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I thought I would start a separate threat on my WiP Ultramarines. Maybe others here can do the same thing with their WiP armies, and generate a bit more activity in this part of the site.

First up - an army list. This is by no means maximised, and is based on the models I want to build (other than the Rhinos - bleh). Thus, while I know that basic Sicarans aren't regarded as very effective, they are my favourite Heresy tanks and had to be included. It's more-or-less 3000 points, with 4 units that are line. Comments welcome.

Praetor - master-crafted thunder hammer
+ command squad (5) - legion standard, power fist x2, power sword x3, combat shield x5
+ Rhino - havoc launcher, searchlight, dozer blade

Cataphractii Librarian - force staff, psychic hood

Master of Signals

Cataphractii Terminator squad (6) - power fist x2, chainfist, power sword x2, reaper autocannon, augury scanner; Sgt has thunder hammer
+ Spartan - searchlight

3 Legion Apothecaries - 1 has jump pack + volkite charger

Contemptor Talon (2) - 1 has gravis lascannon x2 + havoc launcher; 1 has gravis autocannon + combi-bolter

Legion tactical squad (10) - vexilla; Sgt has power fist + artificer armour,
Rhino - heavy bolter + searchlight + dozer blade

Legion tactical squad (10) - vexilla; Sgt has power fist + artificer armour,
Rhino - heavy bolter + searchlight + dozer blade

Legion Assault Squad (12) - power axe x2, volkite serpenta x2, Sgt has twin lightning claws + melta bombs + artificer armour

Legion Heavy Support Squad (8) - augury scanner, nuncio-vox, missile launchers x8

Sicaran - sponson volkite culverins + searchlight

Sicaran - sponson volkite culverins + searchlight

So you has a librarian...

Where do the Ultramarines stand on psykers?

Not picking fault btw, i like fluff-wrinkles like i think you've got there.

 SirDonlad wrote:
So you has a librarian...

Where do the Ultramarines stand on psykers?

Not picking fault btw, i like fluff-wrinkles like i think you've got there.

I imagine they followed the edict. But that was forbidding the use of psychic powers, not demanding psycher marines be put down or anything. So as the war progressed and ultramarines almost immediately encountered demons / possessed / all sorts of warp-fethery, it’d be pretty reasonable to assume they’re psychic brothers were rapidly reinstated / made the executive decision to use their powers on the battlefield.

In my mind the ultramarines are like the emperors accountant side.
Theres a correct form for everything, and all ultramarines have encyclopedic knowlege of the entire catalogue.

Need a latent psychic capability manifestation waiver?
The ultramarines have a document printer and full office capabilities on board every rhino.

As I understand, Ultramarines Librarians followed the Edict and were assigned back to being regular legionnaires. And then, Calth happened, and Guilliman realised how effective psykers were against Daemons, and then re-reinstated the Librarius again. So, Librarians in a post-Calth army are totally legit.

Nice.
It would be pretty cool for Snord to have both a heavily librarius themed model and another model with no librarius detailing as a really subtle way of showing the force to be pre or post calth.

Not my army, but id dig seeing that.

Thanks for the comments.

I hadn't really thought about this fluff angle. I included the Librarian because I ended up converting the plastic Cataphractii Praetor into one for no better reason than that it looked cool. He's pretty heavily decked out - there's no mistaking what he is! I see the UMs as being sticklers for doctrine, but also pragmatic - once psykers were seen as necessary, they found a place for them.

 Sgt_Smudge wrote:
As I understand, Ultramarines Librarians followed the Edict and were assigned back to being regular legionnaires. And then, Calth happened, and Guilliman realised how effective psykers were against Daemons, and then re-reinstated the Librarius again. So, Librarians in a post-Calth army are totally legit.

It was definitely post Calth because that was where Malcador picked up one of his knights - Rubio. When fighting a nephilim, he used his powers and banished them all around him. It angered the rest of his unit because they felt they failed the Emperor. Meanwhile, in orbit, RG saw a similar fight and told his son to use his powers. So post Calth, RG would have remade the Librarius for his Legion. Calth was that turning point.

I've seen several UM Calth armies and they are badass! Just incorporate a little black (which works well with blue) and they look great! Have fun with your army!

boyd wrote:
I've seen several UM Calth armies and they are badass! Just incorporate a little black (which works well with blue) and they look great! Have fun with your army!

I plan to include black in their colour scheme - probably on the pauldrons. I've nearly finished building the models, and will post some photos before priming them.

For those of us with limited knowledge of 30k paint schemes, when/why/how did the ultras change their paint schemes for Calth?

The Nemeis Chapter often wore blackened armour due to the radiation from their weapons.

They were previously regarded as a relic of the brutal early wars of the Crusade by Guilliman but the Heresy let them essentially go a bit nuts.
Turns out the Word Bearers weren't really prepared for an entire Chapter of phosphex, rad and vortex weapons in cramped underground tunnels.

 Gert wrote:
The Nemeis Chapter often wore blackened armour due to the radiation from their weapons.

They were previously regarded as a relic of the brutal early wars of the Crusade by Guilliman but the Heresy let them essentially go a bit nuts.
Turns out the Word Bearers weren't really prepared for an entire Chapter of phosphex, rad and vortex weapons in cramped underground tunnels.

Ahh.

I knew the destroyers wore black. Wasn’t sure if it was more widespread.

 Gert wrote:
The Nemeis Chapter often wore blackened armour due to the radiation from their weapons.

They were previously regarded as a relic of the brutal early wars of the Crusade by Guilliman but the Heresy let them essentially go a bit nuts.
Turns out the Word Bearers weren't really prepared for an entire Chapter of phosphex, rad and vortex weapons in cramped underground tunnels.

This is an intresting angle.
I'm thinking there is going to be a rather intresting weathering concept for their destroyers based around real effects of radiation etc on paint.

Presumeably radiation would decay any pigmentation more readily, so the blackening would be localised to the front with bleaching away from that with a burnt brown-to-sepia deliniation.
The phosphex is basicly N-Stoff and will burn the paint off completely and leave some oxide or carbide scarring with some oil slick type colour elements
I like the idea of a vortex grenade stripped the paint off like a reverse OSL.

Again, not my army but that would be cool to see.

Here is most of my Ultramarines army (as per the army list above), which is inching towards the painting stage. Apart from quite a lot of track assembly on the vehicles, I still need to finish the Termies, put the weapons on the Command Squad, and convert a couple more heads for the Apothecaries. Oh, and finish the Master of Signals (the headless dude on the right with the massive coms array on his power pack). I leant in hard on the Roman look, as it’s such an iconic aspect of Heresy Ultras. No original, I know, but very recognisable.

Close-up of the Praetor and his Command Squad. They feature shields and helmets from Calgar’s bodyguard. The capes were a bugger to adapt to the models and unfortunately they all ended up with the same cape (although it’s not hugely noticeable). I would have liked a bigger unit, but the bits required make them quite expensive, and converting them was very time-consuming. The new Command Squad sprue really saved me, as it provided the plumes for their helmets and the all-important Roman-style banner.

Looking good!

Edit; that hammer needs a name. The Ban-Hammer?
Or maybe The Jan-Hammer and it plays a differnt synth note each strike..

I'm still new to the HH ruleset, so you'll have to excuse my ignorance.

In which units will you put the Apothecaries?

Also what bases are you using?

 SirDonlad wrote:
that hammer needs a name. The Ban-Hammer?
Or maybe The Jan-Hammer and it plays a differnt synth note each strike..

I suspect he’d just call it Ultrahammer.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
In which units will you put the Apothecaries?

Also what bases are you using?

1 Apothecary each in the Tac squads and the other in the Assault squad.

They are the Sector Imperialis bases. The quality of the moulding is rather poor, but they look okay with extra rubble etc.

I forgot to include these 2 in the army photo - a rather significant oversight. My list is not intended to be super- competitive, so neither of these Contemptors is optimised. Basing is very important to me; in this case, I based these models using the textured base from the old Dreadnought, with a lot of extra stuff added.

Closer shots of 2 types of basic squad. The Tacticals are a mixture of Mk 3 and Mk 6 armour types, but with standardised bolters (they are Ultramarines, after all). The Assault Marines were built largely ‘out of the box’, with some replacement arms and weapons - Fafnir Rann donated the power axes (luckily the power axes on new assault weapons sprue are almost the same, so they haven’t been superseded). All of the models have chapter-specific pauldrons from the WH40k Ultramarines upgrade sprue, suitably modified for their armour types. The Apothecaries are proving to be quite a chore - they all need a lot of lights, tubing and other bits.

 Snord wrote:

 SirDonlad wrote:
that hammer needs a name. The Ban-Hammer?
Or maybe The Jan-Hammer and it plays a differnt synth note each strike..

I suspect he’d just call it Ultrahammer.

Sooo, 'Malleus-Ultramar'?

Finished the Master of Signals. Like all my Ultramarines HQ dudes, he’s heavily blinged out. He’ll probably have a volkite charger in his right hand, or maybe a power weapon (mostly for looks).

I love the new models that are an homage to the old 40k days of yore. Excellent work!

I had some spare Ultramarines pauldrons, and rotor cannon look cool, so…

The Mk 3 dude is the only survivor of the original squad - maybe his name is ‘Animal Mother’. There is still a Sergeant to build.

And here are the Cataphractii, including the Librarian. They will have OOP Mk 3 helmets, as I think the larger heads make them look more beefy overall. I find the Cataphractii shoulder plates really annoying to assemble - they don’t seem very well designed.

Odd question... What bases are they on?

They are heavily modified GW Sector Imperialis bases (the ones that are manufactured in China). They are decent city-themed bases, but they need added detail and battlefield detritus to look any good. I give them as much texture as possible so that they will look when they've been drybrushed (like the bases on the Contemptors).

I'm looking for bases where I can use the Custodes at 40mm and slap in a Knight base that shares a theme, and that's been difficult, that's why I ask about bases.


You army looks so good as a whole. I'm super jealous of your modeling. After looking at Armies like yours, I wish I could do any real
conversions in my Custodes force between a few head swaps.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
I'm looking for bases where I can use the Custodes at 40mm and slap in a Knight base that shares a theme, and that's been difficult, that's why I ask about bases.

Those huge Knight bases are hard to deal with - especially if you trying to match the theme of smaller bases. You could use 40mm Necromunda bases (pretty common for HH), and get the Void War base set. This includes quite a lot of large panels that look very similar to the floor pattern on the Necromunda bases. You can also fill up Knight bases with large pieces of debris, like wrecked tank turrets etc. Any remaining gaps can then be covered in chopped-up sprue, representing rubble and girders.

You army looks so good as a whole. I'm super jealous of your modeling. After looking at Armies like yours, I wish I could do any real
conversions in my Custodes force between a few head swaps.

Thanks! This army mostly just involves adding bits from other kits - only the HQ models are heavily converted (I wish I was more proficient with greenstuff). I think Custodes would be quite hard to convert, given their design. Have you looked online to see what others have done with them?

Thanks for the help, I didnt mean to hijack your thread... the only conversions I routinely see for Custodes is to paint them in different colors and give them Henry Cavill heads....

I'm still scarred (mentally and physically) from a trip to Etsy third party Custodes land.

On a happier note:
You mentioned the Void War set, what's that from?