Chaos Space Marine Warband Name Generators

Posted by johnnya10 on 20/06/2017
Posted in: Silliness and Stuff, Uncategorized. Tagged: . 2 Comments
chaos space marine
Well, if I learned one thing last week, it was that you lot like name generators. It’s been a rather warm week where i am now, and so there’s not a great deal appealing about sitting in my baking hot flat watching my paints dry out as I water down the acrylics with my own sweat. Yes, it’s that hot here. But even hotter than that, was the blog post that I put out last week that contained a couple of new name generators for the armies in your Warhammer 8th Edition box set.
Almost a thousand visitors came to Heresy & Heroes on one day which was incredible. And lots of good comments both here, on social media sites and via emails too. And so, because a couple of people asked and because I wanted to do it, I’m giving you three more name generators! Because I did a Nurgle one last time, followers of the other dark Gods were a little miffed that they had been left out, and I shall now rectify this…
Also: Check out the links at the bottom of the page to the automated random name generators that have been uploaded to Ritual Miniatures. You can have plenty of fun refreshing those.
Tzeentch Chaos Space Marine Warband Name Generator
For all you Thousand Sons players out there whose miniatures no longer follow Ahriman and Magnus from within the XV legion, I bring new way of coming up with a new warband name…
thousand sons tzeentch name generator
I got The Jackels Of The Ruinous Alter – quite fitting for a band of Half-Dead Space Egyptians. What did you get? And are you happy with it?
Slaanesh Chaos Space Marine Warband Name Generator
Ah, my favourites. This name generator is all about pleasing She Who Thirsts, and pandering to The Prince of Pain and Pleasure itself, Slaanesh. Plenty of warped takes on conventionally unwarped things should come from this one…
emperors children slaanesh name generator
I’m more than happy with The Juggernauts Of Arrogance (I know ‘juggernaut’ is a bit Khorney, but even that is a little subversive which fits fine with Slaanesh) but did you get something even better?
Khorne Chaos Space Marine Warband Name Generator
And then there’s Khorne. I was tempted to make every entry here a variation on either ‘blood’ or ‘skull’ but in the end I tried to be different. A little bit, anyway. ‘Skulls’ is still an option. But every warband that already exists that I could find was something like ‘The Blood Slaughter’ or ‘The Slaughtering Skulls’ or something like that. So, hopefully this will give you something a bit different…
khorne warband name generator
In this instance, my army would be called The Jagged Axe which is perfectly Khorney. What did you think about this one?
Anyway, that’ll be it for these for a little while probably (unless a lot of requests come in). Next up will be more on my painting efforts and a bit more on the 8th Edition changes – played my first game of it yesterday and have a lot of positive things to say about it. A couple of downers too, but it was an overwhelmingly positive experience. Onwards!
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And for those of you who want to try something a little different and far more usefully put together, the eminently talented Dan over at Ritual Miniatures has put together some fancy automated versions as well. Check out the Tzeentch, Slaanesh and Khorne random warband name generators now!

Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition: New War Band/Chapter Name Generators

Posted by johnnya10 on 14/06/2017
Posted in: Silliness and Stuff. Tagged: . 10 Comments
oprah primaris marines
As a bit of fun, and because we’re just a couple of days away from the release of Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition, I have put together two new name generators to help you do just that – generate some names. As well as the Primaris Marine Chapter Name Generator, there’s a Death Guard War Band Name Generator too – how’s that for a slice of fried adamantium?!
primaris marine
Let’s start off with the “Good” guys; The Primaris Marines. Now of course, you can add these hulking, super-sized killing machines to any existing chapter, from Blood Angels to Space Wolves, from Nova Marines to Howling Griffins, but if you’re one of the people thinking about collecting a brand new chapter, made purely of Primaris Marines, you can do that too. And that’s where this name generator comes in. As with before in the classic marine variant, you take your initials to get your chapter name. Here’s it is:
primaris marine chapter name generator
Now, I’ll come clean, there are some repetitions in there from the original because some of the more high-scoring-in-scrabble letters just don’t have that many useful words. You shouldn’t get something completely the same, but if you do, try using your middle initial, or the name of a loved one instead. As my initials are JRA, I would be the ‘Jade Avengers’ but if I wanted to change things up a little, I could always switch to ‘Jade Redeemers’ or ‘Revenant Avengers’. What did you get? And how do you like it?
blanche_nurgle_-_Google_Search
And now for the really fun one; the Nurgle Name Generator. If you’re starting a new Nurgle marine force and you don’t want to go with the Death Guard or any of the other existing War Bands that venerate the generous Grandfather, here’s a war band name generator for you:
nurgle death guard war band name generator
Sorry to all the Dave Greens in this world – you’re stuck with it. It was so much fun coming up with this one. All those lovely, plague-ridden words. Everything should sound gribbly, rotten, horrible and gross. In this iteration, I would be building the ‘Jagged Afflicters’ War Band, but if I wasn’t too happy with that (I am – I may well work on those soon!), then I could go with The ‘Jagged Rot’ or even ‘Rusting Afflicters’. How about you? Have you found something suitably gross and disgusting?
I hope you had fun with those – I certainly enjoyed making them. And it definitely helped me stave off the ravenous hunger I have to get hold of the 8th Box set. Speaking of which, I’m likely picking it up on Sunday, but will do a review for it here next week. Onwards!
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Update: The very clever and talented Dan at Ritual Miniatures has created a far prettier and slightly more randomised version of these Name Generators over at his site. Check out his name generator now!

Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition – Learning Before Playing

Posted by johnnya10 on 09/06/2017
Posted in: Thoughts and Comment, Uncategorized. Tagged: . 2 Comments
7th ed tombstone
It’s getting closer. Are you looking forward to it? Am I? You know I am. Yes, Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition is just a few days away from landing on the shelves, and I for one am excited. Not only that, I feel that I already know so much about the game, that I’m genuinely eager to play it. And that’s what I want to talk about now – the benefits of knowing a game before you play it.
Think about it like this; You’re new to a country or community and one day your friends invite you to play a game. It’s a local game called, I dunno, ‘Dooperball’. You like playing games and meeting people, so you agree to come along. When you get there, you find that Dooperball looks like a bizarre combination of Rugby, Monopoly, Chess and Water Polo. There are a billion and one things going on and you have no idea what any of them are. You give it a go, and make a lot of mistakes but you carry on. And then, a couple of years later, when you’ve got your head around playing Dooperball, your mate says ‘We’ve updated Dooperball’s rules!’ and everyone else has read them except you, and you find out that it’s more of a cross between American Football, Scrabble, Checkers and Synchronised Swimming. Similar, but different, and it feels like you’re learning it all over again, and by the time you master it, another new set of rules come out.
balls
That’s what Warhammer 40,000 used to be like. You’d get good, get your army list set how you liked it, and then a new edition (or even just a new codex) would come out and change all of that. Well, no more.
In yet another example of GW opening up and talking to their fans and the community is the fact that 8th Edition has been play tested by external players who have a better understanding of what the people want. And on top of that, we heard all about it long before release. Articles about each faction, interviews with designers and a steady stream of information about all the changes have allowed us to ready ourselves and, dare I say it, look forward to the changes to come. You can even go into your local GW store and have a game right now! It’s like we’re goldfish and, very thoughtfully, they left us in the bag before tipping us into the tank, allowing us time to adjust and not suffer a goldfish-heart-attack (or whatever happens to them).
aos
And of course, just as Rogue Trader borrowed from Oldhammer Fantasy way back when, 40k 8th has borrowed heavily from AoS. I won’t profess to being an expert in AoS having only played a handful of games, but it’s a much better system for someone like me in comparison to the old WFB system. And what’s more, it hasn’t made it like for like – there are some subtle differences that very much retain the feel of 40k, and 8th Ed looks like it’s taken the very best bits of AoS that make the game genuinely fun and enjoyable to play, while still keeping it challenging. This is not AoS – It’s 40k that nods to a system that has surprised many by how popular it is.
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On top of all of that, Games Workshop has been working with other content producers to help get the word out there, while using its own Twitch channel to further give people plenty of insight. At the moment, I’m loving watching the guys from MiniWarGaming get to grips with their factions and test out the games. We’re getting some insight into tactics, but not the full breakdown – it’s revealing while still being enticing. It’s a classic marketing tactic and I’m thrilled that GW are using it, because my interest is growing with every round of gaming that I see.
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Now I’ll confess; 7th Ed passed me by. I got in a couple of games, but I didn’t play nearly as often as I did with 6th, or even 5th. I just never had the desperate urge to play it. But now, I’m actually thinking that I could become much more of a gamer. I might even push myself to enter a tournament at some point. I’m not coming into this like a Dooperball noob – I already feel like I know pretty much what I’ll be playing, and I’ve got the basic rules lodged in my head. And that is a nice feeling.
So here is my declaration to you – I will be playing more games of 40k this edition, and any that I do play, you’ll hear about here. And GW deserve a lot of credit for that pledge and attitude because of their own attitude. The openness is refreshing, and it’s got me very excited for the new edition. And that seems ti be true for many – not all of course, and many have their gripes, both legitimate concerns and not. To those people, I would urge them to wait and see – I think it’s going to be a good game. And if you hate it, no-one’s stopping you from playing 7th. But I, for one, can’t wait. With excitement; Onwards!

WIP – Blood Bowl Orc Team

Posted by johnnya10 on 01/06/2017
Posted in: Thoughts and Comment, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 1 Comment
blood bowl team wip
Yes, I am taking a break from 40k, albeit a brief one, because I am getting into Blood Bowl again with my Orc team – Da Mighty Redz. In an homage to old-school basing practices, and my beloved Liverpool FC, this team will soon be taking to the pitch, and I even hope to get a couple of tournaments under my belt by the end of the year. So let’s meet the players…
Only four players have passed through the paintbrush process so far, but I was happy enough that I wanted to show them off. Two linemen and two throwers are ready to take the field, and I’m very happy with them so far.
orc blood bowl players
Starting from the bottom, yes, those are goblin green bases. Well, Skarsnik Green (as it is these days) to be exact, but it’s as close as I’m going to get. It suits the “field of play” look that a Blood Bowl team should to have, and is gloriously retro to boot. I’ve been able to use flock again for the first time in years, and there are a few rocks on those bases too – well, this is an orc pitch. To them, the rocks just make the game more fun.
Their bases also feature their names; Brute Goblar, Hip-Prya, Stabya Lonzo and Burnz. For those of you who don’t get the references, that’s Bruce Grobbelaar, Sami Hyypia, Xabi Alonso and John Barnes – a selection of my footballing heroes. The rest will have equally orc-y monikers too.
orc blood bowl models
So of course, they have a red strip (well, the armour is red), and their kit sponsor is Orcidas. Their team badge is a flaming torch, and they all feature their numbers – the same as those of their name-inspiring Liverpool players. Goblar even has “YNWA” painted on his chest plate, but rather than standing for “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, it stands for the far more orc-appropriate “Yu’ll Neva Walk Again”.
I didn’t know how I’d feel about there being two of each model in this team, but I’ve found that with some minor mods, and a few change ups in the paint jobs, that this isn’t an issue. As someone who briefly played American Football, a uniformity in stances is actually a good thing. What’s more, I like my Orcs being different shades of green. It really does help to give them each an individual look.
blood bowl player names
And finally, I wanted to show these guys off against my old Dark Elf team. These particular Dark Elves were only painted (by me) perhaps four years ago (too many models have passed over my painting table since then to recall exactly) but you can see how far I’ve come since then. At least I hope you can – I can and that’s what’s important. Not only that, but it gives you an idea of how much larger and more impressive the new models are. I can’t wait to see the Elven Union team and, dare I dream, a Dark Elf team in the future too.
old new blood bowl painting
That’s your lot for now. More Scouse Orcs (Scorcs?) to come in the near future. But for now, that’s all on my models.
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On a sadder note, I just wanted to pay my own little tribute to Alan Bligh who unfortunately passed away a few days ago. I had the privilege of meeting him on more than one occasion at Forge World Open Days and other GW events, and he was such a nice person, and a genuine fan of the game as well. He was funny too – some of his Q&A answers at the Warhammer Fest I attended a couple of years back had the room in stitches.
badab war books
For me, his work on the Badab War books was a glorious achievement. I read those two hefty tomes from cover to cover and loved every word of it. Thanks for that, Alan.
Onwards.

Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition – The Units That Need Some Love

Posted by johnnya10 on 26/05/2017
Posted in: Thoughts and Comment. Tagged: . 1 Comment
So, a new day is dawning on the 41st Millennium and all those power lists, death stars and WAAC tactics are going to be knocked out of the park by the nerf bat of newhammer. But if I know one thing about this community, it’s that there is an element within our ranks who, within hours of the new game’s release, will have worked out exactly how to crush everything in their path.
40k deathstars
The rules may change, but the game’s the same and with all those math-hammer freaks and keyword and rules stackers out there, you can be sure of seeing something “broken” very early on. Of course, GW has vowed to respond to these sorts of things with a little more alacrity than it has done before, but the serious player, in the words of the immortal Jeff Goldblum (no, he actually is immortal – I checked), finds a way. I get all this. It’s part of the game. I just want to see some cool, fluffy units get their turn in the limelight.
With all that in mind, here are my Top 10 units that I want to see performing better in 8th Ed. The units that have for too long lived in the backs of draws and the bottom levels of carry cases. The units that are reserved purely for ‘fluffy’ lists. And even some of the units that were perfectly alright. in 7th, but just a bit underwhelming. Let’s take a look at the list…
Gorka/Morkanaut
gorkanaut
When these leviathans were released, Ork players were enraptured to see their beleaguered army get something big and stompy that could match the giants that other armies were enjoying. Alas, all of that excitement was for naut (get it?) and as cool and orky as they looked, the rules just didn’t back up the looks. It was a little too slow, not quite tough enough, and for a horde army, a transport capacity of 6 wasn’t ideal. Giving it a couple extra wounds, and doing some fun things with its weaponry meansthere’s no reason why this couldn’t be a star of 8th Ed.
Noise Marines
modern noise marines
Well, well, if it ain’t my favourite broken record. I know, I bang on about my favourite ever unit ever a little too much, but I just think that the new setup of rules and keywords and all the rest of it… there must be a way to make these guys awesome. We just got good again thanks to the traitor legions book and now the game is changing so new rules and (here comes the crescendo of that broken record) a new kit would be a joy to behold. Please, GW? Pretty please with sugar on top?
Vespids
vespids
Because this is what the whole Tau mantra is supposed to be about. It’s their bit, their gag and their gimmick – the greater good. But aside from the extremely occasional Kroot, this side of the fishface army has been largely neglected of late, and boy, are the Vespids symptomatic of this. They’re a relatively cheap unit yet they seem overcosted – that’s how bad they are. In fact, I don’t think I have ever seen any on a table in real life. If the Tau are going to maintain this aspect of their identity into 8th Ed, the Vespid, and the Kroot too, need some attention.
Mutilators
mutilators
Ah, the slow-witted step child of the warp. Used by absolutely no-one and I imagine routinely made fun of by their gun-toting tool-kit cousins, the Obliterators, these guys need a real helping hand. More wounds for a start, and a drop in points costs will get them some of the way there, but they also just need to be a little more interesting in general. This is a unit in real dire need of assistance.
Carnifex 
99120106010_CarnifexNEW01
I’ve said it before on this blog, but I remember when the Tyranid Carnifex, then called the Screamer Killer (yes, I’m old), was the scariest thing that anyone could put on the table. In fairness, it’s still plenty scary in 7th Ed, but it can also be cut down a little too easy with massed firepower for the points it costs. I want this chappy to return to the status of ‘nightmare tank’ again. I want it to regain its mantle as the Tyranids’ most potent, end-of-level boss-style hulk. And even with larger bugs in existence, we can just say that he suffers somewhat from short-man syndrome. Easy.
Striking Scorpions
finecast striking scorpions
I’m already excited about this. By far the coolest of all the aspect warriors, the Scorpions have already had their rules announced and they look awesome. In previous editions, the Eldar’s lack of assault vehicles and the preference of Howling Banshees has meant the Scorpions were relegated to fluffy lists. I’ve always been their champion, but now, I won’t have to do so much flag waving as they’ll be able to leap from Wave Serpents, chain blades whirring and madiblasters inflicting wounds a plenty. If they can get past the overwatch, they’ll be perfect for ripping down infantry units.
Chaplains
chaplain with fist
Something tells me that the Space Marines won’t be needing much more help in the new setting, but I’ve been feeling sorry for the vanilla Chaplain for a while now. For his points cost, he doesn’t add enough to an army to make him worth taking, and thanks to the big impact of the psychic phase in recent editions, Librarians are far more attractive option. Chaplains need to be a truly inspiring presence on the battlefield. How does a big bubble that negates morale tests sound?
Hunter/Stalker
99120101107_SpaceMarineHunterNEW01
I’m not sure that 8th Ed can fix these, and in fairness, they don’t actually need fixing. The problem is that they’re a risky option to take because if you’re opponent doesn’t have any flyers, they’re completely useless. But even then, Devs with flakk/skyfire are just better. Stick said Devs behind a defence line with a quad gun and you make the H/S tanks look more than a bit superfluous. Interceptor (or the new equivalent) if they don’t move? Another cool looking unit that I don’t think I’ve ever seen on the battlefield.
Maleceptors
99120106033_Maleceptor01
A unit statistically more likely to hurt itself than the enemy with its fluffiest attack. I shall say no more.
Ogryns
99120105053_Ogryns02
It’s annoying, because their current rules and stats broadly fit their fluff, but when their fluff makes them out to be stupid, easily confused… what’s like one step above ‘cowards’? They should be able to punch a tank to death, but instead they have guns they can’t shoot and a toughness that is rarely tested as they draw so much fire and their poor save can rarely handle it. They have their issues. So some sort of ‘stupidly determined’ rule would help them avoid morale issues, while an extra couple of wounds could keep them alive for a lot longer.
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And that’s my list. I could have gone on – there are plenty of cool units that need rules to back them up, and if you think that there is a glaring omission to this list, stick a comment below. I know that there are more than a few players praying that their favourite looking units get a boost, and it will be exciting to see what is revealed in the coming weeks. Until then; Onwards!

Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition – We Have A Release Date!

Posted by johnnya10 on 24/05/2017
Posted in: Thoughts and Comment. Tagged: . 5 Comments

That’s right. You heard it here last (probably – I sincerely doubt that H&H has broken the news to you, but if it did, yay me). June 17th is the day that we’ll all be able to get our hands on the brand new rules and, excitingly, the new box set as well. In an article that will be a repeat of many of those facts with a few of my opinions thrown in, here’s what’s up…

warhammer 40000 starter set contents

What’s In The Box!? 

Well, shockingly, there are Space Marines in the starter box (I don’t think anyone would have guessed that, do you?) and, once again, the forces of Chaos show up in the opposite corner. What is kind of new, is that we haven’t got a standard marine or tactical squad in sight. The Primaris Marines will take on the role of “goodies” this time around, and I have to say that Jes Goodwin’s newly designed Super Marines have got me itching to get the brushes out. They’ve taken the existing, much loved Space Marine template and subtly improved on that, though not in a way that invalidates the old miniatures. These are cool because they’re new and different, and not because the old ones were bad or boring (Oh, I can feel the xenos players itching to write a contradictory comment to that).

primaris marines with plasma weapons

My one criticism of the loyalist force in this box is that they’ve given them a unit of five Primarines (I invented that – you read that here first) with plasma guns. I hate plasma weapons. Not only do I tend to fail more than my fair share of ‘gets hot’ rolls (and my subsequent saves) but I’m also getting slightly tired of the over-done lighting effects that are often done with them. Seriously, the OSL used with plasma is reaching ridiculous levels. But the rest of the loyalist force is looking great. Especially the lieutenants who are going to be really fun to work on. I haven’t seen a Space Marine Lieutenant in a long time so it’s good to have them back.

nurgle bloat drone

I’m also very excited about the Plague Marines. I’ve got an old Death Guard army somewhere (not very well painted) and these could be some damn fine reinforcements for them (though, thinking about it, the old army is so badly painted, I may as well just start afresh here). The plague cultists look like a lot of fun, the new drone isn’t quite as nice as the Forge World miniature but it still looks top notch and it’s still great to see – makes a change from a dread/brute. The Death Guard themselves look brilliant – all puss-oozing, horn-covered and disease-ridden – as it should be. The characters look like a lot of joy to paint and play with too, though I’m not a huge fan of the sorcerer – kind of has a little baby head, and unless there’s a story behind that, I’m not sold on it. He kind of looks like he needs a dummy.

Plaguecaster1

Miniatures aside, we’ve got a rulebook, a couple of specific guides to the forces included, a set of templates – oh, wait, sorry; force of habit. No templates (RIP), but we do get some dice, rulers and rules cheat sheets as well. It looks like a good set, and I will definitely be getting my pre-order in on June 3rd.

Too Much To Take In

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I’ve been a bit quiet on this blog for the last month, and while some of this is down to being rather busy (started a new job), I’ve also been somewhat overwhelmed. There’s been an unprecedented amount of information coming out of Nottingham over the last couple of months and with so much to take in, I’ve barely been able to get my head around the idea of writing any articles.

That’s not in any way a complaint. Don’t get me wrong; it’s amazing to be getting so much information out of GW at the moment, but with such a high level of breaking news pieces, it’s been hard to get one’s head around it all. Every time I think I’ve got the bones of an article in my head, another bit of news hits! I think ‘Wow, the Imperial Knights are going to be good. I could write and articles abou- ooh, the Tyranids are going to be top notch now, I better wri- wow, the new starter set is out…’ and it’s been like that for a month at least! Brilliant but exhausting.

So What Are The Official H&H Stances On 8th?

Well, they are pretty much all positive. I generally like what GW does, but I don’t think I’ve ever been scared to take a pop at them when GW does something I don’t like. And try as I might to find any real negatives surrounding 8th Edition, I really can’t. As was covered in a previous post, even the invalidation of codices was handled very well by Games Workshop. So here’s the official line: We (yes, I’m using the royal Imperial ‘we’) are remaining positive. To break that down a little:

Primaris Marines look cool. You don’t have to take a single one of them if you don’t but I just can’t understand why you wouldn’t want to.
The Death Guard also look cool (apart from Babyhead) and the Drone is really exciting).
The story is going in a really cool direction – Bobby G doing his thing. But what’s happened to the Blood Angels and others on the far side of the warp rift!?
The game looks easy to play, fun to play, and well thought out.
Change is good.
You should put the cream onto the scone first, and then the jam.
Jet Fuel Doesn’t Melt Steel Beams.
The word ‘queue’ is just ‘q’ with four silent letters after it.
I appear to have gone wildly off topic.
So there you have it. Whether you care or not, them’s my opinions.
What’s Next On H&H
Well, as you’ve been very good boys and girls, and suffered through another rambling and run-of-the-mill article of little substance, I’ll give you a sneak peek at what I’ve been working on over the last couple of days. It’s not 40k related, but I’m enjoying it, and I hope you like it to. 😉
blood bowl orc lineman
More on this chap and his soon to be painted team mates soon. In the meantime, I shall be keeping my eyes fixed on the rumour sites and official channels as more of 8th Edition and the future of 40k is revealed. If anything else pops up, I will let you know. Onwards!

Blood Angels Veteran Tactical Squad

Posted by johnnya10 on 09/05/2017
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

blood angels veteran tactical squad

Finally! My Blood Angels Veteran Tactical Squad is, at last, done. The Horus Heresy now welcomes Squad Castor – The Black Helms, 1st Squad of the XIIIth Chapter of the IX Legion. It’s a bit of a long title, so let’s just call them the Black Helms, shall we? It’s taken me a couple of months to find the time to finish them, but I’m happy I took the time – not too shabby looking, and certainly unique, even if I do say so myself.

This marks the last bit of the Betrayal of Calth box and the penultimate unit of ‘Phase 1’ of my 30k Blood Angels Legion project. And boy, do these chaps like setting fire to things. I showed them off in the WIP from last month, but you can see better above that these guys are certainly packing plenty of templates (which should still be around in 30k for a little while at least, even if they’re not long for 40k). Let’s take a look at the rest of the squad shall we?

veteran tactical blood angels

So, why the black helmets? Well, I initially planned to paint them gold, as per the conventions regarding Blood Angels vets, but for whatever reason, this didn’t sit quite right when I was imagining them. This project, as long term readers will recall, has drawn a lot from the 2nd Ed 40k box art from John Blanche, and there’s not a whole lot of gold going on there. I guess there could be, but there isn’t and the effect felt a little alien to the rest of the army’s aesthetics. Then I realised that, without the Death Company around in this era, and with no other unit claiming the colour for their helmets, I thought; why not? I used mostly Forge World upgrade BA heads and I’m really pleased with the way it turned out. Also, this can add to the unique narrative I’m forging for the XIIIth of the IX. Black means death to the Blood Angels, and maybe these warriors have cheated death for so long, that they wear its own colours in defiance. Something like that, anyway.

I also wanted a bit of yellow throughout to make them pop. Maybe this shows off that they have the ability to operate as assault vets, though on this occasion they’re favouring a tactical load out. The knee pads, and yellow blood drops on their shoulders help to liven them up a bit, and help to tie them in to the themes of my army as a whole.

blood angels flamers

You’ll notice that my Legion Vexilla is a little different for this squad too – a piece borrowed from the Sanguinary Guard kit that helps these guys to both fit in and stand out in the army. The heavy flamers are a great looking bit of kit but if you want to avoid hobby-inspired rage, you should be warned that fitting the fuel line from the tanks on their backs to the weapons can be a nightmare. They actually led to me thumping a model with my fist (don’t worry, I pulled the punch) for the first time in decades. “Fiddly” doesn’t begin to describe it. But hey, that’s what super glue, green stuff and therapy are for, right? Oh, and as with other minis in this army, heavy flamers mean white flames and their shoulder pads do help them to pop a little more.

I’ve given the squad a bit of height and variation with some very simple but effective basing too. Half on slate, half not – it’s a very easy way to keep things interesting and it takes very little effort to do. Oh, and the sergeant is wearing the Master of Signals’ backpack. It was meant to be the nuncio vox upgrade from Forge World, but I mixed them up, and in the end decided to stick with this. I’m not intending on using my Master of Signals any time soon, and it does look rather fancy – again, it helps to make him a little different from the other sergeants.

blood angels legion veteran sergeant

Speaking of the sarge, meet Sergeant Castor. He’s got his black flames, yellow cloth, and even a golden Sanguinius mask to be getting along with. He also has his trusty hand flamer and a stonking great power fist for no other reason than it looks cool, and when you’re packing a squad like this full of bells and whistles, the additional points involved with power fists… well, you just think ‘Why not?’. And there’s the “SaOlNpS hOaF lHeOgRiUoSn” (read the caps and lower case letters separately) helmet on his base, with its bolt hole. I’m really happy with various parts of this particular mini. The power fist looks good, it’s one of the best bare heads I’ve done, and that’s some of my best ever script work on both the fist and his shoulder. Winner.

horus heresy blood angels

And there you have them! All done, and on to the next project. Which will definitely not be another 10 man squad. Not for a while at least. No, I think these guys need a unique and fancy ride… but more on that later.

Was a pleasure working on these, and I hope you like them too. Any comments, or questions, just let me know in the section below. I hope your own hobby efforts are bringing you plenty of satisfaction. Onwards!