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I - An Introduction and an Invitation Greetings! I am Ezra. I have been lurking in the background of this website for a while now, though you may have seen a post or two of mine in the distant past. I’d like to return to blogging a little bit, and especially, to sharing fun and interesting conversion ideas with like-minded souls. I’ve tinkered on various projects over the years, but there’s one that’s been rather close to my heart, and that I’d like to share with you all here in this topic. But first, to set the scene… ++ Brigannion Four – The Well of Hunger ++ It is the 40th millennium. Brigannion Four, known amongst Navigators as the Well of Hunger, has stood inviolate for centuries. The Iron Warriors, siege masters beyond compare, hold the Warp-tainted world in an iron grip, repelling all invaders, both from within as from without, with cruel and merciless efficiency. However, they are not alone on this world. Others have managed to establish a foothold upon its surface, from where they strive to dislodge the Iron Warriors from their position of power and claim the planet for themselves. Amongst the warring factions stand the heirs of two other Legions of old. The Death Guard, the implacable servants of Nurgle, were the first to lay claim to the world after its initial capture by the Night Lords. They fought a short but brutal war against the sons of Curze, successfully driving them into the fortress’ underworld before falling prey themselves to the ambitions of the Iron Warriors. The survivors are still licking their festering wounds, biding their time until they can strike against their hated foe once again. The world’s strategic location near the Cadian Gate has also made it a prime target for Abaddon the Despoiler, the Warmaster of Chaos. The Black Legion has launched countless assaults upon the planet, but not even the full might of a Black Crusade could bring the defenders to heel. Though beaten and bloodied, the Warmaster’s own will not relent until their prize is firmly in their grasp. Over the millennia, numerous other Traitor Legions and Chapters have descended upon the Well of Hunger, seeking glory, plunder, or simply another chance to spill blood. Most of them perish, victims of their own greed and the Iron Warriors’ guns, but some of them survive, thriving in the darkest corners of the war-torn fortress-world. Most notable among these survivors are the Sons of Hate and the Brotherhood of Blood. The two Renegade Chapters arrived on the planet roughly at the same time following their exile from the Imperium. The two former Chapters have been locked in bitter conflict with one another and with the Traitor Legions ever since, making up for their lack in experience through malign ambition and insatiable bloodlust. The Brotherhood of Blood has recently subjugated a large portion of the mutant throngs trawling the wastes, bolstering their ranks considerably, whilst the Sons of Hate have been mercilessly raiding the supply lines of the Iron Warriors, slowly bleeding the strength from many of their strongholds. The fortress’ vast underworld is home to the shattered remnants of the defeated, who feed off whatever measly scraps they can find. To these scattered Astartes, the conquest of the massive fortress is but a half-remembered dream, lost in the endless quest for survival in a bottomless pit of darkness. The remnants of the Night Lords haunt these shadowed places, tormenting the lost souls that dwell there, forever seeking ways to regain the power they once had. It is the 40th millennium. On Brigannion Four, a shadow war rages without end, the promise of final victory leading thousands to their grisly death. These are the stories of those who fought and died on that accursed world, and of those who against all odds lived to tell the tale. ++ ++ Brigannion Four. Veterans may remember the world from that ancient and malign tome, the 4th edition Codex: Chaos Space Marines. Ever since I read its description, I’ve been strangely enamoured with it. To me, it is an interesting microcosm, a fun little sandbox to poke around in. I mean, what’s not to love about it? A daemonic fortress world, conquered and desecrated by the Night Lords, fought over by Legions, Renegades and daemons, fortified to a ludicrous degree by the Iron Warriors - in short, a true hellscape where Chaos rages against its own kind for no other reason or purpose than pure, undistilled spite and hatred. There’s a lot of potential here, and I intend to tap it as much as I can. Tap it how, I hear you wonder? Well, at first, I tried to do so by writing my own fluff for the conflict, with the idea of one day turning it into an expansion for Shadow War: Armageddon. While I never did get quite far with those writings, they did inspire me to convert a couple of Not-quite-True-Scale Black Legionnaires, and in the more recent past, to expand on those Legionnaires with other models, such as a Hellbrute, a Daemon Prince, etcetera. I’ve got a couple more conversions lined up, which I’m very eager to share with you all. The Black Legion marches on Brigannion Four, and all shall tremble before the Warmaster’s might! But I’d like to do more. Specifically, I’d like to invite you, dear readers, to join me in this hellpit of darkness and despa– I mean, lovely little sandbox. There are a lot of factions and ideas to explore on Brigannion Four, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter. I hope that my own works, and the accompanying fluff, will inspire your own hobby projects – and if they do, that you share them with all of us! ++ ++ So what’s next? In the posts below this one, I’ll be posting my own finished and work-in-progress Black Legion models, as well as some of the fluff for the other warbands and Legions present on Brigannion Four. At the moment, I have some text ready for the Night Lords and the Death Guard, as well as a short blurb on the Obliterator cult that the Iron Warriors have an agreement with. I also have a few loose ideas regarding the Sons of Hate and the Brotherhood of Blood, which I’ll be posting later down the line as well. That’s it for now – let me know what you think!

Greetings all. I was thinking about the best ways to introduce my web store and the product lines I carry to all of the hobbyists here on Bolter and chainsword. So what I've decided to do is a manufacturer spotlight series discussing the various manufacturers that I carry and what they can be used for to add your hobby collections. Starting with Wargames Atlantic. Opened in 2019, war games Atlantic has proceeded to trail blaze a path in the hard plastic wargaming market. They've launched over 25 boxed sets for a multi-faceted collection of fantasy, sci fi and historical time periods. Their death fields range is particularly ideal for 40k projects, bringing with it plenty of human and humanoid figures to fill out imperial armies as well as some xenos factions. I have a plan currently in motion to use the lizardmen kit, and it's built in mix of ak47s and matchlock guns to make convincing kroot stand ins. But besides all of that, Wargames Atlantic has been an innovative wargaming company. Back in November 2022 they launched Atlantic digital, becoming one of the first hard plastic wargaming manufacturers to offer digital STL kits. They've now got 81 STL kits, and I've actually used the Les grognard ogres kit in combination with extra plastic parts to make my B company ogryns. And now, with the help of mini wargaming, they are bringing out a full army all at once: the damned. https://gamefound.com/projects/mwg--wargames-atlantic/the-damned That's the preview page, but the damned are as close an equivalent to traitor guard as you can come. There looks to be plenty of stretch goals with free sprues. Indeed, you can get a free sprue of the basic Infantry added to your rewards if you follow the campaign, and then when it launches you back it. McDougall Designs will be carrying these boxed sets when they hit retail, and will also be offering single sprues and select sprue packs. For my own projects, I will be forming a geurillas warfare imperial guard unit based around the damned bodies and 3d printed heads wearing corvid-looking masks. Indeed these seem like a highly adaptable set of models all around, as the basic design is mainly battle damage, with no distinct symbology that would otherwise need to be removed. The campaign begins on the 26th of may, so just over a week to go. Check back tomorrow for more content. Until the next update; happy gaming, Max Mcdougall McDougall designs llc

Greetings all. Like a lot of members here, I couldn't wait to get started with the contents of Dark Imperium, and as well as building an Ultramarine Primaris army from it, I thought I would use the opportunity to recreate an old Nurgle army of mine, named The Pestilent Scourge. Without further delay, allow me to share my progress... Balantisis the Wretched, Lord of Contagion He is finished for now, until I get my hands on some clear resin to add water to his base and perhaps some more technical paint effects. The army so far... And I've started working on my Poxwalkers... I've started removing the horns and such for a few reasons; it'll make them easier to convert duplicate miniatures in the army while allowing me to buy more split set contents online to bulk out the army cheaply, I like the idea of humans touched by Nurgle and mutated to the look and feel of the base models provided, and ultimately because I feel that all the horns just look stupid and a touch too much like Age of Sigmar esque miniatures for my taste. This isn't likely to be the fastest blog in the world, but I'll update as and when I have progress. C&C welcome and appreciated!

Vraksian Enforcer "The weak will always be led by the strong. Where the strong see purpose and act, the weak follow; where the strong cry out against fate, the weak bow their heads and succumb. There are many who are weak; and many are their temptations. Despise the weak for they shall flock to the call of the Daemon and the Renegade. Pity them not and scorn their cries of innocence - it is better that one hundred innocently fall before the wrath of the Emperor than one kneels before the Daemon."" - The First Book of Indoctrinations Overview I must have been on-off on-off with regards to Warhammer over the years, largely because of the numerous projects that I've started and lacked the motivation to finish. With this in mind, I've decided to start anew. I'll list anything that I am working on, such as the new Cultists I'm prepping for an upcoming Escalation campaign at my local Games Workshop, but I'll avoid setting targets for myself. This is also the perfect opportunity for me to start playing around with conversion techniques and materials that I don't typically use (such as greenstuff and plasticard) Ongoing Projects Traitor Guard. Slaaneshi Cultists. Thunder Warriors. To kick it all off, 1/3rd of one of my Traitor Guard/Cultist squads. I wanted these dudes to stick to the "former IG" aesthetic as much as possible whilst making it clear that they aren't loyalists anymore. To this end I used the GSC Brood Brothers as the base (or the Cadian Shock Troops, I forget which) with some heads from the GSC Upgrade Frame, a Flagellant head, an Orlock head and some arms from the Skitarii Rangers. I took stock of some spare Space Marine melta bombs that I had lying around and I've been using those to represent gas canisters. Although, the thought of doing a suicidal cultist all strapped up with melta bombs and krak grenades for dealing with enemy armour is enticing now... An Icon Bearer and two generic Cultists. I wanted to break up the squads a bit, so they weren't just stacked with autoguns and heavy stubbers. The Vox Caster and the Medic seemed like practical additions to the squads as well; I imagine that even the Traitor Guard recognise the need for a well-trained surgeon from time to time, and I like to think that it's a bit of a holdover from their days as loyalists. I used a mixture of bits from the Cadian and Catachan command squads, as well as the icon from a Chaos Chariot. I threw in some leftovers from the GSC Upgrade Frame for good measure as well. Last but not least; a Slaaneshi Enforcer that I started way, way back in 2017 and never got around to doing anything with. Now that I'm actually working on my Traitor Guard/Cultists a bit more I feel like it's time to finish this dude off. He was converted up using bits from the Hellstriders of Slaanesh kit and some Neophyte Hybrids. I'll post some more up a little later this week when I'm ready to show off the rest. I've got some greenstuff/plasticard work to do in the meantime!