Pocket40k Log: Nurgle Planetary Defense Laser (17/06/2017)

[Captain Mike]

A while ago I posted images of the Cobalt Raptors (http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/273622-cobalt-raptors-pocket40k-army/), a Pocket40k army I painted up for a mate.

 

Well he gave them to me in the end, and I and another mate (who will also be posting on this thread as he develops his army) have re-started our campaign; the Cyt Sardus campaign.

 

I'm taking the Imperial side, using my already established Guard Army (https://sites.google.com/site/pocketw40k/home/gamer-s-pictures/mike), as well as expanding on it. I'll also be expanding into more Marines, possibly a small Sisters of Battle contingent, and Knights.

My friend is taking the Nurgle side, which will be similarly diverse with Traitor Guard, Traitor Legions and Traitor Knights.

We're also building stories up around it, and the majority of the battles are going to be more story than points driven. Because each one is going to need terrain suited for the story, we'll post updates of that too! Fortunately working at 6mm scale means it's possible to build big scenes quite quickly.

 

Enough chit chat; some new models!

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00478.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00480.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00482.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00477.jpg

Squad Photo

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00484.jpg

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00486.jpg

Now clearly; those are not epic marines! Because Games Workshop have (for now) stopped their epic line, we had to look elsewhere. Vanguard Miniatures actually did pretty well on these, I think. They're a head taller than the epic marines, which is a nuisance, but the models themselves are very nice.

And finally from me, WIP Knight Titan. I'll work on it more when I get back to my plasticard supplies.

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00495.jpg

 

Edited June 17, 2017 by Captain Mike

[Captain Mike]

Update on the prototype Knight Titan. It's not going... too awfully I think?

I've never used GS before except for gap filling, so this has been an experience for me.

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010003.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010004.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010005.jpg

 

And finally the base. The theme for the imperial bases is going to be a scorched brown, as when the Imperial forces take Nurgle ground they tend to burn it all. The small building corner will also be somewhat of a charred ruin by the time I've painted it.

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010006.jpg

 

[Captain Mike]

I've also been working on a little bit of fluff to give background to the campaign. This isn't meant to be a "story write", but more me getting down the very basics of why there is a conflict. We quite liked the idea of reversing the usual "Chaos incursion - Imperial defence", as well as trying to paint more complex picture of Nurgle devotees. However, I'm not that accomplished a writer of chaos lore (or in general, lets be honest) so if anything is wildly off-canon, let me know.

I drew a lot of inspiration from Dan Abnett's description of worlds under chaos control. They do function, there's just a lot of chaos worshipping going on! And Nurgle is often painted as a kindly grandfather, as well as the god of rot, disease etc.
 

Before the Nubes Agonia

Cyt Sardus was a shrine world on the far southern fringe of the Sutaris Sector. It was considered the holiest place of the entire sector, and enshrined in it was at least one reliquary for each of the sector’s saints. Every saint had a shrine city built around their bones, or a particular sacred relic. The greatest city, Nastoriam, was built around a reliquary of a near complete skeleton of Saint Nastor the Relentless, and a few preserved vials of his holy blood. The entire planet was built to serve the many pilgrims who flooded to the planet in their billions, and to protect the relics from invasion.

 

Of course, such services came at a price. The Citadel of Saint Ayr the All Conquering was particularly lucrative for the Ecclesiarchy and merchants, as the Saint had decreed it a holy duty to his followers to make the pilgrimage to his tomb in their lifetime. As only a single hand remained of Saint Ayr (following his Holy Martyrdom under the foot of a Stompa titan as he inspired his men to a good breakfast[1]), he was a relatively low maintenance Saint too.

 

The Descent of the Nubes Agonia

 

In 747.M41, the southern reaches of the Sutaris Sector became engulfed in a local warp storm. The warp storm was nothing large, by galactic standards, but it still cut off Imperial communication to a dozen systems. The storm also blinded the astropaths the ships relied on to travel through the warp, meaning they were piloting blind. One of the systems most severely cut off was Cyt.

But for countless Imperial citizens, their pilgrimage had already started. Many ships tried in vain to reach the system through the warp storm. Pilgrim ships, poorly staffed and maintained at the best of times, were engulfed in their thousands as they tried to navigate without the light of the Astronomicon. The demons of the warp feasted on millions of souls, until the Imperial Navy prohibited all warp travel into what would become known as the Nubes Agonia.

 

Cyt Sardus Falls

 

Cut off from the rest of the Imperium, and without legions of pilgrims to fuel their opulence with indulgence money, the upper classes of Cyt Sardus fell into disarray and infighting. Cities declared war on each other and whole regiments of Shrine Guard, soldiers whose only purpose was to defend the reliquaries, were instead mobilized against each other. Ulstoriam, dedicated to Saint Ulstor the Unifier, was destroyed after just four years of isolation. A hundred thousand pilgrims, stranded in the city by the warp storm, died at the siege.
 

And all the time, Chaos whispered to any who would listen. As the wars became longer, and the death counts soared, so too did those willing to hear the offer of Chaos. Pilgrims who had travelled far to worship at the feet of the Emperor’s Saints instead offered themselves to the Great Enemy. Priests stopped preaching the holy word of the God-Emperor in grand cathedrals, and disappeared to preach the word of Khorne, Tzeentch, Slaanesh and Nurgle in secret locations. Less than a decade after the Nubes Agonis had fallen, the many disparate cults to Chaos on this once holy world posed a serious threat to the remaining Imperials Shrineguard.  

When it finally came time for Chaos to rise, it was swift and against little resistance. The Shrine Guard meant to oppose them were either corrupted already, or so weak from war that what few loyalist regiments remain simply crumbled. Ecclesiarchs pledged to Chaos slaughtered their brothers to make way for new gospels.

 

Even as the last Imperial forces were being destroyed, the Chaos cults turned on each other as well. The cults of Khorne, Slaanesh and Chaos Undivided were the weakest, and the first to go. For 5 years the cults of Nurgle and Tzeentch fought for control of the planet. When the devotees of Nurgle finally triumphed over their trickster brethren through sheer perseverance and single mindedness, they had formed into a fully organized and battle hardened army. Nurgle  Now, they could shape Cyt Sardus how they wanted.
 

The Putrid Pearl of Nurgle

 

The Nurgle cults of the insurrection grew to be full religions, each venerating different aspects of the God of Decay. The Entropists worshipped His reassurance that everything, eventually, would fall into disorder. The Pustain Brotherhood devoted themselves to discovering all the maladies He could offer and inflicting them on each other. The Necrotants channeled His will into raising the dead, to form zombie slaves.

 

One of the most popular temples was that of Vitalants, who worshipped Nurgle’s ability to give life. To see Nurgle as a god of decay, they argued, was to put too much emphasis on human beings. From the perspective of microorganisms, Nurgle was indeed a god of life. They preached the longevity that Papa Nurgle could bring them, and to recognize their place as a habitat for all the many bacteria, viruses and funguses He had brought into the galaxy.

 

New governments sprung up alongside the temples, focused on each of the many shrine cities. Some would confederate into nations, whilst others would remain independent or grow into states themselves. The new leaders, most elected by the common man for all would rot and so all were equal in the eyes of Nurgle, set about improving the infrastructure of their nations. Cyt Sardus had never been well equipped for agriculture, relying on imports that they bought with pilgrim’s coin. In the years of war after the Nubes Agonis fell, millions had died of starvation as the planet’s stocks rapidly dwindled. Whilst some attempt at agriculture had been made, too much of the planet was considered holy for the Imperial authorities to countenance turning the land to agriculture or industry.

 

The new leaders had no such qualms, and ancient gardens and vistas dedicated to the Saints were bulldozed to make way for fields and factories. Nurgle blessed His children with a great many giant funguses, which could grow in Cyt Sardus’ poor soil, and soon famine became a thing of the past. Rapid industrialization, aided by defectors from the planet’s limited Adeptus Mechanicus presences, meant each year the crops grew and the labour needed form the workers decreased.

 

Crucially, arms factories were also developed. Whilst the Nubes Agonis protected them for now, many of the new leaders were cautious that it might not stay forever. If the Imperial forces were to invade, they wanted to be prepared. Though the planet was split into nations, which sometimes came into conflict, they were all prepared to be united against any Imperial attempt to reclaim the planet. As it happened, another threat would appear to test their unity long before any Imperial forces arrived.

The Tzeentch Incursions
 

In a tiny corner of his vast, incomprehensible and incorporeal mind, Tzeentch was slighted at the victory of his brother god. The conquest of a planet was mostly done simply to amuse him, but Cyt Sardus represented something a little more. The chance to take an Imperial prize and twist it to his liking. Tzeentch objected to Nurgle, in his grandfatherly way, instead taking to nurturing his new wards and letting them construct a better world for themselves.

 

In a time span that the humans on Cyt Sardus would recognize as fifty years, Tzeentch invaded eleven times. Each time, he would send down legions of demons and mortals pledged to him. Each time, he was repulsed by the devoted and dogmatic legions of Cyt Sardus. Eventually, Tzeentch would try a new tactic.

Pulling back the Curtain

 

Tzeentch manipulated the tides of the warp so that the Nimbus Agonis would clear just enough to let the Imperials reach Cyt Sardus. The Imperials would seize the chance to retake Cyt Sardus, Tzeentch correctly reasoned. Either he would take it from them, or at least Nurgle would be denied his new prize. And as the Imperial forces emerged from the warp to retake their Shrine world, Tzeentch waited and watched to see his brother’s next move…

[1] See Jonn Hermbrecht’s The Conquests and Most Holy Martyrdom of Saint Ayr for more details of the foul greenskin ploy that Saint Ayr most certainly knew about, and allowed to happen anyway as that was what the Emperor decreed.

 

[Captain Mike]

Progress on the main scheme of the Knight Titan. Yellow is as much a ***** to work wih as I remember, so I had to add another layer after this.

 

 

Thoughts?

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010007.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010008.jpg

 

[Captain Mike]

Knight Titan the first is done! The yellow is exceptionally messy, I still haven't got it down. Need to add some battle scarring someday too.

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010087_1.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010088_1.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010090_1.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010089_1.jpg

 

And the wonders of magnets and sheet metal; easy top shots!

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010091_1.jpg

 

Lemme know what you think. My mate/opponent Will is having trouble getting an account, but he will hopefully post his work soon.

[Torvak Kyre]

I really like your Knight conversion. It looks pretty cool.

[Charlo]

Adorably awesome.

 

Really cool! Would love to see it with some different marine helms.

[Captain Mike]

Ta to you both! I'm going to try some different helmets, yeah. The lead Knight will probably have one of the "special" space marine helmets, like the champion helmet. 

[Captain Mike]

Some terrain. We are going to need two different sets of general terrain; one Nurgly, and one burnt out (with some additional Imperial pre-fab buildings).

For the nurgly terrain, I want to put pus filled "eruptions" from the green side of our boards, rusted but homely buldings, and fungi.

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010130_1.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010131.jpg

 

Knight and Guardsman added for scale.

[Captain Mike]

More terrain, and a half squad too. Unfortuantely the Vanguard Affray Companies don't come with Sergeants, so I'll have to think what I'm going to do about that.

 

This pus-cano is a piece to block off LOS for a large portion of a map. Don't know if/when it'll be used, but it was fun to sculpt.... oh two years ago. And fun to paint.

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010132_1.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010134.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010135_1.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010136_1.jpg

 

And the half squad by itself!

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010137_1.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010138_1.jpg

 

[Captain Mike]

Trying to use GS on a teeny teeny scale... I don't think it went exceptionally well to be honest.

These are MEANT to be combi-plasma guns

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010141_1.jpg

Maybe it'll come out better in painting?

 

These are all sculpts based on the Vanguard minis flamer model. Left is supposed to be a meltagun, the other three plasma (or will be painted as such). Yeah I need to improve!

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/P1010142_1.jpg

 

[Willeth the Brave]

So I'll be covering the nurgle side of things! Here we have the first three Death Guard. It's been quite a while since I've sculpted but I think the guts came out okay, as did the middle marine with the tubing connecting a gasmask to the weapon (may make this consistent to represent plasma guns throughout the force). 

 

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p499/Willeththebrave/13441777_10206938745884062_1058156_o%201_zpsi8jmdszi.jpg

 

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p499/Willeththebrave/13460829_10206938745564054_489762420_o_zpsmsozna7u.jpg

 

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p499/Willeththebrave/13452939_10206938745764059_1604806002_o%201_zpsksnuszkm.jpg

 

Now to get these vanguards of the plague host painted up! 

[Andvarr A]

The skill at that size...well done that man

[malika666]

Oooh, Nurgle!!! Awesome. I'm very curious to see whether you'll also be doing something similar for the vehicles. :)

[Captain Mike]

Finally an update! My apologies, I have moved house 4 times since the last update and also started making D&D models! 

I'm really liking these minis from Defeat in Detail. So much I ordered a hell of a lot more, so terminators and assault marines to follow. 

 

31 New space marines! 
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/30%20Cobalt%20Raptors_1.jpg

 

3 Missile Launchers

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/3%20missile%20marines_2.jpg

 

3 Sergeants with Combi-Plasmas 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/sergeants%20front%20on_1.jpg

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/3%20sergeants%20side%20on_1.jpg

 

A Melta-gun and 3 Plasma-guns

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/4%20special%20weapons_1.jpg

 

5 Bolters 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/5%20regular%20marines.jpg
 

In exciting news! One of my friends has a 3D printers, so things I can't source easily we may be able to print. 

[Captain Mike]

The first battle Will and I have planned involves Cobalt Raptors taking a Planetary Defense Laser from Nurgle forces. This of course requires a planetary defense laser, all Nurgled up!

I decided to use the vengeance defence batteries as a base. The first issue was making them look scaled correctly. I know WH40k buildings are oversized, but I didn't want it to look as though we'd just put a 28mm scale building amongst a 6mm scale army. 

 

My hope is that the doors and (later) balconies will provide a sense of perspective that makes the complex look like it fits. 

 

The next thing was making it nurgly. As you can all probably tell, Will is a much better at GS than me, but I tried some simple shapes; intestines, spore chimneys and rotten muscle. 

 

My apologies for the low quality of pics, using phone camera. I'm hoping to get better lighting and a good camera to take a pic of the finished project. 

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/PDL%20WIP%20Icon%20of%20nurgle.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/PDL%20WIP%20Cannon.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/PDL%20WIP%20Front%20door.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/PDL%20WIP%20Left%20of%20Turret.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/PDL%20WIP%20rear%20ramp.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/PDL%20WIP%20Front%20of%20turret.jpg

 

Hope y'all like it. 

Edited January 7, 2017 by Captain Mike

[Captain Mike]

I wanted to try out the paint scheme I have planned for the planetary defense laser on some smaller terrain models.

​The barracks are just the old citadel paint pots, halved, drilled and sprayed with stone effect paint. The rusty metal parts are GS. I was aiming for scruffy but I think I overdid it. Thoughts/advice for the next batch is welcome, especially how to be more precise with GS.

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00516.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00514.jpg

 

The generator/gas tower came out a bit better. It was an old engine from ramshackle games I modified a little to hopefully fit the theme.

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00526.jpg

 

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00525.jpg

 

The circle port here is going to attach to a vat of some sort.

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00524.jpg

 

Finally a downed Vulture. I tried scratch building one and it went wrong, so I took a file and knife to it to make it looked downed.

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00512.jpg

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00513.jpg

​And finally a nice "scene shot". Avon calling.

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr344/Captain_Mike_Parker/DSC00521.jpg

​Enjoy, like I said some advice/criticism is welcome!

[hushrong]

This is sweet! I've been regretting that I had not gotten into Epic when I could. Looks like a fun system and now that it had been canned the true blue fans have kept it going with some cool stuff.

 

Looking forward to more!

[malika666]

Awesome stuff! What can we expect next?

[Captain Mike]

Prints of all the other tanks we'll likely need are back from the printers (i.e my mates).

 

I think the Chimera and Leman russ are pretty much spot on?

​The Rhino is a bit big but the Land Raider... looks like it's had way too many protein shakes. That said, I like the idea of properly scaled Space Marine tanks given the Novan Elite models are actually quite big (they measure about 8mm). So I think downscale a bit, but not all the way down to the old epic scale?

 

[Captain Mike]

Got a load more Cobalt Raptors done. 

​First HQ unit; a Chaplain. The crest on top of his head is supposed to be feathers; veteran and command status is denoted by feathers. Also two Techmarines. Red is a hard colour to make pop at this scale. 

 

Assault squad with flamers, veteran sergeant and no jump packs. I had to chop up the models I bought to make them no backpack, and the about a month later Vanguard minis brought out forefront platoon models without jump packs! Oh well... 

 

Two devastator squads; one with plasma cannons and one with heavy bolters. Sergeants also have signums. 

 

 

Finally a techmarine with thunderfire cannon. Every unit I'm making for the Raptors needs to be able to be deployed by drop pod, and so thunderfire cannons suddenly become a bit more interesting. 

 

And a shot of the whole lot so far. 4 tactical squads, 1 assault squad, 2 devastator squads, a thunderfire cannon and some HQs. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Captain Mike]

One nurglified planetary defense laser done! 

This took... a while. Mostly just waiting for the magnetic paint to arrive for the balconies. I had to learn how to do Verdigris as well, which turned out okay I think? 

 

 

Any thoughts?