My Deathwing Assault Force
Following on the heels of my recent article about Chaos Terminators, here’s a peek into my collection of Deathwing Terminators. This collection includes models from the original box of eight lead models, the original assault Terminators sold in blister packs, the pewter Deathwing specific Terminators, and the newest plastic models. The photo above is of my heavily converted Terminator “command squad” containing a banner and Apothecary model. The whole squad sits upon detailed “urban” basing, a theme I used for all the bases in the force. My Dark Angel army was done as a successor chapter and I’ve tweaked the color scheme in places throughout the army from the “official” GW scheme. The main color used to paint this force was a mixture of a full jar of Skull White and about half a jar of Bleached Bone. This gave me the very light ivory off-white color I wanted. I’ve also given my characters names of my own choosing, even the special characters. I also tried to return to the tribal theme GW used to emphasize for the Dark Angels army and I’ve not only used most of the feathered upgrade bits they give you now on the plastic frames, but I’ve added feathers gathered from other model ranges. My names are all animal names, mostly but not exclusively birds.
To start this brief visual tour of the army, which thematically comprises seven squads of Terminators, one Master of the Deathwing, one Terminator Chaplain, a Land Raider Crusader and a Dreadnought, I’ll start with my Master of the Deathwing conversion, built from the current metal Terminator Captain model. By adding the banner and boosting him up on a piece from the rare Urban Basing Kit, I’ve visually disguised the fact that he’s a wee bit smaller than the newer plastic Terminators.
Next is a close-up of the Apothecary conversion. The head, all the medical equipment bits, the light on top and the caduceus-like pattern on the chainfist were taken carefully from a pewter Apothecary Space Marine model.
My Terminator Chaplain is a dark and wicked looking fellow, a true Dark Angel type:
Here’s a close-up of some classic models so that you can see the earliest version of some still current weapons. This includes the original Cyclone Missile Launcher, Thunderhammer & Stormshield, Heavy Flamer and Assault Cannon. Note the little shield over the now tiny Assault Cannon.
Here’s a peek at the unique squad markings of each squad in the force:
Months before GW announced they were making an all plastic Land Raider Crusader I decided to build one myself through conversion. The Multi-melta, Hurricane Bolters and Assault Cannons are all plastic on the model shown below. Note the custom crew shield on the Multi-melta. I also painted the inside of this model and the front doors can be opened.
My Venerable Dreadnought was built using the old metal Dark Angel Dreadnought and plastic arms from the current multi-part plastic kit. Note that his close combat weapon is one of the iconic symbols of the Dark Angels, a sword.
So who has tales to tell about their own Deathwing or other Terminator force in games? Have many of you tried fielding an all or near all Terminator army and what do you think of the concept? Leave your stories and comments below. As always, questions and request for hobby tips are welcome.
Oh, and I’ll leave you with a teaser. What GW model is partially shown below? Warning, wrong answers may force a “perils-of-the-warp” test!
