Markus Morkaddon background

I'm still waiting for my Forgeworld stuff, but that doesn't mean I havn't been busy. I've been working on my background for my Sons of Horus.

I've decided to make the 15th Company, as it hasn't been featured before in any of the HH background, leaving me with a clean slate to work from. Here's what I have so far for my Captain.

Markus Morkaddon

Markus Morkaddon is a true veteran of the legion, having been inducted into the Luna Wolves with the first batch of recruits taken from Cthonia after the rediscovery of Horus. He soon distinguished himself in the service of the Imperium, fighting with the ruthless ferocity and charismatic manner that had served in well in his previous life as second-in-command of a deep-mine gang. Such were his abilities, he soon found himself promoted to an officer of the XVIth Legion, having impressed no less than Hastur Sejanus during the Drumar campaign, where he rallied the remnants of the 15th company after they were cut off and surrounded by Eldar, driving the Xenos before them in a torrent of bolter fire.

After this incident he was promoted to the now-vacant post of Captain of the 15th Company, the honour being bestowed by Lupercal himself. This action took him from line trooper to captain in one bound, a previously unheard of achievement. This prompted many comments from amongst the Legion high command. Whilst none could doubt his abilities and little was said to his face, there was feeling amongst the more bellicose and prideful members of the command structure who felt he did not belong there. 1st Captain Ezykle Abaddon was chief amongst his detractors, although it was said that Sejanus of the 2nd defended the young captain, reminding the 1st Captain that he had been young once and not as long ago as he’d like to think.

As the Great Crusade drew on, spreading the Imperial Truth across the galaxy, Morkaddon and his company distinguished themselves with honour, although they were always overshadowed by the other companies. They became known as the‘Fated15th, for their knack of surviving impossible odds, favouring tactics which utilized mobile squadrons of Stormeagles to act as a hammer to the massed Tactical Squads that served as the Anvil, Using their almost uncanny luck to carry them forward, they earned a reputation for pulling off daring skybourne assaults with unerring efficiency, epitomized by their taking of the Garrasii Skydome over Tinus III without a single casualty.

They also developed a friendly rivalry with Garviel Loken and the Tenth Company. The two companies were often paired up in theatres of war and constantly strove to outdo each other. Despite the fact that the 10th company often took the lions share of the glory from these actions, Morkaddon and Loken remained fast friends.
After the Luna Wolves were renamed the Sons of Horus and the Warmasters wounding, it became clear that despite this friendship, Morkaddon was loyal to the Warmaster through and through. He distanced himself from the 10th Captain, having an inkling of what was coming through his association with the Warrior Lodge.

As the first wave descended on Istvann III, he watched impassively as the 10th Captain and his men dropped to their doom, not even flinching as the firestorm engulfed the planet and fighting with grim determination in the ground war that followed. During the war against the loyalists, Morkaddon had the impression that his devotion to the new cause was in question, due to his previous friendship with the leader of the resistance. It was because of this, that after a particularly bloody ambush by loyalists that he vowed to hunt down the 10th Captain and present his head to the Warmaster himself to prove his determination in the new order. As history records, it was not Morkaddon that reached the Captain first, but Ezekyle Abaddon, drawing much ire from the 15th Captain.

The gears of war ground on and as the Dropsite massacre unfolded, the 15th formed a mobile reserve force, hemming in the Salamanders as they made a bid for freedom,. Having equipped the company’s Gunships with Multi-Meltas before taking to the field, he took grim satisfaction in destroying the Sons of Vulkan from the air, using the very weapons the Warmasters enemies specialized in the use of. It rankled Morkaddon not to have gained a place at the Warmasters side in the greatest battle of the age, but being the ever-dutiful son, he did not speak of his wounded pride.


I have more to add than this, but it's start. What do you guys think so far?

My Hobby Life 2012

Normally at this time of year I like to take a look over my hobby life andgain some focus, so I can enter the new year with my hobby-addled mind wandering a little less than usual, so with my FW order still delayed, i think now's a good time to do it


My hobby life this year

Games

40k games played :39, won 19
Fantasy Games played 8, won 2
Mordheim games played: 6, won 1
Malifaux games played: 1, lost horribly
Dreadfleet games played: 2, won 1

It's been a good gaming year for me, I got far more games in than last year (5 in all systems) and I'm improving my performance as a play. Every single one of them has been a blast to play as well, win or lose. If I can keep this rate up in 2013, I shall be very happy, although with me entering my final year of uni, it might reduce again

Modelling/Painting

Models bought:123

Models built: 154

Models completed: 65

Projects started:

Deathwing
Pre-Heresy Thousand Sons (restarted)
Empire (restarted)
Mordheim Dark Elves (restarted)
Malifaux Show Girls Crew
Chaos Space Marine reboot
Sons of Horus

Projects abandoned:

Deathwing


It's not such a good year for completing models, but I've always been more of a modeller than a painter, plus I've picked up a few modelling commisions along the way too.

It might look like I have a lot of unpainted models, but the vast majority of those that I've bought are almost finished models, which will be fullcompleted as soon as my uni studies are out the way mid-December.

 My turnover of dropped projects has dropped drastically too (thank god).  and I'm fairly happy with the progress on the ones I'm keeping too.

I'm going into the new year with clear ideas on what I'm doing for each of them

2013 Projects

Pre-Heresy Thousand Sons

My aim is to get at least a Librarian and Twenty Astartes done and ready for the table, along with twenty Spireguard (scouts), so they can either act as an independant army (using an as-yet undetermined 40k codex), or as support for my Sons of Horus (using the Legion Seeker Squads to represent their powers). I've nearly got all the models in need for them, I just have to pick up the Librarian to finish them off, so it'll be simple matter to use my time off before I return to uni in January to get them battle-ready

Sons of Horus

I've mentioned  numerous times that progress on these has been delayed until the order turns up. My plan going into 2013 is to at least have a 1750 point list built and ready to battle by February, ready for the 40k league starting up at my local club. The painting will take a bit longer, but I plan to lavish as much care and attention onto them as I possibly can, as these will probably become my main army

Space Wolves

My current main army. They're progressing nicely, with about half the models I own for them painted up and ready to go. These will very much be on the back burner in 2013, although I'll still be working on them

Hochland Empire

I'll be build these up in 500 point increments to coincide with the escalation league at my local GW. Work is slow at the moment, due to the large amount of conversion work going into it, but I'm fairly confident Von Nearostaffen will have his Glorious Army asnd the Flying Machine to go with it by mid-2013

Mordheim Dark Elves

I'm going to be putting a lot of work into these guys, making them into the ragged band of adventurers they should be, rather than simply subbing in models from my main Dark Elf army. I'm not going to working to a specific deadline though, so I can take my time with them

Malifaux Show Girls

I just need to paint these girls up, so shouldm't take too long. Being a skirmish game though, I want to put extra effort into each one, possibly turning them into display pieces, as my games of Malifaux are few and far between

Display pieces

I want to work on my painting skills, so I'll be producing a lot of one-off pieces that grab my attention, for displaying rather than gaming with. This might also put a chrimp in my urge to buy a whole new army every time something shiny in a new release grabs my attention


That should be plenty to be getting on with. My plan is not to buy any new models unless they're related to these projects. I know I said that last year, but I'm actually going to stick to it this year. Money's going to be a lot tighter, as it's my final year of uni, so I have no time to work alongside my studies. Hoepfully by the end of the year, I'll actually have some fully finished armies/warbands to  show for my efforts, but we'll see

Sad Times

My Forge World order is still not here. Phoned their customer service and they said it should be on the way to me, but that's all they knew. They've been saying that for the last three weeks though. Not happy at all. I know the postal service is busy with the run up to Christmas, but this is getting ridiculous now.

Work on my Sons of Horus has slowed to a crawl until it arrives. Sad times

Praetor Finished

Behold Markus Morkaddon, Captain of the 'fated' 15th Company of the Sons of Horus, ready to bring death to the Warmaster's enemies!

I've just added one or two touches to him since you last saw him, mainly the Eye of the Warmaster on his breastplate and shoulder pad, as he was looking far too much like a loyalist for the leader of a post-Istvann force.

He's also the first fully painted marine for my Sons of Horus. All he needs now is a few squads of the Warmasters Elite to accompany him and he's ready for war in the 31st Millennium. I'd best get cracking then!

Marksman Conversion WIP

My Forge World order still hasn't arrived (sigh), so I've been taking a look over my Empire, working out what I have already and what I still need to build/get hold of for my final list.

While playing with army lists, I decided I wanted ten (yes, ten!) Handgunner units, each with a Marksman with a Hochland Long Rifle. A tall order!

Unfortunately GW don't produce a specific Marksman model, outside of the awful plastic kit that makes the State Troops look like they're wearing onesies. They do have some nice Engineer models with Long Rifles that could be used as Marksman, which would fit right in with my Engineer-themed force, but I've got plans for both of them.

This left me one option: convert!

I started with an old-style Handgunner from one of my existing units (i think it's from the 6th ed Starter Set) and added plastic tubing to build it up into a contraption-of-long-ranged-extinction. I still need to add bits and pieces to it, but i think it's looking good so far:

The only downside is the fact that the model i used as a base is already painted, so I'm going to have to be extra careful when i come to paint it up, so I don't end up ruining the existing paint job, but that's a bridge I can cross when it comes to it

Terminator Wolf Priest WIP

While I wait for my FW order to arrive, I've been working on my Space Wolves. This time I've been working on a Wolf Priest in Terminator Armour, completing my quartet of HQ choices.

I'm undecided on a name and title for this guy at the moment, but I wanted him to look as aggressive as possible - something hard to convey within the limitations imposed by having him in Terminator Armour. The blood splatters on his base and the blooded Fang of Morkai help though, i think.

He was built mainly straight from the basic terminator box, with a few additions, like the crozius made from spare parts from the SW sprue and the totem pole, thrown together from a quick root through my bitz collection, but all in all, he was very simple to make.

It might not be obvious from this photo, but he's got a combi-plasma in his right arm, with a Reductor from the Grey Knight Termintor kit slung underneath. This, much like it does on my other Priest, helps emphasise the dual role he plays within the chapter, as spiritual leader and Apothecary in one.

He just needs a few runes freehanded onto his shoulder pads and he'll be ready to take his place amongst the Rout. Hopefully I'll get him done this week

Master of Signal WIP

Forgeworld have put up the Legion Champion and Master of Signal set. While I've just put in a large order, I was a week too early to grab those guys at the same time. I would've probably only ended up using the Master of Signal anyway, so I ended up building my own:

 If i grab the set later, this guy can always be demoted to a vox-operator in a Tactical Squad, but for now he makes a nice HQ choice.

I tried to get across the impression that this guy is a veteran who's served alongside my Praetor since they were inducted into the legion together on Cthonia - hence the massive beard. The head is plucked straight from the Space Wolves sprue and his backpack is simply the IG vox caster.When I get paid I'm going to be picking up some guitar strings to cut up and add cables linking it to his suit, but for now I'm happy with how he's turned out.

Completing him has given me the two main characters to lead my force, so my next step is to start work on my Veteran Tactical Squads in mkIII armour when my order arrives. Hurry up Royal Mail!

Wolf Priest WIP

A quick WIP of my Wolf Priest. You've seen him before so I'll let the pictures do the talking, rather than prattle on about things you've heard before

Hrogar and Mjor

 Here's two more members of the White Wolves, Hrogar and Mjor Darkhunt.

You've seen Hrogar before, but I've finally finished him off. He's nothing much though, just a rank and file member of the pack, yet to even earn his own saga.

On the other hand, we have Mjor Darkhunt, another of my favourites from the pack

Mjor is a possessed of a keen sense of stealth and a hunters instinct that puts him in good stead to carry a power fist into battle, for what are vehicles other than larger, tougher versions of the beasts the Rout hunt across the wastes of Fenris?

He is a man of few words. Indeed he rarely even removes his helm, a MK VI variant from the time of Russ, encrusted with runes of concealment, the better for tracking his prey and avoiding the eyes of the enemy whilst on the approach. Often, the first warning the enemy have of his presence is the arc of blue energy heralding their imminent death.

When not in battle, he spends most of his time in isolation, prowling the lower gun decks of the 'Lokhir's Heart', away from his pack mates. What he stalks in the shadowy depths of Tra's flagship though remains a mystery to all but him, for he refuses to speak of his prowlings to any man, be they Jarl or Shield-Brother.

Internet Sheep

The online gaming community really does make me laugh sometimes. You may remember a few months ago I posted an article on how Deamons are amazing under sixth edition, especially Flamers of Tzeentch. (if you don't, or you missed it, here it is) I was pretty much laughed at on Warseer and the 40k Forums and told I was an idiot.

Now lo and behold, someone at Bell of Lost Souls has found how nasty they can be and people are hailing them as the new messiah for pointing out that deamons have become a real cheese list, like it's something new.

 Good to see how the clique-y the online community is. Apparently nothing is true unless the big names are saying it too, at which point it becomes gospel. They're tring to claim a tournament list for them can be unbeatable, and I got shouted down and called an idiot for pointing out some very simple counters for it. *sigh*

To be honest, it doesn't really bother me, but it makes me chuckle to see it unfold.

Fenrisian Wolves done

I really seem to be getting models done at a fantastic rate at the moment. This time it's a trio of Fenrisian Wolves.

Admittedly, it's not enough to be fielded as a unit in their own right, but they always can be used with characters until their packmates are done.

These are nothing too special, built straight from the Chaos Warhound kits, with Green Stuff-ed fur over the holes where mutations are normally attached.

 This last one is the Cyberwolf. He's not cybernetically enhanced, just such a ferocious, mean-looking bastard that he's risen to be Alpha Male. I've put him on a raised base to make him stand out.

A couple of people have asked me why I didn't go for the proper Fenrisian Wolves instead the Warhounds. While I love the proper wolves models, I went for these for a number of reasons:

1. They look more feral and brutal than the Fenrisian Wolves. These look more like barely controlled predators than their tamed and well groomed official counterparts

2. The background for my Great Company has them marooned in the Warp for a while. Whilst the Space Wolves can resist its effects due to the Canis Helix, their beast companions weren't so lucky. The Warhounds represent that.

3. They're cheaper. You get twice as many Warhounds for the same price as the Fenrisian Wolves


So there you have it. I might get round to painting the rest of their pack mates soon, but I feel the Wolf Priest and Grey Hunters calling out to me to be finished next, so you might have to wair

Sons of Horus Apothecary WIP

It's not just Space Wolves I've been working on. I'm still plugging away at my Sons of Horus, although progress is hampered somewhat until I find my pot of Colicia Green or aquire a new one when GW Cambridge opens on Wednesday. That's the trouble with keeping an over-cluttered painting area, stuff does tend to wander off.

But enough about that, here's Legion Apothecary Grysus:

As you can see, he's built using normal marine parts, rather than the FW kits. The legs are Mk7, but that's because the materials I'm going to use for studs havn't arrived yet to make them Mk 5. I've been waiting for weeks now and the delay is really starting to annoy me, as they're a key part of the project.

I decided to use Fabius Bile's backpack for his Narthecium/Reductor. I figure that if Fabius was using one in the Heresy, then other Apothecaries probably were too. The Skulls on top represent his Augury Scanner (gives Interceptor to one unit a turn and lets you fire on units arriving from reserve). I figure that, much like Servo Skulls, they're probably housing some kind of scanning tech. Either that or so chaos sorcery, as I'm building them as a post-Istvann/Age of Darkness force.

The shade of his armour is the same recipe I used for the Praetor. The more I use it, the more I like it, although I'm finding I've got to be careful when applying it, as it has a tendency to pool in the wrong areas and look nasty - this guy was stripped and repainted three times!

There's a few details that still need to be finished on him, like the studs and Oath of Moment on his leg armour, but he's pretty much done.

As usual, let me know what you think guys, your feedback means a lot to me.

Wolf Standard finished

 More Space Wolf progress, this time I've completed Jarek the Stern, bearer of the Wolf Standard for the White Wolves.

Of all the models for my Wolves that I've worked on, I think I'm happiest with this guy. The shading's turned out perfectly and he looks hard as nails! I get a very definite sense of background and drama from him that really makes him stand out. Not bad when he's built straight from the box, except for the addition of a Mk 4 helmet from FW.

Skol Fireheart

 He's a nutter with a blue mohawk, wielding a Plasma Gun and Chainsword, how much cooler can he get?

He's also one of the few models in my Space Wolves (or any of my armies for that matter) not to wear a helmet. That's an 'honour' that I generally save for Psykers and particularly headstrong/foolhardy individuals. Skol happens to fall under both the later categories.

Here's the background I wrote for him (I always write this before I build a model)

Something of a loose cannon within the ranks of the White Wolves. Skol’s love for battle knows no bounds  and on the field of war his packmates will always find him in the thick of it, wielding his chainblade in one hand whilst letting rip with his plasma gun with the other, roaring with savage glee.

It is said he would’ve been happy to serve in the ranks of the Blood Claws for the rest of his career, but after the long years away from Fenris, all the recruits in Tra had been promoted to Grey Hunters, or higher still, so Skol was folded into the ranks of the White Wolves almost against his will. 

Although his ferocity is an asset to his pack, his headstrong nature has earned him more than his fair share of punches in the face from his fellow White Wolves, when his lust for battle has threatened an otherwise sound battle plan. Despite this, he possesses the fierce loyalty and bitter resolve that all within the Rout share and can be depended upon when the need calls for it, as long as his lord doesn't mind his goals being achieved with a lot of mess and extreme violence.

There you go guy. I'm really in a painting groove this week, so expect a lot more updates where this came from.

Space Wolf Progress

Been a while since I showed some of my Space Wolves, so thought I'd post some up.

I havn't made as much progress as I thought I would with them, but at least I'm making some headway.

Here's the second model in the entire army I can actually say is fully finished: Shield-Brother Ragnac of the White Wolves.

As I've explained before, I've modelled the Wulfen of this pack just using the parts from the Space Wolf sprues. The background explanation for it that he's a pack member whose undergone the mental degeneration that the Curse of the Wulfen brings, but in a strange quirk of fate, not the physical transformation. In practical terms this means the berserk fury that the curse brings can be brought to bear in battle, without sacrificing the protection that a fully enclosed suit of power armour can offer.

People who have read 'Prospero Burns' may recognise the roughly scrawled eye of aversion on his shoulder pad, put there by his pack brothers to ward off the Malificarum that may trigger Ragnac's full transformation.

What do people think? I still need to add a coat of gloss varnish to the blood to make it look fresh, but I think he's turned out rather nicely.

Hevig von Nearostaffen's Flying Contraption

It's back! Bigger and better than before, and most importantly, actually going to be finished this time!

Yes, I've been working on Von Nearostaffen's Flying Contraption again. It's been gathering dust on my project shelf for nearly two years now., but with GW Cambridge running a fantasy league, it seems the perfect opportunity to finally get it done, along with the rest of my Hochland force.

As you can see, It's undergone a slight re-model , ditching the dwarven cannon slung underneath. I'm planning something far more ambitious as a replacement for its main armament, so I can use it as either a Steam Tank or a Luminark, depending on the points level of the game I'm playing with it.

The wings look very uneven in this picture, but I'm sure you can forgive that, as it's still a very early WIP. I'm planning to extend them out in a style similar to Da Vinci's flying machine, with a gas balloon providing the lift. Very ambitious plans, but then again, it is going to be the centrepiece of my force.

More soon!

November White Dwarf Review

It’s not exactly shocking news that White Dwarf has gone downhill over the last few years, turning into a much-reviled monthly catalogue showcasing whatever GW happens to be releasing this month in the shallowest, most money-grabbing kind of way. After the recent overhaul though, starting last month, I think it’s safe to say that White Dwarf is well on its way to recovery.

Despite the 49 pages covering the new releases at the front, the rest of this months issue seems to make up for it, with the other 89 pages being packed with army showcases, battle reports (featuring the WD teams own armies rather than the rather bland studio ones), showcase of readers models, conversion articles, in depth painting guides (including a rather nice how-to on salt weathering), designers notes and even a rather nice piece from Graham McNeill on the new HH novel.

The only thing that disappointed me was that there’s next to no coverage of the new terrain set and no modeling workshop for Warriors of Chaos, which would have been nice, so that people could see what can be done with the new kits. On the other hand, that’s a relatively minor thing. This might be covered next month anyway and the designers notes actually answer questions that people might have about them (like, why aren't the trenches part of a new Realm of Battle segment?). Overall, White Dwarf is definitely worth spending money on again. The new writing team seems to have really tapped into what we want to see in there, having been gamers long before they were recruited and probably watched the downhill slide of the magazine first hand.

In short, it’s becoming what it used to be again – a hobby magazine for the hobbyist. Sure, there’s still the occasional advertisement ‘article’, but the good far outweighs the bad. This is easily the best issue of White Dwarf I’ve read in a long time.  Long may it continue this way.

Rating: 9/10

Helblaster WIP

Took a little break from the Horus Heresy today to get some of my Empire done.

I carried on building and painting up a scenic base for my Helblaster Volley gun that I bought last year, adding a crewman and some spare ammo. I still need to find two other crewman for it, and add more shading/details but it's a start.

It's nice to be finally making progress on my Hochanders, and kind of refreshing not to be working on power armour too, if I'm completely honest. Marines are nice, but too many of them can make the hobby seem a bit same-y. That's not to say I've stopped working on them though. I'll just be alternating between them and the Empire to keep my motivation up

WIP Legion Praetor

Having nailed the colour scheme for their armour, i'm pushing ahead with my Sons of Horus, starting with the Legion Praetor:

As you can see, there's still plenty to do on this guy, but you can get an idea of where I'm going with him from the picture. I'll post more progress on him soon

Eruka!

After a chat with the guys down at GW Cambridge and a little experimentation I've finally hit upon the perfect recipe for the green of my Sons of Horus.

It's a surprisingly simple recipe, using Mechanicum Standard Grey as as base coat, then a liberal wash of Colicia Green. It's created precisely the shade of green I imagined, in a way that's fairly quick and simple to achieve. I actually can't believe how simple it was in the end, considering that I've been experimenting with various combinations of shades and washes for a couple of months now with not the greatest of results.

I'm glad I've finally hit on it though, considering that I've been on the verge of dropping out of the painting challenges I've signed up for due to the problems I've been having.

Once again though, Forgeworld seems oddly attuned to my thoughts. I returned home to find that they'd put up a painting guide for the 4 legions from Betrayal, while I'd been out. Oh well. My way is far simpler and looks far better in my opinion.