He had ruled the galaxy for an Age. A cluster of heavily industrialised planets orbiting around a single sun. No one knew how old he was, no one had even seen his face in generations, but all knew that his love for them was without bounds. He had brought light to the darkness, crushed Xenos enemies and human raiders alike, all the while creating worlds that fed, clothed and armed the people to become a place of peace and harmony. Deep inside his mountain keep, the Master of Man held all his people close, for he knew what was out there, how even the slightest utterance from the Old World could see this all come crumbling down.
His father had told him, and his father who came before - a long line of succession dating back to a time when this whole system was abandoned, left to build their own world on the ruins of the old. But now, as his Astrodivinators had eagerly reported, the Old World had come back and Hierophant Keltis Crannax, Mortus Pultii of the Fluvian Cluster, Protector Ultimus, Master of Man would have to take his people to war.
I've had this idea for quite some time now of what combatants my War Hounds Legion would come up against. Sure there would be Xenos, but one thing the War Hounds did very well was pacification - bringing the human worlds who had been separated for thousands of years back to the fold of the Emperor. So I wondered what these worlds would be like, socially, spiritually and militarily and that sent me on a path of kitbashing a force to face down the Great Crusade. There have been a few failures, but finally this idea struck me and once the iconography and the backstory came together, finally they were one.
The overall look of the Technocracy troops, the forces of the Heirophant, needed to be bulky, but not Space Marines. They are a military force that have conquered a system, repelled invaders from Orks to Eldar for thousands of years - they have to be strong and human, but have no traces of any touch of the Imperium or the Mechanicum. These guys have the STC patterns, they have developed their own guns, armour and technology not from a reverential fearful background, but from a background of never having forgotten.
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All the bits are Games Workshop or Forge World, just purely for ease of access on the bitz market and the amount of plastic kits. The MKIII legs were a must (though MKII were tested) and the torsos from the Kharadron Grundstok Thunderers gave the bulked up look needed. Stormcast could have also worked, but as I wanted more steampunk than Fantasy, these were perfect. MKII Forge World arms and Kharadron forearms worked together quite well but not perfectly as did extra bits and pieces from the Grundstok Thunderers kit, including the guns which are cut down from their weapons and Tigrus Pattern Bolters. I even cut the toes off the Grundstok Thunderers to get away from the MKIII toes on the legs - this worked amazingly well. I tried a whole lot of heads from across the GW ranges, but the Mechanicum, heads were perfect, even if the goggled-head now doesn't really do it for me.
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All the bits are Games Workshop or Forge World, just purely for ease of access on the bitz market and the amount of plastic kits. The MKIII legs were a must (though MKII were tested) and the torsos from the Kharadron Grundstok Thunderers gave the bulked up look needed. Stormcast could have also worked, but as I wanted more steampunk than Fantasy, these were perfect. MKII Forge World arms and Kharadron forearms worked together quite well but not perfectly as did extra bits and pieces from the Grundstok Thunderers kit, including the guns which are cut down from their weapons and Tigrus Pattern Bolters. I even cut the toes off the Grundstok Thunderers to get away from the MKIII toes on the legs - this worked amazingly well. I tried a whole lot of heads from across the GW ranges, but the Mechanicum, heads were perfect, even if the goggled-head now doesn't really do it for me.
The scheme for the troops came from nowhere really. I don't do a lot of metallics, but Balthazar Gold has been a favourite for a while so that was a totally different type of scheme which is really what I was after. I drybrushed the base with Golden Griffin and then washed the entire model with Agrax Earthshade Gloss. Then all the rivets and joins in the armour, around the arms and joins - everywhere - was painstakingly painted with normal Agrax Earthshade. This gave the metal an aged look and feel. This is basically what I do with Knight's armour too, but in a different palette - it's very effective for natural looking metals. The rivets and weapons are just Leadbelcher and Nuln Oil, nothing special.
As much as the miniatures looked cool before painting, the colour scheme just really makes them pop. I had thought of a colour for unit markings, but i'm worried it will just ruin them as the bronze is so thematic.
As much as the miniatures looked cool before painting, the colour scheme just really makes them pop. I had thought of a colour for unit markings, but i'm worried it will just ruin them as the bronze is so thematic.
Honestly I am very pleased with these. I may experiment with more and even try to expand the universe, but knowing me I'll get distracted, so this may very well be it.
Hope you like them - comments very welcome!
Hope you like them - comments very welcome!
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