Vox Stellarum: True-Scaled Horus Heresy

[Ryltar Thamior]

The Imperial Army look striking in black and gold, but I think it's a shame not to highlight the nice kitbashing by differentiating the armoured plates from the flounced fabrics.

 

Personally, I'd be inclined to add some more colour; even if it's a case of very muted warm browns or something like Charadon Granite on the breeches. Alternatively, you could add a glossy lacquered finish to the armour to help that pop and provide some contrast with the black fabric.

 

Welcome also to Umbral – fantastic gritty Alpha Legion there.

Good calls. I attempted a silver highlighting earlier on; but it seemed to detract from the overall "blackness" effect, so wound up being repainted. Next hobby-shop trip, I might pick up the Granite you speak of and do the cloth uniform parts thataway - it is, after all, at the moment the flak armour plus gold that creates the most obvious visual silhouette. 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Also did some preliminary work on the Iterator: 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Alright, back to the Heresy we go :D I'm genuinely excited about this miniature for any number of reasons - not least, the fact that the name for him was one of the first things to occur to me back when we were first kicking around the idea of Inq'd Heresy, and so it's great to finally see him realized in the flesh. 

So without further ado, let me introduce you to Bhairava, Kapalika of the Pishachas, VIIIth Legion. 



Most of the parts came from two sources - the beautiful traitor librarian in catephractii armour (for the body, tome, and force-axe); and the plastic Space Marine Chaplain (which supplied the majority of the staff, the left arm, and most of the right arm; as well as the beautiful skull-helmet). I think the halo'd skull with censer comes from the Militarum Tempestus Scions kit? 





The Chaplain shoulderpad was used becacuse the arrangements of bones seemed reminiscent of the Night Lords' own chapter emblem. 



Now, fluff-wise ... well, we'll get into that in a bit :P 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Right, now I've had a fluff-piece to illustrate what these guys are about bubbling away in my head for a few days; but we'll save that for when there's a few more Pishachas ready to put on the painting table. 

In the interim, a brief word on the design-choices which went into the character, the miniature, and the unit. 

We'll start with the names. For those of you who aren't particularly well-versed with Hindu mythology, "Bhairava" translates as "Terrifying" - and is an epithet of a particularly wrathful aspect of Shiva sent, in part, to deliver justice in an appropriately messy, fiery way. Sound like a Night Lord? :D 

Now as for the rank of "Kapalika" - this translates as "skull-man". I'm reinterpreting it slightly to mean "head-man" (although given this chap's skull-helmet, and the fact he's presumably the best skull-taker in the formation, it's not too much of a stretch); although its main significance for this character derives from something else tied to the real-world Kapalikas :D 

You see, the initial idea behind becoming a Kapalika was that it was a criminal sentence - if you (inadvertently) killed a Brahmin, you were condemned to a period of twelve years as a penitent ascetic ... bearing as an insignia of office (inter alia) a staff known as a "Khatvanga", topped with the skull of the Brahmin whom the Kapalika had killed. (I'll probably flesh out exactly whose skull tops this chap's staff at a later date with someone interesting for fluff purposes). 

The reason why the plastic chaplain's crozius was chosen to form a weapon - and a focal point of this miniature, if I do say so - was because all the little skulls running down its shaft put me in the mind of this fine Khatvanga: 



There was also one other iconographic element which, while it wasn't necessarily part of the initial conceptualization stages, definitely came to the fore again when looking at the cataphractii librarian miniature. The garland of skulls - a Mundamala - which are suspended about the librarian's chest (somewhat lower down now, given the rebuild which has placed his neck at least half a centimeter higher). A nice tying together of the symbolism of the miniature and its cultural borrowings :D 

Now as for the unit-name - the Pishachas - this has a similar sourcing. They're one of the many classes of demonic spirits or creatures in Hindu mythology; often depicted as being of a dark colouration, with red eyes, and prominent veins running across them. I'm choosing to reinterpret this slightly as being a dark *blue*, glowing red eyes as the lenses of power armour, and with the veins referring to the lightning which often runs across the armour of the VIIIth. In terms of characteristics and abilities, they're often described as being able to move stealthily and to be able to inflict mental  disorder upon their foes. Sound like Night Lords? :D There's also a troop of them forming a part of the retinue of Shiva, which was partially where the idea for the term as a formation-name for group of warriors around a powerful leader came from. 

As for *why* I decided to go down this particular route - rather than the more conventional Greco-Roman (or, as applies Night Lords, Batman) reference-points ... part of it's for personal reasons; and also because I feel that the Dharmic milieus represent a rich and comparatively untapped source of inspiration. But the initial reasoning was actually due to Graham McNeill's The Outcast Dead (one of my favourite of the Heresy novels, for a number of reasons) - and I'm not simply talking about his use of Bengali names for the World Eaters contingent (seriously, given the beatific and calm nature of Rabindranath Tagore, McNeill's use of Tagore's surname for a Nails-ridden XIIth must have been a deliberate stroke of irony). 

Instead, I'm referring to the Thunder Warriors contingent and some other details connected with early Imperial power. The ranks which the Thunder Warriors use (Subadar and Jemadar, if I recall) are Mughal military ranks (which were, incidentally, kept in use with the native forces of the British Raj, and other forces of the area subsequent); and some pass which Babu Dhakal is mentioned as allegedly carving out with his bare hands is also on the Subcontinent. This, in conjunction with the fact that the Emperor chose to build his great fortress-prison and stronghold in the Himalayas (which we can feasibly assume was something which transpired pre-Unity, so as to provide a facility to hold those warlords conquered during Unity's bloody process), would appear to suggest rather strongly that the Imperium's beginnings can actually be traced back to this area (particularly given we know the Achaemenid Empire immediately to its west decided to surrender towards the outset of the process, indicating that the wars of Unity must have begun somewhere not too far removed from it).

Now why does this matter?

Well, I'm picturing the Pishachas as being a force of *Terran* legionnaires - much like my IVth Legion; and in a way similar to how other Terran legionary forces seem to have adopted the names and culture of the regions they were taken from, my backstory for this formation of VIIIth is that they're doing much the same (except where the Terran XVth appear to often have had pseudo-Persian affectations - something shared somewhat with the pre-Perturabo IVth; and the Terran IIIrd have gone for the whole European Noble thing; while the Terran XIVth appear to be resolutely British [i particularly enjoyed the British accent which Kage gave them in Turpere Et Dicere]) - and because they're a formation from the later Unification Wars recruited out of somewhere near the Imperial heartlands, their 'origin culture' that they're expressing is North Indian.

(I think I worked out all of the above for my Iron Warriors - and now I suspect I've pre-emptively aired a bit of the surprise that was going to come in their accompanying fluff-piece. Oh well.) 

Anyway, now that you've made it through all that ... have some pictures for a scale-comparison. 





As you can see, he absolutely TOWERS over a regular, unaugmented human (the Sigillite Emissary from my Agents of the Sigillite warband); and also has a good portion of a head more height than even other truescale Marines (shown next to one of my VIth Legion Huscarla from the same Sigillite warband; and one of my IVth Legion in the mask) - it might not look like the latter, but consider that he's effectively bending backwards on quite an angle, and the size-difference quite quickly becomes apparent. 

[Umbral]

Ive been working on some more antagonists for the campaign, specifically some World Eaters

  

 

 

 

[apologist]

Hey, those look awesome! I've been toying with using Red Butchers as the bassi for some marines for some time – looks like this is confirmation it works well.

[Umbral]

Hey, those look awesome! I've been toying with using Red Butchers as the bassi for some marines for some time – looks like this is confirmation it works well.

Glad I could help confirm that. tbh I was unsure of using red butchers myself, as their kinda lame, but I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out, so you can expect more of these from me in the future

[Ryltar Thamior]

I maintain that in their Terminator incarnation, the Red Butchers are doing their best John Lennon Absolute Madman impression ... but potentially due to hte added height which Umbral's truescale builds have given them, they look coo now (possibly also because the whole 'bounding' posing makes a lot more sense for relatively spry power armour, as opposed to lumbering and cumbersome Terminator plate); and certainly less overtly contorted for mid-action poses.

http://i1.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/018/964/azhhafq.jpg

[Umbral]

finished my World Eaters breacher squad. I went looking for some historic Punic names, unfortunately i didn't find much info on the meaning of these names, so I just went with the ones i thought sounded cool.

 

 

So let me Introduce you 

 

BaalHaan

 

 

Zaracas

 

Gisgo

 

 

Hanno, the only name i found a meaning for, which is "Gracious" heh

 

and Admago.

 

As I said above and indicated by the helmets they're wearing, this is a breacher squad, specialised at boarding enemies vessels, usually these guy would be armed with shields but the that just doesn't sound like World Eaters to me, to compensate for the lack of shield i tried to make the mkiii armour look nice and think around the torso. 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Two more Pishachas to join the Kapalika: one armed with lightning claws, the other with dual bolt-pistols. (the Kapalika shown on the right is still part-way through painting; although I'm really rather pleased with how the brassy copper goes with the kantor blue)

The idea with these guys is that they're some of the rest of the Terran VIIIth who've been out amongst the stars rather than slipping into degradation with the rest of the (Nostraman) Legion. They're clad in a variant pattern of Mk.III (represented here with greenstuff-enhanced Mk.III torsos on Gravewarden terminator legs) with the lightning bolts on the chests potentially being those of Unity. [Mk.III's a bit 'late' for veterans of Terran Unification to be equipped with, I know - but we're yet to figure out how to adequately do truescale Mk.II armour; and in any case, I think it's viable that particularly an elite unit would find themselves resupplied with advanced prototypes or customized iterations of later armour marks well ahead of their mainstream deployment).

In terms of armament, I figured that the best way to do what the VIIIth does best was up close and personal - with lightning claws nicely encapsulating the feeling of brutal, scary frenzy and shredding grasp (hence there'll definitely be a few more of that weapon outfitting; while the dual-pistols convey an air of businesslike desperadoness (as well as, i guess, calling back the connotations of both Destroyers and Moritats)

Anyway ... on with the show!

[Ryltar Thamior]

Back after a bit of a life/health-driven hiatus :D 

The next two of the Pishachas [one with twin lighting claws, the other with a volkite serpenta and a powerfist ... the powerfist in question being sourced from the Night Lords champion figure released during 4th edition, and coming with two nifty severed heads. The legs, as with the other two 'regular' Pishachas, are Grave Wardens, and the torsos are bulked out Mk.III] 




^Now this pose does sorta suggest "WE HAVE COME FOR YOU" :P 


And here's a group-shot of all five together:

[Umbral]

Sup, been a while since I last shared anything. I have been busy though, building a Night Lord and some more World Eaters.

 

First up the Night Lord

 

 

 

 

 

This guy was a lot of fun to build, partially cause I had the idea floating around in my head for months now, most of it was to do with how weak all the Forge World Nostraman chainglaives look, so i made my own.

 

 

Basic Idea for this guy in story is He's a Night Lord Loyal to his legion who has taken it upon himself to track down the Terrain Loyalists Pishachas.

[Umbral]

So part 2 of what I've been working on more Worlds Eaters. I was so pleased with how the last batch of red butcher conversions went that I decided to do it again.

 

 

 

 

 

I haven't gone looking for more Carthaginian names yet but I probably will sometime soon

 

Now the other thing I've been working on for this game is an early game boss type enemy. 

 

 

 

 

 

The idea for this encounter is that the machine in question (name pending) is so damaged that it cannot see or target on it's own. and needs these to help it locate and target 
 

 

as for how this fits into the narrative? I'll let you know once I've painted it.

[Luna707]

Man I am just loving those eaters, The butchers really lend themselves well to truescaling!

[MikhalLeNoir]

Sup, been a while since I last shared anything. I have been busy though, building a Night Lord and some more World Eaters.

 

First up the Night Lord

 

 

 

 

 

This guy was a lot of fun to build, partially cause I had the idea floating around in my head for months now, most of it was to do with how weak all the Forge World Nostraman chainglaives look, so i made my own.

 

 

Basic Idea for this guy in story is He's a Night Lord Loyal to his legion who has taken it upon himself to track down the Terrain Loyalists Pishachas.

I absolutely totally indefinetly love this guy. I love him so much, that i am gonna steal him. Remix him with a bit of light^^

[Ryltar Thamior]

A little update on my Loyalist Terran Night Lords:

Group Shot:


Librarian:



Two-Pistols:



First lightning claws:



Second Lightning Claws:



Power-fist/Bolt Pistol:



There's still a few finishing touches to go, such as Leadbelcher on some of the ballistic weaponry and the backpacks (as well as the Librarian's scroll-tabard)... but they're pretty much tabletop-ready. 

I'm pretty over Grave Warden legs tbh for a variety of reasons, which is perhaps unfortunate as there's still six left over which'll form the potential core for the next set of truescales. 

[Umbral]

Been a while since I posted anything but I have been building a lot (mostly working on my chaos renegade army) so I will have some stuff to share. going to start with a Word Bearer I threw together the other day out of stuff I had lying around.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2017 by Umbral

[Umbral]

So I've finished the Automata 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Uilepheist, meaning "Great Beast" among other things in Scottish Gaelic. This thing is a Iron Hand creation, the idea being that an Iron Hand controlled it much like Nârik Dreygur. The problems start for this machine at Istvaan V, while waiting in orbit to deploy the controlling marine allows his emotional feed back from the betrayal and the death of his Primarch to get into the Automata's control programs, shortly followed by the severe experience of still being linked to the marine when World Eaters boarded the ship and cut him to messy pieces. At this point the machine goes basaltic and starts butchering every traitor it can find. During all this the ship goes into high security lock down, doors are sealed interior automated guns are live, combat servitors are being released from armoured vomitoria, manages to reach the edge of the system and successfully transitions into the warp, all while under fire and not escaping damage. The journey goes as you'd expect, the battered ship ends up floating somewhere in the fringes of Ultramar, the only things left living on the ship are servitors and some very pissed off World Eaters locked away in the ship.

The poor Uilepheist is pretty beat up by this stage, none of its optics are functional any more, instead it is relying on whats left of the ships surveillance equipment and the ships combat servitors to alert it to any new threats across what little of the ship it can still access, where it waits pacing the halls, waiting for marines in Traitor colours so it may end them.

[Umbral]

Do you ever get that thing where you never realised how much you wanted something until it was right in front of you? That's what i got when i finished the Night Lord true scale with the chainglaive. So I made a lot more night lords

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These guys are the Rogyapas, meaning Body Breakers. the origins of this are from the Tibetan practice of sky burial, known as Jhator (don't be surprised if that name comes up again later) the Rogyapas are the ones who cut up the dead bodies to allow the birds to feed, going so far as to grind up the bones with milk to feed to crows and hawks. It is said that they go about their task as if it were any type of physical labour rather than with any ceremony, preferring to laugh and joke in order to help the souls passing. Now if we apply this to the VIII legion this takes on a very different context. These guys are veteran Nostramans, some of the earliest recruits, trained by Terran marines, which is where they earned their name. As the name suggests they are body breakers, ambushing, harassing and generally scaring the :cuss out of people, with enough meltas and heavy weapons to break apart formations and offer them up as a feast for a sky born horror...

[Luna707]

Fantastic stuff, I especially like Uilepheist! Any chance we could see a group shot of the Night Lords?

[Bob Hunk]

Excellent work on the Night Lords, well done! B) 

[Umbral]

Fantastic stuff, I especially like Uilepheist! Any chance we could see a group shot of the Night Lords?

Ask, and thou shalt receive

 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Small update to prove things are still ticking over ... a lower-level techmarine for the BhutaGana. I'd originally planned ot have pretty much one techmarine - based off the Iron Hands Iron Father (although in a rather different pose), and wielding some sort of percussive power-weapon [a thunder hammer of sorts, for reasons that will become clear when we get to that part of the story/unveiling]. However, the bitz for that haven't turned up yet, so in the mean-time Umbral had a flash of inspiration and wound up knocking this together. 



Perhaps somewhat curiously, this is the first of my Iron Warriors to *actually be* in largely Mk.VI armour [with the sole exception of the left pauldron]. As for why he's wielding a boarding shield [a bit of an odd choice for a techmarine], it's because I see him leading a Breacher squad aboard enemy ships - wherein having an attached [lower level] techmarine could be quite handy for the purposes of disabling systems via shenaniganry or whatever. 



And as for the plasma blaster ... well, what better weapon to be bearing in a support role for a boarding team going up against enemy Astartes. 









This is also my entry for this month's March of the Legions; and he'll look pretty nifty once finished up. Particularly once the parts for the Breacher squad to accompany him *finally* turn up. 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Good grief. I think I've finally worked out why the Iron Warriors hated the Imperial Fists so much.

Painting yellow, man. It's ... WHY DID NOBODY WARN ME. 

[Pearson73]

Night Lords looking spot on.

 

Liking the Word Bearer also, where's the weapon from?