buy AoD … 

 

 

Edited February 21 by TheArtilleryman

[TheArtilleryman]

Quick question in relation to the vanguard vets. I want to take advantage of the storm shield option but don’t want to completely remodel them. Do you think anyone would complain about me adding some small tilt plate shields like the grey knight terminator ones and saying they represent storm shields?

[AutumnEffect]

5 minutes ago, TheArtilleryman said:

Quick question in relation to the vanguard vets. I want to take advantage of the storm shield option but don’t want to completely remodel them. Do you think anyone would complain about me adding some small tilt plate shields like the grey knight terminator ones and saying they represent storm shields?

 

I don't think anyone would care so long as you told them what they counted as.
And if they do then they aren't worth playing against. 

[Brother Christopher]

1 hour ago, AutumnEffect said:

I don't think anyone would care so long as you told them what they counted as.
And if they do then they aren't worth playing against. 

 

Well put. I concur with AutumnEffect. I think that as long as you make it clear what is what, reasonable people shouldn't have a problem with proxies and counts-as. And by clear I mean: follow a certain pattern and try avoid mixing now-WYSWIG options too much (i.e. this guy modelled with wargear X has wargear Y but THIS guy modelled with wargear X uses wargear Z). I wanted to go into more detail here but I just realised that Van Vets don't have weapon options any more .

 

The bottom line is this: don't remodel perfectly good painted minis, especially with GW's current approach of dramatically changing or even invalidating units. With finished models, I don't think it's worth the effort.

[TheArtilleryman]

37 minutes ago, Brother Christopher said:

I wanted to go into more detail here but I just realised that Van Vets don't have weapon options any more

Yeah this is basically the thing. I did them with lightning claws because they are thematic but also lightning claws used to have the twin-linked rule and confer an extra attack, so there was a reason to take them.

 

Now with Vanguard Vets the options are basically storm shields or fancy pistols,  because the melee weapons are all the same. 
 

I was thinking a little tilt plate like this on the corner of each shoulder guard, painted with the Raven Guard symbol would be a nice easy option to add to represent the shield, without having to swap any arms or cut the minis up.

 

 

37 minutes ago, Brother Christopher said:

The bottom line is this: don't remodel perfectly good painted minis

 

My problem is I like WYSIWYG … even if it doesn’t look exactly like it should, something to represent the wargear is important to me.

Edited April 10 by TheArtilleryman

[Brother Christopher]

I think the tilt shields are a perfectly fine representation. I even planned this for my Bike Captain way back.

 

Alternatively, you could go with some Iron Halos.

[TheArtilleryman]

So this morning I finally got to open my Horus Heresy haul (my daughter made me wait until my birthday to open the present I bought myself ).

 

 

First squad I decided to tackle was the cataphractii, as the guy I bought these off had already primed them. A quick weapon swap on the sergeant later (because what sergeant wants a power sword when they can have a chain fist) along with basing and a bit more primer, and they were ready to go.

 

 

I went for the same technique as I used on the Phobos marines, because it is sooo quick. Rough dawn stone base coat and ulthuan grey over brush first:

 

 

Black then got a coat of citadel armour wash. Metal in warplock bronze with leadbelcher lazily dumped on top, and a quick dawn stone highlight on the black.

 

 

And here they are finished, jumping out of their land raider:

 

 

Edit: This force is now 960 points painted, with no enhancements. So just right for an incursion-sized game.

 

The land raider and cataphractii are the first two units that can cross over between HH and 40K. The first of many …

Edited May 2 by TheArtilleryman

[WAR]

Very nice and Happy Birthday!

 

[TheArtilleryman]

First 3 tacticals painted. Something about this army is just giving me good karma. Feel really relaxed painting them, perhaps because of the simplicity, or perhaps because my Horus Heresy guys are a very new project. I’ll see how I feel 60 marines down the line … :)

 

I definitely think the quality of these newer plastics makes a huge difference though. Edges are sharper, the details are very crisp and clear, right down to the arrangement of the fingertips holding the bolter, and the highlighting doesn’t feel half as fiddly as the old firstborn marines used to be.

 

 

I’m still a bit inconsistent with the chapter symbols - the ravens come in all shapes and sizes XD

 

Edit: Also, now using Coat d’arms ink armour wash no. 153 instead of my old pot of Citadel armour wash, because I was running out. Really pleased with the results. The marine on the right was painted using the old pot and the other two using the new. Little to no difference in shade, which is great because I’m going to need a lot of the stuff!

Edited May 5 by TheArtilleryman

[TheArtilleryman]

Tactical squad done, with a bonus contemptor! I know the bolt cannon isn’t the ideal loadout for the dreadnought but that’s how it was built and there were no spares. I quite like the look though so don’t mind it.

 

 

It’s a shame you can’t link a thread to more than one sub-forum, because of the 30K/40K crossover. Also a shame that Call to Arms doesn’t start until June, because I’m really in a painting mode this month.

 

Now, in the box primed I have another tactical squad, a missile launcher squad and a praetor. What to paint next …

 

 

[WAR]

I know I’m in the same boat @TheArtilleryman I want to paint and have a huge backlog but I want to participate in the Call to Arms and actually complete it. Hoping I can get 3000pts of RG tanks done during that time but I could work on my assault company for HH. You should be able to link thread I posted a picture of my RG Sicaran completed but posted a link to more pics in multiple threads 

[TheArtilleryman]

On 5/7/2024 at 3:03 AM, WAR said:

I know I’m in the same boat @TheArtilleryman I want to paint and have a huge backlog but I want to participate in the Call to Arms and actually complete it. Hoping I can get 3000pts of RG tanks done during that time but I could work on my assault company for HH. You should be able to link thread I posted a picture of my RG Sicaran completed but posted a link to more pics in multiple threads 

Your tanks look great, I saw them before. Awesome work.

 

So, today I started on the thing I’ve been really excited about with the heresy kit - building up the specific squads I wanted in the army, rather than just painting things that were already built. I ordered some special assault weapons from UK Warforged to build a jump assault squad from the tacticals in the AoD box. Being able to build a whole army of MKVI marines is a dream I’ve wanted for such a long time.

 

Link here for the weapons: https://www.ukwarforged.co.uk/product-page/m6-assault-arms-chainsword-helforged-minis

 

… and they arrived today!

 

 

I already had some 3D printed jump packs leftover from another project:

 

 

I was a bit worried about the scale at first because the parts seemed really small when they arrived, but they seem to have worked out pretty well. I like the pistols with the silencers, because they feel very Raven Guard.

 

Here’s the whole squad made up. Fully tooled-up - 2 with nice claws/plasma pistols and the sergeant with the power fist. I don’t think the claws are technically allowed but I’ll just call them a power sword rules-wise. Claws on RG are just too fluffy to not use.

 

I’ve remembered now why I hate working with superglue… but they look cool! Can’t wait to paint them, but also hoping the bond will stay and the arms won’t just come off when drybrushing.

Edited May 11 by TheArtilleryman

[WAR]

I like them!

[TheArtilleryman]

Right I’ve been working on the Praetor. I’m not loving this though… you know when you just aren’t feeling a paint job as it’s in progress?

 

Here are some pictures. So far I’m happy with the cloth and the gun, but the highlighting on the black is making me very uncomfortable. One reason is it needs tidying up and that’s fine, but I also feel like it might be a bit too light/pronounced. A bit too “in your face” and not subtle. Might have gone a bit overboard with it, you know?

 

Anyone got any thoughts on how to improve this aspect of the model? Or indeed any other feedback you might think useful…

 

 

 

Edit: OMG it looks so much worse in photos …

Edited May 10 by TheArtilleryman

[WAR]

It looks good it’s just that model is not great model for RG. It’s too fancy. IMHO 

[TheArtilleryman]

11 minutes ago, WAR said:

It looks good it’s just that model is not great model for RG. It’s too fancy. IMHO 

You know, I nearly wrote the same thing in my post. Now that I’m painting it I’m not sure I like the model that much. It’s also considerably larger than the other marines in the box; like primaris size, so the scale is a bit off. When you stand him next to the contemptor his sword makes the model taller than the dreadnought.

 

We are sorely lacking a legion-specific praetor model for Raven Guard…

Edited May 10 by TheArtilleryman

[WAR]

Yeah it’s sad we have yet to get a legion specific praetor. 

[TheArtilleryman]

I keep looking at that gold filigree on the edge of the shoulders, gorget and knees and wondering if I should shave it off to make the model a bit plainer. Also feel like that might help with the paint job as I don’t like how they look.
 

Also wondering if the sword hilts are right in red because they could be adding another unnecessary colour to the mix. Could redo those in the light grey like the gun?

 

Tried to mark up the photo on my phone to show what I mean; very rough though.

 

 

Any thoughts?

Edited May 11 by TheArtilleryman

[TheArtilleryman]

Right, bit the bullet and went for it. I know nobody has replied but I’m feeling a bit too impulsive over this one! I’ve shaved off the filigree and changed the colours.

 

Personally, although I still need to tidy up the paint job, I think it makes a world of difference to the model:

 

 

 

Edited May 11 by TheArtilleryman

[WAR]

Looks better 

[TheArtilleryman]

Praetor finished:

 

 

[Terminatorinhell]

I really like that dude. The purple cape is a nice touch. 

[calgar101]

Your forces are looking good, you have done well with your Praetor. As WAR said, that model isn't the best for RG. I really dig that purple. 

What you adding next to the army?

[TheArtilleryman]

3 minutes ago, calgar101 said:

Your forces are looking good, you have done well with your Praetor. As WAR said, that model isn't the best for RG. I really dig that purple. 

What you adding next to the army?

Thanks for the kind comments and for engaging with the thread.

 

So I’ll paint the assault squad up next, so the force is legal for HH.The Spartan is ready and undercoated, but I might hold off that one for a bit. Other models I have ready to build are:

 

5 more terminators (will build with claws)

20 more tacticals, which will probably have 10 plasmas and 10 meltas

… and a jetbike squadron, which I am really excited about because I find those models to be so cool.

 

In my other big box of Forge World joy there is a pair of lightning claws and a couple of jump packs, so I might also have a stab at kitbashing a jump praetor/centurion maybe.

[MithrilForge]

Nice work here  you gotta love Raven Guard and respect to anyone who tackles white on a Black Model... 

 

Cheers, Mithril

 

P.S. I loved your Shrike Conversion