Squad Ollan, Rainbow Warriors 2nd Company

It's been quite a while coming - since the release of Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition in fact! - but here's the first completed Primaris unit for my Rainbow Warriors!

Cabin Fever is definitely setting in

The UK, like many countries at the time of writing, is in the middle of a lockdown to try to slow the spread of Covid-19. I have to admit being stuck indoors is starting to get to me. Hence this:

Send Help

- Retconned Legion

Rainbow Warriors 2nd Company Brother Andus

Brother Andus is part of Squad Ollan, the first squad belonging to the 2nd Company of the Rainbow Warriors Chapter.

Brother Andus is equipped with Mark X tacticus pattern power armour and a Mark II Cawl Pattern Bolt Rifle

The red arm is an honorific amongst the Rainbow Warriors. It demonstrates that the wearer has served as Brother-Vermillion upon Holy Terra itself.

***

Andus is the first Brother-Vermillion i've painted for the Rainbow Warriors. Brother-Vermillions have each served upon Terra, guarding the Imperial Palace. They came about in my background to explain a particular piece of Rogue Trader era artwork:

Sister Sin Vs Brother Vermillion

The artwork was intended as a pun by Games Workshop. Around the time of publication, the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior had been sunk by the French. So the image shows a Rainbow Warrior being killed by a Sister of Battle wearing the Fleur De Lys.

So i wanted to come up with an explanation, beyond a Rainbow Warrior turning traitor. Which led to the Brothers-Vermillion.

A Brother-Vermillion is a Rainbow Warrior tasked with defending Terra. They forsake their typical blue heraldry for a more striking red, and stand guard on the walls of the Imperial Palace. The tradition came about in the dark years of the Scouring. As scions of the Ultramarines, the Rainbow Warriors were shamed by their absence during the Siege of Terra. Their first Chapter Masters swore that never again would the Emperor go unguarded by their lineage.
And so a single Rainbow Warrior is dispatched to serve upon Terra, standing guard until their replacement arrives from the Chapter.

In the artwork above, a Daughter of the Emperor, during the Age of Apostasy assassinates the serving Brother-Vermillion.

Explanation complete and i didnt even have to fall to Chaos!

Until next time

- Retconned Legion

The Doctor, Apothecary of the Damned

'

"If you think because she is dead i am weak, you understand very little. If you had anything to do with her death and are not afraid, you understand nothing at all. I am the Doctor, i'm coming to find you, and i will never, ever stop.''
- Unknown transmission, broadcast throughout the Trapp system after the Martyrdom of Saint Yenna

Another leader from the Legion, this time an Apothecary based on the Primaris kit. Once again this was a simple head swap with a skull. I also cut away the geneseed he was holding, to replace it with another skull, leaving him staring into it's sockets, peerhaps judging if it's owner is a worthy new recruit.

~Retconned Legion

Duroc, Lieutenant of the Damned

The first of my HQ's for the force, a converted Lieutenant for the Legion. Once again the components used were pretty simple. The bionic arm comes from the Hellblaster kit, with a simple handswap so he's wielding a Bolt Rifle. The head is from the same kit, and then it was just a matter of sculpting a little bit of flame on his combat knife with a blob of greenstuff.

~Retconned Legion

First Squad Complete

This is the first completed squad for the army and was originally going to be the last. However because of the feedback i've received and how much i enjoyed painting them, they've now become my main project for the next few months.

I've begun work on a second squad and a Redemptor Dreadnought, plus a couple of characters to add to the army.

Ruleswise i'm trying to decide whether to use Raven Guard or Imperial Fist traits. The Raven Guard abilities would let me represent the way the Legion appears out of nowhere, while the Imperial Fist traits would better represent the spectral firepower of the Legion.

Decisions, decisions.

~Retconned Legion

The Burning Man

'Clad in ebon armour cast in perpetual shadow, the Legionnaire known as the Burning Man is lit only by the spectral fires that dance upon it's armour. First sighted in 148 m.41, his mark of armour and equipment defies explanation'
- Inquisitor Saboro Thirsk

The Burning Man is the second Legionnary that i converted, again using the multipart Intercessor kit as the base and using one of the Citadel Skulls for a head.

The Brothers

Always manifesting as a pair, the Brothers have been sighted on battlefields across the length and breadth of the Imperium. The first known sighting was during the Fall of Arcadia, 849.m41, long before mk X power armour entered service amongst the Emperor's Angels of Death. Clearly some kind of temporal anomaly is involved and bears further investigation
- Inquisitor Saboro Thirsk, Ordo Chronos

The next couple of miniatures i finished were The Brothers. Again very little conversion work was involved with these models, replacing the nozzles and in the case of the brother on the left, adding a skull to the end of his bolt rifle.

Until next time

~ Retconned Legion

The Oncoming Storm

Sightings of the Legionary known as 'The Oncoming Storm' always presage an immenent invasion. The apparition was last sighted stalking the halls of the Imperial Palace shortly before a daemonic incursion was unleashed upon the Throneworld.
- From the works of Inquisitor Saboro Thirsk, Ordo Chronos

This was the first Legion of the Damned miniature i converted and it's a fairly simple one to do. The head was taken from the GW Skulls box set, with a bit of greenstuff to create a neck for it to sit on. Next step was to click the nozles from the backpack, which were then replaced by two of the Ork skulls from the same box set.

Last was a power sword from the Deathwatch kill team kit. I've found that the Deathwatch kits fit best with the Primaris models, because the Deathwatch models were also slightly larger than the standard Space Marine.

The Oncoming Storm will be leading the first squad of Intercessors in the army.

Until next time

~Reetconned Legion

In Shadow And Flame Returned

So there have been a few changes over the last few months, including a whole new edition of Warhammer 40,000, which has reinvigorated my hobby activity.

Since 8th editions arrival, i've been focused on the new Primaris marines and the Death Guard models released alongside Dark Imperium.

At first the Primaris were added to my Rainbow Warriors, but with the release of GW's skull box set i decided to start something a tad different.

                                                             The Legion of the Damned.

I've dabbled with this force in the past, with several dozen of the resin Legion of the Damned miniatures, but for this force i've converted the plastic Primaris.

I'm hoping to keep this blog updated with articles on the army, along with some background for my version of the Legion.

So until next time

~ Retconned Legion

Heresy on a budget.

Ahoy once again.

In the next couple of weeks/months, my local GW is once more embarking on a campaign, this time for 40k. As per the usual drive to bring in money for the store, the requirement is starting a new force and building it up as the campaign progresses.

With this new incentive provided, a lot of the regulars are looking at Heresy era forces, with Heresy era Thousand Sons popping up already. Keen to keep up with the cool kids and stay home with the downies, i've been looking at Heresy stuff, torturing myself browsing Forgeworld and looking at the excellent work of folks like Templarscrusade01 (check out his Youtube channel if you haven't already, it's well worth it).

So what to do when you've got the desire but your wallet is lacking the funds?

Well rather than despair, i dug back through dozens of pages of Warseer painting logs and the interwebs, looking for old school Heresy armies. How did people do it before Forgeworld launched their range?

A lot used third party parts. This isn't an option in my case, because a) i want to use the army in a GW store and events and b) I have issues with some of the companies releasing said parts.

So how else?

My wandering through the interweb eventually found me at this site:
http://space-wolves-grey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/how-to-make-pre-heresy-space-wolves.html

And bam! just like that, i had my army.

This great blog posted a tutorial on making pre-heresy Space Wolves using the Space Wolf squad box and Chaos Warriors from Warhammer Fantasy. Perfect. The tutorial itself goes step by step on how to convert them, which was a massive help. I urge anyone reading this to take a look at his blog and be sure to leave him lots of nice comments, because it really was the inspiration i needed.

So on Sunday i dashed to GW and grabbed the nearest box of puppies and Warriors and got to work with a craft knife.

 These are the first two to be painted up. I followed the aforementioned brilliant tutorial, using the Warriors of Chaos and Space Wolf kits, combined with a couple of heads from my bits box - in this instance a Grey Knight helmetless head and a cut down Berzerker head.

 I've still got to finish off some knotwork patterns on their cloaks, but for the most part they are ready to take the field. They just need a lot of friends to arrive.

The reasoning for the beardless Grey Knight head, is because this is an early Space Wolf force. This is back in the days when Terrans still fought in their ranks, and they went around calling themselves The Rout.

So adding to my massive backlog of things to paint are a squad of ten converted Grey Hunters. I'm planning on another two squads of ten after this, before branching out into some of the other areas of the Space Wolf codex. I'll be using the 40k rules for now, but with luck i'll switch over to the 30k legion list just as soon as i can scrape some pennies together.

Until next time i remain,

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Pope.

Glory of the Blood

 Originating on the world of McKay's Folly, the Glory of the Blood cult were responsible for multiple killings in the Hives dotting it's surface. When a warband of World Eaters attacked, it was this cult that rose in insurrection, hampering the Planetary Defense forces from mounting a defense.

It is unknown just how many innocents died thanks to their sabotage. When the World Eaters finally tired of their sport and departed, the cult vanished with them.

 Private Riggs is a tragic part of the Cults history. Blinded and deafened in the opening stages of the World Eaters invasion, Riggs opened fire upon his comrades, believing them to be the enemy. Taking advantage of his infirmities, the Cult swept him up. Even now he murders loyal soldiers of the Imperium, all the while believing himself part of a Holy Crusade against the Emperors enemies.

The Stalker in the Dark is known as the most prolific serial killer to ever strike on McKay's Folly. Responsible for hundreds of horrific deaths, none have glimpsed the face beneath his mask, it's glowing red eyes the last sight of his innocent victims.

Blaidd Drwg, Butcher of Fenris, Chosen of the Eightfold Path

Among the warbands of Chaos, few are as infamous as the Chosen of the Eightfold Path. Comprised of Astartes that have betrayed and murdered their kith and kin, this notorious band has carved a path of blood across a Segmentum. 

Perhaps the most infamous of this vile group is the warrior known as Blaidd Drwg. Once a proud Astartes of the Space Wolves chapter, the Butcher of Fenris is said to have killed his packmates before fleeing into the dark.

Each member of the Traitors wears a shoulder pad, bearing three blood drops: One represents the shedding of their own blood,one the shedding of an enemies blood, the third, and largest, the shedding of the blood of an ally.

The Butcher carries the remains of his victims in a sack stitched from their skin upon his back. Throughout the Segmentum, mothers whisper to naughty children that if they do not behave, the Blaidd Drwg will come to claim their bones.

Rainbow Warriors: 2nd Company Captain.

Work continues on my Rainbow Warriors. Having re-read 'False Gods' over the last few days, i felt inspired to do some more work on my Astartes. So i grabbed my bits box and got to work on putting together a Captain to lead the 2nd Company.

 I've used the kneeling legs from the Devastator kit, coupled with some left over parts from the Tactical squad kit. The head comes from a Bretonnian Knight Errant, traded with a friend for some leftover Imperial Guard bits.

 I wanted a pious, kneeling look to the Captain, as if he is knelt in prayer before battle begins. So i piled on the purity seals

More purity seals adorn his shoulder pads.

So i present Brother-Captain Kaine 'the Pious'. 

Even amongst the ranks of the Rainbow Warriors, Brother-Captain Kaine's devotion to the Imperial Creed stands out. Before each battle, Kaine can be found alongside the company Chaplain, leading his men in prayer to the God-Emperor.

I'll be breaking out the paintbrushes to put a bit of colour on the Captain in the next couple of days, and will get pictures up as soon as possible.

Until then i remain

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-pope

New Project Part 2: And so it begins...

As noted in my previous post, i've used the release of the new Space Marine Codex this month to begin a new army. After the deliberations noted previously, i can reveal my choice of chapter: 

The Rainbow Warriors.

Now i can practically hear the groans from here. This particular chapter has gotten pretty bad press amongst gamers in the past. This is largely due to misunderstandings over where the name originates, the actual colour scheme of the Chapter and let's face it, the name. 

 So let's address those issues, and why i went with the chapter despite them. First i'll tackle the elephant in the room: Homophobia. 

For a long time now i've seen pretty disgraceful homophobic comments made in relation to the Rainbow Warriors. Regularly they are denounced as "gay" or usually worse. And quite frankly i'm tired of it. For a start, they are Astartes. Gay or straight doesn't come into it when you're an asexual post-human killing machine. Secondly, so what? Even if they were a chapter of lovers, why is that a bad thing? It should be pointed out that multiple renowned fighting forces throughout history have been homosexual, the Spartans being the most famous. It's about time we ditched such ridiculous, offensive concepts and just accepted peoples sexuality for what it is. 

So i will use the Rainbow Warriors and show that bigotry has no place in this hobby.

The second issue that usually crops up is the name. Among the American hobbyists particularly, there seems to be the misconception that it is referring to the use of Rainbows by gay pride groups. This isn't the case. The name is actually a pun, relating to the infamous sinking of the Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior by the French. 

During the late eighties, when Rogue Trader was in the works, the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior was big news in England. The French risked war with their actions, sinking the vessel in a foreign harbour.  Because of this infamy, the folks at GW decided to make a reference to it; first the Chapter name, and then the picture of a Soritas wearing clear French iconography shooting one of its marines.

Looking deeper into the name, and why Greenpeace chose it in the first place, reveals a Hopi legend about a group of multi-race warriors that would bring understanding and unity to the world. This little bit of mythology prompted some ideas about what i could do with the Chapters background, which again influenced my choice to use them.

So enough with the rant, here's some pictures:

 

 First we have Chief Librarian Brectian, escorted by the 7th Squad of 2nd Company, Squad Etienne. Squad Etienne routinely deploys as bodyguard to the Librarius, leading to the honour marking on their left leg denoting a horned skull.

Model wise it's the new Tactical squad kit along with the new plastic Librarian. The new Librarian in particular impressed me in the recent Marines release. It's by far my favourite GW sculpt.

 

 Sergeant Ideaus, leader of 2nd Company's 5th squad. He bears two notable markings: Firstly the red Star on his right kneepad which denotes his service in the Bloodstar Campaign. And the black painted left arm, a far rarer marking, denoting as it does that he was present during the fierce-some battle that led to the death of three Chapter Masters. Ideaus suffered extensive injuries during the campaign, leading to multiple bionic implants.

The army painted so far. 

So there you go, my new Space Marine army, the second company of the Rainbow Warriors. I'll be posting further updates on how the army progresses in the future. 

Until then i remain

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-pope.

2010 Retrospective Part 3 Retrospective Harder

For this post i'm featuring my Grey Knights. 2010 saw me develop a rather love hate relationship with my shiny silver marines. I loved the models, the sculpts are great but i hated how obsolete the army has become.
As it currently stands the Grey Knights are about as competitive as a damp sponge. While i've never been about the winning, it's also not that pleasant knowing that you don't stand much of a chance no matter what you pick from the army list.

This led me to the brink of putting the army up on Ebay and giving up on the Inquisition armies completely. Thankfully i procrastinated long enough for the internet rumour mill to grind round and reveal the upcoming update for the boys in silver.

Yes in a few short months, if rumours are to be believed, the Grey Knights will be receiving a shiny new codex, new plastics, new units and new special characters. Given the unbelievable quality of the Dark Eldar plastics i am pretty optimistic about the upcoming releases next year, if they can maintain even half the quality of the Dark Eldar 2011 is going to be a good year.
So the Grey Knights have been saved from being sold for a fraction of their cost, and i've been suitably inspired enough to get my arse in gear and get the army painted, ready to add the shiny new stuff coming next year.





















***

In other news i've managed to get a hold of a copy of Imperial Armour Volume 9. This is the first Imperial Armour book i've gotten, the £45 price tag is rather a put off. And while i'm unlikely to splash out on any resin anytime soon, the book was well worth the price. IA9 delves into the Badab war and provides a phenomenal amount of background and detail, not to mention rules that amount to another 40k expansion revolving around boarding actions.
Whatever your feelings about Forgeworlds rules, for fluff nuts this is a must have purchase, heartily recommended.

I've also had a rummage around my boxes and scraped together my current collection of Minas Tirith units for Lord of the Rings. As i mentioned in my last blog post, i am aiming to rectify my lack of WotR gaming next year (still looking for opponents interweb people), starting with a Gondor based army. Everything pictured will likely be stripped, and there are quite a few repairs to make on the various plastic blokes. The army had literally been chucked in a box after i became very disillusioned about my chances for future games.
I'll be using a disinfectant called Dettol* to strip the mini's. This has proved to be fantastic for stripping models, with none of the risks involved in using other methods. Dettol won't melt your plastics, won't tarnish your metals, isn't lethal if inhaled and isn't flammable. About the worst case scenario is you end up with slightly smelly hands that are completely germ free.

*Make sure you use the liquid Dettol meant for medical use. DO NOT use Dettol cleaning products, because they WILL melt your plastics and make you woozy if inhaled.

2010 Retrospective Part 1

With the first decade of the 21st Century coming to a close (speaking of which, where's our jetpacks? Pull your finger out Science!) i've decided to do a series of (ir)regular posts with a backwards looking slant towards my hobby activity of the last year or so.

I've decided to begin with the project that directly led me to resurrect my defunct blog and start posting updates again. On a personal note it's also a project that marked the beginning of my treatment for depression and the slow improvement of my mental state and personal life. It is my Dark Angels.

I'm quite pleased with how the army has progressed in terms of looks, although not with the rate at which i've been turning them out. Numerous distractions and procrastinations have led to a big slowdown in the rate i'm getting them done, not least financial restrictions (if any millionaires are reading this, feel free to make a donation towards their completion) but still work is progressing.
The army is also one where i've tried to further my painting abilities. The bases are the first time i've used resin parts and the armour is my first attempt at edge highlighting and i'm quite pleased with how its gone. There have been a few mis-steps along the way, the tactical squad sergeant in particular doesn't look quite right and will likely be replaced in the new year.

Future plans are to expand the army into a tabletop force and get the blasted things painted. Deathwing are high on my list of want-to-buys with a Belial conversion on my to-do list. Hopefully the new year will increase my finances and get me back on the Dark Angel horse. With any luck i'll get the force finished by the time a new Dark Angels codex is release in 2039, shortly after the conclusion of Bill Oddie's tyrannical Bird-based reign of Terror.

Cataclysmically Distracted...

I've not posted on the blog for almost a week, a terrible unforgivable crime. The blame for this lack of hobby activity can be entirely laid at the feet of Blizzard and their release of the latest World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm. Yup, i'm one of the 12 million sad people who spend far too much time repeatedly killing the same graphics to receive a moderate reward in either a shiny new graphic or an almost random number being added to my experience. But God-Emperor help me, i rather enjoy it. So i've spent the last week leveling up my Tauren (think Minotaur to the WoW uninitiated) Shaman and exploring the newly ruined realm of Azeroth.

But i haven't entirely neglected the hobby side of things. It's become something of a tradition that around this time of year i add a few bits and bobs to my Tyranids. Now my 'Nids are only about 500 points strong, as i tend only to get things for them around christmas, usually as a gift. I find having a particular army reserved to gift duty is helpful, it means you can just tell relatives to buy Tyranids without worrying about them getting something you already bought earlier.

So far i've not bought any GW models for the 'nids this year, rather my activity revolves around solving the lack of a mycetic spore model for the army.
I've seen quite a few attempts at modeling the spore, some more successful than others, but haven't found a suitable version for myself. Until yesterday that is.

While wandering the rainy streets of Huyton, i nipped into one of the bargain stores in the village shopping centre and chanced across a cheap childrens toy - a Mega Blocks Plasma hatcher* to be exact. A small model dinosaur type creature that comes packaged in a plastic egg that just so happens to be almost perfect to represent a mycetic spore. And for only 99p to boot! I quickly grabbed one and nipped home to begin painting it.

This is what i've done so far, very much work in progress. I'll post more updates as i progress, assuming i can tear myself away from the fires of Azeroth that is...



*A word of warning to any parents who purchase one of these things, the goo that comes within it will stain carpets as i learnt to my cost.

To Forgeworld or Not To Forgeworld...

In my frequent lurkings around various interwebs forums like Warseer, one subject that repeatedly comes up and spurs a fair bit of shall we say "passionate" debate is that of Forgeworld units and using them in a regular game of 40k.

Forgeworld seems to have garnered a reputation for being unbalanced and overpowered amongst some members of the internet community, though having browsed their various lists and units i fail to see what makes them so "uber-cheese", and when anecdotal evidence is presented it's usually said units being overpowered only when the player takes half a dozen of them in his list.

Most recently for example is this thread on Warseer about the Land Raider Achilles. The initial reaction was to decry the user and declare all Forgeworld materials junk, unfair and detrimental to your social life. It was only until later in the thread other opinions appeared pointing out that a Necron army is going to have a bit of a rough time against three Land Raiders of any variety, Forgeworld or otherwise.

And i'm sure we all have examples of lists that dominated us solely because they spammed a particular unit type. Those who have been playing a fair while will no doubt have faced an Iron Warriors artillery army of doom, back in the days when they got an extra Heavy Support choice and could take Basilisks in their army, where you were lucky to survive the first round of shooting let alone win the game. Or for the fantasy players amongst you, the Beastman Minotaur army that has emerged with the most recent Army Book. Having faced that with my own Ogres i can assure you its unpleasant and pretty hard to deal with.

Now i think part of the problem with Forgeworld is the apparent "exclusivity" of their kits. Not all of us can afford to throw £300 at a new model for our armies, or heck £50 on a new book, so a lot of us are priced out of these new options. There's also the mistaken view that only things sold inside a GW store can possibly be legal to take, an opinion that was once levelled at my Grey Knights no less as they were no longer on the shelves.

This difficulty in acquiring the miniatures and rules prompts a feeling of unfairness i suspect in some people. Why should Joe Fancypants get a brand new kit just because he has several hundred quid burning a hole in his pocket. This coupled with half the people decrying Forgeworld never actually reading any of the rules and relying on internet hyperbole to inform them results in the idea that all Forgeworld is evil and people using it should be shunned. A situation that is far from productive for the hobby.

Now as far as i am concerned, i will play anyone using Forgeworld anytime, because i delight in facing new models and seeing fancy units on the tabletop. That's where i get the bulk of my enjoyment from the hobby. I will admit sometimes i am rather envious of the player, i would love to be able to afford a warhound or chaos mammoth of my own, but that thankfully doesn't prevent me from enjoying the game. Afterall if i can't afford one of my own, at least i get to experience one on the tabletop even if it is stamping all over my army.

This is a topic i'm sure will return again and again on the internet, and its one i've taken a particular interest in with the future release of Chaos Dwarf units by Forgeworlds Warhammer division. It would be a damn shame if such debates resulted in the amazing sculpts being produced by Forgeworld never seeing a tabletop.

God-Emperor bless the Rumourmill: Or how a Blood Kitten saved my Grey Knights from Sale.

If you've read any of the previous posts on this blog then you'll know i've been weighing up selling my Grey Knights due to their less than stellar performances on the tabletop, due largely to their obsolete codex. And if you're a GW player on the internet, likely you are also monitoring the various websites like Bell of Lost Souls that report rumours and no doubt have read the same batch posted by Blood Kitten that i have.

Now while the rumours are far from confirmed, and some don't seem quite right, they have none the less succeeded in rekindling the spark of affection i have for the Shiny boys. At the very least they've got me thinking about the Grey Knights again and a little more enthused about painting them since they are likely to receive an update in a few months time.

So they will be kept and i will resume work on getting them painted. They still aren't likely to see action before the new codex release but based on the stellar Dark Eldar codex and it's accompanying superb miniature range, i am cautiously optimistic about the future of the Grey Knights.

There is some debate over whether the new codex will contain Inquisitorial units and elements from sequestered Imperial Guard or not. I'm in two minds about this really. On the one hand it'll be rather unfair to Daemonhunter players who went the Inquisition route with their armies and used a lot of allied elements in their army. I can't imagine they will be impressed with the idea they will have to buy a heap of new models just to use the ones they have.
On the other hand, less Inquisition means more room in the codex to flesh out the Grey Knights and give them a full background that they've been missing. Despite the fluff in the Daemonhunter codex we still know little about how they are organised or significant actions they've been involved in.

And like others who have read the Ben Counter novels, i'm wondering if the line about no Grey Knight has ever fallen to chaos will be amended to "No Grey Knight has ever fallen to chaos, except one but it's ok he got better and the Chaos Gods let him off because he wasnt in his right mind". April can't come soon enough.