Duke Sliscus And The Sky Serpents

[Jokaero!]

~*DUKE SLISCUS AND THE SKY SERPENTS*~

When I heard the Dark Eldar were finally being rereleased I was pretty happy. Now, anyone who tells you they’ve been waiting 12 years for the new Codex to be rereleased is lying, you don’t start waiting as soon as your ‘Dex is out (unless you’re a Nids player it seems) but I was there 12 years ago. I started 40k with 3rd edition and the Dark Kin were my first army and you never forget your first love (photos of my old models to follow at some point), why I chose them I can’t tell and to be honest I haven’t used them in the last 8 but I have a shoebox full of awful models to show I was there. Since being back in the hobby fulltime I’ve been looking for an army to become my ‘main force’ and after the new models came online in grainy shots I knew I’d be happy evermore.

Duke Sliscus The Serpent. As soon as I saw that name appear in a Warseer rumour thread I knew I’d found the leader and theme for my army, even if his rules and model were awful, I’d use him.

I like heraldric figures. I like renegades and rebels. I like space pirates. I like characters with force and charisma. I like pirates who’s personal colours are the flayed skin of an Imperial Admiral. I like debauchery. I like concubines. I like Ziggy Stardust. Turns out the Duke was everything I ever wanted. Oh and his rules are pretty good too.

See I like themed armies. I find it impossible to build an army without some form of back story or idea driving the army on; you’ll probably find my Exodites and Eshin Skaven a testament to this. With the Duke at the helm I have a reason, a purpose. Instead of a simple Kabal I will be fielding the Sky Serpents, an array of renegades and outcasts, drawn to the banner and charisma of The Serpent. Realspace will never be the same again.

I guess I should give you a slight warning: I don’t paint that fast. I like to take my upmost time on each model. Each squad took four hours to glue together, time spent separating the pieces out to avoid duplicates and long periods drawn out deciding on poses. You will see conversions. You will see (hopefully) good painting. You won’t see a finished army by Easter. In fact I won’t start painting until I have my Hellions and Ravagers finished so that every spare piece of plastic is used for something.

Anyway, I rambled on more than Jervis Johnson on Speed. Let’s see some end product. On the next post you will see an army list and more indulgent ramblings and then hopefully some models. I’ll also be revisiting these first few posts to ‘Jazz’ them up a bit.

See you in the Webway.

[Jokaero!]

REALSPACE RAIDS: TBA

ARMY LIST

Duke Sliscus, 150

Baron Sathonyx, 105

9 Kabalite Trueborn,
2 Splinter Cannons, 6 Shardcarbines,
Dracon, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Agoniser, 203
Raider, Flickerfield, Night Shields, Chain Snares, 85

Fangs of the Morning Asp

10 Kabalite Warriors,
Blaster, Dark Lance,
Sybarite, Venom Blade, 145

The Fangs of the Morning Asp are highly trained clones sought from the Solar Cult of the Sacred Eclipse. After the return of a stolen sun and several veiled threats, the Sky Serpents struck a deal with the Sacred Eclipse ensuring their numbers would never lack. Smuggled from Commorragh through the Webway, they are delivered to one of the Duke's flagships and assigned quarters; their weapons, garbs and even names are decided upon what flitting mood carries Duke Sliscus that day. The cadre is often first to make planetfall before the dreaded raids begin, setting up positions to thwart the enemy before the clouds roil with dagger shaped ships. Being first ensures several things for Sliscus: a simple, manual test of the waters to make sure that all gathered intel regarding the enemy and world is accurate and correct. More importantly no maimed or dead are collected and revived, thus ensuring only the strongest survive. Battle after battle, Raid after raid, century after century the Duke's forces only grow more potent and deadly.

10 Wyches,
Hydra Gauntlets, Shardnet and Impaler,
Hekatrix, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Agoniser, 160
Raider, Night Shields, Aethersails, Chain Snares, 85

14 Hellions,
Helliarch, Stunclaw, 239

6 Reavers,
2 Heat Lances, 2 Cluster Caltrops,
Arena Champion, 206

Flamboyant Dreams And Sins Of Lust, Dance Dance, Dance, Puppet Girl Dance

Ravager,
Night Shields, Flickerfield, 125

With the candles flickering and minstels playing delicate notes of synth-flute, Duke Sliscus carved another stanza into the girl's naked breast. He pitied the poor monkeigh of the Adeptus Soritas as she lay across his table. Her resolve and faith carried her and though she shed blood, no tears or sounds were delivered. The Duke's smile changed into a snarl as he grew bored with his latest play thing, they had been such a joy to fight, such a joy to kill but this one, the Canoness they had called her, this one was different.
"Time for the poisons" said Sliscus, taking a sip of millennia old wine as he drenched his needle-sharp pen in the turquoise ooze of a dusty vial. This is better, thought Sliscus as her skin melted away with every stroke of his pen as the Sister finally let loose a sombre howl. "But how to record such a vivacious poem if her hide is to become obsolete" Sliscus asked one of the concubines fawning behind him. "The ship you stole from the Poisoned Tongue yesterday eve still needs a name, oh lord of deadly silence and lost hope."
'Excellent idea', thought the Duke, 'the next line I write shall prove a fitting name' as he picked the girl up by the hair, cutting more dark words into her back.


Voidraven Bomber (swapped in for Reavers now and then),
2x Necrotoxin Missiles, 2x Shatterfield Missiles,
Night Shields, Flickerfield, 205

1498



This post is very plain and boring for the moment but decided it would be healthy to see what would be in the army. I will update the list, giving names and background for each unit. Expect more waffle in this post. I looooove fluff.

[Jokaero!]

So.... Let's start with the big man himself.......... Duke Sliscus The Serpent.



He is based on the stock Archon body with Kabalite Blast Pistol and Power Weapon arms (oh and head too). The back banner is based on the old Beastlord's banner, representing the flayed skin of Admiral Bakka with updated skulls. As a finishing touch he has a concubine, fawning at his feet. I'm really not happy with him so far, my main concerns are his arms, mainly the Venom Blade arm and the weapon itself. I'll get some blu-tac out and have a play around. Also expect a fur trim on his collar and more sculpted details. Expect a Ziggy Stardust-esque lightning strike tattoo on his face when it comes to the painting. Let me know what you think of him so far.




I'd imagine the Duke would only really associate with Trueborn, finding the cloned warriors to be a lesser race in his eyes. I have only been using legs with tabards on and all models have (or will have) a back banner or rack, proudly representing their heritage. I've gone with the classic carbine and cannon spam to take advantage of the Duke's special rules though haven't bothered trying to convert Shardcarbines. What's everyone else using? Odds on a metal bitz pack being released next wave? I'll be looking at more ways to make these guys appear more 'special' (good special, not Ogryn special).

Not pictured are a squad of Wyches (that'd be too boring though I'm happy with the poses), a Raider (converted to be ridden by Wyches), 6 Reavers and Lelith. But I guess I could show you this:



Voidraven Bomber. iCookie goes to anyone who comes up with an evil, pompous name for it. Based on the FW Eldar Phoenix, I will be using the Dark Eldar kits to give it an evil twist and potentially create the centrepiece for the army.

Oh, colour scheme. Looking at turquoise with rose (both pallid pastel) with gold details. Anyway, that's that for now, comments are appreciated as are ideas. The more constructive the better. See you all soon.

[Wise Guy Sam]

Really promising start. I Enjoyed your rambling, keep that up.

Hmmm I'm afraid I agree with your assessment of The Duke conversion. It's like he is shrugging with both his arms posed like that. I think his arm with the blade needs a more relaxed pose. It already looks like he has/is about to take a shot with his pistol. Maybe look at pictures of pirates and see if the have any common stances ( you seem like the kind of guy who will happily research these sorts of things). :-)

[alphachicken]

I'd probably leave the HQ for a bit, start with painting some warriors, then go back to him later. Many people do the mistake of working on their general first, then get the experience they actually needed with the rank and file.

Model-wise, the concubine on his feet make the already small base really crowded, and his pose suffer from the oldschool "ragnar blackmane-pose" syndrome. Removing the concubine and making the sword arm in a standing idle kinda way would help a bit, and I think you could probably find a smaller flayed skin on his back, this one is almost as tall as he is!

Other than that, great start with the warriors, I like the poses I see so far, and I like the idea of the voidraven/bomber. There's a lot of great spiky bits in the raider sprue as I've discovered.

It's a promising start, and I'm sure we'll see great things here!

[Rabid Bunny 666]

Hey Paul, good to see you've gone Dark Eldar too. For the Trueborn, try to get the full unit with the backbanners, this might be a bit hard as you're using 9 though. I'm not so keen on the Duke though, it seems to be lacking something although I don't quite know what.

[Tourniquet]

Looking good so far, i like what you have going.

With the duke try something more like this maybe?

(cut the red bit off to give easier angle, black is rough positioning)


Have the arm down at a resting position? That way his pose is more of a Commander/Lord serveying the battle/raid?

[Mr Feral]

Good theme and a solid start too!

I like your Duke conversion, although I agree that the sword arm needs to be lowered. Heck, I reckon you should remount the model on a 40mm base and for a bit of humour add a treasure chest and maybe some gold spilling out as well. :P

[AmKhaibitu]

Just curious how you're going to represent the second blade of the Serpent's Bite, since they're a set.

Been thinking about following your path as I do want Sliscus in my force as well, and happen to have an archon on hand. Of course he'll have a different name.

Are you going to change the power weapon at all to make it a venom blade?
I'm thinking of removing the power feed and carving in capillaries to the blade itself.

[slirgy]

check out phil kellys sliscus maybe take ideas from this

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/co...?aId=16500007a

[RTB01]

Void Raven - Uraithen - "Death Rain"? although dark elf surely transferrable?... I'll be watching your blog with interest as I've gone with a similar theme - just can't think of how to do the sky serpents symbol

[slirgy]

Void Raven - Uraithen - "Death Rain"? although dark elf surely transferrable?... I'll be watching your blog with interest as I've gone with a similar theme - just can't think of how to do the sky serpents symbol

try using dark elf corsair snake symbol with sculpted wings or something

[Mojaco]

The Empire Wizard has a great snake bit, which would be perfect for this army.
http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_...s1_873x627.jpg

[AmKhaibitu]

Just a small update for you for your Duke if you're interested, they just released an actual venom blade in the scourges box.

I plan on upgrading mine with it.

[slirgy]

i was gonna use a power sword with tons of green wash it looks like its coated in poison

[Jokaero!]

Well it has been a while. Is anything painted? No. Is it even ready to be painted? No. Have you made any progress? Kinda. And that my dear friends is what I will be showing you.

I won't do any individual replies as you should generally just ignore the first pictures. I'll keep them up there for a sense of completeness but it's all changed. I now have my 1750 built, it just needs converting and pimping. I'm nearing the end of that cycle so that is where your critique will come in.

So, let's start with.......



Duke Sliscus of course. You can see that I've gone for an entirely different route and as far as I know the only one to do so. He is based on Prince Yriel with a Warriors head, trophy hand and shoulder pads from the Hellions, Venom Blades from the Scourges, a Serpent from the Corsairs kit plus some other mish mash. He is still due a lot of work - a lot of green stuffing and the banner needs finishing too. Looking to bring him a bit higher too.



Oh a Razorwing. It's the stock model so far and is due some converting, not sure what just yet. Also looking into buying an airbrush. Can anyone make a recommendation that doesn't cost the earth? I've also decided on a colour scheme, took 7 months but I'm finally there. You have no idea how many changes I went through. Going for a scarlet with lots of art nouveau freehand with mustard and jade as the secondaries.



And my last image of my returning post. An objective marker that cost more than any model in the army.

My target is to get everything painted by the end of October. It's going to be tough but we will see. Updates tommorow.

[Sildani]

Dunno where you live, but a Paasche H airbrush is what I use - well built, comfortable, and easy to clean. You should be able to find one on eBay for around $30 US. Also get a broad color tip and aircap. Acrylic is very, very thick and tends to clog. It really needs to be thinned. Windex has worked well for me. Your primary need is a cheap source of air, and for that, you'll need an air compressor. If you're in the US, Harbor Freight has a decent one for about $70, although coupons are readily available.

After that, practice, practice, practice!! I use water bottles for practice, since they react exactly the same as Venoms and Razorwings.

Art Nouveau freehand? Wot's dat?

[unheilig]

I was gonna do art nouveau freehand! Back to the drawing board...

[tame]

The only link about airbrushing you'll ever need: http://www.akaranseth.com/blog/tutor...r-figurine.htm

TL;DR : get a dual-action, gravity feed airbrush + compressor w/ tank.

[Sildani]

Dunno about that last; the OP asked for an airbrush that wouldn't break the bank and the author's recommendations of airbrush and compressor would run around $400 or so. Also, gravity-fed, dual action airbrushes can do marvelous detail work but are not suitable for basecoating, which the OP might want it to do. Still, that was an excellent read.

I have found this site to be an invaluable resource: here. Hope all this helps!