ArbitorIan's FORCES OF THE IMPERIUM!!

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**ArbitorIan**

SO, Silent War!

The Silent War is an ongoing series of Narrative events which have happened for the last few years between a few UK clubs. Each player, in addition to their army, takes an Inquisitor and retinue, and the Inquisitors have special, secret objectives to complete in-game (which are actually more important than winning the game). If the Inquisitor achieves his objective, you get to pick a card to try and help your team (Radical, Puritan, etc) find the location of the Silent War Relic, like a giant game of Cluedo.

Over the last few years, various Inquisitors have made repeat appearances, and there are now old rivalries, such as that between the intrepid Xeno-artifact hunter Inquisitor J'Ohnes and his Puritan nemesis Inquisitor Beloc. Judge Freddicus Plod (Judge Fredd) has been there every year, attempting to keep the peace and issue speeding tickets to anti-social Inquisitors.

This year is our first in 8ed, and the army composition rules are as follows:
- 100 PR total
- Narrative, not competitive
- Battle-forged (but no data sheet limit and 'Imperium' Faction Keyword allowed)
- Your army must include an Inquisitor (5 PR) and may include a Retinue (picked from a list of unit types) - these are separate from the rest of the army. They don't appear on the FOC chart, don't have to be Battle-forged, and your Inquisitor cannot be the Warlord.

This leaves me with a biota a problem. I could take an army of DKoK Engineers, but their PR rating is really off - it's not been calculated correctly. 5 models cost 4PR, which is correct, but 10 models cost an additional 4PR, without getting any more options. If you do the numbers, the additional 5 bodies should be an additional 2PR (which is how other, similar units work). If I take them as my base unit, I end up a tenth of the army down. The organiser has suggested a potential solution - in his list of Inquisitor Retinue units, there is an Arbites Chastener, who uses the stats of a Tempestor Prime. His suggestion was just to allow Tempestus Scions to take shotguns, thus bypassing the issue. This leaves me with two potential armies:

Imperium / Death Korps of Krieg - Vanguard

7 PR - Arbitor Majoris Garrick (Yarrick!)

13 PR - 10 Engineers in a Storm Chimera
13 PR - 10 Engineers in a Storm Chimera
13 PR - 10 Engineers in a Storm Chimera
13 PR - 10 Engineers in a Storm Chimera
5 PR - Arbites Sniper (Vindicare Assassin)
5 PR - Arbites Sniper (Vindicare Assassin)

4 PR - Rapier Laser Destroyer

11 PR - 2 x Artemia Hellhounds

5 PR - Judge Fredd (my Inquisitor)
7 PR - Aquila Lander
3 PR - 5 x Crusaders

TOTAL: 99 PR

This is the simplest way to play, and gives me a wall of Combat Engineers piling out of their Chimeras and NOT killing themselves to Acid Rounds because of Yarrick. Meanwhile, Judge Freed flies around in his Aquila, protected by Crusaders, grabbing his objective.

HOWEVER, because of the overcosting of the Engineers and the fact that I'm generally NOT taking all the upgrades on everything, despite being 99 PR, the list is only 1650pts!! So I'm gonna be quite underpowered compared to most other armies.

Imperium / Militarum Tempestus - Battalion

3 PR - Tempestor Prime
2 PR - Primaris Psyker

10 PR - 10 Scions in a Storm Chimera
10 PR - 10 Scions in a Storm Chimera
10 PR - 10 Scions in a Storm Chimera
10 PR - 10 Scions in a Storm Chimera

5 PR - Arbites Sniper (Vindicare Assassin)
5 PR - Arbites Sniper (Vindicare Assassin)
3 PR - Scion Command Squad (Deep Striking)

11 PR - 2 x Artemia Hellhounds
4 PR - 5 Seraphim

8 PR - 2 x Rapier Laser Destroyers

5 PR - Judge Fredd (my Inquisitor)
7 PR - Aquila Lander
3 PR - 5 x Crusaders
3 PR - Arbitor Chastener (Retinue Tempestor Prime)

TOTAL: 100 PR

This immediately gives me more command points, more units, and greater synergy of orders, as well as TROOPS. However, I don't get all the Militarum Tempestus bonuses because I'm not an entirely Militarum Tempestus army. In addition, the Deep Striking of the Tempestus is a bit wasted by putting them in Chimeras, and their shotguns won't get their additional S bonus when Deep Striking 9" away anyway. The shotguns themselves are much worse than the DKoK ones, but the army as a whole has more firepower.

WHAT SHOULD I DOOOOOO? Obviously, it's a Narrative event so people won't be bringing super-competitive lists, but I also want to have close, fun games rather than just ista-losing five times because of being 350pts down!

**Fango**

Welcome back! Loving the Chimera conversions and it's great to see the Arbites love.

What are your plans for when GW does the inevitable nostalgia release of updated plastic Arbites? (Or at the very least, enforcers for Necromunda?)

Are you going to embrace the new and integrate them into your force? Start over and wholesale replace? Ignore them and keep on trucking with the tried and true?

Can't wait to see more!

**Private Benjamin**

ArbitorIan wrote:

Also, PROGRESS!

I’ve assembled four Chimeras and two old Artemis-pattern FW Hellhounds (water cannon, innit?) using the Chapterhouse wheeled conversion kits. This actually took ages and required a lot of grinding and filling as those kits are very old and don’t really fit properly. However, I now have six vehicles ready to roll.

Hello and greetings from Canada! Those Chapterhouse Studios kits are brilliant, I'm making slow but steady progress myself as I have four as well !

**Doombiscuit**

ArbitorIan wrote:
SO, Silent War!

The Silent War is an ongoing series of Narrative events which have happened for the last few years between a few UK clubs. Each player, in addition to their army, takes an Inquisitor and retinue, and the Inquisitors have special, secret objectives to complete in-game (which are actually more important than winning the game). If the Inquisitor achieves his objective, you get to pick a card to try and help your team (Radical, Puritan, etc) find the location of the Silent War Relic, like a giant game of Cluedo.

Over the last few years, various Inquisitors have made repeat appearances, and there are now old rivalries, such as that between the intrepid Xeno-artifact hunter Inquisitor J'Ohnes and his Puritan nemesis Inquisitor Beloc. Judge Freddicus Plod (Judge Fredd) has been there every year, attempting to keep the peace and issue speeding tickets to anti-social Inquisitors.

This year is our first in 8ed, and the army composition rules are as follows:
- 100 PR total
- Narrative, not competitive
- Battle-forged (but no data sheet limit and 'Imperium' Faction Keyword allowed)
- Your army must include an Inquisitor (5 PR) and may include a Retinue (picked from a list of unit types) - these are separate from the rest of the army. They don't appear on the FOC chart, don't have to be Battle-forged, and your Inquisitor cannot be the Warlord.

This leaves me with a biota a problem. I could take an army of DKoK Engineers, but their PR rating is really off - it's not been calculated correctly. 5 models cost 4PR, which is correct, but 10 models cost an additional 4PR, without getting any more options. If you do the numbers, the additional 5 bodies should be an additional 2PR (which is how other, similar units work). If I take them as my base unit, I end up a tenth of the army down. The organiser has suggested a potential solution - in his list of Inquisitor Retinue units, there is an Arbites Chastener, who uses the stats of a Tempestor Prime. His suggestion was just to allow Tempestus Scions to take shotguns, thus bypassing the issue. This leaves me with two potential armies:

Imperium / Death Korps of Krieg - Vanguard

7 PR - Arbitor Majoris Garrick (Yarrick!)

13 PR - 10 Engineers in a Storm Chimera
13 PR - 10 Engineers in a Storm Chimera
13 PR - 10 Engineers in a Storm Chimera
13 PR - 10 Engineers in a Storm Chimera
5 PR - Arbites Sniper (Vindicare Assassin)
5 PR - Arbites Sniper (Vindicare Assassin)

4 PR - Rapier Laser Destroyer

11 PR - 2 x Artemia Hellhounds

5 PR - Judge Fredd (my Inquisitor)
7 PR - Aquila Lander
3 PR - 5 x Crusaders

TOTAL: 99 PR

This is the simplest way to play, and gives me a wall of Combat Engineers piling out of their Chimeras and NOT killing themselves to Acid Rounds because of Yarrick. Meanwhile, Judge Freed flies around in his Aquila, protected by Crusaders, grabbing his objective.

HOWEVER, because of the overcosting of the Engineers and the fact that I'm generally NOT taking all the upgrades on everything, despite being 99 PR, the list is only 1650pts!! So I'm gonna be quite underpowered compared to most other armies.

Imperium / Militarum Tempestus - Battalion

3 PR - Tempestor Prime
2 PR - Primaris Psyker

10 PR - 10 Scions in a Storm Chimera
10 PR - 10 Scions in a Storm Chimera
10 PR - 10 Scions in a Storm Chimera
10 PR - 10 Scions in a Storm Chimera

5 PR - Arbites Sniper (Vindicare Assassin)
5 PR - Arbites Sniper (Vindicare Assassin)
3 PR - Scion Command Squad (Deep Striking)

11 PR - 2 x Artemia Hellhounds
4 PR - 5 Seraphim

8 PR - 2 x Rapier Laser Destroyers

5 PR - Judge Fredd (my Inquisitor)
7 PR - Aquila Lander
3 PR - 5 x Crusaders
3 PR - Arbitor Chastener (Retinue Tempestor Prime)

TOTAL: 100 PR

This immediately gives me more command points, more units, and greater synergy of orders, as well as TROOPS. However, I don't get all the Militarum Tempestus bonuses because I'm not an entirely Militarum Tempestus army. In addition, the Deep Striking of the Tempestus is a bit wasted by putting them in Chimeras, and their shotguns won't get their additional S bonus when Deep Striking 9" away anyway. The shotguns themselves are much worse than the DKoK ones, but the army as a whole has more firepower.

WHAT SHOULD I DOOOOOO? Obviously, it's a Narrative event so people won't be bringing super-competitive lists, but I also want to have close, fun games rather than just ista-losing five times because of being 350pts down!

That sounds like a really fun campaign! I’d say go for the stormtroopers. Without orders, stratagems and that point deficit you may end up just losing every game and not having chance to tell a fun, narrative story. Do you think there is any chance your TO would let you count the shotguns as astrates shotguns rather than guard ones? It might be a fairer swap for a hotshot lasgun and you not using the deep strike rule

**JohnnyHell**

Just play the shotguns as counts-as Hostshot Lasguns with special Lumos rounds?

**ArbitorIan**

Ok, progress! Silent War is at the weekend, and I started painting these all on Monday!!

All the base colours are done and airbrushed. Tonight I'll finish the lenses, wheels, and a bit of spray grubbiness around the engines, and then do transfers.

Tomorrow: gloss varnish in the morning and oil wash in the evening.

Friday: final details, seal, base and check if there are any repairs to do on the rest of the army!

**Private Benjamin**

I see Blood and Skulls Industry turrets!

**Flinty**

Private Benjamin wrote:
I see Blood and Skulls Industry turrets!

Where? The hellhound are the old Artemis pattern from Forgeworld. I used one for a.special.multilaser chimeras because th3y are super smexy

**Private Benjamin**

Ah i see, so Blood and Skulls copied the Artemis turret shape

**ArbitorIan**

So, Silent War went well. I played four games with the DKK list - the first against someone who completely abused the 'narrative/fluffy' nature of the event and took some hideous mechanicus 'exploit Power Levels' list, and the last three against fun, fluffy lists.

Judge Fredd achieved his secret missions in three of the four games, and has apprehended the radical Xeno-archaeologist Inquisitor Jones (he'll probably try and break out of prison next year).

Some pics from the event - finished pics of the tanks to come later.

**Boss Salvage**

Wheelie tanks look grand, whole Arbites force looks rock solid. Pity about the Mechanicus douche, but happy to hear the event was otherwise a success.

- Salvage

**ArbitorIan**

WHOAAHHH

THREAD RESTART!

So, I've got a ton of Imperial forces I'm planning to paint up over the next few years - most of which have been languishing in storage for ages. None of these are neccesarily a 'big' army - though some could be an army on their own - so I'm gonna put them all in this blog and rename it to cover all FORCES OF THE IMPERIUM.

This should, at some point, include Inquisition, Assassins, Adeptus Custodes, some Ultramarines, a squadron of Attilan Rough Riders, a slight crossover with my Arbites, some random IG, maybe the odd Squat, and loads more. For now I'm starting with CUSTODES!

CUSTODES

So, as part of my club's escalation league, I've started a small custodes force. The models are all old Scibor Sci-fi Romans. For ages these were the main source of Custodes-like models, from when the visual design of the Custodes was solidified in the Horus Heresy card game in 2003 until GW finally released some of their own models with The Burning of Prospero a couple of years ago. I picked some up years ago at Salute and then grabbed a load more off eBay last year, when various sellers were getting rid of stock on sale. All my Custodes are going to be these guys. Here's the first batch, from priming to complete. Five Sentinel Guard, five Custodian Guard, a Shield-Captain and a Venerable Dread.

They've been primed grey, then sprayed with Montana Copperchrome. I'll then airbrush these from the top with GW Shining Gold and Game Air Polished Gold, leaving the Copperchrome in the recesses. Then a dry brush of GW Golden Griffon for highlights.

Paint plan!

Airbrushed Gold and Blue

The first batch of Custodians with their base colours done and have been gloss varnished, ready for washing.

I’ve also started to assemble a small second batch - a Vexillus Praetor and five Sagittarum Guard (im not planning to use these for much for a bit but since I had the kit I thought I’d assemble them). I’m planing to paint the guns and heads on-sprue.

And block colours on some bases. These won’t get glossed - they’re just going to have every inky wash applied direct as it doesn’t need to be removed afterwards!

And complete!! Phase one of the escalation league only really calls for the models below:

But, of course, I did way more than just those! First, the Venerable Dreadnought, converted from a Scibor Roman Cruiser suit

Then, a Shield Captain with axe and magic dagger

One squad of five Custodian Guard

And one squad of five Sentinel Guard

Phew. That was a long one. I originally started a whole other blog for these but it seemed more sensible to include it all here! Ok, more photos!

ARBITES

So, here are the finished Arbites IG vehicles from the tournament the other week. I'll find time to do the flyers eventually too! This is going to be the new colour scheme when I finally get around to re-doing the infantry.

First, the four Chimeras

Then two Artemia-pattern WATER CANNON

And finally, Arbitor Majoris Garrick himself

ASSASSINS

And, just to make this thread EXTRA IMPERIAL, I thought I'd include the Assassins I painted a while back:

The Callidus and Eversor are original GW models. The Vindicare and Culexus are actually really ancient Imperial Assassin models, modified with some of the old metal bits.

**Boss Salvage**

It's funny that I saw the Vindicare and immediately saw the ancient assassin in there, but didn't notice the same mini underneath the Culexus hat until you said it

Great productivity Ian, glad to see new stuff from you. Also, I can't tell if it's your photography being better, or these color schemes in particular, or if your paintwork is just straight up looking tighter? Maybe this new stuff is just more clean than the unwashed legions of pink renegades I'm used to from you, but it looks especially solid

- Salvage

**ArbitorIan**

Boss Salvage wrote:
It's funny that I saw the Vindicare and immediately saw the ancient assassin in there, but didn't notice the same mini underneath the Culexus hat until you said it

Great productivity Ian, glad to see new stuff from you. Also, I can't tell if it's your photography being better, or these color schemes in particular, or if your paintwork is just straight up looking tighter? Maybe this new stuff is just more clean than the unwashed legions of pink renegades I'm used to from you, but it looks especially solid

- Salvage

I think it might just be that all these are a bit more Imperial and neater - and washed entirely in clean black or Payne’s grey rather than gritty brown! But thanks!

——-

Started on some bases for the next Imperial batch! These are gonna get cast tonight so that I have twenty - enough for a full platoon of CLASSIC ATILLAN ROUGH RIDERS! The models themselves are sitting in Dettol soup right now.

**inmygravenimage**

Wow those are some snazzy bases.

**ArbitorIan**

Ok, progress on the rough riders!

I’ve got 23 rough riders. Enough for four squads including sergeants, plus a commander with power fist, a standard bearer, and a commissar. I needed to make some more legs to get enough.

I also made four spare riders with special weapons, just in case they’re needed. Had to put some big gloves on them to match.

Here’s the horsies! Obviously they’re all different colour so because they’re horses.

And the casting of the bases went well. I now have a ton.

**Fifty**

Hey, could I borrow the moulds for those bases to make a bunch of my own? They'd be perfect for my Astral Claws bikes. I was planning to make some almost exactly the same, but this would save me a lot of effort!

**ArbitorIan**

Fifty wrote:
Hey, could I borrow the moulds for those bases to make a bunch of my own? They'd be perfect for my Astral Claws bikes. I was planning to make some almost exactly the same, but this would save me a lot of effort!

Yup, absolutely. Also, how many do you need? I might have a ton spare already - I definitely cast more than I needed!

**Fifty**

ArbitorIan wrote:
Fifty wrote:
Hey, could I borrow the moulds for those bases to make a bunch of my own? They'd be perfect for my Astral Claws bikes. I was planning to make some almost exactly the same, but this would save me a lot of effort!

Yup, absolutely. Also, how many do you need? I might have a ton spare already - I definitely cast more than I needed!

I think I need about 20-25 to start with, and more to follow.

**ArbitorIan**

More Progress! I'm going away to Croatia for work for the next three weeks, so I've been trying to get things done to level where I can take them with me to complete in the evenings.

CUSTODES

The day after I get back from Croatia, the second phase of our Warhammer Ascension campaign completes with another big game day, so I had to get the second batch done before I go. Thankfully, the second batch is 3 Custodians and a Flag Guy, and so I only really needed to get the Flag Guy done!

However, since it's pointless doing all these processes on just one guy, I also completed these five Sagittarum Guard. They're not going to see much use at the moment, but I'm hoping for rules when FW finally get around to 8eding their models.

ROUGH RIDERS

And the Rough Riders are in a good state. The riders are all painted to base colours, and the horses are almost there.

I've also cast and base sprayed the bases, which I'm going to take with me to complete while I'm away.

**ArbitorIan**

Quick update! I'm back from Croatia and managed to get all the bases finished. Painted, various rusty sprays and weathering fluids, and rims tidied up.

Now I just need to finish the last horsies, wash them all and assemble!

**ArbitorIan**

This weekend I managed to get all the Rough Rider finished! Here's the squadron.

It'll probably be run as Death Riders, including a Captain, a Banner to turn one of the squads into a Command Squad, and a Commissar. Here are all the squads:

However, four of the riders are only blu-tacked onto their horses and can be swapped for special weapons guys, in case I want to take them as 'regular' AM.

**Excommunicatus**

Nice. The Commissar head is from the Basilisk, right?

I used the same one on my Renegade Enforcer.

**Boss Salvage**

Nice work grinding through all that cav

Hope they serve you well on the table, I've no idea at this point how RR are

**Captain Brown**

Nice Roughriders ArbitorIan,

Have not seen that many in a long time.

Cheers,

CB

**ArbitorIan**

Small Xmas Update! I assembled the next batch of Custodies - a load of Allarus Custodians. These are made from the Scibor 'Terminator' sized models (both the Roman and Lion versions) with some Anvil shoulder pads and heads from the FW Emperor's Children upgrade set (which I have no use for nowadays).

I'm still waiting on a bits order that will give them the correct grenade launchers. I also have three more to come that will be Aquillon Terminators - again, just waiting on the bits order for fire pike parts.

I then got painted the Shield-Captain, as the only model I need to have done in time for Phase 3 of the campaign.

**amazingturtles**

Much love for the rough riders.

The shield captain looks great

**ArbitorIan**

Just a little update. It's Ascension Phase 4 and so I painted up my addition for this phase - a Land Raider quickly done in a day. At the same time, I took the opportunity to take some photos of the Sagittarum Guard, who have been done for a while. They might make it into a future phase now that the rules are out for 8ed.

**aka_mythos**

I like the lascannons on the land raider.

Maybe its just your light, but the gold on the custodes looks a little more yellow than the gold on the Landraider.

**ArbitorIan**

OKAY. So, the next Silent War is bring organised for the summer, and Judge Fredd and his Arbites will be returning. I need some list advice (I'll also post this in the army list forum). Here's the general Silent War rules:

- 1800pts, battle-forged, matched-play armies
- Narrative campaign so no ultra-competitive tournament armies.
- IMPERIUM and CHAOS detachments are allowed.
- Assassins taken using the stratagem can use either the 85pt/1CP version or the straight 3CP version.
- Your army must include your 'Inquisitor' and a retinue, which sit outside any detachment and cannot total more than 300pts combined. There will be certain missions that only your inquisitor and retinue can complete.

Here's the current option:

Judge Fredd's Arbites V1
Vanguard Detachment (IMPERIUM) [1CP]
- Arbitor Senioris - Death Korps Field Officer
- Arbites Patrol Team - Death Korps Combat Engineers (10) (1 Grenade Launcher)
- Arbites Patrol Team - Death Korps Combat Engineers (10) (1 Grenade Launcher)
- Arbites Patrol Team - Death Korps Combat Engineers (10) (1 Grenade Launcher)
- Arbites Patrol Team - Death Korps Combat Engineers (10) (1 Grenade Launcher)
- Arbites Combat Team - Death Korps Combat Engineers (5) (1 Demo Charge, 2 Meltaguns)

Battalion Detachment (ASTRA MILITARUM / TALLARN) [5CP]
- Arbitor General - Commissar Yarrick
- Arbitor Senioris - Company Commander (Kurov's Aquila)
- Penal Troops - Infantry Squad (10)
- Penal Troops - Infantry Squad (10)
- Penal Troops - Infantry Squad (10)
- Artemia Pattern Hellhound
- Artemia Pattern Hellhound
- Valkyrie (Helstrike Missiles, Lascannon)
- Valkyrie (Helstrike Missiles, Lascannon)
- Leman Russ Demolisher
- Chimera (2 Heavy Bolters)
- Chimera (2 Heavy Bolters)
- Chimera (2 Heavy Bolters)
- Chimera (2 Heavy Bolters)

INQUISITOR + RETINUE
- Judge Freddicus Plod - Inquisitor (Power Maul, Plasma Pistol)
- Arbites Suppression Team - Crusaders (8)
- Arbites Cyber-mastiffs - Death-cult Assassins (2)

- -3CP Arbites Sniper - Vindicare Assassin

Total CP : 6

Judge Fredd and his retinue ride in one of the Valkyries, zooming around to their objectives. The Engineers with special weapons ride in the other one, dropping down to Melta someone. The four regular engineer squads travel in the Chimeras, along with Yarrick and the DKoK Officer, and can then re-roll their shotgun misfires and be given two orders per turn (this combo worked really well last time). The three Penal squads and their Company Commander are mostly there for the command points, but I guess they can either run forward as a distraction, screen some tanks, or sit on objectives.

The Penal Legion really are a pain, as they're a bit useless and only really serve to generate enough CP for the assassin (which also gives me flexibility), and to get the Chimeras into the Tallarn detachment (so they can move and fire). I also have to build and paint them! If I lose them, I'd have to either add a Sentinel to make an Outrider detachment or a couple of Sabre Platforms/Rapiers to get a Spearhead detachment to give the Demolisher the Tallarn ability. The Chimeras would have to go in the same detachment as the Engineers and have -1 to hit if they move. Then again, maybe I'm worrying too much about that -1 to Hit? It affects the Chimeras, but the main Demolisher gun is immune if it moves below half anyway, and the main guns on the Hellhounds don't care either.

I'm also short on anti-tank (which is always the case with Arbites). Last year I took two Rapiers instead of the Demolisher, but they're not great. I also have the option for Sabre batteries. It just seems that the Demolisher is a better buy all-round. The Valkyries are also tooled up for anti-tank but they have to hover to make the most of it.

Other options available to me include drop-troop Militarum Tempestus, bikers (as Death Riders or Scout Bikes), other Chimera-based vehicles, more Crusaders and Deathcult Assassins, Commissars, Astropaths or Primaris Psykers, and Sentinels of all types.