+ inload: Intrigue at Warehouse CCLIX – Part IV +

+ A  Warhammer 40,000 2nd Edition battle report – part IV+

+ This (much-belated!) inload stems from others – Part I of this battle report can be found here [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+], part II here [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+], and part III here [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+] +

+ When last we read about Warehouse CCLIX, the Church of the Astral Ascension were closing in on the Hangman's Rope, the personal retinue of Inquisitor Unfortunus Voke. +

Ferlinghetti and Tempest came sprinting across the plaza as Arcimboldo primed a krak grenade on the surface of the stasis pod. With a great roar, the explosive ruptured the stasis pod, denying its contents to the genestealer menace. Panting, the autoscribe reported silhouettes and blips appearing on his auspex. Time to be gone...

Purestrains darted from cover to cover as they raced across the ground, their claws skittering across the broken cobbles.

What was in the stasis pod? There was no time to investigate. Even as Sergeant Tempest kneeled down to pick through the hot remains, Arcimboldo grabbed her webbing and pulled her up, urgently pushing her and Ferlinghetti to move.

Meanwhile, Manderghast advanced to buy the Rope some more time. Trusting in his power armour and mechanical might to carry the day, he broke cover and spat hard light at a group of hybrids.

The Church were pouring into the area now, individuals and groups appearing on both flanks.

Cymgin and Toria, the guardsmen, kept cool heads as monstrous forms began to close in on them. Rattling autogun fire kept them advancing cautiously.

Manderghast put down one hybrid, and braced himself for an attack from the nearby group, rolling his shoulders to limber up.

Veck yelled for Tempest and Ferlinghetti to redouble their efforts. Arcimboldo had pushed them off in order to escape two purestrains, but their recalcitrance forced him to turn back to face both monsters.

They charged, and his flashing blade leapt up into an en garde position. This would be the fight of his life...

Heeding Veck's orders, Manderghast let off a couple of warning shots, then ducked back behind the alehouse and began running back to the escape route.

Veck watched powerless as his forces fell back... Had destroying the stasis pod prevented a future disaster, or merely delayed things? That it was precious was clear, and he cursed inwardly that the Rope had been unsuccessful in retrieving it intact. However, this was a case of life and death now – and his team had still to escape.

+++

+ The concluding part can be found here [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+] +

+ inload: Iron Warrior Siegemaster +

+ inload: Episcopi Artabas +

+ Iatayu Artabas, who met his end during the Siege of Terra was a polymath, a pragmatist and an amoral monster from the planet Kush Tertial. While he was a capable warrior – he was, after all, and Astartes – his rise through the rank to become a leader of men was due more to his pathological obsession with minuteae than charisma or ferocity. In any other Legion, he would have made a capable Line Officer. In the Iron Warriors, his detail-led approach gave him an overview that saw him command battalions. +

+ A rank specific to the IVth Legion, Episcopi were roughly equivalent to Lieutenant-Commanders, with a similar breadth of roles. Senior to the line Centurions, an Episcopus was a special designate who operated alongside a Grand Battalion; though with no special connection with it. An Episcopus could expect to be sent where he was most needed; where his abilities best suited the Legion's need. They included linebreakers, siegemakers and medical, morale or technical specialisms. Artabas excelled in all aspects of planned warfare, making him a vital cog in planning the assault on Terra. +

+ Pictured with his armament of choice – a simple power bludgeon and umbra-pattern bolt pistol – immediately prior to the assault on Pradesh Novum, Artabas limped out of this engagement, only to fall mere weeks later. A temporary tilt shield bears a simple stripe marking him as attached to the 242nd. His armour is otherwise unremarkable, save for the enhanced optics and data-gathering upgrades to his helm and powerpack. +

+ The most striking feature of this understated officer's appearance was his vulture familiar, Sampatu. Startled during a clash between the Iron Warriors and an infestation of Hrud, the bird rose up and spoiled the aim of an infiltrated hrud fusilier – an act which likely saved Artabas, though its perforated wing rendered it flightless. In a peculiar act of charity, Artabas recovered the bird and spent many months training it and assisting its recuperation using flight-recovery technology usually reserved for psychic cyber-familiars, servitor-putti and the like. larger, stronger and more resilient than the extinct Terran vultures which it closely resembled, the avian became both a totem and a preternaturally fast and vicious helper to Artabas. +

+ Artabas was an unusual choice to oversee the Officia Monstrosa, but then the very nature of the task – to subdue and capture a Primach during one of the greatest and most complex campaigns before or since – required something quite unique. +

+ inload: Weapon Platforms +

+ Rapier platforms +

+ Rapiers are semi-autonomous tracked weapon platforms used by many arms of the Imperium's military, from the Imperial Militia to the Legiones Astartes. Rugged and reliable, their distinctive grumbling forms are rarely the stuff of legends, instead occupying a humble supporting role in the Imperium's military history. + 

+ Most commonly armed with a bank of linked laser weaponry called laser-destroyer arrays, which operate on similar principles to lascannons, the Rapier is versatile enough to mount other weaponry too heavy, specialised or bulky for infantry – even Astartes – to handle. Common Rapier mounts include quad-guns, heavy bolter banks, mass-drivers and the feared graviton cannon. +

+ Graviton cannons emit a distinctive sub-sonic thrum as they wash the target area with massless spin-2 boson particles, displacing resident scalar and vector particles through a process called quantum spin-weaving. This is manifested in a localised and temporary apparent increase in mass and weight with no concomitant increase in size or displacement of the target, resulting in catastrophic stresses to the target. In layman's terms, it increases the gravity of an area, flattening buildings, crushing armoured vehicles and reducing infantry to a thin, gritty paste. +

+ The Iron Warriors Legion made great use of the Rapier platform, adapting it to bear everything from direct-fire weapons to comms-arrays and orbital links. In addition to these standard uses, the Iron Warriors also commonly utilised Rapiers as transports during deployments in dense terrain like jungles. In these cases, the Rapier platform would typically – though not always – be stripped of their primary weapon and used instead to bear palettes and crates of arms and ammunition for a Muster. These allowed infantry-heavy deployments to operate for longer and range further than otherwise advisable. +

+ Displaying their typical ingenuity and practicality, the IVth Legion also employed the platform for many unique improvised uses, ranging from creating temporary mobile bridges across the racing waters of Vortigern, to carrying the honoured dead back from assaults. There is even one recorded (though uncorroborated) instance of an entire Iron Warriors platoon piloting hastily-stripped-down Rapiers during the Retreat from New Mars, allowing them to outpace their furious pursuers and draw them into a fatal ambush. +

+++

+ The army... complete? +

+ With these Rapiers complete, I've now got a balanced 2000pt army all ready to go for my game tomorrow. Here are a couple of pictures of the infantry en-masse. +

+ inload: Six Species Player Profiles #1

+ Player Profile: Jimmy Turnpike +

Height: 5' 9"

Weight: 194lbs

Age: 19

Experience: First season

Team: Chaunterwick Unathletic

Season stats:

Position: Thrower

MA: 6  ST: 3  AG: 3  AV: 8

Skills: Pass, Sure hands, Dump-off

Games played: 2

TD scored: 1  Comp: 1  Int: 0  Cas: 0  MVP: 2

+ James Turnpike is a new signing to Chaunterwick Unathletic, a promising youngster recruited by a talent scout after winning the parish horseshoe-tossing contest at the Grimchurch village fête. After his interview*, Turnpike signed a short-term** contract to the team, where he swiftly stood out as one of the few members of the 'Bobbins' (as Unathletic are fondly known) to show some ability to handle the ball. +

+ Proving himself a valuable member of the team, Turnpike combines two traits uncommon, even surprising, for a Blood Bowl player: a reluctance to be punched and a genuine talent for getting rid of the ball before the tackle is made. His position as quarterback makes use of his keen eye, and means that the other 'Bobbins' are keen to get the ball to him – much to his dismay! + 

* i.e. fighting his way out of the sack into which he had been bundled and finding himself miles from home.
** In relative, geological, terms.

+++

+ Painting +

+ Still nominally WIP, Turnpike's a colour test for my first new team in a good few years; a scheme loosely based on both the Welsh Rugby strip and Charlton Athletic's. He's worked up from a red primer base, with a pair of reds (one for armour, one for cloth) and a pair of creamy whites (again, one for armour, one for cloth). +

+ inload: March of the 242nd +

+ 242nd Company, LII Muster, SOL Theatre, Compliance of Zero-zero +

+ 'Footsore', they called us. It was intended as a slight; their sneering, supercilious tone masquerading as barracking humour. We understood all too well what they meant. +

+ The recognition did not draw us together. We did not wail and clutch at each other in private. It did, however, bind us. We became a fascia of sticks, or a gabion wall of stones bound in a cage. It gave us strength. +

+ For buried in that 'honorific' was a recognition that we had become as iron; instruments of a fearful will that drove sentient, sapient and valuable beings to march across fields of mines, traps and obstructions. +

+ We would come to use this iron cage. +

+++

+ Muster LII +

+ Designate: Phalangite Cantacuzenus +

+ Aegis: Mark IV 'Maximus', Beta Cornix Forge +
+ Agency: Boltgun, Umbra forge
+ Remarks: Auxiliary besagew 'tilt shield'; marked with personal honorific; 66-Compliance. Note Lodge medals integrated into breastplate. Poss. ritual significance? 

+ Designate: Phalangite Murtzuphlos + 

+ Aegis: Mark II 'Crusade', Mars Forge +
+ Agency: Boltgun, Boltgun, Pentos forge manufacture (Phobos license); chainsword INDETERMINATE
+ Remarks: Belt buckle honorific – inlaid ceramic. QUERY Chainsword taken from battlefield?

+ Designate: Phalangite Vatartes + 

+ Aegis: Mark II 'Crusade', Mars Forge +
+ Agency: Boltgun, Pentos forge manufacture (Phobos license)
+ Remarks: Helm adaptated with additional reinforcement: utilisation of Mark III spares.

+ Designate: Phalangite Komnen +

+ Aegis: Mark III 'Armorum Ferrum', Cyclothrathe Forge +
+ Agency: Boltgun, Cyclothrathe forge manufacture (Phobos license)
+ Remarks: Unremarkable

+ Designate: Phalangite Botaneiate + 

+ Aegis: Aggregate hybrid 'Mark V', Forge origin diverse. Underlying powerplant Martian Mark II 'Crusade'. Mantilla helm. +
+ Agency: Boltgun, Pentos forge; deployed combat blade, Luna forge.
+ Remarks: Helm, chain-loincloth and pauldron indicate adoption into Basilikoi corps.

+ Designate: Mandator Paphlagon + 

+ Aegis: Mark III 'Armorum Ferrum', Cyclothrathe Forge – helm retrofitted with additional heat vents, visible immediately behind faceplate. +
+ Agency: Boltgun, Cyclothrathe forge manufacture (Phobos license)
+ Remarks: Minor boltgun honorific indicates non-commissioned rank.

+ Designate: Phalangite Ronon + 

+ Aegis: Mark III 'Armorum Ferrum', Cyclothrathe Forge +
+ Agency: Boltgun, Phobos forge manufacture
+ Remarks: Unremarkable


+ Designate: Phalangite Marillion + 

+ Aegis: Aggregate hybrid 'Mark V', Forge origin principally Beta Cornix Mark IV, with underlying Anvilus Mark II 'Crusade' powerplant . Spec. field replacement? +
+ Agency: Boltgun, Pentos forge manufacture (Phobos license)
+ Remarks: Honorific loincoth 'Balteon'. Etymology obscure.


+ Designate: Phalangite Glyce + 

+ Aegis: Mark II 'Crusade', Mars Forge +
+ Agency: Boltgun, Pentos forge manufacture (Phobos license); Chainsword, Ur-haven forge manufacture
+ Remarks: Molecular bonding stud reinforcement of legionary's left greave.

+ Designate: Phalangite Rinon-Fell + 

+ Aegis: Mark II 'Crusade', Saturnine Forge (Mars Licensse) +
+ Agency: Boltgun, Fortis Binary forge manufacture (Umbra license); Chainsword, Saturnine forge manufacture
+ Remarks: Chainsword hilt adornment appears to be [GEN.SPEC. Canis Lupus], extinct Terran predator. PERSONAL: Odd; there are no Wolv[REDACTED]

+ inload: Glazing +

+ Painting theory and practice: Glazing +

+ Not an immediately arresting stage, but one that I often gloss over is the way I approach the yellow markings on my Iron Warriors: a warming glaze of red-brown. It's a very – very – quick stage; I think all thirteen were completed in less than two minutes, but it's one that vastly improves the look of things. Why? well, that's what we'll look at in today's inload. +

+ Compare the before and after pictures below:

Before

+ The underlying paint in the base layer of the 'Before' picture is a fairly neutral yellow, made up of Averland Sunset with thinned Flash Gitz Yellow*  added over the top. It appears flat – that is, there's no sense of highlighting or shade – and has ragged edges near the rim. +

After

+ In contrast, the resulting hue is 'warmer', and less flat: there is a sense of curvature created by variation in tone (the relative lightness or darkness). In painting terms, this latter effect is called modelling – rather confusingly for miniature painters! +

+ Practical +

+ The effect is achieved with a technique called glazing. This is simply painting a layer of very thin paint over a dry area. The thin paint lets some of the underlying colour (i.e. the basecoat) show through. While the glaze remains wet, I rinse and dry my brush, then use it to 'lift off' or wipe away some of the wet glazing colour from areas I want to be highlighted, and leave it in places where it should be in shade. +

+ This results in a smooth transition of tones on the area, from light yellow highlights where the glaze has been entirely removed, to warmer darker-toned shades, where the glaze almost obscures the underlying colour. +

+ Note also that a glaze will help to tidy an area: In the example above, the ragged edges near the trim are covered, and the overall effect is smoother. Now, I want a slightly battered effect to my troops (as this add visual detail and interest) so I haven't taken this further, but if you're interested in a clean, smooth result, then repeated glazing is a skill well worth developing. +

+ Theoretical +

+ I don't want to dwell too much on the practical aspect of glazing – there are far better painters than me who can show the technique more clearly – but I would like to explain why I use the colour I have here. On the face of it, red-brown (I use GW's Dark Flesh or Doombull Brown paints) seems an odd choice for shading yellow. Why didn't I use a dark yellow? +

+ The reason for this is to create a warming effect to balance the palette – which all sounds a bit pretentious and complicated, but is fundamentally very simple. Your model should look attractive. Even if it's a hideous monster, you want it to be pleasing – or at least interesting – to the eye, as this encourages people to spend some time looking at the figure. +

+ Physics and human biology inform aesthetics: red things appear closer to you and blue things further away – an effect called 'aerial perspective', caused by (amongst other things) the refraction of light [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+]. For this reason, the eye will naturally go towards warmer, redder things first – they're more likely to affect us physically than distant blue mountains. So, if we include some warm parts on a model, the eye will go to them. +

Part of the reason you look at the yellow bits first is because they're a warm tone.

+ Why not paint everything red, then? Well, just as the yellow area in the 'Before' shot above was boring because it was flat, we're also attracted to variation. This can come in tonal contrast by having some light-toned areas and some dark-toned areas); in detail through structural form (posture or components used) or freehand painting/use of transfers etc.; or in hue by using different colours. A model without contrast is a bit dull.  This is why we talk about choosing a palette. +

Two Blood Angels: I painted Brother Engel (above), from the Space Marine Strike Force set, about [Yikes] years ago – he's a great demonstration of a flat, boring red. Contrast him with the more recent Brother Catabin below, the red armour of which show contrasts in hue, tone and temperature achieved through blending and glazing. 

+ Choosing a palette is a huge concept, which I could witter on about for many inloads (consider yourself warned!), but the relevant part here is variation in colour temperature, part of hue. You will have heard people talking about cool and warm colours, and this is artistic shorthand for the colour temperature. It is important to realise that any colour can be cool or warm – it's not the case that blues are inherently cold or reds inherently warm. Paints, however, are mixed to have a specific hue, and can be labelled as warm, cold or neutral. Flash Gitz Yellow, for example, is a colder yellow than the warmer Yriel Yellow. Note that it's also relative; while Yriel Yellow is warmer than Flash Gitz Yellow, in a larger palette it's relatively balanced, or neutral. A good palette will usually include a few warmer and a few colder-hued paints to give the ability to create interesting, eye-catching contrasts. +

+ Defeating the neutral threat +

+ To summarise, contrast is a good thing to aim for in painting; you usually want to avoid a model being too similar in tone, too similar in hue, and too similar in temperature. Sometimes, this can be a challenge – perhaps the paint scheme or structure of the model demands a single overall colour. How do we build in contrast without sacrificing the overall appearance? +

+ The silver paints I use for the Iron Warriors are inherently neutral in temperature, as is Abaddon Black (the secondary colour); so the overall palette is neutral – a bit boring. To combat this, I use pin washes (that is, tiny touches that target small areas) of Leviathan Purple, Thraka Green, sepia ink and so forth to introduce the subtle suggestion of warm and cool areas and break up the overall effect. +

+ Glazing is the other answer. As seen above, it alters the tone – creating a transition from light to dark, and can also be used to alter the hue. In the example of my Iron Warriors, it warms parts of the yellow areas, creating a transition from cooler to warmer hues. +

+ Returning to my earlier rhetorical question – 'Why didn't I use a dark yellow?' – it's for this latter reason. Using a darker yellow to glaze would only alter the tone, leaving the temperature flat. Using red-brown to glaze alters both the tone and the hue, creating more of that all-important eye-catching interest. +

+ Had I wanted to give a cooler effect, I might have used a green-blue to glaze the yellow – but as discussed, cooler hues tend to be less eye-catching. With an already neutral – inherently rather boring – colour scheme, my Iron Warriors need all the help they can get. +

+ How do you decide? Well, fundamentally, the colour palette you choose is up to you, and will involve lots of interlinked decisions. By basing these decisions on some colour theory knowledge, you'll be able to make them consciously rather than instinctively, and hopefully be able to 'zing up' any palette that you aren't happy with, for whatever reason. With that said, don't discard your instincts – all the theoretical in the world won't stand up to the practical effect of a finished model that by all accounts shouldn't work, but somehow does: your models are yours – don't let anyone tell you how to paint them. +

*[APPENDNOTE:] I usually use Golden Yellow (or its modern equivalent in teh GW range Yriel Yellow) for these parts of my Iron Warriors – apologies for the inconsistency with the scheme as described in this inload. [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+]*

+ inload: Muster LII +

+ Prelude to Conflict +

+ Painting for gaming +

+ It's funny – I think of myself more as a painter than a gamer, but the prospect of a game is often the thing that gets me most productive in painting terms. Perhaps it's a desire for innovation, perhaps simply not wanting to let the other person down? +

+ Anyway, another thirteen Iron Warriors are approaching completion:

+ The scheme – detailed in an earlier inload [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+] is quick and effective, so I've been able to crack through these chaps fairly quickly. They need detailing, weathering and some more attention to the bases, but are almost there. +

+ One thing I find interesting about the Space Marine Legions is how numerous they are – there's something visually striking about a horde of marines on the table. This can lead to things becoming a bit dull as you churn through your fortieth 'bloke with boltgun', but I find a lot of enjoyment in tiny variations – whether in pose, armour detailing or painting. Finding the balance between keeping things interesting but not compromising the overall effect is important. +

+ The chaps above are all armed with chainswords – representing a 'Despoiler' Tactical squad – but a closer look will reveal they're all quite different. Tiny things, like chainsword casings, different helm types, and sparing use of hazard striping marks them out as individuals; but importantly, at first glance they're very similar. +

+ Having everyone in a dynamic action pose sounds cool, but gives a disorganised overall result. Great for orks and so forth, not so fitting for more disciplined forces. For that reason, I always aim to balance more dynamic poses with an equal amount of more conservative postures – like the ones above. Note that these still have variation in the components used: it's counter-productive to the overall effect if some models are marked out by posture and unique components, while others are literally uniform. +

+ A few more. Inevitably, you'll find some postures or combinations of bits just appeal more to you for one reason or another. The chap on the left just seemed to work particularly well for me. I keep such models as markers when I'm batch painting – working on a favourite helps punctuate things and stops things being boring. +

+ Another advantage of painting en masse is not having to think particularly hard – you can just lose yourself in the flow of the work, enjoy some music and generally relax. For non-standard models, like the character in the centre here, I had to keep stopping and working out how I would tackle his (unique) markings and odd component parts. +