209: Contemptor Dreadnought, tabletop ready

Amazingly, this model seems to be flying through the painting stages.  I'm not sure if its because I'm becoming more accustomed to the paintjob, or if it is because it is only a single model and so despite being a lot bigger, its a lot less to paint that lots of 5 guys.  Either way, I've amazingly managed to get him to ready for tabletop standard in just 2 or 3 painting sessions, which feels pretty great.

208: Squad 5 complete at last

Much more of a record keeping post today, just a picture of the finally finished squad 5, the 3rd 5-man squad completed for One Force.  These guys took part in the defence of Hive Okess as reported last week, dropping in towards the end of the battle to draw off some of the Tyranids letting my commander get to the Hive Tyrant and luckily slay him in single combat.

One thing that game taught me was these squads aren't the most effective in small numbers, so I'll be working to get another 5 painted as soon as possible so that I can start running two squads of 10, rather than 3 of 5 as I am at the moment.

5 painting points!

207: Hive Okess combat status report

+++ PLANETARY STATUS VERIFICATION +++

+++ STATUS:   AMBER +++

+++ SIGNAL PRIORITY: ALPHA +++

+++ TRANSMISSION DATE: 1 425 013 . M3 (FOUNDING) +++

+++ TRANSMISSION RECEIVED: 5 317 013 . M39 (TERRAN) +++

+++           MESSAGE SOURCE: XXXXXXXXXXX(censored)  +++

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:The Emperor's mercy knows no limits.

BEGIN:

My Lords, it is my pleasure to be able to report that the xenos incursion previously reported has been driven into retreat.  The situation was not promising until the last 17 days (terran) when almost overnight the advance appeared to stall and has since been in continuous recession.

Astropathic communion has been suppressed until recent days, suspected due to the presence of a number of Tyranis Zoanthropus genus in the vicinity of Astrophathic Chorus base.  In addition, reports indicated the presence of Tyranis Tyrant and Carnifexis genus as well as numerous smaller specimens of the Hormagaunt, Termagant and Genestealer strains.

Explanation for the sudden change was difficult to ascertain although the following report may shed some light upon its cause.  As we have reclaimed sections of Hive Okess, cleansing them of the xeno's taint, we have been able to collect reports from various hive lurkers and pockets of isolated PDF that were holding out.  Of course, these individuals have also been cleansed of potential taint, welcoming the Emperors mercy.

It is my belief that the intervention of a previously unknown Astrates taskforce may have played a significant role in the repulsion of the Tyranid infestation.  I was unaware of the presence of any Astartes forces within the sub-sector, and your previous reports had suggested that reinforcements were not available.  I include excerpts and transcriptions of testimony obtained (some willingly) from witnesses.

We were outnumbered, there was nothing we could do to stem the tide, we just hoped we could hold out long enough to make a difference.  We'd been repulsing wave after wave of the smaller types, being forced into progressively smaller sub-sections of the hive block.  That was when Trooper Grath started to lose it.  Mumbling about them coming, raving, decrying our chances.  I guess he had something of the taint in him, must have been missed in the screening.  It was a warning although we didn't realise it. Eventually we had to end it for his and our benefit, but it was too late, I guess he'd acted like a beacon, they were coming.

This time it wasn't just the little ones, there were huge creatures, constructs of flesh and shell, like living tanks. Nothing we had could even touch them, let alone have a chance of doing any significant damage.  I rallied the men as best I could, but we knew that was the end.

        -- Sgt. R. Sancar, 4th 

The following are a collection of statements from various troopers, compiled and sorted to an approximation of chronological order:

It was as if they appeared from nowhere, one second we are facing a horde of approaching xeno filth, next second there are marines crashing to the ground all around us and you couldn't hear anything over the whine of the turbines in their jump pack.

They didn't appear like the Astartes you see in the picts and vids, something subtly wrong about them.  It was their armour I think, it just didn't look like the stuff you normally see, I mean, look at this pict I captured, it just looks strange.

Pict capture
(original source has been confiscated and consigned as per standard containment protocol)

There were at least two squads at the start, and some kind of commander, he was definitely directing things.  The all of a sudden, from up on high, thundering cannons from a giant form, much bigger than a standard sentinel.  I have no idea where they came from, they were like ghosts.

206: A little more progress on Squad 5

I was hoping to bring you the completed squad today, but I'm just that little behind schedule.  I've still got squad markings, battle damage and weathering to apply, all very small amounts of paint, but take a heck of a long time.  As such, its a bit of a cheat post today, but all I have to give you is further progress with Squad 5 and the completed highlighting.

The full 5 man squad, with a mix of jump packs and regular packs.  I think the 2nd model from the right has probably my favourite pose so far.

Here you can see a comparison shot of one of the "completed" marines, and next to him is part of the second half of Squad 2 that has simply been base coated.  I picked these two as they have similar poses and weapons which make a good comparison.

Next post I promise to bring you the squad all finished.

I also have a bit of a question.  For a while now I've been thinking of little changes that I would love to trial in games of 40K.  A skirmish version, and some alterations to the allies chart, little variations a bit like the Wulfen I tried to invent before.  Would anyone out there be at all interested in seeing any of it?

Cheers - Andy

205: One Force Squad 5, 5 men almost done (5?)

Yep, that's all the 5's I could think of to fit into that post title.  Nice and apt that its post 205 to post up squad 5 (not the 5th squad as squad numbering is based on armour type), but anyway, 5!

204: Going to Salute 2013

For the second year in a row, I'm off to Salute, the wargaming and miniatures tradeshow run by the South London Warlords.  Last years event was a real eye opener for me, seeing just how many different systems were out there, and discovering entire genres of gaming I hadn't known about until then.  In case you are interested, you can see some of the fantastic miniatures that were to be found in my posts from last year:  Salute1, Salute2 and Salute3.

From my experiences last year, there are a few things that are top of my list for this years Salute.

Freebooters Fate:  I managed to play a game of this last year (a brief summary of which can be found in Salute3), but this year I really want to get to see a lot more of this game.  I'll be spending quite a bit of time around their booth if I can help it, and there's a pretty high chance that if I'm bringing anything home with me from the event, it'll be some kind of starter kit for the game.  Just take a look at some of the models and you'll see why its pretty hard to resist, and the gameplay is a blast.

Anvil Industries:  I've used a lot of their weapons and bases for One Force, and Joel and the team consistently put out some awesome products.  They are also super responsive to suggestions, not too long ago I mentioned it would be cool if their combi-weapon set had holes for magnets so that you can hot-swap the special weapon, and within minutes he'd added it to the design that is now in production!  There's quite a few bits of theirs I really want to get a closer look at to help expand my armies.

Black Library:  Well, why wouldn't you want to.  Last year I didn't really take up the opportunity to talk to the authors, or get anything signed, I think that'll change this time though.  I haven't seen any sign of who will be there,  if anyone knows I'd be very interested.

Forgeworld:  Again, pretty obvious choice, and there's the event only miniatures that I like a heck of a lot more this year.  I may have to place a lock on my wallet if I get close to their stand.

Blight Wheel & Black Scorpion Miniatures:  both companies are producing models that are consistently catching my eye both for their individual merit, and the possibilities of working them into existing forces.  I'm very interested in getting a good close look at what these guys are doing.  I also wish Puppets War were going to Salute, but I'll just have to see if I can find any of their minis at the other vendors booths.

No matter what, I'll have my camera with me, and will be looking out for any of the faces I've met over the last year or so either at Blog Wars or more recently at Throne of Skulls.  If you see the fellow below (probably not in the garish blue and orange top though, nor with the certificate), and you happen to read this blog, then say hello as it'd make my day to meet a reader.

Cheers - Andy

203: Throne of Skulls - The Games

I'm afraid I got absolutely no pictures at Throne of Skulls the week before last, so I can't show you the games or my opponents armies.  I've tried to record brief summaries of the games more for my own records, and as an exercise in retrospection to see what I did right, wrong, and where I could have improved.

I want to start out by saying a very big thank you to all 5 of my opponents, each one was a fantastic person to play against, and I certainly enjoyed having them as opponents and I hope that they all enjoyed the games equally.  They were all very good players and every game was a good stretch for me and at no point was any of the games a walkover.

In the outlines below, all the description of placement is from the point of view of my table edge, I've done my best to give my opponents army lists, but any mistakes are mine from my memory, not from my opponents.  You can see my list in the post from last week.