+ inload: Painting Silver Stars +

 + War of the False Primarch: Painting more Silver Stars +

+ Come and see. +

+ An inload looking at some work in progress painting on my Silver Stars for the War of the False Primarch, ahead of their not-quite Index Astartes. +

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+ [REDACTED] +

Are they? Aren't they? Lost or Forgotten, disguised traitors, a sinister alien artifice – or something entirely more esoteric?

The meat of the narrative in +Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten+ is, I feel, is in the five 'canon' Pentarchy Chapters, and the eleven(ish) Chapters of the Partisans, but the Silver Stars offer key background that gives the others something to shine against.

They were always intended to (and will) remain fairly anonymous and underexplored, but I thought it'd be underserving the people who have painted up some examples to not have any info, so rather than an 'Index Astartes' article, they'll instead have an 'Index Apocrypha', a bit like the Rogue Trader era-inspired Spacewolves Chapter [+noosphericinloadlinkembedded+], with the details left deliberately unresolved.

In short, you're going to get a look at the various theories surrounding them (and goodness there have been a lot!), including lots inspired by ideas that followers of the project have asked.

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To that end, then, I've been polishing things up. A further ten Silver Stars are nearing completion, along with the chap at the top of the inload, who is an as-yet-undiscovered character, bearing a Heat-Death Nihilation Mace and a sword, which may or may not be rainbow-hued.

The process I've been following is from my original recipe for the Pseudolegion, which you can inload here [+noosphericinloadlinkembedded+]; and they're getting to the stage that I'll need to add the markings, which you can dig through here: [+noosphericinloadlinkembedded+]

First up, three regular ol' Tactical Marines/Legionaries. As usual when building models, I aim for a couple of more interesting poses for every half-dozen 'normal' ones. That sort of proportion means that the army as a whole looks suitably military and determined, but there's interesting stuff to look at if you want to. 

Here, two carrying boltguns help to frame and set off one throwing grenades. All are in the curiously anonymous Mark II 'Crusade' power armour (or at least a very good replica).

Plumes are seemingly de rigeur this millennium for the Silver Stars; they add a little flourish, but don't seem to have particular relevance to the individual's status.

A volkite caliver-bearing Veteran here is flanked by two Pseudolegionaries with chainswords. 

... and because I can't resist setting up a shot or two in action, you can see how these will be used. If you'll forgive me showing a glimpse behind the curtain, it's surprising how few individual models you need to give the impression of a crowd.

There's about fifteen Silve Stars here, of which a substantial proportion are basecoated, as shown above, rather than finished and polished up.

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+ inload: 2nd edition 40k thoughts +

+ Hard Luck at Hemlock Bank +

Rutger's rebreather gave a protesting click. He was too tired to be nervous about the filter – all he wanted was for the interminable waiting to be over. The High-and-Dries had been encamped in the Hemlock valley for more than a week now, the orks sending occasional probing attacks along the line – not enough to warrant a decisive response, but more than sufficient to keep the whole line at ready status. 

Why weren't they attacking?

Little more than ten minutes later, Rutger would regret asking.

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A very fun little classic 40k game of Orks versus Imperial Guard, Bob Hunk fielded Og Throatchoppa's Blood Axes against my Steel Legion 707th. Commanded by General 'Asbach' Grünhold, the 707th fielded a reinforced platoon of around fifty Guardsman supported by a squad of Ogryn auxiliaries, a Leman Russ battle tank, and a Demolisher.

Besides the good General, a junior officer, two psykers and a commissar were also present.

Facing them was an intimidating sea of green – around three-score orks plus three looted Rhinos, one of which bore the infamous Og Throatchoppa and his retinue. 

A Shokk attack gun had been laboriously carried up an escarpment, and a number of shock troops, in the form of a mob of boarboyz and a dreadnought, were noted by Imperial observers.

The game was very enjoyable, with the Guard putting up a bit more resistance than last time! The line had been stiffened by swapping out the Griffon (Manticore) for a Demolisher and the addition of some Ogryns and Stormtroopers. 

The game started well for the Steel Legion, with early shots sending a mob of orks scampering for cover, and some lucky hits on the advancing Rhinos slowing the advance. The Boarboys overcame the Stormtroopers in the shuttle wreck, but a Demolisher shell completed the exchange.

We chatted afterwards and noted that it was nice that Orks and Guard weren't nearly as distinct as in later editions. The differences boil down to one better T for orks, and one better I for Guard; which meant that orks could exchange fire effectively, and Guard weren't hopelessly outclassed in every combat.

On an individual basis, Orks versus Guard is not nearly as predictable across the different phases of the game, which meant for closer exchanges and more nail-biting dice rolls.

There was plenty of fun stuff to laugh at too, with surviving tank crew frantically trying to man the right guns for the turn, and the poor ork boy pictured above being flung back and forth by the Primaris Psyker before finally making it into combat!

Lessons learned from more modern editions don't really follow – we'd forgotten quite how dead 'ard vehicles are, and as you can see from the brawl above, ork dreadnoughts versus ogryns isn't quite the death trap it later became.

Don't get me wrong, the rules are initially complex, but once you're over the learning curve, that's it. The complexity of the rules is built in and created through the decision you make on the table, so – with the notable exception of the Strategy cards and Psychic phase – there's not a great deal more that is added. As a result, it feels quite clean and clear once you're going. There aren't lots of exceptions and breaks and things to bear in mind, so there's less mental load than a lot of more modern games.

That's both a good and a bad thing. Epic: Armageddon and Adeptus Titanicus (my favourite tabletop games) both require constant engagement, which makes them very involving; while the turn-based 2nd edition 40k gives you more mental space, which is a different sort of fun.

Overall, a very enjoyable game – and it's stoked the desire to play more 2nd edition, so it's clearly doing something right!