The Fortis Crusade

[Brother Talarian]

Nice report brother, watched it as I was painting the first few members of my crusade.

 

I enjoyed your multiple use of the crusader squads, as you mentioned, they are strong. Like brother Honda, I smiled as the EC did what he was meant to do. A similar tale transpired during my first battle with the BT.. the tale will be told soon enough.

 

I also shot you a message, would love to see another BT report >:)

[SydonianDragoon404]

The Strelka Cluster, a sector of the Imperium that has known only war for nearly a decade in what is a now a stalemated intersteller siege against the ever-bolder Tau Empire, splitting the sector in two. In a secret meeting behind closed doors-

 

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

>Kanaklaus Suvorov- Governor General of Zaftra, and Lord General of the Zaftran Imperial Guard

>Nazarrah Omnia- Archmagos Reductor of the Martian Omnia Cohort, and Fabricator General of Zaftra

>Aimon Praxis- Marshal of the Black Templars Fortis Crusade

 

 

Lord General Suvorov spoke with a nervous urgency, unbecoming of his normally controlled, purposeful mask he wore with his lofty titles, "Marshal Praxis, with respect your Astartes were supposed to break the siege against the Tau. You have failed in this task. The Tau continue to escalate and attrition at the front lines is higher than ever before, amongst both my forces and Omnia's. We have no choice, we have to escalate beyond conventional means. We need the God Machies."

 

Archmagos Omnia stood up suddenly. "NO! I will not risk such holy relics for the sake of a stalemate that can be broken conventionally. We just haven't had the right approach-"

 

"Omnia stop this nonsense, you won't win any political battles here, behind closed doors. This isn't about influence on Zaftra or your precious public image. This is about war, the Tau are WINNING EMPEROR DAMN IT ALL! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?!" Suvorov said raising his voice, smashing a balled fist against the hard wood table in anger.

 

Marshal Praxis, dressed in lusterous black power armor and starch white robes, rose from his seat quickly. "ENOUGH! You both called upon my Crusade to put a stop to an endless system-wide siege. I see now that both of your failures, on the battlefield and in your abilities to look past your own short-sighted political gains are responsible for this failure."

 

"Suvorov, you refuse to own any part of your failure to prevent this from the beginning. That alone should have you shot for heresy. Omnia, you refuse to risk the God Machines for sake of the Emperor's Eternal Crusade against the xeno. This could be considered heresy as well. Now that this has been made clear, from now on, we will conduct this war in a fashion that suits me."

 

The Marshal paused for a moment, then continued. "Omnia, you said you have received word from Mars. That it was important. Speak now."

 

Omnia began, startled, "There... have been... a good few developments. Galaxy-wide events. This news could effect not just the war for this system, but all of the Imperium. A giant warp rift has torn the Milky Way Galaxy in two, stretching from the galactic center, and... it only gets worse from here. Cadia, has fallen. Macragge is under siege. I've even received word that Holy Terra could be at risk."

 

"However, the good news is, this system is on the right side of this warp rift. We still have working warp drifts and currents connecting us to major Imperial centers, and we haven't been cut off."

 

"Most importantly, Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl, has done the impossible. Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines, lives once again. He and the Archmagos have spear-headed a new program to develop new weapons and equipment. My contribution to the project in providing research data on Tau weapons technology has been officially recognized by Cawl. I understand our original agreement still holds, access to the stores of archeotech and relics dating back to the Heresy, and so far you've put it to good use. But these... new developments... Marshal you must see them for yourself."

 

Marshal Praxis replied without any sign of surprise,"I've been informed through my own sources about these new 'Primaris Marines' and I'm sure you already knew I would have my own concerns. They cannot be trained as Neophytes, they are anathema to the culture and rites of the Black Templars. Many Marshals would refuse these... vat-grown newcomers. Possibly declare them and Guilliman outright heretics."

 

Praxis paused, and looked directly at Omnia expectantly. "I have one question Omnia. Will they endlessly, and unquestioningly fight and crusade in the Emperor's name?"

 

"They will, Marshal." She replied with a nod.

 

"Then see to it that they do so. I want reports on logistics and deployment to my Battle Barge within the day. Henceforth, this is no longer a siege. The battle for the Strelka Cluster is now a Crusade." Praxis exited the room with a steady and confident stride.  

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Brothers, I give you my first foray into the Primaris Marines model range- Black Templar Intercessors and Lieutenant/Castellan

 

http://i.imgur.com/fs2ONsD.jpg?1

 

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

 

http://i.imgur.com/k7q9nvW.jpg?1

 

http://i.imgur.com/HQj89Tk.jpg?1

 

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

 

http://i.imgur.com/K3I5jgE.jpg?1

 

http://i.imgur.com/JMl0TLE.jpg?1

 

http://i.imgur.com/47KHIew.jpg?1

 

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

 

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

 

http://i.imgur.com/x5y8IG8.jpg?1

 

http://i.imgur.com/Bkzh60q.jpg?1

 

Gallery Link: http://imgur.com/gallery/ivFqw

 

 

Brothers, these models have tons of small edges to highlight. They do take a good bit longer to paint up in this way, but the effort is well worth it. I realize I'm not the best or the fastest painter, highlighting black armor with two different shades of grey is just my style currently so it took me a little while to finish these guys up. 

 

Damn, these guys look badass. I'm definitely considering super gluing a power sword into my Sergeant's hand. Otherwise I can always buy a single intercessor sarge from the new sprue on its way locally or on ebay off the sprue. 

 

More reinforcements are inbound brothers! Stay tuned. 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Primaris Marines. I'm glad your Marshal holds a pragmatic view of the newcomers- they're weapons in the Emperor's service, to be used against any and all who oppose the Emperor.

[Psykic_scribe]

Fluff wise, I would expect the Primaris to take a little longer to reach a BT battlebarge. But I have to admire the new sculpts and poses.  You have done them justice and they look great in Black Templar colours.

[Marshal Wolfhart]

Nice paint job in general. I find the shoulder pads a bit glossy in some pictures, transfers i guess?

And those eyes... man i wish i had the brush control to pull that off reliably...

[Honda]

Very nice Primaris. The head swaps really tied them into our look and you did a great job on the black.

 

To paraphrase Jay Leno, "Take your time, we'll make more."

[SydonianDragoon404]

Thank you for the kind comments fellow Crusaders. 

 

@Marshal Wolfhart yes the shoulder pads are transfers. When under normal lighting conditions they aren't nearly as glossy/shiny, they really only tend to do that under direct light/inside of a lightbox. On the eyes, my secret is using my favorite small brush (Windsor series 7 000) to get my white base paint into the socket (Reaper Dragon White), then going back in with my black (Army Painter Matte Black) to clean up around the socket. Then I use a Citadel small layer brush to dab in this glaze that Citadel makes called Bloodletter. Guys, glazes are a godsend. I used a green glaze for the combat cogitator on the sergeant's left arm, and the screens for the bikers. That stuff over white gives you a perfect glow effect when applied correctly. 

 

I need to get myself one of those glaze brushes and see if that makes it any easier. 

[Firepower]

Hm, don't think I knew you were MWG.  Of course you realize the sheer onslaught of paddlin's due if your Champion hadn't been able to outright kill a swuishy Tau, big crunchy wrapper or not. :P

 

Somewhere between humbling and disconcerting to see how Tau can still rinse an LRC right off the table, though.

[SydonianDragoon404]

Fellow Crusaders!

 

MWG have uploaded my batrep with Dave. This is game was so much fun, a furious melee all around! Black Templars VS Khorne. Ignore my double jointed fingers, or just don't eat whilst watching because apparently my fingers bending have caused some lunches lost to the weakling whelps of lesser species. 

 

[Aegir_Einarsson]

Hey, nice Battle report;) A lot of fun indeed:)

 

1. Helbrecht is beast.... . When he charge he is beast. not mentioned about re-rolls.

 

2. First turn Heldrake charge on bikes was painfull, and on turn 5 overwatch was painfull also.

 

3. Why you didn't use our's WT, and re-roll charges?

 

4. And after moving Chaplain dread Assault cannon hitting on 3 not on 2, because Heavy.

 

GG and thank's for this battle report:)

 

p.s. Heldrakes are very strong and two of them are deadly.... . As I saw they're were highest threat at the board:)

[SydonianDragoon404]

1. Agreed!

 

2. Agreed...

 

3. This report was filmed a few weeks before the codex was out. We were using the indexes.

 

4. Yep forgot about not ignoring Heavy, 7th edition brain.

[Aegir_Einarsson]

As I can imagine re-roll charge distances will save your's butt in few cases... charging along EC with crusader squad, and charging those berserkers, where you charged with LRC.

 

Stil nice game:)

[Brother Talarian]

Fantastic report my man. Ignore the plebs that have nothing better to do than point at your pointing... Pretty ridiculous. You seem to not care so that's kudos to you.

 

As for the report, it looks like some good fun. I enjoyed the whole of it while painting my own crusaders. Always inspiring to see a fellow brother slay some heretics. 

 

As for the primaris you're painting up, they look solid. Cool conversions.

 

Keep up the good work and burning the heretic in Dorn's name.

[SydonianDragoon404]

Fellow Crusaders, my hobby progress has been quite steady for the past two weeks! I have finally taken a breather to show off some pictures here for you all. 

 

First up, a very special project that I have been sitting on for months. I intend to add more to his base later on, but I really wanted to move on to another project after I had the model complete. I will leave the base for another day! 

 

Redemptor who? Never heard of her.

 

http://i.imgur.com/F3IiOdC.jpg?1

 

http://i.imgur.com/hR7Nt8C.jpg?1

 

http://i.imgur.com/d8sAnf2.jpg?1

 

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

 

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

 

 

Here's a link to the gallery: http://imgur.com/a/OJfr0

 

This model was not fun to build, but boy was it fun to paint! Sure it isn't a perfect airbrush job with a base that has it sloshing through water, but I think he'll make a fine centerpiece model in any of my 2k point Fortis Crusade army lists. 

 

 

 

Speaking of armies...

 

The Marshal has finally made his appearance! Marshal of the Fortis Crusade, Aimon Praxis leads the Fortis Crusade from the front of the ranks. Much like High Marshal Helbrecht, he carries a Combi-Melta. However, instead of the Sword of the High Marshals, he carries his own relic blade forged from the world saved from total annihilation by none other than Reclusiarch Grimaldus himself- Armageddon. You could say that his equipment resembles that of Helbrecht's own, obviously Praxis has learned from the best.

 

Relic Blades such as his were dedicated to the Black Templars as gifts to the chapter for their service, and only the finest of them found their way into the hands of Marshals such as Praxis. His blade, Armageddon's Vengeance  burns a bright, fiery orange to match the inextinguishable zeal of its bearer.

 

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

 

http://i.imgur.com/xVKl5hR.jpg?1

 

http://i.imgur.com/PyI4P5y.jpg?1

 

http://i.imgur.com/4AAkSim.jpg?1

 

http://i.imgur.com/e6ktHhU.jpg?1

 

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

 

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

 

http://i.imgur.com/BzYCNP3.jpg?1

 

http://i.imgur.com/VnLe67y.jpg?1

 

http://i.imgur.com/DTpSY1S.jpg?1

 

This project is one I was very excited about. I had been saving this helmet and the Grey Knight sword for quite some time for the right moment. I also had some learning experiences along the way. 

 

1) First time priming grey for a Templar model. This actually worked out quite well for me, as some of the sharper edges naturally peeled the black base coat away, and only had to touch up those edges slightly to highlight them. I think I will try this on a few more models. I have yet to be completely satisfied with any black spray primers. It also will probably make it much easier to paint a white shoulder pauldron. 

 

2) First time working with orange, and trying out glow effects/mediums on warm spectrum of the color wheel. I am super satisfied with how the sword came out in the end. And with the model in general. 

 

3) Not the first time working with Finecast, but it has been a while since I've touched it. It really lends itself to kitbashing. It was quite a simple to task to sort of "slim up" the Helbrecht model. You will probably notice that I've removed a few decorations and accouterments from the standard Helbrecht model. My reasons for doing this were A) I personally find the standard setup to be rather top heavy-looking and B] This is not Helbrecht, really this is a model that is based on him and using his rules, but it isn't him. I wanted something where it was obvious where the model came from, but not an exact copy.

 

I can't wait to get started on my next project! Templars are just so much damn fun! Not sure what to do next. My project list is something like this in no particular order-

 

1) Thunder Hammer Storm Shield Terminators

2) Finish up Storm Raven (its built and primed)

3) Reivers

4) Hell Blasters

5) Rhino

6) Neophytes

7) Quad Launcher batteries

8) Sword Brethren models with actual combi-weapons modeled on.

 

Ex Unitate Vires, brothers. No Pity, No Remorse, No Fear.  

[Aegir_Einarsson]

Great models. Online them very much!!

 

Where is helmet of the marshall from?

What bit's did you use to make shooty arm of Dread?

[SydonianDragoon404]

Thanks Aegir!

 

The Helmet is from the Forge World Imperial Fists Sword Brethren upgrade kit, something every Templar player should try to obtain! Those bits are absolutely amazing. 

 

The shooty arm of the dread, the Cyclonic Melta Lance has a couple bits from the Templar upgrade sprue, the GW one from 4th or 5th edition. 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Leviathan and Marshal Praxis.

[Honda]

Congratulations on your victory! The game looked like you guys had a lot of fun.

 

Levi's are just boss, not much else to say about that. I'm glad you are able to add one to your crusade.

 

Where did you struggle in putting him together? Mine seemed pretty straightforward.

 

As to what is next TH/SS termies would be my vote.

[Aegir_Einarsson]

Same as Honda th/ss

 

Do you guys have some Nice bits of thunderhammers not gw ones. They look just not enough epic/big for me And i'm loookieng for some alternative

[Psykic_scribe]

One excellent Marshal.   The orange sword and water effect contrast/compliment very well.

 

Looking forward to pics of the Storm Raven.

[SydonianDragoon404]

INCOMING TRANSMISSION:

 

AFTER ACTION REPORT TO FOLLOW...

 

STAND BY....

 

Marshal Praxis has found his venture to Konor to be quite successful. In the past two weeks, the Fortis Crusade's contingent deployed to aid in the defense of Konor currently has a 3 to 1 win/loss ratio. 

 

In the previous week, Praxis took revenge on the Death Guard for stealing away a victory by thin margins the last time they met. Praxis knew that as soon as Typhus left the field to lead battles elsewhere, he could press the advantage. 

 

The Fortis Crusade also teamed up with the local Planetary Defense Forces and Imperial Guard regiments to defend against a sizable Ork incursion. The black clad knights of the Fortis Crusade were a welcome sight to the beleaguered Guard forces as they took to the front lines whilst the Guard continued to endlessly shell the Ork horde from afar. The Orks were thinned out, and by the time they met the blades and boltguns of the skillful Crusaders, the relentless counter-assault was swift and devastating. 

 

Just today, the Fortis Crusade had its most successful operation to date. The mission handed down to all Imperial Forces was to assault into The Maw. Marshal Praxis grew tired of defending, as a Templar's place always is supposed to be on the attack, moving forward. This mission was a perfect fit, as the Fortis Crusade task force had just received fresh reinforcements, and the Crusade's Techmarine had just finished repairing the Leviathan Dreadnought and modified the Storm Raven's dreadnought clamps to accommodate this honored ancient. 

 

Marshal Praxis, his Castellan/Lieutenant, and two Crusader squads loaded for maximum lethality advanced up the field in a Land Raider Crusader. Each five Crusaders strong, one squad carrying heavy anti-tank weaponry, and the other loaded with more versatile armaments, a Plasma Gun, a Combi-Plasma, and Heavy Bolter. 

 

The Emperor's Champion knew his duty, and preferred a faster method to reaching his target. He, along with a Techmarine, two squads of Crusaders, and the Leviathan Dreadnought surged ahead inside the Storm Raven. The Crusader squads carried flamers, combi-flamers, and in one case, the squad's sword brother brought along his trusted Power Axe as well. 

 

The fifth squad of Crusaders rode inside the Razorback with twin lascannons, again armed to deal with any threat with their Plasma Gun and Combi Plasma carried by the sword brother. 

 

The newcomers, some Primaris Intercessors, were more than willing to run up the board on foot on a far flank, attempting to attract enemy fire away from the rest of the task force.

 

Praxis knew that he had the initiative, but knew not that he had caught this Renegade force of traitor astartes and cultist rabble rather off guard. The squads carrying their valuable heavy weaponry were standing in the open, without any sort of cover, whilst the cultist filth stewed and mucked about inside ruined buildings. 

 

The Storm Raven screamed forwards, guns blazing. The Razorback and Land Raider Crusader surged forward laying fire down into the heretic lines. Minor damage was scored on a Chaos Land Raider, but the combined firepower of the Storm Raven and Land Raider Crusader managed to slay two squads of havocs carrying heavy anti-tank weaponry to a man. The lone remaining survivors of each squad retreated from the line, never to be seen again. 

 

The cultist scum and heretic astartes alike seemed to panic from the sudden storm of fire and zeal, all the while unawares of the Intercessors flanking around their battle line. All guns across the heretic lines burst fire into the sky as the Storm Raven rushed past, only a few small hits scoring holes in the armor plating. Their attempt at a reaction largely amounted to nothing. 

 

It was at this point that Praxis decided to end the battle with one crushing blow. Crusaders deployed from transports, the Emperor's Champion leaped from the hatch of the Storm Raven flying low as he spotted his prey- a Chaos Lord wielding a cursed daemonic blade. Flamers burst into the heretic lines, plasma fire, bolter fire, everything cut into the heretic lines and cut down dozens of the enemy.

 

The Techmarine also deployed into the field out of the back hatch of the Storm Raven alongside the Leviathan Dreadnought, making certain that the dreadnought clamps at the rear of the craft were working as intended. The Leviathan landed with a thunderous boom, cracking the ground beneath him. He marched straight towards the Chaos Land Raider, staring the accursed, defiled vehicle straight on. The Cyclonic Melta Lance charged, the Leviathan locked his target, and a mighty drill of intense, burning energy tore through the vile craft from front to back, leaving it a lifeless smoldering wreck. He then turned to small group of Chaos Marines who voiced their displeasure with his actions, and he promptly decided to turn both of his heavy flamers upon them, silencing them.

 

Directing his Crusaders fire in the field, Praxis saw that the enemy was nearly routed. The only thing left of any consequence was the Chaos Lord dueling the Emperor's Champion. The traitor proved to be an even match for the Champion, each warrior striking, dodging, parrying, and failing to wound one-another on account of their skills and equipment. After three bouts of single combat, the Emperor's Champion had been struck twice, but still fighting. The Chaos Lord grew overconfident, seeing only the combat in front of him he thought victory to be inevitable. However, he took but a moment to notice that he was surrounded, not by allies, but by black and white armored astartes, and fleeing and routed cultists running past him towards the relative safety of any place but there.

 

That was all the opening the Champion needed, thrusting his blade into Chaos Lord's torso with no chance of parry or warp influence intervening. The Chaos Lord staggered back, wounded, but still alive. The combat continued yet again, but now with the Emperor's Champion dictating the pace of the fight. The Champion summoned all of his strength to unleash a fusillade of strikes (spent 3 command points to swing with him again at the end of the fight phase) and finally, the Chaos Lord laid dead at his feet. 

 

 

List:

 

2000 Points- Double Battalion Black Templar Infantry Force

 

Battalion 1:

 

HQ- High Marshal Helbrecht

The Emperor's Champion

 

Troops- Crusader Squad (Melta, Combi Melta, Lascannon)

Crusader Squad (Plasma, Combi Plasma, Heavy Bolter)

Crusader Squad (Plasma, Combi Plasma)

 

Air Support- Storm Raven (Twin HB, Twin AC, Hurricane Bolters, Stormstrike Missiles)

 

Heavy Support- Land Raider Crusader

Relic Leviathan Dreadnought (Cyclonic Melta Lance, Melta Gun, Siege Claw, Heavy Flamers)

 

Dedicated Transport- Razorback (Twin Lascannon)

 

Battalion 2:

 

HQ- Lieutenant (Power Sword, Bolt Pistol)

Techmarine (Servo Arm, Power Axe, Bolt Pistol)

 

Troops- Crusader Squad (Flamer, Combi Flamer, Power Axe)

Crusader Squad (Flamer, Combi Flamer)

Intercessor Squad (Bolt Rifles)

 

 

The extra command points that came from fielding the double battalion in this list really came in handy, and honestly every unit in the game really pulled their weight with the exception of the Techmarine. That is mainly due to the Leviathan or any of the other vehicles never really taking any serious damage. I may consider a Captain or a Chaplain instead in the future. Not sure yet. Here's some blurry pics of the aftermath-

 

http://imgur.com/a/QD0Nc

[thewarriorhunter]

Good looking stuff! What is your setup for pictures? Are you using a light box? I'd love to see a picture that's pulled back so we can see it all.

 

(If it was mentioned earlier in the thread I missed it, my bad!)

[SydonianDragoon404]

Thanks man, I am using a lightbox. I'll take a picture of my setup next time I put up photos. 

[SydonianDragoon404]

Brothers, the comms of the Fortis Crusade have been silent for months, but we have not been idle. 

 

I had to get a new phone recently, and somehow Samsung managed to put a WORSE camera in a newer phone than what I had before. So, the following pictures won't be quite as good as the ones beforehand. They are fine in more zoomed out, group model photos or larger models, but the close ups turned out a bit fuzzy. 

 

So, first up I have some Primaris models I painted up to use for demos at a comic con I attended. I went in an official capacity to represent the local community for 40k here in my home town, namely our facebook group. This was done as a community outreach to show people who were slightly interested in the universe or wanted to play, that there is a booming community here for 40k. These guys have a somewhat simplified paint job. I didn't put quite as much effort into edge highlighting and other effects as I usually do.

 

We have some Reivers here, that I painted with a somewhat subdued Templar color palette. Let me know what you guys think! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Up next is Hellblasters. With these guys, I tried out those 3d printed Templar Crosses. I found that I don't really prefer them to decals. Also, to mark my Sergeant I used a Reiver helmet. So yea, Hellblasters look badass with Reiver helmets! 

 

 

 

 

Next up is the Gravis Armor captain. I don't really like this model, but here he is. It was more for kids to pick up and oogle at on the demo table. 

 

 

 

 

Okay, now for the good stuff. I painted my Storm Raven before Chapter Approved hit, because I knew the nerfs were coming and if I didn't paint it before it became too expensive for me to use regularly it would never get painted. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See the entire album here:

 

https://imgur.com/a/zMyD9

 

And next up, in honor of their excellent points reduction, I have this little project that I've spoken about at some length. I really, really love the concept of the Inceptors. Armored badasses with giant jetpacks that go around gunslinging fiery plasma death after dropping from high atmosphere. However, their appearance was a little bit... clunky for me. I wanted somethings little bit more sleek, something more akin to an armored mecha suit wearing Jango Fett esque badass with a Templar twist on it. I wanted something that screamed "you are dead if I look at you." So I made a few... adjustments...

 

 

So, if you take a look at these guys, then take a look at the bog standard Inceptors you'll see that there are some things I cut away, and some things I swapped/added. Namely, the heads from the Valkir Assault Troopers and Templar bits, and I took off the sleds on the feet, cut away the hoods, and just generally slimmed up the models. Here are some kinda fuzzy close ups. Of course, I had to add one of those decorative sheathed swords to the Sergeant. It just looks too badass not to.

 

You'll also notice that the positioning of the arms is slightly different as well, because I cut off those detestable pegs so I could pose the arms how ever I wanted to. I had to also do away with the cabling that connected the weaponry to the suit, which I was fine with because to me, it just makes their weapons look less like hoses with plasma bits on the end, and more like plasma pistols on steroids. Like, a plasma SMG if you will. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More to come soon brothers. You have my apologies for the radio silence in the recent months. 

[Marshal Wolfhart]

Wonderful. I hope you'll take those to MWG soon! :P