Catching Up On The Challenge - Entries 10 and 11

We reject the false Emperor!

Sorry for the longer post, but I've been away for a bit and neglecting my posts on the Analogue Hobbies Challenge, so this one is meant to catch up, including my 10th and 11th entries.  These continuing a similar theme from my last few Challenge submissions: more GW figures from the Horus Heresy - known informally as "Warhammer 30k" among GW afficionados.  Up first is the 10th entry, which included 11 models from the Sons of Horus Legion, and a single model from the Emperor's Children Legion - both Legions which turned against the Emperor in the civil war.

Bad-ass commander from the 16th Legion - wearing extra heavy armour

If the Legion is called "Sons of Horus", then it can't be a big surprise that particular Legion sided with Horus the Warmaster - their own Primarch and leader - during the wars of the Horus Heresy.

"Volkite" energy weapon

I like the old-school segmented look to the armour on the Horus Heresy era figures

Some nice cutlery - I just wish I could learn the right technique to make these futuristic power swords look more spooky

The really big figure is a "Praetor", intended to represent a senior commander within the Legion.  He will be the overall commander of any force on the table during a game.  He is wearing old-school Terminator armour - "cataphract pattern", and carrying a scary sword and a small-ish energy weapon known as a "volkite charger" that actually hits much more heavily than it looks like it would.


This fellow saw his first action on our gaming table a few weeks ago - see here for a break down.

Crowd control, Sons of Horus style

Up next is a "devastator" squad - five troops carrying heavy bolters, rapid fire support weapons of the Warhammer 40k universe.  Putting five of these weapons into a single squad is bonkers, but it reflects the heavy excess of the Warhammer 30k setting and the Space Marine Legion force listings.  This little group of troops can put down a serious curtain of fire at a decent range to boot.  See this game for evidence...

The logos on those shoulder pads look a little soft...

A close examination of the embossed shoulder plates on the devastator troops will reveal them to look quite sloppy - the reason is my laziness, and a mishap with an airbrush. I believe life is too short to go around washing off model kits and figures before you paint them (give me a break!) so I generally don't bother with that, despite all of the suggestions, positive intentions and tips from pro-painters.  Part of me just thinks "oh, good lord, what a waste of damn time" and part of me also thinks that washing figure kits in the sink may just be the final straw that sees me and my hobby kicked out of the house for good...

Extra ammo clipped to the back - I'm sure that makes it even easier to get around...not...

Anyway, I was priming these figures using a airbrush (something that challenge participant Byron has been assisting me with - the guy has patience). The primer stuck perfectly to the models, but melted right off the logo-embossed shoulder pads. Rather than evaluating carefully, I instead opted for a Verdun-style war of attrition against the f*!@$!ing resin, piling on the primer until the stupid particles of f!@#!@# mold release fluid or whatever were buried under black to wither and die. Die, mold release fluid! Die!

You get a little targerter-type device to add to one of the troops - a nice feature, although not totally clear in this photo

Uh...so, anyway, that is not a recommend approach overall, as it dulls the detail a bit...but hey, they are in with Horus - these guys will be growing tails in no time, so I doubt they would notice soft armour bits anyway!

It's a plasma gun party!

Ahem - moving along with this submission, up next "tactical support" squad - five troops carrying plasma guns, rapid firing energy weapons of significant firepower but relatively short range.  Again, one might typically see one of these weapons within a squad of 10 troops, but in the Space Marine Legion force listings, there is a lot of just about any equipment to go around, so these special weapons are put into their own units! These weapons have some silly special rules attached to them ("gets hot" - soooo stupid) which would make most of their own users casualties through the course of a single game, but whatever - I like how they look :)

Time for a BBQ!

Finally the solitary marine who's armour does not match the others is a test model - a Legion Marine in Mark IV armour from the Emperor's Children, the Third Legion.  Quick side note - how bummed out was the Emperor when he found out the Legion named "Emperor's Children" had lined up with the traitors? Ouch!

Test figure for the Third Legion

Anyway this fellow was just to test some colour combos for a few units of Emperor's Children Marines that are still in the pending painting queue. The purple turned out a little darker than I hoped, but overall I was still pretty pleased.

I love the bonkers chainsaw-type combat accessory - really fits the setting

So that was submission number 10 - and submission number 11 continued with a similar theme, more Horus Heresy stuff.

Prepare for getting the sh*t kicked out of you compliance - Sons of Horus in MK III power armour from Forge World

This 11th entry is 10 Space Marines in Mark III armour from the Sons of Horus, the infamous 16th Legion.

Rivets galore!

Officer on right, communications trooper on the left

In contrast to the Mark IV armoured marines, these Mark III troopers have a more menacing and proto-medieval feel to them.  The armour is covered with extra plates, is segmented in the back, and the helmet is darker and more ominous with a "face plate" that would not look out of place in the late middle ages. Many rivets are visible.  I quite enjoy how they look.

Horus' lads prepare to unleash a burst of fire

In hindsight I wish I had ordered more figures wearing this type of armour - I like its look a lot more than that Mark IV power armour (which is still very nice).  The Mark III seems more ominous - the joyless, faceless grim legions of the Emperor's Great Crusade, coming to wreck your shit bring you into "compliance".

Lots of segments in the armour - a very proto-medieval feel to the design

The squad has two special weapon troopers - one with a missile launcher, and the other with a melta gun.  The design of the missile launcher is lovely - an homage to the "shark fin" style of this weapon from the original RTB 01 Space Marine box.  The Forge World guys have done these little nods to the early history of the sculpts again and again throughout this figure range, something I definitely appreciate.

"Let's hug for Horus!"

The embossed shoulder plates are awesome...and terrible, in that once you start with them, you can't stop using them...

This group is meant to represent a veteran squad - in the 30k rules, squads to not typically carry any special weapons with them - there are whole other squads for that work, after all :) But as "veterans", they are able to add a couple of special weapons to the group, mimicking the more common 10-man squads of Warhammer 40k's more "current" iterations.

Bit of a view of the comms pack in this photo

The officer (with the wacky comb on his helmet) has a small standard mounted on his backpack, and is wearing a power fist to assist in the smashing of his enemies, likely in the face.  He is accompanied by a communications trooper, who has a modified helmet and backpack.

Good ol' "Shark Fin" style missile launcher

"I can see his house from here..."

I used decals throughout where I could, with very mixed results - the bronze does not come off of the green very well.  I also tried to weather them up a bit - again, the results are mixed in my opinion.  My sponging approach, which works so well on larger vehicle models, is harder to apply consistently on these figures.

Marine with melta gun

Proudly loyal to humanity's last hope - Horus the Warmaster!

All of these figures dragged me close to my increased goal of 1500 points, but I still haven't quite cracked the 1000-point mark yet.  Hopefully I'll manage that this week!  In the meantime, be sure to check out the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, including many excellent entries from Conscripts Kevin and Byron!