+ Psiloi Aftrokratori +
We weren't just infantry in there, of course. You don't hunt down a Primarch by fighting on his own turf. The Psiloi were there, too; the dedicated eradicators. The Destroyer corps. I'd seen their deployment by other Legions, and had always been surprised.
They seemed hesitant; almost embarrassed by their use – at least, before the schism. It was a marked contrast with us. The Fourth had always done what was necessary, without hesitation or concerns of the thoughts of others. Our Destroyers were thus neither honoured nor abhorred; they were just warriors, the same as the rest of us.
Aftrokratori had a thick accent. He wasn't Olympian, but he fought like one. I never found out where he was from; and since he's been dead for years now, I have little inclination to find out.
His skin, like most Destroyers, was near-black as his melanchrome struggled to protect his organs from cooking within his Mark IV plate, as he was bathed in the baleful miasma of his ilk's rad-weaponry. The Psiloi suffered a great deal of attrition in terms of both men and equipment. The Warsmith's answer to this was simple: assign a permanent member of the apothekarion to the destroyer's Muster, and give them arming privileges.
That last point backfired on the Psiloi during the Siege. The rest of us scavenged from the battlefield or maintained our reliable Crusade-era plate. Certainly the Destroyers got first pick of replacement equipment; but owing to the rate of failure they endured, that simply meant they picked up the bulky, inefficient mongrel plate that was all the Legion could provide during those days.
+ Quite a burst of painting over the last few days. I've completed eight new marines for the Iron Warriors. The first five, shown above, are more Tactical Legionaries. I rarely tire of building and painting these; they're the iconic 'Astartes', in a way that more specialised or stylised squads aren't. +
+ These two are Basilikoi, my own cadre of veterans. Played in-game as Tactical Support Legionaries, it was fun to build a Mark V marine. The distinctive studded armour and brutal faceplate was a breath of fresh air. I like a non-uniform look in squads, as it helps to keep things interesting when painting. +
+ In addition, since I've included very little in the way of personal heraldry on my Iron Warriors, it's useful to have some different armour styles in an other uniform scheme, as it adds some visual interest to the mass of troops. +
+ I took the opportunity to revisit the volkite chargers these marines are equipped with. I'd left them with a very dull red glow. While a bit more realistic, it left the Basilikoi looking too similar to the others in the army, even taking their spiky shoulderpads and distinctive helms into account. +
Aftrokratori had a thick accent. He wasn't Olympian, but he fought like one. I never found out where he was from; and since he's been dead for years now, I have little inclination to find out.
His skin, like most Destroyers, was near-black as his melanchrome struggled to protect his organs from cooking within his Mark IV plate, as he was bathed in the baleful miasma of his ilk's rad-weaponry. The Psiloi suffered a great deal of attrition in terms of both men and equipment. The Warsmith's answer to this was simple: assign a permanent member of the apothekarion to the destroyer's Muster, and give them arming privileges.
That last point backfired on the Psiloi during the Siege. The rest of us scavenged from the battlefield or maintained our reliable Crusade-era plate. Certainly the Destroyers got first pick of replacement equipment; but owing to the rate of failure they endured, that simply meant they picked up the bulky, inefficient mongrel plate that was all the Legion could provide during those days.
+++
+ The Muster continues +
+ Quite a burst of painting over the last few days. I've completed eight new marines for the Iron Warriors. The first five, shown above, are more Tactical Legionaries. I rarely tire of building and painting these; they're the iconic 'Astartes', in a way that more specialised or stylised squads aren't. +
+ These two are Basilikoi, my own cadre of veterans. Played in-game as Tactical Support Legionaries, it was fun to build a Mark V marine. The distinctive studded armour and brutal faceplate was a breath of fresh air. I like a non-uniform look in squads, as it helps to keep things interesting when painting. +
+ In addition, since I've included very little in the way of personal heraldry on my Iron Warriors, it's useful to have some different armour styles in an other uniform scheme, as it adds some visual interest to the mass of troops. +
+ I took the opportunity to revisit the volkite chargers these marines are equipped with. I'd left them with a very dull red glow. While a bit more realistic, it left the Basilikoi looking too similar to the others in the army, even taking their spiky shoulderpads and distinctive helms into account. +
+ Owning your hobby +
+ The other reason I don't tend to paint much specialist stuff, like this Destroyer, is that I always get a nagging feeling that I 'ought' to be painting more basic stuff. The stories and artwork are full of archetypal Marines with boltguns; the specialist are very much secondary. +
+ I've read that lots of people regard painting the basic troops as a chore, or a 'tax' to get the interesting stuff; so I guess that's the other side of the same coin. Both such opinions are, at heart, a bit silly – there's no way to have fun wrong: as soon as you start to feel that you're being directed to do something, you can lose that spark of enthusiasm, and things start to feel like work. +
+ For this reason, I'd encourage you to go with where your enthusiasm lies; and build and paint the models that you really want to make. Any ideas of what should be included can come in later. +
+ Bubbling under are another four Psiloi Destroyers (see below), two more Heavy Support marines with multimeltas, the Basilikoi's Palatarch (sergeant), and an Apothecary. Whether any of all of these get completed before the weekend is up in the air. +
4 comments:
Mean! Beautiful Models.
Niiiiiiice - Those look fantastic!
Lovely work and the troops are the core of all Iron Warriors.
Basic troops are the theme of my Squaduary event: http://steppingbetweengames.com/squaduary-preparations/
Excellent looking Marines as usual! The MKV marine done in your signature style is my favorite true scale marine ever. I’m very excited to see you making Destroyers, I like the idea of them being used as just another weapon by the Iron Warriors.
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