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Hi folks, I have been thinking about doing a power generator / "portable plasma reactor" for a long time. Then our beloved GW issued that piece of scenery... ... and I have been satisfied. For a while. Or it is what I believed. But the idea came back. Insidiously. In fact I am still disappointed by the fact that it is not obvious connecting these big bricks with my plasma pipe networks. I therefore resurrected the idea of a similar function that could be arranged so that the power will flow in the pipes. And it was a way to get rid of some bitz, or at least it is what I originally thought. Indeed many cool parts left from old kits could have found their place here, such as vents or canopy from the SW boarding barge, left apart panels from Land Raiders... But it is not what happened. At all. Most part of the power generator ended being pure plasticard. With only some add-ons from a few kits; these are only details that root the design in the Warhammer design while having only a very limited impact on my bitz box management. As a small game of guessing the origins of the bits, one may have recognized: - Leman Russes exhausts, handles (as a ladder) and lifting lugs - Chimera cut side panel - Land Raider tool kit and power cable connector panel - Old vehicle sprue Promethium reservoir (+Immolator valves) - Some Skorpius parts + miscelaneous parts from the Icarus missile launcher from the Onager (vents and icon) - Turbines from the iconic (and ugly - excuse me for exposition so frankly my thoughs about this design) Stromhawk interceptor - And other tiny stuff from IG HW team sprue, Fragdrill extinctor… And of course a upper tap for connection to pipe array. After all it is the main purpose for this modelling experience! The gantry is probably the really only new stuff/technique I commit during this work, using a table tennis net for texturing the panels. I should have done it before, it would have given a very sympathetic touch to the platforms I built in the past years (knowing that I have this net on shelves for 15 years… I do not understand why I did not think about it earlier???). In the end the powergen will be connected to the network with the still unglued tap on the side. The overall size is close to the one of the existing genuine models disclosed in the introduction of this entry. And it was NOT done on purpose. I initially aimed at getting something a tad smaller but in the end I lost myself between the initial idea and the realization and it ended being 2/3 lenght of an armoured container, as large as the llatter and higher. But the stuff , even if slightly too high for my taste/original idea, remains globally OK. It will be a good obscuring item of scenery for my plodding along. See you once painted. In between I’ll try composing myself a poker face while intenting glueing the resin arms of the Malestrain alpha. This kit is really not modeler friendly… But it is another story.

Building a Generic Inquisitor for my Custodes. I bought one of those Cities of Sigmar blind boxes, and ended up with this guy, I think he's a good starting point. I'm going to fix his base, give him a new head, and modify his weapon and backpack... I think. Got any suggestions? And I have no idea what the heck this is, but it has a spot on the base for it:

Yesterday at my local gaming group, Framhammer we played a big team game, the finale to 'The Forge of Silence' Narrative Crusade campaign I've been running. This game saw three teams - Imperial, Votann and Necrons - face-off across two game areas; the first a pretty big 132"x60" table (3 standard 40k tables joined together ), the second a 'sort of' Boarding Actions type of affair. The first area was on the surface of Rostokhar III, where the campaign was fought; narratively speaking, that concluded with the reveal that the High Fabricator supposedly running the Forge World had been murdered by a Necron Phaeron who had assumed her identity - in order to reactivate the ancient device that lay hidden beneath the planet's surface. The device was now powering up causing devastation on the surface of Rostokhar III, and the forces of the campaign were arrayed to either destroy, loot. or defend the machinery of the device. The five objectives represented part of the device, the numbers on the deployment map indicating which turn they became energised. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention - when they became 'activated' there were effects that came in to play - effecting morale and psykers, or having strange gravitic effects that either slowed or increased movement: This Necron device had opened the way to a pocket dimension where High Phaeron Nepharekh of the Celestial Hegemon had sequestered her legions and warhosts - this was the second game area. I used three of the Kill Team Pariah Nexus boards, making some walls that fit the marked off areas for one of the two sides, and painted up a bunch of the scatter terrain that went with that set: In the centre board, on the large terrain piece, Nepharekh herself was placed - if either the Imperial or Votann teams moved any models within 12"of her, she would react - the Necron team could use her (with Illuminor Szeras' profile). As well as that, there were a number of tokens representing random Necron Patrols that team could place. One member from each team picked 500 points of infantry from their main army to be 'teleported' to this pocket dimension and start the battle there. In this second area, the teams were battling for control of 6 'nodes' that sent energies to the machinery on the main area. If the Necrons controlled more of these at the start of the 5th battle round, then on the main board every unit within 9" if an objective would take D3 mortal wounds as its devastating energies were released! So three teams - each fielding 6,000 points a side - lined up for the climatic showdown The Imperial team deployments (I borrowed an Astraeus from a team member who could only muster 1,500 points of Imperial Agents, to make up points to 6k on our team): The Votann team (ironically the campaign player actually using Votann couldn't make this game so Xenos mercenaries did their fighting): And finally the nefarious Necron team, and their mind-shackle Scarab controlled Tyranids (boo, hiss, ): The game was played with a round of 'normal' 40k, then a round on the second area. Points were scored for controlling one of the objectives, more objectives than the other teams, an objective that is 'activated', and (on the main board) destroying any enemy units and destroying more than the other teams. It was, as you can imagine, absolute carnage ) - the funniest thing was how quickly the biggest units went down in a game this size; the Astraeus was taken out turn one (tag-teamed by Broadside rail guns and overwatching Tyrannofexes ), the Knight went turn 2, the Heirophant turn 3, and a Necron Monolith was destroyed the turn after it arrived from reserves On one flank, the Ashen Sentinels and Imperial Agents came back from initial heavy Tau fire to inflict some heavy losses and pretty much clear the way to hold the objective there for the rest of Battle. On the other, the stoic Salamanders were unflinching even in the face of a titanic Tyranid monstrosity, pushing forward to try and contest the objective on that side regardless. In the centre, the Necrons pressed on despite intense fire and pressure from both the Tau and Salamanders inflicting a few losses - with their Tyranid 'allies' they quickly took the central objectives, and kept hold until the end of the game (only losing one at the end to the tenacious Salamanders who managed to grab it with a squad of Infiltrators). A valiant push by the Salamanders and Ashen Sentinels attempted to storm through to the central objective, but assaults from Tyranid monstrosities and some ridiculously accurate overwatch fire from a Tyrannofex blunted the charge. The main game ended with the Necron team winning on points - but it didn't all go their way on the day. On the other game area, carnage also ensued An early push by the Ashen Sentinels saw a couple of objectives grabbed and some Xenos purged, but soon the number of Necron reinforcements were overwhelming the Astartes. However, the Votann's mercenary allies realised where the true threat lay, and focused their efforts on taking other objectives and focusing their attacks on the Necrons. With reinforcements pouring in from their team, and the Imperials (there was a rule on the main area that any infantry unit in base contact with one of the main objectives could 'teleport' to the Pocket Dimension), the Necrons were prevented from winning back the objectives the other teams controlled. So the full power of the Necron device would not be unleashed on Rostokhar III..! We intended to play out 5 rounds, but ran out of time and called it at the end of the 4th. It was an immensely fun game, I think everyone enjoyed it and it made for a memorable finale to the campaign. After many weeks of prep - planning and writing up the scenario, building and painting terrain - I'm feeling a tad spent creatively It'll be a while before I run another campaign - but there are more stories that can be told featuring my Ashen Sentinels and the worlds of the Strontium Protectorate..!

I folks, I got this Fragdrill model from MTO last december. It stayed in my "pile of potential" that long, until I have decided myself to paint it for good. Enlisting in the the 12MoH 2026 Plodding along vow helped me keeping in line with this pledge. Anyway. The building was smooth, even if I have lost in the process the small 2 parts cable connection the small and the big drill. I al sure I did not throw it away but I have to explore the considerable amount of bitz I have to find it back. Making some housekeeping of my crates last weeks make it more difficult as I have probably put it in the wrong box... The painting was as painful as always as far as it goes with gantries: I set a paint scheme many years ago for all my gantries and it is frankly too complicated. Yet I did not want to make these in a different pattern so that coherency is maintained. In terms of final assemby I have added some additionnal parts left from past Sector mechanicus kits: a second lifting gantry and more barriers. I had eve more left bits such as a claw from the Munitorum vehicles or a fuel filling arm from the IK sacristan scenery, but it felt out of place. I will instead refrain my assembly to additions of consols and panels from Necromunda scenery and Computing block from Imperial sector objective set. Maybe an atenna from the Bheta Decima Killzone too. I now have only limited bitz box management actions to complete my target of scenery extension for this year: A power gen and may be some bariccades. I have started with the Powergen already, knowing that this is a 100% developpement from a blank sheet (of plasticard). This will be for October pledges. See you with more stuff next month.

"Non permittant vivere impuritus." I finally got around to painting a Test model for my Red Hunters Space Marines. Of course I can not paint a basic model for as my test bed, I have to use my Armageddon Captain. Right now he is what I am calling "I swear he is not a Blood Angel Space Marine" stage. Honestly this stage will last until his decals are added. This will go for most of the army. III Company Captain Razak of the Red Hunters Chapter Paints used (All Army Painter): Warpaints Air Matt Black Primer (Airbrush) Warpaints Air Matt White (Airbrush) Zenithal Warpaints Air Encarmine Red Basecoat Warpaints Air Pure Red Highlight Warpaints Air Archangel Red Highlight 2 Warpaint Fanatic Barbarian Flesh Skin tone Warpaint Fanatic Matt Black Future Metallic and Black areas Warpaint Fanatic Brigandine Brown Pteruges Warpaints Fanatic Tundra Taupe ground basecoat. Still need to paint: Weapon Scabbards and Holster (Brown) Ork Skull (Bone) Scrolls and Purity Seal Parchments (whitish brown) Need to decide on: Purity Seal Wax color (Darker Red, Pink, Purple or Green) Inner cloak color (White, Black or Purple) Outer cloak color (Black, White, or Purple) Weapon handles (Purple or Brown) Tassels (White or Purple) For wax color I am leaning towards the darker red or a violet color as the armor is already done and the darker red/ purple tint will stand out against it. For the Inner Cloak I think white maybe the best option to give it a nice pop of color and Red =][= inside at the corners. The Outer Cloak being Black will be nice since he will have Red Hunters logo (White Skull, Red =][= )on back of the cloak. His left knee needs something I am sure what, yet.

The final building portion of my CSM journey has been completed! Got the bits to make the Ninth Verse Chosen for the Ebon Word, and the Pale Wake Legionaries and Orren Malith the Dark Apostle for the Shrikeborn. Once my Votann are finished (down to a Land Fortress, 2 Sagitaurs, and a Grimnyr), I should be starting on these bad boys. The Ninth Verse Chosen of the Ebon Word, decided to make them very much Iconoclasts and destroyers of the Imperial Lie, so all armed with smashing maces and fists. Even the "twin accursed weapon" member is modeled with a thunder hammer to show the dedication they put into smacking down Imperial shrines and statues. As far as gameplay goes, the "regular" guys all have accursed weapons, with two carrying combi-weapons and one just a regular bolter, which is distinguished by the different shields they are carrying (not great view of the shields, but the bolter one has a mkII round shield vs the others carrying mkVI shields). Pretty standard stuff otherwise, though the Champion has the Traitor Overseer head because it felt right. Pale Wake Guess I'm making a lot of semi-Breachers... These Legionaires are armed in a fairly standard way- Champion and one dude have heavy melee weapons (heavy chainsword/powerfist) and plasma pistols, one member carries a lascannon, and the other two are chainsword/bolt pistol grunts. All but the heavy chainsword guy are sporting AoS Blood Knight shields, as I had some extra and I think they look very Night Lords-coded. Helms are the Sons of Horus Mk VI heads, as they look very different from other Mk VI stuff but still feel like a skull-type thing which fits for the Pale Wake. Orren Malith Malith turned out pretty good I think. The Sons of Horus Dark Emissary Consul is a good base and his spear I think is suitably nasty looking. Only two issues popped up- I originally wanted his left hand to still have the Emissary's chained skull, but that was way too fragile and broke when I was trying to put it together. The Traitor Overseer power-lash seemed an appropriate replacement, without distracting from the main weapon. The second issue was his head, as I had ordered a set of heads from Etsy that looked good but turned out to be too small (true 28mm size rather than the sort-of 32mm scale that GW's SM are), so I just took the most skull-like of the Sons of Horus Mk VI helms and stuck it on, minus the topknot. Overall I'm happy with him, so can't complain too much. Next up for this blog will be actually painting some of my stuff, hopefully starting next month!

So I go the last of the Strikeborn in, my terminators and all of the mortal fools. These were super easy builds because none really required any additional modeling- the Contekar termies are full of all the ridiculous NL details you want, and the Nomads have loads of character without needing anything other than a decent paintjob. Dirgebound (Counts as a regular CSM termie squad, with 4 accursed weapons, 4 combi-weapons, 1 powerfist, and 1 heavy flamer) Traitor guard (Weapons are heavy blaster for plasmagun, charge caster as grenade launcher, webber as flamer- not really cohesive, but they are meat shields in the end so I don't expect them to do much) Cultists (they're cultists. They have no options and die to a stiff breeze) All mortals together, the Howlbrood and Silent Order Next up is painting, as I just primed everything yesterday. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on my mood) these are going to be on the back burner as I have a 2k army of Votann to speedpaint for a Crusade that is coming up quickly in the next few months. So the Shrikeborn will be part of my pile 'o potential, but I'm still eager and ready to get these guys painted up. Hopefully everything with the Votann goes smoothly so I can start bringing Nostramo's sons into the fully-fleshed world. Thanks for looking!