Heresy Era Questoris Knights - House Vyronii Knight Lancer Complete!

While I haven't posted to the blog for a stretch due to technical issues, the hobby train was chugging away in the background. Finally getting caught up uploading pics to my website galleries and can start sharing 'em on the ol' blog! Next up on deck is a big model - Got the waterslides and weathering done on the Knight Lancer for the burgeoning House Vyronii army!

The additional red adds a much-needed extra spot color to the model and I really dig how it turned out. The green and white was striking before but it needed a little something extra. Added in some sponge chipping and weathering here and there - I tend to go with a "less is more" method when it comes to weathering, though I think it could probably be pushed a little further on the big guy.

Really happy with the pose, one of the best thing of the Cerastus-pattern knights is the fact that they are fully articulated and you can really get some dynamic setups. They've recently suggested that rules for the new Armiger and Valiant knight patterns will be getting rules for the heresy, so suddenly House Vyronii may be getting some expansion in the next few months!

40k Exodite Eldar - Wraithblades complete and army complete!

After a loooong hiatus rife with technical difficulties uploading pics to my website galleries, I'm happy to report that the Exodites of the Tanelorn Wood are complete! Finished off the final unit of wraithblades (pics below), then schlepped the whole force down to the local GW shop for a family photo!

This was the first time I had them all out at the same time, and I gotta say I'm well pleased with how the colors flow across the army, it's cohesive and contrast-y without being too garish (or as least as subdued as purple, yellow and green can be)!

While I was about it I broke out the lightbox and re-shot the whole force for a final record before they wing their way to their next destination (more to come on that front).

HQ - Avatar, Spiritseer and Seer Council, all got the ghost-green treatment to help denote their mystic connections.

TROOPS - The Glade Guardians and the Rangers are more in the orange hues, in a somewhat ham-fisted attempt to make them autumnal. May have over-corrected into hunting-season blaze orange!

ELITES - The surprisingly-simple-to-convert Wraithguard and Wraithblades add some punch to the force, and the addition of an old-school Bonesinger to help keep 'em up and fighting can't hurt!

FAST ATTACK - The second-creepiest models in the force, the Wasp Assault Walkers are a natural counterpoint to the big-ass spider coming up in the next section!

HEAVY SUPPORT - The conversion that started this whole silly idea, the wraithlord is probably my favorite conversion of the bunch. That said, the Nightspinner is by far the creepiest!

Where would a project-complete post be without some spreadsheet porn? It always feels good to turn that last box green!

Next up, back on the Heresy train! With NOVA coming up in just a few short months, I need to finish off the force intended to travel out to D.C...

40k Exodite Eldar - The armies of the Tanelorn Wood grow!

After going hard for heresy for the last several months I needed a change of pace for a bit to recharge the ol' hobby mojo. The Exodites of the Tanelorn Wood were brought back out of the Closet of Doom and I set about polishing off the various primered and half-painted models from when I'd left off previously!

The force up to this point was lacking in the requisite number of Troops choices, so the first thing was to rectify that situation with a pair of Ranger squads. Rather simple but effective conversions, comprised of Wildwood Rangers and Dark Eldar warrior arms and weapons that have been de-spiked a fair bit.

Not entirely sure that blaze orange is particularly stealthy - Safety first when it's Mon-Keigh hunting season!

Pretty jazzed with how the Spiritseer of the force turned out - She incorporates a little bit of all the design elements from the rest of the force, and ended up with a great swirly sense of motion!

Next up was the Fast Attack section of the force, with a trio of counts-as Wasp Assault Walkers. Nothing wrong with six shuriken cannons dropping in from above to decimate soft targets - Tried to incorporate the same colors on the flies as the ones on the spider toting the Nightspinner, so gross!

While they're still pretty nobbly and disgusting, I had filled in the worst of the raw open wounds so they aren't quite as Nurgle-y but I sort of like the idea that the depths of the forest are corrupt, and the Exodites both battle and use the grotesque life on their planet.

All that remains at this point are the last five wraithguard armed with twin swords and the project will be complete!

Heresy Era Questoris Knights - Knight Lancer Takes To The Field!

Managed to get a game in over the holiday weekend, but didn't take a huge number of pictures, had too much fun just playing the game! As preparation for the NOVA Open coming up later in the year, I wanted to get the Dark Angels on the table to start familiarizing myself with the rules, and try out one of the potential army lists. A friend brought over some Space Wolves which makes for the second-most iconic match-up in my mind (just behind Thousand Sons/Space Wolves, of course)!

We rolled up the War of Lies mission (variable VPs for objectives) and setup was determined to be long-ways across the table. The vast majority of the force would arrive from reserve in a trio of Termites, so setup was simple - The Knight Lancer, and a Land Raider set to race forward and smash into the enemy lines. The first wave of termites erupted out of the ground, though in retrospect my positioning of them wasn't the greatest. Play and learn, right?

The Wolves advanced, taking several objectives and weathering the storm of fire from the Dark Angels.

The Knight lopes forward, confident in being able to annihilate the two Predators, and relying on its shield to protect it from the onrushing melta-armed speeder and dreadnought.

Of course, I should have expected this result - Never fails, that brand new, freshly painted model you're excited to field is destroyed in the second turn before accomplishing anything. Hah!

Seemed appropriate to leave him on the field, burning. The shame!

Continuing the theme, the Wolves in the crater made short work of the Dark Angels terminators, who, despite plasma-gunning and charging, were destroyed in close combat quite handily. Rolled nothing but ones and twos for armor saves. Ouch!

The now-unsupported tactical squad managed to melta-bomb one of the predators, but were blasted from the field by return fire from the dread and other predator, not to mention the entire 10-man missile launcher squad from the rooftop above.

In the backfield, two tactical squads fought each over over the burning wreck of the Lancer for control of the rear objective.

Finally, the third Termite arrived delivering the Plasma Repeater squad into the rear area of the Wolves deployment zone, and they straight up deleted the entire squad of veterans and the trio of Terminator-armed characters in a storm of fire. Definitely need to bring these guys on in the first wave going forward - That level of firepower needs to be on the table wrecking things much earlier in the game!

When the dust cleared, the Space Wolved pulled out a 12-9 victory - Losing the Knight gave up three VPs so it was pretty close in the end! Was pretty pleased with how the Termites performed, they're a bit more tactically flexible than a drop pod, but not quite as multi-function as a Dreadclaw. More test games are needed to iron out the kinks and try some other army list ideas, but I'm looking forward to taking the force out to NOVA!

Heresy Era Questoris Knights - House Vyronii Knight Lancer Off The Factory Floor

After building the Lancer I couldn't help but get cracking painting it, and over the last week managed to get the beast up to the usual "off the factory floor" stage where it's ready for waterslides and weathering. However as the transfer sheet is still winging its way to my door this is as far as it can get for now!

The emerald and white of House Vyronii really pops, especially compared to all the really muted blacks and reds on the Dark Angels of late. Added some black and yellow hazard stripes on some of the power cables and a couple panels for some extra snazz and of course gotta work in the usual blue, right?

Really happy with how the pose turned out, one of the best things about the Cerastus knight is just how varied they can be assembled. I really wish GW would re-tool the plastic knight to allow for more/easier posing with their legs.

Another box ticked over to green on the painting chart and was jazzed to see that the force has almost tipped the 3000 points painted mark. Definitely well on the way to the finish line! Got a game in over the holiday weekend, and still sorting through the pics - Another post to follow once I get them all loaded up!

Heresy Era Questoris Knights - House Vyronii Knight Lancer Built

Quick hit this morning, I spent some time yesterday afternoon rummaging around in the Closet of Doom for something to build - I've been doing a ton of painting of late and figured it was time to reward myself by spending a session gluing my fingers together. I'd been considering a Lord of War choice for the Dark Angels when my eye fell on the stack of Knights that have been gathering dust for the last several years. While I'd originally intended to pick up a Glaive for the force, perhaps a Knight would better suit the aesthetic of the Dark Angels a little better!

One of the kits in particular seemed as though it would work well, and after a fair bit of cutting, carving, pinning and not a little swearing, a Knight Lancer marched off the build deck. Tried to go with an "en garde" stance, as though it's fending off a blow on the shield and winding up for a stab with the lance. From a fluff perspective I'm going to be painting it up in House Vyronii colors, a household with an historical affiliation with the Dark Angels, and having a paint scheme that I think will look nice alongside the predominantly black and red of the heresy-era Dark Angels livery!

Heresy Era Dark Angels - Taerrax Termite Tunnelers Complete!

Got a fair bit of hobby time in over the last week and managed to finish off the trio of totally terrifying Taerrax Termite Tunnelers - say that five times fast!

The three of them just baaaaarely fit in to the photo tent - They're larger than you might think from looking at 'em, but not so monstrous that they're going to be hard to transport or play. Tried to get some little splashes of color here and there with some brass on the meltas, some glowy orange-yellow on the Volkites and the usual red weapon housings to help them tie in to the rest of the force.

Had to get a little of the signature blue on 'em somewhere, right? There's some power conduits on the back that got the usual recipe! Added on some waterslide transfers and some sponge weathering, seems as though the sheets I used for the symbols were reasonably old and as such show up a little more than I'd like sheen-wise, even with some generous application of Micro-Sol. While it's more apparent in the pics than it is in person, I think I'm still going to go back in and touch them up with a little paint around the edges of the DA symbols and the numbers. Overall however, they're table ready!

The paint chart keeps on flipping over to green, which is a real nice feeling. Not too much left to go yet, after all the painting I think I can reward myself with some build time, and am considering whether it's the last 10-man Volkite support squad or the two remaining Sicaran variants that will get assembled next. Probably ought to bang out the last of the infantry...

Well ahead of schedule to get the force done for the NOVA Open coming up later in the year, but that deadline is bearing down on me rather fast!