A 30k Break - A Few More Space Wolves...

Some VI Legion reinforcements as seen by the dim light of my cabin...

Since last December I have been surprisingly focused in terms of painting projects over the past year. I mean, like, relatively - I still have all sorts of different projects and half-started projects piled all over the place, but since I started on a 28mm Franco-Prussian War project back in the fall of 2017, and have been pretty much focused on painting figures for that period - some pretty good progress. During Curt's annual Painting Challenge there were short diversions into 15mm Cold War Gone Hot).  With a small exception this past May, my painting queue has lacked a favourite area of interest - 30k stuff!

Officer sporting a silly "Thunder Hammer" for smashing recalcitrant citizens of Prospero - and anything else that gets in the way...

My painting pace has been pretty slow this summer - finishing a unit of Prussian Dragoons in July, and not much else - but I have been really missing painting 30k stuff, none of which I had the foresight to bring to my cabin for painting.  Turns out there is an excellent little hobby store here in Sault Ste Marie, and they had some figures and...well, you know, have to support the local store, right? So I picked up some more plastic Legion Space Marines!

A lot of detail on the back packs and chain swords was lost thanks to the f**king matte varnish, but I managed to get most of the important detail back by reapplying the recess wash of good ol' Agrax Earthshade

What Legion to paint them? I had no decals with me, and no reasonable sources to get them, so the only real options (if I wanted to complete the figures) were the ones in the box. As the box was plastic Mark III Legion Marines, that meant either Space Wolves or Thousand Sons. Given that I only have 10 Space Wolves (from the Burning of Prospero Box), I thought I would go with some reinforcements the rowdy, nutty gang from the VI Legion. 

After more than a year, it was fun to paint up some Mark III Legion Space Marines again! I find painting great figures is like connecting with old friends, and after the first couple models I was quickly back in the groove, cranking out another 10-man veteran squad for the VI Legion. I applied the decals, and as a final step, applied a matte varnish...

This photo shows some of the "frosting" damage from the f**king matte varnish - the decal has almost disappeared...and this figure wasn't even one of the worst ones...

...and F**K! They frosted up terribly, the worst I had encountered in a while.  I had done everything - made sure it was not humid, tested on something, then on just one figure, and both tests worked fine. So I sprayed the bunch and....F**K! Just F**K! This seems to happen to me once every summer. F**K. 

I considered chucking the lot of them in the bin, it was so bad, but I thought of my good friend Dallas and how he brings almost any damaged or wounded plastic figure back from the brink.  With this as inspiration, I set about doing repair/re-painting.

Is there a drawback to the plastic Mark III marine kits? Maybe that it only comes with one heavy weapon option - the heavy bolter.  Having said that, I do love the look of the thing...

It look a lot of re-work to make the figures manageable.  I had to free-hand the "wolf" logo on the shoulder pauldrons (which was possible only because the frosted decal underneath was a useful guide); nearly all of the shoulder plates were re-painted, and many back packs, bolters and chainswords were re-done. The recess wash was re-applied in many cases.  Pretty much the entire top half of the Sergeant was re-painted. While there is still a lot of lost detail and colour (particularly the chain sword grips and the silver/gunmetal on the bolters), the figures were back to a serviceable condition for the table, and decided to call them finished and move on.

Bring on the 30k mayhem!

The photos are, of course, not top-shelf, as the lighting in my cabin isn't really ideal (or even "good") for photography of miniatures, but thankfully the relatively dark photos help to cover up the damage done from the "frosting". 

No doubt the previous squad of Space Wolves in my collection will be glad to see their available forces increase by nearly 100%! Hopefully this group will see some Prospero-themed hijinks on the Fawcett Avenue gaming tables this fall. Will I suddenly expand this force further? Who knows? The Space Wolves have never been favourites of mine, but Dan Abnett has brought be around, and grey does look sharp on that Horus Heresy armour and kit...and further 30k distractions loom - particularly with the release of the new "Adeptus Titanicus" game...my copy of the game is waiting back in Winnipeg - I hope to have some Titans on this site before Thanksgiving, if not sooner!

Contempt(or) for Prospero

Let's hug!  A Contemptor class Dreadnought for the VI Legion in 30k

More random painting production from my 30k interest/obsession.  This is a plastic Contemptor Dreadnought painted in the colours of the VI Legion, the Space Wolves. This is a plastic model from the "Betrayal at Calth" box game, but given the Legion colours, it will instead be participating in some "Burning of Prospero" games instead :)

The "Burning of Prospero" game box does not come with any Dreadnoughts, but I got the notion from a White Dwarf article published around the same time they released the "Prospero" game. The article included stats and a scenario to include one of these bad-boys on the side of the Space Wolves. I really enjoyed painting the Space Wolves squad for the game, so I figured it would be fun to toss in a dreadnought for them as well.
 

Kheres-pattern cannon adheres to a core rule of any sci-fi genre - that rotary cannons are always, always cool!

It is armed with a Kheres-pattern assault cannon, a power fist and a little bolter.  Powered by the remnants of a mostly-fallen marine of the Vlka Fenryka, this machine will provide a nice all-around balance of fire support and extra heft for close assaults - the power fist being particularly useful for punching irritating opponents/structures directly in the face.

Power fist, all set to reach out and adjust some attitudes...

The only downside is the posing of the model itself.  GW can do so many things very, very well with plastic, but this kit is not really one of them.  It is set in such a way that basic alterations to the otherwise wooden posing require some modelling work - kinda dumb, and I don't see why that was necessary.   But whatever - it gets the job done!

Veteran Sergeant leads the way - "punch this thing next!"

I am enjoying the look of the grey and bronze on the Space Wolf stuff the more I see it...I had no notions of doing a VI Legion force of any size beyond the squad and character from the "Burning of Prospero" game, but who knows? Maybe I will return from the lake in the fall with a wide selection of loyalists in the grey armour of the VI Legion...

In the meantime, watch for more "Burning of Propsero" bits to appear shortly among some other ongoing 30k efforts...

30k Battle Report - Travel Woes for Horus' Herald

The elite of the XIX Legion await the followers of Horus...

We played a small game of 30k last week at Dallas' place.  The scenario imagined the Herald of the Warmaster was out making the rounds in some Imperial system, trying to put the facts straight about just what really happened in the Isstvan system - "Ignore the liberal bias in the mainstream news and astro-telepath channels! What can you expect from a publicly-funded and taxpayer-subsidized broadcaster like the Astronomican? They should just call it the Astronomiscam!" He had just completed a public appearance and was en route to his next stop when his party was waylaid by a hodge-podge assortment of loyalist bandits and Horus Denialists. Battle ensued!!

The table at turn one - the Rebel forces are deployed along the bottom of the photo, and would enter via that table edge.  Their objective was to drop of the Herald of the Warmaster at the shuttle landing pad on the top left of the photo. Easy peasy, right? WRONG!

A Slurm machine waits at the base of the landing pad to refresh thirsty shuttle crews

The Sons of Horus had to punch through the loyalist battle line in order to get the Herald of the Warmaster to his shuttle on time so he could make his next public appearance! The escort certainly had the tools to do the job - a Land raider, two dreadnoughts, three Rhino APCs and an assortment of fun infantry (breacher marines, tactical support marines and a seeker squad). What could possibly go wrong?

Deadly Mor Deythan strike team prepares to take their shots

Blood Drinkers with Volkite Calivers prepare a warm welcome

Dallas did such a great job on this Land Raider - always great to see it on the table. Have to say, however, it is much more fun when I manage to kill it

The loyalist cordon was thin, in my estimation.  It had small elements from three different Legions, representing, to our minds, small detachments of survivors and detached-duty forces coming together to try and strike where they can to slow the Warmaster's gains.  Whatever rivalries or jealousies which may have existed between these Legions no longer matter to these guys - what matters is finding a way to fight back! So tragic they could not channel this misplaced energy toward some constructive hope and change along with the Warmaster...

There were two small Mor Deythan squads from the Raven Guard, a tactical support squad, heavy support squad, a dreadnought, Land Raider, a laser destroyer on a tracked chassis from the Blood Drinkers company of the Ninth Legion, and a veteran squad of Space Wolves.  An odd assortment of desperate and delusional warriors clinging to the existence of their so-called "Emperor".

Seeker Squad moving out.  In the end all they would "seek" out was how to be ground into powder...

Seeker squad on the move, covered by the twin Kheres cannons of a Contemptor Mortis dreadnought...man those things are deadly...

It was a pretty small cordon - I doubted they were going to stop the Warmaster's Herald.  But in the grim darkness of the far future, it can be a b*tch to connect with your next flight...

Loyalists move a Land Raider forward, and the cowardly pro-"Emperor" fools of course lurk in its shadow...

Legionnaire "Davey Crockett" and a dreadnought ready to blast away at the Sons of Horus...this little cannon would take out my Land Raider - F@##!!!!

Dallas and Indo took command of the loyalist side, while Mike F and I went with the devout and correct followers of the Warmaster.  I was pretty confident.  I mean, what could happen? Lose our Land Raider on the first turn to an amazing shot from the laser destroyer? How likely is that?

*cough*

Sooo, anyway, it was not a smooth execution on the Rebels' part.  No matter the efforts of our Kheres-pattern autocannons, plasma cannons, or Mike's hard-fighting breacher marines, our task force ended up as junk!

Starts to look ugly in the middle - note the crater at the top of the photo, where the Sons of Horus Land Raider once stood...without it the Rhinos were kind of screwed...

A clash of Contemptor Dreadnoughts! Who would walk away the victor? Note the fallen breacher marine officer to the bottom left of the photo...

The Loyalists systematically took us apart, and without our Land Raider, it was rather tough going.  Sure, we pounded on a few units here and there, but overall we basically walked into a meat grinder - with the Space Wolves in particular extracting a rough toll, even if they lost quite a few squad members in the process.  Mike's breachers and dreadnought made the most progress (getting bashed to pieces for their trouble). The Herald didn't make the shuttle.  He didn't even make it out of his Rhino!

Not ones to wait around, the Space Wolf veterans charge straight at the Rhinos...a series of Krak grenades would sort the vehicles out before long...

Oh man - Horus is going to the pretty pissed that his Herald has been kidnapped by loyalist Legiones Astrates pro-"Emperor" terrorists.  I think the mission to recover him could make for an excellent scenario next time we play 30k. In a fit of pique, I can see Horus calling in some Alpha Legion troops to carry out the rescue, while he vents extreme displeasure at the flunkies in his own XVI Legion.

Alpha Legion on a rescue job. What could go wrong? I'm already looking forward to that!

Big thank you to Dallas for hosting, and to Mike and Indo for coming out to play.  Thanks also to Dallas for providing most of these photos. Somehow I seem to take fewer photos when the Sons of Horus are getting creamed...

Why Has The Spring Been Cold? Well...

A squad of Space Wolves led by Geigor Fell-Hand...better check the temperature in Hell...

 *Cough* So, a rather unexpected little 30k project to share today - this is a veteran tactical squad from the Sixth Legion, the Vlka Fenryka, known more generally as the "Space Wolves".  If you are a random visitor to the Fawcett Avenue Blog (welcome if you are!) you will wonder why this might be a big deal.  Well, as fans of a genre, there are things we really, really like, and things we really, really hate, and for just about 15 years or more I have hated the Space Wolves.  In that context, this would be an unexpected addition to my 30k collection, and I await the fully-justified howls of derision and mockery from my gaming friends.

Why the hate at the Wolves? In the Rogue Trader era, they were actually pretty cool (although painting that neat wolf-style crest was just beyond my skills).  But GW has shown at different times that it is not able to keep certain themes within reason (see: Chaos), and the Space Wolves became a prime example of this over time.  It got annoying, but by the time of the Third Edition I found my crayons snapping at the proliferation of special little units and parody Nordic culture under the Space Wolf umbrella.  The theme kept getting more and more overdone...pelts everywhere, nobody wearing their helmets on their power armour, all sporting five-foot-long beards and "absjurd" names.  Certain fans of this specific genre made it worse, and every time you thought GW couldn't make it any dumber, the descent into self-parody continued...just see things like this or like this. Sigh.

And hey, if you love it, more power to you! We should all have different preferences, it helps keep the hobby interesting. But suffice to say it was not my thing at all :)

Mk III power armoured Marines, with one plasma gun visible at the front

As the Horus Heresy products and story really got going, I noted that the Space Wolves and Thousand Sons confronted each other on the XV Legion home world of Prospero, and even though I love the Horus Heresy story I immediately tuned out that part of it.  While I didn't have the same strong feelings regarding the Thousand Sons as I did regarding the Space Wolves, their reputation as great psykers and warlocks didn't really intrigue me - magic is just cheating, in the end. And while concepts of magic/sorcery are so important to so much fantasy and sci-fi writing, those stories are difficult to write well, as the magicians seem to be at once so powerful and, at key times, so useless suddenly that the suspension of disbelief can collapse the book/story/setting is no longer enjoyable for me.

They are Legion veterans, so everyone gets a chainsword (or just about everyone)

In the case of the Thousand Sons, their Primarch, Magnus, is a great and powerful psyker, and has great gifts of foresight, among other things. A significant contingent of his Legion rank and file have these powers as well.  Yet they are taken by complete surprise when the Space Wolves attack them as punishment for their continued use of powers which had been explicitly banned by the Emperor. We are meant to understand this was because Magnus went into a kind of self-pitying funk - he "saw" the Sixth Legion fleet coming to attack, he just didn't warn his troops.  But was pyschic foresight really needed to know this might happen? I mean, the Master of Mankind has a BIG meeting to debate the issue of psyker powers, the outcome of which was a clear ban on their use.  The Thousand Sons flout the ban anyway.  Having seen first-hand how the Emperor handled dissent against his will throughout the many wars of the Great Crusade, did you really need magical foresight to know a smackdown was in the mix, when elementary deductive reasoning would get you there? Seriously the Thousand Sons, meant to be tragic victims, kinda seem like dopes.  Not as stupid as the Ultramarines, but still, come on.

Squad sergeant with plasma pistol and tickle gloves, and heavy bolter

Geigor Fell-Hand, wearing a helmet as he f***ing should

Anyway, all this to say the story where the Legion I couldn't stand got entangled with a Legion that probably had it coming to them didn't intrigue me one bit.  When GW announced a box game for Prospero, I was indifferent until I learned that plastic Mark III power armour would be part of it, at which point I made the purchase as I just love that particular armour variant. I still didn't think I would be interested in the actual battle or game.

My good friend Curt, who has enjoyed/endured many rants at the expense of the Space Wolves over the long years we have known each other, pointed out to me recently that Dan Abnett, my favourite GW author, had written the novel "Prospero Burns".  I was dismissive, skeptical that even Abnett's great talents could make that work, but Curt encouraged me to give it a try...

Another view of the unit Sergeant - love those whacky combs on the Horus Heresy era Marines

And wow, he was right! One of Abnett's best, it is just a fantastic story.  If you are a dope like me and think you already "know" the story, go get this book and read it right away.  Including the post-script! I don't want to give it away here, but Abnett shares some things I can totally relate to as a fan of the genre and how the Space Wolves fit in...anyway, the bottom line is that I was inspired to paint the figures from the Prospero box for their intended purpose - to actually play the game! 

The models seen here are multi-part plastic figures in Mark III power armour from GW's "Burning of Prospero" box game.

Another view of Geigor and his ornate getup

The models themselves are excellent.  There are a few frustrating things - for example, I just cannot see why it was necessary to make the back packs out of two different pieces, and you only have one heavy weapon option, the heavy bolter - but overall if you are a fan of Mark III power armour you will love these sets for your 30k collection.

The collection of stuff on top of the back pack is a bit silly - how does this guy wear this fighting in an urban area? But "silly" is part of what makes 30k fun...

The Space Wolves also get a special character in the game - "Geigor Fell-Hand".  While I enjoyed painting the Mark III Space Wolves, painting this guy was a chore.  On the one hand, the sculpt of the figure conveys an awesome, predatory sense of movement that suits the Vlka Fenryka very well. On the other hand, its numerous small details end up a bit soft in places, an example of a plastic figure which would have been so much better in metal.  But on the plus side, plastic is SO much easier to convert, so I was able to put a proper helmet on the figure, as I still generally can't stand Marines that are not wearing helmets, particularly ones clearly charging into battle.  Space is dangerous! War is dangerous! The Emperor made you armour that is expensive! Wear your damn helmet!

Power claws AND sword drawn, while the bolter hangs at his side...his priorities are clear...

"The Burning of Prospero" comes with 47 models in all.  That's 11 out of the way, and I'm now starting on the Thousand Sons (although I may do a Contemptor Dreadnought for the Wolves) and will do the fancy elite Custodians and Sisters of Silence last.  And hopefully we can get these models involved in some general 30k gaming later in the summer and into the fall!

I await your mockery...