+ inload: Painting Legio Tempestus Stormlords +

+ Storm brewing +

+ [inloadfeedVAL={plans for a Legio Tempestus maniple, and some painting colour theory}//] +

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The PCRC are off to Warhammer World! In a few weeks! And I've decided to paint up a new Titanicus maniple!

...which means, after the initial excitement fades, I need to get planning and painting – gulp! 

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+ Theoretical: so why a new Maniple? +

Not that I ever need an excuse to paint more giant robots, but this Tempestus project has been bubbling away at the back of my mentat-unit for a while. In building the 40k-scale Scythian [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], I've felt that my approach to painting might benefit from a little more planning and experimentation, and what better place to try things out than on a mini version of the Titan? 

Secondly, it'll help dig into the backlog of poor unpainted God-Engines spoiling for war; and thirdly it'll give me some Traitors to face off against my Metalica Titans [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] for classic 'red vs blue' games – ideal for anyone who wants to try out the game.

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+ A change is as good as a rest +

With that in mind, I want this maniple to have a notably different approach to the Metalica one. That was a Fortis maniple: heavy Titans that benefit from sticking together. This Tempestus maniple will be led by the models that are ready to paint, and I'll then work outwards from there to give the maniple an identity.

Because I tend to prefer simple, robust and reliable approaches, at the moment I'm considering either an Axiom or Precept maniple. Both have minor benefits to Command Rolls and/or Orders, which is easy to keep track of. Both also include a variety of Titan types for interest. 

With a fringe benefit of being easy for new players to understand (in case they're used for teaching games), I hope this maniple will also let me play around with some weapon loadouts based purely on 'rule of cool'. My Metalica Titans were an homage to the 90s studio ones featured in various battle reports, and so the weapon choices were dictated by the originals. Here I can just have fun with stuff that's dubiously effective, but awesome and leaning into the fun of Adeptus Titanicus.

With a Warlord, Warbringer Nemesis, Reaver and Warhound to play around with, this is a great opportunity to try fielding more of the newer weapons that weren't around in the initial release. I've had great fun with the graviton guns on my Metalica Engines, and think it'll be fun to try some newer stuff.

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+ Practical: Painting the Stormlords of Legio Tempestus +

The first on the blocks are a Warhound, Urtica Morifolia, and a Reaver, Faultfinder. These are testbeds for the Legio Tempestus scheme I'll be using on their bigger-scale brother, Scythian (time allowing there'll be a mini-me Scythian included in this group).

These were already primed black with the metals picked out, and I've established the blue with Prussian blue (I'm using Golden fluid acrylics for this basecoat).

'Proper' Prussian blue is a rich, deep inky blue that – unfortunately – doesn't show up very well on screen. It has the pigment code PB27, and has slightly greenish undertones. It's used in oils and watercolours where it's intensity, transparency and richness makes it great for glazing. 

In acrylics, however, it's usually use a hue (that is, a combination of other pigments that closely match the inspiration) made from phthalocyanine blue, because the pigment doesn't play well with the binder. That's the case with this Golden acrylics version, which uses: PBk9, PB15:0, and PV23 in combination. 

What does this mean? Well, all paints contain impurities – that's why mixing lots of colours together tends to result in mud. If you use paints that start with lots of pigments, there's more going on and it's harder to get clean, vibrant mixes as certain pigments start to overpower others or combine in unexpected ways. That's not normally a problem for everyday painting – particularly if you want a grimy, earthy feel – but I'd quite to to try getting a nice intense blue.

I'd usually add yellow to highlight Prussian blue in oils or watercolours because of its greenish undertone, but because the Golden acrylics version is a hue that contains a violet pigment (PV23), I think adding green will make things murky. 

Adding white will make it chalky and lose the transparency. The combination of pigments in the Golden acrylic Prussian blue means it's semi-transparent, rather than transparent... which means that it's not quite so good for glazing. This combination of things gives us a dilemma!

Fortunately, the nature of acrylics means that we can layer things cleanly, and that's the approach I'm experimenting with here. I'll leave the Prussian blue as a vivid underlayer and build up the blue gradually with 

Faultfinder here has Citadel's Macragge blue layered over the Prussian blue. Annoyingly, Citadel – like most miniature painting ranges – don't publish their pigment codes, so we're forced to rely on our eye. I think that Macragge blue is based on cobalt blue, which is a neutral (neither red-leaning and warm nor yellow-leaning and cool) blue. That means I can add pretty much any lighter-toned colour to tint it without muddying things. White is the safest option, but that will reduce its saturation, making it more of a pastel.

You can see in the pict-capture below the effect of one layer of thinned Macragge blue on the top part of the the rear panel (top left of the picture), and the untouched underlying Prussian blue on the lower part. It's a bit blotchy at the moment, so it'll need another layer or two of highlighting to get a smooth finish.

Once that's done, the plan is to go back over the whole area with glazes of Prussian blue to enrich the colour, knock back the chalkiness and bind the area together.

I can then varnish the area and apply any transfers, before re-varnishing and applying oils for weathering. 

+ Gaming +

Sharing the picture of a Warhound with a turbolaser and inferno gun raised some eyebrows from Omricon, but as these are magnetised, I'll be able to play around. At the moment I'm thinking pairing shield-stripping Swarmer Missiles with a Graviton Destructor would make Urtica Morifolia a versatile hunter. 

Both have a high long range (38in and 40in), meaning the Warhound can hang back to support the other Titans or dart in opportunistically. At closer range, the Swarmer has a negative modifier, but if it's getting that close the plan will be to push forward under the targets' shields and use the graviton to make things awkward. Crucially, neither weapon is draining, meaning the notoriously short Warhound reactor track can used for movement and shields.

I will probably pair Urtica with Faultfinder on the field, as the two Volcano cannon build is probably going to struggle to defend itself!

+ inload: Painting a Stormlords Reaver Titan +

+ The steady march of progress +

+ In which we look at the travails and ooportunities of painting the Scythian. +

It's a Reaver – or the beginnings of one, at least. Painting something this big (it's a 40k-scale Titan) has been fun so far. Building and painting in parts is proving a sensible idea, and the first big subassembly that I'm tackling is the legs. 

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To begin, I primed the whole superstructure with the ever-reliable Hyrax Brown from Colourforge (matched to Rhinox Hide from Citadel), then worked over that with Siege Armour, which matches Runelord Brass. The underlayer of Hyrax Brown was to ensure a consistent colour base and work deep into the recesses, while the Siege Armour was applied with a slight zenithal emphasis – that is, I did prime lightly over the whole thing, but more lightly from underneath.

I've never used Runelord Brass, but the resulting colour is a warm metallic – more rose gold than brass to my eye. It's a lovely colour that looks slightly disconcertingly like chocolate!

Why not silver? Well, that was to keep me honest when painting the legs. The mechanical 'skeleton' of the Reaver involves lots of pistons and detail, and it would be very easy to just gloss over the differences and paint it all silver with a quick wash. I thought that would be undeserving of the model, and so worked over it with a selection of metallics: silvers, brasses and bronzes, to pick out detail. 

The basecoat provided guidance on where I had added something and where I hadn't – and pushed me to make decisions on how I was treating various parts. In the end, the rose gold finish is only really evident on the trim of the armour.

Speaking of which, here's a shot of the back, where you can see the trim on the lower legs, particularly  noticeable on the Imperial Eagle:

The other armour will be getting sprayed blue, both for consistency and for a smooth initial basecoat, but as the toes are so integral to the leg superstructure that I've had to get stuck in with a brush. This proved quite a meditative process, as while there's a huge area to cover, the details are thick and clear, making brushwork simple. It's more time-consuming than an AT-scale one, but much more pleasant!

I used a Prussian blue acrylic to lay down a strong base. This colour is very powerful and deep, and will provide a good base for the eventual lighter blue colour of Legio Tempestus:

I'll need to start making some decisions on which plates to spray blue, and which to spray a different colour – as you can see from the plate above, the near-black Prussian blue will work as a base, but I'll need to up the tone considerably.

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All the while I'm painting this, I'm acutely aware that I need to balance a desire for this part to look good... with the fact that a great deal of it will be completely covered up!

This pict-capture from the front shows the armour plates loosely in place. The backs of these have been primed Hyrax brown, and the fronts let unprimed for now, while I work out which will be mainly blue, and which can be primed another colour.

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+ inload: Marines Mendicant +

+ Vent heat +

You'll have noticed updates and exloads to this noospheric node being rather sluggish – clearly the plasma reactor is running hot! Let's make up for that by taking a look at a newly-painted figure representing one of the Marines Mendicant:

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+ Wait; who? +

The Marines Mendicant are part of the War of the False Primarch project narrative – you can read more about the broader project on our sister noospheric node +Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten+.

The Marines Mendicant are unusual in that they aren't a Chapter in and of themselves, rather they're a collective group of agents and operatives that... well, their aims are rather opaque – but suffice to say that they're a perfect excuse for skirmish gaming within the setting if you don't fancy painting yourself up a force of (say) Void Barons or Death Eagles.

You can read more about them here: [+noopshericexloadlink embedded+] 

This split scheme is based on the secondary colours of the Silver Stars (and keep an eye on the other blog for an upcoming Index Apocrypha...); the aim of which was to make it a bit easier to paint and join in with the project. If you'd like to give it a go yourself, the magenta is Screamer pink, the turquoise Sotek green.

The miniature is now in the possession of spacedhulk – go check out his amazing collection of over 50 different Chapters on Instagram, where he posts as @spacedhulk. He's been contributing loads to the project, and when he mentioned that he thought the scheme was a favourite of his, I said I'd post over the miniature in question.

... only to then find I couldn't find hide nor hair of the damn thing – and a rather embarrassed rush to paint up this replacement figure to send!

Matt was very gracious about the mix-up, and he's posted up some great shots (and a very atmospheric short story) with his Golden Hands Chapter – another group that I'd love to feature on Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten.

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+ Gallery of pict-captures +

And so some pics for you to have a look at. The markings are covered in this inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] – though part of the fun of the Marines Mendicant is that they're almost deliberately obtuse and confusing, so you have complete freedom with how they're detailed.

Even the specific scheme is up for grabs – while both Mendicants I've painted have been this vertical split, that's purely because I was trying to make sure spacedhulk got the scheme he'd noted he liked. Background-wise, every Mendicant can have a completely different scheme, making it a nice chance to play around.

Pictured here on the terrain my brother and I played on decades ago!

Leading a squad of Silver Stars – doubtless on some cryptic mission...

If you've painted a Marines Mendicant, or something for the War of the False Primarch, let me know – I'd love to share them on the Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten blog.

+ inload: Building the Reaver Titan +

+ Scythian Uprising + 

+ Update on building the big Reaver – things are ticking along, and I thought I'd share some notes. +

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+ Building the Scythian +

For anyone fluent (or at least conversant) in the technolinguis dialect of printing, my (very kind and indulgent friend) tells me that this was printed in PLA with a 0.2mm nozzle. having handled 3D prints before, I was expecting quite a lot of cleaning up to remove layer lines, but I was pleasantly surprised with how clean it was. There is a surface texture, but it's more like the slight drag you get from running your fingers over the paper in a book, rather than definite steps and coarseness.

I worked over the surfaces with DSPIAE sanding sponges – some very useful little tools I picked up on the recommendation of Stuntwedge – and did a little sharpening and cleaning with a craft knife, but in all honesty it required very little clean up. Even the sanding was mainly for my own peace of mind, and because I'm intending to use oils – I didn't want to have channels for them to flow down.

As shown above, even before cleaning the parts slotted together very neatly on the torso, and it's got a full interior.

After clean up I broke it up and gave it a once-over with grey primer. I've mentioned before that I do this sometimes to help pick out details. I'd like to do a nice job on this kind gift, so I want to give it my best shot.

... quick shot after priming. Grey makes details easier to see, by providing a little tone to the white PLA.

And the reason I've primed it is visible here – can you see those layer lines on the curves on the left-hand side of the picture? These need cleaning up, and there are few areas that would be improved with another light sanding to improve the finish.

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+ Building the base +

It's unlikely to see too much gametime, so priority for the base is stability and display. It amused me to have a scaled-up version of the oval Titanicus bases, so I ordered an oval plaque from an MDF supplier. It measures 29 x 42cm (A3 size, with the corners cut off, essentially).

A layer of polyfilla formed the base texture, over which I placed some layers of 5mm thick foamboard  and larger rocks to build up some relief. Very large ones are a great opportunity for adding some height, and you don't have to go completely over the top – just enough to break up the sense of artificial flatness and add some natural scale.

Once dry I added my usual mix of Golden Acrylic texture paste, small rocks and sand to texture, bond and seal the surface. I added a little soil to the mix for variety – just some compost that I baked in the oven at 100 degrees for twenty minutes to kill off any bio-forms and render it inert. A layer of PVA over the top will later seal it all in and help prevent degradation.

I didn't plan the base specifically for the pose – in some ways I wanted to have the model adapt to what's there, as I thought that would be a nice way to add some authenticity. More on the posing and building in a future inload – so for now, I'll leave you with where it currently stands:

+ inload: Upcoming 3rd edition gaming event +

+ Tears of the Eye of Terror +

+ A 3rd edition campaign day +

Astartes – but are they working to defend or destroy Kasr Holn?

 

+ {InloadsummVAL=} Plans are afoot with the good Sinan to run another 3rd edition narrative campaign day; this inload offers an overview. Also present is a look into the Red Corsair Raider kits, with a particular eye on Retrohammer gaming +

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+ After Armageddon +

Following the fun of running an Armageddon-themed campaign day [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], Sinan has twisted my arm (admittedly, it didn't take much convincing!) to help organise a follow-up day of 3rd(ish) edition gaming.

This time, we'll be refighting part of the Eye of Terror Campaign, which you may remember fondly...

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+ Staring back into the Eye +

While it's subject to change, we wanted to get as much info out as possible early on, so people can start planning and building their forces. The current plans:

• Aim and rules:
• A relaxed, fun and thematic day of 3rd edition 40k with like-minded hobbyists.
• Rules and theme: 
• Refighting part of the conflict on Kasr Holn, one of the Fortress Worlds in the Cadia system. 
• We'll be using 3rd edition rules, rolling in the later revisions such as the updated assault rules from White Dwarf. These have been collected together and compiled into the '3.5' edition rules.
• We want people to bring the armies they want, so we're very open to people using the Codex they want – as with the Third War in 3rd Armageddon event, if you prefer the later Chaos Codex to the earlier one, for example, you'll be able to build armies using that. Basically, if your army was useable during any part of 3rd, you'll be able to use it.
• Date: 
• Saturday December 5th, 2026
• Location: 
• Hildenborough Village Hall, Kent, UK
• Defenders: 
• Imperial Guard (1999, 2003 and Eye of Terror codices et al.)
• Space Marines (incl. Dark Angels, Space Wolves et al.)
• Inquisition (incl. Grey Knights, Sisters of Battle etc.)
• Craftworld Eldar.
• Attackers: 
• Chaos Space Marines (both the earlier and famous 3.5 codices are welcome)
• Chaos Daemons
• Lost and the Damned
• Traitor Imperial Guard.
• Models
• Whatever you like! If you want to bring out classic models from 3rd, that's great; and likewise if you want to bring modern models or custom conversions, that's equally good – the important thing is that they fit the theme.
• Games: 
• Two* over the course of the day (possibly three – subject to discussion)
• Price:
• £30 or less 

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+ Grand Warlord and Aspiring Warlord tickets +

To make things accessible and friendly, Sinan and I are aiming to have 'Grand Warlord' tickets which allow you to bring two 1,000pt lists that combine into a larger 2,000pt army; and cheaper 'Aspiring Warlord' tickets that allow you to bring a smaller 1,000pt warband.

This allows people with large armies to bring a cohesive collection, or if you can't decide whether to bring World Eaters or Traitor Fen Guardsmen, Grand Warlords can bring both!

If you're a bit nervous about coming along to an event on your own, you and a mate can buy Aspiring Warlord tickets and stick together for the event. Your armies can match or complement each others', but equally if you want to bring your classic Eldar and your friend want to paint a new Astartes Praeses force, that's also cool.

... and if you are happy to come on your own, but only have a smaller army or would struggle to bring a big force on the train, that's also cool – just purchase an Aspiring Warlord ticket and we'll find you a gaming partner or organise smaller games for Aspiring Warlord ticketholders. All the results will count!

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+ Hitting the theme +

Theme is at the heart of this event – we want everyone to walk away with stories of the cool events and fun they had, so it's pointedly not a competitive event, and we ask everyone coming to bear that in mind and choose their armies with that in mind.

The Eye of Terror campaign is full of great potential, and rich with threads to follow. There will be some campaign-specific characters and units that you'll be able to add to your armies, and we encourage you to explore the background and theme your army around it.

For the Imperials, the defence of Kasr Holn will be supported by the Chapters of the Astartes Praeses, so if you fancy adding a squad of Night Warch, Relictors  or Crimson Scythes to your army, you'll be able to. You'll also have access to the cream of the Cadian armies.

For the Chaos attackers, you'll have access to Daemon Engines beyond the Defiler, along with some of Abaddon's most powerful Chosen – not to mention some other surprises...

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+ Do you want to know more? +

If this sounds like the sort of event you'd like to get involved with, keep an eye on +Death of a Rubricist+ and join the event Discord – here's a noospheric nodelink invite: [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+].

There you'll be able to meet other players and discuss army lists, and tactics and strategies in specific Chaos and Imperial areas.

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+ Red Corsair Raiders +

And because it's not really an inload without models, I wanted to show off some of the new Red Corsair Raider models. These are awesome – effectively truescale marines that you can buy off the shelf. 

This, GW, if you're inloading, is what I'm after – more of these, please!

I don't have a huge problem with Primaris Marines, but I do like the old look of Space Marines. These models really bring back that look, but combine it with the new larger size of GW models. Being able to build classic marines off-the-shelf without extensive conversion is bliss.

These are a beautiful update to the old Tactical Squad, improving the proportions while retaining the particular look and charm of the older styles of armour. The boltguns are larger, but not quite so long and 'tacticool' as the Primaris bolt rifles, and the plates of the armour remain nice and clean, with fewer additional plates, panel lines, cables and ports than the Primaris equivalent.

New Marine next to a 2nd ed. starter monopose Marine

... and next to a Primaris-based conversion.

I was interested to see what was possible using the kit as it comes, and I'm pleased to say that you can make a full combat squad of basic boltgun-armed Tacticals, as you can with the squad images. The only additions are a few shoulder pads and a bit of trimming down of loincloths – everything else is straight from the kit.

The kit's a bit limited to be perfect – with just five poses and quite distinctive armour (there's a near-complete Mark III suit, and one that has lots of Mark IV details, for example), you can get away with a couple of squads, but adding more will quickly start to look repetitive without conversion.

Fortunately, the parts are happily nice and compatible with other Marine kits. Heads, backpacks and shoulder pads are perfectly compatible with the older ranges, and the arms will swap out/combine with Primaris arms. I'd suggest the lighter Primaris armour (Phobos) arms will work very well, as they lack the extra forearm bracing.

The Horus Heresy kits will also probably work, but the heads are quite dinky. I'd suggest the HH character kits, which are bigger, for some reason, than the line troopers.

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+ inload: Moderati Primus of the Scythian +

+ 'Enact on my mark.' +

+ Moderati Primus Waldemar Styrmir

What can we say of Waldemar Styrmir? Strict. Disciplined. Fastidious in his personal habits, and measured in all things. He is the very model of a Moderati Primus of the Stormlords: capable, decisive and willing to uphold both the order of his Princeps while acting as an advocate and champion of the crew.

He is in line to move on to master his own Titan in time – as war and circumstance dictate – and his steadying presence will be much missed by Scythian, with which he has built a peculiarly close rapport.

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+ Reaver crew hierarchy +

The background is fairly vague on how Titans actually work – and probably blessedly so, as it'd doubtless throw up all sorts of contradictions and arguments. Suffice to say that while the Princeps  in a sense becomes the Titan, and his or her will is enacted by instinct as though the Princeps is controlling their own body, there is still the need for a crew.

As discussed in an earlier inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], the crew of a Reaver varies in size, even potentially within a Legio, so when creating your own Titan you've got a lot of space to play in terms of crew size. If you prefer the Princeps to essentially be the Captain of a ship – issuing orders to a large number of underlings, the background will back you up on that; while if you prefer a small crew and more emphasis on the Princeps' direct engagement with the Titan, there's still plenty of narrative space for that. With this project, I'm erring towards the former, both because I like the concept of a crew deck, and also because it allows me to make more models! 

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+ What does a Moderati Primus do? +

Number 2; right-hand man; vice-chair, the Moderati Primus is first amongst equals... beneath the Princeps, of course. The Moderati Primus acts as a node to ensure the Princeps' orders are put into action, covering movement and aiming and firing the weapons.

A go-between for the rest of the crew and the Princeps, the Moderati Primus is a trusted lieutenant to the Princeps, and ranked – as the title suggests – above the other Moderati. Some are destined to remain as Moderati, but I like the idea that some that hold this rank show the inherent capability and sufficient promise to eventually move on to the Princepture of a Titan of their own.

For that reason, I've picked a Reaver Titan Princeps model to represent Waldemar Styrmir, the Moderati Primus on Scythian at the time we've picked. This model was an exclusive at a Warhammer World event many years back. I picked one up then (he was painted up as Mauryan Magon, Princeps of Legio Sumer-Nikator's Dura-Yurobus [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]) but this chap is a subsequent purchase. 

They turn up relatively frequently on sites like eBay – just be aware that there are lots of counterfeit/recast versions of the various Titan crew models, so caveat emptor. It's not my favourite of the various sculpts, being the least dynamic of the bunch, but the raised gorget  and half-bionic head has charm. The stiff pose also works very well to suggest a 'disciplined enforcer' character; perfect for our rather by-the-book Moderati Primus character.

The rod of office (or whatever it is) clutched in his right hand is a nice touch to break up the flatness of the pose – but it's also very fragile, so if you're looking for a second-hand one, keep an eye out that this is intact or at least included.

Painting-wise I used a similar approach to Princeps Sulerian, using Prussian blue and green washes for the unifoom, and building up various metallics for the armour.

The black leather is the same equal mix of burnt umber and Payne's grey as used for the cables.

I tackled the skin on the head with little more than layers of Gryphonne Sepia and Reikland Fleshshade, mixing them with Vallejo cool white for opacity where I needed a little more coverage. It was a fun experiment, and one I'll return to. It works well for these very delicate and finely-detailed resin figures, ensuring very little textural build-up.

You'll spot I have painted the hands as though he's wearing fingerless gloves. That was to ensure a bit of visual contrast against the dark uniform and holster; and in-universe I like the idea that (unlike the Princeps) Styrmir needs to be able to control Scythian both mentally – through the hard-plugged crew manifold – and physically, with haptic touch controls. It's a small way to show that he's bridging the gap between Princeps and the rest of the crew.

I weas really pleased with how the bionic eye turned out. It's absolutely tiny, so getting a couple of layers of teal on there, and a tiny highlight, was the best I could manage, but I really think it pops.

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Next inload we'll meet two of the other Moderati... stay plugged!

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