In this week’s episode of Battle Report over on Warhammer+, you can watch an absolutely beautiful Deathwatch army go toe-to-claw with the new Tyranids. This enormous army is full of truly flabbergasting conversions painted to a top-notch standard, a lockdown project that just kept growing. Since the chaps from Battle Report recently borrowed it from Warhammer painting presenter Adam, Nick decided to ask him a few questions.
Nick: Adam, we’ve been looking to borrow your gorgeous army for so long on the show – thank you so much for letting us use it! When did you start the army?
Adam: I started the army back in 2018, with a Kill Team! I thought it was so cool having Space Marines from lots of different Chapters in one force. It’s a concept that allowed me to really individualise every model. Then I added some Hellblasters, and it grew from there, adding a new unit whenever I finished the last!
Nick: You really like to make every model personal, and convert them up – what is it about this that you enjoy?
Adam: For me, it’s all about the narrative of Warhammer 40,000. When I’m building miniatures, I had the audio books from Black Library on in the background. With the Deathwatch, I loved how each Marine was an individual with their own history and personality, but also part of a larger cohesive force. I wanted to show this in an army, with every model telling a story. I also wanted an excuse to paint just about every Space Marine model that was coming out! New Dark Angels, Black Templars, or Blood Angels models? Well, they could find a home in my army, no problems!
I used the Dark Angels Ravenwing Accessory Pack to add some extra character to the Repulsor, which makes it look like it was gifted to the Deathwatch by the Chapter themselves. The Redemptor Dreadnoughts both contain splashes of colour from their former Chapters – I’ll leave it up to you to work out where they’re each from...
Nick: Your conversions are great – it’s a real game of “spot the component”! How did you approach converting your Marines?
Adam: I looked for as much Adeptus Astartes artwork I could find, and looked around at other models in the community for inspiration. My goal was to kitbash these as much as possible, but I wasn’t looking to sculpt new pieces!
Let’s say I wanted a Lieutenant with a power fist. I would take all the power fists I had in my bitz box, and create mock-ups by temporarily tacking them in place to see how each looked. When I’d settled on all the components I wanted, I finally built the model using glue. Doing it this way allowed me to find the right pose, and play around with the construction until I found exactly what I was looking for. I highly recommend it!
Nick: There are so many incredible models in the army. What are your favourites?
Adam: That’s a really hard question – I love all my models and I’ve spent so much time painting them all! But if I had to choose, it would be two of the new models from the Leviathan boxed set.
When I saw the new Terminator Captain, I knew I had to have him in my Deathwatch army. I decided to theme him by using a guardian spear for his relic weapon, for that distinctly eclectic Deathwatch aesthetic. Then I took the combi-melta from Alexis Polux, and combined it with the left arm from a Grey Knights Paladin. He was a big step up for me in terms of painting – I made a huge effort to bring together super sharp highlighting and in-scale damage.
As for the Apothecary Biologis, I tested myself again. I had an image in my head of him dragging a Necron back to his study chamber, so with that in mind I converted him up as such! When it came to painting, I wanted to make him look heavily battle-damaged – something I hadn’t done before. I used the Citadel Colour Masterclass episode on painting Chipped T’au Empire armour, and the method works really on power armour too.
Nick: I led your army against the Tyranids on this week’s Battle Report. You haven’t seen the game yet… how do you think they fared?
Adam: Oh, I have full confidence in my Deathwatch! They’re specially trained to fight aliens, so they should smash xenos face no matter what… even with your dice rolls!
Nick: Is this the first time they’ve actually been in a battle?
Adam: Yeah, it actually is! I collected them and built them up as a display force. For me, painting is my favourite part of the hobby, and a great relief from the trials and tribulations of the real world! Painting and listening to Black Library audiobooks is a fantastic escape. These guys spend almost all of their time in a cabinet, so it’s really cool to see them on the tabletop for the first time, fighting for the Emperor!
Thank you so much, Adam! You can see this glorious force in action right now on Battle Report on Warhammer+, and if you’re ever at Warhammer World, you can see them on display here too. If you’d like to pick up some great painting tips from Adam and the team, make sure to check out the many Warhammer videos over on YouTube!