9th Necromundan "Death Blades"

Mat

Member
So before there were Cadians and Catachanians and Mordians and Tallarns there was a boxed set for IG (RTB07).
On the front cover, and in White Dwarf and the Rogue Trader compendium were the Death Blades, a hive gang recruited into the 9th Necromundan.
Those were the colours that I adopted for my models back in the day.
Since then they have been painted two shades of green, and khaki and red as they changed from regiment to regiment.

But I'm rediscovering my old school roots again, so they are being re painted (again) back as the Death Blades.

My hobby time is limited, so there may be some slow updates.

So here is the first cab off the rank.

EDIT. Note that I deleted the old photo of the command squad from my photo bucket album for some reason. The image below is the squad after being repainted about a year later.
18A7F5CE-7598-426C-9F74-70D136E7AD2D_zpse5tsghp8.jpg

F Company Captain "Dirty Shank" Di'Anno and command section.
Di'Anno was a ruthless gang leader prior to his induction into the guard, and his natural leadership abilities and level head made him an obvious choice for a company commander. His reputation for ending blood feuds quickly ensured that no one challenged his authority as he took command of F Company. Unusually, Di'Anno wears the standard uniform for a captain, complete with officers hat. This is no doubt due to the recent attachment of fresh commissariat officers to the regiment after the deaths of the previous appointments.

I have chosen to model the whole command section with carapace breast plates, to ensure that they looked the part.
From left to right are medic/trooper, Di'Anno lascannon team and orderly.
The banner is from a dark elf set. It is still wip, and will be added to over time (but passes muster at this stage).
The lascannon was modified when these guys were traitors (4th or 5th edition) to make the barrel muzzle look more lascannony. The second model on the lascannon base is a rough rider lieutenant torso on a commanders legs.
Di'Anno has cadian arms, mainly so that I could paint the companly insignia on him somewhere. The medic has a catachan sword that I whittled down a bit. Las pistols are standard issue rtb07.

I plan to go back and add some more detail at a later stage, so things such as kill and unit markings and pennants will be present on the army.

I have tried to give them a pale flesh colour to reflect their hive origins. It also contrasts well with the dark palette that I went with.

I am basing this army on resin bases (from dragonforge http://dragonforge.com/Painting%20servi ... _earth.htm) to represent some sort of hive world ash plain or wasteland. I have painted the bases in a few shades of grey, with a final dry brush of under hive ash.
The grass is from the dead tuft kit from citadel.

I plan to do up around 2000 points worth of men, abhumans, mutants and support weapons. At this stage I'm planning for it to be all infantry, with the exception of some thudd guns, rapiers, a land speeder and a jet bike.

I hope you can see through my ordinary photo-taking ability to the models within.
 

tancrede

Member
Very cool to see those old Imperial troopers, and the scheme is really good.
Hope to see more stuff soon, as there is too few 40k/RT goodness here ! ;)
 

Orjetax

Member
tancrede":2ks5vcfw said:
Hope to see more stuff soon, as there is too few 40k/RT goodness here ! ;)

Agreed! And there's definitely not an abundance of imperial army/guard around here either.

Like these a lot.
 
Lovely stuff there, they will make for a great looking force. The commander really looks the part - you captured a nice competent German commander circa WWII feel with him. Banner looks great also.

I have done some similar work recently on a Necromundan force, The 1989th "The Death Ferrets" if you want to see some parallel evolution:

http://theottovonbismark.wordpress....perial-guard-project-more-pictures-of-1989th/

I have sculpt and cast up Ogryn heads to match with the infantry which I would be happy to supply you with if you want.

What sort of pool of models do you have? What are you missing etc.
 

Mat

Member
Thanks guys. i will try to keep the pictures coming.
Hobby time is a bit hard to find at the moment.
theottovonbismark":30lcafkc said:
Lovely stuff there, they will make for a great looking force. The commander really looks the part - you captured a nice competent German commander circa WWII feel with him. Banner looks great also.

I have done some similar work recently on a Necromundan force, The 1989th "The Death Ferrets" if you want to see some parallel evolution:

http://theottovonbismark.wordpress....perial-guard-project-more-pictures-of-1989th/

I have sculpt and cast up Ogryn heads to match with the infantry which I would be happy to supply you with if you want.

What sort of pool of models do you have? What are you missing etc.
Thanks Sean. I had discovered your blog before. It is inspiring.

Units that I have.
Command squad (already shown)
Lord Commissar (2nd ed I think)
Priest (2nd or 3rd edition)
Sanctioned Psyker (2nd edition)

6 Olley Ogryns (I will keep the heads as-is, but thanks for the generous offer).
6 ratlings (2nd edition)
6 psykers with a commissar overseer (rt)
One penal legion trooper who will be sly marbo
One tech priest enginseer (rt) with a spanking pair of leather boots and 4 servitors (2nd ed)

One platoon command squad with Lt, 2grenade launchers and 2 regulars (all rt)
Two infantry squads made from metal and plastic (rt)
Ten adeptus arbites to count as veterans with carapace and shotguns (2nd edition)
30 plastic beastmen (current range) led by a commissar (2nd edition valhallan officer conversion)

5 rough riders (rt)

3 thudd guns with 9 rtb07 crew
3 rapiers with 6 rtb07 crew
9 lascannon teams (including 1 in the company command section, 2 in the infantry squads and 6 in two heavy weapon squads)

A land speeder (rt)
A jetbike (rt)
An inquisiton in terminator armour (2nd edition?)
A couple of assassins (2nd edition ones, a vindicare and a polymorphine one)

I think that's pretty much it.

Models I need to get my hands on:
3 metal sergeants with breastplates and chainswords (like the lascannon guy above)
9 rtb07 or metal troopers for a veteran squad. I want to go to town with detail on these guys, gang symbols, unit markings, lasgun pennants, camo stripes, just like the guys in the foreground of the death blades painting.
An astropath.
A jetbike commander.
5 horses. Not sure what to do here. I would like something 40k looking, but would ideally like to stick to horses (rather than cold ones for example) if possible.
It would be nice to get the psyker squad up to 9 and the ratlings up to 10 but that's low priority really.

So plenty to paint, and a bit to source yet. Monies are a bit scarce so procurement is on hold at the moment.
 

cheetor

Member
Thats a good looking Command Section. Bright without being gaudy, the sort of vague nod to realism that I enjoy in my sci-fi stuff.
 

Mat

Member
Thanks cheetor. I'm trying to go for the old colour scheme, but with a dash of realism thrown in, which tends to make them slightly muted and dark, with some nice contrasts thrown in.

I checked out your blog too. Love it. :grin:
 
Mat":3kkszszi said:
Thanks guys. i will try to keep the pictures coming.
Hobby time is a bit hard to find at the moment.
theottovonbismark":3kkszszi said:
Lovely stuff there, they will make for a great looking force. The commander really looks the part - you captured a nice competent German commander circa WWII feel with him. Banner looks great also.

I have done some similar work recently on a Necromundan force, The 1989th "The Death Ferrets" if you want to see some parallel evolution:

http://theottovonbismark.wordpress....perial-guard-project-more-pictures-of-1989th/

I have sculpt and cast up Ogryn heads to match with the infantry which I would be happy to supply you with if you want.

What sort of pool of models do you have? What are you missing etc.
Thanks Sean. I had discovered your blog before. It is inspiring.

Units that I have.
Command squad (already shown)
Lord Commissar (2nd ed I think)
Priest (2nd or 3rd edition)
Sanctioned Psyker (2nd edition)

6 Olley Ogryns (I will keep the heads as-is, but thanks for the generous offer).
6 ratlings (2nd edition)
6 psykers with a commissar overseer (rt)
One penal legion trooper who will be sly marbo
One tech priest enginseer (rt) with a spanking pair of leather boots and 4 servitors (2nd ed)

One platoon command squad with Lt, 2grenade launchers and 2 regulars (all rt)
Two infantry squads made from metal and plastic (rt)
Ten adeptus arbites to count as veterans with carapace and shotguns (2nd edition)
30 plastic beastmen (current range) led by a commissar (2nd edition valhallan officer conversion)

5 rough riders (rt)

3 thudd guns with 9 rtb07 crew
3 rapiers with 6 rtb07 crew
9 lascannon teams (including 1 in the company command section, 2 in the infantry squads and 6 in two heavy weapon squads)

A land speeder (rt)
A jetbike (rt)
An inquisiton in terminator armour (2nd edition?)
A couple of assassins (2nd edition ones, a vindicare and a polymorphine one)

I think that's pretty much it.

Models I need to get my hands on:
3 metal sergeants with breastplates and chainswords (like the lascannon guy above)
9 rtb07 or metal troopers for a veteran squad. I want to go to town with detail on these guys, gang symbols, unit markings, lasgun pennants, camo stripes, just like the guys in the foreground of the death blades painting.
An astropath.
A jetbike commander.
5 horses. Not sure what to do here. I would like something 40k looking, but would ideally like to stick to horses (rather than cold ones for example) if possible.
It would be nice to get the psyker squad up to 9 and the ratlings up to 10 but that's low priority really.

So plenty to paint, and a bit to source yet. Monies are a bit scarce so procurement is on hold at the moment.

Hey Matt,

You have a nice collection of models in there including an enviable artillery and support section. Are your Ogryns the old Olley ones or the New ones http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/328012.page? Both ranges are great.

For the 5 horsies you mention you know all the us cool Necromundans are using Servosteeds 8-) :

img_7394.jpg



Simply get an old Skelington horse and throw on as many small watch components and green stuff as necessary. This article gives good pictures of the what the construction looks like pre-painting:

http://theottovonbismark.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/wip-rough-rider-sergeant-on-servosteed/

Can't really help you with the Astorpath or the Jetbike commander. My advice is to get what you have painted and not to get hung up on finding the 3 metal sargents and metal guardsmen especially if funds are an issue right now.

I will help to motivate you by promising to help you out in finishing off your force, chances are I will end up with spares and additional castings of bits and bobs needed.
 

Asslessman

Member
Full support here too ! and what's not to like about a motorcylcle looking undead robotic horse with a pelvis powered twin-bolter? 8-)

I may have a few IG if you fail to catch'em all in the end.
 

VanLoon

Member
Great models Mat - they look great on those bases too.

theottovonbismark; that Servosteed is awesome! Very Blanche like 8-)
 

Mat

Member
theottovonbismark":31oztqge said:
You have a nice collection of models in there including an enviable artillery and support section. Are your Ogryns the old Olley ones or the New ones http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/328012.page? Both ranges are great.
The Ogryns are the Bob Olley ones. I really like them, they have so much character. His models are always a pleasure to paint.

theottovonbismark":31oztqge said:
For the 5 horsies you mention you know all the us cool Necromundans are using Servosteeds
That's not a bad option at all. I have some skeleton horses lying around I think. But they might be lined up for another job (I'm flying down to my parents place in a week or so. I'm hoping that I can find The Nightmare Legion packed away in storage in the shearing shed. If I do then the skeleton horses will be recruited into their ranks.
Overall I'm going for a force that looks similar to the B&W drawing in the compendium, "The Pacification of Flotis III" I think it is. So if I can get some horses without barding that don't have over the top flowing manes then that is what I'll go with.
Clockwork skeletons are a good idea though, I'll have a think about it for a little while.

theottovonbismark":31oztqge said:
Can't really help you with the Astorpath or the Jetbike commander. My advice is to get what you have painted and not to get hung up on finding the 3 metal sargents and metal guardsmen especially if funds are an issue right now.

I will help to motivate you by promising to help you out in finishing off your force, chances are I will end up with spares and additional castings of bits and bobs needed.
Cheers mate! I'll try to keep things ticking over. I have some models painted that I haven't posted yet, so at least some of them will be making an appearance!
As for the models I need, I'm pretty philosophical about it. Really I have enough to keep me going for ages. Plenty of time for some cool old high command officers to fall into my lap!
Asslessman":31oztqge said:
Full support here too ! and what's not to like about a motorcylcle looking undead robotic horse with a pelvis powered twin-bolter? 8-)

I may have a few IG if you fail to catch'em all in the end.
Cheers mate. I agree on the horsies too. There should be more pelvis weaponry in 40k, because it is nowhere near phallic enough as it is (cue image of something phallic in 40k...).

VanLoon":31oztqge said:
Great models Mat - they look great on those bases too.

theottovonbismark; that Servosteed is awesome! Very Blanche like 8-)
Cheers mate. The bases were a bit of an investment, but I wanted them to look like some sort of hive world ash wasteland. Really I could have achieved something similar with sand and some bits and bobs, but they are pretty quick to prep and paint, and look reasonable with a minimum of fuss.

In other news I've posted pics of my ratlings in my blog, so I will do a quick cut and paste job here too.

074CB34B-9FEF-4809-BC28-04C6FE09BEBB-183-00000012398CA3C0_zps131e5afc.jpg

Like the 9th Necromundan, the 4th Dunbarian Ratling Regiment was bound for the escalating war in the Isa sub-cluster before being intersected en-route by an Inquisitorial delegation. The Inquisitor requisitioned a platoon of ratlings for his own use before ordering the rest of the regiment onward.
Since that time "Harbo's Headshots", as they came to be known, have proven to be a mixed blessing for the other troops indoctrinated into the Inquisitors service.
Whilst they are reasonably proficient snipers, the Headshots cause mayhem, dissention and disorder within the ranks when not active on mission. The theft of equipment, implementation of gambling rings, antagonism of different abhuman and human factions and blatant disregard for authority, other than the Inquisitor himself, leaves them on shaky ground at best, and firmly in the sights of dangerous men such as Di'Anno at worst.
If it weren't for the fact that the inquisitor clearly went out of his way to recruit the headshots then they would have long since suffered a friendly fire "accident" like the former commissariat officers attached to the 9th Necromundan.
Harbo himself is clearly the ringleader, with his circles of organised crime present throughout the Inquisitorial forces. His discinctive red bandanna is said to be a taunt to his enemies within the "friendly" forces he serves alongside, daring them to take an easy shot at him. However based on the modus operandi of certain Death Blade members, he is much more likely to get a dirty shank in the back when the time is right.

I bought these ratling models second hand, and quickly painted them up in the same colours as the Death Blades. While not part of the regiment, I wanted the army as a whole to look cohesive so was keen to give them the same colouring as the rest of the regiment. It is a little difficult to see in the poor quality photo that I took, but the Headshots are armed with black weapons, like my Deach Blades, with the rest of the model being grey. They don't wear any distinct flak armour as such, so I didn't paint any black on the bodies. I think this looks fine, as it means that they blend into the grey bases better, which is precisely how I imagine them operating. To take this a step further I added extra grass to their bases, to help portray that they are deployed in cover.
Their leader has a red bandana. I wanted the unit to have some red on it, even if it is only a little bit, as the bulk of the army will be grey and black, with just a dash of red (well in most cases anyway). While wearing a red bandana might be a bit suicidal for a sniper, I just went with it anyway and created a little bit of backstory for it.

Overall I'm quite happy with how Harbo and his Headshots turned out. They look gritty and battleworn, like all future space hobbit snipers should.
 
Count Von Bruno":1kkpoufn said:
The servo steed is rocking Mat, I would like to see it face off against an RT Chaos Dread with it's pelvic weapon :shock:

Servosteed was me CBV, I am on a mission to popularize the use of clockwork, skelington, pelvic-stormbolter, servo-steeds among the Necromundan aristocracy. Sorry I didn't mean to hijack your thread with disinformation Mat! Next one I make is going to have a plasma gun in it's nether regions. ;)

Your bases are really nice Mat, definately better than mine. :)
 
theottovonbismark":3iqooipz said:
Count Von Bruno":3iqooipz said:
The servo steed is rocking Mat, I would like to see it face off against an RT Chaos Dread with it's pelvic weapon :shock:

Servosteed was me CBV, I am on a mission to popularize the use of clockwork, skelington, pelvic-stormbolter, servo-steeds among the Necromundan aristocracy. Sorry I didn't mean to hijack your thread with disinformation Mat! Next one I make is going to have a plasma gun in it's nether regions. ;)

Ah, duuurrr-I'm losing it recently :|
 

Mat

Member
Ok its time to get this old thread up and running. It's been a year now, and I've mainly been lurking here in that time. I've also been distracted by things like having babies, moving house a couple of times, changing jobs and rediscovering my love of epic.

I also seem to have deleted the photo out of photobucket that was linked to in the first post. I'm not sure, but I suspect the reason for this is that I am in the process of re-doing my command squad, so probably thought that I didn't need it any more.
Anyway enough of all that. Here are some pictures of my models that I have re-painted, re-based or both.

2nd (Red) Platoon. Tactical.
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CB7AF9D0-26C6-4EB4-89EE-B2A42B33B4BE_zpsiqrv8v9u.jpg

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3rd (Blue) Platoon. Support.
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39DD3186-E653-43C8-B063-30C554D107F9_zpsss2jhnx9.jpg

Originally these were going to be in red platoon, I changed my mind half way through. Unit insignia will have to be updated at some stage. Until then they are former red platoon members who have recently been transferred to blue to make up for battlefield losses.

Ogryns.
18F63A61-44B1-4B05-86D5-695685A52D83_zpsa5smy10h.jpg

These guys are the Bob Olley ogryns from 1st edition.

Psykers.
21860B82-E7D5-4A71-9900-CB710A7DB44A_zpsjdbii3w6.jpg

Another old rogue trader era squad. I can use them as a battle squad or as individual psykers.

Beastmen. These are the current plastic range. They honour the God-Emperor with their glorious deaths.
2A5A23E3-548A-449B-A46C-0B815459546E_zpsugp5ymxf.jpg

ED62BF60-DACA-4639-B20C-BAE1236EEB3A_zpsfwudigvy.jpg

EEA52940-F2F5-4528-AE2E-A53C1D80C747_zpsxgejshax.jpg

They still need banner and unit details. I'll get around to that some day.

Characters.

Inquisitor.
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Old model from 1st or 2nd edition. I haven't repainted him, just rebased. He is covered in a yellowing varnish that gives him an old, worn, detail robbing patina.

Commissariat Contingent.
CEBBC106-7709-49A3-AA19-33165C8AED43_zps9pojuxrg.jpg

The first iteration of Commissar Yarrick. I have his banner somewhere too. The other guys are a 2nd or 3rd ed commissar with power fist, who I like because he has heaps of character, and a Valhallan officer that I converted (by shaving down his incredibly large hat). I miss that hat now. Such an impractical piece of head wear.

Sanctioned Psyker.
5FA84E34-0446-41F4-A121-777CF4026B4D_zpsxdwx7hjz.jpg

Another 2nd edition model. Completely over the top 90's model. I painted him in the same scheme as the one in WD when it came out. This guy is vying for the 2IC job, although the interrogator I haven't painted yet has something to say about that.

Priest.
BA32101C-81ED-459E-A7D5-3F843170AAEC_zpst7ucubn4.jpg

2nd edition model. Been converted too and fro from loyalist to traitor and back again. Him and I are both glad I've made my mind up now.

Vindicare Assassin.
10526D86-679B-4363-AAD8-EEE185295021_zpsrkvbe3kt.jpg

Sadly I never owned the rogue trader assassin, but I always loved the model. I snapped this one up when he came out, and re-based him to join the Inquisitor's warband.

So that's it for now folks. I am re-painting the company command squad at the moment, and still have a fair bit to do after that. Including three thudd guns, which I'm excited about, and may actually paint instead. I will try to add more pics here more regularly, and update my blog occasionally.

Also I have an epic version of this army on the go as well if any of you are interested.
http://www.taccmd.tacticalwargames.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=28020

Cheers
Mat
 
Cool, they are really coming together nicely now. The Olley Ogryn squad is a sight to behold, they are a great set of figures and really go well with the rest of the goggled infantry. Looking forward to seeing the thudd battery painted up, presume you have a bunch of crew with an ordinance officer or ad-mech guy to support them.
 
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