The Farmstead Operation

The weary loyalists from the XIII Legion cross the Thracian countryside and seek shelter from a friendly farmstead - this was the narrative for Ollie's project for last year's Armies on Parade, marking his tenth successive entry in as many years! The Ultramarines in a traditional, everyday setting went through a number of basing prototypes but finally settled on traditional tufts and static grass over a "teddybear fur" method that was challenging to get right on bases. We'll still keep experimenting on terrain in the future, and the fur technique is featured on the display board!

I felt the red bolters were a bold choice but they add just a right touch of nostalgic flavour and also work very well in the overall scheme - looking at the pictures even on blurry parts the models are quite easy to "read" with the weapons striking such a powerful contrast against the blue armour.

Echoes of Thracia, Act II Results and Coverage

Back in action! Today the brave Legion ground troops supported quickly formed pathfinder units, which were sent to Thracia Rex and its primeval forests to establish beachhead positions, scout supply routes and hunt for ancient Feudal World relics. As the Thracian veterans returned from their distant journey, both allegiances sought to protect their own as well as the data and treasures they had gathered.

A great gaming day with our dear hobby in the limelight as usual, our thanks go to all of our brilliant players who had been hard at work upgrading their armies - almost each one had new units completed just for the occasion. Cheers!

First Round Pairings and Results
11 Noa Kaistinen vs Hermanni Raatevaara 9
17 Roni Landgren vs Guillem Saldo Rubio 3
11 Aito Paloheimo vs Jesse Laanti 9
15 Jussi Lindeberg vs Juho Törmä 5
0 Mika Ketola vs Willy Lindberg 20
13 Jukka-Pekka Heikkinen vs Matti Ritakallio 7
14 J-P Kivistö vs Harri Hokkanen 6
3 Antti Halonen vs Jussi Nurro 17

Second Round Pairings and Results

7 Matti Ritakallio vs Mika Ketola 13
12 Aito P vs Noa Kaistinen 8
17 Roni Landgren vs Jukka-Pekka Heikkinen 3
12 Hermanni Raatevaara vs Jesse Laanti 8
10 Juho Törmä vs Guillem Saldo Rubio 10
14 Willy Lindberg vs Jussi Lindeberg 6
11 Harri Hokkanen vs Antti Halonen 9
9 Jussi Nurro vs J-P Kivistö 11

Third Round Pairings and Results
11 Ritakallio & Aito vs Rubio & Hokkanen 9
5 Heikkinen & Lindeberg vs Raatevaara & Kivistö 15
9 Ketola & Laanti vs Landgren & Halonen 11
15 Nurro & Kaistinen vs Lindberg & Törmä 5

Final Standings
1. Roni Landgren, Iron Hands + Questoris Knights 45
2. Jussi Nurro, Iron Warriors 41
3. J-P Kivistö, Raven Guard 40
4. Willy Lindberg, Dark Angels 39
5. Hermanni Raatevaara, Space Wolves 36
6. Aito P, Ultramarines 34
7. Noa Kaistinen, Salamanders 34
8. Jesse Laanti, Sons of Horus 26
9. Harri Hokkanen, Alpha Legion 26
10. Jussi Lindeberg, Mechanicum 26
11. Matti Ritakallio, Iron Hands 25
12. Antti Halonen, Space Wolves 23
13. Mika Ketola, Sons of Horus 22
14. Guillem Saldo Rubio, Alpha Legion 22
15. Jukka-Pekka Heikkinen, World Eaters 21
16. Juho Törmä, Dark Angels 20

Legion Scores: 220 Loyalists vs Traitors 180

Best Army Award: Jesse Laanti, Sons of Horus

+ Army List Compilation +

+ Event Picture Gallery +

The Lead Ogre

The third commission batch in a grand Death Korps of Krieg collection we've been assembling and painting included some Imperial Navy assets and was spearheaded by the famous lead-spitting Super Heavy tank! The Forge World units in particular made the project a joy to tackle. The paint scheme followed the example of the previous installments we've produced over the last year and is a rather traditional Imperial Guard / Krieg trencher palette. 

The camouflage patterns and metallic details form the body of the vehicles, but for me it's always the weathering that brings these things to life. This time we also added some white detailing in cannon barrels, hatches and decals for added contrast. We also hid a few freehanded nicknames or callsigns on the vehicles for our customer to spot later, characterful details like this often make gaming with the pieces a bit more memorable as well. Onwards to new quests!

Caliban Steel

Our commission painting workshop has been running at full steam lately - one of the recent projects was a thematic Horus Heresy Dark Angels detachment intended to be used as allies for a 30K Militia force! Interpreting a historical First Legion theme with all of the knightly details was fun and the compact contingent included both infantry and war machines for some variety. The project included both the prepwork and assembly as well as painting and basing to complete a force of Forge World goodies.

The Horus Heresy has been in the back of our minds a lot lately, as we're preparing for both our Civil War event as well as the next Echoes of Thracia campaign episode on the 4th of June. Looking forward to seeing you around the battlefields!

+ Echoes of Thracia, Act II +