Omnissiah's Skunkworks

Another fantastic kit that first came out for Aeronautica Imperialis that I immediately tagged for use in Legion Imperialis/Epic. I have painted two in the colours of the White Scars as part of a planned 'Siege of Terra' themed force to provide the fifth legion with some rapid troop air mobility. When I know more how the formations are made up I will determine if I need to add more transports. These are designed to be paired-up with the two Fire Raptors which will provide close air support, although the Storm Eagle is also well equipped to provide a similar role where needed. All of the current Aeronautica legion kits are great to assemble and paint. I left the missile launcher pods off during painting and attached them at the end to make painting the top of the fuselage easier, but other than that the only point to watch for during handling is the lascannons in the wings which are the only fragile part. At the time of painting Warhammer Community had recently posted what the n...

Unlike their bigger heresy counterparts, the Legions Imperialis Fire Raptors are a joy to assemble. They also come with three turret weapon options which is cool. Magnetic mayhem Magnetising all of the ball turrets so you can choose what loadouts you want is surprisingly simple. I glued a disk magnet to the inside of one of the hull parts behind the space where the ball turret would sit. The polarity isn't important as this is the only magnet required. A single 5mm x 1mm rare earth magnet has sufficient pull. I then assembled each of the turrets with a small steel ball-bearing inside. This can be glued in place if the faint rattling bothers you, but isn't that necessary as it can't really move around much in the tiny space. Each of the turrets simply pops into its seat with a satisfying click as if by magic with no unsightly modifications needed. Added bonus in the turrets also swivel in their mounts for extra cool factor! Vth Legion Decals Most of the transfers I used come...

The Solar Auxilia Marauder Bombers are epic scale ordinance delivery specialists. I've included both patterns in my forces. I currently have two flights painted, one in the Voss pattern scheme I also used on the Thunderbolts, the other a 'Destroyer' pattern Marauder painted to match the Lightnings and other Thunderbolt flight. I have not fixed the flight bases permanently, so as they become available for inclusion in the Solar Auxilia forces in Legions Imperialis I can swap them out. At the time of writing that isn't certain as neither the Marauder or Avenger class aircraft feature in the Solar Auxilia lists for the Horus Heresy: Liber Imperialis book for Age of Darkness armies. But regardless I love the miniatures, so when they were released for Aeronautica Imperialis I snapped up a couple of boxes. It also helps they came in the star set. The Destroyers tail gun rotates by design, a neat feature of the design, but I additionally magnetised the top turret on all the Ma...

Lightnings are one of the aircraft types that featured during the time of the Horus Heresy and are included in the book: Liber Imperium. This lends me to believe they should also be part of epics return in Legions Imperialis. Either way I painted a wing of the fast strike fighters to match my Thunderbolts as part of the same squadron in the green with red wing accents. I will most likely add some more Lightnings in the future in Legion colours, should the rules include them. That being said, with the Astartes having access to the Xiphon there is probably no need. If I do, rest assured I will add them to the blog. 

We are almost into the final countdown before Legions Imperialis lands and I can get an actual copy in my hands. Beyond excited at this stage and really looking forward to fully resuming my 'epic scale' hobby journey in the new version of the game. I say new, but of course it's more a re-imagining and polishing of what was old is new again, and I'm all for that. Titanicus turned out to be a really solid game with a fantastic range of tiny Knights and Titans (some of the latter, not so tiny!). I have equally high hopes for Legions Imperialis and the miniature range revealed to date for the Astartes and Solar Auxilia has not disappointed. So what do I plan to spend the launch weekend doing? Other than pawing through the rulebook, I will almost certainly start assembling a couple of detachments of Astartes to test out my chosen palette for the first formation. The Siege of Terra will be my primary focus for building forces in Legions Imperialis, at least for the first few ...

I purchased these flyers almost exclusively for use in epic. So when Legions Imperialis was announced painting White Scars Xiphons was just the start of a 'far' bigger project. Just like the Imperial Fists legion strike fighters, the White Scars Xiphons are a small part of what I hope to grow into a significant Siege of Terra themed force once the game launches. At the time of writing, I don't know how many aircraft compose a detachment. Historically in second edition Epic flyers (other than the really big stuff) came in wings of two, so I'm hoping the same will be true in Legions Imperialis and these can be formed into two formations. If not then I can always adjust. Painting White Scars white Let's get one thing out of the way immediately; my White Scars palette isn't white, it's blue-grey. I almost never paint anything white as a final colour because there is no way to highlight it and the miniature will lack contrast. This is especially true with anythin...

A quick palette test for Legions Imperialis on an Imperial Fists Xiphon flight with escorted Storm Eagle. I had almost forgotten just how much I enjoyment I get from painting epic scale miniatures. Brings me right back to what got me into the hobby in the first place. You may have seen in my social media posts the White Scars versions, I will show more of those in the gallery at a later date once I've had a chance to take some proper photos of them. These I have done specifically for the launch of Legions Imperials, primarily to test out the palette, but mostly to start laying down some units I feel can translate across to the new game immediately. Imperial Fists yellow The go-to colour for these was Games Workshop Imperial Fists Yellow contrast, the same as I have been using for my regular Horus Heresy Fists. One thing I learned from painting epic scale over the years is you have to exaggerate the contrast and the saturation a 'lot' to read well. I have a natural inclinati...

Just added to the gallery pages are a veritable air-raid of epic scale Solar Auxilia aircraft I'm hoping to use in Legions Imperialis. There's no denying my epic-gene is fully re-activated and I've been clearing entire shelves in the cabinets ready for working on the latest incarnation of the game when Horus Heresy Legions Imperialis comes out in August this year. None of these are new miniatures as all were painted for Aeronautica Imperialis. However as you can probably tell from the squadron schemes I always had one eye on using them in the Horus Heresy. Rather than work on some of my legacy collection over the coming weeks, I felt it would be better to focus on units I know, or are confident will be immediately transferrable into the game. Obvious candidates are any of my existing Titanicus and non-xenos Aeronautica Imperialis models. I am currently working on flights of White Scars and Imperial Fists aircraft, which will form part of a 'Siege of Terra' themed ca...