Tartaros Terminator with Power Maul / Mace

I've borrowed a little bit of inspiration - and bits - from the Dark Angels range for this terminator conversion. The basis is a normal Tartaros Terminator in plastic, but with a right hand swap for a Dark Angels power weapon. 

The difficult part of the conversion is the ranged weapon. Here, I have taken the combi-bolter and attached it to the left hand of the sergeant's power sword hand in order to create a left handed ranged weapon. This involved some careful slicing of the hand away from the power sword, and disguising it through an appropriate pose where the focus is on the melee power weapon.

This marine will be part of my World Eaters force (allied detachment) that I am constructing. 

World Eaters Assault Squad Assemble!

Finally had time to make progress on my World Eaters allied detachment. These are the main troops of the detachment - a squad of jump pack assault marines.

The most obvious thing here are the chain axes and other bits - sourced from an eBay vendor. I'm very happy with these - particularly the arm options which might not be so obvious at first glance.

The sergeant sports a pair of falax blades and - like some of his brothers - is positioned on top of a barrel ready to make the next leap and strike. On the left is the brute with the power maul taken from the Dark Angels terminator range. And on the right is one with a power spear. You may well ask why this arrangement. Largely the answer is the rule of cool and I wanted a squad that communicated disorganized weapons like a bunch of gladiators that have just scooped up whatever they had to hand and are using them very freely. This is emphasized by the left and right handedness of the rest of the squad wherein the chain axes are evenly being used in the left and right hands. 

All told, a bit of a mob of braying marines ready to jump at the next target as the nails bite into their heads - and a story told with dynamism while keeping a relatively consistent basing policy to bring it all together. 

World Eaters Conversion: Power Maul Jump Pack Marine

I am always impressed by how even a small conversion or bit swap can change the whole demeanour of a miniature. This is one such case. 

This particular fine specimen has only two changes. The first is the power maul right arm which is taken from the Dark Angels terminators range. The second is the head which is from the Khorne 40k range. There is a little problem with the maul if you look closely. The size of the fist is too large - ever so slightly - for the Heresy range. This is because it is a terminator sized hand. However, I think it still works as a World Eaters jump pack marine for the Heresy range - he's clearly just been flexing a lot? The bit itself really suits the World Eaters - the post is one of sheer barbarism combined with a wicked looking maul that even the Lion might be embarrassed to see his sons utilise once in a while. 

The base has cork on it, with a resin topper to give it a bit of extra height. Overall the miniature is a simple conversion but certainly communicates the violence incarnate of the World Eaters legion through and through. I could easily imagine this marine knocking his opponents off their feet and flinging them to the side with a killer dent in their torsos. 

World Eaters Assault Sergeant

When I sat down to consider how to craft a World Eaters assault marine sergeant, I wanted to incorporate a good deal of dynamism into the model as well as some of the rage that the Legion has been exposed to thanks to the nails. This is the result.

The base has a sliced in half barrel for the World Eater to stand on. This naturally puts him at a bit of an angle, but this is more than compensated for by the positioning of the legs, arms, and tilt of the head.

The parts used here feature falax blades on both arms combined with Khorne berserker head to highlight the nails digging in, and a shoulder pad from the same range largely because they look cool and the legion icon is very visible. No de-chaos-ifying has been needed here at all thankfully. The model fits the brief that I had in my head when I sat down too. This readily will serve as either loyalist or traitor, depending on the need, and is one of the first miniatures for my World Eaters allied detachment that I am creating. I might add a melta bomb yet - I'm undecided!

World Eaters Warmonger / Praetor

A new conversion today - this time for the World Eaters! Plans are afoot for a small allied detachment of this legion. This particular miniature will serve as either a Praetor (in which case the weapon is a paragon blade) or as a Warmonger - primarily for the use of the teleport device (in which case the weapon might be an excoriator?). 

The bits used are most obviously a Red Butcher body. The arms and weapon come from the Dark Angels terminator range. The shoulder pads are Forge World resin Tartaros armour. I wanted this guy to suggest violence incarnate combined with martial skill and intimidation. I think it does so in droves. 

Emperor's Children Phoenix Warden / Praetor

The second post in one day? Certainly! As noted in my plans for the months ahead, my top priority is to explore the Emperor's Children range and build a small detachment. I have long been intrigued by the loyalist aspect of the legion. After reading Fulgrim and the other novels surrounding the Isstvan campaign, I can see myself tilting nicely toward having a loyalist third legion element to complement my (obviously also loyal) Alpha Legion. It will also sit nicely with the Iron Hands forces that I have: either for friendly shattered legions purposes, pre-heresy, or serve as a traitor counter point!

I have gone out of my way to source the parts for this one. The main body is most obviously from the Palatine Blades. The spear is a phoenix spear, and the resin shoulder pad is one of the Emperor's Children. The jet pack is also from the resin range that I specifically bought for this miniature. Although not obvious from the image, the bolt pistol is from the vanguard veterans range and features filigree along the main body. Arms and plastic shoulder pad are obvious enough. The head is from the new heads range released by Games Workshop - I intend the hair to be painted platinum white, but I really liked the dynamism here. It is not a strong as with Eidolon, but really suits the Third Legion aesthetic. The head is also positioned very carefully to be looking square down the barrel of the bolt pistol. The pose is intended to communicate a fluidity of movement with the bolt pistol leader, and the spear positioned behind his back ready for striking at the opportune moment!

Meanwhile the base consists of four lengths of plastic pipework buried underneath a plastic door that I had lying around. I've glued a lot of debris around this to suggest a ruined battlescape where this character has landed. He will provide a beautiful and elegant counter point to the otherwise hard edged Iron Hands siege breaker posted earlier today.

Overall, I am more than pleased with how this conversion and kit bash has turned out! Really flexing some creative muscles now! 

Iron Hands Siege Breaker / Praetor

It is not the new siege breaker model. Not sorry. This miniature is a bit of a kit bash to produce a Siege Breaker - or possibly praetor - to lead my Iron Hands detachment (or indeed lead a Shattered Legions contingent -- really looking forward to those new rules now!). 

Clearly the thunder hammer and the bolt pistol are from the plastic range, whereas the torso and legs are resin parts from the Forge World resin range for the Iron Hands. The shoulder pads are similarly bespoke from Games Workshop. 

I've also gone a bit of a adventure with the basing. The las cannon on the base is from the Imperial Guard range and sources from the sentinel if memory serves. Balancing the miniature on top of the cannon was a bit of trial and error (which is to say: lots of dry fitting!). The base otherwise has Armageddon Dunes painted on to it ready for undercoating. I think it has worked well enough though and communicates - arguably - some of the desperation of the drop site massacre which it what I originally intended when I set out. This miniature is meant to be a survivor and a leader for the scattered and shattered forces that he has been able to gather around himself following that campaign. 

Alpha Legion Lernaeans

The final painting post of 2023: Alpha Legion Lernaeans!

Enjoyed painting these up immensely! I have more Lernaeans in the collection that these will join and probably enough for 2 or 3 deadly squads worth. Love the sculpts, and they were a pleasure to paint. 

Lernaean Terminators: Conversion Beamer and Harrower

And just before Christmas, here are two more Lernaean Alpha Legion terminators painted up.

The man on the left is toting a conversion beamer with a power axe. He might or might not get too much use depending on whether I'm thinking of a back line squad, or something much more aggressive.

The man on the right is intended to be the sergeant / harrower of the unit. There's a power dagger hooked on the right of his tabard which in game will generate a handy extra attack -- even with the chain fist that he is wearing. Indeed, the power dagger upgrade is almost always going to be worth taking for a character model in the Alpha Legion. 

Painted Volkite Culverin Lernaean Terminator

It seems like a long time ago since I posted the conversion I did for an Alpha Legion Lernaean terminator toting a volkite culverin! Regardless, here is the painted up outcome ready for the table top.

The model follows my newer approach to the metallic blue for the Alpha Legion (which is to say using contrast paints). This has come out well but is a touch darker than some of my earlier terminators. I can live with that since the Alpha Legion is notorious for slightly different armourial colours and iconography. 

The silver edgings are reasonable, but I think they could do with a touch more edge highlighting as this is lost in the distance. The Alpha Legion icon on the knee is something that I might come back to to pick out in gold as well. Other than these minor issues, I think that this one is safely done and dusted. I'm very pleased with the base in particular which blends in with the ruined Imperial Sector terrain that I own in terms of colour scheme. 

Infernal Master: Alpha Legion Style

A bit of a conversion from the weekend. This is the Thousand Sons' Infernal Master miniature from the plastic range being used as the basis, but with added Alpha Legion resin parts to convert the legion's loyalty.

The shoulder pad is a direct Mark 4 Alpha Legion resin piece from Forge World that I had lying around. The head meanwhile is one of the newer heads - Character Heads Upgrades Set 1. Obviously, I have also converted parts of the miniature in addition to this to remove some obvious Thousand Sons trappings such as the scarabs here and there, and to remove the warp flame backpack bits which really didn't communicate the Heresy vibe that I wanted them to. I've also covered the bit holding the cape on with green stuff to actively get rid of the final Thousand Sons' heraldry. I intend to use a decal to go over the top of this when it has been painted up eventually. 

The idea here is to portray a marine who has or soon will succumb to full chaos affiliation but otherwise heralds from the Alpha Legion. As the legion would later discover, no man can be master of chaos, and as the civil war within the Legion was fought, sides were chosen and lines were drawn between its twin masters despite their otherwise erstwhile unity. 

Hobby: Iron Warriors Legion Reaper Autocannon Terminator

While I am still enjoying a bit of a break, here's yet another conversion that I undertook and painted up. This one is a reaper autocannon terminator for the Iron Warriors. I have taken the reaper autocannon from the older chaos space marine terminator set. It is not a fit by any means, so it had to be extensively filed down and even some green stuff used to paper over the cracks between each of the parts. Can't recommend doing this conversion unless you are like me and really keen for the aesthetic.

 

So why this particular look then? Well, as with some of my Alpha Legion forces, I wanted to have a few marines in the Iron Warriors force that resemble or give a hint at what they might ultimately become. This particular marine is obviously not there yet, but perhaps heralds what might come. The chain fist on the left arm is to go with the rest of the squad which is dedicated to dreadnought hunting (or similar). The painting scheme follows my now standard approach for this army of using lead belcher as the base and working up from there with different silvers. This particular marine does have a few more hazard stripes than the standard marine, but that's fine. Back to regular posts next week - promise!

Hobby: Lernaean Volkite Culverin

Today, a second Lernaean conversion armed with a Volite Culverin, and a chain fist. 

This one follows the same basic approach as the first Lernaean Volkite Culverin. The right arm is in a different pose to the first one and the basic issue with the conversion is getting the wrist of the weapon to sit flush with the terminus of the right arm. In this case, I have pinned the joint to supply more strength. I might yet add a touch of liquid green stuff to ensure that the joint is sufficient hidden for the painting stage, as well as more stones on the base. The handle of the Culverin has had the left hand removed for obvious reasons. It has been shortened, but I have retained the end of the handle which now looks a bit like a sight or a scope light? Meanwhile the left arm is simple a plastic chain fist and the head from the same terminator range. The idea behind this squad is to have them all chain fist armed and ready for close combat or tearing apart vehicles and dreadnoughts at close range whilst retaining anti-infantry fire power.

Lernaean Conversion: Volkite Culverin Terminator

One possible upgrade for Alpha Legion Lernaean Terminators is the Volkite Culverin. The range produced by Forge World only supplies the conversion beamer as an upgrade though. Therefore to create a culverin wielding terminator, I have turned to the heavy weapons upgrade sprue. 

The hard part of this conversion is getting the wrist to sit flush with the resin part of the Lernaean. A lot of filing and dry fitting is required to get the correct angle and make sure that the weapon is not pointed downward which I think would not look quite as good. I have also deliberately selected a pair of legs where the right leg is forward, which felt like the more natural pose compared to the opposite way around. 

Completing the look is some plastic bits from the old bits box and gravel. Overall I am very happy with this conversion and the way it has worked out here. Certainly better than trying to get a Night Lords Contenkar terminator volkite look-alike on the same hand. 

Converted Tactical Squad Sergeant

Rounding off a bit of a hobby day, here's a little conversion that I made earlier. The basis of the miniature is still the beaky armour from the Age of Darkness boxed set. I wanted the model to be holding a bolt gun one handed (or at least a bolt pistol). Of course, there's no left handed bolt pistol that comes with the set, so it had to be a full bolt gun. Happily though, there is a left handed plasma pistol that comes with the set - and that in turn provides the hand for this conversion. 

As with any long term collector and gamer, I have a reasonable bits box to draw down upon. Here, I have selected an old chaos space marine bolt gun to be the weapon of choice. There are no particular chaos markings on the weapon, and I like that, yet it also perhaps is suggestive of an eventual slip to the darker powers. This is a theme that I like for the armies that I use in 30k (especially those of dubious loyalty of alignment: I like to play as both loyalist and traitor rather than stick permanently to one side or the other). 

Slicing the fist away from the original plasma pistol was a tricky operation, but with some careful scoring and fore-planning, this can be done relatively quickly. The bolt gun itself required the handle and trigger to be removed and filed down. When glued together, it is fairly seamless. I have rounded this conversion off by adding a chain bayonet to the front of the bolt gun. Although it doesn't quite align fully, it is close enough that no one will notice - doubly so once I get around to painting this one up. 

The miniature is rounded off by a power fist for the right hand, along with a bolt pistol holster and un-helmeted head. A great little conversion for the squad I feel. 

Cataphractii Terminator Thunder Hammer Conversion

For the Cataphractii terminator squad(s) from the new boxed set, I knew I wanted two of them to be armed with thunder hammers. However, I did not go as far as ordering the accessories for the terminators. The reason for this was that I knew that I had some left over bits from classic thunder hammer and storm shield assault squad terminators sat in my bits box. So an experiment ensued and it was hobby time once more!

The conversion works by taking the regular left hand of the terminator's power sword and slicing every scrap of the sword away from the hand. For the thunder hammer, it is a bit of a harder job since the fist is intertwined with the cable that runs around it and up the arm. Several careful incisions with the scalpel is required to detach this. What I found from doing this is that the fist of the Cataphractii terminator is slightly larger than the fist from the classic terminators. Hence the length of the hammer needed to be trimmed down ever so slightly to accommodate the Cataphractii's larger fist. Happily this makes for a snug fit and no need for any pinning to take place. The above picture shows the outcome - and it is one that I am very happy with. A bit of green stuff rounds out the conversion where required. 

A close up of the other side of the conversion can be seen above. The alignment of the handle of the hammer is basically perfect with no warping present whatsoever. The fist's girth is also ideal for the hammer's handle's size as well, hence this looks very much spot on for the conversion. More than this, the thunder hammer simply looks more brutal than the regular Cataphractii hammers and I am pleased with this outcome. 

I've decided to delay painting a little while until I have chosen the legion for the new boxed set, but I've narrowed it down to several now! 

Alpha Legion Praetor

Here is the assembled Alpha Legion Praetor, based on Sevatar's scenic resin base from Forge World. 

I am very happy with the result here. To my mind it looks like the Praetor (or his men) have made a quick kill and are storming along the ruins of some kind of forge world to take their due of equipment or to ransack an important component of the works. I think to be controversial, I will paint both the Praetor and the victim in Alpha Legion colours to emphasize the internecine war within the Alpha Legion and be representative of some of the fiction found within the Black Library (e.g., the Seventh Serpent, and the Serpent Beneath). 

Most Powerful Non-Named Character in 30k: Custodes Shield Captain

The Horus Heresy game is replete with a range of super-powerful beings and constructs. Not only are Primarchs available to play, but also heroes and anti-heroes of renown such as Sigismund and Abaddon, through to titans as well. 

However, there are plenty of powerful non-named characters available to construct. Legion Praetors come with a range of possible play styles and builds augmented with rites of war, and legion specific rules. Even the Mechanicum and Solar Auxilia have a range of unnamed characters that can be built to taste and made rather powerful in their own right.

Of all of these, there is one complete stand out to my mind. The Legio Custodes Shield Captain. When built with a Praesidium Shield and Solarite Gauntlet, this creation of the Emperor is beyond rude, he's almost game-balance wrecking. Add in a teleport transponder and the Tribune rule, and he is well and truly probably the best non-named character in the Horus Heresy game. Of course, more things could be added such as digital lasers, and so forth, but 6 lots of S=10 attacks with AP1 and master-crafted is truly awesome, even if it swings at I=1. Add on eternal warrior and fearless, and this unnamed close-combat killing machine really is up there with the heroes with names in the Horus Heresy (even if he utterly lacks in the ranged shooting department).

It would have been rude not to sculpt one (thanks Santa!). 

Most power fists in the game are left handed. I find this awkward, as most storm shields (and Custodes) shields are similarly left handed. One had to be converted. I didn't fancy repositioning individual fingers, so decided it would be the shield to be converted.

The power fist is a shaved down Dark Angels terminator power fist with the iconography removed, and the shoulder joined cut down to size to ensure that the pauldron fits over the top. The shield uses a fist from one of the sentinel war blades to attach to the arm, and some green stuff sculpting to build in around the upper and lower edges of the hand to create the handle for the shield once the original left hand was removed. Otherwise, this conversion is a simple one to execute and I'm pleased with the outcome here. It will await painting on another day. 

Assembled Alpha Legion Praetor Conversion

Following on from the unboxing of the newly released Alpha Legion Praetor in Cataphractii terminator armour, I have finally got this one assembled. 

Putting it together was relatively easy. The only snag was attaching the cape before anything else went on, and making sure that the cape slotted in to the right grooves in the back of the terminator armour. 

As can be seen in the images below, I have opted for a little conversion on the resin.

The addition of a warhammer fantasy or Age of Sigmar chaos sword is a significant development for me. Up until now, I have assembled the Alpha Legion under a few themes.

(1) Crusade era. Featuring the baseline weapons and everything else expected of the Legion in full fighting force during the glory era (or later parts of it at any rate).

(2) Early Heresy era. This is where I went slightly more themed around having some marines with the infamous mark V armour, and with more patchwork armour.

(3) Later Heresy era. Bereft of regular supply lines, I have converted a large number of marines to carry Eldar weapons that they have reversed engineered, as well as having scouts with Necron sniper weapons. They are making do in small cells basically. And possibly splintering from within thanks to the Alpha Legion civil war.

And now (4): Late Heresy and Scouring.

This is where some of their number start to turn to or generally explore chaos. Although they do not necessarily succumb in the slightest, the novel "Shroud of Night" serves as a bit of an inspiration here. The main character in that novel sports a chaos blade (daemon sword), although tries to master it rather than becoming the servant. 

The conversion clipped off the resin blade from the hand, and replaced it with a chaos weapon from the fantasy range. It was pinned in to place with a paperclip and glue and is sturdy enough. Whilst I still need to attend to the rest of the base, I'm hoping this marine will be a pleasure to paint up. Moreover, it serves as a bridge between 30k and 40k, and a miniature that I hope I can use in either game system. For the former, the blade will simply be a power weapon. For the latter, it can be used in a chaos space marines codex I think. Whilst I am tempted to convert up a few more not-quite-chaos-marines-yet Alpha Legion in the future, this will be the only one for a little while. 

Full Lernaean Terminator Squad

I have finally completed assembling the full Lernaean Terminator Squad for the Alpha Legion. As readers will be aware, I bought a sixth body and extra parts to make best use of the left over bits from the kit (namely using the conversion beamer on one of the legionaries). Hence this squad is six and not five complete members. They are based on a mixture of parts that I had lying around that include the older style Imperial Ruins and Mechanicus terrain coupled with small rocks, cork and other assortments. Overall, I'm happy with the squad and now need to mix up a new batch of Alpha Legion air gun colour to use!