Product Review - Exorcist Shoulder Pads

When the new Space Marines Codex was released, I knew I wanted to play a loyalist army. In the past I’ve mainly played Chaos when I got the itch for a powered armored force. Although I’ve owned Imperial Space Marines in the past, they were never an army I poured much love into. I never finished painting my Space Wolves, and the others (Dark Angels, White Scars, Death Specters) never ended up as a completed, fully cohesive force.

Now I’ve decided to change that. I spent the first week of the Codex trying to decide which chapter I wanted to play. The White Scars appealed to me first; I’ve played them before, and I love their theme as skilled horsemen of the plains. However, I played them once in a proxy game and thought to myself, I really don’t see a lot of potential variation with this chapter. Sure, I’m free to play whatever I want, but normally I will be running tons of bikes and Dedicated Transports, in an attempt to move quickly and capitalize on the Alpha Strike. If I want to play a more siege-oriented army, what’s a gamer to do?

I finally decided I would not be playing one of the First Founding Chapters. These armies are already done to death anyway, and I wanted my force to be somewhat unique. My two criteria thus became:

    1. The Chapter had to be an uncommon Chapter for playing purposes.
    2. I want a Space Marine army that I can change to play in different styles over time.   

Eventually I narrowed the choice down to two forces: The Death Specters and The Exorcists. From here I chose the Exorcists for a variety of reasons. First, I absolutely love their fluff. The chapter keeps twelve companies, with the two additional companies being Scout Companies. This high rate of recruit influx is due to their dangerous indoctrination processes: each recruit is possessed by a demon of the Warp and then exorcised. Those that survive are nearly immune to demonic energies and attacks. The stories I’ve read hint that the Inquisition was involved in their founding, and that the individuals responsible were extremely radical. On top of this, it is rumored they share genetic origins with the Grey Knights, which truly makes them unique!

Second, they are an unknown Founding, and therefore I can play them using any of the Chapter Tactics. This helps fulfill my second criteria, as they are also known for tactical flexibility in their campaigns against the demonic.

Finally, I have never encountered an Exorcists army in my ten years playing this game. With my criteria satisfied, and with a paint scheme I was confident that I can replicate, I had my chosen force.



Image from:
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Exorcists#.UmdDFxBMvgs

 The biggest problem I ran into from this point was iconography for the chapter. There are several aftermarket sources that replicate the skull symbol, but I was never really happy with anything I found. They either didn’t match the original Space Marine parts well enough, or they just weren’t done to my exacting (read ridiculous) standards. Eventually I just decided I’d leave their shoulders blank, and attempt to incorporate some Grey Knights iconography here and there.

When I had basically given up the search for iconography and shoulder pads, I came across some incredible images on DakkaDakka’s forums. These were sculpted by the individual who runs the blog http://battlesuits.blogspot.com/, and they were cast by coyotius (Mike Youtz), a member on DakkaDakka forums. After discussing my issue with Mr. Youtz I bought several of the emblems and shoulder pads from him.

After a very reasonable turnaround time, I received the following items in the mail yesterday, in large enough quantities to do the 1st Company and one of the battle companies:

Power Armor and Terminator Armor shoulder pads.

 Iconography for tank hulls, Dreadnoughts, and banners











 I am incredibly impressed with the detail that went into this project. There are no significant casting defects, and the sizing is perfect. My Tau have been on the front burners for the past several months while I grow them to Apocalypse levels, but these icons have sent me back to the Space Marines with a new fury. I currently have all the airbrush work done on my first Tactical Squad; hopefully by the end of the week I will have the squad updated with these new shoulder pads, and posted for your viewing pleasure.

Mr. Youtz, a hearty thank you. You have taken the problematic aspect of the Exorcists out of the equation. Now I just need more models to use these fantastic icons on!