Horus the Warmaster (1995 Version)

Here's another of the small projects I've undertaken in the past couple weeks, just to get back into the habit of swinging a brush.

As blog readers will know, we had a trip earlier this summer back to England, which included a stop in Nottingham and vicinity. And Nottingham means Games Workshop, which means Warhammer World. And one of my favourite-ever things at Warhammer World is the famous "Death of Sanguinius"/Horus vs. the Emperor diorama piece by Mike McVey. I'd snooped around the web off and on for several years trying to get more detailed shots of the models, with a view to trying my own hand at a conversion someday, but without much success.

And then, amazingly, in response to my "Ye Olde Trip to Nottingham" post, blog reader Mikko pointed out that White Dwarf #183 featured an article by Mike McVey himself detailing the construction of the diorama. Well, I happen to have that issue in my collection so off I went to soak it in...

Consequently, I decided that a replication (as far as reasonably possible) of McVey's Horus conversion might be a feasible afternoon project. Obviously I wouldn't be able to do this with complete accuracy as

• I don't have access to the massive and free quantity of conversion bits that Mike did when he was working in the Studio, and more importantly
• I do not have even a miniscule fraction of the painting and sculpting talent of a Mike McVey 

So I determined that I'd do a "close enough" job to try and convey the flavour of the model using bits that I had handy.

 

First of all, I started with a metal Chaos Terminator body. I carved off the helmet, and severed the arms below the elbow joints, as I wanted to re-use the shoulder pads. I used a metal head from the bits box (can't remember what third-party vendor it came from) and sculpted the deformed-looking skulls from greenstuff. The cowl is from greenstuff as the original got a bit messed up when I cut off the helmet. Looks slightly ropey but good enough from 3 feet away. The chain came from the bits box, as did some guitar-string cabling.

The massive lightning claws are the signature of this model. Fortunately the bits box came to the rescue again as I had the gloves left over from the Cataphractii Terminator sprues that came in the "Betrayal at Calth" 30K game. Two suitable items were selected and carved down to fit.

The decal on his right shoulder was an ace find - it's from a 1992 Chaos decal set I had in the decal folder. I'd tried to freehand the design at first but it looked terrible, so decals to the rescue. I painted in the yellow parts of the Eye of Horus and the red "Eyebrow of Horus" on the decal.

Add an easy-peasy paintjob and there you have it - one Warmaster circa 1995. Not very impressive compared to the current model so amazingly painted by Conscript Greg, but fun for an afternoon project and homage to the talented Mr. McVey.

Horus Lupercal, Warmaster

"Let the galaxy burn..." Horus Lupercal, Warmaster, Primarch and Master of the XVI Legion. Figure from Forge World.

Another fun bit of summer 30k painting to share.  Here is Horus Lupercal, Primarch of the 16th Legion, Master of the Sons of Horus, Warmaster of the Imperium, leader of the rebellion against The Emperor and instigator of the Horus Heresey. Can't have a Horus Heresy without Horus, right? I painted him in 6mm...why not try the "28mm" version?

The sculpt is from Forge World, part of their "Horus Heresy Character Series".  Forge World started this series years ago, and there are figures available now for just about every Legion Primarch (I think they have them all covered...?) as well as a few of the notable special characters from the long series of Horus Heresy novels. 

I had assumed that any model of Horus from GW would be covered in all sorts of Chaos nonsense, but I was wrong. This sculpt certainly portrays the Warmaster as a menacing fellow, but he is not obviously gone over to the dark side - he could just as easily be leading his Sons of Horus during one of the final battles of the Great Crusade, as opposed to coordinating his attacks in the Isstvan system and beyond during his revolt.

The figure is very large - Horus himself is a Primarch, much larger than an average Space Marine, which in turn is already a lot larger than an average human. He is made even larger by his custom suit of Cataphract Terminator armour, and his personalized special weapons - and then there is the huge base he is standing on.  Overall, the effect is of a figure from another scale. While this rendering of Horus is meant to co-exist (in theory) with the other "28mm"-sized 30k models, the effect is much closer to a larger scale diorama figure, 40mm at least.

The larger the figure, the greater the amount of detail, and the sculptors at Forge World did not scrimp on detail.  From the intricate symbols on the armour, to the detailed weapons, to the face, to the elaborate base, there was a lot to ponder from a painting perspective when considering how to tackle this project.  My painting techniques are pretty basic ones, and I found this figure very intimidating. I wasn't sure how much I could push my basic approach to painting...but what the heck, you have to try sometime, right?

The Base

So much detail on this very elaborate base."Aquila Eterna" heh? Not so much...

The Primarch figures all have elaborate bases, and the scenic base for Horus is particularly, well, cunningly devised, IMO.  It sort of has three "strata" - there is a fallen imperial eagle head, presumably from a statue or monument.  There is a staircase with cool faux-latin terms etched into the stairs. The final, bottom layer of the base, is more general rubble, but still has detail - metal bars, a few Mark III armoured shoulder pads, and of course a couple of skulls, all mixed in.

Early WIP photo of the base.

I just find this base fascinating. What happened to create this scene?  Did some Imperial building get damaged in some fighting, and just happen to fall in a pile like this, one that Horus would find convenient to hop on top of so he could direct his Marines or make a speech?  Or did Horus knock all of this stuff together - beat up some building and toss the components on to a pile of rubble, so he would have a handy, home-made vantage point?

The finished base, with Horus removed.  Note the crushed Mk III shoulder pauldron at the bottom under the rubble...wonder what happened there?

Another view of the base...more smashed marine shoulder pauldrons...so many possible stories spring to mind...

The base is so clever in that is sets Horus in either the pre- or post-heresy time frame too...Horus might be fighting amid Imperial-themed rubble to defend the Great Crusade...or, his rebellion is already underway, and these symbols of his father's rule would make a handy jump off point...oh, did I smash that Imperial eagle? Pity...

The Warmaster

Humanity's last hope, Horus Lupercal...hey, this eagle seems pretty handy....

Horus himself, as you might expect for someone of his rank, has some pretty swanky wargear, and you can see it on the figure.  The huge mace is "Worldbreaker". On his right hand is "The Warmaster's Talon", a custom combi power-claw/bolt-gun deal.  Together with his super-tough looking armour - adorned with the pelt of a wolf and requisite fancy cape - Horus Lupercal, Warmaster, is well-equipped to deal with combat matters personally, should the need arise.

WIP - the beginning....

The Sons of Horus are notorious for their green armour.  But Horus himself is often depicted wearing black armour - in fact, the studio painters in GW did this, and many other versions of Horus I have seen online have as well.  I considered trying to copy this approach myself, but in the end I wanted to stick with the green armour used on the bulk of his Legion's marines and vehicles.  I think it looks a little cooler. Plus, Horus' custom armour has a name, "The Serpent's Scales", which made me think even more that it should be green. So I stayed with the green.

The base mostly finished, some basic colours in place on Horus.

The hardest part of painting this model was the face.  It's the focal point of the figure, crying out for some attention, especially on a model of this size.  I tried my best here, using a lot of thinned-down coats and other things I don't usually bother with for a 28mm figure.  I'm pleased because I achieved more of an effect than I usually can achieve, but at the same time, it still looks a bit off - the tones are not...smooth enough.  Horus Lupercal is big and terrifying (especially in his "work clothes"), but he is also a "smooth" political operator, as adept at flattery and rhetoric as he is at smashing things to pieces using "Worldbreaker".  I got some OK definition on the face, but it still looks a bit too rough - too much warrior, not enough politician.  Oh well. 

Basic greens in place, base of red on the cloak.

The toughest part was the eyes. Oh, I hate painting eyes! I seldom find that painted eyes look right on a miniature. But in this case they seemed so big that it would be worse not to try...sigh...not my finest work, but not the worst either - at least he didn't come up cross-eyed :)  I sort of wish I did not bother with the eyes, and almost painted them over, but in the end, I just decided to keep them as I had finished them.

Armour mostly finished, base coat on the face.

The finished Warmaster.

Another view of Horus, directing...something.

The face on a figure like this is something where the more advanced painters around here in Winnipeg would really have gone to town.  For example, I can only imagine how cool Dave V. would make this rendition of Horus look using his oil paints, careful glazes and other techniques. But at the end of the day, I pushed myself a bit, and improved a bit.  Painting this fellow was fun. That's the whole point, right?

Horus On The Gaming Table

Horus "detached" from the main base, in theory for use in a game.

Make no mistake, painting this figure was mostly just to have fun. I already have a large collection of Sons of Horus marines for 30k, and I thought it would only be appropriate to have Horus himself to inspire them along.  This model is intended to sit and look cool on the figure display shelf - with that elaborate base, I expect the Forge World sculptors assumed the same. You would be hard-pressed to move this huge pile of figure around the table in a game where every other infantry model has a simple, round base.

And yet...you can detach Horus (a bit, at any rate) to theoretically use this model in a game.  He's still huge because he's a Primarch, and even detached from the bottom section of the base, he is standing on the head of a huge eagle statue, but there are stats for Horus Lupercal to be used on the 30k gaming table if you want to play a game where Horus personally goes to battle.

And...he's scary! In the 7th edition of the 40k game (which is still formally the "current" edition of 30k because GW), Horus has a basic stat line of a train at full speed...ST of 7, T of 6, with a base of 5 attacks and 6 wounds.  His save is 2+, and 3+ invulnerable....on and on.  His weapons, as you might expect, are fantastic. Oh, and he can call in an off-table bombardment.  In the fan-made 8th edition of 30k, Horus has 7 attacks, 9 wounds...oh man. No matter edition of the game, this guy would bash an entire Space Marine squad to pieces every turn - and would probably be able to rip up vehicles and dreadnoughts too.

"Let's Make the Imperium Great Again"....

So would we put this guy into a game? Well, you never know :) It might be fun to try sometime - "fun", that is, for whoever gets to use Horus. My gaming group is a lot of fun and tolerant of the odd whacky scenario.  But Horus himself seldom seemed to go into battle once the Heresy was under way, running things instead via his minions and directing affairs from the bridge of his vessel, the Vengeful Spirit. I expect the same for this figure - he will hopefully inspire his minions from afar on the display shelf, as opposed to getting directly into the battle with them on the table.

Steve B - Thanks!

Just wanted to add a special thanks to Steve B in Winnipeg! He put together this figure, as well as the two Land Raiders I painted earlier this summer.  Much appreciated Steve!!

That's all for now - thanks for visiting.  I hope you are having a great summer, wherever you are!

Reaver Titan, Buildings and The Warmaster Himself for Adeptus Titanicus/Epic

Some more additions for "Adeptus Titanicus" and Epic 30k

I have continued to work on building up forces for GW's new-edition "Adeptus Titanicus", and those efforts have produced an assortment of items share - a new Reaver Titan, a few of the new buildings from the new box game and, last but not least, a very special character, the Warmaster himself, Horus Lupercal, in 6mm!

Reaver Titan

A Reaver titan for the Loyalists...doomed to be destroyed opposing the Warmaster.  How sad. 

This is one of the new multi-part plastic Reaver Titan kits from GW, painted in the colours of Legio Gryphonicus, the "War Griffons".  As so-called "loyalists", this poor God-engine will fight in the doomed cause of the false "Emperor".

If you have paid any attention to prior postings over the years on this blog, you will see I'm no whiz with plastic models, even very straightforward ones, and this was no exception.  I have difficulty posing the legs on these new Reaver Titan models, even when I believe that I am trying something relatively straightforward.  In this case, you can see I managed to over-pose the Titan's right leg and foot.  This prevented the leg "greaves" from attaching in a clean, proper way.

Oops. That leg doesn't look right.  That's what you get with "loyalist" Mechanicum, right? 

I din't realize this problem until I had already glued all the supporting pistons in place, and couldn't fix it without having to pull a bunch of really radical and risky modelling stunts - stunts which risked breaking the whole kit (and wasting too much $$). So I had to bodge it. The "solution" was that the leg "greaves" were attached in a slightly off-kilter manner.  I mean, this is a loyalist machine, so it only makes sense that it would have some sort of defect.  The crews were probably too busy obsessing over a so-called "Emperor" who doesn't even exist to notice!

These models cost a frigging fortune, but they are very nice.

I love the absurd "gatling cannon" - I mean...just nuts. 

This Reaver is sporting the trusty "apocalypse launcher" on top, a power fist for punching foes on its left arm, and the trusty "gatling cannon" on its right arm.  This armament will be mostly for knocking down void shields, and moving in for the kill with the power fist.  Or, in theory, at least, those are the proposed tactics.  In practice, this Reaver will encounter the hallowed God-engines fighting in the name of the benevolent and unstoppable Warmaster, and thus will see its void shields evaporated and plasma reactor melted down before it could ever even attempt the blasphemy of returning fire...but it will be fun to have on the table nonetheless :)

The Buildings

One of the new building kits from the "Adeptus Titanicus" box set.

The new "Adeptus Titanicus" re-boot comes with a nice set of new plastic buildings.  It is rare that I paint terrain, and I am already fortunate to have a large collection of the old-school card-and-plastic buildings from the original versions of "Space Marine", but these new buildings are quite nice to look at, so I thought I would paint some of them up.

Another view of the first building. 

The new buildings are modular, and the design is very clever, in that once you figure out how the components mix and match, you can really go to town and create structures which are at once very evocative of the pseudo-baroque gothic look of 30k/40k, but which are mercifully free of "skullz", and so are applicable to really any generic sci-fi environment (in 6mm).

I will say, however, that assembly is tricky.  And I don't mean by the "Greg is useless and impatient at model assembly" standard of tricky - they really are tricky to put together, a necessary condition of their modular nature.  But they are worth your time, and will give you some nice pieces of real-estate to fight over (and blow up in the process).

A nice, small, generic building - great for Epic 30k gaming. 

Two of these buildings have fairly generic sand-ish colours to match the desert terrain settings where I like to set my Epic 30k gaming.  But I thought I would have a bit of fun, and try something a bit different and more specific.  The green building will serve as a Consulate building for the Warmaster.  I used the same greens on the building as I did for my Sons of Horus marines, and I threw some decals on the roof.

A Consulate facility for the XVI Legion. 

Given the stature and importance of Horus Lupercal in the galaxy, I thought he would likely have these sorts of office facilities at different points across the Imperium.  At these locations, members of his staff, together with designated representatives from the XVI Legion, plot the destruction of the  of those who oppose them oversee various charitable causes such as free skills training and low-rent housing for those impacted by pro-Imperial terrorism.

But I think it will make for a fun objective in a game - and it shows how nice the building models are. The paint jobs here were very, very quick-and-dirty. But there is a lot to go to town on if you want to take the time, and much more skilled terrain painters than I (i.e. nearly everyone out there) will find it worth their efforts.

The Warmaster

The Warmaster himself, inspecting one of his facilities...

Since I love Epic 30k, and since I have collections of troops from the Warmaster's own Legion, and now, even a consulate for him, well, how about the Warmaster himself?  This is a privately sculpted 6mm-scaled figure of Horus Lupercal, Warmaster and Commander of the XVI Legion, humanity's last hope! The figure is a faithful rendition of the Forge World 28mm figure.

Suitably dramatic cloak. 

Obviously, I would not just pop Horus himself into any old scenario. But if he was to make an appearance in a game, I think a game of Epic would make more sense, where he can be accompanied by a full company of Legion marines, whole squadrons of armoured vehicles, and several Titans.

Some pelts, of course - the Space Wolves might think they are original, but they are just copying Horus of course...

Whether he is personally leading a critical assault, or perhaps looking to evade some manner of craven, low-brow terrorism perpetrated by delusional "loyalist" forces, Horus in Epic should help to set up some particularly fun scenarios for "Adeptus Titanicus" or Epic 30k.

For a small figure, still a really impressive sculpt. 

And of course, you may wonder, how about a figure for "The Emperor"? That way, they could fight it out on the table! Well, that might be interesting, but remember, there is no "Emperor"! :)

Thanks for stopping by at the Blog today - I hope you have a great day.  I'm off now for a quick visit to...Helsinki! The Winnipeg Jets are playing a couple of games as part of an NHL effort to promote their league in Europe.  If you know of a good hobby shop in Helsinki, by all means, share it in the comments! Happy painting to all.