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This is the log for my homegrown chapter of Space Marines, the Sons of Tyr. Recently emerging from a civil war that saw the destruction of a significant section of the Chapter, the Sons of Tyr are currently seconded in their entirety to the Ordo Xenos branch of the Inquisition. Whilst most of the Chapter has been mobilised by Inquisitorial decree to support the Antarax Rift Crusade in a zone of space dangerously close to the Ghoul Stars, a single Clan of the Chapter (equivalent to a battle company in size) is currently fighting in another backwater region of Segmentum Ultima on the world of Gilgamesh Prime, a swamp world recently invaded by an Ork Waaagh!. Searching to recover lost Enslaver technology for the Ordo Xenos before it can be discovered by the Orks, the Sons of Tyr are in their element as xenos fighters and masters of guerilla warfare as befits their Raven Guard heritage.

OK, that's the gist of the background of the Chapter so far. Whilst they are Raven Guard successors, I'm attempting to portray them as a Chapter still in upheaval - the chain of command has been seriously weakened by the civil war from which the Chapter recently emerged, and those Marines who survived the catastrophe look to their brothers and squad leaders for guidance first, their trust in the Chapter's leaders shaken by the rumours of one of the Chapter Lords having fallen to the worship of gods ancient and bloodthirsty, spilling the blood of his own brothers and thus sundering the Chapter in brutal civil war. I'm using the Space Wolves Codex to proxy the Sons of Tyr, largely because of the customisation it allows for characters, and the role the Wolf Guard and Grey Hunters play (and their customisability) fits well in my mind the status of the Sons of Tyr as a smaller force of Marines very experienced in warfare.

I've already got roughly 2000pts of painted Sons, however I've decided I'm not happy with the painting of the force, either in terms of quality or cohesion on the tabletop. To this end (a Space Wolves battleforce, a ton of greenstuff and my entire bits box later) I've decided to redo the force, following 3 simple criteria:

1. Everything must be done in semi-truescale (i.e. not the form used by Lamenter and Doghouse with Terminator legs - bit too expensive )
2. All Marines must be converted - no out-of-the-box models allowed
3. All models must be painted to character standard (so no assemby lines for me)

I think I'll manage this quite well as I've already got 2000pts of game-ready material, so I won't be rushed into finishing this. It'll be a good way to improvemy sculpting, converting and painting abilities (and they need them ).

Enough talk - on with the piccies!


Seven Stone Bear, who took the name Damas Tirekes when he was inducted into the Chapter, the Shaman-Librarian of the Seventh Brotherhood. Shown with a friend...



Squad Vengeance, whose preferred method of assault is deep strike, following the edicts of the Primarch Corax, and rip the throat out of the enemy HQ in a barrage of bolter fire and blessed promethium. Actually so far they've lived up to this MO - they recently deep striked into the heart of a Guard army in a 1000pts game, and in a flurry of good dice rolls obliterated a Command HQ, a Chimera, and a Troops squad. They tend to take heavy casualties but as long as the kill ratios are favourable the Emperor's will is done

Sergeant Morcar and Barak - Morcar is a by-the-book sergeant in the Sons of Tyr, excelling as a tactical-level commander and chosen as Squad Vengeance's sergeant for his adaptability and innovative tactical direction under fire. Barak is considered by most of Vengeance's members to be the ideal candidate for sergeant after Morcar - he is the coolest of the squad's marines in combat and acts as demi-squad leader should the unit need to be split up to pursue multiple objectives.





Jumal and Nubator - tend to fight as a dyas, both excelling in close support range, providing covering fire for Solmund and Tassilo to manoevre into position to unleash promethium on the enemy.





Hakan and Solmund - Hakan is the squad's close combat specialist and has proven himself against foes xenotic and traitorous many times over, as suggested by the kill marks etched into his shoulder guards. Solmund, one of Vengeance's two flamer marines, is equally as comfortable with bolt pistol and combat knife as with flamer, living vicariously from the screams of those burned by promethium and the death throes of those pierced by his blade.





Ahanu and Tassilo - Ahanu is the most superstitious of the marines in Squad Vengeance, never entering battle without the blessing of the war spirits and the scrimshawed bones of his enemies adorning his weaponry; Tassilo, like Solmund, revels in Vengeance's preferred tactic of deep strike assault and lives for the chance to purge the enemies of the Emperor with holy fire and blade.





Mauriac, the squad's sharpshooter and recipient of Marksman Honors, as shown by the golden shell casing on his shoulderpad.





The Myrmidons n'Kasara and Chu'umal. Following the rite of initiation into the ranks of the Myrmidon Lodge, the two marines depicted here surrendered their old identities and adopted the names of two of the war-spirits of Madrigal. In Madrigalan culture n'Kasara and Chu'umal were spirits of vengeance who, in the ghost world, stalked their dead foes as they had in life, tirelessly scouring the ranks of the dead for their enemies and pursuing their hatred of the cowardly and craven even past the grave.





Squad Persecutor. This squad is often deployed simultaneously with Vengeance as the support unit. Persecutor's marines were outstanding Scouts before they earned their power armour, and still use their skill as huntsmen in outflanking and ambushing enemy reserves before they can access the main battlefield. Persecutor is known for its ability to enter the battle at the perfect moment, often when Vengeance's drop pod assault has cast the enemy into disarray, enabling Persecutor to join the battlefield and target remaining enemy points of resistance with deadly accurate Stalker bolter fire and plasma weaponry.

Sergeant Taresh and Skorak. Taresh, Persecutor's current leader, is the oldest and by far the wisest of the Seventh Brotherhood's sergeants, often consulted by his peers and a key leader in the Brotherhood. Skorak is, after Taresh, the oldest of Persecutor's marines, and has earned a reputation for being a deadly fighter not by dint of ferocity or technical skill, but through a combination of sheer animal cunning and persistent strong fortune. Skorak bears the runes of the Shamans on his mask, for it is believed that the war-spirits of Madrigal have plans yet for the old marine, and the Shamans will ensure that he receives their protection until their will is done.



Kohan and Malak, by contrast, are the youngest and freshest members of Persecutor. Straight out of the Tenth Brotherhood and new in their power armour, they are valued by Taresh for the innovation and valour young warriors display in battle, and follow his and Skorak's lead without fail, ensuring they earn their place in Persecutor as huntsmen and snipers par excellence.



Nikomis and Ehinu. Nikomis lost his left foot to a mine in the scouring of Taldos, when assaulting an Iron Warriors dugout; he was unlucky enough to be hit by Basilisk fire, but lucky enough to survive the blast, and so crippled, to kill four of the enemy with bolter and combat knife, dispatching the fifth with the plating from a Chimera when his gun emptied and his blade shattered. Ehinu is the squad's best sharpshooter and is entrusted with auspex duties, ensuring the squad's advance is unhindered by enemy skirmishers.



Pallaton, Sakima and Tevik. Pallaton, like Ehinu, is an outstanding marksman and jostles for the award of Marksman's Honor with his battle-brother, although both are considered well deserving by their brothers. Sakima, the squad's close combat specialist, is the first into the fray and the most ruthless of Persecutor's members, uncompromising and sometimes bullheaded in his approach to warfare. Tevik, like Skorak, is one of the older marines of Persecutor and bears the honors he has won with pride on his armour; where other marines mark kills of note upon their armour, Tevik bears one golden gem upon his helmet for every five enemy armour units he has destroyed. Three such gems adorn his helmet now, and by the Emperor's grace, Tevik will add to his collection soon...



Finally, a contingent of the Tyrian Hounds employed by the Seventh Brotherhood as skirmisher units. Named after the Chapter's greatest hero, the Hounds of Tyr are fearsome canines genetically engineered to serve as shock troops in the assaults of the Sons of Tyr. Their use in certain tactical situations is unquestionable, although they are rarely used except in assaults where they can be employed to drive weaker enemy ground units into range of the big guns of the Sons of Tyr heavy support units.





A quick snapshot of one such heavy support unit in-progress - the Vindicator Stone Bear.



And an objective marker I'm working on...



Thanks for reading! Please, leave comments and feel free to tear apart my work

These are awesome! Lots of neat little conversions that add a ton of character to the marines. Look forward to seeing more!

Very cool !

Can we see a army shot?
PLEASE!!!!????

Nice conversions and paint job.

A couple of comments:

The hair sticking out of the first guy's face is kind of distracting. Not sure if it's just the angle, but it looks kind of weird.

Drill the barrels!

Other than that, great job.

Many thanks everyone! Bloodhorror, there is an army shot in the works, just trying to figure out how to fit it all in the lightbox Also got some custom terrain I need to post here which I'll use as a backdrop for the army shot.

Thanks for the advice Latrodectus. You're absolutely right, the hair on Sgt. Morcar is a little off. I suspect it's too late to fix it but something to bear in mind in future at the very least. Intending to drill the barrels as soon as I have a drill bit small enough

Cheers for the comments!

Very nice, I really like the fact that you took the time to come up with a little bit of fluff for all the troops, shows you're into the project other than just painting the army. The only thing I can say is just drill the barrels and keep the models coming.

They're really cool. Very nice and gritty models. I love the objective marker and the wolves.

Cheers! Yep, drilling is a thing that will be happening.

Now for a true WiP shot of the Living Dreadnought and former Housemaster of the Seventh Brotherhood, Old One Mimir. I'm working out some background for him at the moment so for now, here's just a few pics of tonight's work:

They are pretty cool! Looking forward to seeing more!

When I saw the name of the chapter I was initaly pleased.....But oh how far I fell in my disapointment. I trust you know who Tyr is? For someone who has that name for their Marines I expect something a bit more flashier and shiny. But beside that its okay I suppose

Well, I asked for criticism and I got it Yes, I do know who Tyr is, I actually majored in Norse mythology at undergraduate. I don't think openly deriving the entire Chapter background from Norse mythology would have been particularly creative or smart, but then I'm not sure what you meant by 'flashier and shiny'. Not the most helpful criticism in the world

If you want to have a look over the Chapter's background, you might notice Norse mythology isn't the only influence in the story of the Sons of Tyr. It's available to see here... http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=261430

Eldartau, thanks for the comments!

Nice conversion, paint work and fluff.

great work

What I meant, and probaly should have stated is that I was expecting something along the lines of the Norse look, with a liberal use of bronze and such. Perhaps a selection of colours that stands more out than the current one. Read the background and well, will give you a pluss point for a good read. But civil war within a Chapter? Sounds somewhat DA inspired

That's a real fancy army. I love giving my own models personal stories, although it is easier for you since I have hundreds of orks who all more or less look the same.
You are a great painter, but my only criticism is the bold green axe blades. It just looks strange to me.

Oh and one more thing: why are some of them decked out with shuriken catapult magazines? Are they consorting with xenos?

Trondheim - I understand what you mean now, and that's a fair statement, although it comes down to subjective taste. I personally think there's definitely room for a purely Norse-inspired Chapter which does the 'Norse' thing better than the Space Wolves, although as this Chapter already follows the SW dex I didn't want to a) confuse people by playing a SW-like army with SW-rules that aren't actually SW, and b) I wanted to incorporate elements from Native American, Classical and (eventually) Zoroastrian mythology into the Chapter's history. As far as the colour scheme goes, you'll have to take my word that they do appear a little more vibrant in real life, although I'll readily admit I'm a big fan of muted subtler tones.

Re: the DA thing - the concept of a Chapter civil war is by no means limited to Dark Angel history...that's like saying only Imperial Fists successors can be good siege fighters! Thanks for the comments though, I appreciate that I'll have to flesh out that part of their background.

CuddlySquig - many thanks for your kind words! The Eldar tech are trophies. This Chapter is big on trophy-taking and this is something that may get them their knuckles rapped at some point. I didn't want to go with Eldar skulls so I had the idea of Marines ripping off bits of Eldar tech from dead bodies and treating them as baubles commemorating significant victories. The fact that it's unclean Xenos tech is secondary to the idea that each Marine must wear evidence of his greatest kills on his armour.

edit: also, thakns for pointing out the green power axe blades. They definitely need to be improved. Luckily they're easily repainted, but painting power weapons in general is something I'm trying to improve on right now - hopefully over the course of this log you'll see improvement!

Love your army, this is the stuff that makes 40k exciting for me. The fluff is a good write up as well.

While the poses of the minis seems different to me, what exactly have you done to make the semi-truscale? I cannot put my finger on it.
Also I was wondering were the drum feed bolters are from please?

Great looking models! Doing the Sons of Tyr more justice then mine right now -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-S5N3iwXY0

Absolutely stunning conversions and gorgeous paint jobs! I read every bit of fluff you included I was that engrossed! Cannot wait to see more

yeah i also want to know where the drum mags came from.

Very nice models! Good job!

Thank you all very much! It's a huge encouragement when you receive positive feedback, as you probably all know. I'll be sure to update this soon - been working on, amongst other things, the first of my semi-truescale scouts, some new objective markers,, the Vindicator and hopefully a LRR.

Auxellion, that's a weird coincidence - guess we must be the only two people who chose that name! I'll have to write a section into my fluff explaining the Chapter's good relations with the Black Templars I love your army, by the way - very grim and gothic, just how Templars should be.

In terms of making these semi-truescale, I simply cut and expanded the legs of each marine roughly halfway up the thigh with green stuff. I will be moving to plasticard ASAP however, it gives a much better and more regular finish. I also inserted a small GS spacer in between the legs and the torso. The biggest 'scale fails' of the regular plastic Marines is that their thighs are unrealistically short, with overly long calves, and very short torsos. By changing these you can get a mini that (usually) stands a head taller than a regular SM model and looks much, much better proportioned, IMHO.

The drum mags, bare heads, heads with respirators and power axes all come from Anvil Industries. I HIGHLY recommend them, they are reasonably priced and deliver very fast to UK locations. Give them a try!

BrotherCaptainArkhan these are amazing mate. I love the amount of character and time and effort you have put into each and every individual marine. I can't wait for you to do a Wolf Lord (I do assume you are using Codex: Space Wolves due to the Wolves, my mistake if already mentioned). I love the fluff you have behind these guys especially the names of those Myrmidons, they are fantastic! Please keep up the effort, POST MORE PICTURES!!! Haha

Thanks dude! Well I have quite a big conversion planned for one of the Housemasters (Chapter Masters), who will be following the Grimnar rules. I'm also looking at doing a PA Brother-Captain following Wolf Lord rules. At the moment I'm working on whatever takes my fancy, and whilst I'm waiting for bits to arrive for some sniper Scouts and the Housemaster, bashed together another Marine for my 3rd squad of Marines (Grey Hunters). So far I have Squad Vengeance (the drop podding, promethium burning, rip-the-enemy's-heart-out-and-eat-it squad) and Squad Prosecutor (the squad which outflanks with a Chaplain [Wolf Priest]) and this squad will be my midfield unit, claiming objectives in the home area and acting as a mobile reserve. Need a name..thinking of going with Squad Aegis at the moment.

Anyway, here's Rokke, one of the battle-brothers of this squad:





Tried to get across the idea that the heretic's head on the backpack has been crudely strapped onto the backpack...with nails through the eyes >

Ok some new stuff. Been a bit eclectic with the modelling, just going with what I feel like, as previously mentioned

Got two of my first semi-truescaled Scouts, new Marine in Squad Tyrant, and a sneak peek of my Brotherhood Champion [counts-as Wolf Priest] Alaric Dastan here. *I know the GS work is rough, I need to go back and smooth it over in a number of places/add further detail*

New Marine:





Scout 1:







Scout 2:





and WiP Dastan:

I like the background and i like the paint acheme they look really nice but im honestly suprised no one has mentioned (and im sorry if ive ovrr looked it)

The greenstuff/truescale on the legs looks terrible.

Im really sirry i LOVE the oainting and ideas but the legs look too long and thin... Abit like frogs... And the greenstuff your using your leaving rough so it shows when painted...

Sorry but i had to say.

I wouldn't have posted my log online if I didn't want criticism. And you're right, in a number of places the green stuff work is very, very rough. I have a lot of room to improve on, following advice received on another forum I got my hands on a clay shaping tool, and I'll be spending a lot more time trying to get the joins to be as smooth and as seamless as possible.

I don't see the frog leg thing though to be honest (although the positioning of the second sniper scout is off), and I suspect this might be a subjective thing. On almost every single Marine miniature out there the thighs are simply *too short*. No one in real life has thighs that small compared to their lower legs! Especially not those with an above average physical condition. I'll have to disagree with you there.

Thanks for the feedback!

Damn outstanding. Very good flair for dynamic poses.

Very nice models and a very entertaining read too. Awesome work.

Their poses are wicked! You sure got yourself some really decent marines there! keep up the good work!

 Lordjig6 wrote:
Im really sirry i LOVE the oainting and ideas but the legs look too long and thin... Abit like frogs...
.

This is definitely all a matter of your conditioned perceptions, not the reality of anatomy. The Space Marine models have always looked one way, so you expect that as the norm.

In actuality, the Space Marine models right off the sprue have awful, awful proportions. The average human being in real life is 8 "heads" tall. The Average Space Marine model is like 5. Arms are way too long, heads are way too big, legs are too short. "Heroic scale", I guess. Adding length to the legs corrects some of this, as does spacering out the torso. The legs do start to look a little skinnier from the length, but that's a minor concern. After all, the plating wouldn't be that thick, because then it would hamper mobility at the joints.