+ Where the Stone Oxen and Lions Stand +

[apologist]

+ Porphyroexecratos +

 

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‘They were neither what we remembered, nor what we expected. Both their pride and martial endeavours had become swollen, malignant – but no less impressive, for all that.’ 

[Brother Biv, Imperial Fists LXth]

 

A very welcome return for the Bolter & Chainsword – and a perfect opportunity to post up what I’ve been working on during the down-time: 15mm Emperor’s Children.

I’m delighted to see that the new software allows us to upload images much more easily, so thanks to the B&C team for making things smoother and cleaner.

I’m looking forward to sharing more of the project as I progress; hope you’ll tag along. 

Edited June 28, 2022 by apologist
Typo in title

[Naryn]

These are so cool! Love the tone on the purple, it's really rich and deep. Excited to see more!

[Shovellovin]

Looking good. I’ve been flirting with getting into building some epic scaled 30K stuff since I first saw Sherrypie’s work. Your work may be the straw that breaks this camel’s back. 
 

What is used for a rule set? Do you use a fanmade version of the old Epic rules?

[apologist]

44 minutes ago, Naryn said:

These are so cool! Love the tone on the purple, it's really rich and deep. Excited to see more!

Ta very much – and it’s a nice simple scheme: Screamer Pink washed with Druchii Violet. I highlighted the test model with white added to Screamer Pink, but have ordered a couple of different purples to try out as highlights.

Here’re the paints used for the basing – three layers of drybrushing.

 

31 minutes ago, Shovellovin said:

Looking good. I’ve been flirting with getting into building some epic scaled 30K stuff since I first saw Sherrypie’s work. Your work may be the straw that breaks this camel’s back. 
 

What is used for a rule set? Do you use a fanmade version of the old Epic rules?

I love Epic: Armageddon – best game GW ever made, in my opinion. However, in the spirit of trying new things, we’re using the (now free) rules for Beyond the Gates of Antares version 2. I’ve been painting and playing that for a little while, and it’s really scratching an itch for a simple platoon-level game. 

The in-between scale (twice as big as Epic, half the size of 40k) suits the mechanics, I think.

Edited June 24, 2022 by apologist
Adding pics

[batu]

They look amazing so far!

 

[Doghouse]

I must admit now that I have the printer I've been tempted to do something like this myself. Off to a great start mate and looking forward to seeing more!

[apologist]

Quiet progress. All the infantry’s bases are done (they’re based on pennies, if you fancy having a go yourself), and I’m all set for the metallics. Not a huge amount more to get things completed.

Big question is whether to go purple vehicles or black paint job?

 

[BadgersinHills]

Lovely stuff. 

[apologist]

Thanks for the kind words :)

Filling out the world

Of course, there's more to this hobby than painting and playing; so I wanted to come up with some background for the force in general. The Emperor's Children are a faction I've never really explored in depth, though they're a long-familiar name. Like the other three Chaos god-aligned Traitor Legions, I like how they represent a warning of taking a virtue to its extreme – for the Emperor's Children, pride curdled into arrogance. That's something that's long been tempting to explore – which I partially did in my Iron Hands narrative project, May You Live Forever. It's hopefully going to reappear in the search at some point, but to give a brief summary, it followed a couple of Iron Hands during the Isstvan Dropsite Massacre. They encountered a few isolated Emperor's Children there, and so I'd like to touch back on that.

Anyway, in the meantime, my gaming group has been getting the first batch of troops ready for this new scale. Alongside the Night Lords of @Lucifer216, the Dark Angels of @TrojanNinja and the Imperial Fists of @Bob Hunk, we'll be battling to decide the fate of a little region during the Heresy. 

Lucifer216 came up with the brilliant idea of producing some key figures in 32mm scale, and using forced perspective to get some shots. A lovely way to inject some personality and a great excuse to paint up some one-off larger figures, too. We thought it'd be good to generate some names, too, so my commander will be revelling in the name Lieutenant-Commander Dolichenus Tyrian, Prince of Chemos, Great Bull. I hope to be able to document the 15mm gaming and storyline here as we go.

[apologist]

Another short painting session last night sees progress being made to the Millennial. I'm not a fan of batch painting, but it's really the only practical way I've found to make progress with this scale. They're not small enough to whip through like Epic, nor large enough to be worth focussing on individually. The upsides are that the details are clean and reward quick, simple techniques.

Progress on the first batch of 16. These are at the third stage (see below).

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The painting process

I'm planning to work through four stages for these marines, summarised from left to right below.

Stage 1  Quick and simple – the model is painted with Screamer Pink. The bases are then painted with drybrushing, as described in the earlier post above. The model is then washed with Druchii Violet and the guns, backpack, studs and visible soft armour in Incubi Darkness.

Stage 2  This sees the metallics picked out with Ironbreaker. The midtones are then added with an even mix of Screamer Pink and Emperor's Children, favouring the upper parts and avoiding the recesses.

Stage 3  Having dried, the metallics are washed with Nuln Oil and the highlights added. Form highlights are Emperor's Children thinned with flow enhancer, over which are added Fulgrim Pink edge highlights to areas facing the light.

Stage 4 is detailing. The guns get an edge highlight of Vallejo Off-white, the eyes are picked out with Moot Green, and the Legion markings are added with gold (I think it's Liberator Gold, but wouldn't swear to it) a over a circle of Incubi Darkness.

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Hoping to polish off at least twenty Marines tonight.

Edited June 28, 2022 by apologist

[apologist]

Taking a little longer than I’d anticipated, but things are progressing.

I’m quietly pleased with how they’re turning out; it’s a simple scheme… but there are so many!

 

Each marine takes just a minute or two to apply the next stage, so hoping that it’s not going to take too much longer to polish them off. 

What would you like to see as an army expansion? A different armour mark? A different Legion as allies/enemies?

[apologist]

 

…and the Third continue to make progress. I’ve tentatively decided on black sides for the tanks, but otherwise purple. This work-in-progress example needs highlighting on the sides and further work overall, but the concept’s fairly clear. What do you reckon?

[Smoke Frog]

Wow those are tiny, totally missed the fact they were for epic until I saw them standing next to a regular marine! Well done, love the purple. 

[apologist]

Supply drops from the Forges! I arrived home to another parcel, which contained (amongst other things) some elites for the 16th Millennial. These are sitting out in the sun until I have time to get them prepped and based.

The Palatine Blades selected from the Millennial – and possible a champion on the left there. What do you think?

...and some fearsome, dauntless Phoenix Guard!

Edited July 8, 2022 by apologist

[Xin Ceithan]

Very nice.
The colours look really good and I like the purple and black on the rhino in particular.

I think the scale looks very nice also - the Marines are big enough to have some detail,  which makes them distinctive enough while not getting bogged down with to much detail at this scale of play but apparently fun enough to paint. Looks like there is going to be enough “bling” on the new specialists especially, so they get a bit more attention and stand out in the tabletop.

The original EPIC scale  marines always suffered from being just rows of over sized shoulder pads to my eyes.

Looking forward to see these develop and what fluff is going to grow up around them along the way.
 

[Doghouse]

I like the rhino but maybe the doors being purple as well might break up the black a bit more.

[apologist]

 

A bit of aerial recon reveals thirty-one marines and a Rhino that just need Legion markings.

[apologist]

A cry came up from the rabble – far from cowering, as had the denizens of Old Paultney, here the population had, to the Lieutenant's amused surprise, come out to line the streets. Clearly, the Legion's harbingers had found one of the cities ripe with rebellion.

The advance felt more like a parade – and while the crowd was clearly agitated and nervous, the destruction of the Arbites garrison by the 16th Millennial had been cheered. 

The Legionaries, clad in purple, moved with little caution, enjoying the sensation of being heralded as liberators rather than conquerors. Freedom! That was what they promised the populace. Freedom from tyranny, from Imperial taxes and oppression, and from more besides. Freedom from propriety, freedom from the repressive mores of society – until eventually they would be ripe for the ultimate freedoms of the Prince of Pleasure: freedom from the chilling confines of the flesh, from sanity, and eventually – from life itself.

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Now the heatwave has passed, I've been able to get back into painting. As you can see above, the highlighting has been completed, and I've started touching in the details. I've painted in the eyes on all the marines, so now it's really down to Legion markings and additional bits and bobs.

Love to hear what you think!

 

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I like the rhino but maybe the doors being purple as well might break up the black a bit more.

Cheers @Doghouse! Hopefully the highlighting has gone some way to giving form, but I'm also intending to add the Legion symbol, which should help break things up, too. See how it looks on this one, and perhaps I'll vary things on future ones.

Edited July 22, 2022 by apologist

[Sherrypie]

The legion symbol on the doors ought to look good, aye. The whole project is pretty sweet looking, as that wave of bold purple fills the table in a very eye-pleasing manner. How feasible have they felt on the gaming table? That's a lot of individual models for 15 mm.

(Tangentially, thanks @Shovellovin ;) )

[apologist]

Haven’t yet had the chance to play, but looking forward to doing so. Painting has progressed:

[apologist]

Alas, the scheduled game was cancelled (so we played a giant game of 40k instead), but I did get the chance to take a picture of the troops in action:

I'm pleased with how they're looking – even if they don't quite match the lurid pink of the original scheme! 

This is from the box of first edition of Epic: Space Marine, and details the schemes of a selection of traitors. When the HH was being fleshed out, the traitor schemes – indeed all the Space Marine schemes – were still in flux, as you can see from the red and white Death Guard and blue-black World Eaters. A lot of these schemes have since been brought into the modern background as the Legion's pre-Primarch schemes, or elsewhere (as with the black Sons of Horus).

Old artwork like this really has an appeal to me – but I never think it should be treated as more or less 'valid' than other sources. It's the inconsistencies and confusions that helps to give a richness and depth to the setting unrivalled by anything except real-world history. Just look at this Wikipedia quote on the Roman Legions:

The contemporary concept of uniforms was not part of Roman culture and there were considerable differences in detail. Armour was not standardized and even that produced in state factories varied according to the province of origin. Likewise the Romans had no concept of obsolescence. Provided it remained serviceable, soldiers were free to use armour handed down by family money, buy armour from soldiers who had completed their service, or wear discontinued styles of armour if they preferred it to (or could not afford) the latest issue. Thus, it was common for legions to wear a mix of various styles that could cover a considerable time period.

I think it's no coincidence that the historical-minded creators of the settings brought in such lacunae and room for doubt. After all – everything you have been told is a lie.

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...and a poor picture of a couple of Mark V Legionaries, along with a Mark IV officer.

Edited August 11, 2022 by apologist

[CMDR_Welles]

As to those Death Guard, isnt that the grey and single red arm of what were the Dusk Raiders? 

[apologist]

Yes, I think that's right. Note also the old Legion numbers – XIII for the Emperor's Children, and XVIII for the Night Lords.

[apologist]

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“What you seek you shall never find. For when the Gods made man, They kept immortality to themselves. Fill your belly.”

 

Not quite finished, but well on the way. Had a very enjoyable day off, painting up the tanks.

Edited September 2, 2022 by apologist

[Marshal Mittens]

Playing normal 30k with normal ranges and 10mm models seems fun, and like the terrain would be more epic looking.