John Carter's Black Templar Army

This army just screams individuality. No miniature looks alike with conversion work obvious on every miniature. I'm glad the Andy took some pictures of these miniatures as only a fraction of the hobby community can visit Warhammer World. As usual original commentary below with any of my thoughts in italics...

Yesterday someone in the office had mentioned an army that's on show in the Citadel Miniatures Hall in Warhammer World. So this morning I headed over to take a look. As you walk in, on the right-hand side, you can see John Carters Black Templar Army. The note that accompanies the army says that it won Best Painted Army in Heat 3 of the Warhammer 40,000 Grand Tournament in 2006. When you look at the images below you will see why.

For me it is the theme of the army that really brings it to life. John took his inspiration from a piece of background on Page 20 of the Black Templar Codex, called the Crusade of the Ophidium Gulf. In the crusade the Black Templars fight alongside the Dark Angels and then mysteriously disappear. John has worked tirelessly to build this theme into his army so although the Space Marines look like they are from the 41st Millennium there are small touches that hint at the fact that they might have been lost to humanity for some time, fighting to clear the name of their Castellan.

John's Terminator squad is accompanied by a sarcophagus containing the body of the crusade leader, Castellan Raimer. John was inspired to make this piece by the art on the cover of the Codex. He used the coffin from the Black Coach and four Watchers in the Dark to hold it up. For Castellan Raimer he took a Space Marine Chaplain and remodelled him to fit inside.

In-keeping with the theme John set out for the army he wanted the jump packs on his Assault Squad to look different. To do this he used the backpacks from some old Raptor models. The models themselves are a combination of Assault Marines and Red Scorpion Space Marines from Forge World. He has also included a conversion of Kayvaan Shrike which you can see on the right. Remember boys and girls Black Templar Assault Marines do not fit into balanced all-comer lists.

John's Dreadnought is a great example of the detail he produces on his bases and the difference they make to his army. John creates his snow by mixing Modelling Snow with PVA until you get the consistency of mash potatoes; at this point he applies it to the base. The stalagmites were made by taking a flying stand and putting it into a pencil sharpener until he got the desired shape. He also added bolter rounds by dipping plastic rods into Shining Gold and then cutting them to size and placing them carefully on the base.

John's Land Speeder is the Tempest from Forge World. To achieve the deep red colour he used a Scab Red basecoat and highlighted it up to Blood Red before adding a red wash. Again he paid a lot of attention to the base, using pieces from the barricades set as well the Imperial Sector buildings, Forge World roads, sand and green stuff. Click on the image for a closer look

Disclaimer - Images taken from Games Workshop website and will be removed if requested.