Painted Heresy-era Salamander Tactical Squad

Greetings once again InterWebs!!! It is New Year's Eve and I want to wish everyone a safe and prosperous New Year! Over my long Xmas break last week I managed to get some painting time in on the Salamanders. It had been a while since I had put paint to a brush (I do not use an airbrush at all) and I was not sure I still had the touch so I wanted to try something a little easier to paint (other than characters or vehicles). I had to wait until now to find the time to snap some pictures and of course one of my lamps blew a bulb halfway through the picture taking process....doh! So here is a brief look at the first of two 20-man Tactical Squads which I have nicknamed the 'dragons':

Here are a few closer looks at some of the various interesting guys in the squad:

I understand this is not a typical Salamander look but this is how I understand them to look in the Horus Heresy (30k) timeline. I went this route after looking at Forge World's Massacre book, Black Library's Index Astartes vol IV, and Nick Kyme's Salamander novels. I went with the black helmets to signify the 24th Line Company (and help show the glowing red eyes). All in all I think I captured the feel and look of Space Marines from a death world of savage reptile hunters. There is still weathering to be done at a later date and their bases will be painted on New Years while watching American Football and Hockey!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! I would again like to wish everyone a very Happy New Years! Take care!

Heresy-era Salamanders: The Fires of War Call Us....3000pts assembled

Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! With the New Year rapidly approaching and my trip to Memphis for a weekend of Horus Heresy Gaming at the U.S. Headquarters for GW rearing its head I thought it was about time to finish up all of the build projects. I managed to finish everything up, with the Legio XVIII task force coming in at just shy of 3000 points. The weather has been fairly decent which allowed a mass primering session; I just wish there had been better light for these pictures. Here are some pictures of the gathered force waiting for the paint brush to strike:

The Motor Pool for Legio XVIII:

Sorry for the quality of the pictures, the lighting here in the Rocky Mountains this time of year is spotty at best. The paint brush is calling to me once again, it should be interesting as I have not painted anything in a few months. I just have to remember that Heresy-era Salamanders are a darker color green than modern-era Salamanders. I am planning on starting with all of the 25mm based models, then move to the 40mm and 60mm based models before tackling the vehicles at the end. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Next up will be painted Salamanders! Take care!

Heresy-era Salamanders: Legion Glaive 'Kesare's Fury'

Greetings once again InterWebs!!!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday and the 'Resin Fairy' was good to you all! Thanks to Mordian 7th Xmas came a little early for me this year (August) and it came in the form of a large chunk of resin from Forge World. I spent some time these past few weeks slowly getting the Legion Glaive kit all sorted out, washed up, and cleaned up. I personally really like the Fellblade but thanks to Forge World's description of the Glaive " the Salamanders and Dark Angels have long been noted to field Glaives as a matter of course; the XVIIIth Legion’s artifice is more than sufficient to maintain and replicate the arcane Volkite technology" changed my plans about which model to get. So, without further ado, I would like to present to you Legio XVIII's Super Heavy Glaive 'Kesare's Fury':

This was my first attempt at such a large kit, I do not generally go for the super heavy vehicles, leaving that to Mordian 7th, but the Salamanders will have a very different outlook on super heavies. This is the last item to be built in 'stage 1' of the Heresy Salamanders project; with this 'lord of war' I am now at 2925-3000 points. Stage 2 of the Salamanders project will include another super heavy 'lord of war' which will be a Legion Falcion (space marine crewed Shadow Sword). 

That is all for now, thanks for stopping by and taking a look! I am now going back to the painting desk (yes I am putting paint to a brush!) for the next few days! Take care!

+++The Night Before 986996.M41+++

+++The Night Before 986996.M41+++

 

'Twas the night before 986996.M41, and all through the station

All there was clear, there was no abomination.

My helmet was set on the desk to my right,

On the chance that I was to need it that night.

The guardsmen were ensconced, asleep in their beds,

All the tanks too were safe, secure in the sheds.

Marines in the barracks, some manning the wall,

Assured me that the bastion never would fall.

When out in the yard there arose such discord

I grabbed up my bolter and unsheathed my chainsword.

Away to the window, I ran to take aim

As the marines around me all did the same.

My bionic eye turned the night into day

Allowed me to see, and to seek out my prey.

When what did my loyalist ocular show,

But an ancient conveyance, knee-deep in the snow.

The vehicle was pulled by horned quadrupeds

And a fiery red nimbus glowed from the sled.

The driver was mighty, his eyes full of scorn,

Dressed all in crimson like a servant of Khorne.

I gestured the others to shoot without pause,

For I was now certain this was Santa Claus.

"Fire Marines! Fire Guardsmen! Fire Ogryn and Ratlings!

Fire bolters! Fire lasguns! Fire mortars and gatlings!"

"You in the courtyard and you men on the walls!

Now blast away! Blast away! Blast away all!"

But all through this maelstrom the evil one flew,

Past plasma and bolt shells and frag that we threw!

And then, to my horror, I heard on the roof

The vile cavorting of each decadent hoof.

Screaming my orders, I spun quickly around,

As down the chimney shaft it came with a bound.

I saw its eyes glow, its vast stomach gurgle,

Bloated and fat, like a daemon of Nurgle.

Blinded by anger, I attacked with a scream -

Charged into battle with my brave space marines.

As we thundered towards him, closing the rift,

He reached in his satchel and pulled out a gift.

Then it tossed the vile boxes - I fell in a stoop,

As they arced through the air at me and my troops.

The wrapped missiles fell short, and plopped at our feet,

Our morale remained strong, we did not retreat.

But the marines paused - our charge was disrupted,

They picked up the gifts and were quickly corrupted.

For each box contained a chaotic present -

The marines (damn their souls), found them quite pleasant.

A bolter, a flamer, a new power fist,

The Claus gave to all, and he checked off a list.

It moved through the station and left in its wake,

The sound of bright laughter and the stench of fruitcake.

The others succumbed, but it failed in its goal,

For to me it gave only a small pile of coal.

The station was lost, I could only instruct

The bastion computer to set self-destruct.

I failed to kill him, for I saw as I fled,

The target escaping, quite safe in his sled.

I heard it cry out as the base burst into light,

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

 

I would like to wish everyone a very happy holidays and New Years! May you all be safe and well this season! Take care!

Heresy-era Salamanders: Storm Eagle Assembled

Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! It has been a crazy busy time here as we approach the Holiday season but I have managed to grab some hobby time. I am getting 3000 points of Heresy-era Salamanders together and part of that is a transport option for the large squads in the Heresy-era (20-man Tactical squad for instance). I did not want to do a Spartan Transport (everyone does those) and I feel you don't see a lot of flyers in the Heresy-era games so I went with a Storm Eagle Assault Gunship!

I am glad I have clamps, huge rubber bands, and patience because the assembly of this model is a chore! Here are two shots of the build process showing what I mean about clamps!

I have no further assembly photos to show off, needless to say the model is not the easiest to assemble and I am glad I do not have to do multiple Storm Eagles! Here is the beast all finished and ready for primer:

Front overall view:

It is a Salamander vehicle so I had to add some drake scales somewhere. I thought this worked out rather well.

Overall side shot:

Close-up of the side doors:

Rear shot, nothing special:

Salamander icon on the wingtips:

My Salamander force is all wearing Mk IV Maximus Power Armor so I had to knock up a Mk IV armored pilot. There is a helmet array added to help with the pilot look:

I think the Storm Eagle turned out just fine after all the build struggles and it certainly looks like a Salamander Storm Eagle! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!

Heresy-era Salamanders: Rhino Transport #2

Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! The weather has warmed up a bit, however living in the Rocky Mountains means that a warm-up brings strong winds this time of year and the winds have been fierce lately (which is messing with my spraying schedule). What this means is the build process continues to crank along at a frantic pace! I would like to present to you my latest Rhino Transport for Legio XVIII:

I used a 'Blood and Skulls Industries' Heresy Rhino Conversion Kit for the sides and front. I also added some Chapter House Studios Salamander bits (top hatch and wrap around skirts). Of course there was some greenstuff icons added to the front and back.

I managed to dig up an actual 1st edition (Rogue Trader era) Rhino door (which had been lurking in my bits box since the early 90's) and I thought it would be a nice touch to add it to this throwback Rhino conversion.

I do really love this conversion kit! I think the exhausts and doors are a faithful rendition of the old original Rhinos from the early 90's.

I love this top hatch! I had thought of making something similar but this one was just perfect right from the get go. Also notice the throwback looking front top hatches with the 'bolters', again a very nice touch from Blood and Skulls.

You might have noticed that I also attempted to track this Rhino with the correct looking Heresy-era tracks (obtained from Blood and Skulls). Well it was a pain and it sort of works, you can see a slight misalignment in the below picture. Overall I learned a lot by attempting this tracking process and I am sure the future 'rhino chassis' models will be tracked better.

Here is a better view of the Heresy-era tracks. I am making an attempt to have all of my Salamander vehicles have the correct looking tracks. It is a small (and pain in the ass) conversion but I think it helps sell the 'old' look of the vehicles.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Next up will be a Storm Eagle! Take care!

Heresy-era Salamanders: My take on Cassian Dracos

Greetings once again InterWebs!!! Just a short post tonight to share with you my latest build; here is my take on 'the Fallen Master, the Dragon Revenant, First Commander of the XVIII Legion': Cassian Dracos.

I used the Bray'arth Ashmantle body from Forge World, Puppetswar arms, various bits from the bits boxes, and greenstuff. I think the model works for a Heresy-era version of Bray'arth Ashmantle.

Each arm and the power pack all have fetish/trophy ropes. I scratched together the banner pole for the cloth banner I will be using.

I went with large talons on the fists to help sell the 'oldness' of the model, that and I am not a fan of the Forge World arms that are used on the Bray'arth Ashmantle model.

I think I managed to get a bit of a sense of motion out of this otherwise fairly static model (all marine dreads are very static in my opinion).

I used a helmet from the venerable dreadnought kit instead of the helmet that came from Forge World. I did this because I think this looks more Heresy-era (with the rivets and knightly-look) and it helps make it not look exactly like the Forge World basic build.

I had to sculpt a tabbard to cover up the Bray'arth nameplate on his groin. I then added a fetish/trophy rope. I think this is a decent representation of the first Legion Master of the XVIII Legion although I am looking forward to seeing what Forge World ends up doing for the model.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!

Heresy-era Salamanders: Contemptor Dreadnought

Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! The weather has been super cold lately which has meant a fair amount of indoor time in the hobby room/man cave. I was able to get quite a bit of build time in which is getting me ever so close to having 3000pts of Heresy Salamanders built. First off I started with my 'Heavy Hitters' and I would like to show you all my Salamanders Contemptor Dreadnought:

This is another gifted project which was abandoned by the original owner. The paint was thin and there is not a lot of surface detail on the model so I didn't strip the paint before starting the rebuild. I used plenty of greenstuff to make a base Contemptor a little more Salamander-looking.

I had to go with a Multi-Melta which will become 'master-crafted' when using the Salamander's Rite of War during games of 30k.

Flaming Salamander icon on the chest plate instead of the aquila (which is not Heresy-era):

I managed to primer him up while I waited for his missile rack to show up from Forge World. Here he is with his newly installed (and magnetized) missile rack:

That is all for now, I have my version of Cassian Dracos up next. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.

Heresy-Era Salamanders: Librarian and Apothecary WiP

Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! It has been a bitterly cold time here in the Rocky Mountains (we have not gotten above freezing in days) so I have been unable to spray anything so it was more build time for me. I am getting very close to having 3000pts of Heresy Salamanders all built. I decided to finish up the last two 'infantry' models for the army: a Librarian and a Apothecary. I love these models and the fact that they are wearing Mk IV power armor (like everyone else in the army) was just the icing on the cake!

I would like to present to you Librarian U'uka Obataiye:

I have him equipped with an inferno pistol. I did not want to just say 'it's in his holster' which is lame so I went ahead and used a wrist-mounted version. I think it is a little bulky but it will work. You can also see the drake standard topper which I really like. All of my characters will have cloth standards to help set them apart from everyone else.

MaxMini drake scale cloak which require a fair amount of work to actually get them to sit correctly.

Another look at the standard top along with a look at some fetish/trophy ropes:

Since character models in the Salamander Legion can take proto-Storm Shields I knew I had to include one with the Librarian. I did not want have him holding it, I liked the FW model as it came, I did not want to hang it off his back either, so that led to........Chapter Serf Nambewa:

His Master's Storm Shield:

A scale shot of the two together:

The last infantry model to build was an Apothecary. This was a fairly straightforward build process with only a couple of additions to the standard model. Here is Apothecary Ki'zza Daktari:

I added an 'augury scanner' to his belt, this seems like a must have piece of equipment in the Heresy-era.

Use of a GW Dark Elf Corsair cloak, which I find really easy to use, although the cloaks all flow the same way:

Even the medics can't get away from the fetish/trophy ropes!

That is it for now, I am working on some 'heavy hitters' for the Legio next. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!