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Very very nice. Love the completely grim dark fluff too.

And the finished minis.


Brother Drago, Laertes's Squad











"Drago was the close range specialist that accompanied Laertes. He excelled in his role as pointman, bringing his flamer to bear on the enemy and forcing them to keep their heads down while the maneuver elements of the squad closed in. While the wall held he stood brazenly taunting our foes and snapping off shots with his pistol, his temper matching the weapon waiting patiently to be unleashed. As we fell back he waited around corners to hose the Traitors with burning jets of prometium. A Traitor's round found it's mark and detonated the tank of his weapon, engulfing him in flames as our corrupted cousin drew his blade and threw himself at the burning Drago.

After we regrouped at The Palace I saw Drago again. His face horrendously scarred by the flames, he sat in silence having refused all assistance from our Apothecaries and using his combat blade to carve the sigil of a Traitor Legion off the bolter he now carried." - Veteran Sergeant Alessio


Brother Tito - Laertes's Squad















"Brother Tito was the squad member that Laertes and the assault element of his squad tested with their lives to provide and direct the fire support's overwatch. His skill with his missile launcher was something to behold. While Drago taunted the advancing enemy Tito methodically placed his shots to cause the maximum damage, assisted by Brother Sergio.

During our fighting retreat he slowed our foes by tumbling statues or weakened buildings to block the routes we traveled. The slow nature of wielding a missile launcher proved to be his undoing. As the enemy inevitably closed with him he brought down the building he was using as his firebase, burying all inside the rockrete tomb" - Veteran Sergeant Alessio

Brother Silvio, Laertes's Squad












"Brother Silvio was the oldest of Laertes's Squad. A Terran veteran he was one of the original members of the squad, and it was the only brothers he knew, never having wanted to serve our Lord as anything but a warrior of the line. His silver hair and his armor gave silent testimony to his long service in our Legion. He and Drago were often seen at the forefront of their squad's movement; while Drago advanced to bring his flamer to bear on the enemy Silvio's bolter would guard the younger Legionnaire.

I do not know what happened to Silvio. I have no doubt that during our fighting retreat he was in lockstep with Drago. He was not among our number when we reached The Palace, and the horrifically scarred Drago would not be drawn into discussion of our venerable Brother;s fate." - Veteran Sergeant Alessio


Brother Sergio, Laertes's Squad













"While Tito's heavy weapon provided Laertes and the other members of the squad with overwatch, it was Sergio's keen eyes which was scanning for the next target. He and Sergio understood each other on an almost purely instinctive level, with targets communicated with no more than quick gestures of head nods. During any fighting displacement between shooting positions it was Sergio who would lead the heavy weapon specialist and ensure that he had the time to deploy his considerable firepower.

It was Sergio who had selected the firebase where the two made their last stand" - Veteran Sergeant Alessio



In Memorium - Squad Laertes

Brother Lanzo, Alessio's Squad







"As we reorganized after the Amaranthe Campaign, and prepared for our new role in our Company Brother Lanzo was the natural choice to have the honor of bearing our squad's melta gun. He had shown a natural aptitude for closing with the enemy, and even as an Aspirant he displayed a maturity in his ability to prioritize in a target rich environment.

While Arturo's heavy weapon suppressed enemy infantry and destroyed lighter vehicles Lanzo's melta gun gave our squad a much needed punch against heavier armored enemies, and after studying under Venerable Brother Raimondo carving a path through obstacles that would have otherwise pushed us into fatal funnels.

During the retreat he took his place beside me as one of the last Brothers to fall back each time so he could bring his weapon to bear on the Traitors. When Raimundo fell to the enemy ironforms Lanzo allowed his meltagun to vent his fury on the enemy war machines. When we searched for our lost Brothers after the Siege was lifted we found an ironform from the fallen XVth Legion. I watched as Lanzo took a charge we had retrieved from Orzo's remains and finished off the enemy he had previously crippled and left helpless inside it's broken sarcophagus" - Veteran Sergeant Alessio

Your painting and storytelling both continue to be inspiring.

Thank you. I currently have the next three members of Alessio's squad assembled and with glue drying so I can begin painting later.

Alessio's squad was a concept that I had bounced around for a long time (since 3rd Edition), which was to take a squad of Marinesin a Rhino and model them as a long range patrol unit equipped to deal with a variety of foes (hence the melta gun and heavy bolter). In game terms this was prior to the short lived Movie Marine concept, but closer in power levels to the fluff so the squad would play in skirmish games using the rules for a Commander and his Command Squad.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I think it's time this WIP plog had some WIP;

Brother Tobias, Apothecary Aspirant

Tobias was an interesting challenge to pose and model, but the parts just seemed to come together. The narthecium was built from a chainsword, and a power cable from a 40K Terminator. A full size bolter looked out of place on the model and was throwing off the balance. In it's place Tobias got a more specialized firearm befitting his role; an experimental Chalice Pattern bolt carbine.


Brother Bertrando, Squad Marksman

Bertrando has a Javelin Pattern experimental designated marksman rifle, a wrist mounted augur, improved helm mounted optics mated to the rifle and the Cherub pattern targeting matrix mounted on his powerpack

Brother Donatus

Simple conversion lobbing a grenade. He'll have a bare head.

Brother Bertrando - Alessio's Squad



[Archivist's Note; subject is armed with a prototype Javelin Pattern Designated Marksman Rifle. This weapon was issued prior to the Heresy for field testing, and this is the only known working sample. Note the most striking variance from the standard boltgun manual of arms with the magazines being side mounted]


[Archivist's Note; Subject equipped with Cherub pattern targetting matrix. This is a unique loadout given the mating of the system with an experimental weapon, and a wrist mounted augur]








[Archivist's Note; wrist mounted augur appears to be a predecessor to the auspexes in common use with Astartes Chapters. Being hardwired to the armor suggests that this is a very early model]

"Our Company's close relationship with Magos Goibniu allowed us the use of experimental weapons. Early on these were new designs for field testing, but as the rebellion spread closer to Terra some were pressed into desperate service to give us whatever edge we could get. The Javelin Pattern rifle was one our squad had received before The Warmaster's treachery. Designed to fill the gap in our arsenal between a full sniper's rifle and a traditional bolt gun it gave our squad some much needed additional range.
Brother Bertrando was our natural choice to bear this weapon into battle. He was our peerless marksman. His well placed shots causing maximum disruption among our foes as he carefully targeted leadership elements, communication specialists, or weapon specialists. He was unique among our Legion in that during the Kayvas Initiative he was one of the few Brothers to spend time with our erstwhile Cousins in the XXth Legion. Regrettably I had other matters to attend to during the brief time our Legions interacted in that theater, but Donatus spoke highly of Bertrando representing our interests.
Early in the Siege the specialist ammo for the Javelin was exhausted and Bertrando made use of standard bolt rounds. While still effective on our enemy the rounds were not as quiet as the weapon system could otherwise have been. As we conducted our fighting retreat the distinctive sound of his overwatch was most welcome. Then it fell silent. It pains me that to this day I know what happened to our Brother. When we scoured the ruins to bring the honored dead back to our Legion we could find no trace of him" - Veteran Sergeant Alessio



Brother Donatus - Alessio's Squad













"Brother Donatus; young, brash, sharp of tongue, impetuous. He was full of fire all the time that I knew him. He was ever willful and opinionated, always with a suggestion on how things should be done. When he first was assigned to my squad I had grave reservations about him. I feared that these traits would lead to another Brother being harmed as he chose to abide by his own mind rather than my orders. I had little hesitation in sharing my concerns with Captain Eco. He listened to me without comment and when I was done reminded me that I shared a great many of those traits when I joined the 83rd, and that Donatus would fit in with my squad well. Our Lord was right. While outside combat Donatus could come across as confrontational, if not damned insubordinate, once in the field he obeyed every order and direction with no hesitation or dissent. Over time I would learn to appreciate his perspective as he, in his own way, pushed us to do better. I was able to learn much from him, and he much from me. Over time he stood as my second in the squad, leading the second combat squad when I split the squad during missions.

When the time came to pass on the mantle of command for my squad he was a worthy successor and I was proud to have had the opportunity to know him during my service to the Legion and the Emperor" - Veteran Sergeant Alessio

This is a great blog. Love the time you take to individualize the models and then write a story for them.

Thanks 40kFSU. I wanted this project to test my skills a little with painting and modelling, and having seen so many other wonderful plogs with fluff I couldn't help myself. It really helps when stuck on a mini as it gives a direction I can refer back to.

With this force being mostly just a small force from the B@C box I didn't really have an excuse not to lavish them with as much detail as my skill would allow.

In a break from custom this WIP thread will actually have some WIP (shocking, I know)



Tobias's head with the first shades and highlights



Armor shaded and highlighted before the battle damage is added. This is close to the look I'll be aiming for with my 40K force when that project begins.



Battle damage added, gold 90% done, armor joints completed, Rhinox Hide used to block in purity seals and rope, metal basecoated and washed.



In case the more observant had any questions as to why Tobias is in the same red armor as his Brothers the idea for his background is that he is an Apothecary Aspirant. He has shown an aptitude for further training as an Apothecary and was taking his first steps on this journey when the Heresy broke out. As he is not a fully fledged Apothecary his armor will remain red, but his right shoulder pad will be white to mark his emerging status.

Apothecary Aspirant Tobias, Alessio's Squad























"Brother Tobias was a son of Baal, and one of the noblest sons of Sanguinius I ever met. He had been selected for further training as an Apothecary as word reached us that our Legion was to muster in the Signus System. In the wake of the events there, and as news of Horus's treachery reached us, we regrouped to defeat the Traitors. All transfers and reassignments for training were halted to have every Battle Brother available for the inevitable conflict. During that time Tobias learned as much as he could from the Apothecaries of other Companies. His eagerness to learn was not in vain.

On the Traitor ship 'Harbinger's Wake' Captain Eco fell to the blade wielded by a bastard of Nostramo. As Eco's Honor Guard drove the enemy back from his fallen form Brother Tobias raced to aid our Lord. Determined to claim their kill the sons of Curze took their toll on Tobias, destroying much of his Mk.III battle plate and claiming his eye. In spite of his own grievous wounds Tobias continued to work to save Eco's life. Had it not been for Tobias then Captain Eco would have been completely lost to us.

As he recovered from his own injuries our new Captain, Ennius, approached Magos Goibniu and requested that ally in the Mechanicum give his own personal attention to restoring Tobias's warplate. Goibniu repaired all that he could and replaced the irreparable parts with the best experimental pieces he had available. The armor came back to our Company in the colors of our Legion, but it was the Brothers of the 83rd who embellished it before it was presented upon Tobias's recovery. The bright white shoulder pad was Ennius's gift, the Saints crafted the chalice he wore on his armor's power supply, the blood drop on his knee I presented. To the surprise of many even Vizioso contributed to the decoration.

During the Siege Tobias was with us every step of the way, his Chalice carbine suppressing the enemy so he could tend to our wounded.

Tobias survived the Siege, and was among our Brothers who boarded the 'Vengeful Spirit' when the Arch Traitor dared Our Father and The Emperor to face him. During the reformation of our Legion with the Codex Astartes Tobias remained a Blood Angel, and he started his service as a full Apothecary tending to a great many who had been selected for bionic implants" - Veteran Sergeant Alessio

A quick update on the final two Legionnaires before we get to the narrator himself;

Santo;







A warrior-poet more commonly found in the company of the Remembrancers than his own Brothers before the events of Signus Prime. His belief in the Imperial Truth is shaken to its core after combating the Neverborn


Aldo;







The oldest and longest serving member of Alessio's squad. I used the older MkIII armor to show his length of service and no newer parts mixed in. The left shoulder pad was selected to have the same silhouette as the right one.

I've got to say, Dreadclaw, your models and painting is great, but you really go the extra mile in giving each one their own little story. Makes me want to paint up a squad of marines and do something similar!
Keep up the great work! I look forward to see the whole gang in a group shot.

Thank you so much. Santo and Aldo are about 90% complete as I type this.

I was working over the Christmas period and did not have a lot of hobby time. Once the New Year arrived I started a new job, with a lot of time training, and we're about to go on vacation shortly for a few weeks so there have not been a lot of opportunities to but paint to plastic.

Shaping up into a nice, characterful force.

Finally, I found your blog again!

I did stumble across it just before christmas but sadly did not suscribe or comment.

Anyways, I absolutely love it. Great models and background, looking forward for more!

 insaniak wrote:
Shaping up into a nice, characterful force.

 Lum wrote:
Finally, I found your blog again!

I did stumble across it just before christmas but sadly did not suscribe or comment.

Anyways, I absolutely love it. Great models and background, looking forward for more!

Thank you both so much. As I'm looking at my stock of pieces that have gone unused so far I should be able to squeeze out some more members of the 83rd. My original plan was to wrap them up after painting the small force and move onto Necromunda, but those minis haven't captured my imagination as much.

I do want to create a small 40K force of Blood Angels centered around a small taskforce during the Devastation of Baal tasked with assisting the native clans evacuate to help protect the Chapter's future recruitment. I'm envisioning a rag tag group of Marines from all across the Chapter, but I haven't decided if any Successor Chapters should be included.

Brother Aldo - Alessio's Squad















"Brother Aldo was the longest serving member of my squad. In truth he had served my predecessor before I was promoted to lead the squad. He was a most solid and dependable brother, level headed and faithful to the Imperial Truth. I had long pondered why I lead the squad and not he. It was an unspoken question that settled between us, but never uncomfortably. He never challenged my authority or failed to perform his duty. Had I any doubts of his disposition to me they would have been answered when he lost his eye to an enemy on a world who refused our offer to join the Imperium, pushing me aside before a fanatic detonated a suicide vest.

It was not until we were on the wall that he spoke of the unspoken. The burden of responsibility for the lives of battle brothers under his command was something that sat uneasy with him, and he was thankful that my ascension spared him this burden, or having to refuse the honor Captain Eco would have bestowed on him.

On Terra he saved my life for the second time. Sadly on this occasion it cost him more than his eye" - Veteran Sergeant Alessio



Brother Santo - Alessio's Squad
















"Each member of our Legion was affected by the Signus Campaign, some more than others. Before we ever set foot on that blasted soil, or met the abominable Neverborn Santo was an exemplar of the ideals that our Great Crusade embodied. He spent much of his time in the company of the Remembrancers who accompanied us, eager to learn from as many of them as he could. The rest of us gently mocked our warrior poet brother as only those of us who fought and bled together can. He would take it in good grace and have a retort from his newest learning.

After Signus he was not the same. He became more withdrawn and almost superstitious, his battle plate started to bear more oath paper, and he spent more time speaking with our Wardens. He spent less time with most Remembrancers but was in the company of a small group believed to be adherents to the Lectitio Divinitatus. I suspected that he bore their teachings into battle in his scroll pouch, but I never challenged him on this. In truth I knew that each of us had to come to terms with what we had witnessed, and if that was his way then so be it.

After the Traitors had been driven from Terra and the Emperor ascended to the Golden Throne Santo was inducted into the Chaplaincy where his new found faith was put to good use" - Veteran Sergeant Alessio

Yeah, an update! Gotta say, I really like how you manage to come up with so creative backstories to each and every marine and that the models look exactly like the characters you describe them to be. I don't even want to know how long you spend thinking before building and painting a miniature. Great work!

Wish I could paint like that...

After looking at the parts I still have it looks like I can add more to my 83rd Company. I have the narrator, Veteran Sergeant Alessio, built but I want to get warmed up again to do him justice. So I will bulk up my Support Squad to 5 members. I built a new, as un-named Brother, and will switch out the sergeant's plasma gun for another to free up a 30K style weapon for the 5th squad member.

 Lum wrote:
Yeah, an update! Gotta say, I really like how you manage to come up with so creative backstories to each and every marine and that the models look exactly like the characters you describe them to be. I don't even want to know how long you spend thinking before building and painting a miniature. Great work!

Thank you. I wish I could claim a long involved process, but it is much more simple. With the names I got for my force that gave each of them a strong theme to get the right set of parts for. Then as I assemble and paint the minis I think about their backstory, and how it ties into the overall story. For Aldo his backstory was only really fleshed out as I started to type my last post. For Santo I had a rough framework before he was undercoated.

 War Kitten wrote:
Wish I could paint like that...

It only took me a ten year break to paint like that I recently came across some minis from my 2nd/3rd Edition Scythes of The Emperor army, so I might get some pictures of those before I strip them. I have plans for those that do not involve a lot of red paint.
In all honesty before I picked up a brush again I read a lot, and watched a lot of tutorial videos. Honestly the battle damage is a very simple, but hugely effective way of enhancing your minis, and it just takes a sponge, some Rhinox Hide, and a bit of courage to start. Then just using a detail brush to enhance the sponge weathering.

The courage part is the big deal for me.

Plus I have hilariously unsteady hands when I start getting nervous. Which is all the time when I'm painting. I'll get there eventually, and hopefully begin naming all the little guys for my Ultramarine army

 War Kitten wrote:
The courage part is the big deal for me.

Plus I have hilariously unsteady hands when I start getting nervous. Which is all the time when I'm painting. I'll get there eventually, and hopefully begin naming all the little guys for my Ultramarine army

I bet your shake gets worse when you focus on it I have to plan out my caffeine intake before I do detail work. Take your time, get your confidence up and find an older mini to practice weathering on.

Great, as ever. The flesh on the Silvio's face is very nice.

 TheEldanariPrince wrote:
Great, as ever. The flesh on the Silvio's face is very nice.

Thanks. The skin recipes have varied based on the mini, but the most recent recipe is;
- undercoat Abaddon Black
- basecoat Bugman's Flesh
- wash with Reikland Fleshshade
- paint Agrax Earthshade into the recesses
- layer Cadian Flesh
- 50/50 mix of Cadian Flesh and Palid Wych Flesh
- final highlight of Palid Wych flesh
- glaze around eyes prior to painting with Xerxes Purple diluted with Lamian Medium

For Silvo because he was always intended to be an older veteran I added some grey into the mix.

Some more WIPs, this time for the Support Squad

Brother Giorgio









For Giorgio I wanted to actually carve some damage into his battle armor, I have no idea why I haven't tried it more until this late stage. Like the previous members of the squad he has a mix of MkIII and MkIV plate, with a helm from the Blood Angels sprue that looks like a MkIV helm but with a vox grill. He also has the reinforced shoulder pad as all others.


Brother Battista









For Battista he is a great example of my over thinking a concept and themes. My thinking behind Battista is that he was the last survivor of his veteran squad who was folded into Constantin's squad. To help with that I put more effort into my parts selection than with most others. For a start he is the only member of the squad to be fully in MkIV plate armor, does not have the reinforced shoulder pad, has no molecular bonding studs on his armor, and unlike all the other rank and file brothers his stance is leaning back while the others (except Constantin) have forward motion. You can also see the plasma gun re-purposed from Constantin, which leads us to...


Constantin's plasma gun



Just a plasma gun from the BA sprue, but it freed up his for Battista and it seems more likely that a higher ranking Legionnaire would get newer equipment.

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:

 War Kitten wrote:
The courage part is the big deal for me.

Plus I have hilariously unsteady hands when I start getting nervous. Which is all the time when I'm painting. I'll get there eventually, and hopefully begin naming all the little guys for my Ultramarine army

I bet your shake gets worse when you focus on it I have to plan out my caffeine intake before I do detail work. Take your time, get your confidence up and find an older mini to practice weathering on.

It does. How did you guess?

New guys are looking pretty dang good too

 War Kitten wrote:
It does. How did you guess?

New guys are looking pretty dang good too

Because when I would be more aware of my caffeine intake my shake would get worse.

Thank you, I'm looking forward to getting some paint on these two.

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:


For Giorgio I wanted to actually carve some damage into his battle armor, I have no idea why I haven't tried it more until this late stage. Like the previous members of the squad he has a mix of MkIII and MkIV plate, with a helm from the Blood Angels sprue that looks like a MkIV helm but with a vox grill. He also has the reinforced shoulder pad as all others.

I am extremely cautious when it comes to carving combat damage directly into the plastic. I overdid way too many of my old marines and it just looked not really natural. But I really enjoy your subtle scratches and damage. Great job!

Brother Giorgio - Constantin's Support Squad



[Archivist's Note; subject appears to be wearing a modified Mk4. helm with gills and vox grille. Possible experimental helm]







"Brother Giorgio was another long standing member of Constantin's squad. Like everyone else who served our Company in a Support Squad Giorgio was a master with his weapon, capable of felling a xenos beast or armored enemy with equal ease. I hate to speak ill of him, but he was largely unremarkable.

After Signus Prime he started to complain about being afflicted by bad luck. After that campaign his original helm, which was damaged by the Neverborn, vexed him. He would complain about the optics shorting out or hearing ghost voices on the comm at critical times. When we fought about the Night Lord vessel in the engagement that claimed Eco's life He claimed that Constantin's warning of an ambush did not register. Thankfully his helm was at least proof against the volkite fire that struck him, but the helm was left beyond repair. After Giobhnu fashioned him a new helm he complained about other systems being plagued by issues. Outside of combat we took some humor at his seeming misfortunes. Santo actively avoided him and would mumble something about malicious spirits if their paths should cross.

As we made our way back towards The Palace ill fate would strike Giorgio again as his plasma gun suffered overheats and malfunctions, forcing him to engage our pursuers with his blade after he threw his terminally malfunctioning weapon at a charging Terminator.

He was among our survivors as we regrouped prior to assaulting the Vengeful Spirit, but his injuries were too severe to allow him to join the boarding actions that were to follow" - Veteran Sergeant Alessio


Brother Battista - reassigned to Constantin's Squad
















"As fate would have it in the same ambush that almost cost Giorgio his head it cost Battista his Brothers. It was Battista's squad who bore the brunt of the Night Lords's firepower in the ambush as we pressed towards their bridge, and only Battista survived. In his fury at the loss of his squad his return fire suppressed the Traitors long enough for us to mount an effective response. While Captain Eco was being prepared for his ironform Captain Ennius reassigned Battista to Constantin's now under manned Support Squad.

While Battista was a capable specialist with his weapon his new squad's role was different to the manner in which he was deployed before. I could always tell his shots; where the rest of Constantin's squad could act in near unison, especially The Twins, Battista's shot always came a fraction of a second later, but no less on target.

During the retreat he would rejoin his fallen Brothers" - Veteran Sergeant Alessio

 Lum wrote:

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:


For Giorgio I wanted to actually carve some damage into his battle armor, I have no idea why I haven't tried it more until this late stage. Like the previous members of the squad he has a mix of MkIII and MkIV plate, with a helm from the Blood Angels sprue that looks like a MkIV helm but with a vox grill. He also has the reinforced shoulder pad as all others.

I am extremely cautious when it comes to carving combat damage directly into the plastic. I overdid way too many of my old marines and it just looked not really natural. But I really enjoy your subtle scratches and damage. Great job!

Thank you. I found that the carved battle damage added little to the mini above the painted battle damage, but it was a good thing to find out, even at so late a stage.