Sons of Horus - The March on Terra

[geordie]

Hey guys,

 

I've been planning and accumulating bits for a heresy army since the very first HH novels came out. As I'm sure many other heresy fans have done I switched Legions numerous times. First idea was the Sons of Horus, then it was the Death Guard, then the Emperors Children, then Iron Hands... I may add a unit or two of other Legions to my force sometime in the future but I've chosen my Legion.

 

The main reason of starting this blog is to hopefully inspire fellow modelers and heresy fans to post up their work. I've been a serial lurker for years and have taken so much out of the forum in terms of ideas/techniques but never put anything back in. Therefore if you see anything here that you think looks cool feel free to loot away.

 

The theme of my army is the March on Terra. The setting is the 7 or so years of fighting to get to the Emperors Palace. My forces will hopefully represent sort of the missing link between the aesthetic of the early cleanish Sons of Horus and the Black Legion. Pictures from the Forgeworld open day showed some very interesting Sons of Horus Reaver bits and an awesome looking Contemptor. No doubt these bits will feature heavily once they're released. 

 

I want to show the Legion as not chaos corrupted loonies but still a well organised force albeit with the Cthonian influences really coming to the fore. So expect topknots, mixed armour, spikes and gold dipped skulls aplenty!

 

Without further ado here are some very early wips;

 

 

Possible HQ's

http://imageshack.us/a/img109/7715/img03021c.jpg

 

 

Paint tests

http://imageshack.us/a/img22/7551/img03101j.jpg

 

 

Destroyer

http://imageshack.us/a/img7/8161/img03112.jpg

 

 

 

Heavy Support

http://imageshack.us/a/img826/7792/img03031.jpg

 

 

Grunt

http://imageshack.us/a/img195/3720/img03151q.jpg

 

 

Any feedback is much appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

[Vlemix]

looking good mate, i too have a SoH army and can't wait for the releases. Looking forward to seeing the colour scheme when you've decided.

 

Also is that a deathshroud head I see in the top picture?

[GodEmperorOfMankind]

Hey, thanks for sharing, there's some nice looking models you've got coming along. What else have you got planned and who will be your leader?

 

I'm doing an Iron Warriors force that will link to my 40k Iron Warriors:

 

My Praetor will look something like this:

 

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg586/clarkus-maximus/image_zps86f54706.jpg

 

And this is my blog of them

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/263488-iron-warriors-pre-and-post-heresy-blog/

[geordie]

Thanks Vlemix. I'm pretty happy with the paint scheme on the right, perhaps with a final extreme highlight. Well spotted on the Deathshroud helm! I thought they looked kind of barbaric, especially with a top knot added. I look forward to seeing your take on the glorious XVI.

 

AngelsAbsolute - thanks man. I'm planning on having a 3000pts army loosely based on a 'speartip' with elements of the 1st Company. So plenty veterans, reavers, Justaerin and Abbadon to lead them. I'll probably make a few HQ's to suite smaller points limits. Thanks for the link, i'll be sure to check your guys out. That fella looks great, a real kit bash! The Grey Knight sets are a great source of huge swords and I've got a champion in the works who utilizes a similar one.

 

Thanks guys.

[berzerkermike84]

so much win 

[Grizzly_bear]

Looks promising, keep it up

[geordie]

Been working on a few speeders. I know forgeworld is releasing a funky new speeder soon but I'm not convinced they will suite the aesthetic of the XVIth. We'll see. I bought some landspeeder wrecks on ebay a while back and have been attempting to convert them to varying degrees just to make them look a bit different more than anything else. I've taken some cues from the old 2nd edition metal speeders. These may be getting the Catulan Reaver paint scheme, ie black to show they're part of a small support element of the Reavers. They handily have deepstrike rules wise so can be used as part of the orbital assault rite of war along with a drop pod/ assault squad force.

 

Enough waffle;

 

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img51/217/img03041p.jpg

Standard Phobos pattern landspeeder; equiped with heavy bolter. 

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img844/2489/img03051z.jpg

Modified Phobos pattern landspeeder; more lightly armoured than standard speeder enabling slightly increased maneuverability balanced by increased vulnerability to small arms fire.

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img703/1269/img03061y.jpg

Midget class landspeeder; armed with heavy rotor cannon(heavy bolter). The midget class speeder was favored by some legions for its remarkable speed and maneuverability over the larger, heavier models of speeder. A drawback of the smaller chassis was most evident when fully armed, becoming dangerously unstable when firing all weapons simultaneously. Therefore this model was most commonly only equipped with a single weapon load out.

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img832/3603/img03161w.jpg

 

Finally a Legionnaire sporting some rather old armour.  Some of the oldest members of the Sons of Horus fought alongside the Thunder Warriors of legend during the closing stages of the Unification Wars. Rather than seeing the Thunder Warriors as savages and a necessarily evil the XVIth admired their ferocity and focus. The story of the official fate of the Thunder Warriors did not sit well with the XVIth, albeit any dissent voiced was behind closed doors. What fate of the Legions once the galaxy was conquered? Whether Horus eventually came to realize he and his brothers would meet the same fate is unknown. Some Legionaries of the XVIth honoured the memory of the Thunder Warriors' fighting spirit by incorporating retrofitted mk1 pattern power armour parts into their suits. To earn the right of bearing these relative relics a Legionary would have had to demonstrate an extraordinary feat of arms. Although the majority of Terran Legionnaires were expunged at Istvaan a not insignificant number remained to carry on this tradition. Furthermore it was a rare case of the Cthonian born taking on board a Terran tradition. Much was written and recited regarding the great feats and victories of the warriors of lightning and thunder. Unconfirmed reports have a squad of the XVIth in this mixed pattern of armour engaging the Adeptus Custodes at the Emperors Palace. Stranger still were further reports of a similarly equipped unit coming to the Imperials' aid in the closing stage of the siege.  

 

 

[Xenith]

The MkI looks awesome.

[GodEmperorOfMankind]

Loving the Thunderwarrior and Landspeeder, what did you do to convert them?

[ephrael]

I agree on the sweet conversion/bits bash on the MKI Legionnaire.  Would you mind telling me where you got the MKI shoulder pads?  I made a pair of them myself once and it took forever to file them down correctly.  Yours look great and cast perfectly, I'd like to buy some for myself if they are available from a website.  The landspeeders look really good at this stage as well.  I'm liking your XVI Legion so far.

[geordie]

Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated. The MK1 guy is a personal favorite of mine too I must admit. The shoulder pads and head are from Anvil Industry. I've added a fantasy chaos top knot. The Anvil shoulder pads are excellently cast, although they are a smidge small, but that's probably me just being really fussy. They blend with mk2 forgeworld armour really well as its fairly heavily riveted and segmented.

I've got another couple of thunder armour tribute acts which are nearly finished so stay tuned

[berzerkermike84]

are some of these models home made casting? if so can you message me?

[geordie]

@ beserkermike84 - I can see why you'd think that, the mk4 speeder crews being yellowish in colour. They are actually just really old. I bought them at least 5 years ago, probably longer. Forgeworld sometimes changes the resin they use. On a side note the red scorpion mk4 upgrade set used here are significantly smaller than the plastic kits. Part of the reason I used them as speeder crew is that its much less noticeable in this set up. It'd be interesting to know whether forgeworld have retooled the red scorpion kit into being better scaled to the modern plastics and other resin kits. Some of the bits I'm using have been undercoated white previously as well when they were going to be death guard.

[geordie]

A bit of an update. First squad is pretty much done, just awaiting FW shoulder pads. The reasoning behind the mixing of mk2 with space wolves armour is two fold. Firstly it makes the FW bits go further and secondly adds a bit of variety. When I started this squad the 'legion' sets were not around yet. I know at this stage the pelts etc could mistake them for the Space Wolves but I could see some Luna Wolves and later the Sons of Horus taking trophies and pelts from animals they hunted during the crusade expedition. I won't be continuing the pelts theme through the rest of the army but I like them as a little nod to maybe a Terran tradition. I might write some fiction for the squad hunting on recently conquered worlds before the Legion moves on. I think the majority of Legions' ranks would include skilled hunters. Just what exactly they grew up hunting is the only real difference...

 

Enough waffle;

 

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img836/5720/img03201z.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img42/2474/img03211.jpg

 

 

Since the mk1 guys proved popular here are the latest editions. A mix of FW mk2 and anvil industry bits. Not sure on the weapons, they might get changed later but they're counts as power axes for now.

http://imageshack.us/a/img20/3331/img03221r.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img546/7473/img03231.jpg

 

Hope you like them.

 

[GodEmperorOfMankind]

Looking good there brother. Will you be entering the E TENEBRAE LUX II with these?

[geordie]

@AngelsAbsolute - I may do, if I pass uni and have no resits I will have the time but until then I can't commit.

 

Small update;

 

I've finished the Destroyers including a Moritat. Should be fairly obvious how they were built - Chaos Raptors, MK4 chest from black templar sprue, mk4 heads from fw and blood angel kits, sanguinary guard head for moritats 'death mask.'

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img10/3218/img03371r.jpg

 

 

Next up is a tactical legionary built with a blend of armour parts. My inspiration for this was the cover art of Horus Rising has the XVIth in artistically licensed war plate. I like the look of this, especially the mk5(ish) chest. Looks very techno-barbarian in my opinion.

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img571/4029/img03381k.jpg

 

 

I've got this fella pencilled in as a Legion Champion. I'm not sure on the head yet, I might be stealing it for another conversion. Shouty heads are in fashion at the moment, no?

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img822/5210/img03391o.jpg

 

 

Lastly I've overcame the main obstacle holding me back on the painting front - the gold/bronze/brass trim. Thanks to the guy in GW Newcastle I think I've cracked it. I wanted an old, worn goldish colour as previous attempts were too bright against the armour. 

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img593/1103/img03351.jpg

 

 

C+C most welcome.

[deathspectersgt7]

Great idea using the anvil heads for thunder armour helms . STEAL. Very cool figs .

[jeremy1391]

Looking lovely!

[geordie]

Small update;

 

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img689/9589/img03531h.jpg

 

I've put paint to a demi squad. This hopefully gives you a better idea how they'll look. At the moment I'm undecided on how I'm going to paint the shoulder pads. Either just paint the Eye of Horus gold or the complete pad. The other pad I've been experimenting painting the middle part a cream/beige as opposed to having them the same grey as the armour. There is always the option to have a mixture of pad designs/paint jobs which would add to the less uniform look I'm going for. Looks like I've decided that issue all by myself then! I was also going to try painting the iris on the pad red but this might be a massive ball ache, I'll try one and see.

 

Next up is some more building. Probably just a similar tactical squad so I wont post pics up of unpainted, standard mk2 fw marines unless there's any particularly interesting poses or kitbashes. 

 

I need FW to release the Reaver upgrade kits they previewed at the Open Day, I'm reluctant to build certain units since I want to spread the bits through multiple squads for variation. I want the SoH Contemptor too. 

[GodEmperorOfMankind]

Great start there buddy, look forward to seeing more. How did the exams go?

[geordie]

Thanks man, I passed! Until August anyway when the final results are in. I think I'll put an ETL vow together with these guys to represent the Heresy subforum. I'm thinking a Vindicator and a 5 man Veteran squad for starters, i.e. the second half of the above squad. Perhaps a Praetor/Centurion of some sort. As I've mentioned I want to use the upcoming Reaver bits on some squads. I'm thinking of having a dedicated Reaver Assault Squad painted black in mk2 armour/reaver armour. Perhaps a veteran squad in mk4/reaver armour. Fingers crossed there's a XVIth flavoured FW newsletter tomorrow, then it'll be truly full steam ahead. 

 

At the moment I'm in the process of building;

 

10 man tactical/veteran in mk2

10 man tactical/veteran in mk3

10 man tactical/veteran in mk4

10 man assault in mk2

10 man assault in mk4

5 man heavy support in mk2/plastic chaos (missile launchers)

5 man heavy support in mk4/plastic sm (lascannons)

2 Vindicators

Landraider Phobos

2 Predators (GW)

5 man Justaerin squad

Abbadon

Various HQ's - probably one of each Centurian option.

 

The SoH Contemptor isn't in any of my provisional army lists but it looks amazing so will be getting included. The new tank shown at the HH Weekender will be too, regardless of it's rules/cost coz it's just too cool looking. Like a cross between a Landraider and the newest Batmobile.

 

I paint incredibly slowly but I've got the scheme pretty much nailed now apart from the basing which is the final step. There's an example of the wasteland bases I've been experimenting with in the above pic, bottom right. I'm tempted to switch it for a grey urban rubble scheme using the GW texture paints with various gubbins added like plasticard I-beams etc. We'll see.

 

cheers

[GrandMagnus]

I must say that I the way you have mounted your SofH and the few conversions (and the Mk I thunder warriors, very cool) Im not too fund of the colour scheme you are using, its in my opinion too blue rather than ocean green. But thats just my point of wiev, to each his own.

[geordie]

Thanks Anaziel, I know the paint scheme isn't to everyones tastes. I'm going for the Collected Visions scheme, or at least my take on it. In real life it does look slightly different, a touch more of a greenish tint but it is more bluey grey. My inspiration were pieces such as these from Collected Visions, a must have in my opinion for Heresy fans, despite the great work FW have done recently;

 

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img196/4897/cvsoh2.jpg

 

Having looked at some of these images again some dark red bolters might be in order.

[Anvilarium]

@ beserkermike84 - I can see why you'd think that, the mk4 speeder crews being yellowish in colour.

 

I think Berserkermike84 was more referring to these guys. The white Mk.II Helms look very much like they are cast duplicates:

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img826/7792/img03031.jpg

 

[DuskRaider]

Those are definitely duplicates... I tried the same when I was missing parts and the grills are always messed up like that.