I purchased the Assassinorum: Execution Force boardgame (interestingly, listed as No Longer Available on the GWAU site) a few months ago – it might have been around Christmas. I purchased it not only for the miniatures (new plastic Assassins) but also fully intending to play it as a boardgame, since it got decent reviews, is co-op and apparently also works as a solo game. Naturally, I haven’t done a damn thing with it to date (hello, Deathwatch: Overkill!)
Recently, GW released the “Sector Imperialis” base range. With a somewhat reasonably-priced set of HIPs bases with a close-enough-to-spaceship texture now available readily and easily in 32mm, I picked up a set with a vague idea of rebasing my nascent Iron Warriors on them, as the resin ones I’d purchased years ago are all 25mm and now verboten for Space Marines. Actually, I think Marines (and a lot of other models) look better on the 32mm bases, so after an initial WTF reaction, I’m now well sold on the idea.
After picking up the bases, I put two and two together, and decided to use the Chaos Space Marines from Execution Force as my test subjects, as while they’re reasonable sculpts, they’re simple push-fit marines, and so perfect for proof of concept work. This what happened:
My biggest concern was that unlike, say, the Imperial Fist featured on the box art for the bases, the Iron Warriors in their, well, Iron/silver coloured armour with copper and brass accents with hazard stripes to break up the uniformity would not contrast enough with the bases, given that the bases are also painted in shades of silver iron, typically with the use of brass, copper and occasionally hazard stripes to break up the uniformity…. So, um…
I ended up giving the bases an additional watered-down black wash to try to define them more strongly from the marines. I’e used gunmetal on sections of the flooring, and the checkplate has a thin touch of blue to it that can be seen in person, if not in these photographs. I also used two of the new Gemstone paints for the first time – Soulstone Blue on the eye lenses, and Spiritstone Red on the bolter targeters. They turned out ok, I guess.
Transfers are from the Forge World Iron Warriors decal sheet. Oh, and I sliced the “joined horns” off the guy on the righthand side. I don’t particularly like those (or these giant ribbed horns, truth be told) on my Chaos Space Marines. They don’t really fit my image of what I want for my Iron Warriors force. I see them much more as Renegade Marines than as Slaves to Chaos, so you probably won’t see another set of those giant horns anytime soon (smaller ones are okay, in limited use). I mostly wanted to avoid very similar chop-ups on 2 of the 3 models here, and being combination boardgaming models and proof of concept models for the proper force, just let them be.
As a bonus, these three count as my first entry for the Tale of Many Gamers Painting Challenge II that I’m once again running on Dakka. They’re not a legal 40k unit, but they are a “complete unit or group” for the Assassinorum: Execution Force boardgame.
I welcome any thoughts or feedback on the bases. Do they work for Iron Warriors despite the shared/similar palette? I’m not likely to add specific additions like blood spatter to them, and I’m not sure about weathering powders since I like the inferred “starship interior” look of them as well. I’m also considering using these for my Deathwatch: Overkill and even Space Hulk bases when I paint those sets of models, especially given the additional contrast from those models.
the shiner finish on the iron warriors and the black/darker tones on the bases have plenty of contrast. They even fit the iron within-iron without thang that legion likes. I think they work fine. I know what you mean about unopened box-sets though (My Dark Vengeance set is basically untouched except for some models I passed onto a friend!)
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Thanks Dave. The followthrough between iron armour and “iron” bases was the thing that drew me to trying this with my IW rather than just painting them as Word Bearers or Night Lords or something like that. Not to mention the other three boxes of the new bases I bought(!) I’m just glad that they worked out decently!
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Looks good to me dude – plenty of contrast there with the much duller floor finish. Nice job!
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It was clearly that last extra wash that saved them!
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I think the bases fit well mate. They look great.
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Thank you!
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Yes, the darker bases really work. Outstanding paint job as usual. You could add a floor lighting on future bases with some lighting effects to add some more interest or red cables etc.
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I think lighting lends itself much more to an airbrush, but unfortunately I broke my actual brush while trying to clean it. Not that I’m any better than pure rubbish with it, mind you. Coloured cabling is a good idea, though. I should get myself a greenstuff roller. I’ll probably do some using a rust effect. The question is whether to hold that for one particular force or not…
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I would suggest copper wire or thin steel wire for cables. Greenstuff might be good for thicker cables where you need a bit of texture.
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The greenstuff would be for ribbed cables. I’ve got a healthy supply of thin copper wire for modelling that I’ve had since High School Metalwork stashed away… somewhere..
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