From the Forges of Ghalmek

[Apostle of the 30th Host]

From the Forges of Ghalmek:

A Dark Mechanicum WIP

 

 

 

"The path of the Omnissiah has left humanity dithering in the darkness, incapable of advancing on the paths of knowledge. Embracing the warp reveals technology that the primitives on Mars could never dream of wielding."

— Magos Caine of the Five-Fold Path

 

 

 

Heretek Magus - (WiP)

 

 

(Current Components - Base Model: Warriors of Chaos Sorcerer Lord. Head: Sicarian Ruststalker Princep. 'Tail': Sicarian Prehensile Dataspike)

 

 

Coming Soon - Golephic Assassination Squad (Sicarian Ruststalkers)

 

 

‘The Golephic Heresy was discovered by the Ordos Calixis in 419.M41 when the forces of Inquisitor Embuleos, prosecuting Mechanicus renegades, were ravaged by faceless machine assassins built in the form of men. Inhumanly clever, fast, and silent, the machines stalked their victims by sound and heat-radiance before slaughtering them with ancient powerblades. Though at great cost, Embuleos was ultimately triumphant and discovered enough in the heretek ruins to put a name to these echoes of the Dark Age of Technology: Golephs…A Goleph's limbs are smooth and long, the human-sized body sleek and the head featureless; its outer shell betrays no sign or noise of the mechanisms within. Even Golephic hereteks have little knowledge of the origins of their forbidden lore. They toil in ignorance upon Goleph mind-pattern devices, seeking secrets of the Man-Machine within this dangerous archeotech. A Goleph machine is cast in the pattern of a man, is cunning as a man, and can hate as only a man can -- an active Goleph is an unrestrained murderer. To establish control, early hereteks crafted Golephic Keys, devices designed to communicate crude sigils of instruction and castigate disobedience by disruption of mind-pathways. A punished Goleph gives every appearance of torment—thrashing and writhing in silence, and then moved to sullen obedience or careful misinterpretation of sigils. A Goleph newly raised from safe storage in a stasis field is malevolent in aspect, pausing to weigh obedience to sigil-instructions against an attempt to slaughter its masters and destroy its Key’

- WH40k Wiki

 

(Inspirational Artwork)

 

(Base Models: Sicarian Ruststalkers)

[Forté]

Bring on those pictures you tease :tu:

[Castellan Cato]

That Magus! So simple, yet so beautiful

[Olis]

Marvellous conversion brother. Welcome to B&C, by the way. Would you care to be interested in the current Liber Challenge? :)

[Pearson73]

Great looking Heretek!

[Apostle of the 30th Host]

@Forte - Haha, would have thought a Slaaneshi worshiper would enjoy that! ;P Pictures now up though by the way, hope you'll enjoy.

@Castellan Cato - Thank you! It's not quite finished yet though, want to add a servo harness but waiting for the parts to arrive

@Thank you brother! And thank you for your welcome. Yes, I saw that actually, looks fun. Some point between now and the deadline is my uni exam period though so I'll have to see what spare time I have. Might try a quick search for ideas, info and make a draft/plan type thing over the next few days. If I'm happy with it, it will cut my work load as I'll only need to touch it up then will definitely take part. I assume no one will care if I work on it now, then vow later if I think I can complete in time?

@Pearson73 - Cheers

Golephic Assassination Squad (WiP)

Goleph No.1 will have a pair of these blades.

Goleph No.2 a pair of hook blades.

Goleph No.3 will have the serrated blade in his left hand (facing down like a blocking weapon) and the knife in his right.

Goleph No.4 will have the curved serrated blade in his right hand (again pointing downwards) and the cleaver type knife in his left.

Goleph No.5 (probably the Princeps as he is my favourite due to the awesome Ninja block pose) will have the long blade in his left had and the short blade in his right.

[Olis]

I assume no one will care if I work on it now, then vow later if I think I can complete in time?

 

So long as you pledge and complete an article in time, the order in which you do the two hardly matters. ;)

[Aristeo]

That Magus is pure awesome.

[Scribe]

This is pure awesome. If the scale on those weapons is right thats a rocking kitbash!

[Apostle of the 30th Host]

@Olis - Decided to enter! Turns out I had already written a lot of the relevant material up as I had been planning a Dark Mechanicum army for a while. The new Skitarii stuff just convinced me.

@Aristeo - Thanks!

@Scribe - Cheers!! Turns out the weapons are the perfect scale! At least they were the size I had imagined when I ordered them.

Golephic Assassination Squad (WiP 2)

New Project: Murder Gholams (Sicarian Infiltrators)

I wanted to try and use the rest of the Wracks kit after raiding it for parts for my Golephs. As one of the major heresies of the Dark Mechanicus is their use of forbidden fleshworks I thought the Wracks would look perfect for the results of such experiments. I imagined them as having a bionic skeletal structure with flesh grafted on after. I decided on the Taser/Fletchette Blaster pairing as these guys would be most likely to pick on weaker targets anyway due to low toughness so the extra hits from the taser combined with extra attacks from the fletchette blaster being a pistol should combine very nicely.

'A Gholam is an artificial construct made primarily of flesh and synthetic tissue by the arts of a gene-sculptor. Although a widespread technology within the Adeptus Mechanicus, many branches of this lore are considered heretical and forbidden. These, in particular, include so-called "Murder Gholams" -- horrific organic fabrications solely intended for violence. According to sacred legend, such fleshworks were forbidden by the word of the Emperor during the days of the Great Crusade in response to the horrors that he and his superhuman warriors encountered in the Unification Wars on Terra to end the Age of Strife'

- WH40k Wiki

[Forté]

All working really well. You taking part in this year's ETL?

[Apostle of the 30th Host]

@Forte - Thanks a lot! :D Yeah, definitely!!! I can't wait! Obviously I'll be painting for Chaos, however I'm not sure where I stand on any of my models really. Will Dark Mechanicum using Codex: Skitarii be allowed to vow for Chaos? Or will I have to proxy them as something else for the purposes of points values?

[Castellan Cato]

Dude!  Those are spectacular!  If I ever get around to a squad of those, I'm stealing your ideas.

[RolandTHTG]

Oh do those look good.

[Forté]

I'll run that past Captain Semper for you.

[Apostle of the 30th Host]

@Castellan Cato - Thank you so much!! And please do, I would be flattered to see anyone attempting to replicate my work :D

 

@RolandTHTG - Cheers!

 

@Forte - Thanks man, please do let me know how that goes.

[Forté]

Sad news I'm afraid.

 

If you use the Skittari Codex you'll have to vow for the Adeptus Mechanicum forum. Or proxy them as cultists. Your call but what ever you do, post the progress here as it's great seeing projects like this.

[Apostle of the 30th Host]

@Forte - That's a shame. I would much rather vow for Chaos as I have a load of other chaos stuff I wanted to include too including a couple of Contemptors. Imperial Armour 13 has options for a Dark Mechanicus themed force of renegades (Heretek-Magos Devotion) so I'm sure I can find proxies within this list to vow for chaos if that's alright?

 

 

Liberalia Martiale:

The Dark Mechanicus of Ghalmek

 

01001001 Apostle of the 30^th Host, 01110110 01101111 01110111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100011 01110010 01100101 01100001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01100001 00100000 01000100 01100001 01110010 01101011 00100000 01001101 01100101 01100011 01101000 01100001 01101110 01101001 01100011 01110101 01110011 00100000 01000011 01100001 01100010 01100001 01101100 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01101000 01101111 01101110 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01000100 01100001 01110010 01101011 00100000 01000111 01101111 01100100 01110011 00100001 00100000 01100010 01111001 00100000 00110110 01110000 01101101 00100000 01000111 01001101 01010100 00101011 00110001 00100000 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 00110001 00110111 01110100 01101000 00100000 01001101 01100001 01111001 00101110

 

 

 

Mechanicum Classification – (Expedition Force XXX)

 

01000101 01111000 01110000 01100101 01100100 01101001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110

 

01000110 01101111 01110010 01100011 01100101

 

01011000 01011000 01011000

 

As dictated by the Treaty of Ghalmek, all Hosts of the Word Bearers Legion operating within the Maelstrom must be accompanied by a Dark Mechanicum Expedition Force in order to facilitate the acquisition of Dark Age Technology, Xenos relics or any other artefact of interest to the Magi of Ghalmek, if such artefacts are believed to be encountered. Of particular interest is data relevant to the Standard Template Construct.

 

+++ The Classification Number refers to the Host to which the Expedition Force is attached +++

 

Ghalmek

 

Ghalmek is a Daemon World located in the Maelstrom. It is under the control of the Word Bearers Legion and serves as their primary base in that area to launch Black Crusades against the Imperium.

 

The planet was once an Adeptus Mechanicus Forge World; having originally been conquered and settled by the Word Bearers Legion during the Great Crusade, who turned the planet over to their accompanying Exploratory Fleet to set up a supply base for their forces within the area. At the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, the Mechanicum of Ghalmek turned on their loyalist compatriots and sided with the Word Bearers, who had supplied them with many artefacts from the crusade in return for their support and the maintenance of their equipment. This was later ratified by the Treaty of Ghalmek following the Scouring.

 

Consumed by the warp/realspace overlap of the Maelstrom, Ghalmek was permanently occupied by the Word Bearers forces in the Maelstrom Zone as a primary base for their heretical activities in the area and to ensure the maintenance of their alliance with the Dark Mechanicum. It was not long before the planet was transformed into a Daemon World, swelling the power of the Hell Forges of the Dark Mechanicum.
 

Origins of Expedition Force XXX

 

The Dark Mechanicum force classified as Expedition Force XXX is a relatively new subsect of the Dark Mechanicus of Ghalmek. It was created as an attaché to the re-formed Word Bearers 30^th Host (who had been relocated from Sicarus, in the Eye of Terror, to the Maelstrom) in compliance with the Treaty of Ghalmek.

 

+++ Notes on the 30^th Host +++

 

The Word Bearers 30^th Host is reported to have been wiped out on the surface of Boros Prime following the arrival of an enormous Necron force in the system. Contradictory information has since been received from a series of worlds on the fringes of the Maelstrom which have identified the 30^th Host as being very much active and at significant strength.

 

Further information on the matter is pending Inquisitorial investigation…

 

Colours and Identifiable Markings

 

Reports identify the Dark Mechanicum Expedition Force XXX as being garbed in the standard wargear of an Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarius, however their exposure to the powers of the warp have muted the red of their robes and many areas of their once pristine war plate have become dulled and corroded.  It is said that the Dark Mechanicum of Ghalmek retained the symbol of their previous allegiance, the Crux Mechanicus, on their armour, welcoming the corrupting energies of the warp there most as a further blasphemy to the holy Omnissiah. Squads are identifiable by a symbol on the front right of their robes, whilst many also choose to decorate their robes with various Chaos Sigils and a mix of text in Binary and High Gothic.

 

Dark Technology

 

+++ The following list describes the known Tech Heresies and Dark Technology in the service of the Dark Mechanicus Expedition Force XXX. It was compiled by various Inquisitorial reports and supplemented by data from the Adeptus Mechanicus +++

 

Goleph:

‘The Golephic Heresy was discovered by the Ordos Calixis in 419.M41 when the forces of Inquisitor Embuleos, prosecuting Mechanicus renegades, were ravaged by faceless machine assassins built in the form of men. Inhumanly clever, fast, and silent, the machines stalked their victims by sound and heat-radiance before slaughtering them with ancient powerblades. Though at great cost, Embuleos was ultimately triumphant and discovered enough in the heretek ruins to put a name to these echoes of the Dark Age of Technology: Golephs…A Goleph's limbs are smooth and long, the human-sized body sleek and the head featureless; its outer shell betrays no sign or noise of the mechanisms within. Even Golephic hereteks have little knowledge of the origins of their forbidden lore. They toil in ignorance upon Goleph mind-pattern devices, seeking secrets of the Man-Machine within this dangerous archeotech. A Goleph machine is cast in the pattern of a man, is cunning as a man, and can hate as only a man can -- an active Goleph is an unrestrained murderer. To establish control, early hereteks crafted Golephic Keys, devices designed to communicate crude sigils of instruction and castigate disobedience by disruption of mind-pathways. A punished Goleph gives every appearance of torment—thrashing and writhing in silence, and then moved to sullen obedience or careful misinterpretation of sigils. A Goleph newly raised from safe storage in a stasis field is malevolent in aspect, pausing to weigh obedience to sigil-instructions against an attempt to slaughter its masters and destroy its Key’

 

Murder Gholam:

'A Gholam is an artificial construct made primarily of flesh and synthetic tissue by the arts of a gene-sculptor. Although a widespread technology within the Adeptus Mechanicus, many branches of this lore are considered heretical and forbidden. These, in particular, include so-called "Murder Gholams" -- horrific organic fabrications solely intended for violence. According to sacred legend, such fleshworks were forbidden by the word of the Emperor during the days of the Great Crusade in response to the horrors that he and his superhuman warriors encountered in the Unification Wars on Terra to end the Age of Strife'

 

 Members of Note

 

Arch-Heretek Luthor

 

The Arch-Heretek Luthor (formally Archmagos Prime Lexus Luthor), is a high ranking Magos amongst the ranks of the Dark Magi of Ghalmek and Field Commander of Expedition Force XXX. As a former Archmagos Prime of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Luthor is a master of strategy and has access to some of the finest armaments and defences. For the majority of operations, he commands his forces from the safety of the Word Bearers fleet in orbit, however, in major engagements or when overseeing the recovery of volatile artefacts, he will take to the field in person.

 

Khur’Vharadesh, Knight Paladin of Ghalmek

 

Mechanicus Identification Number: 01000111 01101000 01100001 01101100 01101101 01100101 01101011

(Translates to G-H-A-L-M-E-K)

 

+++ Identifies the Heretical Knight as being in the service of the Dark Mechanicus Forgeworld of Ghalmek +++
 

Imperial records suggest Khur’Vharadesh was once a member of Knight House (redacted) which was in league with the Mechanicus of Ghalmek before the Heresy. It is believed House (redacted) was divided during the Heresy with those that survived the destruction of their world taking up service with the Dark Mechanicus, before being inducted into the Word Bearers Legion upon their occupation of Ghalmek and union with the Hereteks residing there.

 

+++ All further details concerning the origins of the ‘Knights of Ghalmek’ have been expunged from Imperial Records by Inquisitorial Decree +++

 

+++ Note on naming conventions +++

 

It has been suggested that many of the ‘Knights of Ghalmek’ changed their names following the Horus Heresy to reflect their new allegiance. The name Khur’Vharadesh refers to the world Khur, pride of the Word Bearers efforts in the Great Crusade and origins of their betrayal and Vharadesh, the capital city of Colchis

Significant Engagements

 

M41 - Expedition Force XXX accompanied the Word Bearers 30^th Host in their assault on the three inhabited planets of the Crixes System at the fringes of the Maelstrom. The Word Bearers 30^th Host was targeting the system for its capital, Crixes Prime, an Ecclesiastical World, and beacon of hope for the surrounding systems.

XXX was dispatched as the Magi of Ghalmek believed the world had once been inhabited by the Eldar before the great crusade and an ancient Eldritch artefact of great power was rumoured to have been buried beneath the vaults of the world’s Cathedral Imperialis. Furthermore, Arch-Heretek Luthor wished to field test his newest creation, the Goleph; they would later be formed into Golephic Assassination Squads due to their success in eliminating various noteworthy Imperial Officials during the campaign.

 

Threat Level

 

Whilst the fall of any Adeptus Mechanicus technology into the hands of Chaos is a significant risk to the safety of the Imperium, the Inquisition has deemed Expedition Force XXX to be of only a moderate threat level. This is in part due to the fact that the Dark Magi of Ghalmek appear to be more interested in their hunt for STC templates and other sources of ancient technology; only committing resources equivalent to the value of the artefacts they seek to recover. As a result, they are only a direct threat when such an agenda is in conflict with the forces of the Imperium or the safety of an Imperial World.

Their relationship with the Word Bearers is a much greater concern however as much of their recovered technology is of great benefit in their attempts to destroy the Imperium. We can rest assured however as although mutually beneficial, their relationship is also fractious and many attempts to operate in cohesion are subverted by conflicting agendas. The fanatical doctrine of the Word Bearers is incomprehensible to the cold logic of the Dark Magi whilst the Word Bearers mistrust any who do not share their faith whist viewing any non-Astartes as a lesser being.

[K0rtmer]

Oh, wow, what a fantastic start of an army. Welcome to this little corner of B&C. 

 

I love your golephs. Your posing is very dynamic and the weapon swaps work wonder. I can't wait to see them painted. Do you have any particular paint scheme in mind already?

Hmm ... must resist buying the Ruststalker box.

[Targetlock]

nice work, its thread like this that are tempting me to do a dark mechanicus force when the cult mechanicus codex comes out :)

 

Another cool dark heresy unit you could use is the Maletek stalker: http://extraheresy.wikia.com/wiki/Maletek_Stalker there is loads of info throughout the dark heresy books and in the black crusade ones for stuff on dark mechanicus and malatek technology :)

[Apostle of the 30th Host]

@Brother Kortmer - Thanks mate! Cheers. Not especially for the Golephs as they are mainly metal so will likely be a variation on my basic Skitarii. But if you see below, here is my test model for my Dark Mechanicum Skitarii - I'm happy with it, just need to weather the bottoms of the robes and was thinking of adding some Chaos sigils to the robes too as it is a large area of flat colour otherwise.
Haha, I would throughly recommend buying them, they are a great kit and very easy to convert.

@Targetlock - Thanks I thought about doing the same but as I imagine there will be a lot of cross over between the Skitarii and the full Adeptus Mechanicus Codex I couldn't resist starting
Yeah, I saw those. Was thinking of making them my converted Wracks but I felt the 'Murder Gholams fitted better. Was definitely thinking of one way to fit them in.

Dark Mechanicum Skitarii - Test Model

(Was thinking of adding some Chaos stars or other symbols to the robes to break up the colour a bit - probably just in the corners of the split in the front?)

[Eldrick Shadowblade]

Looking great, excited to see more. I think that robe is most definitely begging to be twisted in chaos runes!

[Olis]

 

Dark Mechanicum Skitarii - Test Model

 

 

(Was thinking of adding some Chaos stars or other symbols to the robes to break up the colour a bit - probably just in the corners of the split in the front?)

 

Maybe a quarter of a Chaos star in the robe corners? Right where the usual decals normally go, I think there might be good to start with. Then maybe some arrows on the hood lip on the models that have a hood, in a similar fashion to how a crenellated stripe would be depicted. Just a suggestion. 

[Apostle of the 30th Host]

@Eldrick Shadowblade - Thanks! Yeah, I was feeling the same.

@Olis - Funny you should say that actually as it is exactly what I had already done! Take a look below. The arrow on the hood is a nice suggestion too, will try that, cheers

Dark Mechanicum Skitarii - Markings

(From Left to Right: 1/4 Chaos Star in one corner, Squad Marking - Alpha in this case as it is my first squad - in the opposite corner, and as he is the squad leader, Ghalmek is written across the back of his robe in a mix of Binary and High Gothic as the Tech Slaves just can't quite make their mind up)

Dark Mechanicum Skitarii - Finished

[Olis]

@Olis - Funny you should say that actually as it is exactly what I had already done! Take a look below. The arrow on the hood is a nice suggestion too, will try that, cheers

Great minds... :D