Welcome to yet another look at my models from the Brotherhood of Fire. As with my previous post, Like an Inferno in their Hearts, I'll be providing a close look at each of the models in the squad, some in more detail than others. If you guys are very lucky, I might even give you a sneak peak at the next squad in the works.
So without further ado, may I introduce Eighth Squad of the Third Company; The Firestormers.
As you may have noticed, they are armed and marked as an Assault Squad, though don't have the Jump Packs that usually mark out such warriors. As with the First Squad, the Firestormers are siege specialists, adept at getting in to fortifications, filling them with fire and clearing what remains in the crucible if hand-to-hand combat. In those conditions, a bulky Jump Pack would only hinder the Emperor's work.
So here's a picture of them in front of their ride;
These guys get the suicide missions time and time again, yet some how manage to take down their targets and continue to wreak havoc until they can be reunited with other Imperial forces. Before I prattle on too much about the fluff behind the squad, lets take a look at the actual models.
Here's one of the squad's Flamer specialists. You may notice his Purity Seals, probably denoting his acts of bravery. You can also see the squad markings, with the Astartes Assault Cross and the Roman numeral 8 across the top. That said, as you'll see later on, there are a few squad members with slight variations on this theme.
Next, the squad's other Flamer specialist, displaying one of those variations in squad markings with a two-tone cross and numeral. Got to love the way Nuln Oil tones down other colours!This guy also has a nice honorific on his helmet. In general I haven't picked out the helmet details on the other models I've completed so far, but it felt right on this guy for some reason.
I tried to go with differing ethnicities for all 4 helmetless Marines in this squad (with the Sergeant being the 4th, but we'll look at him in a bit!) This was done partly just to give me a bit more variation amongst the squad, and partly because I just wanted to see how different I could make them with relatively few skin tones. I'm really chuffed with some of the details I got working, particularly the scar on the second guy's forehead and the expression on the last guy.
I also wanted to experiment with blond hair on his mohawk. In the past it has always come out way to yellow but this time, despite using a yellow base, I think it's worked pretty well. On top of the base I actually use a mid-tone flesh colour, in stripes up the sides and stippled on the top, followed by a highlight of bone, with the same techniques but trying to keep a little of the previous layer showing. Unfortunately the lighting has drowned out a lot of the texture I was able to paint in, but the pics still give a great idea of the colour I got. As you can see, he also got a big variant on the squad marking. There is a second Assault Cross on the other corner of the shoulder guard as well to keep it looking balanced.
The other guys in the squad are all fairly standard (with the exception of the studded Mk 5 "Heresy" pattern shoulder guard). I tried to stick to aggressive or duelling style poses, as befits the nature of the squad. Overall the effect is that the squad looks like it has a certain momentum, I feel, despite two or three models being very planted and static. Controlled aggression, rather than pure berserker fury I guess.
Finally, the Veteran Sergeant. Well, with a beard like that, he couldn't not get that 10 point upgrade, surely? Again, he has a slightly different squad marking. I actually did his first, then decided I didn't want to try to do 10 Assault Crosses with lines as fine as that, but figured that he'd probably have the most detailed of them all any way. He's also got a gold chased, grey Aquila on his right shoulder guard (one of the few bits used on models in this squad from the new tactical squad box) to help denote him as a Sergeant, along with the star decoration on his power pack. I've also tried to do scribble text on the Marksman's Honour bolt shell on his shoulder guard, much like I do on Purity Seals, but you can't really see it overly clearly either in the pics or in reality. A bit of a disappointment, but nothing I'm too concerned about, especially as most people's eyes are drawn to the lightning arcing across the power sword anyway. I'm really pleased with how well that came out. I purposefully kept the metal of the blade cleaner and brighter than the silver metallics on the rest of the squad to help it pop even more.
In game terms, these guys are usually a suicide squad. Being Fast Attack, they are rarely a scoring unit anyway, though drop podding in can more or less guarantee Linebreaker if they survive. Rerolling 'To Wound' rolls with the Flamers makes them great for thinning out horde units or really putting the pressure on smaller, more elite units (just don't ask them to deal with Terminators/equivalents!) I often Combat Squad the unit, as reprisal fire/assaults can often take out all 10 men otherwise; often because my opponents get irrationally angry that two flamers took out a key unit in his army and turns what's left around to make sure they are destroyed! One tactic I have pulled off a couple of times is running the second combat squad in front of the flamers after they have fired, giving them at least a 5+ cover save and shielding them from an assault. It does require some decent rolling, but keeping those Flamers alive for a second round is very worth it when it does.
Despite the Sergeant's Marksman's Honour, I usually Mastercraft the Power Sword. Ideally, the Assault Squad want to spend as much time as possible in assault, and as Mastercrafting pistols doesn't help there, it doesn't make much sense. It also means that he more often survives challenges, particularly against Powerfist wielding foes. Admittedly, if he doesn't kill them, he's all but guaranteed to die without an invulnerable save, but getting that reroll to hit often makes the difference. He's even taken out a few Warlords with it, showing just how important having the better initiative can be.
So that is it for the Firsestormers. Taking the photos and editing them showed up a couple of bits I've missed (comment below if you can spot them) but otherwise I am really happy with the way they've come together and the final result. I'm sure they are not the most optimised assault squad for tournament play or whatever, but I like them and they have certainly given more than one of my opponents pause for thought. Let me know what you think of them.
Matt
p.s. How about these guys for the next unit?
So without further ado, may I introduce Eighth Squad of the Third Company; The Firestormers.
As you may have noticed, they are armed and marked as an Assault Squad, though don't have the Jump Packs that usually mark out such warriors. As with the First Squad, the Firestormers are siege specialists, adept at getting in to fortifications, filling them with fire and clearing what remains in the crucible if hand-to-hand combat. In those conditions, a bulky Jump Pack would only hinder the Emperor's work.
So here's a picture of them in front of their ride;
These guys get the suicide missions time and time again, yet some how manage to take down their targets and continue to wreak havoc until they can be reunited with other Imperial forces. Before I prattle on too much about the fluff behind the squad, lets take a look at the actual models.
Here's one of the squad's Flamer specialists. You may notice his Purity Seals, probably denoting his acts of bravery. You can also see the squad markings, with the Astartes Assault Cross and the Roman numeral 8 across the top. That said, as you'll see later on, there are a few squad members with slight variations on this theme.
Next, the squad's other Flamer specialist, displaying one of those variations in squad markings with a two-tone cross and numeral. Got to love the way Nuln Oil tones down other colours!This guy also has a nice honorific on his helmet. In general I haven't picked out the helmet details on the other models I've completed so far, but it felt right on this guy for some reason.
I also wanted to experiment with blond hair on his mohawk. In the past it has always come out way to yellow but this time, despite using a yellow base, I think it's worked pretty well. On top of the base I actually use a mid-tone flesh colour, in stripes up the sides and stippled on the top, followed by a highlight of bone, with the same techniques but trying to keep a little of the previous layer showing. Unfortunately the lighting has drowned out a lot of the texture I was able to paint in, but the pics still give a great idea of the colour I got. As you can see, he also got a big variant on the squad marking. There is a second Assault Cross on the other corner of the shoulder guard as well to keep it looking balanced.
In game terms, these guys are usually a suicide squad. Being Fast Attack, they are rarely a scoring unit anyway, though drop podding in can more or less guarantee Linebreaker if they survive. Rerolling 'To Wound' rolls with the Flamers makes them great for thinning out horde units or really putting the pressure on smaller, more elite units (just don't ask them to deal with Terminators/equivalents!) I often Combat Squad the unit, as reprisal fire/assaults can often take out all 10 men otherwise; often because my opponents get irrationally angry that two flamers took out a key unit in his army and turns what's left around to make sure they are destroyed! One tactic I have pulled off a couple of times is running the second combat squad in front of the flamers after they have fired, giving them at least a 5+ cover save and shielding them from an assault. It does require some decent rolling, but keeping those Flamers alive for a second round is very worth it when it does.
Despite the Sergeant's Marksman's Honour, I usually Mastercraft the Power Sword. Ideally, the Assault Squad want to spend as much time as possible in assault, and as Mastercrafting pistols doesn't help there, it doesn't make much sense. It also means that he more often survives challenges, particularly against Powerfist wielding foes. Admittedly, if he doesn't kill them, he's all but guaranteed to die without an invulnerable save, but getting that reroll to hit often makes the difference. He's even taken out a few Warlords with it, showing just how important having the better initiative can be.
So that is it for the Firsestormers. Taking the photos and editing them showed up a couple of bits I've missed (comment below if you can spot them) but otherwise I am really happy with the way they've come together and the final result. I'm sure they are not the most optimised assault squad for tournament play or whatever, but I like them and they have certainly given more than one of my opponents pause for thought. Let me know what you think of them.
Matt
p.s. How about these guys for the next unit?
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