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Excommunicate

+++_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _...+++

...access granted...

+++DATE M 42 - detail hidden+++

=== Recipient: _ _ _ _ _ & Lord Demo, Ordos Terran, Ordo Malleus ===
+++ Inquisitors: Lord Demo, Riekens, Von Mendell, Rybikov (Late) +++
+++ Condensed Notes : Excommunicate Traitoris A435B_HDM +++
+++ Hereticus Diabolica Majoris: Silas Alban, Inquisitor +++






Spirit of noxious immateria, be gone from hence, for as the Emperor of Mankind, manifold be his blessings, watches over me, so I will not fear the shadow of the warp


Of Heinous heresies, thrice damned, Alban Silas, rogue Inquisitor.

Targets “Red Kraken, Red Rat and Red Raven.”

My Lords,

Penned and attached is a detailed report of the operation as the third anniversary of our task dawns.

Today we caught and exterminated “Red Raven” at a cost of Brother Stermon, Chapter 666, most of Kill Team Fleshborer, Inquisitor Rybikov and Interrogator Junger . May the Emperor bless them. It appears there might be two of them, but we definitely killed this one and have the remains stasis shielded and in transit. It is a peculiar thing. Target “Meatloaf”, (see datasheet attached, and thus named), is believed to have been killed too. Apart from significant tissue and liquid collect (estimate 8% of body mass), no body was recovered however.

Full report is being drafted, but I thought you should know of the feat and some fresh disturbing findings.

We have a reason to believe “Red Raven” was being hunted, assisted, or someway aligned by an unidentified Xenos element. It seems they left us a message. A card not entirely dissimilar to those in the Tarot Deck. Two sage’s have died processing the information. The most accurate translation we have managed to put together is: “He who walks with daemons, now masters the anathema. The Immateria incarnate, the key between realms”. See the pictograms. Be advised, the symbols cause severe nausea and risk of cardiac arrest. (according to sage 1 & 2, on scene post mortems)

We think we have a tail on “Red Rat”. Target yield probability 87%. We are tracking three prospective targets, with Kill Teams on stand by (on the scene) and the 666th element in transit.

I am asking for urgent Officio Assassinorum dispatch. Both Culeux and Callidus Temples. Your immediate support is greatly appreciated and requested.


Several new leads and alignments have been grouped under a new majoris target named “Red Seer”. Interrogators Levenson and Bache are on it, with several assets from my team and your militia.

I would bet my mansion there will be an exterminatus severe incident within months. If the sick freak really has an anathema that incident could happen anywhere. Indeed, we have drawn blank for 8 months now on his where about. Last sighting is still on Reef C779, attached for your convenience)

When can we meet?


Yours,

Riekens & Marco







BLOG restart


Inspiration, focus, hard work, talent, discipline, stamina, flow, joy, pain, excitement...

All words that can and do describe an artists struggles and strengths in the hobby. Focus is a wonderful thing. It is often the difference between good and great, between chance and repeat. Hits and dynasties.

But sometimes marvelous things happen when you lose it. The very best work often stems from losing focus. When working on something manual, already imagined, when your mind can wander freely, sometimes it jumps to unexpected places. Alpharius was born that way - during Jade Vessel responsibilities and my commitment to build Shaddes offe Greye. I just brought in the giant marine to one of our sessions and everyone loved it. Legion hence became my focus and my first bigger than squad body of work I consider “great”. Actually the Shaddes off Greye being the only other decent thing I’ve done.

Greatness is obviously about context - and the context of this blog is about gothic, heavy impact miniature imagery that shows originality, clever use of plastic parts, strongly themed paintwork and repeating and relentless creativity.

Rather than making very nice renditions of Warhammer 40000 themes, I’ve wanted to push and magnify the imagery and the miniatures in to new extremes and with very strong visual themes. Like the legion - Massive Warrior Gods, Frail but stubborn humans, bizarre constructs of the Mechanicum, War relics of the Astartes - all fighting under pale, cold light of twin moons.

So a few days ago I lost focus.

And it was brilliant.

And now it’s time to return to a dear side project. Reincarnated. Reborn. Raw, fresh, and with similar singular strength.

The Red Storm is rising.

Shaddes offe Greye was part one of my Inquisitor Trilogy - The Ugly. The work that, again from my biased context, was my first feeble but resonating move from good to great. The theme was strong - to study the greyness of Inquisition and the universe. Everything you have been told is a lie. This was a bunch of freaks, bunch of twists, mutants, fighting the god emperor’s war. Hated, despised. The conversion work exhibited a new ambition and sense of scale and physiology. I mixed grey to every single paint sans metallics. It gave them a very uniform look and feel. It made all of my old work instantly suck.

While working on Legion, I started on part two of the trilogy. The Bad. Friends at dakka run a “Pimp my wizard contest that was a great inspiration and excuse. Conversion work came out nicely, new ideas came from nowhere - and obviously feeding from the great work others produced and I started to paint. I went for red.

The face was perhaps the best, most singularly powerful thing I’ve painted. Exactly what my new context in the hobby and art was all about.

But EVERYTHING else about the paint work sucked. The fact that the model had a hammer sucked. Most decisions I made after the face were uninspired technical exercises that lacked any real intent. And to make it worse, the red was so hard to photograph that the little technical good disappeared. By then I had produced a flow of great potential. Some of the best conversions I’ve done (Borsus and Valencia) some of the best stories... but I failed to connect the dots. The man at the centre of everything was a flop And the project stayed in the designated drawer of my beautiful desk.

Until a few days ago.

When I opened it, to see if I could fit in a few Legion primed models. I picked up Silas (Alben to Alban, for Bad 2.0) and saw his face. And finally it was all clear. The face would dictate everything else about the Bad. The theme was clear, that thin red line between end justifies the means, and total, utter damnation. Only the red line is not thin, but a crimson whirl that hits with the force of cardiac arrest, until things are reborn. If Ugly was about “Shaddes offe Greye”, the Bad and Silas is about mixing the warp and blood to every stroke of paint! (no humans or other living things are harmed in this process)

It was all so clear. All so bloody finally.

I painted in a frenzy, reworking every area of the model (except the face), with boldness gained from John’s paintings, his description of how he paints and his miniatures looking down on my efforts. I used inks over shades, over the top rather than just enough. I cut off the Hammer and attached the only suitable weapon for him. The Anathema.



A Red Storm Rising


I traveled in the rotten carcass of a long dead elevatorum engine. All 244 floors of the derelict hab block flashing through where the doors of it once were. Glorious wave of sparks shot down after the engine like an afterburner. I like to make an entrance, that is why. Slight psy frost begun to cover the engine, a side effect of my telekinesis. 


I knew what awaited me at the top. Because I was there as I am here. I willed the murdermake, or rather directed the absolute onslaught. I tasted the blood and watched every single one of them die.


A beautiful mechanical chime announced my arrival and I walked in to the main hall. The smell of blood was quite intoxicating through two separate noses. The cohort of witches surrounded my price, tightly packed behind a wall of vortex brought alive through their dark sorcery. My Alter-Daemon paced around the warp barrier. Such brilliant tool, such a cost to acquire it. 


He cost me, it cost me. It cost me in resources and in the trust of much of the Ordos, narrow minded as they were, are, in the face of new, groundbreaking weaponry. Ignorantly labeled as a Daemon Host. They do not understand the forging of an Alter, of the genetic link and chain of control I project on the beast. It cost me much of my war-band, great warriors all of them. Oh yes, it also cost some dozens of collateral lives before I full mastered it. It cost me most of all. 


But such a daemon. A bargain. 


I burned through the feeble wall. They were powerful psykers, but not close to what power I posses, not close to the training they gave me, and I made their hearts explode. Not taking any chances, too eager to start.


I entered his mind, he and I blinked. 


And I saw through his eyes. Through his eye to be exact. Into my eyes. I felt his terror, but it was overpowered by intellectual thirst. It was sublime. Such a clear and purposeful mind. The Mirrormaster, Lord Seer, Hereticus Diabolicus, sector threat three. There was I, cowled in ethereal alien robe, a veil of blood. Cream and sanguine in color, projecting the symbols of my trade on its surface. Encased in crimson carapace, wrought by master artificers to protect from harm and to provoke dread in equal measure; and to integrate the incredible psychic hood from Titan. A compact seismic hammer in hand and the vampire blade sleeping its endless nightmares in its protective alloy scarab. That another special piece made in the forgeries of Titan when such places would still cater for me. 


I felt them before hearing them, before seeing them through his one eye.


Nevvie & Chaide set down besides me. Their huge, impossibly complex, synthetic wings a whirl that ultimately suspended them a few feet from ground. I was to make a job offer. Chaide carried the reward I would promise. Nevvie the tools for signing. 


I blinked back with an understanding.


Lets begin. 


More and HD pics without aggressive compression of the gang: http://legionofplastic.blogspot.com/2012/11/alban-silas-sister-valencia-borus-aka.html


Motley Crew

+++

It cost us dearly. Not all my warriors agreed, or coped. Vhystor killed the Chaplain. Saved me the work I pain to admit. Nanda and Jahrl Wurst were caught by the Grey Knights. The Ordos all together killed 47 of my staff and erased the assets they could find, The Cliffloft on Terra, safe houses on Dressen, Melior and Necromunda. Eventually the Traders were brought down by the Navy. They killed Borsus twice, yet there he stands. I believe all of the Ordos declared us Heretics, Malleus Diabolica Majoris I believe. Quite a career move.

They are wrong.

No team can match our tally. No other Inquisitor meet our ambition.

and I still have a heart. 

It’s pure and 6’3”. Sister Valencia, Repentia Illuminati, Fugitive and master pathfinder. Trained seraphim first class, before her incident. She took a wrong turn. They took her eyes. But she is resourceful and an escape artist. She learned to track and hunt with the Kroot Mercs and ended up in the hive game, syndicate business. She is invaluable. Hardcore. I love her.

Borsus, the weapon smith. The team always called him Meatloaf. I blame my upbringing for not sticking with the name.  Tough as they come, stitched together more times than he can care to count. 300 pounds of instinctive cunning, gangs over school, violence over words, speed beyond all that mass. Over weight, over powered.

Borsus has a way with guns. They make him smile. He makes them smile.

The Master can cheat death - a gift in this trade. Peculiar, ancient being. A recluse, a seer. Mirror into the pantheon of future. They all want his service, the cults, the ordos... Works for me now. I am sanction to cross boundaries and means to cheat the immaterium. 

Lewis is the pilot. Never see him around. Even with the massive cutter around him. His way with flight keeps saving us. Maybe the Master is overkill? Ha! Posh and well articulated, Lewis loves his craft and never seems to leave it.

“Chaide”, nicknamed after the classic refcast strip. Master Orsos made two before he was killed. Nevvie was caught recently. They are psychological hardcore warfare. That hollow steel can take and deal a beating. Lewis loves to drop them from the cutter.

That’s us, the core team, re-focused and re-arming.
[/i]


+++

I like the model and the paint job, but I especially love the presentation: the photography and the story are excellent, you clearly have both a superior camera and a knack for writing.

In the second story you say he has a compact hammer - that's been replaced now right? What exactly is an Anathema? That's the same type of curved bladed sword that Alpharius uses right? Is there a story behind it? Also what is 'Chaide' - I don't get the refcast reference.

All this =I= stuff is too cool, I have caved in and will be posting my own contribution soon and it's posts like this that really have encouraged me and motivated me to make an extra effort.

I am looking forward to Chaide and Meatloaf.

The HD images at Legion of Plastic really show the miniature well.

The lure of =][= is a difficult one to resist... like the call of a Psiren perhaps...

As always, your work is outstanding.

Thank you guys.

From the first sampling, looks like I should keep my focus on the blogger blog, as that's where the traffic and discussion tend to happen these days. It kind of makes sense - my artistic musings and other ramblings are hard to get without some context of the blogs and work I've done in the past. But I will try to keep this blog updated with links and then put more effort in if the conversation picks up.

Bruticus - yes the hammer was replaced. It didn't fit the feel of the model. The Anathema is an ancient, Xenos / Chaos dagger that with the right lore and knowledge can cut through to allow passage to the warp and web ways. The legion weapons on the other hand are Called "Falx".


Here's a WIP pic of both Mirrormaster and Chaide.
http://legionofplastic.blogspot.com/2012/11/chaide-mirror-master-and-solar-cultist_14.html

More to come!

A lot of new stuff on the way. Plus reading Pariah, which is great inspiration. New pictures tomorrow.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Pelicanne / Chaide / Horificus


Hunt, hunt,

Run, run,

Fly, fly,

The Girl with the machine eyes and the Pelicanne.

Feathered pan, wide like a Russ. Oh it can. Kill them no fuss.

Tall and thin, she carries his every whim. Together they say, none can get away.

Mirror, mirror, where is the pray. Mirror, mirror Reveal the way.



http://legionofplastic.blogspot.com/2012/11/pelicanne-chaide-horificus-wip.html

....hmmm

Well it's hard to make him out exactly but the bird dude looks especially great - I can't tell if it is a mask or a bird head but he is cool either way, very gothic and eerie. Reminds me somewhat of Father-Mother from Zeno Clash.

Bruticus, I just uploaded a bunch of HD pics and edited the first post too.

http://legionofplastic.blogspot.com/2012/11/alban-silas-sister-valencia-borus-aka.html

Your work is so inspirational.
I wish I worked more and dreamed less, then I might be able to achieve a tenth of what you do.

Damn, i hate it when i miss the start of things.

The bad..... im salivating already Migs.

The repaint is great, that robe really sticks out as something special there. The daemon weapon just looks plain mean, a sickly dark colour, like the manifestation of evil.

The fluff is of course entrancing, penned masterfully as i have come to expect from you every single time. You really are channeling Blanche and Abnett with brilliance, yet managing to keep everything truly unique.

The mirrormaster sounds very intriguing indeed, i can;t wait to see what you are planning with the actual mirrors on that one.


Its great to have you back posting, even better to have the prospect of fresh =][=Munda for us all. Are you going to do another jade vessel type campaign then? Assuming you've managed to find a new group of crazed loons to join you of course My appetite is well and truly whetted, and i now have incredible motivation to get back to my own =][=Munda project, so a big thankyou there!


Also, please dont neglect Dakka! I know the P&M forum has seemed a bit slow lately, but you really are a Dakka legend/treasure, it would be such a shame to lose you.... There are still a good many people who clamour over your work, and i will now go and spread the word to them all, screw letting them find this the regular way, time to spam them

Found this only thanks to Vit's PR campaign for it...
Inspiring work as always Migs!
Will have to read it all at a less inhumane time of the day.

The new pics look great, I am really looking forward to more pics of The Pelicanne (is that it's name?)

Bird headed dudes are just so creepy and I've always been fascinated by the concept, even have a couple of half finished ones sitting on my desk in various states. I'd love to hear his background and maybe my bird headed dude could be a distant relative. I think my fascination is caused by being traumatised by the Skeksis from The Dark Crystal as a kid.

By the way, I watched a film called Thale the other day that had a Scandinavian mythical creature called a Huldra in it. Do you ever look to Scandinavian folklore for inspiration? Seems to me like it is full of fascinating ideas.

Couple of points on some of the names you have chosen - Meatloaf reeaaally makes me think of the singer and Mirrormaster is a Glaswegian comic book villain.

Loved your previous warband and am loving this so far. I'm a big fan of the chain gun and the girl with mechanical eyes...

With her especially and the red based palette, I am also reminded of John Blanche's Femme Militant project, which I loved.

/subscribed!

Migs - the reds in Valencia are amazing - the legging and gloves, and that skirt, especially the back, just gorgeous.

It's interesting to compare the HD pics on the Legion of Plastic blog and the compressed Dakka imagery - I can definitely see now why you choose the blog format for your main posting.

Thanks for linking from your other thread, otherwise I would have missed this!

Excellent fluff as well!

Cheers,
Rawson

Beautiful work as always, look forwards to seeing more.

grrr

Guys,

Thank you! You made my morning Put a lot of effort in to those photos, so the feedback was of special benefit.

Vitruvian XVII wrote:
Its great to have you back posting, even better to have the prospect of fresh =][=Munda for us all. Are you going to do another jade vessel type campaign then? Assuming you've managed to find a new group of crazed loons to join you of course My appetite is well and truly whetted, and i now have incredible motivation to get back to my own =][=Munda project, so a big thankyou there!

Also, please dont neglect Dakka! I know the P&M forum has seemed a bit slow lately, but you really are a Dakka legend/treasure, it would be such a shame to lose you.... There are still a good many people who clamour over your work, and i will now go and spread the word to them all, screw letting them find this the regular way, time to spam them

That's fantastic. Very happy to see more stuff from you then. Please let me know when you have some!! (PM, email, heads up here...) It's impossible to find stuff here nowadays. =I=munda this time will involve a group of diehard international inquisitor visionaries and will involve sending miniatures in the mail and whatnot!

The reason for sharing this is for people who like to see stuff and talk about it. If no-one replies, eventually it may be time to concentrate on the blog only. But I've been at dakka since 2000 and love what it represents.

Bruticus wrote:The new pics look great, I am really looking forward to more pics of The Pelicanne (is that it's name?)

Bird headed dudes are just so creepy and I've always been fascinated by the concept...

Do you ever look to Scandinavian folklore for inspiration? Seems to me like it is full of fascinating ideas.

"Chaide Pelicanne". I've never really liked bird headed dudes. I've found them too damn weird... so then this project became a place where that weirdness fit and this model I find quite a succesfull rendition on a birdman concept in gothic universe.

I am from Finland, which technically and somewhat culturally is very much from scandinavia. Our language and history is distinctly different from the rest of Scandinavia though. But I am deeply integrated in that folklore and tradition, and I think it shows in some of the work. The finnish National Epoch is called Kalevala. A series of folklore worthy of many great WH40K concepts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalevala

MeanGreenStompa wrote:
With her especially and the red based palette, I am also reminded of John Blanche's Femme Militant project, which I loved.

/subscribed!

Thanks. I was a big fan of that body of work. What a brilliant venture that was.

Lamby wrote:Migs - the reds in Valencia are amazing - the legging and gloves, and that skirt, especially the back, just gorgeous.

It's interesting to compare the HD pics on the Legion of Plastic blog and the compressed Dakka imagery - I can definitely see now why you choose the blog format for your main posting.

Thanks Lamby!

Yes, it's pretty evident isn't it! I need to email legoburner again.


Everyone - Thank you for comments! Much appreciated.

Gorgeous!

I'm loving Chaide especially, but the other two are really great as well.

Great to see some new stuff, Migs.

 migsula wrote:

That's fantastic. Very happy to see more stuff from you then. Please let me know when you have some!! (PM, email, heads up here...) It's impossible to find stuff here nowadays. =I=munda this time will involve a group of diehard international inquisitor visionaries and will involve sending miniatures in the mail and whatnot!

Yeah, i will make sure i do Me and HF Izanagi are still working on a campaign booklet to give to players, but new stuff should be incoming soon.


Ooh that sounds intriguing, not to mention totally crazy Im looking forward to seeing how you're going to manage gaming with people not in your immediate vicinity, have you got some kind of computer representation of a board, or am i just misunderstanding? Either way, sounds fun.

Well seeing that your blogs are what got me into warhammer 40k years ago I'm very eager to see more from you! I really love those 3 so far, and your writing is great

Awesomely painted minis - Chech
Compelling and well written backstory - Check
=I=Munda - Check
Migsula - Check
All the ingredients for a fantastic blog. Count me subscribed.

Thanks guys!

Subscribed.

I've been reading Pariah this week - OH YES! - and feel incredibly energized to do a hole host of new models. If only my hands could work with the speed of mind

Any of you guys picked it up yet?

migs

Very cool stuff Migsula. If you don't mind, I'm just going to pull up a chair, sit down, and enjoy the show.

 migsula wrote:
I've been reading Pariah this week - OH YES! - and feel incredibly energized to do a hole host of new models. If only my hands could work with the speed of mind

Any of you guys picked it up yet?

migs

Haha, yeah, I read it in a binge the other week when heading up north on the busbus.
It inspired me to entirely change direction of my inq28 warband, going plainjane cloak n dagger instead

also I really loved the lovecraft/dunsany hat-tips all over the book

Oh this is exciting. So happy I haven't missed months of this!

 migsula wrote:
If only my hands could work with the speed of mind

migs

I know just how you feel...

ps: I know they are moon-lit (right?) but I can't help feeling that they are a bit washed out in the pics. Is it just me, or was that washed out look intentional? The effect is strongest on the mostly white sister-repentia.

Taking a look at your blog, there's a close up that does them more justice.

Pariah like completely ticked my dream scenario box...

I guess I have to wait for more people to read it to not to spoil things.

The Good Green - these guys aren't under the moonlight, imagine a some surreal warp red mist over a vast, dying metropolis... that's the world these guys live in.

Wow, you've posted some really great stuff lately. It was really interesting to compare your new work to the eisenhorn warband. Especially your skintones have really improved. *envious*

That Warband was done in 2006. It was the last piece I ever did on black undercoat. I changed everything about my painting since then.

But that was a different time and it was nice to try the daemons, get one and realize it really was not my thing.