The Roost of Turkadactyl

In case you haven’t heard yet Games Workshop North America has created an event called Inner Circle.  It involves painting up to 18 units and/or characters from the 40K universe that can fit into a 2×2 area.  This was announced in April and closes on May 13.  Now that I am wrapping up my focus on Sylvaneth I will be turning my attention back to 40K.  What project do I have up my sleeve this time?

Inner Circle is a painting event that has a standardized scoring system across the continent.  Each store will announce a winner come the May 13 deadline.  From that pool of winners five finalists will be announced and flown in to Dallas, Texas for a one night all expense paid trip.  Those five finalists will enjoy a tour of the Dallas office and will be offered some sneak peaks for the year.  Pretty big incentive if you ask me.

So I was pondering what to do with Inner Circle.  I could enter an existing army but I would receive more points starting from scratch.  I think the competition is going to be fierce so I need to accumulate as many points as possible.  That nixes the Carcharodons and Tyranids.

I was thinking about Grey Knights. This would be a great incentive to finish the other half of my army.  They did win finish second at an Armies on Parade, however, I don’t think  the scheme has what it takes to put them over the top for Inner Circle.  Too much gold I think.

This puts the Adeptas Sororitas in the same boat.  The blue and gold is broken up a bit with white and red but the painting standard is still the same as my Grey Knights.  While I am pleased with how that army has turned out it doesn’t have that wow factor.  Again, I need something from scratch.  Looking at my work with the Sylvaneth over the past eight months I have seen my painting progress so what new project can I start?

Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia.  There are extra points awarded to a theme or story.  I bought the Triumvirate of the Imperium alongside the Fall of Cadia book.  That set of models was a no brainer for me.  I have all the armies.  My Inquisition and Sisters armies were started with the Witch Hunters codex.  In December I bought a couple of Cult Mechanicus battleforce boxes. I’ve been eyeing up Mechanicus since their release because the models look cool.  This is just the push I needed.

I read through Fall of Cadia and decided on my display- the cavern below Elyson Field.  Belisarius Crawl is in the process of deciphering the pylon while the forces of Chaos have surrounded the Imperium.  The Saint is taking the fight to Chaos while Trazyn the Infinite is being guarded by some Kataphron Breachers.  Trazyn has just released heroes of the past from his vault to stall the advance of Chaos.

Here is what I have planned to include so far:

1. Belisarius Crawl
2. Saint Celestine with Germinae
3. Inquisitor Greyfax
4. Trazyn the Infinite
5. Kataphron Breachers x3
6. Kataphron Destroyers x3
7. Kastelen Robots with phosphor blasters x2
8. Kastelen Robots with power fists x2
9. Corpuscarii Electro-Priests x5
10. Fulgurite Electro-Priests x5
11. Sicarian Infiltrators x5
12. Sicarian Ruststalkers x5
13. Skitarii Vanguard x10
14. Vostroyan Guardsmen x10
15. Inquisition Stormtroopers x10
16. Sisters of Battle x10

That is a lot to get painted in a short period of time.  Half of the Mechanicus and Triumverate models are assembled.  I think I can get a lot of the Mechanicus painted up quickly.  There are points awarded to drybrushing and these are models that encourage drybrushing, much like the Sylvaneth.  I have two open slots so those will be filled depending on how much time I have available.  I will most likely fill those spots with Adeptas Sororitas that have already been painted.

I am not finalized on all the colours yet.  The primary armour will be tan/yellow.  I really liked how the honeycomb on Drycha looks so I think I am going to use that as the primary armour.  I’m still thinking about the secondary colour:

• Brown- looks good with the honeycomb (positive), but will also have a similar look to my Tyranids (negative).
• Dark Blue- I have some pots of Midnight Blue to use up and the dark blue will be a strong contrast to tan/yellow.
• Red- close to the GW Ryza scheme.  This could look sharp and Mechanicus love their red.
• Light Blue- Thor piqued my interest with Thunderhawk Blue when he posted his Blood Bowl team.  I haven’t worked with a blue at this tone so that’s a plus.

I may post some test models to get some opinions.

Now there is one model I am missing- Trazyn the Infinite.  I have checked out all the stores in the greater Edmonton area and none of them had Trazyn in stock.  I’ve looked on Ebay and I am not paying $60 CDN plus shipping and handling at $30 CDN for that model.  In a pinch I will use a Necron Overlord.

I am asking a favour.  If you see Trazyn around your neck of the woods please let me know.  I’d like to use the actual model and one that is not being price gouged.

Well, wish me luck.  I’m looking forward to posting highlights on this project.  Thanks for reading.