30k Sons of Horus Consul and Apothecary

New additions to my XVI Legion Astartes collection. 

We continue the mini-parade of Space Marine Legion Officialdom in this post, featuring a sinister friendly "Dark Emissary Consul" and an Apothecary, both painted in the lovely colours and symbols of the XVI Legion Astartes, the Sons of Horus. These are 28mm multi-part resin figures from GW/Forge World, part of their "Age of Darkness" Horus Heresy setting.

Dark Emissary Consul

"Let me be clear about the Warmaster's intentions here..."

The liberation of humanity - indeed, the entire galaxy - from the tyranny and oppression of the False Emperor is a big job. While of course we know Horus Lupercal is up to this challenge, he is still a team player, and to help ensure the sheep his big-tent coalition can keep moving forward in the right direction he has a band of sinister ideological enforcers trusted assistants to help ensure his loyal followers keep their "eye on the prize"... 

Skullz dipped in gold. A totally normal thing to carry around with you. Right?

Many of the new specialist figures released for the "Age of Darkness" range are faction/Legion-agnostic, this fellow is clearly designed with the look and feel of a single Legion in mind. Given his role, that makes sense...thus we have the "Eye of Horus" displayed prominently on the armour, and on the backpack, and on the staff, and on the..."chain-bound-hand accessory"...you obviously know who this fellow speaks for when he talks! That staff will get your attention...even if he has to strike you with it...

What a striking accessory! The chain really makes it easy to carry around, no doubt...

We see a lot of the "Cthonia" themed elements seen on the Sons of Horus on this figure too - the skullz (taken from defeated enemies, dipped in gold and kept as trophies), and the coins (also markers of...defeated enemies). Sense a theme here?

While the armour is amazing and ornate, one thing he is not wearing is a helmet. I almost always opt to put a helmet on a Space Marine figure, because space and war are dangerous and Space Marines should wear their damn helmets! But in this instance, I went with the helmet-less head. After all, the Warmaster understands the importance of a personal connection with his subjects, and he will expect his Emissaries to meet the same standards. No helmet shall be a barrier to his message! It's all about the personal connection, right?

Apothecary in Mark V Armour

Is that Mark V armour? A new Apothecary for the ranks of the XVI Legion Astartes.

We've covered the lovely fun of the Apothecaries in the 30k setting many times in the blog, so not much to add here. This is the second half of the new Apothecary set GW released last month. 

You can see all of what one might call "the tools of the trade": the chainsword (useful in a fight, to be sure, but also helpful for larger scale, um, "battlefield surgery"); the "narthecium", an armoured-appearing gauntlet boasting yet another saw blade as well as several other bits and bobs useful either for patching up Space Marines, or extracting the key gooey bits from the fallen ones which will be necessary to create replacements; the helmet with extra lenses; the lamp over the shoulder; he various "fluid" containers and drips on the belt and pack; the blood-splattered tabard/cloth; and of course the medic symbol on the shoulder and power pack.

A view of the detail on the power pack...a lot going on back there.

What was most notable about this figure for Horus Heresy fans was the armour variant he is wearing - the so-called "Mark V" plate. The lore around the armour worn by the Space Marines of the Horus heresy has been fairly fungible - changing, it seems, depending on what kits GW is seeking to sell - and I am OK with that. Seeing that there is a sculpt in Mark V for the current range inspires hope/speculation that we might one day see plastic Mark V armour kits? Who knows? That is probably silly speculation - but that kind of speculation is the most fun after all! 

You can't miss the studs on the Mark V plate...

The Sons of Horus in my collection can count on a pretty-well-staffed Apothecarion detachment at this point - which only makes sense, as naturally the Warmaster would ensure his forces are well-provisioned. Given the sorts of hijinks the Apothecaries have provided on our gaming tables over the years, it would be fun to deploy the full lot of them in a game some time!

That's all for this one - thanks for reading, and watch for more in the coming weeks!