Dark Vengeance - so near and yet so far

Well, Mrs Simpkins is the mistress of extreme torture. As you may know, Dark Vengeance was released with a limited edition Interrogator Chaplain recently. She said I could get it, so I pre ordered it as you do. However there was a catch, I can't have it until Christmas (as mentioned in an earlier post). It has turned up now and is sitting on our living room table in a brown cardboard box and she wont even let me look at it! Agony.

However, in response to this anguish I have just started doing a few Dark Angels Veterans - well 5 to be precise as thats how many you get on a sprue - to help abate the desire to rip open the Dark Vengeance box and extract the Chaplain! My plan is quite simple, do a few squads of Veterans and then at Christmas use the Dark Angels in the Dark Vengeance set to create the core to a new Dark Angels force - sold the last one on Fleabay.

As I have not yet commented upon the Dark Angels I may as well do so here. As mentioned in a recent post regarding Word Bearers and why I like them the Dark Angels have a similar history with me.

In the long distant past (the 1980's) when Rogue Trader was released I went and bought it and looked at the 'goodies' and 'baddies' and decided - given my then awful painting prowess - that the Dark Angels looked easiest to paint, they were all black with a red stripe on their helmet, bit of 'metallic' dry brushing on the boltgun and done. So, a few boxes of plastic space wombles later I had my Dark Angels army.

I also liked the GW Fluff, the Dark Angels were essentially Plains Indians (based on Native American Indians) hence the wings and knife emblem etc etc. Obviously, GW Plc changed the fluff over time and nowadays the chapter hails from goodly knightly orders and are all noble and devout. That's OK too I guess.

Another historic Dark Angel fact, as I said above, I painted 'em black .. well they were. However, legend has it that the reason the Legion changed colour to Dark Green was all due to a paint labelling error …. and the rest is history. Obviously, GW fluffed it up to do with the Sons of Caliban painting a green patch on their armour to mark the 'forests' of their homeward blahh but who cares, Dark Green they look ace and Black they look ace.

Last beardy bit, it always amazed me how the surname Jonson made it through to the 30th millennium, after all there are no Astartes heros called Smith or Jones, but there is a Primarch called Jonson! Well, fact is that a poet called Lionel Johnson wrote a poem called 'The Dark Angel' and that is why the Astartes Legion Dark Angels have a Primarch called Lion 'El Jonson. Now you know.

I'll put some pics up of the Veterans I'm doing - I am using The Army Painter method to see how effective it is. That's all for now.