Brother Caeden, Death Company Dreadnought
I've had a shiny new camera since Christmas, but I haven't really taken a lot of pictures... until last night. Shamelessly ripping off Aventine at Zen 40,000, I'm going to start posting a few shots of a model or unit every so often with some fluff. This should keep me updating regularly for a bit.
Without further ado:
Click to enlarge
Caeden forged a stellar career in the 8th company, atypical of most Blood Angels. He served in the honor guard as company champion under two consecutive captains, and was offered promotion to the 4th, 2nd and eventually 1st companies, all of which he refused in order to remain as an adviser to his captain and company.
During the Tohlren campaign in 915.M41, Caeden was gravely wounded while facing an Ork warboss in single combat. Though he defeated the mighty greenskin, he himself was left crippled and dying. His years of valiant service made the decision to enshrine him in Furioso armour quite easy.
Click to enlarge
As a revered Furioso, Caeden took part in a number of campaigns, smashing though the enemies of mankind with renewed vigor. However, during the invasion of Haerid Prime, Caeden fell to the Black Rage. His armor was painted black and decorated to announce him as the deliverer of death that he had become.
During the Haerid Prime campaign, Caeden was mostly responsible for annihilating most of the forces of the rebellious 227th Haerid Conservatory in the city of Prestlake. Rebellious forces scattered before him and left the city to Captain Zedrenael's task force. Caeden stalked the city for three days before the company's techmarines managed to fix a grapple on him and evacuate him from the battlefield.
Army Lists
It's been a while since I posted a list, so here's a 2000 point list from each army:
Blood Angels
HQ
Librarian w/Shield of Sanguinius and Unleash Rage
Librarian w/Shield of Sanguinius and Unleash RageTroops
10-man Assault Squad with Power Fist, Flamer and Meltagun
Land Raider Crusader with Extra Armour and Multi-melta10-man Assault Squad with Thunder Hammer, Flamer and Meltagun
Land Raider Crusader with Extra Armour and Multi-melta10-man Assault Squad with Jump Packs, Power Weapon, Meltabombs, Flamer and Meltagun
Elites
Sanguinary Priest with Power Weapon
Sanguinary Priest with Power Weapon
Furioso Dreadnought with Blood TalonsFast Attack
Baal Predator with Twin-linked Assault Cannon
Baal Predator with Flamestorm CannonHeavy Support
Vindicator with Siege Shield
This is the list from the last post that went 3-0 (with all of the associated caveats). The Land Raider squads are joined by a librarian and priest each. For the most part, I kept everything tight in to the Raiders and the Shield bubble, with the jump squad hanging out behind to take full advantage of cover. Once I was in assault range, the Raider squads would boil out and get crazy in front. Anything that they failed to clean up would get pounced on by the jump squad on the next turn, ensuring I'd get two charges in a row.
The Vindicator was fun, but largely ineffective (some of that was due to dice). I'm considering adding them to my Blood Angels, as I was proxying in my Salamanders Vindi, but I think they're best used in groups. I've got plenty of troops to work with now, I think the next Blood Angels expansion is going to be tank-oriented.
Anyway, on to the Salamanders:
HQ
Vulkan He'StanTroops
10-man Tactical Squad with Combi-melta, Powerfist, Flamer and Lascannon
Rhino with Dozer Blade and Extra Armour6-man Scout Squad with Telion, four Sniper Rifles and a Missile Launcher
6-man Scout Squad with five Sniper Rifles, Missile Launcher and Camo Cloaks
Elites
8-man Assault Terminator Squad with Thunder Hammers10-man Sternguard Squad with four Combi-Flamers, four Combi-meltas and two Heavy Flamers
Drop PodFast Attack
Land Speeder Typhoon with Multi-melta and Heavy FlamerHeavy Support
Land Raider Crusader with Extra Armour and Multi-melta
Land Raider Godhammer with Extra Armour and Multi-melta
I was playing around with a list that doesn't repeat a single unit, and with only two troops choices in the vanilla codex, that's a bit difficult. Yes, I've got two 6-man scout squads, but one has Telion Tel'Yan. Other than that, no repeated units. Vulkan rides with the Sternguard, who can divide up or not depending on the situation. If there are troops and tanks available, they split along the flamer/melta line and pick their targets. If there's one or the other, they can stick together or split for maximum effectiveness. The only thing I have to watch out for is turn 1 against a completely reserve list. I've had my Sternguard dragged down screaming without firing a shot because of that.
The Termies obviously ride in the Crusader, gunning straight up the middle to soak up fire and mete out punishment. Scouts start in position to pick off juicy targets, and the Tac squad stays back in the Rhino next to the Godhammer using the lascannon to snipe tanks. If it's an objectives mission, the Sarge breaks off with the flamer and sits in the Godhammer on top of a local objective. meanwhile, the Land Speeder acts as a harrasser, picking off tanks or roasting troops as need be.
And then there were two…
The Crimson Fists are heading to Deutschland! I was a bit surprised that a 3000 point Space Marine army took three times as long to sell as a 4000 point Eldar army, but out the door it goes.
the proceeds from both of these sales are going to bolster my Salamanders and Blood Angels. Here's what I'm considering:
Salamanders
I'm thinking about mech-ing this list up in order to be able to field two distinct concepts. That would mean 2 Land Raider Crusader/Redeemers for transporting the terminators and three Rhinos for the tactical squads. I've also considered converting a tactical squad into Sternguard (I've got a lot of bitz to do so), and picking up a Thunderfire Cannon. I've also tossed around the idea of adding another squad of shooty terminators for Deep Striking. DSing with a bunch of assault termies and a chaplain doesn't really offer the same amount of punch on the turn they arrive. A bunch of Storm Bolters and a twin-linked Heavy Flamer would certainly drop a hurting on the turn they arrived.
Obviously I'm not going to do all of that, but those are my thoughts on it.
Blood Angels
I've actually got a lot of stuff for my Blood Angels already, so there's not really that much left to purchase. I am definitely another Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer, though, and at least one more Rhino chassis (probably another Predator). I'm considering a squad of Terminators for some 1st company flair, but I haven't playtested them at all. If I did, I'd be getting Forge World pauldrons for them. I'd likely go with assault terminators there with a mix of lightning claws and thunder hammers. Finally, I'd like to experiment with a Furioso. I'm not going for the metal monstrosity, so it'd probably be an Ironclad with these sexy bits for the Blood Talons. Significantly cheaper than the Forgeworld variety.
Other
I'm strongly considering ditching the ArmyTransport case I've had for only a few months and going with a BattleFoam case. I'm also considering some buildings for the game table in my basement.
So, we'll see what happens. In other news, there's a battle report on the horizon!
Blood Angels 8-5 Assault
I've actually got Blood Angels to show you! This is the 5th Assault Squad of the 8th Company. They are obviously a work in progress, but there's definitely some progress to show:
Click for larger view
Unless I'm running an all-mech list, the 5th will likely be my dedicated jump squad because they'll be the first with jump packs painted. The 3rd and 8th squads are currently sporting regular backpacks, but all of my assault troops have been magnetized to give me the option of either.
Here's a close-up view of the sergeant:
Click for a larger view
He's sporting a power fist and bolt pistol and the blood drop halo cut off a back pack. I'm probably going to paint all of the power fists with the hazard striping, because it gives it a really cool effect.
The power fist from the Death Company box is at a really weird angle. Getting the pauldron to look right under normal circumstances was a pain in the neck, but that fist is magnetized, and the pauldron itself is magnetized. I think I'm going to give up and glue the pauldron in place and deal with it if I need to switch load-outs. While I have a few extra power fists from other sets, I really liked the idea of using an Angelus bolter as a bolt pistol, as suggested in the Codex itself. Since all of the Angelus bolters are left-handed, I'm restricted to right-handed power fists, and all of my spares are left-handed.
The Death Company box also presents a painting problem for a lot of models. Notice the white on the right leg - that's actually the 5th company symbol, a white saltire on black. Of course, that's supposed to be in a small circle on the right greave, but the styling on the greaves doesn't leave a lot of space for that. At least for the sarge, I decided to go with the whole leg to really capture his connection to the squad.
On some of the other models, this is much less of a problem. Some of them already have the saltire molded in due to the Death Company regalia. They've also got it on other parts, particularly pauldrons, so I've been painting them with the squad symbol as well.
I'll be missing AU's October tournament, but I'm hoping to get a few games in before November, and I'm really hoping to have a solidly painted 2000 point list complete by then. We'll see what happens, though.
And I’m waiting, and waiting and…
After quite the wait, I finally received my order from The Army Painter.
Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. They were initially responsive after opening their US online storefront, but then things got hairy. When I went to order, their website charged me 7% sales tax. When I asked them why, they gave me some strange answer about them being a foreign (Netherlands) company, therefore they needed to charge me Indiana sales tax because that's where they ship from. Even thought that's not the way the internet and cross-state sales work (which I told them), I ordered anyway because I've heard good things about their product.
Two weeks later, all I'd received was an automated confirmation that they had my money. No notification of order status, shipment, or a tracking number. I emailed them after 10 business days (UPS shipping from Indiana takes 2 business days) and asked them where my package was. Two days later, it showed up.
I just got an email from them explaining that the paint had been out of stock, and they had to wait to ship it, but they couldn't tell me that because they'd all been on vacation.
Now, all that being said... the paint is fantastic. If I'd had it 2-3 days after I ordered it, I would likely have fielded a nicely primed and initially detailed Blood Angels force for the tournament. Just a basecoat of it makes the models look crisp. I really couldn't be happier with the product. I'm just hoping I don't need to get any more of it.
Dark Art Miniatures For The Win
Let me just state for the record that I absolutely love Dark Art Miniatures. I ordered another set of bases on August 27th, and they arrived on the 7th - 6 business days later - FROM THE UK. On top of that, the shipping cost would have been pretty good if it had been a domestic purchase, that's just stellar service for a great price.
On the other hand, I placed an order from a company that ships from INDIANA, and they charged me more for shipping and I'm still waiting for it to arrive 5 business days later.
So, if you're looking for some Grade-A looking bases for a great price, definitely check out Dark Art Miniatures.
More List Tweaks
I've noticed that most of the BA lists I've seen on other blogs tend to lack something almost all of my lists (at every point level) contain - Special Characters. Now, I know that more seasoned players shun them due to rules in previous editions putting points levels or opponent consent restrictions, but 5th edition offers no such bars to them. Two of my three other armies (Crimson Fists and Salamanders) are actually built around what that special character brings to the table. My Sternguard are a 285-point waste until Pedro comes along and says "no, it's cool - go hold that objective." There's no way I'm running that many Thunder Hammer Terminators unless Vulkan's Seal of Extra Killing Power is on them. It's a mindset that I've been entrenched in.
Breaking out of that was hard work. In my last post, I asked "Do I take Dante or Astorath?" 220 or 225 points? I finally realized that for all they bring to the table, I can take a regular old Captain with some fancy wargear for 160 points, and I suddenly have an extra 60 points lying about. By the time I had my three fully-loaded Assault Squads added to the list, I realized that either my math was extremely wrong, or I had a lot more points to work with than I did before. Turns out, I'm actually pretty good at basic arithmetic.
Here's what I've got now at 1850 points:
HQ
Captain
- Paired Lightning Claws
- Jump Pack
- MeltabombsHonour Guard
- Blood Champion
- Chapter Banner
- 3 Power Weapons
- Infernus PistolTroops
Assault Squad A (10)
- Flamer
- Meltagun
- Power FistLand Raider Crusader
- Extra Armour
- Multi-Melta
- Search LightAssault Squad B (10)
- Jump Packs
- Flamer
- Meltagun
- Power FistAssault Squad C (6)
- Meltagun
- Thunder HammerRhino
- Extra Armour
- Search LightAssault Squad D (6)
- Flamer
- Power WeaponElites
Chaplain
- Jump Pack
- MeltabombsSanguinary Priest
Sanguinary Priest
- Jump Pack
- Power WeaponFast Attack
Baal Predator A
- Dozer Blade
- Extra Armour
- Searchlight
The Captain runs with the Honour Guard and is a dedicated Close Combat unit. I haven't decided if the Chaplain will join them or Assault D (also a CC unit), but that can change based on the mission. Jump Pack Priest runs with Assault B, and the other Priest joins Assault A in the Raider (which has sponsons now!) . Assault C is a dedicated tank hunting unit with the meltagun and Thunder Hammer.
I've brought a lot of anti-tank to the mix here, but I can imagine my luck will pit me against Tyranids, Foot Guard, and a slogging Waaaagh!. Still, there are definitely a number of close-combat options. The Raider with tag-along Priest gives me great cover to deliver 30 I5 S5 attacks with a S9 fist hiding behind them. It also makes for great mobile cover to hide the jump squads behind, as well.
I'm hoping to get a game in tonight, so with any luck, my theories will be tested and added to another batrep!
Blood Angels 1850 list
Alternate Universes' anniversary Rouge Rogue Trader tournament is coming up, and it's sure to be a doozy. Extra tables had to be called in, because early registration maxed out at 24, which will be the biggest tournament I've ever been in. To that end, the points level was settled at 1850, which is a number I've never played before (1500, 1750 and 2000). Dropping 150 points out of a list shouldn't be that hard, right? I've got a 2000 point Blood Angels list, but it needs a lot of work, so even dropping 150 may be a gain or a loss. Even still, I managed to re-think a lot of it for 1850.
Here's what I'm working with:
HQ
Astorath
Honour Guard
- Blood Champion
- Chapter Banner
- Power Weapon
- Power Fist
- Infernus PistolTroops
Assault Squad A
- 2x Flamer
- Thunder HammerLand Raider Crusader
- Extra Armour
- Multi-MeltaAssault Squad B
- Jump Packs
- Flamer
- Meltagun
- Power FistAssault Squad C
- Jump Packs
- Flamer
- Meltagun
- Power FistElites
Brother Corbulo
Sanguinary Priest
- Jump Pack
- Power WeaponFast Attack
Baal Predator A
- Dozer BladeBaal Predator B
- Dozer Blade
Assault A rides in the Crusader with Corbulo. I use that as a linebreaker to barf that squad into the thick of whatever needs to be mowed down.
Red Thirst, the Jump Priest flies with one of the jump squads, preferably one that doesn't fall to Red Thirst. Astorath flies with the other. They'll bounce around in cover, trying to stay close to the Crusader to take advantage of its size for cover. The Honour Guard will run off to attempt to tackle HQs and generally make a nuisance of itself. With the Chapter Banner, they'll be cranking out a ton of attacks, and with two power weapons and a fist, they'll be delivery 12-15 no-invulnerable-save attacks per turn.
I'm kind of torn over the HQ situation. Dante is only 5 points more, and definitely adds a lot of benefit in terms of knocking around enemy HQs. Astorath gives me a much higher chance of Red Thirst, and makes his squad really dangerous on the charge. That being said, I could go with a regular old Reclusiarch for 60-65 points less, or toss a Librarian in there for 95-100 points. Of course, once you've save 60 points, what do you do with it? Is the -1 everything or 50% Fearless/Furious Charge chance worth those extra points? And which one is worth more?
2000 Points Blood Angels vs. Necrons
Four battle reports, four losses! This time, I finally fielded my wildly unpainted Blood Angels, and fought a bloody contenst against Necrons. It was a great match, with a lot of back and forth.
That table we're playing on is the proof-of-concept for the tables I mentioned earlier. I'm going to be borrowing a friend's basement and table saw, so future tables should look much better than that one (also, they'll be painted).
Here's the video:
And here's my list:
HQ
Dante
Honour Guard
- Company Standard
- Blood Champion
- 2 Power Weapons
- 2 Infernus Pistols
- Jump Packs
Troops
Assault Squad (9)
- Power Fist
- Flamer
Rhino
- Dozer Blade
- Searchlight
2x Assault Squad (10)
- Jump Packs
- Power Fist
- Plasma Pistol
- 2 Flamers
Death Company (8)
- Power Fist
- Power Weapon
- 2x Plasma Pistol
Elites
Chaplain
Sanguinary Priest
- Jump Pack
- Power Weapon
Brother Corbulo
Fast Attack
2x Baal Predators
- Dozer Blade
Painting Metallics
Holy cow, actual Blood Angel content!
So, I've tried Non-Metallic Metallics, and I'm not very good at it yet. Also, I want my army to have a grittier feel, and NMM just screams crisp, clean and freshly-coated with awesome. So, I'm sticking with plain old metallics for the time being. Here's how I did my Honor Guard (particularly my Sangunary Novitiate):
Click for larger view
First, I hit the whole thing with a Citadel Chaos Black spray primer. Personally, it's the best one I've found despite the price (which, at $15/can, is daunting). When I prime my models, I lay the model down on a tray, and hit it four times, turning the tray 45° after every blast. Once that's dry, I turn it over and repeat. It sucks up a lot of paint, but it's a perfectly covered and even coating.
Click for larger view
After priming, cover everything that's going to be gold in a Scorched Brown base coat. Go nuts here. Get it in the crevices, and don't worry about staying in the lines. We're just going to paint over that later anyway.
Click for larger view
Next, I go over the Scorched Brown base coat with a pretty aggressive Snakebite Leather drybrush. I keep my light in mind here, making sure that it's only downstrokes and make sure not to over-highlight areas that will be in shadow.
Click for larger view
After the Snakebite Leather, I go with Bleached Bone to pick out the edges and really make it pop. On this one, I was really tempted to leave it at that, because it looked mostly metallic as it was, but everything else is already shiny, so I ran with it.
Click for larger view
Now comes the fun. I water down Shining Gold until it's almost a wash, and then paint it evenly onto every surface that will be gold. It needs to be a little thicker than a standard wash, because you want it to cover everything, but you want it thin enough that all of your highlighting will shine through.
Click for larger view
After the Shining Gold dries, I cover everything with two thick washes of Ogryn Flesh. I use a hair dryer to dry it, because it's quicker, but also because it gives a very interesting matte look when it's quickly dried. I go with two washes here to really get into the recesses and tie all the colors together.
At this point, the gold looked positively Victorian and steam-punky. Skipping the metallic highlights and just relying on the first three steps will give you a great aged metal look.
Click for larger view
But, I kept going for a more recently-used look using very quick highlights with Burnished Gold and Mithril Silver on the edges.
That's it for the metal. Here's how my Sanguinary Novitiate looks right now:
Click for larger view
Still a work in progress, but getting there. The red was Mechrite Red foundation, followed by a Thraka Green wash (color theory!), followed by Blood Red over the center.
Flickr
About Paul
Tags
Blog Roll
122nd Cadian
40K Hobby Blog
40K Terrain
A Thousand Hats
BAALS 2 the WAALS!
Dave Taylor Miniatures
Excommunicate Tratoris
Faeit 212
From the Warp
GK Workbench
House of Paincakes
Imperius Dominatus
Khepri's Eternal Legion
Mart's Warhammer Blog
Nines to Glance
NinjaBread
Red's Corps
Tentakel Games
The Blood Angels: By Jawaballs
The Fallen Princes
The Quiet Limit of the World
The Red Wake
The Standard Template Construct
Wolves for the Wolf God
Wynn Studio Models
Zen 40,000