+ In the Dust of Armageddon + – Themed project log

[apologist]

 

The Second Company is coming on well – I had a very fortunate Christmas, so another box of reinforcements will be joining them, too.

[apologist]

More on the way:

[apologist]

A bit of a treat to see them all based up and ready to go! 
 

 

There are roughly 200 marines in this batch, representing the 120 marines of Second Company, 40 from the Firedrakes, and the remainder reservists. I'll have a closer look at markings and so forth, and try to work out a bit of a more solid structure – though it's easy to get a bit 'rivet county' about this. Sometimes it's fun to gloss over the written records and just have a pile o' marines!

 

Edited January 22, 2024 by apologist

[Gamiel]

Maybe of interest in Index Astartes: Psykana Librarius : Space Marine Librarians in WD 258 do we see a Salamander Librarian with a Armageddon Campaign Marking on his right leg, the Librarian himself is green with blue helmet, psyhood, right pauldron and arm.

[apologist]

I'm making a push on getting the Epic: Legions Imperialis force to 1,500pts by the end of next week, when I'll be taking them to an event.

 

 

A Vanguard Detachment of Outriders (or a formation of bikers, if you prefer). These are a mix of SM2 plastics and Epic 40,000-era Tim Adcock sculpts.  

 

 

And more Tim Adcock sculpts – this time a Dreadnought Talon in the form of these lovely old war-washing machines.

 

Edited March 27, 2024 by apologist

[apologist]

Stirrings in the dust, as my friend has sent reinforcements for the 40k-scale models; and I've got another campaign event coming up in May.

 

I've also been tempted into the Age of Darkness by my gaming group (so we'll see some Horus Heresy/Scouring-era forebears), and another friend of mine wants to meet up for some Badab War conflict – perhaps we'll see these marines at an earlier juncture to help inform the narrative!

 

Before that, however, we need to work out what makes Salamanders the Salamanders?

 

 

+ On Geneseed+
 

Those invested with the geneseed of Vulkan demonstrate measurable physiological superiority to transhuman norms in relation to cellular repair. While making them no more resistant to direct damage than any other Space Marine, they have a baseline advantage in overall resilience – in short, making them fractionally harder to put down and swifter to return to battle than other Astartes.

 

For the Salamanders long history, this has repeatedly proven a critical boon. Most recently, during the mournful Badab War, the veterans of the Second Company were treacherously attacked during a parley. It was partially owing to their unexpected resilience that they were able to survive the attack.

 

On Armgeddon, their extreme temperature tolerance and radiological resistance – again markedly superior to those of other Astartes – made them well-suited to the hostile chem-and atomic-spoiled environments in which they found themselves embroiled. They are remembered in song on Armageddon for being those Space Marine most closely associated with the populace. While the noble Blood Angels and courageous Ultramarines took the war to Ghazghkull and his horde, spearheading numberless assaults and thwarting key ork advances, the Salamanders under Tu'Shan and his Captains instead turned to the numberless petty battles that raged across the continent.

 

Fragmented and frequently isolated, the geneseed gifts of their Primarch sire – along with mental resilience cultivated by their peculiar practises – allowed them to operate at peak efficiency. That they are so fondly remembered by the people of Armageddon is particularly notable when one considers the other aspect of Vulkan's gift: their inhuman appearance. 

 

The Primarch Vulkan is usually pictured as a coal-skinned giant with glowing red eyes. Whatever the truth of the matter – and ten thousand years separates the modern Imperium from the days of gods and monsters – the bulk of his descendants certainly demonstrate similar physical differences. These emerge gradually, and with varying speed. 

 

 

Salamanders have a particularly active melanchromic organ. In most Chapters, this serves to swiftly darken the Marines' skin under the bombardment of radiation. While useless against genuine radiation-based weaponry, it offers Marines a small measure of protection against hostile environments. Balanced by and in concert with the biscopea and oolitic kidney, these organs can substantially reduce the risk of ongoing tissue damage.

 

In addition the Chapter's gene-line differs slightly to other gene-strains; exhibiting some of the traits later associated with the Primaris implant, the magnificat. This likely accounts for their red eyes and anthracite-black skin; as well as their tendency to greater stature and reduced reaction time. Whether this is a case of the biscopea and a proto-magnificat being partially fused, or some other interaction between the highly-ritualised and poorly-understood Astartes-creating surgery, Salamanders who are subjected to heavy radiation will darken like other Astartes – but considerably more quickly, and to a greater degree.

 

This will fade – again, more slowly than in other gene-lines – but those who spend any time at all on their homeworld of Nocturne will undergo a seemingly permanent change, their skin becoming coal black from whatever appearance if formerly had. The sclera of their eyes will also darken, and the occulobe will prompt the formation of a highly reflective layer to accommodate the alterations. This enhances the Salamander's already formidable ability to see in the dark – leading to the rumours that they have some form of infravision. The resulting changes cause the Salamanders' eyes seemingly to glimmer in the dark; picking up and reflecting light back through pupils that appear to glow. The effect is minimal in daylight, but highly disconcerting to their foes. 

 

+++

 

 

[apologist]

+ Drake Hunters – 5th Company Salamanders +

'The 5th has a reputation of destroying large enemy constructs and alien horrors. Its members specialize in slaying the salamander drakes of Nocturne. As a Reserve Company, they rarely fight together but instead are used to reinforce other companies during campaigns. In battle, they favor acting as mobile weapons platforms instead of static defense and use a large amount of Dreadnoughts. They also make extensive use of attack craft and heavy gunships.'

 

– Codex supplement: Salamanders

 

 

With the closing part of the Corsair Gambit coming up at an event this weekend, I've been polishing up reinforcements for my Epic army. Since the 2nd Company is very large indeed at this point, I've painted these marines to have yellow pauldrons with black Legion/Chapter icons. Codex: Armageddon has a few variant examples in yellow, with some artworks shows a yellowy-orange pauldron for the 5th. In the post-Primaris landscape, the 5th Company is a definite orange, rather than yellow with orange shadows, but that's part of the fun of painting your own models – you get to choose.

 

Having different markings on these figures to the rest of the army (which are green with black as a secondary and white details) is very useful from a practical point of view – it's easier for everyone involved to distinguish formations from one another, and is also more interesting for me to paint, keeping me engaged. 

 

 

The Epic scale makes it easy to handwave a great deal of otherwise curious wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff and allow these figures to pull double duty for both HH-era and Armageddon-era gaming; but I still find it fun to make something that'll fit neatly in both – after all, this is a collaborative hobby, so I want to make sure that those who lean harder into the 'historical' side of Legions Imperialis/Epic aren't too offended. 

 

It's partially for that reason that I picked yellow as the heraldry colour. It's got precedent in both HH and 40k eras as an accent colour, and helps to make the base green pop. 

 

 

Looking at a stand chosen at random reveals the hideous daubings importance of abstraction at this scale. I think the freehand Salamanders symbols on the pauldrons do a pretty good job of evoking the drake's head Legion icons, and when seen at actual size, the effect is fair. Nevertheless, they're far from perfect. Where you decide you want to strike the balance is worth thinking about in your plan... just don't let your aspirations stop you from getting started.
 

I think it's important to remember that these are 8mm models, and meant to be fielded en masse. Detail and precision aren't necessarily your friends here, as they'll stretch the time needed to get your forces on the board. Sometimes, 'fair and finished' is the goal, rather than jewel-like individuality. Below, then, is a 5th Company force that is battlefield ready – though I'm going to do my best to have the banner, crests and similar details all polished up for deployment tomorrow. Wish me luck!

 

 

Edited May 23 by apologist