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THE MAN IN THE BOX The Crusade Fleet hung over Mars like a crown of steel. The Verdant Oath and her escorts gleamed in the thin light, engines humming a low, patient warning. Dust storms swirled beneath the atmosphere, curling around the temples of the Adeptus Mechanicus like smoke over fire. High Sentinel Varyn Drakus walked the bridge, reviewing manifest after manifest, fleet strength, Blade assignments, and tonnage. Every calculation balanced, every number accounted for—or so he thought. Then the arithmetic failed. “One thousand and one,” said the Chapter Master. The strategium was silent save for servitors and distant engine hums. “Read it back,” he added. The human Fleet-master hesitated. Not long enough to defy him, long enough to be afraid. “One thousand and one, High Sentinel.” Drakus’ gaze hardened. Silence settled over the strategium like a fog. “Explain.” “I cannot,” the Fleet-master admitted. “The roster is sealed above my authority. This anomaly was not present an hour ago.” Drakus extended a hand. The data-slate was placed into it with visible reluctance. He scrolled. The cogitator whined, chimes stuttering, before unlocking a partition he had never authorized. Designation: Withheld Heraldry: Absent Status: Active Classification: Brutalis-pattern Dreadnought Drakus closed the slate. “No Green Templar stands interred,” he said quietly. No one contradicted him. “Locate it,” he ordered. “Do not alert the Mechanicus. Do not log the search. If questioned, you are reconciling tonnage.” He turned back to the hololithic fleet display. “If it exists,” he said, “it exists inside my Crusade. I will know why.” ☆☆☆ The Brutalis Dreadnought waited in a lower cargo hold of the Verdant Oath itself. Its ceramite was bare, talons locked in mag-lock restraints, edges deliberately dulled. Twin multi-meltas hung inert. Strange-marked tech-priests stood watch, robes layered with sigils from dozens of hands. “Deactivate the restraint fields,” Drakus ordered. One turned, mechadendrites twitching. “Authorization is restricted. This asset is under—” Drakus drew his bolt pistol and fired. The first head ruptured against the bulkhead; the others froze, logic-loops stalling. “You are aboard a Green Templar vessel,” Drakus said evenly. “There is no higher authority present.” He fired again. And again. When the last fell, the bolt pistol locked open. Drakus glanced at it, then keyed his helm. “Techmarine Rodrigo Peral,” he said. “Report. Bring the rites for Dreadnought activation. Requisition an additional magazine for my sidearm. I am short.” ☆☆☆ Rodrigo Peral completed the final rites. Power flooded the sarcophagus. Hydraulics hissed like indrawn breath. A voice emerged—deep, vox-cracked, yet carrying the cadence of a brother long in the wars. “High Sentinel Drakus. At last.” Drakus leveled his bolt pistol. “Identify.” “I am the First. A Greyshield forged by the Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl himself, of pure Vulkan gene-seed, before your Chapter received its name or its Blades. I was held in reserve—pure, untainted—until the moment came.” Greyshield? Drakus thought. Cawl’s vaults supplied our Primaris reinforcements, yes—but no record exists of a pre-founding internee. No sarcophagus was delivered with the gene-stock. This thing claims a history we never claimed. “Why were you interred?” Drakus asked. “In what battle did you fall?” The talons twitched against the restraints. “I was defeated… by a vile machine. It thought itself alive. It wore the form of Man, spoke as kin, but its heart was cold code. I struck it down, but the cost was grievous. The Mechanicus saved what remained of me. They interred me so I could serve still.” The words hung heavy. Drakus felt the chill of recognition—not of truth, but of pattern. The abomination it described mirrored the speaker too closely. “Where have you been since?” he pressed. “Name the forge where they rebuilt you. Name the Tech-Priest who sealed the rites.” A longer pause. The multi-meltas hummed faintly, as if testing power. “I… do not remember clearly. The wars blur. The void is long. I awoke here, among my brothers. That is enough.” Drakus’ gaze hardened. Vague. Evasive. No Marine forgets the forge that birthed his second life. Rodrigo Peral shifted, mechadendrites probing the hull readings. “Lord, the neural bridge reads… inconsistent. I need a second opinion. Apothecary Severo Marqués—report to the hold. Bring your auspex and bio-probes.” Severo Marqués arrived swiftly, white armor stark against the dim lumens. He knelt, connecting leads to the sarcophagus ports. Scans flickered across his narthecium display. His posture stiffened. “High Sentinel,” he said quietly, voice tight. “There are no life signs. None. The biomatter within… it does not resemble an interred brother. No secondary heart, no catalepsean node activity. It is preserved, yes—artificially—but it is wrong. Dead far longer than any Dreadnought could sustain a mind. And yet it spoke.” Drakus rested his gauntlet on the ceramite. The hull thrummed under his touch, almost expectant. “Then tell me,” he said, voice low and final, “who—or what—has been speaking through a corpse’s shell.” Drakus keyed the vox without looking away. “Peral. Prepare to vent the hold. Open the outer hatch on my mark. Eject this… thing into the void.” Silence stretched. Then the voice cracked—less lucid, more desperate. “I am Green Templar! I am the First! Forged by Cawl, pure Vulkan blood—do not cast me out!” The Dreadnought’s talons flexed hard against the mag-locks—metal groaned. “No. I have served! I purged the machine that thought itself alive! You cannot—” “You are the machine,” Drakus said evenly. “And you will serve no longer.” The restraints snapped like brittle bone. Hydraulics screamed as the Brutalis tore free, massive frame lurching forward. Twin multi-meltas whined to full charge, barrels glowing infernal red. Bolt rifles on its forearms spat a storm of mass-reactive shells, hammering crates and bulkheads into ruin. Drakus drew his power sword in a blur. The blade ignited blue-white. “Peral—hatch! Now!” He charged low, aiming for the knee joints where armor gapped for movement. Rodrigo Peral dove for the control panel, mechadendrites stabbing into access ports, overriding lockdown protocols. Warning runes flashed crimson across the deck. Apothecary Severo Marqués raised his narthecium, vox crackling urgently: “All nearby Brothers—this is Marqués! Hold breach—hostile Dreadnought asset! Reinforcements to bay seven, priority!” A squad of Chapter serfs—ship’s armsmen in void-sealed carapace, lasguns and shotguns at the ready—poured through the inner hatch at the alarm klaxons. They opened fire instinctively: las-bolts splashed harmlessly off the bare ceramite, autogun rounds pinging away like rain on adamantium. One serf screamed a Promethean litany and charged with a shock maul raised—only for a casual backhand talon to send him flying into a wall, armor crumpling. A massive talon swept in a wide arc. Marqués twisted aside, but not far enough. The claw raked across his chest plate, tearing pauldron and rib-guard in a spray of blood and ceramite shards. He staggered back, collapsing against a munitions crate, one arm dangling useless, white armor blooming red. “Marqués!” Drakus roared. Tomas Varn—barely out of his indenture, face pale under his helm—broke from the firing line and threw himself over the fallen Apothecary, lasgun blazing point-blank at the Dreadnought’s torso. The bolts did nothing. The Brutalis pivoted, one multi-melta barrel tracking. A searing beam lanced out—white-hot promethium fury that slagged Tomas Varn’s carapace in an instant. Flesh and armor vaporized in a burst of superheated steam; his scream cut short as he slumped, charred remains shielding Marqués’ body like a broken aegis. Drakus locked his mag-boots to the deck with a heavy clunk, anchoring himself against the growing pull as Peral’s overrides began cycling the outer hatch. He lunged again, power sword slashing deep into the exposed knee servo—sparks flew, fluid sprayed, the leg buckling with a tortured whine. The Dreadnought staggered, talons raking blindly. “I am one of you!” it bellowed, voice fracturing into static rage. A fist hammered down; Drakus rolled aside, the impact cratering plasteel and sending shockwaves through the hold. The remaining serfs braced against cargo stacks and support struts, gripping handholds, autoguns still barking futile defiance. Peral’s vox cut through the chaos: “Hatch at fifty percent—five seconds! Lord, the machine is fighting the cycle!” The outer hatch hissed wide. Void roared in like a living thing—sucking air, debris, loose tools toward the black maw. Mars’ ruddy glow framed the opening. Drakus deactivated one boot momentarily, lunged to Marqués’ side, and clamped a gauntlet around the Apothecary’s pauldron. With a grunt, he hauled the wounded brother back, mag-locking both boots again. Marqués groaned, secondary heart laboring, but alive. The serfs clung desperately—some to chains, others to each other—bodies straining against the gale. The Brutalis slid inexorably toward the breach, talons gouging deep furrows in the deck as it clawed for purchase. Drakus drove his sword one final time into the shoulder mount, severing multi-melta feed lines—one barrel died in a sputter of sparks. “You will serve the Chapter,” Drakus said over the howling wind, voice steady, “but not as you imagine.” The Dreadnought’s last talon slipped. It tumbled out, twisting in vacuum, ceramite glowing cherry as atmospheric friction claimed it on the long fall to Mars. Its vox screamed one final, garbled plea—“I am—!”—before silence swallowed it. The hatch sealed with a thunderous clang. Emergency repressurization hissed. Drakus knelt beside Marqués, checking the wound. Grievous, but survivable with immediate rites. The Apothecary’s narthecium auto-injected stimms. The surviving serfs slumped, breathing hard, faces ashen. One saluted weakly, blood on his gloves from a comrade. Rodrigo Peral limped over, scorched mechadendrite dangling. “The roster is correct now. One thousand. No anomalies.” Drakus stared at the sealed hatch, then at the charred outline where Tomas Varn had fallen shielding his brother. “Technology bends to the will of Man,” he murmured. “Not the other way around.” He rose. “Tend to the wounded. Secure the hold. Honor the fallen—Tomas Varn among them. The Crusade continues.” The Chapter endured—bloodied, vigilant, and one step closer to the truth of who had tried to poison them from within... And the man in the box would fight no longer.

I’ve recently completed my collection of Forge World books over the holidays, and I just finished reading through The Anphelion Project. It made me reflect on how much the newer campaign books seem to lack the quality of design and writing compared to the older Forge World releases. Back then, FW put real effort into crafting narratives that didn’t cling to the status quo at all costs. The Imperium felt believable, with in‑game reports, detailed descriptions of forces arrayed during campaigns, and beautifully rendered satellite maps. Each force described was inspiring, sparking ideas to create new armies, while the artwork offered detailed depictions of warriors that fueled creativity. I’ve read most of the newer books, including the first Vigilus campaign released for 8th edition. Honestly, many of them feel uninspired—plain, even rushed. They contain very little artwork, often reused, and the overall design has little flair. The maps are borderline unreadable, usually just square bastions and roads, or continents with blobs of color representing faction control. Much of the content feels like walls of text with datasheets for detachments, which seems to be the main reason people buy them. With the release of 500 Worlds, I really hope GW changes this trend. Smaller stories could help build stronger narratives—introducing lesser‑known Ultramarine chapters within Ultramar and its sector, new characters, and fresh details that ground the story in the 40k universe. Don’t just throw in all the famous characters we know won’t die. Create new heroes that players can root for, celebrate when they triumph, or mourn when they fall. Start small: describe a warzone, a sector, or a campaign in detail, building up the setting and participants. Then escalate to the big battles, where the puzzle pieces come together and the iconic characters can enter the fray. Rumors suggest we’re heading back to Armageddon with Yarrick returning, but didn’t we just have an Armageddon campaign about six months ago? Angron came back and was banished within the span of the Crusade books. It feels like GW is recycling “greatest hits” without a clear direction. The Tyrannic War fizzled out, Pariah Nexus went nowhere, and the Vigilus storyline dragged on before fading away. I’m curious what others think of the recent campaign books. Do people still buy them? Do you enjoy reading through them? Have you explored the older Forge World books? And what are you hoping for in the next campaign release?

This tank is for my Nurgle warband, with: 5x Raptors warpsmith plasma and hammer havoc 5x Terminators (Ranged) 10x legionares ( melee) Dark Apostle ( melee) 5x havocs Exalted Champion Terminator Lord What should I arm it with ? It's mostly shooting into SM and CSM, and in a Crusade force. Thanks

CRUSADE GAME 4 - TAU VS IMPERIAL GUARD Spending a lot of time in close combat in this Crusade... My next game was a rematch, of sorts. Not for the armies so much as for the two most intimidating hulls currently in the Crusade! Yes, Andrew's Rogal Dorn - now a commander - against my Hammerhead, Shi'ur Monat. Oh, and some other things happened, I guess, but the two big tanks having another shooting match was the main thing. At this range it was practically a knife fight. We played the 'go get blackstone from objectives' mission, which seems fine... When you're not doing 500 point games with maybe one character model per side. Andrew only brought his tank commander, so in the end, this worked out the way most casual games do: Whoever still has models on the table wins. Still, we scuffled over some points as we went, with my Piranha scoring an early Sentinel kill, and his Rough Bikers running down my stealth suits... And getting blasted in overwatch by my Breachers. It was a fun, close game! In the end, while I crippled the Dorn with smart missiles, the railgun shot was saved, and my poor Hammerhead destroyed in kind. A loss, but a fun one.

CRUSADE GAME 3 - TAU VS GROTS Fearful symmetry. After a wait, we've now had our second game day for our new Crusade. After a strong start, this was a rough one for the Recon Cadre, but hey, it happens. Regressing to the mean of my gaming by losing horrendously. Game 3 was against Kieran's Waaaagh! Grot-Snicker (or was that Grot-Snikah? Unclear) and a veritable horde of big robots and constructions. Killa Kans built from battlesuits, Grot Tanks built from who knows what, and a warboss built from... Well, a warboss. Messily. It's a fetching little army, and heavily converted, which I always love to see. They fly now. Anyway, this was a total blowout. Kieran stomped me into the dirt, taking minimal casualties. I believe I ended up taking down... 2 Killa Kans. And some grots. Not my proudest showing. Not much else to say, either. This was just a drubbing.

CRUSADE GAME 2 - TAU VS ELDAR Who could have foreseen this? Immediately after successfully fending off an Imperial tank push, the two order-aligned Xenos factions have, inevitably, fallen to their own squabbling. Game 2 for the Crusade saw 500 points of Tau V Eldar on an alarmingly small board. It's fine, neither of us brought much in the way of close combat, which is more than can be said for the Chaos fight that used the board before us. We're probably going to enlarge our standard board size for the rest of these low-points games. Danger close! James brought his guardians and bikes, I brought more infantry and my battlesuit commander with retinue, and at 500 points those elite units really throw their weight around. This one also ended in a victory for my Tau, but a costly one. It seems my stealthsuits crave death, and are granted it gladly, and my ethereal managed to catch a powersword the moment he was done doing his mid-board objective. Both the battlesuits and strike team took a beating, too, though both squads ended up winning things for me by sheer weight of firepower, and a dogged refusal to die. None of these units should be in close combat. Things to take away from this one: massed pulse pistols can, sometimes, make up for the abysmal Tau punching, and I really, REALLY need to make my ethereal a firewarrior bodyguard if I want him to keep doing that 3DP agenda. Don't worry, I have plans. I'll leave you with some shots of James' delightful Ulthwé force, on what turned out to be their final index game! We'll see how it does with a new set of rules and points costs. A commanding presence. Gotta go fast, again.

CRUSADE INTRODUCTION & GAME 1 Mêlée à Two-V-Two Aaaah, it's been too long! Truly, Crusade is the only way to play modern 40K. 10th may not be perfect - far from it - but for largely casual, theme-focused Crusade games? It's a lot of fun. After ending my last Crusade early - you can find how that all ended over on my WIP Thread Post Here - we all took a break to paint something other than Space Marines and Tyranids (and, in one case, to have a child!) before finally getting our act together in January this year to start something fresh. The line up this time is a little more diverse, which is always a good thing. Man cannot live on Marine-Nid matches alone, after all. Here's what everyone is bringing to the party - which may change, we have a few armies that are being tried out, and may be swapped for other options as the Crusade rolls on. - @Agnostic Doggo - The Treachery of Twilight, a Death Guard warband, currently infantry with some vehicle support. - Andrew - Balhaut 23rd Armoured Recon, Imperial Guard with plenty of vehicles. - Heath - The Blood Masons, World Eaters Warband, who may transform into Emperor's Children once those kits get downunder. - James - Craftworld Ulthwé, Infantry with bikes and more to come. - Kieran - WAAAAAAGH Grot-Snicker, a veritable horde of Grot Tanks. - Your Humble Blogsmith - The Ky'Vash Recon Cadre - Disorganised T'au stuff in camo. We're running Pariah Nexus, though I don't believe any of us are that interested in Blackstone, just after a different set of missions to flail at! We're also starting with more evenly painted forces, too! That extra time between Crusades has paid dividends, and we have a minimum of bare plastic, which I just LOVE to see. GAME 1 - TAU & ELDAR VS IMPERIAL GUARD The Engines of Balhaut. The Guns of Ky'Vash. Game one was lightly derailed by a positive COVID test, so we did a mix of 1v1 and 2v1 games, 500+500 against 1,000. Andrew's Guard was most ready to play at that size, so we started with James and I having a team-up. We won, too, with some casualties. My Hammerhead put in some real work, the first casualty of the game - if not for the Crusade as a whole, because by the time we started playing the 1v1 was in full swing - was the unfortunate Chimera it obliterated. It then proceeded to put holes in tanks, and be weirdly hard to hit until finally exploding on turn 4, having sat on top of a building soaked up the attention of both of Andrew's tanks. Poor bugger wasn't lucky with those hit rolls. It was other wise pretty standard. Rough Bikers taking down my Ghostkeel, James' Windriders taking out the other wing, and all our infantry scuffling over the middle objective. My Firewarriors didn't move all game, they just sat on the home objective and blasted away. Love that Fireblade, though he put in WAY more work in game 2. What really matters is that I got to shoot my railgun. Felt good. Balhaut 23rd Armoured Recon - 1,000 points. Craftworld Ulthwé - 500 points.

I'm setting up my first Crusade army, and going through the Requisitions, I read Renowned Heroes and had some questions on it. My question is, how does one go about giving enhancements to characters? Is the only way to get them through Renowned Hero? If that's so, then do I not include their normal points cost in a character's Points Value? Or is the Renowned Hero requisition supposed to be in addition to any enhancements we decide to purchase when adding a character to our Crusade Force?

Ok, I promise this will be the last time I update this model! I haven't been happy with my choice of head for this guy, and I wanted something to represent his Serpentine Fangs. The problem is that I couldn't find any models that were doing it for me. So, back to the 3D print solution! This handsome fella's head came from a collection of Vampire Heads by WildMesh, which I digitally kitbashed with some Butcher's Nails by Hellforged Miniatures. (I, erm, paid a lot more money for access to those Butcher's Nails than I'd like to admit...) I thought it turned out pretty well for my second ever digital kitbash! Buuuut you can barely see them in the photos. Ah well. Like the interior of a Rhino, at least I know it's there and that's all that matters... You may also notice his slightly ruddy complexion around the edges of his face. That's not just the lighting, but an intentional effect to demonstrate his Warp-born gifts. As if the scorpion tail wasn't enough... Anyway, I have definitely tinkered with this model enough! Next time will be something new, I promise...

12 August, 2022 Eager to collect as much loot as possible, greenskins have launched an all-out attack on the Cruentes' position in the industrial outskirts of Hive Prime. Our sources tell us that these greenskins call themselves the Death Skulls. This pleases Khorne. Leading the initial defence is Thrax Gorechosen, the Exalted Champion. He is accompanied by the Berzerker squads led by Validon and Dreior, as well as the Helbrute Xarian the Bloody Idiot and Bardûl the Wretched Fool. Lord Kratus is on standby on his flagship, The Eternal Warrior, ready to reinforce if needed. For Agendas, I chose Eye of the Gods to kill enemy characters, and Cull the Hordes because why not. Wary of the enemy's brutish firepower, the Cruentes deploy defensively, hoping to bait the greenskins into a foolhardy charge. With a reverberating Waaaagh!, the Orks fling themselves forwards, led by their Warboss. We are told that this huge brute is not, in fact, the leader of the group, despite their size and aggressiveness. This confuses Khorne. The greenskins with a penchant for pyrotechnics open up on poor Bardûl, who suffers terrible burns and flees the battlefield in mindless panic. Great, it'll take days to find him again... A couple of the greenskins open up on Xarian as well, who - on Kratus's order from orbit - launches a barrage of obscuring smoke. Regardless, one lucky shot does get through and succeeds in causing some significant damage. Grinning with glee, the actual enemy boss - an apparent field mechanic with a very fancy array of weapons - orders a hail of rockets from his large vehicle at Rhino II, knowing that the Cruentes have wasted their chance to screen it with smoke. Many of the shots go wide, but enough punch through the Rhino to disable it. Two Berzerkers are killed in the barrage. Gunning the engine of their truck, the burners hurtle towards Xarian, staggering him with their heavy ram. Despite this, Xarian catches his balance and stops the flimsy vehicle in its tracks, bringing his huge hammer down to wreck the truck's engine. The greenskins pile out, three getting tangled in the wreckage. Here is where Thrax's arrogance began my downfall. Not wanting to commit all his Berzerkers to a single charge, he order them to remain embarked while he and Xarian charged the greenskins in front of them. The Rhino accelerated in first, distracting the pyromaniacs for long enough for the pair to charge unimpeded. Meanwhile, Dreior's Berzerkers threw themselves at the greenskins in the midfield. In a spray of gore, the brutes were dismembered one by one by the frenzied Berzerkers... ...who then piled into the dimunitive greenskin slaves, only for one of the lucky gits to somehow club one of the (unwounded!) Berzerkers to death! Despite the success against the enemies in the midfield (ignoring that one ignoble casualty), Thrax's and Xarian's charge didn't go so well. The Warboss, Grog, dispatches the Helbrute with apparent ease and claims several useful mechanical components for himself. Thrax sweeps aside three greenskins with Gorefather (only a single 6 to wound - with rerolls - and my opponent passed a lot of Waaagh invulnerable saves). Things go from bad to worse: the flamer Orks pass their Morale check with insane bravery and fall back, the rocket-armed Orks blast apart the second Rhino with ease, killing three (!!) more Berzerkers, and Warboss Grog dispatches Thrax without breaking a sweat. The Berzerkers manage to inflict a bunch of wounds on the Warboss (that Fury of Khorne stratagem is gold), but a -1 to wound and a 1+ save makes him very, very difficult to hurt. Over the next turn, Grog would proceed to butcher the rest of the Berzerkers. Meanwhile, Kevdak the mechanic commander blitzes most of the Berzerkers in the middle. The rest were subsequently minced by their monstrous truck. Sensing that things weren't really going well, Kratus decides that now is a great time to finally teleport in. Failing his charge (even with a reroll), he's left facing the guns of every remaining greenskin. It's at this point that my opponent throws me a bone: Kevdak (or "Big Kev") howls a challenge to the Chaos Lord. No Ork is to raise their weapon to impede the challenge. (To be clear: it wasn't just for my benefit. My opponent wanted to force a leadership challenge between Grog and Kevdak.) In a familiar display of luck, Kratus's armour holds against the flurry of blows from the greenskin warlord, but barely. Finally, in my own turn, and with one wound remaining, Kratus cuts apart his opponent's armour to expose the greenskin inside. However, seeing his demise written on the wall, Big Kev unleashes all remaining firepower from his massive armour, with just one shot finding a chink in Kratus's armour. With that, the last World Eater falls. Result: 8-62 Loss Ultimately, this game was lost in my first turn, when I overestimated how much work my Helbrute and Exalted Champion would do. I think I had the right plan to hold one unit of Berzerkers back, but instead of spreading my charge out, I should've thrown the disembarked Berzerkers at the enemies in my backfield. I think they should've had a good chance to kill the Burnas and Warboss on the charge, when accompanied by the Helbrute and Champion. Ah well, lesson learnt. Xarian suffered an Angered Machine Spirit, so cannot benefit from stratagems. On the plus side, Kratus earned two Personal Glory points for killing the enemy warlord, and increased in rank. Khorne saw him fit to bless him with a Scorpion Tail for +1 Attack. Kratus's Personal Glory: 3 -> 4Khorne's Dark God Glory: 6 -> 5Cruentes' Warfleet Glory: 7 -> 7

5 August, 2022 Kratus once again lead a small Combat Patrol against the Death Guard, this time accompanied by his lieutenant, Thrax, Dreior's Berzerkers, and a small mob of Cultists. The mission was to punch through the enemy line to cause as much havoc as possible. For my Agenda, I chose to initiate yet another Blasphemous Ritual to earn some more Glory for Khorne. Unfortunately, I had been painting Kratus's model and completely forgot to bring him along, so a random Terminator will have to be his stand-in. This was my opponent's third ever game of 40k, so it was going to be another relaxed game with minimal pressure. Just throw some dice and have fun! In this mission, my opponent had to deploy his entire army first, and was forced to split it into three parts. I took advantage of this, by putting the bullet catchers highly valuable Cultists in the middle, backed by my Chaos Lord. My main push would be on the left flank, where the Berzerkers and the Exalted Champion Thrax would be able to overwhelm the flank and sweep around to the middle. I won first turn, and moved everything up the field. The Cultists began an Action in the middle of the board to raise some mighty skull piles for Khorne. I was going to use Apoplectic Frenzy on the Berzerkers to yeet them up the field for a first turn charge, but decided against it at the last minute. My opponent was only new to the game, and I didn't want that to be how he found out about such an ability. I told him what I could have done, and against his protestations I continued simply moving the Berzerkers. In his turn, he shuffled some Plague Marines on both flanks to get some shooting off, and left his Blight Hauler in the middle. When all was said and done, a few Berzerkers were slain and most of the Cultists were killed. I forget how many exactly (and didn't take a photo), but I think there were only 1-2 cultists left - but it was enough to keep their Action going. Khorne was evidently pleased with their sacrifice, as the action succeeded and I gained a Dark God Glory point (and a bunch of XP on the Cultists). In my turn, Thrax killed a couple of Plague Marines, continuing his trend of being completely incapable of rolling 6s to wound for Gorefather, even with rerolls. Thankfully, Berzerkers were more than enough to finish the rest. Meanwhile, Kratus bounced off the Blight Hauler. We both dealt just a few wounds to each other - I always forget how tough these damn things are! My opponent continued to string out his Plague Marines on the right and finished off the Cultists. While the Lord of Contagion swept around to take care of Kratus. Unfortunately, Kratus's knack for surviving against the odds abandoned him and he fell to the Manreaper. In my third turn, I declared the centre objective to be the Alpha objective, since I planned to move there anyway. The Berzerkers and Thrax moved up to wrestle the Blight Hauler off the objective...but I foolishly left my squishy Exalted Champion standing directly in front of the Lord of Contagion. This is a theme you'll see me repeat a lot! Wisely, my opponent charged the Champion and Berzerkers, killing the Champion. In return, the Berzerkers carved chunks off the character's armour, reducing him to just a single wound. In my own turn, the Lord of Contagion slew two more Berzerkers, and shrugged off their attacks. At this point, I was slightly ahead on points. Had my opponent just stayed in combat, there was a good chance I could finish the Lord and just hold the Alpha objective until the end of the game, maybe also shuffle over and add to the cultists' pile of skulls. So, weighing his options, my opponent initiated a Hail Mary charge with his last Plague Marines - and he made it. The sons of Mortarion finished the last of my Berzerkers to claim the objective. Result: 25-45 Loss Unfortunately, Kratus gained some wounds that would not heal after the battle, gaining the Deep Scars battle scar (cannot perform Actions, cannot Heroically Intervene). The Cultists also gained a scar, but I ended up just deleting them from my list to make room for other units. Despite losing, I still rolled well for my Chaos Points. Kratus lost a little glory for dying so ingloriously, but Khorne was pleased with the sacrifices and I made sure to keep my Warfleet in Favour. Kratus's Personal Glory: 4 -> 3Khorne's Dark God Glory: 4 -> 6Cruentes' Warfleet Glory: 7 -> 7

Bardûl, the Hand of Khorne Formerly a member of the World Eaters' elite Terminator squads, Bardûl rose to prominence when the former master of the Cruentes, Achaeus, descended irrevocably into madness. Leading his most trusted Terminators against the blood-maddened tyrant, Bardûl attacked Achaeus on his command deck. Despite grievous injuries, Bardûl pushed past his adversary's defences and rammed his chainfist into the Astartes's innards. He was not automatically granted leadership of the Cruentes, however. Seven more challengers claimed the position, and Bardûl dispatched every one of them even in his battle-weary state. He earned the right to command the Cruentes. Claiming his title as the Hand of Khorne, Bardûl claimed to be the mortal who would wield the Blood God's armies as a weapon, to spread bloodshed and violence across the galaxy. In battle, Bardûl is indomitable in his heavy Terminator plate, and actively seeks out the most powerful of the enemy champions to slay them himself. He has the Disciple of Khorne Warlord Trait, but currently has no Relics. Kratus, Terminator Champion Amongst Bardûl's most veteran warriors, Kratus leads his master's elite bodyguard. Kratus and his squad were dispatched to assist another Cruentes warband, led by Xarian Doomgore, where they quickly earned a reputation for brutality and bloody efficiency. When Xarian proved to be an inept commander and warrior, Kratus and his Terminators deposed the failing champion. Since re-integrating with Bardûl's warband, several of Kratus's warriors have been dispatched on missions - ostensibly to track down other Cruentes warbands, though in reality Bardûl is aware that the Terminators together pose a threat to his leadership. Kratus and his four Terminators have the Red Butchers stratagem applied to them, via the Specialist Reinforcements requisition. Validon, Berzerker Champion Validon is one of Bardûl's longest-serving Berzerker Champions, and has been instrumental to the cohesion of the Cruentes as a fighting force. He instituted a gradual change to the Eternal Warrior's fighting pits: instead of individual combat, the pits would focus more on squad-based combat. Through repeated training in this manner over hundreds of years, the instinct to fight in a squad of brothers became so ingrained that even in the deepest frenzy, Berzerkers would know to fight together. Validon leads nine Berzerkers, collectively known as the Bloodthunderers. Dreior, Berzerker Champion A newer member of the Cruentes, Dreior is a vat-grown gift from Fabius Bile's gene clinics. Implanted with false memories, he believes himself to be a veteran of the Long War, and despite his relative youth, he is a consummate fighter. He and his squad are often seen breaking through enemy lines and hunting down specific targets. Dreior leads four Berzerkers known as the Hunters. Gorm, Berzerker Champion Another long-serving member of the Cruentes, Gorm leads the newest inductees into battle. His strict command gives these initiates their first taste at combat, and puts them on the path to becoming fully-fledged Berzerkers of the Cruentes. Gorm's habit of consuming the flesh of the dead, however, often permeates through the ranks of those under his command. As a result, a significant number of Cruentes share his cannibalistic tendencies. Xarian the Bloody Idiot Once the champion of a whole Cruentes warband, Xarian - formerly known also as Doomgore - was deposed of his position after it was apparent that he did not deserve to lead. Originally, he was the lieutenant of a rival World Eaters warband, the control over which he seized through betrayal, before he pledged them to Bardûl. As a reward for bolstering the ranks of the Cruentes, Xarian was gifted with command of his own warband and a rebellious Daemon sword. The sword resisted Xarian's ownership at first, having not been seized through combat. However, after several battles, Xarian appeased the weapon by stabbing it through his own stomach. Amused by this attempt at sacrifice, the sword appeared to capitulate. It soon became apparent that the sword still had not deemed Xarian worthy. Even though its power had been unlocked, it still rebelled at some of the worst moments possible, often leading to Xarian's defeat. Out of frustration, several conspirators - including Kratus and his Terminators - turned on the champion, dismembering his body and burying the Daemon sword deep within the Eternal Warrior. Xarian was kept alive as an amusement, more than anything, and was interred within a dreadnought sarcophagus. Xarian is a Helbrute, armed with a plasma cannon and hammer.

With the Blogs feature unlocked, I have decided to move my previous efforts from the World Eaters subforum to my own little corner of the B&C. Here I plan to catalogue my force's trials and tribulations as we carve our way through our group's own sub-sector of space. War Zone Lalor is entirely a homebrew setting, with the background having been produced over three separate Crusade campaigns that our group has played over the past couple of years. Background The Great Rift It has been at least twelve, gruelling years since the Cicatrix Maledictum, the Great Rift, ripped the galaxy in half. With it, the Imperium was split in twain, designated the Imperium Sanctus and Imperium Nihilus. The Imperium Nihilus, severed from the light of the Astronomican of Terra, has endured a fate unknown. Even the Imperium Sanctus, under the studious protection of Lord Guilliman, is still beset on all fronts by every enemy imaginable. Previous Engagements in War Zone Lalor The Lalor Sub-sector lies within the Imperium Sanctus, in the Galactic North of the Ultima Sector. With the Realm of Ultramar secured by the Indomitus Crusade, elements of the Imperial liberators have been dispatched to the outlying sub-sectors. War for the Twins Breaking through the unstable warp routes to reach the Lalor sub-sector, the Imperial crusaders established a base of operations in the administrative heart of the region, the Geminid binary system. It was not long before the system became the target of a terrible invasion of heretics and xenos. Initially caught in defensive actions all over the system, the Imperial forces enacted a desperate last-minute gambit: a simultaneous trap for an enemy ambush and a counter-ambush crushed the invaders against all odds. With the enemy falling back in disarray, the forces of the Imperium consolidated their hold on their new garrison. Darkness of Rutil Before the dust could settle on the Geminid War, internal conflict arose within the forces of the Emperor. A wave of malaise and suspicion spread through the populace and soldiery, all the way from the bottom to the top. What should have been a great, celebrated victory was instead met with depression and anxiety through all facets of society. Several Imperial commanders separately noticed a psychic anomaly centred in the neighbouring Rutil system. With suspicion rife between the sub-factions of the Imperium, no one communicated this discovery to each other, as they each believed they alone could be trusted to investigate it. Sending small forces to the Rutil system, the Imperial forces each discovered that the warp surrounding the system was eerily quiet. Navigators, unable to detect warp currents, were driven mad. On the primary world of the system, small forces of Necrons, World Eater heretics, and renegade mining colonists were discovered. In the conflict that followed, it was discovered that some kind of warp-dampening technology employed by the enigmatic Necrons was causing the warp to fall dangerously quiet, while the Heretic Astartes were building massive monuments to reignite the empyrean once more. The conflicting effects were causing the unrest in surrounding systems. Setting aside all suspicion and paranoia, the Imperial forces joined for a joint push against the heretics and xenos, however they were successful only in demolishing the fell monuments of Chaos. The battle with the Necrons merely awoke more of the dangerous xenos, who completed the employment of their strange technology. The Imperials were forced to withdraw. The warp-borne malady was cured, though travel through the system was no longer reliable, and so it was quarantined. A Strange Servant With the strange warp-madness subsiding, Imperial forces recommenced the campaign to liberate the whole sub-sector. Responding to several calls for military aid, an Ultramarines strike force discovered a Rogue Trader lost in the void. Their vessel had been crippled and separated from the hulk it was using to transport vast amounts of material wealth. The hulk was known as The Most Dignified Servant and carried trade goods, relics and materiel. The Imperials decided that this materiel would be a great help to the war effort, and so agreed to assist the Rogue Trader in exchange for their materiel contribution. Locating this vast hulk, the Imperials boarded but immediately noticed that not all was as it was laid out by the strange trader. Relics and trade goods were loaded throughout the hulk, however the vessel was certainly not in full control by the trader. Clearly, very little effort had been taken to ensure that the vessel was sanctified, and it had become overrun by Daemons of Chaos, Death Guard heretics and Necrons. The Imperials found themselves surrounded and cut off in numerous sectors of the vessel, and only through the heroic efforts of the Deathwing were the rest of the Space Marines able to escape to safety. This was not before time, for as the last of the Deathwing withdrew, the Servant lurched into the warp, aiming directly for a nearby warp rift. It speared through the rift, opening a corridor to a previously isolated system. The Asturus System The *Servant's* departure left an opening to the Asturas system, which had been thought lost to the warp after the opening of the Great Rift. Dispatching a force from their base of operations in the Geminid system, the Imperials moved in to the Asturias system to assess the tactical situation. They found that the system's most populous world, the hive moon Janus, to be besieged by heretics and xenos over the whole planetoid. The majority of the world's populace resided in two hive cities, with smaller settlements scattered across the surface. Hive Primus was already in heretic control, flying banners featuring the tri-lobe of Nurgle and the skull rune of Khorne, however the fate of Hive Secundus was unknown. No military movements were detected in Secundus, and no vox traffic was coming from the city. Other settlements and fortified positions were barely holding out, some with only a PDF company or two fighting protracted campaigns against heretics, mutants and greenskins.

I've started a new season of Crusades in various groups and for the Custodes, my Crusade is inspired by the Warders of the Vaults of Rython from the Heresy era. Current Roster is: Shield Captain - From the Hall of Armouries Knight-Centura - Raptor Blade Enhancement Custodian Guard Squad (5-man) Allarus Custodian Squad (3-man) Telemon Heavy Dreadnought Vigilator Squad (10 man) Most of the list will be filled out with the rest of the Forge World models that I have, Caladius, Achillus, Galatus, Pallas, Sagittarum, and Venatari. This thread is going to serve two purposes, Army display (I'll get pictures of that I have so far later today), and battle reports through the crusade.

I want to discuss the abusive behavior I have received from certain moderators at Bolter and Chainsword. The worst one goes by the handle Brother Lunkhead and he has sent messages to me demanding I I do certain things so disgusting I will not post it online. I have had some counseling regarding this individual and the consensus is he is a sick person preying on people abusing his position. I have decided to no longer be a participant to this type of behavior - I will not be a victim any longer. I urge others to avoid this website.

"lost in the warp for 11 years" EDIT: Obviously i have made this my Black Templars WIP/PLOG... so enjoy /EDIT I already made a post in new members, but I feel I need to report directly to the fortress monastery! Hello y'all. I have played black Templar since 1999. Shut it down in about 2004 with the dissolution of my immediate circle of gamers. Getting back into it now. So I've been lurking for a while on this board. Y'all have given me a lot of inspiration. I will be rebuilding my crusade. With the acquisition of 2 tactical boxes, 2. BT upgrade boxes and a stern guard box folded into my existing forces I intend to build 4 crusader squads. For lack of better terms 2 shooty and 2 choppy. Fully 9 initiate and one sword brethren The shooty squads will have bolters, a heavy bolter, a special weapon and the sb will have a matching combi weapon and power sword all in a rhino. The choppy squads will have 5 neophytes with, 9 initiates and a sb, all with bp/cs except imbedded power fist special weapon and sb with power sword and matched combibolter. Both in their compulsory LRC. Leaving room for an HQ in the LRC. I will have 6 sword brethren built all with power swords and combi weapons. 2 plasma, 2 melta and 2 flamer. Also 6 special weapon initiates, 2 each of plasma, melta, and flamer. Seeing a pattern? Plan is to move in matched combo and special to the appropriate squad depending on my enemy. Throw in 2 HQ, i have several Marshalls chaplains techmarine and emperor's champion. Should be a fun fluffy army. Sadly almost everyone I saw at the local 40k night were playing marines which will get old, and require I declare any "loyalist" opponents excommunicate traitoris before the match... Lol Almost forgot, I have a predator, some land speeders, enough initiates for a devastator squad with 4 missile launchers, and a dreadnaught all for support... Guess I need anti air cus that is a thing now...

Hi all, Some new bases arrived today and as such I have decided that I need to introduce you all to my crusade. As such I hereby Declare the beginning of the righteous Sanctus Crusade! The crusade was formed from the remains of numerous other completed crusades which had been denied the honor of fighting on armageddon due to their diminished numbers. Each finished crusade provides the expertise from their previous campaigns and adds new elements of warfare with which they are accustomed to, as such these elite warriors of mankind have come together under a new marshal to wage war upon the enemies of mankind. This marshals name: Mortus Helstrom, the aim of this campaign is a simple one: the recovering of sacred artifacts in the name of the emperor and smiting all that oppose him. So this model isn't finished converting yet or even glued to its base so is far from finished but gives a general gist as to what he should turn out as, without further ado I give you Marshal Helstrom! http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah78/Btemp93/temporary_zps0fef7366.jpg?t=1419601794 http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah78/Btemp93/temporary_zps7d441f68.jpg?t=1419601801http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah78/Btemp93/temporary_zps7a8bdf8c.jpg?t=1419601800 Stay posted I have alot of things to post up! TEST IMAGE http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/ah78/Btemp93/20170321_103634_zps3jda8ndz.jpg