Heralds Of The Storm - Some Early WIP Pics

I've really struggled to get anything done for these lately as I had been working evenings and with the kids evenings (once they're all settled into bed) are then only time I ever get to actually build or paint my minis generally. Luckily I've gotten on to the day shift at work now so I have my evenings back which means I have my hobby back!

Been playing in a fantasy campaign at my gaming club which starts out with 500pts armies and even that's a woeful unpainted mass of half-built proxy miniatures so I'm eager to try and get some of these guys done. I also really want to paint my first character to try and enter the COTEC painting competition but I'm going to be tight for time on that now I think so will have to see how it goes!

Some WIP Chaos warriors with halberds, got another 16 of these to build for this unit yet!

The character I'm working on - Tarkal Khagan - I really love the Harry The Hammer miniature and I was glad to get my hands on another one after converting him and using bits of him to make my BSB for the Devotees of Elazar way back when! Itching to try out the colour scheme for this army on him (or any mini for that matter!) so will hopefully get him started in the next couple of nights!

In the background you'll spot a load of great weapon wielding marauders. They're all mostly with the exception of the all need heads on their weapons as they're currently just running around with big sticks! Then with a bit of tidying up and some GS they'll be ready to paint!

Hopefully there'll not be anywhere near as long between updates this time and I'll have some more to show off soon!

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Heralds Of The Storm - Getting Started

First off, it's shocking that there's not been an update on The Glorious Works since June! A lot has happened in that time with a new baby and a new job so I'm only just now starting to get my hobby time back!
They say that everything goes around in a circle and so it seems as here I am starting a new Warriors of Chaos army. This one actually kind of follows on as the background ties in with the old Devotees of Elazar, and in particular with the Storm God narrative campaign that I wrote...
So first off some new fluff!

*

Rumpolt Staudinger panicked as he tripped over a rock underfoot. At one time he’d been weary of his drawn out existence but now suddenly faced with his potential mortality he found himself desperate to survive. The daemon Elazar had used him as a pawn and as a chronicler of all of the being’s nefarious deeds and to aid him in this task he’d extended and twisted the old man’s life out for a great many generations more than he should ever have seen. And now in hindsight he realised it had all been destined to lead to that one specific point in time. Elazar had sent Rumpolt into the north to a massive cleft in the earth at the foot of which The Storm God slumbered. An ancient Shaggoth, kin to those other names dreaded of their kind - Krakanrok The Black and Kholek Suneater. Aarakturious Stormfather had spent centuries in hibernation, awaiting the great storm that would summon him to war once more.
A being aflame with ambition Elazar The Glorified sought to summon the very storm that would awaken Aarakturious. Alongside a coven of sorcerers sworn to his service they channelled vast energies to birth vast black clouds that crackled with the pent up fury of the storm. The summoning destroyed the minds of the sorcerers and the chaos energies warped their forms into hideous mutated spawn but for a Daemon Prince of Elazar’s standing the energies were easy to bear with very little strain.
The terrible storm that followed was a thing of nightmares. Thunderclaps sounded and the world shook at their roars as if the sky was splintering overhead under such tremendous force. Hail and lightning lashed the land amidst such chaos the Storm God stirred. The Daemon Prince Elazar demanded fealty of the ancient Shaggoth and Aarakturious responded with a deafening roar that made the thunder overhead seem tame. The Shaggoth climbed from the cleft in which he’d slumbered to the cliff tops above. Again the Daemon Prince demanded the fealty of the Storm God and was in turn swatted aside with contemptuous ease. The tribes that surrounded the lands where the Storm God slumbered had built a temple to the sleeping behemoth and the chaos gods that he served and to this temple Aarakturious strode bathing in the lightning that now struck repeatedly at his titanic form.
His pride now a stinging wound in his daemonic heart, Elazar The Glorified soared to the temple built to honour Aarakturious and the ground shook as the two beings duelled amidst the great pillars risen by the tribes in tribute to their infernal patrons. The Chaos Gods watched the contest, the storm had drawn their attention but the combat that raged between Elazar and Aarakturious now held their gaze.
In Aarakturious Tzeentch saw the changes that would be wrought upon the world by his armies and he spied all the paths of fate leading to and from this moment plotting their course. Slaanesh bathed in the ancient pride of the Shaggoth and could already sense the great torrents of fear that would drown his foes. Nurgle sensed the despair in mortal hearts at the Storm God’s reawakening and knew that in their wake his armies would leave fields of carrion to be tended by flocks of crows and swarms of flies, each host to plagues and diseases beyond counting. Khorne could feel the endless rage of the storm, the infinite hatred of the dread Shaggoth and knew that towers of skulls would be heaped at the foot of his great brass throne in offering.
In that moment Aarakturious carried the blessing of each of the Ruinous Powers and Elazar felt only the scorn of his own beloved patron. With a ferocious strike Aarakturious destroyed the Daemon Prince’s physical form banishing him back to the realm of chaos. The storm overhead swelled with power as the chaos gods fed its power to herald the awakening of their new champion.
The Devotees of Elazar had borne witness as events unfolded before them, helpless to intercede as their beloved leader was destroyed. With a roar Aarakturious summoned his own followers to war and those tribes that had journeyed to witness the awakening of the Storm God descended upon the Devotees. But, for all the ferocity of the Astragar, Kavakh and Mulghar men it was the egos of the champions of the Devotees of Elazar that spelled their doom. Each keen to ascend in Elazar’s place they killed their own just as readily as the Storm God’s followers sought to slay them. Some such as Harkaitz made their stand and were cut down by the tide of tribesmen whilst others like Endika Fleshtearer fled to escape their doom.
Amidst the chaos Rumpolt Staudinger had thought he’d made good his escape until he glanced back and spotted the half-dozen riders dogging his steps. In an instant the fight was gone from him, he felt the years of his extraordinarily long life catching up with him all at once. Resigned to his fate he hobbled over to a rocky outcrop and sat himself down.
The riders sensed an end to their sport so quickly covered the ground between themselves and the old man. All six of them were Mulghar men. They were each frightful in their own way bearing slight mutations that marked them as servants of the dark gods but it was the man that rode at their head that scared Rumpolt. He wore a helm and armour on is right arm that seemed alive with the electricity of the storm that still raged overhead. Arcs of lightning played over its surface with an audible crackle but the man himself seemed not only unharmed but unfazed by them. On his chest a brand of a lightning bolt had been burnt into the skin, marking him as a servant of the ascendant Storm God. The man leapt down from his mount, a beast clearly touched by the warping energies of chaos, and then hoisted Rumpolt to his feet. He said something in his own tongue that Rumpolt didn’t understand and within seconds the other five men had leapt down from their steeds and began to bind spears together with twine. The man stood watching Rumpolt as the men in his thrall set busily to whatever task he had set them. His face was hidden behind his helm which he’d topped with the skull of some beast. Even without being able to see the man’s face though Rumpolt could feel the barely contained rage which seemed to charge the air around him, the fury of the storm above them seemed to echo in the heart of that man and Rumpolt felt only dread as he regarded him.
When the Mulghars had finished they had bound together dozens of spears in the image of the eight pointed star of chaos. Another shout from their leader saw the men grab Rumpolt and drag him struggling to the chaos star and bind him to it. Rumpolt alternated between howling in fear and pleading with the but if they understood his words the made no outward show of it. With two thick ropes they raised the start upright and into a hole they’d dug into the ground to plant it.
“The storm will decide your fate,” the armoured man said his voice iron as it sounded from behind his helm.
As the men mounted their horses and continued southwards riding ahead of the storm their leader glanced back over his shoulder and watched the lightning raking the ground around the chaos start they’d erected and then saw it catch light as another bolt struck it and it burst into flames, a fiery sigil of chaos against the black clouds that stretched back on the horizon. He thought he heard the old man’s agonised screams for a moment but the thunder drowned out the sound like cruel rumbling laughter.

*

This is going to be an Undivided Chaos force. The followers of the Storm God worship the four ruinous powers as well as the Storm God as the gods' chosen champion.

I was inspired by The Temple of Skulls shown in White Dwarf 381. My wargames club has just bought one so I painted it similarly so that there's now some themed terrain where I play all my games! Just need to build and paint the army now!

I've also put together some mock-ups of for my chaos ogres. I saw a great Ogre Kingdoms army using the Minotaurs somewhere on blogger. Their owner had sculpted pants etc to make them Ogre bulls but I figure the chaotic feral feel of the Minotaurs is perfect as is for some very raw looking Chaos Ogres.

The Rapturous Angels - Some WIP Pictures

A few WIP pictures of a few things I'm working on:
First up is Mithridates The Torturer my counts as Space Marine Captain on bike. Those who following the twitter feed - @gloriousworks - might have already seen him...

Still a lot to do to him but the greenstuff has been tidied up a great deal since and made to look like the join flexi-armour. Waiting on a few bits and pieces arriving so I can finish building him and start painting! For those who are interested some background on Mithridates and the Rapturous Angels in general can be found in the Index Astartes - Rapturous Angels post.

I've made a start on painting the first of my Land Speeders. Not much to see yet but most of the way done with the cockpit. Gives a chance to see a little of how the colour scheme will look although you'll have to use a bit of imagination as the picture is awful and the marines are missing something...

The cockpit is finished now so I can get on with painting (and building!) the rest of the Speeder so hopefully more updates on that soon.

Lastly is Pharnaces my counts as Librarian. Thought I'd put him together as something of an insurance policy for the Tale of Five 40k Gamers. An expensive character for if I have a bad month with very little painting time.

Still needs plenty of work and throws up some question marks over the colour scheme when you throw the robes into the mix!

Tale Of Five 40K Gamers

[Late] Mid-month update...

As we near the the deadline for the first month's target we caught up with the gamers to see how they are getting on so far. Some of the guys were also kind enough to each put together a trail army list for their respective armies, so that we can all keep an eye on how their lists evolve over the course of the project.

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James

Eldar

I managed to catch up with James on Sunday as he prepared to take on Steven's Dark Elder in a 1000 point game of 40k. By all accounts he hasn't started painting anything as of yet, but he has promised me that there will be a surprise in store for the readers come the day of the first deadline. I wonder what it is he has planned...

Regardless of what he has in store I took the opportunity to take some photographs of James in action, in a game that was pretty much won and lost in the first turn! Better luck next time, eh?

Though James' Eldar got a right hammering, he still managed to die with a smile on his face!

HQ:

Maugan Ra's Council of Death:
Maugan Ra: 195 pts.
Farseer: spirit stones, Doom, Eldritch storm, Mind War: 140 pts.
10 Warlocks, 4 x Destructor, Embolden, Enhance, 4 singing spears: 310 pts.

Troops:
5 Pathfinders: 120 pts.
10 Dire Avengers: Exarch, Bladestorm, Defend, power weapon + shimmershield: 177.

Elites:
8 Striking scorpions: Exarch, Scorpions Claw, Shadowstrike: 175 pts.
6 Howling Banshees: Exarch, Exacutioner, Warshout, Acrobatics: 128 pts.
6 Fire Dragons: Exarch, Firepike, Tank hunters: 131 pts.

Heavy Support:
5 Dark Reapers: Exarch, Tempest launcher, Fast Shot: 217 pts.
Wraithlord: Brightlance, Wraithsword: 140 pts.

Total: 1733 points


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Elazar

Rapturous Angels

JT: "You've not yet started painting any models, James, but do you think you'll manage turn it around in time?

JM: "I think so. Not started painting yet but I know exactly what I'm doing this month. I'll hopefully be able to get to work on things come the weekend, in the meantime I have this lot staring at me begging for my attention. Or perhaps it's me staring at them begging to play with my new toys!".

You can almost hear them calling to be played with...

JT:" You mentioned that you'd been messing round with some different paint schemes, have you actually settled on one yet or is it still up in the air at the moment?"

JM: "I have. Well I've settled on two. I can't plan out Space Marines without wanting to hark back to the imagery of them that brought me into the hobby. The likes of the Space Crusade cover art and it's always stuck in my mind how cool the captain in the white power armour looked amidst the red armoured Blood Angels under his command. So I wanted to do something similar. All the characters, champions, veterans etc. in the army will have an inverted colour scheme to the 'rank & file' marines. It'll hopefully create a nice contrast but still maintain a unified look across the army."

Rapturous Angels Champion & Marine Armour

JT: "On the other hand, though, you have managed to put together some really cool background for your army [which the readers can check out below!]. I get the sense that the 'fluff' is just as integral a part of the army building process as the painting or building is, am I correct?

JM: For me it definitely is. Without the fluff it's all a bit soulless. The fluff is what makes it all go together, it provides the ideas for putting the mini together and for painting it and to an extent for the composition of the army and how it plays! Certainly I think I'd really struggle to build, paint or play an army if I didn't have a background for it. It'd just be plastic!"

*************************************

Origins

The Rapturous Angels are a motley crew of renegades and degenerates. Some have been Chaos Space Marines for all of their cursed existence and others betrayed their former battle-brothers to join the warband. Some were created into their service and others were recruited from amongst their defeated foes. The core of the warband, and indeed their leader are traitors, previously of the Angels Exemplar chapter. After they turned against their own they fled with their leader, Mithridates The Torturer, into the Eye of Terror. His cadre of supporters formed the foundations of the Rapturous Angels, their souls already lost to Slaanesh, they attracted like-minded individuals amongst the heathens calling the Eye of Terror their home. There is a high prevalence of combat drug usage amongst their members, presumably orchestrated by Mithridates, drawing upon his experience as a former Chief Apothecary. Occasionally the Rapturous Angels recruit candidates to create new marines. The gene-seed they use is harvested from enemies and fallen comrades alike and the vast majority of it is very unstable, in part because of the rampant warp energies it is subjected to. Mixed with the warband's tendencies towards the overuse of combat stimulants and narcotics they create psychopathic mutants at best, the taint of chaos running through them. All those in the warband though share their addiction to combat stimulants and an increasingly devoted worship of Slaanesh.

The Betrayal

Mithridates The Torturer delights in inflicting excruciating torment upon his victims even more than he enjoys inflicting it upon himself but it had not always been so. He has long since lost interest in preserving lives but he was once Chief-Apothecary Mithridates of The Angels Exemplar.

He had risen through the ranks to become master of the Apothercarian through dedication to his work and to his Chapter. His speciality had always been in the field of combat drugs and he devoted an age to study and experimentation aiming to create perfect combat stimulants that amplified the already impressive traits of the Space Marines without any of the negative side-effects commonly associated with their use. Chapter Master Xiphares allowed for Mithridates to test his various concoctions on the fatally wounded that he treated so that he could better document his progress. (Xiphares name has since been stricken from the records of The Angels Exemplar, his treachery in allowing the possible contamination of the chapter's precious gene-seed and, indeed, allowing Mithridates' heresy to take root have made him a shame upon their brotherhood). When Chapter Master Xiphares was slain in battle and Chapter Master Polemon took on his mantle, he saw the successive failures of Mithridates in his endeavour as good reason to redirect the Apothecarions energies into other matters. He also took a dim view on his predecessor's controversial decision to allow testing on battle brothers whose gene-seed had not yet been harvested. Mithridates though had dedicated himself to his trials and believed he was close to the answers he sought so he continued to experiment. With no further access to test subjects he began the insane practice of experimenting upon himself, injecting numerous amounts of his creations into his bloodstream. This birthed an addiction to stimulants which in turn attracted the attention of the chaos god Slaanesh.

Slaanesh whispered to the Apothecary, promising that he'd give him the formula he sought if he offered up his soul in exchange. Still relatively sound of mind Mithridates declined the chaos god's offer and whispered prayers to the Emperor of Mankind to safeguard his soul. So Slaanesh turned his gaze elsewhere. Desperate to find the answer himself Mithridates began adding all manner of strange substances to his creations. Over time few of them were added to improve the effectiveness of the mixtures but more so to satisfy his addiction to stimulants. He began field-testing his experiments and it was not long before his brothers in arms quietly remarked on the visible improvement in his martial abilities, his impetuousness and need to be in the fray. He regularly took to the field on a bike so that he could quicker meet the foe in battle. The rush of combat a stimulant in its own right. From then on, when his brothers fell in battle, he would attend them using chemicals and substances, often of his own creation, to either mend their wounds or dull their minds to them. They were seemingly all highly addictive in their nature as Mithridates rapidly developed a core of supporters, dependants who required the continued survival of the Apothecary so that he could manufacture and provide their next fix of stimulants! These devotees ride with Mithridates to this day but their tastes have long since moved on from just mere combat drugs.

As Mithridates descended further into his addiction and created a vast list of crimes to which he would one day have to be held accountable for. Slaanesh spoke to him once again. Again, dark whispers promised to tell him the secret he longed to know. This time Mithridates relented, his soul seemed a small price for such a potent chemical, something that would reawaken his drug-dulled senses once more. In a possessed state he manufactured a single dose of the chemical and, desperate to feel its effects, injected it into his system. His senses were magnified far beyond the super-human level they already operated at, his body manufactured adrenalin to extreme levels, his strength was multiplied and his muscles worked his frame at a blistering pace that no mortal could ever hope to match. Although potent beyond what Mithridates could have hoped for it was short lived and all that it had brought had been wasted in the gloom of his study within the Apothercarion. He tried to manufacture a second dose but he had no recollection of what ingredients he'd used or their quantities. He beseeched the Dark Prince for the formula once more. Slaanesh agreed to allow Mithridates to manufacture another dose but only in exchange for a gift of one hundred souls. So it was that Mithridates' fall was complete. He barely considered his actions such was his need for the drug. He summoned those loyal to him to the Apothercarion in secret and then revealed his treachery. Promising the souls of all those on board the company's Strike Cruiser to Slaanesh, he released a neurotoxin into the the Aeration Systems. The neurotoxin was a side product of a failed experiment of his that had led to a separate more deadly use for the chemicals he created. Even the advanced physiology of a Space Marine couldn't fend off the affects of the neurotoxin without aid. His battle-brothers died in droves as the toxin attacked their nervous system causing violent convulsions until asphyxiation killed them. The advanced systems within marine power armour easily warded off the toxin but so few of the marines on board the strike cruiser donned their armour whilst in transit. Mithridates and his followers wore theirs and they were easily able to mop up those that survived the toxin amidst the confusion. Only those that swore their souls in service to Slaanesh were spared from death. Slaanesh held his end of the bargain and Mithridates was able to manufacture another dose of the chemical he craved. He enjoyed its powerful effects as his followers set the strike cruiser on a course for the Eye of Terror, fleeing the violent retribution they knew would follow them otherwise.

Since that day Slaanesh has strung Mithridates along, demanding exponentially greater numbers sacrificed in his name for each new dose. Mithridates' mind is now completely broken by his addiction. Now he is a creature devoted to achieving new levels of stimulation, ever injecting himself with stimulatns and toxins for the sensations they inflict on him. As his altered physique adapts to the poisons he increases the dosage or creates new ones. He now though finds an even greater joy in sharing these toxins with his victims.

Organisation

The Rapturous Angels organise themselves into packs. The strongest of their number championing and leading these packs into battle. The packs are always 6 bikes strong in tribute to the Dark Prince. Many of them count an attack bike as one of their number and the position of gunner on these often given to the weakest of their number as punishment, denying them the right to ride their own bike to war. Their bitterness makes them cruel beyond compare and ironically makes them the perfect candidates to wield the devastating weaponry at their fingertips.

Leading the packs to war will be Mithridates The Torturer, often with his own entourage of former Angels Exemplar veterans, those that turned with him. Mithridates has any number of lieutenants eager to lead in his absence but it is indeed very rare for him not to be drawn out by the sound of war and the scent of fear. The warband's Land Speeders, in theory, form their own separate pack but such is the headstrong nature of their pilots that any organisation is quickly abandoned upon contact with the enemy.

Combat Doctrine

The Rapturous Angels almost exclusively conduct warfare from the saddles of their bikes. So lost are they to sensation and excess, that even the cacophony of emotions, sights and sounds that is war carries a limited thrill for them. When conducted at breakneck speeds and as a disorienting dance of death it can still hold some appeal. The use of combat drugs to enhance all of this is a common trait amongst the heathens that make up their number. Exponents of hit and run warfare, they work to confuse and overwhelm their foe. They love nothing more than the panic their attacks breed amongst their foes and often avoid the "quick kill" tactics employed by many imperial commanders, preferring to extend their prey's agony for as long as possible. Letting the anticipation reach fever pitch or allowing fear and stress to overthrow reason so that their foes turn upon their own in their terror. Occasionally this tactic fails and their actions only strengthen the resolve of their enemies. To the Rapturous Angels though this is of little consequence. Pain and death are new experiences to be explored to their fullest just as much as the infliction of them should be.

One thing that sets the Rapturous Angels apart from many renegade warbands is their continued use of Land Speeders. Normally these machines require far too much maintenance to be practical for the disjointed bands within the Eye of Terror. The Rapturous Angels take great pride in keeping a wing of these fast vehicles operational. Entire campaigns have been fought for resources so that this can remain the case. A team of Techmarines and adepts of the Dark Mechanicum take care of the Land Speeders. The most advanced practitioners of daemon-technology sought to attach themselves to the Rapturous Angels for the chance to work with technology so rarely seen within The Eye. This has made many warbands envious and more than once have attempts to steal these Land Speeders been fought off. The pilots of these craft are obsessed by their vessels and are amongst the most unhinged members of the warband. Perhaps the greatest risk to the survival of the warband's Land Speeders though are these pilots themselves. The combat drug addled, thrill-seeking maniacs are reckless beyond measure, initiating suicide dives and lightning attacks with equal fervour and constantly striving to push themselves and their craft to the limit. It is not unknown for these pilots to fly their craft straight through enemy formations, firing their deadly weaponry at point blank range and engaging foes in hand to hand combat from their cockpit before accelerating away through them, howling with maddened glee all the while!

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Buzz

Grey Knights

JT: "I hear you've gotten off to a really good start with your painting, what have you done so far?"

LH: “So far I've painted five Terminators and Castelan Crowe, although I still have work to do on their bases. For my first months entry, however, I've just finished painting a Stormraven.

Buzz works hard trying to complete his challenge of 250 points of painted models

HQ:
Librarian: Nemisis Warding Stave, x2 Servo Skulls, Quicksilver, Might of Titan, Summoning, Sanctuary: 215 pts.

TROOPS:
5 Terminators: Daemon Hammer, Incinerator: 205 pts.
10 Strike marines: Psycannon, Incinerator, x6 Halberds: 260 pts.
10 Strike marines. Psycannon, Psilencer, x6 Halberds, Thunder Hammer: 250 pts.

FAST ATTACK:
Stormraven: Twin-Linked Bolter Side Sponsons, Multi-Melta, Twin-Linked Assault Cannon, Mindstrike Missles: 235 pts.

HEAVY SUPPORT:
Dreadknight Nemisis Daemon Hammer, Heavy Incinerator, Gatling Psilencer: 205 pts.
Dreadnought: Assault Cannon, Psybolt Ammunition: 130 pts.

Total: 1500 points.

JT: "Tell us little bit about your trail army list, do you you think it's working for you or not?"

LH: “Not at all. I just can't seem to get enough troops! When I include a standard amount of troop choices I find it very difficult to fit much else into the list. It looks like I'm going to have to design a list that is purely for fun or just full of craziness!”

JT: "Do you think you'll have much to chop and change before you know whether or not the list is right for you?

LH: “ Well, I've been playing around with no less than eleven different lists. So I'm absolutely, positively sure there will be changing plenty adjustments made to the list as the project wears on.

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John

Raven Guard

JM: "So, you'll be painting a lot of black for this project. It's often seen as a difficult colour to get right and people have many different tricks they use to make it work. Care to share your method?"

JT: "It's actually really simple! It's maybe slightly more unusual compared to the way some people might do it, but I personally like the effect. I first started with a base coat of Chaos Black, which was then highlighted with 1:1 mix of Chaos Black and Shadow Grey. I then highlighted the armour twice more, each time adding a a little more Shadow Grey into the mix. After that I carefully painted a watered down mix of Macharius Solar Orange and Dark flesh into the recesses of the armour. Finally, I gave the armour a light wash using Badab black. What's more, though, it seems to capture the worn, earthy look that I envision the Raven Guard to have when they're at war."

John's first Assault Squad ready almost ready for action

JM: Codex Space Marine chapters can sometimes be quite similar, do you have any plans for this one to really put your own mark on it?

JT: "When you take a chapter-specific character in your army it automatically gains additional abilities that you wouldn't normally benefit from using a standard HQ choice from the codex. So, I suppose the inclusion of Shrike will alter the dynamics of the army in way that will allow me to play slightly differently from other players who use Space Marines at the club. I've also chosen units that will be tasked with carrying out specific roles on the battlefield - in keeping the 'fluff' wherever possible - so, again, that will also determine how my force operates as a whole."

JM: In the past we saw a nice snippet of 'fluff' you posted for your Raven Guard after an encounter with Khornate Daemons. Can we expect to see some more of this as you build the army up?

JT: "Yeah, I think that might be doable. But I think It'll be based solely on key or epic moments that take place in my games."

Now get their bases finished!

JM: "Will we be seeing a Raven Guard conversion similar to the artwork you chose to represent your army for the Tale?"

JT: "Probably not. Although I do fancy kitting up some of the Sargents with lightning claws. But, of course, getting hold of them is like trying to find hen's teeth!"

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Kelly

JT: "You've completed your first challenge without any problem. What do you have in store for us next month?"

KW: "Next month I hope to have another squad of Kabalite Warriors ready along with a squad of Reaver Jetbikes, I haven't tallied up the points of these two squads yet, but if I'm short of the 250 points mark I could add a Raider which I have already built and base coated."

A squad of menacing Kabalite Warrors ready to do battle!

Lelith Hesperax

JT: "Games Workshop have just released yet another wave of Dark Eldar figures; what are you looking to include in your army?"

KW: "I've already purchased a Razorwing from the new collection of figures but I'd really like to include some Wracks as an Elite choice later on. I've used them before and they can be very useful if you can get into close combat straight away."

Kelly smiles for the camera whilst preparing some of her models for the Tale...

JT: “Recently you played your first game of 40k for a while, how did it go?”

KW: "It went a lot better than I anticipated to be honest. Admittedly, it was played at home against my son and I had requested that he use some Terminators in his army list, which ate up a considerable amount of points on his part. I did this because if, and when, I do come up against Grey Knights they have terminator armour as standard. It was a Capture and Control game which I won because I managed to eliminate the troops that could hold the Objectives, but to be fare I did very little damage to the Terminators."

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Index Astartes - The Rapturous Angels

 

Origins

The Rapturous Angels are a motley crew of renegades and degenerates. Some have been Chaos Space Marines for all of their cursed existence and others betrayed their former battle-brothers to join the warband. Some were created into their service and others were recruited from amongst their defeated foes. The core of the warband, and indeed their leader are traitors, previously of the Angels Exemplar chapter. After they turned against their own they fled with their leader, Mithridates The Torturer, into the Eye of Terror. His cadre of supporters formed the foundations of the Rapturous Angels, their souls already lost to Slaanesh, they attracted like-minded individuals amongst the heathens calling the Eye of Terror their home. There is a high prevalence of combat drug usage amongst their members, presumably orchestrated by Mithridates, drawing upon his experience as a former Chief Apothecary. Occasionally the Rapturous Angels recruit candidates to create new marines. The gene-seed they use is harvested from enemies and fallen comrades alike and the vast majority of it is very unstable, in part because of the rampant warp energies it is subjected to. Mixed with the warband's tendencies towards the overuse of combat stimulants and narcotics they create psychopathic mutants at best, the taint of chaos running through them. All those in the warband though share their addiction to combat stimulants and an increasingly devoted worship of Slaanesh.

The Betrayal

Mithridates The Torturer delights in inflicting excruciating torment upon his victims even more than he enjoys inflicting it upon himself but it had not always been so. He has long since lost interest in preserving lives but he was once Chief-Apothecary Mithridates of The Angels Exemplar.

He had risen through the ranks to become master of the Apothercarian through dedication to his work and to his Chapter. His speciality had always been in the field of combat drugs and he devoted an age to study and experimentation aiming to create perfect combat stimulants that amplified the already impressive traits of the Space Marines without any of the negative side-effects commonly associated with their use. Chapter Master Xiphares allowed for Mithridates to test his various concoctions on the fatally wounded that he treated so that he could better document his progress. (Xiphares name has since been stricken from the records of The Angels Exemplar, his treachery in allowing the possible contamination of the chapter's precious gene-seed and, indeed, allowing Mithridates' heresy to take root have made him a shame upon their brotherhood). When Chapter Master Xiphares was slain in battle and Chapter Master Polemon took on his mantle, he saw the successive failures of Mithridates in his endeavour as good reason to redirect the Apothecarions energies into other matters. He also took a dim view on his predecessor's controversial decision to allow testing on battle brothers whose gene-seed had not yet been harvested. Mithridates though had dedicated himself to his trials and believed he was close to the answers he sought so he continued to experiment. With no further access to test subjects he began the insane practice of experimenting upon himself, injecting numerous amounts of his creations into his bloodstream. This birthed an addiction to stimulants which in turn attracted the attention of the chaos god Slaanesh.

Slaanesh whispered to the Apothecary, promising that he'd give him the formula he sought if he offered up his soul in exchange. Still relatively sound of mind Mithridates declined the chaos god's offer and whispered prayers to the Emperor of Mankind to safeguard his soul. So Slaanesh turned his gaze elsewhere. Desperate to find the answer himself Mithridates began adding all manner of strange substances to his creations. Over time few of them were added to improve the effectiveness of the mixtures but more so to satisfy his addiction to stimulants. He began field-testing his experiments and it was not long before his brothers in arms quietly remarked on the visible improvement in his martial abilities, his impetuousness and need to be in the fray. He regularly took to the field on a bike so that he could quicker meet the foe in battle. The rush of combat a stimulant in its own right. From then on, when his brothers fell in battle, he would attend them using chemicals and substances, often of his own creation, to either mend their wounds or dull their minds to them. They were seemingly all highly addictive in their nature as Mithridates rapidly developed a core of supporters, dependants who required the continued survival of the Apothecary so that he could manufacture and provide their next fix of stimulants! These devotees ride with Mithridates to this day but their tastes have long since moved on from just mere combat drugs.

As Mithridates descended further into his addiction and created a vast list of crimes to which he would one day have to be held accountable for. Slaanesh spoke to him once again. Again, dark whispers promised to tell him the secret he longed to know. This time Mithridates relented, his soul seemed a small price for such a potent chemical, something that would reawaken his drug-dulled senses once more. In a possessed state he manufactured a single dose of the chemical and, desperate to feel its effects, injected it into his system. His senses were magnified far beyond the super-human level they already operated at, his body manufactured adrenalin to extreme levels, his strength was multiplied and his muscles worked his frame at a blistering pace that no mortal could ever hope to match. Although potent beyond what Mithridates could have hoped for it was short lived and all that it had brought had been wasted in the gloom of his study within the Apothercarion. He tried to manufacture a second dose but he had no recollection of what ingredients he'd used or their quantities. He beseeched the Dark Prince for the formula once more. Slaanesh agreed to allow Mithridates to manufacture another dose but only in exchange for a gift of one hundred souls. So it was that Mithridates' fall was complete. He barely considered his actions such was his need for the drug. He summoned those loyal to him to the Apothercarion in secret and then revealed his treachery. Promising the souls of all those on board the company's Strike Cruiser to Slaanesh, he released a neurotoxin into the the Aeration Systems. The neurotoxin was a side product of a failed experiment of his that had led to a separate more deadly use for the chemicals he created. Even the advanced physiology of a Space Marine couldn't fend off the affects of the neurotoxin without aid. His battle-brothers died in droves as the toxin attacked their nervous system causing violent convulsions until asphyxiation killed them. The advanced systems within marine power armour easily warded off the toxin but so few of the marines on board the strike cruiser donned their armour whilst in transit. Mithridates and his followers wore theirs and they were easily able to mop up those that survived the toxin amidst the confusion. Only those that swore their souls in service to Slaanesh were spared from death. Slaanesh held his end of the bargain and Mithridates was able to manufacture another dose of the chemical he craved. He enjoyed its powerful effects as his followers set the strike cruiser on a course for the Eye of Terror, fleeing the violent retribution they knew would follow them otherwise.

Since that day Slaanesh has strung Mithridates along, demanding exponentially greater numbers sacrificed in his name for each new dose. Mithridates' mind is now completely broken by his addiction. Now he is a creature devoted to achieving new levels of stimulation, ever injecting himself with stimulatns and toxins for the sensations they inflict on him. As his altered physique adapts to the poisons he increases the dosage or creates new ones. He now though finds an even greater joy in sharing these toxins with his victims.

Rapturous Angels Marine

Organisation

The Rapturous Angels organise themselves into packs. The strongest of their number championing and leading these packs into battle. The packs are always 6 bikes strong in tribute to the Dark Prince. Many of them count an attack bike as one of their number and the position of gunner on these often given to the weakest of their number as punishment, denying them the right to ride their own bike to war. Their bitterness makes them cruel beyond compare and ironically makes them the perfect candidates to wield the devastating weaponry at their fingertips.

Leading the packs to war will be Mithridates The Torturer, often with his own entourage of former Angels Exemplar veterans, those that turned with him. Mithridates has any number of lieutenants eager to lead in his absence but it is indeed very rare for him not to be drawn out by the sound of war and the scent of fear. The warband's Land Speeders, in theory, form their own separate pack but such is the headstrong nature of their pilots that any organisation is quickly abandoned upon contact with the enemy.

Rapturous Angels Champion

Combat Doctrine

The Rapturous Angels almost exclusively conduct warfare from the saddles of their bikes. So lost are they to sensation and excess, that even the cacophony of emotions, sights and sounds that is war carries a limited thrill for them. When conducted at breakneck speeds and as a disorienting dance of death it can still hold some appeal. The use of combat drugs to enhance all of this is a common trait amongst the heathens that make up their number. Exponents of hit and run warfare, they work to confuse and overwhelm their foe. They love nothing more than the panic their attacks breed amongst their foes and often avoid the "quick kill" tactics employed by many imperial commanders, preferring to extend their prey's agony for as long as possible. Letting the anticipation reach fever pitch or allowing fear and stress to overthrow reason so that their foes turn upon their own in their terror. Occasionally this tactic fails and their actions only strengthen the resolve of their enemies. To the Rapturous Angels though this is of little consequence. Pain and death are new experiences to be explored to their fullest just as much as the infliction of them should be.

One thing that sets the Rapturous Angels apart from many renegade warbands is their continued use of Land Speeders. Normally these machines require far too much maintenance to be practical for the disjointed bands within the Eye of Terror. The Rapturous Angels take great pride in keeping a wing of these fast vehicles operational. Entire campaigns have been fought for resources so that this can remain the case. A team of Techmarines and adepts of the Dark Mechanicum take care of the Land Speeders. The most advanced practitioners of daemon-technology sought to attach themselves to the Rapturous Angels for the chance to work with technology so rarely seen within The Eye. This has made many warbands envious and more than once have attempts to steal these Land Speeders been fought off. The pilots of these craft are obsessed by their vessels and are amongst the most unhinged members of the warband. Perhaps the greatest risk to the survival of the warband's Land Speeders though are these pilots themselves. The combat drug addled, thrill-seeking maniacs are reckless beyond measure, initiating suicide dives and lightning attacks with equal fervour and constantly striving to push themselves and their craft to the limit. It is not unknown for these pilots to fly their craft straight through enemy formations, firing their deadly weaponry at point blank range and engaging foes in hand to hand combat from their cockpit before accelerating away through them, howling with maddened glee all the while!

Mardumesh Painweaver - Finished...

 

 And up on ebay!

Mardumesh Painweaver - More WIP Pics #1

Not had a great deal of time the last few days but I've gotten the next layer of the flesh done.

It'll need another glaze or three then I'll start on the highlights but in between I'll probably sort the mouth, the chaos mark on the chest and all of the little spiders crawling about. Then once all the flesh is done it's onto the carapace/exoskeleton/thing which will be a terribly slow process to basecoat but after that it should be smooth sailing! Sounds so simple like that..

Mardumesh Painweaver - Fleshy Basecoat

So, Mardumesh didn't sell unpainted. He seemed to generate plenty of interest but as he's still here it only seems right that he gets some paintbrush loving whilst I wait to get the stuff for my new army!

Just the basecoat for the flesh done with a couple of glazes of purple. I'm trying something different with him and there's going to be some purple in every colour on the mini to define the shading. If it works it will hopefully add a very subtle colour theme to the whole mini and hopefully set the mood of it. Lots still to do, there's to be quite a climb in the flesh colour all the way up to the highlights so plenty of chances for WIP pics as I go along!

The Tale Of Five 40k Gamers - The Rapturous Angels

++++++++ Interrogation Transcript +++++++++++ 

Subject: Lieutenant Thaddius - 3rd Jakoban Heavy Dragoons.

Interrogation By: Brother-Chaplain Rosam - Angels Exemplar Astartes
 843 M.41

The assault came out of nowhere! Our scanners picked up nothing until they were right on top of us. Their first charge had won the battle for them before we’d even known we had a battle on our hands! Their full strength drove a wedge right through the centre of our formations and then they circled us bombarding us with bolter fire. I’m death in this ear - the boltguns, the roar of the engines and the shrieks and howls… then just as quickly as they’d attacked us they were gone. There was no restoring order though, the vox gave us contradictory instructions and the men fell into a blind panic. Laughter carried on the air. It was still, too still, like the world waited with bated breath. Waited to unleash the slaughter again. Then they struck again, the only warning was the fury of their engines. Men were cut down left and right by bolter fire and by reckless hit and run charges. They had us then, the men were terrified and beaten but again they retreated leaving us milling about in confusion. They broadcast their shrieks of ecstasy and insane laughter over the vox. They were toying with us and they were savouring the chaos they were causing. When I heard the volley of lasgun shots I assumed they must be hitting us again and we were at least putting up a fight but I quickly realised that the regiment was turning on itself. One platoon had turned on a Commissar after he executed their Lieutenant and then it all collapsed around us and we made a break for it. If we’d have stayed we’d have been torn apart by them or by the men we’d fought alongside for years. I didn’t fancy either of those options! They picked us off as we fled though. They picked their shots to slow us down and toy with us. Some were taken alive Emperor help them! I hope their deaths were quick but from the screams they continued to send to over the vox tell me I’m wrong… they’ll always haunt me…

++++++++ Annotation ++++++++

Author: Brother-Chaplain Rosam - Angels Exemplar Astartes

Nothing of any worth gained from interrogation. Thaddius executed for cowardice.
I will continue the pursuit of the traitor, Mithridates so that he can be brought to justice.

++++++++ Thought Of The Day ++++++++

Despise the weak for they shall flock to the call of the Daemon and the Renegade. Pity them not and scorn their cries of innocence - it is better that one hundred innocently fall before the wrath of the Emperor than one kneels before the Daemon.

A bit of fluff as a teaser.

Also, colour scheme ideas:

 Not 100% on this one yet but I have time to decide. The transition from pink to black won't be as clear that, I'm thinking it'll be more like forked tongues of pink 'flames' if that makes sense. The Space Marine Painter doesn't let you do anything too fancy but it shows the contrast I'm thinking of (borrows a lot from GW's Emporer's Children scheme. There probably won't be so much gold on most of them as the 'rank and file' will be using the loyalist marine legs but to be honest I'm tempted to use them on all of them as they're better for painting the pattern I want. The current favourite alternative is the same idea but with white instead of black and purple instead of the pink but I think the black and pink will win out.

At the minute I don't have any minis to be getting on with, so instead I've found other things to paint for the army. My first WIP picture on here then.

Bought the templates the other week as I figured they'd be fun to paint to match my army. It's actually been quite relaxing to work on...