Officia Monstrosa – Iron Warriors

[apologist]

Oh dear, sorry to hear that. :s

Try the Death of a Rubricist link in my signature; it's the latest post on my blog, so it should take you through.

[Reyner]

That battle looked awesome, both armies look epic!

[apologist]

Link to the Battle Report seems to work on desktop; how's this for mobile?

http://apologentsia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/inload-battle-of-miticas.html?m=1

[Brother Aiwass]

I found this plog looking for painting tutorial, can't believe I missed it, is truly awesome. Now I want to do a true-scale marine army and this would be a financial disaster!  

[Monstra Sumus]

Inspired fella, maybe I'll pull my finger out and get painting properly now I've seen such a display. 

[MagicMan]

Just wanted to say how much ive enjoyed reading this log.

 

Its filled to the brim with so much fantastic modelling, painting and literary inspiration.

 

I love your take on the IW, it matches the ideas in my head almost perfectly. Right down to the Macedonian/Greek inspired rank names.

 

You remain at the tippity-top of the B&C awesome list.

 

 

As an aside, turns out that Master Crafted Miniatures guy lives in the same town as me! Definitely going to order a few bits from him.

[apologist]

The pleasure's all mine – thanks for the kind words :)

 

Now, a bit of bad news that I hope the B&C noosphere can help with:

 

+ Malcode ++

Picasa Web Albums (the image hosting site I use for B&C) has gone the way of all flesh, and I'm at a bit of a loss for what to get to replace it. I wondered if I could ask the noosphere for some advice, so please do let me know if you have any suggestions.

 

+ Theoretical +
Google is migrating the Picasaweb service across to Google Photos. Unfortunately, this new service seems to revolve entirely around social media, so while it'd probably work here, there doesn't seem to be any way to show photos on discussion fora like Bolter & Chainsword. 

I've used Photobucket in the past, but while I could head back there, it's a mess of ads these days.

 

+ Practical +
Can anyone suggest a similar service to Picasaweb that will let me organise and share images? Ideally free, but the critical thing is that it allows me to get the link to post to discussion fora.

[Reyner]

You could just use the B&C gallery? 

[Skalpynock]

Photobucket has the major disadvantage of not allowing pics to be displayed by themselves, wich is terrible when trying to zoom on mobile. The B&C gallery system I have yet to find a flaw in.

[Brother Aiwass]

I usually upload my images in my wordpress (3 Gb of space in the free version), but there is also other sites that can be good; Google + lets you organize into albums and I guess imgur looks very cool too (didn't tried, cannot be bothered to register to another site). Hope it helps.

[jimbo13]

Imgur?

[Brother Aiwass]

Imgur?

http://imgur.com/

[Soldier of Dorn]

Yeah, if you're posting to several different sites, Imgur's probably your best option. They recently switched to a new layout, though, and it's not as simple as it used to be to use for photo hosting. But it's most definitely a good option.

[Noserenda]

Yeah Photobucket turning awful was the nail in the coffin of me plogging bar Facebook, though i do keep meaning to get back into it!

[apologist]

Thanks for all the help. I've been experimenting with 500px, but that's proven a dead end (B&C don't allow the image extension they use). Fortunately, I've found a back-door to use Picasa via my blog, so I can keep using that for a little while. Not sure what the long-term solution is, but...

 

Anyway – WIP Domitar-Ferrum Battle Automaton:

 

Beyond the greenstuff work on the 'mask', this is a standard Conqueror robot. The base is built up with cork (I bought some coasters for a quid or so – a useful cheap source of manageably small amounts of cork), to which I've added coarse pumice gel. To be honest, it's a bit too coarse for this scale –  I would recommend a finer grit gel if you want to try it out. That said, it does work well to build up texture, and you can always mix it with fine sand or overlay texture paint on top to ameliorate it.

 

Anyway, thought it might be useful – I'll try and keep a photo record of the stages of basing in case anyone wants to try it out.

[Andvarr A]

*runs the risk of thread-romancy* dammit man some awesome stuff...I need to get my own finger out n do something

[Kelborn]

Oh my holy Iron Lord!

 

During my search for inspiring IW threads, I found this one and it blew my mind, although I'm just halfway through it.

 

Excellent work! Keep it up!

Want to create a campaing (only fluff) and an Iron Warrior Grand Batallion for Lord Thorns Iron Within! challenge. This thread convinced me to do that. ^^

You made the IW look pretty bad-ass and they semmingly received more love for the details than in most (if not all) other IW threads in here. :tu:

 

Your work gave me a couple of ideas of how to deal with them. Thanks for that! :D

[The laughing raven]

will you do a compilation of your short stories and the documentaries? have to say has made my last shift in work much more entertaining!

[Dosjetka]

I'm a tad late but Flickr gives you buckets of space (for free), doesn't compress your pictures (making them horrible to look at), and is easy to use. I'd suggest checking if it suits your needs. :)

[apologist]

+++

The officer looked down. 'Iron without, certainly'. He glanced around, disinterestedly. 'Looks mainly like he was meat and blood, within.' Another dead Iron Warrior couldn't be mourned. Not here. Not now. Deep underground, the Officia Monstrosa had not seen daylight for a long time – not that there was any to be found on the scorched surface.

 

By the accounts of the fragmented reports – by necessity, gathered from psychic spore by their Biblios – the surface was apocalyptic. The seas had boiled. The land, always hard, had become rad-scorched and haunted by the strange beings of the between-veil. It was constantly tormented by tectonic shifts, as though the bones of Old Earth were trying to shake off its monstrous children. Billions, if not trillions, were dead, displaced, or had been driven insane.

 

'Within. Without. All over the sarding place.' the other Iron Warrior's tone was flat, measured. 'Another dead eidikos. We're dangerously close to a statistical likelihood of failure, Cjarn.' The officer whipped around, bristling, his fingers playing on his axes.

 

'You will remember your place, legionary!' he barked. In an instant, from nothing, the Captain's face had become taut and white with bald fury, the tendons on his neck and veins on his forehead suddenly prominent, one eyelid flickering wildly. 'I couldn't give two steaming :cusss whether I confront the Old Stone with the Warmaster's Legions gathered at my back, or crawl at him single-handed and bare-arsed. As long as one of us lives to place one solid cut on that stone-faced, black-hearted monster, we continue. Dorn is going to rot in a cage; blind, mewling and limbless – forever.' 

 

The two stood facing for a moment, the slits in the legionary's blank faceplate giving nothing away. Cjarn's eyes were chilling, empty, utterly consumed by an insane and bottomless hatred. After a moment, the legionary bowed his head. Cjarn's face snapped back to its customary emotionless mask, nothing apparent remaining of the outburst, save for a speck of froth at the corner of his mouth.

 

'We'll need Charisto's gun.' the legionary said, without rancour. Captain Cjarn gave a curt, controlled nod, and the legionary bent to salvage what he could from the dead Iron Warrior.

 

They no longer observed the rituals of obscuring the honour marks. Honour was becoming a foreign concept in this war.

 

+++

 

*runs the risk of thread-romancy* dammit man some awesome stuff...I need to get my own finger out n do something

Ta very much – would be very happy to see what you come up with

 

Oh my holy Iron Lord!

 

During my search for inspiring IW threads, I found this one and it blew my mind, although I'm just halfway through it.

 

Excellent work! Keep it up!

Want to create a campaing (only fluff) and an Iron Warrior Grand Batallion for Lord Thorns Iron Within! challenge. This thread convinced me to do that. ^^

You made the IW look pretty bad-ass and they semmingly received more love for the details than in most (if not all) other IW threads in here.

 

Your work gave me a couple of ideas of how to deal with them. Thanks for that!

Again, thanks very much – it's very gratifying to hear people enjoy my musings and stories; and if it gets someone enjoying their hobby in another light, that's fantastic

 

will you do a compilation of your short stories and the documentaries? have to say has made my last shift in work much more entertaining!

Coo, that's something I hadn't considered. Maybe one day.

 

+++

 

+ State of play +
I've not painted anything new for the Officia Monstrosa project recently, but equally I haven't shown you the squads in a completely finished state, with transfers, squad markings and so forth. I broke the Iron Warriors out for a photoshoot, so I'll be posting those up soon, along with some proper shots of the Leviathan and accompanying bits. Golg, while not strictly part of the project, is also all ready to be shown!

 

As I think I mentioned earlier, I'm impressed with the transfers. They're something I don't think I ever used – I was always wanting to push my freehand skills. Nowadays, I'm a bit more confident in my detail work, and so I feel happy to see transfers as another string to the bow. I think it's best to keep pushing and trying new tools and techniques: there's nothing inherently good or bad in how you paint.

 

+ Markings of the Officia Monstrosa +
Metallic schemes can suffer from looking a bit dull, or even unfinished; and so adding some eye-catching details is important. Compare the two figures below:

 

 

 

Both are finished to the same degree, but the first includes yellow markings around the faceplate along with a bright blue glare from the cycloptic eye lens. As a result, he's a more satisfying figure to look at. The other is very anonymous – useful if that's the effect you're going for, but certainly not great for a standalone or centrepiece figure.

 

In terms of an army, sometimes it's good to have anonymous background models – think of them as the frame which serves to bring the viewer's eye to the models you're most proud of. That said, they should still receive attention – the armour of the second figure above still includes a level of tonal variation and detail; simply not as much as the other. 

 

Details like the yellow band on the pauldron and hazard markings on the boltgun can break up and enliven muted schemes.

Edited October 6, 2016 by Apologist

[Andvarr A]

Never thought of it that way. That's actually a good point to raise on the subject of monotonous colours I.e. iron or maybe brass/bronze-y armours.

 

Certainly centerpoint colours like face markings/chevrons make it go "hey, over here" whilst still maintaining that overall cohesive clench.

 

As for my stuff...yeah I'm ironing out the background fluff - hard to make it so that you're not directly going "hey we're this, but we're actually this!" Without overtly making a giant cluster of it.

 

Still think the officia monstrosa is damned interesting. Will we see some updated inner circle robots soon???

 

Plus, wondering if you've been able to refine the true scale evolution of parts yet? I have some ideas, based on other people's efforts, but to air them would essentially border on breaking the rules.

 

Over to you Iron Maester

[apologist]

+ Made for Better Things +

 

 

I know how hard it is in Latian verse/
To tell the dark discoveries of the Greeks/
Chiefly because our pauper-speech must find/
Strange terms to fit the strangeness of the thing//

 

[+++]

 

This terror, then, this darkness of the mind/
Not sunrise with its flaring spokes of light/
Nor glittering arrows of morning can disperse/
But only Nature's aspect and her law/
Which, teaching us, hath this exordium:/
Nothing from nothing ever yet was born//

 

+ extr. Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, Book I +

 

+ I remember initial issue. I was assigned to the Euthytonoi; Muster 442. Anti-vehicle; anti-fortification. Multi-meltas. +

 

+ Maxima-pattern, 22–27 Megathule output multi-meltas. Vape-guns. Cookers. Death rays. Heat radiation of an intensity that blistered rock. Against organics, ruinous; deleterious. I took mine in my hands. My multi-melta. +

 

+ Torrent. +

 

+ Most of Muster 442's work was second-line; but Torrent became a living thing when I was called to serve against the Kine on Sensiva. I remember washing the blindray over the first greenskins at a hundred yards – premature – ill-disciplined. I was flogged, later. +

 

+ The kine only flinched, and squinted, and kept on coming. A second burst at eighty-five yards (again, too early, too eager) raised blisters and made their war-cry into a howl of pain. After that, discipline – and the necessity of not cooking off the ventscreen – made me wait. At thirty yards, Palatarch Cebrail gave the order, and my Mustermates and I vapourised the kine. The multimeltas simply washed them away, converting them to a cloud of black-grey ash in an instant. +

 

+ Their charge, and the suddenly still air, carried them onwards, bodiless, voiceless, lifeless. The cloud wrapped around us, coating us in the death of xenos. It felt like vaftiz –a baptism of ash. +

 

+++

 

+ Later, Torrent tasted on Terra. It was different there. My hands were not as still as they should have been. Blood was sheeting down my torso, my loins, my legs. My blood. Below the abdomen, I was crimson. +

 

+ Still, I held Torrent. The yellow-armoured figure rose in front of me, and I pulled the trigger. +

 

+ Torrent caught it on her vid-capture. Recorded it; though the sonics were corrupt. I have watched it since, many times, very slowly. The haze and dust in the air is filtered out; so there is simply an odd wavering in the visuals. It is mesmeric. The figure's plasma rifle wilts and folds like wax for an instant; before it abruptly changes colour as the radiator coils catch and spring up. They begin to spring away as the barrel folds back like a flower. The Legionary's lead gauntlet and forearm begin to course and spray, before igniting; white-hot. +

 

+ He has not yet taken a second step, but his momentum is carrying him forward. All of a sudden, his torso and helmet and pauldron begin to distort, as though they are wax held before a hearth. Tiny waves appear in his armour as the power of Torrent pushes and pushes – until a dozen tiny motes appear: weaknesses, or damage, or chips in his armour. They flash, magnesium-bright, and grow like yawning mouths, hungry and incandescent. +

 

+ Here I always dial the vid-capture down to the slowest setting; losing the illusion of motion and breaking the motion into jumpy still images. Even so, it is quick. Barely seven frames split the figure from completeness to an empty husk. There is one image that I fixate upon most strongly. The frontispiece of his helm flakes away and reveals – for one frame alone – his mouth. It is distorted and red. +

 

+ By the next it is black and unrecognisable. +

 

+ By the next he is gone. +

+++

 

Palatarch Cebrail

 

Muster 442, Euthytonoi Heavy Support Squad

 

Muster 442; note Legion IV Heavy Support designate-ikons and microauspex vis-panels

 

+++

 

 

 

Plus, wondering if you've been able to refine the true scale evolution of parts yet? I have some ideas, based on other people's efforts, but to air them would essentially border on breaking the rules.

Happy to help if you're after any advice or encouragement, but not entirely sure what you mean by 'evolution of parts', I'm afraid :/

 

 

 

Still think the officia monstrosa is damned interesting. Will we see some updated inner circle robots soon???

Thanks; it's a blast to write, model and paint. :)
I've had a lot less time for painting recently, but I'm hoping to get some brushwork done soon. Might well be the robot – or robots of some sort, as  I've had a bit of enthusiasm for Mechanicus recently.

[Luna707]

Wow, truly haunting, I am especially partial to this bit:

 

"Their charge, and the suddenly still air, carried them onwards, bodiless, voiceless, lifeless. The cloud wrapped around us, coating us in the death of xenos. It felt like vaftiz –a baptism of ash. "

 

I love these random snippets if story, they add so much character to your miniatures. Also Lucretiuos! Excellent quote choice!

[apologist]

+ Black-hearted bastards of the Basilikoi +

 

 

An old rogue makes the best watchman.
 

+ Proverb, archaic. Provenance unknown. +

 

The Basilikoi Lodges were not organised into Musters, as were the rest of the Great Company, but rather were set as overseers to monitor the other Musters, giving rise to their alternative High Gothic title, Invigilati. Needless to say, this did nothing to dispel the Iron Warriors' reputation as paranoiac obsessives.

 

While this reputation had some basis in fact – certainly towards the later years of the Horus Heresy, as Perturabo's humours became increasingly mercurial – the original purpose of Invigilation had a very worthwhile origin as an effective safety valve for the Musters.

 

As with all groups of fighting men, their sense of competition – mostly positive and outwardly directed – often led to friction and occasionally threatened to erupt into violence. The stand-offish nature that most of the IVth's legionaries cultivated in imitation of their master meant that these bursts of violence were more unexpected and lethal than in the other Legions; who often had ritualised methods of dispersing such tension – the honour duels of the Imperial Fists and Emperor's Children, or the fighting pits of the Luna Wolves and World Eaters.

 

The deputisation of the Basilikoi to moderate and identify such brewing confliict, was thus both a useful method of ensuring the Musters remained positively competitive, and a sign of the web of control Perturabo held over his legion.

 

 

Their blank honour masks; fitted in imitation of the Legion's symbol, was intended as a brooding reminder of the subsumation of personal ambition to the greater whole. Eventually, however, such an outlet proved insufficient to the task. Even by the latter years of the Great Crusade, the Invigilati commonly saw themselves as elevated above the common Musters and began to order them about on an unofficial level, in direct opposition to their original purpose.

 

Doubtless Perturabo must have been aware of the subtle politicking emerging amongst his Legion's elite after the Warmaster's betrayal – indeed, it seems impossible that none of the Basilikoi themselves could resist turning informer in the hope of currying favour at the highest level – but he certainly acted as a neutral party; perhaps secretly pleased; perhaps appalled.

 

By the time of the Siege of Terra, many Basilikoi – particularly those still garrisoning distant worlds, had all but enslaved the Musters and Militia under their command, forming the kernels of marauding warbands, some of which went on to plague the Imperium during the Great Scouring and beyond. 

 

+++

 

...and what of the Officia Monstrosa? A number of Basilikoi were sighted with this force during the siege, operating with all the professionalism, duty and heroism one might expect of the most virtuous Ultramarine or Blood Angel. This is a mournful reminder that while the Legions who followed the Warmaster proved rotten at the core, their treachery was committed by their leaders. The Legionaries who followed them are now lost to the Imperium forever, but few were initially evil – merely dutiful.

 

More troublingly, it is a sobering reminder that if such exemplars as the Basilikoi could fall, we can be certain of no Legion at all...

[Andvarr A]

Epic work. Hauntingly chilling.

 

 

 

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....

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....bloody showoff hahah :p