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Archangel, A Tale of One Gamer: VIIth Legion


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And so I find myself at the beginning of the road...

 

I've been paging through my Forge World Horus Heresy books and scribbling ideas and copying model pictures from the Age of Darkness forum for a while now.

 

I bought some Mechanicum and Space Marine models to build for the last ETL III, but I lost focus. There were too many legions I wanted to start, etc. I wanted to start Dark Angels, but they haven't been given the "FW touch" yet. I figured I would do a Mechanicum army, but, like the Tin Man from Oz, my heart wasn't in it.

 

I was drawn into the path of the Dark Angels Legion by some of the Horus Heresy stories, mainly Savage Weapons and Prince of Crows. The Thramas Crusade would be a great theme for an army. Of course this would mean I'd need a few Night Lords!

 

...a few NL squads and the Night Haunter versus the Lion and his DA at Tsagualsa. Or a few Atramentar with Sevatar for some boarding action inside the Invincible Reason...

 

...hmm, if I wouldn't be duplicating the some of the same types of models, building the Imperial Fists wouldn't be a bad idea either. The Crimson Fists was another good Horus Heresy story. Captain Amandus Tyr boarding the Iron Warrior's flagship Iron Blood to exterminate Perturabo. Captain Alexis Polux versus Erasmus Golg during the taking of the Contrador...

 

... and 1000heathens idea for pre-heresy Unification War legions... before Primarchs!

 

(SKKRRREEEECCH to a halt) But... I begin to digress.

 

I have considered using the "Tale of Four Gamers" approach from some old White Dwarf magazines. Essentially, it's placing one's self on a budget and building an army slowly over a few months time. Now, realistically, the starting £'s don't mesh well with FW prices and the planning of a few squads for each month.

 

So, I decided on a simpler budget: £250.00 a month (or at least however often I can spare it).

 

Two good reasons for this. First, this provides free shipping from FW! Second, it allows for me to take advantage of some of their "bundles" to save a few £'s. 

 

This will allow me to do 1 HQ and 2 TR's for my first goal, then I can progress with a squad or two after, and so on. My army will be built piece by piece. My aim is to initially build at least one of each squad type and any accompanying weapons choices for them.

 

My order has just been placed with FW:

 

1 Legion Praetors (2 praetors: One Praetor is clad in artificer-modified Cataphractii armour, armed with an ornate paragon blade power sword and a Volkite Charger, while the other wears ornate artificer-modified MkIII ‘Iron’ armour and carries a fantastically-detailed archaeotech pistol, as well as a mighty paragon blade power sword.)

 

1 Legion Mk II Command Upgrade (2 space marines: a Space Marine Commander and Standard Bearer)

 

1 Legion II Tactical Squad Bundle: 6 of the Legion Mk II armour kits (30 space marines), 3 Phobos Pattern Bolters kits (30 bolters)and a Legion Mk II Upgrade set of 2 Legion Vexillas, 2 Legion Nuncio-voxs and 2 Legion Sergeant Helmets.

--- I figure 20 space marines would be for a Tactical Squad and 10 space marines for a Tactical-Support Squad.

 

1 Phobos pattern Bolt Pistols and Packs (10 to split up amongst the space marines for now)

 

2 Legion Rotor Cannon Sets (10 rotor cannons for the Tac-Sup squad)

 

-------------------------

Total: £250.50

 

Okay, it's slightly over budget, but it still gets free shipping!

 

So, as I wait for my first big delivery, I will also begin to focus on just where I'm starting:

 

VIIth Legion... Unification Wars.... then I'll work my way towards the Battle of Phall... with some Iron Warriors...

 

 

[Edited for change of Legion]

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I can only commend you on your choice! ;)

 

I also have to say that you are brave enough to invest in a Legion that is not yet covered by FW (when it eventually happens there will be some DA-specific items no doubt) and a period that is sort of uncharted teritorry...

 

Look forward for some pics...

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@Candleshoes: Thanks. I will post a pick as soon as I get the box in my grubby little gauntlets.

 

@Brother Chaplain Kage: Pictures will be coming. In fact, I will be building a test squad for some alternate paint schemes this month to represent the Ist Legion during the Unification Wars period.

 

@Captain Semper: Thank you, sir. The uncharted period allows a little free experimentation as I begin the army. As I add more and more marines, they'll mix in with the more all-black red sword-wing look. FW's DA are probably a few years off, so I'll have a good core army ready for whatever FW-goodness comes along.  

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Here is some inspirational fluff as I wait for my FW package.
 
Horus Heresy Volume I: Betrayal, The Legiones Astartes, p.27

"... and the numbers of these new enhanced warriors, at first armed and armoured as the Thunder Warriors had been, grew swiftly and they were organised into twenty distinct regiments numbering at first no more than a few hundred warriors each."

"... Some of this 'Thunder Armour', first named for the Thunder Regiments that were the Legiones' forebears, was newly forged, but the Emperor's warsmiths also took or canabalised many suits from the armouries and corpses of conquered foes. As if to mark a break from the wars of the past the armour was cast in storm cloud grey, and bore only the thunderbolt and lightning marks of Imperial unity."
 
"... Over time Legions gained their own marks of distinction and character, and names - Emperor-given in some cases - came to replace numbers, with many Space Marine companies seeking to single themselves out from their brother Legions. Battle honours were accumulated and the effect of each Legion's character worked upon them, so that as the Legions expanded to conquer the galaxy, storm cloud grey became granite, silver, viridian, iron, sable, gold, ash or ice, and by the time of the Triumph of Ullanor, the Grey Legions of unity were gone, lost to history."
 

Horus Heresy Volume III: Extinction, The Alpha Legion, p.79

"It is apparent from numerous extant sources that during their creation, each nascent proto-Legion after the Primus or Ist Legion (later the Angelis Tenebraium or Dark Angels), was raised first to active service in a staged process of testing and trials before the full active force was created through mass recruitment."

 

 

Descent of Angels, by Mitchel Scanlon, p.207

 

   "They had been part of the first generation of Astartes to be recruited from Caliban. More tellingly, they were among the first to wear the Legion’s new winged sword insignia at their shoulder, the first to call themselves Dark Angels.

 

   Afterwards, this would set them apart from their peers. The older members of the Legion were all men from Terra who could remember a time before the Emperor’s First Legion had borne the name ‘Dark Angels’, while those that came after Zahariel and Nemiel’s generation had never known anything different. For the moment though, a golden age lay ahead."

 

 

The Unremembered Empire, by Dan Abnett, p.115

   "The First Legion had arsenals containing devices unknown to all the other Legions. The Dark Angels had been the first created, and their history predated all other institutions of the Legiones Astartes. They were, in many regards, the prototype. It was said that during the latter years of the Unification War and the first years of the Great Crusade, before the other Legions had been constructed, the Dark Angels had known and done things that no other Legion was privy to. They had built their strengths and identity in that era, in isolation.
 
   That identity had needed to be complete. When there was only one Legion, that Legion had been obliged to contain all specialisms. Guilliman knew that the six hosts or 'wings' of the Dark Angels represented specialisms of every school, at subtle variance to the standard order of the Principia Bellicosa.
 
   Guilliman had also heard tell of secret orders and mysterious hierarchies within the ranks of the Dark Angels; hierarchies of knowledge, trust and authority invisible to outsiders. It explained some of their curious insignia, which sometimes bore no relation to rank or company structure."


[edited to include Demon2027's suggestion from below]

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There's also these for me to consider...

gallery_8429_9940_16553.jpg

med_gallery_8429_9940_143385.jpg

Yes, the second one is a tweaking of one of the Imperial Fist Unification War Veterans from Horus Heresy Volume III: Extinction. There are quite a few alternate paint schemes to be had from these volumes.

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Would this be it?

Horus Heresy Volume III: Extinction, The Alpha Legion, p.79

 

"It is apparent from numerous extant sources that during their creation, each nascent proto-Legion after the Primus or Ist Legion (later the Angelis Tenebraium or Dark Angels), was raised first to active service in a staged process of testing and trials before the full active force was created through mass recruitment."

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I may have to edit my first post. And it's thanks to 1000heathens vs. Armond...

med_gallery_8429_9981_109427.jpg

...and all of their Blood in the Void Zone Mortalis battling.

I'm thinking of Imperial Fists vs. Iron Warriors. Tyr vs. Perturabo. Polux vs. Golg.

Why can't I be thinking Dark Angels vs. Night Lords? ...because Dark Angels aren't here and Imperial Fists are?

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Or Blood Angels and Night Lords.

 

I can't honestly think of better opponents in a Void fight. Plus their paint schemes and aesthetics are so dynamically opposed, you'd never get bored painting.

 

 

Yah, I know. Not helping.  :P

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Or Blood Angels and Night Lords.

I can't honestly think of better opponents in a Void fight. Plus their paint schemes and aesthetics are so dynamically opposed, you'd never get bored painting.

Yah, I know. Not helping. tongue.png

Oh, but you are. At least you mentioned Night Lords, which are a consideration with my wanting to do Dark Angels.

Paint?

(Mark Hamill's Joker voice) "Funnyyy guyyy..." . Actually, trying to paint the paint which shall not be named may either snap me out of my foolish revelry and back to the 1st Legion or send me further down the warp-rabbit hole.

I'm still in the cleaning stage of the resin. I've been doing a few pieces each night after work as I'm able.

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Cool, will you be using the silver with a bIt of yellow scheme. I really hope so. Also, your army needs to be led by the Emperor.

 

I still intend to do some Unification War Legionnaires. As the Betrayal fluff has the early regiments being only a few hundred-strong each, it would be tempting to do a squad from each legion as they appeared during the UW. I would certainly need the Emperor to lead them!

 

According to The Crimson Fist, by John French, one of the Imperial Fist commanders at the Battle of Phall was named Iago. He had taken part in the first Pacification of Luna, which occurred during the Unification Wars. So I have a name to use for my HQ.

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No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. Neither do model plans.

I'm still working on my Mk II Tacticals, which were going to be 1st legion but now they're set to be 7th legion and they may get put on hold so I can get some IF specific FW bitz....

...and now I am working on my "Execute Perturabo" ZM army lists over at
http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/296621-execute-perturabo/?p=3807012

So, it is time for a new FW order:

Cataphractii Terminator Set (3) = 15 TRMs
Cataphractii Power Fist Set (2) = 2 PSwd, 8 PF, 2 CF, 10 C-B
Cataphractii Power Axe Set (1) = 1 PSwd, 5 PAxe, 5 C-B 
Cataphractii Special Weapons Set (2) = 4 pairs LClaws, 4 TH, 2 CF, 2 PSwd, 2 PMaul, 2PB, 2 TL-AC, 2 HFL
IF Legion Upgrade Torso Set (5) = 25 IF torsos
IF Legion Upgrade Head Set (3) = 30 IF helmets

TOTAL : £255.00

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