All power demands sacrifice.
Anon.
Of all the vaunted warrior formations wihtin the Legions, the Justaerin sit at thier apex. In terms of savagery, skill at arms, determination, and sheer force, these were the pinacle of what the Astartes program could acheive. Within a Legion that prided itself on it’s preeminence within the Imperial war machine, these sable clad killers came to embody the best martial traditions of the Sons of Horus. The best of the best.
Close your eyes and whisper, softly, sensuously, ‘Horus Heresy’. What models float to the forefront of your mind’s eye? Justaerin. Justaerin is the right answer. If that wasn’t you need to read more books…bro.
When we came to devise the #returntoisstvan project I knew I wanted a low model count army that could be painted in a reasonable time frame. Each miniature would be bespoke, an art piece in itself. This would take time. The Justaerin miniatures are some of the finest in the range and merit this level of scrutiny.
It’s easy to overlook, but open the pictures and enlarge them. Search for scratches, secondary light reflections, and other nods to the artwork found in the Black books that are both present in the sculpts and the paint job.
The Justaerin are the fore runners of the Chaos marines. You can see budding aspects of the astehritc that would dominate the traitor legionaires in 40K.
This army is led by Abaddon, an examplar of the swift strike to the throat known as the Spear Tip assault. Famous throughout the Crusade, this tactic of applying overwhelming force at the point of the enemies greatest strength was able to smash Empries that had endured throug the Long Night in a matter of hours. The Spear Tip is often lead by a strong contingent of Termiantors, a style of warfaare that has never left the First Captain.
This 1500 point Centurion list has 15 termiantors at its heart. As tough an assault force as any could wish for. What this army lacks in terms of heavy fire power, mobility and versitility, it more than makes up for in terms of sheer bluntness. It has been designed to drop as close ot the enemy as possible, and murder everything in sight.
Justaerin black – hellishly slippery. I wanted to achieve a battle-worn appearance that wasn’t overly dull. I couldn’t rely on my old trick of highlighting with shades of grey then glazing with a turquoise.
Instead the basecoat provided the answer. By building to a white then shading with yellow, then black ink, the armour took on a realistic face that could be built upon with oils and mineral spirits.
