Harvesters of Souls: Drakkar ravagers & steampunk craftworld

[The Traitor]

Oh wow, I dont know why I havn't messaged on here but this is awesome!!! my story of my own legion is that they fall to Malal, your stuff is what i envisage!

got a group shot of everything?

Thanks brother, didn't know that about the Celestial Knights, I'm sure it'll be an interesting story twist! ;)

About a group shot, what do you exactly mean by "everything"? The only group I have finished in this thread was the Infiltration Force and that was already shown.

So my effort on Magnus continues and I've finished the skin!

I'm not sure about the OSL of the eye, maybe I'll work more on it later. Also I don't know what to do next, should I do the feathers of the legs?

[Pyroclast91]

WOW JUST WOW. Awesome work brother Magnus looks amazing any plans to get Mortarion? since he'll be next I can't say for sure since we haven't seen him yet but surely the death Lord would will have a sort of Necro-Vibe that I imagine would fit with your HOS.

[The Traitor]

WOW JUST WOW. Awesome work brother Magnus looks amazing any plans to get Mortarion? since he'll be next I can't say for sure since we haven't seen him yet but surely the death Lord would will have a sort of Necro-Vibe that I imagine would fit with your HOS.

Thanks brother! While I'm sure that Mortarion will be awesome he's supposed to not get on very well with Virgultur and was actually one of his more disliked brothers. That said I'll probably get in love with the model when it's released, so I'll have to make some weird fluff change to make a truce between the both or maybe he'll even be appropriate to make a Virgultur conversion based on him, but I hope that's still far on the future so I can have some time to work on everything I have waiting for!

On a completely different matter I've decided to make a Harvesters of Souls fuff compilation at the first post of this thread, so that it'll be easier for newcomers to read it and for the rest to find it. If someone still thinks that's too much to read I would recommend at least the Timeline, it gives a good idea of the legion history and explains many things.

So I spent most of my afternoon studying biochemistry for an exam tomorrow (I must admit that it isn't the part of biology that I like the most...) so wasn't able to paint much, but I managed to progress a bit:

So I did the runes in his arm and the feathers and the foot of a leg, all of which I'm pretty happy about. Now that the model is getting more and more green parts it's starting to acquire that Harvesters of Souls look that I wanted, but there's still much to do. I'm thinking of doing an OSL effect on the arm engravements, but I don't want to abuse that technique so I'm not sure about it, what do you guys think? At last I've also thought of painting his skin full of tribal tatoos, but I'm not sure if I can pull it off, so I would greatly appreciate your opinion on it. If it's a yes would you make them black or white?

[The Traitor]

So I managed to get some more work done on Magnus this morning, at the end I repainted his foot red because I thought that grey would look somehow weird, considering it would be the only skin part of the model in that colour:

So I don't really know what to do next, any suggestions? Also I'm still undecided on the tattoos, I don't want to ruin all my hard work on this fella!

[Vairocanum]

I quite like the skin tones you've achieved on Magnus so I would vote for no tribal tattoos (although I would definitely want to see you paint some on a different model).

[The Traitor]

I quite like the skin tones you've achieved on Magnus so I would vote for no tribal tattoos (although I would definitely want to see you paint some on a different model).

Okay, I think I'm also getting more inclined towards the no tattoo option, but after the ones I did on the Brazen Lord I'm eager to do more!

After a game yesterday using the new Traitor Legions rules for Emperor Children which went very well for me (18-8 against deathwatch allied with an IK, Imperial Fists and a Culexus) and which you can read about here I got extra motivated and now I have to finish Magnus so that I can build a 40k HoS force and play more with my CSM (which had been pretty much sidekicked by other armies since the realease of Skitarii (which was the first of those armies :P))! So I finished his hair and some pieces of armour:

For the hair I went for a blend from black to white, as I think that the white will contrast nicely with the darker wings:

As as for the armour itself I unsurprisingly went for a black and white scheme with green details, though the bone colours of the skulls and the skeletons (which remain unpainted on the leg piece) are somehow different:

Now I'm wondering if a black pupil could look good in his good eye (the real one, not one of the thousands that he has through his armour) as even though I would usually have though a feline-like eye with a line pupil in the middle could have looked good I'm not sure if it would look weird with the OSL effect...

[MikhalLeNoir]

Absolutely love the paint scheme you are going with magnus.

[ElDuderino]

Seconded, looks less like a 70's comic book villain and more like a badass daemon.

[Vairocanum]

Wow amazing work on the armor! The black and white works really well, and I love the eyes on the armor. I think the osl is great without the pupil, looking forward to seeing more work done!

[The Traitor]

Absolutely love the paint scheme you are going with magnus.

Thanks Mikhal, glad you like him, I wanted to do something different from the usual scheme that everyone is doing.

 

 

Seconded, looks less like a 70's comic book villain and more like a badass daemon.

 

Haha, thanks! It's good to see that people are liking this alternative scheme, I was afraid I would get snapped at because of not following the "official" or "fluffy" paintjob on such a representative character.

 

Wow amazing work on the armor! The black and white works really well, and I love the eyes on the armor. I think the osl is great without the pupil, looking forward to seeing more work done!

 

Thanks brother, I've also leant towards the option os leaving the eye as it is.

 

So, I'm actually getting a rest from Magnus and scratch-building a Chaos Dwarf team for Blood Bowl (which can't be shown here ), but I managed to write some fluff through this past days about the Harvesters of Souls relationships with the other legions.

 

THE HARVESTER, HIS BROTHERS AND THEIR LEGIONS

 

I Dark Angels - Lion El’Johnson

The Harvester and the Lion never met during the time that the II Legion remained loyal. Virgultur respected him and his Legion, he approved of his secretive ways and knew about his fight against the beasts to free Caliban, which he compared to his own history with Messis, but they weren't too close.

 

II Harvesters of Souls - Virgultur

 

III Emperor's Children - Fulgrim

When Virgultur met Fulgrim on Terra they didn't get on at all, he thought that the Phoenix was too arrogant and superfluous, and thought of war as not much more than a place to prove his skills and show off. The same could be told about his sons, who wore armours full of ornaments and dedicated more time to pleasure than to war. When the Emperor’s Children felt to chaos Virgultur at first thought they were disgusting, but over the time he and his Legion started getting corrupted too and he started getting more interested in them, specially because of the Requiem, as they were marvelled by the sonic weapons used by the Noise Marines and started trying to copy similar designs in their own exotic weaponry.

 

IV Iron Warriors - Perturabo

Since Virgultur and Perturabo met a bond between them was forged. They fought together against a huge Ork Waaagh and they respected how they fought. When this war finished Perturabo gifted Virgultur with Truth and Lie, a double glaive that the Harvester has used ever since. After the Heresy he revealed himself to the Lord of Iron, him being one of the only three primarchs that know about the Harvesters of Souls survival, but never worked too closely with him, as Perturabo was resented that Virgultur hadn't helped them conquer Terra.

 

V White Scars - Jaghatai Khan

Even though the Harvester respected the Khan they didn't met too oftenly, but they fought a minor war together in where the Riders of the Apocalypse forged bonds of brotherhood with many White Scars but Salazar Vilus, their Death Lord, was offended by them in a misunderstanding and held the grudge until some time after the Heresy, when he and his Sect attacked an scaping regiment of the V Legion and completely decimated it simply to get his revenge, what caused some unease as other Riders of the Apocalypse didn't agree with this decision.

 

VI Space Wolves - Leman Russ

Virgultur and the Wolf King have disliked each other since the moment they met on Terra, briefly after the Harvester discovery. Russ had always disliked witchcraft and, when he was told what Virgultur had done on Messis, he was horrified. Because of this he remained a supporter of the legion dismissal until the day he was tasked to destroy it. The Harvesters of Souls have hated the Space Wolfs ever since but, unlike their other enemies which they try to harass as much as possible without being noticed, they totally ignore the VI Legion and, what is more, they actively seek to let them out of their plans, as Virgultur doesn't want to risk facing again the sons of the wolf until the time is right, knowing than when he does it, he will completely and utterly destroy them and hunt them down until there's no one left.

 

VII Imperial Fists - Rogal Dorn

Prior to the Heresy Virgultur and Dorn got on surprisingly well, as it was the Harvesters of Souls who arrived to Inwit and discovered the primarch of the VII. Virgultur was the first primarch that Rogal talked to, and the one that told him everything about the Great Crusade and the Empire of Mankind, it was the Revenant who told him about their father, the Emperor, and the one who introduced them. As Rogal never told a lie, nor did Virgultur in his presence, and The Vigilant always respected the eternal urge of his brother to redeem himself in the eyes of his father. After and during the Heresy, Virgultur tried to fight his brother’s Legion as little as possible, but he eventually saw that they were too important to be ignored. Because of this the Harvesters of Souls always try to fight honourably and openly against the Imperial Fists (as much as they can, which isn't too much), and have even fought besides them in several occasions to prevent the forces of chaos from conquering specific worlds that the Harvesters didn't want them to have.

 

VIII Night Lords - Konrad Curze

The Night Haunter was one of the many reasons because of which Virgultur went rogue. He fought besides him against a xenos race, and was disgusted by their ways and saw that Curze was completely out of his mind. Even though, he learned a lot from their Infiltration techniques and terror tactics, but adapted them to be less cruel and caused pain just when necessary.

 

IX Blood Angels - Sanguinius

Though the sons of Sanguinius never caught Virgultur attention during the great crusade, he was impressed by their potential when he discovered that they had the Black Rage afterwards. After some research and modification he, with the help of his Chief Necrontian Makke Haasan, and the Death Lord of the Unsettled (at that time) Daarius Cheomus, developed the Draugar, legionaries who were enhanced by the mix of a gene-disease derived from the Black Rage, a modified version of the Butcher Nails of the XII Legion, and dark rituals invented by the Revenant himself and carried out by the Necrontinus. Because of this the Harvesters of Souls have faced the Blood Angels many times, specially the Death Company, to extract subjects for testing and to prove the Draugar effectiveness in battle compared to the marines affected by the actual Black Rage.

 

X Iron Hands - Ferrus Manus

As with Fulgrim, Virgultur found the Gorgon too arrogant and overconfident, though he respected him more than the Phoenix as he at least recognised that he was a skilled fighter. Additionally he thought that his tactics were too rigid, and despised the obsession their sons had with replacing as many parts of themselves as they could with machines, as he knew the true value of the body and the power it had within and, even though he thought of machines as a good way to enhance it, he didn't think they should replace it.

 

XI -

 

XII World Eaters - Angron 

During the Crusade Virgultur was totally against the tactics of the War Dogs, and was frustrated to know that his father thought of his own Legion in a similar way and usually deployed them together as a brutal mean of destroying opposition, while the Harvester preferred a much more subtle way of war. When Angron reunited with his Legion he was horrified to see that his brother was a madman, and urged the Emperor to remove him from command. Over the time as he got the time to inspect him closer he developed an interest for the Butcher Nails, and ordered some members of his Legion to investigate about them and try to find a better solution. After the Heresy this research will end up creating the Draugar for the Unsettled Sect, as explained above.

So because of a mix of interest in the Nails and despise of their methods, the Harvesters of Souls fought frequently against the World Eaters.

 

XIII Ultramarines - Roboute Guilliman

Virgultur thought that the rigid tactics followed by the Ultramarines were an aberration, as he preferred to give much more independence to his legionaries to do as they thought better, trusting them to be capable of changing their strategy as battle carried on. This dislike against the XIII was further increased after the Fall of Monarchia, as he thought that no Legion should have the authority to punish another one, knowing the resent it would cause between the two. This turned into hatred when the Codex Astartes was finished, as he saw it as the anathema of what war should be, and Virgultur was devastated when he saw that his Legion recruits were turned into Ultramarines, but managed to hunt some of them down much later and either turn them into spies or kill them.

 

XIV Death Guard - Mortarion

Though at first the Reaper and the Harvester though they would like each other and respected their legions for being so close to death, things changed when they finally met each other at the Hallion Campaign. Here Mortarion was given a task elsewhere and decide to leave with the bulk of his force, as the war against the Ork Whaaagh was progressing too slowly for his taste. Because of this Virgultur called him a coward and told him that he should carry death where he was told to, no where he wanted. Additionally Mortarion got to see all the psykers that the Harvesters of Souls had, which he despised and made the tension between them grow even further. After the Heresy the II Legion attacked them frequently, pleasing both Virgultur for fighting the sons of Mortarion and Malal for fighting the followers of Nurgle. Because of the amount of chemical weaponry and toxins used by the Death Guard, the Hell Walkers are usually deployed to fight against them.

 

XV Thousand Sons - Magnus the Red

Being the other primarch famous for his psychic abilities (Lorgar’s gift would be discovered after) Virgultur got on very well with Magnus, though he was somehow envious of his greater power and the fact that he had achieved it without much help from the Emperor. This oftenly made them quarrel, but it were not much more than brotherly discussions rather than a real dislike. After the Heresy Virgultur fought them as little as possible, fearing their psychic might and the wrath of his brother, but was forced to intervene when Magnus attacked Fenris, when he reveals himself and tries to dissuade him from making the attack, with the excuse that the moment still hasn't arrived. Magnus, even though surprised by the apparition of his apparently not-so-dead brother, refuses, saying that his intention isn't to destroy Fenris but to take his revenge. Frustrated because he doesn't understands his brother's plans, Virgultur decides to help Magnus, so he tries to turn the Inquisition against the Space Wolves and then, after Magnus “defeat”, rises the dead bodies that lie on the battlefield to cover the retreat of the XV. After this series of events the two brothers have gotten closer again and have even fought together in some occasions.

 

XVI Luna Wolves - Horus Lupercal

The first primarch Virgultur ever saw (apart from himself) and the one who saved him on his last battle on Messis, the Harvester always had a soft spot for the Horus. It was because of this that Virgultur was tore apart to see that he had been tainted by the entities of the Warp and was being fooled just as he had been, but he also saw that it was his opportunity to destroy the Empire to rebuild a new human civilisation free of the tyranny of the Emperor or any other unearthly creature. Because of this he even appeared to Horus and told him to go to the planet of Molech in search of power, as he knew he would need it to fight their father. What he didn't expect was the speed with which Horus arrived to Terra and got defeated, as he hadn't got enough time to prepare himself and restore his Legion from their destruction, so he had to watch in desperation the Imperium being rebuilt and the forces of Chaos gaining power instead of being able to destroy them when they were crippled. After Horus death he was let down by his successor, Abbadon, as he thought that he was too blinded by hatred and desire of revenge to be successful of his task of finishing what his father had started. Because of this Virgultur was actually impressed when he managed to destroy Cadia, an event he hadn't foreseen, and is now preparing himself for a second chance of rebuilding humanity in case Abbadon success brings him any further.

 

XVII Word Bearers - Lorgar Aurelian

Though Virgultur and Lorgar hadn't any special feeling for each other, the Revenant was one of the few who went to talk with Lorgar after the incident of Monarchia, giving him his support but on the insides feeling his doubts about the Empire grow. Even though the Harvesters of Souls have seen themselves forced to fight the Word Bearers several times, as they have menaced to destroy the balance between Chaos and the Empire several times, which would have caused a total victory of one of the sides instead of mutual destruction.

 

XVIII Salamanders - Vulkan 

The Revenant and the Drake had not a lot in common, even though not much before the Harvesters of Souls felt in disgrace they met and talked about their dislike for war and confessed their hope for a peaceful future. Many years after, Virgultur discovered about Vulkan’s immortality, and was fascinated by it. Unfortunately he lost trace of his brother before he could investigate much further about it, and has searched for signs of him ever since to capture him and research about that special gift, with the hope it might lead him to discover a better way of immortality than undeath or daemonhood.

 

XIX Raven Guard - Corvus Corax

The Harvester never actually met Corax, so he wasn't able to formulate a real opinion about him, even though he approved about the tactics that his Legion used. Additionally he tried to get his hands on the modified gene-seed he developed, as the accelerated growing process of Astartes could have been very useful, but the Alpha Legion operatives were faster than him and the project was cancelled before he could make a move, one of the first cases of both infiltrators getting hampered by each other (see below).

 

XX Alpha Legion - Alpharius/ Omegon 

Though Alpharius was found much after the destruction of the Harvesters of Souls, the bonds between the XX and the II had been strong, as they had fought in the same Expeditionary Force before reuniting with their primarch. During and after the Heresy, Virgultur’s agents have encountered many times with Alpha Legion operatives, and thus have ended up forging kind of an “alliance” in where they try not to interfere much in each other issues, sometimes even helping each other. It is because of this that the Alpha Legion could be considered the only “allies” of the Harvesters of Souls (or the closest thing to allies they have) and so it is the one of few to know about their existence (or at least partially). As the state of the Alpha Legion’s primarchs is not very well know (in the way that no one knows if they're alive or dead) so is their relationship with Virgultur, but what is in fact know is that he revealed to them (yes, both of them) during the Heresy and cooperated with them, the Effrit squad having been reported working with Harvesters of Souls support.

 

"You know something is wrong when death starts choosing who to kill instead of killing those who have to die" Virgultur, primarch of the II, referring to Mortarion during the Hallion Campaign.

[The Traitor]

So more fluff was done, now about the messian mythology:

 

THE REALM OF HELLA

In the ancient culture of Messis they thought that life didn't end when the body died, but rather the souls travelled to the Realm of Hella, the messian goddess of death. In this realm souls were judged by what they had done in life and they were sent to one of four places:

 

The Eternal Hall

Those who were killed and raised as undead soldiers by the Necrophants, the Virgultum, had the most glorious fate of all. It was true that they had to die and serve as mindless thralls for a years, but they were reserved the Eternal Hall, a fortress in the centre of the Realm of Hella where they trained day and night for the final battle, in where Hella herself would lead them to fight the Nightmare Stalkers and the other beasts of Messis and free everyone of the danger they supposed. Because of this, the people willingly gave their second sons to the Necrophants to fight in the undead legions, as they knew what awaited them.

 

The Returning Souls

You didn't need to serve on the undead legions to be rewarded, you could also be chosen as a Returned Soul, a fate reserved to those who, while not having been a Virgultum, had lived an exemplary life and thus were given the chance to continue as guides for others. This Returned Souls were spirits that instead of remaining on the Realm of Hella were sent back to Messis and there they helped and inspired mortal beings through apparitions and dreams.

 

The Sleeping Plains

This was where most of human souls went and the majority of the Realm of Hella was dedicated to it. In here the souls of the dead slept, waiting for the day in where Messis would be freed from the Nightmare Stalkers and the dead would return to the world and live again forever.

 

The Endless Void

The cruelest of fates, the Endless Void was reserved for those who had committed evil acts during their life and had not served well society. This were the people that didn't have a place in the perfect world that would emerge after the Rise of Hella, and thus their souls were destroyed and forgotten forever.

 

When Virgultur rose and started attacking the Nightmare Stalkers, many though that he was the Champion of a Hella who had finally came, a belief that was reinforced by the enormous size that his army had, even assisted by some of the beasts that had previously attacked them. Nevertheless this ideas was completely crushed by the arrival of the Imperium, as the Imperial Truth was imposed and this creed was declared heresy and blasphemy.

But when Virgultur betrayed the Emperor this myths started being murmured again, and the Revenant promised his sons that those who fought until the end and died with glory in battle would be saved by him and their souls would be kept until he called them to fight again by his side in a battle in where they would conquer the galaxy. Because of this the myths of the Eternal Hall were reborn, but this time Virgultur would be the champion of Malal, a true god, instead of the champion of Hella, a false one. This day, which they started calling the Dark Apocalypse, started being the hope of the Harvesters of Souls, and because of this they fight fearlessly, knowing that if they fall they will return again to fight at theirs primarch’s side when the moment is right.

 

“Brothers, do not fear death, for when the Dark Apocalypse arrives you'll be called from the depths of hell to fight for the Revenant again!” Reus Ghortan 

[Vairocanum]

Cool fluff, I like the returning souls idea! I'd love to read some more stuff on Virgultur's interactions with Malal.

[The Traitor]

Cool fluff, I like the returning souls idea! I'd love to read some more stuff on Virgultur's interactions with Malal.

Thanks Vairocanum, it is true that I haven't written a lot about that, maybe it'll be my next topic... About the returning souls, they were just a myth, but having a more defined culture of the origin world helps me when making fluff about the legion itself.

I got back to Magnus again and I managed to finish his other leg-armour, paint both winged skelletons and the eye he has on the palm of his hand:

Overall I'm happy with how he's going, I'll probably paint his shoulder pad and vambrace next, but the following thing would be the feathers of the wings... Oh man that is going to take some time...

[Vairocanum]

Great update! Are you keeping the claws black? Or going for different color later? Also it may take time but your feathers definitely look awesome, so I'm sure the wings will look amazing.

[Mechanist]

wow that magnus. The skin is brilliant and the armour is ace as well. I'd be tempted to add a bit more colour to the feathers potentially covering up the black entirely on them and going with a dark jade with sharp highlights. otherwise you may find the whole thing is a little too dark. Still it's an amazing start.  

[The Traitor]

Great update! Are you keeping the claws black? Or going for different color later? Also it may take time but your feathers definitely look awesome, so I'm sure the wings will look amazing.

Thanks, claws aren't painted yet, I don't know if I should paint them black, white, bone or grey... possibly a lighter shade of grey could look good.

 

wow that magnus. The skin is brilliant and the armour is ace as well. I'd be tempted to add a bit more colour to the feathers potentially covering up the black entirely on them and going with a dark jade with sharp highlights. otherwise you may find the whole thing is a little too dark. Still it's an amazing start.

Thanks a lot, I will not leave them completely black as I will do kind of an OSL effect on the Tzeentch icons it has engraved, but if I see they're still too plain I might give a red tone to the feathers closer to the body or, as you said, a green glaze to the ones farther away.

 

 

I managed to write some fluff... It isn't directly about Malal, but it's getting there (literally;)). Also it's the first time I write about a duel-like scene, which I found surprisingly difficult, so any input or recommendations about it would be great!

 

 

THE SEARCH OF DESTRUCTION

 

Virgultur didn't find Malal because of pure coincidence when he was searching for help in the Warp, he found it because he had been searching for him.

When training with his father in the use of his psychic abilities, he had learned that there were creatures that inhabited the Warp, but he had been told that they were just mindless reflections of the thoughts and feelings of mortals that revibrated through the Inmaterium taking the most bizarre forms. Even though, when he decided to escape from the Imperium he was as desperate as a mortal could be, and he started searching there for resources to achieve the task he had ahead.

One of the places in where he searched was the Warp, and how surprised was he when he discovered that the beings within it were far from mindless and what's more, with a colossal exercise of willpower, he even managed to comunicate with some of them. In this conversations with this twisted creatures started learning about things that his father hadn't told him. He learned about Chaos, and how it meant that the Imperial Truth was a lie. He learned about gods and demons, about ancient heroes and fallen angels and he learned about his past and how he had been created. But most importantly, he learned about an entity of pure destruction and wrath, a being feared even by this “dark pantheon”, he learned about Malal. This happened when questioning a horrendous and particularly powerful creature, whose form was purely made of shadows and red fire. This conversation was burned into Virgultur mind and he would remember it clearly forever after:

 

-Who are you mortal, to dare speak to me in my own realm?- the entity had said in a growling voice deeper than the oceans.

-I'm Virgultur, the Revenant, primarch of the Harvesters of Souls. And who are you, creature of the Warp?- the Harvester had answered full of confidence, knowing that he couldn't let himself appear weak in front of this beings.

-You won't get my name so easily, insignificant speck of dust, but you shall call me Be’ Lakor, Dark Master and First Prince- he said, almost laughing -I've heard about your name before, and I know why you've come to me, you want my aid to destroy the realm of the Anathema- he continued in a much more serious tone.

-That is exactly what I want from you, First Prince, I've been told your power is beyond imagination and that you can destroy whole worlds in your wrath- Virgultur responded, trying to lure him, as he knew how egocentric this creatures where and how they liked to be praised.

-While this things you've heard are true, mortal, the power of the Anathema is even greater, so I wouldn't be able to help you even if you deserved my infinite might- Be’ Lakor said grimly, and Virgultur knew that for a demon to admit it, his father must be much more powerful than him, so he decided to try a new approach, as he always did when he got neglected.

-Then I shall find someone else to carry on my task, if you're as unimpressive as you say- he said full of despect.

-There is not a single creature in the Sea of Souls that can equal me in power, you unrespectful annoyance, I'm just inferior to the Dark Pantheon itself!- he said, obviously bothered by the comment.

-In that case I'll summon you and you will kill the Anathema in my name- Virgultur insisted.

-That is not something that I can do, mortal, however I can aid you in destroying your brothers… For a price- the demon growled. While it was an interesting offer it was not what Virgultur wanted.

-You pathetic creature, I see I have only been told lies and that you're as weak as any other of your kind I have encountered, I shall leave you to rot in this darkness that you reign, for you're not worthy of being called to my realm!- he knew that was he was doing was dangerous, but he needed results.

-NO!!!- Be’ Lakor boomed, the fire in his figure getting brighter -Watch out your tongue mortal, I will destroy you if you tempt me any further, I see that you already know what I want, but as I said before I cannot help you- then Virgultur saw something twist in the darkness and he could have swore that the demon was smiling -But now that I think about it… I may know who might be the solution to your problem- Virgultur was startled, as he had never been given a response as clear as this, previously other demons had told him who might know something, some had told him something completely off topic or simply had attacked him in a fit of madness.

-Then tell me, creature, I command you- he said, wanting to keep control.

-I have warned you mortal, do not provoke me- the Dark Master growled in anger -I shall tell you when I walk again in the Materium-

-No, you'll tell me what I want now or I'll have to kill you- he continued being brusque, hoping to intimidate this creature with the prospect of dying in the Warp.

-Ha! Are you defying me, mortal? If it wasn't on your hand to summon my body again you would be dead already for your insolence!- Be’ Lakor snarled. Virgultur was getting impatient, but he also had the hope of finally having found his solution, so he decided it was time to act. Faster than a lighting he snatched his double sided glaive form his back, Truth and Lie, and slashed against the demon’s leg, but was surprised to find a black blade, with purple lightnings crepitating through it, blocking his blow as if out of the air.

-Arrrgh! I will tolerate this no longer, you will die for this, Virgultur the Revenant!- Be’ Lakor said with rage in his voice pronouncing his title as if it was part of his name, and the shadow which he had been started getting more defined until a body could be seen. He was as tall as him, of primarch stature, and had a muscular body black as the night covered in profane icons engraved in his skin. A lizard tail and two bat-like wings sprouted from his back, bleached skulls and vicious hooks hanging from them. But the most hideous thing was his head, a twisted face with an expression of pure malice and two unequal and sharp horns at the sides. He was now wielding his sword with both hands and he charged at him with violence.

He deflected the first blow with Truth, but he saw startled that a new one was coming at his side at an inhuman speed, and barely managed to raise Lie fast enough to stop it. So it began, a mad dance of death in where both contestants moved frenetically, sometimes one had the lead and sometimes the other, until a moment arrived in where Be’ Lakor decided to make an advantage of his corrupted body, spread his wings and starting attacking Virgultur from above. To his surprise, two wings made out of rays of light and shadow appeared at the primarch back, and he rose to start fighting on the blood red sky of this warp-world. Rays of energy flought when their weapons met, and they attacked the other both physically and psychically, an spectacular show of raw power.

Be’ Lakor got the first blood when his sword managed to break through the Revenant’s defenses, a low blow that landed on his anckle passing just an inch away from Lie. When the blade went through the armour and bit the flesh Virgultur let go and scream of pain, feeling the tainted energies of the weapon through his body, debilitating him. Focusing on the rage that this caused he started attacking more violently, and the victorious look on Be’ Lakor face soon disappeared. They fought for whole hours without saying a word, just an occasional roar or growl and the bang of the two weapons clanging, as well as the the thundering noise of the Warp’s “athmosphere”. Virgultur saw that they where completely equal and that they would fight for eternity in here until they tired and someone committed a fatal mistake. But he could be so close from what he wanted, demons didn't lie if they had something to gain from being sincere, so he couldn't loose his opportunity. He managed to fly somehow appart from the Daemon Prince and, in a scream, he tore a breach in the Warp’s fabric with the few strengths he had left.

Seeing his path to freedom open, Be’ Lakor blindly flought to it, forgetting his opponent, for the chance of reaching the Materium. And Virgultur followed at his back. They found themselves of the surface of a wind-blown world, a violent storm raging over their heads and the rain wetting the stone floor bellow them. With a roar of satisfaction Be’ Lakor said:

-You're a fool if you think I'm going to tell you anything now, mortal, you don't deserve my knowledge and I will not accept this surrender of yours- he paused to savour what he was about to say -Now you'll die, son of the Anathema- and though the violent winds he flought towards Virgultur with his sword rose up high, thinking himself victorious. But he was surprised to see his strike being blocked by the shaft of the glaive, firmer than ever before, and now it was him the one that could feel the primarch smiling at the other side of his half-skull mask. Then the dance started again, but this time you could clearly see who was winning, as Be’ Lakor barely had time to stop or evade Virgultur’s attacks.

-What is happening, what dirty trick have you done, mortal?- he asked desperately, clearly confused by the situation.

-It's been a long time since you last went out of the Warp, First Prince, as you've clearly forgotten that you are the mortal in here, and thus, you're weaker- Virgultur said, exhausted but knowing that he had won.

-Arghhhh, you lie, Virgultur the Revenant!- Be’ Lakor screamed in frustration while they still fought, but Virgultur managed to lock his blade in the curved shape of his glaive and, suddenly, the demon was unnarmed as his sword felt to the ground bellow. Without letting the moment pass, Virgultur kicked with his foot Be’Lakor’s chest and pressed the shaft of his glaive to his neck, and with the strength of his wings they started flying down at great speed towards the stony floor. The demon tried to fight it by flying upwards, but the Revenant was much stronger and soon they violently hit the ground. With the sound of breaking bones Be’ Lakor was smashed under Virgultur’s feet, and could barely manage a screech of pain befor Truth fell on his neck and cleanly severed his head.

The Harvester stood up and looked down at the twisted body, totally broken by the impact, and saw that it was starting to fade away, just as a shadow which is hit by the light of dawn. Even though he was very tired he knew that he still had something to do, and so he focused his mind on the disappearing corpse and followed to where his essence was going, as he had already discovered that demons didn't really die unless you killed them in the Warp. Back again under the bloody skies in where it had all started he saw Be’ Lakor’s body slowly forming itself on the ground, gaining power every second. He put Lie’s blade on his neck before he could pull away, and he heard the beaten demon murmur:

-I hate you Virgultur the Revenant, someday you'll pay for this- but his voice wasn't as powerful as before, now it was more similar to the sound that a bug makes when being stomped under a boot.

-Now you we'll tell me about this creature with the power that I need, you'll tell me where to find it and how to get there, you'll tell me who has the power to kill my father- Virgultur answered straight to the point, as he didn't want to waste any more time.

-Or what?- Be’ Lakor said, still lying on the floor unable to move, with the last bits of defience he had left.

-Or I'll kill you- He said without doubting it -and if I kill you now, you'll die forever-

-You wouldn't dare- but Virgultur finally sensed fear in his voice -they wouldn't let you, they protected me, they favoured me!- the Daemon Prince said in desperation.

-I don't even know who they are, so I'll kill you if I feel like it, you filthy creature- The Revenant said while looking the demon in the eye. Be’ Lakor saw Virgultur’s shimmering green eye, and he knew he was telling the truth.

-You don't want to meet him mortal, you really don't- he said finally surrendering -he's beyond your comprehension, he's older that the four themselves, a being of the purest hatred and whose only purpose is to destroy… seek him and it will be your doom, I warn you- Be’ Lakor said, with a deeper kind of fear in his voice. Even Virgultur was somehow nervous now.

-It is this kind of destruction that I want to unleash on my father’s empire, stop playing games and speak his name- Virgultur said with as much authority as he could.

-You must be really mad or really desperate Virgultur the Revenant, but I'll tell you. You seek Malal, god of Malice, bane of the Four, but when you meet him, remember what I've said- and then Be’ Lakor started laughing like a maniac

And suddenly he was in a completely different place, a place that seemed to be the interior of a huge building, made purely of black and white marble. He was on a colossal circular chamber, whose ceiling was so high than not even his enhanced sight could see it. There where cages on the walls, with horrid mutilated creatures screaming inside. In the center of the chamber a massive obsidian throne stood, and on it a figure in black and white robes was sitting. A voice came from the robed figure, as unnatural and unearthly as you could imagine.

-You've finally came, I see- even though his face was covered by a dark hood he could feel it's eyes penetrating his soul -I've been waiting for you for so long, Virgultur, sire of the Harvesters of Souls, lord of the II Legion- the he stood up, and he saw that it's proportions just weren't right, or maybe they were changing… he wasn't even sure if it was humanoid at all, he just couldn't focus his sight in him.

-You've been waiting for me? Who are you?- Virgultur answered, confused that this extrange creature knew his name.

-Well, mortals don't usually name me, but when they do…- it paused briefly -They call me MALAL-

[The Traitor]

I finished the shoulder pad and the vambrace of Magnus, and I have already started to work on one of his wings, which have turned out to be as hideous to paint as I feared ;)!

I must admit that I'm suffering from lack of motivation, so this might progress even slower than before. On the other hand I'm considering starting a parallel project to alternate between Magnus and it so that I don't get bored, but haven't really decided yet... Also I did a list in which to play Magnus, based on the Rehati War Sect, and which I hope to be able to try out soon enough:

Rehati War Sect

Magnus the Red

Daemon Prince

- Mastery Level 3

- Daemon of Tzeentch

- Wings

- Spell Familiar

Daemon Prince

- Mastery Level 3

- Daemon of Tzeentch

- Wings

- Spell Familiar

Daemon Prince

- Mastery Level 3

- Daemon of Tzeentch

- Wings

- Spell Familiar

Heralds Anarchic

Herald of Tzeentch

- Disk of Tzeentch

Herald of Tzeentch

- Disk of Tzeentch

Herald of Tzeentch

Herald of Tzeentch

Overall it's not a common list, without a single non-character unit. The plan is to basically move a lot, dominate the psychic phase (starting with 22 WC points), blast things with Magnus and summon daemons with the heralds or with the princes if necessary. I will certainly search for Cursed Earth on the princes, as it would leave me with 3++ on the DP and 2++ on Magnus, both rerolling ones! I would also try to get the new Tzeentch power which allows you to generate warp charges when powers are cast around you, to have even more points as a LOT of powers will be generated around the battlefield. So basically I would go for Daemonilogy and Tzeentch, but if I get the powers I want soon enough I might go for Telepathy for Psychic Scream and Invisibility (if I get the later I might even go to the ground and charge some things ;)). Also in the case I don't get the first turn against Alpha Strike armies (which I don't usually play against anyways) I can always start with Magnus and some DP on the reserves.

I hope that I can test it soon enough, if I like it I might get to sculpting some Daemon princes and heralds. Also I've been thinking of exchanging both Disks of Tzeentch for another herald, which would provide two extra WC at the cost of some mobility... What do you guys think?

I also a much more hilarious version of this list which exchanges the Heralds Anarchic for three Inquisitorial Representative detachments concsisting of a power armoured inquisitor and three Henchmen Warbands of two acolytes and a psyker each, except for a detachment that only has two warbands (you can see that it's a filler unit that I like a lot :P). With this I do not only gain the same Warp Charge points per turn but I also get three extra Warlord Traits thanks to the detachment rules and many more wounds and units, as well as less WC per wound, meaning that each loss will hurt less. On the downside they're Come the Apocalypse allies with the RWS (even though they make so much sense from a fluff perspective with my HoS...), meaning that deploying and moving would be more difficult; and they do not generate powers from Daemonology, which could make me loose summoning potential (not much as the plan is to summon as much as possible with the DP)... Also people who don't know about my fluff could end up hitting me with the rule book when they saw my army... Do you like it more or less than the previous list? Do you think that Ian's of them can hold on their own on a more or less competitive environment?

[Vairocanum]

Integrating be'lakor in your story was insteresting! I look forward to see how you'll tie him in with the 40k universe given that he's after Abaddon right now. Also I think I agree with you on a lighter shade of grey for the claws. Nice update as usual!

[The Traitor]

Integrating be'lakor in your story was insteresting! I look forward to see how you'll tie him in with the 40k universe given that he's after Abaddon right now. Also I think I agree with you on a lighter shade of grey for the claws. Nice update as usual!

I'll see how I integrate Be' Lakor later on, but when a greater daemon oaths to take revenge on you... It usually doesn't end up well :P.

Also as I have finally decided to work on two project at the same time, as Magnus is quite consuming, so I'm going to continue building both my 30k and 40k armies while I paint him. So as I've been asked to build more characters for my army a couple of times, I present you Makke Haasan, Chief Necrontian of the II Legion and Death Lord of the Necrontinus!

As you see he's based on the Ahriman model that came in BoP, but he's in WIP stages and I still have some details to add. The images above would represent him before the fall of the legion, as he was banned from using psychic powers and thus didn't use a force weapon. Because of this I don't know if that helmet is too "chaosy" and if I should replace it with something more in line with 30k:

It is true that he's more plain in this way, but he's more recognisable as a loyalist marine. The pony tail is not glued and I'm not sure if I would use it, and I would certainly sculpt the helm into a skull-like one, as the characteristic half-face mask of the HoS but on both sides. I magnetised his left arm and right hand so that it can be exchanged into his post-fall of the legion version, with force weapon and using his powers instead of shooting:

The "magic skulls" he's casting are still very very WIP and are the part that has the most work left, I will sculpt a lower jaw to make them look like if they were screaming and I will make the rays that connect them to Makke's hand look more "arcane". The scythe however is finished and I'm quite happy with the result.

So what do you think, should I magnetise the heads so that I can exchange them or do I stick with the horned one on both versions? Also is there anything else you would change or add to the model? He's still being worked on so I'm open to suggestions!

[The Traitor]

So I've made progress on my chopper bikes:


First up I added a new squad member, the champion of the unit:



As you can see I magnetised his arm so that it can be exchanged between a power axe and a bolt pistol for the moment, but overall I like a lot how the model looks (in both of it's forms) as I think that he has a quite dynamic pose while the chopper conversion adds a bit of length to the model, making it look like a more aerodynamic than the moving box that is the usual Astartes bike.

Also I magnetised the hand of the other biker, so that it can be exchanged between a melta gun and a bolt pistol:

As you can see I've gone for a very versatile approach for this force, and I'll magnetise most of my units, specially on the 40k part, as I must admit that magnetising limits a bit how you can pose your units and I want my 30k part of the force to be my showcase army and thus not have such limitations, with some exceptions such as Makke Haasan, who can be changed between pre and post fall of the legion.

So I hope you like them, I haven't decided yet on Makke Haasan helmet, so any feedback on him would be great! Also I'm still working on his skulls hand, it turns out that sculpting energy bolts in such conditions is imposible (at least with my limited skills), so I'll do my best to make them seem as plain as possible and paint them like glowing ectoplasm ...

[MikhalLeNoir]

Normally I hate bikes, but that chopper is.kewl

[The Traitor]

Normally I hate bikes, but that chopper is.kewl

Wow, lightning reply!!! Hadn't even time to edit the post and add the group shot image!

Thanks Mikhal, I don't like too much neither the usual Astartes bikes, and thus the conversion ;). However it is very easy to make if you have plasti rod of the right diameter, I might even revisit three older bikes I have and convert them (and re paint them by the way) to this new style.

[MikhalLeNoir]

Well, being fast as light is exact the thing of the wardens

[Vairocanum]

Awesome chopper bikes! I love how dynamic they're looking. To be honest, I'm not too fond of the MKIII helm on 30k Makke Hassan (maybe try other marks ex. MK IV, V, VI). For 40k Hassan, for the skulls instead of coming out in a parabola I think having them spiraling outward in sort of a funnel shape would be something worth considering. Looking forward to seeing more!

[The Traitor]

Well, being fast as light is exact the thing of the wardens

Well, I suppose you're right ;)...

Awesome chopper bikes! I love how dynamic they're looking. To be honest, I'm not too fond of the MKIII helm on 30k Makke Hassan (maybe try other marks ex. MK IV, V, VI). For 40k Hassan, for the skulls instead of coming out in a parabola I think having them spiraling outward in sort of a funnel shape would be something worth considering. Looking forward to seeing more!

Thanks brother! I will try out other helm marks for Haasan, actually I think that mk IV might looks better on him... As for the skulls that was my initial idea, but it turned out to be much more difficult to sculpt than what I expected, so at the end it's going to look quite differently of what I had visualised and might even discard it depending on how it looks with some paint.

So to prove that I'm still (slowly) working on Magnus, I have finished one side of a wing, so just three more to go!!! This is going to take forever...

So at the end I did both green and red glazes at the farthest parts of the feathers and I'm still doubting if I should also paint greener ends on another row of them, what do you guys think?