The Unbound Brethren (WIP CSM+Dark Mechanicus)

[Galloway]

Ok. So. Long time lurker here on B&C, and though I've never played 40k I really enjoy the setting and the lore, read lots of Black Library, and so on.  A couple years ago I started collecting and painting a Tzeentch-themed Warriors of Chaos WHFB army (was playing lots of Warhammer Online at the time), mostly as something to do other than staring at a screen again all night after doing it all day at work.  But now I've been inspired by all the cool stuff I've seen here on B&C to start collecting and painting some 40k stuff.  And since I've gotten so much from B&C, felt it was only fair to post my stuff here as well.  So this will be a intermittent plog of my 40k stuff, focusing mostly on my favorite factions- Chaos Marines, Dark Mechanicus, and Tzeentch.  Nominally I'm planning on putting together enough stuff to have a legal army (assuming some heavy "counts-as") in case I do want to play at some point in future, but mostly will just be painting whatever strikes me as time and budget allows.  So enough stalling- thanks to everyone that stops by, feedback is always welcome, and let's kick off with a bit of fluff I put together as a backstory for this army, and some WIP pictures of its leader.

 

*** The Unbound Brethren ***

 

The Unbound Brethren are a warband of renegades and heretics, led by Kaldour Zalav, a former captain of the Thousand Sons.  Once a rising star in his legion's Order of Ruin who served as a practicus to the Order's leader Ignis, Zalav seemed marked for greatness early in his career.  But as his accomplishments grew, Zalav increasingly found himself out of step with much of his legion, including his primarch Magnus.  While to Zalav the legion seemed ever more focused upon acquiring and debating esoteric knowledge for its own sake, he found himself drawn to finding new ways of applying his intellect and psychic powers on the battlefield, often through increasingly intricate tactics and battle plans.  As the Great Crusade progressed, Zalav spent less and less time with the Thousand Sons, preferring instead to serve alongside battle groups from a number of legions, including the Dark Angels, Iron Warriors, and Alpha Legion.  After the Edict of Nikea, he returned to Prospero with the rest of his legion, and was preparing for his next secondment when the Space Wolves came.

 

Zalav's anger at the Imperium's betrayal of the Thousand Sons was eclipsed only by his disgust for what he saw as Magnus' betrayal during the razing of Prospero.  To Zalav, Magnus leaving Prospero, its people, the legion and all their temples of accumulated learning defenseless while Wolves and their allies attacked form orbit, and then dithering with indecisiveness and regret as the Thousand Sons fought and died, only to emerge at the very end, symbolized all of what he had come to despise in his primarch's character.  He quickly left Sortiarius with a number of like-minded individuals, and after they renounced their membership in the Thousand Sons, he spent the rest of the Heresy leading this first warband of renegade "Blackshields" in a series of raids upon the Imperium.  As their success and notoriety grew, they were joined by Astartes from many other legions, particularly those who felt betrayed or out-of-place in their former lives, and so the Unbound Brethren was born.  It was during this time that Zalav learned the truth of the Ruinous Powers, and accepted Tzeentch's patronage.

 

Zalav and the Brethren fought at the Great Siege of Terra, and most of the warband fell there.  Of the original Thousand Sons that had followed him, only a single squad, led by Dakor Zachtim, his second-in-command, survived.  This squad had fought alongside a group of Gal Vorbak during the Siege, and in the desperate battle to escape Terra after Horus was slain, the former Thousand Sons bound themselves to their tutelaries in the same way as the Word Bearers had.  The power they gained served them well in Scouring and Legion Wars that followed, but provided no protection against Ahriman's rubric.  While Zalav and Zachtim saw their psychic powers amplified, all the rest became the unthinking automatons known as Rubric marines.  The only signs of their previous nature now lies in the daemonic faces and metallic bone protrusions of their warped armor.  

 

In the millennia that followed the Heresy, Zalav rebuilt the Unbound Brethren, and now leads them across the galaxy, battling the Imperium, xenos, and other renegades as his whims and interests dictate.  After masterminding the defeat of an Inquisition fleet attempting to capture the Arch-Heretek Ravion Nixios as he fled Mars to join the Sepktraal Cult, Zalav was rewarded by the Silent Forge with the Revenant Iterator, a Secutor-Class cruiser from which the Brethen now operate.  Nixios himself joined the Brethren soon afterward for reasons he will not disclose, bringing with him a number of acolytes and skitarii servants.  Other current notable members of the Brethren include the former Dark Angel Sar Baradiel and his fellow Fallen, as well as a number of former members of the Crystal Wyverns renegade chapter.

[Galloway]

Some WIP pictures- lots of stuff is still blue-tacked together to make painting easier.

 

Lord Kaldour Zalav, leader of the Unbound Brethren

 

Dakor Zachtim, Aspiring Sorcerer of Tzeentch

 

The remnants of squad Telef- nine rubric marines

 

I love the idea of the Thousand Sons and rubrics, but never really dug the standard GW crests- just always seem way too awkward and oversized for the standard rubric body size.  But I loved the rubrics Shuggnuggath kitbashed out of the Dark Vengeance chosen (http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/263489-thousand-sons-project/), and that project was one of the big inspirations for getting me started here.  These are my poor attempt at capturing what he did- my greenstuff sculpting skills definitely still need some work.

 

My plan is to paint these guys up using a scheme similar to the turquoise Black Legion rubric marine from the codex

They also go on the new larger bases.  But before I do that, I'll probably paint up some skitarii I've put together to serve as counts-as cultists.

[Galloway]

To go along with the Thousand Sons/CSM core, I'm also going to be doing some Dark Mechanicus kitbashes, starting with 20 Skitarii to be used as counts-as cultists with autoguns.  For most, conversions were pretty basic- just removed purity seals, and added bayonets (made from the CSM basic kit knives) to the ends of their guns.  I converted two of them to be using flamers, rather than skitarii special weapons, and magnetized arms on both leaders, along with the head on one, so I could plausibly run them as 2x10 cultists or a 1x20 block in a game.  As with previous post, these are still held together some with bluetack, since I plan to paint arms, backpacks and bodies separately.

 

Next is to start painting, once I figure out whether I can include these guys in my Call of Chaos vow.

 

Special equipment/weapons cultists, plus one standard skitarii cultist basecoated black.

 

Zoom in on the two with flamers

 

And the two leaders.  Both have both arms magnetized, and the one on the right's head is magnetized as well, so he can be switch between leader and standard cultist depending on army structure.

 

All of the other skitarii.  Turns out egg cartons are a pretty handy way of keeping bits sorted for individual figures.

 

[Galloway]

So after a longer than planned work delay, had a chance to paint up first of my skitarii cultists, fairly pleased with how it came out.  Hope to get rest painted up over the next week, and then can move on to my rubrics.

 

Doesn't really come out in pictures, but inside of robes is a medium/dark purple, and legs are a dark green.  I think it looks better in person than in these pics, will have to see if I can do better there.

 

 

[Galloway]

Quick update- swapped out the heads on the rubric marines junky greenstuff crests I tried to sculpt for heads from the new box, along with a few more bits.  Still need to trim some of the necks a little bit, but I think they look much better.

 

Close-ups of one marine

 

and Dakor (aspiring sorcerer) with new head and backpack

[Galloway]

Finally finished my skitarii cultist counts-as

 

Some pictures of the "Rank & File"

 

Front and back pictures of leaders, specials with flamers and auspex.  Leaders arms are magnetized with variety of options in case.

 

And up next, here's a WIP of the first of my rubrics- blocking in colors mostly, but general sense of where I'm headed with them.

[Harrowmaster]

Great work, painting is much better than mine

[Pearson73]

Really nice conversions for the lord and disciples of Tzeentch.

[Galloway]

Finished version of Dakor Zachtim. Lots of great glyph transfers for Thousand Sons in the FW Blackshield sheet.

 

@Harrowmaster, Pearson73: thanks!

[Galloway]

So after a longer than planned delay, I'm nearly done with my rubric squad.  Only outstanding things to really do are the crests and eyes, and to base them.  The standard TS yellow + blue never really worked for me, so wanted to go with a least a twist on the standard, drawing from things like the old black legion rubric with black and purple crest, and various descriptions in more recent lore (e.g. the green rubrics in AD-B's Wonderworker short).  So here's what I've come up with- I think I like it, but I'm not entirely sold yet.

 

 

My idea is that the crests should be made of rare/valuable metals & gems like, similar to crests/helms of models from the old Tomb Kings line.  So I used the waystone green technical gemstone paint on top of silver on the crests.  Not sure if it totally works though- maybe I should try over a light gold base to "warm" it up a bit?  Suggestions welcome.

 

I am quite pleased with how my kitbashed soulreaper cannon came out, though I probably could have done better on the runes.

 

In any case, feedback on what people think of the crest, or other improvements (probably could do the glowing eyes better as well) would be greatly appreciated.

[hushrong]

These look great! I definitely dig the blue you used for your army.

[Galloway]

Finally got my rubric squad finished up.  Apologizes in advance, but I present Squad Telef, led by Dakor Zachtim.  From my bit of lore at the beginning:

Zalav and the Brethren fought at the Great Siege of Terra, and most of the warband fell there.  Of the original Thousand Sons that had followed him, only a single squad, led by Dakor Zachtim, his second-in-command, survived.  This squad had fought alongside a group of Gal Vorbak during the Siege, and in the desperate battle to escape Terra after Horus was slain, the former Thousand Sons bound themselves to their tutelaries in the same way as the Word Bearers had.  The power they gained served them well in Scouring and Legion Wars that followed, but provided no protection against Ahriman's rubric.  While Zalav and Zachtim saw their psychic powers amplified, all the rest became the unthinking automatons known as Rubric marines.  The only signs of their previous nature now lies in the daemonic faces and metallic bone protrusions of their warped armor.  

 

 

Again, sorry for the junky pics, but I'm pretty happy with how they came out (though obviously lots of places I could see improving).  Next up is a rhino for them.

[hushrong]

Sweet update and I like the bit of fluff.

[Galloway]

Slowly chipping away at new models, a few ready to start painting. First up is a rhino for my rubrics.

 

The combibolter is magnetized so it can be swiveled or switch out, and the top panel with the havok launcher can also be swapped for standard Rhino top doors.

 

Does anyone know of an easy way to convert/hinge the side doors on a rhino so they swing down like the back hatch does by default?

 

Also put together a pair of sorcerers using some left over dark vengeance chosen and some bits from the new thousand sons stuff. The guy on the right will go on a disk eventually. Not sure about the axe position or the greenstuff collar for the left guy- suggestions welcome.

 

Last up is a trio of Fallen bikers (also starting from dark vengeance minis).

Tried to add some spikes to the shoulder pad trim, not sure how well it worked. Maybe better off just using standard CSM should guards.

[hushrong]

Great update! I really like how the pose came out on the sorcerer who will be on a disk. That guy will have great presence.

 

The other fellow is looking good too. The pose definitely works with his run and gun look.

 

Nice use of the bikers too. I think bulkier pads would look cool like the plastic mk3 ones. Spikes are always nice too.

[Galloway]

Thanks. I was debating on the bikers how spikey to go vs. capturing old Heresy-era Fallen armor. I'm going to try some mk III helms and shoulders and see how that works. Still would like to get a bit of "spike" on the shoulder trim like in the HH visions Fallen artwork, but maybe I can greenstuff that on.

[Galloway]

Quick update-

 

@hushrong- I swapped out the shoulders on all the marines for bulkier mkIII type ones (some from chaos, some "vanilla"), as well as the raptor heads for mk iii helms. Think it defintely gives a better fallen angel vibe- thanks.

 

I also painted up a test CSM for a group of (possibly former) crystal wyverns who have joined the warband. I decided to go "on the nose" and give him a glassy armor using technique from here:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/325123-help-with-armor-paint-colors-and-technique/?p=4478739

Fairly happy with how it came out; will be doing up rest of a 10-man squad w 2x plasma guns and lightning claw on asp. champ.

 

[Galloway]

Back after a bit longer delay than expected...

 

Finished painting rubric marines rhino...

 

and Fallen bikers...

 

Up next is a terminator sorcerer.  

 

Going to try and adapt this technique https://www.facebook.com/electricevepainting/posts/1829846303962644 to a glossy dark blue.  Test runs on the fantasy chaos shields came out ok, but need to work on get mixes of paints right still, and avoid too much pooling on edge. I have lots of little bits of bling (various chains, terminator lord book etc.) ready to add on, but still pondering if there's a decent way to change the little shield icons at waist and on shoulders to something more Thousand-sons like.  Not sure I have greenstuff skills to make it work. Planning on the blue for armor, with copper trim, and right now metallic black & crystal green (like my rubric marine crests) as spot colors.  Not sure yet on cloak color- maybe some sort of teal green, but also pondering purple, red, black.  Suggestions welcome, and thanks for looking.

[Galloway]

Terminator sorcerer done.  Haven't decided on how I'd fit him into the backstory yet- probably a senior captain/commander under Zalav.  But I did come up with a name, so here's Xaros Tasar, former praetor of the Thousand Sons, now one of the inner circle of the Unbound Brethren.

 

 

Overall fairly happy with how he came out.  I was trying to capture the Forgeworld Thousand Sons praetor that was floating around, but I think I actually like Tasar better overall as a model.  Some parts (skull on combi-weapon, freehand on ribbons, crest bands, eyes/markings on helm,...) didn't come out quite as well as I hoped, but other parts (especially the effects on the sword) worked better than I expected.  In any case, was fun to put together.

 

Not sure what I'll paint next.  Started up the rest of the the crystal wyverns "vanilla" CSM squad, but also have rubrics, scarab occult, variety of exalted sorcerer kitbashes, and some dark mechanicus stuff I also want to get too.

[Galloway]

Updating with units I painted for 2017 Call of Chaos, along with a full squad of crystal wyverns CSM.

 

Crystal Wyverns Squad Vlasov

 

Rubric Squad Cyranos with extra (aspiring) sorcerer. Four rubrics are magnetized so warpflamers and bolters can be swapped.

 

Scarab Occult Squad Bast. Squad member with hellfyre missiles magnetized so soulreaper, heavy flamer, or combi-bolter can be swapped.

 

Next up will likely be a 2nd rhino for squad Cyranos and/or a predator.

 

[DaBoiKyknos]

Skitarii as Cultists? Isn´t that Heresy?  

[Galloway]

After a longer than planned absence, I've been able to finish up a 2nd rhino as well as a predator for the Unbound Brethren, including new combibolters using the bits from the scarab occult box

 

The predator turret is magnetized so I can swap between plasma destroyer, twin lascannons, or autocannon

 

Side/back views of the predator

 

Up next is this trio for the ETL. The two on the left will be exalted sorcerers on disks (using tzaangor disks, one on the right will be a "vanilla" sorcerer with force axe

 

Thanks for looking, and any feedback or suggestions greatly appreciated.

[steamius]

Very lovely conversions! 

[hushrong]

Tanks are looking great with the paint job and decals! I also like the plasma destroyer bit. Where is that from?

 

The sorcerers also look ready to rock the warp. Best of luck with the ETL!

[Galloway]

Tanks are looking great with the paint job and decals! I also like the plasma destroyer bit. Where is that from?

Thanks. Gun is combination of Baal predator gun mount and Leman russ destroyer with some greenstuff. Skull is a banner topper from one of the WHFB chaos kits, but forget if marauders, warriors, or knights.