+ inload: Ultramarines on Armageddon +

 + We March for Macragge +

+ Still firmly WIP! +

+ It's been a long time since I've tackled those boys in blue, but since they were involved with the Second War for Armageddon, I couldn't resist starting working up a new figure – the Captain above. +

+ I've exloaded before about why I find Armageddon such a rich canvas to work upon, and it'll be fun to play around with some 40k-era Ultramarines, rather than the Great Crusade-era warriors of the 15th Chapter, Praetors of Calth. +

+ You can read the technique I used for my older Ultramarines (pictured) in this inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. +

+++

+ Pseudo-historical nerdery +

Fittingly for the uptight strait-laced Warrior-Kings of the XIIIth, I've been trying to work out who was in command of each Company during the Second War for Armageddon. In the case of the Salamanders and Blood Angels, it's been a bit woolly, but the Ultramarines turned into a rather enjoyable research deep dive, benefitting as they do from being the 'default' Chapter for GW to explain things.

Here, then, is a rough timeline for who's who in the Ultramarines officer corps at different points in history. It struck me that it might be fun to see whether we have enough information to see who succeeded and preceded who in particular posts – for example, who was Captain of the Second at a particular point; and how much things have changed since the resurrection of the Avenging Son and the Cicatrix Maledictum.

Take this all cum grano salis, as the background is twisting and often slightly contradictory, and often with gaping lacunae. Nevertheless, here's a vision of the Ultamarines during three in-universe periods which roughly parallel and represent 90s-era/2nd ed. Ultramarines; the mid-00s 5th ed. Ultramarines; and current-day 10th ed. Ultramarines. 

 

Key – 

† Death and date

* Promoted to the role and date

? Best guess.

+ The First Tyrannic War 745.M41–746.M41 +

• Chapter Master – Marneus Calgar
• 1st Captain – Saul Invictus †746
• 2nd Captain – Severus Agemman
• 3rd Captain – Jehnnus Ardias †745
• 4th Captain – Idaeus
• 5th Captain – Cato Sicarius
• 6th Captain – Maximus Epathus
• 7th Captain – Gerad Ixion?
• 8th Captain – Captain Hellios?
• 9th Captain – Captain Sinon?
• 10th Captain – Captain Antilochus?

...and as a bit of interest, the 2nd Company saw a lot of change during this period. Lucian Trajan served as First Sergeant to Severus Agemman. As Agemman was promoted to the 1st, Trajan became captain of the 2nd, with Demetrian Titus (of Space Marine fame) serving as his First Sergeant. They fought together 'for a century afterwards', before Trajan was killed by Eldar on Beta-Arcturus. Titus then because Captain – which must be somewhere around 840.M41. He was only Captain for a handful of years, because 'soon after Sicarius became Captain, he was announced the Suzerain of Ultramar in 849.M41'.

+ The Second War for Armageddon 941.M41–943.M41 +

• Chapter Master – Marneus Calgar *
• 1st Captain – Severus Agemman *from 2nd 746.M41)
• 2nd Captain – Cato Sicarius *from 5th ~848.M41)
• 3rd Captain – Mikael Fabian
• 4th Captain – Idaeus †7~997/999
• 5th Captain – Caito Galenus *unknown
• 6th Captain – Maximus Epathus
• 7th Captain – Gerad Ixion
• 8th Captain – Captain Hellios
• 9th Captain – Captain Sinon
• 10th Captain – Captain Antilochus

Between these wars, we had the Assault on Black Reach; and then the return of Guilliman. After the Terran Crusade, Sicarius disappeared and Acheran, who served under Sicarius (presumably in some role like First Sergeant). On his return, Sicarius was transferred to become the commander of the Victrix Honour Guard.

Galenius is noted noted as being promoted 'in the wake of the Battle for Macragge, but Sicarius wasn't promoted away 'til 848ish; so presumably around then? He must have served for around 50 years, as he is noted as active into M42. 

The poor old 2nd must have wondered what was going on, as their other former Captain, Titus, returned as the same time, and currently serves as a Lieutenant! 

 

+ Post-Plague Wars M42 onwards +

• Primarch Roboute Guilliman*
• Chapter Master – Marneus Calgar
• 1st Captain – Severus Agemman
• 2nd Captain –Sevastus Acheran *from within ~999.M41
• 3rd Captain – Mikael Fabian †?012.M42 (MIA)
• 4th Captain – Uriel Ventris *from within ~997/999.M41
• 5th Captain – Phelian *~012.M42
• 6th Captain – Ferren Areios
• 7th Captain – Gerad Ixion
• 8th Captain – Captain Hellios
• 9th Captain – Captain Sinon
• 10th Captain – Captain Antilochus

+++

+ The Model +

As is hopefully clear, the Captain is inspired by this 2nd edition-era Captain model:

The plan is to bring in the laurels and banding on the legs through painting. The basic model is one of the many (many) Space Marine lieutenant variants we got, with the head from the Horus Heresy Praetor. 

Painting-wise, I started this a few months back; leaving it with the base done and blues and golds blocked in. I drifted away from the project, and am waiting for enthusiasm to take hold again.

Given my recent enthusiasm for 2nd edition 40k, it'd be quite fun to paint him up to field alongside the Steel Legion of the 7th Army...

+ inload: Salamanders in the Horus Heresy +

+ A Mantle of Ash + 

I've been building Salamanders again. A few of the PCRC have dug out long-dormant Horus Heresy-era projects, and after their recent 2nd edition outing [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] I thought it'd be nice to add some XVIII Legion forces to the pot. The plan is to keep things small – in the past, our HH enthusiasm has been dampened by the exhausting prospect of huge numbers of models to paint! – so we're currently looking to work on 500pt projects.

As you can see above, while I'm using the Mark VI box, I'm throwing in lots of different parts. I've got so many odd bits and bobs left over from years of building 'truescale' marines [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] that I've found I can make a convincingly battered-looking late Heresy style force. The Salamanders, after all, had a rough time of things during the Heresy, being sidelined as one of the Shattered Legions. I've decided to lean into this and avoid having uniformity; it's proving a fittingly thematic way of using up my bits box. 

I've taken the idea of a battered post-Isstvan force, and want to build around this concept. I'm not sure yet whether the Salamanders will be veterans of the Dropsite Massacre, or perhaps an isolated Company that had to find out second-hand that Vulkan had (apparently) been killed.

I very much like the more human feel of the Salamanders in comparison to other Legions (I've always  tended to favour the goodies), but think that it works best when it's balanced with some sense of the Marines as savage weapons – after all, without any contrast, the characterisation becomes at risk of being one-dimensional. To that end, I want this force to be pulled in different directions; torn between their understandable desire to strike back against the Traitors, find out the truth of the fate of their beloved Primarch and Legion, and their sense of duty. And if that leads to some unfortunate clashes with forces that have different ideas of what Loyalty means, all the better.

Of course, I don't have a novel to get these themes across in the force, so instead I'm going to try to create characters who personify things – a triad of officers who have to find a way forward for their Company in the madness of the Heresy. I haven't quite pinned down exactly these will be in game terms, but I'd like to set up some narrative options – a leader who pulls the force towards finding the truth about Vulkan, no matter what (useful for creating a Loyalist-on-Loyalist conflict); one who is more concerned with following the Promethean Cult and serving humanity – perhaps pulling the force towards a more self-destructive/sacrificial direction; and one who wants simply to preserve and consolidate, sure in the Primarch's teachings.

This sword-wielding fella is the first leader built. I'm toying with him representing the Promethean Cult identity, and using the Chaplain rules. I've added some Raven Guard and Salamander trinkets, suggesting he's either an Isstvan veteran/victim, or has had some sort of link with other Legions.

This Adrian Smith Librarian artwork, from the old Codex: Armageddon, is a favourite of mine, and I've had vague plans to make a model based on it for ages. Perhaps this is the time? While I have used Librarians in the past, I've never been a huge fan of magic (the dawi in me, clearly), but the esoteric/visionary aspect of this project makes them seem very fitting.

+++

My existing Salamanders from the Dust of Armageddon project will be pulling double-duty here, too.

... and I have the other half of the Mark VI box to polish off, too:

+ inload: Alaitoc Eldar +

 + Visions of the past +

+ Refreshed by a visit to the Metalican Titan-forges, I've found myself on a bit of a hobby buzz at the moment, and have started afresh on some older projects. I'll look in some closer detail at these over the next few inloads, so today a simple overview. +

+++

+ Alaitoc Eldar +

A slow-burning project, my Alaitoc Craftworld Eldar [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] have received some love recently as I finally got my hands on the last few bits and bobs I needed for the next two Guardian squads.

The project as a whole is unapologetic wallowing in nostalgia for me, and a personal modelling and painting exercise rather than anything else. As with my Blood Angels, these are an homage to a particular studio army (WD138 this time), and the aim of the project is very similar: to answer the question, 'What would the army look like using modern materials?'

+ Resizing Dire Avengers +

As the Dire Avenger below demonstrates, the overall answer is 'not that different'. I've mentioned before how Jes Goodwin nailed the Eldar look and feel first time. The conversion work for my plastic Dire Avenger was centred around getting the older Dire Avenger kit to fit alongside the more recent releases. While subtle, the new Eldar gain some height through longer abdomens, and have broader and deeper chests than the older plastic kits (Guardians and Dire Avengers).

The retrohammer update

The original

I therefore took the new Guardian as the basis, using the combined torso and legs piece and back piece. These had the shoulder pads removed and replaced with the larger, pointier ones from the Dire Avenger kit. The other bits are either simple kitbashing or very minor trimming and fiddly bits, like the back targeter vane and taking the sights from an Avenger Catapult and popping it on the Guardian Shuriken Catapult. 

This last detail is worth noting: I've used the original (now very small) Shuriken Catapult on the Guardians, so decided to use the new Guardian Shuriken Catapult in place of the larger Avenger Catapult in order to minimise the apparent jump in size.

The result is a nice proof-of-concept, though I'm tempted to use the Dire Avenger arms for subsequent models, as they've got some additional forearm detail. The whole process reminded me a lot of what I try to do when 'truescaling' Space Marines, as my aim there is to end up with a model that doesn't draw attention, because it doesn't look like a conversion. My hope is that the Dire Avengers will fit in right alongside the rest of the army (which otherwise uses the new sculpts), and be a cohesive, coherent part of the army as a whole.

+++

+ Updating Guardian Close Combat Squad +

The first couple of these were polished off two years ago [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], but the squad is now finished. As elsewhere, I've tried to evoke the originals through parts choice and pose, but have made some slight changes to take advantage of the modern materials. 

The originals are lovely models, but being identical to the other Guardians, they've got the same rather braced, static poses. I decided I'd use the running poses from the new kit for this close combat squad, which helps distinguish them from the Guardian squad (with lasguns) and Guardian Battle squad (with shuriken catapults). 

This obviously changes the poses quite considerably, but I hope the choices I've made with the arms mean that the individual models are still recognisable one-on-one when shown alongside the inspiration. It's a tricky balance. There's homage, and then there's being slavish. I want enough freedom to change things for the better (or at least more to my personal taste) where I can. Otherwise, I might as well go proper oldhammer and just source the original models. A fun collecting endeavour in itself, but not what I'm after here.

Annoyingly, I remembered – after priming the first three – that I'd intended to trim the side vents on the helmets to give a slimmer profile and get closer to the originals, and so you can see how I've had to go back and scrape them off. The new members have since had their base texture added, and a coat of primer (Wraithbone) applied to the complete squad, so they're all ready for paint.

+++

+ inload: Hurry up and wait +

+ The Rear lines of Armageddon +

+ #AshesInvite +

+ Polished off this tank crew member last night, leaning against his Leman Russ as the sun goes down. + 

+ The deadline for this challenge event is dusk tonight, but as it's finished enough for pict-captures, I thought I'd take a few. +

+ The theme for the challenge is 'back lines of Armageddon' – a fairly open brief that I hope allowed people to pick up something for Orks as well as Imperial Guard. My riff on the theme was to show a tank crew from the 2nd Division, waiting to be sent into battle. +

+ The crew member is a Stationforge print, bought from BattleprintsUK on ebay. I'd like to write a little bit more about them in a future inload, but I'm happy to give them three mechadendrites up – excellent sculpts, excellent service. I had intended to have a few more figures on the tank, but in the end decided the close-up on one worked well. I will, however, add some others when I come back to polish off the rest of the tank. He was painted in exactly the same way as my other Steel Legion forces, with the exception of the Army Group icon, which is a double-pronged white thunderbolt on a red field – marking him as part of the 2nd Tank Division of the Armageddon Steel Legion. +

+ The challenge was also handy to cut down the cupboard of opportunity – gaving me a chance to finally finish off a Leman Russ Vanguisher sprayed (about a decade ago) for my Lamb's World army, and combine it with a scenic base that's even older than that – I think it was bought for my Ultramarines! It's one of those bits that I never wanted to use, because I always felt something more fitting would come along. I'm very glad to have finally pulled the trigger and used it. +

+ The undercoat is Humbrol Desert Yellow 93. I added a couple of layers of drybrushed highlight using Buff Titanium to give a slightly 'dusty' look, then used thinned burnt sienna oils to weather the vehicle and pick out the recesses. After that, it was really just a case of picking out a few details and applying some edge highlighting and weathering. It's a rather loose finish. +

+ inload: Painting Salamanders green +

+ In The Dust Of Armageddon +

+ Feeling a bit agitated over the weekend, so took it out on this chap, a Salamanders marine who's been waiting patiently for paint. While not finished, he's coming along quite nicely, so thought I'd show him off to garner some ideas and thoughts. +

+ This particular marine has had an odd history of paint, having been undercoated with Halford’s brown and painted with olive green oils; but he has since been left to dry/oxidise, then reprimed with GW’s wraith one spray, a sort of warm off-white. Alas, the can was down to its dregs, so it was a rather patchy and necessarily zenithal coat – that is, largely limited to a top-down spritz. +

+ As a test model, I’m not too fussed about this, as I’m happy to spend a bit more time on him. For future models, I’ll want to streamline the process, so will start from a clean and even base of wraithbone or white. +

+++

+ Painting Salamanders Chapter green +

+ Thematically, the background for this model, and any little force that might emerge from it, is going to be set during the Second Armageddon War (M41.941–943). Not only does this have fond memories for me – being the then-current GW 'thing' as I was growing up – but I've also already got a Steel Legion force and the Blood Angels Third Company, which are likewise eminently suitable for the period. Moreover, plenty of ork opponents! +

+ I had toyed with a Horus Heresy period – you can read about this here [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], but I think I'm more likely to be using these in 40k. They can also do double-duty in the PCRC's Badab War Kill Team games [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. It also allows me a pretty full range of armour marks, as Salamanders are famed for their skill with a hammer and anvil, and make their own armour. +

+ This Salamander is clad in the remnants of in a suitably patchwork Heresy suit. While the bulk is production Mark V, there's a Mark II power plant, Mark III vambrace (perhaps some honorific or personalised bit) and a left arm that's more modern – perhaps Mark VII. +

+ Painting the green + 

1_ The green starts as a flat coat of Warpstone Glow – I need to apply around three coats to get coverage over the patchy undercoat. 

2_ This was then washed with Thraka Green.

3_ Once dry, this was re-layered in areas of highlight with Warpstone Glow. The paint doesn't have great coverage, but that actually serves to make a smoother blend.

4_ Highlights were then blended in on areas near the light source using an even mix of Warpstone Glow and Moot Green.

5_Once dry, a wash of Drakenhof Nightshade was applied all over. This blue wash serves to mute the yellow tinge of the Moot Green a bit, and help blend things in.

6_ Once dry, sharper highlights were applied with a ~1:3 Warpstone Glow and Moot Green mix, and followed up with smaller point highlights of the same mix with a little white added.

+ Painting the grey +

+ This isn't yet finished, but since it was very simple, I thought I'd record the first stages here. It's simply Army Painter Dark Stone for the soft joints, shoulder pads and details, washed over with Nuln Oil. +

+ The holster and pouches were a later addition – he looked a little wasp-waisted – which is why they've just got a Halfords grey undercoat. +

+++

+ The heraldry and finishing will take quite a bit of research (and creativity!), I think, but I'm looking forward to populating those big flat plates with various markings. If you've got a favourite Company that you'd like to see me tackle, or have a lore snippet that you think might be fun to see included or nodded to, please do let me know. +

+ In closing, I'll just note that I'm rather pleased with the eye lenses. This is something I toyed with on the lights on my Catachan gun truck, which I painted to look like glass – that is, with greys. +

+ I thought this might suit the Salamanders and help give a 'calm and collected' look to the marines, while also not fighting too much with any bright orange and yellow markings. +

+ I've still not quite decided how I'm going to tackle the 'glowing red eyes' thing, and thought it'd be a fun little detail to have that glow emerging from otherwise clear lenses; perhaps as a bright ember in the very centre. I'll play around a bit more to see how that works; but I reserve the right to switch if it looks a bit duff! +

+++

+ inload: Squad Furiel completed +

+ Landmarks, fatigue and enthusiasm +

+ We're not all bio-enhanced übermensch that never tire; and glanding syncro-adrenochrone is frowned upon socially. For these reasons, we sometimes need to find other ways of keeping out enthusiasm up. The first part is simple. Remember that it's a hobby. While putting effort in is worthwhile – sometimes the best part is rising to a self-imposed challenge – no-one is going to tell you off if you don't get finished. +

+ The second thing that keeps my enthusiasm high is making sure I take note of 'staging posts' – that is, giving myself a pat on the back (servo-arms are useful for this) when I get something completed; even if it's not the whole project. To put it another way, it can be disheartening to work and work and see an unfinished army. Try not to see the army; and instead see it in discrete parts. A squad, or character, or war machine are examples of 'staging posts'. +

+ Once you pass a staging post, take a little while to be pleased with your achievement. Don't crack straight on; but enjoy the fruit of your labours. +

+++

+ [+Access Progapplication Subroutine: BLUEPETER+] +

+ In a strange coincidence, here's a staging post I prepared earlier – the two outstanding members of the first Tactical Squad in my Blood Angels army:

+ Brother Engel (Narieal 4:10) and Brother Lucian (Abacyel 3:12), shown on patrol. Engel is a particularly nice 'staging post', as he's named after one of the very first models I painted. He's been kept deliberately stripped-back, in homage to that model. +

+ Lucian is a bit more elaborate, with a tilt shield, variant helm (though note this keeps the same silhouette as the original inspiration), and some chequerboarding on his pauldron. +

+ 'Wotchulookinat?' +

+++

+ The completed Wards of Furiel +

+ Polishing off the two remaining members of the second Combat Squad means that the squad is complete – hurrah! For those who've been following the project, you'll know I'm basing it on an army from WD139; so here's the originals alongside the new versions:

+ Combat Squad Raphael +

 + I have popped these up a lot, so I'm relying on your forbearance here; but these shots should finally demonstrate the line between homage and update that I've been trying to walk. The poses and details aren't identical, but are evocative of the originals. +

+ Combat Squad Mephisto – again, note the posing and details +

+ TACTICAL SQUAD 1 +

• Brother Donato (Duhael 4:12)
• Brother Malatesta (Durbael 2:17)
• Sergeant Raphael (Furiel 8:04)
• Brother Farnese (Shemhamphorae 1:20) 
• Brother Barbarigo (Durbael 4:11)
• Brother Lucian (Abacyel 3:12)
• Brother El-Aster (Ambriel 1:01) 
• Squad Leader Brother Mephisto (Rashin Rast 2:05) 
• Brother Thaddeus (Saditel 4:04, called the lost)
• Brother Engel (Narieal 4:10)

+ The staging post here is not just the sense of completion (though that's a relief!), but also the thought that I can now refight some of the games from the Battle for Armageddon campaign booklet that came with the second edition box; and which provided the names of the squads. It's a full-on nostalgia-fest. +

+ inload: Squad Mephisto and detailing +

+ Squad Mephisto +

+ A decent push last night has landed me with another three finished figures, along with two casualties. I also took to opportunity to refine the bases and details on the others in the army, to help tighten up the consistency. +

+ Tactical Squad 1 +

+ Made up of the two combat Squads Raphael and Mephisto, Tactical 1 is pretty much the archetype of Space Marines; with a loadout that would fit in every edition of the game. I'm pleaed to see that the change in colours (from a mix of Mephiston Red and Vallejo Vermillion to a pure Vallejo Flat Red) isn't really visible. +

SQUAD MEPHISTO Sinistro e Dexter: 
Brother Thaddeus (Saditel 4:04, called the lost)
Brother El-Aster (Ambriel 1:01), 

Brother Mephisto (Rashin Rast 2:05), 

Brother Engel (Narieal 4:10) [Not pictured]

Brother Lucian (Abacyel 3:12) [Not pictured]

+ I'm pleased with how they came out, but it's so hard not to get carried away with freehand and detailing. I have to keep reminding myself that they're meant to be simple, to reflect the inspiration and keep things rooted in the M35 period. I think I'm going to have to make some Veterans or something, just to let myself get carried away! +

+ The originals, by Tim Prow from White Dwarf 139. The three homages I've just painted represent the following: second from left (El-Aster – note the pose); centre (Mephisto – again, note the knife); and second from right (Thaddeus; with flamer).  +

+ There are, inevitably, a few little additions and ornaments, but I think I've been pretty restrained. Thaddeus (the flamer specialist) has a little honorific on his knee. Mephisto, the squad leader, is starting to show a bit of the ornamentation that will become more common later in the Imperium's history. He has an artificer pauldron, an autoshrine (for in-field ammunition blessing) hanging from his belt, and a targeter integrated with his helm. These little additions only stand out because the others in the squad are restrained. +

+ The other thing which jumps out is the banner. I initially painted the field a plain red, which matched the other combat squad veteran. This more closely followed the WD139 inspiration, but I found the fact they were identical a bit dull; so I added a yellow stripe. Simple, but helps to distinguish the figures on the board (and, in-universe, helps the marines on the battlefield to quickly identify who's who). +

+++

+ Vive la différence! Squad Cleon +

+ Having said I was struggling not to cover Mephisto in freehand detail, I did then turn back to Squad Cleon, who we've seen before. +

SQUAD CLEON Sinistro e Dexter: 

Brother Simnal (Saditel 2:02)

Brother Ornaghi (Utchael 3:04) 

Brother Cleon (Sanael 1:02)

Brother Pappacordo (Zether 1:09)

Brother Zoma (Caraniel 9:01)

+ While I want the army to look uniform, the originals were differentiated from each other in order to make gameplay easier:

+ You can see above, the captions highlight the differences. I didn't want to copy the backpack differentiation, as it just didn't feel right to me; but I liked the honour badges on the kneepads:

+ Of course, it being eleven at night when I had the bright idea to start them, I ended up painting them on the wrong knees [+SCRAPSHUTNERRORABORT+] After a brief pause for cursing, I started again in the correct place. I'm pleased with the end result, and along with the veteran banner (vertical stripe for Tactical 2), think it works nicely to mark out the different squads. The lesson is 'keep your source material close to hand'. +

+++

+ Medic! +

+ Finally for today, here are the casualties:

+ Painted in exactly the same way as the others, these were a bit quicker – mainly by dint of there being less of them! I've added a little bit more weathering than the others, but not a huge amount. +

+ inload: Blood Angels background terminology +

+ Progress report: Blood Angels +

+ Tycho's Third Company – or Prince Dauhavran's Host of the Third Choir, to give the group its atroatican name) grows. +

+ 'Wait, what?' +

+ Ah yes. While it's great to explore the background, and play around with linguistics, it's also easy for understanding to get a bit lost, so I thought I'd do a little primer on the (made-up) terminology I'm using. Here's a little extract to get you in the mood, taken from my Horus Heresy-era Blood Angel background:

"3:12 is a binder; a codifier. The atroatican names are ancient. There are not many. As a result, there are many repetitions. At first, we used suggenic names to distinguish between us – Ambriel Hemas and Ambriel El-Aster, for example. After the arrival of blessed Sanguinius," he paused. My eyes were pointedly fixed on the pict-screens in front of me, but I had seen him sketch a brief gesture in the air on the other occasions he had cause to mention his Primarch, and supposed the ellipsis owed to this, "We grew fast. There were many then. Many hundreds of Ambriels, many hundreds of Kerubiels, many Phanuels... and so on. You understand."

"And so you took numerals, too? So there is a Phanuel 1:11, for example?"

"Yes – Phanuel 1:11, and many like it. Phanuel 17:4, Lucifer 2:16, Tzaphqiel 19:19, and so forth. The numbers remind us we are Imperial. We belong to the Angel, and through him, to the Emperor." Both paused at this point to chorus the familiar blessed be his name before Catabin continued. "In any case, we were uneasy about using the suggenic names. It is good to know where you come from; but more important to know to whom you owe your loyalty. That is who you are."

+++ 

+ Nomenclature +

+ All Blood Angels have at least two names: a gave-name and a Suggenia name; equivalent to a modern personal name and surname. The suggenic names are from the tribes of the Blood; the human denizens of Baal. I've used a variety of sources – Renaissance-era Italian names in the main, alongside some Hebrew, Arabic and Ancient Roman – for these names, as I suspect Baal has a number of different cultures. Getting a bit of variety in there helps with realism; and stops the homage beating people over the head a bit. +

+ On ascension (that is, joining the Blood Angels as a full brother), the Blood Angel gains a new name to symbolise his rebirth as an Angel. I've called this their atroatican name; which is drawn from a (fictional in-universe) Baalite cultural mythology. As a resource for atroatican names, I use a fantastic book I bought years back called Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (I recommend you pick it up; despite the dry name, it's wonderfully written), but angelic names from various cultures are widely available with a Google search. This site is a good example: [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]. +

+ I've also added a numbering system; mainly as a bit of interest, but also to evoke a bit of sci-fi and to add a bit of spice to the naming conventions. These take the form of X:XX. The first number indicates the Cycle, which is a (again, in-universe) denotation of the name's 'spiritual reference' – the sort of thing determined by placement of stars at time of birth, dowsing, withinlookery and similar sorcery – while the second number, the Frequency simply indicates how many times the name has been used in a particular cycle. +

+++

+ To take an example, the chaps I'm working on at the moment are part of squad Mephisto, a combat squad mentioned in the Battle for Armageddon campaign booklet that came with 2nd edition Warhammer 40,000. Knowing that the combat squad leader was called Mephisto, I had his Suggenic name already. To this I added the Atroatican name 'Rashin Rast', an alternative name for the Angel Rash from an Persian text on comparative religion written around 1655. This is, to Western ears, a relatively uncommon name for an angel (compare Michael or Gabriel, for example). I think that it's important to include a diverse range of cultural sources – it all starts to feel a bit Flanderised, otherwise. In any case, using some non-European Angel names helps to give design space for the (far more gothic and mediaeval) Dark Angels, should I ever explore them. +

+  The Cycle and Frequency numbers are effectively chosen at random, though I do tend to add a bit of Eurocentricism by giving those more familiar to me higher frequency numbers – after all, the established canon names are nearly all Biblical or Italian. +

+ Anyway, hope that diversion was interesting – back to the painting! +

+++

+ Squad Mephisto WIP +

+ So, without further ado, here are Brother El-Aster (Ambriel 1:01); Brother Mephisto (Rashin Rast 2:05); and Brother Thaddeus (Saditel 4:04, called the lost). You'll notice Thaddeus ended up with an extra little flourish to his name, in the form of an epithet. Applying your own rules to things like namings or markings can be fun; but it should always take a backseat to creativity or whimsy. After all, you're not taking a census, but enjoying yourself! +

+ Brothers El-Aster, Mephisto and Thaddeus stumble over two fallen heroes on the plain of the Deathworld Orro. +

+ Note also the injured marines. As mentioned in the previous inload, I used these to test out the new colours – just in case. Colour theory is all very well, but nothing replaces practical experimentation. +

+++

+ Their place in the host +

+ The five marines of Squad Mephisto will make up the second part of Tactical Squad 1. The other half is squad Raphael, shown below:

+ Completing this combat squad will let me play a minimum-sized Battalion in 8th edition (three five-man troop units and Captain Tycho as the HQ). It'll also leave me just five marines away from being able to replay the Battle for Armageddon scenarios in 2nd edition. +