Fleeing from the Light: A Chronicle of the Scouring

[NoLats_McGee]

There is shame in this fight. 

This is no glory. 

 

This is no righteous war.

 

The Warmaster has lost the battle, and the throneworld has fallen from our grasp. 

 

The dream is over. 

 

Now all that's left to do is run away, and hope to survive. Every day is a gift to us.. The gift of remembering our shame, and what could have been and will never come to pass. 

 

We discovered a truth, the only truth, the primordial basis for existence. It may be ugly, and even to this day I wish the lies of a godless galaxy had proven true. But this truth is all we have, and had humanity embraced it it could have been great. 

 

Even in the face of truth, our species accepted lies. I do not wish to be with the other zealots of my legion, maddened by the fervor which darkened Humanity's doors during Old Night. I also do not wish to accept lies in the face of truth.

 

I am beyond wishing for anything. All that's left to do is to run.

- Recovered from data slate belonging to XVII Legion Word Bearers - Date Post Siege Of Terra, author unknown

********** Record slated for deletion due to potentially dangeorus content **************

 

 

So, I really couldn't decide between doing a 40k Chaos Space Marine army or a Horus Heresy army. I even remember starting failed project logs for both. So in the end, I decided for a compromise - an army of the Traitor Legions based during the Great Scouring period following the heresy. 

Some things I want to implement in a scouring-era army are: 
 

• The beginning of legion structural breakdown. While the legion organisation still exists for the most part, attrition and madness (coupled with a lack of purpose) has led to Astartes from very different squads being forced to form a single squad. This, for example, can lead to Breacher, Recon and other 'specialised' marines serving in more general tactical squads, albeit with their own expertise and methods.

 

• A middle ground between the 'moustache twirling' chaos of 40k and the Traitor Legions of 30k - chaos has definitely had its warping effects on the Astartes, but they haven't been surrounded by it for 10,000 years just yet. Therefore corruption would be in an earlier stage to what we see in 40k, both physical and mental. This also leads to an opportunity for me to justify mixing 30k and Chaos Space Marine bits to create a nice hybrid

 

• The loss of armour and equipment from Attrition leading to the start of a more 'ramshackle' look among the traitors, as they are forced to tap into reserves of armour and even scavenge from the loyalists. Different legions have different common armour patterns, and this look will still be upheld - however, there will be more of a mix. Some honoured astartes may even be given access to the flashy new Mk VII recovered from loyalist stock.

 

So, without further ado, here's the progress I have made so far on a tactical squad of Word Bearers. At the moment, it's just torsos legs and heads. Some of them have pouches/grenades, some do not. Eventually I want every member of the squad to be loaded up with pouches, bags, grenades etc - I want them to look like they are ready for anything, particularly operating in high-stakes desperate battles with no real resupply. 

 

One thing I always wanted to see was more Word Bearers like Argel Tal, who weren't complete mindless zealots. They worshipped chaos out of (misguided) necessity if not anything else, and hoped it could somehow 'liberate' the human race. These Word Bearers are the equivalent of the more progressive believers of a real-world religion. 

 

Word Bearers typically had Mk IV armour during the Heresy, so I have tried to make mutated Mk IV armour (the chaos Raptor kits are great for this) the most common form seen in the squad. 

 

http://i.imgur.com/TjUdWzD.jpg

 

 

Also, remember what I said about former specialists being shoehorned into tactical squads? Well, spot the ex-breacher... And, the lucky bastard who managed to steal some fancy beakie armour.

http://i.imgur.com/wHsc9ZF.jpg

 

 

Finally, have some more assorted pictures. 

 

http://i.imgur.com/KFucpRP.jpg

 

 

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/kDwiJG9.jpg

 

 

This squad has a long way to go, and I really want to give each individual marine a story. Let me know any ideas, feedback or suggestions you have for this army and these miniatures! 

 

Also, no sergeant yet. I need to try and find a way to make him look senior, without moustache-twirling or being too 'godly'. Again, suggestions!

I promise I'll stick with this plog guys. Seriously. This time I mean it...

[Pearson73]

These guys are looking good, nice use of parts, can't wait to see where this goes.

[apologist]

Great start, and a brilliant concept. I think this should give you a lot of freedom in how you make your army; both in physical terms and in terms of story. You write 'I really want to give each individual marine a story'. I've found a good first step in going about this is to work out the army concept – in your case 'They worship[...] chaos out of (misguided) necessity if not anything else, and hope[...] it could somehow 'liberate' the human race' – a really evocative idea.

 

The second step is to work out how each individual marine relates to that. Part of the appeal of Chaos is that it offers untrammelled freedom from rules and dogma. The tragedy is that the same freedom is ultimately from sanity and form. Nevertheless, the balance between unchanging misery and oppression (the Imperium) and entropic madness (Chaos) is one that all humans in 40k have to walk. While the force as a whole might believe in the goal (the army concept), the individuals will have different interpretations.

 

For example, one might see himself as a crusading, proselytising figure for the Pantheon; another might simply be going along with the idea because it's better to be amongst friends in an uncaring universe. One might be happy to be finally free to espouse his beliefs, while another acts like a hermit, hiding away from others in order to commune with the Gods. One might be waiting patiently for Lorgar to emerge from seclusion, while another might be working to confront him. Another might secretly believe that the Emperor was right, and if he could only gain an audience with Him, he could explain everything... There are infinite approaches for individuals that may offer some idea for background and modelling.

 

In addition, there's the opportunities to give groups their own character. Just as like-minded people gather together, so too might your Word Bearers. The more zealous might form a group, as might those nostalgic for the strict hierarchy and order of the Legions. Ideas for the individuals might suggest ideas for groups, and vice versa.

 

Good luck with this project. I love the work you've done so far – there's clearly a lot of thought and love that's gone into selecting the parts already. 

[Daemon2027]

Love it. Can't wait to see where this goes. Those firt few models look very promising.

[NoLats_McGee]

Great start, and a brilliant concept. I think this should give you a lot of freedom in how you make your army; both in physical terms and in terms of story. You write 'I really want to give each individual marine a story'. I've found a good first step in going about this is to work out the army concept – in your case 'They worship[...] chaos out of (misguided) necessity if not anything else, and hope[...] it could somehow 'liberate' the human race' – a really evocative idea.

 

The second step is to work out how each individual marine relates to that. Part of the appeal of Chaos is that it offers untrammelled freedom from rules and dogma. The tragedy is that the same freedom is ultimately from sanity and form. Nevertheless, the balance between unchanging misery and oppression (the Imperium) and entropic madness (Chaos) is one that all humans in 40k have to walk. While the force as a whole might believe in the goal (the army concept), the individuals will have different interpretations.

 

For example, one might see himself as a crusading, proselytising figure for the Pantheon; another might simply be going along with the idea because it's better to be amongst friends in an uncaring universe. One might be happy to be finally free to espouse his beliefs, while another acts like a hermit, hiding away from others in order to commune with the Gods. One might be waiting patiently for Lorgar to emerge from seclusion, while another might be working to confront him. Another might secretly believe that the Emperor was right, and if he could only gain an audience with Him, he could explain everything... There are infinite approaches for individuals that may offer some idea for background and modelling.

 

In addition, there's the opportunities to give groups their own character. Just as like-minded people gather together, so too might your Word Bearers. The more zealous might form a group, as might those nostalgic for the strict hierarchy and order of the Legions. Ideas for the individuals might suggest ideas for groups, and vice versa.

 

Good luck with this project. I love the work you've done so far – there's clearly a lot of thought and love that's gone into selecting the parts already. 

 

I've been thinking over this for a while, and one mistake I want to avoid is having every Marine in my army having the exact same thoughts or opinions. The story and background behind any army is very important to me, and helps me make most of my modelling decisions. 

 

I really liked the examples you listed for the interpretations, I might have to steal some. haha. All of the Word Bearers in this little warband are somewhat 'exiles' as they do not fit in with the more zealous members of their Legion. However, 'exile' is a broad term... I also plan on including astartes, squads and wargear from other legions in this army.

 

This isn't about a legion's glory anymore, this is about surviving. Some may want to survive to strike at the false Emperor again, and some may do so just because they have no idea what else to do.. Talon of Horus was a big inspiration for me. 

 

I've been following your Praetors of Calth for a few years now, and they are one of the blogs I have open in a Chrome tab when I'm modelling for inspiration - So it means a lot to know you see the thought and love that's gone into this, haha. This is the army I always imagined, one where I spend hours deciding what grenades and pouches to put on the one model. In the least OCD-possible way, of course.

 

 

[Flint13]

Cool beans!

 

The Scouring needs some love. 

 

Totes excited to see what you do here. 

[Noctem Cultor]

An interesting start.

[NoLats_McGee]

Well, I won't be able to do any more modelling for a couple of days until my new bitz arrive. But I DID order

> Some Mk II and IV backpacks
> A whole lot of extra pouches, grenades and 'operator' gear
> A whole lot of Grey Knight backpacks (Shave off the Inquisition symbols and you have perfect Word Bearer backpacks)

And a pair of running Mk VII sternguard legs for the squad sergeant. Being a sergeant, any Mk VII that could be scavenged will probably go to him. Whether I take the Mk VII thing further or not remains to be seen. 

Speaking of Grey Knights, removing the Imperial heraldry leads to some awesome Word Bearer parts. I also ordered one of their terminator back banners with the impaled book.. Hello, Vexilla. 

[EdT]

These are wonderful, and have a brilliant feel. I love the slightly corrupted look and they're going to look lovely in betrayer's red. I also really like the thought you're putting into the background. There's certainly a place for the moustache-twirling tendancy within the Word Bearers, but I've always found the other aspects far more interesting; the Vakrah Jal as noble, pious paladins of the Primordial Truth, the veterans who wholeheartedly follow Lorgar's vision for the Galaxy and are as sickened by the likes of Kor Phaeron and Erebus as they are saddened by the need to turn on their brothers, and so on... I'd have thought the other two interesting niches for charachter would be the former zealot whose faith was shattered by Horus' defeat, and the rapid worshipper of the Primordial Truth who suddenly realises that perhaps the Emperor was the more powerful god all along?

 

Anyhow, more please!

[GrandMagnus]

Nice idea, Im definetly following this thread. 

[Commissar Molotov]

I very much like the theme of this blog - really very inspiring. As you mention, it is sort of a halfway house between 30k and 40k - allowing you to do some very cool stuff. I look forward to reading more background! 

[NoLats_McGee]

These are wonderful, and have a brilliant feel. I love the slightly corrupted look and they're going to look lovely in betrayer's red. I also really like the thought you're putting into the background. There's certainly a place for the moustache-twirling tendancy within the Word Bearers, but I've always found the other aspects far more interesting; the Vakrah Jal as noble, pious paladins of the Primordial Truth, the veterans who wholeheartedly follow Lorgar's vision for the Galaxy and are as sickened by the likes of Kor Phaeron and Erebus as they are saddened by the need to turn on their brothers, and so on... I'd have thought the other two interesting niches for charachter would be the former zealot whose faith was shattered by Horus' defeat, and the rapid worshipper of the Primordial Truth who suddenly realises that perhaps the Emperor was the more powerful god all along?

 

Anyhow, more please!

The former zealot whose faith was shattered by Horus' Defeat... I'm going to have to steal that one! I love it!

 

One angle i'm running with here is the idea that these Word Bearers venerate Chaos out of necessity, but also excercise caution with it. They all see what it has done to their brothers (such as the World Eaters and a lot of their own Word Bearers) and do not want to end up that way. As EdT said, they saw the defeat of Horus as yet another reinforcement.

 

"Our path is the right one, and we deal with power which can transform us into gods amongst men, hell, even gods amongst the lesser gods of our legion. But power has always been a double-edged sword. We must deal with such things slowly, and exercise caution. Or else it stops being a manner of harnessing power, and a manner of power harnessing us."

 

I'm going to add some Word Bearers who are truly possessed and maddened by chaos to the point of being little more than mindless, raving daemonhosts. These guys are kept chained up, referred to as "the lost" and used as an example of 'flying too close to the sun'. But, like the powers themselves, they make effective weapons.

 

I also apologise for the lack of updates. I live in a small city in the middle of nowhere, so these bitz I ordered are taking a while to arrive. But soon, hopefully. 

[Veteran Sergeant]

I like the concept and what you've started with so far.

 

Interested to see where you go with it. I've always preferred the idea of the Traitors as bitter and defeated with nothing left to lose. After all, the guys who survived to retreat from Terra were the ones who didn't have the dignity to go out on their shields, and should be desperate and underequipped.

 

I think that was why the old 2nd Edition fluff Alpha Legion appealed to me so much. A bunch of hubristic guys who chose the wrong team, now fighting a 10,000 year long guerilla war against an overwhelmingly powerful opponent because they have no choice but they're too consumed by bitterness and hatred to give it up.

 

And don't apologize for a lack of updates after three days. Some of us who will go unnamed sometimes only produce a few updates a year, lol.

[NoLats_McGee]

A few bad photos to keep everyone updated, at least until I manage to make a proper light box set-up.. Haha.

I finished kitting out my squad with an overload of pouches, grenades, anything to give them that operator aesthetic. As I previously said, I think all Space Marines (even Chaos ones) should have that aesthetic. However this applies even more for traitor marines during the Scouring in my mind, as who knows when they'll manage to get a resupply? Not to mention the idea of traitor marines operating in protracted grinding campaigns for weeks on end while they're hunted down by loyalists makes me a little too excited

 

http://i.imgur.com/GrxapM8.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/X3IVjDZ.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/jucYh6i.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/7CKOLgk.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/XDjyAEZ.jpg

 

And some close ups of the former breacher. I tried to tailor his 'gear' to give him the parts and tools that a breacher would have had.

 

http://i.imgur.com/QsXwmqx.jpg

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/T1c2iZA.jpg

 

One dilemma I'm having is whether or not to give these guys a few skulls/trophies hanging from the waist with the pouches. While I do want to avoid moustache-twirling, they also have to look Chaotic.. They are Word Bearers after all. The bitz have enough stars and arrows to look chaotic, but let me know if you guys think I could do a bit more. 

So yeah, C&C, and please forgive my photography. Haha.

[GrandMagnus]

I think you could add some skulls with maybe some caotic symbols on there, but only for the more devoted members of the squads, that will also give some personality to them. The leaked images of the next HH book show WB during the battle on calth decorating themselves with brass horns and skulls.

[NoLats_McGee]

Sounds good, I'll get to work on giving these guys a few skull trophies when I get the time. Obviously due to the aesthetic of the army not every marine will have one, but I'll scatter them out.

 

Also, with horns, I was actually thinking of giving them to sergeants, subcommanders and other high ranking marines. Kind of like a badge of office - a chaotic version of the crest.

[GhostMalone]

I like the idea of chaos without the over the top horns, I like them being soldiers foremost.

 

Plus they just loss the heresy and haven't yet found their deamon hell hole of a new home yet

[NoLats_McGee]

Okay guys.. Try not to get too excited, but... Basecoats! 

I also added a few extra scrolls/parchments to the marines, along with some skulls and other grisly trophies. This is following the feedback I've gotten so far, to make them look that little bit more chaotic. 

C&C on this thrilling update guys!

http://i.imgur.com/vJUiAt0.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/Lb8mjnz.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/oiRFxVq.jpg

 

Remind me to get this guy some superglue, the cataclysmic blast of the spray paint seems to have knocked his topknot off.

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/oFkc3ff.jpg

 

Also, leaving the blu-tak on the backpack connector is an old golden demon trick.. I hope.

 

http://i.imgur.com/zsTtJwV.jpg

[Urauloth]

These kitbashes are looking incredible and I'm hype as hell to see where this goes. I really love the way FW heresy-era kits combine with 40k chaos stuff, it's what I'm doing with my own Word Bearers . I've never seen a scouring-era force before, it's an interesting theme. Looking forward to seeing what you do with the GK backpacks.