Skull Bearers

[Doghouse]

I've taken quite a break recently (five months?) to work on rebuilding myself and I think I had become a bit disallusioned with the hobby in general after thirty odd years. It's been ages since I even looked at anything wargaming related let alone pick up a paint brush or try converting anything. But if I am to be honest with myself I've missed the creative outlet and although physically I am in a much better place now I started to take life a bit too seriously.

 

So here I am once again after stumbling across some bits stored away. I genuinely don't think that by todays standards my stuff is that great anymore, but in some respects that is nice because there is less pressure for me. It's always been a case of pushing to the next idea before finishing the last because I wanted express and share all the ideas I had and as a result I lost focus. So here we go I guess?

 

One unfortunate issue though has arisen that nearly made me throw in the towel right away was that as I was away the hosting site I had used for years has gone so I never had a chance to download any of it. What this means is the vast majority of all my work over the last couple of decades has gone. I never kept backups and my photobucket account has corrupted or something when I tried to log in so everything is gone.

To say this sucks is an understatement...

 

But it is what it is at the end of the day and pretty much beyond my control so not going to get upset or worry. I'm not going to make any hard promises on this project because I spend a lot of free time working out these days, it's more an outlet for me for now but I will try and update as regualr as possible and not get side tracked.

 

I have come around to the idea of Primaris now that the army has become a bit more fleshed out and I really like the new Codex. I think it was a bit of a shock when everything got shook up but I am growing to appreciate them a lot more now.

 

My plan is simple, one HQ and two Troops units. Nothing flash, nothing ground breaking, just something to get me back into the swing of things.

 

I've decided on taking up my old Skull Bearers project. I've had a look through the new codex and have opted for what I personally would find interesting to play with if I get that far. I'm going for a Successor chapter and will be using Bolter Fusilades and Rapid Assault with the Captain and all Intercessors using the auto-bolter.

Yeah I know it's not Iron Hands level of competition but the idea of these guys just storming it up the board firing tons of boiter rounds really, really, really appeals to me. Although I am not going to force new lore onto this established Chapter I want the auto-bolter to be symbolic with the thrid company so anyone that can access one will..

 

I'm going with the Skull Bearers because the paint scheme is quite simple and I can use lots of transfers for a nice uniform look. Also nothing says 40k to me more than a bucketload of skulls...

 

Here is the WIP Captain Arden Thrace, commanding the third company. He's an upgraded Astarte, he basically dove head first at the opportunity to become a bigger better killing machine with no hesitation.

I still need to get to grips with painting again but he's getting there, still need to drill out the bolter and add some nuln oil washes over the metal areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Torbenos]

I really like the look of the Captain. The yellow is crisp and nice, such a hard colour to do and I really like the extra adornments you have added. I tend to enjoy when people allow Space Marines to embrace the brutal and dark side despite being the "good guys" and the skulls do that nicely. Reminds me of the awesome artwork they used for Sternguard Veterans some edition ago.

 

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/f/fe/Imperial_Fists_Sternguard.jpg

 

Keep up the good work!

[Son of Carnelian]

Good to see you back, Doghouse!

[Brother Cambrius]

Oh man great to see you again Doghouse! Your CSK(OD) always hold a very special place in my hobby heart.

 

And I think this is the first time I have seen the descendants of the Executioners in plastic form, thry are looking very nice indeed. It's a good thing that GW released that Skull set earlier this year for adornments aplenty.

 

Can't wait to see more!

 

Cambrius

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

The model looks great!

[Gederas]

The King is back and doing his work.

 

Glad to see you posting again Doghouse! :tu:

[Brother Dallo]

Welcome back Doghouse!

 

I’m a fan of your old work so I’m eager to see where this goes.

 

Dallo

[No Foes Remain]

Yay! Doghouse is back! *party popper noises* And with a lesser known chapter none-the-less!

 

 

Sorry about loosing all your stuff that sucks massive bolt-rounds.

[Marius Perdo]

Looking good.

I still Doghouse the occasional old AOBR marine ;)

[Son of Sacrifice]

That's a heck of a start. Looking forward to seeing this develop over time.

That's a heck of a start. Looking forward to seeing this develop over time.

[Markus_]

Welcome back, glad to hear you're doing better.

Your stuff is of legend and has inspired a whole generation to true scaling madness, it sure inspired me. Real shame that the pics of yore are gone though, on to new adventures then.

Great decal work on the yellow marine, looking forward to see more stuff from you.

 

[Sherrypie]

Doghouse, sad to hear the pictures are gone. Is the problem with Photobucket or Tinypic? I checked your truescale tutorial through Wayback Machine (https://web.archive.org/web/20140315000000*/http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/130115-modelling-doghouse-pattern-truescale-marines/) and the pictures in that at least are still visible in the archive by clicking on the snapshots. Salvaging through that is possible, if time consuming.

 

On the newer project, nice start!

Edited November 25, 2019 by Sherrypie

[Doghouse]

Torbenos: Thanks mate. Yeah I'm exactly the same with marines, I love little gothic touchs here and there and I hope to add a lot of little trophies to these guys. I think that given at least a hundred years have passed since their introduction that there is a lot of scope for borrowing embelishment ideas from their older smaller brothers.

 

Son of Carneliian:  Thanks, it's nice to be painting again. :)

 

Kolgrim Deathhowl: Thanks :)

 

No Foes Remain: Thanks :) Luckily I thiink Sherrypie below might just have the answer for recovering the pictures.

 

Marius Perdo: Great to hear it, I love those old AoBR marines, fun models to play around with and nice to hear they still get some attention. :tu:

 

Son of Sacrifice: Thanks :) I am making some steady progress with these guys but hope to get some pictures on the weekend when I can hopefully get some natural light. The first Intercessor and Hellblaster squads are under way.

 

Markus_: Good to hear from you mate, I might have inspired it but it's great modellers like you that picked up the ball and ran with it mate :tu:

 

Sherrypie: Legend! I had completely forgot about the way back machine, your a life saver mate thanks a lot! :tu:

 

 

Well no pictures for the time being because it's dark by the time I get home right now but I wanted to quickly go over the general theme of the army in the meantime.

 

Taking on the mantle of an "official" little known Chapter is a little tricky because I am a bit of a lore junkie and while there is honestly no right or wrong way to approach 40k lore I have always prided myself on sticking to the details. This in itself presents the first hurdle because I don't want people to think this is the definitive description of who these guys are and how they are represented in the lore. So rather than focus on the traditions and practices of the Chapter I'm going to set the stage as being the reconstruction of the Third Company under the leadership of the Primaris Captain Arden Thrace.

I've not read the Emperor's Spears novel by ADB but one thing that did catch my eye was that he had a Mentor marine monitoring their progress. I think we are probably along the same lines when it comes to details and can imagine we'd probably have some long and interesting conversations on 40k if we ever met up but I really do like his idea on this.

So buildling on that concept what I am going to do is have a Mentor Primaris Lt that is in Phobas armour that will be training elements of the third company in it's use and tactics as they are rebuilt in numbers.

 

Given that at least a hundred years has passed, fully a third of a lifetime of a regular Astartes, I think it's fair to say that there is going to be a lot of modern 40k influences, cultures and religious practices creeping into the Chapters. This is why I want to goth my guys up a bit by adding trophies and the likes, maybe borrowing a little from the likes of the Black Templars which fits nicely because they are thought to be sons of Dorn.

 

For the main starting point I want to use to establish my theme is that the majority of the newer recruits for the third come from a brutal tbarbarian culture from one of the worlds noted as a recruitment world for the chapter. These warriors focus on rapid overwhelming attacks using a primative multishot crossbow that they fire at their enemies before closing and drawing their swords to deliver the killing blow. So to capitalise on this aspect of their culture the third has adopted their ways to become a dedicated assault weapon company.

 

Like I say I'll get some more pictures up later this week when I can catch some daylight. :)

[Skidman]

I have to say it is so nice to see you are back. I know you will do this project justice and quite frankly look forward to seeing how it evolves

 

Cheers!

Kidman

[Doghouse]

Thanks mate, nice to be back. I'm just plodding with it at the moment getting in what time I can to do stuff but it's getting there

 

Just a quick update which isn't the daylight shot I had planned but will give some idea that I am still working hard on these. This is a bit of an eclectic shot of models in various states which are all over the place where I've grabbed half an hour here and there to do stuff.

I made a few errors to start off with so will be going back and and changing the magazines and bases on some models, I've not really sunk my teeth into them just yet and am playing around. It'll be a lot more organised once I get a chance to sit down and sort it all out.