Dark Eldar Army Challenge - Preliminaries and Other Stuff

 So, as part of The Independent Characters' Hobby Progress Challenge, and also to keep this blog alive and kicking, I present the first installment of my Dark Eldar army.

The idea behind the Challenge is to create an 1850 pt 40k army list with a minimum 400 pt sideboard, then assemble and paint it before Adepticon 2012, in March. Details are here.

So, without further ado, the list as it currently stands. I've been mulling over whether to go Nightshields over Flickerfields for the Ravagers, and drop the Flickerfields on the Raiders and use Shock Prows and Grisly Trophies on a few of them. This could then possibly get me one more Wych in the squad of 8.

Anyway....

HQ
110: Archon - Venom Blade, Clone Field, Phantasm Grenade Launcher
60: Haemonculus - Liquifier Gun
60: Haemonculus - Liquifier Gun

Elites
185: 5x Incubi (Raider - Flickerfield, Shock Prow)
173: 4x Trueborn - 4x Blaster (Venom - Splinter Cannon)
173: 4x Trueborn - 4x Blaster (Venom - Splinter Cannon)

Troops
125: 5x Warriors - Blaster (Venom - Splinter Cannon)
125: 5x Warriors - Blaster (Venom - Splinter Cannon)
188: 9x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Hydra Gaunltet (Raider - Flickerfield)
176: 8x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Hydra Gaunltet (Raider - Flickerfield)

Fast Attack
110: 5x Scourges - 2x Haywire Blasters

Heavy Support
115: Ravager - Flickerfield
115: Ravager - Flickerfield
115: Ravager - Flickerfield

Sideboard
180: 10x Warriors - Splinter Cannon (Raider - Flickerfield, Splinter Racks)
180: 10x Warriors - Splinter Cannon (Raider - Flickerfield, Splinter Racks)
188: 9x Wyches - Haywire Grenades, Hydra Gaunltet (Raider - Flickerfield)

And, as part of the Challenge, I will be submitting first and last of the month updates to show progress. I am also required to plan out what I will be doing each month, so here is that.

June:
Purchase (hopefully - if not purchased in June, model will be purchased in the month it is scheduled to be painted) Archon, 3 more Venoms, 2 Scourge boxes, and an extra haywire blaster. Convert 4 Blasters out of Shredders for Trueborn. Assemble/prime as much of army as possible.

July:
Paint 3 Raiders, 5 Scourges

August:
Paint 17 Wyches, 5 Incubi

September:
Paint 3 Ravagers, Archon

October:
Purchase Urien and a Haemo, assemble/convert as needed, and paint them. Paint 4 Venoms.

November:
Paint 30 Warriors

December:
Paint remaining Wyches and Raiders, plus anything else that got left behind.

January - March:
Finish any last details / models I may add as needed. Really hard to plan that far out. I imagine there will be some things completed early, so hopefully I can add some of the fun stuff like Wracks/Razorwings here. Army will be based/sealed as models are finished.

So there we go. I'll drop some pics of my Scourges soon, and the Raiders.

~iPaint

The Dark Eldar Approach!

So, I picked up a copy of the new Dark Eldar codex at my FLGS, as well as a box of the new Kabalite Warriors.

Within a few hours I had the squad ready to start painting, and a few hours later I had my first test mini finished to my tabletop standard.




Once I knock out a tutorial for this paint scheme, I'll have these guys up on a popular online auction site, so keep an eye out.

~iPaint

Painting Tutorial: Warhammer 40k Ork

Here's a tutorial for how I paint my Warhammer 40k Orks. I'd consider this my tabletop standard.

On to the tutorial:

Step 1: Codex Grey highlights for black cloth and boots. Basecoat leather straps in Bestial Brown, skin in Gnarloc Green.

Step 2: Highlight skin with 3:1 mix Gnarloc Green to Bleached Bone.

Step 3: Basecoat teeth, fingernails, straps, pouches in Khemri Brown.

Step 4: Chainmail for metal.




Step 5: Devlan Mud wash over entire model.

Step 6: Stipple Mithril Silver on metal. Highlight teeth, fingernails, stitching with Bleached Bone.

Step 7: Watered down Solar Macharius Orange is applied to create rust effects. Gryphonne Sepia is applied to a few places where the rust is once the Macharius Orange is dry.

Step 8: Paint the eyes Blood Red. Seal the model and base to your preference.





And there you have it, one more Ork Boy for the gathering Waaaagh! Let me know how the tutorial worked for you.

~iPaint

The Joys of Batch Painting

So, it's everyone's favorite method of painting: batch painting. Hours upon hours of the same color applied to the same parts of the same models, until your entire batch is complete! What could be better? /sarcasm

While it is a bit of a drag, I've found the rewards of batch painting (and having a place to go to where other like-minded individuals gather to perform a similar task as yours) to be quite adequate, despite the mind-numbing process involved.

That said, I have been slowly working my way through, oh, 27 guardsmen with assorted weaponry in one batch. The nice thing is that I get to see the entire group progress as a whole and finish as a whole. The bad is that fewer models are finished at an earlier time. I have not decided if this is a quicker process yet, but at least it will be a consistent one.

I have posted a few updates over at Warseer, most notably a TOE for the Arnan 317th Mechanized Infantry Regiment. I am pleased with the way the army is shaping up, and cannot wait until my next batch of Chimeras arrive. They're the older kit with the accessory sprue included (GW be damned for dropping this wonderful frame of plastic goodness out of its newer kits), but that means 5 sets of wheels and track links to assemble. Not too bad considering I'm not very fond of the new GW kit coming in March. The slimmed side skirts are nice, but not a big enough draw to make me miss out on the accessory kit with the track armor, et al. Plus, the turret is a bit on the boxy side, something that made me decide to forgo the standard Leman Russ kit for my MBT's in favor of the newer, sleeker, and in my opinion, improved version that is the Leman Russ Demolisher kit. Versatility in a box? Yes please.

But that's five more Chimeras to add to the list of armor that needs to be painted to finish off the mechanized elements of my IG. They should keep me busy. I also need to figure out where I am going to get my Griffons from. I may go all out for some Forge World models, or I can try my hand at converting the new Basalisk kit and see where it takes me. Either way, I have plenty on the table as it is.

On a similar note, I'm finding it very difficult to keep thoughts of Goff Kans arriving on my paint table to be sold on eBay come March. I'm really tempted to try my hand out on some conversions and painting techniques, and I think the new Kans kit will be a perfect opportunity to try some techniques if I decide to pick up my Orks again.