+ inload: Bleak Vespers +

+ inload: The Bleak Vespers +

+ It seems ages since I got a chance to sit down and paint, so it was nice to pick up a brush and continue working on the Death Guard. The batch I started back at the beginning of the month [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] are coming along nicely; and are nearly at the fun stage of picking out details. +

A couple of boltgun-wielding Plague Marines and the characters.

+ The models are great fun to paint, and very relaxing. Lots of quick work offset by slower, more considered washes and glazes. They look pleasingly messy at the moment, and I want to ensure that I keep some of that painterly feel when I start to tighten them up. It's nice to try out different approaches on different forces. +

+ More Plague Marines, including an icon bearer. These are at a slightly earlier stage: the characters at the top have had an additional layer of highlighting, which pushes the contrast further. It's probably a good illustration of what I mean by pleasingly messy – the additional highlights on the upper image are fairly subtle but do a surprising amount to define the edges of the armour plates etc. It only takes a small amount of effort to create impact and move a model from unsatisfying to work you're happy with.  +

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+ Death Guard organisation + 

+ As usual, while painting, my mind wanders and I started thinking about the storyline behind the characters. Doing this is not only fun (who doesn't like making up a good story?), but it also serves the very practical purpose of helping you make decisions on colours, and helping to define what things are. An area on a plastic model might contrast better in metallics, for example, but if it's meant to be a flask or a holster, you might choose something more fitting to the material. It's easy to apply dirt and mud to the lowest parts of the figure, but if the model has a dynamic pose, you have to make sure that the upraised leg (or whatever) has the same effect applied. +

+ I know it sounds rather obvious, but spending time thinking about the practicalities of the model as a living being, rather than an lump of metal or plastic, will guide you better than sticking rigidly to an abstract your plan. +

+ Anyway, this musing led to thoughts about the warband as a whole. I hadn't really thought much about it beforehand, which is quite unusual for me. I'd just got stuck in. Fortunately, the new Death Guard Codex has fleshed out the background of the Traitor Legion quite extensively. It's nicely done, providing some canonical structure while remaining very flexible, so no-one's background should feel invalidated. A quick summary:

'The Death Guard consists of seven Plague Companies, each made up of thousands of warriors with their attendant fleets, aircraft, tanks, daemonic cohorts, and super-heavy vehicles, dwarfing modern Space Marine Chapters. Each Plague Company consists of a number of Sepsis Cohorts each made up of roughly seven hundred Plague Marines. Each Sepsis Cohort is divided into two Maladictums, each with seven Colonies which in turn are broken up into seven squads'

- Codex: Death Guard 

+ The names are predictably baroque (one might argue kitsch...) but it gives a certain structure. A typical tabletop army for 40k is going to represent a Colony-sized force. I'd already decided that my army was going to be from the 6th Company, as this Company garrisons the fleet. That gives it the best excuse (in my eyes, at least) for it to be present in Antona Australis. +

+ My Warband will thus represent the Bleak Vespers Colony of the First Maladictum of the Eighth Cohort of the Sixth Company of the Death Guard. The name has a vaguely religious feel, which fits the 'Angels of Death' idea. Vespers is an evening service, which ties in with the Legion's origins as the Dusk Raiders – just a little nod. They'll be a fairly middle of the road group, with no particular specialism beyond an affinity for using bells – both as weapons and in their symbology – owing to their commander, Simargi of Moroz-Morok [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. +

+ That decision gives me a good simple shape for a logo that I can use across the army, and helps suggest weapon swaps and part choices for the future. I'm sure there are some cool Nurgle daemon models, for example, that use bells – and if there aren't, I can convert them! +

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+ A few individual shots +

+ Tallyman +

+ Plague Surgeon +

 + Plague Marine with boltgun and plague knife +

 + Plague Marine with boltgun and blight grenade +

 + Plague Marine with boltgun and painted visor. +

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