40k Genestealer Cult - Doting Throng Acolytes painted!

Down with the plague today (a blessing from Grandfather Nurgle no doubt), but managed to get the Acolytes for the Doting Throng completed and sealed, taking advantage of the brief break in the cold weather. Twenty-three more models down, meaning I've now (albeit barely) passed the halfway point with the army. Oof!

I'd built enough models to allow them to be run as two units but for the purposes of the 2500 point force they'll be run as one 20-strong unit of claws, teeth and hand flamers!

As should come as no surprise to anyone, I did pick up a few of the new Thousand Sons plastics (primarily to cannibalize for use with the Heresy models) and couldn't help but assemble Magnus the Red. Once I had him put together I think a better moniker would be Magnus the Huge! He goes on the shelf for now however, next up is some more work on the Imperial Fists terminator squad as a little break from the unending tide of Genestealer cultists...

40k Genestealer Cult - The cult takes the field, and some more Acolytes painting...

Hope our American readers had a lovely Thanksgiving (and the rest of you had an agreeable Thursday)! The days leading up to the holiday were full of non-hobby duties, but I did manage to actually get a game in (GASP) over the following long weekend! No real battle report to relate and just a pair of pics as I got so into the game that I forgot to take any others. Guess that's the sign of an enjoyable game!

 

Threw down against a friend's Crimson Fists, and to my shame my army wasn't fully painted yet. We played with my favorite house rule "Suffer Not The Unpainted To Live" (painted models gain preferred enemy against unpainted models) which is always amusing. Mechanically, painted models SHOULD fight better! That said, the painted models I did have performed admirably, with the First Curse being an absolute buzzsaw of a unit. I actually felt a little dirty with how quickly they chewed through everything they touched. We were playing a Tactical Objectives type game, and the ability for the cult to redeploy willy-nilly meant they pounced on a number of objectives and when the dust settled had won the day. The shadow in the void draws ever closer...

Over the weekend I did feel re-invigorated to get some more cultists painted and banged out the basic colors for the next batch of Acolytes and the Cult Iconward, which make up a third of The Doting Throng. In addition are a spare Acolyte Leader and Cult Icon which will allow me to run them as a pair of 10-man squads instead of the mondo 20-man squad.

In other news, a couple boxes of Forge World goodness have arrived which has lit an additional fire under me to finish off the Genestealer Cult army. I've more or less decided that the models in the Burning of Prospero box don't particularly match the aesthetic of my current Thousand Sons army, and since I do want to build and paint the Custodes and Sisters of Silence (which obviously wouldn't ally with the boys in crimson) some sort of loyalist force was needed. Messing with the dirty yellow on the cult meant that it's time to reprise the Imperial Fists! Holding off on the Custodes/Sisters side until Inferno drops, but thought a tidy little 2000 point force would be reasonable. Going with the Pride of the Legion rite of war, and thought a little 1st Company veterans force would be a fun use for the new plastics (and a tiny model count after this horde nonsense)!

...Yes I absolutely needed to start another project, why do you ask? Heh.

40k Genestealer Cult - Demolition Claw Acolytes and Aberrants complete(ish)!

Working on the Rockgrinders gave me a little breather from the Infantry, but figured I'd take advantage of the warm afternoon after work to finish them off and get them sealed!

Rather pleased with how they've turned out, though I think I need to go back in and do all the pipes on the bases in a far brighter yellow and add hazard stripes. As they stand they're a bit too samey with the scabrous yellow on the trousers. What worked well on the Purestrain bases works slightly less so here...

The Aberrants got the same treatment, and need the same follow-on base treatment, but still I'm quite happy with 'em and am looking forward to getting the force painted enough to warrant a game with 'em!

Spent a little time going over the Rockgrinders and re-blacking in all of the bits intended to be metallic or rubber. Doing so is a bit tedious, but does help the models snap into focus! Really digging how they're coming along, and has me giving more and more thought towards using the plastic Mk.III marines from the recently-released Battle for Prospero box set to make some Imperial Fists to accompany the Custodes and Sisters of Silence. After the fun with this yellow I think it's a foregone conclusion that's what's going to happen!

sldkhf

40k Genestealer Cult - Demolition Claw Acolytes and Aberrants continue...

Quick hit today, got some decent brush time in over the last couple days and laid in the base colors on the cloth and armour on the first batch of Acolytes and the Aberrants - they're starting to come into focus!

I knew I wanted to do a slightly different scheme from the last go-around and settled on a yellow cloth and white armour. Went with some red spot colors on them as well to tie in with the reds on the Purestrains.

Pressed on with the Aberrants as well, this pic shows the oily metallic rather well. Got a few more colors to go on the models themselves, then it's just a matter of finishing off the bases. So far so good!

40k Genestealer Cult - Demolition Claw Acolyte Hybrids painting begins!

Pressing onward with the cult, and moving down through the generations! Now that the purestrains and patriarch are complete I figured I've jump on the 1st and 2nd generation hybrids. While I initially thought I'd just try and bang out all of them at once, I realized that would have been 38 which is way too many to batch paint even for my trusty painting servitor. Instead I decided to stick with the "One detachment at a time" method and pulled out just the 15 hybrids that comprise the infantry portion of the Demolition Claw. I absolutely adore the bomb-chuckers, and added a couple hand-flamers to each unit to dissuade any chargers. I really look forward to them rampaging around the battlefield wreathed in flames and explosions!

Much like the last go-around the skin tones will get lighter and more human as they work their way through the generations. The Acolytes are still fairly purple-y but far lighter than the skin on the purestrains - the miner-style Neophytes will be a step lighter than this, while the pdf brood brothers will be getting an almost human normal skin tone, with just a hint of the purple cast to them (at least that's the plan)!

While I was about it I figured I may as well knock out the four Aberrants as they're broadly of the same generation and get the same skin tones. I really dig these sculpts, they're just chock full of personality. Not sure how effective they'll prove to be on the tabletop with just the four of 'em, but at the very least they'll be a little speedbump!

In other news the Burning of Prospero boxes that I've ordered are scheduled for delivery today, so I'll be hard-pressed to not go haring off back into heresy mode soon...

40k Genestealer Cult - All about that base...

Sorry, sorry. Couldn't help it! Now that the majority of the army is assembled I started thinking about basing. I knew I wanted to do a mineworks sort of theme due to the aesthetic of the cult models, but wasn't able to find anything in resin that I really liked. So making my own it is - I wanted to go a little further than just the usual stones and rubble, and broke out the box of plasticard and tubing to see what I had on hand.

Found some small I-beams that I thought would make for suitable minecart track, and some thin rod that will likely be painted up as some sort of power conduit. Gives the bases a little more personality but doesn't overwhelm the models. So far so good!

 

Moved on to the Patriarch next, and am hoping to get the Purestrains based and get this whole batch primed later today when it warms up a bit - Itching to start painting 'em!

40k Genestealer Cult - Brotherhood of the Argent Coil build begins!

After the marathon painting session I felt it was only proper to get some build time in! I've been kicking around ideas for the Genestealer Cult, and have picked up a number of the new kits as well as pillaged the Closet of Doom for old un-built models which of course means the "small boutique army" has already bloomed up to 2500 points. We'll see if I can maintain at that point level!

Naturally when the army is completed it's going up on the auction block, so I wanted to try to balance a reasonably scary list that's also got a lot of fun units for me to paint. Decided on doing an Insurrection Detachment, picked out some fun-looking formations (and a couple scary-looking ones) and then started building!

I definitely wanted to do a Demolition Claw for the fun aspect of it - a trio of Rockgrinders careening around with dynamite-chucking hybrids holding on for dear life, and knowing my dice luck, blowing themselves to smithereens just as often as the enemy? Yes, please! While I quite like the new Goliath kit, holy throne were they fiddly to assemble! Tons of tiny delicate railings and a couple number mismatches between instruction book and sprues made them pretty challenging - they are rather neat once they're assembled though!

On the scary side of the formations is The First Curse, which is the Patriarch (not yet assembled) and 20 Purestrain Genestealers which, when accompanied by the Patriarch, gain one of several nasty upgrades as well as furious charge, fearless and a couple other special rules to boot. I had a spare copy of Space Hulk in the Closet of Doom, and thought the 'Stealers from that set should do the trick nicely!

Still have to sort out what I'm going to do for the army bases as a whole - Thinking it'll be a mix of mineshaft and rubble, need to rummage through the plasticard and tubing box and see what I can come up with!