+ inload: Marines Mendicant +

+ Vent heat +

You'll have noticed updates and exloads to this noospheric node being rather sluggish – clearly the plasma reactor is running hot! Let's make up for that by taking a look at a newly-painted figure representing one of the Marines Mendicant:

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+ Wait; who? +

The Marines Mendicant are part of the War of the False Primarch project narrative – you can read more about the broader project on our sister noospheric node +Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten+.

The Marines Mendicant are unusual in that they aren't a Chapter in and of themselves, rather they're a collective group of agents and operatives that... well, their aims are rather opaque – but suffice to say that they're a perfect excuse for skirmish gaming within the setting if you don't fancy painting yourself up a force of (say) Void Barons or Death Eagles.

You can read more about them here: [+noopshericexloadlink embedded+] 

This split scheme is based on the secondary colours of the Silver Stars (and keep an eye on the other blog for an upcoming Index Apocrypha...); the aim of which was to make it a bit easier to paint and join in with the project. If you'd like to give it a go yourself, the magenta is Screamer pink, the turquoise Sotek green.

The miniature is now in the possession of spacedhulk – go check out his amazing collection of over 50 different Chapters on Instagram, where he posts as @spacedhulk. He's been contributing loads to the project, and when he mentioned that he thought the scheme was a favourite of his, I said I'd post over the miniature in question.

... only to then find I couldn't find hide nor hair of the damn thing – and a rather embarrassed rush to paint up this replacement figure to send!

Matt was very gracious about the mix-up, and he's posted up some great shots (and a very atmospheric short story) with his Golden Hands Chapter – another group that I'd love to feature on Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten.

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+ Gallery of pict-captures +

And so some pics for you to have a look at. The markings are covered in this inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] – though part of the fun of the Marines Mendicant is that they're almost deliberately obtuse and confusing, so you have complete freedom with how they're detailed.

Even the specific scheme is up for grabs – while both Mendicants I've painted have been this vertical split, that's purely because I was trying to make sure spacedhulk got the scheme he'd noted he liked. Background-wise, every Mendicant can have a completely different scheme, making it a nice chance to play around.

Pictured here on the terrain my brother and I played on decades ago!

Leading a squad of Silver Stars – doubtless on some cryptic mission...

If you've painted a Marines Mendicant, or something for the War of the False Primarch, let me know – I'd love to share them on the Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten blog.

+ inload: Painting Silver Stars +

 + War of the False Primarch: Painting more Silver Stars +

+ Come and see. +

+ An inload looking at some work in progress painting on my Silver Stars for the War of the False Primarch, ahead of their not-quite Index Astartes. +

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+ [REDACTED] +

Are they? Aren't they? Lost or Forgotten, disguised traitors, a sinister alien artifice – or something entirely more esoteric?

The meat of the narrative in +Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten+ is, I feel, is in the five 'canon' Pentarchy Chapters, and the eleven(ish) Chapters of the Partisans, but the Silver Stars offer key background that gives the others something to shine against.

They were always intended to (and will) remain fairly anonymous and underexplored, but I thought it'd be underserving the people who have painted up some examples to not have any info, so rather than an 'Index Astartes' article, they'll instead have an 'Index Apocrypha', a bit like the Rogue Trader era-inspired Spacewolves Chapter [+noosphericinloadlinkembedded+], with the details left deliberately unresolved.

In short, you're going to get a look at the various theories surrounding them (and goodness there have been a lot!), including lots inspired by ideas that followers of the project have asked.

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To that end, then, I've been polishing things up. A further ten Silver Stars are nearing completion, along with the chap at the top of the inload, who is an as-yet-undiscovered character, bearing a Heat-Death Nihilation Mace and a sword, which may or may not be rainbow-hued.

The process I've been following is from my original recipe for the Pseudolegion, which you can inload here [+noosphericinloadlinkembedded+]; and they're getting to the stage that I'll need to add the markings, which you can dig through here: [+noosphericinloadlinkembedded+]

First up, three regular ol' Tactical Marines/Legionaries. As usual when building models, I aim for a couple of more interesting poses for every half-dozen 'normal' ones. That sort of proportion means that the army as a whole looks suitably military and determined, but there's interesting stuff to look at if you want to. 

Here, two carrying boltguns help to frame and set off one throwing grenades. All are in the curiously anonymous Mark II 'Crusade' power armour (or at least a very good replica).

Plumes are seemingly de rigeur this millennium for the Silver Stars; they add a little flourish, but don't seem to have particular relevance to the individual's status.

A volkite caliver-bearing Veteran here is flanked by two Pseudolegionaries with chainswords. 

... and because I can't resist setting up a shot or two in action, you can see how these will be used. If you'll forgive me showing a glimpse behind the curtain, it's surprising how few individual models you need to give the impression of a crowd.

There's about fifteen Silve Stars here, of which a substantial proportion are basecoated, as shown above, rather than finished and polished up.

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+ inload: 10 days 'til Hidden Armies are revealed +

+ 10 days to go +

+ For those following along with the #HiddenArmies challenge event  [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] for The War of the False Primarch, there are 10 days remaining (though if your contribution goes up after the 21st, I daresay I'll find a way to slot it in). +

+ Today's inload looks at some Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten material – a mix of Partisans and Pentarchy. Haven't decided whether these will count as part of my own Hidden Armies or not just yet. +

+ Here then are a few odds and sods, and some notes: 

+ Death Eagle (I) marine. You can read some of their exploits in the War by following the tag here. Of all the Pentarchy, I think their very retro paint scheme (patchwork magenta and white) and their are-they-aren't-they background intrigues and repulses in equal measure. They haven't proven as popular as (say) the Carcharodons or Flesh Eaters, but those who have painted them seem to harbour a particular enthusiasm. I'm looking forward to painting up an example myself – I do love a bright heraldic scheme. +

+ Silver Star with grav gun. No particular reason behind this choice of special weapon beyond it lurking in my bits box for ages. Sometimes serendipity prompts things! +

+ A rather splendid character. Perhaps we'll see some more info on him in particular..? This command/veteran squad of Silver Stars has been a good opportunity to explore the Pseudolegion's decorative side – up 'til now they've been deliberately rather anonymous for narrative reasons, but as things close in on the False Primarch and his Astartes(?), I wanted to explore some more hints as to their origins. +

+ A banner bearer (or rather, a banner bearer-to-be, as I haven't got a plain banner yet. I was pleased with the floating laurel wreath on this figure. ++

+ Curved sabres have turned up here and there for the Silver Stars, and I needed another Sergeant or junior officer. +

+ Empty hands are something that I like to include in my armies – somehow it adds to the pose, to my mind. +

+ And a second Death Eagle, in arty monochrome as the base body is distractingly blue. A couple of decades ago, Mark VII helmets were use only as conversion fodder for me and the PCRC – how nostalgia changes things! +

+ ...and some flashes of the Silver Stars colour scheme and markings, if you fancy a little colour. +

 

+ inload: War of the False Primarch Stage V +

+ War of the False Primarch closing stages +

+ Hobby projects often drift off into open-endedness as interest wanes or something new pops up. Following the hobby butterfly is fine for personal projects, but for collaborative projects like + Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten + or The Ashes of Armageddon, I want to make sure that things have some sense of resolution – even if some elements are left open for people to explore and expand upon in the future, should they so desire. +

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+ Stage V – Starfall +

[+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] 

+ This will be the last active stage in the War of the False Primarch, so if you've been waiting to submit an article or build a killteam/army/character that you want featured, now's the time! +

+ As always, all you need do to get involved is build and paint miniatures set during the War of the False Primarch – and it's a big palette! If you'd like to show them off for Stage V, then use the hashtag #mournstarfall +

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+ What's on the blocks? +

+ I'm back to working on the Silver Stars – who won't get an Index Astartes article, but will get a rather less reliable Index Apocrypha. +

+ As part of that, I'm painting up a large-scale bust that I was given. In fact, it's a combination of pieces from two very kind friends; Ilmarinen and Warmtamale. Thank you both very much! +

+ The basic colours are blocked in, and I've laid in a couple of very basic washes to establish shapes. It's going to be fun to try some different things. +

+ Also emerging from the bits box are some more Silver Stars. +

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+ inload: Darren Latham's #90smarinechallenge +

+ Monopose Marines: back to the 90s +

+ Darren Latham, one of the GW Studio miniature designers and former 'Eavy Metal painter (and blogger – go check out his blog here), is running an event themed around the marines in the 2nd edition 40k boxed set. Using the tag #90smarinechallenge, the idea is simple: paint up one of the marines, post it on the 2nd September with the tag #90smarine finished. +

+ This seemed right up my street, so I hopped on the rapidly-departing bandwagon to paint up a [REDACTED] for the event. It seemed fitting to do a Silver Star, as one of the seeds for the War of the False Primarch project [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] was to create a Chapter that had been there all along – both in the lore and the real world. +

+ That conceit rather fell by the wayside, but it was fun to reinvigorate it for this event. Neat how things work out sometimes, eh? +

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+ Brother Owaikēlā + 

+ Neat, alas, is not a word that applies well to the actual model. He's not 'officially' finished, but I think I'll step away very soon. One of those rather unsatisfying paintjobs where everything sort of fell into place, and then I faffed and fiddled and started to spoil what I had done. +

+ For the purposes of the event, then, I think he'll serve... 

... with perhaps one or two more tweaks... +

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+ inload: Boom-bang-a-Badab +

+ Reports from the front +

+ Who dares disturb the Tyrant's slumber? +

+ Back from a glorious weekend of gaming with good friends, the PCRC was out near full force. In amongst some fun boardgames (a crystal-gathering one called Centruy: Golem edition was great) we also played some skirmish-level wargaming, with Omricon and Stuntwedge battling it out between the evil Darth Maul and the uh... not-yet-evil-but-showing-signs-of-going-full-Herod-in-a-few-months General Skywalker in Shatterpoint. Fun looking game – lovely (if fragile) models, and it seemed to capture the high adventure, low risk of death feel of Star Wars well.  +

+ Lord Blood the Hungry had painted up this fantastic team of Minotaurs in the Rogue Trader scheme – aren't they awesome? Note the unfortunate Mantis Warrior helm at the feet of the sergeant (centre front). +

+ The modern scheme is almost purely bronze, but the original scheme was an infamously complex and unusual combination of red and yellow:

+ As you can see, Lord Blood the Hungry has done a great job of reproducing the scheme, making a couple of tweaks (such as horizontal rather than diagonal banding on the leg) to better suit the modern models. I think the inclusion of included individual back banners to make it clear to the enemy who they're facing is a particularly brilliant touch. These are even magnetised, so they can be retracted into the backpacks – though I suspect even this concession to camouflage is unlikely to make them too well-suited to infiltration missions! +

+ Four years (yikes) after we first started our Badab War gaming, Killteam Clawthorn of the Astral Claws came out to defend their territory from the invading lackeys of the High Lords. +

+ Early in the battle +

+ A swift and brutal conflict (using the modern Kill Team rules) followed, with Clawthorn coming back from an early casualty to contest the centre. Alas for the Tyrant of Badab, the Minotaurs proved more determined. With just one battle brother remaining from the Minotaur's Kill Team (to the Astral Claws two), Lord Blood the Hungry clinched a well-deserved victory. +

+ Kill Team is a quick, fun game, and always seems to throw up fun little surprises, so even if you're on the back foot, there's still space to come back. +

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+ Warhammer 40,000: 10th edition +

+ And one other game that's worth noting was our first game of 10th edition 40k. Here, the Silver Stars defended a shipping port on Pao Fung from a Flesh Eaters' assault. + 

+ I'm working this into the narrative over on + Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten + [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], so keep an eye out for that over there. +