+ inload: Kill Team Clawthorn completed – part III +

+ Brother Baraqu +

The oldest member of Clawthorn by nearly two decades, Baraqu was ruthless and deadly. His hard-won experience and cold demeanour made him a deadly foe. Known to have survived to the bitter end of the Badab War, he was not counted amongst the dead at the Palace of Thorns. His body may have been lost or utterly destroyed, but it is possible that he lives on in exile with the Tyrant himself.

+ In addition to the tiger's head heraldry, the Tyrant's Star of Badab is used prominently. As faithful followers of Huron, most of the squad wear this in preference to the head. I thought – foolishly – it would be easier than the cat's head, but it proved quite a challenge! +


+ In addition to the Maximus helm, note the preponderance of gold on heat vents and pauldron trim – I thought this was a good way to mark him out as a veteran. +


+ He bears the wheeling sun symbol of the Maelstrom Warders on his knee – perhaps a memory of happier times? +


+ Another angle. Some figures work best from a particular view – the sergeant above is a good example – but the most successful have multiple 'good sides'. +

+ Brother Ahmos Soter +

Surly, uncommunicative and curmudgeonly, Soter was equally feared and loathed by the humans under his command during his time in the Tyrant's Legion. A vindictive streak sealed his reputation for cruelty – but it also made him amongst the most effective heavy weapon operatives in the Chapter, doggedly pursuing his foes to the limits of endurance. Prior to his death at the hands of what proved to be an equally stubborn and hard-to-kill Son of Medusa, he had made seven confirmed Astartes kills.

+ I never need much of an excuse to show Mark V helms. +


+ As seen in an earlier inload, I think he's a good example of trying to be clear-sighted enough to adjust 'completed' figures. By assessing and changing a single unsuccessful figure, I ended up with two I really like. +


+ Nothing hugely exciting here, but it does shows the subtle weathering around the feet rather nicely. Spending a few minutes ensuring your figures are rooted in their world helps to create a sense of realism – even in space knights. +


+ ...and a shot showing the braced pose. +

+++

+ To finish off, here's some shots of the squads together. +



+ Would love to hear your thoughts – particularly for future expansion. What more does an Astral Claws Kill Team need? +

6 comments:

Suber said...

I don't mind repeating myself -I do love your work on these. I'm not into the Kill Team rules, so I cannot give you any advice of what to add, but I think that the only thing you have to keep in mind is the rule of cool :D

apologist said...

Thanks Suber :)
... and yes – wise advice. Models first, rules second!

RSF_Angel said...

What I find interesting about the 'Claws is that they tore the codex up and made their own legion, with blackjack and hookers. The Tyrants legion threw out everything we knew about marines.
With that, you might add human operatives to the team. These need not be Legion Auxilia- they could be agents of Huron planted to gain intelligence, human scouts reconning the area for the marines, noble house allies representing Huron's political machinations.

Ignoring squishy mortals, non standard equipment could be a way of representing the challenges involved in pumping out more marines than the Adeptus Mechanicus was ordered to supply. Traditionaly guard/pdf weapons like grenade launchers, autocannons and multilasers, or even Imperial guard issue patterns of heavybolters, lascannons etc could hint at nonstandard supply lines.

Finally, an apothecary (corpse taker) there to nick geneseed from fallen marine foes could be a thematic addition.

The Dapper Anarchist said...

Definitely could add humans. If you're looking for a pre-existing ruleset for the Tyrant's Legion, you can field Heretic Astartes with Traitor Guardsmen using the "Servants of the Abyss" faction (the Blackstone Fortress models, basically)

apologist said...

I did have some vague plans to add both mortals and a Corpsetaker, so it sounds like we're thinking along the same lines. Love the idea of using things like grenade launchers, too – a cool way to suggest the transitional lines between Guard and Astartes... Thanks!

apologist said...

Good suggestion, ta. We'll likely end up using a custom set of rules, but it's always helpful to have pre-existing material to use as a basis.