The Death Korps meet the Deathwing
I have to confess that the start of this blog post may be a little self-indulgent. The other day I finished reading the Black Library novel Dead Men Walking by Steve Lyons, which features the Death Korps of Krieg fighting against a Necron uprising. I reckon I was about thirty pages in when I decided that I had to start a Death Korp of Krieg army. The way Steve portrays them in the book is superb; as faceless, emotionless men who are more than willing to die doing their duty for the Emperor. The times when they come into contact with civilians and, dare I say it, regular humans, are tense, awkward moments - no one likes the Death Korps and they like their method of warfare even less (which basically involves obliterating every square inch of a city with concentrated artillery fire). If you haven't read it, or you want to read it again, then it can be purchased as an eBook from the Black Library website.
Like all of my many hobby plans, my decision to start a Death Korps army may or may not come to fruition. However, I then got an email from Stuart Burton, who had recently painted a whole platoon of Death Korps Guardsmen and wanted to share the pictures with us. It seems the gas-masked Guardsmen don't want to leave me alone...
Stuart's Guardsmen have a very dark and sombre colour scheme - perfect for a regiment with such a morbid outlook on life. Their dirty, war-torn appearance was achieved using several different Shades over a Skull White undercoat. The trenchcoats were washed with Agrax Earthshade, while Serpahim Sepia was used on the gas masks. The guns and equipment were painted with Ironbreaker and then washed with Nuln Oil. It's a simple, but incredibly effective colour scheme that gives these guardsmen a very realistic look.
For his tanks, Stuart was inspired by the colour scheme of a Medusa in the Imperial Armour Modelling Masterclass Vol.1. His Vendetta Gunship was also inspired by the same book and Stuart chose to use the Forge World transfer sheets on the wings (because it's much easier than trying to paint details on by hand).
Yet just like many hobbyists, Stuart found himself distracted midway through painting his army and accidentally painted a few Dark Angels at the same time, including a unit of Deathwing Terminators. Of course, with the new allies rule it means that Stuart can use the Deathwing as armoured back-up for his Guardsmen.
Like his Death Korps of Krieg, Stuart painted his Deathwing in washed-out sepia tones. His first stage was to paint the armour with Rakarth Flesh, which he then washed with Seraphim Sepia before drybrushing it with Rakarth Flesh. We were particularly intrigued by how he painted his Interrogator Chaplain, which he painted with Dawnstone and then washed it five times with Nuln Oil. Now that's an idea I'm going to have to try out at some point (maybe on some Death Korps).
Maybe...
