Harbingers of Taelus: Sons of Medusa in 30k

[Smoke Frog]

Thank you @PerfectChocolateMadeleine and @roryokane! You two inspired me to finally finish my breacher squad just in case any more dastardly Emperor's Children supporters decide to peruse my army blog . 

 

It has been fun to weave the story of this chapter (based on the seeds originally planted by @Ascanius), into the greater setting to "fill a gap." The Iron Hands may have been sucker-punched at the start of the Heresy, but somewhere from a quarter to half their legion could have survived the dropsite massacre. The survivors don't get talked about too much so this was a good fit for me.

 

Bitter, angry marines trying to survive against a galaxy in flames against their former brothers who betrayed them. Like some angry, heavily armored bandits or Robin Hoods where their sherwood forest is an asteroid belt in deep space... and they are green!? Perfect 

 

 

++++++++++

 

Seizing the reigns of command, the previously unknown Iron Father Selok Sataar led the survivors of Clan Clotho into hiding, along with contingents of several other surviving clans. It wasn’t until almost three years later, with the Heresy now full-blown and fighting broken out in earnest across all segmentum of the galaxy that they returned, now reforged into a guerilla fighting-force to hound the traitors from behind their supply lines.

 

 

 

 

Reclamation of Taelus

 

The Moirae sector had since the inception of the heresy, like so many of the forgeworlds of Mars, been rent with conflict between the established and more rational leadership declaring support for Mars and the Sons of Horus, and the more fanatical elements aligned to the worship of the Emperor as the Omnissiah. These two forces were at each other's throats from the start, forcing Moirae into a near complete stalemate as titan fought titan, skitarii legions died in the hundreds of millions, and voidcraft fought each other throughout Moirae and neighboring systems, securing supply lines bringing war-materials and resources to keep the engine of war moving at full capacity.

 

 

It was here in the Moirae sector where the legionnaires led by Selok Sataar made the most impact. Striking without warning from the depths of the void, numerous convoys operated by the traitors began to vanish.

 

No trace remaining except for the blasted hulks adrift in space. 

 

 

A turning point for the clan's fortunes in these early days was the return to the Taelus system. Once long ago during the age of the Great Crusade, on the order of Ferrus Manus Clan Clotho had conquered this system in the name of the Emperor to secure its mineral wealth for the might of the Imperium. The Clan returned to find the riches of the asteroid-mines now fueling the Warmaster’s war effort. From the void the Clan descended upon the system strongholds.

 

 

 

[//Sergeant Georgos of Clan Clotho, breacher squad veteran of many asteroid boarding actions//]

 

 

 

...breach-by-breach, the Hands assaulted the weak points in the defensive apparatuses they themselves had built, causing the entire defensive network to crumble as they swept through the system, reclaiming it rock-by-rock and purging those who now refused the Emperor’s light. The most obstinate defenses were cracked from orbit from nova cannon-equipped craft stolen from the Mechanicus, left open to the quiet void of space. The actions of Clan Clotho later earned it the cognomen of the “Harbingers of Taelus,” for their actions in the takeover of the system, as it only heralded the devastation that they were to inflict upon the traitors of the surrounding worlds.

 

 

 

++++++++++

 

 

Glad to finally have these ten marines done. The heraldry is a bit throne together but I think it is good enough for some marines on the run. 

 

The Hand of Ferrus:

 

 

The Gorgon's Head:

 

 

....and a few other shields.

 

Edited September 20 by Smoke Frog

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

absolutely love this, breachers in general are just so awesome

[Smoke Frog]

"May the forces of the emperor cleanse this world and keep it for its people" 

- Harbingers of Taelus, Hallam Campaign. 

 

 

Finally tested out some desert bases! I like how they look, good contrast with the dark armor. Will be going back to do the rest of the breachers (and the other infantry squads). 

 

Also here is the details of the Master of Signal's medusa on is armor. Originally I was going to paint it on his chest but the wire made tha a bit too hard to pull off.

 

[RolandTHTG]

Beautiful army. Love the backstory too. 

[Smoke Frog]

Thanks @RolandTHTG! It has been fun coming up with the backstory.

 

Speaking of lore...

 

 

++++++++++

 

...amongst the void, the remnant fleet limped its way to a long-forgotten harbor to lick their wounds. Repairs were always slow outside a true planetside drydock, and those with the knowledge to conduct those repairs even scarcer than the limited supplies scavenged together to repair the aged vessels. In those days tech-adepts were identified and tasked throughout the ranks for any menial labor required by the Iron Fathers’ exacting instructions.

 

 

WIP Tech-adept, wanted to go for a rogue-trader-esque look for this guy. Shamelessly inspired by a techmarine conversion from @apologist!

 

 

[Smoke Frog]

I may have gotten conversion happy and put together a few more techmarines this weekend!! 

 

 

Techmarine #2 is magnetized to double as an Armistos consul, with heavy bolter and lascannon options.

 

Heavy Bolter:

 

 

Lascannon, liberated from the leftover Land Raider sprue:

 

 

Techmarine #3 makes use of a robotic arm I purchased online recently:

 

 

...while Techmarine #4 was a bit of an experiment, very "jaws of life"

 

 

 

Lastly Techmarine #5 is my least favorite of the bunch and I may demote him to squad sergeant in the future and re-use his backpack. He was supposed to be a siegebreaker but I don't think he is imposing enough. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 8 by Smoke Frog

[Smoke Frog]

++009.M31++

 

 

Hallam. Desert planet, a rad-soaked world the color of mustard. Populated by devolved humans bereft of the galaxy's pleasures. Who worship the baubles of ancient computing technology which they wear like badges around their next. Desert rats, used as pawns by the mechanicum to bring them scaps hidden in the sands. They will murder anyone they come across and strip them naked. Tech vampires, who would steal your vox caster faster than they would raid your food supplies.

 

The planet was scorched during the great crusade; a human-empire held in thrall by an alien menace. The survivors dredged up treasures and sold it to the Mechanicum first, but after the ships stopped coming for the increasingly dwindling scraps a cult developed, sacrificing and worshipping for the return of the angels and demons of the sky.

 

 

 

Now the traitors have taken power on this world.

 

Mechanized crawlers comb the deep deserts for fragments of archaeotech and resources to be pawned off to off-world smugglers. A cabal of thieves and murderers holds Hallam in its grip, while the Dark Mechanicum have sank their claws into the entire operation and reap the rewards.

 

 

 

...but a new menace has been sighted across the dunes. Dark-clad warriors, their armor filtering the cancerous air out of their lungs, immune to the radiation that cripples mere mortals. There armor vehicles are marked by the sign of the Hand, and they have come for vengeance.

 

 

 

 

 

++++++++++

 

 

I hope you like the land raider! Breachers have all their bases done now for a bright desert tone I am happy with. I couldn't resist making some moody desert-filter photos for the tank and rest of the breachers 

 

Here is the unit and transport in true color: 

 

 

 

[Gorgoff]

I love your work. Really good.

[Smoke Frog]

Thanks @Gorgoff! 

 

I have a WIP post for today that I am excited about, I put together some Rogue Trader-inspired MkVI marines:

 

 

The guy on the back left was just a stand in to make sure I didn't mess up the scale somehow. Very happy I still had a box of tactical marines lying around, they came in hand for the sergeant's power fist!

 

Brother casualty was also made with bits from the tactical squad box, I was surprised to see how similar the bits were to the Horus Heresy MkVI kit. Need to clean him up a bit. His hand was donated from a Primaris kit. 

 

 

The marine in  the far back right was repositioned so he is hunching slightly, and while it isn't apparent from this angle he is sporting a leftover Reiver combat blade. 

 

 

Final two additions to the squad are the heavy-weapon gunner with a flak shield, with parts for his lascannon donated from the leftovers from the Land Raider Proteus kit. Same method I used for one of the techmarines. I am assuming the weapon sprue that comes with the Proteus is the same one for the spartan, and it was easier to repurpose the lascannons for this project that go buy a whole heavy weapons box!

 

Also remade marine for the front-left so he is hunching over a bit too. Couldn't figure out how to get his arm long enough to fully stretch across his whole body, but the old tac-marine arms were a bit longer so he got one of those. 

 

 

In addition to these five I went ahead and made a bunch of other goons to fill out the squad!

 

 

I realize I forgot to make a comms-specialist, may go back and make one more. As it stands I have enough here to make a squad of ten tacticals, or use them as veterans and swap out two of them for the lascannons. I also need to make a display-base to show of the five centerpiece minis in the classic rogue-trader pose. 

 

For painting the plan is to paint their armor the same as the rest of the force (dark green-metallic) to include their helmets this time, and give each one a white stripe minus the sergeant who gets the white-and-black checkers. I will be replacing the "ultras" with "iron" and painting on Iron Hands legion symbols of course, maybe paint it in the style from the 3rd edition marine codex (looks less like a gauntlet and more like a clawed hand). 

 

 

 

[W.A.Rorie]

So awesome. You have a very inspiring thread! 

[Smoke Frog]

++++++++++

 

"May His Light shine upon Us and All of His Domain."

 

- proverb <//origin - Forgeworld Moirae //>

 

 

++++++++++

 

The prevalent discourse of Moirae had shifted on a fundamental level when the Great Crusade reached its shores. Reclaimed by Mars, the dusk-clad techpriests of Moirae became fierce adherents to the cult of the Omnissiah, or as they knew him as “He Who Returns the Light to the Galaxy.” 

 

 

During worship all ritual was conducted with reference to the last known location of the Emperor himself according to datascripts and psy-records, and upon the construction of the Astronomicum it quickly became the focal point and object of worship for all the cult mechanicus on Moirae.

 

 

Such was their devotion that on the outbreak of the heresy the priests of Moirae stood firm against the hordes of the Traitor Mechanicum surrounding them. Or so they would have you convinced; in truth they were just as split as any other scion of the Red Planet. The planetary munitions factories and arch-mechanistrates began to tear itself apart as soon as the envoys of Mars arrived to declare for the warmaster.

 

 

++++++++++

 

Finished my first legion techmarine!

 

Altered him slightly from the WIP posted earlier to include the other vent from his backpack, I love how it balances against the tiny servo-arm. 

 

I think he looks great in all metallic-green armor, he was a good test paint for my rogue trader squad, though I plan to add helmet stripes for them. It didn't seem to quite fit for this guy with his bionic eyes. 

 

 

Mini is inspired by @apologist's masterpiece rogue-trader inspired techmarine. 

[W.A.Rorie]

Nice!

[Smoke Frog]

Thanks @W.A.Rorie!

 

Decided to spice up my intro post with my Sons of Medusa symbol, I think it fits the warband really well. At some point I should look into painting a big version on a banner for a command squad. 

 

 

Also anyone else have headcannon that Ferrus Manus had dreadlocks? Not that a primarch would make much sense for this warband unless he was mechanically resurrected somehow, but if I ever were to paint the Xth primarch I would likely convert him up to have some. 

[W.A.Rorie]

I love it! It will really make it your own.

[Smoke Frog]

+++++++

 

Praevian Galach

 

Galach was not originally a native to Clan Clotho, rather he came into the fold of the Harbingers prior to their initial push into the Taelus system after their recovery from Istvaan. A techmarine of either clans Maegera or Lachesis (unspecified in the record), the heavily damaged Pravien was resuscitated by the techmarines of the Clotho council after being salvaged from his damaged strike cruiser.

 

 

Profusely thankful for his rescue, Galach later adopted heraldry mimicking the green-armor tones of the rest of the clan council, including the Mark of Shame (white helmet-coloration) worn by the majority of the Harbingers.

 

Indeed, Galach is one of the few surviving members of the Harbingers’ techmarine core who steadfastly maintained this tradition and who survived both the Heresy and the Great Scouring, and was ultimately reintegrated into the Iron Hands chapter at the advent of the Second Founding.

 

 

During his stint as a member of the Harbingers of Taelus amongst the ranks of Clan Clotho’s techmarines it was he who oversaw the cybernetic allies long bequeathed to the clan, maintaining and shepherding these robotic weapons of war across several battlefields with uncompromising and deadly efficiency.

 

+++++++

 

Purchased this Praevian off ebay, I like the model and while it was already painted in a really nice Iron Hands scheme I couldn't help but give him my proto-Sons of Medusa paint scheme. 

Edited November 24 by Smoke Frog

[Smoke Frog]

+++++++

 

Armistos Haderact

 

 

Armistos.

 

Employed by the Legion Master of the Arsenal.

 

Always few in number, capable of supporting and supplying their battle-brothers without desire for aggrandizement.

 

To them felt the thankless, uninspired but devastatingly crucial tasks of requisitioning and dispensing the vast quantities required by a Legion to wage a crusade across the galaxy. Many were weapon-crafters and data-smiths without peer.

 

 

After the Tenth broke after Istvaan, it fell to the Armistos corps first secure, then allocate the companies limited arms and armor to the Clan’s embattled survivors. Ever resourceful, many of these stalwarts turned there talents to making equipment inventories stretch to their absolute limits.

 

 

Others, like Armistos Haderact, took a different approach and pursued new, more “aggressive” avenues to keep his warband supplied… marking enemy armor and artillery for reclamation and reuse into the Harbinger’s fold with precision volleys expertly launched his powerpack mounted lascannon. 

 

 

Long Live the Tenth. 

 

+++++++

 

The Armistos was a fun one to put together from various leftover bits in my bits box. Old terminator legs and a helmet/shoulder combo from an old vehicle kit donated by my uncle along with some guitar wire. Arms are a vehicle driver and a primaris kit, pistol is from the Admech skitarii rustalkers.

 

The robot arm the pistol is on is from a terrain pack from SW shatterpoint (that eyeball robot guard that comes out and scares C-3PO when he and R2D2 try to get into Jabba's palace ).

 

Heavy Bolter is from the Iron Father Feirros kit leftover from my praetor conversion on the first post of this blog, and its magnetized so it can swap out with a lascannon leftover from the Land Raider Proteus kit which comes with two sets of two extra to make the Spartan (and I used two more of them for some veterans). 

 

Pleased with how he came together and happy I can give him different guns in the future, or just run him as a backup techmarine.  

[Smoke Frog]

+++++++

 

Techmarine Ibraxim

 

 

 

 …and in exchange, the Mechanicum would supply the Imperium of Man with weapons, starships, material and technicions to initiate the Emperor’s Great Crusade…

 

 …pacts were sworn between the Mechanicum and the burgeoning Legiones Astartes to allow the Space Marines to send those warriors with affinity for technology to Mars to train and begin the long, arduous journey of becoming priests of the Machine God. Without the passing of this knowledge the Legions would have been unable to make war…

 

 ..30 years they would train amongst the Red Sands. They trained with them, learned from them, and when they returned home they were augmented men of dual loyalties, in body and blood to their Legion and Primarch, but in mind to the mysteries of the Cult and Omnissiah...

 

 

"When the dice are cast and lines drawn in the sand, which master do they now serve? Our father, now dead? The Cult, now divided house whose lords declare for the Warmaster and disavow their own teachings of a Machine Messiah, that their red priests have held dear for over two centuries? Do they find ultimate shelter in their machine faith at the exclusion of their vows to the Imperial Truth?

 

We cannot trust them, better we slay them now then allow the chance of treachery! The damage they could cause would truly be our end."

 

<// covert vox recordings of unrecorded Xth legion officer corps following the Dropsite Massacre… loyalty unknown. 006.M31 //>

 

 

 

+++++++

 

Really simple conversion work on this techmarine here, body/legs from an old Tactical marine kit (with a bit of a base-height boost so he isn't a midget), along with vehicle sprue bits and another leftover vehicle-techmarine head. 

 

His servo-arm was an Industrial Tech-Arm I purchased off Etsy (SkullForgeScenics), and the arm was WAY bigger than I expected it to be. Still I think it worked well enough for how I attached it.  

 

 

[roryokane]

Love this thread. The lore, the paint scheme... everything. My one criticism is maybe that last Techmarine needs something to counterbalance the ginormous servo arm... esp if he were to use it to lift anything! But other than that, Bravo!

[Smoke Frog]

@roryokane That is a very good point that I did not consider before  hopefully the techmarine can switch out his gigantic servo-arm in between missions! 

 

Also thank you! I have been enjoying writing and expanding on the fluff blurbs. Really happy that the inspiration that @Ascanius's blog has taken me this far. 

 

Speaking of ginormous servo-arms...

 

 

 

+++++++

 

Techmarine Sin Ohmed

 

 

 

"Salvage report 008.276.M31.

 

Subject = Mechaicum voidfrigate, nomenclature [skip] originate = Alcimater, newly designate = Hand of Vengeance.

 

Sub-hold delta-four-five contains armored spearhead, 60% damage rate, majority holds are fused shut.

 

Preempting extraction and removal of parts replacements/stock, refuse to be deposited in exo-dock delta-four when complete.

 

Estimated work-rate set for 10.5 hours, servitors programmed, initiating clearing operation."

 

                    <//report Adept Sin Ohmed, techmarine on board the Shield of Herac, conducting salvage operations on board recently captured Mechanicum vessels//>

 

 

 

Clan Clotho’s battlefleet was ravaged in the aftermath of the retreat from Istvaan. Against all odds both battlebarges of the clan had survived, the Iron Fate and Iron Father Selok Sataar’s flagship, the later renamed Harbinger of Fury. A handful of strike-cruisers were cobbled together from the clan’s fleet and its allies (includes: Shield of Herac, Blessings of Chaumas, etc).   

 

 

 

Through the course of the heresy the Harbingers of Taelus were able to use their capabilities in void-warfare to great effect against the convoys of the Traitor Mechanicum, stealing and repurposing several traitor vehicles towards the loyalist cause. One such powerful example was the gargantuan stolen Mechanicum Salvator Ark rechristened the Primarch’s Due, which turn used to great effect against several other pirated vessels throughout the heresy, loyalist and traitor vessels alike.

 

 

 

 

+++++++

 

Last techmarine for now until I put together a mortifactor in terminator armor from the Caanok Vor kit, I wanted a Doc-Oc look for this guy and had the perfect helmet to do it. Even though once again his servo-arm is way too big, I think this guy looks pretty good with the mechandrites coming out the other side. 

I really like the "jaws of life" rhino-extraction look he has going on, but in retrospect this guy is going to be the most difficult to use on the tabletop simply because he takes up so much space! 

 

 

[Smoke Frog]

Remember brothers, there are no reinforcements coming. We are all that remains of the Tenth. But we shall make these mongrels remember the name of our Father one more time before we are gone from the universe.

– Iron Father Selok Sataar upon completion of the Reclamation of Taelus.

 

 

+++++++

 

 

Moirae-Pattern Vindicator

 

 

 

§  Known STC data in use by the Imperium has created many ubiquitous vehicles in use by the Legiones Astartes, and while for the most part standardized many regional or forgeworld-specific examples of armor vehicles are known to be employed by the legions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

§  One such example is the Moirae-pattern Vindicator, believed a sub-variant of the Mars-pattern, was known for its remarkable flexibility, configurable as either its standard siegebreaker loadout, or as needed conversion into an able tank-hunter in the vein of the Vindicator Laser Destroyer. The few smuggled out of the Moirae system were much prized by the Harbingers of Taelus to carry out their hidden war of retribution…

 

§  As identified in the following pict-captures, the Moirae-pattern Vindicator was put to great use by the Harbingers throughout their campaigns on Hallam, Kysos, as well as on the sand-blasted shores of Moirae herself. 

 

Laser Destroyer: 

 

 

Demolisher Cannon:

 

 

 

+++++++

 

Vindicator finished!

Named it the “Twice Forged” as I made this conversion years ago when I planned to include it as part of my deathwatch before I realized I hated edge highlighting on tanks. Don't get me wrong I love how my anti-air stalker turned out, but it was a pain to paint up and I didn't want to do it again, barely got through finishing the speeder.  Seemed like a good time to pivot finish off the vindicator as part of my Horus Heresy force!

 

 

 

The Moirae-pattern variant idea simply grew out of the fact I had this vindicator already converted up, might as well make use of what I have on hand to pad out the force. It isn't the cleanest conversion but looks fine from a distance. Need to practice making rivets!

 

Do the space marines of 30K have any anti-aircraft tanks? Thinking of putting a quad autocannon array or some other kind of weapon on top of a rhino chassis at some point to see how that looks. 

 

 

 

 

 

[roryokane]

On 11/28/2025 at 7:51 PM, Smoke Frog said:

Remember brothers, there are no reinforcements coming. We are all that remains of the Tenth. But we shall make these mongrels remember the name of our Father one more time before we are gone from the universe.

– Iron Father Selok Sataar upon completion of the Reclamation of Taelus.

 

 

+++++++

 

 

Moirae-Pattern Vindicator

 

 

 

§  Known STC data in use by the Imperium has created many ubiquitous vehicles in use by the Legiones Astartes, and while for the most part standardized many regional or forgeworld-specific examples of armor vehicles are known to be employed by the legions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

§  One such example is the Moirae-pattern Vindicator, believed a sub-variant of the Mars-pattern, was known for its remarkable flexibility, configurable as either its standard siegebreaker loadout, or as needed conversion into an able tank-hunter in the vein of the Vindicator Laser Destroyer. The few smuggled out of the Moirae system were much prized by the Harbingers of Taelus to carry out their hidden war of retribution…

 

§  As identified in the following pict-captures, the Moirae-pattern Vindicator was put to great use by the Harbingers throughout their campaigns on Hallam, Kysos, as well as on the sand-blasted shores of Moirae herself. 

 

Laser Destroyer: 

 

 

Demolisher Cannon:

 

 

 

+++++++

 

Vindicator finished!

Named it the “Twice Forged” as I made this conversion years ago when I planned to include it as part of my deathwatch before I realized I hated edge highlighting on tanks. Don't get me wrong I love how my anti-air stalker turned out, but it was a pain to paint up and I didn't want to do it again, barely got through finishing the speeder.  Seemed like a good time to pivot finish off the vindicator as part of my Horus Heresy force!

 

 

 

The Moirae-pattern variant idea simply grew out of the fact I had this vindicator already converted up, might as well make use of what I have on hand to pad out the force. It isn't the cleanest conversion but looks fine from a distance. Need to practice making rivets!

 

Do the space marines of 30K have any anti-aircraft tanks? Thinking of putting a quad autocannon array or some other kind of weapon on top of a rhino chassis at some point to see how that looks. 

 

 

 

 

 

I think you could make the argument that some versions of the Whirlwind Hyperios must have existed, and didn't the Sicaran Arcus have access to Helical targeting arrays at one point? Perfectly reasonable to assume it could therefore be used in an anti-aircraft role.

[Smoke Frog]

On 12/2/2025 at 4:54 PM, roryokane said:

I think you could make the argument that some versions of the Whirlwind Hyperios must have existed, and didn't the Sicaran Arcus have access to Helical targeting arrays at one point? Perfectly reasonable to assume it could therefore be used in an anti-aircraft role.

 

Looking at some of the rules it does look like the Sicaran had some anti-air options in the past, that could be a good option!

 

 

WIP post today for my rogue trader-inspired veterans. The minis themselves are mostly done:

 

 

 

...and I am working on their bases in conjunction with a unit display base! WIP picks to show the progression:

 

 

I have some leftover Necromunda wall/door tiles I never used, they are coming in handy right now. 

 

 

After some floral wire getting added, plastic piping, and sand...

 

 

 

I also added Brother Skully to the base! 

 

 

 

Painting is ongoing, but I am enjoying the progress. Hoping this project can be part of a larger diorama in the future.