+inload: Armageddon Prime tokens +

+ A holiday to Armageddon Prime +

'Come to sunny Armageddon Prime! The other continent on this key Imperial world!' 

+ Today's inload looks at some practical elements of this project to realise a fan-made second expansion to Battle for Armageddon; with respectful thanks to Jervis Johnson, Mark Gibbons, Richard Helliwell, Fangorn and Bill King for the inspiration +

Tangentially-related miniatures watch respectfully as a techpriest blesses the artworks.

+++

+ Progress towards Armageddon +

I've squeezed in two fun games of the original boardgame recently. We played the very basic game the first time, with the Imperials winning a Hail-Mary victory by offing Ghazghkull. The second game involved the Snakebites and Blood Axes from the Chaos Attack expansion, along with the treacherous Von Strab – and this was a thorough hammering for the Imperials. Both times were very enjoyable! 

It's a fun, simple and relatively quick game; if you can find a copy, I'd encourage you to give it a go.

Enthusiasm for this project has been running high, as it's firing off lots of interlocking interests. Squats, hand-painting, ork gargants (more on them in an article soon...), and even some gaming... 

Finding some focus in the hobby is good, but it's not everything!  Sometimes it's nice just to let enthusiasm carry you along freely.

+ Making tokens +

My set of counters for the game is looking a bit sun-faded, and as these things tend to go, I wondered if I could recreate them. The originals were given away as a print-to-play PDF by GW's Fanatic department many years ago, but I'm pretty sure they were created by scanning a set, rather than from the original print files, as the colours and resolution are a bit ropey. 

One idea crashed into another, and I thought it'd be fun to create a proper set for the Armageddon Prime expansion. I've been working on this expansion (the rules written by KillerKatana) on and off [+vis.ref this inload node: +noosphericinloadlink embedded+], and it seemed a great chance to polish up my Illustrator skills.

 

Here's a rundown of the Imperial tokens needed from the original boardgame:

• 8th–14th Armies 
• seven tokens with values 2 4 1
• 15th–20th Armies
• six tokens with values 2 3 1 values
• 2nd–7th Tank Divisions
• one token with values 7 4 2
• four tokens with values 6 4 2
• one token with value 5 3 2
• 3rd–6th Rough Riders and Light Brigade
• two tokens with values 2 2 3
• two tokens with values 1 2 3
• one token with values 1 1 4
• Hive gangs
• five tokens with values 2 3 1
• five tokens with values 1 2 1
• Fortifications
• eight tokens with values – x2 –

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I've taken a few creative liberties. I didn't want to copy them absolutely exactly for a few reasons. Firstly, it seems a bit uncreative – I'd rather iterate and develop the original idea than just make an carbon copy – and in any case having some differences future-proofs the set, so that you could in theory play both the Prime and Secundus theatres in an apocalyptic combined game. Finally, I have no desire to have GW looking askance at what is really just a couple of hobbyists playing about, so out of respect to the original designers and artists, and the spirit of the project, I wanted to add my own little flourish rather than just take.

Here's a look at the Imperial side. You can see the GW originals from the Fanatic download on the pasteboard (the darker area surrounding the white working areas):

Looking at things in detail was interesting. It suggested quite a bit about how the game was originally made, and how assets were re-used. A lot of the icons are from transfer sheets of the era, while others were re-used from Epic: Space Marine. Trying to find complementary typefaces and riffing on the artworks was a fun little exercise, and – even if I do say so myself – I think the result looks the part.

I was torn a little on whether to update things. Things like the Armageddon Steel Legion were still germinating at the time, so the Imperial Guard tokens are labelled rather starkly as (e.g.) 'Imperial Guard 1st Army'; things like Rough Rider formations were slowly being shuffled off into moth balls during this period as the main studio developed the Imperial Guard for 40k; and the colours are very bright and vibrant, as per the GW studio aesthetic of the time. There are lots more instances of little things like that – and of course the mechanics of the game rely to some extent on the names on the cards.

In the end, I thought doing a modern take would be a fun idea, but as this is really a bit of an homage to the original, I thought I'd split the difference. You can see how I've kept the 'Imperial Guard' text on the cards, but replaced '1st Army' with '1st Steel Legion', for example. You'll also spot the Imperialis (winged skull) symbol of the Guard in general has been replaced with the Steel Legion's logo.

(As an aside, the colours of the Guard Army Groups I used in The Ashes of Armageddon project was inspired by this game. You can see on the left how the 1st Army has a red circle with white logo; while the 8th–14th Armies are yellow with a black logo.)

This is slightly complicated because KillerKatana's rules for Prime suggest using only the second-rate armies from the original game, to represent the Hives of Prime being caught unprepared. A really cool and simple idea, but odd in isolation. I've resolved that by keeping the colours of the Army Groups from the original game, but renumbering them – that way there's no confusion between the armies of Armageddon Prime and Armageddon Secundus. The Departmento Munitorum will be pleased.

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+ Tanks and support +

Close inspection will also reveal that I've updated the silhouettes of the Tank brigades and Rough Riders; both also renumbered and noted as 'Prime' formations. The tank icons mostly  match those of the original game: a Stormhammer and Baneblades for the 1st–5th Prime Divisions (equivalent to the 2nd–6th of Secundus – the 1st there is a Shadowsword), but I couldn't resist replacing the old Basilisk with the more iconic Leman Russ.

The place of Rough Riders as quick response recon units has been supplanted in the Steel Legion background by Sentinels, so the walkers replace the symbols there for the 1st and 2nd Rough Rider Brigades – in much the same way as I justified the change in this article. However, I personally love Rough Riders – space cavalry really captures the degraded pseudo-historical theme of 40k for me, so the horseman icon is retained for the rest.

The Hive Gangs of Prime got a skeletal Eagle skull as their symbol – change for the fun of it, and to help distinguish between those of the original game; and the fortifications got a redesign, too – now closer to the modern 40k-era symbol for Fortifications.

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+ More challenges! +

Of course, not everything from the original was iconographic – quite a lot was hand-painted. The board was painted by Mark Gibbons, for example, and I'm guessing that the factories and hives were painted at the same time by that talented so-and-so, now working for the tabletop publisher Rookery Publications [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]. Here they are: 

 

Again, directly lifting this seemed not entirely cricket, so I decided to set aside a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon to try a bit of an experiment, and broke out the paints to try my own crack at things:

I worked at four times the size of the originals – I'm no Mark Gibbons, and shrinking things down would tighten my sketchy work up nicely. Above you can see an early stage of the 10 x 10cm square I used for the Hive city tile alongside the original counters from the game.

... and here are the finished artworks: the Hive City and Factory – and the shared 'smouldering ruins' that makes up the reverse of each piece.

  

I then photographed them, resized them and dropped them into my aesthetigraphical-engine automat servitor (Adobe Illustrator) before putting on the text overlays. 

In the pict-capture below, the originals are shown on the left, while my efforts are on the right. I'm pleased with how they've come out – and I hope that the designers would get a kick out of seeing their efforts still inspiring new work years later.

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+ inload: Squat Killteam – Hearthkyn salvagers +

+ Painting the Squat Kill Team +

+ We had a PCRC catch-up call yesterday, and spent an enjoyable couple of hours painting and enthusing about our various projects for the campaign. It was nice to actually get the dust off my brushes and work some more on my squat Kill Team – Hearthkyn Salvagers, if you're feeling fancy. Today's inload looks at some thoughts on painting them. +

The four above are regular 'Warriors' – no funny spelling or anything here. There are a couple of Kill Team specialists that I'm not too fussed about (like the jump pack one), so there'll be at least two of these in the final team.

Am I leaving flexiblity at home? Well, I don't think so. Specialism in Kill Team strikes me as a compromise, because even the 'basic trooper' archetypes tend to have a skill or piece of equipment that makes them stand out. In the case of these Hearthkyn, their Secure salvage ability means that they take a little less damage when contesting objective or mission markers – an all-round useful ability.

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Painting-wise, I've started layering Mephiston red over the maroon undercolour, picked out the metallics and added the leather. They're all getting to a fairly consistent stage, and I'm now starting to ask myself questions on whether I want to keep a uniform look (*shakes head*) or add a bit more individuality (*nods head*).

The scheme is unabashedly retro-flavoured, and takes its cues from this awesome Dave Andrews artwork shown below. One of the appeals of 40k in general is the mix of WW2 with pageantry, and while my tastes tend to run to the earthier, murkier end of things rather than super-saturation, I do like a spot of colour amongst the tasteful earth tones.

However, the bright, primary look of the artwork above, while very striking, doesn't necessarily translate well to miniatures. I prefer the brown gloves of the second rank chap with the yellow helmet to the 'washing-up gloves' look of the front rank, for example. I'm looking to find a good middle ground where some elements remain eye-catching while others play a supporting role. 

The variety is something I'm keen to include. While at first glance the figures seem to be in uniform, a closer look reveals that almost every one has a subtly distinct combination of the same colours across their armour and clothing. That strikes me as very fitting for squats; it's a subtle nod to their desire to both stand out from and fit in with their comrades; a seeming paradox that evokes pride, personality and makes them more human than a lot of actors in 40k.

Here's the specialists. From left to right, we have a Gunner with a HYLas rotary cannon; a Kognitaar (battlefield analysis spod); a Lokatr (a scanner/recon operative) and a Field medic – who should be armed with a pistol and knife, so I'll either be doing a counts-as or swapping the backpack, as he doesn't really read as a medic at the mo.

That's eight. A little dig around shows that I part-built the other two, but – perhaps with this later change in mind! – left them unfinished. One will have to be a Theyn (the leader archetype), and I might have a bit of fun converting him to look a bit special. For the last chap, I've got the choice of the following archetypes:

• The close-in brawler, the Dozr.
• A Grenadier
• The jump pack warrior
• Kinlynk (radio-man/comms)
• Lugger – hefty dwarf chap who carries extra equipment.

I'll keep you in the loop on what I decide.

Naming-wise, these will be from the Irnståv Dominion [+noosphericexloadlinked embedded+], part of the Mjalnar League. A few names I've been riffing alongside the PCRC:

Theyn Albus Irnståv

Seven Forksbeard

Cnut Carespelt

Handheld Bluetooth

+ inload: Shadows over Tundrine Har +

+ Shadows over Tundrine Har +

+ The PCRC are meeting for a campaign weekend – hooray! The conceit is two connected timelines: a big 30k-era battle, and then the scavengers picking over the area some 10,000 years later... +

+++

+ Kill Team Squats +

For the 40k-period part a recon force of Squats – the Norgyr Ironstaves – will make an appearance:

I've not yet played the new version of Kill Team, so thought I'd try out a useful-looking little app, KTDash [+noosphericexloadlink+] to help. 

I'm finding the all-new all-copyright-friendly naming scheme a bit of a pain. I understand what a Field Medic or Warrior is, but some of the other names for operatives is a bit vague. What's a Lokatr? I'm presuming he locates things, so the guy above with the scanner might work... but in that case, what's a Kognitaar and how do I represent it?

From what I'm reading, I might need to make a couple of adjustments or additions to the unit as I've built them, but with seven weeks to go, I should be able to crank them out in time.

Anyway, I've needed a gently nudge to get these painted up – they'll be a fun change to my usual Guard  or Kroot in Kill Team, and will doubtless prove useful in my own Armageddon musings.

+++

+ Turning to tiny things +

For the earlier era part, I'll be bringing along Epic-scale stuff and Titans. A couple of the PCRC, TrojanNinja and Qwerty have expressed interest in trying it out, so I'm bringing along a Marine army (Salamaders) and painting up some traitors – Night Lords and their unfortunate human allies. 

Why Night Lords? Well, that's because Lucifer216 is bringing a Night Lords Kill Team for the later part – I figured it'd be cool to have an earlier tie-in.

The stands shown above will represent a Mechanicus delegation that's at the heart of the narrative the PCRC are cooking up.

As noted in the last inload, landing safely on my doorstep was the new book and whirlwinds, and I've now got them built and ready for paint:

Slightly disappointed that there's not the option to build eight of the same kind, but both variants are cool looking. The models are – typically for Epic: Legions Imperialis – very cool and faithful to the larger-scale versions, and also very fiddly: the box-launcher on top of the Whirlwinds, for example, is made up of six parts, and on both types the exhausts are individually placed.

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+ inload: September update +

+ A whole new boardgame +

+ Slow progress on painting and modelling, but I've been teaming up with Sinan to put together an event! +

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+ Third War in 3rd +

Themed around the Third War for Armageddon, sixteen (or eighteen) players will be be playing two linked games. I won't share too many details here just yet, but I've excited to see so much enthusiasm for what we assumed would be a pretty niche event.

The #3rdwarin3rd tag on Instagram is up for people to share their pics.

The event happily coincides with my main 40k-era enthusiasm at the mo, which is Armageddon. Regular inloaders will remember the work I've been doing on the Armageddon Prime [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] expansion for the old Battle for Armageddon board-wargame.

I've not been idle there, as you can see below, as I've been working on creating my own set of counters:

The plan is to get these printed up on covered greyboard and match the originals as closely as I can. How does this relate to the event? Well, the plan we're currently working on is to have a 'campaign map' to provide some immersion – players will get to see how their forces are doing on a strategic scale between the games, and they'll be able to take away some custom counters of their own forces as a keepsake.

Tickets, alas, are already sold out, but if it's a success I think we're both keen to try to run another.

+++

+ In other news +

I had the great good fortune to play the inimitable orks of Bob Hunk in a 1,500pt 2nd edition game recently (check out my list below), and – good gracious me – it was about as one-sided a game as I've ever played! My poor Steel Legion boys just couldn't catch a break, and the orks won a victory of something like 14VP to 1! 

There were some memorable events (I hesitate to call them highlights! :D) like the Shokk Attack gun bagging not one but both Leman Russ tanks, and my Command HQ getting bulls-eyed by a fight-bomma raid (strategy card) and wiped out in one fell swoop.

A well-deserved win to the greenskins; I was thoroughly outplayed from the start. I'd love to blame the dice – but in all honesty Bob Hunk used the terrain and clever positioning to advantage and boxed my troops in extremely well.

+++

The game spurred on some painting, which – between summer holidays, heat, work and general malaise – has been a bit spotty and intermittent. We therefore have more Steel Legion specialists nearly polished up for the 707th:

... and closer to events, my Squat killteam progresses for the PCRC campaign in just eight short weeks. I'm really enjoying these. Tempted to get some BattleBuilder nameplates for the gang – you can use my referral code and 'MournStarfall' to get 10% off, if you'd like to fancy up your forces too [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+].

And last but not least in this much-delayed update, I've also picked up some more Epic stuff. I think Epic: Legions Imperialis is in a much better place at the moment, so if you've been tempted to give it a go, I'd recommend it. More in a dedicated inload.

+++

 1,500pts Steel Legion 707th

HQ – 445pts

• Command HQ – 178pts
• Colonel (70)
• Carapace armour (5)
• Refractor field (15)
• Power weapon (10)
• Bolt pistol (3)
• Bionics (5)
• Standard Bearer (10)
• Regimental standard (20)
• Medic (10)
• Comm-link (15)
• Grenade launcher (15)
• Mortar squad – 95pts
• Anti-tank squad (35) – 115pts
• Missile launcher team (20)
• Lascannon team (30)
• Lascannon team (30)
• Commissar (40) – 57pts
• Carapace armour (5)
• Bolter (2)
• Power weapon (10)

Troops – 320pts

• Command section – 81pts
• Lieutenant (35)
• Power weapon (10)
• Bolt pistol (3)
• Carapace armour (5)
• Plasma gun (8)
• Missile launcher  (15)
• Comm-link (5)
• Infantry Squad (60) – 78pts
• Flamer (3)
• Missile launcher (15)
• Infantry Squad (60) – 78pts 
• Plasma gun (8)
• Heavy bolter (10) 
• Infantry Squad (60) – 83pts
• Melta gun (8)
• Missile launcher (15)

Troops – 320pts

• Command section – 81pts
• Lieutenant (35)
• Power weapon (10)
• Bolt pistol (3)
• Carapace armour (5)
• Plasma gun (8)
• Missile launcher  (15)
• Comm-link (5)
• Infantry Squad (60) – 78pts
• Flamer (3)
• Missile launcher (15)
• Infantry Squad (60) – 78pts 
• Plasma gun (8)
• Heavy bolter (10) 
• Infantry Squad (60) – 83pts
• Melta gun (8)
• Missile launcher (15)

Heavy support – 

• Leman Russ Vanquisher (175) – 190pts
• Hull-mounted lascannon (15)
• Leman Russ battle tank (140) – 145pts
• Hull-mounted heavy bolter (5)

+ inload: converting Saturnine Terminators +

+ Of a saturnine disposition +

I picked up a few models from the release, and have been working on this Saturnine terminator. The conversion's pretty minimal; I just wanted to remove the eagle from the chest and swap out the ray gun for a good old-fashioned boltgun. I also reshaped the eagle's head that forms part of the 'collar' to make an oval setting for a spirit stone pinched from a Striking Scorpion exarch, too. Finally, the helm spikes were trimmed off, and a loincloth was added.

As an aside, what a pain in the [SCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] these models are to build! Forty-odd pieces to build a single infantryman? Six pieces just to build the power fist arm? While so many bits makes converting more approachable, I can't help feeling that some further refinement could have made things a bit more... fun if you just want to build them out of the box?

While I like the result very much, it took me two evenings to get the model from sprue to this point. I'm all for posability and modularity, but... oof. Perhaps I've just got to the point where time is becoming more of a factor in my enjoyment of the hobby – or maybe I've got too used to single piece metal models again.



Anyway, back to the conversion: the forearm is from a Squat prospector model (the power fist equivalent), which was fairly simple to integrate by trimming the ball of the elbow flat. The storm bolter itself was from my bits box – I think it's from a Justaerin Terminator, though I wouldn't swear to that.

Size-wise, these are absolute chunks. Mine is pictured here alongside a 'truescale' marine and Captain Aethon in Terminator armour (a conversion based on the FW Custodes Terminators). I've put the Saturnine Terminator on two bases to account for the height of Captain Aethon's base.

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+ inload: Alternative weapons for Steel Legion +

+ Resupply! Alternative sculpts for Steel Legion +

Lucky me, I have lovely friends – and a care parcel translated through the warp yesterday containing some fantastic alternative sculpts for Steel Legion from warmtamale. As you can see above, they match the originals well for size and style.

Perhaps more importantly, they add some much-needed variety to an awesome but very limited range. 

For more on the Imperial Guard ranges in this period, feel free to inload this: [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]

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+ What's new? +

Specialists! Figures like these now turn up as part of command squads, but were scanty or absent for most of the regiments of the period – particularly the Steel Legion, which didn't have the follow-up second wave of the earlier forces. (I had to ask my older brother – who could be trusted with a pin vice and hacksaw – to convert a banner for my Catachans.)

Vox-casters, banner bearers and medics add a lot of character to things, and also increase the variety available. The sculpts above appear to be conversions based on the existing sculpts. Both the vox-caster/comm-link chap on the left and the banner bearer are based on the sergeant with the ork head (once reviled, and now hard to get hold of!); the vox-caster having their arms replaced with those from the Death Korps of Krieg plastic set. The medic's based on the other sergeant; again with what looks like DKoK bits.

I'm looking forward to painting these up – a comm-link in each command squad and a banner for the Command HQ will help to make those units feel a bit more special.

+++

The missing special weapon options are likewise conversions. One meltagunner is based on a lasgun trooper sculpt and what looks like an Elysian 'Accatran-pattern' meltagun; the other on the grenade launcher sculpt with a Space Marine melta.

The flamers are likewise mixed; one a take on the 2nd edition flamer (very fitting!), and the other on a more modern Space Marine-inspired one, with a back-mounted fueltank. Both models are based on lasgun trooper sculpts.

The variety is welcome – it'll be nice to have some variety in my squads, and to swap out some of the grenade launchers that currently predominate. As for the variety of in-universe weapon patterns, that strikes me as very fitting for the 7th Army Group: they're having to make do with what they're given!

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And the most precious of all – variant lasgun sculpts! The leftmost one is based on a standard lasgun trooper sculpt, but with a knife added and a head with goggles up; the middle one marries up an aiming lasgunner top with kneeling legs taken from one of the various weapon crews; and the third is our good ol' grenade launcher sculpt, now bearing a lasgun. 

I've popped one of my finished Steel Legionaries next to them to give you a sense of size – and I think it's looking promising that they'll be all but indistinguishable once-painted, unless you look very closely and have read a long and fernickety article about tiny metal space soldiers(!)

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... and last but not least, a mortar team, adding a vital weapon to the limited range. Now apparently much-feared on the tabletop, for many editions mortars were pretty much useless unless you ran into a lightly-armoured enemy with low T and LD. 

Nevertheless, they're a welcome addition here – particularly since they've solved the biggest bugbear I had with the original sculpt by hollowing out the mortar barrel!

+++
 

+ inload: Moss Engurth, Kin +

+ League of Norgyr +

+ inloadval{incerto}: MEMCASCADEFAIL +

Did I ever exload info about this Squat kinsman? He definitely turned up on The Ashes of Armageddon, in this article [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] – but perhaps I neglected to share him here. 

Well, whether I did or not, I'm sure he's not the type to bear a grudge, right?

+++

+ Moss Engurth +

A typical Kinsman of the Second Grand Clan Army Engurth was sent to fight for their Imperial allies during the Second War for Armageddon. Tagged to the Eorldom of Skalf, Hâr Drohn Hold, he represents the best hope of Armageddon Prime, whose armies were swiftly shattered by the Blood Axe and Snakebite tribes. Bound by oath, tradition and the scent of profit, the Squats of Golgotha and the broader Norgyr League answered the call for aid with four Clan Army groups, an elite 'Hearthguard' force, and a substantial caravan of specialist super-heavies.

Moss Engurth bears a reliable boltgun and excellent personal protection in the form of carapace plate armour over an atmospheric voidsuit. The former was frequently abandoned in-field, as the punishing heat and deleterious effects of the eternal dust kicked up by the Seasons of Storms often proved the armour more of a hindrance than a help.

+++

He's been lurking around as the sole painted member of my Squat army, and I'm scratching my cranio-orbitals trying to remember what I did as the scheme. It's definitely worked up from a dark green base, as I remember thinking that that would be a nice way to get the fatigues/undersuit done and provide a green basis for the face.

The red looks like a slightly purply base, so I'm wondering if it's a base coat of Gal Vorbak red. I would likely have done that for two reasons: to differentiate the Kin from my Blood Angels, and also to give a more cool burgundy than warm orange feel, to avoid the inevitable 'Christmas' appearance of red and green together. 

The scheme is, per usual for my Armageddon-related projects, a fond nod and update of the scheme that appeared on the 'Space Dwarf' plastic boxed set for Rogue Trader:

My version is a rather more desaturated version, but I hope the scheme remains recognisable, if not the finer details ... and speaking of details, I'm looking forward to putting details like the yellow helms and variety in colour on the rest of his gang.

They're lovely little models, and super-x-treem copyright protection spelling aside, these Hearthkyn Salvagers have some nice, characterful details like the carabiners on the belt, and wrist-computer thinigie. The Kill Team sprue offers some further variety in the heads and equipment, too. With that said, I think I'd like to see a bit more personality in future sculpts, but as basic infantry, they work nicely. 

+++

+ Kill Team plans +

I bought this kit second-hand a couple of years ago, and what was intended to be a quick job got derailed both by the hobby butterfly and having to quickly shift my painting station for some real-life reason. The rest of the squad has thus sat in hopeful anticipation on top of my painting bureau, and perhaps their time has come.

The PCRC hivemind has turned its thoughts once more to event gaming, and I need a new Kill Team.  (read: 'need to pull my autodigit out of my wastecycle-iris and finish off a side project'.)

I was tempted to bring out an Inquisition Kill Team for the event, but on looking at Unfortunus Veck's and Barbari Kills' respective gangs of acolytes and hangers-on, neither were a decent match for the Kill Team rules, so I had another think.

The event narrative is themed around Antona Australis in the wake of the Great Rift. We'll be playing a dual timeline set of games; the first in the wilds of the 31st Millennium, where a 'warp siphon' capable of stilling the warp is fought over; and the second in the current M42 setting, where scavengers and explorers stumble over the long-lost siphon once more. Putting two and two together, I'll scratch that Squat itch (ooh-er) and bring along something fittingly thematic to the event. 

Now... can I piece together the scheme above again?

+++

+ inload: The Armageddon Prime campaign +

+ Ashes of Armageddon... Prime? +

+ Background to the project +

The Battle for Armageddon boardgame focussed mostly on the main continent, Armageddon Secundus, but Armageddon Prime was mentioned from the very start. It fell very quickly (as a result of the Governor's incompetence), and so wouldn't have made as close a game as the war for Secundus.

Simon Shepherd's original map, from the Battle for Armageddon rulebook – note Armagddon Prime in the north (left of the map).

A later expansion, Chaos Attack, which detailed the First War for Armageddon (Angron and his army coming to take names), also had a really fun set of additional counters that allowed you to play out various scenarios, such as 'what if the Marines had gone to Armageddon Prime, and the Squats had been in Armageddon Secundus?', 'what if different ork tribes spearheaded the Secundus campaign?' and so forth. A lot of fun, but all reliant on the original gameboard. 

A patchwork Armageddon Secundus, released by GW's Fanatic Games back in the bohemian days when they shared old games files like this for free.

I've found the past few years of hobbying have focussed more and more on the Armageddon region and that time period (with occasional other projects!), and it struck me – in that way that whims do – that it'd be fun to create a board of Armageddon Prime. I did a load of research and gathered up some maps of the region. Some date from the Third War global campaign GW ran in the early 2000s, other were fan-made...

... and it was at about this point that I suddenly realised what a giant job this would be – this wasn't just making a gameboard, it was working out regions, and what rules changes would be necessary and playtesting and all sorts... 

It was then, serendipitously, I stumbled over Board Game Geek, where a (talented and generous) user called killerkatanas had basically done all the hard work! He and his group had drawn up a rough map and created the rules tweaks to play the Armageddon Prime campaign. Back in May I got in touch, and he gave his blessing for me to work up the map and rules, giving them a polish. You can check out his excellent work through think inload link: [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] – check out the Files section at the bottom.

This project wouldn't have been possible without him, so all credit to killerkatanas for doing the heavy lifting. I hope I'm able to do justice to the facelift I'm giving the rules.

+++

+ Starting work +

Here's the map that killerkatanas' worked up as a playtesting draft. He had even got in contact with Simon Shepherd to see if he wanted to paint a professional version to match the original, but was sadly turned down.

Nice and clear and straightforward; it just needs a bit of polish. The first stage was to measure my original gameboard and make sure that everything was scaled correctly, ready for people to print and glue onto a backing (or use one of the various boardgame prototyping services to do a professional job). After all, if the turn counter doesn't fit properly on the square, or stacks don't fit, it won't function properly.

I then began redrawing the Imperial supply icon, revising all the tables and reference bits (like turn number, build points etc.) and generally bringing it up to match the original board – it was fun doing some design archaeology and finding freely available fonts to work with. I was very keen not to copy any of the material directly from GW's stuff – 'freeware' or not, I don't want to use any original material, out of respect to the original artist and designers.

I redrew this unusual Aquilla variant used in the game in Illustrator.

Here's how it's currently looking. You'll note that I've iterated a little on killerkatana's original (itself carefully constructed from various slightly varying maps down the years), mainly in turning the straight territory lines to something more akin to the Secundus board – and occasionally slightly tweaking the size to allow counter stacks to fit neatly.

I've put a neutral yellow background down to give a sense of space, but the plan is to paint and photograph a full-size version that can be overlaid with the text and icons shown below. I would quite like to give it a go myself, but if anyone knows a map artist who might be able to better emulate the original piece, I'm all ears.

The version above looks a bit abstract, so here's a version with some quickly scribbled in seas and rivers. I hope you'll agree that the 'feel' of the thing is working; and I'll run it by killerkatanas for his feedback before tightening things up.

Other than that, any creativity has been limited to artistic consistency between the two boards; adding jagged borders to the mountains, for example, and – as all the rivers in Secundus has their own names – it seemed a shame not to give them names here, too. As with Secundus, I took inspiration for the names from mythological rivers and related terms, so that they feel consistent with the original board. 

This process threw up a couple of oddities, but nothing major. Mountain ranges are just listed with their name on the original – just 'Diablo', rather than 'Diablo Mountains', for example. I made this consistent, then realised it ended up with Volcanus Hive and the Volcanus Mountains looking identical (see below), as both hives and mountains are yellow text on black bars. I've cludged this a bit by changing the mountains to the 'Volcanus Chain' – a justifiable inconsistency with the other isolated mountains, I think, as there's also the 'Volcanus Ridge'.

And here's a version with the original draft underneath, so you can see the changes. There's a few bits and bobs still to add and tidy up, including some special two-way arrows and paths only certain units can cross, but I need some feedback from killerkatana to make sure I'm putting them in correctly.

Anyway, something a bit different from the usual – hope you enjoy, and perhaps one day we'll get to refight both campaigns!

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