[This post was originally posted to Otherverse Games & Hobbies as part of a series called Plastic to Painted, or P2P. You may see logos or references to this site and series]
The Warhawk of Chogoris
When the sons of the Emperor were scattered across space, Jaghatai Khan landed on a fertile world with rolling hills and fields. Mundus Planus, or Chogoris as it was known by the locals, was still in a pre-industrial age at this time, and the horse was very much the preferred method of traversing the plains. The planet was largely ruled by a single empire. The leader of this empire was the Palatine, and his army was one that could not be rivaled. Instead of the great empire, Jaghatai would emerge in an area largely ignored by the Palatine’s reach known as the Empty Quarter. A large swath of grasslands that really had no viable resources, and the inhabitants of the this area consisted of warring tribes.
Jaghatai was found by the Khan of a small tribe and taken in. Ong Khan had seen a fire within Jaghatai, and knew he would be destined for greatness. So Jaghatai would be raised as his son. Later in his youth, the leader of the tribe would be killed by a rival tribe, and Jaghatai would respond with vengeance. Jaghatai, still quite young and already one of the greatest warriors in the tribe, mustered some warriors and advanced on the opposing tribe.
They killed all in their way. Men, Women, and Children. None were spared. From here Jaghatai saw that the warring and savagery between the tribes must stop, and vowed to unite all of the Empty Quarter. But words were not enough to sway the savage tribes. Actions spoke much louder. Jaghatai and his army would fight the other tribes until they submitted and joined him. He would also fight the Palatine’s hunting parties, who were known to come to the Empty Quarter for the sole purpose of sport hunting and enslavement of the inhabitants of the region.
After some time, his men being slaughtered by savages began to draw the attention of the Palatine. But the final straw came when Jaghatai Khan personally killed the Palatine’s son, who was in one of the hunting parties. Jaghatai beheaded the young man and sent him back to the Empire with a warning to stop the hunting of the tribes for sport. The Palatine would be enraged by this transgression and would muster his heavily armored army to march on the Empty Quarter. What his army found was not a band of savages. But instead a massive and united horde army of tribesmen under the banner of Jaghatai Khan. And even though they were far better equipped and armored, the Palatine’s men fell. In fact, the entire army would be destroyed. Few, if any, would return to the Empires lands.
In the wake of this massive victory for the united tribes, the elders convened a meeting and unanimously agreed Jaghatai Khan to be The Great Khan. He had done what he said he would do, the impossible. He had won a decisive battle against the oppressor of the planet. From here The Great Khan and his army began to conquer the remaining cities of the Empire. Though more diplomatic means were employed. A choice. Submit, or be destroyed. Most would submit and join The Khan. But of course there were some that would not. These cities were destroyed and wiped out of existence. Leaving none alive.
Finally, The Khan arrived at the gates of the Palatine, who had seen his entire empire absorbed or destroyed by this single man and his every growing horde. Jaghatai Khan demanded the Palatines head as tribute. And the Palatines head he would get. It would later be used as a trophy above his tent.
With the planet conquered, The Great Khan was now in a role of overseeing his all that was his. But not too long after his conquest would the Emperor of Mankind arrive, seeking his wayward children. The Khan knew immediately that this Emperor was one that could do as he had done on Chogoris, only in the universe, and he pledged himself to the Emperor of Mankind. Something that surprised his followers.
Jaghatai Khan would be given a Legion of Space Marines born of his Gene Seed. The Star Hunters, as the V Legion was known in those early days, would come to be known as the White Scars after some decisive battles.
Jaghatai Khan would make sure that the Terran Marines would be properly indoctrinated into Chogoris’ culture and way of waging war. The speed of a horse would be exchanged for a jet bike. The weapons of Chogoris would be evolved into power weapons. The Psyker powers of the Storm Seer’s would be prevalent and respected. He would also recruit Chogoris’ most able warriors into the Legion. Notably, his most trusted general Qin Xa, who would become Master of the Keshig.
The Great Khan and The Pale King
The Ruins of Prospero
The Great Khan would make few friends amongst his brother Primarchs. Most saw him and his Legion as savages. But Horus and Magnus the Red would warm to the White Scars Primarch. Which is why when word reached The Khan’s ears of Horus and Magnus turning traitor, The Khan wanted answers and set out to find the truth on his own. His search, marred by attacks and blockades, led him to the the start of it all. Prospero.
On the war torn planet he found nothing but the bodies and ghosts of dead Thousand Sons. It was then that an image of Magnus the Red appeared before him and begged Jaghatai to join him. The Khan was furious at what he was hearing. He had finally had the answers he needed. Soon after Mortarion, Primarch of the Death Guard also appeared, in person. He too tried to sway The Khan, but he had heard enough. A fierce battle then erupted between the two Primarchs. One that would end in a stalemate. Jaghatai was faster and more nimble, but Mortarion was more resilient. During this time a battle was also being fought far above them in space, a few of Jaghatai’s generals would attempt a coup in an effort to join the traitor Death Guard. The coup would be put down.
The Siege of Terra
The Khan and his White Scars would heed the call to muster at the Imperial Palace on Terra by Rogal Dorn, and The Khan would personally lead many jet bike charges against the attacking traitors. In one such charge, he would be wounded and overcome by numerous Death Guard Marines. If not for Sanguinius, Primarch of the Blood Angels, he could have perished. This would not be the first time that The Khan would flirt with death on Terra. Later, Jaghatai would lead a charge of 300 jet bikes in a effort to retake the breached Lion’s Gate. But this counter-offensive would fail, and they were forced to fallback. With the Lion’s Gate breached, the White Scars and their Primarch, along with the Blood Angles, Custodes, and Imperial Guard were able to hold the Colossi Gate, and push back Mortarion’s Legion.
Some time later, Jaghatai announced his intentions to slow the flow of traitor reinforcements by retaking the spaceport at Lion’s Gate. Securing this objective would also allow for the Ultramarines to make their approach. Rogal Dorn, in no place to oppose this action, agreed and the White Scars went on the offensive. During this time The Great Khan would once again meet Mortarion in a much fiercer battle than on Prospero. The Khan would be impaled by Mortarion’s scythe, Silence. Undeterred by the wound, Jaghatai would pull himself along the full length of the scythe’s blade and decapitate Mortarion. This caused a massive explosion of warp energy that sent The Khan flying.
In the explosion the Death Guard Primarch would be cast into the Warp, and the White Scars Primarch would nearly succumb to the wounds caused in the battle and from the Warp explosion. He would be found and evacuated by a Departmento Munitorum officer Ilya Ravallion, who was assigned to the White Scars during the Siege of Terra, and Jangsai Khan of the Brotherhood of the Axe.
The Great Resin Khan
More so than Perturabo, I was hesitant to attack this kit. While I had not owned this model for a fraction of the time I had owned Perturabo’s, as soon as I bought the Warhawk, I was filled with hesitancy. This is a gorgeous model. It has so many details. Even though I, like most White Scars collectors, was a bit angry that they opted to not model The Khan with his Sojutsu Voidbike, I was definitely happy with the sculpt that they did chose to go with. It really does well to showcase his regality, his ferocity, and his mastery of his blade. The White Tiger Dao. His fallen opposition? A Death Guard Space Marine. Very fitting.
I fell in love with the White Scars on the same day that I did the Iron Warriors. As I mentioned before, the White Scars were introduced to me in the first Index Astartes. I was all about this army as soon as I read their entry. The fast attack, the look, everything. I loved the Mongolian air about them. But back then I did not have the skills, nor the drive to build a White Scars army. And I definitely did not have the cash-money, that is for damn sure. So i relegated the thought to the back of my mind.
I finally began working on my Scars in the summer of 2019, and some time later The Khan finally got his miniature from Forge World. But I would not actually buy him until late summer of this year when we decided to focus on Primarchs this December.
Building
I had little to no problems with the building of this kit. As it is one of the newer character kits in the Forge World line, it is rather well done. I took as much care in prepping this kit as I did Perturabo’s. Maybe more. When it came time to build the assemblies, I wasted no time in gluing my fingers together with InstaCure glue. This is why I remove my wedding ring when I hobby. This glue is like water. The act alone of tipping the bottle to use it cause the glue to splash out.
But, once I had un-bonded my digits from one another, I was left with some nice sub-assemblies. Ready to be primed. Also, can I buy stock in UN-CURE CA Remover? This stuff has saved me on multiple occasions over the years.
Painting
I prime my White Scars with Corax White. This is the color I use for my 40K Scar models. It is a nice bright white and it provides a good base for other lighter colors. For the white power armor I used Ulthuan Grey. Seeing as this was a 30K model I opted for a slightly grey/off white shade. I began working on the upper torso first, seeing as that was where the bulk of the details lay. Mephiston Red is my go-to red color for my Scars, and Liberator Gold was used for the armor.
I added some silver trim with Leadbelcher and the white fur was done with I believe Grey Seer and warmed with Fleshshade. I used Fleshshade to warm the gold, and later Necron Compound. I also used the silver drybrush on the black armor before dulling that down with Nuln Oil. The green tassels are done with Army Painter’s Elemental Bolt.
Next came the point I was dreading. The head. The Khan has warpaint on his face. It is a white base with a red lightning bolt. I had no chance of making this look good. Then I proceeded to surprise the hell out of myself. The face was painted with a thinned down Kislev Flesh followed by a thinned down Fleshshade. I then dry brushed Wrack White across his brow. I was feeling pretty good at this point. Tyson suggested I glaze over the white with the same flesh tone I had used. I have never glazed anything before, so I was hesitant to do this. But it worked pretty damn well. From there I grabbed my ultra detail brush, that I rarely use, and tried to free hand the lightning bolt. Fully prepared to have to start the whole face over again.
I did it on the first try. I couldn’t believe it. I decided to quit testing my luck there and did some touch ups on his goatee and hair. I don’t do eyes. I have less confidence in that aspect than I do with faces.
It was time to start assembling the upper body. And even though I had a lot of touch ups to do, I was loving what I was seeing. My one misstep with this model was here. The gold ornaments on the back of his cape. The left one would not fit correctly. I had incorrectly cut the resin from the gates. So I had to trim some more of the resin off. I ended up cutting too much. The result was that the pieces now definitely would not fit together. Great. So I had to get a little creative with my gluing. You can tell if you look at the model at certain angles. But I’m pretty happy with my workaround.
The diorama was up next. I had already been working on the legs at this point as well. The Death Guard Marine was a bit of a mystery for me. As I have never painted any kind of Death Guard before. I knew that the 30K color was white. So I went with an off white color. I wanted this Marine to be a little more corrupted though, so I washed the entire model with a thinned Seraphim Sepia. Pretty happy with the result. The rest of the base was done with layers of Dawnstone and various rusts by AK, followed by a nice helping of Nuln Oil. The fallen marine also got a Blood for the Blood God treatment.
All that was left now was the final assembly and the painting of the bases. Jaghatai Khan was finished.
The Great Khan
My Titan aside, this may be one of the best models that I have ever painted. I feel so good about how this came out, and I completely dashed away my hesitations. Painting this model, kind of made me want to paint up some more of my White Scars. But we’ll see. I certainly have a lot waiting in the wings. Something like 20 bikes, 3 attack bikes, and a Sicaran to list a handful.
Looking Ahead For My White Scars
While I have no immediate intentions on building a full 30K or 40K army, as I mentioned above, I have a lot waiting to see a paint brush. I think I may be waiting for plastic jet bikes before I commit to anything, but who knows. One model that I do want to do is Qin Xa, the Master of the Keshig. I really like what I see with that sculpt. So maybe I will put an order in soon for that. A nice White Scars Spartan would look pretty slick too. Time will tell. But for now, my White Scars shelf of my display case is looking pretty good with addition of their Primarch.
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Robert
All of these are true except for one:
Robert is: a Hobbyist, a Music Lover, an RPG Gamer, a Mustard Lover, Chaotic Neutral, a Japanese Speaker, a Veteran, an Otaku, a Table Tennis Player, an Anime Fan, an Aviation Professional, a New York Rangers Fan, a Chaos Lover With Loyalist Tendencies.
