Organizing thoughts for epic Grey Knights post

I'm blog fading and I know it. Lots of things to do, little time, a new lady. all that means that posting rate is going to drop. It is not intentional. It is not you TMM Blog. It is me. It is my fault.

In my posting silence, I have been formulating how I want to write about the Grey Knights. Up until now, I have only written about single models or specific units. I have not tackled something as big as a whole army. I'll admit, I have bit off more than I can chew in this regard, but you know what they say about how to eat an elephant?

Start one bite at a time.

Ok so, no one says that, but I just did. Consider yourself coined Mr Phrase.

My plan for detailing the GK is to chop them up into manageable bites. I want to start with an overview to talk about the origin, history, basic structure and current mission. After that I want to talk about parts of the GK history and structure while at the same time detailing specific units. I want to go through the army and Codex on the same progression as an aspirant would from Initiate to Grand Master. Weird I know. This is getting complicated. Time to make a list.

1. Overview - origin, history, basic organization,
2. Strike Squads and Intercept Squads - aspirant selection, training
3. Purgation Squads - Weaponry
4. Purifier squads - Wargear
5. Terminator/Paladins - What's the difference?
6. Champion/Crowe
7. Brother Captain/Grand Master
8. Special characters

This is just a preliminary list. Reality is likely not to resemble this at all, but it is a start. Now to write that damn overview. To do that I'll have to read the 40k Wiki and Lexicanium as well as the codex. that is a lot of reading and mental digesting. I hope to get it done over the coming long weekend.


Links:
http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Grey_Knights
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Grey_Knights

Just finished Fulgrim

Over last weekend I finished Fulgrim and just have to write about it. The book is the 5th book in the Horus Heresy series and is written by the Scottish wonder Graham McNeil. It contains many different plots that tackle the evolution (or devolution) of The III Legion into Chaos Marines in the service of Slaanesh. There is the slow (very slow at times) twisting of the ideals of The Emperor's Children Legion (III) from seeking perfection to excess. Lucius's arrogance and price turns him in a corrupted reflection of himself. Fabius Bile begins modifying Space Marine's biological implants to make them more perfect. There is also the corruption of the Legion played out in the Remembrancers art work which culminates in Bequa Kynska's (with the light blue hair) Maraviglia performance.

Fulgrim and Ferrus in their final battle.

I liked the book but then again Graham could write the phone book and I would be enraptured. There were times when him A and C plots would go faster than his B plot and things would appear to stall out. For example, he frequently revisits the Remembrancers and their interactions with the Marines of the Legion. There were parts when the narrative flashes to one of the artists and they register horror at the excess that the Legions seems to be slipping into. then 50 pages later, he does it again. I get what he was trying to do but it moved a little slow at times.

One of my favorite parts was the brotherhood that Fulgrim had with Ferrus Manus his brother Primarch. It was just as touching to see the depth of their friendship as it was heartbreaking to see Fulgrim's betrayal.I would have liked to see more of this and earlier on in the book. Perhaps Ferrus and Fulgrim fighting a common foe in the first few chapters.

I really enjoyed seeing the events of Isstvan III from a slightly different perspective. In one of the other books (It might have been Galaxy in Flames), you saw the battle and betrayal from the perspective of the Death Guard Legion. In Fulgrim, you see it from the side of the betrayed Emperor's Children. Lucius' betrayal was also really well done and worthy of a movie. Visceral.

I would have liked to see more from the destruction of the Salamanders, Raven Guard and Iron hands on Isstvan V, but I don't know how that could have been possible without getting boring. I want to see and feel more of the horror and betrayal when the Traitor Legions turn on their brothers. I am sure that this pivotal moment in the Heresy will be revisited in the future.


Next up is Descent of Angels in the Horus Heresy series and, judging by the title, we are going to see some action from the two-faced Dark Angels. I can't wait to start it but I promised myself that I would intersperse 40k reading with other reading. I have picked out Death from the Skies by the Bad Astronomer Phil Plait. It should be light and fun reading and I should be off the 40k reading wagon in a few weeks.

Lots of TMM finished

Now I have to post about them.

On the table now - Crowe, GK, 1k Sons and Warsmith

"Grey" Knights are finished except for shoulderpads and backpacks. They turned out so good, I went out and got another box of them.

Also did some work on the Warsmith and got his backpack done.

Finished some firing effects for the already complete 1k Sons.

Currently working on some Death Cult Assassins et al

Officio Assassinorum

It seems that the only thing that I do slower than painting lately is post. I made a phone post , but that is only good for half credit. You deserve an actual epic post, and that is just what you are going to get.

They call him "Smiles" and he just wants to hug you.

Background
The founding of the Officio Assassinorum dates back to time of the Great Crusade before the events of the Horus Heresy. The person primarily responsible for this fun group of girls and boys is none other than Malcador the Sigillite (from the makes of Grey Knights, saving the Emperor, and probably a bunch of other awesome stuff). He gathered the leaders of the six Director Primus's of the Assassin Clades to hunt down the enemies of the Emperor. The Officio Assassinorum works closely with the Inquisition (with the branch Ordo Sicarius charged with watching the assassins) but is a separate entity.

On The Table Now - "Grey" Knights

Computer is down but I wanted to make a test e-mail post. This is my GK Sargent and his boys. They are the new plastic kit and they are amazing. Real post about them to follow.