Mordian 7th Regiment

With the successful sale of the Thousand Sons and Spireguard, I had some funds to spend on a new Heresy project. Initially I had planned to do some more Imperial Fists, but thought it would be a better exercise if I tried a legion I've not dabbled in before. After reading Black Legion, I figured it could be entertaining to build a force around the idea of Vortigern's Lost Lions, a group of the Fallen that survive the heresy and end up joining up with Abbadon following the scouring and the Legion Wars. Figured I'd do a force representing his warhost during the heresy, but generally run them as traitorous Calibanite DA. Not a whole lot done beyond planning and the first few test builds so far, but I have a whole raft of packages arriving over the course of last week and this week!

The plan - Keeping things fairly generic while awaiting the actual book drop later in the year (fingers crossed), in the interim I figure one can't go wrong working on the basic troop types while waiting to see what specialist units the new book will bring:

Knowing that the Dark Angels are known for using a lot of old, dangerous and esoteric weaponry, I did figure on doing a couple Tactical Support Squads, one with Volkite Calivers and one with the DA-only Plasma Repeaters. In order to differentiate them from the ordinary plasma guns, I figured I'd use the recent Primaris Hellblaster guns. A little trimming was required but they fit onto the Mk.III plate reasonably smoothly. The addition of some FW shoulderpads and heads and the first squad is coming into focus!

I'm leaving the backpacks separate for painting as a change, and am scheming on doing some experimentation with some new painting and weathering techniques on the force - Haven't fully decided on what exactly, but may try out some weathering powders and/or some of the technical paints from GW for mud and slop. Also scheming on doing some greenish-tinged black with the hope that it won't go full Necron/Tron on me. I rather liked the look of the end result on the youtube tutorial here and am looking forward to giving it a try! ...Well as soon as the weather yo-yo's back up a bit warmer, got a lashing of snow and cold over the last few days. Ah well, more time to build stuff, right?

Earlier in the week the first wave of bits and kits for the Dark Angels arrived, and after a flurry of soaking, scrubbing, rinsing and drying I've been merrily building stuff for the force!

All sorts of goodies await - Several tanks and a whole mess of infantry upgrade kits! Everything went into the wash and was laid out to dry, then it was all whisked up to the hobby loft where I couldn't wait to get cracking!

While it's tempting to jump in and build all the "cool stuff", I try to get the basic Troops choices out of the way up front, and save the more interesting models for later on once I've gotten my eye in on the builds. So, first things first - cranking out thirty Tac marines. Oof.

Once I got rolling they went together very easily. I had spent a bunch of time clipping and organizing several sets worth of plastic bits from the Betrayal at Calth and Burning of Prospero boxes a while back and it's made it a snap to build infantry. The sergeants were pretty fun to build, going combi-plasma and Calibanite warblades as a change-up from the usual Powerfist-and-boltpistol loadout. May not be as effective, but feels more aesthetically pleasing!

Dun dun DUNNNN! I've been dreading this moment. The last Spartan I'd built back in 2014 was a copper-plated bastard of a build and was, until I had the 'joy' of building a Storm Eagle, the least fun I'd had building a Forge World kit to date. I'd heard they'd re-sculpted the kit and approached the box with trepidation...

The re-cut model looked promising, I'll admit - Though there was some wonky bending to some of the pieces, my trusty heat gun sorted them out right quick. I'll tell ya, when it comes to working with resin, this heat gun was the best $30 I've spent on hobby tools. Highly recommended!

Turns out my fears were unfounded, and the kit went together incredibly quickly! The addition of some Dark Angels doors and magnetized sponsons were the only real tweaks of the model - I'm not a huge fan of the "put masonry and candles on everything" aesthetic of the modern-day Dark Angel vehicles, and plan to keep the builds a bit more restrained on the Heresy side.

Still undecided what I'm going to fill it with, I'm hesitant to build terminators for the force, knowing that once the book drops they'll likely get a bespoke terminator unit. In the interim it'll likely sit on the sidelines, or perhaps ferry a full 20-man tac squad around.

I had picked up a trio of the new wrap-around track upgrade kits form Blood and Skulls Industry, originally planning to use all three on the Sons of Horus. While the spiky "Oppressor" pattern treads worked well for the traitors, I thought I'd save the "Liberator" pattern sets for a future project. I had forgotten that I'd already gotten the track housings about 3/4ths done when I made the call, so they were a snap to finish off!

Having built one for the Sons of Horus already, I had a good idea of the challenges and pitfalls of the kit so the following two flew together! I really like the look of the Mk.IIb Land Raider, and wrap-around treads really give it that Heresy vibe.

Managed to get all of this stuff primered after work and am looking forward to getting some paint on 'em!

Updated the painting chart - It's getting colorful now! Started the test painting on the squad of Plasma Repeaters but it's too early to tell how they're going to turn out. Also got the next batch of bits and kits on order from FW - Some more shoulder pads and heads (mis-counted what I'd needed in the first order), the Volkite Calivers for the second support squad, and a pair of special weapons variant Sicarans, which I think fits in with the Dark Angels using rare and esoteric weaponry in the Heresy. The plan has already gotten out of hand on paper (5500 points is a little excessive), so some of this may get dialed back, likely starting with the Glaive. While I'd love to build and paint one for the force, I don't really ever play games where a Superheavy is required...

Got a fair bit of brush time in over the last few days, as well as some cool new gear - A good combo!

I wanted to do a few placeholder character models for the Dark Angels while I await whatever new models may drop with the release of the next book, Malevolence. The two Dark Vengeance models got a helmet swap and some Mk.III backpacks to heresy them up a little, while the chaplain basically just got painted as-is. Even so, they're a little over-blinged which reads as a bit more 40k in general. Nevertheless, quite pleased with how they turned out!

The plasma support squad was the initial test of the paint scheme using the Vallejo range of substitute colors for the armor, and while they worked out reasonably well, I ended up buying some Incubi Darkness and Kabalite Green which are both about a step darker and will hopefully not be quite so stark on future models.

Still researching how I want to do the heraldry thing with the models. As a nod to the fluff, all of the models in the army will have the green right shoulder pad to represent them being Calibanites (and as such filthy dirty traitors, as the situation demands). I'm thinking of going with a common heraldic design to denote squads, with some additional personal heraldry on occasional other areas of the armour. Most of the color plates seem to suggest a mix of red slashes, black and white checkerboard and bone, so will have to experiment with various combinations thereof! So that said, the two squads above aren't done per se - still a fair bit of work to go, but as a proof of concept I think we're on the right track!

You may have noticed a bit of an increase in the quality of the photos due to the acquisition of a proper light box (finally). I've been experimenting with backdrops and techniques over the last several months as you may have noticed, and finally broke down and bought a Foldio 2 based on the comments and reviews of several fellow bloggers - thus far I have to say I am quite impressed! The adjustable overhead lights make getting good bright white light at the intensity desired, these were taken at about half brightness as the full chat was blowing out the pics. The translucent material of the box itself means that I can position my stand lights to either side and get some nice secondary diffusion. Now if only buying new gear automatically granted a commensurate boost in painting skill! Hah!

Quick hit this morning - Spent some time working on the first of the Land Raiders after work yesterday to try out the paint scheme on a vehicle. I've definitely found that sometimes a paint scheme that works well on an infantry model doesn't translate well to a large vehicle (and vice versa), but overall I'm glad to say that this scheme seems to work okay!

Still a lot of work to be done on the tank of course, all of the heraldry and weathering has yet to be applied, but in general I really dig the subtle greenish cast the edge highlighting gives and I think it's subtle enough that it doesn't become too distracting. I will say that pushing the edge highlights to be a little thicker and maybe using a more neon green and it would veer into Necron territory. Of course, that does half tempt me to do some Necrons now (no, stop it, no more new projects!)...

The addition of some red slashes, some black-and-white checkerboard patterns and a fair bit of battle damage, dirt and dust should give the tank much more personality, but as a proof of concept for the underlying paint scheme I really couldn't be happier! Looking forward to working up the other Land Raider and the Spartan in the same scheme soon!

In any army project I tend to prefer to get the requisite Troops choices out of the way early on while enthusiasm for a project is high, and save the more interesting and exciting models for later on as rewards for doing the mundane stuff. That meant I was staring down the barrel of 30 tac marines - My penchant for batch painting meant that I figured I could knock them all out at once with minimal trouble, right? ...Right?

Based on the fact that I haven't posted in a week and a half could tell you that 30 guys is probably too many to do at once. Oof. Nevertheless, I persevered and have been documenting the process as I go along. There's finally been enough forward motion to warrant a post about 'em, so here goes! Started off by doing all the fiddly edge highlighting for the paint scheme - Thin edging with GW Kabalite Green, followed by an extreme edge highlight of Sybarite Green, and the right shoulderpads got a pass with Vallejo Black Green and a highlight of Sybarite Green, to denote them as filthy traitorous Calibanites.

Once that was done, all the weapon housings and wings got a pass of Vallejo Gory Red, followed by a wash of GW Carroburg Crimson to give it some depth.

Once the wash had thoroughly dried, the red edging was picked out in Vallejo Hot Orange to bring up the colors a bit and make them pop. At this point I also laid in the fleshtones on the sergeants, starting with Vallejo Dwarf Flesh, a wash of GW Reikland Fleshshade, then highlights of Vallejo Elf Flesh and Bonewhite. Still some final cleanup to do on the faces, could stand a little more work.

Next up was all of the steel, using Vallejo Gunmetal, a Silver highlight then a wash with Army Painter Dark Tone here and there to pick out some details. The gold followed using Vallejo Brassy Brass, Glorious Gold, and a wash of GW Reikland Fleshshade to give it some depth. Can't have a unit go by without my usual blue on them somewhere, so the Calibanite Warblades got the treatment.

The final step in the process (so far) was to get some color on the bases. Especially on models that are predominately black, doing so really helps the models pop! Started off with an all-over pass of Vallejo Earth, then the rocks were highlighted up with Khaki, Bonewhite and Pale Sand, after which the whole shebang got a mopping of Army Painter Strong Tone. At this point they're left to dry overnight, and will be ready for the next dozen or so steps before they're actually finished. Oy...

Of course, can't let too many posts go by without some spreadsheet porn! The army list is coming into final focus at this point. I've settled on trying to do the Ironwing Protocol Rite of War which means the force needs to have an equal number of Tanks to other units - I was initially planning to have a mess of Rhinos, but with the recent release of the Termite I knew I had to get my hands on them. I figured with the Dark Angels predilection for using unusual weapons and vehicles they'd fit in just fine aesthetically, and I'm really looking forward to building them!

Still only three models fully complete for the force, I'm working on getting a mess of models all up to the same stage then doing a bunch of heraldry and weathering at once to keep them consistent. Time will tell if that's a good idea!

I was honored to be asked to participate in one of the NOVA Open charity army projects again this year, and as is my wont I took on some of the more 'boring' units and let the more talented folks do the cool stuff. That means that I'll be putting the 30 Dark Angel tac marines aside for a bit to work on er, 30 Iron Warriors tac marines. Oof. ...Well, technically 20 tac marines and 10 veterans, so that's way easier, right?

As part of the project, I was sent the raw materials to make the models - Included in the box o' joy were a mess of Mk.IV marines, some Secret Weapon urban bases (interestingly the same ones I used on my Sons of Horus recently) and a bunch of Mk.III shoulder pads. I rummaged through my bits boxes to come up with the appropriate matching Mk.III left-hand shoulder pads which gives the models a bit of a heavier look which befits the Iron Warriors. The sergeants get the usual power fist/bolt pistol combo and I made a couple little tweaks to make them a bit more dynamic.

The brief for the Veterans was to have a couple guys with power swords, including the sergeant, and while it plan was to have it be an 8-man squad without any special or heavy weapons, there were enough bits and bases that I went ahead and banged out a couple meltagunners to round the squad up to 10.

The plan is also for the vets to use the Marksmen special upgrade, and in an effort to help distinguish them from the vanilla tac marines I dug up sufficient scopes for the bolters which I think turned out pretty well! Working out the paint scheme with the project lead, and if all goes according to plan I'll get stuck in on these in the next week or so!

Not quiiiiiite done, as I still want to add some waterslide transfers to 'em, but I can't for the life of me find the box full of sheets. Nevertheless, they're to the "off the factory floor" stage and have gotten their initial sealant pass!

Ended up digging up some bigger back banners to use as the squad vexilla, and did a simple geometric for each squad which is mirrored on their right shoulder pads. The intent is to lay some DA icons over the banners and some numerics or the like on the shoulders and then do some weathering. In the interim however, they're painted enough to warrant getting them on the tabletop!

After all the painting of late I thought I'd reward myself with a little build time! Earlier in the week a box o' joy arrived from Forge World, containing a trio of Taerrax Termites (say that five times fast) - While I was initially apprehensive of building the new kit it ended up being a breeze!

While I was about it I decided to take a stab at building a Praetor for the force. While I've already painted up a few characters, I haven't been totally happy with them as they're essentially just 40k-era models with a lick of black paint and a head swap. Something a bit more bespoke was in order!

Introducing Vortigern, praetor of the Lost Lions warhost! Made from a whole mess of different bits, he definitely has more of a Heresy vibe to him and better suits the era. Fairly standard loadout with a Paragon blade and combi-plas - Hard to go wrong with the classics. Had to do a little greenstuff work to marry up the Deathwing blade to the Cataphractii plate, and swap the combi-plas over to the left hand and am pretty jazzed with how it turned out!

Wanted to bling him out a bit more than the other terminators he'll be joining, and was pleased to find a spare Custodes cape fit on the model like it belonged there. I managed to snap off some of the sensors and whatnot along the top of his armor, so need to sort out some replacements, but overall I am pretty pleased with him!

Been a little quiet on the blog of late, been head down furiously batch painting Iron Warriors for the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation auctions coming up, but the interstitial pictures just weren't all that interesting. After cranking out 30 Dark Angel tac marines, I'll admit feeling a little trepidation over diving right back in and painting 30 more marines - but it's for a great cause and they ended up being more fun than I expected!

The recipes were provided by the team lead, and I was pretty stoked to see how they turned out. The metals on the armour have a lot of depth, and all the hazard stripes definitely make for a striking look!

I'll admit that a bunch of tac marines aren't the most thrilling aspect of a Heresy army, but they are the backbone of any self-respecting force, and I was happy to take care of the more mundane Troops choices and let the other very talented folks work on the the cool stuff!

The veterans were definitely my favorites to work on as they had a bit more character than their tac squad counterparts. They all got a bit more bling and equipment, and the sergeant got a red-and-white helmet crest to help distinguish them on the tabletop.

All in all they were a hoot to work on, but I don't know that it was enough to kindle a desire to do a full Iron Warriors force of my own (for which my wallet is grateful). Expect to see some pics of the full army and links to the raffle as they go live!

Once the painting servitor completed the Iron Warriors I gave some thought into what would come next. More infantry, it turns out! I had gotten the greens down on the terminators a while back and rather than start something afresh I figured I ought to finish 'em off. After two near back-to-back 30-strong batches, painting a mere 11 minis was bliss!

The terminator complement of the warhost is known as Vortigern's Pride, and consists of the inner circle of the force. At the end of the Heresy, they all stood aligned with Vortigern as he sided with the traitors. Though the Lost Lions warhost's activities during the Scouring and the Legion Wars can only be speculated upon, they appear in the chronicles of the Imperial Fists as sailing with the arch-traitor Abbadon at the outset of the First Black Crusade.

Vortigern is shown here in Cataphractii warplate, bearing a Terranic Greatsword and a combi-plasma. I was really pleased with how well the cloak fits the model - Definitely going to scavenge a few more for future projects!

Vortigern's Pride is led by Brother Arvelan, accompanied here by the two specialists of the unit both bearing plasma blasters. Arvelan wields a Calibanite Warblade and a combi-plasma. Starting to sense a theme here?

My favorite thing about terminators is the chainfist! I think any self-respecting unit ought to have at least one. Vortigern's Pride features three - No plasma here though, just basic combi-bolters.

Four more combi-plasmas round out the squad loadout, mostly out of a sense of symmetry. At 7 points each I needed to work five in total into the squad so it comes out as a nice 'even' 35 points.

The painting chart is starting to get colorful now! Got a viable 2000 point army painted already which is a nice milestone. Well, viable as in "Conforms to the Age of Darkness FOC", not "This is an effective force". Hah!

Not a huge amount of hobby time over the last week, but did manage to squeeze in a build for another character for the Dark Angels. I thought a Vigilator could be a cool addition to the force, if for no other reason than I've never done one before in any of the other heresy armies!

Based on the new Cypher model (obviously), I built a sniper-pattern bolter for him using some styrene rod and a scope, and tried to clean up the cloak a little bit using some ham-fisted greenstuff work to patch up some of the more egregious rents and tears in the cloak, as well as cover over the removal of the Lion's Sword from the back. There's several passes of liquid greenstuff to smooth things out as well, it's interesting how rough it looks in the photo when it's rather smooth in the flesh. We'll see how it turns out after primering, I suppose!

Part of the reason for the lack of hobby progress was down to a weekend concert and hangout with some old friends down at the always-spectactular Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, CO. Hands down the most breathtaking place to see a concert in Colorado, and perhaps the nation! Beautiful weather, awesome views and good friends - How can you go wrong?

If you're gonna tailgate before a show, sometimes you gotta take it up a notch! Some perfectly medium-rare beef tenderloin, asparagus, and cheesecake (not to mention some quality beer, cider and scotch for afters)? Yes please!

Ended up having pretty darn good seats for the show, the lineup of the evening was the thunderous Mastodon (somewhat less spectacular visually for playing before sundown, but they rocked), followed by my favorite band of all time, Primus! All in all an absolutely top-notch way to spend a Sunday!

In other, other news, my good buddy Matt Dougherty did up some art prints to celebrate Star Wars day and I was happy to get a hold of the 1st print. Got it framed and it'll have pride of place up in the hobby loft with some of my other nerdy art!

Got a fair bit of hobby time in over the last week and managed to finish off the trio of totally terrifying Taerrax Termite Tunnelers - say that five times fast!

The three of them just baaaaarely fit in to the photo tent - They're larger than you might think from looking at 'em, but not so monstrous that they're going to be hard to transport or play. Tried to get some little splashes of color here and there with some brass on the meltas, some glowy orange-yellow on the Volkites and the usual red weapon housings to help them tie in to the rest of the force.

Had to get a little of the signature blue on 'em somewhere, right? There's some power conduits on the back that got the usual recipe! Added on some waterslide transfers and some sponge weathering, seems as though the sheets I used for the symbols were reasonably old and as such show up a little more than I'd like sheen-wise, even with some generous application of Micro-Sol. While it's more apparent in the pics than it is in person, I think I'm still going to go back in and touch them up with a little paint around the edges of the DA symbols and the numbers. Overall however, they're table ready!

The paint chart keeps on flipping over to green, which is a real nice feeling. Not too much left to go yet, after all the painting I think I can reward myself with some build time, and am considering whether it's the last 10-man Volkite support squad or the two remaining Sicaran variants that will get assembled next. Probably ought to bang out the last of the infantry...

Well ahead of schedule to get the force done for the NOVA Open coming up later in the year, but that deadline is bearing down on me rather fast!

Quick hit this morning, I spent some time yesterday afternoon rummaging around in the Closet of Doom for something to build - I've been doing a ton of painting of late and figured it was time to reward myself by spending a session gluing my fingers together. I'd been considering a Lord of War choice for the Dark Angels when my eye fell on the stack of Knights that have been gathering dust for the last several years. While I'd originally intended to pick up a Glaive for the force, perhaps a Knight would better suit the aesthetic of the Dark Angels a little better!

One of the kits in particular seemed as though it would work well, and after a fair bit of cutting, carving, pinning and not a little swearing, a Knight Lancer marched off the build deck. Tried to go with an "en garde" stance, as though it's fending off a blow on the shield and winding up for a stab with the lance. From a fluff perspective I'm going to be painting it up in House Vyronii colors, a household with an historical affiliation with the Dark Angels, and having a paint scheme that I think will look nice alongside the predominantly black and red of the heresy-era Dark Angels livery!

After building the Lancer I couldn't help but get cracking painting it, and over the last week managed to get the beast up to the usual "off the factory floor" stage where it's ready for waterslides and weathering. However as the transfer sheet is still winging its way to my door this is as far as it can get for now!

The emerald and white of House Vyronii really pops, especially compared to all the really muted blacks and reds on the Dark Angels of late. Added some black and yellow hazard stripes on some of the power cables and a couple panels for some extra snazz and of course gotta work in the usual blue, right?

Really happy with how the pose turned out, one of the best things about the Cerastus knight is just how varied they can be assembled. I really wish GW would re-tool the plastic knight to allow for more/easier posing with their legs.

Another box ticked over to green on the painting chart and was jazzed to see that the force has almost tipped the 3000 points painted mark. Definitely well on the way to the finish line! Got a game in over the holiday weekend, and still sorting through the pics - Another post to follow once I get them all loaded up!

Managed to get a game in over the holiday weekend, but didn't take a huge number of pictures, had too much fun just playing the game! As preparation for the NOVA Open coming up later in the year, I wanted to get the Dark Angels on the table to start familiarizing myself with the rules, and try out one of the potential army lists. A friend brought over some Space Wolves which makes for the second-most iconic match-up in my mind (just behind Thousand Sons/Space Wolves, of course)!

We rolled up the War of Lies mission (variable VPs for objectives) and setup was determined to be long-ways across the table. The vast majority of the force would arrive from reserve in a trio of Termites, so setup was simple - The Knight Lancer, and a Land Raider set to race forward and smash into the enemy lines. The first wave of termites erupted out of the ground, though in retrospect my positioning of them wasn't the greatest. Play and learn, right?

The Wolves advanced, taking several objectives and weathering the storm of fire from the Dark Angels.

The Knight lopes forward, confident in being able to annihilate the two Predators, and relying on its shield to protect it from the onrushing melta-armed speeder and dreadnought.

Of course, I should have expected this result - Never fails, that brand new, freshly painted model you're excited to field is destroyed in the second turn before accomplishing anything. Hah!

Seemed appropriate to leave him on the field, burning. The shame!

Continuing the theme, the Wolves in the crater made short work of the Dark Angels terminators, who, despite plasma-gunning and charging, were destroyed in close combat quite handily. Rolled nothing but ones and twos for armor saves. Ouch!

The now-unsupported tactical squad managed to melta-bomb one of the predators, but were blasted from the field by return fire from the dread and other predator, not to mention the entire 10-man missile launcher squad from the rooftop above.

In the backfield, two tactical squads fought each over over the burning wreck of the Lancer for control of the rear objective.

Finally, the third Termite arrived delivering the Plasma Repeater squad into the rear area of the Wolves deployment zone, and they straight up deleted the entire squad of veterans and the trio of Terminator-armed characters in a storm of fire. Definitely need to bring these guys on in the first wave going forward - That level of firepower needs to be on the table wrecking things much earlier in the game!

When the dust cleared, the Space Wolved pulled out a 12-9 victory - Losing the Knight gave up three VPs so it was pretty close in the end! Was pretty pleased with how the Termites performed, they're a bit more tactically flexible than a drop pod, but not quite as multi-function as a Dreadclaw. More test games are needed to iron out the kinks and try some other army list ideas, but I'm looking forward to taking the force out to NOVA!

After going hard for heresy for the last several months I needed a change of pace for a bit to recharge the ol' hobby mojo. The Exodites of the Tanelorn Wood were brought back out of the Closet of Doom and I set about polishing off the various primered and half-painted models from when I'd left off previously!

The force up to this point was lacking in the requisite number of Troops choices, so the first thing was to rectify that situation with a pair of Ranger squads. Rather simple but effective conversions, comprised of Wildwood Rangers and Dark Eldar warrior arms and weapons that have been de-spiked a fair bit.

Not entirely sure that blaze orange is particularly stealthy - Safety first when it's Mon-Keigh hunting season!

Pretty jazzed with how the Spiritseer of the force turned out - She incorporates a little bit of all the design elements from the rest of the force, and ended up with a great swirly sense of motion!

Next up was the Fast Attack section of the force, with a trio of counts-as Wasp Assault Walkers. Nothing wrong with six shuriken cannons dropping in from above to decimate soft targets - Tried to incorporate the same colors on the flies as the ones on the spider toting the Nightspinner, so gross!

While they're still pretty nobbly and disgusting, I had filled in the worst of the raw open wounds so they aren't quite as Nurgle-y but I sort of like the idea that the depths of the forest are corrupt, and the Exodites both battle and use the grotesque life on their planet.

All that remains at this point are the last five wraithguard armed with twin swords and the project will be complete!

After a loooong hiatus rife with technical difficulties uploading pics to my website galleries, I'm happy to report that the Exodites of the Tanelorn Wood are complete! Finished off the final unit of wraithblades (pics below), then schlepped the whole force down to the local GW shop for a family photo!

This was the first time I had them all out at the same time, and I gotta say I'm well pleased with how the colors flow across the army, it's cohesive and contrast-y without being too garish (or as least as subdued as purple, yellow and green can be)!

While I was about it I broke out the lightbox and re-shot the whole force for a final record before they wing their way to their next destination (more to come on that front).

HQ - Avatar, Spiritseer and Seer Council, all got the ghost-green treatment to help denote their mystic connections.

TROOPS - The Glade Guardians and the Rangers are more in the orange hues, in a somewhat ham-fisted attempt to make them autumnal. May have over-corrected into hunting-season blaze orange!

ELITES - The surprisingly-simple-to-convert Wraithguard and Wraithblades add some punch to the force, and the addition of an old-school Bonesinger to help keep 'em up and fighting can't hurt!

FAST ATTACK - The second-creepiest models in the force, the Wasp Assault Walkers are a natural counterpoint to the big-ass spider coming up in the next section!

HEAVY SUPPORT - The conversion that started this whole silly idea, the wraithlord is probably my favorite conversion of the bunch. That said, the Nightspinner is by far the creepiest!

Where would a project-complete post be without some spreadsheet porn? It always feels good to turn that last box green!

Next up, back on the Heresy train! With NOVA coming up in just a few short months, I need to finish off the force intended to travel out to D.C...

While I haven't posted to the blog for a stretch due to technical issues, the hobby train was chugging away in the background. Finally getting caught up uploading pics to my website galleries and can start sharing 'em on the ol' blog! Next up on deck is a big model - Got the waterslides and weathering done on the Knight Lancer for the burgeoning House Vyronii army!

The additional red adds a much-needed extra spot color to the model and I really dig how it turned out. The green and white was striking before but it needed a little something extra. Added in some sponge chipping and weathering here and there - I tend to go with a "less is more" method when it comes to weathering, though I think it could probably be pushed a little further on the big guy.

Really happy with the pose, one of the best thing of the Cerastus-pattern knights is the fact that they are fully articulated and you can really get some dynamic setups. They've recently suggested that rules for the new Armiger and Valiant knight patterns will be getting rules for the heresy, so suddenly House Vyronii may be getting some expansion in the next few months!

Pressing on towards the finish line on the army for NOVA 2018! The last of the infantry models completed with the Vigilator, and the three tanks intended for the force as well. There's still a few more vehicles on deck, but as they're not part of any the NOVA army lists they can wait for a rainy day!

The Vigilator was made from the new Cypher model, with some admittedly ham-fisted greenstuff to clean up the areas where the Lion's Sword was carved away. Went with a dusty dirty cloak in the same colors as on the bases for his Cameleoline. Haven't had a chance to put him on the table, he's very much there just to make up points in a couple lists.

On to the tanks! Tried something a little different on the treads and included some Agrellan Badlands texture paint to add a little extra oomph to the weathering, and really like how it turned out. Going to have to do the same to the Termites next!

One of two Land Raiders with the awesome Blood and Skulls wrap-around treads. Still gotta add a little more decoration to the green areas on the hulls, and then a second pass of weathering. They need a little something extra.

Can't do Dark Angels without doing some crazy plasma! The Sicaran Omega Tank Destroyer may look a litle ungainly but it has really performed well for me on the table so far. Possibly my favorite Sicaran variant thus far!

Also went with a white background for the tanks and quite like how it looks. I think the back background with the black miniatures may be a little too dark. Time to re-shoot the whole army!

Quick hit today - After muddying up the tracks on the three tanks for the Dark Angels force, I figured I'd better go back and give the Termites the same treatment so everything matches!

As the Termites are supposed to be tunneling up from below, I tried to focus the mud and crud towards the front of the models, and running down along the track sections to the rear. Didn't want to go TOO overboard, but they're definitely dirtier than the tanks!

I was initially suspicious of the texture paints but after giving them some further drybrushing and washes I have to admit I'm really digging the outcome. Definitely will be adding them to my repertoire in the future!

A little spreadsheet porn to round things off. With these being done, everything intended for use at NOVA coming up at the end of August is complete! All that remains is one final Land Raider, which I couldn't fit into any of the lists points-wise. Now the conundrum - Do I press on and finish off the last lone tank and call the force complete, or do I move on to some other project? Gotta admit I'm getting army fatigue painting Dark Angels, it might be time to delve back into the Underhive and paint up the glut of Necromunda miniatures that have been crowding the 'to be painted' shelf...

Heresy Era Dark Angels - Vortigern's Lost Lions army planning

Heresy Era Dark Angels - A tidal wave of resin and plastic!

Heresy Era Dark Angels - Characters and plasma repeater support squad(s) painted!

Heresy Era Dark Angels - Land Raider off the factory floor

Heresy Era Dark Angels - Tactical Squad Batch Painting Madness!

NOVA 2018 Charity Army painting - Iron Warriors ahoy!

Heresy Era Dark Angels - Tactical Squads Table Ready!

Heresy Era Dark Angels - Taerrax Termites and Praetor built!

NOVA 2018 Charity Army Painting - Iron Warriors Complete!

Heresy Era Dark Angels - Vortigern's Pride Painted!

Heresy Era Dark Angels - Vigilator built!

Heresy Era Dark Angels - Taerrax Termite Tunnelers Complete!

Heresy Era Questoris Knights - House Vyronii Knight Lancer Built

Heresy Era Questoris Knights - House Vyronii Knight Lancer Off The Factory Floor

Heresy Era Questoris Knights - Knight Lancer Takes To The Field!

40k Exodite Eldar - The armies of the Tanelorn Wood grow!

40k Exodite Eldar - Wraithblades complete and army complete!

Heresy Era Questoris Knights - House Vyronii Knight Lancer Complete!

Heresy Era Dark Angels - Vigilator and tanks painted!

Heresy Era Dark Angels - Termites even more complete than before!