'No Impediment to Progress' – The Gatebreakers

[Elzender]

Oh well, I guess that's one more to the list of Apologist threads that I get addicted to ! Loving every new story, and I was wondering why Scipius had that nickname when I saw it on the other post, that dialogue is just brilliant! I love the character you manage to infuse the marines, specially when it deviates fom the stereotypical astartes behaviour and how it clashes with other, more straightforward marines (the narrator from your 30K Iron Hands thread is a favourite of mine). And obviously, your minis are always there to seal the deal, your painting style often reminds me of historical or mythological paintings, making the miniatures really feel like they belong to a tale, be it a legend or history.

Regarding the phobos armour and its "capri shorts" syndrome, have you considered trying to fill in the gap and sculpting it into a form-fitting armour, something akin to skin-tight jeans to the bell bottoms of the classic armour designs?

I have to say that this thread, together with the upcoming Primaris releases, have actually sold me on pulling the trigger on some Primaris. While I don't hate them, the limitations of their range and customisation possibilities when compared with the firstborn and their underdeveloped lore made me reticent about them. However, their introduction and adaptation to the Imperium and more specifically to their older brethren is probably one of the most interesting aspects.

While the look of the new models practically screams Black Templars, and I've always had a certain sympathy for them, I would like to go for a lesser known chapter to have a bit more freedom on how to develop the narrative as you're doing with the Gatebreakers. I am pondering two different ideas for it: the first would be to go for a Blood Angels successor, for a two-fold reason: on one hand, their involvement on the defence of Baal likely left them severely depleted, so they would be more likely to gladly accept the reinforcements. On the other hand,the reaction of the Primaris to some of the more obscure/hidden rites and traditions of the chapter could be a very interesting point to explore. It would also be a good opportunity for me to paint some red marines, something I haven't done so far (orange being the closest). The only issue is that my knowledge of the Blood Angels successors is close to inexistent, so I'd have to lore up on them .

The other option would be a bit of a reversal of your Gatebreakers situation: a relatively straightforward, codex-compliant chapter that receives a bunch of battle-hardened, fanatical primaris that have spent the most part of 200 years crusading, likely tutored by some of the most zealous chapters and/or the Ecclesiarchy. While that would seem initially unlikely considering Guilliman's stance on the organisation, I could see some splinter fleet from the main Crusade ending up teaming up with more divergent elements on their route to joining their parent chapter. The idea of a Chapter Master of a Raptors-like chapter receiving and having to deal with a few hundreds of lithany-screaming, flamer-loving, chainsword-revving giant fanatics could be absolutely hilarious.

Apologies (not even sorry for this one, though ) for this thread hijacking, but I guess the point was to thank you for inspiring me to plunge into the whole Primaris thingie. Looking forward to more posts about Scipius, Barbari and co!

Edited June 23, 2020 by Elzender

[ElTanko]

I enjoy the wip with these guys, the before and after of the yellow is glorious. Very gritty.

[Torbenos]

Always a pleasure to read your updates apologist. Had a re-read through your blog as it has been awhile since I last read on it. Very compelling and creative stuff, of course, and your section about oil paints has me curious to try them on my future iron warriors, it might go well over so much metal, atleast in my head. The lore you write is compelling and has that touch of humour about it which lends itself so well to some aspect of the universe. I can only echo the above joy at Barbari Kills.

 

Looking forward to seeing more.

[apologist]

Excellent work as always, and Scipius kneeling got a real laugh out of me.

As for posting my Gate Breakers, do have a preference on format? I have a decent amount of the lads now.

Cheers Vazzy! Would you mind popping them in The Alien Wars? That collaborative topic would be a fitting place for them, and it'd be lovely to read about their plight during the Nova Terra Interregnum. :)

 

 

Oh well, I guess that's one more to the list of Apologist threads that I get addicted to ! Loving every new story, and I was wondering why Scipius had that nickname when I saw it on the other post, that dialogue is just brilliant! I love the character you manage to infuse the marines, specially when it deviates fom the stereotypical astartes behaviour and how it clashes with other, more straightforward marines (the narrator from your 30K Iron Hands thread is a favourite of mine). And obviously, your minis are always there to seal the deal, your painting style often reminds me of historical or mythological paintings, making the miniatures really feel like they belong to a tale, be it a legend or history.

 

Regarding the phobos armour and its "capri shorts" syndrome, have you considered trying to fill in the gap and sculpting it into a form-fitting armour, something akin to skin-tight jeans to the bell bottoms of the classic armour designs?

 

I have to say that this thread, together with the upcoming Primaris releases, have actually sold me on pulling the trigger on some Primaris. While I don't hate them, the limitations of their range and customisation possibilities when compared with the firstborn and their underdeveloped lore made me reticent about them. However, their introduction and adaptation to the Imperium and more specifically to their older brethren is probably one of the most interesting aspects.

 

While the look of the new models practically screams Black Templars, and I've always had a certain sympathy for them, I would like to go for a lesser known chapter to have a bit more freedom on how to develop the narrative as you're doing with the Gatebreakers. I am pondering two different ideas for it: the first would be to go for a Blood Angels successor, for a two-fold reason: on one hand, their involvement on the defence of Baal likely left them severely depleted, so they would be more likely to gladly accept the reinforcements. On the other hand,the reaction of the Primaris to some of the more obscure/hidden rites and traditions of the chapter could be a very interesting point to explore. It would also be a good opportunity for me to paint some red marines, something I haven't done so far (orange being the closest). The only issue is that my knowledge of the Blood Angels successors is close to inexistent, so I'd have to lore up on them .

 

The other option would be a bit of a reversal of your Gatebreakers situation: a relatively straightforward, codex-compliant chapter that receives a bunch of battle-hardened, fanatical primaris that have spent the most part of 200 years crusading, likely tutored by some of the most zealous chapters and/or the Ecclesiarchy. While that would seem initially unlikely considering Guilliman's stance on the organisation, I could see some splinter fleet from the main Crusade ending up teaming up with more divergent elements on their route to joining their parent chapter. The idea of a Chapter Master of a Raptors-like chapter receiving and having to deal with a few hundreds of lithany-screaming, flamer-loving, chainsword-revving giant fanatics could be absolutely hilarious.

 

Apologies (not even sorry for this one, though ) for this thread hijacking, but I guess the point was to thank you for inspiring me to plunge into the whole Primaris thingie. Looking forward to more posts about Scipius, Barbari and co!

 

Coo, thanks for all the kind words. Always lovely to hear that an idea has lodged in someone else's brain – after all, if we each share an idea, we both end up with two! I like the idea of zealous veteran Primaris being integrated into a more conservative group – if you start a blog, do please let me know. I'd love to see what you do with them.

 

 

I enjoy the wip with these guys, the before and after of the yellow is glorious. Very gritty.

Thanks, ElTanko – using oils to do it makes it surprisingly quick. I wrote a step-by-step photo tutorial for anyone interested, which can be found here on + Death of a Rubricist +.

 

Always a pleasure to read your updates apologist. Had a re-read through your blog as it has been awhile since I last read on it. Very compelling and creative stuff, of course, and your section about oil paints has me curious to try them on my future iron warriors, it might go well over so much metal, atleast in my head. The lore you write is compelling and has that touch of humour about it which lends itself so well to some aspect of the universe. I can only echo the above joy at Barbari Kills.

 

Looking forward to seeing more.

I think the process would work beautifully on Iron Warriors – the idea originally came to me while working out how to achieve the effect with acrylics, as per my Officio Monstrosa thread; but it took a few years to work up the courage. Very glad I did, and I wish you the best with your IVth Legion.

 

Thanks also for the kind words on the writing. I'm really enjoying exploring the characters, and it seems Barbari Kills is becoming a bit of a breakout hit :)

 

Speaking of whom, let's have a bit more from the Inquisitor, shall we..?

[Lucerne]

 

Excellent work as always, and Scipius kneeling got a real laugh out of me.

As for posting my Gate Breakers, do have a preference on format? I have a decent amount of the lads now.

Cheers Vazzy! Would you mind popping them in The Alien Wars? That collaborative topic would be a fitting place for them, and it'd be lovely to read about their plight during the Nova Terra Interregnum.

 

 

Oh well, I guess that's one more to the list of Apologist threads that I get addicted to ! Loving every new story, and I was wondering why Scipius had that nickname when I saw it on the other post, that dialogue is just brilliant! I love the character you manage to infuse the marines, specially when it deviates fom the stereotypical astartes behaviour and how it clashes with other, more straightforward marines (the narrator from your 30K Iron Hands thread is a favourite of mine). And obviously, your minis are always there to seal the deal, your painting style often reminds me of historical or mythological paintings, making the miniatures really feel like they belong to a tale, be it a legend or history.

 

Regarding the phobos armour and its "capri shorts" syndrome, have you considered trying to fill in the gap and sculpting it into a form-fitting armour, something akin to skin-tight jeans to the bell bottoms of the classic armour designs?

 

I have to say that this thread, together with the upcoming Primaris releases, have actually sold me on pulling the trigger on some Primaris. While I don't hate them, the limitations of their range and customisation possibilities when compared with the firstborn and their underdeveloped lore made me reticent about them. However, their introduction and adaptation to the Imperium and more specifically to their older brethren is probably one of the most interesting aspects.

 

While the look of the new models practically screams Black Templars, and I've always had a certain sympathy for them, I would like to go for a lesser known chapter to have a bit more freedom on how to develop the narrative as you're doing with the Gatebreakers. I am pondering two different ideas for it: the first would be to go for a Blood Angels successor, for a two-fold reason: on one hand, their involvement on the defence of Baal likely left them severely depleted, so they would be more likely to gladly accept the reinforcements. On the other hand,the reaction of the Primaris to some of the more obscure/hidden rites and traditions of the chapter could be a very interesting point to explore. It would also be a good opportunity for me to paint some red marines, something I haven't done so far (orange being the closest). The only issue is that my knowledge of the Blood Angels successors is close to inexistent, so I'd have to lore up on them .

 

The other option would be a bit of a reversal of your Gatebreakers situation: a relatively straightforward, codex-compliant chapter that receives a bunch of battle-hardened, fanatical primaris that have spent the most part of 200 years crusading, likely tutored by some of the most zealous chapters and/or the Ecclesiarchy. While that would seem initially unlikely considering Guilliman's stance on the organisation, I could see some splinter fleet from the main Crusade ending up teaming up with more divergent elements on their route to joining their parent chapter. The idea of a Chapter Master of a Raptors-like chapter receiving and having to deal with a few hundreds of lithany-screaming, flamer-loving, chainsword-revving giant fanatics could be absolutely hilarious.

 

Apologies (not even sorry for this one, though ) for this thread hijacking, but I guess the point was to thank you for inspiring me to plunge into the whole Primaris thingie. Looking forward to more posts about Scipius, Barbari and co!

 

Coo, thanks for all the kind words. Always lovely to hear that an idea has lodged in someone else's brain – after all, if we each share an idea, we both end up with two! I like the idea of zealous veteran Primaris being integrated into a more conservative group – if you start a blog, do please let me know. I'd love to see what you do with them.

 

 

I enjoy the wip with these guys, the before and after of the yellow is glorious. Very gritty.

Thanks, ElTanko – using oils to do it makes it surprisingly quick. I wrote a step-by-step photo tutorial for anyone interested, which can be found here on + Death of a Rubricist +.

 

Always a pleasure to read your updates apologist. Had a re-read through your blog as it has been awhile since I last read on it. Very compelling and creative stuff, of course, and your section about oil paints has me curious to try them on my future iron warriors, it might go well over so much metal, atleast in my head. The lore you write is compelling and has that touch of humour about it which lends itself so well to some aspect of the universe. I can only echo the above joy at Barbari Kills.

 

Looking forward to seeing more.

I think the process would work beautifully on Iron Warriors – the idea originally came to me while working out how to achieve the effect with acrylics, as per my Officio Monstrosa thread; but it took a few years to work up the courage. Very glad I did, and I wish you the best with your IVth Legion.

 

Thanks also for the kind words on the writing. I'm really enjoying exploring the characters, and it seems Barbari Kills is becoming a bit of a breakout hit

 

Speaking of whom, let's have a bit more from the Inquisitor, shall we..?

 

May I ask if and how you'd use a black oil wash and the effect that'd give? More "sterile" weathering? The burnt umber is used for more "muddy" colour unification, right?

[apologist]

+ Notes on Antecedent Chapter 333: Gatebreakers  +

+ As dictated by Inquisitrix Barbari Kills, recorded faithfully by Adept Halm +

 

 

Opening remarks: Upon witnessing the sheer divergence from standard type that the Chapter demonstrated from first contact, I had fully expected the Gatebreakers' leadership to be hostile or attempt to withhold information. In fact, access to the Gatebreakers thus far has been pleasingly open, and investigating their ways, martial culture and divergence has been eye-opening. As is my preference, Brunski, Halm and I have begun our interviews with the rank and file. Such a broad-based approach has frequently provided me with the tantalising inconsistencies that provide trails – trails to malefaction, dereliction or even heresy.

 

Let me be clear that what I have found amongst the Gatebreakers thus far reveals a pious, loyal and effective Chapter – and yet one that is simultaneously inconsistent, irreverent and curiously recondite. I have found it, I confess, both refreshing and unexpected to find that such strange defenders of the Imperium exist. Perhaps it is simply a symptom of being here at the very limits of Imperium; perhaps such deviations are common at all arc-sectors of the Galactic Rim. Certainly the Gatebreakers' reported lack of Imperial contact and support must be a common result of the accelerated star-drift in such regions.

 

It is my firm belief that variety is at the heart of strength. Over-specialism leads to extinction when one's niche alters; and the Gatebreakers have made a necessary virtue of adaptability. While warfare inevitably depletes their ranks, they pursue recruitment with a near-monomaniacal keenness and with scant regard for anything save biological compatibility; each Strikeforce demanding a tithe of potential aspirants – willing or not – from the worlds they visit. From my previous experience with the Stellar Steeds, another fleet-based Chapter, I had expected to find strong enforcement of a Chapter cult, but such seems to be largely absent. 

 

Most Astartes have reacted to my requests for interviews in a number of ways. Most have proven apparently open, even discursive, and occasionally conversational – it is, I confess, a novelty to meet anyone who has treated my office with such a lack of gravity. Some are clearly more recalcitrant, but it appears that an order has been issued by Sho; a figure whose precise role remains a mystery, and with whom I have not yet requested a direct audience. From his report, it is clear that Master Scipius regards Sho as the Chapter Master of the Gatebreakers, but such a simple, unequivocal evaluation sits uneasily with me. 

 

Such hunches and intuition are the bread and wine of my calling, but it is that last – somewhat questionable – nature of Sho that perhaps best sums up the nature of the Gatebreakers thus far. I cannot be certain that Sho has issued any such order; or even if he has the authority to do so: certainly I have not received any official notice. It is only by reading into the words unsaid by my interviewees that I surmise such an order was given. It is, I suspect, only an apparent or partial openness that I have been granted. To what end, I do not yet know – but for the moment I suspect no cause for especial concern. 

 

I digress. For the moment, I will pursue my investigations of those 'Members-Ordinary', to use the Gatebreaker's vernacular, that inhabit this strange, owl-haunted ruin. The following attached files – scripted by Halm – provide assorted examples of this curious group that I hope will prove illuminating. 

 

+++

+ File I: Member-Ordinary Kyi Dzungar +

 

[Work in-progress]

 

+ Striking me as young, inventive and adaptable, this Member-Ordinary proudly reported that he was one of the first to benefit from the integration of the Primaris equipment, and was able to largely replace his much battered Armourum Impetor plate; retaining only the backpack and helm – the two elements that he – and I tentatively assume the Gatebreakers as a whole – believe house the machine spirits. +

 

+ Dzungar patiently explained to me over the course of an hour or so a wide-ranging set of beliefs. Of relevance here is that the backpack is seens as a figurative heart that fills the otherwise inert materials of the other armour elements with motive force. It is at the core of the armour's mystery, acting as a point where the numinous world of the machines can join with that of man. The helmet, conversely, is the site not of synthesis, but of union. Here, man and machine remain separate – the Astartes, after all, must have precedence – but can share their insights through the technomystical 'hood'. +

 

+ When correctly invoked, the hood conjures spectral lines and datarunes on the wearer's sight, haunting the Astartes' vision and enhancing his abilities. I am no techpriest myself, and while I find the subject interesting, I refer you to the Inquisitor on whether this represents an acceptable divergence in belief. +

 

+++

+ File II: Gentle Ousanas Wazeba +

 

[Work in-progress]

 

+ The office of Gentle – an oddly-constructed word that quite belies the belligerent duties of all Astartes – is a Chapter office that equates closely to the Apothecarion of Chapter 333, unlike nearly all their other affairs. It is illustrative of the complete lack of regard for the Codex Astartes that the Chapter shows. +

 

+ I believe this is not a simple lack of respect; and certainly not an intentional snub. From what I can gather, the Gatebreakers have not had access to the Codex – certainly not in living memory. I am led to believe that this relates to the loss of the Chapter Fortress, around the time of the Ninth Founding, in some way. I will endeavour to investigate this further, but of immediate relevance is the Gatebreakers' alternative, the so-called Tenets of the Ten Divine Princes, a peculiar collection of aphorisms, stories and martial advice drawn from the Gatebreakers' history and mythic cycles. Each member bears a copy of this book, but far from being a closely-monitored holy text, the bearer is encouraged – indeed expected – to add his or her own notes, amendments and stories. +

 

+ Despite its obvious personal importance, Wazeba seemed quite at ease with me borrowing his copy. Indeed, he struck me as being oddly unconcerned with what happened to it. When pressed on this, he seemed almost confused; as though he had no conception that its loss might affect him. I suggest that this may be a cultural idiosyncracy worth pursuing; or it may be that he has the weighty tome memorised. +

 

+ Like Dzungar – who suggested I met with Wazeba – the Gentle has adopted a number of replacement armour elements from Tacticus suits. Here, however, they were necessities: the Gentle's presence at the thinly-populated fortress was apparently forced by the near destruction of much of his armour. What remains of it is truly ancient – chronotracing is unclear, but my research indicates a number of elements, including the crucial backpack – are from Mark II Crusade Armour. Wazeba is infuriatingly vague on their provenance – though again I suspect a culturally-forced lack of understanding rather than any intention to mislead my research. +

 

+++

Edited June 23, 2020 by apologist

[apologist]

May I ask if and how you'd use a black oil wash and the effect that'd give? More "sterile" weathering? The burnt umber is used for more "muddy" colour unification, right?

 

Glazes and filters work because the paint layer is partially transparent. Some light bounces off the glaze, other light goes through and bounces off the underlying surface. The result is a form of optical mixing, which unconsciously makes the result vibrant and nice to look at. I have used it for weathering too, but that's more to prevent the palette becoming too complicated than for a particular effect.

 

Oil (and watercolour) paints can be grouped by how much light they let through – a quality called opacity, which will be noted on the tube. Paints that let a lot through are called transparent; paints that let very little through are called opaque. Semi-transparent colours are a sort of halfway house.

 

Raw sienna is an example of a transparent colour, while burnt umber is semi-transparent. Ivory black – indeed, most blacks – are opaque. As a result, using them will kill or deaden the colour. This can be useful – a dead black will give really deep, flat shadows, for example – but generally it looks a bit messy.

 

Rather than black, I'd recommend using Payne's Gray. This is a blue-based transparent dark, which means it works well for glazing. Generally, I'd suggest Burnt umber for warm schemes – those you want to look inviting and eye-catching, and Payne's Gray for cold schemes, such as metallics.

 

I'd use Burnt umber for Goff Orks, for example, as it'd look warm and organic; and Payne's gray for Iron Hands, as it'd look cool and mechanical.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Your painting skills are improving; the new models look noticeably better than the old. Keep up the good work!

 

How will you decorate the bases?

[Lucerne]

 

 

Would you use a mix for models that have both cloth and armour, ie: say a model has metallics, but also cloth? Flesh would follow the same oil wash as the rest for the sake of colour unification, right? ie: If you washed the bulk of a miniature with burnt umber for the warm, organic look, it'd look out of place to keep the face unwashed, or to use a different oil wash?

(Apologies if this is clutter in the project log.)

Edited June 24, 2020 by Lucerne

[Pulse]

Absolute quality all through this thread, from the story telling to the actual models!

[apologist]

+ Member-Ordinary Gyalo Zhongxin +

 

Work in-progress

 

+ Lest it be assumed that the Gatebreakers welcomed us with open arms, eager to spill their personal biographies to any who would listen, it behoves me to note the rather more... recalcitrant members of their brotherhood. Zhongxin was one such: a towering, wild-eyed and tousle-haired individual, who flatly refused to sit down throughout the interview. He paced back and forth throughout, and only removed his helm on the direct order of the supervising officer. Even then, his broad, scarred face wore a snarl. +

 

+ His dark, glittering eyes roved while we talked, as though suspecting an ambush or attack at any moment. His analysis of me clearly marked me as little threat, but he continued darting looks at my Primaris warder, Coriolanus, throughout the interview. +

 

+ A quick cross-reference of the text of Gentle Wazeba's The Tenets of the Ten Divine Princes with Zhongxin's makes it clear that the book is hugely divergent. Whole sections are identical, while others are apparently without parallel between these two members. I intend to look at other copies to clarify further. +

 

+ I learned little directly from Zhongxin save that he was taken as a slave from a nameless world beyond the Rim (I took the liberty of recording what details he gave, that I could pass them on to Taiwo, as per our agreement), and served in the ninth Strikeforce, alongside Eo Daur – more on whom in a later file. However, much as the shape of an object can be discerned from the negative space that surrounds it, I inferred a great deal. +

 

+ It appears that the ninth Strikeforce has been much reduced in resolving an ongoing border dispute with a extragalactic species that matches no description I can find in our records. The Strikeforce's presence on Andocrine – indeed, the entire Gatebreakers' presence on their supposed homeworld – is entirely down to dumb luck, as they had returned to harvest further potential recruits. Had we arrived a week later, it is entirely possible the court would have moved on. It appears the fortress-monastery's tumbledown appearance is no sham – it truly is rubble. +

 

+++

 

Closing Remarks: Halm's notes are of concern. That a Chapter has let its homeworld fall into disrepair is of grave import; but it also makes me suspect that the mysterious Sho is playing a poor hand rather well. No wonder we were not met with system monitors – it seems there are none. Further, I suspect the welcome was enforced. Sho could not have hoped to hold the ruins against a full Chapter Astartes intent on entry; not with the seeming handful of warriors at his ready command.

 

This raises the critical question: Are we in turn being evaluated? That seems all but certain. If that is the case, why? My suspicions must be kept smothered until we are certain. For the moment, we are being treated cordially; and I will not fray what little ties Scipius and Chapter 333 to me by moving against what he clearly sees as his brethren. For the moment, I will continue my investigations; and endeavour to get word to Taiwo. Whether the intention is innocent or malign, the Rogue Trader must be forewarned.

 

The more optimistic answer is simple over-eagerness. This Chapter has been long-starved and now sees the potential for salvation in these long hoped-for reinforcements.

 

The second is more problematic – and since my task is inevitably cynical, more likely: we are being delayed while others gather.

 

– Inquisitrix Barbari Kills

[BadgersinHills]

Miniatures and fluff are as excellent as always. Will you be adding the new 9th edition Primaris to the army? I was thinking of finally getting more Primaris than the one on the Warmaster's base, but having purchased the Lumineth box I doubt it's a sensible decision. 

[apologist]

Your painting skills are improving; the new models look noticeably better than the old. Keep up the good work!

How will you decorate the bases?

Still up in the air. I used Eo Daur (below) as a test model (in fact, he was a one-off that inspired the army). He's got a fairly generic brown earth with grass tufts, but I'm toying with the idea of red-oxide earth or swamp bases. Since I've been quite experimental with this force, I can't decide whether to carry on being experimental, or stick with tried-and-true.

 

 

Happy to hear any input or ideas.

 

Would you use a mix for models that have both cloth and armour, ie: say a model has metallics, but also cloth? Flesh would follow the same oil wash as the rest for the sake of colour unification, right? ie: If you washed the bulk of a miniature with burnt umber for the warm, organic look, it'd look out of place to keep the face unwashed, or to use a different oil wash?

(Apologies if this is clutter in the project log.)

No problem on clutter (though if you don't mind trimming down the quotes, that'd be appreciated ) – after all, this is a discussion forum, and it's nice to discuss! I see no problem with using multiple oil colours or mixes – or even layering different filters. I'm no expert, but layering's the principle behind building up depth of tone. If you just think of them like any other paint, you'll see how versatile oils are – they just require a few extra materials and techniques. 

 

Other than that, just as you'd paint different areas different colours of acrylics, you should feel free to use oils in the same way.

 

 

Absolute quality all through this thread, from the story telling to the actual models!

Ta very much!

 

 

Miniatures and fluff are as excellent as always. Will you be adding the new 9th edition Primaris to the army? I was thinking of finally getting more Primaris than the one on the Warmaster's base, but having purchased the Lumineth box I doubt it's a sensible decision. 

 

Yes, I'm mostly looking forward to the assault Intercessors – new poses provide more grist to the mill. I also really like the Chaplain and Ancient.

Edited June 24, 2020 by apologist

[Lexington]

Okay, I liked this a lot before, but between your work on this specifically and the "Create an Army of Your Own" article over on the blog, you have officially set my brain on fire, and I'm kinda considering taking the same path of building a Marine army via the Crusade system...

[apologist]

Okay, I liked this a lot before, but between your work on this specifically and the "Create an Army of Your Own" article over on the blog, you have officially set my brain on fire, and I'm kinda considering taking the same path of building a Marine army via the Crusade system...

Cheers Lexington – lovely to hear. If anyone would like to have a read, the article is on + Death of a Rubricist + here. Have you had any thoughts on the Chapter you'd create?

 

I decided to paint a few spare arms in order to give me more options for posing, so I have eleven pairs for the remaining eight(?) figures. After building my Blood Angels with fairly restrained poses, I thought I'd have fun and use all the cool weird arms here.

 

 

The oil wash has been completed and cleaned on the arms, and I've laid in the silver on the pauldrons. These need a day or so before they're ready to varnish, and then it's a simple case of highlighting them and sticking them on – can't wait!

 

Speaking of highlighting, it's fairly simple. Taking the marks and streaks I left from the oil stage to guide me, I picked out a few shapes with a lighter tone (white mixed with Flash Gitz yellow), creating the impression of scratches and gouges. The green pads are unhighlighted here , so you get an impression of what it looks like before.

 

+++

 

Onwards and upwards. With the core of the force getting there, it's time to think of how to expand it. First up will be these bikes:

Edited June 25, 2020 by apologist

[Sandlemad]

Brilliant stuff. The models are as excellent as always (your oil tutorial was fascinating) and the background is fantastic. You're good at cliffhangers!

 

The marines having not-so-subtly different copies of the Tenets of the Ten Divine Princes is a particularly good touch and something that will stick with me. Have you ever come across a novel called The Golden Age by Michal Ajvaz? It does something similar with a single book that's of great and agreed-upon cultural importance to the inhabitants of a remote island but that changes in contents more or less every week as individuals annotate, edit, redact, rearrange, add to... It rang a bell here and the anthropologist had a similar apprehension to your inquisitor (whose voice is wonderful, by the way).

[Lexington]

Cheers Lexington – lovely to hear. If anyone would like to have a read, the article is on + Death of a Rubricist + here. Have you had any thoughts on the Chapter you'd create?

 

Quite a few, but they're fairly scattered at the moment - torn between reviving my long-dormant Aurora Chapter and completely embracing the new, truth be told. Had some ideas a few years ago about a new Chapter that would incorporate the old WHFB Athena stand-in, Myrmidia, and some sort of animal aspect that might be a good base, but they're all quite vague. Your article codified a lot of concepts that I've always had vague notions about (glad to see the shout-out, re: Goodwin's comments about how historical elements need to be taken at an angle to work properly in 40K), and I'm trying to follow it through, step-by-step, to see what comes out. More info as it comes to me.

 

Of course, I'm really supposed to be working on Orks right now, and this is not helping...

[Elzender]

Wooo, that blog post is great, Apologist! I'm looking for a chapter that could fit my idea, but knowing it would ideally have to fit with quite a few pre-requisites, while being obscure enough to not be stepping on canon material, I might end up going for a homebrew chapter. That guide certainly would help a lot to make a well-structured background while avoiding excessive cliches or caricatures.

 

As for the bases, I would be curious to see swamp bases. Red dust bases are always cool and would probably provide a nice contrast with the marines, but there are a few greatly skilled fraters in this forum that have used them (Kizzdougs comes to mind), so having you going for something a bit different would be refreshing. At any rate, the base you've done for Eo Daur already looks great, I'm usually unsure about vegetation in 40k bases but it works very well in this case.

Edited June 25, 2020 by Elzender

[Brother Dallo]

One thing I’m curious about in a force which seems to use (more or less) only Primaris bodies, how do you tell your Primaris Marines and Firstborn Marines apart on the gaming table? Is it just by helmet Mk?

 

Dallo

[apologist]

Brilliant stuff. The models are as excellent as always (your oil tutorial was fascinating) and the background is fantastic. You're good at cliffhangers!

 

The marines having not-so-subtly different copies of the Tenets of the Ten Divine Princes is a particularly good touch and something that will stick with me. Have you ever come across a novel called The Golden Age by Michal Ajvaz? It does something similar with a single book that's of great and agreed-upon cultural importance to the inhabitants of a remote island but that changes in contents more or less every week as individuals annotate, edit, redact, rearrange, add to... It rang a bell here and the anthropologist had a similar apprehension to your inquisitor (whose voice is wonderful, by the way).

I haven't, but always on the lookout for book recommendations, so thank you.

 

The Tenets is an artefact that I wanted to help evoke a sense of scale, and make a distinct cultural gulf – the idea of a holy book that's actively changed and revised by individuals is natural to the Gatebreakers, but completely alien to the Primaris. I want the Rim to feel like a real frontier region, distant and strange to the eyes of characters like Kills and Scipius, who are from the 'core' of the Imperium.

 

While STCs and ten thousand years of reactionary conservatism will create some familiarity, a million worlds and ten thousand years will make things very strange, very quickly! In essence, the 40k galaxy is really big, and I sometimes think that doesn't come across – and where something is different, it tends to be shorthand for chaos or alien influence. I wanted to show that you can be loyal to the Imperium while not being very much like its other defenders.

 

Thanks also for the comments on Barbari Kills' voice – I'm itching to get her built and painted now. For the moment, I'll have to make do with Brunski and Halm:

 

 

Quite a few, but they're fairly scattered at the moment - torn between reviving my long-dormant Aurora Chapter and completely embracing the new, truth be told. Had some ideas a few years ago about a new Chapter that would incorporate the old WHFB Athena stand-in, Myrmidia, and some sort of animal aspect that might be a good base, but they're all quite vague. Your article codified a lot of concepts that I've always had vague notions about (glad to see the shout-out, re: Goodwin's comments about how historical elements need to be taken at an angle to work properly in 40K), and I'm trying to follow it through, step-by-step, to see what comes out. More info as it comes to me.

 

Of course, I'm really supposed to be working on Orks right now, and this is not helping...

 

This is the great joy of the rumours around the Crusade gaming approach – fifty power level is a lovely aim for a nice force. Whether you plump for Marines or orks (or both!), I'd love to see the results in The Alien Wars – might be a nice way to flesh out their backstory? 

 

As an aside, I've found it a lot of fun to build two forces at once. Things as simple as a common basing scheme and perhaps trophies from the other force really help create a nice theme quickly, and of course you can stave off any 'army fatigue' by swapping to the 'OpFor' for a bit.

 

 

Wooo, that blog post is great, Apologist! I'm looking for a chapter that could fit my idea, but knowing it would ideally have to fit with quite a few pre-requisites, while being obscure enough to not be stepping on canon material, I might end up going for a homebrew chapter. That guide certainly would help a lot to make a well-structured background while avoiding excessive cliches or caricatures.

 

As for the bases, I would be curious to see swamp bases. Red dust bases are always cool and would probably provide a nice contrast with the marines, but there are a few greatly skilled fraters in this forum that have used them (Kizzdougs comes to mind), so having you going for something a bit different would be refreshing. At any rate, the base you've done for Eo Daur already looks great, I'm usually unsure about vegetation in 40k bases but it works very well in this case.

Cheers for the kind words, Elzender, and I'd thoroughly encourage you to create a homebrew Chapter. It's such a liberating experience! 

 

I shall have a little practise on basing, and see what I come up with. 

 

 

One thing I’m curious about in a force which seems to use (more or less) only Primaris bodies, how do you tell your Primaris Marines and Firstborn Marines apart on the gaming table? Is it just by helmet Mk?

Gaming-wise? I simply make no distinction – they all use Primaris stats. I've long felt that marines in-game didn't really live up to the background, so using Primaris stats fits my image of marines much better. We've house-ruled all non-Primaris marines having an extra wound and attack pretty much since the Primaris were introduced. My personal view is that the Primaris background was, at root, a bit of jury-rigging to make rescaling and altering the rules for marines a bit more palatable and safer in commercial terms. 

 

In this project, I'm enjoying exploring the narrative potential of there being two culturally distinct groups of fundamentally similar Marines, rather than particularly physically different.

 

+++

 

Arms and head loosely placed, the next group are coming along. :)

Edited June 26, 2020 by apologist

[Pearson73]

I'm enjoying seeing this project progress, I really liked that test model with its striking scheme and the background reads well too. I think red-oxide earth bases would complement the green and yellow nicely.

 

The two mortals have cracking poses, nice use of parts.

[jaxom]

Looking good! Has that MkIII with the MkV helmet been modified?

[Lexington]

This is the great joy of the rumours around the Crusade gaming approach – fifty power level is a lovely aim for a nice force. Whether you plump for Marines or orks (or both!), I'd love to see the results in The Alien Wars – might be a nice way to flesh out their backstory? 

 

As an aside, I've found it a lot of fun to build two forces at once. Things as simple as a common basing scheme and perhaps trophies from the other force really help create a nice theme quickly, and of course you can stave off any 'army fatigue' by swapping to the 'OpFor' for a bit.

 

Well, the Orks are definitely already fleshed out (there's a disturbing amount of background in my sig link), and of a more recent vintage, but I'm liking the idea of a small Marine force to get away from the greenskins when the need arises. Might wait a bit, as I'm likely to move to a new city near the end of the year, and a Crusade campaign might be a good way to get integrated into the local scene. Either way, the idea's been firmly planted, and you've likely earned yourself some long, half-rambling PMs in the future asking about the creation process. You lucky thing, you.

 

As always, really enjoying the process on display, here. Out of curiosity, do you tend to leave your oils sitting on the surface? Most oil tutorials I've come across advocate for wiping away all but the cracks and crevices using mineral spirits.

[apologist]

Looking good! Has that MkIII with the MkV helmet been modified?

He’s based on a Plague Marine – I trimmed off the buboes, tentacles etc., then resculpted the bits.

[BadgersinHills]

Really cool stuff. Your human miniatures are so cool, full of character. 

Edited June 28, 2020 by BadgersinHills