Weeeelp I found my Legio Cybernetica scheme. Surprised I didn't see this before now. Expect to see some Mechanicum within the next few months.
Cyraxus is an ancient forge world, founded in the lost ages of the dark ages of technology. It quickly rejoined the Imperium when first contacted, and remained staunchly loyal, shipping Skitarii, Secutarii, and Automata to the Imperium as needed. Even when Horus' traitor forces invaded, seeking Cyraxus' large stocks of automata and war materiel, Cyraxus remained loyal, keeping their shipments to the loyalist forces steady.
Even while relief forces sent to help the beleaguered Mechanicum forces were redirected to support Space Marine Legion forces instead, Cyraxus remained loyal.
As fires spread across Cyraxus, and their distress calls remained unanswered for two years, Cyraxus remained loyal.
While half the planet burned, and the Skitarii forces were nearly depleted, Cyraxus remained loyal.
And while the thrusters of screaming Blood Angel dropships that finally reinforced the world after two years of silence filled the air, Cyraxus remained loyal.
The Blood Angels routed the traitor forces, fighting them through plains of ruined manufactorum and smashed automata. The planetary defense forces were spent, and the Blood Angels were often only supported by shattered maniples of Skitarii and hastily-repaired automata, instead of the enormous armies that had marched across Cyraxus to first meet the traitors, two years ago. The official history books state it as a Blood Angel victory, the brave Mechanicus defenders reduced to a footnote.
And yet, Cyraxus remained loyal.
I'd be down for pink Guardsmen. I'd do it myself if I didn't already have a scheme lined up already, and perhaps it's best if I just keep to a pink Ork army...
Ynneadwraith wrote:Haha alas not it's more a play on the green tide, but with pinkskins
Pink guard would be interesting though...
Hehehe... I understand... I wonder if pink Guard exists somewhere?
General Annoyance wrote:I'd be down for pink Guardsmen. I'd do it myself if I didn't already have a scheme lined up already, and perhaps it's best if I just keep to a pink Ork army...
Good work though, V. Be sure to keep it coming
G.A
Thanks mate, I will. On that note, here's more Scions. One more model is completely finished, and I'm just slowly working through this half of the horde.
There was nothing left, of the former wThe former site of the greatest battle between Sentamid and Federation forces was naught but a simple crater. The fallout created by the last-ditch Federation nuclear strike had been removed by nanite-scrubbers, and the area untouched by human or robot for many years.
The soft grass that populated this part of Illustria III had reclaimed the area, long ago. Wildflowers bloomed where SABRs, ANGLRs, and rare human units had fought Sentamidian warriors and Constructs, in times long eclipsed by the glittering current age.
The ever-present chirping of gene-forged psuedo-birds stopped, for a moment, as the peace was broken. A single figure entered the gently sloping crater, walking on four white-cased legs. Pausing only to scan patches of flowers, the insectoid robot scuttled towards the center of the shallow depression, navigating the gentle, soft grasses with appendages meant to traverse across the most brutal warzones imaginable. The "S.A.B.R." on its chest was unmistakable, for this seemingly benign robot was in fact a Semi-Autonomous Battle Robot, most lethal of the Federation's infantry-scale constructs. To see one on the battlefield was inevitable. To see one in a peaceful field was eerie, yet somehow reassuring.
Its upper weapon-arms relaxed, the SABR appeared demilitarized, peaceful in the sanctity of the lost battlefield, as much as any robot of its type could be.
It reached the center, and stopped, traversing its torso back and forth with nearly silent whirring noises. When it reached a position that it deemed satisfactory, it stopped, rendering its form perfectly still. Even then, the animals avoided it, deeming its form sterile, cold, and unnatural.
Days passed, and then weeks, and the SABR did not move, remaining in its reverent pose. Weeks turned into months, and months to years. The SABR did not move. Dirt seemed to evade its form, the gleaming white of its armor and black of its secondary plating remaining pristine. Its body, designed to resist plasma bolts and railguns, endured rain and snow instead. None who beheld it noticed the inscription on its chest.
"In memorium of those who died for the good of all of us. Let their sacrifice never be repeated."
Over time, the animals accepted it, coming close, but never touching it. After an even longer time, even this last restriction was eased. Butterflies landed on its immobile limbs and blank faceplate, and birds rested on the outstretched barrel of its sleek heavy plasma raker.
It took five years for it to move again, fluidly slipping into motion as if it had never went dormant at all. Its faceplate traversed downwards, towards the wildflowers that had sprouted around its feet. The SABR paused, and then picked one, seeming to exceed its semi-autonomous nature. With sensors built for targeting weak points and enemy force dispositions, it beheld the radiantly purple flower. If its "dumb" AI-brain could have felt anything, it would have felt peace, at last. Sensitive damage control detectors noticed tiny impacts on its carapace, the feet of insects. The SABR held the flower out before it, and gently placed it back in the soil, finally staining its white manipulator-fingers with dark Illustrian earth. Careful to not disturb its butterfly passengers, the lone sentinel slipped back into position, going dormant again, to forever guard the dead.
I've got two more of these to paint, along with 35 (now basically 20) infantry and three Commissars. Progress is slow but steady. Almost done on this thing.
Looks decent, but you should try breaking up all that metal with some other metallics; it all looks rather dull at the moment and not interesting to look at. Don't be afraid to brighten the silvers up too, since I'm sure an Archmagos does polish a panel or two
The armor plates are Warplock Bronze, and the edging is Leadbelcher. I washed them twice, once with Nuln Oil, and again with Agrax Earthshade.
Then, on the bronze, I applied little bits of Hellion Green as verdigris, and picked out the rivets and raised areas with Stormhost Silver. I then highlighted the edging with Stormhost Silver.
Next, I added highlights of Warplock Bronze on the raised bits of the armor plates, to simulate shiny metal that had the patina/matte finish worn off of it.
Very nice indeed I must pick up some more silvers. I've got plenty of bronzes and brasses and golds, but basically only Leadbelcher (unless I can find my old pot of Chainmail).
Very nice indeed! Props for increasing the racial diversity of the 40k universe somewhat too not enough people (including myself) painting anything other than WASPs
How did you go about doing the trim by hand? I'm starting up a force and might do that myself eventually, so any pointers would be helpful.
Following the paint guide, mostly. This book is astoundingly useful.
Thanks for the praise on Centos! Here's the latest project coming out of my plastic-smelters...
The Great Rebasing Initiative! Now that my force has been downsized (now down to a Dominus, two Dunecrawlers, 5 Ruststalkers, 20 Secutarii, and 20 Skitarii), I can finally get to work on making the force not look horribly outdated.
The kinda crap build quality of these Skitarii definitely detracts from the paintjob, but they are the first I built... and will not be participating in games, most likely.
The seams in the cloaks are killing me with mine.I didn't think they were too bad until I painted up the first set. It is fine for tabletop ready but it bugs me. I've started to try LGS on the 28 or so that are just primed to see if it will help. These seem to take longer to built compared to what I was used to years ago with other armies as well. I hope to pull some more useful tidbits from your blog.
I try to always fill my seams, but Liquid Green Stuff is utterly worthless as a gap filling compound. I'll gladly provids more tips for you. Good luck with your own Skitarii!
Verviedi wrote: I try to always fill my seams, but Liquid Green Stuff is utterly worthless as a gap filling compound. I'll gladly provids more tips for you. Good luck with your own Skitarii!
So what did you use on yours? I think the liquid GS will be good enough for now. I'm not going for a competition paint job, so they don't have to be perfect, outside the fact that it will bother me, along with messed up painting, even if it's not obvious from three feet away. My test run on primed models seemed to make it better. I'm not going to do anything to the ones that are currently painted. I'll wait until I won't be tempted to use them i.e. my others are all painted.
How are the other Ad Mech kits for this kind of thing? I found the electro priests to have worse seams than the Skitarii, so they got the LGS treatment as well.
Verviedi wrote: I try to always fill my seams, but Liquid Green Stuff is utterly worthless as a gap filling compound. I'll gladly provids more tips for you. Good luck with your own Skitarii!
So what did you use on yours? I think the liquid GS will be good enough for now. I'm not going for a competition paint job, so they don't have to be perfect, outside the fact that it will bother me, along with messed up painting, even if it's not obvious from three feet away. My test run on primed models seemed to make it better. I'm not going to do anything to the ones that are currently painted. I'll wait until I won't be tempted to use them i.e. my others are all painted.
How are the other Ad Mech kits for this kind of thing? I found the electro priests to have worse seams than the Skitarii, so they got the LGS treatment as well.
I generally use putty Green Stuff during assembly, or multiple coats of Liquid Green Stuff. I hate using LGS , however. It's like filling gaps with thick paint.
Sicarian Princeps have a terrible gap in their robe, Electro-priests are pretty awful as well, Techpriest Domini are generally tolerable. Skitarii are really the worst of it.
And thank you, Aetare. It's my goal to have models my opponent is proud to slaughter callously
I also played my first game of 8th. Learning game, so I have yet to pass judgement. It was a 2v2, 1000 pts each, game on a 4x4 table. Ended in a draw, I think.
And the Enginseer is mostly done. This model is one of the only models where I think the GW plastic model is better than the FW equivalent (the ugly Macrotek Enginseer).
Also pictured - a sad and lonely Dunecrawler without legs. His painted brother is in the display case at GW, and other brother is still on sprue.
Yeah, that stuff is LEGIT! It's like pure bottled painting talent.
Your latest models look awesome! The enginseer turned out great, and you really did a good job on the Primaris marines. Though personally I think marines look better in dark green...
Now, the future Kastellan Initiative can actually begin, as my primary gripe has been fixed. I just need to strip off some armor plates, make them more Heretek-y, give them better shoulders, and fix the ugly phosphor arms.
Now, to write some fluff that explains why I have tech-heresy next to Martian Standard Pattern materiel in my army...
Hell yeah Prisma's great and so are propaganda posters great work.
Might be personal taste, but I tend to like it when the filter/editing/whatever spiffy stuff Prisma does is toned down to, say, around 50% or so. Yeah probably personal taste, but I find it helps keep a bit of clarity of the dude you're looking at compared to the background.
What's the font you've used though? It's absolutely perfect
Thank you! More to come, later (because painting is slow)
The idea behind these posters is that the Ordo Allegorica (Mechanicus Social Engineering/Memetics Department) is deploying these posters to the citizens of Cyraxus, to motivate them in their fight against the Tau. Some will be "darker" than others, but when they're done, the goal is to present a coherent narrative of the progress of the invasion.
***What is your station?***
++Malagra Cult. Rank Executioner Dominus.++
***What is your name?***
++Malagra Maximine-01110001
***What is your vow?***
++The heretek Cawl will fall by my axe++
Also, I plan on making an AI model, just as a shelf piece. So I need YOUR creepy AI pictures and suggestions! Taking inspiration from GLaDOS, and that one Abominable Intelligence as an utterly inhuman floaty thing, and I need more.
Of course, that's the idea of a Heretek experimenting with creating AI. If you want to do something that's perhaps a holdover from the DAoT then something a little more GLaDOS-like would be really cool
Haha! It is really good isn't it I'm liking your idea of DAoT leftover with some scavenged/added on Mechanicus bits.
To my mind, any AI that's actually survived the 15,000 year persecution of AIs is going to have to be pretty crafty. If it survived by itself it'd have to be a consummate survivalist. Perhaps that involves hijacking/impersonating Mechanicus equipment when it can. Perhaps that involves playing the role of a pet to successive Tech Magi.
Either way, it's going to have to be pretty crafty, or in dominion of a world cut off from the rest of the Imperium.
Hmm... perhaps it resided on a world, far in the Imperium Nihilus, cut off from the Imperium. A world that always paid its tithes, and had happy citizens. A world where the governor was a useless meat puppet, and the Computer pulled all the strings, watching the citizens through its omnipresent camera eyes...
I like that idea. A crafty, devious device, squeezing every advantage it can out of its form.
Brilliant! That's similar to what I was thinking an AI that survived by basically interacting with humans using 'meat puppets' and staying just innocuous enough to go unnoticed
I like the touch that it's constantly watching through surveillance cameras. Has a hint of 1984 about it
Here's an AI. DAoT remnant. I don't think it looks as good as I hoped it would, but it's OK for a thing based on a third of a Ghostkeel primary weapon.
Ooh nice looks suitably high-scifi to mark it as something from the DAoT, but with the creepy little Chordclaws (stunning bit those) to ground it in the 40k universe
Plus, I expect this would be a drone of some sort. The AI itself will probably be squirreled away in an ancient AI core somewhere. Or copying itself into all of its various subsidiary components so every one of its many drones are that AI.
This is one of the most intimidating models I have ever painted. The modifications I made should even make the horrifically busy vanilla model into something good. The robes are such a joy to do.
I thought I'd got past my desire to splurge more money on Cawl, but apparently not!
Looking forward to how the decluttering works. In general, I find modern GW models quite busy (not a bad thing as it's easier to remove detail than add it) so I have high hopes
First up, a WIP shot of Greyfax, who has been seconded to the Divisio Psykanica temporarily. She'll be taking to the field alongside some Logitarii null-guardians.
And now... Cawl. Arch-Heretek, Destroyer Of Cadia, and Primarisgenetor...
Mens in Conpedibus. The creed of the Divisio Psykanica, those researchers within the Mechanicus who seek to shackle the mind, and understand the anomalous. Their symbol is the most telling sign of their nature. The Anima rune bound in a cog, psychic powers harnessed by the Great Machine.
The Logitarii are their foot soldiers, their heraldry intentionally kept apart from their non-Psykanica fellows. They march in dull purple, with simple lines of purest white, where other Mechanicus units would bear cog-tooth trim. Upon their robes are two symbols - the symbol of the Psykanica, the Bound Anima, and a warning sign, Unbound Anima, signifying their purpose. Each Logitarius is a pariah, pulled from their homeworlds, conditioned, and augmented, to serve the most arcane branch of the Machine-Cult.
Their helms serve to amplify the effects of their soullessness, creating a bow wave of psychic horror as they march forward. The spheres on their backs, a technology some say is not strictly human, do not make noise or light, but rather absorb it, slowing the senses and unnerving those that look upon the Logitarii.
Finally got to work on my sphere of influence for campaigns/stories. The first three empires and two microstates are written.
Unfortunately, "Tenebrate" is not an original name. This will be fixed at some point.
"The Abremax sector, an area theoretically part of the Imperium, but often forgotten, and always ignored. Now, a veritable "wild west" of wildly different cultures and forms of heresy. The rest of the Imperium Nihilus dropped off the map a hundred years ago. That fething place, pardon my language, Magos, vanished a millennia ago."
- Rogue Trader Nicklaus Coepernica, to Magos-Malagra Maximine-01110001
Sector Map:
Spoiler:
The Abremax Sector is one of the furthest-flung Imperial sectors, isolated from its neighbors by strong perpetual warp-storms, void-anomalies, and treacherous nebulae. By 980.M40, before the rest of the Imperium Nihilus was cut off from the true Imperium, the Abremax Sector had gone dark. Astropathic communiques were swallowed without being received, and messenger vessels vanished.
The sector was presumed lost, and swallowed in the Imperial bureaucracy. In the absence of Imperial intervention, the culture of the various worlds forming the formerly loosely Imperial sector changed, forming an unrecognizable cluster of independent worlds, petty empires, anomalies, and warp-touched - or xenos-corrupted - worlds.
The Benevolent Collective- "Hello. You have entered Benevolent Collective space. Please remove yourself from the area as quickly as possible, or prepare for swift annihilation."
- Benevolent Collective "Customs" Message
The Benevolent Collective is a strictly isolationist, highly centralized group of systems, located in the "Northwestern" area of the Abremax sector. The capital world is home to an ancient Dark Age AI processing core, which has spread its influence across the Collective. Tech-heresy is rampant across the Collective, as the empire's Governor, under the control of the AI, ordered the purge of loyalist Mechanicus personnel in 125.M41. The AI took direct control in 130.M41, mass-implanting the human populace with neural augmentors. These neural augmentors are capable of communicating with each other, in effect creating an empire-wide human hive mind.
Due to the influence of the AI, Collective technology is far more advanced that most baseline Imperial equipment, and presents a serious threat to the reclamation of the Abremax sector. Heavy usage of automated combat drones and thermonuclear weaponry has been reported, from observations of the Collective-Neocadian war in 947.M41. Exterminatus orders have been secured against all corrupted worlds in the four Collective star systems.
The Neocadian Imperium- "Cadia stands above all of you! She blesses us! Remember the holy writ!"
- Colonel Demian IV to the assembled Cadian 561st-7th
The Neocadian Imperium is the closest thing to a group of loyal Imperial worlds in the Abremax sector. The capital world, Neocadia, was settled by the 561st Cadian Regiment in 499.M38, and maintained a proud military tradition. When the warp-storms initially cut the Abremax sector off, Neocadia made contact with surrounding Imperial loyalists, and formed the modern Neocadian Imperium. The Neocadians worship the goddess "Cadia" as a sort of war-goddess, the true nature of Cadia lost over the milennium of isolation. Equipment like that used by the Cadian regiments of old is scarce, and difficult to produce, and so is regarded as a form of divine blessing by High Command. The Neocadians have gone to war with the Collective several times, all attempts resulting in humiliating defeat.
The Neocadian regiments follow Imperial Guard organizational structure, with tanks of local manufacture replacing standard Imperial tanks, in most cases. Each regiment has the title "Cadian 561st", which is followed by its true regiment designation number. The name of the 561st is said to bring good luck to those who march under it.
The Tenebrate- "There is no "human" or "Abremaxian". There is only we, and not-we. Not-we will perish."
- Tenebrate response to an Ecclesiarchal League contact-message
The Tenebrate is a race of hyperxenophobic, highly-psychic xenos, native to the "southern" reaches of the Abremax sector. The Tenebrate possess a high-strength psychic link that allows telepathic communication between each member of the species, regardless of distance. This phenomena grants credibility to a popular theory amongst xenologists - that the Tenebrate are actually warp beings, that use artificially generated bodies as "puppets" to influence the material world. Dissection of Tenebrate corpses provides evidence to support this theory - all Tenebrate are completely identical, lacking any form of genetic material. It is unknown how new Tenebrate bodies are created.
The Tenebrate are omnicidal, attacking any form of non-Tenebrate on sight with vicious psychic attacks and high-yield weaponry. All forms of non-psychic cloaking are nonfunctional against Tenebrate.
The Tenebrate lack any form of self-identity beyond a word roughly analogous to "we", and so have been given a standard Imperial species name identifier until more is known about them.
Micro-empires of the Abremax Sector
There are two micro-empires in the Abremax sector, both made up by two star systems, and bordering each other. They generally maintain good relations with each other, and have formed temporary alliances in the past to combat the ever-present Purifier threat to the "south".
The Dual-Imperium
The Dual-Imperium maintains a proud traditionalist culture. The capital world of Nievenna seats a hereditary monarch, who alongside a council of qualified lords, controls the empire. The Imperial Army regiments of the Dual-Imperium are equipped in regal, almost primitive-looking dress, with wood-stocked lasguns and las-locks.
The Dual-Imperium is notable for its especially dogmatic Mechanicus personnel, thanks to whom the empire has maintained a relatively stable technological level. Leman Russ tanks, Chimeras, and the rare second-generation Baneblade are a common sight in the Dual-Imperium's armies
The Sovokon-Etrinet Alliance
The Sovokon-Etrinet Alliance is a loose union of the former Imperial colonies in the Sovokon and Etrinet systems. The Alliance is primarily notable for its Grand Archives, a construction maintained by its famous Union Institute. The Grand Archives contain information on galactic history, some splintered records dating back to early M28.
The Alliance is first and foremost a scholarly state, with the objective of hoarding as much knowledge as possible. The Mechanicus remnants in the Alliance are generally progressives, who make use of compiled records to make improvements on standard tech. This practice is frowned upon by Dual-Imperial Mechanicus personnel, and is responsible for the slow rate of technological cooperation between the two microstates.
Neat! I really like your little corner of the galaxy. Lots of kickass ideas
I especially like the Tenebrate. For the life of me I can't remember where it's from, but they remind me of something I read on TV Tropes about a species/race that actually turned out to be the exploratory bodies of an extra-dimensional being. Each of them described themselves as 'fingers', and they were all different protrusions of the same entity into our reality. Because this extra-dimensional entity was the only creature in its dimension, it didn't really understand that our dimension was full of individual beings. It thought that each person was simply a 'finger' of another all-encompassing entity, and was very confused as to why they kept saying hello to one another. This not being 40k they weren't omnicidal, they just thought that it would be fun to play along and say 'hello' back. It did have a little difficulty understanding that killing each 'finger' wasn't ok, seeing as it just thought it was the equivalent of clipping off a strand of hair from some other dimension-scale being.
As an aside, check these out I think you're the kind of person who would enjoy them. It's the examples at the bottom of the page that provide the most inspiration
Here's the second Xenos race - Chaos Xenos, and literal Starfish Aliens.
The Abremaxian Purifiers-
The Abremaxian Purifiers (as they are called by the United Ecclesiarchal League) are a race of chaos-corrupted Xenos, sworn to the god Khorne. and formally known to the Divisio Biologis as Hundresh. Hundresh biology differs from most known species, individual Hundresh specimens lack distinctive "cells", instead being formed entirely of a sponge-like biological substance, saturated with the Hundresh equivalent of blood, and surrounded by a tough exoskeleton. This sponge-like substance is formed from tough, woven fibers, made up of raw biomolecules. This grants the Hundresh exceptional physical strength and toughness. A substance ressembling neural fiber is woven into these fibers, granting the Hundresh their intelligence and reaction time. If a Hundresh specimen is bisected, and left in an environment where nutrients are available, it will grow into two seperate Hundresh.
A Hundresh specimen resembles a large ball of thick and thin tentacles, and varies in color from blood-red to dark purple. Hundresh are omnivorous, absorbing liquids through pores in their exoskeleton, and dissolving solids with powerful secreted acids. Often, Hundresh will be observed with mutations, due to their nature as Chaos-worshippers. These mutations will take the form of external blades, horns, armor plating, or extraneous mouths.
The name of "Abremaxian Purifiers" exists for two reasons. Firstly, the Abremaxian Purifiers are omnicidal, seeking to "purify" space in the name of Khorne, by slaughtering all observed living things, including plants, fungi, animals, and even their own wounded. Secondly, the Purifiers are native to the Abremax sector, and only recently developed spaceflight, by utilizing daemonically infested vessels. Efforts to contain the Purifier threat are ongoing.
Almost done Dual-Imperium Army soldier. Going for an Austro-Hungarian look. Too bad I couldn't find any stahlhelms/pickelhaubes...
Mostly all there is to do is fix the chest discoloration and miscasting.
"Venerate Him in all of His forms, as we are united in His worship. Through His might, we are given our mandate. Purge the heretic, and the witch, no matter the shape of their false, alien gods. No nonbeliever may stand against our united fury."
- Grand Cardinal Sobysk III, sermon to the 4th Pancern Brigade
The United Ecclesiarchal League is the premier human power in the Abremax sector, and the empire ultimately responsible for the current semi-contained state of the Purifier scourge. At its height, it contained twelve systems, prior to the Tenebrate Manifestation, in what is now Tenebrate territory. Despite its diminished state, and hostile empires surrounding it, the League's fanaticism has not faltered, and it remains a match for any single attempt to crush it.
The League has differed significantly from the Imperium, over its millennium of separation. Grand Cardinals are elected by landowning citizens of the League, and confirmed by the League Overcouncil, a group of representatives from each League world. This has lead to political snags, and great top-level inefficiency, when popular, yet ineffective Grand Cardinals manage to claim the position without being denied by the Overcouncil.
The League Army is organized into brigades, roughly equivalent in size to a mid-sized Imperial Guard regiment. Armour, artillery, and infantry are often mixed in brigades, rather than kept intentionally overspecialized. Pure armour or infantry brigades do exist, but are rare and elite formations, often used as support for mixed brigades. The League equips the Army a mix of las and projectile weapons, and uses roughly Imperial-equivalent equipment. Instead of the Leman Russ battle tank, the League Army uses various patterns of the ZB81 Hussar battle tank.
"Wings" attached to backpacks and armour are commonly used by League soldiers. These "wings" do not allow flight, but rather contain devices that enhance the sound of the metal or wooden "feathers" shifting, creating deafening, demoralizing sonic shockwaves ahead of a League charge. League genetors have been known to graft severely wounded volunteers to semiequine cyborg "centaur" bodies, which are equipped with wings and used as shock troops. These soldiers are known as "Krykonie", or "Pegasi".
I have returned to the continental USA, ready to get back to work!
Vacation was lovely, saw lots of nice things, the coolest of which were the lava glow from an active volcano, and a lighting storm from above on the flight home. Here's some infiltrators.
I had this song stuck in my head while assembling them - wonderful song. May have to sneak some Serbian influences into a model somewhere...
Ynneadwraith wrote: Hmmm, i like the idea of a Guard auxiliary unit i've always wanted to do something creepy and gothic with Guard.
I wonder if you can look into Serbian folklore for inspiration for creepy support servitors and suchlike
From some casual browsing, I found Domachi and Psoglav. Domachi are house-spirits (servant-servitor for a commander), and Psoglav is a man with horse legs and a cyclopean dog-head. Sounds like a Hunter-killer Servitor to me!
A headless Guardsman - I'm still sculpting the šajkača. (NOT Chetnik cap, I messed up my research)
And, here he is. The colour is a little bit light (the historical Serbian uniform is a tad darker), but I'm happy with him. Red skirt trim to represent the red collar tabs on my reference image. The hat is sculpted by myself out of GS (poorly).
Looking very nice, V; my only observations would be the shading of the brass and yellow might need returning to (see the vents in the Stubcarbine Barrel).
Other than that, thorough improvement over your last Skitarii work
And here she is, the Better Balistarius. I think I pulled off the look quite well.
The Sykona-pattern Ironstrider engine is a rare variant of the standard Ironstrider, incorporating a hard-plugged servitor brain inside of the engine itself, to drive the walker. This system leads to far fewer casualties due to neutralized driver-servitors, and a far greater brain replacement rate. Due to the conditions inside the engine, brains are only introduced immediately before the walker is sent into battle, and have an operational lifespan of roughly three hours.
Bad news. Shapeways order came in. The Kastelan heads are fine. The Kastelan shoulder pads are garbage sandpapery white material. So that's money down the drain, and I need to spend even more money on the right material of shoulder pads. For this price, I should have bought two Castellax. Would have been cheaper.
Good news, my bits order came in. More conversion fodder is online.
If you look closely at the shoulder pads, you can see the shittyness.
The Sykona-Pattern Kastelan Robot is a Heresy-era variant of the Kastelan robot pattern, utilising a reconstructed version of the Kastelan's sensor array to allow for more complex behaviour patterns to be programmed by the accompanying Datasmith on the move. In addition, the Sykona Pattern has modified weapon hardpoints, which sacrifice stability and arm mobility for improved ammunition feeds and storage.
All credit goes to General Annoyance for the fluff.
Huzzah! I decided to start X-Wing with the Empire, and immediately begin work on repainting my force to make them darker and more worn-looking.
Remember, citizen, to remain loyal. The Rebellion are terrorists, attempting to replace our glorious democratic Emperor with one of their death-cultist monks. Peace and stability is the only way!
How have I missed these updates?! Absolutely love your blanchian sicarian the headcrest is a brilliant connection between the two stunning work!
Love the TIE fighter too such cool looking ships. How big are they actually? You could make a kickass mecha-Beholder using the central cockpit as an 'eye'
What is "Kataphron"? We are not liking you calling our Brother-Cataphractos "servitor", flesh-thing...
Hah, I hadn't thought of that before. It must be pretty difficult in the Imperium to tell who's a mind-wiped servitor and who's heavily bionically augmented.
Could make for some 'interesting' interactions.
'Just who are you calling brainless, little flesh-worm?'
I don't much like the idea that the Mechanicus entrusts their sacred heavy weapons to lobotomized criminals or vat-grown husks, so I go back to the old Cataphractii fluff, where they were basically heavy weapon specialist Skitarii, placed on spider legs or treads or what have you. Very much sentient gun-platforms, rather than servitors.
Here's my next WIP X-Wing ship - a TIE Aggressor. Looking at the photos, it needs work on the wings.
The rebel scum triumphed, but I managed to kill a traitor to the Empire (Rex), and a Y-Wing. All in all a great first experience. I am entering the cult, now.
Just like all Modified Astartes, recovered commanders are put to use in much the same role they filled previously. Equipped with mental acceleration modules and upgraded Skitarii-pattern brain implants to ensure loyalty, rather than Servitor implants, Modified Astarte commanders are far more autonomous than the dronelike beings they lead.
Just swinging by to say how much still i love the idea of 'recovered' Astartes
"Hey, isn't that Brother Androclus over there?"
"No, i think you must be mistaken."
"It definitely is. He got shot, went down and then disappeared. We wondered where he went."
"Your optics must be faulty Astartes. I have an injection here that will fix that."
audible thump as Brother Patrocles hits the deck
My local GW has a challenge, roll 6 random paints and paint a model with them. You can base however you want, and mix colors, but mixing can only be done with those 6 paints. This is the result of my challenge.
Ynneadwraith wrote: Just swinging by to say how much still i love the idea of 'recovered' Astartes
"Hey, isn't that Brother Androclus over there?"
"No, i think you must be mistaken."
"It definitely is. He got shot, went down and then disappeared. We wondered where he went."
"Your optics must be faulty Astartes. I have an injection here that will fix that."
audible thump as Brother Patrocles hits the deck
There’ll be more to come, I just killed 27 Primaris Marines in one game, so I have an excuse...
You hear that? That’s the ghost signal. Binary in the air. Nobody knows what it means, only that it started after the war...
...
Analysis of Unionist rebel found in refuse dumping zone Septimine. Limbs missing, torso torn in half, 30-centimeter claw marks, signs of mauling, face cut in half, skull shattered, and heart absent. Half subject’s weapon was found thirty feet from the corpse, embedded in the ground and torn in half. Damage consistent with a large predator attack.
Was the weapon fired?
Weapon diagnostics report full discharge of forty lasrounds on full-auto.
Omnissiah’s name... there is no fauna left on the planet that can take that much damage and live. Something’s wrong, here.
...
***BEGIN SIGNAL***
++FATHER? FATHER? FATHER? HELP ME. THE MONSTERS KEEP COMING. I PROMISE I’LL BE GOOD. I MISS YOU.++
++FATHER? WHERE ARE YOU? I’M SO COLD.++ ***END SIGNAL***
***REPEAT SIGNAL***
That cloak (and especially the little freehand cog) is so damn crisp not a chance in hell I could pull that off myself. Very impressive!
Oh, and I'm sure you were gifted with a vision from the omnissiah with your creation. Or, at least, a vision from something (possibly chaotic), but we won't mention that when the Magos comes asking...
