Deathwatch Killteam Soldano and Auvray..

 

"Auvray to command, Killteam in position" the space marine sub-vocalised into his vox-mic. The snipers of his Killteam were concealed in elevated positions around him in the hills overlooking the Greenskin shanty town below.

"The word is given, Soldano the honour of the assault falls to you and your team. May the Emperor walk with you" Lieutenant Albos' voice came over the net.

Far below the ranged in snipers, three figures in hulking Gravis armour trudged forwards through the scrubland.

They made no attempt at concealment for their armour could not afford such tactics. They were a brute sledgehammer force compared to the surgical precision of the snipers supporting them.

The Aggressors closed to within thirty meters before a sentry spotted them. If the Greenskins had been sane like the other major races of the galaxy, the warriors would have been spotted long before this. Likewise, is the Greenskins had been sane, a great roar of delight wouldn't have rang out accompanied by Orks charging from the gates to engage the foe...

Sergeant Soldano and his Killteam continued on, straight towards the charging Xenos, drips of molten flame leaked from the ends of their flamestorm gauntlets as they readied firing mechanisms.

The air buzzed with the sound of engines as a mob of warbikers slewed their ungainly vehicles around the foot warrior and charged forwards, brutish warcrys' drowning out the sound of their engines.

Soldano readied himself for combat as his helmet display counted down the distance between them.

At four meters the leading warbikes' front assembly exploded sideways, scattered shrapnel and twisted machine parts as the Ork tumbled from the saddle.

The second warbiker skidded around his stricken compatriot and rode straight into Soldanos' right gauntlet. He punched straight through the aliens chest, his first exploding out the creatures back in a spray of gore. To his right Brother Agamedes immolated the Third biker.

"My thanks Sergeant Auvray" Soldano voxed as several of the larger Orks in the mob were pitched off their feet by pinpoint accurate sniper fire, the Aggressors drowned the front ranks in white hot flames from their gauntlets.

"Support is what we do" Auvray voxed back as a series of missile strikes shook the encampment. 

A subsonic boom announced the arrival of one of the forces Corvus Blackstar Transports dropping into hover mode and deploying it's cargo of Killteam Von Drak into the battle.

'One more day on Attica, One more day of the Long Vigil' Sergeant Auvray thought as he sighted and squeezed the trigger, erupted another Ork mob leaders head with his long range sniping.

*****

Focusing down on the Deathwatch has been a pleasure recently as they have such a great, easy to paint scheme when you work out the different layering involved.

For instance, starting with Abaddon Black, drybrushing Incubi Darkness and then Thunderhawk Blue gives me the entire power armour of the model in three steps.

Three steps which are easy as hell to batch paint with a podcast or TV show in the background.

To this end the latest additions to my force are Killteams Soldano and Auvray.

Technically they aren't Killteams as they are not al units from the codex, but as everything else is referenced as a Killteam, I thought I'd stick to the convention.

So Killteam Soldano are a group of three Primaris Aggressors led by Sergeant Ignacio Soldano of the Fire Angels chapter.

I chose the flamestorm gauntlets for some closer range firepower for when things inevitably get upclose and personal.

The icon on his back was part of a power sword I think, it was too cool not to use and to add a little personality to the otherwise generic Primaris armour.

Sticking with the black and red major colours, I added some yellow to this unit in the form of their fuel ignition cables. Everything else is the same as on the rest of the army.

Sergeant Soldano is accompanied by Sarawut of the Stormcallers chapter and Brother Agamedes of the Guardians of Celeres chapter.

Not quite showing up, but Sarawut's shoulder pad is a rather light grey, noticeably different to Agamedes white shoulder in person.

Again it has been a fun challenge researching second founding and later chapters and freehanding their iconography onto these models.

The second Killteam, is that of Sergeant Auvray, Eliminator of the Helion Legion.

These, along with the Spectrus Killteam of Von Drak form the more stealthy and subtle half of the force.

Their camo cloaks are a generic Tallarn Sand and Earthshade wash, due to their desert bases I felt that fitted better then some form of full camouflage.

Accompanying sergeant Auvray are brothers Aziz of the Black Guard and Romarich of the Steel Confessors chapter.

Even though their camo cloaks cover their shoulder pads, I felt it was standard practice now to name each member of the squad, if you can't see the chapter icons (I chose some which would have been a bit more involved to paint).

Sergeant Auvray has a plain left shoulder pad, just like the Spectrus Killteam, as being the stealthy types they are, they wear a black shoulder pad to blend into the shadows more easily. Their concession to the Deathwatch is that the trim of the pad is gunmetal to show their allegiance.

Finally I took a photograph of the full force so far:

I am really liking how these are coming together so far and have a few other commander models to finish which are well on their own way to joining the force.

I figure I'm going to have a break from the Deathwatch when they are finished to get some belligerents together to face them, so be prepared for some Greenskins in the future.

No hobby bingo this time, as neither of these units clears a box for me, but next time for sure.

Until next time...

 - Lewis

An Upgraded Display - Part 2.

 

Last year, I acquired a second IKEA Detlof cabinet for free, as seen in this post.

These cabinets are great for showcasing completed miniatures, rather then have them shuttered away from the world in boxes under the bed.

However, due to a slew of finished models recently I was running out of room. Something needed to be done...

A quick search on eBay found this company and their Product:

They are 3D printed brackets which attach to the upright supports included with the Detlof.

The advantage of this company over a lot of others is that they include the perspex shelves with the brackets, where a lot of the others I looked at just supply the brackets forcing you to source the shelves for yourself.

I paid £10.53 each for four complete sets, two for each cabinet) which includes the discount for ordering multiple units.

Well packaged, I took stock of the items included:

That blue tinge is the protective adhesive layer on the perspex, which peels off.

After reading the instructions and having a dryfit, it took me less then five minutes to properly measure and level off the first shelf:

Half hour later I had the cabinet's back to display everything with all four extra shelves installed:

I have an entire empty shelf to fill, the Stormcast, Guard and Space Marine (for now) shelves all have expansion space to fill.

According to the company you can add another two shelves in each cabinet, but I think I'm going to leave them as that and buy a third cabinet in the future when I need to rather then cram another set of shelves in there.

As you can see it does leave room for some of the larger models so that's a bonus.

Until next time...

 - Lewis

Honoured Imperium.

 

The patrol moved with careful sweeps of their lasguns through the cloying clouds of dust thrown up amongst the ruins of Stalinvast. 

Their uniforms, once a pristine royal purple were now cakes in the fine remnants of the once proud city as it hung in the air, lapping around the remaining ruins and dropping visibility drastically.

The proud bastions of the city have suffered under punishing bombardments from both the enemy and now the Imperium as they took back section after section of the now ruined city.

"Sergeant, according to our maps, we should be approaching the Arch of the Aquilla and the Cathedral, but our scouts can't make them out" Lance-Corporal Dillard reported.

Sergeant Leyland Ballard looked round as Dillard made his report.

"We should be" he began, but was interrupted by one of the scouts shouting from up ahead.

The platoon ran forwards, Ballard motioning the men into cover as they investigated the scouts location.

"Sergeant, I've found...well, I've found the Arch of the Aquilla" the scout reported as Ballard and Dillard both came up onto the pile of detritus.

"You're standing on it" the scout replied to their quizzical looks.

Beneath their feet were the marble blocks of the great Imperial Eagle which should have been soaring above their heads on the triumphant victory arch. For three thousand years it had stood watch over the entrance to the Cathedral here.

Ballard traced the outline of the wings buried as they were beneath the flat grey rubble of the city. The platoon moved forwards towards them and stared in silent shock at the desecrated heads of the symbol. Someone had clearly taken a sledgehammer to the monument after it had fallen, bashing in the head and beaks of the eagle.

Tears formed in men's eyes and despair settled upon the platoon.

"Men of Ventrillia, why do you halt? Why do I see despair on the faces of these fighting men of the Imperium?" A strong sonorous voice rang out.

Commissar Loiselle strode forwards out of the dust. His stormcoat flowing, hat and boots still gleaming, powerfist glowing with electrical charge. Apart from the scaring on his left cheek, he was every part the picture of a recruitment poster, even here amongst the devastation.

Sergeant Ballard looked round as the Commissar approached.

"Although Holy Terra is far away from here, the Emperor's Hand is upon your shoulders. He has given us this task to reclaim this planet. Whilst it may be cast down at this hour, you stand upon the symbol of the Him on Earth, know that you men are the true might of the Imperium and to each of us in the guard the Emperor gives a task" 

The men were enraptured by the Commissars' speech, he had their full attention and was casting the doubts from them.

"All that the Emperor needs is for you to do your duty with fire in your hearts and prayers on your lips. Remain faithful and he will watch over you, the Emperor is always with us. Now Sergeant, get this platoon moving".

Sergeant Ballard hesitated, his faith had been shaken by the desecration he was standing upon. He scuffed his boot and looked up, a hollow, unfocused look in his eyes.

"Commissar, perhaps we should go back.." he began to suggest before the back of his head exploded outwards.

His body tumbled, thrown like a ragdoll by the explosive force, his chainsword tumbling towards the Commissars' feet.

The Commissar who held a now smoking Bolt Pistol.

"Weep for him, for his faith was not sufficient. Rejoice for my faith is bottomless! Corporal Dillard, pick up your chainsword and move forwards, for the Emperor!" Commissar Loiselle ordered, not even casting a glance at the twisted body of the former sergeant.

Lance-Corporal Dillard dutifully picked up the chainsword and began to order the advance again...

*****

Well, another project finished and a other terrain piece completed.

This is the fallen stone Aquilla from the Honoured Imperium terrain set (I'm not sure GW still produce it, a shame if they don't).

It came with a Space Marine statue and a small piece of rubble, neither of which I have but this piece I wanted to fit with the city ruins I am glacially building (I know, I know).

So a base of 3mm MDF, edges bevelled as usual and then glued down.

Geek Gaming modelling compound for the contours, and my usual rubble of bits of broken plaster (which I cast up in sheets and then break), clean cat litter and sharp sand.

Painting it was the usual fare of Wilko emulsion tester pots and drybrushing. The only difference was the Aquilla itself which was painted in a bone colour and washed with Sepia before being drybrushed for the dust on it to blend into the piece.

Hobby Bingo this closes another box...AND another line adding 60 points.

This gives me a grand total of 300 points now, I'm running slightly behind my target if I'm honest, but real life has a tendency to get in the way of hobby.

Until next time.

 - Lewis.

Deathwatch Killteam Von Drak.

 

The space marines of Killteam Von Drak stood in place inside the compartment of their Corvus Black Star as it rushed towards their mission.

They stood as still as they could within the rolling and yawing motions of the flyer as it banked around to come on course to their destination. Advanced stealth systems ensuring that the enemy, crude as they were, should not detect them on their approach.

Sergeant Leo Von Drak, of the Knights of Caliban chapter ran through the mission objective again on his wrist mounted interlink. 

It listed the topography of the mountains in this area, the stark white peaks befouled by a dirty stain where the green skins had set up camp.

How the barbaric aliens had managed to harness the geothermal energy of this region to power their war factories the Astartes warrior would never know.

'Perhaps techmarine Mateus would know' he thought to himself.

"10 seconds to drop" came the monotone announcement as the side doors slid open automatically.

The space marines readied their bolters and mag-locked them to their chestplates as they took the positions.

The Blackstar seemed to lurch nose down for a second as the pilot applied the full airbrakes and slammed the vehicle into hover mode.

"Deploy" rang out the vox as the first two marines stepped off the craft.

Von Drak was the first out, followed by Brother Chisori of the Sons of the Khan on the opposite side. One by one the members of the squad followed, Ancatus of the Sable Swords, Bartholomew of the Genesis Chapter, Corvion of the Raven's Watch, Saal of the Dark Crusaders and Kassar of the Deathstrike. 

Each warrior chosen for their skills by Von Drak, he trusted them to accomplish their mission, even if he didn't trust them fully due to different chapter philosophies and rituals.

The grav-vanes attached to their power packs kicked into life after a dizzying moment of free fall and began to arrest the Astartes headlong descent.

Above them the Blackstar flared it's engines and moved off, a darker shape against a dark night sky, only visible if you knew where to look. It would remain on station or gunship support and extraction.

Von Drak checked around him, each marine now had his boltgun or pistol in hand and had primed it ready for fight when they hit the floor.

Only Saal differed in that he was wielding his paired combat knives, the brutal close combat Reiver had received more then one reprimand within the Deathwatch since his arrival for unnecessary brutality.

As the icy wind howled, Von Drak readied himself. They were dropping fast so he aimed himself for an Ork sentry on the outskirt of the encampment. 

He hit the unfortunate creature full force and drove his boots down into the ground as he landed, crushing the alien beneath him, firing two silenced shots into its throat, he was already moving as the others landed.

"Chisori, Kassar, the east approach. Corvion, Bartholomew with me to the west. Ancatus, Saal, through the center, cause as much distraction as you can, but remain within three hundred meters of the northern extraction route" he clipped tersely into his vox.

A quick acknowledgement from each other warrior and they broke away like shadows.

"Now the work begins brothers" he turned to Corvion and Bartholomew, "In the Emperor's name".

*****

Hello, I finally to do another blog post, and more importantly get some more miniatures finished.

This time a Spectrus Killteam for my growing Deathwatch force. The Spectrum Killteam are from the Deathwatch codex upgrade and include all the more stealthy aspects of the Primaris marines. Anyone wearing Phobos armour basically, so Infiltrators, Reivers, Eliminators, etc.

This particular team of seven members is made up of models which I had available, I'm not sure how well they will perform on the battlefield, but that's never been a major issue for me.

So we have five Infiltrators who make up the main bulk of the unit and attached to them are two Reivers for some punch when needed.

Again, I've freehanded the shoulder pads for the chapter iconography, wanting more second founding and onwards chapters then the major first founding set, or the more notable successors which GW have produced over time.

So this time we have:

Saal of the Dark Crusaders.

Kassar of the Deathstrike.

Corvion of the Raven's Watch.

Chisori of the Sons of the Khan.

Ancatus of the Sable Swords.

Leo Von Drak of the Knights of Caliban.

Bartholomew of the Genesis Chapter.

Duncan, owner of the Chaos Reaver Titan I posted a while back chose the Germanic noble name for the sergeant as he is building a Primaris force of Knights of Caliban, so I thought it would be a good thing to include his chapter in the mix.

If anyone has any suggestions for chapters to include as I have several other units in the queue, I'd take reasonable suggestions, my freehand is good, but not Howling Griffons good, if you know what I mean.

Lastly, in an update for Hobby Bingo, I've filled in the centre "Any Model" square using this unit as it gives me more options about which way to go filling the rest of the grid in:

This brings me to 240 points in total.

With lockdown really easing in the UK and the chance to begin meeting up with people for games again, I'm kicking the Deathwatch into gear to get them finished for some games soon. Especially as Fraser, owner of the Ad-Mech army I've been painting, has just bought a force of Eldar Harlequins!

Until next time...

 - Lewis.

Hobby Bingo - April 2021 recap.

 Well...where did the month of April go?

It appears it snuck by all of us and no hobby was done...

Technically that's not true. Whilst the month may have crept by with no major updates from any of us, I know that things have been happening behind the scenes, so to speak.

In reality with the UK easing it's lockdown rules, kids going back to school, shops and bars reopening (still with social distancing rules though) it was always going to be a stretch to keep the momentum of hobby against the fresh demands of slowly busier workplaces, add into that preparation and attendence of interviews and time gets eaten up without being noticed.

However, I've gotten a fair chunk of a Night Lords Raptor Warband built and started, alongside more Deathwatch marines. I know that Chris has gotten a lot of stuff built and primed, especially his Cursed City box, which I am looking forward to seeing painted up as his muted style will work wonders for those models.

Dave, I think, is still working on commissions, but again time has been against him due to work concerns.

So the scoreboard is the same as last month:

Lewis: 220.

Dave: 80.

Chris: 50.

Hopefully these will change this month, especially as I've STILL got the unit that never end to finish...le sigh.

Remember always, the devil is in the details:

 - Lewis