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 +

40K Oaths of the Moment Results and Coverage

Back at it again! The battlefields were assembled for some fierce 40K warfare today after the long hiatus, as we hosted a casual three-round event for eight valiant combatants. It was our first tournament for the ninth edition after the pandemic break and the reassembly of our terrain reserve and it was sweet to meet the players again after a long while. WTC Team Member Aleksi Lehtiö was kind enough to lend us a hand with the arrangements and was an invaluable consultant when it came to creating the modern tournament rules package. Cheers Aku!

First Round Pairings and Results

20 Riku Saressalo vs Henri Niemi 0

16 Aleksi Lehtiö vs Björn Söderström 4

6 Teemu Juselius-Rajamäki vs Tuomas Ivakko 14

7 Henri Komulainen vs Jussi Koskimäki 13

Second Round Pairings and Results

7 Aleksi Lehtiö vs Riku Saressalo 13

11 Tuomas Ivakko vs Jussi Koskimäki 9

20 Henri Komulainen vs Teemu Juselius-Rajamäki 0

1 Henri Niemi vs Björn Söderström 19

Third Round Pairings and Results

14 Riku Saressalo vs Tuomas Ivakko 6

16 Björn Söderström vs Henri Komulainen 4

12 Aleksi Lehtiö vs Jussi Koskimäki 8

17 Teemu Juselius-Rajamäki vs Henri Niemi 3

Final Standings with Hobby Score
1. Riku Saressalo, Drukhari 61

2. Aleksi Lehtiö, Genestealer Cults 46

3. Jussi Koskimäki, Adepta Sororitas 46

4. Björn Söderström, Iron Warriors 45

5. Tuomas Ivakko, World Eaters 40

6. Teemu Juselius-Rajamäki, Space Marines 40

7. Henri Komulainen, Blood Angels 36

8. Henri Niemi, Orks 18

Best Army Award: Jussi Koskimäki, The Funeral of Hearts

+++ Tournament Picture Gallery +++

Show of Force: Ropecon 2023 Army Gallery

Mitä, missä ja milloin?

+ IN ENGLISH +

Show of Force -armeijagalleria järjestetään Ropecon 2023 -tapahtumassa Helsingin Messukeskuksessa lauantaina 29. heinäkuuta. Täsmällinen tapahtumapaikka messualueella sekä aikataulu tarkentuvat lähempänä kesän tapahtumaa (ja päivittyvät myös näihin infoihin).

Kilpailutöitä otetaan vastaan lauantaina 11-14:00 välisenä aikana. Teokset jätetään näytille erilliselle galleria-alueelle conivieraiden ja tuomariston ihasteltavaksi. Osallistuminen ja töiden jättäminen kilpailulle rajatulle alueelle tapahtuu osallistujien omalla vastuulla. Yleisöäänestys järjestetään lauantaina 14-20 ja skaban tulokset julkistetaan kilpailupaikalla lauantaina 20:30. 

Show of Force -armeijagallerian säännöt

- Ennakkoilmoittautumista ei tarvita, paikalle voi vain saapua oman kisatyön kanssa.

- Ennakkovalmisteluista voi halutessaan jakaa kuvia #showofforce23 -tagilla!

- Kaikkien esiteltävien miniatyyrien tulee olla valmiiksi koottuja, beissattuja ja maalattuja.

- Display Board saa olla enintään 24"x24" (61x61cm) -kokoinen, korkeutta ei ole rajattu. Tämä on myös järjestäjän virallinen suosituskoko, jota toivotaan käytettäväksi.

- Esiteltävän armeijan olisi hyvä koostua useammasta yksiköstä, mutta sen ei tarvitse olla sääntöjen mukaan pelikelpoinen kokonaisuus. 

- Figujen mittakaavaa ei ole rajattu, mutta kaikki kisatyöt arvostellaan samassa teemakategoriassa skaalasta riippumatta.

- Töiden arvostelussa kiinnitetään huomiota paitsi miniatyyrien tekniseen toteutukseen, myös erityisesti teoksen teemaan ja tunnelmaan - millaisen tarinan armeijakokonaisuus kertoo ja kuinka ympäröivä maisema tai miljöö tukee armeijan narratiivia.

- Kilpailun virallinen kuvagalleria julkaistaan viimeistään Ropeconin jälkeisellä viikolla Figuprojektien vertaisryhmässä, War Headin somekanavissa sekä Sotavasara.netissä.

Kategoriat ja palkinnot

War Headin raati palkitsee Show of Force -armeijagallerian osallistujien joukosta ainakin seuraavat teokset:

- Onnettaren suosikit (tarvike- ja peliaiheiset palkinnot arvotaan kaikkien osallistujien ja äänestäjien kesken!)
- Paras Scifi-kokonaisuus (esimerkiksi Warhammer 40K, Adeptus Titanicus, Dropfleet Commander)

- Paras Fantasiakokonaisuus (esimerkiksi Age of Sigmar, Lord of the Rings, Kings of War)

- Paras Historiallinen kokonaisuus (esimerkiksi Bolt Action, Hail Caesar tai Force on Force).

- Yleisön suosikki (eniten Ropecon-viikonlopun aikana yleisöääniä saanut teos)

Figuprojektien vertaisryhmän avoin Ropecon-figumiitti

Vertaisryhmä järjestää muun toimintansa ohessa myös miittejä, joihin kaikki figuilusta kiinnostuneet ovat tervetulleita mukaan kertomaan projekteistaan tai saamaan uusia ideoita. Ropeconin miitissä on luvassa ainakin rentoa rupattelua, figujenvaihtopiste (figuja rahaksi, rahaa figuiksi, figuja figuiksi) ja erilaisten maalausprojektien esittelyä. Aikataulu tarkentuu lähempänä tapahtumaa. Tervetuloa paikalle!

Järjestäjät

Figuprojektien vertaisryhmä on Facebookissa toimiva, kaikille avoin, jo lähes 1500 figuharrastajan ryhmä. Ryhmässä voit vapaasti jakaa keskeneräisten ja valmiiden figuprojektiesi kuvia ja kuulumisia muiden harrastajien kanssa. Keskustelussa keskitytään lähinnä figujen ja pienoismallimaastojen maalaukseen, mallaukseen sekä niiden lieveilmiöihin pelistä tai pelaamattomuudesta riippumatta.

War Head on suomalainen miniatyyripelikollektiivi, joka on elänyt ja hengittänyt figuharrastusta tiiviinä ryhmänä jo yli vuosikymmenen. Tiimimme on järjestänyt tai ollut mukana tukemassa toistasataa kansallista turnaustapahtumaa, miniatyyrimaalauskilpailua ja harrastuksen esittelytilaisuutta. Inspiraatiota ja meriittejä on haettu myös kansainvälisistä tapahtumista niin pelien kuin maalauksenkin saralla.

Nyt on aika laittaa valmistelut vireille, maalailemisiin!

Latest from Thracia Rex

We've been playing our Feudal World Horus Heresy campaign "The Thracian Insurgency" since 2021 and finally celebrated the finale some time ago! This was by no means the end of the narrative, but the conclusion of the Insurgency story arc which saw the Legion comrades turn against each other and ultimately burn in the fires of Heresy. We had many story hooks to explore in the various campaign episodes and we were able to wrap most of them up in the final battles. Many corners of Thracia Rex were left unexplored however, so there are still secrets to unfold!

Our in-house campaign finale happened simultaneously on four separate tables - the Renegade Governor was trying to escape the town on a separate "Outer Walls" tile, whereas the grand battle was fought on the main Feudal City table. On the countryside board the Loyalists were trying to protect their automated Artillery providing fire support to the cityfighting forces. In the underground tunnels the defenders tried to hold off invaders from reaching their combat-controlling HQ bunker. I really enjoyed putting the Loyalists under pressure and seeing them divide their strength between the different tasks - which part was deemed more important than the other and which units were trusted with which task. Our Traitor forces were almost like NPC adversaries, playing their part in the narrative with Dark Angels and Salamanders in the center of it. This made for good drama and memorable moments, especially when newly-finished surprise reinforcements kept rolling in.

Albeit having their resources stretched thin and suffering losses on all fronts, the Loyalist forces were able to hold their own and keep the emergency beacons transmitting - their only hope was to get the word of Thracia Rex's tragedies off-world and hope for distant reinforcements to arrive. Noa's Salamanders led by Praetor Barbados Khes were the unshakeable anvil all Loyalist efforts leant on, and Eric's Dark Angel elites performed surgical strikes with pinpoint efficiency.

I've been calculating some new World Eater rosters and have a couple of unit builds on the way - the game is in such a good state that it's exciting to add to the playable force. New tournaments are popping up monthly in Finland and the scene is growing, I think a lot of it is due to Horus Heresy hitting that sweet spot of balance between ("historical") gaming and universal hobby appreciation. Cool models don't hurt either!

Noa's Salamanders were always standing where the fighting was fiercest. Glory to Vulkan!

Echoes of Thracia, Act I Results and Coverage

The first campaign Act in the "Echoes of Thracia" is in the books! In the first three scenarios there was no stopping the Loyalist onslaught, and despite the best efforts of the Traitor generals the vital War Forges fell into the hands of the Emperor's followers. The Warmaster however is certain to bolster the ranks of his own as the report reaches his ears - there's still many chapters to write in the story!

It was great to host Horus Heresy games with our entirely renewed tournament setup and meet some new players that have entered the scene after the release of the second edition. More miniwarfare is on its way!

First Round Pairings and Results

8 Juho Törmä vs Miika Kalliokari 12
12 Hermanni Raatevaara vs Jukka-Pekka Heikkinen 8
13 Jussi Lindeberg vs Jussi Nurro 7
12 Aito P vs Tuomas Salmi 8
15 Roni Landgren vs Ilkka H 5
20 Willy Lindberg vs Mika Ketola 0

Second Round Pairings and Results
9 Willy Lindberg vs Jussi Nurro 11
7 Aito P vs Ilkka H 13
16 Hermanni Raatevaara vs Tuomas Salmi 4
11 Juho Törmä vs Jukka-Pekka Heikkinen 9
5 Jussi Lindeberg vs Mika Ketola 15
14 Roni Landgren vs Miika Kalliokari 6

Third Round Pairings and Results
11 Aito P vs Mika Ketola 9
12 Juho Törmä vs Tuomas Salmi 8
16 Willy Lindberg vs Ilkka H 4
12 Roni Landgrén vs Jussi Nurro 8
20 Hermanni Raatevaara vs Miika Kalliokari 0
13 Jussi Lindeberg vs Jupe Heikkinen 7

Final Standings
1. Hermanni Raatevaara, Space Wolves 48
2. Willy Lindberg, Dark Angels 45
3. Roni Landgren, Iron Hands 41
4. Jussi Nurro, Iron Warriors 32
5. Juho Törmä, Dark Angels 31
6. Aito P, Ultramarines 30
7. Jussi Lindeberg, Mechanicum 25
8. Jupe Heikkinen, World Eaters 24
9. Mika Ketola, Sons of Horus 24
10. Ilkka H, Iron Warriors 22
11. Tuomas Salmi, Solar Auxilia 20
12. Miika Kalliokari, Solar Auxilia + Alpha Legion 18

+++Army List Compilation+++

+++Facebook Army Gallery+++

No Retreat - Horus Heresy in Gibraltar

This time last week Teemu and Ollie were waging miniature war in Gibraltar, where the fabled No Retreat tournament by SN Battle Reports was held once again for Horus Heresy enthusiasts! Arranged on a luxury yacht hotel the event was nothing short of spectacular and was accompanied by other program such as sightseeing and tours to the historical military sites in Gibraltar. The most amazing part for us was seeing all the astonishing 30K armies, hand-picked from the international player applications by the SN team. 

Ultimately our World Eater detachment was able to represent the XII Legion and the Traitor Alliance with pride and also recorded a few trophies: The Best Army, a SN Award and two Highly Commended pins for squad and vehicle categories! What an honour in such an established company and with world-renowned judges - thanks for all the votes and feedback!

We'll be debriefing the crazy gaming experience with photos and text soon, but would now like to thank the brilliant and hardworking SN organization, gentlemanly and skilled co-participants as well as our travel partners for the quality hobby experience. This one will be hard to beat!

+++ More travel musings coming up to War Head Instagram! +++

+++ Goonhammer No Retreat: Horus Heresy Event Report +++

Picture credits: SN Battle Reports

30K: Sparks in the Void Results and Coverage

Back in the trenches! We're celebrating the return of War Head Horus Heresy tournaments this weekend, as our theatre of scifi warfare invades Nopat & Taktiikka Club in Helsinki! The stage will be set for a casual event of sixteen brave commanders and will feature thematic scenery never before seen outside our studio and playtest tables. Let's unleash the galactic civil war!

First Round Pairings and Results
4 Hermanni Raatevaara vs Harri Hokkanen 16
6 Aleksi Karukka vs Miika Kalliokari 14
20 Juuso Seppälä vs Jussi Lindeberg 0
12 Roman Dulik vs Airaksinen 8
9 Roni Landgren vs Oskari Holm 11
18 Jussi Nurro vs Ville Valtonen 2
12 Mika Ketola vs Jupe Heikkinen 8

Second Round Pairings and Results
13 Ville Valtonen vs Jussi Lindeberg 7
13 Mika Ketola vs Roman Dulik 7
11 Miika Kalliokari vs Harri Hokkanen 9
15 Jussi Nurro vs Juuso Seppälä 5
8 Hermanni Raatevaara vs Aleksi Karukka 12
5 Jupe Heikkinen vs Oskari Holm 15
18 Roni Landgrén vs Airaksinen 2

Third Round Pairings and Results
6 Roni Landgrén vs Jussi Nurro 14
14 Hermanni Raatevaara vs Jupe Heikkinen 6
15 Aleksi Karukka vs Ville Valtonen 5
15 Jussi Lindeberg vs Airaksinen 5
6 Roman Dulik vs Harri Hokkanen 14
16 Mika Ketola vs Oskari Holm 4
16 Miika Kalliokari vs Juuso Seppälä 4

Final Standings with Hobby Score
1. Jussi Nurro, Iron Warriors 82
2. Mika Ketola, Imperial Fists 78
3. Harri Hokkanen, Mechanicum 64
4. Hermanni Raatevaara, Space Wolves 62
5. Jussi Lindeberg, Mechanicum 59
6. Juuso Seppälä, Imperial Fists 58
7. Roman Dulik, Raven Guard 57
8. Roni Landgren, Iron Hands 56
9. Ville Valtonen, Space Wolves 56
10. Miika Kalliokari, Blood Angels 55
11. Aleksi Karukka, Legio Custodes 48
12. Oskari Holm, World Eaters 48
13. Jupe Heikkinen, Sons of Horus 38
14.  Airaksinen, Emperor's Children 34

Best Painted Traitor: Jussi Nurro, Iron Warriors
Best Painted Loyalist: Mika Ketola, Imperial Fists
Coolest Army List: Airaksinen, Emperor's Children

+ Army List Compilation +

+ Facebook Picture Gallery +