Levant Crusade

[BitsHammer]

Lead by Marshal Levant the crusade largely covers the northern edge of the galaxy in an effort to continue the expansions of the Great Crusade in M30.

 

Thematically I am pushing less towards just using the standard upgrade kit and more towards emulating a Crusade full of Marines who feel like Knights visually.

 

Originally I was considering a Scouring Era Crusade but due to the limits of the plastic kit in BoP I am holding off until I decide to start my second Crusade. Instead I will be building an army with Crusader pattern helms (nicked from the Grey Knights who don't really need them), and tabards on pretty much anyone who doesn't wear a jump pack.

 

To tie the army together and give an easy identifier for the Marshal's House I am commiting a small bit of visual heresy with the surcoats: they won't be pure white. Instead I aim to quarter them like these gents:

http://i.imgur.com/tso6Y5X.jpg

 

Only only I plan to use white instead of blue and a Templar Cross in black instead of a badger. But it makes a nice representative peice.

 

To make the army more visually aggressive I am using the Assault Marine kit as the base for the upgrade kit as it provides running legs. Basing will be the Imperial Sector base kits. Ideally no model will go without some conversion and save for the Emperor's Champion the characters are going to be kitbashed. Doubly so for any count as characters.

 

I am still working on what to replace the Neophyte heads with to make them fit a more Crusader theme for them but it's slowly coming together I think.

 

Now to place my first bits order for heads so I can start on my first squad.

 

Depending on bits availability I'll likely be using 2 upgrade boxes per every 5 Initiates for this project with the tabard less chests going into a pile for when I build actual Jump Pack Initiates.

 

Vehicle conversions are still a bit of a conundrum as I haven't figured out how to best flair them up beyond swapping panels and doors.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Interesting. What do the surcoat's colors symbolize? Red for courage, white for purity of purpose? Red for the blood shed, white for the battle-brothers who gave their lives during the crusade? (The nobility will always say the colors of their house are meant to represent something.)

[BitsHammer]

Interesting. What do the surcoat's colors symbolize? Red for courage, white for purity of purpose? Red for the blood shed, white for the battle-brothers who gave their lives during the crusade? (The nobility will always say the colors of their house are meant to represent something.)

Lazy answer would be because I like the idea, but a more serious serious answer would be red for the blood of those who die for the Imperium and white for the places not yet touched by man (so just like untouched snow). The colors are quartered to represent how the two things spread in every direction and not because I want to push my painting to a higher level. ;)

 

Chapter symbol of course represents the Templar's involvement with both death and discovery in the Imperium's name.

[Marshal Rohr]

Personally, I would advise against the quartered scheme for the simple reason it's very hard to get a consistent effect on rigid plastic or resin painting surfaces. Also, because marines are scaled heroically, the tabard would be divided at the middle below the belt which will conflict with the natural focal point of the belt. I.e. It will be longer on the bottom than the top, where a surcoat or tabards traditionally ends before the knee and is more symmetrical. If you are looking for something visually distinct but not traditional, crimson or a brighter red tabard would give a unique look and also goes on easier with the new paints over a black undercoat than a white.

 

This is purely an idea because of the difficulty of execution and not because the idea is bad or anything :)

[BitsHammer]

My example of the surcoats divided it in the middle of the chest which is an easier division to manage.

[BitsHammer]

Considering it further, and having time to spend mulling things over in my head, I'll likely drop the multi-colored tabards and stick to free handing icons onto them instead.

[Marshal Rohr]

Awesome! Free handing is challenging but rewarding. Im not great at it, but when I pull something off I always feel like a champ :D . For more ideas, I used to use different styles of crosses beyond just the maltese. I used the Jerusalem cross as my Marshal's heraldry, and a few others when appropriate to represent different 'orders' into which the initiates were inducted. 

[BitsHammer]

To be quite honest I can't free hand well at all, but not doing it won't make me better at it, so I might as well start practicing properly.

[Honda]

To be quite honest I can't free hand well at all, but not doing it won't make me better at it, so I might as well start practicing properly.

 

 

I free hand all my crosses (except on some vehicles, see my thread for masking tips) and my first versions were pretty...rough. Now they are less rough and like Marshal Rohr wrote, when you get a really good one on something, you feel like a Golden Demon winner.

 

Accept the Challenge, No Matter the Odds. ;)

 

You can do it.

[BitsHammer]

Very true!

 

Though I rather like shoulder pad icons to be raised....

 

I'll save freehanding those for when I find the time/money to do a Scouring Era Crusade.