I Am Alpharius! An Alpha Legion Blog

[Halandaar]

So, thanks to the fine work of Forgeworld with their fancy books and shiny resin and more than a few Frater here, I've been mulling over the prospect of jumping aboard the Heresy train for some time. It took a while for me to settle on which legion to back, but in the end I went for the Alpha Legion; the combination of their stealthy, subterfuge based tactics and their ambiguous loyalty really drew me in, and the deal was sealed by the amazing Rewards of Treason rule, allowing me to paint/kitbash all the cool looking heresy units I want!

 

I haven't actually played any games in quite a while and don't see that changing soon, so Rule of Cool will always trump battlefield efficiency. That's not to say I want a completely useless army, and the one I build will hopefully be game worthy, should the opportunity arise.

 

Although I understand that it's controversial (and probably considered a retcon), I'm keen on the idea of the XX as reluctant renegades who sided with Horus for the grander overall objective of the total destruction of Chaos, and as such I like to imagine the 40k era Alpha Legion fighting in much the same manner as their 30k forebears. With that in mind, as a secondary objective, I'd like to be able to field this army as a 40k Chaos Space Marine army too, which might involve some interesting conversions and counts-as ideas further down the road.

 

HQ's & Primarch

• Alpharius - WIP1 | Complete
• Armillus Dynat - WIP1 | WIP2 | Complete
• Exodus - WIP1 |
• Delegatus - WIP1 |
• Librarian - WIP1 |
• Vigilator - WIP1 |

Troops

• Tactical Squad 1 - WIP1 |
• Tactical Squad 2 - WIP1 |
• Assault Squad - WIP1 |

Elites

• Contemptor-Mortis - WIP1 |
• Contemptor Talon - Coming Soon!

Fast Attack

• Seeker Squad - WIP1 |

Heavy Support

• Heavy Support Squad with Heavy Bolters - WIP1 | Complete
• Heavy Support Squad with Missile Launchers - WIP1 |

Lords of War

• Placeholder

[Son of Carnelian]

Big fan of these conversions! The Alpharius one is particularly excellent in its simplicity. A head and weapon swap and bam! A model everyone has suddenly becomes something all your own. Keep up the good work!

[Dosjetka]

> inb4 "herzy tr4in haz n0 br4kez" comments

 

Looking good! I'd trim the gorget a bit on Dynat as the helm sits quite high on the torso. When can we expect paint for?

[Col.hertford]

Great start, the Alpharius conversion is particulary cool. I do agree with Dosjetka, the Dynat looks like he has a very long neck currently. It could be due to the lack of shoulder pads though.

[Halandaar]

> inb4 "herzy tr4in haz n0 br4kez" comments

 

Looking good! I'd trim the gorget a bit on Dynat as the helm sits quite high on the torso. When can we expect paint for?

  

Great start, the Alpharius conversion is particulary cool. I do agree with Dosjetka, the Dynat looks like he has a very long neck currently. It could be due to the lack of shoulder pads though.

Thanks both! I was actually thinking the gorget might need trimming down after having looked at the picture earlier. I'll see if the shoulders make much difference before committing to the blade!

 

 

Edit: Re-formatting the fist post as a "contents page" for the thread's pictures, so adding in the pictures that were originally in that post here:

 

 

Alpharius - Kitbashed from the Betrayal at Calth praetor, a Forgeworld Alpha Legion helmet, and Asterion Moloc's black spear. He's a place holder until the official model is released, at which point he'll be re-purposed in to something else.

 

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/DSC_0255_zpsbnqe14do.jpg

 

 

 

Armillus Dynat - A couple of small changes; the bare head is replaced with a FW Alpha Legion helmet, and his hammer is replaced with one from the Vanguard Veterans kit with an extended haft.

 

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/DSC_0328_zpslanmyndl.jpg

 

 

 

Heavy Support Squad with Heavy Bolters - Just a basic 5 man squad. The sergeant has an Auspex from the 40k tactical kit, just for visual effect.

 

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/DSC_0327_zps56zepshn.jpg

 

 

[Halandaar]

Here's Dynat with his shoulder pads added on. I think it makes the neck height a lot less severe, and actually I now wonder if trimming down the gorget would make the head seem too low in relation to the shoulder pads?

 

 

 

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/DSC_0332_zpsueqcwgxt.jpg

 

[Grim Dog Studios]

Looks fantastic as he is mate, no need to trim the gorget in my opinion!

[Halandaar]

So, here's the latest addition to the Legion, my rendition of Exodus!

 

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/File%2005-03-2016%2021%2048%2015_zpsxtpahb86.jpeg

 

And a before pic of just the components I used:

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/A0D755B4-6E87-45BF-9516-FB75DDDA9DDD_zps8ndmpq1e.jpg

 

[Pearson73]

Dynat and Exodus are looking good, the small bits swaps are having a big effect.

[SpawningDoom4u]

Great work, I'm trying to figure out how to pull off an Exodus right now too.

[Halandaar]

Looks fantastic as he is mate, no need to trim the gorget in my opinion!

 

Thanks! I'm much happier with him now the pads are in place.

 

Dynat and Exodus are looking good, the small bits swaps are having a big effect.

 

Thank you! Especially for the helm on Dynat, it doesn't really suit my image of the Alpha Legion for them to be running around bare headed; I think any display of their actual flesh detracts from the idea that any one of them could be masquerading as any other one of them. It's for that reason that I really hope the eventual FW Alpharius model has a helmet like in the drawing on his rules, although none of the other Primarchs do.

 

Great work, I'm trying to figure out how to pull off an Exodus right now too.

 

Look forward to seeing that! I'm really pleased with how he's turned out, the Mor Deythan is a great base for it I think, although I didn't bother too much with The Instrument and just went for a Recon marine sniper rifle.

[Dagoth Ur]

Beautiful Alphas Halandaar! Will you be trying out a metallic scheme?

[Halandaar]

Beautiful Alphas Halandaar! Will you be trying out a metallic scheme?

Thank you! I will indeed; I bought an airbrush setup especially for this army and will be working on a basis of clear blue/green layers over a metallic base, quite heavily inspired by Betrayer41's excellent Alpha Legion, although I'll be leaning more towards green hues. I have yet to actually use the airbrush though, so it'll be an interesting learning curve. I'll need to grab a few cheap marines from somewhere to practice the scheme on

Edit: Credit where credit is due.

[Brother Pheidias]

This is looking mighty interesting so far.

Very nice modelling, and that scheme is marvellous, looking forward to a greener take on it!

[Halandaar]

Some less interesting reinforcements...

 

Tactical Squad

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/DSC_0336_zpst0qtewtb.jpg

 

Heavy Support Squad with Missile Launchers

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/DSC_0337_zpszhziyxt9.jpg

 

After these were done i started work modifying the BaC Contemptor to be equipped with dual Assault Cannons, and building Autilon Skorr. Sadly, Skorr's power axe was broken (and I got him from eBay so no recourse with FW about a replacement) so I'll probably replace it altogether rather than attempting a repair. His head was replaced with one from the Alpha Legion upgrade set too, as I think the one he comes with is awful. Pictures to follow!

 

I also picked up a set of 3 push-fit Marines from my local FLGS to be the guinea pigs for my paint scheme. Now i just need to find some time to get the airbrush set up!

[Halandaar]

Another not particularly exciting update, but at least demonstrates a bit of progress: second Tactical Squad and Contemptor-Mortis now assembled, shown here with the Tactical Squad and Heavy Support Squads from earlier in the thread.

 

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/BF65C5CF-17B8-4844-91FC-CBF57734E3BE_zpsc6mecpbn.jpg

[Sternenfaust]

The trooper beer gives you my full support!

[Halandaar]

Here we have the current state of a Librarian and Delegatus. The Delegatus was intended to be Skorr but due to a power axe mishap, he's had to be rearmed and so might as well be a generic character.

 

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/7A02EB13-7708-4610-88AF-F5C31272CED5_zpsuhg0kfth.jpg

[Halandaar]

A couple of other building updates:

 

All plastic Assault Squad; I just reposed the legs slightly and added Jump Packs from the Sanguinary Guard kit.

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/DSC_0362_zpstizwcyhm.jpg

 

And a Seeker Squad; I wanted to use more "open" poses to show off the Legion specific armour, and to give them a different silhouette to other footslogging Marines.

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/DSC_0363_zpsokq1loch.jpg

[Halandaar]

PAINT! Struggled to get a photo that showed off the mixed colours well, they look a little greener here than they actually are. That said I might still attempt to blue them up a little more, to avoid them looking like metallic Sons of Horus.

 

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/DSC_0370_zps02eotflm.jpg

[Halandaar]

So, here are the "finished" (I'll revisit them for decals when I actually get some) models that comprised my L&T vow, which I did eventually complete about 30 minutes before the deadline, after 3 months of procrastination.

 

Alpharius

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/DSC_0398_zpsyoug8d8z.jpg

 

Armillus Dynat

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/DSC_0397_zpsyan2p9qh.jpg

 

Heavy Support Squad with Heavy Bolters

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/DSC_0396_zpshvkhpp3v.jpg

 

And something I'm putting together at the moment;

 

Vigilator

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q797/halandaar/Warhammer/30k%20-%20Alpha%20Legion/DSC_0405_zpsjmtyritj.jpg

[Galron]

I like the colors. I too bought an airbrush just to do an AL army lol. I practiced on my Tau army and haven't done my AL guys yet. Definitely a time saver. How did you get the colors down? Did you do a blue/green clear mix over the silver first followed by green over the top and blue from the bottom kinda like the FW mix?

[Halandaar]

I like the colors. I too bought an airbrush just to do an AL army lol. I practiced on my Tau army and haven't done my AL guys yet. Definitely a time saver. How did you get the colors down? Did you do a blue/green clear mix over the silver first followed by green over the top and blue from the bottom kinda like the FW mix?

 

Thanks! I basecoated with GW Leadbelcher spray, then did a thin bit of Runefang Silver down from the top before a coat of Nuln Oil. I then used Tamiya Clear Blue from the legs upward, Tamiya Clear Green from the head downwards, then a really light amount of Gulliman Blue glaze. Then brushed on the trim with Leadbelcher and re-washed the whole thing with Nuln Oil.

 

Honestly, they came out a bit greener than I actually intended, but I'm happy with the overall result and them being a little greener than other AL armies isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[Shrieker]

I'll be shamelessly stealing your idea of using the chaplain's body for a vigilator, there's a camo cloak, right there...

[Nineswords]

Love it so far. As a massive Alpha Legion fan, I'm surprised I've never seen anyone do the indigo colour scheme of a 'deep purple' described in LEGION by Dan Abnett, I like the cerulean blue/green FW scheme but I'd love to see them in indigo!