Lernaean Terminators for 30k Alpha Legion

Cataphractii Terminators for the Alpha Legion

More lake painting to share.  This is a squad of Lernaean Terminators for my 30k Alpha Legion forces.  These are plastic Cataphractii Terminator figures from GW spiffed up with decals and conversion bits from Forge World, including embossed shoulder plates made specially to fit the bulky Cataphractii models.

Close-up of one of the Lernaeans

In 30k each of the Space Marine Legions has their own little menu of specialized elite units they can select forces from in addition to the standard rosters of tactical squads, assault squads etc. One of these selections tends to be a Terminator unit - I think just about every Legion has some kind of fancy Terminator unit option.  In the case of the Alpha Legion, their elite Terminator units are known as "Lernaeans".  They wear Cataphractii armour and carry a slightly altered weapon loadout, using volkite chargers and power weapons in place of the traditional combi-bolters and power fists/chain fists.

View showing the rear detail on the figures - and you can see the large gaps I left among some of the shoulder plates..oops...

Plasma weapon for extra support, in place of the more traditional heavy flamers or reaper autocannons

Forge World hasn't yet issued sculpts for Lernaeans, so I thought I would try combining the plastic Cataphractii figure kits with accent pieces from Forge World.  The results were...well, they were OK, but I goofed in a couple of ways.  The first problem is the spacing and sequencing of the shoulder plates...try as I might, I could just not quite figure out the precise placement of the multi-layered shoulder segments on these figures.  As a result, several of the figures are sporting sizeable gaps in their shoulders - I think there is supposed to be a small gap, but not large ones like I ended up with...I'm just not a very sharp model builder...

The bulky and ominous Cataphractii terminators are sharp-looking models

The other issue is the close assault weapons.  These are Cataphractii conversion bits from Forge World, but they are chain-axe-style weapons rather than power weapons, which is what the Lernaeans are supposed to be sporting.  These chain-axe things have a grim, spiky look that I'm not entirely pleased with - they seem more like things the World Eaters or Night Lords would use to open bottles.  Looking back I regret not finding some different weapons that resembled the sleeker look of power weapons - or just keeping them with traditional power fists, which is still an option for the Lerneaens, but at the time I was fired up to have them look different, and the regrets did not occur until everything was glued...oh well, now that they are painted, I'm sure they will work out fine.

Now which one is Alpharius?

Despite the modelling issues, I'm glad to have some Terminators finished for the Alpha Legion. And I really, really like the look those embossed shoulder plates for the Cataphractii terminators. The casting from Forge World was very sharp (never a guarantee) and it really helps set them apart.  I would like to try this for some other Legions (or add more for the Alpha Legion) again in the future.

I never get tired of the sunsets at my cabin...

This wraps up my painting from Lake Superior in 2017 - about 31 figures completed this year.  Not as many as last year or as many as I had hoped - but there is always more to paint anyways, right?  In particular I had hoped to get some 30k vehicles painted for the Alpha Legion, but that will have to wait for a little while.  They are still building into a good sized force - about 60 infantry models and a Deredeo Dreadnought. I hope to get them into some kind of game soon! Meanwhile a few vehicles will move forward in my "pending pile", but who knows what my butterfly-style attention span will turn to when I get back home...