From GregB - Thousand Sons Tactical Squad (100 points)

Thousand Sons Space Marines of the XV Legion Astartes. 28mm figures from GW.

For this week's submission I am back to a familiar setting, GW's "Horus Heresy" setting. This is a tactical squad of Space Marines belonging to the XV Legion Astartes, known as the "Thousand Sons". These Marines are wearing Mark VI power armour, known by fans of the setting as "beakie" armour for the pointed faceplate on the helmets. These are multi-part plastic 28mm, with some themed resin helmets and shoulder plates. 

A couple of the individual Marines.

View of the power packs.

I have painted a great number of these models since GW released them a couple of years ago, and I can't seem to ever get tired of them. I have always loved the classic "beakie" Space Marine armour pattern, and I have also been a huge fan of the Horus Heresy for a long, long time. So when GW finally brought these classic models back specifically for the Horus Heresy setting I was super-duper hooked, and have accumulated a rather, um, shall we say "significant" stockpile of these figures.

I love these particular poses.

Nice view of the embossed Legion symbol on the custom shoulder pads. Love these things - plus it saves on the decals a bit.

The Thousand Sons Legion is great fun, combining all of the violent combat potential of the Space Marines with an assortment of spooky psychic powers. They pursue and accumulate knowledge, as opposed to the other Space Marines who otherwise struggle to stand out from one another via varying degrees to which they are either violent, stoic, or violently stoic. 

Officer on the left, with a power sword (sporting a SKULL in the hilt!).

Of course, in GW's universe of the future, learning and knowing things doesn't tend to work out well for you in the end, and so it is for the Thousand Sons. By the "time" of Warhammer 40k, the remnant Thousand Sons are basically Flanderized parodies of their former selves. 

A sort of "must-have" for these big tactical squads - a vox operator and vexillary.

But during the "Age of Darkness", the Thousand Sons are wearing cool armour, with fun Egyptian-themed accents and all sorts of symbols etc. The custom enhancements are part of that, and I love how they look on the Marines.

The Heresy-era Thousand Sons are often seen sporting an awesome, metallic candy-red on their powered armour and vehicles. I love how that looks, but to do it properly, you need to use an airbrush, especially on vehicles. I had experimented with different possible approaches, but in the end have settled for a nice, basic red with white and gold accents, relying on the custom symbols to help them stand out from the other Space Marines who also use red (such as the Blood Angels). 

Vox operator (with a skull, because obviously) and vexillary at the front of the squad.

So for scoring, we have 20 infantry models in 28mm scale, which comes to 100 points. That's all for this week - thanks for reading! We also get THREE SKULLS. Not much, but I'll take it.

For a moment I was at a loss whether I was being buttered up or insulted, but having looked up "Flanderized" my mind is completely at rest now. Which is just as well, because now I can enjoy the lovely work you are presenting to us today, Greg. A great assembly of beaky Space Marines, I think they look splendid in their red armour suits and your painting is meticulous and crisp as ever. A great addition  to your large collection, and 100 well earned points!

Martijn