James WRR’s Rank & File 2: Dread Red Treads

Tarantus revved the bike as it crested the rise. The Black Shadow’s spiked wheels were practically choked up with a thick mixture of blood, oil and sand. With a flick of his finger, he commanded the telescope built into his helmet to zoom in on the valley below. His suit’s Machine Spirit protested at the sight, with runes of warning blaring and flashing as Tarantus trained his mechanical eyes on the chaotic forms below. 

The last survivors of the Imperial Army were desperately barricading now. Artillery was frustratingly futile as the Daemons below advanced upon the line. But, still, cannon fire rang out and lasguns painted the surrounding valley walls a bright, fluorescent red. Trenches were being overrun now, with gore-slicked butchers from beyond the stars throwing themselves into the pits to slaughter their defenders. 

Tarantus sighed. Another front lost due to all-too-human incompetence. Thankfully, salvation was soon to arrive. Rhino APCs were speeding towards his forward location as he watched the carnage unfold. Their cargo: squads of his battle brothers in grey. There would be no human victory today, but those who had long-ago left their humanity behind still had surprise on their side.

Surprise, and superior fire power.

Revered Brother Bethor stepped up alongside Tarantus’s bike. The Techmarine could feel each heavy footstep of the Dreadnought, could hear the internal pistons pumping like muscle, feel the poisonous heat radiating from the plasma cannon it carried.

“THEN THE DAY IS LOST.” Bethor asked across secure comms channels, battling the noise of the battle below and the distortion caused by the presence of Warp entities.

“Not yet, big brother.” Tarantus replied. “There is still target practice to be had.”

“HELLFIRE WILL BE GREETED WITH HELLFIRE.” 

“Fire when ready, Brother Bethor.”

With a deep vibration that felt like it came up from the earth itself, then a high-pressure squeal and, finally, a deafening thunder, Bethor fired the plasma cannon. A section of trench below was engulfed in sun-hot plasma. Smoking bodies of both Imperial soldiers and chaotic spawn alike flew through the air. 

“Clear the trenches.” Tarantus commanded as Bethor continued to fire on the front line of defenders. “Oooh, look at that one fly!”

________________________

Greetings, Imperial subjects.

It’s February, the shortest month. And with a bunch of birthday celebrations to organise, it’s even shorter.

And so, like during my previous challenge, I thought it wise to paint as few models this month as possible. And so, I present to you the most mechanised detachment of my Ordo Malleus army.

Tarantus and his mechanised escort

Techmarine Tarantus came to me by chance, after randomly spotting an eBay auction while out to a dinner a few months ago. I knew I needed a Techmarine to unlock vehicles in my army and finding this fellow with his big wrench and his absolutely radical bike was a real blessing. I had to excuse myself from my noodles as I smashed down some bids.

It is funny how these armies come together. You start to gather a lot of interesting memories and feelings as you collect each individual piece — layering on top of the memories and feelings already imparted onto the metal by previous owners. Each model eventually become a little artefact in its own right, and the armies made up of them become playable shrines.

I’d never intended to include a bike in this army, but I’m glad I have as I just love the model. There’s something really nice about the chunky, near-single-piece design. It’s detailed, but not overly engineered like modern plastics. 

In a bit of a break from my original scheme, I decided to paint this mount in a nice, rich equivalent to British Racing Green, mirroring that of my dad’s old Triumph from many moons ago. A layer of dark green Contrast paint over some stark highlights did the job nicely. Of course, it certainly stands out in the middle of the army, but I’m happy with how it turned out. Maybe it’s non-regulation — something the Techmarine just bought off the lot, second-hand, with his own credits.

The Rhino has been painted in a colour scheme much more aligned to the squad that rides in it. Unlike my previous Rogue Trader Rhino, I didn’t have to do any fancy effects to hide flaws and wrinkles. No, this model came to me absolutely perfect, already spray painted silver and all! Again, I think fate must have been playing a hand here. A few checks, flames, icons and angry screeds later and this magnificent vehicle was ready to hit the battlefield.

The Dreadnought, Brother Bethor, was a gift from a friend of a friend of mine who happened to be clearing out a humongous old collection of his own at just the right time. I couldn’t be more grateful to him for this (and the other vehicles and characters he sent over), and can only hope that this paint job does it justice.

The kitbashing of more modern weapons with the stocky “Eddy” type Dread body was a choice of this previous owner. While they might not be the original pieces, I think they look great, giving the model a real timeless silhouette. And the conversion is practically flawless, anyway, so I’m certainly not complaining.

In terms of painting, there’s not much more to add to my January post. The metallic base of the armour was treated with a series of progressively brighter drybrush passes, before getting highlighted for a real pop. Details like checks and flames are proving to be my favourite part of the process, though I must admit I’m running low on horrible slogans to slap on things already. I’ll need to flick through some punk comics to get more inspiration.

I’m quite happy with how the plasma glow came out on the dread, though the vibrant Pro Acryl Bright Green is a colour I certainly didn’t expect to use in this project. I’ll probably put these lovely, electric paints to use in future, less-grimdark projects. Maybe some Second Edition Space Marine stuff? I suppose we’ll see where inspiration strikes.

And that’s about it! Another month in the bag and more painted models in the growing Rogue Trader collection. I don’t think it’ll be too long before I can actually play a reasonable game with these models. I supposed I’d better started thinking up some campaign ideas…

Brother Bethor faces off against the corrupted Dreadnought Neadalus 

But, before any dice are rolled, there’s still more work to be done. We’re charging forth to the painting table again, shaking up silver paint for the next squad.

_______________________________

Army list as of February

Techmarine Tarantus
Techmarine
Basic equipment
Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle
97 points

Brother Bethor
Deredeo Dreadnought
Missile Launcher, Heavy Plasma Gun
Standard Sensor Package, 2 Power Fields, Power Field Synchroniser
270 points

Squad Heliod
Tactical Squad
Sergeant with Bioscanner and Power Glove
1 Marine with Missile Launcher
1 Marine with Flamer
275 points

Bright Sword
Rhino APC with Techmarine Pilot, assigned to Squad Heliod
2 Bolt Guns
387 points

Pokrzyw's Sisters of Battle - Month 3 - Rank & File 3 - Heavy support OWAC VIII (280pts)

 "With its twin heavy flamers, a single Immolator can wreak untold destruction upon the battlefields of the 41st millenium, cutting a flaming swathe of carnage through the enemies of Adepta Sororitas"

Plans for March:

I started month painting transports for already prepared two squads of sisters. I couldn't buy it, but my friend gave me a birthday gift - two printed rhinos/immolators. It triggered me to start month from vehicles not touching planned infantry.

Realization:

Although militia received basing and zenithal basecoat, I haven't touch them with brush. Shame, but tomorrow I would start painting.

Vehicles were glued and primed. Painting goes quite fast - drybrush, base colours and a drop of wash.

Final Galery:

Rhinos could be nice shield for expanding Sisters of Battle

Immolators are more powerful.

Unfortunately I have not gunners..

View from above

Points:

Two immolators (2* 140),  summary 280 pts

Optionally can be used as a rhinos (2*50).

Plans for April:

Militia!!  I feel that these guys will bring me a lot of fun.

George's Bad Mooz - Rank & File Month 3

Despite Big Gobb's record of humiliating defeats, his call to WAAARGH was growing stronger.

He threw teeth at any problem and hired guns were joined by more boyz well up for a fight.

And he had his entourage. A few loyal nobz who had survived his doomed campaigns and stuck by him and now they were ready for battle. Sporting the brightest power armour and uniforms teeth could buy, they looked the part. And in Big Gobb's Big Mob, that’s what really matters.

That was great fun!

I had thrown myself into a painting frenzy in the first couple of months to buy myself some more time for character models, and it was well worth it!

The five nobz are a selection of Rogue Trader Space orks and Knightmare Miniatures. All of them were great to paint and I really enjoyed adding some freehand individual flourishes.

Also, I finally Painted the Rogue Trader Orc in Power Armour that Jaako, a fellow OWAC challenger sent me in 2023. Genuinely one of the most fun figures I've ever painted! Thanks Jaako!

I didn’t manage any banners – I’ll do some soon, I promise! But otherwise I’m proud as punch of these fellas and really enjoyed painting them. They are joined by 5 more boyz, swarming to join the WAAARGH!

Now on to next month!

Points:

Warboss's Retinue

-4 x Big Bosses: 100 points

-4 x Power Armour: 24 points

-2 x Power Gloves: 30

-1 x Heavy Plasma Gun: 20 points

-1 x Drill Boss: 20 points

-5 x Boyz: 50 Points

-1 x Heavy Plasma Gun: 75 points

Total: 301 Points

Proper oldhammer git! Thanks Jaako!

Big Nobz luv big guns!

Awesome mini from Knightmare Miniatures

"You sayin' you're flasher than me?!"

Another awesome Knightmare Miniature

Big Gobb's Retinue!

Boyz Boyz Boyz!

Rank & File Month 3!

Big Gobb's Big Mob!

Mustafa’s Beakies: Month III, rank and file.

Can’t have a space marine without space marines.

This is the second squad of beakies plus rhino.

Tactical Squad : 300pts

Krak Grenades : 30pts

Veteran Sergeant: 5pts

Chainsword :  2pts

Plasma Pistol : 5pts

Missile Launcher : 45pts

Meltagun : 8pts (ignore the fact that it looks like a las cannon!)

Rhino : 50pts

Total : 445pts

That’s basically the meat and bones of a space marine army right there so the rest will be the icing on the cake. I reckon a captain and heavy ordnance will get them fighting fit :)

James WRR’s Rank & File 2: Highway to Hell

Phew. By some mad miracle, I actually pulled through this month. There were times at which the Field of Bones loomed up too close for comfort. But, nope, not this time. I’ve completed my quota for March (in fact, technically over-achieved), and marched ever closer to completing my heavy metal army of Slaaneshi freaks.

The reason for my panic this month was one simple factor: edge highlighting. For some reason, I decided a colour scheme that required at least four layers of ever-fine lines on almost every square millimetre of model was a good idea for a timed challenge.

While edge highlighting these guys may have been an absolute pain, I’m really pleased with how they’re coming out. The wacky shapes of the Rogue Trader sculpts really come alive when you draw the detail out.

But which models received this treatment in March? Well, the heart and soul of any Space Marine army, of course! The humble Tactical Squad and their Dedicated Transport.

Introducing Sgt. Franciscus Fereter and his squad of degenerate renegade super soldiers.

Now, you’ll probably recognise Sgt. Fereter and his Divine-inspired make-up from my first Rank & File month. He was just strutting ahead, as all good leaders do, his five remaining squad members taking their leisurely time to arrive.

 

I love that in Realm of Chaos, all squads dedicated to a specific Chaos God are organised in that deity’s holy number. It makes thematic sense and, because I’d chosen followers of Slaanesh this time around, cuts down on the amount of models that needed collecting and painting for a legal squad… I feel for all Tzeentch enthusiasts and their nine-model units.

 

There’s not all that much to write this month about process, apart from my major realisation that I just don’t get along with batch painting.

I initially started painting all five marines at once, trying to complete all the pink trim first, then the black panels, then the details across all five models. While this was a great way of getting colours down in a uniform manner, seeing such slow progress really drained my passion and energy for the project.

I felt these (now) rare, unique models deserved their own special treatment in the end. And so, once I had a good deal of the black and pink down, I started working on each individually. This way, I could complete almost a marine a day, and started lining up these little war-dollies on my shelf. That little hit of dopamine and pride was enough to keep me pushing through!

 

It was also a bit of a head-scratcher figuring out which of the Renegade sculpts I’d collected should form the Tactical Squad. You’ll note one of them (the fellow with the tall horns and skull-shaped mask) is very clearly a Khorne model. But a little lick of pink paint later and he’s just a particularly-angry looking Slaaneshi marine.

I particularly love the guy with the glowing green Chaos star and gas-mask-like helmet. I understand this is one of the more sought-after Renegade sculpts, and I can see why. He’s quite “God-agnostic” and brutal looking in a way that makes him stand out from his more cartoonish brothers. So, of course, I finished him first.

We also can’t forget the Rhino! This metal box proved a real challenge to get my hands on. Facebook trading groups had dried up and eBay prices for even dilapidated copies were a bit ridiculous. 

At one point, I did consider just caving and buying a new, modern Horus Heresy Deimos Rhino and sticking some green stuff tubes all over it. But no, I persisted with my eBay scouring and eventually scored a near-complete Rhino, with a slightly later Chaos upgrade kit attached, for a reasonable price.

Now, nothing’s perfect (no matter how much Slaanesh’s followers may wish it to be) and I quickly noticed this Rhino had been through many paintjobs in its long life.

I didn’t really have the time to strip the damn thing down to bare plastic, and so I just decided to work around the blobby paint and obscured details as best I could. There are a couple quirks about this model, sure, but I think the paintjob goes a long way to camouflaging them. 

I tried painting a sort of wobbly, rippling pattern across the main armour panels, along the raised lumps and bumps of over-painted areas. These shapes could be interpreted as ripples in the armour, biomechanical veins or even crackling energy (maybe my Emperor’s Children bought this Rhino secondhand off the Night Lords).

It ain’t perfect, but hey, now it’s my MK.1 Rhino.

And so, with the Tactical Squad and their ride added to the list, my Emperor’s Children collection suddenly look like a real army. After a little bit of revision, here’s where my list is standing at the end of March:
 

Army list (as of March)

Caligulus the Hierophant
Chaplain on Steed of Slaanesh
Minor Hero, Basic Equipment
Attributes: Furry
Chaos Gift: Steed of Slaanesh, itself with Vividly Coloured Skin and Poisonous Bite
60

Dio Saevus
 
Possessee, host of a Daemonette

Minor Hero, Standard Equipment

Attributes: Tentacles, Horns, Bestial Face, Powerful Legs, Agility, Massive Intellect

280

Neadalus Reborn

Chaos Dreadnought
Heavy Plasma Gun, Claw 

150

6 Daemonettes

Attributes: Tentacles, Bestial Face, Prehensile Tails, Razor-Sharp Claws, Vividly Coloured Skin, Bulbous Eyes
600
 
Squad Fereter
Tactical Squad

Standard Equipment, 1 Meltagun, Scare Gas Grenades
Attributes: Sergeant Franciscus Fereter has Razor-Sharp Claw, Bulbous Eyes
164

Incubus
Rhino
370

Total points
1,642

Oh, before I go and rest my weary eyes and RSI-addled hands, I wanted to shout out John R and thank him for his kind gift of a classic Space Dwarf. Here he is meeting his new friends. I’m sure he’ll be fine and remain completely uncorrupted...

Mustafa’s Beakies: Month 1, rank and file

I figured I’d get the ball rolling with the bread and butter of the Imperium’s fighting force, the ever humble space marine :)

Tactical Squad : 300pts

Krak Grenades : 30pts

Veteran Sergeant: 5pts

Chainsword :  2pts

Plasma Pistol : 5pts

Missile Launcher : 45pts

Meltagun : 8pts (ignore the fact that it looks like a las cannon!)

Rhino : 50pts

Total : 445pts

I wanted something I could paint quickly and easily so I went with a simple two colour paint scheme. I chose off white as the primary colour as it lends itself well to Army Painter Quickshades, and I prefer shading to highlighting. As per usual I went with my battleworn style of painting.

Also, I got a 3D printer for Christmas so I’ll be using that for the tanks, and weathering/stippling is a good way of hiding print lines.

I had pre heresy Death Guard in mind when I painted them, but then Laurent put the idea of a Dark Angel successor chapter in my head!!! So for now, let’s just say their loyalty is up for debate ;)