Clawthorn: Astral Claws Kill Team

[apologist]

Our gaming group's doing some Badab-themed Kill Team; so I decided to build some Astral Claws. I'm going for models first, rules second, so I haven't worked out the nitty-gritty of things. Fortunately, the gang is mostly equally laissez-faire so a few minutes chat before a game will iron out any wrinkles.

 

 

+ Kill Team Clawthorn: Before the Palace of Thorns +

 

 

A sergent, or possible lieutenant. I'm going for a proper mix-and-match approach to the armour. I like the slightly patchwork personalisation as it subtly suggests the make-do-and-mend/venerated elements approach to Astartes plate in M41. I've had to resist the temptation to cover them with old armour marks; and stuck with mainly Mark VII.

 

 

With that said, some earlier marks have crept in. After building this fella, I thought the Mark IV helm might be a good way to distinguish him – perhaps with the veteran skill?

 

 

Big, angry and determined; this marine is standing over a ruined Rapier or similar tracked weapon platform. The base debris is from Anvil Industry.

 

 

Bigger, angrier and even more determined. I love a heavy bolter.  I also love Heresy plate. 

 

 

Excuse the mouldlines. I tend to lightly prime things to bind the different coloured material (resins, plastics etc.) and check it's hanging together. It also provides a nice safety net to catch [sCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] mouldlines!.

 

 

I went for the African-featured head on this bare-headed marine, just to add a bit more flavour and distinctiveness. 

 

Still need a lick of paint, but pleased with how they've come out. Would love to hear any suggestions for Badab-appropriate names, ideas for freehand honours etc. 

 

From flicking through Imperial Armour IX, the colour plates show Astral Claws with various combinations of silver and blue pauldrons. Is there a reason for this – i.e. is it left to individual marines, or are blue pauldrons an honorific?

Edited August 8, 2019 by Apologist

[Marshal Rohr]

Brilliant as always.

[Leviathus]

Ooh looking promising! It's always good to see more Claws :D

 

As for the pauldrons, I don't think they have a specific explanation for it and it's more for artistic purposes? I was thinking it may be some sort of Company marking? Anyway, I just apply it randomly to add a bit of flavour.

[Steel Company]

Apologist, you should make the HB marine Akkad from the PBP game we're in! :D

[apologist]

 

Ooh looking promising! It's always good to see more Claws

 

As for the pauldrons, I don't think they have a specific explanation for it and it's more for artistic purposes? I was thinking it may be some sort of Company marking? Anyway, I just apply it randomly to add a bit of flavour.

 

Ah, okay; cool (dig your Claws, by the way – lovely and crisp, and great selection of bits.)

 

 

Brilliant as always.

Too kind! [+Subroutine loop: [facialheatsinks/ACTIVE] +]

 

 

Apologist, you should make the HB marine Akkad from the PBP game we're in!

Hey, now you're talking. I was going to ask Mazer if he'd chime in with some ideas – and if he's up for his character making an appearance, that'd be sweet. :)

[Mazer Rackham]

It's not canon, but I always saw the silver and blue pauldrons of my own Astral Claws company thusly:

 

• Silver Pauldrons, the old guard, ones who follow Huron, but did not approve of him and so are herded into the back end of the requisition line.  They have the most banged-up plate, the older weapons, the hand-me-downs and all the pants jobs.  They can be found with the black and yellow lioness, the old iconography.
• Silver pauldrons, gold rims, Veteran Sergeant of the old guard.
• One blue Pauldron, silver rims, these are the converts to Huron's cause, they will have the astral claws now familiar star and claw.
• Two blue Pauldrons, silver rims, veterans and committed to the new kool-aid.  Better gear, better missions.
• Blue pauldrons, gold rims, Veteran Sgt of the Kool-aid variety, the best gear, best missions.

 

Like I said, just headcanon  and you can absolutely make one of them Daon Akkad.  I would be honoured by your skill sir. :)

 

MR.

Edited August 8, 2019 by Mazer Rackham

[Oshikai]

Have been following your work and Blog for Years now. Starting over on Warseer. Big big Fan.

[hushrong]

This is good stuff! Cannot wait to see you paint these AC up!

[Atia]

Can't wait to see them finished :)

[Son of Sacrifice]

Huge fan of the Badab War, you're off to a flying start here!

[recon0321]

Where did you find that axe? It’s makes makes the pose so authoritative!! Truly very nice

[ranulf the revenant]

I went for the African-featured head on this bare-headed marine, just to add a bit more flavour and distinctiveness.

 

Well, I guess that's how GW looks at non-whites as well, which is a bit unfortunate

[Reyner]

Looking good apologist I love the heavy bolter marine that is easily one of my favourite weapons. If you need any transfers let me know and I can post you some :) still have the FW transfer sheet for these guys for the army that never got off the ground! 

[apologist]

Coo, thank you everyone.

 

It's not canon, but I always saw the silver and blue pauldrons of my own Astral Claws company thusly:

• Silver Pauldrons, the old guard, ones who follow Huron, but did not approve of him and so are herded into the back end of the requisition line.  They have the most banged-up plate, the older weapons, the hand-me-downs and all the pants jobs.  They can be found with the black and yellow lioness, the old iconography.
• Silver pauldrons, gold rims, Veteran Sergeant of the old guard.
• One blue Pauldron, silver rims, these are the converts to Huron's cause, they will have the astral claws now familiar star and claw.
• Two blue Pauldrons, silver rims, veterans and committed to the new kool-aid.  Better gear, better missions.
• Blue pauldrons, gold rims, Veteran Sgt of the Kool-aid variety, the best gear, best missions.

Like I said, just headcanon  and you can absolutely make one of them Daon Akkad.  I would be honoured by your skill sir.

 

That looks pretty reasonable to me; ta. Great; I'll have to dig out some bits and bobs for Akkad. I'm figuring a chain-fed heavy bolter for Cadence? *Muses on suitable bits for soil-sample pots*.

 

 

Have been following your work and Blog for Years now. Starting over on Warseer. Big big Fan.

Very kind, thank you. If you liked the Praetors of Calth, have a look in my signature for my more recent stuff

 

This is good stuff! Cannot wait to see you paint these AC up!

Then you will not have to wait long

 

Can't wait to see them finished

Cracking on with them, so hopefully not too long. 

 

Huge fan of the Badab War, you're off to a flying start here!

Yeah, it's a fun setting. I would have loved to have done a similar marine civil war set in our own sector Antona Australis (check out the interactive map here), to explore and carve out some long-neglected or hinted-at Chapters like the Stellar Steeds, Kings Martial, Sons of Spectra, Ishilites, Emperor's Hawks, Hammers of the Emperor, Scarlet Blades, Adamants, Gatebreakers, Chapter Castellan or Lions of Sol, but Badab offered the reassuring hand of 'officialdom/canonicity' which makes the setting more accessible, so we plumped for that.

 

Where did you find that axe? It’s makes makes the pose so authoritative!! Truly very nice

It's from the Red Scorpions' Librarian honour guard. It's lurked in my bits box for years. I used the other one on my Iron Warriors character, Cjarn, for my Officio Monstrosa project. Side projects like this are always a great place to use cool bits that – for one reason or another – don't fit with your main projects.

 

I ended up having to carve it up a bit, removing the hand and cutting a new gap for the lower grip. After a bit of drilling and pinning, he was ready to look rather insouciant.

 

 

I went for the African-featured head on this bare-headed marine, just to add a bit more flavour and distinctiveness.

Well, I guess that's how GW looks at non-whites as well, which is a bit unfortunate . (To be clear, that's not a critique aimed at you, just something that came to mind.) Anyway, the Kill Team looks very nice, I like the poses a lot.

 

I agree, there tends to be a slight awkwardness and occidentalism inherent in addressing race (and gender) in wargaming miniatures. In fairness I think GW are making good strides more recently, with new ranges like the Stormcast having a much more diverse cast of peoples – and all presented naturally, without comment. For what it's worth, I've always tried to include different ethnicities in my various forces, particularly my Guard, as I figure representation within my own stuff is the most effective way to highlight what I'd like to see. Also, it better reflects my vision of the 40k universe – and at the end of the day, that's my main drive for my hobby.  

 

Thanks for the kind words on Clawthorn, too 

 

Looking good apologist I love the heavy bolter marine that is easily one of my favourite weapons. If you need any transfers let me know and I can post you some still have the FW transfer sheet for these guys for the army that never got off the ground! 

 

That's a really kind offer, thank you. I'm going to give these a try with the old paintbrush first, but I'll definitely keep it in mind. Ta!

Edited August 13, 2019 by Apologist

[Chiam]

I’m a fan of these. Really good selection of pieces to make some nice individuality amongst the group.

[apologist]

Painting begins. I used the sergeant as the test piece, and he's coming along.

 

 

I've used Prussian blue and Payne's grey ink to give the Astral Claw's steel an effect that is more neutral than I usually paint metal. Payne's grey has similar qualities to sepia, granulating and adding depth; but it is cool rather than warm. 

 

Note that because Payne's grey is blue-tinged, it works nicely with both the metal and the blue shoulder pads. For my Ultramarines, I shaded with purple; a hue that enriches the blue. Here, the Payne's grey deadens it, again giving a neutral effect. 

 

Why do I want the figure to look neutral? Warm colours advance and appear inviting, while the opposite is true of cool figures. This can help to give an unconscious effect that the figure is 'good' or 'bad' – or at least the protagonist or antagonist – because the viewer has an instinctive reaction to this. The Badab War is an example of a 40k event where you can see noble aims on both sides, and complexity in the moral issues. I wanted to hint at this in the scheme by keeping things neutral.

 

Of course, this has the potential side effect of making the figure a bit boring, so I'll need to incorporate some eye-catching 'hot spots' or warm areas into the scheme: a perfect excuse for the warm, opulent gold accents. Note also the eyes are a piercing acid green, intended to catch the eye.

 

+++

 

Very open to ideas or experience on basing. The rest of the group are leaning towards urban grey or metal decking, but those are going to blend in with the Astral Claws scheme. I'm toying with white dust/marble; or perhaps ruddy-browns.

Edited August 9, 2019 by Apologist

[GodEmperorOfMankind]

Excellent stuff, looking forward to seeing more

[Reyner]

White dust and marble would be good for setting them within the Palace of Thorns. Red dust and mud would work for the battles on Angstrom or Cygnax? 

[Mazer Rackham]

This isn't modelling, this is art.

 

(Feels desperate urge to write war poetry).

 

You don't have to belt feed the HB if you don't want to boss.  Akkad wielded a few, any HB is canon to him.

 

I   This.

 

MR.

[hushrong]

Oh man, my heart is swooning at the sight of that sergeant! I really hope you expand this team into an army so I can just see more of this!

 

As for basing I like the idea of rubble and decking. I wonder if you could do dark brown dirt, maybe scorched/burnt white stone debris from buildings, and rusted metal decking. I wonder if those colors would look good with the AC and not blend with their colors too much.

[Chiam]

In my opinion the bases could tell the story of the thread, on the steps. Have broken stone, marble, scorched ground, torn banners. These are The Astral Claws, realising that in their direst hour the scorpion is preparing to strike at their very heart...

 

...and they shall stand firm.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The SGT is coming along quite well. Will you add bloodstains to the model- maybe a dismembered/disemboweled/decapitated corpse on his base?

[Son of Carnelian]

Your work with Primaris Marines remains inspiring and Badab might be my favorite period of the setting. I can't wait to see more!

[Lucerne]

Payne with the executioner's axe, hmm?

[geordie]

Always great to see a new topic from you appear on these boards. 

 

Liking the subtle conversions. Despite being based on the same miniatures these Astral Claws are clearly from a different time period than your Blood Angels. 

 

The Imperial Armour Badab War books are such a masterpiece. A real treasure trove of inspirational material.

 

Difficult one on the bases. A Palace of Thorns setting could place these guys in muddy, barb wired trench setting. Problem then being if you want to keep these guys clean(ish) looking compared to your Iron Warriors it might look odd if they're not also muddied up and weathered heavier, given their locale. Alternatively a heavily weathered/rusty decking base with reds, oranges and browns could provide a nice contrast against the cleaner metals of the power armour.