Painting Challenge Submission #9 - More Legions Imperialis Marines

Some more "Legions Imperialis" Space Marines - these ones in the lovely green of the Warmaster's own legion, the Sons of Horus.

With this submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge I'm back with only a few odds and ends from GW's "Legions Imperialis" game, the reboot of the classic small-scale "Epic" game set in the Horus Heresy setting. There are elements from two different Legions Astartes - the Sons of Horus and the Thousand Sons. 

XVI Legion - The Sons of Horus

High command base for the Sons of Horus.

To the surprise of nobody, I already have a chunk of figures painted for this, the finest of the Legions Astartes. But you can always use more basic infantry. And in the case of the Sons of Horus, my initial efforts really disappointed me...I was pleased with the vehicles, but my method on the original infantry looked sloppy - I didn't care for how the green turned out. And if you don't like the green...well...the Warmaster won't be pleased, will he?

Tactical Marines and their Rhino APCs.

I had assumed I would not be able to replicate the green recipe from my 28mm collection on these smaller troops. But decided to experiment with it...and...well, it's actually not too bad! I like these much more. I painted up a high-command stand, and then a tactical detachment comprised of four bases. They also have Rhino APCs to give them a ride on the battlefield. 

Re-painted dreadnoughts - I like these much better!

Chuffed with the results on the infantry, I pulled the dreadnoughts I had completed before out of the box...knowing now that I could have done the nicer green on them drove me nuts - the OCD hobby monkey in mind started to scream and break things, so I opted to do a re-paint on them. Boom - OCD monkey at peace...for now...

Mobile fire support - Rapier on the right, "Quad Launcher" on the left.

To keep building up the firepower we have a couple of tracked fire-support platforms. Long-time Space Marine fans will probaly recognize the Rapier. The other one is a "quad launcher" - heir to the famous "Thudd Guns" of yore. There are supposed to be four tracked platforms in the unit, but I f*cked up a pair of the chassis from the box, so the XVI Legion will have to settle for a pair of them for now. 

Ready to drop some ordnance on those who would defy the Warmaster!

Finally, the Whirlwind is a classic mobile artillery support system for the Space Marines. The plastic kists for these are just lovely, and they allow for you to make two variants. These are "Scorpius" variants, with ammunition that hits vehicles a little harder at the expense of covering a much smaller target area. I just love the look of these things. Again...the kits have LOTS of tiny pieces, so assemble with care, but, wow, credit where credit is due - these are just a real treat to paint up.

XV Legion Astartes

A bit more fire support for Magnus' sons. 

A much smaller component for the Thousand Sons, but considering this collection is just getting started, they'll take it!

Beakies with shark-fin-style missile launchers - a classic!

Rhino APC with fancy markings for the "devestator" unit. 

Up first we have heavy support marines and their Rhino APC. If you look carefully, fans will recognize the classic "shark-fin" style missile launcher has been replicated in this scale. Now, this is a bit of a b*tch, as they come in two parts! But whatever frustration caused in gluing these tiny Marines together is lost once you are painting them - just wonderful to have "beakie" style Marines with these weapons. 

Mobile rocket artillery for the Thousand Sons.

Even space wizards need mobile firepower...

Finally, since I had assembled all of the Whirlwinds from the box, I thought I would paint two of them up for the Thousand Sons as well. You get eight models in a box, so there is still more to do there - maybe I'll even paint some for the poor loyalists? 

That's all for this one - watch for more soon!

Painting Challenge Submission #7 - Thousand Sons Detachment for Epic 30k

A detachment of Thousand Sons Space Marines ready to deploy to an Epic30k gaming table

This submission to the AHPC contains - surprise! - more Space Marines. Once again they are from the XV Legion Astartes - but we leave 28nm behind - these are little 6mm chaps! All of these are plastic figures from Games Workshop's "Legions Imperialis" game range. The assorted elements portrayed here include a high-command stand, two units of tactical marines, a small group of tactical support marines, and Rhino APCs to haul the lot of them. They are supported by a group of "Tarantula"-type automated weapon turrets and some assorted dreadnoughts. 

High-command base with a hero, flunkies - and their own Rhino to ride around in.

Sylvain, our Wednesday Minion, is quite the master of 6mm painting and basing, and each Painting Challenge I enjoy seeing the material expansions to his massive historical 6mm collections. Inspired by Sylvain's tremendous small-scale work I thought it would be good to continue with efforts to expand my own 6mm Horus Heresy collection during this edition of the AHPC. 

A tactical squad - 20 little marines and a pair of APCs to transport them.

These miniatures are for "Legions Imperialis", a specialist-type game released by GW a couple of year ago. It is meant to be a re-boot of the old-time "Epic" game, a truly classic and fun set of rules from GWs older 1990s/early 2000s era. Indeed, the GW studio has often demonstrated an ability to release some really outstanding rules over the years. The state of the 40k rules has ranged from "difficult" to today's "unplayable", but games like Epic/Space Marine, Battlefleet Gothic, Warmaster, Space Hulk and others were creative, fun, engaging and fantastic. The more recent re-boot of "Adeptus Titanicus" had a few issues, but was, in general, outstanding! I had high hope for this game when it was (at last) re-released...

Tactical squad number two...looking a lot like the other one because...well...they have the same kit and same ride :)

Sadly, "Legions Imperialis" did not live up to the legacy of the 90s/2000s specialist games studio. The rollout of the game was a complete fiasco. The "Legions Imperialis" rules themselves are deeply disappointing and highly excremental. They are poorly written and generally very bad even once you "understand" them. One run through the game will be more than enough for most folks.  

Tactical support Marines sporting plasma guns - and, naturally, their own APC!

Yet, even while the rules are trash, the miniatures for the game are just excellent! Small, of course, and with a number of fiddly bits that will easily disappear into ANY carpet...but they are just great! Wonderful little tributes to the Horus Heresy, each of them! These things are just great IMO. 

Was it a bit of a process to get there with the models? Yes. At first, I was concerned that there had been a "re-scaling"...but the effect, especially for the infantry, has been slight-to-nothing. There are also some tricky models...some of the infantry bits are two-piece kits, and all of the vehicles have very small components. I struggle with this...but odds are, you won't. I am not a very good model-builder - have always been "average" at best. My frustration with that aspect is an outlier...I might suck with these, but you'll do fine.

"Tarantula" automated turrets - these can be left to cover objectives etc. while the Marines themselves head to deal with matters requiring personal attention...

Sane hobbyists would just speed paint these things, I suppose. I find I cannot...rather, I paint these little guys in batches of two and three infantry or vehicles at a time, in no particular rush. I amazed at the level of details the sculptors managed to place on them all, and I like to make an effort to catch it (even if that effort often comes up short). The results in a tremendously slow/plodding pace to my accumulation of completed units with which to expand my collection, but that doesn't worry me too much.  

"Contemptor" type dreadnoughts - mix of fire-support and close action help for the Marines.

"Deredeo" type dreadnoughts - lots and lots of firepower here.

So if the rules are hot garbage, why bother with the figures? Well, the good news is that great rules ALREADY existed with which to use these models - namely "Epic: Armageddon" and its fan-made 30k mods. I also understand there is a sci-fi mini-scale game from Mantic that also has excellent rules, and frameworks exist to adapt this to 30k, so that is something I will be looking to try as well. Trust me, if you like the Horus Heresy, you will love "Epic 30k" and you will love these little figures. 

Close up of the supreme command guy with all of this troops...

One last aerial shot of the whole group!

Stay tuned for more AHPC catch-up posts...the dash to the finish is nearly upon us, as spring is allegedly around the corner...but that's all for now. Thanks for reading!

AHPC Submission #20 - Legions Imperialis Infantry Assortment

Space Marines and Solar Auxilia for "Legions Imperialis" 

This was my last submission for AHPC XV - a small assortment of Legions Imperialis infantry. These are 6mm plastic figures from GW, for their rebooted game of "Epic", which allows players to recreate the battles of the Horus Heresy in grand scale! The green chaps comprise an Assault Detachment and a Terminator Detachment for the XVI Legion Astartes, the Sons of Horus. The little blue fellows are a Solar Auxilia detachment - unlike my 28mm Space Bavarians, I've no particular notion for them yet...their anonymity provides flexibility for scenario purposes - they can fight for whichever side might work for the game that night. 

Legion Astartes

Cataphractii Terminators in 6mm...still scary-looking, even at small size.

Let's start with the Sons of Horus, although there is not a ton to say...Assault Marines and Terminator Marines are grouped into smaller, supporting detachments of four stands. I thought it would be best to at least get one of each type done for my Sons of Horus. 

Even in 6mm, the Cataphractii-plated Terminators exude an ominous "f*ck around and find out" vibe. I do have to hand it to GW - even if they completely f*cked up the launch and rollout of this game, the sculpting and quality of the models is very high. 

Assault Marines ready to hop into action (sigh, lame...but...whatever...I'm tired)

The Assault Marines, with their jump packs...it is the same, I am impressed with the tiny details, even if many are beyond my brush skills. If you are a fan of the Horus Heresy setting, you will love the models (not too sure about the rules on the other hand, but that is for another blog post). 

Solar Auxilia

Ready to stand...either for, or against, The Emperor...flexibility is key...

I find the force-assembly rules of for the new Legions Imperialis rules to be a touch Byzantine, and definitely prone to causing headaches, but if I understood correctly, this batch of models would be able to represent a pretty basic detachment (sans vehicle or transport support) for the Solar Auxilia. What you see here comprises the entirety of a single sprue, save for the Sentinels, which I never got around to painting in time for this post.

Love all the crazy command figures!

Again, the figure design is great. If you are a nerd like me, you will find much to love on these tiny figures, from the assorted whacky command and support types, to the vexillary...so many (literally) small details done up nicely. 

Velatari in the foreground - with axes, natch. Regular lasrifle troops at the rear.

It's BBQ time! Mind the gap there lads...

The Auxilia count on support from Velatari...units with fancier weapons. In this case, we have chaps with power axes because of course, and fellows carrying heavy flamers because even more of course. Will a flamethrower solve that problem? Yes? Then let's send ten of them, shall we? Do tell the lads to be careful with their formation...

Charonite Ogryns all set to break things, or people, or both!

The bigger things are Charonite Ogryns. The back story is too long for here, but just imagine "ogres + combat drugs + power claws" and you pretty much have it. These are ugly models (no matter the scale), and I found them particularly difficult and frustrating to try and paint in this scale. But here they are...

 

So that was it for me with regard Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XV (which ended back in March, but, you know, content!). Thanks for reading - watch for more painting and, hopefully, more gaming in this space through the summer of 2025!

Painting Challenge Submission #2 - Loyalist Armour for Legions Imperialis

A squadron of Imperial Fist Sicaran tanks for GW's "Legions Imperialis" game.

The 15th edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is well and truly underway! Several members of the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts have been painting up a storm. It's been over a month since the Challenge got under way, and I have (of course) been delinquent in cross-posting my efforts - so time to get a bit caught up on that. 

This second submission was a little "palette cleanser" of an entry - a unit of Sicaran Tanks for GW's rebooted Epic 30k game "Legions Imperialis". These are multi-part plastic kits from GW, and they are painted in the colours of the VII Legion Astartes, the tiresome (if stoic) Imperial Fists.

Heavy plasma-type cannons in the turret and lascannons on the sponsons - this configuration is ideal for engaging armoured targets, like other vehicles or some of the scary walkers.

GW botched the rollout of this new game quite comically in 2023. While some of the issues relating to supply of models have alleviated since the game launched, you can still sense the impact of the failed release for the game in a lack of enthusiasm among the local 30k community. It would not be accurate to say nobody is playing it, but interest is quite limited and I frequently encounter hobbyists who had been keen to try it, but gave up when they could not obtain it, or subsequently gave up on it due to lack of models. I still haven't found an opponent to give the game a try - even those who have small collections have them put away, or are more focused on the main 30k game etc. 

Yellow armour for hope! You can see some of the different decal options used on the vehicles.

I remain undeterred! As an old-time fan of the original "Epic" game from GW, I am still working on a collection myself - after all, I find the models remarkable in their quality, if somewhat tricky to assemble owing to their size. There is no game or event pressing me to get moving, so my pace of painting these figures has been very, shall we say, "stately" (i.e. laughably slow). A chance to play the game will come along whenever it comes along - until then, it is fun to slowly accumulate painted forces.

Autocannons in the turret, and heavy boaters on the sponson - this configuration is primed to take out light vehicles and flyers.

One advantage of this slow pace is how it allows for time to enjoy the models. And to swear constantly at the yellow paint! The Imperial Fist colours look striking when you are finished, but wow...what a pain! Even on little tanks like these!

There are scads of different tanks for GW's Horus Heresy setting. The Sicaran tanks fit somewhere in the middle in terms of size and impact. They are pretty fast, have slighter armour, and can pick different weapons load outs to emphasize anti-personnel, anti-tank or a mix of both. One model has a vehicle commander popped out of the hatch, so it can serve as a command tank should such a thing be needed in the game.

That's all for this submission - after all, it was just a "palette cleanser" - but I hope to get caught up here on the Fawcett Blog over the next little bit. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out everyone's tremendous work over at the AHPC Painting Challenge page!

A Couple More LI Tanks

Kratos tanks for the Imperial Fists in Legions Imperialis. Plastic kits from GW.

It's been...what...well, a quite the "little while" since my last post here. I have no good excuse - and I have been painting, really! Just have been quite put-things-off when it comes to getting useful photos of the output, and the procrastination has certainly been adding up time-wise. Well, let's try again to break that habit! Just a small post to get things started - a pair of tanks for Legions Imperialis, GW's "Epic" reboot which was released last year. These are Kratos heavy (ish?) tanks, painted in the colours of the VII Legion Astartes, the Imperial Fists.

Top view of the tank mounting the big meta-thing...looks like a fun weapon, very "30k". 

I use the term "heavy (ish?)" not because the Kratos is in any way a light vehicle - you can probably tell by all of the weapons, it is not a light tank at all. But it is also still smaller than the Fellblades and Glaives, so I guess one way to look at it is that this is the heaviest tank the Space Marine Legions can access - for now. 

View showing the standard battle cannon. I mounted a commander in the cupola of this one, to mark it as a "command tank" should such a thing be needed in the game. 

I've said it before with the Legions Imperialis models - they can be a touch fiddly (assembling the sponsons is tricky AF and should not be attempted near any sort of carpet), but holy cow, they are very, very nice little models. There are two main weapon options, and for this pair of loyalist tanks I decided to take the "one of each" approach - one tank sporting the generally-standard battle cannon, and the other rocking the shorter-ranged-but-harder-hitting "melta blast gun" because, well, had to try it out on one tank, right?

Lots and lots of weapons...all pretty much anti-tank, as that is how I see these being used in a game...

Just to get back one more time to the details, the choice you have in terms of how you want to kit out your little tanks is incredible. You get the choice of using either auto cannons or lascannons for smaller front turrets, and the choice between lascannons or heavy bolters for the sponson mounts. They are small, they are tricky, but the models are gorgeous. 

"It's like anti-tank, but closer..."

These hitters will provide a bit of a boost to my small Imperial Fist detachment for LI, but the painting progress as ever on this game is just quite...leisurely. I haven't even had a chance to try the game yet, owing to work and travel, and the still-very-much-in-progress attempts to connect with fellow gamers here in Toronto. So I don't see it as a big rush, and it is fun to just take my time at one of two vehicles or a few infantry at-a-go, and the forces build up slowly. I'm hoping the next edition of Curt's Painting Challenge will provide a good impetus to get more LI stuff finished (although, I am thinking that for like six different projects, so we'll see). 

That's all for now - but stay tuned for more (really!) - thanks for reading. 

Some More Legions Imperialis Painting

Tactical detachment and Land Raiders for the Imperial Fists - for GW's Legions Imperialis.

More random painting from the summer, back once more to the (relatively) new "Legions Imperialis" from GW. Here we have another tactical detachment and a pair of Land Raiders, painted in the colours of the VII Legion Astartes, the Imperial Fists. 

The models are...well, obviously, they are very small! But as I have mentioned previously, the detail is really something. Just use caution/patience when assembling them. 

Bog-standard tactical marines, ready to stand for The Emperor (the fools). 

A command stand for the tactical unit. 

The four bases of infantry comprise a Space Marine tactical unit - this is the most basic Space Marine infantry element in the game, taking up a space on the force chart. 

More wee Marines...

The Land Raiders are classic vehicles, and the models are great, although it seems like they can only be taken as an option to carry troops, and not on their own as armoured vehicles. I might have misunderstood the rules - but if this is the case, that is kind of dumb. But then, confusion is easy, given that rules for Land Raiders were not even included in the original set. Peak GW. 

The classic Space Marine vehicle...a Land Raider. Beautiful little plastic models.

With this second tactical detachment painted, I can at last field a basic "Legion Demi-Company" for the Loyalist side. It's a nice marker to pass, but my painted Legions Imperialis collection is still very, very small, and my pace of painting the models continues to be very relaxed, even languid. 

Second Lander Raider...with a commander in the hatch, just to mark out a command vehicle, should such an identifier become necessary

I am hoping the pace of painting might pick up this fall - but, oddly, I have found that I am enjoying painting these figures and models is very small batches. I don't know that the extra time or attention does much in terms of how they turn out, but, crazy as it seems, it is kind of fun to paint these little plastic Space Marines in batches of two and three at a time, and the little tanks in batches of one and two at the time.

Loyalist armour, ready to clank off toward their inevitable doom in some futile resistance against the Glorious Warmaster...

I have not yet had the chance to try Legions Imperialis, but all of the feedback I have observed and heard from friends indicates that "stuff dies quick", and so my small number of models painted to date would not amount to much or last very long in a game (although this possibly would change if I included groups of Knights or a Titan from my AT18 collection).  But I at least now have two opposing "legal" forces I could put on the table to try the game out sometime...watch for more, maybe in the fall!

That's all for now - thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more random summer painting posts.

Sons of Horus Heavy Armour for LI

Let's roll for hope! XVI Legion Astartes Land Raiders and Kratos tanks. 

Getting back to the steady accumulation of painted models for GW's new "Legions Imperialis" game. Here we have a small selection of armour painted in the colors of the XVI Legion Astartes, the Sons of Horus. These are all multi-part plastic kits from GW's new LI model range. 

Land Raiders

Sons of Horus Land Raider, with a commander in the cupola, useful way of marking a "command tank" should such a designation be required.

The lack of Land Raiders in the Legions Imperialis starter box was just baffling - just one of many baffling GW decisions related to this game. But the models did get released eventually, and credit where credit is due - they are marvelous. Are they small and fiddly to assemble? Well, yes. But this "Epic", after all, so that kind of goes with the territory. If you don't enjoy small models...well, no worries, we all have our preferences!

But if you do like this scale and this setting, I think you will really love these models. The Land Raider is a classic Space Marine tank, and it's great to have some of these for the new collection. The details are just fantastic. I won't claim assembly was "fun" - but then, I am not a patient model builder! I can say, however, that painting these up was fun.

Another view of the models showing some of the engine exhaust and top decking detail.

Rules for these vehicles are NOT available in the starter box rule books (f***ing twats - back to baffling decisions, but I digress). They came out in a specific Beta-Garmon supplement for LI. But from what I can tell, Land Raiders appear to be available only as a troop-carrying option? If true, that is just...dumb...but it is easily ignored for games among friends, so not the end the of the world. 

Kratos Tanks

Some big guns on big tracks for the Sons of Horus.

The Kratos - it is the big "new" tank for the Space Marines of the Horus Heresy/Age of Darkness setting. Maybe it isn't "new" anymore, but it still feels "new" to an old grognard like me! 

Once more, a commander in one of the cupolas.

Again, the detail on these models is remarkable. Is it fun or easy to assemble such small bits? I guess it depends on what you find "fun" about the hobby. For me, it was a challenge, but worth it in the end. These are remarkable little kits, and a game like "Legions Imperialis" will provide the right scale to deploy groups of them on a table. 

These are very small modes, of course...but the quality of the kits overall is really something. 

My painting for this new game has been...well, let's just describe the pace as "relaxed". Even though I am very keen to try the game, I just haven't been that quick to get a lot of stuff painted. For all that, the Sons of Horus are coming along nicely, and I now have a "legal" force painted up, with a "Demi-company" at the core, and a variety of supporting vehicles to chip in. Add in some Knights or a Warhound Titan, and they are more than set for a game. Just need to get some more Loyalists finished off...watch this space. 

That's all for now - thanks for reading, and hope you are having a nice summer wherever you are.