Hive Fleet Erythrus

[Nexus17]

First came trails of light, streaking blindingly through darkened skies and illuminating the upturned faces of the populace below.  These clear signs of the Emperor's favour were a cause of much rejoicing.

 

Next came the bounty of the earth; an explosion of verdant growth, delivering unprecedented plenty to the inhabitants of the planet.  The Emperor's generosity was celebrated by the populace in great ceremonies of thanksgiving.

 

Finally came the upheaval, and with it the sky devils, visiting untold terror upon the people of the world.  The Emperor’s angels responded to their desperate prayers, but only after irreparable damage had been done.

 

Hive Fleet Erythrus is my new Tyranid army, built primarily on the foundation of the bug half of the Leviathan box set.  I do have some ‘nids from back in third ed that were in a mainly black and red scheme that might get a re-do, but let’s see how these guys go first.  I’ve pledged the first chunk of these to the Xenos cause in the Call to Arms, with the hope I can get those done at least and hopefully beyond that the balance of the Combat Patrol.

 

Erythrism “refers to an unusual reddish pigmentation of an animal's hair, skin, feathers, or eggshells.”  Erythrus is also a genus of beetles characterised by bright reddish colouration.  Hive Fleet Erythrus combines the vivid pink of mutant insects like katydids or grasshoppers with the glittering iridescent shells of jewel scarabs.  The colour scheme is very much monochromatic in the pink-purple range but hopefully maintains a decent level of visual interest.

Plus, you don’t often see fluorescent pink minis!

The fluff concept behind the army is that a small Tyranid tendril has made planetfall on an Imperial backwater.  The ‘nids kick-started the planetary environment into overdrive, which initially seems like a good thing but soon tips the other way and carnage ensues, but not before a distress signal is sent off-world and Imperial forces are mustered in response.

These are the first ten Termagants which will, with any luck, be followed by more in due course.
 

[ZeroWolf]

Loving what I'm seeing, good luck! 

[Nexus17]

On 8/7/2023 at 3:59 PM, ZeroWolf said:

Loving what I'm seeing, good luck! 

Thanks - several weeks on and I think I'm going to need it!

 

I managed to get a combat patrol game in yesterday with my standing opponent's Empyrean Herald space marines. Although I got tabled in the end, I managed to pull off a 58 - 37 win. The photos I have aren't too exciting but the pink wave is starting to swarm in the one below.

 

 

I was able to overcome some rotten luck on the way to victory - the roll pictured was a particular lowlight!

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Nexus17

[ZeroWolf]

And I thought i had bad rolls 

[Xenith]

At least you got a 6 though! 

[Brother Nathan]

Id kinda rather all ones so id have the excuse tbh...

 

Need more updates on ur models though

[Nexus17]

Evening all,

 

 

So I am within touching distance of completing my CtA vow, meaning around 20 of the 30ish minis in the combat patrol are more or less done.

 

As much for my own future reference as anything else, I've captured some WIP photos of the termagants and the paints used for each:

 

1.  Airbrush Army Painter Warpaints Air Fluorescent: Hot Pink over a zenithal-ish combo of Halfords grey and white primers.  I've also experimented with a second blast of white from above after the initial pink coats, followed by a final layer of pink, which increase the brights a little bit but I'm not 100% convinced it's worth the extra effort.

 

2.  Basecoats to all non-'skin' areas, usually a couple of coats for each, as follows:

• Carapace & fleshy/internal bits - GW Fulgrim Pink
• Gun - VMC Basic Skin Tone (70.815)
• Teeth & eyes - Pro Acryl Bold Titanium White

 

3.  Shiny time! All carapace, claw, horn, etc. areas get 3 or more coats of Turbo Dork Bubblegum Crisis Zenishift.  This gives a pink to gold shimmer that's an absolute pain in the  to get a halfway representative photo of but looks pretty interesting in hand.  It takes at least the three layers to get an acceptable effect and really does need the Fulgrim Pink underneath, otherwise it tends to show a little more pure gold, which is how it looks over darker basecoats.

 

4.  Contrast, washes, and glazes to all areas 

• Skin - GW Doomfire Magenta Contrast thinned down and applied as a selective recess wash
• Carapace - VGC Warlord pink and/or GW Doomfire Magenta Contrast glazed with increasing intensity towards plate intersections
• Fleshy/internal bits - GW Pink Horror recess wash
• Gun - GW Pink Horror controlled glaze
• Teeth - GW Agrax Earthshade recess wash; some minis have also received some glazes of Seraphim Sepia and touch ups with VMC Flat Brown (70.984)
• Eyes (beast and gun!) - GW Imperial Fist Contrast, followed by a recess wash of Agrax Earthshade for a bit of definition
• Claws (also beast and gun, though on the latter what gets the treatment is pretty arbitrary!) - GW Flesh Tearers Red Contrast glaze, focused on parts closest to fleshy bits

 

5.  Final touches

Basing (GW Cygor Brown Contrast, heavy drybrush VMC Flat Brown, lighter dry brush GW Steel Legion Drab), general tidying up, and in the case of some termagants I've experimented with some glazing towards the end of the gun with GW Volupus Pink.

Oh, and the base rim of course - GW Steel Legion Drab.

This is topped off with Gamers Grass Laser Plants; this one in particular is from the Plantain Lily set.  I'm minded to have a play with some more low-level greenery to really sell the 'overgrown forest' feel but that can come later.

[Nexus17]

And Call to Arms vow, done (for now at least!):

 

Not everything has the full treatment per yesterday's post but all solidly table-able and I can always top them up as I go along.

[Nexus17]

 So I've managed to take some (slightly!) better photos of some of the nids, including some with the payoff of the scheme's gimmick - the main fluorescent pink under UV light.  The latter remains difficult with my non-existent photography skills but hopefully this gives a feel for the effect.