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Hi all So, finally getting round to consistently painting again (or trying to) after c.15 years out of the hobby. I’ve been lingering again for the past few years and dabbling, which includes foolishly amassing rather large collections of various of the old imperial guard armies. I now have 100+ of each Vostroyans, Steel Legion and Kasrkin. I love all three armies and think they’re all so characterful and brilliant in their own way. Whilst I love some of the new models, nothing quite has the character of these guys, for me. I had a small Vostroyan army back in the day and I held onto the models. I’ve tried to recreate a similar paint job as I did back then, albeit with no idea what my recipes were and with completely different paints. The goal with these is quick and dirty - I know myself, if I don’t get a decent number of these guys done in a short period and to a consistent standard I’ll get frustrated/bored and stop. So just looking for tabletop standard with these guys for now to get my mojo back and then might treat myself to a painting project or too. Would also be nice to have a playable army, in case the world ever gets back to normal and I ever find time/someone to play with! Anyway, that’s the intro. I’ll get some photos uploaded (once I figure how to upload), and also try and figure out the best and easiest way to get some good shots. Thanks for reading! Lorr.

Greetings to you all! I have for many a year been plucking away in the WIP thread, but as most of the things I put there are actually finished by the time I post, I thought it a bit more apt to have a thread here as well - and as there is not far from though to action, thus it is done now. The aim of this thread is for me to post pictures of the various B&C permissable armies that I usually work on and the units belonging to them, which I finish. Currently, I have the following armies in my possession: Dark Angels (1st, 2nd and Battle Company) - about 5000 points total Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard, World Eaters, Black Legion & Fallen Angels) - about 4500 points Chaos Daemons (Tzeentch, Nurgle & Khorne) - about 3000 points Imperial Guard allies (Death Korps of Krieg) - about 400 points Grey Knight allies - about 400 points Tyranids - about 8000 points As you can see, there is plenty of potential for varied things to be shown and displayed here - and I look forward to sharing with you all. Thus, with no further ado, I bid you welcome to my thread of finished works from the forge of Master Ciaphas! Faithfully, Master Ciaphas

Last bullgryn is done, I don't make a story for him, so just the bonehead. I have a great plan for him but failed due to lacklustre of my painting skills. So I make some bloody mess around. And tried new approach for power weapon with blood. It should looks like field burns blood from maul. Technically squad is done. But I wanna more ogryns and bullgryns. It's like infantry, you just can't have enough. So I'll add more, and each gonna be somehow unique folk.

Greetings, brothers. I intend two threads to cover the 3rd edition campaign I am doing with my two sons -- this thread, to cover the hobby/WIP/painting aspect, and then I will do a separate thread for battle reports and related "fluff" (i.e. storyline for the batreps). Battle reports most likely won't begin until at least the summer as we have to build up our forces. I expect my oldest son to create an account here at B&C soon so that he can contribute as well. The forces that will be involved in the campaign are: Inquisition (Codex: Witch Hunters, 2003) - run my myself Dark Blades - DA successor chapter (Codex: Dark Angels, 1999 and Codex: Spacemarines 1998) - oldest son, "Primus" (16 yrs old) Deathskulls Orks (Codex: Orks, 1999) - youngest son, "Secundus" (12 yrs old) "The Fallen" (Chaos marine rules from the main rule book) - NPC faction to be used according to special mission house rule, communally painted Chaos cultists ("Adversaries of the Witch Hunter" list from Codex: Witch Hunters) - NPC faction, communally painted Phœladar PDF (Codex: Imperial Guard, 1999) - run by Secundus, but using my DKoK models When we're ready to start posting battle reports, I will share with you the storyline that we have come up with for this campaign. Today, I will begin sharing some of the initial WIP and completions. The Witch Hunter force is led by none other than Lord Inquisitor Soulis, well-known from my blog about his force. I've started the base colours for his Throne of Redemption: While I'm working on this centrepiece for my army, Secundus is preparing a looted Leman Russ Battle Tank using the bottom half of a Russ I found in my bitz box (don's ask why we only had the lower half because I don't know) and various bitz and plasticard: Primus is starting off with a squad of sniper scouts, and a squad of bolter/shotgun/BP&CCW scouts for the Dark Blades: And finally, some cultists/traitors that were recently completed (Secundus did the base coat and wash, I did quick highlights to finish them up): There won't be a full Fallen force, just a few cultists and marines running around in certain missions/maps.

+++ Some Things Are Best Let Forgotten +++ I have been super inspired by the works of folks out on the internet recently when it comes to the War of the False Primarch, and want to show off a few small projects I have been working on and finally feel comfortable enough sharing here. Starting with the Flesh Eaters! “They vilify us for our methods, yet nobody questions the results. We are the chosen Scions of Sanguinius, tempered weapons of the Emperor Himself. Our enemies quail with fear even before we draw first blood. They will soon know it is a fear well-founded! Let them fear the Angels of Death. Let them fear what is left of their short future. Let them pray for death. Brothers, we will answer those prayers.” [//Scaraban, Voivode of the Flesh Eaters Second Company+]

Defending or storming the stronghold is one of the most fun narrative missions you can play on the tabletop. This bundle is probably the best opportunity to get a complete, great looking and themed tabletop terrain set on a budget. This Bundle will give you eight PDF files to create a Strongold themed tabletop. It includes Tank Traps, a modular Defense Line, Barracks, a Landing Plattform, a Control Tower, a Communication Tower, a Bastion and a modular Fortification Wall. All Terrain Pieces are fitting for 28mm tabletop games with a Modern or Future-Fantasy setting. Get the bundle here: Stronhold Bundle Just print build and play! Please leave C&C below!

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.

Game 1 Loss to Sisters with a Knight Great opponent coming into this with no recent games. A good learning game to start the day and get on my feet. That said it was a total rout. With more time he'd have wiped me off the board. At the outset terrain placement is a big problem. Thank the emperor I didn't bring a baneblade. Movement was hugely constricted. Obscuring created weird avenues of sight. Challenge. Learning when to reserve is a key weakness for me. I continue to have a bad matchup against sisters. I think it shows a lesson I've not come to terms with yet. In 10th edition it's worth more reflection on where I lose. Solution. Using reserves and having the patience to play a conservative game is necessary. I tend to be much more willing to do the reckless all out attack when the time comes, but far less able to see when I need to tuck back. Which is odd - I used to be the opposite playing blood angels for years. I'd be hiding in and around terrain, not assaulting with an assault army. Now I tend to be overly belligerent with a shooting army. Anyway, the amount of first turn melta sisters (and a knight) can put out is devastating. Solution. Learn, learn, learn terrain. I need to be fluent in the rules or, as here, the pace of the game is completely dictated by what I don't really understand. So, I wanted to hold my lemans back. But, I also realized terrain placement meant none of them could move out when the time came. I'd be pinned in a far corner while the opponent sits comfortably on 4+ objectives. Solution. As I continue to learn deployment I think the redeploy warlord trait is just crucial. I suspect you wouldn't see it used by the top players as they see the board immediately for what it is, whereas I already make a mistake in reading what I can do. The warlord trait is therefore a very helpful tool, even if a bit of a crutch at my level of play. Solution. Blitz Division. Born soldiers is the best regiment. But, it's not the best in all scenarios. It's good in the shooting phase. I think my over reliance on it opens up bad match ups. Having Rogal Dorns or lemans coming as if it were turn 3 opens up a lot of the table. This means (1) more lines of sight on the enemy; (2) more opportunities to deny opponent line of sight in return fire. It's hard to call this a great regiment... but I need to start thinking more about my bad match ups. Especially as I'm less reliant on scions for any real damage these days, utilizing strategic reserves for hard hitters is more interesting. Give and Take. There are always counters - vanquishers don't work when Tau have drones, or there's some body guard rule. But, that doesn't mean I should abandon units that ignore invuln saves. Rarely is there a panacea unit that does everything just right. Well, if there is it's spammed and winning all the tournaments. That aside, I think an overall issue is balance. Something like Born soldiers - getting that 6 to hit as an auto wound is very very good. But, where does my army fall flat on its face? Can I give up born soldiers and still be "good enough" at shooting, while bargaining some other rules to smooth out the weak points in my army? Game 2 Victory over Tyranids Hadn't played Tyranids in a long time. I really had no idea what this list was about. Ah, got the exact same table again. Great. Awesome. But here he didn't have a lot of long range melta. He therefore didn't want to get out and exposed to my firepower. I tried to keep lines of sight on the three center objectives. Declaring the terrain obscuring again dictates the entire game. Terrain is such a huge piece of the game it's weird that players kind of handshake on what it means. Like if I can see through the terrain, he's dead right now. If I can't see, then he can maneuver around it and kill me. Hopefully 10th edition has a better terrain design. Annoyed with the terrain himself, he said he didn't want the final piece placed... I was fine with it. Still that left a huge gap for my scions to come on in for a neighborly bug barbeque. This game was unusually slow, I'm not sure why. Time ran out I think as we barely started turn 3. But, with barbicant's key kasrkins, and a whole handful of scions, his whole HQ and center section was crippled. The lemans also moved up for line of sight. Turn 4 and 5 would have been nasty. Still that little parasite bug came in and dropped rippers all over me. The bullgryns got infected repeatedly rolling a couple of 6's on that parasite and were really devastated. Game 3 Close Victory over Custodes If you don't count my paint score, I lose. If the Cadian command squad with the ogryn bodyguard dies in the final turn, I lose. If he makes a couple of key saves, I lose. If I didn't get first turn... probably lose. He really had me, but I squeaked it out. Great opponent, lot of fun to play. Custodes are so durable I was using vanquisher leman russes against his bikes. Ultimately he was afraid of my shooting, and played conservatively. I often feel that a hyper durable army can play recklessly. I really have no effective counter assault in this list (something like rough riders next to lord solar would be a totally different story - don't go charging units near that non-sense). My scout sentinels had some use in drawing him out onto the objectives - just a bit too tough for his shooting and he needed to get into combat with them... which is where I had lines of sight. Challenge: I don't know all their tricks, but I know they can really augment pile in, charges and consolidate. If they get to my lines custodes bikes will bounce all over me. This means I can't shoot them effectively. Charges mean significantly augmented movement - they can be anywhere on the board. Counter: I can use a strat to shoot into combat, but (1) only one unit can do it; (2) rolls of 1 go on my tank... with anti-tank guns. Also, if I fail to do damage, that enemy unit gets to hide from shooting while in combat, and lives to charge another. Counter: While lemans can shoot into combat and out of it, blast weapons still have limitations. Multi-melta sponsons can sometimes help a lot (though they're expensive). If it's ten thunderhammers charging you, there's not going to be any shooting back. If there's something dumb like a rhino transport trying to tag you in combat, there's defensive value here. Also, 3x heavy bolters and a stubber into the combat... that's not going to kill custodes. Counter: Just fall back? While necessary at times, this looks a lot like bad deployment and planning on my part. Also, if it's obvious the tank is dead, sometimes just shooting at what it can shoot at might just be better (acknowledging that falling back could instead mean using my whole army to shoot at the charging enemy). Counter: Why not get some practice games in to learn other armies. I even have custodes I need to paint up. It's hard to get too excited about rules in the twilight of the edition. But the larger principals of failure points in gameplay are likely going to play out again and again until I learn. And here's the list: - Happy Hunting -

Warhammer 40k Zeppelin... So, the Rob Hawkins blog entry from 2013 (appropriately entitled "Oh the Humanity") really remains the key inspiration. Length You can see it's actually fairly big. It's also then a pain to transport on it's own. Lots of fiddly bits on the bottom. Unfortunately I also wanted double heavy stubber emplacements on the top, matching old WW1 artwork. This doesn't really work for transport. It needs to lay on one side. And though it does stand upright... I also wanted to add a left to right rudder (presently I only have up and down). I suppose again here that if I were to keep the project sectionalized/modular then separate pieces could be transported and put together at location. If (a big "if") I make a bigger one, I'd certainly figure out a way to make it in separate sections. Texture Here is one area where I departed from the inspiration. I tried to paper mache a texture, or more specifically a cloth mache. So I got some cheese cloth and used wood glue. The cheese cloth was too unwieldy. It streches when cut, and doesn't like being cut to the point it clings on stretches out in unexpected ways. In short, it worked, but was really uneven. Fixing it was going to be a terribly long endeavor. On a whim, I'd previously thought to look for athletic/cloth tape, thinking that would make it easier to cover gaps. This however turned out to be the better solution for the whole blimp. It's hard to cut really uniform lines on the curved rear and front sections, but it's good enough. Also, 100x easier than cloth mache. 100x. Lines. I wasn't sure that I really needed to run a pattern of supports like the Hawkins blimp. Also it was going to take a lot of time. I decided to just run a few lengthwise, and abandoned the plan to run them widthwise too. In the immediate run up to Adepticon there just wasn't time. I used evergreen #175 styrene strips (square shaped). I did this instead of balsa, as I found much the same as in the Hawkins blimp that balsa just didn't bend well. To be sure, styrene also doesn't like to bend too much. It was a pain to glue. With more time I'd have run some caulk down each lateral styrene strip to blend it in more with the texture (glue spots are obvious at present). Engines. Part of where this project came from was seeing the engine bits on that new ork buggie. Shokk jumpa or whatever. I saw that and thought I could make a blimp engine. An odd thought, but it stayed with me. Notably, styrene is not really that strong, so this design is not recommended. Some kind of brazed brass cage would be much better. The Sharpie marker design isn't necessarily what I wanted, but it was in the ballpark, easily reproducible, and saved me several hours of custom fabrication on each engine. I'd imagine many household items might have stood in here just fine - small bottles or travel bottles. The fins are from RC/drones, I found on ebay for fairly cheap. Steering. The old WW1 artwork had some really cool designs for steering, that wouldn't make much sense with modern innovation. But, 40k isn't about engineering efficiency, it should look a little crazy. So we're doing four fins - elevators controlling pitch, up and down. I'm not a pilot. I'm learning this. This was a bit of a catastrophe to get straight and aligned. Brass rod and plates might have been much stronger and reliable. Also, it still needs a lot of detailing. I'm not satisfied, but i'm out of time. Painting. I wanted grey, I think, but didn't have any on me in the time crunch. So, I went green. I then realized I had created a giant pickle. Facing a literal and metaphorical pickle, I went and found some brown and black. So, camo it is. In hindsight I should have sealed the whole thing with a spray varnish first as the cloth didn't take paint well at all. Also, since it's so big, I just used craft paint through the airbrush. This is not really a great way of doing it, cheap though it may be. I think a couple of cans of spray paint would do just fine. I should mention since this is foam... I did worry it would melt with spray paint so that was a limiting factor I did consider (but I'm not sure what all melts this particular foam and it certainly could work - I just couldn't risk melting my project this far in and days before the tournament). Burning the midnight oil!

Krieg Diorama 2023 Ok, still catching up to where we are presently. So, back to the making of the board itself. Constraints/limitations. Space. Firstly, space is an issue. I'll need to transport this by vehicle. My truck only fits so much. I have to drive 7 hours to Adepticon. It's cramped. I have a truck bed, but March does not have pleasant weather in Minnesota/Wisconsin/Illinois. Rules. Second, the rules of the tournament only allow certain sizes. I suppose each tournament is different. For the Adepticon Team Tournament, we have three categories of display, traditional 3'x2', technical 3'x2' and structural - 5'x3'. I've always wanted to do the 5x3, but it won't fit in a single vehicle in my situation (gear, bags, paints, printer). With a bed cover in the back of the truck, maybe it'd fit, but it's also a large liability for moving around in stops and starts. Still, this isn't a tournament of strict/harsh rules. You probably could build whatever and they'd be happy to see hobby effort. I can't imagine they'd throw us out for a size infraction. Still, there were awards for each category in 2022 and 2019. So, crossing into the wrong category could mean untenable competition against larger 5x3 boards. Models. Third, we have model constraints. We've got 4 team members, each with 1000 points. 3x2 is not big enough. So, my board from 2022 and this year is going to feature 2 levels. I mean we could have every model on the board, but it'd be so tightly packed there'd be virtually no interesting terrain whatsoever. It'd simply be a textured flat board. So, using multiple levels is the only way I can see to fit the rules. Well, we'd thought about a vertical board with every model magnetized, but this has all kinds of problems of it's own. That design might be a great void combat board - like space marines walking on the outside of a ship, or on a moon. Design. Bunker. The problem this year was trying to avoid repetitiveness of doing Death Korps of Krieg again. I love the trenches, so they'll stay. But, I'm adding a bunker. I liked the atlantic wall style bunker and gave it my best shot. With a proxxon hot wire table, and the circle cutter jig, I was able to make concentric circles for the gun emplacement design. The circles were fatter/thicker than I'd like, but due to time constraints they were good enough to move on. The bunker will need gun shot holes, and chip damage (also some rusty rebar sticking out of any damage is a great effect). I've experimented with camo netting, but am still not satisfied. That needs a rethink. Too WW2? Maybe go more gothic? Hmmm... Turret. Also, I wanted to include elements similar to the Maginot line. So, I went about a second experiment with a moveable gun turret. It's supposed to be a retractable turret - it pops up to fire, and sinks down to load. That said, I left the guns sticking out even though this is impractical, as I figured many would not realize this is a gun turret without the guns showing. I'd like to add more of a base for it, so it has more detail. I'm also thinking of scraping it and just adding a hydra turret... That might look better anyway. ...also should have designed a ring for it to be seated in. Little details add a lot. I still like the concept, but I think execution needs more. Layout. The team wanted smoke effects in the trenches again, so I caved and made a crater to pipe in a fog machine. I did want to redesign the trench works, maybe run a communication trench too. And, instead of two opposing trenches as a theme, this year is one defensive trench system being overrun. And, I think I actually want the krieg overrunning the bad guys. So, I'm looking to get some chaos stencils from Fallout Hobbies. I love that old forge world renegade stuff that had rusty eight pointed stars on it. In hindsight I should have paid a lot more time and attention to the design. I'm not thrilled with it spatially. Like at least each table quarter should have something to draw the eye, if not every inch of the table. So, here I've got a somewhat interesting right side and just plan no-man's land on the left. I think tree stumps, water filled craters, or even a destroyed bunker might help fill it out. *note, it's a lot easier to cut trenches and craters before gluing sections on... carving out three layers deep takes much more time. *also note, should have labelled these as it became a huge mess...

Death Korps of Krieg Display Board 2023 - Adepticon and Beyond. So, I'm catching up from work these past two months. 100+ hours in, but never finished. Anyway, step one, I'm building a blimp display board this year. Last year was great. I got a lot of really great feedback at Adepticon and on B&C. People were really kind. But, the question is how to improve it? The problem with going to a new army is that I have to paint a new army, and make a new display, and learn all the rules. Huge, if not insurmountable, time commitment in my context. But, doing Krieg again... we'll it's more of the same. So it's got to stand out. Time to make a Zeppelin. Inspiration & Options. WW1 "dirgibles," "airships," "zeppelins." Now, in practical hobby terms, the Rob Hawkins hobby blog did it 10 years ago - "Rivet Wars Diorama: The Blimp." It's really great. I've also seen on various forums people attempted zeppelins in 40k via the mechanicus terrain (it being roughly cylindrical in shape. You can buy skeleton frames made of laser cut MDF. But they didn't fit my size expectations. Also, the cost was more than what I'd be ok with to test it out. If I didn't like it, it'd never get used. Construction of the shape. First, I attempted to use a 3-liter bottle filled with expanding foam. it was roughly a usable shape from the start. Expanding foam however, can only be added to a certain depth in one use or it will not set properly. So, go slow with the expanding foam can if you build it this way. I think it'll work just fine. I just didn't get a good effect and gave up on it. Second, I switched to cutting circles out of foam with a proxxon wire cutter table. That works great. 1" x 2' x 2' foam sheets (menards, home depot, lowes). I also got a circle cutter jig made of MDF. It's not strictly necessary, but it's helpful. Gorilla Construction Adhesive (for use in a caulk gun) is the magic glue. It doesn't dry fast and it's not super strong. But, it dries regardless of air supply. It also doesn't dissolve the foam creating noxious fumes. A hot glue gun can work, and it is very fast, but it is a fumes hazard and may melt the project to some degree (I suppose more or less depending on the heat of the glue gun). With the rough cylinder cut, it's time for shaping. For the rear and front cone shapes I used a knife to cut a rough cone. Then I used an electric sander with 120 and 220 grit to soften it up and shape it more. This can be easier without the whole blimp constructed. I think it's better to make a front cone, middle cylinder, and rear cone. Put them together only at the end. *Note: the electric sander kicks and gouges into the foam very easily - proceed with caution or it makes a lot more work. *Note: I used plastic bags and rubber bands to secure the end of the caulk gun - that way the gorilla construction adhesive didn't dry out when i stopped the project for the day. Worked great. Construction of the fins. I used Basswood sheets, 1/8" x 4" x 24." I didn't want to cut any more than necessary as the tiniest mistakes really show. So, the 4" width was very close to the radius I needed to install the fins. The 24" length was too long, but not a hard cut to make. Later on I came to realize styrene sheets might have been better because the stabilizers I installed were a real chore - breaking constantly. Not great. Gluing styrene to styrene is easy enough. Gluing styrene to wood or whatever doesn't work well. Maybe there's a better glue to consider. In hindsight I also should have been cognizant of the glue used to secure the foam discs to each other in making the overall shape. So I did it wrong - I glued the foam discs together and then went ahead and cut out foam for the fins to fit in. Don't be dumb like me. Glue doesn't cut easily with the hot foam knife. Plan the glue so perfect cuts can be made for the fins to attach. Actually the rear cone could have just been cut in 4 equal pieces, really. Transportation. Ultimately moving this thing is a disaster. I believe designing this in three separate sections would have been better. I think a center hole through the length of the ship, with a rod installed along the length would have been a better way to make this and also be able to transport it. Seams from the three sections could be easily hidden.

Hello folks - welcome to 2023! If you read my last blog entry, which by the way was too long ago, you will know that the reveal of new Astra Militarum aka Imperial Guard minis had me quite excited, and I talked about trying to resist starting a Guard army, especially if other regiments were to get the same update treatment as the Cadians. The new stuff is fantastic, and following that last blog entry there were some other reveals too, such as the Lord Solar (BraveStarr) on his steed, the Rogal Dorn Battle tank, a new Castellan and new fancy Cadian upgrade sprue, so in true fashion for someone who has a plastic crack addiction, I broke, but not in the way you might think. Upon reading the title of this blog entry you may have thought I caved in and got the Cadia Stands army set when it released? Nope, I did not. Nor did I pre-order the new Guard stuff when it went on general release, although that was a factor. When the new Cadian Shock troops, Field Ordnance Batteries and all the other stuff that was in the army set went on pre-order, I saw the prices of everything and quickly released that the Cadia Stands army set was ridiculously good value. Not only was it good value, it was still available on Games Workshop's website and also with a couple of Third party retailers! I did some quick maths, let out an excited laugh and ordered the army set for £110. I took my wife to the theatre that same day, so its fine. I couldn't help it, and I don't care. Its been a rubbish start to the year in RL terms, so this was a nice treat to myself, retail therapy I guess you could say. So far, I've built and magnetised the Filed Ordnance Battery, and I'm halfway through building the Sentinel. Its a actually a really nice set, the shock troopers and command squad sprues are jammed with all sorts of options, so I'm looking forward to getting those built and I have an idea for my own custom regiment, the Joroduun Aces - more on those later. Anyway, looks like I am indeed doing a Guard army, though whether it will see a tabletop is anyones guess, as is the question of will I ever get it built and painted. I can say one thing for certain though, I fully intend to pull my finger out and do some serious hobbying this year, and not jump from project to project if I can help it. Oh and by the way, that half built Wyvern - it lives again! It was actually in the garage and half built as a Hydra, but with a broken peg. I've repaired it and re-done it as a Wyvern, as I thought it might be more use. Just needs track gluing on and then paint. So then, Imperial Guard it is. I'm off now to go and pray to the miniature gods that we see some plastic Tallarn, Catachan, Valhallans etc, then I can really have an old school Guard army. Thanks for reading.

As per the title, I'm sure that will be a familiar statement amongst many collectors once the newly revealed Imperial Guard minis are released. Its been a long time since the Imperial Guard, or Astra Militarum if you're that way inclined, got new infantry sculpts for their main range. Granted we got a Death Korps of Krieg box recently, but the plastic Cadian range, which I'd say is their 'main' Guard range, has been showing its age for a long time now, and is way overdue for a refresh. I know they did an upgrade kit for the Cadians recently which had some nice bits in it, but it didn't solve the poor proportions of the original kit and did nothing to really bring the Guard up to today's standards. Don't even get me going on the plastic Catachans... Anyway, that all changed on Saturday the 8th October when during their online preview show, Games Workshop revealed brand new Cadian Shock Troops, along with a new Command Squad, a Commissar, Field Ordnance batteries, Heavy Weapon teams and a lightweight Scout variant of the already shown Armoured Sentinel. Not only that, there's going to be a new army box on the way ahead of the main release, much like they did with the Black Templars and Leagues of Votann, and this kind of ties in with my previous blog entry. The new Cadians/Guard look amazing, and once again I felt the familiar 'I must have these' urge. The new box will be called Cadia Stands, and will contain 20 Cadian Shock troops, a Field Ordnance Battery, a Command Squad and a Sentinel which can be built as the either the Armoured or the Scout Variant. There'll also be a limited edition Codex and presumably some transfers. They didn't show the Codex as apparently the cover shows a new character riding a mechanical horse, which immediately made me think of the old BraveStarr cartoon - if they don't call the horse Thirty/Thirty then they've missed a trick! I've never had a Guard army, but I've always wanted one. I've bought bits here and there - I had the old metal Valhallans, some Tallarn troopers with special weapons, and I've got a Valkyrie in a box somewhere along with a half built Wyvern. I've even bought and sold a Taurox, some Orgryns and Scions when I got a bit giddy once, but I never quite fully committed. Now, I have to admit I'm tempted, and I hadn't just bought the Leagues of Votann stuff I'd be declaring myself all in right here right now. I'm tempted because not only does it all look amazing, there was a key piece of information in the reveal that made my ears prick up like a cat hearing a food pouch open from 6 miles away. We can mix regiments again. Imperial Guard armies can once again have different squads from different regiments, just like the old days, and for me this is fantastic. Not only does it mean we'll see armies with tons of variety, its also gives us hope that other regiments might get the Cadian treatment, and if they make new plastic Catachan Jungle fighters, plastic Valhallan Ice Warriors and plastic Tallarn Desert Raiders, then we are right back at the start of this blog entry: My wallet will break before the Guard does.

As an advanced defensive position or as encampment security perimeter, this very quick to build basic terrain set will find lots of uses on your tabletop. Add security to your Communication Tower, Landing Platform or Tower Control. Or use them as forward defensife perimeter for your Fortification Wall or Silo Formation. There are lots of uses for this set and i think, like the Containers, it is basic accessory that should be available to choose from when creating an immersive battlefield. This PDF will give you a range of moduls for a Defense Line that can be set up very flexible. The Defense Line fits all 28mm tabletop games with a Modern or Future-Fantasy setting. Make sure to check out the fitting models of the fortification series available and coming soon. Get the set here: https://www.wargamevault.com/product/511363/Tabletop-Battlefield-Basics-Defense-Line C&C is highly appreciated, so feel free to coment or leave your wishes for future terrain sets.

For starters, the feudal shrineworld's background (skip it if you just want to see minis). Markings While most household troops go to war in their pristine uniforms, some (usually those who have seen regular combat) often don more battle-worthy armour and fatigues. Nevertheless, a unit’s battlefield role is indicated by coloured markings upon their armour and uniform in a manner akin to that of Arcadian regiments (c.f. the Arcadian 5th): Units fulfilling a command role such as company command squads display yellow markings. Units in a support role have blue markings. Examples include heavy weapon squads and dedicated transports. Assault units such as cavalry and many veteran units are marked with green. Infantry squads and other such line/tactical units are indicated by red markings. White indicates conscripts. Black indicates penitents. Infantry display these colours on hat bands, trouser stripes and epaulets (in the case of those wearing `soft` armour) or as a vertical stripe over the helmet and the front, back and lower side trim of shoulder pads (in the case of those wearing `hard` armour). Should an officer wear an aiguillette, the primary colour will be that of his unit type, with yellow or gold tips indicating his command position. Dual roles are indicated by combining two colours in these locations. This medic (white crescent trim) is assigned to a company command squad (yellow epaulets and hat band). Were he assigned to a platoon command squad he would have white trim on red epaulets. This veteran is a member of a company command squad, hence his yellow markings. This lieutenant commands a platoon command squad, hence his yellow hat band and the fact that his epaulets are yellow trimmed with red and his aiguillette is yellow tipped with red. Note that while platoons may include support and/or assault elements (heavy and special weapon squads) their colours are not indicated on the markings of the platoon command squad. This sergeant commands an infantry squad, hence his red hat band and the fact that his epaulets are red trimmed with yellow and his aiguillette is red tipped with yellow. This guardsman belongs to an infantry squad, hence his red markings. This sharpshooter belongs to a special weapons squad, hence his blue markings. His squad leader here too has a blue stripe and blue trim. As he is not a sergeant he lacks yellow markings (which would be a single yellow stripe along the top trim of the shoulder pads). This guardsman is a member of a veteran unit assigned to a close-assault role (tank-hunting, specifically) and so has green markings. Note that many veteran units dirty up their unit markings in the field to reduce their visibility. His sergeant: green trim and yellow command additions, weathered. This unit of homo sapiens variatus has a non-regulation standard in black, indicating their penitent status. Their custodian, a junior priest, has black trim upon his armour to indicate their role and his acceptance of leading the flock to their retribution. Ground vehicles primarily display these colours upon heraldic shields (mounted on the right side of any turret present), and occasionally other locations. This Medusa fulfills a support role and so its shield has a blue background. This is the shield of a Chimera transport assigned to a command squad, thus it displays both blue and yellow, with added red to reflect the squad’s role in commanding line units. The golden wreath indicates the high rank of the officer aboard. Additional markings One common marking seen upon infantry is a skull on the shoulder pad. This indicates a heroic action by the individual. It is coloured as per the individual’s role and/or unit type. The above image shows a master of ordnance’s shoulder armour, then that of a special weapon squad leader and a penitent squad custodian’s.

This is a project that I've wanted to do for a while and what better time to launch it then at the eve of ETL III? However, before any more blabber, I'd like to show the picture that really got this started for me: (Art by Karl Kopinski; source - Codex: Imperial Guard, 3rd Edition, 2nd version) As well know, the Cadians are some of the best fighting troops available to the Departmento Munitorum. They hail from Cadia, the fortress-world that guards the only known passage into (and out of) the Eye of Terror, and have fought wars all over the galaxy against almost any foe imaginable. Cadian Shock Trooper regiments are requested by Imperial generals and warlords from across the galaxy because the Cadians are loyal to the Emperor alone and they will hold the line in the face of the enemy. Among them however, are the Kasrkin, elite of the elite. Now, I could try and write some shabby description about how awesome the Kasrkin are, but I think that quoting the famed Dan Abnett from his Eisenhorn series is a much better idea on this occasion. So yeah, that's the Kasrkin for you. Now, with the fact that they are "though-arse bastards" established, we can move onto the modeling side of things. Right now, until I/we receive word from GW, the Kasrkin models that they produced are unavailable. Now, on one side, this is a real damn shame since the models were real beauties. For those of you who haven't seem them or who need a refresher, see the picture below. On the other hand, not having these models readily available is a boon for people like me who would like to have an army of Kasrkin models but can't (I don't like eBay and trading only goes so far). Also, since they're completely metal, they're mono-pose models, which makes them a bit boring after a while. So, what am I going to do? I'm going to use GW/FW Imperial Guard pieces (I'm thinking of using the basic rebreather heads from Forge World), Green Stuff and plastic card to make my own Kasrkin models (though sticking as much as possible to the original sculpts) to then have a whole army of elite Kasrkin squads (with attached vehicles, of course). My secondary goal is to also have a hefty amount of background fluff to go with this army/regiment to make it that slight bit more unique, which I will build up over time. So, my current to-do list is as follows: Pick up at least one box of Cadians to get started with (basic armour additions to the model, establishing which details to add, etc.); Order the Infantry Rebreather upgrade kit from Forge World to see what additions can be made to the helmets (extra auspex nodes, sights, etc.); Establish the colour scheme for the army (classic Cadian green armour with red-and-beige patterns and beige fatigues or another scheme, like a desert camo scheme or a ice waste environment scheme?); Get a decent army list written up and torn apart by the locals here; ??? Profit?? I'll be visiting my local indie store within the next few days to pick up supplies, which means that I should be able to get a decent start very soon Until then, the Emperor protects!

One of entries that caught my eye in the new AM codex was the Crusaders unit. On the one hand this reminds me faintly of the old Frateris Milita and the Inquisitorial troops, and on the other it seems like quite a fun and fluffy way of having a themed knightly order or specialist duelling unit in a Guard army for regiments that may still have those traditions (Ventrillian Nobles perhaps?). What are people planning to use to model them with? The old Inquisitor models I imagine will be one (obvious) option, but I'm interested to see other people's ideas and models for them. Please share away! :)

"It would seem there is a canon conflict here." Olis leaned over to Aquilanus' workstation. Indeed there was. "What do we do?" asked Ly. "What we do is..." rumbled Aquilanus before being cut off. "What we do is"Olis interupted, his tone warning, "Is to send this report back to the drawing board. Start from the top." "Our way was far more fun," growled the many man. But still... Olis took out a small device from a storage pouch and with a flourish added his sigil to the data slate. The device squealed, but complied. Welcome to the third Liber Challenge! Previous challenges are available to view here. The aim is to create an Imperial Guard regiment, a Traitor Guard regiment or Cultist band. Submitted articles should have the following as a minimum requirement: Name of Regiment/Warband/Cult Home planet/planet army is based upon Name of its Founder(s) Notable characters History Significant battles joined Those who enter are entitled to show this banner in their signature: Those who complete the challenge are entitled to show one of these in their signature: Warband/Cultists: Loyalist regiment: EDIT: Some very cool alternative banners etc for those who want to keep multiple images in their signature and wish to keep within B+C rules This challenge will end on 17th June 2015 at 6pm GMT+1 To enter, make the following vow in this topic to make your commitment known! I, [insert name] vow in the name of the God-Emperor/Dark Gods/Specfic God* to create an Imperial Guard Regiment/Warband/Cult*. This I shall vow or be forever damned! *Delete as applicable Good luck! Challengers: Aquilanus - Gehum's 87th "The Boomers" COMPLETE! Barabbas Sogalon - Brother SP - Captain Baranov - Vostroyan Firstborn Regiment COMPLETE! Carraigf (Eces Fachtna) - CommissarZac - Joutenheim 798th COMPLETE! Conn Eremon - Demus Ragnok - Ferrus Manus - Grand Master Belial - 45th Imperial Regiment COMPLETE! Gunmonkey88 - Task Force 18 - Death Dealers Icechiang - The Orion 13th Combined Arms COMPLETE! Iron Aquilifer - Kierdale - 88th Kierdale’s Shrineworld Expedition COMPLETE! Kilofax - Lord Asvaldir - Lord Thørn - 14th Mezlan EngineersCOMPLETE! Mehman - 93rd Ostheim, 7th Company "Timber Wolves" COMPLETE! Musketeer12 - Olis - ]The Forten Yellowbacks, 134th Regiment COMPLETE! Pauljam - 8th Silvestris infantry regiment COMPLETE! Pudelhund - Sitnam - Fiends of the Apocalypse COMPLETE! SlavetoDarkness - Teetengee - Cult of the Inverted rebirth COMPLETE! TDF - Harjinn Mamelukes and Harjinn Ghilmen COMPLETE! Ulrik Ironfist - The Black Devils brigade COMPLETE! WarriorFish - 144th Arukan Regiment COMPLETE!

Cleansing of Ioria Campaign - Phase 3 Sieges and Decisive Battles The final scene in the Crusade to cleanse Ioria commences! Regiments and Inquisitional parties participating in this phase are to proclaim their attendance by providing the Administratum the required details on their forces and its representative as well as listing the unit and associated value. Vows may be performed in the tradition of your regiment or Inquisitor, or follow the registered standard: I, , hereby pledge the forces of [REGIMENT/WARBAND/ORDO] under [COMMANDER/INQUISITOR] to the capture of Ioria in the name of the Emperor. The contribution of [uNIT] at [POINTS] will do their duty no matter the cost. The phase begins immediately, and vows may be made at any time during the phase's run. Phase 3 will end at 2200 GMT/B&C time on Sunday the 2nd of April, make sure your vow is done by then! Participating regiments and Ordos that have already given their background pieces don't need to do so again as this will have been recorded from phase 1. As a reminder the bonus FOC choices for phase 3 are: HQ, Heavy Support and Lords of War. As before a single FOC unit is eligible even down to the components, whether that is an entire Scion Platoon, a single Taurox, a Platoon Command Squad or an Infantry Squad and their dedicated transport Chimera for example. Signal your participation in this grand endeavour with this sig image: Campaign: Cleansing of Ioria Phase 3 - Imperial Guard ID Recruit Regiment Commander WIP Points Completion 1 brettfp 42nd Savlar Chem Dogs Capt. Slip Saveryx WIP 185* Completion 2 Jam Master Flex 82nd Cadian Armoured Group Knight Commander Pask WIP 535* Completion 3 Mactire Midgardian 12th Commissar Thedren Voalt WIP 55* Completion 4 our_baz E Company of the 7th Levallosian Life Guards Colonel Leukas Prins WIP 140* Completion 5 elmo 711th CCAB [Redacted] WIP 40* Completion 6 GKTerminator First Firestorm Sentinels Lord Edric Shade WIP 460* Completion 7 Cap'n Heckus Agamemnos Prime Planetary Defense Force Colonel Bolivar Hesk WIP 85* Completion 8 WarriorFish 144 Arukan Lord Commander Firionel WIP 40* Completion Campaign: Cleansing of Ioria Phase 3 - Inquisition ID Acolyte Ordo Inquisitor WIP Points Completion 1HodConclave of Holy FireInquisitor Larine BladeauWIP150Completion2Jam Master FlexOrdo MalleusInquisitor IlseWIP95*Completion3HondaCOHORT:110011ARTIKUS-110011WIP360Completion4ArkanissOrdo HereticusLord Inquisitor ArkanissWIP382Completion

It says in the 7th Edition codex that a sergeant in an infantry squad may take weapons from the ranged weapon list. Does this mean if I swap out a laspistol for a boltgun, he will lose his close combat weapon? Thanks in advance, im still kinda new to some of this.