Foamcore Webway Portal and Astramalleus History

Last night was a little hectic: late evening at work, very fussy daughter, tired wife and tons of dinner dishes to wash. I only managed to get one more webway portal made, though I did get the templates for two more onto foamcore so that should get done over the weekend.

Since I don't have much to report creation wise or painting wise, I think I'll talk about my Chapter for a few minutes since they are the reason all this is even here. The Astramalleus or "Star Hammers" are an Ultramarine descended Chapter chartered during the 23rd founding in the fallout of the Age of Apostasy. Their success in battle has been well documented but their increasing numbers have been a cause of suspicion to the Inquisition and their materiel supplies have just begun to summon the gaze of the Adeptus Mechanicum.


Their history, though not commonly known to the general public, has been rocky enough to summon the gaze of a few other Imperial institutions. During the Age of Apostasy, the Grey Storms Space Marine Chapter began to change facets of its rituals and doctrines of devotion to the Emperor into a more godlike worship because of subtle influences from the Offices of the Ecclesiarchy. After making a number of what would become hotly contested changes, Brother Captain Albertus of the Grey Storms Chapter, along with many veteran Sergeants and Chaplains decided something must be done. They could not worship the Emperor in this new way as he was a man and not a God, but they could not make the sort of moves within the Chapter that would be required to change things back. In the end, they decided to leave. Over the course of years, they managed to quietly move assignments and postings so that all the Marines who felt the same way would be together in contiguous units. When the time was right, an emergency was manufactured requiring Albertus' units (almost three companies) to sally forth on a Battle Barge to a war zone. Having sabotaged the ships that would chase them, Albertus broadcast their intentions and reasoning the Grey Storms and disappeared into the Warp. For a number of years, the renegade force travelled by scrounging up supplies from whatever sources they could. They convinced Imperial worlds to supply them and raided alien worlds and ships when it was required. Eventually, they settled on a remote and savage world called Besradine and befriended local tribes. Over time, the renegade Marines settled in one area of the planet, ended up quelling the local wars and became hegemons of the planet. To show his friendship with locals, Albertus, casting aside the Marine name he had been given and reverted to his birth name and taking the name of a powerful tribal family, became Ullce Walach. From that day on, the renegades lived safely away from the gaze of the Imperium.

At least they did until the arrival of the Hajic Waagh...

P.S. For those of you who want to make their own Marine Chapter pictures like that, try out the Bolter & Chainsword Space Marine Painter. It's been around a long time and it work pretty well.