In the Ashes of the Thorns: The Astral Claws

[Soldier of Dorn]

In the Ashes of the Thorns

And who are you, the Tyrant said, that I should bend the knee
Twelve high Lords on a far-off world, ‘tis all that I can see
By a gilded seal, or a silver’d one, a Lion has his Claws
And mine are cruel and sharp, my Lords, more cruel and sharp than yours.

A

nd so it came to pass, that in the 903^rd year of the 41^st millennium, a century before the Imperium would be shaken to its core and everything forever changed, Lugft Huron, Lord of Thorns, Chapter Master of the Astral Claws, and self-proclaimed Tyrant of Badab, did declare "just seccession" from the Imperium and, in so doing, ignite what was then the greatest conflict of our age. Alas, such was not to be, and if we could have seen what was yet to come within the next, darkest millennium, we might have counted ourselves lucky to be spared the horrors that came after Badab. Brother fought brother in a decade long war that saw seventeen warrior-brotherhoods of the Adeptus Astartes clash against each other in open conflict. Billions died and entire Chapters of Space Marine were condemned to crusades of Penitence, and even now, considering the horrors they would have to confront before that term was ended, it is impossible to say whether or not they survived.

The war was brutal and bloody, with countless tales of equal parts valor and dishonor. These stories are too numerous to be told in full here. But even among every engagement throughout the war -- the Fires of Sacristan, the Angstrom Incident, Crow's World, and numerous others -- there is one that stands head and shoulders above the rest by the sheer measure of its violence and the gravity of its consequence. I speak, of course, of the final battle, the Siege that ended the War. I speak of the moments after the Tyrant found himself to stand alone among his manse in defiance of the Imperium of a Million Worlds upon his shadowed Throneworld. I speak of the Siege of Badab Primaris, and the Fall of the Palace of Thorns, when Lugft Huron, the Lion of Badab, died, his Claws with him, and something terrifying and black-hearted born into his place.

Badab Primaris

913.M41

Long and hard had been the war, and many had already died among the Chapter. Yet more would die before the end. The smoke rising from the south meant that Surraek’s force had encountered the enemy. Most likely he and his charge of the Chapter now numbered among the honored dead, if the reports of the ferocity of the Carcharadon Astra were to be believed.

Bashar Reyne glowered at this realization. This meant that unless the unlikely happened and they were reinforced, or the impossible happened and Surraek had actually survived the assault, he was the ranking officer in this sector. Turning away from the spiked parapet he stood at, he faced his command. Two depleted Tactical Squads lay at his disposal, his own and Cinnebre’s. Not enough. Not nearly enough, he thought. The Sharks had been reaping across Badab for days now, leaving a red wake behind, and they would be here in a matter of hours. The Claws would die here, he knew. There was no escape. Not now. Perhaps years ago, in the early days of the war, there might have been the possibility. But after ten years of fighting those loyal to the High Lords, ten years, brutal and bloody and restless, there was no return. The die had been cast and nought would change the number it showed upon its upward facing, save for the sweet release of death. So here the Astral Claws would make their final stand – upon the surface of their home – and so here they would die, but not before they reaped a terrible price from their attackers.

A feeling came over Bashar Reyne then. Throughout the brutal centuries of his life, from the day he was first chosen to be a Neophyte of the chapter, through his days as a Marine of the Line in Tactical Squad Kherradan, through Veterancy and through his days serving first as a Sergeant, and later the honor of Veteran Sergeant, it was a feeling he had never known throughout war and strife.

Peace.

Reyne very nearly smiled at this realization, that he had accepted his final fate, but outwardly the grimace upon his face may well have been chiseled from stone from all it showed. A careful observer might have noted a slight shift in his eyes with this thought, but been unable to recognize it. Such a thing requires context, after all, and Bashar Reyne was not a Space Marine known for levity, but rather harshness and ill-compromise.

To his men, only one thing he had to say before the end.

“Die well.”

It was a promise, as much it was an order.

As the lights of hive spires began to go out as a wave approaching, heralding the arrival of some great cthonian marine predator, and a deathly silence began to replace the sounds of gunfire in the distance, Bashar Reyne ignited his power maul and awaited his end.

Requiescat in Pace

Veteran Sergeant Bashar Reyne of the Astral Claws

Depicted as he was after taking overall battlefield command after the death of Tyrant's Centurion Surraek, Badab Primaris <urban combat//Zone Mortalis>, 913.M41.

Confirmed KIA. Body found dismembered.

Edited October 28, 2017 by Soldier of Dorn

[Dagoth Ur]

 

Subbed, looks already great!

[AGenericSalamander]

Looks awesome! Time to build some Carchadons to oppose them...

[Grand Master Aldric]

Oh yesh, glorious rebels in silver, this'll be fun.

"The Strong are strongest alone"

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

 

Also, why you do this? Making me want to work on my own Claws again. 

[Son of Carnelian]

Can't wait!

[hushrong]

Incoming Transmission: Encrypted File:

 

Really looking forward to this!

[Pearson73]

Nice writing brother, looking forward to see where this project goes.

[Vazzy]

Exciting stuff brother, looking forward to seeing how this pans out! Only thing I will say is that the leading arm seems a bit long, or perhaps the hand is out of proportion. It's not a big thing, and the overall composition is stellar, I just thought I might mention it. If it doesn't bother you though, please ignore me!

Edited October 24, 2017 by Vazzy

[Reyner]

Awesome! And it's always nice to see that awesome piece of artwork, for the Tyrant! 

[No Foes Remain]

Yay, more Astral Claws. As Palpatine once said: I shall be watching your progress with great interest.

[Kennyjapan]

Great conversion of rains of castamere! (I suppose the Bashar Reyne looks awesome too )

 

subbed

[Soldier of Dorn]

And so it begins.

It might surprise some people to see me doing a non-Heresy army. After all, I can't remember the last time I did a project not set in 30k. I'd hardly expect anyone else to. However, there are a few things that have caused me to start a 40k project, and I suppose I can run through some of those reasons here.

First and, perhaps most obvious, is 8th edition. Now, I don't confess to being a fan of the system -- far from it -- but nevertheless, it is the new standard, and most importantly to my situation, 30k is no longer compatible, and though I am perfectly capable of using miniatures from my Legion force as an army in 8th, reorganizing them to suit the strictures of the Codex (as I have done before) it feels... inherently wrong. More so wrong then simply playing a 40k army with a 30k force did in 7th. So I needed another army, something properly embedded in 40k. So next question: what faction?

It was always going to be Space Marines. No other faction in Citadel's range quite has the same attraction for me, nor the capacity for simple kitbashes, that Space Marines do. Humanity's chosen warriors, made into an army of angels: mighty enough in force that they might retake Eden. Also, I've got a literal ass-ton of them already, most of which aren't getting put to use, so might as well.

I've wanted a Badab War Chapter for a while now. It's not an uncommon desire. After all, for many years, Badab occupied a similar position in the hobby to that which the Heresy does now, and there's still an element of nostalgia and desire associated with building up one of those Chapters.

Many months of internal reflection at the back of my mind on which Chapter I would do later, I finally settled on the Astral Claws. I can't say I'm especially capable to articulate my reasons for choosing them over the others, but there's something to them, a tragedy. They're victims of circumstance -- still not altogether free from the culpability of their damnation, but it's not entirely their fault, either... There's a beauty in that. There's other things that drew me to them, of course -- they have a beautiful color scheme, and I'm eager to get a small force painted on account of that -- but I feel that's most likely the primary cause.

This won't be a fast project. Those of you who know me know that I'm not a quick worker, especially where paint is concerned. So it'll be a slow burn, but I want to keep a consistent goal in mind. With that said, I've created a small list of units I want to include and get finished. (Which was meant to be posted here but I see that it's been lost. I'll get it up tomorrow.)

In any regard, as I would feel remiss to post something without some form of update, here's a rough PIP of Bashar Reyne, who will act as my Lieutenant in the army. There's a reason I tend not to ever post PIP updates, and that's simply because they never look good to my eyes. I fully realize that I'm not the best painter in the world, but I try to hold myself to some consistent standards. The roughness and the blockiness doesn't stand well against that standard. Add that to the fact that it's been some months since I last painted, and I'm having some difficulty getting my paint thinned to the right consistency. But it's coming alright. Got the colors blocked out about where I want them. Just need to get back into old habits.

I've also got a couple of the Tactical Marines under construction. The assembly process will probably conclude in a couple days, but for now they're not ready for posting. I am very excited to share them with all of you once they're finished.

Edited October 25, 2017 by Soldier of Dorn

[Soldier of Dorn]

It appears that I posted the above post before I finished actually composing my thoughts, and I apologise for that. The edit should actually have a picture now.

 

In any regard, replies! I honestly can't say that I expected this... enthusiastic a level of support for this little project of mine. Thank you, I appreciate every response.

 

Observer: Thank you, brother! Always good to hear the approval of someone who I consider one of the best hobbyists currently posting on this forum.

AGenericSalamander: Sal! Nice to see you here! Looking forward to being able to play when that happens.

blood hounds: Indeed, man. Thanks for the comment!

Kage: That's honestly the best thing I could hear, that I'm providing some inspiration and driving someone to work on their own projects. Would be great to see you working on them again!

Carnelian: You don't have to ;)

hushrong: ... facepalm.  That's great. Always appreciate a good meme.

Pearson73: Thank you!

Vazzy: Yeah, I was thinking something similar. Ultimately, though, I decided that I don't mind the little idiosyncrasies of the model. Overall, I like the composition of the model, and I don't want to risk damaging that. Thanks, though. Always good to have those things called out!

Reyner: Thank you! Yeah, it's one of my favorites. Karl Kopinski is a legend.

Ventris: I will aim to satisfy. For the Tyrant, brother.

kenny: Y'know, it surprises me that no one called me out on that earlier. I find that the song is incredibly appropriate for the story of Huron's fall, or at least that first verse. Great to have an inspirational song like that.

 

 

 

 

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Sounds like some of the same reasons why I'd wanted to do ACs for so long - a non-heretical paint scheme in silver and the fact they were doing exactly what marines are made to do, but the problem was the Imperium shipped them out to some backwater system and told them to hold it, then promptly forgot about them. The tragedy is that initially Huron believed he was doing everything he could to protect the system the Claws and the other chapters were charged with safeguarding but his hubris turned him from protector to tyrant. 

[hushrong]

I am sorry. I just had to sneak that in there. Especially after seeing the Tyrant's version of the the Rains of Castamere. Like you said, that part of the song you have is so perfect for the Astral Claws and one reason why I really liked them. I want to say I have tried three times to make an AC army now and it always is inspired by the fluff about them, their beliefs, and their secession. Plus they have a great paint scheme.

 

Reyne is looking good as he gets in his proud colors and I look forward to seeing more of the ranks!

Edited October 25, 2017 by hushrong

[Soldier of Dorn]

Requiescat in pace.

In the name of the Tyrant, we fight unto our deaths.

The only honor that remains.

Veteran Sergeant Bashar Reyne of the Astral Claws

Legion Tactical Cohort Reyne, Squad Primus.

Died at the hands of the Carcharadon Astra.

***

Finished painting Sergeant Reyne a couple nights ago, haven't had a chance to upload. I have to say, though, I am absolutely enjoying painting the scheme. Just something about it... it's lovely to put to plastic. Also, used Retributor Gold for what is effectively the first time. Beautiful paint to work with. Just lovely. Undoubtedly the best metallic that GW's put out in years.

Don't have WIPs of the Tactical Marines like I had promised, and that's my fault -- haven't had a chance to work on them over the past couple days -- but I would like to expound upon my plans for this force. As I've said before, it's probably going to be a slow burn, but I also intend to work with a bit more direction and actually get stuff done now. So to start off with we've got a Lieutenant (whom Bashar Reyne will count as) and then a 5 man Tactical squad led by a power fist sergeant and a meltagun. After that will likely be filling out the rest of the squad and then possibly some Terminators? I really like Terminators, so they're definitely getting included at some point. After that... we'll see. I'd like to play around with some of the stuff that's kept from 30k, as that's what I'm used to and I want to change things up, so I'll look into my options there.

Anyways, yeah. There's that done.

Replies!

BCK: Indeed, the tragedy of their fall is probably the most compelling part. To be honest, it's probably one of the more realistic scenarios in 40k: the Claws genuinely believed that they were wronged, and that belief led them slowly into damnation, a story that plays out in history with some regularity. There's no right side to begin with, and I think that's a large part of why they fascinate me. As much as I like the Heresy, the treachery in the published works seems to me much more... cartoonish, I suppose, in its moral shifts. There's not much grey area in the arcs of the major Traitor characters. And while there have been newer elements to the story that introduce more shades of grey -- Barthusa Narek springs to mind -- that quality of the series persists.

hushrong: Yeah, Castamere. I've actually had that written out for a while, and only just had opportunity to use it. The upstart lord rebelling against his masters... The Claws got great narrative themes to them, certainly. Think I've mentioned several throughout the short course of this thread, and why they appeal to me. And yeah, the paint scheme is great! Hope that you come back to the Tyrant's fold at some point -- definitely one of the more interesting chapters, IMHO.

[Dagoth Ur]

Reall, really awesome mate! Can't wait to see what else you have in store :)

[Vazzy]

Agree with Observer! Looking forward to see what you have in store!

[Soldier of Dorn]

Ortell Cinnebre lay broken, his silvered and blue plate battered and broken by the furious assault of the enemy, his sword blunted and his plasma pistol burnt out, a proud Claw of the Tyrant humbled. His squad was dead, his brothers missing. He had no idea what had happened to Veteran Sergeant Reyne, the de facto commander of their small force of Astral Claws, after the loss of Centurion Surraek.

Cinnebre was young for a Space Marine, much less an officer, but the Tyrant’s accelerated recruitment among the Chapter had seen it made necessary an increased pace among those who might rise through the ranks. Thus, had he naturally deferred command to Reyne when the time came, the young sergeant feeling unworthy of the task in contrast to the grizzled veteran, a Knight of the Tyrant truly worthy of respect.

They were all dead, or soon would be. Their lives had been bought in blood, but this was the end. Broken and bleeding out on the walls of Badab.

But not yet.

The Sharks circled around him, as their namesake of old. Their deathly silence, after the chaos of battle, was broken intermittently by mutterings of High Gothic. In the turmoil of the Claw’s final stand, Cinnebre’s eardrums had been destroyed, and so he heard very little of what was said.

Sacer. Accursed. Interfector. Killer. Infamia. Dishonored.

Traitoris.

Traitors.

We were no traitors, Cinnebre thought. We were loyal to our Tyrant to the end.

This thought was his comfort, and kept him even as the light abandoned him and he succumbed to dark finality.

Requiescat in pace.

Tactical Sergeant Ortell Cinnebre of the Astral Claws

Found crucified from a street post, the legend "sic semper traitoris" carved into his breast.

Badab War, 913.M41

***

Thanks, Vazzy and Obs! Hopefully this meager offering suffices. Had the kitbash around for a while, didn't really feel like he suited any particular chapter up until now, so decided "why not paint him as an Astral Claw" and quickly painted him up last night. Quite happy with how he came out. He'll replace the power fist sergeant in my list, methinks. Aesthetically the loadout pleases me and I rather prioritize appearance over tactical practicality (which probably has something to do with why my W/L ratio is so poor, if we are to be honest ) But that does make two models painted in as many weeks, which (somewhat sadly) is pretty good pacing for me.

Thanks to everyone who's checking my stuff out! Always appreciate the support this community gives, even if I'm not as active as i used to be.

[Dagoth Ur]

Already seen him on Instagram, but I have to say, that is one sleek kitbash! :)

[Dosjetka]

Two models in as many weeks is a good pace, mate. You just have to keep it up now. :tu:

[hushrong]

Ortell is sweet! Awesome use of that anniversay mini in making him.

I must say I love the silver you have going on with your Claws and I gotta give you praise for free handing the emblems!

[Vairocanum]

Nice kitbash and paint job! Really liking the fluff you've written for the models so far!

[No Foes Remain]

The awesomeness of the content vastly makes up for the slow updates, and the fact that they are the Astral Claws just makes it even better.

 

I do love that kitbash, very nicely done.