Of Renegades and Comm-link Stations

No, I haven't been super-productive and finished all these lovely models in the 5 days since I've finished Kalyustar. In fact, they were ready before I started working on him, but I hadn't the time to post them. You know, real life getting in the way of the hobby.

The Renegades known as Marduk's Heralds were a project I had in mind since painting the baddies from Assassinorum: Execution Force. I simply kept postposing it as Age of Sigmar was taking all of my the attention. But with the release of the new edition of WH40k and the beginning of our campaign in the Malfactus Rift I returned to it. I wanted to turn the three Chaos Sapce Marines from Assassinorum into a full squad, but I wanted to do it on a budget.

I had a couple of sprues of Tactical Marines left over from my Iron Hands army, all the unused bits from the Chaos Terminator Lord and Chaos backpacks kindly thrown into our commonal bits box by my gaming mates, which made for a really good starting point. However, I was still missing a few arms, heads and shoulder pads. After an afternoon rummaging in said commonal bits box, I fished out Chaos Warriors heads and arms, Chaos Forsaken shoulder pads and a Plague Monk banner giving me all the bits I needed. I didn't have enough weapons to give all the basic Marines the same equipment, but with the new rules mixing equipments is finally viable gamewise, so I didn't bothered at all!

The colour scheme was already set since I painted Marduk Fatebender, so I simply replicated the purple and magenta armour with green, yellow and brown as spot colours.

Marduk Fatebender

The ruined comm-link station, instead, was a new idea that emerged as we were planning scenarios for the Malfactus Rift campaign. In fact, in the narrative for that campaign, this terrain will represent a failing Astronomicon Repeater. Although, with Malign Portents and Dread Solstice having drawn us back into the Mortal Realms, we don't know when we are actually going to play that game!

I've combined a Thermic Plasma Regulator with Ryza Ruins, using an old movement tray (who said they became useless after Age of Sigmar release?) for the flooring. For the antenna I've used various Eldar and Imperium vehicles bits, again fished from the commonal bits box. The cooler (?) I cut to make room for the antenna ended up as some sort of control panel on the platform.

I painted the comm-link station to match my Mancunius Dome terrains, but going for reddish walls to distinguish it from the more hab-block like terrains I already had.

A corner of Mancunius Dome

The rusted metal was painted by stippling brown, orange and metail paints onto the model. In doing so, the antenna came of, but it was good as I then repositioned it, leaving more space on the platform so that taller models can be placed on it.

I'm not sure when they all will see the tabletop, but sure they will.

Assassinorum: The Renegades

It took me more than a year, as I dabbed into so many other projects, but finally I've finished painting the Renegades from Assassinorum: Execution Force. I decided to paint them in a colour scheme matching the Cult of Divine Illumination, a Delaque Gang/Astra Militarum force I've painted a while ago. The idea is to use the two forces as a single army of Chaos Cultists.

 

Marduk the Fatebender

Nobody really knows from which chapter the vile sorcerer known as Marduk the Fatebender hails from. Some in the Inquisition says he once was Epistolary Mordechai of the Executioners Chapter, recorded as missing in action during the Badad Wars. Others maintain he was a Blood Raven librarian that turned his back on his chapter during the Second Aurelian Crusade. What is sure is that Marduk will stop at nothing in his quest to piece together the lore and artefacts that will allow him to cross the Crystal Labyrinth, reach the Impossible Fortress and learn the secrets of true power from the voice of his master, Tzeentch itself.

The Loreseekers

Raised on Byzanthia II, these cultists were once the guards of the Sanctum Sapientia, a cathedral built during the Scouring to seal away the essence of the Lord of Change Aran'khilan the Wisperer. When Marduk's forces attacked the Sanctum and freed the daemon, the men fell to its maddening influence and ever since have joined Marduk's warband in the search for forbidden knowledge.

 The Cultists were the only models on which I did some conversions, so that they are slightly more flexible when playing 40k. I gave a shotgun and flamer, fished from my bitsbox, to two of them. Some cutting and shaving of plastic, a piece of wire and a little greenstuff and I was sorted.

The Fatebender's Heralds

The Heralds are utterly loyal to their master. Whether they hail from the same chapter or from another Renegade factions that joined him recognising his greatness in the eyes of Tzeentch, is unknown, but under Marduk's leadership they have scoured countless seats of knowledge across the Imperium.

I have some unassembled Space Marines ad all the leftover bits from the Terminator Lord sprue, so, at some point in the future I'll kit-bash another six Renegade Space Marines to have a proper congregation of servants of Tzeentch.