Bo Knows: Converting for Horus Heresy

How to convert for Horus Heresy

This is an impromptu post on converting 40k models into pre-heresy armies. I cover some of this in my weekly blog called 4 Corners of 30k but Lycane suggested that I do a 1 stop shop all about making a pre-heresy army from stuff you can get at your favorite local game store!

So there are 2 reasons that you would build this army: 1. Because pre-heresy stuff looks REALLY cool or 2. Because you want to play the rules from the Forge World Horus Heresy rulebook along with answer number 1!

Either answer works and even if you aren't playing the Horus Heresy rules, it's an incredible reference guide.

Let's get started, shall we....

Let's take a look at some Forge World stuff and compare it to stock GW stuff.

Here is a Forge World MKIV Space Marine in Maximus armor:

Here is a Forge World MKV Space Marine in Heresy era armor:

And here are some items found on a standard tactical Space Marine sprue from Games Workshop that you can pick up locally:

Now you'll notice the chests are virtually the same. The MKIV plain shoulder pads are the same as the contemporary pads and the MKV studded shoulder pad is the same as the studded contemporary. The suit pictured above is a full MKVI Corvus pattern suit. The "beakie" helmet is a key factor to that pattern of armor.

Fluff wise, after the Istvaan III massacre a lot of Legions (now called Chapters) were without support from the Mechanicum. The Adeptus Mechanicus was (and still is) the science and manufacturing arm of Terra. So the answer for a lot of Legions for this separation from the Mechanicum was to "kit bash" power armor. They took armor from their dead or from, now, enemy Legions. Your helmet broke? Have a servitor fix up that beakie helmet on the ground over there!

To help further explain why your army has "newer" tech; Keep in mind that many Legions did have experimental armor and armor that was specific to their Legion so, really, anything can work! 

So the Space Marine tactical squad box is the place to start but if you want more authentic armor then 2 good kits for (specifically) helmets are the WHFB Warriors of Chaos unit box or a Chaos Space Marine squad box. Cut the horns off and you have MKIII heads! As seen here:

The top is the Fantasy Chaos head and the bottom is the 40k Chaos head. Both right heads are how they come out of the box and the left heads are the end result after some snip-snip noises!

Marneus Calgar and Honour Guard box from GW has armor and two helmets that would work really well, also. This is because high ranking marines tend to use relic armor or relic weapons which were used by honored Space Marines of the past. You'll notice a lot of 31st millennium armor and/or weapons on some of the HQ choices in the Space Marine codex. 

Here is one of the Honor Guard from the Marneus Calgar box:

That head is MKIII Iron pattern armor. In fact, remove the wings on the chest plate and you're on your way to a full MKIII suit!

Overall, the only significant visual discrepancy between contemporary armor and 31st millennium armor is the backpack. Here is a modern backpack (left) and an MKIV backpack (right):

Now the 31st millennium style of backpack CAN be found at local game stores....you just have to know where to look! I see them out there every once in a while in bitz bins. I'm 80% certain that the 5th edition Space Wolf Grey Hunters had the pre-heresy backpacks, as well.

I have one here from my bitz bin:

Clearly not the same but both backpacks  are obviously not contemporary Space Marine tech.

Now the other place you can find pre-heresy backpacks is in the Chaos Space Marine Khorne Berzerker box. It does need a little conversion work but it's straight forward. The top left is how it comes in the box and the top right is after sniping the vent supports and reattaching the vents. The other 2 backpacks are for reference:

Now let's talk armor....as in vehicles. This will be more of a challenge to get the look you may want for pre-heresy stuff.

"The look" of pre-heresy armor has been dictated by the Horus Heresy rulebook.

Really, any armor works in both time frames because most Space Marine armor is a variant of the 1b Mars Pattern Rhino; which is the current version you buy in stores. The Mars pattern Rhino is the first pattern used by Terra. The Deimos Pattern is an alternate look and is the preference in the aforementioned rulebook.

Here is what a Deimos Pattern Rhino looks like:

Here is the Mars Pattern:

Round door or rectangle? What is your geometrical preference?

But as I said before; there are many reasons a Legion would have advanced tech, such as a Redeemer Pattern Land Raider...so it all can fit in your army! Also, there are a lot of items that look consistent between millennia, such as: drop pods, land speeders, and dreadnoughts. 

In the end, you can build your army how ever you want. 

If you're a painter; then you can really demonstrate a pre-heresy army over a 40k army! You can use pre-heresy iconography and colors! Especially for traitor factions like Emperor's Children or Death Guard where there are clear differences between time frames.

I do need to brighten up the blue a bit but here is my color scheme for my pre-heresy Alpha Legion:

There is a great 40k wiki where you can do your research on pre-heresy icons, colors, etc:

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com

As well, the Horus Heresy series of books through the Black Library are amazing reads and great resources for those details you may be seeking!

I hope to see more 30k armies out there! Friend me on Facebook and show me your progress!

Convert away, my friends! Convert away!

Swonkob Bo - OUT!

[Images acquired from http://warhammer40k.wikia.com http://games-workshop.com and http://forgeworld.com; images were used for reference purpose only, not for monetary gain]