Iron Hands Land Raider

Ready roll out in defence of The Emperor (pointlessly, of course).

The summer of 2019 continues to see brushes bending to the Loyalist cause in the 30k setting - this time some serious armoured firepower in the form of an Armoured Proteus Land Raider for the 10th Legion, the "Iron Hands".  It can carry a squad of Medusan Immortals to battle, and provide them with heavy fire support from its batteries of twin-lascannon on either sponson and the twin-heavy bolter mounted on the front of the hull.

WIP photo from the painting table out at the lake.

The "Armoured Proteus" is a Forge World kit, a variant on the classic "Land Raider Proteus" design from the Rogue Trader era of 40k.  The Land Raider is an iconic piece of Space Marine kit. Going back to the time of the first "Space Marine" game, which followed the original "Adeptus Titanicus" and brought in Epic and gaming the Horus Heresy alive, I remembered you got a whole bunch of plastic Land Raiders with the game. I loved the original "Space Marine" game and associate Horus Heresy battlefields with the image of Land Raiders zapping each other on the table in no small part because of it.

"Gaarsak" - a name only a Medusan could love, I suppose? It was on the FW decal sheet...

The GW designers have expanded the collection of 30k vehicles to an incredible extent - adding many variants on the Land Raider, Predator and Rhino chassis, new vehicles like the Sicaran tanks, and even super-heavy tanks like the Fellblade and its friends, not to mention assorted bikes, jet bikes, speeders, flyers and landers.  Your 30k Legion forces have a lot to choose from!

Twin lascannons in a heavily armoured mount.

The classic Land Raider Proteus is a favourite, of course, but the Armoured Proteus always looked super cool - even better in person after Dallas painted one for his Howling Griffons back in 2012.  The Armoured Proteus has the unique, bonkers, classic look of the Land Raider, but with features that resemble a bunker on the Atlantic Wall. For many years I hoped to add one to my 30k collection.

Another view of the top - and the definitely-not-carbon-neutral exhaust system.

Of course, I do not do well modelling these resin vehicle kits.  With Land Raiders, the challenge is always the tracks, getting them lined up, hoping they fit etc.  Well, once again, Steve B here in Winnipeg was willing and able to assist with the assembly for me.  He did fantastic work getting the kit built for me. Thanks very much Steve!! 

Another view of the front.

Chipping on the armour here and there, amid the FW 10th Legion decals.

I started collecting 28mm 30k stuff back in 2014.  As you can tell from a scan of the blog, I sure love the setting and really enjoy the painting, collecting and gaming.  But over more than five years of painting 30k in this scale, my bias has become pretty clear - I have more than 120 infantry, six or seven tanks and APCs painted for my Sons of Horus alone.  But the other side of the conflict is not so well-represented on my shelves - I have collected and painted loyalists in small groups, and this is the first tank I have ever painted for the loyalist side!

Some Medusan Immortals from the 10th Legion on test maneuvers with their new ride.

My "shattered Legion" Loyalist force is coming together nicely - they now have some tough armour to back them up on the table.  But one tank alone, even a formidable Land Raider, won't last too long in many games, so watch for further reinforcements to appear at some point.    

Summer Painting Cont'd - More 30k Iron Hands

Another squad of Medusan Immortals for the 10th Legion, the "Iron Hands".

My summer painting continues - at a pretty slow pace, since the summer weather has been nice, but I am still making a bit of progress at the portable painting station after the sun goes down.  Here is a second squad of Medusan Immortals, loyalist Space Marines from the 10th Legion, the "Iron Hands". They will complement a squad of similar troops I painted earlier in the month.

I painted the right shoulder pauldrons white on this squad, just so I could tell them apart from the first squad, and to make them a little easier to keep track of on the table.

The equipment on this squad is a little different from the first one - instead of the bolt gun, universal weapon of the Space Marines, these troops are carrying volkite chargers instead. It's an upgrade option available to this unit selection, and I do love the look of the volkite weapons on the table.  With these models in particular they add nicely to the bonkers OTT look of 30k that appeals so much to me.  Together with the embossed boarding shields, embossed shoulder plates, the wide assortment of bionic bits (legs, arms and heads) and the grenades and ammo spare clips tacked on everywhere, this squad looks ready to party, 30k-style!

Vox trooper visible in the rear of the photo...not an elligible upgrade, just there to look cool.

Another view of the vox trooper, and some comrades, all sporting deadly volkite chargers.

I dropped a couple of other small modifications among the group - the sergeant's helmet is actually a command helmet from the Mark IV armour plastic set, and he is sporting a plasma pistol from the 40k range - it has a crazy over-sized scope on it, I loved the look and I thought it helped make the sergeant look a little nuttier. There is also a comms trooper, wearing a helmet and vox-unit from the Mark III command set (I think).  He is just there to look cool, as I don't think the vox-caster upgrade is something this particular squad-type is allowed to take.

Squad sergeant - helmet from a plastic Mark IV set, plasma pistol from the current 40k plastics range.

From this angle, you can see his left leg has been replaced with a bionic limb. You can also get (a bit) of a glimpse of the crazily-embossed shoulder plate.

Last, but not least, there are two special weapons supporting this squad as well - more graviton guns! Ah, the graviton gun - a Rogue Trader-era classic!

The Graviton Gun 

Remember this cool thing from Rogue Trader???

The GW folks plotting out the 28mm version of the Horus Heresy did many things very well.  One of those was to go back to the "Rogue Trader era" and pull the odd bit here and there and put it back into action for 30k gaming.  The graviton gun is one of those classics!

Graviton guns to the front!

In those original rules, the graviton gun added mass to anything it hit.  Hit something enough times with the graviton gun, it would be stuck to the ground.  This was bad news for anything walking around the table, and fatal to anything hovering or flying. My Rogue Trader-era Imperial Guardsmen once killed a stupid Eldar Avatar in this fashion, pinging it several times with graviton guns, then wandering over to stab it at their leisure! Ah, the whackiness of Rogue Trader...

Keen to zap those who betrayed their oaths to the Emperor and the Great Crusade...

The rules for the graviton gun in the 30k setting are no longer so nutty.  The weapons are meant to be somewhat rare support-type weapons.  I thought the rare-tech nature of the weapon fit well with the Medusan Immortals.  Between these things and the volkite chargers, the followers of Horus will be in for a zap or two...

20 Medusan Immortals, perhaps "relaxing" at the lake for now, but rest assured they are plotting revenge against those who betrayed their comrades in the Isstvan system...

That's two squads of Immortals now to join my scattered collection of Loyalist "Shattered Legions" for 30k gaming.  Together with the very small base elements I painted during Curt's most recent Painting Challenge, the Iron Hands can be safely upgraded from "small pests" to "minor nuisance".  It will take something a little more serious to take this small collection to the next level, however, and make them into a real force for the gaming table.  Hopefully that will be something I can share later on. But in the meantime...

A view of the setting sun from my Kayak in Whitefish Bay.

Thanks for visiting the blog, and I hope everyone is having a great summer!  

Summer Painting - 30k Iron Hands - Medusan Immortals

Some Medusan Immortals for the 10th Legion - loyalist troops for 30k gaming.

The deep summer has arrived in Canada! When July and August roll around, my wife and I try and spend as much time as we can at our cabin in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. We have a little place on the eastern side of Whitefish Bay of Lake Superior, and it is probably my favourite place in the world. It's a great place to relax, visit with family, and do cabin-type-things like swimming, kayaking, riding ATVs and other stuff.  But it's also a great place to paint! I don't paint as much during the summer, as the outdoors take precedence, but I do try to bring a nice stash of stuff with me to make progress on.  This summer I thought I would try to get some more 28mm 30k stuff painted.

Bionic arm visible for the trooper on the right...meanwhile the fellow on the left is going action-movie-style...one arm with the bolt gun, shield down...

And I have made some progress! Here is a 10-man squad of "Medusan Immortals" from the 10th Legion, the Iron Hands. Yes...some loyalists! 

A lot of character and detail on these fantastic sculpts...I loved painting them.

The Medusan Immortals are troops who have, in some way, failed the Iron Hands (I assume this failure somehow occurred in battle, but maybe they just brought Ferrus Manus cappucino when he had wanted a latte).  These disgraced warriors join the ranks of the Medusan Immortals, and as part of these units, embrace the toughest battle assignments, hoping to win back their honour and place in the Legion.

For the sergeant I swapped in an officer's head from a Mark III power armour suit.

The Medusan Immortals are kitted out as breaching marines.  The sculpts are excellent, with a lot of character.  They have embossed shoulder plates, and really snazzy embossed boarding shields. The figures also show a lot of bionics - there are many replacement legs and arms, and several of the helmets have cable connections pointing to some bionic replacement bits on the warriors' heads.

The level of bionic replacement is consistent with the background of the 10th Legion - supposedly noted for their near-mechanicum-level familiarity and favour of technology.  It could also be meant to show the "failure" that led the Legionnaire to join the ranks of the Immortals in the first place involved heavy battle damage...sounds like a rough gig!

Flamer-armed legionnaire ready to support his fellow Immortals.

The figures also have lots of spare ammo clips and grenades attached - overall, they are a menacing sort of forlorn hope.  I really liked these figures, and I'm glad I have another 10 to paint. 

Graviton gun can be seen on the trooper in the middle...

This first squad is equipped with bolt guns, and supported by a flamer and the whacky graviton gun. They will give a tough fight on the table (doomed, of course, because they are loyalists, after all), and will join the small force I started painting during Curt's most recent painting challenge once I get back to Winnipeg.

Summer Reading
 

The Siege of Terra begins with "The Solar War" by John French...

I've also got some summer reading going too.  The Horus Heresy novel series is finally, after what seems like about 378 books,  moving to the story at last to the Siege of Terra. I picked up a copy of "The Solar War", the first book touching on the siege, written by John French (author of the amazing "Praetorian of Dorn").  It was...OK...a solid 'C+'.  YMMV.  There are many cool parts to the book - I love the description of Terra and the situation in the Solar System during the heresy. But there are also too many Primarchs and their assorted silliness. And while I hope I don't give anything away, the big plot twist is not at all a surprise if you have read "Prospero Burns"...it was easy to see coming.

But hey - we all have different things we like, so I still encourage you to check out the novel.  It will help inspire 30k and 40k painting if nothing else!

I do sort of wonder why GW doesn't have any other Siege of Terra stuff out to accompany this book though...nothing special from Forgeworld, or another Horus Heresy box game...like, the Siege of Terra is THE penultimate moment of the Horus Heresy...that should be a bigger deal.  GW is strangely siloed, it seems...why would you have a box game for the stupid Ultramarines, but no game for the actual Seige of Terra?

Hey, wait, there is something new coming for Adeptus Titanicus! Oh, wait...just more Knights... 

But GW has released something else kind big this summer...

New Edition of Apocalypse
 

Some new rules from GW to contemplate...

Some other summer reading - GW has issued another set of "Apocalypse" rules for 40k. I'll say more about this in a separate post but...while the price is, of course, appalling, these rules look really, really cool...yes, that's right...I think they have something potentially awesome here for us...

Thanks for visiting - I hope everyone is having a great summer, wherever you are!

A sunset at the cabin...have a great summer, everyone!

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!