+ inload: Legions Imperialis army-building notes +

+ Building an Army in Legions Imperialis +

+ Paintbrushes down and... done! The Second Company – swollen by some reservists – is all painted and ready for battle. But how do we organise the models into a game-ready force? That's what we'll look at here. + 

+ The army-building is, in the grand tradition of Epic, virtually unrecognisable from edition to edition, and Legions Imperialis (LI) is no exception. +

Salamanders 2nd Company – the Defenders of Nocturne

+++

+ Getting your head round the terms +

+ Army-building in LI is not as complex as it might appear, but it is potentially confusing if you've played other versions of Epic before, as the same old terms are used in slightly different ways. This inload is intended to help clarify things – and also an excuse to show off my shiny new models! +

Tactical Legionaries and a Dreadnought being led into the fires of battle by their courageous Captain.

+ In LI, each stand of infantry or individual tank is called a model – what would have been called a Unit or Stand in Epic: Armageddon (EA) or Epic: Space Marine (SM2). The term model is used consistently, so don't be thrown by the fact that there are five figures on a base – together, they are still one model.  +

+ Models are grouped into Detachments, which were called Formations in EA, or Company Cards in SM2. This was the top level of subdivision in EA/SM2, where armies were built around groups of Formations or particular Company cards. + 

+ In LI, there's another level: Detachments are formed into super-groups called Formations, and one or more of these will make up your army. +

+ While the shared terminology but be stumbling block to an old player, this system is hopefully nice and clear if you're new: you have an Army with one or more Formations, each of which is made up of Detachments, each of which is made up of Models. +

+++

+ Formations and detachments +

+ For anyone coming in from 40k, you might remember Force Organisation Charts (FOC) – a little table that gave you slots that you either had to fill, or were able to. This was an attempt to create forces consistent with the background, so an army would have to have a leader and some line infantry units alongside specialist units. +

+ Formations work in much the same way: you have Compulsory  and Optional Detachments of different types:

+ The Plasma Gun-armed Marines below are an example of a Support Detachment, while the Tactical Marines behind them are a Core Detachment. The variety and number of the Compulsory and Optional Detachments is what will give your particular army its character and individuality. +

Plasma gun-armed marines start as Support Detachments of four Models, which can be expanded.

+ In addition to a particular combination of Detachment 'slots', Formations sometimes have a special limitation or bonus. In the case of the Legion Demi-Company Formation, from which the extract above is taken, the limitation is that the Compulsory Core Detachments have to be Legionary Tactical Detachments. The bonuses that the Formation offers are a boost to infantry's ability to capture objectives, and the ability to mount infantry in Rhinos without using up a Transport Detachment slot. +

+++

+ Wait, where's...? +

A converted Space Marine Captain – he's traded his power sword with the Terminator to his left, and has a Mark II helmet taken from a spare Rhino crewman. The final touch is a bolt pistol from a spare Sergeant model. Fun and quick to convert at this scale! 

+ Thus far we only have two Formations for Space Marines, and there are a number of Detachments types that are either very limited – Transport and Core have only one option each, for example – or absent altogether. There are no current options for Space Marine Light Armour, Vanguard or Artillery Detachments. The Solar Auxilia suffer in the same way. +

+ This can be a bit confusing when putting things together, particularly if you're trying to future-proof things or plan your purchases. Doubtless future releases will fill in some of these lacunae, but its worth being aware that some apparent options are just not there when you come to start building your Army. +

+++

+ Upgrading +

+ Like SM2's Support Cards or EA's Upgrade system, you can customise Formations a little – generally by expanding them with more of the same type of Models. The Devastators (or rather 'Legion Missile Launcher Support Detachment') below, for example, start as four Models, but have limited expansion options: either increasing the Detachment size by 2 or by 4. +

+ The 'photoshoot' example above, then, is not allowed. Dreadnoughts are not a valid upgrade, and you're not allowed to take individual stands. It's thus not quite as flexible as the super-flavourful Epic: 40,000 (E40k), but slightly more so than SM2. + 

+ The hard limits are not a huge problem, but you might like to bear them in mind as you build your kits. Since you get a few optional choices for sergeants and things, with some clever trimming (or simply having fewer models per base, or not minding having a few additional sergeants dotted around), you can stretch your kits a bit further should you so wish. If you do so, you might end up with some odd 'orphan' stands – so you might instead like to just save these spares minis to add some flair to a Titan base or scenery instead. +

Each sprue comes with six Assault marines including a Sergeant. For every six sprues, you can get one spare stand, if you don't mind having a non-Codex proportion of Sergeants – or, as shown above, you can easily do a bit of trimming to convert the Sergeants into regular Assault Marines.

+ Thus far, Core Detachments like the Tactical Marines (more formally the 'Legion Tactical Detachment') have slightly more flexibility built into them. As well as increasing in size with more Tactical stands, you can also bring in Plasma Gun- or Missile Launcher-armed models, and even Assault Marines or Terminators. This brings in some complexity and decision-making at the army building stage. +

+++

+ Options, options... +

+ Once you've got the terminology clear, building an army is then as straightforward as it ever has been – though it's easy to get siezed by analysis paralysis. What's the best Detachment size? How many upgrades should I take, and what sort? +

+ This, I suspect, is going to be very difficult to answer until you start playing some games and seeing what works – and to be honest, I'm rather relishing the idea of getting in early, before everything gets hyper-analysied and optimised. That way I can just enjoy playing with what I think feels right, and find things out the hard way. +

+++

+ How many points is this? +

+ Here's the rub. Pictured here is – give or take – what you get from three boxes of Legions Astartes Infantry; or to put it another way, on six sprues. There are also some old metals Dreadnoughts and new plastic Rhinos included in the picture here, which aren't in the box – but you do get two Contemptors per sprue, too, so it roughly evens out. +

+ Building these six sprues as GW intends (i.e. without stretching things), you will end up with:

• 24 stands of Tactical Marines
• 6 stands of Assault Marines
• 6 stands of Devastator Marines
• 6 stands of marines with Plasma Guns
• 6 stands of Terminator
• 6 Contemptor Dreadnoughts
• 6 Command stands.

+ I've not followed that pattern, and haven't optimised the models – but as you can see, I've already ended up with a couple of extra stands, and a little pile of spare Marines (mostly command models and veterans) that I can save for future use. +

+ Still, taking that list above, you can make something like this army:

Formation 1: Legion Demi-Company

• Compulsory Detachments
• HQ: Legion Command Squad (1 stand)
• Core: Legion Tactical Detachment (4 stands)
• +2 extra stands
• Core: Legion Tactical Detachment (4 stands)
• +2 extra stands
• Support: Legion Plasma Gun Detachment (4 stands)
• +2 extra stands
• Optional Detachments
• Support: Legion Assault Detachment (4 stands)
• + 2 extra stands
Support: Legion Terminator Detachment (4 stands)
• + 2 extra stands

Formation 2: Legion Demi-Company

• Compulsory Detachments
• HQ: Legion Command Squad (1 stand)
• Core: Legion Tactical Detachment (4 stands)
• +2 extra stands
• Core: Legion Tactical Detachment (4 stands)
• +2 extra stands
• Support: Legion Missile Launcher Detachment (4 stands)
• +2 extra stands
• Optional Detachments
• Support: Legion Dreadnought Detachment (4 models)
• + 2 extra stands

+ That's everything used up except for four Command Stands – and it only comes to 550pts(!). Given that the game is explicitly intended for 3,000pts, that's a lot of painting to do – to mention nothing of the cost. Realistically, I think that an all-infantry army is not, therefore, very feasible. +

+ Happily, with tanks, Titans and flyers being relatively expensive in comparison, I think that this might be intentional – infantry are dirt cheap in this game, but apparently pivotal in actually claiming objectives. In short, unglamorous – but you'll want to take some. +

Seas of infantry are awesome, but you'll need very deep pockets. I'd suggest a mixed force is going to be both more practical, and also more fun for both you and the other players.

+ Why two Formations? +

+ You'll note that I've split the army across two Formations, but you could (just about) squeeze everything into one if you prefer. The reason I've gone for two is that it opens up your options for allies. You can't have more Allied Formations than the Faction you've chosen for your main army. +

+ Thus, if you want to use the Solar Auxilia and the Titans that come in the core box, you'll need at least two Astartes formations to be able to field them. +

+++

+ A few thoughts for forward planning +

+ With so few releases actually being available, you're very limited on what you can actually do with them. For example, there's currently no way to field the Legion Garrison Force Formation (at least with GW models only), as it requires a Bastion Detachment – models for which have been previewed but not released. +

Where's my fire support?

+ Because of the upgrade system, you can currently just about field one box of Marines as-is. This will allow you to play the game in a very limited way and get your head round the mechanics, but I'd suggest that a second box will give you far more fun. This is because it will allow you to have separate Detachments of all the specialists, rather than having them act as upgrades for the Tacticals. +

+ Beyond that, I'd suggest that a third box (like I've got above) will be useful going forward, but more than four might be a bit premature at this stage. +

+ Apart from anything else, the upcoming dreadnought/support weapon box is going to give you the option to field the Garrison Formation, and the previewed bikes/jetbikes box implies either a new Formation coming in the next book, or at least some Vanguard Detachment options for your existing Formations. +

+++

+ Conclusion +

+ The army building system is pleasingly straightforward if you're fresh to the game and don't overthink it. If you're coming to it from previous editions of Epic, or are trying to optimise the models you've got, then you may find the tweaks to terminology – or lack of available models – cause you some problems. +

+ In the short term, an extra box or two of infantry – if you can get hold of them – is a safe purchase, as they'll increase your options and give you something to be getting on with while we wait for more. I would, however, dissuade you from going crazy on buying huge numbers more for the moment, unless you have something very specific in mind. +

+ On a related note, I don't think the Core box on its own is a great way to kick off the game, unless you're planning to swap some of the models with someone else. It will give you a very small, very odd game-ready force, but you'll have to jump through a few hoops to do so. +

+ Likewise, and rather more annoyingly, the army list presented in the core rulebook is very limited. If you've got the game, then I suggest you concentrate simply on making and painting the models for now, rather than trying to put together a meaningful 'finished army'. Like Necromunda and Adeptus Titanicus before it, this game is cursed with DLC. It seems to be part of GW's new way of working, a model inherited from the worst bits of computer gaming and downloadable content. As noted by Kym (Warburton) in the comments on this inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], the prospect of buying half a dozen books to get a full army list is a real disincentive to getting involved at all. +

+ Like those games, if you come back to it in six months' or a year's time, I think you'll end up with a more complete and more enjoyable game overall. For those early adopters, it's going to be a limited experience while GW get their releases in order, and we're effectively going to be beta-testing the game. +

+++

+ It's not all bad news. What little has been released is awesome, and because the game has inherited the models of both Aeronautica Imperialis and Adeptus Titanicus, if you're prepared to use skewed lists or step outside of the strict limits of army building, you'll be able to play some interesting scenarios. +

+ If you've got old Epic models, or are able to get third party stand-ins, there are more Detachments in the rulebook that will increase your options. While not the complete Space Marine army that you might wish for, you'll at least be able to bring in some more Dreadnoughts and Support Weapons for further flavour and interest. +

+++

+ What now? +

+ Happily, I don't have to wait for GW to get their releases out, as I can concentrate on putting together the Orks and Eldar [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] to face this rather more limited Space Marine (and Guard) threat. +

+ GW's release model has left me with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth – though given the delays and supply side problems they're apparently facing, it seems a bit unsporting to gripe too much about it. After all, I've only just finished off the infantry I've bought, and have plenty of tanks and Solar Auxilia to get on with – so it seems only fair to give them the benefit of the doubt and save any further complaints over lack of releases until after I've run out of stuff to paint! +

+++

+ In the meantime, I hope the inload's given you some food for thought, and you've enjoyed the piccies. I'm hoping to get a test game in this week, so I'll come back with some thoughts after that. +

+++

 

+ inload: A visit to Lamb's World +

+ A jaunt to Lamb's World +

+ Ratlings aren't native to Lamb's World, but the nature of warfare in the Antona Australis Sector means that there's lot of cross-pollination in the Guard. +

 +++

+ It's raining. It's always raining on Lamb's World. The planet is my own little corner of a little corner of a little corner of the 40k universe, and home to a significant proportion of the Imperial Guard armies I've built over the years and sent out to fight in the name of the Emperor of Mankind (and, thanks to Omricon* – the PCRC member, not the virus variant! – at least one in the name of Chaos Gods!). The first Lamb's World Guardsmen were raised when I was still at school, and I'm still gradually adding to them. +

+++

+ There have been a number of Lamb's World Regiments I've built; with figures drawn from a huge number of ranges; in metal, resin and plastic; and ranging in size from Epic to Inquisitor scale. My favourite (am I allowed a favourite?), however, are the Lamb's World LVth – the Black Hands (so-named because a shipping error left them with no soap on their first deployment), and the dusty desert-fatigued soldiers have been fighting for years. +

+ Victoria MIniatures' Arcadian Guard form some of Lamb's World troops +

+ It's not simply that I like the immediate accessibility of 'soldiers fighting aliens'. A large part of the reason that I like them so much is that Lamb's World allows a bit of gentle humour – from the names of the planet's cities, to scrawled graffiti on the tanks, to their affectionate mediaeval Welsh theming. +

+ Space Marines are all very earnest, which can be dry. The  nature of the Imperial Guard means that there's room to be a bit wry about things. Regular humans, courageous though they may be, can't fight forever – exploring the  soldier's downtime and reaction to the inevitable shortages caused by the Departmento Munitorum is fun. It's nice to think that perhaps some of the Black Hands might one day get to retire back in relative comfort amongst the green hills and valleys of their rather soggy Rainworld home. +

+++

+ Vidscans inloading + 

+ Anyway, enough musing – let's see some pics! +

+ Citadel Rogue Trader-era Officer and Standard Bearer with Elysian arms. His canine companion is from Anvil Industries. +

+ This officer – a Caef (senior officer) in the principal Lamb's World dialect of Low Gothic – and his equerry are relatively recent additions. The first character I ever remember creating was a 'Lieutenant Whittaker' from my long-departed Rogue Trader force. Stuntwedge of the PCRC very kindly gave me this Captain, who has been painted up to be a modern-day Whittaker – presumably after years of fighting! +

+ You can read his exploits against the wonderful Bezoan Skitarii of Lucifer216 in the Neues Tremo War – a campaign I'm keen to pick up again. Perhaps the Gatebreakers will lend the Lamb's Worlders a hand? +

+ Whittaker is a good example of how you can multi-task your models. The LVth Black Hands are led by Caef Terentius Dresden [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], but by swapping out the Officer and standard bearer, it's easy for the troops to be used to represent another of the planet's hapless Regiments. Whittaker is leading the 18th Regiment – yet to earn a nickname – on Neues Tremo. +

+++

+ Composition +

+ The core troops of the Lamb's World LVth regiment are made up of Forge World parts: Cadian upgrade heads (mostly the Respirator ones, but quite a few of the standard Veterans, too) on the Elysian Drop Trooper range – all not sadly out of production. +

+ I have a dwindling stock of bits to allow for expansion, but happily the nature of the Imperial Guard lends itself to slight deviations from a purely uniform look. Humans, after all, are infinitely variable; and a mixture of wear and tear and patchy resupply means that differences in detail of equipment and fatigues adds to the sense of a war-weary force. +

+ This meltagunner includes a heads taken from an AT-43 figure, for example, and the Victoria Miniatures' figures earlier also show how a colour scheme can cover the differences between ranges. I have some plans to kitbash a squad or two of the Victoria Miniatures figures with some of my remaining Elysian bits to further elide the distinction. +

+ The ogryn's converted from an Warhammer Ogre Kingdoms Bull, the Leman Russ is a Mars-pattern Forgeworld kit, once available as a conversion kit, and I think now slightly recut and redesigned. +

+ This is not a realistic army. It mixes modern-ish looking infantry with WWII-style tanks and – as you can see above – giant space ogres, ratlings, horse-mounted cavalry, robe-wearing priests and all sorts of other 40k weirdness. Nevertheless, I hope the overall impression is one that would be familiar or at least immediately understandable by pretty much anyone. +

+ That sense of 'okay, I understand toy soldiers' goes a long way to grounding 40k. Without the Imperial Guard, a lot of the more over-the-top or flamboyant elements would become over-stylised. It's cool to have weird aliens invading a planet and fighting recognisably human soldiers, as it makes 40k relatable. If everything's special, then nothing is. +

+ I can't imagine my upcoming Alaitoc warhost is going to be too happy with that light-fingered Ratling sniper's bracelet... +

+ A murky, muddy mass of Guardsmen and women holding the line against the worst the galaxy can throw at them – true of the Guard in general, and of the Lamb's Worlders in particular. . +

+ Techpriests, along with preachers, psykers and commissars, are some of the more esoteric elements that help balance that grounding, and make it fun. However you spin it, conflict is horrible, and it's good to remember that you're playing a wargame. Brightly-coloured lunatics with space-axes are hard to take seriously! +

+ Rough Riders are another favourite of mine. I've got five that regularly turn up in my games – and it's another example of how gaming with my mates is a key part of the hobby for me. Rough Riders have appeared and disappeared from the Imperial Guard rules on a regular basis, and the PCRC have always been very happy for me to use home-grown tweaks to allow the inclusion of things like this. +

+ Bring back my horses, Games Workshop! +

+ The figures are Empire Pistolier legs (metal, from the glory days of bits ordering, which gives you some indication of how old they are) together with the same bits used for the infantry. The horses are Wood Elf ones that – as is fast becoming a theme – I think are no longer produced. When I built this army, I was nowhere near as experienced or confident with converting things, but I'm pleased with how the fairly basic tweaks and kitbashing (as well as the decade-old paint job) used for this army still hold up fairly well. +

+++

+ Future plans +

+ In the short term, I'd really like to play The Bezoans Strike Back – a return leg for Lucifer216's Adeptus Mechanicus. For me, having a finished army is something of a pleasure; where it's something to use and enjoy, with the potential for expansion, rather than being a Sisyphean task to continually grow. +

+ With that said, Lamb's World allows me a lot of flexibility to fold various bits and bobs in. I have numerous little squads that could form the kernel of a new Guard army, but I also have the option of painting them up as a new intake of the Black Hands. These include Victoria Miniatures' Arcadians and Elysians, as mentioned above, a few squads of metal Cadians, and some more esoteric things like Squats and Beastmen. Vehicle-wise I have three Chimeras and another Leman Russ that need polishing off... but happily, there's no rush. +

+++

+ inload: Finished Blood Angels army +

+ Mission accomplished + 

+++

A hot wind blew in from the north, stirring the grasses. A great rushing sound swelled in the woodland as the strange air rushed through the trees and sent them waving; as though in silent alarm. In its midst stood a gold-armoured Space Marine, his crimson cloak likewise perturbed.

Prince Dauhavron – Erasmus Tycho; First of that Name – turned the impassive mask of his helm to face the wind. Inside, clicks and warning chimes sounded alongside vox-request tones. Ancient runes crawled across Tycho's vision, marking the on-rush of hard radiation and spiteful gamma-rays. The vox-net erupted as his men began curt reports from across the valley. To his left, he saw brother Brunellecci hurriedly donning his own helm, his skin darkening protectively under the aegis of his melanchromic organ. 

Atomics. The greenskins had bombarded the city.

Though it still stood clad in autumnal finery, the woodland was already dead; its potential curdled and soured in an instant.

The gilt surface of Tycho's helm gleamed in the low, late sunshine; and the large black eye-lenses gave away nothing.

He said not a word, but dipped his head to unholster his boltgun, and began to march north.

+++

+ Retrohammer Blood Angels complete +

+ At last; here we are. The army is complete and the project at an end (well, at least this first part). The ambition was to re-create the GW studio army of 1991. The original was painted by Tim Prow, who now runs the amazing Diehard Miniatures [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]; and the list and accompanying article by Andy Chambers, who went on to work on an array of formative tabletop and computer games at GW and Blizzard. (As an aside, Andy once wrote a very encouraging hand-written reply to a hastily-cobbled together Kroot Codex that I sent in to White Dwarf – very gently suggesting that it was perhaps a little overly-enthusiastically inspired by Predator. I appreciate his tact! :)) +

+ Based on the then-current Rogue Trader rules, the army was detailed in White Dwarf issue 139, along with a painting guide, and later appeared in what I believe was the first Warhammer 40,000 battle report in issue 141. +

+ The pict-capture below shows my army alongside the inspiration. I hope you'll excuse the lack of goblin green on the bases! +

+ Alongside its Eldar and Ork counterparts, the army appeared numerous times, notably in issue 166; when a battle report to showcase the release of 2nd edition Warhammer 40,000 saw Captain Tycho felled by an ork psychic blast. +

+ That period – from 1991 onwards – was when I got into the hobby, and this army was the seed for my enthusiasm. Like many, I suspect, I started building my own Blood Angels force. I've still got a couple of them – and Brother Engel [pictured below] even made a reappearance:

Brother Engel – one of the Space Marine Strikeforce figures

Brother Engel – a conversion based on an Intercessor

+++

+ Theoretical: Re-imagining +

+ I do like a bit of 'high-concept' in my hobby; so rather than simply swapping things out for their modern equivalents (Intercessors in place of Tactical marines, for example), I've converted the relevant figures to better match the modern scale. I've got a lot of fondness for the originals, so I wanted to make sure my figures paid homage to the classics. +

+ In essence, the idea was to create the army that Tim and Andy would have made had modern manufacturing methods been available at the time. Good design, after all, is timeless. Balancing putting my own spin on things with them being instantly recognisable was key. +

+ Space Marines +

+ At the heart of the army are the two Tactical Marine squads. Long-time inloaders will know that the basic infantry are my favourite part of 40k – perhaps because I grew up looking at armies like the GW studio ones, with few, if any, tanks. +

+ The proportions of the new Primaris marines are, in my opinion, a big step up over the more stylised older models. In the past I've built large armies of Ultramarines, Iron Warriors and various other marines; all converted from Terminators, in the style that's been dubbed truescale. It's rewarding, but time-consuming; so having the opportunity to use far more standard parts opened up the converting palette nicely. +

+ This army has enabled me to experiment more than in the past – have a look to the right for the +High-access datacores+ column with links to the tutorials for converting Primaris-sized Terminators and Mark VI marines. +

+ I still feel that opposing mobs of infantry make the closest, most tense games; if for no other reason than the results are less 'swingy' than using high-risk, high-reward war engines and characters. I'm very much looking forward to gaming with the army – the new edition of 40k includes actions like raising banners and securing comms-links for units to do. I hope this'll lead to more cinematic games, where units can – and should – have more to do than line up and shoot until they die. +

+ The scale differences between Primaris and the firstborn/normal marines is marked – and has led to lots of online discussion. It's interesting to see that the same thing happened back in the 90s. The original army used both the original 'beakies' – from the RTB01 and the accompanying lead range – and the new, larger Mark VII marines. Even here the difference was marked: sufficiently so that there wasn't a mix within squads. The Devastators were all RTB01 plastics, while the Tactical squads were the newer marines. +

+ Finding a way to nod to this without introducing an odd, artificial distinction was tricky. The way I did it was to convert and mix parts on a roughly 4:1 ratio across the army; with the majority of models sticking faithfully as updates to the originals, and the remainder swapping out things like helmets or chestplate styles. Subtle stuff, but I think it makes the army as a whole work more coherently. +

+++

+ Artwork +

+ It wasn't just the models that grabbed my attention originally – the surrounding artwork and mythos of the Warhammer 40,000 universe was wonderfully grotesque, and shot through with a streak of black humour that has stuck with me. +

+ In particular, David Gallagher – who you can follow on Instagram via @david.gallagher.art – produced a fantastic piece depicting Blood Angels fighting a genestealer cult. This artwork directly inspired my version of Captain Tycho [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] – and later Chaplain Savonarola [+noosphericinloadink embedded+], pictured above. +

+ Studying the artwork closely just kept revealing more and more details, I must confess that I hadn't really paid much attention to the Chaplain and background marines as a nipper – it was only coming back to it that I even realised he was silver. I think that really demonstrates the sheer evocative depth David invested into the piece. +

+++

+ Going your own way +

+ This project could easily have been a direct duplicate; using period models rather than modern reinterpretations. I might have followed Tim Prow's painting recipes more closely – though I doubt I'd be able to match his skill! I might have decided to recreate the army in Epic scale, or perhaps tried to build a complementary force made up of the members of the Third Company who weren't present – Tactical squads 3 and 4, for example. The point is simple: There's no right way to collect or game. +

+ Whenever you start a project, I recommend that you don't fix the plan too rigidly. Leave yourself space to grow into it. This army started as a quick and less intensive way of converting 'truescale' marines; so the early Tactical Marines still have the long-barrelled bolt rifles of the Intercessors. As I progressed, I decided to invest more into what had been a bit of a side-project; until it became a very central part of my hobby. In contrast to those early marines, the later ones are as near to being copies of the originals as my skills allow. +

+ This applies to the background, too. I enjoy finding plausible explanations for apparent contradictions and ret-cons in the background. A lot of these are based on real-world developments, but it's fun to have an in-universe explanation for why Space Marines have different armour styles, or why back banners suddenly fell out of use. +

+ The silver-armoured Chaplain is one of a number of slight detours I took in producing my version of the army; both aesthetic and background-driven. As the tagline goes, Everything you have been told is a lie. I love that phrase. As well as sounding cool, it also highlights the creative freedom you have. Rather than our armies being perfect replicas of a particular moment, they're slightly nebulous possibilities based on partial data. 40k is sci-fi, but it's also heavily influenced by the Dark Ages – lost records and ignorance are critical. +

+ I've called this army the Third Company of the Blood Angels; but there's at least two alternative versions – the 1991 GW Studio version and the modern Studio army. Am I trying to say mine's the right one? No, not at all – but that doesn't mean it's something lesser. Rather, this is my vision of a future history; slightly different to Andy and Tim's, different again to Dave Gallagher's. Like two historians putting together a recreation from the same partial sources, we can each give shape to our own version. +

+ There is at root no definitive, final version of this fictional force; but by being creative we can still tie it together. To explain why the army is different to the current GW studio one, and polyfilla over the inevitable narrative gaps between 90s-era GW and now, I've set mine in M35; during the Nova Terra Interregnum. Hinted at but unexplored, the army thus has a definite, staked 'place' in the galaxy. +

+ Of course, it's nice not to answer all the mysteries – is this Captain Erasmus Tycho the selfsame one as in M41? Probably not; but the necessary doublethink required to explain this to yourself is perhaps the most 40k thing I could create! +

+++

+ Enough pontificating +

+ Thanks for reading this far. I'll leave you with some atmosphere shots of the army. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas – either through the +Commentary Submission Access+ portal below, on Instagram (@death_of_a_rubricist)or on the +Death of a Rubricist+ Facebook page. +

+ Thought for the day: Weigh the fist that strikes men down and salutes the battle won. +

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