A group Challenge to Paint a NEW Army for Warhammer Fantasy Battle or Rogue Trader
In by the skin of my teeth!!! Excuse the awful photos but it’s midnight here in Japan and that’s the best I could manage.
Another 350pts of jump pack wearing psycho killers!!!
The bases aren’t done I’m afraid but they will be in time for the final blog post, promise ;)
First month is the bread and butter of the army, the humble jump pack assisted assault marines.
9 space marines and 1 sergeant. I decided to go with Blood Angels as I rarely paint minis in red and wanted to see how well the GW contrast paints work. So far, so good!
I may go back over and add some chipping and weathering on the edges, but for now I, calling them done.
As for points, these bad boys clock in at 350 points of gravity defying killiness!!!
Challenge Wrap-Up
Finally, I can say that my fourth OWAC is done. Yay!
This year started pretty good, but maybe I got a bit carried out with the extras. I would have love to have more time in the last months, both for giving time for checking other entries and commenting (no worries, I've seen all your post now that I have less convoluted time, they're amazing and now I've been pushed into blood bowl madness myself!) and for putting the same amount of love to the pictures as in my first month.
Believe it or not, I had to left out some planned pictures and gags from the orignal script! There was even more foolinesh behind scenes that didn't get to be posted.
Maybe I would need to write a campaign some day that includes all the scenes and the enemy profiles, even the ones that were left unpainted like the duke nukem's pig cops (yeah, remember the ones that disappeared in Monroeville? they'd have been shown in all their mutated glory)
Now, lets roll the credits and all the actors:
And who knows how many points in current Horus Heresy. I want to get the opportunity to play in an event and see the faces when I start deploying this bad boys and several others I plan to convert in the future.
Last, but not least, for the moment I think I will try another OWAC despite it seems that next year will be also another... interesting spring.
I need to keep things simple if I want to participate and enjoy it. Another important thing to consider is that I may not start a project that I do not previously own or require large purchases. Instead, selecting something that is ready to be painted from my collections and reduce the pile of unpainted things. As my main dwarf army needs some rare purchases, and the orcs need an entire Ruglud squad, that disqualifies them for now.
I forgot until now that I had an old dragon that I would love to paint and several gems purchased from old middlehammer lots. So I probably will count the amount of elves I had laying around and get something interesting out of it.
That's it folks
+ AND CUT!
...
George, my man, that was amazing. I cannot wait to see the script for Blood Omen 2.
-Well, I think that we will need even more zombies. So far, I can only give you in advance that the ship will pursue doctor Vile up to a misterious space hulk. I am thinking about terrorific aliens, and terminators shooting unnumbered horrors. And probably Fabious is aided by one of the last orks after Ullanor, a mischievous painboy known as... the Reanimatork!
Until next challenge
Adrián’s out.
Troop Month
-Lt. Bahamut: We cannot stop the sorceror, he's throwing at us every horror we had faced before in this system. This may become another Signus. He's protected by his powers.
-Chaplain Giteau: I may have found a way to defeat him.
-Lt. Bahamut: What it may..
[BLAAM]
-Chaplain Giteau: Sorcerors are usually weak to overwhelming amounts of firepower.
However, the hordes of killing tomatoes, zombies from the city and the lab personnel and the warp entities spawned from the dark rituals.
-Lt. Comm. Lazarus: We cannot stop here. Tell the Blood Omen to start an orbital bombardment. We also need deployment code "Extremis"
-Librarian Trent: Sir, do we need the brother moritat, the Doom marine? Or the terminators? They're still in reserve, but the armours are not repaired to optimal levels.
-Lt. Comm. Lazarus: No, we need the Duke marine and his Angels Tears. Zone Alpha. Right above the laboratory. Every creation from that Fabius guy must be exterminated before cleansing with nuclear fire.
T+044: [Communication intercepted]
...
[Word Bearer #1] We have interference in our sacred chants, are the Emperor Children playing that Black Sabbath classical music on our channels?
[Word Bearer #2] No, this is not any of our signa..
-Duke: I've come here to chew bubble and kick ass...
...and I'm all out of gum.
[EXTREME GUN NOISES AND SCREAMS]
[The inner defences finally break, hordes of creatures flood the compound joining the onslaught]
- Lt. Bahamut: Mission command to Destroyer Operative. Is the main objective terminated?
-Duke: That Bile guy has run with the other pinky princesses in orbit. At least his friends rest in pieces.
-Lt. Comm. Lazarus: That's enough Duke. Rendevouz with your squad and prepare the rad-bombs. Everyone in this frequency, evacuate the compound. When close-quarter esterilization is complete, we're nuking this sector from orbit.
I think it will be difficult to replicate this mess on Earth. Blod Omen, search and destroy protocol, we should locate that Emperor Children ship and assure that there are no samples of the different experimental viruses.
Sixth and last month. The army is finally complete. I was playing safe because I knew it would be difficult to end the challenge with a meeting, several work trips and a moving.
No more extras. Heck, I added a ton of extras in the past months.
In the end, speed painting these guys didn't mean to reduce the overall quality.
They're the special units but lacks some of the small leather details which makes them easier to paint.
And I ended achieving the freehands I had in mind when I started designing the squad. So objective accomplished. The Angel Tears/veteran assault squad combo results were pretty fun to paint and the results are pretty good for what I thought that would be a dissapointing month.
Now for a recap and some mumbling about the possible future OWAC project.
Adrián’s out.
Rank & File Month #2
The landing area was secured fast and without difficulties. Despite the chaotic scenario in which the mall... the Imperial Supply Nexus has become an all-against-all brawl, the small arms fire was not enough to slow down an imperial space marine on duty.
However, things started to change when the scout team reached the main office parking lot.
T+001: Squad Ramiel start to push to the command center looking for any resistance survivor and potential info on the sanitary situation that has turned everyone crazy.
-Sgt Damocles: Command, do you hear me? we've found another hot spot, multiple hostiles shooting each other.
They did respond to our first call with indiscriminate fire. We will return fire in absence of clear means of in-te-rro-ga-tion.
<BOOM>
++ several minutes of static and spontaneous burst of bolter fire ++
Sir, they've deployed heavy weaponry from the rooftops and several points from the main objective. We lack proper cover for an advance and our bolter fire is not enough to clear the higher ground.
-Lt. Bahamut: Ramiel hold your position, we're sending squad Zeruel as reinforcements.
T+002: Squad Ramiel join the fight. Behind them, a path of mutilated enemies is left in the roofs. Meanwhile, squad Zeruel restart advances in the parking lot.
++ multiple interefences ++
-Brother Froth: Command, you'll not believe this. Several people, probably members of a gang, have reached the area, storming the outer fence with sector "Cattle and agrarian supplies B-78".
-Lt. Bahamut: Brother Froth, I do not understand. Whats your point with those animals?
-Brother Froth: Sir.. the sheeps. They must be contaminated with that damn virus-thing. Or something funny like that... They're devouring the poor dudes.
-Lt. Bahamut: Pardon?
-Brother Froth: The sheeps. They're eating people.
-Sgt. Damocles: They're too many. We need support, our bolters are not enough to mow down the flesh-eating sheep tide.
-Sgt. Thaw: Brother Perk, continue cleansing the rooftops. We're supporting squad Zeruel.
-Brother Perk: Understood.
Sgt. Thaw and several of his men jump into the parking lot fray. Several giant mutant sheeps are wealding brutal melee weapons. But Thaw is not unprepared, as he wields a humongous eviscerator to rip and tear.
T+003: The assault squad converge in the roof of the main office building. They have located a large skylight just above the enemy heavy weapons.
With the rage of the angels, they descend upon the enemies, storming the main room and massacring everyone there.
-Doctor Rhodes: Don't shoot, don't shoot! I am not armed!
I...I was a research member of the station. I am not with them *points at the pile of meat spreaded accross the room*
-Sgt. Damocles: Who are you? And why did those men attacked us?
-Doc. Rhodes: They were what was left of the security forces. Everything collapsed after the fall of the quarentine areas.
I was refuged in here just because they didn't try to kill me and allowed me to research about this...ongoing situation. Outside everyone was murdering eachother.
-Sgt. Damocles: What the hell is going on in this place?
-Doc. Rhodes: Seems that some kind of illnesses spreaded down there, in the planet... and reached us. Here are the reports we have until now.
We lost contact with most of our cities. The single open channel was with a small town for several days.
Quite strange, we thought they were maybe survivors. They were the only ones sending us messages... but also several materials and cargos. No refugees.
-Sgt. Thawn: Materials? let me see the reports about those flights.
++ Korn, variant E. Received.
++ Korn, variant E. Received...
...
What are those cargos.
Brother Froth: See, here, there is also cheese, tzeechdar type. Tons of this cheese for no reason. And here there is slaa..
Doc. Rhodes: There's no automation in our rural areas. They continued sending products despite the entire planet spiralling to hell.
Sgt. Thawn: Those names... I found them familiar. Are you listening, brother Trent?
Librarian Trent: Hmmm, yes. I am thinking...
Sgt. Thawn: Did not those things in Signus Prime chanted similar nam..
Librarian Trent: AHA. I found a clue. Check the town, Monroeville. It is in the middle of nowhere according my intel info.
Sgt. Thawn: Yes, but the names. Didn't that giant winged red creature shouted som..
-Librarian Trent: Forget about the funny names. Monroeville is a small town surrounded by corn fields, thousand of acres. Small population scattered in a large farm area. No city nearby for thousand miles..
This is similar to several of the ancient scriptures I've recently read from the sage King Stephen of old Terra.
I am confident we should look further there. There is always a misterious town in the middle of nowhere in his omen books.
-Lt. Bahamut:Are you sure, brother Trent?
-Librarian Trent: Completely sure. He depicted the warmaster as the omen of the Crimson King in many of his writtings. A renowned saga.
Probably I could found something about this mistery too. But we must focus our efforts in that place while I study his books.
-Sgt. Thawn: Small rural area is better than nothing if everyone has gone mad down there. Fewer enemies shooting at us. No capital weaponry. Maybe contact with survivors of the resistance.
-Doc. Rhodes:Sorry to interrupt. But the situation in the planet might be... slightly different from here. I captured a pilot that went though the quarantine. He died several days ago. But then, he... he was alive again.
Sure he has become a bit numb and difficult to speak to. Also the patient has developed a hunger for human flesh.
-Sgt. Thawn: Human what?
-Doc. Rhodes: The flesh of the livings. We've plenty of it here with everyone killing each other. So there wasn't problematic anymore that I feeded Bub with spare...
-Sgt. Thawn: HAVE YOU GIVEN IT A NAME? By the holy throne of Terra, this place.
...
- Lt. Commander Lazarus: Enough chattering, rendevouz with landing ship. You're getting out of there. We'll follow brother Trent suspicions.
By the way, that doctor is not getting into my ship. Doctor Copper will dispatch of him and his reanimated friend. Decontamination procedures activated. We will nuke the place from orbit in T+004.
The emperor protects.
What a month. I do not know how I accomplished all the goals in such a few time as I was adding more and more bits to the painting queue.
I intented to add several miniatures and scenics to my pictures but it easily become a derailing side project that threatened to complicate my month.
Afterall, the B-serie movie plot required the addition of an entire flock of sheeps I had in my desk for ages with a fantasy town militia. It was vital, which other terrible enemy would be suitable for an entire imperial space marine assault squad?
Also I had some gang members from Mark Copplestone and a Necromunda scavvy sent recently by a friend of mine that needed to be there somehow. I gave myself an excuse to add him.
Space Antonio Variaçoes and his biker friends reporting in.
It was not possible to have the Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead combined plot and not having the bikers and gang members to shine for a brief minute.
In the end I found a good spot in between what I wanted in this somewhat-side project and completing my marines with the appropiate details.
There was a small trade-off as I couldn't paint several shark faces on the assault marines. But I will probably come back to them latter.
I enjoyed adding the checkers to the jump-packs and chainswords. I found it more enjoyable as they lack the squad back banners to be easily readable in a picture or the tabletop.
With that, another 255 points and 10 marines to the check list.
Stay tuned for next month update, we will have a tank dispatched to the mission in Monroeville for transporting the other tactical squad.
Adrián’s out.
Intro post
Adrian here, reporting in for another OWAC.
This year I’ve finally fallen into another rabbit hole, succumbing to the desires of getting a small Rogue Trader force. But we are not only getting into the ancient times of 80’s punk and gritty Warhammer 40k, this year we will also descend into a RT-esque vision of the Horus Heresy.
I had a squad and a half worth of old metal, plastic and resin 'armour-through-ages' marines that I didn’t knew what to do with them.
I was tempted to go full RT several times, but another 40k army that will be seldomly played… nah, pass it. Then, come HH and beakies are the new black again. I was talking to a friend on how could be the most heretical way that you can get into the Age of Darkness. So why not
A force that can be fielded in both games is not so different for the RT era style and lists. Also, for the OWAC I am limited mostly to the usual marine units, but in my evil masterplan I will expand it toward several of the heresy units that came after old RT artwork, WD conversions and 1st edition of Space Marine.
Now with the background:
0.067.011.M31. Following the arrival of messages from Terra seeking help from remaining loyalist armies across the Imperium, the Imperium Secundus is disbanded and the three Primarch start a campaign to arrive at Terra and reinforce the crown world.
Primarch Sanguinius of the Blood Angels legion prefer a fast approach to the Solar System like his brother Roboute Guilliman. However, while disagreeing with the punishment campaign that will execute his brother Lion El’Johnson, Sanguinius conceded that some sort of sabotage and scorched-earth strategy will be beneficial to relief the besieged terran fortifications when the warmaster forces arrive.
Several small task forces are dispatched to ensure that main supply lines behind traitor lines are disrupted. Several legion high ranking officers hope that this will also ease reinforcement to the also besieged Baal system in the near future if Terra is safe.
Lieutenant commander Lazarus of the 24th Chapter of the Blood Angels is responsible to conduct a campaign of scorched earth in the Calla Bryn sub-sector. His forces are not tasked with getting non-imperial planets into compliance anymore. Instead, any shipyard, supply warehouse, industrial complex or vital location must be annihilated no matter the cost.
The strike force achieved remarkable results in their mission until they encounter a signal of a Emperor’s Children cruiser nearby its next objective, a supply node and agricultural world in the Romeria system.
+++
T-251: Assault on Blaine’s Crane forge world is successful. Several units may undergo repairing and the force couldn’t deploy terminator armours and the heaviest armoured elements in the next mission. Agricultural world in the Romeria system node is marked as the main objective, high command is not worried that the heavy armour will be missed in this easy task. The system is under control of a small Word Bearer garrison and the local forces.
T-199: Arrival at Romeria system seems calm and without major problems. However, ship survey arrays detect a ship with the codes of the Emperor’s Children signature heading towards Romeria IV moon, Uneeda, the secondary objective and starting point of a local rebellion.
T-097: Lexicanum Trent, main librarian of the expedition, get up uneasy from his hyper-sleep with a fatal vision of madness, civilians killing each other, mutants, cultists, undeads and dark rituals. Several signs are familiar and start to rewatch several of his older B-type holo-movies to get informed about the menace of dark forces and the menace of possible reinvigorated corpses.
T-037: Resistance operatives on the moon are not responding. There is no further signs of the traitor forces either. The mission was specifically assisting loyalist freedom-fighters rebelling against the traitor government, destroy any element of the World Bearers and leave the logistic node in total disarray.
World communications give only statics or a cacophony of screams sometimes. Something feels odd for such a massive and busy food supply node in the enemy territory.
The Encarmine, firestorm class strike cruiser, approaching to Romeria IV and its moon.
Lieutenant Commander Lazarus gave the order to be battle ready and check all the available supplies. The marines will be deployed in 36 hours to investigate the moon and accomplish plan B: destroy the logistic capabilities of the system with or without the aid of local forces.
For this trip into the galactic civil war, I used the Space Marine Rogue Trader list. It was a matter of selecting points only, as either if I chose the RT or 2nd Edition lists there are several small deviations I need to consider for creating a force that can be played also in current Horus Heresy 2.0, and all the monthly requirements of miniatures and points are covered with both of them.
Tactical Squad Ramiel – 265 points
As you can see, the small changes are in the special and heavy weapons department. It seems that in the Horus Heresy no fun was allowed for the rank-and-file marine, and everyone should carry the standard pattern good ol’ bolter. I am using the points as per a normal squad because they will be rebalanced with the heavy support.
Tactical Squad Ismail – 265 points.
Same profile. These men haven’t got enough of the newly issued MKVI “beaky” power armours and wear older pattens. The sergeant has a power glove (converted lightning claw).
Assault Squad Zeruel – 255 points
It has been a pain in the *ss to clone all the chainswords because at that time they didn’t come with them, and getting enough rt assault weapon sprues is an impossible mission. This process adds an extra layer to the hate and love for the beakies. You hate assembling them, you love the resulting goofy looks. In this case I haven’t modelled the plasma or flamer pistols not because you cannot play them also in the HH. But because I was lazy after getting all the chainswords (in the picture there are two missings because they were still curing!) and didn’t want to clone those two weapons, but I am still deciding.
Devastator Combat Squad Gabriel – 165 points
A 5 man devastator unit. This is the other difference between HH and all the other versions of Warhammer since the 80’s. These marines follow the rule: “All the fun is allowed”. So, the sergeants also carry a heavy weapon (not shown in picture, still curing).
It simplifies giving orders in the middle of a futuristic battlefield, “nuke the same place I am shooting”.
The Angel’s Tears combat squad – 148 points.
When missions do not involve world compliance to the Empire, you need to deploy weapons of mass destruction instead of the police squads. Sanguinius has an elite cadre for this sole purpose, made from the most unruly and brutal elements, dishonoured men carrying dishonourable weapons. They abandon their previous ranks and names, but the Arch-Erelim of the squad tasked to Lazarus strike force is said to come from the Flesh Eater chapter ranks within the Legion and his past codename is simply as Duke.
Count as 5 man veteran assault marines, armed with a bunch of bolt pistols, death rays, disintegrators and flame pistols. But their trademark is the ill-famous Rad grenades.
Fun to convert, I wanted to match this special Blood Angel HH unit with the goofy aesthetic of the RT era. I am more than pleased, wanting to paint them now.
The strike force also brings some even heavier firepower.
Two transport rhinos – 746 points
The reparation of the flimsy lateral rails with a bit of aluminium wire has been better than initially expected.
Predator tank “Fire Sabre” – 600 points
And finally, the legion command designated for the strike force.
Lieutenant Commander Lazarus of the 23rd Chapter of the Blood Angel legion. Major hero with standard equipment - 115 points.
Lovely miniature.
Lieutenant Bahamut. Minor hero with standard equipment - 69 points
Typical power sword wearing marine
Lexicanum Trent with force sword - 58 points.
The representative of the reinstated librarium and specialist in psychic warfare. As well as avid consumer of B-type ancient holoprojections and literature.
Brother chaplain Giteau. Minor hero - 50 points.
Field Medic dr. Copper, equipped with jump pack – 36 points.
That is a total of 2772 points (thinks skyrocket when you have tanks!), with 45 marines and 3 tanks deployed.
There are also some small scenic elements that will go to the wildcard month as well as some of the tanks.
A mysterious farmhouse I'm working on where some of the action may take place. What was that noise?
Several fortifications. Totally normal for a farmand and nothing suspicious that can point towards a secret laboratory in the middle of nowhere.
The Overlord Offering:
A mysterious figure has been walking by at several places of Romeria IV, spotted just before the visions of horror in the dreams of Lexicanum Trent.
This figure is only known as "The Director".
Our beloved overlord stated that he “LOVES horror and things that go bump in the night, be it in a cemetary or an old derelict spaceship”. You don’t have to choose if its ok for a cemetery or spaceship when none other than George A. Romero himself appear against your party. And you know that things will go really, really bad for your group in any possible scenario.
Let see how this weird, B-rated, OWAC production loosely based on the Horus Heresy ends.
See you in the first month!
Adrián’s out.