From GregB - Finishing AHPC XVI With The XVIth (20 points)

Siege Breaker Consul and assault marines from the Sons of Horus. Resin figures from GW/Forge World.

The time flies by, and like so many Challengers I'm just under the wire with this one. I wanted to conclude my run in the XVIth edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge with something fitting, and I figured some Space Marines from the XVIth Legion Astartes would do the trick. Here we have a Siege Breaker Consul and three assault marines in the fine colours of The Warmaster's own, the Sons of Horus.

Siege Breaker Consul

"So...anyone have anything that needs breaking?"

What does a "Siege Breaker Consul" do? Sounds like a bit of a made-up job...one has the impression he conducts sieges...but job title implies he "breaks" sieges so maybe his job is instead to bust up sieges attempted by opponents...who knows? But he clearly is out to break things. I mean, look at that hammer. Like they say, when you walk around with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Woe betide the foes of The Warmaster when this chap shows up. 

In addition to the giant hammer, he obviously has a really amazing wireless plan, with unlimited 5G data, great roaming options and no hidden fees...

Love that 5G intergalactic roaming in the year 30k...

I like the little portable data terminal attached to his power armour, with a little projected 3d map, presumably of some target he is about to annihilate via an orbital strike or some other manner of Age of Darkness doom. 

Bright yellow "safety grenades" on the rear of the power pack. This chap has all sorts of grenades.

This is a resin figure from GW's "Age of Darkness" range. I'm not the biggest fan of GW's resin, but thankfully things were not too bendy. Besides, he is wearing the Mark VI "beakie" power armour and, well, I'm a sucker any models wearing that kit! 

Assault Marines

Ready to jump into the action...

These are old, old resin figures - the marines are wearing Mark IV armour. They are resin models from Forge World, circa 2012. I have re-painted them to ensure their green armour matches that of the other Sons of Horus in my collection, part of my ongoing long-term program to placate the OCD hobby monkey in brain. 

Will re-painted figures suffer the same fate as newly-painted figures?

The officer has a comb on his helmet (hilarious) and an extra-large chainsword, for those jobs that need serious chopping. The other marines are kitted out in the more traditional bolt-pistol-and-chainsword combo common to the Astartes assault troops. With these three finished, I have completed the necessary repainting to put my old squad of 15 of these fellows back into the battle line - with a tone of green armour that will match that of their colleagues and thereby sooth the rampaging OCD hobby monkey in my head.

Love the double-handed chainsword. A silly weapon made even sillier. Brilliant.

So for points, we have a total of four 28mm foot figures in this submission- that should be good for 20 points. And that's that for me with AHPC XVI!

Big Thank You

I want to thank Curt and Sarah for hosting another edition of the Painting Challenge, and to thank all of the Challengers for sharing their work and their comments. I also want to thank everyone on the Thursday crew for their patience and their tremendous brushwork. Take care everyone...see you all again in December!

________________________________

A wonderful parting shot from you, dude, and made even better as they are from your favourite Legion of the Horus Heresy. The 'vintage' (is 2012 old enough for vintage - I think so) assault marines look excellent and suitably ferocious with their chainswords and heretical thoughts. But the star of the show is obviously the impressive 'Siege Breaker Consul'. Like you Greg, I'm somewhat mystified by his title, but like many thinks in the GrimDark Future I think its best not to ask silly questions. With his iPlate Pro and 'Task Hammer' he's obviously an important guy with important things to... blow up. Best to leave him to it. Fabulous figure though! I love the tablet detail that you've done and all his attendant kit is wonderfully painted. Fantastic stuff, my friend and four more fine additions to your heresy, er, liberator force. 

Finally, thank you for being our Thursday minion and for providing such great comments to so many of the entries this year. It really makes a difference. 

Same time next year? I think so!

- Curt 

From GregB: Saturnine Terminator Squad (45 points)

It's Saturnine time!

We have reached the final week of another Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. Time to cram a few more submissions over the line in a desperate rush for points! Probably the best place to start are some things I had told myself that I would "definitely finish some time during the Painting Challenge", but have been procrastinating about for one reason or another. It is in this spirit that I present to you this Saturnine Terminator squad. These are "28mm" multi-part plastic figures from GW's "Age of Darkness" setting (a.k.a. the Horus Heresy) painted in the fine colours of the XV Legion Astartes, the Thousand Sons. Because space wizards want to wreck sh*t too. 

"Let's blast something! Or smash it! I'm good either way!"

"Saturnine" kit is the "new big thing" for the 3.0 edition of GW's Age of Darkness rules. There is surely some lore for this armour variant and...well, I would share but for the fact that I haven't bothered to give it even a cursory scan, as it amounts to a farcically clumsy ret-con into the Horus Heresy story and I sort of don't care about the story. Suffice to say these are really, really big suits of powered armour, with impressive battlefield capabilities, big guns etc. etc. 

Note the blaster mounted on the power fist - so he can either punch someone OR shoot them even more!

These specific models are equipped with...I think that is some manner of "disintegrator" weapon on the one arm, while the oversized fist also sports a shorter-ranged blaster or flame-weapon of some kind. I would get the names, but that would involve encountering the Age of Darkness 3.0 rulebooks and...I can't be bothered. Rest assured the kit is all suitably super-duper-kill-things oriented.

I did not pose the legs very well on this one...looks like he is trying to step quietly or something, which is pretty silly, but whatever, he'll still fight on the table!

These models have a lot of components, and the instructions are not exactly clear in terms of the best ways to assemble them. To the credit of the designers, they want to offers hobbyists different options in terms of posing the feet and hands/weapons...but this goodwill is undone by the sheer "chonk factor" of these brutes. They crowd their bases, so there is not all that much to do with the legs, and the huge oversized, turtle-style upper shoulder sections crowd out any effort to meaningfully pose the arms. 

Close up on the ranged weapon. Cool looking gun - I'm sure it is super safe to use and poses no risks at all to its own side...

I recall GW came out very quickly with a "hey, here are a few tips from the studio" type article for assembling these models not very long after they hit the shelves. Naturally enough the studio guys offered an approach quite different from the one in the instructions....sigh...

Sub-assemblies - the "collars".

More sub-assemblies - the helmets. Took the opportunity to stick transfers on them too, before sticking them in the model.

A mid-point WIP photo. 

In terms of assembly and painting, these models are best thought of as small dreadnoughts, and there are so many overlapping sections that I recommend painting them in sub-assemblies. The "turtle shell" tops do not assemble easily, and you should probably put them on last AFTER you have painted the rest of the model, because they are so dominant that they make significant parts of the figure unreachable with a paintbrush - and yet they do not cover the ENTIRE top area, and so will leave any unreachable sections visible if they are not painted...that is the sort of combo that makes the OCD hobby monkey in my brain MENTAL.  

Close up on one of the helmets.

The head is a real challenge too - once more, a sort of "collar" goes over the head, but small parts of the internal area around the helmet will be visible even though the fit it very tight...so once more, sub-assemblies were called for. 

Maybe this is why these things sat around my painting table for so long. I had primed all of the bits prior to the start of AHPC XVI, convinced I would get them finished as part of my Challenge plan. But as my enthusiasm for Age of Darkness 3.0 really faded, I found other fun stuff to paint, telling myself that I would "do those Saturnine guys at the end." Well, here we are, so better get them done, right??? 

"Let's hit the town fellas!"

Good to have them over the line. If I ever do get them into a game, I'm sure they will cause a fair bit of havoc - even given the doom all newly-painted models seem to face, the rules for these Saturnine guys are pretty silly so they'll have a fun old time. I think you can even give them a psychic power? Which seems...bonkers...but then, to be sure, I would need to crack open the rule book and...I'll just figure it out some other time. 

For points, I am hoping to count Axehole 2.0 as a precedent, and mark them at 15 points each given their large size, which would bring this to 45 points. 

________________________________________________

Fabulous work on these oversized walking scarabs, er, Dreadnoughts, er, Terminators, Greg! You did a terrific job on picking out the models' details while maintaining the restraint to give them a cohesive look (i.e If you know the 30K lore, you know these are from the Thousand Sons). I cringe at your description of various sub assemblies and build strategies, as that seems like, well, too much work! Nonetheless, your efforts paid off handsomely, and they look ready to curb-stomp all library late-returners and Space Wolves (after they've diddled with their minds and shot them, of course).

I will follow the 'Axehold Precedent' and award 45 points for the herd. 

Well done in getting these over the finish line, dude!

- Curt

From StuartL: A Group of Lone Wolves (25 Points)

Hi all,

    Another short post from me this week. Work has been taking its toll and I have had barely enough time to paint, let alone chase squirrels. (An update to the Squirrel Duel is coming though). 

    This week I have managed to finish 5 models for my Space Wolf army for Warhammer 30,000. These minis are a mix of 30K and 40K parts from various different kits. There are some 30K armies that look fine just using the basic figures, and there are some that benefit from being a bit more thematic. I believe that the Space Wolves fall into that category.

    These models represent Deathsworn, an elite assault unit made up of somewhat mentally unstable, cold blooded killers, even by the regular genetically-enhanced murder-machine standards of Warhammer. Their rules are pretty good in 2nd edition 30K, as they synergize well with the Space Wolf Legion rules, which are all about getting stuck into combat quickly. 

    I've had comments before about my Space Wolves blending into their grey bases, which they clearly do. However, that is the basing scheme I chose for all my Heresy armies, so I guess I am stuck with it. 

    Five 28mm scale infantry should get me 25 points closer to my challenge target. It's not much, but it helps. They also come with 17 skulls for that duel and a squirrel point too.

    My ongoing duels information:

Skulls - 239 (+17)
BSRoD - 17 (+0)
Squirrels - 15 (+1) - D&D Animals, 30K Militia, Plague Clowns, Afghans, Robots, Anglo-Saxons, Medieval Polish, Clan Smoke Jaguar, 81st West Africans, Undead, 10mm FPW French, Daemons of Khorne, Modern Vehicles, Turnip28, Space Wolves

From Millsy:

I don't often miss stuff I've sold but when I saw these Stuart it made me think about my old metal Space Wolves and I do still miss them. Maybe it's the Viking aspect, or all the skulls and pelts, there's just something so appealing about them.

Great brushwork on these mate, especially the power weapons and shoulder decoration which both look awesome. They definitely have an "elite" feel to them.

25 points more towards your target. Good stuff.

Cheers,

Millsy

From GregB: Raven Guard Assault Optae (5 Points)

"Assault Optae" - Raven Guard Space Marine officer - multi-part plastic kit from GW with slight conversions.

I have only a small submission this week - a single figure - but it is one I have been looking forward to posting as it is connected to Curt and Sarah's pending visit! As Curt mentioned in his post last week, he and Sarah will be stopping for a short visit here in Toronto on their way back to Regina, and we will be looking to squeeze in as much gaming as possible amid good food and wine. As part of the hospitality, I have painted this figure up as a gift to Curt, so he can join the ranks of his new Horus Heresy "Kill Team" Project. 

It's just one figure. But even a single figure can still throw up a larger word count...so...buckle up...

The Basics

This is Space Marine Centurion in Mark II power armour, a slight conversion of a multi-part plastic kit from GW's latest "Age of Darkness" starter box. The figure is meant to be wearing a massive, billowing cloak (as one does) while sporting an insane vexilla on the top of a slightly fancy version of the power pack commonly seen on Space Marine power armour. I have done away with the cloak and some of those other bibs and bobs to give him the jump pack of an assault marine instead. This was done for a few reasons.

Legion numeral on the shoulder plate - and a nice view of the insane jump pack. 

The first reason is the most important: I wanted him to fit in! Curt's initial "Shattered Legions" Raven Guard force for "Kill Team" looks to be built mostly around Raven Guard assault marines - the crazy(er) ones who wear "jump packs" and to get to grips with their enemies at close range. So if this fellow is going to participate in Curt's squad, he should be wearing the appropriate gear. In their recent wave of releases GW has issued a new set of plastic kit assault marines in Mk II armour (they are awesome - just haven't got around to panting any of em' yet), and the whacky jump pack from those kits fits perfectly on this fellow's armour. 

I added a custom shoulder plate with the embossed Raven Guard legion symbol to complete effect. I also tried my best to match the dark colours and dark look Curt achieved on his guys. Critically, I was able to find a washer-type base, so hopefully he'll fit in without too much trouble. 

Another view of the crazy jump pack - and we can see the "power maul" is large enough to be wielded with both hands, should the occasion call for it.

The MkII armour has lots to recommend it to fans of the Horus Heresy setting. Lots of segments and plates, a less-efficient-yet-more menacing overall appearance. This centurion model retains all of those elements, but adds heaps the "bling" associated with Space Marine Legion officers. The effect is tremendous in my opinion. You can't see his face, but he still "looks" annoyed. It's a great miniature, and really neat that GW has taken the time issue plastic kits for the Mk II marines.

And yet...up above, I say, "the first reason". That implies more than one reason I did not build this kit as GW intended...read on...

Adventures In Modern Plastic Modeling

I mentioned above that this figure, as originally designed, is wearing a big cape (as one does), vexilla etc. He even has a friendly servo-skull (probably an old friend that he wanted to, er, "keep around").  The "intended" finished figure is indeed a fine-looking 30k specimen, sporting all of the very best, whacky 30k Space Marine silliness that Horus Heresy fans enjoy. I did manage to complete a version of this original figure. Here is how he turned out, painted in the colours of the VI Legion Astartes, the Space Wolves.

Space Wolf Centurion wearing Mk II armour, accompanied by his buddy, a floating skull because 30k. Painted last summer/fall. 

He turned out OK. But it was a hell of an adventure to get here - and required a replacement of the left shoulder plate (of course, I am the sort of dork who would have plenty of those handy, but still). You see, the original figure, as conceived by GW, looks beautiful in theory but is almost impossible to assemble as-is in practice. There is no way in which one can assemble the cape, the power pack and the shoulder plates in a fashion even remotely/distantly resembling the method laid out instructions. 

There is no physical way to get this...

...when trying to follow this....

Trying to follow those instructions lead to desperate repair attempts. The cloak needs to, at once, go under AND over the vents of the power pack. THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE once the power pack itself is already fastened to the back of the model. Even proceeding cautiously ended in desperate repair attempts as it became clear I had made a major mistake by following the published instructions..such repair attempts don't always go well, as we see here... 

For f*ck sakes!! This is what happens when you need to make repairs...

This is why you often see alternate versions of this figure posted online, as I have done here - because the cape, power pack and shoulder plates defy assembly in any reasonable fashion, or even an unreasonable one for that matter. This is what happens when the people who design things with computers are not the ones who have to build and paint them, IMO. Oh well. 

The Final Bit - A Back Story

OK. Enough about the modeling - let's get back to this specific miniature! I know Curt loves the story aspect of gaming, and so this fellow would need a back story too. While I have not named him, I have that story ready...

He see him as an "Assault Optae", a veteran of The Emperor's Great Crusade, hailing from Terra! He has served in the XIX Legion for centuries of fighting! This sort of provenance would be ideal in a warrior, one would think, but...well, in the Horus Heresy story, this would breed division within the Legions. 

The "Great Crusade" lasted centuries. The Space Marines Legions all started with Terran "recruits", but as the Crusade expanded across the galaxy, the sources of recruits expanded too, and ultimately shifted to whichever homeworld their Primarchs were discovered on. As Primarchs took over their legions, they tended to distrust those officers who had been serving with the Legion prior to their arrival - they looked to the fellow Marines raised on the new homeworld, and looked slightly askance at those of Terran lineage. 

Now, those "Terrans" were still loyal - and desperate to prove it - but these were among the issues that led to divisions building slowly within the Legions over the decades, ones the Horus and his dark allies would ultimately exploit. The "Terran core" of each legion was gradually sidelined.

Handy Raven Guard symbol embossed on the shoulder plate.

Different Legions handled this generational distrust in different ways - in some, these Terran veteran officers were merely sidelined, while in others they were sent toward certain death in battle, or they were sent off on pointless missions to the other side of the galaxy. Some were just quietly fragged and re-processed. 

Corax, Primarch of the Raven Guard, took the "I'll just let attrition handle some and sideline the others" approach. I see this fellow as a survivor of this. When word of Horus' betrayal broke, and the Raven Guard were mustered to attack the Traitor Legions on Istvaan V, this fellow was among the few thousand left behind as part of the garrison to keep an eye on the Raven Guard homeworld. Nothing personal, of course, no official reason - someone has to keep watch, after all - but he would know why, everyone would know why. 

Crazy gun? Check. Crazy "power maul"? Check. Let's get some revenge...

Betrayed at Istvaan V, the shattered survivors of the Raven Guard would have been rescued by guys like this officer. He is at the forefront now...he'll still never be fully trusted by Corax, but there really are not many officers left...not many Raven Guard left! So he is at the forefront of the vengeful battle to bleeed and harry the forces of The Warmaster as they march across the galaxy toward Terra and destiny. 

He is gutted that he was not there to face the dire fate of the Raven Guard on Istvaan V. Even though he helped rescue the survivors, it is a guilt that drives him. Maybe he will never prove himself to his Primarch - not fully - but he will work to ease his "survivor guilt" by opening the skulls of as many traitor Marines as he can manage...the fan-made version of "Kill Team" is perfect for games/scenarios with these sort of dynamics at play. I hope Curt enjoys him!

That's too many words. But it's still just one 28mm figure for five points. If you made it to here, thanks for reading! Hope to be back next week with more. 

 

==========================

Sylvain: I Greg, is your middle name "Black Library"? Now I can't look at this miniature without feeling his inner guilt... Excellent job on that "one" figure. Extraordinaire!

 

From GregB: More Legions Imperialis Marines (44.5 points)

Some more "Legions Imperialis" Space Marines - these ones in the lovely green of the Warmaster's own legion, the Sons of Horus.

I have been doing a lot of painting, but I'm not too focused on any particular project. Thus my efforts are spread all over the place, and I've very little to show in terms of actual completed work. Thus I'm back this week with only a few odds and ends from GW's "Legions Imperialis" game, the reboot of the classic small-scale "Epic" game set in the Horus Heresy setting. There are elements from two different Legions Astartes - the Sons of Horus and the Thousand Sons. 

XVI Legion - The Sons of Horus

High command base for the Sons of Horus.

To the surprise of nobody, I already have a chunk of figures painted for this, the finest of the Legions Astartes. But you can always use more basic infantry. And in the case of the Sons of Horus, my initial efforts really disappointed me...I was pleased with the vehicles, but my method on the original infantry looked sloppy - I didn't care for how the green turned out. And if you don't like the green...well...the Warmaster won't be pleased, will he?

Tactical Marines and their Rhino APCs.

I had assumed I would not be able to replicate the green recipe from my 28mm collection on these smaller troops. But decided to experiment with it...and...well, it's actually not too bad! I like these much more. I painted up a high-command stand, and then a tactical detachment comprised of four bases. They also have Rhino APCs to give them a ride on the battlefield. 

Re-painted dreadnoughts - I like these much better!

Chuffed with the results on the infantry, I pulled the dreadnoughts I had completed before out of the box...knowing now that I could have done the nicer green on them drove me nuts - the OCD hobby monkey in mind started to scream and break things, so I opted to do a re-paint on them. Boom - OCD monkey at peace...for now...

Mobile fire support - Rapier on the right, "Quad Launcher" on the left.

To keep building up the firepower we have a couple of tracked fire-support platforms. Long-time Space Marine fans will probaly recognize the Rapier. The other one is a "quad launcher" - heir to the famous "Thudd Guns" of yore. There are supposed to be four tracked platforms in the unit, but I f*cked up a pair of the chassis from the box, so the XVI Legion will have to settle for a pair of them for now. 

Ready to drop some ordnance on those who would defy the Warmaster!

Finally, the Whirlwind is a classic mobile artillery support system for the Space Marines. The plastic kists for these are just lovely, and they allow for you to make two variants. These are "Scorpius" variants, with ammunition that hits vehicles a little harder at the expense of covering a much smaller target area. I just love the look of these things. Again...the kits have LOTS of tiny pieces, so assemble with care, but, wow, credit where credit is due - these are just a real treat to paint up.

XV Legion Astartes

A bit more fire support for Magnus' sons. 

A much smaller component for the Thousand Sons, but considering this collection is just getting started, they'll take it!

Beakies with shark-fin-style missile launchers - a classic!

Rhino APC with fancy markings for the "devestator" unit. 

Up first we have heavy support marines and their Rhino APC. If you look carefully, fans will recognize the classic "shark-fin" style missile launcher has been replicated in this scale. Now, this is a bit of a b*tch, as they come in two parts! But whatever frustration caused in gluing these tiny Marines together is lost once you are painting them - just wonderful to have "beakie" style Marines with these weapons. 

Mobile rocket artillery for the Thousand Sons.

Even space wizards need mobile firepower...

Finally, since I had assembled all of the Whirlwinds from the box, I thought I would paint two of them up for the Thousand Sons as well. You get eight models in a box, so there is still more to do there - maybe I'll even paint some for the poor loyalists? 

Let's get to the tally of points:

39 x 6mm infantry: 18.5 points

2 x 6mm crewed guns: 2 points

12 x 6mm vehicles: 24 points

Total: 44.5 points 

That's all for this week - hope to have more stuff next week. Cheers!

=========================================

Sylvain: How can you make so many details pop out on these tiny models? Maybe I need some of your painting recipe? Anyway, another smashing demonstration of your mastery of everything 30k. The master will be pleased, very pleased indeed. Fabuleux!

 

 

From StuartL: Even in death, I still serve (20 points)

Hi all,

    Just a short post from me this week. I work part-time teaching junior high school students to speak English here in Japan. I have roughly 300 students at any given time, and this month is when they write essays. So, I have 300 essays to proofread and spell check. Fun. Unfortunately that really eats into my painting time. I had hoped to get more done for today, but even getting this done was a struggle.

    This model is a contemptor dreadnought of the XIII Legion, Ultramarines for my Warhammer 30,000 army. (Well, one of them). It is an older plastic kit from the Betrayal at Calth box set that came out in 2015. The model is very mono-pose, so I used a spare arm from the newer kit to build it's melee arm, complete with a massive chainfist and built-in melta gun.

    I originally had the model done yesterday, except for the decals, but when I went to apply them, I had a number of mishaps. The first few just would not release from the backing paper and wound up disintegrating instead. Once I got a new batch cut and ready, the first one went on fine, but as I moved the model to set up the next one, I touched it and it adhered to my finger. The decal on the kneepad refused to line up where I wanted it. It was.... frustrating.

    Eventually, I got everything in place and varnished, so those pesky things are there for good now.

    One of the differences between Warhammer 30K and 40K is that the 30K models have less skulls on them, a travesty, I know. So I did what any right thinking person would do and added some of my own. There are only 4 skulls, so not an amazing increase. I will take what I can get. It also adds to my Big Stompy Robots count for that side duel. Not enough for a Squirrel point sadly.

    This is a single 28mm scale vehicle, so 20 points for my tally this week. Not a lot, but it keeps my score moving in the right direction.

    My ongoing duels information:

Skulls - 222 (+4)
BSRoD - 17 (+1)
Squirrels - 14 (+0) - D&D Animals, 30K Militia, Plague Clowns, Afghans, Robots, Anglo-Saxons, Medieval Polish, Clan Smoke Jaguar, 81st West Africans, Undead, 10mm FPW French, Daemons of Khorne, Modern Vehicles, Turnip28

    That's it from me for now, back to the proofreading. See you all next week.

From Millsy:

Your line about "right thinking people" and extra skulls made me laugh mate. Clearly you are fully invested and anyone who thinks differently is a heretic and should be purged!

As someone who has been suffering the pain of decals of late I can sympathise. Seems like there is no way to know if a set have degraded until you try to apply them unfortunately. They came out well in the end so kudos for persisting! He looks sweet and the script on his chest is a great touch.

Well done! That's another 20 points added to your tally.

Cheers,

Millsy

From GregB: Contemptor-Osiron Pattern Dreadnought for 30k-era Thousand Sons (20 points)

"That museum exhibit has armed itself! Run for your life!" - A Thousand Sons Contemptor-Osiron pattern dreadnought.

This submission features some more kit for my growing collection of XV Legion Astartes, the Thousand Sons, in GW's Horus Heresy setting. This is a "Contemptor-Osiron pattern" dreadnought, a 28mm multi-part resin kit (with plastic weapons) from Games Workshop's "Age of Darkness" figure range. This was originally a Forge World model, now available from GW at large.

Autocannons, ready for action!

The dreadnoughts of the 30k setting are functionally heavy combat armour suits used by the Space Marines for various battlefield support purposes. There is a "pilot" in there, so to speak, but there is a catch (because of course there is!). This "pilot" is actually near-dead Space Marine, rescued from battlefield wounds that were somehow not quite terrible enough to kill him but still terrible enough to put him near-death. What happens to these fellows? Why they just get plugged into a dreadnought, and, voila! Your existence of endless warfare in The Emperor's name can continue! Lucky you! 

"I'm FINE. Yes. Really.STOP ASKING."

In the case of the Thousand Sons, there is an extra wrinkle. Sometimes this nearly-dead-but-not-totally-dead XV Legion Space Marine is also a capable psyker. What to do then? Why, plug his bits into one of these special "Osiron" dreadnoughts, of course! That way he can wander around the battlefield shooting things, punching things AND leveraging his mastery of mysterious warp powers! It's the best of all worlds! Unless you are the one trapped in this thing...but hey...I think everyone can relax. I mean, it's not like having psychic abilities and visions while trapped inside an armoured sarcophagus for near-eternity would cause any sort of extra mental stress or trauma. Right? I'm sure it's all fine...and we all know everything turned out great for the Thousand Sons in the end.

Also equipped for...close combat? Harvesting grain? Maybe both?

All of the Space Marine Legion collections in the Horus Heresy have custom bits designed for them, capturing the look that makes them "unique". In the case of the Thousand Sons, that "unique" look is generally an answer to the question "what would happen if the local ancient Egyptian history exhibit somehow came alive and armed itself with futuristic science-fiction weapons"? It is more than a little silly, but I love it and I'm here all day for it! 

The Forge World sculptors went to town on this crazy thing. We get a lot of crazy pseudo-ancient-Egypt accents - which are great - on various parts of the armour (mysterious etching, scarabs galore). We get a pile of extra cables and extra connectors near the "helmet", speaking to the extra bits in the armour helping to manage the psychic capabilities of the "pilot". Finally, to make things extra nuts, there is the end-of-days-sized khopesh-style blade affixed to the end of the power fist. 

Like...how does that even work? Do you impale enemies on the blade, and then...punch them...somehow? Or is that not even for combat, but some kind of agriculture-related side gig the dreadnought handles between combat assignments? 

Ah, who cares? The "pilot" will have a near-eternity to figure it out, after all.

Gotta love the vestments on this crazy thing!

And topping it all off, he has VESTMENTS. Because obviously! What kind of near-dead-psychic combat master goes to battle entombed in a battlesuit WITHOUT a prayer cloth? That would be crazy!

Woohoo! Magnets without a total catastrophe!!

Modelling-wise, I was chuffed that I managed to figure out how to install magnets on the ranged-weapon mount of the right arm! Most normal hobbyists are able to make use of magnets with no problem, but I am, at best, a very "average" model-builder, and tend to be a total f*cking disaster with magnets, no matter how careful I am. This time it worked out! I'll paint up some more ranged weapon options for this fellow at a later point - for now, the paired auto-cannons will do. 

Pseudo-Egyptian glyphs etched into the armour.

I hoped to get a bit of an interesting effect with the markings etched into the legs and shoulder. It was a chance to try and make use of the Contrast Paint/Speed Paints at last! I have always found these to be a hobby product that is a solution-looking-for-a-problem sort of tool. The results were...mostly just OK, but in aggregate I still like how the effect came out.

Now THAT is a can-opener...

I also wanted to make the whacky khopesh look a little more dramatic, so I added decals along the blade, and tried to have a little fun with them. Once more, Contrast Paints were applied in the hopes of achieving something of an "effect. Again the result is...OK...I should try and catch a tutorial on how to do cool blade effects sometime...but for now this will do, as the overall model is just so whacky.

Size comparison with "The Axehole", painted earlier during the Challenge. Things will get dramatic when these two hit the town!

As a newly-painted model, I'm confident this fellow will have no problems at all when he makes his battlefield debut! Right?   

Scoring-wise, we have a single 28mm vehicle, worth 20 points. 

Cheers,

GregB

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Sylvain: When the title of the post is about 30k and the author is GregB, I go get a treat before reading because I know it's gonna be good. Another great story and another great model. The level of details  you achieved on this miniature is just ter-hieroglyphic! (yikes!) You make me want to start my own 30k army, but then I know I won't have the same passion to paint all these tiny symbols. Bravo!