# Kill for the living, kill for the dead.



## Blissful Brushes (Aug 17, 2013)

Upon a request from Jacobite, (which I'll take as a compliment ) I have started this thread here so I say hello to all the Heresy Online veterans (please be nice). 
Be warned, this thread will start with a wall of text, but there are pictures at the bottom!! This will be a fluff-oriented army, so reading it is worth it (in my opinion anyway, but I suppose I would say that as I wrote it...)

_Here exists the last surviving transcript of the interrogation of Captain Cato, of the 14th Company, the 'Exiles' of the Luna Wolves, later Sons of Horus._

0.144.007M31
Terra, The Imperial Palace, Khangba Marwu
Interrogation Room Alpha
Subject: Captain Lucius Aelius Cato,
Legio XVI,
OC 14th Company.

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_Record begins._
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“Start interview”, a vox-horn in the corner of the room rasped as a shadowy figure entered the interrogation room, his bulk obvious being covered by a dark set of robes.
“What is your name?” he questioned his charge, an even bigger man, stripped down to a loin cloth, hands chained to the table, legs chained to the chair.
As this man looked up for the first time the interrogator got a feeling of how mortal men felt in the wake of an astartes war. Stripped of his armour, starved with hunger, wounded, he was still defiant, still unbroken, and still one of the most terrifying beings that he had seen in the flesh.
Oh, everyone had heard the legends: they could take bullets without flinching, rip apart man and machine alike; but to see one in the flesh, it was all brought home at once. The only reason that this interrogator, this Inquisitor was still alive, was because the astartes had not deigned to kill him.
In a voice, surprisingly soft, yet laden with authority and menace the astartes replied.
“I am Captain Lucius Aelius Cato of the 16th, who are you?” He asked curiously.
The interrogator leaned forward, a crest upon his chest becoming visible in the light, displaying a stylised ‘I’, the symbol of his order. “I am a servant of the Emperor and the Sigillite, I am Inquisitor Luis de Aliaga, and you are not Captain anymore, Cato, you are traitor.”
Cato snorted shaking his head.
Ignoring this interruption, Aliaga pressed on, “what I am here to establish, is how you fell from the light of the Emperor, how did over one million astartes forget their oaths to mankind and fall in with the madman that Horus has become?”
“We betrayed nothing. There was nothing to betray, we had already been betrayed.” Cato said bitterly.
Shocked, Aliaga asked, “how can you even say that?”
Bitterness was once more strong in his voice, “I wasn’t at Isstvan, Three or Five, none of us were. We were long ago cast from the light of Horus, before he even became Warmaster. I have not seen my father in over ninety years, you think that I would break my oath to the Emperor, because of a father who cast me out?”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Let me speak to the Lord Dorn, he knows I am true. I fought for the Warmaster and the Emperor for over two centuries, they have taken my blood, my youth, and the lives of my men. The Emperor showed me gratitude, respect, so to did Dorn. What has Horus shown me in return? Only the next world to bring to compliance, I owe the Warmaster nothing. Dorn is more my father than Horus.”
“The Lord Dorn is busy, I will suffice, he will hear the recording before judgement is reached. Start from the beginning.”

+++
_Record ends._
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_Record begins._
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“I have been there since the beginning, from Terra,” the captain said, his face suffused with pride. ‘I was there at the rebirth of the company, and I was there when the 14th was restored to the honour rolls in the Imperial Palace. I am Lucius Aelius Cato, former champion of the Second, captain of the 14th, the exiled Sons of Horus.
The inquisitor paused, wondering how best to frame his next question without causing offence. Despite the fact that Astartes were born mortal their training, their longevity and survivability had dramatically distanced them from the human genome: they were a race apart now, whether they wished it or not. This, combined with the tight bonds of brotherhood that formed within the Legions made sensitive topics potentially dangerous, even to an armed Inquisitor facing a bound captive.
“Why were the Fourteenth known as the ‘Exiles’?” The Inquisitor tentatively asked.
“Why are the Fourteenth know as the Exiles you mean. We still survive, no matter how few of us remain.” Cato said, leaning forward into the light, revealing his aquiline face, displaying a nobility that was lacking in many of the legions. “The Fourteenth are known as the Exiles because they turned.”
“Turned? What do you mean?”
“World 07.06, about a year after Horus took command, back when I was still in the second. Ridge Alpha 24,6 was the lynchpin in the line. If it was broken the greenskins would have cut the spearhead in half. The 14th were strong in defence, that was why Horus gave it to them.” Cato shook his head, “but they ran, we never found out why.”
“Me and a few squads of the Second closed the gap, just. Out of the full 14th, eight stood their ground, the rest ran, and most died in the rout. I took one hundred brothers into the gap with me.”
The bitterness in his voice at this point was clear, even to a mortal. “I took thirteen away, eighty seven sons of Terra dead for a coward. We held until the second wave arrived, but the campaign was over for us, most of us couldn’t stand, let alone fight.”
“And then? Astartes aren’t known for running, or mercy for that matter.” The inquisitor asked, his tablet forgotten on the table as he listened to Cato’s reminiscence.
Cato laughed, a deep bass rumble, “Tarik had to be pulled off the captain, Kreedan, once the rest got back to the ship. Horus summoned us; the survivors and the cowards of the fourteenth...

+++
_Record ends._
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My current proxy Praetor - an experiment in wet-blending I did a while ago, not sure what general opinions of it are, I'm reasonably happy for a first try, but I think it could be a lot better.








The army as it stands, a lot of work with regards to painting, and another 40+ models left to build.
















These are the WIPs of the sergeant, pretty chuffed with it, needs a bit of tidying up though.


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Below are some WIP's to prove I'm still working on things! This is one of Cato's Centurions, commanding the third century. The body is from a Sang. Guard as is probably obvious, but has been de-bloodified (if that's a word). Then there's a Nuncio-Vox helm with a GS plume - that was a very painful process I have to add..Sword is a Grey Knight one, and the pistol is from the CSM box. I'll be adding various other bits and bobs to him to represent his time spent away from the legion.
That was also the first ever (successful-ish) airbrushed sword I've done so it's a tad shaky, but it's a hell of a lot better than my first attempt. Advice would be appreciated should there be any airbrush ninjas among the forum.
I've also been working on my Golden Demon entry, I decided that as I'm going to Games Day this year (assuming I can get off an exercise a day early) I may as well enter! First Cut is the target: I know full well that I'm not good enough for any silverware. I may put up some images in a couple of days once the legs set. 


























C&C is always welcome! I like to know where to improve, what's good and what's not etc.


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

Thanks for making the leap over Brushes, as I said in the pm nice start to the log with the fluff, it's got me interested. I like the wet blending on the body of the Preator, not so sure about the PF though. The white on the Centurion looks a little flat, dirty but flat, not entirely sure what you could do about it though. Maybe try a black wash and then go over it again with a couple of thin layers of white before going for the mud. Or maybe try for some of that wet blending again?

The sword looks good! I'm very scared to try that style with my airbrush atm, but got to be in to win!


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## Blissful Brushes (Aug 17, 2013)

*Planetary Designation: 22.04 "Kaevacha", Southern Peninsula.*
+++_
Record begins._
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All animals possess one basic survival instinct: the fight or flight response, this is a response to danger on a primal level. This is what I feel now; heightened to a level incomprehensible to an un-modified human, a non-astartes. After all, I was born for war, bred to fight and trained to kill. I possess the robust physique of an astartes, the unique equipment of the legions. All to kill in the name of the Emperor.
There is no fear, it is anathema to me.
There is a roaring in my ears, it is the sound of war. It comes in many forms: the staccato wine of small arms fire; the deeper boom of bolter fire; the deep thud of artillery. Most of all, however, war is screaming. The sound of men being unmade in the most brutal way possible, being rent limb from limb by beings wielding blades the length of a human as if they were made of matchwood.
It should horrify anybody, instil their flight response to the fullest. In me and my kind it does not: it instils the fight response and floods the body with adrenaline.
This is my purpose in life.
"10 seconds." A vox-horn chimes in the hull of the land raider, breaking through my reverie. With a feral grin befitting anyone sired by Horus I draw my axe, checking its edge on my thumb, knowing it will be sharp, that it will never let me down, even when my sire and liege lord had.
This is it.
The ramp drops with a clang.
And I'm through. Back into the crucible of war. Screaming incoherently I charge forward; my command squad barely able to keep pace.
"Good hunting brothers, kill for the living!" I yell, barely hearing their roared reply.
I shimmy away from the first blow, a panicked swing from a bayonet, while simultaneously cleaving the housecarl from shoulder to groin; taking out my anger and bitterness with every blow of my axe.
My renowned skill as a champion of the legion was nothing compared to my butcher's rage.
I fight like this for what feels like forever, my body tiring as surely as the sun is setting, screaming with rage, screaming with pain as I feel my body failing. I am brought from the brink by a sharper pain: a blade through the back of my knee, and as I fall, one pierces the side of my neck.
Never have I fallen so far before. Fell so close to oblivion, to damnation, to despair. I had sought to win back my pride and honour in this war and achieved only more shame. I am a pale shade of the warrior that I once was.
I have been brought back, from the threshold, though not by my father. The one who carried my broken body back to the apothecarion was not my father. My exiled brothers saved by body. Most importantly, the one whounderstood when I was brought into his presence after the action, sheeted in the blood of the guilty and innocent alike was not my father.
It was Dorn. Rogal Dorn, lord of the Imperial Fists.

+++
_Record ends._
+++​ @Jacobite: Thanks mate! With regards to the white, it's a bit washed out - still experimenting with the camera. Turns out that Flash + lightbox isn't great for white at all!!

Here's the Vexilla of the III squad of First Century, as shown on the vexilla. The Black stripe down the helmet denotes the veteran century, while the small "I" in the skull of the vexilla shows his Cohort.
I have since added some barbed wire, static grass and highlighted and repainted the base rim.



















Any Comments/Criticism and questions are more than welcome!
-- Blissful Brushes --


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

Looking good, very nice fluff. I have two suggestions in regards to the mini, first of all, black rim the base just to give it that finished look (that's my personal preference however ), secondly I would probably give the chain bayonet a little more gore. It is after all a chainsword! Nice to see you back btw


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## JAMOB (Dec 30, 2010)

Holy fucking shit in a bag of dicks that's a damn nice intro. Sorry, I'm feeling rather bitchy tonight - Nurgle paid me a visit last night...

Regardless, nice minis and nice writing!


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## KahRyez (Sep 7, 2010)

I like your fluff for your army, it always seems to bring the minis more to life when you add fluff to them. Can't wait to see more you write and paint.


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## Blissful Brushes (Aug 17, 2013)

@Jacobite: Thanks, I agree with the bases, since those photos it has been changed to black, and I'll add more gore - I was very cautious about not drenching the model and ruining my hard work!!
@JAMOB: Thanks  And Nurgle always wins :/
@KahRyez: Cheers mate, and it adds that bit to them that allows you to endure painting white! Check out the link below for more fluff 

For those of you who are interested in fluff, there are the beginnings of a fairly lengthy story called "Exile" 

Having recently started a small Imperial Guard army and being very unsatisfied with the stock Cadian models I examined my Luna Wolves. For the Guard I’ve played about with their proportions to make them a bit less clunky, as a result they’re about 2mm higher. This makes them the about the same height as GW marines, and a smidgen taller than some of the FW marines.
As such I started looking around at bringing my marines more in line with the canon - they’re supposed to tower over their human counterparts. So mine now do. 
This is the test model, The head’s a bit more in proportion, the arms are the right length (though possibly a bit thin, need feedback on that one!!) and the thighs are a bit longer.
So, without further ado:









































Any questions, comments or criticism is more than welcome!


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

Love that Storm Shield, how's it made? Also how are you sticking on your brass etch? I also end up getting superglue everywhere with mine. Bloody nice work.


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## Blissful Brushes (Aug 17, 2013)

@Jacobite: I dry fit it to the pad then squash it around the pad as best I can with the flat of a blade or metal shaper, then superglue and I GS around the edges to smooth it off. I can make a tutorial for the shields later if you're interested.

Proper update later tonight I hope!


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## Ddraig Cymry (Dec 30, 2012)

Very nice work! Your green stuff work is wonderful.


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

A Tut for the shields would be awesome!


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## Blissful Brushes (Aug 17, 2013)

@Ddraig Cymry: Thank you very much  Just the painting then lol @Jacobite: The tutorial's a'comin'! It'll be in the next update 

_The warriors of the legions are the Emperor's ultimate soldiers. They are drawn from the hardest walks of life while they are still children and turned into super-humans. When I first saw them, hundreds of them, massive in their plate, ranked before their leader it was the first time I felt true fear. It is images like this that are spread by the Remembrancers to demonstrate the glory of the Imperium.
What they should show is a single legionary on the field, bleeding from a dozen wounds, his armour cracked, his blade notched, but still able to deliver death on a scale that half a company of un-augmented humans would struggle to match. That is the true grandeur of the legions. Warriors not indestructible, but willing to take such punishment for the Emperor's cause without a thought for their own protection. Never before have I seen such courage and power, nor felt such an overwhelming fear of being caught in their path.
They truly are the Angels of Death._








Luna Wolves XIV Company, Assault Squad IV. Fully painted, just needs a decent photo from a now non-existant light box...all I want for Christmas...

As ever, any comments, criticism or questions are more than welcome!!​


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

Looking very good there Bliss, nice and bloody. I'll give your new fluff a read through tonight by the way.


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## Blissful Brushes (Aug 17, 2013)

@Jacobite: It turns out that the tutorial isn't on its way...I packed up my stuff for Christmas and haven't unpacked the box with the shield WIPs in yet lol! I'll finish it though, I promise!

Happy New Year everyone!! (tomorrow's close enough)

These are the WIPs of my next Luna Wolf. Anyway, onto the juicier stuff, here's the images. I'm hopefully going to get some paint onto him tomorrow after I tidy up a few things on here and find my airbrush compressor...

























If anyone is curious as to how something was achieved, don't hesitate to ask; any comments, questions or criticism are more than welcome.


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## Ddraig Cymry (Dec 30, 2012)

Nice, that posing is excellent! What kit did the axe come from?


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

Awesome work as usual, have you added height to those legs? And also how does one loose a air compressor?


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## Dakingofchaos (Sep 29, 2009)

I love this log! Excellent blend of fluff and modelling. A small niggle for me is on your model with the airbrushed sword, the wrist looks off at a wrong angle to me; I feel like the guard on the sword is too long for his hand.


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## Blissful Brushes (Aug 17, 2013)

@Ddraig Cymry: It is from the Sanguiniary Guard set. The arms are the from the two-handed axe part (the one with the double headed axe), while the head is from the standard power axe that comes in the box. Lovely power weapons in there, even more useful if you can get rid of the myriad Blood Angels symbology that cover the damn things.

@Jacobite: How does one lose an air compressor? Such a silly question if you knew me! I took it home for Christmas from uni, then Dad tidied up, and I found it in the garage loft the next day :/ As far as the Marine goes, I've added some height to the legs and to the chest. Roughly a 2mm spacer at the top of each thigh, then 2mm at the abdomen, and 2mm either side of the chest and between the chest plates to broaden it.

@Dakingofchaos: Thanks a lot!! Rest assured that there will be more fluff on the way, it's just that the majority of my writing is being dominated by this thing I call a pain in the... while many others may refer to it as a dissertation. As far as the wrist goes, I see your point, though at that stage it was just stuck on with wet GS to pose roughly and it had fallen a bit, and ye, I wasn't overly happy with the guard either but I wasn't in the mood to play about with it at the time!!

Here's a scale shot between the marine and a Vostroyan IG (I don't possess any of the stock Cadians that people always seem to use for scale shots, not built at any rate). As you can see the top of where his head would be if you ignore the bearskin and the raised base of the marine is mid-upper chest. This is what I personally imagine a marine's proportions to be like, if anyone has any thoughts/comments with regards to this please put them to me. If there are any glaring issues I'd prefer that they were rectified as of marine numero 3 rather than someone saying 'oh by the way...' when I'm three squads in!









Oh, and this is the PIP of the marine incase anyone was wondering. I tried some zenithal highlighting with the airbrush, I'm not sure how it's gone, so I'll have to wait for the finished piece for a true verdict, but it does seem a bit stark at the moment, though perhaps that's because of the pose not allowing much of the model to the light.

I'll have the WIPs of my Khorne Daemon Prince up tomorrow, he's in a delicate stage at the moment and I didn't want to move him.

If anyone has any questions, comments, criticism (but not a gag order!!) please fire away!!! It helps a lot to focus projects down to the nitty gritty.
-Blissful Brushes-


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## Blissful Brushes (Aug 17, 2013)

Wow, it's been a while! I've not really done much in the way of Luna Wolves really, and my Ultramarines are a bit too close to post-Heresy to be anywhere but off-topic on this board.
Though I am thinking of Heresying them up, with the odd piece of MkVI being the highest armour denomination, and the rest just being Greenstuffed from the standard tactical box-sets, just because I like 30k too much...but I also want them to be First Company...dilemma!

Onto a couple of bits that I've been doing in my hiatus from this log then..

I got my mate back home to take a decent photo of the first completed Luna Wolf, and he certainly looks better in a decent photograph! I've written some fluff for him too, because I'm procrastinating (this essay is hurting..)

_It’s been a while I’ve been this exhausted, I thought wryly as I bisected yet another soldier. That said, I suppose, as I mused to myself, it has been a while since I fought another marine outside the cages.
It was over in in a few short seconds, the rush of ex-Imperial Army soldiers petering out as they met our blades and bullets, my recently repainted pearly white armour awash with blood and smoke.
It was then that the fight would begin again in earnest. We all knew this. The soldiers hadn’t stopped coming because they’d lost momentum. They’d stopped coming because their mission was to hold us up. It was our mobility that was causing the traitors so much trouble. Even now, after having heard the reports of Isstvan it was hard to believe, hard to call warriors who had been our brothers enemy. Harder yet to believe that they were camped outside our city walls attempting to lay waste to all that we held dear.
Now they came for us. Warriors of Iron. The Fourth. A melancholy breed indeed, but good in a fight. They die hard. Out of all of the legions, other than the World Eaters, it was the Fourth who surprised me least, they were always bitter, always angry. They were given the bad jobs and Perturabo wasn’t popular, always overlooked, mocked. It ground at their spirit, and then Olympia…we’d all heard about that.
They moved with perfect economy, bolters sweeping around corners, grenades thrown through entrances, Salamander, Iron Hand and Raven Guard kill trophies hanging from their belts, keen to add the Luna Wolves to their collections.
“Steady lads, give ‘em a volley then get your iron into them.” Sergeant Artos spoke confidently down the vox. “You know the drill.”
As they rounded that last corner we were waiting for them.
“Fire!” Artos roared.
Three fell, dead. One dropped wounded, his arm seared clean by a melta gun.
“Into them Venatores, for the Emperor and the honour of the legion!”
I took the first shot onto my chest, knocking me back with a wince of pain. Then I was among them, goring my blade up through the groin cabling of the first, my oath of moment flapping in the wind. I felt the blood wash up my chest. A quick squeeze of my blade’s trigger cleaned it of the detritus of war: mangled ceramite and muscle. The next came for me, with a short-hafted siege axe, his bolter empty.
I took the blow onto my shield, allowing the softer metal to catch and hold the head while I butted him and twisted my arm away from him. My other hand released the chainsword and reached for his belt, drawing and stabbing him through the throat in less time than it takes to tell. I was screaming, my face awash with blood as I wrenched the dagger out of his body.
Then, silence. Just the eerie whistle of the wind blowing away the smell of cordite and blood.
Twenty short seconds had left twelve dead marines, two of ours. Ten of theirs.
As I crouched by the dying Iron Warrior, sucking in oxygen I gasped, “welcome to Aesir traitor.”

+++
Siege of Aesir
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​
Since this model a lot has happened with regards to how I approach truescaling. From now onwards the chest will be a little bit smaller, and the legs, specifically the thighs, will be broader (everyday's a leg day!) because a lot of the comments that I've had have been that he needs to get squatting a bit more, so squat he shall!

For the marines I have that are on foot, I will be organising them into a Reaver army, and with the advent of this unbound malarky, I should be able to field some nice fluffy lists without having to have the two least mobile HQ choices holding up my line (Malgohurst, and a Master of Signals; neither of which can jump pack, or do what I want). 
The next FW order that I make will depend entirely on whether I have a job for one, and if I do, how feasible it is to truescale Bikes. If it is, I want 60 Outriders.

I've been working on two reavers then. The first is a fairly run-of-the-mill MkIV, though I need to see how he shapes up bulk-wise to the second.



















The second is modelled on the Massacre Artwork on the Reavers' page:









This is my current progress on it. As yet, I'm a bit stuck on how to proceed with the Eye of Horus in the middle. I was thinking of a crescent moon perhaps.


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## Blissful Brushes (Aug 17, 2013)

Right then, so it's been quite a while since I've done anything to this blog; much of the modelling that I have done has been fairly minimal and not really worth writing or photographing to be honest.

Now that I've got to get 600 points built and painted for a campaign at the end of September I've got back into the swing of things with 10 marines at various stages of completion. I present to you today the first of said marines.

Proportionally, this is what I'm settling with. The legs have been bulked up as suggested, and I've built up the arms so that the look a little bit less spindly. Whether I do anything with the hands remains to be seen. I'm personally not in favour of resculpting/buying a load of GK terminator hands to use because it'll be a right pain, but if it's necessary, it's necessary.





I've decided that I'd sculpt the lower plates of shoulder armour in because the terminator pad doesn't quite fit as snug as I'd like. To which end, I'll probably have to have a little play to try and make it a bit better. On a practical note, however, the pad would need to be able to move with the shoulder in order to be remotely effective and thus could not be as tight to the rest of the armour as the standard models imply. That's what I'm going with anyway.







On the whole I'm pretty chuffed with it, he looks massive compared to a normal marine/human let alone Tau. My biggest conundrum is basing: 25mm or 40. In gaming terms, is a 40mm ok for PA marines?

List-wise for the campaign my options are pretty limited. What I think is the best option is:

Master of Signal
naked 15 man Tactical Squad. (M.O.S will sit with these and give them his signum for the +1 BS) - 5BS Fury of the legion
15 man Tactical Squad with vex, vox extra cb weapons, artificer armour
naked Predator

I don't think I can do much with 600, but that's 31 3+ saves and a pred so should be viable if not awesome.
Any modelling/gaming comments, criticism and platitudes are more than welcome! I bid you all good evening


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## Blissful Brushes (Aug 17, 2013)

Here's a scale shot for anyone interested.


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## Blissful Brushes (Aug 17, 2013)

This is my Tactical Squad Sergeant coming along quite nicely now I think. The cape needs some touching up, though for a first go I'm pretty happy with it, a right pain in the...though!











Here he is now, almost ready to paint! Just a bit of tidying up with the cloak to go. Hopefully painting will start sometime next week  Not sure whether or not I should sculpt something over where the cape attaches on his bolted arm though, maybe wrap it so it goes underneath the shield on his right? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!

There will be miracles today it seems...I have been painting! This is something that almost never happens...but I like tanks, it's just getting around to doing it...

This is the first of what is probably going to be an unhealthy fleet of tanks. As you'll see from the pictures there's still a hell of a lot of work to go, the sponsons, heavy bolters and the tracks need some more work as well as the roof and exhausts.















Any comments/criticism and suggestions or questions are more than welcome!!
Until next time I suppose - which, hopefully will be quite soon, getting into it all again now.


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## venomlust (Feb 9, 2010)

Just awesome work, all around. I especially like the axeman. It speaks to me k:.

Your greenstuff work is also impeccable. You make me want to practice my own skills and be able to produce something half as cool!


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## Loli (Mar 26, 2009)

My god, that green stuff..... I'll give you your choice of of any of off-spring I may have


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## Blissful Brushes (Aug 17, 2013)

@venomlust: Thanks, he was a favourite, though, he needs more work :/ Get your tools out!! We all start somewhere.
@Loli: First born please 


Today's update then. I've been doing a bit more painting, this is serving as the test model for my force, so feedback would be nice!









Obviously still a lot to do - weathering powders, the cape and base, and some highlighting. It is, however, a good representation of the sort of style I'm after - dark and gritty. The nasty side of the angels of death.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, hoping he'll be done by the end of the week.

--BB--


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