Heroes of Mankind: My Space Marine HQs

Hello again, folks. Today I'd like to show a little bit of my take on the 40k hobby, my favorite thing besides the game itself: assembling and painting HQ models.

You see, no matter how awesome your painting skills are, when it comes to Space Marines (especially Tactical Squads), there is very little that can be done to make a model stand out of the crowd. Sure, a little posing and modding goes a long way, but there is something on the power armor + boltgun crowd that strikes me as meh. Also, trying to personalize every single one of your models will end up consuming bucketloads of money spent in bits.

That is why I enjoy assembling HQ units. These guys are made to look awesome, as they usually come equipped with fun pieces of wargear, codex-wise, and you can take your time in choosing the best looking pieces, making sure that one doesn't look like the other.

So, without any further delay, here's a little account of my HQ models. Click the images for a larger version.

1) Librarian



This was the first HQ model I ever assembled and painted. It's a Grey Knights' Brother-Captain Stern, without any modding. It's painted in my Yet-To-Be-Named-Chapter's colors, although in a slightly different scheme than the usual troops.
This model taught me how metal pieces are annoying to paint, and how Shinning Gold likes to misbehave (try trimming your pauldrons with that...).

2) Chaplain with Jump Pack



Another metal piece that gave me some trouble, especially since the pieces don't fit well together. In the end, I liked how it turned out, but I gotta remind myself to paint over that nasty piece of Green Stuff in the armpit...

3) Vulkan He'Stan



This was my first piece of actual conversion. Instead of going with a dragon-scale cloak and flamer-gauntlets, I picked up some bits I had to spare and came up with this model, which has all the main features from Vulkan for a WYSIWYG purposes. Need a Relic Blade? Sure, Grey Knight Nemesis polearms work well for that. 3+ Invulnerable save? Take a look at that Storm Shield. 2+ Armor save? Believe me, this is an Artificer Armor :)

What about the Heavy Flamer. Well, for that I attached a common Flamer to the polearm's shaft, and attached to blade as a bayonet.

4) The Emperor



Well, not a real HQ choice, but I believe it deserves mentioning. The big guy Himself took all that remained of my blasted Shinning Gold paint, and unfortunately the Dwarf Bronze undercoat didn't show through. In any case, I really like this model, as it represents my favorite character in all of 40k fluff.

5) Chaplain in Terminator Armor



I really liked how this model looked once finished. This was the first time I used washes, and Ogryn Flesh over Bleached Bone worked pretty well to represent both aged scrolls, the Crozius Arcanum's leather-bound shaft and the skull helmet.

First time I managed to make those red eyes stand out... must be the lack of purple around it!

6) Pedro Kantor



This is one of the coolest models I ever assembled. One of my planned army lists will be a Pedro Kantor Sternguard force, but since I don't want to have the Crimson Fists dude himself, I made this model. By now you must have already noticed that I use plenty of Black Templars and Dark Angels iconography in my models. I feel that this adds to the "Space Knights" feel that I want for my Chapter.

One advice, though: as you can see in this guy's left arm, both the Power Fist and the pauldron have sword icons on them. This redundancy may look a little ridiculous, but, besides that, this guy is pure awesomesauce.

7) Future Model: Darnath Lysander Conversion



Since I like playing Terminator-based armies, I thought I might just as well assemble a Lysander model to team up with Vulkan.

For this guy, I'll use a Terminator Captain metal model I had sitting around for some months, a default set of Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield, a Black Templars pauldron and a Space Wolves Terminator Cloak. I'd like to find a way to paint this wolf to look more like a lion (one of the Chapter motifs I'm considering). Also, this cloak has a little spot there begging for a back-banner...

8) Future Model: Biker Captain



For this one, I know I'm in a world of trouble. Since I began to plan my biker army, I wanted to make a really bad-ass model for the commander.

For this guy, I had to order a lot of bits. For starters, I've got a Chaos Terminator Lord stone base and a Warhammer Fantasy High Elf banner. For this guy, I don't mind having a Black Templar-heavy influence, so this will be shown in his backpack, in one of the shoulder guards, in the front wheel and in a Crux Terminatus. I wanted to make this guy with a Storm Shield, but then it would look too cluttered, so I decided to go with a Crux instead. From game to game this guy will be fielded with either the Shield or Artificer Armor, but rarely both. As usual, my favorite HQ weapon, the Relic Blade, will be represented by a Nemesis polearm.

For story purposes, I wanted this guy to come from a sort of Mad Max "feral" world, in which rival biker gangs raid each other's encampments in search for promethium and ammo. Because of that, I want this guy's bike to look kustomized, almost Orky. For that, I've got an Ork Bike handlebar, a big daemonic skull and an Ork Bike exhaust pipe. I'll also use plastic tubes, creating a bike fork for the front wheel, giving it a Harley-Davidson look. Man, those Tech Priests are gonna get pissed!

Finally, I got a Dark Angels unhooded, unhelmeted head, which happens to actually have hair. Take that, canon baldness! I already know how make a beard for this guy, now I just gotta learn how to make a cowboy hat and long hair. If everything looks half as awesome as I plan them to be, I'll be happy.

And if you think this is going to take a lot of work... well, one of my Biker lists has two Captains, so I must assemble the other one in a custom jetbike, just to compete in awesomeness.

Hope you guys enjoyed this!

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Good Painting Is Like Music To My Eyes

I just love music. On top of that, I love guitar music. And above all

else, Van Halen is, to me, the best band in the world.

Eddie's way to play has everything it takes for a music to call itself

"awesome": It perfectly balances Eric Clapton's melodic sense, with

Jimmy Page's creativity and technique. Heck, the man can play a baroque

piece or a solo with an electric drill and he will do that smiling,

jumping, looking like it's the most common and trivial thing in the

world while you just feel music oozing from the speakers, making the

world a small shell of concentrated, 100% pure awesomeness.

Among all things, Eddie is notoriously recognized as a guitar

conoisseur, bulding his own axes from scratch just to find the perfect

balance between tone and playability. His guitars are among the best

in the world, and with all the rights he deserves: Listed to

"Unchained". You can't have a tone like that anyway else. You have to

know what you want and how you are doing it.

To match his musical style, he always painted his guitar with random

stripes all over his guitars. The design were always there, combining

perfectly with the music coming from a chaotic flurry of raw talent.

And then I figured out.

My Chaos army is mostly painted Red, Black and White or Silver. Take

this for example:

The exact same colors of the almighty Eddie's Frankenstrat:

So, just as easy as you can say "Jump", I decided to stripe something to

show the universe that they can't just stand against the mighty will

of an overdriven guitar, specially the ones from the other side of the

Eye of Terror.

So without further delay, I present you the mighty Eddie Van Rhino:

 

 I striped it the same way Eddie does on his guitars: Assembled it, Primed it with black spray, Then moved forward rolling tape randomly, Applied a coat of white spray, More tape, Then a coat of Red Spray for a good chaotic looking.

Remove the tapes, and you have you own personal Eddie Van Rhino, ready for battle.

I ordered two more Rhinos. I'm thinking of doing them all black and yellow now to sprinkle some Black Legion between my minions, just like this little beauty here:

There are some things you have to watch out, though: We're talking

about 3 layers of spay colors, so if you do this without the proper

care, you'll end up covering all the nice details you have in the

model, so it's not a bad time to remember: Small, quick, sprays from

one way to another will get you a long way. Don't stay too much on the

same spot. Allow them to dry before moving on! It's a work of

patience. Give a day of two between the layers.

The Rhino went so well I decided to do the Sammy Raider:

Again, same process, but this one turned out a lot better. I tried to

take a little more time, and dedicated it on doing some painting

imperfections, like dirt and rust.

 After that, you are free to assemble the tank threads, spikes, pintle

mounted weapons (Havoc Launcher is strongly recommened!), and

everything else. Remember: The last things you want in Chaos models

are simmetry, pristine clean details, or these kind of irrelevant

stuff that makes you work look clean and good willed :-)

Chaos do it dirty, fast, creatively and raw, and... Van Halen-esque.

Happy painting!

PS: I don't wish in any way take this stripes pattern credit as mine,

neither I wish to profit on it! It's just an honest way to say a big

"Thank You" to Eddie and his music, made by an honest fan.

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Games for the Games God!

Well I do believe this is blog related, so here goes nothing:



Am I seeing some Khorne Berzerkers there, or is just my Chaotic Mind playing Warp tricks on me? Guess I doubled my ones.

PS: Yes, I know. It broke the red frame. I'll work this out as I'm souping up the blog.

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June 8th, 2010 - The Good, the Bad and the Hungry: Tyranids vs. Chaos Space Marines Battle Report

Hey there folks, as my snack supplier friend Lunchs Luchs pointed out, while the Space Marines and Eldar were having their ballet classes, me and Dopker were duking it out on the battlefield with two of the most gruesome forces of the grim, dark 40th Millenium. Thus, I landed the job of letting our esteemed readers get into the action that went on that bloody battlefield.

The forces facing each other for a 1800 point limit were:
Chaos Space Marines
HQ
Daemon Prince
Wings
Mark Of Slaanesh
Lash Of Submission

Chaos Lord
Terminator Armor
Mark Of Tzeentch
Combi melta
Power Fist

Elites
5 Chaos Terminators being with 4 Power Fists, 3 Combi Meltas, 1 Heavy Flamer and one with a pair of Lightning Claws Tzeentch Icon. All with Terminator Champion Upgrade.

Troops
10 Khorne Berzerkers being one a Champion with Power Fist

10 Chaos Space Marines, with Icon of Chaos Glory, 2 melta Guns, and an

Aspiring Champion with Power Fist and a Combi Melta

Rhino With Havoc Launcher

Heavy
2 Obliterators

5 Havocs being 1 with Lascannon, 1 with Missile Launcher, 1 with Autocannon and 1 with Heavy Bolter Chaos Land Raider with Havoc Launcher

Deamons
1 Summoned Greater Daemon

For a total of 1795 points

Tyranids
HQ
Hive Tyrant
Heavy Venom Cannon
Hive Commander
Old Adversary
Toxic Miasma
Regeneration
Wings

Tyrant Guard
Lash whip

Elites
2 Zoans
The Doom of Malan'tai

Troops
3 Warriors
Lash-whips and Boneswords
Venom Cannon
Deathspitters
Adrenal Glands
Toxin Sacs

8 Genestealers
Scything talons
Toxin Sacs

Termagants

Fast Attack
Raveners
Rending Claws
Deathspitters

Heavy Support
Carnifex
Crushing Claws
Stranglethorn Cannon
Bio-plasma
Regeneration

Trygon
Regeneration
Upgrade to Trygon Prime

For a total of 1797 points

We agreed to go for an annihilation match, and the Dice Gods commanded this were to be a pitched battle.

The Chaos Space Marines got to reach the battlefield early, and deployed their two tanks a the center of their zone, with the Daemon Prince out of sight behind the herectic Land Raider.
Each of the war machines was carrying a devilish troop inside, with Khorne Berzerkers just waiting to assault from inside the Land Raider and a unit of Chaos Space Marines ready for action inside the renowed Eddie Van Rhino. To the left and to the right heavy weapons from Havocs and Obliterators started to humm menacingly.

My 'nids went with a tight pack formation; two Zoans on the left drooled with the promise of punching their warp lances through the Raider's armour, while the Doom of Malan'tai went surrounded by some screening Termagants. The Carnifex went in the middle of the formation, expecting to run get in close for an assault taking advantage of the terrain for cover and the Tyrant Guard should be in place to bodyguard the Hive Tyrant once it arrived. A trio of warriors on the rearguard to keep everyone under the mighty lash of the synapse and we're good to go.


Chaos Space Marines - First Turn
And then everything went downhill. As the Hive Mind was too slow to steal the enemy's initiative, the Doom got a facefull of a lascannon round from the Oblits, which intantly vaporized his overgrown brains. One of the Zoans was taken down by the Havoc team and the three Warriors were mowed down to one by the tanks' heavy weapons, which also took four Termagants with their explosive payload. Chaos didn't even have to move to gain the upper hand right from the start.


Tyranids - First Turn
The Hive Mind, imposing its iron will, pushed the remaining creatures forward, hoping to get in range to deal some damage.

The Zoan aimed for the Havocs, since the Lance would surely fall short of the Raider. As it missed, the Carnifex shot its Stranglethorn cannon, taking down two of the heavy support soldiers.
No range, no assaulting yet.

Chaos Space Marines - Second Turn
The tanks pushed back into cover, with the Rhino hiding behind foliage and the Raider moving for the rear of the battlefield, always accompanied by the Daemon Prince.

Having less weapons to fire this turn as their vehicles had moved, the servants of the Dark Gods could only take out the remaining warrior from the battlefield.

Tyranids - Second Turn
The devouring broods moved ever forward, attempting to engage the chaotic forces before more long-ranged fire could cut their numbers down. The Trygon Prime rose up from the ground with a deafening roar, while salivating genestealers flanked the enemy forces and approached the Oblits.

Finally in range for the Lance, the Zoan shot... ...and missed entirely. The Trygon and the Carnifex teamed up, electrocuting and stranglethorning (is that even a verb?) the remaining Havocs, while the Stealers approached for the kill.

Which worked fairly well, considering they had to assault through cover. The Oblits were able to take down a single 'stealer, but could not resist and were obliterated themselves.


Chaos Space Marines - Third Turn
The Chaos fiends would not let these losses shrink them back, and as the Terminators teleported in and the summoning of the Bloodthirster was completed, the Daemon Prince and the Land Raider felt comfortable to move forward defiantly. The Chaos Marines inside the Rhino came out, readying their bolters to chew on tyranid meat.

The Daemon Prince used his lash of submission to bring the Trygon forward so the Bloodthirster could charge it, while the Chaos Marines reduced the stealers to a cringing pair of beasts.

Luckily for the tyranid swarm, the Bloodthirster was still way too far to be able to assault.

Tyranids - Third Turn
The Hive Tyrant finally came down from the skies, hoping to support the remaining stealers as they closed in to try and dig their claws into ceramite and flesh.

The Trygon moved forward to launch an assault on the Bloodthirster and the Raveners undug themselves right next to the advancing core of the tyranid forces.

Not much was achieved by shooting: the Daemon Prince was slightly wounded, whereas the Bloodthirster came out unscathed.

Meanwhile the Hive Tyrant, clumsily missing the recently disembarked Marines, killed one of the remaining stealers, pretty much dooming their intented assault to oblivion.

The assaults that were launched proved to be not very successful, with the last genestealer dying cleaved by chainswords and the Trygon being able to mildly annoy the Bloodthirster and almost get itself killed.


Chaos Space Marines - Fourth Turn
The army of the ruinous powers decided to get up close and personal, and thus approached the nearest tyranid forces, with the Berzerkers finally disembarking the Land Raider. The Chaos Marines closed in the Hive Tyrant, hoping to take the looming beast down.

A blizzard of shots from the Berzerkers' pistols took out some more of the remaining Termagants, while the Land Raider's lascannon liquified the last Zoanthrope on the battlefield. The Daemon Prince used its Lash of Submission to take the Raveners in range for the assault.
The Chaos Marines fired their bolters on full auto, but barely made a dent in the Hive Tyrant's carapace.
Finally, the chaotic army closed in and assaulted the creatures in range; the tyrant got surrounded by Marines, while the Zerkers decided to dispatch the Termagants and the Chaos Termies and the Daemon Prince turned their hellish weapons in the direction of the Raveners.

As expected, the Termagants were chopped to pulp by the close combat marauders that the Zerkers are. The Raveners got rid of a couple of Terminators, but were hit hard and almost retreated, were it not for a sudden adrenalin rush which held them together facing the foe.

The Bloodthirster finished its job and put the Trygon out of its misery without much effort, while the Chaos Marines lost three of their fighters to the Hive Tyrant's bonesword.


Tyranids - Fourth Turd Turn
There weren't much options left for the Tyranid broods, with the Tyrant being locked in close combat and the remaining beasts out of synapse range. The Carnifex and the Tyrant Guard simply pushed forward, ever hungry for a taste the foe's flesh.

Unable to shoot, the Tyranids assaulted the foes at the reach of their claws. The Carnifex and Tyrant Guard were surprisingly sucessful, being able to take out the Zerkers completely. The Raveners, on the other hand, took a severe beating even after dispatching the Deamon Prince back to the Warp and the single remaining beast could not control its survival instinct without the guiding will of the Hive Mind, running back in retreat.

The Hive Tyrant was taken down by the Marines' superior number.

Chaos Space Marines - Fifth Turn
Not much left for the chaotic army to do but to mop up the remaining monstrosities. Well placed shots from the tanks felled the mighty Carnifex, while the Terminators failed to massacre the Tyrant Guard with bolter fire.

The subsequent assault took care of it, though.


Having not a single creature survigin on the battlefield, the Tyranids lose its first battle against Chaos.

Closing thoughts
Having accompanied Dopker's growth through many victories and draw games, it was nice to have him win, especially in such a undeniable manner. His troops were better armed, better positioned and better guided than mine, so it was a fair and square defeat for me. I guess sometimes the swarm may order a pizza that's too spicy even for their taste.
This game was lots of fun, even if I has some deeply frustrating moments. This was the first time I ever fielded a Doom and it gets chunky-salsa-ruled at the first turn? Kinda depressing. I need to get him and my other Zoans a couple of mycetic spores, so they may drop exactly where they're needed and may skip the footslogging.
I also think I need to get some more models before ever trying such a point limit again. I believe I had to push a little too much on the upgrades to get this army on the tabletop and it made it somewhat inefficient.
I tried to write this Battle Report without mentioning the dice rolls and I hope it worked out. One moment that deserves special attention, though, is when the Raveners stood their ground. They had taken 6 wounds and inflicted 2, which made me roll for a Morale test with a -4 modifier. Raveners are Ld 6, so only a pair of ones could save me there. I rolled my dice and we spent the next five minutes laughing at my unexpected luck.

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