The Death of House Erritian

'The woe of our House cannot be contained within our walls and our hearts. The Primordial Annihilator has come to wage war upon us through your actions and your subterfuge, and they have taken my son. I will unleash my Knights, and they shall bring death and pain to the Great Foe. But hear this, Inquisitor. Your words of alliance are but piss and ashes to me, and my humours would be greatly settled by seeing you strung from Omenstrider's chassis. These words are not threats.'

Knight-Baroness Oula Sammanta, Pilot of 'Omenstrider', Matriax of the House Erritian. Spoken at the Red Concord. 

'The Knights of House Erritian are a callous bunch of inbreds. And they are entirely nessesscary to the Shrine War. After the Ethnarch is dead, I shall be glad to sign the order that brings them to heel, and if they will not, if they snarl and claw like an unbroken dog, I will have them put down. They may have sailed the waves of history since before the Dark Age, but I will end them, and I will feel joy.'

Inquisitor Judia Isut

Above can be seen the Knight-Errant Hzon Easu, controlling the machine known as 'Martyr Blue'. This Knight, along with the brother Knights 'Celestial Indigo' and 'Cerulean Invective' were deployed to the Kerrishian System to provide short term super-heavy support until the forces of the Mechanicus could translate into the sector. In this, they were more effective than even the Astartes of the Crimson Shrikes, and the blaring horns of the Knights were greeted by the Kerrshian PDF as the sound of doom for the foe. However, as with the Knights of Old Earth, Esau and his brothers were only interested in personal honour, and frequently would leave Imperial forces open to counter attack by rebel infantry formations, seeing them as little more than ants and with no promise of glory.

To the Imperium, the continued existence of the the Knight Household of Erritian was a mystery. Formed in the Dark Age, before the rise of the New Man known as the Emperor, the House was notorious for its insular nature, refusing to choose between the traitors and loyalists of the heresy, and only involving itself in Imperial affairs where the future of the House was in jeopardy. This led to rumours that dark and insidious forces were at work within the House, with the Knights being accused of both fleshweaving, and strange rituals to honour their dead. The only thing the House would say on these matters, if indeed anything was said, is that the House is all, and that all brother and sister Knights must return to the House. 

Martyr Blue' was the only survivor of the three Knights from the War. 'Cerulean Invective' was destroyed by a Great Brass Scorpion, while 'Celestial Indigo' broke formation during combat against Black Legion traitors, striding into strange coloured fog. After three days missing, and only receiving strange, gut-wrenching static when attempting to fix the Knight's location, 'Celestial' was declared lost. 'Martyr Blue' was, after the War, detroyed along with the rest of House Erritian after their home world was invaded by Raven Guard and Angels of Porphor Adeptus Astartes under the orders of Inquisitor Judia Isut to bring the Household under the yoke of Imperial control. Rumours that this action was rather to annihilate the Knights rather than install Imperial rule are spoken in the dark corners of the Inquistion.

Martyr Blue Painting Complete.

I've spent the last two weeks painting Martyr Blue on and off, spending about 30 mins to an hour a night over two weeks getting the armour panelling finished. As of about 12.30 this afternoon, I glued the last shin plate in place, and could finally say I'm done with the painting! He's been a surprisingly easy model to paint, and most of my hardships were with the mixture of armour plate colouring, which I think I've got in a nice ratio so the blue is the dominant colour, but both the black and silver are in a good proportion too.

Presenting Martyr Blue, Foehammer, The Walking Inevitable, Knight-Errant Hzon Esau of the noble House Erritian

This proves to myself that even the biggest project can be tackled if taken in small steps, and that hobby time, even if limited, can be super productive even in short bursts. There's no way I would have thought I could have done Martyr so quickly two weeks ago until I got started, as a model this size can be very daunting. 

So, what's next? Well, I need to finish basing him, and after that transfers (you can see where they will be going due to the gloss varnish on the plating. And after that, well, I've ordered some weathering powders from Forgeworld and they'll be used to make Martyr look like an ancient machine from before the dawn of the Imperium. If anyone does have some good advice or guides they'd be willing to share, that would be great as this will be a new painting experience for me.

The next update should have both the finished model, and some background into both Martyr Blue and House Erritian, looking at their role within the Fourth Shrine War and their relationship with the Imperium. Let's just say it's...difficult.

Martyr Blue WIP

Over the last few days I've been working on my Knight, Martyr Blue, as I was concerned I had had a lull in painting and wanted something different to have a go at. Unlike my Shrikes who are cleaner than clean, I wanted my Knight to be as grotty as possible yet still able to function. The Knight house in my background are an ancient order from the Dark Age, and try to have as little to do with the Imperium as possible, meaning that their machines are relics from a time long gone, and I wanted to represent this with some real wear and tear. The armour plates on this guy will be weathered with powder, but not to a huge extent, as House Erritan believe that the colours of the house are sacred, but that the machine that carries them is just a tool. 

I'm aware that the amount of grime will possibly be a massive no-no in some eyes, but having tested the fitting of the armour, it does get cut down due to the amount covered. Also, this is still heavily WIP. With that said, any C&C will be greatly appreciated.

And finally, a little treat to myself. I've never had the room to put any kind of display cabinet in place, but after some recent rejigging within my house, I've managed to get the following in place! There's nothing like having your finished work within a display cabinet, even if it's only your own :P