The Primogenitor: Death Guard

The Archenemy infects this universe. If we do not pause to fight that infection here, within our own selves, what purpose is there in taking our fight to the stars? - Apothecary Engane from his Treatise on Imperial Medicine

We have always had a soft spot for the Death Guard. Years back, after the release of the Putrid Blightkings, we tried our hands at creating some terminators. Later, when GW reworked their entire model line (which fell short of their potential), we started an initiative to improve them, which culminated in our creating one based on a Primaris model. Recently, Iron Sleet announced their next narrative event, set within a cyclopean space hulk, called the Primogenitor. Alexander Winberg from Echoes of Imperium realized the XIVth Legion would fit effortlessly into this setting, and started to craft a Death Guard warband for the event. It didn’t take much convincing for us to try our hands at creating another Death Guard model for the event. We decided to use a Primaris space marine as the basis for this conversion, and wanted to talk about the process in this post.

A Death Guard veteran created using a Primaris Intercessor as the base model.

Like our previous model, the basis of this Death Guard conversion was from a Primaris Intercessor. Since the Primaris models are better proportioned than the new Death Guard models, they were an obvious starting point. To make the warrior look as though they have been fighting against the False Emperor for 10,000 years, I decided to make him wear MKIII Iron Armor. I used Milliput to resculpt sections of the model’s legs and torso to give the armor the segmented look, characteristic of Iron armor. Milliput is great for sculpting large sections of armor because it rigidly holds it shape (without sagging) when working with it, and is able to be sanded after it fully cures. I did use a few pieces of a resin Forge World Iron Armor model, including the iconic helmet, a shoulder pad, and a carved out portion of one of their arms/wrists. I also used milliput to sculpt some shelf (polypore) fungi on parts of his armor, to suggest age and blessing from Grandfather Nurgle.

The missile launcher is from an old Rogue Trader-era Genestealer Cultist sprue.

When initially planning the model, I wanted to give him some form of heavy weapon. When looking through my bits box, I found an old Rogue Trader-era Genestealer Cultist weapon sprue that contained an interesting missile launcher (along with a reaper autocannon and conversion beamer). Although it required some work and Milliput, I spliced this heavy weapon with a normal space marine rocket launcher arm. Instead of using a traditional holstered bolt pistol, I modified one of the holstered pistols in the Necromunda Enforcer boxed set. They are a little smaller (and therefore better scaled), and also look like they are made of a Kydex-like polymer. I also wanted to give the model a knife, and decided to create one that looked like a trench-knife. It was created from a dark elf dagger, with the handguard converted from a small piece from the Adeptus Mechanicus destroyer kit.

The Death Guard with inset images showing his converted bolt pistol in its holster and trench knife.

A scale shot, from left to right: a converted FW Elysian, two converted scions, a converted Delaque ganger, and the Death Guard.

It was a delight to build a Death Guard marine again, allowing me to further experiment with using the Primaris models to create different armor variants. At some point, I would love to create some of the other variants, like MKII or MKV. I am not sure if I will create any additional models for the Primogenitor event, but would encourage you to watch Iron Sleet and the Echoes of Imperium, or follow the #theprimogenitor for updates!

- Adam Wier