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About this blog

The Aksha'i Cruentes is a warband of Heretic Astartes, originally formed by a zealous conclave of warriors from the World Eaters Legion during the Heresy. They have dedicated every moment of their existence to spreading war throughout the galaxy. Even if they are repelled, the sector they were repelled from is invariably drowned in violence and civil strife for decades to come.

 

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The Aksha'i Cruentes: The Bloodthirsty Legions

THE CRUENTES   Arkrath, the Hand of Khorne DAEMON PRINCE, 11PL       For ten thousand years, the Astartes who would become Arkrath, Kratus, has led his warband of Chosen Terminators. Entering the Long War as a veteran warrior in the ranks of the XII Legion's Terminator elite, Kratus was frequently found in the most bloody of battles. This boldness amassed for him a significant following of Terminators, and they adopted the moniker of Red Butchers, once a reviled and piti

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Let's talk about existing Crusades and new Codexes

With Codex: World Eaters just around the corner, I thought it was time to bring up the topic of how to approach a new codex release with an existing Crusade.   The natural reaction to any new Codex might be to simply start again, but I find that solution extremely unsatisfying. Being a narrative format, it would be disappointing to simply throw out all the narrative development I've put into this force so far.   On the other hand, the Chaos Warband rules for CSM are pretty po

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Murdax's New Butchers

Terminators have to be some of my favourite models in the game. Personal tank armour? Hell yeah!   I've been sitting on a couple of boxes of the newer Chaos Terminators for some time, but have been hesitant to build them with Codex: World Eaters around the corner, especially since some earlier rumours suggested that there wouldn't be any Terminators at all. Now that we've seen all the releases and have multiple leaks indicating that Terminators are still in, I feel a lot more comfortab

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Arkrath the Ascended, Hand of Khorne

Took a month, but Arkrath is finally done!     Painting red Daemonic flesh when the model is also wearing red armour is always tricky, so I went with the option of painting the flesh like a redder version of his moral skin tone.      Of course, had to slather on the blood for the oversized chainfist!     I expanded on the rock that the Daemon Prince model comes with, making it feel more like the type of rocks the rest of the army uses.

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Battle 15: 75PL vs Space Marines, Pandemic Locale

25 November, 2022 With Kratus's ascension into the Daemon Prince Arkrath, his forces have been seized with a renewed vigor for bloodshed. No longer caring about the relic bounty hidden beneath the city, the Cruentes have turned their attentions to simply butchering their way through the hordes of mutants and xenos pouring from underground, ordering their fleet to bombard the whole city from low orbit. In their lord's wake, wisps of unreality coalesce into Neverborn allies as the followers o

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Kratus is dead

For weeks, Kratus's physical form had been in flux. His movement was not a fluid motion, as if viewed through a pict feed at a low framerate. In the blink of an eye, Kratus would appear in a totally different position; blink again, and he might appear to have never moved, as if he were totally disconnected from reality.   Kratus has offered many a worthy skull to the Blood God's throne, felling skilled warriors and titanic Knights alike. It was the foul xenoform known as the Salt Wyrm

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Battle 14: 75PL vs Genestealer Cults, Weaken the Defences

Or: I really need to make a proper urban-themed board for this narrative campaign that is set in a bloody city...   18 November, 2022 The sharp claws hunting us from the shadows have all but confirmed it: an ancient relic is buried under the surface of Hive Secundus, one that is of particular significance to the World Eaters. Rumour and hearsay had led them to this place, and it is time to claim the prize. The final preparations must be made to bombard this city and reach the relic w

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Path of the Righteous - Phase II

It's been a hot minute since I provided much of an update to my Order of Battle! It also took a couple of months longer than intended to advance to the next phase of the Path of the Righteous that my force has begun.   A quick reminder: these are optional rules from White Dward 472-476 from earlier this year. They follow your force at it walks a path of pure zeal, potentially leading to damnation in the process. These issues can be found in the Warhammer Vault, if you are a WH+ subscri

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Battle 13: 50PL vs Imperial Knights, Forces in Disarray

11 November, 2022   With news of Hive Secundus housing something powerful, several armies are converging on the city. Kratus, having been thwarted in breaking into the catacombs himself, has resolved to instead locate the weakest crust of the inner city and simply bombard it from space, cracking it open and exposing the bounty within.   The Cruentes believe they have found the perfect position. The only problem is that a strike force of Imperial Knights stand in their way.

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That's right, Wendy. We all wear masks...metaphorically speaking

Ok, I promise this will be the last time I update this model! I haven't been happy with my choice of head for this guy, and I wanted something to represent his Serpentine Fangs. The problem is that I couldn't find any models that were doing it for me. So, back to the 3D print solution!   This handsome fella's head came from a collection of Vampire Heads by WildMesh, which I digitally kitbashed with some Butcher's Nails by Hellforged Miniatures. (I, erm, paid a lot more money for access

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Battle 12: 75PL vs GSC, Let It Burn

This battle occurred a few weeks ago, but real life got in the way. Sorry for the lack of updates! Regular scheduling is to follow.   I've also noticed that the recent formatting change on the B&C has deleted all of my paragraph breaks in previous entries, so I will eventually go back and fix them...eventually.   7 October, 2022   Burning with the power of the warp following his last encounter with the Imperial Knights, Kratus presses onwards through the dust-st

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The Chaos Lord's New Greave

I didn't get to play a game last week, so instead I got some more hobby done! I hesitate to call it progress, since it's really just a distraction from getting stuff done that's been sitting in the Pile of Opportunity for too long, but hey, it was fun.   Not content to just say "Kratus has bionics under his armour now", I went online and found a cheap ($1) bionic leg STL, fired up the old Photon Mono and made Kratus a new leg to represent his recent battle scar.    

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Battle 8: 50PL vs Necrons vs Imperial Knights, Race to Recover

9 September, 2022 A desperate call has pierced the silence of Hive Secundus. Thought to be a dead city and ignored by the rest of Imperial command, the Space Marines of the Ashen Ghosts chapter dispatched a small detachment to investigate the hive. Now, after weeks of vox silence, an urgent call to arms has been heard all across the world of Janus - even by their enemies - as a facility of extreme importance has been discovered. Several forces now converge on the desolate city, eager to unc

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Battle 11: 50PL vs Imperial Knights, Eldritch Encounter

Or: It's Fistin' Time! 22 September, 2022 After a series of stinging defeats and anaemic offerings to the Blood Father, the World Eaters are eager for a worthy fight. Kratus, in particular, is determined to prove his worth as a successor to the Hand of Khorne. As scattered bands of Cruentes stalk the streets, they encounter a scouting force of Imperial Knights, presenting them with an opportunity to take some worthy trophies. Since the last battle, I used Repair and Recuperate to

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Thrax Gorechosen

In today's episode of "What Painted Thing Will Cheex Redo Next?", we have an older eBay rescue that I had already rescued, but wanted to rescue again: Thrax Gorechosen, the Exalted Champion of the Gorefather! This model is a kitbash of many models together. The base model is the current Exalted Champion (formerly the "Aspiring Champion" from Dark Vengeance), with a head from the AoS Skullreapers/Wrathmongers kit, arms from the AoS Blood Warriors kit, backpack from an old metal Chaos Lord, a

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Battle 10: 75PL vs Custodes, Strike for Supplies

Or: Maybe Don't Choose To Go Second Against Custodes Next Time 16 September, 2022 After being surrounded by the foul xenos forces, the World Eaters only manage to fall back thanks to the enemy armies' preoccupation with each other. Returning in force and hoping to catch these enemies off-guard, the Cruentes are surprised to not see Necrons or xenos mutants, but instead the transhuman might of the Adeptus Custodes.  After the last battle, I used the Repair and Recuperate requisitio

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Battle 9: 50PL vs GSC vs Necrons, Opportunity Strikes

Or: The One Where I Realised Rhinos Kinda Suck When Forced to Use Strategic Reserves 16 September, 2022 As forces from all factions present on Janus trickle into the Hive Secundus, more engagements break out. The indomitable Necron advance pursues the regrouping World Eaters, however sensors on both sides start pinging with the presence of new enemies... Kratus and his lieutenant, Thrax the Exalted Champion, lead Dreior's Berzerkers and Gorm's Berzerkers, backed by Bardûl the Helb

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Berzerker Champions Revisited

No battles this week, but lots of hobby progress! I've mentioned before that some of the models in this force are very, very old. Remaking these classic models has been on my To Do list for a long time, and the release of the Chaos Space Marine Chosen box as a standalone kit gave me the impetus to finally dive into it.   Validon   Validon's original model was based on the metal Khârn the Betrayer - I had received multiples of the model in a trade about 16+ years ago, so

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Battle 7: 50PL vs Imperial Knights, Tech Hunt

27 August, 2022 With the Cruentes' supply lines well and truly solidified (Warfleet Glory has been at 7 for several games now), Kratus has set about raising as many edifices to the glory of the Bloodfather as possible. However, in this small satellite city of Hive Secundus, a cultist coven has alerted the Cruentes of a hidden cache of Mechanicus artefacts. Eager to add these to his arsenal, Kratus leads a force to recover them - and pile some skulls in the process. Fortunately for his warri

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Blood Priest Baruda

In another stunning example of hobby butterflyism, I've decided to work on something completely different to what's already on my desk. But this was just a quick update of a model I have been meaning to fix.   I haven't been happy with the composition of Baruda's model for some time. The original intention was that the huge icon would represent the Banner of Rage relic, but it just really felt like it unbalanced the model - and this was exacerbated by his slightly side-heavy pose (and

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Path of the Righteous - Phase I

This is something I've been wanting to do since the start of the year: the Aksha'i Cruentes are embarking on the Path of the Righteous.   Now that I'm comfortable with the Crusade rules in the CSM codex, I feel like this is a logical and characterful step for the Cruentes. They've always been a zealous bunch, and now with the death of Bardûl and the rising star of Kratus, I think it's a good time to start folding these rules into my army. Baruda is clearly pushing more of his influence

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New Berzerkers and Champions

I've been playing this army for quite a long time. Almost as long as the soon-to-be obsolete plastic Berzerker kit, in fact; I think it came out about a year before I picked up my first Chaos Battleforce box back in the day.   Over the years, I have collected entirely too many Berzerkers made from that old kit. At last count, there were something like 80-odd painted Berzerkers, and about as many unpainted. Unfortunately, that kit is now getting a little long in the tooth (so to speak),

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Cheex's Hobby Tips: Chaos-style damaged power cabling

While putting together some new Berzerker Champions, I found myself needing to reposition some power fists. I could've easily just used some guitar wire, but I wanted it to look more like the damaged cabling you often see on newer Chaos models. After thinking on it for a bit, I had an epiphany: heat shrink.   Heat shrink is used in electronics to repair damaged wire insulation or to bundle multiple insulated wires together (amongst other uses). When it reaches a certain temperature, th

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Order of Battle Updates

Lord Kratus, the Hand of Khorne   Once the Champion of Bardül's Terminator bodyguard, Kratus clawed his way to fill the power vaccuum left by his master's Spawndom. As the former Hand of Khorne's body was being torn asunder, Kratus tore Bardül's chainfist - a symbol of his self-proclaimed title - from his warplate. Easily besting other challengers for the title, Kratus assumed his position as the leader of the Aksha'i Cruentes, and now intends to reunite the many Cruentes warbands

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Battle 6: 50PL Incursion vs Deffskulls

12 August, 2022 Eager to collect as much loot as possible, greenskins have launched an all-out attack on the Cruentes' position in the industrial outskirts of Hive Prime. Our sources tell us that these greenskins call themselves the Death Skulls. This pleases Khorne.   Leading the initial defence is Thrax Gorechosen, the Exalted Champion. He is accompanied by the Berzerker squads led by Validon and Dreior, as well as the Helbrute Xarian the Bloody Idiot and Bardûl the Wretched Foo

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