Sure, a Daemons of Chaos army WAS part of the plan... but that mostly involved painting up the stuff from the Wrath and Rapture box set... and maybe a few more Slaanesh items I picked up on Boxing Day...
The short version of a long and convoluted story was I was looking on eBay for something specific - that WAS kind-of, sort-of related to THE PLAN... and stumbled across... other stuff... Included in that "other stuff" was a lot of old plastic Death Guard Plague Marines - and they were dirt cheap! Like 20 for the cost of buying three new ones... so... How could I resist THAT action. (I guess people do't dig on the old models now that there are newer, fancier ones...?)
I should just never even LOOK at ebay...
Death Guard Plague Marines - with Icon of Despair.
The Icon bearer is actually a metal figure and wasn't part of the main lot - but from the same seller and still, pretty cheap... cheaper than buying a single new plastic marine - let along some sort of individual character model!
I tired to paint them very quickly with Contrast® Paints. I think they look pretty awful... but they're Death Guard... They're SUPPOSED to look "awful"!?
Since there will only ever be 21 of them, and are most likely to just be used in Kill Team, I gave them all names and painted them on the back of their bases.
With the lot I got an original box and some decals. I've never really used decals, but I thought I'd give it a go with these. They looked terrible. So, I scraped most of them off.
I also didn't use the bases that came with them. The "standard" for space marines, these days, are 32mm bases... so I stuck them down to a few of those I had kicking around. I'm running short on the 32mm fancy bases, but I DO have a load of plain bases (because I've had a bunch of figures that I put on fancy bases and didn't use the plain base that came WITH the model!).
In retrospect, it was a bit daft to pick these up. I really have no desire to build some "Chaos Soup" force, and Nurgle is my least favourite of the Chaos forces. These will likely only ever be used for Wrath &Glory (the 40K role-playing game) or maybe Kill Team or possibly a 40K game where there is a narrative reason to field them... or I'm trying to put together an Apocalypse force and need one more Chaos detachment...
I should probably keep a weather eye out for an old metal Nurgle/Death Guard champion and/or sorcerer, though - to be a detachment commanders for this small force. I actually have 21 of them (including the icon bearer) which means I could field three units of seven - three units is what is needed for a Vanguard Detachment in both 40K and Apocalypse, and SEVEN is the number of Nurgle!
I noticed the that new Death Guard Squads are actually sold in boxes of SEVEN! I was pretty excited to see - just a little bit - that the army organization was matching the fluff in some small way... I was disappointed to find, then - in the data cards for Apocalypse, at least - that the standard size for a Death Guard squad is still grouped in fives... five for Power Level 4, ten for Power Level 7... (you can get a "reinforcement" set of three - to make a squad of ten.
Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:
um... more Chaos stuff...?
Daemons or Death Guard (I do have another 16 of these... and they are pretty quick to paint with the Contrast Paints!)
Or possibly some Blackstone Fortress stuff!
If you are going to put water-transfer decals on a model, use a decal softener. It makes them much easier to apply and more pliable so that they conform to the model's curves and bumps. I used Microsol or Microset (not sure which one offhand) to put decals on 6mm GHQ vehicles and it worked nicely.
ReplyDeleteWith this purchase and paint, are you winning or losing against the lead mountain?
I've always wondered how people get them to go over rounded bits without crinkling. I gave it a shot, but most of the ones I tried to apply crinkled around the shoulder pads and I just got frustrated and scratched them off... I have a pretty steady hand and am happy enough with handprinted devices and insignia.
DeleteCurrently I have acquired 28 and painted 32... so, ahead of the game. There are seven more Chaos Marines inbound (that are to be turned into NOISE MARINES!) ... But, as long as they don't show up in the mail tomorrow, I think I'm good. I have no plans to acquire anything else in the immediate future!
They look great!
ReplyDeleteI vote for Blackstone Fortress stuff next, in the hopes that if you post some finished minis it might kickstart me to finish some of mine!
Thanks!
DeleteBlackstone Fortress minis went back onto the workbench today!
Mind you, there are still Fiends and Bloodcrushers and the Infernal Rapturess on the workbench... along with some unassembled Seekers, waiting in the wings.... and somehow a pile of old squats snuck their way on...?
My hope it to finish all of the Blackstone Fortress core box stuff by the end of the month (at the latest!) so I can play it lots through February (as I am running it at ToonCon the first weekend of March!!)
"Plans" do not seem to survive contact with the Enemy, or Ebay.
ReplyDelete7 in a box might be fluffy, but it is also a cash grab, since the box is very expensive already, and then is short three models.
True that! $60CAD for the 7 Plague Marines - where the regular Chaos Space Marines are ten for $70CAD (which, itself, just boggles my mind!?) - of course, to make your Plague Marines a full squad of ten, you can buy either the back of easy build Plague marines 3 for $20CAD OR the "Reinforcements" pack of three for $50CAD!? GAH!? I guess it DOES come with a dude with a meltagun!?
DeleteI laughed heartily at "Plans not surviving first contact with eBay"! You are a Sun Tsu for the modern era! I look forward to your full treatise on the The Art of (miniature) War!
Useful looking plague marines, some time ago I thought I know I'll stick a dark wash over my whole Nurgle marine army,while it looked pretty good when it was wet,when it dried they just all looked brown! Lost your blog for a while, new phone but I should be able to keep up now!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain!
Delete