+ inload: Blood Angels troops complete +

 + Area secured +

+ Sergeant Paulo, of Squad Castigarius +

+ I polished off the Blood Angels Devastator Squad over the weekend, which means that all the basic infantry for the army is now complete – a lovely staging post. I'm now in the weird state of having done all the core stuff, with the support and leadership left to build and/or paint. +

+ Captain Tycho leads his men – but could probably do with the rest of the officers to help +

+ Laying out the army like this is both rewarding and (a little) useful. You can check that there's some level of consistency in the paint scheme: always important when using a new colour or technique. The change between early and later models can be marked if you're not careful, owing to nothing more than you getting more comfortable with a particular process. +

+ Consistency in basing is particularly important to for a harmonious effect.  I made things harder for myself both by not recording how I did the first bases and by using a variety of mixed paints (including some out-of-production ones – not the brightest idea; I can only blame overenthusiasm!). There is thus a little variation, but I think it's close enough to be accounted for in natural terms, and will be further masked when I add a few tufts of static grass. +

+ It's at this stage that things like the back banners start to look good. In isolation, they can look a bit out of place, even silly. In an army of fluttering flags, however, they look striking, and give a real sense of pageantry. One of the best things about Space Marines is the sheer range of the stylistic canvas. They look good depicted as anything from hyper-modern professional soldiers, all gritty and covered in pouches, to mediaeval knights in shining armour and gleaming swords. +

+ Quite besides the impact that back banners have, they also serve an important role in terms of visual composition for the force as a whole. The army, being heavily infantry-based, is at risk of dissolving into an undifferentiated mass of similarly-sized figures once you take a step or two back. The banners add some vertical elements and break up the shape, improving the look of the army as a whole. +

+ Composition goes beyond the individual figure. If you want an army of otherwise similar figures to have impact en masse, you might consider different ways of breaking up the group. Banners are not always going to be appropriate – particularly not for a 'tacticool' style, so you might consider varying the heights by using prone/kneeling poses or scenic bases; or by using another method entirely, such as contrasting colours or markings. +

+++

+ Squad Castigarius +

+ Third Company 'The Sorrow of Kings; under Lord Dahavauron, Prince of the Erelim, 9rd Strateia of the Host of Angels.' +

SQUAD PAULO 

Brother Pontormo (Wormwood 1:03)

Brother Daumier (Kyniel 1:54)

Sergeant Paulo (Tatanon; Keeper of Tears 3:02)

Brother Gorgidas (Parmiel 1:25)

Brother Megasil (Porosa 1:54)

Brother Titian (Eurabatres 2:34)

Brother Loredan (Eserchie 6:35)

Brother Michelino (Lithargoel 9:19)

Brother Doneto (Kadir-Rahman 1:68)

Brother Picabia (Rahaviel 3:18)

+ In case you're wondering, I can't remember why Squad Castigarius is not named after its Sergeant, as with the other squads in the army. I suspect it was just an oversight when I was drafting the plan. However, such oversights can add a natural bit of interest. There's an immediate narrative question – who was Castigarius? This might lead to a particular mission, or be the seed of a narrative game. +

+ I was tempted to change it, but there is a nagging feeling that I have picked out both 'Paulo' and 'Castigarius' from existing material, and intentionally conflated them to hang a hat on some internal inconsistency. The sergeants and veteran squad leaders of the Tactical squads are certainly named after the squads from the 'Battle for Armageddon' leaflet that came in the 2nd edition boxed set; but [+memSTACK:CASCADEFAIL+], for the life of me I can't remember where Paulo and Castigarius are from. Space Hulk, maybe? +

+ Anyway, regardless of whether it's a mistake or not, it adds some texture. Perhaps Sergeant Paulo has opted to retain the name out of respect for his predecessor in the position, or perhaps it's one of the various traditions of the Blood Angels that we looked at in yesterday inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. +

+ Visible above is the cut-down bolt rifles, making them look more akin to the boltguns in the squad. I had vacillated on whether to do this, and am glad that I finally decided to make the squad's boltguns consistent in length, if not in detail. +

+ I was pleased with the face. Very quick, very clean. As mentioned in an earlier inload, I'm trying to keep the Blood Angels looking 'filmstar handsome'. I haven't been adding stubble or eyebags or any of the other details I usually do on faces, instead aiming for clean-cut smooth skin. I made up the 'Keeper of Tears' epithet for him, and wanted to reflect that somehow, just to give him a little character. He's thus got a row of teardrops running along his collar. +

+ The plastic missile launcher doesn't have quite the same detailing as the resin version, though I doubt anyone would pick it out unless specifically looking for differences. The detail above shows the lenses nicely. I used orange for the Devastators's eye lenses to match the inspiration. It's worth noting that it's the complementary colour for blue, so 'pings' out nicely, setting both off. +

+ As a further note, for anyone intending to use Forge World's Raven Guard upgrade sprue for Mark VI helms, as I have: the helms are sculpted with very prominent brows and deep-set lenses (see below), which can make getting the brush tip in tricky for fine detail. +

+ One of the marines toting a heavy bolter has a Mark IV Maximus helm; but note that he's otherwise converted to Mark VI armour. When mixing armour marks across this army, I try to avoid unintentionally defaulting to a particular mark. This avoids it looking a bit tokenistic; as though you've decided that swapping a part out means that you don't need to think about the rest of the suit. +

+ Of course, it's a purely personal thing. This army could just as easily have followed the inspiration more closely, with the Devastators all purely Mark VI and the Tacticals all purely Mark VII. Both approaches take effort and consideration; it's really down to what you want to do with your army. +

+ Keeping variety in the armour marks helps keep my interest up, but if you decided to go fully uniform, you might still consider some neutral flourishes, such as the targeter and purity seal here. +

+++

+ Move on to the next objective  +

+ As mentioned, the bulk troops of the army – two Tactical squad, Devastator squad, and Terminator squad – are done, which leaves the following:

• Thudd Gun and Techmarine gunner [+1+]
• Land Speeder [+2+]
• Librarian [+3+]
• Medic [+4+]
• Chaplain [+5+]

+ Getting these done will complete the army as it appeared in the inaugural Warhammer 40,000 battle report; as shown above. After that, I'll expand it a little further – I have a couple of lieutenants and a Dreadnought built, for example. +

+ The sculpts that appeared in the original army were amongst my least favourite of the then-available options, so as with Tycho himself, I think I'll be moving away from direct translations of the figures. Instead, I'll be using artwork and other sculpts from the period to inspire me, in the hope that I'll end up with something that both evokes the inspiration and is personal to me. +

+ For the moment, though, I'm concentrating on what's built and ready to go, which is the Thudd Gun and Land Speeder. Chronoshifting back to the 4th of June, M3.018 [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], when I last worked on them (yikes), you'll see how I left both of these war machines. +

+ Digging the Land Speeder out, I decided I didn't like the conversion work around the base of the greaves, so went back to sharpen it up, as shown below. A bit of tidying goes a long way; I think this looks much better. + 

+ Note the part-built figure to the right, made with the greenstuff left over from improving the greaves. This figure will likely be the basis for the medic, but I'm not quite sure yet. +

+ While the greenstuff cured, I distracted myself with blocking in some of the eventual expansion figures, like the Lieutenant here. The Thudd gun also received a coat of gunmetal – a mix of Abaddon black, Ironbreaker and Dryad Bark – and I painted the base as for the rest of the army. +

+ The Land Speeder's likely to be interesting as it combines both vehicle/support and infantry elements – I wonder if I'll enjoy painting it? I'm swaying again on whether to render it in yellow, or stick with the inspiration. +

+ You'll also spot a banner bearer above. He currently carries the new sculpted Blood Angels banner. I can't decide whether to retain it, or swap it out for a blank one to do my best in freehand. Would appreciate the noosphere's thoughts. +