Somewhat recently, I showed off my Legion of the Damned models, updated for 40k 8th edition on nice new scenic 32mm bases. When I took that series of photographs, I somehow forgot(!) to take pics of Sgt. Centurius and the above Bolter Marine. They were residing on a separate shelf at the time, and it was some time before I noticed, let alone got back to take the photos with this pair.
Sgt. Centurius in this case was not painted by myself, but by my friend, Matt F. He was lucky enough to get one from a friend in GW when they were released as part of the “Apocalypse 100” celebration of Games Workshop’s 100th store worldwide, back in March 1996, with rules in that White Dwarf. Of course, there were no GW stores in Melbourne at that time, so for almost all of us, we were SOL. I think Matt was mostly interested in it as a painting exercise, so having done that he was kind enough to pass it on to myself, as I played LotD.
Centurius’ offsider here is another Blood Angels Death Company marine, added to the squad because of the sculpted skulls and scrolls on his armour. (Imagine that! a time where you had to actively seek out Marine models that had some extra skulls and bling on them!~) The flaming-skull shoulder pad is of course freehand. 🙂
The only changes I’ve made to Sgt. Centurius over the years have been to rebase him to fit in with my models (twice now) and replace the plastic backpack with a metal Legion of the Damned one.
The skull-design on the Legionnaire’s MKIV Corvus helmet is also freehand. Corvus helms are my favourite mark for painting Legion of the Damned models. The shape and extra space really lend themselves to the design. The Aquila is a transfer, originally just a white outline, I overpainted it with the shading and details. He has 2nd Edition marine arms and a 2nd Edition Boltgun, which has probably now been retconned into being a Phobos-pattern variant. Pretty chunky!
Unfortunately, Sgt. Centurius today suffers today from being an unavailable figure of a named character from a previous edition of the game. Meaning that there are no rules for him or the Animus Malorum (the skull he he holds aloft) , and barring a remake of him in plastic (Slambo!) there will not be rules for him in 8th edition. With that in mind, I’ll have to “Kitbash” some rules for him, based on the other 8th edition Marine and LotD profiles for use in friendly games here. We’re currently using Power Ratings anyway in a friendly-rather-than-exploitative-way, so niggling over a few points isn’t going to be an issue. I’ll do the same with the Librarian when I finish painting him. Yes, LotD had a full army list – in White Dwarf 224 (August ’98).
To cap it all off, we have a group photo of all of my completed Legion of the Damned models. I’ve got a couple more classic Rogue Trader models on the paint desk to join them one day sooner or later, and once they (and a bunch of the other unfinished Power Armour on my desk) are done, I can look at some of the later “proper” LotD models.
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
Excellent man. The group photo is cool. Really like this little band of boney brothers
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Thanks mate. The question after I finish the stragglers will be whether or not I should embiggen them into a full army based on that old WD article (and make up a bunch of rules for 8th). I’ve got a Rhino APC (or a couple of them) that would be utterly perfect for them.
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Loved that old WD article, it had some cool conversions, and I seem to recall that list was the only in 2nd edition to “legally” field a whole army of veteran space marines, right in the dying days! I would love to do a small army of them though using that list… one day.
These look great! I can’t believe you forgot Centurius though, he’s only one of the coolest models GW ever made!
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Yeah, it was a surprise when they brought it out but since then I’ve planned to do more than just a squad with the Legion. I’d love to see them update them a little more than a token squad for 8th. I guess there might be balance issues with powergamer-type players. Luckily for you, you’ve already got the correct rules for your games via that article!
…another project for you to do alongside your Black Templars! 😉
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If I do the Legion of the Damned army, will you let me off the hook on the Black Templars?! 😂😉
In all seriousness though I might just do that as it would be very cool, and yours have been quite inspirational.
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Not fully off the hook, but I’ll let you work on them one at a time. 😉 And you can always run LotD quite fluffily and justifiably with a single squad to start with allied to your Ultramarines.. 🙂
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Indeed. Just dip a toe in and see where it goes…
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Tasty. Legion of the Damned are always appealing when painted so nicely.
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Cheers Cheetor. I appreciate it.
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Beautiful job mate – love these guys to bits!
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Thank you Alex!
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Love the group pic – stunningly effective paint job!
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Thanks Mark. They’re some of my absolute favourites!
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I’m just in awe with these. They are amazing. The detail is insane! Kudos man, awesome job!
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Thanks Luke. I do really enjoy painting the Legion. I’ve got a couple more old-school LotD on my painting trays that still need to be finished, so fingers crossed i manage to do so soon.
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