Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Solar Auxilia - The Dracosan Transports, plus some Bombards and a dilemma.


Although these three Dracosan Transports for my Solar Auxilia did not arrive before Christmas (despite my wife ordering before the FW deadline), I was very happy to receive them the day after Christmas! That weekend they were scrubbed clean, and assembled last week. In a conversation with friends about what armaments to give them, I was reminded of the joy of rare earth magnets.


So, all three transports can be equipped with either the twin-linked lascannons or the demolisher cannons. I can also pop the hatches and slip in some pintle-mounted multi-laser gunners if I want. These are a pretty decent choice, particularly for a demolisher-equipped tank, as it not only adds firepower, but also reduces the chances of losing your demolisher on a Weapon Destroyed result.

These are now on the priming bench and will hopefully meet with my airbrush this weekend.


I have also assembled two Bombards to go with my Solar Auxilia. I bought these back when I was building my Blood Pact and had originally thought to include them there. My Blood Pact haven't done much recently, so I felt it was alright to drag them back to the Imperial fold. Note: the foreshortening of my camera makes those big guns look HUGE!


And now to the dilemma. After seeing a few other evolving Solar Auxilia forces using the lovely Forgeworld Mars pattern Leman Russes, I'm seriously thinking about not using my Ragnaroks (above), but repainting my converted Mars pattern tanks from my Genswick force (below). Ultimately it would give me more flexibility, and while they might seem a bit more "stock", the trench rails I scratch built would match well with the Dracosans (at the top). A bonus is that as my Genswick force is green and grey, switching the tanks from green to grey wouldn't be too big an issue for their on-table support.


Anyway, let me know what you think in the comments below : )

Cheers
Dave

13 comments:

  1. That's a lot of resin, man - very jealous! How were the Dracosans, assembly-wise?

    Personally I think the Ragnarok has a lot more personality and would look awesome alongside the Vostroyans you're using. That said, may I suggest "Why not both?" and use the Ragnaroks as Heavy Support slot Russ variants, and perhaps turn those Genswick tanks into Vanquishers and run them in the Fast Attack slot (as they are much more svelte and fast-looking in comparison to the Ragnaroks)?

    In any case I look forward to seeing how the Dracosans and Bombards turn out!

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    1. YOU are jealous of MY resin? Ahem, I wondered if our situations would ever be reversed ; )

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  2. Dave- with the Green tanks, I would do a two color grey green cammo- so it's not a full repaint, more of an "in the field" adjustment. Like Mordain said, that is a dragon's horde of resin!
    cheers
    Thomas

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    1. Hmmm, I'm not sure about that. It would certainly save me lots of time and add some additional interest. Let me think on it.

      Not quite "dragon's hoard" just yet ; )

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  3. I don't know, the wide angle lens kind of makes the bombards look cute and chibi like in their styling o_O

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  4. Great job Dave, I've loved your version of Russian kv2, an authentic beauty. I look forward to seeing the rest of the army, I have an assignment between Vostroya hands, but will be something simple.

    A big hello and happy new year.

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    1. Thanks mate. I like the Ragnaroks too, but I'm feeling the pull of the longer-bodied Russ more and more.

      Happy New Year to you too, keep up the awesome work : )

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  5. I would actually second the use of both tank designs. the Ragnarok variants are too good to not use. they will shine on the tabletop, and you and everyone else will love fighting and dying with them. The Mars Pattern Russ variants are thematically wonderful with your dragon's hoard of resin, and deserve to be in it as well.

    So yeah, BOTH BOTH BOTH! :)

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  6. I've never been a huge fan of Ragnaroks, just my personal taste tbh. I much prefer the traditional Leman Russes.

    Looking forward to seeing those Forge World tanks in future posts too.

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  7. I think your Ragnaroktanks fit into your army really well. Why not add some trenchrails on them too??
    hrdl

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  8. 3 with demolisher cannons each with a squad of volkite toting velataris on board would make an evil spearhead for any army! Really enjoying your blog! Would you mind sharing the colours you used for the osl on your Thanatar?

    Looking forward to seeing more!
    Alex

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    1. Hi Alex, almost missed your comment. Thanks for the kind words.

      For the Thallax OSL I think I just used Vallejo Model Color Blue Green, highlighted up with white. It's a great color for "glowy bitz" : )

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