The Cerastus Knight-Acheron was not a planned purchase. I picked it up last summer along with a HUGE LOT OF IMPERIAL GUARD. Originally hadn't even discussed the knight, but the dude I was buying it all from brought it along and said he'd "throw it in" for a ridiculously low amount... like $30 or $50...? How could I NOT buy that!? It was even (mostly) assembled - I mean, it HAD been full assembled and painted, but then broken and was in need of repair.
In theory I COULD have just glued it back together and used it as is... but... that's just not my way! So, I primed it black and started over! I washout 90% complete - having painted it in a green and yellow scheme when I stalled... (for the very same reason I never finished the OTHER KNIGHT!) I couldn't decide on any heraldry! And so it (they) sat.
Late last year, when I got it into my head that I should make a CHAOS army, I decided that I should do all my knights as RENEGADE (or Chaos) Knights! (Or, two of them, at least... I still have plans for the third, which remains, to this day, on the sprue!). So I blacked out the armoured plates on this one and started over. heraldry wasn't an issue, because I wasn't going to do any individual heraldry - just some chaos symbols.
Cerastus Knight-Acheron from Forge World.
I haven't come up with a name for this beastie just yet... I'm not 100% sure I'm actually FINISHED PAINTING it yet. I'm not loving the "camouflage" on the central part of the carapace. I was thinking this morning the I may repaint it the same purple that the weapons, helmet and kneepads are painted... with or without some more chaos-y sigils. The "camouflage" just looks a little TOO busy.
I was kind of going for a look inspired by the original Noise Marine. The "camouflage" on the central part of the carapace came about because I wanted something rainbow-ish up there... and then thought of the camouflage I did on the other knight... and thought I'd do something similar - but with not-so-muted rainbow colours - and not nearly so small, neat, and even... Too much...? Can you really have "too much" on Chaos stuff...? Especially Chaos stuff that's aligned with Slaanesh? I worry that it might be painful for my opponents to look at... but then... maybe that's not a BAD thing for Chaos...
In the end I may just leave it... because I am lazy (if repainting something TWICE, and not wanting to do it a THIRD time can be called lazy!?)... and this is DONE and I have SO MUCH OTHER STUFF still to do! Maybe, once I'm done the rest of the chaos army, if I STILL hate it then... THEN I will repaint it! There. Done. Decision made!
I might rebase this at some point sooner, though. It's odd that it came on a smaller base than the other knights - especially considering it's taller, heavier (being solid resin!), and more top-heavy than the plastic ones. That's probably why it was broken when I got it - it probably toppled over and got smashed by its own weight.
Speaking of the base. I didn't put any dried grass clumps on it yet, as I'm also considering just repainting the base. I went with the sandy desert look when I repainted it (thinking, at the time, it would most likely be walking in support of my Tallarn forces), but now that it's working for the Dark Gods... and most of my Chaos stuff is now on urban-like-bases... I'm considering repainting it to look like the crumbled concrete of a ruined city... y'know... like it was ORIGINALLY painted.
I...
I am a special kind of stupid...
One day I'll laugh at all this. Hopefully you're all laughing already!
Hey - speaking of Chaos forces on urban bases...
Over the last month, or so, I've rebased all the Chaos Cultists I have (I also picked up a couple more boxes of the cheap 5/$12 cultists, as they've just gone out of production) I have another 15 of these to paint up - which will make 30 - could be 3 units of ten, or one big unit of 30. I've converted a few of the new ones so that, if fielding them as units of ten, in a game of apocalypse, I'll have two units or ten all armed with autoguns, and a third unit of ten with autopistols and "brutal assault weapons"
Complete forces of Chaos... so far...
Wow... That's like Campbell's Chunky CHAOS SOUP!
(Yes, that is an old Keeper of Secrets I'm using as a Daemon Prince of Chaos)
So far, I guess that could be fielded (in Warhammer 40000: Apocalypse, the only 40K mass battle I really care about at the moment) as...
Chaos Battalion Detachment
HQ - Daemon Prince of Chaos - 9PL
Troops - Cultists with Heavy Stubber (10) - 3PL
Troops - Bloodletters (10) - 4PL
Troops - Daemonettes (10) - 4PL
Chaos Vanguard Detachment
HQ - Karanak - 4PL
Elite - Rogue Psyker - 3PL
Elite - Rogue Psyker - 3PL
Elite - Plague Marines (5) - 4PL
Fast Attack - Flesh Hounds (5) - 3PL
Chaos Knight Auxiliary Super Heavy Detachment
Lord of War - Renegade Knight Acheron - 26PL
63 Power Level in total.
I should see if Keira wants to do battle - she's been pretty excited about the idea of me doing Slaanesh stuff as it gives her a chance to make use of the Ancient Doom rule that all her Eldar have!
I still have a lot to complete. When everything I have is all assembled and painted, I should have (Organized for Warhammer 40000: Apocalypse):
Emperor's Children Battalion Detachment
HQ - Sorcerer - 3PL
Troops - Cultists with Heavy Stubber (10) - 3PL
Troops - Cultists (10) - 2PL
Troops - Cultists (10) - 2PL
Emperor's Children Battalion Detachment
HQ - Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour - 7PL
Troops - Chaos Space Marines (5) - 4PL
Troops - Noise Marines with Blast Master (5) - 5PL
Troops - Noise Marines with Blast Master (5) - 5PL
Elite - Terminators With Reaper Autocannon (5) - 12PL
Death Guard Battalion/Vanguard Detachment
HQ - ?
Elite - Plague Marines (5) - 4PL
Elite - Plague Marines (5) - 4PL
Elite - Plague Marines (10) - 7PL
(in regular 40K these would be three units of seven... but for some reason in Apocalypse they're only foldable in units of 5/10/15/20...?)
Khorne Daemon Patrol Detachment
HQ - Karanak - 4PL
Troops - Bloodletters (10) - 4PL
Fast Attack - Flesh Hounds (5) - 3PL
Elites - Blood Crushers (3) - 6PL
Slaanesh Daemon Battalion Detachment
HQ - Infernal Enrapturess - 5PL
Troops - Daemonettes (10) - 4PL
Troops - Daemonettes (10) - 4PL
Troops - Daemonettes (10) - 4PL
Fast Attack - Seekers (5) - 6PL
Fast Attack - Seekers (5) - 6PL
Heavy Support - Exhalted Seeker Chariot - 9PL
Slaanesh Daemon Vanguard Detachment
HQ - Daemon Prince of Chaos - 9PL
Elite - Fiend of Slaanesh - 3PL
Elite - Fiend of Slaanesh - 3PL
Elite - Fiend of Slaanesh - 3PL
Elite - Fiend of Slaanesh - 3PL
Chaos Knight Auxiliary Super Heavy Detachment
Lord of War - Renegade Knight Acheron - 26PL
Chaos Knight Auxiliary Super Heavy Detachment
Lord of War - Knight Despoiler (with Stormspear Rocket Pod) - 25PL
181 Power Level in total... a pretty decent size for an Apocalypse army (though a little light on the Heavy Hitters!)... Or a smaller one with a few options... Ideally, at SOME point (probably NOT this year) I'd like to add a few things to these forces. One of the new Keeper of Secrets models, for one! A third Chaos knight might be nice - just to make a full Super Heavy Detachment of three. I do HAVE A third knight I COULD paint up as a Chaos Knight... but I had plans for her... and if I got a third knight for this force, I think I'd rather get a Knight Desecrator or Rampager. Also, I love the idea of having SWARMS of Daemonettes - like, three units of thirty of them! Also, another two units of Bloodletters might be fun - just to upgrade the Khorne patrol into a "battalion" detachment... And maybe some Nurgle character to lead the Deathguard detachment.
Oh, I suppose I could actually make a Black Legion Detachment out of all the Blackstone Fortress minis...
Black Legion Battalion Detachment
HQ - Obsidius Mallex - 4PL
Troops - Traitor Guardsmen (7) - 2PL
Troops - Traitor Guardsmen (7) - 2PL
Troops - Cultists of the Abyss (8) - 2PL
Troops - Cultists of the Abyss (8) - 2PL
Elite - Rogue Psyker - 3PL
Elite - Rogue Psyker - 3PL
Elite - Negavolt Cultists (4) - 2PL
Elite - Chaos Beastmen (4) - 1PL
Another 19 Power Level... which would put me at 200PL..
Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:
I'll be posting a round-up of the games we played through January later this evening. After that...? Hopefully MORE BLACKSTONE FORTRESS miniatures!
Wow! Your knight is an amazing piece of machinery!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan!
DeleteSuper sweet knight, and no, it does not look too busy for Chaos. If anything I think it could use some banners and chains and such dangling down from the gun arm...
ReplyDeleteYeah, spiky bits and chains... I was thinking I should add some.. but didn't really have any on hand. Something I can still add though - and probably will!
DeleteThanks!
You do paint a prodigious amount of minis from where I'm sitting! Distractions? pfft
ReplyDeleteYou still do produce a lot of playable groups of minis (armies, units, gangs, etc.).
Oh, I know. And normally I wouldn't care THAT much... but I'm feeling a bit of a time crunch - ToonCon is just FIVE WEEKS away, and I'm not done painting miniatures for Blackstone Fortress - a game I am doing a Learn-To-Play demo for - let alone started playing and testing scenarios. So, distractions, at this point are causing me just a bit more anxiety than it normally would. It's not like there are a LOT to do... which is probably why it's so easy to get distracted ("Pfft! I got lots of time, I'll just finish up this Renegade knight that I haven't touched in month... because... reasons..."). But I do NEED to get them done... and SOON!!!!
DeleteFantastic work!
ReplyDeleteThank you Michal!
DeleteGreat looking chaos force, I think the knight looks fine and just needs banners and bits to add later, couldn't you just stick the knight onto a bigger MDF base and just extend out the rubble, not too much extra work?
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Ha! Funny you should mention that - that is EXACTLY what I was thinking of doing - I figured I could trace the base of the other knights onto some 1/8" or 1/4" MDF - I have a small supply of both - whichever is close to the actual base size, cut it out with my jigsaw at a slight angle to match the bevel, and add a pile of more rubble! The MDF should add a bit more weight to the base as well!
DeleteThanks!