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XX

Target dispatched.

Unencrypted XXth legion vox transmission, unknown legion asset

The ruins were silent. Deceptively so. Hive Mankorn had been the target of intense Zone Mortalis engagements between combined forces of the Dark Angels and White Scars, as well as the Iron Warriors and the Alpha Legion. Gruesome close range engagements, which particularly suited the traitors, had continued for nearly two standard weeks until IV^th legion artillery had leveled the city. Now, isolated warbands prowled through the ashes and ruins; the dust still choked the skies.

Geront and his rag-tag squad of I^st and V^th legionaries moved silently through cover, always scanning the surrounding for potential enemies. With the familiar weights of sword and bolt pistol in his hands, he instructed his squad with short vox-clicks. Silence had to be maintained. The Hydra was everywhere. He knew that.

Aim

The Dark Angel cast his gaze towards the hive's monolithic remains that peeked through the dust and clawed at the pale sky. Nothing moved there, at least nothing his suit's sensory array could make out.

Inhale

Geront led his men across an open field through use of gesticulative battle-cant. The plaza must have been some sort of market place, judging by the carts and smashed crates. Such open spaces always made his gut clench with cold paranoia. It was here that they were fully vulnerable. Still, they crossed the plaza unmolested.

Exhale

Geront turned to the White Scar demi-sergeant in order to delegate further instructions. Earlier they had spotted a former supply site from a higher up vantage point. Maybe they could find some help or ressources there.

Click

The White Scar's head imploded in a mist of gore and fatty brain tissue. Whatever projectile had hit him had travelled further and shattered the knee of a Dark Angel.

"Cover! Go for cover!" Geront immediately bellowed. From behind a ferrocrete block he watched in grim disgust as the unknown sniper executed his fallen brother.

Aim

"Kira, report! Report!" Geront spied over his cover multiple times, but the dust made it almost impossible to tell from where exactly the bullet had come from. The west side of the plaza probably, judging by the blood spray of the two corpses.

Inhale

"Kira, Emperor damn you, what is the auspex reading?!" Geront's twin hearts were beating hard. The enemy did not take pot-shots, did not try his hand at lucky hits. This was a being of precisest calculations.

"The dust is blocking it, sergeant!" The White Scar yelled over the vox "I cannot say how many enemies there are! Oh wait, maybe this.... Got it!"

Exhale

"Well, what is it?!" The Dark Angel shot a couple of times into the dust, hoping to either land a very lucky hit or simply rouse the enemy from their hiding spot.

"One, it's only one!" Kira exclaimed as he fumbled with the auspex "But he is flitting all over the pla-"

Click

Kira fell to the ground, chest ruptured and hearts scattered in shreds across the floor. Another shot split the auspex just before it hit the ground.

"Feth!" Geront cursed as he retreated through the dust, looking for Beyl and Aaron, his remaining two brethren.

Aim

"Battle-Brothers, to me! Beyl, Aaron!" Geront bellowed as he reloaded his pistol. The cursed dust clung to everything and made most of his armour's sophisticated targeting systems useless. Damned Iron Warriors and their phosphex shells. At this rate, he'd probably die long before he would find his brethren.

Inhale

"This is sergeant Geront of the Dark Angels; I recquire immediate reinforcement from all loyal forces present in my vicinity!" He knew that nobody would hear him. They hadn't met anyone on days; they might as well have been abandoned in these ruins. Yet still, he had to hope.

Exhale

Geront stumbled upon two figures crouching in the dust. With raised weapons he approached them, before he recognized the familiar insignia of his legion, his brethren. Both were slumped against the wall with two narrow holes above their hearts. He hadn't even heard their deaths.

By accident, Geront turned around as the wind picked up and cleared some of the dingy dust. Across the plaza, far and above from where he stood, he could make out the faint glare of deep-crimson lenses.

Click

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Hey folks. Well, it has been a while again, hasn't it. It's been a bit up and down for me, so I couldn't really devote much time to this blog, sorry about that. I think that from now on, I will mostly post my Inquisimunda stuff here, as I do not really have a place for that yet. I am in a bit of a hurry right now, so expect another update post sometime soon!

Anyhow, big reveal about that fella above comming soon. Stay tuned!

A Review of the Plague Marine kit

Sketch as done by Jes Goodwin, used without owner's permission.

Observe. Jagged holes, bolted on plates, tubes, chips and cracks. A clear contrast of white paper to dull-grey graphite or ink. A helm characterized by a skull-like lower area, bolts, an almost starwars-esque visor-slit, and a Pickelhaube spike. Many circles are utilized as symbols; the metal plate adorned with Nurgle's Emblem, the stomach, the knees and the black circle that contains three skulls on the Marine's shoulder.

    A clear aesthetic, marked by surprisngly many clear and straight lines. Observe how almost all rough surfaces and blemishes, such as ribbed tubes and cracks, are contained within those clear lines. Consider, how no pockmark, hole, or tear disturbs the mostly straight lines that make up the shins or arms.

    This image, so it follows, creates a very clear image of what a Plague Marine/Chaos Renegade of Nurgle is supposed to look like in the 41st millenium, according to Jes Goodwin. I tend to agree with this vision, and it is this vision that I hoped Games Workshop would return to eventually. Did they though?

    Well, yes and no. Observe again.

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Picture taken from Games Workshop^s website without their permission.

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 Horns, tattered cloth, mutations, maws, tentacles and spikes. Much has changed, and yet many of Jes Goodwin's primordial design-aspects can be discerned. A very brutal, heavy aspect exemplified by the violence encapsulated in Mark II&III armour, the return of those archetypical retro-helms and their eclectic mix of sci-fi and historical influences, as well as wear and tear that evoke an image of disrepair and natural degradation induced by millenia of warfare.

    However, those new elements, especially horns and plague-bearer faces, seem to be very prominent. The formerly clean, well-contained design seems to be disrupted, disjointed, and, well, almost abandoned for a lack of better words. Does this make it a bad design? Not really, no. There are many things to like about it, if this aesthetic is to your taste. However, Jes' sketchwork is what got me into Warhammer 40k, and his Plague Marine is one of his greatest pieces in my opinion. Surely then, I must see the kit as a failure? Not at all! Most of my gripes with the kit come from the way the lay-out is done, and how limiting and at times frustrating it is to convert and generally build. Aesthetically, it is varied in detail work, crisp in casting and the mold-lines are well-placed and easy to remove. It is also very accepting of other parts; heads, arms and fists can be swapped easily. If you wish to swap the backpacks, you'll have to remove the small nub on the torsos back, as otherwise the backpack won't sit flush.

    Let us return to the initial question: Did they return to Jes' aesthetic? I posit that they did and did not at the same time. The aesthetic, to me, clearly isn't visible anymore due to all the visual disturbances and the confusing colouring that now introduces vibrant violets and blues into a usually more sombre, and dark palette. However, Jes' aesthetic can be carved out of the kit and be brought back to the light of day. If you observe the kit carefully, then you'll notice that Jes' sketchwork is the basis for the kit, all the clutter has just been added on-top of it.

    So I set out to de-clutter my Plague Marines.

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As you can see, the huge potato-masher grenades have been removed from this pair of legs. Nothing is wrong with them per se, but I hate how they broke up the silhouette when viewed from the front. The horn-outgrowths have been removed from the left shoulder-pad. I've used a regular phobos-pattern bolter and a plastic Mark III helm as well as shoulderpad. The left arm is a FW Mark III resin arm and is armed with a plastic gladius. There is also a half-cloak behind the left arm.

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Again, a horn outgrowth has been removed from the fly-shoulderpad (right). The plague-bearer face has been removed from the right shin, and roughed up a bit to appear more pitted (A lucky coincidence of the removal process, really). Here, perhaps, puzzling, there are more overt mutations on the bolter, but consider that they are still "contained" within the silhouette of the bolter and body. The head comes from the Blightlords' kit (more on that one in the future), and I picked it because I liked the weird mix of blindness and grim grin. The head is also very smooth and clear in terms of silhouette.

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Again, a smoothed down shooulderpad, the tentacle holding the axe has been cut down and the axe-head has been replaced. The backpack and helm come from the plastic Mark III kit. I've removed the chest-spikes, not because I dislike them, but because I want to put a nice crossed-scythe transfer on his chest. I've left the spikes on the left leg because I like this Horus Heresy element it carries (GW, we need more bits with pyramidical spikes, like right now). 

Now, you might say that there are astonishingly few Pickelhaube heads here, and that there are quite some pitted pieces and flesh-growths, especially on the first Plague Marine. I think that is fine. Aesthetics evolve, get replaced and reformed. Thesis and anti-thesis come together, fuse and create a solution together (A horrid over-simplification of Hegelian Dialectics in a shitpost, based on me playing Fallout New Vegas for the past few weeks). Astartes have become bigger these days, their arsenals have expanded, and we have more plastic kits to chose from than at any point ever. 

    I have not expirienced the Rogue Trader days, as I was born in the middle of the 90s. I have not actively partaken in the days of 2nd edition. But during my early years, a friend in Croatia introduced me to a duo of money-consuming hobbies,  Magic the Gathering and Warhammer 40k, both of which are still an elemental part of my life. I can still vividly remember the day he showed me the Plague Marine sketch done by Jes Goodwin. Funny, I do not remember the medium it was one; was it a print? Within a magazine? Or a book? I don't know, but I vividly remember the artwork itself, and it has been etched into my sci-fi image corpus since then. 

    Do I think that the new Plague Marine kit is perfect? No, but one can do great things with it. One is not served the full Jes Goodwin aesthetic on a silver platter, and some might lament that. I say it is good. By applying oneself to the figure, being brave by picking up a knife and carving away at the figure gently, one can reach something very close. Two aesthetics in one, if you will, and choise is always good in my book. You can do many things with the Plague Marine kits. Mutated Nurgle Renegades. Bloated bellies en masse. Regular Mark III chests. Retro-Helmets or new gas mask style helmets. Bone growths or smooth, almost insectile armors. Mind you, all these choices are only contained within one kit. You just have to apply yourself to the kit, carve out the piece of grim-dark future that you like. That's what's beautiful about the hobby though, isn't it? Applying yourself to it. Creating something unique.

    I'll leave you with another Plague Marine. Thank you for the time you took out of your day to read this.

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The Tugarinean Fleet

Many a snake slithers through the Imperiums underbelly

Many a spider spreads its net across the flickering stars

Many a thing lies unseen beneath the cover of night and iron

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Secret cults and armies fester within our borders

Though few are as insidious as the hybrid spawn

The amalgamation of the Human and the Tyranid
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Each decade, countless regiments and fleets are uncovered

Each and every one of them twisted by the Genestealer's kiss

Yet for each one we find, a dozen might survive in the dark

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Mostly, we only see those that choose to unveil themselves

Those that stand in the presence of their heathen gods from beyond

But what of those that chose to remain hidden, even in sight of the Devourer?
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What of those shunned by the Maw from beyond the Halo?

What of those spawned by the brood of Ymgarl, the Shunned?

How far does their claw reach?

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Well, it has been a while, hasn't it? The last semester has been extremely stressful for me and has, in many ways, hampered my motivation for writing a blog, let alone invest much time into the hobby. However, thanks to friends and many, many inspiring projects across the Web, I have decided to return to the roots of my hobby-passion: Retro-Sci-Fi and Narrative. Now, I do not know about you, but few things in the dark millenium are as appealing to me as the concept of Genestealer Cults (Well, that and the Alpha Legion & the Inquisition/Mechanicum). The new plastics capture this retro-essence of the originals perfectly and I've had an itch to make some GS-Cults since their release, but didn't want to commit to such a huge army.

In the end, I've decided to do a narrative based project; a whole spread of Cultists sired by the Ymgarl Genestealers. Now, I chose Ymgarl specifically as I want to make a GS-Force centered around the idea of spreading their genetic material, but not actively sacrificing themselves to the Fleets. As we know, the Ymgarl-Genestealers are always left behind by the Hive-Fleets and never devoured, due to fear of genetic instability. I imagine that such a cult would, at least in parts, be left behind too and would slowly, and over time develop a self-image of true heralds of doom; those that would not only survive the fires of purgatory but also gain the chance of spreading their influence even further.

And so, the Tugarinean Fleet is born; a conglomerate of several GS-Sub-Cults that trace their heritage to one single Patriarch (Boy, do I have something juicy planned for that one!) and have created a whole infrastructure that serves to spread their influence. You will see, in no particular order, infiltrated Priests of the Ministorum and Mechanicus, you will see infiltrated Imperial regiments (The main one is already included in this post), a smattering of Imperial citizens and serfs, as well as something more Astartes related.

Well, that is it for today, let's hope that the updates won't come in 5 months intervals from now on!

---XX---

---XX---

You shall forevermore stand apart from your cousins

They shall march in the light and adolation of the people

You shall stand eternal vigil in the dark, away from their eyes

They are my sword, my hammer, my beloved gift to Mankind

You shall be my dagger, my very own misericordia, my last gift to Mankind

Rise, my twentieth legion

Rise, my ghosts in the dark

Rise

The Emperor's Edict upon the XX^th legion

 

A  quick WiP of my Alpha Legion Praetor for my Unification Wars project. I tried to go for a mix of armor marks, as I imagine that the Ghost Legion would've been used as a testbed for the Mark IV armor, which is why he sports a proto Mark IV helm. The shoulders are rimless because I want to play with some nice transfers later. The legs come from the Grave Warden set but were cut apart and reposition, much like the terminator arms. Both the lower arms and the shins were lengthened with 1,5 mm plasticard and bolts were added to the left shin. Those I have meticulously shaved off of a bunch of miscast Mark V parts that a mate had given me. The gladius comes from the plastic Mark III set, the sheathe from the Forgeworld Mark III weapon set, the aquila vambraces are shoulders from the Sisters of Silence, the shouldershield comes from the plastic cataphractii set and a wide variety of pouches and grenades from everywhere. The bolter is a stalker bolter from the Deathwatch veterans set.

 Here he is compared to a regular space marine. The increase in height isn't really the reason why I truescale, although it is also quite nice too. I prefer the mass and heft that comes with it, it reminds me of the artworks from John Blanche and Karl Kopinski (Especially Kopinski). I've also tried to use some of the wisdom of the Wier brothers from the Between the Bolter and Me blog, as they very recently had quite a fascinating post about truescaling!

Hope you like him and have a good day :)

A Heart of Blackness, a Lord of Pain

 

The world-that-once-was is dead

The profane age  has been shattered

Ovic, my son, forgive your father

The Fly-God called and I had to heed

Anushka, dearest wife, I regret not holding you once more

The Age of the Dark Ones had been glorious

Ripe with wars, ripe with blessings

Yet such gluttony always heralds downfall

I did not care for the roars of displeased gods

I had long since shed my mortal coils

Now I wander in the pestilent realms

I slaughter with impunity, without joy

The kiss of steel, the embrace of blood

All is naught, all is despair

Now I understand the cruelty of the divine

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Well...

Uhh..

Hello I guess?^^ So, I've finally decided to take a plunge into this whole blog-thingy (Especially after seeing all the beautiful stuff on Gardens of Hecate and Iron Sleet). So, this blog won't have a specific focus. Most of the stuff I do is either Horus Heresy or Inquisimunda related, but I reckon that there will be some fantasy and AoS28 stuff too.

The Nurgle Champion in this post has been inspired by Jake (Bruticus) ingenious use of the Anakatis'Kul Slave Blades from Forge World's Zardu Layak kit for his own Chaos Warband of Malal.

The paintjob is mostly drybrushing and washing at this stage, as I wanted to emulate the slightly rough, very virulent and colourful style that could be seen in the early years of Magic the Gathering, Realms of Chaos and Liber Chaotica. As the paintjob progresses, I will post more about my artistic process and thinking.

Anyways, that's all for today. Hope you enjoyed it and have a nice day!