Death Guard Legion, Post #1

Wow - has it really been this long since I have done a blog post?  I guess life has a funny way of keeping you busy.

So in the midst of everything, I am still painting, and have been doing a lot of it.

Today, I am going to be putting together a Warhammer 30k Pre-Heresy Death Guard painting Tutorial, as well as some thoughts on why I am building the units the way that I am.

To start, I assembled a 15 man Tactical squad.  Death Guard, as well as 30k as a whole, favor large infantry units.  This allows them to use the "Fury of the Legion" which is a bolter drill type ability that allows the squad to pour fire into a target.

Fury of the Legion: What is better than rapid firing with 15 bolters? Rapid firing with 15 bolters, TWICE! This special rule lets you shoot with bolters and bolt pistols twice if you did not move, deep strike, or disembark from a transport that turn. You can pour up to 60 shots from a 15 man squad! The only downside is you can not charge the same turn or shoot the next turn.

I plan to build a 30k legion around 2 of these units.  Get them dug in on an objective, and then dakka the crap out of any unit that gets close to it.  Standard tactical squads in 30k do not get access to special or heavy weapons, so to give a nasty surprise to any charging units, or heavier infantry units, I threw a combi-plasma on the Sergeant.  Now, being Death Guard, I should have popped a combi-flamer on this guy, instead.  For Death Guard, flamers can be equipped with Chem-munitions.

Chem-Munitions:
Flame weapons taken as part of a Death Guard force may be upgraded to special issue Chem-Munitions for their flame weapons (flamers, hand-flamers, heavy flamers, , combi-flamers of Flamestorm cannon) at no additional cost.

If this upgrade is taken, all eligible weapons in a unit (or on a chosen vehicle) are upgraded, and this should be noted on the army list.

Weapons with the Chem-Munitions gain both the Shred and Gets Hot! special rules.

Now, with that out of the way, let's get on with the tutorial.

Here is the final goal of what I am going for:

During assembly, I left off the shoulder pads and bolters to allow for ease of painting, as well as allowing me to prime them in black.

Main Bodies:

Primed Vallejo Polyurethane Acrylic Grey (73.601)
Base Coat GW Zendri Dust Air
Layer Coat GW Pallid Wyche Flesh (I thought I had the Air version, but didn't.  I mixed this down about 50% paint and 50% Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver 71.462. This provided a great mixture and it flowed through my airbrush really well).

Now, why the base and layer steps? The GW paints are made to work this way, and the undercoat will greatly affect the overall color of the model.  By basing Zendri Dust, and then layering Pallid Wyche Flesh, I am able to get a warmer color with the Wyche Flesh.

After this has fully dried, I mixed a 50/50 mix of GW Agrax Earthshade and Lahmian Medium to thin the wash, but by using the Lahmian Medium instead of water, I was able to preserve the qualities of the wash to gather in the cracks, for a light shade. This was done instead of Pin Washing, as I wanted to mottle the armor a bit.  This is a way to kind of weather the armor without having to paint it to a pristine level.  I will be doing no other weathering on the armor, and this gives a worn look.

Now I let this dry, and move onto the next step - retouching the Pallid Wyche Flesh, and then edge highlighting with GW White Scar.  Once that is done, Using GW Abaddon Black, I repainted all areas that were to have darker colors and metallics applied, plus the joint areas, which will stay black.

I applied GW Leadbelcher to the chest piping and other bits, Vallejo Game Color Beasty Brown to leather pouches, and GW Castellan green to the vent pods and a kneepad.  The Leadbelcher areas were given a wash of Nuln Oil, and the Beasty Brown and Castellan green were given a wash of Agrax Earthshade.

Castellan Green was reapplied to the green areas as a wide area highlight, followed up with an edge highlight of Straken Green.

Shoulder Pads

The shoulder pads were primed with Vallejo Black Polyurethane Acrylic Primer (73.602), and then shot with GW Castellan Green Air.

I painted the edges with Gehenna's Gold, and then applied a wash of Agrax Earthshade to the whole pad.

These will be highlighted once on the model.

Final Assembly and Details

The last steps include putting the shoulder pads on, and then doing the pad highlights.  The washed Castellan Green is reblocked with Castellan, and then a highlight of Straken Green.  The Gehenna's Gold is edge Highlighted with Gehenna's gold. The hands on the boltgun were painted just like the main body armor. Hihglights to the black on the boltgun case were done with GW Eshin Grey, and final edge highlight of GW Fenrisian Grey. I painted the eye lenses with GW Moot Green, and then applied a wash of GW BielTan Green.

Finished 5 model block!

Tomorrow, I will setup the bases, and post a tutorial for that as well!  Hope everyone enjoyed this tutorial!