A Call to War: Free Worlds League 1st Covenant Guards

[Scotty]

Hey folks!  Scotty here, and these next few months I'm going to be building a force of 1st Covenant Guards for use in the Dark Age.  This, believe it or not, will actually be the very first whole company I've ever painted, and the first time for a lot of the techniques I'll eventually be showing off here.

But, before I start posting any pictures, I'll take a look at how I decided to build this company.  Whenever I start building a force, I ask myself two questions.  1) What do I want this company to do? And 2) What unit fits that description?

In this case, and for this particular event, I wanted a company that could show off some of the less common formations from the Companion.  Instantly, I needed a Nova formation.  I also wanted some combined arms action, and that lent itself very well to a vehicle and battle armor group.  I also wanted to bring in some kind of air support, but nothing too big or expensive, and an Air Lance was another good way to use a pretty uncommon formation.  That gave me a “Lance” for the Nova, and I wanted a full company, which meant two more Lances, one of which would host the Air Lance.  The other two Lances would end up being 'Mech Lances, both because I've got a lot more of those to pick from and because I wanted some “conventional” (for BattleTech) line units for my Nova and ASFs to back up.

As many of you may know, I'm a pretty big fan of the Free Worlds League and the Dark Age.  That means lots of purple, and I wanted to add in some designs from 3145.  I also hate using white in paint schemes, which limits what unit fits the description by quite a lot.  Finally, I've got a really mixed combined arms unit.  So, purple, no white, combined arms, and modern units.  Say hello to the Covenant Guards, which fit all of the above criteria!  They're also a good excuse for me to add in some cross factional stuff if I really feel like it (and I do, just a little bit).

Now, onto the units!  I'm also a huge fan of versatility.  Not just in individual units, but also in how those units work together.  I try to pick units that can perform multiple roles in multiple Lance types.  In particular, when I build Lances I try to build them so I can pick between Lance types at game-time, instead of having to rebuild my entire group to get the ability I want.  Naturally, there are a few Lances that really go well together like that.

Every company this size needs a solid anchor.  That means either a Battle, Assault, or Fire Lance.  An Assault Lance needs either a Juggernaut or two Snipers, in terms of unit role.  A Battle Lance needs three of any combination of Brawler, Sniper, and Skirmisher.  A Fire Lance needs three of any combination of Sniper or Missile Boat.  The overlap here, then, is a Lance of three Snipers and... well, pretty much anything else!  As long as it's got decent armor and can do damage to fit in the Assault Lance.

I pick a Carronade right off the bat, because Carronades are awesome.  It's a Sniper, so one down.  Next up, something stereotypically Marik: The Awesome.  You can never, ever go wrong with a classic -8Q model, and it's also a Sniper with good armor and damage.  Two down.  Next it gets a bit trickier.  I've got my eye on a couple other units, but I want to keep them roughly the same speed as my other two picks, which means something that moves 10” isn't exactly what I'm looking for.  I've got good long range damage so far, but my short and mid range is suffering for what I want to also be an Assault Lance, so I pick a Tempest to pick up the slack.  Tempests are Skirmishers, which means my last unit needs to be a Sniper in order to qualify for all three Lance types.  I look through the MUL for a bit, until I stumble across a hidden gem: The ON3-M Orion is a Sniper!  And it keeps the lance feeling like a proper mix of older and newer stuff.  That leaves me with:

Carronade CRN-7M (36)
Awesome AWS-8Q (39)
Tempest TMP-3M (41)
Orion ON3-M (37)

For a total of 153 points spent on that one lance.  That's nearly 40% of the PV I have to spend on the entire force, so my next stuff needs to be a lot cheaper, individually.  But that's okay, I've got a pretty solid core of 'Mechs to work around.  And it still qualifies for all three Lance bonuses, whichever I pick when I want to actually put these guys on the table.  Versatility!  Infantry are pretty cheap no matter what stripe they are, so I'm going to leave them for last, so I don't have to worry about finding 'Mechs that cost the perfect amount of PV to fit.

Now that I've got a solid anchor Lance, I want a flanker Lance to smash things against that anvil.  That means something faster and lighter, to take advantage of positioning and force enemy movements.  Nothing slower than 10” will do, and that means I'll be trying to build it primarily as a Striker Lance to take advantage of even more speed.  Striker Lances overlap naturally with Pursuit Lances.  Every unit in a (default) Striker Lance has to move 10” or faster, and at least half need to be Striker or Skirmisher roles.  Pursuit Lances are a bit different, and don't actually have role requirements.  Instead, they've got size and speed requirements only.  The standard Pursuit Lance actually requires 12” minimum movement and size 2 or smaller.  I'm already pretty set on using a Hercules for this Lance (what can I say, I love that thing), so that won't do.  However, the heavier version of the Pursuit Lance, the Probe Lance, allows up to size 3 and 10” minimum moves.  I think we have a winner!

So, to recap, I need all of my units to move 10” at minimum, and between them at least two need to have the Striker or Skirmishe role.  And none of them can be Assault 'Mechs.  Not really a tough bill to foot, honestly.  Starting with the Hercules (which is a Skirmisher), I quickly decide on using a Hammer -3M (Love me some Hammers), and also toss in a Centurion CN9-D.  Centurions are everywhere, and the 12” move is helpful for use in a Striker Lance, where the other units can use the Speed Demon bonus to match its speed.  The Hammer is a Striker (Objective complete: 1/2), while the Centurion is a Skirmisher.  Technically speaking, that's already the role requirement for a Striker Lance, but I want more.  This is also where I decide to go cross-factional just a bit.  I love the Hollander III.  There's no real reason to love it, but I do, and I want to see one in this Lance.  It's a Sniper, and doesn't necessarily fit with the rest of the Lance, but it does have a 12” move, and I like that.  And the model is gorgeous, so I don't care, I'm taking one. :D  That brings around a Lance that looks like:

Hercules HRC-LS-9000 (35)
Centurion CN9-D (26)
Hollander III BZK-D1 (20)
Hammer HMR-3M (23)

Yeah, I'm happy with that.  At a total cost of 104 PV, that brings the company total to 257, leaving a bit under 150 PV to fill out the infantry and their transports, and to tack on some air support.  I'd say it's a pretty good way to go.

Speaking of infantry, we're almost there, but I want the transports they'll be using defined first.  The entire goal of this platoon of tanks will be to get infantry from point A to point B, without getting immobilized on the way there.  On a normal day, I'd pick some hovertanks for the job, but I'm feeling like breaking that habit here.  Let's go tracked.  Can't immobilize them nearly as easily.  This is a Marik list, so the very first thing that I take a look at are Main Gauches.  There's an IFV version of the Main Gauche, which moves 12”, and that sounds absolutely perfect for this unit.  I've got a pair of the minis, too, so they're in.  I always try to match movement profiles if I can (the Striker Lance doesn't count; they're close enough), especially when it comes to deploying infantry.  I want something else that's 12” and tracked.  This pool is significantly smaller to choose from.  In the end, to save some PV, and because I've already got a couple of the minis, and because they're pretty typically Marik, I go with a pair of Galleon 100s.  They're the next best thing to utterly useless in combat, but they're just there to move some battle armor around, and being that toothless means they're less likely to get targeted, which is a bonus to me.

The first and obvious problem with that Lance is that the Galleons don't have infantry bays.  Fortunately, there's a way to cheat: Bring something with the XMEC special, which allows it to hitch a ride on the outside.  That'll limit my choices in infantry pretty severely, but on the plus side I've known pretty much since this started what I'd be picking for those.  I've got a pack of Longinus, and a pack of IS Standard, and you can probably guess which ones I'd rather do for a League unit.  I decide to opt for a Flamer and a Laser squad, in addition to the two Magnetic.

Main Gauche (IFV) (17)
Main Gauche (IFV) (17)
Galleon GAL-100 (12)
Galleon GAL-100 (12)

Longinus [Laser] (9)
Longinus [Flamer] (9)
Longinus (Magnetic) (8)
Longinus (Magnetic) (8)

See what I meant when I said infantry are really cheap?  This whole Nova formation cost 92 PV.  Well within budget, with a little over 50 PV left to spend if I need it.  Believe it or not, since the Galleons are Scout role, this technically qualifies as a Recon Lance.  This unit doesn't have a whole lot of use for one of those, so I'm going to dub it a Support Lance, so I can pick one or two of my tanks to get an ability from my other Lances.  You never know how handy that can be, especially if it's something hilarious, like Demoralizer from an Assault Lance.

And now for the air support.  50 PV isn't a lot to pay for fighters, and since fighters have to come in identical pairs (for some reason, but them's the rules), I only really own one eligible set.  I pick a couple Cheetahs that fit my PV needs, and attach them to the Battle/Assault/Fire Lance, and boom.  Done.  Total PV comes to 382.  Pretty sweet!  Some room for skill improvements in a game that uses them, and otherwise a pretty solid little company to field.

And now, some pictures!  I'll be painting these guys in groups over the next several months, but for now the first step was getting everything together and in one place.  I already had the Cheetahs painted, fittingly enough, but they're actually a little darker purple than I'll end up using on the ground units.  Oh well, call it a stylistic difference between the flyboys and the ground pounders.  Also featured: my shoddy workstation and tools.  (And as a bonus, if you pay attention, you can see one of the Galleons go from badly primed to stripped to primed)






And the final list, put together.

Code: [Select]

Battle Lance (Air Lance)
Awesome AWS-8Q Sniper 39
Orion ON3-M Sniper          37
Carronade CRN-7M Sniper 36
Tempest TMP-3M                          Skirmisher               41

Cheetah F-14-S Interceptor 17
Cheetah F-14-S Interceptor 17
Total 187

Striker Lance
Hercules HRC-LS-9000 Skirmisher 35
Centurion CN9-D Skirmisher 26
Hollander III BZK-D1 Sniper 20
Hammer HMR-3M Striker 23
Total 104


Support Platoon (Nova)
Main Gauche Light Support Tank (IFV) Brawler          17
Main Gauche Light Support Tank (IFV) Brawler          17
Galleon Light Tank GAL-100 Scout 12
Galleon Light Tank GAL-100 Scout 12

Longinus Battle Armor [Laser] Ambusher   9
Longinus Battle Armor [Flamer] Ambusher   9
Longinus Battle Armor (Magnetic) Ambusher   8
Longinus Battle Armor (Magnetic) Ambusher   8
Total 92

Company Total 383

[Louie N]

a great introduction into the unit. 

[Scotty]

Next up, actually painting stuff!  I decided to go with the tanks first, since I already have the Cheetahs painted and can “cheat” and fill out around a quarter of my units in one go.  Two Main Gauche and two Galleons aren't a whole lot in the “weight of metal” category, so this shouldn't be too bad, and the Main Gauches are mostly broad, flat surfaces anyway.



I start off priming with Army Painter Desert Tan Primer.  I'd use grey for this if I had it, but I don't, and I definitely don't want to use the black or dark green I do have, because I want the colors to be brighter (at least until I give them a dark wash).  I've got the picture of these guys primed already in the post above, so on to the next step: the base coat.



I may not have a lot positive to say about Games Workshop most days, but I have yet to be steered wrong by their paints.  The base coat for the ground units in this company is going to be Genestealer Purple, which is the only medium purple I could find in this brand.  I've thinned it with about a teaspoon of water dumped right into the pot.  Takes a few coats, but it avoids the paint buildup I had a lot of trouble with when I first got started painting.  It was initially brighter than I actually wanted it to be, but I warmed up to it later in the process, and I think the end result speaks for itself why.



A nice, solid base coat.  No frills, no thrills, just purple all the way around.  I'm certainly no CamoSpecs painter, so this unit is going to be pretty simple.  Mostly flat colors, not doing complicated designs, etc.  Just a few colored panels, some accents, and boom. 



Next up, the secondary color.  In this case, GW Abaddon Black.  This one, for whatever reason I had way back when, has not been thinned.  I don't honestly remember why that is, but I do remember I had a reason.  I have a sneaking suspicion it's because mistakes made in black are a pain to clean up, and having to do more coats means more chance to make mistakes, but I can honestly not be sure. 



Fortunately, this is one of the more error-free coats of black I've ever done.  Hooray for small favors.  I picked out a few panels that I think would look good in black.  There's no real rhyme or reason to it, except I try to keep things symmetrical, and I don't want to clutter up the mini too badly.  In the end, I add black to the turret, the front panel section, the weird gun housings on each side, part of the upper back section on each side, the rear panel, and the bogey wheels around the tracks.  For good measure, I also give the turret barrel a little love.



Next up, GW Shining Gold.  I don't actually know whether GW produces this one anymore, or it's been renamed something different.  It's gold.  Not a whole lot of variation with it, but the metallic paints are a little more difficult to use.  Not a lot, but a little.  Most of it has to do with how the metallic visual effect has a tendency to end up streaky even with as even coats as I can manage.  Most of the time, more coats fixes it, so I'm not terribly concerned.



Gold in this scheme is much more of a trim color than a full on additional secondary color, or even a tertiary color.  I get the end of the gun barrel, a bit of the detail on the turret, the back parts the gun barrels on the side, the bit on the front that looks most like a windshield, the little fins around the tail end of the tank, and a little panel on the rear end.  That sounds like a lot, but the actual volume painted is pretty small compared to the volume of painted surfaces already.



I have a crippling weakness for “Tacticool” paint details.  Exposed gun barrels, weapon linkages, motive systems, joints, and the like all get a little bit of love from the GW Runefang Steel pot.  Runefang Steel is a bit brighter and more silvery than the other common GW metallic colors Leadbelcher or Boltgun Metal, but I actually like the shine.  These tanks are already decked out in gold, so rather than the 'tacticool' method, I actually started treating this like a second trim color.  Not, strictly speaking, canon, but I like how it looks.



Speaking of how it looks, here we go.  I've give at least part of the major gun barrels a coat, as well as what I'm reasonably sure are actually headlights but look enough like machine gun barrels that I'm rolling with it.  Also given a good coat are the tracks, which does functionally nothing since they will be against a table most of the game, but I'm a completionist.




Up next, decals!  I'm apparently pretty good at these, though I had no experience to speak of prior to actually putting these decals on these tanks.  I start with a pretty typical Marik Eagle.  I've got two sheets of these, and I love putting them on everything that even resembles a Free Worlds League scheme.  For this Galleon, I pick a broad, flat surface on the left side.  On every other unit in the company, I'm going to try and put the decals in roughly the same place.  Putting it on the battle armor units is... up in the air, but they're tiny little pricks, and it'll be a “when I get to it” decision.  Left side for vehicles, left chest for 'Mechs.  I also have a couple sheets of the ROBOTECH: Tactics decals, and they are ****** tiny, but they look good so I'll suffer that pain.  Each tank will get a white decal on a black colored panel on the front of the tank, a black decal on a purple colored panel on the right front side of the tank, and a black decal on a purple colored panel on the left rear bumper.  'Mechs will get white decals on the right torso, and black decals on the right arm and rear left shoulder.  Gotta keep things consistent!  These ones I can actually fit onto the battle armor with some finagling, so they'll get a black decal just above the waist, and a white decal on the back left shoulder.





Alright, looks good to me!  Like I said, those decals are tiny, but they look good.  This particular tank is number 111, and I'll be numbering each 'Mech, tank, and battle armor suit in the company.  The other Galleon will be 110, while the Main Gauches will be 108 and 109.



I use Army Painter Matte Varnish for my sealing needs.  I'm not a fan of really shiny minis, so the dull coat fits my needs pretty well.  Three or four quick coats on each side are good to handle it.  If you're having trouble getting decals to slide onto your minis, you can do the varnish first.  I'm told it gives a smoother surface to adhere to, which helps with the positioning.  So far I haven't had to do that, but it's something to keep in mind.  I do definitely seal the mini before the wash.  Speaking of:



I use either GW Nuln Oil or GW Agrax Earthshade (black and brown, respectively) for my washes, and in this case I'll be using the Nuln Oil.  I don't cut or thin it, but I try to be careful and dab away the spots that pool up to keep the wash mostly uniform and to avoid thick patches of It.  I'm not always successful, but that just lends to the feeling that these things have been in the field, and it gives depth to the lines and panels that just plain isn't there without it.



And here's the finished mini.  Eventually, I might put these guys on hex bases.  For now, though, this is as far as they go.  I'm pretty happy with the finished results!  The bright purple color is a little more muted after the matte coat and the wash.



And the finished platoon.  I'm pretty happy with how they came out.



Bringing my posted point total this month up to 92 points, here are the Cheetahs I'm using.  These were already painted, though I'll be adding another couple decals to each.

Until next month!

[ColBosch]

Yeah, I'm using GW paints too, and they're working well. I was surprised by how well the brown wash works on blue!

[ActionButler]

I was surprised by how well the brown wash works on blue!

The brown wash from Citadel is indispensible.  Maybe moreso than Nuln Oil.

[worktroll]

I use either GW Nuln Oil or GW Agrax Earthshade (black and brown, respectively) for my washes, and in this case I'll be using the Nuln Oil.  I don't cut or thin it, but I try to be careful and dab away the spots that pool up to keep the wash mostly uniform and to avoid thick patches of It.  I'm not always successful, but that just lends to the feeling that these things have been in the field, and it gives depth to the lines and panels that just plain isn't there without it.

Had you applied the washes in this photo? Can't really see it. Just wondering.

And this looks like a good alternate Marik unit, once I chew through current projects!

W.

[Scotty]

Nope, nice catch.  I added the wrong picture.  Lemme get the correct one up.  And posted here for easy finding for folks who don't care to play "find the differences" with the original post.

[worktroll]

I'm a great believer in all-over washes - the words "pin wash" shall never cross my lips :) Not only do they bring up detail and add depth, you can also use them to play with colouring; I also think they tend to obscure minor glitches in the painting. I'd put up my CAV Strike Ops as an example - light tan base, white drybrush streaks, then a half-strength brown ink wash.

You need to plan the effect on the base colours - it's darkened your Galleon from lavender bus to grape of wrath nicely O0

One suggestion for you to consider - adding a highlight on the black sections. A thin, fairly dry brush, and add a streak of grey (not white) on the top curves of the side-mounts, and along the front and one side edges of the black back panel. Doesn't have to be heavy or bright, but I think it adds a little.

Cheers,

W.

[Scotty]

I knew I was going to wash them the whole time, and knowing that is the only reason I went with a purple as light as I did to start.  It still kinda bugs me that there's no midway point between Genestealer Purple (seen here) and Naggaroth Night (seen on the Cheetahs).

I must also confess that despite my arcane knowledge of ~decals~ and ~washes~, I am a very basic painter.  I have never been satisfied with a drybrush I've done and edge highlighting is something I've never even tried before.  I might experiment on a few of the other minis in this unit, but as the first truly table-ready fully painted group I've ever attempted I'm mostly going to be sticking to my basics and fundamentals.

[worktroll]

I cheat ;)

On a black rectangle, like that, I'll do two of the sides with a light brush, then use a black Stabilo Uniball pen to tidy up ;)

Must pick up a bottle of Genestealer Purple, or equivalent. Used old Liche Purple for my Marik Militia, with white ghostbrushing to cut the colour.

W.

[Louie N]

A fantastic painting guide and the unit came out great.  I liked the purple after the wash.

[jimdigris]

 O0

[mdauben]

This is a great tutorial/plog you're doing here, Scotty!  I'm really loving it.   O0

[cavingjan]

Druchii Violet?

The painting and modding, hopefully, guides will be the most interesting part of these projects. I love seeing how others do things and the results that they get. Take what may work for me and run with it. I've learned so many different tricks this way.

[wantec]

Druchii Violet?

The painting and modding, hopefully, guides will be the most interesting part of these projects. I love seeing how others do things and the results that they get. Take what may work for me and run with it. I've learned so many different tricks this way.

I know I'm going to include a post on that in mine. As of right now, 3 of the 8 'Mechs I have assembled are modded from the standard variant in some way. One is just variant parts included with the 'Mech, the other two are more involved.

[Daemion]

Yay. Pictures.

A good scheme.

[Fear Factory]

I'm always blow away at how insightful your posts are concerning Alpha Strike.

Beautiful work!

[Scotty]

I haven't forgotten this thread!  Not in the slightest. ^-^

That doesn't mean I'm caught up to exactly where I wanted to be for this update, but meh.  I need to post some progress here, and I'm up to about a hundred points of it right now, so here goes nothing.  I've gotten the Carronade mostly finished (just varnish and a wash away), while the Tempest and the Awesome both need some cleaning up on the paint (mostly extra coats where paint is thin), the cockpits done in the Carronade's orange, decals, varnish, and wash.  To a one, they look much better in person than in the pictures, because the flash (that I turned on for the first time) really brings out where the paint is thinner than it looks.

Without further ado:








And then two pictures showing my total progress so far on this group (minus fighters):




Total points (mostly) finished to date: 208.  More than halfway there.

Until next month!

[Baron RedSkull]

I like the Awesome so far. It kinda looks like he's wearing black leather suspenders with gold studs on them. Hopefully it's part of the outfit he wears for his rock and roll band. On the Tempest, I like where you put the black and gold.

[Scotty]

The Tempest I was genuinely surprised at how easily the highlights came.  I'm not used to painting 'Mechs with rounded shapes and circular bits, so I had no real frame of reference for how it'd turn out.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

[Scotty]

Apologies for lack of updates on this project.  This time of year is absolutely hell on both my schedule and my general health thanks to working in retail, but I'm going to try to get at least a small update out the door by the end of next week.

[worktroll]

Look, take Friday off & finish the minis. You have to have priorities ...

(Yup, I do know what day it is)

[cavingjan]

I sympathize. I'm in a similar situation. Hopefully you will be able to get to it soon.