Chosing a legion

'cheers!


As the new years mirth abates and i try to catch up on my backlog i find myself bound to outline what i consider my  "grand project" for 2016.

The legiones astartes

Now like most people i have wanted to get into the Forgeworld peddled plastic heroin (now more expensive than crack,check it out and tell me you learnt something) ever since the first book dropped. The rulebooks themselves are sublime works of the kind one would expect to have been wrought by some half-blind smith whose secular celibacy allows him to weave such sorcery. The quality of the books,both in toightness of rules therein, and in the comping of fluff as such is evident through the dedication of it's community, and in the adherence of those who swear fealty to the Forgeworld studios.

It is a given that a man of a certain age and inclination will look at 30K and covet it, not desire. But good ol' fashioned coveting. The sort that allows for compromising of hygiene, personal finances, and redrawing of friendships to more efficiently fold into other acolytes one wants to meld into.

It costs more, i mean it's not so much the elephant in the room as it is mahogany bookshelf, IE everyone sees it, and recognizes that it will cost more than your generic cardboard Ikea crap. But the system itself, and the rule set means that most people look at that minor issue and find ways around it.



So to was it with me. In other words. I wanted to get into this immediately. Looking at my game group i have sort of come to terms with the fact that i am the de-facto black cloak. I am damned by my own hand. Both by the fact that i find a well written antagonist the driving engine of any good drama, and in my group most players tend to lean towards moral ambiguity grey-ness at worst. I have no issues diving headfirst into villainy. I blame White wolf publishing, they used to issue game systems that allowed self entitled teens the means to live out power fantasies. Meaning that i got a taste for it, and i have no issues rolling up the nefarious blackguard ne'er do well that steals from the party, and whose inevitable betrayal will make him pay for the pizza that evening.

With that in mind i immediately looked at the traitor legions.

The emperors children were my first choice. There is something appealing to me with the EC's constant search for becoming greater than what they are, to deserve both the accolades they have been awarded, and garnering further fame that they doubtlessly deserve, for they are cast in the image of their primarch, and he bears the emperors approval. How could they be less?

Gamewise they favour swift strikes, lots of challenges and they put a lot of hopes in their cacophanii.

After some consideration i decided otherwise, as their special units didn't speak to me.

The second candidate was the death guard. two reasons.

I)I got offered a deal where i got my filthy mitts on Mortarion and five death shroud terminators at a low price. Everybody loves a bargain.

The model quality that engenders aforenamed coveting. 

II) Their is something admirable and highly relatable in the indomitable determination and unyielding toughness in the face of hardship. It's an easily relatable trait that everybody has had to tap into at some time in their life (Which is of course he intention, showing a dark mirror of a trait of strength and how it is so easily perverted)

I even got so far as to buy 1000 pts of units for a 30K death guard army. Then i got in some trouble again.


I think i mentioned before how i have some weaknesses in my painting tool set (more accurately, i have a half empty box, and one hammer and a screwdriver and cant comprehend when somebody shows me a wrench) one of them is difficulty in taking on a challenging paint scheme, and committing and going through with it, then i saw this scheme (albeit not on these models)

I do not OWN this picture. I have not painted these models. I merely used it as a template for inspiration. I hope no noe takes offence, and if they do, please tell me and i will replace it with a big red X 

And then i had my legion of choice.

Alpha legion, the unseen, the hydra that watches, the unknowable.

The scheme was, to me highly intimidating. The original forge world recipe is as follows

ALPHA LEGION 
1. AIRBRUSH WITH THINNED LEAD BELCHER/ IRON BREAKER (50/50 MIX) 
2. AIRBRUSH FROM TOP OF MODEL WITH THINNED RUNFANG STEEL 
3. MIX A LITTLE TAMIYA CLEAR GREEN WITH TAMIYA CLEAR BLUE (25/75 MIX) AND AIRBRUSH OVER THE MODEL IN 2 COATS 
4. AIRBRUSH ARMOUR PANELS WITH TAMIYA CLEAR BLUE. BLENDING FROM MIDDLE OF FIGURE DOWN, SO THE STRONGEST BLUE COLOUR IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PANNELS 
5. AIRBRUSH FROM THE MIDDLE UPWARDS WITH TAMIYA CLEAR GREEN 
6. USING AN AIRBRUSH BLEND A HIGHLIGHT ON THE HIGHEST PANNELS (HEAD, SHOULDER PADS, TOP OF BACKPACK) WITH RUNEFANG STEEL WITH A TINY AMOUNT OF LOTHERN BLUE, EXTREMELY THINNED DOWN. 
7. APPLY THINNED COAT OF TAMIYA CLEAR BLUE OVER THE HIGHLIGHT AND BLEND INTO THE SURROUNDING AREA. 
8. USING A BLUE GLAZE, DRAG DOWN THE WHOLE MODEL ALLOWING IT TO SETTLE IN THE DEEPEST AREAS. 
9. SILVER – BASECOAT WITH LEADBELCHER 
10. WASH WITH NULN OIL 
11. HIGHLIGHT WITH LEADBELCHER IN STRIKING MOTIONS TO CREATED CHIPPED AND WEATHER APPEARANCE 
12. HIGHLIGHT WITH IRONBREAKER

and gives a GREAT sheen and bee-uh-ti-full depth when done correctly. But it is fiddly, and i did'nt have nor planned on getting an airbrush.Still, i had the 1000 + pts of pre-heresy i had bought, so i figured i might as well have at it to the best of my abilities.

The results, were.....disheartening. But i'll save that for future posts.

I had. At least found my legion. Which is like finding an expensive cult that you really, really REALLY want to be a part of


And what is that if not family?