The Legiones Astartes Melee Weapon Upgrades will be on the shelves this weekend, and with so many Horus Heresy fans here at the Warhammer Community warrior lodge, those swords, axes, and spears have been ‘going missing’ for weeks. Luckily, the team has been using them to make some pretty snazzy conversions… and this is the result.
Rob
I’ve been painting all sorts of Space Marines and Mechanicum for my Iron Warriors army lately, so when the new melee weapons appeared, I figured it was finally time to use my leftover Praetor from the Age of Darkness box. I’d already made a Warsmith out of the other Praetor, so I decided to reach into the bits box and convert up a Champion Consul armed with a wicked thunder hammer.
At some point in the process, I realised that I’d like him to lead either an Assault Squad or a Destroyer Assault Squad, depending on the situation, so I pinched the jump pack from Dominion Zephon* and gave him a pair of pistol holsters on the back – that way, he could be either a Champion or Moritat as the situation demanded. The Praetor torso needed a bit of sanding down around the shoulders, as it’s a little bit wider than the regular Space Marines the weapons are designed for, but everything fit nicely after a minimal amount of work.
I was inspired by James Karch’s Inductii squad from White Dwarf 491 to do a lighter grey take on the Space Wolves, so I took the open hand from the melee weapons set and gently bent the fingers with some pliers to give it more of a beckoning pose – perfect for a cocky, hastily-raised Space Marine. The head and power axe are also from the set, which seemed appropriate at the time.
After that, the floodgates opened. The Destroyer Assault Squad’s sergeant ended up with a power maul and a Phobos-pattern bolt pistol, one of my Tactical Squads got a new augury scanner, and I’m already scraping together parts for a bodyguard of variously equipped Chosen.
Now if only people hadn’t pinched the drawn power swords…
James
I chose the pointing hand and sheathed chainsword to make my Thousand Sons Space Marine stand out among his brothers, and gave them a little flair with one of the new bolt pistols. He could well be a sergeant directing his squad towards their next target – or maybe just pointing at an enemy whose head then explodes thanks to Prosperan mind bullets.
Luke
Little hobby projects like these are always great as they give you the chance to experiment with Legions and the like that you might have always wanted to try, but haven’t found an excuse to do. Because each weapon immediately brings to mind a handful of Legion personalities, I used it as a jumping-off point for tackling a handful of the Emperor’s finest warriors.
As soon as I saw the pieces for the power sword being drawn, I knew I had to stick it on a member of the III Legion. Combining it with the Mk VI sculpt, which is striding confidently forward, and a particularly gruesome scarred head from the Character Heads Upgrade Set 1 instantly conjured up a narrative of a contemptuous Emperor’s Children duellist, ego and face both equally scarred.
The power lance, on the other hand, drew my mind to the Dawnbringer Cohort, and so it made perfect sense to combine this weapon with a MKVI Assault Marine to create a Blood Angel posed ready to blast off and swing the lance blade into position before plunging down with terminal force. Finally, the two-handed heavy chainsword could have found a place in many Legions, but when life presents you with a chance to paint tiny freehand lightning bolts, you have to take it, and so I stuck it in the hands of a Night Lord hungry for blood.
With another sprue, I reckon I could easily create a miniature for each Legion. Adam’s and Alex’s Mk III Marines piqued my interest for some more brutal and weathered combatants, so I may well complete the collection at a later date.**
Alex
The Death Guard are renowned for their resilience, so I felt it only appropriate to go for some Mk III armour for its bulk and harsh feel. The slow walking pose lent itself well to the legion’s classic implacable advance, and the feeling of menace it has worked well with the threat of the Power Fist.
The addition of a Volkite Serpenta gave him the option of some firepower, whilst also adding a splash of colour to the model against the bone-esque armour and dark bronze metals.
Chris
As someone who sometimes gets stuck in a hobby rut when painting a full army, this one-off project was exactly the palette cleanser I needed to get my creative juices flowing again.
Having recently picked up the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy: Aeronautica Imperialis Rulebook, I was inspired by some of the colour schemes portrayed in its pages and settled on the black and red of the Dark Angels and the metallic blue of the Alpha Legion.
I chose the power axe for the Dark Angel because it is a solid slab of metal and seems to fit the rugged and spartan vibes of the armour. I discovered, however, that I lacked options regarding left arms, so I hacked one off a bolter and added an auger scanner. Its ominous green glow felt like it would stand out against the black.
There was never any doubt that the Alpha Legionary would wield a chainsword. Adding a glowing plasma pistol to his left hand, however, tied in nicely with the blue armour, and added some additional areas of interest. As well as the Alpha Legion scheme turned out, I think I’ll be sticking with the grimmer livery of the Dark Angels when I start painting my Aeronautica Imperialis squadrons.
Jake
Adding the double-handed thunder hammer to this Iron Hands Praetor was super simple but effective. It replaced the ornate sword and volkite pistol the model normally comes with with a big chunk of metal, which seems very on-brand for the sons of Medusa.
I think the heft of the hammer gives a real physicality to the model that’s perfect for a close-range brawler. I also rummaged around in my bits box to find the half cyborg head and a Thallax shoulder pad to complete the Iron Hands look!
Adam
There's something about a slung bolter and power fist combo that just really shouts attitude and awesomeness, so this new close combat upgrade kit is an absolute winner for me! When I saw the pieces I knew I had to create a White Scar, and I also happen to love the Mk III Iron Armour design, so I saw this as a perfect opportunity to finally paint one for myself.
I really wanted to show the depths of war and carnage happening in the last days of the Siege of Terra, so I decided to take a trip down 'chip lane' and add all of the battle damage I could. I used slightly thinned Dryad Bark and made sure to have a nice sharp point to apply the chipping over the model while remembering to keep it small and in scale with the surface area to sell the effect.
* He won’t mind, he’s a reasonable chap…
** Only after you’ve gone back and finished your weapon handle wrappings, Luke.
