Epic 30k Game at Legions Maxximus (Lots of Photos)

"Let's shake hands!" - Titan vs. Titan in Epic 30k action at Legions Maxximus

This past weekend in Winnipeg we were very pleased to participate in Legions Maxximus, a local gaming and hobby event that has been growing in prominence here in Winnipeg thanks to the support of local retailers and hobby enthusiasts.  We hosted two demonstration games at the event.  Here are some photos of the first game - Epic 30k!

Loyalist forces for the scenario

Horus for hope! The Rebel forces for the scenario...

The scenario pitted the hard working advocates of hope and change from the 16th Legion, the Warmaster's own Sons of Horus, backed by Titans from Legio Mortis, against the delusional followers of the so-called "Emperor" from the VII Legion, the Imperial Fists, and hapless Titan crews from the Legio Gryphonicus.


The forces were equally balanced, because they were identical :) This was a demonstration game, after all, and the main goal was to give the players a taste of some of the different vehicles and troop types as well as an opportunity to blast away with Titans.  We played the game using "Epic Armageddon" rules.

The 6'x4' table with deployments and objectives marked

The table was 6' x 4', with three objectives.  The opposing forces entered along the opposing short table edges.  The goal was to hold the majority of the objectives prior to the conclusion of the game.  It would end after six turns OR once one side had five of their force elements destroyed or broken.  With all of the big guns on both sides, I had a pretty good idea which would happen first...

Hey - the Alpha Legion is already here...what are they up to?

Also present on the table from a small detachment from the XX Legion, the Alphas. Their purposes was unknown to either side...just the way the Alphas like it...basically, neither side trusted them, including their supposed allies in the Sons of Horus, so a secondary objective was to try and contain the Alpha detachment ("secure" them in Sons of Horus parlance).   If one side or the other made contact, well we would see what might happen...on to the photos!
 

War engines of Legio Gryphonicus lead the way for the loyalist side...

Armour from the VII Legion follows the Titans

Legio Mortis engines race to confront their hated rivals

Meanwhile, the Sons of Horus deploy from their Spartan carriers to capture an objective

A loyalist Warhound leads an advance along the flank - and takes cover behind a building! Typical...

The Imperial Fist Land Raiders boldly advanced to open fire on the Legio Mortis engines - they would knock out the void shields on one of them!

The Sicaran detachment from XVI Legion comes under heavy fire

The VII Legion Land Raiders received heavy return fire directly from the rebel titans...the remnants of the detachment fall back under fire

The Imperial Fists launch a bold assault, closing to point blank range to knock out the opposing Land Raiders with grenades, power fists and other goodies...the unfortunate, yet brave Sons of Horus Land Raiders would be wiped out...

The XVI Legion, however, had a second tier of support lined up...a Fellblade and a Knight detachment ready their guns for the Imperial Fists

Contact! The players on both sides, inspired by Dave's passion for aggressive play, had their power-fist-equipped Titan charge right at each other, a fine climax for the game

KA BOOM! The rebel Titan ripped the loyalist engine apart, but did so in such a dramatic fashion that its reactor melted down and the resulting explosion obliterated the Legio Mortis attacker as well! Classic 30k!

So it was a close-run game, with a suitably apocalyptic ending - two Titans destroying each other in a brutal close attack!!  The loss of the Titan was the final nail in the Loyalist attack, representing the loss of a fifth force element, and they withdrew, leaving the ground to the rebels, who themselves had lost one Titan, seen a second one severely damaged, and seen heavy losses among other detachments.  Well fought everyone!!

Epic remains as one of the finest rule sets GW has ever produced, allowing a large encounter featuring everything from foot-slogging tactical marines to massive Fellblade tanks, to Knights and all the way to Titans!  

Loyalist troops, backed by armour, secure one of the objectives

Sons of Horus forces keep an eye on the Alphas...

Rebel Knight household units advance

Ouch! It was a tough outing for the loyalist Knights...this formation would break under withering fire from XVI Legion Fellblade tanks

Thanks to Dave V, Russ, Russel and Nathan for joining us to play.  A huge thank-you to Dallas for playing and helping set up and run the game as well! 

This was, I believe, the third year for the Legions Maxximus event. It has been growing from modest roots into a significant gaming event for hobbyists in Winnipeg and the surrounding area.  With the support of the Manitoba Model Soldier Society (see them on Facebook here) as well as local hobby retailers like Maxx Collectibles, Legions IV Hire and the Winnipeg GW store, this event is improving every year.   In addition to gaming, the members of the MMSS were on hand to provide tutorials on painting, while the keen model builders of the IPMS were sharing their tips on model building.  The MMSS was also staging their 40th anniversary show (congrats to them!). There were a number of different demonstration games, from fantasy to sci-fi to historical. Participants could try different games and learn about how to paint the figures - and take home one of their own!  Very well done.

In all, it was a great hobby event, and we had a great time participating. I'm already looking forward to next year!   Watch for more photos from our "Team Yankee" mega game that followed the Epic 30k game...

Painting Challenge Submission 18 - More Epic 30k Stuff

In the grim darkness of the far future, we've got any size of equipment you might need for your war...

Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has concluded, so I have only a few more things to share here on the Fawcett Avenue Blog. In the final hours of the Challenge, I really wanted to focus my painting efforts, something I'm terrible at, but there were some external drivers helping me along.  One is that our group is hosted an Epic 30k demonstration game at a local hobby event here on the weekend, so it was a good time to get some stuff done for use on the table.  A further motivator along that line of thinking was JamieM once again tossing last minute sandbags in our 30k painting duel!

So with that motivation, I decided to continue on the painting path from the previous week - more Epic 30k stuff!  This week my submission covers almost every size available to that "scale" of game, running the gamut from foot sloggers to another pair of towering Titans!

Alpha Legion tactical marines - while my 6mm freehand is not quite as sharp as Byron's, I managed to get some markings on to most of the shoulders and vehicles!

We'll start with the smallest ones first - this is a Space Marine tactical detachment from the Alpha Legion.  During this edition of the Challenge I started painting a new force of Alpha Legion troops for my 28mm-sized forces, and I have enjoyed the colours and the backstory of that particular Legion so much I thought it would be great to have them for Epic as well.

Command troopers in the (blurry) front

Alpha Legion motor pool - a pair of Rhino APCs, each capable of carrying two stands of infantry

Two more APCs, along with a command variant in the left of the photo

 The tactical detachment is the basic building block for any Epic Space Marine force, so I thought it would be a good element to paint first.  There are 40 little marines here, as well as transport for them - four Rhino APCs.  There is also a command-variant Rhino to provide some command & control assistance and serve as a ride for the command figures which I hope to paint further down the road.


Moving up in the size department we have a group of four Knights.  The 30k/40k setting does not lack for large walking things with guns, and the Knights have their place on the spectrum of those vehicles.  As you can see, they loom over the infantry, but pale in size compared to the Titans, so they are on the smaller-end of the walking-terror-scale of the dark future.

Four Knights - walkers with a nice assortment of weapons to choose from

Knights are organized into semi-feudal households, with a backstory that is too lame to even try to explain.  The bottom line is that, as with the rest of the Imperium, the Knight households divided during the Horus Heresy, with some embracing hope and change with the Warmaster, and others sticking with the so-called "Emperor".  With this group finished we were able to have some Knight vs. Knight combat in Epic 30k this past weekend.

"Paladin" variant on the left, "Errant" variant on the right

I had no specific Knight household in mind, just wanted some different colours from my first bunch, so they could be opponents on the table

Even though they are "small" (you know, relatively), Knights still provide a big punch on the table, forming an extremely mobile and versatile force that hits pretty hard.  While GW has made these available as models in 28mm scale (and it is one of the nicest new kits GW has ever issued, just beautiful) the Epic setting provides the room, scope and proper context required for these things to really be fun on the table.  There is an astonishing variety of weapons assortments, and whatever you choose, these things will have a good time stalking around, terrorizing enemy tanks and infantry.  But they will have to watch out, because in the grim darkness of the far future, there is always something bigger...

Like Titans!  I painted two more to add to the group from my previous submission (see that post for explanations on the colours and Legions involved).  To maintain rough strategic parity in my Epic 30k collection, there is one for the rebel side and one for the loyalist side.

Reaver class Titan from Legio Mortis

Reaver class Titan from Legio Gryphonicus

These are Reaver class "medium" battle titans.  In addition to a slightly more artful carapace than the ones from last week, these ones are also sporting close combat weapons! Because in the grim darkness of the far future, it doesn't matter if you are 10 stories tall and armed with weapons which can level entire city blocks in one shot - you STILL might have to PUNCH something.  Don't worry, the engineers of Mars have got you covered! Behold, the titan-sized power fist - it's silly, and I love it!

Large close combat fist for extra-smashing duties

Still sporting a big laser cannon and "apocalypse" launcher for more conventional fun

Equipping your titans with close combat weapon systems is something of a gamble in the Epic game.  The power fist comes at the expense of mounting one of the other, very useful and terrifying weapon systems.  This sucks early in the game when you wish you had one more volcano cannon shot to bombard the enemy.  A further consideration is that the fist is only useful if you are close enough to punch the other titan, so you have to basically charge forward and get to grips for it to be worthwhile...

A view of another close combat attachment

This Titan is also sporting a scary-as-hell plasma cannon...it can only fire every other turn, so the crew can spend that time moving the Titan closer to whatever needs to be punched while it powers up between shots

On the plus side, if you bring your titan into close combat with another one and succeed, the results tend to be immediate and rewarding, as a Titan that is unsuccessful in a "close combat" tends disappear in some manner of spectacular explosion - indeed, so spectacular the Titan which defeated it risks serious damage itself! Did I mention I love how warped all of this is...?

Titan maniple from Legio Mortisi now ready for action! The big guns for a better universe! Horus for hope!

I felt both sides should have one Titan sporting a close combat power fist.  There are several gamers in our group who display the proper level of aggression to make the most of them on the table!

Titan maniple from Legion Gryphonicus, ready to defend the so-called "Emperor" to the bitter end...deluded fools...

So, in total this includes two Titans, four Knights, five 6mm sized vehicles and 40 6mm sized infantry.  Some decent Epic 30k momentum as the conclusion of the Challenge loomed, and great stuff for our game at Legions Maxximus! Stay tuned for more on that later this week...

Painting Challenge Submission 17 - Epic 30k Titans

Epic 30k Titans from loyalist and rebel factions...the galaxy will burn!

It's been neat diving into new periods (ancient/medieval) and new rules (SAGA and Hail Caesar) during Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, but I still have a 30k side duel on my mind as we enter the closing stretch. During this edition of the Challenge I have been particularly pleased to see a number of others participants becoming interested in Epic 30k.  Byron, Iannick and John have all done some great stuff, and it's humbling to be part of their inspiration, even if this inspiration is often referred to as "corruption"...


I haven't painted much Epic 30k myself this Challenge, and that didn't seem right to me, so I approached the vast pending pile here at home last week and present to you some Titans - the penultimate war machines of the 30th Millenium!

Legio Mortis titans, with a some 6mm Space Marines to give a perspective on the size of the models

The concept of Titans launched the whole Epic game set in the first place at GW, when they issued the game "Adeptus Titanicus".  While you can absolutely play a very fun and engaging game without any Titans on the table (we do this often), their presence does add an entirely new dimension to the fun.  I mean, just look at these bonkers things...

Legio Gryphonicus engines with same Space Marines, again for size perspective...

For those who don't follow the setting too closely, the Titans in 30k are, like the Space Marines, organized into Legions. Where the Space Marine Legions are pledged to the Emperor (or, they were initially, at any rate, LOL), the Titan Legions are pledged to the Mechanicum (a sort of parallel empire of technological knowledge based from Mars, an IT department from Hell) and the Forge World planet of their own founding.  Space Marine Legions and Titan Legions fought together as allies through the Great Crusade and built their own connections and sub loyalties. As the Space Marine Legions divided during Horus' rebellion, so it was with the Titan Legions, with many opting to follow the glorious Warmaster, as the Mechanicum split along with the rest of the Imperium.

Warhound class from the War Griffons, sporting Vulcan Mega Bolter and Plasma Blastgun

The specifics of the weapons are boring - bottom line, they wreck sh!t

I have painted Titans from opposing loyalist and rebel Legions so we can have Titan scraps here with the group during our Epic 30k games.  The purple Titans are from the Legio Mortis, the so-called "Death Heads", one of the largest Titan Legions in service, they had been attached to Horus' expeditionary fleet for a long time and had no concerns joining him for his plans to Make Terra Great Again. The Death Heads rolled with Horus all the way to the siege of Terra, and smashed through the gates of the Imperial Palace itself during the great assault.

Reaver class titan of the War Griffons

Sporting a gatling cannon, a volcano cannon and apocalypse launcher (on top)

A bit of weathering on the feet...all that dust from the march, no matter how big you are...

The grey and yellow engines are from Legio Gryphonicus, known as the "War Griffons".  As Horus didn't trust this bunch to go along with his vision, he used his authority as Warmaster to ensure the War Griffons were spread out into smaller detachments throughout the Imperium. The War Griffons remained loyal to the Emperor, and as such their experience of the opening phases of the Horus Heresy tended to be a series Pearl-Harbour type encounters where these smaller detachments fell in glorious final defence of various doomed outposts and positions as Horus advanced on Terra.  Ultimately the remnants of the Legio Gryphonicus would gather together and even many scores once the assault on Terra had been repelled, but it was rough going until then...

Reaver class titan from the Death Heads

So what type of Titans are these? The smaller walkers are "Warhound" class - "scout" (!) titans, an utterly hilarious concept given the size of the things, but they are, relatively speaking, faster and less heavily armed than the larger classes. Of the larger classes, there are several, but the ones you see here are"Reaver" class - "medium" (!!) battle titans.  The Reavers are front line engines of war for the Titan Legions.

The beast is sporting a volcano cannon, turbo lasers and the ubiquitous apocalypse launcher (most common feature of this variant of titan)

There are four Titans shown in this submission, but only three were painted during the Challenge.  The Warhound for Legio Mortis was painted last summer. With the points scored on these models, I passed my goal of 1,000 points worth of painting, which I'm pleased about (although I still won't match the prodigious output Byron has achieved...)

These models will see action during an Epic 30k demonstration game here in Winnipeg at "Legions Maxximus" running from March 17 to 19.  I'm looking forward to taking the Horus Heresy to "epic" levels. If you enjoy Epic or the Horus Heresy I hope you can join us!

Byron's 5th, 6th, and 7th Painting Challenge Submissions

Another week has past, and with it some additional submissions to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  After a super slow week last week due to being sick, I had a whole pile of things ready to go live, so even though it was one week, I had 3 submissions.

Entry #5 - Small Scale Items

This entry was a whole bunch of random small scale items.

Great War Naval Forces - 1/3000 scale Dreadnoughts

Having done WW1 in 28mm over the last few years, I started reading more and more of the history around the whole war.  The naval aspect of the war caught my fancy and I thought, why not do some ships to have some small games at some point.  After all, you don't need that many ships, and how hard could they be to paint?

Well, the answer to that last part is, very hard if the sculpts are not great.  I got my ships from Mick Yarrow Miniatures after searching around for a while, they had decent reviews online and they were cheap so I figured why not.  Well, they are cheap, but the quality is pretty horrible.  They must be using molds made around the same time these ships were really sailing!  Some were concave, some had bubbles, some were missing guns, some were 2-3mm thick and others were 7-10mm thick, making them all very inconsistent.  They were CHEAP though, so I guess I should have known.

 
Epic 30k - Death Guard (Part 2)
 
Thanks to Greg, I got corrupted and dragged along with the Epic 30k madness that he has descended into.  Luckily, I have only gone partially insane as I am sticking to one single faction and a small force of them at that.  

 
Team Yankee 6mm - American Reinforcements

 
I have been working on both Russian and American forces to do Team Yankee in 6mm, but basing them on a desert conflict so that I can use them for a cold war gone hot like Team Yankee or for theoretical or real gulf war games.  Anyway, I have most of the forces done already, but needed some additional infantry, so banged off another unit of American infantry and their transports, which have to be one of the ugliest transports ever invented.

Entry #6 - Arena Rex 35mm Beasts

My friend Steve picked up a new game a little while back, and after seeing the quality of the figs I just had to get some to paint up.  That game is Arena Rex, a 35mm skirmish Fantasy Gladiator game. The figures are just stunning up close, the detail is amazing.  The only down side, the price is stunning as well!

The rules are available for free though, and I tried a game with some proxy figured with Steve before I ordered my own.  It is one of those rare games that looks super simplistic at first glance, but has an amazing amount of depth hidden in it.  It has strategy, tactics, resource management, and more all rolled up in to what seems at first glance a simplistic smash-up gladiator game.

 I wanted to really sell the Arena setting of the figures, but also make them usable for other things, so... I picture that arena with a sand based floor I wanted to do something sand based.  However, not wanting something as mundane as simple flat sand, I decided to try some cracked earth effects in parts of the base.  I picture this as areas where the arena got wet from blood, thrown beverages from hecklers, or hell where a horse or bull took a leak, and now the sand and mud has dried and cracked.  I also added just a few tufts of dead grass to the base to add a bit more interest.  Again, probably not seen in a lot of arenas, but if you picture a weekend circus and then time passing before the next big event it is possible that some small tufts find a way to grow. especially around the dried cracked mud that has extra nutrients added.  That's my story anyway, I don't care if you buy it, I can live with it.

Onto the beasts themselves, I did almost everything with my new toy (a Harder & Steenback Infinity CRplus 0.15mm airbrush, which is AMAZING to work with!).  The beasts were done with black primer, then white or grey zenithal highlights and then many thin layers of glazes for colours.  I know Greg's eye is twitching over all that, but it really was simple and fast.  WAY faster than trying to get the same results with a brush.  I honestly believe that the Scorpion was done (primer - clear coat) in less than an hour of work time, and by brush I know I would have spent 4-6 hours to get the same effect.

These guys are HUGE, they are 35mm scale, the WW1 infantry
model is a 28mm scale fig to show just how big these are.

Entry #7 - 28mm Napoleonic Artillery Teams

Last up for the week was three teams of French Napoleonic Artillery all done on some huge diorama-like stands (60mm wide x 120mm deep).

Four years ago now, I started doing some French Napoleonic figures as a promise to Curt that I would at least try doing something historical for my first painting challenge.  It was a unit of Perry line infantry, and my first exposure to painting the madness that is Napoleonic uniforms! UGGG!

Four years later I finally have enough done to think about some small games!  Something Greg and I will have to arrange sometime soon for the group.

Having completed some pretty big projects in the challenge lately, I am pretty tapped out, and will not have much ready to go live this coming week, so I may not have another update here for a few weeks (other than the theme week entry).