Pic Heavy. Alternative Destroyer Conversions.

These guys took far too long.

Made of Tomb Kings Necropolis Knight kits and Destroyer bits, they offered me something other than the older "death sled" figures I never really fell for. Meta wise, I imagine these guys as more of a Cryptek construct, appearing as statues until time demands they deploy to destroy unwanted guests.  Mostly I expect Imperial door to door priests.

Side tracked - A Slaaneshi Prince for a friend.

So of late I've been a bit sh&% at keeping up with the blogging.  No excuses!  But at least I now have lots to pound out today as I play catch up.

Firstly, and most recently (starting backwards chronologically for some reason...) is this beautiful terror.  An old Slaaneshi Daemon Prince from Forge World. Not your average Prince, this one is called Zarakynel, and has his/her/its own special rules.  Rolling in at 666 points exactly, It counts as a gargantuan creature, with an Instant Death blade on a 2+ who steals wounds.  Taking herself up to 10 wounds.

Oh and he's got a 3+ Invul.

This thing will be heading a new army that me and my mate Soundslave will be knocking out next year.  He is handling the Slaaneshi Emperors Children side of things, while I will take on the eccentric and often overlooked Crimson Slaughter.

More on that later.

What follows is sadly a poorly photographed account of the building process.  Hopefully though, some things I noticed may help anyone else attempting this in future.

Starting with the clean up, nail buffing boards offer a smoother finish on resin than standard files.  Though nothing beats a sharp scalpel blade and a few nicks on the thumb.

Next up came the big limbs.  I really had to drag out the old skillz and remember how to pin stuff.  With my Necrons they are sadly so damn brittle and thin jointed that solid pinning is often not possible.  Here though, its damn essential. Drilling out holes either end, I used plastic wrapped Paper Clips.  The genius here is that for the smaller joins, I take this plastic rubber wrap off.

The joins are drilled to be as close and snug as possible.  I found attaching one end first and dipping the tip in paint helped determining where the second hole should go.

Legs went on easy.  Feeling a bit over confident, I grabbed the lobster arms.  Sigh.  It was going so well...

After wrestling with the sword to sword hand join, I realised I could remove the rubber lining on the sword side of the pin, effectively offering two types of width.  Though I was concerned at how flimsly the blade itself was, at least it wouldnt break off at the hilt!

The two lobster arms were easy, well easier than expected.  Some filing and buffing was required to make a snug fit and the level of green stuff required was dawning on me.  Could I have put some in when joining?  Maybe.

The next step was regret.  I regretted not attaching these bloody spikes first!  I began by naively trying to simply glue them on.  Which, thanks to my shaking ape fingers didnt go so well.  After some crying and tea drinking, I decided on another approach.

Using the drill, I drilled holes to the size of the spikes own sprue.  The very things holding the spikes onto the sprue would serve as resin pins, or plugs.  The result was smooth and much easier insertion.

On a time limit, I crudely attached her to the base with some extra green stuff and super glue.  Then, came the waiting.  And sleep.

Then came the real fun.  Something I'd been dreading since I started.  The Slaaneshi dread locks.  Inspired by all that is wrong in the world, these resin lenths were brought her to destroy me. Thankfully, I had recently discovered coffee.  Which incidently sounds great when you replace all sentances with Warp in it with Coffee.

"I feel the Coffee overtaking me.  It is a good pain."

The resin dreads needed to be bent after being submerged in boiled water for about eight or so seconds.  The resin was a good mix so there was little risk of melting entirely.  Though I had to hold it as it cooled in its new position. Each Dread was then drilled and pinned to the head working from the bottom up to ensure none banged into each other. A bit of GS to fill the gaps and boom.  Not so scary after all.

Though that said, the left horn component wasn't complete and had to be filled and sculpted to completion.  Not my best work, but it does the job.

The base was detailed with some spare resin details.  As we see have a Craftworld Eldar and Space Marine player, well, the base had to have some heads on it.

Once secured, the base was lavishly coated in superglue and submerged in basing sand.  This process was repeated until the resin bits were level with the sand and no GS was showing.

The base was finally coated in watered PVA glue, to seal down the sand bits and keep them from being scrapped off.  It also helps the priming coat I find.

And that was that.  In total around 6 hours work.  For 666pts, not a bad offering.  Thankfully I don't have to paint her.  The arms mean she will need some special carrying and storage methods, I'd recommend pluck pack or something with a big space and a lot of give.  If the sword breaks, this conversion by Sersi, I spotted on Dakka provides a great rebuild idea making it a staff.  Its from an amazing Slaaneshi custom build army found here.

Rules wise, its too early to tell, but her abilitys in combat are somewhat insane.  Her weakness as usual will be against D weapons, but these days there is always something in the newest codex.

Thanks for reading.

R

A Prison for Gods - End of Turn 1 Summary

The first month of battles in the Faustian system has been furious on Rust, while the open spaces on Warrens End have left the fronts relatively quiet.  Acre has seen some skirmishes, and on Nolan, a major "accident" brought an entire Imperial Guard regiment into conflict with the Black Scorpions chapter.

So where to we start?  

After 1 month, the procedure is to allow everyone to claim a sector adjacent to one of their territories.  This represents the natural expansion of a Players controlled territories and slowly brings more enemies into contact with another.  This is done in order from the Player with the lowest controlled sectors up. 

After this has been done, comes the counting of territories which will establish the Turns Conquest Points.  These points are then placed into one of two categories:

Faction Points, which forward the agenda of the Faction, or Personal Points, which alternatively push the agenda of the Players own forces instead.  This in turn can cause internal conflict, internecine fights and even, possibly, worse.

The current score lies as follows.

Sentinels of Fire - 13 Faction Points
Thomas - 5 Faction (Grand Warlord Trait not applicable)
Kaia - 5 Faction
William - 3 Faction and 4 Personal (GW Trait = Sworn Enemy Jack)

Bringers of Silence - 20 Faction Points
Rory  - 9 Faction
Jack - 5 Faction and 12 Personal (7 from territory, 5 from GW Trait)
Magnus - 6 Faction (Grand Warlord Trait not applicable)

Bearers of Change - 12 Faction Points
Eivind - 12 Faction and 5 Personal. (GW Trait = Beasthunter)
(Note: Extra Territory from Player drop out)

True to the background of the campaign, the sudden emergence of support from outside the sector has seen some devestating but not war winning gains by the Bringers of Silence.  But as the dust settles from the initial exchange, surprises will be less likely.  Easy victories may become harder to repeat as tactics adapt.  Territories are quickly being swallowed up by the Relentless Assualt and soon the swirling melee will be tight and brutal as no safe ground can be found.

Situational Report.

Rust.

After the dead began to rise on Rust, the Dark Eldar seized a precious artefact for their patrons, while the Craftworld kin now seek to evacuate the old Maiden World.  Promises of return have been made, but for now, it seems the world eternally dying will be left to the tender mercies of the insane Archon Ozzy.

Warrens End.

While largely left out of the conflict, expansions by the planet side factions are raising tensions. Also, rumours of the blood cult in the mountain range have been uncovered to be something altogether more sinister, as Genestealers have been reported ravaging outlaying home steads.  Meanwhile, the Deathkorp and the nearby Imperial Guard regiment have fully mobilised against one another.

Nolan.

After the incident between the 501st and the Black Scorpions reached its peak and after the massacre at the Spaceport, Nolan looks fit to burst in conflict.  While the space marines have brutally cut the Imperial Guard in two, the population of Adeptus Mechanicum is not taking kindly to the reported pillaging of resources from the Astartes. 

Acre.

Tyranids across the warded parks and training forests of Acre have awoken to a call.  Though no Hive Fleet has been sighted, the xenos are acting in sudden unison.  If left unchecked the planet could fall.  Meanwhile, the Craftworld Eldar have pushed hard against the limited Dark Eldar garrison there, most likely reinforced and angered at the horrific losses on Rust. 

So what's next?

Well we are still in Phase 1, though we are now in the second half, or turn 2. Having ceased with challenges, we are now seeing freely arranged games and some special ones too.  Like the special game on Rust, a Crisis mission, these special missions allow for something a little different and offer rewards not based on territory.
For example: Right now, both Williams and Jack's Eldar forces have "Rust Veterans" who possess Shred on their attacks, so used are they to making sure their enemies stay down.
Over the next couple of weeks amid the normal carnage, I'm hoping to make 1 more Crisis mission for at least 2 more of the planets.  As well as pushing the narrative forward.

"Moth Balled" on Nolan and "Eyes in the mist" for Acre.

The Necrons have yet to appear.  Though a Big end game for the end of Phase 1 has been plotted. :)
Though a Ctan's shard was reported recovered on Rust, what this means for now remains a mystery.  As we move closer to the end of the 1st chapter in this story, we can expect more to be uncovered.

A Prison for Gods - The initial throw down.

The majority of the Initial Challenges have been played, huge thanks to Rottimus for allowing the players to abuse his hospitality, and tea for the weekend.  I'll be chasing up the stragglers, but for now, here is a brief summary of the situation.

The digital work is as ever, sorted by our resident Depraved Dark Eldar player, Chris aka Soundslave.

Really need to get Chris to change the Blood Angels thing...

Rust.  

A work were everything is dying, but never dead.  A maiden world of the old Eldar Empire known to them as Agetha, brought to ruin by a mysterious accident from a test firing Archeotech Weapon on Nolan.  Before this though, there was the mystery of the vanished population there. 

Here the Eldar returned, their intents not completely known as the Craftworld Eldar of Iybrasil followed the fates in search of the truth:  What happened here.  An unwelcome foe waited for them, their appearance coincidence?  The Archon known as Ozzy has long been suspected for the disappearance of the Maiden World now made Rust.  The paths of the future always drew the inquisitive to his lap.  Not a nice place to be.

From the offset, the Dark Eldar's advance was brutal and unforgiving, the survivors going to a fate worse then death.  In one fell swoop they seized the Starport of Grenfelk and pushed the Craftworlders into a corner, where they wait to make their stand.

But Rust is an old and odd place.  And on Rust nothing ever dies.  Not really...

Nolan.

On the ashen wastes of Nolan, in one of its rare copses of Acid Trees  and Fell bark, the machinations of Inquisitor Dormenghast bore fruit of a kind.  Giving direct orders to the Cadian 501st, the Inquisitor demanded a full strike against an unknown target. Despite concerns, the Imperial Guard did their duty.

It isn't clear who fired first.  And the Incident at the Nell Discharging Flats would be argued about long after.  What is clear is that the Black Scorpions were either prepared for the misguided attack, or that they had planned their own attack all along.  What is also clear, is that the ensuing carnage spoke volumes of what the Space Marine chapter thought of the Imperial Guard presence in the area:  Hostile. 

The Black Scorpions slaughtered their way through several platoons and material and turned the Starport on Nolan into a carnal house.  Inquisitor Dormenghast however, got what he wanted:  An Imperial Guard Regiment that was now bound to his service against these Renegades and enough material to further his ties with the remaining Adeptus Mechanicus on the planet.  What this would mean, would not be known until later, though the 501st were desperate for revenge.

Acre

The Imperial Guard regiment stationed on Acre was never formally recorded on Minastorum records.  Some insist this is because of Inquisitorial influence, others Minastorum idiocy.  The Regiment, noted simply as the Acre Blacks, a reference to their monotone uniform colours found themselves under attack by an unexpected foe.  The world devouring Tyranids race.

While Acre had largely been a "secure" training world with what was considered docile specimens, a shadow over the warp went unheard.  It was only a matter of time before the conflict would make the usual guards of the vulnerable worlds unable to fulfill their duty in guarding against such invasions.
Though the Acre Regiment fought hard, the Tyranids pushed them back out of the sector.  Those docile Tyranids meanwhile, began to drastically change in behavior.  

Warrens End

The capital world had so far, been left out of the major conflict.  Though, Imperial Guard regiments stationed there stared at each other from across barracks lines, Imperial citizens were fired up into rioting mobs demanding for justice.
In the snowy mountains of the North, the rural folks there spoke of cults, blood sacrifices and odd weather patterns.  If the planet had not been busy with immediate threats, they may have been ready.

A Prison for Gods - The Tyranids Arrive!

As part of a weekend of carnage down at Rottimus' abode, the Tyranids of Eivind and Magnus' Imperial Guard regiment clashed on Warrens End as the Splinter Fleet made itself known.  This would be a standard Maelstrum game at 1500pts and would be between to players who had never played against each other and on foreign terrain!

Other games will be summerised with thrown in with the post Challenge Summary, but so far:
On Rust, the Eldar fought a bloody war over the ruined Maiden World as the Darker brethren pushed their Craftworld kin out of two sectors and claiming the Starport!

Meanwhile on Warrens End, Inquisitorial mischief saw the 501st and the Black Scorpions chapter come to blows.

• The Imperial Guard side.
• The Black Scorpions side.

Back on the deeply forested world of Acre, the unknown level of the Tyranid threat would prove to be quite the challenge for the Imperial Guard stationed there.

Game: Contact lost (Draw a card for each objective you control at the start of each turn.)

The name of the game here is seizing and controlling the 6 points in the battle during the battle.  Coverage and endurance are key.  If one of the players can take and hold the lion share, then they can ensure the most chances to get victory points. 

Tyranid Forces:

• Endless hord formation (Wiped out hormagants and termagants return on a 4+)
• Gary that Ba%&#d! (Edit: Venomthrope 2+ cover thingy)
• 3 Warriors units
• 2 Flying Hive Tyrants
• Hive crone
• Trygon!

Imperial Forces

• 2 chimeras, 
• Roughly 40 men, 
• Knight (Battle cannon varient)
• Vendetta, 
• Wyvern,
• 6 Militarus Tempestum + Aegis line.

Turns 1 and 2 - Sudden blows.





Magnus's Imperial Guard began well, placed shots across the board damaged a couple of units but still not doing any visible damage to the Tyranid horde.  Denied first blood (Spore Mines didnt count baaaah!), it was his Knight that did the killing, strolling across the board and stomping on Hormogaunts. 

Eivinds reaction was stifled by terrible dice magic, charging Hormogaunts were slaughtered to the bayonet of several Guardsmen. 

Tactical Objective cards continued to be useless on both sides as both the Tyranids and the Imperial Guard failed to claim major Victory Points.  Magnus managed to hold the battle line across the table as Eivind's 'Nids thrust this way and that probing for a hole to exploit with the flying Monsterous Creatures.

Luck began blooming on Magnu's gun line as Gary, the Venomthrope was slain.  RIP Gary.  Jerk.

At the end of turn 4 it was looking good for the Imperials: 7 to 4 to Magnus.  

Eivind however, was not done.  Within range of 3 Objectives, with a bit of a gamble, he managed to roll enough on Run and grabbed all three to claim 3 Victory Points. 

The winning shot came down to Eivind's nasty bio weapons melting the poor Company command squad giving Eivind the essential extra point for Slay the Warlord.

End result: 8-7 Victory to Eivind and his Tyranids!!

At the end of the game Magnus's forces remained intact.  His Knight didn't even have scratched paint work, such was Eivinds drive towards the Objectives.  With so many left on the board (Magnus had 30+ infantry, the Wyvern to boot), this was a Close Victory for the Tyranids!

A Prison for Gods: The first Phase, first Turn.

And the first week of this campaign has officially begun.  Firstly we have established the Factions as follows.  While I'm planning on focusing more on each army as I get the chance this should serve as a nice overview. :)

Player's personal blogs are linked, I'd highly recommend these narrative and slightly biased monoliths of propaganda! (Especially between the Black Scorpions and the Cadian 501st's friendly fire incident!)

Bringers of Silence.

Those now working for the rogue Inquisitor Craven and his alien patron.  For whatever reason, the forces of the Bringers of Silence are jaded, pragmatic or both.  Seeing the possibilities in the alliance, most of them work towards an ending that will forgive them, spare the Dark Eldar, who seek only the spoils of the madness.

Force name: The Black Scorpions - 9th Expeditionary Company
Commander: Cylander Azeron
Faction: Bringers of Silence
Player: Rottimus Rory.
http://rottimus.blogspot.no/2015/08/a-prison-for-gods-campaign-part-1.html

Force Name: The Jester Malice
Force Commander Name: Ozzy Lovecraft
Faction: Bringers of Silence
Player: Chris

Force Name: Unknown (Imperial Guard)
Force Commander Name: Unknown
Faction: Bringers of Silence
Player: Magnus

Sentinels of Fire.

Holding to either the Imperial Creed and its religion of xenophobic intolerance, or seeing the bigger game in play, the Sentinels of Fire are a conservative force of Imperials and Craftworld Eldar.  United in a deceitfully tenuous alliance by the Inquisitor Dormenghast of the Ordos Hereticus, they aim to maintain stability in the region and stop Craven's plan.

Force Name: Cadian 501st 7th company “Foreign Legion”, Imperial Navy 1305th tactical wing
Force Commander: Company Commander Emilia Faust
Faction: Sentinels of Fire
Player: Kaia
http://liberheresius.blogspot.no/2015/08/luck-have-never-been-friend-of-mine.html

Force Name: Craftworld Iybraesil (Eldar)
Force Commander Name: Iyanna Stormrunner (Farseer Skyrunner)
Faction: Sentinels of Fire
Player: William
https://wimaro.wordpress.com/2015/08/27/a-prison-for-gods-campaign-part-2-background/

Force Name: Krieg XVIIth
Force Commander Name: Colonel 26143
Faction: Sentinels of Fire
Player: Thomas

Bearers of Change.

While the civil war is going on, a foul bloody and hungry wind approaches.  Tyranids lurk unappreciated as a major threat and chaos taint seeps from the Depths onto the freshly bloodied battlefields.  If left unchecked, the winner in this fight will still be the loser.  Khorne cares not from whence the blood floes, nor if it is devoured with all the rest.

Force: Hive fleet Dagon
Commander: The Dagon Overlord
Faction : Bearers of change (the omnomnomnivores)
Player: Eivind

Force: Belakor's Gambit
Commander: Belakor
Faction: Bearers of change (the choppalots)
Player: Mike

Initial Moves.

Challenges, those games originally declared are encouraged to be played 1st.  Currently we will be having a lot of games in the coming weekends, but as deployment stands, we are looking at the below.

The Eldar and Dark Eldar dominate Rust, which makes sense as it's history is as a former Maiden world of the old Eldar empire.

Acre is quickly becoming a mess as the Imperial Guard of Magnus (Bringers) fight multiple foes alongside the rest of the Craftworld Eldar against Khorne Daemonkin, Dark Eldar and the lurkings of the Tyranid threat.

Nolan, with its corrosive atmosphere has proved to be very inviting to the Black Scorpions (Logo is Blood Angels but will most likely be updated) and the Tyranids.  Luckily for the Sentinels, Kaia's Imperial Guard has a solid force there, sitting on the majority of the strategic objectives.

Warrens End, capital world has many unclaimed sectors, but here Thomas' Death Korp Regiment is stationed guarding the prize of the planet, the Starport and the area around.  Though there is a strong presence of Khornate Daemons in the icy mountains, the nearer threat is the Imperial Regiment under Magnus, which sits right next door.  Both Rory and Eivind have their Black Scorpions and Tyranids on world respectivly, but much free expansion is going to happen here.

The first moves seen to be focused on securing Starports, though older enmities have already started playing their part.  The Eldar are bringing what little of Rust to even more ruin,

The initial challenges, most of which will see done within the next 2 weeks are as follows:

• Hive fleet Dagon Vs Thomas. (Warrens End) Spaceport under threat! (City fight rules may be enforced)
• The Jester Malice Vs Craftworld Iybraesil. (Rust) Spaceport under threat! (City fight rules may be enforced)
• Black Scorpions Vs Cadian 501st. (Nolan)
• Craftworld Iybraesil Vs The Jester Malice. (Rust)
• Magnus Vs Hive fleet Dagon (Acre)
• Belakor's Gambit Vs Craftworld Iybraesil (Warrens End) Gonna be busy William!
• Cadian 501st Vs Black Scorpions (Nolan) HA COUNTERATTACK!
• Krieg XVIIth Vs Magnus (Warren's End).

More as it comes!!