The Venom Legion of Quetza (Temple Guard are up!)

Y'ellow!

Having sold my old Lizardmen force a couple of years ago for some inconcivable reason, I "recently" started a new army perhaps six months ago, this time determined to finish painting it before the new book came out. So I sat myself down then and started to fiddle about with color schemes, basing material and fluff to see what kind of army could come out of this mess. After a while, I came up with a few guidlines and a short bit of fluff for the upcoming army.

- Poison and venom are my central themes with this army.
- A dull, half rotting vegitation for the bases to mirror the true floor of a rainforest, as well as to provide stark contrast to my brightly colored lizardmen.
- Not one for small fiddly conversions, I instead settled on a few large ones to give my army identity.
- Use of any good alternative models I could get my hands on.

Background to the Venom Legion.

After the death of the High Prophet Xiuhcoatl at the hands of Greyseer Thanquol (or so the ratmage claimed), Quetza was abandoned once again as the dormant plague of Clan Pestiliance, kept in check by the prophets power, was unleashed once again upon the city.

But the children of the serpent god are not so easily driven away. Many decades later, the Slaan once again felt life within the defiled city. Puzzled, they decided to investigate, and focusing their minds upon the city, they found that although the plague was still unbound within Quetza, Lizardmen had once again taken up residence within its ruined temples. Concerned that these children of the odl ones had somehow become corrupted by the filth of the skaven, the Slaan sent a host of saurus to Quetza. These warriors, protected by the magic of the Slaan, would enter the fallen city, and if any corruption was found, purge it once again.

What they found however, was to change the fate of Quetza for ever. Lizardmen did indeed dwell within the city, an whole army of them. But instead of succumbing to the plague, they seemed somehow protected, and yet the Slaan could not decifer any magical protection about them. It was by meeting with the leader of this new host that the truth was uncovered. The skink priest Trik'ekto told the Slaan that he and his charges had been placed under the direct protection of the serpent god. Under the turning of many decades, this army had devoted themselves to the fury of the serpent god, and as a sign of devotion, they had ritualistically drank from the venom of jungle serpents. Through the years, this venom had burned throughout the lizardmens cold blooded system and altered their anatomy to the degree that they were immune to the plague of Cland Pestiliance. The venom in their blood held it at bay.

And so, to this day, the Venom Legion guards Quetza from the return of the Skaven from the depths of the earth. Led in battle by Trik'ekto or the ancient Oldblood Gorak-kar, the Legion crushes any intruder into their realm with all the fury of the serpent god himself. And should any truly powerfull foe dare to venture into Quetza, they must face not only the cold fury of the Venom Legion or the Plague that suffuses the city, but also the ancient power that slithers from the temples depths should its children be threatend...


So, enough chatter, lets get on with the army!

I thought I might just start simple, so here is the basis for the army: A skink and Saurus.

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza

Well, since no one seems to comment, how about I add some more stuff?

A Scar-Veteran BSB, a unit of saurus and some cold one cavalry.

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (CoK, BSB and Saurus added)

great reading!! and great models to match! the vibrant green suits your fluff perfectly, had you not spelled it out the first thing i would have thought looking at your colour scheme was poison the bases are fantastic really capture the dense undergrowth and also your gold/bronze is smoother and cleaner than i can ever seem to achieve...

look forward to seeing more!

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (CoK, BSB and Saurus added)

Great looking army man, I love all the conversions,
The green paint scheme worked out rather well.

Ps. the conversion of Rikards Saurus to a BSB turned out rather well.

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (CoK, BSB and Saurus added)

Thank you both. Got a pile of more stuff on the way, and two or three rather unique models (I think). Should have them up in a few days or so.

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (CoK, BSB and Saurus added)

Lots of depth in those greens, really good! Especially on the BSB. It may just be the photo, but it definitely looks like his shield could use a few highlights and shadows.

And those cold ones are consistently great, the stripes and scales really bringing the model together.

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (CoK, BSB and Saurus added)

Right, methinks its time to add some more!

Salamanders and terradons!

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (Salamanders and Terradon add

Nice work on the salamanders. I plan to convert bloodhounds similarly, the models already look rater reptilian. The extra frills are integrated well, are they from the high elf dragon kit?

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (Salamanders and Terradon add

Very well-done green colours! Lizardmen are one of those armies where seemingly every colour combination looks better than the "official" GW version . I like how it's sort of one colour, but keeps from looking plain because of the shading. Nice work on the Dark Elf Cold Ones being converted in there- I'm always curious to try that, but I've already painted all my Cavalry models and want to wait for a new edition comes out to see if they make new ones for us.

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (Salamanders and Terradon add

Really nice conversions!
love your paints!

a few things bug me fluffwise though:

- only Skinks call upon Sotek as their patron and those chosen by him is marked with strongcoloured Red-crests.

- Sauri are only loyal to the slann, its genetically decided so, and the Slann have a semi-hard time accepting Sotek since he isnt mentioned by the Old Ones, which means he dosnt fit in the grand-plan.
(some of them have accepted him due to his critical influence during the skaven-plague though, so no big problem.)

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (Salamanders and Terradon add

My skinks are red crested to mark them as soteks children, the red crested skinks of Tehenhauin (spelling?). As for the inclusion of Sauri in the army, although its indeed a bit shaky fluffwise, I reason that in the southlands were Slaan are rare, sauri have more and more come under the leadership of the more intelligent skinks in matters not connected to war, where saurus are dominant. Thus this army builds on the concept that its not from a temple city, but rather has formed without the influence of the Slaan. Thus the sauri are under the influence of Sotek via the predominant skink priests in the army.

And as for my "slaan"... well, wait a few days and you will see how i figured that one out For I agree, a true slaan would not deadicate himself to Sotek.

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (Salamanders and Terradon add

They are? looks pink/purple on my screen, but fine fine my mistake, and your reasoning for the Sauri seems to justify it perfectly

looking forward to it! just remember (in case your are thinking of the same kinda twist as I am) a Slann cannot touch the ground without becoming "tainted"

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (Salamanders and Terradon add

.......oooooh...you """SLANN"""....I think I gotcha.

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (Salamanders and Terradon add

looking good stormfrog! that terradon is awesome love the colours

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (Salamanders and Terradon add

green looks great on the saurus and skinks.

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (Salamanders and Terradon add

Now lets start on the big stuff!

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (Carnosaur is here)

Simple but effective conversion for the rider. I like.

I do think that for big models, contrast becomes even more important since big areas can end up looking really flat. I would like to see some shading and highlighting on the Carnosaur scales.

And for gaming purposes, get this guy on a 50x50 base (that's one mine came with--they haven't switched it have they?) Putting him on a chariot base just makes him easier to hit with cannonballs.

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (Carnosaur is here)

My technique does not use edge highlightning on anything else than cloth and leather. The scales of the lizardmen are ill suited for that, since it results in giving them an unatural transition between colors, unless you are really skilled. I basecoat my models white, and then use layers of watered down paint, followed by wash. This allows the paint to flow naturally over the vallyes and hills of the model, creating more natural, but also more sublte, highlights. The scales of all my lizardmen have faint highlights for this reason, but they can be tricky to pick out in some photos.

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (Carnosaur is here)

I don't use a lot of edge highlighting either (it can look harsh), but that's not the only way to achieve contrast. You can use multiple progressively lighter lays of thinned down paint to build up highlights with a blended look. I do a lot of that, and it sounds like you are doing something similar, but maybe your starting and ending points aren't very far apart in terms of dark/light value difference.

 

Re: The Venom Legion of Quetza (Carnosaur is here)

Ahh, yes. There are very good tecniques to use if you have the time, skill and patience. But my army is using a modified speedpainting tecnique since im rather impatient to finish an army and be off on my next "grand project".

Laziness is a slight factor when it comes to my painting