Kanak Sentinels

Tactics

The Armored Sentinels are my heavy hitters. My Armored Sentinels are up gunned to Lascannons. As my tanks are mainly geared for anti-infantry and my infantry the same, I need something to help pop any vehicles I encounter. I don't always bring my Heavy Weapon teams, but I will always make room for my Sentinels. Depending on who I am facing, or if I am going second, I may hold them in reserves to prevent them from being hit early. These guys will aim for whatever threatens them first, gun-wise. Otherwise, whatever big-nasty is available will be their main target. I'm lucky enough that they usually connect on the first volley. But that is not something to rely on at all. That's when they start dancing away and keep shooting. Their armor of 12 is a real boon for their survival. Beyond the weapon upgrade for my, they do not get anything else.

My other unit of Sentinels simply Scout to the enemy's backfield and cause havoc. They are very basic in cost and build. The multi-lasers don't really do much damage, but they always get my opponent's attention. The strength of the multi-laser pretty much means they can harm anything short of a heavy vehicle. These little walkers can also tie up units or be used to charge other heavy weapon teams. In practice, they are usually a throw away unit. In use, they more than make up for it.

Painting

As for painting, I had some old Sentinels sitting around in their old jungle green coloration. Old as in from 2001 or '02 when I was really into the Imperial Guard. They looked pretty good in general, but didn't really fit in with the rest of the company scheme-wise. When I got another Catachan Battalion box that had a Sentinel inside, I figured I would go ahead and get them all in line with the rest of the Kanak units.

            

With the newest sentinel, on the right above, you can see the slight lean toward corruption taking place. The pilot is from one of my old lascannon Sentinels that received an armored canopy. I simply pulled the pilot out. It was simply to save time. I get lazy.

               

 

The one in the middle used to be open topped. Just a couple of clips and glue down an old metal piece I had laying around, POOF! I am so glad GW started making the plastic version. The metal parts never really fit that well and made it very top heavy to boot. Games Workshop has really upped their game, pun intended, with their new sculpt across the range. Everything is coming out nice and sharp with a great fit.

                       

          

Here are the walkers after their layers of grey. All of them were primed in black, then Tamiya Light Grey Surface Primer. A few pieces of Tamiya masking tape were added and a layer of Mechanicus Standard Grey was airbrushed on. Following the regular steps, I did all base painting followed by decals. They were all then sprayed with a gloss coat from Testors and the weathering began. Starting with a filter for grey german tanks and sponging some dark paint onto it. The basic dark brown oil wash was applied to every crevice and rivet.  I then used Mig weathering products on these guys to see how it works out. I can say I was very happy with them. The streaking rust was strategically placed in locations that water would stand or spots where I added damage. Then some of the Mig Streaking Grime onto the hydraulic areas or places where there could be a gasket leak on a leg or so.

Those are the basics steps I used. There were others in between depending on what I thought they needed. Much of modeling is finding a way of doing something and growing from that. 

Painting Tutorial: Skull Takers

You want an easy way to pain some Guard/Astra Militarum guys quickly? Need to have a large number of troops ready for next month or so? Here is a very simple solution that can be carried over to other colors, or schemes, or even armies.

Colors I used:  GW Paints Link 

Pants/Jackets

Mechanicus Standard Grey Base

Dawnstone           Highlight

White

Celestra Grey        Base

Ulthuan Grey        Highlight

Belts/Straps/Boots/Rifle Butts

Charadon Granite or Dryad Bark

Wooden Handles

Baneblade Brown

Heavy Weapon
Steel Legion Drab

Skin

Reaper Olive Skin

Reaper Olive Skin Highlight

or

Ratksin/Bestigor Flesh /Ungor Flesh

Bugmans Glow/Cadian Fleshtone/Kislev

Metal parts

Ironbreaker

Misc

Desert Yellow, Black

Shade

Army Painter Quickshade: Strong Tone

After priming in white this time, I painted the ground and all the terrain first. This is where you can be sloppy without fear of messing up your guys. I then applied the Mechanicus Grey to the pants and jackets if they had one.

Using Dawnstone, I then highlighted any folds in the pants or anything that would appear raised. If these guys had jackets on, I would follow the same steps.

Most of the time, I paint any skin first following the inside-out technique. The first layer of flesh was applied to all of the skin. This layer should be the darker of the two skin tones. If you want, you can just paint the second tone to cut out a step. Just remember, each layer you add gives the model more dimension.

Here you should be able to see the second layer of flesh added to all the raised parts. You just want to get the higher portions, any part that may be seen from above. Neatness helps, but it's not completely necessary in this case.

I followed the same technique for the whites on the shirts, any Imperial Eagles, and the horns.

Then Dryad Bark/Charadon Granite was added to boots, straps, rifle butts, anything that you want to contrast or look dark, even hair.

Steel Legion Drab was added to most of the hardware, heavy weapons and the shovel.

Ironbreaker was used to get buttons and any shiny parts of metal, like the helmet or rifle.

The hair was painted desert yellow. You could also use bane blade brown, black, etc.

I wanted to get everything basecoated with a nice layer before I moved on to the next step, the shading. Before you begin the next step, ensure you protect your clothing and/or furniture with an apron, extra paper layer, or what not. The varnish will stain anything it contacts!

The figures and weapons were then covered with a liberal coat of the Quickshade Strong Tone. Army Painter has a video on how to apply it nicely. The wall and the ground did not receive the Quickshade, just the figures. Ideally, you want this to sit for 24 hours. It should be dry to the touch in twelve hours.

Already you can see how it sits heavily in the corners, creases, and crevices throughout the piece, while also adding a nice tone to the rest of the figures. This is a thick coat that doubles as a gloss, adding a layer of protection to the model. If needed you can use some thinner to make it easier to move around or clean up.

Once it has dried, they were sprayed with a dull coat; Testers, GW, or Army Painter works fine, whatever you prefer. This concludes the painting.

The process allows for a full squad to be painted up very nicely in one night. The Quickshades allow a fast effective finish to help you get a large amount of guys onto the table fast.

This technique (aka dipping) can also be changed around to what ever color combination you want. You can utilize this with greens, blues, yellows, or whatever you need. Just realize that you may need to start with lighter shades to get the colors you want, as it will darken the overall piece. Dark colors will work with the Strong Tone, but not as well as the lighter colors. In addition, this will work great with any vehicles you have. Just be sure to add any decals before the shading begins.

Kanak Specialists and Theory

I painted up quite a few Special Characters and Regimental Specialists for my Kanak Guard. I may never use many of them, but I had them. They all came out pretty nice and were rewarding to paint up.

The first ones I put together was the Master of Ordnance. There can only be one per Company Command Squad, but I ended up painting three of them. I figured, the Officers would be more 'civilized' than regular Kanak troops. I envision them as being attached to the Skull Takers and not really being part 'of them'. The first one, is a simple creation from Cadian parts, nothing fancy. Now the other two are a combination of old metal Leman Russ commanders attached to plastic legs. I pinned them onto the legs, else one little fall would see the parts flying in different directions. The guy in the middle, I had to extend a pistol holster on the model, down onto the thighs with a little green stuff. Once painted up, you probably couldn't tell if I never told you. I paid a tad bit more attention to these guys as they aren't the cannon fodder that everybody else is.

The Officer of the Fleet figure is a great model from GW. It has a ton of character and even oozes an air of betterment over his earthbound allies. I followed the general look of the guy from the book for lack of inspiration.

The other guy sitting there is 'Good Guy' from Schaeffer's Last Chancers. I've been sitting on that box of minis for the last thirteen years or so. He looked like a strong Commissar model, so, POOF! He got painted up like one. I know he isn't very WYSIWIG. Eh, he hasn't fired a shot in anger yet.

I am going with Psykers in this army. They can be so much fun, especially if I can pull out the Invisibility power for my Astropath. Either way, I love the potential of Psychic Shriek. I was able to take out a remaining nine Salamanders after their Sgt was killed via Interceptor. I was lucky enough to roll a 17 for the strength of the power! Blam! Nine dead marines! I may even push for some Daemonlogy powers later on to really make for some fun moments in the Psychic phase. Anyway, this guy is mostly an Empire Flagellant from a sprue I had picked up when they first came out....about nine years ago. The staff is made from a pair of old Goblin shield add-ons. Sorry about the terrible picture, but think of the Eye of Sauron, and you will get the picture.



The other Psyker in the army is the Primaris. This guy I got from eBay. Another old classic figure from the GW heydays. I really could have done a better job on him. For a 20yr old piece, there is some good detail. You can see the eyes along the hem of the robe with fire flowing up around them. In battle, I pay for the 2nd level of Mastery, and give him the Divination discipline. I place him inside a blob squad for his own protection. The malediction power Misfortune, has helped quite a few times. I was able to wipe out a marine command squad with it. Especially, when the unit was in range of my Punishers!

The Ministorum Priests are carry overs from my Sororitas army. These guys keep my squads from running, leaving objectives, and really help keeping a blob squad stuck in combat. Once in a while, I can get a power off due to their poor leadership. Re-rolling to wound against MEQs really comes in handy. I tend to let the squad sarges take any challenges before I let these guys get in. I just wish I could add an eviscerator or power weapon to these guys.

The last two guys I have this week is Iron Hand Straken and Sergeant Harker. Iron Hand is the older model released with the original Catachan codex way back when. Since my guys are mostly modeled after that style, Straken makes for a perfect fit. I don't think I will ever use him, but this was a perfect opportunity to get him all dressed up. On his left arm, I put a little celtic style arm band on him. It came out really nice. The trick is to just paint the two wavy intersecting lines. Then using the flesh paint, I cut the lines where they met to give it the overlapping effect.

Sergeant Harker is another of the Last Chancers. This guy is known as 'Ox'. He's much like Bragg from Tanith. The set of figures are still available from GW. If you can, I recommend grabbing one before they disappear, as they are metal. They are all so great individually. Anyway, I added a Mom tattoo to this version of Harker.

Painting-wise, I kept to the same general steps and palette as the rest of the company. I will cover the painting steps next week. It's really quite simple and quick.

Rough Riders and Company Command

Most Militarum players know the Rough Riders are situational at best. Really, if you are smart, you will use the slot for better units. But damn, I still think they are so cool. GW hasn't made any good models for them since the Attillans.

I made some anyway. It is just a simple conglomeration of Catachan leftovers and the Marauder Horsemen. The difficult part was the power lances. To get it to work, I cut some styrene rods into 3/8" strips and glued three or four to the end of a spear bit. Some red paint to simulate dynamite finished it off. Not a bad idea and a somewhat easy modification. 

Keeping with the theme, these guys also have a musician/vox caster, even if they don't get one rules-wise. I also added a banner bearer, again, knowing it has no use in the game. All of the riders have various acoutrement from other sets, Ravenwing ammo boxes, canteens, grenades, and so forth. The unit is one of my favorites. There was quite a bit of work to remove all the chaos stars from he horses and riders. Some of it was hidden by gluing a skull-on-chain bit or something else.

I took more time painting the command squad. As usual they got a banner and a musician. There's also a heavy flamer and two meltas. Later I will paint up some plasma gunners for the extra range. Although the unit tends to sit in a chimera near the back of the army; I probably won't use them that much. Most members of the unit have backpacks that can be used to carry came cloaks if so appointed. The banner was an experiment in wet blending that came out pretty good with red and black.

The star of the squad is the Company Commander. I modeled him on the Humungus from the Road Warrior. Captain 'Normous has the skull head from chaos marine to act as the Death Mask of Ollanius. An heirloom is hanging from his belt meant to be the Kurov's Aquila that I use regularly. That's more of a reason to get plasma gunners. The arm is a bit from an old Necromunda guy I believe. I've been sitting on that piece for quite a few years waiting for just the right guy to pin him to.

Next week's post will cover the Regimental Specialists I put together along with some of the goals of what I am trying to accomplish with the list.

Kanak 2nd Platoon and Heavy Weapons

The Second Platoon uses bands to designate their squad. With the first squad having one band on their upper arms and the second having two bands. This is also mirrored on the squad banner. The basic idea of the squad composition is basic lasguns and a flamer. That's it. The sergeant may get a melta bomb or so, but really that is all.

Why does each squad have a banner, it doesn't do anything? Well, I had so many extra as the Marauder sprue has two types. Why not give each squad one? It sorta gives an old feel to the army. You may notice that each and every unit also has a musician. I have these guys to represent my vox caster. The squads will have drummers with a lasgun strapped to their back. The command squads use horns. Just another way to differentiate the basic squad and a command unit. 

The first platoon command squad has grenade launchers. Yes, I know they pretty much suck, but that unit is designed to move along with the squads. That whole platoon tends to be my speed bumps. Combining into a single blob squad if needed. The second platoon and command squad are my squatters and my counter-attack unit with the flamers. Pretty simple, and it keeps things cheap. Each of my command squads has an extra guy made up in case I need to cut out a flamer, banner, or something. To have them looking different, the command units have a 'barbed-wire' like band on their arms

I do have heavy weapon squads just in case. I've found that each heavy weapon sprue can make three different ones if you plan it carefully. You just need to decide if you want a lascannon, heavy bolter, or autocannon. As there is only one mount for those. Out of three sprues, I was able to get nine heavy weapon squads. I made three of each to keep things simple. The missile launcher and mortar both have the same bipod mount, but you really don't need it for the missile launcher. With these units, I got creative as the base would just be so empty otherwise. Each type of weapon follows the same theme, the mortars are behind stone walls, the auto cannons are behind barricades, and with barrels sitting in front of the missile launchers. 

With the nine different squads, I can make three heavy weapon squads or even just sprinkle them throughout the company.

Next post will have my cavalry and my Company Command Squad. 

Kanak Skull Takers

Long time no post....
I have finally gone back to the Imperial Guard, oops, sorry, the Astra Militarum. I came up with the plan to make the Kanak Skull Takers when doing the Four Color Chimera Post, link here. Orginally, the name plate showed Malvi, a planet from the Calixis Sector of Dark Heresy by Fantasy Flight Games. Long story short, (too late) I changed the name on the side to Kanak. I just thought the Skull Takers needed to be represented somehow. Also, since I had some extra Beastmen bits and Chaos Marauder sprues, why not put them to use.

So the Kanak Skull Takers are a feral bunch that tend to use axes and flamers a majority of the time. Keeping with the theme, most of my guys also have axes and flamers. I also organized them into clans based on platoons. So each platoon will have a similar skin color, identifying tattoos, and banners-styles that differ by color. First squad has a single slash or bar, the second has two slashes or bars, etc.

Squad One

Squad Two

Squad Three

The figures themselves are incredibly easy to put together. Just mix 'n match a Catachan squad with Chaos Marauders and you are set. I found one sprue of each could usually make a ten-man squad. A word of warning though. Some preparation is required ahead of time. As the chests of the Marauders do not allow for two handed rifles to be added easily. You will notice I use the Catachan bodies for all troopers that are aiming their weapons. The Marauder bodies tend to be carrying their rifles in one hand, have it slung across their back, or some other creative way to fit them in. This was the fun part; thinking of creative ways to fit them together.

Once I got to the Platoon Command Squad, things got a bit more difficult. I want them to be different and stand out more, so I put the Command Squad sprue to use. This sprue is more 'streamlined' as the figures are not as large. The other heads and arms from the troop sprue do not fit quite as well. Luckily, I planned to make some Rough Riders too.

Command Squad

The Chaos Horsemen sprue has sixteen different heads for the five riders. That leaves twenty-two extra heads if I make a full ten man cavalry unit. These heads are AWESOME and fit nicely with the command squad figures. All the helmeted heads go with the Catachan and Marauder bodies quite nicely too. Otherwise, many of the heads can appear too small for the barrel chested figures.

I also added a few little things like giving them something akin to biker jackets.

I am going to leave with just the completed first platoon. Meaning I have to come back and post more pictures of the others I have finished.


If you want to find out more about the Kanak Skull takers, here are another couple of links to the Lexicanum and the Manchurian Campaign put together by the Bell of Lost Souls.