Echoes of Solitude, a XVth Legion Log.

[Brother Pheidias]

Loving the well-written fluff, feels like the genuine FW-article, really.

[Phatsquirre1]

Wow, thanks man, that's some high praise! 

[Brother Pheidias]

Wow, thanks man, that's some high praise! 

The tone is just right, the rythm and phrasing just hit the spot.

[Phatsquirre1]

Cheers- now if only my photoshop-fu was good enough to make one of the example legionaries FW is so good at.  

 

Gotta admit, I'm excited for them to be in model form, although the slew of purchases I'm gonna need to make for my armies has grown rapidly over the last weekend. Curse you FW. Curse you... 

[Phatsquirre1]

Hey guys,

 

So long time, no update, but I just wanted to show that there is progress on my Sons, especially now that I have Inferno in hand and some games with them under my belt.

 

http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag437/Phatsquirre1/67f6be63-ed84-4dd3-bfd7-1b3bad76b67c_zpsyweiol8p.jpg

 

So far they're 0-2, but I'm hoping that getting these units done will kick their bad luck (although each game was extremely close) and should get more time to work on them relatively soon, so long as I stay away from my IW, Secutarii, and other distractions.  

 

Also, does anyone have any tips/experience regarding sealing metallic models? I want to to protect them from the paint rubbing/wearing off, but Im worried they might lose their beautiful shininess, which is absolutely inconceivable. 

[Brother Pheidias]

Looking absolutely delicious. Seriously, like fresh candy :D

[Phatsquirre1]

Thanks man, and I know what you mean. I've had to mentally stop myself from calling them the candy-apple marines more than once... 

[Strata]

Beautiful work brother. I know your struggle when it comes to staying away from other projects..  I've got a spartan looking at me in the face right now, i bought it specifically to carry some sekhmet.. But i cant help but think my Warsmith needs a new ride..

[Phatsquirre1]

Beautiful work brother. I know your struggle when it comes to staying away from other projects..  I've got a spartan looking at me in the face right now, i bought it specifically to carry some sekhmet.. But i cant help but think my Warsmith needs a new ride..

 

Egads!  Can't believe I missed your response, Strata. Whats that saying among the Emperor's favored puppies? Oh right...

 

I recognize my failing and will seek to correct it.

 

But in all seriousness, I get that sentiment all too well- My storm eagle ( -ed thing) is sitting on my shelf, taunting me to try and remove the Iron Warriors doors I have on it and give it a nice shade of cherry red instead. I'm lucky enough to know that that way lies madness, but still, the thought is there.

 

I'm going to try and get more of my XVth up on here veryyyy soon (he says, for the 2nd or 3rd time...) but I've gotta say, while I was a little daunted by the models above, they really came out (in my humble opinion, lol) fantastically, and may even contend to be some of the best models I've ever painted. Something about them came out just right, and all credit goes to Guiltysparc for some great hobby tips that worked a treat. Now, I can't wait to paint more cherry red christmas marines. 

 

Anyways, hope everyone has a good week, and enjoys lots of hobby time. I'm going to get to writing for my finished units, and blatantly ignore the exams I have coming up for another day. 

[WickedWeed]

 

Beautiful work brother. I know your struggle when it comes to staying away from other projects..  I've got a spartan looking at me in the face right now, i bought it specifically to carry some sekhmet.. But i cant help but think my Warsmith needs a new ride..

 

Egads!  Can't believe I missed your response, Strata. Whats that saying among the Emperor's favored puppies? Oh right...

 

I recognize my failing and will seek to correct it.

 

But in all seriousness, I get that sentiment all too well- My storm eagle ( -ed thing) is sitting on my shelf, taunting me to try and remove the Iron Warriors doors I have on it and give it a nice shade of cherry red instead. I'm lucky enough to know that that way lies madness, but still, the thought is there.

 

I'm going to try and get more of my XVth up on here veryyyy soon (he says, for the 2nd or 3rd time...) but I've gotta say, while I was a little daunted by the models above, they really came out (in my humble opinion, lol) fantastically, and may even contend to be some of the best models I've ever painted. Something about them came out just right, and all credit goes to Guiltysparc for some great hobby tips that worked a treat. Now, I can't wait to paint more cherry red christmas marines. 

 

Anyways, hope everyone has a good week, and enjoys lots of hobby time. I'm going to get to writing for my finished units, and blatantly ignore the exams I have coming up for another day. 

 

Looking forward to your seeing the expansions you're planning on :D

FW is a harsh mistress to order from, just downed myself for a seriously big order.

[Phatsquirre1]

@Wickedweed- Thanks man, I appreciate it!

 

Now I present another tactical/veteran squad, and my second favorite unit to date, Amhrail Tactical. These guys just went together fluidly, (as if it was fate?  ), and were a joy to write about, especially the Sergeant.

 

Anyways, without further ado:

 

Something Long Lost; The Price of Failure

Amhrail Tactical Squad

209^th Company, 5^th Fellowship, XVth Legion Astartes

 

‘We were heroes once- proud and strong. Now look at you, wearing colors of denial, lying to yourselves to ease the doubt you feel fighting this war, a war with no true victory. How far we have fallen, from paragons of light to the unworthiest of souls…’

-Sergeant Amhrail, attr.

 

++++++++

Oszir Amhrail walked through the shattered streets of the city, his boots treading through ash and dust that Amhrail knew all too well was not natural. It was chalky, flaky, too grey to be purely dirt or upturned soil, too flimsy to just be grains of concrete or brick. There was no doubt in his mind as to what it was. The last time he had seen the dust he tread on was during the funeral pyres on Aulixis.

 

In all honesty, he wasn’t truly sure why he walked down the broken cities’ streets. He knew the reason, for sure, but he did not know what he expected to find when he reached his destination. But something called him, something from deep inside crying out to go there one last time.

 

He smiled sadly to himself. One last time. How he had never expected to think those words with his destination in mind. It still seemed wrong. But he knew that’s what this was, a final call for memories’ sake, to assuage ghosts he knew couldn’t exist. He owed himself that much, after all.

 

He had always been the most loyal and efficient soldier he could’ve been, never questioning, never failing in his duties. His officers thought it was because of some perfect combination in his gene-structure that made him this way, an ideal warrior-scholar. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

 

No. Amhrail was that good because he had to be. He had been inducted as an astartes, but something had gone wrong. The memory wipes had been botched, the auto-cogitators failing to reprogram him fully. He knew it was childish, but he had always felt incomplete as a result, as if he was impure, that outside knowledge of his failure would end his chance to be an astartes. He had vowed to himself- that would not happen.

 

It was why he had always been to quiet- taciturn in the eyes of his brethren- some of the things they knew from the start he had been forced to learn behind closed doors, left on his own to train himself. He refused any outcome other than success, and he hid his secret from everyone. Never complaining, never coming up short. He had struggled, but worked hard, and after some time, he had found himself in charge of a unit of astartes, no small feat in itself; recommended for assignment to a chaplaincy soon after. He remembered that day, when he had been so proud, so sure of himself.

 

Yet, for all that, fate had struck one final blow to his soul, taking his birth-world from him as if some cruel joke had tried to beat Oszir down one last time. He knew every one of his brothers had suffered in their own way, but for Oszir Amhrail, it was far more painful- one last failure that surmounted them all.

 

He finally reached the spot he had sought out, walking tentatively into a pile of ruin that seemed no different from the rest. Only the shattered walls around him and the hab-marker out front marked the home he had entered, broken pieces of past lives dotting the inside of what Amhrail was sure was once was a pristine home. He looked around, taking in the sight, and his eyes fell upon two skeletons, blackened by fire, huddled together in a corner of the room. One lay before the other, and Amhrail could imagine their last moments, the screams of fear as a man stood before a woman, trying in vain to protect her from the blazing inferno around them.

 

He scanned the area, making sure his brother astartes were well out of sight before he went over to the bodies and knelt before them, removing his helm. The face of a native Prosperine emerged, scarred but proud, and Oszir Amhrail reverentially placed his helm on the ground next to him, emotions warring for supremacy on his face, but none catching hold.

 

Oszir Amhrail lingered for just a moment, allowing himself this one instant to remember. The moment passed, and he stood, returning his helm to its place on his head, walking out from the home and never looking back.

 

Behind him, the hab-marker creaked as if pushed by some invisible wind, the name it once held somehow still attached, somehow still legible, even after all that happened. Scrawled in typical Prosperine fashion was a greeting and a name, one that was all too familiar to the warrior.

 

Welcome to Habitat Theta-Omicron Seventeen.

Owners: J. and Y. Amhrail.

++++++++

-Mem-log, Sergeant Oszir Amhrail, recorded after the 209^th’s return to Prospero.

 

In the typical fashion of the XVth legion prior to their destruction at the hands of the VIth, the 209^th sought balance in all things, tempering their hot-blooded desires with the cool balm of training and meditation, predicting the future while endeavoring to retain memories of their horrific past. This same aspect carried itself over to the dispositions of the 209^th Non-Commissioned Officer Corps, where the fiery and zealous Sergeants Khameran and later Vhratep were held from certain destruction by Sergeant Oszir Amhrail, a resolute, but taciturn warrior whose greatest desire in life was to serve his Primogenitor and Legion to the best of his ability.

 

http://i.imgur.com/YuWhFP8.jpg?1

 

Similarly, where the vast majority of the company began to find itself in the ranks of the Dayhanii cadres, Sergeant Amhrail’s squad, and others like it, were among the few to retain their livery and bearing as legionaries of the XVth, refusing to give in to the madness that seeped through the strata of the 209th. So it was that past and future was ably represented in the war zones of the 209^th, and the balance so sought by many amongst the legion found itself manifest, even at the worst of times.

 

http://i.imgur.com/BiuDM8u.jpg

 

Seen here escorting Asp Squadron during the assault on Sybrae-Alpha, Amhrail Tactical is armed in the manner of a line tactical unit, forgoing the specialist weaponry favored by other units likely due to their role securing objectives for the 209^th during their advance. They bear some of the Achaean plate that became so infamous of the Thousand Sons, indicating access to some stocks of XVth Legion forge-materiel, although that their weapons are the more typical matte-black of other Legions’ gear seems to suggest that their armor may predate the VIth Legion assault, while their weaponry was acquired from other sources.

http://i.imgur.com/jU3LV0f.jpg?1

Records do not say whether Amhrail Tactical fell or survived the heresy, but judging by the collapse of the 209^th in the closing stages of the war and the role Amhrail and his squad played in their survival, it can be assumed that by the time of the collapse, they had fallen in battle, likely to one of the Wolves’ hunter-killer packs.

 

++++++++

[Brother Pheidias]

Eeeeh, wondrous fluffery, and dang, that's shiny!

[Phatsquirre1]

Lol, thanks man. My "camera" (aka me being lazy...) seems to be a fan of showing off their flashiness, but in real life they're closer to the first picture than the second. 

[betrayer41]

Bad ass! Top knotch bud!

[Phatsquirre1]

Thanks man. 

[Phatsquirre1]

And presented here for your viewing pleasure is my unit of "Not-Sekhmet", who were also a real joy to paint, and that i'm quite proud of:

 

The Hymn of Damnation

Terminator Squad Zhamrel

209^th Company, 5^th Fellowship, XVth Legion Astartes

 

‘They just wouldn’t stop. The whole time, walking, some kind of droning chant they spoke slipping into our brains and hearts. Nothing touched them- nothing even came close to touching them- we were all too focused on what they brought. Demons and phantoms of blackest evil, some like the murder-djinn of Saraya, others like shrieking seraphs. They took their time to get to us, to make sure we knew what we faced, and when they got into our lines…God-Emperor, I pray for death.’

-Julios Torbha, captive-survivor, 311^th Sarayan Khazachki. Torbha was found dead in his cell shortly after, with wounds matching patterns of suicidal intent.

 

+++++++++

The walls were awash with blood, concealing the outlines of the six beings that waded through the bastions’ innards, like a virus traveling to the heart.

 

The thunder-crack of power fields and chatter of bolters created a cacophony of violent noise as they advanced. These beings, each one of the XVth, had nothing to hide from, and they knew it. Let the Ammitara Occults or Dayhanii skulk and hide. They had no reason to quiet themselves, to use caution. They were Terminators- line breakers and close combat specialists. They feared nothing, knew no limits.

 

In fact, the only thing quiet about them was that they spoke no words, uttered no sounds so common in battle. Whereas the Sarayans screamed and pleaded as they died, the Terminators were utterly silent.

 

Instead, their minds spoke for them, projecting stories- remembered images of battles and conquests that dated back to the founding of the squad so long ago into the medium between minds and souls, telling a story of each foe vanquished, each warrior that had given his life in service to the Legion, Imperium, and more recently, its destruction. The effect would’ve been eerie to anyone that saw it, even without the aura of magick that surrounded them, without the residue of psychic matter that steeped their forms in a phantom mist that made even the most hardened warrior’s skin crawl. The effect would have been unnerving for any untrained ally, but for their foes, it was so much worse.

 

The Sarayans did not see heroes or victories, did not glimpse the last stands of martyrs and honors bestowed upon these fallen figures. They saw instead the whispers of darkness spoken in a long dead tongue, ethereal nightmares brought to life- sent to punish the Sarayans for their sins. They saw demons of their darkest dreams made manifest, and the promise of eternal damnation at the hands of those they most reviled.

 

Most of them were trained well enough to hold firm, unnerved but unbroken, but enough was still done to remove any threat to the Terminators’ advance. Some Sarayans broke down, gibbering and babbling in horror. Some turned their weapons on the phantom nightmares, killing and wounding their kin in the process. Even those that retained their sanity held onto rifles with shaking hands, dropping ammunition and taking longer to line up shots. The ones that fled just made things worse for the already doomed Sarayans.

 

Not that there was anywhere to flee to. The last safe-haven, the sanctum of the Governor-General himself, lay just beyond a set of doors that loomed ever closer to the terminators. It was not long before they reached them, dead and dying Sarayans littering the floor beneath, some still convulsed where the nightmares had inextricably entered their minds. Their deaths were the worst.

 

Suddenly left without enemies, the Terminators stopped, and looked one by one at the sixth figure, another marine in intricately crafted armor, bedecked in robes and scrolls of knowledge. He moved to the doors, muttering an incantation even they did not recognize, and the Terminator squad awaited his orders.

 

‘I enter alone. Do not follow. Cleanse the rest of the Bastion.’

 

With that, the doors tore open as if a piston had forced them apart suddenly, and the figure entered, leaving the Terminators to their own devices.

 

Silently, impassively, Sergeant Akhtep Zhamrel turned back towards the blood-stained hall, the sounds of battle reaching his ears.

 

There was still a fight to be had. Still memories to be made.

 

The hymn could continue.

++++++++

- Recorded Mem-log of Akhtep Zhamrel, Sergeant, Zhamrel Terminator Squad, during the cleansing of Bastion Io-7-7.

-        

Seen here just prior to the creation of the above account is Terminator Squad Zhamrel, one of the only units in the 209^th to make use of Terminator armor with any regularity.

 

http://i.imgur.com/wsbNOBe.jpg

 

Equipped with Tartaros pattern armor and some Achaean plating, Zhamrel terminator squad is an interesting outlier in the organization of the 209^th. Nominally a regular line unit, its deployments and objectives are regularly monitored and chosen specifically for them by the upper echelons of command, particularly by either Lord Amhraan and (Redacted), who commonly accompany the squad into battle when they take the field. This has unofficially turned them into a sort of Command Squad, allowing them access to number of relics, which are largely ignored in common combats, at least for the most part.

 

http://i.imgur.com/lobWFLZ.jpg

 

Instead, its members utilize a combination of power fist and combi-bolter, relying primarily on their psychic abilities to provide support when necessary. The squad itself consists of a number of powerful telekines, including Sergeant Akhtep Zhamrel, a veteran sergeant who has served six decades as a terminator, the last two of which have been spent in his current rank. While a talented psyker in his own right, Akhtep Zhamrel has never rivaled or even approached the levels of psychic ability manifested by the command echelons of the 209^th. However, he has accessed the ability to project memories into his kine-shields, a trait shared by every other Sergeant in the squad’s history, resulting in the phenomenon known as the “Hymn of Damnation”, which was likely taught from one sergeant to his successor. The glyphs seen on the squad’s power fists, which matches the profile of Prosperine language, could well be the manner in which the spell is taught, or simply a record of the warrior’s accolades. Without further study, it is likely that the truth will never be known.

 

http://i.imgur.com/SloQfX8.jpg

 

The final fate of Zhamrel Terminator Squad is unknown, however, descriptions of the ‘Hymns’ effects have been described in a number of warzones since the end of the heresy, leading the author to believe that either the spell has been taught to others in some form, or that Zhamrel Terminator squad survived in some capacity, evading Imperial Justice long enough to continue its cycle of training.

++++++++

[WickedWeed]

Loving the Vexilla! Where did you get it, just out of curiosity ?

And the termies are looking fab! I've just finished some Mortars I'll be uploading soon ;)

[Phatsquirre1]

Thanks for the compliment man, I believe its the butt-end of a necron praetorian's warscythe, if memory serves me right.

 

i'll be watching for those mortars with interest as well, got my IVth and XVth Legion curiosity piqued. 

[WickedWeed]

Thanks for the compliment man, I believe its the butt-end of a necron praetorian's warscythe, if memory serves me right.

 

i'll be watching for those mortars with interest as well, got my IVth and XVth Legion curiosity piqued. 

They're up now :)

[Phatsquirre1]

So as another quick update, here's another army shot of all my painted Thousand Sons.

 

http://i.imgur.com/bwQj2g9.jpg

 

I'm really surprised with how far they come in the few months i've been doing them, and can hopefully reproduce the same numbers in another couple. 

 

As for now, I have the following to complete for the 209th:

 

20x Tacticals

1x LR Phobos

5x Ammitara

5x Sekhmet

1x Contemptor

1x Vindicator Laser Destroyer

1x Command Squad

1x Anvillus drop pod

 

and possibly another iteration of Lord Amhraan, depending on funds/time/desire.

 

However, as a disclaimer, all of the above is of course subject to change, especially since FW has been tempting me heavily with the Castellax they've just put out (They're just so...pretty*...), and a recent interest in continuing my evolving scratch-built Solar Aux./Militia list. And my Iron Warriors. And my Mechanicum. And possibly Ultramarines. 

 

Ah, decisions, decisions.

 

(*if you can call a semi-sentient robotic creature "pretty"  )

[Brother Pheidias]

I personally place a vote in favour of Achean Castellax!

[Phatsquirre1]

I must resist!

 

Although they're great models... and pretty unique... so maybe one wouldn't be so bad.

 

Then again, one is a lonely number... and two would be nice to have. More flexibility then, and I could use them more often.

 

Oh   it all. Now i've got a whole plan for them. Curse you, Pheidias. 

[Brother Pheidias]

I am actually a FW-shill, there, my confession is made

[Phatsquirre1]

It's all good lol, I have no respect for my wallet anyhow. 

[Phatsquirre1]

Hey guys,

 

Here's a small fluff-piece to introduce some of the home-brew vehicles I'll be adding to this log, and possibly this force. These will be posted alongside the typical Legion equipment, and depending on time/reception may grow into a force in its own right.

 

Anyways,

Patterns of Force

Equipment, Supply, and Tactics of the 209^th Company

-Excerpt, The War-machine: Stopgaps of the Great Crusade, Ch. CLXIX

by Theodorus Hephemon, Historian.

 

+++++++++

The vagaries of war hurt the efforts of the 209^th just as with any other Legion whose members operated far from their home turf, forcing them to supply from forges and depots local to their area of operations, on one hand reducing the patterns of legion gear that could find its way into their ranks, on another forcing them to do what countless armies had been forced to do throughout millennia of warfare: improvise.

 

For the 209^th, this meant, on the surface, a reliance on the more popular Tigrus-Pattern Bolter and Rhino APC over the favored Land Raider Battle Tank, which were (according to surviving logs) requisitioned with some regularity from Forges to whom knowledge of the Prosperine Sanctions did not extend. Even when those same forges discovered their complicity in the aiding of renegade astartes, the 209^th, like many other rogue war-bands, would return periodically to raid the same forges for supplies, or failing that, find alternative methods of conscripting weapons and armor to boost their effective combat strength.

 

However, while this proved sufficient to replace common vehicle patterns and light armament, the losses of older, more venerable vehicles and weapons of rarer provenance became harder and harder to replace. The Land Raider Proteus, for example, of which the 209^th utilized heavily prior to the Razing of Prospero, was effectively inactive amongst their forces by the end of the first six months. The ceaseless assaults they had launched had left the majority destroyed in battle, while the rest were either too damaged for the 209^th’s tech-marines to repair or left on the field of battle. Indeed, it was this loss that forced the 209^th to reevaluate their tactics, resulting in a period of inactivity that allowed many of the brutalized worlds to recover and call for aid.

 

This re-evaluation also served another purpose in changing the 209^th from the model XVth Legion formation it had been into the hit-and-run raiders of the Scouring. Gone were the massed armor battles and Terminator assaults that had broken the back of so many foes- replaced now by a wave of infantry whose support and advance resembled the Death Guard more than the Sons of Magnus. It is this same strategy- the infamous “Axis of Dissolution”- that represents the 209^th at the height of their power, and it would be this same formation that would stymie the attempts of the Sarayan Khazachki and VIth Legion to bring the 209^th to task.

 

With that said, it would be a disservice to those that died bringing these bandits to heel to ignore the heavy armament and armor the 209^th did possess. While low in the numbers of vehicles that were purpose-made for the Legions, they still maintained a viable and dangerous armor pool during their existence, which can be further broken down into three parts. For the first part, the 209^th had always possessed a large number of the anti-grav Javelin Speeders and Scimitar Jet-bikes that were recorded to be a constant thorn in the side of the Imperials who pursued them, which is likely a result of i) their organization and utilization as a reconnaissance company, and ii) their origins as a force, which have been traced to the first decades of the XVth’s existence, and the resulting resupply gathered from forge-fanes whose craft would be gifted to the XVth in honor of some pact or as awarded spoils. The second is their numbers of Battle-Automata, who were probably used to safeguard objectives and garrison strongholds while the numerically weaker astartes of the 209^th took proactive measures, allowing them the surety of a well-protected base without the loss of manpower that could cripple an operation. The third, and most interesting part, however, is the patterns of vehicles the 209^th requisitioned. Beyond the popular Rhino, and a sudden spike in requisitions of Dreadclaws to replace dwindling numbers of transport aircraft, the 209^th quickly learned to take advantage of local supply, resulting in the appearance of variant or reserve STC craft in the 209^th’s order of battle, some of which had not been seen for decades or longer, and had origins half a sector away.

 

Of these, a note must be made to stress the involvement of the Salient Clusters’ native craft in the wars prosecuted by the 209^th, considering the large numbers of vehicles found in their armories that owed their beginnings to that embattled sector. The most famous of these is the Rafven OAV (Orbital Aerial Vehicle), an analogue of the Arvus Lighter, which served as an impromptu gunship/supply vessel, ferrying wounded astartes and munitions to and from warzones while the mainline astartes craft prosecuted their foes in a manner more typical of the era. Even rarer craft, such as Zephyr-Class Dropship, also were found in the service of the 209th, and whilst their role matched that of the Storm Eagles’, it was thought to have become all but extinct by the time of the heresy. Still others were seen throughout the conflict- with patterns ranging from the Scorpio Battle-walker to the Widowmaker Heavy Defense platform, both of which also hailed from the Salient Cluster. Beyond that, the 209^th were known to use at least four of the Mechanicum Taghmata’s Marcocarid Explorators in a role similar to the Proteus’, often acquired and used without markings or broadcasting fake ident-codes, allowing the 209^th access to numerous fortresses, which accounts for the havoc they spread in some regions.

 

Regardless of just how these weapons of war found their way into the 209^th’s armories, for the most part they served in roles removed from the frontline, barring a few notable examples, and left the needs of the mission in the hands of their surviving, more capable frontline units. However, it would be no stretch of the imagination to say that whatever their vector of transmission, the 209^th made full use of their various strengths, either indirectly or directly, in ensuring the suffering of the Emperor’s subjects, and would continue to do so until their day of reckoning at the hands of the XIIIth Legion.

 

http://i.imgur.com/MoXTNU8.jpg

 

-This pict-cap captures Tactical Squad Vhratep deploying from one of the Rafven OAV's utilized by the 209th. Deployments such as these, done far behind enemy lines at vulnerable points, would prove to be a decisive factor in many of the battles fought by the 209th, especially when enacted by the Dayhanii cadres. In this particular case, Vhratep Tactical would manage to cripple a series of vox-lines used by the Sarayan Khazachki, drastically disrupting their ability to respond sufficiently to one of the 209th's attacks. 

+++++++++