Astra Militarum in 8th Edition - Part 1 Review

I have spent the last few years focused on the Horus Heresy and kept gaming with 40k by just transferring my codex over, well that was until 8th came along. I tried using the fandex which is brilliant work, but it just wasn't the same.

So it was time for me to unpack my Astra Militarum (still getting used to calling them that) and take a look through the 8th edition rules properly and the AM Codex. Suffice to say I am loving them!

I've been looking through the codex, listening to podcasts (Forge The Narrative), and scanning through various blogs to look for consistent great units. With a tournament in mind next year and a desire to get a half decent sense of what makes a good army in mind I am embarking upon a review of what I think works well in the codex for me and fits with the models I have already (although I'm not ruling out the odd addition here and there).

Twitter Primarch Deathmatch Final - Leman Russ v Sanguinius

"The day has finally arrived - the final is here!"

"Yes it's a glorious day, the crowds are going absolutely nuts in anticipation for this final. The blood has been cleaned from the arena, the weapons are ready, the squig fighting pre-match entertainment is nearly finished and the grott brothers are about to suspend betting on the big event."

"The fanfares have sounded and here they come......"

"Out first and bringing tears to my eyes is the just splendid, fabulous Sanguinius!!!!"

Twitter Primarch Death Match Semi Final 2 Result

"The combatants walk into the arena brandishing their weapons with fight in their eyes."

"Alpharius and Omegon glance across at each other, almost like they have a plan."

"Leman Russ bares his fangs, scratches his ear and has a quick smell of his behind to check all is ok."

"The gong sounds and they're off. The twins leap forward and so does Russ. Russ is quickest and with no time to react he's got both of the twins heads in his fists and.......well I know that Russ is good at banging heads but that is ridiculous!"

"The twins are down at the wolf lords feet and that was far too easy!"

" Just like Sanguinius, Russ has had a cozy ride into the final and it will be interesting to see just who will triumph."

"Russ strolls from the arena and produces a thin smile as he looks back behind him at the prone form of the twins......That is Russ right? The twins are defeated?........"


fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads

Twitter Primarch Deathmatch Semi-Final 1 Result

"Sanguinius unfurls his mighty wings and, OUCH! That looks like it hurt! Is that in the rules?"

"Sanguinius has poked Magnus right in the eye with one of those feathers. It's either a stroke of luck or a stroke of genius..."

"Magnus is down! He can't see. He's going to have a real shiner right there."

"Without his eye he's completely defenseless fumbling around on the floor as Sanguinius struts towards him like a peacock..."

"Ooooh that was clinical. I think it's all agreed that Sanguinius is victorious as Magnus' lifeless body materialises back into the warp."

Twitter Primarch Death Match Semi-Finals Draw

"Hi there fight fans, it has certainly been a while since there has been any action in the Deathmatch arena. However I am pleased to say that the Arena has been cleaned of blood and body parts and the remaining Primarchs have managed to heal themselves ready for the biggest fights of their lives."

"Yes the four Primarchs remaining are:
MAGNUS

Leman Russ, Lord of the Rout

I finally finished Russ. Here he is! I'm looking forward to getting him out on the battle field now. Maybe I've finally got something that can slay Dad Rich's Sigismund (other than a Fellblade accelerator cannon to the face... followed by a demolisher cannon to the face... seemed to do the trick!)

Master of the Space Wolves Legion and Lord of icy Death World of Fenris, Leman Russ was an incomparable warlord, ferocious beyond measure and faultlessly loyal to the Emperor and his Imperium. Known as the Wolf King and the Lord of Winter and Ruin, as undoubtedly as savage as Leman Russ was, he was also wise beyond his Legion’s barbaric appearances and self-aware to a degree few guessed at, which made him doubly dangerous.

 At Prospero his loyalty and foresight were used against him by the machinations of Horus, as he was loosed upon his brother Magnus. What was to follow was one of the darkest hours of the Imperium’s history, as Space Marine was set against Space Marine in war unto the death. The Burning of Prospero was a conflict eclipsed only by the nightmare civil war that came after.

Fighting with a ferocity and skill far beyond anything human, Leman Russ wields the sword of Balenight, known as Mjalnar, an ancient blade whose dark legend stretched back to the Age of Strife; and Helwinter, Russ’ great frost axe, its murderous edge made with the kraken-teeth of a mighty beast Russ slew himself. His warplate is a suit of singular artificer power armour, incorporating unique exothermic field generators, otherwise unknown of in the Imperium’s arsenal of technology.
 

I really enjoyed painting this miniature, I really pushed my abilities. It is probably the most time I have spent on a single miniature for a long time, but I cut no corners and spared no expense in getting this to look how I wanted it to.

There looks like there are a lot of colours there, but it all ties together, yet stands out from the rest on the army in a good way. The basic palette is grey (armour and ruins), brown (fur and mud), gold (details) and red (cape, leather and blood), using a variety of shades of each. The spot colour is blue, used on the gems and differently on the power weapon's energy source. There are a lot of textures around the model and trying to do them all justice was difficult.

The runes, I wanted them to look like marble so I tried sponging. That didn't look quite right, so I added some layering, to look like the saw cuts you see in polished marble.

I'm happy with him anyway!

Comments and criticisms welcome. Fluff is from the Forge World Website.

Dave
 
fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads

Leman Russ Update 2

Sorry it's been a bit quiet in my corner of the Dad camp, I've been busily working away on Leman Russ in my spare time. As I've not finished him, I haven't shared anything!

However, here's an update.

Usually I am looking for quick techniques that get my miniatures looking somewhere slightly better than table top standard, but this guy is the pinnacle of my army, and so he needs to be the pinnacle of my painting.

I'm trying all sorts of techniques I've never done before. Two that I'll share now are:

Hair: usually the hair on my minis is brown, black or bleached bone. The Forge World version of Leman Russ has blonde hair, so I thought I'd attempt it. The scheme I used is undercoat white, wash with Agrax Earthshade, wash with Lamenters Yellow. Using yellow on hair is my worst nightmare but I was assured by the Twitter crowd that this is how to do it. And I think it looks ok. I could have made it brighter I guess, but I only did one layer of white, so some of the grey base coat is still showing through.

Armour: usually I go for mechanicum standard grey base, then two dry brushes of successively lighter grey, then Agrax Earthshade wash. That looks good, but I wanted Leman Russ to stand out. The Forge World version has a slightly greenish tint, I wanted to go for a blue tint. So I went for the grey base and two-stage dry brush, then applied a 65:35 mix of Nuln Oil and blue glaze. I think it looks pretty good. It's not as blue as I wanted but I'm happy with it.

For the base I am going for white columns and brown earth to tie Russ in to the rest of my force.

I still have the skin, gold elements and weapons to go. Even the wolf pelts I am trying something different.

Next week I've arranged to meet a guy at Warhammer World for a game, so am also making sure I have the whole of that force painted up. It's a 1250pt Zone Mortalis game, which I'm looking forward to. Should be a good warm up for the game I've got planned with Dad Rich in December. I'll write up a short battle report.

Dave

fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads

Space Wolves Progress Update - November

Just a quick one from me this week.

I started out with the intention of painting up my Fellblade.  was a bit bored of painting infantry (still so much more to go though... I am NOT buying any more until I have completed what I have...)...

But then got somewhat distracted!

I have actually made quite a bit more progress on Russ than this photo shows, but this was the last photo I took last night.

I've been looking around the web at what other people have been doing with him for a bit of inspiration, which has inspired to me to attempt a few new techniques. In particular I'm going for white marble on the stonework, and blonde hair, which these guys have done really well:

@atChrisMc

@DarkOneUK

fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads