James WRR’s Rank & File 3: Big iron

 “And lo, on the day of judgement, great tides of flesh of claws and chattering teeth did descend upon the castle man had built.
He dared to scrape the heavens with the glory of plasteel and concrete. 
And the gods punished him by breaking the seal and sending forth his monsters.
Three years of torment followed, and man crawled to the heights of his towers to survive.
Until the Emperor on his throne felt pity, and saw man had repented.
The Emperor sent his angels, clad in burning ceramite and carrying the torches of purification. 
And they did smite the monsters from afar,
driving them forth into the wilderness from whence they came.
But the angel’s wrath was great and their swords sharp.
The tower that man had built was reduced to rubble,
a reminder to all the price of pride.”

• Canto 6 of the Great Book of Helvellin

_______________________________

Hello again, Imperial Citizens,

This month, I bring to you the very long arm of the law: a Grey Knights Devastator Squad. 

Devastator Squad Apollo

When I’d first picked up my little horde of RTB-01 Marines for this project I found myself in a bit of a conundrum. Would I just paint a couple Tactical Squads, as they were mostly all armed with Bolters? No, that would have been too repetitive and boring. Would I make one an Assault Squad? Hmm, tempting, but a full squads’ worth of authentic metal jump packs and weapons would run me well into the three figures. 

The answer hit my square in the jaw when I found a lot going for a set of Beamer-armed metal marines. Right, that’s it, I thought. Devastators!

Rogue Trader Space Marine squads had some strange restrictions on heavy weapons. For example, you couldn’t just pick and choose a medley of guns, you basically had two lots of two different weapons for each Devastator squad (Missile Launchers and Heavy Bolters, normally), which could be swapped out entirely for another set. For Grey Knights Devastators, one of the options to replace Missile Launchers were Conversion Beamers — one of the most insane weapons in 40k history.

What do you mean it’s a laser beam that turns matter into pure energy and becomes more powerful the further it travels? The Tech-Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus were really smoking something strong that day. 

Heavy weapons specialists

And so, by picking up a couple Heavy Bolters and tacking them onto two of the previously Beamer-armed Devastators, I was able to create a full, functional squad of these heavy weapon freaks for the first time in my decades-long Warhammer career. Now to aim them at something.

I’ve always found this older style of heavy weapons a bit goofy. How the hell does a human being, even if they are a Space Marine, fire mobile ordnance that size with one hand, from the shoulder?

Logic be damned, the sculptors of the day were clearly embracing the rule of cool, and gave us a wide array of incredibly wacky weapons as a result. Most of these proved so iconic, they’re still with us today. Though you probably won’t see Space Marines in 11th edition rocking Webbers…

In terms of painting these guys, there’s nothing particularly interesting to add this month. I was inspired by the inimitable Curis of Ninja Bread for the Conversion Beamers, interpreting the little hollows around the edge of the weapon’s… ahem… bulbous head as little lenses. I imagine they must channel the destruction energy towards a single point, sort of like how the Death Star powers up.

Danger: Do not look directly into light.

The rest of the Marines in the squad, including the Sergeant, were painted in exactly the same way as my Tactical Squad, with a healthy smattering of checks, flames and saucy slogans. I had a lot of fun painting the big ol’ eyeball on one of the bases, and playing with different skin tones as well. I promise there’ll be some slightly more varied models to come next month…

But I’m proud to have built and finished this unit. With two squads of Marines on the table, a bit of armour and at least one character, this is really starting to feel like an army.

Slaughter of the daemons on the planet Helvellin

And remember everyone, as a certain Chapter Master of the Blood Ravens would say, “walk softly… and carry a big gun.”

_______________________________

Army list as of March

Techmarine Tarantus
Techmarine
Basic equipment
Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle
97 points

Brother Bethor
Deredeo Dreadnought
Missile Launcher, Heavy Plasma Gun
Standard Sensor Package, 2 Power Fields, Power Field Synchroniser
270 points

Squad Heliod
Tactical Squad
Sergeant with Bolt Gun, Bioscanner and Power Glove
1 Marine with Missile Launcher
1 Marine with Flamer

7 Marines with Bolt Guns
275 points

Bright Sword
Rhino APC with Techmarine Pilot, assigned to Squad Heliod
2 Bolt Guns
387 points

Squad Apollo
Devastator Squad
Sergeant with Bolt Gun
2 Marines with Beamers
2 Marines with Heavy Bolters

5 Marines with Bolt Guns
379 points

Adrian's Blood Angels Wrap-Up post - And cut!

Challenge Wrap-Up

Finally, I can say that my fourth OWAC is done. Yay!

This year started pretty good, but maybe I got a bit carried out with the extras. I would have love to have more time in the last months, both for giving time for checking other entries and commenting (no worries, I've seen all your post now that I have less convoluted time, they're amazing and now I've been pushed into blood bowl madness myself!) and for putting the same amount of love to the pictures as in my first month.

Believe it or not, I had to left out some planned pictures and gags from the orignal script! There was even more foolinesh behind scenes that didn't get to be posted. 

Maybe I would need to write a campaign some day that includes all the scenes and the enemy profiles, even the ones that were left unpainted like the duke nukem's pig cops (yeah, remember the ones that disappeared in Monroeville? they'd have been shown in all their mutated glory)

Now, lets roll the credits and all the actors:

That's 2772 points of Rogue Trader godness, in the shape of 48 cool models, including 3 tanks.

And who knows how many points in current Horus Heresy. I want to get the opportunity to play in an event and see the faces when I start deploying this bad boys and several others I plan to convert in the future.

Last, but not least, for the moment I think I will try another OWAC despite it seems that next year will be also another... interesting spring.

I need to keep things simple if I want to participate and enjoy it. Another important thing to consider is that I may not start a project that I do not previously own or require large purchases. Instead, selecting something that is ready to be painted from my collections and reduce the pile of unpainted things. As my main dwarf army needs some rare purchases, and the orcs need an entire Ruglud squad, that disqualifies them for now.

I forgot until now that I had an old dragon that I would love to paint and several gems purchased from old middlehammer lots. So I probably will count the amount of elves I had laying around and get something interesting out of it.

That's it folks

+ AND CUT!

...

George, my man, that was amazing. I cannot wait to see the script for Blood Omen 2.

-Well, I think that we will need even more zombies. So far, I can only give you in advance that the ship will pursue doctor Vile up to a misterious space hulk. I am thinking about terrorific aliens, and terminators shooting unnumbered horrors. And probably Fabious is aided by one of the last orks after Ullanor, a mischievous painboy known as... the Reanimatork!

Until next challenge

Adrián’s out.

Adrian's June Troop Month - Come Get Some (313 points)

Troop Month

T+042: The Blood Omen has detected strong warp energy signals from the area of the Word Bearers secret compound.

The radiation is dangerously high but not as high as recorded in the Signus campaign.

Lt. Commander Lazarus has to make a fast and dired decission, either evacuate the planet or be stead fast and continue pushing through the outer defences.

-Lt. Bahamut: We cannot stop the sorceror, he's throwing at us every horror we had faced before in this system. This may become another Signus. He's protected by his powers.

-Chaplain Giteau: I may have found a way to defeat him.

-Lt. Bahamut: What it may..

[BLAAM]

-Chaplain Giteau: Sorcerors are usually weak to overwhelming amounts of firepower.

T+043: The support squad rains death in the form of melta, superkrak and antiplant missiles. The inner defences starts to break to the continous punishment of the tanks and the devastator squad.

However, the hordes of killing tomatoes, zombies from the city and the lab personnel and the warp entities spawned from the dark rituals.

-Lt. Comm. Lazarus: We cannot stop here. Tell the Blood Omen to start an orbital bombardment. We also need deployment code "Extremis"

-Librarian Trent: Sir, do we need the brother moritat, the Doom marine? Or the terminators? They're still in reserve, but the armours are not repaired to optimal levels.

-Lt. Comm. Lazarus: No, we need the Duke marine and his Angels Tears. Zone Alpha. Right above the laboratory. Every creation from that Fabius guy must be exterminated before cleansing with nuclear fire.

T+044: [Communication intercepted]

...

[Word Bearer #1] We have interference in our sacred chants, are the Emperor Children playing that Black Sabbath classical music on our channels?

[Word Bearer #2] No, this is not any of our signa..

-Duke: I've come here to chew bubble and kick ass...

...and I'm all out of gum.

[EXTREME GUN NOISES AND SCREAMS]

 

[The inner defences finally break, hordes of creatures flood the compound joining the onslaught]

The Angel Tears annihilate the hordes of creatures in a tight combat making holes in the mass with their rad weaponry and multiple rays, chem-flame and bolt pistols.

-Duke: Guess again, freak show. I'm coming back to town, and the last thing that's gonna go through your mind before you die... is my size-13 boot!

- Lt. Bahamut: Mission command to Destroyer Operative. Is the main objective terminated?

-Duke: That Bile guy has run with the other pinky princesses in orbit. At least his friends rest in pieces.

 

-Lt. Comm. Lazarus: That's enough Duke. Rendevouz with your squad and prepare the rad-bombs. Everyone in this frequency, evacuate the compound. When close-quarter esterilization is complete, we're nuking this sector from orbit.

I think it will be difficult to replicate this mess on Earth. Blod Omen, search and destroy protocol, we should locate that Emperor Children ship and assure that there are no samples of the different experimental viruses.

 

Sixth and last month. The army is finally complete. I was playing safe because I knew it would be difficult to end the challenge with a meeting, several work trips and a moving.

No more extras. Heck, I added a ton of extras in the past months.

In the end, speed painting these guys didn't mean to reduce the overall quality.

They're the special units but lacks some of the small leather details which makes them easier to paint.

And I ended achieving the freehands I had in mind when I started designing the squad. So objective accomplished. The Angel Tears/veteran assault squad combo results were pretty fun to paint and the results are pretty good for what I thought that would be a dissapointing month.

Now for a recap and some mumbling about the possible future OWAC project.

Adrián’s out.

Adrian's Intro post - Blood Omen

Intro post

Adrian here, reporting in for another OWAC. 

This year I’ve finally fallen into another rabbit hole, succumbing to the desires of getting a small Rogue Trader force. But we are not only getting into the ancient times of 80’s punk and gritty Warhammer 40k, this year we will also descend into a RT-esque vision of the Horus Heresy.
I had a squad and a half worth of old metal, plastic and resin 'armour-through-ages' marines that I didn’t knew what to do with them. 

I was tempted to go full RT several times, but another 40k army that will be seldomly played… nah, pass it. Then, come HH and beakies are the new black again. I was talking to a friend on how could be the most heretical way that you can get into the Age of Darkness. So why not
A force that can be fielded in both games is not so different for the RT era style and lists. Also, for the OWAC I am limited mostly to the usual marine units, but in my evil masterplan I will expand it toward several of the heresy units that came after old RT artwork, WD conversions and 1st edition of Space Marine.

Now with the background:
0.067.011.M31. Following the arrival of messages from Terra seeking help from remaining loyalist armies across the Imperium, the Imperium Secundus is disbanded and the three Primarch start a campaign to arrive at Terra and reinforce the crown world.
Primarch Sanguinius of the Blood Angels legion prefer a fast approach to the Solar System like his brother Roboute Guilliman. However, while disagreeing with the punishment campaign that will execute his brother Lion El’Johnson, Sanguinius conceded that some sort of sabotage and scorched-earth strategy will be beneficial to relief the besieged terran fortifications when the warmaster forces arrive.
Several small task forces are dispatched to ensure that main supply lines behind traitor lines are disrupted. Several legion high ranking officers hope that this will also ease reinforcement to the also besieged Baal system in the near future if Terra is safe.
Lieutenant commander Lazarus of the 24th Chapter of the Blood Angels is responsible to conduct a campaign of scorched earth in the Calla Bryn sub-sector. His forces are not tasked with getting non-imperial planets into compliance anymore. Instead, any shipyard, supply warehouse, industrial complex or vital location must be annihilated no matter the cost.
The strike force achieved remarkable results in their mission until they encounter a signal of a Emperor’s Children cruiser nearby its next objective, a supply node and agricultural world in the Romeria system.
+++
T-251: Assault on Blaine’s Crane forge world is successful. Several units may undergo repairing and the force couldn’t deploy terminator armours and the heaviest armoured elements in the next mission. Agricultural world in the Romeria system node is marked as the main objective, high command is not worried that the heavy armour will be missed in this easy task. The system is under control of a small Word Bearer garrison and the local forces.
T-199: Arrival at Romeria system seems calm and without major problems. However, ship survey arrays detect a ship with the codes of the Emperor’s Children signature heading towards Romeria IV moon, Uneeda, the secondary objective and starting point of a local rebellion.
T-097: Lexicanum Trent, main librarian of the expedition, get up uneasy from his hyper-sleep with a fatal vision of madness, civilians killing each other, mutants, cultists, undeads and dark rituals. Several signs are familiar and start to rewatch several of his older B-type holo-movies to get informed about the menace of dark forces and the menace of possible reinvigorated corpses.
T-037: Resistance operatives on the moon are not responding. There is no further signs of the traitor forces either. The mission was specifically assisting loyalist freedom-fighters rebelling against the traitor government, destroy any element of the World Bearers and leave the logistic node in total disarray.
World communications give only statics or a cacophony of screams sometimes. Something feels odd for such a massive and busy food supply node in the enemy territory.

 

The Encarmine, firestorm class strike cruiser, approaching to Romeria IV and its moon.

Lieutenant Commander Lazarus gave the order to be battle ready and check all the available supplies. The marines will be deployed in 36 hours to investigate the moon and accomplish plan B: destroy the logistic capabilities of the system with or without the aid of local forces.

For this trip into the galactic civil war, I used the Space Marine Rogue Trader list. It was a matter of selecting points only, as either if I chose the RT or 2nd Edition lists there are several small deviations I need to consider for creating a force that can be played also in current Horus Heresy 2.0, and all the monthly requirements of miniatures and points are covered with both of them.

Tactical Squad Ramiel – 265 points

As you can see, the small changes are in the special and heavy weapons department. It seems that in the Horus Heresy no fun was allowed for the rank-and-file marine, and everyone should carry the standard pattern good ol’ bolter. I am using the points as per a normal squad because they will be rebalanced with the heavy support.

Tactical Squad Ismail – 265 points.

Same profile. These men haven’t got enough of the newly issued MKVI “beaky” power armours and wear older pattens. The sergeant has a power glove (converted lightning claw).

Assault Squad Zeruel – 255 points

It has been a pain in the *ss to clone all the chainswords because at that time they didn’t come with them, and getting enough rt assault weapon sprues is an impossible mission. This process adds an extra layer to the hate and love for the beakies. You hate assembling them, you love the resulting goofy looks. In this case I haven’t modelled the plasma or flamer pistols not because you cannot play them also in the HH. But because I was lazy after getting all the chainswords (in the picture there are two missings because they were still curing!) and didn’t want to clone those two weapons, but I am still deciding.

Devastator Combat Squad Gabriel – 165 points

A 5 man devastator unit. This is the other difference between HH and all the other versions of Warhammer since the 80’s. These marines follow the rule: “All the fun is allowed”. So, the sergeants also carry a heavy weapon (not shown in picture, still curing).

It simplifies giving orders in the middle of a futuristic battlefield, “nuke the same place I am shooting”.

The Angel’s Tears combat squad – 148 points.

When missions do not involve world compliance to the Empire, you need to deploy weapons of mass destruction instead of the police squads. Sanguinius has an elite cadre for this sole purpose, made from the most unruly and brutal elements, dishonoured men carrying dishonourable weapons. They abandon their previous ranks and names, but the Arch-Erelim of the squad tasked to Lazarus strike force is said to come from the Flesh Eater chapter ranks within the Legion and his past codename is simply as Duke.

Count as 5 man veteran assault marines, armed with a bunch of bolt pistols, death rays, disintegrators and flame pistols. But their trademark is the ill-famous Rad grenades.

Fun to convert, I wanted to match this special Blood Angel HH unit with the goofy aesthetic of the RT era. I am more than pleased, wanting to paint them now.

The strike force also brings some even heavier firepower.

Two transport rhinos – 746 points

The reparation of the flimsy lateral rails with a bit of aluminium wire has been better than initially expected.

Predator tank “Fire Sabre” – 600 points

And finally, the legion command designated for the strike force.

Lieutenant Commander Lazarus of the 23rd Chapter of the Blood Angel legion. Major hero with standard equipment - 115 points. 

Lovely miniature.

Lieutenant Bahamut. Minor hero with standard equipment - 69 points
Typical power sword wearing marine

Lexicanum Trent with force sword - 58 points.
The representative of the reinstated librarium and specialist in psychic warfare. As well as avid consumer of B-type ancient holoprojections and literature.

Brother chaplain Giteau. Minor hero - 50 points.

Field Medic dr. Copper, equipped with jump pack – 36 points.

 

That is a total of 2772 points (thinks skyrocket when you have tanks!), with 45 marines and 3 tanks deployed.

There are also some small scenic elements that will go to the wildcard month as well as some of the tanks.

A mysterious farmhouse I'm working on where some of the action may take place. What was that noise?

Several fortifications. Totally normal for a farmand and nothing suspicious that can point towards a secret laboratory in the middle of nowhere.

The Overlord Offering:

A mysterious figure has been walking by at several places of Romeria IV, spotted just before the visions of horror in the dreams of Lexicanum Trent.
This figure is only known as "The Director".

Our beloved overlord stated that he “LOVES horror and things that go bump in the night, be it in a cemetary or an old derelict spaceship”. You don’t have to choose if its ok for a cemetery or spaceship when none other than George A. Romero himself appear against your party. And you know that things will go really, really bad for your group in any possible scenario.

Let see how this weird, B-rated, OWAC production loosely based on the Horus Heresy ends.
See you in the first month!

Adrián’s out.