From NoelW: My Sergeant Spots A Bluff : Burch’s Bluff (15 points)

Remembering the armies we almost encountered the last time we were in this neck of the woods, we scale the cliffs of Burch’s Bluff, sergeant first. Most surprisingly, he survives. He doesn’t grab an unexpectedly friable lump of rock and plummet to an unfortunate demise. He doesn’t stumble upon a trigger-happy army in a hidden valley and have his jodphurs riddled with buckshot. He doesn’t rub against a strange cactus, inhaling peculiar fumes which make him believe he can fly. No hazard. No harm. Odd, but there it is.

In the distance below us, though, we sight strange creatures and machines crawling across the plateau.

Cautiously, we skirt around them – all except for my sergeant, who, filled with a new confidence after his remarkable damage-free climb, shouts an affable greeting towards them…

---

I suppose these are not strictly Horus Heresy figures, not being Imperium, so I’m going to maintain that these orks (and one Tyranid) were traitors to their races, unusually joining the human rebellion for the fun of it. They're bits and pieces that've been left over in the "Epic box" as I finished the Imperium for earlier posts. (I say "finished"...)

We have one ork vehicle, one Tyranid equivalent to a vehicle or war machine, 

15 foot figures (including two command bases – these are my “vignettes” this time - and three cavalry orks, mounted on boars.

Scoring: 2 6mm “vehicles” = 4 pts; 3 cavalry = 3 pts; 15 foot = 7.5 pts. Perhaps a whole .5 for the banners? To make a total of 15 pts.



Are you going soft Noel? Or has your CO had a word about the casualty rate among your Sergeants? Curious minds must know - did he survive this incident?

Cracking work as always!

TamsinP

Burch's Bluffs from PeteF: Post Apocalypse Family Vignette (45 points)

Striding out along the path of the New Shiny I come to the imposing Burch's Bluffs. But the Evil Empire of GW is anathema to me - I cancelled my subscription to White Dwarf when the whole enterprise went over to Warhammer. What minis in my collection could fit the  Horus Heresy?

The giant civil war in question raged across many worlds as the rival genetically engineered factions duked it out. Often forgotten in such conflicts are the civilians, left to scratch out a living on the ruined remains of their once prosperous home planets. The Space Marines have moved on to create yet more destruction elsewhere. Here is one of the many post apolcalypse families they have left in their wake.

Bullet Proof Vest and Gasmask

And self defense... even in one so young

The minis are from a Fantasy Games Unlimited kickstarter that I supported last year. They are modelled on the cover art of their post apocalypse RPG: Aftermath. The company is decidedly old school - I don't have the Aftermath rules but the minis reminded me of Gamma World, which I enjoyed in my teens. I also have a soft spot for post apocalyptic fiction (from Earth Abides to Wool, from When Worlds Collide to The Stand) and one day might find a related skirmish game. In the meantime, some of my friends are starting to play Star Breach and these miniatures should fit right in.

The sculpts are really good with a lot of nice detail. The kickstarter backers got the resin base thrown in - and this is fun too with lots things to paint - including flowers, critters and a skull.

16 locations visited - 3 to go.

The minis are worth 13 points and the new location 30 - not sure how to score the base. As a terrain piece it's not very big - maybe a couple of points for a total of 45?

***
What a great little vignette Pete!  The miniatures are so full of character as well, wonderful submission.  The pattern on the dress would have confounded me, so great job on that at well!  You are right they have a very old school look and feel to them, and remind me of something that would fit right into the world of Fallout.

-ByronM

JamesM: 3mm Ultramarine Terminator Detachment (Burch's Bluff) - 75 points

Hi folks,

Having planned for a little while to do some more work on my 3mm Sci-Fi collection, I thought a great entry for Burch's Bluff's would be some of my Vanguard Miniatures. These are actually 3mm Novan Elite Siege Breakers with 'Striker' heavy AFV's.

I've painted them up as part of my 'Calth' Horus Heresy collection. These are good proxies for Ultramarine Terminators and Spartan Assault Tanks.

The nice thing about this unit is I can also use different transport options such as Vanguard Maulers (Land Raider proxies), drop pods or flyers.

Gaming wise, Vanguard are working on their own system, but I have also been thinking about options for Epic40k or for the new Titanicus rules.

These are obviously small miniatures, but given Vanguard make 'truescale' models, these mini's are about 6mm vehicle size.

The infantry figures themselves are lovely.

Which makes it mental that I spent the time doing shoulder pad edging and knee pad colours. Plus weapons. I also added some Ultramarine decals to the Spartan proxies.

The bases are a mix of using miliput for craters and such, along with some of the interesting GW Agrellan Earth texture paints. I black edged the bases as well, just as they looked a bit cleaner.

Total figures:

6 x 3mm vehicles (which are large 6mm size models): 12 points
65 x 3mm infantry (which are 6mm sized models): 33 (32.5 rounded up) points
Location bonus: 30 points

Total: 75 points

***
This is a superb little entry here JamesM, although I could be playing favourites and be a little biased towards you since my middle name is James, so technically I am a JamesM as well.  Silliness aside....

Firstly, the figures look great and the details super crisp on them for something so small, I have never heard of the company before but will certainly check them out after seeing these!  Secondly, your painting of them is great!  Super clean and clear for such a small scale.  I also really like the little added details on the bases as it brings come character to the larger bases you are using.

I don't know of many rule sets out there for sci-fi in small scale, but I do know of Epic Armageddon (the last version of Epic that GW put out, probably 10+ years ago) and Greg, Curt, and I have had many great games with it.  It is fast, easy, and unlike any of their core rule sets actually a pretty good set of rules!  I would dig up a copy of those and just use them as a starting point.

- ByronM 

From Barks: Trooper Chow, Imperial Army Burch's Bluffs (35 points)

Trooper Chow hears the news that the Emperor has slain Horus!*

"What a relief! An end to this period of dark grimness!"

I found this chap second-hand at CanCon last month. He is Trooper Chow from the original 1987 Imperial Army. It is fascinating to see how many design elements of '40K look' were locked in over thirty years ago- and also to see how quickly the standards of sculpting rose. The 'X' is, of course, for Challenge X.

Via Stuff of Legends

1x 28mm 5
Burch's Bluffs 30

Skull-o-meter™: 0... ++does not compute++

*Sorry, spoiler

Nice work on this chap, he looks ready for something, not sure of anything that happens after 1945

Martin

From IannickM : Emperor's Children at Burch's Bluff (70 Points)

My next stop on the island was an easy choice, and so I make camp in Burch's Bluff. Two years ago I started an Emperor Children's force for Epic, and it's about damn time I get back to that project. Obviously Burch's Bluff helped a little, but of even more incentive is the fact JohnM and I are planning our first game of Epic for Mid-March in Montreal. And there's nothing that will motivate you as much as a game coming! While my force has a good choice of armour and support detachments, I was sorely missing in the infantry department. Because while I really enjoy painting the little guys, basing them is a bit of a chore so I've been procrastinating. But no more, It was more than time to address that shortcoming!

I really enjoy the Horus Heresy, and, like so often in my case, my love is rooted in nostalgia. Long before I learned about 40K, me and my brother bought Space Marines, the original game, and we played quite a few games using the original (unpainted, the shame) plastic figures. My brother played the loyalist, I was the traitor. To this day painting brightly coloured mini-tanks is a load of fun! 

And so my Emperor's Children force grows in the anticipation of the can of whoop ass the marines of the 3rd legion are about to open on their Blood Angels brothers. May Horus have mercy on their souls. 

First up, a Line Detachment of Assault Marines equipped with jump packs, in mark III armours. The Horus Heresy Legion Astartes (i.e. Space Marines) army lists require rather large, 8 bases detachments. Bit more work to get your infantry units ready but it does look good.

Then a command base, which includes all your favourites like chaplains, champions, etc. Its a useful figure to represent the "centurion" upgrade one may purchase for his infantry detachments.

And the "piece de résistance", the all-important elites of the Marine infantry, the Cataphractii Terminators. With their ability to teleport all over the battlefield, they can make for a nasty surprise! Great figures (fan made) with loads of details for such tiny figures! I went the extra mile and painted a rather fat detachment, with the maximum allowed units of 6. 

I'm back on the Epic train (choo choo), so expect more Epic Heresy before the challenge is over, and even a first peek at the loyalist side of my project, with THE loyalists amongst all loyalists, you guessed it, the boys clad in blue, the Ultramarines. 

So...

• 45 Epic space marines : 22.5 points
• 30 Epic terminators : (are they still only worth 0.5 points? I guess so. I feel they should be worth more ;-) ) : 15 points
• Plus the points for Burch's Bluff : 30pts

Total : 67.5 points

Next up, probably a balloon ride, and then more Heresy.

***

Fantastic work Iannick! These figures look outstanding, you have done some tremendous work here.  You also remind me of my own shameful neglect of my assorted ongoing Horus Heresy and, more specifically, Epic 30k projects. I've just been so focused on other areas...the Challenge still has some time, perhaps there is still time to get more 30k stuff finished?

These will help with inspiration! And I hope you guys really enjoy your game - "Epic" is a fantastic set of rules.  We look forward to seeing more as you proceed! 

Your scoring is accurate, but given the favour of the Warmaster, we shall round up the points to 70.  After all, only the weakling "Emperor" has the need for decimal points...

GregB

From ScottM: Burch's Bluff: Rausenburg Army Squad (80 Points)

Continuing down the Path of the New Shiny, we arrive at Burch's Bluff and it's 30K theme. I don't actually play 40K (or 30K for that matter), but at one point I was considering it. At the time I had picked up a bunch of infantry and heavy weapon teams from Victoria Miniatures. Perfectly suited for use as Imperial Army in 30K. Here is a 10-woman Rausenburg Siege Corps squad of infantry.

I went with a Prussian type paint scheme and I think they turned out quite nicely. The resin figs themselves are quite nice and have all sorts of bits and bobs that can be attached. If you're looking for some squads that aren't bog-standard GW Imperial Guard, I'd recommend giving Victoria Miniatures a look. That completes Burch's Bluff as we continue our trek across the island.

So that should be: 10 28mm foot figs = 50 +30 (location bonus) = 80 points.

***

A very nice entry here Scott, and very fitting for guard in 30k.  I really like the miniatures and the colour choices here.  The overall look and colour choices make me think almost more Great War French rather than Prussian, but the blue would need to be a little more pale for that, but they do remind me a lot of my WW1 french.

Great work here Scott, keep it coming!

- ByronM

From Brettm Epic 30K (Burch's Bluffs) (34pts)

Moving along Challenge Island..

I am now coming up on Burchs Bluffs

I had planned on several tanks and speeders painted up. However as I was printing these on my printer, the print turned out rubbish and was only able to salvage these two. In fact my resin printer is now down for the count till I can either get replacement parts or order a new one. 

So without further talk of printers dying on me. Below are two entries to my "soon to be" army of Emperors Children for 30k. 

Speeder bike came out great imo. Was also very easy to print.

The tank here I had some issues with on the back treads on the print. However no one checks out of the back of the tank! Its all about the guns!  

As of now I'm keeping the tanks off bases. See how that works out. Thats how I have all my FOW tanks done. However the smaller scale may be better based. Kinda torn on this.

For points we are at +30 for Burch's Bluffs and 4 points for the 2mm vehicles. Onward to Murdy's Mesa!

I am unsure about 3-D printing, think it's beyond my capablity and needs to be much more idiot proof. These have come out great and I love the colour scheme

Martin

From Curt: 'The Vengeful Spirit' - Flagship of Horus Lupercal - for Burch's Bluff (50 Points)

First, I apologize in advance for the rambling intro. Nonetheless, I think it perhaps helps to 'set up' the submission, but if its too geeky for you feel free to skip to the bottom for the moneysh... the final pics. :)

______________________________________________

Greg and I share a love of the 40K setting that extends back to the original 1st edition 'Rogue Trader'. While my interest in the 40K core game has waxed and waned over the years, I've always remained a big fan of  the whole operatic 'grim dark' feel of the setting, especially when done through its boutique periphery games like Epic, Titanicus, Necromunda, and the various role playing titles.

In 2006 Dan Abnett wrote 'Horus Rising', a novel which tapped into fans' interest in the 'Horus Heresy' and the early history of the Imperium - stuff that until then had only been peripherally alluded to in the margins of the rulebooks. Forge World, sensing an opportunity from the interest, began to issue a series of related figures, rule books and vehicles focused specifically on the Horus Heresy. It's turned out to be a great success for them. Now, with over 60 novels in print and a separate division created exclusively for this 'early period', the Horus Heresy now stands as its own unique entity in the GW stable. 

Mark Strong as Horus. Art from 'The Emperor and His Primarchs' by Miguel Iglesias

In a nutshell the Horus Heresy charts the fall of Horus Luprecal, 'The Warmaster,' chosen son of the Emperor. Horus is one of  20 genetically engineered 'sons' of the Emperor, called Primarchs. Each of these Primarchs controlled a legion of Astartes (Space Marines), huge formations which were far larger and more powerful than the later Chapters found in 40K. 

The Emperor utilized his sons and their forces to conduct a 200 year long Great Crusade to reunify the areas of space previously controlled by mankind. After this huge campaign, the Emperor decided to relinquish control of the Crusade to his chosen son Horus and return to Terra to attend to other duties - activities which, for his own reasons, he kept secret from his sons. Though Horus and the other Primarchs initially embraced this new mission and Horus' role within it, they began to feel abandoned and betrayed by their father's decision to keep them out of his confidence and seemingly left to whither on the vine. 

Horus's ego and plaguing doubts to his father's intentions were preyed upon by eldritch powers within the Warp and he, along with eight other Primarchs, turned against their father. Under the direction of Horus, they rebelled against the Emperor, beginning a galaxy-spanning civil war to install a new Imperium of Mankind where these newfound powers would take up a central role. Thus the Horus Heresy was born. 

The campaigns of the Heresy stretched over 9 years, killing billions, burning out numerous planetary systems and culminating in the cataclysmic Siege of Terra. The siege reached it's  endgame when the Emperor himself teleported aboard Horus' flagship, 'The Vengeful Spirit' to face his wayward son...

Whew! Well, with that little bit of background behind us, I can now show you what I've done for Burch's Bluff. Here is the flagship of Horus Lupercal, 'The Vengeful Spirit' in the livery of his personal legion, 'The Luna Wolves' before they became 'The Sons of Horus'.

When we fanboys think of 'The Vengeful Spirit' we often imagine it as the evil, hulking chaos-ridden flagship of the Arch-Traitor; the place where Horus and the Emperor finally meet their tragic destinies. So I thought it might be interesting to depict the ship just before Horus' fall from grace, when his beloved Luna Wolves were the Emperor's finest, when they were the first before their fellow brother Legions. 

This model was sourced as a print file from Thingiverse and generated on my Photon DLP printer. It's a nice multi-part model. I found there were a few small issues with deflection, but they were easily corrected - otherwise it printed and assembled quite well.

The prow fresh from the printer.

It's a pretty neat model, with magnet slots built into its design to allow one to swap around the weapons modules and prow configurations. I have it here with docking bays, gun batteries and a nasty Nova Cannon on the prow. 

For inspiration to the colours I referred to popular artwork depicting the Luna Wolves in their bone white armour. As a contrast to the white, I decided to 'gild' the weapon points and command areas on the hull. 

It's a fairly simple painjob, where most of the effort was in edge-highlighting the various nooks and cranies.

It's all ready for its voyage to the Isstvan system and points beyond.

Speaking of points, as the ship has the same mass as a 28mm vehicle let's go with 50 total (20 points with another 30 added in for Greg's location).

I hope you like her Greg. She was great fun to work on.

Curt

***
Wow dude, she's a beauty! What a wonderful submission.  This is really, really cool. I must say I have been really anticipating what you might bring forward for this particular "Challenge Island" location, trying to guess what you might have come up with. You have not disappointed - creative, unique, perfectly on theme and well-executed.  It invokes Horus' Legion in its early times, kicking @ss and taking names in the name of The Emperor, all united in a long-term vision of galactic order...what could go wrong?

"Battlefleet Gothic" was another fabulous rule set unfortunately left to whither by the clown car inhabitants who ran GW for so long.  So to see a model warship that touches both the 30k setting and a long-lost rule set is spot on perfect. 

50 points for you my friend, this is just great!

GregB