Just thought I'd post this. A quick photo of the Hellcannon, crew and Vela together, took it for the Tale of Fantasy Painters on Warseer to show my progress so far.
Posts
Wednesday 30 September 2009
The Devotees of Elazar - Tale of Fantasy Painters 2009/10
Just thought I'd post this. A quick photo of the Hellcannon, crew and Vela together, took it for the Tale of Fantasy Painters on Warseer to show my progress so far.
Tuesday 29 September 2009
Vela The Performer
Once a great performer in the Altdorf theatre, his true name since forgotten. He possessed some magical talent that charmed the minds of his audience in a harmless way, indeed he knew not of this gift of his. Like all performers he had many patrons in the nobility, it was the way of the rich to try and enhance their standing by supporting the arts. This one performer though had a patron of a different nature altogether.
One night after a grandiose performance of a play entitled ‘The Merchant of Marienburg’ the performer returned to his quarters to find all the usual lavish gifts left for him by his supporters. Amongst them was a curious glass case within which stood a scarecrow marionette. Intrigued the performer reached into the case and picked out the strange puppet.
The next day he did not show up for the play and when the angry theatre owner went to his quarters to rebuke the performer he found a scene of devastation. Untouched in the destruction of the quarters was a glass case and next to it a card signed ‘Elazar’.
The performer next turned up deep in the northern wastes where he’d wandered aimlessly until he was picked up by a Diatchi raiding party who took him captive. As is the way of the Diatchi and most of the other Kurgan races they made some of their captives fight to the death. Those they deemed blessed by the gods were spared and given a new life amongst the tribes. So it would be for this man as Elazar had developed a great love of his star performer and would see no harm come to him. He slaughtered a number of stronger slaves, showing a startling sorcerous ability that earned him the fear and respect of the tribesmen. They spared his life and he took the name Vela. It soon became clear that he was inseparable from the strange marionette that he carried with him. He spoke to the puppet and often fought with it. Worse for the tribesmen he often embarked upon strange performances for their ‘enjoyment’ sharing the lead roles with the being of wood and string that accompanied him. However, when at war he proved to be an invaluable ally. The puppet seemingly a focus for his power and his sorcery. Capable of controlling the minds of his enemies and making them do his bidding; his brand of warfare has proven invaluable in the wastes. An insane megalomaniac and egoist, Vela is now a favoured servant of Elazar and his presence can be found alongside the champions that his daemonic patron favours at that time.
One night after a grandiose performance of a play entitled ‘The Merchant of Marienburg’ the performer returned to his quarters to find all the usual lavish gifts left for him by his supporters. Amongst them was a curious glass case within which stood a scarecrow marionette. Intrigued the performer reached into the case and picked out the strange puppet.
The next day he did not show up for the play and when the angry theatre owner went to his quarters to rebuke the performer he found a scene of devastation. Untouched in the destruction of the quarters was a glass case and next to it a card signed ‘Elazar’.
The performer next turned up deep in the northern wastes where he’d wandered aimlessly until he was picked up by a Diatchi raiding party who took him captive. As is the way of the Diatchi and most of the other Kurgan races they made some of their captives fight to the death. Those they deemed blessed by the gods were spared and given a new life amongst the tribes. So it would be for this man as Elazar had developed a great love of his star performer and would see no harm come to him. He slaughtered a number of stronger slaves, showing a startling sorcerous ability that earned him the fear and respect of the tribesmen. They spared his life and he took the name Vela. It soon became clear that he was inseparable from the strange marionette that he carried with him. He spoke to the puppet and often fought with it. Worse for the tribesmen he often embarked upon strange performances for their ‘enjoyment’ sharing the lead roles with the being of wood and string that accompanied him. However, when at war he proved to be an invaluable ally. The puppet seemingly a focus for his power and his sorcery. Capable of controlling the minds of his enemies and making them do his bidding; his brand of warfare has proven invaluable in the wastes. An insane megalomaniac and egoist, Vela is now a favoured servant of Elazar and his presence can be found alongside the champions that his daemonic patron favours at that time.
Special Rules
Eye of the Gods
Sorcerer of Elazar: Vela is a Level 2 Sorcerer who chooses his spells as normal from the Lore of Slaanesh. His Mark makes him Immune to Psychology.
Daemonic Patron: Elazar still watches over Vela, taking great interest in his career and keeping him from harm. Vela is immune to Killing Blow and Poisoned Attacks.
Insane Puppeteer: The Northmen respect Vela's power and know that he is truly loved by Elazar but an insane southman with a puppet doesn't inspire their confidence. Friendly models can never take advantage of Vela's leadership even if he is the army general.
Magic Items
The Marionette: This scarecrow marionette was given to Vela as a gift by his patron Elazar. The marionette is a focus for Vela's sorcerous power and a tool for his power of manipulation. The marionette has its own cruel intentions though and longs to break free of its controller. Indeed, at times the puppets will wrestles with Vela's, trying to reverse their roles and trap Vela within the confines of wood and strings. The puppet allows Vela to add D3 to his casting roll once per turn. This cannot cause a miscast or irresistible force. However the malevolent spirit of the marionette attempts to assume control and Vela must test for stupidity in his next turn whilst puppet and master battle wits.
The puppet also allows Vela to modify any rolls on the miscast table made by any wizard on the battlefield. Vela can modify the result up or down by up to the result of D3. This doesn't cause Vela to have to test for stupidity in his next turn.
*
A ball of fire flew past Amador and impacted the ground a few metres behind him. It burned itself out in an instant and dust and ash were strewn everywhere by the force of its landing. Amador turned to see where Vela was. He’d mounted a rocky outcrop and to the bemusement of the tribesmen around him was reciting lines from a play. The marionette he carried was ‘acting’ along too.
Amador didn’t dare even mutter a curse under his breath. He knew the Performer was a favourite of his daemonic patron, privileged over even himself in that respect.
The wizard ally of the southmen hurled another fireball across the battlefield, this time it whooshed clean over the Mad Puppeteer’s head. Vela’s attention was snapped from his recital for a moment and he glared across the battlefield with contempt for the weakling wizard. He concentrated his gaze for just a few moments as the wizard summoned the raw energies for another spell. Suddenly the focus of power back lashed on the southman and he exploded in a sphere of bright light, the energy of which seared the skin of the men who’d been acting as his bodyguards.
Vela switched his attention then to a large group of heavily armoured cavalrymen charging towards Amador’s silently marching Warriors. With a violent jerk of the marionette the legs of the steeds became tangled and they fell sending their riders hurtling to the ground with jarring force. Another movement of the scarecrow marionette and the Knights leapt upon each other, blades drawn. They slaughtered one another in a screaming orgy of violence.
Then Vela was locked in a bitter argument with the silent marionette and paid no further heed to the enveloping battle around him.
Amador made a silent promise to his patron that the souls he reaped today would be in his honour. With that he ordered the charge…
*
Vela The Performer, The Mad Puppeteer, Sorcerer of Elazar
195pts
| | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
| Vela | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
Equipment: Hand Weapon, Chaos Armour, The Marionette
Special Rules: Eye of The Gods, Sorcerer of Elazar, Deamonic Patron, Insane Puppeteer
Monday 28 September 2009
The Devotees of Elazar vs. Woc - 4000pts
Now I was going to do a battle report, but I forgot to take pictures or make many notes and to be honest I don't think it'd be that interesting as a battle report so instead I'm going to make a summary of a few points from the battle and a couple of things I have learnt. The Devotees lost, it was a solid victory for my opponent. Hopefully the below will explain why.
Theoryhammer, mathammer, etc. I've never put any stock in them. I know probability is a science and all but I'm kind of like the northmen I play. I'm superstitious and lady luck is the biggest killer in Warhammer which is what makes the game fun. I rarely pick my army to match the advice given in all the tacticas (I guess this is a given because I play mono-Slaanesh!). My army is built around cool models and a theme I like.
A case in point of the above is Chaos Warrior units. Halberds are the preferred weapon of choice. I personally prefer my warriors with additional hand weapons. I had a unit of each in this game (and another unit with Great Weapons). Both came up against identical blocks of Tzeentch warriors 15 strong with hand weapons and shields. The Halberdiers basically bounced right off whereas my Warriors with additional hand weapons slowly whittled the opposing unit down until they fled. Now this isn't theoryhammer or anything else. I'm not saying that makes them better before people comment arguing the point. I'm just saying my experiences always go against the theory it seems!
Luck really does play a massive part in all of this. This is best shown with the Additional Hand Weapon Warriors. I cast Hysterical Frenzy on them once they'd charged into the opposing Warrior unit. This gave my front rank a whopping 24 attacks! Awesome I thought, 4s to hit and 4s to wound, I fancy my odds of forcing a good few armour saves. My amazing dice rolling abilities saw me hit with 4 out of 24 attacks. Not my to wound roll. My to hit roll. Of these two wounded. My opponent failed his armour saves with both which was quite funny but one was saved by his ward save. The Warriors stayed in combat and then got the upper hand in the next turn but on the charge with frenzy I'd expected them to have at least forced a difficult break test. However, this was still better than my Halberdiers who were woefully ineffective against a unit the same.
My opponent had a Chaos Lord on a Dragon. Not sure why he put a chaos lord on as he seemed unwilling to enter into combat with it until the end of the game. I'd have gone for a Sorcerer Lord so at least it could have been earning some of its points back in the mean time. The breath weapons seemed largely ineffective against the mass armour of my army. I didn't really have a great deal to throw at the Dragon. My Dragon Ogres might have fared well against the beast but they never got near it. They were taken out by a unit of 6 Nurgle Ogres with an Exalted BSB with the banner of rage. Very brutal! Anyway, back to the Dragon. It killed a unit of Warhounds (I kept it busy with them for a turn after my warhounds passed their terror test and charged it) caused another unit to flee with terror. It killed 2 Marauder Horsemen, 2 Knights and at the very end of the game took out Endika Fleshtearer in a challenge. (Endika was already wounded from fighting Wulfrik so didn't stand much chance in this one).
My Hellcannons would actually have been the perfect weapons for bombarding the dragon. Sadly as indicated already I have an ongoing grudge with the Dice Gods. My Hellcannons failed the majority of the Rampage checks and spent the game caught up behind my other units or in pointless long drawn out combats with units of Forsaken. I got two shots off with 1 Hellcannon but the Dragon was well out of sight when I got these so used them against another unit of Tzeentch Warriors that failed its panic test, fled, failed to rally and got to within a few millimetres of the table edge before they rallied and turned around. They got shot again but didn't flee the next time. Was disappointed with the Hellcannons really, but that's the way of them, they're a gamble and when they do work out (which with Ld9 on the Dwarfs should be more often than what happens for me!) they're brilliant.
Endika Fleshtearer was a monster! He led the army in Amador's absence. He absolutely brutalized Wulfrik in a challenge (and Endika was Wulfrik's chosen enemy or whatever the rule is). After that he moved onto Scylla the Khorne Spawn and took him out in a challenge, his Steed of Slaanesh scoring the final wound with a 6 to hit for its poisoned attack. He then got charged by the Dragon Lord and met his match but he was invaluable against some heavy hitters and helped take out a couple of annoying Marauder Horsemen units in between as well as his leadership proving very helpful on a few occasions to boot.
Vela also rocked the socks in this battle. He was my only Sorcerer to make it to the end (him and Neron the BSB were the only characters to survive) and his two spells proved quite useful. The puppet wasn't brilliant as my opponent had one too so it was always cancelled out but more than anything Vela was using up my opponent's dispel dice, with Conjoined Homunculus he's a reliable caster and his casting was allowing my Sorcerer Lord and other Sorcerer to get their spells off. He also managed to cast Hellshriek with Irresistible Force. This was the last act of the last turn of the game and led to some very tense (but with Will of Chaos very safe) panic tests for two units of Warriors and a Sorcerer Lord of Tzeentch on a disc!
I saved dispel scrolls for Infernal Gateway for the first few turns. Another turn my opponents sorcerer was stupid and failed to cast it on another. He did get it to go off once and aimed it at the Hellcannon. He only rolled strength 4 for it though so the Hellcannon was completely unfazed. It's a brilliant psychological weapon the Gateway. But I found dispel scrolls were as well! My opponent was very frustrated as I managed to keep his magic phase mostly locked down with my dispel dice for the rest of his spells.
The Daemon Prince.... what can I say. This guy owes me a good performance. He failed to cast Titillating Delusions in my first turn and my opponent used the Black Tongue to force a miscast. I promptly rolled a double 1. My puppet allowed me to add 2 but my opponent got 3 on his puppet so the Daemon Prince got sucked back to whence he came. 520 VP gone just like that before he'd had a chance to do anything! Very disappointing. I wasn't going to take this guy. But I didn't finish making the other unit of Marauders so they were left out leaving me to shuffle out a Sorcerer Lord and the Daemon Prince was shuffled in, in his place. Won't be rushing to do that again. I think I need to wait for the new Daemon Prince model so that Elazar can have a proper representative on the battlefield that might serve him better!
I think that's all the points I want to make. I really cannot stress enough how broken my dice are though! I want some more of the Space Hulk ones. I seem to roll extremely well for Space Hulk with those dice (and they have a lovely complimenting colour scheme to the Devotees!). Might have to take them with me next week....
My next game is 3000pts vs. Dark Elves. I hate Dark Elves. I have a lot of losses against their kin to avenge...
P.S. Vela won the fantasy category of the painting competition. Was really pleased with that. I'll get some better pictures taken of him if it brightens up any here and then will post a little story extract and updated background etc. for him.
Theoryhammer, mathammer, etc. I've never put any stock in them. I know probability is a science and all but I'm kind of like the northmen I play. I'm superstitious and lady luck is the biggest killer in Warhammer which is what makes the game fun. I rarely pick my army to match the advice given in all the tacticas (I guess this is a given because I play mono-Slaanesh!). My army is built around cool models and a theme I like.
A case in point of the above is Chaos Warrior units. Halberds are the preferred weapon of choice. I personally prefer my warriors with additional hand weapons. I had a unit of each in this game (and another unit with Great Weapons). Both came up against identical blocks of Tzeentch warriors 15 strong with hand weapons and shields. The Halberdiers basically bounced right off whereas my Warriors with additional hand weapons slowly whittled the opposing unit down until they fled. Now this isn't theoryhammer or anything else. I'm not saying that makes them better before people comment arguing the point. I'm just saying my experiences always go against the theory it seems!
Luck really does play a massive part in all of this. This is best shown with the Additional Hand Weapon Warriors. I cast Hysterical Frenzy on them once they'd charged into the opposing Warrior unit. This gave my front rank a whopping 24 attacks! Awesome I thought, 4s to hit and 4s to wound, I fancy my odds of forcing a good few armour saves. My amazing dice rolling abilities saw me hit with 4 out of 24 attacks. Not my to wound roll. My to hit roll. Of these two wounded. My opponent failed his armour saves with both which was quite funny but one was saved by his ward save. The Warriors stayed in combat and then got the upper hand in the next turn but on the charge with frenzy I'd expected them to have at least forced a difficult break test. However, this was still better than my Halberdiers who were woefully ineffective against a unit the same.
My opponent had a Chaos Lord on a Dragon. Not sure why he put a chaos lord on as he seemed unwilling to enter into combat with it until the end of the game. I'd have gone for a Sorcerer Lord so at least it could have been earning some of its points back in the mean time. The breath weapons seemed largely ineffective against the mass armour of my army. I didn't really have a great deal to throw at the Dragon. My Dragon Ogres might have fared well against the beast but they never got near it. They were taken out by a unit of 6 Nurgle Ogres with an Exalted BSB with the banner of rage. Very brutal! Anyway, back to the Dragon. It killed a unit of Warhounds (I kept it busy with them for a turn after my warhounds passed their terror test and charged it) caused another unit to flee with terror. It killed 2 Marauder Horsemen, 2 Knights and at the very end of the game took out Endika Fleshtearer in a challenge. (Endika was already wounded from fighting Wulfrik so didn't stand much chance in this one).
My Hellcannons would actually have been the perfect weapons for bombarding the dragon. Sadly as indicated already I have an ongoing grudge with the Dice Gods. My Hellcannons failed the majority of the Rampage checks and spent the game caught up behind my other units or in pointless long drawn out combats with units of Forsaken. I got two shots off with 1 Hellcannon but the Dragon was well out of sight when I got these so used them against another unit of Tzeentch Warriors that failed its panic test, fled, failed to rally and got to within a few millimetres of the table edge before they rallied and turned around. They got shot again but didn't flee the next time. Was disappointed with the Hellcannons really, but that's the way of them, they're a gamble and when they do work out (which with Ld9 on the Dwarfs should be more often than what happens for me!) they're brilliant.
Endika Fleshtearer was a monster! He led the army in Amador's absence. He absolutely brutalized Wulfrik in a challenge (and Endika was Wulfrik's chosen enemy or whatever the rule is). After that he moved onto Scylla the Khorne Spawn and took him out in a challenge, his Steed of Slaanesh scoring the final wound with a 6 to hit for its poisoned attack. He then got charged by the Dragon Lord and met his match but he was invaluable against some heavy hitters and helped take out a couple of annoying Marauder Horsemen units in between as well as his leadership proving very helpful on a few occasions to boot.
Vela also rocked the socks in this battle. He was my only Sorcerer to make it to the end (him and Neron the BSB were the only characters to survive) and his two spells proved quite useful. The puppet wasn't brilliant as my opponent had one too so it was always cancelled out but more than anything Vela was using up my opponent's dispel dice, with Conjoined Homunculus he's a reliable caster and his casting was allowing my Sorcerer Lord and other Sorcerer to get their spells off. He also managed to cast Hellshriek with Irresistible Force. This was the last act of the last turn of the game and led to some very tense (but with Will of Chaos very safe) panic tests for two units of Warriors and a Sorcerer Lord of Tzeentch on a disc!
I saved dispel scrolls for Infernal Gateway for the first few turns. Another turn my opponents sorcerer was stupid and failed to cast it on another. He did get it to go off once and aimed it at the Hellcannon. He only rolled strength 4 for it though so the Hellcannon was completely unfazed. It's a brilliant psychological weapon the Gateway. But I found dispel scrolls were as well! My opponent was very frustrated as I managed to keep his magic phase mostly locked down with my dispel dice for the rest of his spells.
The Daemon Prince.... what can I say. This guy owes me a good performance. He failed to cast Titillating Delusions in my first turn and my opponent used the Black Tongue to force a miscast. I promptly rolled a double 1. My puppet allowed me to add 2 but my opponent got 3 on his puppet so the Daemon Prince got sucked back to whence he came. 520 VP gone just like that before he'd had a chance to do anything! Very disappointing. I wasn't going to take this guy. But I didn't finish making the other unit of Marauders so they were left out leaving me to shuffle out a Sorcerer Lord and the Daemon Prince was shuffled in, in his place. Won't be rushing to do that again. I think I need to wait for the new Daemon Prince model so that Elazar can have a proper representative on the battlefield that might serve him better!
I think that's all the points I want to make. I really cannot stress enough how broken my dice are though! I want some more of the Space Hulk ones. I seem to roll extremely well for Space Hulk with those dice (and they have a lovely complimenting colour scheme to the Devotees!). Might have to take them with me next week....
My next game is 3000pts vs. Dark Elves. I hate Dark Elves. I have a lot of losses against their kin to avenge...
P.S. Vela won the fantasy category of the painting competition. Was really pleased with that. I'll get some better pictures taken of him if it brightens up any here and then will post a little story extract and updated background etc. for him.
Friday 25 September 2009
Wednesday 23 September 2009
Vela The Performer - The Stage Is Set
A very hastily assembled mock-up of Vela's base. A mobile stage from which he can inflict his plays on the Old World! Let me know your thoughts!
Tuesday 22 September 2009
Floral Foam
Just a quick one. Has anybody used Floral Foam (for flower arranging) as a basing material before? Doing some 'experiments' with it now was just wondering if anyone knows how it holds up to paint, varnish, glue and all the other rigours we put our minis through?
Thursday 17 September 2009
Vela The Performer - A few more WIP shots
As Noeste guessed. The mini for Vela is a converted Sigvald The Magnificent.
I've done a bit more since these were taken but still got lots to do. Needs a lot more work on shading etc. One question mark I have is the mask. I want him to have it to hide the minis face. I'm unsure whether to add a creepy nose to the mask or leave it as it is. Does anybody have any opinion on that?
The mini is Sigvald, with an Empire Wizard hand for the book (which is Vela's copy of 'The Merchant of Marienburg'), and a flagellant hand holding the marionette 'control bar' (oh yes, I've been researching marionettes!).
Anything But A One
The Eagle Eyed amongst you might have noticed this banner has appeared on the side of my blog. This is the website for the Gaming Club of which I'm a member, The Northumbrian Adventurers; Guild.
Unless you're in the Newcastle/Northumberland area of the UK a lot of that isn't going to concern you but on the forums there is a Blogs and Logs section in particular that might be worth a look if you have some time as there are a number of talented individuals with some fantastic armies. One that I love very much is Malzeth's "Giger Alien Terminator Daemons" but there are others! Anyway, just wanted to share that with you and to point out the lovely logo created by club member Ionheight.
Wednesday 16 September 2009
Games Workshop Application
Thought I'd share this with you. I submitted it with my application for the position of Trainee Studio Writer with Games Workshop. This short story did me well and got me through the first stage of the application process but sadly I didn't earn an interview after the second submission. Such is life, it's been a learning experience and I've enjoyed challenging myself to write the necessary bits. I might post the 3 parts for the second stage at some point...
Decided to go with a Mordheim theme for a bit of a change!
It had happened in a matter of seconds but to Adelbert it had been a lifetime. The Marienburger crouched behind a ruined corner section of wall that may once have been part of a house. Adelbert cursed his eldest brother as he checked his person for wounds, if he’d inherited his father’s shipping company then he wouldn’t have joined the blasted mercenary band bound for Mordheim. At the time they’d pressed him and he had nothing else to do, foolish bravado making the idea seem sound. The ratmen had appeared from the shadows and dispatched the men around him with swift efficiency. He’d survived on instinct alone. A wild thrust of his rapier had caused the black shrouded creature to hesitate in its attack and Adelbert had managed to contact matted fur and flesh with the dagger in his off hand. He’d turned and ran then, scrambling through the rubble and debris of the ruined city. He was certain the ratmen had followed; he hadn’t made it difficult for them, blind panic had fuelled his flight not caution. He pulled the feathered hat from his head and set it next to him as quietly as possible. Then he heard the clatter of clay bricks falling over themselves as padding feet disturbed them. The acrid scent of poisoned blades followed the sound and Adelbert knew that the creature stalking him was very close. Tightening his grip on the hilts of his blades he leapt from cover, ready to meet his fate.
Decided to go with a Mordheim theme for a bit of a change!
It had happened in a matter of seconds but to Adelbert it had been a lifetime. The Marienburger crouched behind a ruined corner section of wall that may once have been part of a house. Adelbert cursed his eldest brother as he checked his person for wounds, if he’d inherited his father’s shipping company then he wouldn’t have joined the blasted mercenary band bound for Mordheim. At the time they’d pressed him and he had nothing else to do, foolish bravado making the idea seem sound. The ratmen had appeared from the shadows and dispatched the men around him with swift efficiency. He’d survived on instinct alone. A wild thrust of his rapier had caused the black shrouded creature to hesitate in its attack and Adelbert had managed to contact matted fur and flesh with the dagger in his off hand. He’d turned and ran then, scrambling through the rubble and debris of the ruined city. He was certain the ratmen had followed; he hadn’t made it difficult for them, blind panic had fuelled his flight not caution. He pulled the feathered hat from his head and set it next to him as quietly as possible. Then he heard the clatter of clay bricks falling over themselves as padding feet disturbed them. The acrid scent of poisoned blades followed the sound and Adelbert knew that the creature stalking him was very close. Tightening his grip on the hilts of his blades he leapt from cover, ready to meet his fate.
Tuesday 15 September 2009
Vela The Performer- Sneak WIP Peek
Nice easy one, who can guess the base model used for this conversion? No prizes other than pride in your Warhammer mini knowledge I'm afraid. Oh and I might post a couple more WIP pics as an added bonus!
Friday 11 September 2009
Quick Announcement!
Just a quick announcement to say my partner and I are now engaged! I asked her to marry me and thankfully (possibly foolishly on her part!) she said yes!
I'll post a proper update when I'm down from the ceiling!
I'll post a proper update when I'm down from the ceiling!
Tuesday 8 September 2009
The Angels Exemplar
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Never have I questioned my faith. Never have I wavered in my works. But today... today has spawned a thousand doubts. No one could doubt the loyalty of the Angels Exemplar. Their piety is beyond compare even amongst the zealots that make up Dorn's progeny. Their methods though... I've worked alongside the Astartes before. I know theirs is not a way of mercy or compassion but never have I seen such barbarism committed in the name of our Righteous Emperor. It is said that the Astartes will be the saviours of humankind... but in their creation perhaps we deserve to be damned...
Transcript from the recovered personal log of Inquisitor Thaddius of the Ordo Hereticus after the purge of the Blood Shaman Cult.
843.M41.
Note. Inquisitor Thaddius declared heretic later in same year and led rebellion of the Imperial World Tymuron II. Rebellion put down by Angels Exemplar Astartes. Rogue Inquisitor Thaddius executed.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Angels Exemplar Marine
Angels Exemplar Sergeant
Origins
The Angels Exemplar chapter of Space Marines are a 26th Founding Chapter created 738.M41. The Angels Exemplar are descendents of Rogal Dorn although their Gene Seed is taken from the Dark Hands chapter. A elite cadre from the Dark Hands chapter trained the initial neophyte marines and made up the HQ for the Chapters first steps.
Homeworld
The Angels Exemplar are a fleet based Chapter. Each company having its own fleet and patrol routes although they are easily redirected to where they are needed. Recruits are taken from suitable worlds on their established patrols.
Organisation
The Angels Exemplar follow a largely non-codex organisation. The Chapter is organised into 7 companies and these are autonomous fighting forces. Instead of having dedicated companies like codex chapters the Angels Exemplar split their veteran, tactical, assault and devastator marines between the 7 companies. As these companies are autonomous they handle their own recruitment and training of neophytes so each have their own scout contingent also. Due to this the differing companies are often at varying strengths. The Lord of the Angels Exemplar leads the 1st Company and also organises the objectives of the other 6 companies each of which are led by their own Commander.
Combat Doctrine
The Angels Exemplar have proven themselves to be especially effective at medium to short range warfare. In particular they excel at guerilla warfare and lightning strike incursions in urban environments. Their effectiveness in these combat arenas has seen them put to great use by the Ordo Hereticus branch of the Inquisition as they have shown a brutal effectiveness at putting down rebellions and eliminating deviant cults. This brutality has raised some question marks amongst the Inquisition though as some believe their brand of warfare should be more measured in such environments as they are often in full view of the citizenry of the Imperium.
Angels Exemplar Terminator
Angels Exemplar Terminator Sergeant
The Cromwell Incident
The Inquisition is currently doing all it can to open channels with the Angels Exemplar. The Chapter was petitioned to help pacify a rebellion in the Cromwell system. It seemed that Lord Rosam gathered the entire might of the Angels Exemplar on the borders of the Cromwell system as the fleets of all 7 companies rendezvoused along with contingents of the Jakoban Heavy Dragoons Regiment of the Imperial Army. What happened next is unknown with only intercepted communications between the Imperial Navy vessels in the vicinity to go on. Allegedly elements of the Angels Exemplar Company Fleets opened fire on one another. The Imperial Navy vessels sat idly by unsure as to what was happening and not daring to intefere in the conflicts of the Astartes. The next intercepted communication alleged to orders for an orbital bombardment on key strike points on Cromwell IV before the strike force led by Lord Sikandar made planetfall. It is known that key rebel personnel were stationed on Cromwell IV and that Sikandar had been the commander of the Angels Exemplar 3rd Company but was now being referred to as Lord. The Inquisition received no word of any nature from the Cromwell system so re-routed a naval patrol to investigate what had taken place both in the pacification of the rebellious system and also in the command of the Angels Exemplar chapter...
So there you have it, the new look Angels Exemplar background. As ever Space Crusade has had an influence on the decision to mark out sergeants etc with white power armour. I've decided that they are a Space Marine Chapter and their loyalty is in complete doubt. Have they turned from the Emperor or are they still his loyal servants. Clearly they have struck at the rebels of Cromwell IV but beyond that nothing is known. Means I can create a strong narrative with each squad as I go along and also gives me plenty of scope for characters and if I get really ambitious there's even the Jakoban Heavy Dragoons regiment to consider! The Angels Exemplar will most likely be built from the Space Wolves list as this will allow me to best represent the brutal nature of the chapter and their currently questionable loyalties. Also, it will be shiny and new!
Space Marine images created using http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/smp.php
Never have I questioned my faith. Never have I wavered in my works. But today... today has spawned a thousand doubts. No one could doubt the loyalty of the Angels Exemplar. Their piety is beyond compare even amongst the zealots that make up Dorn's progeny. Their methods though... I've worked alongside the Astartes before. I know theirs is not a way of mercy or compassion but never have I seen such barbarism committed in the name of our Righteous Emperor. It is said that the Astartes will be the saviours of humankind... but in their creation perhaps we deserve to be damned...
Transcript from the recovered personal log of Inquisitor Thaddius of the Ordo Hereticus after the purge of the Blood Shaman Cult.
843.M41.
Note. Inquisitor Thaddius declared heretic later in same year and led rebellion of the Imperial World Tymuron II. Rebellion put down by Angels Exemplar Astartes. Rogue Inquisitor Thaddius executed.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Angels Exemplar Marine
Angels Exemplar Sergeant
Origins
The Angels Exemplar chapter of Space Marines are a 26th Founding Chapter created 738.M41. The Angels Exemplar are descendents of Rogal Dorn although their Gene Seed is taken from the Dark Hands chapter. A elite cadre from the Dark Hands chapter trained the initial neophyte marines and made up the HQ for the Chapters first steps.
Homeworld
The Angels Exemplar are a fleet based Chapter. Each company having its own fleet and patrol routes although they are easily redirected to where they are needed. Recruits are taken from suitable worlds on their established patrols.
Organisation
The Angels Exemplar follow a largely non-codex organisation. The Chapter is organised into 7 companies and these are autonomous fighting forces. Instead of having dedicated companies like codex chapters the Angels Exemplar split their veteran, tactical, assault and devastator marines between the 7 companies. As these companies are autonomous they handle their own recruitment and training of neophytes so each have their own scout contingent also. Due to this the differing companies are often at varying strengths. The Lord of the Angels Exemplar leads the 1st Company and also organises the objectives of the other 6 companies each of which are led by their own Commander.
Combat Doctrine
The Angels Exemplar have proven themselves to be especially effective at medium to short range warfare. In particular they excel at guerilla warfare and lightning strike incursions in urban environments. Their effectiveness in these combat arenas has seen them put to great use by the Ordo Hereticus branch of the Inquisition as they have shown a brutal effectiveness at putting down rebellions and eliminating deviant cults. This brutality has raised some question marks amongst the Inquisition though as some believe their brand of warfare should be more measured in such environments as they are often in full view of the citizenry of the Imperium.
Angels Exemplar Terminator
Angels Exemplar Terminator Sergeant
The Cromwell Incident
The Inquisition is currently doing all it can to open channels with the Angels Exemplar. The Chapter was petitioned to help pacify a rebellion in the Cromwell system. It seemed that Lord Rosam gathered the entire might of the Angels Exemplar on the borders of the Cromwell system as the fleets of all 7 companies rendezvoused along with contingents of the Jakoban Heavy Dragoons Regiment of the Imperial Army. What happened next is unknown with only intercepted communications between the Imperial Navy vessels in the vicinity to go on. Allegedly elements of the Angels Exemplar Company Fleets opened fire on one another. The Imperial Navy vessels sat idly by unsure as to what was happening and not daring to intefere in the conflicts of the Astartes. The next intercepted communication alleged to orders for an orbital bombardment on key strike points on Cromwell IV before the strike force led by Lord Sikandar made planetfall. It is known that key rebel personnel were stationed on Cromwell IV and that Sikandar had been the commander of the Angels Exemplar 3rd Company but was now being referred to as Lord. The Inquisition received no word of any nature from the Cromwell system so re-routed a naval patrol to investigate what had taken place both in the pacification of the rebellious system and also in the command of the Angels Exemplar chapter...
So there you have it, the new look Angels Exemplar background. As ever Space Crusade has had an influence on the decision to mark out sergeants etc with white power armour. I've decided that they are a Space Marine Chapter and their loyalty is in complete doubt. Have they turned from the Emperor or are they still his loyal servants. Clearly they have struck at the rebels of Cromwell IV but beyond that nothing is known. Means I can create a strong narrative with each squad as I go along and also gives me plenty of scope for characters and if I get really ambitious there's even the Jakoban Heavy Dragoons regiment to consider! The Angels Exemplar will most likely be built from the Space Wolves list as this will allow me to best represent the brutal nature of the chapter and their currently questionable loyalties. Also, it will be shiny and new!
Space Marine images created using http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/smp.php
Sunday 6 September 2009
Space Crusade
With all the hype being about Space Hulk (and rightly so!) I thought I'd take the opportunity to talk about Space Crusade and be slightly off topic! Now I've been considering how to paint my shiny new Blood Angels Terminators for Space Hulk and I've decided to paint the Sergeants with the white armour like the Space Crusade Blood Angels commander (above). It contrasts very nicely and makes the important squad members stand out although it's an evil colour to paint in my opinion!
Anyway, all the hype about Space Hulk had me playing Space Crusade more regularly in anticipation and I decided to post a couple of pics. My son and I played the last mission in the Space Crusade campaign. I controlled the Imperial Fists (as is the norm for me).
We started out like so. I took the Suspensors, Bionic Eye and Combi Weapon equipment cards. This meant all my heavy weapons marines could move 6 spaces instead of 4 and my Commander had a Heavy Bolter combi Plasma Gun and his Bionic Eye allowed him to reroll one dice each time he shot. With the Imperial Fists in Space Crusade it pays to play the heavy weapon marine game as they have the best equipment upgrades to allow this. The mission was to kill the TWO enemy Dreadnoughts. It's a very tricky mission as ontop of the full deck of blip tokens the alien player gets to use all the Ork and Gretchin reinforcement tokens and 1 dreadnought reinforcement (this is the second dreadnought for the objective).
Unlike Space Hulk the alien player places as many blip tokens as they wish down in each board quarter the first time a marine steps foot on it. This means you can play quite aggressively from the off but then you have a very short game! The alien player also gets to bring on 6 reinforcement tokens in the appropriate squares each turn. On this mission in particular you get swamped as the marine player. I failed to complete the primary objective sadly but I did manage to kill one of the Dreadnoughts.
This one learnt a lesson. Never walk into an Imperial Fist crossfire! The Dreadnought was wiped out in a hail of shooting after I played the Fire! order card allowing my guys to shoot twice. The Assault Cannon, Missile Launcher and Plasma Gun marines were still alive at this point along with the Commander with his Heavy Bolter/Plasma Gun. Sadly just after this point all of my son's reinforcement tokens ploughed into this board quarter and I was slowly picked off. A process that was sped up by 2 Genestealer cards coming up in a row meaning he got to place a Genestealer next to a marine each time and the Genestealers much like in Space Hulk make short work of Space Marines in close combat!
Anyway, just thought I'd share a little of the Space Crusade fun, especially as a lot of people are discovering the magic of Space Hulk and GW board games in general for the first time now. Seemed appropriate!
Oh and I will one day get around to painting my Space Crusade minis. No holding of breath on that one though!
Friday 4 September 2009
Thoughts on the Angels Exemplar.
I'm struggling at the moment with indecision. My son seems hell bent on his 40k army so need to think about my own. I have to say, I have a real temptation at the minute to go for a loyalist marine army. I don't know if it's the pending release of Space Hulk (oh and my copy is assured now after a brief few moments of panic!) and/or the fact that I've been playing Space Crusade with my son a bit more lately (probably a side effect of the pending Space Hulk release hehe). Something, though, is making me really want to start a loyalist Marine army.
The Angels Exemplar might be getting a complete fluff overhaul or I may well have changed my mind again by this evening. This is the problem with me and 40k. I'm far too indecisive. With Fantasy I never had this problem. I was an Undead player until they split them and then a Chaos player (I always favoured Warriors so I went along with that split!).
In 40k I've had small forces of Space Marines (Imperial Fists and Blood Angels) Chaos Space Marines (Emperor's Children and the current Angels Exemplar), Eldar, Dark Eldar, Tyrannids (including a very short lived Genestealer cult army), and Imperial Guard. I've never had a force of any real significance as I've always changed my mind after a short period of time. Need to make a decision and see it through so I can get back into 40k properly! If anyone has any comments, advice or even an army they'd like to see me try my hand at please let me know!
The Angels Exemplar might be getting a complete fluff overhaul or I may well have changed my mind again by this evening. This is the problem with me and 40k. I'm far too indecisive. With Fantasy I never had this problem. I was an Undead player until they split them and then a Chaos player (I always favoured Warriors so I went along with that split!).
In 40k I've had small forces of Space Marines (Imperial Fists and Blood Angels) Chaos Space Marines (Emperor's Children and the current Angels Exemplar), Eldar, Dark Eldar, Tyrannids (including a very short lived Genestealer cult army), and Imperial Guard. I've never had a force of any real significance as I've always changed my mind after a short period of time. Need to make a decision and see it through so I can get back into 40k properly! If anyone has any comments, advice or even an army they'd like to see me try my hand at please let me know!
Tuesday 1 September 2009
Noeste's Warriors of Slaanesh
Just for a change I'd like to direct peoples' attention to Noeste's blog.
He's just getting started on an already rather spiffing mono-Slaanesh army and of particular note are his beautiful female Marauders of Chaos converted from Daemonettes with a few bits from here there and everywhere and no small amount of green stuff to make them anatomically correct human females!
P.S. This is my 50th published post on my blog! Yay!
He's just getting started on an already rather spiffing mono-Slaanesh army and of particular note are his beautiful female Marauders of Chaos converted from Daemonettes with a few bits from here there and everywhere and no small amount of green stuff to make them anatomically correct human females!
P.S. This is my 50th published post on my blog! Yay!
Warhammer 40k Amongst Other Things
My son is getting started in the hobby and already has a few minis for his Orcs and Goblins but is now thinking of doing an Imperial Guard army for 40k, although this has changed to Orks, Tyrannids, Tau and then back to Guard about 5 times so far so not sure who he'll decide upon. If/when he does decided it will probably be the motivation I need to get cracking with my own 40k army - The Angels Exemplar. The only thing I'm wondering now though is whether to make them loyalist marines. Mostly rules wise. I love drop pods a huge part of Imperial Marines imagery and I love the idea of a Sikandar led Terminator force. I'm currently considering whether the upcoming Space Wolves codex might allow me the best of both worlds. A more barbaric form of Space Marines who still get access to all those cool things and I can convert the chaos minis and imperial minis to represent the Angels Exemplar who may become less a force dedicated to Chaos and more a force dedicated purely to the tyrannical and piratical nature of Sikandar.
I really like the idea that Sikandar having wrestled control of the chapter decides he's going to build his own empire of super-humans to rule over the weaker human race (Huron obviously a major inspiration here) and so begins to consolidate power as well as making raids on other chapters to steal their gene-seed banks to help strengthen his own armies and weaken his enemies. If the Space Wolves can still have the Wolf Guard (?) characters and unit leaders then this would also represent the nature of the Angels Exemplar now where a few marines are banded together under the might and strength of an exceptional marine and that's how they're squads are formed. Not sure, this is kind of a brain storm that I'm typing as I go!
Anyway, expecting to get Space Hulk in a few days and can't wait. My son and I play Space Crusade regularly and so Space Hulk will represent an exciting change of pace to that. I've not had a chance to teach him the game as I sadly don't have my own copy anymore so jumped at the chance to order this new one and the minis look awesome!
My son had a game of fantasy where he borrowed my WoC and played them as a mono-Nurgle force against Orcs and Goblins against another young lad that goes to my gaming club. Clearly the Warhammer Gods did not like this switch of allegiance and punished both my son and the minis. My son got absolutely thrashed in the end in part to some very unlucky dice rolling on his part and an obscene ability to roll 6s on demand almost from his opponent. The minis also took quite a bashing sadly when left in the care of a young boy so I have quite the fun gluing session ahead of me. The Marauder regiment seemed to suffer the worst amount of breakages but at least one of the chaos knights has pretty much disintegrated :s
He also had a game of 40k Space Marines vs. Tau against the same opponent. My son played Tau and lost but it was his first experience of 40k so he was always at a disadvantage, particularly with an army like Tau. Still he seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself and as I say I may have lost him to the grim darkness of the far future... ;)
I really like the idea that Sikandar having wrestled control of the chapter decides he's going to build his own empire of super-humans to rule over the weaker human race (Huron obviously a major inspiration here) and so begins to consolidate power as well as making raids on other chapters to steal their gene-seed banks to help strengthen his own armies and weaken his enemies. If the Space Wolves can still have the Wolf Guard (?) characters and unit leaders then this would also represent the nature of the Angels Exemplar now where a few marines are banded together under the might and strength of an exceptional marine and that's how they're squads are formed. Not sure, this is kind of a brain storm that I'm typing as I go!
Anyway, expecting to get Space Hulk in a few days and can't wait. My son and I play Space Crusade regularly and so Space Hulk will represent an exciting change of pace to that. I've not had a chance to teach him the game as I sadly don't have my own copy anymore so jumped at the chance to order this new one and the minis look awesome!
My son had a game of fantasy where he borrowed my WoC and played them as a mono-Nurgle force against Orcs and Goblins against another young lad that goes to my gaming club. Clearly the Warhammer Gods did not like this switch of allegiance and punished both my son and the minis. My son got absolutely thrashed in the end in part to some very unlucky dice rolling on his part and an obscene ability to roll 6s on demand almost from his opponent. The minis also took quite a bashing sadly when left in the care of a young boy so I have quite the fun gluing session ahead of me. The Marauder regiment seemed to suffer the worst amount of breakages but at least one of the chaos knights has pretty much disintegrated :s
He also had a game of 40k Space Marines vs. Tau against the same opponent. My son played Tau and lost but it was his first experience of 40k so he was always at a disadvantage, particularly with an army like Tau. Still he seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself and as I say I may have lost him to the grim darkness of the far future... ;)
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