Victory is Vengeance

[Obscura]

I've built a few stories out of the exploits of my 23rd through ViV one shots that lasted an entire Saturday, Methevas is a hold over from a campaign along with a few other Legionnaires, which is a good way for me to continue their story and explain why certain characters have the gear that they do through scavenging shenanigans (field stripping the enemy dead).

 

I've enjoyed it immensely, especially if the field is littered with a lot of terrain or you happen to use ZM tiles with a blip system. In this, my motivation to finish my 23rd goes beyond my gamer ADD ( plus selling/trading off my extras and reducing the armies I own to three limits my abilities to bounce around ) and lets me field a playable 30k army in a reduced period of time, weeks instead of months or a year and at its core there are a handful of individual characters with a lot of history.

 

Outside of that, my list wasn't exactly optimal. I just choose a lot of nifty looking options from the red books and made it work. The only limitation I had upon myself was self induced as I wanted a list containing only Emperor's Children. I had off the top of my head. . .

 

1 Apothecary

1 Palantine Prefector

1 Contemptor Dreadnought

5 or 6 Veteran Tacticals

 

It's been awhile, but that's more or less the list I had. It was fun and allowed for a lot nifty battles with the three other guys I happened to be playing with at the time.

 

In the beginning people will forget rules, just go with the flow and you'll definitely have fun.

[A D-B]

A few minor updates. 

 

With my computer screwed up and running weirdly (really terrible timing, work-wise, but isn't it always) I spent most of Saturday with my pals Ross and Doctor Mark turning our grey 8-tile Realm of Battle board into Mars / a generic rust-desert world / a John Blanchian underhive sump / a place that looks like Hellfire Peninsula from World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade.   

 

This is pretty much the opposite of Isstvan V's greyness but, well, it works for a lot of other stuff, so... what's done is done.

 

http://i.imgur.com/1S8P9M8.jpg

 

Me and Ross chewed over where to set the ViV campaign again, debating the various merits of Calth, Prospero, or just choosing Legions and running with our own imaginations and ideas. In the end we decided to stick with something published for once, and actually see how Isstvan V worked. Ross liked the idea of a Raven Guard, Iron Hands, and Salamanders force, and I was fine with the Traitors given the choice on offer. So we're sticking with the aftermath of the Dropsite Massacre and going from there.

 

Right now in the initial stages, Ross mentioned a warband that was "50% green, 50% black", with the Salamanders taking up about half of his numbers alone, and the Raven Guard and Iron Hands making up the other half together.

 

I've messed around with a few colours, testing them on the few Space Marie heads I still had lying at the back of my desk drawers (I also found one underneath my old-ass limited edition Resident Evil 4 PS2 controller) and while nothing's set in stone, I'm considering a joint extermination force of Emperor's Children and Sons of Horus. Two Legions I had absolutely no interest in painting or collecting, but am strangely tempted by now we're doing Isstvan V.

 

Maybe with some stragglers from other Legions, natch. But we'll see how the painting goes.

 

Behold, the evidence of basecoatery.

 

http://i.imgur.com/2DKl3iA.jpg

 

Also, almost every list I see (usually tournament lists, admittedly) has a dreadnought in it. We'll likely not be going that route, as we're using the campaign as a cool excuse to get some infantry done.

 

Hopefully this week we'll get to order our first 5-man Mk.III Tactical Squad, and start our first few Marines. I think we agreed that Ross was getting three from the first 5-man squad, and I was getting two. So, good stuff. 

[Tyrannicide]

Dude, I'm about to start my Blood Angels, but all my Alpha Legion ideas for a ViV strike force are flooding back. So, thanks for that.

Typically, I start with the commander and work my way from the top down into the rest of the army. Can we expect the same here or are you still at a conceptualizing stage?

Will you be keeping the models fairly generic or are you looking to cover a lot of aesthetic ground with these few legionaries?

[Obscura]

Nice board! Looks great, if you're able, try to pick up some cheap as dirt drop pods scavenged from a certain site, tear them up ( if cut properly, one drop pod can easily stand in for two pieces of terrain ) and place them on thick polystyrene sheeting or CD's and you'll have the beginning of a nifty looking drop site graveyard.

 

 

As a side note I funded the Tablescapes Secret Weapon kickstarter awhile ago, have a ton of board pieces that I need to finish, right now half of it is moderately covered in fine grit sand in certain places due to high winds ( coastal city board ) and the other half is just your typical city scape cement jungle, the buildings/terrain will be a combination of smaller 40k pieces ( think Promethium Relay Pipes, Battlefield accessory set and Citadel Wood ), Micro Art Studio Infinity buildings and Knights of Dice: Chinatown buildings as I'm aiming for a Bladerunner meets 40k feel, plus I'm able to play a handful of other game as well upon that board.

 

 

The reasoning for my dreadnought was that I wanted someone like Ancient Rylanor the Unyielding, but as a traitor. it was just happenstance that Contemptors were a thing for competitive lists. Sometimes I get lucky and create a fluffy list that has a backbone and sometimes I'm left with the list equivalent of Grots wielding slingshots against a Land Raider.

 

The color contrast between Emperor's Children and Sons of Horus will look amazing, 

 

If it helps, you've painted more since the inception of this thread then I have in months. . . 

[Sete]

I am secretly waiting for Space wolves before I do anything. But I still dont like them! ;)

Will wait for battle reports ;)

[A D-B]

Dude, I'm about to start my Blood Angels, but all my Alpha Legion ideas for a ViV strike force are flooding back. So, thanks for that.

Typically, I start with the commander and work my way from the top down into the rest of the army. Can we expect the same here or are you still at a conceptualizing stage?

Will you be keeping the models fairly generic or are you looking to cover a lot of aesthetic ground with these few legionaries?

That's... a great idea. I'd not thought about how to plan the theme yet. Now, however, I'm doing what you suggested. Usually I go for theme first and shape a leadership hierarchy around that, but this'll be a nice change of pace. And appropriate for the vibe, too.

Nice board! Looks great, if you're able, try to pick up some cheap as dirt drop pods scavenged from a certain site, tear them up ( if cut properly, one drop pod can easily stand in for two pieces of terrain ) and place them on thick polystyrene sheeting or CD's and you'll have the beginning of a nifty looking drop site graveyard.

....oh, God, yes. Drop pod wreckages. Such a class idea. Maybe I can scavenge bitz sites and pals' collections. A friend recently suggested hitting up a few close pals for HH bitz, but that instinctively feels a bit like being cheeky.

However - I was thinking of asking for the Crashed Thunderhawk RoB tile from my mum and dad, for my birthday in August. Painting it up in Salamander colours would ultimately limit its use in wider campaigns and general games, but it'd also look pimping for the ViV campaign, and (more importantly...) the green would look brilliant with the new Martian-style board.

"Brother-Captain, didn't a Salamander Thunderhawk crash on the last seven worlds we fought over?"

"Quiet, Jimmy."

I am secretly waiting for Space wolves before I do anything. But I still dont like them!

Will wait for battle reports

I bet their minis will be among the most beautiful and meticulous.

I'll definitely do battle reports, but probably in a brief, flash-fire, relatively useless but hopefully entertaining way.

[Slips]

For the thunderhawk tile, if/when you get one, how bout just painting it as having the paint been burnt/irradiated/sandblasted/weathered/etc off so that you can paint it a bit more generically thus giving it a bit more wide-ranging application?

[A D-B]

For the thunderhawk tile, if/when you get one, how bout just painting it as having the paint been burnt/irradiated/sandblasted/weathered/etc off so that you can paint it a bit more generically thus giving it a bit more wide-ranging application?

 

Pros:

• Super-wise thing to do.
• Really, anything else would be foolish.

 

Cons:

• But...
• ...green would look so rad against the red.

 

Then again, maybe scorched blackness and greyness would, too. 

 

To the Musing Parlour!

[Slips]

Who says it can't be green due to being irradiated ;)

[Atia]

The board is really awesome so far ^.^

Can't wait for the scenery and your warband

[Dantay VI]

I would go with Slipstreams idea, Rusty metal colours, black scorching and using rust pigments to make it look like it has been shot down for some time.

 

The sand storms have obliterated the paintwork and scoured away any livery that adorned the now wrecked shell of the Thunderhawk.

 

The Salamanders cowered inside the wreckage, using it as a base to try and communicate to the  loyalist survivors, beckoning them forth to find a place of shelter from the storms sweeping the plateau.

 

Little knowing that the Sons of Horus and Emperors Children have detected their signals and are even now laying in ambush for the stranded Salamanders and any erstwhile allies who may be venturing to their position. 

 

Cue a break out scenario!

 

I also second Tyrannicides idea of working from the top down...

 

PS also Sete, I am desperately awaiting the arrival of the 6th Legion... I can only paint knot work etc on my armoured contingent while I wait to see what is in store for them.

[Forward Assist]

A bleak, red-sand wasteland?

 

A desperate group fleeing from their cruel former overlord, merely trying to survive?

 

A horde of merciless pursuers from different factions united in the hunt?

 

Then you, good sir, need a flame-spewing-guitar-playing bad guy.

[Obscura]

 

....oh, God, yes. Drop pod wreckages. Such a class idea. Maybe I can scavenge bitz sites and pals' collections. A friend recently suggested hitting up a few close pals for HH bitz, but that instinctively feels a bit like being cheeky.

 

However - I was thinking of asking for the Crashed Thunderhawk RoB tile from my mum and dad, for my birthday in August. Painting it up in Salamander colours would ultimately limit its use in wider campaigns and general games, but it'd also look pimping for the ViV campaign, and (more importantly...) the green would look brilliant with the new Martian-style board.

 

"Brother-Captain, didn't a Salamander Thunderhawk crash on the last seven worlds we fought over?"

 

"Quiet, Jimmy."

 

 

Another thing you can do is paint the Crashed Thunderhawk in a stripped weather worn manner, given the complications of decaying/sudden reentry into the atmosphere or shot down, it wouldn't be hard to rationalize a Thunderhawk/flying brick wouldn't be stripped to its bare components in a quick fashion, especially if left out in the open for a significant period of time. Though long before before you go about with that, gather Chapter iconography ( FW brass would be best as you won't have to drill out a huge hole ), magnetize the icons and corresponding holes upon the hull of the ship and you're pretty much set on having a modular Thunderhawk that'll suit many campaign ideas.

 

It's what I've done for a lot of my more expensive pieces, the only pain is making sure the FW brass doesn't get bent out of shape, but your run of the mill fishing flat panel storage bin can solve that problem real quick.

 

Also, you should write a Novella that chronicles Jimmy's observations. :P

[SalvationOfReason]

@Forward Assist - well, it's a good thing that ADB is musing on running Emperor's Children. Now all he has to do is grab a Kakaphoni/Noise Marine model, and he's set.

 

Edit - Also, this (ViV) is a fantastic idea to get people started on a narrative campaign, something my group has been discussing for a while now. Thank you!

[Dantay VI]

I don't know. Depending how he chooses to run his unit(s) in ViV.

 

After all many of those that were left behind on Istvaan, were to mop up survivors of the massacre. But in a way theywere also abandoned by their parent legions too (except for the World Eaters, Angron stuck around because he wanted Corax's head).

 

You could use standard marines for the Emperors Children. Spared death at the hands of the traitors because of their loyalty to Primarch Fulgrim, trooper/ apothecary/ Palatine blade Chemosian and his unit were brought to Istvaan V to fight and ultimately die.

However despite all odds he survived the massacre.

Proving his loyalty to Fulgrim, but not "perfection" he was given the honour of leading the Emperors Children strike force left to root out the remaining loyalists. Only now is it dawning on him, that with lack of communication, reinforcement and resupply from the legion, he and his sub-ordinates have really been abandoned to their fates.

Gathering together as much materiel & men as he can, his rag-tag force fight on. As much to show their loyalty to Fulgrim as to keep themselves alive and provisioned, as the raging storms caused b the apocalyptic war cross the planets surface.

 

Cue Mad Max in 30K

 

That is off the top of my head. I am no writer, but it lays down a basic story as to why the army will eventually be made up of a myriad of different legion models.

Also as units such as Kakophoni are favoured by Fulgrim, it means they would be less likely to be found at least in the early stages of any campaign, alleviating the immediate pressure to buy expensive and specialized models.

Also allows the use of B@C as a decent jump off point for basic tacticals to bulk out forces (on both sides thus splitting the cost of the box).

[A D-B]

An achievement so relatively minor that it deserves none of the huge emotional contentment I've attached to it.

 

But I don't care.

 

http://i.imgur.com/iwtRbkr.jpg

[Dantay VI]

Victory is often found in the little things.

 

Nice looking helmet, the highlights on the gold in particular

[Dagoth Ur]

Off to a beautiful start! Very nice shade of blue.

[Atia]

Yep, pretty awesome so far ^.^

 

 

Off to a beautiful start! Very nice shade of blue.

It's purple, not blue :P

[Reyner]

Yep, pretty awesome so far ^.^

Off to a beautiful start! Very nice shade of blue.

It's purple, not blue

He may be blessed with the colour blind gene like myself :P I need bionic eyes!

[Slips]

If you ever need tips on how to paint awesome Emperors Children look no further then our very own Kizzdoug

[Dagoth Ur]

.....well now...ahem....upon further inspection it indeed does appear to be purple...

 

Oh well, beautiful purple then^^

[Forward Assist]

Look, I like ADB as much as the next bloke. But isn't praising his 'purple helmet' going a bit too far...?

[Ceadus]

Very nice topic indeed, a SoH/EC bro team will be pretty cool. Are you playing with the rules straight from the book? In our upcoming campaign we´re using the Adepticon Tactical Strike rules, which are slightly better in my eyes. :)

 

The board looks rad! (pun intended). Ma I ask, what colors you used? I like the look of it, it contrasts very cool to a lot of legions. Hmm, might even fit my metallic Night Lords...

[A D-B]

If you ever need tips on how to paint awesome Emperors Children look no further then our very own Kizzdoug

No, to Hell with Kizzdougs. He's too good and I hate him.

.....well now...ahem....upon further inspection it indeed does appear to be purple...

Oh well, beautiful purple then^^

I thought it was a cracking joke. Like, because you're "The Observer". So you got the colour wrong, and...

Oh, God. It was no joke.

I shall never forgive thee.

Very nice topic indeed, a SoH/EC bro team will be pretty cool. Are you playing with the rules straight from the book? In our upcoming campaign we´re using the Adepticon Tactical Strike rules, which are slightly better in my eyes.

The board looks rad! (pun intended). Ma I ask, what colors you used? I like the look of it, it contrasts very cool to a lot of legions. Hmm, might even fit my metallic Night Lords...

The board was a crashing clash of orange and red paint, super-thinned black paint to use as ink, orange and yellow chalk, Kindleflame, Agrax Earthshade, and rather expensive hairspray to set it all. Ross brought the hairspray. It smelled like my Mum in the 80s.

As for the rules, we're open to any changes. The most obvious/first one we'll likely do is keeping all three characters prone to advancement and/or injury, rather than just the Hero. A lot of feedback I've seen has complained about the two non-Hero characters being far less useful, since they either get held back in reserve so they don't die (and thus remain mostly useless) or splattered in the first game never to be seen again.

Any and all suggestions totally welcome.