Where many were, how few remain - A loyalist SoH project

[MrBear]

So, starting to feel a bit relaxed after the first week of vacation. Plenty of things to do besides painting but I have at least started to get some more paint on the tactical fellas,

 

 

They are in fact starting to look just a little green. How green? Well about this green...

 

 

Still not even halfway there yet, but at least we're moving in the right direcetion. No ETA on them yet, but I should be able to speed things up a little after this weekend as there aren't that many things in my calendar then (yet).

 

 

 

 

welcome back Mr. Bear!  with 8 week off you should catch up on this project in no time !!!!!

 

Oh, I sense a name change here, nice of you to not change your avatar aswell so that I could still recognice you buddy  Glad to be back in business,  I'm still almost glacial in my painting speed though but you're right, I should be able to get quite a lot done in 8 weeks.

 

 

Glad to have you back MrBear! I hope your vacation serves you well and gives you plenty of time for painting, because I've sure missed seeing this project come together! 

 

Thanks man! I've missed working on them myself, but time and energy were in short supply.  Having a long vacation is doing wonders though, I'm hoping to get more done than these guys as I've had plenty of time to think about what to do next. No decisions yet but there are plenty of alternatives...

Edited August 12, 2017 by MrBear

[MrBear]

Man, I reall should have 'MrSnail' as my username considering my slow painting. Even with so much time off work there is always something or another that 'steals' time from painting, pretty good things most of the time but still... There is progress though:

 

 

Still a fair few things that needs doing (finishing metals, doing lenses, skin, bases, adding pelts and 'stuff' etc.) before they are done, but it shouldn't take too much time. Not even going to do an ETA on these guys though as I'm pretty much always wrong whenever I try to guess...

 

"Praeterea censeo Photobucket esse delendam", replacing every photo with new links after they pulled their: "Hey! Pay us loads of money to keep your links working, please?!" took quite some time. I'm dreading having to do the same whenever I restart my Night Lords... 

 

 

[Brother Dallo]

Glad to see you posting again MrBear.

 

What torso is that on the guy with the MkII helm? I don't recognise it.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Dallo

[Demonl]

Torso is from the Sons of Horus torso upgrade pack from FW..

The scheme reminds a bit of the Collective Visions art. If you want to continue it i'd consider both Death Guard and Emperors Children upgrade head packs from FW

 

Puppets War do a nice top knot bits pack which could add some character

Edited August 13, 2017 by Demonl

[MrBear]

Cheers fellas! Forgot to mention that I'm going back to work pretty soon, but as most of the fiddly details are done it shouldn't slow things down much. I've been enjoing the nice weather we've had these last couple of days though so very little painting done this weekend...

 

 

 

Glad to see you posting again MrBear.

What torso is that on the guy with the MkII helm? I don't recognise it.

Keep up the good work.

Dallo

 

Thanks buddy! I think one reason I've made so few updates this time is the fact that I'm painting 15 guys in at the same time, I know I'm pretty glacial normally when it comes to my speed but so many models leaves quite minute progress after every painting session, and as I normally can't be bothered to take pictures without much tangible progress it tends to slow down the rate of updates...

 

One solution would be to paint them in smaller batches, but I can't make myself do that either as I:

 

1. Want to be sure that there are no major differences between them

2. Want all of them finished before I write down their background (as no ideas are set in stone before I have the finished models in front of me, there are a few times with both the SoH and my NL where the painted model has influenced my writing in different ways than I had imagined from start) 

 

Oh, and the torso is from FW as Demonl rightly stated

 

Torso is from the Sons of Horus torso upgrade pack from FW..

The scheme reminds a bit of the Collective Visions art. If you want to continue it i'd consider both Death Guard and Emperors Children upgrade head packs from FW

 

Puppets War do a nice top knot bits pack which could add some character

 

The scheme was something that just kind of happened when I was painting my tester models and was trying to salvage a failed attempt, not planned as I have never read the Collective Visions book. That being said, after having done a search for examples of the art I agree that there are similarities. I plan for most of the future guys to look pretty 'normal' without too obvious Cthonian armour influences but a few DG and EC helmets is a good idea, especially when time comes to start some Reavers.

 

Oh, and the top knots suggestion was spot on! I've started to run out of CSM-helmets to 'scalp' so I'll definitely order some of those!  

 

[deathspectersgt7]

That MKII Brother has to return to the gym for leg presses . Great to see  another post MrB .

[MrBear]

It took a while...   But the squad is finished when it comes to painting (with the exception of the odd touch up), so time to start the writing part. That tends to go much quicker though so there should be proper update in just a couple days or so. Here's a teaser for now though:

 

 

 

 

That MKII Brother has to return to the gym for leg presses . Great to see  another post MrB .

 

Well buddy I won't argue with you there, he doesn't seem to like leg day! You bet he's going to get some choice words from his Sgt on the matter! 

[Calas Typhon]

Looking good man, just brushed the dust off my Sons of Horus, about to get started with them again. 

I am thinking about using a colour scheme similar to yours. or a shade or two darker!

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338523-aebathan-the-wolves-of-cthonia/

Edited August 22, 2017 by Warsmith Kroeger

[MrBear]

I made it! Three days should totally count as 'in just a couple of days' right?   Well, wether you agree with that or not, here is the update: 

 

 

”There is a great streak of violence in every human being. If it is not channeled and understood, it will break out in war or in madness.” Sampeck Inpah – Merk Rememberancer equilient M.2

 

 

 

If I did not know better I would say that you look shocked over the brutality boy. Oh my sweet child, you have but heard the least of what I have seen... Did you imagine warfare as noble heroes duelling their opponets like some fairytale knights? No young one, war is always brutal, and war waged by the Astartes is more brutal still. With that in mind would it surprise you if I told you that I consider a little brutality a good thing?

Do not look at me with such blatant surprise upon your face, my wits have not left me yet. You should know that I have seen things in my days that have made me empty my stomach more than once, so trust me when I say that I am no friend of mindless slaughter. Brutality still has it's place when used in the proper manner though. There are those foes, Xenos for example, that cannot be treated in any other way as they would always plot to bleed mankind dry, and make the Imperium into a slowly fading memory.

 

What the 'Faceless' did that day was a nessecary evil, like when a medicae amputates a limb damaged beyond saving. Not a thing to cherish, but nonetheless something performed to preserve the life of a patient. I know that it is not the best of allegories, but the rebels could be seen as such a limb, and the Imperium as the patient in need of care, and just as the patient would die from gangrene without amputating the limb, the Imperium would wither and die if it let rebellions run their course. In that way the brutality I witnessed was good as it worked for the benefit of the Imperium as a whole.

 

In one way I pity the people of Asan II though, and I actually think that rulers of their world did their poulation a disservice when they surrendered to the might of the Imperium without a fight. Yes, any resistance would have been futile, and would have cost many lives, but without such fighting there were many who felt betrayed by their leaders and not having witnessed the horrors of war deluded themselves capable of casting the Imperium out. That is why they rebelled, and why their actions lead to so many more lives being lost in vain...

The 'Faceless', and several other squads, showed them how they had erred in their thinking that day, and their measured brutality should have been enough to end the rebellion before it could spiral out of control. Other acts, alas, killed that hope...

 

The XVIth Legion was always... 'rash' in their battles, aggressive even, and Fleet Command held many heated discussions over what actions to take against the insurrection, debates that were unknown to me at the time. A large, and vocal, group of officers and 'chieftans' wanted to follow the Legion's tradititonal strategy, the 'Aebathan', loosely translated from Cthonian as the swift cutting of an enemy's throat. They did not want to waste their time on Asan II, they wanted to attack the rebels in overwhelming force and did not care if the collateral damage would cripple the planet for generations to come. Strangely enough for a Praetor of the Legion, Jakhem Strom had another opinion though.

 

The 'Patient Wolf' some called him, a warrior no less aggressive than any other son of Horus Lupercal, but one with the knowledge of when to keep that aggression under tight control and when to unleash it. As he was also a stubborn soul, proud and with no small traces of bitterness in him, is it little wonder that there were those in the Legion that jokingly claimed that he had been mistakenly implanted with the wrong gene seed, and that he was instead a son of Perturabo?

So at odds with the majority of his Legion it is perhaps unsurprising that he, despite his skill, were not with the XVIth's main crusade fleet, and instead had this command at the very edges of the Great Crusade.

 

His reaction towards the 'rebels' of Asan II was one of cold calculation. They had to be removed, but a full out assuault would be wasteful as it would destory the planet's industry aswell as the insurgents. Instead he opted to give the rebels one last chance to stand down, and be shipped off as penal troops if they surrendered. If not, he had ordered chirugical strikes that would cripple the rebellion, and demonstrate the Imperial might once and for all. The dispassionate, and almost machinelike brutality I witnessed at the temple was part of this plan. Would it have worked? I do not know, but I do know the man that killed his plan beyond all hope...

 

Jalen Kerd...Young, ambitious, born of Cthonia, and a son of his gene-father if there ever was one as he looked as could have been Horus' smaller twin. ”The Primarch could use his face as his mirror” was the standard joke about such a likeness among the warriors of the XVIth. He was a man for whom there could be no fault in what his father said and did, nor with the ways of the Cthonian gangers. Not destroying their enemies with a quick, decapitating strike he saw as an insult to the Legion's honor.

 

I do not think that Jakhem Strom realised how much Jalen detested the strategy he had decided upon, or how he would turn it into pure slaughter.

Jalen commanded a tactical squad, the Athan Drahr, or 'The Bared Blades' in their native Cthonian. They were the perfect example of how the Legion was slowly warped from their ordered Terran origins into something more suited to the savage ways of Cthonia. One would not be too far from the truth to say that they were little more than cavern gangers given a thin veneer of military organisation. Most of them aggressive, blood-thirsty, and without even a shred of pity.

 

They were sent to the Ameshan Hills, the third most holy place of the Asan religion, where a prophet had once predicted a battle between the forces of 'Light' and those of 'Darkness' that would determine the fate of the world. Was that prophet a psyker who recived a vague glimpse of the future? She might have been... If so, there is a certain tragic irony to her vision as it would lead to so many Asans slain who should otherwise not have travelled there.

 

You see my boy, that the 'Bared Blades' hade been ordered to stop a High Priest from preaching rebellion from his temple in those hills. He was a man who saw the Imperium as the prophesied 'Darkness', and needed to be stopped if there were to be any hope for something even close to a 'peaceful' solution. I imagine that you think that it would be easy to do so, yes? That no mere monks and priests could hinder Astartes from their duty? Well, you are right, and wrong...

 

It is correct that no temple would stand a chance to an assualt from Jalen and his squad, just like 'The Burning Spears' and 'The Faceless' had no trouble with their attack. But such a holy site as those hills, combined with that 'prophecy' hade made thousands gather at the site. Men and women, children and elders, armed warriors and peacful protestors, all of them dedicated to hinder anyone trying to reach the High Priest.

 

Yes, one could say that those gathered there opposed the Imperium, that they technically were in rebellion, and that they with their actions had thrown down the gauntlet to the Expedition Fleet. It would be ”true enough”, but the truth is that when those deluded fools made their stand, they issued a challenge that 'The Bared Blades' knew only one answer to... Murder.

Not one soul that had stood before the Ameshan temple when the sun rose still drew breath when night fell, 'The Burning Spears' had slain them all.

 

They had obeyed the letter of their orders, to stop the High Priest from preaching rebellion, but they had not stayed true to the intentions of their mission, to de-escalate the conflict. Instead of stopping the insurrection they turned it into a full-blown rebellion instead.

 

 

 

 

 

'The Bared Blades' in their full strength. Heroes and villians, traitors and martyrs, Sons of Horus torn between conflicting loyalties every one of them...

 

 

 

 

I only spoke with Jalen once as he was among those Astartes that saw us Rememberancers as a waste of resources. I had gone to speak with Shinav Tar about a campaign he had mentioned earlier, and found him in a discussion with Jalen. I think that it was only my friendship with Shinav Tar that made Jalen speak to me, little that he said. His contempt for anyone not a Son of Horus made perfectly clear.

 

Nelan, in contrast, was much easier to speak with. He held me in neither high nor low regard, and saw no harm in speaking with me. I was a mere mortal, and he clearly my superior, I imagine that he humoured me in the same way that some will humour a simpleminded child.

 

Astel followed the lead of his 'Chieftain', the Legion could do no wrong, Horus could do no wrong. That would lead him down the wrong path in the end...

 

 

 

 

 

Madel's skill with a combat blade was much respected by his brothers, and many of them would spar with him in the training cages if given the chance. I can only regret that such skill were put to such ill use in the end...

 

I would say that Kondrak was a 'simple soul'. While all Astartes live, and die, for battle, he took it beyond that, if something was not related to combat he simply did not register it. I could have stood in his way in any of 'The Glorious Burden's' corridors and he would have trampled me under his feet withou even noticing me. He acknowledged the worth of mere mortal soldiers though, and in the end I like to think that when the darkness fell upon us, he even gave me some small measure of that respect.

 

Kerris was among the oldest Cthonian recruits of the company, and the echoes of the Luna Wolves of old were visible in how he acted, he had more dicipline than most of the brothers of his squad.

 

 

 

 

f any Son of Horus could be called 'cautious' it would be Fontan, always on edge, and trying to be prepared for any situation. I do not think that even he could have predicted what was to come though...

 

Scarpa 'Sure-shot' could have hit a Snotling in the eye from a mile away. He was cold-mannered, silent, and I will have to admit that my blood ran cold when I felt his gaze upon me.

 

Camriel was the one who slew the High Priest of Amesha in the end, and true to the more gruesome traditions of Cthonia he kept the gilded skull of the priest as a trophy. I am not certain why he alone of his brothers was armed with an ancient Phobos pattern bolter though.

 

 

 

 

Of all Astartes onboard our ship Sarak was among those I felt most uneasy among. At first glance he would seem jovial enough, for an Astartes, with his smiles and laughter. When looking closer though it was obvious that that mirth did not reach his unblinking eyes, and that his smile was like broken glass, sharp and painful.

 

Edom's story was tragic. He would have been a Librarian, but the Council of Nikaea disbanded the Librarium just as he was about to begin his training. I feel...'uneasy' criticising the Emperor's decisions, but I cannot help to imagine what Edom could have been if he had not been made to sacrifice something as much of himself as an arm or leg. Mayhaps his actions would have been for the good in such a case instead of the dark path he walked.

 

Vanon, the grey-haired veteran. Not much younger than Jakhem Strom himself, and one of the few non-Cthonians of the squad at this date. Recruited not long after the Great Crusade had left the Solar system. A reminder of the Legion that had been.

 

 

 

 

Elius and Lakus, sons not only of Horus, but of the same mother. One of them open and jovial, the other one stern and reserved. Unlike one another in everything, in the end even in their loyalties...

 

Verel was called the 'Second', and I could not understand why. When I asked why the explanation was simple, there had been another Verel in the squad when he had joined it. But even though his namesake was decades dead his nickname remained. It proved very fitting in the end though as he would be the second of his squad to die when the dark times came.

 

 

 

A rather massive update I would say... Hopefully it won't take such a long time between this one and the next as the time between this one and the Breachers. But we'll see... 

 

 

C&C is (as always) welcome

 

 

Looking good man, just brushed the dust off my Sons of Horus, about to get started with them again. 

I am thinking about using a colour scheme similar to yours. or a shade or two darker!

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338523-aebathan-the-wolves-of-cthonia/

 

Thanks man! Your guys are looking promising aswell. Some mighty fine poses, looking forward to see you painting them! 

[Calas Typhon]

Looking solid mate!

[deathspectersgt7]

Great update and well worth the wait MrB.

[MrBear]

Grandfather Nurgle clearly likes schools. It didn't take more than 4 days of being under the same roof as 150 students (with suboptimal air conditioning) for me to be struck by the first cold of the semester... Not much energy to spend on hobby time in other words, but I've decided upon what to paint next, and did some (very) minor work. Remember this guy?

 

 

 

 

One Chaplain Consul won't really expand the army much, but after 15 tacticals in one go I felt like painting something where I can (hopefully) see some progress after each painting session, and I have some ideas for his background that should fit the storyline rather well. Don't really know what's coming up after him at the moment, but either a new squad, a tank or perhaps both...

 

 

Looking solid mate!

 

Thanks buddy! It feels sweet to finally have a legal (but small) army.

 

 

Great update and well worth the wait MrB.

 

Thanks mate, glad you like them! Will hopefully go much faster with this next guy.

[deathspectersgt7]

The fluff piece was also primo !!!! 

[Brother Pheidias]

Agreed, very sombre and characterful writing, the correct tone for the musings of a remembrancer!

Great job on the Bared Blades too, especially taken with the Astartes wearing the Mk. II helmet!

[MrBear]

After a week in the company of Nurgle I can happily say that it seems like he's starting to look for new friends instead, in other words: I'm almost free from that cold! Having a cold, and having to work means that the painting this week isn't really much to talk about...

 

 

 

Not much to talk about, it's a start, nothing more...

 

I did have some energy for another thing though, but first some replies.

 

 

The fluff piece was also primo !!!! 

 

He he, it was already implied in the fact that you called the whole update 'great', but thanks for the heads up on the fluff aswell mate. 

 

 

Agreed, very sombre and characterful writing, the correct tone for the musings of a remembrancer!

Great job on the Bared Blades too, especially taken with the Astartes wearing the Mk. II helmet!

 

Thanks man, glad you like it. It took me an hour or two to 'get into character' as it had been a while since I did more than just scribble down an idea or two, but once I found the right tone again it didn't take long to write it.

 

Nice choice of a favourite Bared Blade, he's my favourite aswell! I'm fond of the others aswell, but he just feels so... right! 

 

 

I did say that there wasn't much painting this week, but when it comes to writing... 

 

Somehow I just got an idea in my head yesterday, and I kind of had to write it down. It's (probably) unrelated to my SoH-project but I'll put it here anyway. Who knows? I might win the lottery one day:

 

 

 

...The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
About his shadowy sides; above him swell
Huge sponges of millennial growth and height...

 

 

 

Some say that death is silent but they are mostly wrong, no one dies in complete silence. Even with the quietest of deaths there is one final sigh to be heard by anyone near before the noisy feast of maggots begin. Then there are those deaths were the roar of weapons sounds like thunder for day after day as the heaps of the slain grow higher and higher. Where is the silence then?

However, there are those occasions where the saying is correct though, when there is no sounds as the world itself lies dead in wake of the battles upon it.

 

Upon the most ancient of maps the name 'Amar Teritus' is written, and if somone were lucky enough to stumble upon the right files when searching the endless archives of the Adeptus Terra his eyes might catch the words 'Aptus Non' in faded letters. It is a world long left for dead by the Imperium, slain in battle when the rule of the God-Emperor was still young.

 

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The fires had died at last, and an eery silence ruled where the battle had raged mere hours before. Not even a wind could be heard as it seemed like the firestorms had stolen the breath not only from the fighting armies, but from the world itself...

 

Nothing born from mortal wombs still lived in the pitch-dark landscape where mile-thick clouds stole the light from the sun. Had the many ghosts of Amar had eyes to see with, they could have seen a world where the remains of those that had walked upon it had turned into ashes and sludge, and the half-molten wrecks of the machines that had killed them scattered upon the surface.

 

There was no sound after the carnage of the virus bomb, but despite this silence one thing still lived. Wounded it stood this giant beast, though no heart had ever beaten in it's metal chest. It had no veins to give life to the glacial thoughts in it's mind so instead of blood it relied upon the electricity that ran through the many miles of cables within it's soot-covered body.

But though it lived, it stood unmoving. The gigantic warmachine turned into a statue-like memorial to the many fallen of the battle. It felt a terrible anger slowly burning through it, anger over the deaths of it's Brother-Titans, at the loss of it's mortal crew, and how the cowardly actions of it's enemies had turned the victory into dust. It held on to those memories though, they were all that it had...

 

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Tanks and men from both the Imperial Guard and the traitors were dying everywhere, their deaths barely even registered by the Fulgur Tenebris as they were insignificant. It knew that the mortal crew might feel different, though it could not comprehend their logic. The God-Machine concentrated the sensors on it's fellow Titans instead, brothers aswell as enemies.

It could see the Lupus Caleo die on it's right flank, felled by the melta cannon of the traitorous Bestia Gentis as it had tried to get close enough to use it's chainfist. Fulgur Tenebris felt the dying roar of it's brother, the impotent rage of Lupus Caleo as it was falling without striking the foe. Such things could not be ignored, and Princeps Dumake agreed as their determination and anger blended into a seamless whole in that part of their minds that they shared with each other.

They turned swiflty to their right where the foe had not yet taken it's eye from the fallen Lupus Caleo at it's feet. Arrogance or blood-thirst? Fulgur Tenebris did not care, it let Princeps Dumake aim their volcano cannon to unleash a white lance of energy, one that temporarily blinded any mortal unfortunate to look at it. The Bestia Gentis suddenly tried to turn away, as if some infernal premonition had warned it, but it had acted too late, the volcano cannon struck the Reaver's head and effectivly decapitated it.

 

That victory, their second for the campaign, made them hungry for more, and with mighty strides the Warlord moved towards the centre of the lines where the remaining Titans of the Legio Fulminatrix were moving in for the kill on the last remnants of the traitorous Legio Vulpa. With battle-hunger, anger, and revenge burning in their minds both Princeps and God-Machine wanted at least a third victory to display at the victory cermonies back on Malitene.

They knew that they would have to hasten though, with the mighty Pugnus Caelorum leading the offensive it would soon be finished.

 

The fighting grew more and more intense though, as the two legions continued their mutual destruction. The Tempestas Celeri was lost, ending it's long battle honours, it's death avenged in turn by the destruction of the Risu Detestabilis just as the Amicus Falsus and the Tonitru Ingessi destroyed each other. Victory would most likely cripple the Legio Fulminatrix, perhaps beyond repair, but they continued on, honor demanded it. Oaths of vengenace had been sworn in the name of the Legio.

Fulgur Tenebris continued to hunt the diminishing number of foes, wounded itself now after that all of it's void shields had collapsed. It pressed on though, the end was near after all.

Suddenly Pugnus Caelorum fell, and the anger turned to white-hot rage. God-Machine and Princeps shared just one desire, to kill all before them, and time lost all meaning to them.

 

Then only one foe remained, the Ferrum Praevaricatrix. Corrupted Warlord, once a walking monument to the Omnissiah just as themselves.

They were swift, but the enemy swifter still, firing it's plasma annihilator on the move, hitting them in their right side. The pain was immense, Fulgur Tenebris had never felt anything like it, and Princeps Dumake almost collapsed from the strain that the mind-link put upon her. Only their anger allowed them to pull through, and fire back with their volcano cannon, hitting the Ferrum Praevaricatrix's hip, causing it to fall.

 

Terribly wounded it might be, but the Fulgur Tenebris stood triumphant at last. The mortal armies were still fighting each other around it, but the battle was nonethelss won. Only one titan was still standing, the slimmest of victories, yet still the greatest. One task remained though, and it limped towards the fallen Ferrum Praevaricatrix to deliver the final killing blow to an entire Legio.

Before they had come near enough their communication channel opened though, full of mad laughter from the Princeps commanding their foe. It confused Princeps Dumake, and therefore Fulgur Tenebris aswell, this was not how a fallen foe behaved. The laughter grew madder still though, until the Ferrum Praevaricatrix exploded from within. But not the bright fire of an exploding plasma reactor, no this was a quickly expanding black cloud, like a dark blossom, that covered the entire landscape in mere seconds before the screaming started on every channel...

 

Life-eater virus, the foe had carried virus bombs within itself as a last revenge. They had the time to share that thought, and Fulgur Tenebris felt the shock of it's Princeps before she to started to scream in agony as the virus had entered the Titan through the gaps of it's damaged armour. It could feel her die, feel the whole crew die, and suddenly it was alone. No other mind sharing it's thoughts, it's body frozen without someone that could direct it. Rage beyond anything it had ever experienced filled it's thoughts.

It raged on as the virus completed the murder of the world, and was still raging hours later when a spark somewhere started the near-inevitable firestorms. Some rare few individuals had survived until that moment, in bunkers or super-heavy tanks, but none of them lived through that final destruction. Fulgur Tenebris would have welcomed death, but instead it survived. It was now truly alone, trapped within it's own mind, reliving the battle over and over again...

 

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Such is the true 'silence of death', with a God-Machine slowly going insane as it stands alone upon a destroyed world. Destroyed, but not truly dead though as not even virus bombs are always flawless, especially those mishandled such as that of the Legio Vulpa. Some small traces of life can survive, and as Fulgur Tenebris' repeats it's memories in it's glacial mind, strange lichen and fungi thrives. Growing higher and higher, some even growing upon the great machine itself. All while one thought is the last hope of it's decaying mind, that the Imperium will one day return, and find it.

 

 

So... that's pretty much it for now. If you have any c&c you know what to do... 

 

Cheers!

[Pearson73]

Very nice writing.

[MrBear]

Still not exactly painting at what could be considered 'great speed', but there is at least some progress to be shown.

 

 

 

Quite rough still as only the main armour colour is anywhere near being finished, moving forward though...

 

 

Very nice writing.

 

Thanks man! Much appreciated, especially as it was an 'experiment' where I only had a very rough idea and pretty much made all of it up as I was writing it. 

[Chandrian]

Love the pose of this last one Mr. Bear!

[MrBear]

I really do tend to take my own sweet time when it comes to updates don't I? Well what can I say? It's been a busy, busy time at work with little time/energy to spare for the hobby... It will hopefully ease up shortly though. But enough of that, over to the update instead!

 

 

 

 

”Physcial bravery is an animal instinct; moral bravery is much higher and truer courage.”

Oundall Fhyllis, Merk politician M02

 

The rebellion had not yet started when I returned to orbit onboard the same Stormbird that had carried me to the surface. I guess that the Asans were simply momentarily stunned by what they had seen the Astartes do, I do know for certain that I was...

 

Yes, it had been my first sight of 'battle', and despite the lectures I have given you about the nessecities of violence I had at that point not yet learned to stomach it myself. Truth be told, I was close to a shivering wreck when I returned onboard 'the Glorious Burden'. You see, I had held the same illusions about the nobility of war that you have, but unlike you I had mine shattered most brutally. Partly from what I had seen with my own eyes at the temple, and partly from the recordings of Jalen Kerd's slaughter, too much in too short a time for one with such an idealistic world view as I.

 

There and then I could have given up, let the doubts that had risen overcome me, and stopped being a Rememberancer. Fate had different plans though, fate and Jakhem Strom. For all the differences between the Astartes and us 'mere mortals', especially between such a veteran as he and the naive young fool that I was, our Captain had guessed how traumatic I might find the experience, and he had arranged for someone to meet me. Perhaps not the most 'gentle' of greeters, but I owe him deeply for what he did none the less...

 

The Astartes marched down the ramp, and soon after I staggered out myself, with no other thought in my head than to find a bottle, and see if I could find refuge in it. A sorry sight to see no doubt, and it would have been sorrier still had I been given time for that bottle, instead I found myself all but walking into an Astartes that placed himself in my way. He was tall, even for an Astartes, with a scarred, almost gaunt-looking face, and intense eyes. I started to stammer out an apology but he hushed me, and gently laid his giant hand upon my shoulder and bade me follow him.

 

My new acquaintance led my to a section of the ship where I had never been before, even though I had noticed the occasional sombre-faced Astartes enter there. It was obviously an important place as it was directly below the bridge, but none of the crew I had spoken to could tell me what it was, and though I could count Grishal Baar as my friend the only thing he had said when I asked him had been that 'it was not his story to tell', and refused to say more. I'll have to admit that this destination made me start to gather my wits again, mysteries have always caught my interest in that way I suppose... And I could imagine no bigger mystery aboard this ship than that unadorned black door I suddenly found myself in front of. My guide then said “Enter the Hall of Rememberance” as he opened the door.

 

The chamber we entered was...unexeptional. It was about the same size as the messhall were I ate my meals but it was all but empty, just one bench wide enough for an Astartes to sit upon, and then nothing but plain metal walls. I entered with a frown upon my brow, not sure why this room deserved such a grand name nor why I had been taken there. I noticed an irregular pattern on the walls that intrigued me though, and when I moved closer I discovered that it was miniscule writing. “Milus Severad of Terra”, “Balkus of Cthonia”, “Taniel Raubin, Terran”, the walls were covered with the names of dead Astartes. I turned towards my companion with a questing look, he nodded and started to speak. That was how I started to know Ulyss Melek, Chaplain of the CCXIth.

 

I cannot really say for sure if we spent an hour in that hall, or if it was three. I do know though that the conversation we had was one of the most important ones I have ever had. Do you know why my boy? Of course you don't, there is no need to shake your head with such a sheepish look upon your face, it was a rhetorical question...

We talked about warfare, of how expectations and realities so often differed. We spoke about the Great Crusade, it's origin and purpose, about history, future, and memory. Does that sound strange to you? You see young one that a Chaplain, even in those days, was, in lack of better words, something of a... 'spiritual guide' to the Astartes he served with. Oh, I know that sounds close to a religious role, but that was not my intention, it is just so that it is so difficult to describe them properly... 'Spiritual guide' sounds almost blasphemous, and 'watchdog so harsh, but perhaps they should be described as something inbetween those two.

 

They certainly were instituted to be watchdogs, that's true. The guardians meant to ensure that the Legions did not disobey the Council of Nikaea, and the ban on the use of psychic powers. Many of them became more though, for to guard against 'corruption' one such guardian must know the inner thoughts of those he watches, and give them counsel. In short, to be a 'spiritual guide' in what ways the Imperial Truth permitted.

 

Ulyss, it turned out, was one of the better ones when it comes to guidance, as I myself is evidence of. For all the differences between us he managed to understand me good enough to guide me back to the path I had begun to tread, the role of the Rememberancer. I think part of it was the fact that he was one of the few Astartes that respected our role. Oh, don't get me wrong, quite a number of them accepted us, but respect? That was as rare as a honest Rogue Trader...

 

It must have been the tradition of Rememberance that the CCXIth had that was the key, those inscriptions of the names of the fallen that I witnessed in that hall. Because he told me to my face how he respected our task to record the deeds of the Legionnaires so that not only their names would be known by the generations of tomorrow. He lamented his own skills at such things as he could do little more than to record when, and where his brothers had died in the book he kept with him at all times before etching them into the walls of the ship.

I think he was unjust to himself in that record as I saw him upon the field of battle, where his spoken words were like poems when he called his brothers to battle, and they answered him with the Legion's traditional battle-cry: “Kill for the living! Kill for the dead!” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here his is, Ulyss Malek. With him I have managed to paint exactly 40 Sons of Horus in just about a year, not exactly a world record number but a pretty good one nonetheless. Anyways, if you have any C&C it is as always appreciated. 

 

 

Love the pose of this last one Mr. Bear!

 

Thanks buddy, I hope you like the finished version aswell! I can't take to much credit for the pose though considering I've not changed much from the original model except the left arm.

[deathspectersgt7]

Only 40  . Looks GOOD MrB .

[MrBear]

Only 40  . Looks GOOD MrB .

 

Glad you like him buddy! And yeah 40 marines ain't much really, I bet you could do that many before breakfast any day in the week. For those of us who obviously have sloths among our ancestors it's still a respectable number though  

 

Slowly starting next squad, this army needs some Cataphractii:

 

 

Cheers!

[Brother Dallo]

Keep at it MrBear. Always happy to see another of your updates, especially ones with fluff.

 

Dallo

[MrBear]

Keep at it MrBear. Always happy to see another of your updates, especially ones with fluff.

 

Dallo

 

Cheers buddy! Glad to have you around, I should try to update more often but things always tend to come in the way. Hopefully the second half of this semester will be a bit less stressful at work, but I'm quite familiar with Murphy's law so...

 

Anyway, the next squad is ready for some paint. I guess that their date with the spray can will be sometime during the weekend.

 

 

Nothing really special, just a couple of hints to their origins (beside the shoulder pads). I will do a more thorough search of my bits box to see if I have any other minor things to use on them though.

[Reyner]

Could stick a couple of plumes onto the back plate like the old Heresy artwork:

 

[MrBear]

Could stick a couple of plumes onto the back plate like the old Heresy artwork:

 

Godd suggestion mate! I had intended to order a set of plumes but forgot to actually do it... I've placed an order now though, a plume or two might be just 'right' for these guys.