Cadmus Tyro Xth and XXth blog: Terror Squad

[Cadmus Tyro]

Thanks for the likes everyone!

Few quick shots of the recon marines, there’s still a long way to go:

Just a lot of detailing to do! 6 days until WHW, wish me luck!

Cadmus

[Cadmus Tyro]

Well, I’ve finished the next five recon marines for the company, which means the recon company is marching on Nottingham Monday!

What do you think? I’ve got 2500pts now in the Effritt scheme....

Time for an army shot.....

Cadmus

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job.

[Marius Perdo]

Hopefully they won't see you coming on Monday

 

They look great - any group shot of all the Effritt mustering for Monday's March?

 

Edit: Thinking on we'll get group shots from the battle...doh. Back at post #654 you have inspired me to build my proteus the same way - just magnetised guns to also use heavy flamers from the leviathan kit too. If I want to do Tyro pattern where do i get all the plastic antennas from?

Edited November 12, 2019 by Marius Perdo

[Cadmus Tyro]

Hopefully they won't see you coming on Monday :)

They look great - any group shot of all the Effritt mustering for Monday's March?

Edit: Thinking on we'll get group shots from the battle...doh. Back at post #654 you have inspired me to build my proteus the same way - just magnetised guns to also use heavy flamers from the leviathan kit too. If I want to do Tyro pattern where do i get all the plastic antennas from?

Thanks mate, the antenna are from the repulsor kit, it was useful for something 30k!

The heavy flamers work well in place of the heavy bolters, check out the glaive a few pages before.....;)

I was going to do two full battle reports for you guys, narrative style. Here’s something to keep you going....

For some reason I can’t add original sized file on the B&C uploader, despite it being 1.8mb?

Cadmus

[Cadmus Tyro]

Approach to Aeres Station, Beta Garmon.

The boarding torpedoes spiralled slowly in the void, the cold dull light of the Garmon clusters distant stars glinted almost imperceptibly from the black hulls. Launched from the darkest reaches of the outer system almost a Terran month prior, the small craft had made their way to the inner system under their own inertia.

The calculations involved in such a feat and the skill in launching craft from such a distance was all but impossible, for any other than perhaps the XXth. Internal stealth systems, who’s functions would remain a jealous secret upon the crafts self destruction, combined with the distance of the launch, shielded their approach.

Autilon Skorr’s senses awakened, slowly at first, becoming aware of the numbing cold, his armours life support system was operating at 6.25%. The lowest level of operation that would allow an Astartes to maintain consciousness. They must be nearing the target, his suits operational level had increased.

The interior of the craft was dark, his enhanced senses only afforded the impression of the slightest outlines. Surrounded by a cohort of his brothers, he knew non of their names, but he knew their roles, each one conditioned to the mission at hand.

His helmets internal display flickered into action, the dull light seemed bright in the comparable darkness. Information from the crafts activating guidance system flooded his vision. The first boarding torpedo, even with the planned course correction, would miss the target, it would likely burn up on entry to the planets atmosphere. No matter, the remaining strike force would be enough to complete his assigned task.

The other veteran headhunters began to waken from their slumber. “Status report sergeant” Skorr whispered through the inactivated vox grill of his helmet.

“Kill team fully operational commander, we are ready to serve the legion, what are your orders?” Every detail of the operation was an intricately woven tapestry. Each member of the kill team had their specific role, with built in contingency to account for loss. A single word would set in motion a cascade of orders for each individual.

“Persius”, he replied.

Skorr felt a slight shift as the torpedoes guidance systems fired its retro thrusters, correcting its course to the target. They would be aware of their presence now, but it was too late for any intervention to prevent their approach. The chrono counter in the bottom right of his helmets display reached 5.25 seconds.

“Brace for impact”.....

##########################

Shield captain Garaius woke from his meditation, sensing subtle impact vibration through the floor of his hab block. Two, impacts, less than a millisecond apart.

“Station commander report”, Garaius waited for the reply from Aeres station operations bridge. Vox static preceding the incoming transmission.

“Loading bay outer hull sector 43-2gamma reports minor hull breach my Lord. Minor damage only, atmospheric shielding remains intact and the section has been sealed as per protocol” The station commander seemed tired, following an unusually high rate of illness amongst the staff at Aeres station, the commander had been forced to pull double shifts for over two weeks, despite his biological weakness the commander displayed an admirable level of resolve.

“Very good commander, what hit us?” Replied Garaius.

“Some form of debris most likely” replied the commander, his disinterest all too evident in the tone of his voice. Being hit by debris or asteroids was not uncommon, Aeres station was large enough to exert its own gravitational pull, affecting the tides of the seas below on the planets surface. But this still did not sit well with the shield Captain.

“There was one other thing captain. A few seconds prior to the impact out sensors detected two small reactor burst readings, it was such a short reading, I think the scanners maybe playing up” added the station commander.

“No Commander, those were course correction engine bursts, we have been boarded, by a cunning enemy it would seem, muster the sentinel guard!”

##########################

Strike team Persius:

Head hunter kill team Alpha:

Headhunter kill team Beta:

Headhunter kill team Gamma:

Veteran Squad Persius:

Strike force commander Autilon Skorr:

Aeres station protectorate:

Enjoy, more to follow....

Cadmus

[Cadmus Tyro]

Loading bay 45-2gamma, Aeres Station, beta Garmon

Skorr moved through the shadows towards the loading bay, they had encountered very little resistance en route to their target. The kill teams were making their way through the winding corridors, ahead of Skorr’s veteran squad.

They had come across evidence of their work, the occasional bulk of legionary body amidst the more numerous dead crew. Some would consider leaving the fallen for others to see to be slovenly, but speed was of the essence now. Doubtless the elite of the stations protectorate would be aware of their presence, there was yet no sign of their primary target.

The Garmon cluster was of utmost strategic importance to Horus and his advance on Terra. Way Station Aeres formed an integral part of the orbital defence system. The destruction of Aeres would be vital to the coming invasion, but that was not the primary target. Aeres station garrisoned a protectorate of the emperors finest, it was even rumoured that Valdor himself was present in the system. The XXth legions orders were simple, bleed the custodes of their strength before the Warmasters invasion fleets arrived.

They were close now, even moving at speed through the ship interior it had taken almost 45 mins to reach the loading bay. White stencilled lettering began to appear on the flooring confirming the location ‘45-2y’.

The location of the containers were marked in his helmets HUD. Skorr’s vox crackled into life, “Kill team alpha reporting, we have secured the central computer terminal, accessing ventilation control systems now”. Access to the stations ventilation fail safe systems was integral to the plan at hand. They could be overridden from the stations command centre, but that would not be allowed to happen.

“Kill team gamma reporting, we have accessed the terminal relay station, blocking hardware deployed”, this would buy them a little more time once the ventilation failsafes were deactivated.

“Kill team beta reporting, we have located the second container, reporting multiple custode contacts front!”.

Transported to Aeres station three weeks prior to their arrival, were two containers, housing enough life-eater virus to kill to entire population of the station. It had been surprisingly easy for the legion to deliver the containers, the operatives already installed in the station had helped the process somewhat.

The custode force advanced cautiously, aware of the enemy’s presence but unable to confirm a visual sighting. The presence of the custodes would make the mission much more challenging.

“Bravo team, engage, stall their progress, fire for effect”. Bravo team rounded the corner, opening fire on the advancing custode guardian squad, incinerating several of the warriors with plasma fire. The ferocity of their fire forcing the remainder of the squad back down the corridor.

Skorr finally found his objective, a ubiquitous transport container. Running his armoured palm along the exterior of the metal housing activated the internal locking mechanism. Opening the heavy door the delegatus stepped inside as veteran squad Persius took up defensive positions around the objective.

The Protectorate custodes force continued their cautious advance, attempting an outflanking manoeuvre.

Kill team Gamma climbed slowly towards the top of an observation point, overlooking The main loading deck below. “Kill team gamma reporting, we have a visual on the second container. There are multiple hostiles between us and the target, your orders sir”. Skorr activated the life-eater bomb, setting the count down timer to five minutes, there may still be a chance of extraction.

“Alpha team, gamma team, engage container. Destruction of outer casing will cause a one minute delayed bomb detonation”. Acceptance runes appeared on his HUD. He knew that he had condemned both teams to death, they had a limited supply of combi plasma and could not hope to destroy the container at range and eliminate the custode threat.

“Engage custodes as a secondary target, delay their advance”. He exited the container, rejoining squad Persius. “Sergeant, fall back to extraction point”.

Squad Persius fell back, just as the custodes rounded the corner of the station. The heavy bolters in the squads rear guard laid down a hail of suppressing fire. The heavy rounds ricocheting harmlessly from the custodes golden auramite.

Sensing their quarry was near, the custodian guard advanced rapidly. Cutting through the Alpha team with ease.

Squad Persius was caught between the two advancing custodes squads.

Cornered, Squad Persius was mercilessly cut down to the last man. Headhunter kill team gamma joined the fray, in the ensuing chaos, Autilon Skorr slipped away into the shadows, the countdown timer almost at zero.....

##########################

Shield captain Garaius surveyed the slaughter, that had been too easy. His contemplation was interrupted by a high pitched whine, the resulting explosion from the container behind him made the squad tense for a brief moment. He watched, as the bodies around him began to disintegrate before his very eyes, rolling his gauntleted hand in front of him, black fault lines slowly started to appear across the gold. Life-eater virus.

Whilst the custodes intricately wrought Auramite would save them from the virus, the ships mortal inhabitants would not be so fortunate. Although, the members of his squad who were wounded or had sustained damage to their armour, were succumbing to the virus’s effects.

Garaius opened a vox link to the stations bridge. “Commander Varian, the alpha legion have released life-eater virus onboard the ship, seal all ventilation from this sector”.

“Affirmative Lord” replied Varian. “My lord, the alpha legion have deactivated the ventilation fail safes, there is something blocking my attempts to overide them”.

Garaius searched the nearby consoles and relay points, within minutes he found the hardware installed by the XXth legion. He tore it from the wall interface. “Try it now!” There was desperation in the Captains voice now, time was running out, the virus would have already reached the adjacent levels.

Varian began to key in the necessary code to activate the ventilation failsafes, out of the corner of his eye he noticed the centre of the bridge blast door had begun to glow. Starting as a dark red circular area, it slowly began to expand, the centre replaced by white heat. The door began to sag and then suddenly collapsed inwards, molten droplets of metal dripping to the floor.

A single warrior entered through the breach, Bolter raised. His bulk was clad in Mk3 power armour, the helmet heavily modified with additional targeting lenses. The figure was immense in stature, oily black in the darkness, the limited light from the command deck revealed a dark teal blue hue, a green hydra was emblazoned on his left shoulder, his left was covered in a cameleoline cloak which adapted as he advanced.

The warrior opened fire, the mass reactive rounds making short work of their unarmored crew and servitors. He turned his attention to Varian, who issued a single word in response, “why?”

“For the emperor” replied the revenant, and pulled the trigger.....

##########################

A great first game, the infiltration rule proved how amazing it is, I was able to deploy in contact with three of the four objectives and destroyed them turn 1!

I learnt a few lessons along the way:

1. headhunters are pretty decent in ZM. Innate infiltrate means you can choose an alternative mutable tactic. Access to Preferred enemy infantry is great in a small game when you won’t be using alpharius.

2. The headhunter Leviathanal RoW is pretty terrible. There is no way I was going to kill a shield captain in the middle of a squad! The issue with the RoW is the loss of D3 VP if you don’t kill the enemy HQ, combined with mutable tactics it means you will probably loose the game! If I had taken the same list with the chosen duty RoW I would have won hands down in VPs.

3. I should have used Skorr’s “desperate for glory” in the last turn. I was hoping the game I would end (variable length) but on a 3+ the odds were against me. I could have activated that rule for Skorr which would have made him fearless and prevented him from running off the board after losing combat.

4. Stubborn on veteran squads is amazing, especially with a joined high Ld character like Skorr. The squad survived several rounds of combat despite losing every round!

Well I hope you enjoyed that little report, the larger game is still to come! Stay tuned!

Cadmus

Edited November 13, 2019 by Cadmus Tyro

[MagicMan]

That battle report was great! Really dig the look of your Alpha Legion Headhunters, and it was cool to see them go toe to toe with the Custodes.

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Holy cow man I love terrain people create. Looks amazing, great battle reports!

[Cadmus Tyro]

Deserted Hab block, Beta Garmon Planetary Surface.

Harkaern surveyed the wreckage of the downed warlord Titan, thermal and radiation imaging, the ancient Behemoth glowed white through his weapons scope. The hazed outline of Aeres Station, slowly falling from its geostationary orbit forming the backdrop to the scene of destruction laid before him.

They had come, just as the Primarch said they would. Warriors, clad in Golden armour had been gathering around the wreckage for the last ten minutes.

Their arrival heralded by the scream of Gyrfalcon jetbikes, they had moved on, surveying the ruins to the east. Like flies to a trap, Harkaern doubted the trap would have enough bite.

He tensed, the sight of Valdor sent a chill down his spine. So the intel had been correct, the Lord commander of the Adeptus custodes was in the Garmon System. Eliminating the custode threat and thus weakening the defence was their primary aim, the opportunity to assassinate the Constantine was too tempting for the Primarch to pass up.

Valdor would be aware of the legions presence in the system, that was part of the ploy, very little else would have caused the custodian guard to mobilise in response. The sacking of a major orbital defence station, the revealed presence of a traitor legion in system and now the destruction of an invaluable weapon of war had got their attention.

The golden warriors picked through the wreckage, whilst a towering Telemon dreadnought surveyed the surrounding buildings, waiting for the inevitable threat to come.

Therein lay the problem, the ambush was predictably unpredictable, knowledge of the legions presence would work against them, Valdor knew how the XXth waged war.

Harkaern opened an encoded vox channel to the recon company “Engage target in 5...4...3...2...1....”.

##########################

Constantine Valdor stepped from the access ramp of the Coronus grav carrier, even through the protection of his enclosed helmet he could feel the ferocity of thermal radiation, emanating from the burning Titan.

There were very few creations in the universe that were more ancient and more powerful than himself, to see such a spectacle of art and destruction brought low angered him. His warriors had already located the titans data repository. He had to admit the ingenuity of the Alpha Legion at work. To slay a warlord Titan with light infantry assets only, was an impressive feat.

The hammer would fall soon, of that Valdor was certain. The only way to unmask the Hunter, was to trigger his trap, and this work had all the hallmarks of Alpharius’ genius.

Apart from Sheild captain Garaius and the remanants of the Aeres station protectorate, Valdor had gathered all of the custodes strength to investigate the cause of the downed Titan. If they were going to walk into the trap, they would do so at their full strength.

He had contemplated leaving the work to Garaius, retreating back to the relative safety of Terra, his father had already summoned him. But a force capable of destroying a titan was worth his attention, and there was a chance he could bring one of the emperors wayward sons to heel. He was all to aware that the enemy was counting on his sense of honour, and arrogance.

Valdors presence was almost certainly known to the legion, an assassination attempt was highly probable. Well, they could make an attempt he thought.......

Hope you like the pics, first time the Effrit have been out in full force!

2500pts per side, next up, the battle report!

Cadmus

[Marius Perdo]

They look great. Both forces, as well as the WHW tables.

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Excellent looking army, the terrain is really neat the destroyed titan is a super cool idea!

[noigrim]

Hah black ops indeed

[Cadmus Tyro]

Hah black ops indeed

No sure I get your meaning here mate?

 

Cadmus

[Marius Perdo]

@Cadmus Tyro: Probably Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 ref, special forces, dark stealthy armour, sneaky spec ops etc. Basically a compliment as far as I can tell, given they look like sneaky, stealthy special forces doing black ops ;)

[Cadmus Tyro]

“The chances of any coming from Mars are a million to one”, he said.......

“But still, they come”......

Vorax friends for my castellax, I ran out of enthusiasm so I don’t think I’ll post the main battle report as planned! Perhaps I’ll add the photos at a later date.

Cadmus

Edited November 26, 2019 by Cadmus Tyro

[noigrim]

 

Hah black ops indeed

No sure I get your meaning here mate?

 

Cadmus

You painted your alpha black instead of blue

[Pearson73]

Looking forward to seeing paint on the Vorax; they're such cracking models. A pity about the battle report, though I would still like to see you post up the photos.

[Soulhunter1995]

Not gonna lie, a warhammer 30k/40k version of War of the Worlds would be awesome :D Looking good Cadmus :)

[Brother-serpent Tylydox]

Nice kit.  How did you find them assembly-wise?  Was it too warped?

Edited November 28, 2019 by Tylydox

[Marius Perdo]

They look cool, suitably stalkery - not built my own yet but they look fiddly. Pity about the other report but enthusiasm ebbs and wanes

Edited November 30, 2019 by Marius Perdo

[Cadmus Tyro]

Looking forward to seeing paint on the Vorax; they're such cracking models. A pity about the battle report, though I would still like to see you post up the photos.

They are great models, and bring some flexibility to my iron hands when I’m not using HoG as they can outflank. I might get round to the second bat rep at some point! It just takes a while to upload and embed all the photos! Great start for your iron hands by the way, have you come up with a name for your seeker team yet?

 

Not gonna lie, a warhammer 30k/40k version of War of the Worlds would be awesome :D Looking good Cadmus :)

Thanks soul hunter, I was building these guys during the BBC drama on a Sunday evening. Whilst the drama is a little low budget it got me reminiscing about listening to Jeff Wayne’s musical as a kid. I can’t stop singing that line when I see these guys on the shelf! As for war of the worlds on the table top, wasn’t that part of the unification wars? Maybe one day......

 

Nice kit.  How did you find them assembly-wise?  Was it too warped?

Cheers, I wish I had taken some build pics. The cast was pretty good but there were two main issues, the legs and the power cables/bullet magazines.

 

Each of the legs comes in four pieces, the hip joints are limited to left and right but the lower legs and feet can be used on either the left or the right side. This means you have to really plan each Vorax’s pose carefully, there are so many options. The other issue with the legs is getting a natural pose at the hip joint. Resin does not allow for much in the way of repositioning. A method I’ve been using is applying a small amount of green stuff into the joint, and then applying the superglue. This seems to slow down the cure time a little and gives you about a minute to reposition the legs if needed. It’s also easier to break the joint if something goes wrong or looks off.

 

The cables and magazines were a real pain. They need to be bent into position but using a hair dryer tended to warp the rest of the model. I found attaching on end to the model and then briefly dipping the cable in boiled water to be a more effective method in the case, but, it was a pain!

 

The look cool, suitably stalkery - not built my own yet but they look fiddly. Pity about the other report but enthusiasm ebbs and wanes :)

They are very fiddly, but just take your time with them, they’re worth the effort in the end. I wanted mine to look like Jurassic park raptors, so one is just running full tilt. I’ll post some more pics to give you an idea of the posing when they’re done, which won’t be too long as the base colours are already on and I’m starting to detail them!

 

Cadmus

[Pearson73]

 

Looking forward to seeing paint on the Vorax; they're such cracking models. A pity about the battle report, though I would still like to see you post up the photos.

They are great models, and bring some flexibility to my iron hands when I’m not using HoG as they can outflank. I might get round to the second bat rep at some point! It just takes a while to upload and embed all the photos! Great start for your iron hands by the way, have you come up with a name for your seeker team yet

 

 

I've always overlooked our ability to include Automata, however looking at their rules, they do look pretty nasty when outflanking, both against armour and infantry. I can understand that, it seems to take me an age to make regular updates, let alone a full report. Thanks! Not yet, though I'm open to suggestions.

[Cadmus Tyro]

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to seeing paint on the Vorax; they're such cracking models. A pity about the battle report, though I would still like to see you post up the photos.

 

They are great models, and bring some flexibility to my iron hands when I’m not using HoG as they can outflank. I might get round to the second bat rep at some point! It just takes a while to upload and embed all the photos! Great start for your iron hands by the way, have you come up with a name for your seeker team yet

 

I've always overlooked our ability to include Automata, however looking at their rules, they do look pretty nasty when outflanking, both against armour and infantry. I can understand that, it seems to take me an age to make regular updates, let alone a full report. Thanks! Not yet, though I'm open to suggestions.

I think automata make up for our relative lack of CC ability, castellax feature in most of my lists and they hold the centre soooo well. Vorax are a very different prospect, they are much more vulnerable, I’m still learning how to use them.

 

As for the seekers, how about iron resolve?

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/317342-cadmus-tyro-xth-and-xxth-blog-vorax-wip/page-5

 

See post 120 ;)

 

Cadmus

[Kolgrim DeathHowl]

Cool conversions on them so far!