Obliterators.
They’re not good models, and we all know this. The current models aren’t that old, but they’re old enough to have been retired and replaced with models that aren’t shit. These models are less shit than the original ones – those are really shit, but these ones are shit too. Just less so. Still, I updated/resurrected my original pair just over a year ago, and they’re obviously a thing in the new Chaos army, just as they were before, so I finally forced myself to find and dig out another one of them to complete the squad, since these days they’re entirely bought in sets of three.
I did change out the head (again) in order to make the model look a little more “Iron Warriors” and a little less “hot garbage”. This is a MKIII head from Forge World. I think it was from an Iron Hands kit. I do think it improves the appearance of the model significantly.
Just as I mentioned last time, I really dislike the random weapon-spam look of their arms, and so just as I was a bit more judicious with the others I assembled over a decade ago, I was again with this one. Twin-linked bolters on one arm, with ammunition magazines sticking out of the side. (Wait.. so how does he reload? Shh.. don’t think. The model is awful. It’s a meat-man. Don’t think. Don’t use your brain here…)
There might have originally been a decent sculpt underneath all of that, before the sculptor covered their sculpt in too much greenstuff. I will say that I think painting it like meat makes it look less bad than GW’s go-to of pinkish flesh. Which isn’t to say that this is good looking. If you look carefully, you can see the dented left shoulder where I accidentally dropped the model wen in the final stages of finishing it. Somehow it dented the shoulder without damaging the paint. It’s certainly a heavy hunk of metal, in any case.
…and the left arm. Again I’ve gone both minimalist and attempted to make the arm look less rubbish. In this case by using two melta barrel ends I found in a bits box – from converting metal Imperial Guardsmen back in the 1990’s. It actually kinda almost looks okay here, and as I’ve mentioned I’ve been practising a few times lately – another couple of heat-discoloured weapon barrels.
So now I have a trio. The three models required to legally field the Obliterators as a unit in 8th edition Warhammer 40,000. I’ve got more of these models. A bunch of finecast ones bought cheaply secondhand. I planned to make them into Mutilators, but I’m not sure if:
a) Mutilators are worthwhile in 8th
b) I can really be bothered to build and mildly convert them into something passable. I guess I have some spare parts from Ork Mega Armoured Nobz.
c) Which army to build them for. Despite the confluence of the Iron Warriors and the (groan) Obliterator Virus in the lore, I feel like they’re a bit gribbly for my Iron Warriors. Or to have to many of in my Iron Warriors. I’ve also got all those Dark Vengeance models that are a bit too …Chaosy for my Iron Warriors, so I need to decide on a Non-Mono-aligned Fallen Legion to go with my Traitor Legion. Which I guess will be Word Bearers, since I’m disqualifying the four Chosen Legions, I already have the IW, I have specific plans for a small force of Alphas and Black Legion, and I don’t really connect with the Night Lords (and they’re in many ways more murder-y than chaos-y).
If I loved the models, then a) and b) would not be an issue. As it happens, it’s much more the case of “I’ve got them, let’s see if I can be motivated to assemble and paint them.” So… yeah.
If i had to choose one of the three iterations of Obliterators to paint, it would be the first as they’re the smallest and quickest. And I like the kitsch value they have. Seems that they’re so good in the rules still that they command a high price on the secondary market.
Nice job Iron Warrioring it up. That is a nicely polished turd.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Honestly I thought the first ones were worse.. well, in some ways worse. They’re both pretty awful! I’ve seen some much better ones where people have converted Chaos Terminators, which is probably the route I’d go today …if I didn’t already have a bunch of the “official” models.
LikeLike
Nice work on some truly awful figures!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahaha thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha why are they so shit? I’ve read it so many times. Admittedly I don’t like em at all but you’ve done well with them but why does the world hate on them so much haha?
LikeLiked by 1 person
They’re bad models for a concept that could have been really cool. It’s the same problem with the new Hellbrute models. They’re not even a terrible concept – just awful execution. Witness the Gal Vorbak by comparison:
LikeLiked by 1 person
I see
LikeLiked by 1 person
Here’s the stock GW versions:
LikeLike
It’s such a muddled concept, it is no wonder that the minis are a bit… erm… challenging. Nice job though dude, all things considered – your changes all improve the state of affairs 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Alex. If I do Mutilators, perhaps Gal Vorbak will be the way to go. Now what the hell do I do with the rest of the obliterator models I have….? Word Bearers would probably like those freaks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those improvements really work, they’ll look great as part of an Iron Warriors force now. The helmets and weapons tie them back in with ‘proper’ Chaos Space Marines, while the meaty bits provide a nice contrast against the metal of the legion.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Subedai – your measured thoughts are all valid and make good sense. I’m sure they’ll be fine on the tabletop when no-one needs to look too closely at them 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Iron Warriors Rhino APC (Diabolical December ’18) | Azazel's Bitz Box.