30k Imperial Fist Consul and Apothecary

New specialists for the VII Legion Astartes!

Well, another edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has come and gone! While my own production levels were significantly down from prior years, as a group the Conscripts once again stepped up to rack up some incredibly impressive submissions and point-totals - well done team! I encourage everyone to browse through the Challenge, or just check the posts on this blog for the past three months, to see some truly awesome stuff. 

Now we come to the part of the year where Challenge participants have a few projects that were "meant for the Challenge" - minis and models you prepped, and even started to paint, during the AHPC but you did not finish in time. My Painting Challenge run was interrupted by a house move, so my assortment of these kinds of projects is rather larger than usual now that spring of 2024 is here. Time to start moving along on those - and here we have a couple of them. This is a Loyalist Champion Consul and an Apothecary for GW's Horus Heresy setting. These are resin 28mm figures from GW/Forge World (which is the same thing, but somehow still of different...whatever...).

Loyalist Champion Consul

"Anybody up for some sword practice?" - Loyalist Champion Consul for the Imperial Fists.

In the "Age of Darkness" game the Space Marine Legion players can access all sorts of specialized characters under the heading of "Consul". These range from medical specialists to communications experts to...well...what you see here - a guy with a big sword, fancy gun, and something of a menacing air, even by Space Marine standards. This is a "Champion Consul".

It's not all blade work...fancy combi-bolter is on hand too...

Even amid the incredible tumult of the "Age of Darkness" battlefields, where ranged weapons of every imaginable size, type and calibre/power level rake the ground, the Space Marines are still big into finishing off their enemies in close contact. The "Champion Consul" takes this to the next level, running around and issuing challenges to enemy Champions and other officers, slaying them and moving on their next one...as you can see, he has a Great Big Sword (tm) to assist in this role.

View of the sword, the holstered bolt pistol, and a handy grenade is also on his belt.

Even though the sword is the focal point, he can still join in with the shooting fun, as he is also carrying a combi-bolter, which features a nice little melta gun. Slagging some enemies with deadly melta blasts will help conserve energy for the next really important sword fight...

This sculpt is faction/Legion agnostic, although in name it is intended for the Loyalist side of the conflict, and the looks of the figure, with the sword, the tabard etc. would support this. I have painted him up for my growing collection of VII Legion Astartes, the Imperial Fists - although given the prominence of the sword I opted for more black armour, aping the Templar Brethern look, as I can see him hanging around with those fellows between duels.

This kit comes with options for either a helmet or (of course) a bear-head. I opted for the helmet, as I nearly always do, because space is dangerous, war is dangerous, and Space Marines should wear their damn helmets - especially if your job is to run around fighting duels on a Horus Heresy battlefield! I just love that it is a "beakie" style helmet too - always want to support the "beakie" renaissance!

This is a really, really nice sculpt and I enjoyed painting him up. As a newly painted figure, I'm sure he will not do well in his first duel on the table top - in fact, I can imagine him getting hit with a macro cannon or something prior to even getting close enough to duel anyone...but all the same, it's great to have him in the collection. I'm sure the Templar Brethern will be happy to have him!

Legion Apothecary

"Anybody call for a medic?" - Legion Apothecary for the Imperial Fists.

Ah, the Legion Apothecary! Where would the Space Marine Legions be without these hard-working chaps? As noted above, the battlefields of the Horus Heresy are awash in the fire of terrible weapons - and if one of those doesn't get you, some nut case with a large sword might! Yes, of course The Emperor has created you as a science-fiction super soldier, but even if you have a backup hear, a spare lung, and all sorts of other Dark-Age-of-Technology enhancements, you'll get hurt at some point...when that happens, enter the apothecary!

It's not all saws...it's gooey fluids too!

Not only will he heal your wounds - no, he does so much more! If the prognosis is severe, he'll make sure you can still serve. And if the wound(s) is/are really, really, really severe he'll provide you with "The Emperor's Peace" to ensure no lingering pain or time for contemplation. It's all about "wellness", Age-of-Darkness style!

Is that all? No! There is more! He also helps with recycling! Once a mighty Space Marine falls in battle, the Apothecary ensures that gene-seed-bits used to create him are recovered and returned to the Legion, ready for use in a new recruit. In that moment where some kind of Volkite ray slices a Space Marine in half, he will expire knowing a new recruit will take his place in service of The Emperor, all thanks to the Apothecary!

This model is part of a new two-figure apothecary set released by GW as they continue to round out their "Age of Darkness" range. Fans were pleased to get an apothecary wearing the Mark VI "beakie" power armour, and the sculptors did a wonderful job with the figure. The Imperial Fists on my shelf will be pleased to have another healer/helper on hand as they prepare to defend The Emperor's palace on Terra.

My collection of Terra's doomed defenders, awaiting deployment at their assigned staging area on the shelf... 

As you can see above, these two fellows have taken their place amid the yellow-and-black armoured ranks of my collection - and they await further reinforcements! More to come on that in the weeks ahead. Thanks for reading!