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Issue 2 – Summer 2012
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Includes
Resources and
Information
on the Occulis
Terribilis
The Nemean
Campaign
With
Index Astartes
Articles for
the Steel
Dogs, the
Lions of Alba,
and the
Heralds of
Light
Painting and
Modelling
Articles
And
An Interview
with Author
Aaron
Dembski-Bowden
Introduction & Contents
This is the second issue of the Legio Imprint, the
B&C’s semi-regular attempt to show the board
members all the stuff they miss by hiding in their
particular corners of the forum – and show off some
new stuff into the bargain.
This issue focuses around the Eye of Terror, the centre
for so many of the events of 40K (especially
power-armoured events). There’s a lot to the Eye of Terror,
and no e-zine could really be up to the task. Still, the
B&C did its best, with fluff articles, modelling
tutorials, painting tutorials, special rules, and a fully
realized campaign with background, scenarios and
advice for adapting it to your needs. There’s also an
exclusive interview with Black Library luminary
Aaron Dembski-Bowden, where he talks about the
inner workings of the Black Library.
The issue is divided into two major sections. First is
the Eye of Terror section, which provides background
information on the Eye and many of its denizens.
There’s an exploration of just what the Eye of Terror
is, overviews of the Black Crusades and the Astartes
Praeses, and a variety of Eye-related modelling
articles. There are also three different sets of special
rules – one for the various Chaos Legions and one each
for the Exorcists and Iron Hands Chapters – both of
whom make their homes near the Eye.
Second is the Nemean Campaign section, which covers
a B&C-created campaign around the Eye of Terror – a
war prompted by honour, pride, and vengeance. Heady
stuff – and all created on the B&C. In addition to the
background articles on the Chapters and the campaign,
there’s also a complete set of scenarios, a battle report,
and a guide to adapting the campaign for your
purposes.
There’s lots of original fluff, original ideas, original
interpretations and original artwork, and even what
you’ve already seen before has been polished and
added to. Hopefully you’ll enjoy reading it as much as
the team enjoyed producing it. Thanks to everyone
who worked so hard on this and to all of you who will
now read it.
Octavulg – Editor
T
HEE
YE OFT
ERRORIntroduction & Contents
1
Interview: Aaron Dembski-Bowden
2
THE EYE OF TERROR
An Introduction to the Eye of Terror
6
The Black Crusades
12
Beast Marines Tutorials
17
A Guide to Creating Mutations
23
Renegade Chapters
26
Paths of Glory: Chaos Legion Rules
34
The Making of Magmatrax
41
The Astartes Praeses
47
Codex: Exorcists
55
Codex: Iron Hands
60
THE NEMEAN CAMPAIGN
The Steel Dogs
68
The Heralds of Light
79
The Lions of Alba
88
Going on a Lion Hunt:
The Nemean Campaign
97
The Battle of Jamshyd’s World
105
Aftermath
112
2
What is the process of
writing and researching a
novel for the Black Library?
Um. I'll cover that later. If I do it now, I'll have to write "See Question 1" about four times.
You’ve mentioned a GW
Archive in the past. Could
you explain it to us?
Sure. On a practical level, dealing with the archive goes a little like this: To:
[email protected] From:
[email protected] Dear whomever gets this email, I need X information for novel Y. Can you send everything they have in the archives about it? Ta.
Then, the very next day you get a chunky A2-sized envelope with a whole bunch of colour photocopies relating to everything you asked for. I'm usually aware of exactly what I'll need, so I'll list off specific references like "I know Slaves to Darkness has some jazz on the old units Chaos Marines used in the 80s... Can you send me a copy of those pages?" Essentially, the archive is everything Games Workshop and its subsidiaries (Black Library and Forge World) have published. F’rex, for the novel I'm working on right now, I wanted to see what Forge World had done on the Marines Errant –- because there's a vague subplot where the Night Lords are essentially hanging out with the Red Corsairs when Huron has a crack at killing the Chapter off [Yes, this interview was a while ago. Sorry, A D-B – Ed]. A day later, colour photocopies from Imperial
Armour 9 landed on the doorstep. It occasionally includes stuff that's not yet published, though you tend to have to be in GWHQ to get a look at that. But I saw the Blood Angels codex ages before it hit the shelves, for example. And I saw the photocopied pages of the next codex release, like, months and months ago. That's a rarity, but it's nice to pretend you're as cool as the Design Studio guys for a few minutes while you read that stuff.
Are Black Library novels
included in the Archive?
Yeah. Though we get all of them for free, anyway – don't usually need to ask.
Does the archive give you
access to super-secret
background material no one
else sees?
Not so much. It gives you access to stuff no one has seen in a long time (Black Legion Chaplains and Techmarines with Spawngoads... Dreadnoughts called 'Chuck'...), and it gives you an occasional glance at something unreleased if it pertains to your project.
That said, the Horus Heresy meetings are the exception that proves (okay, completely breaks) this rule. In those, we're sat around a table with Alan Merrett, the overseer of Games Workshop's entire intellectual property. And he's not just the IP manager; this is also the guy that invented most of the Horus Heresy's events as we know them today. So at HH meetings, we're able to see any relevant new codices while they're still basically printed Word.docs, and we're the ones deciding the Imperium's history. That's... I mean, Jesus, even typing that to explain it feels cool. When you're sat in the room, it's absolutely killer. The
Legio
Imprint
Interview:
Aaron
Dembski-Bowden
by
Librarium
Staff and
A D-B
One of the Black Library’s most popular authors and one of the
B&C’s most prolific luminaries, A D-B graciously agreed to answer
some questions after the application of sufficiently gratuitous flattery.
His answers are interesting and provide insight into both the Black
Library and Games Workshop.
other guys are a bit cooler and more collected about the whole thing. I can barely remember my name at the time, though.
How much older material is
contained in them (like the
Starchild theory, for
example)?
Everything, ever.
Though, as I recall from my tender youth, the Starchild cra– uh, “theory”, wasn't exactly widespread.
Could you walk us through the
editorial process on a Black
Library novel?
The full deal goes like this: 1. Synopsis pitch.
2. First draft.
3. Editor feedback, usually storyline-based and typo catching.
4. Second draft.
5. Copy editor gets it; catches typos and stuff.
6. Lore reader gets it; sends back feedback on any background discrepancies.
7. Production turn it into a formatted .pdf file.
8. Final edit, where you check it over again yourself. The most boring part. You're usually sick of the sight of it by now.
9. Print.
Does a negative or positive
reaction to a book get noticed
at the Black Library?
Okay, now I need to tread carefully. Like any career situation, what you know isn't always what you can safely say. I'll try to be brief and to the point. My gut instinct answer is that Yes, it's noticed, and No, it doesn't really have that much impact. Online reviews are often not exactly well-considered or to the standards once kept by professional critics. That's not to say they're worthless – I spend an insane amount of time reading my own reviews (very unprofessional of me), and on forums
discussing the (thankfully, almost always very positive) reviews I get there. But a lot of writers really don't much care, and they're probably right in feeling that way. Reviews by your Average Joe can range from 'insightful' to 'missing the point by a ball-aching mile', and all too often, it's the latter. Again, while I've been more fortunate than luck should allow, it's a general thing inherent in the semi-anonymous and opinionated nature of online reviews. Look at any Amazon review of a TV show, book or movie that you like. Now check out all the people that missed the point by a bajillion miles. Yeah, exactly. It's not always sane, let alone valid.
Black Library is like any other publisher, in that its editors and staff have opinions of their own. You've got mass-marketed, hugely advertised stuff that a lot of them might think simply sucks, and you've got lesser known authors that they really wish would break out of the pack. I will say this: in the past, BL haven't had a great record with heavily advertising certain authors. In recent memory, they made a fuss out of a couple of authors in particular who've ended up receiving very mediocre reviews. They do notice that, but they also know reviews are fleeting. Give something an amazing cover and a great blurb, and it'll attract a lot of interest no matter what previous novels the author has done. That's just the nature of the game in any publishing, but especially licensed fiction. The fanbase orbits the concepts, not the authors. At least, that's how it goes at first.
So, yeah, they notice. But no – like any other publisher – things sell whether they're great or just average; it's marketing that decides as much as anything. They work hard to ensure
everything is as good as it can be, but it's not exactly a disaster if it's not. That has nothing to do with Back Library's production, really. It's inherent in all types of media.
You might be reading this and thinking I'm very sceptical. I'm really not. I'm just honest.
How detailed a plot/concept
are you given to work with?
I assume it's the same for all the other authors, but I'm never given anything to work with in that sense. I pitch ideas and wait for a reply. The notable exception was Helsreach, when the first few releases for the Space Marine Battles series were loosely chosen by editors. Nick Kyme briefed me on that by saying "How about a novel focusing on Helsreach?" and left it at that. I always choose what I want to do, in the sense that I'll email my editor Nick
Our subject in both his forms – DaemonPrinceDargor
4
Kyme and say "I wanna do this", andhe'll always say "Finish what you're doing first, then send me a synopsis."
Is there any official instruction
for what to do when you run
into really big gaps in the fluff
(like how Chapters are
founded, or what colour Ork
blood is this week)?
This is a tough one.
I guess this is different for every author. I consider myself bound to the codices, but I don't consider myself beholden to any other author's work. Like, it's my choice if I want to acknowledge their work in mine (and vice versa), and if I do it, I think it's because their perception of the setting matches mine, or they add something great to the shared universe. But I've run across a few instances where I could've referenced another author's novel and chose not to, because I didn't like the work, or I felt it wasn't really in-line with my views on 40K. And that's something that, to a degree, everyone involved in the Intellectual Property will do. In codices, it's called retconning. The erasing of former ideas, or simply not mentioning them again.
What you've got to bear in mind is that – love it or hate it – Games Workshop's attitude to the setting really is that "Everything is true and nothing is true". When gaps or clashes occur in the sourcebooks, some people will consider it lazy, while others will 'get it' in the sense that a lot of the time, this is simply how GW want things to be. My 40K isn't going to be exactly the same as your 40K, and that's a statement that every single 40K fan can say to another fan with absolute, complete, 100% surety. Some people consider that a flaw. Others, like GW, a feature.
Canon doesn't really apply to 40K the way it does to Star Wars, because the setting itself is founded to give people the chance to make their own stories, battles, crusades, wars, and so on. It's not canon in that sense, which is why
the imaginary distinction of "Codex Canon" being a different tier of truth to "Black Library Canon" and "Forge World Canon" is a fallacy. GW brass don't see it like that. It's all just people telling stories in the setting, whether in a novel or on the tabletop – the difference is that the Dev Studio will often give more of a framework for the setting as a whole, and the novels offer more specific, focused frameworks on certain factions. But canon is... well, it's not what it is in other licenses. In my less witty moments, I call it "loose canon".
Yeah, I'm priceless.
But there's a consensus, of course. Sometimes, something is established and shouldn't be conflicted. Something I'm pretty proud of is the feedback I tend to get regarding my attitudes to the established source material. I stick to it because I love it, and I know it from 20 years of reading and playing it, since I was a tiny little goober with a copy of Space Crusade.
Ultimately, the fans can judge what they like, and what they consider "truth". Sometimes it'll be Forge World's consensus that becomes the main one; sometimes the Dev Studio's; sometimes Black Library's. It all depends on the topic and how it's presented.
To what extent do the authors
work together?
We don't, really. No more than any other authors all working for the same publisher. I have nothing but love for Chris Wraight and Matt Farrer, and we talk over email, but we don't work together in the sense that we're always going over our facts as a pack. Projects are rarely related enough to make it necessary, and we're all confident in our respective grasps of the setting. The guys I talk to most are Dan Abnett, Nick Kyme and Jim Swallow, and it's not usually about work with any of them. When work comes into it, it's almost always Horus Heresy related. We have a pretty active group email
thing going on, too. Though it's usually just used to congratulate Graham on whatever award he's won that week.
Does the Black Library
discourage you from exploring
certain themes, such as
religion, romance, or the full
depths of the horror of the 41
stMillennium?
We're not allowed to show explicit sex, obviously. You have to be verrrrrrry cautious with some aspects of romance, too, and I once got in trouble for a daemon saying "My kind will rape your holy world, mortal", or something like that.
I'm using 2011 to shop my non-40K work around (if I can find the time) and while I'll always love writing for 40K, it's great not to be second-guessing every scene where something mature happens. GW has a varied demographic (which falsely translates as "BL fans are mostly kids", which is wrong), and although I hate it, sometimes BL seems to cater for the lower age range of that demographic. That said, legally, they probably have to. It can feel a bit stifling sometimes, yeah.
What inspires you to write
about the armies you have?
Write what you love. Luckily, I love a lot.
I try not to write what I play, though. There's an immensely annoying – and completely invented – trope where sometimes authors of licensed fiction will big up their favourite factions just to make them look better than X, Y and Z other factions. It's patently nonsense, but it makes a great soundbite, and it's something instinctively childish, malevolent, and plausible if you have no respect for the person you're insulting when you say it. We tend to think the worst of people we dislike, after all. So I try to avoid that by simply not writing about the Black Legion.
That'll change in time, and I'm sure my reviews will say "OMG ADB made BL
the best when really Failbaddon is a loser", but whatever. I'd argue that if you use that many capitals in a sentence, you need to be punched in the spine, anyway. And don't put 'Fail' in anything like that. It's chimpish.
What aspects of the Heresy
would you most like to write
about?
I wanted to detail how it all began, and show a different perception of Lorgar and the Word Bearers at their lowest ebb, before they became the charismatic crusaders of the Heresy. I was lucky enough to do that when I pitched The First Heretic. I'd also like to carry on with that, showing the Word Bearer Legion really coming into its own with the assaults on Calth, Terra, and whatever else they did in the Age of Darkness. I'd love to do a novel about the War in the Webway, though if I ever do, it'll be a million years away (I'm just saying I like the concept, not that I have plans). My next HH novel will almost definitely be a World Eater novel, and that's something I've always wanted to get a hold of. Doing that is almost a dream come true. It should go without saying, but I'm saying it anyway, that I'd like to do a Night Lords novel at some point. But the series is young. There's
plenty of time.
In less local news, obviously I'd love to have done something big in the sense of either one of the big events or the most popular legions (Blood Angels at Signus Prime; Space Wolves at Prospero) but I joined the team very late, and they were understandably taken by then. But getting to do a Blood Angel, Dark Angel or Ultramarine novel would be absolutely amazing. I doubt that's specific to me – it's surely the kind of thing any 40K fan would say.
What’s your favourite Black
Library book? Why?
Legion, by Dan Abnett.
Quite simply, it's brilliant, brilliant sci-fi. The revelations meant nothing to me (and really, I think people place too much importance in them as truth, when they don't really seem to be at all), but it was beautifully written, and I love the characters. It also bled a 30K feel, rather than a 40K one, and I don't think it's unfair to say that not all of the HH series has necessarily nailed that. It's an important part of the theme, and one that can end up pretty difficult to do. The characters were unique and fascinating, the prose was awesome,
and the storyline was killer. Really, you're not going to get much better than that.
Ultimately, I like human characters in 40K, and I love how they contrast to the Astartes. That's what makes Space Marines in this setting so rich and interesting for me: their strange, awkwardly loyal distance from the humans they were never given a chance to be. There wasn't a lot of that in Legion, but enough to tease and make for great reading.
Will you be including a Squat
in your next book, or are you
saving it for a special
occasion?
This may not be a popular opinion, but I always thought they were a bit stupid, anyway. Those trikes, man. Gah. I miss Genestealer cults, though. Those were rad.
And on that suspiciously pro-Hive Mind note, the interview concluded. My eternal thanks to A D-B for doing this, and I hope you all enjoyed it. A D-B’s novel Void Stalker is out now, and I don’t know why you haven’t bought it yet.
6
What is the Eye of Terror?
The Eye of Terror dominates the north-west of the galaxy. It is the heart of Chaos in our universe. Twenty thousand light years across,1 and visible from ten thousand light years away,2 it was born in the final years of the Dark Age of Strife, heralding the birth of the Imperium,3 brought into being by the Fall of the Eldar.
The Fall of the Eldar
Explanations vary for the Eldar’s fall. Some sources say they fell into Chaos worship when they discovered it through their use of warpgates.4 Others say that they turned to the worship of Chaos when they grew complacent and bored in their supremacy over the galaxy.5 Whatever the reason, across the Eldar Empire, those who felt the pull of Chaos in their souls fell dead and their souls were subsumed into the being known as Slaanesh.6 This catastrophe blew the Warp Storms around Earth away and reshaped the Warp, allowing humanity to return to the galaxy.7 Slaanesh, meanwhile, annihilated the majority of the Eldar pantheon – Khaine survived as scattered fragments at the core of Craftworlds,8 the Laughing God survived by concealing himself in the Webway where his Harlequins lurk to this day,9 and a few sources say Isha, Goddess of Healing, was taken as a prisoner and bride by Nurgle, trapped in his garden forever as a victim of his various plagues and pathogens.10
1 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
2
Warhammer 40,000, Fourth Edition 3 Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness 4
Ibid 5
Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 6 Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness 7
Ibid 8
Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 9 Ibid
10
Codex: Chaos Daemons
Geography
The Eye of Terror was the result of this tumult.11 A rupture at its very heart spews forth raw Warp energy into our universe,12 and this energy makes the region violently unstable. Daemons can safely manifest within the confines of the Eye,13 and the reality-twisting effects of the Warp have resulted in space and time being deformed in alien and terrifying ways.
There are a variety of different worlds within the Eye. The Crone Worlds are the original core worlds of the Eldar Empire, and the Eldar must still mine them today in order to build soul stones.14 They also hold many artefacts of pre-Fall Eldar Civilization.15 Some, like Belial IV, are inhabited only by ghosts.16 Others have become daemon worlds, where screeching warpspawn caper through the graveyard of a great civilization.17
Many of the inhabited worlds within the Eye of Terror are Daemon Worlds, found toward the heart of the Eye of Terror.18 Daemon Worlds have been corrupted by Chaos, and are now shaped by the whims of whatever Chaos power controls them, heedless of physical laws.19 Worlds with surfaces of living flesh; flat worlds; night worlds where no light is ever seen;20 worlds with fire for skies; oceans and rivers of blood or where the moons and stars scream.21 Tales of
11
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
12
Renegades, Space Marine Second Edition
13
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Fourth Edition
14
Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 15
Ibid
16 Codex: Eye of Terror 17
Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 18
Renegades, Space Marine Second Edition
19
Codex: Chaos Daemons 20
Renegades, Space Marine Second Edition
21
Warhammer 40,000, Third Edition
The Eye of
Terror
An
Introduction
to the Eye of
Terror
by
Octavulg
8
these horrors are brought back to theImperium by the crews of Inquisitorial null-ships,22 or dragged from captured prisoners and tomes by the Ordo Malleus. Daemon Worlds are as varied as the powers of Chaos – the only constant is the insanity behind them. The Fringe Worlds along the edge of the Eye lead a precarious existence. The Eye of Terror is not stable, and so they may be drawn in or expelled from it without warning. Worlds closer to the edge of the Eye may even be something observers might recognize as normal, though often they are simply dead worlds, uninhabited even by the creatures of Chaos.
Eldar Craftworlds are even known to be drawn into the eye by physical or metaphysical forces – Maugan Ra’s home world of Altansar was drawn into the Eye itself,23 and Ulthwé is trapped in its orbit.24
What Lives There?
The inhabitants of the Eye are no better, as twisted and malformed as the worlds they live on. Billions of mutants inhabit various daemon worlds, screaming tormented praises to gods as mad as their worshippers.25
Perhaps the most infamous of the Eye’s inhabitants are those who once served the Imperium. The Eye of Terror provides a haven for the treacherous and the black-hearted. Most prominent of these are the Traitor Legions, who fled there in the wake of the Horus Heresy. The twisting influence of the Warp twists time such that many of the original Legionaries still survive to nurse their hatred of the Imperium.26 Indeed, ships fleeing Horus’ defeat at Terra still arrive in the
22
Warhammer 40,000, Fourth Edition 23
Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 24 Renegades, Space Marine Second Edition
25
Codex: Eye of Terror
26 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Fourth Edition
Eye to this day.27 They are bolstered by more recent traitor Space Marines, formerly of the Adeptus Astartes,28 fallen Imperial Guard regiments and cultists,29 and the arcane forces of the Dark Mechanicus and Traitor Titan Legions.30
But the Eye’s most numerous inhabitants are Daemons, and to understand them, one must understand the Warp.
What is the Warp?
The Warp is a parallel reality to our own – Chaos is the Warp, and the Warp is Chaos.31 Human ships travel across the galaxy by entering the Warp, where the distance to their destination is shorter, then returning to realspace.32 The natural ebb and flow of the Warp can make travel easier or more difficult by speeding or slowing ships.33Warp storms are created by these natural movements and tides, coming together and breaking apart over time.34 Older sources suggest that warp storms are the powers of Chaos, accumulations of power grown large enough to achieve sentience.35 As powers grow larger, they can protect themselves from the natural flow of the Warp and maintain their existence.36 Emotions also feed the powers of Chaos,37 and the use of psychic powers creates disturbances and currents in the Warp.38 Indeed, much of the ebb and flow of the Warp
27
Renegades, Space Marine Second Edition
28
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Fourth Edition
29
Codex: Eye of Terror 30 Adeptus Titanicus 31
Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness 32
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 33 Warhammer 40,000, Third Edition 34
Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness 35
Ibid 36 Ibid 37
Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
38
Codex: Chaos Daemons
may be a response to emotions and actions in our universe.
Daemons are created from the accumulated energy of a Chaos power – more capable and larger powers can thus create more daemons.39 Some small Chaos powers elect to stabilize themselves by taking daemonic form, trading the chance at more power for the certainty of continued existence.40 Daemons are reflections of the powers that created them – Khorne’s are bloodthirsty, Slaanesh’s depraved, Nurgle’s pestilent, and Tzeentch’s mercurial.41 The gods’ most favoured servants will be rewarded with more and more power – indeed, on some worlds, Greater Daemons are worshipped as gods themselves.42 Most of the time, Daemons do not concern themselves with humanity. They are occupied participating in wars between the Chaos powers and other daemons within the Warp and the Eye of Terror, wars prompted by obscure, incomprehensible or even ridiculous motivations.43 The Chaos powers can reclaim the energies committed to a particular daemon at any time, ensuring the loyalty of their followers (though, treacherous as such creatures are, betrayal is still possible).44
Daemons cannot generally manifest themselves in our universe – the walls between universes must be weakened by a warp storm or the beliefs and rituals of cultists in order to allow a daemon entrance to our world.45 Alternatively, daemons can possess mortals, committing a portion of their power to controlling the mind and spirit of their host.46 Some mortals succumb to this willingly, while others
39
Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness 40 Ibid
41
Codex: Chaos Daemons 42
Renegades, Space Marine Second Edition
43 Ibid 44
Codex: Chaos Daemons
45 Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness 46
are left trapped as witnesses to the horrors their body commits.47
Talented psykers such as the Librarians of the Adeptus Astartes can project their minds into the Warp in the form of a “subtle body” or “mist flesh”, like the mirror of a daemon projecting its psychic existence into our physical realm. Such a journey is hazardous in the extreme, for injury to the subtle body is suffered by the physical body and to die whilst in the Warp is to be condemned to damnation and torment at the claws of daemons.48
Just as daemons struggle to maintain their physical form in our material realm, the immaterial realm is anathema to mortal beings. For an ordinary man to even look upon the Warp is to jeopardize his sanity. Starships are encased in protective shields known as Gellar fields generated by ancient engines from the fabled Dark Age of Technology, and these fields are all that prevent Warp creatures from consuming those who sail the swirling energies of the Immaterium.49 Even the best Gellar fields have been known to fail without explanation, leaving crews to be turned into gibbering maniacs and devotees of dark and terrible influences.50
It is only thanks to the mutants known as Navigators that mankind can travel the Warp. Navigators possess a third eye in the centre of their forehead which enables them to look upon the Warp.51 Every Navigator perceives the Warp differently and any attempt to describe what they see is futile for it requires colours and shapes beyond mortal comprehension.52 Navigators are treated with fear and suspicion for it is said that to look in a Navigator’s Warp Eye is to invite madness and death.53
47
Codex: Chaos Daemons 48
Graham McNeill, A Thousand Sons
49 Warhammer 40,000, Fourth Edition 50Codex: Chaos Daemons 51
“Space Fleet”, White Dwarf #140 52 Codex: Chaos Daemons
53
“Space Fleet”, White Dwarf 140
Conclusion
Thus is the Eye of Terror – a twisted realm of twisted creatures serving twisted purposes. It is here that the death of mankind waits, and here from which our darkest urges march forth to destroy us.
Notable Worlds and Sites
Agripinaa – An Adeptus Mechanicus
Fortress World located south-east of Cadia,54 Agripinaa produces munitions for the Cadian Gate.55
Altansar – This Craftworld is home to
Maugan Ra, Exarch of the Dark Reapers.56 He guided them in an escape from the Eye of Terror during the 13th Black Crusade, though they are now mistrusted by other Eldar due to their lengthy time within the Eye.57 Altansar is now located near Terra.58
The Arx Gap – An alternate exit from
the Eye of Terror in the north-east,59 the Arx Gap is less stable than the Cadian Gate.60 Abaddon escaped through here to start the Gothic War.61
Belial IV – A Crone World in the east
of the Eye on which can be found an Eldar relic – a black crystal sword forged from the energy of death.62
Belis Corona – A dead world on the
Imperial side of the Cadian Gate which supports massive naval dockyards.63
The Benighted – A Daemon World in
the western Eye of Terror.64
54
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
55 Codex: Eye of Terror 56
Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 57
Ibid
58 Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 59
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
60 Codex: Eye of Terror 61
Battlefleet Gothic 62
Codex: Eye of Terror 63 Ibid
64
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition
Cadia – The Fortress World that
secures the eponymous Gate. Home to the famous Cadian regiments, and the site of much of the action of the 13th Black Crusade.65
Caliban (Ruins) – The destroyed
former home world of the Dark Angels,66 on the northern edge of the Eye.67
Chincare – A rogue system68 where a creature of Chaos was destroyed by Inquisitor Eisenhorn.69
Citadels of Flesh – A Daemon World
in the eastern Eye of Terror.70
Cylia – A Daemon World near the
centre of the Eye.71
Dhegh – A Daemon World near the
centre of the Eye.72
Eidolon – A world in the northern Eye
of Terror.73 A former Eldar Maiden World, now the site of constant battles between the four Chaos powers.74
Fool’s Paradise – An Imperial Guard
world of note,75 but also apparently the site of Alpha-grade Daemonic encounters.76
The Forbidden Vault – A Daemon
World in the western Eye of Terror.77
Fulgrim’s World – Daemon World of
the Emperor’s Children Primarch and
65
Codex: Eye of Terror 66
“The Unforgiven”, Index Astartes I 67
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
68 Ibid 69
Codex: Eye of Terror
70 Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 71
Ibid 72
Ibid
73 Codex: Eye of Terror 74
Bloodquest 75
Codex: Imperial Guard, Fifth Edition 76 Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 77
10
the goal of questing Emperor’sChildren. Location unknown.78
Helix – A Daemon World near the
centre of the Eye of Terror.79
Il-Kaithe – A Craftworld near the
south-west of the Eye of Terror.80 Constantly battling against the forces of Chaos, their colours are purple and green. They are famous for the talents of their Bonesingers.81
Infinitum – A Daemon World near the
centre of the Eye.82
Kathalon – A Daemon World ruled by
Vangash’hagash the Ever-Bloody, it takes the form of a burning lake crossed with bridges of iron and bone, and is the site of an endless battle between the forces of Khorne and Tzeentch.83
78
“Children of the Emperor”, Index Astartes I
79 Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 80
Ibid 81
Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 82 Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 83
Codex: Chaos Daemons
Kdask’s Labyrinth – A Daemon
World in the south-west of the Eye of Terror.84
L’Oquis – A Crone World in the
western Eye of Terror.85
The Loathsome Orb – A Daemon
World in the southern Eye of Terror.86
Mahr’douk – A Guard world of note
to the south-west of the Eye.87
Medrengard – Home to the Iron
Warriors, Medrengard is a bleak slave world in the north-east of the Eye88 and is dominated by physically impossible fortifications.89 It lies close enough to the edge of the Eye that it can sometimes be mapped as outside – which may just be a product of the Eye’s unpredictability90
84
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 85 Ibid
86 Ibid 87
Codex: Imperial Guard, Fifth Edition 88 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
89
“Bitter and Twisted”, Index Astartes I
90
Warhammer 40,000, Fourth Edition
Medusa – The home world of the Iron
Hands,91 Medusa lies on the north-west edge of the Eye.92
Nemesis Tessera – Site of a fortress
built to guard against the denizens of the Eye of Terror. Nemesis Tessera is now under the control of the Inquisition.93
The Perilous Stair – A Daemon
World near the centre of the Eye.94
Plague Planet – The new home of the
Death Guard, it was remade in the image of Barbarus by Mortarion.95 Sickness and pestilence are the norm, and the clouds bring death, prompting the population to pray to Nurgle for relief.96
Planet of Sorcerers – New home of
the Thousand Sons. Saturated with magic and volcanically active, it is
91
“The Iron Hands”, Index Astartes III 92 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
93
Codex: Eye of Terror
94 Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 95
“The Lost and the Damned”, Index Astartes III
96 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
covered in monolithic sorcerer’s towers, the tallest of which is the Tower of the Cyclops.97 From the Tower, Magnus can peer through the Warp across the Imperium, directing the raids of his Legion toward targets which particularly interest him.98
Purgatrex – A Daemon World in the
north of the Eye of Terror.99
Rubicon Straits – An anomaly.100
Scelus – A Dead World in the west of
the Eye, Scelus is the former home of the Sons of Malice.101
Sentinel Worlds – Anomalous worlds
in the south-west of the Eye, quarantined due to alien artefacts.102
Sicarus – Daemon world base of
Lorgar and centre of Word Bearer operations.103
97 “Masters of Forbidden Knowledge”, Index Astartes IV
98
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
99
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 100
Codex: Eye of Terror 101 Ibid
102
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
103 “The Dark Apostles”, Index Astartes IV
Skalathrax – A freezing daemon
world covered in black cities.104 Site of the battle of Skalathrax, where Khârn’s actions shattered the World Eaters and Emperor’s Children and earned him the title “The Betrayer”.105
Thracian Primaris – A Hive World of
twenty-two billion with five Ramilies Star Forts and eight million PDF defending it.106 Capital of the Helican sub-sector.107
Titan of Pain – Daemon World near
the centre of the Eye of Terror.108
Tzix – Daemon World in the south of
the Eye of Terror.109
Ulthwé – An Eldar Craftworld that
wears the colours of mourning (black and yellow) due to being trapped in orbit around the Eye of Terror.110 Currently located near the western edge of the Eye.111
104 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
105 Ibid
106 Codex: Eye of Terror 107
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
108 Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 109
Ibid 110
Codex: Eye of Terror
111 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
Viest – Plague world in the northern Eye of Terror.112
Volscar – A Guard world of note,
almost within the southern Eye of Terror.113
World of Immortal Sorrows – Crone
World ruled by Slaaneshi Daemon Prince Elyssar’sirath, where daemons torment the souls of fallen Eldar in a massive golden forest beside rivers made from the tears of Eldar children.114
Xana II – Renegade Forge World.
Produces the Hell Talon, Hell Blade,115 and the Idolator-class escort.116
Yme-Loc – Eldar Craftworld near the
Eye of Terror.117 Known as talented artists, they frequently make use of heavy grav-tanks and Titans. Their colours are grey and orange.118
112
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 113
Codex: Imperial Guard, Fifth Edition 114 Codex: Chaos Daemons
115
Imperial Armour: Apocalypse 116
Battlefleet Gothic
117 Codex: Eldar, Fourth Edition 118
12
Introduction
It is the nature of Chaos that infighting and rivalry keep the Chaos Space Marines from permanently uniting. However, once or twice in a millennium, a truly great Champion of Chaos arises in the Eye of Terror. Through his implacable will and the favour of the Ruinous Powers, this Champion welds together an unsteady alliance between the infernal regions of the Eye of Terror and sallies forth against the Imperium.
How the Champion brings such a ‘Black Crusade’ together will depend on his nature and his patron God. Some use manipulation, others extortion, while others dominate or intimidate. Whatever the method, the Champion must use all of the considerable powers at his disposal.
Unsurprisingly for the servants of Chaos, a Black Crusade can vary wildly in terms of the size and composition of Traitor forces. Depending on the Champion’s goals and objectives, such a force can range from a few hundred renegade Astartes to a dark tide of countless thousands of Chaos worshippers.
The Black Crusades of Abaddon the Despoiler are some of the most momentous events in the history of the Imperium and yet, other than his two most recent, relatively little is known of these cataclysmic wars. Below is a time line recording the known Crusades of both Abaddon and several other mighty chaotic war leaders.
The Death of a Primarch –
c.30.M31
An unnamed Black Crusade that threatened to engulf Cadia. Before the Crusade could properly begin, Rogal Dorn and three companies of Imperial Fists assaulted the Chaos anchorage in the Pelenos Belt and did enough
damage to avert the attack, with Dorn making his last stand on the bridge of the Chaos Battleship Sword of Sacrilege.1
If this account refers to a general Black Crusade, or specifically to one of Abaddon's Black Crusades is unclear, but a date is not given other than it was 'soon after' the disappearance of Corax.2 The Primarch of the Raven Guard is known to have disappeared approximately one year after the 2nd Founding (ca. 21.M31).3 Even if one allows 50 to 60 years to be 'soon' in Imperial terms, this would still place this Black Crusade 700 years before the date given for Abaddon's First Black Crusade, suggesting that it must have been a separate event.
Abaddon’s First Black
Crusade – 781.M31
4After years of inactivity following the Scouring, Abaddon suddenly erupted back into the Imperium at the head of a diabolical horde.5 Since the Imperial defences at the Cadian Gate were not yet established he was able to easily rampage around Imperial space.6 During this time Abaddon assaulted the Tower of Silence on Uralan and, after being led into the crypts below it by a golden-skinned stranger, recovered the daemon sword Drach'nyen.7 Abaddon was eventually forced to withdraw after a bitter battle against the
1 “Emperor’s Fist”, Index Astartes Volume II
2 Ibid.
3 “Claws of the Raven”, Index Astartes Volume IV
4
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
5 Ibid 6
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Second Edition
7 Ibid
The Black Crusades are the fury of Chaos unleashed upon the
Imperium. Led by fell champions, they strike down the
righteous and harry the godly. In this article, Strike Captain
Lysimachus unearths information on known Black Crusades
and provides some thoughts on their general nature.
The Eye of
Terror
The Black
Crusades
by
Strike
Captain
Lysimachus
combined strength of several Titan Legions and Space Marine Chapters.8
After this the Cadian Gate was fortified, and the naval port of Bellis Corona and the fortress on Nemesis Tessera were created.9 Further to this, the Astartes Praeses program was begun and the Liber Astartes, compiled in M.37, listed twenty Chapters that were founded over the following centuries.10
Abaddon’s Second Black
Crusade – 597.M32
11This war lasted only five years, but was stymied assaulting Cadia, the path of attack reaching fewer than 1000 light years from the Eye of Terror.12
The Host of Tallomin –
Undated
13This apparently took place during the Age of Apostasy (though the exact date is unknown) and was led by a Daemon Prince named Tallomin. The "Wolf Warriors" were involved in Tallomin’s defeat and destruction.14
Abaddon’s Third Black
Crusade – 909.M32
15A longer campaign than Abaddon’s previous Crusade, Traitor forces went about three-quarters of the way from the Eye of Terror towards Armageddon.16
8 Ibid 9 Ibid 10 Ibid 11
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
12 Ibid 13
Liber Chaotica: Khorne. Though undated, the Crusades mentioned in Liber Chaotica are presented in chronological order.
14
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
15 Ibid
Abaddon’s Fourth Black
Crusade – The Devastation of
El’Phanor – c.001.M34
17Abaddon attacked and destroyed the Citadel of Kromarch on El'Phanor.18 The Citadel only had a single gate – three meters thick and made of
16 Ibid
17
Ibid. The Second Edition and first Third Edition Chaos Codices imply that this occurred during the first Black Crusade, but this source specifically dates it as the fourth.
18 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Second Edition
adamantium. Impervious to bombardment, it was destroyed by a single blow from Drach’nyen when Abaddon led a charge against it. Though the Citadel fell in less than a day, nine-tenths of Abaddon’s forces were killed in the attack and Abaddon was repelled by the Imperial counterattack.19
The Tide of Blood – Undated
Led by the Daemon Prince, Doombreed, this Crusade was basically a declaration of war against the Adeptus Astartes.20 The Warhawks and
19 Ibid.
20
Liber Chaotica: Khorne
14
Venerators Chapters were "lost" as aresult of the Black Crusade, though Doombreed was defeated.21 Its date is unknown.
One source does date a “Bloodtide” to 034.M38,22 but this may be a recurrence of the phenomenon associated with the Bloodthirster Ka’jagga’nath,23
and its placement in the Liber Chaotica would suggest otherwise.
The Black Crusade of Jihar
the Lacerator – 599.M36
24Jihar the Lacerator was a follower of Slaanesh whose very presence caused the Warp to scream, driving those who heard it insane.25 Jihar slipped through
21 Ibid
22
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition 23
Codex: Grey Knights 24 Tactica Imperialis 25
Ibid
the Cadian Gate with only a small retinue,26 but the swarms of mutants on the worlds he targeted in Adriada’s Gloom (to the south-west of the Eye) provided him with many new recruits. Forty-three Imperial Guard regiments were involved,27 and the Crusade ended only when the 13th Mordant Regiment slew Jihar in battle – only to be subject to Exterminatus due to concerns of Chaotic taint.28
Abaddon’s Fifth Black
Crusade – 723.M36
29This attack reached approximately 15,000 light years from the Eye.30
26 Ibid 27 Ibid 28 Ibid 29
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
30 Ibid
Abaddon’s Sixth Black
Crusade – 901.M36
31This Crusade took a similar path to the Fifth, and came even closer to Fenris.32
Abaddon’s Seventh Black
Crusade – The Ghost War –
811.M37
33Chaos fleets flooded out past Cadia but then disappeared, giving the Crusade its name. Raids continued for years, and Abaddon succeeded in reclaiming the artefact known as the Hand of Darkness.34
Imperial records of this Crusade are somewhat confusing. One star map shows the attack path going almost due east from the Eye, out to as far as 20,000 light years away, the furthest
31 Ibid 32 Ibid 33 Ibid.
34 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Second Edition
from the Eye that Abaddon ever struck, but this same source includes the Battle of Mackan, a planet south of the Eye.35 At Mackan, Abaddon led a charge of Khorne Berzerkers into a heavily fortified Blood Angels position and although only a handful of Berzerkers survived, they overran the position and the Blood Angels were unable to recover the bodies of their comrades.36
Abaddon’s Eighth Black
Crusade – 999.M37
37Little is known of this Crusade except that it only reached about 500 light years south-southwest of the Eye.38
The Dominion of Fire –
Mid-M38
39Angron led an army of fifty thousand Berzerkers out of the Eye of Terror and they rampaged over three dozen star systems for nearly two hundred years.40 They were followed by numerous other warbands and it took four Space Marine Chapters, two Titan Legions and over 30 Imperial Guard regiments around seven centuries to cleanse all the worlds across the 70 Sectors that fell during this time.41
Abaddon’s Ninth Black
Crusade –573.M38
42The only known engagement of this Crusade is recorded as taking place in
35
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
36 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk I
37
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
38 Ibid 39
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Fourth Edition. This campaign is not specifically titled a Black Crusade, but is significantly larger than the the First War for Armageddon, which is titled as such, suggesting it should be included. 40
Ibid 41
Ibid
42 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
165.M37,43 when Abaddon ravaged the world of Antecanis in order to deprive the Imperial shipyards at Cancephalus of workers.44
Abaddon’s Tenth Black
Crusade – The Conflict of
Helica – 001.M39
45The tenth Black Crusade flooded out on the opposite side of the Eye to the Cadian Gate, attacking Helica and the capitol world, Thracian Primaris.46 The Chaos assault was fatally delayed when the Iron Warriors attacked the Iron Hands on Medusa.47
Abaddon’s Eleventh Black
Crusade – 301.M39
48This attack headed east of the Eye, but failed to make it as far as the Seventh.49
Abaddon’s Twelfth Black
Crusade – The Gothic War –
139-160.M41
50Abaddon and his forces sneaked out of the Eye of Terror via the Arx Gap, after a three year campaign of raids to silence Imperial monitoring stations.51 He then attacked the Gothic Sector from his flagship, the Planetkiller.52 Using the artefacts the Hand of Darkness and the Eye of Night,53 he was able to capture and corrupt Blackstone Fortresses, of which three in concert were able to turn the
43
Warhammer 40,000, Fifth Edition. Since it is contradicted by at least one source, which is consistent with several other sources itself, this date may well be in error.
44 Ibid 45
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II 46 Ibid 47 Ibid 48 Ibid 49 Ibid 50 Ibid 51 Ibid 52 Battlefleet Gothic 53 Ibid
Tarantis star nova, destroying the whole system.54
The Black Crusade ended at Schindelgeist, although Abaddon fled with two of the Blackstones.55 It took eight years to finally cleanse the Gothic Sector of the last raiders and traitors.56
The First Armageddon War –
444.M41
57This Crusade was led by Angron and was repelled only by the combined efforts of Logan Grimnar of the Space Wolves58 and a full Company of the fabled Grey Knights.59
Abaddon’s Thirteenth Black
Crusade – 999.M41
60The most recent of Abaddon’s attacks on the Imperium opened with an outbreak of plague zombies spread by derelict ships launched from the Eye of Terror.61 These were followed by Chaos Space Marine raids, growing in force and coupled with an outbreak of heretical cults lead by a figure matching the description of Cypher.62 The full force of the Cadian Regiments was mustered on Cadia in preparation for what seemed an inevitable onslaught. This assembly turned into open warfare when the Volscani regiment attacked their brothers, killing much of the Cadian command structure.63
When the Chaotic forces finally arrived in strength, the Imperial Navy fought a
54
Codex: Eye of Terror 55
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
56
Battlefleet Gothic 57
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
58
Liber Chaotica: Khorne 59
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Third Edition, Mk II
60
Codex: Eye of Terror 61
Ibid 62 Ibid 63
16
desperate battle which onlydelayed the inevitable. The Chaos forces established themselves in the Cadian system, and have yet to be dislodged.64
The forces of Chaos came close to breaking the Cadian Gate and devastated the surrounding systems, including the total destruction of Macharia, a world in the Cadian system. This Crusade is still ongoing, in that the game’s timeline has not yet advanced past 999.M41.65
The Black Crusade of
Vulkarth – Undated
This crusade evidently involved the Adeptus Astartes and multiple incursions, but beyond that nothing is known.66
Analysis
There are five general
points of interest which can be drawn from what we know about Black Crusades (some of which Games Workshop has been kind enough to explicitly tell us).
First, and most obvious, is that not all Black Crusades are led by Abaddon. Indeed, they do not always seem to be led by people (or things) of particular influence or note – sometimes a bunch of Chaos adherents just decide to go on a rampage.
Second, the Crusades vary in scale. The First War for Armageddon and Abaddon’s Tenth Black Crusade targeted single systems, while the Dominion of Fire and several of
64
Ibid 65
Codex: Chaos Space Marines, Fourth Edition
66
Codex: Space Marines, Third Edition
Abaddon’s Black Crusades ravaged massive tracts of the Imperium. Third, the Black Crusades vary widely in type. The Gothic War was chiefly focused on naval engagements, and seemed to rely mostly on raiding rather than attempting to seize territory. The First War for Armageddon focused on attacking a single planet on its surface. And many of the other Black Crusades were total wars involving planetary and interplanetary warfare.
Fourth, the Black Crusades can vary in composition – Angron’s excursions seem to be dominated by the forces of Khorne (unsurprisingly), while Abaddon’s Crusades are more
cosmopolitan.
Finally, the Black Crusades seem to vary in organization. The Dominion of Fire was as much an infestation as a coordinated military campaign. Meanwhile, the 13th Black Crusade was dedicated to pursuing specific objectives. Even the organized campaigns have disorganized hangers-on alhangers-ong for the easy ride out of the Eye. Of course, this is Chaos. Organized and under the control of one leader would defeat the point.
Strike Captain Lysimachus is a much-noted presence in the Liber Astartes, and serves as a Lexicanium in the Librarium.
17
Introduction
There are two tutorials in this article. Despite their marked similarities, there are some notable distinctions, so both have been included. horrain’s tutorial seems to produce Beastmarines with an emphasis on the ‘marine’ (as befitting his loyalists), while Firefighter X’s produces ones with an emphasis on ‘beast’ (as befitting his Khornates). Firefighter X’s uses more tools and parts and is somewhat more complicated, while horrain’s is simpler. And, of course, it is very possible to blend both approaches.
Beastmen, for those unfamiliar with them, are genetically-divergent humans who are fiercely loyal to the Imperium, but due to their appearance are treated with suspicion. And, of course, there are enough renegade Beastmen to further confuse matters. Though not very bright, loyalist Beastmen are dedicated and tough (much like Ogryns), driven to atone for their deformities through service to the Emperor. They are technically not mutants, since their genetic quirks breed true, but rather are abhumans like Ogryns or Ratlings. However, they are still more variable in form than those two subspecies.
Beastmen were originally available as part of Imperial Guard armies, and were (briefly) available again thanks to a White Dwarf article in third edition that offered alternate doctrines to represent genetically enhanced (or deviant) Guard regiments. They also made appearances in the ranks of the Lost and the Damned (as goat-headed mutants).
As horrain put it: “Basically, these are Beastmen in power armour, but due to the nature of their existence they have to salvage the majority of their war gear and thus look pretty beaten-up. Glad we got that clear.”
horrain’s Tutorial
For this you will need:
-A complete Beastman model, either a Gor or Bestigor
-A complete Space Marine from the belt up (head, torso halves, arms and backpack).
-Additional gubbins for added excitement and character
-A razor saw, knife or other cutting implement and plastic cutters
The Eye of
Terror
Beast
Marines
From the
Work of
Horrain
and
Firefighter
X
Beastmen may have fallen into obscurity in modern 40K, but many
older players still remember them, and they still loom large in Fantasy.
In this series of tutorials, horrain and Firefighter X created excellent
techniques for making power-armoured Beastmen – surely some of the
most fearsome denizens of the Eye of Terror.
18
Step 1:
Once you have your supplies collected, you need to cut the Beastman in half, just below the nipple (see picture).
When I do this step I like to use a razor saw, since it lets me be quite accurate about where I make the cut. If you use a knife, be careful – the plastic is pretty thick and you risk doing yourself an injury. [Firefighter X used a Dremel cutting blade. An effective option, if riskier –
Ed]. Step 2: Once you have the top of the torso cut off, you'll
want to remove what remains of its overly-pronounced shoulders. For this I used a pair of plastic cutters.
Step 3:
Next you want to start shaping the back of the body section. The basic goal is to round off the back so from the model’s belt it goes straight up, and curves in to meet the front of the model toward the top. The idea is to make a rounded ball joint similar to that on the standard Space Marine legs. Leave the front of the model alone for now.
Step 4:
Next up is to grab a standard marine torso, both front and back. We need to cut off the belt and the stomach, but leave the chest. This is because the Beastman model already has a belt, and two looks weird. [But so stylish – Ed]
The front of the torso should end up looking like the image to the left. Note that you’ll need to cut the back torso part as well as the front.
Once you have your torso shaped you can start trimming the body's front section to match the torso’s shape. This step is pretty hard to capture in photos – the process is basically trimming the body until it fits smoothly with the torso. The end result should look something like the image to the right.
Step 5:
Now once that's all done you can go ahead and glue the body to its base and glue the torso together and then to the body. Because the marine torso is largely untouched, the standard Marine arms and
backpack should fit with no issue. For this model, I used regular arms from the Space Wolves sprue, but you can also use arms from either the Gor or Bestigor kits, as the scale between the two sets of arms is pretty much identical.
Step One: Before (L) and After (R)
Step Two
Step Three
Step Four
Step Four
Once you have attached your arms and backpack your model should look similar to this.
Step 6:
Now we run into our first problem – you'll notice a large gap between the model’s spine, and the backpack. We can't leave our Beastmarine in this state, because it’s pretty ugly (and/or comical, depending on your outlook on life). This is where the extra credit gubbins come in handy. Personally I like to glue a shield in this gap, as it looks pretty cool, and helps bring them back to their Fantasy roots. One of my Wolf Guards is
carrying his combi-weapon in this void. You could also use a variety of pouches or grenades.
In this case I have used a square shield from the WFB goblin kit.
Step 7:
Now the last stage, here we need to give this guy a head. On the Gor kit you'll notice a bunch of different horns, unfortunately using all of them is pretty tricky, as there are two main types, the straight horns, and
the ones shaped like rounded goat horns.
The problem with the rounded horns is that they are tricky to fit due to the marine shoulder pads, so I tend to not use them unless the pose allows. You'll more than likely need to only use the straight horns.
This guy is the leader for my Long Fang squad, so I have used Bestigor parts over the standard Gor.
You should now have a Beastmarine. Congratulations, and thanks for reading. horrain maintains a website at www.horrain.com. This was his first tutorial.
Step Six
Step Seven
20
Firefighter X’s Tutorial
My idea originally came from horrain’s tutorial. I took his ideas and expanded on them, changing some things and making them my own.
Tools:
- Dremel with cutting blade, grinder, & sander wheel.
-Super glue & Zap Kicker -double sided file (flat/rounded) -clippers/cutters (heavy and normal) -pin vice (for drilling)
-pin rod
-X-Acto knife with new blade
Parts:
-Bestigor Champion body (any Bestigor body will do)
-Bestigor arms & axe haft -Berzerker torso, shoulder pads, backpack, & bolt pistol. -Ork Nob Choppa arm -Ravenwing Banner flag
-Wooden toothpick (glaive handle)
Step 1:
Using the Dremel, saw the Bestigor body in half, about 1-2 mm above the belt line. It should end up looking like this:
Step 2:
Using your clippers, file, and knife trim down the rest of the waistline. Be careful here – get it as close to the top of the Bestigor's
belt as you can. Also remove any fantasy items from the model that you don't want (like pouches and weapons that are moulded onto the mini). Pay special attention to the Bestigor's leg and armour details. You want to preserve them.
Tools
Parts
Step One