From GregB: One More Post - Sons of Horus Space Marines

A Veteran Tactical Squad for the Sons of Horus. 28mm figures from Forge World

Good day everyone! I am pleased to share that I received my first COVID-19 vaccine jab yesterday, and so this will be my last submission to the Analogue Hobbies Quarantine and Vaccine Challenge. The group of figures you see here in this submission is a Veteran Tactical Squad, clad in the colours and livery of the XVI Legion Astrates, the "Sons of Horus". These are resin figures from Forge World, part of GW's "Horus Heresy" setting, often referred to as "30k".

Trooper carrying a meltagun, flanked by Marines carrying fancy bolt guns.

Lots of intricacies on the power packs - you also can see the handy chainswords carried by the veteran troopers.

I am a huge fan of this setting, and I generally love how GW has, over the years, issued a huge variety of models and figures for the 30k setting. There are many different variants of power armour for the Space Marines, many different variants of weapons, and a large assortment of bespoke accessories, such as the shoulder plates featuring the symbol of the Sons of Horus legion. This huge assortment of components, broadly speaking, are all compatible with each other - this is an awesome feature, and for dorky fan like me, allows for many components to swap in to the different units.

Vox operator on the left, Vexillary on the right.

More detail on the backpacks - I quite like the bizarre little details on the communications pack.

The squad sergeant's ominous "power claws" and plasma pistol point, while in the background you see the trooper with the heavy bolter, a support weapon.

A lot of rivets and segments in the Mark II power armour...a bit of a challenge to paint, and I was pretty rusty in terms of painting these guys, but they still came out OK.

These particular Marines are wearing Mark II variant power armour - an "early" pattern of armour, but carrying "later" patterns of bolt guns, with box magainzes. The chainswords they are carrying are spares from the plastic Mark III marine figure set, as are the special weapons seen on the officer. The heavy bolter is a plastic accessory from the plastic Mark IV marine figure set. So a lot of different component packs came together here, which was great. Besides, I figure veterans would be the sort to keep the older armour, but ensure they got their choice of the nicest/newest weapons :)

Horus for hope!

You may note that the transfers are still quite glossy in these photos - it has not been "safe" to spray the final coat of matte spray on these figures, so that may wait for some time - that is something I will get to at a later time.

The embossed shoulder armour plates are great - not the cheapest thing to decide to like, but I do love them.

So that's a wrap for me! Thanks all who participated and shared comments. I look forward to seeing you all again in the next edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. Cheers. 

From GregB: XVI Legion Moritat - Horus Heresy

"Moritat" in the colours of the XVI Legion Astrates - the Sons of Horus.

The wait for a vaccine continues in Northern Ontario. Hopefully it won't be much longer. So here is some more painting to share. This is a 28mm Space Marine "Moritat", painted in the colours of the XVIth Legion Astrates, known as the "Sons of Horus", part of GW's "Horus Heresy" setting. This is a resin figure from Forge World...which is part of GW, but still separate...or something...I really don't get that, but I digress.

Guns drawn, ready to fire...and the helmet of a previous victim lying on the base...

So what is a "Moritat"? Well, the "Horus Heresy" was a giant civil war which tore the Imperium apart. Space Marine Legions fought against Space Marine Legions, and the fighting caused the odd Space Marine here and there to crack up a bit, the nature of the conflict being such that it wrecked the careful mental/psychological conditioning/programming that was part of their creation. While still physically fit, such mentally damaged Marines could no longer be fully relied upon to fight effectively as part of their units, and so were pulled from the battle line. The Legions would never "waste" an asset, however - a Space Marine is still a Space Marine...and so such mentally fractured Marines are made in "Moritats", and sent to battle as one-man armies. Not suicide missions per se...just loners at the fringe of the battle plan. If they survive, great. If not...well, they will still have cause serious issues for the enemies of the Legion.

The cabling is a pain the @ss...some crude "green stuff" repairs were needed - I've got no skill using "green stuff", but you have to start somewhere? Practice is practice.

The Moritat seen here wears Mark IV power armour, with extra plating. He has fancy special guns - they are dangerous to use, but whatever - this guy is going into battle on his own, so who cares, right? He is equipped with a jump pack to get close to the enemy as fast as he can and start shooting. He has a variety of extra targeting kit to help his shots land more accurately.

For the Warmaster!

It has been almost a year since I last painted some 30k figures, and it was fun to dig into the packing crate and pull out some figures like this one. It has been waiting for paint for just over a year - I first assembled it during my previous burst of 30k output, in spring last year. There was a particular challenge with this figure - the cables running from the weapons to the backpack of the armour. Resin features like this are not easy to assemble, and even with careful use of hot water etc. the cables can break because they need to be bent/turned into position. That happened here, requiring "green stuff" to be used for repairs on one of the cables. I have almost NO experience using "green stuff" to do anything, so my repair execution was pretty crude...but it still worked enough to get the figure into the line.

Thanks for reading everyone - hope you are well!  

From GregB: Knights for GW's "Adeptus Titanicus"

Acastus Knights for Adeptus Titanicus - kits from GW.

Hi everyone! It looks like it will still be quite a while before any meaningful vaccine supplies make their way to my part of Northern Ontario here in Canada, so I hope you won't mind seeing a few more submissions...for this one, we continue with the war machines of Games Workshop's grim and dark future. These particular machines are "Knights" - specifically, "Acastus" Knights. They are multi-part plastic kits from GW, part of the model range for the game Adeptus Titanicus.

Rear view showing the armour plates on the back of the torso and legs.

What is a "Knight" in the dark sci-fi world of GW? No horses here. It is, rather, yet another large walking war machine. Of course, in the grim darkness of the future, "large" is a relative concept...you see, the Knights are large war machines - they would tower over normal humans. But they are nonetheless small compared to the massive Titans. Knights only have a single pilot. The weapons mounted on a Knight, while destructive to enemy vehicles, infantry and fortifications, have a limited impact compared to the neighbourhood-and-city crushing armaments of the large battle Titans like the Reaver class example I posted last week.

Energy weapons ready to blast enemies to particles.

In the world of GW's Adeptus Titanicus, the Knights are organized into "households", pseudo-medieval orders which serve as a sort of combat auxilia to the Titan Legions. Thus when the Titans go to battle, the Princeps of the great war engines are often accompanied by groups of Knights. These machines need to act carefully on the battlefield where Titans are present, but when used with cunning they can be a serious pain for your enemies. They can harry flanks and distract opponents - and if they get close to the enemy Titans, they can cause critical damage and even score kills on their much larger opponents.

There are some rocket launchers mounted on the top of the hull...you can model them closed up, but where is the fun in that? :)

There are many, many different classes of Knight available. These Acastus Knights are the largest class of Knight available...about as large as a Knight can get, nearly, but not quite as large as the small "scout" Titans. As such, the weapon systems on them hit hard, and their armour is a bit more robust. Acastus Knights can certainly threaten enemy Titans, and even take a bit of a beating, but are not as mobile (even if they are much more mobile than the huge Titans). These two Knights are painted in the red-and-black-gold colours I use for the loyalist Knights in my Adeptus Titanicus collection.

Ready to fight in the name of The Emperor. I'm sure Horus is laughing somewhere...

These kits are very, very nicely done by GW. Real beauties to work on, with tons of tiny details. As far as backstories go in GW's 30k/40k setting, I must say I am indifferent to the stories of the Knights (the Titan Legions are SO much cooler), but there are many out there who enjoy all of the Knights. If you are one of those folks, you will be blown away by these kits. The detail is insane - you even get a choice of different auxiliary weapons (either lascannons or autocannons). Wow. 

"Family photo" of my upgraded loyalists for Adeptus Titanicus.

With these two Knights now stepping into the line, the rebel and loyalist sides to my collection are balanced out, with the same amount of God engines available to each side. I'm not sure why that should matter - we can't even get together to game anyway - but is it the sort of thing that lingers in my hobby brain. Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this recent run of Adeptus Titanicus kit. I think some other GW subjects will soon be appearing here as I continue to wait for a chance to get a vaccine...

From GregB: Another Titan - Nemesis Warbringer

More reinforcements for Legio Gyphonicus - a Nemesis Warbringer Titan.

Hello again everyone! Here is another war machine from GW's Adeptus Titanicus. This is "Nemesis Warbringer" Titan (love those names), a multi-part plastic kit from GW. This is another Titan for Legio Gyphonicus, the "War Griffons", a loyalist Titan Legio that fought on the side of The Emperor during the wars of the Horus Heresy.

The new Warbringer, together with the Reaver Titan from my previous submission.

This Titan class is slightly larger than the Reaver in my previous post, and is still broadly a "medium" class of Titan. It is still covered in heavy weaponry, of course! You can see all sorts of big guns all over this thing.

Now THAT is a big gun!

A lot going on up there on top of this Titan...

There are even some anti-aircraft batteries up there...just in case!

Where this machine stands out from the others is the interesting weapon mount on the top of the Titan. This is a "quake cannon" - no need to get into the specifics here, but you can tell that it is a really big gun, and it has really satisfying big-gun-type effects in the game. 

You can just make out the crew access hatch in this view...

This is a beautiful model kit from GW, but the assembly for this requires more caution than the other large Titan models I have built to date. It also needs more painting of sub-assemblies than the other main kits for the model range. Many of the components/armour plates overlap, but do not cover completely, the various sections where they are mounted. I get obsessive about these situations, and end up wanting to be sure everything is painted, even if there is only a 0.000005% anyone will see one of these mostly-covered areas. 

So much great detail on the armour plates...really great job by GW on these kits.

Lots of overlapping plate armour on the legs and torso.

So putting one of these together and painting it is a bit of a slow process, at least for me - I paint a lot of the components (like the armour plates) separately from the base structure, and then assemble afterwards. That takes more time, and is more fiddly for sure. But it is worth it in the end - I really like the model, and I'm glad to have one of these available for my loyalist forces.

Thanks for reading! Hope you are all well out there.  

From GregB: Reaver Titan for Adeptus Titanicus

Reaver Titan from Games Workshop - standing with some alternative weapon options. This is a plastic GW kit.

Hi everyone! As ever, there is no vaccine in sight for me here in Northern Ontario, so I hope folks won't mind as my work continues to appear here on the blog! This submission is a little different from a lot of my recent hobby efforts - this is a Reaver Titan, a plastic multipart kit from Games Workshop, for their game Adeptus Titanicus. 

A closer view, showing the various energy weapons mounted on the Titan.

In Adeptus Titanicus, players take command of Titans - very large, city-smashing war machines, blasting each other (and the planets they happen to be standing on) to bits during the Horus Heresy, the great civil war of GW's grim and dark science fiction setting. The Titans move about the table, blasting each other with apocalyptic weapons. Void shields are shattered, reactors are pushed, overloaded and (often) cook off. Players must make some challenging command choices as they try to manage their Titans - it's a great time.

A closer view showing the "Volcano Cannon" on the left arm...a scary weapon, but one that tends to put pressure on the Titan's reactor.

The Reaver is a "medium" class of battle titan - still pretty darn big, but not the biggest machine available to the combatants in this setting. This Reaver is painted in the grey, yellow and blue colours of Legio Gryphonicus, the "War Griffons", loyalists who fought on the side of The Emperor during the Horus Heresy.

Another view, showing some alternate weapons - including a giant chainsword hand! Good times!

These kits are lovely, but there is one issue with them - the design of the model kit does not really allow for the use of magnets in order to swap out the various weapon options for the machine. But there are many determined and clever hobbyists out there - including my good friends Curt and Dallas - and they figured out some easy modifications to this model which allowed for the weapon hard points to be fitted with small magnets. I have copied this approach from them, and I am working to add more Reavers with magnetized hard points to my collection.

Another weapon option - a large calibre, multi-barrel cannon - good times!

You can see in the photos there are different weapon options available for this machine - picking a favourite weapon configuration is a great part of the game, and now players using this loyalist machine will have a choice of the weapons seen here, as well as some others painted previously. 

A "family photo" of my Loyalist Titan collection...Knights in the front, Warhounds behind them, then the Reaver Titans, including the newest one on the left, and finally the Warlord Titans at the back.

Adeptus Titanicus is a fantastic game, a great set of rules and models from GW. It has been fun to get back to this model range over the past couple of weeks, and I look forward to sharing more towering war machines from the grim and dark far future as they come off the hobby desk! Thanks for reading, and be well.   

From GregB: Space Marine Command Group

Commander & bodyguards for the Vylka Fenryka.

Big surprise: I'm back with even more Space Marines! I'm just on a real sci-fi roll right now at the painting table. This is a Space Marine command group - a Centurion, and standard bearer and a pair of body-guards. The commander and the banner-bearer are resin figures from Forge World - they are wearing Mark IV powered armour, burnished with extra fancy bits, like cloaks and combs for their helmets. The two other marines are assembled from an assortment of left over plastic bits. The decals on the figures are from GW and Forge World. As with most of my recent work shared in the Quarantine Challenge, the models are painted in the colours of the VI Legion Astrates, the "Space Wolves".

Adding a command group like this to the collection helps to firm things up to my random hobby mind. A headquarters choice that brings things together, elevating the assortment of Vylka Fenryka figures from scattered and random side projects into a single, coherent force - one that demands further escalation in terms of additional assets, or course...but a significant waypoint in the evolution of the collection and painting process.

Awesome sculpt on this figure - I love this command group, great work by Forge World.

Rear view showing the shoulder pauldron & back pack.

The Space Marine Legions of the Horus Heresy setting have a cornucopia of officers, commanders, specialists, medics, engineers and other heroic figures you can choose from to serve as HQs, but the core selection of the senior HQ level is this small assembly of a senior officer and three elite associates, one of who carries a banner.

We can have some fun with the wolf-themed symbols on the banner. These are decals from Forge World.

Carrying a banner into battle in such a futuristic setting is a ridiculous anachronism - and I just love it! I mean, it's just OBVIOUS that you would do that, right? You step out of your combat-drop-pod or your Storm Eagle gunship or your Lander Raider or your Rhino or whatever and you make sure your banner is present - it is simply how things are done, even amid the grim darkness of the far future.

I love this figure! Great sculpt again by Forge World.

I thought I would try a different colour combo for his shoulder pauldron, to help him stand out more.

This Centurion figure is a favourite sculpt of mine. Normally I hate Space Marine figures who are not wearing their helmets. Space is dangerous! The Emperor spent a lot of money making you! Wear your damn helmet! But this fellow is an exception, the sculptor did a fantastic job on the figure. He looks like he just stepped off a transport, and is wanting to see the situation for himself, with his own eyes. He is cradling his helmet in one hand, ready to bellow some further orders to his underlings, with direction to be reinforced by his power sword if needed. He looks like an actual officer, something that very few Space Marine command figures actually do.

Bodyguard for the command group.

The two additional figures, essentially bodyguards for combat, are composed of a hodge-podge of components...when you are as passionate about 30k as I am, you start to accumulate enough spare bits that you can put together an extra marine here and there...these fellows have the helmets, shoulder pauldrons and backpacks of Mark III power armour, the torsos and legs from Mark IV power armour, and arms and weapons from one of the new "Primaris" marines. As guards for the banner bearer and Centurion, I figured these fellows would be veteran fighters from The Rout, only gradually replacing armour bits as required (hence keeping the 'older' Mark III helmets and shoulder plates).

A little blurry, but I enjoy the animation on this figure.

The assortment of spare bits came together nicely.

These veteran marines would also have access to cool kit - I thought the "bolt rifles" from the new Primaris marines would do the trick, and I'm pleased with how they turned out. I really like the look of the longer barrel and the (redundant and over-the-top) gun sights.

Ready to lead a Great Company from The Rout into battle.

While I was sure to put a lot of wolf-themed decals on the banner itself, I have again avoided adding pelts or any of that other wolfy-wolf stuff with this command retinue. If I ever add a Rune Priest or something like that, well...SOMEONE will likely need to wear a pelt cloak or something, but for now, I like to keep the obvious wolf theme to the decals and the banner. 

From GregB: Space Marine Terminators

Tartaros Pattern Terminator armour for the VI Legion.

Some more efforts for my Vylka Fenryka in GW Horus Heresy setting. This is a small unit of Space Marines wearing "Tartaros Pattern" variants of the feared "Terminator" power armour. The figures are multi-part plastic kits from GW, and they are painted in the grey of the VI Legion Astrates - the "Space Wolves".

Terminator marines with combi-bolters and power fists.

In the terrible universe of the far future, there are things that even regular Space Marines apparently struggle with - and so enter the Terminators, elite heavier-than-heavy infantry of the grim far future. Thanks to the extra augmentation afforded by this sort of power armour, the Space Marines can carry even bigger and scarier weapons into combat.

Lots of power augmentation to be able to fire that sort of weapon with just one hand...

One such weapon is the utterly bonkers "Reaper Autocannon" - the whole thing is bat-sh*t nuts, and I have to say I love the look - so utterly menacing and impractical.  Imagine clearing out various fields of fire with that thing!

Reaper autocannon anyone?

Just look at that bonkers thing...it's one of my favourite bits of 30k silliness!

Most of the marines in this unit carry "combi-bolters". The "bolter" is the standard space marine combat weapon - and at some point they determined that, as one does, that the best way to improve one gun is to just tie two of that gun together. Thus we get the "combi-bolter" - entertaining.

View of the Sergeant's fancy shoulder plates and volkite charger.

The officer has slightly more ornate armour plates, a deadly sword and an energy carbine that looks like a sidearm in relation to his huge armoured frame.

Ready for service with The Rout.

These models will teleport on to the table and deliver timely fire support and strategic face-punching (courtesy of all those "power fists") for the forces of The Rout at some point in the future when we can finally get together for a game.

Thanks for reading - stay safe, and happy painting.