SW:A The Return

In what is now an annual tradition (if you do it twice, it is a tradition, right?), I got together this weekend for a game of Shadow Wars: Armageddon with Sean of Sean's Wargames Corner.  (Dai from the Lost and the Damned and the Stunted was unfortunately not able to make it).

This time we played at Great Escape Games here in town, which has a tremendously large games space.  As there was not much in the way of table top action, I had my pick of terrain, set up a little scenario, and when Sean arrived we got right to it. 

Messenger Jon has survived the crash of the shuttle Axiom, and is looking to flee with his valuable genedata.

He strikes out west (as adjudicated by d6" and a scatter die)

Table layout, with I.O. Kazimir Sakhalin and his killteam in the South Eastern corner, foul genestealer cultists in the North East

The killteam splits into three groups and rushes to the target

A fireteam composed of acolytes Pasha, Sova, and Okhlopkov blaze away at range at a distant cultist.

Cult leader vs. Messenger in the ruins of a great ruined factorum 

The messenger, desperate to survive, holds off the cultists for a crucial (for I.O Sakhalin) several rounds

Hearing the sounds of combat as they round the corner, several members of the killteam unload their guns into the swirling melee 

Shooting indiscriminately in to melee does tend to put people down...

Charging into combat, a flurry of blows quickly puts the combat to an end

Another great game (Helped that it was bloody and I won!).  We used a mishmash of SW:A and Necromunda rules, I forgot several crucial rules (running is 8", not 6", and the killteam universally gets critical hits on aliens with a roll of 5 or 6 but having a pair of characters tooled up for close combat certainly helps when you get into close combat!) and it all worked out very well. At the end of the game, the leader of the cultists broke and ran after watching his teammate be stomped to death, and was then shot in the back by Pilot Officer Yuri.  The cultists bottled after that, and the valuable genedata was taken back to the vaults of the Inquisition.

Long Weekend - Little done

Variety of figures for a number of warbands (and one civilian). 

Here in the US, we had a rather long Thanksgiving weekend, where most get four days off.  One might think that I would get quite a bit of miniature time in, but as it happens I was mostly busy with family and house stuff.  I did get some miniatures ready for priming, as seen above, and did have a bit of time to work on polishing my cruiser designs. 

D6 based on Axanar design, and the D5s on SFB. 

This week I hope to finish painting my Federation ships, and get on with painting some of the figures I primed.

Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin -Part 11

In our final installment of the Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin, we have Brother Agerholm of the Deathwatch.

Bit of a photo dump for this one, as this figure is harder to photograph, and needed more comparison.

Bother Agerholm of the Deathwatch, seconded (some would say exiled from) the Invaders Space Marine Chapter.  Of late he has been often seen in concert with I.O. Sakhalin, to whom the Deathwatch owes a special allegiance.  In this pic, you will note that he is armed with a powerfist and a flexible magazine bolter. 

Another figure started seven years ago, this guy took a long time to build, and even longer to finish.  As you may be able to make out in the pictures, he is built from a standard space marine body, but I extended and widened the torso, created a new set of power cables, and also lengthened the legs and reposed the feet so that he was standing more upright. The head, bolter and shoulder pad are all from the metal Deathwatch set that came out when the concept of Deathwatch

And anticipating questions regarding size, here are some comparison pictures with I.O. Sakhalin and with the Chaos Space Marine I created a while back.

As you can see, he is a big fellow, but a bit more slender than the Stormcast and terminator based Chaos marine.

I have ideas for a further few deathwatch figures, and with the new Primaris marines, most of the true scale work is already done...

Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin -Part 10

Part Ten, near to the end of Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin is the Arsonist, Serafima. 

For a man as conservative as I.O. Sakhalin, his long association with Pani Serafima is more than surprising, as her record of contempt for superiors and delight in immolation of evidence is well known.  Note also that she here seen holding a knife seemingly made of wraithbone, a most curious weapon indeed for someone working with an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos...

Rather obviously comprised of a Copplestone back of beyond figure and some tacked on bitz, this was a figure that was kicking around my spares box for a while, and then was added at the last minute to this group.

Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin -Part 9

Part 9 of Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin is Pilot Yuri. 

Pilot-Officer Yuri had a rather unfortunate encounter with a lupine life form after an unfortunate mid-air collision with the cargo scull belonging to a xeno-trader outside of a backwater trading post.  As this collision also caused said trader to be captured by I.O. Sakhalin, Pilot-Officer Yuri was offered the opportunity to join his retinue, which given that the alternative was to bleed out on the forest floor, he accepted.  

Another figure which languished for some time, as I was unsure what to do with the robotic arm.  In the end I left it as a servo cable jutting from his torso, which I imagine makes it somewhat useful for interfacing with imperial machinery, and rather less so for reloading his bolt pistol.

Hazard striping is certainly not my best work here, and I may go back and retouch it.

Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin -Part 8

Part 8 of the exquisitely drawn out Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin is Trooper Okhlopkov.

One who watches over the others of a battle team can be called 'the Angel' of the group, although if that is true, then Trooper Okhlopkov is a murderous reaper of an angel, bringing to many a terminal flash of the Emperor's light.  Of note here is his custom long-las, which has been carefully treated to remove all of its original celebratory enamel, and refinished in the matte black seen in this pict. 

This figure actually is around eight years old, as I built it in my original flurry of INQ28 mania.  It was, as one might expect, unpainted until needed for a game.  I love the face of this figure, another stellar one from the Perry sculpted Huntsmen box, which as you will have noted formed the bulk of the heads used in this group. (the bodies were long ago allocated to a Necromunda gang, sadly unfinished)

Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin -Part 7

Part 7 of our Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin is Trooper Sova.

It is said by no less an authority than St. Chrisber, that every team put together for the purposes of combat will need a scout, someone or something that proceeds the main force and draws fire, while noting the positions of the enemy.  Trooper Sova fills the position for I.O. Sakhalin, as did his forebears before him.  While there are rumors that he is a psyker, and is thus linked to his owl, I.O. Sakhalin is far too orthodox to employ an unsanctioned psyker. - Marginalia from the Conclave notes of Lord Inquisitor Botteith, lost mysteriously on mission.

Another figure I had planned for a long time, and then put together in a rush of bitz building.  The "bird" aspect of this figure varied for a long time between a Bretonnian falcon and something more exotic, before I settled on this owl. (it was $1 cheaper)

Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin -Part 6

Part 6 of our review of the Inquisitional kill team of I.O. Sakhalin is the enigmatic death cultist Smert-5.

Smert-5 is a member of the blood cult, whose low Gothic name translates to something close to the "Emperor's pointy knives".  Founded by an ex-imperial guard sergeant, the cult has a high emphasis on obeying superiors, and consequently cult members are in high demand as body guards for Inquisitors, Rogue Traders, and others that recruit retinue members.  The cult is aware of this, and uses its popularity as a producer of guards for the galacticaly important to remain in favor with the local authorities. 

This conversion is one that I have thought about the longest, but conversely the one I find most disappointing in actuality. The body is obviously from a vindicare assassin, and the left arm is from the old metal dire avenger upgrade arms. The mask is sculpted, but unfortunately the mask is just not very good, and the crude kabuki paint did not help any. I may go back and paint a layer of gloss over the mask, but I probably will not bother.  (if you view the pictures on "small" they do look significantly better, although that is true of most of my work!)

On the plus side, I did get to test a technique mentioned to me by Tears of Envy, whereby you pre-highlight the figure grey and then paint with a heavy layer of black paint/ink mix and it takes virtually no time at all. I think the body suit came out quite well, considering that again, it took about two minutes to highlight and then ink. (naturally her results are much better!)

Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin -Part 5

Part 5 of our review of the Inquisitional kill team of I.O. Sakhalin is his lovely killer-consort Lesya.

Among the more unusual aspects of the retinue of Inquisitor Ordinary Sakhalin is his use of a killer-consort. Shown here in a traditionally effeminate kimono gown, and armed merely with two sharp blades.  This picture must have been taken after the incident with the orkiod slavers in 430.M49, as Lesya's head has been replaced with a sensoward helmet.  Those who knew her, say her beauty was only increased by the removal of her face, and her grace increased by the heavy metal replacement. 

Probably the best color representation

A simple conversion of a Hasslefree figure. I agonized a bit on this paint job, painting a number of layers on the kimono and obi, that are, alas, not visible here.  I thought about various servoskull or other options, but went with the simplest.

Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin -Part 4

Part four of Kill Team Sakhalin is his Allied Associate Explorator Priest Mechnikov XII.

A Métoikos-Priest from Simferopol-28, Mechnikov XII is currently traveling the sector as an Explorator.  As pictured here, Mechnikov XII still retains a primarily human frame, and is currently using a servo lumen to assist in exploring abandoned factorums.  Also equipped with an arc-pistol of ancient design (note the lack of dorsal capacitor bank) and a shock prod suitable for biological specimen collection. 

Built from a Empire wizard body and bitz, this guy took surprisingly long to come together. It was not until I had the arms from the Skittari box that it suddenly clicked and all came together.  Hard to tell from the blurry photography, but I feel like his base needs a bit more work, probably with some pigment chalks to enhance the "dirt" portion.

Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin -Part 3

Second in our review of Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin is his loyal (and young) acolyte Pasha.

Unusually for an Inquisitor, I.O. Sakhalin tends to recruit his associates from his home world, as seen here with his young apprentice acolyte Pasha.  Not more than a boy in this picture, he is shown wearing a light brigantine vest, and carrying a bolter rifle of local sector manufacture. 

Apologies for the slightly fuzzy picture, but then there is not all that much to make out on this guy anyway, as befitting an understudy. This bolter rifle I imagine to use bolt pistol ammunition, but with a better range and higher fire rate, and unusually for a converted weapon, I have another built the same way in another warband. This figure was built around 7 years ago. and completed only as part of this project.  It also looks like I need to reglue the base.

Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin - Part 2

First up in our review of Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin is the man himself, Inquisitor Ordinary Kazimir Sakhalin, Destroyer of Peace, of the Ordo Xenos.

I.O. Sakhalin is a simple man of conservative belief, and works tirelessly to rid his sector of alien influence. He is shown here in his customary dress, with a heavy dueling las lock pistol, augmentic carapace armor, and traditional wear of his home world.  Note the bionic right leg, which was fitted after it was flayed away by a Harhk sonic blaster in 431.M39.  The second picture shows clearly the psyker-hood, which I.O. Sakhalin has used to protect himself from alien witches on many occasions. 

Not the best pictures, due to taking them with the weak light of dawn, but with some photo manipulation the colors are fairly close to where they ought to be in the first picture, which is to say mostly dark blue and steel. The figure itself was mostly built around eight years ago, and then finished a few years later when I filled in the chest plate and sculpted (poorly!) the obi and geta straps.  The figure is constructed from bitz from a number of sources, as well as a scratch built bionic leg.

Inquisitorial Kill Team Sakhalin

Inquisitor Ordinary Kazimir Sakhalin, of the Ordo Xenos, shown here with his usual associates.

A bit of a teaser for some actual painted figures.  These have been a long time coming, both in terms of construction (nearly eight years for Inq Sakhalin!) and in terms of getting these finished and posted to the blog, since I used them back in early June for SW:A.  You can also see the finished cut paper bases too, which I think turned out rather well, considering the rush paint job they were subjected to. (indeed the whole kill team was painted in about a week, which for ten characters is lightning fast for me)

More to come as we explore each character a bit.

Shadow War: Armageddon Play Aides

As you may recall, I actually played a game recently, so expect a lot of posts having to do with material from that glorious morning, in one fashion or another.  In this post are some play aides I made for the game, although only the cards made it in time. 

First then are character cards for each of my warband members. (Inquisitor shown).  I made cards in MS Publisher with the relevant information, and added a few of the rules details to help me keep track of them.  I then added a picture of the figure in question for a bit of recognition, and printed them out on off-white heavy weight paper.  These proved to be useful during play, although I only got a few of the pictures added before I printed them the morning of the game. 

The second item are these lovely status markers created by JB the Asslessman, and modified by me to fit a US penny [19mm, and roughly the same size as a UK, Euro, and Canadian penny].  I had a whole sheet of these printed out prior to the game, and asked my lovely assistant to cut them out for me.  "Isn't that why we have a Cameo?" she replied, and thus they did not make it to the game.  I did glue these six together, and I think they look lovely next to my figures, so I will make a few more sets of them... for a cost of just pennies.  Ha.

I did finish the painting and basing for the figures, so they are just awaiting a matte spray before I photograph them for the blog.

Shadow Wars: Armageddon

This weekend some chaps and I had a three-way... game of Shadow Wars: Armageddon (SW:A) that is.  As you are no doubt aware, SW:A is a Necromunda based rule set that allows one to take forces from any of the main 40k armies, and fight it out, with a gentle and quick campaign if you like that sort of thing.  Sean and Dai, of Sean's Wargames Corner and The Lost and the Damned and the Stunted respectively, had kindly invited me to join them at Dai's house for a game or two of SW:A, so I got in a game for once.

To start, here are some preview shots of my Ordo Xenos crew (and a couple of extra specialists unused as (spoilers) I did not make it to game two). I rather frantically painted these (and their cut paper bases) this past week, and did not quite make it to completion prior to the game.  Consequently they are still in the "gloss ink" stage, and need a few touch ups, base work, and then matte spray to be finished.

I did not take any notes of our game, and also took fewer pictures than I really should have, but here are a couple pictures and some words to go with them.

First off, we played a three way scenario with a reliquary in the middle.  Winner would be the team which took off three counters, or which remained in possession of the field after the other teams were eliminated/bottled. We played around 5 turns, and including setup that took about 3.5 hours... lots of hemming and hawing and looking things up in the rule books/mis-remembering from Necromunda, but it was great fun.  Dai had a chaos warband using the Inquisitor list, and Sean had Genestealer cultists.

Main table layout, with a bit more deployment area on the far left (which is where my force started).  Objective is the reliquary in the center, which will have six counters surrounding it

Deployed in three groups, with CC forces in the center, and shooters planning to move up to overwatch the objective. 

Mid game shot of a daemon "crusader" murdering poor sweet Lesya.  He was then pulped by a team up of the pilot Yuri and the tech priest.  Just off camera to the upper right is a dastardly chaos squat with a storm bolter shooting everyone up.

Inquisitor Kzimir doing what Inquisitors do best and murdering a downed Genestealer Hybrid

Acolytes Pasha and Sova, already heroes of the game for downing and killing a number of foul xenos/chaos, are seen here legging it off the battlefield with two counters.  I already had one, so if they made it out, I would win the game.

Unless I rolled above a ten on the bottle test...

With the failed bottle test, and Sean's genestealers having fled directly before I rolled this, the game was over and Dai was the winner.  I think we collectively rolled about a dozen bottle tests, and Sean and I failed in the same turn...  Anyway, I had a great time, and will certainly add a copy of SW:A to my buy list (and maybe a few acolytes with stormbolters too).