Vox Stellarum: The Unification Wars

[Ryltar Thamior]

Brief progress update on my Army of Unification (mostly) mortals - 

 

First, a squad leader. He still needs a backpack to bring him in line iwht the rest of the squad, and possibly some belt-gubbinz like grenades, maybe an auspex etc. 

 

 

But I'm rather pleased with how he's coming together so far!

 

Second, managed to find the right head for the flamer operator - an Orlock, as i wanted both "shouting" [to go with the posing] and in this instance, "goggles" coz of the nature of his work. 

 

 

Yeeeeee. 

[Krakendoomcool]

Hey buddy,

 

I can’t believe I haven’t read this thread before. What a great idea for s setting. Very interesting.

 

My favourite is the techno barbarian. The Goliath parts make perfect sense and that head is such a great fit. Completely separates it from AOS.

 

Great stuff.

[Supe robot gangster #1]

That techno barbarian! Pure gold! Very reminiscent of something from mad max! (Which I’ve always imagined Terra pre unification to be like) Everything about this tread is amazing though! Can’t wait for more!

[Umbral]

Good job on the Discipline Master. Does the bird-of-prey carry cameras and other surveillance devices to let the Discipline Master monitor his charges?

And to Track them should they try and desert, 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

What happens once the bird-of-prey finds the deserters? Is it armed with ranged weapons- maybe grenades converted into miniature bombs- with which to execute them for cowardice? Does it bear a laser target designator, so the Discipline Master can order an Earthshaker cannon to fire laser-guided artillery shells at the deserters' positions? Or will the Discipline Master simply send military police (or whatever their M40 equivalents are called) to arrest them on the spot?

[Umbral]

From what I've been able to find, the Cyber-Eagles are only used for tracking Deserters, The Disciple Master personally tracks them down in order to deliver the punishment with either his Pistol or with his Electro- Scythe 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

So he's not afraid to get his hands dirty. Good to know. Is the "electro-scythe" a power weapon, like a manreaper?

[Ryltar Thamior]

Right, so it's probably about time I actually did some [unification era] model-work again ... this time, an Imperial Herald. 

 

 

So what happened here is, awhile back I acquired an Avatars of War not-chaos lord from a mate , because it seemed like the most logical place to draw from for Proto-Astartes and suchlike [since Thunder Warriors for us are Primarch-scale] was the Chaos range - and because it looked like an interesting change of pace from a lot of the GW stuff in the area. 

 

 

Now, as it turned out, this was, at least initially, perhaps a  bit of a  'questionable' idea. The posing is rather peculiar for 40k-ish purposes [although legit for fantasy], and some of the proportions aren't *quite* commensurate with a 'realistic' burly man in thick plate armour. Which, again, is fine for what chaos warriors are/were in Fantasy. 

 

And for our purposes here in Unification .. welll ... maybe some of the gene-augmentation didn't go *quite* as planned, leading to a cadaverous musculature that's densely corded and perhaps semi bionically enhanced. Indeed, with the very thin left leg, that might be *exactly* what's happened - except with more 'the flesh dying/ain't really there any more, so machine in its place. 

 

Further, while there's a helpful lack of "obvious/overt" Chaotic iconography [an awful lot of skulls and arrows; as well as some interesting talon designs , and suchlike, perhaps excepted - but those are pretty standard for 40k and works out fine for Unification era anyway, particularly the eagle-ness talons ], the leering ghoulish daemonic faces on some parts of the armour are a bit more problematic. I thought about cutting offf the kneepads ; but couldn't quite figure out something to replace them with ; although i did manage to substantially improve a mono-horned skull on the left shoulderpad via a removal of horn and a placing of a cataphractii tilt-shield in its place for perhaps personalized heraldry [or a Raptor Imperialis]. 

 

Anyway, it's a lot easier to work iwth than the Age of Sigmar khornate starter-box whatever-they're-called I'm *also* putting under the knife atm ... wherein it's severely difficult to remove some/all of the Chaoticness, which is almost invariably *much* more overt. 

 

 

the other 'big problem' i faced was working out a power-pack for the miniature. I contemplated leaving it as-is, but that just didn't seem quite "right" for a figure that's clearly very, very heavily armoured in such a way. And while i could have gone with a much smaller unit - basically a grill/ventilation unit out of one part of the back ,made from the back of a 30k terminator ... that didn't seem quite right either. While the 'additional' elements whihc would have been built onto *that* proposal were needlessly fiddly anyway. 

 

Eventually, i had a sudden flash of "I know what goes here!" with a power-pack from a tech priest magos dominus , plus exhausts made from grenade harness from cataphractii; and with some skulls-on-beads from a Scion banner. 

 

 

now, the only *other* problem was i couldn't seem to find a place to put a Misericordia where it'd fit. But that is, perhapsi, a side issue. As while it would have been pretty cool and fluff legit for suhch a figure to have a symbol of the Emperor's vested authority/judgement , in case of needing to sentence a Terran city to the sword and fire ... the proto-Crozius is probably a reasonable and comparable element for that purpose. 

 

 

And, of course, the obligatory scale-shot next to aan Adamantia Auxilia trooper.

 

Anyway, it took me awhile attempting to work out what I could feasibly do with the miniature, particularly given its posing - and that heavy fur cape making it rather difficult to substantively re-work in some areas. 

 

But while i was taking a look at the XVIIth Legion for some purposes, I happened across the mention of their much earlier role during Unification - namely, that of hte Imperial Herald ... turning up, solitary, offering the chance to accede to the Emperor's Peace ... and then either being shot at repeatedly and atttempting to take down as many as possible of the heretic foe while the follow-up force of the Emperor's military made its way to cast Judgement upon the holdouts ... or, i suppose, if successful in the initial "negotiation"/ultimatim-delivering, getting started with the expurgation required to establish Compliance in that settlement with his armament and zeal. 

 

We don't have entirely conclusive detailing on what these guys looked like; but there's certainly enough to at least inform a perhaps slightly 'special'/one-off character like this. 

 

From memory, they're basically described as visually resembling proto-Chaplains: black armour, skull-helm, and an "eagle-winged mace". 

 

Now, I took a bit of 'license' with some of these details; but after experimenting wiiht a few things, it became clear that this base miniature was in fact a rather decent 'platform' to turn into just such a figure - a Herald. 

 

The first step was the helm. An Iron Warriors Siege Terminator helm was admirable for the "skull" like nature of its visage - with a certain hint of Darth Vader, perhaps :P ; next [although perhaps hte order is reversed], came what to do wit hthe right hand. I thought about mounting a held aloft proto-Crozius there - maybe made from a thunder hammer or a Custodes weapon or even a Grey Knight force halberd. 

 

But for some reason, I went for a Terminator heavy-flamer .... which, while it's posed pointing *aloft*, upwards instead of at the enemy direction ... well, perhaps it's like the flame-guitarist from the most recent Mad Max film.

 

I can certainly picture this proto-Astartes pointing it upwards and letting off a jet of super-hot flame in order to make sure he's  got his audience's .. attention. 

 

Then came the Crozius. First, the hand, then the haft, then attempting to find the appropriate head. I initially atempted to build one myeslf out of a backpack-topper from the Space Wolves sprues with a flagellant staff part and the intent  to put a tilt-shield or something in the middle .. , but while it was an intriguing concept , I 'gave in' somewhat and made instead use of a crozius head generously provided by Umbral. 

 

Followed by all of the other alterations i have already mentioned :P [it's .. one of those nights/mornings, so chronology is not my strong-point :P ]

 

Like i said above, i did contemplate removing some of the elements ,, the leering faces, the trophies and such .. but decided against it due to a) the complexity and lack of substitutes; and b) it didn't seem wildly inapproprate for a Herald to be not just a radiant .. er .. burningly passionate beacon of the Emperor's light - but *also* fully capable of scaring the hell [no pun intended] out of superstitious Terrans through demonstrations of both martial competence, and general spookiness. 

 

It'll be interesting to see how he paints up. 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Had one of my odd ideas last week; basically, building an artillery group for my Army of Unification. This'll feature, in addition to the rather obligatory VERY LARGE GUNS, a small contingent of proto-IVth (Proto-)Astartes ... because of course. Along with artillery crewmen, fire-control savants, infantry contingent, combat engineers, artillery tractors ... you get the idea. 

Anyway, first miniature I've *just* about finished [just need to do the stowage - pouches, grenades, combat-knife and such] , is a Forward Observer (who'll presumably be joined by a sniper for a two-man team). 



Now because for some reason I appear to be going for a 20th century German 'vibe' for this force (because seriously ... the Paris Gun, the V-3, various siege-guns ... the straight-up sturm-tiger ... as well as storm-troops and such - and it'll make a rather interesting counterpoint to Umbral's rather WWI-inspired Albian Ironsides) , I decided to attempt to build an MP-18 for his weapon. Think I actually managed a surprisingly decent job of it [inb4 somebody points out the box-mag - which has become less associated with the MP18 than the snail-mag, although which was still very much around iirc] . 



this also wound up with me attempting to straight-up build the right arm - I couldn't find the right 'feel' of arm to go with the pointing finger [iirc Cadian Hq], so a rolled up sleeve bicep [Empire Militia] plus a forearm [Flagellants] and various bits of cut up plastic as gap-filling [because I don't use greenstuff]. 



Another shot of the MP-18. Skitarii backpack is there coz a) comms antenna; some sort of ranging augur. 

In any case, with some of the (Proto-)Astartes presently 'under the knife' , I started getting some other ideas ...

 "we're still working some of the 'flaws' out"

"what do ou mean by 'flaws'?"

"well, you see, *normally* once you've bombarded a target sufficient to suppress the resistance within it, you stop firing"

"...and?"

"...these 'Legionaries' ... they don't stop firing"

"for how long?"

"generally, once the target is flat, they like to make the rubble bounce"
[...]
"what else?"

"well, while some of them have demonstrated a remarkable ingrained aptitude for technomancy and design ... they uh ... they often seem to be hell-bent on taking it 'too far'."

"how do you mean?"

"one of them came up with a design for a thousand tonne land battleship"

"well that doesn't seem too un-sensible"

"he was then chided by his comrades, one of whom produced a subsequent 'improved' design for a 1,500 tonne land-battleship that was really more of a ghastlily oversized nuclear-powered somewhat-mobile artillery piece"

"gosh, and they were said to lack a sense of humour"

"no, no - I assure you they have a sense of humour. They dubbed the first design the "Rat"; following on from the *previous* effort one of their number came up with, which was basically a rolling bunker of more than a hundred tonnes, they called the "Mouse"." 

"What happened then?"

"The first one proposed hollowing out a mountain for the purposes of building a stationary 'pump-gun' capable of firing acrosss to the other side of the remaining ocean ,and hten some"

"...I sense there's more"

"he was again chided by his fellows, one of whom pointed out that if they were going to have such a large and heavy installation, they may as well build it in space (where it would at least have greater mobility), possibly run it as a huge mirror for the purposes of energy-efficient mass destruction, wait to see if the surviving foe had any 'angels' of their own to send up to meet them, at which point they'd reveal the full power of their fully armed and operational battle-station"

"it'd be a trap?"

"I feel like their over-confidence may yet turn out ot be their greatest weakness"

"you haven't heard about their plan for an 'Iron Sky' network once they've secured a bridgehead on the Moon..."

[Ryltar Thamior]

Another round of WIPs while I attempt to hammer out the grey-on-grey-on-black with red tabard [to go with the Proto-Astartes from many months ago] colour-scheme for 'em [have attempted three different iterations of this, so far tryna get it to look 'right'...]

Finally finished assembly on these two Army of Unification - 









Up next ... there's another combat engineer just about finished assemblage; and several (Proto-)Astartes in train as well. I picked up a box of Blood Warriors on sale recently so that may expedite things. 

In addition to this, also grabbed a 1:35 scale Russian armour kit [a BMPT Terminator], which is presently WIP as I attempt to turn it into some form of vaguely superheavy transport for the Army of Unity mortal infantry. Will be most likely replacing the 'real-world' weaponry with a range of 40k/30k stuff taken from Taurox kits as well as some Russ/Demolisher/Chimaera sprues generously donated by Umbral. Am still weighing up where to add access point for infantry - most logical area is stripping out the engine block to the rear, and adding both dorsal and rear hatches there; "justifying" it by suggesting the engine block's redistributed elsewhere in hull, Chimaera or Rhino style [so perhaps between forward crew compartment and infantry fighting compartment; although theoretically it *should* go soemwhere behind front glacis plate - as this would increase survivability inside due to the engine block absorbing incoming fire that manages to penetrate frontal armour; there is also the vague chance that some sort of hyper-advanced set of drive-trains in the interior walls on either side of crew and fighting compartments takes care of it without significantly reducing internal volume. But we'll see how we go]. 
 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Sooo ... after much swearing and cursing about tank-tracks, the BMPT basic assembly is complete. The next step is going to be adding a main weapons suite to the superstructure atop the turret, secondary weapons to the hatches where the grenade launcher operators would be if this were an actual BMPT ... as well as the rear doors and roof access for the fighting compartment.  

At which point, the fearsome rumbling sound on the battlefields of Unification won't *just* be Thunder Warriors :D 

And yes, have worked out a mythologically resonant Sanskrit name to (tentatively) go with ... that'll also nicely tie it into subsequent vehicle designs that turn up during the course of the Heresy. 
 

There's a few options as applies weaponry; my initial inclination being some form of autocannons for the forward mounts; although that might be a bit of a tight fit. Another possibility which occurred to me was volkite weaponry, although I'm not sure how much of that was going on on-Earth prior to the pact with the Mechanicum (possibly ditto for plasma and heavier grade las-weaponry). Smaller/lower tech weapons like (heavy) flamers, grenade launchers, and the like are perhaps also an option, although don't necessary 'feel' grunty enough - nor would heavy stubbers; and i'm unsure about hte viability of a 'gatling' weapon derived from taurox punishers (or, for that matter, a conqueror cannon from same source). 

In terms of the superstructure, I haven't test-fitted the Valkyrie punisher cannon and Taurox missile racks that were initially on my mind, nor constructed a superstructure for them. 

 

I suppose what I need to do is figure out in more detail its intended combat role - and from there, the weaponry side of things may 'fall into place'. For example, if enemy armour/armoured infantry were the primary antagonist, then yes the autocannons or similar would make a lot of sense. However, if the prime concern were (lighter) enemy infantry ... or if it were being optimized [much like the Russian vehicle it's been based on] for urban combat, then you can see where that's going. 

Given it's an IFV - and a superheavy one at that - this obviously means it'll a) be transporting reasonably high-value infantry (although it's probably not *quite* large enough for proto-astartes - which means human-sized troops), b) will need to be able to protect its cargo from vehicular interdiction (both through armour and through firepower), and c) will likely *also* need to be able to provide close-range fire support and disembarkation zone clearance. 

I er .. may need to just turn some of the above into barrels and such, and work out a way to have 'em modular for the mountings. 

Hull-mounted fragmentation charges may be necessary as well, particularly around the rear doors. There may also be a call for small-arms scale remote-control weapons above said doors as well. 

Thoughts?

[Ryltar Thamior]

It's taken me quite awhile but I finally finished assembly/conversion work on an IVth Proto-Astartes . 

If you've *just* joined us and are wondering what a "Proto-Astartes" is ... well, the way we're rolling it, over the course of the Unification Wars, the Emperor engaged in a whole *series* of strings of genehanced and/or otherwise augmented combatant experimentation. We're familiar, as of 30k and to a ... I was going to say "lesser extent", but post-Cawl shenanigans, evidently no longer .. and 40k, with several of these in their 'finished product' (ish) iterations - the Thunder Warriors, Custodes, and Space Marines being the stand-outs (and as applies what I just mentioned about Cawl - it seems very likely that the Primaris enhancements are themselves the result of the implementation on a mass-scale of features that were developed for and present in *previous* generations of the Astartes project, but which for whatever reason [likely because their incorporation would lead to unacceptable constraints on how many and how fast the Emperor could create more Marines] fell by the wayside as the Astartes 'template' standardized toward the latter phases of the Wars - on a side-note, it seems plausible that the perceived decreases in Marine quality from the Terran veterans of Unification to the latter inductees may also be a result of changes inherent in the shift from more 'bespoke' creations to mass-produced Legionaries; it's also probably worth mentioning each of the Raptors project and its underpinnings, as well as the enhancement processes carried out on Luther and Kor Phaeron etc. as most likely deriving from these earlier stage developments as well] .

Anyway, the nature and ambit of these 'Proto-Astartes' is that they'll be 'testbeds' after a sort, 'prototypes' for what comes later. With some features that are present in later generations of Marines turned 'up to eleven', and others only present in vestigial form if at all; as well as, with particular regard to the differentiation inherent in the 20 (ish) gene-lines that would later form the heart of the Legions, the Primarchs etc - same deal. 

They *should* [emphasis on "should" ..] be more 'stable' overall than the Thunder Warriors - albeit likely less powerful ; and will also, in terms of their training and equipment (something *else* they're test-bedding) be more toward the 'soldier' end of the spectrum as compared to the 'warriors' or even 'berserker' style less-regimented combatants that are the Custodes and Thunder Warriors. 

 

Now let's get down to the miniature itself. Despite the *significant* stature on him, he's not actually in power armour per se (although it has an array of interior systems kinda like how Scion carapace armour works) - meaning he's moving all of those plates largely through sheer muscle mass alone. [so no power-packs with exhausts and such]; it's very likely that the Proto-Astartes in question doesn't actually have a Black Carapace - indeed, it's questionable whether these would even be necessary prior to the end-stages of Mk.1 Thunder Armour [which i've also done some prototype runs on that i'll post once the banners and proto-bolters are sorted etc.!] ; although the nature of the arms and rather finely articulated hand/gauntlet armour, would perhaps suggest that there's a more limited scale neural interface going on - perhaps only on those parts of his anatomy and maybe a spinal uplink for overall vitals and longer-range monitoring back at base. 

 

In terms of the weaponry - I've been trying out various things for my Proto-IVth [yes ... there's more of them; also a Proto-VIIIth that's been almost finished painting for awhile now ... can't quite get the Crimson Sons scheme to look lethal enough!] to get the 'feel' right. Heavy weapons seemed like the logical place to go [coz Iron Havocs and such]; and a missile launcher really 'stood out' for some reason. I just .. saw it, i guess, on the base miniature in that pose, and started 'filling in the blanks'. It's quite a logical weapon for IVth-ish nature of warfare; armour-busting for anti-vehicular or anti-gates etc., frag missiles for infantry - and with the right aim, bunker-clearing via open fire-ports. 

Meanwhile, the very large chainblade's there for close assault (duh), forlorn hope breach charging (the breach, of course, being made by the thing in his *right* hand) , and handling what's left in the wreckage of transports subject to similar detonation. in many ways, that was the final piece of the 'puzzle' - I'd tried out quite an array of left arms to fill the 'vacancy', and while initially he was just going to be pointing or something, the rather 'odd' angle of the upper bicep plate under the left shoulder pauldron made it very difficult to get anything 'realistic' going. Finally, I once again, just happened to 'see' something in my head [perhaps spurred on by the wolf-skull - more on that in a moment], and trimmed down a Space Wolf chainsword arm accordingly [it's uh .. not really posed likei initially thought it would be, but that's the nature of conversions]. And then started building up an arm to go in between after realizing the aforementioned issue .. 

 

Lightning bolts on the helm help to emphasize the UNITY , and not that it's the most visible .. due to the missile launcher balanced on top of it ... but on his right shoulder is the RAPTOR IMPERIALIS which in later years [i.e. the Heresy] comes to symbolize troops who'd fought under the Emperor's personal command iirc.

 

I also deliberately eschewed having the usual array of aiming devices, lenses, signum-style stuff etc. ; as in my mind, he's basically doing all of the ballistics, computation, aiming etc. using his (engineered-augmented ... not to mention *trained*) eyes and brain ... plus the standard scoping on the side of the launcher, i suppose [the launcher's been extended - felt more 'brutal' that way, and helped to disrupt the silhouettte of the very modern 40k Astartes missile launcher [not a fan of the 'rogue trader' style 30k ones btw] . In any case, the idea was that it'd be part and parcel of his Proto-IVth 'testbed' augmentations/gene-seed that he'd be ... pretty good with this kind of thing. [also, grenades]

 

Now, one of my UNITY warriors wouldn't be complete without some INDO-EUROPEAN-ness ... and funnily enough, the wolf-skull on the chainblade [also pommel sculpt] is exactly that - there's quite an extensive writeup on "Wolf Warriors" as a cross-cultural Indo-European phenomenon which I happened to have had turning over in my mind earlier this week when the flash of inspiration about the left arm hit me.

 

He'll also have perhaps an army-badge or a unit-insignia or something on the tilt-shield on the left pauldron [gotta have over-massive pauldrons, right?]; whereas the skull-on-shield on his bandolier/belt(chest) may either be a personal thing, or perhaps some proto-IVth-ness, or even a personal shield generator.

 

Oh, and the skulls? Well, nobody ever said Unity was non-barbaric :D [the uh ... suspiciously ork-looking skull is quite clearly a trophy taken from some other Terran warlord's gengineered brute shock troops - possibly after the *rest* of the adversary in question wound up er .. scattered over a rather broad area and lacking in structural integrity )



Next steps're working out some further details on characterization and augmentations etc. (you'll see why with some of the other Proto-IVth); the seeking out of appropriate Sanskrit and broader Vedic / Puranic mythological materials to 'situate' him in [we're also doing a more general 'taking stock' of what's what in those terms for this project - to see where the logical 'gaps' in our utilization are to start doing things for/with/in/through/as] ... and, of course, the paintjob. 

In terms of squadmates, it's possible that he'll be accompanying the (mostly-mortal) artillery, engineers and forward observers I posted earlier, perhaps as an overseer and expert. 

But good grief i'm relieved to have *finally* finished the assembly/conversion work on this miniature! It's been .. almost "taunting" me for *weeks*! 

[Brother Lunkhead]

Very nice work there brother, very nice Your thread has peaked my interest and I'm definitely looking forward to more

[Ryltar Thamior]

Very nice work there brother, very nice Your thread has peaked my interest and I'm definitely looking forward to more

 

Ask, and ye shall receive :) 

[Ryltar Thamior]

​Next up ... the second prototype Rhibus-Ares pattern Mk.1 "Thunder" powered armour. 



I say "second prototype", because there's another one I built earlier, but which I haven't shown because he wound up being a standard-bearer and I'm still building the standard :P 

Anyway, Thunder Armour is, imo, what should be one of the most iconic vibes of Unity - simultaneously impressively high-tech (by the standards of the day), barbarically archaic (by the standards of *to*day), and over-the-top ridiculous in terms of how it must actually operate in practice (I mean seriously - the lack of powered legs despite a high-powered, high-armoured ... and therefore, presumably, high-weight ... torso and arms) (and instead of the relatively sleek power-packs of the 41st or even 31st millennium, smoke-belching exhausts and such). Replete with spikes and plumes and your choice of ACTION SHADES or those beautiful not-quite-civilized-enough-to-be-"Knightly" armoured helmet/visor. Oh, and lightning bolts. Gotta have lightning bolts! A few more 'barbaric' touches like skulls-on-chains (but also chains .. and, for that matter, chain-*mail*), furs, and talismans doesn't go amiss, either. 



Now, this build is still, technically speaking, "in progress". I've got a few more things I may do  to the proto-bolter, the manacle has had a skull put into it post these pictures being taken earlier this morning, and he needs more 'personalization' as well as combat kit in the form of grenades .. and maybe a smaller axe, or other blade [in addition to the very large and very brutal looking one he's presently wielding, i mean], etc.



But in my opinion, anyway, he's off to a pretty solid start. And I've also managed to 'streamline' somewhat the assembly/conversion process. So that's something. Although with two proto-bolter armed warriors, I'm now going to need to contemplate either a) ways ot make more that look a little less ... similar to each other (they're all built out of neophyte hybrid heavy stubbers, with various detailing changes, repositions on ammofeed etc - but still, there's only so many spins on 'right hand firing pose' you can run with 'em before it gets a little .. identical looking, from a distance) and/or b) other weapons that're potentially around during Unity - special(ist) weapons, support weapons etc. [also potentially some other specialist roles - something like an apothecary, for instance, or other functions that presage later Marine ones] . 



And, a size-comparison, with one of my long-suffering Adamantia Auxilia, and an IVth apothecary [still PIP, but it was what was around for illustrative purposes]. 



I'm pretty pleased overall with the size - arguably thought it was a *liiitle* small compared to a human-sized miniature; however, the fact that he's taller than a Marine in Mk.VI has reassured me considerably . 

 

[Ryltar Thamior]

Late Unification XIXth Legion in what we'll say is prototype Mk.III armour. 



The idea with these was to try and get a 'Scythian' sort of vibe going'. Which would build upon the dark-grey shadow-stalker ethos of the Unification-era XIXth , by 'fleshing out' their characterization and visual aesthetic with GangSteppe Indo-European 'like the wind' nomads.

The touches are minor, and mostly not visible from the front [perhaps i should have done some rear photography]; but include things like a golden arrow [recalling the myth of Abaris, in part] , a skull and other trophies, that sort of thing. The very large blades from the Catachan command , with their teeth and such attached, were also pretty legit; and I'm rather taken with the Ravenwing Command head i've used on the plasma-gunner. 

There's a fifth member of the squad equipped with two blades, but he's still even more of a painting [and perhaps modelling] in progress], so have just gone with the four to hand for now for this upload.



Technically, there are probably a few areas i should tweak or touch up the paintwork ... 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Your truescale Raven Guard Marines are well done.

[LilShah]

As a fellow dude who deals in a lot of comparitive mythology and Indo-European cross-cultural myths I've got to say the fluff in this thread (as well as a bunch of your other ones) is amazing and makes me enjoy the models and their beutiful kitbashing/truescaling that much more. Keep it up man, hope to see some more Unification Era stuff soon.

[Ryltar Thamior]

As a fellow dude who deals in a lot of comparitive mythology and Indo-European cross-cultural myths I've got to say the fluff in this thread (as well as a bunch of your other ones) is amazing and makes me enjoy the models and their beutiful kitbashing/truescaling that much more. Keep it up man, hope to see some more Unification Era stuff soon.

Churr! That means a lot! Much of what I do IRL is Indo-European theology, and it's always amazed me just how much of 40k [and now more recently, 30k, and Unification] appears to have been ... semi-unconsciously, and for that matter semi-deliberately running on Indo-European mythological vibes. Including, as you may by now have seen me say, the whole golden-armoured Dyaus Pitar Master of Mankind up in the Himalayas presiding over crafted warriors for the purposes of establishing Samrajya ['Unity' or 'Imperium']. 

 

It's also proven quite remarkable how my delvings into this or that area for the purposes of producing a 40k/Inq28 'background' and situation for a project - has tended to produce considerable research-material for said IRL efforts. The effort that produced the Haunting Harii of Hvergelmir also lead to a really well received article in the latter realm, for example. 

 

Unification's definitely an era I keep meaning to get back to - I've got a range of Army of Unification troopers that've been *mostly* complete on the painting table for .. many months now, along with the proto-astartes; as well as at least one, and possibly two rather large armour projects in various states. 

 

And, from a fluff perspective, while i've been putting most of my efforts toward Hara Barazaiti [you'll recognize *that* one - and if you haven't already, defintely cehck out the fluff/setting posts for that] , I should totally go and dig out some mythopoetic texts and .. re-stage elements of them. There's a particular swathe of stuff from The Iliad I might have a go at [although 'Greek' is usually Umbral's wheel-house] following from my looking at it for another recent IRL effort.

 

But if you've seen something I put on .. I think this thread, drawing from the Vayu Purana - that particular telling of the instance of Veerabhadra sent to destroy the horse-sacrifice of Daksha, I have never yet managed to find something better at describing how I envision The Emperor's emissary turning up at some pre-Unity Terran warlord's palace with a simple ultimatim and ... things ensuing from there. 

 

Anyway, great that you're enjoying not just the modelling but the background conceptualization and 'translation' we engage in. Don't hesitate to throw a few areas of inspiration this way if you come across anything you think'd be cool or might be worth a look-in in this context. 

 

 

[LilShah]

 

Churr! That means a lot! Much of what I do IRL is Indo-European theology, and it's always amazed me just how much of 40k [and now more recently, 30k, and Unification] appears to have been ... semi-unconsciously, and for that matter semi-deliberately running on Indo-European mythological vibes. Including, as you may by now have seen me say, the whole golden-armoured Dyaus Pitar Master of Mankind up in the Himalayas presiding over crafted warriors for the purposes of establishing Samrajya ['Unity' or 'Imperium']. 

 

It's also proven quite remarkable how my delvings into this or that area for the purposes of producing a 40k/Inq28 'background' and situation for a project - has tended to produce considerable research-material for said IRL efforts. The effort that produced the Haunting Harii of Hvergelmir also lead to a really well received article in the latter realm, for example. 

 

Unification's definitely an era I keep meaning to get back to - I've got a range of Army of Unification troopers that've been *mostly* complete on the painting table for .. many months now, along with the proto-astartes; as well as at least one, and possibly two rather large armour projects in various states. 

 

And, from a fluff perspective, while i've been putting most of my efforts toward Hara Barazaiti [you'll recognize *that* one - and if you haven't already, defintely cehck out the fluff/setting posts for that] , I should totally go and dig out some mythopoetic texts and .. re-stage elements of them. There's a particular swathe of stuff from The Iliad I might have a go at [although 'Greek' is usually Umbral's wheel-house] following from my looking at it for another recent IRL effort.

 

But if you've seen something I put on .. I think this thread, drawing from the Vayu Purana - that particular telling of the instance of Veerabhadra sent to destroy the horse-sacrifice of Daksha, I have never yet managed to find something better at describing how I envision The Emperor's emissary turning up at some pre-Unity Terran warlord's palace with a simple ultimatim and ... things ensuing from there. 

 

Anyway, great that you're enjoying not just the modelling but the background conceptualization and 'translation' we engage in. Don't hesitate to throw a few areas of inspiration this way if you come across anything you think'd be cool or might be worth a look-in in this context. 

 

 

enjoy the models and their beutiful kitbashing/truescaling that much more. Keep it up man, hope to see some more Unification Era stuff soon.

 

 

I did see the Vayu Purana one! And the Inq28 content!

 

The Illiad stuff sounds super cool and I think there's a lot of blackshield and 'forgotten sons' stuff you can do with it given the handling of theodicy in the text. A more unification based idea might be to use the hymns 2.41-42 of the Rig Veda as a basis for some of the late Unification/proto-astartes models. It's the one where the divine falcon, Shyena, goes to the moon and brings back the Soma on the back of the South Wind with the help of Vayu-Vata after fighting off the Dragon of the Deep. Maybe a parralell for the Pacification of Luna and retrieval of the gene-seed schematics (I'm not sure if this is canonical though). 

 

Regardless, I adore the work you and Umbral do, Vox Stellarum remains one of my favourite projects and it helps me maintain the pretense of dong something as I glue, sculpt and paint plastic dollies. 

[Ryltar Thamior]

 

I did see the Vayu Purana one! And the Inq28 content!

 

The Illiad stuff sounds super cool and I think there's a lot of blackshield and 'forgotten sons' stuff you can do with it given the handling of theodicy in the text. A more unification based idea might be to use the hymns 2.41-42 of the Rig Veda as a basis for some of the late Unification/proto-astartes models. It's the one where the divine falcon, Shyena, goes to the moon and brings back the Soma on the back of the South Wind with the help of Vayu-Vata after fighting off the Dragon of the Deep. Maybe a parralell for the Pacification of Luna and retrieval of the gene-seed schematics (I'm not sure if this is canonical though). 

 

Regardless, I adore the work you and Umbral do, Vox Stellarum remains one of my favourite projects and it helps me maintain the pretense of dong something as I glue, sculpt and paint plastic dollies. 

 

Shyena you say ... :D 

 

This is part of why the Harii in question bears that Falcon pad; with other parts of the explanation involving the Agnicayana rite, and .. some other stuff. 

 

Now, the three things I'll say about that are that, first and foremost, I'm floored and pleased that somebody else on here is capable of referencing Vedic hymnals - and, perhaps more *immediately* importantly, doing some 'translating' thinking .. 'transposition' may be the more appropriate word, into an in-setting context. Well done, sir!

 

And i'll definitely give some thought to 'Storming The Heavens' as applies Luna! Interesting and good catch about the conceptual 'overlap' between Chandra and Soma/Soumya [in reality, all the same deity - Shiva, again ; Agni also identified with Shiva ... and we can see this quite usefully as applies the Nordic comparative form of the similar myth, wherein it's Odin ['Woden'/'Voden' - you can see the "Vayu-Vata" linkage :D ] in the form of an Eagle Who delivers the Meath of Poetry [in one of my videos I er .. semi-inadvertently referred to it as the "Meth of Poetry" .. and I say 'semi-inadvertently' because the Zoroastrian distortion in the form of Haoma, as well as various BMAC archaeological finds, making use of ephedra]; and between Luna and the gene-wrights of same for the ongoing furtherance of the Astartes programme! 

 

I've already had a few thoughts around the utilization of 'Soma' [and related treatments] as a conceptual resonancy for Imperial and proto-Imperial augmentation efforts; in fact, one of the 'earliest' [both in-universe and er .. sidereal - i.e. 'out here'] applications, was for the Auxilia we did in accompaniment for the BhutaGana Iron Warriors you can find in our Heresy-era log. The idea was these guys were formerly human army of unification veterans of a North Indian/Nepalese regiment, who had been augmented via the administration of gene-therapy that had given them unnaturally long life-span and other enhanced characteristics - in the manner similar to the empowerments extolled in many a Soma hymnal, and also in the manner of the potency developed by the Ribhus. [And yes, yes we also did a Ribhus :P ... and I started coming up with a few other terms, Technoyagnic and stuff of that nature] [there may have also been shades of Deep Space Nine's Jem'Hadar ketracel white going on; as well as some of my own past/IRL experiences .. but I digress] 

 

But to take your thought further - there is indeed something really really cool about the notion of the Raptor Imperialis adorned Warriors of the Emperor descending amidst flame ['pinions of fire and light', as i think some conceptually later fluff has it], both because orbital entry, fire from on-board weapons, and because Shyena is identified with Agni and that aformentioned Agnicayana ritual. There might be scope for a smaller relative of the Storm Bird for such a purpose ... [i have seen a lot of art of aquila-fronted landers, and whle it's beyond my ability to construct .. maybe I'll have a further think .. - ther's a joke about a 'flying mastodon' here that's not Airavata :P ] 

 

Although as applies Luna, what I would possibly be more inclined toward is something featuring Rahu/Ketu [as you know, correlate with two Lunar Graha nodes] - not least in terms of the demon(s) in question making off with the Amrit via perfidy, and consequent Sanction ensuing. 

 

I may also take the conceptry you have come up with as applies the war against Luna ... and rather than Shyena - Sarama :D The Wolf of the Gods [a female wolf, to be more specific], cited in RV X 108, an excellent hymnal, as being sent by Indra and/or Brihaspati to retrieve a stolen wealth from the Panis [demons, although also 'miser'] who have fortified themselves out beyond the River Rasa [the Rasa in this context, like the Oceanus, being a river running round the edge of the world]. In fact, I like this hymnal so much I'm going to let the Hymnal do the talking - through the Griffith translation:

 

> Panis: "These are the kine which, Saramā, thou seekest, flying, O Blest One, to the ends of heaven.

Who will loose these for thee without a battle? Yea, and sharp-pointed are our warlike weapons."

> Sarama: "Even if your wicked bodies, O ye Paṇis, were arrow-proof, your words are weak for wounding;

And were the path to you as yet unmastered, Bṛhaspati in neither case will spare you."

> Panis: "Paved with the rock is this our treasure-chamber; filled full of precious things, of kine, and horses.

These Paṇis who are watchful keepers guard it. In vain hast thou approached this lonely station."

> Sarama: "Ṛṣis will come inspirited with Soma, Aṅgirases unwearied, and Navagvas.

This stall of cattle will they part among them: then will the Paṇis wish these words unspoken."

 

The Panis then attempt to twist the loyalty of Sarama, promising Her a share of their ill-gotten wealth, and fraternal 'brotherhood' with them. To which Sarama is unmoved, stating instead Her loyalty to the brotherhood enjoyed and enjoined by the Lord ['Indra'] and Priests Who have sent Her, even though She is apart therefrom. But yeah, I like that hymnal for a few reasons - including the fact that the implicit threat even if the Panis *do* manage to slay Her, is that "COMBAT THEOLOGIANS SHALL BE DISPATCHED - TO COMBAT YOU". 

 

As it happens, there would be an obvious "Luna .. Wolf" linkage that somebody could make, gender perhaps notwithstanding; and it does also occur that there *was* an attempted peaceful approach made by the Emperor to the gene-wrights of Luna. Which was rebuffed with some horrendous flesh-warping, sending the still-screaming form of the emissary back to Him. Hence the [other] Wolves being unleashed instead. 

Anyway, to take things back to the two hymnals you've cited, RV II 42 & RV II 43 ... it's interesting you chose these two hymnals to elucidate your point,  rather than some of the other and perhaps better-known hymnals upon or involving the subject [for example, RV IV 26, which i mention here due to the Marut linkage as well, inter alia]; as these two are identiifed as 'Kapinjala' hymnals - a sort of grey bird ;) Which goes rather well with the usual grey armour of pre-Crusade Astartes (there are a few other figurative connotations, but I'll do more research before expounding); I might 'twist' the etymology somewhat for Kapala resonance purposes [kapala being, as you know, skull .. but also can mean a skull-cup - which, for our purposes, we'll figuratively link to bearing the empowering substance; whether a secret of the mind, or something more like that carried by the Kapalikas ... and yes, yes I've done a Kapalika - loyalist VIIIth Legion librarian] ;

 

However, as applies the "fighting off the Dragon of the Deep" bit ... I would be interested to know where you've got that from? And the reason for this is ... a bit of a curious one. You see, obviously, yes, Indra and/or Brihaspati fight Vritra and/or Vala - and these are most definitely serpentine/dragon demons, with water association. 

 

But while there *is* most definitely a Dragon of the Deep identified at several points in the RigVeda, and this concept is expanded upon considerably in later Hindu scripture - Ahi Budhnya is Shiva, certainly a Rudra; which leads me to wonder as to whether the text you're getting that from might have made a mis-conflation. Although having said that, there *is* a certain strain of predominantly Vaishnava theology which uh .. well, let me put it this way, in the Srimad Bhagavatam presentation of Vritra, I rather suspect that the author went out of his way to use Shaivite resonant descriptions in relation to the demon.

 

And there is also, having said that, the other material around Vritra as a 'revenge gambit' created by Tvastr following Indra's slaying of Trisiras [which i am a bit dubious about for other reasons] ... although the way I tend to 'translate/interpolate', I have an article i keep meaning to write around Tvastr and Shiva, but for our purposes , Tvastr and the Omnissiah is a good linkage - and you will note Tvastr's role in the provision of Soma to Indra pre going into combat against Vritra in other hymnals. [i have subconsciously been pondering doing something "Void Dragon" related as applies Vritra and/or Vala for awhile so we'll see if something comes of that, also] 

 

*breathes*

 

Ok, I got a bit carried away there. I have actually got something going for the Dragon of the Deep, and i may PM you a photograph of the WIP a bit later on this evening ;) 

 

Now, briefly going back to the Greek stuff - oddly enough, the first place for the Iliad influence to overtly show up ... was this Exorcist ; but you're definitely on to something with Blackshields/Forgotten sons. 

 

Keep throwing ideas at me! Stuff will ensue! 

 

And thank you once again for your enthusiasm for what we do; I can but state that the efforts of making these are a small form of "Krinvanto Vishvam Aryam" - which you are also perhaps engaged in with your own assembly and painting. Provided it's (Proto-)Imperial :P 

[LilShah]

 

However, as applies the "fighting off the Dragon of the Deep" bit ... I would be interested to know where you've got that from? And the reason for this is ... a bit of a curious one. You see, obviously, yes, Indra and/or Brihaspati fight Vritra and/or Vala - and these are most definitely serpentine/dragon demons, with water association. 

 

But while there *is* most definitely a Dragon of the Deep identified at several points in the RigVeda, and this concept is expanded upon considerably in later Hindu scripture - Ahi Budhnya is Shiva, certainly a Rudra; which leads me to wonder as to whether the text you're getting that from might have made a mis-conflation. Although having said that, there *is* a certain strain of predominantly Vaishnava theology which uh .. well, let me put it this way, in the Srimad Bhagavatam presentation of Vritra, I rather suspect that the author went out of his way to use Shaivite resonant descriptions in relation to the demon.

 

And there is also, having said that, the other material around Vritra as a 'revenge gambit' created by Tvastr following Indra's slaying of Trisiras [which i am a bit dubious about for other reasons] ... although the way I tend to 'translate/interpolate', I have an article i keep meaning to write around Tvastr and Shiva, but for our purposes , Tvastr and the Omnissiah is a good linkage - and you will note Tvastr's role in the provision of Soma to Indra pre going into combat against Vritra in other hymnals. [i have subconsciously been pondering doing something "Void Dragon" related as applies Vritra and/or Vala for awhile so we'll see if something comes of that, also] 

 

*breathes*

 

Ok, I got a bit carried away there. I have actually got something going for the Dragon of the Deep, and i may PM you a photograph of the WIP a bit later on this evening  

 

Now, briefly going back to the Greek stuff - oddly enough, the first place for the Iliad influence to overtly show up ... was this Exorcist ; but you're definitely on to something with Blackshields/Forgotten sons. 

 

Keep throwing ideas at me! Stuff will ensue! 

 

And thank you once again for your enthusiasm for what we do; I can but state that the efforts of making these are a small form of "Krinvanto Vishvam Aryam" - which you are also perhaps engaged in with your own assembly and painting. Provided it's (Proto-)Imperial

 

 

I completely forgot about Sarama and the 'hunt' for the Panis! It would make for a better Pacification of Luna concept aesthetically and logically. As far as i see the Mechanicum can also be placed in the mold of the Panis given all their hoarding...

 

Regarding the highlighted; that which mis-conflated the hymns is sadly none other than my head, no Puranic sectarian bias needed.

 

I was conflating the Shyena, Kapinjala hymns with I think hymns 1.32 which feature Ahi (Vritra) and hymn 10.64 which showcases Ahi Budhyna as an affiliation of Varuna. I need to start brushing up on my Rig Vedic knowledge, I've been researching Proto-Italic myth for too long now!  Thanks for the correction! And atleast you pointed me to the correct Griffith translation as I prefer his to Wilson's translation.

 

If you get around to it I definitely look forward to seeing some of the Dragon of the Deep stuff. For my own projects I'm currently working on making a World Eaters Spartan with a nod to the Tarkshya Arishtanemi hymn (RV 10.178 I think), as I'm sure you agree that the Spartan is truly the 'conqueror of cars'. Also I agree that the work you do is "kr̥ṇvánto víśvam ā́ryam" but if y'all ever want to take on some more Chaos/Traitor stuff don't be afraid to do some form of "kr̥ṇvánto víśvam dásyum" .

Edited March 28, 2020 by LilShah

[jaxom]

 

the divine falcon, Shyena, goes to the moon and brings back the Soma on the back of the South Wind with the help of Vayu-Vata after fighting off the Dragon of the Deep. Maybe a parralell for the Pacification of Luna and retrieval of the gene-seed schematics (I'm not sure if this is canonical though). 

 

 

It fits in well with the previous idea that there was a transition from bespoke Astartes to mass produced Astartes. The gene-labs on Luna let the Emperor greatly expand the rate at which Astartes were produced.

[Ryltar Thamior]

Still WIP, but in a bid to get some energy back to ... finish off some of the rather mountainous piles of WIP that's been on my desk for the last year - 

current state of the Army of Unity infantry 

[Ryltar Thamior]

ongoing effort at some heavy armour; will do conceptual writeup later