Tangent Diagonal WIP

'You think Astartes are dangerous on the ground? Wait until you get them in the air...'

Attributed to unknown Kerishian PDF trooper

I was going to work on painting my Sternguard next. However, after painting a full Tactical squad, I didn't want to run the risk of burnout painting infantry. My 1750 list has a lot of vehicles in it, which presents a problem for me. I really, really dislike painting vehicles! I'm not sure why, but it's something I tend to try and avoid. So, time to tackle my fear head on, and where better to start than Tangent Diagonal, my Stormtalon? I wasn't sold on the model when it first came out, but it grew on me, and when I finally bought my own I fell in love! It's gorgeous, and instead of thinking of it as a plane, I feel it has more of an Apache/Cobra look. I can just imagine one of these hovering outside an enemy held building and just shredding it with assault cannon and missile fire. 

I've done the red and black on the model, and just need to start laying down the metals now, which shouldn't take long. Speaking of which, I need to find a tutorial for making engine burns if anyone knows a good one? 

The Fourth Shrine War.

//Entry//

//Inquis/2564556M.41/FourthShineWar/CrimShks//

//ThrdCom/Actns/

//SqPoriat//

Ctn???

'Squad Poriat were deployed to provide the devotees of Ikartian with proof that the Emperor protects. After the Ethnarch enacted his terrible work, and corrupted waves of mutated gene-horror swarmed the streets and chapels of that great city, their role in the Shrine War changed. Yes, the Emperor protects. But he is also wrathful.'

Inquistor Judia Isut - 'To Drift Like Fire', An examination of the Fourth Shrine War

'Ten Astartes. Ten Astartes against the frenzied hordes. They talk of these things in legend. The reality is somewhat different.'

Brother Dayrn Sevart, Squad Poriat.

'The Seventh Ethnarch of Quiscience. Madman. Tyrant. Prophet.

All of the above are just words. The Ethnarch was not a creature of words. His sermons were delivered unto the flesh of his foes. Experiments that were a crime not just against the Imperium, but reality itself. Melding warp-magicks and gene-flensing to create that which he believed Mankind should aspire to become. Insanity will make a man have belief that even his greatest crimes were done with the best intentions. We hunted and quarried him though sector after sector, putting that which he forged to sword and the flame. When he fell onto Kerishian Alpha-Seven, our luck had changed. The chances of using a Astartes recruitment world as a lair were fortuitous beyond our wildest dreams. Three months after the Ethnarch made planetfall, the Astartes battle cruiser 'Dagger Luna', containing elements of the Crimson Shrikes' First, Third and Tenth Companies translated in-system...

What happened to the Crimson Shrikes on Kerishian Alpha-Seven was a small price to pay to bring the bastard Ethnarch to the Emperor's justice.'

Inquisitorial Agent 'Tristian Ravewind'. Believed to be an alias of *REDACTED*.

Images of Demi Squad Poriat, who during the First Battle for Ikartian were led by Sargeant Poriat in guerilla warfare against high value targets and armour destruction. After the destruction of 'Dagger Luna' and the impossibility of resupply, both demi-squads were forced to conserve ammunition, and later resorted to one or two man raids on enemy positions armed with only close combat weaponry and their fury, designed to cripple both remaining Ethnarch command structure and sow terror amongst 'regular' line troops.  

Demi-Squad Surrtaya, led by Imoge Surrtaya. As seen above, he carries the marking of the 'Thorn Wreath' on his right shoulder pad, and wields a Phobos pattern bolter, a rare gift in such a young Chapter, and both of these signify that Surrtaya is soon to undertake the ritual that could lead to advancement into the First Company. It is believed that after the end of the war, he undertook the membership trial known as 'The Piercing', but died four days into the ordeal.

Of further interest can be seen both Brother Kaynt on the far right, and Brother Tormah carrying a M36 Class II gravitational weapon. These brothers were the first two Astartes causalities in the Shrine War, and although Brother Kaynt was believed to have perished in an explosion on the fifth day of the battle, Brother Tormah was captured and flayed alive by the Ethnarch's forces. After the war, his body was recovered, but missing both of his progenoids...

More work, and the art of transfers...

I've been slowly working on my first Tactical squad, and have now managed to get two more Marines done, including my graviton gun wielding specialist. I was going to go with a plasma gun, but the graviton gun just looks too cool not to use, plus my gaming group won't mind if I say it's a plasma gun. 

After posting some of my pics on the Bolter and Chainsword forum, I had feedback that the Shrikes needed something to break the red and black up. I realised that a perfect way to do that would be to use squad markings and a chapter logo, just to bring some more life to the models. I originally painted the Tactical arrows on, but found that I could get better results using transfers. I've never really used these before, but after some searching around on Youtube, and buying some supplies, I was ready. I decided to use the Raptors transfer sheet from Forgeworld as the chapter symbol would work nicely. These are the first results, and I'm sort of OK with them. There's a few creases that I've yet to work out how to eliminate (advice would be great here!), and I've had to paint in a few gaps, but overall the effect works. Mircosol and Mircoset are your friends! I would recommend that you try transfers, even if you're a bit nervous, as they can save so much time and effort.

Tactical Demi Squad Poriat

'When we fell onto Kerishian Seven-Alpha, we deployed into the shrine-city of Ikartian. We were surrounded by pilgrims and worshipers, coming in their droves to see His divine wrath incarnate. Angels, they called us. Heralds of the Emperor. They fell to their knees and wept with joy at our coming. We were reminded that these people were why we had come here, to protect humanity.

If only we'd known.

If only I'd known. 

If I'd known what would become of the people of that illustrious city, and what they, in turn, would do to Brothers Kaynt and Tormah, I would have killed them all at first sight.'

Sargeant Mortanin Poriat, III Company, Crimson Shrikes Adeptus Astartes

The Crimson Shrikes

So, my last two posts. Clearly, I've been building up to something, and after a mammoth painting and building effort today, I felt it was time to show off what I've been working on. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the Crimson Shrikes Space Marines! 

Currently I have the basics of two tactical squads and a unit of Sternguard built and mostly basecoated. To start I'll be building a 1500 point list which I will be posting at a later date, as I'm undecided which Chapter Tactics to use (I'm think gaming wise that the Imperial Fists would be best). These guys are going to be painted to the best of my standard, even if that means I take a long time over each unit, as I feel my Dark Angels have been done for just about tabletop, and I'd like an army that people would coo over. This has been helped by the below two items, which means I can really cut down on basing time and get the red cranked out rapidly!

As for how this is going to be presented blogwise, I have taken massive inspiration from this forum thread by Jackdaw on Warseer. It's really incredible stuff, and helps his army to seem less like a bunch of toy soldiers, and more like a force of hyper lethal killers. I also am a massive fan of the way his Astartes are presented, not as a noble ideal, but as merciless killers that answer to no one but themselves and the Emperor. The Shrikes will be getting a backstory during my posts, and hopefully I'll be able to tell the tale of how even the most noble and 'human' of Space Marine chapters can become jaded and intolerant. 

There's a lot of work to be done, and I'll possibly be winging a lot of the fluff. But hopefully I can keep you all entertained and interested, and come out with a top shelf looking army as well. Now, where's that spray...?

Kaynt Leodor of the Third

'They say of the Astartes that we are war personified. With only my boltgun and my armour, I can destroy empires. They forget that the true weapon of a Space Marine is hate. Hate for my enemies, hate for the traitor and the xeno. My armour can be broken, and my boltgun can have no ammunition. But my hate can never run dry.'

Kaynt Leodor, III Company, Crimson Shrikes Adeptus Astartes

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Thought for the day - Heresy begets retribution.

'We had recruited from the planet Kerishian Seven-Alpha for nigh on five centuries. 500 years of new Astartes, new warriors to prosecute the enemies of the Emperor. When we found what the Seventh Ethnarch of Quiescence had wrought with his gene heretics, we fell from the sky as vengeance defined, our need to secure our future fuelling our hate. Had we known the great terror and shame that would be brought to our Chapter's name, we would have burned Kerishian Seven-Alpha from the sky'

Veteran Sergeant Enric Seleton, Third Company, Crimson Shrikes Adeptus Astartes.