Sword Bearers and the Unforgiven (Updated 1/07/23: Angels Redeemed)

[Pearson73]

Nice colours on these guys so far, liking Acheron's blade too.

[Greenz]

I feel like a broken record, but again, lookin' awesome. Your paint is constantly improving here, it's always great to see that

 

With the freehand issue, as DR said I dont think card is your best option. Too stiff, I think you'll find more problems than solutions. I'd say either practice practice practice freehand, or go with a heavier paper and make stencils. That'll give you more flexibility, I think

Edited March 21, 2016 by Greenz

[Galthan Ironsturm]

Brilliants kitbashes !

 

Great marines !

[Spaced Hulk]

Apologies for my absence, and thank you for the kind words brothers  I'm still painting (honest), but today it's a bit of a fluff update. Here's a short piece of fiction I've written for this years ETL competition. Hope you like it, and I'll hopefully have another, more substantial update ready soon.

 

* * *

 

For the first time in his extensive, eidetic memory, the visitor found the Fenspire's throne room to be curiously silent. As expected, no Praetorian guarded the great double doors, as their predecessors had been slain and replacements were yet to be appointed. Nor were any advisers or Company Captains present to vie for their new Master's attention. The surviving members of the Council were already fully occupied, each one striving to rebuild their shattered Chapter, to return it to some semblance of order and effectiveness. And so Reynard Crom, former Chief Librarian of the Sword Bearers, approached the Black Throne both unopposed and unhindered.

 

As usual, it was oppressively dark within the chamber. The throne room occupied the highest point of the Sword Bearer's fortress monastery, an artificial cavern carved from the solid granite of the mountain's tallest peak. An immense stained-glass window formed the entire outer wall of the circular chamber, crafted from six inch thick arma-glass and displaying a multitude of glorious images taken from the Chapter's earliest history. At this altitude, Crom knew he was well above the layers of perpetual cloud that shrouded the planet's surface, and so sunlight, pure and unobstructed, should have been flooding through the viewport, filling the throne room with a bright, radiant beauty.

 

Despite this, no light had ever penetrated this inner sanctum. Beyond the stained glass, adamantium blast shields were permanently raised into position, blocking the sun's rays as they had done for millenia. It was a decision made by the very first Grand Master of the Sword Bearers, and one that each of his successors had since abided by. The Lord of Mire would always share the same darkness, the same eternal, tenebrous twilight as his subjects. It was a promising sign, Crom mused, that his new Chapter Master had chosen to honour this ancient tradition.

 

Hundreds of candles provided the only form of illumination within the chamber, their flames flickering in the breeze caused by his passing. Shadows danced eerily across the wall and floor as he moved towards the central dais, as though the spectres of the honoured dead had followed him to observe this meeting. The Fenspire was an ancient fortress, it's labyrinthine interior infused with thousands of years of memories. If the ghosts of their ancestors did still wander the cold stone halls and passageways, Crom would not have been at all surprised.

 

He halted in front of the throne, dropping awkwardly to one knee in obeisance. Like all his brothers, he had not survived the recent battles unscathed. Physically, the damage was uncomfortable but healing well, the intrinsic benefits of his trans-human physiology. The scars, however, would remain with Crom until his dying day. Before the Phormian Campaign, his brother's had sometimes described him as the Faceless, a reference to his innate, shape shifting abilities. That gift was gone now, ripped from his mind just as surely as the flesh had been ripped from his body. The former nickname had become fact, as extreme facial injuries had permanently destroyed his natural visage. With his weakened psychic ability, he could no longer use glamours to disguise his appearance, and so bandages and a heavy cowl alone now hid his ruined features.

 

“Rise, brother.” The voice that emanated from the throne was low and deep, the bass growl of a predator stalking it's prey. It was a voice well accustomed to authority, one used to being obeyed. Despite his relative youth, Crom remembered, there had been no objections to the new Chapter Master's inauguration. Amongst the proud and honour bound brethren of the Sword Bearers, such widespread approval was unusual.

 

“Thank you, my Lord.” The Librarian answered as he rose, unsteadily, to his feet. His own voice was a shrill whisper, his damaged vocal cords yet another memento of the recent conflict. For the first time since entering the chamber, Crom raised his head, looking up respectfully at the Black Throne and it's occupant.

 

Ivan Orbec, once Captain of the Third Battle Company, now Grand Master of the Sword Bearers, sat comfortably upon the great obsidian throne. The new Lord of Mire was fully armoured, save for the hood which covered his head, shrouding his face in shadow. Behind the throne, three diminutive robed figures stood motionless, each one clasping a relic of the Chapter to their chest. One bore the Mask of Judgement, the ancient Mark 2 battle helm worn by every Grand Master, whilst the other two each carried a power sword, the paired relic blades that gave the Chapter their name.

 

“How fair thee brother?” The Grand Master spoke once more, “Do your injuries heal?”.

 

“Yes my Lord, although not as quickly as I would wish” The Librarian answered quickly, surprised by the question. As Third Captain, Orbec had displayed many fine qualities, but empathy had never been one of them. It was possible, Crom realised, that the responsibilities of his new position had already tempered his natural arrogance.

 

“And your abilities?...” Orbec softly asked.  

 

“Regretfully not, my Lord.” The Librarian shook his cowled head, the sadness evident even through his tortured speech. “The apothecaries however remain optimistic. It is possible that there may still yet be some improvement.”

 

“You are a fine warrior Reynard,” Orbec spoke louder, the hard edge of authority returning to his voice in an instant. “Even without your gifts, you will continue to serve the Chapter well. I am sure both you and the Librarium will quickly come to the right decision regarding your future path.”

 

“Yes my Lord.” Crom sighed, surprised by the subtlety of the Chapter Master's words, even if not by their intent. He had realised long before this that his role as Chief Librarian was effectively over. He decided to change the subject. “How do you find the demands of your new office, Sire.”

 

This time it was Orbec who sighed, although there was still the slight, familiar chuckle as he answered. “I am the commander of a shattered army, the Lord of a riven domain. I must admit, old friend, that this was not the glorious homecoming that I had hoped for. Nevertheless, as a wise tutor once told me, although the past shapes our present, we must always remember to craft our own future.”

 

Crom recognised his own words and laughed out loud, a shrill cackle bursting from his ruined throat. “I had not realised you had been so attentive of my teachings, Lord Orbec!”

 

“I remember every word, old friend.” The Chapter Master suddenly leant forward on his throne. “But now I suspect that you have more bad news to tell me.”

 

“I'm afraid so my Lord. The astropaths have received a long range message from the west, emanating originally from the Segmentum Obscurus. It is a summons, transmitted by the Tower of Angels itself, requesting assistance from all of the Lion's Sons, no matter where their paths have taken them.”

 

“On what grounds?” Orbec demanded, “What could have befallen the First to request such immense reinforcement? The Unforgiven were divided in order to spread our strength and our reach, to take the Hunt to the most distant corners of the galaxy. To combine our force once more is contrary to everything we have been taught.”

 

“I am not sure, my Lord, but the portents we have deciphered are terrible indeed. Allies are becoming the direst of enemies, and the ghosts of the past emerge from the void, desperate to make amends for their past failures. Worst still, the Great Eye is opening, spilling the foulest traitors and daemons into the mortal realms once more, seeking their final victory.” Crom paused for a moment, letting the magnitude of his words sink in. “What will you do?”

 

For a moment, the throne room was completely silent. The former Chief Librarian stared into the shadows of the Grand Masters cowl, searching for his reaction. 

 

Abruptly Orbec stood, his armour gleaming in the candlelight, his voice proud and clear. “Although our blades are dulled, they are never broken. Our colours may be faded, but our duty remains manifest.” He reached out to the three Watchers behind the throne, donning his battle helm in a single, smooth movement, then grasped both of the ancient relic blades.

 

“The Inner Circle calls, and the Sword Bearers will answer.” 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2016 by Spaced Hulk

[deathspectersgt7]

Hell I'll give another like to that fluff.

[jbaeza94]

I need to work on my writing skills... great story brother. Hopefully I can do my Iron Lions justice

[Olis]

I've said it once, I'll say it again: I enjoyed reading that. (Again.) ^_^

[Galthan Ironsturm]

I don't understand all...but, it's really pleasant to read !!

[Punk possum]

Awesome work. The Angels of Vengeance too hear the call and will stand proudly alongside the Sword Bearers.     

[Othniel's Blade]

Beautiful read. The descriptions and atmosphere were all too real... I can't wait for the next instalment, be it fluff or models.

[Augustus]

I wish BL would take notice and have you write a full length novel on the Sword Bearers. 

[Spaced Hulk]

Thanks once again for the kind words brothers, and glad you liked the ETL fluff The backstory for the Kinslayer is nearly complete, as is his model, and the first five members of 1st Tactical are progressing well too. However, I've been a bit distracted this weekend by Index Astartes Apocrypha (which I fortunately managed to pick up), the 30th Anniversary Imperial Space Marine (which eluded me) and also by building this fella:

For once, I haven't actually decided on his name, rank, role within the Chapter etc just yet. Ruleswise (and in terms of the forthcoming ETL) he'll obviously be a Company Master with artificer armour and a relic blade. Background wise, I'm thinking he might be an agent of the Inner Circle, a high ranking Captain who's been attached to Krell's Sixth Company in an 'advisory' role of some kind Thanks to Punk possum's inspiring Angels of Vengeance, I'm also thinking that I'd like to paint him in the original pre-heresy DA black colour scheme.

BTW, his rather chunky bionic right arm is inspired by the figure on the left of this piece of Dave Gallagher concept art:

As always, thanks for looking and C&C are welcome

Edited April 17, 2016 by Spaced Hulk

[Olis]

I can't find fault with him. He's looking pretty damned fine from where I'm standing. :tu:

[Galthan Ironsturm]

As alwayse, very nice kitbash Brother S.Hulk!

 

I really like this head, it's looks like Sir Sean Connery ! :)

[Spaced Hulk]

Cheers brothers  To be honest, I really should have been either painting or writing today, but when I couldn't get a copy of the Imperial Space Marine, I decided to have a model building session instead. This is why my collection of unpainted models continues to dramatically outnumber (in Rorke's Drift proportions) my painted ones

Edited April 17, 2016 by Spaced Hulk

[Interrogator Stobz]

Really like the DA icon on the chest, and yeah the head choice is excellent!

[Guest]

I am totally stealing this guy for a special plan :P

[deathspectersgt7]

Awesome Build!!! Brother . You got the book ? I didn't get either I completely forgot it was Saturday. But on the bright side it was 74 and nice no snow.

[Punk possum]

Mate he is looking great and I'm humbled and proud to see my stuff referred to as inspiring    I'm in no doubt that he will look the business in legion colours.  

[Captain Semper]

Thanks once again for the kind words brothers, and glad you liked the ETL fluff The backstory for the Kinslayer is nearly complete, as is his model, and the first five members of 1st Tactical are progressing well too. However, I've been a bit distracted this weekend by Index Astartes Apocrypha (which I fortunately managed to pick up), the 30th Anniversary Imperial Space Marine (which eluded me) and also by building this fella:

For once, I haven't actually decided on his name, rank, role within the Chapter etc just yet. Ruleswise (and in terms of the forthcoming ETL) he'll obviously be a Company Master with artificer armour and a relic blade. Background wise, I'm thinking he might be an agent of the Inner Circle, a high ranking Captain who's been attached to Krell's Sixth Company in an 'advisory' role of some kind Thanks to Punk possum's inspiring Angels of Vengeance, I'm also thinking that I'd like to paint him in the original pre-heresy DA black colour scheme.

BTW, his rather chunky bionic right arm is inspired by the figure on the left of this piece of Dave Gallagher concept art:

As always, thanks for looking and C&C are welcome

You cannot look more knightly and self righteous than that! Look forward for the ETL to see this guy taking shape! :tu:

[Augustus]

Moaaaaar, please.

[Tygwyn]

Simply awesome. Can't wait to see him painted up. That bionic arm is the business!

[Charlo]

Just stumbled in here from your sig!

 

Really cool concept and scheme!

[Malcifer]

Man, your modeling skills are awesome!  It is like, every model is a unique character.  I will definitely be taking away some lessons on posing and modeling.

 

Top notch work.

[Spaced Hulk]

Thank you for the kind words everyone. After my complete failure during this years ETL, I'm afraid I've put the Sword Bearers on hold whilst I work on my 30K Dark Angels. In fact, many of the models I posted last (specifically the bionic arm captain, Command Squad and Acheron - see below) have been re-purposed for my growing collection of the First Legion.

I'm still working on the occasional Son of Mire (mainly when I fancy a break from painting black) and when I get a unit completed I'll continue to post them up here. Updates will be sparce and sporadic though, as I'm really concentrating most of my efforts on 30k these days, writing fluff, painting models (yes, I am actually painting again! Honest! ) and, of course, building more models:

I'll hopefully be starting a blog for my 30K stuff down in the Heresy forum in the not too distant future, so please feel free to drop by and comment. Thanks again brothers