The Centzon Totochtin

In Aztec Mythology, the goddess Mayahuel rules both fertility and the maguey or agave plant. Along with the god Patecatl, she protects the maguey and its fermented sap, or pulque. One night, in a fit of passion, Patecatl and Mayahuel consummated their relationship and Mayahuel found herself pregnant.

She gave birth to the Centzon Totochtin or 400 Divine Rabbits, who were nurtured on pulque from her many breasts, and grew into the Gods of Drunkenness. These divine rabbits travel through the land, holding frequent parties and gatherings and deliver the gift of drunkenness to the people, with each Rabbit representing the different ways in which a person can experience intoxication.

They include Tepoztecatl, Texcatzonatl, and Tlilhua.

Here we have three of the Centzon Totochin.

Tlilhua ("one who has ink")

 Ometochtli ("two-rabbit")

Macuiltochtli ("five-rabbit" - center)

Guarding Mictlantechutli

The Sunkillers arrayed for battle

As usual, this cat was exceptionally well behaved.  Here he is yawning.

Adeptus Titanicus - Terrain

I'm a long way from being finished, but I wanted to post some pictures of the terrain I've done for Adeptus Titanicus games up to this point.  I really want to start doing more homemade / kitbashed type terrain using found objects, but I started out with a mat and two (of the four) tiles that Forge World makes.  I was lucky enough to get two of the tiles before they sold out, as well as at least one copy of the different loose terrain kits they made (which is also sold out).  I also picked up some of the Aeronautica terrain from FW.

I also got a bunch of the Civitas Imperialis sets (at least five, but it might be as much as seven), a set of the Manufactorum Imperialis, and I think two sets of the Civitas Imperialis Spires.

Basically at this point, every terrain kit has been sold out for months EXCEPT for Manufactorum and the Spires.  And I still feel like I don't have enough to really make the board work.

The reason I've been sticking with GW / FW terrain though now is so I don't get any flak if I go into a Warhammer store to play but there are some GREAT alternatives to FW and GW, and I have looked at these.  At one point a seller on Etsy was going to print some stuff for me - they were supposed to give me a price, but never did.  I waited a week for the price, emailed her again, got a "sorry very busy," waited another couple of weeks, emailed again and got the same thing, so I just dropped the matter.  Still some of it is really compelling and cool.  I love the stuff from Grimdark Terrain so I might get some of that.

The tiles are 2x2.  The mat is 4x4.  A regular game of Titanicus is 4x4.  I have the option right now to put the tiles flush against an edge of the mat to get a 6x4 battlefield, to use just the mat, or to put the tile on top of the mat - both of these latter configurations give me a 4x4 playing field.

I do not like having the "lip" showing on the tiles (they are slightly taller than the mat).  So at some point I either need to get city walls, or I could also make some "ramps" that slope up to the high edge of the tiles.  Either solves the aesthetic problem for me, and I might do both just to be able to switch it up in different games.

At any rate, here are some pretty (I hope)  pictures to look at!

I used some Aeronautica Imperialis models as well

This is probably my favorite piece of terrain, kitbashed from a 40k model and a prescription bottle, lol.

You can see one of the other Aeronautica models in this.

Well. That's it for now.  But lately I have been wanting to paint again!  I'm far from being a great painter, but I like doing it.  I have not really had time recently as most of my free time is going to writing (and I really do not want to slack off on that) but I kind of want to do a few more models for my Legio Solis - either some of the more esoteric knights like the Atropos or the Styrix, or maybe a single massive one like a Warmaster.  I'd also like to get a second mat or perhaps do a couple more 2x2 tiles myself and stick with an urban theme throughout the entire board instead of part urban, part cratered wasteland.

Mictlāntēchutli

The tech priests had promised to make him a god.

They kept their promise.

They called him Lord of the Underworld.  But he had other appellations as well.  He Who Lowers His Head, He Who Dwells in the Windowless House.  The Broken Face, He of the 11^th Hour, He Who Eats the Stars.

They had many names for the Lord of Mictlan.

They called him “He Who Dwells in the Windowless House,” and indeed he swam in an amniotic tank covered completely with armor.  He had given up much to become a god.  It had been worth it. The priests had taken his limbs; the stumps rested now in haptic sheaths.  

They called him “Broken Face.” Inside the tank he floated in a bright red fluid more efficient than blood.  His mouth and nose were removed, useless, showing the gleaming white bone beneath.  When he needed nourishment, the tank delivered it.  When he needed oxygen, it was directed into his foramen ovale by the autosanguinary system.  They had removed his eyes.  Fibers carrying light ran into his optic nerve now, his visual cortex processed information from all around him, his maimed brain attuned to a storm of electromagnetic data and radiation in wavelengths mere humans could never dream of.  His necklace of eyeballs saw in all directions.

They called him “He Who Eats the Stars” and indeed, his belly was filled with the heat of the sun, nuclear fire that drove his immense form forward.

Today he would bring Mictlan to the people.  Today Mictlāntēchutli walked. His servants, the Mictecas, were his most loyal lieutenants and embodied his will, added their own to his in the Manifold, became his arms, his legs, his voice.  As one being the King of Death strode the land looking down on all.

Today they called him Nextepehua, “Scatterer of Ashes.”  The lasers focused the light of the sun in his belly, radiant destruction, power measured in yottawatts, leaving fire and nothing where the beams touched, evaporating men, machines, fortresses, all.

Arms raised, he stood ready to tear apart the dead as they entered his presence.

Adeptus Titanicus - Legio Mortis Battlegroup

Back to titans!

The Legio Mortis is probably my favorite color scheme when it comes to Titans.  It's simple, but incredibly effective at conveying their dark, bloodthirsty nature, even before they were corrupted.

Adeptus Titanicus started off as my "Pandemic Project."  I decided off the bat that if I was going to get other people to play, I'd probably have to offer them a game, so I determined I'd do two legios.  Initially I was going to do a single Grandmaster set and a pair of Horus Heresy starter sets, and give each side a single Warlord, two Reavers, and two Warhounds.  Along the way, the Warbringer was released, and I decided to alter the force composition a bit - Mortis would wind up with heavier titans, and Gryphonicus would have more Reavers and more knight support.  I also wanted Gryphonicus to have more emphasis on melee and Mortis to have more heavy guns.  But still, I was going to "freeze" things at six Titans each side.

You know what they say about plans...they are all good until first contact with the enemy...

I wound up with a LOT more titans than I had originally been considering, but the battlegroups are diversified the way I wanted them to be.  The below doesn't include the homebrew Legio I've been working on!

The breakdown for Gryphonicus is:

• 1 Warmaster
• 1 Warlord
• 4 Reavers
• 3 Warhounds
• 1 Acastus Porphyrion banner (1 knight)
• 2 Cerastus Lancer banners (4 knights)
• 1 Questoris banner (3 knights)

The breakdown for Mortis is:

• 1 Warmaster
• 2 Warlords
• 1 Nemesis Warbringer
• 2 Reavers
• 3 Warhounds
• 1 Acastus Porphyrion banner (1 knight)
• 1 Questoris Banner (3 knights)

I had a points calculator that I made to calculate how even the two groups were.  I can find it again and put it up on Google docs or something if anyone is interested, but honestly you are better off with something like the Titan Tracker or Titerminal.  I think there might have been a 50 point difference depending on what weapons they had (the titans are heavily magnetized, though I got lazy here and there with the smaller weapons).

Anyway on with the show!  First the Warhounds.  I don't actually have many pictures of them, I need more!

Here's one pre-base, with his family:

Next up, the Reavers:

A detail of the carapace.  Happy with the way it turned out.

The Nemesis Warbringer next:

And that's where I was supposed to stop.  At the time the battlegroup looked like this:

But no.  I kept going, adding another Warlord, among other things.  Here are the Warlords:

By the way, when you see extreme shininess, it is because I didn't have the patience to let the final coat of varnish dry before I took the picture.  Spots with transfers get hit with gloss varnish before and after the decal is put on, but then the whole model gets a coat of matte varnish, which brings the shine down to a level I like.  You can see the difference on the shoulders above - that last coast hasn't dried yet on the model on the right.

And also, because Mortis means big engines (and also to keep the overall points values balanced) I did a Warmaster for each side:

This cat was very very good during the build and didn't once scatter pieces or hunt bits.

I also did some House Malinax knights, though I'm not quite as hyped about them.

And last, but certainly not least, the assembled battlegroup!

Adeptus Titanicus - Legio Gryphonicus Battlegroup

I really like the rules and gameplay of Adeptus Titanicus.  No one near me really played, though, so I decided to paint up two battlegroups.  That way I could let people who were interested pick a side an we could play.  It's worked out pretty well.

Here are the Gryphonicus Titans.  I gave them lots of Reavers, both because I like Reavers and because canonically they have more Reavers than any other type of titan.

This was an accident - There are two sets of feet in the Warhound kit, and I used one of the "wrong" ones.  So I just worked with the base a bit to try to make it look semi natural.  It turned out ok.

I was initially going to stop at five titans per side.....

Then they came out with this....

And then I just couldn't help myself.

You can see a few knights here.  Here's a detail on one of them.

And finally here's a terrain piece I converted from a prescription bottle and an old Celestine I had and never bothered to put together.  Fairly happy with the way it turned out.