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Dakota Minor Defence Corps (PDF)
By Mike Zulu
Introduction Like many established Imperium worlds, Dakota Minor has a planetary defence force simply known the Dakota Minor Defence Corps (or DMDC). Most of its number are conscripted from the local population; a small number of citizens willingly join to escape the tedium of farm life that is prevalent on Dakota Minor. The DMDC is organised in a manner similar to Astra Militarum regiments, albeit more limited in their makeup. For the most part, it consists of dozens of infantry battalions- 0 comments
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AdMech Patrol #2 - Progress report
By Bouargh
Blog entries pass and sometimes look like very similar to some previous ones. It is one of the issues when dealing with army building on base of multiples buy outs of the same Patrol Box... Yet we might eventually expect some variation if the models are fitted in different fashion, ain´t we? The Onagre DuneCrawler as already been spoiled in the FOrums, but it has been the major progress of the past week so I will "proudly" republish it there. It is also an unhonorable wa- 1 comment
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The Defence of Dakota Minor (884M41) I
+++ INTRODUCTION +++The Defence of Dakota Minor was a series of conflicts in 884M41, that saw the Imperium defending the Matteus Subsector’s primary food provider against invaders. With only a token battlefleet and planetary defence force to protect it, Dakota Minor was expected to fall to the invaders in less than three months. Fortunately, intervention by local Astra Militarum regiments and the Adeptus Astartes saw the invasion quelled and the planet secured for the Imperium.
The first theatre of conflict was the defence of the city Dakota Primus, against the opportunistic and nimble Ork Waaagh! ChoppaTide.
Imperial forces counter-assault a rabble of Orks after they breached the outer defences of Dakota Primus.
+++ ORK INVASION OF DAKOTA MINOR +++It is unknown why Waaagh! ChoppaTide showed such interest in the fecund world of Dakota Minor. As a minor civilised world with significant foodstuff production (albeit far lower than a true Agri-World), it is suspected they were simply enthusiastic about the food supplies on the planet, as well as seeing a good opportunity to engage in the “sport” of war.
An Ork Stormboy charges head-on into a squad of DMDC guardsmen.
The Warning: Day minus 13
Local astropathic choirs intercepted the Ork psychic missives detailing an intent to “pillage a food-stuffed world”. The planet's Lord-Governor, Hastings Freeman, was convinced of the threat and ordered a Sector-wide astropathic alarm calling for assistance.
The Navis Imperialis forces were the first to arrive in orbit ten days later. The Matteus Delta Battlegroup (a detachment of Battlefleet Agripinna) formed a defensive perimeter in anticipation of Ork arrivals from the expected Mandeville points.
Meanwhile, the Asokan Rifles and Sartorian Rangers regiments of the Astra Militarum declared their intent to aid in the defence, but would take several weeks to arrive. For now, the only surface defenders were the Dakota Minor Defence Corps (DMDC).
The Incursion: Day Zero
The Ork scrap-fleet of Waaagh! ChoppaTide approached Dakota Minor from the blind side of the parent gas giant, triggering the planet’s orbital alarms. The Matteus Delta Battlegroup were forced to quickly redeploy their battleships in attempt to intercept the Ork fleet.
Physical map of Dakota Primus and surrounding regions, with force deployments and movements in the first few days of the Ork invasion (884M41).
The Orks seized the advantage and charged past the meagre Imperial defences, making planetfall via their Roks. Landing in the Adatok Wastelands, they assembled their tribes and scrap columns, and advanced on the human settlements. A small contingent of Orks marched north-east towards the hydroponic hive 2-Xi, but would be promptly interdicted by the stationed DMDC regiments. The bulk of the Ork Waaagh! headed south towards Dakota Primus.
The remaining Ork kroozers and gunboats continued to engage the Imperials in orbit. Despite preparing for a head-on engagement, the Imperial fleet were instead drawn into a series of hit-and-run maneouvres that lasted eighty days before a victor was determined.
The Amassing: Day 2 to 8
The bulk of the Orks rallied for eight days in the Adatok Wastelands, just at the outskirts of Dakota Primus. Their leader, Warboss Gruzka Koptadrilla, was intent on building their strength before committing to an all-out assault on the hive.
Imperial forces, equally unconfident, prepared their defences in anticipation of an assault. Many skirmishes, artillery barrages and air raids occured between the armies in the interim, but were inconsequential.
An Ork fighter-bomber begins a strafing run on the outer defences of Dakota Primus
It was on the eighth day that the Lord-Governor’s astropathic pleas were responded to by an unexpected ally: the Salamanders chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. The DMDC high command were excited by this development, and could not help but spread the word: the Emperor's Angels were coming.
+++ SIEGE OF DAKOTA PRIMUS BEGINS +++Lookie there at all da grub deez ‘umies have for us! Mount up, lads! Da mighty feast awaits us!
- Warboss Gruzka Koptadrilla, addressing his tribes before setting out to Dakota Primus.
Aboard his "kustom deff-kopta", Warboss Gruzka Koptadrilla warcry marked the start of the Dakota Primus siege. Squadrons of rotorcraft, scrap-vehicles, and jetpack-equipped warriors hurled themselves at the scrambling Imperial defences.
Siege of the North Wall: Day 9 to 12
The Ork assault began on the north defensive wall of Dakota Primus. As Ork artillery pummeled the wall sections and emplacements, a combination of hit-and-run attacks by skimmers and foot-slogging warriors wittled away at the defenders.
The DMDC forces did their best to hold them off for three days, but were eventually overwhelmed. The lack of experience and armaments made it impossible for the Imperials to hold back the tenacious invaders.
The North Wall Breached: Day 12 to 15
The northern gate was breached on the twelfth day, giving the Orks free access to the city centre via St Celestine's Highway. Having exposed the weakness in the Imperial’s defences, Warboss Koptadrilla convoyed his forces through the highway and deeper into the hive.
The invading forces of Waaagh! ChoppaTide charge forward into the hive of Dakota Primus along St Celestine’s Highway
With the promise of "His Angels' intervention" yet to come to fruition, morale amongst the DMDC was shattered. Commanders struggle to rally their forces, resulting in disordered fighting withdrawals deeper into the hive. Strategic estimates were re-evaluated to five days until Dakota Primus fell to the Orks.
Unbeknownst to the people of Dakota Minor, divine intervention was not far away…
+++ ARTICLE CONTINUES IN PART II +++- Read more...
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30 Years of Hobby - Packing time
Hi Folks,
It is time to move, or rather prepare the moving. There are 7 days lefy before starting loading the truck. And I packed all the stuff I jealously want to keep for myself and, if possible in good shape.
But 30 years of Hobby is a big volume of stuff. And some models requuire very specific care if one want them to arrive at destination in a single piece.
Past weeks have therefore be spent reinforcing boxes and tray, cutting foam spacers, revarnishing some models, just in case...
Which were the trickiest models to pack?
As one may guess, Cawl and its AdMech minions, especially Sydonian dragoons, Freeblade Knight for its size, Flyers such as Corvus Black Star and Storm Eagle. And the Yncarne.
I can only hope my protective measures will be enough.
In the end it is a huge amount of cardbox crates. It is impressive how much stuff was packed in my closets.
You see things that are still in process of being packed. But there are also 3 more big plastic crates not pictured. With more scenery. Lattest years passed at building lots of buildings plastic trees, hils and gantries allowed getting very fun KT tables but it is a lot of stuff which packing leads to big volumes...
Paint pots and modelling supplies are also a non negligible amount of stuff requiring special care - spillage of opened paint pot is not something one wish to experiment, do one?
But bitz and spent sprues management is really an issue: almost 2 crates. I should try to sell them to the owner of a bitz ebay shop, at a symbolic price, just to get rid of them while avoiding simply getting these tiny plastic bits ending as a waste...
7 days to go and so much other things to do.
See you once arrived at the other place.
PS: I also found back stuff I had forgotten for years - Dwarf Flame Cannon, Tankhol the grey seer, Spore mines... The flame canon (the genuine model with big barrel) made my day!
PS: Apologies from the XMas tree for its participation in a photobomb...
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This One is Compulsory
Theoretical
It's largely unnecessary (and generously self-indulgent) to explain the concept of Compulsory Unit Selections to the B&C crowd. With his previous experiences in 3rd Edition Age of Sigmar (playing the big orks whose name escapes me - 'Ardboyz? Irongutz?), my opponent grasped the concept pretty quickly. Personally, I first learned Compulsories during my initial forays in Warhammer, playing Horus Heresy from 2015 until the first rendition's untimely demise (there's another conversation to be had elsewhere about the HH2.0 update and the loss of "the magic" that made that system appealing). We both enjoy playing around inside of tight boxes of rules, and I find that limitations and regulation breeds creativity, to a certain point.
At no point, however, have the 40k rules writers ever needed to convince Space Marine fans to take Tactical Squads - they're the in-universe and tabletop backbone of a Codex-Compliant Company (or Demi-Company), and a great hobby exercise - an opportunity to showcase the distilled essence and character of a Chapter. The colors, heraldry, and any weird quirks can be presented and not overwritten by duty-specific wargear or markings.
Practical
I committed to make the two identical Tactical Squads of my 1,000pt list the first units I completed in the project. Tactical Squads Andreus and Mattean are 5th Company's 1st and 2nd Squads, and in 5-man form, both armed with a Plasma Gun. The Sergeants are armed with Power Swords (denoting induction into the Velocitari), wear laurel wreaths (denoting secular rank and the stewardship of a particular shrine on the Company's Charge-World), and each wear a copy of the Lectio Divinitatus on their hip. Their tilt-shelds display the 5th Company's battle-heraldry, a simple-to-freehand red stripe on a grey field. I tried to add some sort of gubbin or bit to each Marine - a purity seal there, ammo and grenade pouches here, etc - just to add some interest to the units.
Painting itself was a pretty straightforward tried-and-true method. For the undercoat, a tricolor zenithal + purple wash + drybrush, to create shadows, add depth to recesses, and strengthen highlighted areas without any sort of cerebral labor. After that, I added colors (sometimes all at once, sometimes progressively layering) with speed paint. The lack of any sort of finesse will show to the trained eye at 2" away, but I'm at a stage in the hobby where I really don't mind okay-painted minis, so long as I get to roll dice and make pew-pew noises.
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Knives in the Grass
Been steady picking away at my Ratlings team for the last week, and been making slow but steady progress. I swear, ratlings are basically guardsmen on hard-mode. "Oh you want to paint bare faces? What if they were even smaller and always squinting?". I do really love this kit, but if you don't like painting faces its certainly one to avoid. Or don't. They're small enough most people wont see them anyway - live your life.
I have two young children (4 and 6), a spouse that has recently started a new business requiring a lot of their time, an engaging full time job and a lovely home that requires constant maintenance and repair. Hobby time does not come freely in my house at the moment. I long for the days of my youth where I could paint for hours on end, however the reality of my current situation is that I often have to make the best of what I have. And what I most frequently have is 30-45 minutes after the kids go to bed and I finish up chores, before I go to sleep myself. I'm fortunate enough to have a dedicated hobby space that allows me to leave my projects out, ready to be picked up and put down as the opportunity arises, and children that occasionally enjoy painting along side me (on two old AoBR Dreads constantly re-primed for their efforts. Even in death they still serve)
I mention this because my biggest hobby "win" this last week was something my kids helped me with, testing my new static-grass applicator. As the dust from the holidays settled I found myself with a few gift-cards and after doing a bit of research I purchased the Woodland Scenics "Static King" tool, along with the power cord. TL:DR on that is that it might not be the best on the market, with the power cord its among the top performers for an affordable price, and was easily available on amazon (no local store carries the tool unfortunately). I'd been wanting to try out the applicator since it had arrived and this weekend provided a great opportunity. My kids helped apply watered down elmers onto two cast-off pieces, shake the applicator, and apply some of their mother's hair-spray to the grass in between applications. The results were really great!
The longest grass didn't apply entirely how I would have liked, but I believe that was operator error on my part rather than the applicator not being able to properly apply longer grasses. The more I apply the more skills/tricks I hope I'll accumulate, but honestly if this was as good as it could get I think I'd still be pretty satisfied. I can definitely see problems with crushing/compressing the fibers with repeated uses/play, meaning this will likely see more use in building display boards and dioramas than it will with high-use minis, but for this project its already a lock, and I'm VERY excited to finish up painting these minis so I can get to work on their bases.
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Salamander Statue back on the WIP pile
Quick update.
After about 14 years, I'm getting my Salamander back on the WIP desk to start clearing my more important backlog of figures. He's been at the same stage since about 2010/11 (there's a theme here), so I'm getting him finished. Originally I was just going to paint him with just a basic style, but since changed to more reflective/NMM style that's more interesting.
Starting with the right leg and knee, it's already looking a bit more interesting!
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The Rest of the Story (sort of...)
I suppose it's time to tell you as much of the rest of the story as I can. While I had originally intended to present a story in which you never quite knew whether or not the Accusers existed, I mucked that up in telling the Homecoming story. It was such a compelling vignette, though, that I couldn't resist telling it and spoiling the secret.
Yes, the Accusers existed. They were created in the 2nd Founding and were one of the Primogenitors. While many of the members of the chapter may have been inducted at the tail end of or after the Horus Heresy, perhaps serving during the Scouring, the senior members of the chapter were veterans of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy.
Led by Astinax Megaeros, a chapter master in the Ultramarines Legion and first (and only!) Chapter Master of the Accusers Chapter, the Accusers embarked on the core mission of the Scouring: pursuing and destroying the traitor legions. They participated in the combined action of multiple Ultramarines Legion successors at Tsagualsa. After the apparently mortal wounding of Roboute Guilliman by Fulgrim and the subsequent placement of the former in stasis upon Macragge, Megaeros, utterly devoted to his gene-scion, led his chapter in a crusade against the traitor legions. Slowly, Megaeros descended into an existence of wrath and hatred, the majority of his chapter willingly following his lead. Eventually, however, some members of his chapter resisted and the chapter was broken by a schism. Megaeros and his followers were defeated, though we don't know of Megaeros's fate.
The mystery, then, is why we've never heard of this chapter; and what became of the loyalists.
The answer in my mind is that the Ultramarines and their Primogenitors are not as squeaky clean as many suspect, and that they, too, are capable of subterfuge and deception. In this case, the Ultramarines and their successors decided to pretend as if the Accusers never existed, destroying all evidence to the contrary. The code word for this is the Corrigere Sanction, whose meaning is known only to the Primogenitors (including the Ultramarines Chapter). This means that any records of the Accusers' existence were either destroyed or hidden away. Yes, this throws the pedigree of the Apocrypha of Skaros into question (though the official expansion of the 2nd Founding, which happened after I created this chapter, has already done that). Just as the Unforgiven chapters hunt for the Fallen, the Ultramarines and other Primogenitors follow the Corrigere Sanction in concealing the existence of one of their own falling to Chaos. From an in-universe perspective, the fall of the Accusers would be only the first of multiple scions of Roboute Guilliman to fall to Chaos over the millennia, but it was a traumatic event for Guilliman's sons at the time.
For what it's worth, the sword described in the Homecoming story, which was presented to Astinax Megaeros by Roboute Guilliman upon the chapter's founding, was recovered and returned to the Ultramarines. That sword is now known as the Talassarian Tempest Blade and is currently borne by Cato Sicarius, the Commander of the Victrix Guard. How that sword returned to the Ultramarines is not my tale to tell.
I previously mentioned that the Accusers present me with a ready-made chapter if I ever do a force for the Scouring. Knowing that some of them fell to Chaos, it should be obvious that the Accusers also present me with an opportunity to create my own Heretic Astartes warband, perhaps even one that operates during the Era Indomitus.
I had an idea when I first started working on the story, but I was approached by another member of the B&C community who had an idea for a DIY chapter that meshed quite well with what I was working on. We decided to combine our efforts. No, I won't tell you who that member was, nor will I tell you the name of their chapter. It has been over a decade since I corresponded with them, but as far as I'm concerned, the intertwined story that we collaborated on remains as valid now as it was over a decade ago. The tale of what happened to the loyalist Accusers, whether or not they still exist in the Era Indomitus, and what they've been up to over the intervening millennia is theirs to tell.
This whole idea was an interesting exercise. The return of Roboute Guilliman to the Imperium creates risk for this DIY, however. After all, the Primarch almost certainly remembers Astinax Megaeros and the Accusers Chapter; and he most likely recognized the Talassarian Tempest Blade wielded by Cato Sicarius as the weapon he once bestowed upon his devoted son. Would Guilliman seek answers from the Ultramarines, who likely have the records hidden away deep within their librarium? Would the Accusers be reborn as a Primaris chapter in the Ultima Founding? Or should I just consider this one of those fan-fiction DIYs that can't exist as true "canon" since the official lore ignores them, implying that they never existed? Or should I entertain the pipe dream that GW might some day incorporate the Accusers into the official lore (I won't hold my breath
)?
But really, what happened to the loyalist?
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Hobby Challenge Diary 01
Well, something happened this week.
Deciding to throw caution to the wind, I sat down with the Sternguard and drilled some holes.
I did (guess I should say, tried here) the pilot hole trick with my craft knife, then, got to work.
The results speak for themselves...aka an obvious first attempt.
Little bit of history here. At no point in my hobbying career have I ever used a drill...or done any real converting. The closest I got was swapping heads like the Thousand Sons Rhino I made way back in 2003 (no picture exists sadly) where I stuck on a Thousand Sons head on the chaos space marine body that goes on top of the tank. I remember I also had plans for a Tzeentchian Demon Prince using the superb 2002 Chaos Space Marine Demon Prince as a base with Lord of Change wings and a staff...no, I don't know how 2003 me was going to pull that off.
2025 Me, on the other hand, far less ideas and ambition. This is why I did the barrel drilling.
One marine though, suffered for my folly.
Live and learn I guess.
With the exciting new bit out of the way, the Sternguard got several coats of paint on them. Sadly they weren't finished this week like I wanted but couldn't be helped. They only need armour highlights and robes. Definitely done by next week, I've got Infernus Marines stood waiting.
That's enough for now I think, so I'll just say thanks for looking!
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First progress of the year
January ProgressIn trying to keep my new years resolution of posting on my blog more regularly, here's the first update for the year:
First up we have the models I need to clear off my desk before the Aeldari deluge begins - The company heroes i got for Christmas along with a squad of incursors and another of Infiltrators, left over from buying a few too many models to create my Phobos kill team.
Next we have my Xmas present to myself, a full size mark X helmet, that i got as 3d printed parts on Etsy to build and paint. Shown worn by my wife.
IncomingLooks like there is going to be a lot of space elves in my near future, I've preordered all the new Aeldari models as well as the codex, cards and the reboxed war walkers, all of which should hopefully arrive at the weekend. I also took out a subscription to Combat patrol from issue 19 to hopefully pick up the Aeldari and chaos issues, the first batch of which arrived last week. As well as the Chaplain on bike and the farseer I was expecting they also sent me Cheif librarian Tigurius, all of which got a the kitbashing treatment, the farseer and chaplain to distiguish them from the existing models I have and tiggy to remove any trace of the ultrasmurfs on him so he could be repurposed as a librarian for my own chapter.
As usual any comments and critiques welcomed.
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Latest Entry
Crusade - Game 2 - A Sudden, But Inevitable Betrayal
CRUSADE
GAME 2 - TAU VS ELDAR
Who could have foreseen this?
Immediately after successfully fending off an Imperial tank push, the two order-aligned Xenos factions have, inevitably, fallen to their own squabbling. Game 2 for the Crusade saw 500 points of Tau V Eldar on an alarmingly small board. It's fine, neither of us brought much in the way of close combat, which is more than can be said for the Chaos fight that used the board before us. We're probably going to enlarge our standard board size for the rest of these low-points games.
Danger close!
James brought his guardians and bikes, I brought more infantry and my battlesuit commander with retinue, and at 500 points those elite units really throw their weight around. This one also ended in a victory for my Tau, but a costly one. It seems my stealthsuits crave death, and are granted it gladly, and my ethereal managed to catch a powersword the moment he was done doing his mid-board objective. Both the battlesuits and strike team took a beating, too, though both squads ended up winning things for me by sheer weight of firepower, and a dogged refusal to die.
None of these units should be in close combat.
Things to take away from this one: massed pulse pistols can, sometimes, make up for the abysmal Tau punching, and I really, REALLY need to make my ethereal a firewarrior bodyguard if I want him to keep doing that 3DP agenda. Don't worry, I have plans.
I'll leave you with some shots of James' delightful Ulthwé force, on what turned out to be their final index game! We'll see how it does with a new set of rules and points costs.
A commanding presence.
Gotta go fast, again.
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Struggles of life and being a new dad
So it's been 10 days since picked up a brush or for that matter done and anything hobby related. Work and family life has been rough the past few weeks. Need to find the motivation and strength.
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Hobby Burnout, and How to Avoid It
Having recently finished painting Heavy Intercessors and a Gravis Captain (3rd Company Captain, Kaius Timaeron), I’m still committed to getting a 2,000 point force for this army painted up over the coming months (on top of the 4th Company Boarding Patrol units I’ve already done!) – so that means straight into painting the next units, two Desolation Squads.
With the Crusade campaign I’m currently running/participating in, I’ve added a bit of additional pressure for myself, by aiming to get certain units ready for milestones in the campaign. The Heavy Intercessors and Gravis Captain are part of that plan, and I’ve managed to fit them in to be able to take part in the second part of the campaign, with bigger battles as everyone’s Crusade Roster grows. I’d like to get the Desolation Squads done for the end of the Campaign, but to be honest I know they won’t be fully painted for that deadline (end March). They’ll get finished, just if I want to use them in games before the end of the campaign I’ll have to tolerate them being part-way done!
Still, I’ve got a plan for painting my units, which includes – believe it or not – a schedule of what I need to paint when. Based on my initial experience painting the first units I completed – Assault Intercessors and Hellblasters for the Boarding Patrol – I can realistically paint two units of 5 Marines, plus a character, over three months of evenings. So I know, for example, I’ll need the best part of a month (!) just to highlight the armour.
(Believe it or not, this actually helps me – though I did show a friend and he said it made him feel anxious looking at it!)
So as I start the Desolation Squads, I’ve become aware of the risk of getting a bit of hobby burnout, due to putting ‘pressure’ on myself by having a schedule. This isn’t helped by the fact I wanted to literally make a start on these straight at the start of the month/new year, but I didn’t quite have them ready to begin painting – then I caught one of Nurgle’s blessings that have been very prevalent this winter, meaning I didn’t feel up to do much of anything for several days.
Hobby burnout is real – there’ve been a number of posts on this forum in recent months. It’s something I’ve experienced myself, leading to my taking a four-year break from building or painting any 40k miniatures. For me, what can lead to burnout is trying to paint to deadlines (ironically, what I’m kind of doing at the moment!), coupled with having over-ambitious goals of what I’m wanting to paint in a specific amount of time. When experienced burnout last time, it was compounded by having spent the best part of 7 years mainly focusing on one project (my Chaos Marines, the Legion of Taurus), and finding that the paint scheme I chose (and the standard I wanted to paint them to) was time-consuming and painstaking. My ambitions for getting things painted for that army were often thwarted by the length of time it would take me to paint what I already had built!
I’ve been able to deal with the second of these three things through a combination of knowing how long it’ll take to paint a couple of units (as stated), and also being flexible about my ‘deadlines’. Thankfully, the timeline I’m trying to follow for this army is by and large my own, there are no external factors (such as painting for a competition or to get certain units ready for an event like a Tournament). So if anything ‘slips’ then really there’s no detriment. I can also be flexible, swap something out if I want to paint a different unit (or move on to a different project altogether for a change!).
The last burnout factor, I’ll admit, is a risk for this army. Whilst I’m enjoying painting these more than I did my Chaos Marines, by the time I’ve done the Desolation Squads that’ll be almost 40 Marines I’ve painted consecutively in this colour scheme – it’s at this point that doing intensive, time-consuming parts (like the armour highlights) is at risk of becoming repetitive, taking the enjoyment from this project. Again, to mitigate that, I’m currently painting an Apothecary alongside the Desolation Squads – a break from Grey armour! Also, a new challenge for me, as I’ve never painted White armour before. In recent years I’ve found that it helps me see a project through if I’m actually working on 2-3 things at the same time; I’ll balance out a more detailed, time-consuming project (like these Ashen Sentinels) with something I can get done quickly.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, with the extra time on my hands I broke out some old Marine minis I’d had in boxes for almost a decade, and using faster techniques (thinned paints and washes to simulate building up highlights rather than painting them all on. I did 60 miniatures in 6 months – it had taken me almost as many years to get the same number of Chaos Marines done when I was doing that army! I took what I learnt, and in the following years I painted armies of Death Guard and Nighthaunt employing the same techniques; in this day and age of Contrast and Speed Paints, it’s easier to get results that look good for tabletop standard, and get a larger number of miniatures done quickly. This year I’ll be painting Necrons as my ‘speed project’ – letting Contrast, washes and Technical paints over sprayed Leadbelcher basecoat do the heavy lifting.
Contrast, Technical paints and Shades made these armies possible!
Does that mean my ‘schedule’ for the Ashen Sentinels will slip? It doesn’t have to – I can fit the Necrons in on my lunch breaks when I work from home, but my evening painting sessions will still be focused on these Marines. But having something else to build and paint can break up the process of doing the Marines, and offer something different by way of a change.
Saying this, I’m still aware the risk of burnout is real, certainly when it comes to this army. But knowing what can trigger it, and trying to address or mitigate those things will certainly help when it comes to avoiding it. I’m very invested in the Ashen Sentinels as my main 40k army for the foreseeable future – but it doesn’t have to be my sole focus, if it ever feels like it’s not a ‘fun’ project to paint anymore.
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Timeline (WIP)
M24: Some 58 years or so before the Age of Strife began, Christian priests across the galaxy received a prophetic dream foretelling a great disaster. One of these priests, Noah, was given the STC for a massive void ship & told to build one on Terra as well as coordinate construction of others across the galaxy. These Arks took around 10 years to complete, during which time many priests preached to the masses of the oncoming doom, gathering as many believers as they could save, while gathering the necessary resources & supplies for the journey.
M24: Some 47 years or so before the Age of Strife began, the Arks launched, beginning their 40 year long journey toward the world of Eden. Several of these Arks would be lost, some being attacked by enemies, some wandering into warp storms & 1 reportedly vanishing (later found in the collection of Trazyn). The exact number of Arks that reached Eden is unknown as no records of their construction remain.
M24: Some 7 years or so before the Age of Strife began, the Arks reach Eden & within a few weeks, the Pilgrims begin their conquest of the world, fighting against the Eldar & Orkz who had been warring against each other. The 7 year long war is fraught with many successes & failures on the part of the Pilgrims, but in the end, they achieve victory, driving the enemies from the world.
M25: With Eden conquered by the Pilgrims, the sun which it orbited turns a divine golden color & Eden is miraculously terraformed into a lush world not dissimilar to Terra. The Pilgrims are renamed the Scions of the Golden Kingdom. Meanwhile, the Age of Strife begins in the Milky Way galaxy.
750.M30: The strength of the Warp increases with the birth of Slaanesh, allowing several daemon incursions to happen on Eden. Despite being outmatched in every conceivable way, the Scions are able to successfully defend against each incursion. When a daemon prince appears on Eden, the Archangel Michael arrives, driving it back into the warp. Under God’s guidance, the Scions create a tabernacle which acts as a ward to prevent any daemons of such high power from being able to manifest on Eden ever again. A man named Elisha is given a prophetic vision of a great warrior who will come to Eden & found a holy order to fulfill the promise of the Light’s return to the galaxy.
792.M30: The Archangel Gabriel arrives on Eden, delivering a child to a family of Scions. The boy is named Gershom, meaning ”exiled one, gift.” From a young age, Gershom Is able to hear the voice of God, who gradually reveals Gershom’s origin to him. Throughout his life, Gershom would go on many pilgrimages, visiting every holy site on Eden, communing with God & preparing Eden for the arrival of Ordo Celestia more than 10 millennia later.927.M30: The Emperor arrives on Eden, seeking one of his sons. He is greeted by Gershom, who invites the Emperor & his sons to partake in a feast. The Emperor reveals Gershom to be the 11th primarch, though Gershom is unsurprised.
Around 945.M30: Gershom is deemed defective & executed by the Emperor. His legion is destroyed & their names are expunged from Imperial records. Before his death, Gershom declares that the Emperor has been deceived & that his plans to free humanity from Chaos has only ensured the victory of “True Chaos.” When the Emperor destroys Horus’s psychic soul, he suddenly realizes the truth of Gershom’s words.
Around 700.M41: Abram becomes a Grey Knight.
009.M42: The Imperium discovers Eden & attempt to colonize it.011.M42: Abram leads a detachment of Ordo Malleus to Eden.
012.M42: Sarai gives birth to Abram’s son, David, the last Scion of Terra. The family returns to Eden & after receiving new names from God, begin the arduous task of founding Ordo Celestia & preparing the Scions to re-enter the galaxy.012.M43: Ordo Celestia enters the galaxy…
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Iron Warrior Characters
Been while since last blog post. Recently I have been trying to give myself a few more character options even though I'm fairly happy with how my iron warriors list looked on the table top. I've seen more and more online about master of executions being a great pick and how they can stack in a unit, so I figured to make one. Ive had an old metal bile body siting for a while planning to build some form of iron warriors medic however as no option in codex i figured he can be a good base for a MOE. fluff wise im thinking this has been a apothecary turned executioner as his role evolved post heresy. this is the guy who likes to cut. be it removing tentacles for replacement or spawn gone too far or enemies... he care not. its the job. cold hard mechanical thinking . Biles cloak supports this well. His butchers apron.
The next part was the knife had i felt just really fitted the pose. Good for bisecting, The backpack seemed mechanical enough to suit too. id like to mayby add a servo arm at some point. The axe and head gave me problems. i tried a custom made power claw but axe and head removals was a thing that cam e up and i eventually remembered this axe from an orc warboss and think it scales well and looks like its suitable for decapitations. . Heads i couldn't decide on for ages but when i got some mechanicus sprues the coldness of their common masked faces i think suited the character build better than the head i previously had.
Now this is'nt finished... its sorted for the table but i do plan more. but it needs earned... As you can see Ive painted a few glyph on. if he does well i want to add more. As he kills i want to put trophies on his base and rise him up. and i don't even know if i will purposefully use him much. Perhaps i will and i will one day have to buy the new bile and upgrade him but for now i think its pretty good for old school. Just needs a name just so any ideas drop em!
Next up the new chaos lord. i wasn't even planning on getting one as I've barely used the hammer lord i do have but when i saw this released i thought it was much more fitting for an iron warrior lord (yes I also picked up Cypher too and i maybe be bringing in some fallen elements in my iron warriors over time) So i picked him up recently off a dodgy website for a fantastic discount (whoop) as a Christmas present to myself. I will likely be using all his spares for all there is on my chosen squad.
Now the only issue i had with the stock model was the head options. Not highly iron warrior like are they. and i went through a bunch trying to find a better one as you can possiby see at his neck i decided to magnetise it, even put a magnet on the base for keeping the spare on it from being lost. Afer an age searching though my bits boxes i found an old metal one, havoc? eye lences suited my aim but needed more... insert mechanicus top comb. think its pretty fitting for a lord
cold weather did delay my progress but i eventually got sofar. and i saw a really cool cape done on an abbaddon that inspired me to attempt the stripes on the cape which im really happy with how it went . i even feel like the positioning turned out well and suits the lord too.
so thats him pretty much complete for now. ive some base work to do and possiboly dirt but will wait ttil im doing a mass basing session. again i will see how he preogresses when he gets in game. i dont think i expect him to be highly active in my lists but is certainly a better fit for my rion warriors that the old thunder hammer lord... though he may well find a specific job on the horizon...
anyway any C&C / ideas on names for either or both let me know. Cheers!
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I'll be using the Legionary Kill Team (gasp!) to represent my very loyal Fire Claws Adeptus Astartes kill team. There are three main reasons for this:
- No Primaris. It's not that I'm against Primaris. It's just that I'm representing a kill team from the Chapter prior to the introduction of Primaris.
- Librarians. The Fire Claws are known for having a large and influential Librarium and I want to include a battle-psyker in my kill team.
- Daemon weapons. The Fire Claws collect and, more importantly, use the relics of Chaos in battle.
Models will accurately portray loyalist Adeptus Astartes, but will follow the rules of their traitorous brothers. I'll probably make datacards for each model (once I get them done and photographed, that is) so that I can use them in games without getting too confused. They'll be accurate to the official Legionary Kill Team, so usable in games, but they'll be re-named proper loyalist names. In the post-Captor of Sin Fire Claws, this is a Quæstor Squad - a squad jointly led by a Sanctifier (see below) and a Lexicanium and tasked with the covert recovery of Chaos relics.
Here's the tentative roster (actual Legionary Kill Team rules hidden - just highlight the grey bars to read the text).
Sanctifier Skeptukhos armed with a bolt pistol and crozius arcanum
Legionary Aspiring Champion armed with tainted bolt pistol and power maul
A Sanctifier is a cross between a lieutenant and a chaplain, a pre-Primaris precursor to the Judiciar. The Sanctifiers are the members of the Chapter tasked by the Conclave with recovering Chaos relics. While the Sanctifiers don't practice vows of silence like Judiciars, I'm going to model this guy so that his mouth is covered, evoking the concept. The "crozius arcanum" will be more mace-like.
Lexicanium Vrotoktónus armed with a bolt pistol and force dagger
Legionary Balefire Acolyte armed with a bolt pistol and fell dagger
Honored Brother Adámastos armed with a boltgun and bearing an Icon of the Emperor Enthroned
Legionary Icon Bearer armed with a boltgun and fists
Honored Brothers are a special type of standard bearer in the post-Captor of Sin Fire Claws, the Icon of the Emperor Enthroned serving to bolster the faith and zeal of the Fire Claws battle-brothers.
Veteran Brother Phriktós armed with a bolt pistol and eviscerator
Legionary Butcher armed with a bolt pistol and double-handed chainaxe
Veteran Brother Megasthenes armed with a heavy bolter
Legionary Heavy Gunner armed with a heavy bolter
Veteran Brother Oplophoris armed with a boltgun
Legionary Warrior armed with a boltgun
Each of the models will have purity seals, representing the fact that they have been tested for purity by the Conclave and have been found to be suitable to the task. These are most definitely loyalist Space Marines. It's just that the [Heretic Astartes] Legionary Kill Team rules give me the tools I need to accurately represent the team as I envision them.
In the back of my head, there are plans to expand this to include other members of the
LegionaryQuæstor Squad Kill Team. The Anointed would be a Veteran with a lightning claw and the Shrivetalon would be a Veteran with a bolt pistol and a pair of power blades. The Chosen would be the most interesting, simply being the same character as the Sanctifier (Aspiring Champion), but replacing his power maul with a daemon blade (I have some Bloodletters and one of those may sacrifice his blade to the Emperor's Angels). I would avoid the reaper chaincannon, but most other things have loyalist counterparts. -
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The One and the Nine
Notes on the Chapter Cult and its influence on the local Imperial Faith
Opening Thoughts
While I do love to read sourcebook lore and do occasional deep dives on stuff that interests me, I started building my chapter more than 15 years ago with little knowledge of the universe beyond what was in the Assault on Black Reach Booklets, and even as my knowledge expanded, the rule of cool was my primary rule and GW was offering wicked cool kits with great looking bits for a space wolves, blood angels, grey knights and others. After I encountered the b&c (many years ago now) I have been off and on working my Index Astartes for many many years now, and trying to figure out an in universe justification for why I have more out of chapter bling than the Blood Ravens ;). Eventually I tied it into the chapter cult, as there is no better answer for cultural assimilation and clandestine artifact acquisition than Religion, as history has proven to us so often. Anyways, here is the outline for the chapter cult and organization of the chaplaincy.
Key Features
The Iron Boots worship the emperor as the god of humanity, viewing him as more than just a man, as opposed to the majority of Astartes chapters that view him as just a man. His 9 sons, progenitors of all loyal Astartes chapters, are worshipped alongside him as demi gods. Within the Iron Boots, there are orders dedicated to each of the 9 primarchs, some of whose members have become so devout they develop preferences and stigmata based on their patron primarch. Brothers are not required to join an order, but the majority of the chapter generally does choose one primarch to follow at some point in their life.The Iron Boots are dedicated evangelists, spreading their cult to the worlds they have retaken in the Emperor's name, with the local branches of the Imperial Faith for the most part having taken on the same or similar doctrines as the cult.
The individual orders within the chapter have been known to send search and rescue and archaeological expeditions to warzones and famous battle sites where descendants of their favoured primarch have fought. They do this both to assist those they consider kin and to retrieve lost artifacts and materiel of their patron primarch, should the opportunity arise.
Brothers belonging to an order will often show this in their personal heraldry and trophies that they carry into to battle with them. If a full squad happen to all be dedicated to the same order (generally the case only with veterans of the first company, to help prevent internal rivalries becoming anything more than friendly) they may choose a unified way to present this, such as a custom paint scheme for the squad.
Organization of the Chaplaincy
As could be expected from a chapter that places such emphasis on faith and the divinity of the emperor and his favored sons, the Iron Boots boast a larger than normal Chaplaincy, with multiple chaplains assigned to each company (typically 2-3, but as many as 5 at certain points in the chapter's history), generally more than enough to have one accompany almost any mission, even minor deployments. While it has been known to happen that a chaplain will choose no single preference, the great majority of chaplains choose a patron son of the emperor to venerate, though they will of course provide counsel to any battle brother that requires it.Heading the chaplaincy is the Chosen of the Emperor, generally the most senior chaplain in the Chapter, but as they are nominated by the Council of Elders, a different member is sometimes selected. The Council of Elders consists of the Reclusiarch that is appointed for each chapter cult (typically the most senior living member) and any chaplains with a hundred or more years experience, known as Elders. Rounding out the ranks are those Chaplains with less than 100 years of experience and finally, Acolytes, brothers still in training to become a Chaplain.
A Mission, consisting of an Elder and a small group of Chaplains and Acolytes, is often assigned to a newly conquered/purged worlds to assist the Ecclesiarchy with spreading the Imperial Truth, in particular the version espoused by the Chapter itself.
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Bad Picture
Not sure if I'm actually that bad at painting, or bad at photography. Either way, there's no where to go but up, right?
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Still in the Past, But Closer.....Commissions 2023
And here we are 18 months later and all of 2023 to cover....
Kicking off 2023 was actually a minor expansion of 2022's big commission. It consisted of 1 Necron Overlord, and a whole stack more of terrain, and took up the entirety of January to complete.
Spoiler
Next up was Dystopian Wars commission for a USA Fleet in a striking Red, White and Blue scheme, consisting of 25 Ships. These started out fine, but ended up turning into a 8 month long ordeal (The initial quote was a much simpler scheme, and I'd planned for 2 months tops). When will I learn this lesson?
I actually ended up having a very quite few months (besides those darn ships) between February and May, with just one, single model Hero Forge D&D model commission. Typically, I can sit and paint a character start to finish, in one or two longer sittings, usually in a single day. Models like these are great palette cleaners and really do help to refocus upon their completion.
Mid-May however, saw the arrival of a new client and MASSIVE ORK WAAAGHHH!!!!, over 100 models...
We had Ghazghull and Makari in plastic, Ghazghull in metal, Boss Zagstrukk, Grukk Face-Rippa, a Kill Rig, 10 Squig-Hog Riders, 10 Beast Snaggas, 3 Killa Kans, 16 Nobz, 10 Stormboyz, 10 Kommandos, and 3 Runtherds with 30 Gretchin.
Spoiler
THAT was a lot, A LOT of Orks.... they really, REALLY got my creatitity into gear, it was so great having something so differernt to my usual work, AND I got to work on a pipe-dream army I've never had the money to do for myself. At no point in the 5 months I was painting these did it feel like a slog, I really enjoyed the project start to finish, (added bonus, it really helped break up the drag of those DAMN SHIPS.....)
September saw the regular family of commissioners reach out once more, the order of the day being expansions to their Sororitas, Drukhari, Necron, and terrain collections, additionally, they'd be going big, with some Tyranid big bugs.
The Necrons saw just three new units, a Shard of the Deceiver, a Chronomancer, and 3 Heavy Destroyers.
The Sisters saw more sizable reinforcments, with a Palatine (you'll need to forgive the pic, my Cannoness appears to be standing in the Palatine's spot...), 5 Celestians, 5 Retributors, and an Exorcist.
Spoiler
For the Drukhari, some speed in the form of 10 Scourges, and a forth (or is it fifth!?!?!) Raider,
I really am a fan of the Raiders in red....
Right, time for some BIG BUGS. The fledgling force consisted of a Winged Hive Tyrant, a Harpy, 2 Tyrannofexes, 3 Norn Emmissaries, and a counts-as Swarmlord.
(YES, there's only one Tyrannofex pictured, yes I REALLY did send the second one off to Japan without taking a SINGLE picture of it)
Unfortunately the Emmissaries and Swarlord fell WELL into 2024, and we'll talk about those then. This scheme is one that I personally struggled with. I don't mean I found it hard to paint, but I felt like it was so limiting with what the client requested. Specifically, I just wanted to do more, there's many small tweaks I wanted to make to really bring out the details and make these really pop, but the restraints were on tight for these, and I see the potential, and the result just isn't there. Honestly, it was more than a little demorilising. At least it was only a few big bugs, and not like I was doing 80 Gaunts or something.
And finally, bringing 2023 to a close, the terrain that accompanied these models,
Spoiler
You may notice colour variation between these and the older terrain pieces, but it really just the inconsistency of the lighting, rather than any real difference.
My big takeaway from 2023 is that down-skilling my paintwork is just a challenging as pushing to do my best work, from a motivational point of view, that can lead to real mental road-blocks.
Thank you once more for reading through all this, and once again, I'll try and get to 2024 in lass than 18 months....
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++ THIS ARTICLE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS ++
PREY FOR DEATH:
++ A MEDITATION AND REFLECTION UPON THE ORIGINS AND HUMOURS OF THE MANTIS WARRIORS ++
Order Origination: White Scars (primogenitor), Marauders (gene-foster)
Founding: Unknown; alleged to be the 8th Founding (Mid-34th Millennium)
Region of Control: Maelstrom Wilderness Zone
Strength: Recovering (as current date, M.42)
Affiliation: ...Complicated…
'I have always been equally fascinated and horrified by the terrible occurrences within the Maelstrom Zone at the time of the so-called Badab Schism, a consequence of staggering arrogance and foolishness. Several Space Marine Chapters drawn into heresy by the perfidy of the Astral Claws, who left the others to bear the burden, ensnaring them into misguided alliance. The true horror of these times cannot be understated: even in comparison to the Heresy, the differences are stark. In the perilous days when Horus rose in treachery, brother indeed fought brother, but under Huron’s banner, loyalist fought loyalist, in a different shade of damnation altogether.
Appeals to honour that haunt it, command it, shackle everyone involved to the millstone, making the grim voyage into crushingly deep betrayal ever more the bitter. This is well evidenced by the petitions of clemency from some of those the Secessionists called adversary, who decried the forfeiture of worlds, who baulked at the demands of hot, perhaps even hard-headed dissenters. It is this then, a tragedy upon tragedy that sustains the once great Chapter Master of the Mantis Warriors, Khoisan Neotera in his deep incarceration, from whom whence this small treatise originates. It has been complied for completeness, for the official record, for the history and future of the Mantis Warriors.'
- By Hyronimus Oberon Satii Esq, Interrogator First Class of the Ordo Hereticus, by the Emperor’s Divine Providence, at behest of his master, Lord Inquisitor Garrad Locke.
+++++
Whenever I sign onto a Deathwatch Game RPG in the Nook, I go to Badab for inspiration, and judging by one of the Fantasy Flight Games splatbook supplements – Honour The Chapter – so did they.
Roleplay, especially PBP is a strange medium and niche. In one instance, you’ve got the fact that everyone either knows or has access to, the lore of 40k, and yet in another, you may have picked a Chapter (or be running a homebrew) that has little known history. However sometimes you’ve got that weird twilight twixt recorded lore and general impressions of a faction, which leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Games Workshop are masters of this, painting with a broad enough brush to leave room for a Player to pick out what he wants, to tell his own story.
The Mantis Warriors are one such Chapter, but that approach is not good enough for me, because the deeper you can go, the better and more realistic the character becomes, the more layers can be added. What language do they use? What are their customs? What spiritual paths lead them to the Emperor? There is just no concrete information besides some awful fluff about Mantisae Religiosa. We simply do not know them – which to be fair, is par for the course for an insular, isolated people.
Or do we?
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When I came to my man from Ootheca, thankfully, I had a starting point. The Endymion Cluster is right next door to Badab, and just as afflicted by the Maelstrom Zone. It is heavily suggested that the Astral Claws are (with a few exceptions) based on the ancient Sumerians/Babylonians/Akkadians, later becoming the country we recognise as Iraq. I had researched this already for a previous character, and other projects without the scope of this forum, and this avenue provided me with a lot of material.
At the time, I knew very little of the Mantis Warriors outside the Imperial Armour IX/X books or the infamous WD 101, and would go on to consider their origins, modus operandi and naming conventions to place them further East. Indeed, there are several player-made articles and artworks which would suggest their propensity to make war via hit-and-run, proclivity to ambush, and Chapter credo placing them as either ninjas or samurai. Given their iconography looking suspiciously like Kamen Rider – a 1970’s TV series about a group of motorcycle riding superheroes with a Mantis-like insect motif, (and de rigueur exceptionally tight clothing), you can easily see the conflation.
So, where do they hail from?
"The winds of the desert care not whose bones they scour clean."
— Endymion Cluster proverb.
A solid compass heading for us to take! To be fair, my conclusions are nothing ground-breaking. Further research leads me to diminish Far Eastern influence/coincidence as a primary concept; however it is useful, as we will come to later. I now believe the Mantis Warriors are not so far flung, and are more at home in the ancient Parthian Empire, a major political and cultural power existing from 247 BC to 224 AD, initially spreading from the province of Parthia, to the Northeast of Iran.
The Empire itself spanned many modern countries, reaching all the way from Greece to the Indonesian isles. Their battle methodology of shoot-and-scoot, so remeniscent of the dreaded Mongolian horsemen the White Scars are based on, is another hefty clue. That empire provides us with a lot of room to work in, and is quite a nice symmetry with the Endymion Cluster itself, with plenty of tropical haunts, and empty desert spaces, over which the Mantis Warriors provide their envelope of staunch protection.
What further entrenched this idea was a snippet of the heroes fighting in the Badab War – in particular, a Hellfire-configuration dreadnought, the Venerable Secarssa, the Bow of Ma'Dan. (Imperial Armour Ten – The Badab War – Part 2, p.72). I submit that this likely refers to the Marsh Arabs, the inhabitants of the ancient Mesopotamian marshlands in the modern-day southern Iraq, these wetlands also straddling the Iraq-Iran border, and once again, the propensity of archery in both the name of the Honoured Brother and his devastating equipment loadout harken back to the Parthian Archers of so long ago, the bow a weapon with an unbroken lineage of over 5,000 years.
+++
At some point in time, the Mantis Warriors, like most of the White Scars’ offspring must come to terms with the haunting dark side of the Khagan’s wildling power – because like every other Astartes in the Deathwatch RPG, they have something called the Primarch’s Curse, which is a psychosis lingering in the deep hollows of the Quintessence Sacred.
How this manifests is tied firmly to their Primogenitor, and so, the terrible fury of Jagatai Khan flows thickly through a Mantis Warrior’s veins, bringing an echo of this potent Primarch into the present. So, how do they deal with it? This is a question we can answer now we have an idea of where our Character and the humour of his Chapter originate.
Fervour and foresight play heavily into the mix with the Mantis Warriors, with the Chapter’s spiritual core ‘tempered by Dark Prophecy’. This isn’t a surprise considering the etymology of the Chapter name (Mantis, in Greek, means Prophet). Games Workshop love doing this, leaving little breadcrumbs for us to follow, and it would be rude not to.
One of the main figures within the Badab setting is Ahazra Redth, the Dust Prophet, Guardian of the Endymion Cluster, and Chief Librarian of the Mantis Warriors, interestingly an incarnation who also bears a passing resemblance to Paul Atriedes (calm down, Stilgar!) from Frank Herbert’s Dune.
I submit that his name also vaguely echoes the spiritual figure of Azura Mazda, the figurehead of the Zoroastrian religion – which again – was very common in the Parthian Empire, and Persia in particular. I make no other parallels; I just found the geographical and spiritual occurrences interesting in the context of the topic at hand. In a further coincidence, Zoroastrianism contains a figure which we recognise as Ahriman, who is reasonably board appropriate, so make of that what you will.
Earlier, I mentioned that we should not entirely dismiss the Eastern or Oriental inflections of the Mantis Warriors’ origins. The ecological and geographical diversity of the Endymion Cluster is quite broad, and with training grounds on Tranquillity II and Tranquillity III we find the Mantidae Bellicosa hail also from a death world of deep jungles and mountainous, windswept crags. Indeed, the Mantis Warriors’ main established base outside of Ootheca, is placed within the Valley of The Nine Winds, which could be related to either the nine cuts of the sword as recognised by the ancient Celts, or the Nine Ryu Schools of Bujinkan Budō Taijutsu, which in turn are closely related to Ninjitsu.
'Kamen Rider! Henshin!' (Transform!)
+++
The transformation of the Manga/Anime et al superhero mentioned above moves him into a battle-haze, with supernatural powers and speed. Here then, are those influences which interest us, loosely aligning with the particular condition of our eponymous Space Marines, the Mantisae Religiosa. Formed into a death cult within each Battle Company, it is a strange interaction between the Preomnor Implant and that quirky geneseed we mentioned before. The battle haze is a transformation wherein a brother finds himself with tunnel vision, ignorant of anything which is outside his immediate, murderous objective, but the condition provides him with uncanny agility and alacrity, not unlike the motorcycle warrior (and of course, the voracious predator). It is here, I think that GW beats us over the head with it, thankfully stopping shy of Mantis Missiles, Mantis-hawks, and Mantis Death Metal.
Jagatai be praised.
‘To think is to do – to do; is to be.’
- The Principle of Alahk Geh.
Given that the Far East has used the iconography of Mantids in many forms, and has some of the most beautiful living examples of the genus, it is easy to see where the influence bleeds in. One aspect of this connection we should not ignore is the prevalence of the spiritual married with the corporeal through Shintoism and Buddhism.
The first honours the ancestors, the second we regard for the teachings of balance and atonement. Coupled with the desire to follow the path of enlightenment, and stand against the darkness from our Persian-planted roots; and we now have a powerful spiritual depth without contradiction, the press towards penitence in the contemplative pose of the prayerful supplicant.
Obviously there is another martial exemplar here: the White Scars principle/performance of action-as-thought: Dreadful Perfection, Elemental Force. A broad scope you could call Zen Buddhist-led Bushido. The overriding tenet we are encouraged to take from this, then, should be as follows: that there is no disassociation between thought and action in the mind of the Khagan, there should be none in the locus of force exerted by the Mantis Warrior.
How Inscrutable, mysterious and apropos. Perfect -and yet, as stated above, in my opinion, this should be considered a secondary theme, an overlay if you will, to the stronger evidence of Parthian heritage.
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War of the False Primarch / #HiddenArmies WIP 1/5
The Black Riders (Marcachi Dubh) are a small, roving fleet of Eldar Anhrathe, under charter to [REDACTED] as of this writing. Their force balance tends to skew towards more strategically mobile, less logistically-bound assets — either swift-moving jetbike-mounted raiders, speeders, or pedites. Their colors are as riotous and non-uniform as expected of Corsairs, yet a distinct preference for darker tones has been noted fleet-wide.
Overall, the temperament of the Marcachi Dubh could be described as phlegmatic for Corsairs. This could be attributed to the marked presence of former members of the Eldar’s religio-military orders in their ranks, or to the philosophy they hold. Unusually for Outcasts, the several Coteries of the Black Riders encourage a sort of martial code of honor amongst their lot. While this restrains the worst impulses one might expect of their sort, it does not lessen their savagery against their foes.
Hard to tell what they want, these Eldar mercenaries. Seems like they’re just here for the scrap, sometimes. They sure cut through the Partisans like Betcher’s Bugs, though![
//Anonymous]
Notably, the Marcachi Dubh had a marked rivalry with the Dain-Mir Eldar, for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it seems that the two had chosen opposing sides of the war, with the Black Riders choosing to seemingly throw their weight behind the loyalists. Secondly, there seemed to be the element of vendetta. At some point, the Dain-Mir appeared to have wronged the Riders, such that the wrath of the entire band was turned upon the Craftworld. Powerless to put paid to their foes, their alien psyches collectively turned to obsessive vengeance-seeking:
You pay — in blood or goods, Dhain-Muir. Since the latter is out of the question…
[[//Baron Ra’tar]]
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A Quarter Century in the Warhammer Hobby
I've been in the Warhammer hobby for 25 years, beginning with my first love: the Wood Elves of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. The allure of these forest-dwelling warriors hooked me early on, and I became immersed in the world of dice rolls, paints, and detailed lore.
As I ventured into Warhammer 40,000 in 3rd Edition, my collection expanded to include the zeal of the Black Templars, the supernatural intensity of the Daemonhunters, and the tactical allure of the T’au. Each faction brought its own unique style to my growing collection, and I found new strategies and stories to explore within each one.
College led me to take a break from the game, but when 8th Edition arrived, I was drawn back in. I’m now as dedicated as ever, revisiting old favorites and exploring new ones. After 25 years, Warhammer continues to be a place where imagination, creativity, and strategy come together, one tabletop battle at a time.
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Space Marine Honour Guard
Something a little different this time.
I decided I would kitbash some Honour Guard for the Swords of Fire (my homebrew IH successors). I have 10 Honour Guard based off the old Sanguinary Guard kit so I decided to do something different this time around and use the 30K MVI Command Squad with an assortment of veteran parts from my bits box.
Here's the initial progress picture with more to come:
The sheathed sword on the Chapter Ancient is from the old Sternguard Veteran kit.
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Latest Entry
Helmets of Blue
Painted up the helmet and I love it so much! But I'm left wondering what GW was smoking when they named Stegadon Scale Green and Sotek Green. Those are the paints I used here...
I also am working on the tabard. Mostly happy with it, but I overshaded it and need to bring it up a bit.
Cheers!
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I recently started experimenting with oils, opting to smear a magenta/purple oil wash on my Great unclean one (on the tentacles, stomach and guts) with rather good results, if I do say so myself:
So, yeah, oil washes are good, if you want to use them, but what if you don't? Well, have no fear, I still have some tips for you!
There's a little oil wash on the back here, but much of the purple/magenta is actually done only with thinned acrylics and some washes and contrasts. AND, it was surprisingly easy, as I basically just splattered it on semi-randomly and let it dry, not caring if it dried slightly blotchy (in this case that was just a bonus, as it would look gross. On a less nurgley model, I would thin with contrast medium rather than water, to avoid splotchiness and keep the effect more subtle).
My GUO did take a while to paint, but if you like it, I have some very good news for you: it didn't take very long and I didn't really do anything difficult or use any strange products or chemicals. Apart from the newly added effects, everything was done with a couple of brushes (some big cheap ones and my regular model brushes), regular GW acrylics, a couple of shades and contrasts, some sand and some Nurgle's rot for the base. I didn't do any fancy techniques like wetblending or the like either - in fact, many areas aren't really shaded or highlighted at all, if you look closely and I purposefully didn't even pick out all the little details (for artistic and laziness reasons).
Here's how he looked before the oils (regrettably he's upside down, but I was living in a no-gravity environment at the time...)
Assuming you like the result, I think the big thing to take away from my GUO is that painting models that are almost all skin/flesh doesn't need to be difficult at all, as long as you avoid the biggest pitfall of all: having all the skin be the same base colour, highlight and shade colour, because no matter how well you do it, it can easily come off as a bit boring and "plastic toy" looking.
As far as I'm concerned, the only real key to making a big figure like this look good is to have different colours mixed in here and there, so the overall result is varied - it will look much more "natural", even if you're not a master of placing shadows and highlights, simply because real skin is not the same colour everywhere on your body (well, I assume not, I can only speak for myself, of course...). We don't get the same problem with smaller minis, simply because they're smaller, so the skin being the same colour everywhere isn't as noticeable.
Here's another example:
Incidentally, we see the same thing with terrain, where painting it like you would a regular miniature sometimes ends up looking worse than doing something much simpler that just looks better at that scale. But more about that in another post
And to finish off, a couple of shots of some poxwalkers I'm experimenting on. One has had an all-over wash of the same purple/magenta wash taht I used on the GUO, another has had a more targeted application and the last one hasn't had any at all. As you can see, oil washes seem to have a lot of potential for painting skin and gross features, but it's not really a necessity at all, as long as you're not too afraid of putting different colours into the skin areas.
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fluff creation and whatnots
One of my group got his Heresy army stolen so I have been busy helping him rebuild it sorry for the lack of entries on here.
but....
I am working on concept and background for the main world our group is fighting over.
Praxia (Khymare, post heresy)
Reconstructed during the great crusade by a expeditionary fleet of the 4th and 19th legion,The old world was a mining hub during the dark age of technology.
Being a planet that was cracked and still maintained shape, its bounty of adamantine and vanadium was coveted by the imperium. the cracked continent became a moon used to bombard the planet to make 'smaller' mining sites.
its atmosphere barely breathable without respirators, the population mainly lives in a Hive city known as port rift, which was built on the precipice of the great rift from the dark ages.
the 19th found the world on a scouting mission, on landing, they found a dead world being patrolled by large mining machinery and were attacked, being repulsed from the world, they called upon a fleet of the 4th nearby, knowing they had the titan support needed to fight the leviathan robots.
legio krytos landed on the planet, and after a short and very violent battle, the great mining machines were defeated.
The 19th sent teams into the abandoned hive and encountered feral servitors in the thousands, now enraged by the death of their gods. with assistance with the krytos tagmata
and several companies of thorkatai. they cleared the hive of the infected machines.
In the heart of the hive the found a colony of human descended creatures. being bred by the great mining machines to continue the maintenance of the hive and to process and package the ores for the pick up that never came.Upon seeing the changes that came upon generations of inbreeding and surviving in the darkness, the imperial forces had to exterminate them due to compliance regulations.
After the cleansing the planet was repopulated with colonists from both fleets, along with a regiment of thorkatai, and a small magos congregation. the planet was awarded to Severn the Wretched, a veteran of the 4th, a survivor of the black judge campaign, that was entombed into a lucifer pattern dreadnought and was unable to be transferred to a modern suit.Krytos collected the very large surplus of adamantine and vanadium, and used reconsecrated parts of the mining robots to christen 2 new titans the warbringer class titan "voice of the metropolis"
and rebuilt the warlord class "spirit of motherwill" that was severely damaged during the reclaiming of the world.after settlement, the fleets of the 19th and 4th continued on.
decades passed with Severn being a productive yet tyrannical leader.
During the Heresy, The 4th and 19th clashed for the world with allies from the Imperial Fists, White Scars, Alpha Legion, and Word bearers. During the opening exchange the battlecruiser 'Olympia's folly' was critically damaged and crash-landed onto the planet, the daemon engines in its hold being crushed and causing a warp rift spilling daemons onto the surface.
Lord Governor Severn (Idea for a custom character, input much appreciated, looking at using the arbite dreadnought for the basis of the kit)Monstrous Character WS 5 BS 5 S 5 T 5 W 4 I 3 A 4 LD 9 2+
USRs: Fear 1, independent character, legion astartes (iron warriors), Monster of men, stubborn, provenances of war.
Equipment Lash of the black judge, 3 twin bolters, volkite culverin, deflector shields
lash of the black judge:
a trophy of that campaign he kept a lash hidden for most of his career, after his punishment of being interred into a lucifer pattern dreadnought, the warsmith he was assigned to had it attached to the suit as tribute of his previous campaign. Range: melee S user AP 4 breaching (5+)
Deflector shields:
the progenitor of atomatic shielding, it grants a 5+ invulnerable save, it does not grant any defense against instant death, and upon his last wound being removed he explodes doing a S 8 AP - hit to any models with d6"
Monster of Men:
Severn can only be taken in a traitor imperialis milita army, and must be the warlord if able. he has the ruthless tyrant warlord trait, even with the monstrous subtype he can join any unit of infantry, but cannot join any monstrous unit. He retains his astartes rules but not the special reaction, he does not grant that ability to any unit he joins.
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By MadGamerAK · Posted
Thanks, I think they came out ok (considering it was my first time with transfers.) -
By TheArtilleryman · Posted
Yeah great suggestion from wormwoods. Looks like your drill bit was too big. Always use a smaller bit than you think you need. -
By zulu.tango · Posted
Drilling Barrels is such a great step, it adds so much to the models! Welcome down the path of conversions and kit-bashing! There will be more mistakes but making a model entirely unique in the world to your army is a feeling hard to replicate -
By zulu.tango · Posted
Looking Good! I love the heraldry on the tilting shields, well done! -
Thanks! Yes, it is one of the forge world statues which I got in in 2009, and I think it may have been one of the last ones batches, because the mould had started to break down a bit as some of the armour edges on the legs are a bit rough. I've got two statues, and wish GW would start producing them again... though considering how much the to scale Primarchs are, I would probably cry at the cost of them today!
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