+ inload: Iron begat Iron +

+ An otiose niche +

There is also a third kind of madness, which is possession by the Muses, enters into a delicate and virgin soul, and there inspiring frenzy, awakens lyric... But he, who, not being inspired and having no touch of madness in his soul, comes to the door and thinks he will get into the temple by the help of art – he, I say, and his poetry are not admitted; the sane man is nowhere at all when he enters into rivalry with the madman.

- Plato, Phaedo

+ I promise I never intended this blog to become so heavily focussed on Space Marines for so long, let alone my particular twin vices of making them bigger and the Horus Heresy. Nevertheless, while the inspiration's flowing, I'll go with it. +

+ Intermission +

+ Basilikoi, 13th Muster, 242nd Grand Company +

+ With my note above borne in mind, the Iron Warriors are reaching a point of slowdown. I've worked as much as I want to on them for the moment, so it's a good time to pause for breath. A deadline (like my visit to Warhammer World last weekend) works very well for me to get my arse in gear and get painting. This time, it's resulted in an army of which I'm very proud. + 

+ Not only is it all actually complete (no embarrassing bits to go back and touch up, or 'final details' that never get finished), but I even had time to add transfers – something I've not used in the best part of twenty years (and was a bit sniffy about) – and paint up seven objective markers that are themed around the same bases. Themed accoutrements for armies – dice, templates, markers etc. – are something that I'd like to do more of. They fit into the concept of the game beyond the army as something that improves the immersion and experience for all involved. It's also a nice change of pace. +

+ What next? + 

+ More marines – and for those of you who are understandably a bit bored by them – they'll be accompanied by Solar Auxilia and my first super-heavy for a long time. I'm hoping to log the build and progress of that, as I'd love to share some thoughts and ideas with you, and hopefully get a discussion going. +

+ I'd keep the legion I'll be tackling next a secret, but I think the preview image below will give it away very quickly!:

+ Yes, it's a return to the very first marines I true-scaled; the Iron Tenth. This army will be themed around Little Horus; the Shattered Legions that defended Dwell from Aximand's attack. In some ways it'll be a companion piece to my old Sons of Horus army (now gone to a better place):

+ I'll do a full run-down of the plans, but I'm hoping that this project will allow me to improve my skills at painting black. The last (big) Iron Hand I painted was this chap, from my long-derailed Flight Risk project: