The Rimefel Crusade - Live Fire Exercise

[Cognative]

Greetings, Battle Brothers!

 

For too long now have I delayed the creation of my own Crusade Thread. I have watched as others have displayed their skills with a brush and relayed tales from the battlegrounds. I have slowly toiled at my desk, building and painting wherever I found the time. I meet with foes once a week to do Battle with the Enemies of the Imperium, but I did not recount my tales of Glory and Defeat.

 

But no longer shall I lurk. I shall use my Brothers as inspiration and motivation to continue putting brush to paint. As my Crusade grows, so shall the Enemies fear of the Rimefel Crusade grow. They cannot stop me, for I am the Emperor's Divine Justice made manifest.

 

I vow to post models once a week, be they newly painted or old heros on display. I shall write Battle Reports of particularly epic games. And I shall continue the Emperor's work until the Galaxy is purged of the Alien, the Witch, and the Traitor.

 

For a start, here is a snapshot of my Crusade as it stands now, with many WIP models.

 

http://i.imgur.com/R8tMQUR.jpg?1

[Castellan Cynebald]

Cognative, that is one wonderful crusade, love the presentation! Inspires me to actually paint mine haha. Looking forward to those battle reports!

 

+++Thought for the day++

Xenos love promethium!

[Tekman]

Close-ups, we demand close-ups!!

[The Spanish Inquisitor]

Wow so many vehicles !

 

+1 for close-ups

[Cognative]

Close-ups, we demand close-ups!!

Here is an imgur album of some closer shots before I had to put everything away. Better pics will come in the future.

 

https://imgur.com/a/26Kod

 

 

Edit: And before anyone points out my shame, I have never actually purchased Sniper Scouts. They have all been parts of random lots I've picked up from my gaming group or eBay. I've somehow ended up with a dozen or so plus missile launcher and heavy Bolter scouts.

[Brother Christopher]

Great army, espeiallly that so many models are painted!

 

I wish you the best of luck unrelenting resolve in keeping your vow! I'm most definitely looking forward to more photos you share. The inspiration you mentioned is mutual, so maybe we'll see more painted miniatures from others, including me, as well.

[Cognative]

Great army, espeiallly that so many models are painted!

A large portion of that is just a black base coat and white pauldrons / lead belcher weapons. That's my minimum standard before an infantry model hits the table. Vehicles I'm a bit more lenient on as I despise painting rhino chassis at this point...

 

But pretty much all the Sword Brothers and special weapons are painted to a respectable level, and all the characters have some real love put into them.

[Cognative]

I'll start off with my Castellan/Marshal, Brandt Everheart. There are 3 typical loadouts I use for him depending on points level / competitiveness of the game to be played. His first load out is as a Castellan (Captain) on foot with Relic Blade. In this loadout he tends to ride one of two Land Raider Crusaders with a 15 man squad. The other of course ferrying The Emperors Champion and friends. I find this to be a cheap and effective HQ for lower point level games. Striking at initiative with an AP3 weapon can do quite a bit of damage when there isn't a horde of 2+ rolling around like in higher point games.

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/W8nOY8R.jpg

 

Brandt Everheart

 

Brandt Everheart has been leading the Rimefel Crusade since its creation nearly 250 years ago. He is always seen where the fighting is thickest, preferring to lead from the front. He often leaves backfield operational command to the Techmarines and junior members of the Marshals Household. When he enters the battlefield on foot (well, in a Land Raider) he can be seen wielding his favored Relic Blade, 'Sigismund's Contempt'. Marshal Everheart is known to be a rather level headed and contemplative commander off of the battlefield, often taking the time to seek the council of the Reclusium on matters of great importance, when time permits. 

 

The Rimefel Crusade

 

The Rimefel Crusade has deviated from the more traditional markings of the Black Templar, with nearly every member of the Crusade taking on personal heraldry and markings. The Knightly traditions run deep in the Crusade, and it is not unusual to see a full squad of Initiates with no common markings. The most common shared marking is a Red Templars Cross on the pauldron of a Brother. This does not denote the rank of Sword Brother as it does in most crusades, but rather that the Battle Brother has recently bested his peers in a contest of some sort. These contests are held between battles as a way to improve skill and brotherhood, often taking the form of marksmanship, sparring, or even mental games such as Regicide.

 

Other Thoughts

 

My close up photo has shown me two things. One, the gloss varnish I use does not look as good close up with a flash as it does on the tabletop. and Two, I need to make a better light box, which may help to eliminate a lot of the issues with the gloss varnish. I really like the way it looks on tabletop, so I would like to stick with it.

 

I am in the process of finishing up the third of my Vindicators, and will be looking to display them next.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Marshal.

[Brother Captain Ed]

If you don't like the shine, hitting it with a couple passes of Testor's Dull Cote will take the shine right out while leaving the lacquer protection intact.

 

Personally, I like my marines a little shiny, so I just leave it.  But you are 100% correct that a flash or light source can make it look much worse than it does in person.

[Cognative]

I like the shine on tabletop. It's just not good for close up pics with a flash. I'm going to try and improve my lightbox

[Brother Christopher]

I like the selection of colours, bits and the pose. And the heretics' blood on the blade is also a nice addition. I'm sure the model looks great from a 'gaming perspective'. Taking photos can be tough, as big close-ups (especially with a flash) reveal all the little things we don't normally notice, but are there. From my experience, it's a good idea to reduce the photo's resolution.

[Cognative]

From my experience, it's a good idea to reduce the photo's resolution.

I do 95% of my posting from mobile, and for some reason I cannot get the mobile Imgur app to resize pictures. This pic was from a ~5000x3500 image that I just cropped. I would have much rather reduced the image to 1500x1000 or whatever and then cropped it. I think I just need to play around with my phone's editing more.

[Cognative]

A little teaser of my Command Vindicator. I am hoping to finish up the trio tonight to have pictures by the end of the week.

 

https://imgur.com/a/DO4Pq

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Vindicator looks promising, but why does the rear crane hold a skeleton instead of a Demolished shell? Is the skeleton meant to be a martyr's, and the tank a shrine to display his remains and encourage the Templar to fight harder? (If it's that of an enemy, it should be mounted upright on the roof, so all may know what awaits those who oppose the Imperium.)

[Cognative]

 (If it's that of an enemy, it should be mounted upright on the roof, so all may know what awaits those who oppose the Imperium.)

 

 

Huh... I do not know why that never occurred to me... I guess what I was thinking of was when men where drawn by horseback to be publicly quartered. I am working on a bit of scroll with WITCH! HERETIC! on it to be hung from the frame of the cage.

 

And if it where upright on the roof it would never fit in my case! 

 

I don't like the look of the demolisher shell, because there is really nowhere that it could be loaded unless the back hatch opens up and it just drops the shell in. And if that is the case, where did the shell come from to begin with? The other 2 do not have them either. They will probably be used for decoration on a building at some point.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

I remember seeing a 'Mars Attacks!' card of humans strapped to a Martian death ray barrel, their backs to the muzzle and their limbs pulled towards the breech, to terrify them before the xenos pull the trigger and execute them. Apparently, real-world armies did this to defeated foes- one example I read of was the British Army doing this to rebels in the Indian Mutiny of 1857.

 

I can barely imagine how difficult it'll be to sculpt a skeleton with its arms and legs lashed backwards on a Demolished cannon barrel, its jaws open to silently scream while the cannon muzzle peeks through the hole where its rib cage once rested. But it should look badass, though more appropriate for the Carcharodons or the Night Lords than the Black Templar.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

As for the Vindicators crane, you can halve the skeleton, but leave it outside the cage, to represent a witch the Templars recently executed by lashing his hands to one tank, his feet to a second, and then having the tanks drive in opposite directions.

[Cognative]

So I very quickly broke my vow of posting at least weekly, but my painting has not slowed near as much. 8th edition and a few changes at work have kept me very busy. I will be posting a picture of the Vindicators soon, but for now I have some Sword Brethern for you all to enjoy.

 

I had realised at the end of 7th edition that I did not have nearly enough power axes at my disposal, and only one power maul, and wanted to change that for the better.

 

http://i.imgur.com/0vgo0l8.jpg?1

 

They are still waiting for a few minor things before I varnish them, mostly scribbles on the purity seals and banners, and a few weapons still need to be washed.

 

And currently in the early works are a trio of Dreadnoughts. I have always really enjoyed dreads, and they seem to be making a bit of a comeback this edition. I usually keep my dreads shooty to be the 'Devestator Squads' of my Crusade.

 

http://i.imgur.com/N28MAO0.jpg?1

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Sword Breathren.

[Cognative]

My FLGS has started up an Eight Edition Escalation League. Our first game was last night, starting at 500 points. While most players tried to make a balanced list, decided the best approach was to shove the Emperors Champion and a 5 man Crusader Squad into a Land Raider Crusader and charge whatever they had on the board. 

 

http://i.imgur.com/LHo9OU9.jpg?1

 

My first opponent was an Ork player. He ran a 20 boyz blob with PK Nob, Painboy, Warboss with Mega Armor, and a Dakka Jet. We went with a standard deployment on a 4x4 board.

 

http://i.imgur.com/sGdyFXD.jpg?1

 

I had first turn (due to only having one unit to deploy), and my opponent failed to steal. The Land Raider barrelled up the field, firing the Multimelta at the Dakka Jet, and the Assault Cannon, Hurricane Bolters, and Storm Bolter at the boyz. The dakka jet took a few wounds, and the boyz lost 10. They did however pass thier morale and lost no additional models. During the Ork turn, the boyz and company advanced to try and get out of LoS and into Charge Range of the LRC. The dakkajet unloaded 6 Big Shootas into the Land Raider, dealing no wounds. 

 

Turn 2

 

Seeing how one sided this was going to be (I mean, I did bring an LRC against orks at 500 points...) I decided that the Emperors Champion needed to be the one to kill the Boss and Painboy. They disembarked and moved to the bunker in the middle where the Relic was. Did I mention we were playing the Relic mission? We both forgot and went all out murder fight instead, like men. The Land Raider moved further into ork territory, and unleashed all of its weapons upon the Dakka Jet, bringing it down to 2 wounds. The Crusader Squad and Champion fired thier bolt pistols at it, deal one more wound.

 

The Orkz began to climb over the middle bunker to charge the Templar, firing thier crude sluggas in the process, dealing no wounds. They had a 9 inch charge, and even with the command point reroll, and 'Ere We Go, were unable to make it.

 

Turn 3

 

The Land raider flanks around the back of the Boyz, firing all guns at the Dakka Jet once more. Overkill, yes, but I really wanted my Crusaders to have a change at some of the green nastys! The Crusaders and Champion run over the bunker, felling an ork with pistols before charging in. The Land Raider crashes into the rear of the boyz, the frag assault launchers killing 2 of them. After combat, the Orks are down to a few boys, a Power Klaw Nob, the Painboy, and Warboss. I have lost 3 Crusaders, my Sword Brother and Power Axe Initiate still alive. The Warboss and Painboy have done a few wounds to my LRC.

 

http://i.imgur.com/n0vOthI.jpg?2

 

The next few Combats turn into a slaughter. The Boys and Nob end up dead at the Champions hand, and the Painboy retaliates by killing the remaining Crusaders. In the next 2 combats, The Emperors Champion slays both Characters, killing them in a single fight phase each, while making 7 4+ invuls to come away without a scratch.

 

Post Game Thoughts -

 

The Land Raider at 500 points was maybe a bit much, but prizes are on the line and the Templar show No Remorse! The only player I would have worried about facing this week was running a Tau Deepstrike list, dropping a Tri - Melta suit, 2 Tri-Plasma suits, and a commander with FOUR Plasmaguns. They would have had a real chance of wiping out the LRC before it could do anything.

 

The Emperors Champion is TERRIFYING. His reroll to hit and wound against characters is absurd. I am glad to see this monster back on the table.

 

Next week we up the points to 750. I am thinking of bringing a Dread heavy list with a Castellan for lots of long range Autocannon and Assault Cannon fun

[Cognative]

And I finally got around to snapping the pics of my Vindicators, so here they are.

http://i.imgur.com/c7PL5H0.jpg?2

 

My lead Vindicator is named Kingsman, but I am still looking for names for the other two. Any suggestions?

 

http://i.imgur.com/MkPDZsD.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/NCzXKzv.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/Qv7ORrq.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/mqOELRe.jpg?1

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Vindicators.

[Cognative]

Dreadnought Assembly Line!

 

I've always been a huge fan of Dreadnoughts, and recently bought a whole bunch of second head dreads from a few people at my LGS. They have been recently stripped and reprimed, and painting has begun. Hopefully by the time these guys are done I will have all the parts in need for my Dreadnought Chaplain Crozius conversion and can get going with that.

 

http://i.imgur.com/8Ci7z0w.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/3Majffh.jpg

[Cognative]

Had the second of my LGS Escalation League game last night, 750 points vs Dark Eldar. I unfortunately did not remember to take pictures this time around. Lists as follows:

 

The Rimefel Crusade - Vanguard Detachment

HQ- Castellan on Bike with Thunderhammer

 

Elites - Venerable Dreadnought with Twin Autocannon X2

Venerable Dreadnought with Twin Autocannon and Assault Cannon

Venerable Dreadnought with Twin Autocannon and Assault Cannon

 

Troops - 5 man Crusader Squad with Lascannon

5 man Crusader Squad with Lascannon

 

As you can see, I wanted to bring a shooty list to throw my opponents off guard, as a LRC is standard issue in almost any game I play. The Biker Castellan was there to let my dreads reroll 1s, making them almost guaranteed to land all their shots and to counter attack any deepstrikers. The Crusaders bubble wrapped my dreads to prevent deep strikers from getting too close.

 

The Dark Eldar list I am not 100% sure on HQ. But there were 2 triple dark Lance Ravagers, 2 venoms with 5 man trueborn squads with blasters, a Mandrake squad deep striking.

 

I finished setting up first, so claimed first turn, but my opponent seized.

 

Dark Eldar turn 1

 

Ravagers move into position to unleash a barrage of dark Lance's into my dreads, venoms shoot up both board edges to flank. The Ravagers and trueborn in the venoms have a TERRIBLE round of shooting. Of 6 dark lances and 2 blasters, a grand total of 2 wounds are removed from a Dread, 1 of which was saved by FNP. 2 crusaders die from venom/trueborn fire.

 

Black Templar turn 1

 

The return fire is brutal. Venerable Dreadnoughts hitting on 2s with the Captains reroll 1s ability means nearly everything lands. Both Ravagers are crippled, down to 2 or 3 wounds, meaning they now are hitting on 5s. One venom is destroyed, and the explosion kills the blaster and Sarge from the embarked squad. The other venom is down to 1 wound.

 

Turn 2 - We can both see how this game is going to end already. The Mandrakes deep strike in, failing to do any damage to one crusader squad. The Ravagers, remaining venom, and his HQ manage to bring the wounded Dreadnought down. The trueborn now on foot kill a few more crusaders.

 

The 2 remaining Dreadnoughts split their fire up, killing both Ravagers, the remaining venom, and a few Mandrakes. The Castellan zooms off to hunt down the Dark Eldar Commander.

 

Turn 3, the Dark Eldar manage to wipe out one Crusader squad and leave the other at 1 man remaining.

 

The Dreadnoughts clean up the elves left on foot, and Castellan Everheart charges the commander. His thunder hammer promptly turns it into red mist. The Black Templar claim a second win in Week 2.