Weekly War Report #5

Its been a good week. I might not have got as far with the Store Founding Terminator Captain as I'd have liked but plenty more got done, including a frantic attack on the basing shelf to get some more projects across the finish line.

Completed Models

This started out as a test model for my Genestealer Cults army and in the painting it sort of became something a little more. On the one hand I absolutely do want an Imperial Guard/PDF contingent for the Cults but I have also been trying to get around to doing a proper Guard army for years. So, with a little extra clipping and filing on the Genestealer Cults upgrade components this will be not only a part of my Cults army but also a Savlar Chem-Dogs army in its own right.

Also, I tried a Mournfang Brown rim on the base this time which works a lot better than the Rhinox Hide I used on the Familiars.

The model affectionately known in the gaming group as “Herbie the Loathe Bug” is finally finished. I really like how the green came off on the larger panels and I'm thinking of doing more vehicles / daemon engines in the army once I have a few more infantry models polished off.

A nice big group of Termagants, the largest unit I've finished for Hive Fleet Jormungandr so far. I'm happy to say the colour scheme continues to work well even if it isn't as time saving as I'd initially hoped.

The big fellow was a lot of fun to paint and I feel indebted to the eBay seller not only for posing it perfectly but giving it the right head to use as a Screamer-Killer, which is my favourite kind of Carnifex. It came primed so, sadly, a few bits of flash escaped notice until I was painting it but its not too noticeable IRL.

And, finally, a trio of Venomthropes who were an absolute joy to paint once I stopped overthinking them. I kept trying to find something extra and special to paint differently to pick them out but the beauty of Tyranids is in having a huge horde of different creatures in uniform colours so in the end I just blanketly applied the same methods as on the rest of the army and I think they came out beautifully.

Work in Progress

Not much more progress on the Marshal since Sunday, really just getting the inks applied to the metallics. I'm still rather mulling over what to do with the leather loincloth.

There are still a lot of fiddly details yet to finished on the Goliath test model and I only started the base because I was painting some other things Leadbelcher at the same time.

I want to say “these are close to done and I'll probably start the basing in a session or two” but these models are an absolute nightmare for noticing yet more hidden details just when you think you've actually finished one. Still, they're coming along.

The Genestealer Cults Magos is progressing, even if I will have to go back over some of thatr highlighting to tidy it up, the middle section of the model's body not being the most accessible of areas.

Whilst his friend the Patriarch finally has some large block colour painted. Next step will be the carapace, which will take a few layers since I went with grey undercoat for this one. I also find myself giving more thought than I perhaps need to about which Space Marine chapter the various helmets scattered around the model will be painted as.

And, finally, a small group of eight Termagants I got off eBay in a job lot with a bunch of other little gribblers. I started with these because it means I'll have a nice large block of twenty Termagants to set down on the table (or for the Tervigon to shart out over a couple of turns).

50/500 Challenge Hobby Tracker

Astra Militarum Savlar Chem-Dogs: 1 model / 0 power

Death Guard and Nurgle Daemons: 2 model / 9 power

Deathwatch: 1 model / 0 power

Genestealer Cults: 2 models / 0 power

Lizardmen: 6 models / 30 points

Tyranids: 29 models / 45 power levels

Total Models Painted

41

Five more power and the Tyranids have passed the benchmark. I also really need to get back to painting that Deathwatch Kill-Team.

Black Templars Marshal progress

I was so close to actually finishing this guy on time and then I got floored by a vicious cold. Still, its not too far from done:

Not much left to do: I need to ink and highlight the metallics, highlight the cape, fill in the leather loincloth, finish the white on the chapter symbol and few other small details. Its been a fun model to paint and surprisingly easy to follow all those bits of metallic trim.

I actually liked how the crux terminatus came out and I have to find some other stone objects to paint just like this.

1 Week Project: Store Opening Terminator Captain

Against all expectation “Fractional Progress February” has been my most productive month of hobby in years. As I write this I have fourteen models completed all the way to the bases and eighteen others going through the slow, slow process of basing (it really is the dullest part of this hobby). That's not to mention all the models I've got something done on.

Its been productive, its been fun and its been really motivating.

So let's try move from Fractional Progress February to whatever theme I pick for March with a good, old-fashioned One Week Project.

Yesterday, the local GW reopened after a refurbishment and so I picked up the special Space Marine Terminator Captain you can only get on such occasions (or by spending stupid amounts on eBay, no thanks). I also got a little stampy card that will eventually get me the even better looking Terminator Chaplain. Normally I wouldn't go for it but a) both the Captain and Chaplain look amazing and b) I'm getting to a stage with the Tyranids where I want to pick up a couple of the large monster kits so I'm spending the money anyway.

Regardless, the Terminator Captain. I've built him straight out of the clampack save for gluing a Pop Goes The Monkey “Maltese Cross” on the shoulder pad to make him a Black Templars Marshal. It doesn't quite fit, its sized for power armour, but paint should disguise the slight disjoint.

Black Templars are by my favourite variety of Space Marine (and I don't see someone this gloriously decorated as a Flesh Tearer, frankly). I've wanted to do this army for a while and this seems like the perfect opportunity.

On the skills development side of things this will be a good chance to practice highlighting black. I very rarely do full edge highlighting, I much prefer drybrush highlights, but Terminator armour offers a lot of easily accessible, long sharp edges to practice on.

Let's see how far I get.

An impressive torso going spare

I had a plan. I was going to convert my own version of Gabriel Seth using the Forge World Legion Praetor body and the two-handed chainsword from the Space Marine Assault Squad kit. It was a good plan that would have looked awesome if only the two components of said plan actually fit together.

You see, when I came to dryfit them together they didn't fit. The Praetor's torso is not designed like every other Space Marine ever with perfectly flat, perfectly parallel surfaces on either side for flat arm connections to fit on. Instead, I end up with a situation where gluing one arm has the other hanging wildly away and forward of the other shoulder.

Luckily, the random eBay purchase that netted me this torso also got me the Captain's body from the MkIII Legion Command set whose body does fit the arms. He'll be a little smaller but on reflection the twist in his body combined with the chainsword does give me a more dynamic pose as if Seth is bracing to received a blow.

This leaves me with the impressive, finely sculpted and suddenly useless Praetor body on hand. So here I dither, wondering what project to slot it into.

The knightly appearance of MkIII suits itself to making a Black Templars Marshall, of course. There's also the unit of Fallen I'm currently converting to accompany my Death Guard using Iron armour and a Dark Angels Veteran Squad who could develop a sudden Fallen Lord. The Death Guard themselves are already overflowing with characters and I don't want to do any heavy conversion work to the body itself, so that's out.

Then there's the project the MkIII Command body was meant for in the first place: an Alpha Legion officer to lead the Headhunters squad that will accompany (and be the only Astartes unit in) my resurrected Lost and the Damned army. That said, the Praetor body is a little too glorious to be Alpha Legion. I am not a fan of the Armillus Dynat concept, if you were wondering.

I definitely don't want to use it for another Flesh Tearers character, I don't want a random Captain going around looking more glorious than the Chapter Master.

So right now the options are Black Templars or Fallen, either way another excuse to fail to learn how to highlight black. Just depends on which character I can come up with the best design for. 

Reconsidering the Bigly Marines

I swapped my Dark Imperium ones for a Space Marine Vindicator my friend Dave had bought and never built. I don't regret the decision, there isn't much about the DI models that inspires me. They are what they are: Space Marines but bigly and a little less baroque. Standing next to the best models my beloved Death Guard have ever had they didn't wow me.

However, GW just announced a new Primaris Captain model in Mark X power armour and here he is...

He has a lot more of the detailing that I like in Space Marines: cape, loincloth, tassels, toothbrush on the had, the works. Don't get me wrong, I understand why the comparatively new Primaris don't have as much ritualistic gubbins strapped to them as the classic Space Marine does and that works for them even if I don't like the way it looks. It does make more sense for senior officers to have the gubbs, they are still an Imperial faction after all, and so I like this guy a lot more than than the Intercessors and such.

I still don't see myself doing Primaris Flesh Tearers, though, so this fellow will end up a Black Templar. I think he's make a decent enough Marshall model (maybe used as a Primaris Captain, maybe as a generic one, given the larger scale of characters it won't look too weird as either). 

Black Templars fans and the fifth stage of grief

Necessary preface: I am a Black Templars fan. It was the stark black and white visual of Black Templars that got me into 40k; my first army was a successor chapter to the Black Templars; I was there at the front of the queue the day Codex: Black Templars was released and I picked up a hell of a lot of those splash release kits on the day. I like Black Templars, Black Templars are great, please remember this when I say the following:

Black Templars players really need to stop bitching about the army being folded into Codex: Space Marines.

I'm not saying it wasn't natural to be a bit pissed about this but its been a year now, folks. Perhaps it is time to let calmer heads prevail and admit that we, the BT fanboys and girls, benefited from this decision in many ways.

For one thing the fact that Black Templars were the only Space Marine faction not to get a 5^th edition book is indicative. Space Marines are GW's moneymaker, any Marine release sells like hotcakes so the fact we went a whole edition without an update does point towards GW being out of ideas for them. And, really, who can blame them? Where was there to go they weren't already going with other armies?

I'm perfectly serious: the monk and knight imagery is the cornerstone of the Dark Angels and Grey Knights while the heavy close combat bias is explored with Space Wolves and Black Templars. Then there's the fact that most of the Black Templars' background and mechanics isn't about what they have but what they don't: they don't have discreet Scout Squads, they don't have Librarians; and in the 4^th ed. book they didn't have Veteran Sergeants or Devastator Squads for some reason.

Their extras were the Crusader Squad and the Emperor's Champion plus some special characters, all of which are retained by the new list. As well as that we now get Orbital Bombardment on the Chapter Master; Honour Guard; free Iron Halos; Masters of the Forge; access to Drop Pods; Sergeant upgrades; Vanguard and Sternguard Veterans with all the trimmings; Ironclad Dreadnoughts; the Legion Of The Damned; Stormtalon Gunships; Devastator Squads; Thunderfire Cannons; Whirlwinds; Hunters; Stalkers; Land Raider Redeemers and Stormraven Gunships.

Oh, and Centurians if you can stop yourself from vomiting long enough to paint them.

Okay, maybe not all of those options meld well with your vision of Black Templars (they certainly don't all meld well with mine) but that's a whole list of stuff there we didn't have access to before. Things have changed, the replacement of the vow system doesn't quite work for me, I must admit, but I don't see where people on the internet get the idea the army is somehow unplayable or destroyed as a concept from this change. Space Marines are Space Marines, the mechanics don't change all that much between books because the stats are pretty much set.

You know what clinches this for me as a good thing? Being part of Codex: Space Marines means that we're 100% guaranteed regular rules updates. We'll never have to go an edition without a book and I don't foresee GW removing the army from the next book because it doesn't materially benefit them to do so.

And with that fact in mind there might actually be a hope for a proper Black Templars box set some time down the line given how... shall we say “mixed”?... the last set of offerings were.