Vexillator Space Marines

The Vexillators are thought to be an Imperial Fist successor chapter, whose creation is usually attributed to the 23rd Founding (the Sentinel Founding) during the 37th Millennium. It was a major expansion of Space Marine Chapters in a concerted effort to shore up the Imperium's military strength, after a series of catastrophic losses in the preceding centuries. The Vexillators were to be tasked with establishing a perimeter of Chapter-Keeps around the Acheron Subsector and the strategically important Medean Warp Cluster. 

They were meant to be principled standard bearers of Imperial doctrine, bringing protection and, to some degree, governance to a system that needed both.

But during their initial deployment, upon exiting The Warp, it is said they were caught in an unexpected blockade, possibly by a roving Ork Rok Fleet, which saw them embroiled in a bitter space war before ever being able to establish reliable supply lines and Recruitment-Chapels.

Without resupply or fresh recruits they found themselves depleted to such a degree there was little chance they would be able to fulfil their mission in the manner it was expected. So out went steadfastness and tradition, and in came spontaneity and aggressive belligerence. Guerrilla tactics favouring lightning raids and rapid withdrawals took the place of more honourable confrontations. Hitting the enemy fast and hard, became their norm. They gradually morphed from a rigidly disciplined chapter, focussed on siege mastery and defence to a more motley force, embracing speed and agility.

Over time these new strategies showed a level of success and the Vexillators were able to replenish their strength. By then many of the new ways had taken root, and they had gone from proud legionnaires to pugnacious prize fighters. What they lost in righteous superiority, they gained in agile survivability.

In fact, having ward over an entire Subsector of previously embattled planets, gave the Space Marine Chapter a steady influx of resilient aspirants. It wasn't long before they were able to re-ignite some of the old ways, and even, in the late 38th Millennium, form their own Successor Chapter, the Storm Guard.

This younger chapter was left to fulfil the original role of shoring up the Subsector, while the Vexillators, as self-inflicted retribution for their earlier failure, headed off into deeper space on a crusade to bring the Emperor’s light to the darkness. Liberating and reclaiming lost worlds as they pushed through to long-forgotten systems.

But with the arrival of the Cicatrix Maledictum, and the opening of new rifts in The Warp, contact with the Storm Guard was completely severed, and the Vexillators made the decision to return to the Subsector they had briefly called home.

When the boxset Dark Imperium was released in 2017, heralding the beginning of 8th Edition Warhammer 40,000 (WH40K), it also ushered in a brand new range of Space Marines: the Primaris. These slightly larger miniatures had been redesigned to more accurately reflect WH40K lore, where Marines are meant to be post-human giants.

The average Space Marine is a genetically engineered behemoth, at least 7ft tall, built like a rhino, with a sub-dermal armoured carapace fused to his rib cage, an even stronger suit of armour worn for battle, dedicated to the art of war, carrying some of the most powerful hand-held weapons known to the Imperium of Man, and encouraged to be the toughest he could possibly be, by pretty much anyone he sees on a daily basis. The very weakest Marine would probably crush the toughest regular human in almost any kind of stand up fight.

So with the new, bigger, plastic toy soldiers, which went some way to redressing the inconsistencies with the old range and the lore, I decided to create a brand new force. These were to be not only a bit taller than my previous army, but also more rugged looking, battle-hardened and unique. Like every single warrior was an individual of titanic achievement. And, although I loved the new Primaris design, I also loved some of the older marks of (now short-looking) armoured warriors that Forge World had been releasing in the preceding years. So I wanted my band of ragtag Vexillators to wear mixed armour marks, to carry dirt and damage, and to look like individuality was encouraged within their ranks.

To achieve this, my plan was to mix and match parts from the various different sized models, using thin plasticard spacers, inserted into legs and waists to make the shorter warriors look taller. To use different heads and helmets, and a variety of boltguns. To paint their markings in subtly different ways, and to generally treat each and every one of them more like a character.

This is my test model, and I hope to have several more following in his violently rendered wake by the end of the year.