Thursday, October 25, 2012

Alien scum from Commoragh sighted

I've managed to convince my girlfriend to get into the hobby and strangely it was the Dark Eldars who caught her eye. It's probably a mix of strong esthethics and the pirate theme that made them appeal to her.
Dark Eldar Kabalite warrior sergeant Sybarite
Sybarite

I gotta say, their kits are awesome but they aren't for hobby novices. You have to be careful about cuting them from the sprues, cleaning the pieces and handling them in general. They are quite delicate and less forgiving than say a tactical space marine. You get why they are toughness 3 every time you handle one.

Flesh Tearers Tactical Squad Sergeant with a Dark Eldar Sybarite size comparison

Expect updates as I get to experiment with the painting scheme she has carefully chosen.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Hobby Progress - Terminators and Sternguard

I've done quite a bit of progress on my terminators, getting the entire squad to the same point, leaving only basing and decals to be applied.

 
Flesh Tearers Assault Terminators with lightning claws
Assault Terminators with lightning claws

Flesh Tearers Assault Terminators with thunder hammers
Assault Terminators with thunder hammers

My sternguards weren't high priority as I don't field them often but since I had previously finished the armour, only the detailing paint steps need to be done which once I get painting should be done quickly.

Flesh Tearers Sternguard with powerfist
Sternguard "Sergeant"

They are all converted with warrior of chaos cloaks and they all have Black Templars helmets, Forge World bolters and some have Black Templars tabards. They were converted to stand out from the rest of my army and get a bit of my own fluff into the army. Flesh Tearers Sternguards should be veterans from many campaigns in order to make sense fluff wise in an aggressive assault army, so I made mine as veterans of the Armageddon campaigns were they would have earned honours from Black Termplars as for me they should be their closest battle-brothers outside of the Blood Angels.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Death Company, Is it worth it ?

Blood Angels Death Company with Bolters and a power fist

If you ever played with them in 5th edition, you know how the Black Rage made them susceptible to be kited around the board. It made them hard to justify for a lot of players, you had to plan around that by making sure that once they were out of a transport, they were in a position to cause havoc.  

6th Edition came around, they lost Initiative 5 but gained another attack on the charge, the torrent of bolter fire is harder to resist has Feel No Pain will save you 33% of the time (5+ against anything except instant death) instead of 50% (4+ against anything but AP1 and AP2, instant death, power weapons). It's harder for infantry in general to get into assault range, no more assault out of a vehicule that didn't move. It's a bit more tactically challenging to get the charge which I believe is where the fun starts.

Blood Angels Death Company works really well as a counter assault unit with 4-5x WS5 S5 attacks per models. They will flood the enemy troops with wounds especially if they have a Reclusiarch to get them rerolls on hit and wounds. You can deck them out with AP2 weapons but the sheer amount of wounds should take care of 2+ armour, equipping power fists simply is an insurance against the volatility of dices or the presence of vehicles.

I've yet to use them with jump packs and Lemartes, they seem rather expensive for what they can hope to accomplish but in support to a deepstriking assault squad I guess they could be decent. I'm not convince that 5x DC with a power fist, jump packs and Lemartes is an efficient 350 points.

The cost is the downfall of the unit and that's why I try to keep mine as bare bone as possible for the task they are meant to accomplish, keeping that in mind will ensure you don't overkit them or try to make them do things that they aren't meant to.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Flesh Tearers Color Scheme

Here's the color scheme I've used on my Flesh Tearers and the one I'm working on as I'm running out of the old paints.


Flesh Tearers Sanguinary Priest with Jump packs and Sanguinary Novitiate Flesh Tearers Tactical Marine
Painted using the old paintsPainted using the new paints
Armour
Base Mechrite Red
Layer Red Gore
Khorne Red

Light highlight Bleached Bone on the edges
Screaming Skull

Badab Black wash in the recess
Nuln Oil

Layer Red Gore to clean up the armour plate from the wash
Khorne Red

Baal Red wash
Carroburg Crimson

Gold
Base Balthasar Gold
Light Nuln Oil Wash
Dirtier looking than Agrax Earthshade, fit more with Flesh Tearers

Overbrush Gehenna's Gold
Light Highlight Auric Armour Gold

Seals
Base Dhened Stone
Gryphonne Sepia wash

Wings
Astronamician Grey
Light Badab Black wash
Depends if I want a dirtier look or not

Highlight White Scar

Monday, October 15, 2012

Hobby Progress - Terminator Sergeant

I've manage to do little in terms of painting but I did manage to crank out my assault terminator sergeant as a test model for the rest of the squad.

Flesh Tearers Assault Terminator Sergeant
Assault Terminator Sergeant
I've use the same technique mentionned in a White Dwarf army workshop article about Flesh Tearers, where the black in the color scheme was to draw the eye in. It's in part why I think the Death Company models are so striking, they're loaded with details and the black armour only emphasis them, besides the black being awesome on his own right.

Time to get busy on the rest of the squad...

Monday, October 8, 2012

Hobby Progress - Objective Markers and Sanguinary Priest

I've managed to bring the objective marker to close as being totally done as I can right now. It needs to be sealed and I haven't figured out my options as there's no hobby shop providing any nearby.

Flesh Tearers Objective Markers on 40mm bases
Objective Markers

The sanguinary priest in terminator armour is the only progress I've made with the terminators so far.

Flesh Tearers Sanguinary Priest in Terminator armour
Flesh Tearers Sanguinary Priest

Monday, October 1, 2012

Hobby Progress - Objective Markers and Terminator


I've progressed on the objective markers, had issues with getting the banner right but I think it worked out. I think I've got my basing technique figured out (described here) so I should be able to blast through them rather quickly.

Ultramarine Captain chainsword and plasma pistolFlesh Tearers Tactical MarineUltramarine Captain with Flesh Tearers Tactical Marine


Objective Markers Work In Progress on 40mm bases
Objective Markers WIP
Flesh Tearers Assault Terminators Work In Progress
Assault Terminators WIP

Terrain - Minefield

Warhammer 40k 6th edition introduced the concept of dynamic battlefields, either through random effect terrain or simply the sheer amount of possibilities that the battlefield debris allows. I've been working lately on a minefield and to keep it dynamic, it's dimensions aren't static since each pieces are on a standard infantry round base.

Warhammer 40k Mines markers on 25mm bases
Mines markers
Terrain
Primed Chaos Black
Scorched Brown Base
Heavy Drybrush Kommando Khaki
Gryphonne Sepia Wash
Drybrush Screaming Skull
Devian Mud Wash

Mine
Castellan Green Base
Drybrush Camo Green
Highlight Nurgling Green
Badab Black Wash

Rock
Mechanicus Standard Grey Base
Drybrush Codex Grey
Light Badab Black Wash
Light Drybrush Fortress Grey

Rim
Graveyard Earth Layer (2-3 Coats)