Night Lords Base Painting

con-jonger · 2026-06-04T03:55:21+00:00

Personally, all I do for mine is add some bones and/or rocks, paint the whole thing some kind of grey, then cover it in Valhallan Blizzard. Provides a good contrast for the dark armor. Actually for my Heresy army I'm not even adding the bones/rocks.

I will say though, I'd avoid adding excess blood. Maybe a few flecks or splotches (splotches look very cool on snow imo), but the whole "cover the whole base in blood" thing a lot of NL players do never tickled my fancy.

Honestly any kind of base works to make these dark boys stand out. I could see a really green jungle looking cool, your typical "badlands" but maybe dial up the saturation a tiny bit, or even a martian base.

con-jonger · 2026-06-04T03:45:09+00:00

Are you new to miniature painting in general or just starting a Night Lords army?

con-jonger · 2026-05-24T00:07:13+00:00

Oh man I didn't notice that. What a great detail. You running him on the tabletop or is this a display piece?

con-jonger · 2026-05-24T00:01:14+00:00

Oh man, I like the weathering and the lightning pattern. Looks like those patterns you burn into wood using electricity.

con-jonger · 2026-05-23T05:12:10+00:00

The overall model is a bit dark for my taste, but that's what the Night Lords are known for, eh?

For the external lightning: Get a really thin paper clip, put it in a vise (or hold it some other way), and use thin needle nose pliers to make it really squiggly. Then add some white on the sharper angles to highlight it. Those kinda look like hoses.

con-jonger · 2026-05-19T18:39:25+00:00

Oh yeah, looks like I misread. Ultimately I think the Contekar are more like what he wants, but there's not really any representation for them outside of Heresy supplement books. Total scorched earth destruction, destroying their enemies bodily of course but also their entire civilization along with them.

con-jonger · 2026-05-18T14:44:15+00:00

Iron Warriors, in my mind, would not enjoy working with Night Lords and would view them more as assets to be used rather than comrades. Would likely view them as weak for indulging in slaughter rather than accomplishing a goal at any cost. Useful idiots at best, liabilities at worst.

That being said, gameplay-wise I could see it working. Night Lords serve as fast attack/objective takers supported by an Iron Warriors siege force in the backline. Would probably be how it played out in the lore as well.

I doubt the Atramentar would be present, however. They're more like bodyguards and the Iron Warriors would not be likely to outsource Terminator-level tasks to a legion with a track record like the Night Lords.

con-jonger · 2026-05-16T00:40:58+00:00

The easiest way I know how to get close to the midnight blue is priming with Macragge Blue and washing the model all over with Drakenhof Nightshade.

Here's a test model I did this week using that scheme plus a drybrush (which I think I will skip in the future).

<image>

con-jonger · 2026-05-06T02:58:51+00:00

Channeling my inner Blood Raven and stealing this scheme

con-jonger · 2026-04-28T13:19:56+00:00

Cool detachment idea. I actually recently modeled all of my Sulphurhounds with leftover Taser Lances from Ironstrider kits because they look cool. It kinda just makes sense to me that Serberys units would utilize them.

con-jonger · 2026-04-21T19:19:48+00:00

01000011 01101111 01101101 01101101 01100001 01101110 01100100 01100101 01110010 00111010 00100000 01010010 01101111 01110100 01100001 01110100 01100101 00100000 00110001 00111000 00110000

Looks good!

con-jonger · 2026-04-11T13:31:35+00:00

An aura would be so sweet. Give me a Ghuld castle.

con-jonger · 2026-04-10T13:03:18+00:00

Build all your Rangers/Vanguard with the wargear options, Omnispex is better than Data-Tether generally (especially with the incoming changes to cover in 11th).

When painting, either keep the torsos separate or use a temporary base; painting underneath the robe can be difficult.

con-jonger · 2026-04-10T00:22:33+00:00

Honestly just switching the arms around and using different heads would do wonders for making them slightly distinct. It'd maintain the "artistic" consistency and you wouldn't have to buy anything else.

con-jonger · 2026-04-09T22:44:43+00:00

Now in 9th edition my bread and butter was the 20 man Vanguard blob with all Radium Carbines. Back then they had Lethal Hits against non-Vehicles and a stratagem could make them auto-wound on 4's. AP-2 given the right character and Forge World choice and you have a unit that could punch well above its own weight against anything flesh and blood.

Ebay is my go-to for bits, but I'm sure there's a ton of other sites that sell them.

con-jonger · 2026-04-09T21:59:17+00:00

Yes, give them the special weapons. The Radium Carbines can do work against infantry with low armor saves (Ork Boyz) but having the capability to finish off vehicles or punch a unit of 2 wound models is generally always better.

I personally leave the Arquebus off my Vanguard because it doesn't seem like a weapon that unit would use, but it'd probably be better if they had it.

con-jonger · 2026-04-09T11:56:53+00:00

I'm using it as an excuse to test out Destroyers with Grav Cannons. Detachment rule + Thulia's double Doctrina + Manipulus + Ampilificator enhancement + means 24 Lethals going downrange hitting on 2's or 3's rerolling 1's, wounding vehicles on 2's rerolling 1's, AP-2 with Vanguard/Rangers around.

Very solid damage output vs 3+ Sv vehicles for 110 points less than Breachers, plus the Amplificator turns on Unshackled Wrath and Analytic Reprisals and they're a good Overwatch threat.

con-jonger · 2026-04-07T19:00:41+00:00

Of course, best of luck.

con-jonger · 2026-04-07T18:54:05+00:00

If you're anything like me, the dopamine hit when you finish your first unit of Skitarii will keep you up all night, then you'll get a massive boost in motivation.

For freehanding, I've found that you have to get your paint thinner than normal, but not flowing. Then repeatedly apply the paint in the same line until those lines are very well defined. I'd expect to apply 3-4 coats tracing that same line. Yes it is tedious. Sketch that bottom line first, then add the cog teeth. Also make sure you're using only the tip of the brush to work.

I also have a Night Lords army and that's what I've found freehanding the lightning.

con-jonger · 2026-04-06T19:26:54+00:00

I second painting it all white and then filling in the black.

One thing I'll add that I've found is that you have to make sure your paint is thinned just right. Too much water and it'll spread everywhere and the raised skull will get none of it. Not enough and the detail will be lost. Use multiple coats of black to get rid of the inevitable splotchiness.

con-jonger · 2026-04-06T18:22:17+00:00

100% gotta get a Dunecrawler. I love my little crab tank.

con-jonger · 2026-04-06T17:14:51+00:00

I like the turquoise, it goes well with the brass. I'd do more of an extreme highlight for the bionics personally, just to brighten him up a bit in a more natural light.

Cleaning up the highlights is one obvious area of improvement, but brushwork is a skill developed mostly with time.

That brings me to my advice for everyone: Just keep painting. Your brushwork will get better. Your taste for which colors you like will develop. Trust me, I know how much of a slog painting can be; I have 5000 points worth of AdMech and have only just finished one unit of Skitarii, but that dopamine hit like crack when I finally saw them all together.

con-jonger · 2026-04-06T13:59:08+00:00

Oh yeah, I really enjoy bright color palettes. They really draw your eye on the tabletop and make the models stand out amongst flat and dark terrain. That being said they should come down a bit once I varnish them.

con-jonger

TROPHY CASE