Book Battles of Ehdiciun VI, the beginning

Kharsis sat in his enlarged throne, his mutated head resting on his fist.  The bridge crew felt strange to see their Lord, now transformed into a Daemon Prince, appearing so deep in thought.  It was a pensiveness that they rarely saw in their more mortal Lord, much less this massive beast of a monster that sat above them all.  The cultists continued their duties despite the odd sight, knowing that death was always only a moment away for any of them.

The iron doors to the bridge hissed open and screeched shut again, signalling the entrance of the expected guest.  Kharsis barely moved, having summoned the Dark Apostle hours ago and expecting the sorcerer to show anytime.  Although the two warriors didn't like each other, their fates were intertwined and each served to further the aims of the other.  The Daemon Lord had become ascended due to his Apostle's instructions, and now he owed many souls and influence back for the deed. 

"You... summoned me, Coryphaus?" snarked Talus, the arrogant fallen Chaplain.  He stood only as far in front of the throne as was necessary, and he bowed his head only barely.  Even the massive Terminator armor he wore couldn't hide the contempt from Talus' actions.  Kharsis also noted the use of the formal rank- which was hardly necessary at this point.

Yawning, Kharsis turned his attention slowly onto the sorcerer and casually nodded back.  His answer was only a whisper, but it was both loud and many, as though a hundred voices whispered, "I did.  I must show my gratitude for this gift you have found me..."  Although human emotions were distinctly lacking, the words still felt like a snipe at the Dark Apostle.  Of course, the ascended form of the Lord made him far larger and more powerful than the already-intimidating Terminator, meaning any insult would have to be forgiven.  Talus flashed with annoyance, but stood motionless in front of the Lord anyway.  He had not crushed worlds for millennia by being stupid.

"Now that we have sent the XIIIth Legion to flight and destroyed their precious world, what plan do the Dark Lords have for us now?"  Kharsis spoke slowly and lazily, knowing that the answer was irrelevant.  Being able to reap souls and destroy the empire of the false Emperor were the only concerns to him now.  But this 'holy man' in front of him always had an alternate objective.  His ability to speak to the spirits in the warp and attract their blessings was prodigious, but so too was his cunning.  The Daemon-lord knew, better than anyone, that when his time was done it would be the Dark Apostle who would dispose of him.  Or he would try.  These thoughts made Kharsis almost chuckle before he'd even finished his question.

2nd company joining the Fourth...

When you need a little firepower, call the Ravenwing!  I'm not a fan of bikes, but they do serve a purpose in the army and I'm compelled to include a unit.  Luckily, I can start with this Tornado and work up from there...

 

Dark Angels 2nd Company- 'The Ravenwing'

Land Speeder Tornado

 

 

 

Like my Templars, I've realized that grey reflects flash really well!  Boo.

And with that, I've reached my goal!  Now to get all these new Word Bearers and Dark Angels based.  Luckily, I may have slave labour to do it...

Happy Hobbying!

Devastators!!!

As promised, I worked on and completed the rest of the Dark Angels.  Funny enough, where the Chaos Marines took two all-nighters, these guys and the next posted unit took a few hours today.  Ah, thank you Imperial Power Armor!!!

 

Dark Angels 4th Company

9th Devastator Combat Squad

 

 

2 Heavy Bolters and 2 Missle Launchers- a cheap squad of goodness!

Of course another shot in flash. 

And there ya go!  Only one more unit to reach that fully painted 1K- stay tuned...

Happy Hobbying!

How to paint a power blade

One of my buddies asked for this article three weeks ago.  To him, I apologize.  But it's done.

To the rest out there- ever wondered how to paint a Power Sword?  Most of us eventually learn various techniques and master this is our own way, but I have a bad habit of wanting to show you MY way.  It's not the best and it won't win you a Golden Demon, but it looks great on the tabletop and is inconspicuously simple to do.

Here's the colors you'll need to do standard power blades (remembering that they're supposedly normal weapons sheathed in a hazy, blue-ish, electromagnetic energy field):
Ultramarines blue (or another blue similar in color)
Chaos Black
Skull White

I know, I know, the list is a long one, but I'm sure you can get these colors together if you really look.  :-)

Here's the steps:

Step 1:  Basecoat the entire blade Black using your standard brush.  Keep in mind that THIS is where the shading comes from, so it's an important step.

Step 2:  Mix 2 parts Chaos Black and one part blue and basecoat this onto the whole blade using that standard brush.  Don't paint next to the guard or energy wires, leaving the black to 'border' these parts.

Step 3:  Mix half Ultramarines Blue and half black and, using the tip of the standard brush, paint wide lines onto the center ridge and border of the blade.  Then connect these with oddly shaped splotches to look like the energy is 'flowing across the blade'.



Step 4:  Using a finely-pointed standard brush or a fine detail brush, paint lines of straight Ultramarines Blue over your previous blue lines.  Make THESE lines thinner and sitting in the middle of the muted splotches.

Step 5:  Using that fine detail brush, paint the final layer of 2 parts blue and 1 part Skull White right over the previous parts (specifically along the middle ridge and outside edges).  The trick with these lines is to NOT connect them like the last step.  Energy MOVES, so the brightest spots aren't going to connect to other bright spots, even along the center of the blade.

And there ya go!  5 easy steps to get those power blades looking sharp and striking.  There are a couple of things you can also do to spruce this up a bit.  The easiest is to add a few more mixes in between the applications for the steps above and 'fade' it better (but I paint to a tabletop standard these days- easy and good).  You can also add a blue or purple wash over this and 'fade' it together.  I have also found that finishing with a coat of varnish also looks cool as well.

I hope this helps some of you guys out there.  If you already have a cool painting technique, comment below and let me know!  I love hearing about other peoples' methods, it's how I got better years ago... 

As always, Happy Hobbying!