Diesel DM

Stepping out of the carriage he stretched his massive frame. The trip from outside Fellig had been nonstop, just himself and the lone driver. It had been a quiet trip. And the quiet had eaten away at him. Orsus Zoktavir could hear the whispers and agonizing cries in the silence. The rough, muddy roads through the Thornwood allowed for little sleep. Sleep was almost as bad as silence.
“Kommander Zoktavir.” An middle-aged Captain held a salute that Orsus did not return. He fixed his bloodshot eyes on the man.
“Kommander, your quarters are this way,” he said, dropping the salute hesitantly. “There will be a briefing in the morning.”
Orsus turned back to the carriage and pulled out his axe, Lola. A massive trunk had been unloaded from the rear of the carriage. The captain made an effort to lift it, but failed.
“My armor,” Orsus spoke like the rumbling of an avalanche. “Needs repair.”
“Of course, sir, not a problem. The 5th’s finest mechaniks are stationed here. It will be their top priority.” The Captain motioned two men over to haul the trunk away.

The captain led the Kommander to his quarters. It was clearly constructed within the last few days, a good distance from the rest of the housing. Being on the fringes of the empire was not enough, he was now on the fringes of the camp as well.
“I would have my dinner brought here.” Orsus rumbled to the Captain. His head was starting to throb and as the darkness fell the whispers were getting louder.
“Of course, sir, at once.” The captain hurried off, returning shortly with a tray, then taking his leave for the night.
A large bed, a table and a chair were all that awaited inside the distant quarters. The Kommander leaned Lola in the corner of the room near the bed. The bed creaked under his weight, but held firm. He closed his eyes and awaited the dawn.
As sleep overtook him, the whispers became voices, images started to flash before his eyes. Too many memories, too much pain, so many voices. At last the voices forced him awake and he sprung out of bed, deceptively fast for such a large man. Drenched in sweat he grabbed his axe, his mind fractured between his dreams and his anger. He stalked the room with his axe before bursting out the door into the cold night. He began a steady walk forward the closest building, gripping and regripping Lola as he neared the door. As he got closer his pace quickened. He burst through the door like a freight train.
He scanned the room looking for battle, his head swaying slightly as he tried to focus his anger and his vision. The room was empty, lit only by a still glowing forge. Mechaniks, he thought vaguely as he plodded deeper into the room. He sensed a cortex nearby, but not like the usual numb cortexes he accustomed to. This cortex had desires…no, a singular desire. It wanted to be on the battlefield, it wanted to fight, it wanted to kill. Orsus cleared his mind enough to connect with it. He felt it siphon some of his rage, like bailing water from a sinking ship. It was warjack, chained up and left to decay. Bloodthirsty, battle-lusting, a kindred spirit, Orsus felt sympathy for the ‘jack. He could suffer a similar fate once the High Kommand ran out of enemies to throw him against, shackled in a dark room at the fringes of the empire. He was not far from that fate now, it seemed. The sympathetic feelings and the ‘jacks drain on his rage brought the Kommander back to himself. He turned and walked back to his quarters through the cold night.

Kommander Orsus Zoktavir – 5th Border Legion

First model completed, 6 days in.  Assuming this model, being a warcaster and having a stupidly intricate base, takes longer than any of the other individual models, it’s going well.  It could have been done Friday night, but I was gone for the weekend, so fell behind a bit.  For as fast I painted it, I think this is pretty solid.  Looking at the large macro images I can see lots of things that could be touched up, but that’s fine.  The 5th Border Legion color scheme came out great.  The drab brown/green is really nice. It covers well and highlights and shadows both blend easily. I had my early concerns about green and red feeling too Christmas, but the brown, muted green with the vibrant red seem to be far enough apart to avoid this.

Even through this is a painting challenge relying on speed, I decided to quickly two-brush-blend the reds and greens for practice, to speed up my skills and to make the model look just a bit better.

I didn’t paint eyes on him.  I got the head done (first thing I did after the metals) and it just seems like painting eyes would be really odd give the model and pose.  I kind of like the hooded brow totally shading his eyes.  I can always go back in later, but for now it’s just darkness.

Atop a pile of carnage

Had I not months and months ago pinned and glued Orsus to his default epic base I would have made a nice angled ice-shelf, which I think would look great. But what’s done is done.  So I had to suffer along with painting his pile of murder. I did simple base, wash, dry-brush for most of it, with a bit of blending on the reds and blues.  I went heavy on the washes to tone it all down and not pull attention from the main model.

More reverse details

The fur came out great, I like that. The grey for the middle of his coat is a bit out-there, but I think it’s okay.  The blue-ish tinge that Khadoran great coats have is a little incongruous with the greens and reds, but I’ll stick with it.  The skulls also came out great. Last thing to mention is that there is no basing around his pile of death yet.  Will probably wait to base all the models together at the end.