In the late 39th millennium, the Forge World of Agripinaa rejoiced as the noted Magos Kasabian Hvergelmir marched his armies aboard the Ark Mechanicum Father of Knowledge and set out on a reclamation voyage into parts of the Imperium long considered abandoned. The Magos believed that, within these systems isolated for so long, he could glean techno-arcana not seen for millennia.
When the Shadewolves of Leifnarr Morkaisson discovered the survivors of that quest in the Euripides subsector decades later, there were but a few score warriors and tech-magi remaining. The great Ark Mechanicus was no more, and Hvergelmir was reduced to a twisted cyborg kept alive only by an advanced life support capsule.
Morkaisson, never the most trusting individual, was ready to slay these twisted Mechanicus remnants where they stood but Hvergelmir, noting the condition of their weapons and armour, promised the assistance of his tech-priests if they would but listen to a single tale.
He recounted the voyage of the Father of Knowledge, of its discoveries and triumphs, and of how a force of Dark Mechanicus Hereteks had assaulted the ship with their corrupted war engines, destroying the vast part of his force, taking those ships not destroyed utterly and forcing Hvergelmir to scuttle the Ark lest it fall into their hands. He then pleaded with Morkaisson to aid he and his men in avenging this slight on their honour.
Appeals to honour strike a chord within the breast of any Son of Russ and Morkaisson swayed, but was not convinced. He spoke at length with his Wolf Guard and Priests, and finally decided that his Rune Priest, Burlokk Godspeaker, would scry these remnants for the truth of their words. Burlokk did so, and to his astonishment found that there was no doubt; every word Hvergelmir had uttered was true. Trusting his Priest, Morkaisson led Hvergelmir and his men to the safety of the Lost Companies.
What Hvergelmir had spoken was the cold truth, but what he had not spoken made a liar of him. The secrets he uncovered had undone his force, and he himself had fallen into the use of restricted technologies, creating an engram of himself and installing it in a vat-grown body. He thought to double his influence and control through this doppelganger, but forgot to take into account simple human self-interest. The two Hvergelmirs began to plot one against the other, and finally they created a schism within their own forces. One Hvergelmir stayed loyal to the Omnissiah, the other embraced the dark path of the Heretek. In the fighting aboard the Father of Knowledge, the two met and fought each other to near total destruction. The Hvergelmir accompanying the Lost Companies knew he was the loyalist, but beyond that his memory was too extensively damaged. Whether he was the original or the engram he could no longer recall. Aided by the Space Wolves, and replenishing his own forces as well as he could, Hvergelmir hunts himself through time and space, always striving to keep this knowledge from his newest allies.


Another facet of the Lost Companies that's growing a bit too big to be safely contained, the Taghmata is (currently) a sprawling madness of half-formed army lists and unpainted sprues. It's Mechanicum, but in many flavours. I have 2 Start Collecting Admech boxes and a pair of unopened Kastellan robot boxes, along with a box of Skitarii and Ruststalkers. On top of that I have a few models of other ranges to round it out.

The first aspect is an(other) Imperialis Militia and Cults list with the Abhuman Helots and Cyber-Augmetics upgrades, to give them all +1T and a 6++. The troops I have yet to get started on, but I have a few of he counts-as Ogrysn for your viewing. Named after Hvergelmir's tutor, Lazarus, these robots are simple yet effective combat models of a wide variety of types, more like a C.A.T or Firewasp than a Kastellan or servitor. Hvergelmir herds these forward, trusting in their reslience and ease of repair to shelter his more precious soldiers. Each make and model is assessed on their combat effectiveness, and suitable designs are retained for later production

Magos Insendrine is of the Lacrimallus sub-sect; flesh-crafters and slave drivers in equal measure, it is they who monitor the human population of the Forge Worlds and they who create the many forms of servitor used by the Mechanicum. In the aftermath of the destruction of the Father of Knowledge, with many wounded and little chance of sybernetic repair, Insendrine's skill became highly sought-after, and she rose to command a not insignificant portion of the Taghmata's remaining forces









As well as having command of a maniple of Lazarus robots ceded to her, she can draw upon the services of her own creations; chemically and genetically enhanced soldiers. While they lack the advanced cybernetics of true Skitarii, these auxilia warriors are well armed and resilient in the extreme.



Insendrine is not the only Magos in the Taghmata. Once Hvergelmir's staunchest ally, Etrigan was critically wounded in the fighting and reduced to little more than a brain and a nervous system. Insendrine placed Etrigan's mind into the vacant husk of a Class-H servitor, a heavy labour and combat model based on an Ogryn, and Etrigan now strides the battlefield as a colossus of steel-bound flesh and rage. His knowledge of weaponry grants his great frame a lethality beyond compare.
While he has accepted that the Hvergelmir he fights alongside is loyal to the Omnissiah, he will never forgive either Hvergelmir for the ruin they wrought through their own stupidity,









Etrigan has quite a following among those Magi and lesser tech-priests that suffered almost entire flesh-death in the battles against the Hereteks, and such warriors number well over half of the living complement of the Taghmata









In addition to Insendrine's forces, the Taghmata boasts more standardised arms, such as Kastelan robots



Although not all correspond to the accepted pattern of manufacture









And other, less usual forces such as animalistic cyber-predators to accompany packs of Sicarian warriors





And to watch over the battlefield and feed information to the Magi commanding





Hvergelmir can also rely on the remaining fruits of his reclamation crusade, which include unique weapons of war









The paint on some of those models is the old scheme, and I will be repainting all of them to fit the Agripinaa colours, so lots of crimson and bone armour and black cloth

Well colour me interested. Cool blog, some neat models and conversions in here. Looking forward to seeing more.

EDC

Thanks EDC! I'm fairly sure I can provide enough madness to amuse for a while

The taciturn Magos Renard, a close ally of Etrigan, is amongst the most heavily armed warriors in the entire Taghmata, and his tank-like armour bears a miniaturised plasma reactor at its back to power the weapon and shield generation systems hidden within the suit. Officially of the Myrmidax sub-cult, Renard is actually of the Malagra, the feared Mech-assassin cult that answers only to the Fabricator-General of Mars. Why such a warrior was included in the Taghmata in the first place raises serious questions about Mars' faith in Hvergelmir's crusade; but perhaps a better question is, with such a warrior nearby, why is Hvergelmir- either of them- still alive?










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The once-great Archmagos Kasabian Hvergelmir has been reduced to little more than scraps of flesh kept alive by the arcane technologies within his abeyant. Those who take his physical state for weakness are sorely misinformed, however. Potent energy shields and weapon systems make Hvergelmir as deadly as he ever was in life, and his remaining cerebrum is linked to quantum-level cogitator banks stored within the abeyant's armoured frame





While Etrigan and Renard nurse their animosity, and Insendrine stands aside from all politics to focus on her medical experimentation, one Magos stands firmly with Hvergelmir. Magos-Dominus Faulkes has seen many battlefields and knows that one cannot always count on logic to win the day, and that treachery and betrayal can come from any source.
Of all the Magi of the Taghmata, Faulkes has integrated the best with the Lost Companies, and his bodyguard-apprentices are drawn from the ranks of refugees that shelter with the Wolves



So, that's the last (for now...) of the Dramatis Personae articles. There's a few more characters on paper but I have no names, back stories or models for them so I'll hold off.

Did some more work on Etrigan as well:







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A little work on Lazarus bots, two completed and ready for spraying tomorrow



They have the scanners to better find their prey....

Almost finished another Lazarus, the last using the Cygnar models, and finished greenstuffing the other 2 Cygnar Lazarus bots









So they'll dry for a few hours then on to the bases, then paint

Finished the basic paint on one of the Kastelans of Maniple Charon-Beta









The Lazarus are having a similar colour scheme, deep grey with random panels done in bone. The Kastelan will have the cogwheel and bloody sword of Hvergelmir on their right shoulder pads. Don't know where I;ll fit it on the Lazarus, possibly armorial shields

Cool paint scheme, liking the dark blue/dark grey with the lighter grey.

EDC

Thanks EDC!

I've been working on converting this guy



Into something a little more Imperial and acheotech-ish, so here's the first attemot









I'm thinking of using the rules for the 30K Thanatar-Cynis, the one with the unreliable plasma weaponry, to represent him. I'lll scratch-build the plasma weapons and sling them from each arm mount, with the mauler cannon on top

During the war with his other, Heretek, self, Hvergelmir's forces were reduced from tens of thousands of crewmen, Skitarii and auxilia to a scant few hundred survivors. Many of these were so badly wounded that they could only continue to serve as servitors. For this reason, those warriors with free will and full comprehension are precious resources indeed to the Taghmata. This is not a matter of compassion, however, but simply logical; without the directions of free-willed humanity, most of the Taghmata's advanced weapons are useless.
Each individual group of warriors has an elected representative, known as the Primus, who answers only to the Magi of the Taghmata. it is the duty of the Primus to ensure his or her warriors are equipped and ready to fight at any time. Hvergelmir often gifts such warriors with advanced weapons and wargear.









This is my Sicarian Ruststalker Princeps-Primus (a mouthful, I know) who is armed with a Chordclaw, twin Transonic Blades and the Pater Radium. Like all the Lost Companies forces, the Taghmata Hvergelmir are by necessity scavengers, and this warrior has integrated an Electro-Priest's generator into their wargear to power their weaponry

Some more Lazarus robot for you, and something a little bigger....

For all their unusual technology, the Taghmata Hvergelmir are still limited by what's available, and often repurpose existing weapons for their own use. Magos-Dominus Faulkes exchanged his services as a tech-priest for the broken hull of a Land Raider, and set about restoring it. His acolytes, recruited from the refugees and hangers-on of the Lost Companies, received their induction into the mysteries of the machine while helping him. It now boasts advanced scanner systems and weapons not seen in the Imperium since the Great Crusade













Started life as Mechanicum Land Raider, now a Macrocarid Explorator. Previously had a pair of plasma cannon sponsons, but they're not available to the Macrocarid so I'm thinking I'll just go with t/l lascannons. It has a hull-mounted volkite culverin but I can't find where I put the thing

Currently off work so much hobby time is mine! From the last few hours, a Myrmidon Secutor converted from a Magos-Dominus.

Apologies for the bad photos, i'll get some better pics tomorrow

More Myrmidon goodness! There's a couple of Lazarus robots nearly done and a larger walker, all currently drying so pics later

Still need to base these, but as promised more Lazarus robots





Also, a very fine offering from Albino Raven, now in multiple variants, I'm using this guy as an Iron Hands Legion Leviathan dreadnought with two Leviathan Storm Cannon









Lastly, some love and support for my Skitarii

Awesome Stuff

Very prolific of your Ad-Mech bunch!

Thanks The Warp Forge and Shasolenzabi

I'm planning to add some of the Wargame Exclusive and HiTech minis stuff to the army before it's finished, as well as a couple of odd units- Ogre Ironguts with spare weapons grafted to their arms as Kataphron for example... Watch this space

Looking forwards to it!

You can also check ideas from my thread and others.

Thanks shasolenzabi, with your permission I shall do just that

Built my first Kataphron Breacher early this morning, still need to finish his buddies and get some paint on them, but here we go

They always make me thin of a child from a human and a tank-musume. Looks brutal, I see he has the electric weapon, very nice and brutal!

And no problem.

Thanks man. I shall now call him Panzer-chan :p

That's a nice varied bunch of robots... Looking good!

Thanks insaniak

Looking good dude, lots of cool robots.

EDC

Thansk EDC!

For when you absolutely, definitely, must move that Heretek off the archeotech pile you've both discovered, few things beat an Imperial Knight. Here's the first of my Skitarii Knights

Ah the Knights! I went with a cheaper "counts as:" alternative.

Wow, this thread is made of pure mechanicum madness, consider me subscribed !

Thanks Kernelterror, that means a lot Your Chaos thread is utterly nuts

Shasolenzabi, what did you go with for your Knights?

Kurnost wrote:



Shasolenzabi, what did you go with for your Knights?

These guys!



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They are a decent size.

Those are quite nice indeed

Kurnost wrote:
Those are quite nice indeed

And not as expensive, although they will eventually wind up with paint and decals to help show they are "Cough-cough, Knights"

Sounds good Shasolenzabi, let me know when you get them posted

Still working on the Taghmata, super excited for the Vultarax!

I've finished the Knight, he'll be posted soon and nearly completed my first skitarii squad too. Pics incoming soon

Another almost-done Lazarus bot. Been trying to work out how to arm this guy for a little while

Oh that is a nice load out! Heavy Bolter for the Dakka!

Hey Shas! Yeah they're pretty decent. In this list they're assault 3 when carried by Ogryns (which is the basis for the Lazarus) so that's useful, even with a BS2 model.
Currently the unit's at 6 of 10

So, I'm at this point with the top of the knight, where I need to work out which transfers to use. I'm thinking either multiple mechanicus cogs, or a massive spread Aquila and smaller cogs on each shoulder pad. Thoughts?

I vote aquila with smaller cogs.

EDC

Started work on the aquila and cogs, my first freehand ever; with the size of the aquila I think I'll just paint the Taghmata Hvergelmire symbol towards the front of the Knight, an admech cog with the skull replaced by a red sword

Impressive freehand, getting free hand to look symmetrical is a real pain, but the Aquila is looking great!

EDC

Thanks EDC
I had thought about marking it out with tape but applying tape to an assembled knight is harder than freehand :p
Hopefully it comes out good, haven't really done freehand before

Knight is looking amazing!

Thanks Shaso! More work happened today. A few days and I'll have it sketched in. It's a bit hard to see due to vents and such but the claws and tail are all there on the grey side only. I'll finish the side on the cream armour tomorrow or so

Also started on the Taghmata Hvergelmir symbol; the cog of the Adeptus Mechanicus bisected with a bloody sword




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And here's the other half of the Aquila

I took a break from work on the Knight and the Skitarii legions to follow it, and restarted Archmagos Hvergelmir. He's equipped with an Abeyant which, among other things, gives him Very Bulky, so a 50mm base was needed. I drilled into the resin piece on top and slotted the tail of the model into it, and I will add random wires and cables to tie it to the base more and also change the silhouette from Warmachine Cephalyx to AdMech weird thing. Hvergelmir's shattered torso will get some bionics and life support bits, and the top of the carapace (not pictured) will get a large admech transfer. All the holes on the sides will have either weapons, manipulators or servo-skulls. I might even add a C.A.T from Space Hulk for fun.

Then, undercoat, paint etc

A question: Should I do his other half? The Heretek Hvergelmir?



Having just checked over Hvergelmir's stuff, he needs to have the following weapons:
- a Paragon Blade
- an Archeotech Pistol
- 2 claws for his Machinator Array attacks
- a Flamer
- an Inferno Pistol
- a Phased Plasma Fusil

Have I overequipped him?

Freehand on the Knight is looking good so far.

Magos is looking good so far, I'm looking forward to seeing all the guns/arms running down the side, I think it'll look awesome.

And obviously yes, you should do a Heretek version!

EDC

He's looking great! Going to be a really distinctive looking dude

I think of all the models that can get away with being over-equipped it's a Tech Magos with all their little mechanical appendages. Try equipping a wysiwyg Autarch without making it look like he has to drop one of his weapons to do anything with the other one

If he's looking a bit too busy you could try making two of the weapons into a combi-weapon. Like an archaeotech pistol with an underslung inferno bit

Oh, and you should absolutely do the Heretek version. Every protagonist needs a convincing villain I can't remember, did your Magos kill his Heretek other half at the end? It'd be fun if they're both still around, chasing one-another through the galaxy.

I've always wanted to do an opposing army for my exodites. Seems like a great idea to give them enemies

Thanks EDC, I was worried the Knight wouldn't look good but it's going well! It's being washed as we speak

Ynneadwraith, Hvergelmir doesn't remember if he did or not... So he's chasing a villain that may be wholly within his own mind

I'll clearly be doing the Heretek Hvegelmir later; just need to make sure it doesn't look like this guy with spikes. I have a couple ideas....

But for now, here's the last couple minutes work



Lots of pipes and such for life support-y stuff, and what will be switched for an archeotech pistol when I find where I've put it. Clearly, right now he doesn't need 'to use it, so his other guns will have to be pointed. I'm going to use the Kataphron cognis-flamer for the flamer arm as soon as I find where I put those sprues



I'm going to paint the bolt bit up as a giant occular lense, surrounded by a cog mechanicum. I think I'll do the Taghmata cog and sword across this whole faceplate bit whyile I'm at it, and as it's 40K expect streamers and parchments and strips of rag aplenty

I also plan to replace Hvergelmir's stumpy left arm with the claw hand from the Dark Vengeance cultist champion; the non-commissar one. Either that or a small cyberlimb from somewhere. There's not much Hvergelmir left but what remains is pissed off

I also thought about replacing his helmet with a Stormcast helm, the ones with lightning bolts across the top, but I'll save that for another project

Ah I see do I remember right that he can't remember which one is the real Hvergelmir, the Heretek or the Loyalist? Remember thinking that was a fantastic idea

Splendid Magos, and yeah, the heretek version definitely needs to happen !

I found an Avatar of Amalgamation mini in my stash... Traitor Hvergelmir base?

I'll be using the rules for a 30K Archmagos so both Hvergelmirs are roughly equal power

Nice progress on the magos. Some many great ideas coming together for this model.

EDC

That's going to be an awesome Heretek can't wait!

Thanks for the kind words guys (and girls)

I'm tossing up between Malagra, Myrmidax or Dominus for the heretek specialty; the loyal Hvergelmir is a command/control kinda character while the Heretek is more into proving his mastery by destroying the works of others. Going to go all out with guns and blades and also probably going with Abeyant and Fabricator Array, just like the loyalist, because epic special rules.

Stay tuned... And thanks for watching

So, some more work on the Loyalist Hvergelmir today; using bitz from the Necron Lychguard kit, Dwarf Gyrocopter, Skaven Stormvermin, Kataphron and Skitarii Rangers I've sorted out his Machinator Array talons and his Phased-Plasma Fusil
Here he is as he currently stands:



And the top view



Excuse the slightly wobbly pics and the blu-tack

And his plasma weapon



The idea is the claws are power blades, and mounted on the wrist will be the guns for the machinator array, an Inferno pistol and flamer. Both of these will be from the multi-part combi-weapon Space Marines get in tactical squad boxes.
The weird bulb thingo above the arm is from the Gyrocopter kit, and I'm thinking has something to do with Hvergelmir's personal shield.
I put the Ork Burna tank on the back for a bizzarre low-tech look, and also because it seems to have a diamond-shaped jewel on top, just like much of the Space Wolves range has.
I'm stuck on his Paragon Blade, but I'm thinking perhaps a Sentinel chainsaw or a Frost Blade

The crystals mounted on the side and rear of the plasma gun will be painted like frost weapons; they're the same hyper-cold crystals used in Helfrost weapons. Hvergelmir has repurposed small crystals to cool his plasma caliver and reduce the potential for critical overheating.

In terms of the Traitor Hvergelmir, I've decided he'll be an Archmagos Prime of the Ordinator techno-arcana, so he has the Relentless, Tank Hunter and Wrecker special rules, and can call down a bombardment once per game. He'll also have an Abeyant, Machinator Array (+1 Toughness... Yes please!) Photon Gauntlet, Chainfist amd probably a Rotor Cannon.

He's shaping up to be a really unique looking Tech Magos very impressive!

Really nicely thought out mechanical bits and pieces too

Thanks Ynneadwraith!

And clearly tonight the Omnissiah's blessing is with me (Does anyone know how to get rid of that, BTW? It's making me uncomfortable) I haven't slept a wink but I've been able to fully assemble Hvergelmir, sort out the greenstuffing on him, and nearly finish the Thanatar-Cynis I've had sitting around for months now!

Obviously, it's not a true Thanatar-Cynis, just a modified war robot that does similar things to the ancient, storied battle-automata of long ago. This is what happens when you trust your Magi and let them invent... I digress! Pictures!







It might be a bit hard to see but there's a Cog Mechanicum on the nose of this thing, in case someone else thought it a Heretek device.

The plasma projectors of the original have been recreated, after a fashion, by multi-barrelled plasma cannon that saturate the target area with bolts of plasma. I need to open another set of Kataphron to get the Calivers to finish the other weapon arm

So to start with, work in progress of Heretek Hvergelmir



His Machinator Array claws are going to be lasher tendril bits from the forgefiend, curling up and over his shoulders

As well as working on the Heretek, I started painting the Loyalist

Something from the Ï started this but then forgot it"pile; Magos-Dominus Faulkes''s personal Land Raider. Once used the rules for an Adeptus Mechanicus Land Raider, now redone to the rules for a Macrocarid Explorator, I only finished sealing in the hull and adding bitz just now







Has twin-linked Lascannons in sponsons (removed to paint easier), a Volkite Culverin on the hull, Flare Shield, Anbaric Claw; the works. Perfect for Hvergelmir's staunchest ally and most useful member of the Taghmata from the perspective of anyone not a member of the Mechanicus. Faulkes traded his expertise with machines for the shell of this vehicle, recruited followers from the refugees that follow the Lost Companies, and gave them their induction into the mysteries of the Omnissiah by having them help rebuild it to its current state

More Heretek Hvergelmir, with the tentacles that will form his machinator array claws

Ooo looking good.

Are those the tentacles from the maulerfiend?

EDC

Morning EDC, they are indeed.

So, some further work on Faulkes' land raider. I decided to stick with single lascannons in the sponsons as something a bit different to normal










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I bought this guy a while back to use as a Blood Pact stalk tank. I think he works as an Onager instead. I think the blister underneath was supposed to be a troop bay but it's wildly too small

Also, this model is a pain in the backside to build!

Going to be a cool looking Onager indeed !

Cool! Love the walking tank think. The off-centre angle really makes it look like it's a lumbering beast, vaguely insect-like

Oh, and I like how Heretek Hvergelmir's coming along really different flavour to him than his loyalist counterpart

Aw man, that spider tank is damn cool. It looks really menacing too.

EDC

A bit of work on the base

Looking groovy.

EDC

A little more work on the spider; I'd planned claws or buzzsaws for the cognis-manipulator but they looked clunky and a bit off. I removed the front arms and replaced them with these hatchesL





The idea is the manipulator/s can be retracted within the chassis to prevent damage when not required, and extended via either side hatch when required.

Also finished the base, just need to finish the work on the spider and paint it before reattaching it to the base

Just a fresh coat of paint

Finished up one side of Magos-Dominus Faulkes' Land Raider.



He retains the traditional colours of the Taghmata, but adds Martian red to further affirm his devotion to the Omnissiah


On another note, thanks for the feedback and comments EDC and Ynneadwraith I hope to have Heretek Hvergelmir finished before the end of the week

I love that six legged walker and many of the other conversions! I've often thought that a good converter could do some amazing stuff with warmachine for 40K. The paint work on the Knight looks great also. The only suggestions I would have would be to consider lightening the bases for contrast with the darker models. Also, the wooden feet guy's wooden feet just don't look right. : )

Hi Kestral, and welcome to the Taghmata
I see what you mean with the bases, the mechanicus are the darkest of my linked armies and the bases are meant to tie the various parts together. Maybe a lighter drybrush or more metal parts?
Have you seen my Wolfbrothers? I have a whole unit of Dreadnoughts converted from warjacks, and I'm thinking of using some of the gargantuans for various things. The Taghmata will probably get a Khador colossal added before long.
And yeah, I need to do something with the barrel legs

So, not my picture today, but I must have this!!

Whilst I have yet to acquire that mighty robot, I did find these in the local hobby shop



In sure they're supposed to be Epic titans but I think they'll work just fine as cyborgs


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Sprue pic

Cool stuff. Spider and Land Raider are looking good.

What will you do with your acquisitions? Or is it for general conversion purposes?

EDC

I'm thinking general conversion purposes, EDC, I bought them purely on a whim. I might add some of the right scale to the Militia and Cults section of the Taghmata as heavy weapon troopers

A little bit of work on these 2 magi, Etrigan gets a cannon and the Heretek receives his other hand




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Still not sure what to do with Etrigan's wood feet. Probably cover them with plasticard later

Looking great dude Heretek Hvergelmir's a bit of a beast!

Not sure on the wood feet either. I suppose you could sand off the detail and have them as metal, but that's quite an expanse of flat material to paint up (would be conducive to weathering though...)

Thanks Ynneadwraith! Yeah he's a monster in more than one way; I almost prefer him to the loyalist version.
With Etrigan I'm thinking of adding banded armour to cover the wood, like mkII power armour

Yeah that'd look cool sort of segmented style armour. Nice way to break up what would be quite a large expanse of smooth plate

Ynneadwraith, still working on the armour; it's insanely difficult to bend even thin plasticard around those feet and make it stay! I shall persevere....

While I leave the latest attempt to armour Etrigan properly drying upstairs, I started work on grey-stuffing in the gaps on my Thanatar-Cynis to get it to a point where it;'s paint-worthy





Just the one side for now, I'll let it dry overnight and get back to it tomorrow

Really cool stuff. I like how the big walker is shaping up.

EDC

Yup, that one is going to be monstruous, looking forward to seeing the next steps !

Thanks KernelTerror, EDC

It actually fell off my desk and kinda broke, both legs off the base and the hip and an arm off at the shoulder. Easily fixed, but will take a bit of time. It did enable me to see the base better and realise how terrible it looked though So I'm redoing the base as a larger cityscape style. Hope to have something else up by tomorrow

Thanks for reading



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Or actually, by tonight! Reassembled the Thanatar-Cynis, and finished the base off too. I'll get it sprayed tomorrow






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Good to have Death Dealing Mecha in ones' army!

Yeah Shaso, it really is! This guy's a bit of a beast too, T8 with 2+ armour and uber-plasma cannons. I love the 30K admech! Best of all, I have the bitz to make another, and probably will have more than a couple before I finish the Taghmata

So, base coated and basic colours done; watered, and 2 thin coats









I had to brush paint the gaps in the base where the spraypaint missed so it's still drying but I'll be following the 'painting realm of battle' video for the base colours

Finished up the big guy tonight, pretty happy to have another project completed

Now that's really nice I definitely like that!

Very nice paint works on that Knight! I do love the symmetry as well as the fact it is different colors based on the base paint it sits on.

Ynneadwraith, Shasolenzabi, thank you kindly! Glad you like. I'd basically finished the armour plating when I decided to add the Aquila. I still wasn't sure how it'd go until I finished the edge highlighting, it really pops now

So, I've decided to go crazy. I'm building an Ordinatus. Not one of the Forgeworld ones, something a bit bigger, with a giant turbolaser thing as the primary weapon.

I have no pics yet.

The rear will be twin Baneblades. The front will be a pair of Leman Russ tanks linked to the Baneblades with bitz. The sides of the Baneblades will each have a Haemotrope Reactor fused to the sides, with the AdMech skull poking out. The chimneys off the reactor will be fixed in place of the Baneblade's exhausts, at the rear. The cannon will be parts from the Sector Mechanicus Ferratonic Furnace and Alchomite Stack kits.

The main gun is over 20cm long, from a mock-up I made out of the scenery at the local GW. I will probably place sponsons on the Baneblades, and maybe forward hull-mounted weapons on the Russes to represent point defence weapons.

It will not have rules, most likely, but should look awesome... Time frame, 8-12 weeks to buy and build this beastie. Stay tuned.....

So, here's the barrel for the Ordinatus. Or most of it. It's an Alchomite stack. It still needs a Ferratonic Furnace to form the rear of the cannon. This will be an Ordinatus Majoris

Good Lord this is going to be enormous!

Just had a thought. You could set a whole game of Inquisimunda/Shadow War entirely on the platforms of an Ordinatus engine. Would be a kickass way of representing one tiny aspect of a wider battle, with two squads trying to wrest control of the Engine from each other.

Ynneadwratih, that's amazing! I shall do this! Thanks
Once I finish building the giant, kinda pointless monstrosity
I was thinking Armies on Display board, but it's going to be too big

Oh man this is going to be so cool

You could definitely end up with something roughly 2x2x2, which would be perfect for a Shadow War game with lots of platforms and gantries

I just reread Fallen Angels; those siege guns they find on Diamat are described as being 3 baneblades long, with 2 abreast. This thing is going to be at least 2 long and 2 wide, so not far off. I have utterly no idea what rules to use for it, but I'm thinking at a minimum Titanic, Void Shields, 50+ wounds 2+ save

I used the remainder of the smoke stacks from the Alchomite Stack to make these gubbinz, they'll be built into the floor of the Ordinatus either side of the cannon as recessed power/ cooling pipes. I mighyt link them to the haemotrope reactors

Continuing with the Ordinatus, I picked up a set of Haemotrope Reactors and a Ferratonic Incinerator today and made them into a deck for the Ordinatus and the power generators for the main gun. Once I have the 4 Baneblades I'll need for this, I'll assemble the track and lower hull sections, with their side sponsons as defensive weaponry for the Ordinatus. The deck and main weapon will go on top of the hull, and I'll use various pieces to gap fill and finish the model. Basically, the Baneblades will be reduced to just tracks to cart this single giant gun around.

Here's the cannon roughly in place. I'll need to figure out some mounting gubbins. The Terminator is for scale



And a top-down view of the deck; each Baneblade hull will come to roughly the middle of the decking. The Haemotrope Reactor actually takes up most of the side space for the sponsons, so the front-most chassis start just forward of the reactor's base



The sides of the tanks will have barriers built from spare Incinerator parts. I'm tossing up between a command pulpit at the rear, possibly with a Magos-Dominus manning it, or a crew of lesser tech-priests at the fore of the machine. I think It'll have to have a few dedicated Skitarii on the model too.

This is completely mad, I love it ! Keep it up !

Ha, this is going to be amazing. And amazingly huge.

Thanks EDC and Amazingturtles; I'm really looking forward to finishing this mad project It's going to take a little while, since I need to buy 4 baneblades and that's a few months worth of budgeted hobby right there. But I'll get there! It kinda weirds me out that, even at Australian GW prices, this monstrosity is less than buying a Warlord from Forgeworld (which I will totally be doing, later)

The warlord construction has begun! With this:

Got the sub assemblies sorted! Floor and Moderati, Princeps on throne, and the rest of the head
It won't be magnetised because I didn't think of that to start with and don't want to risk breaking the head peeling the top off, but I still am going to paint the lot just so I know it's done



Also, by the end of the fortnight I'll have an Armourcast Reaver and Warhound to add to the legion, courtesy of a lovely lady on ebay
I'm thinking of painting the titans like the Knights, but with more spot colours and individual insignia and heraldry

Got these two in the mail today:





Need to sort out how I'm going to base them, since they'll need to be raised about 2-3 inches each to get roughly the same height as the current Forgeworld builds. They'll go nicely with the Ordinatus, for which I bought a Baneblade today, and with the Titan Guard upgrade kits Forgeworld is shipping to me soon

Wooow, lucky you ! these should be magnificient with your already impressive batch of unique machines.

Thanks KernelTerror The guy who runs the local gw is helping to bling them up a bit; the sculpts are a touch plain when compared to recent stuff. I got one of my bane blades out and assembled, then turned it into the rear right section of the Ordinatus



The fighting platform around the outside of the gun will be covered with tech-priests, armed skitarii and maybe some admech guys in power armour with heavy weapons; not myrmidons but still well armed. The front of the model will have a tech priest dominus wired via mechadendrites into the deck and control systems

Some work on the Ordinatus and Reaver

Last weekend the local GW had an Apocalypse game. I only made it to the Saturday battle because I was sick on Sunday. With the aid of my titans, the Imperium triumphed.. On Sunday, the Imperium were utterly crushed :(
Saturday was a blast; one of the Chaos players had a Warhound with plasma and turbolaser and 5 chaos knights. He knocked off most of the Reaver's wounds with the turbolaser turn 1 and then launched his knights into it. The Reaver died to a Thunderstrike Gauntlet, but then tore a savage amount of wounds off all the traitor Knights when it went critical. When we resurrected it later in the battle, it one-shotted the Warhound and cleared the remaining threats from the table in short order.
The Warhound fared much better, destroying Tau flyers and Tyranid hordes with vulcan bolter and inferno cannon.

A good first run for the titans

I decided to build a Mechanicum blimp as a counts-as Marauder Destroyer to back up the Taghmata. Here's how it's going so far.

Engine room:





And part of the balloon/ gas tank/ antigrav generator thingo



The rear fin is actually turning the ship to one side, so I'll need to work out how to properly model it turning
Thoughts/ questions/ comments/ ideas for the next bizarre misuse of scenery welcome

Wooooaah, a mechanicum blimp ! That will be massively awesome, brilliant idea.
I am not sure how actual blimps maneuvered. While they have fins, I thought it was mainly a matter of different engine speed on one side or another.
Does the Taghmata Hvergelmir have any kind of light flyers ? Maybe some could dock the blimp as an hommage to the USS Akron and Macon

The scale of your work here is truly mind boggeling.

I'm very much looking forward towards seeing those good ol' armorcast boys getting involved!

KernelTerror, I was not aware that was a thing... But yes, they will be getting some flyers. If nothing else I can do jump pack troops hitching a ride! Thanks for pointing me in that direction

VyRa, thanks for the view and comment! I think I err a little too much on the side of brainless lunacy some days, but thanks

Schweet! There's little cooler than a zeppelin as far as I'm concerned

Thanks Ynneadwraith! Have some more




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And current progress on the Ordinatus

Taking shape in both cases, well done. Will there be open space between the blimp's balloon and its cabin (as now), or do you plan to fill it ?
Oooh, and any thoughts on catwalks large enough to fit models ? So that sharpshooters can have a blast ?

plan is an electro priest manning the controlls and a skitarii sharpshooter facing aft, and a secondary enclosed cabin at the front with more weapons attached. As for the Ordinatus it'll have almost a squad of skitarii mounted on it with other models operating controls and such

You sir are mad, utterly mad. I like it

I can't wait to see how that blimp turns out.

Hell yeah you can really see it taking shape now.

Still working on the Ordinatus-Primus and the blimp, but I started painting this guy so I thought I'd share it with you first: a Forgeworld Knight-Styrix I grabbed when I was England in August



The armour plates are mostly already halved, so they'll be getting the bone/ black of the Taghmata, and since this Knight is a rarer beast than my earlier one, it gets some crimson highlights to tie it to the Omnissian cult a bit more.

Some further work on the blimp; the balloon is done but still needs weapon systems added to it and the docking system between balloon and weapon bay needs work.



Also started a new force of Leman Russ tanks currently consisting of a standard pattern Russ, an Annihilator, Eradicator and a Punisher. They'll have Skitarii crew and the Valhallan regimental tactics to represent the advanced repair and targeting systems the Taghmata has added to their vehicles.

Excellent ! Keep it up !

This is the start of my Skitarii tank company, using the Valhallan rules. Unusually they're also blooded; twice victorious in battle. Once was against Space Wolves and the other against Orks; the Wolves killed one but the Orks were shredded by them. I rolled a LOT better against the Orks.

Early work, they'll be painted up to the Taghmata colours soon enough

Pretty busy with work but here's this morning's progress; the starboard bow tank of the ordinatus

I'm sure I've named the Ordinatus before, but can't find where. It's the Iraeus Omnissiah; quasi-Latin for wrath of/ wrathful Omnissiah. Cut up a sector imperialis tile for the base



And finished the four baneblades and decking to fit. Need to paint it all up, screw the tanks to the base and then glue the decking down and build the superstructure. Here's a top-down; it doesn't look much but that base is 50cm x 40cm

Impressive, these top shots give an idea of the tremendous scale of that beast...

Thanks KernelTerror. It's a big un. The cannon is longer than the base and wide enough that it only just squeezes between the two reactors at the rear. I have some Electropriests on order to man control panels and screens, and a Magos-Dominus will be at the bow behind the big frontal screen. Thinking of flanking him with power armoured bodyguards.



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And assembled; mostly.



Words cannot express how happy I am to have it at this stage! Also that's an Allarus Custodian chilling up front, for scale

Loving this wee beauty,,,,,

Thanks Alaricuk!
I just finished assembling the helmsman for Iraeus Omnissiah; he's a high level magos but not super high. The staff in his left hand will have the celestial wizard staff piece added to it as a techno-orrery.

Nothing too exciting, just the finished base. The washes are currently drying and after that I'll glue and screw the Ordinatus to it. I'd normally drybrush/ highlight if this was a battle board, but since most of it will be under Iraeus Omnissiah I'll wait until it's all assembled and then only brush and highlight the parts you'll see

Working on crewing the Ordinatus. The Magos at the front comes from a world where robot road trains are a common thing, and he is in charge of controlling the power of the four track units to ensure efficient operation of the Ordinatus. Each of the forward track units contains a small number of Skitarii crew who man the point defence weapons; the defence of the vehicle being far too important to entrust to servitors. The majority of the track units are filled with generators to power the massive tank, the reactors at the rear being the only visible ones. The controls for the reactors are routed through to monitors on the top deck, monitored by a cadre of dedicated tech-adepts.



These adepts are low ranking, hence their lack of cybernetic alterations, but they know the generators inside out and their electoos allow them to make wireless adjustments in extremis. The vehicle's many reactors could be controlled by a single such adept, but for efficiency and safety a team of four is usually utilised. They are aided in this by servitors and simple machines such as the CAT unit.

Model-wise, Electro-priests with Skitarii hooded heads and backpacks. My latest batch of skitarii will be made into titan guard so the bitz are spare. I'll be making a similar crew for the blimp when I complete that.

It's almost there! I need to finish the crew and add the C.A.T unit from Space Hulk to it, but it's stuck together and it's stuck down!

This is insane ! The vehicle itsself could be a terrain for inq28 !

Hey KernelTerror! I played a game of sabotage with my brother a while back on the Ordinatus. 3 Chaos marines and an equal value of Skitarii. It's a little cramped past 4 models, but it's doable. Not so much now the gun's glued on but still possible

This thing is just stone-cold awesome. Even better with crew.

Will you have them removable/based so you can run it as a Necromunda/Kill Team board?

Hey Ynneadwraith! I'm keeping it as just a model, not as a board.

A while ago I mentioned I'd planned to do counts-as battle servitors with Ogre Kingdoms models. Then came the really nice revamped Ogryns in plastic, so I bought some. I'd planned to do them up as Kataphron Destroyers with the cannons replacing their arms, but looking at a fully armoured Bullgryn that plate seems a bit too heavy for a 4+. I'm going to sort through my Ork stuff to add some hydraulic claws to the kit, and turn the grenade launcher into an arc rifle or something, add some armour to the legs and some shoulders from the Cataphractii Terminator kit to give them a crazy bulky side and tie them to the rounded shoulderpads of the Thallax I bought the other week. Pic for pics sake



I think I'll get some more and do a squad of Kataphron Destroyers with just the unarmoured torsos.
And on that note, goodnight all!

Loyalist Hvergelmir looks good, that Cryx model was a solid base to pick.

Thanks ph34r I'm glad you like him. I'm pretty happy with how he turned out

Bought this from a swap page a while back; planned to use it as a 'drop pod' for my Skitarii-marines



Just stuck it to the base, need to add some Mechanicum sigils from the Knight kits, and some weapons. Probably paint the Taghmata cog-and-sword on the door

Working on a knight magaera

The local GW is running a gang war campaign of sorts based on the Rogue Trader lore of Logan's World. The challenge is to build a gang and a vehicle. I decided to do a damaged/ desperate group of Adeptus Mechanicus followers stranded there after a cataclysm. This is their Rhino, which will be either a Rhino-Primaris or Damocles Rhino to accompany the marine section of the Taghmata after the campaign is done





Also, made some progress on the Magaera.

Wow, very promising vehicle, and cool campaign concept too !

Thanks KernelTerror! The campaign should be a blast. I'm working on finding all the spare mech pieces I have left over from building other kits, then bashing them together with a couple of crypt ghouls and an Empire flagellant as a tech adept. Probably a guard squad or something similar.

Not sure how I have only just found this blog. You have a real flair for combining bits creatively. I also love the blue faceplates from the first page.

Thanks Fifty! That's high priase Welcome to the madhouse of the Taghmata! I still haven't finished that squad of battle robots from the first page, but hope to have them done by February

Slowly working on the Taghmata while I'm home from work for a bit. Finally worked out what to do with the old metal Khador warjack I had, another Lazarus bot for the crew

Some further work on the Lazarus robot, built a base and made him stick to it! Easier said than done when only the right ankle supports everything. Added arms and such, but need to find a Mk III marine heavy bolter and a Sicarian chordclaw to finish this model off







Also did a bit of work on Magos Etrigan, added some Ogryn bits to make him seem more Imperial. Trying to make greenstuff armour for his legs

Back to some conversion work; bought a Skorpius to run my Skitarii around in and had the missile front left over so added it to a second hand land raider I picked up to make a counts-as Land Raider Helios.

This is great any idea where the drill originates originally?

Hey Aestas!

Near as I can find it's an old Armorcast model. Loong out of production unfortunately.

Ramshackle Games do a boring machine that I'll be using going forward

https://shop.ramshacklegames.co.uk/index.php?id_product=211&id_product_attribute=0&rewrite=plant-blank&controller=product

Thanks Kurnost. I didn't know Ramshackle still existed (/I had forgotten about them), goody, goody, goody.

Also, that Warjack makes a really lovely base for a 40k. automata... I think I can guess the scale from the thank bits, but how do they scale up next to ... say a gaurdman? I Might be able to get some second hand and they would fit right into some of my plands.

Here's a photo with a Skitarii. They're sizable, but not dreadnought sized. From left to right the robots are Cygnar Ironclad, Cygnar Lancer and the old Khador Berserker

Thanks, that's perfect! (both what I wanted and scale wise). You're the best.

Decided to work on a bigger project, another Ordinatus. Based on the old Capitol Imperialis, this one will be a mobile command centre hastily assembled during the Taghmata's post-breaking period and lovingly maintained since. Need to buy a few more scenery kits, but here's the start of the chassis and the engine plant.







When finished it'll have 2 floors, a raised section with cannons, and a massive gun poking out the shattered front plate. Might even fit a void shield generator to this one