The Damned Beast Handlers

I'm not sure there's a 40K equivalent unless the Vraks Lost And The Damned list had beast handlers but we'll see how these pan out in Death Fields.

There are four beasts per sprue along with the handlers.

I've tried a couples of schemes and have tried to avoid red so far.

My favourite is the Contrast Akhelian Green skin with Dark Angels for the plate parts.

 

Oooooh! Fancy Backdrops

 

Nothing new for today but, seeing as I've not used them, here's a quick test shot of models using one of the scenes from the Jon Hodgson series of backdrop books.

I quite like them.

Once I'm back home, I'll be looking at some of the beast handlers and Beastmen from the Kickstarter.

Plus, twenty Krieg Death Riders as I catch up with the box sets from some time back.

The Damned Brutes

Another component of The Damned is their Brute squads. The Death Fields already have an Ogre/ Ogryn type squad known as The Vain. These models are made up from the Fantasy range Landsknecht Ogres and uses the sci-fi weapons on the sprues. I have used these in the past to make Ogryns for my Ventrillian Noble army.

These Brutes are pre sci-fi and borrow heavily, to my mind, from the Chaos aligned Ogryns from the Forgeworld Siege of Vraks range.



For now, I have three distinct squads on the go. Ripper guns, close combat weapons and two-handed weapons. Each is led by a Brute built from the Command frame but mix and matched with Brute parts.

Easy to build and painting up quite well with Contrast paints, I've managed to make more progress with these than any other squad so far.

So far, The Damned are shaping up quite well.

 

The Damned Heavy Ordnance

Another nice kit. I'm awaiting some 100mm bases to turn up to make them GW equivalent.

Again, no instructions so there is some dry fitting required. Unfortunately, there is only one limber per sprue so only one weapon can actually be made but there are some nice conversion bits after.

There are two types of shield included with two variants of each.

The cannon gun should have narrow gap shield rather than the wide gap for the quad launcher but I can't seem to make the barrel fit in that gap.

As can be seen, the shield comes in plain and "The Damned" style so these could be used with other Death Fields armies without looking out of place. One may be diverted to some spare Les Grognards for example.

 There are also lots of spare diorama bits, like the pile of shell casings to take up some spare space on a 100mm base.

The Damned Heavy Weapons

As Wargames Atlantic have gone for a full range for The Damned from the Kickstarter, there are heavy weapons and ordnance as well.

These are the first ones I've built but there is a heavy disclaimer here. I have built them, strictly, incorrectly. This will be corrected on future versions but my excuse will be that, as a ramshackle looking army, some weapons have been jury-rigged from damaged weapons.

My squatting gunner can actually be seated if the correct longer rear leg is used and the little stools on the sprue are glued on. Think 2nd Ed Imperial Guard Heavy Bolter gunners.

These two are 40K Heavy Bolter and Autocannon equivalents. I do like the double barrel on the autocannon.

This mortar feeds on from the novel looking mortar that originated with the Les Grognards set.

Energy weapon (lascannon or plasma weapon?) and a missile launcher.



 There are Ordnance weapons as well but those will be for another post.

I have no complaints with these. The crew model sprue is separate and also includes parts for the figures to be ordnance crew.

These being built incorrectly is due to WGA not providing build instructions for the models. That's not a real issue and, if it helps keep costs down, all the better. 

If anyone reading buys the upcoming The Damned army box, research the website and box to ensure 'correct' builds.

The Damned Infantry

The backbone of any army, the Poor Bloody Infantry.

Now, due to the size of my pledge I have 180 of the male Damned available PLUS several sprues of the female soldiers. I plan to mix and match these and, as an example, the flamer operator here is from the female sprue. Slightly smaller but that shouldn't affect mix and matching the arms to provide extra variety.

For this squad of twenty I have opted for the hood and respirator heads but already have another squad of ten built with helmets. These will be in a different uniform scheme.

First thoughts? Relatively simple but with plenty of variety. See if I'm saying that in 100 models time.

 

The Damned Cavalry

Although I'm never quite sure why sci-fi settings seem obsessed with cavalry, I do enjoy the models.

The Damned bring their Outriders into the fray.