The Chevaliers – A Bretonnian Space Marine Chapter
- Matt
- Jun 6, 2020
- 29 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Welcome to my long-running Warhammer 40,000 homebrew project: the Chevaliers.
Inspired by the heraldry, pageantry and knightly traditions of Bretonnia from Warhammer Fantasy, the Chevaliers are an Ultima Founding Space Marine Chapter descended from the Imperial Fists. While they fight with all the weapons and technology expected of the Adeptus Astartes, they have never abandoned the customs of their medieval home world. Every battle-brother bears his own heraldry, every company rides to war with the spirit of a knightly host, and the ideals of honour, lineage and faith remain central to the Chapter's identity.
This project began several years ago as a modelling challenge. I wanted to create a Space Marine force where every warrior looked unique, each displaying his own coat of arms, helmet crest and family colours while still belonging unmistakably to the same Chapter. What started as a handful of conversions gradually evolved into an entire homebrew Chapter complete with its own history, traditions and culture.
Below you'll find both the lore behind the Chapter and a showcase of the conversion work that brought them to life.
Index: Brettoncourt IVÂ
Brettoncourt IV
The story begins on the feudal world of Brettoncourt IV.
Hidden away on the eastern fringe of Segmentum Ultima, Brettoncourt IV is a fertile agricultural world of dense forests, rolling hills and vast stretches of open grassland.
Its people live much as humanity did during the late medieval period of Old Terra. Knights ride to war beneath brightly coloured banners, castles dominate the countryside, and the authority of noble houses shapes every aspect of daily life.
Imperial scholars believe Brettoncourt IV was first settled during humanity's Golden Age of Technology. Unlike many lost colonies, however, its people never truly recovered from the Age of Strife.
The horrors unleashed by uncontrolled technology left scars that endured for generations. Machinery became synonymous with catastrophe, and over the centuries much of the world's technological knowledge was deliberately abandoned in favour of a simpler existence.
When the fires of Old Night finally faded, Brettoncourt had become a world of kings, castles and steel.
Ironically, the peace its ancestors sought never came.
As memories of the Age of Strife faded into legend, rival kingdoms once again turned upon one another. Castles changed hands, villages were burned and rebuilt, and noble families waged endless wars to expand their domains.
The near-constant conflict ensured civilisation never truly advanced. Every generation rebuilt only what the previous one had destroyed.
By the time the Imperium finally arrived, the greatest weapons on Brettoncourt IV were plate armour, longswords, lances and longbows.
The Black Templars Arrive
The planet remained forgotten for thousands of years. The Great Crusade had never reached this isolated pocket of space before the Horus Heresy consumed the Imperium.
It was not until M38 that the world was finally rediscovered by the Arkron Crusade of the Black Templars. For decades, the crusade had fought across the eastern reaches of Segmentum Ultima, reclaiming long-forgotten human worlds that had remained beyond Imperial rule since Old Night.
When the Black Templars descended from the heavens, the nobles of Brettoncourt believed they were witnessing the return of warriors from their oldest legends. Towering knights clad in black armour, bearing swords, shields and great heraldic crosses, seemed less like mortal soldiers and more like champions sent by the deity they had worshipped for millennia.
Many of the ruling houses accepted Imperial Compliance willingly. The Black Templars did not demand that the people abandon their ancient faith. Instead, they revealed the true identity of the divine guardian their ancestors had worshipped for thousands of years.
Their god had not forsaken them.
He was the Emperor of Mankind.
And His Angels had finally arrived.
Because the people of Brettoncourt had long worshipped a single divine protector, the Imperial Creed blended naturally with their existing beliefs. Likewise, the Black Templars' uncompromising hatred of witches, mutants and heretics echoed traditions that had endured on the world since the Age of Strife.
Not every kingdom submitted so readily, however. Several powerful realms rejected the Emperor's rule, clinging to older polytheistic faiths and refusing to bend the knee.
Their resistance was brief.
Against the might of the Adeptus Astartes, armies of knights and longbowmen stood little chance. Castle walls that had resisted generations of rival kings crumbled before bolt shells and melta fire.
Within a matter of weeks, the last banners of rebellion had fallen.
Brettoncourt IV had finally been brought into the Imperium.
The Birth of the Chevaliers
For nearly four thousand years, generation after generation of Brettoncourt's greatest warriors disappeared into the ranks of the Black Templars. The world became one of the Chapter's most dependable recruiting grounds. Its people remained remarkably free from mutation and the taint of corruption, while their unwavering faith in the God-Emperor and deeply ingrained martial traditions made them ideal candidates for one of the Imperium's most zealous Chapters.
Then, with the coming of the Ultima Founding, everything changed.
Brettoncourt IV was selected as the home world of a newly established Primaris Chapter: the Chevaliers.
Founded from the gene-seed of the Imperial Fists, they inherited the genetic legacy of the Primarch Rogal Dorn, just as the Black Templars before them. Â
A cadre of veteran Primaris Space Marines, drawn from the ranks of the Unnumbered Sons, arrived to establish the Chapter, raise its fortress-monastery, and begin the sacred duty of defending the Imperium.
Though these warriors were seasoned veterans of the Indomitus Crusade, the Chapter itself possessed neither history nor tradition.
Recognising this, the High Marshal of the Black Templars bestowed upon the fledgling Chapter a number of veteran Firstborn brothers born upon Brettoncourt IV. These warriors served not as commanders, but as mentors, instructors and spiritual guides, ensuring that the customs of Rogal Dorn, the Black Templars and their shared home world took root from the Chapter's very first days.
The people of Brettoncourt regarded the arrival of the Chevaliers as the greatest honour their world had ever received. Where once their finest sons had dreamed of joining the Black Templars, they now aspired to fight for the Chapter that called their own world home.
Before long, the Chevaliers drew almost all of their recruits from Brettoncourt itself, each new generation carrying the customs, faith and knightly ideals of their world into the ranks of the Adeptus Astartes.
Among the planet's noble houses, the selection of a son for the Chapter's trials became the highest honour a family could receive. Entire generations were raised in the hope that one day a child might prove worthy of ascension into the ranks of the Emperor's Angels of Death.
Under the guidance of their Brettoncourt-born mentors, the Chevaliers forged a character unlike any other Chapter. They inherited the uncompromising zeal and martial discipline of the Black Templars, yet embraced the knightly traditions of their home world as the foundation of their own identity.
Though the destriers of Brettoncourt had long since been replaced by roaring engines and armoured bikes, the spirit of the cavalry charge endured. Massed outrider assaults, spearheaded by mounted officers and supported by heavily armed bike squadrons, became the Chapter's preferred method of war.
The age of cavalry had never truly ended.
It had merely traded horses for engines.
Heraldry
At first glance, the Chevaliers scarcely resemble a conventional Space Marine Chapter.
Where the Ultramarines march in disciplined ranks of blue, or the Dark Angels in sombre green, every warrior of the Chevaliers appears unique.
Quartered armour.
Chequers.
Stripes.
Heraldic beasts.
Towering helmet crests.
No two battle-brothers look exactly alike.
Unlike most Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, the Chevaliers have never abandoned their individual connections to their past family. To them, heraldry is far more than decoration. It is a visible testament to honour, lineage and the legacy of their world and forebears.
Every battle-brother bears the Chapter's badge upon his left shoulder guard: a shield divided equally between red and blue, displaying a golden fleur-de-lis.
Everything else is his own.
Those born to Brettoncourt's noble houses wear their ancestral heraldry from the very moment they don the Chapter's armour. Yet these ancient coats of arms rarely remain unchanged. Every great victory, every glorious campaign and every heroic deed may be commemorated by the addition of new charges, devices and honours, until the armour of an ancient veteran becomes a living chronicle of centuries spent in the Emperor's service.
Those of humble birth—and the original Primaris founders drawn from the Unnumbered Sons—begin their service wearing only the Chapter's original colours of red and blue. Such plain armour carries no shame. It simply signifies that its bearer has yet to earn a legacy worthy of remembrance. Only after distinguished service is a low born battle-brother granted the right to bear a personal coat of arms.
For a commoner, this honour is nothing less than ennoblement. His heraldry is bestowed upon his blood family, elevating them to noble status and granting future generations the right to bear his coat of arms in honour of the son they gave to the Chapter.Â
When news of such an honour reaches Brettoncourt IV, celebration spreads across the marine’s homeland. Villages feast, churches offer prayers of thanksgiving, and entire households rejoice as one of their own rises from common birth to stand among the great noble houses of the world. Few honours are held in higher esteem.
Among the Chevaliers, an old saying endures:
"By bolter and chainsword, it matters not the colour of your plate... only that it is stained with the blood of the Emperor's foes."
The Forest Vow
There is, however, one colour almost no warrior may wear. Green.
To the people of Brettoncourt, green belongs to the forests that sheltered humanity throughout the Age of Strife. According to ancient legend, an unseen guardian watched over those who sought refuge beneath the trees, protecting them from the darkness beyond.
Following Imperial Compliance, that guardian came to be understood as the Emperor Himself. As a result, green became sacred. Only the Chapter's Chaplains may bear it.
Upon taking the Forest Vow, a Chaplain abandons the heraldry of his birth forever, replacing it with the sacred green of Brettoncourt's ancient guardian.
CultureÂ
Despite their advanced wargear, the Chevaliers remain, at heart, knights.
Their customs, traditions and ceremonies all descend from the feudal culture of their home world, and even their methods of war reflect this heritage.
Rather than massed armoured assaults, the Chevaliers favour swift, decisive charges led by bike squadrons—echoes of the cavalry charges once ridden by their ancestors beneath Brettoncourt’s ancient banners.
The Chapter maintains a full armoury of tanks and transports, but these are regarded as practical necessities rather than instruments of glory.
Within the Chevaliers, true prestige belongs to those who fight from the saddle of a battle bike, or endure the interred eternity of a Dreadnought sarcophagus.
Even the Chapter’s Invictor Warsuits are treated as knightly reliquaries, often modified with towering shields and oversized blades inspired by the legends of Brettoncourt.
The influence of the Black Templars also remains deeply ingrained.
Librarians are regarded with caution within the Chapter, their psychic gifts seen as dangerous tools to be constrained rather than celebrated. Only one is permitted to move freely within the Chapter’s inner hierarchy.
The Chief Librarian, known as Brother Merlin, answers directly to the Chapter Master. He serves as advisor, oracle, and interpreter of the Emperor’s will as revealed through the warp, though he is seldom seen by the battle-brothers outside moments of dire significance.
Faith is valued above psychic might, and unwavering devotion to the Emperor is considered the greatest weapon a warrior can wield.
And wherever the Chevaliers wage war, their enemies soon learn that beneath the brightly coloured heraldry and noble pageantry beat the hearts of uncompromising crusaders.
They may appear as knights of old…
…but they are, above all else, the Emperor’s Angels of Death.
The Mini's
The most obvious conversion work will be the helmets, specifically the addition of the Brettonian head crests. For the first 3 models I cut away the back and bottom of a Bretonnian Knight helmet and removed the front and top of a Space Marine helmet. A little bit of green stuff was then used to join the two parts together.
I am also considering adding the head crests to a standard Mk3 Space Marine helmet if I can find any. Might just mix it up a little.
I also sculpted the Fleur-de-lis onto the left shoulder guards. If anyone wants to give it a go, I've added a tutorial on sculpting these to my YouTube channel here.
For the sergeant, I wanted a bare head but couldn't find any Bretonnian helmet-less heads in my bitz box. Instead I opted for the traditional knightly chainmail coif, sculpted over a Primaris shouty head.
All in all, i'm pretty happy with the conversions so far. Writing this after fully assembling the easy-build Marines, i'm thinking of adding embossed right shoulder guards to match the head dress of the helmet. Reinforcing the heraldry in any future builds. Might have to start scouting ebay for bitz.
For the undercoat, I have been totally converted to the Grey Primer team. No more Black undercoat for me I think. A grey undercoat works a lot better for an army which will end up red, blue, yellow and or black and white.
The painting technique itself takes inspiration from my non metallic gold, which at the time of typing there is a video tutorial here.
I've just changed up the colour palette and technique a little, one day I might even add another video to my YouTube channel.
Although this picture (above) was taken before the last two steps, it should give a preliminary idea as to the technique i'm aiming for.
As for the stages to the red armour, let me outline them below.
Base coat with Rhinox Hide and equal part Khorne Red,
Khorne Red layer,
Wash with Nuln Oil,
Khorne Red layer,
Khorne Red with larger quantity of Evil Sun Scarlet,
Evil Sunz Scarlet layer,
Evil Sunz Scarlet with a touch of Screaming Skull,
Same again but with equal parts Screaming Skull,
Tiny additions White Scar,
Carroburg Crimson wash
Technical Ardcoat thinned with some water.
Going to try painting some blue armour next which will follow a similar pattern of layers. I'll post the colours used once I've figured it out.
07th of June, 2020
So its day two and I've got the blue and red stages done. The stages are pretty much following the same as the red armour but i'll outline the process nevertheless;
Base coat with Regal Blue (this is an old paint of mine, not sure of the modern version),
Caledor Sky layer,
Wash with Nuln Oil,
Another Caledor Sky layer,
Caledor Sky with equal parts Teclis Blue,
Teclis Blue layer,
Teclis Blue with equal parts Screaming Skull,
One part Teclis Blue with two parts Screaming Skull,
Tiny highlights with White Scar.
Wash with Gulliman Glaze,
Technical Ardcoat thinned with some water.
Up next is the yellow stage, although i'm less certain on the various colours i'll need for this...
We'll see how it goes tonight.
20th of June, 2020
I wasn't really happy with the yellow stage. Not sure it came out as well as the blue and red, however yellow is always one of the harder colours to get right.
I started off with a base coat of 3 parts Skrag Brown and 1 part Averland Sunset.
This was followed by a wash of Nuln Oil. If i'm honest i'll avoid this stage next time, as it was only added as I had done the same with the blue and red layers.
Up next was a wash of Agrax Earthshade to bring it back to a brown tint.
Then came the usual staged layers listed below;
1 part Skrag and 1 part Averland Sunset
Averland Sunset
1 part Averland and 1 part Yriel Yellow
Yriel Yellow
1 part Yriel Yellow and 1 part Screaming Skull
Very edges painted with White Scar
A wash of Lamenters Yellow
'Ard coat Varnish thinned down a little.
For the rest of the techniques;
I painted the silver using mostly Greys and Whites with a bit of Rune Fang steel.
The Gold was based with Rhinox Hide mixing all the way into Gehanna's Gold, into Auric Armour and finally adding Screaming Skull. This was then washed with Lamenters Yellow and then Agrax Earthshade. I would have used my Non met gold technique but it relies to heavily on yellows and wouldn't work on with chapters paint scheme.
The leather pouches mixed Rhinox hide into magenta with a final wash of Agrax.
As for the sword, it was mostly trial and error. Using Hexwraith Flame and a Glow in the dark/day glo paint to lighten it up.
Any way, here are the finished models. I went with a Goblin Green and glassland base to pay homage to the Brettonians who have been nerfed :(
Think i'm going to be working on some spare helmets now. Get them all ready in time for the new Primaris Bikers which may or may not have lances in this army ;)
7th of July, 2020
So over the last couple of weeks I've been sculpting and converting some extra helmets and shoulder pads. Just so i'm ready when the new 9th ed mini's come out. Would have made a few more by now if it wasn't for accidentally sticking the hobby knife into my finger early on.
Here's looking at you helmet with the boar on top...
Above are a few I've done so far. I've also manged to get hold of some of the original Bretonnian plastic helmets too, just to mix it up a little. Not only that but I've sourced enough bits on ebay to keep me going for a while.
As for what's next, I've just bought some Hellblasters. I hadn't initially aimed on including any as I wanted to wait for the new outriders, but i'm getting impatient with all these converted bits laying about. I've also started work on another trio of marines;
Hopefully, once painted the little epic scale marine on the guys arm will look like a hologram.
13th of July 2020
So unfortunately we begin the week missing out on the new 40k 9th ed box set. Which is a shame as I really wanted some bikers and close combat guys for this army. Will just have to wait for them to come out separately. For my part, I was completely unaware this new Indomitus set was going to sell out so soon after pre-release. I checked the site at noon, finding out they had all gone a few minutes after 10am...
Anyway, I've got more than enough to keep me busy for the time being. Over the weekend I've finished building some Hellblasters and my Primaris Redemptor Dreadnought. I'm not convinced the Dread is done, looks too plain and can't quite figure out the best way to fill that huge base, wheat field perhaps?
As for the Dreadnought, I raided the bitz box to find something that would work for its heraldry. In the end I settled for a cow from the old plastic giant set, cutting the head off and green stuffing the rest completed the top mascot.
The crest on the right arm was also green stuffed together, matching my own family heraldry too, with the shield on the front being an old bull crest part I sculpted and cast up ages ago.
I'm planning on painting the
filigree to parts of the armour but we'll see how that goes.
I think it needs more trinkets and seals flowing from it...
Lastly I've started painting the three marines I started on the 7th, adding black and white to the range of colours the army will use.
19th of July, 2020
So I've been making significant progress with the trio of Marines i'm painting at the moment, but i'll share the photos once they're done I reckon.
This week has seen some more conversion work including some small additions to the Dreadnought, but more importantly the addition of a Chaplain. Something I picked up in the Worcester GW after a work trip.
Now before we get to the photos, I wanted to explain my idea to make the Chaplain stand out and add a little more character to the army. I was worried that the black armour of the Chaplain wouldn't stand out in an army that uses black intermittently with the various colour schemes.
Green however was a colour not used. As just like the Brettonians I was focusing on reds, blues, yellows, white and black. So thought i'd make the Chaplains of this chapter disciples of the fabled Green Knight. I think the concept works, the Green Knight is said to be blessed by the Lady of the Lake and represents the purity of the Brettonian religion (if you can use such a word in this example). And of course the Chaplains uphold faith in the Emperor across the chapter and should be the purest of all the marines.
The solitary green figure in the army would also make the Chaplain noticeable on the table top.
The first thing to convert up was the helmet. The Green Knight of course having a large feather on his helmet instead of the typical mascots other knights sport. For this I used a Knight of the Empire helmet with a suitable large feather, some green stuff to neaten the back of the helmet up was also an addition.
The top of the Crozius Arcanum was also swapped out. Luckily I still had some Blood Angel Sanguinary Guard bits kicking about. The banner topper with the little goblet was a good fit in my estimation, makes it look like he's quested for the Grail at some point in his career.
In fact I still have quite a few Blood Angel bits with goblets on them, shoulder guards and the like. The veterans of this army can now be Grail Knights. However all the old Grail Knights are white metal and the heads are attached to the bodies. Aside from being expensive to collect, I hate cutting up perfectly usable bits when all I really need are the head crests, especially now Brettonians are OOP.
Instead i've tracked down some 1.24th and 1.48th scale dollshouse goblets and cups. These can be stuck to the top of the helmets and with a bit of green stuff, boom! I've got some Grail Knight helmet mascots.
Lastly, and probably the luckiest find in the bitz box was an unused Green Knight shield. This replaces the book that would be hanging on his hip and will further complete the concept once painted.
Some eagle eyed amongst you might have noticed I've still not stuck a small trinket to the front of the Chaplains tabard. I want to hold out for a tiny Fleur-de-lis or something to add there.
The model isn't completely glued together just yet, it's going to be a very intricate paint job so I want to make my life easier when I finally get round to painting this guy.
Anyway, that's it for now.
23rd of July 2020
Mainly just a photo update this time as i've finished the 2nd trio of marines. I'm also pretty happy with how the hologram turned out too!
And lastly, the squad is taking shape;
I can't say i'll drill into this much detail for every marine moving forward, but for now I hope you like the individual images.
30th of August 2020
So there's been a bit of a delay finishing my unit of Hellblasters on account of moving house, but i'm pleased to say they're done now.
If anyone is interested in how I painted the plasma coils, i've included my process below;
* Base layer of white followed by a watered down Baharroth blue.
* Then in the corners of the coils, add some Guilliman glaze.
* Once dry, add some darker Drakenhof Nightshade in the far corners and also run a small amount of this along the bottom of the coil.
* Paint some white lines on the top middle of the coil. I then followed up with another wash of Baharroth Blue towards the middle.
* I repeated this last step again to brighten it up.
The Plasma Blasts!
So many years ago I add some plasma blasts from the end of my Vostroyan Plasma Rifles, by heating and twisting the old Necron green sprue.
This time I ordered some 3.2mm clear perspex rods. The one I ended up using was blue, but only just.
Now this isn't an easy process to get a plasma blast I was happy with but i'll try and record the rough process below;
* Using some milliput, I pushed the rounded end of a paint brush into it and let it set. This will allow me to round off the end of the plasma blast in the next step.
* A tea light candle was used for a constant source of heat. I started by holding the end of the perspex just above it and then pressing it into the paint brush mould I made earlier.
* Carefully holding the rod back over the heat until bubbles started to appear, I would take it away and let these bubbles expand. Dipping it in water if I needed to. This was the difficult part, getting it hot enough before it caught fire. You can just about twist it too as soon as it comes out the water if you're fast enough.
* Drill out the barrel of the rifle and stick the cooled plasma blast in once the model is completely finished.
As I said, it's not particularly easy to get a shape you're happy with. Of the 25cm of rod I started with, only two blasts ended up like I imagined.
At any rate I was pretty happy with the out come. In the examples below I added a small wash of Baharroth blue to the end stuck into the rifle and a small amount of Guilliman glaze the other end. Gloss varnish was also used to finish the whole blast off.
Up next is my Dreadnought. This morning I started work on the custom base by cutting up some wooden lolly sticks. I'm aiming for it crashing through a field of wheat, in keeping with them fighting on a world similar to the Brettonian kingdom.
Well that's it for today but i'm looking forward to start getting paint on this guy.
11th of September 2020
With each new unit in this army so far, I've tried something new. From the style of shading, Hologram and Plasma blasts to my new Dreadnought's base. This army has been a real learning curve.
The Redemptor Dreadnought was pretty fun to finish off all things considered. The new Primaris Dreadnought bases are far bigger than the old versions, which leaves you with enough space for story telling. I'm also not a fan of such large bases remaining plain, presumably there is some battlefield debris nearby if you don't want everything heroically standing on a rock.
As you would have seen from the last entry, this Dreadnought is "helping" protect a peasant farmers field and I like the juxtaposition between massive robot and medieval farmstead.
For the wheat, I grabbed some tall grass (with seeds) and coated them with a bit of super glue and once dry, Agrax Earthshade. For each stalk, a hole was drilled in the base (after it was painted and completed) and super glued in place. I also very carefully super glued each piece of grass to a neighbour or fence for stability. They're still super fragile but the end effect is worth it.
Lastly as a bit of a reminder if you haven't read the above, the heraldry has been based on my own family crest. Need to get some name plates for this army eventually.
As for what's next, I still need to paint "The Green Knight" and I picked up an Elite starter set so need to build the melee guys, bikers and captain.
06th of October 2020
Just a little update tonight, as I finished the Chaplain (or Green Knight) last weekend. As the model is a character piece, I spent a little more time on the free hand work and painted his cloak to match the fabled fantasy model.
This wasn't as difficult to do as I had worried. However I did paint one side of the cloak with much larger fleur-de-lis than the other, which resulted in me repainting the whole side again...
As of tonight, my first unit of Outriders have also been finished. I should have some photos of them by the weekend. Really happy how these guys have turned out...
08th of October 2020
So I've finally found a day I can take a lunch break, to photo my new outriders in the daylight. Really happy with these three and I'm looking forward to adding more.
I used weathering powders for the dirt on these bikes in case anyone was interested. If you're new to weathering powders I have a video explaining the basics here.
For the Cavalier (or sergeant) I even added a sign post to the world that was. I'm saying that as the Bretonnians didn't come back in AOS, their kingdom was transported into the 41st millennium.
For the rampant lion knight, I decorated the base in a tribute to a former version of themselves. With horse skull, broken spear and smaller shield.
Lastly the hart knight had free hand diamonds painted one side only. That's the benefit of these models, I don't have to be uniform and paint it the other side. I've also taken inspiration from a local castle ruin for the base, having the knight crash over the remains of a stone wall.
As I said, I'd love to have more bikers but finding shields that match up with head crests can be a pain. Oh that and finding the lances, this is where ebay comes in handy.
Here's a little sneak peak on what's next in the paint queue;
23rd of October 2020
Almost finished my Elite box with the completion of the close combat Primaris marines.
Although next up is the Captain, you know the one with the massive shield with a dead guy on it. This last figure is going to take a while as I really don't like the skeleton stuck to a shield. Currently I'm sculpting an alternative using (and I hate to admit) a Stormcast shield.
I'll post some green stuff images once I'm done, but for now here are the recent finished models;
1st of November 2020
A sculpting update this time and edging closer to finishing the bulk of this army.
The Primaris captain with the large Relic Shield is great and all, especially for what is effectively a starter set/easy build mini. But that shield... to me it looks ridiculous with that skeleton on the front.
I had tried thinking of ways of removing it, but too much of the skeleton is moulded to the shield. Not sure how much damage I could avoid inflicting to the shield if I tried to file it away.
Then I started scouting the internet for an alternative shield, preferably with a fleur-de-lis. I think I only found one which would have to be ordered from America. Unfortunately I wanted to keep the at-ease pose the model was in, half resting against the top of the shield.
In the end I settled for the easy option of sculpting on top of a Stormcast shield and the iron halo I didn't use from the Chaplain model.
Pretty happy with the end result;
I would say he's getting painted right away but I have a new squad of Vostroyans next up in the paint queue.
16th of November 2020
Finally the army has a leader and it's almost done. Just waiting on the Blade Guard to be released so I can finish a unit of Grail Knights.
Although I will be using the same Stormcast shields for my Blade Guard, I wont be sculpting so much detail on them. Will need to start sculpting these motifs soon I reckon, maybe some simple grails or fluer-de-lis. As much as it pains me to say it, they have a more Bretonnian shape to them than the 40k equivalent and are roughly the right size.
Now that the captain/prince/king is painted, a couple of the smaller details are more evident. Like the holy hand grenade on his belt, crowned helmet or the Stormcast helmet on his base. The Stormcast head is a little nod to Age of Sigmar being responsible for the destruction of Bretonnia and that in this retelling of the Bretonnian story, they've got their own back.
"It doesn't matter how golden they are, if they use magic like a heretic, they're a heretic..."
- Chapter master musing on the shoot first, ask questions latter policy implemented during the conquering of the Azyr IX system.
The white armour was also painted differently to the others in the army. I wanted him to stand out a little more than the other white models. This was achieved by simply changing the base colour from grey to a very light blue.
Roughly the white technique was;
Grey primer followed by a base layer of 2 part White Scar and 1 part Baharroth Blue
Nuln oil wash
Same paint mix from the first step. This time not painting over any of the recessed black lines.
The several thin layers of white paint, working outwards from the areas I still wanted partly blue. I think in the end I finished about 5 white layers. I cannot stress how important it is to thin white paint, so easy for it to dry with brush marks.
Finally a layer of gloss varnish was applied.
07th of January 2021
So not an update on the 28mm army, but an update on the Chevaliers nevertheless. I've finished converting and painting the first of the 7 inch McFarlane Marine. You can read up about the entire process here!
13th of February
The paint queue just got reinforcements.
Not added an update to this blog in a while, but that's not because I wasn't doing anything with this army. No, I've been busy ordering bits a pieces to complete the last couple of ideas I've got for this collection.
First up is some new converted (or kit-bashed, which seems to be the go to phrase currently) minis for the squads already finished above. I wanted to have a marine in the army visibly carrying a holy hand grenade and I also ended up converting two old Black Templar torsos to fit the Primaris legs I had spare. If anyone would also like to convert up some old marine torsos, I've added a sculpting tutorial to my YouTube here.
The other marine with the plasma pistol will be the sergeant for my Helblasters.
Next up is the Mario-Kart-Proxy, or as it should have been known "the Primaris Attack Bike". These kits are from Dark Age Design, if you're in the UK you can order them directly from his Facebook page. For the rest of the world, Spikey Bits are acting as a distributor.
It's worth noting, nothing is really glued together at this stage. No, I learnt my lesson painting the first Outriders. Better to piece them together once each part is finished than try and get my paint brush in areas it can't reach.
The sergeant model is a simple enough conversion, what with his left hand on the throttle, the right hand lance isn't battling with the sidecar.
Unfortunately the other two Outriders are modelled with their left arm for combat. So rather than having the second model in mid charge, he's positioned to wave the bikers to a halt. The lance can also be found resting in a cradle on the side of the bike.
As for the marines in the side car, I decided to make them Knights Errant. This was mainly down to not wanting to paint the sidecars in a different heraldry to the bike. So my aim is to have the whole bike matching the rider, and the passenger painted in the standard chapter colours of half red, half blue. These Knights Errant haven't won their heraldry yet or something. Neither have a helmet mascot because of this and one even has the orle and flowing Bretonnian hair like a fantasy Errant Knight.
I didn't end up using the bodies supplied with the sidecar kits, I preferred a more official torso to help the model gel with the rest of the army. This is why I had spare Primaris legs mentioned above.
Lastly in the paint queue are the long overdue Grail Knights, or Bladeguard.
I had been saving bits and pieces to convert these guys up for months now, eagerly awaiting the release of the multipart models. One of the most difficult things about making these models, was picking only 3 positions out of the many cool poses the kit offers.
The shoulder pads come from the Sanguinary Guard set, and the helmet mascots rely on 1.48th scale dollshouse goblets.
Each shield has been made from a Sigmarmarine piece with the heretical logo sanded away. I also converted grails and other parts from the bitsbox to match the helmet mascot.
As for the last Grail Knight, I didn't want the unused shield stuck to the backpack like the kit suggests. Not sure they can put them there or equip them from the back without the help of their brothers.
Instead, I converted a cherub servitor to hold it as he cleans his blade.
Just need to start work on the bases now before taking them to the spray booth.
12th of March 2021
Today's update feels like a milestone, as it was several months ago I spotted Dark Age designs Primaris sidecars and thought "I need Bretonnian attack bikes".
Now they're finally done. I've officially moved to an ice blue undercoat for the white rather than a light grey. This is something I knew about years ago but for some reason I picked up the grey for the first few white minis in this army.
The Knights Errant passengers have both been painted in the chapters red and blue colours and maybe one day they'll earn their heraldry and colours.
4th of April 2021
So the Grail Knights are done, or Bladeguards to use their official name. I have to say this far into painting this army, using different colours on each marine does wonders for "painting enthusiasm". Not even remotely bored of painting models yet, which I know I wouldn't be able to say if the whole army was Ultramarines blue...
I tried a new technique for the yellow armour which I think is my best to date. EDIT, here's the YouTube tutorial on my yellow armour.
I also think I'm going to start taking suggestions on the names for these figures and order some embossed name plates for them. Someone on a Facebook page said the one with antlers above should be a Baratheon which is why he was painted yellow in the end.
So if anyone has any (serious) suggestions, just pop them in the comment box below and let me know which figure you're referring to.
I painted the scrap of cloth as a Stormcast tabard. After all, these golden heretics not only wield the powers of the warp but represent the end of the Old World. I'd like to see a Sigmarine parry a bolter round, filthy casual.
28th of April 2021
So with the addition of these two extra marines, I now have 3 squads of 6. I've also uploaded videos on how I converted the torsos, a tutorial on sculpting Fleur-de-lys and 4 videos on painting the different colours of armour.
If anyone would like to watch this videos, I've linked them below via their thumbnails.
I've also picked up the remaining (missing from the collection) 1st edition Bretonnian helmet mascots. So I have the flexibility to add more marines once I settle on any new ideas.
22nd of May 2021
So if you have been following my other blog on the complete build of this diorama (linked above), you would know I've been building a model based on an old piece of WFB artwork. Happy to report it's all done now. Here are some images but do check out the other blog for far more close ups!
Think he'll count as my Outrider Chaplain.
19th of June 2021
So it's officially been over a year since I started this army now and I've got one more model to add to it. This isn't to say I'm now done with the army, but I am running out of ideas at the moment.
We've had the Green Knight, so next up is the Black Knight. This idea came to me after a facebook comment on one of the models above. Someone asked, "where's the Black Knight?", no doubt due to all the Knights of Ni references in the comment section. It got me thinking, if the fabled Black Knight was a Marine, he would be a dreadnought by now.
First up however was planning the conversion. I wanted this dreadnought to be armed with a sword and not a power fist, it's more fitting after all. I luckily found a Nemesis Dreadknight sword on ebay, although it wasn't packaged correctly and almost snapped in the post. Ultimately as annoying as that was, I was planning on filling in the inquisitorial hole in the blade anyway.
The main issue with arming the dreadnought with a sword, was the fact the Dreadknight sword is right handed and the standard kit has the close combat arm on the left. If anyone is trying this themselves, the projectile weapon can be swapped to the other side without any conversion work. That isn't the case for the melee arm and you'll have to contend with repositioning the flamer or small assault cannon to the wrong side of the arm. The fingers and thumb was also cut away and some random bits added.
As for the rest of the model, the Black Knight's Boar heraldry was sculpted to the right shoulder guard and the Chapters Fluer-de-lis to the left. As well as a scroll added to the right chest plate. Any guesses to the phrase that will end up here? Then on the left side of the chest plate, I converted up a tribute to the warrior before he was entombed in the dreadnoughts sarcophagus.
Last up was the base. I wanted to copy the terrain from the film which included the small foot bridge John Cleese was guarding. That meant raising the height of the base a little and I used a centimetre thick cork title to do this with some milliput. The bridge was built from lolly pop sticks and sprue and sanded smooth to the same curvature of the base. As for the base litter, I added in the remains of the green knight he was fighting in the film before Arthur, King of the Britons arrived. Complete with two handed axe, flail and sword through a helmet.
I'll start the paint work this afternoon, but in the meantime here the pre paint pictures;
Time to get the grey primer out...
8th of July 2021
Genuinely not got a lot of hobby done these last few weeks as I caught Covid. It wasn't that bad but did leave me feeling very tired almost all of the time. Still, the Black Knight was finished in the end.
I've enjoyed painting all the little Easter eggs and nods to the character in the Monty Python film. If you would like a recap on all of them, read the entry above this one.
The black armour on a model this size was a bit of a pain. In the end I used my black armour technique and then layered Black Ink over the larger panels, avoiding the edges which had the highlights.
The sword technique was effectively my usual method, just this time I used a base coat of Kabalite Green instead of black and Guass Blaster Green instead of grey. As for the plasma coils, it was lots of white washes over a blue base and finally a dry brush of a darker blue right at the top. Hopefully I'll create a video on this at some point.
So that's it for the Chevaliers now. Out of ideas. This isn't to say I won't return to the army but for now I think I'm going to spend some time working on new Lizardman units.
If you're interested in seeing more of this army, do check back on my YouTube Channel. I've been asked to create a video blog on this army which should be uploaded to it soon enough.
3rd of August 2021
Short update today, I've recorded a video blog on this army and the work done so far. It's not perfect but the closeups are in focus at least.
28th of October, 2024
These guys have collected dust on the display shelve for a very long time. However I recently got round to finishing off a new model for them, a light up Emperor's Champion.
Now the first challenge was hollowing out the limbs and helmet. The limbs were easy in comparison, as it was just drilled out. The helmet however, well I had to drill the eyes out then repair the shape of the eye lens with greenstuff.
For those who want to try this themselves, I get all my electrical components from Zinge Industries.
Lastly for the conversion was an heraldic shoulder-pad, which is almost completely covered up in the finished model...
But here he is all finished. To defuse the light of the LED, I pushed a very small amount of silicone adhesive into the middle of the helmet, then pushed it over the LED. This is nerve wracking as by this point everything was painted. Too much silicone and it would have squirted out the helmet and would have been a nightmare to clean off. Luckily I got it close enough first time.
