Rank & File Month #2
The landing area was secured fast and without difficulties. Despite the chaotic scenario in which the mall... the Imperial Supply Nexus has become an all-against-all brawl, the small arms fire was not enough to slow down an imperial space marine on duty.
However, things started to change when the scout team reached the main office parking lot.
T+001: Squad Ramiel start to push to the command center looking for any resistance survivor and potential info on the sanitary situation that has turned everyone crazy.
-Sgt Damocles: Command, do you hear me? we've found another hot spot, multiple hostiles shooting each other.
They did respond to our first call with indiscriminate fire. We will return fire in absence of clear means of in-te-rro-ga-tion.
<BOOM>
++ several minutes of static and spontaneous burst of bolter fire ++
Sir, they've deployed heavy weaponry from the rooftops and several points from the main objective. We lack proper cover for an advance and our bolter fire is not enough to clear the higher ground.
-Lt. Bahamut: Ramiel hold your position, we're sending squad Zeruel as reinforcements.
T+002: Squad Ramiel join the fight. Behind them, a path of mutilated enemies is left in the roofs. Meanwhile, squad Zeruel restart advances in the parking lot.
++ multiple interefences ++
-Brother Froth: Command, you'll not believe this. Several people, probably members of a gang, have reached the area, storming the outer fence with sector "Cattle and agrarian supplies B-78".
They are followed by a... a flock of sheeps. Sheeps have started to enter the area.
-Lt. Bahamut: Brother Froth, I do not understand. Whats your point with those animals?
-Brother Froth: Sir.. the sheeps. They must be contaminated with that damn virus-thing. Or something funny like that... They're devouring the poor dudes.
-Lt. Bahamut: Pardon?
-Brother Froth: The sheeps. They're eating people.
-Sgt. Damocles: They're too many. We need support, our bolters are not enough to mow down the flesh-eating sheep tide.
-Sgt. Thaw: Brother Perk, continue cleansing the rooftops. We're supporting squad Zeruel.
-Brother Perk: Understood.
Sgt. Thaw and several of his men jump into the parking lot fray. Several giant mutant sheeps are wealding brutal melee weapons. But Thaw is not unprepared, as he wields a humongous eviscerator to rip and tear.
T+003: The assault squad converge in the roof of the main office building. They have located a large skylight just above the enemy heavy weapons.
With the rage of the angels, they descend upon the enemies, storming the main room and massacring everyone there.
-Doctor Rhodes: Don't shoot, don't shoot! I am not armed!
I...I was a research member of the station. I am not with them *points at the pile of meat spreaded accross the room*
-Sgt. Damocles: Who are you? And why did those men attacked us?
-Doc. Rhodes: They were what was left of the security forces. Everything collapsed after the fall of the quarentine areas.
I was refuged in here just because they didn't try to kill me and allowed me to research about this...ongoing situation. Outside everyone was murdering eachother.
-Sgt. Damocles: What the hell is going on in this place?
-Doc. Rhodes: Seems that some kind of illnesses spreaded down there, in the planet... and reached us. Here are the reports we have until now.
We lost contact with most of our cities. The single open channel was with a small town for several days.
Quite strange, we thought they were maybe survivors. They were the only ones sending us messages... but also several materials and cargos. No refugees.
-Sgt. Thawn: Materials? let me see the reports about those flights.
++ Korn, variant E. Received.
++ Korn, variant E. Received...
...
What are those cargos.
Brother Froth: See, here, there is also cheese, tzeechdar type. Tons of this cheese for no reason. And here there is slaa..
Doc. Rhodes: There's no automation in our rural areas. They continued sending products despite the entire planet spiralling to hell.
Sgt. Thawn: Those names... I found them familiar. Are you listening, brother Trent?
Librarian Trent: Hmmm, yes. I am thinking...
Sgt. Thawn: Did not those things in Signus Prime chanted similar nam..
Librarian Trent: AHA. I found a clue. Check the town, Monroeville. It is in the middle of nowhere according my intel info.
Sgt. Thawn: Yes, but the names. Didn't that giant winged red creature shouted som..
-Librarian Trent: Forget about the funny names. Monroeville is a small town surrounded by corn fields, thousand of acres. Small population scattered in a large farm area. No city nearby for thousand miles..
This is similar to several of the ancient scriptures I've recently read from the sage King Stephen of old Terra.
I am confident we should look further there. There is always a misterious town in the middle of nowhere in his omen books.
-Lt. Bahamut:Are you sure, brother Trent?
-Librarian Trent: Completely sure. He depicted the warmaster as the omen of the Crimson King in many of his writtings. A renowned saga.
Probably I could found something about this mistery too. But we must focus our efforts in that place while I study his books.
-Sgt. Thawn: Small rural area is better than nothing if everyone has gone mad down there. Fewer enemies shooting at us. No capital weaponry. Maybe contact with survivors of the resistance.
-Doc. Rhodes:Sorry to interrupt. But the situation in the planet might be... slightly different from here. I captured a pilot that went though the quarantine. He died several days ago. But then, he... he was alive again.
Sure he has become a bit numb and difficult to speak to. Also the patient has developed a hunger for human flesh.
-Sgt. Thawn: Human what?
-Doc. Rhodes: The flesh of the livings. We've plenty of it here with everyone killing each other. So there wasn't problematic anymore that I feeded Bub with spare...
-Sgt. Thawn: HAVE YOU GIVEN IT A NAME? By the holy throne of Terra, this place.
...
- Lt. Commander Lazarus: Enough chattering, rendevouz with landing ship. You're getting out of there. We'll follow brother Trent suspicions.
By the way, that doctor is not getting into my ship. Doctor Copper will dispatch of him and his reanimated friend. Decontamination procedures activated. We will nuke the place from orbit in T+004.
The emperor protects.
What a month. I do not know how I accomplished all the goals in such a few time as I was adding more and more bits to the painting queue.
I intented to add several miniatures and scenics to my pictures but it easily become a derailing side project that threatened to complicate my month.
Afterall, the B-serie movie plot required the addition of an entire flock of sheeps I had in my desk for ages with a fantasy town militia. It was vital, which other terrible enemy would be suitable for an entire imperial space marine assault squad?
Also I had some gang members from Mark Copplestone and a Necromunda scavvy sent recently by a friend of mine that needed to be there somehow. I gave myself an excuse to add him.
Space Antonio Variaçoes and his biker friends reporting in.
It was not possible to have the Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead combined plot and not having the bikers and gang members to shine for a brief minute.
In the end I found a good spot in between what I wanted in this somewhat-side project and completing my marines with the appropiate details.
There was a small trade-off as I couldn't paint several shark faces on the assault marines. But I will probably come back to them latter.
I enjoyed adding the checkers to the jump-packs and chainswords. I found it more enjoyable as they lack the squad back banners to be easily readable in a picture or the tabletop.
With that, another 255 points and 10 marines to the check list.
Stay tuned for next month update, we will have a tank dispatched to the mission in Monroeville for transporting the other tactical squad.
Adrián’s out.
I wasn't expecting sheep! And I don’t want to wait another month to find out what happens next!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I feel like years of reading and watching basically horror garbage has finally paid off!
DeleteYou are not painting an army but a story and this is so great!!!! C'mon!!!
ReplyDeleteWait and see month #4 and #5!
DeleteLOL! Man-eaing sheep! Great report and excellent beakies!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to convert also a mad scientist half-mutant eating sheep from Black Sheep but unfortunately I got not enough time!
DeleteS H E E P S ! 🐑😅 An excellent post - your pictures are brilliant, and the chequers so tiny! 💪👌
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'll post the small tricks that I used to make the sensation they're on roofs.
DeleteI came for the lovely red-orange on those marines but I stayed for the sheep and that lovely Necromunda ganger! This is bonkers. Top marks!
ReplyDeleteThanks mate! I couldn't resist to include the Necromunda ganger. I've another two to go probably the next month?
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