Topic: Rogue Trader-esque Warbands and Character Conversions, and anything else I fancy

[Ynneadwraith]

Thanks dude! Glad you like them i've definitely come round to the Longshanks head. Someone suggested it looks like he could banish daemons with his soup strainer so i'm sold

I really do hope they come out with some new and more varied Guard models. Especially if they take OG Guard regiments and crank up the grimdark (like cybernetic Tallarn, and good old Krieg Death Korps).

I keep meaning to grab some WIP shots but before i remember the model's done!

This guy's not my usual recipe for truescale Marines, i'll explain what that is

The key ingredient is Terminator legs. They're a bit bulkier, and the connection bit at the top rises a little higher than standard marines.

If you pop a standard Marine torso on top of termie legs, they actually sit at a really nice height for truescaling then, anywhere that connection looks a bit iffy, you cover it up with ammo, pouches or purity seals

That's the main trick

The only other thing there is to do is bulk out the arms. There's two options here. The first is just to use terminator arms. The second is to space out standard arms (i use a teeny little disc of plastic cut from a spare base as each side will be uniform thickness).

This extra width you can hide relatively easily by positioning the shoulder pads or with good old purity seals again

Actually, this guy's as close as i've got to a WIP at the moment using that method:



You can see the termie legs, standard berserker torso, various nicknacks disguising the join, the little black disk or base spacing out his left arm, and how that same disc on his right is hidden by the shoulder pad

[Looshkin]

Wow, thank you for the thorough walk through. That truescale berserker is looking great too. I hadn't really thought that making a truescale model would be so 'easy'. Easy is relative here...it's still something that I would probably want a shot of vodka before trying, but it seems achievable.

Can you only use regular helmets with the truescale models? I'm guessing that a regular marine head may look a little like you're balancing a pea on a drum (as my mother would say).

Anyway, thank you for the indepth reply!

[Ynneadwraith]

Thanks man and no probs. It's definitely easier than it first appears. Give it a try

As for heads i'm usually a helmeted over bare head guy, but i've seen regular heads work too. Marines are already a little pinheaded so its not too incongruous

Oh, and i rarely model without at least a glass of wine so maybe the shot of vodka is just the trick

Important thing is not to be overly concerned with whether you get it right first time. I've got half a dozen failed experiments or so that every now and again i'll have some inspiration of how to make them work, clip off a few bits and start again plastic's pretty forgiving as far as reposing stuff goes

[Alienscar]

Man I can't keep up with all of your hobbying. I can't believe it was Jan when I last posted in here and you have posted so much stuff it makes me think that you only have about two hours sleep a day.

Your Knight Errant and entourage are just brilliant. As ever your attention to the little details makes the models come alive and they really tell a story.

It's the same with your Skadiir and Tarellian they look mercenary just as your Tallarn models look like they belong in a desert. Brilliant work Ynneadwraith.

Is your mutant wearing the head of a Narn?

Also I can only echo Looshkin's words, thanks for the truescale WIP it is really good to read this kind of detail. I wish more of the blogs included WIP as I feel it is this kind of extra detail that makes a blog a blog.

I think you should start sculpting and casting you own models. Based on the attention to detail you show in your conversions I think you would create something awesome.

[Ynneadwraith]

Haha thanks man! Usually I do have an idea of what I want to make (like desert IG, or grimdark techno-knights) and then try and find the bits that fit that idea. Glad to hear it works out

The mutant guy has the head from some Fantasy beastman/chaos chariot of some sort, but it does look Narn-like now that I google them

I'll definitely remind myself more often to take WIP photos as I'm making something I always mean to and then forget when the next bag of bits arrives!

I must admit, sculpting and casting my own stuff sounds pretty daunting! I can stick bits together fine, but making something from scratch seems like a whole 'nother level and I'm always in awe of people who can do it convincingly I'll definitely give it a go though. Some bits and pieces for stuff I want to do you just can't get in plastic so I'll have to take the leap!

First step I've got the bits coming for actually I stumbled upon this pic where someone had resculpted the face and feet of a Witch Elf to make a better looking Daemonette and it's so utterly stunning that I have to have a go at something similar myself

[Cavalier]

Looking killer! Love that truescale Berserker... man its so funny the termies are hardly bigger than a standard Marine these days.... Also if you are looking for bits... Gorechosen and Stormcast dudes are enormous. Waaay bigger than a normal Space Marine. Might want to get some Gorechosen bits off ebay. Killer work as always Ynnead. Love it!

[Alienscar]

First step I've got the bits coming for actually I stumbled upon this pic where someone had resculpted the face and feet of a Witch Elf to make a better looking Daemonette and it's so utterly stunning that I have to have a go at something similar myself

(Image removed from quote.)

It's a well crafted conversion and the work they have done on the head, feet and chest of the model is very good but it doesn't scream Daemonette to me. I could be wrong but to me it looks like the sculptor was going for the look of Sil from Species in her alien form.

[Ynneadwraith]

@Cav Thanks man yeah the new AoS stuff is huge! I bought a Stormcast body and legs for another project (that didn't quite have the pose I wanted) and they're bigger than even my Truescale stuff!

I did have the head for my Berserker turn up today so he's done was going for a 'howling at the sky with rage' sort of pose. Hope it's worked! not certain personally. Seems more 'looking heroically upwards). Might change it so he's scowling down at something.




@Alienscar

Yeah it does look Sil-like. Or Asari from Mass Effect. It's also reminiscent of the old Juan Diaz daemonettes so it's good by me!

I do get what you mean though. Missing a crab claw of some sort, although I do think a pinkish paint scheme would hammer it home enough

Personally, I'm absolutely enamoured with the digitigrade feet. Definitely something I want to do for my Croneworld Eldar Heralds

[Looshkin]

He looks cool Ynnead.

I'm not sure I'm feeling the howling at the sky vibe, but he certainly looks like he's staring at someone on a higher level (Or just something way bigger than him) with a 'Come at me bro' attitude.

Either way you cut it, he's immensely cool.

[vonny]

I actually feel as if he's already staring down at someone, along his nose. a bit haughty with his chin up, knowing that he's better than the rabble he's fighting... even if it is the enemy's champion. This pose makes it look as though he feels superior to anyone in his way, and I like it a lot.

[Ynneadwraith]

Thanks guys!

You've sold me on the head pose now I need to find a Dreadnaught of some sort that he can be squaring up to, or a champion he can be looking down his nose at

[Alienscar]

The Berzerkers pose is brilliant but as Looshkin said it doesn't quite capture howling with rage. Who cares though as the pose you have ended up with is brilliant in its own right. Definitely a statement of strength against a taller opponent.

I do get what you mean though. Missing a crab claw of some sort, although I do think a pinkish paint scheme would hammer it home enough

Yeah maybe a pinkish paint scheme would help but having looked at Diaz's models (BoLS had an article on Daemonettes this week strangely enough) I think that if you get around to doing something like this then it would look better with the head looking less human and more alien and a stabbing hand rather than blades would help as well.

[Ynneadwraith]

Thanks dude I'm glad he turned out ok.

Yeah you're right. Perhaps just one of the longer claws from the Daemonette champion, with the 'thumb' of the claw cut off so it's more of a scythe/talon than a crab claw.

Ah, and the spare 'thumb' could be repurposed as a horn to make the face more alien/daemonic.

In humans, 'beauty' quite often boils down to 'symmetric', more or less (too symmetric and you look like an android, like the lady from Humans). One of the clever things the Juan Diaz daemonettes did was make them mostly symmetric to hit the bits of the brain that makes something aesthetically pleasing, and then throw in some asymmetric daemon claws and horns and suchlike for a bit of cognitive dissonance

I think that would work quite nicely on the above model

[Alienscar]

Thanks dude I'm glad he turned out ok.

Yeah you're right. Perhaps just one of the longer claws from the Daemonette champion, with the 'thumb' of the claw cut off so it's more of a scythe/talon than a crab claw.

Ah, and the spare 'thumb' could be repurposed as a horn to make the face more alien/daemonic.

I think that would work quite nicely on the above model

I agree the small changes you suggest above would work very nicely and I believe the model would look the better for it.

You might disagree with this but I think that without the small changes you suggest the conversion comes across as striving to be more of a pin-up type model than it is a Daemonette.

[Ynneadwraith]

Gotcha I shall bear that in mind

Interestingly, the first time I'll try and emulate this won't be as a daemonette but as a counts-as Herald of Slaanesh for my Croneworld army.

That might be slightly trickier to get the balance between eldar/human-looking and daemonic, so I'd appreciate your input on that

Basically, the fluff for my Croneworld Eldar is that they're Eldar from the Fall who are brought back to life (well, sort of life, even they're not sure if they're still technically alive or just apparitions) as sort of playthings of Slaanesh.

As such, they're sometimes brought back 'improved' by Slaanesh, meaning I'll keep the digitigrade legs for the Herald, but will probably steer clear of the more daemonic horns and claws.

I want them to look sort of like a halfway house between an Eldar and a full-on Daemonette...

[Ynneadwraith]

Couple more little dudes made

As far as villains go, I've always found the whole 'they do evil things because they're nasty people' thing to be a fantastically boring and unrealistic motivation for an antagonist. In real life you get the occasional psychopath go on a killing spree just for the fun of it, but quite honestly even the most successful serial killer pales in comparison to fairly moderate fascist dictators. Real industrial-scale evil is usually carried out by people who genuinely feel that they are doing the right thing.

So, I wanted to have a crack at bringing that to the Chaos Space Marines who I've always thought are ripe for that sort of grey-area interpretation also, as a principally Eldar-guy they just had to be Slaaneshi

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The Angels of Ascension were formerly a loyalist chapter founded from the Blood Angels. During their time fighting in the glorious name of the Emperor they embodied the beauty and splendour of Sanguinius. Resplendant in glorious hand-crafted armour they were the very embodiment of Angels upon the battlefield, and beloved by the population of the Imperium. A love which was reciprocated by the Angels themselves. However, on every planet they served, they saw nothing but toil and misery.

Dissillusion with the Imperium took decades to creep into their minds. Wherever they saw misery and opression, it was the machine of the Imperium to blame. This lasted until they were deployed to the world of Gomorr to quell a cult insurrection. Upon arrival, they saw the cult had spread nothing but joy and ecstacy to everyone it touched. At last, they had found the answer. Rather than quelling the insurrection, they pledged themselves to its cause and slaughtered the beleaguered planetary government. Reporting that the insurrection had been defeated, they returned to their duties, and resolved to bring the light of the cult to every new world they conquered.



It was decades before Inquisitor Io traced the source of the blossoming Slaaneshi cults in the sector to the Angels, finally deducing that the pattern of cults followed the chapter wherever it went. Marshalling the forces of half a dozen Imperial Guard regiments and a whole Space Marine chapter, they smote down the Angels and declared them Excommunicate Traitoris.

Since then, the surviving Angels of Ascension have changed their modus operandi. They scattered throughout the Imperium, acting not as a single warband but a myriad of individual agents. Each Angel descends upon a world, posing as a loyal Astartes, and sets about ingratiating themselves with various planetary powers. They preach the word of the cult, where the sacrifice of the noble few can ensure the absolution of the many. They corrupt the government, and convert the masses. Life is good for the faithful. The fate of those who pay the price for such a life is beyond comprehension.



Bedecked in exquisite finery, the Angels of Ascension appear to the world to be model examples of the Emperor's glorious Astartes. However, their elaborate facade hides their true nature. Beneath their statuesque masks lurks mutated predatory faces. The script of their purity seals twists and turns as it's read, subliminally implanting dark and twisted suggestions into an onlooker's mind. Truly the Angles are one of the most insidious threats this sector has faced in millennia.

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But in order to truly make a villain you need more than just a solid motivation. You need rivalry.

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The Iron Crusaders are a minor chapter founded from Iron Hands genestock. Operating as a fleet-based crusading chapter they frequently deployed chapter-wide crushing their foes with overwhelming force. However, while passing through the Salazar's Reach sector they were requisitioned By Inquisitor Io in his campaign against the Angels of Ascension. The final battle broke the Angels, but it was costly for the Crusaders as well. Reduced to a fraction of their original number, and with none of their upper command surviving, they were tasked with a new crusade. Each Crusader was provided with an Inquisitorial sanction, and sent out into the galaxy to hunt down the remaining Angels by any means necessary.




Brother Tiber was fortunate to have survived the conflict with the Angels of Ascension. He had sustained wounds severe enough to put any battle brother into a Dreadnaught, but so had nearly all of his chapter who weren't killed outright. It was only their gene-coded predisposition to accepting bionics that had saved many of them, alongside the sway of Inquisitor Io to muscle the forgeworld into undertaking the assignment. Well over half of his body was cybernetic now. He considered this a mighty boon. Provided everything was well maintained, he could outlast an unaugmented Astartes in almost any arena. This he had found valuable beyond measure when hunting down the remaining Angels.

A clank in the distance betrayed the presence of his quarry. Hastily, he compressed that particular thought process and focussed on the mission at hand. 6 cultists had entered the room, silhouetted by his augmented vision. He engaged a number of combat subroutines in his expanded consciousness to analyse the situation, housed in his tethered servo skull. An entire human brain dedicated its entire processing power to predicting potential sequences of events, and distilling them down to the most likely situations. After a minute or two suggested actions pinged into his virtual vision. He activated his whirring servo mechanisms and rose from the dark like an unholy mechanical monster. The first bolt shells impacted on two cultist's head and torso respectively, detonating spectacularly. From there, he continued his stride to behind a stack of ammo crates while the cultists scrabbled to find their assailant. Pausing slightly, he crouched low and leapt from the opposite side of his hiding place, strafing the area with bolts while a hail of autogun bullets clattered off his armour. His expanded consciousness analysed the pattern of bullet impacts on his armour to try and determine where the cultists were likely to be shooting from. Blindly hurling a grenade over his shoulder, he was rewarded by a splatter of gore as another cultist bit the dust. Pausing to run another calculation, he counted down a timer before stepping out from behind the pillar to swing his Thunder Hammer into the gut of a third cultist attempting to flank him. Seamlessly continuing his movement he broke into a charge, shoulder barging the next pile of crates over where the last cultist was hiding. Behind it he found...nothing. That wasn't as predicted.

He quickly scanned through the last few combat possibilities and checked their locations. Still nothing. The last cultist must have fled. This was concerning. His plan here had been to enter the complex initially undetected, ensuring that any sentries were silenced without raising the alarm. He would have to scrap the long-term calculations he'd spent days meditatively computing. From here he would have to rely on his wits and snap-algorithms. Alas in all probability his chance of catching the Angel responsible for this cult was ruined, but he could at least shut down its burgeoning activities on this world. Checking the adjustments on his mechanical arm, he stalked off into the next room.

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I've also got a bit of a WIP guide for the Iron Crusader which I'll post up in a bit

I've also been mucking about making some Mechanicus-like techno-mercenaries. First off is my attempt to justify the 9" movement of a Dunewalking Ranger:




He's a tall dude. Here he is next to one of my earlier attempts at an adversary for the Angels (although I ended up preferring the Iron Hands bionically enhanced guy as it's more of a contrast between the angelic CSM and the cyborg 'good guy'). It also shows just how big Sigmarines are that the Angel stil lstands a head above even a Truescale Marine.



And next to a normal-sized dude (who is the first Cultist for the Angels).



The rest will have to wait until they're all finished as I'm really pleased with the idea!

[Alienscar]

Wow really liking this stuff of yours Ynneadwraith. Once again I enjoyed reading your fluff piece and I totally agree with your sentiment regarding bad guys being bad just because they are bad. I too have always thought that Space Marines should be less willing to go around ethnically cleansing whole worlds just because of a few Cultists and the fluff you have written for your Angels of Ascension has a ring of truth to it.

That Ranger is brilliant and definitely looks like it can move 9".

Any chance you can list the items that you have used in all of these models. Is your Angel for instance just an AoS model assembled straight from the box?

[Cavalier]

Wow fantastic stuff bud... the Stilt Walker guy is INCREDIBLE! Might be my fave of the entire thread so far... sick. Really fantastic stuff...

My only critique would be the Guardsmen with the Storm Cast mask... it looks a little too out of place for me.

But all the other minis look absolutely 1st rate. Amazing conversions as always Ynnead. Love it!

[Looshkin]

I love these new additions Ynnead! Especially the idea behind the Angels of Ascension. Far too often in 40K, the bad guys are always portrayed as such. I have always found the more disturbing evil to be that which lurks behind a smiling face and an open hand...these guys capture that image perfectly.

The conversions are, as always, incredibly good. The Stilt Walker is terrific.

Really though, for me, the best thing about all this is the background for the Angels. Just fantastic and a terrific idea and realisation of that idea.

[Ynneadwraith]

Thanks a ton guys! I'm really glad you like them

I'm chuffed to bits with the Angels idea, sometimes (rarely) you just sit back while the idea unfurls in front of you. This definitely felt like one of those times

I also think that the best bad guys are the ones that think they're the good guys i also like the idea that chaos being evil is itself just a matter of perspective. Something like 'you know what, life in the Angels' Slaaneshi cult might actually be a better place to be than in the Imperium...'.

Then again, lurking behind the mask could be the face of a pure warp predator...

I think i know what you mean about the Stormcast mask Cav. TBH it was a bit of an uninspired kitbash and i think there's more potential in Angels Cultists than just 'dudes with stormcast heads'.

The idea i'm thinking is to try and make a bunch of the prettiest most physically pristine dudes i can, which will jar massively with the usual grotty grimdark citizenry of 40k. Off by looking beautiful

Ideas so far run to that Eldar Guardian helmetless head with the swishy hair, Blood Angels heads as they're pretty well groomed, and maybe a dude with a Kairic Acolyte body as they look like bodybuilders not fighters

@Alienscar a list of bits is a great idea

The Angel is Stormcast Paladin legs and torso, with a head, shoulder pads and wings from Sanguinary Guard. The arms (and backpack) are Blood Angels too but i forget which kit, and the sword is Dark Angels. The open left hand is from the Grey Knights kit, and alas i forget where the servo-skull is from :S

I'll do the rest when i'm home as i'm typing on a phone at the moment and it's painful!