It’s been another long break since I’ve posted (or painted) any Legion of the Damned models, but thanks to Le Tray, I’ve managed to complete a model that I’ve been stuck on for well over a decade. Out of the three original Librarian models, I managed to complete the painting of the first back in 2017 for my Dark Angels, and now I’ve finally completed the second – for my Legion of the Damned force.
“But wait!” you say. “Legion of the Damned can’t have Librarians!” Well, yes. But also, no. You see, dear reader, that back in the mists of time when 3rd Edition 40k and its codices were current, there was a Chapter Approved Codex published in White Dwarf that gave rules for running entire armies of the Legion, complete with characters and war machines. It was during the times when these rules were still valid that I began work on making a whole Legion of the Damned Army. I didn’t get very far, but I did get this guy started. And now, in the middle of the clusterfuck that is otherwise known as 2020, I’ve gotten him finished.
The model is basically stock, except for three changes. 32mm base, his (broken) sword was replaced by one from a WarZone weapons blister, and his backpack is a metal Legion of the Damned one from the more recent run of the models. Please enjoy this photograph of this nameless librarian alongside his dark brethren. And yes, I really do need to paint more of these.
…and what of the third Librarian? Well, like his two brothers, I’ve got specific plans for him. One Day…
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
Looking good 🤟
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Cheers mate!
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Excellent work on this classic model, still have him in my own army, just needs a touch up on his paint. Do remember the army list and was great fun, the good old days !
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Thanks Dave – might be time to touch him up and throw him into Jewel of July? 😉
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Very nice- Legion of the Dammned were always an interesting unit. Never knew they could be a full army at some point. I’d drifted away from 40k by the time of 3rd ed.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Thanks Pete – yeah it was for a relatively brief time – then again, I’m not sure how long those WD rules remained “Valid” as the game kept using the old codices from 3rd through to 7th with very slow updates for many.
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A classic mini and an excellent paint job and base. I had this figure back in the day, although mine was an Ultramarine.
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Cheers mate. I had Ultras back in those days as well. I’ve still got many of them, though they got tweaked and chaged over the years, so I’ve got a new renovation plan for them now…
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Lovely work, Mark Copplestone is a brilliant sculptor,. they had some truly great designers working back there then. The Legion of the Dammed were so damn cool! I remember seeing them in White Dwarf back when they first came out.
Cheers Roger.
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Thanks Roger – agreed – Copplestone is a bloody legendary sculptor. I also painted up some Damned based on the original Article in WD98 – with Enamels no less. I think they broke apart over the years being RTB01s, but if I can find the pieces I may well try to reassemble/reconstruct them.
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Great stuff mate – lovely mini anyway, looks even better as a Damned Legionnaire!! 🔥💀🔥
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Thanks Alex. I do remember as soon as I saw the rules I knew i wanted to use the beaky-face model as a Damned. Skulls on those helms were always fun and worked better than on the later style.
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Very nice! 🙂 Like the contrast between the black and the bones! Not really sure I understand all the restrictions on what models/units you can or can’t have, but a great figure nonetheless!
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Basically, Legion of the Damned have fluctuated a bit back and forth over the decades between being an add-on squad or two of elites for your Imperial forces and a faction in their own right.
It’s because they’re a not-quite-defined force of probably-supernatural Space Marines that may or may not be the remnants of a lost Chapter (Fire Hawks) who, in the lore, appear suddenly, turn the tide of (usually otherwise lost) battle, then disappear as mysteriously as they arrived…
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Thanks for the explanation, Azazel! 🙂
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Rogue trader sounds so cool do you know if there are RT books in the Black Library somewhere?
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Early BL Books from that era:
Authored by Ian Watson
Inquisitor (1990) (reprinted as Draco in 2002)
Harlequin (1994)
Chaos Child (1995)
Space Marine by Ian Watson (1993)
I’ve got Inquisitor and Space Marine from back int he day and enjoyed both at the time. I’m nott sure if I have harlequin, and don’t have Chaos Child. They also put out a lot of Fantasy books in those early days.
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Will keep an eye out for them
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hey do you have a twitter account? PM me your email address if you do….
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That turned out nice, great freehand skull and interesting conversion/replacement pieces.
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Thanks Subedai! There’s not a huge range of impressive looking metal swords out there that look like they could fit into 40k (without cutting them off an impressive and probably expensive model) – especially these days!
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I feel like I’ve heard of Legion of the Damned but it isn’t ringing any bells. I like their color scheme a lot and you painted them really well. They look awesome as a squad and I think GW might want to bring back this faction as the Chaos Space Marines can always use a bit more fleshing out (no pun intended) it seems like.
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