Back to the Primitive...

Okay so firstly, do not worry, today's blog shall not include any spoilers, this for they shall not even contain any Night Lords at all, I felt it was time to give the Orks a little bit of love, seen as they have not been seen since the New Year.

Anyway, on with the show, as you should hopefully know, these Orks are from the Snakebite Clan (hell the Soulfly reference should have been a good enough hint) which is going to be the first of my Ork Clans, I have always had an affinity with the Greenskins and I love the tribal nature of the Snakebites, as such I very much wanted to make an army of them...

However, with such an army, you are always restricted with what you can get away with as it is important to maintain the feel of the army. As such I ordered several torsos from an English website called Bitz Box, go check them out, they are a great resource: 

So with these pieces and a Box of Ork Nobz from my FLGS, I set about building a unit of 20 Ork Boyz complete with a Nob with a Big Choppa and Boss Pole and 2 Big Shootas

Grey Tide?

Here is the mob in all its glory, ready to be painted (I probably should actually do some painting at some point)...

Da Nob

The Nob still needs a little work, filling the gap between the 'business end' of his club and his hand for example, but generally I'm very pleased with this fella.

Dakka Dakka

 the two big shoota boyz, the nob and there mates... ready to do some crumpin'

general boyz

A mix of fantasy and 40k parts went into these to help give them a slightly archaic feel...

However the general footsloggers are not the only models that have been receiving a bit of TLC... The Boar Boyz are also all built

Why go to war on foot when you can ride a bloody pig?

The Unit is now up to 8 strong, which coincidently is how many Boar Boyz feature in the 1000 point army...

And they're off!

So now you have seen the pretty pictures, now for a little motivation. On the 1st of EACH month I vow to update this blog with what next months objectives shall be, this I hope will help me to meet my goals that I have set at the beginning of the year...

So the objectives for March:

Firstly:

I vow to have my 1000 pt Snakebite Army Built (Another 20 Ork Boyz and 10 Tankbustas and a Weirdboy)

Secondly:

I vow to have my 1000 pt Night Lords Army Built (Huron Blackheart, 6 Berzerkers, 14 Marines, 5 Bikers, 6 Havocs and 2 Rhinos, which are all in various stages of completion)

Lastly:

My local Games Workshop has a painting competition each month, last month was a Squad, I wanted to enter First Claw, but ran out of time, this month is a Monster/Vehicle...

I'm really hoping I don't balls this one up but this guy is going to be getting painted up:

Yikes!

Oh did I mention that is a Bad Moons Battlewagon? Or that I have never painted yellow before?

Yeah I'm screwed...

The Prophet and The Doctor

As those who have been following my progress will undoubtedly know, this post will detail the last two members of First Claw. As mentioned in all posts before, this post will quite possible contain *SPOILERS* for Aaron Dembski-Bowden's fantastic Night Lords trilogy, so read on at your peril.

The latest member of First Claw and the only one not a son of Nostromo, however Variel I feel can be considered a true Night Lord, for several reasons, mainly he has a nasty habit of flaying his victims, which lets be honest is a pretty fucked up thing to do... Variel is formerly an Apothecary of the Red Corsairs, the renegade Space Marines led by the infamous Huron Blackheart. He severs his allegiance to Blackheart during Blood Reaver and joins Talos and the rest of First Claw when they betray the Corsairs in an attempt to reclaim the Echo of Damnation, the sister ship to the Covenant of Blood. 

The Doctor will see you now...

Say hello to Variel, complete with Narthecium and Reductor. Variel, like all the others still has a load of work to be done on him, the shoulder pad you can see in the photo will be covered in flayed skin, in the shape of an unfortunate victims face (hopefully) while the other shoulder pad needs a 'shattered' red corsairs symbol (yikes!). 

Rear View

So that is the Flayer, as you can see his left leg his made of bionics, after a little incident with a genestealer during The Core, as such this bastard was made using the Forge World Commander sprue, and what a lovely pair of legs he has too...

and now for the star of the show, Soul Hunter:

Talos Valcoran

Talos Valcoran, Soul Hunter, Prophet of the VII Legion, armed with his trademark weapons, Aurum, a relic of the Blood Angels which he stole and claimed for his own, and Malcharion the War-Sage's bolter. 

Soul Hunter

A sideways view, to show of his fancy sword, do I have the balls to paint that up using Non Metal Metallics? Urggggh!

Malcharion's Heir

And his combi-bolter, the Space Marine helmet will be painted in Blood Angel colours... (It would be rude not too...) 

The Prophet

The back of Talos, complete with trophies. Those keen eyed amongst you will have spotted that the second helm is in fact a Chaos Marine Helmet, this shall be painted up in Night Lords colours, and is to represent Ruven, a reminder to all what happens when you cross the Soul Hunter... 

First Claw

First Claw in their entirety...

Ave Dominus Nox!

Cannot wait to finish these guys now... 

From Left to Right:
Variel, Xarl, Uzas, Talos, Cryion and Mercutian

There is just a little bit more work to do on all of these guys before I start with the painting, and it mainly involves green stuff, as well as adding in Bolters, Bolt Pistols and a Gladus for each member... you know, it's not like I have spent hours on this project already...

Anyway, I'll do another post shortly, of other stuff I have built when I have gotten sidetracked...

Until then... 

Caio!

Fire Support

Once again, be warned, this post will probably contain *SPOILERS* for Aaron Dembski-Bowden's Night Lords series, ergo, if you have not read these novels yet and are planning on doing so... just look at the pretty pictures.

So as you probably know (wishful thinking? Pah!), my last post dealt with Xarl and Uzas, the close-combat elements of First Claw and as such it is only fitting that this post shall concentrate on the what could be considered the fire support element, Cryion and Mercutian.

Cryion, one of the original members of First Claw and considered to be Talos' second in command, was the figure who I have had the most trouble with thus far. This stems from the fact that, while he is a great character, with plenty of screen time, he is a fairly ambiguous character in my eyes. He is your typical local not-so-friendly traitor marine. He isn't like Uzas or Xarl of have very distinctive features to their armour, as such he is the model that I am least found of, but oh well...

Brother Cryion

Here he can be seen, in all his glory, the hope is to possibly sculpt the Night Lords symbol on his forehead (yikes!) and yeah...

I AM IRON MAN!

Showing off his trendy bionic arm, all the kids want one these days, oh and the 'Stabby bit' on the end of his boltgun for... stabbing people. I really (like really, really) wanted to equip Cryion with a Meltagun or maybe even a Plasma Gun, to make First Claw a little more competitive for the GW event, but it feels... wrong.

Anyway, while Cryion is a relatively uneventful model, Mercutain, on the other hand, I am very pleased with.

Say hello to my little friend!

Mercutian is a staunchly loyal member of First Claw, and wields their Heavy Bolter to provide some much needed fire support. Originally of 7th Claw, we met Mercutian towards the end of Soul Hunter when he and Adhemar joined First Claw (I was sorely gutted that Adhemar bought it, fighting Raguel the Sufferer).

Mr Big Guns

Yeah, that's right, Mercutian's Heavy Bolter has be drilled out (as is only right!) I can almost imagine him blasting some loyalist scumbags apart as we speak. I still have a little of work to do (as always), he obviously needs another shoulder pad, however I haven't made my mind up yet as to which one would be best. He also in the artwork by Shane Cook has a little shield on his chest armour, which I am very keen to incorporate. However, the biggest thing is the fancy decoration around the mouth of his heavy bolter, this needs to be incorporated and some point, and I'm looking forward to that even less than Uzas's cloak of skin!

And for another group photo:

4 Done, 2 to go...

So what is next for First Claw?

Firstly there is work to be done on Uzas with his flesh cloak and on Mercutian with his Heavy Bolter, I feel I should add some trophies to Cryion because he looks a little bland. apart from that it is just a case of making sure that all members of First Claw are fully WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) to make sure I don't drop points in the tournament.  Not sure where I am going to be able to add the Bolt Pistols and Swords and Grenades, I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Obviously, the biggest gap is that two members of First Claw are missing. I am pleased to say that Talos and Variel are both semi-assembled, but I am waiting for parts to be delivered. Unfortunately this is going to take some time as Variel's Backpack and Narthecium are being delivered from Australia (hopefully they'll turn up within a fortnight) While Talos is going to have his 3rd sword delivered as I was dissatisfied with the ones from the Sanguinary Guard and the Death Company, and as such have had to purchase:

Silly Blood Angel! 

Anyway until next time!

Two-Handed Chainswords and Chainaxes

First Things First! This post WILL contain spoilers for Soul Hunter, Blood Reaver AND Void Stalker, ergo if you have not read those books, feel free to just look at the pretty pictures...

So since I last posted, (a whole two weeks ago) I have been fervently ordering bits and pieces for First Claw (and well, Night Lords in general) and I am pleased to say work is well under way on the 'assault element' of these sons of Nostromo. Now as anyone who has read the Novels, which I highly recommend, will know, this means the characters Uzas and Xarl.

Xarl is, it has to be said, probably my favourite character, I love the sarcasm that drips from him when he his taunting his foes and well just speaking in general, ADB really has a talent for writing his characters, I cannot wait to see a pre-heresy Night Lords novel...

Brother Xarl

Xarl is regarded by First Claw as being their best fighter in Close-Combat and the whole of 10th Company, and wields a nasty two-handed chainsword, which in game is going to either be used as a Power Sword or a Power Fist (more likely the second, but for the competition, I'm thinking the first seen as I can give him armourbane).

Extra 'Rippy' Chainsword

I don't know about you, but I would not want to be on the receiving end of that thing! Xarl also is renowned for taking lots of trophies, as the photo below shows:

Uncle Bill is that you?

While Xarl is a proficient swordsman, the same cannot be same for Uzas, a frothing madman, he is in fact the direct opposite of Xarl. So much so that he has been condemned to death for his crimes by Talos.

Blood for the Blood God!

Formerly the Sergeant of Fourth Claw, Uzas his a devoted follower of Khorne much to the disgust of the rest of First Claw, however, they put up with his blood-crazed rants and unreliability because... well who knows? In the novels I cannot help but end up feeling sorry for Uzas, especially by the end of Void Stalker, but he provided much humour through the first two novels... 

Skulls for the Skull Throne!

 What can be seen here, apart from my shoddy photography... is a pre-heresy style bolter, one of my favourite bits of the Night Lords Novels is the scene where Talos reminisces about how Uzas was rewarded by Malcharion the War-Sage (The Original Captain of 10th Company) for his excellent command skills and discipline, with a ceremonial bolter, a great contrast to the marine who stands today.

Milk for the Khorne Flakes? Wait what?!

This last photo is to show that Uzas is still a WIP, he still needs his second shoulder pad, on which shall be the beginnings of a cloak made of flayed skin, a part of the project that I am dreading... but will give my best shot...

lastly...

Obligatory Group Photo

First Claw

Okay, So me and a couple of friends are looking to enter the Kill Team event up at Nottingham (the 30th of June event) and I've been pondering an idea, which I really hope I can do justice...

Artwork by Shane Cook, genuinely love this piece, really captures First Claw in my eyes

First Claw, 10th Company VIII Legion

Talos - Combi-Bolter, Power Sword)
Cyrion - Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon
Xarl - Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Two-Handed Chainsword (Power Fist)
Uzas - Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Chainaxe (Power Axe)
Mercutian - Heavy Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon
Variel - Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon

The Unit will have Veterans of the Long War, and Talos shall have the Gift of Mutation, which leaves me with 2 points, I was toying with the idea of giving them the mark of Tzeentch so they all had a 5+ invulnerable, but I don't think I can bring myself to do it...

In addition this tournament you are allowed to take 3 special rules:

Mercutian has Relentless
Xarl has Fleshbane
Uzas has Rage

I don't expect this army list to do well, to be honest, I'm sure it will have the crap kicked out of it, but... It's First Claw...

Coming In Hot...

So, in my last blog, I talked about the future and my Warhammer related 'new years resolutions' the last point that was mentioned was the Crashed Aquila Lander from the Battle of Macragge box-set. Firstly, I said this was no-longer available from Games Workshop... It is, mere hours after posting I discovered it on their website... Whoops! Anyhow, the person who I ordered it from, sold it to me for less than retail price, so I saved myself a few quid... Good news all round.

So my new piece of terrain arrived on Wednesday, and as I set about cleaning up the parts, I released, that I had absolutely no idea as to how I would paint this up... So off to the internet I went! Trawling through pictures of the crashed lander, most of them had a light paint scheme, which did not suit my purposes, I plan to make my first Realms of Battle board a desert scheme, and as such I wanted something that would contrast with the light coloured sand...

All was not lost though, with a little more digging I came across this:

I believe this was a Forge World paint scheme

This immediately struck me as being exactly what I wanted, so I sat there with my laptop and scenery, carefully examining the image to ascertain which parts of the crash would be red and would be black... a few hours later and this is sat in front of me:

And no-longer looking quite so graceful

Please keep in mind that these pictures are a work in progress, the basic scheme is done but it needs several washes and some serious dry-brushing before I will be happy with it.

Even more WIP than the picture before

I'm hoping when these are done they will be very visually striking against the board they are intended for.

In the left hand piece above, I intend to fill the hole, probably with EZ Water or a similar product, which will have lots of black wash in it, the hope is to make it look like fuel that has leaked and pooled amongst the wreckage.

A really boring piece of terrain in comparison...

Anyway, it's not just been about terrain recently, I did also find time to add a little paint to this guy, albeit, only this guy:

Big Mek Gubbinz!

Clever Bitz!

Anyway, until next time,

Ciao!

Thinking about the future...

Hello Everybody,

Welcome back, and a happy new year...

I'm going to be honest with you, not really a fan of new years, never end up having an awesome night, normally its a lot of wasted money and effort, on top of that, everyone makes new years resolutions that end up falling by the wayside by the end of January. In my attempt to stop this from happening, I am hereby writing down my 40K related Resolutions, in the hope that I will be able to look back a year from now, and say, yes I have done all of those, and this, this and this as well.

I'm sure none of these will be a surprise to most of you, anyway here goes:

1. Have a 2000 point Ork army painted up, with a minimum of an additional 1000 pts for the ability to play in Apocalypse Games.
2. Have a 2000 point Chaos army painted up, with a minimum of an additional 1000 pts for apocalypse sized games
3. Buy, convert and paint up a Realms of Battle and some themed scenery, so I am able to play games, whenever I feel like it.

Thus by the end of the year, I want to be able to have a choice of two armies and a board to play them on... now much of the stuff I need (in particular, for the chaos) I already have, which is good because it means I can keep the costs down.

With my new years resolutions in mind, I did a little searching online for a particular item that I never got round to purchasing when they were available and now I am just waiting for this to be delivered:

Anybody remember this little Gem, believe it or now, that was two box sets ago now!

 Now I'm just waiting on my prize to be delivered, apologises for the blue hue, this photo was not taken by me, and I'm sure when this gets delivered I wont be able to resist converting it a little, the aim is to remove the 'glass' in the cockpit, to add a chair and your mandatory dead pilot.

anyway, I'll let you know how I get on soon enough,

Ciao