Valkia the Bloody Posted September 14 Share Posted September 14 Hello everybody, not sure anyone remembers me. I have been in the Warhammer hobby for nearly 30 years now, and I am active in the Hobby on and off. This really depends on my ADHD. In the past, I had several threads on here: I have not been active for nearly 2 years now. I had some health issues, and then lots of stress at work, and then my ADHD was interested in other things. Basically, life happened. Funnily, I had a vivid dream last week about a Warhammer tournament 10 years ago, where I played against an AMAZING Tyranid army. The opponent had painted their tyranids like toads and based them on amazing swamp bases. It looked awesome. The thought was born- "Hey, this is something you can do, too!" Plus- the new more agile and dynamic Tyranid models look so much better that the static and awkward models of the past. So- in my head, a new project was born!!! What I will do now- I am now creating a new Work In Progress Thread where I will collect all my Warhammer projects. I will use this new thread and not do Thread Necromancy. Links to the old threads are above. So I will have all my stuff in one thread, and do not have to curate several. What do I have sitting here, collecting dust: I have an ongoing pretty big (and sadly only half painted!) Night Lord army. I have some Necrons. I have some imperial stuff, loyal Space Marines, lots of Inquisition figures (different inquisitors and operatives) and even an Imperial Knight which I have not even assembled yet, not sure if he will join Chaos or remain loyal. Have I mentioned my ADHD? So yes, there is not only a pile, there is a MOUNTAIN of Shame. I am hoping that with a new project that motivates me, I can get back into the hobby. Assembling and painting and being creative is actually a very big part of caring for my mental health. I have been battling with issues for years now, and Warhammer actually helped me through the darkest patches of my life. So even more reason to get back into it!!! The last Warhammer related thing I did (ages ago) was buying the Kill Team box featuring the Night Lord Kill Team (I am German, so yes, the box has German writing). The box is still unopened and collects dust, none of the figures have been assembled. I hope I will be able to get back to it: But back to what brought be back this time: Tyranids! I am planning on doing a melee army which I will paint like slippery toads on swamp bases, complete with swamp weeds and reeds and lots of mud and slime. It will be disgusting. I got some decoration material for that: I did not want to spend too much money, so I bought some used models (most already assembled) on Ebay. I repaired, assembled and primed the Ebay models. No idea if this is in any way competitive or not, I am mainly after the painting and modeling anyways. I just got some models that looked cool. I think it is roughly 1000 points (however, since I do not even have the latest rule book, no idea if that point system is even used anymore). I love the Cthulhu vibes with these! These are also very cool looking: The mighty Swarm Lord And here is, hands-down my favorite model of the army. This guy just looks seriously amazing. I built him that he rears on his hind legs, and the dead terminator lies at his feet: Defenders of humanity, beware!!! Story goes, the terminator managed to cut of a tentacle, before succumbing to his wounds: And the Swarm Lord got the dead marine from the decorations box: I even was so motivated that I assembled some spore mines from some leftover bits and green stuff. Yes, I am aware that these bases might not be legal, but they were bases that were sitting around and since I am not playing tournament (or playing at all) at the moment, this is not very important. I could also use these as objective markers. Yes, my modelling skills are a bit basic, but hey, Spore Mines are blobs with tentacles, so I think that I have achieved. I also assembled these spore mines, since I wanted to test the paint scheme first, and did not want to use any of the "real" models. I want to try around first, and see what works best, and then decide how exactly I want to create my slimy swamp toad cthulhus. And now lets close this post with a citation from the Lovecraft Cthulhu mythos: "That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die." Something sinister in the swamp has awakened. The end of humanity is near. Grotsmasha, Rusted Boltgun, Alby the Slayer and 5 others 3 3 2 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firedrake Cordova Posted September 14 Share Posted September 14 Good luck with the project. I like the modern genestealer sculpts - they're definitely suitably "gribbly" gaurdian31, Valkia the Bloody and Tallarn Commander 3 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6132008 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallarn Commander Posted September 14 Share Posted September 14 This should be fun. I'm looking forward to Toadesque swamp-themed Cthulu Nids. I loved your Night Lords and some of my Night Lords projects were influenced by them back in the day. Firedrake Cordova, gaurdian31 and Valkia the Bloody 2 1 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6132028 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkia the Bloody Posted September 14 Author Share Posted September 14 (edited) Thank you for the words of encouragement! Well, we had a sunny afternoon, and I spend all afternoon sitting on my balcony and using the "spore mines" as test-models for my painting and basing scheme. I am heavily influenced by John Blanche ("Blanchitsu"), for me, he just nailed the style and atmosphere of 40k. I cannot deal with this new modern more "optimistic" 40k. Give me grim-dark any time! So I went for something suitably dark and gritty, fitting for a horror race like the Tyranids. This is what I have settled on (and I think the cobbled together spore mines look quite good for some bits stuck into green stuff). As you can see I am using "Blood for the Blood God" as a signal color for "danger". I think I will keep this idea also for the larger Tyranid models. To get into the mood, I even bought some Black Library Tyranid books- I already had Peter Fehevari's "Cult of the Spiral Dawn" sitting on my Kindle for much too long, so now I also got "The Great Devourer- The Leviathan Omnibus" and "Day of Ascension". Yeah, I know, two of these books are about Genestealer Cults, but honestly, these count as Tyranids for me (and one day, I even might expand towards the cults for my Inquisition teams to hunt down). Edited September 14 by Valkia the Bloody Rusted Boltgun, hauteclere, Dr_Ruminahui and 5 others 3 5 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6132046 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firedrake Cordova Posted September 14 Share Posted September 14 Looks like you're off to a good start Valkia the Bloody, hauteclere and gaurdian31 3 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6132087 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkia the Bloody Posted September 14 Author Share Posted September 14 Oh, and I just browsed Black Library and got Peter Fehevari's new short story as well as Dominion Genesis- Adeptus Mechanicus against Tyranids! Dominion Genesis got good reviews, so looking forward to it. Hope it gets me into "the mood". hauteclere, Firedrake Cordova and gaurdian31 3 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6132089 Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaurdian31 Posted September 15 Share Posted September 15 Glad to see you back, really enjoyed your Night Lords. Those spore mines came out really well. They look really fleshy, in a good way. Valkia the Bloody and Firedrake Cordova 1 1 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6132401 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkia the Bloody Posted September 15 Author Share Posted September 15 (edited) Time to make a list of the Tyranid models which I have pictured above: - 1 Swarm Lord - 1 Deathleaper - 1 Maleceptor - 3 Van Ryan Leapers - 10 Genestealers - 10 Termagants - 11 Neurogants - 1 Ripper Swarm - 6 Spore Mines As I said, I got these models used on ebay (or cobbled them together myself in case of the spore mines), and I went for what looked cool. This is not (yet) meant as a competitive list. 48 minutes ago, gaurdian31 said: Glad to see you back, really enjoyed your Night Lords. Those spore mines came out really well. They look really fleshy, in a good way. Thank you! This is what I was going for. The Maleceptor model came with the fleshy "brain covers" for the alternative model, which is the Toxicrene. I love the swollen veins on them. I did not have enough covers for 6 mines, though. So what I did to achieve the fleshy vein look on the mines that were missing out was pretty simple: I just used wood glue, and added some super glue, which makes the wood glue react and form stringy vein-like strands. It is a bit trial and error, since super glue can also make wood glue to crystalize (which works perfect for mud to form footsteps or tyretracks and a general "muddyness"). I will go all in with this army with this method. Well, talking about the spore mines. They need to come from somewhere- right? So the tyranids have access to the (ugly) Biovore model as well as the Harpy, which can both shoot the mines. I needed one of these models! But I am just not a fan of these particular models. Then a bolt of lightning hit me. There is a Games Workshop model which I absolutely adore, but since it is in one of the Fantasy Elven Ranges, I never considered buying. But now I had a closer look. The model is PERFECT for the army I am planning (scary monsters from the swamp!). So I looked up Ebay again, and I bought another used model. (this is the picture of the Ebay seller, by the way, NOT mine) The model is of course the LEVIADON of these deep sea elves. Before you scream "Heresy!" hear me out. (I know there is this silly rule on this forum about fantasy models in 40k, but this is a hill I am prepared to die on if need be) This swamp I am creating is on a low gravity world. In reality, none of the Tyranid flyers should be able to fly anyways because of physics, and we are talking about a fictive alien race, anyways, so who cares how they manage to take to the air. They obviously can do so. --> box ticked The Leviadon is a scary big monster with big teeth on a flying base. --> box ticked The model looks awesome and fits PERFECTLY with the swamp theme and it can be painted to fit in with the rest of the army --> box ticked The model even features tyranid scales and spikes! (yes, they are fastened with bridles and belts, but there are ways around covering these up) --> box ticked The Leviadon even has the tyranid typical 6 limbs! --> honestly, case closed! Bonus- turtles are among my favorite animals. So now I DARE anyone to tell me I cannot use this as a stand-in / proxy of a Tyranid harpy - because, reasons!! Huge scary flying monster with big teeth on a flying base that is the right size, with tyranid scales and spikes and the 6 limbs of the tyranid bioforms. Produced by Games Workshop. Painted up as a swamp creature like the rest of the army. Sounds like a Tyranid Harpy to me. Sorry, you lost the argument. So yeah. My Tyranid army will now also feature a Harpy, which is the source of those disgusting fleshy spore mines. Plus, I get to paint one of the models I had adored since it came out (minus the Elves of course, they will go straight to the bits box). Huge win for me and gets me even more motivated to dive into this army. Edited September 15 by Valkia the Bloody Tallarn Commander, gaurdian31 and Firedrake Cordova 3 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6132410 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkia the Bloody Posted September 16 Author Share Posted September 16 (edited) Today in the hobby.... for the past 12ish months, these two boxes were sitting in my pile of shame (around 200 unfinished models of various factions, mainly assembled and primed). I had not even gotten the plastic wrappers off. It is the Nurgle Plague Rider and the Warhammer+ Inquisitor from last year. The Nurgle Rider I got because he is one of THE BEST models GW has ever done. I already had the old metal version, but this one is absolutely epic. It is a great figure, and everyone who went through the COVID Pandemic can feel the utter depression, helplessness and lack of hope which this figure manages to capture. I am going to paint the Nurgle Rider the same way as I will paint the Tyranids- in a disgusting, fleshy, brownish color scheme on a muddy swamp base- so he will go in with my Tyranid painting patch. I collect Inquisition miniatures and have a growing pile of shame of Inquisitors (I even have Eisenhorn) and operatives. This is why I got the Warhammer+ figure. He will join my Inquisition pile of shame. So today I finally felt the motivation to finally open them up and assembled them. I also prepared all the base decorations (ripped apart Primaris marine, destroyed building blocks, tentacles, a variety of skulls) for when my Leviadon Harpy arrives, then I can go straight to creating the base. You can see these prepared bits under the pictured unopened boxes. Edited September 16 by Valkia the Bloody gaurdian31, Dr_Ruminahui, Rusted Boltgun and 2 others 3 2 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6132550 Share on other sites More sharing options...
space wolf Posted September 17 Share Posted September 17 Those spore mines look positively disgusting! Do you have any plans to kitbash that inquisitor, or paint as is? Seems like an opportunity to inject a little more personality into a fairly static model. gaurdian31 1 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6132679 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkia the Bloody Posted September 17 Author Share Posted September 17 42 minutes ago, space wolf said: Those spore mines look positively disgusting! Do you have any plans to kitbash that inquisitor, or paint as is? Seems like an opportunity to inject a little more personality into a fairly static model. Thank you concerning the Spore Mines! I am very happy how they turned out- especially for being just a bit green stuff with leftovers tacked on. I actually just did some more work on them, I will post pictures later, because yesterday, I went through some old White Dwarfs, and there was a Tyranid army presented that also had a "Swamp" theme, so I blatantly stole some more ideas. Usually (and as you might have seen in my past threads) I love conversions. I am not the best green stuff sculptor, but I can do a few basic things. However, I actually like the Warhammer+ Inquisitor as is, and he looks different enough to all the others in my collection (I think I have pretty much every Inquisitor produced by GW in the past 20 years, when I visited Warhammer World 2 years ago I even got the Resin Forgeworld models, and I also have the old metal ones, like the female metal Witchhunter and Coteaz). Most of these have been sitting around, collecting dust. I hope I can inject life into them with some gruesome Blanchitsu painting. John Blanche did some great paintings of the Inquisition, and I also have the old White Dwarfs where he also presented some of his own painted Inquisitors and their retinues. THIS is what I want to emulate. The only question is- can I motivate myself to do so? gaurdian31, space wolf, Firedrake Cordova and 1 other 2 2 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6132684 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkia the Bloody Posted September 17 Author Share Posted September 17 Right, here are the pictures of today's work. Being creative is really doing a lot for my mental well-being, I have to admit. In a previous White Dwarf, a Tyranid army on swamp bases was presented, and I just blatantly stole the idea on how to do the swamp bases. Here is the test on the bases of the Spore Mines. There is some shades of green added to the muddy pools, and shiny 'ardcoat is adding a wet look. I also added 'ardcoat to the top of the swollen, fleshy mines, so they look ready to pop. I will definitely go with this for the whole army! And here is the Plague rider, he will also reside on a swamp base and I will paint him in the same colors as the Tyranid army: And then, the new large centre-piece for the Tyranid army arrived. The Harpy! (aka. Leviadon) Base and Model tell a little story. So the brave defenders of humanity tried to stop the Tyranid advance. There was a battle in the swamp. Here is the battlefield (the proud defender of humanity has been ripped apart and is surrounded by the skulls and bits of slain Tyranids): This fearless Space Marine even tried to stop the fearsome Harpy! He had jumped on her back, and managed to lodge his chainsword in the carapace. But during the scuffle, his arm was ripped off! For everyone doubting that the Fantasy Leviadon will fit in with a Tyranid army: Have a look at the plastron (the bottom shell). It is covered in Tyranid style scales and spikes and it has indeed 6 limbs. So far, GW has not released any aquatic Tyranids, but aquatic Tyranids will probably have fins. If I paint this Harpy like the rest of the army, I think this should fit perfectly with a swamp themed Tyranid army. gaurdian31, Tallarn Commander, Firedrake Cordova and 4 others 4 3 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6132698 Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaurdian31 Posted September 17 Share Posted September 17 The leviathan looks plenty Tyranid to me! The shine on the spore mines is doing a great job of making them look slick and freshly created. Valkia the Bloody and Tallarn Commander 1 1 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6132701 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkia the Bloody Posted September 28 Author Share Posted September 28 I am back from my holiday! And I am very motivated to paint some figures in October. So over in the monthly painting challenge, I pledged to paint 11 Neurogaunts, 1 ripper swarm and the Leviadon Harpy in October. I think this should be doable. To get the juices flowing, I also bought a Warhammer audio book to listen to while I paint: The Infinite and the Divine by Robert Rath. According to Reddit, this is one of the best recent audiobooks. During my holiday, I also did read a couple of the books I bought previously: Dominion Genesis- This is a great Ad Mech novel. It shows the desperate obsession of a tech priest to find a relic to save her forgeworld from the Tyranid destruction. However, this is 40k, so this insane quest causes even more death and destruction in it's wake. Great world-building, lots of atmosphere and interesting characters. Plenty of action, but it is not mindless bolter-porn. Cult of the Spiral Dawn- I love Peter Fehervari. He manages to capture the hopeless and horrific vibe and atmosphere of the 40k universe. This book has been sitting in my Kindle library for ages, and finally, I got around to it. This is a great book, part of the "Dark Coil" mythos. The world-building is unmatched and the main characters are interesting and believable. There is action, yes, but this book, as all books by Fehervari, lives through the atmosphere it conveys- there is no hope and peace among the stars, only war and the laughter of hungry gods. This is the art-style of John Blanche put into words. Firedrake Cordova, Grotsmasha, gaurdian31 and 1 other 3 1 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6134004 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkia the Bloody Posted September 29 Author Share Posted September 29 I made another Ebay strike.... This time I got another 3 Ripper Swarms and a Broodlord to go with my Genestealers. Ebay is a real treasure trove to find good quality used models, I basically got this Tyranid army for half price. So, for now, the army is "complete" and I will start painting before buying more models. I swear!!! I will also extend the vow for October and try to paint 4 Ripper Swarms (instead of just the one), as well as the Neurogaunts and the Harpy. This should still be doable. Grotsmasha, Tallarn Commander and gaurdian31 2 1 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6134177 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkia the Bloody Posted September 29 Author Share Posted September 29 Just spend some time to paint up the base for the Leviadon Harpy. I think it is suitably grim-dark. I like how the toxic algae infested swamp came out. gaurdian31, Tallarn Commander, Kurgan the Lurker and 4 others 4 3 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6134239 Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaurdian31 Posted September 29 Share Posted September 29 I really like how the bubbles in the swamp came out. Nice eBay win, excited to see the broodlord painted up! Valkia the Bloody 1 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6134241 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkia the Bloody Posted Sunday at 03:57 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 03:57 PM Right, I got some painting down! Thanks in no small part to listening to the Caiaphas Cain audiobook. Here is what I managed in the past few days: - a Leviadon Harpy for my Tyranids - 4 Ripper Swarms - one tiny Night Lord Rhino (that had been mini of the month once and has been sitting around since). I think the organic look on these tyranids works very well. Like monstrous toads coming up from the swamp- lands. "Something ravenous is stirring in the swamp-lands of the remote planet of Innismouth. Long have there been rumors of unsavory cults of despicable mutants stirring in the coastal regions. The world has now fallen silent, engulfed by a vast shadow in the warp. It appears that a Tyranid splinter fleet, which has been designated "Cthulhu", has fallen upon this world. A small force of Ultramarines was sent to investigate. So far, they have failed to report back. May the Emperor grant us mercy." Here are the Ripper Swarms: The Harpy: Ripped off Space Marine arm with chainsword: Base: And the Night Lord Rhino: gaurdian31, Firedrake Cordova, Heraclite and 2 others 5 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6135096 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heraclite Posted Sunday at 04:25 PM Share Posted Sunday at 04:25 PM Really like the lightning at such a tiny scale! gaurdian31, Firedrake Cordova and Valkia the Bloody 2 1 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6135103 Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaurdian31 Posted 16 hours ago Share Posted 16 hours ago The Harpy and Rippers came out great and I love the mini rhino! Valkia the Bloody and Firedrake Cordova 1 1 Back to top Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/386681-valkias-universe-of-darkness-chaos-inquisition-necrons-kill-team-and-tyranids/#findComment-6135302 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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