Preparing for my second event - the annual "States Championship"

Well, I have decided to try my hand on the tournament side of things once again.
To be honest I did have a really good time at my first event, luckily I didn't draw any "pain in the arse" opponents. Even in my 3rd game where I got tabled, I still enjoyed myself.

This time I'm going all drop pod assault.
7 Drop pods in total, for a complete null deployment.
Luckily most of my army will roll over from the last list, so not too much work to do.

I am dropping both Kantor & Lysander from my list & taking Sicarius as my only HQ.
He provides my tactical squads with some very useful "veteran" skills & table wide leadership 10!
Plus he will allow me to make the most of "Combat Tactics," which hopefully I can use to it's full advantage by keeping opponents at mid-range & rapid firing them to full effect.

My complete list is as follows. (1850 pts.)

HQ: Cato Sicarius (who will be represented by the lovely new Praetor model from Forge World)

Command Squad: Apothecary, 4 x Veterans with Storm Shield & Meltagun, in Drop Pod.
   (These guys performed rather well for me last time.)

Elites:
Sternguard Squad (9): Sgt with Melta bombs, in Drop Pod.
   (Hopefully they can deal with any light infantry hiding in cover....)

Troops:
Tactical Squad (10): Flamer & Heavy Bolter, in Drop Pod
Tactical Squad (10): Flamer & Missile Launcher, in Drop Pod
Tactical Squad (10): Flamer & Missile Launcher, in Drop Pod
Tactical Squad (10): Meltagun & Multi-melta, in Drop Pod

Fast Attack: Storm Talon with Skyhammer Missile Launcher
(this unit is not pre-heresy, but it will give me something cheap to help deal with other flyers.)

Heavy Support:
Devastator Squad (6): 4 x Multi-Meltas, in Drop Pod.

So any thoughts on the list?
I have toyed with dropping a Sternguard veteran & arming one of my tactical squads to tote Plasma gun & Plasma Cannon, but I'm not certain at this stage.

Building & painting wise, all I have to do is:
Assemble & paint 4 drop pods - which are painted black, so that's nice & easy (I may even throw some weathering powders at them, if I have the time.
I have to assemble & paint my new "Captain Sicarius" model.
As well as assemble 5 x Multi-melta marines
Assemble & Paint the Storm Talon
and paint/weather my new display board.
I should be able to knock that over in a month, pretty easy... I hope!

Plus with the new FW Luna Wolf decals (Why did they change the legion symbol???)
I should be able to cover everything I have with lots of Legion Icons.

Preparing for a January Tournament

Wow,  it's been nearly forever since I updated this blog. For those of you who still follow it, you probably just forgot it even existed.

Since my last post, so much has happened, both in real life & the gaming community.
I started a new job, which has been great.
6th Ed 40k was released, which has one of the better merging of rule sets.
Although I still don't like flyers being involved in normal games, Apocalypse yes, normal 40K no.
And Forgeworld released the first of The Horus Heresy books... and there was much rejoicing. (unless you were my Credit card, who is still crying "Rape!"

Most of you will already be across most of these goings on, so I will stop there & get back to the reason for the post.
I'm preparing for my first Tourney & my Luna Wolves are going to attempt to cause some havoc & adoration all at the same time...
Me normally being fluff driven with my lists, this was going to be a new challenge, can I merge an effective tourney army with being fluffy as well, & be successful with it on the table?

Being the first tourney to play with the 6th ed rule set, in my area. All of the missions are straight out of the Rulebook, so there will be no surprises.
 It should be an interesting experience... I anticipate seeing lots of Grey Knights, Chaos & Necrons lists, with an odd smattering of Dark Eldar, Vulkan led Marines, Blood Angels etc.
With a lesser amount of Orks & maybe even Tau or Eldar...

Okay so here is what I am planning on taking. (With modelling notes attached - photo's will be forthcoming as the units are finished & I get home to a decent camera.)

HQ 1 - Pedro Kantor (Warlord) (for scoring Sternguard, army wide Stubborn & Orbital Bombardment)
HQ 2 - Captain Lysander (for bolter drill, bolster defences & being a major threat/counter to assault)

Command Squad - Apothecary, 4 x marines with Storm Shield, Meltaguns & Chainsword, in a drop pod.
(These will be modelled in Mk 3 Armour with the FW boarding shields.... should look pretty cool)
I unashamedly stole this unit idea - after facing it on the table not long ago.

Elite 1 - 10 x Sternguard, Sgt with Meltabombs, in Drop Pod - Lysander will ride with these boys.
(These will also be modelled in Mk 3 Armour with box fed Boltguns)

Both of these squads, will be my in your face units, dropping in to execute certain targets & hopefully gain me first blood Victory Points....

Troops 1 - Tactical Squad (10) Flamer & Missile Launcher, Sgt with Power Weapon & Melta Bombs
(In Mk 4 Armour)

Troops 2 - Tactical Squad (10) - equipped & modelled as above

Troops 3 - Tact. Squad (10) - equipped & modelled as above. (Sgt with Chainsword & Meltabombs)

Troops 4 - Tact. Squad (10) - equipped & modelled as above, in Drop Pod.
(Which depending on the scenario will mostly be empty.)

Heavy Support 1 - Devastator Squad (5) - 4 x Missile Launchers, Sgt with Meltabombs.
(Modelled in Mk 4 Armour, with Forge World pattern Missile Launchers.

Some of you may be surprised at me not taking a fortification with quad gun, due to the prevalence of flyers in this edition.
My plan is to pretty much ignore the flyers & kill everything else, force my opponent to react to me, not the other way around.

Thoughts & any comments, if any of you still check this blog that is, will be welcome.

I'll give updates on painting & modelling as I can.

Plus reports of lead up games & how I go in the tourney too.

15 Months has gone so fast... soo much dust.

*Cough* *Cough* "Damn this place is dusty......"
Wow, 15 months since my last post on here..... well a fair bit has happened in that time frame.
In no particular order, Got married, got sidetracked by SWOTR (still do to be honest), discovered the Infinity game system & it's awesome models, plodded away at my True Scale Alpha Legion, decided after 16+ years of running my own Eldar craftworld to go back and begin repainting them with my first Craftworld flirtation.... Iyanden. (For those of you who need proof, I'll post a pic of my Epic Eldar Army, that I found in a box at my Mum's place over Christmas.) picking up a squad of 10 Wraithguard on e-bay really helped me with the decision.

Okay back to what I really decided to post about.
WHY DO I LIKE PRE-HERESY MORE THAN NORMAL 40K?
This is something that takes a while to get into so please stay with me.
My first foray into true epic fantasy & Sci-fi was the movie "Star Wars", I distinctly remember being allowed to stay up past my bed time, when I was about 5 or 6, to watch it on TV, every time it came on.
I was forever playing at being Luke & saving the galaxy.

I always liked reading & it was about the age of 10 that I first discovered The Hobbit, I drew me in so completely that I wanted more, I was happy to discover Tolkien had written The Lord of the Rings and remember begging for relatives to buy me each book for Christmas or my Birthday, I re-read it over & over as I waited for the next relative to buy me one.  By the end of grade 6, I think I had read the entire book about 10 times.  But still my thirst for more of Middle-Earth wasn't sated, I played with Tolkien's Elvish runes & language in the Appendices of The Return of the King, devoured the brief histories & family trees.

High school started & in school the Library was a revelation for me, "The Simlarillion" gave me everything I ever wanted, a full history of Middle-Earth from it's creation & the high period of the Elvish race, where the Heroes of the Third age, were minor players compared to the mighty heroes within it's pages, from the ill fated F'eonor & Turin. To the love of the mortal Beren who dared the anger of a god for the woman he loved.  I still to this day prefer 'The Silmarillion" to any of his other works.  This led me to get into D&D and TSR's novels.

"What does this have to do with 40K?" you might ask.  Well I discovered GW games through my best friend & a game he bought. "Blood Bowl", as we were both fans of American Football, we spent numerous weekends playing against each other, keeping statistics & running our own leagues. (I still play it to this day.)

From there a discussion with a new friend a few years later, he mentioned words like "Space Marine & Rogue Trader" & GW.  This sparked my memory of looking at the side of the BB box with the advertising of other GW games & I dashed off to my room to double check.  I was right, I had been looking at these things all along.  I was told of the monthly magazine "White Dwarf", and promptly headed off to bury my head in one.

Shortly after I played my first game of "Space Marine" the Epic system of that time, I was instantly hooked.
As soon as I could afford them I bought the Warhammer Fantasy boxed set (complete with card cut outs of Grom & Eltharion, I still use the High Elf Spearmen & archers), then the best thing (in my mind) ever happened.  GW released "Warhammer 40k" in a boxed set, complete with Marines & Orks & Gretchin.
The coloured pictures of the different races fascinated me.

It was as I was reading over the history of the 40k universe that I first read of the Horus Heresy.
Vague references & images of the Heresy predominated many of the different books in both the "40k & Space Marine" rule & background books.

For a while I forgot about the history & concentrated on playing & painting my slowing growing Eldar army.
Then a few years ago, Black Library created a monster in me, by releasing the first of their HH novels, re-sparking my interest in all things to do with the finest moments of the growing Imperium of man.  I went back & dug up all of my old copies of my rule & source books, re-reading the "Fluff" sections to refresh my mind.

Okay fade back in from the wavy image of the flashbacks......  I enjoy the HH period because of the things it implies, when I first made up my mind to start this army, there was none of the Older Marks of armour available from Forge World, except for the Red Scorpion torso & helmet upgrade kit.
While I do love the FW kits, they have taken away a little in regards to Pre-Heresy modelling, allowing everyone to quickly get a foot in the door.  I think that is what prompted my to start my Pre-Heresy True Scale Alpha Legion.

Basically, the current 40k universe is a rather stagnant beast, GW have to be careful on how they advance the timeline as pushing too far will see them effectively kill off the Imperium, which I think would be a big mistake. Don't get me wrong I don't hate 40k at all.

But in the scope of the 30k universe, the Imperium is still being built, Primarchs strode into battle with their men, there is a huge sense of hope for mankind.  Push it a bit further along & you have the depth of the Heresy itself , brother fights brother as the loyalists struggle to deal with the true depth of the betrayal by the Warmaster & his legions.  Which I think is a far grander stage to play games and run campaigns in....

What do you all think?  Have I swayed anyone from the "quick & easy path" of 40k?

I'm back

Well I thought I should post again before Christmas.

Some of you may know that I recently returned from a very nice Month in the UK.
One of the highlights of the trip was the weekend of Pre-heresy gaming at Warhammer World with the rest of the guys from The Great Crusade.

It was the culmination of the worldwide pre-heresy Ullanor Campaign.
After much catching up, eating and sampling of Bugman's Brew.
We decided that our first game would be an Apocalypse game against a very large force of Orks.
Now unfortunately for us, the battle didn't really follow the script.
The Emperor had a teleporting problem, at least 3 Primarch's fell to the Green Tide, Horus included.
Still it was great to see everyone's armies in person instead of online.
Which brings me to the GW Mini Hall of Fame/Museum, it was great to get to see some of the great pint jobs & models that I have seen in my numerous issues of White Dwarf.
All I can say is that regardless of how good the camera/photography is, nothing beats seeing them up close in person.

The second day was just a couple of 1500 pt games, which I can happily say, saw my Luna Wolves victorious. By 1 Kill point vs Dark Angels & by 2 objectives vs Imperial Fists.

While I was there I also had a look through the new IA Vol. 9, The Badab War.
It's a very nice book, lots of detail on the different chapters involved.
Some nice new rules for some of the main characters & an army list for the Astral Claws.
It did give me a nice idea towards a nice new Pre-Heresy project, that will run alongside my Luna Wolves.
This time however I will be doing my Marines Truescale.....I hope my GS-Fu is up to the task.

Anyway I'll finish by saying that if you have never been to Warhammer World, it is well worth the trip.
I'm quite looking forward to going back there, the next time I travel to the UK & Europe.

I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas, a Happy New year &
may the Gaming Gods be kind and deliver that prized boxed set or Mini that you are waiting for.

Another tale from the Great Crusade

Well it's that time of year again, when over at The Great Crusade we run our annual Short fiction contest.
I figure that the more who know about it the better, so I'm here to spread the word.

Well I know that I have posted one of my entries on here before, and figured that I should do it again.
Letting you all have an advance sneak peek at what I'm going to submit this year.
I haven't formally submitted this yet so any feedback or errors that you point out, can be remedied.
Which also turns you all into proof readers, Ha ha!

So be sure let me know what you think.
Anyway enough rambling, I now present to you:

Adopted by Wolves 

A Tale of the Great Crusade by Yvraith (aka. Chris Barton)

I remember looking out over the lush green pastures, hills covered with trees, trimmed back just enough to give us room to cultivate our crops and raise livestock. I was only ten summers old. As the first of our twin suns dawned that day, who could have known that mere moments later, our utopian vista would be torn asunder, rent with smoking craters, crops ablaze and the stench of burning flesh filling the once clean air.

It was shortly after everything in my life had been obliterated, that I first saw them. At first I thought them machines; seven feet tall, bulky armoured forms, carrying devices that spat fire and death. I was one of the lucky ones, though I did not know it at the time. I was not the focus of their ire.

Unbeknown to me, our planetary governor had refused to join our planet to what was being tentatively dubbed “The Imperium of Man” and had hidden the bulk of our local military might in a compound in the depths of the neighbouring forest.

These “Gods of War” had been deployed to neutralise the potential threat, with a precision strike. Unfortunately our farm was the designated drop zone.

Obsidian seed shaped pods now dotted the once lush terrain and hundreds of the white armoured giants, swiftly deployed and engaged targets that only they could identify. The dull thud of muffled explosions and piercing screams of pain proved how efficient they were.

I cowered in a crater, in a puddle of my own urine, crying and cringing as the snap of projectiles sounded overhead. Our military responded, but their efforts were futile. It seemed like the conflict had gone on for days, yet as the sound of battle slowly quietened and then ceased, I looked at my chronometer; it had only lasted a little over an hour. I wiped my now snotty nose with the back of my hand and fiercely blinked away tears.

I gathered my courage and cautiously stood to survey what an hour of hell had done to my family’s once serene homestead. The house and barn were a clustered pile of broken stone and smouldering timbers. I cast my gaze across our once lush pastures and not a single animal from our numerous herds remained standing. What was left of their carcasses was already being squabbled over by crows.

What do I do now? I thought.

Then a heavy gauntlet fell on my shoulder, the weight of it nearly pushing me onto my knees. I twisted in an attempt to break free of its firm grip.

“Settle down, lad. I’ll not hurt you,” a slightly metallic male voice said, distorted by his helmet's vox system.

I stopped struggling, knowing that if he wanted me dead, I would have been already.

I turned to look upon my captor.

He raised his hands to his helmet, flicked the release catches and twisted the helmet free. To my surprise, he was human, but how large his features were. By taking off his helmet, his presence seemed to grow, projecting an aura of greatness which was not apparent before. My shock must have been obvious and he laughed. Beyond him, I could see others moving toward us, alerted to his discovery. I blushed with the shame of them knowing that I had pissed myself in terror.

“What are you doing out here lad?” My captor asked in a proud voice.

At first I struggled to find my voice, so intimidating was his aura. He smiled down at me encouragingly.

“This is... Was, my home,” I answered slowly.

“I apologise for the destruction of your home, but we needed to prepare the ground for our drop and could not take the risk that your farm was an ambush site.”

I nodded dumbly in response, wishing fervently that I was somewhere else, that he would just let me go. To where I didn’t know, any place other than here.

“What have you got there, Commander?” one of the other War Gods asked.

“A battle orphan. It seems we destroyed his home and family with our preliminary bombardment,” my captor replied.

It was then that I realised my captor wore slightly different armour to the others. He was bigger too; head and shoulders taller than the War God who came to stand at his side. The new arrival’s armour was a glossy black, with a golden trim on the shoulder pads. A symbol that I couldn’t discern due to my childish stature, adorned his left pad. My captor’s armour was pearly white, trimmed in white gold. A great red eye stared at me from his breastplate.

“The perimeter is secure. Torgaddon’s Company is mopping up what’s left of their forces.” the new comer stated.

“Good. Continue on as planned, Ezekyle. I’ll be with you shortly.”

Ezekyle nodded and moved away.

My captor turned to regard me once more.

“What are we going to do with you?” my captor mused.

“You could let me go, Sir.” I stammered.

“Indeed. But I think I have another plan for you, little one. Would you like to be one of us?”

“I don’t think that I could be Sir.” I hung my head in shame. “I was frightened when the battle occurred.”

“If you join us, you need never be scared again. You can travel the stars at our side,” my captor assured me with a smile.

My mind whirled with the possibilities. I was certain a nearby farmstead would take me in. But did I wish to stay here, digging in the dirt for the rest of my life? Maybe one day get married, raise a family and have my children continue to follow in my footsteps? How depressing.  A sense of adventure bloomed in my chest; the lure of travelling the stars was intoxicating. I had reached my decision.

“I accept, Sir.”

“Good. What is your name, lad?”

“Sejanus, Hastur Sejanus.”

Some WIP Justaerin Terminators

I'm currently in the process of trying to get my Army sorted out for the conclusion of the Ullanor Worldwide campaign, being run by the rest of the gang at The Great Crusade.
Conveniently I'm holidaying in the UK and the guys were kind enough to organise to hold a Gaming Weekend whilst I'm there, giving my a chance to meet some of the board members face to face and have a couple of days of Pre-heresy gaming.

So here are some WIP shots of my Justaerin Terminators,
I'm getting them prepared to take down some Ork scum.
They are only at the basecoat stage so far, with some highlights/shading and details to come.

The shoulder pad trim I'm planning on making a shining Gold to make them look a little different to 40k Black Legion Colours, I've modelled the Auto-cannon because I subscribe that Assault Cannons weren't used/developed yet.

However for simplicity they count as an Assault Cannon in game, as I use Codex: Space Marines for gaming purposes.

There should be more updates in the next few weeks as I get my arse into gear and get stuff painted.

Until next time, "Keep your Bolter Firing!"

Y.

Path of the Warrior - A Book Review

It's hard to comprehend that I've not posted anything at all for months. Sorry to everyone for being a lazy git.
But work and an addiction to online Blood Bowl have provided quite a large distraction.
So it's back to business now, I can't promise regular updates, but I will try to post more often.

Now before you all start, I know this is nothing to do with Luna Wolves or even Pre-Heresy, but as Eldar were my first 40k Army, (I now have about 7,000 - 8,000 pts worth.), and Striking Scorpions have always been my favourite Aspect Warriors. I just couldn't pass up reading this book.  I've also read Gav Thorpe's Warhammer Fantasy Time of Legends - High Elf books and really enjoyed them too.  So with this in mind I wanted to see if Gav could deliver the goods in 40k.

I must say that I really did enjoy this book.
Gav provided a very interesting insight into Eldar society, life, mindset and the way that they go about following and changing their paths.  It also reveals that the rest of Eldar society don't really appreciate the mindset of Eldar that are on the Path of the Warrior and tend to avoid them, until their journey on the path is complete and they rejoin "normal" society.

I won't get into details, as I hate spoiling the plot for others.
But the book follows the life of one Eldar, Korlandril, as events shape his life, forcing him into the Path of the Warrior. It then follows him through his training and first mission, finally culminating in the invasion of the Alaitoc Craftworld by Imperial forces.

What Gav does reveal, is the interplay between the differing points of view that different shrines, even of the same aspect, have on training and how to follow the path.  Even resorting to ritual combat to resolve disputes between shrines. There is also some minor hints about the relationship between Arhra & Karandas.

All in all, I think Gav has done a very good job, it can't of been easy to adjust your own mindset to write from the perspective of an Eldar character. It was also great to get a bit of insight into the Striking Scorpion Aspect, no doubt I will try to add some into my next foray on the table with my 'Pointy Ears'.

So if you have ever had an interest in Eldar at all or are curious if it's a good read, I can honestly say that I enjoyed reading the book and I would recommend it to anyone looking for something to read.

Y.

Sorry about this, I couldn't help myself

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

Luna Wolf Flexibility

One of the great things about fielding a Luna Wolves force, is the pure amount of modelling and painting diversity that it provides.  While other Space Marine Legions/Chapters have added splashes of colour within their own colour scheme, with maybe one or two exceptions. (I'm looking at you Iron Hands) 

From the modelling opportunities provided within the Pre-Heresy time frame, to making the elite units stand out, eg. Catulan Reavers & the Justaerin Terminators, with different modelling and their own differing armour colours.

You can also, due to the in depth coverage of the legion, model any number of "named" Characters within the legion to lead your own force, or go all out and model the entire Mournival.

But one of the other great things in terms of flexibility, throughout the Legions history they have fought next to just about every other legion and organisation of the Imperium, giving you the chance to model something different, and even add splashes of colour to what is normally a very Black & White Force.

You can field units of Custodian Guard, Sisters of Silence, Mechanicus robots and even the vast units of the Imperial Army, to add a little diversity.

With this in mind, and needing a break from painting white power armour. I first added units of Emperor's Children to represent my Sternguard Veteran squads, followed by my take on Ancient Rylanor for their direct support.  Having recently read Graham McNeill's "A Thousand Sons", and reading of how Magnus, sent members of his legion to other legions to start their Librarian Corps, it inspired me to add something that had been lacking from my legion organisation, due to fluff constraints at the time. A librarian.

So I present to you all, 

Brother "Anonymous", of the Pavoni Sect of the Thousand Sons Legion. 

- Currently attached to the Luna Wolves.

I hope you like him and think of ways to add diversity to your own forces, within the Fluff, instead of in spite of it.

Something stirs in the Deep.

It has been a while since I have posted an update, I have had a rather strange few months since my last post, the details of which I won't bore you with here.

I just finished reading A Thousand Sons, damn good read.
So good, once more I found myself thinking of adding a little diversity to my Luna Wolves and adding a second legion to support them.
I already have a small detachment of Emperor's Children including Lord Commanders Vespasian & Eidolon as well as "The Phoenician", Fulgrim, himself.

Now it struck me a strange that I had a model of the Primarch of a supporting Legion, but not one to represent Horus Lupercal himself.
So off I went, hunting for parts appropriate for the task.
I wanted him to be instantly recognisable on a glance, but also rules viable.
So I used the "Talon of Horus" from Abbaddon and combined that with the Chaos Marine Lord in Terminator plastic kit.
He's still in need of some minor detailing, like the Legion symbol & some gloss varnish on the "eyes" to make them "pop".  I also plan on adding a loin cloth to him but am not sure of what colour to paint it.

Here are some photos, which aren't great, but they'll give you an idea of how he's looking so far.
If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to let me know.

A Month of Apparent Inactivity

Well, it's sort of true, not a lot of figures finished. But many started and painted to near table-top standard.
Lots more modelled (like a magnetised Rhino or two!) and a couple of other bits and pieces in the pipeline.
Photos to come in the new year.

I have managed to enthuse some of my gaming buddies about the Pre-heresy era, especially after showing them some of the Tempus Fugitives Units & Characters. (A campaign could be around the corner if we can get a couple more of them interested.)
To the extent that one of them has mentioned it to our FLGS staff members and asked about the possibility of playing/running a Great Crusade/Heresy demo table at the regional tournament in the middle of the year.

I have however managed to play quite a few games in this time, experimenting with different styles of lists with mixed results.  I sprang upon the idea of introducing secret missions for players in some of our games to bring in something from left field, which I think adds to the feel of the current standard 40k rulebook mission sets.
An easy way I found of doing this is by using the old 2nd ed. Mission cards, shuffling them and then drawing one at random, keeping it hidden and adding just a little bit of guess work and suspicion back into our games.
"Is my opponent trying to hold that innocuous part of the table or is he baiting me into a position to assassinate my commander?"
I think it adds a slight bit of realism, as commanders on the ground in real life have little to no idea what their opposite number is ultimately after. Other than what they'd do in the same situation.

Anyway, just in case I don't post again beforehand.
I hope everyone has a happy holiday and that the jolly, fat man in the red suit brings you something that really want.

Y.

Great Crusade Campaigns

After seeing/reading all of the feedback, battle reports, photos and general comments of some recent events held in the UK (most you know what I'm on about and yes I'm jealous!).

I felt that it would be interesting to do try and do something similar among my regular gaming buddies.
My group of gaming buddies has recently expanded from 2 -3 others to nearly 6 -7 others.
Most of them are just starting to play.
One of them has only been playing/collecting for just over a month and now has already or currently on the way in the mail, around 4 - 5000 pts of Dark Eldar and close to 8000 pts of Chaos Marines.

So I'm currently going over the Tempus Fugitives Campaign info from their website.
I'm trying to adapt it slightly to help it fit our armies, which isn't all that hard.
Personally I'm hoping that they all like the idea and go for it.
I've already convinced one of them, and he thinks he can sell the idea to another one.
Now I just have to try & convince the other 5. :)

I'm hoping they say yes, as I can't wait to try out some of the elite units and Characters from the rule set.


I'll keep everyone posted on the progress of it all

Y.

The Great Crusade Short Fiction Contest (#2)

As most of you are no doubt aware The Great Crusade Website is holding its second Short Fiction contest, which will be judged by Nick Kyme.

Here's a link to the competition thread. Link

After much umm-ing and ah-ing.
I've decided to post my entry here, the dialogue needs work, but I think the rest is not too bad.
Anyway have a read and let me know your thoughts.

Y.

Mud and Blood

He woke. How he had come to be in such a state he was unsure. 

Reality strove to bring him back into its fold, the sound of firing artillery pieces nearby reached through his dulled senses.  Cautiously he tested the movement in his fingers and toes, emboldened by this small success he strived for something a little more adventurous. He hardened his resolve and forced himself to sit up, nausea threatened to swamp him, but he fought it off.

He looked around him to see that he was currently sitting on the bank of what appeared to be a crater, formed by an exploding artillery shell. He glanced down at his body to confirm what his nerves were telling him, he was remarkably in one piece. He started a visual inspection of his armour.  Its dull metal finish was covered in mud spatter and what appeared to be diluted blood. None of which was his own.

He grinned inside his helmet. ‘Still fit to fight on’ he thought.

His ear piece crackled into life. ‘Are you alright, Stuvant?’

He looked up at the rim of the crater to discover the power armoured form of Brother-Sergeant Argento looking down at him.

‘I’ll be fine, what happened?’ he replied.

‘Our position was targeted by counter-battery fire, of course they couldn’t miss your large ego and your foxhole was hit.’

‘I take it that the enemy guns have been taken care of?’

‘Nearly instantly, it appears they finally are tiring of this siege and are getting desperate.’

‘Good it means we’ve nearly broken them. The assault should begin soon then.’ Stuvant surmised.

‘That’s why I came looking for you, we’re assembling now, to ready for the assault.’

‘So soon?’

‘It seems Lord Perturabo is keen to move on to another system for some reason.’ Argento replied.

‘The Lord Primarch is here?’

‘No, he’s due in system shortly. He’s returning from a meeting with the Warmaster.’

‘Oh, seems like something is in the works then.’

‘Whatever it is, it is none of our concern. Have you gathered your wits yet? We should be getting to the muster’

‘Any sign of my bolter?’

‘No, looks like you’ll have to source another, on the way.’

‘Alright then, I’ll be with you shortly.’

With that Stuvant pushed himself to knees and then rose to his feet.  He carefully picked his way to the lip of the crater to join Argento.  Together they made their way to the form up point for a briefing on the following assault.

Shortly after, Stuvant stood next to Argento and the rest of their squad. They were waiting for the correct moment to commence the assault. Timing was crucial, right on time the Iron Warriors’ artillery pieces recommenced their firing. As the time to step off neared, the artillery barrage intensified. It was time, Stuvant nodded to Argento and they rose from their trench and advanced into what any normal human would have called hell.

Gouts of damp earth leapt into the air as High-Explosive ammunition with delayed fuses detonated beneath the surface. The enemy, sensing something was afoot, alternated between cowering in their defensive positions and firing sporadically at the advancing Space Marines. Their laser fire streaked across the visual madness, seeking targets. Their efforts proved futile, the armoured marines advanced fearlessly, firing their bolters at opportune targets as they continued towards their objectives. 

Stuvant calmly fired from the hip as he advanced, trusting in his armour to keep him from harm.  The footing had become treacherous as the dark brooding clouds above opened up, drenching the already wet ground. Puddles formed in shell holes only to be blasted clear by subsequent blasts. Sinking up to their armoured shins in the mire, the Iron Warriors resolutely continued to advance. This is what they did, grind an opponent down and then once they had them where they wanted them, finish them off with a bold, artillery supported assault. Stuvant changed the clip in his bolter and realised that the enemy resistance was faltering. The headquarters should be just ahead, the enemy however seemed to have had all of the fight drain out of them, sapped by the constant pressure applied by the Iron Warrior tactics.

As per the Artillery Fire Plan, the Artillery shifted targets to cut off any retreat as they neared the objective. The ragged remaining defenders surged from their hidden positions in an attempt to deny the Imperial forces access to their HQ. They might as well of not even bothered. Malnourished, sodden and with no sense of organisation, they were calmly dealt with by Stuvant and his squad brothers’ controlled bolter fire.  Stuvant and Argento had the honour of taking the Command Bunker, Stuvant calmly placed the melta charge on the reinforced bunker door and nodded at Argento. Argento responded with a nod and Stuvant detonated the charge.  The door vanished in a white hot haze, leaving a small puddle of molten metal on the floor.  

Argento and Stuvant were through the opening swiftly, smoothly gunning down the armed enemy soldiers inside. All was quiet, Stuvant and Argento scanned the interior of the bunker, all that was standing in the room other than themselves, was a man who appeared to be the enemy general.

The man looked up at them calmly.

‘Now what?’ he asked.

‘You will order the remainder of your forces to surrender and become a compliant member of the Imperium.’ Argento replied.

‘I will not give that order, Sir.’

‘I strongly urge you to reconsider you position.’ Stuvant advised.

‘I will not give that order.’ He stated firmly.

A bolter shot rang out and his head imploded.

‘So be it.’ Argento said ruefully.

With their command structure removed, the remaining enemy forces were swiftly defeated. An Imperial Army Commander was placed in charge of Governing the system.

Stuvant and Argento sat calmly in their quarters aboard the Strike Cruiser ‘Resolute’.

‘Where to next, I wonder?’ Stuvant mused.

‘On to Istvaan.’  Argento replied with a smile.

Miniature Pics

Well its about time I posted some photos of my Models, so here you go.

First Up Captain Yvraith Syrakul.

Company Standard Bearer

A Luna Wolf Tactical Marine

A Group Shot

Kalus Ekaddon

Some Work in Progress Pics (From Basecoat upwards)

Scouts (Stages 1-3)

Marines (Stages 2 - 4)

Marine Sergeants (Stage 4)

And something from another Legion

The first glimpses, ever, of WIP Ancient Rylanor of the Emperor's Children.

This next shot shows the difference between the Basecoat colour 
on the Engine Housing

and the Final Shade on the Autocannon Arm.

 Hope you like them.

Y.