Ed's Heresy Kill-Teams: Custodians and ruins

[EdT]

Thanks all, really nice to see people like these! I really like the Heresy-era Space Wolf scheme; much moodier and more gritty than the 40k version. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Forgeworld handle them when they appear. Glad people approve of the Thralls as well, I always like trying to find excuses to do some mortal companions for Astartes, as it really underlines how big and brutish the Marines are. I'd been determined to make some ever since Prospero Burns described them; they were pretty easy kitbahses too- Wood Elves with assorted skulls as heads (the WHFB skeleton warriors have some really convenient horns).

Perfect dark grey, and very well modeled. Excellent job, man! What's your paint recipe?

Also, what's your recipe for the space wolf armour? Its so dark, gritty and just right for the sons of Russ.

The armour's really easy actually; it's a black undercoat, followed by a basecoat of an Abaddon Black/Skull White 4:1(ish) mix. Once that's dry I then roughly drybrush a medium grey mix on there, followed by a rather more lightly drybrushed light grey (really not too far from white) mix. At this point it looks far too bright. After that I give a (very) heavy black wash to tie everything together, and it's done. I then weather generously using Typhus Corrosion and some of the (excellent) Modelmates weathering liquids, which adds a lot of the grittiness.

How are you making your marines? They look amazing and i would like to give it a go.

There's no trick to it whatsoever really, although it's pricier than normal-sized marines. All you're doing really is replacing the usual legs with terminator ones. So, take a set of terminator legs (any work; the Wolves above have a mix of plastic Wolf Guard, Deathwing Command and Forgeworld Cataphracti legs). You carefully remove anything above the belt, and then all you need to do is plonk a normal power-armoured torso on top, and you're set! It does tend to make the marines that result a bit wasp-waisted, so it's a good idea to pack quite a lot of equipment around the lower body; this also hides any roughness or dicontinuity from the cuts you've made.

Here's a photo which should help to illustrate what I mean; the legs on the left are as delivered, while the ones on the right have the waist plate shaved off ready for a torso to go on.

Just have to say that I tried this technique just now to see how it looks in person and it is a really cool way of truescaling with little effort, well done.

Thanks! Doesn't compare to your technique of course, but I'm afraid my greenstuffing just isn't up to that sort of thing.

[Doghouse]

At the end of the day mate it's the results that count and I think that you have come up with a straight forward technique that should be in the reach of most players that want to make truescale marines but are intimidated by all the hard work that goes into them.

 

They really do look good and the creativity and character you've put into your Space Wolves really show this off. Big fan of these guys. :tu:

[Xin Ceithan]

Can't believe I missed this so far! amazing work and truly inspiring.

[Khalus]

You sir have fantastic skills and killer lore. The former is inspiring, the latter needs (emphasis on NEEDS) to be in a FW Heresy book. 

[EdT]

You sir have fantastic skills and killer lore. The former is inspiring, the latter needs (emphasis on NEEDS) to be in a FW Heresy book.

 

Thanks, I really like delving into the character of each legion. Should have another kill-team for people tomorrow hopefully, assuming the weather stays nice enough for me to take some photos; I have more wolves to show off, albeit ones of a rather more treacherous nature...

[EdT]

5- Kill Team "Gevurah", XVI Legion
 
“Horus is a fool. He has forgotten his place, and his roots. He acted the Cthonian but always thought himself better; grander, more glorious, destined for higher things. He wanted to _rule_, as if he was a stuck-up son of Inwit or Macragge. That was never the Cthonian way. Horus forgot the truth of what we are. Whatever airs and graces we put on, we are killers, no more, no less; the Emperor’s wolves, sent to tear out the throats of his enemies. We destroy, not rule. That is Horus’ nature too, even if he denies it. Even if my brothers have forgotten their station, I have not; I am a Luna Wolf, now and always.”
- Hamilcar Bast, “the Gibbous”; formerly of the XVI Legion, 7th Company.
 
“The Emperor never conquered the galaxy; we did it for him. To contend that we should meekly hand over our conquests to the mewling weaklings of humanity is the grossest form of insult imaginable. The strong have always ruled over the weak, and the Gods have always rewarded the strong. They have rewarded the Warmaster; they have rewarded me. Kneel before me, worm, or kill me and prove yourself stronger.”
- Shul Targhum, “the Blessed”; Ritualist of the Jackal Lodge, also Sergeant of the XVI Legion, 16th Company.



[Pict Capture DR/742-18Y-001] Legionaries Hamilcar Bast and Ezekyle Dasturkh of the XVI, showing early Crusade-era (L) and late Crusade-era ® heraldry.

The Massacres at Isstvan III and V did not just represent a triumph for the Warmaster; they also marked the ascendency of the Warrior Lodges as the leading source of authority within Horus’ Legion. In the months that followed the Dropsite Massacre, the Lodges began to assert this control, both subtly and, increasingly, with open disregard for the former command structure of the Legion. One field in which the Lodges quickly assumed complete dominance was in the XVI’s internal discipline. Lodge members found themselves called to take part in informal tribunals as a part of their duties; when these gatherings marked a Legionary for censure, or worse, the Lodge itself would enact the punishment, often taking no account of the views of senior officers. As the war went on, the Lodges would often accomplish specific missions using members seconded from across the Legion; a practice that the Warmaster and his Equerry Maloghorst tacitly tolerated, so long as their own designs were not obstructed.

One of the few identifiable temporary Lodge formations was Kill Team Gevurah, which was apparently established in the immediate wake of the conclusion of the Isstvan V campaign. The designation “Gevurah” remains obscure; however, XVI Legion assets operating on Lodge business generally distinguished themselves using cult phraseology, so it must be assumed that the term had some form of ritual significance.


[Pict Capture DR/742-18Y-002] Legionary Hamilcar Bast of the 7th Company, XVI Legion, and an unknown subject. Rembrancer's note: Subject's clothing, pallour and presence of cult paraphenalia suggests membership of lower-deck fleet Basilitheist grouping (Ref:Alpha/6/Lectitio_Divinatus).



[Pict Capture DR/742-18Y-003] Sergeant Shul Targhum of the 16th Company, XVI Legion. Rembrancer's note: Subject's anolmalous facial features and colouring remain unexplained.

The Kill Team was created to eliminate a rogue XVI Legionary named Hamilcar Bast. Bast, an undistinguished Cthonian line trooper within the VII Company, had apparently given his superiors no concern as to his loyalties in the days leading up to the Isstvan III atrocity due to his Lodge membership; however, when his squad assembled for deployment on the surface of the planet, Bast failed to report to duty. Initial efforts to trace the missing Legionary failed; however, during the transfer of XVI assets from Isstvan III to Isstvan V, the Grand Cruiser Ananke experienced a rash of unexpected systems failures that were eventually recognised as sabotage.

Bast’s Lodge membership ensured a swift reaction from within the hidden arm of the Legion. In order to eliminate the threat and also to suppress knowledge of continued Loyalist activity within the XVI Legion, the Lodges assembled a Kill Team to hunt him down.


[Pict Capture DR/742-18Y-004] Legionaries Abed Barekbal and Lev Abakhol of the 21st Company, XVI Legion. Rembrancer's note: Red gauntlets of subjects are theorised as denoting specialist Warrior Lodge formation.


[Pict Capture DR/742-18Y-005] Legionaries Ezekyle Dasturkh and Tubal Magiddon of the 5th and 8th Company, XVI Legion.

The composition of this team is instructive as to the nature of the Warrior Lodges in the wake of the Great Betrayal. Commanding Gevurah was Shul Targhum, a relatively junior sergeant of the 16th Company who in the period before Isstvan was rumoured to be a senior Lodge officer. Targhum led a diverse grouping of Astartes, including a neophyte, a member of the Legion’s destroyer cadre, and a Sergeant theoretically with far more seniority than his own.


[Pict Capture DR/742-18Y-006] Legionaries Tarhunt Eshkol and Sheol Aqhat of the 5th and 13th Companies, XVI Legion. Rembrancer's note: Subject's armour and equipment denotes membership of XVI Destroyer Cadre.


[Pict Capture DR/742-18Y-007] Sergeant Cassius Lycaon and Legionary Tarkon Vuk of the 23rd Company, XVI Legion. Rembrancer's note: Red Helmet plume denotes Sergeant status in some XVI Companies.

The ultimate fate of Gevurah, or indeed Hamilcar Bast, is unclear. What is known is that Bast, sheltered by shadowy Deist elements amongst the menial thralls in the lower decks of the Ananke, inspired a bloody insurrection on the Grand Cruiser that raged intermittently for almost a year. During the early stages of the Battle of Dwell, the Grand Cruiser’s warp reactor cores spontaneously detonated, killing all aboard and also crippling two nearby escort ships. Only one member of the Kill Team is recorded beyond this date; Tubal Magiddon rose to become Chieftain of one of the XVI’s Reaver companies before his apparent death at the Eternity Wall Spaceport during the invasion of Terra, although confusingly, later reports from the Scouring period also record a Warlord of that name.


[Pict Capture DR/742-18Y-008] Kill Team Gevurah.

[EdT]

Shame nobody was much bothered with my Sons of Horus; maybe this preview of what I'm currently working on will be more to people's taste?  Major bonus points for guessing what/who the next Kill Team is...

 

[oldschoolsavant]

Teased Scars.

Scars want.

Nothing else will suffice. (despite those wonderful Wolf thralls)

[deathspectersgt7]

Give a old man a break they Kick ASS!!! 

[KrautScientist]

Well, just for the record: The Sons of Horus killteam is awesome, both in background and execution! Don't beat yourself up, there's so much new content sometimes that amazing stuff doesn't get the recognition it deserves -- plus some people just cannot be arsed to comment ;)

 

Anyway, fantastic stuff! As for the teaser, I am guessing (Dark) Mechanicus?!

[Montuhotep]

I'm going for Mechanicus as well, seems more fitting than Scars, what with the robotic limbs and the fact that there's 2 of them on one shoulder.

[ChromeZephyr]

It's either Dark Mechanicus or renegade Iron Hands.  Either way, it'll be awesome.

[oldschoolsavant]

I'm going for Mechanicus as well, seems more fitting than Scars, what with the robotic limbs and the fact that there's 2 of them on one shoulder.

 

Lol, was referring to the previous tease here:  http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/286355-eds-heresy-kill-teams-part-5-sons-of-horus-veterans/page-2?do=findComment&comment=3725890

 

That's what I'm waiting to see. As for the other, possibly DM, but Thousand Sons popped into my head first.....

[EdT]

Teased Scars.

Scars want.

Nothing else will suffice. (despite those wonderful Wolf thralls)

I have made some progress, I promise! Still a way off though. I will do a full team of the V at some point, but I like to come up with the background first and nothing has quite given the bug yet. Here's where I currently am with the Jagutu-iin (which I'm using as the Chogorian term for Sergeant) of the group...

As for the teaser, I am guessing (Dark) Mechanicus?!

I'm going for Mechanicus as well.

Dark Mechanicus

Possibly DM.....

Clearly I need to set harder teasers . Yes, the next Kill Team is Dark Mechanicus- or, at least, loyal to the Martian Parliament and Fabricator General. I'm just waiting on some etched brass and then I can get painting; theyve been really fun to do as you've got so much room to be creative. Here's a little preview- every adept needs Servo-Skulls, and while these technically aren't anything so lowly (They're actually compinents of the peer-to-peer network that serves as the repository for an Archmagos' consciousness) they hopefully fill the same visual niche while being a bit different from the usual, floaty variety.

[EdT]

The march of the servo-skulls... (or a bit of displacement activity before mowing the lawn...)

 

[oldschoolsavant]

Teased Scars.

Scars want.

Nothing else will suffice. (despite those wonderful Wolf thralls)

I have made some progress, I promise! Still a way off though. I will do a full team of the V at some point, but I like to come up with the background first and nothing has quite given the bug yet. Here's where I currently am with the Jagutu-iin (which I'm using as the Chogorian term for Sergeant) of the group...

Must.

Have.

Moar !

Took me ages to edit the post down sans PS3, but you deserve the effort. Can't wait to see the finished results, and I promise I'll be patient. If you're struggling for names, a few quick Google searches for 'Mongolian nouns' and 'Mongolian military ranks' should help.

It's how I started to form the basis of my lot.

[geordie]

Those Sons of Horus are epic! Your stuff is absolutely inspirational. I love the conversions, I love the dirty, gritty style of painting and weathering, I love the background for the squad members. The rusty chains on the bases are really well done too, as well as the bases themselves. The only constructive criticism I could offer is keep an eye out for those mold lines, but the couple I've spotted certainly do not detract at all from the works of art you've produced here. I take my hat off to you sir.

[ChromeZephyr]

o_O

 

I recognize the servo-skull from the Scions kit, but what are those spider walkers?!?  MUST. HAVE.

[Chronotonic]

...that is amazing work there I might be doing that myself soon with my terminator legs...

[EdT]

Must.

 

Have.

 

Moar !

 

Took me ages to edit the post down sans PS3, but you deserve the effort. Can't wait to see the finished results, and I promise I'll be patient. If you're struggling for names, a few quick Google searches for 'Mongolian nouns' and 'Mongolian military ranks' should help.

 

It's how I started to form the basis of my lot.

 

I work the same way! I found this very helpful. That guy's Khulan ('Wild Horse'), I have the names for another four of five, and they're definitely from the Brotherhood of the White Mountain (as below); but it's the background I need to work out. I'll get there in the end!

 

 

Those Sons of Horus are epic! Your stuff is absolutely inspirational. I love the conversions, I love the dirty, gritty style of painting and weathering, I love the background for the squad members. The rusty chains on the bases are really well done too, as well as the bases themselves. The only constructive criticism I could offer is keep an eye out for those mold lines, but the couple I've spotted certainly do not detract at all from the works of art you've produced here. I take my hat off to you sir.

 

Thanks, glad you like them. I like the Kill Team idea as I'm not sure I have the attention span for a whole army, and it lets me try out lots of different paint schemes etc. The one thing I need to try and tackle is a less gritty paintscheme- Emperor's Children or Thousand Sons, perhaps- maybe after this lot. Good spot on the mold line btw, will have to remove that...

 

o_O

 

I recognize the servo-skull from the Scions kit, but what are those spider walkers?!?  MUST. HAVE.

 

They're quite cool aren't they?  They're Malifaux- these guys . In plastic too, which is handy....

[ephrael]

I'm a huge fan of your True Scale Kill Teams, every one of them.  I've been collecting bits for a long time to make a true scale SM army and I'm thinking that I'll start with a kill team or two to make sure I'll stick with it.  I like the gritty style that you paint them in and I look forward to seeing you tackle a more "pristine" painting style.  Please keep posting your work including some wip shots too.

[ChromeZephyr]

Yup, those

 

 

 
They're quite cool aren't they?  They're Malifaux- these guys . In plastic too, which is handy....

 

 

Awesome, thanks!  I think my FLGS stocks Malifaux, will have to buy a set.

[Chronotonic]

I kinda stole your idea 

 

works really well to

 

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/17/34/9e/17349e88ac770e4b1d42a5cbcb0fbf98.jpg

 

that and some of the fluff says that some marines are taller, shorter, broader just like normal people so I think one or two of these guys in an army wont make a difference but you would notice it if you were looking

 

but I plan on making some kill teams as well...haha

 

thanks

[Brother Pheidias]

Loving the Sons of Horus/Luna Wolves, and all the other Teams you've presented so far. Got to echo those that are looking forward to White Scars though, I really want to see them get the EdT-treatment!

[EdT]

I'm a huge fan of your True Scale Kill Teams, every one of them.  I've been collecting bits for a long time to make a true scale SM army and I'm thinking that I'll start with a kill team or two to make sure I'll stick with it.  I like the gritty style that you paint them in and I look forward to seeing you tackle a more "pristine" painting style.  Please keep posting your work including some wip shots too.

 

Well good luck! I sometimes think about doing a full (if small) army but I don't think I've got the attention span, plus I've no idea how to do a truescale Terminator. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

 

 

I kinda stole your idea

 

that and some of the fluff says that some marines are taller, shorter, broader just like normal people so I think one or two of these guys in an army wont make a difference but you would notice it if you were looking

 

but I plan on making some kill teams as well...haha

 

thanks

 

Looking good, Iron Warriors? As you say, the fluff definitely supports particularly large marines (Alexis Polux, the Death Guard guy from The Outcast Dead, etc), so even a normal-sale army can have a couple of bigger guys..

 

 

Loving the Sons of Horus/Luna Wolves, and all the other Teams you've presented so far. Got to echo those that are looking forward to White Scars though, I really want to see them get the EdT-treatment!

 

I will get to the Scars eventually! Unfortunately an idea for my post-Mechanicum Kill Team popped into my head fully formed the other day,so I think that'll be my next job. Made some progress on the half-painted guy today though, so the V should have at least one representative soon...

 

 

Anyhow, I'm in the frustrating position of having a mostly complete buch of people from the Mechanicum and no bases to mount them on! So here's a quick preview of a 90% complete Satellitum unit Epsilon/9876/Zeta-Phi...