Friday 23 December 2016

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.
 

26 comments:

  1. First salvo in the 30K Duel and it's a very tidy one - what's next?

    Great work, Greg - you've worked diligently to overcome the vagaries of FW's casting process (yes, I've been there as well...).

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  2. Great start to the challenge Greg! The World Eaters 30k scheme is one of the best from the bunch. It's a shame that the plastic Contemptor wasn't a more dynamic model. Bit of a lost opportunity in my opinion. But at least it's not as tricky as some of the resin ones. I've been putting together a Decimator and boy is that thing a paint in the ass to build

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  3. Well well well...Greg draws first blood! I was not expecting to see those sociopaths, but rather the "well behaved" Alpha Legion.

    Nice work, they really look like battle hardened Marines!

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    1. But it's all part of a broader plan to confuse you - totally consistent with the Alpha Legion style...

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  4. These are really great, top entry. World Eaters is a dumb name though

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  5. Great start look forward to watching your duel.

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  6. Awesome first entry Greg, Love the white and blue colour scheme, it should really makes them pop on the table.

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  7. I like the flaked, weathered effect you got on the white paint. Nice work!

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  8. Fantastic work. Very neat, well-made combat damage and chips. We wait Angron?

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  9. 30k is awesome! And these look great please paint some more so we can all admire the joy of 30k a bit more.

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  10. Suitably battle scarred and worn. Lovely stuff Greg!

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  11. I always like well painted 30K and 40K and these hit it perfectly

    Ian

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  12. While I am a staunch loyalist (Dark Angels) player, these are superbly done, very good indeed! Merry Christmas!

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  13. Really nice weathering, I do like the old school feel of 30k and these are very well done.
    Best Iain

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  14. Really nice work. I like 'em!

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  15. This can't be a submissions from Greg..... he said he was traveling in December and so wouldn't be posting for a while! I demand a recount!

    Seriously though, cracking work! I do like the colour scheme of this legion and you've done a great job on them, the weathering looks great and really sets them up. Perhaps if the emperor had named him "Charmingon" the future of the horus Heresy would be different?

    Right, I'm off to the garage to try to accelerate my HH stuff, none of which is ready to go.....

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    1. Thanks Jamie! I would blame Alpharius for the misinformation, but the winter weather has prevented my travel plans this year.

      I now need to come up with a model to represent "Charmington" on the table...

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  16. Always a pleasure to see your 40K (30K) work, Greg! I'm going to be a rebel and say I don't mind the Dreadnought's pose. Not every model needs to be super-dynamic, and I rather like this guy's sort of plodding stance. I can practically hear the clanky stomping as he moves forward, rotary cannon spinning...

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  17. While I've to echo Mr Campbells words in regards to the Word Bearers being a badly written cartoon of a Legion, I certainly can't argue with your painting! Seriously Greg, these buggers are top of the line painting!

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  18. These are brill, good racing sociopaths

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  19. I'm still trying to resist the whole 30k thing, but these fellows make it hard! The look very fine in the preheresy colors. I rather like the dreadnought. I can see him clanking along behind his more mobile brethern begging them to wait up! ;)

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  20. Great stuff Greg. I love the weird weaponry on these lads

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  21. Classic 40K. Really like the officer.

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  22. Lovely work, especially the paint chipping.

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