Army Spotlight – HOUSE OF GECKO

Spotlight: Shadowspear meets the Vlka Gungir

April 23, 2019April 22, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedLeave a comment

Caught up in the wave of recent Primaris releases, Alan has added some of the new Vanguard units to his Rout…

Seeing the Shadowspear release was a real thrill, GW are knocking it out of the park at the moment with amazing sculpts and seem to have upped their game in relation to social media.

I managed to pick up two boxes of Shadowspear for the Rout and have utilised the infiltrators, eliminators, suppressors, wolf guard battle leader, wolf lord and rune priest. The sculpts are amazing, really detailed models although somewhat limited with the monopose and repeats within the packs. Mine will be painted as part of my Space Wolf Primaris army, the Vlka Gungnir or in low Gothic ‘the Wolf Spear’ and part of the NÍDHÖGG Great Company.

Led by Wolf Lord Sigurd Fraegr, known throughout the Rout as the ‘NÍDHÖGG’, in low Gothic translated as “dreaded striker.” Feared for his ability to strike without notice or warning causing chaos and destruction amongst the enemy. His Great Company is utilised when a finer touch is needed. They are the spear tip, striking at high value assets, enemy commanders, logistical lines before the rest of the Rout arrive.

Wolf Lord Sigurd Fraegr was created using the primaris captain in phobus armour, a head swap with a KF studios skull helm and a space wolf belt. A forge world cataphractii chain axe was swapped in for the pointing figure, as every space wolf needs an axe!

My favourite model in Shadowspear is the librarian in phobus armour, or in the case of the Vlka Gungnir he is Torrvald Tostig the Rune priest! I found on eBay the most amazingly painted head with tribal tattoos on a deathwatch veteran body, managed to win the auction and have been looking for a suitable body worthy of the head – and here it finally is! The rest of the model was ‘wolfed up’ with an icon and neck charm from the space wolf primaris upgrade set.

The primaris lieutenant was turned into a wolf guard battle leader. The head was again swapped out for a Kf studios skull helmet and an axe from the space wolf upgrade sprue swapped in. I then attempted a first – green stuff-ing a pelt. For a first attempt I’m quite pleased and will try and utilise these through my army.

The infiltrator pack is a lovely kit. It does have a few duplicates, however the models were simple to kit-bash. Heads swapped out with space wolf upgrade sprue from the Grey Hunter kit as well as wolf tail charms and belts used. The pack leader was given a Forge World grey slayer head and axe to separate him out. It’s a gamble arming him with an axe – which at the moment will be his close combat weapon – but hopefully as with the Intercessors, the pack leaders will be able to take a power weapon when the multipose separate kits come out.

The eliminators are stunning sculpts and fit nicely into the space wolf fluff wise, veteran scouts. ‘Pack Volsung’ Grizzled veterans of centuries of war in the Allfathers name. Ulrik Volsung directing his pack brothers to deal death from. Using knowledge and experience gleaned throughout the Sea of Stars, their steady aim and rate of fire assists the young pups on the battlefield.’ To fit them in with my existing army, Forge World grey slayer heads were used along with wolf tails and icons.

The suppressors I left until last, horror stories abound of the stands with not only these but also primaris inceptor set. I resolved then to ditch the stands and mount them on the base, hopefully I will have no problems with modelling for advantage! Again a Forge World grey slayer head was used to denote the pack leader. The right pauldron will be marked with blood claw markings of yellow and red, in my fluff they are brash recruits with an interest in big guns!

Only the infiltrators have seen the battlefield as yet, they did a fantastic job of preventing deep striking genestealers! I’m looking forward to getting the rest on the table soon and finding how they work alongside my current forces. ‘Fenrys Hjolda’!

Nice one Alan, looking forward to seeing how the Wolf Spear perform on the table!

New Army Focus: The Imperial Cult

April 19, 2019April 19, 2019 Posted in SpotlightLeave a comment

We have a special article for you all today – George is sharing with us how he begun on his journey to start an Imperial Cult!

When the new Genestealer Cults models were announced I became very conflicted. I had always loved the aesthetic of the GSC, particularly their rugged civilian vehicles, but had always been put off by their fluff. As a loyal son of the Imperium, I wasn’t about to join a dark cult obsessively trying to advance the wellbeing of a distant star god, where success would mean that I was consumed by the mindless beast that I had truly been serving.

Before I think too much about that last sentence and get a visit from the Inquisition, I should get back to my story.

My resolve was greatly tested at the Vigilus open day, when I was able to see the Attilan Jackals first hand. They were exceptional models that looked to have a vast amount of conversion potential. I vowed that, even though I wouldn’t be doing a GSC army, I would buy some Jackals for conversion into Astra Militarum Rough Riders. Problem solved, I thought.

And then this happened:

The Achilles Ridgerunner. Everything I had always loved about the GSC aesthetic in a sleek, fast, menacing vehicle. I knew I had to build and paint at least one of these, but how to fit them into my armies? I toyed with the idea of an Astra Militarum Tauros (an idea I have shelved but definitely not dismissed) but then a stray thought crossed my mind. As I gazed at the Ridgerunner I thought to myself: “That almost looks like a 40k police car.”

And there it was. The solution. I could return to one of my first Warhammer loves and attempt to build an Adeptus Arbites themed GSC army.

After the initial glow wore off (about 4 minutes) I realised that this left me with a number of problems.

Is there a sensible and fluffy reason why the Arbites would be ambushing everyone?
How can I differentiate between ‘GSC’ Arbites and ‘Brood Brothers’ Arbites?
Can I work out how to get all of the units I wanted out of sensible Arbites based conversions?
What about Purestrains?

Fortunately, the happy confluence of the new GSC Magos model and another of my favourite models that I have never found a place for in any of my armies gave me the answer to the first three of those questions.

I have always loved the Wood Elves, and the Wildwood Rangers kit has always sat at the back of my mind (and, I must admit, my cupboard) as a possible basis for kitbashing. But who, in the 41st millennium, would wear ridiculous capes, like intimidating hoods and have a penchant for wielding massive axes?

And there was the answer. The Inquisition. Another of my favourite parts of the 41st Millennium, thanks in great part to the excellent novels of Dan Abnett. I had always wanted to explore the Inquisition further, and they are an excellent vehicle for conversions as each Inquisitor has a wide latitude for idiosyncrasies. I decided that my Inquisitor would have a penchant for cloaks and axes.

The fluff of my army then began to write itself. One of the roles of the Adeptus Arbites is to defend the authority of the Imperium against its own forces if any local governor or Planetary Defence Force should decide to challenge the power of the Emperor. Many Inquisitors have the same role, including the Ordo Hereticus and the less well known Ordo Militum, who are tasked with overseeing the Imperium’s diverse armed forces. Should a planet rebel or begin to fall under enemy control, the Adeptus Arbites and the forces of the Inquisition might well be the last servants of the Emperor to remain loyal and keep fighting against impossible odds. Likewise, an Inquisitor might be willing to adopt unconventional fighting methods, using their own followers and the local knowledge of the Arbites to lay traps and ambushes, fighting an asymmetric war against the invaders.

And that is how the forces of self-declared Grand Inquisitor Deza and Arbitrator Metus, co-ordinator of the Capital District came to be, at least in theory. How the models for each conversion were picked and how they were then constructed and painted is a story for another day (or two, or possibly even three).

And question four? I’ll let you know if I come up with a definitive answer, although I do have a cunning plan involving [REDACTED].

Nice one George! Looking forward to seeing what you do with your culty boys – George will be sharing with us the next stage in his journey very soon!

Army Spotlight: Disciples of Rael

March 21, 2019March 21, 2019 Posted in SpotlightLeave a comment

Today, Eliot will be sharing with you his Adeptus Mechanicus Battalion, the Disciples of Rael!

In January of this year, I finally finished painting an army to a standard I am actually happy with – The Disciples of Rael. After partially finishing a number of armies (more on that another time), it shames me to admit that has taken me 3 long years of painting, gaming and collecting piles of grey plastic for me to get to this point. However, I am super happy with the end result and love my grimy robo children to bits.

One of the key drivers for me picking Adeptus Mechanicus as an army was that I was tired of playing as Dark Angels, and wanted something thematic to eventually pair with knight. I also love the 40K lore around enhancing the human form with augments and the questions that that raises about humanity. Picking a colour scheme was tricky, but I ended up settling for a dirty blue with the offset of a martian base – the plan being to give the minis a very sharp look, but to then pile on the grimdark-ness of 40K.

For me, the highlight of this army is Archmogos Tys (Belisaruis Cawl). The Archmagos rose through the ranks of the Cult to become the Fabricator General of the Migale System, piling on extra augments as they went. Tys often travels with a retinue of servitors and menials, and one can be seen carrying the half destroyed relic of Knight Raeluis Supremos. This model is packed full of detail and was an absolute joy to paint.

The first mini I actually finished was my heavily converted Tech Priest Dominus, Adept Grattus. I’m a big fan of conversions and this was one of my favourites to do so far, especially at the concept stage. I took the bottom half of a destroyer and green stuffed on the top half of the classic Domunis model. He turned out better than expected, and I think my boy has a lot of character.

The backbone of the Disciples of Rael are, well, the Disciples! I knew that I was going to have lots of Rangers in this army from the get go, and have ended up with around 25. Not gonna lie, I got reaaaaly tired of painting these dudes (and have more still to build…), but love how they have turned out. Plus there is a cheeky squad of vanguard in there too.

I’ve been a big fan of the Ad Mech models ever since I got back into the hobby 3 years ago, but one of the models that particularly caught my eye was the Onager Dunecrawler – so I have squeezed 2 of them in this army! These guys proved the heavy support much needed for the Disciples when they go on the hunt for their lost Questoris relic knight.

One of the key elements in building an army for me is to make it unique, and that was always going to mean Forgeworld! I love the grimness of the 30K models and was actually toying with a Dark Mechanicum army for a short while (before a visit from the Ordo Hereticus). I picked up some Myrmidon Secutors to use for Tech and Data priests, then converted to my hearts content.

Ah but the Forgeworld purchases didn’t stop there! Nest up were a bunch of Castellax models to use as Kastelans, as I’m personally not a big fan of the plastic Kastelan kit. So with just a few minor conversions I had myself a small battlegroup of Kastelans with maximum shooty power! I have one more yet to be built, but 4 of these boys with the Wrath of Mars is already scary enough…

And there we have it! I actually have a few more rangers, sicarians, one castellax and a few destroyers to add to this army, but I’m enjoying having these guys painted on the table for the time being. The knighty boys that the Disciples of Rael support (and worship) are currently on the production line – stay tuned!