XVI Company, XVI Legion, Small Sons of Horus Army

- Preface to Chapter XXIV, Tipping the balance, in Imperial historian Oraius Peet‘s A Complete History of the Legiones Astartes during the Horusian Schism, Vol. II (Suppressed by Inquisitorial order for its dubiously impartial nature).





‘Horus is coming! Throw down your arms and pray He is merciful! Hail the Warmaster! Horus is coming! Hail Horus!’


- Full-spectrum voxburst broadcast to major population centres of Grandia upon arrival of XVI Legion craft in orbit.


FRAGMENT+++

FRAGMENT ENDS+++

‘Horus is here! One in ten of your offspring will be spared if you embrace the rule of the Warmaster. If not, not one of you will see the next dawn’.


- Ultimatum issued to the Imperial Governor of Grandia.



Radukan

- Sergeant Radukan, on the loss of the XVI Company banner during initial skirmishes with Grandian PDF forces.




Hello there, me again. Rather than reanimate my DG/NL blog I thought I'd start afresh for this project as I really want to get it nailed down and finished. Having treated myself to a marine megaforce and a healthy FW order for Xmas, I resolved to use up my remaining resin bases and build a Heresy-era Emperor's Children force; 6 squads of 6 marines, a dread, droppod, Reedemer and LS Storm. I even bought a load of sonic weapons too, but found I couldn't quite nail the right tone of purple.

So then I read Know No Fear, saw the Ultra/WB thread and they became Word Bearers. But then I couldn't square away wanting a loyalist/dark grey/early armour marks force with red Gal Vorbak units. It worked timeline-wise, just about, but I wanted innocent WBs, dammit!

So then I ended up with Horus' finest. No innocence here, only degrees of guilt. (Aximand's axiom, surely). And another paint-based challenge. I came this close to binning the project for a third time; I went through test model after test model, some too woeful to ever show on here, before, at the point of defeat, the right mix of grey-green fell almost apologetically onto my palette. We were on.





So here's Veteran Sergeant Smik ( ), who volunteered for duty having retired from his previous life of crusading as a Black Templar many, many moons ago. (Hence the mould lines, undrilled barrel and bl'dy great big Aquila plastered all over his chest).

Apologies for the poor pic, I have real light issues, it's either blindingly bright in the morning or desparately dull for the rest of the day. Can't really make out the highlights, but they weren't done very well anyway, I know I can get them right now tho'. But anyway, yes, a pale green. Apologist's Sons leant a little more towards the greyish-blue look (although he didn't use those colours), and mine ended up somewhere between BigWill's and Dargor's. I'm happy with it. Not too complicated either.

More progress as it comes. Thanks for looking, oh and tl; dr? Sons of Horus!




‘Horus is here! Those who take their own lives will be the luckiest of all of you! The rest will wish they were as wise’.

- Blanket broadcast after Imperial refusal of terms.

I always love to see more Sons of Horus my favorite army.
I hope you make little paragraphs for every guy,they are enjoyable to read.
I love that Missing Banner story hope you go more into it.
Really nice "Sea Green" you got there.
I'll be watching this one.

Well done , keep us posted.

FRAGMENT+++

FRAGMENT ENDS+++



‘The Sons of Horus are coming! You have refused the Warmaster’s most beneficent offer, and he will not extend his mercy again’.


- Final XVI Legion broadcast prior to commencement of ground assault.



Xilon



Xilon, Champion of the Lodge and XVI Company’s Chosen.

Armed for close combat with the finest weapons available to the company, Xilon is widely regarded as the finest swordsman in the XVI [Company]. A serious, driven warrior attached to the unit commanding XVI Legion forces on Grandia, he has taken the loss of the company colours as a personal humiliation.

- Xilon, on the death of Berabus, and his attempts to reclaim the Eye.




Zakiah

- Zakiah, of Ibaka warrior squad, on the aftermath of the Grandian debacle.


Thanks for looking guys. So I posted a little more, and BigWill, the lost banner is the central theme of the fluff and the army, so you'll be seeing a lot more of the quotes as I try and tease out the story piece by piece.

Hmm, now just what could poor Berabus have done?

Too bad they do not make child models
You could model one wearing it as a superman cape

Ahn Lok

- Ahn Lok, of Ibaka warrior squad, on his own recollection of the incident.


Bassa

- Amyn Bassa, Standard bearer to Aghnoron squad, on the insinuations that other forces may have been involved in the loss of the company standard.

The plot thickens... A small update for today. Built a standard bearer, which I always enjoy doing, they're an obvious focal point for a squad and armies as a whole. Not actually a massive fan of the Umbra (?) pattern bolt pistols on reflection; they're a trifle overscaled. Would like some Tigrus pattern pistols in the future.

Tried some basic editing as well, not something I've done before, just to see what's what.

Will probably build the entire infantry force before painting coveyor belt style, which breaks down as;

3 X 7 man Warrior (tactical) squads

5 man Chieftain (Command) squad

5 man Veteran squad (possibly from 1st Co. painted black).

5 man scout squad + LS Storm

A Ven dread and Land Raider are also nominally attached, but I really want a Contemptor for this force, and the Raider has FW Aquila doors (from when this was an EC project), and unless I think of a plausible reason for that, I may have to fork out for a new one

Also wanna kitbash a ten man Mk. IV assault squad out of the new FW stuff but need more bases. Oh, and a librarian...

Anyhoo, more as it comes.

@BigWill; It's a company banner, they could probably make a whole team's worth of kit out of it!

Athanax

- Dar Athanax, standard bearer to Ibaka, on whether the loss of the Company standard would affect future company actions.

+++

Another small update if you please. I do love standard bearers! This is a new one on me tho', using a GK halberd. Think it works. Made sure the length is the same as all the other one-handed poses.

Looks like he's stomping down the slope to smash up some puny humans. After all, who needs a weapon when you're a seven foot tall post-human killing machine with a twelve foot metal pole in your fists? (Having said that, I did give him a holstered pistol, one can never be too careful).

I crumbled and ordered myself another Land Raider. I have fairly ambitious plans for it, both in terms of construction and paint scheme. To give you some idea, there will be ten heavy bolters involved....

Also ordered an Ork Bommer. An ork flyer you say? For a heresy-era marine versus human PDF scenario you say? Yes I do say, so watch this space!

I do love these squad-level standard bearers! It's like the vexillaries from the Roman legions, and it makes a great focal point for the squad.

Consider that idea yoinked!

I'm going to yoink it too.

But where do you find all the names for these roman things?!

Vexillaries, pteruges, etc etc. Have I missed the 'latin/roman names for gamers' info page?!

He reads books about Romans.......
Jeeze get out of the Sci-Fi section of the bookstore sometime
And the Graphic Novel rack does not count


And as for the idea,seems you started a trend

This post has been edited by BigWill on Jun 3 2012, 04:06 PM

I also love the idea of individual squad standards, so I may surreptitiously do some yoinking as well!

As for the individual character fluff, it is excellent. Engaging as little snippets of a story and utterly believably Forty Kay. Congratulations Brother Handro, on a pretty damn good blog so far!

Please feel free to yoink my pole, one at a time please... but seriously thanks guys.

Not entirely sure I can claim credit for the idea/parts. I'm sure I've seen it once on this board or its previous incarnation, but I've never found it before or since, here or anywhere else. Maybe it was a dream! Nor have I seen standards with GK parts either. Definately getting the patent on that!

Anyhoo, just so this isn't a pic-less post, you've inspired me to write the next part of the story...

Gathering Strength

On the Move

I actually have seven of the blighters now, not all Sons, but with a least another coming in for the XVIth at some point.

I've just finished the ending of the story at the gates of the Emperor's Palace today. Though it won't be posted here for a few months (and even that's optimistic at the rate I update!) I thought I'd record the fact for posterity in the event that (1) somebody has the same idea and posts it first (unlikely) or (2) Black Library get to the Siege of Terra and definitively rewrites it for me (much more likely).

As an aside, as a thank you for all the inspiration to the boards here and elsewhere in general and to some in particular, certain suspiciously familiar-sounding names will be infiltrating their way into my squads. They'll be subtle tho'. Real subtle.
For example Xilon's pose is an almost entire rip-off of a Marine Malevolent built by 1000heathens over on B&C. 1000heathens - 1000 - into Greek Xilia - Xilon. See if you can spot yourself!

Still I await my Bommer and Land Raider but I'm now neck-deep in Grandian PDF fluff to keep me busy....

thanks for looking!

Pride of Cthonia

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So I just finished this, possibly the oldest FW Prometheus you're ever likely to see, unless you own the one in the website photos! Simple additon of a turret ring and now it is a temple of shooty death!

It ws given to me for free(!) by my local GW back in the good old days when customer service was second to none. Think I'd ordered some Thawks/Starhawks for BFG and they took so long to arrive they gave me the Prometheus kit for free as a sort of sorry/promo, back when nobody except the rich/pro-modeller used FW. Probably around 2003, maybe, how long has FW been going now?
It's the original yellow/white resin but the fit was pretty good.

Do people think the top deck is a little cluttered? I've just found some DK tank filters that would look good but it might seem too crowded.

...Those filters are from the Mars Alpha with Ryza turret Russ I've just built. It's been hanging around a year or so now but is finally complete. In addition, I dug out a rather sorry looking armoured fist squad and chimera (glue all over and mouldlines aplenty) from the hobby cupboard of doom. The chimera now has a FW autocannon turret (knew they would come in handy! ) and will form the spearhead of my Grandian PDF along with an unbuilt Malcador.

Grandian PDF so far;

-10 troopers
w/ Chimera

-Leman Russ

-Malcador

-Invader pattern strike craft

Here the scheme I'm settled on;




The colours on the painter probably don't match the paints IRL, and the painter uses the old paints, so it's more of a general idea and hope I can find new paints to match up.

Now a plea for info. I wouldn't totally be against using Cadian heads for the force, but I'd prefer something to make it seem more believable as a 30k force. I'm aware of Pig Iron, Maxmini tox guardsmen and the FW Elysian respirators, but has anyone else got any good suggestions for that sort of style of gasmask head?

Much appreciated.

Loving the attention to the fluff and detailing you are lavishing on these guys, I will be stealing ideas from you shamelessly!

The turret on the LR looks great, and would look even better on the top of the new Spartan

Having seen these 'in the flesh' as it were, I can soundly say that they are excellent! Nice work on the fluff and great poses - I wish I could pose that well (with models I mean...what what!).

Keep at it, and dont let our super secret side project interfere! Hush hush!

@Sheep: Thanks for the support man. Although it's more likely that I will be stealing from your log than vice versa! Although my fluff is long-winded I find it much more satisfying than just speed-building and -painting faceless minions with little or no backstory. (That's what my guard are for!)

At the end of the day, we're all here because we like storytelling.

@Der_H: Ah, and so you finally step out of the shadows brother...and it only took a little arm-twisting

As for modelling poses, as I've said previously, I give a lot of the credit to the bases, working with them to create a dynamic or heroic (but not OTT) pose, basically by having one foot higher than the other. Simple!

And as far as our secret project goes, it fits into this thread for now;


Zev Zevaddon, Sergeant, Ulper Terminator squad, Sons of Horus 1st Co.

-Sergeant Zevaddon, on the breaking of their oaths to the Emperor.



Here's the first of many! Fancy plasticard bases yet to be contructed!

Thanks for looking!

A smidgin of progress here; although I'm working on my SoH terminators for Space Hulk, and like many awaiting FW's bounty, I dug out a venerable Dread I got for Xmas (time flies worrying by) and gave it a simple cut and shut conversion I saw on the Intertubes somewhere.






And with little brother





Dreads always look so cool until you realise they're about an inch and a half shorter than a sentinel...there's only one known cure...Contemptor upgrade!

Soon hopefully...

I think I'll use the plain front plates so I can use SoH FW transfers or brass etch (hopefully!)

I'm thinking a black scheme, as a fallen member of the Justaerin.

Thanks for looking!

Progress to report for the mighty XVIth!


Finally bought some Grey Knights Terminators and pillaged the helmets,
so here's first of ten terminators for my Space Hulk/Zone Mortalis/boarding actions campaign with Der_H.








As ever I seem to make my minis look better on the rear than the front but oh well...







Shonky pics as ever.
This is the first time I've ever really properly tried using FW powders, (it's disheartening on white tanks), but thanks to many on this board, and most notably inspired by Sheep's heavily weathered Sons, I had a go. I think it's come off reasonably well.

Pleased with the base also, this is the worst of the ten I've built, because the legs were stuck to the base before I built it!

What do you guys think?

Thanks for looking!