Getting my Ass to Mars- now with Titan Crew and Tech-Stupa

[EdT]

 

Yes I know- yet another project... but I've been waiting to do this one for some time so it's nice to finally get going.

As you may recall from my Martian pilgrim project I really found exploring the Red Planet in the pre-heresy period absolutely fascinating. I've always been attracted to the idea that the Machine Cult is suffused with Eastern influences in the same way that the Terran part of the Imperium is influenced by a gothic sensibility, and in my diorama from way back with Martian pilgrims, I imagined the Martian backwaters as being very Tibetan, dotted with little tech-stupas, prayer flags and fortified monasteries.



I've always wanted to expand on that idea, and when the Warlord Titan came out several years ago I came up with a great idea for my own god engine. Unfortunately I don't have the space or the money for a full-size (well, 28mm- you know what I mean) God-machine (and even if I did I would probably be single in very short order were I to buy one), but when Adeptus Titanicus was announced I realised that I could explore some of the same concepts but transposing what I wanted to do into Epic scale; taking that Inq28 sensibility and doing things on a grander scale than before while retaining the same care, attention and interest in the more obscure bits of the lore.

The plan is to model and paint the Warlord Titan Verum Semita, of the Legio Claustritumus (also known as the Iron Wardens), one of the more devout Legios of the Collegia Titanica, as it appeared in the period immediately following the Treaty of Olympus Mons. (As a side note, why Verum Semita? Translated into Low Gothic from the techna linguis it means "True Path", referencing the Sixth Universal Law of the Machine Cult, "Understanding is the true path to comprehension"). I really want to stress the nature of a Warlord as an individualised living avatar of the Machine God, a venerated religious artefact, while calling back to some of the old accessories that a Titan could have back in the day. In practice, this means replacing the upper superstructure and weapons hardpoints with something more devotional, as well as various other more subtle changes. It also means giving my God-machine a nice scenic setting with plenty of people scurrying around underfoot like ants in order to show off the scale.

And yes, this means that I am recreating a little piece of Mars- and in many ways this is more the focus of the piece than the Titan. We'll be visiting part of the Planum Australe, Mars' rural southern highlands.

But more of that later. Next up, some thoughts as to traditional Martian architecture, a few examples and how that'll all fit together!

[lokkorex]

Oh boy!

 

This is gonna be good!

[hushrong]

Another project? You won't hear a complaint out of me!

 

I like the idea for this ancient machine cult with the eastern influences peppered into their background. Machine pilgrims and the like travelling the barren red wastes sounds like a heck of a setting. It would be cool to see something along the lines of a Tibetan prayer wheel but witch machine cogs for a terrain piece. 

 

The idea for the titan also sounds tantalizing. Very interested to see what you do to the top of that fella.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent works.

[Augustus b'Raass]

I like this! Subbed

[EdT]

Thanks all.

 

I completely agree when it comes to Prayer Wheels! My idea was that the adepts install them when they find abandoned, ancient power sources that they have no other use for or can’t connect to anything else; the work of driving the wheel appeases the idle machine spirits who would otherwise be sitting there getting frustrated, preventing them from going bad and also purifying the noospheric aura of the region.

 

Add that, some prayer flags (printed with QR/Barcodes) and some tech-stupas and you’ve got a fun landscape. I also see Mars as being very Jakku-like too- so lots of immense, ancient archaeotech wreckage. Really I have too many ideas for a single diorama; I’d love to do a Martian settlement built on top of a massive chunk of crashed starship, but I’m not sure how I’d fit that in a one bedroom flat...

[hushrong]

When there is a will there is a way! Maybe invest in the hanging storage units for a garage to fit all the goodies?

 

This seriously sounds like a fantastic project. It feels like so many genres in one blend that just oozes terrific ideas. It's got me thinking of things like dune crawlers with open topped compartments covered by tarps used by trades. miniature dragoon riding, skitarii-esque bandits. Walking train conveys of nomads.

[noigrim]

Remember that the old warlords could carry a devotional bell, the bell of the lost souls

[EdT]

That’s exactly what I mean! I want to do the support element for the Titan too so like you say, flatbed supply walkers, mendicant adepts in abeyants, at least one mobile stupa and travelling merchants will all feature.

 

I see the arrival of a Titan to a small Martian community as being a combination carnival, bazaar and tribunal as everyone celebrates the god-machine, criminals are brought out for judgement and/or servitor-isation, gossip gets exchanged, exotic wares get sold, repairs get made, refuelling and result happens, and so on...

 

Really the only difficulty is fitting all (or some) of this on one base. I’m already considering a larger one to avoid everything being too crowded but want to see the one I ordered arrive first.

 

 

Remember that the old warlords could carry a devotional bell, the bell of the lost souls

That’s exactly the part I’m intending to recall! I’ll also, amongst other things, will be taking off one of the carapace weapons to put on a landing pad/congregational platform.

[EdT]

“…As Mars fell into anarchy and environmental collapse circa M.26-28, the large Terran-style urban centres that had previously characterised the built environment of the planet were abandoned as the surviving population retreated into their shelters. If anything remains of this period it is either inaccessible, extraordinarily dangerous (ref:Arkhan Land) or has been sequestered by the Martian authorities. Over the following millennia, as habitation gradually returned to the surface, it assumed a distinct form to suit the prevailing conditions of the period. This has generally been termed “Martian Vernacular”, a unique and fascinating architectural style quite distinct from the monumental “hive”-style that has now supplanted it in the most heavily populated regions of the Red Planet.


Settlements of the Martian Old Night needed to be highly defensible in order to survive, and so were generally constructed on mesas, rock outcroppings and volcanic plugs, often on top of the very tunnels from which their original inhabitants emerged. They also needed to conserve scarce energy. The result was a distinct style constructed from rough concrete made from the Martian regiolith, finished and sealed with a white lime plaster, and generally comprised of tightly-packed complexes of interconnected buildings with thick, slightly sloping walls, small windows and flat roofs with parapets.

The coming of the Machine Cult added a series of important architectural elements to the style. Cog motifs and the Opus Machina became ubiquitous as decoration, and wayside shrines, prayer wheels and prayer flags proliferated. Tech Stupas, as repositories of archaotech and pre-fall data, were already the focus of quasi-religious veneration; this practice was soon incorporated into the observances of the Red Priesthood, and religious settlements coalesced around many such sites. 

As equatorial Mars were pacified and urban development exploded, the older settlements of the Tharsis, Elysium and Hellas regions were quickly swallowed up by the new forges and manufactories. Little now remains of these sites. However, the more sparsely populated Southern Highlands of Mars has thus far resisted such encroachment. The local inhabitants still largely live as they have done for the past millennia, and as a result they possess some of the finest examples of the Martian Vernacular style that remain…”

 

 

OK, so now I have some modelling to show! While I was away I ordered some of the brilliant Desert Dwellings from Brigade Models- I was delighted to find these as they had exactly the base aesthetic I was looking for. When they came they realy didn't disappoint- I think they're a nice change from the usual "Gothic ruins" style you often get at this scale. This afternoon I started to clean them up, and of course I couldn't resist to start doing things to them. The settlement I plan for my vignette is a fairly large thing, one large complex perched on a rock outcropping formed around two courtyards. So far I've got started on three sides of the first courtyard; this comprises of the settlement's communications array, various bits of habitation and the Omnissian Sanctum, where the adepts are based. See if you can spot the tech-priest who I've put in for scale!

 

The goal is to have lots of decorated domes, which will have prayer flags hanging in between, whitewashed walls stained red by the Martian sand, and a fair few locals wandering around. Early days yet though- haven't even started on the windows, the rows of which should really emphasise the whole Tibet thing ...

[hushrong]

Buildings look great! Nice touch up to them too. I'm making a mental note about brigade models for some more terrain for AT.

 

Definitely excited to see more progress take place on that terrain with the added details of prayer flags, paint, and some inhabitants.

[EdT]

So I've some progress to show today . I often find with these sorts of projects that the difficulty is known which order to do things, if anything. I decided that the best thing I could do was to get the settlement itself up to a particular point and then this would let me work out how much space I had for everything else. So that's what I did. I continued adding bits and bobs to the buildings, including, as a failed experiment, some windows. These changed the architectural aesthetic too much for my taste and were fiddly and time consuming, so it was nice to find a reason not to do them. Here's a quick photo which also shows a statue in the main square, presumably of some particularly significant local Magos. This is made from a 10mm monk I had lying around from a previous project. 

 

 

After a while, I was happy with the layout of my settlement and so tranferred it to the base I'm using, which is a cheap cake stand I got from a local pound shop. The first base I bought was too small, so I have a spare one available which I might use as a companion vignette to deploy any of the concepts I don't have space for on the main base.

 

With the buildings arranged how I liked them, I drew around them  so I had a guide to work from, and added some open areas which I would need to factor into things when I constructed the rocky outcropping the place is perched upon. Here's a photo of that stage; 

 

And this is what I had as a result.

 

 

This then let me work out where everything else on the base will go; in short, the titan will go in the bottom right and then there will be a crowd of locals, skitarii, vehicles, tents, etc in the bottom left. Somehow having a floorplan like this really makes it feel a lot more like a real building, which is useful as I try to bring the place to life.

 

While I was doing this, I also got started on the Titan, Verum Semita. I dont want to show the top half just yet as it's still very WIP, but I was keen to get the leg pose and position sorted. Having decided I wanted one foot on a rock, I added that in using a piece of cork and then modelled the legs accordingly. Once this was all glued together I put the cork down again and set it in some air-drying clay, which I'll be using to get the relief of the landscape. I also pressed the feet into the clay to give me some footprints, which will hopefully look quite good (and more subtle) when the sand goes on top. Finally, you can see on the left of the photo an empty shampoo bottle; this is forming the initial bit of the rock on which the settlement will go. 

 

 

So that's it for now- more soon, including a look at who will populate this Martian landscape.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Impressive work, though the architecture is notably different from the Gothic style the Imperium favors. Is it meant to be a captured or commandeered Tau building, or just architecture from a different but still human culture?

[EdT]

Impressive work, though the architecture is notably different from the Gothic style the Imperium favors. Is it meant to be a captured or commandeered Tau building, or just architecture from a different but still human culture?

 

It's pre-Imperial Martian, so very distinct from Imperial Gothic; on Mars at least I suspect that starts creeping in post-Heresy, but as this will be set just after the Treaty of Olympus Mons, things are still quite divergent.

 

 

So I have some progress to show away from the base, which is also coming on. First up, here's an introduction to Verum Semita... He (and he is a he) is still very WIP, and basically at the moment is the stock model before I've added any of the extra bits to the superstructure that I intend to. 

 

 

So far really all I've done differently is add on a big back banner, which is a bit impractical but hopefully recalls the old Epic Titans. The head is also different, of course; I was able to snap up one of the variant Knight heads before they went OOP and it fit more or less perfectly (the back of the piece is trimmed off and the ball joint from the plastic stock set has been stuck on). I really wanted to give the impression of something archaic snd slightly baleful, and I thought this did the trick. Lots more to do, of course...

 

I've also been doing a bit of work on something a bit smaller.  

 

 

Here are my first 50 or so 6mm models; we have a Techpriest, a few Moderatii, 38 Secutarii and a group of Ostiarii (front stand), who are the temple guards and will be standing watch over Verum Semita's back hatchway and on the Stupa. 

 

Painting these was a bit of a weird experience as they're so small, but once I realised that you won't be looking at them that closely, I think I got the idea. I went for an off-white scheme to match my Titan's livery, but also because most of these will be on the ground; if I painted them in a traditional Martian red scheme you wouldn't be able to see them! I still have several hundred other models to paint, but it's a start... 

 

Next up, more progress on Verum Semita and also some of the vehicles accompanying the Titan on its progress across Mars. I'll leave you with a picture I found of Tibet which I find very evocative and sums up what I suspect Mars looks like for the majority of its inhabitants...

 

[EdT]

It's great to see the board back! And I have a lot of progress to show.

 

Things on this project have actually moved on a lot since my last post. I have a logistical train of crawlers, transports for my Secutarii and a few other vehicluar surprises undercoated and ready for painting, which I will show off when finished; at the moment the black undercoat is impossible to photograph. Perhaps more importantly, I've also completed the construction of Verum Semita and begun the long progress of painting him. He's quite a beast and I've had a lot of fun replicating some older bits and bobs from the Epic Era of which I'm sure we'll eventually see Forgeworld equivalents.

 

So here are two photos of the two bits of Verum Semita I have more or less finished painting; the primary right-arm Volcano Cannon, and the head, which in this case doesn't house the command deck as in most Titans, but a monstrously old and destructive archaeotech beam weapon known as the "Eye of Balor".

 

 

So that's one bit of progress.... here's the other.

 

I've been thinking about the crew of Verum Semita and, inspired by photos of WW2 bomber crews (I mean seriously, this screams Collegia Titanica to me) I thought I'd model them. I ended up with the following as a crew complement, which seems reasonable for a Warlord Titan:

 

1 Princeps Senioris

1 Moderata Prima

3 Moderati Secundi (1 Moderatus Rectora, 1 Moderatus Sagittarius, 1 Moderata Sensora)

1 Magos Technica

1 Novitate Ordinand Enginseer

1 Secutari Ostiarius Kentarch

1 Mascot

 

So let's meet some of them!

 

First, we have the Princeps Senioris, Tenzin Metok. Metok is a hoary old veteran who has commanded Verum Semita for almost 200 years. Unlike many Princeps, who carry a baton as a badge of office, Metok carries a large key as is traditional within the Legio Claustritumus.

 

 

Then we have the Moderata Prima, Chokphel Sonam. She is the Titan's second in command and is responsible for coordinating the other Moderatii, interfacing with allied forces during operations, and providing the Princeps with tactical awareness. Moderata Prima Sonam is a veteran who has passed up several opportunities of promotion in the hope of being made Verum Semita's Princeps when the existing one, Tenzin Metok, dies or retires. She is carrying a large ceremonial key, as is Legio tradition.

 

 

 

Next up we have the Magos Technica who oversees the Enginarium, Kamala Ghopal.

 

 

Then there's Novitate Ordinand Lexmechanic Choden Yeshev. Yeshev is a native of one of the tiny settlements that dot the Southern Highlands of Mars. He was talent-spotted by Magos Technica Ghopal during one of Verum Semita's resupply stops, and is being instructed in the basic mysteries of the Machine Cult prior to his ordination. He serves as Ghopal's apprentice and assistant, and his youth is also an advantage as it allows him to squeeze into spaces within the Titan that his master cannot...

 

 

 

Next, we have two of the three Moderati Secundi. The first is the Moderatus Sagittarius, Dorje Thokmey. He's responsible for the accurate targeting and provision of reactor power to Verum Semita's primary weapons systems. He's uncomfortable in the great Martian outdoors and has insisted on keeping his helmet on as well as taking a lasgun for protection, something the other crew-members find rather entertaining.

 

 

 

Finally, we have the Moderata Rectora, Dejah Astok. She is responsible for the God-Machine's locomotion, navigation and for traversing difficult terrain. Astok is the newest member of Verum Semita's complement; I'm currently debating whether to give her hair or keep her bald- or possible just to go for some stubble.

 

 

 

That's it for now- I have one more Moderatus and the Secutari at the greenstuff curing stage, and the mascot is 90% painted. More soon- including their scenic base...

[Brother Dallo]

Some good looking stuff Ed. Did you have any problems with posing the legs? From what I've heard, they can be a bit of a pain to repose.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Dallo

[Herald of Ultramar]

FWIW, I'd keep Dejah bald - I think the shaved head gives her a wonderfully androgynous look that suits Martians quite well.

[EdT]

Thanks both. I think I will keep her bald.

 

@Dallo, do you mean the posing of the Titan? I think I got lucky- my pose is a bit involved as one leg is standing on something, but when I came to put the armour plates on it just barely fit together without a problem. I think I had quite a narrow escape. GOes to show I really should have test-fitted the armour before settling on how I wanted it posed.

 

 

 

 

I've got a lot of progress to show today. First off is a new and better photo of Princeps Metok which hopefully shows off a little more of the detail;

 

 

Next up we have Tsewang Cherenkov, the Moderatus Sensorus. Normally the Moderatus Sensorus would be in charge of comms, situational awareness and scanning, but as Verum Semita has a Moderata Prima for that, Cherenkov gets to pilot the Titan's reconaissance ornithopter and relay intelligence back to base from the air. I tried to give him a little swagger as befits a pilot- plus a lighter and a stick of what I assume to be red weed.

 

 

 

Next up we have Kentarch Yakubu. Yakubu is effectively the Head of Security; he commands the Secutarii forces attached to Verum Semita and is also leader of the Ostiarii, who are the temple guards for the Tech Stupa mounted on Verum Semita's carapace. He is responsible for the physical security of the Titan and its crew both onboard and ashore.  

 

 

 

The final member of the crew is arguably the most important- meet "Little Balor", the phyical representation of Verum Semita's machine spirit. He's just a servitor in a costume (or is he?) but he's used to represent the Titan at special occasions, ceremonies and Legion events. He's also much easier to fit in frame when you want a hololith of the crew...

 

 

So here's the whole crew together- I will take a photo in better light when it stops being autumn...

 

 

 

So the question now is what next? Hopefully if you know me the answer is obvious- they need a scenic base to put them in context. And I do have a spare cake base lying around... I've decided to use the opportunity of exploring the "ordinary" side of the Machine Cult a little more, so my crew will be on shore leave visiting a tech-stupa; not something stuffed full of Tech-priests, but the sort of isolated wayside shrine that normal Martians might visit on their journeys across the wastes.

 

 

The first stage, as ever, was to take a sharpie and sketch out what I wanted onto the base. The dotted lines are where prayer flags will go. With my basic design blocked out I cut a piece of plasticard to provide me with the "plinth" on which the stupa will sit. The Stupa itself was fairly easy- I used the dome section from the Sector Mechanicus terrain kit as the base, and then added a spire on top from various bits from my bits box, mostly cheap brass cogs I bought off ebay. These have been massively useful for this project. You may notice it looks a bit wonky- that's ok as seconds after I took the photo I dropped it on the floor and had to reconstruct the whole thing from scratch. It's much better now!

 

With the Stupa roughed out I needed an entrance. This came from the Necromunda sprue. I wanted it a bit lower in the ground than the surroundings so I cut a chunk out of the plasticard and slotted it in. In the final version the doorway will be mostly hidden by a smaller shrine to the Omnissiah. I realised that one of the large pipe bits from the Sector Mechanicus kit was the same diameter as the door so I cut it down with a saw and stuck it on top as an arch. This lets the stupa fit quite snugly behind, as you can see in the fourth photo. I added some detail to the arch, added a thin sheet of plasticard to the underside of the dome to add some height, and suddenly things were looking quite advanced.

 

Finally, I bought some mdf hexagons cheap off ebay for tiling. I placed them all over the plasticard plinth- once the glue has dried I will then cut the excess off the edges, and then I can start thinking about attaching the plinth to the base and adding some relief terrain around it. Still lots to do, but it's looking ok so far I think...

[Luna707]

Love your stuff man- the creativity is amazing and the inspiration it provides is unparalleled. I'm very excited to see how this pans out!

[Augustus b'Raass]

Aw, man... that stupa idea is wonderful. Combined with the titan crew (which oozes character, each and every one of it) it will look marvelous!

[sockwithaticket]

What an excellent group of conversions. I particularly like Yakuba

[BadgersinHills]

The Titan crew is absolute gold, great job. Looking forward to see how the Tech Stupa develops. 

[Captain Mike]

I love the mere idea of this project, and the execution is going well.

 

For the 6mm dudes, are they a combination of Defeat in Detail and Perfect 6 models? I recognise them.

 

Can't wait to see the buildings more than anything!

[hushrong]

This is pure, grade A material! Awesome minis and fluff to back them up!

[Sandlemad]

Brilliant stuff as ever. I love the use of Tibetan aesthetics as inspiration for Martian stuff, it's a wonderful trick. Same for the exploration of the community that every titan has around/inside it.