BoLSCon or Bust! A Traitor IG Blog

[Lux]

The title says it all. My goal is to complete 3000 points of traitor IG, sometimes known as Lost and the Damnded by the end of July for the narrative events at BoLSCon. This project has been years in the making. For me, 40k is more about the imagry and background than the actual gaming. I play Epic or Bloodbowl when I want to play a tactical miniatures game.

Anyway, I've been wanting to build this type of force for a long, long time. Waiting for my painting skills to improve, for a better financial situation, and for other projects to be completed. After playing in the narrative events at BoLSCon last year I realized a few things 1) There weren't enough Chaos players. 2) BoLSCon 2010 would provide a great excuse to work on the army. So here I am.

I've drawn inspiration from a number of different people over the years: Dave Taylor, my buddy Relasine, and several guys on some of the other forums.

About the army philosophy:
Having read the Gaunts Ghosts series, I fell in with the idea of a more professional chaos army. After all, according to the background entire regiments and planets turn to chaos all the time. Why should they suddenly forget all of their training and tactics when they turn? It seems like they would simply use that training for the benefit of their new masters.

I saw a color scheme in one of the old GW catalogues, a lava scheme that I thought looked good & would be different from the norm. The lava scheme meant lava bases, which led me to the Iron Halo fens bases. It also led me towards a Khorne theme. Since a shooty IG army doesn't really fit with the smashy-smashy style of Khorne, most of the army will be undivided, with some khorne daemons for use in apocalypse games.

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So now I've got former Imperial force based/fighting on a lava world that has turned traitor, with leanings towards Khorne. That alone lends itself to a lot of conversion potential. I've picked up a little of the ForgeWorld Traitor IG parts to mix in with the army.

I'll be using this blog and the responsibility of updating it to keep myself motivated as I work on the force. Painting will be done 1 squad at a time so as not to overwhelm myself.

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[Lux]

Yesterday night and this evening were spent working on the bases for the first squad. You'll also notice a preview of something else coming down the pipe....

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[Madness]

Allright allright, you got me intrested. Now start showing me something juicier *cracks the whip*.

[odinsgrandson]

So, those are some lava bases- are your guard set from a Deamon World?

Have you checked to see if the Lost and Damned force is allowed lately? I can never tell sometimes when a force is officially unplayable.

[ForeverHero]

hmm... I thought you would have had more done after all this time ;) Hey bud, it looks good so far, those bases turned out really well.

Cheers,

FH

[Lux]

Thursday and Friday are the gaming nights here in Austin, so I haven't done much the last couple of days. Note, I said I haven't done much...that doesn't mean I haven't done anything.

I took my paints with me last night and worked on the bases a bit, cleaning up the black rock, painting the rims, and smoothing the blends on the lava itself. I didn't get a chance to take photos, but I'll try and get some in tonight when I do the same thing. I also started on the test scheme for the guardsmen.

I've been using some of the Pig Iron heads for the 'boys. Some of the heads have gas masks on. All of the forge world minis have gas masks and air canisters, and so I figured that making my own air canisters for the Pig Iron heads would be one more way of tying the army together.

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I simply cut some plastic rod into a short tube, maybe 1/4 or 1/8 inch long, and then cut two "end caps" from thicker diameter tubing. Some thick guitar wire stands in for the air hose, and VOILA!, extra character for the model for all of 5 minutes of work! I feel like the fact that the air canister pieces are a little rough and uneven plays to my advantage since it will (hopefully!) give them a dinged up and used appearance.

I already have a 3000 point list written up that I'm building towards in 1000 point-block increments. Here's the first 1000 points:

Company Command Squad with 3 plasma guns in Chimera and a power weapon on the Company Commander

Infantry Platoon #1
4 flamers in the command squad
2 platoons, each with an autocannon and grenade launcher

Infantry Platoon #2- Duplicate of above

Medusa

Leman Russ Demolisher

10 Veterans in Chimera with 3 Melta Guns


It's a total of 70 models, and 4 vehicles. I've already built most of the models but still need to clean and prime most of them. The autocannon teams and leman russ haven't been built yet. I have something special in mind for them :)

I also know that roughly 1000 points of the final 3k BoLSCon force will be a Shadowsword and a HellHammer.


@Odingrandson- The LatD list is now unofficial only, which is why I'm sticking to the IG codex. In apocalypse, I can ally in chaos marines and/or daemons. The planet is simply a volcanic world; I liked the color scheme. The basic backstory I came up with was that the army was an Imperial force sent in to crush a chaos uprising that then fell to chaos itself.

@Forever- As I posted a few lines above, I've actually constructed a lot more than what's been shown so far, I just don't have photos of it all...yet.

[Lux]

Rise. Rise! I command this thread to rise from the grave!

Yes, this is thread necromancy, but it's my thread, so I'll do what I want. Obviously, the thread died a long time ago with the project uncompleted. The new Tyranids with all the new options needed building and testing, the fact that I was needed to help run the Con instead of playing, and a whole host of other factors kept me from completing the project. But now things are different. The Tyranids are "done". Last week I finally brought my latest 2k build up to table ready status, giving me about 5-6k table ready in all. In the 8 months since the project was abandoned, I've taken a sculpting class and a painting masterclass. I've also manged to further refine the army concept and get a little more disposable income to buy models.

I've also decided to take a different approach to the army and this thread. I'll be coming at it as more of an escalation build. I'm starting with just 500 points, and then building, painting, and playing my way up to over 3k.

Here's the first 500 point list I've put together:

Company Command Squad with 4 plasma guns
Chimera with multilaser and heavy bolter

Veteran Squad with 3 melta guns
Chimera with multilaser and heavy bolter

Infantry platoon
Command Squad with 4 flamers
(x2) Platoon with grenade launcher and autocannon


Attached below are pictures of the medusae/artillery platform I'm building, as well as a test color scheme. I'm actually not completely pleased with the test scheme. The colors don't "pop". I need to see what it looks like on one of the lava bases, and maybe try a "greyer" brown, like P3's Gun Corps Brown.


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[Lux]

As I said in my last post, I'm not overly happy with the test paint scheme it follows the camo patterns that will be on the vehicles, but it just seems to be missing.....something. So last night I did a little experiment- I painted one guardsmen in a "cool" scheme starting with P3 Umbral Umber, working up to P3 Gun Corps Brown (a greyish brown, similar to GW Graveyard Earth). I painted a 2nd guardsmen just like the original test scheme, but did a little more with the Bestial Brown highlights to make them stand out. On both models I also painted the rebreather mask. One model went up to Khaki, to go with the colder colors, while the other went to P3's Rucksack Tan, a warmer, yellower tan. Both models still need some work done to be considered completely finished, but they're good enough to decide which color scheme to use on the army.

You can see the two test scheme's below. I'm still not sure which to go with, but I'm leaning towards the bestial brown one, simply because it's closer to the original scheme I showed in the first post. I also mounted both models to bases. Like the models, the bases aren't finished, but they're close enough to get an idea of how the end products will look.

I also did some work on one of the two chimera's that'll be in the 500pt list.



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All this said, I've got most of the infantry for the 500pt list built, and I may try a few more test schemes tonight.

I gotta tell you though, the most annoying part of the process is filing off the aquillas.

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[weeble1000]

Couldn't you deface the Imperial iconography and then sort of cover it up with symbols of the ruinous powers? That might be easier to do than getting them off completely and could add a bit of character to your models. You could use FW etched brass for the chaos symbols, you could use a bit of green stuff, or you could do it with paint. You could also add some additional flair such as putting on an aquila upside down with the heads cut off.

[Lux]

Yep. I am doing a bit of that. And some models will simply have the aquilla painted over with a chaos symbol.

[Lux]

I painted two more test schemes last night. Sadly, the photos didn't come out well. I'm now at work with no chance to take new photos until this evening. One model was painted the same as the bestial brown highlighted one above, but with a grey re-breather mask. The other was painted up with grey cloth instead of brown, and a brown re-breather mask.

All of the schemes are pretty easy to paint up, and once I've picked one it'll be easy to paint up an entire army of them- but I've gotta nail down what I want first.

A few other things on my plate are figuring out how I'm going to model the company commander, and working up the heavy weapon teams. And trust me, those heavy weapon teams won't be your normal "two guys and a gun on tripod".... I've got something special in mind for those (and for my Russes & arty). The trick will be making it simple enough to replicate multiple times.

Hopefully, I'll be able to play my first 500pt games next week.

Lux

[TSINI]

Looking great man, you're making it dificult for me to avoid getting a load of those traitor guard parts though, i'd love to make a replica of my existing guard army in traitor form, but the sheer amount of money that would incur scares me.

inspired work with the guitar wire and pig iron heads, definately an idea i may have to "borrow"

I'll keep my eye on this one

[Duke]

I don't like your army... It smells bad! J/k. I can't wait to see this army done, I like the idea of chaos symbols painted over the aquila. Gotta love threadomancy!

Duke

[Lux]

Not having the greatest lighting in the world, combined with a so-so digital camera, short daylight hours, and long hours at work has meant I still don't have good photos to post up. With gaming tonight and tomorrow night, it'll be Friday or even Saturday before I can post some images!

In the meantime though, I'll discuss a little design philosophy for my company HQ model. I'm struggling with how to model this character, and multiple conversations with other poeple have failed to resolve it.

As I've said a number of times, I envision this army to represent more of a professional force, and that leads towards several design considerations. One other thing I have to consider is that the model will probably have to be more of a conversion. My sculpting skills are improving, but they're not up to the task of making an entirely new model from scratch, or even creating large sections to add to an existing model.

- I've considered using the games day Archaeon on foot (http://www.google.com/images?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&q=archaon+on+foot&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=5PnjTL7dGIX6lwf804TbDA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CC8QsAQwAA&biw=1083&bih=551) model that I've got in my bits box, but the armor and weapons really don't match (I'd give the guy a powerfist and that's about it), and the model itself screams "bloody warlord" more than "former imperial commander gone rogue".

- Goatboy, amongst one or two others, suggested incorporating parts of C:SM armor onto the model, perhaps with a WHFB Chaos Marauder as the base. This could work, but again, I don't think it works as well with my idea of a more professional force.

- Even something similar to what Dave Taylor did with his Blood Pact commander (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y6W7acufmFE/SrGN0qiBRGI/AAAAAAAAAmk/eB0bHO4aCdM/s1600-h/BPCommandSquadFront.jpg) just doesn't "feel right".


Now, the answer may be the I simply take an imperial commander model and "chaosify" him. I could see taking the lord commisar (http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440173a&prodId=prod2010018&rootCatGameStyle=) model for that and cleaning off most or all of the imperial iconography. In the meantime, I may just end up having a standard platoon officer model stand in so that I can play some games.


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[MasterSlowPoke]

Is there a model out there that you'd use to represent the Company Commander if this were a loyalist force?

[Lux]

There's the standard IG commander model from the command squad box, but even that one doesn't grab me. I've always felt the HQ model should stand out in some way, and that model looks like just another guy on the line.

One idea that just occurred to me would be to play off of Creed & Kelll. So a big burley commander and his standard bearer, but for chaos instead of the imperium.

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[Duke]

My suggestion would be:
-an inquisitor model with iconography chopped off
- creed (already mentioned)
- forgeworld stuff has some pretty dynamic guys... If your willing to pay an wait.
- the tank commander on foot from the baneblade sprue with the pointing hand looks really commander like.

Just a few thoughts, hope that helps

Duke

[TSINI]

The Inquisitor solomon lok is one of my favourite models, he takes little work to make looke evil (brutal looking weapon, removing some =I= symbols

Even my "loyal" Inquisitor Payne (http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?t=8671) looks evil

or perhaps the servitor would make a good commander, with a bit of reworking...

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Daemonhunters_/TECH-SERVITOR.html

maybe removing the right arm and replacing it with a raised power fist, maybe a head-swap...

[Lux]

I've got a few photos today to show what was otherwise a fairly productive last week.

I decided to go with the bestial brown uniform. It's a dark, drab scheme, but it matches the camo pattern and the lava better than the other colors. Now that I've got the colors chosen, I spent quite a bit of time building.
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I've got enough infantry models to field all of the 500 point list minus the heavy weapon teams; additionally I have enough for an extra 8-strong infantry platoon (sergeant, special weapon, & 6 grunts), a tricked out command squad with a medic, standard, and vox caster, and an extra grunt or three. Most of the models have also had the mold lines cleaned up, though a few need a drop of greenstuff in the gaps between the arms and torsos or torso and legs before they get primed. This is most prevalent on the mixed forgeworld/cadian models.

In the 500pt list, that's 5 command squad models, 5 platoon command models, 10 veterans, and 16 platoon infantry with 2 heavy weapon teams coming as a special project. Eventually, I'll probably convert some shotgun veterans and use the lasrifle ones as standard infantry models.

Today, I'll be doing a lot more building. Here's just one portion of the models I've got set aside.
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There are a few lessons from the last week. The FW parts are great, but mixing FW and Cadian parts on the same model doesn't work out as well as I thought it might. The FW torsos aren't as wide as the cadian torsos, which means the gun arms just don't line up quite right when putting cadian arms on a FW torso, or vice versa. I still managed it for the most part, with a little filing and cutting, but it was a pain.

Also, for the moment, my HQ model is simply a cadian officer model with the imperial insignia removed. This model is just a temporary solution until I really figure out which way I want to go.

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[Lux]

It's been a good week! I've now built most of the vehicles I'll need for the 500 and 1000 point lists. I've also started work on vision for the heavy weapons teams.

First, the vehicles. Most still need cleaning up. Both chimeras will have greenstuff work done to make them more daemonic.
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You can see the difference between the new chimera (pic 1) and the old chimera (pic 2). The old chimera is still awaiting something to fill the holes on the side panels where the aquilla would normally show. I need to do some work on the crew before I finish up the turrets.

Now, here is my counts-as leman russ.
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It's based off of a defiler (duh!). It'll be a LR Demolisher with plasma cannon sponsons and a hull lascannon. I'm trading Goatboy for the plasma cannons, and those'll go in those empty holes on the sides. The back still needs more work since the model looks "light" compared to the front. BigRed suggested oil drums, and that's what I'm going with. I'll be doing a bit more work on the back, including adding some fuel lines from the oil drums up to the front gun area. I've also decided to cut down (or even swap out) the battlecannon barrel so that it's 100% clear its a demolisher cannon.

I'm not allowed to upload more than 5 pic's per post, so the heavy weapons team will follow in the next post.

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[Lux]

So here's a mock up of the first heavy weapons team.
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I've built the main chassis, along with one of the legs. It'll be a walker, similar to a defiler, but on a smaller scale. Yes, it does fit on a 50mm base. The gun is removable. 2 minutes in Paint will give you a better idea of what it'll look like with all four legs.
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I'm talking to one of the locals and I think I'll be able to get him to cast the pieces for me so that I won't have to make 20 or 30 of these things by hand. The smokestacks are currently separate pieces to make casting easier.

I've already slashed my finger once while working on this model, I'd bleed myself dry making more of them! Now, since I have shed blood for the army, and since the army is dedicated to chaos, that should mean I'll only roll 6's, right?

The next step in construction, greenstuffing the hell out of the chimeras and the infantry!

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[Lux]

Well, I've painted 75 guardsmen, seven chimeras, six hydras, three basilisks, and two shadowswords, all in the last week!

Ok, they were Epic models.
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They were painted in basically the same scheme as the traitor guard though. I've had the army for years and had never painted it. I painted those models in about 2hrs last Thursday. If only a 40k army painted up as quickly.

They're small enough that I can carry a tray or two of epic models and some paints with me to the store without needing an extra case. I can paint for an hour or so, finish a bunch of stuff, and still play several games.

As for the 40k side, it's been mostly grunt work- cleaning mold lines, gap filling, nothing all that exciting or photo worthy. However, tonight and tomorrow I'll be doing some greenstuff work on the chimeras to show daemonic infestation and I will have photos of that!

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[Lux]

Progress continues!

I want to make sure the army isn't simply an IG force with chaos stars instead of aquilla's. This army needs to show the real influence of chaos- so lots of conversions and additions. With the first two chimera's, I've chosen to show that by sculpting in "daemonic pus" coming out of the inside, sort of a homage to the daemonic possession rules. There are also other subtle changes. For instance, the tow hooks are from the chaos vehicle sprue instead of the standard IG towhook. The chaos ones look more....'evil'. The chain of course is another pretty standard feature. And of course, there are the chaos stars.

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Last night the painting finally started.
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This is the medusae hull with an additional shot/idea of what the final product will eventually look like with the hellcannon as the weapon. The cannon still needs some gapfilling before it gets primed, and then it's detailed enough that I'll need to paint it separately. I do have two additional suspensors completed, but not attached yet.

The vehicle colors still need a lot of work! I'll be glazing, weathering, and washing everything. And then, of course, the metal still needs to be highlighted, and the tracks painted, and the........ you get the idea. But the basic parts are there. Two more pics of another chimera in the next post, since I'm bumping up against my picture limit for this one.

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[Lux]

The additional pics, as promised. On this chimera, the top hatch goo will have a large eye in it. The colors of the goo still aren't near completed. Expect more pinks and reds. I was limited by the colors I had on hand with me at the store yesterday.
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