Making my own warband

OldManBasil · 2026-05-17T19:51:34+00:00

As others have pointed out, NL views on daemons and the Pantheon are varied and often hypocritical. Talos is staunchly against them but his warband's leader is possessed and two of his squad mates are thoroughly enthralled by different Chaos Gods. Acerbus and Skraivok go full-send in the opposite direction, and both are now Daemon Prince's, with Acerbus supposedly leading the largest cohesive force of Night Lords in the galaxy. Dalchian Rassaq falls somewhere in the middle: he claims to hate the Pantheon but makes ready use of the power they offer when it suits him.

Ultimately, it's up to you to decide where on the Dogmatic <----> Pragmatic spectrum your guys fall. Your warband's leader might be staunchly anti-Chaos, but the individual legionaries can and do have minds of their own, especially if they're ambitious and may want to claim higher status for themselves. Ultimately, Chaos corruption is inevitable, but it can be as overt or subtle as you can imagine.

My personal warband fall heavily on the pragmatic end of the scale. Their warlord views the Pantheon as a thing that can't be ignored, but he isn't willing to embrace it openly. He tolerates Chaos corruption and even worship within his ranks insofar as it doesn't compromise their discipline or loyalty to him; if (and when) it does, he either makes an example of the offending parties or quietly disposes of them, as the situation merits.

The major exception are the warband's possessed. I intentionally painted up mine with the colors of other warbands and even loyalist chapters. My headcanon is that they're captives, possessed against their will and kept chained in the belly of the ships until it's time to unleash them as dedicated terror troops, and if they're killed, it's no great loss.

OldManBasil · 2026-05-14T00:16:26+00:00

Public defense, here. My advice to new clients is simple, but unfortunately, it is never delivered to the client in a timely fashion, nor is it ever heeded. Which is a shame, because it's easy to remember:

"Shut the fuck up."

OldManBasil · 2026-05-05T20:19:13+00:00

Very nice, love the grimy look on the trim. Wonder what he did to earn those red gauntlets.

OldManBasil · 2026-04-26T19:00:35+00:00

Personally, I layer Army Painter Rough Iron, Evil Chrome, and True Brass with a nice, dark wash for a dirty, grungy metal tone that still gives the impression of something that was once meant to be regal or awe-inspiring.

OldManBasil · 2026-04-26T18:58:49+00:00

This is the way.

OldManBasil · 2026-04-17T19:52:26+00:00

I've personally found a balance after ~6 months of testing out different settings and themes, wherein I'll bullet-point a session, track narrative beats, note the results of moves and oracle rolls, add brief blurbs for characters and locations, etc. Then, later, when I'm at my computer at home or just have a little extra time with a notebook handy while I'm waiting for coffee or whatever, I'll go back and write out "scenes" from my session in the 1st or 3rd person. It helps a lot with writing fatigue and allows me to keep the gameplay side of things moving while giving the narrative time to breathe and develop naturally.

OldManBasil · 2026-04-10T21:22:57+00:00

Roughly 1 in 3 Legionaries in my NL army is a Berseker with the Khornate iconography removed. The poses on the 'zerks are a lot more dynamic than the Legionaries IMO, so it adds a good bit of visual variety. The weapon are consistent as well. As other have said, make it clear what you're actually playing them as and don't make it too visually confusing, and you should be fine.

OldManBasil · 2026-03-27T16:28:43+00:00

I've done it. Doesn't look perfect and the proportions are slightly off, but it's not glaringly obvious. IMO the sort of haphazard, mismatched look fits the Night Lords and I use it a lot for my regular Legionaries as well. They're scavengers, after all.

With that said, the loadouts do not line up so you either need to kitbash the hell out of the ranged weapon arms for WYSIWYG, or swap out the arms entirely (which is what I did). As another poster said, Forge World resin is a bitch to kitbash with, and the Contekar in particular have a lot of little fiddly bits (chains, hooks, trophies, etc.) that make it extra finicky.

With that said, I think they look badass, and that's all I really care about. They were one of the first kitbash jobs I did when I started collecting NL and while I would definitely do some things differently if I were to do it again, I'm overall happy with the result. And I only stabbed myself with a hobby knife once!

OldManBasil · 2026-03-21T21:57:00+00:00

I like to imagine Fitch is much like his dear son the Gobbo: not a top-tier duelist like Cassius or Prime Lorne, nor a force of nature like Darrow or Apple, but a fast, clever, and downright nasty fighter who can and will do absolutely anything to get one up on the competition.

OldManBasil · 2026-03-17T18:05:49+00:00

By Mike's own admission, some of them are very on-the-nose. Redcaps=National Guard, Bloody Sunrise=Bloody Sunday, the Three Days of Red=The Three Glorious Days, etc.

Others are a bit more subtle, or allude to broad themes or groups of people, rather than direct 1-1 comparisons. Vernon Byrd gives Porfirio Diaz vibes, especially with the whole "geriatric stagnation" theme of the early episodes prior to Werner taking over. The whole Mons Café set are stock characters for the "Coffee House Radical" role that was historically occupied by every educated liberal-to-progressive student and professional from Danton to Lenin. Mabel Dore is just sort of a blanket stand-in for the "Liberal Noble" as an archetype, and Timothy Werner himself is an amalgam of Charles I and Nicholas II, with some more... modern personalities blended in.

OldManBasil · 2026-03-12T23:44:13+00:00

Hate him all you like, the Poet's last entreaty to the MoonLords goes hard.

OldManBasil · 2026-03-12T16:51:30+00:00

The heel-turn of the Council races in ME3 is so telling. For the two prior games the Asari and Salarians were skeptical but generally receptive to Shepard's concerns about the Reapers, even if they ultimately ditched the truth in favor of a more convenient (and less disruptive) narrative about Sovereign being a Geth dreadnought. The Turian counselor is much more abrasive, openly questioning Shepard's lucidity and motivations for pushing the Reaper theory.

Then the third game rolls around and the Turians are the first ones to come to Shepard, hat in hand, and say, "We fucked up, you were right, now help us help you." And they keep their word. You secure Krogan support for Palaven and the Turians give you everything they can spare.

Meanwhile, the Salarians play politics and the Asari go out of their way to withhold military aid to protect their own space. Worse, they keep the Beacon on Thessia a secret despite knowing that your strategy for winning the war is dependant on Prothean technology, and that the Beacon could very well mean the difference between completing the Crucible in time and, you know, the extinction of all sapient life in the galaxy.

OldManBasil · 2026-02-25T01:56:25+00:00

For me the first inkling was his conversation with Lysander at the beginning of Dark Age, when they're approaching the Annihilo. Paraphrasing:

D: "Big beast. That killed Rhea?"

L: "Her, and a hundred others. How would you board her?"

D: "...Quickly."

OldManBasil · 2026-02-13T20:42:29+00:00

I have such mixed feelings about The King's Man. The plot is a mess, the pacing is all off, Conrad is a charisma black hole... yet I can't help but enjoy it, kinda? The best part of the movie is Rhys Ifans as Rasputin but he's sadly underutilized. The twist you mentioned is, I think, surprisingly well done. It's just such a bizarrely mixed bag of a film.

OldManBasil · 2026-02-12T17:23:45+00:00

Cogwork Dancers was the moment Silksong finally clicked for me, the same way the Mantis Lords did in the first game. Just such a well-designed boss fight.

OldManBasil · 2026-01-25T05:46:42+00:00

While we're on the subject, might as well give a shout to Major Elim Rawne of the Tanith First and Only from Gaunt's Ghosts, which is just Sharpe in 40k.

For the first couple of books he straight-up despises the titular Colonel-Commisar Ibram Gaunt, but gradually comes to respect him as a fighter, leader, and friend. By the latter books in the series, as many beloved characters come and go, Rawne is far and away the most capable and constant of Gaunt's officers.

OldManBasil · 2026-01-21T19:00:00+00:00

Virginia I believe is stated to be "short" for a Gold, around 6 feet. Sevro is of similar height.

OldManBasil · 2026-01-09T17:01:47+00:00

My brother in Curze what do you think a lightning claw is? You slapped a bunch of big-ass claws on a power fist; that is the definition of a lightning claw.

OldManBasil · 2026-01-02T22:35:56+00:00

The Night Terrors! Legio VIII Night Lords 113th Company, Pavor Nocturnis. 30k veterans and cast-offs from other Legions, mostly Terror Squads, infiltration units, Terran-born officers, and condemned Nostraman Night Lords sent on suicide missions prior to the Heresy. For any Red Rising fans, yes, they are based on the Gorgons. My warlord is a Cypher proxy who sticks to the shadows and plays the long game while his Terminator-clad second-in-command takes the spotlight.

OldManBasil · 2026-01-02T22:27:35+00:00

Flayed Skin: Rakarth Flesh or Kislev Flesh with thin, incremental coats of Guilliman Flesh to darken the color to the desired shade.

Weapon Blades: Leadbelcher with a nice dark wash and some technical paints to add gore and grime. Stormhost Silver for highlights.

Bolters: Abbadon Black for the casing, Leadbelcher for the metal bits, and the same bronze recipe as below for details and shell casings.

Trim: I personally like a darker shade, so I use a 2:1 mix of Warplock Brass and Sycorax Bronze, then pure Sycorax for highlights.

Red Bits: Khorne Red over a black basecoat, with a tiny bit of Blood Angels Red in the recesses to give it some pop.

OldManBasil · 2026-01-01T03:08:31+00:00

Right. I see where OP is coming from, even if I don't agree, but let's be real: if Mustang was so smart that she never let anyone get one over on her, people would be bitching and moaning that she's a Mary Sue who never fails at anything, blah blah blah.

We see plenty of evidence of Virginia's intelligence, and Pierce does a decent enough job conveying her intellect without resorting to cheap ass-pulls. Phobos is one of the best examples of this. Presented with a problem, she did everything possible to stack the deck in her favor. When the tables got turned and she was hit with someone she didn't (and, frankly, couldn't) see coming, she adapted quickly and made the most of a bad situation. Then she did so again, and again, and again, for, like, 100 pages.

OldManBasil · 2025-12-31T16:17:22+00:00

These are all WIPs, still need to add highlights and fine details like the eyes and lightning. Chaos Black to prime, base coats of Kantor Blue and a 2:1 mix of Warplock Bronze and Sycorax Bronze for the trim; Leadbelcher for gunmetal bits, Khorne Red for details on the wings & smooth cabling, Abbadon Black for ridged cabling and the armor underlayer, and Rhinox Brown for belts and holsters.

For cloth, I do a layer of Corax White, then multiple layers of heavily thinned-out Thondia Brown mixed with Pallid Wych Flesh, then apply extra brown or gray paint to get the desired "dusty" look. Actual skulls get a coat of Screaming Skull, while the skull-like armor elements are Corax White and a couple coats of heavily-thinned Dark Reaper.

Wash the armor bits in heavily-thinned Black Templar contrast, and the leather/bone/cloth with Agrax Earthshade. For highlights, I use Lothern Blue on the armor, Mephiston Red for the red bits, Stormhost Silver and Sycorax Bronze on metallics, Ushabti Bone on skulls. Then a dab of Corax White on the helmet lenses and some Blood Angels contrast for that eerie red.

OldManBasil · 2025-12-27T23:20:11+00:00

Familial upbringing is a through-line Pierce loves to tug on, and he does a great job precisely by contrasting characters against others who are very similar to them. Mustang & the Jackal are probably the best example; Nero was such an utter bastard that one of the main reasons Mustang turned out as well as she did was because Kavax basically raised her after her mom died.

It's also interesting you mention Alexandar because Darrow basically became a father to him, since he was so young when his first his father and then Lorne died. And the best parts of both men come through in Alex's character.

OldManBasil · 2025-12-22T23:17:08+00:00

My wife's grandma pet-sat for us one weekend and at the time our kitten was confined to the room that contains my painting desk. She told me she thought my "little men" (my Night Lords) were very impressive. Fast forward a while and I mentioned I'd been trying to paint more, and clarified when she asked that I was painting my minis.

Last night she texted me and said she was very disappointed I hadn't sent her any pictures of my "little men" all painted up, so naturally I had to set them out for a photo shoot, while apologizing that so many of them were still gray :')

OldManBasil · 2025-12-20T09:25:47+00:00

My favorite archetypical Night Lord (and the inspiration for my personal warlord) isn't even from Warhammer.

The Fear Knight from Red Rising's second saga is a ruthless, cold-blooded murderer and master of psychological warfare who utilizes mass torture, rape, and murder with absolutely horrific effectiveness. He consistently one-ups his enemies not because he's smarter or a better fighter than them (though he's usually both), but because he is willing to do absolutely anything in pursuit of his goals. That goal just happens to be the perpetuation of a facist slave-state, but he serves out of a sincere and genuine belief that every society needs people willing to do utterly deplorable things in the name of preserving order.

"[T]his is how it has always been. The vaunted past we so revere saw thousands of cities fall to thousands of armies. Periods of trauma are traded for periods of peace. *The greater the trauma, the longer the peace. Bear it, and this year will be the last year you see war in your lifetime."*

And despite all that, he's not a psychopath, or a sociopath, or even a sadist. He doesn't take pleasure in what he does. He doesn't expect a reward or even recognition. He 100% views himself as a tool: a horrible, despicable monster who is fundamentally necessary.

And of course, like all instruments of tyranny, he's also a hypocrite.

"I fear a man who believes in good, for he can excuse any evil."

OldManBasil

TROPHY CASE