OSS - Ursal Sect - Dark Mechanicus

[oldschoolsavant]

Hi, I'm oldschoolsoviet aka Oss, and I'm a 40k addict......

 

For those who remember me, hullo, and a welcome to those who don't. It's been around 2 years since I've touched anything Warhammer, mainly due to a lack of ETL action and lacking project ideas - not playing means inspiration or some self set challenge are my main motivations aside from the blessings of random internet strangers.

 

There are some previous examplesof my work here and there, seeing as my previous threads are a mess of dead links, but for now, I'll leave a little teaser of what's currently tickled my fancy......

 

Edited July 9, 2021 by oldschoolsoviet

[jaxom]

I am most curious to see what's under the hood!

[DaBoiKyknos]

Dark Mechanicus?

[oldschoolsavant]

Well, there's the age old debate of .....nicus or .....nicum. I always thought it was 40k/HH derived, but even I'm not sure which I prefer.

But I've enjoyed building these guys.

 

 

 

 

 

An attempt at making a Dark Mechanicus (well, that answers that) force, that could be played using AM rules as closely as possible, while delving into my first attempt at grimdark oil washes etc. The army is pretty much assembled, with some additional T.Guard conversions and a small CSM squad to finish off this weekend. I'll get some proper "grey" pics up over the weekend once I've set up a camera corner once again.

 

Hope you enjoy these teasers in the meantime, and thanks for looking !

[Biohazard]

Yes! Just YES! Love the silhouettes!

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Welcome back OSS! Nice to see you posting again. :D

[oldschoolsavant]

"My Lord,

I present this message promptly, ahead of my subsequent arrival. The expedition to the Grand Archives was by all accounts, disappointing. Many of the records proved to be too old, too corrupted, or of questionable authenticity. What I have been able to ascertain is barely more than basic information regarding their origin, background and structure....however my Lord's discerning eye may gaze upon the remaining collected materials with superior intellect, of that I have no doubt.....

It may not be my place Lord, but requests to the Mechanicus and Astartes of the Wardens may prove more insightful at this juncture...."

-- Lower Serf Alosef, 5th Class Scribe, Inquisitorial servitude --

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Principally, it would seem that their true origins do indeed stem from Sarum, circa M30. Records do indicate a -Siliath Ursal- as a mid-level tech priest, a shipwright by all accounts. Supervisory at best, but not within the command structures of the time, with indications towards the fields of plasma and gravitic technology - engines and enviromental systems one would deduce. Again, the Great Heresy corrodes what further information may exist, but I believe My Lord's initial thoughts of a link or lineage to the Traitor Ursus may be tenuous at best, given this disparity of specialisation.....

Subsequently, during the latter stages of the Great Heresy, reports indicate the first mention of the -Ursal Clan-. Regarded as a small flotilla of vessels, several cruisers large, and only troublesome in nature with small raids attributed at most, they were surmised to be fleeing both Imperial and Traitor alike. Where the bulk of the Great Enemy fled towards the Eye, the Ursal fleet could be tracked eastward, towards the lesser Maelstrom.....

Henceforth, more recent records, circa M37, pertain to a long forgotten asset located in the fringes of said Maelstrom. Interrogations of captured pirates and rebels recall a singular area, the -Korthar Anchorage-, a shipyard thought long lost, now the residence of an -Ursal Sect- and a codependence of supply and trade amongst warbands of the Eastern Fringe......
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So, some fun fluff background. With all the floating things in my conversions, notably Ursal himself, I figured a suitable back story would help add flavour. So, here we have a continuation of ideas from way back when certain Dark Mech characters showed up in my World Eater fluff. A small force, perhaps a few thousand strong, fleeing the carnage of the post-heresy galaxy, setting up shop in an abandoned facility. Without an actual world to inhabit, they strive to act as an almost neutral party, aiding warbands with arms and vessel maintanence in exchange for said warbands bringing in the materials and slaves required to continue. Just powerful enough to prevent being commanded themselves, but not powerful enough to conquer others. Notably among this is a lack of a Hellforge or other daemonic influence, fluff or design, which'll pop up later..... A certain paranoia about Daemons/warp was in the back of my mind....

Anyway, let's meet the man of the hour.....

+---+---+---+

Arch-Heretek Siliath Ursal - Ursal Sect

I wanted something BIG, as a counts-as Bellisarius Cawl. Blight drone base, with a chopped up Manipulus nestled in place. The greenstuff "robes" were probably the most daunting aspect, and they're okay, and hopefully some thicker paint layers will mask/smooth it out a bit. Still a few more details to add, mainly that tricky join above his head, along with one or two serfs (Skaven body, Skitarii head) to fill up the rear base.

Any comments or suggestions appreciated, and I'll dump much more tomorrow ! Edited July 9, 2021 by oldschoolsoviet

[DaBoiKyknos]

Is the base for it a Blight Drone? Looks pretty cool!

[oldschoolsavant]

A Blight drone indeed ! 'Tis the mighty Cradle of Ursal, mealy fleshbag ! (but yes) Also thanks Bio and BCK, forgot to reply but after 7 edits to fix the BBCode I was done.

 

Promised pics, delivering pics.

 

 

 

 

 

+---+---+

Heretek Enginseer Arabal Vash

 

Heretek Heshek Tor

Heretek Molder Liniat Farax

New guy at the top, utilising numerous bits - legs from BF flamer boi, torso from a DV cultist, arms from Tech-Priests and and more. Tor and Farax were built years ago as part of an earlier DM killteam for fun and I decided to flesh out the Molder with some friends:

 

 

 

Settled on calling them Moldicai for now, and each one will have a lil' servo skull/SMG combo to run them as Infiltrators. Seems fitting, as the scour a battlefield for wounded captives and salvaging organs......or spare parts, as they'd call them.

 

 

Next unit of Infiltrators utilised the BF Renegade Psyker bodies, to suggest grav-enhancements and l tried to fit them with the leaping pair from the old killteam for a complete unit. Calling them Scryers, and acting as eyes and ears of the Ursal Sect.

 

 

Next up, murder bots. Kill-Thralls. No further explanation needed, right ? Can be run as Ruststalkers.

 

 

Top lot for the murdering, bottom lot more capturing (again with the spare parts) and using the Unmade Warcry bodies. I'm surprised I haven't see more 40k conversions using the Warcry range, as they are fantastic.

 

 

And to round off today, just some Arc-Wyches, fairly simple Electro Priest conversions. Can imagine them screaming in tune to arcing lightning around the pointy helmets, and will probably mix them with some BF Negavolts to run as one meatshield E.Priest unit.

 

 

And talking of meatshields, I'll get some of the troops up next.

Thanks for looking, and here's hoping all the code works again......

Edited July 10, 2021 by oldschoolsoviet

[Sherrypie]

Looking good, your Dark Mech certainly looks the part. 

 

I've been wondering the same about the Warcry models. I've mostly seen people in the Blanchitsu Inquisimunda28 - Electric Boogaloo circles make good use of them, but very rarely in army sized projects.

[jaxom]

You have perfectly captured that thin line between classic tech-priests (which are already dark) and hints of something darker.

[Biohazard]

These look fantastic as always bud. It’s giving me the itch to work on the Idolators for my Chaos Knights Household. Love the Kill Thralls especially. :tu:

[acrowsperch]

Awesome conversions. really excited to see this grow

[space wolf]

Very neat!!! Looking forward to seeing them painted.

[oldschoolsavant]

@Sherrypie - I suppose the cost aspect of the Warcry range might be a hinderance. But they make excellent conversions, and I still have some Corvus guys to act as Cultists for a Night Lord Killteam. The Cypher Lords would be brillant for Tzeentch, Golems for Iron Warriors etc. A lot of possibilties.

 

@jaxom - can't get better praise than that, and I've seen better individual work, but not many on an army scale. Thanks though.

 

@Bio - doooo eeeeet. As long as I inspire others, I'm happy. And I don't think I'll stretch to Knights, but there's a few large pieces to come....

 

@acrowsperch - keep looking. Still more to come !

 

@ space wolf - I'm quietly practicing with oil wash on some scrap minis, and trying to finish all the small details build-wise before I commit to the undercoating. And there's soooo many details.....

 

But space wolf does bring up the fact I haven't even talked about scheme. If the teaser pictures didn't give it away, thinking an old tan/biege, lots of grime, and hoping to pull of a vivid orange for all the gubbins/lenses, all set on a manky mud brown base. Should tie together in a nice muted way, and hopefully I can make the orange pop.....

 

 

Anyways, HQs check, Elites check, time for some troops. Or as I call them.....

 

+---+---+---+

The Skree

 

Basic rifles, and a mish mash of Skitarii, Flagellent, Cultist, and the long lost FW Renegade bodies. Creates a lovely ragtag bunch ranging from "pure" Skitarii, to the poor souls looking to upgrade towards becoming them. The idea that a renegade/traitor DM force without access to forges/manufacturing on a grand scale will utilise replacements in any fashion it can.

 

 

Really simple conversion of the carbines, using the Electro Priest staffs to replace the barrels. Fiddily, but seperates them visually from their loyalist counterparts.

 

 

And yet more converted carbines, using GS press molds of a Dark Eldar rifle. The pattern was so similar to a chaos emblem, and an idea first explore with the OG killteam.

 

And a DM force wouldn't be the same without some meatshields (and future Skitarii):

 

 

 

3 lots of Blackstone T.Guard/Cultists and from 30+ models, only 4 are unconverted. Everybody else received some work, removing the medieval helms of the cultists, and ensuring Cadian-pattern helms as standard. Some were easy, some were difficult, but having a bunch of unique "monopose" minis is worth it to me. Some examples below:

 

 

 

And finally for today, some tag-along Traitor Astartes.

 

 

Quick job on Warsmith Lorek (as his ride is now artillery) and a couple of conversions on the Havoc/standard bearer. Rest of them are the push-fit models from various boxes, and fluff-wise have taken on an Ursal paint scheme, acting as stewards/bodygurds throughout the force. Oh, and they brought some toys along too, but more on them next time......

 

Thanks for looking, and any comments welcome !

[RolandTHTG]

These are really awesome. You've created some great character units. 

[Biohazard]

The Skree look incredible, loads of character. A coat of primer on them and they’ll look like and official kit.

Great work on the Traitor Guard as well.

 

Always inspirational and looking forward to seeing this force expand.

[oldschoolsavant]

Well, your hopes are well founded !

 

Quick wee update to finish off the introductions, namely the Heavy boys.

 

 

Picked up a 6pc Ogryn Slave boxset ages ago at an absolute steal of £25 or thereabouts, and no idea what to do with them at the time (just couldn't pass up the offer). A bit of inspiration from the No Guns Life anime and we've got lobotomised heavy weapon platforms a-go-go. There are two more, but being seperated for painting meant they were very uncooperative for the camera.

 

 

And to round off the Destroyer/Breacher counts-as options, a floaty trio of greenstuff molded bodies. Used what remained of the Maniplus after his torso formed the basis of my main guy, and cobbled together the Kataphron bodies into them. Could do with some tidying up, but I like them.

 

 

And all that remains are the big boys:

 

 

Had a Blood Cannon lying around, just the right scale for the big beastie, and a perfect match. Greenstuffed over the skulls, greenstuffed all new trim to marry it to the body, and have had the idea of more Skaven body crew scattered around with attached machines. Got some bits to tart up the cannon too, imagining it firing superheated balls of plasma vs shells.

 

And the Dakkaspider was just silly fun that works really well. Not too keen on the model as part of a CSM force, but suits the DM to a tee and fills out some heavier weaponry. Didn't concern myself with rules with these two, just purely built for fun and aesthetic, but could run as Dunecrawlers at a push ? Who cares.....just look at them !

 

Got some undercoating done with the nice weather, so it's time again to meet my old nemesis - PAINT !

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Just found this thread - love where this army is going and am a big fan of your venomcrawler conversion.

[Naryn]

Absolutely lovely conversions. The two Daemon Engines in the latest post are so friggin cool Edited July 30, 2021 by Naryn

[oldschoolsavant]

Thanks for the kind words Dr_Ruminahui and Naryn, hopefully I'll continue to inspire !

 

Unlike the weather, which was a total washout last week - didn't get anything undercoated or started. Boo.

 

So, I went slightly overboard in detail and additions to the big guys....

 

 

 

Finally bit the bullet and sculpted the join between the torso/cradle, and it's decent. Added a few bits to meld it together/fill the blank space, and just some robe work to fill in the last gaps (which I'll start after this post).

 

Also came up with some servants, literal Menials using the aforementioned Skaven bodies, one to help aim the big gun, and a second for balance lugging some spare equipment.Simple, but effective.

 

 

 

The arty boy gains a few helpers too, mainly a spotter with a kitbashed servo skull holder, and a gunner with a linked-up display. The gun itself takes on a few extra cables and gribbles just to move away from the Blood Cannon origins.

 

 

Finally, my Warsmith gets some mechatendrils, and a shot of the cloaked Ogryns now they are based. And with everything else but the T.Guard now based thanks to the delay, undercoat Tuesday should be full steam ahead.

 

Then the real work begins. Hopefully. Weather permitting (it's clear now, honest). :D

[Shovellovin]

Damn! Lots of imaginative creations in this thread. One of the reasons I like that there aren’t official Dark Mechanicum models is that is makes people like you get your creative juices flowing. Excellent work!

[oldschoolsavant]

Think the only 'official' models are the FW fellas: horse-skull guy, Draykavac and scorpion Scoria. They were Traitors iirc (not up to speed with Heresy fluff).

 

And I was progressing well today. Until the valve in my primer can went pop. Black nails are taking me back to my Goth days lol.

New can tomorrow !

 

:(

[oldschoolsavant]

Soooo painting hasn't really progressed bar base colours and trying my scheme, surprise surprise, as I'm always distracting myself with new and wonderful things to build.

 

Felt I needed some heavier support , so a couple of spider tanks will enter the fray:

 

 

Figured on a converted heavy Conversion Beam/Eradication from a Dunecrawler as a main, and the similarly Fiendy tentacles as one of the few close-combat options I had bits for. Might try greenstuffing the carapace into a staggered curve like a Knight Atropos, just to move further away from the Armiger look, but that's for another day.

 

I was also distracted by Subtle Discord and his preperations for something big. Instantly sprung to mind ideas about a centrepiece for the army, looking at a Castellan or something. I then remembered this beauty from TheTrans for their own DM army, and looked into a smaller Mortian chassis. I really, really liked the medium size, and would've been all in bar a minimum purchase order that scuppered it before it began.

 

So, I went back to the original inspiration, this beaut. No idea on source, but if anyone knows, please tell:

 

 

 

Why not just stick Knight legs on the back half-sphere ?

 

One frantic morning of eBay/bits store searching, and I found everything I needed for this madness. I'd no idea if any of this would work, purely based on imagination and possibility, and it arrived today:

 

 

A five shot revolver style drum big gun, on a Howl's Castle chassis. I need help....... (but it will be glorious)

Edited August 25, 2021 by oldschoolsoviet

[Noctem Cultor]

Inspired choice using the unmade.

It all looks great and like the parts belong together.

 

-Noctem