+ Common Core Concepts +
+ inload: Unto Armageddon +
+ inload: Sweep and clear +
+ Scryomancy: Campaign preparation +
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+ Long WIP Imperial psykers + |
+ Phew, the Season of Fire is over; we can start looking forward to cooler nights. +
+ Y'know that horrible feeling when you get enthused but then can't find the right box – or find your worktop cluttered up? Well, with a few projects on the boil, I decided I'd spend a little time over the weekend reorganising boxes and consolidating things. +
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+ Kill team and more ready to paint. + |
+ Amongst them were my Catachans. A Kill Team of the Ever-Ready 634th have been completed for a while, and they got hurriedly packed into a transport box, while other small groups were packed away in unrelated boxes at various stages of assembly, where they have lurked. +
+ It was the work of moments to gather them all together and shift about various mini-projects to keep them in the right boxes. I've now got a box of small projects, or those in their early stages – Kroot, Catachans and Alaitoc; a dedicated War of the False Primarch box, and a box for Armageddon. +
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+ WIP classics + |
+ More importantly, I was also able to make some progress. The figures – a mix of eBay buys and the thoughtful and generous nature of PCRC stablemate Omricon – were cleaned up (and where necessary) repaired, had their weapons drilled, were glued into slottabases, had those bases textured, and finally were primed with Halford's Camo Green. +
+ These are all very small steps, but it's surprising how little tasks like this can make your hobby more enjoyable. When the muse comes calling, rather than having to hunt around only to find unprepared figures (or worse, not find them!), I now have properly organised boxes that can be pulled out to paint. When time's short, such preparation can make all the difference. +
+++
+ ...and speaking of planning, with a few projects to juggle, I thought I'd set down some thoughts to make sure I've got things clear in my head. +
+ The War of the False Primarch +
+ The Ashes of Armageddon +
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+ Whitetusk's Howlas are the first force to come under the spotlight on Armageddon – will yours be next? + |
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+ Rebasing in progress + |
+ The background +
+ Death in Paradise XXII +
+ inload: The Ashes of Armageddon +
+ Armageddon in retrospect +
+ Imperial Hiveworld, site of three iconic wars, and supposed ancestral homeworld of the orks, Armageddon is a place that's been featuring in the background of my projects for the past few years. +
+ Being the setting for the training missions in Warhammer 40,000 second edition, it's at the heart of 'retrohammer' for me, so I thought I'd scribble down a few thoughts on its history.
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+ Armageddon in total – note that North is off to the top left of the map; which explains why the jungles are called 'equatorial', despite running vertically. Given the state of the Dead Lands and Fire Wastes, it seems Armageddon has a very weird climate! + |
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+ My Blood Angels are implicitly themed around Armageddon, being based on the studio army of the day. + |
+ Strategic warfare +
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+ The initial Imperial set-up for Battle for Armageddon + |
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+ My Salamanders are explicitly themed around Armageddon; being the prototype for the broader project below... + |
+ Armageddon Prime +
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+ Well 'ard Goffs + |
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+ More well 'ard Goffs + |
+ A global campaign +
+ 2024 project: The Ashes of Armageddon +
+ The concept +
Armageddon Prime
Imperials
- Steel Legion
- Squats of Golgotha
Waaagh! Ghazghkull
- Snakebites
- Death Skulls
Dramatis personae
- Inquisitor Horst
- [Unnamed Golgothan Squat Warlord]
- [Unnamed Ork warboss under Ghazghkull]
Armageddon Secundus
Imperials
- Blood Angels
- Salamanders
- Ultramarines
- Steel Legion
- Hive gangs
- Iron Skulls Titan Legion
Waaagh! Ghazghkull
- Goffs
- Bad Moons
- Evil Sunz
Dramatis personae
- Herman von Strab
- Dante
- Yarrick
- Tu'Shan
- Marneus Calgar
- Princeps Senioris Kurtiz Mannheim
- Make or paint models to fit the theme – and if you're unsure, Orks and Steel Legion of any stripe will always be very welcome!
- Register your interest in the comments here, or on the Death of a Rubricist Facebook group
- Keep an eye out on the blog for the creation of a Discord group – I think this is going to be a better way for me to share and organise things than email!
+ inload: Bloodsong – Eldar and Orks in Adeptus Titanicus +
+ Bloodsong version 0.5 +
+ Ch-ch-ch-changes +
+ A glimpse into the future +
- To allow a broad church of players to get a Phantom that matches their vision for the Titan, whether that's slightly heavier or slightly lighter.
- To give some slight variation and increase the tactical choices available to Eldar players.
- There are a number of quite different fan-sculpts of the Phantom Titan around, and I've always preferred the 'model-led' approach to writing rules.
+ inload: Darren Latham's #90smarinechallenge +
+ Monopose Marines: back to the 90s +
+ Darren Latham, one of the GW Studio miniature designers and former 'Eavy Metal painter (and blogger – go check out his blog here), is running an event themed around the marines in the 2nd edition 40k boxed set. Using the tag #90smarinechallenge, the idea is simple: paint up one of the marines, post it on the 2nd September with the tag #90smarine finished. +
+ This seemed right up my street, so I hopped on the rapidly-departing bandwagon to paint up a [REDACTED] for the event. It seemed fitting to do a Silver Star, as one of the seeds for the War of the False Primarch project [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] was to create a Chapter that had been there all along – both in the lore and the real world. +
+ That conceit rather fell by the wayside, but it was fun to reinvigorate it for this event. Neat how things work out sometimes, eh? +
+++
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+ Brother Owaikēlā + |
+ Neat, alas, is not a word that applies well to the actual model. He's not 'officially' finished, but I think I'll step away very soon. One of those rather unsatisfying paintjobs where everything sort of fell into place, and then I faffed and fiddled and started to spoil what I had done. +
+ For the purposes of the event, then, I think he'll serve...
... with perhaps one or two more tweaks... +
+++
+ inload: Volkaeus Orurr +
+ Volkaeus Orurr +
Unlike the others, his measure of patience had run dry some time ago. Another breakdown. Another pause. Volkaeus Orurr breathed out testily.
Looking for a distraction, he reached for the rail and clambered up to the Rhino's roof one-handed, his boltgun in the other. Magnificence was not the fastest transport in terms of raw speed, but unlike the convoy, he mused darkly, it could at least keep going.
Unlike the all-purpose Rhino, These were not vehicles intended for service in hostile environments like the Dune Seas. With a regularity that struck Orurr as perversely ill-fitting to their mechanical reliability, every few hundred klicks one or another of the tankers or luggers would slew to a halt as filters clogged, tyres slumped, or the over-stimmed and under-rested hiveborn crew passed out in the unaccustomed heat. The convoy would pause, on edge and nervy, as the errant vehicle was coaxed back into life, winched back onto the track, or otherwise repaired.
The worst were the failures that billowed thick, oily smoke – as potent a signal as any the orks might hope for. Easy pickings, the coiling smoke suggested.
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+ Volkaeus Orurr + |
Not for the first time, the Salamander cursed the name of Herman von Strab. According to Captain Mirsan, it was largely owing to the Imperial Commander's arrogance and mismanagement that these intra-hive transports were all that was available for the backline armies. Hurriedly fitted with bulky external breathers and heat shielding before being filled with vital water, fuel and materiel, the vehicles were slow and unreliable – and thus the convoys were perfect targets for the roving greenskins.
With the cream of Armageddon's armies lost in the early conflict, and the replacements far from confident; upon arrival Chapter Master Tu'Shan had taken it upon the Salamanders' broad shoulders to ensure the world could fight; that its vital roads and arteries would be protected from roving marauders – as often human as ork.
The ever-present chemical tang was acerbic; but the height afforded by the Rhino gave him a moment's relief. The vehicle crews needed rebreathers in the hot, dry air, but the Space Marine's genewrought might made the air merely unpleasant. He wrinkled his nose in distaste and looked about him.
Armageddon's sun was low in the sky, red and ominous. Dark spots across it marked orbital defences – or more likely the wreckage of the same. The ground was seemingly an endless sea of yellow-grey dunes; the road all but hidden. Orurr's belted helm knocked against his leg as he straightened up.
Nothing for five hundred miles in any direction. No landmarks save the distant hive – and that had long been swallowed by the dust. Not even Astartes' vision could penetrate that.
+++
+ inload: Three finished Salamanders Space Marines +
+ Brothers in arms +
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+ Brother Tarsidemi +
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V'reth Tarsidemi |
+ Brother Numatone +
+ Brother Nomix Nor'jargan +
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+ Warriors three of the 8th Squad + |
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+ Three complete, more to come +
+ inload: Dust of Armageddon markings +
+ Salamanders 2nd Company markings +
+ Work in progress – it seems a long time since I've been putting paint onto models, but it was a welcome return. +
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