Editorial: Concerning the "Second-army Syndrome"

Hi folks,

I know this blog was originally solely dedicated to the painting and gaming of and with my Guardians of the Covenant army and lately, the Iron Warriors have been ever more prevalent. Thing is, I suffer from the "second army syndrome". While I absolutely love the Guardians of the Covenant to bits, I seem to favour my second large army, the Iron Warriors, a bit more. The Guardians moving to obscurity a bit. I still play with them from time to time, but Chaos and IA13 is where I get my kicks nowadays. Sure, I've got a new Mortis Dreadnought (the boxy one) and several nice Land Speeders including a Darkshroud and Sableclaw primed black and ready to paint, I still need to regain my mojo with the Guardians of the Covenant.

As will all large armies that span the process of several years, my skill with painting has grown as well. This is quite visible when comparing both armies. I'm not saying the Guardians were painted badly, but the Iron Warriors are simply painted better. Especially the weathering on the vehicles is better with my Chaos tanks, save for the GotC Fellblade, which is still one of my best models to date.

Currently, my Iron Warriors have surpassed my Guardians of the Covenant as the biggest army. That is no small feat, because the Guardians have always been Apocalypse-sized around 5000pts. I would like to regain my painting mojo when it comes to the Guardians of the Covenant, not at the cost of losing interest with my Iron Warriors, of course.

Still, it's not all negative. I've been working on a nice Inquisitorial warband and ditto Inquisitor. One I've written a cool backstory for in the past. The Inquisitor and his warband is meant to accompany my Guardians army. They're halfway finished. If anything, a good impulse to my "loyalist army."

Still, with the Betrayal at Calth on the horizon, 30k gaming is a given sooner or later. I've already got  several units that are have a dual function as both Chaos and Horus Heresy units (rapiers, autocannon squad, Mk3 veterans). So, I am looking for a way to keep the Guardians of the Covenant interesting, even though the focus will be shifting to Heresy-era Iron Warriors sooner or later.

Knowing myself, I know that painting and working on a certain army creates the buzz, more than actually playing with an army. So, perhaps purchasing some new units or finishing up Guardians that have been in a WIP state for several years might help.

When I take a look at several fellow hobbyists I know, I see that I am not the only one with the Second-army Syndrome. Mostly, it's one army standing firmly in the spotlights and more often that not, it's the army that is newest that steals the show.

Still, I am interested in how other people cope with this? Are you able to love your armies and play with them equally, or is one of your armies prone to neglect on the shelf? How would you handle, or even, solve this?




-Revan88

Work in Progress: Renegades & Heretics

Nearly weekend!

Prepping my models for a match is always a good motivator for me; I have a rule where I only use models that are at finished completely. Though I strive to follow that rule at all times, I must admit that I play with "almost finished" models from time to time. Never will I play with so-called "grey" models or models that are simply primed black or white.

Now back to the prepping. Friday night is my FLGS's Warhammer night, and I like to finish up models so that I can use them during these friday nights. Behold: the Cult of Steel, dual cultists and Renegades & Heretics. I plan on using them either as Chaos cultists as per the CSM codex and once I have expanded a bit, they will be an allied detachment from Imperial Armour 13, complete with some neat heavy mortars from Victoria Miniatures and nice artillery crew. A nice allied detachment that will fit the theme of the Iron Warriors pretty well, plus the mortars will probably pound some enemies to submission.

Since I always hobby during evenings, and natural light is far, far away this time of the year, please forgive me for the crappy iPhone photos.

The models use Forge World's renegade torsos and some proper Cadian arms and legs. The base is a simple cork this time, instead of expensive resin bases I usually have a taste of. I plan on making a lot, lot more of these so I painted them in tabletop quality. No need to spend hours on single miniatures when I plan to have about 60 of them on the field. As a group, they look splendid. I might make them a little more drab with some weathering powders and some Typhus Corrosion, a nice technical paint with the right amount of drabbiness.

- Revan88

Work in Progress: Iron Warriors Defiler

One of the nicest (and oldest) plastic kits for the Chaos Space Marine product line has to be the Defiler. I love this kit to bits. A right 'n proppa Daemon Engine. It's not yet finished. Still some highlighting to do here and there, but you get the feel.

A nice thing about the Defiler is that it's big and scary. Aside of that making it a big target, it also intimidates opponents. This effect should not be ignored. An opponent shall direct a lot of fire towards this model to try and take it out.
The hazard stripes were made with Tamiya masking tape and the trophy spikes on top were painted in the livery of two of my opponents (red Tau and Necrons).

The lascannons on the side of the Defiler are actually from an old Contemptor dreadnought, I decided to give that dreadnought a conversion beamer and the Contemptor weapons fit perfectly on the sides of Mr. Defiler.

Other stuff on my painting table at the moment are 15 cultists and a 10 man havoc squad with plasma guns. Expect some pics of those, soon.

Showcase: Arrakis the Thrice-Damned: Ferrum Infernus Dreadnought & Dreadclaw flyer base.

Hi folks,
After one-and-a-half month, it was due time for another update. Since the last post, I've moved to another house (finally, with a dedicated hobby-room!), so painting kind of slowed down to a trickle. Since then, I've gone back to painting. Next month, I've got an Apocalypse match planned with some lads I met on Facebook. Nothing motivates me more than a good match on the horizon and a vow to have every single unit painted, so that no unfinished models are brought to said Apocalypse match.

Some time ago, I purchased two resin scenic bases from an obscure Ukranian website. The base used for the Dreadnought had the feet cast onto it, which reminds me of the old Dreadnought bases Forge World used to sell. Secondly, the flyer base had a neat cross-cut into it, so that a GW flying stem fits perfectly. Both these things saved me a lot of trouble, and the result doesn't lie!

I've had the dreadnought painted for some time, but since I fitted it onto its new base, I can finally say that it's finished. During regular games, I'll be running it as a plain Helbrute. With narrative games, it'll be used as a proper Ferrum Infernus, as per the rules found in Imperial Armour 13.
Finally, the Dreadclaw has a nice base as well. I'm real happy with the result. The next Iron Warriors project I'm focusing on now, are the Hell Talon and a ten-man Havoc squad with plasma guns. When those are done, I'll be heading back to the Guardians of the Covenant (finally!) for a proper Land Speeder army.

- Revan88

Iron Warriors: Running Contemptor Dreadnought and others

Hey lads,
Though far from finished, I wanted to show you what's in my current backlog. After doing a lot of thinking on how to model the kit below, I finally decided on a running pose, since that suits a close combat Contemptor best.
I own several Contemptors and have worked with this kit before. The possibilities are stunning. There are so many joints that allow the Contemptor to be modelled in almost any way. Since starting the Iron Warriors alongside my Guardians of the Covenant army, I've always wanted an "evil" Contemptor with two claws.
So, when Forge World Amsterdam Open Day hit my country, getting it during the event was a no-brainer.
As you might be able to see I've given it two 20pt Plasma Blasters. That's four plasma shots right before charging in. And charging, is what this thing will do. I plan to give it a the Dreadclaw I've painted up some months ago as a transport. Since the Dreadclaw is an assault vehicle, that might be a lot of fun if used well. My meta is chock full of Monstrous Creatures (many Riptides and their variants) toting 2+ armour saves. This unit should at least counter it. All in all, it's an expensive unit. But we play for the Rule of Cool and for fun, right?

Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought (255pts)
WS5 BS5 S7 Fr13 Side12 Rear10 I4 A3 HP3 (Vehicle, Walker)
Dedicated to Khorne
Searchlights, Smoke Launchers, Adamantium Will, Fleet, Hellfire Reactor, Rage. Rampage

2x Dreadnought CCW (St x2  AP2)
2x Plasma Blaster - Assault 2, Str7 AP2 18",

Hellfire Reactor: Gains a 4++ against glancing hits, and a 6++ against penetrating hits.
Any Psyker in close combat suffers an auto St2 AP2 hit at int 10.
If the Contemptor suffers an explosion, add +D3 to the radius and if it has Soul Blaze

Dreadclaw - Dedicated Transport (100pts)
Fr12 Side12 Rear12 I4  HP3 (Hover, Flyer)
Assault Vehicle, Deep Strike, Drop Pod Assault, Heat Blast, Transport Capacity 10 models

Heat Blast: (Deep Strike) When Deep Striking, measure a 3"+D3" radius that confers a Str6 AP5 Ignores Cover attack to any model in radius. Vehicles are struck on their rear armour.

Heat Blast: (Fire Sweep) If wished, any unit the model passes directly over suffers D6 Str5 AP5 Ignores Cover hits. Vehicles are struck on their rear armour. Roll a D6 after the attack. On a 1, the Drop Pod suffers a penetrating hit.

I thought of the left arm holding a dead Imperial Fist, but decided against it

The model is well detailed and a crisp cast, too!

Better start running!

Soon to join him are the GamesDay 2011 event only Boarding Marine and Narik Dreygur, also an event only model.

Battle Pics from last weekend's Apocalypse match!

Four 6' x 4' tables joined together made for one hell of a battlefield

Some of the weapons of war

Tallarn on the move.

More Lawrence of Arabia in SPESS!

The Scorpion on the prowl

Harry the Traitor didn't have his day..

"Just follow the Scorpion and mop up what's left.."

Work in Progress: Hell Talon Fighter-Bomber

A good friend of mine had this Hell Talon lyring around in its original sealbag ever since its release in 2004(!). When he offered to sell me the model for a fair price, I just could not say no. The Hell Talon is a huge model, though very flat. it's longer than a Baneblade. If you take a look at the building instruction sheet, you can see that it's very meagre and the model is somewhat of a puzzle to build. Once you see where all the parts fit, it's an easy build.

The Hell Talon is one of Forge World's earlier kits. And, in some things this is very visible. Not all parts fit as well as with modern resin kits, requiring a bit of greenstuff here and there. Further more, it lacks an amount of detail modern (CAD designed) resin kits have. Nevertheless, that's part of the appeal a model like this has. The only downside is that this model did not come with a flight stand, nor means to attach a flight stand to the model. I'll be looking at third party manufacturers like Dragon Forge for a nice acrylic rod able to carry this weighty model.

I look forward to the Forge World European Open Day here in Amsterdam, I'll be picking up a copy of Imperial Armour 13: War Machines of the Lost and the Damned, which features up to date rules for this model and many more.

Three fearless pilots, very detailed!

Eight dangerous bombs, plus the autocannon and lascannon armaments

Without a rubber band and some heavy duty super glue, it would have never worked

All the wonderful instructions that came with the model. Such detail, much wow..

As you can see, the wing parts are huge chunks of resin, they needed some de-warping, but came out well

Showcase: Iron Warriors Dreadclaw Drop Pod

Hello Folks,

With the impending release of the new Dark Angels codex (which I'll have tonight!), I'll finally turn my attention back to my first true love: the Guardians of the Covenant. I'll be picking up the new Chaplain to make into a jump Chaplain, and finish the third Tactical Squad so I can make up a Demi-Company. But before we head there, I would like to share a special project of mine: the Dreadclaw.

Instead of just showing off the model as it is finished, I want to show you some pictures of the process itself. From the first couple of layers, to the heavy inking, highlighting, weathering and putting on the hazard stripes. Finally, the pictures conclude with the finished model. The Dreadclaw was a real inpulse purchase. I had around £50 to spend and went for the Dreadclaw. In retrospect, I should've purchased a fully kitted Contemptor dreadnought instead. Nevertheless, the 'claw is an awesome model and I was happy to get a chance to work on it.

First couple of layers. Black primer, leadbelcher basecoat and thinned black wash

Second thinned layer of black wash, masking tape applied for hazard stripes and black soot on the claws

Some silver highlights applied, further weathering applied to model and hazard stripes

Final model: heavy weathering with inks and powders to make the model look ancient with strained metal.

The result: an ancient and weathered drop pod bringing death and destruction to its foes

Showcase: Iron Warriors Maulerfiend

Finally I've got something to show off again!

This time it's a Maulerfiend for my ever growing Iron Warriors daemon engine army. Its name is the Hellraker, and it's hungry for some Imperial Fists unlucky enough to linger in its path. 

The model itself is done. The dying space marine will get some touch-ups, mainly the red trim, some further battle damage and an Imperial Fist transfer on his pauldron.

All in all, the model was a joy to work on. I worked heavily with (thick and thinned) washes to gain an oily ancient look for this machine. Despite being Iron Warriors, I decided not to apply hazard stripes, because it does not really compliment daemon engines, in my opinion.

Please tell me what you think of it, and how I can improve on it!


Cheers.

-Revan88

Finally: Iron Warriors army shot!

It took me a while, but finally I've got an army shot for my Iron Warriors. Aside of a primered Shadowsword that was too unfinished to display, this is the entirety of my (ever expanding) Iron Warriors army.

As you can see, most of it is finished to a decent tabletop quality. The only things left unfinished are the Daemon Prince, the Dreadclaw and its squad and the bases of several models, which still need to be ordered over at Dragon Forge.

As I've said in my previous post, the dreadclaw has some areas painted yellow. These areas will be covered with hazard stripes when the thing is done. Also, I'm planning on getting a Hell Blade chaos fighter some time in the future, and of course a Land Raider and more Vindicators.

Xzar the Exalted and the Forlorn (Sounds like an obscure Metal band)

Forge World Mk. V assault marines make decent Raptors!

The Brass Sons with their Rhino.

Arrakis the Thrice-Damned, Helbrute and Arch-Heretek Vairecx with bodyguard

The Scions of Medrengard with their Rhino

Chaos Lord Harkor the Demolisher with his Rending Guard

The Iconoclast, a Vindicator Tank and Iron Judges, autocannon Havoc

Last but not least, the Hellraker

Work in progress: Iron Warriors Chaos Dreadclaw

One of my latest purchases is a Legion Dreadclaw. Something about this model just screams awesomeness. The build was pretty straightforward, once you've gotten the hang of it (which in my case took quite a while...)

Check the blog for more updates, because at the moment of writing, the Dreadclaw has a leadbelcher basecoat and some yellow areas on the fuselage which will get some hazard stripes. I intend to run this dreadclaw with a squad of Chaos Marines with CCW and Mark of Khorne and Icon of Vengeance, the squad will carry two flamers as well. Costly? Certainly. Awesome? Most definitely.

                         

A Work in Progress: Traitor Shadowsword Superheavy Tank

Another day, another super-heavy.
I've recently purchased a ready-built second hand Shadowsword tank. Of course, it was going to become an Iron Warriors tank. And so I dug into my bitzbox to Chaosify it, adding lots of spiky bits and a tank commander with a banner. Now, I know it is an Imperial Guard/Renegade Guard tank, but it's a heretic tank anyway, so I don't mind it becoming extra heretical!
I will probably giving it a black primer basecoat any day now and start putting my brush to it. It will probably be finished right after the Brass Scorpion.