Of Fire and Forge - Chaotic Black Guard?!

[Draakur]

I am... not sated :p

 

There's got to be a hell of a good reason to take on an aspirant who is basically incapable of any traditional combat and mold him into a full-blown post-human.

 

Guess 2: not a psyker, but one who the psykers perhaps saw a great destiny for? Initiating him but not being sure why?

[MikhalLeNoir]

Wonderful models mate. Want to see more.

[foamy248]

http://i.imgur.com/D7m3JYs.jpg

"I am my father's son, and always will be. I am the angel of his wrath."

- Sanguinius, Primarch of the IX Legion

"Camouflage is the colour of fear... I have no need to hide from my foes... I have no fear of death. My colours I wear openly, they proclaim louder than any words, "I am proud to live - I am proud to die."

- Unknown Legionnaire

Raphael Aquinas was a Baalite Marine of the Blood Angels legion, and served alongside the Salamanders Legion in the later Great Crusade and Heresy Era. This particular posting was most likely due to the marine exchanges that took place in the era, a program that served to further bond the Legions. As such, Raphael and his blood angels squad were present during the battle of Isstvan V, although it is unknown by Imperial Records whether they survived the Dropsite Massacre. It is also recorded that Raphael was affected by Baal's heavy radiation, and was born with severe mutations in his hands/lower arms. Because of the people of Baal's high mutation rate, it was not unusual for such impaired individuals to be selected for the Blood Angels - it was a relatively simple task to replace limbs and digits with augmentics. Raphael passed the trials, and became a fully-fledged Blood Angel roughly sixty standard years before the outbreak of the heresy. By the time of the Dropsite Massacre, Raphael was a legion centurion. His fate is unknown.

+++

So, I've decided to make a small detachment of Blood Angels to go with my Salamanders. Atm, I've built a Centurion (Raphael), a Standard Bearer, and two Assault Marines. HOWEVER, they currently all lack jump packs, and some lack heads. These will be added on soon when I get the Sanguinary Guard set!

Firstly, the Centurion, Raphael Aquinas. Bear in mind that he is lacking his jump pack:

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

http://i.imgur.com/eM6lyAw.jpg

Next, the Standard Bearer. He too lacks a jump pack, and may get a head replacement:

http://i.imgur.com/2l5drZQ.jpg

And lastly the two assault marines. One is missing a jump pack and shoulder pads, and one is missing a jump pack and a head:

http://i.imgur.com/wGEOl1j.jpg

+++

Really nice green! Vulkan's paint job is fantastic, looking forward to seeing the rest of the tartaros terminators!

Thanks! I could do a tutorial for the green if enough people wanted. The Tartaros will hopefully be finished soon for L+T, so I'll post them when they're finished!

The lord of the drakes looks awesome. You've set yourself a very high standard to keep to, I'm subscribed to this thread. GW recently published (online) a guide to taking photos of your miniatures, it's very informative.

Cheers; I had a look at the guide (it's actually really helpful and informative - I'd definitely recommend it to anyone else struggling with taking decent photos: http://www.blacklibrary.com/Home/how-to-photograph-miniatures.html), and I'm currently playing around with their tips.

Looking good!

Thanks!

Tartaros termi looks cool, too. But you seemed to have a little accident at his back, if I see it correctly.

Well spotted - I'll fix that with some plasticard, I think. I'll hopefully post the updated back later.

That is marvellous. The Terminator looks menacing!

Thank you very much!

Excellent work thus far.

Cheers! Hopefully you'll like the WIP BA's then!

I deserved that

Everything else is coming along great, too! Very curious about the small blurb, are the Sallies in the habit of taking on mutants? I'm guessing psyker here...

I am... not sated

There's got to be a hell of a good reason to take on an aspirant who is basically incapable of any traditional combat and mold him into a full-blown post-human.

Guess 2: not a psyker, but one who the psykers perhaps saw a great destiny for? Initiating him but not being sure why?

Hopefully the blurb above is reasonable fluff-wise. I would appreciate any feedback on it, though. I was inspired by this picture:

which has an aspirant (the one on the far right) that is missing an arm. I figured with the radiation, it wouldn't be that uncommon.

Wonderful models mate. Want to see more.

Thanks Mikhal! Hopefully you like the Blood Angel's, then!

[Mirbeau]

Love the bangles, they look fantastic, mix between the angelic and brutal andmakes sense since the Salamanders and Blood Angels are battle bros, I've been thinking of doing the opposite and adding a squad of Salamander refugees from Istvaan to my IXth.

[foamy248]

Love the bangles, they look fantastic, mix between the angelic and brutal andmakes sense since the Salamanders and Blood Angels are battle bros, I've been thinking of doing the opposite and adding a squad of Salamander refugees from Istvaan to my IXth.

Thanks Mirbeu! Yeah, I'd definitely recommend doing a squad of Salamanders with your Blood Angels (although I'm pretty biased!) - the red and green go well together, and game-wise I like to think that they compliment each other well. The Salamanders slowly advance up the board and engage at close-range (the anvil, I suppose), while the Blood Angels deep strike into the enemies back lines, and crush them from behind, forming the hammer. Additionally, you can get quite creative with lizard/fire-style conversions (although I haven't done much yet), which always looks cool! 

 

Question:

 

Does anyone know of a decent tutorial for painting red (or have a good recipe themselves)?

Thanks! 

[Mirbeau]

 

Love the bangles, they look fantastic, mix between the angelic and brutal andmakes sense since the Salamanders and Blood Angels are battle bros, I've been thinking of doing the opposite and adding a squad of Salamander refugees from Istvaan to my IXth.

Thanks Mirbeu! Yeah, I'd definitely recommend doing a squad of Salamanders with your Blood Angels (although I'm pretty biased!) - the red and green go well together, and game-wise I like to think that they compliment each other well. The Salamanders slowly advance up the board and engage at close-range (the anvil, I suppose), while the Blood Angels deep strike into the enemies back lines, and crush them from behind, forming the hammer. Additionally, you can get quite creative with lizard/fire-style conversions (although I haven't done much yet), which always looks cool! 

 

Question:

 

Does anyone know of a decent tutorial for painting red (or have a good recipe themselves)?

Thanks! 

 

when you put it like that... it's on.

 

mOnolith and I use the son's of sanguinius gw scheme (it's a paint guide). He airbrushes over black, I paint by hand over white, he's gotten really good results -http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/323320-on-the-walls-of-terra-30k-blood-angels-update-081216/

 

Mine are in my sig but wip - only on the first highlight stage.

 

Effectively a couple of mephiston red layers (not the spraycan version), agrax in the recesses only, tidy up, evil sunz scarlet edge highlights, fire dragon bright extreme edge highlights. Results are too bright/orangey for the taste of some, and there's plenty of other methods out there, but it's one I'm happy with and isn't too difficult.

[foamy248]

Love the bangles, they look fantastic, mix between the angelic and brutal andmakes sense since the Salamanders and Blood Angels are battle bros, I've been thinking of doing the opposite and adding a squad of Salamander refugees from Istvaan to my IXth.

Thanks Mirbeu! Yeah, I'd definitely recommend doing a squad of Salamanders with your Blood Angels (although I'm pretty biased!) - the red and green go well together, and game-wise I like to think that they compliment each other well. The Salamanders slowly advance up the board and engage at close-range (the anvil, I suppose), while the Blood Angels deep strike into the enemies back lines, and crush them from behind, forming the hammer. Additionally, you can get quite creative with lizard/fire-style conversions (although I haven't done much yet), which always looks cool!

Question:

Does anyone know of a decent tutorial for painting red (or have a good recipe themselves)?

Thanks!

when you put it like that... it's on.

mOnolith and I use the son's of sanguinius gw scheme (it's a paint guide). He airbrushes over black, I paint by hand over white, he's gotten really good results -http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/323320-on-the-walls-of-terra-30k-blood-angels-update-081216/

Mine are in my sig but wip - only on the first highlight stage.

Effectively a couple of mephiston red layers (not the spraycan version), agrax in the recesses only, tidy up, evil sunz scarlet edge highlights, fire dragon bright extreme edge highlights. Results are too bright/orangey for the taste of some, and there's plenty of other methods out there, but it's one I'm happy with and isn't too difficult.

That looks pretty good - I'll give it a try! I'll hopefully pop into GW in the next few days to pick up the paints. I've also got a old rhino/razorback chassis from a friend, so I'll paint that up in Salamanders' colours too!

[KBA]

Cool heresy picture? Check. Solid fluff blurb? Check. Inspiring models? Double check.

 

And they say solid Heresy Blogs are on the down :P

[foamy248]

I've finished building Raphael's squad. They're made from Sanguinary Guard and BoP parts, so they should look suitably 30k-ish. I've also done a bit off freehand on the Rhino, but the picture I took of it looks a bit too washed-out, so we'll have another try later. I've also purchased the finecast Typhus model, as I really like it, so eventually I'll get around to painting that, too! Without any ado, I present to thee some assault marines!

+++

http://i.imgur.com/Rd7lMhM.jpg

Group shot

http://i.imgur.com/NU0cJM8.jpg

Command: The standard bearer, centurion and squad sergeant with power fist

http://i.imgur.com/nXio1mg.jpg

The basic assault marines with chainswords. You may notice that one has a power sword... I could't bring myself to replace the pretty Sanguinary sword with a simple ol' chainsword. I suppose I'll do that later too.

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

Assault marines with power axes

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

And lastly, my little attempt at doing a bit of freehand on the rhino.

+++

Cool heresy picture? Check. Solid fluff blurb? Check. Inspiring models? Double check.

And they say solid Heresy Blogs are on the down

Thanks KBA! Although I'm not so sure about Heresy blogs being on the down lol. Last time I checked the Forge, it was crawling with 'em.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Salamanders Rhino looks GREAT.

[Idomeneus]

Just read through the topic, great stuff. Especially in awe of your freehand. Also it's nice to see people doing Blood Angels. If I have one suggestion I reckon the guy on the far left of this picture could do with his head turning a little, to either side would do; either so he his barrelling into somebody Gabriel Seth style, or swerving out of the way while aiming a counter cut. He'll be an awesome model whatever, but I reckon that could sell the pose a little more.

 

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/nXio1mg.jpg

The basic assault marines with chainswords. You may notice that one has a power sword... I could't bring myself to replace the pretty Sanguinary sword with a simple ol' chainsword. I suppose I'll do that later too.

[hushrong]

Yes. Yes please! The angels look great and dynamic. Seeing these tempt me with wanting some for myself.

 

The freehand is also fantastic! How long did it to paint that?

[foamy248]

The Salamanders Rhino looks GREAT.

Thanks Bjorn! I think the colours are a tad muted by the white lighting, but I may be able to get some better pics soon when I've done more on it

Just read through the topic, great stuff. Especially in awe of your freehand. Also it's nice to see people doing Blood Angels. If I have one suggestion I reckon the guy on the far left of this picture could do with his head turning a little, to either side would do; either so he his barrelling into somebody Gabriel Seth style, or swerving out of the way while aiming a counter cut. He'll be an awesome model whatever, but I reckon that could sell the pose a little more.

--snip--

Thanks for the feedback! I've remedied this, and there hopefully will be more pictures soon when I've painted some up.

Yes. Yes please! The angels look great and dynamic. Seeing these tempt me with wanting some for myself.

The freehand is also fantastic! How long did it to paint that?

Cheers Hushrong! I honestly don't know how long the freehand took, because I had a few large gaps between painting. I'd estimate that if I cut these breaks out, it may have taken thirty/forty minutes. I may be a bit quicker than other people because I'm too impatient for each layer to dry lol. Don't take my word for the time though, I'm only guessing, really.

+++

In other news, I'm maybe a third of the way through the Typhon model, so I'll post that eventually + I'm considering doing a small Black Guard (a canon Raven Guard successor chapter) force. That'd increase this blog to two hobby projects... I dunno. What do you guys think? Would you be keen to see some grey/red/black 40k marines and me attempting to flesh out some fluff for the chapter? Of course, I've still got an entire BoP box to do, so you'd still see excessively large amounts of the little green dudes (after I've finished with the BA's...).

Thoughts?

[hushrong]

Yeah, that freehand would take me a month. Gosh, a painting the size of a large coin is one of my greatest hurdles. Thank goodness for brass etch and decals if I could ever put them on right :)

 

As for a new force I say do what you want to do. We are merely lucky to see what work you share.

[foamy248]

Thanks Hushrong; you're too kind! Eh, freehand gets better with practice (your EC are awesome, btw).

Hmm... I'm just wondering what people would prefer, I'd hate to add a project that there's no interest in

[foamy248]

http://i.imgur.com/0frI5G1.jpg

 

+++

 

The shadows moved through the inky corridors. Fleeting shadows that floated in and out of sight, but always cloaked by swollen umbras. Flashes of silenced bolter fire occasionally lit up the gloom, illuminating dark figures. They were silent, although the telltale static of vox networks could occasionally be heard. A squad leader raised a hand, forming a fist. The shadows disappeared and a the gun-flashes stopped. A sound punctured the silence, the slit of a blade on flesh, and a man toppled over, materialising out of the darkness. Their target dead, the shadows vanished from the encampment and soared into the sky on whining jump-packs.

 

+++

 

Like a few of the you on the forum, my entrance-point into 40k was the Dark Vengeance box set. They were my first ever Warhammer army, and thus looked like a dead, chewed up member of an endangered species that my cat may have generously gifted me after a successful hunting session. They weren’t great. Anyway, a while ago I posted a thread requesting people to help me find a new chapter to play. Everyone was great, and I discovered the Black Guard. For those of you unfamiliar with the Black Guard (and I’m assuming that’s pretty much all of you :D), they are a second-founding chapter, with the gene-seed of the Raven Guard. What makes them interesting for me, however, is their origins. During the Heresy-era, Corvus Corax’s elite bodyguards, the Shadow Wardens, were nearly completely destroyed during the Dropsite Massacre. Corax reorganised them into the Black Guard, which later became a second-founding chapter. What’s cool about this is that they were the most stealthy and sneaky of the legion of stealthies and sneakies :) So, back to the Dark Angels. I figured that I might as well repurpose them, and now that I have LOADS of bits n’ bobs left over from the BoP set, I have a lot of conversion opportunity!

 

The one issue with the Black Guard is that there isn’t a heck of alot of existing fluff about them. Every cloud has a silver lining, however, and this just means I have more opportunity to be creative! So, what do we know about the elusive Black Guard, apart from the basic backstory I posted above? Well, I’m going to take a few creative liberties here; they started off as an elite honour guard specifically for the role of guarding Corax. We know that they were incredibly talented at staying out of sight while guarding him, and keeping to the shadows. Being honour guards, the Wardens’ main use would be in face-to-face MAN FIGHTING. We can assume that the Shadow Wardens passed on their martial mantra/ethos onto their resulting chapter. And, knowing 40k, it is most likely that the Black Guard have stubbornly adhered to these teachings. So, maybe the Black Guard are a very stealth-oriented assault force? As they are still a Raven Guard successor, there would still be an emphasis on snipers/infiltrating scouts. There are no mentions of abnormal chapter size, so it’s a safe bet that the chapter is normal size (~1000 marines).   

 

We know of one Black Guard campaign - a battle where their 3rd company bombarded a Tyranid attack with artillery before an assault-based counter-attack. We could assume that this is normal, and the Black Guard commonly use excessive firepower. But, the campaign was led by the Master of the Forge (Germanicus), and so the strategy may have a been atypical, with a heavier lean towards mechanised artillery, etc. One other titbit of information, however, is the short blurb in the seventh edition Space Marines codex: "This Chapter believes in the timely application of overwhelming firepower to defeat their foes. Masters of the careful ambush, the Black Guard deploy massed batteries of Thunderfire Cannons and Vindicators to annihilate their enemies in an instant." So, it would appear that the chapter uses a combination of massed artillery, infiltrating/ambushing scouts, and the good ol' Raven Guard assault marines.

Now, the Black Library may eventually release something concerning the Black Guard, which may make my army totally wrong. In that case, I think it’s best to have a relatively rounded, ‘generic’ force just in case. A bit of everything, but a heavier slant towards stealthiness and melee fighting, with a large contingent of artillery providing support. Of course, this is only my interpretation of the chapter. I’d welcome other people’s interpretations or criticisms  of my ideas. Bear in mind that my main project will still be Salamanders, so for all the hammerdragonanvilflame marine fans out there... don't worry lol :)

 

- Foamy

[foamy248]

“My Lady,

 

“I have found all Imperial data files and records on the subject. There are few, as the Chapter is one known for its... secrecy, you could say.

“Once captain of the fourth company, Atlas was regarded with great unease and disgust by the rest of the Black Guard. While the Black Guard’s other companies stoically adhered to the humanitarian principles of their founding chapter, the Fourth and its leader practiced a darker form of warfare. Known for a use of fear tactics, the Fourth were noted for their headhunting tendencies, and their collection of human skulls. Although this somewhat alienated them from both the other companies and their chapter command, the fourth were highly regarded for their operating efficiency and skill. Thus, further inquiries concerning them were, for a time, put to rest by the chapter master of the Black Guard.

“Alas, while the company was regarded with suspicion and thought to be full of brutish savages, the Fourth still had dregs of their primarch’s nobility and compassion. It must be noted that the company’s… change of heart occurred while on campaign on a world in close proximity to the Eye of Terror.

“What’s that, my Lady? Ah, the world was known as Helios-81/OR-011. Yes, indeed, the fourth company was the only Black Guard company present, alongside maybe three or four Imperial Fists companies and a small contingent of the Aurora Chapter. Regardless, something occurred on the planet. Records are irritatingly lacking in information, although that’s only logical... yes, further inquiries are being made. It is suspected that there may have been a degree of chaotic influence in their decision…

“Regardless, the fourth company of the Black Guard chapter chose to abandon the Imperium, and have been labelled heretics and traitors. At the end of the campaign, the smaller contingent of the Aurora Chapter fighting alongside the fourth was butchered, numbering fewer than forty marines by that time. The fourth company had disappeared. The reason for the company’s treason is suspected to be a heavy resentment of the Imperium… Acknowledged, my Lady Inquisitor, the powers of the Maelstrom may have corrupted the company. You ask of how their reasons to perform such an act is known? Ahem.. the story is…graphic. Understood. The Aurora Chapter marines present numbered exactly thirty four. The remnants of these astartes, after the fourth company had finished with them, were only their helms. The helmets were lined up in a row, facing the Imperial Fists’ encampment. On each helmet, a word had been written in astartes blood. The words, when read from the leftmost helmet to the rightmost helmet formed a… statement. Yes, I can if you wish, my Lady. It read:

 

“The Imperium of Man is corrupt and stagnant. All live in fear. All live in tyranny. All have closed their eyes, and cannot see. But we can see, and we are coming for you.

“I know, it’s very quaint isn’t it? Weapons with a conscience. Nevertheless, they are currently listed as renegade. It is currently unknown if they have renamed themselves. Several kill-teams have been dispensed.”

 

+++

Righto, here’s the little… backstory for the fourth company. It’d appear there was a distinct lack of interest in them last time, but I really, really appreciate feedback, and would love to know what you guys think. I’ll hopefully get some model WIP-pics up later today of Typhus, some Blood Angels and a few Black Guard of the fourth company.

Thanks for looking!

[Draakur]

Would love to see someone championing the Black Guard :)

 

The background is still fairly minimal but sounds promising, so far. One observation: You have a real penchant for the use of ellipses, which can get a little tedious over time. Unless this is supposed to just be a tool used for the characterisation of the speaker?

[foamy248]

Would love to see someone championing the Black Guard

The background is still fairly minimal but sounds promising, so far. One observation: You have a real penchant for the use of ellipses, which can get a little tedious over time. Unless this is supposed to just be a tool used for the characterisation of the speaker?

Thanks for the C&C, Draakur. What do you mean by 'championing'? I assume you mean a leader? Atlas will remain the leader, although his position will be challenged by others. I've been thinking of including two big themes in their story:

• Firstly, as they break from the Imperium they will attack both Imperial and Chaotic forces. Their real motive is simply their disgust with the Imperium and how tyrannical it is. Although this could sorta make 'em sound all goody-goody with actual morals, they will still remain fairly grimdark. This means that some of their marines are corrupted by Chaos. Because they lack manpower (see below), they can't afford to kill off the tainted marines. They need every man they can get. This means their forces would turn into a weird amalgamation of Chaotic and Imperial marines. Because of this, they gradually lessen their attacks on Chaos forces, and begin mostly focussing on the Imperium. Does this make any sense? I'd appreciate feedback lol.
• And secondly, because of the nature of their betrayal, and the way they operate, they will seriously lack resources and manpower. They begin with ~100 marines. As marines die off, their number lessen (but some soldiers join them, slowing down the weakening of their manpower). In addition, the will have seriously depleted supplies of basic martial resources (like transports, ammo, etc) They aint no Black Legion. They have to scavenge the bodies of the dead, and not waste supplies.

About the ellipsis... that was simply characterisation, and the fact that the narrator was communicating with his Inquisitor - a two-sided conversation that required breaks and pauses...

Thanks Draakur for the feedback - I really appreciate it!

[Custom Hero]

He means that it would be awesome to see someone put forth work and models concerning the Black Guard as it gets little love from people.

 

I agree that it will be great to see what you come up with for these guys!

[Draakur]

More or less what CG said - by championing I meant representing :)

 

Yeh I was aware some of them were pause breaks, but many weren't - if this was simply a literary tool to use for this character though, I understand :)

 

Those themes sound good - 100 marines is very few though, and without resources they would have almost no hope of survival at that point. Is the idea to have them eventually all perish or? Maybe a "to be announced" situation?

[foamy248]

He means that it would be awesome to see someone put forth work and models concerning the Black Guard as it gets little love from people.

I agree that it will be great to see what you come up with for these guys!

More or less what CG said - by championing I meant representing

Yeh I was aware some of them were pause breaks, but many weren't - if this was simply a literary tool to use for this character though, I understand

Those themes sound good - 100 marines is very few though, and without resources they would have almost no hope of survival at that point. Is the idea to have them eventually all perish or? Maybe a "to be announced" situation?

Ohhhhhhh! Sorry, my bad lol. Yeah, one of the reasons I chose the Black Guard is because of that - nobody's really done 'em before (although I think DSS7 has done a few), and they have very little fluff (so I can make up some of my own stuff)!

In regards to the number of marines; I'd say that if they are supported by large numbers of serfs/servitors and are constantly raiding supply ships and the like, I think they could survive for quite a while. Does that reasoning make sense? Yes, eventually they will perish. But until then, well... I've got a few ideas for them

Updates have been delayed for a while, but hopefully I'll get some stuff posted tomorrow. Thanks for the support, guys!

[deathspectersgt7]

Wait !! What ? We went traitor ? Attributed to Vet sgt Zorian 1st sqd 4th co. Black Guard .

Very cool will be watching .

[foamy248]

Wait !! What ? We went traitor ? Attributed to Vet sgt Zorian 1st sqd 4th co. Black Guard .

-snip- 

 

Very cool will be watching .

Whaaaaat?! You did the fourth company too? Better change which company I'm doing then lol

[deathspectersgt7]

!!!! No that's cool . It is your story and Models I had throw alittle out there for a giggle.