Blood Pact Priest WIP

Now Uni's out the way for the Christmas period, I can actually focus on getting some models painted. This Guy's been sitting undercoated on my hobby desk for nearly 3 years now, so with the release of the new Technical paints from GW, it seemed the perfect opportunity to try out Blood for the Blood God.

I've found that while the blood effect works well for dried blood, it's actually quite rubbish if you want wet blood, say on a weapon or something. It's a only a small flaw though. Other than that, it's a fantastic addition to the range. It's almost inspired me to dig out my old Blood Pact army and give them a spruce up. That's a project that can wait though, at least until I start finishing up my current projects.

I still need to find a right arm for him, but that can wait. I need to consider what I want to arm him with. I'm thinking probably a shotgun, so he can lend a bit of fire to the squad he's attached to, but the idea of dual-wielding chainswords appeals to me, as it seems like the kind of thing the Blood Pact would do and would look awesome.

For now though, I'm calling him done. Basing will come later,as I like to base huge batches of models at once.

Armies on Parade: Twelve Hour Mark

After a long hard slog, i'm finally there. The mind has been focussed for once!

While i don't have any images of the finished army right now, what with them laid out on my desk for final detailing, i can assure you i am bang on schedule to have them on display for 12 Noon today. Here's a shot of the board from earlier today.



I think i need to make the earth mounds look more scorched and war-torn, but that might just be the camera flash.

More images, including the whole finished product are coming in the next few hours, just before i pack them away for transport.

Armies on Parade: 8 Days to go

It's 8 days to go until the UK Armies on Parade and all the materials i need for my entry have finally arrived.

The plan is have my Blood Pact overrunning an imperial defence line, with all sorts of gribbly chaotic support.

So now with the board, aegis line, a bag of filler and a box of guardsmen for desecration/ fallen victims, i'm finally entering the last leg of this. If i stick to the schedule i've made for myself i should get it done in time. Wish me luck

Here's how it looks at the moment, but obviously the finished thing should be far more impressive



I'll keep you updated on my progress

Stumble Gun

This is the start of a Stumble Gun for my Blood Pact.



For those of you who don't know, it's a terror weapon unleashed by the Archenemy in the Gaunts Ghost book His Last Command.
Essentially they're spheres of metal and guns that are literally rolled at the enemy, bouncing around randomly, crushing and killing all in their path with both their weight and energy weapons studded across its surface.

I loved the idea of these balls of destruction the moment i saw them and i've wanted to build one for ages. I'm still not sure what i'm going to use it as yet, but i'll work that out later.

Hopefully i'll be able to show you more in the next couple of days

On the Eve of War

"Tomorrow the war for Stygias begins in earnest. The foes arrayed against us are many and we are few. I will not deny that the going will be tough and i don't expect many of you to survive. However, those who make it through the tempest will be deemed most worthy in the eyes of the Primordial Annihilator and borne to greatness above all others

Now let us rise and defeat these heathen Astartes who seek to defile the promised land of the the Khorne!

Blood for the Blood God!"

Vash Etogaur at the onset of the Stygias Campaign

Tomorrow sees the first battle of the latest campaign at my local gaming club. It's been pushed back a week due to stuff going on in my life, but in all honesty, the extra week of thinking has done me good and i'm a lot more optimistic about my battle plan than i was before

I'm up against Vanilla Marines in the first round, defending in a Planetfall mission with my Blood Pact, a role which i'm none too happy about, what with my usual force being geared for attack, so i've had to devise some unorthodox tactics, which i will divulge fully tomorrow after the battle, as my opponent reads this blog, so i don't want him learning of my plans quite yet. I'll explain all later when i put up the battle report. I'll say now though that he won't know what hit him!

Instead, i'll outline the fluff i've been developing for my army. I've come up with this to mainly explain why he's fighting all sorts of races, instead of just Guard and Space Marines (the imperial forces in the sabbat worlds) and also how he came to be on Stygia in the first place (which is according to the campaign fluff, near the Ghoul Stars)

Vash Etogaur is a highly respected commander within the Blood Pact, his name associated with the most high risk and dangerous missions, where chances of survival were minimal. Yet the Etogaur has a knack of emerging miraculously unscathed, causing many within the ranks of the Pact to believe he is marked for greatness by the blood god himself

As a Damogaur on Morlond he led in insertion team that led to the destruction of high marshal Iago’s command leviathan. His crack Death Brigade lay low in the engine rooms for three days before striking with a graviton bomb. The resulting concussion wave ripped the heart out of the imperial eastern flank, which chaos forces surged forward to fill . It took 5 days for Crusade forces to re- plug the gap, during which time the Blood Pact reaped a mighty toll on the imperials, offering many thousands of skulls up to Khorne. This victory saw Vash rise to the rank of Etogaur and an entire philia put under his command.

High command seemed to suit Vash, combining cunning with sheer audacity. Even as the Archenemy withdrew from Morland, he commanded a masterful rearguard, coordinating a series of devastating strikes on the victorious imperials, ensuring even in defeat the Blood God would take his toll.

With the favours piled upon him, his career was set to be monumental, with him tipped to become the Anarch's second-in-command after Vayrys was slain on Tarnagua. However, Khorne had different ideas.

Imperial histories record how that ancient edifice of Sparshad Mons was obliterated from orbit after imperial guard scouts discovered a series of warp gates running beneath its surface, through which the Blood Pact were ferrying forces from off-world.

Vash was on the threshhold of one of these gates when the first lance strike hit the gate, severing its connection to the aether in a heartbeat and causing violent feedback through the network, killing thousands of chaos warriors instantly. Vash lost his left arm and suffered burns to most of his body, but he survived. Just.

As he lay in the medicae bay of the 'Hand of Rage', lost in a fever-induced trance, it is said that the Primordial Annihilator himself spoke to him, granting Vash visions of hidden sources of power throughout the galaxy, just waiting to be claimed by those with the strength of will to do so.

It was a sign of Vash's true devotion to his lord and master that when he awoke, he shared these visions of greatness with the Gaur, instead of coverting the power for himself.

The Anarch commanded Vash to take a fleet and travel the galaxy, gathering to him these relics and technological horrors, so they might help bring about greater destruction in Khornes name. Many are the atrocities that Vash has conducted in pursuit of this mission, including the raiding of the inquisitional fortress of Halvas and the scouring of the shrine world of Minan II. Each victory bring many new converts to his cause and when he finally returns to the Sabbat Worlds, along with hellish devices of destruction, he will also bring with him thousands of fresh recruits to be inducted into the pact and ritually scarred upon the ancient power armour of Urlock Gaur.

His most recent mission sees him heading for the far flung world of Stygias, seeking the device known as the Amarth-Thame, or ‘Apocalypse Box’. Sealed beneath the surface, these devices pre-date mankinds ascent into the star and represent power the likes of which most mortals can only dream of. With that at their disposal, the Archenemy could easily seize victory in the Sabbat World Crusade, where they are being ground down by Warmaster Macaroths crusade. However, many other races are drawn to the devices psychic beacon. War on a scale rarely seen before has erupted on Stygias and only time will tell if Vash and his forces will emerge victorious...

The Blood Pact ready for battle in the name of the Anarch



Vash and his command staff

Manticore has a bath

I've attacked my Manticore with several liberal washes with Badab Black and Devlan Mud, as well as filling in many of the fine details, such as the silver metalwork and the rivets. It's getting there. Admittedly, it's slow progress, but i'm proud of what little i'm getting done.

The Storm Eagle Rockets are still on the painting table and I found the last Rocket down the back of my desk last night, although it's too late now to get it primed, painted and done by thursday, so it'll have to wait for now and go with the three-rocket idea.

I've pretty much got everything i need for this campaign at least partially painted now. It's just a matter of knuckling down and getting them done when i get a chance. Easier said than done though, what with exam season approaching fast and two Final Major Projects to do, as well as a missus to keep happy, but i'll get there eventually.

Painted 'Pacters!

I finally got some painting done!

Like the Manticore yesterday, these still need some fine details and final coats of washes

These ones are Veteran and Death Brigade troopers




Vash Etogaur and the notorious Psyker Milkel Valkronia



Oh and i build a bit of terrain too, ready for the opening mission of the campaign, which will see me defending in a Planetfall mission

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!...

"...Every time you drop the bomb, you kill the god your child has born"

I think of that song every time time I use this thing in game. Kudos to anyone who knows what song it is.

This is the work i've done so far on the Manticore. I'm in the process of painting two more missiles atm. I don't know where the fourth one is, but what i'm going to say is that when they looted it from the Guard, it had already fired a shot and replacements are hard to come by. It never survives beyond turn three anyway, so it doesn't matter too much.

The commanders head is being painted seperately so i can get to the details

Once the Storm Rockets are finshed i'm breaking out the paints for another round of washes to weather it up. Deadline for this is wednesday next week, as i've got my first league game then.

I've also painted up some of my squads, so pics will be up soon

The Sentinel of Vrar

This is something i've been working on the last few weeks - a 'counts as' Armoured Sentinel



If anyone questions its use in-game, i simply point out the following facts: it's a 'walker', it has a single crewman, it's on the right sized base and it's got the right weapon.
Technically it's wysiwyg!

Procrastination on the subject of Stalk Tanks

I've been doing some thinking into how to make a Stalk Tank for my Blood Pact and as far as i see it, the donor model will depend on what i want it to count as:

Option one: Sentinel

I could go the route most people take and have it class as an Armoured Sentinel, in which case it's simply a case of adding more legs to a Sentinel body and shifting them into a Spider-like pattern. However, i think the Sentinel rules make for a vehicle that's a bit 'light' for a Stalk Tank, which is often portrayed as spearheading Archenemy assaults.

Which leads me on to...

Option 2: Leman Russ

This idea would tie in with the assault vehicle aspect of the Stalk Tank, able to mount multiple plasma weaponry (something mentioned in the books)and even represent the command configurations that are out there for it (using 'counts as' Pask)

If i go for this route, it would be an in depth conversion, involving stripping down a CSM Defiler and mounting Leman Russ weapons and mounting it all onto a Valkyrie base (to keep the same basic footprint as a 'Russ).

Only problems with this option is obviously the extra cost of models, as well as the fact that as i'm entering a league soon, if the organiser doesn't approve of the 'counts as', it won't be able to be used.

What do people think?

All thoughts and opinions are welcome

Various Progress

Work's begun on the body of my Manticore. It's surprisingly simple to build. Considering it's my first ever Forgeworld tank kit, i was expecting it to be more complicated than it is



This is a fallen Inquistor/ Big Bad Chaos Dude, built simply by raiding my bitz box. I'm planning to give him a plastic chaos knight shield in the near future.

In game he's going to be a 'counts as' Daemonhunter Inquisitor, who, along with his Mystics is going to have the job of spotting (and arranging the shooting of) pesky deep strikers. I'm also working on a plasma cannon servitor for him to help out.



Finally for today, this bloke's going to become my 'counts as' Creed or Straken (havn't decided which yet, it still needs playtesting). Either way, it's an old Al-Ulric Model, which i found going cheap in my local independant retailer.

Demogaur Vash

Here's the Storm Trooper seargent i talked about yesterday.

I replaced his Hell Pistol with a plasma pistol from my space marine bitz box and used the wires left over and a skeleton head to make a servo skull for him.





The plasma pistol arm has been turned into a mutated one due to the fact that the hand holding the pistol was the wrong way round.



I've also been working on another bio-mechanical weapon 'team'

Death Brigade and more...

Right, here's the pics of my first Death Brigade, based off the Kasrkin Boxed set. I just need to do the seargent now.







And my first completed Blood Pact squad. They all need a once-over with a file to remove/defile imperial insignia, but other than that, they're more or less good to go for painting, just need one more grotesk on the flame troopers

Trooper and Heavy Flamer



Seargent and Vox. The vox bloke doesn't have a grotesk, as i figured he'd need his mouth clear for working the comms, instead he has a cloth over his mouth, so he can still show respect to the Gaur and the Blood God whilst still performing his duty



Troopers






Flamers. the twisty green stuff thing you see on the right is going to become a fleshy mutated arm




Family shot, minus one or two troopers who fell victim to formatting issues with the pic



Oh and i've built this as an unusual weapons 'team'.

And you thought you were having a bad day...

Right, just a quick update to show the work i've been doing on my Manticore turret.




I've got a Death Brigade fully built now as well, but they can go up later when i have more time, as i'm about to head out for my weekly gaming night.

Progress, of sorts

After getting feedback from my last post, i've filed down the dark elf helmets in an attempt to make them fit in with the Cadian helmets.

Here is the results

Cadian and Dark Elf head side by side



The 'cloak' is going to be painted up as a bundle of skin/ hides, adding a chaotic twist to the idea of a squad sniper.

I've also started on an Autocannon team, crewed by mutants. I got one mutant done, the other i'm still finding bitz for.




And a Missile Launcher team




A Rough Rider i've also started on. I decided to use scout bikers as a base, as i don't like the idea of rock-hard pacters riding horses into battle. They need iron steeds.
I just need to make a head with a grotesk now




I got myself a box of Stormtroopers and started converting them into my first Death Brigade, filing off or greenstuff-ing over all their imperial icons and symbols. More on these later.



Oh, and managed to dig out my FW Manticore and if i can steal a few moments over the festive period, i'll be scrubbing it and prepping for building.

First of the Pact

Ok, it's not 'tomorrow', like i said, but i've finally pulled some stuff together. The main factor that's been stopping me doing much is that this is the view out my window at the moment:



And that shed you see in the corner is my painting shed. With no heating and plummeting temperatures, it's easy to see why i've got very little painting done recently.

However, i have managed to scrape together the following:



This is going to be my company command squad. As you can see, i've only painted a few of them, but i'm getting there. I've begun sculpting Grotesques onto their faces, even with my limited sculpting skills, i think they're ok.

The Servitor's going to be my Master of the fleet, representing Dark Mechanicum support and the big mutated thing is my 'counts as' Nork Deddog. Also, the imperial banner will be suitably defiled during the painting process.

As soon as i can access my painting shed without dying of frostbite, they'll be all be painted.

In the meantime, i've been building the first of my 'Pact rank and file. They aren't Death Brigades, as i see Storm Troopers to be more fitting for those. Instead, these are going to just be a veteran squad with flamers and a heavy flamer (in preparation for the 'Nid codex landing in january). Progress on them is slow, due to the sculpting of the groteques, but i've found that Dark Elf warrior helmets work really well sprinkled about as grotesques, providing a bit of contrast to the IG helmets.




Also, i found some of my old attempts at Blood Pact, which have since been incorperated into my other Chaos IG army. These will be 'repatriated' back into the Blood Pact in due course.



I have a FW Manticore, which i bought at games day that still needs building, so my 'Pact won't be short of fire support.

I've also had a thought for a sweet artillery piece - A Skaven Screaming Bell, crewed by Pact members! It'd certainly be different and could be used as any piece of artillery i liked, using 'counts as'.


It might not fit the idea of the Blood Pact looting IG equipment (as they're most commonly portrayed in the books), but it could be rationalised as being one of the more crazy things 'donated' to the Anarchs elite by the other warlords, as well as providing an interesting and eye-catching piece.

What do you guys think?

Also, constructive criticism of my WIP's would be welcome