XIIIth Legion - Vengeance of Calth.

[Monstra Sumus]

"Lorchas, he said unto me, be my instrument."

"We watched the star of Veridian begin to die, it's nuclear heat scorching the drifting and silent tombs of cracked battleships and then we left, abandoning Ventatus to his fate. We watched the surface of Calth, once beautiful, burn and we ran. I barely registered the undertaking that was given unto me as I mourned the loss of my frater. We called you brothers, fought at your side across the stars and this is how you repay us? I remember when the call from the Primus Medicae came through, relayed to all heads of staff. One hundred and nineteen thousand, four hundred and twenty two Astartes fallen in combat, with a further twenty eight thousand, three hundred and ninety two rendered combat-incapable by the fighting. I was there from Mark Zero until Mark Twenty Three, Forty three, and now I am here. The rage I felt at leaving Calth was-"

Blood splattered across the curved eagle wings upon his breastplate. Ropes of spittle settling in the pitted and scarred enmbossment. With mechanical precision, Lorchas drew his armoured fist back and struck the traitor a blow to the side of his face. He felt the Astartes cheek bone splinter under the impact. He gestured to the Suzerain that held the enemy between them, one grasped the foes tattooed head and wrenched it up to face Lorchas.

"My rage was unchecked. I said things unbecoming of my brethren, I made demands of my Liege. I spoke out of turn and let my actions be guided by hate. We left Ventatus to enact his underwar against what was left of your rabid Legio. Your kind will never prevail. You can hide in the farthest reaches of the galaxy and it will not be enough. We will find you, and we will kill you."

Captain Lorchas of the 9th Company stroked his armoured fingers against the raptor pommel of his power kopis. The standard issue power gladius he had begun the battle with had been lost, along with his right leg during the fighting. He had been given another from the armourium, a dated relic which he had initially scorned using but he had come to admire the way it parted traitors heads from their necks. His leg had been replaced with a grinding bionic of cold metal, his armour a mixture of what could be salvaged from the aftermath of Calth.

"Lorchas, he said unto me, be my instrument. Hunt down those who have trespassed against us and lead your brothers into righteous vengeance. Do not forgive this transgression, my son. Find them where ever they may hide, seek them out and put them to the sword. We are going back, we will gather our strength and we will push for Terra. We will scour the stars of the Word Bearers, we will remove all traces of their progeny and their legacy. I want you to begin this, my son, begin this Scouring of the stars and cleanse this filth from the galaxy.....and here I am. My Liege bestowed upon me the one thing you lack, the one thing that your kind will come to hate and then fear. The one thing that will keep the Word Bearers fleeing in terror like vermin before eagles. He let me free to do as I will until he finds me again. He gave me conviction. "

Lorchas slid his armoured fingers around the worn ceramite hilt of his blade and with a metal sigh he drew the sword. It glimmered as it escaped the scabbard that protected it and flared into a vicious orange glow. He put the tip under the traitors chin and let the power field sear away the flesh, exposing bone. The foe grimaced but would not cry out. Lorchas did not expect him to, he'd pulled his tongue out hours before.

"You may wonder why I tell you this, if I am just going to kill you. I tell you because you will take these words through the aether to your bastard...King-" he smirked inside his praetor helm "and tell him of what is coming for him. We know you truck with beasts of sedition. We know that you and your filth we slay here will spread the word far and wide. Tell Lorgar we are coming to burn Colchis from the heavens and we shall know no fear."

The Suzerain held the traitors arms out tight either side of him and Captain Lorchas swept his blade up and to the side, with a sneer of derision behind his helm he brought the blade chopping down to slam into the meat of the enemies neck. The Word Bearers head tumbled away, blood spurting in powerful pumps to stain the earth beneath him. Lorchas flicked his blade to rid it of any clinging blood and slammed it home into its scabbard. He turned as the Suzerain dragged away the corpse and surveyed the vista beyond. Fulmentari battered the last resistance this broken force of traitor Astartes had mustered. He watched as his Legionaries locked shields and hacked down their foe. He watched as his brothers brought death to the enemy, no quarter given. This rock was nameless, one of the many places his retribution force had caught, trapped and exterminated Word Bearers. It would not be marked in history, it would not be given a title. It would merely serve as an open tomb for the dead.

It was more than they deserved.

Welcome to the start of my journey into the depths of the Horus Heresy. I have had a plan, for a very long time now, to create a force of Ultramarines who would be part of the Great Purge, the Scouring. Who would set in motion, not by famous recount, but by action and reaction, the stabilization of the Imperium beginning with the execution of traitors close to Ultramar that couldn't escape past the Ruinstorm. It took a long while of patient waiting and creating of ideas to bring this project to life. It will begin with a single model, Captain Lorchas of the 9th Company and later his battle force; the Vengeance of Calth. They will be composed of breacher Marines, Fulmentari Terminators and heavy armour elements with artillery support. I intend to make a foot slogging army modeled loosely off of a Roman Cohort. It will take a very long time to complete so I will say this now, this project will run a very long time, so if you would like to come on this journey with me, I would be honoured.

For the XIIIth. For Guilliman. For Calth.

Here is the small beginning, Captain Lorchas minus base. All the Marines will be on regular bare black 25mm bases until they are all completed. Then I will be switching them to 32mm bases that I will individualise.

Captain Lorchas is a Legion Praetor with Artificer Armour, Iron Halo, Paragon Blade and Martian Death Ray.

What do you think?

I hope you've enjoyed my introduction to the Vengeance of Calth.

Thank you,

BT

[Vazzy]

I like him man. Very evocative of the XIIITH Legion spirit.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

 

...and Martian Death Ray.

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/mwyoc6w.gif

[Chronotonic]

Well well well

 

This is the ultramarine see read about in the fluff 20 years ago I want to see them chase after the heels and then destroy those they catch

[Tyrannicide]

Perfection, man. Love the direction so far, can't wait to see where you take this. 

[GhostMalone]

Enter another awesome project!

[Hesh Kadesh]

I can't place that cape, where's that from?

[Olis]

Nice conversion. Extra points for the choom. :tu:

[Remus Ventanus.]

Fantastic!

 

Where are the legs from?

[Olis]

Fantastic!

 

Where are the legs from?

 

They are Kromlech Space Legionary legs.

[Remus Ventanus.]

 

Fantastic!

 

Where are the legs from?

 

They are Kromlech Space Legionary legs.

 

Ah ok cheers (are canadians allowed to say cheers?)

[Olis]

Ah ok cheers (are canadians allowed to say cheers?)

 

Uh... yes. You have my permission. :P

[Remus Ventanus.]

Ah ok cheers (are canadians allowed to say cheers?)

Uh... yes. You have my permission.

:)

Back to topic. Cant wait to see the rest of your army!

[Monstra Sumus]

I can't place that cape, where's that from?

Minotaurs Chaplain

@Everyone: Thank you for stopping by! I've wanted to do this for the longest time, Ultramarines were my very first army in 40k and I've always wanted to revive them. So 17 years later they are being brought into new life with the Heresy. This isn't strictly going to be a super-refined-can-take-all-comers-list, this army is gonna be for fun and how I want to model it. How it plays isn't a concern because I enjoy the game for the game, not for winning.

That said, I've put a 1000point milestone to myself to keep it nice and small for now.

HQ - Praetor: Artificer Armour (Mantle of Macragge), Paragon Blade (Master Crafted), Iron Halo, Volkite Serpenta.

Troops - Legion Breacher Squad: 10 Marines, 10 Power Swords.

Troops - Legion Tactical Squad: 10 Marines, 10 Bolters, Vexilla.

Heavy Support - Fulmentarus Terminator Squad: 5 Fulmentari, 5 Cyclone Missile Launchers, 5 Combi Bolters, 5 Power Swords.

The idea is to simulate a Roman cohort, so when I expand on the force it'll be blocks of Breachers, followed by Tactical Marines. I'll also be doing some Balistarius in the form of Support Squads full of Calivers. CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!....ahem, I've also been looking at Sky Hunters and Medusa's. Any transports (if I even have any) will either be Spartans (for when the squads hit capacity) or regular Raiders. I want to do this army justice so I'm gonna be sparing no effort on it.

[Monstra Sumus]

"Every bolter fired, every war ship sent forth into the great void, every moment of destruction and execution will lead us to the very gates of Colchis."

I put the basecoats onto Captain Lorchas today, I want to go for a darker theme for my Ultramarines so this will be the palette of blue I will be using. I'll do some line highlighting to give it some more definition. I'm happy with the white over all, I'm going to have to be very careful getting some definition on the front of the helm. I've decided that the iron halo on his shoulder pad will signify the death of the Viridian star at the hands of Kor Phaeron. A mark of remembrance if you will.

The cloak needs some work and a lot of cleaning up. I'm tempted to do a white border around the base of the cloak to break up the solid block of red. I'm considering doing the wings on the chest bronze instead of the iron they currently are. The shoulder trim will be highlighted with mithril to make them more defined. Any thoughts?

Cheers,

BT

[Remus Ventanus.]

"Every bolter fired, every war ship sent forth into the great void, every moment of destruction and execution will lead us to the very gates of Colchis."

I put the basecoats onto Captain Lorchas today, I want to go for a darker theme for my Ultramarines so this will be the palette of blue I will be using. I'll do some line highlighting to give it some more definition. I'm happy with the white over all, I'm going to have to be very careful getting some definition on the front of the helm. I've decided that the iron halo on his shoulder pad will signify the death of the Viridian star at the hands of Kor Phaeron. A mark of remembrance if you will.

The cloak needs some work and a lot of cleaning up. I'm tempted to do a white border around the base of the cloak to break up the solid block of red. I'm considering doing the wings on the chest bronze instead of the iron they currently are. The shoulder trim will be highlighted with mithril to make them more defined. Any thoughts?

Cheers,

BT

Looks great! White trim around the cape would look ace!

[The Pounder]

Great mix of parts, looking forward to see the end results

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Nice start to your Thirteenth. Funny, I also started work on some Ultras recently too - must be something in the water supply eh :P Nice use of Kromlech bits in particular, I'll be using a lot of them in my force I think and they seem to go together relatively well scale-wise with FW parts.

[Monstra Sumus]

"Divide and conquer, Tezuka. That is the surest way to victory."

Lorchas stood with his arms locked across his chest, his voice rasping from his vox unit. The Captain watched the battle unfolding before him with a keen eye, he watched his forces advance with flashing power blades, crash with the enemy line and begin their butcher work, "Squad Levicius, pull in your right flank, you're over exposing yourself. Do not break the shield wall".

Sasebo Tezuka hungrily cast his gaze back and forth, drinking in the new sights afforded to him. Usually, Tezuka was in the thick of it, leading one of the 9th companies shield wall assault squads, but recently his actions had not gone unnoticed. Here he was, stood at Company command on a raised plateau, the beating heart of the Ultramarine attack. Siege guns fired off to his left, adding a constant bass line to the fighting. Lorchas had picked him out of the battle group, ear marking him for leadership, or so he'd been told. Tezuka had no inclination as to the future that would come to rest upon his shoulders or the legacy he would spread into the stars.

"Levicius fills your foot prints well but he still has much to learn, Tezuka. Now, focus on section seven, grid four four and tell me what you see."

Tezuka knew Levicius needed more officer time, in truth, Tezuka chose him as his second sergeant simply because he wasn't as proficient with a blade as the rest of his men, but he had a charisma the men liked. He'd take to the role well, given time. Sasebo lifted his magnoculars and targeted in on the aforementioned section of the battlefield. He saw shapes loping their way through the dust and smoke kicked up from the initial bombardment, it was difficult to discern detail but they looked wrong, as if their very existence wasn't complying with reality, "Warp Beasts, Captain. They're heading for Levicius".

Lorchas nodded his armoured head, his posture unchanged.

"What do you propose we should do about them? Levicius has minutes at best before they are upon him. His flank is exposed and he cannot wheel his wall to meet them." ]

Tezuka stepped forward to Lorchas side, his teeth finding his lip beneath his helmet. He wracked his memory stores for previous engagements with the other worldly enemy, these devils in the stars. He nodded and took the initiative, he patched into the company vox line.

"Squad Dextro, redeploy your Fulmentari to section seven, grid four three, prepare to repel warp entities. Levicius, continue pressing your attack, be advised you have hostiles approaching your exposed flank. Dextro will support your advance."

He turned to look at his Captain and found the stark white command helm facing him. Lorchas nodded a second time.

"Well done, Tezuka. I would not have done it differently, except perhaps to steal some of the efficiency from the enemy charge. A counter attack is always effective, but can cost us more than is necessary."

The screech of anti gravity engines filled the air and an attack formation of jet bikes zoomed past. The airborne legionaries opened fire with a punishing salvo of heavy bolter fire, exploding the ground the daemon beings were charging across. The squads heavy volkite weapon opened up, a shrill wail cutting into he sound of the attack as the incandescent beam of red death lanced into the enemy. A corona of energy discharged ringed outwards, destabilizing the form of a clutch of warp beats and sending them back into the aether.

"I took the liberty of revising your order. Death in victory is a price we will gladly pay, however, if we can make the enemy pay twice as dearly in defeat then our sacrifice is all the more richer. Terra will thank our efforts. Continue with the scouring of this planet, Tezuka, you will go far."

I did some more work on Captain Lorchas, this is the first time I've tried highlighting, I think it's subtle enough to add definition to the armour plates but doesn't detract from the model. I also redid the colour of the power sword, it wasn't distinct enough for me. I'm gonna edge it in white and I hope that'll be enough. I never envisioned power weapons as having crackling lightning arcs like most of the fluff depicts them, instead I almost see them as light sabers. Once activated the weapon becomes enshrouded in a vicious power field that disintegrates what it comes into contact with, almost like it's super heated enough to cut through adamantium. What do you guys think of Lorchas so far?

Looks great! White trim around the cape would look ace!

Thanks Remus, it'll take me a while to get it right but I'm hoping it'll add some ornamentation to him.

Great mix of parts, looking forward to see the end results

Thank you Jud, I'm certainly gonna take my time doing these guys.

Nice start to your Thirteenth. Funny, I also started work on some Ultras recently too - must be something in the water supply eh Nice use of Kromlech bits in particular, I'll be using a lot of them in my force I think and they seem to go together relatively well scale-wise with FW parts.

Our water supply is tainted with Courage and Honour Thanks fella, the scale works well, I think I'll be going for some power gladius I saw on Shapeways for my Breachers though.

Cheers,
BT

[sockwithaticket]

Nice start, Brother. I think trying to emulate what you did to the volkite coils on the edge of the blade would look better than edging it in pure white. Personally I'd have deeper shadows in the armour's recesses and brighter highlights, but then I do love high contrast stuff and I know that's not what everyone likes. If subtle is what you want then you're on the right track.

[Monstra Sumus]

It begins...

Going to be in California for 2 months for Christmas, going to start work on the glorious XIIIth in earnest.

Cheers,

BT

[Memento Of Prospero]

Blessed is he who proudly make use of the gift of the Omnissiah. Long live the Choom!

[Captain Idaho]

Nice. Am interested in getting the Praetorian helms so I'm happy to see them put to good use.

[Monstra Sumus]

Blessed is he who proudly make use of the gift of the Omnissiah. Long live the Choom!

 

Going to be getting another squad and ten calivers in. Need me some support Choom. 

 

 

Nice. Am interested in getting the Praetorian helms so I'm happy to see them put to good use.

 

I'm tempted once I'm sett;ed where I'm staying to order in some upgrade kits and scatter them through. I'm also going to be seeking out cyclone missile launchers like a man possessed! 

[zxyogi]

Brother.....what becomes you?

Nice work on the Ultras, not long been back on the scene and its good to see you still at it!

Off to check your other armies......