+ inload: The Call of Chaos +

+ Prelude to Pleasure +

+ 16th Millennial, Emperor's Children +

A cry came up from the rabble – far from cowering, as had the denizens of Old Paultney, here the population had, to the Lieutenant's amused surprise, come out to line the streets. Clearly, the Legion's harbingers had found one of the cities ripe with rebellion.

The advance felt more like a parade – and while the crowd was clearly agitated and nervous, the destruction of the Arbites Precinct garrison by the 16th Millennial had been cheered.

The Legionaries, clad in purple, moved with little caution, enjoying the sensation of being heralded as liberators rather than conquerors. Freedom! That was what they promised the populace. Freedom from tyranny, from Imperial taxes and oppression, and from more besides. Freedom from propriety, freedom from the repressive mores of society – until eventually they would be ripe for the ultimate freedoms of the Prince of Pleasure... freedom from the chilling confines of the flesh, from sanity, and eventually – from life itself.

+++

+ Slaanesh Space Marines + 



+ The Emperor's Children – for our 15mm project [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] – are ticking along nicely. Last night, the last ten received their highlighting (a single edge highlight on the boltguns and powerpack ridges, and a two-stage form highlight and edge highlight on the purple armour), and then I went back to paint in all the eyes. +

+ The front ten are pictured prior to the highlighting; compare with those behind. +

+ I'm pleased with the results. As hoped, the 15mm scale means that I'm finding them more enjoyable to paint than their 6mm Epic cousins, without feeling the pressure to tick in lots of time-consuming detail. It's a nice balance for me, particularly at the moment, when I'm hard-pressed for time. +




+ This pict-capture shows the highlighting on the Rhino nicely – again, the small scale means tanks, which I normally find a bit of a chore, are much more in my comfort zone. It's great to push your boundaries with your art, but it's also useful to bear in mind that familiarity can be a great escape, too. +


+ Still to add are the Legion markings and a few bits of gold trim here and there; but they're largely ready to fight Bob Hunk's Imperial Fists next week. +

+ Aerial view of the figures +


+++

+ Comparisons are odious +

+ Apropos of nothing, I thought it an interesting lesson to compare the 'en masse' army photos at different scales: my 15mm Emperor's Children and 'truescale' (i.e. 32mmish) Ultramarines. +



+ When viewed like this, without any scale reference, it's easy to think they're both similar sizes. The overall effect is similar in feel. More than that, I think it highlights (ho ho) how the smaller size has resulted in my highlights being starker and more obviously contrasting with the underlying tone – something I avoid at 32mm, as I generally prefer more subtle, less eye-grabbing highlights. +

+ Having said that, I think that the Emperor's Children look considerably more striking. Part of that is likely ten years' worth of experience and gradual improvements in my painting overall, and part of it might be the inherently simpler form of Mark VI over my Praetor-plate. Whatever is causing it, it's making me consider things again – and that's useful. I try to avoid cutting off any technique, style or approach entirely – all tools are useful for something, even if you use them rarely. Taking a few moments to compare and consider allows me to reconsider whether I'll aim for stronger, bolder highlights on larger-scale models in the future. +

+++

+ Uprising +

+ Also lurking and recently uncovered is my Renegade Guard army, originally ordered for The Augustine Crusade project, which I thought I'd kick off with a Kill Team, using the 'Blooded' rules from the recent Kill Team box. A nice way to ease into a force without getting bogged down in batch painting! +


4 comments:

Mikl said...

Excellent 15’s, they look well detailed and the paintjob is really on point, looking forward to seeing the finished army. May I ask where you got the traitor guard from? They look familiar, but at this point I have about a million bookmarked sites and it’s hard to keep track…

(Kym) + Warburton + (Classic40K) said...

Excellent - I'd love to do something like this - it's making me consider buying a 3D printer myself!

Suber said...

I think I said it before, but I like this more than I should. I believe they look enormously appealing and kind of on the right size! Hmmm...

Andy said...

The traitors are Reptilian Overlords Heretics stl files, available from a number of sellers as physical product. They are coming out in plastics from Wargames Atlantic in the future as well.