+ inload: Squad Viginti WIP +

+ Squad Viginti WIP +

+ Theoretical – What's cooler than Space Romans with big tower shields? +

+ Practical – Space Romans with big tower shields and power gladii. +

Three Breachers, with markings and details to finish.

+ These poor chaps have been sat in a figures case while other projects – Court of the Sun King, Officia Monstrosa, May You Live Forever – have ticked over, and with a game coming up on Thursday, it's about time I got them painted. +

+ Below are some WIP shots of a Breacher squad; a new type of unit from the Age of Darkness expansion that gives space marines a shieldwall visual. +

+ There are currently three nigh-finished members – the sergeant, squad leader and a red-helmed rotter. They need a few minor tweaks and basing, but I'm happy with how they're looking; certainly good enough to plop on a table to be swiftly removed! +

Sergeant of Viginti (the squad designation is recorded on his banner – Viginitii)

Squad Leader

+ inload: Grubby Rankers +

+ The Ultramarines have a reputation for being upright, proud and strait-laced, which is certainly built on foundations of truth. However, none of those clad in cobalt and gold are identical in character. There is a great variety of imbalance in humours amongst the Legion; some erring towards a choleric disposition, while others are generally sanguine or bilious. Mostly, such imbalances are drilled out during training; but in some cases they prove intractable. +

+ Such warriors are tolerated if their deficiences or exuberances prove to be of no detriment to themselves or their comrades. Since the time of Gren Vosotho, the War-born had harboured a peculiar and unlikely mix that – perhaps owing to the influence of their geneseed – nevertheless came to prove more than the sum of its parts. Indeed, many officers even post-Guilliman show certain eccentricities – impulsiveness, bravado, or a peculiar sixth sense – that have proven to be a great benefit to the Legion and underscored their individual advancement. +

+ Whether the following troublemakers of the 190th prove to be future Officers or swiftly-cooling corpses is still to be played out... +

Brother Anandates, Corinthian (190th)

+ Part of the field-intake of replacements necessary for the Corinithians, who had suffered catastrophic casualties during a raid against greenskin pirates, Brother Anandates has proven both capable with a support weapon and insubordinate to a fault; indulging in non-standard kill markings and aesthetic vandalisation of his wargear. Not yet red-marked, he has skirted perilously close to the line on more than one occasion in his short field-life. +

Brother Spiriculus, Squad Secundus (190th)

+ In contrast, Brother Spiriculus is devoted, drilled and conscientious... and seemingly catastrophically unlucky. It seems the fates have a dark sense of humour for Spiriculus, and he has become something of an ill-luck totem for Squad Secundus. As a result, squad cohesion has been slow to materialise amongst the inexperienced 190th. +

+ inload: Ultramarine Master of Signal +

+ Upilio Constantine Pullo +

+ The XIIIth, perhaps more than any other Legion, relies on smoothly interlinking command and control, with orders percolating downwards for swift enactment. Some Ultramarines excel at particular roles – the strategic leadership of the Legion falls to those most able to command; while line sergeants provide staunch tactical direction. +

+ Being equal in ability does not necessitate heterogeneity, of course. While some Officers of Ultramar achieve their rank through skill at arms – we think of Tauro Nichodemus, or the glittering blade of Salvio Fenn – others, like Constantine Pullo, possess some of his gene-father's genius for organisation and administration. +

+ The post of Master of Signal is the official designation for the post known to the Iron Hands and Death Guard as Watchmaster, to the Raven Guard – unofficially at least – as Whisperchief, and to the Ultramarines as Upilio. The role varies slightly, but all who wish to master it must possess an ability to parse, sort and filter a tide of often conflicting information, acting both as filter and codifier of the ebbs and flows not just of battles; but of entire theatres of war. +

+ Owing to their multi-levelled thinking and superlative calculatory abilities, most Signal Officers excel at void warfare, and many are drawn from void-captains and Astartes fleet staff. They are commonly placed in charge of Expeditionary sub-fleets, a responsibility far above most Centurions' duties. +

+ Never the most fearsome in combat, nor the most charismatic, nor yet the most indomitable, Constantine Pullo is nevertheless a terrifying man to make your enemy; as he has the ten thousand arms and ten thousand eyes of the Ultramarines beneath his command to turn against you. +

+ Decked out in artificer-adapted Mark V hybrid (II/IV) plate with inbuilt cognitive-memhancer, arm-mounted augur-board and multi-spectrum vox-beading, Pullo is capable of directing an entire battlefront; as indeed he demonstrated during the Syrinx Annihilation, the closing events of the Hypon campaign, and the Nekuli void-war. In addition to this equipment, he carries an eminently practical boltpistol sidearm and the vitis, the short staff that serves as mark of office, as a visual directional tool when his high-tech equipment fails him or is impractical, and – in extremis – as a bludgeoning weapon. +

+ The Master of Signal is a role that sits at the heart of the Ultramarines' way of war. Serving in the 15th for nearly three decades, Constantine Pullo's experience and knowledge saw him promoted after the Nekuli campaign to a new role with the Evocati, overseeing the training of future Ultramarines on Armatura. This was a role he took on with characteristic seriousness. Redeployed to Calth alongside the final intake of Inductii before the Ghaslakh campaign muster, Pullo was caught alongside the warriors of the newly-created 190th when the Word Bearers attacked. He was lost on the surface prior to the Underworld War; just another of the 160,000 or so Legionary casualties of the Atrocity. +

+ inload: Officers of the 190th +

+ Chains of Command +

+ A couple of work-in-progress officers for the 190th today. First up, a Chaplain:

+ Epulone Tiberial Highheart +

+ Roboute Guilliman was famous for encouraging the close study of all the Legiones Astartes; with the intention of encapsulating and refining successful approaches within his own Legion. Several innovative tactical and strategic structures and squad types pioneered by their cousin-Legions were fielded – both broadly and in more limited test-bed structures – by the time of the Calth Atrocity. +

+ The Chaplaincy spearheaded by the Word Bearers was one such office. Lorgar and his closest advisors were zealous in the dissemination of the post across the Legions. Rejected by some, the post was taken up by the Ultramarines on a limited scale. In truth, the office sat poorly within the Ultramarines Legion, where zeal and passion were firmly subsumed beneath a structure of logic and analysis. As a result, some historians suggest that the adoption was a personal sop to Lorgar on Guilliman's part – an extended hand of reconciliation. +

+ Nevertheless, while not widespread in the XIIIth Legion, the Chaplaincy was no useless appendix. The post was stripped of duties distasteful to the ruthlessly sceptical and fact-focussed Ultramarines; and grew the morale-shoring role of inspiration through demonstration. Selected as exemplars of duty and honour, Chaplains operated across the Chapter command structure, such that any Legionary, from Aspirant to Tetrarch, could seek their advice and wisdom. They thus formed an underpinning web across the Chapter that bound the warriors together as brothers. +

WIP Chaplain

+ Tiberial Highheart holds the honorific of Epulone, a role whose duties extended to organising feasts, festivals and events of martial and physical competition within the Ultramarines, providing the Legionaries with a close focus for their peacetime role. +

+ The role of Chaplains fell under suspicion after the events of Calth, with many being withdrawn from front-line roles, but this was never a general rescindment. +

+++

+ Lieutenant Pullo, 190th Signals corps +

+ This model is built from a variety of unusual parts including a Space Hulk powerfist (from Brother Omnio), the helm from the FW Master of Signal and – probably my favourite bit – the rod of command from an Alpha Legion special character. +

+ Both figures are WIP. While the metallics are largely complete, the blue armour is midway through the process. I start from a midtone blue (Mordian blue) which gives me tonal range to both shade down and highlight up. At this point, you're seeing them with just the shading added (a variety of blue and purple washes applied topically, plus a glaze of Liche purple paint). The next stage is to add the highlights, and that's when they start to 'pop'. +

+ inload: 15th/190th disposition +

+ Mark -1.57 sidereal +

Sergeant Santiagon

The column's footfalls crunched as they marched through the snow. Lieutenant Holion's breath misted in the air. 

'Forces at our disposal, sergeant?'  

'I've taken the liberty of preparing a dataslate, sir.' Sergeant Santiagon frowned as he handed it over. 'It's far from complete, but all told we've got the best part of a demi-company here, plus auxiliaries.' The column continued marching over the deep snow, warily scanning the ridgeline to the east and bare trees to the west. 'Not all in fighting order, I'm sorry to report.'

Holion nodded, absorbed in the slate. 
'Until we get a solid practical on what's happening here, we've got to make to the Muster. This doesn't feel like orks...'

+++

+ It's easy (and quick) to compose a snap of an individual model, but I find getting shots of a whole army is always a pain – so I'll be working up to it. I thought I'd collect together a list of what's what in the army. Not exactly an army list as, owing to the changes to the rules and restrictions, there are a number of odd models that don't quite fit. +

+ This project is going to (hopefully) resolve this, and step one is to work out what's what:

Warriors of the line

• The Apaesians (Sergeant Epipatros) – Rhino carrier Spear of Iax [Seeker squad]
• The Ciconians (Sergeant Mox) – Rhino carrier Quadriga [Seeker squad]
• The Locrians (Sergeant Santiagon) – Rhino carrier Odius [Seeker squad]
• The Carnassans (Sergeant Ordustin) [Tactial support squad?]
• The Corinthians (Sergeant [REDACTED]) [Heavy Support squad]
• 190th Squad Secundus (Sergeant [REDACTED]) – Tactical squad
• 190th Squad Quintus (Sergeant [REDACTED]) – Tactical squad
• 190th Squad Duodecimus (Sergeant [REDACTED]) – Assault squad
• 190th Squad Viginti (Sergeant [REDACTED]) – Breacher squad – Land Raider Proteus carrier Legacy of Armatura
• Shield of Sinon, Predator

Command and Specialists

• Captain Orpheus Orkbane
• Lieutenant Holion
• Ancient [REDACTED], Chapter Standard Bearer (15th)
• Lieutenant Pullo, Master of Signal
• Brother Yppocampon, Apothecary
• Brother [Redacted], Apothecary
• Brother Arius, Techmarine
• Brother-dreadnought Avulus
• Brother-dreadnought Strix
• Brother-dreadnought Cestus*
• Brother-dreadnought Telcion*
• Brother-dreadnought Icelus – Deredeo pattern
• Brother-dreadnought {REDACTED] – Leviathan pattern

* Previously a marine of the 15th; killed in background.

+ Expect a few edits to this over the course of the project, as I dig out models or change my mind and pull bits apart! +

+++

+ Let's face it, all this is useful for me, but a bit boring, so I thought I'd do a gallery of a few old faces:

Brother Eumon, Locrian

Brother 'Young' Holion, Locrian 

Cassie, Mother to worlds

Brother Atlion, Corinthian

Brother [REDACTED], Squad Secundus

Squad leader [REDACTED], Squad Secundus

Brother [REDACTED], Squad Quintus

+ You'll spot a number of [REDACTED] notes here. Normally, that's the in-universe way I list things if I haven't decided on a name, but here it's that I'm fairly sure I've named him/it, but have no idea what the name is... I would check Warseer, but sadly it's still down. If you can help fill in a blank, please let me know! +

+ inload: Saturnine Plate +

+ Brother Deredeo Thorne +

+ I will be back - So reads the litany inscribed on Brother Thorne's oversized exo-armour pauldron, the scrawled paintwork spilling across the battered golden trim. +

+ Artwork from GW Space Hulk +

+ The Underworld War saw the vengeful might of the surviving Ultramarines as they hunted down the murderers of their world. Despite the impossibility of resupply, both sides remained well-equipped for the duration, owing to the wealth of equipment and materiel laid down at Fleet Anchor Calth. Nevertheless, while there was certainly a lot of equipment to hand – or salvageable from the irradiated surface – uniformity was a low priority. Armour marks, small arms types and the like thus became mixed and matched on both sides over the course of the war. +

+ Brother Deredeo Thorne, a veteran trained in the use of specialist Tactical Dreadnought Armour, is pictured here in an atypical example of the plate. Unlike power armour, which had been developed in the Unification Wars and refined over the course of the Great Crusade, Tactical Dreadnought Armour was still highly experimental by the time of the events of the Horus Heresy. Various types and patterns of so-called 'Terminator' armour had been developed across the galaxy, often by Forgeworlds or inidividual eccentric magi that were secretive or even in open competition with one another. As a result, they varied wildly in appearance and battlefield application; from the technological triumph of Tartaros pattern to the famously unreliable Nova Martus suits. +

+ Complete verification is impossible, but Thorne's armour appears to be a variant based on Primarch Vulkan's designs. These vanishingly rare suits were deployed sparingly by the XVIIIth – but often to great effect, as they mounted additional heavy weapons on top, in a manner similar to a true Dreadnought suit or the Martian Mechanicum's heavy cybernetica divisions. +

+ Thorne's armour is thus an enigma, as the Underworld War took place on the other side of the galaxy to these development and known deployments of these highly-experimental suits. It also diverges from the design in a number of ways; the most obvious being the lack of a dorsal weapon mount. Instead, it bears a curious spinal structure, the purpose of which may be reinforcement, decorative, or perhaps serve a more esoteric use. The author humbly posits that it may be a section of armour retro-fitted after the removal of the dorsal weapon simply to reduce the armour's height – thus allowing its use in the oft-cramped environs of the War. +

+ Seconded to the 15th/190th, Thorne's extensive knowledge of the Calth Arcologies made him a valuable strategic asset to local XIIIth command. His battlefield experience (won securing the Compliance of the abhumans of the Galctic Core), married to his thirst for bloody vengeance against the Word Bearers, made him a frighteningly efficient hunter-killer during the Underworld War. +

+ Like his armour, Thorne's armament is atypical; his combi-bolter bearing a non-standard additional top-loading magazine housing. Little is known of this variant, which may have been a one-off produced by an artificer, or a limited and unsuccessful adaptation of the combi-bolter. The angle of pict-capture demonstrates the scrawled personalisation on his shoulder pad; which is curiously absent of other tactical markings. All in all, Thorne's image provokes more questions than it answers. As with nearly all records of this benighted time, the truth will likely never be known. +

+ One mystery that can happily be resolved is Thorne's given name, Deredeo. More commonly recognised as a Dreadnought variant-type, Deredeo is a Terran name of Old Albian extraction. Records indicate that Deredeo Thorne is genuinely his birth name – Meaning simple 'God of Fear', it would be easy to assume that this is a name chosen after being inducted into the Legion. This was a common tradition amongst the XIIIth since their inception: a necessity so for many of the nameless orphans who were recruited into the so-called 'War Born'; and continued after the discovery of Guilliman as many Legionaries took up names that had Macraggian providence to demonstrate their desire to fit into a cohesive Legion. +

+ That Thorne's long-dead parents would name their child such a dreadful name is perhaps indicative of the horrors of the planet they found themselves in: Old Terra. +

+ inload: Lieutenant Holion +

'The Word Bearers thought they killed me on Calth, just like the greenskins thought they killed me on Hypon, and the Nekuli thought they killed me in the cold, cold void above Sirius.'

'It is a curious pleasure to prove your enemy wrong.'
+ attr. Lieutenant Holion, 190th Company Ultramarines +

+ A resurrection of arms +

+ I've got a couple of armies that I can play with, should I fancy it, so I'm at the happy period where I can attend to a project when I feel like it. Previously, when I was building a single army with the specific purposes of playing games, it always felt a little like hard work. As a result, various projects have lain fallow for some fairly long periods. +

+ I've been building my Ultramarines army since 2008 (yikes), and like any project, enthusiasm for them has risen and fallen over the years. This has the happy result that they contain some of my favourite pieces, which document how my painting, conversion and sculpting work has developed. The past couple of years have been exciting for me, with lots of (happy and welcome) changes in circumstances. In a small way, then, the Praetors of Calth (my Ultramarines) have become a bit special to me; I think I'm unlikely to sell them on as I often do with my other armies. +

+ Anyway, enough self-indulgence! Onto the meat of the inload: a new Centurion to lead my troops. I've never been a big fan of HQs and leaders in my armies; I've always liked to look more at the stories of the individual soldiers, as that helps me get into the mindset and attitude of the project. The army has gone through various quick HQs that have been pretty much bashed together for a particular campaign weekend, and often they haven't had much relevance to the army's background – conversions of characters written especially for the campaign and the like, instead of full members of the 15th or the 190th. +

+ Holion is a character from my original blog, which was themed around Hypon, a campaign set during the middle period of the Great Crusade. I always liked the conversion, which had him protecting a small girl called Cassie. The idea was to symbolise the Ultramarines as protectors, and it seemed to catch people's imaginations. +

+ I had the intention at the back of my mind that I'd like to follow Holion and Cassie's story through the Heresy since I first built them – hence describing him as 'Young Holion' (though this was also a nod to Ancient Greek epithets from The Iliad and Odyssey which informed the Praetors of Calth), but it's taken until now to actually get to it! +

+ The painting was intended to marry the Praetors of Calth (my old 15th Chapter) with the newer models of the 190th Company. As a result, the armour is painted with the new approaches for blue and gold I've developed for the 190th (rather than the old Necron Abyss and yellow based scheme I used for the 15th, seen in Young Holion above). However, the new model incorporates his personal heraldry – a feature I added to all my Ultramarines). +

+ I wanted to include some references to his previous models on the new one; such as the small tilt shield on his pauldron. Young Holion hailed from Talassar, and his personal heraldry reflected this. Now I'm a bit more confident painting, I've replicated his original heraldry on the tile shield, rather than the main pauldron – a fun challenge! +

+ Holion has now worked his way up from the ranks to become a line officer. I've chosen to arm him with the equipment of an Invicatius Suzerain – an honour guard reserved for paragons of the Ultramarines' way of war – and so he bears a Legatine axe and Boarding Shield. The new model will be a low-level HQ; a Centurion in-game. He's not quite at the apex of his powers (and perhaps he might not survive Calth or the Underworld War), so I wanted to save something back in case I move him on again in future. +

+ The shield is painted with a marble effect, and the cloak with a dull grey so as not to overwhelm the focal point – the head. The feathery faceplate is awesome, but potentially visually confusing. I was careful to avoid gold (which would have blended in with the should trim) and create strong contrasts here to balance the scheme. +

+ As a marker point in the army's history, I thought it was important to continue experimenting, and so the helm is also slightly experimental – I used gold leaf (left over from another craft project) to create his helmet stripe. +

+ This gold helmet stripe, along with the shoulder design here, was drawn from the notes Forge Wrold have written for the Ultramarine's heraldry in the Age of Darkness book VI. When I first started the army, I was making up the heraldry and markings on my own (great fun), and while I'd like to continue that to an extent, it's nice to marry the markings into more 'standard' ones, as that's part of the appeal of the Ultramarines. +

+ I hope the figure's an exemplar of both parts of my army, the older 15th Chapter and Newer 190th Company, and that he can lead them both to war! Don't worry, Cassie hasn't been forgotten, either – she's as important to the theme and army as Holion, so keep an eye out for what she decided to do with her life after Hypon... +

+ Love to hear what you think, and what you'd like to see me add to the army in the future. + 

+ inload: Exo-armour +

+ Brother Deredeo Thorne WIP +

+ Exo-armour! This figure was largely converted by the lost and lamented EdT, a talented poster (and jolly nice chap) whose dataghosts remain haunting the Ammobunker and Bolter & Chainsword [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+] [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+]. He's taken a break from the hobby – and I sincerely hope he returns one day – but kindly sent me a near-finished conversion of a Mark 1 Exo-armour Terminator that he'd been working upon – along with a load of other cool bits that I'm very grateful for and am still working through! +

+ It's a cool and very characterful figure, so I've been looking forward to working on him. Sadly, he ended up slightly damaged in transit, so I've had to make a few repairs. Fortunately, Tactical Dreadnought Armour is sturdy stuff, so it wasn't anything too severe. I took the opportunity to give him a bit of extra width across the shoulders and trim down the pauldron rims – minor tweaks which I hope EdT would approve of, and that will help the figure sit in my Ultramarines army.+

+ Painting-wise, the model is a shoe-in for the Ultramarines – not only does he have some Ultramarines iconography modelled on, but being 'embiggened', he'll fit nicely alongside my other Terminators. + 

+ The figure's mainly based on a Finecast Obliterator from GW, along with Gorgon Terminator arms, a Phoenix Terminator torso and various other bits from FW. I think I spot some necron bits (the spine), some kroot parts The head is from a Heresy Sharclone [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+] +

+ Some of you may recognise the source of inspiration. He's based on an art piece of an Ultramarines Terminator – a classic from Space Hulk [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+]. As a result I'm slowly painting him up to follow that. I'm looking forward to getting his High Gothic slogan 'I'll be back' written on him. +

+ The armour pattern has an interesting in-universe history that I'd like to look at in a future inload; but I'll save it for when I get the painting complete. +

+ All in all, a very fun figure that I'm aiming to get polished off over the next few days. Along with finishing painting my army's Centurion, I'm had a resurge of Ultramarines enthusiasm, so will likely be posting some more in the immediate future. +

+ Thanks once more to EdT; if you read this, I hope I'm doing justice to a great conversion. +

+ Finally + 

+ My grateful thanks to all who offered their technomantic help and suggestions regarding pict-capture storage. I have worked out a way to temporarily add to my (now-defunct) Picasa albums – a case of life imitating art, as I find myself scrabbling over the ruins of a lost technological civilisation ;) + 

+ I'm going to try out 500px, which seems to suit quite well at the moment. +

+ May the Omnissiah bless your bones and augment your emitters. +

+ inload: SCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT +

+ Malcode +

+ Picasa Web Albums [the image hosting site I use for Death of a Rubricist, and various discussion fora] has gone the way of all flesh, and I'm at a bit of a loss for what to get to replace it. I wondered if I could ask the noosphere for some advice, so please do let me know if you have any suggestions. +

+ Theoretical +

+ Google is migrating the Picasaweb service across to Google Photos. Unfortunately, this new service seems to revolve entirely around social media, so while it'd probably work here, there doesn't seem to be any way to show photos on discussion fora like The First Expedition, Bolter & Chainsword etc.

I've used Photobucket in the past, but while I could head back there, it's a mess of ads these days. 

+ Practical +

+ Can anyone suggest a similar service to Picasaweb that will let me organise and share images? +

+ inload: Sixxe of Haends +

+ Sixxe of Haends: The Owlingmanne +

'Ar', he agreed, his voice a croak. 'Been here an eight-month, as I reck it.' The underscribe barely dares to breathe. The five of them have been careful to move often, but it seems the Owlingmanne knows exactly what has been happening in his Partition. Ferlinghetti stands carefully, and creeps towards the voices. He realises the two are conversing behind the shelves.

'Since yearturn? And yet they have done nothing? No work? No... intrigue?' the other queries. The underscribe assumes this is met with a nod, as the Owlingmanne says nothing before the other speaker continues. His voice is sibilant, breathy. 'Hapstance they may be met?'

'If such can be broughtwith, hap you may meet with them.' the Owlingmanne replies. 'But in what is my interest kept? There wages a war, mindful be.'

There is a tinny rattle. A beg-cash. Ferlinghetti steps away, heading for the back of the grubby repository.

+++

Ferlinghetti was breathing hard, hurrying along with the tome clutched to his chest. He had been able to cut through a back room back to the entrance hall of the Studii-atheneum, but a small bell, intended to alert the amanuensis to customers as the opening door knocked it aside, was attached to the entrance portal.

He had hardly noticed it during his previous visits to the repository, though its cheerful tinkling was at odds with the oppressive atmosphere across the City. Now he stared at it, hatefully. The underscribe was neither tall nor dextrous, and he had to stand awkwardly on tip-toes to silence the tiny clapper as he eased the door open, his other hand clutching the book. 

The door was, mercifully, well-oiled, and he slid his foot round to stop it closing. What remained of his bowels seemed to turn to liquid as the book slipped from his grasp, landing with a heavy, dusty thump on the floor.

A beat. Eyes wide.


He snatched up the book and threw the door back, setting the bell jangling. Hitching up his robe, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, ducking down alley after alley in the way Veck - that is, Childeric, he chided himeslf – had taught him.

+++