Sons of Horus Contemptor

Well, as promised I'll be posting about the first miniature that I've finished of the Betrayal at Calth box and also the first of my brand new Sons of Horus army. This means that I've tested some new things in him, tried out my planned color scheme and made the paint mixtures I needed (I took as a base the FW scheme which is a free download from their web and includes four mixes of four paints and is a pain in the ass). 

This is the finished thing, though there are lots of details you can't appreciate because of the bad light (sorry, but my best camera is my iPad, I'm no good photographer and in January in Madrid it's almost impossible to get daylight).

This is the contemptor just mounted. I decided the multi-melta because I'm reserving the Kheres Assault Cannon for another contemptor I got from FW and didn't convert the fist to have a melta instead of a combi-bolter because I used all my meltas in a support squad. If you are wondering why I put a green stuff cable in the base its because I had leftovers from the one I used to fill a hole in the fist arm (this model isn't designed for being dynamic).

 This is the fella backwards before painting. You can also see that the base was done with the "astrogranite" technical paint of GW, which worked out much better than I thought. I also used some stones and blister bits to represent larger rocks and some ruined foundations. 

This photo was made to show that I put some putty in the places it didn't fit well (this time from Tamiya, I'm not a 100% GW) though you can also see a space marine helm that I put there to be painted as an Imperial Fist, as a friend is starting a heresy army of them. 

I even drilled the weapons of my army, which is something I always say that I'm going to do when I finish but actually don't. 

I'm pretty happy with the final result, though I should have done a clearer mix. The actual composition is made of a mix that I'll call Mix 1 that is 50% Castellan Green and 50% Nurgling Green and a Mix 2 of 50% Dawnstone and 50% Sotek Green (all GW colors as, even though I don't buy them the 100% of my things, I do buy them a 95%). After this you do a mix of 50% Mix 1 and 50% Mix 2, which is Mix 3 and turns out to be the base color. Then you wash it with Nuln Oil and then layer it with Mix 3 again. After that you make apply Mix 4, which is like Mix 3 but with 20%  more of Mix 2 (you can see why it's a pain in the ass). Then you wash with Nuln Oil again the darkest parts and finally you edge with pure Nurgling Green and the most exposed borders with Scar White. 

This is his multi-melta arm side, which has the first Eye of Horus I've ever painted (this figure has a lot of firsts). It would drag a lot of the attention of the guy because of the oranges in the cannon, but is compensated with the elevation of the fist, which has also some extra Nurgling Green to be even more impressive. 

The back of the miniature has a lot of metallic, which was too shiny, so I decided to wash all of the metals of my Soms of Horus with a lot of Nuln Oil and then just edge them with Runefang Steel.  

As I said before the fist side is more highlighted than the other, but also has an arrow with XVI on it (the number of the SoH). 

The base was done with Eshin Grey highlighted with Dawnstone and Scar White, then washed with Nuln Oil and again highlighted with the same. The helm has a couple of yellows and then some sponge-weathering. 

The front is intentionally the most outstanding part of the model, with the shiny eyes and the scrolls, in where the only complete word is Lupercal (war cry of the SoH and one of the names of Horus, their primarch). 

The multi-melta has a second wash of Nuln Oil so that the orange, which is made with a gradation from red to white passing through orange but not through yellow, will outstand more.

The fist is the first place in where I tried sponge-weathering, and I liked it so much that it quickly spread to the rest of the figure. I've sponged Abbadon Black, Eshin Grey, Dawnstone and Runefang Steel on the edges.

Well, at the end it has been a great model to paint and I'm quite happy with the results. I've already started a melta support squad and hope to finish my army as soon as possible!

Tactical Support Squads review

Hi there everyone, I'm sorry I haven't written much lately, but I've been very occupied working on my latest Christmas acquisitions (I'll be posting pics soon), but I decided to talk about a unit that has impressed me: the Tactical Support Squad of the Legion Crusade army list. I've builder two five man squads out of the Betrayal at Calth box, and I'm pretty happy of the work they're doing.

The thing about them is that they're all equipped with an special weapon of your choice which basically is a cheaper unit of chosen! I've been taking lately one with meltas for tank destruction and one with plasmas for dealing with terminators, but I'm sure they'll be great with Volkite Calivers or flamers. They benefit much from a Rhino or Drop Pod (specially the ones with meltas or flamers) and I recommend taking groups of five for flexibility.

All this is great, but they obviously have some flaws that you should be aware of. First they're from Heresy, so you will need permission from your opponent to use it in usual 40k games, which shouldn't be a problem when playing friendly, but you have to be aware that this is not for tournaments. Also they end up being quite expensive if equipped with plasma or melta and given a vehicle, reaching the 200 if also given a vehicle so, as the chosen, you should be very careful because they still have power armor and die as easily as usual marines (giving them an apothecary is a good idea, but will get them even more expensive). At last they cannot be taken as compulsory troops, so no all-special weapons armies.

In conclusion, Tactical Support Squads are a great option for giving what they are supposed to give, support for your Tactical Squads, and fill the rolls that they cannot. If given flamers though and positioned near a Promethium Pipe, they can work pretty well individually.