Rogal Dorn

My Imperial Fists have been my main effort since I started with 30k. I think I have over 5000 points worth of stuff which is more way more than can be reasonably gamed with. Just putting it all on the table might take half an hour! It's been a rewarding army to paint, but there comes a point where it's just silly to add more. There are other ptojects and other legions to paint! The only models left are the ones I've been dreading a bit. This is due either to their size or percieved complexity. I've finally decided to suck it up and just get them done. The first up is Primarch Rogal Dorn designed by Forgeworld. Anyone familiar with the model will notice it's missing something. Dorn's supposed to be wearing a cape. Forgeworld loves their capes on guys in power armour! I challenge anyone to tie a large piece of cloth to a backhoe and see how long it manages to stay on. I'm pretty sure the second Dorn sits down and shifts his weight, he's tearing that thing off. Despite this I did try to use it, but I just couldn't get the damn thing to fit under Dron's backpack. It just wasn't going to happen and I have to thank my daughter for halping me make up my mind to just leave it off. She felt that it was a bit silly to wear both a cape and a backpack at the same time. She also felt it looked a bit too "busy." Good enough for me. I also didn't go nuts with the face. Faces aren't my strong suit and I didn't see Dorn chaning that fact, so I just slapped a few flesh tones on him, added a wash and left it at that. I didn't even consider doing the eyes or his teeth. I'm happy this model is dinally done and I think it really adds to the collection. These Primarch models are a bit silly, so I don't see myself getting another, but I think the Fists deserved their Primarch on the display shelf. Last up with be the Fellblade. The yellow is going to take a while so I doubt I'll get it done before the painting challenge starts, but I'll be happy to at least make some progress on it. Thanks for visiting.

Imperial Fist Breachers

After a bit of a break I decided to go back to the Imperial Fist Legion by finishing a breacher squad. They're a troop unit equipped with boarding shields, bolters and 2 graviton guns. Both Greg and Dallas have completed breacher squads for their legions and it didn't feel right that the fists were left out.

 

 

I also completed another HQ choice for the Fists. This one was given to me by Greg as part as his move to Ontario. He's equipped with a Thunder hammer and shield. My HQ choices are a bit crowded for the Imperial Fists, but the massive eagle on his shield necessitated him being painted up as a loyalist.

The Painting Challenge starts Monday, so I won't be doing anymore Imperial Fists for a few months while I tackle some other projects. I may even jump into Age of Sigmar!

Emperors Champion

 GregB was kind enough to gift me this Black Templar Emperors Champion model a few months ago. I think this was one of the earlier representations of the model and I prefer this pose to the later ones. He looks like he’s ready to duel as opposed to the newer one which poses like he’s already won the fight. His armour fits in well with 30k so I painted him up as a first company Imperial Fist (they’re basically Black Templar’s anyway). He’s a bit shorter than the rest of the Mark iii armour marines, but his “huge” sword surely compensates for what he lacks in stature!

Imperial Fist Rhinos and Stormeagle

After a slow spring, I’ve managed to increase the painting production here and finished a batch of vehicles. I've had 3 rhinos sitting in the pending bin for months now and it was time to get them done. They took so long because 2 of them were a real pain to assemble and included a model with a hull that was almost completely flattened. I won’t complain because they were found in a chest of buried treasure on some island off Tortuga. The easy one to assemble was from Forgeworld and I still have the white box to prove it!

I was worried that the fist logo on the top hatch wouldn’t work, but copious amounts of micro sol did the trick and I’m quite happy with the result. I continued with the reverse black/yellow color scheme and appropriate weathering to represent a stressed and over stretched legion in the Horus Heresy.

My Imperial Fists collection is quite large at this point and I still have a few units left to paint including Rogal Dorn himself! I wasn't too concerned with this as Greg's Sons of Horus suffer form the same Arms Race mentality. With Greg's traitor forces whisked off to Ontario, I'll have to switch my focus to some traitor legions in the near future.

The 4th vehicle I completed is a Storm Eagle...well it’s a storm eagle conversion actually. The original model was the space marine Storm Raven. The now out of business, Chapterhouse Studios made a conversion kit for the raven that allowed you to elongate the model to make it look like it could actually transport stuff. The top missile launcher is from Puppets War and was also designed with GW models in mind. This model has been sitting for a few years now and it was thanks to Greg and Dallas and their completed Storm Eagles that gave me the motivation to finish it. It’s not quite the same size as a Storm Eagle, but a good enough approximation when compared with spending $200+ on a proper and non-flattened model from Forgeworld.

Imperial Fist Command Squad

Painting has been slow the last few months for a variety of reasons and I've spent most of my time on side projects that have been gathering dust for years. As such my 30k Legion project has been delayed. With the changing weather I decided to complete the last infantry models I have for the Imperial Fists. I have almost 5000 points painted, but I've lacked a large HQ unit. My terminator Centurion has been in an acting Praetor position for a while now and it's time the force had a proper HQ. The command squad below are the last infantry models I have for the Fists. After this I have some Rhino's, Stormraven and a Fellblade to finish, but I'll be holding off working on those so I can hopefully finish my Adeptus Titanicus maniple.

30k Battle Report - No Hope For The Hydra

"Alpha to omega!" A Preator from the Alpha Legion (name redacted) leads his detachment into action against the loyalists of the VII Legion during 30k gaming last week.

Conscript Mike F stopped by last week for a 30k game, and here are a few pictures to share from the battle. Both of us enjoy the Black Library novel "Praetorian of Dorn" (it's a great book, go read it!). While the specific battles from that book are not something I can re-create at this point, we still thought it would be fun to pit the opponents from the story against each other. So some of my Alpha Legion forces would battle against his Imperial Fists.  We set up a small game, using the fan-built 8th edition of 30k.  The "Power Level" for both sides was 70.

A view of the deployed forces on the first turn...

The table was 6' x 4', an arid setting (maybe some isolated part of Terra?) with a communication-relay set amid some ruins.  The key was to secure this communications relay objective.  You could do this by moving into contact with it. But there was another way to win: wiping out the opposing detachment! It's 30k, after all...besides, the Alpha Legion wouldn't want any witnesses.

Deredeo class dreadnought covers the approach of the XX Legion.

The carnage arrived rapidly.  The sons of Alpharius made short work nearly all the members of Mike's tactical squad.  The firepower from my Deredeo Dreadnought was impressive, and things seemed to be going well! But that would not last...

Alpha Legion seeker squad - "Headhunters" - move out.

Wait a minute - who invited these guys??? The elite of the VII Legion teleport to the battlefield...

And then...the Imperial Fist terminators arrived on the scene.  I hoped my Praetor, together with some Lernean Terminators and the squad of 10 Headhunters would be able to cut them down to size...it was not to be.

Where did the seeker squad go?? Eliminated by VII Legion Terminators...

Alpha Legion Preator confronts the Imperial Fist elite...

It's all-in with the Terminators...if we don't stop these guys, we don't stand a chance...

The VII Legion Terminators first BBQ'd my Headhunters.  The Alpha Legion Preator charged in, but could not bring down his opponent.  The assistance of the Apothecary kept the Alpha Legion commander around a bit longer, but you can only get whacked by a chain fist so many times and still expect to be around...and so the Alpha Legion Preator fell in action.

The Apothecary could only do so much...

Meanwhile, my Alpha Legion tactical squad, after losing their Rhino, found themselves facing both a Leviathan Dreadnought and a Contemptor Dreadnought.  The covering fire from the Deredeo Dreadnought was insufficient, and they were soon wiped out.

"Hey, we're moving in on the objective, great news!"

"Oh no! Two huge dreadnoughts! Hope we can hold out!"

Suddenly there is only one survivor in the Alpha Legin tactical squad...

Overall, a loss for the Alpha Legion. Or was it? Surely this was all part of some greater scheme...

The covering fire had no effect...

Mike's collection of Imperial fists looks amazing! He does a great job with the yellow (always a tricky colour) and it continues to expand bit by bit.  This was the first time I came up against a Leviathan Dreadnought, and it was...pretty unpleasant! Melta-bombs were not going to stop that thing...I love the 30k setting, and 30k gaming. While a bit more luck on the dice would always be preferred, this was a fun game - many thanks to Mike F for visiting and bringing his fantastic VII Legion forces out for a spin!

Hope everyone out there has enjoyed the final days of summer. The fall has now arrived - and the countdown is on toward another Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge...

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!