Dimi Tampakoudis is one of the Forge World studio’s background writers and a massive Dark Angels fan. His collection of I Legion Horus Heresy models is so superb that we just had to share some of it with you.
Dimi: The Dark Angels were my second-ever army back in the distant mists of time, otherwise known as the third edition of Warhammer 40,000. Since then, I have occupied my hobby time with many other projects, mostly Ultramarines. When the Horus Heresy Dark Angels upgrade kits were released, I was instantly hooked and knew it was time to return to the loving arms of the Lion.
This time, influenced heavily by the lovely lore of such stories as Savage Weapons by Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Angels of Caliban by Gav Thorpe, I went for a force centred around knightly characters with strong individual identity on the tabletop.
That meant that I could go to town with conversions and kitbashes, using bits from all over the Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Age of Sigmar ranges. For example, the flambard blades used on my praetors come from the Freeguild Greatswords, and various lion shoulder plates or hammers come from such kits as the Stormcast Eternals Liberators.
I tried to keep the paint scheme simple so that I could repeat it over many many models without it getting boring. After a black undercoat, a thinned chunky highlight of Eshin Grey is given to all top plates and edges of the armour, followed by a highlight of Mechanicus Standard Grey and a fine edge highlight of Administratum Grey. A good trick to save time on key details such as the Legion Icon’s wings is to give them a coat of Grey Seer and then use select contrast paints, in this case, Blood Angels Red.
Most of the iconography on banners and vehicles are transfers from all over the Forge World and Games Workshop ranges. I cut around areas of transfers I need (such as wings, for example) and add them to other transfers in layers, waiting for one to fully dry before applying the next. The Horus Heresy Dark Angels transfer sheet is, of course, the main source of transfers for the army, making life very easy with its wealth of icons and unit markings.
My favourite character in the army has to be the power armoured Paladin Praetor Ser Alistair Percivalion, called the Obsidian Archangel, The Dark Seraph, Knight of the Emperor’s First Legion, born of Terra.* He is accompanied to battle by his Legion Champion Ayesaak Charron, The Ashen Lion, Slayer of Tyrants, Sword of the Rising Star, born of Caliban. I always give little bits of background to units, characters, and tanks that help them carve their own story in the battles they take part in and give them a sense of identity.
After years of hard work, the army has now reached Company strength (well, minimum strength, considering the vast size of a Legion), with units representing all Wings in the First Legion, mainly the Dreadwing, Ironwing, and Ravenwing. I still have loads to add to the force, including a full-size unit of Dreadwing Interemptors, a full talon of Dark Angels Contemptor Dreadnoughts, Inner Circle Knights Cenobium, and a pair of super-heavies in the form of a Legion Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer and Legion Glaive.
Thanks, Dimi! If you’re inspired to start your own Dark Angels force for The Horus Heresy, you can’t go wrong with picking up the Primarch himself, Lion El’Jonson.**
* We bet his mum still just calls him Percy.
** If they’re led by the Lion, does that make them a “pride”? We all know what that goes before…