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I don't often post on blogs. But I do have to give props to the late 90's battle map pictures, showing the units, their directions etc, I got an instant nostalgia hit as if the battle was lifted directly from the pages of a 98 White Dwarf.

Thank you

Great work Riddle.

Cheers,

CB

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:That was a really enjoyable battle to read! I especially liked your artistic modification of the pictures, well done.

Gwyn - much appreciated. I probably spent too much time on it that could have been spent painting but to me, one of the major enjoyment of painting the models is to use them in games with fun stories/backgrounds using painted terrain and taking photos. The idea to add effects was stolen from Gordy2000 and his epic reports over the years. It just adds a bit more fun.

Viterbi wrote:Amazing battle report and that must have been a great game! Really enjoyed reading it and hope for more in the future.

Viterbi - thanks. Glad you took the time to read it. That makes it worth the effort.

Boxhead wrote:Took the time to stop by and read through the logs! Amazing work you've done with these drop troops!

I do agree with a post you made in the latter portions of the log. I stopped playing after the introduction of 5th Ed, because I saw army wide regimental doctrines disappear from the Imperial Guard codex and basically lost the flavor of my army theme at the time. Also, it was sad to see the Elysian line disappear. I knew I would never have the moneies to collect a drop trooper army, but now its getting rarer and rarer to see them pop up. Last note was that squad of Kasrkins look amazing!

Lovely battle report, love the lore drops. Can't wait to see more of your work!

Boxhead - thanks for sharing your thoughts. I am sorry to hear you quit playing. I suppose I am extremely lucky to have two like-minded brothers who enjoy playing the older editions more than the new stuff and so we can choose to play any edition or rules that we like, using our old OOP models and books.

Knightley wrote:I don't often post on blogs. But I do have to give props to the late 90's battle map pictures, showing the units, their directions etc, I got an instant nostalgia hit as if the battle was lifted directly from the pages of a 98 White Dwarf.

Thank you

Knightley - thanks for the kind words. That was exactly what I was going for. I have been re-reading some of the classic White Dwarf issues of the late 90s (and thanks to Capt. Brown, I got my hands on quite a few more) and remembering how much I enjoyed the old style of battle report. It was one of the things that really hooked my brothers and I into this hobby.

Captain Brown wrote:Great work Riddle.

Cheers,

CB

Capt. Brown - thanks. Those White Dwarf mags are great inspiration. I know my graphic design skills are meager (my use of PowerPoint as a tool for map making probably betrays that I spend too much time working and not enough finding better software for the job!) but I hope the reader got enough to at least follow the action.

After several years working on this army, I have finally hit a long-overdue milestone: my first heavy weapons squad. I know it has been a while since I painted any actual Elysian models so I tried to remedy that with this missile launcher squad. I went with a running team, a standing team and a crouching/kneeling team, figuring the two men would be working in unison so it would make less sense to have one running and one kneeling, for example.

Front view of the three teams: standing, running, and kneeling:


Side view. I love how the poses of the Elysians convey a sense of action such as firing, running, or even pointing:


Rear view: You can see how heavily loaded they are with extra ammo and equipmen:


This was my first time putting two infantry models on a large base. There is a lot of space to fill or else it looks very plain. I have been keeping the bases pretty simple for this army, but these large bases seemed to require something more. So I used a few pieces of slate that I collected and stored five years ago when I lived in Pittsburgh to create a large rocky base. They still looked plain so I added some tufts of various grasses. I really like the look of the brown grass so now I might need to go back and add some to a few of my regular 25mm bases - eventually. I tried to place the grass along the edges of the rocks where I imagine a little shade could let a seed germinate and the water run-off from the rock could enable the plant to live in the harsh rocky deserts of Xhorik Prime.

First team: The gunner fires while the support trooper is ready with extra ammo:


Second team: These two are using a rock for cover while the support trooper points out key targets to the gunner:


Team three: These two are quickly advancing across the rocky terrain to a new firing position:


You will also notice that these guys do not have grav chutes. That is due to the limited number of grav chutes I have left in my stock from before they were discontinued. My plan for the army is to have one platoon (2nd) as a "grav chute insertion" force that is meant to deep strike in every game and all models have grav chutees. This is my existing platoon that is heavy on melta guns. Next I plan to build a "heavy weapons platoon" with squads of mortars and missile launchers, along with two regular infantry squads of course. The normal plan would be to have this platoon start on the table since their weapons will be very ineffective firing on the turn they arrive via deep strike (snap shots only and no blast templates such as mortars or frag missiles). Of course, I will mix and match units in the meantime until I have both platoons fully built.

The Elysians are fun to model and paint. I may be taking a short break from them to get something done for one of my other armies. But in the meantime, I hope to get in another battle in our Operation Downfall campaign, where the drop troopers take an enemy bridge and have to hold it against a counter attack in order to keep it open for allied forces to use.

Just found this blog, awesome battle report and amazing minis. You have a great looking force, everything makes me smile

Sweet squads and great how much thought went into matching the minis to make them look like a real team!

Your troops would be an excellent addition to a Codex. They are so crisp, and the modeling you've done to pose them all is fantastic.
The level of detail you put into your hobby is outstanding. From the modeling and painting, the naming, the environment and scenario creation, to the maps, scouting report, effect editing, and written report, your enthusiasm is evident. Incredible work.

Haven't been on Dakka for awhile, I'm glad to see the 87th is still going strong.
Your latest battle report was great and I particularly enjoyed the tactical graphics. Really lends it a professional, history book feel.

Hi, folks, sorry for the long pause between updates. I have not had a chance to get on Dakka lately to keep up with all the great project blogs on here or to post anything new in a while. I hope in the coming days to get caught up on some of your projects.

I have been busy with work and family and haven't had a lot of time for painting lately. And in the limited painting time I had, I worked a bit on my Sons of Horus. The only things I have done related to the Drop Troops in the last two months are to get in a game and paint a couple of Stormtroopers. I will post those updates soon, but today I wanted to share something different.

Back in April, I saw some really nice commissioned artwork for an Imperial Guard regiment. Inspired by his work and the art that someone on Dakka randomly sent me previously (see above in the blog), I reached out to the artist and asked if he would be willing to do a piece for my Xhorik 87th Drop Troops. I shared the story and photos from this blog with him and asked him to create whatever he wanted. I really enjoyed seeing what he did with the project, and the price was reasonable.

The first thing he did was a detail on my converted Antax pattern lasguns. Please don't get too hung up in the physics or "realism" of it all. To me, it is a beautiful piece of art based on a conversion I did because I didn't love the bullpup lascarbine of the Elysians and wanted something unique.


He also created these regimental icons and campaign badges and unit badges. He drew a firebird based on the regimental banner model that I painted. And if you look at the badges, there are a lot of 8s and 7s in the imagery, such as the 7-sided polygons inside the 8-sided polygons or the numbers of spears, to represent the 87th. He used spears to represent this regiment being the spear tip of an Imperial army. And of course lots of orange, the regimental color. I really appreciated all the thought he put into the symbolism. The small badges are meant to be at a resolution that could be printed onto transfers for shoulder pads, although I have not tried that.


Here is the art of a drop trooper in action. It is a little busy for my taste, but I like that he captured the unique helmet (on the ground) and lasgun from my conversions and tried to convey a sense of what a drop trooper would be doing: calling in bombing strikes rather than fighting in the trenches.


Here is an all encompassing piece.


Overall, I really enjoyed working with Scott on this project and seeing how he interpreted my models and limited background text and turned it into something new. To see the outcome of creative collaboration with someone you have never met over the internet through a love of shared hobbies is a wonderful thing. If you want to see more of his work or get in touch, you can use the QR code in the art above or go here: https://scottdarkarts.tumblr.com/page/2

I hope you enjoy this slightly different update on my Xhorik 87th. I am hoping to get more photos of painted models and games posted soon, and I am looking forward to catching up on all of your work as well.

Wow, that's very cool art, lovely commission you got there. Really cool details to find on the action picture.

That’s really cool! I hope you manage to get the icons printed as transfers, that would be a fantastic crossover!

Viterbi wrote:Wow, that's very cool art, lovely commission you got there. Really cool details to find on the action picture.

gobert wrote:That’s really cool! I hope you manage to get the icons printed as transfers, that would be a fantastic crossover!

Thanks, Viterbi and gobert. To me, the battle reports, the art, the back story all help to really bring the miniatures to life and give me a little more incentive to keep painting. I have never printed transfers but I will have to search down a good tutorial and give it a try at some point.

I have not painted a lot for my Drop Troopers lately as I was working on my Sons of Horus and busy with other life things. But I am back to work on my Stormtroopers with a few done, other than the transfers, which I will do at the end of the squad:





It will be fun to have some flamers in this army. It is something I am currently lacking. I have another one to paint in the next batch of three. Now that I see the photos, I realize I need to darken the tip of the flamer a bit more to give that sooty, burned feel. Overall, these old metal models are fun to paint. I am sure the astute viewers will observe the extra sniper scope. A few in the next batch have additional pouches, knives and grenades. I wanted to add a few bits to these boys to bring them more in line with kitted-out Elysians they are serving with in the 87th.

That's all for now.

Nice old school stormtroopers and really cool Xhorik 87th artwork.

Another cool batch of Stormtroopers. I think you’re right about going darker on at the tip of the flamer.

I love the artwork! I messaged the same artist a couple months ago, but he said that his backlog was full.

Maybe one day when my project is further along I'll get an artwork done.

Warboss_Waaazag wrote:Nice old school stormtroopers and really cool Xhorik 87th artwork.

Thanks, Waaazag. The old metal models really take me back to the old days.

gobert wrote:Another cool batch of Stormtroopers. I think you’re right about going darker on at the tip of the flamer.

Gobert, appreciate the feedback. I think I will try some weathering powder once the unit is done.

Boxhead wrote:I love the artwork! I messaged the same artist a couple months ago, but he said that his backlog was full.

Maybe one day when my project is further along I'll get an artwork done.

Boxhead, he ended up taking longer to get to mine than he originally said but worth it in the end.

Nothing too exciting today. Just a few more Storm Troopers for the second squad. Again, waiting on the rest of the squad before I do decals.



Added a few extra grenades, pouches, and knives to these guys to gear them up in line with my drop troopers.

Stormtroopers look menacing, and the artwork looks sweet!

Nice work on those fine details.

Flapjack wrote:Stormtroopers look menacing, and the artwork looks sweet!

Warboss_Waaazag wrote:Nice work on those fine details.

Thanks, folks. Appreciate the feedback. You have to love the atmosphere of the Dakka P&M Blogs; always encouraging and friendly.

I played another game with the Drop Troopers a few months ago. Again, we used the 7th Edition/Horus Heresy ruleset. We wanted to play a battle for a bridge, so I built a large bridge model out of foamboard and bamboo sticks and used nail art beads as rivets.
My blog post on building the bridge table is here: https://xhorikwar.blogspot.com/2021/05/building-bridge-table.html#more

We kept the scenario simple: whoever controlled the bridge at the end of the game won. To control the bridge, you needed to have a scoring unit (Troops choice) on the bridge and no enemy scoring units. In our campaign, this represented the invading loyalists trying to secure bridges around their target landing zones so that their main armored force could quickly breakout from the beachhead when they arrived. The drop troopers took this bridge in a night drop and now have to hold it against enemy counterattack until the invasion forces arrive (so yeah, basically D-Day...).

I wrote up a battle report on the blog for anyone who wants to see all the photos and read all the details. I did not create maps or add special effects to the photos for this one, mostly because it is too time consuming, but also because the photos just didn't turn out great due to the lighting.
https://xhorikwar.blogspot.com/2021/08/operation-downfall-campaign-report-2.html

Here are a selection of some photos from the battle, focusing on the Drop Troopers:

The veteran first platoon arrived in the night and quickly fortified the bridge with two lines for depth of defense. With enemy armor on its way, they await additional drop trooper reinforcements.


The armored might of the enemy rolls toward the lightly armed defenders. The Traitors are supported by a small force of the XIV Legion, the Death Guard.


Second platoon makes a combat drop right into the enemy lines. Melta gunners are able to destroy one of the Traitor Leman Russ battle tanks.


Recon bikers arrive from the flanks to harry the Traitor advance. The drop trooper front line is being whittled down with all the sentry guns destroyed and the surviving infantry going to ground behind their barriers as the battle cannons pound their position.


Drop sentinels attempt to reach the Death Guard Deredo Dreadnought because its AA weaponry will be a huge threat to the Loyalist fliers. However, screening units of Traitor militia prevent the Sentinels from getting close enough to engage the Dreadnought.


Captain Xhaer and his command squad land with the second line and he begins shoring up the defense .


An Avenger Strike Fighter of the Imperial Navy dives over the bridge, taking down several Death Guard marines with its avenger bolt cannon. Meanwhile, a Valkyrie hovers over the bridge and another squad of the Xhorik 87th make a drop in an attempt to hold back the enemy advance for as long as possible.


Drop troopers engage Death Guard space marines on the bridge as their Valkyrie hovers overhead providing supporting fire from the door gunners.


With no hope of victory against mighty space marines, the drop troopers prepare to give their lives to delay the enemy for as long as possible.


The end result was a draw with both armies having scoring units on the bridge at the end of the battle.


The game was a bit like the bridge battle at the end of Saving Private Ryan: a platoon of lightly armed paratroopers trying to hold a bridge against enemy armor. It was only thanks to the makeshift Aegis Defense Line that my troopers survived long enough to slow the enemy down, preventing them from sweeping my second line off the bridge. Unfortunately, the most effective strategy was to throw my units into the enemy line as speed bumps and distractions so I could hold on to the far side of the bridge. It worked, but was not very satisfying, as I mostly failed to inflict any serious damage (destroyed only one tank). I kept the traitor militia pinned in their back line with drop sentinels and recon bikers while I threw unit after unit into the meat grinder to slow the more aggressive and dangerous space marines. Captain Brown's Avenger made its debut and was decently effective at eliminating space marines in power armor, something the rest of the army struggles with, so that was a plus.

In the end, it was just fun and cinematic to fight a battle on the huge bridge. I am looking forward to the next one!

For anyone who has read the two battle reports of Operation Downfall so far, do you have any ideas or suggestions for the next scenario? Any input is appreciated. I was thinking of maybe an ambush scenario as the drop troopers try to destroy a column of enemy armor making its way to the front line at the main landing zones of the invasion could be interesting (using one of the ambush scenarios from one of the old 3rd - 5th edition rulebooks I have or from an old White Dwarf).

Thanks for reading and for the comments.

I loved the bridge battle rep. As you say, it had a real cinematic feel, which the lopsided forces added to. Having an underdog hold off superior forces is very Hollywood!

I like the sound of the Ambush, maybe it could be a hit and run style too? Drop in, take out a high value target, then get out? Might be good for your opponent not to know what the target is so they don’t surround it with a screen? Or have the front and back vehicles as the targets, for your air support to come in and take out the rest?

Very nice photos there Riddle.

Cheers,

CB

Wow, it’s been a while without an update. I’ve been painting other stuff so not much to update on the valiant drop troops for a while, other than we played the third game in our Operation Downfall mini-campaign. (Get it, down... fall... )

I decided to do something different from my normal photo/text format. This one is a slideshow format so I could incorporate music, which is an important part of our gaming experience (I have a gaming playlist as well as starting playlists of songs affiliated for each of our key factions). I think it adds a little something.

http://xhorikwar.blogspot.com/2021/10/operation-downfall-campaign-battle-3.html

Let me know what you think, or if you have any suggestions for how to make the next bat rep better.

Been awhile since I’ve posted on this thread - awesome stuff Riddle. Loving the battle report photos and the growing force.