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Hello again everyone, I've got a tiny update on the Remnants for you. Let's get right to it

So you probably remember me buying a bunch of bits off eBay, containing all sorts of goodies; here's a quick (and incredibly blurry, the camera refuses to cooperate) pic of the little bags of wonders:


I went ahead and bought some more of that

I went through the packages a bit to see what's all crammed in there, and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer volume of useful stuff I've got here. Chainswords, Chaos heads, various icons and all other sorts of PURE, UNDILUTED WIN. Best part was that I now had enough bits to (almost) fully equip the marines from last time, which is pretty awesome too.

Going through it all put me in a Chaos-obsessed mood, so I slapped a couple of bits together, the results of which you can find below

First up is a Tactical squad (or the Chaos equivalent of one), which I have dubbed The Reclaimed as they pretty much are; nothing like recycling I guess


Like with my Terminator squad, I just went with the Rule of Cool (or what I see as cool anyway), which will probably drive anyone in love with the crunch or WYSIWYG absolutely mad.



This squad's led by an Emperor's Children Marine, mostly by the fact he's universally hated by everyone else, so every time he opens his mouth, the squad just does the exact opposite.
Which aggravates him immensely. The commander thinks it's hilarious though.

He also has an awesome crab-arm to shank people with. Still have to trim the skull on his shoulder off so I can give him a nice Slaaneshi one. Not sure how I can mark him as the squad's leader though, maybe a spike with skulls on his backpack? Also, his head has a massive spike sticking out of it. Slaanesh swears its not some phallic reference. Freud probably disagrees.

He usually hangs back a bit with the Thousand Son, letting the more aggressive members of the group do most of the work. Which is why he has a more relaxed pose to him (and why everyone thinks he's a coward)

The marine now referred to as "The Beast" is the squad's tracker and resident Possessed maniac. Although no-one's really sure about that; after all, where does mutation end and Daemon begin?
Has some nifty enhanced senses, so he probably knows where you are before you know he's around. This is a bad thing.

Aside from his other shoulder pad, this guy's pretty much done. I went for a "leering monster" kind of pose, because Daemons are evil and stuff.

The Thousand Son. Was inducted into the Remnants with the Terminator Sorceror. According to the rumours, he was the Sorceror's brother (as in, blood-related; wait, bad example), and he was the only thing the Sorceror took with him when he fled from the Prodigal Sons. Blood goes deep, as they say....
Now serves as the sergeant's bodyguard, since he can't really do much when the Sorceror's not around.


A Black Legionnaire. Part of the commander's original retinue.

A bit unoriginal pose-wise, I was inspired by the cover of Black Crusade from FFG. Might do a head swap.

Dude with a flamer. Haven't really thought of a character for this guy.


Maralax the Vile (working title). Khorne worshipper and CQC enthusiast, he's usually coupled with the Black Legionnaire and the Beast for breach and clear actions. And basically anything that involves killing tons of people. Fun guy.

Pose-wise, I tried to go for 'I just slashed a guy and now aim my pistol at other people'. Not sure if it works yet.

Here's an Aspiring Champion I built up from spare parts, he's still very WiP.


Also, I had some WHFB zombies stuck in there, figured they could work as Plague Zombies or Cultists


And lastly, good ol' Sisyphus got a little upgrade:

Spikey half-circle thingies! The stuff of wonders, I say.

So that's pretty much all I have for you now; still have some bits coming though, so stay tuned!

Looks great! How'd you make that power fist?

The one on The Beast? I didn't actually make it, I just found it amongst the bits I know his other powerfist is from the Possessed kit (I think)

Nice conversions. Looking good.

Lovely bunch and quite characterful!

Very nice stuff, and great take on chaos warbands. I totally see a bunch of discarded warriors with different affinities joining forces under the hand of a maddened warlord, as long as it is convenient. And Chaos is so adapted to making squads where each character has his own personality.

What is also great about Chaos, is that bits for almost any other army go ! By the way, regarding these bit bags you got from ebay, did you handpick each part, or are their content randoms ? I was thinking of getting such random bags from the bitsbarn, sometimes, you gotta let the dark gods decide.

Anyway, consider me subscribed, can't wait to see where Those Who Remain go next !

Thank you! I'll elaborate on the 'maddened warlord' a bit more later; let's just say he isn't all that happy with his new job...

As for the bits, the bags I managed to get a hold of were a mix of various CSM bits, I only checked to see if it contained at least some of the elements I still required (everything else was a nice surprise)
It also adds a bit more randomness to the creation of each member; for example, in the first bag, I found some great mutated arms, including a crab-like claw. In the second bag, I found a Slaaneshi head and pauldron. Add a previously half-posed model and a backpack and I've got myself an Emperor's Children marine who's received a Daemonette-like mutated arm!

That's pretty much the same thing that happened with the others; the discovery of a full Heavy Bolter setup led to a FFG's Black Crusade-inspired Black Legionnaire, two mutated Power Fists from different bags and a wicked Possessed head resulted in the Beast, etcetera etcetera.

So if you want some more variety in your CSM force, I'd definitely go for mixed bits bags; you can still order specific bits as you require them (getting some extra shoulder pads is a really good idea though, as mixed bags usually don't contain many of them)

Thanks for the intel, guess I'll soon order some chaos oriented random bags then. Would you recommend any ebay seller/store in particular ?

I bought my bits bags from TheTrollTrader and The Warhammer Trader on eBay, both have a bunch of second-hand WH40k stuff. TheTrollTrader has some SM bits bags with Chaos bits thrown in for sale at the moment, that could be interesting for you, given your tendency to convert things

They're both UK-based though, so prices are a bit high (curse those British pounds); so check the pictures for interesting bits before you make your pick

Thanks, I guess I'll soon visit the troll then ^^ !

Hello again everyone, I've got some more visions from the Dark Gods, which means The Remnants are getting an update!

I've spent the past few days trying (and failing) to bring some semblance of order in the massive stock of bits I've acquired in the past weeks. I've already managed to fill one box with mostly CSM and a few regular SM bits, as you can see here:



You have no idea how much time it took to get all of these sorted out. Seriously, I've got more heads and helmets in here than I will probably EVER need, unless I wish to dedicate an altar to Khorne (or Malal, seeing as they'd be mostly CSM helmets)

Anyway, there's still a load of bits I need to process, among them a half-assembled Land Speeder (which will get the proper Chaos treatment once I figure out how I'm going to reconstruct the engine parts). That'll be for some other time though, when I find more boxes to put those bits in

Of course, I couldn't resist mashing a bunch of bits together, which brings me to the new recruits for The Remnants, a 5-man strong unit dubbed The Retained!



First up is the squad's leader, a Fallen Angel and evil bastard extraordinaire:



Of all members of The Remnants, Galgar is the most boastful about his origins, which is a rarity amongst the group of forgotten and betrayed marines that form the core of the warband. Once a Dark Angel, he was sent back to Caliban alongside Luther and his Terran-born brethren, where he took part in the great battle that reduced said planet to a single spaceworthy rock. He has always claimed that it was his Primarch who had fallen, and that he and his brothers were, and had always been, loyal to the Imperium in every way.
Of course, not a single soul in the warband believes his story, for those who have seen him in combat know him to be a sadistic butcher, taunting his enemies even as he disembowels them with his sword. Arrogant to the point it pisses off even the Slaaneshi, yet strategically gifted enough that his leadership is grudgingly accepted by those under his command. He tends to lead by example, although that's more because he enjoys murdering people rather than to inspire his comrades.

Next, a mysterious Alpha Legionnaire (as if any of them aren't)


No-one knows how or why the Alpha Legionnaire got into The Remnants. He's been with the warband for a while now, serving as a reliable right-hand man for Galgar. He's generally distrusted by the others, out of fear of getting surprise backstabbed (Galgar doesn't care though, he's confident enough he'd be able to beat the Alpha should he betray them). The commander seems to know more about the Legionnaire, but he's not talking either...

After the Alpha Legionnaire, we've got an Iron Warrior:


One of the Iron Warriors who were rescued from a dying planet, this one has served The Remnants as a heavy weapons specialist. His favourite weapon is the lascannon he carries, which seems to be a highly customized weapon which he wields with unnerving accuracy.

And lastly, a Nurglite icon bearer, who might be a bit too crazy for his own good:


I accidentally forgot to take a picture of the last member of the squad, he's a regular foot soldier recycled from some older Chaos model; I might still replace him with a Tzeentchian marine, provided I find some good weapon for him.

Aside from the other tactical squad, I made a mock-up of the bike rider:


And I gave Maralax the Vile a head swap, making him a bit more Khornate:



That's all I have for you now, thanks for stopping by, and as always, comments and suggestions are more than welcome

Oh boy, that is awesome. How does one get such a huge bitz box?

It's super easy with these 5 simple steps!

1. Find somewhat large bits bag on eBay or wherever for a price you can convince yourself is worth it
2. Buy said bits bag, and 3 or 4 more for good measure
3. Find a box to store said bits in
4. ???
5. PROFIT! FOR CHAOS!

I made the mistake of buying a bit too many bits bags, which kind of negates the point of 'I'll buy them second-hand so they're cheaper', so if you plan on buying bits bags, show some restraint (or drown out your conscience and reason)

Anyway, I really wanted to add a Tzeentchian to the second squad, so I went ahead and threw some bits together:


I wanted him to have a staff of some sort, so I used a GK power glaive (or whatever it's called). I'm not entirely happy with the pose yet, maybe I should pose him as if he's casting a spell?

In other news, I tested a new basing method I'm going to use for The Remnants:




A mix of three different types of tiny stones, primed black and drybrushed with Eshin Grey followed by a lighter grey. Pretty easy to do and gives a nice 'urban rubble' effect, in my opinion

The Tzeentchian looks really good, I for one really like the pose! and great work on the basing. It will make the figures really pop!

Thanks Levi! Glad you like the basing, I'm going to try and add character-specific details here and there (like some burnt ground for the Slaaneshi with the Heavy Flamer, or chopped limbs for the Khornate)

The Tzeentchian's growing on me, he looks pretty badass combined with the rest of his squad (I'll get a pic of the entire squad up soon); now I only need to think of a colour scheme for each of these guys!

Really like the Tzeentchian

Yup, that tzeentchian is really nice, seems to be waiting for his opponent to get in range for a good old head chop !

Awesome chaos marines so far, really loving the Fallen Angel and the Tzeencthian marine. I also really approve of the truly chaotic way you've gone about piecing them together - I might try that some time...
What I would ask is: what's the unifying spot colour for your army? I know each and every chaos space marine is virtually unique, and that is a respectable feat, but on the battlefield they do need something, no matter how small, to unite them. Maybe a shared basing design? Or some recurring symbol of chaos undivided? Anyways, looks good so far - I'd love to see your guys painted up, and will be watching this project with interest.

Thanks everyone! And to answer your question Drakeslayer, all members will get the same type of basing; as you can see in what follows...

I've spent most of the day basing the Terminator squad and finishing up the Khornate, and then fiddled a bit with the Tzeentchian. Here's what the squad looks like now:



The Tzeentchian's still very much Paint In Progress, I'm having a bit of trouble with the blue and gold. But I'll save that for last, let's first look at the finished ones' bases!

First up is the model that started it all, the Flawless Host Terminator with the Heavy Flamer:



Seeing as I think of him as a bit of a sadist with a nasty habit of burning the gak out of anything he comes across, I decided to add some wooden bits to his base, most of which are still on fire (or at least smouldering). I followed a really great tutorial from EonsOfBatlle, who has a bunch of tutorials about basing miniatures here on Dakka; be sure to check them out if you're in need of some help with your basing





Next up is the Word Bearer, the second Terminator I painted and the first one I based He got the most basic basing, just the mixture of the three types of stones with two layers of drybrushing.







The Apocalypse Company Terminator got his base done right after the Word Bearer, I added a bit more detail by planting a skull in between the rocks. It's suffering a bit from a visibility problem, as I drybrushed it grey like the rest of the base, so it doesn't stand out as much... maybe I'll touch it up later





And lastly, the Khornate, who was finished and based on the same day, which is kind of unique as I'm usually too lazy to do the latter
I went pretty much all the way with this one; I'd put some disembodied arms on his base already, so the stage was already set for a base worthy of Khorne. Of course, one cannot please the Blood God without having some blood splattering around, so I took my Blood for the Blood God and sprayed away!










Blood for the Blood God!

And that brings me to the last member of the squad, the ex-Prodigal Son:





As I said earlier, this one's giving me some trouble. The blue just seems too dark (it's just one coat of Kantor Blue over black primer), while the gold seems a bit too flashy at the moment. I'm not sure about his cloak either, I thought of painting it brown but eventually went with dark red to add some more contrast to the model as a whole. I'm torn between the two colours, which isn't helped by the fact that I can't figure out the base colours either. If anyone has some advice about this, I'm all ears...

So that's pretty much it for now, hopefully I'll be able to get the Tzeentchian sorted sometime soon, as I'm really looking forward to painting the marines I've been building

As always, comments and suggestions are more than welcome, and thanks for stopping by

Hey Tyrius, the terminators are looking stunning! I think the Tzeencthian terminator looks alright actually, as remember the original thousand sons were very gaudy, and I'm sure all followers of Tzeentch would follow in their footsteps. I really shouldn't give you any advice because everything you've done so far is very well done, but if you are looking for a little help with the Tzeentchian, might I recommend highlighting the kantor blue with caledor sky? What us oldies call Enchanted Blue. Then you could always do some extreme highlighting with whatever ice blue is these days... temple guard blue maybe. The cloak looks very good, and if you feel the gold is a little too bright then I always find agrax earthshade to be my best friend for gaudy banding.
I particularly like the khornate terminator - the plugs in his head look very detailed.

Thank you! Any and all advice is welcome, as long as it's friendly (bonus points if it's also helpful though )!

My main problem with the blue is that Kantor Blue is just a tad too dark, while Enchanted blue seems a bit too light (no, I'm not difficult, I swear ). Highlighting the edges with Enchanted blue seems like a good idea, but the armour plates (like the pauldrons or the chest) wouldn't be helped much by that (or at least, I think so, I've never tried highlighting the inside part of a pauldron)... Maybe the colour will get a bit brighter if I give it two or three coats of Kantor Blue?

Add a secodn coat of Kantor blue and highlight it, hit it with a black and/or blue wash, or with that blue glaze. Hit the gold with a sepia and/or brown wash, then highlight it. And a brownc loak would look better, IMO. Red's a bit too flashy; if you want contrast, though, something beige, bone, or white could work.

"Tell me, Sorcerer, why is it that you spend so much time in the lower decks?", the Word Bearer asked as they walked through the halls towards the command bridge. The Sorcerer did not respond. He had always been reclusive about his past, something most members of the warband had come to accept, as he was certainly not the first to do so. There were always a few, however, who felt the incessant need to keep fishing for the truth for their own amusement. The Word Bearers were especially guilty of such behaviour.

"I can't imagine what could be down there that interests you so much", the Word Bearer continued, "After all, all that is down there are our vehicles, which I don't believe interests you in the slightest, and ofcourse, that Rubric you brought along...?"

The Sorcerer slammed the Word Bearer into the nearest wall, his armoured fingers firmly around the man's throat. He brought his helmeted head closer to the Word Bearer as he hissed vehemently in response. "Do not speak of it again. Or there will be consequences."

"I didn't know you Sorcerers were so attached to your Rubrics", the Word Bearer smirked, as he struggled against the Sorcerer's iron grip.

The Sorcerer paused, his grip loosening slightly. "We are not."

He let get of the Word Bearer, and continued walking down the hallway.

"Then why do you visit this one?" The Word Bearer asked, catching his breath while rubbing his sore throat.

The Sorcerer did not turn around to respond, but the answer escaped his helmet in a whisper.

"Because all might be dust, but blood runs deeper than flesh...

So the Tzeentchian got himself all finished up, I'm really happy with how he turned out. I didn't change the blue, but I did give the gold a nice Agrax Earthshade wash, which made the colours work a lot better together. I also went for a brown cloak, it was the better choice in the end













Once I had the base colours down, the rest of the model was really fun to paint. The Power Mace was fun to paint, got to freehand a bunch of those lightning stripes (POWEEEERRRR!), although I'm thinking of adding a layer of white over them to make them pop a bit more

So, with the Tzeentchian finished, the first Terminator squad is completed! Here are a couple of group pictures of the elite of The Remnants:







That's all I have for now, hope you enjoy, and thanks for stopping by

So the first five are done then ! Congratulation. It was said above, but these wires on the Khorne guy are a really good call, and the squad looks brilliant together.

Dang Ezra, the Tzeentchian looks stellar! The rest of the lot look also very good!

Love the Butcher's Nails on the Khornate terminator, top work!

Thanks guys!

I've been thinking about which squad I'll be painting next, and decided to make a bit of a list of the warband's current assets to keep things organized. So far, this is what I've got:

- 1x Terminator squad, 5 members (finished)
- 2 x Hellbrute
- 3 x 'Combat squad', 6 members each (total of 18 members)
- 1 x Plague zombies / Cultists, 6 members
- 1 x Attack Bike

I'm definitely going to buy another Terminator squad, it was a great kit to work with, and I've got a bunch of bits to customize them with too

So that leaves me with a bunch of models to paint, and a couple that need some more conversion work done before I can start painting them. I'm also planning on converting a half-broken Land Speeder into something Chaos-related, and I'm going to try to scratchbuild a Rhino from some leftover parts

Wow - I was a little hesitant when I saw that your termie squad was gonna be all different devotions, but every one is amazing and your writing really ties all the unique characters together.

Subbed for sure - can't wait to see more marines come out of that never ending bits box

Thank you Jpog! To be honest, I wasn't sure of what the final result would look like either, especially since I have to figure out how I'm going to approach the colour scheme for each model individually I just hope I'll be able to keep the same level of quality throughout the entire warband, because I think even the Dark Gods would frown upon an army that more or less resembles a Jackson Pollock painting

Anyways, I started work on the regular Chaos Space Marines, starting with a model that instantly grabbed my attention the moment I laid eyes upon it; namely, an old Nurgle Aspiring Champion.

This is what he looked like when he came into my possession:


...and here's what he looks like now:



















Gorgyron, of the Death Guard Legion. A rather charismatic individual (or at least, compared to the rest of the warband), he spends most of his time tending to the small group of Plague zombies he brought along when he was recruited. He's also the person who convinced the Khornates that the zombies are more useful as cannon fodder rather than as target practice, which was impressive enough of itself that he's now relatively respected by his peers. Said respect has taken a dive however since he started pulling practical jokes on everyone who's not paying attention, which has lead to several... 'unfortunate' incidents (the ship's crew is still trying to clean the bits of zombie out of the ventilation shafts). In battle, he's more reliable, combining his skill with a Power Pistol and combat knife with his Legion's legendary endurance.

In short, he's not the worst guy to have around, as long as you keep an eye on him so he doesn't smuggle a Plague Zombie into your transport for a laugh.


Extra fluff:
This lone Death Guard marine was found in the wake of a great battle between the dreaded followers of the God of Disease and several Imperial Guard regiments. The Remnants had followed an Imperial supply line to the planet of Alerian, hoping to scavenge much-needed weapons and munitions while the conflict on the surface distracted the Imperial presence. When they arrived in the system however, it appeared that the battle had ended in mutual destruction, leaving the Remnants unopposed in their quest for supplies. As the Imperial ships had been too heavily damaged to recover anything but scraps from them, a strike team made planetfall to claim the required resources. During their descent, they picked up a distress signal not far from their landing zone. Knowing that a distress signal could possibly alert other Imperial forces in the vicinity, the strike team set out to neutralise it to make sure their plans were not disturbed. At the origin of the distress signal the group was ambushed by a small mob of Plague zombies, led by a single Chaos Space Marine. After dispatching most of the zombies, the strike team's leader called for a cease-fire, offering the Death Guard a place in the Remnants. No sooner had the marine accepted when an Inquisitorial vessel arrived in the system, carrying several Ordo Malleus operatives and Tempestus Scions in response to the distress signal the Imperial regiments had sent out prior to their final battle. The strike team grabbed whatever they could get their hands on in their flight, rushing back to their ship before it was discovered by the Inquisition's agents. The group barely made it back to their ship after dodging the Ordo Malleus operatives several times, and the warband escaped the system after an intense game of cat-and-mouse with the Inquisiton's ship.

I went for the standard Death Guard colour scheme, which was a lot easier than I had expected. Agrax Earthshade helped me out a ton with this one, it really made the green a bit more filthy and worn The model itself was fun to paint, it was great to see the miniature come to life more and more with each layer of paint

Next in the painting queue is the Emperor's Children sergeant, although I'm a bit scared to start that one, as it requires me to paint a colour most diabolical and dreadful... PINK!

Well played getting that mini, it is indeed a very nice and colorfull one. That gun, for example, has the antique look that fit a veteran of the long war. I also really like that skin tone, right at the verge between undead and sick...

"Gorgyron ? He is an adorable fellow !"
-- Famous last words of sgt ballisticus, who later on met his demise at the teeth of a severed zombie head, playfully hidden in his ammunition locker.