Madeleine's Project Log - III Legion, XXVIII Millennial

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

Hello! I'm starting a plog for my nascent Emperor's Children army!!

This summer, I'll have a lot of warhammer stuff to do which is awesome (especially with that 3rd ed boxset!! Mk II is my fav!!) and I have already very nearly fully painted a miniature (see below) and I am very satisfied with the scheme!!

<lore section>

I'm not sure anyone is interested in the pages of lore I have on these guys, so to summarize, the 28th Millennial is essentially "what if the Iron Warriors were purple?". When the Emperor's Children stopped exclusively fighting alongside the Luna Wolves, the 28th was soon assigned to battle alongside multiple Grand Battalions of the IVth, and was struck with the ambition to surpass the sons of Perturabo in their own specialty of siege warfare.

Initially, even though they were trying to emulate the Iron Warriors, the 28th was distrustful of automata, only employing them in small groups, and rarely. However, Fulgrim soon received word of how the 28th had developed, and was not pleased with their high casualty rates: for the Phoenician, maintaining the Legion's numbers was absolutely paramount. To appease him, the 28th began inducting large amounts of automata into their ranks to act as expendable siege-fodder.

However, the 28th slowly came to regard these Mechanicum troops as valued battle-brothers, appreciating the perfection that a finely calibrated machine could achieve.

Commander Paitux, leader of the 28th Millennial, was covertly informed of the Horus Heresy before it would start, and stood very firmly alongside his Primarch. At Istvaan III, the Millennial would start barrelling down a path it could scarcely come back from...

</lore section>

Anyways, here's my nearly-finished Techmarine, Ornest Redlos, who was made a techmarine a few years before the Heresy, and received a suit of Mk IV armor when he went to Mars for his training. Before the Siege of Mykana (c. 003.M31), Mk IV power armour was a rare sight in the 28th, who often operated far from resupply ships and among which many stubbornly clung to their tried-and-tested Mk II and IIIs.

I'll take some more professional-looking pictures once it's all done (tomorrow I'll receive my Microset and Microsol so I can apply transfers, then I'll do weathering, then I'll varnish!!)

[Brother Kraskor]

Love the scheme, and the lore! Very EC to decide to beat other legions at their own game!

[StratoKhan]

Hey, good to see a new project starting!

 

Great start on the techmarine, that purple is looking good.

 

Nice to see some Emperor’s Children too. I liked the background you put together and your idea about EC seeking perfection in siege warfare, is interesting and makes a lot of sense. Sieges are inherently such dirty business and have high rates of attrition so I like your idea around automata etc being included into the force.

 

I’m curious if you have a rough idea about what your army list will look like as well?

 

Whatever the case, I look forward to seeing more!

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

45 minutes ago, StratoKhan said:

Hey, good to see a new project starting!

 

Great start on the techmarine, that purple is looking good.

 

Nice to see some Emperor’s Children too. I liked the background you put together and your idea about EC seeking perfection in siege warfare, is interesting and makes a lot of sense. Sieges are inherently such dirty business and have high rates of attrition so I like your idea around automata etc being included into the force.

 

I’m curious if you have a rough idea about what your army list will look like as well?

 

Whatever the case, I look forward to seeing more!

Thank you sm!! I've actually made a few lists on new recruit just for fun though I mainly collect / paint, here's one of them (that actually doesn't include a techmarine) :D

 

Since the new edition is coming soon this exact list probably won't be viable, but it looks smth like this so far:

 

 

## Rite of War
Rite of War: Brethren Of Iron

 

 

## HQ [939 Pts]

 

Forge Lord [ 194 Pts]: Cortex Controller, Cyber-Familiar, Bolt Pistol, Volkite Serpenta, Combat Shield, Artificer Armour

 

Praevian [575 Pts]: Cortex Controller, Cyber-Familiar, Plasma Pistol, Artificer Armour, Power Weapon (Power Axe)
• 1x Castellax Battle-Automata Maniple [440 Pts]:
  • 1x Castellax [95 Pts]: Atomantic Deflector, Mauler Bolt Cannon, In-Built Bolter, In-Built Flamer, Two Power Blade Arrays* (2x Power Blade Array)
  • 1x Castellax [110 Pts]: Atomantic Deflector, Multi-Melta, In-Built Bolter, In-Built Flamer, Two Shock Chargers* (2x Shock Charger)
  • 1x Castellax [110 Pts]: Atomantic Deflector, Darkfire Cannon, In-Built Bolter, In-Built Flamer, Two Shock Chargers* (2x Shock Charger)
  • 1x Castellax [115 Pts]: Atomantic Deflector, Multi-Melta, In-Built Bolter, In-Built Flamer, Two Power Blade Arrays* (2x Power Blade Array)

 

Delegatus, Tartaros [232 Pts]: Master of the Legion, Warlord, Bloody-handed, Combi-Bolter, Power Weapon (Phoenix Rapier),
• 1x Command Squad, Tartaros [132 Pts]:
  • 1x Tartaros Standard Bearer w/Ranged Weapon [5 Pts]: Grenade Harness, Legion Standard, Combi-Bolter
  • 1x Tartaros Chosen [32 Pts]: Volkite Charger, Power Weapon (Power Lance)
  • 1x Tartaros Chosen [45 Pts]: Thunder Hammer, Combi-Bolter

 

 

## Elites [626 Pts]

Thallax Cohort [249 Pts]: Close Combat Weapon, Frag Grenades, Incunabulan Jet Pack, Lightning Gun, Lorica Thallax, Meltabombs, Photon Thruster
• 5x Thallax [37 Pts]

Thallax Cohort [209 Pts]: Close Combat Weapon, Frag Grenades, Incunabulan Jet Pack, Lightning Gun, Lorica Thallax, Irad-Cleanser
• 5x Thallax [37 Pts]

Veteran Squad [168 Pts]: Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Power Armour, Augury Scanner, Legion Vexilla, Nuncio-Vox
• 1x Veteran Sergeant [15 Pts]: Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Charnabal Sabre, Artificer Armour
• 4x Veteran [20 Pts]: Astartes Shotgun, Bolt Pistol

 

 

## Troops [657 Pts]

Reconnaissance Squad [165 Pts]: Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Power Armour, Shroud Bombs
• 1x Legion Recon Sergeant [32 Pts]: Bolter, Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon (Phoenix Rapier)
• 1x Recon Legionary [32 Pts]: Bolt Pistol, Nemesis Bolter, Augury Scanner
• 1x Recon Legionary [32 Pts]: Bolt Pistol, Nemesis Bolter, Nuncio-Vox
• 2x Recon Legionary [22 Pts]: Bolt Pistol, Nemesis Bolter

Tactical Squad [246 Pts]: Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Power Armour
• 1x Legion Tactical Sergeant: Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Power Armour
• 16x Legionary [11 Pts]: Bayonet, Bolt Pistol, Bolter
• 1x Legionary w/ Options [20 Pts]: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Augury Scanner
• 1x Legionary w/ Options [20 Pts]: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Legion Vexilla
• 1x Legionary w/ Options [20 Pts]: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Nuncio-Vox

Tactical Squad [246 Pts]: Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Power Armour
• 1x Legion Tactical Sergeant: Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Power Armour
• 16x Legionary [11 Pts]: Bayonet, Bolt Pistol, Bolter
• 1x Legionary w/ Options [20 Pts]: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Augury Scanner
• 1x Legionary w/ Options [20 Pts]: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Legion Vexilla
• 1x Legionary w/ Options [20 Pts]: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Nuncio-Vox

 

 

## Heavy Support [775 Pts]

Deredeo Dreadnought Talon [225 Pts]:
• 1x Legion Deredeo Dreadnought [225 Pts]: Atomantic Deflector, Helical Targeting Array, Arachnus Heavy Lascannon Battery, Twin-linked Heavy Bolter, Four Boreas Air Defence Missiles

Sun Killer Squad [295 Pts]: Bolt Pistol, Chainsword, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, 4x Lascannon
• 1x Novaetor [30 Pts]: Bolt Pistol, Charnabal Sabre, Lascannon, Augury Scanner, Meltabombs
• 4x Sun Killer [40 Pts]
• 1x Rhino Transport [80 Pts]: Smoke Launchers, Twin-linked Bolter, Multi-Melta, Dozer Blade, 1x Hull (Front) Mounted hunter-killer missile, Searchlights

Thanatar Siege-automata Maniple [255 Pts]:
• 1x Thanatar Calix [255 Pts]: Thanatar Calix (Atomantic Deflector, Graviton Ram, Sollex Heavy-Las, Twin-linked Mauler Bolt Cannon)

 

I could totally add the Castellax in my elites slot instead of with the Praevian, but I'd like to have a Praevian for fluff reasons ((s)he's meant to be a tech-priest in "disguise" - long story)

 

 

46 minutes ago, Brother Kraskor said:

Love the scheme, and the lore! Very EC to decide to beat other legions at their own game!

thank you so much :D I've seen your own EC before and they're amazing as well!!

Edited May 29 by PerfectChocolateMadeleine
additional info

[Pearson73]

A very cool idea, you don't often see siege- or automata-focused Emperor's Children. Nice job on that metallic purple.

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

9 hours ago, Pearson73 said:

A very cool idea, you don't often see siege- or automata-focused Emperor's Children. Nice job on that metallic purple.

thank you! i combined my love of robots and bling

[Corswain]

Very nice purple. I look forward to seeing more.

 

Are gou going to do your robots in purple, or a different colour? I think the Castellax and Thallax would look amazing in that shceme.

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

4 hours ago, Corswain said:

Very nice purple. I look forward to seeing more.

 

Are gou going to do your robots in purple, or a different colour? I think the Castellax and Thallax would look amazing in that shceme.

thank you :D!!

 

for my robots, i'm still very undecided. initially, i was thinking of doing the Ryza scheme (orange) with purple shoulder pads (or just one) (I could have the robots be sourced from Ryza in the lore), but I have also thought about a neutral silver / iron / perhaps black with purple shoulder pads.

 

I have considered painting them up entirely purple / gold but I kind of want them to stand out from the rest of the army. it's all still up in the air though, who knows!! if anyone has any suggestions feel free to lmk.

 

also, i applied the transfers to this techmarine guy and finished him up, will upload pics tomorrow :-D

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

TECHMARINE GUY!!

 

As promised, here is my finished Techmarine, finally!!

 

I was way overzealous with my weathering pigment and had to re-paint the base, and it does seem to have come out a little worse honestly but at least I learned that loose pigment isn't as easy to remove as I thought haha. I must have redone the base 3 times after that because I was dissatisfied each time, but sometimes you gotta know when to leave it alone.

 

I applied two transfers, one obvious one on the shoulder and one very subtle one on the knee (I thought it'd be a little more visible but the axe casts a shadow)! No Palatine Aquila for this guy, but this has precedent in some Emperor's Children art (most of my other marines will definitely have it tho!)

 

Fun? fact, this guy's two arms snapped off while painting (two separate incidents, one for each arm), just to give you an insight into my clumsiness. That's why the arms are in very slightly different places now. I secured them with both glue and greenstuff this time so I should be good. But yeah, this guy's all done and varnished now!

 

I also painted the rim of the base black, but I'm hesitating: maybe gold could look good, or silver?

 

 

FUTURE PLANS

 

So, I had ordered a Deredeo Dreadnought (Boreas config), but it's taking a long time to arrive (it's been way over a week, GW has sent an email of apology (at least I know that they know), no idea when it'll actually arrive). That means that I don't really have an HH minis to paint / assemble right now. 

 

However, in a few days, I'll be at warhammer world!! And the likelihood of me controlling my shopping impulses is precisely 0. So I'll probably be coming back with a Mk III Tactical Squad (which I had planned to buy over the summer anyways), which means more minis!!

 

Painting this guy (my first HH mini!) has taught me a lot about painting this specific scheme and I definitely think the tactical squad will go more quickly!

 

Anyways, that's about it!!! Will update when I get my hands on some more models!! :D

Edited June 3 by PerfectChocolateMadeleine

[StratoKhan]

Nice work on the tech marine. Don’t worry so many of my guys have snapped off limbs, they’re so fragile.

That III transfer seems like it went on like a dream btw.

Enjoy your trip to WHW, hopefully it’s not too hard on your wallet.

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

16 minutes ago, StratoKhan said:

Nice work on the tech marine. Don’t worry so many of my guys have snapped off limbs, they’re so fragile.

That III transfer seems like it went on like a dream btw.

Enjoy your trip to WHW, hopefully it’s not too hard on your wallet.

it was my first time using transfers, but the microset and especially the microsol definitely made for a nice application :> I'm just really happy that it matches the rest of the gold on the model

and thank you, i hope so as well 

[Brother Kraskor]

The Techmarine looks great! I like the black-rimmed base, keeps it looking grounded and doesn't draw the eye away from the model. Good luck with your wallet.

 

Re: automata painting, maybe the answer lies in your fluff. Presumably initially the 28th didn't have much regard for the automata, being mandated to use them by the Primarch must've hurt their pride. But over time they became more appreciated. So maybe the base scheme is quite plain/stark, gunmetal or black, but then as they gained prestige they picked up more honorifics, veterancy markings etc. with some limited purple/gold thrown in when parts were replaced due to battle damage? Just an idea! 

Edited June 3 by Brother Kraskor

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

1 hour ago, Brother Kraskor said:

The Techmarine looks great! I like the black-rimmed base, keeps it looking grounded and doesn't draw the eye away from the model. Good luck with your wallet.

 

Re: automata painting, maybe the answer lies in your fluff. Presumably initially the 28th didn't have much regard for the automata, being mandated to use them by the Primarch must've hurt their pride. But over time they became more appreciated. So maybe the base scheme is quite plain/stark, gunmetal or black, but then as they gained prestige they picked up more honorifics, veterancy markings etc. with some limited purple/gold thrown in when parts were replaced due to battle damage? Just an idea! 

thank you! :D

 

and I quite like that lore justification for a scheme I was already kinda picturing - I think gunmetal with bits of metallic purple and gold will look banger!!

 

I think I also want my Thanatar to be a bit special: something of a jewel in the 299th Company's automata. I really wanna try doing some freehand filigree details, and I'm hesitating on the scheme: either purple with gold filigree, or dark metal with bright silver filigree (similar to the renaissance technique of etching, pictured below).

 

This may exceed my skill, though 

 

 

The above image looks great, but imagine a dark purple underneath with gold filigree!!! Again, this definitely exceeds my skill, but it can't hurt to try, right? And it's not like I'm gunna do it right away, anyways, one day though!!

[Brother Kraskor]

That sounds very cool, I'm sure it'll look great! 

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

I'm back from Warhammer World, woohoo! It was so awesome, and I got lots of stuff there (keeping me busy over the summer), including a Mk III Tactical Squad box (half of which I will assemble as a tactical support squad)!

 

Bluestuff Aquila

 

I had previously purchased some OOP Mk IV torso Emperor's Children upgrades on ebay and now their time has come to shine! With the power of bluestuff, I plan to copy the Palatine Aquila and graft it on my marines!

 

I already performed a successful test of this idea, see here:

 

Making the aquila with the transfer sheet just wouldn't hit the same for me (too flat!), and I'm so glad this option seems to be viable. Sure, it'll be tedious to do this for all my marines, but what part of Warhammer modelling isn't?

 

I definitely have enough bluestuff to make 10 moulds of the front of the Mk IV torsos, so I'll be able to "mass produce" them, and cutting away the excess greenstuff isn't that bad! It helps that I used a blue-rich mix of greenstuff (something like 3:2 blue:yellow) so that it cured faster and was sturdier and thus easier to scrape down to a reasonable thickness with my hobby knife.

 

I tried to do the same for the talon symbol, since I have some OOP Mk II EC shoulder pad upgrades (the Mk VI shoulder upgrades would have worked just as well), but in multiple attempts I found it hard to scrape down to a very very thin layer of greenstuff without damaging the symbol: it ended up looking quite chunky, and I don't want that.

 

I'll 100% do more tests, but maybe I should just use the transfer sheet for a flat image? Also, if the talon symbol (left pauldron) is raised, maybe it will be weird if the III symbol on the right pauldron isn't raised, requiring me to greenstuff-sculpt a III numeral symbol (simple enough, but still kind of annoying to get right, and mega annoying to do repeatedly).

 

Well, I'll see and report back. I'm just glad the Palatine Aquila was relatively easy to cast and add to the torso here. :D

 

III Legion Lore Frustrations

 

One of the items I took back from Warhammer was the novel Fulgrim by Graham McNeill. I love it so far (on page ~160 iirc) but one thing annoys me, and is frustrating me with regards to the lore I came up with for my Millennial. 

 

In the book, it's stated that Fulgrim fought with the Emperor's Children alongside the Luna Wolves for "almost a century", UNTIL the triumph at Ullannor. However, I thought Fulgrim was rediscovered around 830.M30, which wouldn't make sense here, right? If Fulgrim serves with Horus from his rediscovery until Ullanor, which is in 000.M31, then the Emperor's Children were assigned to fight alongside the Luna Wolves for way over a century.

 

So either, for Fulgrim (the book), Fulgrim (the primarch) was rediscovered later than 830.M30, or the Ullanor Crusade happened earlier.

 

This book was written in, I think, 2007, and I know the lore always contradicts itself, but it's still annoying to deal with when I want to write canon-compliant lore about my Millennial. Plus, if the Emperor's Children served until Ullanor, then they'd have, like, 5 years doing the Crusade on their own? 

 

Anyways, sorry about the rant lol. Maybe I misunderstood something in the lore? No idea, but anyways, it's quite late for me, I think I'll go continue the book and sleep! I'll update if I manage to produce a good pauldron symbol with my bluestuff moulds.

[Brother Kraskor]

Very nice aquila, that'll look great across the force.

 

re: 3rd legion history, in my head I'm pretty sure they go their own separate ways from the Luna Wolves for a while once they recover their strength. So there's some clear water between going alone and Ullanor. The Fulgrim primarch novel covers their first separate conquest, where he tries to take the system with only six troops or some nonsense but messes it up. 

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

4 hours ago, Brother Kraskor said:

Very nice aquila, that'll look great across the force.

 

re: 3rd legion history, in my head I'm pretty sure they go their own separate ways from the Luna Wolves for a while once they recover their strength. So there's some clear water between going alone and Ullanor. The Fulgrim primarch novel covers their first separate conquest, where he tries to take the system with only six troops or some nonsense but messes it up. 

thank you! :D

 

and, yeah, I think I'll stick with that narrative as well. I'll definitely have to read Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix when I finish this one :>

[Corswain]

Very impressed with how that's turned out. Way more effort than I would have been prepared to make though. 

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

thanks Corswain!!! I'm hoping to get the hang of it as I make more and get them a done a little faster haha.

 

Speaking of, Forge World Madeleine prepares to enter mass production!

 

 

[StratoKhan]

Nice work, my blue stuff is currently a paperweight for some assorted transfers and assembly booklets so I’m glad someone is using it the right way!

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

little update, I think i got something palatable for the pauldron. still not as thin as I'd like, and I'm now seeing if I can find any of the old Mk III EC pauldron upgrades, or better yet, the etched brass sheet, but this should do for now! 

 

[Corswain]

Yeah, it must be tough to get it to work on the shoulder. I wish FW still did the etched brass.

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

15 minutes ago, Corswain said:

I wish FW still did the etched brass.

me too, even though I wasn't around in the hobby to see it  transfers are really cool but are flat: I really like the added volume!

[PerfectChocolateMadeleine]

I've finally got ten of these guys assembled (I work quite slowly, and the molding process does slow the work down too), but I've hit a bit of a dilemma: I have these "III" numerical symbols in brass that I've carefully bent and glued on three of these guys' right shoulder pads.

 

However, I'm wondering if I should instead utilize my transfer sheet and inscribe their pauldrons with the "tactical line unit" symbol, as they comprise a tactical support squad. The three marines who already have the Legion ordinal could have, say, received it as an honor, with the rest of the squad marked with the tactical line symbol. 

 

Don't have a higher rest picture unfortunately, but apparently the markings below are meant to represent tactical line units. I'm thinking the top one could represent a tactical support squad, and the bottom one (which is the one actually shown in the Liber Hereticus) could represent a normal tactical squad. Idk though, I wish I could find info on the top symbol! All I have to go off is a 5 year old reddit post claiming to have contacted forgeworld customer support.

 

On the one hand, the brass roman numerals I have are the perfect size and look really cool, adding some nice volume on the right side of the marines, but the type-specific markings would be a nice way to make each squad more unique!! Idk, what would you guys do?

 

I'll mull it over, and otherwise yeah, just posting to say I have my tactical support squad all assembled now!! I went out and bought oyumaru (aka bluestuff) from my local craft store (which came in many colors!) and now have two molds: one (right) for the Palatine Aquila, and the other (left) for the Legion armourial.

 

 

All ten of these marines proudly bear the Palatine Aquila upon their chests, and eight of them have a nice elevated legion armourial on their left pauldron.

 

For the other two, I wanna try an alternate armourial design, shown in the Liber (pictured below).

The white suggests terran origin (not loyalist affiliation, at least not in this company!) while the platinum indicates elite status, so the ones with this armourial could be respected terran veterans or something! :D

 

Well, painting should begin soon, very excited!! Painting is definitely my favorite part of the hobby, though I have loved getting creative with bluestuff, greenstuff and brass while modeling these guys!!

[Brother Kraskor]

I feel instinctively like the top transfer of the two is for tactical support, and the bottom is definitely for tacticals. But I have no idea where this instinct comes from. I hope it's right. 
 

Re: the brass III, you could keep it as an honorific yeah, that would be cool. I'd say maybe they could represent some of the original 200, but I wonder if you'd end up with that many still as regular grunts, and in the same squad too - they'd probably be at least centurions. Terrans would work, I always like how being Terran-born wasn't as reliable an indicator of being loyalist for the EC as in other legions (see Eidolon!).

Edited June 23 by Brother Kraskor