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 Archer wrote:
Hi all, thought I would stop in to my very neglected blog and say I am still pottering around. It's been a hell of a year with our little man now 15 months old and has put all of his health issues from birth behind him.

Unfortunately his dad has been battling this year and after many tests and find all sorts of things out about my health I am hopefully on the road to recovery.

I have been still painting and gaming, just the posting has been letting me down, I do hope to have some photos of what I have been up to up soon and get back in the groove of posting.

I am currently working furiously on a surprise gift for one of my good mates for Christmas which is a nice break from the Deathguard and Necron......

Nice to know you are about still.

Just noticed the pics above, they are really nice pics and excellent work.

Best wishes with all, you and your family. Great to hear the young un doing better. You take care bud.

Always good to here from you bud.

Hi all,
Before I get back to some pretty pictures of painting and gaming I thought I would ask a gaming question......will post elsewhere to get better exposure as well.

I am considering putting a multiplayer (perhaps multi table) game of 40k together. I have questioned a few of my mates and got a resounding yes they are interested so it seems I at least have the players, between us we have plenty of armies/models (althougha serious lack of the big stuff, but that's ok).

What I am interested in, is whether anyone has had success with this sort of thing and if there are any interesting scenarios rules that could be included to give it more dynamic than set up and start shooting? Maybe each table has different goals/missions/scenarios etc.

Thoughts?

Hi All,

Figured it was long overdue for some pretty pictures since I am alive and well and things are marching on pretty smoothly now.

I have managed quite a few games, some I took some photos of, some I did not. But I have enjoyed all of them although I am pretty sure I am well below 50% in my win/loss record.

First up we have a Kings of War game with my Bretonnians ably representing the Brotherhood (who conveniently have almost direct conversions for the Bretonnians). We played a 1,500 point game with my Knights taking on the Herd (Beastmen).


It was a pretty standard battlefield, but with neither of us having any missile weapons to speak of, the hills were just window dressing.


My battle line ready to roll. I really am no good at these games, I can never stick to what I plan to do and instead just throw everyone down. Often in review I feel I lost the game during the deployment phase.


The guy in black is my General and although Kings of War is less about the characters he is still a bit of a beat stick and I stuck him out here as there was a unit of dogs my opponent was going to use to flank me.


Here we can see those pesky dogs.


We were playing a scenario that required us to control loot counters (unfortunately all we could come up with is some X-Wing movement dials, I say it every time I need to work on some objective markers for fantasy games). Look at all those chariots in the distance though......


I had first turn and did what was expected, full steam ahead. I often believe I play too conservatively and give up too much of the battlefield to my opponent not giving me the room to maneuver in later turns. So i stuck to my guns and moved almost everything as far forward as possible.


My opponent was a little more cautious, especially of the charge range of the knights and started to try and use his superior numbers to envelope mt lines.


In response I diverted a unit of Knights (and a hero) to try and at least slow the flanking force down, I was really concerned by the Centaurs and their speed as a flank or rear charge in KoW is pretty much goodnight to a unit.


As I often find it KoW is a lot of jostling for position before the flood gates open and all hell breaks loose. To try and break things up and draw the beasts line forward I sacrificed my Knight Errant in a headlong insane charge. It did have the desired effect though as from this point on the battleines caved in and units became islands fighting amid the chaos rather than the solid lines they started in.


Charge and counter-charge was exchanged and I think I was starting to get the upper hand, my Damsel was doing a good job of healing damage and my superior armor was getting me through the worst of it. Although that fantastic Minotaur Lord was a beast in combat.


But I managed to keep the pressure up and it really swung my way.


As you can see the poor Minotaur was left all on his lonesome.


But some of my knights were now exposed to the Centaurs, I did attempt to get the hero to intervene and act as a speed bump, but he didn't get far enough forward and the Centaurs could get around his valiant effort and wiped the Knights away.


I did win a small measure of revenge by wiping them out the next turn.....


So the battle ended with me in a really strong position and controlling enough of the markers that I have managedto pull off a win which is a rare occurence for me against this opponent.

We had a follow up game with me using my Empire Knightly Order as I think the Rhodia list vs the Beasts bolstered with some absolutely beautiful new models. It was a pretty closely run thing, but the beasts had their revenge and I lost. Pretty confident that it was my stupid deployment that put me on the back foot almost immediately.

Stay tuned for another battle update soon.

Brets look really great on the table, and nice with a classic match-up vs the beastmen. Congrats on pulling a win

Lovely looking batrep, such a classic looking game as well, colour and light verses the dark horde.

Merry Christmas.

Hi Everyone and a happy new year. Before I get into a review of 2018 I want to show a couple of things completed late in 2018.


First of all though (ignore the models we will get to them in a second). My old mobile painting station at long last was at the end of its life and my darling wife was kind enough to buy me this one. After assembly (it came as laser cut flat pack) I gave it a couple of coats of urethane and then a top coat of housing paint to try and give it even more life than the old one (which I never painted). It's a real beauty, the company that sell them offer a modular range where you pick your left and right sections and the cutting mat is replaceable. Very impressed and tempted to buy a second one as an "assembly" station with different modules on the left and right.


It can't hold all of the paints, but all the paints that are seen are the ones for the Death Guard commission I am working on. So about enough for a project which for me who likes things to be organised is a nice thing.


This shot shows the whole rig quite well, its a little smaller than my old one, but far more durable and I am really impressed with it. Firmly recommend one if you are looking for a new painting station (Australian company and no idea if they post overseas?).

Next up a good friend of mine has been slowly pulling a force of Space Wolves together (like most of us not enough time or money slows things down). In my wheeling and dealing trying to pull models together for my own crazy army plan I got enough on sprue space wolves to make thirty models. The plan was to use them for my own Space Wolf army when the time finally came. But I was inspired to give him a gift for Christmas so on the 1st of December I cracked the sprues and started building........

As it turned out I decided to do him a squad of Sky Claws (as I had enough jump packs floating around to do a full pack), a squad of Blood Claws and a small Wolf Guard pack.
It went quite well.....


Here is the Sky Claw pack. Ten strong with a pair of Plasma Guns and the Pack Leader sports a power sword.


As something a little different for Space Wolves I modeled this whole pack to have helmets. Which to me makes a lot of sense when you have a jet pack on your back.......


Since each pack has the option to have a Wolf Guard attached I certainly made use of this and this guy adds a bit of punch with his Wolf Claws. I really like the ability to attached the Wolf Guard to a squad. This guy obviously is too hardcore for a helmet which makes him stand out nicely.


The whole pack as they would deploy for a game.


Here are the Blood Claws, the Pack Leader has a powerfist and there are a couple of flamers in the squad. You can see the Pack Leader also wears the wolf helmet to help him stand out during a game.


I kept with the colors that Blood Claws/Sky Claws have yellow shoulder pads with a red symbol on the right shoulder pad and the left is for the company marking. In the case of my mate its blue with the Thunderwolf for Bjorn Stormwolf. I used the transfer sheets as there was no way I was trying to paint that many Thunderwolf symbols.


Like the Sky Claws these guys have a Wolf Guard tagging along, this time he is swinging a Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield.


The whole pack ready for a game.


And finally we have the Wolf Guard. These five (probably best to end up backed up by some "normal" Wolf Guard to act as cannon fodder. So in the end I have painted 32 models (as I needed a couple of pairs of legs to make the extra Wolf Guard).


I pretty much just had one of each "option" available to the Wolf Guard. Here we have a Frost Axe, Combi-Melta and the Pack Leader with Frost Sword and Storm Bolter.


And the last two with Wolf Claws and Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield.


And finally for this gift all packed into a pelican case to be transported to their new owner. He got to keep the pelican case too in case you were wondering.

So I didn't actually make the Christmas deadline I set myself, I was finished on New Years eve, but that isn't a bad result as it pretty much meant a finished Space Wolf every day of December. He was pretty happy which I was also very happy about.

Finally for this update, Death Guard. With all my own health complaints as well as my sons surgeries I have been a little slow with their progress that since its a paid job I have felt pretty bad about, but my mate who they are for has been obviously very understanding. But progress has been made.......


Up first is the Malignant Plague Caster. Haven't actually looked at his rules, but I figure he is a psyker of some flavor. As this is a unified force I kept to the same recipe I used for all the previous models, but tried to make these guys a little "brighter" as they are the HQ of the army.


Next we have the Lord of Contagion, a really hulking model that gave me the feeling of the big guy from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, not actually a thinker anymore, but hits like a freight train.


Here we have a Foul Blightspawn, again, not really sure what he does, but looking at the intricacies of the model it seems he pumps filth from inside his own body through that hose. Which seems very unpleasant.


Scribbus Wretch, Tallyman. Seems a little strange to bring parchment and an abacus to a gun fight, but what would I know?


Finally is a Noxious Blightbringer, I think I liked this model the most of the bunch, the Bells are a nice offset to the green.


A group shot of all the latest models. The one on the far left is a previous Plague Marine which I included to show they match the existing scheme quite well. My mate is pretty happy with the look of them so far. I have three Foetid Bloat-drone's in the queue next.

I really do need to get motivated for the Necron again......

Thanks for reading.

Hi all,

A short update to start the new year. I have decided not to set goals for the year like I have in previous years. Life at the moment is just too unpredictable and I would prefer to just enjoy what I get done. Having said that, I do feel under a little pressure to get the Death Guard finished as it is a commission and to that end I have three foetid bloat drones undercoated, base coated and one color done so far. So hopefully they will be done reasonably quickly.

On my own model front I have started assembly of the Tomb Blades for my Necron. Six are done out of twelve, so many little parts.

The primary reason for assembling them is that I have FINALLY finished the second Monolith which has been sitting on my painting station laughing at my inability to finish it. Took a little thought as I could not for the life of me remember how I had done the previous one. But as the photos show I think I got pretty close, although the second one is much better job than the first one.


Both of them in the "closed state. The portal and stairs concealed.


I am pretty happy with how close in paint scheme they are.


All opened up and the portals are ready to go.


The first one (the one on the left) I was a little lazy with the wash on the silver parts so its pretty patchy. The second one is way better.


A shot from the back of the Monoliths.

So still in January and already some good painting progress. Looking to be a good 2019.

Thanks for reading.

Quick question for anyone out there (and yes I am getting ahead of myself). The next army after the Necron for my own collection will be Chaos Dwarfs. I have managed to snag all the forgeworld required models for what I hope will be an amazing looking army. None of the train garage shenanigans but bull centaurs, k’daai and those mean looking dwarfs.

My question is this. They have come with round bases (not surprising since the switch to rounds for age of Sigmar). Since Kings of War is the game I most usually play should I:

A) Keep then on the rounds and make movement trays so I can use them in multiple games?
B) Fix them permanently to movement trays and other games be damned.
C) Get square bases like the rest of the armies and if I play age of Sigmar just use them with square?
D) Another clever idea I have yet to think of?

Thanks for reading.

I would go with A, easy enough to make movement tray sized decorative bases that the round ones slot into, and(from what I understand) KoW don't care really how many per base, so as long as you have a minimum amount can make your army go a long way.

B, multibases are awesome. Makes models look much better and you can also adjust model count as needed.

Quick update since I haven't got to a stage with anything on my painting table worth showing at this stage (although the Foetid Bloat Drones are getting close).

Really quick background, my wife and I used to live in a granny flat on her parents property and whilst I was building it (yup I did everything from the initial drawings to the roofing. Although I didn't do the electrical work) we stayed in their house (its a huge house). Anyway, her parents are preparing to sell their house and low and behold they found a few models.

Probably with a little embarrassment I didn't even know they were missing.......but here they are now, all painted and ready for use.


I already have a few of these so now I can cover a pretty large area with some nice looking craters.


I fuel/power dump? It will go nicely with the forgeworld fuel tank I did a while ago.


A command bunker? I kind of new I must of had this one as I used the canopy that used to go on top on an ork vehicle I did for that army and I still have the table with the radio that fits inside the bunker in my bits box.

So some quick fire terrain to wet the appetite and I should have the Bloat Drones done in a week or so (if I get some good painting time).

Thanks for reading.

Nice to see the terrain. Like the last one in particular, the drums give it a nice finish. Gives me some ideas.

Some progress to bring the blog back from the brink of the abyss. I have had a bit of a spurt on in regards to painting which makes a nice change. Have the one and only Rhino for the Deathguard commission all assembled (or at least in its sections for painting) just waiting for me to start undercoating and base coating. I did have a go at melting it with plastic glue in places to make it look pock marked to match the rest of the army as it look far too clean as it was. I was also fortunate enough to get some Deathguard Rhino doors to further pimp it up. It may be a simple rhino, but I think it is going to look great.

I have also started and almost finished a set of the plasma generator things that GW sells. They are really quite detailed and will be a nice addition to my terrain collection.

But in regard to finished models, here is the latest. The Foetid Bloat Drones for the Deathguard.........


I have thoroughly enjoyed painting these guys from start to finish. Which isn't normal for me as I tend to start to get impatient with models and just want them finished.


I stuck to the scheme I have used for all the other deathguard, except the flesh on the back of the models had a little more work (basically as there is almost no exposed flesh on the other models).


They are actually really horrific models in all their gross splendor, I think they hit the Deathguard aesthetic right on the head.


Out of variety I set them up with each weapon option, so I envisage the lawnmower one will fly up the board as quickly as possible closely supported by the one with the twin cannons as they are flamer type weapons whilst the third with the heavy gun covers their advance. A trio that Papa Nurgle can be proud of.


The lawnmower as I have dubbed him, it is a pretty brutal weapon and I have doubts it will live long enough to actually get in a fight. Pity.


A bit of heavy firepower that I think the army lacks a little bit of. I definitely think when I do Deathguard I will have some of these guys floating around.


The classic armament I think, close range and with a deceptively nasty close combat attack it will be a nuisance (hopefully).

So two of these came from the Dark Imperium boxes with the third being the individual kit and from that I was able to make them quite individual which was great as I managed to save a bucket of cash in getting the models for my mate. I am really happy with them and it just about tips me over halfway in the project (model wise well over halfway) but the really expensive points wise models are coming up fast. Although I still want to get a few more Pox-Walkers form my mates army (have 10, need 20, want a total of 30) if you have any floating around, let me know.

Thanks for reading.

Hi all,

I needed a quick break from the Deathguard (and before working on a few more Necron) I decided to knock out a little more terrain. These are a pair of the GW Plasma Coil thingies. I am pretty happy with the models and the paint works for terrain (don't want it to overshadow the actual armies after all). I really like how with the new GW terrain it all works together. I do plan on getting more of these (and other pieces hopefully).


I didn't get the plasma bits as vibrant as I had initially set out to do, but I wasn't looking for awesome, just functional and the recipe will be easy to reproduce on future ones.


There is a very slight difference to the sculpts that helps add interest.


With a few of these you could get some really nice height to the battlefield. Definitely working on improving my terrain collection. I have some of the GW shipping containers that I will be working on along with the next round of Deathguard and Necron.


I left the "sides" loose so you can move them to suit whatever configuration you need. Sort of would have been nice to have two of them per piece though.

The next plans are a Deathguard Rhino which I am pretty happy with how the construction has gone so I think it will look great with some paint on it. Plus I have assembled the first six of twelve Tomb Blades and will paint them all at once so need to get the rest assembled.

Thanks for reading.

So it has been an incredibly long time since i last stopped by. Life has been altogether too hectic and although that is a good thing in many ways it also has meant the painting side of the hobby has suffered. But, I have been slowly plodding along and getting things done. Nothing extremely exciting to show and definitely not going to be a photo dump of progress.

However, things look like they may start to slow down a little and hopefully I can be posting more regularly, like the good old days........who am I kidding, they have flown.

I am still getting regular games in though and am even involved in a three player magic the gathering campaign that is a lot of fun and has been a great way to learn the game.

Anyway, on to some painting goodness. Still poking at the Deathguard and feeling a little pressure as the due date is starting to get closer.....will see what happens.

There is a single Rhino in the army and although I actually quite fancy the Rhino kit once I had built it I really wasn't happy that it didn't have the cool Deathguard aesthetic (far too clean and the like) so i decided to go to town on the poor thing and see if I could please Papa Nurgle.


Fortunately I don't think I botched it and am actually really pleased with how it turned out. I also managed to scrounge some Forgeworld Deathguard doors that really set it apart from a standard Rhino. Hope my mate is happy.


I borrowed from the previous tank and have the white patches over the surface and poured some polystyrene cement onto it and let it eat away for a while to give me a textured surface to paint into.

I also looted my bits box to tool it up and with two combi-bolters and a havoc launcher this little Rhino actually has quite a bite.


The other thing I did, since the kit is quite detailed is rather than glue the side doors on I drop a magnet in so the side doors could be popped off for suitably awesome camera moments. Why hide all that delicious detail?


Similarly I left the top hatch loose so if you ever wanted to look inside or place some models to remind you who is catching a ride is much easier.


I didn't really Nurgle up the inside, maybe I should get a chaos spawn model and hide it inside as a surprise for when my mate takes delivery of the army?

There you have my take on a Nurgle rhino for the deathguard. I think I have captured a little of the aesthetic of the models I have done so far and I am now working on the thirty pox walkers that will provide some bulk to the army, not looking forward to them with all their little details and spindly arms.

Thanks for reading and its good to be back posting.

Hey all, had a spare minute and thought i would show something that is distracting me at the moment. I really like nice terrain and often don't feel like I am up for scratch building (short of hills and the like). So I am always interested in whats available for a good result for hopefully not heaps of effort or coin (some of that pre-painted stuff is awesome, but I can't justify the cost).

So, when I was hunting for a new painting station and came across http://miniaturescenery.com/. I got one of their modular painting stations (I think I posted it previously) and put it together with little fuss and am still extremely happy with it. Far better than the previous one I had and that thing lasted me years. I did eye off a few of the terrain pieces that they offered as well as I thought they could be easy and look good.

My wife was kind enough to grab a few of the kits I had indicated I was interested in and in the last couple of weeks I have begun assembling them. So far I am really impressed. They go together pretty easily, the instruction available from their website are really good (even have painting guides). Have a look at the photos below (no paint yet) of what I have done.


This is the ground floor of one of the village houses. I figured I really lacked "fantasy" style buildings and these looked like a really nice way of fixing that. There are multiple ways of building them.


This is the next floor, I really like the ladder touch between floors. You can but these up (or glue them) together to make larger buildings and when doing that the doorways will all match up.


And with the roof on. I think even unpainted it looks really good and I am hoping it paints pretty quickly. I have another one already and am thinking of getting another two so I can have a little village.

I also have the Inn that matches these houses so should be able to get a good little village set up. What I especially like is that the roof fits nicely on any floor so you could have a few one level buildings or even a massive tower with little effort.

The other piece of terrain I have always thought of is a lot of pipes running all over the place. Now GW does a very nice set of pipes, but they are pricey and getting a heap of them was beyond what I was willing to pay (but do plan on a set at some stage).

I have been collecting heavy cardboard tubes as I find them with the eye to make some pipe terrain, but always baulked at how to dress them up to look interesting and not just "hey I put some cardboard tube on the table". Miniature Scenery had my answer.......


They have these kits that you add to pipes. I am extremely impressed. Whats above is one kits worth (plus some of my cardboard tubes. I have another two kits yet to build so think I will be able to have a nice little refinery when I am done.


An example of how I could set up the pipework for a game.


An alternative setup.

I am considering getting some hammertone paint and seeing how it goes on the MDF and cardboard and if it gives me a sort of galvanised appearance. could make the painting process very simple.....

So there you have it, I am pretty keen to get the rest of it built and painted and use it in a game.

Thanks for reading.

So a tiny little bit of progress to keep myself motivated whilst I try to bang out 30 Pox-Walkers for my mates Desth Guard. Not really engaging with them like I have the rest of the Death Guard range unfortunately as they are just not that interesting. Too many of the same sculpts and quite a different aesthetic than the Plague Marines.

But I managed to knock this guy out:


Not my greatest work. But he is my converted Cryptek.


I am really happy with the way the model came together. I think he has a suitable mad scientist look for a robot.


He has the same paint scheme as the rest of the army with a little more metal on his bling.


Here is the Overlord, Cryptek and one base of Scarabs. I think even though the paint may be a little below my current standard it looks ok.

Now back to the grind with the Pox Walkers and will see if I can get some more Necromunda done.

Thanks for reading.

Loving the blog mate. The shots of the kings of war game was awesome especially the contrast of colourful knights with their opponents. Like the necron colour scheme so far too.

So basically I am stunned that the year is going so quickly and I have barely managed to log on and look at everyone else's work rather than update what I am doing. Short answer is......not much. But I am still here and about and have been making some small inroads into the modelling front.

A lot of big changes are on the way for me and the family and hopefully they will be a cause for much celebration.

Firstly, I am going to start off a new job in the new year. I am taking a position with a research company as head Designer doing CAD drafting and all manner of simulations (FEA, structural, fluid dynamics). The real kicker of the position is they are matching my current earnings, but I am going to be working about 7 days a fortnight rather than killing myself with the 60 hours a week I now do.

Plus, I have their blessing to pursue my contract design work that I have been doing on the weekend and after hours so i will be able to get my weekends and evenings back rather than working 70+ hours a week! So excited. May even have a chance to eventually go independent and have my own thing going one day.

The other news and one I have been sitting on for a while is my wife is pregnant with our second child, so come the end of March our son will be welcoming a sibling to cause havoc with. We are obviously a little apprehensive with the health issues our son had to face early on, but I am glad to say he seems to have left that all behind and he is a happy and bubbly little to year old.

Now on to the hobby front......I still have that Death Guard commission hanging over my head and I am a little embarrassed that I have yet to finish it, but I blame the client as he was supposed to be moving back to Australia this year, but has landed another offshore gig for the next three years and has said he doesn't need them any time soon until he gets settled in the new location. SO I took the foot of the gas.....

But I have progress, the blasted Poxwalkers that I have so loathed to do are now finished. Painted, based and varnished.


Utterly horrendous photos I am afraid, but honestly they look ok in real life.


Ended up getting him another 10 dirt cheap so he has plenty of disposable bodies to play with.


To tie in with the green of the deathguard I decided on a green skin tone, didn't want them stealing the limelight from the Plague Marines after all.


In the end I am pretty damn happy with them, they actually have a fair bit of insane character about them if a little creepy.

I have commenced construction of the Spartan.......what a *%$!!* of a model. I think it may go some way to breaking me, it is warped and horrible and going to take some serious attention to get it somewhere near right. Wish me luck.

Thanks for reading.

Nice Necron goodies, and Death Guard looking brilliant.

Hi all, it has been quite some time (afraid to look!) since I last posted anything. Haven't even managed to lurk on other peoples blogs. But I have been still plugging away at the hobby front, both painting and gaming. Work has settled down quite well and I am enjoying it, although I think I have to admit it is right at the upper end of my abilities so every day is a stretch. The challenge is refreshing, but I am not used to being stretched mentally like I am now.

Baby number 2 is rapidly approaching and my Wife has been in full blown nesting mode that has seen me removing internal walls in our house to reconfigure bedrooms, thank the gods for a long holiday break over Christmas.

So let me begin with a few picks of recent endeavors:


I know my "plan" is to not go back to armies that I have already finished, but 40k 8th edition has proven to be quite popular and seems to be the primary system that gets played with my gaming buddies. Plus my Imperial Guard (ahem, Astra Militarum) took a hit points wise and were quite a bit below the 2,000 points that they were initially built as. So, with models that I had floating in the bits box (yes it is quite large) I assembled another unit of Veterans. These guys are set up in the same way as the Sniper Vet squad from the originals with Camo Cloaks, but pack a little more punch with three Plasma Guns.


I used Catachan heads on Cadian bodies to give a rough and tumble look. I carved the heads off two metal Cadian command models (Sergeant and Vox user) and replaced them with Catachan heads.


The Plasma guns are all donated from my Space Wolf bits, scraping off anything that was too Wolfy.


I learnt from the previous squad and the Camo Cloaks have come out much neater.


Here you can see the Old Vets next to the New Vets, I think that they look pretty similar to each other which was the plan.


I did actually go back over all the Vet squads and upgraded a guy to be a Vox Operator......will show them next time.

So, with my son getting older (he is almost 2,5 now....) and the soon to be baby number 2, it dawned on me that I have really let my health get away from me. So, as a happy coincidence a very good friend has been plodding away on his own health journey (and doing an incredible job of it). This has led us to keep each other motivated with a 10k steps a day challenge. We accumulate a score based on 10,000 minus our days steps and at the end of the month the winner gets a model painted by the other person. We started this in November 2019 and I managed to win December and January, but lost December. Below is the model that I prepared as the prize......


I feel his Space Wolves lacked armour. So, Predator!


I tricked it up with a few wolf tails and pelt, plus a banner.


Hopefully it is Wolfy enough for the Sons of Russ, It is a little rough around the edges, but on the Tabletop it looks much better than in photos.


I actually quite like the Space Marines range of tanks. Definitely would like to paint one of my own sometime,


I chose the blue as my Mate is building a great company under the command of Bjorn Stormwolf.


This guy should be able to help with the lack of anti-horde capabilities of his Space Wolves currently.


This is here to try and motivate me. If I can knock these guys off I will have finished my Necron army. Why oh why did I not just choose the traditional metal scheme?
12 Tomb Blades (LOVE these models), 10 Immortals and 5 Deathmarks. Maybe I will start them tonight?


Now, I may have mentioned a very cool X-Wing campaign another mate of mine dreamed up that we played for most of last year (I think or was it the year before?) Well, it is about time that we did another campaign and after discussing what game system we would use (came down to Kings of War or 40k) the grim darkness go the nod. Seems like two Inquisitors are butting heads over a Jungle world with possible STC fragments. The rival Inquisitor Dial is a slightly dodgey Space Marine Librarian (long story, but it is very cool), so, I thought the most suitable opponent to this obviously heretic abomination was a true blue Puritan Monodominant Ordos Hereticus Withchunter. So welcome Witch Finder Tasetus.


Very happy with Tasetus's paint job and hopefully you will see him burning heretics on a battlefield near you.

Thanks for reading and good to be typing some words again. Will have the first battle report from our campaign up soon.

AWESOME!

Great to see. Love the work.

And nesting is the last calm before the storm bud. Best wishes to you and your beloved.

Hi all, so we have kicked off our campaign a couple of weeks ago. So far have managed one game as we alternate between what game we are playing of an evening and we meet up once every two weeks, so updates on the campaign will be slow going, but with so many options it can be hard to fit everything in (played an entertaining game of Robo Rally the other night).

But I thought I would put up a bit of background on the Campaign, first, some rules that we are using (apologies the below will be pretty wordy....:

Universal special rules.
1. STC fragments. A unit can search any imperial structure/ruins in lieu of shooting and assaulting. They will be successful in finding an STC fragment on the roll of a 20 on a d20. The following modifiers apply
+1 if the unit did not move that turn.
+1 for each consecutive turn that the unit has searched the same structure (to a maximum of +3)
+1 if the unit has special equipment/abilities that would make their search easier eg techmarine, enginseer etc
-1 if an enemy unit is in the same structure
Only one fragment is recoverable per structure per game. A successful STC fragment is worth one campaign victory point (CVP). Campaign victory points will determine the overall winner at the end of the campaign.

2. Burn everything. The campaign takes place on a dense jungle world. Cover is everywhere, but some small areas of jungle are so dense as to be impassable. These can be cleared by shooting them with a flame weapon or similar. Once shot, remove the terrain feature.

3. Xenos scum. On a world as verdant as this, there are likely to be a multitude of native species that are looking for a meal. Random stuff is likely to happen.

4. Character design rules from Chapter approved 2018 can be used to create unique characters. Each player has six points that can be used to create from two to six characters. A character may have a maximum of four points. Additional characters may be used in games using the normal entries in their codex.

5. Experience. See the experience rules in Chapter Approved 2018. The only exceptions to these rules is that destroyed units must roll a 3+ in order to be available in the subsequent game, and that units do not pay any premium when they gain experience levels. To aid flexibility, a unit can make one change to either weapon load out or model count in between scenarios and still count as the same unit.

So on the above, our gaming host has made some truly incredible pieces of terrain for us to play over and believe me (pictures to follow) it has a very claustrophobic jungle feel.
I have used the character design rules to further flavor Witch Finder Tasetus, he isn't a lot more powerful, but I think he has a little more Puritan personality.

Below are the rules for the first couple of scenarios, to give us an opportunity to use some of our other armies the campaign has our opposing forces (in my case Astra Militarum and allied Iron Hands, along with the Inquisitor and his henchman) not directly meeting for a little while. So each game will have one of us using our Campaign army and the other player using an "NPC" army from our collections.

Scenarios 1.0 and 1.1.

The first challenge is to secure a landing site on the planet to allow heavy support to be brought in. The jungle canopy has proven to be so dense that the only means of achieving this is by blasting a hole from a ship in orbit, or by using one of the few landing pads that exist on the planet. If you choose the former option, you will only be able to deploy units that can deep strike and/or fly. If you opt for the latter, you may only bring infantry and/or flyers (as these are the only units that can exit the landing pad).

So we each chose to use a different way of getting onto the planet. I chose the "safer" option of landing on one of the few stable landing pads, where my opponent chose to just blow holes in the canopy with an orbital bombardment....

1.0 Clear the drop zone.

The deck officer turned to the imposing physical presence that was the Inquisitor. "We have created a keyhole in the canopy using minimal bombardment and planted the homing beacon. There is no new damage to the adjacent imperial structures. However, there are some areas of thick vegetation that will need to be cleared by hand. Sensors are somewhat confounded by unknown factors, but they indicate multiple life signs around the deployment zone - it would appear that we have attracted the attention of some of the locals. As for insertion, it will not be a problem in the bombardment zone. Anything outside this could be more difficult as we cannot pinpoint the exact location of whatever xenos species are down there. If we run into any challenges I can redirect the deep striking units to the homing beacon.”

The silence that followed the report was just long enough to make the deck officer uncomfortable. He was unable to read anything in the Inquisitors impassive face.

“That will be adequate” came the deep baritone of the Inquisitor. “Prepare for insertion.”

Inquisitor (deep strike unit and/or flyers only) vs Xenos, 1500 points.

Set up. Impact craters dominate a 24” diameter circle in the centre of the table. This forms the deployment zone for the Inquisitor. Scattered around this are ten basic jungle features. Outside of this are three ruins and more jungle features (rocky). A homing beacon is placed in the centre of the table.

Deployment. The Xenos player sets up his units using hidden deployment rules (place a numbered marker for each unit) anywhere outside the 24” circle. The inquisitor then deploys numbered markers to represent his deep striking units. He may deep strike units outside his deployment zone. For units deployed outside the deployment zone roll a scatter dice and 2d6 to see where the marker is placed. If the marker lands in impassable terrain or on top of another marker, move the deep strike marker in the direction of the scatter arrow so that is three inches past the obstacle/marker. If the deep strike marker lands off the table, that unit is lost.

The Xenos player deploys his units first. If a deep strike marker is covered when a unit is deployed, the marker is removed and placed in the inquisitors deployment zone within three inches of the homing beacon. The inquisitor takes first turn by deploying his units. Place the first model in the unit on the marker and then place any subsequent models in a ring around the first model. Ignore the 9” restriction regarding proximity to enemy units. This counts as moving, but units can shoot, advance, assault etc. If any models deploy within an inch of the enemy, this counts as an assault with neither side having the opportunity to shoot or perform over watch.

Game length: Six turns.

Victory conditions. Victory points. The Xenos player scores ten VP if he assaults the homing beacon (which will destroy it) without being in contact with an enemy unit. The Inquisitor scores one VP for each jungle feature surrounding the deployment zone that is cleared (up to a maximum of ten).

Victory points are also awarded for destroying enemy units. One VP is awarded for destroyed units for each hundred points or part thereof. For example, one VP is scored for units worth up to 100 points, two VP for units worth 101-200 pts etc.

Any units (up to a maximum of two) that control the homing beacon at the end of the game counts as controlling an objective for the purpose of experience.

Victory. If the Inquisitor wins the game, destroyed units add one to their roll to see if they are available for the next game. Additionally, they subtract one from the d3 roll for losing experience.

The price of failure. The Xenos player can choose an appropriate character design upgrade for one of his surviving characters. This character may be used in subsequent battles until he/she/it is destroyed.

1.1 Secure the Landing Pad
The copilot turned to the Inquisitor behind him. The transporter roared and lurched erratically as it descended through the upper atmosphere of the jungle world but neither man flinched. The copilot was experienced in this sort of endeavour. Apparently the Inquisitor was also.

“Touch down in three minutes. As soon as your squads are out, we will take off again. I don’t know who has been maintaining the landing pads on this planet. It’s been at least a hundred years since the Imperium left.” He paused a moment as if inviting the Inquisitor to comment. A short time later the copilot continued, “With all these birds in the sky you can be certain that someone has heard us coming.” He nodded towards the east where several more transporters were speeding away towards more distant landing pads. He waved his hand in the direction of the pilot. “Signal us when you have secured the area and we will bring in the heavy gear. Touch down in two.”

Inquisitor (infantry and/or flyers) vs Xenos, 1500 points.

Set up. The landing pad is placed in the centre of the table, parallel to the long board edge. Two tall ruins are placed, one at each short end of the table approximately 12 inches in from the table edge. The rest of the table is overgrown with jungle. The landing pad and the two ruins are the objectives

Victory conditions. Control at least two objectives.

Deployment. The Inquisitor’s units start on the landing pad as the transporter leaves (with the exception of the “first” unit, which is kept off table. This unit is in the hatch, making its way down to the exit). Units may be placed anywhere on the pad and will leave the pad via the hatch and the doorway at the base of the structure (except for units with the fly key word - they can fly off the edge of the pad). The Inquisitor numbers his non flyer units in the order that he wishes them to leave the pad. Some of them may get to do so in Pre-game turns.

In Pre-game turn one the first unit takes a regular turn ie can move, advance, shoot etc using the normal rules. The second unit is removed from the table as it moves into the exit hatch. All other units can take regular turns ie flyers can leave the landing pad. At the end of the turn roll a d6. On a 2+ there is a Pre-game turn two. You may spend a command point to add one to the dice roll. If you roll a one, the regular game starts.

Pre-game turn two follows the same sequence as Pre-game turn one except that a 3+ is required to have a third Pre-game turn etc.

Xenos takes first turn. Roll a d6 for each unit. They move onto a random table edge on a 4+. Roll a scatter dice in the centre of the landing pad to determine which table edge the unit arrives on.

Game length. Six turns.

Victory. If the Inquisitor wins the game, destroyed units add one to their roll to see if they are available for the next game. Additionally, they subtract one from the d3 roll for losing experience.

The price of failure. The Xenos player can choose an appropriate character design upgrade for one of his surviving characters. This character may be used in subsequent battles until he/she/it is destroyed.

Thanks for reading and promise some photos of our next game in my next post. Feel free to ask any questions if something isn't clear.

Nice campaign ideas. I think the narrative side of the game is so much fun.

I am writing missions for a campaign at my local club. We've played six missions across four phases so far, and I am running out of ideas! Writing to make it fun for all factions, all lists, and yet stil interesting is so fun, but so hard.

Hi all, another update, may seem like I am motivated or something.

@Fifty, I am very much into the narrative of games. Very much hope our scenarios lead to some very cool cinematic moments.

I know I promised photos of our first campaign game, but before we get to them just wanted to show these:


These are the photos of the Vox Operators that I added to the Veteran squads of my Astra Militarum (well added bits to already existing models that is). Figured that since Veterans can have them and I want to use them I had to better represent them. I think the heavy dish on the Grenadier Vets and the lighter whip aerials on the Forward Sentries works quite well and makes it obvious to my opponent who the valuable targets are.....


Also, here is the new Enginseer and his Servitor bodyguards. I can't claim the paint job, a very dear friend of mine who I know isn't active in the hobby but still has bits and pieces lying around did this guy a while ago. I recently asked if he had an Enginseer that I could buy off him for my Imperial Guard (as I wanted to expand the points total and it fitted into an army with so many vehicles). He said that he was happy to donate it to the cause.

As I think the paint job stands up quite well I have left it intact (I did apply a single wash of Agrax Earthshade to better blend the colours) as a tribute to him. May even expand the colours to be the scheme of my own Adeptus Mechanicus when I do that army.

Thanks for reading.

Wow! Long time no see. Looks like you have got some large projects done this year. Congrats on baby #2. We just had our 2nd in September and it makes a big difference with spare time etc but I still manage to play some games and paint etc. Good to see you still kicking around on here. Looking forward to what you put out next.

Greetings again all,

First of all, thanks to those of you still floating around and making comment, I really appreciate it.

Now, I have promised photos of our first campaign battle and here they are (lots of photos so bear with me):


As per the Campaign rules I posted previously, this is going to be a dense jungle world. You can see the table laid out. My forces had to completely set up on the Landing Pad, a bit of a tight squeeze. The enemy is yet to make themselves known.....

I had gone with a combined Iron Hands/Astra Militarum force (with a little help from the Imperial Navy!) my opponents although not on the table to begin with left there traitorous finger prints all over the pad with the black and yellow hazard stripes and the number four everywhere......

I had a random number of turns to send units down off the landing pad before the enemy started to respond to my presence. I got two turns of this "free" movement. I tried to use a command point to extend this, but in what was going to become a trend for the game it failed (I am not sure I was successful in any rerolls provided by CP the entire game.


As you can see, a bit of a crowd. All this amazing terrain has been put together by my gaming buddy. He has some serious skills. I was restricted by no vehicles as my forces were deploying from landing craft onto the pad as the trees may insertion directly onto the planet difficult. I had the concession that I could stuff a thunderfire cannon in. It proved invaluable.


See those grenade launcher veterans? Utterly lethal.....they ended up being unit of the battle. Who would have thought. You may see a few unusual characters floating among the mass. Tasetus had yet to be finished painting at this stage so his understudy took his place for this battle as it didn't feel right that the driving force behind this crusade wasn't in the first battle. A few of his cronies (also not 100% painted sorry) were running around as well.


An ominous portent for the Imperials perhaps?


This is just before we began the game. I had one combat squad of Iron Hands Tactical marines "inside" the landing pad, making their way down to the exit.


The first unit with boots on the ground. These guys got a good head start as any unit out of the Pad during the free movement phases also got to move. They headed for the ruin on the left to see what they could find.


The second unit out of the landing pad was a plucky unit of Veterans, since there are three flamers in this unit I thought it useful to get them into the jungle early as they would be able to clear some of the undergrowth if I needed it.

Since the enemy could appear randomly on any of the four table edges I really didn't know which direction I should be heading. But I knew I could search the ruins for information on the STC fragments, so I used that as my initial goal.


My plan was to get the flamers and close range weapons (meltaguns) onto the ground and leave the longer ranged weapons up on the platform to provide covering fire. I just hoped that I would have enough boots on the ground when the inevitable assaults began.


Hold on! Enemy sighted! The Iron Warriors begin to show up to see who is using their landing pad uninvited. You can make out the forms of their Warlord and a Warp Smith. Seems appropriate they are the first to arrive.


But have my faithful Guardsman seen them yet?


What? More of them? With the random arrival (and random table edge) of the Iron Warriors and their reinforcements it was quite hard from my opponent to have a solid strategy until he saw what he had to work with. These Marines had the fortune to show up right next to my combat squad, was going to get bloody very quickly.

Also a shout out to not only does he do great terrain, look at how good a paint job his models have.


This is a shot of where the game "officially" started. I had two units on the ground and although I didn't get a wide shot about half of the Iron Warriors showed up for the first turn. I got quite lucky with my opponents rolls and none of the terminators and most of the Havocs decided to be late to the party.

Most of his forces also were concentrated on the right hand side of the table, I decided that since I needed to control two out of the three objectives to score a win I would divert my forces towards the weaker side of the table. Let him then have to break cover and come at me from the right.


My shooting in the early stages was pretty good, with the vantage points of the landing pad I was able to avoid my opponents attempts to hide (plus the Thunderfire Cannon helped there). I started to clear the platform and more bodies got onto the ground and I kept up with the plan to concentrate on the left hand side of the board.


I was pretty concerned when the Dreadnoughts started to show up, I usually depend on tanks and my own Dreadnoughts for anti tank with these two armies so felt a little naked against them. Initially at least.
You can just see in the bottom left of this photo a Basilisk. We are both of a vintage where Iron Warriors were able to take them in there armies and I have no problems with my opponent doing this in our games. Love the storyline of it, they are siege specialists after all.

Perhaps wasn't so fond of it as it started to lob shells at my rather exposed forces trying to get off the landing pad.


My gunline has pushed to the right to start shooting at the Iron Warriors approaching from that direction. Specialist Murdoch (my Guard Officer) is showing his worth barking orders at his men to keep up the shooting even as two units of Havocs start to cause serious trouble from the right hand ruins.


And as fate would have it, what had looked like a weaker flank suddenly got some reinforcements, another dreadnought appeared smack bang in the middle of the long board edge and an immediate threat as well as yet more Havocs and Marines piled onto the left. At this stage I decided to rethink my tactics and began to withdraw my troops from the left and began the slog towards the right which now seemed like the better of the two.

But, the game was into its third turn by now, would I have enough time to get over there and push the Iron Warriors off the right hand ruins? Plus what about those bloody dreadnoughts?


Well I also had an ace up my sleeve (as it turned out probably over powered aces) in the form of a pair of Thunderbolts. Emperor bless the Imperial Navy. We decided that due to the jungle cover that the chances of air cover being useful would be slim, but this was one of the scenarios where it could be used. So since i picked these up recently from a friend who had no use for them (they do need some TLC that I will get to in the future) I would give them some table time.

They swooped in and began to make themselves known almost immediately. Although the minimum movement rate and limited turns certainly meant after their first glorious and horrifically effective first couple of turns it took a while to get them back into the action.


That Basilisk was all sorts of annoying and was winning the duel with the Thunderfire Cannon, where do you think the Imperial Navy is being directed......

My Iron Father is off the board currently as he is inside the landing pad making his way down. I had little in the way of assault skills and I felt he was going to be needed, so he abandoned his search for STC material on the Pad, leaving it to the Tech Priest and Thunderfire Gunner and prepared to engage the enemy.


As you can see I had managed to thin out the right hand side of the board, so if I could get some soldiers over to that ruin I was in with a chance.

You can see in the background a lonely drop pod. One of the few chances of this campaign where it will be clear enough to use one. I had an Ironclad inside (yep we are happy to use regular drop pods to carry dreadnoughts, but we play it as a dreadnought pod so it has no weapons and is a little more expensive).


The Ironclad was really only in the army as a distraction/road block and he served it admirably as his pad crashed down onto the battlefield. He hopped out, unloaded his weapons (at least the ones he was in range to fire) and pulled off an amazing above average charged and smashed into this Chaos Marine squad. It was all going so well, until he fluffed his attacks and only squashed two Marines....then I realized that I couldn't single out the Powerfist wielding Aspiring Champion and I became very concerned.

In hindsight, I should have had him deploy behind his pod and hang out near the ruins on the left acting as a major deterrent for anything trying to come around the Pod. That way he may have been even more useful in slowing down the Iron Warriors than he was.

But, it was spectacular and fun to watch the wrecking ball in action. I would like to apologize to the Iron Council and all Iron Fathers present for the wasteful nature with which I treated the poor Ironclad and hope that it can be salvaged and repaired for the Campaign to come.

The Iron Warriors climb over the hills looking for better vantage points for their guns. I was fortunate that this side of the board really didn't offer much in the way of firing corridors. So they pretty much just cheered on their brother in the melee with the Ironclad for a couple of turns as they negotiated the difficult terrain.


Although they did put a few shots at the rapidly disappearing Thunderbolt that had incinerated one of their dreadnoughts.


It is largely obscured by the Thunderbolt, but I had drawn my forces around the Iron Warriors dreadnought to make sure that I had overwhelming firepower to make sure it went away. Then the plan was to send all of these bodies over to the right hand ruin to claim victory!


What had started out as the far stronger flank for my opponent had been whittled down to a few Marines (plus a Lord and Warpsmith) hunkering down in the ruins. It was here that I was going to send the bulk of my forces.


Every turn brought more casualties, although it was slow going as the cover and armour of the Iron Warriors was proving a problem and the game was running out, the 4th Legion had moved into the left hand ruin as well and I was going to need the random game length to be on my side.


It is REALLY hard to convince space marines that they should die when in cover. Really hard.


My Iron Father and the Iron Warriors Lord begin a game of cat and mouse. I wasn't sure my Iron Father could best him, but I had to do something.


At this stage if the game kept going I was confidant for the win, but the dice could turn so easily. I was also very, very lucky as the Iron Warriors still had a unit of Terminators that had not shown up. If they had arrived on the right side I would have been sunk.

Fortune favoured the Emperor's faithful as they arrived on the far left and really couldn't affect the game much.


Which was good for me as late stages of the game I was never going to push these guys from the left hand ruins. You can just catch a glimpse of the Terminators as they consoled themselves with smashing the drop pod to pieces. Although it did take them two turns.....take that! Pity it didn't explode and take a few of them with it.


Babysitting the turn marker.


The corridor of broken dreams? My Iron Father faces off against the lord down what once would have been a nice archway.


I hoped that he had enough tricks to survive. But the Lord had already shrugged off a lot of wounds and the fleshmetal kept on re-knitting itself.


This crazy Thunderbolt pilot instead of disengaging decided to try and thin out the Havocs holding the left had ruins. His soul is with the Emperor now......


As you can see the landing pad is fairly empty now, with everyone either on the ground or lying dead from the sustained heavy weapon fire of the Havocs.


In an interesting move, the Chaos Lord bypasses my Iron Father (the coward) and makes a move to the squishier Guardsman he is trying to cover. But I have faith I have enough bodies left that he will choke on at least one of them? Right?


Whilst the Chaos Lord is distracted by Guardsman, some Iron Hands tactical marines begin the brutal task of clearing the ruins. Room by bloody room. Grenades people, remember the grenades.


The dying stages of the game, I have successfully pushed into and now hold the right hand ruin and the landing pad. I just need the game to end as the Chaos Lord is still munching on Guardsman and the Iron Warrior Terminators are getting worryingly close to the Landing Pad access door.


The surviving Thunderbolt sets up a strafing run to try and slow the Terminators down. It is a parting gift as the game ends on this turn. Victory to the Imperials 2-1.


Having failed to push the invaders off the landing pad and been given a bloody nose the surviving Iron Warriors slink back into the jungles. Will they be seen again in the campaign? I don't know.

So there you have it. A game that saw me see saw from one side of the table to the other as enemy reinforcements kept randomly appearing. It was very tense for a little while and I had some major luck with where my enemies showed up. The Thunderbolts are I think WAY too good (even thought they are a lot of points). But things started to swing in my favour when the Grenade Launcher Veterans reduced a dreadnought to one wound in a single turn (even the lasguns scored some wounds!).

I enjoyed the scenario immensely, although I am keenly aware it was weighted in my favour.

Thanks for reading and looking forward to the next game.

Now, that is a gaming table!!! Great terrain, great models, and great story. Doesn't get any better than that!

Thanks squall018, tonights game will actually start where this one left off so the landing platform will still be present. The campaign will actually simulate our armies moving across the planet encountering the local denizens before finally running into each other.

So if we do it right it should look like the maps should be able to plug onto each other.