Fosreddan

'I admired them, the Raven Guard. Even during Isstvan V, when we murdered our fellow Astartes to usher in the new order of Lupercal, some part of me found the Guard honourable even as they were cut down to a man. Lupercal sent the Red Angel to finish that which our Legions combined could not, and this pleased me, for Angron in his rage would be hasty, and easily outwitted by Corax, and then we could turn the Ravens to our cause in time. Had I known that the proud gene-line of Corvus would lead to these thin-blooded Shrikes. I would have slain Corax myself to save his honour.'

Wosnek Fosreddan 'Terran-Born', Traitor Commander, 35th Company Black Legion.

Librarian Hetyrn Kylesa - A war of lies

'Wars have ever thus been won by information. Even in the far history of Ancient Terra, battles were decided by the side with the fastest messenger. The Ethnarch may spread his poison words throughout the sector, but little by little we fight back. Where we cannot strike with the bolter, we Librarians strike with disinformation. Vox-comms being miscommunicated. Orders to attack sites of nothingness. Encrypted messages being altered just enough so doom is brought on the recipient. This is our weapon. This is how wars are won'

Hetyrn Kylesa, Crimson Shrikes Librarius.

Librarians of the Crimson Shrikes are dedicated to a special type of psykic study, that of infomation alteration. Similar to the operations of the Vanus Assassin clade, any Librarian within a Shrike force will be deployed to attack the mind and morale of enemy forces, sowing deceit and error throughout the foe. This is done in a myriad of ways, but whereas the Vanus use their infocytic gifts, Shrike Librarians will instead use their minds. This can lead to Librarians staying in orbit when assaulting less developed or feral races, but in the case of the Shrine War, the Ethnarch deployed complex encryption software and codes. This lead to Librarians deploying from orbit and engaging in a shadow war, physically and mentally breaking both comms equipment and rebel messenger chains to ensure all enemy information lines were constructed of lies.

Below, we can see Epistolary Hetyrn Kyelsa deployed with Squad Alejandro of III Company. Working together, these Astartes fought in the shade, striking communcation lines and altering orders before blending back into the shadows. Imperial estimates suggest these types of actions would have lead to the Shrine War ending within an acceptable two Terran years. This, as we know , was unfortunately not the case due to Traitor Legion interference.

Tactical Squad Alejandro complete

' A war is only fought by two honourable combatants. We consider this an extermination'

Millan Alejandro, Sergeant 4th Squad, III Company

'I have served with honour in the Deathwatch for over 25 years. I have fought the horror of the Tyranid, the war-lust of the Orkid, and slew Hrud as they warped time and reality around my brothers and I. The only thing these lesser races have shown me is that the true abomination of the galaxy is Humanity corrupted.'

Esitk Kires, Deathwatch Veteran, 4th Squad, III Company

So, that's Tactical Squad Alejandro done, meaning I have a legally painted army! I was going to write a nice piece of background about these guys, but, well, erm...I've hit a blank. And that's a little worrying for me, as I wanted the Fourth Shrine War project to be more than just a painting log, but a living, breathing document of the realities of war in the 41st Millennium. I'm sure some ideas will flood through, but right now, not so much.

Also, they aren't quite finished, as transfers are required, and will give them the white so needed to break the colours up, but I'm leaning towards a mass day of application as I find transfers tedious at best! C&C is always, always welcome!

Ravensbane

A short, but important update this time. Below is the second half of Tactical Squad Alejandro, led by Millian Alejandro. These aren't very far from being complete, so soon I will have a legally painted army. All 500 points of it :P

And last night I got itchy fingers and started my Black Legion Lord, Wosnek Fosreddan. He's been a charm to paint, and meant I got to use 'Blood for the Blood God' I wasn't too sold putting it on, but after it's dried it looks really good. I also tried for a flayed skin look on his shoulder which hopefully comes across. I'm most pleased with his chain halberd conversion though, and have called his weapon 'Ravensbane' for reason that will become clear!