Valas Morovai

'All this power and pain at our fingertips. Weapons that can level cities. A warship capable of breaking entire fleet blockades. But this means nothing in the Long War. We can leave scars on steel, but so can any ragged pirate vessel with a battery of macro-cannons. We are the Eighth Legion. We wound flesh, steel and souls alike. We scar memories. We scar minds. Our actions must mean something, or we deserve to be forgotten, left to rot amongst ancient mythology.'

    - Talos Valcorian 'Soul Hunter'
         (1^st Claw, 10^th Company, VIII Legion) 

So this is it, the final post for First Claw, the final post of this week, which obviously details First Claw as a whole...

Firstly I would like to thank everybody who has looked at my posts, provided comments and criticism, it really does help to spur me on to carry on posting photos and modelling, and to improve my painting techniques...

 The question is, where do we go from here... 

I have already ordered some replacement parts for Variel, as I said, I wasn't really happy the out-come of him, so in time the Flayer will be re-appearing. Mercutian has been entered into my local GW's painting competition this month, not that I expect him to win as some of the entries were brilliant. 

Cyrion will also as some point be getting a remodelling too, but that's on hold for the moment. Lastly in regards to First Claw, I have ordered parts for my Duel entry, which doesn't need to be completed until September. However it will feature a particularly memorable battle between First Claw, and a particularly up-start champion of the Imperium. Any guesses?

Okay I'll give you a hint:

Anyway... Until next time...

Ciao!

Soul Hunter

'We have a world to bring to it's knees' 
     - Talos Valcorian 'Soul Hunter'
         (1^st Claw, 10^th Company, VIII Legion) 

So here he is, the man of the hour Talos Valcorian, Soul Hunter, The Prophet and Leader of the 10^th Company. The star of the show, Aaron Dembski-Bowden's conversion of the character from a humble Chaos Marine to a ruthless but disillusioned Chaos Lord is, simply a work of art. The description of Talos in Soul Hunter still sends a shiver down my spine.

Onto the photos...

Here you can see him complete with Aurum, Malcharion's Bolter, plenty of trophies, (he carries with him a total of 8 skulls/helms... as he is a Lord of the VIII Legion) the broken Aquila on his chest, the Skull Plate helm and his name Rune... It is safe to say a lot of work went into Talos...

'You should have never settled on this world.Our shame is our secret to keep. Tsagualsa will be clawed clean of life once more. Hide in your cities, mortals. Lock your doors, reach for your weapons and wait until you hear us howl. Tonight, we have come for you'

Apothecary Variel

'When you die, brother, you will leave a powerful legacy for the future.'
    - Variel
          (1^st Claw, 10^th Company, VIII Legion) 

So here we come to the latest addition to First Claw, Variel the Flayer, formally of the Red Corsairs and introduced in Blood Reaver. Unfortunately in the Chaos Codex their is no way to include a Apothecary and as such his rules are just that of a standard chosen, however, it was only right he was included in First Claw...

A fairly uneventful model to talk about, but, it's only right that he gets shown off with the rest of First Claw... I'm going to attempt a freehand of the Red Corsairs symbol on his shoulder pad, but haven't yet plucked up the balls to do it...

So with five out of six of First Claw now revealed, that only leaves one more...

Make sure you come back to see the Soul Hunter revealed tomorrow :D

Brother Mercutian

'I once saw Malek of the Atramentar head-butt someone with his tusks, I'd like to try that'
    - Mercutian
           (1^st Claw, 10^th Company, VIII Legion) 

So it is day four and another member of First Claw is revealed... The most solemn character in all the books, Mercutian has some fine moments, normally with his Heavy Bolter in hand, mowing down dirty loyalist space marines ;-)

Which is exactly how I have tried to portray him, with Heavy Bolter in hand, mowing down dirty loyalists... All joking aside, Mercutian was one of the easier models to build as he required no Green Stuff work and it was quite easy to make him posed effectively.

'We're going to die here.' 

Brother Cyrion

'At least we'll be killed by a hero.'
    - Cyrion
           (1^st Claw, 10^th Company, VIII Legion)

Hello again all, so here is the third instalment of First Claw, the character who turns out to be the ultimate bad guy of the series... Cyrion, regarded by Talos as his 2nd in command, it was certainly a big twist to find out that this guy as evil as he was...

This is by far the character who I struggled with the most, as it was really difficult to make him interesting, as such I'm still not happy with the results, and in time will probably re-do Cyrion, anyway, here is the murdering bastard in all his glory...

He is the only character that really stumped me when it came to designing him, but he'll do... for now ;)

Brother Uzas

'I killed dozens, yet bore the blame for hundreds!'
       - Uzas
           (1^st Claw, 10^th Company, VIII Legion)

Poor Uzas, bearing a Sinner's hands for crimes that weren't even his own, by the end of Void Stalker, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. It was great fun building and painting this character, and in my opinion his pose is very important to the overall look of First Claw, the dynamic running legs help break up the static lines of the rest of the squad and gave great modelling potential...

Anyway, less rambling, more photos yes?
            

Here are many photos of Uzas's unique features, the blood hand print on his face, his sinner's red gauntlets, the flesh cloak, his relic bolter, gifted to him by Malcharion the War-Sage for exemplary tactical prowess, that is of course before Uzas became a frothing mad-man...

'I. Never. Worshipped. Anything!'

Make sure you stop by tomorrow...
who would you like to see next? Cyrion, Variel or Mercutian?

Brother Xarl

'I know all of these warriors. They are First Claw, and I know they'll die as they lived: trying to run away.' 
        - Xarl
           (1^st Claw, 10^th Company, VIII Legion)

This week is a special week for Heretical Thoughts, and here is why, each day, shall have a new post each devoted to an individual member of First Claw, so make sure you check back each day to see the finish model ;-)

So first up is Xarl, what can I say about this guy, except for that he is like all of First Claw, an utter bad-ass. He was a real pleasure to build and paint and now that he is finished he might as well be shown off in all his glory (I say finished, is anyone ever, truly finished)...

Comments and criticism is always welcome, anyway, make sure you check back tomorrow for the next instalment of our favourite murderous bastards...