Here at HeresyHammer we want to use our platform to help promote and showcase some of the amazing armies out there in our community. These blog posts will look to look at beautiful models and talk a little bit to the person responsible.
What is your name and whereabouts are you based?
Jamie Fox – UK -Peterborough
What is your Instagram?
When did you first start gaming and what attracted you to the Horus Heresy?
Like many I have been playing/doing the hobby since I was a teenager. After discovering other things at 18 and falling out of the hobby I came back into it in my mid twenties when a lot of my friends in the Peterborough group were doing the same. We dipped our toes into most GW gaming systems over the years, most popular being 7th ed Warhammer 40k, Necromunda, Kill Team and now Old world. Several including myself have enjoyed historical gaming and scale modelling. This became the Legion of Peterborough. Ever since then I have been enjoying the Heresy due to the social group and level of armies that the community as a whole provided. The real drive for returning to and staying in the hobby being the friendships, both local and more recently in Denmark/Sweden/Norway. Where I have been very lucky to attend events and host them in visits to the UK.
What aspect of the hobby do you enjoy most? e.g. Gaming, painting, converting or just reading the BL books?
It started out being primarily gaming, but now it is half and half. The books and the journey that Horus Heresy has taken has been a big drive for me. I’ve been hooked since reading my first book (Know No Fear) and this has built over time with trying to add more character to my armies. Building what people call fluff to a force and forging a narrative.
What is the theme and lore behind your force? Has it developed over time and is there anything that particularly inspired that?
Being the Solar Auxillia I wanted to avoid giving them a name or clear cut number like you would do for a legion force, being the unnamed masses of the Emperors/Warmasters armies. I wanted them to have several themes I could use depending on the Cohorts I feel like. I did however draw a lot of inspiration from Modern fighting vehicles schemes from the 80/90’s with NATO style vehicles marking and colours, trying to fit this with the more non-descriptive theme of the Solar Auxillia Lore but staying true to the main themes i have enjoyed or I am working on is based on the Cohorts.
Making the list fun to play for both myself and the opponent, while letting me paint models I want to paint. Recon Cohort makes use of the amazing Sentinel Kits, makes a very cool looking force on the board, minimises the amount of massed infantry you need to paint for Solar Auxillia up front. It also makes the game dynamic change massively for both people playing, while Armoured Cohort is what every old school Guard player will want and need to play. From my youth when White Dwarf did rules for an armoured company, then when the Forgeworld Imperial Armour Books added so much detail to the Tank only list. It’s also easy to build up your points very quickly though it is not as fun to play and plays exactly how you would think every game. Reborn Cohort is my newest, where I can comfortably run over 100 infantry, heroically standing in line to be killed by the dozen while stubbornly holding the line. For all the cohorts, I do something that stands out, matches the theme and fits that force/theme.
Can you give us an overview of how you painted your army?
I wanted to really push my painting and hobby skills. Taking a lot of time as soon as the Warhammer Preview was released to pick away at Military modelling videos, guides and schemes. Several of these very kindly (via Patron and online questions) develop the scheme as soon as I got my hands on the first available plastic Solar Auxillia. The key tutorials were by BB Miniatures who did an amazing tutorial of both Solar Auxillia Vehicles and Infantry. I modified these to fit how I envisaged my force looking. Combining this by tutorials by Cult of paint who had a tutorial on oils/weathering and many videos by Night Shift who also took his style/skill sets to a Horus Heresy Sicaran. https://youtu.be/IwI80Bv9BGk
What is your favourite model in your force, either from a modelling or a gaming perspective?
In terms of modelling, my favourite part is seeing the force grow over time and the theme/look come together. Especially when all of my armour gets a rare outing all at once. The favourite moment for this was a large game I was invited to at Greetings From the Warp where we had apocalypse style rules, themed lists and an amazing mission/scenery created by the event organisers Steve. It’s been the first and only time i have been able to put all of my army on the table. The hard work was worth it just for that moment and weekend.
How does the army perform on the tabletop? Can talk about your win/loss performance, but also how it plays, what sort of tactics you use and any particular memorable moments.
In terms of playability, the more thematic the list, the more likely you are to take your models off in droves but it will look good doing it. I’ve found that with the Solar unlike other lists, you need to make the most of your infantry tercios, have as many as possible and use the tercio rules at every given chance. Know they will die but “a as sacrifice you are willing to make”. My most successful cohort isn’t the actually talked about much. The Recon cohort, with four or more small units of sentinels and several tercios of infantry working together means you have a lot of very mobile scoring to get points early on in games. Backing this up with heavy armour, heavy sentinels and lots of shooting means you can make the most of the stronger units in the force while using your vox to maximum effect. But unless you invest in some very outclassed units you will be feeling the assault phase is one sided. I have found that companion squads are your only real choice but very costly in points.
What are your future plans, either for this army or for another force?
I’m currently planning to add units for both Iron Cohort and Solar Cohort. Solar Cohorts are very popular and for a good reason, you have elite troops with Line and you have to paint slightly less. Though I have the little guys ready and painted, I will be putting my tercios in Aurox transports so they can be accompanied by elite sentinels, deploying as one so I can make the most of the Tercio rules and combine reactions with a lot of firepower. I’ve not seen anyone else run an Iron Cohort yet, despite them being in the lore very early in the books. My most memorable was in the “Vengeful Spirit” where the Naval Admiral has Thallax Guards, the elite void infantry fighting with Mechanicum in units and Ultramarines to try and stop the Sons Of Horus Elite. I’ll be converting the Horus Heresy Skitarii Character into a Character fitting both forces and then adding several units of Thallax. They still have Line despite being elites and this combination of fast tough scoring units will mesh perfectly with masses slower infantry.
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