Cyric's Dark Angels Army WIP

[Tsele]

Wonderful... although words are of lack when you are trying to describe something like this...

And a Baneblade to a rolling monastery? Where have you found this idea?

[Cyric the Mad]

Originally Posted by Tsele

Where have you found this idea?

I came up with the notion of a Dark Angels Baneblade because I want to use it, but don't want really anything else from an IG force. Just going for visual continuity. The idea of a DA Baneblade led me to consider adding some Cities of Death bits and a few other odds and ends to create something unique.

And since my auction failed miserably (not even bid up to retail price - kids these days), I've already begun assembling the beast. I'll post photos when I get something cool enough. There's a Baneblade Painting contest on the 28th, so I'm hoping to be done with it by then.

And the LRC. And my Eldar for the Tale of Painters. Gonna be a busy month.

[Tsele]

You had the DA on sale but they haven't made retail? Two reasons I can think of... One is the price was way too high or they didn't had money at the time because the paint job and conversions and all are wonderful!

[Cyric the Mad]

I just had the sprues and instructions up for auction, not the converted tank. I finished assembling the basic Baneblade on Thursday, but I'm holding off on doing the DA conversions until I finish my Tale of Painters entry for the month.

And speaking of Tale of Painters, Kuffy kindly let me switch my entry from my new Eldar to my Dark Angels. As I started thinking of making my third WIP thread, I decided I really should try to finish at least one army.

So, off to the races. Here is a list of what I've got for my Dark Angels. Please note that this is not a legal list, and adds up to well over 2,000pts, and will therefore not all be completed in the Tale of Painters project. This is just what I've got to choose from:


COLOR KEY: DONE | NOT DONE

HQ:
Azrael (Grand Master of the Dark Angels)

Ezekiel (Chief Librarian)

Sammael (Master of the Ravenwing)

Malachi (Interrogator Chaplain)
· Terminator Armor

Cicero (Company Master)
· Power Weapon
· Combi-Plasma Gun

Sergus (Librarian)

Command Squad Zionus
· Standard Bearer
· Apothecary
· Company Champion
· Veteran with Power Weapon
· Veteran with Plasma Gun
· Dedicated Transport: Bentrix (Razorback)

Elites:
Scout Squad Faustus
· 3 Scouts w/ Shotguns
· 1 Scout w/ Heavy Bolter

Deathwing Squad Purgato
· 2 Terminators w/ Lightning Claws
· 1 Terminator w/ Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield
· 1 Terminator w/ Assault Cannon

Deathwing Squad Grevea
· 1 Terminator w/ Chain Fist
· 2 Terminators w/ Lightning Claws
· 1 Terminator w/ Assault Cannon

Dreadnought Beloch
· Missile Launcher
· Plasma Cannon

Troops:
Tactical Squad Vehement
· 1 Marine w/ Plasma Gun
· 1 Marine w/ Missile Launcher
· Veteran Sergeant w/ Power Fist
· Dedicated Transport: Luxor (Rhino w/ Pintle-Mounted Storm Bolter)

Tactical Squad Pius
· 1 Marine w/ Plasma Gun
· 1 Marine w/ Missile Launcher
· Veteran Sergeant w/ Power Fist

Fast Attack:
Assault Squad Crucibus
· 2 Marines w/ Plasma Pistol
· Veteran Sergeant w/ Plasma Pistorl

Ravenwing Attack Squad Augustine
· 1 Biker w/ Plasma Gun
· 1 Biker w/ Melta Gun
· Veteran Sergeant w/ Power Weapon
· Attack Bike w/ Mulit-Melta
· Land Speeder Tornado

Ravenwing Attack Squad Euthyphro
· 1 Biker w/ Plasma Gun
· 1 Biker w/ Flamer
· Veteran Sergeant w/ Power Fist
· Attack Bike w/ Mulit-Melta
· Land Speeder Tornado

Ravenwing Support Squad Berrona
· Land Speeder w/ Suppression Force Spotting Equipment
· Land Speeder Typhoon

Heavy Support:
Land Raider Crusader Constinus

Devastator Squad Vigilant
· 1 Marine w/ Heavy Bolter
· 1 Marine w/ Missile Launcher
· 1 Marine w/ Lascannon
· 1 Marine w/ Plasma Cannon
· Veteran Sergeant w/ Power Fist

Predator Felix
· Lascannon Turret
· Sponson-Mounted Lascannons

Whirlwind Deus Volt
· Vengeance Missiles

Whirlwind Mors Certa
· Incendiary Castellan Missiles

Grand Total: 4640, plus a Baneblade

So I’ve got some options to fill out my 2000pts. Note that I’ve already assembled and modeled most of these guys. Some of my choices aren’t the best for game play, but they are the best for what I think looks cool.

My October effort is Constinus – the LRC for my Deathwing. I posted photos of the unprimered tank earlier, but I’ll grab some shots of my progress soon.

[Cyric the Mad]

I posted this in the Tale of Painters thread, but it's going here too to keep everything together. I barely managed to finish my LRC in time, but here it is:

To quote myself (which is easier than paraphrasing):

Originally Posted by Cyric the Mad

Not my best work, but at least I finished it - there's a lot of virtue in that fact. Must give credit to Kuffy for this project. If I didn't have this deadline looming over me, I would have gone anal nitpicky on small stuff and probably have taken another month to finish this, if I ever finished it at all. As it stands, it's done, and will look perfectly decent on a tabletop. Can't ask for much more than that.

My December entry will be the Deathwing squad to hitch a ride in this bad boy.

[maraschino]

;oyour LR looks good to me cyric

[Cyric the Mad]

Well, since for the Tale of Painters project I've got the entire month of November to paint 4 Terminators (and since I'm waiting for bases for said Terminators), I thought I could take this opportunity to start working on the Baneblade.

First question: Why? - Because I won a Baneblade in a contest, and I want to use it in Apocalypse games. I do not, however, enjoy Imperial Guard and do not want any kind of contingent of them in my Apocalypse forces. Since it seems strange that the IG would send JUST a Baneblade as an allied force, it makes sense to just turn it into a Dark Angels tank.

What? - The idea for the Baneblade is to turn it into a rolling monastery of sorts. At first this idea included turning it into kind of an interrogation platform for captured Fallen, but the more I thought about it the less fluffy this idea seemed - given the lengths to which the DA go to keep their secret, it didn't seem likely that they would parade it around the battlefield in such a fashion.

So now the idea is similar to the Fortress of Arrogance, only no special rules associated. And (hopefully) it won't suck like the Fortress of Arrogance does.

How? - This will be a long project, I'm pretty sure. The final result is pretty spectacular in my head, so we'll see how well I can make it line up with reality.

The first stage of the project involves modifying the existing tank. To make this more difficult for myself, I have already assembled the Baneblade as you see it photographed by GW. This is because I was impatient and wanted to see it assembled. So now I've got to go back and chop up, relocate, remove, and modify portions of it. So first steps:

1. Cut out completely the top of the platform on which the turret sits. The turret will be re-added later, but I want to center it.
2. Remove side sponsons and armor plating - The side sponsons will be moved forward, but the armor plating and a few other parts will be replaced with some Cities of Death bits.
3. Almost all of the rivets will be getting shaved off - reason being that they make the tank look too IG, and I don't want that.
4. Some of the existing detail (hatches, Aquila, seams, etc.) will be shaved off, filled in, or otherwise removed to make a smoother overall appearance, and make room for Dark Angels iconography.

Now there are a LOT of rivets on this thing, and not all of them will be easy to shave off, but I'm pretty committed to getting rid of them. In my head, I keep seeing the FW Mars Pattern Baneblade (link), which is a lot closer to how I would prefer the body of the tank look overall. I think GW went way overboard with the rivets.

I'll get photos of my progress soon. Should be a fun project.

[Cyric the Mad]

Okay, here are a couple of poor-quality photos I grabbed with my phone. These will have to do until I break down and buy my own camera.

First, progress of modifying the Baneblade body:


Got most of the rivets on the right side cut off and filed down, but still a bit more work to do. I also got the platform cut out and ready to go. I built a new platform using plasticard and the existing turret mount, as you can see here:



It'll require some green stuff to finish off, but came out pretty well, I think.

So what do you think? Not a bad start.

[MrDee]

Well that LRC looks pretty damn good here, so good I've subscribed tp this thread for sure

[Tsele]

Not a bad start? A wonderful start for a Baneblade and nice guide how to do it... I can't wait to see it painted with DA colors!;?