More New Mark VI Space Marines

Did somebody call for some contractors? Imperial Fist Space Marines for GW's "Age of Darkness" setting.

Here are some more of the new plastic Mark VI "beakie" Space Marines from GW, this time painted in the colours of the loyalist VII Legion Astartes, the Imperial Fists. Nearly all of these are the new multi-part plastic models from GW's new "Age of Darkness" box set, with the exception of the one figure which is a Forge World Preator model, enhanced with some spare plastic bits. 

Ready to man the walls of the Imperial Palace!

Why paint Imperial Fists? Why "start" yet another Legion? I'm not really sure what happened here. I can start by blaming the fabulous set of decals for both the Sons of Horus and the Imperial Fists that comes in the new "Age of Darkness" box. Then, I didn't feel like adding to my Space Wolves or Raven Guard collections yet. I had recently re-listened to the audio book of "Saturnine" from the Siege of Terra series, so there's that. I have also been reading the special rules for the different Legions in the new edition, so maybe I wanted a unit to take advantage of the ridiculous advantages given to the Imperial Fists? And I might just enjoy having a few of these on hand as a tribute to my friends in Winnipeg, where Mike F still has his amazing collection of Imperial Fist marines - and this way if Mike comes to visit, he'll have some infantry available for a game :)

Sergeant on the right, and vox operator on the left.

Of course, I also just love painting Space Marines, and so, before the year is out, be sure to point and laugh as I start some additional Legions because whatever reasons as the year goes on...

I was a bit liberal with the attempted weathering (basically sponge-chipping) but it is a look I prefer, especially on fancy yellow armour.

OK, enough blathering, back to the figures. So here we have a basic, 10-man tactical squad here, equipped with bolt guns, and a bossy Sergeant with a power fist and a plasma pistol. The regular Marines will get a +1 to hit with these bolt weapons...when you think about it, that is a kind of crazy advantage, given how many bolt guns and bolt weapons there will be in any given Space Marine Legion force. In fact, the new special rules for the different Legions are quite out of whack...but we'll save that discussion for a later post...

Preator figure on the right, and basic tactical marine on the left.

There is also a senior command figure in these photos - this figure is a Preator - one of the old resin ones from Forge World, not one of the new, multi-part plastic ones from the new box set (we'll cover those in a later post). He is wearing custom Mark III power armour, but the power sword is a spare from new plastic Mark VI kits. I also gave him a helmet - in this case, a spare resin Mark II helmet - because space is dangerous and Space Marines should be wearing their damn helmets. As you can see, this older figure still fits in well with the newer, taller plastic Mark VI Marine figures, and a good example of why I am not too wound up about the size differential - although YMMV.  

Another view comparing the Preator with one of the new Marines.

That's all for now - thanks for reading, and I hope you have been able to enjoy your Labour Day Weekend, wherever you are. Cheers.