From GregB: 28mm Legion Space Marines and Dreadnought (55 points)

Troops of the 12th Legion, ready for action in GW's Horus Heresy

Hello once again to all of the participants in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge! It's great to be back in the madness again, and I'm hoping to sneak this first submission in just before Christmas. 

 

Unit officer, equipped with power claws/back scratchers

When it comes to painting I don't do well with plans, and I'm not much for focus, but I am hoping to come out on top of my 30k side duel, so that is where I am starting this year.  This is a unit of Space Marines and a Dreadnought from GW's Horus Heresy setting, known colloquially by nerds like me as "Warhammer 30k". 

 

These fellows are carrying small flame-throwers...tasty...

These troops are from the 12th Legion, known charmingly as the "World Eaters".  This Legion sided with the Warmaster Horus in his civil war against the Emperor, and as such are "bad guys". The World Eaters are meant to be scary, ominous and keen on brutal, in-your-face conflict.  Dark, but necessary implements of order in a terrible universe. But in the hands of the GW writers, however, the World Eaters come across instead as comically homicidal.  The supreme commander of this formation is a character called "Angron" - and guess what - he's angry!  Their special formations are generally troops who have received further psychological augmentation that make them unstable and a bit nuts.

 

Regular assault grunts

So, the World Eaters are kind of silly, but I still like them, as I'm not that mature. I can see the Sons of Horus hanging back while letting these guys go in first to absorb some damage before they swoop in to finish things off.

 

Some weathering and chips painted on to make them look a bit worn

The World Eaters are fun to paint and you can make them look a little rough and ready without spattering blood effects etc. on the models.  That is the effect I tried with this group.  White is tricky sometimes, and I had a few problems on some of the models, but they got some heavy weathering which helps the problems go away :) The Forge World decal sheet was extra handy for helping add little bits of character and customization to the models.

The infantry models are assault marines, sporting jet packs and equipped with heavy, short-range pistols and flamethrowers as well as the chainsword, the ubiquitous face-smashing device of the grim and dark future.  

 

Rotary cannons are always the best in any sci-fi situation

The models are resin castings from Forge World - you can tell, as some of the jump packs have some appalling mold lines.  Forge World has great sculptors, but their casting quality is often indifferent at best...

 

Power unit at the back...not carbon neutral

The larger model is a Dreadnought, a heavy armoured support unit for the Space Marines.  The Dreadnoughts can be configured with a wide assortment of different weapons for different purposes.  It is armed with a rotary cannon (rule: rotary cannons are always awesome) and a power fist to punch large obstructions rather directly in the face.  This is a plastic model from GW's "Betrayal at Calth" game - a bit of a disappointment in terms of how wooden it looks, not GW's best work, but certainly easier to assemble than the resin ones from Forge World.

 

Large power fist ready for large punching work

There are ten 28mm infantry models in this submission, but one of these models is a test model, painted prior to the Challenge, so the squad should be worth 45 points.  I can't remember what a Dreadnought counted for, so I'm thinking it's like an artillery piece - 10 points?  So that will be 55 points.  A small step toward my goal of 1000, and more importantly, a small step toward revenge against JamieM!

Merry Christmas to everyone, look forward to a few months of painting madness ahead.

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Awesome work Greg! I've been keenly waiting who will get the first salvo in with the 30K duel. I know you're out for vengeance this year, so I'm not surprised to see you quick off the mark. 

The World Eaters. Really. Really?! They are such a ridiculous cartoon legion even in a universe of over-the-top cartoon silliness. GW should have ordered the writer who dreampt-up these guys to disembowel himself with his keyboard. C'mon, as if the Emperor wouldn't have thought it was a bad idea to have a loon called 'Angron' create a force of jacked-up mutant sociopaths who wanted to call themselves 'The World Eaters'. The case for a genetic 'mulligan' would have been quite high, I think. 

This all being said, I've always liked the colour scheme of these pre-Heresy loons. The embossed shoulder pads and transverse crest on the officer are nice touches. I also like the chipping to the paint and general wear-and-tear.

I agree with you Greg about the blah pose of the Contemptor dreadnought, it's pretty darn boring, in fact it looks a bit stunned. He looks like he's waiting in line at Starbucks and has just remembered he forgot which guys from the Assault Squad wanted soy milk with their lattes. Oh boy, they're really going to be angry now...

But I digress... 45 points for you Greg. Now, we eagerly await the other 30K duelists to make their voices heard.