Helsreach

By

On 1st July 2021

In Book Reviews

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Black Library Masterworks book Helsreach by Aaron Dembski-Bowden published by Black Library, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first, I am also friends with Aaron on Facebook, but I suspect that’s more about him connecting with fans rather than being a big fan of mine!

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

What is Warhammer 40,000

Warhammer 40,000 is a miniatures Wargame set in the 41st Millennium and published by Games Workshop. It is the worlds most popular miniature Wargame.

In the 40k universe, the Imperium of Man, a stagnant human empire in which scientific and cultural progress have ceased, individuals matter very little and exist only to oil the machines of war.

The Imperium is under siege from the forces of Chaos, and various Xenos races.

The setting owes a lot to the influence of Lovecraft, Tolkien, Milton, Herbert and a lot of 2000 AD with a sprinkling of 1980s political satire.

It’s a setting in which there is little hope and is often described as being Grimdark after the marketing line, in the Grim Darkness of the Future, There Is Only War.

The Story

This story is set during the third war for Armageddon and focuses on as the title implies, the Siege of Helsreach.

The Third War for Armageddon saw this cursed world, invaded by Orks lead by the Beast, Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka (an example of some of Games Workshops 1980s satire).

Helsreach is an important port and promethium refinery on the Tempest Sea, and is defended by forces of the Armageddon Steel Legion, the titans of Legio Invigilata, sisters of the Order of the Argent Shroud and a small force of Black Templars lead by newly promoted Reclusiarch Merek Grimaldus.

This story explores the events that lead to Grimaldus attaining the tile of Hero of Helsreach, as originally told in Codex: Armageddon back in the days of 3rd Edition in 2000.

The story is told from multiple points of view, not only Grimaldus, but also includes Zarha Mancion the Crone of Invigilata, and possibly one of the funniest and most charming characters in all of 40k, Andrej Valatok.

The story is one of defiance in the face of hopeless odds, the characters all know they will lose, they questions is how long can they last before they succumb to the endless stampede of the Orks. As plots go, it’s pretty straightforward.

Conclusion

Helsreach is a masterpiece, and I am going to be honest, I am a huge fan of Aaron, he is able to conjure up an emotional response from a book whose main focus is on Dakka.

The book was originally published under the Space Marines Battles banner, books who generally were considered to be Bolter Porn, but in reality they were often a lot more than that. This book, the second in the series, very much set the standard of being action based books, that could be well written and emotionally evocative.

There is an interaction at the end of the book, which will make you weep for the character, it’s honestly one of the best written character arcs in all of Black Library fiction, despite it being relatively short.

If you have previously dismissed fiction as action books for teenage boys, I would strongly suggest you give this novel a read, ok you need a little bit of background to 40K to understand some stuff, but only a very surface level amount, but it’s well worth a read.

Seriously Aaron has yet to write a bad book, this was only his second Black Library novels and there is a very good reason he is considered one of the greatest writers ever signed up by Games Workshop.

5 out of 5 Stars

Helsreach is available now as an eBook, MP3 Audiobook and Hardback as a Masterworks.

eBook

Audiobook

Hardback

Resolution Update

By

On 1st July 2021

In Blog

This month I got up to 778 painted models, and even unveiled my secret Iron Warriors project.

So how do my New Years resolutions stand?

Paint 2000 Points of Necrons for Warhammer 40,000 – 87.5% Complete

This month I got painted a unit of immortals with Guass Blasters and a some Lychguard with Hyperphase Swords and Dispersion Shields.

As well as two Crypteks

With the changes to points for 40K via Chapter Approved, I have had to update my list slightly.

Paint 2000 Points of Flesh-Eater Courts for Warhammer Age of Sigmar – 38.5%

This month I painted a 20 Ghoul unit of Crypt-Ghouls to add to the army.

Of course numbers here are going to change due to the new edition of the game coming out in a few days time.

Bring My Mechanicum to 3000 Points for Horus Heresy, Including The Warhound Titan – 37.99% Complete

I have added to the army this month four Castellax to the army, two armed with Mauler Bolt Cannons and two with Darkfire Cannons.

I also added a Vultarax as well, to give the force some air support.

Paint Blackstone Fortress And It’s Expansions – 11.25% Complete 

I started this resolution this month by building the Explorers from the Core game and Escalation, as well as the Chaos Space Marines and Obsidius Mallex.

Completed Resolutions 

  • Paint the Scourge for Dropfleet Commander
  • Paint 1000 Points of Early War Germans for Bolt Action

So what’s my list look like going into next month?

  1. Zone Mortalis Terrain
  2. Niki’s Death Korps of Krieg
  3. Stormcast Eternals Evocators on Celestial Dracolines x 6 & Lord Arcanum on Celestial Dracoline
  4. Custodes Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought, Telemon Dreadnought & Contemptor-Aquilius
  5. Flesh-Eater Courts Crypt Flayers x 3
  6. Stormcast Eternals Judicators with Boltstorm Crossbows x 10
  7. Necron Canoptek Wraiths x 6
  8. Nighthaunt Grimghast Reapers x 5 & Garkorr
  9. Blackstone Fortress Beastmen x 6
  10. Sylas Beastbane, Leena Stormspire & Berek the Indomitable

A Need To Focus

By

On 28th June 2021

In Blog

I am out of whack, I am once again left without focus in life.

I won’t lie, Lindsay moving back to the studio has majority thrown me off balance just as I had things figured out and a proper schedule going on.

I love her being back in there, but I cannot deny it’s thrown me a lot. but I absolutely wouldn’t change the situation for the world.

So to try and refocus myself this next month, I am going to try and stream for at least an hour a day, starting tomorrow.

I have to get back into the swing of things and this is the way I will do it, no schedule other than Monday and Friday, just something bet it video games or painting.

Speaking of the studio, we did do some sorting out this weekend, we put up another corner shelf, moved another shelf and put up some pictures, it looks rather nice again in Lindsay corner.

What I Am Modelling

This week has been slow thanks to the heat, which I don’t do well in.

But I started off with a couple more Explorers for Blackstone Fortress, Espern Locarno and Aradia Madellan.

And then on Friday because I needed an easy win, I painted up a unit of Lychguard and Kamoteph the Crooked.

This was followed by Dahyak Grekh and Amallyn Shadowguide.

And then I was able to finish off Rein & Raus.

And finally the two Rogue Traders, Neyam Shai Murad and Janus Drake.

I am now currently working on a Vulturax and Gazkhull Thraka & Makari

So what’s up next?

  1. Zone Mortalis Terrain
  2. Death Korps of Krieg For Niki
  3. Gazkhull Thraka & Makari
  4. Death Korps of Krieg Infantry Unit x 10
  5. Stormcast Eternals Evocators on Celestial Dracolines x 6 & Lord Arcanum on Celestial Dracoline
  6. Custodes Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought, Telemon Dreadnought and Contemptor-Aquilius
  7. Mechanicum Vulturax
  8. Flesh-Eater Courts Crypt Flayers x 3
  9. Stormcast Eternals Judicators with Boltstorm Crossbow x 10
  10. Necron Canoptek Wraiths x 6

What I Am Reading

I am now reading Helsreach by Aaron Dembski-Bowden for a review for Black Library.

It’s been a long time since I first read it, and I am remembering a lot of details I forgot, it’s a great story.

Also still listening to the audiobook of Mortis by John French.

What I Am Playing

Mostly still just playing Forza Horizon 4, and haven’t really played anything else at all.

What I Am Backing

The Isle of Cats Kittens and Beasts campaign successfully funded and I am only in for £1 so I can get access to the Pledge Manager.

What I Am Creating

Noting, but plans are afoot!

What I Am Cooking

Not a sausage this week 🙁

Just been in too much pain.

The Necropolis Empire

By

On 23rd June 2021

In Book Reviews

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Twilight Imperium book The Necropolis Empire by Tim Pratt, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

What is Twilight Imperium

Twilight Imperium is a much beloved strategy board game published by Fantasy Flight Games that’s currently in its 4th Edition.

First thing to know, it’s very long, my pal Drew, one of the owners of the amazing Meeple Perk, tells me it’s an 8 hour game as a minimum!

Secondly it’s an epic space opera, set in the power vacuum left behind by the decline and collapse of the Lazax Empire, as various races and factions vie for dominance and to become the new galactic superpower.

The Story

The story is about a young girl, Bianca Xing from a remote farming world, whom has spent a lifetime yearning to leave her provincial planet and travel to the stars, but she has a yearning to travel to a certain part of space.

But when her world is annexed by the Barony of Letnev, she is whisked away, told she is the daughter of a scientist of ancient renown, and the heir to a great fortune. But in actual fact, she has a hidden secret hidden within her DNA, secrets that could change the course of the galaxy.

Teaming up with Dampierre a determined Letnev captain, and a crew of treasure hunters turned smugglers, she goes on an adventure to the edge of known space to discover the home world of an ancient civilisation.

This was a big improvement on the last story and in all honesty I expected this to be a continuation of the last story, but its a totally different one with only two recurring characters.

This worked better because there were fewer obvious clichés and it just felt a lot more natural.

Conclusion

As with the Fractured void, this is a fun and enjoyable space opera, just my taste and this is exactly what I needed to read.

There was humour and the clichés that were there, were very well done.

I really struggled to put this book down and was awake until 3am two mornings running because I was just enjoying it so much.

I am really not sure what else to say, its a great read, and even if you have no background knowledge of the game or universe, this is utterly entertaining and wonderful to read.

I know Tim is a great writer and I know I had some mild criticism of his last book, but this seems to have acknowledged all of that, and gone on to produce a better book that takes the good qualities of that and knock it up several notches.

I expected this to be a straight sequel to the last book, but this was a totally different story and it really feels like Tim is doing a lot of world building here, that is really deep and most of all, fun.

More please.

5 out of 5

The Necropolis Empire is out as an eBook on the 3rd August and as paperback on the 14th October.

So Much Pain

By

On 22nd June 2021

In Blog

Past couple of days have been absolutely dominated by pain, I have essentially been stuck on the sofa which I really hate.

But I am hoping to have a better day tomorrow and go into the rest of the week with positivity.

What I Am Modelling

I started the week by working on a squad of Devastators for mine and Megan’s Blood Angels.

This squad is armed with two Missile Launchers, two Grav Cannons and the Sgt has a Combi-Grav.

Then I started work on the Explorers for Blackstone Fortress. The first ones I finished were Daedalosus, X-101 and UR-025.

At the same time I worked on the Chaos Space Marines for that game as well, getting finished those plus the big badObsidius Mallex

This was followed by three more Explorers for Blackstone Fortress, Taddeus the Purifier, Pious Vorn & Gotfret de Montbard.

The rest of the Explorers are on the table and Aradia and Espern Locarno should be finished tomorrow.

So what’s coming up next on the plan?

  1. Zone Mortalis Terrain
  2. Blackstone Fortress Explorers
  3. Gazkhull Thraka & Makari
  4. Death Korps of Krieg Infantry Swuad x 10
  5. Stormcast Eternals Evocators on Celestial Dragoline x 6 and Lord Arcanium on Celestial Dracoline
  6. Custodes Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought, Telemon Dreadnought and Contemptor-Aquilius
  7. Necron Lychguard with Hyperphase Swords & Dispersion Shields x 5 & Kamoteph the Crooked
  8. Mechanicum Vulturax
  9. Flesh-Eater Courts Crypt Flayers x 3
  10. Stormcast Eternals Judicators x 10 & Sylas Beast-Bane

What I Am Reading

My review of The Ming Storm was published, it’s a negative one which had me very worried, still not sure it’s the right move, but I just didn’t enjoy the book.

I am however very much enjoying The Necropolis Empire by Tim Pratt.

And I have been listening to the audiobook of Mortis by John French.

What I Am Playing

On Xbox I played a little bit of Halo 2 Anniversary and I downloaded and started playing Forza Horizon 4 which I have really been enjoying.

No tabletop played sadly.

What I Am Backing

I am backing the Isle of Cats Kittens and Beasts campaign, although for just £1 to get access to the pledge manager as I cannot afford the game on the day it funds, but hopefully will shortly after.

What I Am Creating

The next episode of Edge of Empire should go out tomorrow, but it will be missing a section due to a schedule conflict 🙁

I am also planning what to do for the next battle report, perhaps Blood Bowl Sevens.

What I Am Cooking

I just made some Reggae Reggae Wings with microwave rice, but nowt more than that 🙁

The Ming Storm

By

On 22nd June 2021

In Book Reviews

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Assassins Creed book The Ming Storm by Yan Lei Sheng, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

So let’s crack on with a review then!

What is Assassin Creed

Assassins Creed is an adventure game franchise published by Ubisoft (One of my Edge of Empire Co-hosts works there as well I should probably mention), and depicts a millennia-old conflict between the Assassins, who fight to preserve free will, and the Templars who desire to bring around peace by controlling people.

The games take place throughout various historical periods, the original 2007 game being set in the era of the 3rd Crusades, and the latest game Assassins Creed Valhalla, set in the Viking Invasion of Britain.

This book is based on Assassins Creed Chronicles China.

The Story

This takes part after the short film, Assassins Creed: Embers in 1526 China and features the female assassin, Shao Jun, who has returned from Europe where she trained with the protagonmist of the second game, Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

She returns to China to fight the Eight Tigers, a group of eunuchs aligned with the Templars in the court of the Jianjing Emperor.

Prior to the novel, the Eight Tigers had all but wiped out the Assassins of China, leaving just Shao Jun and her mentor alive, so this is very much a story about revenge.

Conclusion

Look I wanted to love this book I really did, I am a big fan of the games, but this book just didn’t work, it was not an enjoyable read at all.

There is no real flow to the book as so much technical detail is thrown in, and it just gets so mired in trying to describe every single kung-fu move being used and its meaning.

The narrative changes point of view in a way that makes you have to go back and go right when did this characters point of view come in, I had to reread so much simply because there was little warning when the perspective changed.

It should have been a great action novel and don’t get me wrong, the story itself is really good, excellent in fact, but I struggled to read it, its just doesn’t work.

I hate giving a bad review it hurts me, but I see potential in this book, a round of editing to deal with the persepective changes and some heavy cuts to make the fight scenes flow better and I think that underneath is a good novella.

But it feels like its been padded out to make a novel.

2 out of 5 stars.

The Ming Storm is out as an eBook now and as paperback on the 19th August.

Mood:- In Agony
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed:– 4
In My Ears:– Chicken Wing Song – Leo Moracchioli
Tabletop Game Last Played:- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Fluxx
Video Game Last Played:- Forza Horizon 4
Book Last Read:- The Necropolis Empire – Tim Pratt
Movie/TV Show Last Viewed:- Parks and Recreation
Current State of Projects:- Blackstone Fortress Explorers about 50% Done

Football Probably Isn’t Coming Home, But We Can Hope

By

On 15th June 2021

In Blog

The football I love the most is the international tournaments, simply because it feels less like its hyper-commercialised and players are all mercenaries with no love for the teams they play for.

It really does feel like the teams play with more passion and determination, it just feels more like football should be.

Perhaps I am just a plonker and fall for the excitement of a big tournament, but I just love it, there are games on the TV almost every day, all on free to air TV and it feels like players put in their all to win the games.

I watched the Scotland game yesterday and despite being English, I got right behind the Jocks and was cheering them on and getting extremly emmotional eveytime they missed a goal, and I was so happy that Wales got a draw.

I want all the home nations to do well, because if we all do well, all the UK can be happy (well apart from Northern Ireland).

The England game was special for me as I watched in my sister in laws yard as we had a BBQ (For which she made enough meat to feed several football teams) with some of my nephews, and that’s something I have never done before.

I kinda found myself wishing I could have all my nibblings in one place to see it, but it was wonderful to do it with two of them, but does make me determined to make a trip to Suffolk for the World Cup next year to do the same with my nephews down there.

Anyway, I am looking forward to the game on Friday when the Three Lions take on the Jocks, and whilst I am backing England, I do hope Scotland give us a hard time and have a positive and good run against us.

But will England win, probably not, but let me have hope for a little bit, at least until we get knocked out on penalties!

What I Am Modelling

I started the week off by painting four Castellax Battle Automata for my Mechanicum, two armed with Darkfire Cannons and two with Mauler Bolt Cannons.

After this I got a unit of Necron Immortals armed with Gauss Blasters and a Finecast Cryptek painted up.

I then painted up the Krulghast Cruciator & Bladegheist Revenants for my Nighthaunt.

With those out of the way, I started on some Scouts for the Blood Angels.

I painted up two squads, one armed with Bolters and a Heavy Bolter, and one squad with Sniper Rifles and a Missile Launcher.

I then put some Crypt-Ghouls for the Flesh-Eater Courts on the table and got those finished overnight

So what’s coming up next week?

  1. Zone Mortalis Terrain
  2. Blood Angels Devastators x 5
  3. Blackstone Fortress Explorers
  4. Gazkhull Thraka & Makari
  5. Death Korps of Krieg Infantry Squad x 10
  6. Stormcast Eternals Evocators on Celestial Dracolines x 6 & Lord Aranium on Celestial Dracoline
  7. Legio Custodes Venerable Contemptor Dreadnought, Telemon Dreadnought and Contemptor-Aquilius Dreadnought
  8. Necron Lychguard with Hyperphase Swords & Dispersion Fields x 5
  9. Mechanicum Vulturax
  10. Blackstone Fortress Black Legion Chaos Space Marines x 3 & Obsidius Mallex

What I Am Reading

I finished up The Ming Storm by Yan Lei Sheng and a review is coming shortly.

I started on The Necropolis Empire by Tim Pratt, I loved his first Twilight Imperium novel and this one is looking pretty good so far.

And I finished listening to the audio book of The Gate of Bones by Andy Clark, which was really good, if a little less epic in scale than the first book.

I have now started on the audio book of Mortis by John French.

What I Am Playing

Played a little bit of Halo 2 Anniversary and have reached The

On the tabletop we had a couple of games of Deep Space Nine Fluxx, the girls won one a piece.

I also had a bit of a play on the Blood Bowl 3 Beta, and it looks really really nice!

What I Am Backing

The Redgrass Wet Palette 2 campaign finished and was funded, my pledge has been collected and I will be adding a second one in the Pledge Manager for Megan.

I am backing the Isle of Cats Kittens and Beasts campaign, although for just £1 to get access to the pledge manager as I cannot afford the game on the day it funds, but hopefully will shortly after.

What I Am Creating

The 8th Episode of Edge of Empires 5th year was released, although it was a very weird episode because of various illnesses and injuries.

And at long long last I finished my battle report for a game of Aeronautica Imperialis I played with Megan way back in March!

What I Am Cooking

Not much but I did help with Wing Night by making some Kansas City BBQ Sauce and then using that to make some Kansas City BBQ Wings.

Well That Was Tough

By

On 7th June 2021

In Blog

In short, we failed, out of 83 pieces of terrain, only completed 64, but we did raise £160 so I am over the moon with that, and you can still donate here.

Next year will be a more achievable project, perhaps a start collecting box in 24 hours!

Saturday

We started by cracking on with the washing of the building and pipes, followed by the Munitorium Armoured Containers.

Whilst they were drying, I then put the base metal colour on the Haemotrope Reactors and the Thermic Plasma Regulators.

The Fuel Barrels got done fairly quickly, in a nice rusty look, and those were our first models finished

Folllowed not long afterwards by the Munitorium Armoured Containers and storage crates.

Then we did the drybrushing of the buildings and pipes, which allowed us to finish the first bits of pipes.

All the while I was doing a little bit of work here and there on the Galvanic Servohaulers and got the two smaller tractors finished.

We then painted the flooring of the buildings and got them washed and began the painting of the red windows and doors.

And finally we finished Saturday off with the Thermic Plasma Regulators and Haemotrope Reactors being completed.

So at the end of Saturday, 33 of 83 models were painted.

Sunday

Sunday was tough, the first four hours of it was taken up putting the red on the buildings.

Once that was done we turned our attention to the Thermo-Pipes and quickly got them finished by tea-time.

This was followed shortly afterwards by the Thermo-Exhanger Shrines.

And finally I managed to get finished the Auto-Choral Transmitter.

At the end of Sunday we had all the metallics on the buildings on them and washed, and finished a total of 64 of 83 models!

Mopping Up

On Monday I did bugger all because my hands were in agony!

But on Tuesday I did a little mopping up. We got the Galvanic Serohauler Crane painted up.

And the smaller ruins.

On Wednesday we slowly finished the details on the larger ruins, and finished them through the day.

And the final piece, the centrepiece as it was, the Sanctum Administratus was finished late Wednesday night.

The Finished Product

Here are some shots of the scenery on a table with some minis on them, which are from my recently revealed Iron Warriors army.

Thank You

Some silly sod went and bought me an Elgato Camlink 4K to replace the cheap capture card for my GoPro facecam, that I was previously using.

It has in recent days given up the ghost, I mentioned it on my stream on Friday and can only assume that someone grabbed me one, I did get the notice that something from my Amazon wish list had been bought.

It arrived today and I was utterly blown away by it.

It’s a huge improvement to the quality of the GoPro, so thank you so very much.

What I Am Modelling

I started off after a few days off by picking up my Vexilus Praetors for the Legio Custodes.

At the same time I was working on the T’au Broadsides and started to paint them.

I am now working on four Castellax for my Mechanicum army.

So what am I working on right now.

  1. Zone Mortalis Terrain
  2. Mechanicum Castellax x 4
  3. Blood Angels Scouts x 10
  4. Necron Immortals with Gauss Blasters x 10
  5. Flesh-Eater Courts Crypt Ghouls x 20
  6. Blood Angels Devastators x 5
  7. Blackstone Fortress Explorers
  8. Nighthaunt Krulghast Cruciator & Bladegheist Revenants x 5
  9. Gazkhull Thraka & Makari
  10. Krieg Infantry

What I Am Reading

Making very slowly through The Ming Storm by Yan Leisheng.

Also started listening the audiobook of The Gate of Bones by Andy Clark.

What I Am Playing

Not really played any video games this week.

But I have played a few board games, staring with Gretchinz!

The on Saturday we played Deep Space Nine Fluxx.

Followed by Ticket to Ride The Heart of Africa on Sunday.

I also got in a game of Horus Heresy with Graham at club on Tuesday as well. Taking my Death Guard against his Solar Auxilia.

Of course I lost all of my games quite badly!

What I Am Backing

The Oink Games + Kickstarter funded successfully and we unlocked a second game, which is nice.

And I am still backing the Redgrass Wet Palette 2 and I can’t wait to get it.

What I Am Creating

We put out the long delayed Episode 5 of The Hobby Studio Podcast.

What I Am Cooking

I cooked dinner today, a lovely Irish spicebag to remind us of the time we were in Dublin for WorldCon.

Was really nice if a little too spicy for the weather.

The Secret Project Revealed

By

On 5th June 2021

In Blog

Well it’s time to unveil my secret project that I have been working on for the past year!

Its The Iron Warriors

Having resisted them for so long because Graham plays them, I decided to build and paint a Zone Mortalis force of the IVth Legion.

It’s started because I saw someone use Nazdreg Yellow Contrast over Leadbelcher and I loved the gold that it made, it just look so burnished and old, perfect for Iron Warriors and I decided to paint a test model of a Praetor, and I ended up painting a Chaplain and Praetor from Betrayal at Calth at the same time.

I then painted up a Tactical Squad using a MKII set I already had and some Iron Warriors upgrades I managed to acquire from Heresy Trading.

After this I painted up another HQ, this time a Chaos Space Marine Warsmith which fits perfectly in the army looks wise.

Next up was a Rapier with Quad Heavy Bolters which just looks so good in Iron Warriors colours.

This was followed by a couple of Legion specific units, a unit of Tyrant Siege Terminators and some Iron Havocs armed with Lascannons.

After that I had a break for a while as I needed to save foe the next lot of models.

The penultimate unit was a Contemptor Dreadnought, armed with a Chainfist with Meltagun and a Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon with Twin Linked Bolter.

The final unit I added to this army was a squad of Breachers, armed with a couple of Meltaguns and a Combi-Melta on the Sgt.

The List

So what’s the list I have built here, well it’s as follows.

+ HQ [220pts] +

Warsmith [220pts]: Artificer Armour, Bolt Pistol, Digital Lasers [15pts], Iron Halo [25pts], On Foot, Power Fist [20pts], Warlord
. Combi-weapon [10pts]: Combi-weapon: Meltagun
. Warsmith [50pts]: Cortex Controller [15pts], Servo-arm [35pts]

+ Elites [240pts] +

Contemptor Dreadnought Talon [200pts]
. Contemptor Dreadnought, Legion [200pts]
. . Dreadnought Chainfist [25pts]: Meltagun [15pts]
. . Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon: Twin-linked Bolter

Rapier Weapons Battery, Legion [40pts]
. Rapier Weapons Battery, Legion [40pts]: Quad Heavy Bolter, Shrapnel Bolts

+ Troops [475pts] +

Breacher Siege Squad, Legion (Compulsory) [280pts]: 9x Breacher Siege Space Marines, Legion [135pts]
. Additional Wargear [55pts]: 2x Meltagun [30pts], Nuncio-vox [10pts], Vexilla, Legion [15pts]
. Breacher Siege Sergeant, Legion [25pts]: Artificer Armour [10pts], Melta Bombs [5pts]
. . Combi-weapon [10pts]: Combi-weapon: Meltagun

Tactical Squad, Legion (Compulsory) [195pts]: Bolters, 9x Tactical Space Marines, Legion [90pts]
. Additional Wargear [40pts]: Additional Chainswords/Combat Blades [20pts], Nuncio-vox [10pts], Vexilla, Legion [10pts]
. Tactical Sergeant, Legion [30pts]: Artificer Armour [10pts], Bolter, Melta Bombs [5pts], Power Fist [15pts]

+ Heavy Support [565pts] +

Iron Havoc Support Squad [270pts]: 4x Iron Havoc [100pts], 4x Lascannon [60pts]
. Iron Havoc Sergeant [25pts]: Artificer Armour [10pts], Lascannon [15pts]

Tyrant Siege Terminator Squad [295pts]: 5x Power Fist, 4x Tyrant Terminator [200pts]

+ Allegiance +

Legion and Allegiance:    IV: Iron Warriors, Traitor

Rite of War: Zone Mortalis Assault Force

So the initial three HQs are surplus to requirements, but that’s fine.

Expansion wise, not sure if it will become a full army, but it might, probably based around The Hammer of Olympia.

Paint Scheme

The paint scheme is a lot of drybrushing and contrast paints.

I start by priming the models in black and then give them a heavy drybrush with Leadbelcher.

The trim is then painted with Nazdreg Yellow Contrast, and any areas that are getting hazard stripes or are leather are painted with Wraithbone.

Those areas are then painted with Iyanden Yellow Contrast and then the black is added using Abaddon Black.

The weapon casings are painted with Corvus Black, and then the whole model is painted with Wyldwood Contrast mixed with two parts Contrast Medium, and leather is painted with pure Wyldwood Contrast.

This gives a very dirty and grimy look to the models, just perfect for Iron Warriors.

It’s also very quick and the Dreadnought for example was painted from start to finish in about 30 minutes.

The basing scheme is Stirland Mud or Stirland Battlemire, which is then drybrushed with Balor Brown and then Screaming Skull to create a dirty but sandy mud look.

So that’s the project, and it’s been a lot of fun!

Really giving serious thought to expanding it into a full army, because I have enjoyed painting these models so much.

It’s a super easy paint scheme and they look so different to any thing else I have done before.

Resolutions Update – May 2021

By

On 1st June 2021

In Blog

Had a slow month due to the leg injury but I still got a decent number of models painted.

So far this month I have painted a grand total of 664 models.

That does include a bunch of stuff done during the painting challenge.

So let’s take a look at the individual resolutions.

Paint 2000 Points of Necrons for Warhammer 40,000 –

This month I got painted a squad of Immortals with Tesla Carbines.

Paint 1000 Points of Early War Germans for Bolt Action – Complete

This month I got this resolution completed by adding the two vehicles to the list, the Hanomag and Panzer IV Ausf. D

Paint 2000 Points of Flesh-Eater Courts for Warhammer Age of Sigmar – 31.5% Complete

This month I added Crypt-Horrors and a another unit of Crypt-Ghouls to the army.

Bring My Mechanicum to 3000 Points for Horus Heresy, Including The Warhound Titan – 11.52% Complete

I added a unit of Peltast to the Mechanicum.

Paint Blackstone Fortress And It’s Expansions – 0% Complete

I started this resolution this month by building the Explorers from the Core game and Escalation.

Completed Resolutions

  • Paint the Scourge for Dropfleet Commander
  • Paint 1000 Points of Early War Germans for Bolt Action

So what’s coming up in my painting queue headed into next month?

  1. Zone Mortalis Terrain
  2. T’au Broadsides x 3
  3. Custodes Vexilus Praetors x 4
  4. Mechanicum Castellax x 4
  5. Blood Angels Scouts x 10
  6. Necron Immortals with Gauss Blasters x 10
  7. Flesh-Eater Courts Crypt Ghouls x 20
  8. Blood Angels Devastators x 5
  9. Blackstone Fortress Explorers x 14
  10. Nighthaunt Krulghast Cruciator & Bladegheist Revenants x 5

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