Christmas Consolidation

To finish the great hobby year of 2023 we've put our heads down and charged through a spree of commission painting - several previously completed detachments have now received freshly-painted reinforcements in the form of elite infantry and monstrous war machines! We've got a lot to document from our personal schemes as well and hope to update some of the workshop results here before the Christmas vacations. It's been a great year!

Before the season draws to a close, we'll be having one more event in a Horus Heresy Xmas Bash between a few valiant participants. The "Friendly Fire" type event includes a couple of relaxed games with full-size army lists as well as a technique demo for using oil colours as a part of army painting process. Stay tuned to the coverage late next week!

War Head XMAS Friendy Fire: Horus Heresy 9.12.2023

These Chaos Knight War Dogs and Death Korps of Krieg are some of the recently finished reinforcements. Always nice to expand on a previous commission, meaning the client has been happy with the earlier projects!

Quest for the Man-Meat Pie

Watch out for the Skeletons!

The Great Pumpking, the acting mayor of the cursed city of Saint Thracius, has had his favourite recipe of Man-Meat Pie stolen. The spy witnesses on the streets report the treasure has been taken outside the city walls and into the darkness of the surrounding forests. These primeval wilds are a home for many strange folk and wicked creatures of the night - who might be behind the vulgar crime? 

For this year's Halloween scenario three brave warbands of able adventurers strided into the woods but not before searching for useful artifacts in the cursed city itself - it wouldn't be an All Hallows' Eve in the Mortal Realms without the classic board game adventure! After the skirmish on the streets dodging Guard Skeletons and answering riddles asked by the Prison Sphinx, all parties recovered some artifacts and ventured to the woods. They were in for a giant surprise...

Providing modelling inspiration and eye candy to all participants has been in the limelight of our social hobby gatherings for years - this time we asked players to prepare a band of fantasy adventurers (a leader, two troopers and a rookie) with some kind of a light source to take on the Halloween quest. It was cool to see the players paint up some classics and come up with brilliant lore for their teams - each one was a distinctively personal team of fighters fitting to the spooky scene. More on the miniatures and the adventure later!

Echoes of Thracia, Act III Results and Coverage

This time in the Echoes of Thracia campaign the front line formations had lost contact with the High Command. Therefore the active battle groups had to re-establish the chain of command via an acting Superior elevated from their ranks. They were given the authority to deploy their fellow warriors in the different theatres of the campaign and trusted to display tactical acumen to make the best of their allegiance’s capabilities. Here are the results from the gaming day played with 2500 and 1000 point lists!

First Round Pairings and Results

6 Jussi Nurro vs Willy Lindberg 14
4 Tuomas Salmi vs Roni Landgren 16
4 Jesse Laanti vs Juho Törmä 16
10 Henri Vesanen vs Jupe Heikkinen 10
9 Aito vs Mika Ketola 11
12 J-P Kivistö vs Juhana Rytkönen 8
13 Jussi Lindeberg vs Ilkka Hyötyläinen 7
9 Lauri Suominen vs Antti Halonen 11

Second Round Pairings and Results 
9 Aito vs Jupe Heikkinen 11

5 Roni Landgren vs Jussi Nurro 15

10 Antti Halonen vs Mika Ketola 10

16 Willy Lindberg vs Juhana Rytkönen 4

13 Juho Törmä vs Lauri Suominen 7

11 Jussi Lindeberg vs Tuomas Salmi 9

6 Ilkka Hyötyläinen vs J-P Kivistö 14
11 Jesse Laanti vs Henri Vesanen 9

Third Round Pairings and Results 
17 Roni Landgren vs Jesse Laanti 3

16 Antti Halonen vs Juhana Rytkönen 4
11 J-P Kivistö vs Lauri Suominen 9
7 Henri Vesanen vs Mika Ketola 13
10 Willy Lindberg vs Ilkka Hyötyläinen 10
3 Aito vs Jussi Nurro 17

9 Tuomas Salmi vs Juho Törmä 11
5 Jupe Heikkinen vs Jussi Lindeberg 15

Final Standings

1. Juho Törmä, Dark Angels 40

2. Willy Lindberg, Dark Angels 40

3. Jussi Lindeberg, Mechanicum 39

4. Jussi Nurro, Iron Warriors 38

5. Roni Landgren, Iron Hands 38
6. Antti Halonen, Space Wolves 37
7. J-P Kivistö, Raven Guard 37
8. Mika Ketola, Sons of Horus 34
9. Henri Vesanen, Blood Angels 27
10. Jupe Heikkinen, World Eaters 26
11. Lauri Suominen, Alpha Legion 25
12. Ilkka Hyötyläinen, Iron Warriors 23
13. Tuomas Salmi, Solar Auxilia 22
14. Aito, Ultramarines 21
15. Jesse Laanti, Sons of Horus 18
16. Juhana Rytkönen, Dark Mechanicum 16

Results: Loyalists 4 - 2 Traitors, recovered Artifacts 7 vs 5
Best Army Award: Juhana Rytkönen, Dark Mechanicum

+ Army List Compilation +

+ Facebook Picture Gallery +

'Tis The Season

Halloween and our traditional spooky Age of Sigmar gaming eve approach and dark forces are on the move! Another adventure in the Realm of Shadow awaits and the gloomy streets of Saint Thracius once again thirst for blood - whatever perils await our heroes this time, and what kind of peculiar characters arrive to throw their hat into the ring? We've made the Halloween games one of our dearest annual events and have had wicked time with spooky custom scenarios, combining ultralight roleplaying, self-made boardgame features and Age of Sigmar skirmishing into a narrative entirety. This year Teemu and Ollie are teaming up to further the story started in the previous years, which naturally calls for new miniatures! 

All Hallows' eve in the Mortal Realms awaits!

Knights of the Sound Table

This time on the War Head commission front we take a look at a Slaaneshi Renegade Knight host, produced in the immortal example of the Emperor's Children (and the heretic Noise Marines in particular). The usual pink armour colour is complemented by royal gold, stylish black and sumptuous marble surfaces, combined with customer-specified Martian basing. The full Chaos Knight force is already an imposing sight fully assembled, and we look forward to providing their ranks with fresh, violent reinforcements!

+ Slaaneshi Knights Gallery +

Manic! at the Disco

The Sons of Chemos make yet another appearance in War Head picture feed, as Ollie revisited his pet project for the third time for this year's Civil War games. The result is a comprehensive Emperor's Children ensemble with all the elegant flair, arrogance and depravity that is their Legion culture! The army was done according to the modern style for most of our projects - a combination of scratchbuilt Horus Heresy and Warhammer 40,000 kits with a few 3D-printed accessories and details. Some of the decorative armour trimming has also been sculpted out of green stuff. Everything is tied together by a cold-toned, limited palette with some contrasting rust hues in the basing.

The characters are always the best models to work on and Ollie made sure he had the opportunity to make plenty by creating some of the iconic Emperor's Children heroes as "counts as" leaders for his force. A regular Apothecary was portrayed by his interpretation of Fabius Bile, a Despoiler Sergeant was modelled as Lucius and the Legion Armistos was stylized to depict Marius Vairosean, the captain of the Third Company. The list was probably one of the favourite opponents in the Civil War as everyone was trying to take out the wicked villains - and proved to be a fun detachment to direct as well!

Marius Vairosean, the first Noise Marine.

Ollie's scratchbuilt third company elites.

Love your job!

A Sonic Artillery piece, with slight body horror vibes.

Counts as a Rapier Graviton Cannon.

Third company elites display their colours in high ground.

Look good, do good.

Despoiler Squad champion.

Emperor's Childrens' noble line troops.

Captain Lucius with twin blades.

Green washes were used to tone down the saturation in the gold details.

The cloak is sculpted out of green stuff.

Fabius Bile, "The Spider".

The doctor with his tools.

Apothecarion symbol as well as all the legion iconography on the army's shoulder pads were done in freehand.

Third Company elites assembled for War Head Civil War V.

Let's make some noise!

Scar Dealership

The acting commander

The War Head Civil War is always a proving ground for some entirely new detachments, like these White Scars Noa has secretly built for over a year! He already has a tournament-sized force assembled and this Recon-spirited patrol was the first batch honoured with a coat of paint. Noa's force has a balanced variety of aggression and surgical precision, spearheaded by unique shotgunners and a Despoiler squad armed to the teeth. The patrol is symbolically led by a hardened Apothecary in his signature red battle plate.

What catches the eye in the models are the arid basing and the great execution of the white armour - the subtle chipping and dirt effects achieved with Winter Streaking Grime fit the Horus Heresy setting exceptionally in their bleak realism. The blue lenses, crimson heraldry and black weapons contrast the main colour brilliantly. The army is based in the same way as Noa's Salamanders, so the two forces fighting side by side would form a cohesive entirety. It pays to plan ahead!

Recon Marines make their way to firing positions.

Mark II Power Armour and Nemesis Boltguns.

Shotgun-armed Astartes in tight cityfight conditions.

A mere flesh wound.

Recon Marines pinned down. We need backup!

Despoilers are on their way to aid their comrades.

Subtle cultural details pointing to legion's heritage and origins.

Helmetless veterans.

The ol' reliable.

500 points of White Scars ready for their first Civil War assignment.

Noa did well with his loyalists and gathered an impressive points tally.

White Scars project is truly on, we're looking forward to their reinforcements!

Civil War V Combat Coverage

The amazing hobby tradition of War Head Civil War is now past us for another year - what a treat it was once again! I feel that this year's event was one of the best in the heritage's history, as the inspired rules package, team's hobby commitment and our joint enthusiasm for The Horus Heresy all helped to nourish a memorable gaming day. I've often stated that the wargaming hobby might be entirely different depending on who you surround yourself with - in a like-minded company where everyone feeds off each others' inspiration and shares the same gaming values, it's a creative and social joy like no other.

Civil War is as much about the journey as it is of the destination, as the preparations begin early on before the actual gathering. The tradition calls for secret mustering of new assets, unexpected reinforcements or completely new surprise armies, which are presented to other players in the morning of the gaming day. On Sunday we unveiled the secret schemes long in the making and took turns describing and displaying our 500 point patrols for other participants to admire. Some of the Thracian Insurgency armies had evolved into completely new iterations due to cool unit additions and we also witnessed three completely new forces - a White Scar Recon host, a Blood Angels "boots on the ground" task force and a Emperor's Children III Company Elites detachment! It was delightful to hear everyone describe their projects and get excited about the oncoming games, as stunners like Scott's unforeseen Xiphon Interceptor completely caught many of us off-guard!

The format this year was Horus Heresy patrols (500 points, one required Troop, no mandatory HQ, no more than 2 wounds on any model, max one model with a 2+ save, no vehicles with armour value total over 33) and skirmish gameplay. We played three rounds and the dynamics changed in each one - after the traditional duel on the first round the participants were paired for two-versus-two tag team games. The four-player Carnages wrapped the day up and final victory points were calculated; each scenario had many different mini-missions focused on maneuvering and objective control performed with any non-vehicle units. All in all the 500 point roster size worked perfectly, it was a fresh breeze of "grassroots meta" where Tactical Marines could shine and the size of the armies was a very feasible mini-project even for a busy hobbyist.

Sunday's epic games leave a deep craving for more amazing hobby with the crew - luckily War Head's Halloween in the Mortal Realms is just a couple of months away!

+ Civil War V Combat Camera: Facebook Gallery +

Round 1: Escalation (1v1)

10 Blood Angels vs White Scars 10
6 Dusk Raiders vs Dark Angels 14
14 Imperial Fists vs Alpha Legion 6
10 Emperor's Children vs World Eaters 10

Round 2: Battle Brothers (2v2)

20 Emperor's Children & World Eaters vs Alpha Legion & Dusk Raiders 0
6 Blood Angels & White Scars vs Dark Angels & Imperial Fists 14

Round 3: Carnage (4-way free-for-all)

Dark Angels 7
Blood Angels 0
Imperial Fists 5
World Eaters 6
Alpha Legion 2
White Scars 6
Emperor's Children 3
Dusk Raiders 5

Final Standings

1. World Eaters 36
2. Dark Angels 35
3. Imperial Fists 33
4. Emperor's Children 33
5. White Scars 22
6. Blood Angels 16
7. Dusk Raiders 11
8. Alpha Legion 8

Player: Teemu Valve
Legion: XII World Eaters
Army: 308th Void Assault

TROOP1: Assault Squad, Power Fist, Power Axe, Power Sword
ELITE1: Rapier Gun Platform, Gravis Heavy Bolter Battery
FAST1: Sky-Hunter Jetbikes, Volkite Culverins, Chainaxes
FAST2: 7 Seekers Squad, Kraken Boltguns
TRANSPORT1: Rhino APC, Combi-Bolter

Player: Olli Väre
Legion: III Emperor's Children
Army: 3rd Company Elites

HQ1: Legion Armistos, Master-Crafted Volkite Culverin
ELITE1: Apothecary, Power Lance
ELITE2: Rapier Gun Platform, Graviton Cannon
TROOP1: Despoilers, Power Sword, Power Lance, Vexilla, Phoenix Rapier and Sonic Shrieker
HEAVY1: Emperor's Children Kakophoni

Player: Noa Kaistinen
Legion: V White Scars
Army: The Outriders

ELITE: Legion Apothecary
TROOP1: Despoilers, 2x Power Axe, Heavy Chainsword, Artificer Armour

TROOP2:  5 Recon Marines, Nemesis Bolters, Nuncio-Vox
TROOP3: 8 Recon Marines, Shotguns, Power Glaive
TRANSPORT1: Rhino APC, Heavy Bolter, Dozer Blade

Player: Eric Raunio
Legion: I Dark Angels
Army: Strike Force Cadmos

HQ1: Legion Librarian, Force Sword, Deathwing
ELITE1: Dreadwing Interemptors, Plasma Burners, Plasma Incinerator

TRANSPORT1: Rhino APC, Twin-Linked Bolter
TROOP1: Legion Despoilers, Deathwing

TROOP2: Legion Tactical Squad, Ironwing

Player: Jaakko Björklund
Legion: VII Imperial Fists
Army: Strike Team Siegfried

HQ1: Legion Centurion, Magna Combi-Melta
TROOP1: Tactical Squad, Solarite Power Gauntlet

TROOP2: Tactical Squad, Solarite Power Gauntlet
TRANSPORT1: Rhino APC, Hunter-Killer Missile
TRANSPORT2: Rhino APC, Hunter-Killer Missile
TROOP3: Recon Squad, 2x Nemesis Bolters, Combi-Grenade Launcher

Player: Juha Nieminen
Legion: IX Blood Angels
Army: Task Force Uriel

HQ1: Legion Chaplain, Power Maul, Plasma-Pistol
TROOP1: Tactical Squad, Bayonets, Lightning Claw, Plasma Pistol

TROOP2: Tactical Support Squad, Rotor Cannons
HEAVY1: Heavy Support Squad, Missile Launchers

Player: Scott McGregor
Legion: XIV Dusk Raiders
Army: The Surgeon's Hand

HQ1: Callidus Assassin
TROOP1: 14 Tactical Marines, Legion Vexilla

ELITE1: Rapier Gun Platform, Quad Launcher, Incendiary Rounds

FAST1: Xiphon Interceptor, Ramjet Defraction Grid

Player: Joel Kinnunen
Legion: XX Alpha Legion
Army: Last Minute Ambush

ELITE1: Legion Apothecary
ELITE2: 6 Veterans, Heavy Flamer, Power Dagger, Banestrike Boltguns

TROOP1: Tactical Squad, Power Fist
TROOP2: Recon Squad, Nemesis Bolters

TRANSPORT1: Rhino APC, Twin-Linked Bolter