Ghosts of the Past: Part II

Continuing on from my last post, here is my second fully painted 40K army. Starting with the Black Reach box, I never really got invested in Marines. Eventually though, after getting more experience with 40K I did finally find a chapter that sparked my interest. The Exorcists.

The background on the Chapter: founded during the 13th "Dark" founding, the Exorcists were a radical Ordo Malleus experiment to create a standard chapter that was highly resistant to the corruption of Chaos. To this end every initiate must go through "possession therapy" in order to become a full fledged battle brother. Under the watch of an Inquisitor and the Chapter Librarium, the initiate must allow himself to be possessed by a minor denizen of the Warp, and survive for a time before the watchers cast it out. The Chapter has two full extra companies of scouts due to the fact that most initiates are killed, or succumb and must be executed. However, those that do survive are highly resistant to corruption, and have almost no signature in the Warp. The Exorcists are actually allowed to study daemonic lore, and often inscribe runes of warding onto their armor and banners. However, unlike the Grey Knights, they still fully follow the Codex Astartes doctrines of war.

As seems to be the standard for me, I ended up with a somewhat peculiar list to represent them. I first decided on a 4th Company list based on the paragraph of fluff on the 4th Company Captain Waite Ryder. During the Badab War he dropped his personal Battle Barge onto the planet where Loyalist forces had been completely cut off. He actually landed his Battle Barge in the middle of the battle while firing his weapons into the Renegade forces, and evacuating almost all of the beleaguered Loyalists.

I also wanted a core of Codex Astartes forces, with Inquisitorial support, and some special Daemon fighting ability. Eventually I ended up with a Grey Knight Primary bringing a Brother Captain as Waite Ryder, Terminators for 1st Company Daemon fighting Veterans, a modified Stormraven to represent the Fleet aspect of the 4th Company, and Inquisitor Coteaz and a retinue to represent the Inquisition. Codex: Space Marines made up the ally force, bringing a Librarian with Null Zone, 2 squads of Tactical Marines, and a Predator.

Two 1st Company Terminators

My modified Stormraven (before all Chapters could take them)

Another view of the modified vehicle

Inquisitor Raphea with two Daemonhosts modelled as failed Exorcist Initiates

A Priest (one of my favorite GW Sculpts) a Jokaero, and two Guardsmen

A squad of Sanctioned Psykers

Ghosts of the Past: Part One

As I embark upon this new project, I thought it would be helpful to explain my projects in the past. I'm actually a relatively new player in 40K. I've only a few years under my belt, but what fun they have been! Originally I started with the Black Reach box, running generic marines. I ran them for a bit, but they never truly captured my fancy. When the Dark Eldar codex came out, I found my true passion. However, I didn't feel my hobby skills were up to taking them on. Thus, when my friendly local game store started a Tale of 4 Gamers modelling campaign, I decided on something different.

This was at the height of Leafblower madness, so I set out on a bit of a joke: to create the opposite of a competitive Imperial Guard list. Not a single melta gun or plasma anything showed up in the list. Only one Chimera and no Valkyries either. Mostly a lot of special characters, Infiltrate/Outflank/Stealth on everything, and an entire special weapons squad of all demo charges. The idea was a beleaguered Infiltration and Demolitions force fighting a guerrilla war in the remains of a dying Hive World.

It was a purposely stupid list that somehow won me two local tournaments mostly due to my opponents having no idea what to do with it. But the real success of the army for me was the modelling. It's certainly not the greatest thing ever seen, but all 1500 points came together in 2-3 months from scratch to painted, and really stayed true to the theme.

Al' Raheim's Platoon

 

Scout Sentinel with Camo Cloak

Marbo getting the best of a Dark Eldar

Commissar with Camo Cloak (when it stealthed the whole squad)

Creed and Kell with friends

Harker's Squad with autocannon poking through a wall

A Manticore with camo cloak ran as a forward artillery spotter

Dragon Knights

What Exodite force would be complete without their most iconic unit: the Dragon Knights. This in fact, was my first foray into the Exodite side of my forces. There are a couple different interpretations of the look, but in the end I settled on a more armored look. I may still re-assess that, but currently that's the path I'm taking. This unit is probably the one most in flux currently. Currently I prefer running them as Shining Spears since it most closely matches the "knight" playstyle. However, they are just far too expensive for what you get, and my list is surprisingly tight on points. Thus, I'm also looking into running them as Reaver. Of course, even that may change as the current Eldar rumors include a box of Dragon Riders that would require rules.

The conversion itself was kept pretty straightforward. Dark Elf Cold Ones for the dinosaur part of the equation seemed pretty obvious. The bodies are Dire Avengers, and strangely the legs are as well. Turns out they make a great riding pose with minimal shaving, and keep me from messing with the original chain mail legs. The Cold One rider spears were preserved in the model with the lance tips replaced with Disintigrator tips (not pictured here) to bring back the Space in Space Elf. The other arms are various Dark Eldar arms holding chains that I attached to their mounts with surprising ease. Masked Dark Eldar heads helped to call back to the older renditions of the Dragon Knights. Finally, different bits were added around the models to pull it all together.

Currently the unit is being used to ferry a Farseer on a jetbike (who will later be modeled as a World Singer on a similar dragon mount) with fair success. The unit still needs some work, but again, I'm really enjoying it all coming together.

As-of-Yet Unnamed Corsair Princess

What would Hellions be without the Baron Sathonyx? Or Corsairs without a Corsair Prince/Princess? Thus we have this currently work-in-progress version of my warlord. An odd choice you may think, what with the lack of even a power weapon or stats to match a standard Archon. However, I've found that the buffs given out by the Baron are not to be underestimated. Moving to troops takes Hellions from mediocre to a potentially solid addition to the army. +1 to choose whether to go first or second has made a difference in 9/10 games I've played. Usually in the form of choosing to go second with night fight, which usually means first blood for me, and guaranteed objective lockdown last turn. Moving 12", granting Stealth, granting offensive/defensive grenades, and granting Hit and Run have all been game changing additions.

The model itself was an interesting conversion. During the brainstorming, the idea was to have a more 80's punk looking character on a jetboard with a dynamic look to differentiate them from the Voidstorm squad. I actually tried a variety of models before deciding on Lelith. Big 80's hair and a great action pose fit the bill. The jetboard was a big tricky, but eventually an Eldar Missile Launcher combined with a few other bits gave me an interesting look (that someone described as resembling the Serenity from Firefly). The arms were a bit tricky since I couldn't get a look I liked. The spear from a Scourge box ended up doing nicely, but it took me a while to decide on a swinging banner. After all, what's a 40k character without overly ornate banners?

The pose itself gave me fits as well, but liberal use of pinning an glue eventually gave me the dynamic look I was envisioning. Then I realized I had her hair and banner flowing backwards. More pinning and gluing later, I eventually arrived at something I could work with. Although the model definitely needs some touching up (not the best Finecast I've recieved) and a few changes will be made, I'm currently happy with the direction it's taking.

Corsair Voidstorm Squad

The first models come together!  A simple enough conversion for counts-as Hellions. Frankly, I've never been a fan of the Forgeworld Corsair conversions. I tried to keep it simple: the body of a Scourge with a Hellion skyboard strapped to their back, and a Hellion hellglaive replacing their arms. However, the end result was surprisingly dynamic and fun.

Here we have the finished 10 man squad, including Heliarch with a power spear in the forefront. I also have added reversed Dire Avenger shoulder target designators. They may be a little hard to see, but they will count for the skyboard's Splinter Pods. With the right paint job, they should make for cool Predator style guns.

All in all, the squad has been a satisfying start to the project. In the 10 or so games I've played with them, they've performed admirably with the Baron's support. I'm also hoping that the sharp, futuristic lines with contrast well with the more organic tones of the coming Exodites.

Outcasts, Loners, and Clowns

So this is how it begins. A Dark Eldar player looking for a new direction and a simple idea formed at my FLGS over the conversion of certain models into Exodites. As time passed I mulled the idea over more and more, expanding on that initial idea and spinning entirely new ideas into the project. Eventually it expanded into something concrete, and I decided to begin this blog to cover my exploration into something new I'm currently calling "Outcasts, Loners, and Clowns".

While I've been collecting the pieces for this army, there has been plenty of play testing going on. As such, the army list has been constantly changing in slight ways. Thus, I won't bother posting a list just yet. However, I can say it is Dark Eldar with allied Eldar, but modeled entirely as Exodites, Corsairs, and Harlequins. So far the list has been more successful than expected. Rumors of a new Eldar codex mean the whole project may have to change in a few months, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Basically, this project is about my love for the Eldar race in all it's forms, while trying to expand my modelling and painting skills. Inspiration has come from the great local hobbyists, previous Exodite projects. With a little extra work, I also hope to introduce some of the visual themes of the early punk Eldar of Games Workshop, and the strange works of John Blanche. I'm excited to see where it leads, and I hope you find the journey interesting as well!