James WRR’s Rank & File 4: Termination ritual, activated

The Battle Brothers stood to attention on the sprawling deck of the barge. Whether one looked left or right, they would see nothing but a line of silver-clad Space Marines stretching off into the distance, mechanical cherubim floating above them swinging braziers of incense

Donovan stood shoulder to shoulder with his brothers in arms, gently rocking the weight of his holy Bolter from hand to hand. They would be making planetfall soon enough, disgorging a mass of ceramite-clad butchers onto the woe-begotten wretches below.

But first, there must be a revery. The holy order to which he belonged was steeped in tradition, though he admitted he would rather be steeped in unholy blood than standing in line for a parade.

First came the servitors, scuttling on hydraulic legs and bearing the armoured sarcophaguses of fallen brothers. Then came the Chaplains of the 666th chapter, skull-faced and dour, reeking of candle fat. Then came the Veterans, each dragging behind them chained apostates and heretics, ready to be sacrificed in the name of the Emperor. 

Finally, behind that screaming mass, came the Terminators. Donovan could feel their footsteps before he could see them. Towering even over the tallest of his Battle Brothers, the Tactical-Dreadnought-armoured practically glowed in the harsh mercury lamplight of the barge. Each bore a gun-barrel staff, still cold but ready to burn into life with the flick of a finger.

There was silence in the hall as they lumbered passed. Donovan felt pride in his chapter’s strength… but also an unfamiliar feeling. Something like… envy. 

“Slick bastards. That could be my armour,” he thought, “my staff.”

Donovan stared down at his Bolter. Counted the scratched-in kill markings. He noted the distinct lack of honours on his armour. At least compared to the titans before him.

“I’ve done my time. I’ve slain so many for the Emperor. It’s not fair.”

Donovan was frozen in his train of jealous thought by the feeling of cold metal against the back of his head. A refreshing feeling. A real feeling. 

“Brother Donovan,” came the stern, sterile voice behind him. “Feeling ungrateful of your assigned role?”

Like his augmented brothers, Donovan knew not fear. In usual circumstances. He had stared down warpbeasts, descended through the atmosphere of alien planets in Drop Pods, survived months alone in ruined cities after seeing his squadmates torn apart around him. But the voice behind him sent a shiver down his half-metal spine.

He felt the cold metal barrel leave his neck and slip silently back into the darkness. He stood a little straighter, feeling as proud as he possibly could of the Terminators, thinking happy thoughts. 

“We can but… aspire.” He forced the thought. There were eyes to see all around, into his mind, and ears to hear. He gave the venerable brothers their due respect. 

______________________

This has been the month I’ve been waiting for — a chance to paint those beautiful Rogue Trader Grey Knights Terminators. 

We all know the best way to get through your army’s chaff is to give yourself a big reward at the end, right? 

Terminators and Arbites, ready to terminate the heretics

When I first saw these ancient Terminators, I was absolutely blown away. The level of crisp detail across every millimetre of armour is really technically impressive, especially in comparison to other miniatures of the time. I particularly like the lightning bolt motives and impaled books that would later become the official Grey Knights icon.

These fine fellows are also armed with super radical gun-staves that would come to define the Adeptus Custodes. Because, back in the day, you couldn’t really get more elite on the Imperium side of the table, and we all know that sharp shooty sticks are the badge of honour among gene-enhanced soldiers.

(Un)holy warriors march forth

The only downside to this squad is that there’s only one sculpt, so repetition is unavoidable. However, I think it sort of ends up in their favour, making them appear as really disciplined, shining exemplars in comparison to the scrappy freaks that make up the rest of my army. 

Though they might all look quite similar, each is an individual

To top off this squad, of course I had to paint up their Captain as well. 

Sadly, the copy I was able to find didn’t come with his ballistic force sword (again, now part of the Custodes’ schtick), so I decided to make do with another force staff. Flipping it around, in a stabbing motion, sets him apart from his squad on the table — if the heraldic tilting shield doesn’t do the job.

Captain, hunter, killer

The scheme the for these guys isn’t going to be unfamiliar to anyone that has been following this army as it grows. But I have added plenty more gold.

The best gold, I’ve found, is often just silver (with a little glaze of yellow or brown, of course). The gold elements on these models were drybrushed up to a bright silver then hit with a thin layer of Snakebite Leather Contrast. A touch of bright Scale Colour gold finished them off nicely. I did add a tiny bit of verdigris and rust to choice parts of the armour to grunge them up a bit.

I love ggggoooooooooooollllldd

To add visual interest, I painted some subtle purple veins into the grips of the staves and then coated them in gloss to look as if they’re made out of obsidian, or some sort of magical marble.

The blades of these weapons were painted to look so hot they’re molten. It was all the rage in Newhammer painting circles a year or two ago! 

To achieve this effect, I followed the usual recipe for flames, starting from white and then quickly wet-blending outwards into yellow, orange and, finally, red. To finish off the molten look, I used a small bit of sponge to apply some dappled black — the oxidised, crackling metal that’s straining under the raw power charging through it.

We. Are. The LAW!

But the Termies weren’t the only models on my table this month. Filling out my Rank & File quota is a squad of Adeptus Arbites, represented here by Wargames Foundry’s ex-Citadel Empirical Absolution and Liquidation Squad.

The charmingly goofy poses and proportions of early Citadel sculpts are on full display here. As is the not-quite-so-subtle “homages” to 2000 A.D. I thought it was only right to lean into that, giving them proper Judge uniforms. I like that this scheme makes them stand out a lot from the rest of the army, while details like the red gun casings and yellow lenses still tie them in.

We can’t forget, though, despite their lovely, nostalgic uniforms: All Arbites are Bastards.

"Daemons can't hurt me. Not in my protective sphere."

______________________

Army list as of March

Captain Torkamadus
Grey Knight Terminator Captain | Hero
Tactical Dreadnought Armour
Nemesis Force Weapon

Psychic Mastery Level 4
450 points

Techmarine Tarantus
Techmarine
Basic equipment
Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle
97 points

Squad Deza
Grey Knight Terminator Tactical Squad
1 Sergeant and 4 Marines in Tactical Dreadnought Armour

5 Nemesis Force Weapons

Psychic Mastery Level 4
1,200 points

Brother Bethor
Deredeo Dreadnought
Missile Launcher, Heavy Plasma Gun
Standard Sensor Package, 2 Power Fields, Power Field Synchroniser
270 points

Squad Heliod
Tactical Squad
Sergeant with Bolt Gun, Bioscanner and Power Glove
1 Marine with Missile Launcher
1 Marine with Flamer

7 Marines with Bolt Guns
275 points

Bright Sword
Rhino APC with Techmarine Pilot, assigned to Squad Heliod
2 Bolt Guns
387 points

Riot Corps
Adeptus Arbites Squad
1 Magister with Bolt Pistol and basic equipment

5 Judges with Bolt Pistols and basic equipment
102 points

Squad Apollo
Devastator Squad
Sergeant with Bolt Gun
2 Marines with Beamers
2 Marines with Heavy Bolters

5 Marines with Bolt Guns
379 points

Slaaneshchild's beasty boys, rank and file month 4, April

Hello everyone ! We have seen last month some old Ral Partha miniatures and some Metal Magic beauties, let's continue this way for this month. Trying to mix as many range of miniatures in the same regiment as possible !

I started with my beastmen. I had some very old citadel miniatures, but also some others from other ranges like Cthulhu's Metal Magic (Dunwich Horror), Knighmare miniatures, and Grenadier Miniatures.

Once all fixed on the right base and all put side by side, they are all good to me :)

 

I also mixed miniatures that are technically not beastmen, like orcs, goblourd, and even 2 barbarians but I think they look cute all together, don't they ? 

Master !!! We are coming !!! 

Behold ! the first, the original chaos spawn (4th miniature starting by the left)

Did you noticed the horse had 6 legs ? The sacred number !!! 

Then I had more time so I painted some furies. You will recognize easily the GW's ones, but also some Metal Magic's Dunwich Horrors and finaly 2 harlequin squig like creatures... I recruit them all !!  

Basically now I am done with troops !! So next month will be about characters and maybe my baggage train. Will see ! 

Points value : 

20 beastmen, shields and hand weapons, light armours. Musicians and standard bearer :  264 pts

7 furies ;                                                                                                                                105 pts

Total for April : 369 pts

See you next month ! It gonna be nasty !

"Death from above !!!!" Slaaneshchild's flying month 3 : rank and file

Soooo

New month. New unit. New models. 

I was keeping secretly this amazing box from Ral Partha, "the Draconians". It is an old treasure I have seen in my childhood many times, and I never succeed to get it.

Fortunately, I put my hairy hands on a box in a second hand store at a fair price (35€), I was going to achieve a goal I had since my childhood, how fantastic !

I wanted to do something new, with different colours. I am tired of painting everything in pink :) So I imagined them as kin of a Red Drake.

In game, I will play them as furies. I might create my own rules, to make a regiment of renom, I will see.

Here they come, the Astharogh's offsrping : 

I finished them early, so I decided to paint another regiment. I worked on my ungors/lesser beastmen/chaos thugs. Those miniatures are from Metal. Magic's range. 

I was truly and pleasantly surprised by the quality of these figurines. The sculpting is fine—not too detailed, yet full of creativity—and very realistic. I had so much fun painting them. I hope you will enjoy them too !! 

Beware the chaos leprechaun !!! 

And of course, I want to share you the music that has been with me all month long, and that inspired me so much, the infamous and almighty French Black Metal band, Blessed in Sin ! "Par le sang du Christ"

Look at this album cover, isn't it all about Slaanesh beastmen and minotaurs ??? 

So this month I painted :

10 furies ........................ .............................................................................. 150 pts

24 ungors/chaos thugs with shields and full command ............................... 156 pts

Total : 306 pts !! 

Next month, furies again and beastmen !!! 

Cheers guys !! 

CopperOracle II. 6. Wrap-up

The Severed Hand Orcs and King F'yar

My second OWAC and this one was far more of a  uphill struggle than my first one. Real world distractions and a loss of mojo kept the challenge quite heavy for the majority. My own added pressure of not wanting to compromise and thinking about all the extras I wanted to get to ended up getting to much and I had to just stop and reset. focusing on a couple of other figures to clear myself and then coming back to just focus on what was needed each month helped a lot as well as the boost from seeing the force come together. 

Looking back over it all and what I have achieved I am happy, I had not done as much as I had planned but I have not compromised on what I have done and they can take pride of place next to the rest of the collection and brought me a big step towards its completion. OWAC did what is does and I have painted far more than I would have done without it!

I will certainly be back for next year, either with some Slann or another Bloodbath force, though it will be either the humans or the elves to give a bit of variety! 

Hagar Sheol

Hagar Sheol and King F'yar

The Full Severed Hand Horde!

The Bloody Fingers, Lesser Goblins

Hobhound handler Grashak Kra

Hobhounds

Orc Archers

Severed Hand Orcs alongside the Vile Rune Tribe

The obligatory Ansell Pose

Graeme's Skaven - July - Wrap-up

Graeme's Skaven  (266.5 points)

Wow, six months have flown past!

It's been a proper challenge this year. It started with indecision about which army to go for, and included some dips in motivation, severely limited hobby time due to work, and the usual amount of procrastination. Starting to paint with magnifying lenses really helped my eyes, but slowed down my painting when I realised how much detail I had been missing...

While I'm glad to have finished, I really scraped through on the bare minimum of models, and let's not even start on points value...

My plans were much grander, and I just don't feel this year's effort is up to the standard I was aiming for, or really completed - there are loads of details I want to redo, and I still didn't get round to painting up their shields, due to a silly amount of work in the last month.

Still, it's another dent in the pile of shame. I'm a step closer to fielding a proper Skaven army. Progress is progress!

Anyway, here's the end result:

So the final tally is 42 figures, broken down into:

1 Warpweaver level 10 Wizard, armed with a spear - 82 points
15 Clanrats, armed with a hand weapon, spear and (still not done) shield - 97.5 points
15 Skavenslaves, armed with a hand weapon and spear - 45 points
5 Clanrats, armed with a hand weapon and light armour and (still not done) shield - 30 points

6 Giant Rats, armed with malice and evil intentions - 12 points

Which is a whopping 266.5 points in total! I'm lucky this was a special edition of OWAC, or I would have been resting gently and deeply in the field of bones!

Thoughts of OWAC VII are already floating around in my head. I've got to try to come up with a realistic and less grand plan if I'm going to take part next year. I came up with a list of options for armies and the popular vote in the OWAC group pointed to extemely Oldhammer-esque candidates of either Slann or Norse. Now I'm not ruling out another last-minute, ill-advised switch to Skaven again, but those are looking like the strongest contenders so far. Some test models are in the pipeline!

I've also got plans for the next 'special edition' OWAC, which involves a Rogue Trader theme. So the summer months should be busy, prepping as many figures as I can.

Massive congratulations to the challengers who managed to finish the challenge. I'm incredibly impressed with the number of challengers who go above and beyond, with not only well-painted armies, but also huge quantities of figures (and scenery)! I'm envious, but also inspired! Keep it up!

Bondage and wrap-up with Slaaneshchild - Wrap up post !!

 So here it comes, the final bondage, the cherry on the cake, the wrap-up post !

As complained, I (really) tried to make some nice banners as I am supposed to be not so bad at drawing, but it was a huge fail. Not really about the drawing in itself, but the paper I used was to hard, the painting was ugly too, and the banners were really too big compared to the miniatures.

So unfortunately, I cancelled this "project" and decided to make my wrap-up pictures with the help of my girlfriend.

I am pretty happy with the result, it seems so much in less than six months ! And the terrains were painted in the same time, I surprise myself :D

The horde is so big it was hard to capture in one picture,  but of course I made detailed pictures too.

Behold my mignons !!!

Speaking of army list and points :

2 daemon Princes : 555 pts

1 princess on palanquin : 160 pts

23 dark elves witches : 276 pts

6 chaos knights : 480 pts

6 centaurs (marauders horsemen) : 198 pts

18 chaos marauders with additionnal weapon : 234 pts

12 dark elf scouts : 156 pts

4 dark elf assassins : 224 pts

1 heroïne on war hydra : 357 pts

1 heroïne on cold one : 142 pts

3 chaos trolls : 135 pts

3 dragon ogres : 264 pts

12 mounted daemonettes : 720 pts

6 fiends of slaanesh : 180 pts

12 bestigors : 192 pts

for a grand total of..... 4273 pts !

Plus trees, temples, hills etc.... 

More pictures !! 

Beware the attack of the dachshund of Slaanesh

True Evil Wrap-Up Posture 

Princess on Palanquin and followers

And... As this project is the same army I started in OWAC IV, I decided to picture as well "the complete army", with the miniatures from OWAC IV (yeah I am very jealous of Mariano so I try to do the same !)

Remember this horror ? MOUahahaha

Legionnaires on Slaanesh steeds

chaos warriors and beastmen

the mighty Kegoxx

the altar of flesh

My precious !!

I hope you like them !! Next year, I am struggling with different projects: 

- continuing this one (I have tons of miniatures to paint)

- painting a Nurgle army (they are waiting in my boxes)

- painting a renegade imperial guard dedicated to Slaanesh (but I think I will paint them this year this semester)

- building a renegade for of random miniatures for Warhammer. Like one sorcerer with skeletons, some goblins, some humans... could be fun too ! 

Cheers !! 

Slaaneshchild.