Nova Terra Interregnum – The Alien Wars

[apologist]

Calling all helpers – can you paint up a member of the Frateris Constantium?

They're the Nova Terran-loyal M35 predecessors of the Frateris Templars – the loons loyal to Goge Vandire – and thus the sort of Spear-counterpart to the Sisters of Battle. 

 

 

Of course, Constanium – that is, Nova Terra – needed all hands on deck, so they were very definitely equal opportunities employers. This'd be a great opportunity to do a mixed force of proto-Sisters of Battle and power-armoured men who aren't Astartes.

Edited September 10, 2019 by Apologist

[Soulhunter1995]

Does it have to be a specific Order or is it any ? :)

[apologist]

Does it have to be a specific Order or is it any ?

 

Nope – in fact, the more diverse, the better! I'm never going to have time (nor the imagination!) to allow me to explore the whole M35 galaxy, so I'm always delighted to have others join in and add their own flavour and twist.

 

The broad strokes of the Frateris Constantium are simple:

• They're the predecessors of the Frateris Templum; the militant arm of the Eccelisiarchy.
• They're loyal to Nova Terra.
• They're well-equipped, well-trained and well-motivated.
• Like the Guard, they're hugely diverse.

You might like to think of them as Imperial Guard Stormtroopers, but with a religious angle. Beyond that, what you create is entirely up to you. If you like the black, yellow and blue scheme, feel free to use it.

 

Briilliant stuff as always. Good conversions and not the kind of scheme you typically see on sisters.

 

The background is particularly good, that bit about the evolution of the crone into a traditional imperial saint is exquisite.

 

Thanks Sandlemad – very kind. As to the background, I love the doublethink, errors and intentional airbrushing of history that the Imperium indulges in. It really brings home that everything you have been told is a lie.

Edited September 10, 2019 by Apologist

[Atia]

 

 

Of course, Constanium – that is, Nova Terra – needed all hands on deck, so they were very definitely equal opportunities employers. This'd be a great opportunity to do a mixed force of proto-Sisters of Battle and power-armoured men who aren't Astartes.

 

You know, I was already interested in your stuff but now ..... call me .... super interested! 

[apologist]

 

Of course, Constanium – that is, Nova Terra – needed all hands on deck, so they were very definitely equal opportunities employers. This'd be a great opportunity to do a mixed force of proto-Sisters of Battle and power-armoured men who aren't Astartes.

 

You know, I was already interested in your stuff but now ..... call me .... super interested! 

 

Thank you – and if it helps gets your mind (and brush) a-whirr, here's a [+noosphericinloadlink+] to the relevant info:

 

The Frateris Constantium are detailed lower down, but here's the detail:

 

 

 

+ Frateris Constantium +

The principal military force of the Nova Terran branch of the Adeptus Ministorum (Ecclesiarchy Constantius), the Frateris Constantium formed an Ecclesiarchical mirror to the Nova Terran Army (NTA). Both were precociously well armed and equipped by their Adeptus backers, but where the NTA attracted the more puritanical, the Frateris Templar were swelled by those who sought ritual and reliability in a world of swiftly-changing fortunes.

 

[+appendnote+: A number of ancient texts indicate that the organisation of the Frateris Constantium was the direct inspiration for the later Frateris Templar, under the infamous Eccleisarchs of later Millennia – +authorident: Unfortunus Veck+ +] 

 

Despite the name, the Frateris Constantium recruited both men and women; both serving in lockstep on the frontlines of Faith. Backed by the increasingly influential regional Ecclesiarchy Constantius, which was starting to mine its prodigiously wealthy coffers, many elements of the Frateris Constantium bore exceptionally expensive equipment, up to and including power armour.

 

Some of the more daring – or power-crazed – War-Bishops and Canon-Martials elevated to command these groupings chose to ape the largely-absent or withdrawn forces of the Astartes – cladding their warriors in power armour and boltguns. Their opulent equipment created a startling and baroque spectacle that, while falling behind true Astartes force in martial effectiveness, nevertheless proved to be hugely effective against the forces of Ancient Terra, and the numerous Xenos species to which the Frateris Constantium typically found themselves opposed.

 

+ Notable Militant Orders +

• Order of the Emperor's Arm – The militant branch of a emergent cult declared non-heretical by the Nova Terran Ministorum, the Order of the Emperor's Arm was vastly wealthy, and was able to equip the men and women under its command with power armour and boltguns as standard.
• Ancient Order of the Free Thinkers – Dedicated to the concept of the Imperial Truth, the Free Thinkers were amongst the most hidebound and ritualistic of the Militant Orders; launching several religious wars against regions within the sector. 
• Chapter Constantine – Clad in gold and black, and decked about with star-chased robes, the so-called Chapter Constantine openly mimicked the traditions of the Astartes – or at least as well as its commander, the eccentric 'Cleric Superlative Tosc', understood the second-hand accounts of the Astartes he could lay his hands upon. He restricted their numbers to 1,000 men and 1,000 women; cladding all in opulent power armour and boltguns. Such was the ruinous expense of maintaining such equipment, the 'Chapter' was short-lived, beggaring its sponsors to the Neomechanicus and eventually collapsing to a tiny Honour Guard remnant after seven decades. 
• Order of the Chalice – Established by order of the Nova Terran Ministorum, the Order of the Chalice was famous for its policing of the Nova Terran Army, much to the NTA and Munitorum's opprobium.
• Order of Disgust – Decked in lustrous green plate, the Ordo Fastidium were instrumental in launching counter-campaigns against a number of xeno invasions. So-named for their fanatical hatred of non-humans and abhumans.

[sPOOL UNFINISHED]

[+SCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT+]

[+SCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT+]

[+SCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT+]

[Majkhel]

Lovely work on the faces! Especially s.Callistus.

The writing is also very immersing. I second that the history od the Crone od fantastic. Good job!

Edited September 10, 2019 by Majkhel

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Sisters and their Order's history.

[Lost2Requiem]

Love the background and paint work, great stuff.

 

Is that an intentional reference to Mrs Harrison Ford...?

[Markus_]

Love the Sisters. :tu:

[Disruptor_fe404]

Is that an intentional reference to Mrs Harrison Ford...?

 

I was wondering about this too!

 

You know, after marvelling at the paint job and conversion...

 

I assume these are made from the Geminae Superia?

[apologist]

Lovely work on the faces! Especially s.Callistus.

The writing is also very immersing. I second that the history od the Crone od fantastic. Good job!

Ta very much – I very much like painting faces. In fact, these two were part of an experiment – I used the same four colours to make a pool of paint, them tried to get as much variety as possible by using different proportions. In total, I managed to dash off seven faces in the course of fifteen minutes – the two Sororitas, the following four, and a super-secret hidden* extra model:

 

 

 

 

 

Good job on the Sisters and their Order's history.

Thanks.

 

Love the background and paint work, great stuff.

 

Is that an intentional reference to Mrs Harrison Ford...?

Cheers – and er... I can't say ;)

 

Love the Sisters.

Thanks Markus!

 

You know, after marvelling at the paint job and conversion...

I assume these are made from the Geminae Superia?

Yep, fairly simple conversion, once I'd managed to sort out where to trim the arms from the Sisters of Silence kit. The only bits that required greenstuff work were the ankles and where the arms joined the sleeves.

 

 

 

* Read: 'I forgot to take a pict-capture of this one.'

[Soulhunter1995]

I never feel confident painting faces but I`ll definitely give it a go :) Just so you know Apologist, I sent this thread to a friend of mine and he is currently coming up with a force for the Frateris Constantium. I`ll send the info across to you soon along with my own stuff once I get my rear end moving ^^

[apologist]

Lots of bits moving behind the scene on the Alien Wars, and for today, an update on a series of articles on how to create your own army. This concentrates on muted paint schemes, which might be useful for anyone hovering on the sidelines of the Alien Wars.

 

Creating an army of your own part IV: muted paint schemes

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Alot of great conversions not to mention painting loving this thread!

[apologist]

Thank you very much. I've been polishing up some individuals:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please ignore the bases for now – I'll finish them off in a batch when I finish the other members of the group.

Edited November 1, 2019 by Apologist

[apologist]

... and we're back – this time with a typical example of ork raiders: Goranhuwl's Guttaz. Watch out – they're already fought the NVA, the Star Leopards and the Gatebreakers. They may be coming to a system near you soon!

 

 

[noosphericexloadlink embedded+]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orks may not demonstrate much in the way of artistic talent – indeed their banners and trophy-poles are almost invariably rendered by gretchin or slaves who are able to successfully translate the boss' gruff instructions in a way that pleases the master – but they are both excellent mimics and inventive engineers. On seeing a particularly impressive war machine, ork bosses will order their Oddboyz to replicate it – a challenge that usually sees results. Ork mekaniaks rarely back-engineer a creation, and instead rely on their abilities to create a functional – and sometimes superior – copy. 

 

Dreadnoughts of many species – the Eldar Wraithlords, Q'orl Warforms and even Astartes Dreadnoughts – function in dual roles: both warmachine and spiritual demonstration of service beyond death. In all cases, its form is drawn from the physical structure of the biological being: it seems that some from of physical familiarity is a near-universal psychological requirement for the pilots of such engines. Not so with the orks.

 

[noosphericexloadlink embedded+]

Edited March 10, 2020 by apologist

[Brother Dallo]

This is a monumental project.

 

You should be immensely proud of what you’ve achieved over the past few years in this thread.

 

Looking forward to the next few years.

 

Dallo

[Cadmus Tyro]

Man, the leather effect on those capes is spectacular! Any chance of a tutorial? !

 

Cadmus

[Vazzy]

Love it brother! Hopefully planning to post up my Gatebreaker as soon as the base is finished. Constantly inspired by your work!

[Veteran Sergeant]

What a great project.  After a couple years away from the 40K hobby, what an inspiring place to come back to.  But your stuff has always been great. This reminds me of the broad scope project I was working on when I just burned out back in in 2017.

[Marshal Rohr]

Loving the orks Apologist. Your marines are classics, but something about these orks just make them my favorite project of yours.

[apologist]

This is a monumental project.

You should be immensely proud of what you’ve achieved over the past few years in this thread.

Looking forward to the next few years.

That's really very kind, thanks. It's been off-and-on, but the scope of the galaxy combined with the retrohammer appeal keeps me coming back. The only problem is that every model I finish seems to spark ideas for two more! 

 

Man, the leather effect on those capes is spectacular! Any chance of a tutorial? !

Argh, I keep meaning to do this – sorry. Next cape I paint, I'll make sure to log the images.

(Now, where'd I leave that Lorgar conversion?) 

 

 

Love it brother! Hopefully planning to post up my Gatebreaker as soon as the base is finished. Constantly inspired by your work!

Brilliant – it's a fantastic feeling when someone paints a model based on my scribblings; particularly when it's as cool as Janus Tor.

It made me wonder if the Gatebreakers are the lone Chapter in which every single model/character ever created has a name?

 

What a great project.  After a couple years away from the 40K hobby, what an inspiring place to come back to.  But your stuff has always been great. This reminds me of the broad scope project I was working on when I just burned out back in in 2017.

What a lovely thing to hear – thanks! Glad to see you back, and hope you can be tempted into The Alien Wars yourself :)

 

Loving the orks Apologist. Your marines are classics, but something about these orks just make them my favorite project of yours.

Cheers Rohr – beekees come and go, but orkses are forever!

 

+++

More runts (and a lone ork) on the bench:

These are just a simple coat of Gretchin Green (who would have thought?) and washes of either Seraphim Sepia or Leviathan Purple. To get some variety in skintones, I used the washes in different proportions, both alone and mixed wet-in-wet on the model's surface.

 

...and a couple of detail shots of the Dreadnought:

I took my inspiration from the card dreadnought that came with the second edition boxed set. Just as with my Blood Angels [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], it's an homage rather than an exact match. I hope enough of the details are present to give retrohammerers a grin.

 

The kit's absolutely awash with great little details, like the functional-looking pistons, heat-sink plates and pressure dials. When tackling complex metal areas like this, it's easy for them to get lost in a mass of similar tones, so I aimed to break up the shapes by treating each main part separately. Some are oily bare metal, others rusted, and the top plates are painted black. Rather than starting from a black underlayer and weathering with metallics, I painted them all metal, then painted the black on top, using a stippling technique. This is a quick and easy way to get a sense of wear and tear – you've just got to be careful to work the paint into the recesses away from the edges (such as the 'lee' of the spikes).

[Isengrin]

What a joy to see the card dread brought to life! You really succeeded in transfering the main characteristics to your dread while still letting it stand on its own. Even makes me want to paint a few orks myself. 

[apologist]

 

'The green of grass, the yellow of the sun. Very poetic. Very old-Terran. Shame the star Andocrine is a bloated, dying dwarf, blotchy and red as an alcoholic dowager; and the nearest thing to grass there is blue-black, clinging as stubbornly to the rad-haunted rocks as the Gatebreakers themselves. A few thousand light-years distance makes all the difference, culturally, don't you think?'

 

– extr. 'Notes on the Alien Wars', Inquisitrix Barbari Kills

Edited June 4, 2020 by apologist

[apologist]

More Gatebreakers on the painting desk.

 

 

 

Trying out some oils and painting in sub-assemblies; two things I've not tried properly before.