Themed Army Ideas

Fighting Tiger Black Ops: Ajay  by James Arnold
I wanted to do something dynamic to kick things off. Sergeant Vera was the first one to spring to mind, but ultimately I decided to save her for last. Instead, I went with Ajay, the resident howling maniac of the group. This guy is 150% attitude. Every Space Marine is a hero of heroes, a champion in his or her own right. Many times when one pictures such a magnificent being, the image of the refined, almost angelic person comes to mind. When I envisioned a Space Marine who would choose to wield dual lightning claws, I think of this guy. Ajay is a rock solid member of the team, but he definitely feels an extreme thirst for battle.

Bio in Brief
Ajay comes from a small tribe—the Dahgbi—who live near the equator in an isolated marsh area of the southern continent, Ghuyarashtra. Temperatures in this area are consistently above 100 degrees Fahrenheit during the day; fierce, man-eating predators roam at night, the marshes are breeding grounds for flies and diseases. 

Those who call this land home are of hearty stock. It would be reasonable to view these people as good candidates for Space Marines; however, most attempts to recruit them have failed. The tribesmen are hostile to outsiders; practice an ancient, darker worship of the Vedic gods; and cling stubbornly to their primitive ways, rejecting the enlightened philosophy and society of the other Vedic peoples. 

With other worthy candidates to be found elsewhere on Veda, most of the top commanders in the Fighting Tigers simply gave up on ever being able to recruit successfully from the Dahgbi. However, every now and again, a Daghbi would find his way into the ranks of the Tigers. And so it was with Ajay.

After his successful indoctrination, Ajay rose rapidly through the ranks of Tigers. His fighting style was often compared to those of the Black Templars: relentless and brutal. He would often return from battle without ever firing a single shot from his bolt pistol, yet the teeth of his chainsword caked with his enemies’ remains. 

Ajay didn't come under the command of Janhavi until later in his career, long after he had established his reputation as a homicidal madman. Janhavi saw in Ajay a great potential, taught him the arts of stealth, and instilled in him the true thrill of the hunt. Under her guidance, Ajay has become a hero of the Tigers for centuries to come. 

Bitz and Pieces
A list of the bitz I used to construct Ajay:

• Arms: Lightning Claws from the Space Marine Veteran box
• Legs: From the Assault Marine box
• Chest Plate: Wolf Head Plate from Blood Claws box
• Head: Commander head from Space Marine Commander Box

Conversions
Ajay was fairly simple to assemble; nothing was changed all too radically. The left lightning claw had a broken tip on one of the claws, but I decided that it just made him look even tougher, proudly bearing the damaged yet functional claw. The biggest conversion was the Blood Claw chest plate (below) from the Space Wolf range.

The wolf tail hanging off the buckle was removed to start off with, and the buckle was reshaped to appear blank. The next bit was tricky. I wanted the wolf head icon in the middle of the plate to be more of a tiger, so I set to converting that bad boy. I added green stuff to the sides of the muzzle, to give it a more feline appearance. After the green stuff dried, I filed the snout down to a better proportion, and clipped the ears so they were more rounded. I also pinned the arms, because nothing is worse than having to worry about your models falling apart mid-game. We all know that guy who walks around in the middle of a tournament looking for glue: don't be that guy. 

Almost all the main joints and connections were pinned. I've found since the first time I pinned a piece, I've been doing it more and more. For the pins, I use large paper clips, snipped down with light grade wire cutters. For about a dollar, you can buy enough pins to last for years. Most hobby stores sell pin vices, small hand drills that take very fine bits. With a few models’ practice, you will be able to make any project sturdier in no time. 

All in all, I'm very happy with this first project. I'm still refining the application of the green colors to build that emerald armor. I'm also learning a lot when it comes to free-handing tiger heads on Marine armor. A great start to a fun project, to be sure!
 

Related Pages
Fighting Tiger Black Ops: Introduction
Fighting Tiger Black Ops: Fiction and Articles
 

Posted: June 2006. Used with permission.
 

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