The second formation making up my initial 1k points is a Blood Angels legion armoured company. This is a costly formation with the core slots needing to be filled with (a minimum) two battle tank squadrons and one heavy tank squadron.
At the time I put this together only the launch boxes were out, so I was limited to how many Sicaran I had access to. I could have filled one of the squadrons with Predators, but I have another mission in mind for those. With a box of Kratos thrown in this gave me enough to field the core detachments and a second game ready formation.
Magnets
The turrets on the Sicaran are designed with magnets in mind and the kit comes with full turret options for both variants, which is super nice. They don’t need magnets as the compression fit is good on the kits, but I transport all my forces with a magnetic style case, so it made sense to use them in this case regardless. That way I could take both options for ultimate flexibility.
The magnets needed are 6mm x 1mm disk magnets. Three for each tank; one the hull and one for each of the turret options.
The Kratos are also magnetised, although only for convenience as you only get a single turret for each tank, unlike the Sicarans. As such they are really not needed, unless like me you just like the snapping sound they make when taking them on and off to swap between hulls. What can I say, I like the tactile click.
Painting the red
Similar process to the Rhinos. Start with a greyscale to white preshade. I pushed this a little more for modulation compared to the infantry and then gave the entire tank several think passes of blood angels contrast straight through the airbrush to build up a strong red. To create shadow I used flesh tearers red focussing on the upper edges of the hull and deepest recesses only. Finally I gave the tanks a wash of thinned down Abteilung 502 shadow brown oil paint.
Decals
I predominately used the ones that came with the Legions Imperialis kits, but additionally used a few from Forgeworld’s Horus Heresy Blood Angels legion sheet. There are some nice gold and squad markings if you have one to hand. These I used to give each Kratos its own look and pick out the command tank.
To get these game ready quickly, I omitted any weathering or fine detail stages. These I can finish off at leisure once the formation has seen some action.
As I have only included the core units for now, this is a formation I intend to revisit in the future to fill out optional support and air slots. I’m looking at you Xiphon and Fire Raptor squadrons when they are re-launched. Helps that they can also be used in an air assault formation as well. Bonus!
Why are the tanks based?
There are several reasons; aesthetics, consistency, to help protect the miniature during handling. But actually just simply because I use a magnetic transport solution and this lets me magnetise the vehicles easily with 5mm x 1mm disk magnets flush in the base. The bases I have used for the Blood Angels are 2mm MDF round corner bases supplied by Sarissa Precision.
Is this the final formation or detachment for the IXth legion? Oh no, I definitely plan to add more. No fear of that.
