Cerastus Knights for Adeptus Titanicus

More loyalist reinforcements - a pair of Cerastus Knight Lancers for Adeptus Titanicus.

 More elements for Adeptus Titanicus in this post.  Still painting Knights, but these are of a different sort from the previous bunch - these are "Cerastus"- type Knights (as opposed to the "Questoris" sort which I have been painting previously).  These Knights, which can see from their equipment, are the "Lancer" variety - equipped with a shock lance and an ion gauntlet (aka fist to punch things) as well as a shield.

He'll poke your eye out...

These new models were released...earlier this year, I think? Or maybe late 2018? I can't remember exactly...the pace of new releases in this game has been so slow, and the levels of stock so low, that I have been losing track.  They come two to a box - and yes, the price remains exhorbitant. But the model kits are brilliantly done, and you get a great decal sheet to use with the models.

Gives you an idea of the relative size of the Cerastus Knights...a good bit taller than the Questoris machines.

The Cerastus Knights are a good bit taller than the Questoris ones, and they are a little tougher as well. But there are limits to the size of their "Banners" - they top out at three machines, where the Questoris banners can have as many as six machines.  I have just painted these two for my loyalist forces for now, but have others in the queue - hoping to have a "Banner" of three machines for each of my loyalists and rebels.

The models have an excellent sort of "loping" motion...very well done by GW.

While the Cerastus are tougher, they are also easier to target because they are larger, and the big scary weapons like the bellicosa volcano problems will blast them to pieces. Fortunately the Cerastus Knights also move fast, and have a good command rating, so you have a better chance to give them orders.  The shock lance can be extremely damaging to even mighty Warlord Titans if they are able to charge home - enemy Princeps will need to keep an eye on these fellows, and ensure the flanks of their God-engines are covered.

You're going to need that shield...

The Cerastus-type chassis can carry other weapon assortments - a big flamer, a big heavy bolter, and different sorts of blades for "close combat" situations - but those models (or maybe just separate weapon sprues?) haven't yet been released by GW.  I believe GW intends to release them...but it's hard to know, as they have been so hot-and-cold when it comes the re-booted Adeptus Titanicus.

Thanks for visiting the blog, hope you are having a great summer. 

More Knights - and a building(!) - for Adeptus Titanicus

Some more Adeptus Titanicus painting...three more Knights, and a building.

A few weeks ago I added three more Knights to my Adeptus Titanicus forces so as to be able a full "banner" of six machines for an Adeptus Titanicus demonstration game we were hosting at Prairiecon XL.  Well, here yet again is another trio of Knight models - this time for the loyalist side of my collection.

More Knights for the loyalists...more targets for Horus...

I don't have much time or interest in the back story of the Imperial "Knight Houses", but these models are really tremendous.  They can be painted relatively quickly, but there is a stunning amount of detail on them, which will reward the extra effort if you want to dive in.  I tried to split the difference, going for a pretty straightforward paint job, but pulling out some fun details here and there.

Amazing detail on these models.

They also come with great decal sheets, and they make SUCH a difference, very, very cool.  I made liberal use of the decals, and wow, do they ever help make these models even nicer.

Thermal cannon...gets results!

Gatling cannon...scratches paint...not much more...

The Knights are also represented well in the re-booted Adeptus Titanicus rules. They are small, yes (I mean, it's all relative, but they are small compared to the Titans), but they move quickly, and in a group the "banner" can really cause damage to enemy Titans.  Some of the Knight weapons are scarier than others - for example, I do find the "avenger gatling cannon" to be a fairly useless weapon in the Adeptus Titanicus game (in a game of Epic 30k, that would be another story).  But the battle cannon and thermal cannon can bring the pain - particularly if the Knights get close, and start making hits from inside enemy void shields.

I now have two full strength "banners" to deploy in my collection - one each for the loyalist and rebel factions.

Building assembled from the bits in the new Adeptus Titanicus box set.

The buildings kits are great - very modular, and can be assembled in all sorts of ways.

The building is assembled from the new Adeptus Titanicus building bits that came with the new game.  They are really cool...you can build them in a bewildering number of different ways.  The downside is that you have to paint them...I'm slow to paint terrain.  But every so often I get to it, and I finished this one building quickly while painting the Knights. 

Updated collection photo showing the loyalist and rebel forces.

Legio Gryphonicus maniple and allied Knight Household support.

Legio Mortis and allied Knight Household support. Horus for hope!

Stay tuned for (hopefully) more painting progress to appear soon...thanks for visiting the blog, and have a great day!

Just paint it already!

The kill Team box came with several pieces of terrain. I opted to put all the pieces together to make a ruined cathedral. After assembling it I promptly set it aside. After months of looking at it and saying ‘someday’ I decided to just paint it. Nothing fancy here. Just dry brushing greys and adding metallics for detail. Then I washed the whole thing with nuln oil. Good enough I figure.

PrairieCon XL Horus Heresy Siege of Terra Game

For PrairieCon this year I ran a Horus Heresy game set at the Siege of Terra. I had previously created two imperial wall sections to represent a breach in the wall. The legions involved were Imperial Fists and Blood Angels trying to hold the breach while Sons of Horus and World Eaters stormed through. The mission was a modified Blitz mission from the 40k 8th Edition rule book. The traitor forces earned 1 victory point for having models within the first line of defense. If they got models within the second line of defense they earned 2 points per unit. The game looked great and we got to showcase some models that we don't normally use in a game. The only downside was the game was set late in the day on Sunday (Father's Day!) and several of us had to get back to Winnipeg , so the game was cut short. Here are some pictures of the game:

The Loyalists set up everything behind fortifications. The World Eaters started on the board and got fist turn

The Sons of Horus moved on the board first turn, but were mostly mounted in transports.

The Imperial Fists scored some early kills, but the arrival of the Fellblade was an ominous sign.

This was the first game for the Cerberus. I knew its fate was sealed, but Conscript Curt valiantly commanded it to destruction!

The Cerberus has an unstable reactor rule which has a chance of exploding catastrophically! It of course exploded catastrophically during the game and killed several loyalist models.

The Sons of Horus hit the first line.

The Fellblade goes to work.

By the time the game was called, it was basically a draw. The Traitor Legions had several units in the first line, while he Loyalists had killed several Traitor units and earned victory points for each. However, the Traitors had a clear path to the second line on the right flank and would likely get into the Blood Angels lines. The Fellblade was also going to be a problem that the Loyalists didn't have a solution for. I guess that outcome is basically how the siege went down. Horus had the material to win, but he ran out of time!

Nearly 40 Years in the Making - Grenadier Orc

Well... how to explain this post! This Grenadier Orc has been in my box of fantasy figures for almost 40 years, unpainted till last week. It was one of the couple-dozen figures I bought when I first started playing D&D in the late '70s/early '80s and it's really a corker innit?
 

Sculpted by Grenadier founder Andrew Chernak and bearing a copyright date of 1980, this model was one of my favourites as a kid. Unfortunately the axe hadn't entirely withstood the test of time, but I wisely retained the broken bit and was able to drill and pin it.

The model was available both as part of the "Orc's Lair" AD&D figure set and also by itself in a blister pack (or as I recall, a small header carded bag). It was in the latter packaging that I purchased it, likely at the Hobby Hut on 10th Street in Brandon :-)

Good stuff eh???

One of the best things about this model is how it stands up in size against today's scale-crept specimens. The old Grenadier Orc really looks like he could stick it to that Otherworld fighter!

Once I had this figure painted I went on a webcrawl to try and find some more similar sculpts. Unfortunately, though, I found that this appears to be the high point of Chernak's Orc sculpts as in my opinion the rest don't nearly measure up to the awesomeness of this one.

Perhaps I'll go back to the bin for more old stuff to paint! And stay tuned for more fantasy models from the old school...

Gaslands at Prairiecon XL, Plus More Gaslands Terrain!

Well, last weekend was the epic gaming event known as Prairiecon XL - yes, the fortieth (!) running of western Manitoba's oldest (and greatest) gaming convention. The Conscripts were well-represented there too, with Conscript Greg staging an amazing-looking Adeptus Titanicus game with an assist from founding Conscript Curt, Conscript Mike wheeling out his incredible "Walls of Terra" for a Horus Heresy 30K game, and yours truly debuting my Gaslands game, times two.
 

I have to say that my Saturday was not the best planned, as it comprised running a Gaslands game (9am-1pm), a stint on the registration desk (2-4pm), auctioneering in the famous Prairiecon game auction (7-9pm), and ANOTHER Gaslands game (9pm-12:30am). Wow! Although 15-year-old me would've licked Saturday and likely gone to a party afterwards, 40-something-year-old me was thoroughly beat after running 7 1/2 hours of games and volunteering for four more hours.

Murdercycle at top lines up another two-wheeler...

...and wipes him out with his Gatling MG. Good times!

Anyway, the first running of Gaslands at Prairiecon had seven players brand-new to the game, and I think they all had fun. The last man standing was Dan from Niagara Falls, Ontario (!), who took home a copy of the game, three Hot Wheels cars, and some guns and other bits courtesy of Winnipeg FLGS Maxx Collectibles. Thanks Garth!

Our 9pm session had another seven players, including Conscripts Mike and Greg. Again, all except the two Conscripts were new to the game but everyone picked it up quickly.

Eventual game-winner Kevan confabs with Prairiecon luminary Craig D.

Carnage was the name of this game in both the 9am and 9pm sessions.

Good sport Murray (for I think it was he) nabbed the booby prize (some Pixar "Cars" toys) for first player to have both cars eliminated from play. Attaboy!

Did I mention there was carnage? This is the aftermath of an out-of-control car careering into (and destroying) a pickup truck. Fun! 

 

You can see in the pics that I've added some new terrain - these are 3mm MDF Shipping Containers from Lasercraft Workshop.

They were a snap to assemble, and although they're designed to have opening doors, I ended up gluing them shut. They were designed without a "detente" to keep the doors from swinging backwards and it was just too much of a pain to fix that.
 

After assembly, I painted the containers in block colours, washed them with Nuln Oil, and did some sponge-chip weathering.

The branding was printed off from the Internet, cut out and applied with white glue. I lightly traced the "character lines" from the container onto the paper with Nuln Oil, just to give the impression that the logos were painted on. I think it worked OK.

Here's a pic with a typical Hot Wheels car, for scale.

The containers come eight to a pack, four large and four smaller ones.

In a pinch they might even do for 15mm games - here's a pic with Battlefront West Germans and a PSC Leopard 1.

The containers were a great hit, but Gaslands went over even better. It's the perfect convention game - visually impressive, easy to pick up, and fast playing. I'll definitely be adding it to the regular Prairiecon rotation!