Showing posts with label 30K. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 30K. Show all posts

December 4, 2024

The Night's Watch - Search for the First Wulfen



The Fenrisians were my personal Civil War project for the year, started right after the Horus Heresy No Retreat VI. The army is a bit of an antithesis in a way, as I've felt many interpretations (including some of the official ones) often kind of miss the point of the legion and lean entirely on the wolf theme. I consciously left all wolf logos, icons and details out of the entire army and tried to focus on the essence of vikings/pagans/pillagers that would represent various Fenrisian cultures.

In the Civil War list I wanted to include multiple small units that would each add to the patrol's narrative but also be fun and dynamic to play. The VI are quite rapid with their run + charge which felt neat especially in the patrol scale.

The beauty of Civil War is in its scale, with mini projects like this finding a meaning as the threshold for thematic army building becomes delightfully low - also a great thing for beginner hobbyists who feel a fully painted, event-sized army is still far in the horizon.

The Grey Stalkers were a perfect unit for a hobby project as there's so many differing roles within the squad - it's fun to plan what kind of distinct characters the maul/sword/spearmen or a heavy weapon gunner would be! I approached each mini as an individual, converting the army list roles one by one to match the vision for the unit.

The Grey Stalker Huscarl was armed with a traditional Fenrisian hunting spear, the shield is just a decorative piece. Instead of the usual heraldic colours I played with forest green and purple, which was also used as an undertone in the entire army. As it was very much about experimenting I didn't have the stones to really push the effect in such a tight project timeframe, so it's very subtle - still a fun nuance especially in the basing.


A Fenrisian pillager with his sack of looted relics. I'll shoot some additional angles later to show some of the details on the models!


Pair of rotor cannons. Splendid to model and fun to play, although not that effective.


I imagined the fur details on the models being blackbear hides, once again consciously steering away from having anything wolf related on the models.

Grey Stalker Berserker with a trophy taken from a slain Fenrisian Frost Giant. I found that WHFB Dwarf bits often make better Space Wolf parts than actual Space Wolf parts, very fitting in the style of ornamentation and the bits are often a bit smaller which makes them easier to incorporate to conversions.

Fenrisian power spear and some wild charging momentum, one of my favourite Marines in the Grey Stalker unit. The black feather decorations (here hanging off the spear) are a repeating detail within the squad.

Prosperine Veteran, a survival of the grand planetary siege. The warrior possesses a couple of pillaged artifacts in the form of a master-crafted Boltgun and a Thousand Sons' ceremonial dagger. The bolter's beak ornamentation funnily adds to the bird theme of the squad.

The Envoy of Feathers is the symbolic leader of the warband. He's been carrying out a quest for the Lord of Fenris for the last three hundred years - travelling the planet's vast wilderness in search of the First Wulfen. The rest of the Grey Stalkers are his hand-picked crew, who have joined the old one on his long journey. Having used a head and a shaman drum from the old zombie kit I thought it would be funny to include as many zombie parts as possible - some parts are a bit off scale but otherwise fit the vibe. He even has some guts hanging off his belt (on the back side) for ritual purposes. Birds are very prominent in viking culture and stories and therefore were used as one of the thematic details in the patrol force.















The strange Wayfarer was a last minute addition to the patrol army — I was left with a couple of hobby hours to spare so I painted up a counter model for the Grey Stalkers. The Wayfarer's presence is to mark when the unit has the Heart of the Legion benefit, as the fellow traveller arrives to aid the Astartes with healing balms and to motivate them with cited sagas whenever the Marines stand on an objective. Fun way to add to the narrative and increase the patrol's display footprint a bit!

The Næturvár, a Fenrisian Tarantula Battery, three Frontier Idols with concealed Heavy Bolters. These are erected on the borders of settlements to keep outsiders and rival tribes away - the frightening figures are usually enough to scare off mundane threats, while the automated gunfire takes care of the rest. The slates used for these and the army basing were collected from the banks of fjords in Northern Norway, where actual viking ships might have sailed back in the days. I felt it was pretty cool little feature, adding to the army's essence!





Asaheim Attack Bike, a custom variant for long-range operations and extended patrolling. These would be used as forward scouts as well as hauling stowage, munitions and rations for the forces deployed to the wilderness. Attack Bikes felt like a cool and rather rare unit to include in the Civil War force and were my favourite unit to play. Mobile firepower and a fighting chance in a headlong charge, what's not to love! The conversion is essentially a combination of a Marine Bike and Mechanicus Kataphron Destroyer tracks. I went for a bit of a "snowmobile" look to emphasize the all-terrain capability they would have to have in the Fenrisian tactica.

Asaheim Attack Bike II, a hunting partner for the chain lancer. This warrior single-handedly drove off @fellfyre Sons of Horus Tactical Squad and only barely fell short of sweeping them out - a true patrol shock assault!

Sabre Strike Tank, the centerpiece for the patrol. Armed purely according to the rule of cool, as I liked the opportunity to mix some WWII bits in and also because I didn't want to have any energy weapons in the army's narrative theme or colour palette. It has a magnetized base for display, but was often played without it to be able to navigate our dense terrain a bit easier.

Sabre side armour. Most of the stowage is the new Rogal Dorn tank kit and Tamiya vehicle accessories with some other bits in the mix. The small runes are the Green Stuff World etched brass Dwarven runes that were used on some of the infantry models too.

On patrol.

The First Wulfen, Apex Hunter of the Wild Frontier, was the central figure for the patrol's narrative. Part of the Fenrisian folkore and The Fang's legends, the ancient being had now emerged from its exile after centuries. This was a bit of a special request from other participating players, as I played him as a Scout squad accompanied by a flock of raven minis. Basically he was the sergeant model and narratively speaking the birds of prey would follow in the Hunter's wake - kind of like wound counters for this force of nature. Everybody was onboard with the idea and it played exactly as a Scout unit would have, just a bit of a visual difference to make the concept possible. The base model was the Blade-slave Gal Vorbak for some added stature with all kinds of fantasy bits and green stuff clothing added.


So that's another project in the books - a Space Wolf patrol roster with zero wolf references. In a way it's exciting to pick a Legion you're really not that fond of and try to interpret its essence in a personally interesting way. Exploring this particular theme felt rather rewarding and it wouldn't be hard to line up a couple of reinforcing unit projects - it would just require an external incentive in the form of an event or a similar deadline!


June 7, 2023

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.








April 19, 2022

Unearth the Betrayal



It was once again our collective hobby inspiration that sparked the idea for our latest gaming day - Ollie had created the insane Night Lords Apothecary some time ago and we knew the model deserved a proper story arch. Unfortunately the Chief Medicae Consul is quite a rare unit choice and Ollie's scratchbuild is a bit too epic to be run as a regular Apothecary - sadly he hadn't seen any gameplay. Therefore we wrote him a secret narrative of his own, incorporating the villain into Thracian Insurgency as a non-player character.

Since the early days of our gaming table build we'd been toying with the idea of creating some underground features for the terrain. These ambitions were boosted as the final construction took shape and we decided to use Ikea Kallax grid shelves as the legs for the table. These have been holding some of our studio armies and literature, but the shelves would also be perfect for some terrain integration - this way the underground terrain pieces would actually be stored underneath the streets and could be used in gameplay as a separate, modular scenery setup.



Our idea was to write a classic "mad scientist" story for the Night Lords Chief Medicae (now called Dr. Norman Bramm) and have this renegade character lead a clandestine operation from his makeshift underground laboratory. His hideous creations (inspired by both Horus Heresy Raven Guard tragedies as well as Fabius Bile's Enhanced Warriors project) would be too imposing for the Loyalist alliance to ignore and this would result in a subterranean manhunt. At first we discussed with Scott that it would be cool to build a simple dungeon corridor to surprise the other players with, but as per usual, we couldn't stop there...

Check out the entire subterranean terrain build and story arch via War Head Instagram or Facebook Gallery below!



November 15, 2019

30K Broken Empire Results and Coverage



To quench the thirst of our Horus Heresy troopers War Head Fight Club hosted a three-round winter campaign for Loyalist and Traitor sides. The event re-enacted a prolonged chapter of trench warfare, where legions had fought for months without resupplies or maintenance of arsenal. This hopeless scenario brought in an element of its own with some campaign special rules - the players could impose certain curses upon the opponent's army, depicting penalties such as running out of fuel and ammunition.

In the first round the weary troops were desperately hunting for food supplies dropped by slain Independent Characters. On the second round the forces sought shelter from forsaken Bastions in the no-man's-land, trying to form a base of operations for the final stages of the campaign. During the final round our players in worked in co-operation with their allies to establish a communications link to the orbiting reinforcements, attempting to call for help in the dire situation. The Traitors (driven to a corner) ultimately succeeded, ensuring that the civil war would continue to rage upon the blasted planet...

The event was once again lifted to a high standard by our players and their gentlemanly gaming conduct. As usual it was an occasion of spectacular armies and hobby effort displayed by all players, albeit it was Mika Ketola's superb Imperial Fists that were chosen as the Best Army. Congratulations!





Campaign Outcome:
Tactical Draw (Loyalist Advantage)




November 4, 2019

The Voidsmen Element



The most thrilling part of Turku Fanatic preparations this year was finishing my Voidsmen Militia. My reserve-based army list called for some fearless ground troops, who would not shy away from adventures and close-proximity raids. The motley group counts as a Mechanicum Adsecularis Covenant, but depicts a section of space adventurers, thrall-servitors and techno-barbarians operating as a rearguard (and occasional breacher crew) under the World Eaters' leadership. When their masters go to work, it's usually better to give the XII Legion some space - what a great chance for some opportunistic treasure hunting in the empty corridors of the besieged starship...

Pari viikkoa sitten järkätyn Turku Fanaticin Horus Heresy -pelit pelattiin 2500:n pisteen armeijoilla, joten mun noin pariin tonniin yltänyttä Armies on Parade -kokoelmaa tuli vahvistaa hiukan turnauskomennusta varten. Reservipohjaisen listan tukipilareiksi kasattiin Adsecularis Covenantin ja Magoksen säännöillä toimivaa Voidsmen-jalkaväkeä, Damocles Command Rhino, Moritat sekä tietysti riehakkaita Rampagereita! Yksiköt jatkoivat myös armeijan avaruussotateemaa ja Rhinosta konvertoitiinkin hengenmukaisesti grav-mallinen.

Servitor-figuista kitbashatut Voidsmen-seikkailijat ovat ehdottomasti mun uudet suosikkifigut - näissä on hyvää 40K-synkeyttä ja kasariscififiilistä! Sekalaisen ryhmän perusajatuksena on siis asteroidimainareista ja avaruusalusten konehuoneiden työväestä muodostunut seikkailijajoukko, joka nyt tukee World Eatereita valtaustehtävissä ja ryövää sitten holvit hiljentyneiden käytävien varrelta...

Karaistuneet avaruuslaivanvaltaajat valmiina seuraavalle tehtävälle.

Mukana on myös puolisotilaallisiin avaruuspukuihin pukeutuneita tutkimusmatkailijoita. Space Hulkien syövereissä saattaa joskus tarvita lisävaloa ja haulikkoa...

Veteraaniliiton miehillä on jo merkkarityyliin monia bionisia irtoraajoja muistuttamassa täpärästi suoritetuista keikoista. Kiiltävänmustat kupolikypärät on vuoltu tasaisiksi Skitarii-päistä, kroppina taas on käytetty mainioita Genestealer Cult Neophyte Hybrids -osia.

Miehistöön on liittynyt myös pari geenimuunneltua teknobarbaaria, jotka ovat omaksuneet nucerialaista kulttuuria World Eaterien gladiattorirituaaleista. Yksi lähitaisteluspesialisteista suojelee vakituisesti Voidsmenien ikivanhaa kirstunvartijaa, joka osallistuu edelleen itsepäisesti tehtäviin.

Lisää brutaaleja kolosseja raskain asein.

Retkikunnan johtajana toimii kenties marsilaista alkuperää oleva teknopappi. Voidsmen-ryhmä toimi turnauksessa kaiken kaikkiaan hyvin ja sillä on paljon erilaisia käyttötarkoituksia, jotka tuovat joustavuutta muutoin Space Marineista koostuvan armeijalistan pelaamiseen.

Yksi World Eaterien tunnusyksiköistä ovat kaksintaisteluihin erikoistuneet Rampagerit. Monien muiden spessuryhmien tapaan ne on turhan kalliita pisteissä käytettäväksi kilpailullisesti, mutta tuovathan ne armeijalistaan ihan hyvää, pehmeää tematiikkaa ja aina siistin lähitaisteluyksikön! 

Oman viiden miehen ryhmäni kasasin Heresy-muoviboksien ylijäämäosista ja Warmachine-rangen Khador Doom Reavereista, joiden varustus oli musta sopivan gladiaattorihenkinen. Ne ovat myös mittasuhteiltaan vähän GW-tuotantoa sirommat, joten kaverit näyttävät siltä, että mahtuisivat oikeastikin power armourin sisään. Ryhmään tuli konvertoitua myös yksi Chaos Warhound -ajokoira lisämausteeksi.

HQ-puolelle pisteitä täyttämään rekrytoitui Legion Moritat Consul jump packilla ja parilla plasmapistoolilla. Sankari on juuri sellainen mielenkiintoinen yksikkö, joka on aika haastava pelata, mutta päästessään oikeaan paikkaan se tekee mittavaa tuhoa ja kykenee dramaattisiinkin suorituksiin. Dynaamisessa gunslingerissa on hyödynnetty Kromlechin bionisia jalkoja ja kypärämallia. Pitää varmaan tehdä tälle kaveriksi Destroyereita käytettäväksi silloin tällöin Rampagerien tilalla.

Myös Grav Command Rhinolle lisättiin vähän Kromlechin osia, tarkemmin sanottuna Extra Armour -sivupellit ja katon lautasantenni. Tein eteen ja taakse turbiinisuuttimet Stormraven Gunshipin osista ja lisäsin eteen Land Speeder -tyylisiä sensoreita ja antenneja.

Tarinankerronnallisista syistä skimmerille tuli myös maisemoitu flying base, johon sain myös pari meteoriittia leijumaan. Painottomassa tilassa operoiva komentovaunu piiloutui yleensä deployment zonen takakenttään ohjaamaan reservitoimintaa ja kuumottelemaan vastapuolta Orbital Strikella. Toivottavasti pian tulee taas lisää pelimahdollisuuksia!