Spotlight On... The Genestealer Neo-Patriarch

The idea of a Genestealer Cult has always fascinated me: infiltrating alien creatures slowly consuming aculture from the inside out; slowly turning its own strengths against it; taking over; and all the while, broadcasting a stregthening beacon to the Tyranid Hive Fleets, drawing them ever closer...

Then Inquisitor came out... and I realised that I had to have an Inquisitor-scale Genestealer of my own.

Now there wasn't, at the time, a model for a Genestealer at Inquisitor level (and the one they brought out later was pretty grim). I decided to convert one from the Tyranid Hive tyrant at the time.

Now this beauty was converted to match the old style Genestealer style. hence what might now seem an odd style.

The hardest part was doing the head as I had to saw through the metal frill of the Hive Tyrant. Man that was difficult!

I built up the detail on the Patriarch with milliput, posing him in a fairly passive pose. I did this because I wanted him to be totally different from the normal charging pose; more furtive and contemplative.

The claws were actually made from Ork knives. I'm particularly proud of spotting that possibility.

And I'm also pleased with the paint job. Considering I did him a good many years ago now, this remains one of my best ever paint jobs, especially on the head.

I am a huge Space Hulk fan and I use this chap as a 40k scale Genestealer Patriarch in that and Space Crusade. It's a little known fact that I have a site dedicated to making Space Hulk better called Space Hulk Smooth.

In 40k I either use the rules for a Broodlord (a bit whimpy for his scale) or a Hive Tyrant. It's possible to choose upgrades that match him quite nicely.

My biggest quandry has been about the colour. Since I painted him I redid all my Tyranids in yellow. But I just couldn't bring myself to repaint this guy. He's too nice. As a result he stands out a bit. But hey, why not! He deserves to stand out! 

Building a Diorama: Forge World Death Korps of Krieg - Before the Push

I've already written an article about my intentions when building my Before the Push Diorama, but I thought it might be interesting to look at the process I went through... with pictures.  

My original concept of the commissar giving last instructions to his men had been intended to be delivered from a low stage but my mind quickly jumped to doing something in a trench. But how to do that without forcing the viewer to look down on the tops of the heads of the miniatures???

I decided to go with a cross-section of a trench and hope to God that viewers knew what it was supposed to be.

I needed a base, which caused me a lot of trouble as I couldn't find one of the fancy display bases you see in Golden Demon anywhere! In the end I found a handy cake stand which fit the bill perfectly.

I made the wall of the trench using a block of cheese insulation foam which I cut to match the edge of the cake stand. At this point I laid out the men to see how it would look (very important).

Now it looked far too rigid obviously so I cut away at the foam to blend it down into a more natural trench-top. I wanted to have a look-out post so he needed a shelf to stand on high enough to give him a view.

To give an impression of depth I thought it would be nice to have a bunker entrance. I built the entrance from balsa wood then hollowed out deep enough so that, painted black, it would look like it went somewhere.

 To give the earthy texture, I add %£&"^ loads of multi-purpose filler mixed with gravel and PVA glue. I stuck razor wire in so that it went under the surface of the mud.

 Then dried it under a table lamp with Wilma keeping watch.

At this stage I worked towards making it a bit more "trenchy." The walls were made from fabric that I planned to paint with metallic colours. I cut them into small enough sections to make them look like sheets of metal. I had the "mud" overlap the tops of the barriers.

Now how to suggest the opposite wall of the trench without it actually being there...?

I went with piling up some barrels. It isn't perfect. But seeing the models clearly was a higher priority than perfectly representing a trench.

 And after adding a little rat amongst the barrels that was about it. It was time for painting!

 The mud was done in greys and browns and I also added some water effect for puddles. I did the metals in boltgun metal with the now unavailable Flesh Wash for rust.

Finally came the trickiness. I'd painted the Death Korps of Krieg separately with Adeptus Battle Grey, black wash, then up through the greys with bestial brown webbing, inked dark then highlighted up.

My friend Joao gave me some tough love, telling me my previous Death Korps weren't as well painted as I thought they were (bastard). But he was right and I went the extra mile on these guys.

The trickiness was positioning all the men so they were realistically listening to the commissar or getting on with making preparations. This took a while and I had to flatten a couple of spots on the ground to give some of them a good support where before there had been potholes. I used sand and glue for this.

Last of all I added a stub gun to the look-out position to look like it is off its stand, ready to be clipped into position.



It seemed rather criminal to me to "waste" expensive Forge World Death Korps models on a diorama and for a while I toyed with placing them on it on bases.. or maybe dismantling it after the competition.

Now I'm glad that never happened. this is probably the best piece I've ever done. My Tyrannosaurus Rex and Alpha Level Psykers, Goliath and Golgotha come close but I think they probably lose.

Comments and feedback will be gratefully received.

Please.

On the Painting Table: Honoured Imperium

Last year I lost my job and in a difficult financial and troubling time my good friend Joao stepped up to bat to prove he was a good buddy. And he bought me the Honoured Imperium boxed set to cheer me up.

Well I guess things happen and you don't always get round to things one way or another; but one day you do and this particular blog is a big thank you to my good friend.

These two scenery pieces are pretty cool. I remember seeing the Aquilla (below) before it came out in a White Dwarf or somewhere and thinking it was just plain amazing!

It's nice to add an extra bit of coolness to the gaming table and hopefully these will do that.

The statue was actually painted the same colour-scheme as my Imperial Guard Chalice Tridents: Graveyard Earth, Kommando Khaki and then Bleached Bone. It's a more benign way of doing cream-coloured stone than my old method: Bestial Brown followed by Bleached Brown: the goal with anything like that being a slow progression of similar colours rather than a big jump from one to another.

The Aquilla is the usual range of greys from Astronomicon to Fortress via Codex.

Notice the yellow tinge though. That's the wonderful Bubonic Brown - perfect for that touch of weathering.

They were a long time coming but I'm glad they're here.

Thanks buddy.

On the Painting Table: Grey Knights Dreadnought

Well I did a lot of talk the other day about being inspired to get back into 40k big time but you may be wondering what became of that as there hasn't been that much movement here so far to prove that I'm doing anything.

It's that damn decking I've been building! But things are about to change.



Meet my new Grey Knights Dreadnought. This guy has been waiting to be finished for at least a year and finally I've done it. Although to be honest, I did rip off a load of crappy extra bits I'd added to make him look more impressive. Stripped down and simple he looks a lot better and I'm very happy with him.

He's based on the Dreadnought that came in the latest boxed set and I had him kicking around but I want to have a push on my Inquisitorial forces so he got drafted across to the Grey Knights.

I used Boltgun metal, Black ink and then Boltgun Metal and Chainmail to paint him. The gold bits were Dwarf Bronze and then Shining Gold.

I'm in the process of rebasing and "normalising" my other Inquisitorial forces: Sisters of Battle and Grey Knights, so tune in soon and you'll get to see pictures of them too.

On the Painting Table: Sisters of Battle Canoness

Man! How long has it taken me to paint this little lady?

Chuffing ages, I tell you! But here she is!

This model represnts The Saint, a spcial character of mine whose backjground as existed for over a year but has never before seen the tabletop.

Here it is:

Pilgrimage of The Saint

On the sun parched front steps of the Abbey of the Immolated Martyr, a young pregnant girl was found on the verge of death. The Abbey was built into the precipitous cliffs of the Lady Mount at the scorchmost tip of the Chalice with only scorched desert for a hundred miles in every direction leaving no indication of how the girl could have reached it.

Dying without a word of explanation giving birth to a girl child, the woman took her mystery with her to the grave and the sisters of the abbey took the baby on to raise her.

The girl was named Argent Rose and entered training to be a member of the Adepta Sororitas,  excelling at every required skill. On the morning of her final graduation however she announced that the Emperor had visited her in a dream and told her to walk the land until she came to a full understanding of his mission for her. She left the abbey on foot and set out with no provisions into the burning wastelands of the Hellgrove. Over the following years, Argent Rose walked the land, administering to the poor and needy, speaking with the people and learning all that she could about the ways of mankind.

She made her way up through the Chalice and into Lapitar, visiting Qualitat by sea before going on into Paelar and finally Kaltirey, making her way through the streets of the capital before heading out across the frozen plains further and further chillward until she reached the Abbey of the Cold Heart of the Emperor at the freeze. Here she paused only long enough to strap on her power armour and take up her holy bolter for leaving once more.

This time though, as she walked south, she no longer helped the meek, she hunted the wrongdoer, the mutant, the heretic... and she exterminated them. Years of extermination passed as she made her way back down toward the Lady Mount until when she finally arrived, her fame and notoriety had spread. Thousands of pilgrims and Adepta Sororitas were waiting for her and proclaimed her The Saint.

She spurned this title but proclaimed that the Emperor had chosen her for a new task now that she had proven her worth. Taking hundreds of battle sisters with her to the stars, she began a Crusade of Immolation that continues to this day, taking her holy fury into the night.

The Path of The Saint became a huge lure for pilgrims from across the sector and the already strong Ecclesiarchal presence became even stronger, Sisters of Battle guarding the many shrines erected along the route of the Path.

Painting Space Marines: A Change in Philosophy

Periodically I go through each of my armies, repainting the whole army and upping the quality, and I must say, my Space Marines are past due for theirs. As a matter of fact, the army really does need a bit of an overhaul.

One problem I'm facing at the moment, is that I'm more into Fantasy, with 40k coming up a lot further down the list, hence why I post a lot more frequently on my Warhammer fantasy site, Last Chance War. Having said that I have been giving a little bit of thought to colour schemes for my own Space Marine Chapter: The Crimson Blades.

Historically I always painted them Blood Red then gave them a gloss varnish (apart from some black shoulder pads and gold bits). This of course violates my number two rule when it comes to painting: ALWAYS USE AT LEAST TWO SHADES OF EACH COLOURS - PREFERABLY THREE.

I've been wanting to dull down my marines and make them look a bit more real and professional, without changing the basic colour scheme. I'm not turning cartwheels over the red gold and black but I'm a bit nostalgic about it and they ARE called the Crimson Blades.

Check these out.

Apart from being annoyingly blurred, you'll see the one on the left is painted using my old method. Now this isn't an old miniature I just carried on using my slightly amateurish method with my marines even after I'd graduated to better things with other armies.

The on on the right is from my Dinosaur Space Marine army. Same principles really but at least I made a bit of effort on the weathering. My old style base (which doesn't match the war board completes the picture to tell us something needs to be done.

These two guys are prototypes of my more recent aspirations.

They aren't finished but you'll see I'm using a range of reds to get the look I'm going for... which I feel I haven't quite mastered yet. What I want to achieve is to have a pretty extreme overhead lighting effect, with the upper levels red and the lower parts very much in shadow.

The one on the left was done with the whole thing getting a dark red coat to start. The right one still has l=plenty of black in the lower areas.

It's one of these funny things where I'm really not sure. Neither model is getting me excited and without the excitement I tend not to get on with anything.

I think I'm going to need to think longer.

But watch this space. Things have to move forward sometime...

Spotlight On: The Hammer Collider

The Hammer Collider is a homemade vehicle for my Adeptus Mechanicus army: Initiative 0999XXB#14-12.  

The basic vehicle was a toy I picked up YEARS ago at a car boot sale, thinking that one day it would come in handy. The turret revolves but actually comes free on those folded arms and lifts up above the tank!

It had a wrong scale open cockpit at the front that I covered over with a couple of spare dozer blades. I added some lights and smoke launchers and Bob’s your uncle!

For stats I dug out my old Chapter Approved book and used the Vehicle Design Rules inside. The rules haven’t changed THAT much since 3^rd edition when it was current and I figured it would give me a basis for play-testing – especially considering that the VDR was weighted to overprice vehicles on points.

Painting it, I dry brushed Dark Angels Green and dry brushed up through Snot and Goblin Green. I used plain black on the black bits and Boltgun Metal with a black wash on the silver bits.

The Hammer Collider has the following profile:

Hammer Collider	BS	Front	Side	Rear
	3	13	12	10

155 Points

Vehicle Type: Tank

Crew: Skitarii

Weapon: Plasma Accelerator

The Plasma Accelerator has the following profile:

Plasma	Range	Str	AP	Type
Accelerator	36”	7	2	Heavy 1, Large Blast

On the Painting Table: Thunderfire Mechanicus

There are only two days left now before my first game using my brand new Adeptus Mechanicus army and I’ve been working feverishly to get together a 1,500 point army (using some Imperial Guard models to plug the initial gaps).

I’ll be revealing more in the near future but here’s a glimpse of my Reductor Thunderfire Battery.  

Basically it’s an artillery battery using rules from the Tempus Fugitives Cult Mechanicus Codex. Tempus Fugitives are a group who organise themed tournaments at Warhammer World. I used to go to these. But have now stopped.

Anyway, the Thunderfire Battery functions similarly to the Space Marine one but here we see two “Balistarai” (Imperial Guard Cadians - using my Chalice Trident models) and a Tech Priest manning each one instead of a Tech Marine.

The models are partially made vehicles from Robogear. I bought a whole boxed set when they were going cheap and I have loads left to make. They form the basis of my whacky Mechanicus forces.

Those are Forge World brass eagles by the way, in case you weren’t wondering.

In the game I’m expecting these to be a glass fist: very destructive but also quite fragile.

Spotlight On... The Mammoth

Background

The Mammoth is an integral part of the Crimson Blade’s Deinosus Battle Company – a company of loyalist Space Marines utilising dinosaurs in battle.

Controlled by a Cortex Unit drilled into its skull that goads its aggression up to deadly levels, the Mammoth remains in orbit aboard the Black Scabbard Battle Barge until its Priority Insertion Point is ascertained by one of the veteran squad commanders on the ground.

Once this is determined, the squad commander activates his homer unit and teleports up to the waiting Battle Barge, trading spatial coordinates with the huge and very angry creature that now finds itself in the thick of the fighting.

The Mammoth’s primary role is to function as a line breaker, devastating resistance at the strongest point of the enemy battle line.

Making the Model

The Mammoth is basically a toy mammoth, though a particularly nice one, but I made several changes to bring him in line with my vision for the army. The Cortex Unit drilled into his brain that controls him is made from the bottom half of the teleport homer that comes with the Space Marine Terminator boxed set. To enhance his defence and attack capabilities in assault he has been given armoured shin guards made from thick card bent round and dry brushed Tin Bitz and Dwarf Bronze. I wrapped a bit of razor wire round there to deter enemy attacks.

The seargeant model below has the top half of the teleport homer attached to his back. It's deactivated and black here as he's still on the field but when the reserve roll is made, this would light up (in my imagination) as he was transported up to the Black Scabbard. 

Game Rules

In game, I use the rules for a Summoned Greater Demon for the Mammoth. The whole army uses Chaos Space Marine rules but these represent quite nicely what he can do. The idea is that in the early game the squad leaders are assessing where the best place for him to be is. Then, when the reserve roll is made, they swap places with him and suddenly there’s a huge monstrous creature in the thick of the fighting.

Tactics

The crucial thing here is choosing which squad champion to swap the Mammoth with. Getting the Mammoth into combat and keeping him three will stop him getting blasted and help him do as much damage as possible. He isn’t undefeatable but he is good, however I don’t hesitate to throw and squad in to support him if need be.

He’s scary for the opponent more than anything and the psychological edge that can give wins battles.

An Amusing Story

At a campaign weekend at Warhammer World I wanted to surprise my opponent so when I made my reserve roll I smashed my Mammoth down hard on the table making a resounding clap.

This did indeed surprise my opponent.

It also reverberated across the table, knocking over half the models in both armies.

Suffice to say, my apologies kind of ruined the triumphant moment.

Spotlight On... Raptor Riders

Background

Raptor Riders are members of the Crimson Blade’s Deinosus Battle Company – a company of loyalist marines utilising dinosaurs in the attack.

The Raptor Riders of the Crimson Blades are highly experienced scouts and close combat specialists but their principle role is that of a fast response unit.

Raptor Riders are principally held behind Marine lines as Captain Wulf assesses the enemy strength and points of attack. With the strong points established, the Raptor Riders dart forward to meet the enemy where they are most needed.

Equipped both for hand to hand wetwork and anti-tank precision melta-strikes, the Riders are fully prepared to turn the tide of battle at the critical point.

Making the Models

The models were made from Dark Elf cold ones with Tactical Space Marine bodies. All that was required was to bend the legs out a little to get them to fit on – no tricky sculpting beyond that. A knife slit in the crotch (sounds painful) helped to bend them out. I based them on round Terminator bases as cavalry looks a lot nicer that way.

Game Rules

The Deinosus Battle Company is based around the rules for Chaos Space Marines. This is a good technique for creating a new army. The models can be as whacky as you like as long as they are based on points and stats of existing models.

Raptor Riders count as Chaos Space Marine Bikers.

Tactics

The Raptors are equipped with two meltaguns, both for taking out vehicles and knocking out heavy infantry. Having two meltaguns gives an almost guaranteed destroyed result as long as targets fall within range. The power sword and plasma pistol of the veteran sergeant are also very handy to take out armoured opponents in close combat.

It’s always tempting with “bikers” to send them rushing forward. I DON’T do that with these guys. I hold them back behind my lines and send them in to where they are needed after the bolts start flying. That way the enemy doesn’t prioritise this expensive but good unit. Also the enemy vehicles are given time to move into melta range while my guys are still alive.

By holding them back and applying them carefully, this unit can be very very successful.

A Glimpse of Things to Come - Adeptus Mechanicus

Now Peter and I have completed our first three part mini campaign it’s time to look toward our next endeavour and I’m already working hard toward it. Here’s a little taste of what it’s going to be:

Yes, the Adeptus Mechanicus are returning to Valorax – a planet once not far from being a Forge World – but this time they have come with nefarious goals that do not fall into line with the central government.

These amazing models are from Micro Art Studio's Iron Brotherhood range - Google them. They're great!

More will be revealed in time but trouble is brewing in the shattered and abandoned manufactorums that could cause great trouble for the Valorax Guard.

Spotlight On... Goliath - Space Marine Alpha Level Psyker

Wanting to take my Dinosus Space Marine Battle Company up to 3,000 points for Apocalypse scale games, I decided to add two Baneblade super heavy tanks... with a difference.

What if, I reasoned, I built a diorama that was the same base dimensions as a Baneblade and had all the same abilities but was something else... something kind of cool.

Alpha Level Psykers are beings in the background to Warhammer 40,000 that possess dangerous and lethally powerful psychic abilities. One man could be as powerful as a super heavy tank...

Goliath, a simple Space Marine from the Crimson Blades chapter develops these incredible powers and is put in suspended animation until he is needed. Here we see him levitating in a lightning field he has generated.

He moves like a Baneblade and can shoot out a vast number of psychic blasts each turn equivalent to the weapons on a Baneblade: Battle Cannon thingie, demolisher cannon, lascannons and heavy bolters.

The psychic shields he can throw up are equivalent to the armour and structure points of the Baneblade.

And if he gets killed? A roll on the Catastrophic Damage table is equivalent to his powers going wildly out of control in his death throes.

Best of all, because he is the same size as a Baneblade and uses all the official rules, my opponents tend to let me use him without complaint. He isn't some uber character whose stats I've invented; he's a perfectly legal miniature!

Watch this space to see my other Alpha level Psyker... Golgotha... coming soon.

Incidentally, it's crossed my mind to build these and sell them for people on order. If anyone is interested then let me know...

Now, if you liked this guy then take a look at his brother: Golgotha!