+ inload: Moderati Primus of the Scythian +

+ 'Enact on my mark.' +

+ Moderati Primus Waldemar Styrmir

What can we say of Waldemar Styrmir? Strict. Disciplined. Fastidious in his personal habits, and measured in all things. He is the very model of a Moderati Primus of the Stormlords: capable, decisive and willing to uphold both the order of his Princeps while acting as an advocate and champion of the crew.

He is in line to move on to master his own Titan in time – as war and circumstance dictate – and his steadying presence will be much missed by Scythian, with which he has built a peculiarly close rapport.

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+ Reaver crew hierarchy +

The background is fairly vague on how Titans actually work – and probably blessedly so, as it'd doubtless throw up all sorts of contradictions and arguments. Suffice to say that while the Princeps  in a sense becomes the Titan, and his or her will is enacted by instinct as though the Princeps is controlling their own body, there is still the need for a crew.

As discussed in an earlier inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], the crew of a Reaver varies in size, even potentially within a Legio, so when creating your own Titan you've got a lot of space to play in terms of crew size. If you prefer the Princeps to essentially be the Captain of a ship – issuing orders to a large number of underlings, the background will back you up on that; while if you prefer a small crew and more emphasis on the Princeps' direct engagement with the Titan, there's still plenty of narrative space for that. With this project, I'm erring towards the former, both because I like the concept of a crew deck, and also because it allows me to make more models! 

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+ What does a Moderati Primus do? +

Number 2; right-hand man; vice-chair, the Moderati Primus is first amongst equals... beneath the Princeps, of course. The Moderati Primus acts as a node to ensure the Princeps' orders are put into action, covering movement and aiming and firing the weapons.

A go-between for the rest of the crew and the Princeps, the Moderati Primus is a trusted lieutenant to the Princeps, and ranked – as the title suggests – above the other Moderati. Some are destined to remain as Moderati, but I like the idea that some that hold this rank show the inherent capability and sufficient promise to eventually move on to the Princepture of a Titan of their own.

For that reason, I've picked a Reaver Titan Princeps model to represent Waldemar Styrmir, the Moderati Primus on Scythian at the time we've picked. This model was an exclusive at a Warhammer World event many years back. I picked one up then (he was painted up as Mauryan Magon, Princeps of Legio Sumer-Nikator's Dura-Yurobus [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]) but this chap is a subsequent purchase. 

They turn up relatively frequently on sites like eBay – just be aware that there are lots of counterfeit/recast versions of the various Titan crew models, so caveat emptor. It's not my favourite of the various sculpts, being the least dynamic of the bunch, but the raised gorget  and half-bionic head has charm. The stiff pose also works very well to suggest a 'disciplined enforcer' character; perfect for our rather by-the-book Moderati Primus character.

The rod of office (or whatever it is) clutched in his right hand is a nice touch to break up the flatness of the pose – but it's also very fragile, so if you're looking for a second-hand one, keep an eye out that this is intact or at least included.

Painting-wise I used a similar approach to Princeps Sulerian, using Prussian blue and green washes for the unifoom, and building up various metallics for the armour.

The black leather is the same equal mix of burnt umber and Payne's grey as used for the cables.

I tackled the skin on the head with little more than layers of Gryphonne Sepia and Reikland Fleshshade, mixing them with Vallejo cool white for opacity where I needed a little more coverage. It was a fun experiment, and one I'll return to. It works well for these very delicate and finely-detailed resin figures, ensuring very little textural build-up.

You'll spot I have painted the hands as though he's wearing fingerless gloves. That was to ensure a bit of visual contrast against the dark uniform and holster; and in-universe I like the idea that (unlike the Princeps) Styrmir needs to be able to control Scythian both mentally – through the hard-plugged crew manifold – and physically, with haptic touch controls. It's a small way to show that he's bridging the gap between Princeps and the rest of the crew.

I weas really pleased with how the bionic eye turned out. It's absolutely tiny, so getting a couple of layers of teal on there, and a tiny highlight, was the best I could manage, but I really think it pops.

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Next inload we'll meet two of the other Moderati... stay plugged!

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