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@angelofvengeance: Thanks so much. I like the way he came out as well. The base adds a bit of extra flair that really makes him look like he's scanning the streets for stragglers; weak-minded fools who will not turn to the Legion's leadership!

@Yggdrasil: I swear to the Chaos Gods (or the Emperor?) if I hear one more person ask for painted models I'm going to color them with sharpies! The models that is (though if it escalates I may have to take the sharpies to the perpetrators). Seriously, though, thanks for the compliment and I'm glad you like my stuff. The painting will come, I promise. I just have so many unpainted models that need assembly and conversions that I'm kind of in 'model-now-paint-eventually' mode. I do love painting, but modelling, GS work, and conversions are my real passion. I want to get every figure just the way I want it before I delve into painting. Not to mention, I have no model paints after what happened, which requires money. Something that I don't have a lot of right now.

@pantherlegionnaire: Thanks for the compliment. I'm glad that you like my approach to the Alpha Legion. As for what I'm considering, I can't really say anything other than all the things. Seriously, there's really no set ideology for what is going to be in this army. As far as I'm concerned, the sky (or my wallet...) is the limit. As I mentioned in the introduction, I'm not limiting this to a Codex because I find the Codices to be too limiting on my creative potential. I don't want to have to build my models and create a force that has to adhere to the strictures of rules for a game I'm not really all that fond of. For me, this hobby is more about the hobby and the rich back story. The game is just a bonus. If I can use this force in a friendly game every once in a while, great. But I don't want to mold my army to fit any Codex; if anything I'll do the reverse. Also, are they really Chaos? Or is that just what they want you to think?


That being said, Scouts are at the top of my list as far as Astartes go. I'm eager for the Horus Heresy Weekender to see what juicy stuff Forge World is releasing for the Alpha Legion. I'm hoping for some Lernaean Terminators and maybe the Efreet Stealth Squad. Landspeeders, Raptors/Assault Marines, Havocs/Devastators, and Drop Pods are at the top of my list for potential inclusions. There's a very nice and quite large Forge World model staring at me from the cabinet but that's a story for another day. Overall, though, I think that once I've built all the Space Marine models I have in my possession right now, I'm going to turn my attention to the other parts of the Alpha Legion; the human auxiliaries, the Dark Mechanicus, and the various other representatives of the Cult of the Hydra. But don't you worry, the army will be very eclectic and rather all-inclusive with what's in it. Like I said in the intro post, this is very much an ongoing thing. I don't really have a plan. I'm like the Joker. I just do (buy) things.

Hmm, will you include possible (rogue) elements of the Cabal as well?

Looking good so far Mr Bob. I really like your thoughts on doing the hobby first and fit the army to the rules if needed, should lead to a very interesting project of which I shall be following.

Awesome. I really like your attitude, man. The hobby I think has GOT to be part of it, and in your case it's obviously a very big part. I, too, tend to be a little ADD and have trouble finishing projects, but never any trouble getting new ones going. I've got too many armies, all unfinished, but I think that makes it vital, you know? Like a living language...always growing.

I do think that I like to paint armies, though, and to thanks for answering my question. I do like the "whole army" concept too, and not only the Codex models. Definitely go with the "not Chaos Codex compliant" strategy--that's awesome. Forge world is definitely a great source of models for this, and that's great that you're going to a Heresy Weekender. I'm going to be in the UK this summer, and plan to do some pilgrimages to Nottingham as well.

As for "the sky or my wallet," I feel you. Go for it!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, I'm sorry, but how does one subscribe to a thread? I'd love to keep following this, but I can't figure it out.

Thanks!

Subbed!

@Malika2: You know, I hadn't thought of that, to be perfectly honest. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't interest me. Thanks for the idea!

@GiraffeX: Thanks a lot! I hope you enjoy the thread's contents.

@pantheralegionnaire: I totally get what you're saying and I'm totally in the same boat. This army is definitely going to be an ever-evolving thing.

@Gitsplitta: Thanks for the sub! Your Mantis Warriors blog was one of the primary inspirations for this thread, actually. The love and effort you put into the Mantis Warriors is really inspiring and exemplifies the hobby as a whole for me. Hope you enjoy my efforts!

+++

Alright, I got another Cataphractii done yesterday, but I forgot to post it! I did something a little different with his base. I gave him a mount of rubble and earth made from green stuff and white glue and added piece of sheet metal from the urban basing kit. I'm quite happy with how he turned out:


Brother Baldren

Love those terminators, they are so tempting to get >w<

I've flattered DB, thank you! I'm sure this blog is going to be very enjoyable. Looking forward to it.

Some great modelling work on here! I like the depth of this army as well, evident of alot of work! Consider me subbed to you also

@Sasa0mg: You really should pick some up for your Minotaurs. I think they'd look quite awesome in your scheme!

@Gitsplitta: No problem!

@lipsdapips: Welcome aboard! Hope you enjoy the thread.

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So I figure it's time to chime in with that "big model" I mentioned in a previous post. This one certainly has an interesting story to it. All I can say is: ALL THE DREADNOUGHTS!



So, a few years ago I made an order to Forge World for one of the flying Hive Tyrants and a couple of the Renegade Psykers. When I got them, I received double what I ordered; two Tyrants and two sets of Psykers. What confounded me more was the fact that Forge World charged me three times. After contacting FW, they chalked it up to the fact that they were switching over the old site to the new one, they refunded me, and let me keep the extra resin. Now, it is 2014 and it has happened yet again. But this time with a twist. This time, I ordered one Alpha Legion Dreadnought, one Chaos Dreadnought Autocannon, and one Chaos Dreadnought Missile Launcher. I received three of each. I don't know what's going on with this love affair between Forge World and me, but if it ends up like this more often I'm good with it, because I was only charged once this time. With good conscience, I contacted Forge World and let them know what happened. They told me it must have been a hiccup in their system and once again I could keep the extra stuff. So, long story short I got three Alpha Legion Dreadnoughts with arms for the price of one. I'll probably end up selling off the other two but I still thought it was awesome.

God dammit Bob. Stop being so damn lucky.

You know what you must do. Wait another year or two and then order a Reaver w/weapons and one of the big fire dragons. If the trend holds, you'll end up with four sets of each.



But you should totally keep all 3 dreads. Paint them all up in slightly different ways and have a really cool looking set of ancients.

You jammy git lol. Nice one though. Enjoy your new FW loot!

For sure! What's up with this good luck? Why can't stuff like that happen to me?

I agree with @Snrub, though. Keep them, at least for a little while, in case you decide you want a squadron. It would look awesome thematically in any case, and you never know what you might decide to do with them. So, don't be hasty...

As for the "Big Thing," it wasn't a Reaver Titan, which is what I thought it was, but that's awesome, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Yeah, I've been thinking about keeping them but honestly it's more a matter of not wanting three Dreadnoughts that look completely identical; not just the bodies, but also the loadouts. I'd rather sell off the extra two to fund a purchase of something I could use more. Maybe a Land Raider, some IG for the Legion auxiliaries, or some stuff to get started on the Mechanicus allies. As for a Reaver Titan, I can spoil your hopes and dreams and let you know that there's no Titans in the near future for this thread. One day, I will get a Titan. It's one of those things I have to get before I kick the bucket. As far as giant Forge World models go, though, the Thunderhawk Gunship is at the top of my list. I definitely want one of those more than anything else at Forge World but they're terribly expensive and I have to focus on the little guys before I move on to something that big.

Just so you don't miss them...

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/New_Stuff/ALPHA_LEGION_MK_II_SHOULDER_PADS.html

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/New_Stuff/ALPHA_LEGION_MK_IV_SHOULDER_PADS.html

 Yggdrasil wrote:
Just so you don't miss them...

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/New_Stuff/ALPHA_LEGION_MK_II_SHOULDER_PADS.html

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/New_Stuff/ALPHA_LEGION_MK_IV_SHOULDER_PADS.html

Yeah, I saw them. Not really fond, to be honest. The details look too soft and play-doh-ey. I think I'll stick to the metal pads.

Finished up another Cataphractii. I wanted to make him an anti-armor guy, so I gave him a combi-melta and a chainfist. I'm pretty happy with the posing, even if it is a little comedic. It has a very "come at me, bro!" look to it, I guess. I added a piece of sheet metal to his base that looks like it has a melted hole in it. It took a bit of trial and error but, with a recommendation of some people on this fantastic site, I was able to use a soldering iron to make it convincing. It's hard to tell, but the edges of the hole look appropriately melted like it's been blasted by a meltagun. I may paint it to look like the edges are still hot. Anyways, here he is!

Brother Theocles

Nice work on the bases of your cataphractii.

 Darth Bob wrote:
Yeah, I've been thinking about keeping them but honestly it's more a matter of not wanting three Dreadnoughts that look completely identical; not just the bodies, but also the loadouts. I'd rather sell off the extra two to fund a purchase of something I could use more. Maybe a Land Raider, some IG for the Legion auxiliaries, or some stuff to get started on the Mechanicus allies. As for a Reaver Titan, I can spoil your hopes and dreams and let you know that there's no Titans in the near future for this thread. One day, I will get a Titan. It's one of those things I have to get before I kick the bucket. As far as giant Forge World models go, though, the Thunderhawk Gunship is at the top of my list. I definitely want one of those more than anything else at Forge World but they're terribly expensive and I have to focus on the little guys before I move on to something that big.

Good points for sure. Yeah, identical loadouts doesn't really help and the other options you describe are definitely appealing. In terms of Legion Auxiliaries, would you consider going with the Chaos Cultists from the Dark Vengeance boxed set (like in the recent Warhammer Visions) or would you want "loyalist" (or at least APPEARING so) troops? Either way, that's pretty cool, and it might be possible to work in some of those new shoulder pads from Forgeworld with some of the Scions--the models look pretty much the same size as most Space Marines now.

Otherwise, the Thunderhawk is definitely awesome...but I like this better.

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Space_Marines/Space_Marine_Aircraft/FIRE_RAPTOR_GUNSHIP.html

The Fire Raptor! Talk about some air support!

In any case, I love what you're doing, and the "open concept" you're embracing. Thanks for continuing to share great pics of WIP, and I look forward to seeing the army continue to evolve.

@pantheralegionnaire: In my mind, the Cultist and auxiliary forces are separate but intrinsically connected entities. While the Cult of the Hydra and the military auxiliaries intersect some, the actual activities and functions that they perform are quite different. The cultists are a less militant branch of the Alpha Legion's non-Astartes allies. Where the actual human auxiliaries are individuals who are turncoats from various Imperial Guard regiments/recruited secretly from Legion worlds, a cultist could be anyone affiliated with the Alpha Legion; a crazed fanatic with a gun, a civilian knowingly living under Legion leadership, or turncoat politician. The Hydra Cultists don't usually deal in dedicated military engagements in the same way that the human auxiliaries do. That being said, the cultists you've seen so far are just that; cultists. They aren't members of the military auxiliaries, but rather citizens who have taken up arms against the Imperium in the name of the Legion.

Most of the human auxiliaries will look more or less like traitor Imperial Guard. Some of them may maintain Imperial iconography, some may adopt symbols of Chaos, some may bear no marks of allegiance at all. In the same way that the Alpha Legionnaires are visually deceptive in their affiliations, so too are the militant auxiliaries. As I will be working off the idea that these are individuals, battalions, and sometimes entire regiments of Imperial Guard that have turned to the Alpha Legion, there will be a lot of variety among them. Some may be Tallarn, Vostroyans, Mordians, Kriegsman, Cadians, or guardsmen from any number of worlds. Regardless of where they come from, they are unified under the will of the Hydra; whatever its will may be.

I definitely dig the Fire Raptor, but I will say there is no reason it has to be mutually exclusive from the Thunderhawk. Hint: I want both!

alpha legion operatives are behind the scenes at FW sending reinforcements to their brethren while shorting both loyalists and traitor marines like . If you kept all three dreads (I know you don't want to since they are the same load out), you could change each one just slightly with markings and play them as alpharius hiding in dreadnought armor , and really mess with people when they declare shots at the dreadnought and say "well that would have penetrated its armor had it actually been a dreadnought, too bad it was alpharius.....oh wait its actually omegon man even I get them confused"

Sorry, I pick on alpha legion guys, just check out my signature.

That Cataphractii terminator definitely has the "Come at me bro" look nailed down lol.

@Darth Bob, I love the reasoning and planning behind these human units. I think it's going to be fun to model them up, and I really love the idea of "no clear markings" on some. "Who do you work for?" I can't say...

Fantastic, and such a great "blank slate" the way you're going about assembling the force. Being a big fan of "army painting" (as opposed to single miniatures) myself, I love it too that this seems like a project that can go on...indefinitely. Fire Raptor, Thunderhawk...why stop there?

Alpharius (or is it Omegon?) in a Dreadnought suit is also amusing...

Looking forward to seeing the project continue to grow and evolve.

Thanks for the comments everyone!


I did a Legionnaire in power armor over the weekend. I picked up a box of the new(ish) loyalist Tactical Squad. I figure I would incorporate more loyalist bits into the next few Legionnaires in power armor since the last ones have been more heavy-handed with the Chaos bits. I really like how this guy came out. I imagine him to be the "tech" guy of the squad so I gave him an auspex and a bolt pistol to imply that, while he is a battle-hardened Astartes, his true talents lie in his abilities to disable machinery, read various auspex signals, and hack into an assortment of technologies. Rather than have him prone and ready to engage the enemy, I have him looking own at his auspex while his pistol is in a resting position. I imagine the rest of the squad shooting out from cover while he's ducked behind shouting off the signals to the rest of the squad. Anyways, here he is:

Brother Evios

Nice use of the new Tac Marines ! And I still think the use of the DE Corsair cloaks is brilliant !

Looking good! I think having "at rest" poses in the midst of aggressive "attack" poses in a squad really looks good. More realistic--they're not ALL charging forward, shooting madly. The auspex is also just a nice piece to incorporate into a model.

Loving the blog! Are we gonna see any painted minis?

Hello Dakka,

I've been super busy for the past couple months since my last post. Engrossed with real life (boring, I know) and the pursuit of other interests. But the models have been calling me, so I think it's time that I dust off this blog and get it going again. So for you today, I've got a (mostly) assembled Dreadnought. Other than the basing, he's ready to be painted. The arms and head are just blue-tacked right now because I want them to be separate for painting. Otherwise, he's been pinned to all hell. It seems that the multiple Dreadnoughts thing was both a gift and a curse, as they all had a significant amount of flash and resin deformities. I picked out the parts to make the best one. I had to build up some stuff with green stuff since I had to sand down deformities that resulted in scraping off some small details. On the bright side, it's mostly on the back of the model and areas that will be covered up by the guns arms so I don't count it as a huge loss. It should look fine and relatively unnoticeable when it's all painted up. Anyways, here he is!

Venerable Brother Pythos


The Legion is back!

Hydra Dominatus

Hooray! I had been checking in, but it's been a long time since May! Good stuff, man--look forward to seeing how you progress. Shame about the deformities and other failings of the resin, though--it sucks to pay premium price for a beautiful model and then get it and not have it live up to your (justifiable) expectations.

Great looking figure DB, should be a ball to paint!

Hey Bob. Good to see you back again.


Any chance of seeing some paint laid down any time soon?