I've been planning some small allied forces for my Executioners and Blood Angels for a while. For example, I was given a Bike squad for just such a force as a wedding gift (I'm rapidly approaching my second anniversary). Now that I've finished all of my projects for my main armies (at least those that I've already bought), I can start on my allies.
First up is a small contingent of Mantis Warriors. The Executioners don't use Bikes, and I wanted to add some to my force. The Mantis Warriors seemed like an obvious choice, as they fought alongside the Executioners during the Badab War and are a White Scar successor Chapter.
I had originally wanted to do a middle Eastern theme for the Mantis Warriors, based primarily on the name of their special character, Ahazra Redth. However, it turns out that nobody makes Arabian style bits for Space Marines. I fell back on a combination of White Scars (i.e. Mongolian) bits and Japanese inspired bits. This second part was due to the Bell of Lost Souls Badab War background, which preceded the Forgeworld coverage. In that, Mantis Warriors were heavily inspired by samurai. There are some Kromlech Cyber Samurai helmets and backpacks in the squad, and my Captain will have one of their vibro katanas. Nice bits all around.
I wanted the colors to be fairly muted on these guys, as that matched the Mantis Warriors color scheme and fits with their stealthy nature. For this, I fell back to the old Foundation paints. The green is primarily Knarloc Green with a Gretchen Green highlight. The yellows are Iyanden Darksun, an old favorite of mine.
Here are some close-ups of the Chapter insignia as well as the squad and company markings. Both are freehand, and they'll definitely improve with practice, but I don't think they look too bad. You can also see the Maelstrom Warders badge scattered around the squad.
Not a bad start, if I may say so myself. Next up will be some more Mantis Warriors. I've got another Bike squad as well as a bike-mounted Captain.
What do you think?