XVI Legion Moritat for Horus Heresy

"Moritat" in the colours of the XVI Legion Astrates - the Sons of Horus.

Having gone through some Adeptus Titanicus projects in recent weeks, my hobby attentions have turned to related areas of hobby interest - namely, the Horus Heresy in 28mm. This is a 28mm Space Marine "Moritat", painted in the colours of the XVIth Legion Astrates, the "Sons of Horus", the Warmaster's very own Legion.

Guns drawn, ready to fire...and the helmet of a previous victim lying on the base...

So what is a "Moritat"? Well, the "Horus Heresy" was a giant civil war which tore the Imperium apart. Space Marine Legions fought against Space Marine Legions, and the fighting caused the odd Space Marine here and there to crack up a bit, the nature of the conflict being such that it wrecked the careful mental/psychological conditioning/programming that was part of their creation. While still physically fit, such mentally damaged Marines could no longer be fully relied upon to fight effectively as part of their units, and so were pulled from the battle line. The Legions would never "waste" an asset, however - a Space Marine is still a Space Marine...and so such mentally fractured Marines are made in "Moritats", and sent to battle as one-man armies. Not suicide missions per se...just loners at the fringe of the battle plan. If they survive, great. If not...well, they will still have cause serious issues for the enemies of the Legion.

The cabling is a pain the @ss...some crude "green stuff" repairs were needed - I've got no skill using "green stuff", but you have to start somewhere? Practice is practice.

The Moritat seen here wears Mark IV power armour, with extra plating. He is equipped with a jump pack to get close to the enemy as fast as he can and start shooting. He is equipped with volkite weapons that are pretty deadly at short range, and has a variety of extra targeting kit to help his shots land more accurately.

Putting a Space Marine together is usually pretty straightforward, but there was a particular challenge with this figure - the cables running from the weapons to the backpack of the armour. Powered weapons with cables connected to some manner of backpack on the power armour are a feature of a number of the special weapon/heavy weapon figures in Forge World's Horus Heresy range. Resin features like this are not easy to assemble, and even with careful use of hot water etc. the cables can break because one carefully tries to bend/turn them into position before gluing them into place. I am envious of how Mike, Dallas, Byron and others manage to work well on these sorts of tricky figures. With this figure, one cable worked out fine, but the other broke in two places, and "green stuff" was needed...I'm not very confident using that either, but I managed to bodge it together.

For the Warmaster!

It has been a while since I last painted some 30k figures (last November, it seems), so it was fun to dig into the packing crate and pull out some figures like this one. This figure has been waiting for paint for just over a year - first assembled it during a previous burst of 30k output in the spring last year. When I pulled this figure out, there were a few other 30k items in the tray as well, so I'm hoping to share those soon.

Thanks for reading everyone - hope you are well! My thoughts in particular are with my friends back in Manitoba as the COVID pandemic continues to wreak particular havoc there.  

Painting Challenge Submission 8 - XVI Legion Apothecary

Are you feeling the hope? No? I can help with that...

Curt always looks for new ways to make his Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge a little different. For this 10th edition of the painting event, he has developed, with the assistance of some creative Challengers, the idea of "Challenge Island".  The idea is to encourage participants to "travel around" the Island, and accomplish different themes or tasks associated with the different locations. Curt was kind enough to name one of the spots after me, and invited me to develop the theme for the location, which he called "Burch's Bluffs".  I had no hesitation - I asked that a participant paint up a 30k-themed figure or model for that scenic locale.

Burch's Bluffs...I mean, wherever I managed to travel on Challenge Island, there was just one spot we all knew I had to visit, right?  I've been on a real WW2 trend in the past couple of months (and WW2 subjects have comprised the overwhelming majority of my Challenge X submissions to date), but it was time to get a 30k figure set for painting and visit this location on the Challenge Island map.

Ah, what a lovely spot on an at-times dodgy Island destination...

My 30k collection is fairly large - in multiple scales. Lining up a figure to paint for this spot of Challenge Island did not take long...

Such a fine-looking legion symbol, embossed on his shoulder plate.

Here is an Apothecary from the 16th Space Marine Legion - the Sons of Horus, the Warmaster's very own Legion - wearing Mark II legion powered armour. He's carrying a bolt pistol on the off chance that he needs to shoot anyone, and the obligatory chain sword (he is a Space Marine, after all) but the spooky optics, drill/saw blade "glove" and assorted fluid containers all speak to his specialist function. He will accompany his fellow Sons of Horus on the various battlefields of the galaxy, and in those rare instances where the feeble efforts of those still loyal to the so-called "Emperor" might cause losses or injury in battle, will do his bit to make sure his fellow legionnaires keep on fighting with a minimal loss of time.

Right shoulder pauldron sporting the, er, "symbol of the medical profession"...

This is a resin model from Forge World. Some years ago they released a pack of two Legion apothecaries. I picked up a set second-hand from a local hobbyist who was moving on from 30k. I painted one for the Sons of Horus last summer. At one point I thought this second one should go to a different Legion, but then, come on...naturally the Warmaster's personal forces would need at least TWO apothecaries...it only makes sense.

No dirt on this apron. He has standards to maintain!

Because of course the Warmaster is also very busy with charity work, and this chap will also contribute to these worthy not-for-profit efforts, helping to provide vaccines and basic medical care to the survivors of planetary communities which took too long to see that things are changing and got in the way fell victim to pro-"Emperor" terrorism.

Very cool figure - lots of detail.

Supported by the Dark Mechanicum, he will also support valuable medical research - for
example, how long could an average human lung system survive on a planet that was, oh, I don't know, hit with a virus bombardment followed by a pan-continental firestorm? Does being run over by a Land Raider alter this? The medic will help Science answer these sorts of important questions. It's all part of the Warmaster's bold commitment to...knowledge. Yes, that's right. Knowledge.

The new apothecary takes his place with his Warmaster and XVI Legion bretheren.

Here is the obligatory "Challenge Island" progress shot (many other participants do much cooler versions of these, with better graphics - me, not so much). My next "Challenge Island" will be "Mudry's Mesa".

Progress so far...up next, Mudry's Mesa...

This single figure was only worth 5 "points" of painting toward my goal of 1000 points, but you get a bonus of 30 points for visiting a "Challenge Island" location, so it all helps. Thanks for looking - and when you are finished visiting with us, be sure to check out the 10th Edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge for all sorts of wonderful and creative figure painting from hobbyists around the world...

Horus Lupercal, Warmaster

"Let the galaxy burn..." Horus Lupercal, Warmaster, Primarch and Master of the XVI Legion. Figure from Forge World.

Another fun bit of summer 30k painting to share.  Here is Horus Lupercal, Primarch of the 16th Legion, Master of the Sons of Horus, Warmaster of the Imperium, leader of the rebellion against The Emperor and instigator of the Horus Heresey. Can't have a Horus Heresy without Horus, right? I painted him in 6mm...why not try the "28mm" version?

The sculpt is from Forge World, part of their "Horus Heresy Character Series".  Forge World started this series years ago, and there are figures available now for just about every Legion Primarch (I think they have them all covered...?) as well as a few of the notable special characters from the long series of Horus Heresy novels. 

I had assumed that any model of Horus from GW would be covered in all sorts of Chaos nonsense, but I was wrong. This sculpt certainly portrays the Warmaster as a menacing fellow, but he is not obviously gone over to the dark side - he could just as easily be leading his Sons of Horus during one of the final battles of the Great Crusade, as opposed to coordinating his attacks in the Isstvan system and beyond during his revolt.

The figure is very large - Horus himself is a Primarch, much larger than an average Space Marine, which in turn is already a lot larger than an average human. He is made even larger by his custom suit of Cataphract Terminator armour, and his personalized special weapons - and then there is the huge base he is standing on.  Overall, the effect is of a figure from another scale. While this rendering of Horus is meant to co-exist (in theory) with the other "28mm"-sized 30k models, the effect is much closer to a larger scale diorama figure, 40mm at least.

The larger the figure, the greater the amount of detail, and the sculptors at Forge World did not scrimp on detail.  From the intricate symbols on the armour, to the detailed weapons, to the face, to the elaborate base, there was a lot to ponder from a painting perspective when considering how to tackle this project.  My painting techniques are pretty basic ones, and I found this figure very intimidating. I wasn't sure how much I could push my basic approach to painting...but what the heck, you have to try sometime, right?

The Base

So much detail on this very elaborate base."Aquila Eterna" heh? Not so much...

The Primarch figures all have elaborate bases, and the scenic base for Horus is particularly, well, cunningly devised, IMO.  It sort of has three "strata" - there is a fallen imperial eagle head, presumably from a statue or monument.  There is a staircase with cool faux-latin terms etched into the stairs. The final, bottom layer of the base, is more general rubble, but still has detail - metal bars, a few Mark III armoured shoulder pads, and of course a couple of skulls, all mixed in.

Early WIP photo of the base.

I just find this base fascinating. What happened to create this scene?  Did some Imperial building get damaged in some fighting, and just happen to fall in a pile like this, one that Horus would find convenient to hop on top of so he could direct his Marines or make a speech?  Or did Horus knock all of this stuff together - beat up some building and toss the components on to a pile of rubble, so he would have a handy, home-made vantage point?

The finished base, with Horus removed.  Note the crushed Mk III shoulder pauldron at the bottom under the rubble...wonder what happened there?

Another view of the base...more smashed marine shoulder pauldrons...so many possible stories spring to mind...

The base is so clever in that is sets Horus in either the pre- or post-heresy time frame too...Horus might be fighting amid Imperial-themed rubble to defend the Great Crusade...or, his rebellion is already underway, and these symbols of his father's rule would make a handy jump off point...oh, did I smash that Imperial eagle? Pity...

The Warmaster

Humanity's last hope, Horus Lupercal...hey, this eagle seems pretty handy....

Horus himself, as you might expect for someone of his rank, has some pretty swanky wargear, and you can see it on the figure.  The huge mace is "Worldbreaker". On his right hand is "The Warmaster's Talon", a custom combi power-claw/bolt-gun deal.  Together with his super-tough looking armour - adorned with the pelt of a wolf and requisite fancy cape - Horus Lupercal, Warmaster, is well-equipped to deal with combat matters personally, should the need arise.

WIP - the beginning....

The Sons of Horus are notorious for their green armour.  But Horus himself is often depicted wearing black armour - in fact, the studio painters in GW did this, and many other versions of Horus I have seen online have as well.  I considered trying to copy this approach myself, but in the end I wanted to stick with the green armour used on the bulk of his Legion's marines and vehicles.  I think it looks a little cooler. Plus, Horus' custom armour has a name, "The Serpent's Scales", which made me think even more that it should be green. So I stayed with the green.

The base mostly finished, some basic colours in place on Horus.

The hardest part of painting this model was the face.  It's the focal point of the figure, crying out for some attention, especially on a model of this size.  I tried my best here, using a lot of thinned-down coats and other things I don't usually bother with for a 28mm figure.  I'm pleased because I achieved more of an effect than I usually can achieve, but at the same time, it still looks a bit off - the tones are not...smooth enough.  Horus Lupercal is big and terrifying (especially in his "work clothes"), but he is also a "smooth" political operator, as adept at flattery and rhetoric as he is at smashing things to pieces using "Worldbreaker".  I got some OK definition on the face, but it still looks a bit too rough - too much warrior, not enough politician.  Oh well. 

Basic greens in place, base of red on the cloak.

The toughest part was the eyes. Oh, I hate painting eyes! I seldom find that painted eyes look right on a miniature. But in this case they seemed so big that it would be worse not to try...sigh...not my finest work, but not the worst either - at least he didn't come up cross-eyed :)  I sort of wish I did not bother with the eyes, and almost painted them over, but in the end, I just decided to keep them as I had finished them.

Armour mostly finished, base coat on the face.

The finished Warmaster.

Another view of Horus, directing...something.

The face on a figure like this is something where the more advanced painters around here in Winnipeg would really have gone to town.  For example, I can only imagine how cool Dave V. would make this rendition of Horus look using his oil paints, careful glazes and other techniques. But at the end of the day, I pushed myself a bit, and improved a bit.  Painting this fellow was fun. That's the whole point, right?

Horus On The Gaming Table

Horus "detached" from the main base, in theory for use in a game.

Make no mistake, painting this figure was mostly just to have fun. I already have a large collection of Sons of Horus marines for 30k, and I thought it would only be appropriate to have Horus himself to inspire them along.  This model is intended to sit and look cool on the figure display shelf - with that elaborate base, I expect the Forge World sculptors assumed the same. You would be hard-pressed to move this huge pile of figure around the table in a game where every other infantry model has a simple, round base.

And yet...you can detach Horus (a bit, at any rate) to theoretically use this model in a game.  He's still huge because he's a Primarch, and even detached from the bottom section of the base, he is standing on the head of a huge eagle statue, but there are stats for Horus Lupercal to be used on the 30k gaming table if you want to play a game where Horus personally goes to battle.

And...he's scary! In the 7th edition of the 40k game (which is still formally the "current" edition of 30k because GW), Horus has a basic stat line of a train at full speed...ST of 7, T of 6, with a base of 5 attacks and 6 wounds.  His save is 2+, and 3+ invulnerable....on and on.  His weapons, as you might expect, are fantastic. Oh, and he can call in an off-table bombardment.  In the fan-made 8th edition of 30k, Horus has 7 attacks, 9 wounds...oh man. No matter edition of the game, this guy would bash an entire Space Marine squad to pieces every turn - and would probably be able to rip up vehicles and dreadnoughts too.

"Let's Make the Imperium Great Again"....

So would we put this guy into a game? Well, you never know :) It might be fun to try sometime - "fun", that is, for whoever gets to use Horus. My gaming group is a lot of fun and tolerant of the odd whacky scenario.  But Horus himself seldom seemed to go into battle once the Heresy was under way, running things instead via his minions and directing affairs from the bridge of his vessel, the Vengeful Spirit. I expect the same for this figure - he will hopefully inspire his minions from afar on the display shelf, as opposed to getting directly into the battle with them on the table.

Steve B - Thanks!

Just wanted to add a special thanks to Steve B in Winnipeg! He put together this figure, as well as the two Land Raiders I painted earlier this summer.  Much appreciated Steve!!

That's all for now - thanks for visiting.  I hope you are having a great summer, wherever you are!

Sons of Horus Apothecary

What's up, doc? Apothecary for the Warmaster's 16th Legion

Not too much to share with this post, just a single 30k figure - an apothecary for the 16th Legion, the Warmaster's own Sons of Horus. In theory the apothecary is meant to represent a battlefield medic, but in the grim darkness of the far future, and among the super-human Space Marine Legions, the business of the apothecary is less to do with medical support and comfort than with the business of preserving the Legion for the future. 

Apothecary symbol emobssed on the right shoulder pauldron.

On the 30k battlefield, the apothecaries try and heal their brother Marines, but failing that, they recover key genetic material from the dead or heavily wounded Marines, so a new Space Marine can be created to replace him.  Marines who are injured in battle and too far gone to save receive the "Emperor's Peace" - a bolt to the brain. 

Although I'm not sure the apothecaries in Horus' own Legion would use the phrase "Emperor's Peace"...

All sorts of bits on this figure that go with the tools of the medical trade in a Space Marine Legion of the 31st millenium...looks kind of grim...

This Forge World figure shows all the tools of the battlefield medical trade in the 31st Millenium. It seems kind of grim...the apothecary is clad in modified Mark IV plate, carries a bolt pistol and a chain sword, as well as a gauntlet with it's own saw blade, injector etc.  Cylinders containing who-knows-what are clipped to different parts of his armour.  He even has his own portable lamp...

In the 30k game itself, the apothecaries play a peripheral game role, healing the odd model which might otherwise have fallen as a casualty. But I must say these apothecaries seem to find a way to spike Dallas' plans on the table, always managing to heal or preserve models that Dallas in particular has tried to take out, or thought he had successfully knocked down...that makes apothecaries fun in our games!  Strangely, I had yet to add an apothecary to my Sons of Horus collection, so I thought I would address that gap with this summer.

"First do no harm"...not sure about that...

As with the recent Iron Hands Land Raider, you can see gloss which has been applied under the decal.  It's humid in the summer, and that makes it too risky to apply matte spray, so that will wait until after Labour Day. After that, the lenses will get a final gloss coat, and I'll add some final tufts to the base.

Painting continues to be slow and lazy during nice summer weather.  I do have some more stuff on the go, and I hope I will have more to share before September arrives.  But until then, thanks for visiting the Blog, and I hope you are having a great summer, wherever you are.

Here is another sunset photo from Lake Superior...

Sunset over Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, near Sault Ste Marie Ontario.

 Cheers for now!

PrairieCon XL Horus Heresy Siege of Terra Game

For PrairieCon this year I ran a Horus Heresy game set at the Siege of Terra. I had previously created two imperial wall sections to represent a breach in the wall. The legions involved were Imperial Fists and Blood Angels trying to hold the breach while Sons of Horus and World Eaters stormed through. The mission was a modified Blitz mission from the 40k 8th Edition rule book. The traitor forces earned 1 victory point for having models within the first line of defense. If they got models within the second line of defense they earned 2 points per unit. The game looked great and we got to showcase some models that we don't normally use in a game. The only downside was the game was set late in the day on Sunday (Father's Day!) and several of us had to get back to Winnipeg , so the game was cut short. Here are some pictures of the game:

The Loyalists set up everything behind fortifications. The World Eaters started on the board and got fist turn

The Sons of Horus moved on the board first turn, but were mostly mounted in transports.

The Imperial Fists scored some early kills, but the arrival of the Fellblade was an ominous sign.

This was the first game for the Cerberus. I knew its fate was sealed, but Conscript Curt valiantly commanded it to destruction!

The Cerberus has an unstable reactor rule which has a chance of exploding catastrophically! It of course exploded catastrophically during the game and killed several loyalist models.

The Sons of Horus hit the first line.

The Fellblade goes to work.

By the time the game was called, it was basically a draw. The Traitor Legions had several units in the first line, while he Loyalists had killed several Traitor units and earned victory points for each. However, the Traitors had a clear path to the second line on the right flank and would likely get into the Blood Angels lines. The Fellblade was also going to be a problem that the Loyalists didn't have a solution for. I guess that outcome is basically how the siege went down. Horus had the material to win, but he ran out of time!

Kill Team, Heresy Style

A couple Thursdays back we decided to dust off the Heresy armies for a game of GW's new opus, Kill Team. For those who've been living under a rock, KT lets players field real skirmish forces of 3-20 models and is a skosh more detailed in its gameplay than 40K. In truth, it's meant to be a gateway drug for new players... collect and paint a Kill Team and you're on the way to having a 40K army, or something like that... Of course, for grognards like us, Kill Team is more a matter of picking out some models from the 10-or-more 40K armies we already have, and playing a game with those. Not much danger of KT escalation hereabouts.

Anyway, Conscript Greg and I ended up picking very similar Kill Teams - his, Sons of Horus and mine, Iron Warriors. The scenario involved a very lost Herald of the Warmaster who needed to be picked up and "protected".

I laid out a congested urban table 4 feet square. We deployed in opposite corners. Four markers were placed near the centre of the table as possible locations for the Herald. The Kill Teams were tasked with finding the Herald and escorting him off the table. Above you can see some of the initial Iron Warriors deployment. We also placed a Marine with Missile Launcher on the third storey of the red-brick building at upper right.

Sons of Horus deployed on the street ready to rush the objective markers/tune up Iron Warriors...

View from the SoH side. IW missile dude is in the building at centre top.

The battlefield as seen through the sights of an IW missile launcher.

The first turn saw the ML score a counter-sniper hit on SoH heavy weapons Marine hidden in building behind their lines.

Iron Warriors rush to check markers in no-man's-land. Unfortunately for them the SoH had set up in overwatch and after a furious gun battle the Iron Warriors were down!

The other three markers having been confirmed as duds, the remaining Iron Warriors close in on the confirmed location of the Herald. SoH Marines are all around - on overwatch at top centre and out of sight by the wall at centre left and behind the building at centre right.

SoH boss closes on the objective, with a minion just behind the building in support. IW trooper did not live long but help was on the way!

Oooof... that didn't work either as the SoH boss took out the "help"...

Never fear, here comes the IW boss... but the SoH leader took him out too.

Sons of Horus escape with the Herald in tow!

That was a fun game with a real ebb and flow of fortune. With only 6 models per side, taking out one or two models really makes a difference! Note the "flesh wounds" being carried by the SoH boss in the pic above... I got pretty unlucky with Greg's wounding rolls but them's the breaks! I really enjoy Kill Team as a skirmish game as the departure from strict IGO-UGO is really fun.