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For the Lion!
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Greetings and welcome back. Today I'm sharing a bit of a palate cleanser from my Season of Scenery 2024 project. I really like building kits...like, I *really*, *really* do...and so building something always helps me break painter's block...or really any kind of hobby doldrums.
I had been discussing the recent Horus Heresy Legion Command Squad in mkIII Armour with a friend when it hit me. I needed a bunch of sword and board boys for the First Legion! I think these would be fun to run in a Zone Mortalis game, or just generally in any Horus Heresy game, spilled out of a suitable assault transport. I would pass on the standard (for Zone Mortalis), but it's compulsory in the unit so there it is. So I get another fun hobby opportunity into the bargain!
This idea finally gave me a reason to build one of the plastic Praetors from the Age of Darkness boxed set. I've had these sitting around since the launch, waiting for the right project. I replaced the volkite charger with a boarding shield from my bits collection...I don't know which upgrade or unit kit it came from originally. In hindsight, I could have just used the fifth shield form the command squad since the Standard Bearer doesn't get one. I like the utilitarian look though; this Praetor is a no-nonsense dude who just grabs up what is needed when he hits the field. No waiting on the serfs to deliver up some ancient artifact form the vaults. 😂
As we all know, the scale creep is real. When you consider that this Dark Angels Praetor from Forge World (of old) is a pretty recent model, it's astounding how much bigger the plastic Praetor is. With the bare head, he could just about pass as the Lion here! Speaking of which, I long ago decided my First Legion models would go to war in the Grim Darkness with helmets on...safety first! But this bare head just perfectly suited the 'Knights of Caliban' feel I wanted for this Praetor and Command squad. I really love this simple conversion for the First and it's sad that I'll likely always favor it over the very nice Forge World model.
The Legion Command Squad is built pretty much stock with the exception of shoulder pads and head swaps/conversions. The resin mkIII shoulder pads are a bit chunky, honestly, but the aesthetic fits with the shield arm for extra damage absorption. Ya gotta love the persistent over-the-top Warhammer vibes! I added Dark Angels 40K helmet wings from the bits box to the mkIII helmet in the kit. pretty easy glue-on conversion. As you'll see in the title pic above, I ended up snipping the spike off. I like the spike, but in the end, there's just too much going on up there.
I used a mkIV resin helmet on this Chosen (when did the good guys start using this term?!). While I used a studded shoulder pad from the kit on the Standard Bearer, I decided to match resin pads for the rest of the squad. I again thank the bits box gods for their bounty. 30 years of Warhammer should count for something, right?
I added a nuncio-vox to this Chosen, since you know, Command Squad. Seemed appropriate. I did not add the helmet attachment as I figure these advanced First Legion helms have that crap built in...to like the wings or whatever. 😁No need for unsightly bolt-on attachments here.
Now we start to get a little silly, honestly. And I would never have gone this route, except the Deathwing Companions have these wings...and they are the Dark Angels Legion specific Command Squad option. So here, I'm making this squad share the aesthetic...and they even would double as additional Companions in a pinch, if the Companions weren't too stuck up to carry boarding shields. Seriously, what is up with the rarity of boarding shields? Almost no other units can take them...I guess in the Grim Darkness one can always rip off a hatch, door or other suitable object to use as a shield. So why issue them as official war gear, right?
The crazy winged helmets are made by cutting the wings (very carefully) from 40K mkVII helmets (thanks again, o'holy bits box for your bounty!) and then gluing them on to the mkIII helmets from the kit. This was accomplished by cutting slots into the sides of the helmets with an x-acto knife and then gluing the trimmed down wings into the slots. Once painted up, no one should be the wiser. Oh, and I trimmed off the helmet spikes, once again. I would have just used the mkVII helmets as-is, but I figured that was just too much foreshadowing for the project. I love the lore and do try to cleave to it as closely as possible. That said, I would never have imagined mkIII helmets with these wings if it hadn't been for the Deathwing Companions. If the design existed for their (mkIV?) helms, why wouldn't some armorer in the Legion have added them to mkIII? I image this as a retrofit, following the ascendance of the Lion as Primarch.
Once you have the glue and bits out, it's hard to stop building sometimes. In this case, I took the opportunity to build a Legion Librarian Consul and a legion Champion Consul that I had sitting about since their release. I kept the Librarian stock, due to their allegiance to the Librarius and the need for specialized equipment. A head swap would have looked odd and the the Legion shoulder pad is hidden under the cloak anyway. I added a mkVI Dark Angels head to the Champion Consul. I felt he was pretty suitable otherwise, as-is.
And that ended my build session for the Horus Heresy Dark Angels. Eight new HQ models for the force. I'm looking forward to putting more paint on the First Legion in the 2024/25 hobby season. I had put two HQ and two other units on the TO DO list for 2023/24, but it looks like I'm only going to get this build done. Legions Imperials really took the spotlight this season with so many fun tiny tanks to paint!
As the 2023/24 season winds down, I'll post up my Season of Scenery 2024 completions and then close out the season with a re-cap post of what I was able to accomplish for the year. I'm maybe 50/50 on what I set out to do, but 100% on overall hobby value and completions (as measure by my typical progress!).
Until then,
Cheers and Happy gaming!
