Blackstone Fortress - Part Seven

Finally, something from the dim past of Rogue Trader and new menaces unique to the Blackstone Fortress!

Chaos Beastmen
Horned abhumans renowned for their ferocity and physical strength, Chaos Beastmen have fled their persecution at the hands of the Imperium and thrown in their lot with the Dark Gods.

Negavolt Cultists
Negavolt Cultists are Chaos-worshipping renegades of the Adeptus Mechanicus who fuse themselves with corrupt machinery that channels their own pain and hatred into of arcs of warp-infused energy that leaps from their electro goads.

Whew! It's with a great sense of accomplishment that I've finished the entire core box set. I'm not sure that I've EVER done this despite having painted several thousand GW models over the years!

So, what's next? Expansions, of course! To date I've purchased everything GW has made for this game and still plenty to paint for both the explorers and hostiles. I also have a really nifty set of 3D terrain tiles on the way to replace the card tiles from the box...

These were designed by The Dragon's Rest. As I have yet to spring for a 3D printer (it's on the list, but I keep buying models instead), I ordered my set from OTP Terrain.

Thanks for following along! I'll post more on this project as I get on. Once I get the terrain painted, there may even be some proper game reports...

Blackstone Fortress - Part Six

Backing up the Chaos Space Marines are contingents from traitorous Astra Militarum regiment!

Traitor Guardsmen
Renegades and deserters hailing from dozens of different Astra Militarum regiments, these Traitor Guardsmen obey their Chaos Space Marine masters with sycophantic loyalty, gunning down intruders with overwhelming firepower.

Rogue Psykers
Rogue Psykers are among the greatest risks to the Imperium, for their latent powers can lead to daemonic possession or sometimes even full-blown warp breaches. To encounter such dangerous psykers is to risk one’s very soul…

Almost done!

Blackstone Fortress - Part Five

Obsidius Mallex
Ever since becoming trapped aboard the Blackstone Fortress, the Chaos Lord Obsidius Mallex has strived to bend its terrible weaponry to his will and become a new power in the galaxy.

Chaos Space Marines
Hailing from Obsidius Mallex’s warband, the Servants of the Abyss, these towering Chaos Space Marines became trapped alongside their lord when an empyric cataclysm caused their dread cruiser, Impaler, to become fused with the Blackstone Fortress.

Blackstone Fortress - Part Four

There are strange creatures haunting the shadows in the Blackstone Fortress!

Spindle Drones

Seemingly formed of the same substance as the Blackstone Fortress, Spindle Drones serve as its white blood cells, swarming to attack any foreign intruder. The more resistance is offered, the more aggressive and dangerous they become.

Ur-Ghul
Ur-ghuls are troglodytic predators whose speed is matched only by their blind savagery. Normally found hunting prey within they Aeldari webway, how they made their way onto the Blackstone Fortress in such numbers is a mystery.

As if these weren't bad enough, there seems to be a bit of a Chaos infestation as well...

Blackstone Fortress - Part Three

Taddeus the Purifier

Taddeus is a Ministorum Priest brought to the Blackstone Fortress by a holy vision seen in the burning remains of a particularly impertinent Imperial Navyman. Taddeus hopes to bring the Imperial Cult to Precipice, as well as purging any taint from the Blackstone Fortress itself.

Pious Vorne

Once a hive ganger, Pious Vorne now fights alongside Taddeus the Purifier, having discovered the joys of faith (not to mention burning heretics). Vorne has a pathological love of incendiary execution and seeks to slay any heretics who see the Blackstone Fortress as a refuge from the Emperor’s light.

UR-025
UR-025 is an oddity, even by the standards of Precipice. Ostensibly an aged Imperial Robot in the service of a Magos of the Adeptus Mechanicus, it seems there are secrets to UR-025’s past that may be revealed as you play. UR-025 is interested not in the Blackstone Fortress itself, but the seemingly sentient constructs that inhabit it.

The robot is one of my favorite models from the set - there is something very oldschool about the design and the color makes me think of a refrigerator from the 70's...

Next up... The Hostiles!

Blackstone Fortress - Part Two

On to the Servants of the Emperor!

Janus Draik
Janus Draik is a Rogue Trader – one of the bold pioneers tasked with expanding the borders of the Imperium. The Blackstone Fortress is one in a long line of claims this explorer has made for the Imperium – and a source of invaluable archeotech and artefacts for future ventures.

Espern Locarno
The Blackstone Fortress is filled with treasures of ages past – and the Navigator Houses are interested in getting ahold of some of these. Espern Locarno is a sanctioned mutant tasked with rediscovering cargos which belong to his house by ancient right – as well as technologies to refine the ill-understood processes of warp travel.

I really enjoyed painting these models, especially the Navigator - more stalwart defenders of Mankind in the next post!

Blackstone Fortress - Part One

After watching a few games of Blackstone Fortress on Warhammer TV, I really fell in love with the game. While not expressly Oldhammer/Rogue Trader, the revival of the Warhammer Quest style game and the characterful models pulled me in.

Over the next few weeks I'll be showing off my progress getting the set painted and then hope to coax a campaign out of my friends. Failing that, it is a perfect game for solo play as the dungeons and baddies are all randomly generated and controlled!

I decided to start with the heroes (naturally). Although there are a pile of Imperial characters, I choose to start with the xenos because they are rare in my 40k collection if they aren't green and crying. 'Waaaagh!!'

Amallyn Shadowguide
Hailing originally from the now-shattered Craftworld of Biel-Tan, Amallyn Shadowguide has travelled the webway for centuries. For her, the Blackstone Fortress represents a possible way to save her dying home and to make Biel-Tan whole again through the strange technologies within.

Dahyak Grekh
Like many Kroot, Dahyak Grekh is a mercenary, working for the highest bidder. The Kroot mercenary code of honour is key to him – for it is through loyal service that the Kroot may consume new genetic material. Through eating many unfortunate inhabitants of the fortress and thus assuming their memories, Grekh has learned much of the mysteries in the Blackstone Fortress...

Rein & Raus
Little is known about Rein & Raus. Their wargear would suggest that these sanctioned abhumans once fought with the Astra Militarum, but now they live as renegades. Both are consummate thieves – to them, the Blackstone Fortress represents profit and little else.

Right! That's it for sneaky xenos.. we'll have a few shining heroes of the Imperium up in a few days time...

More Warcry!

Work has been crazy (stupid day job gets in the way of my hobby time), but I've slowly been adding warbands to my Warcry collection. Rather than spend all week posting in dribs and drabs, I decided to add all of them to date (no telling when I'll sit down to do another update).

The Unmade

Nighthaunts

Iron Golems

Untamed Beasts

I finished my terrain too (pic below is an early WiP.. you'll have to trust me) and hope to start a small solo campaign in the next few months. I'll try to chronicle everything here.

I'm painting some mercenaries and monsters to go with the collection and looking forward to the next book due out later this year. I also have the Corvus Cabal and a pile of Gloomspite Gitz to add more warbands. More soon (ish)!

The Groovy Ghoulies

Ok, I feel like I'm channeling my inner-Grove with the name (look it up) of my Nighthaunt warband, but this makes my second force for Warcry!

I used a Guardian of Souls to represent my Dreadwarden, Dravoch Blacksoul, who is condemned to endlessly chant the crimes he committed in life in a sibilant whisper. Other than that, the warband is WYSIWYG... three Grimghast Reapers, a Glaivewraith Stalker, and four Chainrasps.

They will be a perfect campaign opponent for The Shadow Haunters (my Unmade) who have the Hunters of the Dead background. I suppose I'll have to paint my graveyard terrain now...

My third Warband is almost done and I'll start my solo campaign shortly. I'll be adding more warbands as I go, but I want to start getting in some games!

The Unmade

Here's the rest of my first warband for Warcry..

I'll post my Nighthaunt Warband in a few days..

Warcry

I know it's been a long time since I've posted. I've not been idle. In fact, I've painted more in the last few months than the rest of the year. I just haven't taken the time to take photographs or sit down to write about my projects.

Warcry is the new(ish) skirmish game from Games Workshop. The mechanics of the game are easy and fast. Possibly too simple if you are a fan of granular sets like Mordheim and Necromunda, but I've been enjoying narrative games more than crunchy ones these days. Despite the rules lite nature of the mechanics, there is still a good level of tactical choices during a battle. I'm not going to go into full review mode (there are plenty of those on the web), but I do like the game.

More than that, I LOVE the new models. My first warband is the Unmade..

These are just a few of the lads. I'm working on the terrain now and I'll post some more photos (no, really) when I can set up a proper table.

One of the things I didn't like about the game was that the cards for the models only include one of each type. When you have multiples of the same ganger, you add a numbered card below to track Ascended One I, Ascend One II, etc. The cards also featured photos of the studio versions of the model. This created a little bit of a disconnect for me as I wanted to name all of my fighters and I wanted the cards to be MY guys. Not a huge problem - I just made my own!

In addition to The Unmade, I have a ready painted Nighthaunt faction.. what? I've never posted my Nighthaunts? Hrm.. I'll add that to the list. I'll certainly feature my Warcry Nighthaunts soon. I'm hoping to get in some games as soon as all of the terrain is ready and I'll try to feature a battle report.

Hopefully the next post won't take so long!

Tyranid Army For Sale

I'm having a bit of a clean out and my Tyranid army is listed on e-Bay.. they've been in a box for well over two years and I decided to set them free (I expect the Inquisition to show up at my door any time now).

There are 86 models and it was 2300 points in 7th edition, but I've never calculated the cost in 8th. The paint scheme is easy to replicate so the army will be a snap reinforce. I'll supply a list of paints to the winning buyer.