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  On 3/11/2014 at 2:31 PM, Augustus said:

More please. I hate cliff hangers!!!!!!!!!!!! Lol

 

Excellent read.

 

Thank you brother :smile.: Part three is now added, I'm afraid there is going to be a part four as well (sorry mate :blush.:).

As always, Brother Spaced Hulk, the story in enthralling! I can quite easily imagine Master Kane inspiring his company with the history of his tenacity, and the phrase "We bleed, we NEVER break!" :)

Thank you brothers! :smile.: Have just edited in the final part, hope you like it!

Couple more pics of the protagonists to round it all off:

Gothryn, Ninth Company Assault Marine armed with two handed power mace (counts as a Company Vet with a power fist in game).

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Kane, Seventh Company Master & Champion of the Chapter, armed with the relic blade 'Wrath of Caliban" and 'Headtaker' (counts as a Company Master armed with the Monster Slayer of Caliban and a power axe).

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Thanks for looking, C&C are always welcome :smile.:

Cheers guys! Glad you liked it :thanks:

 

  On 3/14/2014 at 12:59 AM, darkangel1030 said:

Wow, brother your stuff gets better and better. Kane is a beast. Looking forward to see how the plot with Aldous is going to turn out. Eagerly waiting for more!! Keep it up brother :smile.: Take care.

 

Thanks brother :smile.: The next installment of the Necropolis storyline is in progress, although I'm debating about writing a short prequel story to it as well, which might get posted first. Here's a bit of a teaser to the main plot though:

 

 

  Quote

 

We are the swords of the Emperor, the physical manifestation of his strength, will and determination to succeed. We are the knights who defend the furthest borders of his Imperium, born to fight and die guarding against the horrors of the outer dark. We are humanity's appetite for destruction honed to deadly perfection, forged in the fires of battle, tempered in the crucible of eternal war. We are the blades of retribution, angels of death who know neither fear or doubt.

 

Nevertheless, despite everything we are, there are times when it is simply not enough.

 

Attributed to unknown Battle Brother, Adeptus Astartes Sword Bearers Chapter. Recorded in the aftermath of the Siege of the Phormian Necropolis 724.M41.

 

Edited by spacedhulk

Minor update, as I'm mainly still working on the recon squad and the siege breaker. Photo's aren't great (I could really do with sorting out a light box or something) but here are a few more WIP pics:

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Trying to decide at the moment what colour to paint the Siege Breakers cloak. I could just go for a dark brown to match the colour of the robes in the rest of the army, but I'm tempted to make it a bit brighter so he'll stand out more. Possibly a dark red (similar to the robes of the Guardians of the Covenant)? Any suggestions?

I've also converted a new version of one of the main characters in the Sword Bearer's story line:

Balian, 'The Silent Sword', Third Company Veteran. Armed with a Blade Imperialis & bolter/plasma combi-weapon:

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I decided to make a new version of Balian for a couple of reasons. First of all the original model (from way back on page 5 of this thread) has since been drafted into another unit (an allied Honour Guard squad). Secondly, I wanted a version of the character (armed with slightly different weapons) to go with the next batch of Sword Bearer stories I'm working on. At some point in the future I intend to build an even older, more ornate version of Balian (but still recognisably similar to this one) to represent him after he's been promoted to the Master of the Eighth Battle Company.

In game terms this version will usually be used either as a simple Veteran Sergeant (I'll be building the rest of his squad in the near future) or as a Captain/Company Master. The Blade Imperialis (or Imperial Great Sword), will either count as a power fist or a relic blade, depending on what I'm using him as.

He may also get used as a counts as Azrael, at least until I get round to converting an actual Chapter Master(s). In the present point of the 40K timeline (eg: during Abaddons 13th Black Crusade), Balian is actually leading the remnants of the chapter, so using him as Azrael is pretty appropriate.

Thanks for looking and reading my ramblings, C&C are welcome as always :smile.:

The Abomination leapt towards him, blade arms extending like spears from it's reaching mechanical limbs. Multi-layered steel carapace and bionic augmentations encased almost all of the Tech-beast's biological form, although patches of pale, pink flesh on the creature's face betrayed it's human origins.

 

And the eyes of course. Every Abomination they had encountered thus far had retained it's own, all too human eyes, even though ocular scanners were implanted alongside them in the tortured flesh. And every pair of eyes held the same, desperate expression: one of conscious, unrelenting horror at the desecration of both their bodies and souls.

 

The creatures were mute, or at least appeared to be. Their mouths were either sewn shut with steel wire, or replaced completely with sensor equipment or miniature weapon systems. But if they could speak, Balian had no doubt what they would be saying.

 

Kill us.

 

He parried the spear thrusts with a single swing of his Imperialis blade, before shredding the Tech-beast's head with a three round burst at close range: bolt shells tearing through both flesh and machine with equal effectiveness. As it's skull detonated, finally giving those frantic eyes the peace they demanded, the creature reared back but remained standing. It was still alive. The controlling cybernetic parasite was highly resilient, it's blasphemous machine consciousness embedded throughout it's host's form. Balian struck again and again, the energy sheathed great sword carving the Abomination into pieces. Only when the last mechanical limb had stopped moving did he step back, checking on the status of his brothers.

 

They were holding a crossroads, a circular meeting point where four service tunnels merged into one. The Necropolis was honeycombed with such pathways, and as the Sword Bearers progressed ever deeper into the labyrinthine structure, enemy resistance was becoming stronger and more effective. From their initial briefings, before even making planet fall, they had known they would eventually face the creatures the Iris Crusade's leaders had declared Abominatio Sanguis Ferrum. The abominations of blood and iron. As Third Company had separated into squads, searching for the control centres that ran the city's vast power generators, they had finally encountered them. Or perhaps, more accurately, the beasts had found them.

 

Alain was clearing the next tunnel, a constant barrage of fire indicating the large numbers assaulting his position. The heavy bolter was certainly evening the odds though, large calibre rounds ripping the advancing Tech-beasts into bloody chunks of flesh and metal. Beside him, Ezzeran's wrist mounted storm bolter added it's own staccato voice to the fusillade, finishing off wounded enemies that continued to crawl forwards despite the ruination of their forms. As Balian watched, a sundered Abomination surged through the fire-storm, it's upper limbs wreathed in a swarm of mechadentrite tendrils that wrapped themselves around Ezzeran in a crushing embrace. With a snarl of irritation, the squad's second in command activated his power glove, the highly charged disrupter field burning through the clinging tentacles with a flare of white hot metal.

 

The other four members of the squad had divided themselves between the two remaining service tunnels. From each pathway came the distinctive chatter of boltguns, accompanied by the sporadic hiss of a fusion discharge. Despite the ferocity and resilience of their opponents, Balian wasn't overly concerned about these last two fire teams. The multi-melta's wielded by Claudin and Elyon were simply obliterating anything they hit, and the dimly lit tunnel walls were stained red and silver with evaporating blood and liquefied metal.

 

Another Abomination appeared in the twisting corridor before him, piston like legs propelling it forwards with incredible speed, mono-molecular talons finding purchase on the tunnel's rockcrete floor. Mechadentrites tipped with short ranged las-weapons formed a halo around the creature's head, and as it sped towards him, a hail of crimson energy bolts began to splash against his battered power armour. Ignoring the impacts, the squad leader returned fire with his combi-weapon, raking the approaching Tech-beast with a sustained burst of exploding bolts.

 

As the Abomination broke into bloody pieces, momentum carrying it several more strides before the beast finally decided it was dead, Balian tried to forget that he had just killed another loyal servant of the Emperor. 

Edited by spacedhulk
  • 2 weeks later...
Hi everybody. Been a while since my last update. Unfortunately I've been ill, so progress pretty much ground to a halt. On the mend now though, and before I continue painting and writing, I have a new model that I've been working on for the last couple of days. The break must have done me a bit of good, because I've finally completed my Chapter Master/counts as Azrael.

This model has actually been through quite a few different iterations before I settled on this one. I was originally going to use the Dark Vengeance Captain as a base, before realising that everyone uses that model for Azrael. Then I considered the special edition Chaplain model, and even tracked down and won another copy on ebay so I wouldn't feel quite so bad chopping it up, before deciding that Seraphicus conversions are pretty common as well, and that I wanted the Supreme Grand Master of the Sword Bearers to be as unique as possible.

This model actually represents Hektor Talyn, the second from last GM before the disaster that almost destroys the Chapter. In a way, he represents the Sword Bearers at their peak, but even then, there are dark shadows around him that hint at their foreboding future.

The fluff/background for Talyn are scattered in the early pages of this now pretty long thread, so I've spoilered the most relevent parts below (slightly abridged)

  Reveal hidden contents

  Reveal hidden contents

I decided to represent Talyn either before his illness or in it's very early stages. I didn't want the model to focus on his final years simply because (1) his weakened condition would mean that Azrael's rules and profile aren't really that appropriate, and (2) visually at that point he'd look far more suited to a Death Guard army than a loyalist force. However, I did want to include a couple of hints suggesting his eventual fate, which hopefully come through on the model.

As he counts as Azrael, there are certain obvious factors which needed to be represented, namely: the Sword of Secrets, the combi-plasma, the Lion Helm (or at least the force field it projects) and, perhaps to a lesser extent, the Watcher that accompanies him. To me, these are the four elements that basically say 'this is Azrael'.

Hektor Tiberias Talyn, The Lionheart, Lord of Mire, Keeper of the Blades, Supreme Grand Master of the Sword Bearers:

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As always, a Watcher bearing the ancient Blade of Corswain accompanies the Supreme Grand Master into battle.

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As you may have noticed, I've got a bit of an obsession with wrist mounted Astartes weaponry, and see no reason why it should be confined to the Blood Angels/Grey Knights :smile.: In Talyn's case, both the bolter and plasma gun parts of his combi-weapon are mounted on his armour's vambraces.
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Like every Chapter Master before him, Talyn wields the ancient Terran longsword known as the Mors Atra (or in low Gothic, the Black Death). For those who've read Horus Rising (and these days, is there anybody who hasn't? :biggrin.:) the look I was aiming for was inspired by long blade used by Lucius of the Emperor's Children (before Istvaan, when he was just annoying rather than a traitor :smile.:). In practical terms, I wanted the sword to be unique but easily replicable, as I intend to build other Chapter Masters in the future who will all wield the same blade.

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The relic power field generator known as the Shield of the Aquila. Unlike similar devices, the Machine Spirit of this treasured artifact is said to be able to differentiate between friend and foe. I've used a Grey Knight teleport pack before to represent a PFG (on Malachi, the Penitent Techmarine). Now as then, it's an idea I've stolen shamelessly from Bryan Blaire's excellent Stoneburners.

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Talyn's face is covered by a long hood. Not unusual amongst the Unforgiven of course, but does it hide the first signs of his affliction? As a nod to the actual Azrael mini, I've also replaced the vents on the backpack with the skull ones from a DA power pack.

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In his free hand, Talyn carries a censer and an icon of the First Legion. I've tried to make it look like the rope binding them together is wrapped around his gauntlet. Such paraphernalia is common amongst the Unforgiven Chapters, but the burning incense might also be used to disguise the stench of rotting flesh...

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Despite the illness that blighted his final years, Lord Talyn remains one of the greatest and most renowned commanders the Sword Bearers have ever known, and the Chapter would sorely miss his leadership in the dark days were to follow...

Thanks for looking, C&C are welcome as always :smile.:

Edited by spacedhulk
Thank you brothers, glad you like him! :smile.:

 

@ darkangel1030: The sword is just two parts mate. The hand and cross guard are from a Ravenwing sword (normal RW sprue not Black Knights) while the blade is from a Sanguinary Guard Glaive Encarmine, which I cut off as close to the cross guard as possible. I'm quite OCD so I pinned the two parts together, but just using plastic glue would probably be sufficient (and easier :wink:).

 

@ recon0321: Correct brother :thumbsup:. Sternguard legs & RW torso. Obviously I chose that particular chest plate because of the twin sword iconography.

Edited by spacedhulk

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