Pre-Heresy Death Guard: Flamer Tactical Support Squad

My second Troop Choice. A 5 man Tactical support squad with Flamers equipped with chem-munitions. 

My current ratio for armour variants in a squad is 3x mk3 1x mk2 and 1x mk4 in every 5 men. This is down to the Legions love of the mk3 plate due to its resilience and sturdiness. 

First time these fired I got one gets hot roll and killed a Legionnaire, but it killed far more enemy Legionnaires. Flamers are pretty impressive with the shred special rule. A decent Death Guard trait in my opinion. 

5 Autocannons next then onto the Medusa crew. 

Drake Seta. 

An Ironclad Introduction

Over the last few months I have been studying up on the history of the Iron Hands, during the great crusade they became famous for devistateing set piece strikes. When Ferrus took command of the legion he completely changed the structure and attitude of the legion, as such my list reflects both the strength and flexibility of the tenth's tactics as well as staying true to their ideals.

This is subject to change but for now gives me a nice base to start this much loved legion

IH - Iron-Father Autek Mor 225
Legion Centurion: Thunderhammer; Volkite Charger; Digital lasers; Cataphractii Terminator Armour. 135

9 Medusan Immortals: Veteran Sergeant (Plasma Pistol). 265
3 Legion Contemptor Deadnoughts: Kheres Pattern Assault cannon; Heavy Conversion Beamer; DCCW Heavy Flamers; DCCW Graviton gun; DCCW Melta gun; 3× IH - Blessed Autosimulacra. 645
9 Gorgon Terminators: Gorgon Hammerbearer (IH - Cyber-Familiar); 1:5 Reaper Autocannon; Lightning Claw. 410
5 Legion Terminators: Legion Terminator Sergeant (Cataphractii Terminator Armour); 3× Power Weapon; 3× Single Lightning Claw; 3× Thunder hammer; Volkite Charger; (1:5) Heavy Flamer; (1:5) Reaper Autocannon; Cataphractii Terminator Armour. 282

9 Legionaire: Legionaire Sergeant; Nuncio-Vox; Legion Vexilla. 170
9 Legionaire: Legionaire Sergeant; Nuncio-Vox; Legion Vexilla. 170
9 Assault Legionaire: Legionaire Assault Sergeant. 250
9 Breacher Legionaire: Legionaire Sergeant; Nuncio-Vox; Legion Vexilla. 250

4 Heavy Support Legionaire: 5× Multi-melta. 130
Legion Spartan Assault Tank 295
1 Legion Predator: Command Tank; Heavy Conversion Beamer; 2x Sponsoon Lascannons. 190

Primarch Ferrus Manus 455
Legion Glaive Super-Heavy Tank 625

4,497 points

Micro Set and Micro Sol: Better Transfer application

Well. When I asked Mathew Kane "How do you get your Transfers so perfect?" I had no idea it would be something so utterly awesome that I would go as far as saying; No Marine painter should be without this product. 

So putting Space Marine Pauldron transfers on is a massive dick head. I have always hated getting to this point on the model. You always run the risk of it not wrapping right and it leaving that weird halo around it which just cheapens the awesome paint scheme you have spent hours doing. 

Well this stuff is just fugging amazing. It softens and helps wrap the transfer round the model and eliminates the halo almost completely. 

I will add to this post to show how it works shortly. 

Additional. 

Firstly I cut the transfer out using a scalpel and go all tightly round the edge of the decal so to not have too much halo effect. 

Secondly I throw tightly trimmed transfer in water. 

Thirdly, whilst letting the transfer become slidable, I get a fine brush and dip it in the Micro Set and run it over the shoulder pad where the transfer will go. 

Fourthly I take the waterslide transfer from the water and carefully remove the excess water from the bottom of the blue paper surface on the back of my hand, then slide the transfer straight onto the pad. 

Fifthly I swiftly position the transfer where I want it and add more Micro Set to where I want it to settle, and around the edges and under the places where it creases up. Just a small tip more though mind you. 

Sixthly I leave the transfer and solution to dry / set for 2 minutes before getting a small blister pack sponge piece (wet with water so not to stick to sponge) and carefully push down on and help it adhere down. 

Seventhly I then put a fine brush full of Micro Sol onto the transfer and around the edges (when the Micro Set is dry) and let it do its stuff. I put a lot on then step back and leave it for a few hours. It softens the transfer and eventually allows you to push raised creases down or if you add more and more after it dries then it will keep smoothing itself out. 

It's worked for me very well, and believe me it takes only a minor amount of time more when you get a squad on a conveyor belt. 

Drake Seta

Great Crusade. The Reaving of Tagatha. Message from Lotara Sarrin - Conqueror.

Transcribed:

Captain Krox.

The Conqueror has received a request for military assistance from the nearest Imperial battle group. Sire Angron has asked for the astropathic communication to be forwarded to you Captain Krox. Our 203rd Expedition fleet is currently indisposed with its current actions in the Helios Gulf with the Greenskins. Truth be told Sire Angron is enjoying himself thoroughly against the Orks, you should see him, truly he is a lord of war. 

The distress call is from the Desert World of Tagatha. It is a compliant world in the new Imperium of man, and has been since it was brought to compliance by the Lunar Wolves back in 860 M30. The Astropathic message informs us of Eldar slavers reaving the world, cities are burning and the populace are falling back to the All-summer Caverns (shelters for their fire season). The Imperial Army is holding the xenos off for now but their strength is waining. Coordinates of recent raids have been compiled for tactical analysis, as well as Topographical plans of the centres of Populace. 

This message should meet you as your 219th Expedition fleet - including the forces of the Emperor's Children and Death Guard - will be set to leave Winskrieg to prosecute the Karrus compliance, this supersedes these orders until the situation at Tagatha has been dealt with. Reintegration into your Expedition fleets will continue when this conflict is over. We predict arrival at the Winskrieg Docks circa 430 937 M30, I am sure that you Captain Addon will want to be by Sire Angron's side when we take the Karrus Sector. Your fleet is to leave at once. May the tides of the warp be in your favour. 

Captain: The Conqueror (Prior. Adamant  Resolve)

Lotara Sarrin

230 937 M30 

Forge World Castellum Strongpoint Finished

Here it is. My finished Castellum. Such a great project which I have enjoyed thoroughly. My favourite part was the airbrush weathering that I did. 

The fortification accommodates squads almost everywhere. Still I have no information on the rules for the strongpoint (destined to be released in Book 3 Extermination) but rest assured I am now ready for our first game with the tile. . . . Well I guess I need some more Death Guard . . .

Why did I paint it generic Grey? Well I needed it to be used by all Legions that we will be collecting. Also I want to use it as a objective piece for several story types which have been planned for our Great Crusade campaign. 

We will be Blu-Tacing painted Legion Brass Icons From Forge World on to the piece to represent the Castellum belonging to certain Legions, for our Story battles. 

I would be intrigued to see what the Internal Floor Plan of the Scenery would look like. Hopefully there will be some fluff behind this piece in the Extermination book. 

Rules?

After the turret choices for the Tarantulas and air support I can only guess what the Castellum will have in store for us. 

There are a lot of doors, so I can assume the controlling Legion will have the ability to keep Infantry in reserve with the ability to have them leave via any door. 

The major door at the base of the main building does not seem big enough to hold Dreadnoughts either. 

The centre point in the middle of the Strongpoint might just be an Elevator, big enough for all normal tanks but maybe not Fell Blades or other Super Heavies. 

It is a landing pad for Storm Eagles too, and I bet it will have the similar rules to the Skyshield landing pad. Maybe the Drop ships will be able to move as Fliers and still disembark men. 

Thanks for reading. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook. 

Drake Seta

Forge World Castellum Strongpoint Painting guide: Day 5

I used the Games Workshop scenery pack brown for the base layer for the sand areas. 

I then did a heavy drybrush of Ochre to make it look like dark sand. 

I then used various shades of grey and sand colours to do the rocks. 

I then painted the cables and details. 

I used MIG gulf war sand powder to add some sporadic splashes of settled sands. This was then bedded in with a flood of white spirits and left to dry. When dry I re-airbrushed the sand sections with my shading wash (Abaddon black, Agrax Earthshade, water and Lahmian) with a drop or 2 of fairy washing up liquid to help dry into the corners. 

The Castellum finished. 

The Tarantulas were done in the same scheme as for the main building. 

Twin Lascannons

Air Support

Drake Seta

The Great Crusade: Done by the Battle Bunnies

The Battle Bunnies' Great Crusade: In the next week the Battle Bunnies will be starting their Great Crusade campaign.
This will feature all Legions, The Mechanicum, the Imperial army and the various Xenos species around during this time.
We originally wanted to do it as a conquest-based strategy campaign, but have decided against it due to the wide-dispersal of the Legions in their respective Segmentums and the inability to plan their movements carefully we have decided to do it narrative.
Each Legion will have their Primarch, all named significant characters from the Novels, all specialist units, Titan Legions and supporting elements. We will also be creating our own Praetors and centurions for the campaign. These with the Primarchs and Heroes from the Novels, will allow us to make some fantastic fan-fiction and our own Legends during this epic time. Only the controlling players will be able to say what side these created Characters will end up on for the inevitable Treachery that Horus commits.

Betrayal and Massacre: We also realize that we need to tackle the Betrayal Campaign book as soon as we are able to. So our plan is to start with a few games in the Great Crusade and when we have 2000-3000 pts of the Sons of Horus, Death Guard, World Eaters and Emperor's Children, we will do a Page on our blog devoted to a Stand Alone Betrayal Campaign.

Legend Points: As characters can die in our games whilst on the boards, we have decided to create Legend points. Each General (Praetor/Archon/Imperial General etc) will start with 20 pts. Each commander (Champion/Centurion etc) 15. 

• When the Character wins a battle his Legend points go up by 1. 
• When he dies or loses his points go down by 1. 
• When he wins a Campaign his points go up by 1. 
• When he takes the last wound off any Independent Character he goes up by 1. 
• When he takes the last wound off a Primarch he goes up by D3. 
• Each Primarch will start with 20, but will never go below 1 and will only die when they are destined to die or go missing. 

Timeline: We are going to start the Great Crusade at year M30 937: three years after Angron takes control of World Eaters and before the Raven Guard and Alpha Legion are discovered. We will then follow the best fit Horus Heresy timeline or official dates.

The Battle Bunnies view on what they want from the Great Crusade.

Drake Seta: I want to be able to "play" my legion. To have the ability to create heroes with great back stories depending on how my Legion(s) Progress. To play the whole conflict out Game of Thrones style to its conclusion at the Scouring. I want to be able to have Primarch fighting alongside Primarch and see how they compliment each other. I want to also be able to have specialist games of Fantasy Flight style Roleplaying and Necromunda style last stands.

Darko Thane: i would love to experience the hobby as a whole. As a new starter i am eager to battle and read into all sorts of stories. I look to gain experience to further my gaming ability and learn all different aspects of the heresy and crusade.
I would like to expand my experience and become an independent but important character in the Great Crusade, commanding my own armies and conquering xenos.

Khall Sithis: I want the ability to fight in the greatest story ever told. To fight as, and alongside characters I have coveted for 20 odd years. Develop solid painting skills and design and make great scenery. I want to write stories that are interesting and camptivating.
For the group: I want to forge exceptional campaigns with you all, starting rivalries and developing friendships. I want variety that you cant get from 40k
For the blog: I want us to be the forefront of 30k. A treasure chest of gaming, painting and modelling tips, stories, dioramas.

Mega nob: I'm in this so I can write my self into a campaign that spans the entire galaxy and 10 thousand years while being able to be an active participant instead of a viewer like in a film or game.

Targel Vypus: Well I want a wide range of well thought out battles where the outcome actually has an effect on the bigger picture.

Forge World Castellum Strongpoint Painting guide: Day 4

Day 4. Weathering. 

Starting from here . . . 

Using my shading wash of equal parts water/ Lahmian/ Abaddon Black and Agrax Earthshade which I made in my previous post, I carefully started adding shading and streaking. This was done slightly under the edges/ lips of items, under windows and in recesses with an Airbrush. 

I then did one part Tamiya Flat flesh and two part Tamiya flat brown thinned to do the bottom of the exterior walls and spots on the walkways where dirt would accumulate. 

Here is a better representation of the colours as they come together. 

I also used a tiny amount of MIG Gulf war sand in the recesses  which was then fixed in place with white spirits (by flooding the surfaces with a paint brush and being careful not to disturb the powder). 

Another 3 hours. 

I will be finishing the sand and weathering the centre next, as well as starting the fugging Tarantulas :(

Drake Seta

Angron vs. Fulgrim

Hi there guys,

As I have now completed Angron I have had a couple of mock battles to see how he fares against a wide range of opponents. He went through a 20 man tactical squad with ease, killed an Eldar Avatar in one turn and to be honest is a true badass. What the interesting experiment is how he fares against a fellow primarch.

We at Battle Bunnies vow that we bever proxy battle unless we have the primarchs fully completed, and even then as an incentive we don't make them up until we have the points made up to use them anyways. Khall and I had a battle on the Castellum fortification with Angron against Fulgrim. Oh and some of our marines wanted to have a watch as well!!!

In the battles we had it was great to see the abilities against one primarch and another. Overall each had their own advantages, such as Angron with his +1S and his 6+ Feel No Pain, and Fulgrim with his initiative bonus attacks and Blind rule when rolling a 6 on a save. 

After 7 battles Angron was the victor winning 5-2 (which made me very happy!!). Each of us had good and bad rolls but overall Angron was the superior primarch in this case. 

Using 'Mathammer' we deduced that, through average rolls, and with just straight up attacking without fighting back that Angron would win as well. With Fulgrim he would kill Angron on an average of 10 or 11 turns. Whereas Angron kills Fulgrim if unopposed on 6 or 7 turns. This does take into consideration the It Will Not Die rule for rolling for regenerating wounds.

When more of our primarchs become ready we will show more battles and report on all of these. Currently Mega Nob has possession of Ferrus Manus so when he becomes abailable we shall see how he fares against his fellow brothers. 

Darko Thane

Forge World Castellum Strongpoint Painting guide: Day 3

Part 3. 

Ok then. To tackle the huge compound I wanted to have very worn looking Plasteel. 

Firstly the area was under coated chaos Black. Then I masked up the Ferrocrete walls to save them from harm. 

Using my airbrush I sparayed a thinned Warplock bronze over the entire area in patches. 

I then added Leadbelcher to the remnants of the Warplock Bronze mix and re sprayed it again, taking care to build up the Silver on the main beams at a low pressure. I then added more Leadbelcher and did it again. 

I then did a dark wash (equal parts: Lahmian, Abaddon Black, Water and Agrax Earthshade). If I could do it again I would have added more water. 

Above view. 

I also today base coated the door, window and vent trims with Runelord Brass. Just to add another dimension to the piece. Too much silver would be very flat. 

The window panes were Abaddon black with a small amount of a medium blue with an Ard'coat finish. No matter how hard you try windows that big will never look amazing.

I washed the metal work with the same wash I mentioned above and drybrushed chainmail over the top to add a bit of highlight to it. 

Another 4 hours tonight. 

So left to do is: 

The final airbrush shading which I have never done before. 

The details of the terminals, cables and projectors. 

Weathering airbrushing to the ground recesses. 

Streaking of grime. 

Drake Seta. 

Forge World Castellum Strongpoint Painting guide: Day 2

Part 2!

I covered the models' grey parts in several sponged shades of grey. First was a heavy all over Codex Grey. All greys below were thinned with Lahmian medium. 

Followed by Codex grey mixed with Fortress Grey, more towards the edges and corners as well as a few sporadic internal areas more central on each ferrocrete face. 

Then a highlight sponge of Fortress grey to represents chipping on edges.

Followed by a Celestra grey to finish the edges off. Further wash shading and streaking will come later guys. 

A mix of Rhinox hide, Warplock bronze and Abaddon black was sponged and drybrushed all over the metal surfaces to give it a worn and used steel look. Graphite (pencil) was put on the edges of really worn steps. 

I took extra care to show well trod routes. Further powders and washes will be applied later chaps. 

Ok then guys. The Admantium spacers / bonding plugs (or whatever) were done with an undercoat of Leadbelcher. Washes and weathering will come later bunnies. 

This was also done on the top of the command building. 

Another 6 hours down! Really enjoying it so far. More soon. 

Drake Seta. 

Angron - With Painting Guide

Hi there guys,

As promised here is my painting guide for Angron, Primarch of the World Eaters. I thoroughly enjoyed this model and am extremely pleased with this. Been looking forward to this for so long and glad to have finished the Red Angel. Hope you enjoy my painting guide and make use of it. Enjoy!! 

Here are the pieces I shall be using for the main model. I know there is an extended base but for the purposes of this guide I shall use the combat base. Excellent quality resin here. Good to wash and hardly any trimming needed.

Gluing the pieces into place and ensure the space marine is put in place so Angron can be placed onto him.

Spray the model with Chaos Black spray. Avoid spraying onto the marine. I used blue tac to cover the model but you could easily spray the pieces individually, its your call.

To get the armour right I built up the colour over a number of layers. With Angron I prefer to have him primarily with a bronze colour rather than gold. I am using an airbrush to bring up my layers. I start here with Warplock Bronze. Must ensure that you add each layer fully and getting in all the crevices.

Next layer consists of 50% Warplock Bronze and 50% Brass Scorpion.

Next layer is sprayed with Brass Scorpion.

The next stage includes spraying with 1 part Brass Scorpion and 2 parts Runelord Brass.

Lastly for the armour I used a wash of Reikland Fleshshade. To get the right colour I applied 2 doses here, especially to bring up the ridges and liven it up.

Next I painted the cloth which consists of the tabards on the arms and around the waist. To paint this I used a 50/50 mix of Khorne Red and Wazdakka Red. As always to get the consistency right I mixed it with Lahmian Medium (LM).

To paint the studs I used Sycorax Bronze along with LM. After that is completed I go over the cloth with a wash of Carroburg Crimson to give it a deeper shade.

Now for Gorechild and Gorefather. When painting the hilt I used 50/50 Khorne Red and Mephiston Red along with LM. For the shafts I used a drybrush application of Balthasar Gold and then a drybrush of Shining Gold. To get the blades right I first used Boltgun Metal, then applied a second layer consisting of Runefang Steel mixed with LM. Once the Runefang had been applied I applied a heavy wash of Nuln Oil. I applied the wash quite roughly as I like to give the weapons some age.

Next on the list were the chains. To complete these I used Leadbelcher mixed with a lot of LM to make sure it keeps the chains defined correctly. When the metal was completed I gave a wash of Nuln Oil.

As above you can see I applied the base scenery with Abaddon Black so I can then paint the right colours over that. As you can see I painted the marine as a World Eater. See my previous painting guide "How to paint Pre-Heresy World Eaters" if you want to follow my example. To get the scenery correct I used various shades of grey for stone and browns for the sands.

As you can see where Angron stands on the marine he has burst the chest cavity. To express the gore I used a slight paint of Khorne Red.

With the cloak now. To start this off I sprayed the cloak with Chaos Black. For the first layer I applied Rhinox Hide with a lot of LM to ensure the colour gets into all the spaces.

To bring the cloak up to the desired colour and effect I brought up a number of different shades of brown. To start off I applied a light drybrush of Dryad Bark, then Dryad Bark mixed with Steel Legion Drab. I mixed firstly at 75%/25% and then switched to 25%/75% after drybrushing each. I lastly applied a slight drybrush of Steel Legion Drab around the edges of the fur only.

To complete the back of the cloak I painted the chains with the Leadbelcher combo as listed above. For the skulls I drybrushed a layer of Baneblade Brown and then brought it up with a layer of Ushabti Bone. After that I applied a wash of Agrax Earthshade to deepen the skulls colour but used a slight drybrush of Ceramite White over the skulls.

For the inside of the cloak I started with a layer of Steel Legion Drab mixed with LM.

To then define the cloak I applied an overbrush of Baneblade Brown, concentrating more on the edges as they are the places to mostly age.

Next to be completed are Angrons subweapons. For Angrons combat blade I painted the sheath with Machanicus Standard Grey and the hilt and studs of Sycorax Bronze, ending with a wash of Nuln Oil. On the later picture there is Angron's Spite Furnace pistol. Unfortunately there isn't a picture for that, although I can say I used a 50/50 mix of Khorne Red and Mephiston Red with LM for the holster, Boltgun Metal for the studs and Balthasar Gold for the grip.

Now comes the dreaded skintone!! For me I was worried about it but was pretty simple. To start off I used a 2-1 part mixture of Baneblade Brown and Cadian Fleshtone. I wanted to give a darker fleshtone but at the same time needed it light enough to make Angron look, not necessarily ill, but damaged.

I then washed the face with a wash mix of 75% Agrax Earthshade and 25% Druchii Violet. After the wash has dried I applied a highlight of the above face layer to go over the wash.

Apologies for the quality here but nextly were Angron's signature Butcher's Nails. For this I used Leadbelcher as they are historic, not like the modern nails we see in such units as the Rampagers or Red Butchers.

Lastly I had to complete the facial features. I completed the facepaint with Khorne Red with LM. Painting the eyes and teeth I used a very thin layer of Ushabti Bone.

And there we have it folks!! Apply the blade to the cloak in the slot provided and glue the cloak on the back. Lastly glue the Spite Furnace to the right side of Angron's waist.

And who doesn't enjoy some blood!!!!! To make this up I've used a few shades of red and used a sponge to spatter the blood to the chainaxes. Using a lot of LM to thin up the consistency and ranging the shades to vary the gore content. Lastly I used Ardcoat as a way of really bringing the 'blood' to life and it looks really good. For now I have just applied to the axes but I'm toying with the idea of applying to the bottom of the cloak.

I hope you enjoyed my guide and hope it serves you well!! Please let me know what you think and keep checking in for more units, or even look back at some of our historical paintings. Can't wait to start using this goliath!!

Darko Thane