A Daemon Engine with a Crew

 A key feature of this project has been the link between the daemon engines that form the core, and the presence of the infantry supporting them. However, it was only the land raiders and fortifications that offered any real interaction with the cultists which form the bulk.

While coming up with ideas for new additions to the force, it became my goal to create a unit that would more clearly integrate the cultists and the daemon engines. This was the result:

 

I envisioned this daemon engine as a hybrid between a bastion and a defiler, with the cultists operating the armaments from the defensive platform while the machine stalks the battlefield on its legs. The machine's lower half is an unmodified defiler, so my focus was on the construction of the upper platform.

 

The platform floor was created using a bastion upgrade kit, with the gun emplacement parts and a couple of spare internal doors from a land raider forming the walls. I also used a couple of small chains from a bracelet to create barriers in the gaps between them, where they were left open for the weapons.

 

 

I created the battlecannon and its mounting using spare forgefiend parts (which were left over from the helbrutes, nicknamed helsentries, featured here), and used the end of the barrel from the defiler's cannon to provide more of a resemblance.

Conveniently, the fittings for the defiler's secondary weapons are the same size as the slots for the fortification gun emplacements, so they did not require any modifications.

In addition to serving as a defiler, I made it possible to equip the machine as a forgefiend. The front legs can be moved forwards to replace the claws, and I created a couple of extra mountings to attach the forgefiend's cannons using more of the leftover parts.

 

This configuration lacks some stability compared to the defiler, due to the front legs fitting more loosely than the claws and not having the full six legs for support. However, I always value having options for different loadouts when it comes to preparing for a game, as it adds more variety to the lists I can try.

 

With the walking weapon-platform complete, I was left with a number of spare parts to make use of. Most notably among them, the top-half of the deflier (minus secondary weapons). As it happened, this was an opportunity to try a particular conversion that I had been thinking about for a while - which will be the feature of the next post.

Truescale Chaos Space Marine

As this project was focused on the constructs of the Dark Mechanicum, I intentionally kept the presence of actual chaos space marines to a minimum (with only a handful operating the machines here and there).

However, while continuing to expand the force, I took a brief interest in truescale space marines, and decided to try creating one for myself.

Like a lot of the examples I saw, I mostly constructed this model from terminator parts, and reposed it to better suit the manoeuvrability of power armour: mid-step, raising his combi-melta with a combat blade drawn.

 

The helmet, backpack and blade were the majority of the remaining parts used to create the impression of power armour, and green stuff (or two-part epoxy putty) was used to increase the height of the torso and angle the arms. 

Like the tartaros terminator early in the project, I wanted this model resemble an Iron Warrior due to their stronger relation to the Dark Mechanicum. But when it came to painting, I decided to try more of a matte-scheme to contrast with the entirely metallic vehicles and fit in with the non-metallic garb of the cultists.

The presence of the cultists is also part of why I chose to create a truescale chaos space marine for the army. Since there are no other chaos space marines on-foot, he stands out from the rest of the infantry and appears more imposing while among the rabble.

I typically use the model as a lord, since it better suits his bulk and solitary status among the force, but leave him minimally upgraded to remain more comparable to a chosen or aspiring champion, rather than the leader of a warband.

The 7 Year (and a bit) Late Update

As you may have noticed, there was a slight gap since my last update. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I did not have a clear plan when I created this blog other than to share new models as I made them - so as soon as I ran out of new creations, the updates stopped.

However, between back then and now, my Dark Mechanicum force did continue to grow, and therefore I have some more updates to share. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to lead into more regular longer-term updates, but I am working on three to four more posts to follow with some remaining daemon engines to share.

But since my previous update focused on an Iron Warrior, it seems fitting to start with something similar...