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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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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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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.
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.
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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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Craftworld Ythiril - Silver Spears & Fire Prism
YTHIRIL WILD HUNTER HOST
SILVER SPEARS & FIRE PRISM
Three Spears of The Wild Hunt.
Iyanneth's mount snarled in her mind, and bucked beneath her with every searing blast she let off with her laser lance. The bike wanted those kills for itself, or better yet to feel the hot wash of Mon-keigh blood against its hull. She soothed it - for a moment - with a gentle push through their psychic link, calming the blood crazed jetbike's proto-soul long enough to allow her next blast to strike through, and tear the leg from the crude, but dangerous walker, which crumpled to the ground as she and her hunt-mates fired past.
A bad sign. That her mouth - Athrin - was so lost to The Path, what did that say of her? Too long, perhaps, among the wild and deadly Spears. It was long past the time where a more careful warrior would have stepped from The Path, and engaged oneself elsewhere, but where? What could she do but war, and what war could ever match the joy of swift death, and the searing burn of her lance? To ride the wind among the simple warriors, once-joyous seemed to flat now, so bloodless.
Perhaps it would be good to give in, to be an Exarch. To give in as Athrin had, her loyal steed of wraithbone and speed, so fine beneath a gleaming, silver skin.
Perhaps it would be good.
Iyanneth, Shining Spear Exarch.
Two updates today, only one of which I'm terribly happy with. The Shining Spears were a massive pain to assemble, even compared to the other jetbikes, as the wrist-connection made them very awkward to assemble after painting. Those open hands are much more forgiving. Also, I swear these bikes are slightly wider at the ankles. If I end up doing more Shining Spears I'll probably just assemble them on the bike and be done with it.
I'll also try a different scheme, because all the silver isn't really working for me. I miss the gradient hull, and while the Exarch's spear tip looks good in red, there isn't enough outside of the green and silver going on. I'll experiment a bit, see what works next time.
Illum Zar - Fire Prism.
Killing light, a scouring beam that leaps from the crystal tip, and tears apart the dull and lifeless bodies of lesser warmachines. No more fearsome a weapon can be found amongst the Wild Hunt, for no greater weapon can be brought to battle at the speed the Hunt demands, but it is mighty enough. A bonded pair of pilots work in perfect unison as gunner and conveyer, bringing the heat to bear against foes of Ythiril, a weapon of such intricate perfection that any comparison to Imperial Las weaponry is laughable.
True, of course, for they ultimately work on similar principals, but it is the difference between an animal swinging a held rock, and a master swordsman swinging a carbon-steel blade.
Swift, scouring death.
This, on the other hand, I've very happy with. The colour mix feels right, and I'm quite proud of how the cockpits came out. The freehanding isn't my best work, but it's suitable. The crystal may need to be brightened a little, it looks a little too red, but other than that this came together well.
Still a pain to assemble, of course. For one thing, the bloody stand doesn't work. The balance is way off, so I can't just plug it in, it seems to require gluing, which I'm not really willing to do here. Needs to be transported somehow, and I know how much flying stands crave death. I'll probably make some other arrangement, possible via magnets. Beyond that, it was also not a perfectly fitted kit. I had to really force the halves together, and didn't quite manage, as you can see with the read of the main chassis. Not quite aligned with the rearmost fins. Oh well.
I need to get a mounted hero for the army, and it'll be good for 500 point games. Probably just a Warlock on Jetbike. We'll see. I'm going to hold off on getting a bike Autarch till I know what the new version of that model - when it comes - will have access to.
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3D printing and the hobby.
A Little BackgroundI have always been into model making from my earliest Airfix kits as a child, I then picked up my fist warhammer miniature at the age of 12 and was hooked on the hobby and my model making followed that direction. During the early days of WH40k Rogue Trader with the lack of larger models we had to kit bash our own, with many of my early Airfix models being sacrificed to this end. Any of you old enough will remember the White Dwarf articles on building your own and I was the proud owner of the skimmer made out of a roll-on deodorant and the original Whirlwind with the rocket launcher made from a 40mm square base and some plascard.
As well as Airfix kits part from all sorts were sourced as the basis of new designs such as Zoids and GI Joe toys, I had several old plastic ice cream containers full of all sorts of buts to filter through. My Father was also a hobby model maker but focused on making naval vessels, for which he used a lot of plascard, a material that I embraced scratch building several bunkers based on templates published in White Dwarf, but always adding extra part to my own taste.
When it came to choosing a university course I applied to study 3d visualisation and animation, but back then there was only place in the country running the course and with only 25 places available and over 400 applicants I realised that I probably wasn't going to get in with my grades, so I had a re-think and decided upon architecture, which seemed to combine a lot of the design aspects I was interested in. During my degree I Learnt CAD as well as producing numerous models for my projects all of which I enjoyed. After my placement year in a practice and the first year of my post-grad I decided becoming an Architect wasn't for me, as I excelled in the CAD/BIM modelling, but had no interest in dealing with clients and contractors. So I pivoted to becoming an Architectural Technician, which I have been for the past quarter of a decade, in which time I have learnt numerous CAD/BIM and 3d Modelling/visualistaion packages.
First StepsMy first encounter with 3D printing was in 2017 when the architectural practice I was with at the time purchased a fairly basic DLP printer to help with producing a model for a large masterplan we were working on, with me modelling in Archicad and then printing the individual basic shapes for buildings. About this time I decided to enter the Armies onParade competition at my local GW, so I planned out my 600x600mm board in 3d on the PC, part of which featured an entrance to a subterranean base set in to the side of a cliff face. The cliff and the majority board where to be shaped out of insulation foam, but for the doors themselves I decided make use of the office 3d printer and set off a print before leaving one evening to collect in the morning. I was happy with the result although the detail wasn't great and took a bit of sanding.
I also decided to print a name plaque for the board, but decided as this was more prominent the quality of the office printer was not good enough so sent the file to Shapeways (RIP) and whilst it wasn't cheap I was more than happy with the print I got back. After this I had no real need to print anything else and at the time to get anything of a decent quality seemed prohibitively expensive. I still modeled a few odd things and even put a few things up on the shapeways store, such as a bolt rifle I had created as a learning exercise, but nothing really came of that.
Current SituationA couple of years ago I finally bit the bullet and bought myself a resin 3D Printer, as I had judged the quality to cost ratio for new printers had gotten to a point I was happy with. I bought an Elegoo Mars 3 and the wash and cure station as well, both of which had a fairly small footprint that I could find space for. This opened up a world of possibilities for me, with discovering the wealth of models available on sites such as Cults3D, I was left with the big question - what do I print first?
At the time I was playing in a Bloodbowl league with some friends and wanted a Rat ogre for my skaven team and didn't like the available forgeworld option at the time, so this was the obvious choice. I sourced an STL file for decent model which printed well with decent detail, which I lovingly painted and based only for me to put it on the pitch with other models only to discover one of the big issues I have with 3d printing - scale! The model was about 1.3X to big, which not noticable at first, when put alongside the GW models just looked wrong, so I ended up buying and converting a couple of Island of Blood rat ogres from Ebay, which I was more happy with.
I'm not one of these people who see 3d people as a way of saving money or avoiding paying for official products, but as a way of enhancing my hobby experience, the only full models I have printed have been ones I cannot buy from GW or are alternate versions of official miniatures that I already have to provide variety in my armies. I mostly use 3d printing to print custom parts for my models enabling me to give more individuality to them than I could with just kit bashing. I also print a lot of bases and invested in a kickstarter for cutomisable 3d nameplates, which I have printed for many of my kill teams.
My Own DesignsIn many cases I have not been able to find particular parts I wanted, and so turned to modelling them myself, originally I used the CAD/BIM software I use at work, but More recently I hve been learning Blender, which is free and a lot more usable for this kind of modelling. It is quite a step learning curve, but there are plenty of good tutorials out there, I recommend Artisans of Vaul on Youtube who specialises in modelling for 3d printing minis.
These are some of the bits I have modelled for creating my Primaris Deathwatch killteam as seen in my last blog post, although in the end I didn't use all the parts, I uploaded them to my Cults account to sell for a minimal fee and they seem to have been quite popular. I created my cults account about the same time I got the printer and have uploaded a lot of the things I have made mostly put on there for free, but the few I have charged for have made me a bit of money, over £120 since I started, which is nice and not what I created them for in the first place. If you're interested you can see my available files here.
The Future?As I get better at modelling I want to try bigger and more complex models, I have already blocked out and started modelling parts for a Tau gunship and even what will hopefully be an overlord, although I have no idea where I'm going to find the time I would need to spend completing these. I've also been thinking about getting a larger printer at some point as my current one is fairly limited in print area, meaning if I wanted to anything larger than that, it would need to be cut up in to smaller parts and the re-assembled which from recent experiments is a real pain.
The latest DLP printers have much better quality output and I'm seriously considering something like the Bambu A1 as a possible purchase for printing larger pieces such as scenery. I recently brought a larger piece printed on a DLP machine as Xmas present for myself via Etsy - a full size Primaris Intercessor helmet:
(as modeled by my very understanding Wife and painted by me)
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know where I am with regards to this aspect of the hobby, let me know if you have any thoughts in the comments.
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Black Templars Crusade
Well, I have been working on my guys for the last week or so, with the warhammer+ subscription there happens to be an imper guard model in here so, yeah.
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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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Digressing about Aeldarii Corsairs...
Hi Folks,
My Curiosity/Interest/Call-it-like-you-want has been activated some weeks ago when Valrak's runoured that the Eldar Corsairs could have a kind of extended release of new units forming a new xenos' faction.
Incredulity was my first feeling. Indeed, my references, or at least what comes to my mind when Corsairs are mentionned, is the army list published in FW Imperial armour book vol.11: The Doom of Myrmeara.
Since that time, the Drukhari evolved in such a proportion that many aspects and archetypes of the Corsairs have been litterally been eaten by the former. So, what would be the case really? Getting another faction, intermediate between the Aeldarii and the Drukhari and pumping out some redesigned ideas from each army? It does not sound reasonable at first sight. Yet the recent update of GW webstore marking the Warwalker as being "Sold out Online" mad (voluntary omission of the "e") me think it twice.
Indeed, if the Ynnari fqction remains included in the Aeldarii Codex and if Ynnari accessible unit coming from the Dark kins are also inside, I imagine that the codex will need to be reduced in some way. It cannot be that big and includes as much DS as the SM codex, or can it? I wouldn't mind a big fat Codex...
Yet, let's imagine that some stuff will be phased out and eventually been resurrected latter in a Corsair faction: the war walker could be one of such units disapearing from the Aeldarii standard units to come back as a WASP version FW used to have. It would not be the worst idea on earth.
What else did the Corsairs get in this Imperial Armour book that may be a base for a decent hypothetic future new faction? (wow, this is a words collage)
Beyond the batch of special rules it used to have, I will evacuate the flyers such as the Phoenix of the Nightwing - I do feel that the current trend in miniature release indicate a lack of love for such units.
Some other lighter half antigrav/half flyers vehicles such as the Hornets could yet come back though.
I will also evacuate the characters as they may essencially be upgraded counter-parts of some of the specialists already included into the VoidScarred KT boxed set. Either as minor characters or as upgraded versions.
The other historical units are probably some of the most interesting entries to be revised one by one for their potential:
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Reavers - we basically already have them through the alternative assembly of the Void Scarred
BUT, these could have jetpacks before as equipment. And in that case we start having an interresting unit, not really a Swooping hawk unit as troop, but almost. - Ghost walkers are the ranger like troops - it could be something similar to the Aeldarii rangers or the sniper inc. into the Void Scarred; thus a little bit redundant with the Crafworlder exiled. As such, even if fluffy, it would overlap, except if these get a darker touch through rules or characteristic features to make them different in use or tactics.
- Cloud riders are archetype jet bike riders. Jet bikes are good for any pointy ears faction. So the Corsair should get some; with the evolution of the kit under its ultimate released version, the tactical role of the Jetbikes has evolved from mounted infantery to mobile HW platform. These even eclipsed the Vyper in that role, making the latter more or less useless. The cloud dancer get access to distinct weapon but their tactical use would be very similar to the Craftworld bikers. Not really an issue, but if they were instead a shock assault bike squad, itcould be a nice touch, with a more feral salvagery that might fit to the Corsairs' better. For what's worth my opinion...
- Transports are using either Flacon or Venom as standard vehices, through some borrowing to black and white space elves´ usual factions. It could stay like this or not, depending on the trends, but I feel like Corsairs should be a fast moving army deserving a more adapted transport than these in order to work at full squad size, and without being deep striking. This ultimate tactical feature should remain a Dark kin specificity while Corsairs would eventually be better as a fast deployment, fast insertion and rapid redeployment force.
- More Elite units such as Voidstorms or Malvolents looked like prototypes of Incubis and... something else hard to classify. They never got models in fact. I do not know what to think about the Malvolents and they might eventually be erased from the history. These are so weird...
- Vypers squadrons could come back as a thing but, as commented in the previous jetbile entry, these should in that case be distinct from what we know. Very very distinct from what we have now... Their role has been covered by other jetbikes now and the only reason to get some vypers is getting access to Laser lances, Plasma gun or ML*. Is it enough to justify the datasheet? I really love the model but I must admit it is outclassed and that except within the hypothesis of a serious extra weaponization and specific rules, it is better to get first bikes and only after Vypers if you really like/need HW redundancy on fast movers. It would not be that different in the setting of Cloud dancers as they used to be.
- Balestrikes are a Devastator squad made Eldar. And if they get a jet pack they start to seriously look like Scourges. Another overlap.
- Other Corsair vehicles are in general based on Falcon chassis variants. Could a warp hunter come back as a signature Corsair unit? Would be fun, nope?
It is a lot of potential units and a new faction does not necesarilly need that much. Some cleaning up migh help. But not too extreme as a new army characteristic/archetype shall emerge in the end. And it should be a playable characteristic, not a fluff one only.
So what? We have a bunch of (historical) units that are dramatically close to stuff already existing in a way or another in the dark Eldar and Eldar armies. Would the currently available combination options be reduced (because, for example, future Ynnari rules will limit what you can gather form both sides of the eldars under the banner of Ynnead), then some alternatives might be offered by the Corsairs. But is it really necesary getting so many hues between the different Asuryanii factions?
The tactical specificities of the Corsairs should I guess be worked on to make these worth not playing any of the 2 formers and neither Ynnari. Starts being a real challenge in term of design to bring on the table top something worth it and different enough to be interresting. But I often lack of imagination.
Yet a good trick might be giving access to specific units included in the past as aeldarii branded ones but making them exclusive now: Warwalker, Warphunter, some Hornets... This is a first possible step that would allow perpetuating collections while introducing in the pipe new stuff.
And in any case, a second step would be focussing on the Reavers that must be revised rules wise. As the Reaver set already exists and as recuts are unlikely, these lads must be worth being fielded; if compared with Guardians or Kabalites these latter two are in general always superiors. If you field Reavers only because you have no alternative choice in your aemy list, well, OK, but it is not IMHO a winning formule. Especially at the current price for this set: a filler unit at 50 bucks is a luxury none should be ready to accept.
Third step, would be getting a big focus on the historical jet packed army, which looks like being a good niche to develop a new tactical archetype. Looks like the rumored input from Valrak may go in that direction; it might be a very good idea to get something linked with the traditional eldars and dark ones without playing in the same way. But, again, the KT Reaver set does not fit so well in that perspective.
But these lucubrations and opinions of mine have a very limited value. It is interresting how and where a "Sold out online" tag can bring you if you let your mind divagate a little bit. Probably that I have too much free time. That´s what is called going off the tangent.
See you folks.
* but cloud dancers had access to dark lance too
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Reavers - we basically already have them through the alternative assembly of the Void Scarred
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Volkme its Volkus
With the dust finally having settled on the holiday season I've been able to get back to the painting table with a bit more regularity. My first project of '25 is finishing up my last project of '24, the new terrain set for kill-zone volkus. I assembled and primed the terrain towards the end of October, and picked at it for a month or so before stepping away from my paint table for nearly 2 months. Part of the hiatus was due to the holidays, part due to my annual complete replay of the game Hades, a third part was due to picking back to back big terrain projects. Once I got back into it however, this project was very engaging and moved pretty quickly all things considered. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the early stages, but they'd have been boring anyway.
The above pictures are after I'd gotten all the "base" colors on. I knew I was going to do an oil was on this set after enjoying the results on my ITD set. I went with some brighter colors this time to make the oil effect more pronounced, but even knowing that I was kind of worried the brass was going to be a bit much.
There are tons of great details in this terrain, the notice board and flyer on the interior of two of the strongholds were too much fun to pass up. I had some SoB transfer sheets sitting around and borrowed the scripture portions to help bring them to life.
The oil was went on smoothly and really made the terrain pop. The more I use these washes the more I'm enjoying them, They add so much depth and life that its hard to imagine going back to standard/acrylic washes anytime soon.
I'll try and get some more/better pictures of the terrain some day, but I've gotten it on the table a couple of times since finishing and its a blast to play on
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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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The Mystery Begins
Fragment of a document reportedly recovered from the space hulk designated Herald of Misery in M38 by the rogue trader Ibram Subicere:
Accompanied by a demi-squad of the Inceptors Chapter, Captain Subicere and his crew aboard the Torchbearer were exploring the Anguis Cluster near the Maelstrom. There they discovered the Herald of Misery. Auspex readings indicated that the vessel was comprised of several major vessels and a number of smaller ones, including a few Imperial vessels and pre-Imperial human vessels. The Inceptors boarded the hulk in terminator armor, establishing a lodgment from which Captain Subicere and his crew could salvage while the Space Marines explored the deeper reaches of the hulk.Two days into the operation, Brother-Sergeant Praetus and his squad suddenly returned. Putting his battle-brothers on guard, Brother-Sergeant Praetus returned to the Torchbearer. He privately entered the astropath’s quarters, ignoring all questions from Captain Subicere, and returned to the space hulk. He said one word to his battle-brothers: "Sanctitas." At this word, the terminators left their posts and returned whence they came, each carrying loads of demolitions.
Brother-Sergeant Praetus then informed Captain Subicere that his squad had discovered a grave threat within the depths of the hulk. He and his squad were to destroy the threat by planting demolitions at structural weaknesses within the hulk, during which time Captain Subicere and his crew would have five hours to recover as much as they could before returning to the Torchbearer. At this, Brother-Sergeant Praetus turned and followed his battle-brothers into the depths of the hulk.
One of the items that Captain Subicere was able to retrieve from the hulk was a small book. Beneath a thousand years of dust, the leather-bound book was decorated with gold filigree and the aquila of the Imperium. On the pages within, Subicere saw pictures of different Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, a small guidebook to the names and liveries of over a hundred Chapters. Instinctively, Subicere kept the book secret from Brother-Sergeant Praetus and his Space Marines, locking the book within his private sanctum aboard the Torchbearer before the Space Marines returned from their mission.
When Brother-Sergeant Praetus and his battle-brothers returned from their mission, they were laden with two containers they’d recovered from within the Herald of Misery, two of the terminators immediately returning to the Torchbearer with the containers as Brother-Sergeant Praetus and the two remaining battle-brothers remained, ostensibly to provide security as Captain Subicere and his crew completed their own tasks. Once all hands returned to the Torchbearer, Brother-Sergeant Praetus directed Captain Subicere to move the Torchbearer to stand-off distance. From there, the veteran Space Marine command-detonated the demolitions, entirely destroying the central vessel of the hulk and sending the debris of a dozen other vessels scattering through the void. He then informed Captain Subicere that the Inceptors had recalled the demi-squad and that they must return to the Chapter immediately. No explanation was given, and Captain Subicere was more than happy to see the Space Marines depart.
Upon completing the exploration of the Anguis Cluster, Subicere and the Torchbearer returned to Terra where the book was dutifully handed over to Inquisitor Lerneaus of the Ordo Malleus. The Inquisitor found one page, pictured at right, puzzling and required expert investigation, so he forwarded it to the Order of the Sacred Oath, an Order Dialogus of the Adepta Sororitas, for study and authentication.
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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.
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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.
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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!)
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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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Imperial Reivers Captain arrives for battle
After testing out various schemes to get the colour I want, and proposing all my cloth/cloaks etc to be Tartan, here is my Terminator Captain incorporating all the elements I have been toying with.
The Armour recipe I'm going with:
Base of Naggaroth Night (or Leviathan purple contrast)
Layer up with Asurmen Blue then Teclis Blue.
Highlights with Teclis Blue and Moot green
The Tartan is based on the Kilt I have which I can't remember the name of... Something Mist or such like.
Eshin Grey base, wide stripes of Abaddon black, thinner stripes of Incubai Darkness, then lines of Genestealer purple and white. Though I might use something less "in your face" as the white next time. And obviously practice freehand lining and use a thinner brush for the lines.
The stone base is to give the effect of Edinburgh Sandstone (not covered in soot and grim!), and the Tyranid is my own scheme of black with green.
His icon above his head is falling off, so I'll need to fix that (again!) or replace it.
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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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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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Death guard 30k? Completed it m8
Picture heavy post
A group shot of my 30k deathguard now they're done
A long time in the works
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Long time no Blog...
Oof, not done one of these for a while have I?
Well, life goes on but I'm still here and still hobbying.
My last blog post was in April 2023, just prior to Warhammer Fest in Manchester, and the main topic of that post was the possibility of Epic making a return, and if it did return, how it would work and what the setting would be etc. Lo and behold they did announce it at WH fest, or tease it to be more accurate. Fast forward to today and Legion Imperialis is here and slowly chugging on. I have to admit to being slightly saddened to see that its not been as heavily pushed or promoted by Games Workshop as I thought it would be, but there's still plenty of time left and hopefully its not on a Three year cycle and will be around and expanded beyond the Horus Heresy setting.
Anyway, enough about Epic, on to current projects of which there are many! I've just finished assembling and have started to paint the contents of Necromunda: Hive Secundus, and I'm looking forward to getting some games in. I do like the Secundus setting and theme, it does have an Aliens vibe to it and I'd love to see some other House equivalents of the Van Saar Tek Hunters, like an Orlock treasure hunting team etc.
I've also (at the time of writing) got Kill Team Hivestorm on the way and I can't wait to get my hands on the Vespid Stingwings! The Tempestus Aquilons hold no interest for me so I'll probably sell them on, just give me my killer bugs with new guns!
I'm also still faffing with The Old World and building my Tomb Kings, and I've been building and painting Star Wars Shatterpoint squads, but can't really go into those games on here lest I catch the eye of the Inquisition!
Currently on my desk, alongside the Secundus stuff, is Inquisitor Ostromandeus which is one of the the Warhammer+ Year 4 minis offered to subscribers. Its a nice miniature, as is his helper Stentor I-52 that looks like a 40k Xenomorph, and he is a much nicer Inquisitor than the new Coteaz which was not great, and its a shame more people won;t get their hands on it unless they sub to Warhammer+ or pay for it on Ebay.
Lastly on the desk, I succumbed to the many Instagram adverts that I was seeing, and bought one of these:
Normally I tend to ignore ads on social media, but to be fair this genuinely caught my eye. Its an interesting concept and I quite like the idea of it. I wanted a new wet palette to try, and have been using just a glass jar or a mug for my paint water, so figured why not give it a whirl. I've done a video review for anyone curious as to what its really like and whats in the box etc, and posted it in the Forge HERE
FYI - I hadn't tried the wet palette at the time of recording, but I have used it since and while its smaller than my Army Painter one, the two wet palettes clipped together have the same sort of area as the Army Painter one and I've found that the palette paper lies smoother on the sponge too, whereas my AP one tends to crinkle easily.
Right, I think I've gone on long enough for now, and I will try to update this blog on a regular basis and I do enjoy writing them if I'm honest.
If anyone is actually reading this, hope you are all good!
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Chat Gpts initial thoughts.
Out of interest I asked chat gpt what a conference would look like. A lot of what it said is very similar to what I was thinking. Either ny thoughts are generic or perhaps it scraped it from my post.
Some of the stuff I definitely wasn't thinking. Merchandise for example is not something I was thinking about. If I do approach the people who run the site they might consider it, but it's not something I'm going to touch
I'd love to know what people think. I'm not too experienced with blog posts. Perhaps people can't see them or don't look at them. If this doesn't get any traction I may just shelve the idea or leave it open to others to tale over.
Anyway here's chat gpts thoughts. Please let me know what you think.
If the users of Bolter and Chainsword (B&C)—a community focused on Warhammer 40,000 Space Marines and related topics—were to hold an online conference, it would likely reflect the community's passion for the Warhammer 40K universe, its lore, and its tabletop games. Here's what such an event might look like:
1. Platform and Setup
- The conference would most likely take place on a platform like Discord, Zoom, or a dedicated virtual convention platform with text channels, video streams, and shared content rooms.
- The event could feature breakout rooms dedicated to different Space Marine chapters, painting techniques, army-building strategies, and lore discussions.
2. Event Themes and Tracks
The conference could have multiple tracks based on the different interests within the B&C community:
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Lore and Storytelling Panels: Discussions on Warhammer 40K lore, especially focusing on Space Marines. Panels might include debates about the history and evolution of famous Chapters like the Ultramarines, Blood Angels, Space Wolves, and more. There could be theory crafting, future predictions, and lore deep dives into the various Black Library novels.
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Tactics and Gaming Workshops: Sessions on army-building strategies, how to field competitive Space Marine armies, and tips for various Warhammer 40K editions and expansions. There could be deep-dive breakdowns on units, Codex strategies, and competitive tactics from experienced players.
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Painting and Hobby Showcases: Since painting and modeling are key parts of the Warhammer 40K hobby, there would likely be workshops on various painting techniques, kitbashing, and terrain-building tutorials. Live painting demonstrations, "paint-alongs," or Q&A sessions with professional painters could be a highlight.
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Conversions and Modeling Tutorials: Given the popularity of unique customizations and conversions in the Warhammer community, sessions focusing on converting models and making unique figures could be popular. There could be competitions for best custom miniatures.
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Fan Fiction and Creative Writing: A place for fans to share their own fan fiction, stories, and character bios. There could be a panel on how to write compelling stories within the 40K universe, perhaps with guest writers or authors from the Black Library.
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Competitive Play Streams: Live-streamed Warhammer 40K battles featuring different chapters and factions. These could be playthroughs of competitive games or narrative-driven campaigns. Players could walk the audience through their tactical decisions as they play.
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Chapter-Specific Meetups: Smaller virtual rooms or sessions where fans of specific Space Marine chapters can discuss their favorite units, lore, and strategies. These would act as "fandom subgroups" where attendees could meet fellow fans of the Blood Angels, Iron Hands, or Deathwatch, for instance.
3. Guest Speakers and Panels
- The event would likely attract a number of prominent members from the wider Warhammer 40K community, including Black Library authors, well-known painters, and possibly even representatives from Games Workshop itself.
- Panel discussions on upcoming releases, updates to the game’s rules, or interviews with community influencers who run popular YouTube channels, podcasts, or blogs devoted to the 40K universe.
4. Contests and Tournaments
- Painting Competitions: Online galleries where participants submit their painted models for judging by peers or guest judges.
- Army Showcase: A space for players to show off their fully painted armies, especially unique builds or those based on obscure or custom chapters.
- Online Tournament: An online tabletop simulator or Warhammer 40K game tournament where participants can battle it out with their armies. Prizes or rankings could be given for the top players.
5. Exclusive Content and Merch
- Attendees might be offered exclusive downloads such as wallpapers, printable terrain, or even early access to upcoming fan-made codices or supplements created by the community.
- Custom artwork or merchandise, such as chapter-specific shirts or patches, could be available for purchase, allowing fans to rep their favorite factions.
6. Networking and Community Engagement
- A core part of any conference would be the chance for like-minded individuals to meet, chat, and share their hobby. There could be dedicated networking times or casual chat rooms where players discuss their collections, upcoming projects, or the latest happenings in the Warhammer 40K universe.
- Forum integration would allow for discussions from the conference to spill over into the site's traditional areas, with threads dedicated to follow-ups from panels, contest results, or post-event analysis.
7. Technology-Enhanced Interaction
- Virtual Painting Room: With screen-sharing, attendees could work on painting miniatures together virtually, with experienced painters giving live feedback on technique and color schemes.
- Tabletop Simulator Integration: Warhammer 40K battles could be simulated using tools like Tabletop Simulator, allowing for remote players to participate in battle reports, streamed games, or even tutorials on the platform.
8. Fan-Driven Content
- Much of the event could feature community-generated content, with fans submitting proposals for panels, leading chapter-specific discussions, or hosting mini-games and contests.
- There could be collaborative world-building or story-writing exercises where attendees help build a new Space Marine chapter or craft a battle scenario for the community to use.
9. Charity Drives
- As part of the conference, the community might rally around a charitable cause, organizing auctions for painted miniatures, limited-edition models, or other fan-created items with proceeds going to veteran organizations or child-focused charities.
In essence, a Bolter and Chainsword online conference would bring together the various facets of the Warhammer 40K hobby—painting, gaming, lore, and community-building—under a shared love for the Space Marines and the grimdark future. It would blend professional content with fan-driven creativity, fostering an inclusive and enthusiastic environment for newcomers and veterans alike.
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Latest Entry
Where to go with 40k?
(Wherein the author discovers that the Horus Heresy ruleset is more to his liking, even if Orks aren't officially supported)
So, earlier this year, around January, I came to the realization that I was burnt out on keeping up with the Space Marine releases. The more that came out, the less I wanted to have anything to do with them; I was just buying them to have. I also admitted to myself that I didn't really like the lore changes that GW's team were applying to the game - this isn't the space to rehash the endless debate about Primaris Marines, but they're not to my taste. The evolving ruleset, as it changed from 8th to 9th, then to 10th, has also pushed me away; the more legalistic emphasis is surprisingly hard to keep straight in my head. So I sold off the new Marines, still in their boxes, and put away the old ones, and poked around other games in the meantime. Helpfully, GW just released a new edition of Age of Sigmar, as well as The Old World (good thing I kept my Tomb Kings!) so I had some background hobby stuff still happening.
But where do I go with my far-future aspirations? I'm still fond of the setting, even with *everything* going on.
A few friends had been talking up the Horus Heresy 2.0 rules, and it sounded like they were having fun with it! I had a small trial game with the Imperialis Militia, and that was fun, though I'd be rebuilding from scratch. (Mind you, Victoria Miniatures has some gorgeous not-Tallarn Desert Scorpions that I've started collecting). I still wasn't feeling like working on Space Marines, plus my Blood Ravens don't exist in the Heresy era (and I'm pretty tired of jokes about the Thousand Sons...). So that left my Orks.
Those of you who've explored the Xenos sections of the site will likely have seen my occasional forays into Ork-dom and I've added to my ladz as the new stuff has been added. I thought that I might be able to pull together something out of the old rulebooks from 5th and 7th Edition, even if it required a bit of work. Then one day, I stumbled across a fan-made work that covered effectively everything I already had: https://xenos-orks.tumblr.com. It was like I felt the touch of Gork (or possibly Mork)! I've played a few games with this army list against my friends, and oh my, it felt like I had come home. Even better, my friends have enjoyed the experience, too! I'm really excited to dig into my Orks again, and a few old ideas for converted wagons have been dusted off - the future is looking bright!
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By firestorm40k · Posted
Thank you for your kind feedback and comments @Domhnall I absolutely get what you mean about resentment, for me it can work two ways – like you say, if I feel I should be working on something and don’t get round to it, but also if I feel like I should be getting on with something and other things prevent me from doing so (like when I was ill the other week and wasn’t able to make a start on the latest squads!). Another thing I find helps is, if time is an issue, or motivation is a s -
First off, my wife would be loving that spreadsheet. Finding ways to reduce your own burnout chance is great, and hope it helps! I have found that although deadlines can be great for a target to work towards, being too rigid with it, such as missing a few days, can lead to the feeling of resentment if you didn't want to do something that day but feel you need to to stay on schedule. My problem is the opposite, I don't have deadlines because I can't guarantee I'll get any painting do
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