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Grief Bringers

Rogue Trader

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Rogue Trader Veteran

Rogue Trader

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The Grief Bringers are my adopted DIY chapter. They originally appeared in the 'Warped Stars' short story by Ian Watson (from the Deathwing anthology) and never recieved GW's attention again. From the first time I read the novella, I loved the chapter.... I originally tried painting a Grief Bringer marine when the story was published 15-odd years ago, trying to recreate the armour, which was described as "principally a sickly pea-green, engrailed with chevrons of a headachy purple" and whilst it matched the description fairly well, it was too sickly and headachey to actually field as an army. About four or five years ago I decided to try again and came up with a scheme that I could live with, and a couple of years later had a completed IA article to go with it (link in sig).

 

Anyway, you're here for the pictures, so it's time to shut up and put up.

 

Ancient Brother Argus:

Ancient Brother Argus was amongst the first of the Grief Bringers to be entombed in the sarcophagus of a dreadnought. Argus fell fighting the Eldar of Em'brathar craftworld on the agri-planet of Fecunda. The Eldar had captured the Fourth Company's battle standard, and Argus led his squad in a daring raid through the enemy lines to retrieve it. Although he successfully returned the standard to the Grief Bringers, Argus collapsed from his injuries moments after handing the standard back to the captain of the Fourth Company. The Company Apothecary quickly determined that his injuries put him beyond the chance of recovery, and Chapter Master Sorghar immediately declared that he be placed in a dreadnought, so that the example of his bravery and tenancity could continue to inspire his battle brothers for centuries to come.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/rogue_trader/grief_bringers/dread_front.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/rogue_trader/grief_bringers/dread_top.jpg

 

 

If you've been around for a while, you may recognise this guy from the old painting competition, where he had a different basing scheme:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/rogue_trader/grief_bringers/argus_fl.jpg

 

 

Tactical Squad Mannon (Squad II)

Brother Sergeant Tumas Mannon distinguished himself against Hive Fleet Leviathan on the planet of Kirstlane when he killed a rampaging Carnifex by thrusting an armed krak grenade down its throat. Mannon lost his left arm to the carnifex, but his actions turned the tide of the battle and allowed the Grief Bringers to hold off the tyranid swarm long enough to evacuate the planet's inhabitants.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/rogue_trader/grief_bringers/sqd2.jpg

 

This squad was painted in a hurry about eighteen months ago, with the intention of taking them to a tournament. As such, I was never really happy with them, and didn't feel they matched the vision of the Grief Bringers I had after spending so long writing the IA. As such, I decided to try and re-conceptualise the GBs and the end result produced my next squad. Squad Mannon will have to have some retro-fitting done, as they need a heavy weapons guy, company markings painted on their left knee pads and Mannon himself needs sergeant markings. They also need dullcoating, but all that can wait for now.

 

 

This was my concept model for the new look GBs:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/rogue_trader/WIP/DSCN0427.jpg

 

The major changes consisting of: replacing the backpack with the old wolf scout pack, changing the bolter design to look more like the MkI Crusade (old RT plastics) bolter, reducing the size of the shoulderpads, using the deathwatch helmet - which had the double benefit of being smaller and having a bionic eye built in, and loading the marine down with as much kit as I could reasonably manage.

 

A year on again, and I finally found the time between work and university to build and paint a squad of these new-look guys:

 

Tactical Squad Haston

Brother Segeant Anaeus Haston is one of the Fourth Company's longest serving squad leaders. A solid, dependable leader, he can be relied on to carry out his designated mission with minimum fuss and maximum efficiency. As such, Squad Haston is often chosen by Brother-Captain Stihm to hold a flank of the battle line, in the knowledge that Haston and every one his marines will have to be eliminated before the enemy can pass.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/rogue_trader/grief_bringers/sqd4_1.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/rogue_trader/grief_bringers/sqd4_2.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/rogue_trader/grief_bringers/haston.jpg

 

The scheme remains the same, with the addition of a quartered company marking on the left kneepad and Haston's PF, and the sergeant rank is designated by the purple stripe on the helmet. I've also started freehanding the chapter symbol instead of using transfers, as I could never master the technique of getting round symbols to fit nicely onto a curvy pad... There's still a lot of room for improvement, but I can live with it as these are the first guys I've painted in over a year and they are only rank-and-file at the end of the day. I could spend more time on them, but my current aim is to try and get a painted playable army of some description around my work and studies... To that end, I've got a captain and chaplain next in the painting line and assault, devastator, scout and command squads plus a couple of tanks still to be built.

 

Comments, criticisms and witticisms more than welcome :blink:

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Terminatorinhell Venerable Brother

Terminatorinhell

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i like it!

 

i don't have read the fluff but il du when i get the time

 

i don't have any remarks (at all) and i love the new-look

 

and somthing i realy liked:

he killed a rampaging Carnifex by thrusting an armed krack grenade down it's throat.

:o

Lol I now know how to kill a carnifex :D

the scheme is actually really nice, what colors did you use i may want to try it out.

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Aurelius Rex Venerable Brother

Aurelius Rex

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It's good to see Argus again, Rogue Trader, and you even gave the old guy a face-lift. :D

 

The level of conversion detail is daunting, but gives a really distinctive result. The pseudo-RT era bolters and no borders on the shoulderpads take me back to the late eighties, but how long will it take to do a company of those guys? :) I always liked your leg repositionings, and these certainly give a very dynamic appearance.

 

As I expect from you, the background rounds out the characters nicely and adds that extra dimension. Is there a reason in the background for the variant mark of backpacks? I initially thought it might be related to the ash-wastes of their homeworld, and that the backpack had heavier duty filters, or given the stripped-down look of them, they are intentionally simpler so that there is less to go wrong and get gunked up with ash. Of course, they don't fight much on their homeworld though...

 

Aaaanyway, congratulations on the new squad, and it's nice to see the older models again.

 

Cheers,

Aurelius.

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Rogue Trader

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Thanks for all the kind comments, guys ^_^

 

Ian Watson is win.

Yeah, I think Ian Watson is responsible for most of my basic perceptions about marines - Space Marine, Warped Stars and the Inquisition Trilogy are among the seminal 40k works for most 40kers of my generation, I think, and had a big influence on my writing of both the IA and other 40k fanfic.

 

 

This is one of the best basing schemes I've seen. Very creative, not too complicated. Conversions are solid. Be proud of this Chapter!

Thanks ^_^ The bases really add something to the overall look of the marines, I think and, though they take a lot of work (roughly a whole day's work for a squad's worth of bases) the end result is well worth it, I reckon...

 

 

the scheme is actually really nice, what colors did you use i may want to try it out.

The green is Catachan highlighted up in four stages adding Camo Green then Bleached Bone. The purple starts off with a mix I call 'GB purple' which is 3 Liche Purple : 1 Chaos Black, then a 1:1 mix of GB purple:Liche purple, then LP, then LP + Bleached Bone.

 

 

Wondered for years of where you went.Have always liked your painting and choice of chapters.You made a little known chapter come to life.Nice to see that you havent given up on these guys.Great work.

Thank you ^_^ Real life took over and I kind of lost touch with the hobby for a couple of years, but you can never really leave - the plastic crack always calls to you... Besides, I have too much of an attachment to the GBs to give up on 'em anytime soon!

 

 

they look great and the colour scheme is cool too i like the marines who are sliding in the swamp

where do you get the classic SW back packs from??

They removed the backpacks from the mail order catalogue about six months before they stopped doing all bitz orders altogether. Luckily I got a heads up from a friend who's in the know that they were getting discontinued, so got a hefty order in in time... I'll be out of luck when this lot runs out though, unless I can finally master how to reproduce them myself. Part of the reason I liked the swamp bases was that it gave a bit more interaction between the minis and the base - I like having the guys with the water up round their calves rather than just stood on top of a flocked base...

 

 

Beautiful!! Love the paint scheme. Green and purple is an often overlooked color combination that really go well together. The poses are dynamic and cool. Great job.

Thanks ^_^ Surprising how well green and purple go together, actually - I keep seeing things in real life and thinking 'Oooh, purple would go well with that green....' :lol:

 

 

The pseudo-RT era bolters and no borders on the shoulderpads take me back to the late eighties, but how long will it take to do a company of those guys? :lol:

A loooooong time - the bolters take forever to get a decent result, but the shoulder pads progressed a lot quicker once I got a multi tool and didn't have to file them down by hand ;)

 

 

I always liked your leg repositionings, and these certainly give a very dynamic appearance.

Thanks, Rex, I'm thnking about doing an assault squad next, and you know how I love to convert those guys! Should be an interesting challenge with the limited height offered by swamp bases... but where's the fun if it's easy?! ^_^

 

 

As I expect from you, the background rounds out the characters nicely and adds that extra dimension.

Well like you, I'm primarily a fluff/modeling/painting person rather than a gamer, so creating the background is half the fun - it's great thinking up back stories for the marines as you paint them and the end result is that you have a much greater attachment to your little guys as each one has his own personal history... didn't GW tell us that every marine is a hero a while back?!

 

 

Is there a reason in the background for the variant mark of backpacks? I initially thought it might be related to the ash-wastes of their homeworld, and that the backpack had heavier duty filters, or given the stripped-down look of them, they are intentionally simpler so that there is less to go wrong and get gunked up with ash. Of course, they don't fight much on their homeworld though...

My thinking is that the backpack design is an older, lightweight, low maintenance model. Following the disaster on Valhall II and with the prospect of thirty years with only a single Techmarine to maintain the chapter's resources, anything that could reduce maintainence time/effort could only be seen as a benefit. Even after the new Techies returned from training on Mars, the low-tech powerplant backpacks were kept as they reduced the demand on the time of the Techmarines and left them free to oversee the rebuilding of the Chapter's mechanical resources...

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Alph Novitiate

Alph

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he killed a rampaging Carnifex by thrusting an armed krack grenade down it's throat

 

Steal one of Ragnar's moments of glory will you! Well it's a good job we wolves have so many saga worthy stories to tell of him so there's more than enough to go around :lol:

 

Seriously though I really like the paint scheme it goes so well together I think part of the key to your success was cleverly using bleached bone in the final highlight mix on both the purple and the green. It makes the two colours "gel" together well so it looks so very unified. Though all your swamp bases are great Brother Argus's base is made from pure win.

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Rogue Trader Veteran

Rogue Trader

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great work, what did you use for the bolter barels?

On the concept model it was 2mm plastic rod, drilled out, then on the subsequent models I switched to using brass pipe, again, 2mm diameter.

 

 

he killed a rampaging Carnifex by thrusting an armed krack grenade down it's throat

 

Steal one of Ragnar's moments of glory will you! Well it's a good job we wolves have so many saga worthy stories to tell of him so there's more than enough to go around :P

Damn, I'd forgotten Ragnar did that - I was actually thinking of Rico in the Starship Troopers movie when I came up with Mannon's background... guess I'll have to come up with some other way for him to gain a bionic arm :lol:

 

 

Seriously though I really like the paint scheme it goes so well together I think part of the key to your success was cleverly using bleached bone in the final highlight mix on both the purple and the green. It makes the two colours "gel" together well so it looks so very unified. Though all your swamp bases are great Brother Argus's base is made from pure win.

Yeah, it seemed to be the easiest way to tie such diverse colours together. I debated using BB to highlight the black of the weapons as well, but decided on grey highlights in the end to visually seperate the weapons from the marines

 

 

Really nice work!

Especially like the bases and how you managed to make a HB version of the wolf scout backpack.

:ph34r:

Thanks, the HB backpack was one of the more interesting challenges with using the wolf scout packs:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/rogue_trader/grief_bringers/HB_back.jpg

 

There was no way to accommodate two ammo canisters, so I opted for one, then had the added problem of getting the ammo belt to reach the feed on the backpack, as it was further away than it would have been using a normal dev pack. Worth it in the end though, I think - it's one of those little changes that easily goes unnoticed until you really look at the squad

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Rogue Trader Veteran

Rogue Trader

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Glad to see you back RT. Lookin good so far :)

Thanks, mate. Nice to see you've returned to the Salamanders as well - I'm watching your blog with interest <_<

 

 

I am curious how you did the water effects on the base. How did you keep it from spilling over the edge?

I actually cut the top of the base out and then stick plasticard on the bottom, so the 'water' and the swampland and the rushes all sit inside the rim of the base...

 

 

I'm always happy to see people make such great pieces out of colors I'd never think to put together. Purple and green? Awesome. Kuddos.

 

I especially liked the one marine with the gillie-suit-esque plant material all over him

Thank you :D

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  • 9 months later...
Rogue Trader Veteran

Rogue Trader

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With exams out of the way, I've managed to make some progress on HQ options for the GBs. I decided to go with a tabletop standard for anything I add to the army now, for two reasons - firstly, it's my only chance of ever getting a decent sized force ready, and secondly... I'm lazy :)

 

Brother-Captain Stihm

Brother-Captain Aimos Stihm has led the Grief Bringers 4th Company for the last seventy years. A humble, thoughtful man, Stihm eschews the privileges of captaincy, and continues to use the same chainsword and storm bolter he previously carried as sergeant of the company's first tactical squad. His chainsword bears the name of the Grief Bringers' homeworld - Lacrymata - as a constant reminder of the reason the marines of the Grief Bringers fight.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/rogue_trader/grief_bringers/Dscn1316.jpg

 

Stihm is based on the captain from my failed Librarium Painting Challenge - after painting the original bare head, I decided I preferred a helmet and after much umm-ing and ahh-ing decided to go with a basic, low cost armament instead of the thunder hammer.

 

 

Apothecary Amem

Amem is a veteran of more than two hundred years service. His unwavering calm under fire is legendary, and can benefit the wounded marines he cares for more than any drug in the narthecium he carries

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/rogue_trader/grief_bringers/Dscn1311.jpg

 

Unchanged from the WIP version seen in the LPC thread, Amem has a servo-skull that incorporates the data-recorder/camera thingy that normally sits on the apothecary backpack because there just wasn't room for it over his shoulder!

 

 

Chaplain Cadoc

Crieus Cadoc is both feared and venerated by the marines of the 4th company in equal measure. It is said his piercing gaze can assess any man in a single glance, determining his strengths and probing for any weaknesses. Cadoc is usually found at the forefront of the battleline, his voice carrying above the clamour of the battlefield to inspire those about him to greater feats of bravery and daring. He wields a Crozius Arcanum constructed from the consecrated skull of a Sorcerer of the Night Lords Legion, slain by Cadoc in hand-to-hand combat on the deathworld of Oszoria

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v518/rogue_trader/grief_bringers/Dscn1308.jpg

 

I've had the idea for this guy in the back of my mind for years. The Mk VI helmet with the skull facepaint is something I've wanted to do since seeing the original Legion of the Damned marines made from RTB01 plastics, and having the relic strapped to the chest occured to me the first time I saw the command squad sprues, so it's nice to finally have this done and free up some much needed headspace ;)

 

Comments, criticisms and witticisms welcome, as usual...

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Tyrannicide Venerable Brother

Tyrannicide

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Great to see your Grief Bringers back here, RT. The Captain is my favorite, his ornate armor lending itself well to the whole 'Hero look'. Some nice little snippets of background on the models, too! I like the idea of the Captain ignoring his privileges and continuing to use his old storm bolter and chainsword, that's the ideology every warrior should aspire to follow. :)
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