+ inload: Behind the scenes of The War of the Lost Primarch +

+ Make new blogs, but keep the old +



+ New exciting projects always take up focus; but it's always good to keep an overview of things. Otherwise it's easy to end up a bit swamped and disenchanted after the chrome wears off (an image quite fitting for 40k...). I wanted the new site, Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] to be as immersive as possible. As a result, it's very story-focussed, with little, if any, out-of-universe material like modelling or painting planned. +

+ Fortunately, that's exactly the sort of material I can put here (alongside the usual material) – and I hope these behind-the-scenes inloads help to shed some light on the project. +

+++

+ In the Emperor's footsteps: building a Primarch +

+ At the end of last year, lunax7070 offered me a cast of his awesome Mark II Crusade marine. When it comes to truescale, there aren't many bigger! It's a fantastic kit, with full poseability. It wasn't going to fit in any of my forces, but then inspiration struck – I could use it to build a Lorgar to face off against my version of Guilliman. +

+ Spool on a few days, and when I sat down to build, I just couldn't help thinking that I could use it for something else, and ideas started to percolate. To cut a long story short, I ended up combining some very old ideas to come up with a new setting to explore; a bit like the Alien Wars of M36 [REF: tab at top]. +

+ Foremost amongst these were the Silver Stars of an abortive Unification Wars project [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]. I had really enjoyed exploring the period and playing with a different way of writing, but it had proven just too broad to give a decent result in a sensible amount of time. +

Seeds sown in late MMXV

+ Learning from that, and which bits of the Alien Wars that people seemed to like best, I hit upon theming it around the War of the False Primarch – one of those brief mentions in GW's colour text that always seems so ripe with potential. +

+ The text is very brief, and basically involves five named Chapters wiping out eleven. It's an intriguing idea, and so I went about contacting hobbyists who had already done some work on the named Chapters. Amongst them are the_midnightmare, count.hodo, the_iron_within and biohazardmodels –  I thoroughly recommend you check out their awesome work. +

+ With some talented allies on board, I started putting together some introductory text and having fun creating maps in between updating the Silver Stars. After all, if I was asking people to contribute their marines to oppose or follow a (supposed) Primarch and his (supposed) Legion, then I thought it was only right that I put my money where my mouth was! +

...and his big brother, six years later.

+ The first new marine popped up here a couple of inloads ago; and at some point I'll take the chance to talk through the updates and changes made. For the moment, though, I hope this gives some idea of where the idea for a collaboration comes from – and, more importantly than that, I hope it encourages you to get involved! +

+++

+ A call to arms +

+ This blog is blessed with a readership hugely talented in modelling, painting and writing. I'd love it if you would consider getting involved. The invitation to the project can be read in full on Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], but in short, if you want to help explore the M34 setting, then please do get in contact either via the comments section below, or via the + Death of a Rubricist + Facebook group [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]. +

+ Like the Alien Wars, it's a huge palette; which can make it a bit daunting to pick where to start. Pretty much anything will fit – and the broader the take-up, the richer the setting will become. However, I know some people prefer a narrower focus to give them a lead-in, and to that end, if you're a Rubricist who wants to contribute but doesn't have a clear point of inspiration, then I encourage you to turn your hands to one of the following options, in order of urgency:
  • A Vigilant Space Marine (see below).
  • A Space Marine from the Partisan Chapters, detailed here.
  • A Battlefleet Gothic model.
  • One of the Death Eagles (and whether you prefer the black and white modern scheme or pink and white originals, both will be fantastically useful).
  • A Space Marine from the Silver Stars (pictured above)
  • A model to represent Imperial Guard or Naval forces operating in the area.
  • An Inquisitor or Inquisitorial team.
+ All will be used to illustrate articles on the new blog, and I'll preview those articles here in the hope that it'll inspire you talented so-and-sos to paint up some figures we can use to illuminate them. +

+++

+ The Vigilants +

+ The Vigilants are a concept I've created to make getting involved as easy as possible. I think a lot of people like the idea of invitationals, but are worried that they're 'not good enough'. I'm very keen that this project is as open as possible and want to break down any 'hobby gates'. +

+ To that end, the Vigilants are a Chapter of Space Marines that operate like the Deathwatch – individuals and small groups are seconded to the Inquisition's Ordo Astartes. They keep their original colouring, but supplement it with a red armour panel (usually the helm) with a yellow and black stripe. As I put it on the War of the False Primarch discussion group:

There’s an article going up this weekend (basically as soon as I have a figure painted). Vigilants are marked out by a red armour panel with a yellow and black stripe. This is usually, but not always, their helm. Other than that, they wear their Chapter colours.

The underlying concept is a reimagining of the Military Police from Rogue Trader – a militant wing under the auspices of the Ordo Astartes that allow the Inquisition to fight fire with fire. 
Set up during the Scouring, many of the original members were made of Blackshields that sought to rejoin the Imperium after Horus’ defeat. 

Two thousand years later, it’s now a position of honour for many Space Marine Chapters, with implied ties to the long inward-looking Adeptus Custodes, who use them as an intermediary (a relationship which eventually leads to the Vigilants being disbanded in a later period).

The Vigilants are really well-equipped during the War. They receive priority equipment and specialist weaponry in order to best their peers – lots of the weird stuff like conversion beamers, graviton weaponry and eradication rifles.

+ Long-time inloaders will know that I like to involve retrohammer touches, and so will probably have already divined that the visual inspiration for this is from Rogue Trader's Field Police:


+ The idea is simple. If you have a marine sitting around, you can get involved simply by repainting his helm. If you do so, please let me know either via the comments or on the Facebook group – I'd love to have as many examples as possible for the article. +

+++

+ inload: The War of the False Primarch – Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten +



Behold, I come with five thousand of his angels at my back, to execute judgment on all traitors; and to convict all the apostate of all their subversive deeds that they have committed in such a subversive way; and of all the subversive things that such sinners have spoken against Him.

+ Master Aramis Enoch, Inquisitor +


I want to know +

+ inload: Legio Sumer-Nikator +

+ Reaver Battlegroup +

+ My Titan Legion, The Sons of the Temple [CROSS-REF: Legio Sumer-Nikator] have received some reinforcements in advance of the upcoming release of the new Warmaster Titan. I'd pop some pictures of that up here, but to be honest you'll get a better view direct from GW's own Warhammer Community website – go have a look, I'll wait. +

[SPOOLING]
[REENAGEMENT DETECTED]

+ Cool, isn't it? Like the Warbringer, my initial reaction is cautiously positive rather than glowingly excited, but I suspect that it's a figure which has a lot of presence. I'm looking forward to seeing one in-hand. +

+ Reaver Battlegroup: Serpens +

+ In the meantime, I'd better get painting. I snapped up a bargain of three partially-built Reavers, and have used them to give myself a second battlegroup. That will allow me to field a full strength Corsair group (that is, five Reavers), alongside an additional reserve Reaver. +

+ I've temporarily glued the weapons in place – with three magnetised, I thought I'd make a few more dedicated options. The first is this as-yet-unnamed close-in Reaver – a Vandal, to use the old terminology. Alongside a melta cannon and chainfist primary weapons, I've given him a Vulcan megabolter on the carapace. This selection keeps him relatively cheap, and allows the Princeps to focus his reactor on getting him safely across the table with shields alight. +


+ The Vulcan Megabolter is from Vanguard Miniatures [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]; sadly out of stock, but a snip at £4 for two. I think Forge World's 'official' one is perfectly serviceable, but at £11 for one, I couldn't really justify it. +


+ The one criticism I have with the Reaver Titan kit – an absolute favourite of mine – is the lack of head options. Sure, there are three different mask, but they're all fairly similar. I'm hoping that Forge World (or an enterprising third part) come out with a head similar to the old second option. In the meantime, I've bashed my own: 


+ The top, rear and 'eyes' are from a Warlord head with the detail trimmed down and replaced. The front is from a 40k scale Knight, again trimmed to alter the proportions slightly. The grille is from one of the spare Reaver masks. +


+ I also tweaked the second Reaver's head; though that was very minor, simply cutting back the 'tusks' of the standard kit. This head sits atop a Goth class Reaver – the old term for a long-range 'heavy' Reaver. I just couldn't resist a dual Volcano Cannon option. +


+ Far from optimal, I suspect he'll spend a lot of time trying to cool down, but the visuals and rule-of-cool override all else! Perched on top is the Forge World Warp missile, making this Titan a long-range threat to enemy models whether they have shields or not. I hope that he and his Vandal brethren will work together well; the long-range Titan herding the prey and slowing them down for the other two to close in. +


+ The third is currently another Vandal, though I might tweak him to a more generalist role. I think I might swap the chainfist for a Power fist, as I think I have one spare; and possible substitute the melta cannon for a gatling blaster. +

+++

+ Warlord +



+ No great progress here, but I have managed to lay my hands on a 3D print of a fan-made Lucius-Alpha head. As soon as it arrived, I got it primed and popped it in place – very pleased, and looking forward to giving it a coat of paint. +


+++

+ inload: [SCRAPSHUNTERROABORT] +

 + [/.../]ceiving? Is this thing on[/..../]+


+ Ah, much better. Apologies for the vox-silence recently; as you'll all likely be experiencing, things in the real world have been a bit complicated recently! While my hobby time has been substantially curtailed, I'm happy to say that all is safe and well in the Rubricist's quarters. +

+ Many happy returns; and while the annus horribilis that was 2020 staggers onwards, zombie-like, into the new year, I live in hope that things'll get better. What's that 40k line? Hope is the first step on the road to... Huh, maybe I won't invoke that, then! +

+++

+ Minimal time; maximum breadth +

+ With time and energy at a premium, I've got a little area set up so that I can work for a few minutes whenever the urge hits me. That proved a great way to keep my spirits up in the last lockdown, and so far it's buoying me up now, too. +

+ Thus, it's been a year of oddments so far:


+ Exhibit one: an extremely large miniature, and one that I definitely can't get away with pretending isn't a toy. So far Brother Caban here has turned up all over the house, having various adventures. I'm planning to paint him up as a Gatebreaker, but need to get him primed and prepped. +


+ Next up was polishing off a techpriest; one I picked up from Anvil Industry's kickstarter. Lovely little model, and a fun testing ground for Contrast paints. She's sat half-completed for a while, and a half-hour stint got her here. Nothing particularly of note except for the sigil on the paper – that of an extremely mysterious figure... +


+ Back on solid ground, a hefty techpriest and his servitor, along with a strangely archaic marine. Those of you who've followed my stuff for a while might rememeber the [REDACTED], which I'll be [REDACTED] this year so I hope that [REDACTED]. +

+ [/.../] Ah, c'mon, I can't post that and then not reveal [REDACTED], can I? Oh, it turns out that [REDACTED]. Who knew? +

+ Best of luck for the new year; and remember – Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten... +