+ inload: Grave Stalker Legionary +

+ Grave Stalker Legionary +

+ The Bolter & Chainsword forum has a group that is developing an alternative universe Horus Heresy-style rebellion, called the Icarion Insurrection. The hobbyists are very enthusiastic and have come up with a lot of fun material for it; ranging from an entirely new range of Space Marine Legions to galactic maps and new campaigns. I was asked if I'd like to build a marine for the project, and thought it sounded like fun. +

+ This is the first of them, a Legionary from the Grave Stalkers Legion, by a poster called Grifftofer. Below is the brief summary blurb from the project:

+ The Grave Stalkers +

Numeration: The XVth LegionPrimogenitor: K'awil PakalCognomen (Prior): NoneAllegiance: Traitoris Perdita Appearing as wraiths of Old Night, this small legion of Pariahs use fear as their chosen weapon. Numbering the smallest of all legions due to unstable gene-seed, the Grave Stalkers make up for their lack of numbers by destroying the enemy's morale long before the battle is joined. Atrocities cling to the Grave Stalkers as they prosecute compliance as both soldier and civilian soon feel the knives of the XVth skinning them as a warning to others. At the head of this isolated army stoops K'awil the Soulless. Spurned by the Imperium due to the unnatural aura possessed by the Primarch and his sons, K'awil fought from the shadow of the grave before he was persuaded by Icarion to side with the Stormlord. 

+++

+ That's just a taster. The broader project has lots (really, lots) of written material (if I'm honest, an intimidating amount!) but I hope I've done justice to the concept and produced something the team – and Grifftofer – likes. +

+ Theoretical +

+ While the description suggested elements of the Night Lords and Alpha Legion to me, I was keen to make sure that the model wasn't simply a mishmash of the more familiar canonical Legions – I felt that would be selling the project short; so I cast my metaphorical net a little wider. When thinking about a figure like this, I tend to look for the iconic elements – if it were distilled down to a phrase, what would the Grave Stalkers be? +

+ At root, the Legion felt like it lived hand-to-mouth. They are few. The background suggests that their allies fear them as much as their enemies, and that they prefer to fight guerilla-style to make the most of their low numbers, lurking in the shadows. They have little support from the Mechanicum. They even ruthlessly cull their own Legion in order to ensure the survival of the next generation. To me, this suggested an uncompromising, fatalistic and nihilistic nature. +

+ There were also some hints at pop culture Mesoamerican culture – human sacrifice, trophies and warrior lodges – but I was keen not to overplay this as it's easy to over-egg the pudding and end up with Aztecs in spaaaace. It did, however, get me thinking about Astartes creeping through mist-shrouded jungles, which was a fun train of thought. I intend to bring this influence in a little more with the painting and symbology. +

+ With little resupply from the Mechanicum, I reasoned that the Ghost Stalkers would have to make do with older or non-standard equipment. Generally speaking, I felt that they would favour practicality over ornamentation – it's all very well having bat helms to scare people, but if your very nature is frightening, you can avoid things that might catch on low-hanging vegetation. +

+ Finally – and crucially – these needed to read as 'Space Marines'. It's easy to miss this core part, but first and foremost they have to feel like they fit in the (alternative) 30k universe. Taking them too far from the iconic silhouette would just result in a figure that looked like it had a load of stuff bolted on. +

+++

+ Practical +

+ The result takes some inspiration from pop culture Vietnam – traumatised soldiers doing abominable things – mixed in with a bit of Predator. +

+ Legionary Ahluic Xbalanque of the Grave Stalkers +

+ A sleek but brutal figure. The T-helm was suggested by the source image I was given. I toyed with a bare head (the Grave Stalkers have an unusual phenotype, with white skin and black eyes), but decided this would clash with the Mesoamerican feel. In any case, the T-helm is distinctly dehumanising, and that was at the core of the concept. His boltgun is a relatively clunky local variant (based on the SAW machine guns from countless Hollywood movies), and his only other armament is a blade, held downwards in a classic assassin's grip. + 

+ A few bones and other trophies dangle from his armour, which is essentially Mark II Crusade Armour with a few modifications. In particular, I chose a backpack with swept-back heat vents, reasoning that it would be better for movement through dense undergrowth and would also channel heat away in a narrower area, helping him remain hidden. +

+ The Grave Stalkers eventually fall to Chaos (Oops; spoilers?) and I wanted to get that across, so he had to look a little more 'evil'. I used a shoulder pad with raised trim and spiked bonding studs. Pleasingly, these look like little pyramids, suggestive of ziggurats and Mesoamerican weaponry. +

+ This final shot shows the dangling trophy, trimmed from a Grey Knight Terminator torso. I dropped it to his waist, where it makes for a rather sinister loincloth! Of final note is the belt buckle, which is an empty hoop. This is the Mayan symbol for zero – a little nod both to the Mesoamerican feel and a subtle hint at their soulless nature. +

+ inload: Ambush at Kalkriese – Ultramarines vs Orks part II +

+ The preamble and background for this battle can be found in the inload below. +
+ [+noospheric inload embedded+] +

+ Extracted from the post-action report of Brother Vispanion, squad Secundus. +

+ Practical: Deployment +

+ Mark -5.03: As with the majority of Kalkriese town, the Salters District was in ruins when we arrived, which made the sweep for evacuees and displaced personnel a slow task. The outskirts of the town had no power or water, but many smaller buildings here remained intact. +

+ Mark -1.14: The raised walkways from the town's mass-rail station were intact, and by this mark, the few civilians we had found had been safely shepherded aboard trains, accompanied by Brothers Taliman and Eos from Quartus. +

+ We continued moving cautiously from street to street, sweeping the town. The Lieutenant was clear that every area had to be confirmed visually; but we were also deploying a number of augury scanners. My brethren in the 190th were benefitting greatly from the Seeker squads detached from the 15th. +

+ I found the presence of our Dreadnoughts very welcome – their manoeuvrability is highly-prized in the dense streets, and their martial ability made them invaluable later. +

+ Mark -0.30: Satisfied that we had come to the last few intact buildings, Lieutenant Holion ordered evacuation vox-hails to be proclaimed from the Seekers' Rhino transports, but they echoed around the deserted market square. +

+ Mark -0.11: Lieutenant Pullo reported that his augmitters were hazed, something we attributed to ghost signals and dust-echo; but in hindsight was found to be vox-baffle by the greenskins. He drew the heavy support squad up one of the abandoned tenements, hoping to find a clearer signal. +

+ Mark -0.07[conjectured]: In the pre-dawn darkness, something began to stir. At first, we thought it might be a group of civilians, but the readings on the auguries were frustratingly vague. We moved out into the open to try to gain visuals in the darkness. +

+ Advance elements of the Teknorkracy forces must have been creeping about in the gloom at this point. Afterwards, we noted their blades were blackened were carbon-smut from campfires. I will never underestimate the orks – I have faced them three times since, and each time they have shown another face quite distinct from the caricature of a bellowing beast I had previously heard. +

+ Pouring from the mass-rail, the orks' numbers begin to swell and gather. I can only give thanks that the civilians's mass-train had reported in as secure by this point. +

+ Mark -0.04[conj.]: Marching in from the north, the greenskins' heavy armour rolled in, their engines masked by sonic-mockers. +

+ Mark -0.03[conj.]: A mighty bellow from the ork warlord [native ident: Gashbag] signalled his ambush. +

+++

+ Turn 1 +

+ Mark -0.02[conj.]: The orks surged forward simultaneously from the northern tenements and the southern mass-rail terminal, aiming to trap us between the groups. +

+ Mark 0: Brother Telcion, the Contemptor assigned to support Secundus, detected a surge in the spoor-signal we had picked up. With many years of experience under his belt, he ordered the Mark. Even as he made a brief report to Lieutenant Holion for confirmation, we began to seal the market square; as per general orders. None of us believed Telcion would have the jitters. +

+ The Land Raider Legacy of Armatura and the breachers of Viginti locked in place, sealing off the southern entrance of the Market square and protecting Holion behind a wall of ceramite. +

+ A post-battle enhanced sub-orbital pict capture shows the ork menace in the southern reaches clearly. +

+ Mark 0.02: Ork dreadnoughts began their advance, supported by heavy infantry. The darkness and dust shielded their advance, and we could pick virtually nothing out. Fortunately, the same was true for the greenskins – bullets and shells began whizzing into the market square, but none found their mark. +

+ Mark 0.05: Directed by Lieutenant Pullo, Heavy Support squad Corinthian opens up on a group of orks in the street as they advance from the north. Light casualties are inflicted. +

+ Legacy of Armatura, detecting little that could threaten its armour, moved to impose itself between the ork's looted heavy support weapons and Viginti. +

+ There were dozens of them – post battle estimates put their numbers at around 120; perhaps higher. +

+ Mark 0.07: It was at this point that I spotted the orks beneath the mass-rail walkways. The sergeant ordered us forward to engage. +

+ The orks surged forward to meet us. +

+++

+ inload: Ambush at Kalkriese part I pre-amble +

+ Ambush at Kalkriese: battle report pre-amble +

+ Theoretical +

+ The events of the Calth Atrocity were only made possible owing to the circumstances that led the bulk of two Astartes Legions, two Titan Legions and countless Imperial Army reserves to gather on the fleet base. But what could possibly warrant – or justify – such a force being gathered? +

+ The answer to that was the Ghaslakh Campaign – or the war that never was. The ork warlord Ghaslakh had established a petty empire to the Galactic East, just beyond the borders of the Five Hundred Worlds, with a stronghold rimwards of the Golsoria system. + 

+ One of Warmaster Horus' first orders was for the Ultramarines to fight alongside the Word Bearers to crush the greenskins in a full-scale campaign of extermination. +

+ Many amongst the Ultramarines and their allies wondered at the heavy-handedness of the decision – while the orks were doubtless a powerful foe, they surely did not warrant the deployment of two full Legiones Astartes. +

+ The order came to be seen as a wily move by the Warmaster; a chance to soothe the prickly – if not outright hostile – relations between the two Legions via a comparatively straightforward campaign against a brutal but simple foe. If it were not for treachery, perhaps this is what might have been. +

+++

+ Golsoria +

+ Golsoria itself was a system that had been brought into Compliance scarce decades before by the XIIIth Legion. Containing three rocky planets and seven gas giants (official designations 12–877–12-887) the humans of the system had regressed during old night, but the kingdoms of the two inhabited worlds had maintained a shared level of sophistication, and the new Imperial Commander was making great strides in pushing the Feudal-class world towards Civilised status. The orks threatened this all. A tiny garrison of Legionaries had previously driven off tentative probes of the orks, and the commander had alerted the Legion to the potential danger. +

+ As a result, even before Lorgar and Horus' betrayal became clear, the Ultramarines had been planning for an extermination campaign with all the thoroughness for which they were famous. Naval patrols had been increased near Espandor drawing the ork's picket lines corewards, and advance scouting elements and seeded recon teams infiltrated the Golsoria system from Salem and the Zur Mortalis expanse.  +

Ghaslakh's forces were believed to be threatening Golsoria.

+ Greenskins had been a notorious foe for the Imperium since time immemorial; tough, resourceful and hard to demoralise. In addition to their traditional strengths, it became clear that Ghaslakh's warriors were possessed of experience – hard-won in their own inter-xenos wars with the Khrave – and a precociously high technology level. Initial reports suggested Ghalsakh commanded a force of between 80,000 and 150,000 warriors plus an unknown number of mercenaries and freebooter sell-swords; a substantial – and increasing – threat not just to Golsoria, but to the systems around it. Ghaslakh did not constitute an existential threat to Ultramar, but it was a real and growing danger. +

+++

+ Bellum Interruptus +

+ A force including elements of three Chapters – nearly 23,000 marines – had been ear-marked before the Warmaster's orders, and stood ready to depart from staging posts around Iax. These had already begun to engage the orks and allied warbands in a number of inconclusive strikes across the borders of Ultramar before the Warmaster's orders arrived and the bulk of the Army Group was recalled for the larger muster at Calth. +

+ As history tells us, the campaign was never fully launched – Ghaslakh's eventual demise came at quite a different time. Despite this, there were a number of relatively large-scale deployments – notably the Nemesis Chapter's brutal defeat of the warband known as the Red Knives, the bloody events of the Starbeach Landings, and the humiliating defeat of the 77th Company on the shores of Cresta – before the order to redeploy was given. +

+ Fighting with orks was always brutal, and many Imperial Space Marines parted with Ghaslakh's warriors sporting wounds and grudges that they ached to settle with the xenos. For their own part, the orks were – perhaps predictably – spoiling for a fight. Reinforcements were starting to move in from the surrounding areas, and a number of internecine battles were fought as beta-warlords fought for Graslakh's favour. +

+++

+ The terrors of the TeknOrkracy +

+ One of the final acts of the aborted war was the Ambush at Kalkriese; a conflict between elements of the 15th Chapter Praetors of Calth, an Ultramarines Chapter who were still recovering from a hard-fought Compliance campaign further rimwards, and the so-called TeknOrkcracy, a tooled-up warband under the command of a brutal and cunning aspiring ork leader known as Gashbag. +

+ Gashbag had good reason to hate the 15th – his rise to power had been stalled by an earlier close defeat at the hands of the Praetors of Calth on the plains of Asal Utter, and he was keen to gather the heads of those responsible. Gashbag had repaired and re-armed his forces; the unsuspecting and mauled Ultramarines would surely be easier prey this time – and if nothing else, a victory would put thoughts of internal treachery out of the minds of his elites... +

Clash at Asal Utter

+ The ork warboss was nothing if not thorough, and further cemented his chances of victory by drawing the unsupecting Ultramarines into an ambush at the port town of Kalkriese. He sent marauding forces to engage the holding force of Calth IVth soldiery, resulting in a large portion of the town being flattened and the populace displaced. Gashbag was relying on the Ultramarines insisting on being hte last line of defence – and was not disappointed. + 

+ Captain Orpheus, commander of the 15th, was in the midst of preparing for evacuation when the news came. Torn between abandoning the world and falling back to Calth, Orpheus dispatched a holding strike force under the command of the newly-promoted Lieutenant Holion to see the safe evacuation of both the remaining military assets and the civilian populace from the ruins of Kalkriese. Little did they suspect that the orks would return – and in larger numbers... +

+++

+ Practical +

+ As mentioned in an earlier inload, I'll be fighting a battle against Bob Hunk's awesome ork army. This will be a 3000pt battle using the Age of Darkness expansion. We'll be fighting the Blood Feud mission with the Ultramarines being ambushed. +

+++

+ Army lists +

+ Praetors of Calth, Ultramarines 15th Company +

HQ

Centurion artificer armour; Legatine axe; frag grenades; krak grenades; melta bombs; boarding shield

Master of Signal cognis-signum; nuncio-vox; artificer armour; power weapon (maul); frag grenades; krak grenades; Consul: Master of Signal

Chaplain Crozius Arcanum; artificer armour; frag grenades; krak grenades; melta bombs; jump pack; Consul: Chaplain

Troops

14 Tactical Space Marines power armour; bolters; bolt pistols; chainswords; frag and krak grenades; nuncio-vox; legion vexilla

+ 1 Tactical Sergeant artificer armour; bolter; chainsword; bolt pistol; frag and krak grenades; melta bombs

14 Tactical Space Marines power armour; bolters; bolt pistols; chainswords; frag and krak grenades; nuncio-vox; legion vexilla

+ 1 Tactical Sergeant artificer armour; bolter; chainsword; bolt pistol; frag and krak grenades; melta bombs

10 Breacher Space Marines power armour; boarding shields; power swords; bolt pistols; frag and krak grenades

+ 1 Breacher Sergeant artificer armour; boarding shield; bolter; bolt pistol; frag and krak grenades; breaching charge; melta bombs

·   Land Raider Proteus 2 twin-linked lascannon; searchlight; smoke launchers; machine spirit; twin-linked heavy bolter; explorator augury web

Elites

Contemptor Dreadnought Talon

·   Contemptor Dreadnought multi-melta; dreadnought close combat weapon (twin-linked bolter); extra armour; smoke launchers; searchlight

·   Contemptor Dreadnought twin-linked heavy bolter; dreadnought close combat weapon (twin-linked bolter); extra armour; smoke launchers; searchlight

·   Contemptor Dreadnought twin-linked heavy bolter; dreadnought close combat weapon (twin-linked bolter); extra armour; smoke launchers; searchlight

Apothecarion Detachment

·   Apothecary artificer armour; bolt pistol; chainsword; frag grenades; krak grenades; narthecium; augury scanner

Fast Attack

9 Seekers power armour; 9× bolter (kraken bolts; scorpius bolts; tempest bolts); bolt pistol; frag and krak grenades; nuncio-vox 

+ 1 Strike Leader artificer armour; bolter; bolt pistol; frag and krak grenades; power weapon; melta bombs

Rhino searchlight; smoke launchers; twin-linked bolter

9 Seekers power armour; 9× bolter (kraken bolts; scorpius bolts; tempest bolts); bolt pistol; frag and krak grenades; nuncio-vox

+ 1 Strike Leader artificer armour; bolter; bolt pistol; frag and krak grenades; power weapon; melta bombs

Rhino searchlight; smoke launchers; twin-linked bolter

Heavy Support

Deredeo Pattern Dreadnought twin-linked Anvilus pattern autocannon battery; twin-linked heavy bolter; atomantic pavaise; smoke launchers; searchlight; extra armour

4 Heavy Support Marines power armour; heavy bolters; bolt pistol; frag and krak grenades

+ 1 Heavy Support Sergeant artificer armour; combi-weapon; bolt pistol; frag and krak grenades; augury scanner

+ Gashbag's TeknOrkracy +

HQ

Boss Gashbag (Warboss in mega armour) Da Lucky Stikk; twin-linked shoota; power klaw; stikkbombs; mega armour; bosspole;

cybork body

Mek kustom mega-blasta; choppa; Mek's tools; stikkbombs; grot oiler

Big Mek kustom force field; power klaw; Mek's tools; stikkbombs

Big Mek kustom force field; power klaw; Mek's tools; stikkbombs

Painboy 'urty syringe; Dok's tools; bosspole; cybork body; grot orderly

Weirdboy Psyker (Mastery Level 2); Weirdboy staff

Troops

20 Boyz shootas; choppas; stikkbombs; 2× big shoota

• Boss Nob shoota; power klaw; bosspole

20 Boyz shootas; choppas; stikkbombs; 2× big shoota

• Boss Nob shoota; power klaw; bosspole

20 Boyz shootas; choppas; stikkbombs; 2× big shoota

• Boss Nob shoota; power klaw; bosspole

30 Boyz sluggas; choppas; stikkbombs

• Boss Nob shoota; big choppa; bosspole

10 Gretchin grot blastas

+ 1 Runtherd slugga; grabba stikk; stikkbombz

Elites

4 Meganobz 4× twin-linked shoota, power klaw; mega armour; stikkbombs

• Boss Meganob Infantry (Character); 'Ere We Go!; Furious Charge; Mob Rule

Battlewagon zzap gun; 3× big shoota; grot riggers

10 Kommandos sluggas; choppas; stikkbombs; 2× big shoota

• Boss Nob slugga; power klaw; stikkbombs; bosspole

5 Deffkoptas 5× twin-linked rokkit launcha; choppas

Dakkajet 2× twin-linked supa shoota; twin-linked supa shoota; flyboss

Heavy Support

Deff Dread 2× big shoota; 2× power klaw

Deff Dread big shoota; skorcha; 2× power klaw

3 Killa Kans 3× grotzooka; kan klaw

15 Lootas deffguns; stikkbombs

Battlewagon kannon; 2× big shoota; grot riggers

Note that a planned Gorkanaut stalled on the starting blocks, and has been replaced with a Looted Wagon, boarboys (bikers) and some additional wargear.

+ inload: Hold fast! Ultramarine Breachers +

+ The Vigintii +

+ I've banged on a lot about Breachers over the past couple of inloads, so rather than repeating myself, I'll simply pop up some pictures of the squad as they currently stand. +

+ Sergeant and four marines. The banner was painted with the new Iyanden Darksun (apologies, I can't remember the name) then washed with sepia ink. While wet, I used my thumb to wipe off the excess ink from the raised areas. Once dry, I used slightly diluted Iyanden Darksun to clean it up a bit, then added Dheneb Stone to the mix for highlights. The detail is all moulded on – I think the backpack is a metal piece from the character Sicarius. +

+ Note the inclusion of an heraldic tilt shield – I'm really enjoying adding these to the occasional veteran. +

+ Squad leader and four marines. Being organised to a fault, the Ultramarines always have a chain of command in place. This fella doesn't have any in-game rules, but made a good excuse to have a bit more fun modelling – building lots of near-uniform models isn't the most exciting process, even if the end result is worth it. +

+...and all together, plus Brother Letas (in the red helm of censure). The bases aren't complete, and nor are the squad markings. The little circles you can see on the shields will have an eta (η) symbol. Rather annoyingly, despite spending [SCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] ages last night carefully painting in the Breacher Squad symbol (an inverted omega with a gladius through the centre) on every right shoulderpad, I forgot to get a pict-capture of any of them. +

+ You can just about make one or two out in this rather gloomy WIP picture, but you'll probably have to use your imagination for now. Regarding the markings, I couldn't resist adding a few little personalising details – the occasional CXC (for the 190th), legion numeral or additional Legion symbol here and there – but I've deliberately left them fairly neutral. These are, after all, new Ultramarines. Not quite raw recruits, but only just beginning to write their legends... +

+++ AMEND +++

+ I've now secured a pict-capture of the Breacher squad details:

+++AMEND TERMINUS+++

+ What next? +

+ With the first ten (well, eleven) Vigintii requiring just some final weathering and basing, the next things on the painting table:

+ Ah, more Breachers. Well, that's not particularly exciting. +

+ Ah, an apothecary! That's a bit more fun. I've a solid preference for the visuals of a game, and one of the things that always slightly disheartens me is when one or other army isn't on the table. This is generally due to it being pretty much all in reserve, or all in flyers, or so forth. My army sits around looking daft and then getting shot from all angles as they pop up, with no opportunity to actually fight. Fortunately, my Iron Warriors army taught me the great pleasure of augury scanners and Explorator augury webs, which go a long way to disrupting reserves and generally making life a bit more difficult for infiltration/deep-strike heavy armies, and giving my Ultramarines a chance to shoot back before they're annihilated. Why's this relevant? Well, Apothecaries can have augury scanners, so that's what he's clutching in his left hand. +

+ The visuals bites both ways – I suspect my infantry-heavy army would benefit from having lots of apothecaries, but it just seems a bit off to me to have so many in an army. One apothecary to every forty or so men seems alright, though. +

+ inload: They Shall Know Fear +

+ Officers on deck +

+ Epulone Tiberial Highheart +

+ A fairly productive weekend of painting saw me finishing Chaplain Highheart who, like the Breachers of Viginti yesterday, has been lurking half-painted in a case. I rarely think it's a good idea to force myself to paint, preferring to work on something as the enthusiasm strikes. +

+ Not my best work, but I rather like him. He'll be leading the charge against the orks of the Teknorkracy this Thusrday... Keep an eye out for a report. +

+ inload: Squad Viginti WIP +

+ Squad Viginti WIP +

+ Theoretical – What's cooler than Space Romans with big tower shields? +

+ Practical – Space Romans with big tower shields and power gladii. +

Three Breachers, with markings and details to finish.

+ These poor chaps have been sat in a figures case while other projects – Court of the Sun King, Officia Monstrosa, May You Live Forever – have ticked over, and with a game coming up on Thursday, it's about time I got them painted. +

+ Below are some WIP shots of a Breacher squad; a new type of unit from the Age of Darkness expansion that gives space marines a shieldwall visual. +

+ There are currently three nigh-finished members – the sergeant, squad leader and a red-helmed rotter. They need a few minor tweaks and basing, but I'm happy with how they're looking; certainly good enough to plop on a table to be swiftly removed! +

Sergeant of Viginti (the squad designation is recorded on his banner – Viginitii)

Squad Leader