# The Lucidus Sector - Brother Cato's ongoing 40K Project



## Brother Cato (Jul 26, 2014)

*Project Backstory*

It started out as a simple idea - use 1D4Chan's Space Marine Chapter Creation tables to create a Space Marine Chapter. Ten attempts were taken, and of these it was decided that the most interesting and appealing of these was a Cursed Founding Imperial Fists chapter. As the new codex rolled on, ideas formed and fluff rolled in...

...And then the new Space Marine codex hit last year, and after being hindered more than helped by the Chapter Tactics system, the Blazing Paladins Chapter ended up being mothballed, and their pieces were traded in.

Roughly a year later, I was struggling for good project ideas. So I got to talking with one of the staff members of my FLGS. It went a little something like this -

"I dunno, I'm struggling for things to do right now. I had thought about the Militarium Tempestus, but their fluff was so grimderp I had to mothball that idea too."

*Staff Member nods head*

"I had thought about the Ork release, but I'd probably just be bandwagoning. A shame too, I had some good ideas too."

"Like?"

"Well, I had thought about using the MT book to fill out my Primary Detachment compulsories - something quick and cheap and inexpensive. Then I get some Grey Knight Allies and - what do you recommend, the Inquisitors from the Grey Knights book or the Digital Codex?"

"Digital Codex."

"So an extra Inquisitor attachment and then a Knight to top it all off."

"You should go for it."

"I should?"

"Yeah, you should totally go for it. It sounds like a fun, fluffy army."

So after a bit more talking, I went for it and have spent the past couple of months working on that. While I was working on that however, the Idea expanded to create my own little private corner of the Imperium. This resulted in revisiting the Lucidus sector, and expanding on it greatly. What started off as a throwaway name for an Imperial World expanded into a more fleshed out Sector, with all the Armies linked in some manner to one another, be they Imperial Forces that dwell in the area, or one of it's many enemies - from infamous raiders to other ne'er-do-wells that attack the sector from time to time.

So with the backstory out the way, let's begin with a little Fluff.

*Sector Worlds*

There are (so far) four primary planets in the Sector. This does not count Moons or other spacebound items.

*Lucidus Prime* is a heavily urbanised Hive World, and commonly marked as the System's capital. It is home to some 20 Billion souls, and like most Hive Worlds the conditions are rather cramped and hostile.

The regiments of Imperial Guard raised on Lucidus Prime are famous across the sector for it's homeworld spending vast amounts to import the best equipment it can get it's hands on - often from great reaches across the Imperium. This has resulted in a surprisingly advanced regiment that attempts to use it's technological advantage against their opponents. However, their dependence on their expensive equipment is often their downfall - they are typically slow to train and be equipped by the standards of the Imperial Guard, and have come to rely less upon weighing their opponents down with numbers.

*Lucidus II* is a Feudal Jungle World, considered a backwater planet in a backwater sector. It's noble houses constantly battle among each other, be it politically or martially. However, it is also the Homeworld of the Blazing Paladins Chapter of Space Marines - a rather exotic bunch who model themselves on the customs of the locals, and often step in when a conflict threatens to spiral dangerously out of control.

*Lucidus III* is the closest planet to the central Sun in the sector, and as such is a barren desert waste. However, Lucidus III is the holiest planet in the Sector, as it has overtime been converted into a Shrine World - and later, would take on it's own coven of Sisters of Battle to protect it from the threats within the System.

*Lucidus IV* by contrast is on the furthest edge of the system. Officially, the planet is uncolonised, and barely registers of interest to everyone else due to it being a resourceless barren ball of ice. Unofficially, there is an Inquisitorial Outpost on Lucidus IV - it's remote location and lack of prying eyes making it ideal to set up a forward post there. It also serves as the headquarters for the private army of the now deceased Inquisitor Tiberius Cato. His successor - Artemis Cato - keeps up the tradition of a privately funded army in memory of his predecessor.

*A word OOC* - No, neither Cato is not an Author Avatar and was not intended to be one.

But you guys want to see some actual WIP right? I've attached a few Images below of the first army, Lucidus IV. I've got more in their own little gallery. The actual army is roughly 80% done - the army really needs a Dreadknight and a Stormraven to finish it off, and I'm trying to earn in the cash so that the Stormtroopers can get commission painted (because if I painted them, the job would be phenomenally terrible. I have a phobia of painting such small models clustered with that much detail).

The rest of the pictures are in their own personal album here on Heresy - contains the Stormtrooper WIP's and GK Librarian.


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## scscofield (May 23, 2011)

I say paint them yourself, the more you paint, the better you get. I constantly paint things then toss them into a stripping tub. I find things that annoy me about the model. Thing is, each time it is better.


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## Brother Cato (Jul 26, 2014)

scscofield said:


> I say paint them yourself, the more you paint, the better you get. I constantly paint things then toss them into a stripping tub. I find things that annoy me about the model. Thing is, each time it is better.


Eh, true. Though on the upside, I am doing about 80% of the paintwork here.

Incidentally on an unrelated note, been looking to follow the trend of Dreadknight conversions, but I'm not 100% sure what to replace the body with. A regular NoughtKnight usually implies the Pilot is dead (because coffin), while a Defiler turret is wholly incompatible because of the arm plugs - they're two different sizes, so one of them is going to be either too large or too small for the arms.


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## Iraqiel (May 21, 2008)

Hey mate, enjoyed reading the fluff - just note that Inq. Cato is probably honouring his predecessor not his successor...

The Storm Scions models are really easy to paint (unexpectedly) and honestly are no harder than my Grey Knights were. You can see them on my project log, along with a possible naughtknight conversion if you dig deep enough. 

Otherwise, have you considered pillaging and 'imperialising' a riptide or wraithknight to make up your dreadknight? I know that generally the Imperium isn't noted for looting, but I think a wraithknight swathed in dark angels-esque robes and with totemic grey knight insignia could be awesome. So awesome, in fact, that I'm strongly considering this myself...


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## Brother Cato (Jul 26, 2014)

Iraqiel said:


> Hey mate, enjoyed reading the fluff - just note that Inq. Cato is probably honouring his predecessor not his successor...


Whoops. I'll fix that when I get a free moment... X3



Iraqiel said:


> The Storm Scions models are really easy to paint (unexpectedly) and honestly are no harder than my Grey Knights were. You can see them on my project log, along with a possible naughtknight conversion if you dig deep enough.


I'll be sure to give it a digthough.

My problem with the new Stormtroopers (as I think I explained) is the detail. I don't exactly have great control over the brush when I'm painting (if any), so it's going to result in a lot of the colours getting muddy and blurring over. Especially since Paint Splatters advice was to "put all the basecoats on first", which normally you don't do because of aforementioned paint smudging.



Iraqiel said:


> Otherwise, have you considered pillaging and 'imperialising' a riptide or wraithknight to make up your dreadknight? I know that generally the Imperium isn't noted for looting, but I think a wraithknight swathed in dark angels-esque robes and with totemic grey knight insignia could be awesome. So awesome, in fact, that I'm strongly considering this myself...


I thought about this, though wouldn't the body be a bit big and top heavy? I mean the Wraithknight is one of GW's biggest plastic kits at nine inches tall when assembled, and the Riptide isn't too far behind.

You'd also probably (again, guesswork) need a lot of green stuff, a file and Plasticard. Green Stuff and a File I can get. Plasticard however is a lot harder to find.

Also, the conversion you used in your example? Something like that already exists -


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## Iraqiel (May 21, 2008)

Well... that certainly looks epic.


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## Brother Cato (Jul 26, 2014)

Iraqiel said:


> Well... that certainly looks epic.


Yeah. Too bad it's not mine X3

That said, I did take a look at your Stormtroopers. I compare with the stuff I paint and weep X3


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## SwedeMarine (Jun 3, 2013)

Nice to see the work already done and its farily obvious youre passionate about this so heres my recommendation. Do the work yourself! I know its intimidating at first but its actually very simple. accept that there will be mistakes and that you will learn from them and that you will grow. Paying somebody to paint what you want may end up wit you not happy at all about the end result. its your vision and your drea. I believe its up to you to see it through.


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## Brother Cato (Jul 26, 2014)

*Behold the horrors of the warp*

You wanna see something scary?

THIS is what happens when I decide it would be a good idea painting a model. Spent a solid 2-3 Hours painting the Inquisitor and yet, well...this is going to go on 1D4Chan's THIN YOUR PAINTS page, despite the fact that paints were thinned, isn't it? This is why I detest painting. Cute fact - this hasn't changed pretty much at all during my life. One's a terrible sub-par painter always a terrible sub-par painter I guess.

The kicker? This is the GOOD ANGLE. You really don't want to see my disastrous attempts at Freehand, or too close and personal on the eyes (which BTW, was a glaze of Bloodletter. I tried taking a cue from my Grey Knight Terminators, and it backfired spectacularly).

And now, Fluff. While I'm still somewhat coherent this morning.

*Inquisitor Artemis Cato*​
*Wargear*


Power Armor
Combi-Melta
Psybolt Ammunition
X3 Servo Skulls
Frag, Krak and Psyk-Out Grenades
Empryean Brain Mines
Psyker (Mastery Level 1)
Grimore of True Names
Anointed Blade (treated as a Demonblade ingame)

*Background*

Inquisitor Tiberius Cato was an Inquisitor dogged with bad luck. While having lived for hundreds of years thanks to Juvant Drugs and other forms of Age Reduction therapy, he had never been allowed to reach the rank of Lord Inquisitor. While a Puritan of unyielding faith with a success record as mighty as one would expect from someone such as him was countered by the fact that every Acolyte he had ever been given (or taken under his wing) had died - often in gruesome or horrific circumstances. Eventually, the Inquisition decided that it had had enough of Tiberius's antics, and barred him from taking any new Acolytes. Worse, he had recently been informed that the rejuvenation treatments that were sustaining him were beginning to fail. More than anything, Tiberius wanted a successor.

So you can imagine his surprise then when his ship intercepted a distress beacon from a Passenger Vessel. Deciding to answer the call, he tracked the beacon but found only a single escape pod. Bringing it on board, he found that most of the Pilgrims inside the vessel had died, yet somehow a single Baby managed to live. Seeing it as a sign from the Emperor, Tiberius secretly took the infant in to be raised as his apprentice without informing the Inquisition - after checking the Baby for signs of Warp Taint or Mutation.

For much of his Childhood, Artemis only knew of two worlds - one was Tiberius's Black Ship, the other his Installation on Lucidus IV. Tiberius supervised every step of his training, to mould him into the perfect Acolyte, and while occasionally there were issues, Artemis seemed almost destined to be a fine addition to the Inquisition when he would come of age. By the time he was six, Artemis knew simple ways to identify the spore of Chaos, the names of the four major gods and some of their basic servants. By the time he was twice that age, he was engaged in his first interrogation.

It was during one such Interrogation that Artemis would be caught in a rather unfortunate event. While interrogating a man who could reportedly shape itself into a beast of some kind, Artemis accidentally triggered the change. Luckily, Guards were able to restrain the Mutant before it could do anything more than bite Artemis. However, one bite was all it needed however as Artemis was now cursed with the same affliction. Rather than put him down however, Tiberius was so desperate to have a worthy successor that he spared his Acolyte. Many have also guessed that Tiberius did this to gather more information on the specific type of Mutant he'd been interrogating that day.

By the time Artemis was sixteen, he was taking to the field alongside Tiberius. Tiberius spent rather excessive amounts of money on equipping him, from a suit of MK VI pattern Power Armour to a Combi-Bolter and several different types of Magazine, from Silver Bolts to more conventional Psybolts. Tiberius clearly intended for Artemis to stay at the back and provide ranged support, however Artemis was nothing if not overly loyal to his master, to the point where he would insult (or worse) those who questioned Tiberius's council. After a rather explosive falling out with one of Tiberius's Stormtrooper Captains, Tiberius was quick to impart a teaching not from any book - "You should always listen to the council of others, Artemis. They may have ideas, opinions and suggestions that could well be important later."

Artemis took this to heart and began learning Tiberius's field techniques. Tiberius had great faith in Humanity, and would often take an action most Inquisitors would consider foolhardy or erroneous if it meant preserving Human life, with methods such as Exterminatus being an absolute last resort. To that end, Tiberius often favoured trials such as the Trial by Blade (usually handing said blade off to an attending Priest to bless it before the Trial) and the Emperor's Tarot. While Tiberius was commonly seen as soft and weak, woe betided anyone who was found guilty as his hand, for he offered no mercy to them.

Unfortunately, all was to meet a grim end. The Shrine World of Lucidus III was one day being raided by the Iron Warriors Warsmith Furor - a powerful Chaos Lord who occasionally raided the system for new slaves and raw materials to fuel his diabolical projects. As Demon Engines and Traitors overran the Coverns, the local Sisters Covern, the 2nd and 6th Companies of the Blazing Paladins and at least three regiments of the Lucidus Imperial Guard held firm. Tiberius arrived to reinforce the beleaguered defenders with every Stormtrooper he could muster, and took his own personal guard to strike the traitorous leader at his last reported location - the Shrine of Saint Lucidus.

Sure enough, the Warsmith was present combing though the place and taking prisoners. The few Sisters and Shrine Guards left were desperately holding off the invasion, but the tide of filthy Traitors overrunning their positions would ensure they ran out of ammo long before he ran out of Bodies.

When Tiberius arrived, he proceeded to try and confront the Warsmith personally. However, Artemis and the rest of them were held up by the "Hyperion Forge" - Furor's personal Terminator Bodyguard and a horde of "Kilnkin" - rejects from Furor's experiments. Only Artemis survived as he fought his way though them only to watch his mentor and father figure being impaled though the chest by Furor. Artemis moved to challenge him, but was stopped when reinforcements from Tiberius's Stormtroopers moved to encircle him. Realising the game was up, Furor teleported back aboard his Hulk, and the rest of his forces retreated soon afterwards.

Artemis attended to the body of his fallen Master, who had but a few short minutes left to live. In that time, Tiberius finally pronounced Artemis as a full fledged Inquisitor, gave him his Inquisitorial Seal and his last orders - "Go to Titan."

Before leaving however, Artemis was to receive an unusual gift. In honor of defending their world and preserving the most holy shrine in the entire sector (and possibly to console Artemis for his loss), Ecclesiarch Ithiel entrusted Artemis with an Anointed Blade. Said blade was said to have been wielded by one of Saint Lucidus's bodyguards. Artemis accepted it gratefully before leaving, however deep down he resented the gift, as if it had been reserved for Tiberius and not him.

*A few words OOC*


Yes, Artemis is an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor. Partly because Malleus has cool Wargear, and partly because it made the most sense when you have Grey Knight Allies in your army.
Speaking of, the "Go to Titan" line was supposed to have a way for Artemis to run into the Grey Knights and justify their inclusion into the force. It's a bit basic, but it works (I guess).
Artemis shares his first name with an Inquisitor from my days playing Inquisitor. The Werewolf thing is also a carry over from those days. After iffing, butting and maybeing on if I should keep that part or not, I decided "Fuck it" and just kept it in there for now.
There are probably many errors with the above. However, an Inquisitor like Tiberius who lives for Hundreds of years old is not one of them. Inquisitor Quixos (from my best guess) managed to live for at least 400-500 years. However, I have no information on if he appeared outside of Codex: Demonhunters (y'know, the best days of the Grey Knight Fluff). In earlier drafts, it was going to be implied that Tiberius had been around since the 36th Millennium. After realising this would make him older lived than Chapter Master Dante of Blood Angels fame (among others), the age gap was decreased to Hundreds.
I should point out that the intention for Artemis was to play up an Inquisitor who was less "Purge the Unclean!". While that's definately a part of the job description, having a more heroic (or as 1D4Chan might put it, Reasonable) Inquisitor doesn't seem to far outside the scope. I tend to view his sort of escapades as a mix between an episode of Classic Doctor Who combined with a spice of Sherlock Holmes stories and with the main protagonist being Commander Shepard. Which might be either be a fun crossover, or ruined on part of Moffat's lazy writing skills.

Right, I just spent two hours writing all this. I need to clear off and get lunch. Yay.


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## SwedeMarine (Jun 3, 2013)

Its actually not as bad as you think cato. the trick behind thinning paints is layers. lots of thin layers. you metals look excellent though they could use a wash. but my god that purple youve achieved is really very good! the highlighting and the shading are very rich and makes the cloth appear much more life like.

Painting is something that must be taken with patience my friend. use good quality brushes (windsor and newton sable brushes for my detail work.) I typically spend a solid 5 hours on each mini throughout the process (although i batch paint so things go a little quicker). Don't give up so easily! you definitely have the potential! that purple proves it! Keep going!


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## Brother Cato (Jul 26, 2014)

SwedeMarine said:


> Its actually not as bad as you think cato. the trick behind thinning paints is layers. lots of thin layers. you metals look excellent though they could use a wash. but my god that purple youve achieved is really very good! the highlighting and the shading are very rich and makes the cloth appear much more life like.
> 
> Painting is something that must be taken with patience my friend. use good quality brushes (windsor and newton sable brushes for my detail work.) I typically spend a solid 5 hours on each mini throughout the process (although i batch paint so things go a little quicker). Don't give up so easily! you definitely have the potential! that purple proves it! Keep going!


I spent about 2-3 hours on Mr Artemis here. Also, those metals? Glazed with Guilliman Blue. Watered down Guilliman Blue if I recall correctly, so technically washed.


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## SwedeMarine (Jun 3, 2013)

That may be true Mate but id still suggest Agrax or Sepia on the Sword and sword hilt along with a dry brush followed by a highlight on the scabbard and hilt. and the armor needs a wash on it as well. let it pool in the recceses first then go ahead and paint the armor again. Let the mistakes happen and as you keep going with it you will get better and you will get faster. Labor of love my friend labor of love.


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## Brother Cato (Jul 26, 2014)

So it's time for an update! And I think you all know what this one is about.

For now, I am putting things on hold. This is for two reasons:


The first (and most obvious) is the new Codex coming out. I want to hold off and see if anything new gets added (yes I've seen the list going around, and it mostly looks like existing units are getting repackaged rather than anything new being added to the army - though they could use some AA that isn't a Stormraven, hint hint), points adjustments, new options etc, etc.
The second reason is that my area is going to be trying to get a Warzone: Resurrection scene started soon, so I'm trying to save up what pennies I can for that. That might be a separate Project Log though if permitted.


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