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The planet Hebdanod is a feudal world deep  in the eastern fringes of the galaxy. A world of sweeping grasslands, it was once home to many noble families who fought constant wars against one another, unknowing and uncaring of the wider galaxy. At some point a group of 4 mighty warriors, beings collectively known as the Celestial Host, visited Hebdanod and imparted to the nobles there the story of the Celestial Emperor, their lord and master. They told the nobles that, if they were strong enough, the Celestial Emperor would take their sons to join his armies.
There followed a period of religious war across Hebdanod, each nobleman declaring for one of the Celestial and battling those whose faith differed from his own. Those who tried to stand apart fell first, struck down in some of the few showings of common cause in those days. With the unbelievers cast down, the world split into four warring groups. Although this was not much different from how it had been in the past, the promise of Celestial reward led the nobles down dark paths and these decades of war were some of the most savage in Hebdanod's history.

Many generations after the first Celestials had appeared to the nobles, another was found. Where the others had been sure of purpose, bedecked in gleaming armour and with the fires of faith burning in their eyes, this Celestial, Raziel by name, was a broken man in heavily damaged black armour, with a haunted gaze and the weight of guilt heavy about him. Haltingly, he told the leaders of the factions of a war in heaven; of the betrayal of the Celestial Emperor by his firstborn son and of the ruination of the Celestial Host as those loyal to the Emperor and those loyal to his son battled each other, sundering the Heavens. He begged the factions to put aside their differences and work to better their world. He also warned them of the dark nature of those who had betrayed the Emperor, and counseled them to beware these dark Celestials. Despite the nobles entreaties, he refused to rule them. He rode away, eventually taking up residence in an isolated and ruined keep. The nobles watched the skies but, as months became years and then decades, they returned to their old ways.

Several generations passed, and the living Celestial faded from memory. Life ground on, and the warnings of grandparents were relegated to jests. Some few still watched the skies, but most had given up on the Celestials and only tradition, not faith or belief, kept their memory alive. Then the sky fell. Across Hebdanod, explosions shattered the air and great stones plummeted from the air, crushing and burning all around them. None were safe, and even the nobles mighty keeps shattered at their touch. Villages and grasslands burned, and a pall of smoke covered the world. The rocks continued to burn, emitting a grey-green smoke that choked the lungs. The nobles and their armies, facing the greatest tragedy to afflict their planet but without an enemy to fight, were powerless
Some nobles from areas that had been hardest hit began to cry out that they had been abandoned. Their cries turned into ramblings and cursing and many took their lives or fought savage, uncalled-for, wars against their closest neighbours. The madness was at first blamed on the trauma of the Skyfall. Great areas of Hebdanod were evacuated, but the madness spread. When the true cause, the dark smoke that blighted the air, was discovered it was too late by far. The nobles sent parties to bury the stones but these men succumbed faster than most. Some noticed that the women seemed unaffected, but dealing with this problem was the duty of soldiers, and women did not make war.

A new Celestial appeared upon Hebdanod, leading an army of twisted monstrosities. Pale, ancient and with a coat of flesh covering his armour, he was the first of the Fallen Celestials to be encountered. His horde tore across the world, their brutality making the worst excesses of the mad old nobles seeming tame. The women had not been idle in the year that Man fell; tasks once only the province of the males had been learned rapidly, and so the new enemy found their way barred by women bearing the weapons of their fathers and husbands. Despite their fervour, their foes outnumbered them greatly and were more experienced fighters, and the women were forced back. They soon consolidated their defences into the old keeps of the nobles, and the war ground into a stalemate. The women were aided in their defence by the clouds of poisonous smoke that still wreathed some keeps; while they were immune to its effects, many of their foes were not.

One evening, unbidden, Raziel returned. The ancient Celestial had noticed the meteors and the sickness and attempted to make contact with the nobles, only to find their keeps abandoned. He had made his way to the nearest town only to find it destroyed by the rampaging armies of the Dark Celestial, and spent months fighting through the enemy hordes to reach civilisation.
The women welcomed him, and he taught them what he knew of war, forging them into a true army. He led raids against the foe, pushing them back  and reclaiming land for the women. The greatest champions of the Dark Celestial Host, although monsters beyond the skill of mortals to fight, were as children before the enraged Celestial. Slowly, however, a dark doom overtook Raziel: the ancient poison that had cast Man down was beginning to affect him. He gathered to him the greatest healers and thinkers and told them of how he had once been a mortal, but had been elevated to his current level. He sought to do this to the women of Hebdanod, but cautioned them that he had little of the skill of the Celestial Emperor and could not guarantee any success. Faced with an unending war, the healers agreed to aid him and sought volunteers from amongst the younger women.

The first volunteers, exhibiting strength and speed beyond mortal capacity, were judged fit to fight within a few years; well ahead of their unmodified sisters. Raziel, struggling to keep his mind, passed the project onto the healers and led these warriors against the foe. The war against the Dark Celestial took years, and increasingly was prosecuted by the modified women, who came to be known as Sisters. They were far stronger than a mortal, though not as strong as Raziel, and possessed great speed, agility and a vast lifespan. They were armoured in the manner of the ancient knights, heavy metal plate and thick body suits shielding them from the deadliest weapons of the foe, while their weapons were based off Raziel's own.

Raziel led them for several years, but was forced from the battlefront by the poison that had spread through his body; although he never truly lost his mind he became as a doddering uncle to the women of Hebdanod; loved and protected, but mourned, prone to fits of both crystal clarity and incredible forgetfulness. Finally, as is the way of all living beings, he died.
All of Hebdanod grieved, but none more so than the Sisters, for he had been their leader and more. They had come to expect his presence, and his loss shook them to the core. A group of the oldest living Sisters took Raziel's corpse back to the keep he had once called his own and interred him there, staying as honor guards over the man who had created them. The remaining Sisters, robbed of leadership, scrambled to reinforce their positions and awaited the next assault. Days passed, and still the Sisters stood vigil. No foes had been sighted and they feared a great horde assault. Weeks passed, and they cautiously sent small scouting groups into the wilderness. They returned and reported that, despite their dark powers, the Fallen Celestials that led the warbands had succumbed to the poison they'd spread. Whilst their necromantic leader was not accounted for, the wars were over.

Hebdanod rebuilt. The keeps of the Nobles were made the center of all towns, with populations carefully chosen so that the keep could shelter all in times of strife. The mutant warriors still roamed, more savage and less dangerous without their Fallen leaders. The Sisterhood gathered together, reforming from ad hoc bands of warriors into a system of ranks and skill. 5 Orders were created, each with a keep and each striving to emulate the Celestials of old.

The Gold order, whose Celestial Patron had spoken with the voice of the Celestial Emperor, were powerful orators and individually skilled warriors. They maintained systems of communication between keeps so no one was isolated, and claimed a number of schools and libraries open to all. Their order wore yellow cloth over their armour.

The Order of the Sword, who claimed Raziel as  patron, were healers and also responsible for the creation of new Sisters. They wore black cloth.

The Order of the Wolf, whose patron's savage appearance had concealed a deep-seated honour and concern for all those he called pack, wore deep grey cloth and spent most of their time away from the keeps, roaming the wilderness to strike at the enemy before they reached civilisation. They knew best the mysteries of vehicles and engine, and operated a number of fuel stations.

The Order of the Dragon, in deep green cloth, shared their patron's love of creation. They built the keeps and forged the weapons of the Sisterhood.

The Order of the Chalice, whose patron had soared on wings of flame in armour of crimson, wore red cloth over their armour. They were philosopher-warriors with a love of beauty, creating works of art and embellishing armour and weapons alike. Alone of all Sisters, they knew the secrets of flight.

The Sisters were the living wall behind which their people sheltered, and so the plating of their armour, much improved from the old armour of the nobles, was painted white to match the stone of their keeps. Both keep-stone and composite armour was banded with blackened iron. The oldest Sisters, like those who had watched over Raziel's tomb, were named as Sepulcars, for most of their lives were spent guarding the sacred sites of the Sisterhood. Any Sister of sufficient age could become a Sepulcar. She gave up any rank she had once held and took up the heavy exo-armour and the ritual shield and hammer; weapons that allowed a single Sister to stand against the deadliest foes. On the field of war Sepulcars are champions in the truest sense, engaging the direst threats with little thought to their own survival, but their duties off the battlefield are more important; most Sepulcars are centuries old and function as a touchstone to ancient times and as living repositories of knowledge. Most Sisterhood commanders consult the Sepulcars before making decisions of any import.

Many generations passed relatively peacefully. The women of Hebdanod could focus on their lives, sheltered by their altered Sisters, while the Sisters were in turn fed by the labour of mortals. The mutant threat was ever-present and the need for the Sisters was never forgotten. Likewise, their connection to the people kept the Sisters from hubris and pride, for many had distant relatives amongst those they sought to guard.


So, another non-Imperial human force for me. The Sisters use the Castellans of the Imperium detachment, primarily filled with Black Templar units but with some Astra Militarum tanks and super heavies as support.
The Sisters use the oft-maligned Prodos Games models, and are restricted to scouts, scout bikes, vanguard veterans and contemptor Dreadnoughts.








My first Sepulcar, of the Celestial Dragon. Rules-wise all Sepulcars are Vanguard Veterans with thunder hammers and storm shields. I'm certain the models are intended as Terminators but I don't think that armour deserves a 2+ rating




The Zelekhut was a destroyer-deity in Hebdanod myth before the coming of the Celestial Host. Its particular prey was the honourless, who it would inexorably stalk and then destroy regardless of the obstacles placed before it. The nobles of Hebdanod reserved these battle-walkers, named for the ancient myth, for personal combat between peers. So none could claim they were craven the pilot was suspended before the machine, placing his body on the line even while benefiting from the tremendous power imparted by his steed. When the Sisterhood retook the ancient keeps they found many of these ancient weapons rusting in their stables. Repaired and rearmed, the Zelekhut are now deployed against the giant monsters that sometimes appear amongst the mutant hordes.

Rules-wise, this is a Contempor with multi melta

So looking through my Hebdanod models, the Sepulcar I posted earlier is finished now, and a single SIster, of the Gold Order, is also almost done. I like the posing of the Sepulcars, they're quite dynamic models. The Sisters seem a little light on their feet but still, all good.





I think the purple could use an additional highlight, but otherwise they're all good. The three fingered hands threw me for a bit but I'm pretty certain they're an extension of the forearm guard and not the wearers actual hand; more like Star Craft marine armour than 40K power armour.

And the Sister. Those with bodysuits will be power armoured marines while those without will be scouts. I'm not sure about the leather suit, open to suggestions.





Hebdanod is a warm planet, and it is rare that a Sister will wear all of her armour. The item most discarded is the heavy undersuit; once critical for a mortal knight, it has become far less so with the changing face of war upon the planet.
A Sister boasts skin as hard to cut as leather armour, and a hyper-enhanced constitution that allows her to heal sword strikes as if they were little more than nicks and scratches. Further, the foes faced by the Sisterhood are not their equals; whilst they can be powerful most mutants are prone to crippling side effects, each beneficial mutation offset by burdensome ones. It is also beyond rare to find well-armed mutants, most getting by with crude blades and melee weapons.
The Sisterhood has long known this and, whilst they do not underestimate the foe, they do not truly feel threatened by the mutants either. Many Sisters forgo their undersuit as a sign of fearlessness, trusting in their own resilience rather than their armour to see them through

So some extra work on the Sepulcars; I'm going to painting a single colour at a time and finish that then move on, rather than my previous undercoat the lot and struggle to finish

Fixing the engine of the Zelekhut too, it's missing part of a drive belt so greenstuff to the rescue!

And I just noticed the armour plates and hammer on that Sepulcar need work...


Such is the life when you're painting while sleep deprived. Enjoy!

Prodos in the wild? Well I'm on board

Lots of good conceptual work to make these gals work, I dig it. Nice choices on armor / color scheme, but the flash or extra hard light you used to take the second and third round of photos doesn't do the paint work any favors and makes it hard to see what's happening

- Salvage

Thanks Boss Salvage!
Yeah I'm working with my phone camera and lack of space to set up a light box. There's one at the local store but it''s a GW so I can't take them in :/ I'll try to get some better pics without flash when there's better natural light. Thanks again for the feedback.