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Matts Deathwatch! ....Ortan Cassius

Hello again everyone! Back at it with another deathwatch that has been chilling on my desk for a while. Soon after painting the Blood Raven librarian Jensus I was really wanting to get some more of the deathwatch team done. So next up I decided I will have ago at the great Chaplain Ortan Cassius.
First up we shall start with his lore!
Not much is known of Ortans early life, only that he was a potent warrior born into the Ultramarine chapter and was soon inducted into the office of the Chaplain to best make best use of this ferocious power in the field. Battle after battle Ortan's fame grew for a devote warrior to the ultramarine chapter, some of his most famed moments is his time serving in the deathwatch to purge Ghosar Quintus of Genestealer cults. Its rare to hear of a Chaplain to lead a deathwatch but Ortan is no ordinary marine.
Ortan left the deathwatch after his purge of Ghosar Quintus and rejoined his chapter on Macragge to fight alongside his chapter master Marneus Calgar against the Hive fleet Behemoth. During the last battle Ortan was sent to lead a party of veterans to a polar fortress above Macragge, but Ortan was to late the Tyranid forces had overwhelmed the station and close quarter fighting was the only option. Only a few of Ortans squad survived the fighting and he was heavily injured by an enraged Carnafex. After the fighting Ortan was clinging to life and the Apothecaries struggled to save him, his body and most of his face had to be replaced my bionics. Ortan was reborn as a scarred, white haired and bloodied veteran.
After the Tyranid threat had been forced back, Ortan wanted a team that could deal with them if they ever returned. He told Calgar that he wanted to build this team, which Calgar agreed to even though it goes against the Codex Astartes. He then continued to seek out the new Tyranid threats with his force from underground Genestealer cults to full Hive fleet invasions.
Ortan is currently the oldest member of the Ultramarine chapter (nearly 400 years old) excluding Dreadnoughts, and is the only member of the Ultramarines to refer Marneus Calgar as young Calgar. When serving in the deathwatch he carried his deathwatch bolt pistol, Crozius Arcanum and protective Rosarius to show that he is a member of the Ecclesiarchy, but also carries a Tome of Ectoclades which contains some of the Inquisition best kept secrets. In his later years Ortan remade his Crozius Arcanum to have the skull of a Tyranid in the center and also made his own custom master crafted combi-flamer called Infernus.
(The model represents his status in the death watch before his return to his chapter)
Big thanks to the guys at Lexicanum for bringing together such an amazing collection of lore together.
Painting...
I went for a dark grey edge drybrush over the whole of his black armour to begin with, then started working on some of the gold trim. Using the same technique as Jensus to build up flesh tones (Ungor then 50/50 Ungor and Flayed one and a final highlight of Flayed one) then used a similar technique to do the scroll work but finishing with a sepia wash.
Not a huge fan of the ultra smurf blue on everything but it was nice to do the one shoulder and some iconography, since then I have had ago at deep blue, for this I had a pot of old enchanted blue kicking around that gives a really nice deep blue base.
Again I am really impressed with the sculpt and detail on this model by GW, all the extra pieces like the Tome of Ectoclades just make the model have that much more character.
Still unsure of how to base the team with the cork.
Rules...
So comparing Ortan against a normal chaplain he comes in at 95pts instead of 90pts. With his stats being identical to a normal chaplain, so other than his deathwatch special ammunition why take him? Well I will say the same for Ortan as I did for Jensus I enjoy special characters with a story behind them (great for narrative games) in my force and I think special ammunition (Poison 2+/Ignore cover/AP3) for 5pts is great value. He cannot be on the table with his future chaplain self after he left the deathwatch either which makes a lot of sense.
So the second member has joined the team and ready to purge some Genestealer cults lair and leading the team in many great battles to come!
Hope you enjoyed this read.
Until next time!
Matt
Coming soon.... Edryc Setorax!

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