30k Legion Champion & Master of Signal - More Flunkies for the Sons Of Horus

Legion Champion (left) and Master of Signal (right) - figures from Forge World.

Some more flunkies for the entourage of the Warmaster - here are a "Legion Champion" and a "Master of Signal". These are 28mm resin figures from Forge World, for Games Worskhop's Horus Heresy setting. They are painted in the colours of the XVI Legion Astartes, the Sons of Horus. Even though they are different sorts of character, these two figures were sold together in the same package by Forge World, so I present them here together.

These figures still seems relatively new to me, but that speaks more to my fraying perception of the passage of time than any actual facts. For me, to count as "old" the GW figure in question at least has to be metal...anyway...the fact is this is a pretty old figure which has been sitting around in 30k horde for many years. These figures were early sculpts from Forge World's Age of Darkness range, meant as enhancements for your Space Marine Legion command groups. They were Legion agnostic - you could add any bespoke Legion symbol you liked to their shoulders. 

Lets have a look at them!

Legion Champion

No matter how many cool guns the Mechanicum provide for you, a master swordsman is apparently still required...

As I touched on in my post featuring Maloghurst "The Twisted", the Space Marine Legions of 30k can choose from a wide assortment of character-ish officers and command figures. The "Legion Champion" would be some sort of known/recognized Marine from a given company, his skill at arms putting him at the forefront of its ranks.

Carry a skull or two on his shoulder plate, as one does...

While Space Marine Legions teemed with guns and tanks of every sort you can imagine, being a "champion" still implies skill at "close combat", and this fellow gives that sense, brandishing a scary sword. This would surely be a power sword, probably "master-crafted", allowing this figure to deal out death and destruction in the close combat phase of the 6th (then 7th) edition of the 30k rules.

The armour mixed elements of Mark IV and Mark III design...so I went with a Mark III shoulder pauldron, embossed with the symbol of the Sons of Horus.

Of course, he has a skull hanging from his armour - perhaps a souvenir of a particularly tough duel, or maybe it's just the skull of his predecessor - who knows? His armour shows other customization as well - combining elements seen on Mark III and Mark IV power armour - along with a customized helmet sporting a comb, and the fancy eagle-shaped components on the power pack. He's meant to stand out a touch from the crowd.

Fancy eagle-headed backpack on the power armour.

Taken as a "consul" from the army list, this figure would give your command squad some extra fighting power. And of course, the figure could be used in all sorts of ways - he could be a veteran sergeant, an independent character or even Centurion or Praetor if you want.

I'm disappointed with how the sword turned out, but cool figure overall.

I like the figure - although the sword was a pain...being resin, it was warped (of course) and I'm not 100% convinced that I straightened it properly, even after an hour of messing around with boiling water. The paint job on the sword is not great either...I need to study some tutorials online to improve my results when painting long, scary blades like this one. But good enough is good enough...he will join the Warmaster's sprawling command cadre on my shelf.

Master of Signal

5G in the year 30,000...the Legion Master of Signal.

I could take or leave the Champion - I mean, he is neat, but there are already a lot of figures representing scary-looking Marines with swords, and that sort of thing is easy to make on your own. The Master of Signal, on the other hand, actually looks like something the Space Marines would need - a trooper wearing and carrying serious comms equipment that keeps his force in touch with fellow Marines elsewhere in the battlezone, and even in orbit. So, there is a practical reason - at least in your imagination - for having this Marine in your detachment.

The comms pack is a souped-up version of that seen on the Mark IV vox marine.

Of course, there is also the homage aspect. Fans of the metal Space Marines from the Rogue Trader era will surely spot the similarity between this figure and "Communication Officer Orinco" from earlier times. I love this - the sculptors at the Forge World studio made great use of all manner of Rogue Trader-era inspiration for the miniatures in the 30k range, and this is another great example.

"Horus Lupercal 'liked' your request for orbital bombardment..."

I love the big domed helmet, the computer screen on his arm...it's a great figure, your sense of his battlefield role comes immediately, no need to guess. This fellow is on the vox, chatting with his buddies up on the Vengeful Spirit. Maybe he is pinpointing the teleport target for reinforcements? Or calling in an orbital strike? Or just laughing about how useless the Ultramarines are? Who knows?

A great 30k homage to a classic Rogue Trader-era figure.

The Master of Signal has various uses under the rules in the game - and in particular for the Sons of Horus, you need a Master of Signal in order to access a certain "Rite of War". But more than anything, this is a cool figure to have, with lots of possible scenario-driven uses in different 30k encounters.

The Flunkies Congregate

Horus Lupercal and his assorted command flunkies maintain a steady vigil over the rest of my collection.

Here we can see how the command coterie of Horus Lupercal has grown over the years. The painting style has changed too...wow. Always neat to look back. Horus for hope!

That's all for now. Thanks for reading! I hope you are managing to enjoy summer, wherever you are.