My army so far

In a celebration of finishing two units more for my 500 point army list i decided to take a picture of my army how its looking so far. A few weeks ago i got a glass cabinet to put them in, so they are protected til i varnish them. Its amazing how much motivation they provide during day times, i am looking at them at least once a day. Watching my army grow, adding models to the ranks in the cabinet is fun and inspiring and i would recommend people in getting one if they have the space and money for it for sure.


My goal for this month was to paint my platoon command squad(see post for them) and the other half of my first infantry squad. I am proud to say mission accomplished. The progress since i started the catachan army have never been bigger for me than this. In a matter of a few months i already painted more models in this army than any other i collected and i am still going strong. For next month, i will be painting my sentinel for my 500 point list and magnetize the weapons. I am planning a great deal of free handwork on it and i am curious to see what i can do for my first real vehicle(jetbikes dont count).

The reason why i am only painting one instead of all 3 is cause i want to get my 500 point list up and running and Starcraft 2 just came out so i am gonna paint less in this month than i normally would.

Platoon command squad done.

Finally i finished my platoon command squad.

I magnetized my commander with a lasgun, boltgun and plasmagun. The ladder i really like the look of, makes him stand out more and when i think about it, a plasmagun would deliver a nice punch against harder units approaching. It seems kinda a waste not to give him that plasma.

My 500 point list platoon command squad includes a platoon commander, guardsman with vox, guardsman with grenade launcher and 2 guardsmen with normal equipment. I will paint two more guardsmen for my squad but i just had to paint the whole squad with all the options of medic, regimental standard, voxcaster and commander.

I cant wait to try the unit out and experiment with the different setups possible in this squad.

Platoon command squad update 1

So i got the Medic and Platoon standard painted as the goal of the week. I am very happy on how they came out.

The Medic: I might add a bit of blood on him but i am not sure about yet. Might also work a bit more on the vials as i dunno how to make em more realistic. The vial tops are so small so they are really hard to paint.
Other than that i am pleased on the medic.























Platoon standard: This is my first time ever painting banners and i started out trying to get it neat and nice and when i finished it i realized.... there is nothing neat and nice about my catachan army, why on earth should the standards be neat and nice. We are talking jungle fighters who will drag a standard into the forest through dirt, mud and trees. A standard is for sure gonna be dirty. With that in mind i started giving it a dirty look with some washes( Gryphon sepia, Ogryn flesh and Badab black).


























I added a wound on his left arm with gliding blood and gave his bandaged arm some blood as well so give him a bit more gritty look (no soldiers even a standard bearer are staying out of a fight in a catachan army;))

Painting skin

Painting a Catachan army requires you to paint alot of skin, pretty much all catachans are dressed like Rambo with big toned muscles! So when i started on my army i had to practice painting the skin again. I knew how to do it basically from painting my Dwarf slayer a year ago, but i wanted variety in the skin colors. Since no human skin is the same, i wanted that in my army as well. Here is how the wonderful world of mixing colors, watering em down and ink comes in! Since i am mixing colors to get a smoother transition and i don't measure with any tools, other than my eyes, its bound to be slightly different colors(like real life skin).

Here is how i did when i painted Harker.








Now i painted Harker with relative few steps, cause i wanted him to look like he was really tanned. If you want your models to be brighter skinned either use lighter colors or use more steps adding lighter colors.

Here is how i painted the skin on my platoon squad commands medic.










Now i know i am not the best person in the world to paint skin, however i hope that i can help a few people getting a pretty good start. As all things, when it comes to painting, you take what you like and then add your own personal touch to it. As skin, none of us are the same and what some people like, others might hate. Just remember that if you like how you painted your models that's all that matters!

Progression update 1

I am testing a new way of taking pictures of my models and whats a better way to test it than on the halfway finished Infantry squad(got 5 models down 5 to go). I am painting the rest of the squad and my platoon command squad with the deadline to the end of this month.

The rest of the models are put together(accept for the platoon commander which i am still considering to magnetize with all his options) and are ready for some paints.

Here is the rest.




My plan is that i will start with the medic and the platoon standard and finish them during this week. I will upload the finished models as soon as i finish them.

Autocannons

Theory: Auto cannons is the best heavy weapon you can get. This is your heavy-weapon workhorse. First and foremost because they are your best weapon to hammer light and medium armored vehicles and those you love to shoot to pieces. It's something you have to do as a Guard player so you do not become overwhelmed right away. S7 shots you can always use against Aforementioned vehicles, monstrous creatures, and indeed infantry, in the absence of the others. They are your best defense against transportation that roars toward your gunline.

Conclusion: To be continued


So Friday i was trimming the next batch of models i where going to paint and i noticed the heavy weapons team sprues. I just had to try to assemble a heavy weapons team. I already knew i was gonna have 3 auto cannon heavy weapons teams in my 500 point list so i started putting it together. After i put it together i had a unstoppable feeling of painting it up.... so i did.

Imperial Guard Gunnery Sergeant Harker

So i couldnt resist painting Harker when i got him in the mail. Harker is the only special character in my 500 point list and i love his look, stats and abilities. Hes gonna give my opponents something to worry about when i deploy Harker and his catachan devils in cover near my opponents army.

Harker gives his unit a number benefits which turns them into the catachan devils. First and foremost, the unit gains the universal special rules infiltrate, stealth, and move through cover. The squad also gains a heavy weapon in the form of Harker's heavy bolter, and since he is relentless it does not slow the unit down.

Harker and his catachan devils will take form in my army as a veteran squad + Gunnery Sergeant Harker (10) War Gear: Vox, 2 meltas, 1 heavyflamer.

Harkers "payback" and the heavy flamer will do as much damage on approaching units as possible, my meltas is in there popping tanks and troop carriers. With stealth and in cover they will have a 3+ cover save (2+ if they go to ground), which should buy them a few turns to soak up fire if my opponent decides to fire em down.


Gunnery Sgt. Harker
WS 4 BS 4 S 4 T 3 W 1 I 3 A 2 Ld 8 Sv 5+

Unit Type: Infantry (unique)
War Gear: Flak armour; Close-combat weapon; Frag and krak grenades; 'Payback' (heavy bolter)