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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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Hi folks,
It has been a long time since posting anything there. End of yeqr has been complicated and full of work overload. And 2025 is going to start this a similar tumultous pattern, but this will be discused another time.
After a hiatus of 4 weeks, for flu and then for spending time painting dwarves for the World that Was, I finally resumed the painting of my Kabalite reinforcement for Ynnari.
I did the bodies and I had left apart the heads and weapons + the final assembly.
Now it is done. Let's have a look:
The whole squad:
Some randomely selected close ups:
The kabal is name less. it will reinforce the Aeldarii until new codex is out. I wonder how the future rule will impact the way I use Dark kins in the Ynnari. I especially wonder if my recently bought Scourges will still be usable and if Mandrakes painted a few months ago will still be a thing. Until then I will keep Dark eldar expension and painting on hold.
I will try to share again in this blog in the next days, while I reorganize and pack my collection. Why would you ask? Well a big stuff is under stew/simmering. but January will tell more.
See you in a next entry of this blog.
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2024 - Year in Review - Summary
2024 - YEAR IN REVIEW
SUMMARY - ALL FINISHED MODELS
Oh, hi Goose!
I’ve had a pretty good year for painting, and a decent one for actually playing some 40k! The Sin Eaters hit 2,000 points and finished up their Crusade, I started – and eventually completed about 1,500 points worth of – Tau, largely thanks to the Call to Arms, painted up a large BFG fleet, and started work on a second Xenos Army with my Eldar bikes.
That is, for me, a LOT of models. 151, at current count, that’s a whole first-gen Pokemon game worth of little guys, girls, and robots.
Mochi, too! You are all truly blessed. Yes, some of the stands for my Chaos fleet have melted in this unreasonably hot summer. I'm fixing them.
I got some play in, but not quite as much as I would have liked. We had to end the Crusade a little early due to a baby happening – not mine, but our group doesn’t deal so well with a missing player due to numbers – and after that only actually got 3 regular games of 40K in through the year, which... I didn’t love? I’ve found that while I don’t mind 10th Edition, I strongly prefer the way Crusade missions work over the card nonsense.
Anyway, it’s me, so I lost most of those games, but that’s fine. I had a good showing, and fully painted armies, which is what really matters.
On the subject of painting, which will be the focus of following blog posts, I think I continued my steady development through the year. The Sin Eaters are basically a solved problem, I know how I would paint whatever new models eventually get added – probably some scouts, maybe some firstborn schlubs – and can now paint checkmarks like a pro. My freehanding continues apace, though I’m going to need to do a better job of brush maintenance, as I have a few models this year that probably deserved to come out better if I hadn’t been flailing around with a half-ruined detail brush. So it goes.
I’ll be putting together more in-depth posts about the Sin Eaters and Ky’Vash Recon Cadre over the next few days, but for now, enjoy some photographs of the silly animals I share a house with.
Unimpressed by the Sin Eaters.
Dismissive of the Ky'Vash Recon Cadre.
Need to actually upload the nice pictures of my other Badab nerds, huh?
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Since buying the following army painter bundles on Black Friday at mt LGS
Fantatic mega set
Fantatic Metallics
I purchased a few more sets online
Fanatic Washes
Fanatic Most Wanted
then while dealing with a slight depression due to a family issue and at LGS I purchased these
Wargames Mega Brush Set
IMHO I think the fanatic line is great. Dropper bottle, shaker bottles are standard. The Triad system (Desaturated Blue- Grey Triad shown below) is great.
I have been using a similar system from Andrea Miniatures paint sets , which consist of 6 colors Base, 3 Highlights and 2 shadows. The downside of these is the paint (base color) is super thick, clogs eye dropper, and will push the eye dropper out causing your waste paint. Other issues are they have been getting harder for me to get and base color is gone usually before the other colors and with a few of them the bottle do not give you a product/ paint code or name to replace them. I know GW has their own Triad System too, and I have used it, but I feel the GW is lacking.
Some Comparisons
So these prices are MSRP in USD From Warhammer and Army Painter Websites
Paint Pots
Citadel -Abaddon Black 12 ML $4.55
Warpaints Fanatic- Matte Black 218 ML $4.25
Citadel Line: 197 pots (Base, Layer, Dry, Shade and Technical)
Fanatics Line: 216 pots (Metallic, effects, acrylics, and washes)
- Complete Set available for $759.00 including 4 brushes
Spray Paint/ Primer
Citadel- Chaos Black 400 ML $20.00
Army Painter- Matte Black* 400 ML $14.99
Citadel Spray Line: 12 colors- Prices $20.00- $35.00
Army Painter Line 35 Colors*- Prices $12.99**- $17.99
*Army Painter offers a 100% color match on their cans of spray paint to paint pots.
** On sale for less but are 300 ML Terrain Primers
Contrast vs Speed Paints 2.0
Citadel- 62 Contrast paints 18 ML $7.80 per pot
Army Painter- 90 Speed paints 2.0 18 ML $4.99 per pot (100 ML medium available for $22.99)
- Complete set available for $459.00 including 3 brushes
Air paints
Citadel- 42 Air Paints 24 ML 7.80 per pot
Army Painter- 126 Air Paints 18 ML $3.75 per pot
- Complete Set Available for $375.00
- 100 ML bottles of Airbrush Medium, Airbrush Cleaner, Matte Black, White, and Grey primers, Anti Shine Varnish, Gloss Varnish, and Aegis Suit Satin Varnish ranging from $6.99 to $8.99
Summary
More colors, shaker balls included, cheaper price, dropper bottles, plus the 250 ML Quick Shades for $29.99 seem to be the way. I have an online order to pick up a LGS Friday containing 28 paints and 3 brushes....I guess I am switching over....
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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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1 Week White Scars Challenge
Last weekend I went to the Route 66 GT Kill Team tournament in Sepulpa OK, and ahead of that tournament I decided to challenge myself to go from sprue to painted on the 4 additional marines I needed to round out my team.
Angels of Death is the new marine Kill-Team for the new KT24 edition, which combines Strike force Justinian and Intercession squad from KT21. In order to round out my list I needed to add a grenadier, a grenade launcher gunner, an omni-sergeant (intercessor and assault flavors), and an additional assault marine. After digging around in the bitz box (and sacrificing one previously completed model for the grenade launcher) I had 4 pretty good looking bodies!
Chain sabers, helmets and decorations all came out of the White Scars primaris upgrade blister, grenade arm is from the Raven Guard upgrade blister. The power sword and hawk are both part of the Kor'sarro Khan mini (the body of which made up my captain, officially using all parts of the Kahn for this team.
I absolutely love the "movement" of the assault marines, the grenadier in particular is probably my favorite model, looking like a coiled spring ready to explode in motion.
I detailed my paint scheme in the previous post so I wont go back into it here, but painting them came together pretty quickly
I'd mostly finished painting them by around Wednesday, and started in on the bases. I still had plenty of stones saved from the last time I worked on these models so I dug around for a few good fits, and then proceeded to try and revitalize dry terrain paste to re-create the desert ground.
Unlike the model paint scheme, I kept next to no notes on the colors I used on the bases, so I had to tinker around until I found colors that pretty closely (though not exactly) matched my previous models. Despite being a bit frustrated by the experience I'll learn nothing from it because I didn't write this one down either. Apparently I'd much rather work harder than smarter.
All said and done though they fit pretty seamlessly into the display board, and I would wager 9/10 people can't spot the difference without really studying them. All said and done I finished with these models by Thursday, 3 days ahead of my need-by date.
I love these models and really enjoyed taking a break from my terrain projects to knock them out, the grenadier is one of my new favorite models I've ever made. The event itself was also a blast, met and played against a bunch of great people, managing to take home both first place and best painted!
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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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Opening thoughts, the concept
Several ideas rumbling around in my brain, just wanted to get them down finally. I have a growing collection of various imperium forces, and wanted them to sort of tie in with each other somewhat. A group of various imperial organizations that work together to defend and expand their small sector of space, located on one of the edges of imperial control, a frontier as it were. Primarily this would consist of my space marines, as well well as the SoB, AM/IG, Necromunda and Kill Team models I have been collecting/hoarding. Some flavour on the prganizations inulded follows.
The Iron Boots (working chapter title) were established during one of the more troubled foundings (perhaps the cursed one, I haven't decided) to patrol a troublesome yet remote corner of the empire, with a mandate to change a frontier zone of newly discovered planets into proper imperial settlements, eliminating xenos, and bringing the emperor's blessed rule to the human populations in the area. They have been fairly successful in this, establishing a Chapter/hive planet, a prison/manufactorum world for those whose lives are forfeit to the emperor, but don't require immediate execution, and bringing several formerly independent lost colonies into the imperium.
The chapter is joined in their efforts to subjugate the frontier by the planetary defense forces from their controlled planets, collectively known as the PSPD( working title, planetary and sector pacification divisions), aka the Raging Boars, elements from The Scarlet Order of His Eternal Flame and Les Gardiennes du Sang-Precieux (orders minoris of sisters of battle), established on 2 rival shrine worlds in the sector to support imperial expansion in the area, as well as penal legions raised from the local area (a small but particularly vicious regiment of note would be the Violators, led by Prisoner-Brigadier "Violent" Violet Vulpes. It's ranks consist almost exclusively of female gangers sentenced to death for crimes against planetary or imperial law, though exceptions have been made in times of heavy losses in the past.) When on the march collectively, as has occurred to fend off ork and tyrannid incursions, as well as to to conquer new territories, the combined force is called an Armata Strigoi, a group of the Imperium's most feared monsters to dispute any that might oppose it's rule.
As a frontier area, there is a small but politically important Adeptus Arbites and Inquisition presence, some who have even joined/requested an Armata Strigoi against particularly vile threats to the imperium.
Also noted as active in the area, though not necessarily in collaboration with the Armata Strigoi, have been several Astra Miltarum Regiments and sightings of one or more of the Great Companies of the Space Wolves (these would be the imperial armies of other players in my group)
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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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The Crusade begins
Yesterday I played my first games with the Ashen Sentinels, one of which was the first game of the 'Forge of Silence' 40k Campaign at my local gaming group, and the first using the Crusade rules. I was up against a Tyranid army that had some big beasty bugs..!
My 1,000 point army looked a little meagre against that - here's the thin grey line
We were playing Linchpin with Hammer and Anvil deployment, plus tactical secondaries, and I chose to be defender and rolled to go second. The battle did not go well for me - in true Astartes fashion I advanced everything to contest the objectives, going up against two big bugs and a pack of Genestealers. The Repulsor got destroyed second turn, then got stuck in to melee's that ground my forces down.
I didn't do myself any favours - I forgot no end of rules for my army that would've been a massive help
- Oath of Moment for the first two turns
- The Intercessor Sergeant's Power Fist for two rounds of combat against the Mawloc
- The Captain's 'Finest Hour' and 'Rites of Battle', and Lieutenant's 'Tactical Precision' rule - the reasons why I put them with the two Assault Intercessor Squads in the first place (double facepalm
) My army was wiped out to a man before my last turn
but it was a learning experience 
and my army has it's first Crusade points. Although I had to roll Battle Scar checks on every unit 
thankfully only one unit, a squad of Assault Intercessors, failed and got a Battle Scar. I nominated the Intercessor Squad that bravely - but futilely - charged the Genestealers & Broodlord as 'Marked for Greatness'.
Our campaign runs for 6 months, I'm adding units every 3 or so months (based on how quickly I can paint them
), aiming to get to 2,000 points in time for the finale in March/April. Hopefully by then I'll be able to remember my army's rules, and can get some better game results..!
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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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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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Expedition VI - Dakota Minor, 924M41
+++ PREFACE +++After a frustrating and costly tour of the Cellebos Warbone, Kill Team Rapier (at the time comprised Alyxander, Rarai’an, Auranis and Validus) had a chance meeting with Inquisitor Jemini Malethann. He was concerned with the myriad xenos incursions within the Matteus Subsector, and was headhunting experienced Deathwatch Astartes to investigate these threats.
Kill Team Rapier welcomed the opportunity to adapt their xeno-hunting skills in an arena free of the political infighting of the Jericho Reach. With the permission of their Watch-Commander, they relocated to the Segmentum Obscurus to assist Malethann's operations. Once there, they were formally introduced to the Inquisitor’s cohort and their newest Astartes members: Gorlin and Lucena.
+++ EXPEDITION IV - DAKOTA MINOR +++Kill-Team Rapier's first major assignment in the Matteus Subsector was on Dakota Minor, to investigate the growing Ork presence within the rocky forests native to the planet. The Orks had persisted forty years after their invasion of Dakota Minor, and it was speculated a new Warboss had risen up to lead the directionless Orks lurking in the forests. Meanwhile, the equally disorganised Dakota Minor Defence Corps was itching to charge head-first into the Ork-infested jungle; their confidence sky-high from their victory over the Orks decades ago.
Fearing a needless slaughter and a second Ork incursion on Dakota Minor, Malethann dispatched Kill Team Rapier to soften the Ork threat before the local PDF got involved. Their mission: reconnoiter the forests, determine the Ork strength, and if the opportunity presents itself, eliminate their leader.
The following transcript and pict-feed highlights are a record of their mission.
++++INLOAD BEGINS++++
+++KILL TEAM RAPIER OPERATIONAL REPORT – DAKOTA MINOR 989.924M41+++
++FOR THE EYES OF INQUISITOR JEMINI MALETHANN ONLY++As per your instruction, Inquisitor: a report of our operations on Dakota Minor.
Events were logged as deemed pertinent. Time zero begins at 1515h 971.924M41.
Composition: Alyxander (Leader), Auranis, Rarai’an, Validus, Gorlin
+CARRY THE EMPEROR'S WILL AS YOUR TORCH; WITH IT, DESTROY THE SHADOWS+
+0 days, 00:00
+MANUAL ENTRY+
Deployment by Blackstar into the jungle.
Gorlin and Validus scouted ahead; no resistance, no signs we were detected.
Kill Team Rapier proceeded to marker Primus.
+0 days, 01:27
++VISUAL FEED STILL 001 - KILL TEAM RAPIER INTERNAL NOOSPHERE++
Kill Team Rapier enter the rocky forests of Dakota Minor, in search for the Ork warband.
+0 days, 03:55
+MANUAL ENTRY+
Kill Team Rapier arrives at marker Primus (co-ord 016.32 x 047.69).
Ork tracks identified. No sign of standing forces, ally or foe. Proceeding to marker Secondus.
+0 days, 06:00
++AUDIO FEED 001 - KILL TEAM RAPIER INTERNAL VOX-LINK++
VALIDUS: Bearing two-two-one.
ALYXANDER: A small rabble.
RARAI'AN: They may lead to the greater horde.
ALYXANDER: We follow them. Auranis, acknowledge?
AURANIS: Acknowledged. Gorlin, we are moving on.
+0 days, 18:50
++AUDIO FEED 002 - KILL TEAM RAPIER INTERNAL VOX-LINK++
ALYXANDER: A large horde, bearing zero-seven-three.
VALIDUS: Some large Orks, but not-
GORLIN: Orks approaching our position.
ALYXANDER: On what bearing?
GORLIN: Behind us!
RARAI'AN: Specifics, Gorlin!
ALYXANDER: Validus, hold here and watch that horde. Auranis, I am returning to you.
AURANIS: Acknowledged. Gorlin, provide bearing on the Orks!
GORLIN: ... Fifty metres ... at zero-seven-zero, approaching on foot!
ALYXANDER: They will have our scent. How many?
GORLIN: Fifteen... More!
ALYXANDER: Hold fire. Wait for my signal.
GORLIN: Die! <Ork roaring>
ALYXANDER: Curse it! Rapier, engage at will!
<15 seconds of non-vocal combat audio>
VALIDUS: Sergeant, the horde is turning to us.
GORLIN: We can take them!
ALYXANDER: No, we cannot! Rapier, tactical withdrawal bearing three-three-zero.
RARAI'AN: Auranis, watch your right!
AURANIS: <unintelligible; cry of pain?>
GORLIN: Xenos filth!ALYXANDER: Rapier, move!
+0 days, 18:51
++VISUAL FEED STILL 002 - KILL TEAM RAPIER INTERNAL NOOSPHERE++
Members of Kill Team Rapier are ambushed by an Orb mob while on reconnaissance.
+1 days, 08:56
+MANUAL ENTRY+
Kill Team Rapier sighted a large horde of Orks. Estimated 200 strong, with 10 to 20 scrap-form vehicles.
Were forced to engage a small band of Orks approaching our position.
Half were slain, but we were forced to withdraw before the much larger horde approached our position.
+1 days, 13:50
++AUDIO FEED 002 - KILL TEAM RAPIER INTERNAL VOX-LINK++
AURANIS: I count twenty to twenty-five Ork scrap units. Five hundred metres, bearing two-nine-zero.
VALIDUS: Logged. How is your injury?
AURANIS: It will heal.
VALIDUS: I have a reserve bolter.
AURANIS: I can still carry the cannon. But thank you, brother.
+1 days, 19:33
++VISUAL FEED STILL 003 - KILL TEAM RAPIER INTERNAL NOOSPHERE++
A column of Ork armour is spotted by Kill Team Rapier, as they maneouvre deeper into the forest.
+1 days, 21:26
+MANUAL ENTRY+
Multiple Ork units were sighted and numbers recorded.
Initial estimates of two thousand fighting bodies and forty armour assets.
Scrap units were limited to small to medium sized vehicles. Many of them scrap-walkers and defiled Chimeras.
+2 days, 00:32
++AUDIO FEED 003 - KILL TEAM RAPIER INTERNAL VOX-LINK++
ALYXANDER: Validus, another horde approaches.
VALIDUS: ... No sighting of a leader.
ALYXANDER: There must be a larger concentration, still within the forest.
GORLIN: Filthy and wretched-
RARAI'AN: Gorlin, be silent!
AURANIS: It has been forty-eight hours, brother. We have sufficient reconnaissance data. Neutralising the Ork Warboss was a secondary objective.
ALYXANDER: I am not leaving the fate of this world in that Corps Commander's hands. He is a fool, and they are drunk on their victory over the Orks so long ago.
VALIDUS: A Salamanders' victory.
ALYXANDER: Indeed. I will not settle for partial success. We will not have a second incursion on Dakota Minor.
GORLIN: We are His Angels!
RARAI'AN: And death is our gift.
ALYXANDER: Validus?
VALIDUS: Agreed.
ALYXANDER: Auranis?
AURANIS: ... Very well. Let us hunt this Ork.
+2 days, 11:59
+MANUAL ENTRY+
Rapier continued to reconnitore the forest, in search of the Ork leader.
Small mobs were engaged and dispatched.
Will continue to search the forest for another 60 hours before moving to Marker Terminus for exfiltration.
+2 days, 21:47
++AUDIO FEED 004 - KILL TEAM RAPIER INTERNAL VOX-LINK++
ALYXANDER: Validus. Eyes on an Ork at bearing three-four-eight.
VALIDUS: Sighted. Inloading to the feed.
AURANIS: That is not the Ork leader.
GORLIN: How do you know?
AURANIS: Do you see the spanner sigil?
GORLIN: What of it?
AURANIS: That is indicative of one of their mechanic -
GORLIN: How would you know this?
AURANIS: The Deathwatch Librarius. Somewhere you will start to frequent once this is over.
GORLIN: I do not devolve myself to study -
AURANIS: This is not debatable. We study our enemies, so we can destroy them!
ALYXANDER: Enough, both of you. I agree, Auranis. It is not the Leader. We are less than a kilometre from their camp now. Move out.
+3 days, 01:10
++VISUAL FEED STILL 004 - KILL TEAM RAPIER INTERNAL NOOSPHERE++
The suspected Ork Warboss is sighted, as Kill Team Rapier positions themselves for a killing strike.
+3 days, 01:10
++AUDIO FEED 005 - KILL TEAM RAPIER INTERNAL VOX-LINK++
RARAI'AN: I see the leader.
VALIDUS: Bearing?
RARAI'AN: Three-zero-nine.
ALYXANDER: Sighted... Inloading... Auranis?
AURANIS: ... A high-ranking leader, certainly.
ALYXANDER: You seem unconvinced, brother.
AURANIS: It is hard to judge without understanding the full scale of the Ork infestation.
RARAI'AN: If there are no other contenders?
ALYXANDER: I will make the call. The Ork is marked for termination.
VALIDUS: Loading Kraken.
AURANIS: Wait. Let me line up a shot in tandem. It may have a refractor field.
RARAI'AN: Be ready, brothers. They will run amock once it is dead.
VALIDUS: Neutralising... <bolter discharge>
AURANIS: <frag cannon discharge>
ALYXANDER: ... Confirmed kill.
GORLIN: Ha! That was easy.
AURANIS: Indeed, easy...
RARAI'AN: What of the horde?
VALIDUS: ... Squabbling amongst themselves. Infighting.
GORLIN: Orks approaching, one-seven-nine!
RARAI'AN: A lot of them!
ALYXANDER: Rapier, engage the beasts! <heavy weapons fire>
RARAI'AN: Artillery incoming!
ALYXANDER: Take heading two-zero-zero. Move, Rapier! <12 seconds of over-threshold noise>
GORLIN: <laughter>
AURANIS: What is it, Gorlin?
GORLIN: <laughter> That was not called in on us!
ALYXANDER: <unintelligible; laugher?> The Emperor smiles on us.
AURANIS: We should move to exfiltration.
ALYXANDER: Agreed, brother.
+3 days, 01:30
+MANUAL ENTRY+
Suspected Ork warlord terminated by Validus and Auranis.
Squabbling and infighting immediately occured upon the Ork horde.
Kill Team Rapier was set upon by an Ork mob, but was dealt with by their own artillery assets.
Returning to Blackstar at Marker Terminus.+3 days, 09:11
+MANUAL ENTRY+
Extraction by Blackstar at Marker Terminus.
+APPENDIX I+
Cartograph of sighted Ork encampments and estimates of force strength, as well as Kill-Team Rapier's path thro
++++INLOAD ENDS++++
+++ DEBRIEF +++++++INLOAD BEGINS++++
+++RE: KILL TEAM RAPIER OPERATIONAL REPORT – DAKOTA MINOR 998.924M41+++
++FOR THE EYES OF KILL TEAM RAPIER ONLY++Rapier, well done. I applaud your initiative.
Leave the rest of them to the DMDC. Let them have their battle.
Return to the Scepter. I have another assignment for you.
Inquisitor Malethann, Ordo Xenos
++++INLOAD ENDS++++
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Rogal Dorn #2
Dorn #2 of 3. Getting a little bit done. Here's the squad. I've not quite worked out the regiment organization. I'm using 13 for division(?) markings. Vehicle numbers are consecutive, so this is 1st platoon, tank 2 & 3. (stowage - value gear details on Ebay, some left-overs from 1/35 models; Tarp - VMS modelling paper & solution, Ammo belt - Armorcast white metal, Meltas - tiny panzer on Etsy, tank commanders - forgeworld, and a very old pewter commander pre-dating krieg (finally used him!). Not super thrilled with the tarp. It was my first test. Probably should have done a few experiments. I for straps I used strips of pewter foil, cut from sheets from Green Stuff world. Usually I use this for reigns on my horses.
More Modifications. Brass rod for handles and antennas is great. Had a bit of trouble getting the drilled holes to match up this time though. I built a wooden deck on the back to keep stowage even. I think the spare artillery wheels and gas canister are from Zinge. Tow cables are just from scale models. Scale isn't too much an issue in 40k (if it were, I mean, the turret is essentially an 8" naval gun). Of course, all this stowage doesn't really make sense for engaging in combat operations - the view ports really need to not be obstructed. But, I wanted to make a bit of a story with this model. So the chimeras and trojans are destroyed. Supply lines are strained. This vehicle is doing double duty by getting more gear to the front.
As with the first rogal dorn, i did experiment some more on cast metal texture (tamiya putty + thin cement + old paint brush). Also worked a bit on the weld seams.
Next up - Meditations on Extra Armour. Next up... can we get something close to this sherman tank?? I found some rogal dorn track STL files. I think i can probably do it. Hard part is getting it to look right - going from real life to a model - covering up details might not pay off at all.
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So, how did you get into the hobby?
Being a Catholic who joined The Church as an adult I am often asked how it is that I came to find God, and my answer generally holds great interest in the many 'cradle Catholics' who ask. My wife has on more than one occasion suggested that it was my finding of faith that inspired my love for the Sisters of Battle - the faction I've been collecting for the last year - upon seeing their exuberant Cathedral-Cannons on wheels (as she calls The Immolator Battle Tanks), rosaries wrapped around bolt-guns and simulacri.
(An Immolater - check out the Reddit profile who shared this great piece here)
'No' is the answer, of course - as I had actually began collecting them before my finding of faith... I swear!
But similarly to the popularity of this question within The Church, I find that everyone who pursues this amazing hobby has their own origin story of how it is they came to find themselves pouring over these exquisitely detailed plastic miniatures, their stories and their game that hold such a special place in our hearts.
"So how did you get into The Hobby?"
For the vast majority of people their answers will fall into one of three categories:
a) I walked past a Games Workshop and went inside because I thought it looked really cool.
b) Friends or older-relatives introduced me to the game.
c) I got into it through the books/lore.
I can't actually think of any other 'broad categories' of answer to this (in)famous question... if you can, can you let me know in the comments below?
But, as the face of the hobby has evolved over the last few years and continues to do so, I wonder how these typical answers will change and grow. Especially as the hobby starts to enter more of the mainstream! No doubt aided by the burgeoning value of Games Workshop following their steady pre-pandemic growth followed by their Pandemic-explosion in business and the developments being followed closely by many in their negotiations with Amazon about a TV series with Henry Caville, there are signs all around that Warhammer is becoming more widely known as a hobby to share and enjoy. For example, this post I recently shared on my Threads (below).
However the question is answered, there's always a unique spin for each partaker of the game. It usually gets the nostalgia going and is a reminder of simpler times.
I was about 10 years old when I first became exposed to Warhammer. A family friend whose son was about 6-7 years old than me had a major home clear out and from them my twin brother and I inherited 'The Box'.
'The Box' was a large container of toys and other such things that didn't survive their cull and were promptly taken off their hands by my mum and dad. Within the box were toy cars, action figures and that sort of things but nestled right at the bottom was... a 3rd Edition Warhammer 40,000 rulebook. Paperback, with the famous Black Templar Illustration on the front.
Now you may be looking at my profile picture and thinking that there's no way I was 10 years old in/around 1998 when this was first published and... you'd be right! Even then it was old and battered, but it was enough to ignite a passion in our young hearts that would continue to burn to this day. The topic of the introduction of The Warhammer Universe to the young and inquisitive mind is a subject that requires its own article another day! But suffice to say it was... horizon expanding.
From reading that book obsessively cover to cover we dragged our poor mum to the Games Workshop in Central London where The Battle for Macragge was all the rage and the rest, as they say, is history.
I wish that I still had that copy now, but, growing up is first abandoning our childish ways and then reminiscing about the lost pieces once we realise that our happiness is worth pursuing even if doesn't fit the idea of what others think is 'cool' around us. I was heartened to see when searching for the above image on google that there are many copies going cheaply on eBay...!
Warhammer has had a profound impact on my life. As a bit of an odd-ball child/teen with a lot going on at home it gave me both a creative outlet and a place/community where I could go and actually interact with others in an accepting and healthy environment. I look back now at my childhood and really thank God that the hobby came into my life when it did.
And now as an adult, I returned to the Hobby in 2019 with the aim of once more making friends and finding a counter-balance to my extremely busy and demanding professional life and, five years later here I am!
So let me know down in the comments, what's your origin story?
With best wishes,
Mini Painting Mike.
PS: If you've made it this far down my post, thank you for sticking around. This is the first of what I hope will be many blog posts and articles I will write and share here about the hobby, my hobbying and other things related. From my painting projects, to games, to hobby-life in my world and discussing developments in the wider Warhammer/hobby-landscape.
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BatRep: AT Tempestus vs Solaria
Quick photo dump of a recent game with my Tempestus playing against my friends Legio, using Solaria Rules to maximise warhounds. This was a first for us as he wanted to play using all AT rules and not just part, so we used stratagems, Legio traits, and I brought out a corrupted titan for a laugh. I might be reading it wrong, but is there a way to get more than 2 strat points other than being the underdog?
My Force was:
Corsair maniple
Aegis Fidelis - Reaver princeps - volcano, chas laser, apoc
Fons Irae - Reaver - chainfist, gatling, top laser
Arma Akimbo - Reaver - melt, gatling, volkite
Neglecta Rege - Warlord - quake, bellicosa, apocs, frozen soul, gelid aura
With my 2 strat points I bought an apoc missile silo.
Opponent had the artillery/nemesis can use LOS of warhounds maniple
Nemesis with laser arms, volcano top
3x hounds with plasma/vulcan
1x hound with twin swarmer missiles.
I rolled and chose the vital cargo/rescue mission, my opponent chose glory/kill stuff.
I deployed aggressively with the idea that my fist reaver would rush up and either grab the objective, or run past it and then Arma Akimbo would get it, which worked really nicely. My opponent strangely deployed all the warhounds in cover and left the nemesis out in the open, kind of the opposite of what the maniple is supposed to do - I did point this out but my opponent was happy with his deployment.
Regardless, the warhounds were the real threat and had to be targeted.
Fons Irae full strided outand onto the objective T1 ready for a T2 charge, akimbo followed up, while a few things took potshots. My opponents hounds move blocked one another and stumbled out from behind the building, lighting some things up, most notably the swarmer hound lit up Fons and stripped his shields with the double missiles.
Turn2, Fons charged and fumbled his attacks on the warhound, calling for the head and getting 1 hit for only a direct hit - I forgot the body has lower armour, but I went for the shorter track. In the combat phase, I only did another direct hit, gatlings shot the legs and that was it. That hound moved back. Akimbo moved onto the objective.
Turn 3, Akimbo turned and full strided away from the objectives, losing it's firepower, but securing the objective. The warlord opened up and stripped shields and got kills, frozen soul coming in handy. Fons got focussed down by 3 hounds and went nova, while Aegis had it's shields stripped. I then focussed down a hound, and Aegis was laid low.
End result, I lost 2 reavers but completed my mission, my opponent had to kill the warlord, so got very few points, but had done more killing than me.
Frozen soul is cool and I want to try it on a venator reaver with volcano to try and manage the draining from all the free shots.
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The Devourers
As a World Eaters main and having recently sold my Black Legion army, I have decided to start a new project.
I really enjoyed the AoO narrative, particularly the murder curse created by Angron destroying a planet.
I recently created some WE terminators - 6 of the 12 Devourers and a DP on foot. My project is going to be a Crusade CSM army based on the Devourers starting a murder curse during a boarding action. I plan on converting loyalist factions (that my friends are playing in our Crusade) to the worship of Khorne. These will need to fit with CSM datasheets and will hopefully fill my BL sized hole.
Some pics of the beginning (don’t expect fast progress hehe).
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Call to Arms 2024 ..... further progres
We are now into August, with the deadline for the challenge only just over a month away, but I think I'm well on top of it which is just as well as I have a few busy weeks and a short Holiday looming. So as you can see below, I have finished the Tau themselves and moved onto their Kroot allies:
I squad of Tau Pathfinders and 3 drones (13pts)
Flesh Shaper, Trail shaper, War Shaper and BSF tracker (16pts)
Kroot Lonespear (5pts)
Krootox Rampagers (6pts)
Krootox Rider (3pts)
The first 5 Kroot carnivores (5Pts), just another 15 to finish off =
Now up to 111pts out of 126, so nearly there, will probably add a few more drones and I've also got another Broadside on order that I will try to add time willing.
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JULY - Back to work and back to work
So last month was a bit of a dull one. Blog-wise anyway, real life was very much full of activity. We're now coming up on 8 weeks of have two kids under two and let me tell you it is no picnic. Absolutely wonderful in many ways, but also the most exhausting thing I've ever known. Three to four hours sleep a night is doable for a bit but eventually.......well eventually you fall asleep in a presentation at work because the chair is comfy and they've dimmed the lights.
The question is though, following the write-off that was June, have I managed to do any hobbying? Happily I can report that the answer is yes! There's been some incoming models again - the launch of AoS 4.0 has me excited for that system and so I've added some stuff there. Slightly more stuff than expected thanks to some fairly rubbish work from a retailer who finally cancelled an order after weeks of hounding, only to send me everything out anyway. Normally I'd contact them and return the stuff but after the frankly shocking and rude customer service I'd received up to that point I was in no mood to correct their error for them. Long and short of it is that while the Models In number is a little high this month, it's not cost me anything like it should have done which makes me feel a little better about the whole thing.
In terms of models painted? Well not a bad return this month actually. I've continued to focus on the two armies I've been enjoying painting the most recently - Ad Mech and Solar Auxilia. For both armies I've got their schemes at a point that I have a system and I can easily do them in short bursts. I don't have to dedicate 2-3 hours hobby time to completing any particular section, for the most part it doesn't matter if it's only 20 minutes at a time. The exception is the oil/enamel washes near the end, but even they can be done quite quickly now. The biggest time sink is the drying time unless I crack out the hairdryer.
First up this month then was the SA. Specifically some Big Axe Dudes. Yes I know the volkite is better in game - and I will definitely be adding some of those in the future - but this is one of those rare occasions where there's a cooler option than CHOOOM. The storm axes are simple awesome so that's where I started.
Seriously cool models and I'm increasingly moving from my SA being an allied detachment to them being the lead with an allied Legion force instead. Yes I know the bases need rimming, but that's a job that'll happen across the army when I feel like doing a mind numbing tax 50-60 times in a row.
I also converted and painted a pair of medicae. Again, not the "efficiency" choice - a 6+++ that only works up to S5 isn't going to make a huge difference - but they're cool and add some variety to the infantry. And let's be honest, Heresy isn't about peak competitiveness. To me, it's a system that - like Necromunda - should be lead by narrative and Rule of Cool.
Then onto the Ad Mech. Nothing too exciting going on here. 10 more Skitarii since even with the welcome changes to the codex, they're still important for several buffs etc.
And I also painted up a babysitter for my robots. Not happy with the eyes on this guy. Will likely redo them at some point.
So there we have it. Back in the hobby swing and I'm pretty happy with the month. August sees one release that I will find difficult to turn down - the Mechanicum battlegroup. I know they can't be used in 40K and I've already got Legion and SA models for heresy.....but just look at them! Even if I resist early on, once that Thanatar comes out then that might be the end of my fight. It's a model I've adored for years and one that I will find a place for. Even if it's just looking pretty on a shelf.
Finally let's run the numbers for July:
Models IN: 49
Models OUT: 28
JULY TOTAL: +21
YTD TOAL: -73
Hmm the slide continues after hitting triple digits a couple of months back. Going to try and paint like a madman in August. Assuming I don't just melt in this heat!
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I promised myself I would never bother with a titanic unit, and here we have two of the buggers showing up anyway! Thanks, I'm quite happy with the camo dorks.
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Special mention to the 2 furry models displayed on pics. And for the T'au that really deserve a big hooray.
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By Mazer Rackham · Posted
Thank you for your kind words. I agree, WD 101 has a lot to answer for! -
Since the Badab war double heraldy page in 40RT compendium (so long ago), I have always felt some specific feelings toward Mantis warriors and Executioneers. So any piece of art, lore or painted material related to these 2 chapters makes my day!
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By BrutalCities · Posted
I think I actually tried to join B&C years ago, but I had issues signing up. Anyway, It looks like the site has been redesigned, it's looking good! I'm totally for forums, but this blog focus seems great. It's also nice to see people share hobby content in formats that aren't A) youtube (not that it's terrible at all, but it's a lot of work editing videos and therefore still somewhat inaccessible.) B) Not on facebook. Some years ago I deleted my FB, but had to get an account again for
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