Various Ramblings
Entry posted by Kommisar_K in Salamanders
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Break them
In Fire
Purge them
Like the hammer
Smite them
Upon the anvil
Crush them
-Excerpt from the Song of Warflame
Greetings Fraters et Sorores!
A very long-winded blog post today.
The role of Forgefather is such a cool one within the Salamanders chapter. Essentially, since the last appearance of the primarch Vulkan during the heresy* the Salamanders have chosen one of their own to recover relics of his life and, hopefully, see him return one day. The newly raised Forgfather must be an exemplar of the chapter's ideals, and takes the name of the primarch before his own to honor Vulkan and show his own dedication to his new role. There are nine particularly special artefacts of Vulkan which the Forgefather is tasked with seeking out. It is believed that when all nine artefacts are recovered, the primarch will return to lead his sons once more. So far, five have been recovered, of which the current Forgefather, Vulkan He'stan, personally keeps three. These are the Spear of Vulkan, the Gauntlet of the Forge, and Kesare's Mantle. The other two orbit Nocturne (or more specifically its moon, Prometheus). They are the forge ship Chalice of Fire and the defense laser Eye of Vulkan.
I love the idea of the Forgefather so much. A quest spanning more than a lifetime, indeed more than many. Founded in rumor and likely hopeless, but still a chosen warrior pursues it relentlessly until death, then to be replaced by another, and another... To me, this is one of the most epic character roles within 40K, as it embodies the eternal/hopeless quest so fully. As such, I've picked up both the Vulkan He'stan minis over the years, and the lore of my entire force is themed around the search for one of the remaining relics.
I'll admit that as yet the lore is somewhat undefined, but GW's been hinting at a quest for the Unbound Flame for quite a while. That's the base, and I build from there.
Anyway, that's a lot of yammering. In actual hobby progress, I completed the new(er) Vulkan He'stan mini!
The cloak was quite an experience. I wanted it to stand out among the rest worn by my Salamanders forces. Numerous characters wear similarly scaly hides on their backs, and I've got into the habit of putting scale cloaks on my Terminators (as seen in my last post), so Vulkan has a lot of competition going! Instead of the red-on-black common to my army, I wanted to try green. A deep and somber green always struck me as a very nice color for a dragon, or drake, since that's what they're called on Nocturne (come on, they're clearly dragons). Plus, the Salamanders armor color must be inspired by something, and I thought it reasonable that it'd be inspired by their namesakes. So I have justification for green scale cloaks. The difficulty is finding a color that looks nice against that of their actual armor.
Ultimately the green alone ended up looking rather flat. On top of that dark leather brown color, it only faded more. It needed to be broken up a bit, I thought. I like the colors too much to ditch them entirely, but there needed to be some layers to this thing. So I put some Fire Dragon Bright on the central spiny scales. That matched the fire all around too closely. So I dug around in my paint supply and lo! Two Thin Coats Rust Orange to the rescue!
A bit of an unconventional final. I'm fairly pleased, but critiques most welcome!
The Spear of Vulkan! I think I've gotten better at glowy ember effects (Take a look at my old Vulkan further below).
A question for anyone who's managed to bear with me up to this point: What are your thoughts on the red haft padding/wrap? Does it work with the red blade, or what might be better?
I'll be honest. I love the Forgefather, I love Vulkan He'stan, but his old mini suuuuuucks. Beautiful detail and a characterful pose, but it's always come off as much to busy to me. The 'Eavy metal color scheme never helped either - why does Kesare's Mantle have to be white?! Maybe I'm being a bit harsh - there are some color schemes out there that help the model enormously. I think it's just... Salamanders are supposed to be ornate, decorated. I imagine the intent was to create a model that looked gilded and glorious, one that presented a "master-crafted" image. I always got a "hoarder" image. It's the difference between a library with the walls covered in bookshelves and a study with books and papers all over the floor and chairs.
Deep breath...
Yeah so apparently I can go on about that way too long as well 
Anyway, dislike of the crowded look aside, I am fond of my old Vulkan He'stan. He too deserves to be shown off. A classic indeed.
The "Olden He'stan" was a joy to paint and I did update him to the new base size when the change came. I experimented with a very bright cloak coloration that stood out nicely on the tabletop and hopefully stands out in a good way against the rest of the model. He's led my forces well for years & rest assured he's not fought his last battle. Too much nostalgia to let go 
*not his final appearance. War of the Beast and all that.
You're still here? Wow, dedicated.
Well, only one thing left-
Unit Focus: Torek's Infernus Marines, 2nd Company, 9th Squad
From the Writings of Meric Van Damm, Historitor Adept
Extract from file entitled "Campaign on Verdantia"
092M42
Sergeant Torek is a firebrand, attracting the company's most flame-attuned warriors to serve in his squad. He and his warriors relish seeing the true enemies of mankind burn. Despite this, Torek harbors a deep-rooted empathy for misguided Imperial citizens, and though he will turn his men's pyreblasters to any foe necessary, he will always carry the sorrow of lives lost needlessly. It is this combined with Torek's sensible intuition, that sees his quad frequently serve as the Forgefather's bodyguard on deployment.
From the notes of Hina Et'ska, Imperial Propagandist
Extract from file entitled "Verdantia deployment"
092M42
Merriam,
On Verdantia I was fortunate enough to accompany the Forgefather's own force on assignment. He emanates such purpose as he goes about his glorious task. It inspires his men even as it does the ordinary Imperial citizen. I captured a couple of color picts, attached below, that may be of use in circulating among the populace of the system. The warriors surrounding him seem suitably capable and the image of them standing alongside each other may be effective in showing Imperial Unity.
Note - send also to Ministorum Headquarters on Illustria. I understand they seek material on the Astartes in this sector for some religious motion-pict or other.
Attached [file ref 0615093M42]
The Forgefather leads his Astartes to war. I managed to capture this shot as they advanced out of the spaceport suburbs, just before an enemy armor column appeared over the next ridge and I was otherwise occupied, as I'm sure you will understand.
A rare opportunity even for one of our calling. I was able to slip up as the Astartes prepared to breach an insurgent strongpoint. Remember what I said about the Ministorum on Illustria! I'm sure they'll appreciate this bit of material.
Extracts from the Honor Roll of 9th Squad [2nd Company Honor Roll Subfile]
[990M41]9th Squad led by Brother Torek diverted the Tyranid vanguard and allowed reinforcements to arrive and defend Hive Prismatum.
[042M42]9th Squad performed admirably in the defense of Hive Infernus on Armageddon, repeatedly pushing back enemy charges amid ash storms and communications breakdown.
This post is a lot longer than I originally intended. Guess this is what happens when you're havin' fun. Cheers!
Emperor bless
Edited by Kommisar_K
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