+ inload: Tutorial – Converting Mark X into Mark VI armour +

+ Corvus armour tutorial +

+ Converting a Mark VI marine +

+ This tutorial will allow you to convert an Intercessor marine into something like the figure above; a marine in Mark VI Corvus-pattern armour – the iconic beakie marine of Rogue Trader. +

+ Much of the conversion is kitbashing – simply selecting parts you find appropriate – though it does also involve a little simple sculpting. If you're nervous at sculpting, then this is a good starting point. +

+++

[VAL-request=OPTIONAL] + If you find this tutorial useful, please consider using this Ko-fi exloadlink to support the blog's free tutorials. + [+exload:GRATITUDESPOOL//+]

+++

+ Theoretical +

+ For any aspiring rivet-counters, the conversion below provides a list of parts that are the closest to the modern iteration of Mark VI. Depending on your particular preferences and budget, you might wish to choose different bits – that's all fine: the point of conversion is making your models more personal, after all. Depending on the Chapter you're building and period it's set in, it's entirely likely a marine will be wearing a hotch-potch mix of armour plates rather than a complete suit. Nevertheless, this guide walks you though a full suit of Mark VI – I'll leave you to choose the details and finishing touches to fit your personal taste (or what your Chapter can muster!). +

+ If you're trying to make an exact replica of Corvus armour, then the best source of bits is Forge World's Legion MkVI set [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], but this is pricy. The only key purchase for the conversion is the Mark VI head, which you find in lots of marine boxes. My advice is to find a balance between accuracy and cost that works for you. +

+ If you're doing a one-off, then the space marine Assault Squad [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] is a good starting point for bits: it contains a Mark VI backpack, shoulder pads and helm. Best of all, these are all optional extras for the kit, so you can still build a complete assault squad without them. If you're doing a batch, I'd recommend the FW set. +

+++

+ What do I need? +

+ For this tutorial you will need: 

• A Primaris space marine. My recommended parts are:
• Body and legs: Intercessor or Assault Intercessor body with separate greaves, as these make it much easier to trim off the details.
• Head: Mark VI helms – Forge World do a set of Raven Guard upgrades [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] with some nice variations and details. 
• Weapons: Umbra-pattern boltguns [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]. These are the closest to the RTB01 boltgun.
• Arms: MK X Phobos armour lacks the additional forearm plate on Intercessors, so is closer to the classic marine aesthetic. You can get these arms in the Reiver or Infiltrator/Incursor box; both will give you lots of cool potential poses.
• Backpack: The Forge World Mk VI set is the source for a backpack essentially identical to the classic RTB01, but there are a few available elsewhere (such as the assault squad linked above) with the more angular central part and raised tubing on the top centre.
• Shoulder pads: You can trim away the rim from any pad fairly simply, but a paired set of rimless pads, one with studs, turn up in most marine boxes, including the Intercessors. 
• Polystyrene cement
• Craft knife and cutting mat
• Modelling clippers
• Modelling putty such as Greenstuff, ProCreate or a 50:50 mix of Greenstuff and Milliput.
• Revitalising cup of recaff or, for those with a discerning palate Endworlds Ti infusion. Owing to sharp blades and precision, synthale is not sanctioned.

+++

+ Practical +

+ Part I: Cutting and shaping +

_i Use the modelling clippers to remove the bulk of the crest around the knee, then use the knife to trim it flush as shown.

_ii Working particularly carefully, use the knife to trim the kneepad flat. Start from the centre and use the line of the shin to guide you.

_iii Alter the angle to match the line of the shin as you work round the knee, until it is flat and level with the shin as shown.

_iv Gently scrape away the surface by repeatedly and lightly dragging the blade backwards over the surface, until the join between knee and shin is lost. Alternatively, you can fill the gap with modelling putty.

_v Repeat on the other shinplate, then glue them in place on the respective legs.

_vi Make a cut down the ankle stabiliser as shown, in line with the shin plate, then cut in from the side to remove half of the stabiliser. I suggest that you start on the inside. It's more easily hidden, so a good place to practise; and it's also smaller, which makes the cuts easier.

_vii Cut across the ankle stabiliser at the bottom. Depending on the pose of the marine, you may want to do this in two stages: the first in line with the bottom of the shin plate; the second in line with the bottom of the rear leg armour.

_viii Turn the leg over and repeat the process on the outer ankle stabiliser. Make the cut in line with the back of the shinplate as shown. Because the plate flexes outwards, you don't need to cut all the way down to the foot, but rather to where the outside edge of the shinplate would be. The next step clarifies this.

_ix This shows the depth you need to achieve with the cut. As you make the cut across the bottom of the shin, you'll end up with an odd excess below the lower leg. Don't worry; that'll be dealt with later.

_x Cut upwards into the ankle stabilise ball from below, in line with the outer foot covering – that is, the part of the armour between the boot itself and the lower leg armour.

_xi Use your knife to trim the area flat and reshape the outer foot covering as shown. Trim off the last quadrant of the ankle stabiliser so that it lies flush with the shin plate. Once you repeat this on the other leg, the legs are complete.

_xi Cut away the excess collar, leaving a little still in place to act as a visual guide later. I find the best way to do this is to line the blade up on both rear edges of the collar and then trim forwards from both sides simultaneously. This helps to ensure a clean cut at a consistent angle.

_xii Working from the outside in, start to trim back the eagle. Use the stub of the collar to help guide your blade.

_xiii Continue trimming down the chestplate, working layer by layer until it's flush with the surface. 

_xiv Using the curve of the underlying armour as a guide, start to trim away the pectoral plate on one side until it is flush. Rather than removing the whole thing, we're hiding the sharp edges. The central and upper parts remain in place.

_xiv Repeat on the other side, aiming to get a symmetrical appearance.

_xv I like to assemble the legs and torso as it gives me something to hold onto when sculpting. If you want maximum flexibility (for example, if the model has a particularly awkward pose), use a spot of superglue to temporarily attach the legs, allowing you to be able to break them off later if necessary.

At this point, If you don't want to sculpt, you can stop here and assemble the rest of the marine for an effective finish. However, if you do want to take it a bit further, then read onto part 2: [+noosphericinloadlink PENDING+]

+++

+ inload: Blood Angels progress +

+ A return to blood +

+ The Alien Wars, a setting based around the actions of armies during the Nova Terra Interregnum, has been ticking over in the background. You can read about the broad scope of the project in the tab at the top of the blog (and check out the awesome aliens people have made!). Part of this is my Blood Angels army [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. +

+ They've been a bit neglected this year, but I dug them out last night to assess where I'd got to with them. +

+ The first tactical squad is completed. The army was intended to be an exercise in painting a neater, cleaner style, and I found it very slow going. Neverthless, pulling these lads out of mothballs was very rewarding; and a reminder of why I decided I was going to really try my hardest with this force. I don't think they've quite got the visual impact and 'pop' of my Gatebreakers [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], but they scratch that retrohammer itch and have a lovely warmth to them. After playing around with oils, it's also nice to see what I could – and hopefully can still – achieve with acrylics. +

+ The second Tactical squad is more than half complete. I think I must have got fed up with the remaining four; and this is likely where I'll start again. Small goals, in my experience, are much more sensible to set! +

+ I keep spotting little details like the banners and flamer, and wondering how I did them; or whether all four of the remaining figures have been taken to the same painting standard. This is a problem with breaking off a project halfway through! +

+ If you'll excuse a little self-congratulation, I think the Devastators look awesome together. Painting this Mark VI-themed squad – like the rest of the army, an homage to the RTB-01 models used in the GW studio army detailed in WD139 – should be fun. +

+ I've finally decided how I'll tackle the blue helms, and that's to take a leaf from the Swedish artist Anders Zorn, who used a very restricted palette of just four colours: yellow ochre, vermilion, titanium white and ivory black. Lacking any blue, it's a palette that still allows for a wonderful variety of hues. +

+ Now, I'm not going to be quite so restrictive as to remove all blues from my palette – not only am I no master artist, but my aim is to have tight control over the notoriously variable colour red, not make things harder for myself. I will, however, be using a muted, desaturated grey-blue (typical of the Zorn palette) to stand in for the vibrant primary blues of the inspiration. +

+ I used to really dislike the style of these models – the combination of ruffles and earrings and mohawk/ponytail combos just seemed weird – but now they've got a real retro appeal for me. While I like the 'tacticool' design of the modern sculpts, sculpts like these Renaissance-flavoured scouts really capture the outré, ritualistic feel of 40k's semi-barabaric dark age much better. I'm looking forward to painting these the most, so I might skip ahead to tackle them and get my hand back in for painting in this style. +

+ Having mentioned using acrylics above, I'm wondering if I might get away with using oils for this army, too. The red seems like it'd be ideal to enrich with burnt umber [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], and it'd go a long way to making this project more enjoyable. (You can read about my thoughts on changing style, here [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]) +

+ If I decide to do so – and it's a big if; consistency here is important, and I want to persevere with the approach – then these scouts seem an ideal place to try it. By their nature, they'll look different to the rest of the army, and an all-over burnt umber oil wash will help to tie together different areas. +

+ Ah, the Terminators of Squad Redemptor. Back in 2018 I wrote a tutorial for converting Terminators large enough to sit alongside Primaris, and then they lurked, victims of imposter syndrome as I thought I'd never be able to do them justice in paint. The tutorial [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] has long been the most-viewed inload on the site, so I really ought to pull my finger out and get them done. Apart from anything else, it'd let me play Space Hulk again! +

+ The characters. I said I'd reward myself by painting one every time I completed a squad, which rather shows how slowly this army has been progressing... Rather like the look of them all gathered together – I'm glad that I decided to go 'all-banner all the time'. +

+ Bases on tanks? Yes, I thought this was a neat way to give the Rhino a bit more presence. Long-time inloaders will know how much I dread painting vehicles, but this might be another excuse to try out using oils, since it doesn't need to exactly match the infantry. Perhaps I'll find a method of painting tanks that I enjoy? +

+ Rather ugly lower legs there. I think I'll need to return and fix that before progressing with the speeder. Half tempted to paint the speeder yellow – it'd make the marines stand out, and I always rather liked the idea that the heraldic colours were reserved for the Astartes themselves, rather than their equipment. What do you reckon?+

+ ...and last but not least, the casualties – including one interred safely in a Dreadnought. Safely for him, that is; not the enemies of the Emperor! Looking more closely at this, you can see that this must have been the last thing I painted before packing the army away – the upper half is the Mephiston Red spray, while the lower part has received two coats of the Mephiston Red and Vallejo vermillion mix I use, as detailed in my painting red tutorial here [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. +

+++

+ It's nice to have everything collected together again for a once-over. The imminent release of the Primaris Techmarine means I'll have a figure available to plug the last gap in the WD139 force; the techmarine manning the Thudd Gun. That seems a good enough motivation for me to get chugging along with the army once more. What would you like to see me tackle first? Finish off Tactical squad II, paint the scouts or polish off the Dreadnought? +

+ inload: Thoughts on the 9th edition rulebook +

+ Indomitus +

+ The new edition of Warhammer 40,000 is out, and I've been quietly beavering away building things from it – mostly the Necrons, which I'm assembling as standard. Lovely set of kits that go together very cleanly and easily. +

+ There are lots of reviews popping up about the rules; and that's quite out of my wheelhouse, so I'll stick with the visuals: the new rulebook looks gorgeous. The artwork and layout are lovely, and there's some clever design choices to make distinguishing lore from rules intuitive and simple. From a usability point of view, it's a big step up. +

+ I'm also pleasantly surprised with how the background is dealt with. I was very sceptical of the move from 40k as setting to 40k as ongoing storyline, but the way it's presented in 9th edition feels familiar. It's not a character-led space opera, and the changes in the setting – the first since, well, ever – have been integrated nicely. As an example of what I mean, consider the flagship Space Marines. The Primaris are mentioned, but their importance is understated; almost downplayed. Their appearance is a single paragraph at the end of the spread that introduces space marines. +

+ As a long-time fan, I found it unexpectedly refreshing to have all the various 'new things' that have happened in terms of background/lore since 8th edition collected together. Not having bought any of the chapbooks (like the Psychic Awakening series), it was actually quite nice to have something new to read. I'm more used to the rulebook being lightly paraphrased from previous editions. +

+++

+ Onto models +

Gatebreaker posed next to the Royal Warden and a warrior of the line.

+ But all that's for naught without cool models, eh? Just as the rulebook pleasantly surprised me, so too the Necrons. I was expecting to tear into the marines, but it's the space zombie-robots that demanded their place on the cutting mat. +

+ The Cryptek Designation Samaritan [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] has clearly been busy exhuming the servants of his mysterious masters. +

+ The Space Marines weren't completely sidelined, of course – so once I'd put together the figures above (which took two evenings), I started on the Gatebreakers' reinforcements. These took longer, as it involved a lot more planning and some minor conversion work. +

+ ...Although of course it's also fun to convert, so I ended up giving the big Necron Lord a mask, intending it to evoke the Dawn of War series of games, if you're familiar with those. Double dustgruel rations for anyone able to tell me what the helmet was called, for I've not the foggiest idea.

+ inload: Gatebreakers heraldry +

+ Gatebreakers heraldry +

"Do I look like I give a–?" his last words were mercifully cut off by another cacophonous round of firing that took the front of the building opposite out in an enormous plume of white smoke. Barbari's acolytes both ducked further into cover. The pulverised rock was in the air; laying a shroud over everything. Halm didn't much like that image. As the tense moment stretched, she tried to hear past the ringing in her ears. No movement – but Halm knew better than to trust her eyes and ears in this place. Dust hissed down outside, an occasional large ping marking a larger piece of rubble coming to rest.

Half-crouching, she scuttled over to Brunski, her companion's face screwed up in an almost comically intense stare as he tried to spot enemies – or anything – through the thick cloud. She reached out to tap him on the arm, and he looked at her. God-Emperor, she thought, suppressing an hysterical snigger, we look like albino lapids. Both the acolytes were covered in the white dust of the alien city, their eyes pink and sore. She pinched her nose, noisily snorting out the dirt.

"Look," she started, "let's just get back to the Gatebreakers." Brunski opened his mouth to reply just as another doppler-shifted whooping broke the silence. She saw his eyes crease as he tensed just as the impact came. Closer this time. The entire road surface rippled, the fabric of it turning fluid under the sudden strike.

Even from this distance, the two were thrown to the floor. Halm's wrist struck a piece of furniture on the way down, and she lost her grip on her pistol. Cursing, she peeped over the improvised cover, then froze as she saw silhouettes emerging from the weird white gloom. 

Shit. Stalker-forms.

Long-limbed, pallid, and inhumanly tall and thin, the Sabactes were clothed in a semi-transparent sheen. Their multiple backwards-jointed limbs picked through the rubble carefully, whisper-rifles sweeping back and forth like a hunting-snake's head. One carried some form of fluted, ribbed contraption hinged over its curling back – Halm presumed that had been the source of the whooping barrage. 

The lead Sabact's flat, adze-like muzzle turned, and it stooped to peer under the partially-collapsed awning. Halm dearly wished she hadn't dropped her pistol. For a moment, the thick white stonedust making her still more statue-like. Her eyes flicked left, to the shadows, where Brunski was easing his rifle to his shoulder, slowly.

Ever. 

So. 

Slowly.

The next moments stayed with Halm for a long time. Rows of small, puckered pits in the creature's muzzle flared in a peristaltic ripple, and it emitted a thin screech that ran right through Halm's spine. A fraction of a second later, Brunski's lasbolt caught it in one shoulder, sending it staggering and its own shot wild. Halm leapt forward, grasping desperately for her lost pistol as the other Sabactes whipped round with barking, breathless yelps. Brunski was yelling, his modified rifle shouldered and burping fire. The air still hung with white dust.

Then it moved. From the dust emerged massive figures – shorter than the Sabactes, but many times broader. The warriors toted thick, black, brutal-looking boltguns, but they weren't firing them. More howling doppler-shrieks echoed in the near distance, but the Gatebreakers were intent. Pushing through and into the Stalker-forms, arm-long blades came up, slitting and scattering alien limbs. Great gauntlets closed on gelid flesh, puncturing and holding while more sweeping, disembowelling bladestrokes swept in.

It was over in less than four seconds. Perfect. The Sabact's yellow-and-purple ichor was vivid against the pervasive white dust, painted in great arcs across a startlingly wide area. 

Halm remained sprawled, chest down in the rubble. Dumbfounded, petrified, she only realised she hadn't reached the pistol when one of the marines stepped forward and nudged it towards her with his boot. His head was bare, one bloodshot eye puckered up in a livid bruise that was obvious despite the deep tone of his skin. Their eyes met for a moment, then he looked back to his squadmates. Odd static, on the edge of hearing, pattered back and forth. She closed her mouth, forcing herself to calm. Comm-clicks, that's all.

Brunski stepped forward, his lasrifle pointedly aimed to the ground. He was as wide-eyed as Halm, He hooked his free hand under her armpit and helped her up. The marine turned back, and gestured with three fingers.

"Extraction awaits rearwards, Adepts. Three hundred yards." 

Another marine loomed behind him. Slightly shorter, slighter – but still head and shoulders above Brunski, a powerfully-built man – Halm wondered whether the other was Astartes or Primaris? Was there even a meaningful difference now? 

Whatever he was, the Primaris' helm was grilled and pugnacious. His armour was battered, but all the damage was old. Where the Primaris was covered in scrapes and dings and Sabact-ichor, the only thing that made it clear the other marines had been fighting was the same shroud of dust as his comrade.

"To put it another way, adept," his strange accent garbled the word – or else the honorific was intentionally being mocked – "Your presence here is no longer welcome."

+++ 

+ Barbari Kill's Notes – Markings of the Gatebreakers +

+ The Chapter symbol is a mace, with five points. It's a figurative representation of the Chapter's intentions – a brutal, direct weapon of war. The points symbolise the Chapter's multiple companies and ability to work more independently. Further, the handle contains an orb above the weapon's grip. This symbolises Terra, and the God-Emperor – it is he that directs the Chapter. The ball of the mace, figuratively distant from Terra, represents Andocrine. +

+ The Gatebreake's Chapter symbol, on Eo Daur's pauldron. +

+ It's a blunt image, and one that it quite at odds with both the Chapter that I have found here on Andocrine and their would-be Primaris successors. Despite the ready access to the warrior-monks and the extensive material I have gathered on the ephemera of the Chapter, our research has revealed little of value on the Chapter's capabilties or intentions. +

+ Member-Ordinary Blessings-be Miriode shows a typical left pauldron. +

+ It's not even as though things are consistently different. On consultation with my Primaris warders, some things are straight from the book – the Codex Astartes, that is. Tactical markings are scribed on the rear shoulder pad as one might find on a hundred Chapters across the Imperium – but they're accompanied by odd weapon badges. Halm assures me that such markings aren't without precedent; but her digging is going further and further into the past without revealing anything relevant. If it is a known Astartes marking, it hasn't been used in Millennia. +

+ Member-Ordinary Tening Gyal bears a IX strikeforce plate on his forearm +

+ Other markings hint at a organisation unlike that of their Primaris support. Scipius' men are organised in strict squads and companies; you can tick them off like toy soldiers, each one in the right place. +

+ Sho's forces, meanwhile, seem quite bemused by this – their fluid approach appears to revolve around temporary Strikeforces, with very little integral formal organisation beyond that. These strikeforces are gathered by officers – though on whose authority or by what agency I do not yet know. + 

+ I have many questions for Sho – and for Scipius, too. And yet, I understand that this is a fraught and strained moment of meeting for the two Chapters. I have no desire to prevent an alliance – an alloying – from forming, and delicacy must therefore, for now, be my watchword. +

+ [ADDENDA][APPENDNOTE:] No word yet from Taiwo. Has the man received my missive? +

+++

+ inload: Gatebreakers infantry completed +

+ Objective: Complete +

+ Thought I'd start with a bit of shameless self-congratulation today, as my Gatebreakers turned up on GW's hobby roundup last week. +

+ That nice little surprise gave me a bit of a kick up the hindquarters, and I've pressed on to complete the first sixteen. That's got me well on the way to having something ready in time for the launch of 9th edition. +

+ That, of course, meant I had to make some decisions on basing. In the end, I've gone for a rich, red earth with a variety of sprouting plants. It harmonises with the Gatebreaker's scheme, and is anonymous enough to work on most typical tables – importantly, it'll go nicely with the new mat to which I've treated myself. More on that in a future inload. +

+ Gunsight techy bits have been added in orange – another colour that harmonises with the warm shadow – and I've ticked in the Chapter symbol and other iconography. Gun casings have stayed black, with minimal highlighting. I want the guns and other equipment to look no-nonsense, and not distract from what's already a bold scheme. +

+ inload: Further painting of Gatebreakers +

'Hostis!'

+ Spent a couple of evenings developing the highlighting on all fifteen Gatebreakers. I also laid in base colours on more arms, giving me sufficient to kit out the remaining painted figures. The force is now within striking distance of begin ready to field. +

+ Highlighting is fairly simple. Taking the marks and streaks I left from the oil stage to guide me, I picked out a few shapes with a lighter tone (white mixed with Flash Gitz yellow), creating the impression of scratches and gouges. The green pads are unhighlighted here , so you get an impression of what it looks like before. +

+ I decided to paint a few spare arms in order to give me more options for posing, so I have eleven pairs for the remaining eight(?) figures. After building my Blood Angels and Ultramarine with fairly restrained poses, I thought I'd have fun and use all the cool weird arms here. +

+ The oil wash has been completed and cleaned on the arms, and I've laid in the silver on the pauldrons. These need a day or so before they're ready to varnish, and then it's a simple case of highlighting them and sticking them on – can't wait! +

+ Also on the horizon are these Outrider bikes, which have sat shamefully unpainted. They seem like they'll be a good addition here. +

+ inload: Primaris meet Astartes on Andocrine +

+ An alloy of old and new +

Scipius found Oto Yeng's manner infuriating; but then, he had found almost everything about the Gatebreakers he'd met thus far frustrating. Aside from anything else, he couldn't quite grasp why the apothecary – the Claviger-Gentle, he chided himself – had been assigned to guide him. The two strode down the wide boulevard towards the butkade, Scipius' steps crisp, placed and formal; Yeng's stride much looser, almost louche. 

"With all due respect, Claviger-Gentle," the exotic title came awkwardly to his tongue, but he could not bring himself to call Yeng 'brother'; not yet. "I would be forewarned, if we are to meet the Chapter Master."

Yeng continued his easy-paced stroll, favouring his left leg. It was not quite a limp, and raised still more questions for Scipius. The Gatebreaker nodded, glanced at the other marine, then turned back. Scipius thought he caught a gnomic smile before Yeng replied.

"Have I yet told you, traveller, of the Sage Huro? It was he who wrote that 'water will flow only once a path in rock is worn.'"

Scipius' patience had run thin. At every turn, he had been sidelined; his shuttle greeted not by an honour guard, but by a gaggle of Chapter serfs; and his questions rebuffed, brushed aside with platitudes or politely ignored. The 'fortress monastery' seemed anything but; appearing to be little more than a tumbledown ruin, populated solely by bland-faced serfs. When finally an Astartes had appeared, Oto Yeng had turned out to be more concerned with aphorisms than facts; and still less concerned with the passage of time. He had not even asked Scipius his name or rank. The two had walked, apparently aimlessly, for close to an hour across the winding straight-cornered paths of the monastery. 

Scipius came to a halt, his feet scuffing up the yellow dust that covered the open-air path. Yeng stopped a pace ahead, and half-turned back, his face blandly quizzical. The two soldiers regarded one another; Yeng with seeming disinterest, and Scipius will ill-concealed impatience. Both wore identical quartered green-and-yellow livery, but at that the similarities ended. The Primaris was perhaps a hand's width taller, though much of that was down to his upright posture, and the older Astartes' rolling gait. The Master of Chapter 333 wore gleaming Tacitus plate overlaid with heavy robes in the Imperial style. Scipius' trained eye took in Yeng's plate – a much-patched example of an Armourum Ferrum variant that the Primaris marine did not fully recognise.

"I do not know this Huro. I do not wish to know this Huro. I have brought a host of battle brothers to repopulate what I now find to be an occupied Chapter Fortress. It is a joy indeed to find that our forebears – that you – have survived, but there is much to discuss: to plan. I insist you take me to see the Chapter Master; and immediately."

Yeng pursed his lips and looked down, his hands clasped behind his back. He eased his shoulders, the much-patched armour creaking, before running a hand through his scrubby grizzled hair.

"Grant me this indulgence, traveller. You will forgive my rudeness in relating one story more." Scipius raised an impatient eyebrow as the apothecary went on. "When asked how best to seize his father's throne, the sage Huro told his Prince: 'Travelling is best when it is a return to familiarity.' The Prince, of course, understood at once."

Scipius was straightforward, but he was not stupid. All these riddles. Of course. It had been a test. He had not been snubbed. He dropped to one knee.

"I understand now. My apologies." Yeng's eyes widened briefly at the Primaris marine's action, before the apothecary's smiled broadened still further. "You are the Chapter Master. I am unworthy..."

"Alas, no," Yeng interrupted, still grinning. "That honour is not mine. I see now your eagerness. I will take you to Master." The Gentle turned, unceremoniously, and waved a hand vaguely behind him. "Come then, Unworthy." 

Scipius rose, face flushed, indignation warring with embarrassment. Following the Astartes closely along the short corridor, he laid a hand on the other's shoulder plate. Yeng turned to him, his expression once more innocently quizzical.

"That is not–". Scipius' objection was cut off by the peal of a great gong. 

The sound reverberated richly along the corridor, and Yeng's face creased into a grin. 

"Strange what we get to decide for ourselves, isn't it?" Without waiting for an answer, he paused, glancing towards the large round portal of the moon door. He gestured towards the opening. "Ah, but that will wait for another time, I think. Now is right for you to meet your Master." 

+++

+ Building and painting +

+ The Primaris Gatebreakers are coming along nicely. With the chest eagles and metallics painted, I assembled the figures. The army itself is going to represent the Chapter a little further along than in the stories above – my aim is that the stories will eventually catch up, and then events during games will provide the ongoing narrative. +

+ To this end, then, the Primaris newcomers aren't quite as uniform and clean-cut as they had been. The same supply issues that have dogged the Chapter since time immemorial continue to be in force during the dark Millennium, though the incoming Chapter 333 – that is, the newcomers – did at least come with a big stockpile of shiny new toys. +

+ You'll spot quite a variety of bolt weapons above. The marines will mostly have auto-boltrifles, though the precise pattern of that will vary. You'll spot that some are conversions of the Infiltrators' and Reivers' different styles of bolt carbines. I'm unlikely to field either of those units unconverted (I don't like the lack of greaves), but I do like the shorter, more familiar snub noses of their boltguns. +

+ Not quite finished, but well on the way now. I'm pleased (and relieved!) that the Primaris mix in quite nicely with the older armour styles. 

+ +