Author Archives: Alex

Legion of the Damned – Primaris style

03 Friday Apr 2020

Posted by in Legion of the Damned, Primaris Marines

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Greetings Terrans, I hope this finds you all well in these increasingly bizarre and worrying times. I’ve got a bit of a photo dump to share with you today – as some of you figured out from my last post, I’ve started working on some old school Legion of the Damned, (first described in WD99 back in 1988), but re-imagined in new shiny Primaris-shaped plastic. Why Primaris? Because I have a metric ton of the smug little pricks from my Conquest subscriptions, and boy, am I glad of that! Can’t have too much to paint in these days of lock-down if you ask me…

Why Legion of the Damned? Well, because they are cool as hell, not pristine, not uniformed, and are about as (little ‘c’) chaotic as you can get without being (big ‘C’) Chaotic, and that suits my current state of mind just fine. Oh, and for the record, I know the LotD fluff moved on over various iterations of 40k, but I’m keeping it old school RT on this project – think ‘zerker zombies rather than the later spectrally flaming skellies version, ok?

That said, I am moving on from the whole historical ‘Fire Hawks lost in the warp’ schtick – I see this as a second occurrence of the LotD phenomenon, with modern Primaris that have been lost in the warp & thus I see these as being contemporary to the current 40k timeline and narrative. I think that this raises interesting questions about the events – a single event can be passed off as a freak occurrence, but two identical events? Unlikely…  It also raises the spectre of whether or not there is some design behind the LotD… It is described as a disease, so maybe it’s a Nurgle thing, or maybe one of the lesser chaos powers perhaps? I would love to think Malal is involved 😉

Anyway, here are my first efforts – a trio of… well, I’m not actually sure what hip and cool name GW gave them, but they are some kind of scouty recon types I think:

 

 

 

 

 

I’m pretty pleased with how they came out to be honest! They were a nice painterly challenge, not too fussy, and relatively quick to do… What do you guy think?

New beginnings

27 Friday Mar 2020

Posted by in Primaris Marines

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+++ Fleet Communique: Security Clearance – Epsilon Five

+++ Reporting loss of transport ‘Emperor’s Deliverance’ to warp storm – all hands & cargo lost

+++ Crew: Standard Navy complement. Manifest: Primaris Greyshields x1000, Ultima Founding

+++ The Emperor’s mercy be upon their souls

+++ Requisition 729474000276478;9287 for Primaris Greyshields x1000 (authorisation attached)

 

 

Ordo Chronos field notes:

My Lord Inquisitor. Investigations into a suspected temporal disturbance in sector ############ have yielded some evidence of displacement. Components of several shuttles have been retrieved from an orbital debris field around ########## ###. Serial markings were identifiable as belonging to the manifest of one ‘Emperor’s Deliverance’ – a standard Temperance class transport lost to the warp six standard months ago. However, the degradation of said components is severe, with auto-savant analysis predicting an exposure period of not less than 50 years standard. The absence of any sources of radiation capable of causing such degradation makes a temporal anomaly the favoured hypothesis at this time.

Of the ‘Emperor’s Deliverance’, there is no sign…

 

 

Intercepted communique relating to Inquisitorial investigation into black market dealings on (REDACTED):

############### For sale – Imperial Aquila recovered from (REDACTED) – rare example of Astartes devotional token, but of an unusual design. Condition is degraded, but there is a unique hand engraving on the reverse. Engraving reads “In Dedicato Imperatum Ultra Articulo Mortis”. Bidding to start at… ################

 

 

Extract from witness report (REDACTED)dated (REDACTED)

Subject: Citizen (REDACTED), survivor of attack on outpost (REDACTED)

Interviewer: Inquisitorial Interrogator (REDACTED)

 

Int: So let’s run through this again. On (REDACTED), your outpost, (REDACTED), was attacked by Ork raiders without warning. You and your fellow citizens had no time to prepare a defence, correct?

Subject: That’s right Sir, they came on us on foot, from the treeline – no vehicle smoke or noise to give them away, no chanting, nothing. They was sneaky buggers, all stealthy and quiet they were, not like any Orks I’ve ever seen.

Int: So you’ve been attacked before?

Subject: Yes Sir, many times. Orks often raid in these parts – we’ve always repelled them with the perimeter lasers without too much trouble, but this time, they were inside the compound before the guards even had a chance to raise the alarm.

Int: So what happened next?

Subject: Well Sir, it was a massacre. The Ork were everywhere, stabbing and slicing and shooting – the security detail managed to take a few down, but not enough to make a difference. My science team didn’t stand a chance.

Int: And yet when we found you, all the Orks were dead…

Subject: Yes Sir – all I heard was the sound of gun fire – not Ork gun fire, and not las, but something different. All the Orks start running toward the sound, and then I hear Orks screaming and whatnot, and then nothing!

Int: And did you see what attacked the Orks?

Subject: Well, after a good while I figured it was safe to get out and go and see what the situation was. I caught a glimpse of one of them through the smoke – a giant it was, all in black armour, but with fire and bone too… Like Astartes he was, but different.

Int: Like an Astartes?

Subject: Yeah, but bigger, newer, stealthy-looking. You know, I saw an Astartes once? I was attached to this expedition, and –

Int: You said ‘get out’… What was it you got out of?

Subject: Sir?

Int: Just now. You said that you figured it was safe to ‘get out’ and go see what the situation was… What was it you got out of?

Subject: Ah, well, yes… well, I was in a storage crate Sir…

Int: And why were you in storage crate?

Subject: Well Sir, I, er, well… I was hiding Sir… from the Orks… I mean, once they were inside, what other choice did I have?

Int: You had the same choice we all have in the end – to live as a coward, or die in service of your Emperor…

Subject: But I’m not a soldier, I’m a scientist! It would be a waste of my talents to die needlessly – I have decades of knowledge and experience! Hiding and surviving was the logical thing to do – surely you can see that –

Int: Irrelevant. Citizen (REDACTED), I find you guilty of desertion in the face of the enemy and sentence you to summary execution.

Subject: No, wait  –  no!! I demand to see –   [Interview Terminated]

 

Appendix:

Security footage of the incident has been expertly wiped – presumably by the intervention force. However, one partial image was recovered and reconstructed:

The warband of Seros Thrice Cursed is complete (for now)

23 Monday Mar 2020

Posted by in Daughters of Khaine

≈ 24 Comments

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Greetings Terrans, how goes it? I hope you are all safe and well, and are adjusting to this new weird reality we find ourselves in! This isolation business really does suck a bag of dicks, but every cloud has a silver lining, and hobby time is a great way to keep things on an even keel. I have some big plans, but more on that later – first, I want to share my completed DoK Warband.

The first new addition is a fourth Handmaiden for Seros – because points, it makes sense to have four Witchelves in the warband, so I used a few spares to make this bloodthirsty lass:

She is based on the Hag Queen from the Cauldron of Blood and was kindly donated by Thomas of High Times on the Eastern Fringe (thanks dude!). I finished her with some of the spare sickle arms from the flappy Harpy types. Here she is with her pals:

 

Next I have three choppy Harpies, (I refuse to use the bollox GW name for these winged ladies). Lovely minis but very fiddly and flimsy… They just had some minor headswap work, and changing up the basing elements.

I also built & painted two jabby types:

 

Finally, I couldn’t resist putting the Medusa from the Cauldron of Blood set together. She had a headswap, and all the OTT bleeding got shaved down, but she is otherwise unmodified. I don’t have a specific role in mind for her at the moment, but I think you can recruit monsters to your Warcry warband, so she might find some use as a counts-as one day:

 

I think that will be all for this little project for the time being – here’s a final shot of the whole group together:

 

Now, let’s talk a bit about stuff coming up. I was planning to do a DreadMob to support my RT Orks – very much with BOYL in mind, but the way things are, there is no guarantee that BOYL will be going ahead this year. I still do intend to do some Dreads, but not as urgently perhaps. I also have all of the Iron Claw Space Pirates collected and begging to be painted up – again, not so urgent now perhaps.

Somewhat surprisingly, I actually have the urge to clear some of the plastic crap that I have been accumulating as a result of subscribing to Warhammer Conquest… I’ve given my mate Ross all the Nurgle stuff, but I have a ton of Primaris to deal with, so I’m setting myself a little challenge – how can I do a Primaris army, and still make it old school. Ideally, this should push my painting on a bit, and get me to the point where I give at least some fucks about new 40k… Wish me luck!!

The Wrath of Seros

06 Friday Mar 2020

Posted by in Daughters of Khaine, Warcry

≈ 22 Comments

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Greetings Terrans, how goes it? I wanted to put out a quick post to elaborate on the four DoK Melusai I did for Fembruary – they are intended to grow the small DoK warband I started last year, very much with Warcry in mind. Collectively named ‘The Wrath’, these four outcasts have sought Seros out, as rumours of her status as prophetess have spread:

I’ve gone for a 50/50 split between hitty Bloodsisters, and shooty Bloodstalkers. I also built one as a Bloodstalker Krone in case I wanted her lead the warband some time instead of Seros herself (who will count as a Bloodsister Gorgai).

 

Speaking of Seros, I originally built her without a specific weapon loadout in mind, and she needed a big shitty spear to roll as a Gorgai. I didn’t want to mess with the model, so I had the idea of converting a male Dark Elf retainer to carry it for her, along with some yummy squeezy-heart drinks:

As he took shape, I decided that he represents Kaulgar from the background fiction that I wrote last year. (TL;DR, Kaulgar was Seros’ lover before Morathi found out about the couple & got all cursey and shit). Kaulgar won’t have an active role in-game, and is just there for fluff reasons.

 

I also used some spare bits from the Blood Cauldron to create some themed scenery – nothing fancy, just using up bits to make some themed scatter:

 

And here’s the whole warband as it stands, ready to make their way into the Bloodwind Spoil:

 

 

Finally, a bit of accompanying fluff – I want this warband to be really driven by the narrative, and for them to have a good reason for venturing into the Bloodwind Spoil. If you like, you can read more about Seros’ background here and here, before you get the latest instalment:

 

For many months, Seros continued to grow her strength during her exile in Chamon, the Realm of Metal. Increasing numbers of would-be followers sought her out, but most failed to survive the venomous ‘kiss’ she used to single out the worthy. Those that did undertake the ritual consistently displayed the blood-red flesh and ruined face that characterised her followers, but more extreme mutations also began to manifest themselves.

Seros intuitively knew that the mutating power of her venom would increase in potency as she grew in power, and with growing excitement, she observed that some Aelves undergoing the ritual began the painful transformation to forms that resembled the half-snake Melusai, or graceful winged Khinerai. However, they always succumbed to her increasingly potent venom, and her Chamonite lair became littered with the bones of such failed aspirants.

Fused femurs and ribs were mixed with twisted and elongated spines and the bones of vestigial bat wings, and the skeletal remains began to pile up in drifts. Seros made no attempt to hide these remains, and her reputation as a rising power ensured that new aspirants continued to arrive and subject themselves to the ritual in spite of the danger. Their mutated bones continued to join those of their predecessors, until eventually the day came when a quartet of Aelves proved strong enough to withstand the transformation to Melusai. These four became the first of Seros’ elite foot soldiers, and were thereafter known as The Wrath of Seros.

The creation of The Wrath was a pivotal point in the rise of Seros – for the first time in history, Melusai were created that did not originate from Morathi herself. Seros knew that her power had passed a crucial nexus, and that her former mistress would not bear another to share her ability to reshape Aelven souls to create new life. Seros began to get restless – she knew that she needed to move on from Chamon, but was unsure where to strike out. It was at this point that a lone Warlock found her lair – the first male Aelf to have done so.

Her followers immediately surrounded the Warlock and were about to execute the intruder out of hand, for Khainites have little tolerance for males within their society. Seros stayed their murderous instincts, for she recognised this Warlock as none other than her former lover Kaulgar, and her heart broke anew. Kaulgar also recognised Seros, and while his heart and soul were no longer capable of feeling love thanks to the Doomfire runes were burned into his flesh, he certainly remembered their time together, and he remembered the vengeance that they owed to Morathi.

This was why Kaulgar had sought Seros out after all this time – he had travelled widely since the fateful day that they were cursed, and had learned much. He spoke to Seros of a wild and dangerous place called the Eightpoints – a bastion of chaos, but one littered with items of  vast power. He proposed that they venture to the Eightpoints via the Bloodwind Spoils, seeking such artefacts, looking to grow the power they would need to overthrow Morathi once and for all. We join Seros and Kaulgar as they leave Chamon and embark on their quest for revenge against a goddess.

 

So that’s it for now folks, I hope you’ve enjoyed this update to the narrative. I think I’ll be adding a few winged terrors to this warband over the coming weeks, and maybe a few surprises as well – we’ll see how March goes.

One thing for sure, I’ll be starting my prep for BOYL in April, so expect a pivot back to the Oldhammer scene between Easter and Summer 😊

2020 Fembruary round-up

03 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by in Fembruary Challenge

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Greetings Terrans, I can’t quite believe it, but it’s March already, and it is time to wrap up this third installation of Fembruary!! This post will be showcasing all the excellent entries for this year, as well as my own humble efforts. We’ve grown again this year, with 18 Bloggers taking part including myself – that’s up from 13 last year, so thank you all for spreading the word & getting involved! Also as usual, I’ll pick out my favourite of the bunch – no prizes I’m afraid, just the fleeting glory of the win 😊

Right, in no particular order, let’s get to it!

First up is TIM – aka The Imperfect Modeller, with a quartet of kick-ass minis from Hasslefree. TIM has a great eye for miniatures, and each of these is proper little character & beautifully painted:

 

Next we have Wudugast with a couple of ladies added to his Warcry Warbands. It is no secret that I love Wudu’s painting style, and I think that his treatment of metal and flesh in these two minis is just superb:

 

Next up we have Bjorn the Stormborn with a cracking pair of AoS minis for us – a Knight Incantor, and the Briar Queen. I love the moodiness of the paint job on both, and kudos for the spell-casting effects on the Incantor:

 

Beaming in from the Starship Vorenus, we have a wonderful Chaos Sorcerer (Sorceress) for Mikeland’s AOS 28 spin on the classic 1989 game HeroQuest. The Sorceress is beautifully done, and I heartily recommend taking time to take a look at the whole HQ28 project:

 

Davekay at Scent of a Gamer has put forward a beautifully painted Sanctioned Psyker from the Blackstone Fortress: Escalation expansion. This has to be one of the best Psyker minis that GW make, and this paint job certainly does it justice:

 

Next we have some classic minis from Warburton – a female proto-Avenger (one of my favourite Eldar minis of all time), and a beautifully converted Inquisition/SoB preacher. Both are lovely, but I’m particularly drawn to the conversion… Warbs based it on a 1998 GD winner, and I might have to borrow the idea myself!

 

Mikko at DawnoftheLead has painted another beautifully rendered dweller of his very own pirate town Port George, (yes, he really does have his own pirate town!). This time it’s ‘the Governor’s Daughter’ from Black Scorpion. She’s a wonderful little sculpt, and Mikko has done her justice with a lovely paint scheme:

 

Marvin at Suburbanmilitarism has gone distinctly imperial with his entry this year with a superb diorama of Empress Catherine the 1st. The painting is lovely, and the miniature selection & placement is beautifully done – there is fantastic atmosphere to this piece, so go check it out!

 

John Robin has painted up a tough cyber-punk street assassin for us – I love the contrast between the bright pink hair & antique looking flintlock! John doesn’t have a blog, but frequents the Oldhammer forum, where he posted this pic:

 

Next up, it’s another tour de force from the Imperial Rebel Ork. As with the previous two years, IRO has gone big with a post-apocalyptic diorama in homage to his daughters… This time, he imagines them a little older, and a helluvalot more experienced! I can’t really do this piece justice with a single pic, so I strongly recommend taking a wander over to his site for a better look:

 

BigBossRedSkullz has brought the Nestorian Infestation to Fembruary, with the truly disturbing Mosuo dan Bribrix, Genestealer Matriarch of House Akan. I really admire Big Boss’ skill when it comes to bringing proper horror to his work – some of the most disturbing minis I have ever seen are from his talented hand/claw/appendage. His Matriarch is no exception, and is well worth a closer look… if you dare!

 

The Argentbadger has submitted a trio of deadly-looking and very nicely painted Satyxis Gunslingers to the challenge. These ladies are for the Cryx faction in the game ‘Warmachine’, and it sounds like ArgentB has had some success playing them – they certainly look like they can dish out the hurt!

 

Thomas at HighTimesontheEasternFringe has gone with a piece for the boardgame ‘Mansions of Madness’ – such pieces famously tend to have softer definition & less detail than a ‘proper’ miniature, which makes the quality of the paint job that much more impressive!

 

Subedai has put forward a whole squad of classic DE Witch Elves over on TheLostAndTheDamned – part of his drive to complete a 3rd ed WHFB Dark Elf army. Dark Elves are one of my all-time favourite armies from back in the day, so seeing these being done so beautifully is a real joy:

 

SoldiersofTin has prepared and painted a superb ‘half patrol’ of 42mm scale Girl Scouts. This was a tricky project, as these figures had to be converted from Boy Scouts. SoT used tissue paper and PVA glue to create skirts, scarves and hair, as well as using it to give the girls a fuller figure. I’ve never heard of tissue paper & PVA being used in this way before, but it certainly does the trick! This unit is finished with a paint job that is intended to look like it has been done by early 1900’s toy manufacturer ‘William Britain’, so SoT deliberately used flat tones with no shade or highlight. Now that’s dedication!

 

Ericritters at Candore Et Labore managed to squeak in on Leap Day with a beautifully painted Malifaux character called ‘Miss Step’ – talk about a deadly looking cyborg! I’m a big fan of the Steam Punk / horror vibe of Malifaux, and this mini sums up the game perfectly for me. I love the ridiculous contrast between the mechanical bits and the negligée!

 

We have three pieces to enjoy from Joe M of Joesavestheday – an AoS Pallador Knight, a Kill Team Sanistasia Minst, and a 40k DE Haemonculus. Joe has done a cracking job on these three, with the Pallador being particularly gorgeous! I wouldn’t even know where to start with a mini like that, so I’m full of admiration.

 

Finally, I managed to wrap up four Melusai for my own slowly growing Warcry DoK force. I built two of them as Blood Stalkers (shooty), and two as Blood Sisters (hitty), and I painted them up to match my Daughters of Khaine from last year.

 

Wow, so that’s it for the 2020 Fembruary Challenge. Congratulations and a huge thank you to everyone who took part – best Fembruary ever I reckon! It almost seems obscene to try and choose a winner from this lot – it’s a tough call, and there are so many strong contenders this year!

Notable mentions for Bjorn’s Briar Queen, and I love the whole concept and execution of Mikeland’s HQ28 Sorceress, but for me, the winner this year is BigBossRedSkullz with his representation of Mosuo dan Bribrix, the Matriarch of House Akan. This mini combines so many things that appeal to me – a fantastic conversion & paint job of course, but the real clincher for me is the sense of narrative and story to her… She has a real sense of presence, and I find it all to easy to imagine such a creature in some twisted corner of the universe. Well done BB – take a bow mate.

 

So that’s all for now folks, catch you all soon.

Leadballoony’s 3rd Fembruary Challenge!!

03 Monday Feb 2020

Posted by in Daughters of Khaine, Fembruary Challenge

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Greetings Terrans, I can’t believe it, but February has rolled around again – must be time for another Fembruary challenge!! Long-time followers of this blog will know the drill by now, but for any Johny-come-lately’s, the deal is ‘Paint at least one Female miniature’ – it’s that simple! I’m not bothered what genre, game, manufacturer, painting style or material you go with. It can be a squad, a single mini, a diorama, or whatever takes your fancy… I’m just looking for awesome portrayals of the feminine in miniature form, as part of an ongoing conversation about how women are presented within our hobby.

Once you’re done, you just need to blog about it & link back to this post. I would also be grateful if you could use your own blogs to push the challenge even further – the more, the merrier after all! I’ll do a round-up in early March, (usually in time for International Women’s Day), where I will also choose my favourite from the submissions. There are no prizes, just kudos & high fives from your peers. To give you an idea of what I mean, here’s a link to the submissions from 2018 and 2019.

For my part, I’ll be revisiting my Daughters of Khaine & adding to the warband of Seros the Red:

See you on the other side ;-)