Thursday, April 29, 2010

Sanguinary Guard WIP

The Angels are primed and ready to be painted :)

I have done a test mini for the Sanguinary Guard (SG). The painting method is similar but different as the SG seems to have more details, especially the torso area. The other parts of the body armor also can be a bit hard to reach/paint once glued.



The wings appear to be stable through painting once the glue has set, thankfully :)


A test mini. Its still uncomplete and requires more blending. But i generally get the rough idea of how i want them to look. The test mini also helped me to identify the potential areas of highlight and muscle curvature for the rest of the gang.

Just one point to ponder though...

The wings i can tell are good for gliding as they dive in from the skies. But once they reach assault, i think it kinda gets in the way. How do they fight with those huge wings hanging behind? Too much wind resistance for pivoting in close combat lol!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The Sanguinary Guard

Finally managed to assemble the Sanguinary Guard. It surprisingly took a while. The wing assembly was quite precarious and annoying at times haha!



The 5 Sanguinary Guard squad are armed with an Infernos pistol, Power Fist, 3 Angelus Boltguns and 4 Blade Encarmines.

Well, time to get them primed and painted then ;)

Monday, April 26, 2010

Descent of Angels

I have given in to the excellent new miniatures of the Blood Angels....namely the Sanguinary Guard :)

The wife got me a box of them today! And I got Commander Dante here with me as well.

I like small elite armies as can be seen by my Deathwing army. So I have also decided to do a similar elite army for the Blood Angels. The entire army will be just made up of Sanguinary Guard, made possible by Dante. As such, i have started doing some paint work on the noble and long lived commander.


Work has started on Dante's armor and winged motifs, as well as the Axe Mortalis. Pic taken at 2am where i'm at ;P

I will probably be giving him the winged jump pack of the Sanguinary Guard, inspired by the golden figure on the cover of the new BA codex :)

The Blood Wing will consist of three to four groups of 5 Sanguinary Guard, with support from 2-3 jump pack Sanguinary Priest. Not sure if such an army will work, but i am in love with the imagery of golden angels descending from the heavens haha!

For Sanguinius! Oh..and the Emprah!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Quest for (Dwarven) Gold

With the release of the Blood Angels Codex, i could not help but marvel at the excellent NMM Gold painting styles of the 'Eavy Metal Team, especially in White Dwarf 364.

I had wanted to try NMM for a while but have been really daunted. Decided to have a go anyways. I've definitely seen much better NMM than mine LOL! But it was a start for me, and quite fun to figure out all the basics.

I learnt quite a few lessons though and will strive to do better in my next attempt (hopefully).

I had selected yet another well sculpted mini from Reaper. The mini is called Nalila Goldhammer, Female Dwarf Paladin sculpted really well by Tom Mason.

Side View


Front View.



Back View.

I really liked her armor, and find the mini bears a strong theme to that of the eagle. The eagle motifs can be seen in the hammer, greaves, shield and the breastplate wings.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

New Unit & Backstory

I had painted a Space Ranger from EM4 Miniatures in a previous post, and have been using it as my counts as a Tactical Space Marine.

I have just finished another mini from Corvus Belli's Infinity Range. This excellent miniature is from their PanOceania's faction and is known as The Sacred Order of Knights Hospitallers of Saint John of Skovorodino.


I will be using the above to represent counts as Space Marine Scouts :) I have named them Errants. The Errant above is pictured in his full 'combat scout' regalia. He is equipped with close combat weapon, scout armor and bolt pistol. The vanes on his helmet can be counted as teleport homer if i pay the points for one.

The Errant

The Errant will be the lowest rank in the Order, but nonetheless important and most numerous. When not in battle. The Errant is usually garbed in long cloaks without their helmets or tabard. They will however still wear their armor inside.

Errants perform the duties of spies and watchmen in society, always on the lookout for the daemonic and others that plot or do evil. The Errant will then inform their Masters of the ebb and flow of events in the larger universe.

Their role on the battlefield is to scout ahead to determine enemy strength and to take out enemy characters if possible with well placed sniper shots.

Only when the Errant is deemed worthy in deed and spirit can he/she be inducted into the Knights of the Stone. Here the Errant will don his/her new armor and be at the forefront of the Eternal War.


Errant Marcus (front view)


Back view.

I'm still deliberating which Space Marine chapter to use to represent them. But i am tempted by the Blood Angels Codex as most importantly it contains minis which really look like ANGELS (to represent the Elite and HQ of my Knight Order) and secondly, its a NEW codex! ;P

And now some background on the Order written in the wee hours of the night ;)

Angelus

This Ancient Order is known by many names: The Knights of the Grail, The Order of the Light, The Liberators of Lyonesaede and The Templars of the Sacred Blood are only but a few....

But the Order is most famously known as The Angels of the Arc.

What then is a name? A name can be said to be just a description of the essence of things. If that is true, then they may just give a clue as to the true nature of the Angels.

The truth however, always seems to go much deeper. For in the depths of light, will we then meet the eyes of god? Or will we see the light within our own darkness? For mere mortals would be blinded by that Light, getting only a blessed momentary glimpse, before their world is plunged into darkness.

But what if that Light endures...and though blinded in the physical, the individual transcends to a higher plane of TrueSight.

This would be but the tiniest fragment in the tapestry of the Angels of the Arc. It however contains its most undying foundation.

The Seed of Arc

Maybe all things, no matter how old, will still have a beginning. I believe Memory could well be the child of the Past. And without the Past, we would be lost in the Present, and there would be no tale from which to start.

The seed of all things was inspired by an individual in the vast ocean of history. The tale of Jeanne D'Arc, a woman who heard the 'Voice of God'. She who then lead an army to fight a war against those she saw were invaders of her home. Jeanne was burnt at the stake, a victim of the struggle for political power by the mortal men of her time.

It was from Jeanne that Angels of the Arc adopted the name of their Order, a tribute to the Ideal of the Martyr.

While Jeanne was the inspiration of the Angels, another source would provide its soul.

The Eternal War

The theme of the Light fighting against the Darkness has been a constant one in the history of Mankind. The dramtis personae in this struggle are as myriad and many as their battles.

It is from the fires of this supernatural forge that the Angels of Arc have found their place, and their Destiny. The legends and tales of humanity like those of Parzifal, Arthur and Charlemagne may very well have a fragment of truth, a mirror relfection of the Eternal War. One which Humanity must triumph, for the alternative is unacceptable.

Be it the daemonic or the evil that is in the hearts of men and alien, the Angels will stand and oppose. They will not shrink from their duties and beliefs. For it is the will to fight which matters. To continue to drive back the shadows, regardless of the enemy without number; even when all seems lost.

They fight on to this day, in the 40th millenium. Though they fight in secret, every victory is shared by all humanity.

Where Faith abides, the Light will quicken.

And when Darkness falls,

Angels Will Rise ....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope you enjoyed the short intro aka ramblings, haha! Can't wait to procure and paint up some Sanguinary Guard for my counts as Angels :)

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Chabho Saug the Reanimator

And here he is finally completed :) well...more or less haha!


Chabho Saug on the Mythos Engine (Front View)
He sits on the floating throne powered by arcane mythos energies. He also has a small tv screen where he can monitor his own life signs and watch MTV.

The 4 stone statues were obtained from sites both mystical and fell. Each statue contains within its own history through the aeons and its own unique signature of dark power. Chabho has somehow managed to harness these energies for his own means. Eldritch crystals grow out of the base of the Mythos Engine, warped by unspeakable forces.


(Back View)
Various piping and wiring hang from Chabho's mechanical throne and tapping into the energy pool in the Engine to sup upon its powers.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

More WIP and a Name

Righty-O! An update on the previous post. The lead character in my Cthulhu 40k DoC Army now has some background and a name :)

Dramatis Personae:

Chabho Saug aka Reanimator

Chabho is still quite WIP. First few coats of paint, and more to come.

And a bit on his background:
Chabho Saug aka Reanimator & The Mythos Engine

Chabho Saug was born an aristocrat. His family one of the most wealthy and powerful on the Hive World of Mistark. House Saug controls a third of the alloy mills and almost half of the weapons manutactorium of the system.

However, the House of Sarg dominates in production and mining of precious ores. Their alloy mines located exclusively over the Valren Fissure where there is a profusion of rare metals and gems.

House Saug is ruled by the eccentric Whately Emerius Saug. The patriach has ruled the house for more than 200 years, and shows no signs of abdicating his position anytime in the present. Lord Emerius is also secure in the knowlwedge that his line will carry on. He knows this from his 180 known sons and daughters.

As such, Chabho had never entertained any illusions of securing any claim on one day being among the claimants to the family fortune. Currently, the position of dominance and favor is being fought between his step-brothers Donalen and Ferhun.

Not that Chabho has any concerns. For being a scion of House Saug, he already possess an unlimited wealth and resources. No...his interests lay in areas more....unconventional...

Chabho is the 132nd in line to the Lordship of Saug. His features are passable, with pale complexion, brown eyes and raven black hair. He also exhibits the aquline nose and curled lip of the Saug lineage. Chabho is a quiet and soft spoken man, often keeping to himself and always appearing to be in a world of his own.

In a sense, Chabho has always preferred to be in his own world. But he nurses an ambition that would be different yet similar from those of his brethren. Chabho too dreams of power. Not of that material riches and fame, but of something much darker.

Chabho had come across a book from his father's vast ocean collection of antiques and rarities. The book had no name and was bound in a leathery cover of some sort of skin. Perhaps from some animal from a distant part of the galaxy.

This would be the beginning of his path to enlightenment and damnation.

For Chabho had stumbled, unbeknowst to him, upon the writings of a madman concerning a cult to an ancient being known as Cthulhu.

Chabho delved deeper and found the first hints of the Mythos. His knowledge grew with the passage of time, but they were not without its ravages.

And here are some pics of the Mythos Engine (story about it to come later). It is 95% complete.





I'm also working out some names to counts as for the Tally of Pestilence ;)

Cheers!

Monday, April 12, 2010

WIP Character for Cthulhu Army

I went for a quick browse at Ace Comics in the city and was not disappointed. I found a miniature just in from Reaper. I had no doubt that i will be using him as my counts as Epidemus character in DoC 40K.

The miniature above is another excellent product from Reaper Miniatures. The name of the mini is Dr Totenkranz and is sculpted really superbly by Matthew Bickley.

I have mounted the good doctor on a suitable base, and placed four token pieces to simulate arcane statues around him. The tokens are from an earlier purchase (Bag of Cthulhu by Fantasy Flight Games).


Front view.


Back view.

I have named him The Reanimator. He has built a floating chair which also serves as a life support device. He is too steeped in the Cthulhu Mythos and the only thing preserving his life is his chair. This arcane device frequently draws energy from four statues of strange greenish stone.

More work will probably still have to be done on the base. I have added rudimentary wires and cables connecting the statues to a central repository for the energies drawn.

The Reanimator floats into battle on his grotesque throne, taking note of all aspects of the Mythos and in the process, bringing its occupant deeper into madness.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Another army idea!

Due to a surplus stock of time and processing speed, my mind has wandered off to the mad reaches yet again. This time, its a world of knights, space marines, martyrs of the past and angels :)

I have painted me a Space Ranger from EM4 Miniatures range. He will also serve as inspiration for my new army idea.

Front View.


Back view.

I really like this miniature. I had purchased it some time ago, but finally had the colors in my mind to paint him in.

He does well to represent a space marine or sister of battle equivalent. He could even represent an assault marine as the vents on his backpack do look like it has flight potential ;)

I had painted him in neutral gray. And he has insignias of a Grail Cup and a Cross on the front armor. All this will tie in with the army's back story :))

Basically the mini will represent a Knight of an ancient order dedicated to pursuing justice and good. The suit's or armor's bulkiness is due to the technologies that increase a normal human's stats to those of a being like...say..a space marine ;) Its a convenient way to include the superhuman stats fluffwise.

Future Plans for the Army

I will also be introducing the Order of the Angels of Arc in a little story in the next post. I will probably be using the new Blood Angels codex and just the Sanguinary Guard (to be renamed Paladins) to represent the elite or leadership of the army.

For my Scouts Troop choice, I have plans to use the miniatures from Corvus Belli's Infinity (PanOceania) range. I recently purchased a Jeanne D'Arc miniature and 4 Knights Hospitaller, and they will be the SM Scouts.

All this also inspired by the Standard Bearer sections in White Dwarf 362 where Jervis Johnson encourages the use of converted miniatures and give the army much added character. I have taken it a step further in my enjoyment of the hobby :)

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Deep One test mini

First sushi man complete!

Fresh from the ocean, this Deep One is painted has had a change in color. Was originally painted greyish. But decided to change him to greenish tinge as he would be closer in color to his cephalopod masters.

As he will be a counts as Plaguebearer, it was also appropriate to give him a greener, snotty hue ;)


Side view.


Front view charging.


Other side view. I added a belly to the model, as the original skink physique was too slim, haha!

I'm quite satisfied with the outcome and will probably painted the rest of the fishies in the same color scheme.