Leviathan Tyranids!

Tyranid Leviathan Brood Lord Deathstorm

Hey folks! Merry Christmas.

I wanted to share a little WIP I have going on today. The Broodlord from Deathstorm!  I picked up the Deathstorm box set because I wanted the new rule book, the character termie and I have always wanted to paint some Nids. SO I figured I would try my hand at Leviathan seeing as how they are set to invade Baal Prime and all.

But that was before I knew what their color scheme was... White and Black/Purple... Hmmm...

Oh well. Off to work I went.  Knowing that I have a LOT of these to paint since I am going to do a full army, I wanted to keep the black simple. Rather than the many shades of grey I do for my usual black, I went with straight black with highlights. I did some Xereus Purple and Genesteal purple, then mixed in a bit of Ulthuan Grey to the genestealer for a final highlight.

For the skin though, in all of the artwork in the Terminatus book the nids are very much NOT white.  I wanted to avoid a chalky look that you see all too often.  (I still got a bit chaulky on the head and other parts but I will redo)  So I went with Ushabti bone as a base coat then washed with Baal red.  I then highlighted with Ushabti, then Screaming skull, then mixed in some white with the Screaming skull, then a few touches of pure white.

In the vents of the arms I used Nagaroth Night wash.

For the claws I used my standard red, Khorne highlighted with Mephiston, washed with Baal, then highlted with Mephiston and some of my very last bit of Blood Red... sniff... will miss that color.

So what do you guys think?  I gave him a layer of Matte Varnish before taking pics and am planning on a layer of Satin. I will probably redo the head as I am not happy with the horn or the back of the skull. I am also planning on pushing the edges of the red claws.

Wait til you see what I have planned for the display!  :)

After Christmas I am going to do a full review of the Sanguinary Guard codex, Leviathan and Terminatus book sets and the Deathstorm box set.

I am also working on a new line of resin bases done in the new base sizes.  They should be ready for purchase in a couple weeks or sooner!  I am doing the old favorite Broken Rock, and a Cron Tomb World to start.  Time to get our armies all based on the new sizes!

So with that I would like to wish all my old friends a Merry Christmas, Fritz, Bobby, James, Matt, Ed, and the same to my con friends, Simon, Ted, Bill, John and every one else. :)  Thinking about you all, and looking forward to a new year.

More to come.

Jawaballs

First Blood Angels list design fail!

 My favorite models to convert have always been Sanguinary Priests.  With them being a single model HQ now I decided to add a Command Squad to my army because that is the only way to get another one.  Looking at the command squad, I at first thought I could give any of them a Storm Shield, so I immediately started drooling about a priest with a 3+ invul.  Sadly as I was looking through the entry, I noticed that they make a distinction between the Priest, Champion and Veterans, and that only the Veterans may take Storm Shields.  :(  Boooo!

Above is the priest I made for the squad. I used the apothecary chest piece from a command squad set, the apothecary arm and shoulder pad from a Dark Angels Biker sprue, an older Dark Angels robed running legs, and a blood angels head with Sanguinary guard jump pack.  I cut the lights off the Apothecary backpack and glued them onto the jump pack.  He is holding a grail from Maximini.  They have an accessory sprue that has 2 or 3 grails, some candles and books and other cool things. I used the arm from the Sang Guard sprue that is holding a double bladed axe, and cut the top and bottom ends off. Then I cut the middle of the grail out and glued the top and bottom to the hand... it turned out nice! I was going to add the shield to the right arm, attached to the wrist.  Oh well! Oh the other bits on the jump pack are from the Dark Angels biker sprue as well.

I have not decided how to paint him yet. The rest of the squad is getting the NMM gold treatment along with Dante. They are all made using Sang Guard artificer armor and will match him nicely like an Honor Guard.  But the priests are different. I am thinking he is going to be more like the color scheme of the new priest in the codex, or maybe good ole red with white trim like Corbulo.  Perhaps bone colored armor with a white helm?  I see the priests as their own entity within the Blood Angels and they join command squads to lend their abilities, but don't quite mesh with the unit... probably because they consider themselves part of the HQ and this leads to leadership issues with the Company Champion!  Maybe I will give him some NMM trim to help him fit in with the squad, but keep his base Sanguinary colors...

I have not been excited about 40k since painting Lamenters over the summer. So this makes me happy! Now to replan the rest of the models in the squad. I assembled them mostly, but now have to rip arms off the Champion because I gave him a SS as well. Back to his combat shield... weird that he can't upgrade..

In talking with my friend and 40k great Alex Fennel I think I have decided to add a few Space Wolves to my army list. The list has plenty of units to be tactically viable but with the lack of ICs in this edition is lacking a little punch.  But with the Fenris supplement I can actually add a detachment that has up to 4 HQ models!  This will give me a nice Wolf Lord to add to this Honor Guard to run amok with Dante, and one or two more models in the Land Raider with my termies, captain and priest.  Oh I am taking a captain with artificer armor and that AP2 sword.  Since I cant take him, a priest and Meph, I have to add the space wolves to replace that Meph punch. So I am thinking a wolf lord with a Thunder Hammer or something.

Oh and by the way any Space Wolves who have the honor of joining a Blood Angels army under my command will be forced to wear their helmets and rid themselves of those ridiculous pelts.  I wont have them stinking up my Land Raiders.  :)


So painting starts soon and I will document that for you.  I ordered the Sanguinary Guard limited edition codex and I am hoping there is a new NMM gold tutorial in the painting guide. Otherwise I will use one of the many I found online.

More to come!
Jawaballs

New Blood Angels!

I am still trying to wrap my head around 7th edition but I have some first thoughts on the new codex!

I think it is a great improvement. I pointed out my Lamenters list from BFS and saved about enough to buy another whole unit.  Some stuff is much cheaper and unfortunately some stuff is more expensive.

The winners:

Dante!  He is usable again. They made his ax go at normal initiative allowing him to take advantage of his high I score and swing away, and it is still STR +2 and AP2.  With his six attacks on the charge going at initiative 7 things are gona die.

He is now a must have for any assaulty BA army.

Oh and he is a Lord of War, which means you can take him in addition to 2 HQ choices.

Death Company.

The biggest issue with them was points. Without Jump Packs it was difficult to get them into combat. But Jump Packs used to cost 15 points for them which made it stupid.  Now JP cost 3 points a piece. This instantly turns JP equipped DC into a viable unit and a must have. A squad of 10 of them equipped with a few Power Swords and a fist will be among the top assault units in the game if they get the charge off.

Command Squad:
Maybe not so great a choice, but for 200 points you can get them on the table with jump packs, upgraded weapons and Storm Shields. A great unit for Dante to join.

Captain:
The BA had undeniably the worst SM captain in 40k. He was a joke. Now he is sick. Why? Well for 130 points you can get a 2+/4+ marine with 5 attacks on the charge at I6 and an AP2 power sword by taking the BA relic.  It is only 5 points more than a regular power sword!  What a steal!

+1 elite choice:
Fantastic seeing as how all of the good units are now elites...

Detachment:
+1 Initiative on charge! Welcome back to pre 6th ed assault glory!

And here is some of the bad...

Elite and HQ choices.  All of the wonderful killy stuff is wrapped up in Elite and HQ.  The priest got promoted and reduced to a single model per selection. No more flooding the table with FNP.  The Chaplain got promoted as well.  They are now competing with Librarians, Mephiston and the upgraded captain.  And it seems that every thing got slid into the Elite slot. DC, DC Dreads, Furiosos, Sang Guard, Van and Stern Vets, Termies. Holy Cluster of competition for available slots. Lucky we have four!

Dreadnoughts:
Not only are they more expensive, but a lot less killy with the removal of the meat grinder blood talons.  This is sad because BA still lack the torrent of fire that many armies had and the old talons helped balance that.  I simply can't see myself taking a dread any more with a BA force.

Troop Assault Marines:
Gone. Moved to Fast Attack.  Not a huge deal with the way the new game works cause you can still flood the table with assault marines, but JP troops were always a trademark of the BA and will be missed.

Troops:
Only 2 choices... Tacs and Scouts.  Scouts are crazy cheap though, 65 points for 5 snipers with cloaks.  Five tacs in a rhino are about 100.  But why bother. 240 points buys you 4 scout squads that your opponent will simply get bored of shooting at as they go to ground for 2+ saves and the ability to do some real, and annoying damage by picking out models and wounding big stuff.

What are my plans?  I am making a new army, going back to my roots.  Land raider of death with assault termies and a bunch of ICs.  The only problem is that it is much more difficult to do it.  I want that new Captain in there, and doing so means I only get one more HQ... so I get to choose between Priest, Meph who is now an IC and a Chap.  Priest lost the FNP bubble so he must be in the unit so he is needed which means I cant get my chap and meph.

How do I solve this?  Allies? Can I take a second BA detachment?  Or do I have to go with SM or SW allied force?  Rules guys help me out here!

jawaballs