Damn, those Bretonnians look cool, I love all the thought you put to the heraldry, great way to really personalize your army! I'm not sure if you mentioned it, but do you still get games with your knights?
Sad to say but I have only played one proxy game with my knights against my brother's beastmen (when half his beastmen and 90% of my bretonnians were just scraps of whatever models we had lying around), and it was quite a while ago... Been away from the gaming scene for a while too, but I hope to get in a gaming group after I stop moving around the country.
Neophytes! The stand-ins for Neophytes in my Black Templars crusade are a bunch of cadian-shock-troop-armor-wearing trainees equipped with an assortment of knives, chainswords, and pistols. I have a total of 20 of these Templars-in-training for use in the marine combat squads. Some unfortunately have been modelled with las-pistols due to budget constraints (although if its dark outside they double as squad flashlights). Modelling wise they were fun for me to make and put together, and way cheaper than buying standard space marine scouts at the time! Spoiler: Neophytes
Time for the Crusade Heroes, in the order I painted them. Champion Gaul. Known as the High Champion and Herald of Zeon, Champion Gauldemar (usually shortened to Gaul) personally roused the survivors in their darkest hour, and was at the forefront of the evacuation of the planet. In battle he wields the crusade's relic Black Sword of Faith. He is also one of the few Templars who remains immune to the curse... Spoiler: Champion Gaul The Emperor's Champion model was one of the main selling points of the Black Templars for me. Loved the fluff, loved the model. Just looks so fantastic and crusader-y. In the fluff he is named for the crusader Gauldemar Carpenel, the Prince of Galilee. Chaplain Omer During the evacuation of the Zeon Sector, Omer was one of the few who survived the crushing defeat at the Fortress of Odessar. He was the last survivor to leave the planet's surface, and only by being teleported against his will onto a passing Thunderhawk Gunship. Omer is known as the Fiery Zealot for his rousing oratory, and leads his dying brothers in prayer and in their brutal fight for survival as the right-hand of the Marshal. Spoiler: Chaplain Omer Templars are big fans of the Emperor and are not fans of heresy. So obviously I needed a chaplain, and I just loved this particular chaplain model the moment I saw it. It was difficult but also a great deal of fun to paint it, especially the skull helmet and rib cage! Named for St. Omer (also Audemar), not because he was a crusade hero, but because the name was cool. Marshal Einred. The Marshal of the Remnant. Einred had been the commander of his previous marshal's Sword Brethren and Castellan of the 1st Crusade Company, prior to Marshal Frederick's death. Refusing to allow his brother Templars to die meaningless deaths and be forgotten, Einred ordered the evacuation of all of the crusades' remaining assets from Zeon, and now leads his survivors in a quest to regain their strength and one day reclaim their honor by returning to their lost chapter keep and crusade homeworld. Only Marshal Einred is truly aware of just how far the corruption of the curse has affected the crusade, and understands that they are well and truly doomed to extinction. Nevertheless, he is determined to make the end of his brother crusaders the stuff of legends. Spoiler: Marshal Einred Another fantastic model (also in desperate need of a touch up). A favorite of mine, but he was very difficult to paint. Too many tiny details, and I am still not satisfied about how his face turned out. Someday I will fix it... Einred was named for Einhard, a scholar in the court of Charlemagne (I had to read his book long time ago for classes). Spoiler: Crusade Heroes And here is a group shot of all three!
I really like the Champion Gaul's mask, half white half red is a great detail and brings so much personality to the character!
Dreadnoughts Definitely one of the most classic space marine models out there. I got one as a gift, the second one was a cheap $5 bitz buy, it was the modular dreadnought from one of the WH40K starter sets (the ones with the ORKS!). Dreadnought Rikard Sephulcres Legendary figure in the crusade's past, was one of the Templars who landed on Zeon during the original reconquest of the planet from orkish forces. Has the singular honor of being the first Templar to set foot within the walls of the Temple of the Emperor's Holy Sephulcher. His bodily remains were interred within a holy dreadnought upon his demise in battle so that his heroism can continue to live on an inspire his living battle-brothers. In battle, Dreadnought Rikard sports an assault cannon and a heavy flamer, better to mow down the ork hordes with. Spoiler: Rikard Sephulcres Dreadnought Bohemard Antokus A famed former Marshal of the crusade, known for executing and completing the brutal siege of the planet Antokus, liberating it from the dreaded ork warboss Yag Harrakus. Participated in all major campaigns of the crusades' history, and is the second of the two dreadnoughts that was rescued from Zeon during the evacuation. In battle Dreadnought Bohemard wields a multi-melta and a heavy flamer. Like the previous dreadnought, I never glued down the arms for maximum pose-ability! Also because I hadn't bought magnets at that point. Spoiler: Bohemard Antokus And group shots! Spoiler: Zeon Crusade Dreadnoughts
Forgot the chapter serf, straight from the battle of Maccrage boxed set! Brother Maynard Brother Maynard is a serf of the crusade, and was one of the few non-marine survivors from Zeon. He was and remains the personal servant of Chaplain Omer and on occasion follows him into battle, carrying with him the Holy Orb of Antokus, a sacred relic of great power. Spoiler
Scratch-Built Tanks! (please excuse the crudity of these models, they were made a long time ago...) So this experiment was originally undertaken to create some stand-in/proxy Rhino Transports back when I couldn't afford the actual models. Taking the experiment a step further, I wound up making some "modular" Rhino chassis's (chases? chassisses? chassis''????) with plenty of extra pieces for turrets, side guns, and even some forward-facing vindicator guns! All the tanks are made from foam board, with extra foam for the "details" on the sides. The extra turret and gun attachments are just held on with tooth-picks, so the turrets on the top can rotate for maximum pose-ability. Rhinos Here are the Rhinos themselves. Many different color schemes were tested because I couldn't decide on just one; if I were ever to go back and repaint them they would probably be matching, just with subtle variations, and maybe mimicking the heraldry of the squads I have already mentioned. Annihilators/Destructors I made enough extra pieces for three of each. VINDICATORS Also made pieces for three of these beasties. Razorback Transports Also made some razorbacks, with some fake "lascannon" and "autocannon" attachments. Razorback with "lascannon" attachment, with squad out front. I learned a lot making these stand-in models. They are smaller than normal space-marine tanks, also fairly crude. But they worked well for the budget I had! Total cost me almost nothing to make, because I already had the foam bits and paints on hand for other projects. Also learned a lot about making future scenery with this project. If I were ever to start this project over again I would use the lessons I have learned to resin-cast my Bretonnians to churn out some modular space-marine tanks. Hope you liked the picks!
I always like a good home brew miniature. Buying everything is nice and all, but it's always so much cooler when someone brings a decent replica made from recycled parts!
I recently found my old A4 folder I had when I was 20 it has all the old white dwarf modelling tutorials in it including some for 40K tanks etc, you have inspired me to make one someday.
Thanks for the compliments fellow lizards, the scratch-built battle tanks were immense fun to put together, even if they are a bit small. Learned a lot though, someday I need to put these skills together and produce some ork killa-kans too. And maybe a land raider. Got some fluff notes and a few more space marine pics. The Remnant: Black Templars Zeon Crusade Fluff summary: As hinted previously, the Remnant are all that remains of the Zeon Crusade of the Black Templars Space Marine chapter. They were originally dispatched to the Outremar Sector in the early 36th Millennium by High Marshal Urbanus of the Black Templars. Their mission was to rid the Outremar Sector of a dangerous Ork Empire and to liberate the holy planet of Zeon from the foul xenos taint. The Templars fought a bloody war of attrition across several star systems, but were forced to withdraw out of the Outremar Sector by a new threat: a massive Chaos Plague Fleet of Nurgle which swept through the entire sector, killing orks and imperials alike. After a horrific ten-year quarantine of the cathederal world, the remaining survivors of Zeon Crusade retreated out of the sector from the chaos onslaught in order to regroup and rebuild their shattered strength. The once mighty crusade has been reduced to a mere fragment of its former glory; less than 200 Templars are known to still survive. Until a time comes when the warp storms around the Outremar Sector subside, the Remnant fights a penitential crusade across the galaxy to atone for their failure, and to prepare for the eventual return to the temples of Zeon. Crusade Banner: Outremar Sector Map prior to the onslaught of the Plague Fleets and retreat from Zeon. Arrows show major axis of frequent xenos raids, Red planets are fully under Imperial control. Spoiler: Remnant-Zeon Crusade History I had forgotten I had so many notes on these guys. This is all from a word document I have from a few years back. History: 1) Zeon Crusade The Zeon Crusade was launched by High Marshal Urbanus of the Black Templars to conquer the volatile Outremar sector for the Imperium. In the centuries following the original Great Crusade and the events of the Horus Heresy, the Outremar Sector had fallen to massive ork invasions and was cut off from the rest of the Imperium by recurring warp storms. This made travelling to and throughout the Outremar sector dangerous and contact minimal. The Zeon Crusade was charged with the holy mission of conquering the Outremar sector, beginning with establishing a footholds on Bizantus and Antokus, and shortly followed by the re-conquest of the holy planet Zeon itself. The planet Zeon had originally been conquered during the final days of the Great Crusade and was the location of a great cathedral dedicated to the victories of the Emperor. After a brutal struggle with the Ork hordes that had overrun most of the planet’s continents, the Templars were able to liberate the slaves and pockets of human civilization still miraculously surviving on its surface. The Templars immediately made Zeon their base of operations and established a new Chapter Keep within the capitol city. The long and grueling campaigns to liberate the sector included clearing of many more Ork infestations from neighboring planets, as well as defending against incursions from Eldar raiders. The planet Zeon itself grew from a fragile bastion of human resistance to a major Imperial world within a few centuries after its re-conquest. Both the blossoming hive cities, as well as the rugged aboriginal inhabitants, provided a steady stream of recruits for the growing crusade, as well as swelling the ranks of the newly-formed Zeon Imperial Guard, who threw themselves whole heartedly into the re-conquest of the Outremar Sector under the guidance of their Templar overlords. Prior to the arrival of the Plague Fleets, the crusade was believed to command a total strength of at least 500 Templars, augmented by a host of auxiliary Zeon Guard units. The Templars also directed the construction of several smaller chapter keeps spread throughout the sector guarding their interests on strategic points. Aside from the primary keep on Zeon itself, the most important strategic chapter keep was located on the planet Odessar, which was the forward operating base for campaigns against the Orks. The 3rd Crusade Company was charged with the defense of Odessar. 2) Invasion Precluding the arrival of the Plague Fleet, several of the systems within the Outremar sector reported minor insurrections and acts of sabotage, orchestrated from unknown sources. The arrival of a major Chaos incursion into the Outremar Sector was heralded by the appearance of a major space hulk dropping out of the warp, under the influence of the chaos god Nurgle. Several pieces of the hulk made planetfall throughout the sector, heralding the invasion of armies loyal to Nurgle and under the command of his servant known as the Leper King. The outer defenses of the system were unable to stop the hulk’s fragments. The 3rd Crusade Company was nearly destroyed as they were caught unawares during the initial Chaos invasion of Odessar, only a few Templars were able to evacuate, including Chaplain Omer. Castellan Degore of the 3rd Company was counted among the dead. Following the loss of Odessar, the defenses on Saphat and Morab were abandoned as the crusade fleet carried out the Exterminatus order to slow the invasion of the chaos forces. The surviving Templars were forced to withdraw to the Zeon in the face of imminent invasion. As the hulk approached Zeon, both the crusade fleet led by Castellan Giraldus (4th Company) and planetary defenses led by Castellan Theobald (2nd Company) were overwhelmed. The Templars put up a monumental effort to fight off the armies being landed upon the planet. In a desperate gamble, Marshal Frederick teleported with a host of the Crusade's veterans deep inside the space hulk to seek out the Leper King and destroy him. Their mission succeeded, but at the cost of the some of the Crusade’s finest warriors, including Castellan Ectar (1st Company) and Castellan Heinrich (5th Company). Following the Leper King’s banishment a massive warp storm erupted, and huge chunks of the hulk smashed down onto the planet’s surface. Huge clouds of dust, ash, and toxic fumes blotted out the sun for weeks. Zeon was completely cut off from the rest of the Outremar sector and the crusade fleet. 3) Quarantine When Marshal Frederick and Castellan Einred (1st Company) returned with their veterans to Zeon they found the planet covered in toxic ash and radioactive snow, and the cities in ruins with survivors and marines fighting for their lives against a new threat. The Templars who returned in their absence the Plague of Unbelief had spread throughout the Imperial citizens, causing them to turn into mindless rotting zombies with a hunger for human flesh. The cities devolved into anarchy, with only a few bastions of Imperial strength still in existence. Worse yet, the Templars themselves found they were not immune, and some of their loyal battle brothers succumbed to the plague. The crusade apothecaries discovered that a deadly disease had been brought down from the hulk by the strike-team survivors and had now spread through the surviving Templar ranks. No cure was found, and only a handful of Templars were completely immune to its effects. Every other Templar was infected, and slowly doomed to outward bodily decay, and eventual loss of sanity as the desire for human flesh grew too great. One of the first Templars to succumb to the curse was Marshal Frederick, who was given last rights at the hand of his loyal successor, Marshal Einred. Einred declared that any battle-brother who succumbed to the curse be executed before the curse had run its full course. He also ordered that tainted brothers be permitted to continue to fight on the front lines; despite their failing condition he recognized that the crusade was rapidly losing numbers and needed every available Templar to help fight the Chaos forces. News of the Plague of Unbelief and the curse was spread throughout the Outremar Sector to ensure no further forces were landed on Zeon surface. The quarantine meant that only supplies and ammunition could be dropped to aid the besieged Templars, primarily air dropped by 4th Company fleet. Warp storms make contact with the rest of the Imperium all but impossible for almost a decade. 4) Fall of Zeon After a decade-spanning war of attrition on the surface of Zeon the Templars and Imperial survivors were almost wiped out. When the Warp storms finally abated, Marshal Einred made the decision to evacuate the planet and regroup off world. The surviving Templars and some of the survivors were loaded the crusade's remaining spacecraft and departed the Zeon system to the undead forces of Nurgle. The planet is left before EXTERMINATUS can cleanse it from the unholy taint. During the Zeon Quarantine the remaining crusade keeps had also fallen under siege, with only Aecar still completely in Templar hands, though it was also under siege and faltering under its own onslaught of the Plague of Unbelief.. The survivors of Zeon were only briefly able to regroup on Aecar before the system fell to Nurgle, and the Templars of the Zeon Crusade were forced to depart from the Outremar Sector entirely. Shortly after the fleet left, the entire sector was enveloped by warp storms. After the fall of Zeon, the crusade was reduced to barely 200 Templars. Most of the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th companies were wiped out, and the rest of the crusade companies also took horrific casualties. Upon the evacuation of Zeon and later Aecar the crusader fleets were scattered in the confusion; the fates of the 4th and 6th companies and their Castellans are unknown to the rest of the crusade. Marshal Einred commands the known survivors from the crusade's greatest surviving battle barge, and carries within its depths the largest contingent of the Zeon Diaspora and surviving cursed Templar marines. Marshal Einred has renamed this surviving contingent of the Zeon Crusade “the Remnant,” and has launched a penitential crusade across the galaxy in order to atone for his failure to defend the Outremar Sector and to gather strength until such a time arrives to return to reconquer Zeon and rebuild the Temple of the Emperor Ascendant. The Templars of the Remnant consider themselves marked for death. While the origin of their curse is at the hands of Nurgle, and therefore an abomination to everything they and the rest of the Imperium hold dear, the Remnant marines now view their plight at the hands of the Curse as a blessing from the Emperor, a way to live out a purgatory of pain and crippling defeat in this world, and go to join the Emperor in the next life. As such, the marines throw themselves at the enemy, crushing all who stand before them in the name of the Emperor, often reveling in the chance that they may yet be set free. Others in the Imperium who have contacted them or have fought beside these doomed marines feel a mix of revulsion and profound admiration for this cursed holy warriors, doomed to rot and live a tortuous existence, yet to do so with blind faith in the Emperor constantly on their lips. Inspiration: This chapter/crusade was the first idea I ever had for space marines- I knew that I wanted my marines to be green, but also knew that I really liked the Black Templars and their background, so used their codex to construct my army. Originally drew inspiration for the backstory of the crusade from Arthurian legends and legends of the Knights of the Round Table. Later as my knowledge of the greater warhammer 40K universe grew (as well as real history through college) I decided to tone down the Arthurian veneer of the crusade and replace the theme with the history of the Crusades and fall of the Crusader States, honing in on the Order of Lazarus (the Leper Knights). The Order of Lazarus was originally founded by the Hospitallers/Templars outside Jerusalem as a receptacle for the knights within the order who contracted leprosy. The order was eventually forced to flee the city after its conquest by Saladin, and was later pushed out of the Holy Land entirely along with the rest of the crusaders when the Muslims completed their conquest. The fall of “Zeon” mirrors the fall of the city of Jerusalem, and their name change to the Remnant (also sounded too cool to pass up) mirrors the disgrace the Order of Lazarus must have felt with their defeat. Plus the name Zeon is cool because it was the name of the enemy colonists in the old Mobile Suit Gundam series (the one with the terrible intro music, old graphics, but it was awesome when I was a kid and I still have a soft spot for it. Not sure how I watched the 1979 show, but hey, it was awesome)
Found some older but higher quality Templar photos to share! The Battle Chaplain (Omer): Emperor's Champion (Castellan Gaul): The Marshal (Einred), flanked by the crusade heroes: Spoiler: Templars Brother Baldwin, Master of Recruits unfinished Brother Godfrey, Master of Blades Brother Hugo with his double plasma pistols.
ORK PIKS So my other Warhammer 40K project is the original nemesis of my Zeon Crusade Templars, the incorrigible and mostly unpainted Orks! Most are straight from one of the starter sets, I got a few unused sets cheap a while back. They have been assembled for ages, but only some of them have been painted since then. Warboss and his Boyz: Here is most of the group! Got two groups of twenty Ork Boyz each, plus two groups of ten Stormboyz, as well as the warboss's posse of ten Nobz. Da Boyz: Spoiler: More Boyz Stormboyz So when I assembled all the basic three-part orks I noticed some of them had helmets that looked like the stormboyz helmets (Old-Prussian looking almost). They soon banded together to form two stormboyz regiments, complete with clay rockets that have let to be painted. Spoiler: Stormboyz
No pictures of the Nobz but they are unpainted anyway... The Orks were fun (and cheap) to put together, but the most fun I had was in the warboss. He was made from the basic plastic model, but spruced up a bit by changing his pose, and adding some war trophies from leftover Bretonnian bits and some space marine armor pieces. Pictured here with his attack squig. Spoiler: Da Boss Also here is his cross-eyed pet Attack Squig. Took about ten minutes to model out of clay, not the best work but its a good placeholder! And here is the Boss's personal assistant, the Cybork, who was just an extra ork body I received in the bitz shipment along with the rest of the orks, but was missing a pistol and an arm, so I made one myself! Spoiler: Da Cybork Currently I don't have major plans to expand this little warband, as it obviously isn't painted yet. If I ever do finish I will try and scratch-build some killa-kans or dreadnoughts to swell the ranks, same method as I used for the imperial tanks. Hope you liked the spacefaring greenskins!
I definitely wanted to play orks when I was playing 40k, but space marines was more economical, and I wanted orks when I started fantasy, but got offered lizards for next to nothing. Glad it worked out that way, but still always impressed with the ork designs. Placeholder squig is awesome, needs some rules with the title placeholder squig!
The beast of Caerbannog was unexpectedly demoralizing. Thank goodness for Brother Maynard and the sacred relic he guards.
Thanks for the compliments! Also added a list of minis on the first page Spoiler Other Warhammer Fantasy Models Bretonnians 1 x Bretonnian Lord on warhorse (hand weapon, shield) 1 x Paladin on warhorse (battle standard bearer) 4 x Wizards on foot 4 x Bretonnian Knights on Foot (three with hand weapon/shield, one with great weapon) 16 x Knights of the Realm (two units of 8; full command) 18 x Knights Errant (two units of 9; full command) 9 x Questing Knights (WIP) 6 x Grail Knights (WIP) 3 x Pegasus Knights (WIP) 40 x Men-at-Arms (two units of 20; full command) 40 x Peasant Bowmen (four units of 10; full command) 20 x Grail Pilgrims (WIP, plus Grail Reliquae/Leper King) 4 x Trebuchets (WIP, each with 4 x crewmembers) Warhammer 40K Black Templars 1 x Crusade Marshal 1 x Emperor's Champion 1 x Chaplain (and his chaplain's assistant) 28 x Combat Marines (close combat weapons and bolt pistols, four units of 7) 12 x Ranged Marines (bolters/ranged weapons, two units of 6) 20 x Neophytes (close combat weapons, four groups of 5 in close combat marine squads) 2 x Dreadnoughts 7 x Tanks (Scratch Built Rhino chassis, can be numerous combinations of x6 razorbacks, x3 vindicators, x3 annihilators, or x3 destructors) Orks 1 x Ork Warboss (and his pet attack squig and cybork sidekick) 10 x Nobz 40 x Ork Boyz 20 x Storm Boyz