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“My Lord, we have… a report.” “... Lord Hale? Are you well?” “... Icran?” Icran Hale turned from the armourglass window where he had been standing, immobile. His Master of Ships, a slender, hard-faced woman, was staring up at his vast form, concern in her eyes. Her brown hair was slipping out of its usually well-kept bun, and she looked exhausted. “My Lord, my apologies if I was over-familiar. It is just… you haven’t left your quarters for a significant period of time. Lord Knos was on the verge of shuttling over to us to see what was wrong. The crew have been unable to sleep due to...” Icran furrowed his brow. “Knos need not concern himself, Persephone. I recognise I have been... withdrawn, of late. There has been much to consider in light of, well -” he swept one massive, armoured hand towards the window. “I need not elaborate further.” Persephone swallowed, trying not to look out of the window into the void. The storm unnerved her. It unnerved the entire crew, and seemingly affected even the transhuman Astartes aboard. Baseline humans had suffered terrible dreams since the warp-miasma had howled into existence just days previously. Icran continued, his voice a rumbling bass. “My understanding is that none of the fleet Astropaths have been able to pierce this storm. It is as though the Five Hundred Worlds have been entirely consumed by the Immaterium. I can only assume some vile process unleashed by Lorgar’s witchspeakers. We have entirely lost the trail of the Red Angel's beasts.” He strode across his quarters, his yellow Terminator armour clanking across the deck. Persephone’s neck craned back further as he approached. “Give me your assessment, Shipmaster.” “My Lord, I cannot recommend the fleet making any attempt to traverse the warp-storm. It is larger than any storm recorded in our databanks. What is worse, the Navigators report that the light of the Astronomicon cannot pierce the storm. If we entered it, we would be entirely blind.” She handed him a dataslate, which looked to be the size of a playing card in Hale’s vast gauntlets. He read it, digesting the complex information in a glance. Hale frowned further, looking back out of the window into the heart of the Ruinstorm. The stars outside of the ship were stained a bruised purple, with flickering lights dancing across the void. Here and there, strange and unsettling shapes manifested in swirls of teeth and eyes. Across the other side of the ship was a clear, glittering view of realspace, standing in stark contrast. Hale sighed. “Please hail Lord Knos.” Persephone nodded, moving across the modest chambers of the Household Commander to manipulate a small console set by the door. She spoke softly into a grille, before turning to nod at Hale. “Lord Knos?” Hale’s voice boomed across his living chambers, as he moved into view of a pict-camera mounted on the ceiling. “Lord Hale,” a voice crackled from recessed speakers. Hale gestured for Persephone to stand beside him, as a pict-image flashed up on a pictscreen in the living chambers. It was grainy, but clearly showed a tall figure armoured in brilliant cobalt blue plate, trimmed in burnished gold. “Lord Knos, I assume you have seen the reports from the Astropaths and Navigators?” “I have. It makes for grim reading. The Five Hundred Worlds are sealed behind this storm. It appears to be larger and more intense than anything seen since Old Night. The Emperor’s Light cannot pierce the sorcerous murk. My men would have us plunge into its heart, to defend Ultramar no matter the cost...” The Ultramarine left the sentence hanging. “I do not doubt the valour of their intentions, but I must question the value of such a sacrifice. If we send the battlegroup into that storm, we will not emerge from the Immaterium. We… we do not even know if Ultramar still stands.” Knos snarled in fury, his image on the pict-screen distorting as he spat out his words. “Make no mistake, Icran. Guilliman is alive. He has not suffered the same fate as Lord Manus, or Lord Corax. He lives. Ultramar lives.” “We cannot know anything for certain while the storm persists, and it shows no sign of abating. We were sent to the fringes of Ultramar to hunt Angron’s mindless beasts, but now we may as well be becalmed.” “What are you suggesting? That we abandon Ultramar? We abandon the Five Hundred Worlds? We spit on our oaths and trample our banners? That we run?” Hale surged towards the pict-screen, startling Persephone. “Never speak like that to me again, Knos. Think about what you are saying. If I let you and your men spend your lives like worthless coin and die in the warp, then I may as well throw my lot behind the scum we once called our brothers. We need to focus on what matters.” Knos’ face softened, and he learned into the pict-camera, his face filling the screen. “And what, Household Commander Hale, is ‘what matters’?” Hale straightened, squaring his vast shoulders. “Terra. The Throneworld.” Knos said nothing for a moment. “You mean to take the fleet, set course for Terra, and what? Fight through the Warmaster’s burning front lines to enter the most secure system in the Imperium? With a handful of ships? Past tens of thousands of traitors, millions of their rabid followers and the warp-beasts that they command?” “It is still a better plan than sailing into the largest warp storm humanity has ever seen without the Astronomicon to guide us.” Hale turned to Persephone. “How long would it take?” The Shipmaster bit her lip, thinking hard. “Ordinarily, with favourable currents? Six months. We are on the western edge of Ultramar, but reaching Sol still requires passing across a vast amount of space.” Hale looked back at the pict-camera. “Six months in peacetime, so a year or more in wartime. We will still reach Terra before the Warmaster. And we will carve through any traitors we find on the way.” Knos looked off-screen, clearly conversing with some of his captains who were in the ship’s bridge with him. He sighed, in a rush of static through the comm-link. He was no fool, and knew rushing back into the warpstorm would achieve nothing. “To Terra then. But, Icran, you must promise me something.” “Anything, brother.” “If we find loyal Imperials in need, whether they be fellow Astartes, Imperial Army regiments, or non-combatants -” “We will bring the full wrath and fury of the Mountainfire Company upon any traitors in our path. And I would hope the Masalian Fifteenth would be by our side, shoulder to shoulder.” Knos nodded, with a small smile. “Well then. I believe your Shipmaster has some preparations to be making.” Icran Hale nodded, returning the smile before terminating the comm-link. Persephone snapped to attention, executing a crisp salute. Hale looked down at her, the smile still on his face. “Shipmaster. Plot course to Terra.” +++++ Hello all! Welcome to the project diary for the Mountainfire Company, a Horus Heresy Imperial Fists/Ultramarine Shattered Legion force. I’d had Imperial Fists rattling around in my head as a force to do for some time, and I finally got started recently with some Cataphractii Terminators. As I was part-way through the first squad… I read Betrayer. The scene (keeping spoilers to a minimum) involving the Ultramarine breacher wall made me almost want to drop the Imperial Fist project then and there in favour of the boys in blue, before I had a brainwave. I dreamt up the idea of a combined Fists/Ultramarines shattered legion force, crusading their way from Ultramar to Terra. The idea is that Icran Hale, the Household Commander of the Mountainfire Company, was on a cooperation assignment in Ultramar at the outbreak of the Heresy. The Dropsite Massacre occurs, followed by Calth. He buddies up with Gregor Knos, a no-nonsense Ultramarine Commander, and together they chase down some World Eaters on the edge of the Five Hundred Worlds… only to be cut off by the true eruption of the Ruinstorm as Lorgar’s Shadow Crusade reaches its zenith. Unable to re-enter Ultramar, they decide to return to Terra, killing any traitors in their path. Below is a small gallery of what I’ve done so far - two squads of Cataphractii Terminators, designed to be mixed-specialist close-combat veterans, with an assault cannon thrown in for rule-of-cool. Oh, did I mention everyone is going to have shields? Thats right, this is a Stone Gauntlet force! I’m working to build a 30k Centurion Mode army. The principles here are simple - infantry, walker and skimmers only. No tanks. Things like artillery or Leviathans are 0-1. This should mean the army is very infantry heavy, and aimed to crush other infantry heavy forces. Next on the table are two (thats right, two) Deredeo dreadnoughts, and the first of the Ultramarine breachers. Watch this space… Pictures: http://i.imgur.com/plBYZGqh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/RtC8sBLh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/TE6wsOZh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/yxErqS7h.jpg http://i.imgur.com/bT6Glzbh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ezjhOufh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/uU9yNYgh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/lkniPijh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/GYaxMXHh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/xV7645Hh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/1PFVKmBh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/SofWyTnh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/DsAgWijh.jpg

Hi all! This is my first post on the forum so sorry if I'm not doing everything right A friend recently got me into 40k and I played a few matches with my other friends armies and, being a bit of a pyromaniac, found I played best with the blood angels, I love them! since then, I've been trying to start an army, although with very limited budget because....well... I'm a kid. I'm thinking of buying the starter set but might consider saving for larger, better value sets. Does anybody have any recommendations on sets (on a small budget) if so, can you give me the best equipment for the point value? provided I prefer to attack close range with long range support fire. Are there any rules regarding using space marine HQs. Also, any recommendations for a good support HQ? (not too concerned on budget for this). Sorry for asking so much, I just want to start right as I've very little experience in army building.

So this is going to be a dark apostle in my Alpha Legion force. I didn't know what I wanted to use for him because the regular model feels too much like word bearers and not a fan of the dripping book of fire. Anyways I had a half painted Dark Angels Lieutenant and just kind of went overboard with some random bits. Yes he probably smacks himself in the face. Basic fluff for this guy. He's known by a lot of names whether it's the traveler, the stranger, seer or prophet he has been at the center of several imperial uprisings. To my warlord this apostle is simply known as the Rabble Rouser. A tool that he has been using for years not even sure if he is a space marine, but an agent who can manifest the war-band's will before the fleet's arrival. He is of unknown origin and still wears the black armour of a chaplain. An asset that can be frustrating but useful enough that my Alpha Legion warband has claimed him for themselves. Anyways, the model works for the purpose it has but his morning star staff is pretty ridiculous. The head is obviously slightly small for this armour as well, hence why he might be an enhanced human whether through warp or drugs or both he can wear the power armour. What do you guys think? Ridiculous? A random side project anyways of mashing bits together so no worries about any comments. ;)

Howdy folks, I've been back into the hobby for a couple years now and have slowly been putting more things into my arsenal for painting. Mostly just tricks to get things to a workable standard, I enjoy playing the game but appreciate the spectacle as well so try to balance the two. I churned out +70 guardsmen over the course of a week and needed a break from just painting infinite riflemen. Is this staring into madness?? I still had quarantine levels of energy for painting and wanted to do something different. I decided to try my hand at my first diorama as an entry for Auspex Tactic's painting competition. The piece is completed so I will finish this log fairly quickly just going to split it up a bit. I chose a Gretchin servitor from the techpriest Grombrindal kit. He became the Ordo Xenos escapee taking vengeance on his creators. The rule I made for myself was to not buy anything for this project and to use whatever I could find in the house. I wanted a forgotten room in an Inquisition facility with a viewing booth and medical ish lab. I started pulling out bits that might work in a lab scene, power units, rebreather, brackets, etc.. I used an empty dropper bottle as the tank for the servitor , chopping off the top so it could sit flat. And unfortunately didn't have scrap wood in the house so went with a cardboard box to form a tri-wall using a conveniently sized metal plate I found in the basement and superglued it in as the floor to give the base weight. I really dislike working with cardboard, especially after putting some hours into this project. I'd definitely prefer to use something hardier next time that will last longer. The viewing window ended up being cut poorly and needing quite a lot of reinforcement to support the plastic container and the wall. But it was all part of the process and got done in the end. The surgery table was cardstock from a warhammer box with the ends of four of my cheap synthetic beater brushes clipped off for table legs. I don't feel too bad as they come in packs of 50 and are still useable for the uses they have now as stir sticks or glue applicators. Then just three pieces of sprue cut into 3 metal slates to make a cold uninviting slab. The helmet and rifle are going to be turned into part of a pile of ash. Bits of equipment that didn't quite melt under the promethium blaze of sweet Gretchin revenge. I tried not to think too hard about why these inquisitors kept their experimental xenos robot murder flamer in a tank that couldn't withstand the blaze of very same weapon they installed. I ended up just chalking it up to administrative failure, maybe the factory started cheaping out on materials to meet quotas or profit, or any multitude points of failure within the vast Imperium. Anyways this was the beginning of the build and as with most things in the hobby, I was quite skeptical at the start and was ready to scrap the entire thing at multiple points, mostly involving that window and some of the scratch built props. But most of these were fairly minor in the end and could have been fixed with some minor adjustments. Which in the case of the structure was selecting cardboard as a material, limiting myself to what was available in the house being the main factor. I'll get in to some other lessons learned in the next post. Hopefully this posts alright not sure how the image upload works, been a while since I've used this forum and dont post often.