More Sons of Prospero

For Prospero! Another XV Legion Astartes tactical squad is ready to move out. 

We are in the final weeks of summer, and it is time to show some results from the painting desk, including a project that started, um, last winter...you know, sometimes, how a specific painting effort just sort of dribbles along...well, here is one such effort, from GW's Horus Heresy setting (no surprise there). This is a brand new, 20-man tactical squad for the XV Legion Astartes, the Thousand Sons. These are multipart Mk III armoured plastic kits from GW's newer "Age of Darkness" range, sporting custom resin heads and embossed shoulder pads. 

A couple of the "regular" grunts. Love those whacky proto-space-Egyptian helmets!

The "newer" plastic Mark III armoured kits are, well, not that new any longer, but still seem relatively new to a grognard like me. I was a huge fan of the previous generation of Mk III plastic Space Marines and the newer ones, while nice - and admittedly better-proportioned - still didn't quite have the full "space-baroque charm" of those previous sculpts. Plus, they featured the divisive spiked helmet...anyway, see here for more on all that. 

Another view of some of the regular chaps. I also find that I love the chunky bolt guns that come with the newer Mk III plastic kits. 

At any rate, the point in this post is not to revisit that, but I did wonder late last year if perhaps a blend of the newer plastic Mk III kits and the older, custom Legion heads might look cool in the instance of the Thousand Sons? I had seen some examples online, and it looked...kind of sharp! Given that I had been looking build up my XV Legion collection, I thought a second large, full-on 20-man tactical squad might be the way to go...

Vox trooper and vexillary on hand to support their fellows. 

And it turned out pretty good, at least in my biased opinion. The old custom Forge World helmets don't have the best fit with the newer plastics - the "neck" recess on these plastics is much deeper than previous, so it takes a little careful adjusting to make sure the helmet sits. But it still comes together nicely! I painted these fellows in singles and in pairs through the spring and summer - so it took forever - and then I procrastinated on getting the photos, then finally getting the post done etc. etc....but here they are at last!

The Sergeant got to keep his "regular" combed helmet! As is proper, he also has some scrolls - and a grenade - because 30k.

You might also note that I left the unit's Sergeant with the original head from the new plastic kits...and it turned out alright! Of course, his helmet sports a comb and not a spike, but this has emboldened me to experiment further with these newer plastic Mk III kits - if not for this Legion, then another one.

I do like this fellow taking aim...

As ever, I continue to stick to the non-metallic red for this project. As nice as it might be to find some way to achieve that metallic red look, I do like this matte finished red/gold/white combo as well. The custom Thousand Sons bits really help them "pop" on the table as well. 

A great many Horus Heresy enthusiasts love the assorted specialized units to be found among the army lists, but for me, the very best Horus Heresy gaming is to be found when huge 20-man tactical squads march across the battlefield and bash each other to bits! Good times! My XV Legion Astartes is now in a much stronger position to pursue this strategy, as these fellows will join a similar-sized "beakie" squad painted in a previous Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. 

One last group photo...

Will bashing away with huge tactical squads still be fun in the 3.0 version of the "Age of Darkness" game? That remains to be seen - I'm still awaiting my first game using the new version of the rules, and I haven't even yet tortured myself in trying to understand the new variations on the Thousand Sons' legion-specific rules. I do know that a chunk of my version 2.0 force will not be fully "valid" due to the changes in how Veteran Tactical Squads are configured - but having this second huge tactical squad handy will more than cover that "gap". As ever, the real pressure continues to be a dire lack of vehicles...might be something I will look to address during (when else?) the next Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge!