Cerberus Tank Destroyer

Finally finished my Imperial Fist Cerberus. It's a huge vehicle so the line highlighting took me a while. I think the gun on this thing is one of the biggest non-titan guns in the game. It would have been an interesting match up against Greg's Fellblade.

The left track was so badly cast, I had to cover it with a layer of green stuff. I couldn't even pass it off as battle damage it was so bad. It was probably due to the heat on the Yangtze River!

Imperial Fist - Dreadnought Escalation

No fancy photo booth here so you'll have to suffer through these photos. I managed to complete 3 Dreadnoughts for the Fist. First up is a leviathan with Grav-Flux Bombard and siege drill.

A Contemptor with Plasma Cannon followed by a Contemptor Mortis with Lascannons.

I started these during the summer, but neglected completing them in favor of some mini projects, so they do not count towards the Painting Challenge. I decided to get them done for the mega game today. The paint is still curing so their demise on the table should be all but guaranteed.

An Epic 30k Skirmish - Imperial Fists Fold...

Blast markers abound in an Epic 30k confrontation at Byron's place last week!

Games Workshop has recently re-released the game "Adeptus Titanicus".  As a long, long time fan of GW's long-abandoned "Epic" games and the 30k setting, news of the return of "Adeptus Titanicus" stirred many feelings.  I'll probably share/rant about those in another post. But more than anything, news of the release made me, first and foremost, want to get a game of Epic 30k in! I haven't played the setting or scale in many months, and back from my summer at the lake, I was keen to play a game - Byron M was kind enough to host and oblige last week.  Here are some pictures of the game.

For rules we used the "Epic: Armageddon" version of Epic, and stats from this amazing Epic 30k wiki. The scenario was not at all complex - a meeting engagement of two opposing detachments. Byron brought his lovely Epic 30k Death Guard to the table, while I played the part of the "loyalist" fools, deployment a force of Imperial Fist Legion Space Marines.  There were no Titans in the game, but each side had a couple of super-heavy Legion tanks backing up their forces.  The objectives were brutally simple - break the other force! The first side to have five detachments broken would lose...

Initial deployments taking shape...the Death Guard seem to be moving right into my trap *cough* (that's the official version I'll report to Malcador later...)

The first turn looked good for the Imperial Fists, as Byron struggled with his command rolls and so my forces were able to get a bit of a jump on the Death Guard.  Little did I suspect this would be the high-point for the Sons of Dorn...

Here is an ominous sight...Death Guard Spartan troop carriers, backed by a deadly Glaive super heavy tank...

Fellblade, Flachion and Dreadnoughts advance on the Death Guard flank.

In subsequent turns, Byron's evil dice mojo returned, with amazing saving throws, solid command rolls and other sinister benefits (no doubt derived from his forces' devotion to the great Warmaster, Horus Lupercal).  Meanwhile, I whiffed on command rolls, rolls to hit, rolls to save...you know, ALL THE ROLLS YOU NEED TO MAKE.  Sigh.

VII Legion armoured forces move out - Falchion providing cover at the top of the photo.

Falchion barely lumbering forward, thanks to failed command rolls on my part. Oh well. What could go wrong?

My Fellblade detachment wrecked some serious sh*t, blasting the Death Guard Sicaran tank detachment to tiny pieces. But that was it for meaningful success. Among many low points, the worst for me was the moment I thought I had Byron's assault marines dead to rights: surrounded by my Sicaran tanks, I was certain all of those Herakles auto cannons and heavy bolters would ventilate those sad Sons of Barbarus...but, no, Byron had blazing hot saving throws and...

Stars of the show for me - Fellblades, oh yeah!!

Spartans move ahead, carrying a detachment of tactical marine aboard.

And so...my Land Raiders broke, then my Spartans, then my Predators were blasted to pieces, then then one of my tactical detachments was broken in an assault carried out by the Death Guard assault marines who should have been misted by my Sicarans...the final blow came when my Falchion was blasted to particles...VII Legion suddenly remembered a meeting they needed to attend off world, and beat a hasty retreat, leaving the table to the victorious Death Guard.

Battle is joined - Death Guard Sicaran tanks halt my advancing spearheads...although the Fellblades (top right of the photo) will soon make short work of them...

The mendacious assault marines of the Death Guard.

Old Skool Predator tanks of the Death Guard move on through a drop pod LZ.

Another view of Byron's fine Sicaran tank detachment.

Near final dispositions (the only thing yet to happen before my defeat is the obliteration of my Falchion super heavy tank, seen hiding out near the middle bottom of the photo).

This game was a lot of fun, and again a reminder of just how excellent the "Epic: Armageddon" rules system can be.  The current editions of 30k/40k are such a morass, it is easy to forget that GW did release so many fun and excellent rules, "Epic: Armageddon" being foremost among them.  The rules reflect the character and "fluff" of the factions very well. And the 30k setting is just such a favourite of mine, so this was a great time. I hope to organize another Epic 30k game soon.

Templar Brethren

It's been a busy summer this year. I took a long block of Holidays off in July and the family spent a chunk of it at a cabin in Whiteshell Provincial Park. I took some stuff to paint, but progress was slow. Work itself has been busy with little opportunity for time off and the spare time that was available was used for things other than painting. With all that being said, I still managed to complete another unit and vehicle for the Imperial Fist Legion. The Templar Brethren have been pending since I started the army. They were left as a reward for hitting the half way mark with the army.
I used the Mark IV armor as they are supposed to have the best wargear available. According to the fluff, they are the elite of the Legion and dedicated to close combat. These guys would eventually become the Black Templar during the second founding and turn into a fundamentalist cult army burning all non-believers in their wake. It's the stuff of nightmares and I could see how a chaos cultist may convince you that grandfather Nurgle has 'something' for that 3rd degree burn you're sporting. The Templar Brethren seem to just like to sword fight.

 

 

 

 The Land Raider was originally bought for my 40k marine army. It has parts from Chapterhouse Studios (now MIA it seems) to give it the Heresy look. The Raider, along with a Storm Raven (also with C.H. parts) were just sitting on the forgotten pile when I clued in that they could be re-purposed for the Fists. I didn't bother stripping the model and just hoped the detail wouldn't be lost. I think it turned out all right.

I still have more Imperial Fists to paint, but I plan on taking a bit of a break and work on some units for Kill Team.

House Hawkshroud Imperial knight

I finished my Imperial Knight a few days ago and finally got around to taking some pics. I'm fairly happy with it, though I won't win points for originality. Most Imperial Fist players seem to go with this house for obvious reasons. I tried to resist, but ultimately I preferred the bold look of Hawkshroud compared to the others Houses. Plus, I'm on a roll with yellow!

The decal was modified to add the fist.

More Firepower

I finally got some more Imperial Fist reinforcements completed. These have mostly been done for a few weeks, but Ive been putting off basing for a while in favor of a new terrain project that I will share when it's a little further along. My army has lacked some punch on the table, but I believe these units will correct that.

 These Mark III marines are part of a bunch of models I got used on Ebay. The price was right and they were advertised as primed only. Once I got them it was obvious they had been primed over a base coat of some red metallic paint. They were also glued together with what may well have been Portland cement which made swapping the bolters for plasma guns a bit tricky. All considered, I think the rehab project came out nicely.

 The Ryza plasma gun squad is from my original purchase last summer. Re-forming the resin hose was a nightmare and these are the first models I've assembled with the aid of boiling water. Despite my efforts, the hoses broke on several models and it was up to green stuff and superglue to finish the job.

A full squad of Ryza Lascannons for long range firepower. The lascannon cables worked much better at bending to form than the plasma cannons. They aren't segmented like the plasma cannons which keeps them from breaking.

These are the last of the Mark III marines I have for this army. I must say that although I love the look of them, I found them a real slog to paint. Looking forward the the Mark IV units I have in the pipe.

New Year's Game - Horus Heresy Siege of Terra!

We usually host a lunch and big game on New Year's Day each year. However, this year the schedules didn't quite work out for January 1, so we postponed the game until January 7.

Many of the Conscripts and their significant others were able to make it out for the lunch, a delicious roast pork loin with vegetables and salad prepared by the amazing Pam (in apron). After stuffing ourselves silly with food, we (eventually) retired downstairs to Conscript HQ where the terrain had been laid out for the game - a Horus Heresy extravaganza using the 40K 8th edition rules and the excellent codex material from the forums at http://heresy30k.invisionzone.com/login/

I further amortized the trench terrain by laying out an 8'x4' table for the Loyalists to defend. The board was 30K'd up a bit with slurm tanks, billboards, statuary, a comms mast, and some Gothic looking ruins, not to mention a bit of Conscript trademark scatter terrain...

Terra would be defended by Conscript Mike's excellent looking Imperial Fists...

...supported by Conscript Greg's superb Solar Auxilia.

"God Box 2.0" makes an appearance, along with the Solar Auxilia commander "Marshall Facecane".

Nasty Imperial Fists Terminator squad "supporting the front line" behind a slurm tanks :-)

First wave of Iron Warriors and World Eaters attackers roll on. The Traitor objectives were the tanks at centre left, the comms mast on the ridge, and the statue column at centre top.

There's not a ton that you might consider "broken" in 30K but if anything comes close, it's the Iron Warriors Siege Tyrants at top left...

Racks spit out two krak missiles (or 2d6 frag missiles!!) PER MODEL per shooting phase... that's a ton of hurt heading downrange.

Defending Terra all day really works up a thirst! Fortunately there are ample tanks around to feed the Slurm machine.

Iron Warriors reinforcements arrive, in the form of a large tactical squad and Leviathan Siege Dreadnought (ooooh yeah!)

Massive traitor firepower facing off against the newly arrived Imperial Fists Land Raider Armoured Proteus (top right).

Warriors hop out of their Rhinos ready to assault the trenches.

But then... oh crap... Imperial Knight arrives.

It's great fun to take off the top of the ridge and play in the tunnels underneath. Infil-traitors under the bunkers!

Loyalist Sicaran is taking fire as a Traitor Rhino moves to block off the tunnel entrance.

A good view of Mike's Contemptor and Land Raider.
 

Iron Warriors approaching the trenches. Solar Auxilia are tougher than they look, especially when overcharging their lasrifles.

Siege Tyrants look right at home, don't they?

Iron Warriors have taken the frontline trench!

Terminators scramble to interdict the Traitor Marines in the tunnels. Sadly they would fail their charge roll with a double 1 - not the only charge that was failed that afternoon either!

Sadly for the Traitors their assault just stalled as time was called. It has to be admitted that we seldom actually finish one of these huge game, but they sure are cool to look at! Lots of stuff blew up, and I think the game pointed out to both Mike and me what we need to do with our respective forces. Mike came out with a bit over 100 power levels and I think he realized that he needs more BIG GUNZ :-)

The Iron Warriors, on the other hand, can muster close to 200 power levels and lots of big guns, but I think I need to paint some more boots. Most of my points are tied up in the 10-man Siege Tyrant squad (44 power levels by itself!) and the Typhon represents 26 or 27 as well.

Anyway I think we all had a fun time having lunch with friends, and playing with some amazing toys on some beautiful terrain, and isn't that what this hobby is all about! So thanks to everybody for coming out, to Greg and Mike for bringing their toys, and to Conscript Frederick for taking some great pictures!