Nova Terra Interregnum – The Alien Wars

[BadgersinHills]

I adore the little story!! :) 

[apologist]

+ The Third Company of the Blood Angels +

– or –

+ 3rd Strateia of the Host of Angels, under Lord Dahavauron, Prince of the Erelim +

 

 

 

+++ Personalities +++

 

Captain Erasmus Tycho (Lord Dahavauron 9:91, Prince of the Erelim)

 

Chaplain Savonarola (Amaliel 7:13)

 

Codicier Ureolo (Iaoel 3:02)

 

Sanguinary Priest Sansavino (Varchiel 2:06)

 

Techmarine Haynes Mirandola (Maltiel 4:01)

 

 

+++ Battle line +++

 

Squad Raphael, Third Company – The Wards of Furiel; 3rd Strateia of the Host of Angels.

 

Squad Lazarus, Third Company – Mano Sacra; 3rd Strateia of the Host of Angels

 

Squad Castigarius, Third Company – The Sorrow of Kings; 9rd Strateia of the Host of Angels.

 

 

 

+++ Support +++

 

Squad Redemptor, First Company – Sustainers; First-amongst-equals of the War Eternal under Master Formosus, Lord of the Host, Master of the divided Legion and heir of Sanguinius.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by apologist

[BadgersinHills]

Wonderful work! Tycho is excellent as is the rest of the band. 

[jaxom]

Just wow, that whole army shot.... 

[Quixus]

Nice, what do te numbers next to the characters' names mean?

[Majkhel]

A stunning force! 

[apologist]

Nice, what do te numbers next to the characters' names mean?

 

That's explained here, in my May You Live Forever blog. Just a bit of fun I came up with to add some flavour to the Blood Angels Legion.

[Shi An De]

A like just isn't enough for your work. The models are beautifully converted and painted and I can't get over how quickly you paint. Also, your writing is better than much of GW's official fluff. Keep it coming, please.

[StratoKhan]

The army looks excellent, seeing them all together must be great for you. You’ve really produced something beautiful. It’s not about the individual brushstrokes or how smooth the blending and how fine the highlights are, but it’s about the tone and feel and texture of the force. Brimming with character and you can see a lot of thought was put into everything.

 

Very inspiring for me, just as I plan on modelling and painting again.

 

Thanks for sharing with us.

 

PS - in the first pic with the full army shot + terrain, is that textured grass effect on your board achieved by using towels? It looks very good.

[apologist]

Wonderful work! Tycho is excellent as is the rest of the band. 

Very kind, ta.

 

Just wow, that whole army shot.... 

I had a big grin on my face the whole time I was setting it out :)

 

A stunning force! 

Thank you!

 

A like just isn't enough for your work. The models are beautifully converted and painted and I can't get over how quickly you paint. Also, your writing is better than much of GW's official fluff. Keep it coming, please.

Very kind, and always nice to hear someone likes the writing! :)

 

The army looks excellent, seeing them all together must be great for you. You’ve really produced something beautiful. It’s not about the individual brushstrokes or how smooth the blending and how fine the highlights are, but it’s about the tone and feel and texture of the force. Brimming with character and you can see a lot of thought was put into everything.

 

Very inspiring for me, just as I plan on modelling and painting again.

 

Thanks for sharing with us.

 

PS - in the first pic with the full army shot + terrain, is that textured grass effect on your board achieved by using towels? It looks very good.

Thanks for the thoughtful comments; and best of luck with the restart – do feel free to post in here if you have something you think might fit in the Nova Terra Interregnum period (or is just cool!)

 

The board is indeed towelling. I talk about it a bit more on the blog in this inload [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], but in short it's simply a load of old towels (the older and more ragged, the better) that have been glued and stapled to MDF and high density foam, before being painted with watered down housepaint.

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yOqhcangplg/U1YcfJtPNoI/AAAAAAAAMlI/mSAS4Z107UE/s1600/photo+2.JPG

[Xenith]

Seen them on Insta they look great!

[Monstra Sumus]

Just when I thought you couldn't do something I enjoyed more than your Calth project...

 

I just read through all 24 pages and I'm in love with the NTI. Is the setting still open to collaboration?

 

I'd love to make a strike team of Malevolents to join in. They are an M32 founding after all. I have a whole host of bits to make some true-scale Astartes.

[apologist]

Just when I thought you couldn't do something I enjoyed more than your Calth project...

 

I just read through all 24 pages and I'm in love with the NTI. Is the setting still open to collaboration?

 

I'd love to make a strike team of Malevolents to join in. They are an M32 founding after all. I have a whole host of bits to make some true-scale Astartes.

 

Absolutely. +Death of a Rubricist+, my off-site blog, has an overview, but please do feel free to post up your work in this thread. The setting's intended as a collaboration, so I'd be delighted to have you on board.

 

Marines Malevolent seem ideally-suited to the retrohammer vibe. They might be relatively new in background terms, but the themes of desperation and brutality are straight out of Rogue Trader.

[Slave to Darkness]

 

Ha! That's a fun idea. In fact, I really like the idea! Perhaps people could post up ideas for classic figures they'd like to see my try to update in the thread? I can't promise I'll get round to them all, but it'd be a great way to get some variety. 

 

 

'Nana helm Eldar guardians  

 

Cmon man you know you wanna.

Edited April 26, 2021 by Slave to Darkness

[Monstra Sumus]

++ Marinus Status Malus ++

The thud of armoured foot falls echoed throughout the cavernous vault that designation Hammerhead advanced within. The smooth, almost marble-esque structure of wraith bone somewhat muffled the sound, offering the hulking Astartes more stealth than they were accustomed to; or infact, comfortable with.

Helmet mounted floods stabbed beams through the dark, scanning across fluted tunnels and shattered statues of ethereal androgynous figures. One such statue the hulks lumbered past was mostly intact except for multiple explosive impacts where its face would have been carved out of the alien substance. Hammerhead continued on their assigned patrol route. Their task was seek and destroy. Something delightfully uncomplicated.

Craftworld Lugganath had slipped out of the Webway into an insignificant speck of galactic real estate, hoping to hide in the ancient drifting graveyards of forgotten empires. Silent battle ships tumbled through this remote region of Segmentum Obscurus, a memory of ghosts eons dead, full of secrets never to be discovered. What the Aledari hadn't expected was to find themselves translating from the other realm and into the middle of an Imperial salvage operation. Emitting a haunting wail through the dead light of space, the Craftworld was immediately engaged and boarded. Astartes of the Marinus Status Malus began a boarding action that would come to last months. The core of the Task Force assigned to strip the drifting hulks of components turned its attentions on the aliens in their midst with much relish. A skeleton crew of interceptors, haulers, and initiates were left to continue the Chapter mandated work, guarded by a prowling sharp black ship whose insignia glimmered its aggression and intent.

It was now two months into the Seige of the Black Sun and designation Hammerhead could honestly say they were growing bored with campaign progress. What was meant to be a lighting raid devolved into a foot slogging war of attrition and subterfuge as the Imperials gained and lost ground inside the world-city. Some halls were silent and dead and some were very much alive.

A fist clenched and shot up into the air, ceramite plates clacking together ever so softly.

Halt.

Hammerhead immediately stopped their advance. Acting sergeant Specialist Babari cycled through visible frequencies in his helm, the skull framed face plate whirring and clicking into the dark. He thumbed a dial on the side of his bolt carbine and activated the net-link between his firearm and his helmet feed. A statis white square blinked into the center of his visual field; an electronic cross hair jumping to track possible enemies in the dark of the vault.

The two giants accompanying Babari set their attentions on the flanks and rear of their surroundings. Designated Support Anslem swept his snout shaped helm around, cutting through the gloom with his spot lamp. Slaved to the spot lamp was the massive squad weapon magnetized to his right arm. The 1.00 caliber bolter danced a target seeker laser wherever Anslem tracked; causing a stress grind from the servo-struts of his under pauldron to chatter across the dark.

The second Astartes had taken a knee upon the ever so slightly spongy terrain. Tactical Vanzaar engaged his bionics sleeper routine which allowed him to magnify his already enhanced vision. A boon to be sure; yet also a curse for he hadn't planned on losing that eye. Practical in all things and sure of every movement, Vanzaar tapped his trigger finger against the housing on his carbine.

Bored

++ Neg-con ++

Babari's voice boomed across Hammerhead's vox channel. Anslem sighed and unslaved his automatic.

++ Star elf, zero. Patience left, zero. Advancing? Many ++

Vanzaar inhaled hard, his response a snorting hum. His helmet stunk of sweat from the Emperor cursed humidity. His war plate had been serviced six times in the last solar simulation and yet the machine spirit was still upset with him. Of all the many life sustaining systems to fail on his suit it had to be the environmental controls.

++ Reminds me of Nekropolis++

Non-committal grunts were all that Vanzaars words roused out of his comrades. Even after four thousand years the eradicationatem was still too soon.

-------------‐--------------------------

Hammerhead.



Specialist Babari




Support Anslem




Tactical Vanzaar




Size comparison to normal sized Marines. This is my first go at Tru-Scale.



This entry into the Nova Terra Interregnum marks the beginning of a Marines Malevolent crusade against Craftworld Aeldari which later becomes a problematic war for dominance of no where in particular. If the engagement had a name; it would be stubborn. Edited April 29, 2021 by NomadPainting

[BadgersinHills]

Excellent models.

[Monstra Sumus]

@badgerinhills thank you!

++Marinus Status Malus++

>>//0.137.956.M34 -- Segmentum Obscurus -- Halo Stars -- Seige of the Black Sun//<<

Sleeping Dragon had been rerouted from the harvest of a rock that technically was just outside of Imperial jurisdiction. They were ordered by Segmentum command to assist with picket rotation for Goliath Ghost and to leave an escort behind to monitor potential rear guard action.

The second larger task force was charged with drifting from system to system in this quadrant; where it would salvage any space-born flotsam. Mostly it's intended targets were abandoned stations and ancient derelicts, but sometimes the ships salvaged weren't entirely devoid of life.

The arrival of a Craftworld set the hornets nest abuzz. Captain Toareg, acting commander of Sleeping Dragon had been politicking with Captain Ramsai of Goliath Ghost on how best to proceed with their assault against the Aeldari. Whilst Ramsai commanded the greater force, it was Toareg who had the battlefield experience. More than once during the course of the campaign the two Astartes officers had exchanged scathing remarks; it became physical one time when Toareg struck a Goliath Ghost adjutant by the name of Vinyar for prolonged eye contact when ordered to desist.

The Disagreement of Junction Eighteen as it would come to be known saw the first recorded incident of frater on frater engagement within the Chapter record and would be the defining reason for each Task Force to be seeded with Command elements from the First Company. Watchdogs became a staple after the siege of the Lugganath world-city; and for good reason. The last thing the Chapter could afford was a civil war.

Interceptor squadrons from both task forces crossed paths at designation eighteen. At this junction along the vast dorsal spine of the alien leviathan is where lack of discipline reigned supreme. Orders from Toaregs war-room conflicted with stratagem issued from the conflict resource center aboard Ramsai's flag ship and it just so happened to be that Guilliman's magnum opus did not have a single entry that could be applied appropriately by both forces on how to proceed.

The Disagreement of Junction Eighteen became a turning point in the history of the Chapter for two reasons. The first saw Chapter Command take a more vested interest in the affairs of its generated task forces. Hence the watch dogs. The second mark of note for the records was that it was the precise moment the Chapter almost unanimously agreed to view the Codex Astartes as a guideline and not stricture by which to live by. This freedom of engagement allowed the Chapter to adopt its reaving traditions fully and to use the Codex as a training manual. This ultimately allowed the Chapter to adhere more closely to the core tenets they were founded on during the 32nd millennium.

To destroy the Imperiums enemies by any means necessary. This structural change was notated as the Obscurum Disciplinatus and saw a rise in the frequency of dealings with Rogue Traders for illegal technology and in some cases the documented use of xenos armament.

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

Recieved my order of Primaris and set about finalizing the current builds to match the ruleset I'm using.

Toareg update.

Krell update.

Chartah update.

Vanzaar update.

Today also saw the creation of Sergent Chono of designation Raider, instigator of the The Disagreement.

A group shot of the assembled force so far.

Left to build for the forces assaulting the Craftworld are two combat squads and a reinforced Dreadnought chassis.

Edited May 1, 2021 by NomadPainting

[Monstra Sumus]

++Marinus Status Malus++

First Sergeant Haaz and his adjutant Tactical Tanhauzer are the command element of Designation Jackal. Haaz is acclaimed within the Chapter for his calculations during pre-operation planning and his frugality with resources. It was this specific talent that saw him serve a tour of duty alongside his Captain in the ranks of the Deathwatch during The Pale Wasting. Chapter Command enacted casus belli and adhered to Codex formation of three battle companies to aid in the quarantine of the Ghoul Stars. The Chapter Command masters of the Status Malus decreed any discussion on the events of the quarantine with anyone outside the Chapter would result in severe censure. By decree of the Ordos Xenos any discussion on the service of elected members to the Deathwatch would result in execution.

Haaz has adopted Tanhauzer as a sort of aide-de-camp and is rarely seen without him. Their bond of fraternity runs deep; speculation is that they were harvested from the same world during a recruitment drive however as those records are kept secured by Chapter Command it is only hear-say. Toareg knows that it is because of what haunts the depths of Haaz's eternal soul. Tanhauzer will never know he is simply kept close to guard Haaz during hours of true sleep. Toareg himself has his own methods of confronting the memory-shard that sits like a parasite inside of him.

During The Seige of the Black Sun Haaz distinguished himself during a rear guard action against a reaving assault by space elf corsairs. This earned him a battlefield commendation and has set him on the fast track to Leuitenant. Pragmatic as always the Sergeant neither confirms nor denies the rumors surrounding The Disagreement where in order to circumvent the Chapters articles of war he handed his service weapon to his adjutant and proceeded to beat an officer of Goliath Ghost half to death infront of the assembled Malevolents. With his indifference in acknowledgement and the conflicting rumor mill, Taskforce command had no choice but to ignore the implied infraction.

This may or may not be due to the fact that every attending member of Raider, Jackal, and Hammerhead had disengaged their gun cameras and so there was no evidence regarding hostilities. Goliath Ghost's evidence became implied and the operation continued with deference given to Toareg's forward command.

Edited May 1, 2021 by NomadPainting

[Monstra Sumus]

++Marinus Status Malus++

It is well documented within the Chapter the magnitude of accomplishments and victories secured with the aid of the Marines Malevolent. Some pivotal moments in Imperial history can be attributed to the right Status Malus Tactical being in the right place at exactly the right time.

And yet, the officio historium does not reflect these truths. Instead other Chapters or Imperial agencies are given the credit and that misrepresentation is distrubted through the galaxy. Lesser frater would stoop to bickering and glory-seeking, they would raise up their arms to decry the passages and to have history rewritten to reflect their deeds.

For the Malevolent's this is not the case. Their sins may be many but they are not prideful. They document and record their own statistics. They log their own losses. They keep their own truth. As they have done since their secret inception during the Fundamentum Tertias they will continue to uphold the truth set forth by Him-on-Earth. Adhering to both the Imperial Truth and the Edicts of Nikaea the Marinus Status Malus wage endless war on every front they can be present upon. The only formal relationship the Malevolent's hold with the Imperial government is close ties to the Ecclesiarchy and the Ordos Xenos branch of the Inquisition.

From the The Beasts invasion of Terra, the Reunification and the future wars of Armageddon, the Malevolent's have been there to fight the enemies of mankind. Doing what they were born to do.

During the post-operations of both the War of the False Primarch and the Manus Irae no credit is given unto the frater of the Status Malus despite suffering heavy loses to both the fraterhood and the armory; a defining point that led to the Chapter's later struggles with requisition after The Quarantine from which they never truly recovered.

When questioned by a frater of the Charnel Guard as to the Chapter's response to these offensive exclusions a simple reply was given that was documented for all time in the annals of both Chapter's history.

++ Hollow men seek the approval of those they will never meet. Trust only what you make with your own hands. He knows the truth and that is enough. ++

[Ryltar Thamior]

Tartaros helms on Mk.X have long been a favourite of mine.

Interesting development of Marines Malevolent fluff-perspective as well. 

Good work. 

[Monstra Sumus]

@Ryltar thank you! I don't like the established fluff that Kyme came up with. I don't jive with his "big yellow meany" stuff, it's incredibly two dimensional. I'm attempting to compile my own version of their history and using this hobby log project as a platform for that. Considering compiling an Index Astartes.

++Marinus Status Malus++

Port Taurus was fun he supposed. It was a break from pig-scalping on the Ullanor border, which was refreshing after six solar simulations of picket. If he was being honest with the Emperor though, he would admit he would have preferred to be chasing the Black Sun. Knife-Ears were always a challenge he relished. The Green-Scrunt got predictable after a time and it simply became work. He could settle for rebellion. His environment ping returned two scan codes that dated roughly four millenia and he was fast approaching his target at break neck speed.

Break.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Prime.

Release pin.

Throw.

One.

Two.

Three.

Scratch two.

One.

Two.

Three.

Stop.

++ On left.++

The world exploded beside Corporal Svetska as the Astartes slammed into the ramshackle barricade beside her. Debris rained down and her eyes burned against the dust wafting in waves down the causeway; the siege of Port Taurus had stretched into a three month engagement before the Excommunicate arrived in the Malagant system. What started as a rebel pacification operation quickly became a hubris war for the Tauran Irregulars which would eventually see the planet burn. Her heart rate rocketed and the sound of her own blood roared like a primal drum in her head. Her throat was so dry her spittle was bloody. The fingers of her left hand squeezed her lasgun over and over as the fingers of her right hand dug around in the satchel for another battery pack. She would have been more surprised at the sudden appearance of this demi-god but she had been fighting against the other ones for seven days and four nights. Today would be the eighth. She wasn't scared. She was tired.

"They're coming again."

The words rasped from her lips, half a whisper, half a croak. The behemoth in chipped yellow and black war plate beside her turned the onyx black lenses of his helmet in her direction. The grimacing grille vented a jet of vapor waste and the faint green cycling of target runes washed those lenses from inside with a sickening glow. The slam and click of the monstrous rocket gun in his hands echoed down the line. She caught the glint of eyes behind that crystalline glass. Possibly blue.

++ Good.++

The rolling dust cloud parted as if sliced in two by monsters clad in starlight. Apparating in the negative space carved from the mist came a duo of cruel mirror images. Hulks clad in iridescent teal came on silently, cutting a path like sharks through the shoal. The mass of flesh on either side of them stabbed beams of light and autogun fire in the direction of the barricade. Snaps and cracks filled the air as the traitor Astartes glided through the no man's land of Cross-Union Highway Nine. A sea of renegade faces tattooed with heresy and conviction framed these insidiosa as they drew carbon coated blades that seemed to absorb light. There were two of them and only one of the loyalists. Their operation would continue without issue.

A fraction of a second before the Astartes opened fire, Svetska squeezed the trigger on her over primed lasgun. This did not escape his notice.

Bodies exploded in controlled blossoms as the mass reactive shells stitched through the horde advancing on their position. Several other soldiers of the Irregulars began to fire with their Corporal. Beams of light punched holes through their one time kin, splitting the air with a horrible shriek. The two instigators responded in kind with blasts from their bolt pistols which caused a hail of razor sharp debris to stab out across the barricade.

The Status Malus frater keyed his auto-senses on the left target and squeezed off a three round burst. Miss. Hit. Miss. He squeezed again. Miss. Miss. Miss. He snarled to himself, his upper lip pushing against the wetness of his gums. Again. MISS. MISS. HIT.

The helmet caved under the eruptions from the fraters Godwyn and showered the second opponent with gore. The two Astartes locked eyes and the legionaire nodded.

Svetska watched as faster than she could have believed the enemy set upon them. She felt as if she was hauling through sludge. Her laser shots snapped lines across the brutes shimmering armor, scouring deep lines in the ancient ceramite. The sun sheathed Astartes to the left rose up, feet crunching into the concrete of the barricade and carrying it up and into the air. Shots rang out from his bolt weapon that cut the atmosphere like the tolling of bells.

She saw the nemesis collide and continued to fire into the melee as both combatants tried to overcome the other. Almost too late she threw herself aside as they crashed down into the trench line behind the barricade. The bolt rifle clattered away from the brawl, spinning end over end into the smog. The yellow Astartes was ontop of the other driving his left fist at the head whilst the right reached for the pistol at his hip. The instigator drove a knee into the power-pack worn by the Emperor's chosen that sent him sprawling forward, costing him the chance to draw his sidearm and fire.

The enemy was suddenly upon their feet, a movement so fluid it was unnatural. The helmet raised upwards ever so slightly. Distain. The muzzle jumped as the bolt pistol barked two rounds into the exposed back of the allied Astartes. Svetska growled low and made sure the crimson visor of the legionaire was firmly between her sights before she unleashed a torrent of energy. The bayonet weighed the front end just enough that the shots hit the cheek plate instead.

Snap, snap, snap.

The instigator turned in her direction. A move that proved to be a mistake as the world turned upside down for him. The grunt that escaped the enemy was out of place with such a menacing figure. Sent to the ground by a burst of bolter fire the giant crashed backwards into the trench, pistol sent careening over head. Svetksa hadn't stopped firing. She even dared to take two steps forward. She wanted this thing dead.

The Status Malus leapt upon his prey with a combination of thunderous punches. As he clenched the enemy helmet between his hands and propelled a knee into it, a bright wash of sticky wet blood oozed from the ruined midsection of his torso. Exposed cabling sparked and pulped flesh vomited fluid against the scorched armor. She

Svetska saw the gleam of bone. Her lasgun whined out and a hiss of exhaustion ended the cherry glow on the muzzle. She began to reload as the rest of her rag-tag squad fired into the now routing rebels.

The chosen managed to pull his side arm and bring it to bear just as the diamond edged tip of the traitors blade slipped into his eagle crested chest and twisted forty five degrees to the right. The squeal of parting ceramite cut into Svetska as she stared in horror at her immediate future, her fingers fumbling for another power-pack. She didn't find one. They closed around something else.

The krak grenade bounced between the two titans and detonated with enough force to slam the Astartes backwards, his war plate pinwheeled into the concrete. It sent the other sliding backwards to crash into the barricade, it's faceplate a smoking ruin. Svetska hauled herself over the rubble and smacked her knees into the side of the Astartes. Bright red mixed with charred flesh, shards of yellow and black armour sawed into mesh and skin. The angelus mortis tried to sit up but a coughing fit saw it ease back down into the chunks of road and building. Svetska could hear warning chimes whispering from inside the helmet and a red light kept blinking, highlighting one blood shot eye over and over. It was blue. She was right.

"I'm s-sorry, I thou-- he--"

The world turned dark as the smoking silhouette of the legionaire blocked out the sun. The air fell silent for a moment and the electrical hum of an energy field washed static against the hairs on her neck. She blinked. This is it. The last thing she would remember would be the name, designation number, and genetic sequence runeform stamped into the gorget of her defender in high gothic.

Callan -- CIII/MMFT/TONEG

She went momentarily blind as blood slapped her in the back of the head and a chunk of ceramite slashed her shoulder guard. The pain brought her senses back into focus and she sucked in a ragged breath, her wild eyes turning from the Astartes below her to the collapsing one above. The ground bounced her as the dead operative slammed into the ground, battle plate inert except for a single finger twitch. The smoking bolt pistol clattered from yellow clad fingers, followed by words hissed through clenched teeth.

++No apologize for His work. Get helmet clasp. Down two lungs. Others here soon. ++

She nodded half in shock and grabbed at the lever under the rim of his helmet. She hauled at it with her finger tips, breaking one of her finger nails. With a shudder it snapped open and an pressure hiss wafted ice cold air as it vented the atmosphere inside his suit. She studied the miosis in those blood shot blue eyes and noted the symmetrical and disproportionately wide bruised cheeks of this colossus below her; he had several small tear drop electoo's beneath a metal rimmed eye socket. He sucked in another breath and she could almost hear it wheezing out of him involuntarily. When he spoke she could see silver capped teeth stained with clotted blood.

"I will expire. If that happens pre-regroup...take bucket and defend. Hand off to Status Malus. Data imperative to war effort."

He tapped the helmet with one finger and took one more sucking breath. Svetska knew these trans-humans didn't speak the way she did, the way everyone else did. It wasn't the wounds he had sustained or a language barrier, as she understood it they just simply didn't speak information they deemed useless. She froze as another hulking sunburst yellow Astartes strode into view, assault bolter scanning left and right. It barked two shots that screamed into the distance before ending with muffled crumps. The giant came to a stop beside her fallen ally and as it studied the fallen brother, it chuckled low, the sound menacing the air between them. This one also had high gothic runes.

Reiner -- CV/MMFT/TOPOS

++Cutlass five to Cutlass one. Cee-Three need evac. Vitals crit. ++

The one on the ground, Callan, squinted those blood shot eyes and grinned a wicked smile with those blood stained silver teeth. The standing one, Reiner cast his glance over the battleground and pointed in the direction of the two dispatched traitors.

++Cal, this make forty-five, neg?++

The seemingly mortally wounded warrior on the ground nodded once and closed his right fist tight, thumb stuck up towards the sky. This incredibly human gesture shocked Svetska almost as much as having to fight beside and against them. Everything about them was as alien to her as the things that dwell in the dark of space. They are not human.

++Cee-One ammend alert for medevac. Send a brain-box. Cal gets his Mantle.++

Svetska stood from her kneeling position and observed the giant sprawled at her feet. He pumped his fist in two short victory motions and laid back against the rubble, with a shaky exhale he closed his eyes.

"Reform line Tauran. Take back your home. "

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

Started work on a rather beefy chap. Got the legs posed plus the base started on. Complete with some Star Phantoms where they rightfully belong.

ATE Callan interred within the TDC "Mantle of Malice".

ATE--//--Armor Tactical Enforcer

TDC--//--Tactical Dreadnought Chassis

Edited May 6, 2021 by NomadPainting

[apologist]

 

Well, here we go. A few false starts later, and we're off! Following up on my interpretation of the studio's Blood Angels 3rd Company from WD139 (and now in the modern WD!) I've started in earnest on the opposing force; the mysterious Eldar of Alaitoc. As with the Blood Angels, the underlying conceit here is to produce my interpretation of the studio Eldar Army from the 90s. This was late Rogue Trader; a few months before the release of Warhammer 40,000 second edition, so there are both similarities and differences – some subtle, some quite stark – between the period and modern armies. 

 

I hope you'll enjoy following along with the process, and please do to chime in with your own ideas, questions and memories.

 

+++

+ Guardians +

The first squad – my testers – are one of the lasgun-armed ones. As with my Blood Angels, I've tried to balance capturing the nostalgic charm I have for the originals against the advantages of modern design and manufacturing methods.

 

 

 

Distinguished by sash colour, this is the first of the four Guardian squads in the original army. The original army had four Guardian squads; two armed with lasguns, a close combat squad (a modern Storm Guardian squad), and a Guardian Battle squad. The latter were the only Guardians armed with shuriken catapults; I believe you could only have half your Guardians thus armed. 

 

There's a lot I like about the old Guardians, but I do think that the new design is an improvement in almost every way. I thus had a bit of a decision to make in how far to alter things. There were a few options, including, from complete retro conversion, aiming to replicate things like the chainmail mesh undersuit, cone heads and so forth; to an all-modern update, using modern bits – like the Corsair kit's long-range shuriken catapults – to account for period differences, like the variation in weaponry.

 

+ Note the melta gun. The modern version is almost identical; merely a hint larger and with cleaner, deeper details, but I opted to convert it to an old one anyway, for consistency with the others. +

In the end I felt the former was a bit too beholden to the past, and the latter wouldn't be readily identifiable – it would look like any other modern Eldar army. I really like the modern Guardian designs, so I opted for a few critical changes: most obviously, weapons from the period. These are much smaller than the modern equivalents, and have more pleasing proportions to me. They're also a neat way to nod to the originals while retaining the appeal of the modern look.  More subtly, I trimmed away the cheek vents from the helms. It's not particularly obvious here, but it gives a taller, slimmer feel to the helm, helping to evoke the old 'conehead' look.

 

I'm tempted to further convert them by trimming away the back vanes. These are a very distinctive part of the new design, but are conspicuously absent in the originals (instead, the Guardians had little vents that look a bit like a tea strainer). I'll test the idea out on a spare plastic Guardian (one of the slightly older ones). It's a relatively simple change, and I think this additional detail will both evoke the older ones better and make the head more isolated, again enhancing the conehead look.

 

 

The gunslinging squad leader! Armed with a shuriken pistol and laspistol, the squad leader will definitely have a banner. The originals (see above) had each squad leader bearing a pennant mounted on a pin drilled into their backs. Back banners are such an iconic part of the period, I just can't resist adding one on. I also opted to use a tasseled helm – not something from the period, but I don't want to be slavish. Besides, I thought he deserved a little flourish: rank should have its privileges! +

 

+++

 

Once I've sorted out the back vanes and banner, I'll tackle the next Guardian squad. You'll see that I've tried to match the poses, weaponry and genders of the figures as closely as possible for this squad, but I'm tempted to be a bit more freeform on the others, as it'll let me use the cool options and details from the modern kit. Retro is all very well, but it needs to be balanced and informed by reinterpretation.

[Slave to Darkness]

Cant wait to see what you do with this, I did want to do a similar thing but I already have a Biel Tan army using the old minis, I dont need two lots of knife ears lol. 

 

Will you be converting a Reaper Exarch to have the Web of Skulls? 

[apologist]

That's certainly on the list! I find it a lot of fun to reinterpret older characters, and the exarchs are perfect examples. At the period, they were far more like modern Autarchs than the glorified squad leaders they are today; important, powerful and focal characters. To that end, I'll likely be spending time to evoke the originals, while (hopefully) bringing in a bit of a personal touch.

 

 

They will probably get a bit of a name-change, too – 'Skull-Taker', as the Reaper Exarch is called, is perhaps a bit on the nose for modern Eldar. Perhaps I'll see how the components translate into various Gaelic languages and see if any sound right for Eldar. 

 

+Edit+

Sleir Dho for Burning Spear; Amhran Fola for Blood Song and Beirleat Cloigeann, perhaps...

 

More broadly, yes; the plan is to recreate the army as-is. Like the Blood Angels, I think that most things will translate across fairly easily with minimal tweaks.

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by apologist

[Slave to Darkness]

Oh and to finish of the project, you can give us a bat rep against the Blood Angels!!!