From DavidB: the Wrath of Khan, new acquisitions (190 points)

 Hu wolf Totem

The White Scars are my favorite Space Marine faction. It has been a long time before I could indulge in collecting them as my earliest attempts were chalky or glossy. The color white is a complicated color in miniature painting as well as it is in spiritual beliefs( like Pottawatomie or Mongol) White is the color of death like ash, bone, winter snow. It is also the color of purity like clouds and winter snow. I will have to give a nod to my grandparents for the stories which have led me to enjoy dualities and double entendre.

On a whim when dabbling with the speed and contrast paints I found a quick method to lay down base colors and get a nice effect for white that is very pain free and quick. I have found that contrast paints are great for blocking in base colors and highlights are now a breeze. The first gen army painter speed paints are a great glaze too. This brings up the zenithal highlights and slap-chop style of painting. Zenithal gives a great smooth transition and slap chop gives a nice texture. I can add to that as ink never really dries and will reactivate when made wet. If you use a spray coat of workable fixative( like krylon that i use) it leaves a matt finish and slight texture but it great for fixing ink and pastel colors in place.

If you use ink in zenithal highlights, paint and ink applied over it will reactivate. I'm pretty sure the 1st gen army painter speed paints were high in ink pigment which is why they reactivate and mix when painted over. Some of the models bellow used white ink as a zenithal highlight, but I wanted the reactivation to chip at the armor push some sharp whites. 

Why I like the White Scars....besides the obnoxious white. They are Space Mongols and with the markings on their armor and equipment( made and applied by the individual) they are always discounted on first glance as a barbarian rabble. They have artists, poets, and artisans in their number and they are shrewd as much as being straightforward in combat. Like having their fleet look like a confused cluster before rocketing away from an Alpha Legion trap, laughing while fighting traitor brother marines, doing fantastic lightning strikes on Horus's forces using speed and misdirection before they strike then fade away. Not to mention totally smacking and routing the massive Death Guard force at the Lion's Gate in a surprise assault that saw Mortarion banished and the Great Khan himself near death. The White Scars triumphed in a berserk fury of grief while the Death Guard fled in despair.

You cannot have white scars without bikes. I was tempted to get into the HH with all the enthusiasm that Greg has shown with the wonderful eyecandy, but the sky hunter bikes made me serious.

I can have 10 in a squad...er squadron but only have six total.I will need a lot more and at $60 a box it will be a minute. Do not expect the Golden Keshig as those bikes are 60 a piece rather than 3 for 60.

I think my White Scars will be fine with a couple of hordes of the regular sky hunters.

They are wonderful kits and an absolute joy to paint. A good thing i like building and painting them as there needs to be many more including a 30k smash captain.. er praetor ...

I am still waiting for the transfer sheets and the decal solvents before final weathering

Greg painted the deredeo and the plastic version is pure awesome...(Greg, get magnets as GW made it so you can swap all the weapons by providing chambers in the components for magnets)

I did not have magnets, so this one is glued together but given twin linked plasma rifles because why not. this Deredeo has heavy flamers to deal with what survives being shot at a distance.

This one was fun to paint too and I will get at least one more if not two.

The Contemptor dreadnought was fun to build, but paint wise it is lacking in comparison to the other dreadnaughts available. He will be getting lots of decals later.

The leviathan!.....slow but powerful I plan on using the speedy sky hunters to funnel the opponent into the anvil of my hardy units. I think I need another of these as I am sure this monster will be a shot magnet.

I like the heavy look even though it is all plastic.

That is a Son of Horus deredeo armor plate at his feet in the ash and rubble of Terra.

No magnets needed to swap weapons with these fellows!

Some Mk3 iron armor White Scars armed with volkite weapons. 

Two squads of 5 support marines for my two blocks of troops. 

I need to get more troopers for other heavy and special weapons. 

I liked these much more than the mk6 armor with the cables and trim on the armor. I painted them white but swapped in colors of red, gold, and silver for various pieces to show the individual flair of each White Scar. 

This one won't count yet as i painted him and photographed him before I made it to the giftshop.

Should the White Scars not make the top of the Legion duel, he will be the token sent to the victor. An old comm marine from the RT days and actual lead....he looks very smol with the HH marines. he does show where the master of signal got the design from though!

I can, but will not paint the white scar insignia on the horde of plastics primed. way too much time spent getting this one right!

Mk6 marines with the Sharknose missile  rocket launcher( let's not use the word with miss innit)

All the support weapon marine sergeants got the signal backpack extra for the servo skull and optics there....I needed the sgt models to look extra special in their role and optics to assist aiming seemed appropriate. I need to find more such bits in my bit box to add to the sensor/optic array.

I used every one of the launchers from the old RT box of plastics so it was no question about my white scars having a rocket launcher support section.

The Praetor....I like Greg's naming of the Axehole and it definitely suits this fellow. It was a chore to assemble this guy and an equal pain to paint him. I may get another HH box just to try him again, but block paint him before assembly.

The initial force of 30k HH. I got the Astartes  battle force with the special weapons, land raider and MKIII marines with the sky hunters( two boxes) and the leviathan dread  because I quit smoking. If I last another month I have been promised HH assault marines and the new primaris assault marines.

I built the jetbikes, dreads, and mkIII marines just a few weeks ago. The rest will have to wait until I run out of HH stuff to paint and have time to build them.

Scoring:

• three jet bikes at 10 points each- 30 points
• three dreadnoughts at 20 points each-60 points
• 16 marines at 5 points each- 80 points
• new acquisitions 20 bonus points

       a total of 190 points

side duels

• legion duel-8 units or 22 legionnaires
• stompy robots of death- three
• skullz- 29...not too many skullz in 30k

I will do a proper post and more closeups when I get to the gift shop for the master of signals, but he is now complete. the studded shoulder plates are difficult, but i like them better now that they are painted! I am thinking of combining the mkIII and mkVI armor to show the desperate logistics of the loyalist troops too in later additions. Jaghati Khan and other FW units will probably find their way into my collection now that I have a reason to add them...and a few may join the 40k White Scars as legendary units hence the urban rubble bases to fit in with the 40k cohorts.....especially the Leviathan!

Great looking models and impressive production here David, and welcome to the madness that is Horus Heresy gaming! The jetbikes are certainly very cool, and you cannot possibly go wrong with Deredeo dreadnoughts and MKIII Marines. I have a feeling that this is but the beginning of a wonderful and impressive collection! 190 points for you!

Dallas