Phew, it’s been a while since I posted about the Nightfall 31st, the Eridani Sector’s answer to “What if Gaunt's Ghosts but scummier?”
I’ve been painting a hell of a lot of Tyranids recently thanks to Charlie and I getting stuck into our joint army project, and eating so many greens has necessitated some dessert. What better way to beat the monotony of endless contrast and drybrushing than with some detailed cavalry and layering? I’ll also go over how I do the camo for the 31st, since that’s their distinctive thing and there are now... Three? Bunker dwellers who have wanted to do their own, be they for trophies or otherwise (Curse you Tom!).
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| If you want trophies you've got to catch us first! |
A Note on Lore
I’ve wanted some Rough Riders in the 31st for ages, canonically they’ve always had at least one squad per company, they’ve just always been relegated to the background since I’ve not had any miniatures to represent them. Nightfall Outrider squads, therefore, have always had a valuable role in the regimental and company structure. They are spotters, messengers and fast moving scouts, primarily meant to avoid conflict and to guide the actual weight of the regiment into hitting the most valuable targets, or avoiding crippling counter attacks. They are not usually a front line unit... Or at least that was their backstory to justify my lack of minis.
While I love that their primary role is not to engage the enemy, but instead to observe and report, now I have models to use on the tabletop that lore has evolved a little. They’re also ambush predators, using their speed and manoeuvrability to get around the enemy after their forces are committed, before sowing chaos by charging into their back lines and attempting to pick off important assets like artillery or other vulnerable war machines. They spend their time ranging ahead of the regiment, evading enemy forces with speed rather than pure stealth, and then circle back once battle is joined. Lovely lads.
While painting them I also had that lovely moment that Jeff has often spoken/written about, where the unit’s lore springs from the model in your hands directly into your brain. The frankly superb miniatures we’re both using (Victoria Miniatures’ Project Warhorse sculpts) are so dynamic and evocative that I couldn’t help but imagine who they were as I painted, and what Nightfallers would make of an animal as docile as a horse, even one bred and trained for war in the 41st millennium.
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| Many are the chances for Sgt. Ilkuri, Outrider of Nightfall, to show his quality. |
Outriders (and “Ritari” Squad)
Nightfall (The Infamous Deathworld Of) is home to all manner of horrendous hyper-evolved nocturnal predator aliens, its native people surviving through a mix of careful nomadic travelling and rich oral histories passed from clan to clan, the stories which contain within the secrets of surviving on such an inhospitable world. One such secret is how to tame and ride Hellonn, a fast and stealthy horse sized marsupial analogue covered in extremely corrosive spines and with a mouth of equally envenomed hollow-point fangs it regrows after every hunt. While unbelievably dangerous aliens owing mostly to their defensive armour, they prove remarkably easy to tame with the correct techniques, meaning that over the millennia since Nightfall’s rediscovery by the Imperium there have always been outlandish tales of occasional clans of natives riding these monstrous beasts.
Sadly it is exactly because the Hellonn is so dangerous and corrosive that Outriders in Nightfall regiments ride horses instead. The ship captains that gather Nightfall’s tithe of manpower for the Imperial Guard have long since learned how stunningly bad an idea it is to allow a pack of highly corrosive predatory aliens on board, and no longer allow Hellonn off world. The horses are a consolation prize, and it’s a rare outrider who does not mourn the loss of their old mount.
For Leshen Company, my army, the Outriders are known as Ritari Squad. Commanded by Sgt. Ilkuri (at least until he gets got in such a fashion that I think it’s thematic he dies), they are named for the Hellonn riders of Nightfall’s antiquity. The Ritari were folk heroes, wanderers not attached to any clan who righted wrongs and meted out justice wherever they went, and some whisper they still exist in the deepest woods, riding their Hellonn between the trees and watching over the clans of Nightfall. They take after their heroic namesakes in battle, being excellent and well drilled flankers, but also arrogant and prone to self aggrandisement. I love it when the physical part of the hobby (painting, modelling and gaming) informs the mental side of it, with narratives imagined even just from the act of painting a miniature.
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| CHARRRRRRGE |
Nightfaller Camo Cloaks
Speaking of painting, here’s how I do them. The specific Nightfall 31st forest camo scheme I’ve done is below, then I’ll go into the camo in detail since that’s another thing entirely. The miniatures themselves are painted to look acceptable from about 12 inches away, which lends well to them looking great en masse.
Basecoat:
Underside of cloak, special weapon casings and boots: Corvus Black
Fatigues: Death Korps Drab
Webbing: Steel Legion Drab
Weaponry (excluding special weapons): Rhinox Hide
Metal: Gunmetal/leadbelcher
Skin: A mix of skintones ranging from pure rakarth flesh basecoat, to kight-questor flesh 1:1 with rhinox hide.
Cloak: Death world forest with catachan green stripes.
Wash:
Skin: Guilliman flesh or Reikland Fleshshade
Everything Else: an imprecise recess shade with Nuln Oil
Layer:
Black bits: Corvus Black, Eshin Grey
Fatigues: Death Korps Drab, Catachan Green
Webbing: Steel Legion Drab
Weaponry: Rhinox Hide, Rhinox Hide 1:1 Baneblade brown
Metal: Gunmetal/leadbelcher
Cloak: Death World Forest/Catachan Green, then an all over highlight of Death Guard Green
Camouflage:
Once the cloaks are highlighted, the pattern itself is relatively easy: I wanted something I could do 40 times in a row that wouldn’t be too complex (I originally only thought this army would be a single platoon and support... oh how wrong I was...).
It’s a 4 stage series of spots, going from Corvus Black to Death Korps Drab, to Zandri Dust, to Krieg Khaki, with each stage having fewer spots. These spots are also loosely concentrated, creating areas of dense camo pattern, and areas of plain green.
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| One finished Nightfaller camo cloak, ready to dodge, duck, dip, dive... and eventually get obliterated by heavy bolter fire. |
Overall I’m happy with the Nightfallers, I think they look great. Would I have made some streamlining decisions had I known I’d have ended up with 200 of the buggers? Absolutely... But the subtle variety in all those dark colours adds charm I like to think.
Next up for me is more Tyranids, I’ve still got half an army to chew through if I’m finishing by the new year... And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t currently back in love with the Eldar. The 31st, however, remain my absolute favourite lads. There will always be more... starting with some Hippogriffs.
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