Nova Terra Interregnum – The Alien Wars

[apologist]

Always a bit tense when you work on greenstuffed models, particularly when you've worked on such an obvious area as the face. Thankfully, my grinning ork seems to have come out looking suitably malevolent:

 

 

As usual, I like to get some variety in skintones in a force; but I want to balance that against speed – I've got a game scheduled against the Crimson Fists of Bob_Hunk in (yikes) three weeks' time – so the solution is to use paint remaining on the palette to slap on the runts. The picture above shows what a difference application can make: the grinning ork on the right and the grot on the left are painted using the same mixes; the only difference is that I use smooth, blended application for the grots, and textural scumbling and feathering for the orks to create the impression of rougher, leathery skin. 

 

+++

 

Besides the orks, I've been cracking on with some more Imperial forces; not least the Blood Angels:

I'd built a couple of marines in Mark VI armour before, but decided that I'd go a little further with the conversion work from here on. As a result, the kitbashing/conversion work was extended to making the shins and knees a single plate (and removing the flared knee tops) and incorporating rimless pads etc.

[Marshal Rohr]

Nailed it! Love the conversion.

[Major_Gilbear]

Fantastic work!

 

I really like the "mk6" Primaris ...And I see you've chopped the M249 too. Nice. ;)

[apologist]

Ta both (and yes – good spot, Major_Gilbear). Today, a brief history of weaponry used during the Nova Terra Interregnum.

 

+ Armaments of the Astartes during the Nova Terra Interregnum +

+ Mark IIIc Godwyn-pattern Boltgun +

By this point in Imperial history, the Godwyn-pattern boltgun has been the Codex standard weapon used by the Astartes. Developed during the Great Crusade, from an STC discovered in what is now the Veiled Region, and prototyped on Saturn following the fall of Mars, large numbers of the first iteration of the Godwyn pattern boltgun (later retroactively dubbed the 'Mark I') were first used by the remnants of the Salamanders Legion prior to the Great Scouring.

 

Following the Guilliman Reforms and adoption of the Codex Astartes by the newly-formed Chapters of the Second Founding, the weapon was refined during the events of the Scouring. The Mark II refinements saw an extended magazine housing (the Mark I had the housing recessed within the casing) to ease reloading, and a incorporated an ejection port, allowing for both traditional uncased and specialist cased ammunition to be used, and to ease the clearance of fouling following misfires.

 

The Mark I and II patterns served alongside one another for a number of centuries, and the weapon was further refined in mid-M33, under the sanction of Mars by Archmagos Dewey-Kain. The Dewey-Kain variant Mark III was a substantially different weapon which benefitted from a number of STC fragments recovered in the years since the Godywn pattern's first creation, and was jointly sanctified by the Ecclesiarchy and Munitorum.

 

+ Mark IIIc Godwyn-pattern Boltgun +

 

The most obvious visual difference between the new weapon and its older counterparts was the extended barrel and casing, which sported a rail intended to allow the fixture of further modular enhancements and alterations. In practise, the longer barrel proved awkward, and the intended benefit of increasing the range of the rounds proved less than fruitful, owing to the nature of the ammunition.

 

By late M33 and early M34, relations between the Munitorum and the Adeptus Mechanicus had deteriorated, resulting in the Astartes Chapters having reduced supplies and shipments. The Chapter forges, already capable of manufacturing and maintaining the small amount of weaponry required by an individual Chapter, took up the slack; with artificers and licensed technomancers refining and adapting the boltgun. By the time of the Nova Terra Interregnum, there were literally hundreds of variants that had found individual solutions to the Dewey-Kain original, most of which were consolidated under the Mark IIIb label.

 

The second century of M34 saw the Imperium in a rare state of broad unity and plenty, and the Mark IIIc was issued, the intention to provide a full replacement across all the Chapters. It was a vain hope; supply lines had degraded since the high point of the Great Crusade, and while the weapon became widespread, it was far from universal.

 

+The Blood Angels, as a favoured First Founding Chapter, were issued the Mark IIIc as a matter of priority. They used the weapon throughout the Nova Terra Interregnum, though a number of the older patterns remained in use as revered relics. + 

 

Visually similar to the Mark IIIa, the support rail was retained on the Mark IIIc, but quietly sidelined – a recognition that the Astartes' autosenses largely rendered it surplus to requirements. A permanent iron sight was instead added to the casing, and numerous internal improvements were added. These included a code lock that meant the weapon could only be used in conjunction with authorised armour transmissions; a second ejection port being fitted, with the weapon automatically transferring to eject away from the firing hand; and an autosanctifying mechanism housed in the stock alongside the cleaning kit, allowing Astartes on extended duties to perform the religious maintenance rituals that had become commonplace following the official deification of the Emperor.

 

The weapon was superseded when the Nova Terra Interregnum broke out, as patchy supply lines became entirely closed. The weapon was thus used fairly extensively by Astartes during the period, but many Chapters continued using the older, shorter, patterns or self-forged variants. The Mark IIIc remains a high point of sophistication for the boltgun, but this refinement and complexity meant it was ultimately a failure, superceded by the now-familiar Mark snub-nosed IV and V in short order.

 

+++

+ Mark Ih Mars-pattern Flame-throwing Gun +

Sturdy, reliable and ancient, the standard-issue flame-throwing gun (increasingly known simply by its common name of 'flamer') remained little altered for millennia, though gradual refinement was introduced occasionally – generally to adapt it for various different atmospheric conditions.

 

Part of the reason for its longevity was its simplicity; but also because numerous identical STCs for the weapon were found early on in the Great Crusade, completely intact and in a number of forms. As a result, very few variants developed traction amongst Imperial armed forces; and the manufacture of these simple weapons saw huge numbers of licenses sanctioned by the various Forge Worlds of the Imperium.

 

+ Sturdy and compact, the Mars-pattern flame-throwing gun saw a number of aesthetic variations – generally in the cowling – but the underlying structure remained largely consistent through the centuries. +

 

Owing to their widespread manufacturing base, the Nova Terra Interregnum saw little disruption in the distribution of these weapons, and both adherents to Terra and secessionists used these flame units extensively.

 

+++

+ Mark II Proteus-pattern Missile Launcher +

An increasingly rare sight in Chapters founded after the Great Scouring, the Proteus-pattern Missile Launcher had largely been replaced by the simpler 'Soundstrike' Chapter Approved model by the time of the Nova Terra Interregnum. It remained in use, however, by many of the First and Second Founding Chapters, and came to symbolise ancient victories. Many were thus used specifically as tools of propaganda and intimidation, their distinctive shape proving readily-recognised by enemies and allies alike.

 

+ Mark II Proteus pattern; shoulder-mounted variant. + 

 

A reliable and efficient weapon, the Proteus saw a number of unusual variants, from the common shoulder-mounted variety to a urban/tunnel-fighting variant intended to be fired from the hip or on the move. Common to virtually all was the distinctive protective cowl on the front and the three-missile magazine; though the placement of the latter varied according to variant.

 

The Proteus pattern itself replaced the awkward Retobi pattern, originally developed on Terra itself.

[Daemon2027]

Ahhh an Apoligist project, awesome as always. The red on the Blood Angels is fantastic. Love the rough riders from a few pages ago.

[Pearson73]

Good work as ever, I'm really enjoying these insights to the Nova Terra setting and the impact on the Astartes and Orks.

[apologist]

Glad to hear it; thanks for the kind words. Daemon2027 it's worth noting that this is an invitational project – everyone should feel free to join in with fleshing out the period :)

 

I got a bit more paint on the orks last night, too. Basing and details to do on the first squad (the squads for the RT-era Battle for the Farm are 5 strong):

 

...and another one pre-greenstuff. I've got to have twenty orks ready by 3rd April. 

The grots are just a bonus; I'll probably use them as wound markers or something for the nobz.

[Dosjetka]

Those Orks look absolutely fantastic. :tu:

Looking forward to tackling my own Orks using your recipe!

[apologist]

Cheers, padre :) I'd be interested to see 'em – will they join the Alien Wars of M34/35?

 

I cracked on with some building last night; putting together the Devastator squad from a mix of Hellblaster/Intercessor kits:

 

As with the rest of the Blood Angels, these are an homage based on the models from WD139; in this case Squad 9, the Mark VI Devastators:

 

The marine with the archaic shoulder-mounted heavy bolter is probably of most interest at this point, so here's a couple of individual shots:

 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Impressive works on the Primaris "Beakies."

[Soldier of Dorn]

It's good to see that shoulder mounted heavy bolter. So very good.

[apologist]

Thanks chaps. Another ork today – Thrugg's right-hand ork and drinking buddy, Hruk:

 

Kev Adam's original sculpt:

 

My interpretation, based on Brian Nelson's updated orks:

 

I'll be updating this when Hruk gets kitted out with his shootas. Being a 'personality', he warrants something a bit special, so I've got vague plans for giving him a space marine boltgun. This fits with the scenario – the invasion of the Crimson Fists' home planet, Rynn's World – and also ties into the original Rogue Trader armament (as orks wielded bolters rather than 'shootas' back then).

 

Of course, just sticking a plastic boltgun on is going to be a bit unimaginative, so I thought I'd run with a bit of Judge Dredd-style sci-fi. Like Dredd's lawgiver, space marine boltguns are sometimes noted to be keyed to the owner's genetic coding or a signal from the bearer's armour, so that they can only be fired by the owner. Hruk will this have to apply some orky-know-wotz and get round this – so I'll have the unfortunate Crimson Fists' gauntlet nailed on and wired in to provide the correct protocols to get it to fire. Whether the hand remains inside will likely remain up to your imagination!

 

There's a more in-depth look at the build here.

[apologist]

More orks on the chopping block. Some extra bits arrived in the post, so I've been able to finish off Hruk. I've made a few tweaks to the positioning and angles of the arms to get them looking more natural, and – of course – added his guns. Originally equipped with a bolter and bolt pistol, this would probably be converted to shoota and slugga these days. I've squared the circle by having him carry his reliable orky sidearm (the chainsaw-bayonetted top loader he's holding up), but enjoying firing his new looted toy – a relic boltgun looted from the Crimson Fists.

 

Some boltguns have gene-locks or armour codes to prevent them being usd by anyone other than the owner (very Judge Dredd), but that's nothing a bit of orky-know-wotz can't fix. Hruk has nailed the gauntleted hand of the unfortunate previous owner to the casing, and got a mekboy to run some wires to the code lock; enabling Hruk to use the weapon.

 

In addition to Hruk himself, there are a couple of new lads. One's reloading his shoota, which involved trimming it down (to reduce the length and bulk) and hollowing out a recess for the magazine. The other's carrying an old Gorkamorka grot weapon, which I think is a more fitting size for these orks.

[Brother Pheidias]

Continues to knock 'em out the park. Can't wait to see the Devastators!

[Naryn]

Love the one with the grot weapon especially, that guy looks mean as :cuss:. Wouldn’t want to mess sith him for sure.

[apologist]

I'm delighted to be able to share an example of the minor xenos encountered by Terran and Secessionist forces during the Nova Terra Interregnum. This example of a Janii was conceptualised, built and painted by K0rdhal (check out his instagram here) as a contribution to the Alien Wars project. 

 

 

You can read more about them here; and if you'd like to join in, have a look here.

 

 

+ Post Script +

In closing, it is my considered opinion that the Janii are an excellent example of how even a technologically advanced and successful species can find itself brought down by tolerance and naïvete in a few short years. 

 

Truly it is said: the rewards of tolerance are treachery and betrayal.

 

I remain, at your service; Inquisitrix Barbari Kills.

[hushrong]

This was an excellent read through! Love all the work you've put into the BA and the greenskins!

[apologist]

This was an excellent read through! Love all the work you've put into the BA and the greenskins!

Ta very much.

 

While the Easter break was lovely, it wasn't very productive. Fortunately, the previous weekend saw me finish building the initial ork force: 

 

Here are some details of the new squads and squad leaders:

Hruk's squad

 

Wortoof's squad

 

Splatta's squad

 

While I haven't got very far, I have got the painting started, too. The bases are finished bar some static grass tufts, and I've started batch-painting the fatigues, boots and weapons – basically everything except the skin:

[Slave to Darkness]

I was trying to do my own Blood Angels based off the old studio force a few years ago but the project stalled, now I dont have to continue with it, I can just look at yours instead. :wub:

 

Just looked at your Orks and I can recognise the 1st ed minis you based them off. This thread just kicked me right in the childhood.

Edited April 8, 2018 by Slave to Darkness

[Chickenleg]

Keep the orks coming! Waaagh!

[Vairocanum]

Nice looking orks! Just read the background info about the Janii in your previous post, really cool stuff!

[apologist]

Thanks all.

 

I was trying to do my own Blood Angels based off the old studio force a few years ago but the project stalled, now I dont have to continue with it, I can just look at yours instead.

Just looked at your Orks and I can recognise the 1st ed minis you based them off. This thread just kicked me right in the childhood.

 

Hooray! I couldn't ask for a better reaction than that – I hope the next few weeks get the nostalgia flowing as well :)

 

+++

 

+ inload: The Charadon Empire +

 

Located in the Ultima Segmentum, the Empire of Charadon today incorporates nearly seven hundred primary ork systems, and with a significant further dominion of slave worlds. The empire sprang up in the wake of the Horus Heresy. Its first leader, the Arch-Arsonist Garslab, was quick to take advantage of the power vacuum left by the withdrawing legions, and the pocket empire quickly began to exert its influence across the spiral arm.

 

 

Today, the Empire is eclectic, established and markedly cosmopolitan; incorporating as it does a substantial permanent population of non-orkoids, including independent humans, abhumans and nearly a dozen other identified xenos species. The orks seem to tolerate – with some ork planetary commanders even encouraging – the presence of raiders, pirates and freedom-seekers in their realms. The existence of such ne'er-do-wells gives the orks of the Empire an unrivalled understanding of other species' strengths and weaknesses, and a ready source of both mercenaries and enemies against which to test themselves.

 

It is a mark of the Empire's longevity that the Tactica Imperium itself makes note of the forces of Charadon, using the military strategies of the forbidding black planet as an example of the perils of underestimating the threat of the orks: it is this Empire's pragmatism that has allowed the Arch-Arsonist and his cronies to prosper so long, and to have grown so powerful as to bring the Imperium of Man to terms on a number of occasions.

 

+ Military forces of the Charadon Empire +

The denizens of the Charadon empire are typical of orks – by which it is meant that the inhabitants are by turns belligerent, aggressive and surprisingly cunning. Unlike humanity, orks show little adaptation from region to region. If one could bear to remove the greenskin's stinking clothing, an ork of Charadon would be all but biologically indistinguishable from one from across the galaxy, which goes some way to demonstrate the sheer resilience of the ork genomic equivalent.

 

With that said, cultural tropes and norms do vary, and ork forces of Charadon are typically armed and armoured in a slightly more uniform fashion than one might expect of less-established ork regions, whose nomadic forces rarely have an established regional identity. This is due almost entirely to the stable supply lines from a string of indentured manufacturing worlds deep in the region. These include the fabled Lost Forges of Zoroaster – a dozen former Forge Worlds that fell to the first Arch-Arsonist over a decade of terrible warfare, and have remained firmly in the Arch-Arsonist's claws to this day. These churn out the murky fatigues and granite-grey armour plate by which the orks of Charadon can be recognised.

 

Typical ork Grenadier squad of the Charadon Empire

 

The clan system here is not absent or suppressed – indeed, a number of worlds within the Empire are vibrant examples of ork Kultur – but it is not a mineral-wealthy region, which in turn means that dyes, paints and other materials are relatively hard to come by. This is no hardship to the orks – after all, it provide the perfect reason to continue raiding each other, and to launch occasional large-scale fleet assaults that the orks call 'World-burnas' on fringe worlds in the reaches. Such attacks are launched by ambitious warbosses (sub-commanders) on their own initiative, but the most terrible are those made by order of the Arch-Arsonist himself, as such fleets are drawn from all across his Empire, and rival the Naval fleets of the Sector in number and mass-displacement. 

 

The armies of the Arch-Arsonist show the usual range of ork technology and tactics, ranging from light infantry forces supported by war buggies to specialised artillery and air units. The warboss Brug Wellshod's Iron Stompers are a good example of such specialism; being a force made up entirely of siege dreadnoughts and power-armoured support. Given the provenance of much of their equipment, it is perhaps not surprising that the orks of Charadon demonstrate a greater-than-usual proportion of vehicles recognisable as adapted STC designs; and most of the Arch-Arsonist's military forces will include weaponry and materiel that would be broadly recognisable to Imperial commanders, ranging from Rapier light weapon platforms to Bullock jet-cycles. This corruption of the Machine God's will, along with the loss of the forges of Zoroaster, has earned the Empire the eternal opprobrium of the Adeptus Mechanicus, who continually petition local Imperial Commanders, mercenaries and Astartes commands to launch counter-raids to recover precious knowledge from these lost worlds. 

 

+++

+ Charadon in the Alien Wars +

By the time of the Alien Wars, the Charadon Empire had become the longest-standing and most stable orkoid region in the galaxy, and the current Arch-Arsonist – by now an inherited title – a significant concern in galactic politics. Prior to taking the mantle of Arch-Arsonist himself, Zogblad the Belligerent had been a powerful lieutenant who helped his predecessor into the ork afterlife by 'accidentally' nudging the previous incumbent into the voracious maw of one of the Seismic Proto-dragons of Kor Luft.

 

Ruling from the black granite throne of the principal world from which the empire takes its name, the arch-arsonist now broods on the best course of action to take as his minions bring news of retreating Imperial forces all across the galaxy...

 

+++

 

+ Painting +

A productive weekend's work has seen me get the fatigues and weapons base-coated across the four squads, and to complete the skin on them all – a very satisfying stage. As noted elsewhere, I've taken pains to make sure they've each got a different skintone, by using unique combinations of paint mixes and washes. I'll have to be careful when adding further refinement, as I've no chance of remembering a particular mix!

 

More of da ladz

 

All that remains is to work back over each model in turn, picking out details, filling in gaps (straps and pouches in particular), and adding details like the Drop Legion logo and warpaint to suitable areas. I hope to have that done by the end of the week; then it's on to finishing off the terrain for the game.

 

Thrugg Bullneck and his squad leaders

 

What's next? Well, I'm still enjoying painting orks, so I might well paint up a few gretchin and a dreadnought – if I can do that, I'll be able to recreate the 2nd edition ork force, as well as the Rogue Trader army, which'd be a fun additional project. That'll bring things back round to the Blood Angels, who have received some exciting reinforcement from my friends in the PCRC...

[Trixie]

Amazing thread, just went through it all in one go. I will be in the minority here but my favourite bit was catching sight of Thrugg Bullneck again. Also the little touches on the Leman Russ tanks were great.

[Bob Hunk]

I can't give these Orks enough 'Likes'!  I especially love the details; everyone is a rag-tag individual yet the unit looks whole, and the variation in skin tones just add the the realism.  These will be a treat to face on the table-top! 

[Marshal Rohr]

The OrK-47's are really starting to grow on me. They fit really well, don't distract from the models, and fit the ramshackle but functional appearance of the rest of your weapon selections. You might've mentioned it earlier, but do you think you will take on an attempt at the old Ork Power Armor models, instead of the Mega-Armor variety?