2013: A year in review

Roll that D6

Hello everyone,

This will be the last blog post for 2013. Hopefully i'll find 2014 to allow me more time to show off my work as well Renegade09s Necron and Pwnzilla's Imperial Guard. First off, Im proud to say that 2013 has not only seen me complete many wargaming related goals but also a life goal as well. I recently graduated from university and earned my degree. Back when i started this blog, i had just started in on my university career. Now looking back over those early days, i have to say that this blog has matured as have I. So without further delay, Heres a look into what hopefully 2014 will bring....

First off, I have ordered a new games-workshop carrying case for my Tanith first and only models. Having ordered Victoria lambs "Camo-cloaks" I am on what feels like the home stretch of this "Ghost Division" army composed of Tanith, Phantine and Padrus. I meant to do a review on Victoria Lambs models and cloaks which i might still do in 2014 but ran out of time with the holiday season.

credit goes to GW for the photo

Second, I want to tantalize you readers by promising there will be many new additions to this blog in 2014. I have planned at least 2-3 Forge World projects and a whole new min guard force as well as a additional new army! Also I will be adding in my Warmachine Menoth army to this blog as well as any other war games or table top games i might pick up. With the addition of a new Necron tomb and Imperial Guard army being built im sure 2014 will turn out to be a very active year.

Third, what end of the year post would be complete without a top models ideal of 2013. This part would be the hardest for me. This list is only my top 3 but i encourage readers to comment on their top picks. So without further ado here is my top 3:

1. Trooper "Melta bomb Tom" as i call him. I wrote this character a short story back in September naming him with his proper tanith name and have since redone him with another head to show off his features.  New pics of him and more to come in the new year....

Iron Belle

2. My Chimera "Iron Belle", having never owned a chimera before this project was a fun time. I truly enjoyed painting this beauty.

Glory Hound

3. Third would have to be my Phantine Skyborne models that I have been working on. Many of them are modified Elysians from Forge world. My top shot however would have to be the "Glory Hound", a Valkyrie i painted from my friend Kato_Sniper after he sold me his Imperial Guard army earlier this year..



Now before this year closes out i leave you with a few pictures never before seen on here. These pictures are the humble beginnings i posted back on 40konline in 2009 before i had started this blog. Little did i know that four years later my Imperial Guard army would be 2000+ points strong and my favorite army i've built. Back then, i was a bloodied but still wet around the ears war gamer.

Concept from Dakka Dakka

my humble beginnings

 I hope that you all have had a great 2013 and a even better 2014 to come. At this time i wish to thank you all for reading my blog and supporting me to continue my work. If you like what you see please become a follower of this blog as it gives me encouragement to continue on knowing people are reading and watching. Also leave a comment or just say hello. Every little bit helps. :)

 As this year comes to a end, I can only say, keep rolling those dice and may the odds be ever in your favor. Till next year.....

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Battle Report: Death at Hive Spartacus

Hello everyone!
      Today we're going to feature some exciting front lines new from the Ventra Majoris Campaign.  My Detachment D-44 has deployed to the front lines of the Dragon System on the Imperial Hive World of Hera. Up for grabs is the Hive of Spartacus, one of the major hives on the northern part of the world.  Pwnzilla's own Imperial Guard have also deployed here against the threat of Overlord Osiris and his tomb.

We played a 1000 point match of IG vs Necrons:

Right Side of the Table

Before the game started I took a few screen shots of my completed models that i thought i might be fielding for the day (came out to 1500). Instead we reduced the points and choose to do a 1000 instead. Seen here is my army on parade before they were shipped off to their war zone.

Left Side of the Table

When the time came i was able to get a table and we started the match. Deployment took a while but he decided to let me have first turn and deploy first. Sneaky Necron.

Deployment

Turn 1 saw my ratlings fire into the squad hidden in the middle building claiming first blood. The chimera rolled up and fired at his necrons on the left flank. My Russ tank fired a shell into the building but failed to kill anything. Guardsmen move up to take a firing position into the necron forces.

His turn 1 saw the necron move up. Multiple turns of fire saw a few guardsmen die and the tanks removed a few hull points from the gauss fire. Obyron deep striked into my backfield behind the 30 man strong platoon. Now i was in trouble!  Still it was anyone's game.

Turn 2 saw my ratlings fire against into his squad hiding in the building. Some good hits but not enough damage to cause him to flee. 30 guardsmen opened fire into Obyron killing a few of his lynchguard but not enough to force him to flee. My chimera and russ fire into the enemy again but fail to do much.

His turn 2 saw a major swing in the battle as he blew up my chimera and my russ tank. The necron warriors moved up and unleashed into my veterans that were hiding in the chimera. Obyron and his lynchguard killed my lord commissar gaining slay the warlord. Now i was in trouble.

Turn 2 (Bottom)

Turn 3 saw me fire my vets into his advancing warriors while trying to hold onto the left point. my ratlings were able to fire a few more shots but did little. The right side platoon of 20 shot up a few warriors advancing upon the middle point.  Assault phase saw Obyron slay 10 guardsmen.

His turn 3 saw the necrons warriors on both sides of the table advance. The left side unleashed a volume of fire into my vets. The right side fired at my ratlings killing them. Still it looked very bad for my guard.

Turn 4 another volume of fire into the advancing necron sees little damage done. My dice were failing me. Close combat sees Obyron slay a few more guardsmen

His turn 4 sees the last Lynchguard go down. He teleports Obyron out of assault and marches his necron up the field slaying my vets and claiming the left objective.

Turn 4 (bottom)

Turn 5. The critical turn. My guardsmen move, run and sprint up the field to claim the center and left objective contesting the left and holding the center. Now all i had to do was not die....guard? who was i kidding :P

His turn 5 saw him run up the field with his necron on the left gunning down my guardsmen contesting the left point claiming it. His middle fired into my guardsmen holding the center killing one but also contesting the center. The score was now 1 held by necron, 1 contested.

We rolled for turn 6 and got a 1! game over  Necron win!

After actions review:  Darn it! not the way i wanted that match to go. I felt that a few critical moves could have helped me mid game but still Renegade09 is a great player. The deep striking of Obyron and learning that Gauss weapons insta-kill guardsmen meant that i felt cover would become center to fighting against his force. A lesson i held to in the next game we played (non campaign) just last week at 500 points. A stunning return for the guard, but that is a story for another time.

Till next time keep rolling those dice and may the odds be ever in your favor!

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Dramatis Personae: Inside the Inquisition

Imperial Guard Officer 39188: 40th Corp, [Assigned to Detachment D-44] Captain Jonus Remaus. Phantine Skyborne [On assignment to Inquisitor Umarus]......Would you like to search this personal service record?......Thank you........ ERROR: files locked by order of the Inquisition....Data terminal now shutting down....

The Captain and his sword "Liberus"

The world of Phantine, a planet in the Sabbat Worlds and the lead planet in the Gaunt's Ghost novel "Guns of Tanith". I started my 40k adventure reading about the Phantine Airborne from the novel "Double Eagle" and soon read about the Skyborne as well. The world of Phantine was unlike any I had encountered in the lore. With cities rising high above the poisonous Scald, every day was another day to fight to survive on a planet torn apart by industrialization. This is where my first characters for Dark Heresy Litilus Remaus and his brother Jonus Remaus come in.

Captain Jonus Remaus served with distinguished service over the course of not only the Ventra Majoris Campaign (Detachment D-44) but also the Assault on Distilleri chasing the traitor general O'Rum across the imperium into Tau space (40th Corp). Currently he has been redeployed to Ventra Majoris for the Second Campaign in the Drogan system

Clarke on his horse 

Here is another member of Inquisitor Umarus's acolytes Kriegmen #353663 Also known as "Clarke". Once a member of the 68th Krieg, Clarke was taken in by the inquisitor to become one of his personal members within the acolytes. When the bombardment of Haven happened and the 68th Krieg was struck from the record, Clarke swore his loyalty to Umarus and the imperium vowing to track down and destory the enemies of mankind. His early history with Assassin Doran and Tech Priest Litilus had been ambushed marked on the world of Hydraphur in the Segmentum Pacificus. Clarke and his unit had been asked to shadow the two young acolytes. After a failed gang ambush of his newest acolytes, the unit had been requisitioned by Umarus for the rest of the hunt to track down a rouge assassin by the name of Julius.

Another view of Clarke

After that action the Acolytes had all been separated. Jonus had returned to the 40th Corp and the others had been sent on classified missions.  Clarke and his unit had taken over the majority of the work for Umarus as his personal bodyguard. It wasn't until the actions on the world of Haven had been set into motion that the true power of the inquisition had been shown to Clarke. Watching his unit die beneath the guns of the Inquisitional fleet, Clarke felt himself torn between loyalty to the Imperium and the Krieg now dying below him. What happened to Clarke during this time is unknown but to Umarus but mysterious events aboard his personal starship were locked away under his orders. Even the current members of Umarus's acolytes know not to discuss Clarke.

Amongst the crew it is whispered that Clarke had tried to assassinate the Inquisitor. Other rumors suggested something far deeper than just a personal vendetta had taken place. Whatever the true case might be, Clarke and his unit haven't been seen since the early days after the purging of Haven. What is known is that whatever the fate of the former acolyte, Umarus has been unwilling to share the details..........

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Battle Report: Massacre at Squat Alley

Today marks a important goal in my Guard army. I have finally finished painting all my Gaunt's Ghost.

(Nov 10th, 2013). So now the question is, where do i go from here? For now I think i'm going to take a well deserved rest before jumping back into the fray of cloaking 100+ models with green stuff. This achievement is no small feat but i'm proud of the work that has been accomplished. Hopefully i'll get back to a true update soon.

Renegade09 and Pwnzilla678 have also joined the site and will be contributing their own forces of Necron lead by Phearon Osiris and The Vostroyan 47th led by Colonel Ivan. We have all joined the Dakka Dakka World Wide Campaign II located in the Dragon System of the Ventra Majoris Sub-Sector. Hopefully in the coming weeks you'll hear from them about their own forces too!

Today though, we turn to another BATTLE REPORT! This battle was one that was fought earlier this year between Renegade09, Pwnzilla678 and myself. We were playing our own version of Kill Team with one (1) troop choice and one (1) Hq unit. No specialist were taken.  this 3 way free for all was aiming to capture the vital uplink station in the center of the alley.

The Alley

The forces consisted of,
Imperial Guard: 1 veteran squad and 1 Lord Commissar
Squats (count as IG): 1 Veteran squad and 1 Lord Commissar
Tau: Crisis Battlesuit and one 12 man squad of Tau

The Tau took the early lead and held the objective quickly while splitting their forces into 2 6 man squads to attack both the Squats and the Imperial Guardsmen coming from the bottom left and bottom right of the above picture. The Tau with their range were able to kill 3 guardsmen and 2 Squats.  The battlesuit commander sniped at the Lord Commissar of my Imperial Guard (Inquisitor count as) but missed.

The guard move up but fail to kill but 1 tau, meanwhile the Squats moved up and shot a well placed volley into the tau 6 man squad that was holding the upper left hillside. However the Tau failed to run and the Squats were forced to suffer another round of shooting.

Turn 2 sees more of the same, with the Warlord for the Squats being slayed and the Tau suffering more casualties. Amazingly they hold. The guard move up and run to get into a better cover.

By Turn 3 the game was starting to shift, the Tau were suffering casualties but had yet to give up the objective having obtain First Blood and Slay The Warlord on the Squats. My guard meanwhile were fighting uphill on the bottom right of the Alley to try to get a advantage of high on the Tau. Brave Phantine Guardsmen were both killed and wounded including Captain Jonus Remaus who was wounded in action. Finally after the guard was able to capture the top of the hill, they suffered more battlesuit commander fire killing the Inquisitor (Slay the warlord for the Tau player again).

By Turn 4, the game had whole shifted, the tau were able to slay a few more guardsmen and squats. However the Squats assaulted into the tau causing them to be locked in CQB.Also important was the killing off of the back tau line now reduced in order for the squats to move up unopposed. With their fire warriors locked in combat in the back field and the guard moving up, doom loomed for the Tau. The saving grace was the battlesuit commander who took the fight to the guard bringing them down below half. They saved on their Ld test and held. The commander jumped back into the alley to hide. The guard move up laying down a cover fire into the tau in the alley. Only a few tau are killed but the dice rolled in his favor.

By Turn 5 the game was all but over. The tau were definitely going to win but the squats were not willing to let the Tau commander get away with this massacre.  Seen here is the lone squat warrior left of his brotherhood attacking the tau commander on the bottom of 4. He has just passed both his saves. (A picture worthy moment indeed). In turn 5 he would be killed off, thus earning the name of this battle report. My own guardsmen were able to make a last minute rush to the objective but were shot off the objective by tau overwatch when i was forced to assault to move them off the objective.

VICTORY GOES TO Renegade09 and the Tau!

Shas'O J kaa Por" Mirror water" goes head to head against the Squat Warrior

I hope you all enjoyed this battle report. I meant to get it up sooner but its been a hectic semester of school. Keep Checking back and if you like what you see, Please Subscribe. In the coming weeks we will see the rise of the Necron and the founding of a new Regiment. Stay Tuned! 

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Product Review: West Wind Productions Pict Heads

           So today i'm going to try something new. A product review! In order to complete my Tanith and add some variety into my army, i've taken the plunge and bought 40 West Wind Pict Head. (20 hooded and 20 normal)

Heads from West Wind

How they look compared to the standard cadian head. Overall there isn't very much of a difference noticeable to the naked eye.  While the cadian is slightly on the heroic scale side, the West wind appears to be close enough to fit into the non-heroic 28mm model. I'm not exactly sure if I am correct on the scale but i don't think they will be noticed much on the battlefield anyway.The added cloaks really add detail to the model and i found the cast to be fairly perfect for what i wanted out of my Tanith. Overall I would highly recommend West Wind Productions for their work. Money well spent! I'm honestly tempted to put in a second order already. ;) Hopefully i'll be able to get one of these painted up today and see how they look fully done. 

West Wind Productions head on left vs a standard GW cadian on Right.

Also in the works lately is my Forge World auto cannon chimera. I decided to add her to my army as a ride for my Phantine Vets. Her name will be "Iron Belle". Overall the paint scheme is following my Pardus 8th armored force. This beauty was a Ebay rescue job. When I first got her she had obviously been stripped and ignored. The model begged to be painted and I was more than willing since this was my first time painting a chimera APC tank.  At first I wasn't sure if i wanted to paint it in Inquisitional colors, Pardus colors or another plan paint scheme. In the end my friend Renegade09 decided that it would look best matching the Pardus armor force. I think i agree with his choice.

"Iron Belle"

Another problem that I've found lately is the number of troopers i'm painting and getting ready to cloak for my army. After taking some time out of my day, I found that the following is true at this moment for my painted army:
                                                               Tanith: 49
                                                               Verghast: 39
                                                                Belladon: ?
Im still unsure at the moment if i should add Belladon into my army. I wasnt going to originally but now the idea is becoming tempting. Im sure i'll figure something out soon enough.

Verghast on Left, Tanith on Right

Till next time, Keep rolling those dice and may the odds be ever in your favor......

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Tanks Leading the Way!

"They are the Panzer elite! Born To Complete! Never Retreat! Ghost Division" - Sabaton ""Ghost Division"

The Art of War Album

                  Today I'm wanting to show off some of the work I've done since my last update. Having completed a goal i set out for myself in 2010 I finished painting up the first of my tank squadrons. The third tank has not yet arrived but the first two have been finished. Back then the goal was three fold. First I wanted to get a good urban color scheme. Second, I wanted to pay homage to their earlier use by my friend in his Grey Knights army. Third, I wanted to make these tanks stand out on their own as Pardus tanks. The Pardus 8th Armored was the first tank regiment i read about in Warhammer 40k.  

Today I would like to show you my newest tanks, "King Lion" captained by Captain Le Guin from the "Gaunt's Ghost" novels and "War Horse".

"King Lion:"with Captain Le Guin in command. Seen on the side is the Ventra Majoris
campaign badge in which this unit served.

"King Lion" and "War Horse"

    Progress has also been made on the line infantry front as well. Many of my troopers have been stripped in LA's Totally Awesome (highly recommended) and given a new life as Tanith and Phantine. A few troopers have stood out in this rebuilding. Especially my favorite of the line infantry for the moment, a trooper i call "Melta bomb Tom". While this isn't exactly a Tanith-y name and yes he will be given a real name that sounds Tanith, the back-story i have written for him is worth the short read.

The man himself.

Lasgun fire raged over Trooper Vaughan Merfyn Ó Corraidhín's head. Next to him, a fellow Verghast trooper who had been hit by a Blood pact troopers las round fell. Ó Corraidhin then heard the call coming over the vox from the sergeant that every infantry man feared. "Holy Feth! Tank!" Ó Corraidhin looked over from behind his cover. Sure enough, the enemy was rolling in the tanks they were producing from one of the captured Forge Words. Grabbing a melta bomb from the dead Verghast trooper body, Ó Corraidhin with the remainder of his squad stalked into a back alley and pulled their camo cloaks over them. After what seemed multiple lifetimes, they heard the tank rumble by. The Blood Pact gunners face scanning the horizon for the Imperial lines ignored them. Perhaps a large blessing from the Emperor himself. Ó Corraidhin primed the melta bomb and swinging it in his hand threw it into one of the treads while saying a prayer to the Emperor for guidance. The bomb stuck in the treads, and the squad was rewarded with a blinding explosion. Behind the Tanks approach had been several archenemy troopers. Now halted, they searched for the source of the melta bomb. Throwing his cloak back over himself, he rejoined the rest of the squad and continued their patrol into enemy territory.  

   Besides working on my Imperial Guard, I've also been introduced to the world of paper craft by my friend Renegade09. Yesterday, we sat down, ate some bitch'n Mexican fast food (tacos and burritos! Yum!) while building some terrain for both Heavy Gear and Warhammer 40k. We also assembled some of the ruin terrian from the old Imperial Guard battle force lent to us by another mutual friend of ours Pwnzilla067. Overall, The terrain came out amazing and i got to learn some new arts and crafts skills. Renegade printed me off at least 2 more buildings plus paper cover so once i have free time we should have a kick ass table top game. Here are the pictures with Pwnzilla's old Imperial Guard models for scale.

The garage is held. FOR THE EMPEROR!

Old Imperial Guard terrain from the Battle force with Forge World Resin barrier 

Till next time, stay victorious my friends and may the dice be ever in your favor!......

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From the Skys........

Happy 4th of July to all my American Readers.

It seems todays update is only appropriate to be about things falling from the sky. In this instance my own Phantine of my Detachment D-44 and a part of the 44th Phantine Skyborne.


Update for the Phantine Side of things:


Early out of date pic. This picture was of Captain Remaus before his promotion during the Distilleri campaign.

Forge world Elysian models in the resin. I’m planning on eventually running enough of these guys for a small task for of Phantine Skyborne Troopers. Originally I wanted to replace the helmets to look

Prototype of concept.

And I could do it too by using the pilot heads from the Valkyries, except for the fact that i would need to buy:

A. More Valkyries for my skyborne and the helmets.

B. Replace said helmets with cadian heads to give the pilots heads.

C. I would only get enough pilot heads for 1 squad at most or 2 if i used the gunner’s heads too. I tried this concept with these guys and I kept them but I think I'll use them as inquisitional storm troopers assigned to my detachment.

original concept

So I emailed Dan Abnett and asked for how to get them right for a true Phantine Skyborne trooper. It’s true, Mr. Abnett does respond to his own mail and VERY fast. I got this within 24 hours.



Hello

I think they look very much like WW2 aircrew crossed with paratroopers, with the jump-packs being "jet pack" type units about the size and shape (and appearance) of an un-deployed parachute.

Any help?

Dan



This has leaded me to rethink the whole modern design. I start looking back into new ideas. I decided the Elysian’s would be the way to go in the end. Not only to distant themselves from the Tanith but to stand out on the table as one of my FAVORITE regiments in 40k.

A D-44 Phantine Trooper

My personal favorite and "Me" in 40k so to speak is Captain Jonus "SwampyTurtle" Remaus (sometimes misspelled Remanus) which is a title I earned from the 40kOnline IG board Chain of Command.

The Captain himself Jonus Remaus with "Liberus"

The Remaus Family is of Phantine. The brother Litilus is my Tech priest model and my character from Dark Heresy. Most of the family was killed during the conquest of Phantine by the Blood Pact but currently only Jonus and Litilus are the known survivors of the family. Mother Ophilia and Father Byrus have both been found dead at the hands of the enemy. The misfortune and stories of the Remaus family are some I hope to tell both through fan fiction and my own battles. Litilus is unaware his brother is alive having only heard that a man from Phantine named Jonus is working for an inquisitor =I= as his personal retinue.....

A Phantine Valkyrie. This one is the "Glory Hound" as seen earlier in the blog.




Fluff and story of Captain Jonus Remaus during the Ventra Majoris Campaign

A tall man in a tan uniform of a drop trooper regiment enters the building and heads towards the Tactical Operations center. Remaus stood out with his Mohawk shaved brown hair and his drop trooper gear hanging on his belt. His features had been used in the recent Phantine recruitment billets for the Skyborne.

Tall, Brown haired, Striking brown eyes, and with the inspiring words "From the skies!" on the poster had seen recruitment training for the unit tripled. With such small numbers in only around 200 troops and no land to speak of, the planet didn't have many ground forces to raise for the Imperial Guard. Instead, most units came in the form of aviators in squadrons.

Jonus decided to stop by the cafeteria and pick up some caf for himself. No use going into a jump tired he told himself as he poured a glass and looked around for a table to sit at. Finally spotting a open table, he headed over and sat down before opening his data slat to look over his squads gear and load out.

His back hurt and his muscles twitched as he remember his last jump on the brewery world of Distilleri. Then he had been under the command of a Major Tuesday. After the jump, his grav chute had failed to fully function and he had had to use what power he could draw to land. It hadn't been a pretty landing but he had survived...If you could call blacking out from the pain survival. He had woken up days later in a field hospital with a medicae nurse looking after him. By then the news of the invasion on Distilleri was but a distance memory. His officer promotion had come through later that year. In retrospect, Lt's bars looked good on him, it beat the hell out of being enlisted.

His reassignment had seen him pulled from the 40th corp to the Detachment under his old boss Inq Umarus. D-44 had been formed shortly there after and with his squad had seen the Detachment shifted across the galaxy to a new war zone. Umarus kept Jonus up to date on his brother Litilus but otherwise Umarus's promise of Jonus seeing his brother again were still that....just promises...

"Sir"

Jonus looked up to see one of his troopers coming over holding a sword

"It just came in sir"

Jonus smiled and nodded his thanks taking the power sword and attaching it to his belt "Liberus?" he said to his attendant

"Aye sir, she's sharpened and ready for action just as the Inquisitor swore it would be"

"Good work, return to the squad and see them ready"

"Aye sir" said his attendant before saluting and hurrying off

Feeling tired, Jonus got up and headed out into the hallway before walking over to one of the empty bunks laying about. he laid his drop trooper gear on the floor and laid down on the bed , closing his eyes and remembering that final time he had seen his older brother back on Phantine, back before his world had been turned upside down....

There was fire and there was smoke and God-Emperor....oh God-Emperor the smell! Looking to his right , he saw his buddy Rowland screaming as the enemy fire tore into his jetpack and then his body tearing off limbs before the body fell towards the ground below. Using his training Jonus hit the grav chute and prayed, hoping that those las shots coming towards him wouldn't hit him as Lightings and Valkyries around him blew up from the traitors fire. He remember his family, His mother Ophelia, His Father whom had died serving the Phantine Liberation and most of all his brother Litilus, These thoughts kept him sane as he dropped towards the enemy and the hell awaiting him below, the wind shaking him harder and harder......

It was only a dream, It was only a dream he kept telling himself as he got up shaking but he knew it wasn't and that that last drop on Distilleri has been one of the worst of his career......

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