Narrative Army List.

I wanted an actual story to accompany the board. Getting the lore to match up to my armies is more difficult than one would think. Why is Agrippina supplying this? Why is Krieg part of this mission? Anyway, the basic narrative is that Angron is being summoned on Armageddon. I've got the whole thing written out, but in short - 10's of thousands sacrificed in blood daily. Full Divisions are going mad and in open rebellion. Thousands of psykers mind's have exploded (the classic astropath found on the ground, stuttering one word repeatedly before he dies... "Angron"). Lord Solar launches a full frontal assault 100 million strong, on all fronts. Meanwhile, under the cover of the assault, as the aeronautica imperialis have discovered the location of the summoning ritual, Kasrkin forces seek to breach the cave system and kill the apostate cardinal conducting the ritual. They'll detonate the nuclear device if they fail (sector imperialis objective marker).  Guilliman himself is raising a fleet off port Maw, but it'll be too late. Spoiler... Angron makes it into reality. 

Ultimately the print was too small. I should have made more copies for people to read. Well, I suppose I could find bigger paper, or just glue stick some sheets together? 

Stamp.

So I had a custom stamp made for Excommunicate Traitoris. This rubber stamp was hard because I had to clean up any grey-scale on the symbol. I'm not tech saavy. This took a while. But it worked. I love the final product. The ongoing joke of the tournament was teammate John attempting to excommunicate the judge during judging. Obviously this is ridiculous. We had fun anyway. 

Wax Seals. 

I'd wanted to use wax seals on an army list for a long time. I use them for wedding cards. Now it's time for 40k. So, I ordered some pins/badges, and also had some stamps made off Etsy. Super easy to work with and easy process. Also, coffee and lemon juice is a great mix to stain the paper. It gives a nice age to it. I put that mix in the spray bottle at 150-200 degrees and sprayed it on the paper. Unfortunately printing on paper outside of a 8.5x11 sheet is apparently rather difficult. So while I'd have preferred something like a scroll, I'm stuck with what I have (for now...). Also, it'd be cool to actually seal a letter that the judge must open. I'm still working out how I want to do it next time. So, we have the signature stamp of the Lord Regent, the Cardinals Palantine, the Fabricator General (signed in binary code), and Departmento Munitorum. 

My personal favorite touches: 

The first line of the Operations Order - 

DISSEMINATION: [BEYOND TOP SECRET // GRADE OMEGA III] Pursuant to Imperial Law this Order is to be “viewed only in the immediate proximity to and presence of an armed Lord Commissar.” Munitorum Code § IENKV 9274657290.2028267.12, subdivision 68, subp. 17(e)(ii). 

The name of the Abbess Sanctorum (I need to start a sisters army now)- 

Hatred Dos Vorden, of the Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Vengeance. 

The seal of the ecclesiarchy - 

CASUS BELLUM

Just Cause, and Holy Righteousness Thrice Reviewed;

Thrice Deemed Beyond Refutation; Under pain of Death, Adeptus Ministorum Official Signet Seal BY:

By Cardinals Palantine, Unanimous;
And Ecclesiarch Theodacus V with Special Concurrence Noted in Verdict:
"There can be but one Emperor, one God, one Saviour, one Deliverer. Without Him, a billion billion souls are nought but fodder for the ever-thirsting evils of the Warp."

Going Forward Pt. 2 - the Next Display.

Tyranids. Ok, next years' design. I have a Bellicosa volcano cannon. I could retry the rail gun idea. ...I could just build a warlord titan. But, I think an anti-ship cannon could be the center piece. I'd also like to add Hydra Flakk turrets. While the team doesn't want to do Guard in 2024, I still think they'd be a good antagonist for the theme. If it's a tyranid invasion, I do worry about (1) painting a whole new army. I actually played tyranids back in about 2002. No idea what happened to that army, probably collecting dust in some strange garage somewhere. Next I worry about (2) coordinating paint schemes.

Winter Setting. I've long dreamed of a mawlock bursting through the ice... But what scheme will this fit? Also I worry (3) that since a new range refresh is coming in the summer, I can't start a collection now. And, that leads to back to problem (1) how are we going to paint a whole army? Conversions are a must. Cinematic scenes are a must. And, doing ice/winter is new to me. Time to learn something new? I like the idea of The Thing - finding a space craft in the ice. Though I think Necrons might do that easier. I'm not sure I can sculpt a tyranid ship... 

Jungle Setting. Then again, I like the idea of a jungle fight - maybe a big temple in the jungle overrun by tyranids, like Aliens v. Predator. Of course any new settings will mean my krieg antagonists aren't based correctly. I kind of like the idea of a genestealer cult tectonic fragdrill boring into some kind of ancient chamber. 

City Fight. I've got imperial fists in city/rubble bases. Maybe the centerpiece could be inside a city, or walled area. What about my Krieg Costume? Hmmmm. Maybe muddy streets can be tied in with rubble? Maybe keep a trench or two :). I will say I have a lot of mechanicus terrain that could fit this well. So that's an easy-ish transition to this setting. 

Thanks for reading.