Lords of Blood: Daemon-Primarch Angron & the Cruor Praetoria

[miteyheroes]

No one would have believed in the early years of the 41st Millenium that the prosperous hive-world of Armageddon was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were being plotted against by their neighbours in sinister blood-cults; and that the capricious tides of the warp were catapulting a space hulk filled with the most devoted disciples of the Blood God towards the planet, to commence the first of three terrible wars that would cripple the great planet.
But still, they come.

I've always loved the tale of the Daemon-Primarch Angron and his bodyguard at the 1st War for Armageddon, the twelve terrifying Bloodthirsters known as the Cruor Praetoria. 109 Grey Knights standing proud against 13 of the greatest daemons of the Blood God? That's the stuff that epics are made of; that's 40k's answer to the Hot Gates of Thermopylae.

So I decided to make Angron and the Cruor Praetoria, and for Christmas I got the bits to get my plan started. And then, just as I began, the rumours hit that GW is making a new plastic Bloodthirster kit, and a new Khorne codex combining Berserkers and Daemons. Excellent...

Here's my first Bloodthirster. He might be downgraded to a Daemon Prince rules-wise once the new stuff arrives, if the new kit is too much bigger! Over time, he might even drop out of my count of the twelve. But for now, he's a start...



For my first Bloodthirster I decided to pretty much assemble the classic Bloodthrister kit it as it comes, to provide inspiration / scale guidance for the rest. Of course, I had to make some modifications. Otherwise it'd be boring.



I started by making the legs more dynamic - so easy with Finecast, I just dunked them in boiling water for a minute, bent them to their new pose, and then put them under the cold tap. I wanted to make him look like he's running, add a sense of movement, so I also added the whip the wrong way round. I think that makes it seems more that he's sprinting forwards, just in the moment of cracking the whip down. My previous models for my Adeptus Mechanicus & Dark Mechanicus (viewable [URL="www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?50020-Dark-Mechanicus-Daemon-Knights-of-the-Unblinking-Eye"]here[/URL]) are quite static, so I'm keen to use this project to experiment with more dynamic models and poses.



I want all of my Bloodthirsters to have at least *something* that makes them more 40k than WFB, some technology, so I changed the head. I also want them to work alongside my planned Forge of Souls / Dark Mechanicus daemon army, so a technological edge is essential. I quite like the idea of them all having helmets rather than uncovered heads, this may continue for the entire army of 13. The head is from the vehicle upgrade sprue, an excellent little sprue that I use lots.



My second Bloodthirster is based around the spare torso that comes in the Bloodthirster box, plus a raid on my bits collection. You get 2 torsoes in the box because one head has an attached neck and the other doesn't. A nice bonus, I thought!



The legs are the back legs of a Forgefiend/Maulerfiend, they have that goaty feel that's oh so Khornate. Plus lots of pistons, helping anchor the model in 40k. They were joined by a plastruct tube, and then I filled it all in and bulked it out with green stuff.



The head is from a defiler, and the wings are from a daemon prince. The lower arms are also from a daemon prince - the whip/tentacle arm is meant to be his tail.



He just needs a chain going up his rear - I've got to dig around deep in my craft box, but I'm sure I remember seeing one in there.



And now one final shot, of the family so far. This guy is a bit less tall than the official Bloodthirster, due to the wings, but he's got a bulkier lower body and I don't think it's game-breaking. Next I need to work on both their bases, and then break out the paint!



"That day, we faced twelve. The Cruor Praetoria, the twelve strongest; the twelve daemons whose lives and deeds most pleased their wretched Blood God over fourty thousand years of warfare."

[Red Skullz]

I followed your chaos knight titans plog on B&C and I really liked what you did there so I'm definitely subbing this project

[miteyheroes]

Thanks Red Skullz! I will be doing more for my Daemon-Knights, and probably the armies will crossover occassionally (using the Daemon-Knights as Soul Grinders to support these guys...)

[miteyheroes]

To use my Bloodthirsters outside of an Unbound game, I'll need some troops. I want them to have more of a mini-Bloodthirster feel than the normal Bloodletters, more like the previous version of Bloodletters. And the best way to do that seemed to be Beastman Gors.



To tie in with my Bloodthirsters, I've given them all helmets. One batch with Chaos Space Marine helmets, one with Chaos Warriors. I went for the horned helmets throughout, a theme that's looking like it will run all the way through the army.

[miteyheroes]

My initial 1,500pts force is going to feature 2 units of Bloodletters, 2 Bloodthirsters, 3 Soul Grinders (using my Daemon-Knights models) and a unit of Bloodcrushers. So here are the Bloodcrushers, and I have a valid army!



The key theme in this army is Bloodthirsters, and I wanted my Bloodcrushers to fit in with that. So I've gone for a more upright bestial feel rather than the traditional Bloodletters-on-Juggers, using Vampire Counts Vargheists as the core. They're still around the same size as Bloodcrushers, and I think that their statline looks appropriate, so hopefully no-one will complain.



Everyone in the army has horned helmets - for these guys, I've gone with Epic Warlord heads and horns that were originally spikes on a Tyranid Trygon (I used the Trygon tail on one of my Daemon-Knights). I've also given them a bit of armour, shoulder plates and bionic jaws from an old Ork Boys sprue.



The core of the models is the Vampire Counts Vargheist/Crypt Horror kit - I've used the Vargheist hairy backs and the Crypt Horror arms (with some hands swapped for Ogre Bull hands). I now also have a pile of spare wings, which I'm sure will come in handy later...



And one last shot, all the Khorne models that I've made this week! It's been a productive one I still need to base them before painting begins, but then we're ready to roll.

[miteyheroes]

The first batch of painting is done and (finally!) photographed. Sorry the photos aren't very good, my camera is rubbish and my house is dark...



Djymikh the Debaser is a patron of Hans Kho'ren of the World Eaters. When Hans Kho'ren's Skull Takers were recruited by Angron for the attack on Armageddon, Ymmikh accompanied them, eager to shed blood in Khorne's name.



Bunankh the Deranger is the beast that broke the mind of the Red Cardinal of Iddesleigh. The Blood Cardinal, plagued by visions of a grinning daemon torturing him to death whilst his entire world burnt, lead the horrific Crusade of Peace in order to root out the evil which he believed must lurk in the populace of Iddesleigh. The innocent agri-worlders were entirely wiped out, a task started by the Blood Cardinal's fanatical followers and finished by Unnakh himself once enough blood had been shed to allow him to enter the physical world. The Red Cardinal was the last person on the world to die, impaled on the spire of his cathedral by the mocking Bunankh. Now he seeks to destroy Armageddon as he did Iddesleigh...



The Bone Collectors. Once mortal champions of Khorne, they walk the fine line between Spawnhood and Daemon Princedom: vastly mutated beyond their mortal bodies, but only just maintaining control over their form and mind. They spend their lives shedding blood and collecting kills for Khorne: to keep him smiling upon them; to persuade him to not smite them into Spawn; and possibly to convince him to bless them as Daemon Princes.

I love the way that characters in Black Crusade have to balance their infamy vs their corruption, that whole idea seems a wonderfully Realm of Chaos vibe. These are my counts-as Bloodcrushers



This particular group of Bloodletters were all created from the blood shed in fights between Space Marines, between those who should be brothers. They first emerged in the Horus Heresy, as Angron purged his legion on Istvaan III, and have followed his career ever since - from Ultramar to Terra to the Eye of Terror. Now that Angron has descended from the Devourer of Stars to destroy Armageddon and its Space Wolf defenders, they pull themselves out of the Immaterium once more, formed from the blood of Astartes of both sides.



Mankind has always told tales of horrors lurking the shadows, violent man-shaped beasts waiting to emerge and devour. From beyond the circle of light cast by flickering campfires to under the beds and in the cupboards of brightly-lit hab-blocks, people have always stared fearfully into the dark. And with good reason, for in the liminal shadows these bestial Bloodletters wait...



Born long ago in a terrible crusade between two armies of heavily armoured knights, both believing that they fought for the One True God, these Bloodletters have always flocked to violence and sought to use mankind's violent urges to create rents in reality.



So along with 3 Soul Grinders (using my Daemon-Knight models) this is 1,500pts of Chaos Daemons! Next step: 4 more small-sized Bloodthirsters (who, like these 2, will be used in games either as Bloodthirsters or as Daemon Princes), and then I'll have my birthday and with that extra cash I'm going to get the new Bloodthirster and bits for more Bloodthirsters in his scale. And also, with Khorne Daemonkin now released, I quite want to build some Chaos Space Marines and some Cultists...

[miteyheroes]

[URL="https://www.flickr.com/photos/47446154@N08/16728368380/in/set-72157650292893682"][/URL]

(Click pic for bigger)

Angron's Bodyguard, the Cruor Praetoria, is now taking shape, with my 6 smaller Bloodthirsters all built. As you can see, they are all designed to be roughly the same size as the classic Bloodthirster in the middle. In game terms I can run them as normal Bloodthirsters (of Unfettered Fury) or as Daemon Princes - this will be particularly good for Codex: Khorne Daemonkin, if the rumours that some of the formations need non-Bloodthirster HQs are true, and as it seems like Daemon Princes can carry the cool artefacts that Bloodthirsters can't.

As you can probably tell, these Bloodthirsters have been made from 6 basic kits (Juggernaught, Balrog, Bloodthirster, Forgefiend, Hive Tyrant, Daemon Prince), but hopefully mixed up enough and with enough extra pieces from my bits box added that by the end they are a coherent set of 6 Bloodthirsters. Hopefully!



The Lord of the Rings Balrog is an excellent Bloodthirster stand-in. He's bigger than the classic model, comes with a wonderful whip (which I trimmed the flames off very easily), and just fits so well! I opted to give him a headswap for a Juggernaught, giving him a more bestial, bull-like appearance. I also up-armoured him, with bits from Daemon Princes, Hive Tyrants, and WFB Marauder shields. Finally I swapped his lovely big wings for some smaller Daemon Prince wings - I want to use his wings for some larger Bloodthirster projects!



As soon as I saw the WFB Morghasts I knew that I wanted to use their wings for a counts-as-Skarbrand, they're just perfect. Possibly they're a touch small, but they're so beautifully made. Skarbrand's body is a Juggernaught, his legs are from a Hive Tyrant, and his brutal twin cleavers are from the Morghast Harbingers (with Daemon Prince arms & shoulder pads). Finally his head is from the Balrog, with some green stuff tentacles for dreadlocks. I love my green stuff tentacle maker so much, it's changed everything!



This Bloodthirster is my weediest, apart from the classic. He'll probably be relegated to being a Daemon Prince more often than not. His wings are the old metal ones from a Chaos Dwarf Lammasu, whilst his torso and shoulder pads are from a Daemon Prince. His legs are the marvellous Forgefiend back legs again, and his arms are from the very useful Hive Tyrant.



This final Bloodthirster is the most unique, thanks to his Blood Slaughterer legs. The idea is that he is an overseer of the Brass Forge, working for Khorne to create his Daemon Engines. His Hive Tyrant torso ties into this, with overlapping armour that evokes the Blood Slaughterer, Juggernaughts, and Brass Scorpions. His arms and wings, of course, are from the Daemon Prince again.



These guys are now all sitting on my painting desk. I've got quite a task ahead of me...

[miteyheroes]

One mad long weekend of painting later... I've now completed the smaller 6 of my 12 planned Bloodthirsters! I'm quite tempted to field the 6 of these as a 1,500pts Khorne Daemonkin Unbound force...



Dzamhes the Decapitator has merged with his weapons to such an extent that it is hard to tell where he ends and they begin. He wields his brutal sword and whip with expert skill, leaving a trail of dead behind him as he chases the next hero whose tale he will end.



Gotfrith the Deflagrated faced one of the founders of the Grey Knights during the Horus Heresy, who cast him back into the warp using sorcerous flames that stripped the flesh from his bones. Despite being rebuilt in brass and iron he has never fully recovered, and his wings remain in tatters. He has nurtured his hatred over the millennia, and now his loathing of all living things is a potent force that fills all in his vicinity.

I love the Morghast wings, and as soon as GW released them I wanted to use them to make Skarbrand. Very happy with how it worked out.



Vizekh the Devourer, Vizekh Sorceror-Bane, has always been a foe of those who delve too deep into occult lore. He lurks in the warp, waiting for a psyker to get too greedy, to attempt to use a spell beyond their ability to control, poised to consume their souls.



Putokh the Disemboweler has spent the aeons of waiting in the Warp well, crafting himself a fearsome body in Khorne's Brass Foundries. Now when he emerges into realspace he soars high above the battlefield, before diving into combat feet-first, chain-claws revving, and tears his apart enemies before they have a chance to defend themselves.

Next up I want to make some Chaos Space Marines to round out my Daemonkin, the Skull Takers of Hans Kho'ren.

[Kirsten]

wow, amazing to see all these coming together, it is quite an undertaking.

[Chexmix282]

Absolutely fantastic work. The conversions and painting are both excellent, and the bases really drive the Khorne feel of the army.

Looking forward to the other 6 Bloodthirsters!