Armiger knights

The next models on the paint table were some bigger models, in the form of two new armigers. These were the newer kits, so.coupd be built as either Helverins or Warglaves, something I didn't actually realise when I brought the kit. So as you can imagine, the first order of the day were magnets. 

Following the trend with the original two Armigers I built, the colour combinations on the tops are reversed for each model. I did do a few alterations, such as the head and hood combinations, which are solid colours here but split on the originals, plus the leg colours are reversed on this pair, red on the inside compared to blue on the originals. There are a few other differences but on the whole, same but different.

Another nod to the original two are the colours of the actual bodies. It's not as easy to see on these two but they are different. The original two were gold and silver with these two being bronze (above) and copper (below). I had hoped for a bigger difference between these two, but it's ended up being quite subtle. Maybe I should have gone for something very different for one of these but I'm not sure what I could have done and I don't have other metallic colour to hand. 

Also note the icons on the front of the shoulders, all four have different symbols here. I will get all four out at some point for a side by side comparison.

All the options for both models were magnetised, meaning I can run these as either Helverins or Warglaves, although given my experience with Warglaves, I imagine I'll be running these as Helverins most days.

Armiger Helverin

Armiger Warglaves 

Armiger Warverin (or Helglave??)

Was hoping that we might get something like this for the new knight model but no, we got the other thing. I really wish we would get a proper combat Armiger, like the Chaos Karnivores. Alternatively, a proper anti-infantry with Gatling cannon (ala Stalkers) or one with a big flamer (like Krieg heavy weapons flamer or hellhound inferno cannon). I think that 4 options for Armigers would be great but not likely. 

 

New Sprues

 So, in amongst all the new models, we have these two beauties. Two sprues of Wargames Atlantic Death Fields Bulldogs. These have been purchased with the aim of building a third Kasrkin squad and a couple of Castellans with the left over parts.

This is to enable me to run three squads in the three chimera transports for the Mechanised assault detachment. 

Not really a lot else to say, just need to get them built, although I might end up taking them with me.on our trip this summer.

Emperors Disciples Blade Guard

 As I mentioned in the previous post, the Emperors Disciples Blade Guard were the easiest models to paint as i already had a full scheme already done. The original Intercessors, who are generally played as Sternguard, were painted up a long time ago and so it was just a case of transferring the paint scheme across with some minor alterations to the different arms and weapons. 

In total there were 8 models painted up, the six Blade Guard, one Lieutenant and one Captain. 

The full unit of 6 can also be split up in to two units of three. The first three guys all have gold shoulder pads with chapter insignia on their right. 

These guys are also armed up slightly differently with a couple of axes and the Sgt looking to punch someone.

The second lot of three are armed with swords and have their insignia in the normal places. 

Lastly we have the two officers. The Lieutenant was painted up to joint the Blade Guard, so was built with a relic weapon and shield. In this case the relic weapon is a shear and the shield is a round shield, both designed to make the model stand out from the rest of the Blade Guard. The other, the Captain, was built with a hammer and plasma pistol. The Captain, can be fielded with either the Blade Guard or the Sternguard, depending upon if Calgar is played or not.

The Captains hammer is still at a bit of an odd angle, however, it doesn’t look quite as bad as it did now the model is painted up. 

Test schemes

 So, recently I finally got around to priming up a number of units that I built over the winter period and I have painted up a couple of models as test pieces. I painted up one BA Sanguinary guard for my Eagle knights, two Subductors to join my Imperial Knights and a Blade Guard for the Emperors Disciples. 

First up is the Emperors Disciples Blade Guard. This was simple, as I was just following the scheme for the Disciples with some added bling. Overall it didn't require much thought. 

As you can see the existing marines are very similar to the new Bladeguard. 

Next were the Adeptus Arbites Subductor squads. Now this took a little more time to figure out and I ended up going back and changing a couple of aspects that I didn't like. 

As you can no doubt see, there are a couple of differences between the two, other that the reversal of the red/blue colour scheme. The main changes are all to the shield, with only a one or two there changes.

The main change to the shield is the change in colour scheme. The shields were originally red and blue, as shown on the right model, with the original colours reversed for the left model. However, I thought that the shields just looked a little too bright and cartoony. I kept the trim but blocked out the centre portions of the shield in black which makes the brass and trim really stand out. As the shield is a big part of the models, it also dulls it down slightly and makes the whole model feel less cartoony and gaudy. It also ties in the shield nicely to the rest of the model. The second change was to the 'glass' panels. I started painting the first one blue but then remembered my contrast paints and went with the Aethermatic blue. I applied this to the visors as well and I think it works really well to give a better representation of glass. There were some other minor changes to the back of the shield as well, blocking out some of the coloured areas in black similar to the fronts.

Its hard to see, but there were also some additional silver areas painted on the body, just to highlight some of the details that were lost when the whole thing was painted brass. 

Lastly we have the Eagle Knights Sanguinary Guard. Now, these were a bit more work and quite a bit of trial and error, although as it worked out, not much of the error part. The main colours of the chapter are orange and black, so I wanted to keep them. I know that sanguinary guard are usually gold or other similarly bright colours but unwanted mine to be dark, almost foreboding.

When I started I didn't have much of a plan for, except that the wings would be white alongside the usual scrolls and skulls. I wanted there to be a gold trim but not a main colour and there had to be orange, including at least one shoulder pad where possible. 

In the end it worked out looking very nice. The orange trim around the cloak was a later addition, as the cloak and armour blended in together before hand. 

The addition of the skull mask mirrors the blade guard and many other characters within the force, showing these as elite warriors of the Knights.

So there you have it, 4 test models complete, just 32 more models to paint and these are done.b