You can’t move for Warhammer: The Horus Heresy enthusiasts here at Warhammer Community, and the moment the new Breacher Squads and Cataphractii Terminators were announced people were battering down our doors in order to paint some. After an epic bloodbath* at the reception desk, these are the ones who broke through and got their hands on the stunning new kits.
Ben
Despite the whisperings of some colleagues to paint these as a Loyalist force for a change, the Warmaster continues to reign supreme and so I added these Cataphractii to my existing Sons of Horus force. Power fists and combi-bolters are the classic Terminator equipment in my eyes, and in fact this squad mirrors one of the very first Terminator squads I built and painted for my Sons of Horus over a decade ago!
I painted them the same way as the reinforcements from Saturnine I painted last year, but unlike the relatively new Saturnine suits these are much more battered, so they received a couple of extra coats of thinned Darkoath Flesh that I let pool on the flat panels to muddy them down, and a lot more scratches and chips with Rhinox Hide and Leadbelcher. I also added some very heavily thinned Skrag Brown into the recesses to show some muck and dirt buildup, as this squad of Cataphractii are destined to wade across the battlefield, unlike the teleport-capable Saturnine.
Now, the Breachers and the other squad of Cataphractii are beckoning. I might try to avoid the eye of the Warmaster just long enough to paint some Loyalists…
Chris
I've long had a soft spot for the World Eaters, the pathos of their reunion with their gene-father, and the fact that Angron was damned with very little agency on his behalf. My main World Eaters force is themed around the later days of the Horus Heresy, when the bold blue of the Great Crusade has been supplanted with clotted gore. These Terminators were primed with Mechanicus Standard Grey and stippled in progressively lighter coats of Celestra Grey, Ulthuan Grey, and White Scar to give the armour a worn, textured feeling.
I then painted the trim with Skullcrusher Brass and silver metallics with Iron Hands Steel, put Flesh Tearers Red on any red area, and Garaghak's Sewer took care of the pteruges. I used Black Legion on the casing of the combi-bolters before using a unifying wash all over, a 1:1:1 mix of Agrax Earthshade, Nuln Oil, and Lahmian Medium, which is a trick used by Warhammer Studio army painters in the past to quickly shade armies of Space Marines.
When applying transfers I picked a variation of the World Eaters Legion icon which I thought looked cool and would fit on the shoulders of the Cataphractii – after all, this is no longer a meticulously organised force following rigid structures – and as it happens, this particular version is the badge of the Devourers, Angron's much maligned bodyguard. I plan on adding some Blood for the Blood God to the models once they've seen combat, because what is a World Eater without at least a little blood on them?
Alex
As a filthy heretic, I had to go with the same dirty Death Guard scheme used on Tale of Four Painters over on Warhammer TV. The Cataphractii Terminators kit is wonderfully brutal in its posing and aesthetics, particularly those power mauls. However I did make one little change, and that was to give the sergeant a power scythe – a suitable addition to any Death Guard unit.
Painting-wise, I started with a Wraithbone undercoat, followed by Skeleton Horde and a heavy drybrush of Screaming Skull. The green plates are Orruk Flesh with a wash of Kroak Green. Everything then got a liberal assault with a sponge coated in Mechanicus Standard Grey and several washes of very thin Seraphim Sepia to build up that muck in all of the right places! These proved to be such a pleasure to build and paint, I'm sure a few more squads will be joining them.
Adam
Following up on its larger brother, the Saturnine Dreadnought, I couldn't miss the opportunity to take on the Leviathan. It's a miniature I've wanted to build for some time, and the options in the plastic kit (along with the addition of an Iron Hands Rhino door for some ambiance) let me set the scene.
My now tried and tested Leviathan Purple over a Leadbelcher base brings a clean and consistent deep purple to the armour. I contrasted this with Abaddon Black panels marked with Auric Armour Gold air stencil work, intentionally oversprayed to get an almost glitter-like effect on the nearby panels – because what’s more Emperor's Children than gold glitter?
James
As soon as the MkIII Breacher Squad was announced, I knew I had to add a squad or two into my ever-growing Imperial Fists Legion. It was time to dig out my little book of paint recipes, where I keep all my main colour schemes for consistency over the years.
The yellow is a pretty simple recipe – I use Zandri Dust spray for the base coat, then White Scar spray at an angle above the minis to create a zenithal highlight, before airbrushing Yriel Yellow over the whole mini. The breacher shields themselves I wanted to keep Abaddon Black, as I use a lot of black in the army to break up the yellow. A little bit of weathering (using watered down Thondia Brown) and the Imperial Fists Legion symbol in the centre was enough to give them the pop I wanted.
Rob
Committing to a painting article for Warhammer Community is my way of actually getting anything done beyond fun one-off character miniatures, so doing a Breacher Squad was the perfect way to break the seal on my vast sea of grey and lifeless infantry. As with the Saturnine Terminators I painted last year, I start with a Leadbelcher spray, then a wash all over with Agrax Earthshade, then drybrush with Leadbelcher and Ironbreaker to get a bit of the shine back.
The trim on the Space Marines is just a single layer of Skeleton Horde over the silver, so it’s quite subtle, with Abaddon Black on the shoulders and Averland Sunset for any hazard stripes. I felt that my Iron Warriors would see their shields as completely disposable and wouldn’t bother ornamenting them with stripes – not just an excuse, I promise – so painted the edges in a richer gold of Brass Scorpion drybrushed with Skullcrusher Brass so they looked new and as-yet undamaged.
Andrew
I've never painted anything which used matte black as the core colour before, so I fell back on my tried and tested 'cover everything with schmutz' technique to distract from my inability to capture its depth. My pal said he was going to give me some Iron Hands decals to complete the model, but he dropped off Iron Warriors ones instead.
This treachery shall not go unanswered.
Pick up your own units of Breachers and Cataphractii Terminators when their individual kits go up for pre-order this Saturday, and if you’re tantalised by the Leviathan Dreadnought, you can grab one right now.
* Ok, it was a polite and orderly line, but that’s not as exciting.
