Nova Terra Interregnum – The Alien Wars

[DuskRaider]

Are you going for a specific Klan or are they generic? They look great!

[apologist]

Is there anywhere I can find your recipes for Ork and Gretchin skin?

Hmm; just trying to think. Off the top of my head, no; but I'll have a dig through Death of a Rubricist. Might well be something there. If not, would a step-by-step be useful?

 

 

Duskraider:

 

Are you going for a specific Klan or are they generic? They look great!

 

More generic. I like the clans background (I rate Waaagh! the Orks, Ere We Go and – to a lesser extent – Freebooters as amongst my favourite gaming books), but for these orks I'm taking Luggub's Drop Legion (the army list from The Book of the Astronomican) as the inspiration, in a similar way to the Blood Angels being based on the army from WD139.

 

In both cases, the 40k setting has moved on considerably from the game at that time, and while I love a bit of nostalgia, some things have imprved over time! To square that circle, the conceit of this setting is that where M41 is when 8th is set; M35 is the time period of Rogue Trader. This allows me to blend the bits I like from both without causing too many temporal headaches. 

 

To put it another way, the Alien Wars are what I think 40k would be if Rogue Trader were first released today. As a result, all of the forces are going to have nods to the material of the period; and generally follow that aesthetic.So, though, I'm using the fantastic modern sculpts, I'll be trying to apply a 'retro skin' to them, tying together the bits of 40k I remember nostalgically with those bits I find most exciting about modern 40k.

 

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+ A comparison shot of the belligerents of the Arcturus campaign: Deocritic Guardsman, Astartes, greenskin (dominant ork designate), greenskin (slave caste). +

 

 

[WIP Blood Angels]

Not much progress yet, but they're coming along:

 

Edited February 16, 2018 by Apologist

[Bob Hunk]

I do so love your Blood Angels, Apologist. They press all the right nostalgia buttons, the paint job is sublime, and the mix of other components with the Primaris models is spot-on. Can't wait to see more! :)

[Dosjetka]

Whatever you have I'll take, Apologist. If you have the time/motivation, a step-by-step will be much appreciated. :tu:

[Battybattybats]

+ Furiel 8:04 +

 

Painting begins; so here's a shot of Sergeant Raphael alongside two ne'er-do-wells to show the size of the chap. 

 

 

While I'm broadly pleased, red's always been a personal bugbear of mine. In fact, part of the reason I wanted to tackle this project was so I could face my fears and get to a comfortable place with the colour, I'm not entirely happy with the red here. I really like the purple-shot shadows, but I think the highlights are a hint too yellow...

 

I'll take the model through to completion and then re-assess. I find looking at things midway through is a shortcut to dissatisfaction and spoiling a perfectly good model. 

 

I'm impressed with the model itself, though I was surprised with how flat the sculpt of the face was; very little interesting texture to work with. 

 

Really nice work adding that hood. Looks great.

 

[apologist]

I do so love your Blood Angels, Apologist. They press all the right nostalgia buttons, the paint job is sublime, and the mix of other components with the Primaris models is spot-on. Can't wait to see more!

 

Aw shucks; thanks!

 

 

Whatever you have I'll take, Apologist. If you have the time/motivation, a step-by-step will be much appreciated.

 

+ Deploy 'thumbs-up' mechadendron +

Okay, keep an eye out. Should be fairly simple

 

[bit of WIP]

 

A before and after shot of the pre-highlighting (left) and initial shading (right). I've done this to the next five marines, but this combat squad leader shows this stage nice and clearly.

Edited February 19, 2018 by Apologist

[apologist]

Here's a before and after of the whole combat squad, which shows the effect more strikingly, as it's closer to how the unit will be seen; smaller, at tabletop distance. There's a great deal more pontificating and detail of the technique on Death of a Rubricist here, for anyone who's interested.

 

The cleaner, crisper effect here is appealing visually. The red is warm, the smooth texture is restful. Here, the Blood Angels look like noble figures, straight off the parade ground, or out of a propaganda film. It's nice, but not what I'm after.

 

After the pre-shade is applied, the colour is cooled and muted. Details around the helms, torsos and knees start to pop more, creating areas of interest and complexity. There's more of a sense that the Angels are in battle; picking up a slight griminess without overt damage.

[apologist]

[shameless triple-posting!]

+ The Arcturus Campaign +

 

The invaders of Arcturus – the orks of the Von Kurtz stars – proved to be a resilient and hardy foe; hardly surprising for a force of greenskins and their assorted mercenaries. The dispirited and demoralised Arcturan PDF were capable of holding actions against the invigorated and aggressive foe, but the counter-attack fell to the supporting Naval fleet and, of course, the Blood Angels Third Company.

 

 

 

Contemporary pict-captures show the force's livery. While broadly similar to the Angels' 41st Millennium heraldry, a number of variations can be drawn out. In fact, given the five millennia difference, it is a mark of the Imperium's jealously conservative nature that the forces appear as similarly as they do.

 

The era of the Nova Terra Interregnum was a period of intense self-reflection for many Imperial groups and factions, particularly the military. The Blood Angels remained studiedly neutral, and were careful to remove markings that could be interpreted as pro-Terra or in favour of Nova Terra, instead adopting sigils that venerated the Emperor directly, or spoke of their own heritage and history as steadfast, constant defenders of humanity. Of note at this period is the removal of the chest-mounted Aquila – the double-headed eagles that had been borne by the Astartes at large since the Scouring; as it had become a rallying symbol for Terran loyalists.

 

 

 

The chestplate was commonly left blank, though many amongst the Blood Angels retained similar devices, such as the winged skull of the Imperialis (seen here on the combat squad leader's bannertop), or other winged devices, such as precious gems or grails, as on the sergeant's banner.

 

Keen-eyed observers will also note the archaic uncoloured backpacks. At this period of religious resurgence, it was common for power packs to remain unpainted as a mark of honour to the Machine Spirit of the armour, and to differentiate the human Astartes from their equipment; though this varied hugely from Chapter to Chapter. The Sons of Spectra, for example, painted their power packs in Chapter livery to honour the Spirits as protective penates – a practise that became near-universal after the Moirae Schism.

 

 

The Third Company's activity in the Arcturus Campaign lasted two local months (ca. forty-three standard days) until their immediate strategic goals were met – specifically, the systematic destruction of surface gargant factories – at which point the Third were cycled out and limited reserves from the Sixth and Eighth hosts deployed in support of Legio Madoxes, a Titan Legion that had translated in-system.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the models. Their background is adequately written.

[Dosjetka]

Fantastic modelling, painting, and narrative.

 

Now if only there was a step-by-step guide on how to paint Orks and Gretchin...

Edited February 22, 2018 by Chaplain Dosjetka

[apologist]

Hold that thought; because we have to have orks for that! Just finished building one...

[Brother Lunkhead]

Very fine work I especially like your shading technique. It enhances details very nicely without cluttering. Your narrative is very interesting. I like that a lot too.

[apologist]

Very fine work I especially like your shading technique. It enhances details very nicely without cluttering. Your narrative is very interesting. I like that a lot too.

Thanks for the kind words – hope you like these next bits too!

 

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+ The Muphrid Clearances +

After their actions on Arcturus, the Third Company's next deployment was to support the elements of the First and Fifth companies during their clearance of Muphrid, a binary star system rimwards of Arcturus. Muphrid's swollen primary star, a red-giant, was planetless, though the system's large accretion disc contained numerous habitable, if inhospitable, planetoids.

 

The Order of Solar Ascendant maintained a number of isolated priories and missions here, which had historically been the lynchpin of Imperial defence as ork pirate raids increased in frequency. The Sororitas had successfully launched punitive raids on encroaching greenskins that had made landfall on the many Imperial mining operations, but they were stretched thinly; and their naval support was woefully inadequate. Much to her personal – and far from private – chagrin, Prioress Al-Achsasi was obliged to request help from the wider Imperium.

 

Battle Sisters of the Order of Solar Ascendant

 

The answer came from Master Formosus of the Blood Angels, who notified the Prioress that the a large element of the Blood

Angels fleet would perform an interdiction and extermination campaign to sweep and clear the Muphrid Disc of xenos vessels of cruiserweight displacement or greater. When Al-Achsasi asked for consultation on behalf of the Imperial local command, she was rebuffed with a dismissive explanation that the Astartes required no assistance in this matter. Bristling at this perceived insult, the Prioress and Chapter Master's relationship proved strained throughout the campaign; a matter worsened by the region's close and vocal ties with Nova Terra.

 

It is a mark of humanity's hatred for the xenos that both the fanatical and studiedly neutral were able to put aside their differences to fight the orks – albeit under duress. It was fortunate indeed for the Imperium here that they were able to avoid internecine conflict, as the forces here and on Arcturus proved to merely be the vanguard of a building ork crusade from the smouldering Charadon region.

 

Ork commando of Luggub's infamous Drop Legion.

 

On at least two occasions, the forces of Solar Ascendant and the Blood Angels were required to work together in hulk clearances. While Formosus and Abelard avoided deploying their forces alongside potential heretics, Tycho of the Third followed a more pragmatic path, though communication and inter-reliance between the forces was strained at best.

 

 

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There's some more pontification on the ork sculpt on Death of a Rubricist here.

[Kobrakei]

Well, aren't those Battle Sisters just delightful. Great work as always Apologist!

[apologist]

Ta very much. Bit torn on the paint scheme for the Order of Solar Ascendant, but I guess they’ll be waiting ‘til I can source some backpacks anyway.

 

Plenty to do with the orks and Angels first, anyway

[Chickenleg]

Bring back to life that old school army, yeah!

 

I especially love the golden Blood Angel, both artwork and your representation.

[sarabando]

god i need plastic sisters.

[Nomus Sardauk]

Ta very much. Bit torn on the paint scheme for the Order of Solar Ascendant, but I guess they’ll be waiting ‘til I can source some backpacks anyway.

 

Well given the name "Solar Ascendant" perhaps for the main armour colour, and bare with me now, why not Orange? Maybe paired with white or black robes?

 

Also, as an aside, where did you get/how did you convert such cool Sororitas models? :D

[Grotsmasha]

 

Ta very much. Bit torn on the paint scheme for the Order of Solar Ascendant, but I guess they’ll be waiting ‘til I can source some backpacks anyway.

Well given the name "Solar Ascendant" perhaps for the main armour colour, and bare with me now, why not Orange? Maybe paired with white or black robes?

 

Also, as an aside, where did you get/how did you convert such cool Sororitas models?

 

 

They're Celestine's companions :tu:

[apologist]

Yes, as Grotsmasha says, they're converted from Genevieve and... uh... the other one (Eleanor?). After searching fruitlessly for metal/resin Sisters of Battle backpacks, I ended up using some RTB01 packs to finish them off. In addition to looking the right size, they also add a little classic chic, don't you think?

 

 

Work also progresses with Luggub's Drop Legion. Thrugg's loyal (or at least not that untrustworthy) lieutenant, Hruk, makes an appearance:

 

 

He's based on this model from the RTB02 box:

(Image taken from the Stuff of Legends website).

 

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Not quite an all-conquering horde yet, but doubtless boyz will gather to the banner of these two personalities.

 

 

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...and if you fancy gathering to a banner, I'm extending you an invitation to the Alien Wars.

 

 

+ Would you like to know more? +

Edited March 2, 2018 by Apologist

[Pearson73]

The new Ork's shaping up well, the Alien Wars project is certainly something that'll be holding my interest and perhaps I'll be able to rustle something up to contribute too.

[Naryn]

Excellent work as always, and very much looking forward to the Alien Wars project. I have some ideas percolating I might have to start working on...

[Aqui]

Whilst I love the Marines so far, I have to say the Sisters are :wub: ^_^

[apologist]

@Pearson and @Naryn - Fantastic; looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

@Aqui; cheers! Looks like the weather here is getting warm enough to prime, so I should be able to slap a bit of paint on them soon.

[Dagoth Ur]

Very nice stuff, as usual! I just might whip up a few of my Gigerian Terran Mechanicus for this :)