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CALL TO ARMS 2025
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About this blog

A blog in which I record the development and progress of my Space Marine army - background & lore, painting and hobby, and maybe even some battle reports. 

Entries in this blog

Gaming and Campaigns

The Forge of Silence opens - the Campaign finale!

Yesterday at my local gaming group, Framhammer we played a big team game, the finale to 'The Forge of Silence' Narrative Crusade campaign I've been running. This game saw three teams - Imperial, Votann and Necrons - face-off across two game areas; the first a pretty big 132"x60" table (3 standard 40k tables joined together ), the second a 'sort of' Boarding Actions type of affair.      The first area was on the surface of Rostokhar III, where the campaign was fought; narrati
Gaming and Campaigns

The Crusade Campaign Concludes

The Narrative campaign I've been running at my local gaming group, 'The Forge of Silence', has drawn to a close - it remained very close over the previous couple of months, but it was the Necron team that edged it to a claim a minor victory.   My army's record over the campaign wasn't that great, though I did pick up a couple of wins against a friend's Leagues of Votann army (one of which I felt pretty bad about afterwards 'cause I'd forgotten the battle scars on a couple of units mean
Hobby & process

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
Gaming and Campaigns

The Crusade (and Narrative) Continues...

The 40k Campaign I'm running is now at its half way point, and the first part is concluded. This part of the campaign was focused on the Orbital Array that is a lynch pin of the Forge World where the campaign is set.    My Marines haven't done great to be honest - winning only one out of seven games  - but there's been some exciting narrative developments along the way, such as Necrons opening a wormhole to siphon Tyranids from the Octarius Sector directly on to the Array!   
Gaming and Campaigns

The Crusade begins

Yesterday I played my first games with the Ashen Sentinels, one of which was the first game of the 'Forge of Silence' 40k Campaign at my local gaming group, and the first using the Crusade rules. I was up against a Tyranid army that had some big beasty bugs..!    My 1,000 point army looked a little meagre against that - here's the thin grey line    We were playing Linchpin with Hammer and Anvil deployment, plus tactical secondaries, and I chose to be defender and r
Gaming and Campaigns

Ashen Sentinels - campaigning on Rostokhar III

Next month sees the culmination of about a year's worth of planning and preparation, as well as a few more months working on the Ashen Sentinels: at my local gaming group, we're starting a narrative-driven 40k Campaign - 'The Forge of Silence'!      Along with friends, I've been putting together the source book that details the background story and how the campaign will work. I previously shared some of the photography a member of our group did - I was able to include quite
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Hobby & process

I got some of my miniatures professionally photographed

In preparation for a 40k Campaign that will run at my local gaming group, past weekend I got together with some friends to get some photos of different 'scenes' that are going to be in the Campaign source book. Did I mention that one of my friends is a professional photographer?  Here are some of the pics from the session - we were all blown away with the results!     I'll share a post about the campaign in the not too distant future, but in the meant
Work in Progress

Which Company for my Bladeguard - help me choose!

Call to Arms has started, and I'm going to paint a squad of Aggressors for it  But at the same time, I'm painting three Bladeguard Veterans; I'll chip away at these in the background, aiming to have them done by the end of the year.      In the meantime, I'm mulling over which Company these Veterans are going to be from  They're intended to go with the Boarding Patrol I've already completed, which is from the 4th Company. I had originally intended that these would be from th
Hobby & process

Preparing to go on a Crusade

I’ve completed a Boarding Patrol of my Ashen Sentinels, and once I’ve painted Bladeguard Veterans and Aggressors (next on my painting desk), I’ll have some flexibility as to what I can take for playing that game mode. But the next ‘phase’ of this army is doing a ‘standard’ 2,000 points worth of models. Rather than repeat what I’ve already done, I’ll be painting a different selection of Primaris miniatures and models – and as I do so, I’ll be using them in an ongoing narrative-driven campaign wit
Hobby & process

Testing, testing... (again)!

Even though I've still not finished the Marines I wanted to have done by the end of last year  I'm queuing up the next unit* I'll be painting - these Scouts:     *technically 2 units, one to go with my Boarding Patrol, the other for 'regular' 40k - but I'll also field them as a Kill Team    I've been thinking about how I want to paint them - specifically, their fatigues. I've had a few ideas to try - black, dark grey, khaki or military green, but I wanted to test wh
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Hobby & process

About That Colour Scheme...

I had intended to post this for new year, but time got away from me  I'm currently on a brief break from painting Ashen Sentinels to work on Imperial Fists for Legions Imperialis - but just to give a further insight into my creative process  I wanted to talk about the inspirations for the colour scheme I chose for this army.    To start with, a factor in my hobby decisions is usually whether I've painted a particular colour scheme before - if I've done something previously, then I tend
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Hobby & process

A strange observation...

I am deep into painting the next three squads - and Lieutenant - for this Boarding Patrol; I've now finished highlighting the armour, so now I'm painting the undersuits.    Rather than talk about that (not massively exciting ), I thought I'd share an observation about how washes seem to work differently on miniatures with a different pose. When I had base-coated the Hellblasters and Lieutenant, after I gave them a wash of my, uhh, custom wash  I felt that - for whatever reason - the ar
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Background, lore & 'fluff'

A Message to Rostokhar III....

++++ INCOMING MESSAGE ++++ ++++ SECURITY IDENT: MARSHALL THETA-EPSILON-GAMMA ++++ ++++ MESSAGE PRIORITY: ULTIMA+++ ++++ TRANSMISSION SOURCE: ROSTOKHAR QUINTUS++++ ++++ MESSAGE COMMENCES: HOSTILE XENOS CYBER-FORM ENCOUNTERED - UNKNOWN FLEET OF XENOS ORIGIN DETECTED IN SYSTEM - ASTARTES OF ASHEN SENTINELS 4TH COMPANY ENGAGING - REQUEST REINFORCEMENTS FROM ROSTOKHAR III SKITARII COHORTS - PETITION ASTARTES TO DEPLOY IN GREATER STRENGTH IN SYSTEM - BY THE OMNISSIAH'S WILL ++++ ++++ PICT-CA
Background, lore & 'fluff'

About the Chapter Insignia

Over in the Works in Progress forum, my most recent post revealed the Chapter Insignia - here I wanted to briefly explain my thinking behind it.    There's two main things to point out from an 'in-universe' perspective - firstly, reflecting the Chapter's origin that they were intended as reinforcements for the Shadow Stalkers Chapter, there are echoes of their predecessors' Insignia.  This symbol was named after the Eclipse of Strontium, the Ashen Sentinels retained the star
Background, lore & 'fluff'

A Commentary on the Interrogator's Report

To follow up my previous blog post – and thank you if you read it!  – here’s a bit of a ‘commentary’ on the background/lore that this piece of fiction was intended to help establish.   Firstly, where I’ve mentioned specific named characters, planets and warzones – these reflect my plans for the army I’ll be building and painting, as well as other wider hobby projects. To begin with, my hobby focus initially will be on the Rostokhar campaign – the initial squads of Ashen Sentinels I’m p
Background, lore & 'fluff'

A Report by Interrogator Hyo Flavignus

015.012.M42   REPORT OF HYO FLAVIGNUS OF THE DISPOSITION AND DEPLOYMENT OF ULTIMA FOUNDING INVESTED CHAPTER CINERE VIGILIAS – THE ‘ASHEN SENTINELS’   Thought for the Day: Blessed are those in the eyes of the God-Emperor who hath died in His service.   My Lord, I humbly submit for your attention the report you requested, the culmination of six Terran-standard months’ research and investigation, following the events of 229.011.M42 (c.f. war for Strontium Epsilon). As
Hobby & process

The Importance of the "Three P's"

...and by that I mean 'Planning', 'Preparation' and 'Practice'  As I've gone into each step of painting these Marines, I've followed each of these steps - using my tester Marines to plan, prep and practice before painting the finished squad.    Except, the one time I didn't do this fully, it caused me a bit of faff! When it came to doing the highlights on the Chainsword casing, rather than try it out on a tester Marine first, I just went straight jn. I usually do straightforward painti
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Background, lore & 'fluff'

What's in a name..?

While you can find some painting updates in my painting log over in the Works in Progress forum, I'm currently working on a piece that will set out some of the background of the Ashen Sentinels - but before I post that I just wanted to write a little about my process and 'inspiration' for choosing names when I'm doing this.    For the names I've chosen for some of the Chapter's Captains, my starting point has been some local history. My home county is Suffolk, which has a few castles s
Background, lore & 'fluff'

Pulling some threads together

...and by that I mean neither the social networking app, nor items of clothing  What I actually mean is story threads - it's time to talk background for the Ashen Sentinels.    Without going into too much detail (yet ), this Chapter is a continuation (or sequel? ) of an on going narrative and setting that started with my Chaos Marine army, the Legion of Taurus. Their story was developed and fleshed out over a number of campaigns, most recently culminating in a Kill Team campaign. The b
Hobby & process

Decisions

While I spend the next week or so highlighting the armour, I'm looking ahead and thinking about how I'm going to do other parts of the model. So I've turned to my test Marines to try out some ideas.    Firstly, the Aquila on the chest - my first thought was to do this in red, I've slapped a base coqr of Mephiston Red on, but I worry that won't stand out against the helmet.    Second idea - black. One coat of Black Legion Contrast - yeah, I think that's too dark, it doesn't st
Hobby & process

Things to come...

While I carry on with panel lining (and because I won't have anything to show for it for a while ), I thought I'd post some pics to show what's next.    The Marines I'm all working on are intended for games of Boarding Actions, I've built more than 500 points worth, so I've got a choice for games.    First on my 'shelf of WIP'  are a squad of Hellblasters, and two Lieutenants. (Ignore the Contemptor Dread, that's for my Heresy Imperial Fists army )    The reason the
Work in Progress

Panel lining and Red helms

So after the base coat of Dawnstone, I gave these Marines a wash - a mix I made that is 4 parts Lahmian Medium, 1 part Nuln Oil and 1 part Agrax Earthshade (the older, pre-2022 versions of those shades). Here they are after applying this custom shade:     Now I begin the slightly fiddly and time consuming process of panel lining with Nuln Oil:     Finally, I wrote about them having red helmets in my previous entry - here are the results of some tests: fi
Work in Progress

The start of a new army project

"The enemies of the Emperor - our enemies - believe us weakened; they believe they can attack His worlds, bringing fire and tumult, till all that remains is the ashes and blood of our defeat. No. When they come, they will find that we stand, that we defy them, and that the ashes and blood which remain is the sign of their defeat." - Chapter Master Noumen Arkos, Ashen Sentinels, prior to the victory at Genovian III   Greetings Frater  I'm starting a new army, one that has (beli
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