Astral Knights - Back and ready for more -W.I.P-

[Lustrati]

Introduction

 

hey there, I am Lustrati and this is well the start of modeling part of my 40k life.

 

So starting out, finally decided to start collecting miniatures thanks to Robute who decided we needed proper sized marines, who needs chaos gods tempting you when a Primarch does it better, (I will point out that I have bought a lot of books, read a lot of articles online, never actually bought/painted a 40k model in my life) . So trying to pick a chapter and after a lot of back and forth settled on the Astral Knights, since i just loved their fluff.

 

Here was a chapter that went all ultra but realized they did not have canon armor and got wiped out leaving 30 Astartes, an unknown number of neophytes and one very old and grumpy dreadnought behind. Everyone else decided that it was impossible for Astral Knights to rebuild, christened a new chapter, said new chapter rocked up to the Astral knights Fortress Monastery and basically told them get out (I am paraphrasing here, but read between the lines of what was actually said and yeah).

 

So where did I choose to pick up from, around about when Robute was running around giving away Primaris samples like a door to door salesman, just what a broken chapter who had been told it was impossible to rebuild needs to get back on their feet while screaming "impossible eh? well you better find another Necron world engine for us to impossibly blow up".

 

(Side note, I have written up the fluff to go with this army although it is in pen and paper form atm as I did it at work. I will add it later)

 

Anywho rant over, got my Dark Imperium boxed set today   sadly it had mis-matched sprews   (got 3 death guard character sprews and in payment did not get 2 of my primaris sprews) thankfully GW CS was quick to respond and after sending pictures they are sending me a whole new box . So since I now have test models to spare decided to try out the Astral Knights color scheme and experiment with some normal astarte pieces i got at the same time to see what would fit and what would require some modeling work.

 

Backstory/Fluff

 

below is I guess you could say the first chapter of what the Astral knights did after the glorious and disastrous battle of the World Engine

 

Duties End

"Take a ship from here and ply the stars as the Astral Knights once did, before they set down roots in stone and iron. Fight on in the Emperor's name until you can fight no more, and when that day comes, know that in death your duty has ended." -Captain Daegan 1st Company Sable Swords

Thades thoughts went back and forth, anger, sorrow, all these emotions whirled within although anyone looking would not notice as all they would see is his massive dreadnought frame. The last Month had been the most chaotic period of a disastrous year, first the Astral Knights sacrificed themselves to stop a Necron World Engine which resulted in the task forces 7 companies getting destroyed with a reported no survivors.

 

Then to add insult to injury, how did the surviving members on their homeworld find out? by a whole new chapter coming into their fortress monastery and telling them the were claiming stewardship of their world. Thades anger rose as he recounted that moment, not only had he found out many of his brothers were dead but at the same time was told that their chapter was dead and abandoned.

 

"Sable Swords, so young they probably don't even know stock from the barrel on their boltguns", Thades thoughts were interrupted by a a quiet sound. He concentrated his senses until the Dreadnoughts autosenses came into focus and he could see who else was here.

 

Standing not far of was a silhouette of a Terminator, "that's right I have an Honor Guard now, is there something you need brother Erethal" Erethal was a Veteran of the 1st Company, he had been forced to stay behind due to an injury he had sustained losing his right arm and having a bionic one in its place. A humble man, he was a stark difference to the rest of his chapter who had a noble arrogance, something Thade was forced to concede was probably a deciding factor in their current predicament.

 

"Forgive me Chapter Master, but while I agree the Sable Swords are an inexperienced chapter, there is not much we can do as we number less than 50 altogether of which less than 10 are battle experienced'

 

A sound argument, logical and thought out, Thade looked at the veteran, standing tall in his Cataphractii armor, Thade allowed himself a moment of satisfaction. Before leaving he had ordered that the Astral Knights armory be raided and the oldest most important gear and relics taken, of course the Sable Swords had no idea and he wondered if they would even have the acumen to figure it out.

 

"That may be true brother, but remember 10 battle hardened Astartes can turn events of whole wars in the right place at the right time" at least that is what he wanted to believe, the truth was he was not sure what they should do. It was not in the Astral Knights character to give up and accept a situation, they were scions of Rogal Dorn and had his stubbornness, that was always considered a part of his geneseed, was a part of them.

 

"I now know how our brothers in the Crimson Fists must have felt when their chapter was all but destroyed, we have been told to go and fight until our last breath but what would that achieve, the complete destruction of another chapter which the Imperium can ill-afford"

 

But what else could they do, they had no homeworld, no support and most of their geneseed had been left rotting on a broken Necron Weapon. Despite his pride he knew he was no chapter master, if the chapter had a future he would have recommended Erethal, his demeanor was different from the Knights in the past and he felt it would be a necessary change if they were not to repeat past mistakes.

 

"If I may may lord" Thades concentration was brought back to the now "go ahead Erethal, you know you can speak" the emperor knows how many times he told him that.

 

"Maybe we should look to the Crimson Fists tale as an example, it may be impossible but that has never stopped us before, we could slowly rebuild our chapter, only fight in battles which our presence and sacrifice could achieve a tangible result, we have Apothecaries, Techmarines and Chaplains to help us do so".

 

Thade thought it out, it was not impossible but highly unlikely and beyond difficult but that thought rallied him, yes this is what we would do, not go out with barely a spark but fight to continue. It would take time but for someone like him who had fought for nearly 8 millennia what was another few centuries.

 

He started planning it out, realizing that he felt more alive now than he had in a long time, there was an insurmountable challenge ahead almost impossible and what son of Dorn would not relish such a challenge. Things had to change they had been to arrogant and headstrong but their current predicament would temper that.

 

"You are right Erethal, we will not just do as we have been told we will rebuild, inform the captain to change destination we will first go to where our brothers died to pay homage" Erethal moved to enact his command, Thade noted that Erethal had a lighter step as if life had be breathed into him as well.

 

"Yes we will rebuild, the Sable Swords can have our old world, we will find a new one in time and when we have rebuilt we will once again take our spot in the front lines" Thade let his mind drift away there was much to do and he needed to think.

 

 

I am hoping that within the next 2 weeks I can model and paint a full squad, if not 2 although that might be pushing it. But I will certainly give it a go, but saying that I have to say bought a Tactical Squad at the same time and these guys just can not compete looks wise. Thinking about using primaris marines as a base to build Tactical, Assault and Devastator marines. Thankfully I have a lot of test models now to see what I would need to do.

Edited August 23, 2017 by Lustrati

[Fenbain]

Looking good, keen to see how this progresses :-) I'm currently building Artor Amhrad, and it's nice to see someone taking the Chapter into the 42nd millenium.

[Lustrati]

Looking good, keen to see how this progresses :-) I'm currently building Artor Amhrad, and it's nice to see someone taking the Chapter into the 42nd millenium.

 

had an idea for a unit that pays homage to Artor Amrad called the Amhrad Knights, using the Company Veterans data slate as they can essentially dual wield power axes (although I am tossing up between 2 axes or an axe and storm shield) using the FW Phalanx Warders axes and shoulder pads (they have dual axes on them).

[Lustrati]

I have finished (except for the base, I do not even know where to start) the Test Marine, happy with it for the most part, I can not do free hand at all but thankfully shapeways has what I need so that should not be a problem in the future.

 

http://i.imgur.com/uRZ0mjh.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/GiD2PwO.jpg

 

I have also finished cleaning all the normal marines I have left (not a lot really) so I will hopefully have a squad up in the next 48 hours.

Edited August 30, 2017 by Lustrati

[Fenbain]

Looks great and that Amhrad Knights idea is a good one :-) Swap out the helmets as well, for something suitably knightly?

[Lustrati]

Looks great and that Amhrad Knights idea is a good one :-) Swap out the helmets as well, for something suitably knightly?

 

I was thinking the FW Imperial Fist Templar heads (as far as i have seen you're not a real fist unless you are BT) should look suitably knightly and help them stand out in the army.

[Lustrati]

So I decided since I have a whole new box coming to perform basic surgery, my orc doc teacher would be so proud (insert I butchered the models), and see how other suit parts work with the mk 10 tac armor.

 

http://i.imgur.com/oPCQn8X.jpg

 

In this pic, i have added parts from MK III, IV and VII armor for the most part they work quite well and I assume it would be a lot easier with the multi-part Intercessor kit.

 

However the legs and torso parts (looking at the sprues in the Intercessor kit I think I can figure something out) more the legs are beyond my current ability, there is just to much difference between the 2. Although i will have a close look once I get my Intercessor Squad later this week.

Edited August 30, 2017 by Lustrati

[MikhalLeNoir]

I dig your colorscheme. Very nice and clean.

[Lustrati]

I dig your colorscheme. Very nice and clean.

 

Thanks, one thing about the Astral Knights though is there really is no concrete color schemes the old ones had more blue the current ones apparently had white in their scheme (apparently only on the right shoulder pad insert) so it was kind of try and pic one I would be happy with. One thing I hated on the latest iteration which discovered while painting was that there was way to much silver, so I added a bit of gold.

 

(edit)

 

I forgot about the Assault Marine I made last night as well

 

http://i.imgur.com/eK02qjl.jpg

 

not to sure on this one, while the jump pack still looks proportionate to the size I feel there is too much bulk/armor on the model, might have to find another medium for the assault marines

Edited August 30, 2017 by Lustrati

[Custom Hero]

If you can get your hands on one of the Sanguinary Guard packs, that may be the size and siloquette your looking for.

[Lustrati]

If you can get your hands on one of the Sanguinary Guard packs, that may be the size and siloquette your looking for.

 

That is a good idea, I also thought about using Reivers as a base but yeah, need to get my hands on a box. Either way I will put that off for now and concentrate on the Tactical Squads.

[Lustrati]

progressing on the 5 built marines, the 2nd is done except for a few minor details, tried something different on his shoulder pads as what few pics of the Astral Knights the blue trim appears metallic so I thought I would try to make his appear more metallic. Need a bit more work and practice at it though. The Sarg has had a bit of a makeover with the addition of white and a crest.

 

http://i.imgur.com/G2RbZnA.jpg

 

I really like this models pose for some reason, almost reminds me of some of the artwork I have seen.

Edited August 30, 2017 by Lustrati

[Magos Kasen]

Nice work, I like the use of the MkIII parts, might have to copy that.

[Lustrati]

Nice work, I like the use of the MkIII parts, might have to copy that.

 

To be fair, I think I saw it around somewhere, but it was mostly head swaps, I agree though the Mk III parts in general really fit in with the overall feel the the Mk X armor even more than the Mk IV gear, at least IMHO.

 

Kind of wish i had ordered some MK II parts as well but that will be for the future, along with legion era heavy weapons and what not. These will be ordered together along with the parts for the Amhrad Knights I plan on making. probably next month

[Lustrati]

Come home from work and my four days off and my 2 primaris intercessors have arrived. While looking and comparing old stumpies to new mari marines to see if I could do anything with the chestplates/legs, which by the way is not really possible without significant effort put in something which I can understand for chars etc but I do not want to do it for multiple marines).

 

I came up with the thought of, the legs are separate as are the actual chest pieces.... why can I see GW releasing sprues with the old marks in them to easily convert any MK X suit to an older suit, they would sell and since every one of the guys in the box are the same (not just one or 2 but all models that are on the sprue this way) it would not surprise me to see this in the future.

 

 

back onto subject, I will know start to put together and clean these guys and can now start towards my goal, 2 Tactical Squads, Lieutenant and Apothecary by months end, although I have a few ideas for the Lieutenant.

Edited August 30, 2017 by Lustrati

[Lustrati]

Thanks to work throwing curveballs at me I did not have the time I thought and only managed to get a little bit down. But i felt I should put something up so here is a in-progress of 5 marines I have finished on the bodies and started on the arms and extras. Hopefully next week calms down and I will have actual time to get stuff done.

 

http://i.imgur.com/loU8U8L.jpg

 

I have also ordered the bases, although it could take more than 2 weeks, they have a Necron feel to them which I feels works well as the Necrons are one enemy the Astral Knights would go out of their way to fight.

Edited August 30, 2017 by Lustrati

[Lustrati]

sarg done, still waiting for squad/chapter badges from shapeways (tried and just reinforced that I can not do freehand at all) and also waiting on the bases I ordered. Now just to finish up the rest of Tac squad II.

 

 

[Lustrati]

Been a while, and my painting time has been cut severely, managed to get a couple done, well 1 pretty much with 2 more needing symbols etc so here is the tactical marine from squad 3. hope to have the remaining 4 finished in the next 4-5 days as well as the contemptor dreadnought finished.