Daughters of the Final Autumn

I am gearing up for the 2014 Independent Characters Hobby Progress Challenge.  I've got my list going and have done up a test model.  Here is a summary of some of the posts I've already made to my ICs forum thread.

Background

The Daughters of the Final Autumn were a small Order stationed along the Southeastern edge of the Eye of Terror near Armageddon. The Order has always been kept busy fighting the enemies of the emperor, Orks and Chaos in particular. Several decades ago, the Order was accused by the Inquisition of having divided loyalties. Half of the Order's Sisters were purged by the inquisition (including the Order's Cannoness while the rest were mentally cleansed of these events. The inquisition didn't plan on a miracle, however. Several months later, from the ashes of her corpse, the the Cannoness rose as a living saint. The miracle didn't end there, for she was imbued with the power to expose the truth in the minds of others. Her first act as a living saint was to restore the memories of her fellow Sisters.

The Order has guarded the facts of this event closely and made sure the details of their transgressions are never revealed. This wasn't enough to assure that the Ordo Originatus wouldn't take notice of these goings-on, however. Today, the Order of the Final Autumn still fights against Chaos and the green tide, yet their true zeal is revealed when working under the direction of the Ordo Originatus to right wrongs perpetrated by the Inquisition itself. Of course, the Sisters are forbidden to ever expose these very active and probably quite inappropriate activities to the other Ordos.

The first stage of the challenge is a Zone Mortalis force and boy, it's pretty tough coming up with a list without dedicated transports! Some months, I'll have to do a couple of units.

Lists

1000 Pts - Codex: Adepta Sororitas Roster - Order of the Final Autumn Strike Force

1 Saint Wendy, 135 pts (Warlord)

9 Retributor Squad, 180 pts (Simulacrum Imperialis; Heavy Bolter x4; Shield of Faith)
. . 1 Retributor Superior (Bolt Pistol; Melta Bombs; Storm Bolter x1)

5 Dominion Squad, 118 pts (Flamer x1; Meltagun x3)
. . 1 Dominion Superior (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun; Melta Bombs)

5 Dominion Squad, 118 pts (Flamer x1; Meltagun x3)
. . 1 Dominion Superior (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun; Melta Bombs)

14 Battle Sister Squad, 210 pts (Simulacrum Imperialis; Flamer; Multi-melta)
. . 1 Sister Superior (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun; Melta Bombs)

5 Battle Sister Squad, 92 pts (Flamer; Multi-melta)
. . 1 Sister Superior (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun; Melta Bombs)

5 Battle Sister Squad, 92 pts (Flamer; Multi-melta)
. . 1 Sister Superior (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun; Melta Bombs)

1 Ministorum Priest, 30 pts (Close Combat Weapon; Laspistol)
. . 1 Book of St. Lucius

1 Ministorum Priest, 25 pts (Close Combat Weapon; Laspistol)

Proposed Task List:

January:
Dominion Squad 1

February:
Retributor Squad

March:
Saint Wendy
Priest 1
Priest 2

April:
Battle Sister Squad 2
Battle Sister Squad 3

May:
Battle Sister Squad 1

June:
Dominion Squad 2

2000 Pts - Codex: Adepta Sororitas Roster - Order of the Final Autumn Vanguard Force

1 Saint Wendy, 135 pts (Warlord)

19 Battle Sister Squad, 335 pts (Simulacrum Imperialis; Flamer; Multi-melta)
. . 1 Sister Superior (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun; Melta Bombs)
. . 1 Immolator (Twin-Linked Multi-melta; Dozer Blade)

1 Canoness Erica, 100 pts (Bolt Pistol; Melta Bombs; Power Axe x1)
. . 1 Litanies of Faith
1 Ministorum Priest, 25 pts (Close Combat Weapon; Laspistol)
4 Sororitas Command Squad, 140 pts (Flamer x1)
. . 1 Hospitaler
. . 1 Rhino (Dozer Blade)

1 Catcher in the Rye, 30 pts (Close Combat Weapon; Laspistol)
. . 1 Book of St. Lucius
9 Retributor Squad, 250 pts (Simulacrum Imperialis; Heavy Bolter x4; Shield of Faith)
. . 1 Retributor Superior (Bolt Pistol; Melta Bombs; Storm Bolter x1)
. . 1 Immolator (Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter; Hunter-killer Missile)

8 Retributor Squad, 238 pts (Simulacrum Imperialis; Heavy Bolter x4; Shield of Faith)
. . 1 Retributor Superior (Bolt Pistol; Melta Bombs; Storm Bolter x1)
. . 1 Immolator (Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter; Hunter-killer Missile)

4 Dominion Squad, 180 pts (Flamer x1; Meltagun x3)
. . 1 Dominion Superior (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun; Melta Bombs)
. . 1 Immolator (Twin-Linked Multi-melta; Dozer Blade; Laud Hailer)

4 Dominion Squad, 180 pts (Flamer x1; Meltagun x3)
. . 1 Dominion Superior (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun; Melta Bombs)
. . 1 Immolator (Twin-Linked Heavy Flamer; Dozer Blade; Laud Hailer)

5 Battle Sister Squad, 157 pts (Flamer; Multi-melta)
. . 1 Sister Superior (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun; Melta Bombs)
. . 1 Immolator (Twin-Linked Multi-melta; Dozer Blade)

5 Battle Sister Squad, 157 pts (Flamer; Multi-melta)
. . 1 Sister Superior (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun; Melta Bombs)
. . 1 Immolator (Twin-Linked Multi-melta; Dozer Blade)

4 Battle Sister Squad, 70 pts (Heavy Bolter)
. . 1 Sister Superior (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun)

My Seargents are all very generic, but it will make it easy to figure out which model is the sergeant by the fact that I will have names on the bases. I wanted to honor all the strong women in my life with this army, many of whom helped raise me to be who I am today.

Saint Wendy - my wife
Canoness Erica - my sister
- Celestian Brooke - my cousin
- Celestian Dana - my cousin
- Celestian Karla - my cousin
- Celestian Erin - my cousin
- Hospitaler Linda - my aunt
Ministorium Priest Katherine - my mother-in-law
Ministorium Priest Shawna - my sister-in-law
Sister Superior Shelly - my aunt
Sister Superior Kim - my aunt
Sister Superior Jill - my aunt
Sister Superior Gwen - my grandmother
Dominion Superior Jesse - my great-grandmother
Dominion Superior Nancy - my great aunt
Retributor Superior Greta - my grandmother
Retributor Superior Amy - my sister-in-law

Model List

• Saint - x1
• Canoness with Power Axe, Litanies of Faith, Meltabombs, and Bolt Pistol - x1
  I'm going to try to use a Grey Knight Force Halberd for this.
• Ministorum Priest with CCW/Laspistol - x1
  Need to try to find an appropriate female priest
• Ministorum Priest with CCW/Laspistol, Book of St.Lucius - x1
• Battle Sisters with Bolters - x27
• Battle Sisters with Banner - x6
• Battle Sisters with Flamers - x9
• Battle Sisters with Heavy Bolters - x9
• Hospitaler - x1
• Battle Sisters with Meltaguns - x4
• Battle Sisters with Meltaguns and Flamers - x4
• Battle Sisters with Simulacrum - x3
• Battle Sisters with Multimeltas - x3
• Sister Superior with Meltabombs - x5
• Sister Superior - x1
• Sister Superior with Storm Bolter and Meltabombs - x2
• Immolator with Multimelta and Dozerblade - x4
  Magnetized Laud Hailer and Banners
• Immolator with Heavy Flamer and Dozerblade - x1
  Magnetized Laud Hailer and Banners
• Immolator with Heavy Bolter - x2
  Magnetized Laud Hailer, Hunter Killer Missiles, and Banners
• Rhino with Dozerblade - x1
  Magnetized Laud Hailer and Banners - Probably just do another Multimelta Immolator, but with a different cupola

Test Model

Note that I do not yet have any of my basing materials, so I just did green paint for now.

Anyways,

I chose not to start with a primer. I hate painting on black. If I start with anything, it's going to be white, but the humidity is in the eighties percent right now, so a primer was just not in the cards. I put down a layer of Leadbelcher on the armor, a coat of Apple Barrel Bright Red on the clothing and boltgun, and light gray on the spots that will be white.

I put down a layer of Ironbreaker on the armor and a layer of Wild Rider Red on the clothing and the gun. I ought to have painted my gold parts at this point.

Medium black wash for defenition.

I highlighted with Ironbreaker and Wild Rider Red again.

Then, I did highlights with Runefang Steel and Troll Slayer Orange with a slight blending on the orange. I highlighted the white parts as well. Note that I did the gold parts and washed them as well. As an afterthought, I painted the hoses on the armor black. I felt like I needed another break-up color there and another metallic wasn't going to do the trick.

Note that the non-armor metal parts are never highlighted. They are just the basecoat of Leadbelcher with the wash over it. I want the metal from the Bolter and the grenades to look more dull.

Here she is with an orange Bolter.

And here she is with a red Bolter.

So, it does seem a shame not to somehow use the edging and banding on the armor. Having said, I do actually prefer the clean look the armor has now, too. I think too much gold can be a mistake sometimes. Not sure. I'll think on it.

Not sure if I hate myself enough to want to do some kind of pattern along the seams of their clothing. Maybe that will be something sergeants have? Not sure. I do think I should paint the knobs on the clothing silver. Pretty sure those are buttons or studs or something.