WIP: Alpha Legion veteran tactical squad

Horus Heresy: Alpha Legion veteran tactical squad (first half)

It's been a while since I posted. I did hardly any painting in December while I focused on other projects, not least my writing, which has been very beneficial. The downside has been that what was already, for me, a disappointing year on the hobby front ended with barely a whimper. I have, however, not been entirely idle. In the last few weeks I have returned to painting with a renewed motivation and some renewed goals. Among them are these offerings from a new army: the Alpha Legion.

Veteran tactical squad marine with plasma gun

Like many others, I jumped straight on the Betrayal at Calth bandwagon when it was released at the end of last year. For those that don't know, Games Workshop released its first ever boxed game set in their Horus Heresy era (set ten thousand years before the Warhammer 40,000 narrative). Since its emergence a few years ago, the Heresy range has been the domain of their Forge World subsidiary, and while they've done a brilliant job of it, it's nice to see the parent company joining in. The main benefit to this release is the arrival of plastic versions of the space marines (in MkIV armour) and terminators (in Cataphractii armour). The resin that Forge World use is great for highly detailed models, but it's expensive for rank and file troops and limited in terms of posing options. For hobbyists, plastic is cheaper and easier to work with in so many ways.

Veteran tactical squad marine with legion vexila

I haven't played the Betrayal at Calth game and have no immediate intention to. I've heard it's good, but I remain a painter first and foremost. I don't play the main games either, so it's nothing to do with that. I just wanted the models. £95 isn't cheap, but it gets you thirty MkIV space marines, five terminators, a contemptor dreadnought, a praetor in terminator armour and a chaplain in MkIV armour. Bearing in mind a squad of ten marines in MkIV armour would have set you back £48 on its own from Forge World, this is a notable saving.

Veteran tactical squad sergeant
with power sword and plasma pistol

So... Alpha Legion then. Why them? Well, regular readers may remember that at some point last year, I painted Armillus Dynat, a special character for the army, as a standalone project. At the time, this was the first model I'd ever painted with an airbrush and, after some experimenting, I found I quite liked it. This, coupled with the scheme Forge World use for their Alpha Legion models convinced me that I wouldn't be opposed to painting more of them—initially for display, but perhaps as an army if the desire stuck. I've delayed for a while, partly due to cost, but the release of Betrayal at Calth gave me the motivation and the miniatures that I needed.

Veteran tactical squad space marines

This squad represents my first efforts for this army. It involves a new painting approach (airbrushing) for space marines (something which has triggered an interest elsewhere too—more on that another time) and a new basing technique. Airbrushing means I can do multiple models at a time. I did the basecoats for entire squad of ten in a couple of hours. Edge highlighting takes a while and is the only really slow part. After that, I pick out the metals, blacks and greens for the eye lenses. The knives and packs a few of them carry are painted separately and glued on afterwards. The bases are done with Games Workshops texture paints, followed by a couple of washes and a quick dry-brush… and then they're done. I have more to do, but what do you think so far?