Leaderboard

Hagga: The Executioner frowned at the Lamenter's departing back. A courageous, but maybe foolhardy idea. He didn't want to lose one of their small complement of Astartes to something so senseless as dying in a suicidal crash, but he could hardly order his brother to do other than he wished. Maybe it would be well? Ukalegon's jump pack should allow him to escape in time, and perhaps having him there would ensure Ressokov didn't have a last minute change of heart? As the two vessels separated and continued towards the surface, Hagga stood just behind the pilots of their converted gunship, looking out between them through the armoured frontal viewport. The light from Bounty's warming sun was thoroughly obscured, blotted out by the massive lander that hung what felt like only inches above them. They descended together, the view changing from black into blue through the fiery reds and oranges of atmospheric entry. Dropping further and further, they passed through thin clouds to reveal Harville laid out ahead of them, the wide river sparkling away on their right, the brutal black bastion just visible dead ahead. Ressokov held his nerve for a few moments, but Hagga knew instinctively that he wouldn't be able to wait much longer… Several seconds passed, then the hauler shuddered almost imperceptibly. Like a beast of burden that had thrown off its yoke and stretched its aching back. “That's it. Slow us now, let them go,” he ordered softly. Another long moment passed as the hauler gradually pulled away… With a roar, the afterburners fired, suddenly blasting the larger transport forward with a huge flare, aimed squarely at the Arbites HQ like a huge bolt round. Hagga grinned. “There they go! Honour to you, Andus Ressokov, and to my brother Ukalegon! ‘On wings of fire, in blood and fury and glory…’”

Ukalegon “We will make it work or die in the attempt…” Ukalegon looked up at the bulk hauler again. Something stirred in his breast, something akin to pride or maybe some thrill-lust that was becoming more pronounced the longer he served the Blackheart. Or maybe something else entirely. “With your leave, Hagga, I will to join Andus Ressokov on his descent, his final flight. I wish to ride that doomed ship down to the surface, to witness the glory first-hand. I will meet you planetside, brother.” The Lamenter stepped out of the transport’s airlock and jetted over to the bulk hauler. He latched on and let himself in through the airlock, squeezing his mass into the cramped interior, much to the surprise of its pilot. ++If you don't mind, I will be joining you, Pilot Ressokov. I have come to bear witness to your vengeance. For the Tyrant!++

Kelman briefly feels woozy from the potent toxins of the dark kin, but what little got through doesn't seem to have caused much noticeable harm...for now.

Tarh "Ready?" He clicked the com in the agreed manner as acknowledgment, what more was there to be said. Long-las strapped to his back, it was ill suited for close quarter work, instead he took axe and laspistol in hand. He had also brought the autogun, secured by harness across his chest. It would be too noise for the initial stages, but when things inevitably went sideways its higher rate of fire might be useful to pin down some guards. Mithra and the cannon were down by the shore, hidden not far from the jetty, but out of sight, provided the bush the tortoise had begun munching on did not run out of leaves too quickly.

So primaris haters often complain how the primaris are samey and lack variety. And this is true within an unit, and would like to have more of visual variety in this regard, and the new Space Wolves show how to do it. However, the primaris actually do have different sort of armour variety: they actually have three visually distinct types of power armour that actually have functional difference. And I think that is cool.

Okay, I am done with day two of the tournament. four games played, four games lost, but while everyone was struggling to get a top three position, I managed to achieve my primary objective: I am immensely happy.

Hello all, I'm migrating my Knights from my Adeptus Mechanicus page to fit in with the new forum structure. This means a new blog, for better or worse. I'm presenting my noble Knights from House Umbrawatch. I only have a rough idea of the characters of the pilots and the background for the house but those will be developed later. I've managed to cobble together some photographs for those interested. Unfortunately the new Codex is fighting me all the way for daring to build a Cerastus Knight as my Princeps. I was after Codex Imperial Knights, not Codex Imperial Squires! I guess I will probably need to build more Armigers later down the line. I have one more Questoris Knight to build but I'm in no rush to work on that one as yet.

Self-imposed deadlines are sometimes (or the 12 Months of Hobby) are sometimes a great source of motivation in my regular enviroment where I have none. But this time, yeah - it didn't work. I'm also sorry to hear about your poor experiences! Before my attempts, I watched/read a couple of tutorials and I know that these products exist. I think I'll look into them since I'm still quite positive about using decals to get some details. For the squad and chapter markings, I think I'll stick to freehanding them. I think decals should be easier to do properly on flat (flatter?) surfaces, like tilt shields or greaves. That's also the case with me. I don't buy more stuff on an army-scale. I still am open to the idea of buying a single cool model off the second-hand market. I have also been eyeing Kill Teams for some time - they look like fun, small manageable side projects and an excellent avenue for trying new stuff out. But I haven't made a purchase yet. The worst part is that for over a year, I've been quite intent on buying the 11th ed starter set. I've really been hoping to see a Primaris retro-style-refresh, similar to the one Space Wolves have gotten. But, alas, it seems it's not going to be the case. Thanks! I appreciate that. I can't imagine adding a proper family into the hobby mix, though! As always, I have all the more respect for you and your progress. I can imagine that the prospect of having your kid play with you is pretty great! It sure seems liek a great source of motivation to paint stuff, as well as an excellent way to avoid GW's rules churn. That's the phrase, yes - and it is a great summary of my Friday's progress. I think that this is my ultimate hobby goal. Realistically, I see it happening in 1-2 year's time. I want to finish my Firstborn Templars and the Purple Marines force (basically squad-based painting) and in the future, focus on painting single models, trying to up my game, and as you said, try new stuff and experiment. For better or for worse, I'm quite stubborn when it comes to larger projects. Sure, I can reassess the size of my armies but I don't see myself downsizing by more than, say, 30%. I don't like the hassle of selling stuff. So, after army reductions, my Black Templars still need ~20 more minis. And my Purple guys need to have they fair share painted, too. While I don't want to sell my Primaris minis (yet), out of fear of regretting it in the future, I've already conceptually reallocated some minis to a separate 'pile' that I intend to use for fun side projects, i.e. custom kill teams of 3-6 models. *** In other news, I'm back home and did some painting - basically fixing the pads and squad/chapter markings. They're not as good as I'd like but I think that they're good enough. I should be able to make headway tomorrow, but I think I won't be able to finish them by the month's end deadline. I still need to decide on the colour of the shield.

Kraggan Whilst he had been working on an algorithm package, he was alerted to a conversation recorded between Ukalegon and Hagga over the comm-leech in the jump pack. No doubt Ukalegon intends to bail out at the last minute on wings of flame. Ukalegon the discarding sabot. Later he watched Ukalegon transition to the bulk hauler. ++Ukalegon happy trails, don't die as we couldn't live with the disappointment++

Yep, everyone.

Chimera chassis has twin engines in it's sides. From Inferno#14 Imperial Armour Vol 1 (2nd ed)

I'd even point out he only has a "name" during Combat Patrol - i.e. the datasheet with his name is specifically for Combat Patrol and not the wider game at large. Even with that said, the Combat Patrol datasheet does not have a (sub) Faction keyword like a Chapter name and he can be from any chapter in the wider game or the Combat Patrol.

Ialandranth Veilseeker The humans were drawing fire but had also pinned them between their forces and the dark kin, among them one armed with a particularly devastating weapon seeking to flank them. Ialandranth pulled the distance between them short with blades at the ready before they could fire again.

Is that including those of us on the Starhawk, or are we still a little way behind where the players are on the surface?

Budget cuts. Guys, just go ahead with whatever you're doing. Advance your narratives as you see fit.

I've just bought a selection of bits to make a model of Varne

That’s interesting. It kind of looks like someone has tried to make a hippogriff before it existed. Nice conversion. i actually have a very old chimera. I’ve taken a few pictures for a size comparison. The hull is very roughly the same length and width, without the tracks. But then it has no engine!

Done.

I'll have to double check but I think the fate point healing was technically at the end of last 'session/part' and therefore you would have started this segment with two points. Unless I missed another fate point use somewhere. After Armour and Toughness bonus you take 2 points of damage, and then you need to take a toughness test at -10 (-5 for each point of damage taken from the attack) for toxic - Dark Eldar are nasty like that. Failure can inflict another d10 damage.

You should be fine painting them however you want, whether ultramarines, blood angels, some other official chapter, or your own colour scheme. If they are a special named character (so, an Epic Hero with a given chapter keyword, like Calgar of the ultramarines) you couldn't field them using the Blood Angels chapter rules, but that doesn't prevent you from painting them as a blood angel (though, some players might look at you funny). That said, the captain in the box isn't such a character and I would expect is viewed by most players as a "generic" captain in terminator armour, even if the model did have a name at some point. Hope that helps, and welcome to B+C. You might want to go to the Introduce Yourself forum and let folks say hi to you.

A weekend's painting later and I'm pretty stoked on these esoteric destroyers: Little more work to pick out filigree, and considering some red/yellow blending on orange to up the 'smoldering' factor, but these are getting close. Cheers, The Good Doctor.

The reaper attempts to roll out of the way of the incoming fire. Shaking off the hit from the darklight, he recites a mantra of his temple and makes a shot at the Dracon's vehicle. 49 BaS + 20 (FAB) + 10 (Close Range) + 10 (aim) - 20 = 69 = 53 1 DOS Damage = 2d10 +2 Hit 1 = 8 + 10 = 18 + 2 = 20 Hit 2 = 1 + 5 = 6 + 2 = 8 Forgot to include in above pen = 7

You may paint them any way you desire.

Varne "Sir, we've received the execution signal from the Razor," the young pilot's voice had a nervous edge to it as she craned her head round to shout at the passengers. Varne's helm turned to face her, having remained still as a minstorum gargoyle for the past several hours, making the three men in front of him start. The space marine simply nodded. The craft rolled and yawed sharply as it veered towards the western half of Harville. Varne scanned the brief glimpse of the cityscape he was afforded. Something has gone wrong. The flashing sirens of the Arbites were visible even at this height, before quickly being stolen from his view by another levelling shift in the craft's flight. The great dockyards now grew to fill his vision, and his autosenses adjusted to highlight the two largest northernmost locks which isolated the vast loading platforms from the giant river. He lifted his gauntleted hand from the grip of the autocannon and pointed towards them, the sappers craning in their harnesses to see. "Those are our targets," he growled. "as soon as this craft lands, you will dismount and calmly approach your position. There will be no violence until I give the signal. Once you are in position and our pilot confirms as much, I shall leave the shadowed confines of the craft to take up the final position. It is at this point that hell will break loose. You will remain hidden. Once I reach the eastern terminus of the second lock, I shall set the first charge. I shall then take position and provide covering fire whilst you simultaneously set your charges. There is a good chance that you will be ignored entirely in the panic. If not, I will kill your attackers." The formal Opal worker, Symon, turned back round, tears stinging the corner of his eyes. "Lord, how can we survive this carnage?" "If you are lucky, you won't," Varne watched the man's eyes widen, the surface tension breaking the droplets and cascading them through the patina of dust clinging to his cheeks. "However, I will hold the ramp of the Arvus for four minutes. Then we take off with or without you. I suggest you run as if a swarm of Tyranids snaps at your heels." The worker's wide-eyed expression passed between his fellow humans in confused horror, "wha- what's a Tyra-" "Silence," Varne's vox-emitter snarled, his scavenged, mis-matched armour looming over the man and the wet thunk of his tentacle slamming onto the deck inches from the quivering mortal. "Complete your task - or, ruin betide you, fail the Lord of Plagues." A short quiet descended over the passengers, nervous glances now written on all three of them as some form of peristalsis groaned and pulsed within Varne's leg less than a foot away. "Sir..." came the pilot's voice. She cleared her throat then continued, "E.T.A. thirty seconds." Varne's helm raised, his eye lenses again looking beyond the sappers and through the armaglass pane at the mess of industry that was Harville's dockyards. Good.

Go about it however you want, dude.

@Antarius There is something very satisfying about it isn't there. Yeah Black Legion is the way to go. Especially as I'm very much in a 'LET THE GALAXY BURN' mood after seeing my family's gravestone vandalized.

I finished Scrapcode's banner. I hope to finish my pledge this week.

Well, tell you what, let's split the difference. We'll reduce the mass of the hauler to enough weight to total the southern half of the Arbites precinct, and collapse the rest. Collateral damage will be enough to reduce half the mercantile district to rubble. That will leave the north retaining wall standing, but most if not all the lawmen and arsenal within will be destroyed, including the Provost Marshal. When Varne detonates his water-slide, it will kill half of the city, up to and including anyone in the temple, so Sisters gone, Administratum gone. We will assume the shockwaves have undermined the town, and the flooding has already damaged structure enough to permit further collapses. The landing area will be cratered, but dry, and you boys can decant there. A lot of the streets will be blocked with rubble or water from burst pipes. You should then be free to deal with whatever PDF are left after the blast, looting by Crux'as' forces, and airborne debris don't finish. This is the best I can do with the circumstances and choices made.

If Obi dies at any point of this campaign, I will be creating Drei-Hans von Boomendorf (the third son) as my backup character.

Mazer, are we confussing OOC and IC again? *ducks*

I don't think there's anything the Space Marine army needs from an armybuilding/gameplay perspective. It's by far the army with the most options and they're going to keep on cramming stuff in there forever, as it's basically their bread and butter. That's not necessarily a criticism, either - it's just how it is. They clearly approach the Space Marine army/armies in a fundamentally different way than the rest of the factions and I don't think that's ever going to change. Some people complain about it, but honestly, it doesn't really bother me. I try to think of it as more opportunities, even if there are lots of units I personally have no interest in.

As someone who's played since 2nd I felt the same way, and I like Gravis. If gravis was supposed to be a terminator replacement, they just would have given all units with it deep strike, a 2+ save, a 4++, and scaled their number of attacks to equal a squad of termies. That's pretty low hanging fruit and instead of doing that, aggressors had advance and fire & if they didn't move could shot twice (which has changed quite a bit lol). If I'm being honest though, a big part of why I couldn't wrap my head around the ideal of them being a replacement for termies was that I've every time I've seen termies get updated the same thing has happened. People just replace their old ones, even if the bitter guys with one foot out of the hobby drop a bunch of money on them... every single time. I don't think the marine range needs anything added to it, but I also believe GW would be crazy not to keep adding more. At the end of the day, if they refresh the rhino I would be willing to bet that both it and the impulsor will out sell other fraction's primary transport choice. The marine player base is huge and as example I love storm speeders, and the new land speeder really won't appeal to me that much but it's still a good decision for GW because they will sell a ton of both kits. IMO GW really likes advertising "The Biggest Space Marine codex yet" every edition, bloat is player problem. Desolators could really use a redesign, and I think if they were to add a lascannon unit, an updated dual kit would make a lot of sense. I wouldn't be surprised if the rules were pushed at release because they knew they would be controversial.

... do we need gravis at all?

I don't think we are getting Primaris Devastators because the different weapons are hard to balance against each other. Instead we have different specialised squads like Hellblasters. Eradicators, Desolators and the forthcoming Gravis heavy bolter squad. The only weapon we are really missing is Lascannons for long-ranged anti-tank role. I don't expect to see a Primaris equivalent of this.

It's been a busy couple of months and I haven't had too much time to paint but I've been slowly chipping away at these ICC's in the background. I should have a bit more time in May to dedicate to my beloved dark angels so there should be more frequent updates soon (famous last words)!

Really phenomenal detailing.

Really nice!

I wanted to add just one more squad before batch painting and it got me thinking about Dark Furies. I have some fond memories of this unit - some 10 yrs ago, I played RG in my first game of Heresy (with everything proxied) and these guys clutched up. The sarge even beat an Emperor's Children champion in a challenge! Obviously I don't have the official models so I have to make do. What I need: - Jump packs of some peculiar pattern. I happen to have some old 40k jump packs. A bit anachronistic but they can pretend to be some cutting-age tech in 30k. - Wings. Well, it's problematic. I don't really get why they have them. But I do have some tiny backpack wings from Reivers for, uhm, manoeuvrability? symbolism? idk - Raven Talons. Luckily, I have enough Claws from Vanguard Vets for the entire squad, I suppose they look rather distinct in 30k. Just had to file some Crux Terminator-like ornaments. Note I have no idea how official Furies use grenades with their ginormous claws. Mine at least still have their fingers free. Besides, I thought regular Mk6 squad will do as they are not that blinged out. I got some RG pads, Sarge gets a laureled helmet and voila - minimalist Dark Furies: Think I'm done with assembly, painting shall commence soon

Yes, your conversion inspired my head swaps and giving that grizzled veteran look!

I've been thinking about Chemos lately, and decided to do a deep dive into everything I could find about it. As always: thoughts, additions, and corrections are most welcome. // To get the basics out of the way, on a galactic map Chemos was a coreward world of the Ultima Segmentum; southwest of The Maelstrom, with Badab and Chogoris to its east and Ryza and Catachan to its northwest. I tried my best to locate the first use of Chemos for the name of the Emperor's Children's homeworld, but was unable to find anything from before 2001's Index Astartes article. I imagine there to be a list somewhere in Rogue Trader or 2nd edition, giving the names of all the Primarchs and their homeworlds... but if it exists then I haven't managed to track it down. (Any help here would be appreciated.) I'm also not sure how GW chooses to pronounce it officially, as I don't listen to audiobooks. (Again - any help here would be appreciated). My natural inclination is towards "KAY-mose", but I can imagine others saying "KEM-us" or "KEE-mose", etc. When it comes to the inspiration for the name, I have in the past seen people wonder if it might be a reference to Chemicals or Chemotherapy. Fabius Bile was (in his 1996 lore) referred to as 'The Chem-Master' (amongst his other nicknames), and there is the concept of the Emperor's Children suffering from the gene-cancer known as The Blight. (Though it was only introduced in Nick Kyme's 2015 story Chirurgeon, as far as I'm aware. Previously, in 2012's The Horus Heresy: Book One - Betrayal, the accident which had destroyed the Emperor's Children's gene-seed was twofold. First, a large stock of it was lost when the ship transporting it to Luna was destroyed/went missing. We eventually find out that it was nicked by Trazyn the Infinite, per 2017's Fabius Bile: Clonelord. Secondly, the gene-seed vaults on Terra were infected with "a fast acting viral blight" which damaged the reserves of many of the Legions; but the Emperor's Children were hit the hardest and had their reserves completely wiped out. So, as pre-2015 "The Blight" didn't exist, Chemos cannot have been named after it.) Historically (in the real world), Chemos (as 'Chemosh', and pronounced along the lines of "KAY-maash") was the god of the Moabites and interestingly may have origins as an epithet for Nergal (who in turn likely inspired the name Nurgle). King Solomon permitted the worship of Chemosh (as well as Astarte and Milcom) amongst foreigners in Israel; but these practises were ended by King Josiah during his purges. In the Book of Kings, the Moabite King Mesha is recorded as sacrificing his son to Chemosh on the walls of Divon to defeat the Israelites. (Mesha's version of events doesn't include him sacrificing anyone; he just claims to have been victorious thanks to the power of Chemosh. The modern city is Dhiban, in Jordan.) Chemos (no 'h' at the end) is then present in John Milton's popular and influential fanfic, Paradise Lost (1667), as one of the daemons hanging out with the Satan: Next Chemos, the obscene dread of Moab's sons, From Aroar to Nebo and the wild Of southmost Abarim; in Hesebon And Horonaim, Seon's realm, beyond The flowery dale of Sibma clad with vines, And Eleälè to the Asphaltic pool. Peor his other name, when he enticed Israel, in Sittim on their march from Nile, To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe. Yet thence his lustful orgies he enlarged Even to that hill of scandal, by the grove Of Moloch homicide, lust hard by hate; Till good Josiah drove them thence to Hell. So we can probably assume that whoever named the Emperor's Children's homeworld as Chemos was doing so in reference to Milton's daemon of obscenity and lust. // The 2001 Index Astartes article describes Chemos thusly: Chemos was a mining colony, which depended on interstellar trade for food before the Age of Strife. A bleak and inhospitable world lit by two distant suns, and surrounded by a nebular dust cloud, Chemos knew no day or night; but only a permanent grey twilight in which no stars were ever seen in the sky. Once cut-off, humanity starved to death; except for in the few Factory-Fortresses where citizens worked every waking hour to man the vapour mines, synthesisers, and recyclers. They were able to just barely produce enough food to hang on, and art and leisure were sacrificed on the altar of survival. Only efficiency was valued. When a meteor was seen impacting near the Factory-Fortress of Callax, its Executives sent out a few scouts (all that could be spared) to investigate for evidence of continued human existence beyond Chemos. They found a child. Orphans on Chemos were put to death, as there were no resources to care for them. The veteran Captain who found the child had to make a special appeal to the Executives to be allowed to adopt him, and was only permitted this due to his value to Callax. He named the boy Fulgrim, after the long-discarded Chemosian god of creation. In Callax the young Fulgrim laboured in the fulfillment of his responsibilities to the Executive, working for days without end. Not only was he physically tireless, but he came to know the machines and began contemplating their improvement. He quickly became an Engineer, and by the age of 15 was promoted to one of the Executives of Callax. Fulgrim managed to convince his fellow Executives to stop merely trying to survive, and instead fight to improve. Under him, teams of Engineers travelled to long-dead outposts, reopened ancient mines, and brought to Callax the materials necessary for the construction of new, more sophisticated machines. Recycling efficiency improved to the point where Callax began producing more than it consumed for the first time in millennia. Fulgrim took pride in reintroducing the art and culture which had been cast aside in the name of survival. As Callax grew the other Factory-Fortresses of Chemos allied themselves to it, and by the age of 50 he ruled all of Chemos. Chemos had no formal army, only the 'Caretakers'; the police-soldiery responsible for maintaining order in the Factory-Fortresses. When Fulgrim hosted the Emperor he did so in his "spartan quarters", and he was excited at the sight of the Third Legion's civilised artistry (the sort of thing he had "longed to return to Chemos"). Once it had entered the Imperium, Chemos expanded its industrial base and became a source of processed minerals. The Emperor's Children's Fortress-Monastery was constructed in the centre of Callax, and drew recruits from the planet's strongest, bravest, and brightest. (The Chemosian recruits proved themselves resourceful, "but even so only a handful of them passed the rigorous tests...") Once he left, Fulgrim never returned to Chemos. After the lifting of the Siege, Chemos was assaulted by Imperial forces. Following this, the system was quarantined and no information on Chemos has been recorded (even including, oddly, any record of Exterminatus). Officially, as of 2023, the Primarchs were scattered around 792.M30, while the discovery of Chemos/Fulgrim is 38 years later in 830.M30. This means that Fulgrim being 50 when he united the planet has either been retconned, or is the result of some timey-wimey Warp shenanigans sending him back to an earlier date than he left Earth. Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness (1988) mentions that it took 60 years for the Emperor's Children to see action (after the accident which destroyed their gene-seed), which is repeated in the 1996 Codex, and probably what 2001's "50 years old" figure is playing off of. I absolutely love this lore, and this Index Astartes article is what first brought me into the fold. (Adding to my Iron Warriors.) I really like the idea that the grand, superior, gaudy Emperor's Children come from a backwater mining colony. I like the idea of the Legion at this early stage having Chemosian "nouveau riche" clashing with the Terran "old money". I also like the idea that Fulgrim never went back, and like to think it's not because he was busy but... why would he want to go back? It's also a really interesting backstory for Fulgrim. He wasn't part of some warrior tribe, or knightly order, or noble resistance. He didn't kill his way to the top. He was child labourer, who went into a trade, started dreaming up technical creations, succeeded upwards until he was running the place, and then had his world ally themselves to him. Chemos had no armies - they didn't have any resources to throw against each others' walls. And then: boom, the Emperor appears, hands Fulgrim a Legion, and he retools himself into the perfect warrior. I'll also note that at this point in the development of the Emperor's Children, they had no associations with duelling. (In the Index Astartes articles, that was an aspect of the Imperial Fists; duelling culture had been common amongst their Terran marines and Dorn had promoted it to the Inwit recruits in an attempt to foster unity. Also, a year later, Lucius the Eternal was introduced and only had a WS of 5 - the same as Typhus and Ahriman, and less than Abaddon's 6 or Khârn's 7.) To me, it makes a degree of sense that Fulgrim would not have grown up with any sort of instruction in swordsmanship (his adoptive father was an Engineer), nor would I expect the Executives of such a place to have anything of the sort. I'll also note that while Fulgrim had begun reintroducing art and leisure, I imagine that to be "work only 12 hours a day; seven days a week; minus a holiday to mark Fulgrim's arrival" and not that he transformed Chemos into any sort of idyllic paradise. He polished that turd, but it was still a turd. To back this idea, I'll note that his quarters were "spartan" and he was overwhelmed by the artistry displayed by the Third Legionaries presented to him. With the Heresy kicking off in 005.M31, Chemos would have spent 175 years under Imperial rule (importing various goods, and thus no longer being trapped in survival mode). So there's plenty of time for it to have developed a duelling culture, etc. post-compliance. Especially if Fulgrim had also adopted such. // In 2007's Fulgrim (Graham McNeill), Chemos' description is in tune with the IA article: "...a world that knew neither day nor night, thanks to a nebular dust cloud that isolated the planet from its distant suns. A perpetual grey twilight through which the stars never shone was all [Solomon Demeter] had known..." On the other hand, Lord Commander Vespasian notes that Lord Commander Illios had been "...a warrior who had fought with Fulgrim against rival tribes of Chemos..." and had helped transform the world from one of misery into one of culture and learning. To me... I like the idea from 2001 of Fulgrim taking over Chemos non-militarily, so a reference to him fighting rival tribes sits ill with me. I also like the idea of Chemos still being a dump (just a better dump) until it comes into compliance with the Imperium. Multiple characters in Fulgrim use the exclamation "by Chemos". It notes that the Legion grew with a steady stream of recruits from both Chemos and Terra (with both Julius Kaesoron and Solomon Demeter being from the former). Eidolon apparently has a landscape painting of Chemos hanging above his bed, which... sadly seems to not be a joke about the walls in his room being painted grey. (I guess the implication must be that Chemos has been terraformed to a significant degree by the time of the Horus Heresy.) // In 2012's Angel Exterminatus (Graham McNeill) there are four 'Theogonies' introducing the three 'Books' of the novel. In the first we witness Perturabo's arrival on Olympus, second Ferrus Manus' initial taste of Medusa, and then... Three Callax scouts are sheltering from the razor particulate of a "wire storm" in a "ruined manufactory" on Chemos. Their names are Ptolea, Sullax, and Coryn, and despite their shelter setting off their rad-counters, it's better than being torn apart by the storm. They were in one of the generating stations that had long ago laid waste to the planet, releasing toxins that had burned the atmosphere and boiled away the seas. Callax is described as a bleak fortress, with high iron walls; beneath a sky referred to as "the Umbral" and surrounded by a "chem wilderness" full of "chem-dust". Everything is reused, nothing is new. Water is extracted by vapour mills, and food is reconstituted bodily waste. Coryn has a chapbook which has been passed down for generations, and is the only source of colour he has ever known - both in its illustrations, as well as the tales it tells of gods and feasts, blue skies and stars. (His father told him that stars still exist, but no one really believes that - his father said a lot of things. His father's limbs had become too weak to work the forges, and his mind was slipping; he'd soon no longer be of any use to logistics.) Coryn mentions to Ptolea (his "dwelling-sister") that he'd always hoped to pass the chapbook on to a child, if he could ever get permission for one. Sullax says that the radiation will see to that never happening, and when told that he didn't have to come counters that Coryn is his "work-brother" and if he dies then Sullax would have to cover his quota. Coryn thinks about how he had to persuade the Executive to dispatch them to investigate the violet comet, and feels guilty about the radiation making them infertile - or possibly worse, unproductive. The impact site is oddly still and calm, and smelled sweet and fragrant (not like the expected toxins). As they approach, they see cohering light; fleeting images of eyes, golden wings, genetic helixes, and a thousand wheels turning like in the heart of a great machine. Ptolea and Sullax are a bit weary, but Coryn confidently approaches as the light coils into itself to be reborn from its own self-immolation. He feels a presence brush his mind, and everything he was, it knew. Everything he knew, it knew. At the heart of the light was a baby boy. Sullax pulls a knife to kill the child, as that's what's done to orphans. Ptolea and Coryn object, and Sullax points out that they don't need the burden. Ptolea shoots Sullax, and Coryn feels nothing - Sullax had threatened the perfect child, and suffered the appropriate fate. As Coryn cradles the boy, water begins to bubble and flow from the crack in the earth that had been beneath him. He hands the child to Ptolea, and shows her a page from his book: the ancient creation myth of a purple-hued god rising from primordial waters to turn a barren world into a fertile paradise. "It's the water-bringer... Fulgrim." (The forth Theogony is Lucius waking up in Fabius' burning lab, as the Apothecary fights off two of his rampaging monsters. Lucius rescues from the flames the chimera'd gene-seed that would go on to make Honsou, and then scampers when Fabius starts asking him about how he's alive.) This presents Chemos as not "naturally" being barely habitable, but (to some degree) it being the result of various power plants having disastrous meltdowns. We also see a bunch of references to chemical spillage, runoff, industrial waste, etc. A polluted world, rather than it just inherently sucking. (Perhaps McNeill wished to associate Chem-os with chem-icals.) I do like how absolutely bleak the Chemosians are (worried about not being able to work - and thus implicitly needing to be executed). The bits with baby Fulgrim, while not strictly about Chemos, are wild enough that I felt the need to include them. For some reason Fulgrim is a baby (while Perturabo and Ferrus Manus were young boys upon their arrivals). He's clearly a psyker, and there's some real crazy imagery going on. (Plus, of course, references to being a Phoenix.) He's got a supernatural grip on some people, who will casually murder friends to protect him. Very sinister origins. // 2012's The Horus Heresy: Book One - Betrayal describes drab Chemos as a grey-skinned grey-skied mining world, where hope was thin, drudgery life, and slow decay the fate of humanity. Privation was common, but Fulgrim became a beacon of hope to its people; and his coming saw a resurgence of craft, art, and intellectualism which had set the planet on the path to... not greatness, but betterment. It's speculated that in the scant 200 Emperor's Children presented to him Fulgrim saw an echo of Chemos' struggle. The Third Legion began recruiting from the planet, even though Imperial advisors suggested against this - there was little to mark the Chemosians as suitable candidates for the Legion, with the planet lacking any strong martial culture. Fulrgim disagreed; the Chemosians had the will to rise above their beginnings and become something greater, in his opinion. (The Terran nobility were noted to renew their tribute of sons at this point, and it was common for Fulgrim to accept the sons of various planets' aristocracies post-compliance.) Chemos is noted as having a Temperate-Subarctic climate, to be a Moderate Terran Analogue [77%], to be suffering ecosphere imbalance due to generational mining exhaustion, and to be (in early M31) undergoing environmental repair. The native population is listed at 500M people. It is the capital of the Aquitaine Sector of the Ultima Segmentum. // Graham McNeill's 2012 Priests of Mars contains a little reference to Chemos (and The Princess Bride). A Black Templar is duelling (and employs Bonetti's defense), with his opponent noting his grip was that of Thibault while his footwork "was that of the great swordsman of Chemos, Agrippa". Personally, while cute... this doesn't make much sense to me. My assumption would be that post-Heresy the Inquisition would have done its utmost to destroy all Chemosian teachings. Something might have snuck through, but of any Chapter the Black Templars definitely feel like they shouldn't be using Chemosian duelling techniques. If they had found a book instructing such, it would have been thrown to the flame. If they had found a school teaching such, the flame would have been thrown at it. // Amongst Lucius' sobriquets is 'Scion of Chemos'. 2013's Warlords of the Dark Millennium: Lucius the Eternal includes some further mentions of Chemos: It describes the planet of his youth as "dismal", with Lucius shining out "like a jewel in the earth." He had an immense reservoir of talent and a boyish handsomeness "that even the harsh air of his home planet could not mar." His "sponsored studies" turned to the art of war; though not grand strategy and tactical analysis, but duelling and the business of killing (which he was fascinated by). It is said that he surpassed the "classical styles taught by the weapons masters of Chemos" at a young age, and his rapier killed many beggars and brigands who he claimed had attacked him in the street. He scarred hundreds of his fellow pupils, and often "accidentally" cut off a finger or claimed an eye, while never being touched himself. He grew famous for fighting with a lackadaisical contempt when facing his peers (with his character repeatedly called into question), while he fought like a lad possessed when pitted against his tutors. In the tournament of the Golden Blades, held yearly by the "Elders of Chemos", the young Lucius was matched against a Champion twice his age. He was winning gracefully until his opponent kneed him in the gut, after which he sadistically took apart his foe - limb by limb. The Champion's supporters rushed the arena, and Lucius killed scores of them. There were too many, though, and Lucius would have met a gory end if he hadn't been scooped up by a spectating Sergeant of the Emperor's Children. He was never seen on Chemos again, having been inducted into the Legion. While it's not known when Lucius was initiated, it seems that Chemos was still geologically quite a mess. There were also apparently "beggars and brigands" that could believably attack young bravados in the street, so any claims that Chemos was a wonderful society post-compliance should be doubted. It had "classical styles" of duelling, which implies (to me) that duelling should have been a long-standing tradition, which... doesn't gel with my preferences. I suppose if Lucius was a relatively "young" ~75 (or less) at the time of the Heresy, then Chemos would have had around a century to establish a duelling tradition before he was inducted; I don't know if that's enough time for it's duelling culture to have "classic" styles, though I suppose it could be. There are "classic" styles of video games in the real world, after all, that are far younger. // The 'Kallax' shelf is released by Ikea in 2014. Coincidence? I think not. // In 2016's The Path of Heaven (Chris Wraight), Eidolon is described as "[gazing] down from the throne with the dull-eyed, listless mien of the Chemosian aristocracy... In what remained of the III Legion's military hierarchy, that still counted for much, although there were many, Lucius perhaps foremost, who had treated it with a contempt..." (In Eidolon: The Auric Hammer he is said to be from Terra instead.) Taking place mid-Heresy, Eidolon has a new breastplate chased with silver "bestiary from Old Terra and Chemos". The pre-Heresy colour scheme is described as the "old armour of Chemos"; "the colours of the Legion as they had been forged on Chemos." In 2012's The Horus Heresy: Book One - Betrayal however, it says that the Emperor's Children had already been wearing the "lacquer of imperial purple" pre-Chemosian compliance (as a result of their role accompanying diplomatic missions and emissaries, bearing the palatine eagle standard). // Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix (Josh Reynolds, 2017) has a number of points where Fulgrim reflects on the world of his upbringing: When Fulgrim travelled to Terra he visited the noble families of Europa and got them to renew the contribution of sons to the Third, in an effort to boost the number of initiates; he also had claimed the firstborn sons of a thousand conquered worlds. The story takes place around 837-840.M30 (after Guilliman is discovered, before Magnus), and involves a small team of seven Emperor's Children taking a world (as a show of superiority). Narvo Quinn, a Terran, thinks of the new Chemosian marines: "...there was little to mark the natives of Chemos out as suitable warriors. They were drones, drudges and dullards. That the Phoenician doted on them so was a constant irritation to him." He notes that it seems that the upper ranks of the Legion are quickly being filled by Chemosians. Lord Commander Abdemon, when reminiscing about his first glimpse of Fulgrim, describes him atop his "fortress of glass and steel", wearing gleaming "executive robes". Chemos he calls a "drab, silent world" except for where Fulgrim strode - there, colour and sound flourished. He watches Cyrius (not yet a Lord Commander) duelling, and notes that many Chemosians are duellists. "They possessed a strong thread of personal combat in their cultural weave. It revealed itself not simply in blade-work, but in all forms of activity, even poetry and music." When talking with Fabius, Fulgrim notes that he had known workaholics on Chemos. Left to themselves, they could work themselves to death. Fulgrim also learned on Chemos the importance of having the right man for the job, and believes Fabius is the one who can cure The Blight. Fulgrim has gone out of his way to quash any talk of the "necessary evils" previously committed by Fabius (so that he doesn't face distraction/challenge). There are spiders, of a sort, on Chemos; which ever spin their webs - never slowing or stopping. They refine chemical sludge into perfect crystalline latticework. Chemosian shaft-cats are also named. (Cyrius' sword's hilt is carved from one's jaw.) The "remaining oceans" on Chemos are almost devoid of life, despite Fulgrim's efforts. The waters are grey and cold. Fulgrim reminisces about the Sulpha people of Chemos. They had been nomadic tribes that believed the only fit occupations for men were duelling and dancing. Fulgrim had spent time with them, and learned their ways. A wild folk, they had been the last thing on Chemos not under his control, and so he had destroyed them. He wonders how he would have turned out, had he been found my them instead of two downtrodden factory workers (Corrin and Tullea). "Life in the fortress-factory of Callax had broken them early..." Fulgrim keeps busts of his parents in his room: unadorned marble, expressions of weary acceptance. It is said that Fulgrim took control of Callax "within a few months of being put to work there." Chemos was a dying world, it's mines tapped and ores plundered. The Sulpha people had been the largest of the primitive groups, but not the only one. He remembers fierce fighting against the cannibal tribes in factories gone cold, the doomed expedition to Deep Processor One, and "the monstrous thing he'd faced on the fourble board" (a reference to the episode The Thing on the Fourble Board of the late 40s radio fantasy/horror show Quiet, Please!). There is also mention of folk heroes like Dig-Operator Jak and Nimble Tolliver. For 50 years he waged war against the planet's decline, and on the day he won the Emperor appeared. Fulgrim recognises the bureaucracy that's forming in the Imperium, and thinks that his brothers don't see it (though maybe Horus has an inkling). Fulgrim had grown up in such, and been forced to navigate spheres of influence as he broke down and rebuilt the Executive system. It is said that on Chemos, treachery was just another weapon in the Executive's arsenal; deals were made and broken easily, and honour was a fluid concept. "An oath to a fool was no oath at all. The only true consequences were those you couldn't adapt to." When the Emperor's Children are about to deploy, there are Chemosian musicians playing them off. "It was a dolorous composition... Something from Chemos, she supposed, given the origins of the musicians. A drab little world, with equally sombre music." Fulgrim's Stormbird Firebird is equipped with a bafflefield that Fulgrim designed as a boy to protect the ears of deep-ore hauler crews. It is mentioned that there used to be wretched slums on Chemos, but not any more. Fulgrim says that "The Phoenician" was a nickname bestowed upon him by an unknown member of the Emperor's court, as a reference to his purple panoply. This is in conflict with Fulgrim, which states that the title is a reference to the Phoenix, and it is then a bit perplexing that the book names the capital of Chemos as Phoenicia. And this does not appear to be a recent change - "[Phoenicia] had withstood many of the ravages that afflicted the rest of the world, and under Fulgrim's guidance, it had ascended to heights undreamt of by its citizens." Fulgrim describes it as being quite beautiful. The Emperor's Children fight alongside the Archite Palatines - a Solar Auxilia regiment drawn from the noble houses of Europa, Terra. A character wonders about "Fulgrim's programme of inducting common-born Chemosians into the Legion." They conclude that "Even the most illustrious bloodline needed an infusion from hardy peasant stock every century or so, after all." Fulgrim remembers labour disputes during his upbringing - worker protests, and the harsh responses of the Executives (including searing gas and the use of shock-batons by the Caretakers). Fulgrim was with his parents, amongst the protestors. As he grew older his views shifted, and he replaced concepts like right and wrong with efficiency and necessity; a broken cog had to be replaced. Fulgrim still valued broken cogs, though, and believed that they could become something new and beautiful. He notes that secret societies were rife on Chemos during his youth - with masks, secret handshakes, and childish cyphers. They were a rebellious response to the "Brutal working conditions, malnourishment, inadequate shelter. Crimes of negligence, rather than intent... The workers were deprived of their humanity in order to increase compliance." One of the Emperor's Children is recording the sounds of gunfire and musing about setting them to music later. He notes that he's always found gunfire soothing - "He'd heard similar sounds often enough on Chemos as a child... The whine of low velocity slugs hitting sheet metal, and the screaming that followed. Always the screaming." Another marine, when in a cacophonous ore-processing facility, thinks that it reminds him of Chemos. Or what he imagines Chemos to be like, since he's never actually travelled there and has no desire to ever do so. Cyrius thinks about how he was the son of an Executive, and that aristocracy was the same everywhere (no matter what it called itself locally). When duelling some opponents he bows low to them, which is considered an insult on Chemos (ascribing more respect to someone than they deserve). A bit of an interesting mix. We get people both expressing that Chemosians are boring dirt-farmers, but also... that duelling is very much a Chemosian thing? (And this is only around a decade after compliance - even if the book uses the "50 year old Fulgrim" figure which no longer matches GW's dates - so there's no time for a duelling culture to have matured post-compliance.) We also have the presentation of Chemosian society in the factory-fortresses as a little more "normal". Cyrius thinking of the Executives as being run-of-the-mill aristocracy, and not something interesting and unique. The workers striking for better conditions, instead of needing to work every waking hour at the recyclers to stave off death. There being slums, and the sounds of gunfire, etc. The introduction of the Sulpha clans are a little wonky for me, as if nomadic peoples could survive outside the factory-fortresses it makes Chemos sound a little less awful. What were these nomadic swordsmen/dancers eating and drinking? (Technically, their existence doesn't break the idea of Chemos lacking a "strong martial culture", as by the time the Imperium showed up Fulgrim had killed them all.) Of course, I'm not a fan of their introduction, as that means that Fulgrim was a "warrior" pre-compliance. Also not a fan of the "cannibal clans", for both the reason that it's more people able to exist on Chemos and... like, Chemosians should all be cannibals? The factory-fortresses reprocess everything; surely they're all eating their dead as well. (Not sure why there is the name change of "Coryn and Ptolea" to "Corrin and Tullea".) // 2017's Fabius Bile: Clonelord (Josh Reynolds) mentions "obscene Chemosian gutter-poetry". It describes the accent of Chemos as "lilting", and mentions that on Chemos that Fulgrim himself had conducted biological experiments (such as procedures to extend lifespans and cure various ailments like "glowlung"). Fabius had knelt to Fulgrim on Chemos, as one of the 200 Legionaries presented at their reunification. The book says that Fulgrim means "water-bringer" or "saviour" in the language of "old Chemos". In 2020's Fabius Bile: Manflayer (Josh Reynolds), Fulgrim's daemon world is possibly named Callax (as of 140.M31), though that might just be the name of the place a character is in. When Bile arrives, he notes it to be a drab, grey "mote of factorum grit" - a recreation of Chemos. A barren landscape of tumbled stones and dust dunes amidst rusting heaps of abandoned machinery, beneath a sky leached of colour, with the lifeless skeletons of refineries and factories dotting the horizon. It is said that Chemos had been a warring planet before Fulgrim took it over, and on his daemon world Fulgrim has recreated his rise to power (repeatedly attempting to "perfect" his choices). There appear to be mountains in the distance, but they're actually mounds of corpses - and a character comments that Fulgrim was "Always so wasteful... You’d think growing up on a world like Chemos would have taught him better." As the characters progress they meet others: monks carving erotic imagery on each other, pilgrims bathing in acidic pools of runoff, Noise Marines engaged in sonic duels that reverberate for miles, and inhuman merchants hawking things including weapons forged in the hour of Chemos' destruction, "gilded copies of the Chemosian Cantos", and the skull of the last High Executive. Fulgrim is residing in the Garden of Sixfold Pleasure, which does not (in M37) appear very garden-ish but consists instead of abandoned hab-blocks and manufactoria surrounded by high walls of flesh. He mentions that he "took" Chemos. (And not, as in 2001, that the factory-fortresses allied to him because he was making things better.) At one point Narvo Quinn (a Terran) reflects on his reason for seeking out Fulgrim: trying to repair the Legion, in a way that Eidolon, Julius Kaesoron, Lucius (or even Fabius) weren't interested in. "No Chemosian-born gutter-rat, certainly" he thinks. // David Guymer's novella Dreadwing (2018) is about the Dark Angels campaign of destruction against the homeworlds of the Traitor Legions on their way to Terra (in an effort to get said Traitor Legions to peel off support from their attack on the Sol System, and force them to defend their seats of power). They are surprised by the lack of care that the Emperor's Children (et al) seem to have for Chemos (et al); noting that if Caliban was threatened they'd have "set phosphex to the galaxy, to the Throneworld itself, before allowing such harm to come to [it]." Later in the story an Emperor's Children voidship Captain/daemon tells a Dark Angels strike group: "Prince Fulgrim forwards his regards, and tenders his regrets. He assures you that he entertains no hard feelings over the destruction of Chemos. He has quite outgrown it, you see, and would have inflicted the same upon your world if he could but care enough to recall its name." // In White Dwarf 478 (2022) Chemos is said to have been completely obliterated by the Dark Angels via seismic macro-charges, followed by orbital bombardment, which caused the detonation of the planet's core (with slabs Chemos sent tumbling out into space). The First Legion declared the system Perdita, and set up warning beacons threatening reprisal against any who dared enter. Notably, it describes Chemos as having had "glittering metropolises" at the time of its destruction. // Apocryphally, the Fandom Wiki says "Terraforming technology was reinvented, allowing forests, oceans, plains and rainforests to spread from the reclaimed outposts and bring life to the planet... As beautiful forests were planted on ground once mined for metals and wondrous cities of glass, gold, crystal and steel rose to new heights of glory... From the blue sky came... No longer would a traveler from another world see crumbling factory-fortresses, now they would see a paradise planet of beautiful forests, shining, wealthy cities, marble palaces and monuments of marble and diamond. "Beautiful Clemos", as it was known, provided the majority of the early Imperium's scholars, actors, merchants and great beauties. The grand fortress-monastery of the Emperor's Children was established on the magnificent forested hills near Callax (now having grown into a shining city of art, pleasure and commerce that bore no resemblance to the factory-fortress of old)...", but that website (very frustratingly) refuses to properly source anything. Googling around, some of it might have been lifted from a 2019 entry on this blog, which also doesn't present a source? If anyone knows where this comes from, I'd be much obliged.

I think I'll go with gold! Thanks. Yellow for the regular squad members (as a role designation) and green for the sergeant, yeah. I sure hope that the yellow will look right. I quite liked how it looked as a tertiary colour on the shield Captain from the previous page - this has given me a confidence boost to try it out on larger surfaces. Here's a small update. I think I managed to get most of the armour and leather done. The idea for the backpacks is to keep the 'base' of the pack purple to match the armour and paint the top part/thrusters black. While it's probably not apparent from the photos (the output is quite similar), I'm looking for ways to make the painting process more enjoyable. I think for regular troops, I'll settle on relying on drybrushing for base of the highlights. However, with only a week left, I'm a bit concerned (and pessimistic!) about getting them done by the month's end for the 12 Months of Hobby vow.

I wish I'd seen this sooner, I've already committed to something on Saturday and Bristol is waaaay too far for a day-trip. All the best for Sunday.

Here's a quick update. Nothing exciting, more of the same - I suppose, I'm posting this to keep myself motivated than anything else. Just to prove to myself that the time spent amounts to something. I'd say that except the shoulder pads, the armour is done. So are the brown bits.

Today in the hobby I worked on a kit-bashed IW Obliterator. i have this month bought and sold World Eaters CP and Custodes BG because honestly i have a problem.

Today in the hobby I actually finished a project.

I think I can say that since I wanted to get the best moulds as possible, this was my first time I did it properly. I made a little frame out of LEGOs to prevent the outside of the mould from expanding, paid attention to the quality of the mould (I used tat Instant Mould thingy that I've mentioned in your thread), redit it a couple of times since the grating on the air intakes had defects. For the notches, I had had an 'easier time' - the size was a benefit this time since it allowed me to cheat. I basically used the drills to get the circular bits done. I wouldn't have been able to achieve this with a blade. You're absolutely right. I also think that it's worth mentioning, that seeing others' work posted online is very entertaining. I probably will. Especially given how much more 'love' you're getting from GW. I mean, it's probably ironic or even outhright wrong to state this. I understand that Chaos has been left hanging for many years by GW and there's not comparing the Chaos ranges and Primaris. I just want to emphasise that the few kits Chaos gets are 'done properly' - they're varied, fun, and somehow feel more like newer versions of old concepts and aesthetics. On the other hand, Primaris are kinda bland. They're a redesign instead of a reimplementation (whatever that means) I'm rubbish too - my only GS 'skill' is copying things with press moulds. I can't properly sculpt and, I think, that these straps on these guys are the best I can do detail-wise. And it's taken me a long, loong time to get here. *** And here are the promised photos. Whole squad: Jump Pack design - as you can see, I've enlarged the air intakes by copying bits from the Firstborn packs and extended them to the sides with plasticard and GS. The sergeant will get a fancy aquila. And now for the individual models: Please note the melta bomb, a homage to DoW2 and the old Assault Squad lode-outs. With the guy below, it seems that GW cheated a bit with the knee pad; after removing it, there was a huge gap - something that I haven't experienced before with these sorts of modifications. I decided to add some ribbing. With the seargeant, the final position of the arms may be slightly different - they're tacked on at the moment. I also decided to slightly rotate the power first to get a better angle. Please note that I've added a pistol handle to the holster to... that's a bit pedantic but somehow him not having a gun (with a shield in one hand and a huge fist being the other one) bothered me. And the inside of the shield - it's way more messy than the front:

I wanted to do the reasonable thing and wait with another post till I get everything ready conversion-wise but I'm too frustrated with how long it takes to wait. As such, with this very special frustration-fuelled eagerness, here's a sneak peak of what you can expect of my Assault Squad: And something that I'm particularly happy with, a scratch-built combat shield (the round notches were particularly challenging, but I thing I managed to get them right): Disclaimer: I'm quite happy with how these guys turned out. For once, I feel like I managed to fully realise the scope of what I had planned for these conversions. The concept included: 1. Enlarging the vents on the jump packs to make them closer to the (frankly superior) Firstborn equivalents. - I didn’t want to use the old jump packs, as I actually prefer the added bulk of the newer ones (the older versions, for whatever reason, look a bit off on Primaris bodies). - Even though I’m not a big fan of the new design, I wanted to maintain some visual consistency across the force—especially elements like the round component on the back of the pack, as well as the additional nozzles and wings—in case I expand the squad with more jump pack Primaris in the future. 2. Avoiding the heel-mounted nozzles, which I find both impractical-looking and, frankly, a bit silly. 3. Adding harnesses—this turned out to be the most challenging and time-consuming part of the project. 4. Modifying the knees/greaves to introduce more variety, which was especially important since these are ETB minis with some repeated poses. 5. Altering the abdominal armour on some of the marines. 6. Building a sergeant with a power fist and combat shield as a homage to the first Assault Squad I ever bought (from the SM Battleforce). *** Once again, let me emphasise: I’m really excited to share these minis with you. I just need a bit more time for the last batch of GS work to cure before I can take proper photos. Now that the project is essentially finished, I’m happy with how it turned out. As usual, though, there were some frustrations along the way. I have to admit that these attempts at “fixing Primaris” and doing GW’s work for them are pretty draining. It took me three full hobby days to do everything I had planned, and despite the cool end result, the process itself felt rather unrewarding. In trying to make the minis look cooler (i.e. the way I think they should have looked in the first place), I ended up cutting into expensive plastic, compromising on detail in some areas, and sinking hours into the process. What really caught me off guard was how tedious the abdominal armour modifications turned out to be. I’m apparently just not quite skilled enough for this kind of fine, fiddly work - and the end result is a bit rough in places, too. The bottom line is this: I think I’m getting too old for this kind of approach and need to re-evaluate my priorities in the hobby. So, I’m making a personal vow here (and you’re all my witnesses): no more conversion-heavy projects like this in the future. I’ll limit modifications to the bare minimum—mostly leg armour tweaks and very simple kitbashes for a single squad (basically the Space Wolves approach)—and focus instead on the part of the hobby I actually enjoy the most: painting. As a final complaint, it’s frustrating that I’ve ended up in a similar situation for the second time—stuck with models that feel “outdated.” The first time was with my Firstborn Marines. Now, I'm stuck with a bunch of MkX Marines. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, it sucks to be a loyalist. The modern CSM kits are so much more varied and fun than the standard MkX that's virtually identical across the range.

mos def, dear colleague - this recent batch is the continuation of no small number of historical units. It's my original Drukhari scheme, and also my 7th ed. Mymeara-era Corsairs scheme, and my Idoneth scheme, and now again my Anhrathe scheme... When I was doing my Idoneth it sunk in that it is pretty much a 'The Little Mermaid' scheme, or more charitably perhaps, Miami Dolphins. Anyway, it ain't going anywhere... More WIPS! pretty close now: Also realized yesterday that these guys are clearly in the Hawkeye lineage, and it made me like the scheme that much more: The robes are looking alot better after some Carroburg Crimson and final highlights - especially fond of far right here: And now, back to the Dolphins new quarterback, having thrown the ball precisely when the portents aligned: Still a good bit of work to do on the Big Hat Dreamer, but an admirable start: Anyway - next update when these first 10 are all based and complete! I'll try and find the 5th Reaper for next update as well cuz she's a nice little kitbash based on a Scourge body. Cheers, The Good Doctor.

I managed to replicate a test mine and try it out on something bigger. I am very happy with the result and progress.

They're through the ugly stage! The Cult of the Golden Skull - I guess the Corsairs found an Exarch helmet (the Golden Skull), and the last survivor of a ship's Kindred put it on a few centuries ago instead of leaving the fleet to follow the Path of Sorrow... Sole survivors now join the Cult instead of joining other Kindreds as way of cleansing their skeins and temperaments in the cold fury of the Reaper's Path. There's another guy with Autarch's reaper launcher I converted to count as a death jester a couple years ago, so with these 4 I'll have a legal unit to throw in a falcon. This is the first unit without the corsair orange in the army too... I was halfway through painting them when I realized it's basically just the classic scheme for TMNT Shredder. Still more gold details and clean up to do, but working out pretty well. What do you want to see next? Starfang, 'Deepweb Dragons', or Skyreavers? Cheers, The Good Doctor.