FW terminators and Pre-Heresy termie armour


The new Forge World Tartaros pattern terminators just don't impress me. I'm not "wowed" by them like I wish I was. I saw them and my first thought was, "That's it?" Maybe one of their other new patterns will have me singing a different tune when one of those get released in the future. They mentioned in their teaser email that "several types and patterns were developed concurrently. Of these, the Indomitus pattern is perhaps the most widespread..."


Of course that could mean the models that we all already have are the Indomitus pattern and we just don't know it yet. I suppose if you name one kind, you need to name all of them then.

I think my biggest complaint is the crux on the shoulderpad. It looks like an afterthought almost. Kinda like we really ought to find a way to squeeze that on there. The torso is alright, reminding me of a smaller contemptor pattern dreadnought of course. The helmet misses the mark for me.

The legs are missing the articulated knee joint, but have the same look with the raised knee armour plate that they seem to like to give to other models as well. I do like that look and I think if I can figure out a way to convert my models into having that squared off knee armour, I might try and do it.

Making your own terminator armour variants
I've made a few different variations over time as I've looked for ways to make my terminators stand out from everyone else.

I started by making the roman style shoulderpads seen on some of the earliest marks of armour. While it might seem odd, I had to make these way back when because these kinds of shoulderpads weren't available as 3rd party bits online.


To this day, this guy remains one of my favorite conversions. He may not be the best, but he looks different and he has dual thunderhammers. That was back before you could do that too. The shoulders are what set him apart though.


Once I knew I could make one, I figured I'd try my hand at a squad and eventually did it with one squad in my Lustwing force. They have similar shoulderpads and the added collar piece too. I really like the look that gives them. I know I'll be adding this piece to my new terminator squad.


Once I made that squad, I tried to convert even more on a model and added bulked out greaves to my previous Belial conversion. The idea was a cool one, the execution was alright... but it needs work. The scale is off and needs to be refined for the model to look right.

And one last thing you can do to give your termies a slightly different look is to mount the regular shoulderpads upside down on the model. Cut the little tab off that sticks down lower (and remove any sculpted elements) or use two blank shoulderpads for a completely different feel.


You don't see this very often on models. I've only done it once to give my Chaplain conversion a completely different feel and set him apart from all the other models.

Maybe I like the GW ones because it's all I've ever known. I mean, I've made my own armour adjustments before and created the older style of shoulderpads with some success. I can tell you they definitely stand out on the tabletop once you start altering them.

Here's to hoping Forge Word comes out with some other variations that really wow me. Maybe I'll be convinced to pick some up then. Until that point, I'm going to be adding my own collar pieces and my own roman style shoulderpads. And if I can figure out how to do it, I'm going to give them that squared-off knee armour. I really like that look.

Make sure to check out these posts as they might help:
Making Pre-Heresy terminator shoulderpads (and the collar piece)
Making Pre-Heresy Terminator greaves


Ron, From the WarpIf you've got any questions about something in this post, shoot me a comment and I'll be glad to answer. Make sure to share your hobby tips and thoughts in the comments below!