Nathaniel Garro - and a big thankyou!

I have mixed feelings about the Horus Heresy series. Lots of them are really good reads and when done correctly they can add real layers to the 40k universe. The opening trilogy was pretty flawless in terms of sweeping tragedy. Fulgrim was a nice melodrama, A Thousand Sons and Prospero Burns were a cut above most and the Master of Mankind was... well, it was ADB, wasn't it? At the same time, it has gone on too long, there's been too much waffle and its managed to outstay its welcome. At the time of writing, GW is clearly aware of this: we're finally and almost hastily getting references to the end being in sight. I think that ultimately, they'll be able to save it with some hard work.

But to me, that era of Imperial history will always be mixed up with the feel of ancient legend, because my first eleven years in the hobby had the Heresy as something which happened in a near-forgotten age of wonders. And a character who has existed from that time of murky mythology right up to the present day is Nathaniel Garro. He is a fascinating figure.

In the original material, Garro was an important but fairly minor figure: a Captain of the Death Guard who was appalled at the conduct of his brothers and fled from Isstvan with a single ship, daring the wrath of Horus and the certain suspicion of Terra to bring word to the Emperor of Horus's perfidy. And even then, I thought to myself, what incredible strength of character and will this man must have possessed. Where eight Primarchs were seduced by Horus and his daemonic masters, this line officer of the XIV Legion refusing to foreswear his oaths and the ideal of unity. Along with Saul Tarvitz, Garviel Loken and Tarik Torgaddon, Garro drew a line in the sand. They knew that they would almost certainly die unmourned, hated by their brothers, discarded by their gene-fathers and condemned by those who they remained loyal to. That Garro was the one entrusted to flee to Terra with the news whilst the others kept Horus occupied does not lessen his heroism. As Tarvitz and Loken fought to the last breath, they could at least hold to the knowledge that every moment they remained alive and fighting, Garro drew closer to Terra with his dire warning. But for Garro himself, fleeing a step ahead of the Warmaster's dogs, fighting through the corridors of his own ship against Grulgor and his creatures, there was no distant sense if salvation. He alone had to bring news of the impossible to the Emperor.

But it's there that the man is really made. Space Marines are intensely proud creatures, fascinated with honour and name. That's what led to the tragedy in the first place, at least in part. Yet Garro willingly disappeared into anonymity, wearing plain grey armour bereft of markings, pursuing an obscure war at the behest of the Sigillite. This is a man whose loyalty is not to a man, nor to a Legion - his loyalty is to the ideal of the Imperium, and even as he sees it distorted out of shape, he grimly remains true to the belief that the ideal can be preserved.

Why is he, in my continuity, still alive at the forty-second millennium dawns?I don't know. Has he been awake the whole time, or was he in stasis for the majority of the time? I don't have any answers, and I don't really want to think of any. But it seems to me that he's a far better to bring back to these dark days that a loyal primarch.

The model was incredibly ease to convert. As you can see, he's based on Cypher - a conscious choice, as I felt that he was a similarly mysterious figure. I removed his head and replaced it with the bald Empire Greatsword head (suitably grizzled). At this point I also removed Cypher's sword from the back and pruned off Dark Angels symbols where I could find them. Next, I removed the pistol in his right hand and replaced it with a Vanguard Veteran Relic Blade to represent Libertas.

As finishing touches, I added a few bits from the Grey Knight Terminators kit: a shrine wossname on his belt, a couple of purity seals and a book on his back to cover the scarring where I'd removed the sword.

And there we have it! The most loyal, still going after ten thousand years.

Speak of which, I'd like to thank you for looking at my blog. As I publish this post, I've just gone through 1000 page views since I started this blog on 8th January. Veteran bloggers might laugh at this, but it's a big thing for me. I spent a while in my career churning out tedious corporate blogs, and probably as a result I could never sustain a personal blog for any length of time before getting bored. I mean, one or two posts. So getting this far has made me really happy. Thanks very much, and I hope it's been useful for you!