World Eater Champion and Apothecary

Company Champion from the World Eaters Legion

Here are another couple of Horus Heresy figures for my World Eaters detachment - a company champion and an apothecary (medic). Both of these are plastic figures from the current the current crop of plastic multi-part Space Marine command figures, with an embossed World Eater's shoulder pad from Forge World tossed on to maintain a consistent look with the rest of the force.

Handy Forge World decals dropped on to the shield and fancy shoulder plate

Much like the "current" Space Marine Chapter forces, the Legions have all sorts of functionary, or at least functionary-sounding, roles associated with each large sub-unit (company, chapter, whatever) in the force. These can be added to your command groups to give some extra "oomph" and character to your force on the table.

Lots of extra iconography etc on the backpack - I tried to scrape off the stupid skulls wherever I can but there are still a number on this figure

The Company Champion is presumably some type of bad-ass veteran.  The title sounds almost formal, but in the proto-high-tech-medieval setting of a Space Marine Legion it is, of course, a very scary battlefield opponent.  The armour is all very ornate and fancy, but one can assume the weapons are very deadly, teeming with all sorts of unseen little enhancements that traced their roots to the ominous "dark age of technology".

The embossed shoulder plates are massively addictive...once you use them on one squad, you will want them for every model...it's just so much nicer than even the best decal

In addition to a scary-looking sword (likely preserved in the World Eaters Legion for centuries as a special implement for endangered species beheadings), his shield has a little bolt gun built into it, for those times where you must shoot the Legion's enemies instead of chopping them up. After all, not every enemy of humanity is going to be worth having a sword fight with (i.e. Tyranids). 

Lots of fun, ornate looking features on the figure - fun to paint - I quite like the pseudo-knightly "helm" helmet style as well

In the fluff of the World Eaters Legion, it seems like quite a bit of intramural fighting happened, not just as a means of training, but to settle disputes and determine promotions.  One can assume this guy beat up and probably killed many colleagues in order to "earn" the Company Champion job.  I wonder how much the Company Commander enjoys having him around, wondering when the Champion might suddenly decide he needs another promotion...

So...you're the doctor?

I am very impressed by the great painters out there who manage to paint some sort of eerie-looking glow colour on otherwise normal-looking sword blades to reinforce their power-type-weapon-aura.  This is not a skill I am even close to strong with...I fumbled around with some blues but the result was sort of "meh"...hopefully I will get better results next time.

The red medical symbol says "I care". The chain sword, on the other hand...

The medic in a Space Marine force is always sort of funny...they are more interested in putting the damaged Marines out of their misery and recovering some genetic bits to replace him, than actual care of wounded Marines (who in any event are expected to bear horrifying wounds with grim, silent honour - it's for the Emperor, after all).

Spooky medical bits are nice extra for this figure...that glove looks handy for any battlefield "care" that might be needed during the great crusades

The Apothecaries in the World Eaters apparently dabbled in some extra brain surgery on the side, with an eye to making troops who are even more impatient, aggressive and violent than the usual Space Marine trooper. Sounds totally legit to me. Can't believe the World Eaters ever went off side and joined Horus, right?

Lots of spooky medical stuff on the back pack too - again, very fun to paint

Needless to say, I doubt any Marine would be happy to see this Apothecary show up near their unit on the battlefield...

The Forge World Legion components mix very well with the plastic "current" marines, and I find these combinations work particularly well for roles like medics, champions, senior officers and other such things where the variations from the Mark II, III or IV power armour could be explained in the context of the different roles in the Legion. The Mark IV armour is particularly close in appearance to the "current" Mark VII power armour suits, so the differences are even less apparent.

The plastic bits are also a nice source of conversion/upgrade bits for the Forge World Marine figures, without having to bend over even more for the Legion accessory kits.  Of course, the plastic figures are practically as expensive as the Forge World ones anyway, but if you are a long-term GW nut like me you have a huge pile of plastic bits stashed away you can put to good use.

Up next, some Sons of Horus, and another WW2 diversion...