The Red Marked - Defenders of Imperium Secundus

[Soric]

http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1453284807l/23492347.jpg

I've decided to dive into making a playable force for 30k based on Black Library's audio drama "Red Marked". For a while I had dithered on whether to make a Horus Heresy force and if so which legion. While I do have a soft spot for the dour and disciplined sons of Dorn, I'm not a huge fan of painting yellow in large quantities. I had toyed with the idea of making an Ultramarine army and after hearing the preview clip for Red Marked, I knew I wanted to make a force based on the characters in this tale including the intrepid Aeonid Thiel.

My intention is to make a Zone Mortalis force based on the original 22 marines and then grow to include more units to represent Thiel's expansion of the force as authorized by Guilleman himself. I hope to include marines from other legions as volunteers with red helmets to mark them out and bringing their expertise to compliment the Ultramarines in their attempt to protect Imperium Secundus.

This marine is the test bed for the colour scheme that I'll be using across the whole force. I'm aiming at a quick and easy paint job so that I can crank out these guys as fast as I can. At this moment in time, his left arm has gone missing and I can't find it meaning I'll need to make him a new one

[Charlo]

Looks great! Ultras always look better with a red helm :D

 

Like how you've painted the lenses too.

[Soldier of Dorn]

Nice, very nice. I'm really not a Ultramarines fan, but yours are lovely.

[Soric]

@Charlo - I have to agree with you on the red helms, it acts as a nice contrasting point for the mini. I wanted the lenses to stand out from the rest of the helmets also.

 

@Psycho - I'm glad you approve of them. I wasn't much of an Ultramarine fan when I first started the hobby but they have some characters that really appeal to me, it's just annoying how much GW has made them the "Perfect chapter" as it makes them seem bland.

 

 Having spent alot of my free time over the weekend as well as my day off from work today working on my Red Marked, I actually have alot to show for it. First off my test mini.

 

Then the named characters with some fluff starting with Venator

 

"We know you too well my pugnacious brother. Patience is not a virtue for you is it?"
 

Dubbed as a marksmen, Venator hailed from the planet of Konor where he was recruited to join the XIII Legion. Often ranging ahead and marking targets for destruction, Venator proved invaluable in the Red Mark's quest to purge the traitor elements leftover in the wake of Lorgar's Shadow Crusade.

 Each member of the Red Marked will have varied tactical markings as they are recruited from different chapters and companies in the wake of the Betrayal at Calth.

I wanted to get the idea across that Venator is a scout is a forward scout and marksmen without resorting to having him equipped with a camo cloak. With that in mind I used the targeter head from the B@C sprue as well as the backpack from the Devastator boxset to show that he's not above tinkering with his equipment to improve it's effectiveness in the field. The kill markings along his boltgun were added last minute and I'm glad I put them in.

 

Bracius

"You sound concerned brother. There's no shame in adversity."

 

 Bracius was the assault weapon specialist that fought alongside Thiel during the purging of the 500 worlds and was often seen as a stalwart and inspiring warrior amongst the ranks of the Red Marked. While viewed as a harsh taskmaster during training exercises, Bracius was also a cheerful soul seeing adversity as a welcome challenge to be overcome.

 Bracius was made using the body of a metal Sgt Chronus model that I had lying around and needed a purpose. So snipped and filed down his right arm and attached new ones as well as a head and shoulder pads from the B@C sprue. I also wanted Bracius to be able to carry a bolter as well as a special weapon, so I magnetized his hands and wrist in order for me to swap out the weapon as I saw fit. At the moment I only have a flamer and bolter magnetized but I plan to do some more in the future.

Envelio

"At least those b*****ds are dead."

 

 A stern and uncompromising individual, Envelio was Thiel's vox specialist and was often at odds with the warrior's decisions during the early days of the purging of the 500 worlds. Though often dour in the face of uncertainty, Envelio proved himself to be adaptable and resolute in the face of ever-changing situations.

 I wanted Envelio to look as though he was listening to some transmission over the vox, so I took the bracing missile launcher arm, removed the scope and repositioned the arm so that his hand was holding the receiver of his helmet. I also envisioned Envelio being a Calth veteran, having his blade in a position that would enable him to draw it easily.

 In the audio book, there is no mention of any of the Red Marked's previous squad or companies designations (with the exception of Thiel), this allows me free reign in assigning them whatever company numbers I can think of.

 As Envelio is often described as changing vox channels, it made sense to me to have him equipped with the vox backpack. The fun part to paint was the vocal monitor on the rear of the pack. I also added a set of binoculars from the Scout Snipers boxset, as I can imagine Envelio calling in artillery strikes.

 

Sgt Aeonid Thiel

 

"Now we fight. For Primarch and Emperor. For the lost sons of Calth and for those yet to be born on Macragge. This is your hour brothers. Banish shame, banish doubt, banish anger. Show these traitors what it is to be an Ultramarine!"
 

 The intrepid leader of the Red Marked, Thiel was instrumental not only in the cleansing of the 500 worlds but in the opening hours of the Battle of Calth and several engagements of the Underworld War. His tactical approach to warfare inspired his Primarch, Roboute Guilleman to rewrite the operational tenets of the legions into the chapters which would hold the Imperium together not only through the rest of the Horus Heresy but centuries after its conclusion.

 This is the mini I really wanted to get right, and I'm glad I put the extra effort into making him. I based the minis design elements on the cover art for Censure and utilized an assortment of bits. I wanted Thiel to be striding forth with the sword "given" to him by his Primarch whilst still having the equipment expected of a sergeant of the XIII legion.

 As Thiel is the leader of the Red Marked, I wanted to mark him out further from the rest of the minis that I had made so far. So I magnetized his neck and made an alternate bare head. Part of this was also so I could have a visual representation of him being on his last wound ingame.

A WIP shot of my upcoming banner bearer mini .

I'm looking forward to painting this guy up and I've already got a design sorted for the banner that will hopefully represent the Red Marked, Imperium Secundus and the XIII Legion.

 

 

 

 

[Reyner]

Awesome stuff, I listened to the Red Marked audio at the weekend and thought it was great - be good seeing the rest of the squad turn up!

[jeremy1391]

Way cool!!!

[Xenaur]

It's really nice to see someone put time and effort into every model they make it always shows in the end results, keep up the good work!

[AndyNoMore]

Excellent theme for an army, keep up the good work!

[Soric]

Thank you for the feedback brothers, I'm glad to hear other people enjoying the audio drama as much as I am. I still find that my favourite part is the opening speech before the title. To me it invokes a somber tone, almost acting like a "Previously on Horus Heresy..." if it was ever adapted into a TV series (one can dream)

As for the minis I'm working on the other characters as best as I can and I've already started building Pretronius and Drenius along with a few random marines. I should have some pics of them later this week.

In the meantime here's a PIP pic of the banner bearer and a missile launcher armed trooper. I'm not a big fan of the aesthetics of the old school rocket launcher and opted to use a set of 40K arms instead. When I come to build the Missile support squad I hope to arm the other members similarly.

Hope you all enjoy this meagre offering and stay tuned for more Heresy goodness.

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Soric, these are great. I haven't heard the audio drama, but your version of Thiel is actually much as I'd imagined him. Just a little bit of ornamentation marking his stature amongst the XIIIth post-Calth, but not so much that the grimy, gritty, brutalised nature of his armour is lost. I love the 'feel' of the models so far, and can't wait to see the whole force.

[Soric]

 Not to sound too fanboyish, but thank you for the feedback brother Arkhan. Your Heresy marine projects (both the Istvaan Ravens and Black Hundred Ultramarines) were one of the main inspirations for this project and I'm glad that I can give something back to someone who's work has encouraged me to make the plunge in tackling the 13th Legion. As for Thiel's appearance, I've always felt that he would be the kind of legionary that sees the ostentatious trappings of less reserved officers as impractical and detrimental to his effectiveness in the field and I'm glad I managed to get that idea across.

 

 Getting straight into the heart of things I've managed to build a few more Red Marked members and have started the arduous task of basecoating them.

From Left to Right we have Drenius, another random Tactical legionary, Thaddeus and Petronius.

 With regards to Petronius, in the audio drama he is described as having a chainsword, so I gave him an old metal Imperial Fists one I had lying around. Additionally he's also mentioned as being a part of Thaddeus's support squad and Thiel's tactical squad at different points of the story. To that end I've magnetized his right arm so I can switch him between the two units when necessary.

 And here's all my Red Marked at the start of the basecoating stage.

 I've also been working on some additional members, such as Captain Lycane. I tried to modify his head slightly to hint at his bionic jaw. While it isn't very clear in this image, I'm hoping once I apply paint that he'll look alot better.

 Finally I have another legionnary to show off. This Blood Angel was put together using some spare Space Marine parts.

 Apart from the WIP I have some more pics of my completed Legionnaries. Specifically their legion logos which I didn't get a chance to show last time. I have never had a good track level with using transfers on my miniatures (maybe I'm just not doing it right), so I've often opted to use sculpted shoulder pads or just freehand markings wherever I can.

 Finally is this detail on Thiel's shoulder pad which indicates which shows which company he hails from in roman numerals CXXXV(135th).

 

Hope you enjoy the pics and any constructive criticism is welcome.

[Xenith]

Some really nice looking Ultras here, great work!

[BlueBelly1863]

These all look awesome Soric, all the modeling work on each model adds a lot! Magnetizing on such a small scale is awesome too, those magnets must be tiny!! Look forward to seeing more! 

[Lord Blackwood]

definitely some fantastic work here @ u @  very fun to look  through this thread. 

[Pyroclast91]

You've done some amazing work here and really done a fantastic job of bringing the redmarked to "life" I've never been so tempted to build a contingent of ultras well played son of Guilliman well played

[Soric]

@Pyroclast91 - Thanks Son of Vulkan, I'm glad you like them. The audio drama was definitely a big influence for me and there are already so many inspiring Horus Heresy threads here that I can't help but feel mine pales in comparison.

 

@Bladewolf - It's great that you enjoy looking through this thread (as much as I enjoy looking through your Templars thread). I do feel that I could push my fluff writing skills a bit further though but small steps first.

 

@BlueBelly1863 - The madness of magnetizing my models started when I made my Death Watch for a RPG campaign and it seems to have gotten worse as I can't help but think of an excuse to add magnets to more of them.

 

@Xenith - Thanks, really appreciate the feedback.

 

 The second wave of Red Marked are still sitting on my desk waiting for me to finish painting them. I'd guess that they're at 75% complete with their bases still needing paint as well as some of their details and decals to be added. However with regards to a few details I would like some advice if anyone is willing.

 My converted banner bearer has a plain shoulder pad on his right arm and I'm unsure what to put there. While the rest of the Red Marked will have tactical squad arrows, I'm unsure what to put on this guy. I'm sure it would depend on how I would run him (either as a tactical squad vexilla or a legion command standard bearer) but the only ideas I have would be either a wreathed skull or a tactical arrow.

 

Despite the humming and hawing over the details for the other minis, I've managed to finish my Blood Angel member of the Red Marked.

 After convening with the lord of Macragge, Aeonid Thiel with his newly appointed authority as Commander of the "Red Marked" called forth volunteers to join his mission to root out the remnants of Lorgar's Shadow Crusade operating within Ultramar. With several Legions gathered within Imperium Secundus, he would not find himself short of men willing to take up arms in retribution against the Traitors.

 

 Having already been painting red helmets I felt that it would be just as easy to paint a marine in red armour. Using the older foundation paint Merchite Red, I think I've managed to achieve a convincing colour for this Blood Angel. The winged skull ornament on his right shoulder guard is also a little nod to the awesome Blood Quest comic series, which was my first introduction to the Blood Angels and still has a special place in my heart.

This guy was made from some parts I had lying around (eg. old space marine banner top, White Dwarf subscription mini's chainsword arm, Betrayal at Calth, Scout and Tactical squad parts) and is meant to represent a volunteer from the Blood Angels Legion present at Ultramar that joins Aeonid Thiel's Red Marked. At some point he will be accompanied by either more of his Legion brethern or act as an squad leader for an Assault squad, although I have heard they aren't as good as they could be.

And he received some magnet goodness for an alternate head swap.

With his other helmetless buddy Aeonid Thiel

[Pyroclast91]

I couldn't disagree with you more you're models are fantastic not only the conversion aspect but the paint as and to top that off you've really done your research and done a great job working your force into the existing fluff which is something I personally have been struggling with a great deal keep up the good work brother I look forward too seeing more from you

[Soric]

@Pyroclast91 - Thanks mate, I find I have a better time building stuff than actually painting it, which is doesn't help when you have stuff you want to finish and you end up picking up another project to build. As for the fluff side of things, I really need to sit down and put more effort into it and try to be more articulate with entries.

 

Speaking of entries, I managed to get some more Red Marked finished:

 

Sergeant Drenius

 

"I am an Ultramarine! Let us tear these B******s down and with those same hands, raise ourselves back up in the eyes of our Legion!"

 

As a volunteer of Aeonid Thiel's original taskforce of Red Marked, Drenius was a legionnary with a troubled past. While hailed as an exemplary swordsman, the circumstances of his censure weighed heavily upon the sergeant during his service at Oran Garrison and the chance at absolution would prove to be his greatest motivator in combating the traitors within the boundaries of the newly formed Imperium Secundus.

For Drenius I wanted to invoke a heroic aspect to the character and so I tried to pose him in an upright stance, head held high, weapons ready at his side.

As Drenius and his entire squad carries the Red of censure, I'll be marking the other tactical marines allocated in his squad in a similar fashion to Drenius (ie same numbers and tactical symbols on shoulder pads)

 

I realise I won't be able to add fluff to all members of the Red Marked, so I'll be only be adding it to notable characters from the novels.

 

Tactical support marine

The first in a squad of Tactical Support marines. The entire squad (including Thaddeus and Petronius) will be carrying missile launchers from the older 40k tactical squad, as I'm more of a fan of those than the heresy version.

 

Standard Bearer

 I'm glad I managed to get this guy to a level that I'm happy with. For the longest time I was dreading having to paint the banner, but much like alot of the times I've sat down to slog through painting previous things, once I started I got more into it.

For the standard bearer I used the upper part of Kurtha Sedd's crozius arm pinned to a banner pole from a Venerable Dreadnaught and attached them to a standard bolter arm with the upper arm removed.

 

 Last weekend I went to my local GW and picked up one of the Exclusive Forgeworld Praetors. While my original intention was to paint him up in a different legions colours as a display piece (would have probably have been VII Legion), I eventually settled on the idea of adding him to my Ultramarines.

The helm required a fair bit of filing away of the back in order for it to fit in the torso and even then I still had to shave down a few details in order to get it to fit just right.

I removed his original blade as I wasn't a fan of it and will be replacing it with a nemesis force sword blade from the Grey Knights Terminators set. However this wont be his only weapon either as I'll be giving him a sheathed Gladius at his hip.

The cape is from the FW Chapter Master Moloc model and I'll increase it's length so it can sit under his right shoulder plate.

 My overall plan with this guy is to turn him into Drakus Gorod, Guilleman's honour guard captain and have him joined by some Cataphractii clad brethren who will also be converted to carry shields and bladed polearms. I'm not sure how they would be represented ingame but I plan to have them become the bodyguard unit for special characters.

 

Power Armoured Praetor

 This chap has been sitting in my bitz box for a while waiting for me to build him, and while he was originally planned to join some other Horus Heresy themed legionaries as part of a display piece, I decided to give him a more useful purpose.

Much like alot of the other heresy themed characters, I've magnetized his head so that I can switch it out.

 

Stay tuned as I'll have more finished minis sooner than usual and as always your feedback is always appreciated.

[Pyroclast91]

Awesome work brother Drenius looks like a BAMF now that I've seen so many of those praetors without that horrible paint job I wish I would've picked one up now is he going to be red marked as well?

[Soric]

I'll be running him as a leader for Guilleman's Honour Guard unit, so he'll have a blue helm with a gold face grille and white shoulder pads.

[Brother Pheidias]

Looking grand, definitely worthy of Guilliman!

[Pyroclast91]

Sounds awesome I can't wait to see him finished. You're making it really hard for me to resist adding some UM to my collection. You've got some really awesome ideas going here that I would really love to copy lol. And the red marked did spend a good amount of time with the salamanders while Vulkan was napping and what not. Oh hell I think I just talked myself into it but I blame you and your fantastic fluff and models for planting the seed. Keep up the good work brother

[Soric]

@Pyroclast91 - Copy away my friend. Most of the ideas are based on the fluff from the books anyway, I'm just showcasing my interpretation of it. I apologize for being a bad influence I was thinking of adding more shattered legion elements to my guys at a later date anyway so that would make sense. Thanks for the comments.

The Red Marked are growing in strength with each Legionnary I complete. Here's the latest additions to the force:

Sgt Thaddeus

"Stand down, Lycane has sent reinforcements."

Last words accredited to Sgt Thaddeus at the battle of Protus

Formally a line support squad sergeant before his Censure, Thaddeus was noted as being a legionary of little pleasantries. His lack of respect for his fellow officers as well as his curt nature is often cited as the reason for his helm being given the Red. This attitude would ultimately be his undoing as he was first among many of Thiel's adhoc force to die at the hands of the traitor legions through the use "false colours".

Brother Legionary Petronius

"I see the mark. Do you see mine?"

Whilst Petronius' blunt and straightforward approach often put him at odds with his battle brothers and ultimately culminated in him wearing the Red, behind his pugilist face lies a keen, tactical mind. After the death of Sgt Thaddeus, his willingness to lead and tempered aggression would see him elevated to leading a squad and would be the example by which other formally disgraced legionnaries could aspire to in the years following the formation of the Red Marked.

And another Tactical Legionary

A group shot of the force so far

Slowly but surely I'll have a playabe mini force soon enough, I just need to build the last of my tactical and support legionaries. As well as those I also have some more elements planned to join them.

Hope you enjoy the pics

[Brother Aiwass]

I usually dislike ultras, but yours are amazing.

[jimbo13]

These keep getting better and better Soric. You and Arkhan are my favorite ultrateers