Celestial Lions Chaplain (Part 1)

 Recently I decided to slightly upgrade my Celestial Lions from being a 1st edition Kill Team to a small force with just enough models to fill out 750 points. One of these models will be an additional character model and this time it's a Chaplain.  A metal Chaplain from the mid-'90s specifically. 

A metal Chaplain.

He was primed white way back in the late '90s with the intention of painting him for my Brother's Ultramarines but clearly that intention was unfulfilled. 

Pin in place for his arm.

While digging around the Neverness Archive in search of an appropriate character model to add to my first born Celestial Lions, this model really seemed to fit the bill. I attached him to a 32mm base and set about drilling out some holes to pin his arm on. 

Arm pinned and attached. 

Next I dug through my pile of printed Celestial Lion shoulder pads that The Bob hooked me up with aeons ago.  Most of my Celestial Lions have crudely painted on chapter icons but I thought it would be appropriate for this particular model to have a more professional look. I say that because I imagine that the other models I have may have had to update their armor in an ad-hoc manner as they likely had to scavenge serviceable parts from wherever they can find them. 

Next up, I will prep the base and begin the first proper stages of painting...

My '90s Space Marine Challenge

Here is my entry in the #90smarinechallenge. 

If you read my post announcing my intent to participate, you night know that I was not sure how to paint my model.  After hearing everyone who offered an opinion, it was clear that the masses wanted me to paint an Ultramarine, so who was I to stand against the will of the masses?*

Here are the stages I went through:

Primed. 

Basecoats.

For the basecoats I used a very old color  one of the oldest paints in my menagerie of paints: Space Marine Blue. It came in the "89 Space Marine Paints set, and it still works great. 

Attachments basecoated. 

On the gun, the eye lenses and aquilla gem stone, I used Khorne Red. 

Macrage Blue.

Macrage Blue, the modern Ultramarines base coat, was the midcoat color of choice. 

The '90s Ultramarines Blue 

Then came another oldie, the "90s era Ultramarines Blue. I think itt has a "kick" that modern blue colors in this tone seem to lack. 

Highlights.

Fenrisian Grey is the final highlight on the armor. It was at this point I painted the trim on the paldrons in the third company red. 

And some final details.

Without going into the full saga of it all, the decals proved to be their typical challenge. But Microset, 'Ard Coat, and pure tenacity eventually got me results I could live with. 

Chapter badge applied.

Sadly, I had forgotten that the bolter covers up the gemstone on the aquilla. A revelation all too evident after the fact. -And I thought I had done a decent job on it too! All well, if I decide to paint up more of these guys I will try to keep that fact in mind. 

Tactical Marking applied.

Finished with tufts.

The temptation to add additional decals on his greaves was very appealing. A campaign badge,, or roman numeral three, etc. But this fanciful idea was thrown out by the challenge of the shoulder pads. Sure, they're flatter areas and more susceptible to the decals, but I was just over it. And that's okay, as I think the legs have turned out good. And sometimes, less is more, and it's best not to make the model appear too busy, right?

Stay tuft. 

All-in-all I am very pleased with how this chap turned out. He is a vast improvement over the his battle brothers of the same design that I painted way back in the late '90s. If you look at the post from way back when I got these Ultramarines from my brother, you can see a ten-man squad of these guys painted as Veterans. Feel free to compare and contrast**. 

 

It's been a fun challenge, and I hope Darren throws another one out there soon. 

*Alright, it was like five people. Maybe six.

**Pun not intended, but there it is!

'90s Space Marine Challenge

 I already have one challenge to meet in July,, but here's something I just can't resist jumping on the bandwagon for: #90spacemarinechallenge. This challenge was thrown out to all by Darren Lathem on Instagram. Thebob brought it to my attention, well, I just happen to have a few of these things kicking around, so what the heck, let's do it! 

Darren stated on Instagram while following up on some questions that he didn't want to see any conversions, just the stock model. And that we are to use the original 25mm base. I have enough of these guys to do a squad or three. I have been wanting to model these guys on 32mm bases, and I have been flirting with the idea of doing a send squad of Celestial Lions. But  it's just a single guy for this competition and I can always use extenders once it's all over to get him in line with the rest of the squad, assuming I chose to do a full squad. 

I have chosen the model.

So how should I paint my guy? My choices are:

• Ultramarines

• Celestial Lions

• Space Wolves

I could do Dark Angels or Legion Of The Damned but this old miniature just won't conform with models I already have for these factions. So it's a pick from one of those three. If you want to try to influence my decision just leave a comment below.

These things can be found throughout my Warhammer 40,000 collection.

Fixing a Rogue Trader era Dreadnought. (Part 1)

 Recently while perusing YouTube I came across this great video by Squidmar. In this video they take four miniatures bought from eBay that, although well painted, aren't quite up to the standard they want them to be, and they demonstrate how to improve or 'fix' them. It's worth checking out. It inspired me to consider some of the models in my collection that have been given to me, or acquired second hand, that I haven't had the heart to strip the paint off of yet. But they're good enough that I could probably do to them what Squidmar did in that video. 

The first thing that came to my mind was this old Rogue Trader era Imperial Space Marine Dreadnought. The Furibundus version in particular. This model came to me in a pair that I got off of the old 40k Mailing List in the late '90s. There was a lady that used to post auctions on it and I got quite a few gems from her. These guys were a good deal. This one came pretty much as he appears here, except it was on an old Square base. The other was unpainted. I painted it not long after I got it and he became my Space Wolves Venerable Dreadnought Rex.  Both of them were mounted on titan bases as GW was yet to start producing round bases bigger than 28mm for 40k.  

And I haven't done anything with this model since. Well, ok, I have played with it in a few games but that's it. I usually count that funky looking gun as a lascannon (the original White Dwarf advert called it a Heavy Laser) but I have used it as other things from time to time since it looks like no weapon currently (or if I can be honest, ever) in the game. 

There are decals all over this model that haven't aged well, or they were applied kind of crooked. I will remove these and apply newer ones. I could probably save these but I don't have the patience to paint around them and I have plenty of spare Ultramarines decals. And the decals on this model are crooked and just need to go.

If you look closely you can see a mold line running right down the middle of this thing. I will have to eliminate that if I can. As it bugs the hell out of me. 

Looking at it now, it amuses me that the guns were never painted. I guess the original owner just thought that the bare metal was just fine at conveying that these details were supposed to be metal.  I did similar things when I used to build model planes as a kid, but it's a heretical concept as a modern day miniature painter. 

• Ok, so I am either going to replace that base or just stick him as is to another one.
• File off the missed flash and mold lines. (Carefully and outside, as this thing is LEAD).
• Remove the decals.
• Start painting! 

This should be a fun Dreadtober project, yes?

 I was in for a surprising treat on the morning that I had scheduled to post this.; Eons of Battle posted a video featuring this model which was a fun vid and worth watching for a bit of inspiration. I like the way he did the eyes but I'm not likely to try and copy that as I have my own idea on how it should look. But that'll be revealed in a future post. ..

Anachronistic 40K: Jump Packs

Today we're looking at the design evolution of the Space Marine Jump Pack and to a degree, their backpacks. We're not looking at the in-universe "lore" explanation as I have long ago recognized the fluidic nature of 40K lore and besides others have already done a better job than I could pull off in achieving such a compilation*. 

White Dwarf house ad for the RTBO1 boxset. 

The Space Marine backpack has been part of the design gestalt of the Imperial Space Marines since the very first blister pack hit the stands. Just what exactly it did was something of a mystery and some players may have had debates regarding it's actual function though; at least in the earliest days of the Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader game.

The Rogue Trader book was both crammed full of detail and also innuendo. Even after countless hours of emersion early players could still discover something "new" the next time they opened that tome. The lead army for the game were the Imperial Space Marines and most players at the time had this boxed set. Indeed, for many it was their intro to the game and often they had this set before they even bought the rules. And the confusion set in right away with the stuff printed on the back of first plastic boxed set, RTBO1...

The back of the RTB01 box. Still very inspiring to me!

...in particular this bit of detail:

The Parts Guide of Truth. (Apocryphal). 

Notice that the copy under the backpack says "Jet Pack"? Notice also that the holstered Bolt Pistol above it says "Needle Gun"? Well, no one in my circle of friends ever second guessed these diagrams, after all they were so precise, how could these be mistakes?  So many a marine was built holding a holstered Bolt Pistol in firing position and claiming it was a needle gun (this eventually stopped, not just because the mistake was figured out, but because back then the rules for needlers sucked! No really, it was the only gun in the game that ever granted the target a +1 to save from it! ) But also we assumed that these were intended to be Jump Packs. Yes, to be fair the box doesn't say that (it says "Jet Pack") but neither does the Rogue Trader book (i.e. "Stabilizing Jets"). The Legiones Astartes army list in the Rogue Trader book doesn't provide an option to buy Jump Packs either but it does say that the whole squad could be equipped with Flight Packs if the GM's scenario called for it.

Look at... the Nozzle. 

The Rogue Trader book does describe that Marine Powered Armor could be used in space, and it's clear that this is where their breathable air would be stored. Later publications would touch on all this and tell us that these nozzles were to help with zero-G stabilization and short movement thrusts in space. But back in the late '80s this was assumed at best. However some people assumed wrong. It didn't help that even GW's artists didn't seem too sure either. The classic image by Paul Bonner of the Jump Pack wearing Imperial Guardsmen ambushing orks is the obvious evidence of this.

Art by Paul Bonner.

And so it was assumed that those things on the Marines backs had to be Jump Packs and big engine looking things illustrated in the Rogue Trader book had to be Flight Packs. This was not supported by the rules at all, but it was a confusing time.

Flight Packs as illustrated in Rogue Trader.

Eventually White Dwarf published an expanded army list for Space Marines, and for the first time we were introduced to the concept of Assault Marines and in that listing there would be found a 20 point option for Jump Packs. Eventually the catalogs would be updated showing all the previously released metal backpacks, but most importantly the bigger pack now being labeled as a Jump Pack.

Rogue Trader era metal back packs.

You'll notice the Chaos Backpack there also, and the Realm Of Chaos books from those early days did little to explain why these packs were so different from they loyalist counterparts other than that Traitor Marines enjoyed embellishing their armor. A quick search online will reveal that many players in various forums over the years have discussed this topic at length with no precise conclusions (not that I have found anyway). It's also interesting to note that these early Chaos backpacks had a more organic look to them whereas the ones produced after the release of the Second Edition Codex: Chaos had a more mechanical design with countless variants released since then. 

When Warhammer 40.000 2nd edition was released, it was now clear as day that the bigger packs were the jump packs, that the nozzles on the Space Marine back packs were not consequential for game play but were simply part of the defining look of the Space Marines. Also, flight packs were simply no longer in the game and to my knowledge have never returned (unless you count the Tau). In both editions of the game the jump packs simply gave you a speedier movement option. You could still move your models using their standard Movement rate if you wanted too, you just now had this handy option that allowed you to jump up and over obstacles. In Rogue Trader the amount in height that you jumped could reduce your forward movement. Rogue Trader was full of game mechanics more suited for a scaled down simulation than an actual game, but arguably that is that edition's beauty. Same with 2nd edition as well, only it wasn't quite as fine about these details. In both versions there was a chance that jump pack users could deviate and scatter, which made adhering to Unit Coherency a real challenge.

Second Edition era Assault Marines. Yes, that guy has a bolter.

Welcome to Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition, where all that you previously knew has been wiped out and reset down to the most gamey of basic game play. In 3rd edition jump pack wearers can simply move up to 12"  in the movement phase and charge 6" in the assault phase. By simply donning a jump pack your Troop Type changes, which seemed extreme at the time but made complete sense in the context of the game. An important aspect of this is is that instead of the complexities imposed on their movement action by the height of the intervening terrain, they simply ignore it. Unless they land on it. in which case there was a 1 in 6 chance that the model crashes and is removed with no armor save allowed. Ouch! Over 20 years later, we** still speak of Da Masta Cheef's Ultra Marine Chaplin that totally killed himself by trying to land on top of a bunker. It was glorious!

The metal. 

By the end of 3rd edition the cumbersome metal Jump Packs were replaced by the handy and much lighter plastic versions that I believe are still around to this day. This was a real blessing as those old metal pieces were fairly heavy and clunky and got a little frustrating during play. Even more so if one attempted to put a metal one of these on a plastic figure.

The plastic. 

For the next few editions there wasn't much evolution with the specific Jump Pack rules so much as there was with the terrain rules and their interaction. Long gone is the risk of suicide by simply trying to land on a smooth surface just because it's elevation is higher.***

Although the design for standard (Firstborn) Space Marine jump pack hasn't changed since the '90s, there has been a retrospective need to have Horus Heresy era jump packs for games set in that period that kind of feel like the old Rogue Trader era designs but now have a central jet.

So much heresy...

 For those of you who would rather have something that feels much closer to that Rogue Trader design on their Marines, check out Fromthewarp's brilliant D.I.Y. tutorial. 

In the last few decades we have had Blood Angel versions with ornate wing designs and other variations but for the most part the look of the Space Marine Jump Pack has remained fairly consistent. That was until return of The Primarch and the introduction to the galaxy (and game) of the Primaris variants of Space Marine. These guys don't just wear a special pack, they have a unique unit type called Inceptors with specialized armor and weapons with additional thrusters on their legs as well. This design will likely forever change the look of the jumping Assault Marine (for better or worse, depends on one's point of view) as it is more dynamic thanks to it's unique flight stand (which apparently is very fragile and I have seen a lot of grumbling regarding it). 

Primaris Inceptors. 

What I like most about the design is the look of the large thrusters on the back pack that harkens back to the original jump pack model released in the Rogue Trader era, and I appreciate that a lot. Maybe one day I will finally build mine...

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Whew! This one took ages for me to write and compile, so I hoped you liked it. I am curious if anyone reading this played as far back as '87-'90 and and can recall anyone else being baffled by the stuff on the back of the RTB01 box or not. Or if you have any stories regarding fumbles and heroics while employing a jump pack in any edition of Warhammer 40,000. If so, leave a comment please! 

* Indeed, check out the \Jump_Pack wiki

**By "we" I mean "me" and like, every chance I get! 
***I like to think that Cheef's Chaplin died in the scientific pursuit for the betterment of table-top terrain mechanics.

Happy Anniversary, Imperial Space Marine

My anniversary marine, pending assembly.

The anniversary weekend of the Imperial Space Marine has come and gone and I was one of the lucky few (thousand) that managed to get one from the GW website. As I contemplate how exactly I am going to model him up, I am also considering what to do with the older, original, versions of this model.

The original Imperial Space Marine was still being sold in a blister pack when I got into the hobby in '89 alongside his brother (i.e. marine with same type of armor style and funky gun, but with his gun pointed upward) and with a commander-type-leader figure with funky blasters mounted on his power gloves ("Sgt. Blaster Fists" is my nickname for him). I feel like these 3 models were a huge inspiration for that famous painting of the Crimson Fists that adorned the cover of Rogue Trader and most recently reused as the cover of the Imperial Space Marine 30th anniversary box.

I am not sure why I bought this blister pack, as these models didn't fit too well with the plastic Space Marines of the time, I guess I just thought they were cool. Or maybe I wanted the leader guy? Regardless, I have always been fond of them. So they sat in my collection unused to this day mainly due to having no idea what they were actually armed with as their guns did not conform to any design in the game. Now, 30 years later, the two marines with their (finally) named and stat-ed weapons will find homes in my Space Marine armies, of which I have four.

There is a great side-by-side comparison of the original vs. the new to be found at Weemen's blog, as well as another nice painted example of the new version.

The original Space Marine

I haven't seen anything to indicate that I can't use one of these models in a Space Wolf or Dark Angel army. I think the plastic one will go to the Space Wolves as I have enough Space Wolf bitz to get this model looking good and wolfy. The metal guys will be divied up between my Ultramarines and Dark Angels. My 4th army, the Celestial Lions are all going to be using "newer" models and since they are not a First Founding Chapter they probably won't have access to ancient relics like Disintegration Guns. And, from a reality stand point, I have done far too little work on them. Also, I have been contemplating making a 30k army but I am very indecisive on which Legion to choose, and I am already seeing this model being Incorporated into 30k armies (it only makes sense really).

Imperial Space Marine #2?

And that is the crossroads I am at with this idea; Three Imperial Space Marines and far too many options. Still, after so long I am glad to see one of my oldest minis get a new lease for life. But 30 years on, we still don't have stats for "Sgt. Blaster Fists", so he shall remain in the collection, waiting...

Sgt. Blaster Fists