So here is my attempt to start a blog about my army in progress. Until this evening all I have are a few sketches to show but I will be posting model images tonight!

So right now in the line up we have

2 teams of 6 Fire warriors
1 team of Gue'la (for counts as Kroot... hate those kroot models)
1 xv-8 (going to be an xv-8 fireknife team lead, but for small games right now, he's my HQ)
2 devilfish
1 sniper drone team.

Okay, so here is the first sketch:




So let me explain the image a bit. First, the drones are scratch built, using a basic gun drone, the exhaust from a Skyray Seeker missile, an antenna from a tank sprue, and 2 pulse rifles. Since they are all "counts as infantry" I'm putting them on the lowest level flying stand which would be about the head hight of a tau standing up straight.

The spotter will be in a kneel position. I hated the idea of that big bulky device that the GW model had, so I decided to make the stealth generator into a back pack device. The drone controller is that unnamed hand held device from the Fire Warrior sprue. In my mind, the divice is a touch screen control ball. The spotter merely needs to touch the drone icon on the ball, then by rotating it up/down/left/right it will move the drone to a new location. turning the ball on axis will change the facing of the drone. Multiple drones can be selected and moved for ease of use. The light on the upper left indicates if there is a near by threat, or enemy target lock on the individual, while the right stays lit as long as the stealth field is running via passive sensor.

The networked marker light is incorporated into the binoculars (from the tank sprue). This is more compact then the standard marker light, and is controlled by a touch screen ball on the top of the binoculars much the same ways as the drone control device. rolling the ball will give a general topographic read showing present locations of troops, touching the the unit will allow that unit to see the painted target, and turning the ball on axis will allow zooming in and out of a given area on the map.





So while I was sculpting and cutting up bits, I decided to read a bit of the codex, I came to:

"It burns so briefly, the light of my children, so briefly. But, by the Greater Good, it burns so bright!" Aun'Va

I was thinking about this I was sculpting out some bits, and I came to the concept of:

"It burns so briefly, the light of my children, so briefly. But, by the Greater Good, it burns so bright! But in that instant, we were seen..."

So the concept of Farsight being corrupted by chaos seems to be floating around, to what following I haven't taken the time to gather. I did read on here that the Tau presence in the warp is akin to a camera flash, hyper bright but lasting but a second. When I read into the dawn blade, I got to thinking what if I compared the flash in the warp to an explosion? Brilliant, bright, lasting an instant, and then gone. But at the same time, what if the dawn blade was like a candle at the very edge of that explosion, (lets pretend its an indestructible candle to keep the physics people at rest), the explosion goes off, and disappears but it also lights the candle. With O'shovah holding the dawn blade, his flash was caught and in-spite it being dim, it's enough for something to work it's way to him, and do what dark gods do...

With that said, My concept is as follows for O'Shovah the Fallen:



Some unnamed god has taken O'shovah's body and twisted it in it's likeness. For this conversion, I'm going to sculpt out a new head, add wings, sculpt out an arm/leg, and have multiple tentacle/veins coming out of random ports on the model. the sword will be a more 'classic' chaos blade, the shield generator will be replaced with a tower shield which will have a corrupted tau insignia, and the plasma rifle will be back mounted but head up by a series of tentacles and pulpy flesh.


Going to post pics of the models I have done tonight! Stay tuned!

Here is my Fireknife 'commander'.

It seems that as Shas advances, they gain access to more equipment. With this in mind I replaced the standard missile pod with a broadside SMS. My thought was that having proved his/her self highly proficiant, he/she would be allowed to carry more ammo to the field knowing this individual could easily place these rounds onto their intended target.




And here is the scratch build from my sketch of my sniper drones.



and a closer pic



More coming, but my battery died...

Hey UberAris!

Looks like a good start to cadre to me!
Great posing on the commander, and as a hater of metal non-character models I totally empathise on the scratch building of sniper drones. They look natural, and my only piece of advice would be to invest in a hobby-drill, (if you haven't already), and drill out the gun-barrels.

Once again, good start!

Fi'rios Shi'ur

The issue there isn't if I have the drill, it's that my mother in law destroyed the bit!

Gotta go to Lowes this week and pick up some supplies, and the bit is at the top of my list, along with new camera batteries!

So here is my stuff for today. Haven't had a chance to buy paint yet, so I decided to work on a few concepts I had been bouncing around for future projects.

The first here is immediately relevant to my army. We see battlesuits but only rarely do we see a face attached to them, sure we the player may know, but our opponent and other forum members don't (lest you have gone and sculpted yours out already as I plan to do too!). So, here is my commander for the Nar'yth Sept: Commander Riptide



The scar across his face is the result of a tyranid scything talon, that had punctured through his battlesuit during his first true field run in his XV-8. The experience left him with an unusual psychological condition bordering on a split in personality, or at the very least mannerisms. Outside his suit, Riptide is well known and loved for his story telling, humor, and his caring of the well being of all in his sept. He is a welcome guest at any Tau'n. However the change is noted upon getting into his combat attire. It has been noted and reported by many Shas that he rarely speaks or notices anyone around him during this time, and has requested his XV-82 be housed in a separate location from the rest of the cadre. The few Shas'ui that help him into his suit note that he seems to be an empty husk of a being at this time.

When the neural interface connects, there is a drastic change in the commander's personality. He becomes much more resolute, his actions teeter on the gratuitous, and his attitude becomes cold with little if any remorse to those his weapons lock on to. The Aun have watched him carefully, but have thus far to act on the leader of the Nar'yth cadre. It has been said that behind closed doors, the famed Ethereal Aun'shi has spent many hours in training and meditation with Riptide. Regardless of his actions, his teams are proud to follow him into combat knowing that Riptide will always be the first Tau in and the last Tau out.





So after coming up with that I got to thinking of the Mont'au and how the Ethereal's must be concerned with the somewhat recent actions of O'shovah. With that kind of fall from grace, I cant help but feel that the Ethereals must have come up with some kind of contingency plan for if a local or planet-wide degradation of Tau'va was to occur. The concept I'm running with is called a "Reaction Team" or if you prefer, "Peacewalker Team" (friend coined that, won't drop it. Still thinking of a better name.



The image above is really a color reference. I plan on making them carry pulse carbines.

Anyway, here's the idea: In the wake of O'shovah, the Aun realized that if it could happen to their greatest hero of the age, it could happen to anyone in the empire. Thus, a group of Aun began to look for warriors with certain experiances and skills. The first thing that was looked for in the Shas was having experianced the loss of an Ethereal in combat, with having wittnessed what could happen if the Ethereal's were to be removed, they would want to fight to protect the belief of Tau'va. The second was a level of success with either stealth technology, or covert operations. If a world to were disreguard Tau'va, they would need to get in unnoticed. With this former requirement, the training and mastery of the pulse carbine, and grenade use was also key. Over the course of a decade, they force had grown to a sizable cadre in it's own right. It's members were all listed to be KIA, cutting all ties from their lives to be the first line in protecting the Greater Good from it's own people if the need arised.

The Peacewalker armor is symbolic as it is functional. The black represents the sorrow and mourning of the fall of the Tau in which they are acting on, as well as being the traditional color of a stealth unit. The dark brown represents the color of sand when a tear is dropped on it, again a show of sadness. The White represents the hope that in ending the uprising, the Tau will survive. The red on the rifle represents the urgency in which the threat must be acted on. Peacewalker's do not wear gloves, their hands touch the rifle bare, to remind the Peacewalker that the fate of Tau'va both metaphorically and literally, rests in their hands. The helm has no visible ocular devices, this is to represent the faceless billions who follow the path of Tau'va, who have been hurt by the fall of their kin.

Peacewalker teams are always lead by an Ethereal, to remind them that even if they are slaying their own kin, it is must be so that other septs may live at peace. In my head, I feel that Aun'shi (who is apparently investigating the Farsight Enclaves, has taken a cadre of Peacewalkers as his guard and support.

We set up house rules for them, but last I checked, I'm not allowed to post them, (lest admin says otherwise).

Okay, had to post one more of Riptide. Decided to turn this in tomorrow as my digital painting homework.

Okay, so I tried my hand at converting a drone fighter. Still having some issues with basing the model, need to figure out where to get brass rod and the best way to cut it.

Construction required: 2 burst cannons, 2 Skyray Seeker missiles, 4 Skyray seeker missile exhaust ports, Skyray turret mount, Hammerhead turret mount, 1 BC/SMS attachment piece.

Front

Rear

Bottom

Top

3/4 Top







In other news, I began to base my models for my core army. Here's a tip for those of you on a budget, (and in the States): If you need cheap as dirt, very effective primer, go to Walmart, and in their paint section they have a spray called "Colorplace".



It's $0.99, and the matte paint meshes almost perfectly with Skull white or Chaos black. It even covers metal well. I will be honest that the white paint does need 2-3 coats sometimes for a model, but for $0.99, I don't complain.

Well that's all I got for now.

I know that asking for army list help openly here is against the rules, but if anyone would be willing to talk to me about what I have set up on PM, I would be really appreciative, still trying to grasp the "new tau".

I must say that I looooove the outfit you have chosen for your Cadre, especially the Fire Warrior that you have shown us! They really have that "Special Ops"-look, and the explanation for every piece provides even more "feeling" to the project!

Keep up to good work!

(By the way, you are a really talented artist!)

I really want to see the corrupted farsight sketch come to life.

@ Terminatorinhell: It'll happen, just need to get the time to do it

@ Erorior: The outfit I posted is for my ethereal retinue/guard for part of a friends campaign. We have house rules for them based on the description I gave which are pretty balanced, if you wanted to hear them out PM me. Thank you for the art compliment!

This is a small update.

Here is my finalized Color Scheme:


and here is the Ethereal honor guard scheme (as previously depicted)


Quick overview of the sept:

Dagon V was once an agri- world at the very edge of Tau space, the Planetary Governor openly traded with tau merchants. While Imperial technology could do the same as tau tech, the tau's technology was far less expensive, and produced at a faster rate. Unofficially, the tau were welcome on this world, and were accepted by the general populace, who felt no ill from the blue skinned visitors who seemed almost human in mannerisms. Tau culture naturally spilled into Imperial culture for decades before the Imperium caught wise. The official record holds that an official warning was issued to the Governor, but military action against the plant was held due to it's being the only agri-world in the sector within a one year travel distance by warp. During the 2nd Expansion, war finally touched Dagon V. But the world saw little military action, due to it's lack of 'combat strategic' advantages to the Imperium. The Tau, however, saw this world in a different light. In the course of a few months, Dagon v succeeded from the Imperium and joined the Tau empire, where in it was immediately garrisoned. The sept took it's red and badge color scheme from the swathes of red wheat that grew on the planet. From this operating platform, the Tau empire launched several strikes to the rear of Imperial fleets, and maintaining a foothold in the region.

In the Tau Empire, Nar'yth is seen as two toned jewel in that it's Firewarriors are known for the high amount of, and skill of XV Pilots that come out of it's ranks, and of the very high earth caste presence on the world. The planet has remained an agricultural planet though both poles have been completely converted to military bases. The human element on the planet has also remained high and have proved to be loyal assistants to the tau empire. Unlike humans on other garrisoned tau worlds, the humans of Nar'yth hold no fear of the Imperium, and though they suffer from the frailties of man mentally and physically, the ideal of the greater good has ingrained itself into the race wonderfully. The tau have helped curve some of humanities 'less then desirable' traits with a several compromises. Humans on Nar'yth are allowed to own items in what could be described as an "Administrated free-trade market". Humans may freely join the military, and are trained to work along side Firewarriors. Humans have also been a great help to the Earth Caste, joining them in labor activities, and innovation. Due to these factors of military, work, and social trust, the Ethereal's of Nar'yth have granted the humans of the sept weaponry not seen elsewhere in the empire, generally with a measure more potency then that elsewhere in the empire.

Gue'La Nar'yth (Counts as Kroot) Gear:


Ion Burst Rifle (Kroot Rifle)

This is considered Standard Issue to all Gue'La teams. The weapon uses a combination of Ion and Ballistic technology to fire a destabilized metallic projectile at an opposing target. Upon impact the round explodes, the concussion damage of which as been known to shatter most low-grade armor types, and rend internal organs and musculature on detonation. The barrel of the gun is made of 6 separate plates which can contract or expand, allowing more accurate single shots for distant targets, or more rapid fire at closer targets for the "crowd control" factor. Standard magazine holds 68 rounds of ammo.

Pike Close Assault Drone (Kroot Hound)

Developed to fill a very real gap in hand to hand combat, it is currently being tested in Gue'la teams to extreme success. The PCAD uses a "schooling" mentality, each drone's AI is rudimentary connected to the others allowing what could be considered "Intuitive" behavior, slightly more advanced that that of a standard Gun Drone Team. When a threat is detected at less then twenty meters, the Pike lurch to the front of the Gue'la, and set up an attack pattern to take the brunt of an enemy assault. To achieve success, a smaller version of the Cyclonic Ion Blaster, (dubbed a Cyclonic Ion Projector) fires a short range, highly volatile spray of projected ions at it's target causing severe physical damage to their target. If the foe is at a distance, the Pike will use their long bodies to try to intercept incoming fire and protect the Gue'la as much as possible. Though these drones hover, they do not hover high enough to ignore many kinds of terrain, this feature was left out intentionally as it is the drone's mission to protect it's team.

Ghost Crab Assault Platform (Krootox)

The GCAP is a lumbering, heavily armed drone system. Unlike other drones, it is programmed to have an exceedingly high aggression matrix. After an order is given, it will immediately bring it's heavy gun to bare on any target in it's range. It uses a much larger version of the IBR, called an IBC or Ion Burst Cannon. The IBC has the same functions as an IBR but the caliber of the round is much larger and more potent. While the impact from an IBR round could be likened to half the strength of a Frag Grenade, the IBC could be likened on par with a Krak Grenade. It has been noted truly devastating to any vehicle with light armor, as when these vehicles close in on the Gue'la, they fall into rapid fire distance of the IBC and begin to take a sever punishing from the explosive rounds. In close combat, the drone activates a short term Anti-grave plate, which it uses to lift it's legs roughly 10cm off the earth. the legs are then charged with an electron field. When a leg lashes out it strikes a foe with 700kpi of electrically charged might.

To demonstrate my Pike Drones in action, behold:

I once again have to express my love for your Sept!

The alternative for the Kroots, Hounds and Krootox that you use are really awesome, and I especially like the Pike Drones! The very detailed descriptions really gives a great feeling about the fluff, and gives me a better "inner picture" of your Cadre!

Keep up to good work!

//E

Thanks again! I'm in the process of modeling right now so we'll see how it all turns out, but first I want to get some of my army painted, starting with the Devilfish.

Speaking of... the next time I post here should be pics of my first D-fish. Below is the camouflage scheme I'm running with.



and with that decided, and since I haven't painted my troops, here is my Fire Warrior scheme, the final FINAL version!

I definitely like the look you gave to the Ethereal Honor Guard...and I'm quite satisfied with the "less that favorable" approach given to the Ethereals. I've always figured on them being oddly too manipulative in their approach, so it's quite nice to see this iron-fisted approach to governing. Can't wait to see more fluff with this group.

And I cannot wait to see the paint scheme applied to a Fire Warrior, the digital camo approach should look awesome...especially when applied to a vehicle!

I like the Honour Guard Color scheme, The red rifle REALLY stands out. But why don't they have a face?

I posted this earlier but I'll say it again, cus I love this idea that much

So after coming up with that I got to thinking of the Mont'au and how the Ethereal's must be concerned with the somewhat recent actions of O'shovah. With that kind of fall from grace, I cant help but feel that the Ethereals must have come up with some kind of contingency plan for if a local or planet-wide degradation of Tau'va was to occur. The concept I'm running with is called a "Reaction Team" or if you prefer, "Peacewalker Team" (friend coined that, won't drop it. Still thinking of a better name.

Here's the idea: In the wake of O'shovah, the Aun realized that if it could happen to their greatest hero of the age, it could happen to anyone in the empire. Thus, a group of Aun began to look for warriors with certain experiences and skills. The first thing that was looked for in the Shas was having experienced the loss of an Ethereal in combat, with having witnessed what could happen if the Ethereal's were to be removed, they would want to fight to protect the belief of Tau'va. The second was a level of success with either stealth technology, or covert operations. If a sept to were disregard Tau'va, they would need to get in unnoticed. With this former requirement, the training and mastery of the pulse carbine, and grenade use was also key. Over the course of a decade, they force had grown to a sizable cadre in it's own right. It's members were all listed to be KIA, cutting all ties from their lives to be the first line in protecting the Greater Good from it's own people if the need arise.

The Peacewalker armor is symbolic as it is functional. The black represents the sorrow and mourning of the fall of the Tau in which they are acting on, as well as being the traditional color of a stealth unit. The dark brown represents the color of sand when a tear is dropped on it, again a show of sadness. The White represents the hope that in ending the uprising, the Tau will survive. The red on the rifle represents the urgency in which the threat must be acted on. Peacewalker's do not wear gloves, their hands touch the rifle bare, to remind the Peacewalker that the fate of Tau'va both metaphorically and literally, rests in their hands. The helm has no visible ocular devices, this is to represent the faceless billions who follow the path of Tau'va, who have been hurt and betrayed by the fall of their kin.

Peacewalker teams are always lead by an Ethereal, to remind them that even if they are slaying their own kin, it is must be so that other septs may live at peace. In my head, I feel that Aun'shi (who is apparently investigating the Farsight Enclaves, has taken a cadre of Peacewalkers as his guard and support.

Again, I have special rules for this team for a local campaign, and if you want to hear the rules, PM me.

First Devilfish near completion (no shading yet).

Wanted to post this to give people an idea of the color scheme I'm going with and how it looks on the model. The colors may be off so here is a list:
Body: Bleached Bone
Camo: Snakebite Leather
Armor: Blood red + Baal Red wash





I went minimalist with the camo to keep a clean feel, I am well aware that some things need touched up, but this is my first model painted in over at least a few years.

Lessons learned on this model:

Paint THE WHOLE THING the base color, makes it easier to shade later.
Paint camo with stencils, life made simple.
Long brush strokes make for a smoother paint job in the end.
0.1mm Micropen is god for getting in and deep shading some areas.

Love the camo pattern implemented onto the devilfish. Sorry if this seems a little off though, but do you think the pattern should perhaps be either a) a little bigger in size or b) more numerous if you are going to try and break up its silhouette? That's the only thought in my mind in regards to it, but otherwise I do like the way its shaping out.



Did you think the micron was not applying well enough on your painted work? Or that it was drying out way too fast? I'm curious since I tried using a .1mm micron, and maybe even a .05 micron when I first began my modelling.

I'm not sure if I want to go with more for the sake of realism, or keep with a minimalistic aesthetic. I would go with more over going larger though.

I'm using a Micron 0.1mm, and it seems to do quite well with adhering to the paint, but it has a fairly decent set time (~15min). In the deep crevices and what have you, it does a supreme job. No issues with the marker drying out, but it does take a couple passes to get a nice black color. I'm highly considering seeing what I can do with markers on a mini. I also feel that the 0.05mm marker is the better option as it would get in to more cracks easier, but the smallest I can find out here is the 0.1mm.