Army Building - Chaos in M41, and Heresy Mega Battle Prep

The three Marines Malcontent I mentioned last post turned out well. I had some momentum going on my Chaos stuff, so I kept it up by building some cultists, a couple of Obliterators, and a Venomcrawler from my shelf stock. All are now also primed with Zandri Dust spray and awaiting further attention.

More Leginaries join the Marines Malcontent warband! They’re in a huff about the Imperium’s ways and are going to throw a tantrum on the battlefield! Also pictured: Zone Mortalis terrain for my table. #Warhammer40K #Chaos #HereticAstartes #PaintingWarhammer #WarhammerCommunity

[image or embed]

— countelmdor.bsky.social (@countelmdor.bsky.social) Jun 8, 2024 at 4:04 PM

The box of cultists I had was originally released as a part of Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress, so it only included 7 models of the 10 that are needed for a full unit. I happened to have 3 little weird guys on 25mm bases that would make up the difference. These are technically the retinue of Lord Inquisitor Hector Rex, whom I use in my Grey Knights army as Kaldor Draigo. I like to think they are very confused to be running with 7 random Chaos Cultists. The box also included a Cultist Firebrand, who is these days sold separately. I painted that model in a single day to a pretty decent standard, bringing my total of Chaos Space Marines faction models fully painted and playable up to 13.

quick paintjob today on this Cultist Firebrand #Warhammer40K #Chaos #HereticAstartes #PaintingWarhammer #WarhammerCommunity

[image or embed]

— countelmdor.bsky.social (@countelmdor.bsky.social) Jun 10, 2024 at 5:14 PM

My next step would probably have been to paint those 10 cultists for him to lead, but I kind of decided at the last moment (7 days out) that I would bring White Scars to the Horus Heresy mega-battle a local player is hosting at his house this coming Saturday.

I would really like to bring much of what I have suitable and painted, plus another couple of Drop Pods and a third Predator tank. Of those, I built the pods yesterday, and hope to be able to get them primed today, and potentially get that Predator built as well. Or at least started. With a tank I prefer to base coat the hull prior to gluing the already painted tracks on, which adds a little time to the whole process, but is I think worth it in the end.

Army Building - More Sagyar Mazan, A Tank, and a Palate Cleanser

 As I mentioned in the last post, and in the manner specified, I polished off the first Tactical Squad for the White Scars Sagyar Mazan list. I also painted up the second one, to the same point minus transfers. That gives me two full units nearly done for the list. What's left will be to finish transfers on them, since I'm not sure I am happy with the amount I put on the first squad so far, then do an oil wash for weathering, and finally the bases.

I had for nearly two years had a Leman Russ battle tank mostly assembled and primed, and one day last week when I felt like airbrushing something, I got it out and pretty quickly decided on a color and got it sprayed in a nice hunter green that is only mostly opaque over the model's white primer coat, giving it a nice mottled look consistent with some wintry camo schemes I have either seen or am Mandela-effecting myself into thinking are real. From there I just did the metals and a couple of other small details and glued the tracks on, and the model is now battle-ready. It joins my Icthyos Rho VIII PDF "Tundra Bastion" army of Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum, which now boasts no fewer than five Leman Russ tanks! I should get that out and play it sometime, whether under the new 40K Index rules or as a Militia force in Heresy.

back during Covid I went crazy buying tons of models online for random army ideas I had. I see now I was just bored at home a lot. Anyway here’s a vintage Leman Russ Battle Tank. As it happens my Imperial Guard are mostly old metal infantry, even though I never was into this stuff until about 2016.

[image or embed]

— countelmdor.bsky.social (@countelmdor.bsky.social) May 27, 2024 at 8:44 AM

Speaking of getting out and playing, I suppose I should recount that I did just that with my Grey Knights army this weekend, for a full-size 2000 point game, no less. It worked out that I had a few hours free on Sunday, and my spur-of-the-moment idea to get a pickup game of 40K worked out. Alex also came up to the store with a game in mind, and happened to have his Adeptus Custodes army with him, so we spent the day playing a game which probably should not have taken quite so long, in retrospect. We did go the full 5 rounds, though. He ended up taking it 55-64, mostly due to playing the Primary better than I did, though it didn't help my case that I forgot to do secondaries a couple of times. The way the game was trending I would have tabled his army eventually, but alas that is not what decides who wins! It was fun and reassuring in a sense to get out and play a full Strike Force sized game again. Nice to use the Grey Knights rules again at least one good time before they eventually are replaced by a new Codex, which could happen before too much longer.

After finishing up that Leman Russ and second squad of Tactical Marines, I wasn't sure if I wanted to jump into another batch of White Scars right away. Add to this the fact that Chaos Space Marines have been tickling the back of my mind for a few weeks now, and I took a look at what I have currently painted for my original CSM warband, the Marines Malcontent (they're just not happy!), and found that with the addition of just 3 Legionaries models I could field a whole extra unit of them, by repurposing the 7 older Chosen models I have as one unit of 5 and 2 leftover. Adding 3 more would bring the total to 10, or two 5-man squads, which I would be able to field with the Chaos Lord and Master of Executions (formerly Exalted Champion) I also have painted currently. So, the plan at the moment is to go home today, dig out my CSM, and get started on building 3 of them to paint this week.

I could also stand to get back to hobby-related reading, as well. I've been in the middle of the Mortarion novel from the Primarchs series for entirely too long without continuing it. That's not to mention the backlog of White Dwarf issues and campaign books I have yet to really dig into.