Remember when I used to paint a lot of miniatures? Not scatter terrain, but actual miniatures? Yeah, I do as well. This month isn’t going to be huge in that sense, but at least I finally got these guys done. I started them quite a few months ago, and they’re been a hopeful to finish over several of my themed challenge months – neglected models, squads, mechanical, but to no avail. So while I guess Sergeant Akakios actually does qualify for Dauntless December, the rest of his squad are just here for the ride!

Sergeant Akakios (an ancient Greek name meaning “Not Evil” – no Google jokes, please) was built using a Puppetswar head on a regular Terminator Sergeant torso, mounted on a pair of Grey Knight Terminator legs, along with the Forge World shoulder pads. I think he makes for a nice, individual looking sergeant for the squad.

I like metallic blue with some gradient for Power Swords, generally speaking. The attempt to create a nice, enamelled red on his pauldrons and bracers was achieved by doing the usual brassy-bronze armour, then going over it with two coats of GW’s Spiritstone Red. There’s still very much a metallic sheen to them that doesn’t come across fully in the photographs.

Brother Damon (yes, that’s what it says on his chest) – (“to tame, to subdue” and euphemistically “to kill.”) is the Squad’s heavy gunner, armed with the ubiquitous Assault Cannon. He’s pretty much a stock model, aside from the Forge World Pauldrons and the head and pteruges from Anvil Industry. He’s also a member of an ancient warrior cult for those who wage war using rapid firing heavy weapons with it’s origins in ancient Terra, evidenced by the iconography on his armour.

I’m not really one to name my models. Not that I begudge others who do so, but outside of games like Necromunda or Blood Bowl it’s just never been something that’s taken my interest. Generally, I’ll name all characters and things like Dreadnoughts, usually squad leaders in forces like Marines (though not Imperial Guard) and then models that force me to, by having something like a scroll in the middle of their chest.

I was reading someone’s blog the other day where they were bemoaning the rather static poses of most terminator models. Aside from the fact that they’re an older kit, so that was certainly the price of a multipart posable kit in those days, Terminator Armour, or Tactical Dreadnought Armour is essentially taking an Astartes and enclosing them in a huge, heavy, cumbersome (and presumably uncomfortable and stifling) suit of armour – even with suspensors and synthetic muscle-fibre bundles. They are essentially walking tanks. I don’t expect something of that description to be especially dynamic in its posing or implied movement. I used to be a hockey goalie, and wearing that gear certainly changed your posture and gait. Still, I can very much appreciate that having a ton of guys all mono-posed like sumo is a bit tedious, so I’ve tried to mix them up a bit with some lightly converted Dark Vengeance poses.

One thing that I was a bit stuck on as I was finalising these models was whether to go laquered red on their Chainfists and Power Fists as well as their outer Pauldrons. In the end, I left them in the brassy bronze, but felt that this guy needed a bit more to make it more interesting, so he got a lambda in red to finish it off. Because the lambda on his weapon and the lambda on his fauld wasn’t enough to get the whole “SPACE SPARTAN” thing across. Actually, it was just to have a bit of appropriate visual interest there. 😉

This guy was an attempt to add a bit more movement to one of the figures. I think the lowered Bolter arm is from one of the Dark Vengeance Deathwing Terminators, but combined with the walking legs and the angled head, I think it works alright.

I used a few bits and bobs from the Grey Knight Terminators kit to add some bling to the backs of their belts, as well as the odd purity seal in hard-to-reach places. I wanted these Minotaurs to have a healthy but not overwhelming amount of bling on them so they’d fit in and stack up well enough next to the newer modifications to the Terminator kit, like the Deathwing or Blood Angels – rather than being as plain as the core kit would have them be.

I always really liked this core model from the first time I saw it. I’ve picked up a few extras from back in the day when they were cheap and readily available, aside from my own massive-multiple-DV buy that came a bit later. I don’t think the right arm is stock, but I honestly can’t remember. Regardless, it’s a nice model pose that doesn’t necessarily evoke movement, but still has a nice, less static pose.

And there we are! A new squad, finally completed as we hit the cusp of 2018’s completion. And a number of photos that should make IRO jealous. Or Proud. Or Bored. 😉