Baddest of the Bad

It's always the same, in every action movie with soldiers there will be one squad who are the baddest asses around. Everyone's cool, they're cooler. They're the ones who end up fighting Predator or trying to kill Hitler or something. Well, 40k is no exception. Chaos Space Marines are hardcore. Chosen Chaos Space Marines are harder. 

I really liked the idea of having some veterans around, the men who literally fought in the Heresy and are still around. Plus they are insanely unpleasant in close combat, not least because they can have near enough their pick of the good gear. Before we get in to their painting and modelling lets get their lore locked down by paying a visit to Narrator-in-Chief Orcus Kairon:

"Ah, there they are, my brothers. Certainly all Word Bearers are my brothers, but these men feel like my blood. Together we cut a swathe across the galaxy on the Great Crusade. We knelt in the ashes of Monarchia together. We set the Galaxy ablaze together. Over the years, of course, their numbers dwindled. First they had reinforcements added to their squads, then they'd find themselves the veteran leader of a squad. Over time, they just found more and more that they simply did not relate to the more recently raised Brethren. They wanted to fight alongside men who's life experience matched theirs. So they banded together into a warband of peers. There's hardly any left now. But that tiny band represents thousands of years of battlefield prowess and experience. There's no-one I'd rather fight alongside."

I started out thinking about their armament. Given that four of them could have lightning claws and I had Warp Talon blades going spare, well... seemed rude not to. I love how dynamic the posing is on these. "Special sharp hugs" pose these are not. I also decided that I wanted to have a ton of character on each and every one of them. I wanted a unit with a "band of equals" vibe. So I started scouring my bits box for bare heads. These men want to feel every sensation that battle offers them, so screw helmets. Mercifully I found 10 individual heads among my collection that worked. Even cooler, some of them have obvious mutations indicating their length of time in the Warp on Sicarius. They've gone a bit wrong. Heck, one of the lightning claw dudes literally has bone claws bursting from his gauntlets. 

 

I also decided that I wanted an older fashioned look to them, mercifully Dan (one of the bevvy of Beard Bunkerers) had a random sprue of moulded pre-heresy Word Bearer shoulder pads. That gave them another "stand out" feature. Everything else is "painted" with decals. The vets have their fancy fancy moulded shoulders. I also went with the transition colour scheme. The point after Monarchia when the Word Bearers abandoned their slate grey and went over to crimson and black. The black shoulder pads went away after a while but I figured these chaps are old fashioned. I also got a bit over excited and made sure there was a suggestion of text in the books...

The final "stand out" detail was trophy racks. I decided that all of the veterans would have them - except the icon bearer - and so cannibalised them from as many kits as I could. Including the old spikey vehicle upgrade frame with the slightly oversized spikes shaved down. I had fun doing my usual trolling of my friends with their Tau, Necrons, Imperial Guard and Dark Angels making an appearance. I figured a Deathwing helm would "inspire" the Angels, heh heh heh...

And that's all for today! More soon, but until then, lovely people...

TTFN