Twelve Angry Mentis

 First models of the year! And it's the same ones as the last ones of 2020. 

The Mantis Warriors have some Primaris reinforcements, courtesy of General Kas. Kas somehow bought too many Indomitus marines, something many players swear is impossible, and kindly palmed them off on me along with the payment for the last commission. 

Lovely models, as before. Sadly, in Army Painter Jungle Green, I have found a new Tau Light Ochre. That's a paint that needs three coats before you can't see through it, so there was a very long grind in the middle of these. Worth it, though, I think, it came out nice and smooth over the Contrast basecoat of Creed Camo. 

Because they're Indomitus push-fit, the sergeants came with standard options. Everyone knows Marine Sergeants need to have the punchiest tools they can carry, so these got upgraded to Power Fist, Power Sword and Plasma Pistol. Power swords got pretty butch after the recent codex, I'd say. The extra pip of strength really makes them sing, and the AP is excellent!

Mantis Warriors are something of a hair-shirt chapter, still atoning for their ancient sins. To me, this implies lots of Chaplains, so having one of the beautiful new Primaris ones is great. I'd admit to having a crush on the new Biker one too, and the recent exclusive Terminator one, but they'll have to wait until next year. This chap will tide me over, I really enjoyed painting him even though I'd just done a Crypt Angel version a couple of weeks back. 

The Judicar is a lovely sculpt apart from that rotten head. Easy enough to swap it out, though, so my clone got a helmet which I think looks much better. Kindly, almost, in comparison, you'd definitely consider letting this one officiate at your wedding instead of Chaplain Covid Mask. I went all-in on the sword, which is the best bit of the model, and the NMM chrome came out pretty well. 

The Mantis Warriors are nearly complete - one squad still to showcase, then it'll be time for an army shot!