30 December 2020

The Imperium's Finest; An Astra Militarum project, by Medge

Hi All, Medge here with yet another new project!

We can all agree - 2020 has been a pretty bonkers year for hobby. Instead of sitting at home and just sulking about not getting games in (which, in fairness, I've been doing a lot... just not on the blog 😄) I've been using my hobby time to catch up with some Backlog projects.

Regular readers will know about my Blood Angels and Tau projects, two major successes of the year, but today on wanted to show off one of my smaller projects.

It's no secret that I'm more of a collector than I am painter or gamer. It's also no secret that I want to amass a HUGE collection. In a past, more heretical, life it was my ambition to assemble a Chaos horde that would shame Abaddon!
After breaking free of the corrupting touch of Chaos I turned back to the Imperium of Man, and under the Emperors benevolent gaze I've been steadily mustering a Imperial force. Between my Blood Angels, Grey Knights, Imperial Knights and Adeptus Mechanicus I'm sitting on 10-11k points of painted models right now; a planet-concurring force by anyone's standards!

Last year I picked myself up a small second hand Astra Militarum force to add to the existing Imperial horde - a little collecting/ painting project I planned to use in Kill Team, maybe building up into something bigger. With Lockdown offering a little more free time (and disincentivising painting pieces to game with) I've had the freedom to pick up this little side project.

Rather than presenting the force piecemeal in the blog I've completed the full force (24PL, ~500points), which is presented below.
I also thought It'd be a bit different to present this force with some of the narrative I've written for them; a short story regarding their creation and remit with the 41st Millennium. Unfortunately the short story blossomed into something far bigger than I first thought! So instead of presenting it below, I'll capture it in a series of smaller posts running into 2021 - you can read the first one here!

With that said and done, allow me to introduce the 1st Bloodoathed Tempestus Scions 

Oathed by Blood

The 1st Bloodoathed Tempestus Scion regiment were inspired by the Novel's Dante and Darkness in the Blood. Without going into too much detail (spoiler free!), during the Tyranic invasion of the Red Scar, the worlds surrounding Baal, Commander Dante of the Blood Angels tasks his Astartes with rescuing as many beleaguered Imperial citizens as he can from the worlds that survive. This extends to more than just the citizenry, but the Astra Militarum Regiments too.

Following the events of the Devestation of Baal, and the elevation of Dante to Reagent of Imperium Nihilus, Dante begins bringing together and reorganising the all Imperial assets he can find to strengthen the Imperial position in the dark half of the galaxy.

These two nuggets of info really formed the core of the Bloodoathed origins: the survivors of Tempestus Scions Regiment deployed within the Red Scar, these men and women pledge their loyalty to Dante and the Blood Angels (or in my case, the Lament of Angels Successor Chapter) when they realise they're trapped within Imperium Nihilus. As the Lament of Angels crusade across the Dark Imperium the Bloodoathed ranks swell, each planet rescued seeing more Tempestus Scions pledge their loyalty to their saviors.

Lord Commissar Vivian Daegon

Commander of The Bloodoathed, it was Commissar Vivian "Vi" Daegon who formally requested the formation of the Regiment, petitioning the Lord Commander of the Lament of Angels for a purpose and a mandate to fight following her rescue in the Red Scar.

A fierce and detemined leader, Vi is generally well liked by the Tempestus Scions for her "no-nonsense" attitude. She cares for her men, and would rather save her bolt shells for Xenos and Heretics rather than Imperial citizens. However, she won't hesitate to enforce Commissar discipline should a battleline look like faulty, and gladly sells the lives of her men if it means victory for the Imperium!




Vi is represented on the tabletop by the Severina Raine model; a gorgeous model released in the Black Library character series.
It was this model that really inspired me to collect some Astra Militarum - it's absolutely brilliant and was great fun to paint up.

Commanders Kromm and Anders

Survivors from Vi's own company, Kromm and Anders were elevated to command follow the death of the former Regiments command. Close confidants and advisors to Vi, Kromm (the Tempestor Prime with the Rod of Command) and Anders (the Tempestor Prime with the las-pistol) are valuable allies for the Lord Commissar.




Both Tempestor Prime models were painted with similar armour and cloak colours, but to avoid having two identical models I increased the base size for one, and substituted the silver trim for gold to better denote his status as the Regimental Commander.

Both Scions have a skull on the armour denoting their veteran status, with the Prime with las-pistol have the numeral "II" on the skull to reinforce his position as the second-in-command.

Regimental Bodyguards

No commander goes to battle unaccompanied, so I needed to include a suitable command squad for Vi, Kromm and Anders!



So far the force contains a full command squad, complete with Vox Caster, Company Banner and Medic. The final model was given a Grenade Launcher... mostly because I thought it looked cool, and would give the squad a bit of variety compared to the rest of the force (see below!)


These guys were painted in the usual red and silver, with the skull emblem denoting their status as Veterans. I opted for a yellow skull over a white skull as a squad marking, and have given then blue beret's, to denote their position as bodyguards/ a command squad.


Kill Squad Aurora; Tank Hunters


The Tempestus Scions are the best mortal soldiers the Imperium can field, and to them fall the most difficult tasks. In game, Militarum Tempestus Command Squads can all take special weapons, making them the perfect unit to tailor to kill a certain foe.


Enter Kill Squad Aurora


Nothing says "dead tank" like four deep-striking Meltaguns! Kill Squad Aurora have been kitted out specifically to bring down enemy armor, or vulnerable lone commanders. Lacking anything in the way of anti-infantry, Kill Squad Aurora drop in from their Valkryie transport, melt whatever they can, and retreat as soon as possible.

Each member of this Command Squad has been painted the same as the first one, but I've swapped the Yellow Skull back for a White One; the skull emblem denoting Veteran status, but the white colour showing their a Kill Squad not a bodyguard/ protection squad.
I've also swapped the beret colour to Green, again to highlight the different roles and responsibilities of the soldiers.

1st, 2nd and 3rd Squads


Even the mighty Scions need their equivalent of "Line Infantry", albeit far better equipped than the other Astra Militarum Line Infantry regiments.


1st Squad are a five-man Scion unit equipped with two plasmaguns and a plasma pistol. Their designation (101) denotes that as 1st Bloodoathed, Squad 01.


2nd Squad are similarly equipped to First Squad, a five-man Scion unit equipped with two plasmaguns and a plasma pistol. Their designation (102) denotes them as 1st Bloodoathed, Squad 02.

Equipped to deal with enemy elites, 1st and 2nd squad deploy on foot or via Valkyrie aerial-insertion to sweep, clear and hold positions held by stubborn opponents.


3rd Squad are armed with two hot-shot volley guns, better suited to attacking more lightly armored enemy infantry. 3rd Squad often follow on the heels of 1st and 2nd, reinforcing and holding positions already swept clean.
Their designation (103) denotes that as 1st Bloodoathed, Squad 03.

And that's it! The full force so far!

These guys have been a brilliant little diversion from the Tau/ Blood Angels, and have actually inspired me to develop them into a full 50PL force for Crusade next year.

I think I'll need to add some armour to the force, so I'm looking at the Taurox Prime and/ or the Valkyrie as possible options. Both are great looking kits, and should be excellent fun to paint in the new year!

Excellent!

Until next time, stay safe all and happy hobby!

Medge

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