Blood Angels for Maelstrom VIII

Believe it!  Blood Angels, not Eldar!  After many months/years of taunting and challenges from my fellow gamers and a certain TO I have shed my pointy ears and replaced them with pointy teeth instead.

My list for Maelstrom VIII is as follows,

Dante
Librarian, L2, Jump Pack, Veritas Vitae(Warlord)

10 Tactical Marines, Melta, Combi Melta, Heavy Flamer
Drop pod
5 Scouts, Camo Cloaks, Sniper Rifles

Command Squad, Jump Packs, 3 Storm Shields, 3 Melta
8 Death company, Jump Packs, 2 Power fists
Furioso Dreadnought, Frag Cannon, Melta
Drop Pod

5 Assault marines, 2 Melta, 2 Infernus Pistols
Drop pod

Imperial Knight Paladin

I am furiously painting the red marines so expect updates soon.

Sigmar’s Blood - The Midnight Hunt

Wil and I (Ryan) played the first mission from Sigmar’s Blood  - The Midnight Hunt.

The Midnight Hunt represents the first clash between the Witchhunter Alberich von Korden and the Necromancer Ghorst. Von Korden is a deputy of Grand Theogonist Volkmar the Grim, and he has been operating in Slyvania for some three years, ratcheting up three confirmed vampire slayings in that time. Together, Grim and Von Korden have been instructed to crusade into the Vale of Darkness in order to test whether the previously thought dead Count Manfred Von Carstein had been manipulating his evil again in that realm.

The battle begins when Volkmar the Grim instructs Van Korden and a small force to retake the Deathknell watch still standing at the base of the Konigstein Tower. The Konigstein tower had recently been overrun by the Necromancer Ghorst, who was supposedly trained in his art by Manfred. The Deathknell watch had strategic importance because a victory there would bouy the crusade and supply place from which the Sigmarite crusade could signal the remainder of the empire for further aid, which it would inevitably require.

Armies and set up as defined by the book. We both mused at our respective generals being forced to stand in the open.

Ryan’s general was Ghorst, a lvl2 necromancer on a corpse cast with the cursed book. His force is nicknamed the Ghorst’s Nightstalkers and it contains 20 skeletons with full command, 20 ghouls with a Ghast, and 10 dire wolves with a doom wolf (who have ambush for this game).

Wil's general Van Korden the witch hunter with light armour, the white ring of templehof and a great weapon. He bravely leads the “Faithful Few” a force comprising of  20 swordsman with command (halberdier models), 10 handgunners, 8 knights, and a great cannon (trebuchet model).

The empire forces currently have +1 LD in the campaign, we both roll 4 to go first, but because Ghorst has the jump on the Empire he  gets +1 to see who goes first. Consequently Ryan goes first. To his glee!

Ryan’s first turn consists of moving the corpse cart behind the wall and starting the ghouls to move to join the line (4" - way beyond march). Magic is a big phase, van helsing (get it?) the skeletons forward and then a gaze of nagash into Van Korden causes 3 wounds, Wil saves one but his general is down first turn - the swordsman hold on their panic, but already Volkmar’s crusade is losing crucial momentum.

Ghorst spots the enemies emerging from the morning mist. Quickly positioning some walls both skeletal and stone between him and the enemy, he spots their leader Van Korden. Before the cursed witch hunter can react, Ghorst summons bolts of dark magic that hurtle into his chest and wither the flesh, burning him from the inside out. Van Korden falls, he will play no part again in today’s proceedings. Will Vokmar’s faithful ally be well enough to ride again with his master?

The Faithful Few seeing their leader go down immediately lose heart, the Knights of the Blazing Sun fail what is an easy charge into the undead skeleton horde, the Sigmar’s Son’s swordsmen back away from the advancing necromantic hordes and the crew of the “Hammer of the Witches” fire wildly at Ghorst rolling a 10 to hit and overshoots the wiley necromancer (did not go 10 from the back as it would hit the fence on a normal roll). Their resolve weakens...

in Ghorst’s second turn, the dire wolf pack arrives in ambush and threatens the cannon, while a standoff develops in the middle. Ghouls march to support after Ghorst moves to get them in command range. Ghort’s Cursed book spits out a Withering but range is too short. However, extra eager for the kill and to break his wavering opponents the Necromancer Ghorst mispokes his incantation, rolling a 1, 2 and 3 on three dice to cast costing a crucial magic phase.

Ghorst, not too fond of the cannon ball hurtling close by his head, is thankful his dire wolf pack have managed to outflank the army and approach the crew for a feast. He realises that further retaliation will be coming, and bends his will upon a nearby pack of ghouls who move to support his skeleton minions. However his lack of concentration on the winds of magic causes a cascade of failures - thankfully none harmful.

In the “Faithful few’s” second turn, the swordsman and gunners reform to counter the direpack’s surprise menace of the cannon, the Silver bullets cock their handguns and fell a few wolves, but many still remain. The crew of the “hammer of the witches” draws another bead on the general but this time they fire too short, destroying only the fence behind which the craven Ghorst lurks. The Knights of the Sun this time successfully charge their opponents and begin the grind against the skeletons, with the unit getting cut in half after crumble but holding.

The faithful few surrounded on both sides by the necromantic hordes turn to face the wolves threatening their rear, not only would they likely overrun the holy cannon, but then they would be free to threaten rear charges on the other empire combatants. Any thoughts of retaking deathknell watch, are now subsumed purely by the desire for survival.

In Ghorst’s third turn, the ghouls charged to support skeletons, the direwolves hit their first target, the dreaded Hammer of Witches cannon, to blight its existence forever. Ghorst, encouraged by the lack of personal threat with the cannon under attack, summons a powerful necromantic incantation bubbling Van Hels on both infantry units in closer combat. The direpack kill two crew of the hammer of the witches, but the heroic crew cause three wounds in return, stalling the direwolves into a draw. In the central scrimmage between the knights of the sun, the ghouls and the skeletons,  the Knights save some 16 wounds, thanking Sigmar that they had properly equipped their barding and heavy platemail.  1+ saves the day with a single knight going down. Knights hold after losing from static res.

The ghouls sense warm flesh and leap into the flank of the knights while they distracted in the mire of skeletons. Frustratingly for the Ghouls, their poison dripping claws have little effect against the knights’ holy armour. They are not the kind of creatures to be dismayed however, and continue their scraping and scratching in their constant search for a weak spot and the proffered morsel of food. The hounds savage the crew of the cannon without thought to their own losses or the others humans moving to support. Ghorst is content to merely observe and let his minions fight it out, keeping them under his powerful will in order that they do not falter.

In the Faithful Few’s third turn,  the Silver Bullets eschew their blackpowder weapons, and in a desperate attempt to rescue the remaining cannoneer charge the direpack. With their rear, and escape path, secured the Sigmar Son’s swordsmen again turn around to face the primary necromantic forces. Can they now rescue the knights? In dire wolf combat, the Silver bullets run down and butcher the direpack, but not before the remaining stoic cannoneer becomes another soul lost to damnation in Sylvania. In the central combat, the Knights hold out desperately, versus the hordes of relentless ghouls and skeletons buoyed by the necromancer’s incantation, which speeds their strikes. One more Knight falls, but the remainder hold somehow….. 

There is a bit of a gap in pictures here, from Ghorst’s turn 4 as things were getting closer as the empire seeked to regain some advantage.

In Ryan’s turn four, he rolled a 1 dice doom and darkness from the cursed book, Wil was forced to shut this down in order to save the beleaguered Knights. Nevertheless, the ghouls and skeletons thump the knights though, slaughtering 3 more of their galant number resulting in Ryan winning combat by four but again the brave knights refuse to flee.

The ghouls relentless clawing finally pays off, dragging knight after knight from their mount and tearing them limb from limb. Despite the onslaught the Von Korden’s horse refuse to give up hope of holding the combat long enough for the support of the Sigmar’s Son Swordsmen.

Wils' turn four the swordsman counter charge the ghouls, disrupting the Ghoul’s massed  ranks and doing fair amount of damage. This causes Ryan to lose combat by a fair bit (7?) and finally, all the skeletons crumble.

In Ryan’s turn five, the ghouls manage to drag down another knight and hold both units in place while Ghorst move back to the corner of the board, abandoning his minions. They are struck down, leaving only one Ghast left.

Distracted by how pleased with himself he is, Ghorst fails to note the arrival of the swordsman into the melee with the ghouls. Watching his minions now outmatched, he continues to exert their obedience to keep the humans busy while he makes his retreat. His job done, he turns to leave the battle, abandoning his forces. There are always more bodies to serve.

Wil's turn five the Ghast goes down thrashing, killing one more knight and leaving the single Knight of the Blazing Sun alive. The swordsmen look to recover their fallen leader Van Korden, perhaps something can be saved from this engagement if he were to be found still alive? Yet Von Korden’s forces were still to face one final malicious twist of fate from the victorious Necromancer.

On Ryan’s turn six,  Ghorst retreats to safety to the corner away from any possible empire charges,  and gleefully incants out one more Gaze of Nagash for good measure upon the remaining Knight of the Blazing Sun, melting him down to his bones in his armour.

With one final look at the battle, Ghorst notes a single knight dispatching the last of his forces. In a last bout of spite, he rains black necrotic death on this heroic champion, pummeling him and his mount in a furious display. Amused and please with himself, Ghorst flees for the hill, considering this a successful foray for his Master Manfred.

Results:

Empire, 3 VP (Dire Wolves, Ghouls, Skeletons)

VC, 4 VP (General worth 2 VP, Cannon, Knights)

Ghorst successfully killed an enemy unit/character in the magic phase and gets +1 to cast

Wil's Knight champ was involved in a combat that wiped an enemy unit so gets devastating charge

So while the VC were wiped out entirely except for the necromancer - it was a win to the VC. For the forces of Volkmar, there will be no chance of additional support from the Emperor. Volkmar will have to deal with the increasing masses of Manfred on his own. Manfred meanwhile, buoyed by this success has another field of the fallen  from which further minions can be raised to support his machinations!

Painting - Blood Angels - Karlaen & bike

So after years of playing Eldar, I am finally branching out and have been enjoying Blood Angels.

I have thought about starting them for years but the old Codex was getting a bit dated so I held off to the new one was released.

I have played a few games with them and even though its hard not to compare them to Eldar I am liking the difference.

Here are the first if what should be many sons of Sanguinius to come.

Captain Karlaen from the Deathstorm box set.  While maybe not as good as a Sanguinary Priest or Librarian he is not a bad HQ choice.  Solid Terminator character with auto reroll reserves and +1 sieze the initiative. 

The first of several bikes.  Now that Blood Angels have access to Grav weaponary these provide a wonderful quick and cheap delivery for them.  The riders will be a mix of the new Blood Angel tactical squad and biker parts.  As grav weapons are not that plentiful on the sprues I am probably going to get a set of Volkite Chargers from FW to use as grav guns.

Over the Top - 40k tournament

Last weekend Alex, Cody and I journeyed into the depths of the Waikato to Hamilton.  The Hamilton Immortals club had their annual Over the Top tournament and 40k was an escalation format.

So 2 games at 1000, 2 at 1500 and the final 2 at 2000 points.  The smaller lists had to come out of the final 2000 point build.  With this in mind and a variety of rulebook and custom made missions I took the following.

Eldar - Iyanden - 1000 points
Spiritseer
5 Dire Avengers
Wave Serpent, holo field, cannon, scatter lasers
5 Dire Avengers
Wave Serpent, holo field, cannon, scatter lasers
3 Jetbikes, cannon
3 Jetbikes, cannon
2 War Walkers with Bright Lances
Wraithknight, heavy wraithcannons

1500 points
Spiritseer
5 Dire Avengers
Wave Serpent, holo field, cannon, scatter lasers
5 Dire Avengers
Wave Serpent, holo field, cannon, scatter lasers
5 Dire Avengers
Wave Serpent, holo field, cannon, scatter lasers
3 Jetbikes, cannon
2 Hornets with Pulse Lasers
6 Swooping Hawks
Wraithknight, heavy wraithcannons
Wriathknight, heavy wraithcannons

2000 points
Spiritseer
5 Dire Avengers
Wave Serpent, holo field, cannon, scatter lasers
5 Dire Avengers
Wave Serpent, holo field, cannon, scatter lasers
5 Dire Avengers
Wave Serpent, holo field, cannon, scatter lasers
5 Wraithguard
Wave Serpent, holo field, scatter lasers
3 Jetbikes, cannon
3 Jetbikes, cannon
2 Hornets with Pulse Lasers
6 Swooping Hawks
2 War Walkers with Bright Lances
Wraithknight, heavy wraithcannons
Wriathknight, heavy wraithcannons

So plenty of big guns, high volume of fire and mobility for objectives.  The Eldar tick all the boxes.

The missions from the players pack were rolled for at the start of each round so the different points levels of the lists could not be customized. 

Game 1 - 1000 points Grudge Match
In this mission we had to secretly write down 3 enemy units and 3 of our own.  These would be revealed at the end of turn 3.  For each enemy nominated unit destroyed is worth 3 points and each you keep alive is worth 3 to you.  Secondary was objectives as per the Emperor's Will mission.

I played a young fella named Dougal from the Taranaki.  He had a Tau list with Kroot, 2 Fire Warrior units, Ethereal, Broadside, Commander and Bodyguard and a Gun Drone unit.  I chose his Kroot, Broadside and Commander as my targets while keeping my Wraithknight and Jetbike squads alive.  I went first and eliminated his large Kroot unit and Broadside in the first turn.  He advanced his Fire Warriors mid field but I had the squishy targets safely inside their Wave Serpents.  The game was pretty one sided with the Eldar whittling away at the Tau.  His Commander and Crisis team as well as Gun Drones had a go at my flanks but didn't do too much damage and got taken down by retaliatory fire.  Pretty convincing Win to the Eldar 20-0.

Game 2 - 1000 points The Scouring(Rulebook Mission) Secondary used 5 tactical Objectives cards per turn.

I played Rob with his Tyranids.  Rob had a Flyrant, Deathleaper, Harpy, Tyranocyte with Gaunts, 2 Mucoloid pods and a Trygon Prime.  Rob set up his Flyrant, Harpy and Deathleaper.  I think I seized first turn!? Anyway I fired everything I could at the Flyrant before it could take to the air and with volume of fire took it out for First Blood.  That put a big dent in Rob's plan and the game was all about my Wraithknight after that.  After his Harpy flew towards my lines the Wraithknight rolled a 6 to hit, then 6 to wound, failed jink and Boom 1 shot Harpy.  The Trygon Prime arrived amongst some ruins but the Wraithknight moved to a position that afforded the prime no cover.  One 6 to wound later and Boom dead Trygon.  The rest of the Tyranids had come in and got eliminated, the game ended turn 4 with the Wraithknight heading Deathleapers way.  You can only snap shot at Deathleaper but one 6 later and he was gone too.  Win 20-0

Game 3 - 1500 points Trenches of the old war
We had to set up 5 objectives length way down the table 12" apart.  It was vanguard strike set up with the objective nearest your own lines being worth 1 then increasing in value until the furthest was worth 5 vp.  Secondary was to kill enemy HQ and Elites.

I had the pleasure of playing Dave Foster.  I have known Dave via 40k for many years now but it had been a long time since we had actually played each other.  He had brought an incredibly aggressive Chaos Marine assault army.  The only long range gun he had was 1 autocannon!  He had Khorne Lord with Axe on Jugger, 3 Marine squads in rhinos, Khorne Bezerkers in Rhino, 2 units of Khorne spawn and 2 Maulerfiends.  Dave went first and came barreling across the table at me.  Those Spawn and Maulerfiends move fast!  Next came what could be a series of the luckiest rolls for a chaos player...ever.  I swung some of my force out onto one flank and proceeded to fire into Dave's assault force.  His maulerfiends made 10+ 5++ saves vs my anti tank guns and I managed to knock over maybe 1 or 2 Spawn.  Dave next charged a maulerfiend into a Wraithknight but thankfully that is all that made contact.  The Maulerfiend took a wound off the knight and the knight Immobilized the Daemon engine.  I think it took until turn 3 for me to get First Blood.  I managed to immobilize the other Maulerfiend as well and after Khorne Bezerkers and Spawn  got into the Wraithknight it eventually died.  Concentrated fire eventually took out the Khorne Lord and Spawn before they got into combat.  Then it was a very careful game of trying to take control of the objectives which Dave had been able to park units on while I was dealing with his assault element.  I think it may have been a draw if it had ended turn 5 but it went to 6 and I pushed him off some key positions taking the win.  Great fun game.  Win 20-0.

Game 4 - 1500 points Purge the Alien - Secondary take control of the highest point on the table not in your own deployment zone.

I faced off against Dean with his Space Marines and Imperial Knight.  He had Tigerius, 2 Tactical squads in Razorbacks, 2 tri las Predators, 5 Grav Centurions and a Knight.  Dean rolled his Psychic powers for good old Tiggy and got Invisibility first go, uh oh!  We rolled to play long ways and set up out of first turn grav range.  Darn went first and advanced casting Invisibility on the Gravturions.  Again I think it took until turn 3 until I got First Blood but by then the Knight and Grav star was almost into my lines.  I managed to take the Knight out but Dean successfully got Invisibility off every turn and as the game progressed moved just ahead in kill points.  I attempted to lock the Gravturions in combat mid game but the Dire Avengers I had failed the charge.  By games end I had a Wraithknight holding them down but in hindsight I should have done this much earlier in the game.  Dean won the Primary but we drew the Secondary.  Loss 3-18

Day 2
Game 5 - 2000 points The Relic, secondary - kill the most expensive unit
I was playing Nathanial with his Quad Riptide list.  Nathanial is someone I've known for quite a while but never actually played at an event so it was nice to finally play him.  The Tau force had Farsight, Shadowsun, O'Vesa, 2 units of Crisis suits, 3 Riptides, 2 units of Kroot and Fire Warriors in a Devilfish.  I finally got Invisibility with my Spritseer.  I went first and jumped a Wraithknight onto the Relic then cast invisibility on it(Pro move).  The Kroot had infiltrated slightly forward but enough to threaten the Relic and maybe tarpit my Wraithknight.  I fired everything thing I had and I think I took all 30 Kroot off the table turn 1.  Nathanial was happy I had left his Riptides alone but I was OK with my decision.  The Tau returned fire and between malfunctioning Nova Reactors, Invisible Wraithknights and Gets Hot rolls I think they did more damage to themselves!  In my second turn the Wraithknight handed off the Relic to the Wraithguard but I failed to cast invisibility!  I did take out a Riptide and soften the others up.  Nathanial's reserves came in with Farsight threatening the middle and a Devilfish going after my Swooping Hawks.  He fired everything and destroyed the Wraithguard and Spiritseer and stripped wounds from my central Wraithknight but then failed a charge with O'Vesa.   My central Knight had 1 wound left and jumped back to the Relic while my Warlord knight dropped into his central spot in front of O'Vesa and co.  After a punishing round of shooting from the Eldar the Tau had lost a few more key models and I successfully assaulted a wound O'Vesa.  Hitting with 4 attacks the Wraithknight finished off the named Riptide and then Farsight!  Nathanial called it there as his centre had collapsed.  O'Vesa was also his most expensive unit netting me Secondary.  Win 20-0

Game 6 - 2000 points - The Bait - Primary D3+2 Objectives
Secondary - Opponents had to set up 2 troop units as per Deep Strike in a Diamond formation 6" around the centre point of the table.  They would not scatter and would have Feel No Pain, Fearless and Stubborn for the game.  Enemy units were worth 3VP but if you could keep your own alive they were worth 4VP.

It finally happened, Cody and I had to play each other in the last round of a tournament!  I don't think he was very happy about it ;)  I had actually designed Cody's list a few weeks prior to the event when he was contemplating using Orks and I tabled him with Grey Knights in 4 turns.  His list was Librarian, 2 Grey Knight terminator squads, 3 Dreadknights with teleporters, swords, Psycannons and Incinerators.  Rifleman Dread, 2 Interceptor units with Incinerators and an Imperial Knight.  Needless to say we know exactly what each others army does.  I set up Wraithguard and a bike squad as the bait where Cody had to deploy the 2 Terminator squads

We played long ways and I won first turn.  I got the Spirit mark ability for my Warlord so moved the Wraithknight within 12" of a Terminator squad and marked it.  Kept everything else at extreme range.  With the buff the Wraithguard with supporting fire took one GKT squad straight off the table and by the end of the phase only 1 single Terminator remained from the second unit.  Cody shunted all 3 Dreadknights into the front of my army and the Knight went for the Wraithguard.  Thinning the Wraithguard out the Knight went in assault but didn't roll to flash and with free FNP a couple Wraithguard survived but I could not shoot at the Knight.  Usual mass fire ensued and I think I may have dropped a Dreadknight on my left flank but did little to the 2 threatening my right.  The Imperial Knight finished off the Wraithguard and advanced towards my Wave Serpents.  Cody moved his unwounded Dreadknight right up to my Wraithknight and cast Sanctuary and Force.  Preparing to take that Wraithknight off I overwatched at the charging Dreadknight, 6 to hit, 6 to wound... failed invuln save.  Cody was not a happy camper and I couldn't blame him.  His Imperial Knight trashed a Wave Serpent.  I managed to finish off the 3rd Dreadknight and take a couple more Hull Points off the Knight but needed to move up field to take objectives.   The rest of the game was one of the most challenging I've had in a long time.  Cody forced morale tests on my sneaky Jetbike squads on the 5th turn forcing them off objectives and it looked like a draw but, we rolled a 6th turn and it was just enough for me to finish his Librarian and Interceptor squads giving me the advantage.  He called it there, his Imperial knight had rolled through my back lines and I had resorted to stringing out Dire Avengers to slow it down.  The closest of games. Eldar win.

So once everyone had finished with terrain and tables packed away we had the prize giving.  I had been voted Best painted but as I had placed the prize would go to thew next in line - I had also received a lot of votes for Cody's Grey Knight army which I had also painted.  Phillip Porter with his Grey Knights got the award but straight away gave me the plaque saying I deserved it, he was happy with the prize voucher.  What a bloody good guy =)  Next came the places.  Adam Thornton came 3rd with his Tyranids, Dean who had beat me in Round 4 got 2nd and I finished in 1st!

So I was very happy, Cody was disappointed as he had just missed out on 3rd and Alex was lamenting the poor showing of his Deathwing.  What can we take away from this, well Alex is now looking at Necrons for Maelstrom in May.  Cody is good with his Grey Knights it just sucked that we had to go head to head last round and I yet again am looking at non Eldar options.  I have already made lists for Blood Angels, Tau, Dark Eldar and Necrons, all being achievable before Maelstrom with the models available to me.  Just have to pick a codex... heard that before...

By the way if you can take an Imperial Knight, just take one.  They will either cause a ton of damage, soak a lot of fire or mutually take out another Knight in a Titanic Explosion.  If a Tyranid player shows up with one, why not!

Painting - Better Wave Serpent Pics

Never let it be said I don't pay attention to requests - so here you are Luke the all mighty MonkeyChuka as per requested, better pictures of the Wave Serpent and all the higher resolution flaws.

Monkeychukka is correct when he commented on the Wave Serpent matching my Wraithknights more than the older Wave Serpents.  This is because the paint range has changed over the years and I simply wanted to use some slightly different tones of colour.

I have almost got both Imperial Knights to 'tabletop' standard, though I will be doing a lot more work on them after Over the Top.

Painting - Eldar Wave Serpent

This coming weekend I am attending Over the Top in Hamilton and yes I am taking the Eldar.

So I finally painted up a 4th Wave Serpent - insert Eldar spam joke here?

As all my other Wave Serpents have freehand on them it was only right that this one does too.  So after taking inspiration from the cover of Warhammer Endtimes Curse of Khaine, I painted an Avatar on the hull!  While not being quite as laden with runes and spectral images as the other tanks, this fits in well beside the others.

Just a 2nd Hornet to finish and some final work on a couple Imperial Knights for Alex and Cody to use.

Painting - Eldar Swooping Hawks

After a long break (since Call to Arms) I have been playing 40k with my Eldar again.  Now I still played plenty of 40k during that time, but I branched out with Ultramarines, Grey Knights, new Blood Angels and even... Chaos Space Marines.  But with Over the Top near and no hope in hell of having another army painted in time it is back to the Craftworld for me.

With all the game options of 7th edition and the increased focus on mobility I have really come to like the Swooping Hawks.  No scatter Deep Strike, S4 AP4 ignore cover blast on Deep Strike, Jump Infantry, ability to go back into reserve, battle focus after Deep Striking, the list goes on.  A bargain for a base cost of 80 points for 5!

Over the Top is an escalation tournament with games broken down into two at 1000, two at 1500 and  at 2000.  The Hawks may not be in all the lists but as the smaller lists must come out of the 2000 points I needed to finally paint some.  I own about 15 metal Swooping Hawks in a couple of different edition incarnations.  I selected the best 6 which I could match wings to and got underway.

Here are the results.  If time allows I may paint the Aspect symbol on their helmets as well.  I have a couple Grav tanks and a Hornet all painted and highlighted but their hulls seem like a blank canvas to me.  With the freehand I have done on all my other vehicles I really must find some inspiration and quickly.