This month is a brutal one. We don’t have 1, or 2, but 3 Warlords bite the dust! We knew there would be casualties, but by god, 3 in 1 month – it’s like Isstvan all over again!
What is the Tale of Heresy Gamers challenge?
This is the Warlord’s journey. The path of power, or of ruin. The Tale of Heresy Gamers charts army selection, choice of units, painting woes, and victories! We’ll be capturing every triumph and misfortune of coming to grips with a new system and a new force. This will be a series about the collecting of a new army for Horus Heresy 2.0. It will focus on the collecting and painting side of things, but we hope to bring you some insight into how the collection plays on the tabletop. Charting the development of an army from conception to finish is one of my fetishes, and I get to indulge in it with all my friends.
Want to join in the Tale of Heresy Gamers? Read how at the bottom!
As we hit the month 4 wall, will the Loyalists or Traitors have more staying power?
LOYALISTS
Alex – Loyalist Blood Angels
Crescent Edge Studio – The Death and Betrayal Podcast
The last two months have been beyond hectic for me; with the busy season at work seeing my buy last month I was sure this month would be a triumphant return to the tale with a completed 1000 points like my Northern Canadian counterpart Craig.
I was mistaken. October saw additional work travel over 7 days and followed that up with a nasty sickness that has lingered long past a week. I did manage to get some progress on the infantry though, with particular attention being paid to the vexillas. These two lads I’m hoping will be real points of pride within my tactical squads. We’ve seen in previous articles the conversions done to mount the vexillas on banner poles; but while the oil dries you should notice some extra little miles to take them to the next level.
I painted the inlay of the vexillas with black marble which was nothing if not easy to do, by adding some thinned-out grey in a somewhat shakey pattern and cleaning/forming the veins with a wet brush before picking out some connecting veins with white. I also noticed the inlay is the perfect size for the baroque encircled IX from the transfer sheet, finishing the banner out with some wet blending of the gold and some satin-ing of the cloth and we’ve got a couple of Legion pride poles Sangunius himself would weep upon seeing hoisted.
James Wright – Loyalist Salamanders
This month has definitely been fun. I have been slowly adding additional details and finishing touches to the models. Someone wiser than me said no project is ever finished, only abandoned. There is always more to do and no project is ever really complete.
I’m really happy with how my Salamander Leviathan has come out. It’s one of the most iconic models of the Horus heresy. I spent a lot of time making the base and found it was a particular challenge to keep it within the theme of the black sands of Istvaan, while also trying to add something different and unique to it.
I think it’s fantastic that with the release of the plastic kit the leviathan has become much more affordable. However, I must say that I do prefer the resin kit. But that’s just me!
The Land Raider Spartan was also finished this month. I’m really happy with how it’s come out, my favourite part is the side doors with the flames, they really do stand out well on the table! I used turquoise on the quad las cannons as a contrasting colour to break up the green and add a cool focal point to draw in the eye.
I’ve been lucky enough to play a few games with my 2k list which is all now tabletop ready. However it’s a pretty elite force so I think I might need some more boots on the ground for the future (My Justaerin army would agree – Myles). But I found everything in the army is both solid and survivable. The Spartan was very much needed to get the scoring units to where they are need to be. is very much essential to all successful battle plans.
Until next month!
Rob. Dark Angels. Loyal(ish).
I hope you’ve all had a good month, Its blog
time again and It’s been another quiet one but significant steps have been made.
The Land Raider Proteus kit has been released. In plastic, and it is gorgeous. More importantly for
me; it is the last model I need to complete the 300-point list that I wrote at the start of this
challenge. So, unsurprisingly it was pre-ordered as soon as it went up, and was delivered on
release morning alongside yet more Adeptus Titanicus.
The Kit itself went together like a dream, the engineering standard is of GW’s usual high level
although I never understand why their details are so much larger & chunkier than the military model
kits.. anyway, I digress….
My only real gripe is that the hull-mounted Lascannons are a tad too long to open the assault
ramp, not a problem on the Spartan because of its longer snout & these two kits do share a
common lascannon sprue.
Anyway, As I’ve said this is the last model I need to complete the 3000 points so I’m looking
forward to getting cracked on with it, however that will have to wait a week or two as I’m jetting
off for a week or two. Who knows how many prime ministers we’ll have had by the time I get
back.
I’m looking forward to getting some time on it, so I’ll probably have more to say at the end of
November, so until then……
Where the hell did all these Blackstone Fortress Minis come from????
KEITH – Loyalist Space Wolves
Unfortunately, I have to bow out of the challenge. Moving is taking longer than I first thought, and I’m not making any progress.
Good luck to my fellow warlords.
Bryan Hartley – Loyalist Mechanicum
Horus Heresy Painting and Modelling Group – Instagram – Facebook
It’s a miracle! I’m officially just over halfway through my Mechanicum force!
- Domitars – Done.
- Castellax – Done!
- Vorax – All done!
I’m really happy with my Vorax. They were the first Mechanicum unit where I decided to experiment with the poses and even convert a couple of them.
From the first time I laid eyes on these minis I thought they looked like Velociraptors from the Jurassic Park movies: Intelligent pack hunters that encircle their enemies and then tear their throats out with their bladed toes. In fact the only difference is that the Vorax are robots… And they have Gatling guns for arms, with massive meathook blades on them!
The next unit for painting are my squad of Ursurax, and I’m also going to try to get my two Magos Dominus painted at the same time. I’m having a quandary with the Ursurax: When I built them I gave all nine of them power fists, but under Heresy v2 only one in every three can take power fists, and the rest have to take Lightning Claws. So, do I keep them as is, or do I try to pull the fingers off of six of them and attach claws instead?
Find out next month!
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Dan Palfrey – Blood Angels
This month I was able to complete my converted Incaendius Dreadnought and also get a few games in with my Blood Angels.
First the dread- I added wings from a Bretonnian Pegasus and cut up a few jump packs for the boosters. I foolishly forgot to order melee arms when I bought the body so had to pillage some of the lovely new plastic kits for the arms!
My first game was part of a larger 6 player bonanza. I found myself allied with Salamanders and Death Guard against a Thousand Sons/Night Lords/Sons of Horus coalition of evil led by Magnus himself. With no primarchs on our side perhaps our inevitable loss was a forgone conclusion, but my valiant Blood Angels held their own.
Most of my army was outflanked by a huge Sons of Horus and Night Lords pack of assault troops but my shiny new dreadnought punched his way through a Leviathan before bearing down on the big M himself (who destroyed him with barely a thought of course).
My next two games were against our erstwhile allies the Salamanders – first a regular game of blood feud and the second a Zone Mortalis encounter. Both times I lost but managed to fight the sons of Nocturne to a near draw. Huw’s Praetor with mantle of the elder drake and thunder hammer is legendary already among our local group for his inability to actually die and having gone toe to toe with Ferrus Manus and almost won.
I did manage to drag him down in the ZM game just, but it wasn’t enough to carry the day.
All in all I’m really enjoying playing the Blood Angels, though I’m considering branching out from my initial theme of embittered siege defenders to make use of the shiny jump pack special units available to the force.
Until the Militia book is out and I can choke the enemy with bodies that is!
Anuj Malhotra – Defenders of Sol
This month I’m unleashing my inner treadhead. The plastic Heresy tanks have been a long-awaited dream come true for me, and suffice to say I have a very large stack of them in the making. I find I’m fast becoming one of those men who, as they peer over the yawning abyss of the onset of middle age take refuge in the heavily armoured hulls of, well, armour.
This isn’t an all-at-once fascination, I mean it has been building up for some time (like serial killing – Myles), including trips to the Bovington Tank Museum for Tankfest, and listening to audiobooks of tank commanders’ memoirs, and buying books on armoured warfare and, and… anyway, suffice to say it’s not only getting out of hand.
Surprisingly, I’ve never actually owned a mechanized force before on the tabletop, let alone an armoured cavalry company, but that changes now.
Last month I talked about potential army lists I’d be making, and this month it’s full steam ahead and redlining those engines as I churn out some tanks for the Armoured Spearhead option. Pictured are my first few beauties.
On top of these, I’ve also got a Sicaran, 2 Sicaran Punishers and 2 more Predators on the supply line in various states of manufacture and conversion. I’ve already spent a good long while sitting around dreaming up cool names for my fighting vehicles, and often wondered does anyone else do this? Do you do it before you even have them assembled or do you wait for them to earn a legend on the tabletop first? Let me know in the comments! I fall firmly into the former category and the ones pictured are the Kratos tanks “King of Carnage” and “Song of Ruin”, the Predators “Wrath of Hymalazia” and “Dauntless” and the Arquitor “83FK-9”. Keep those engines idling until next month!
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TRAITORS
Myles David – Traitor Sons of Horus.
I’ve gone done a Kratos. This is mainly Anuj fault – he won’t shut up about the thing. I guess designing a tank and seeing it re-launch the Heresy is pretty rad.
And the tank is pretty rad as well. Great to put together (thank god it’s in plastic), with lots of negative space to explore. I’ve littered details across the hull; kill markings, the army heraldry, and the phases of the moon. I’ve gone for maximum choice because I love seeing individual blood cells pop like popcorn in my future wars.
I’m currently wading through infantry. 40 of them. They may take me the rest of the year to complete and the thought isn’t thrilling me. These are the leg days at the gym. The mind-numbing repetition of infantry painting. But you put in the hard brush strokes for the results at the end.
Oh, and I’m also super stressed out because I’m doing the advent again. It almost cost my marriage last year (this isn’t a joke!) so I hope you enjoy watching me have a mental breakdown to the soundtrack of ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’.
25 days. 25 treats. Let’s go!
Sumeet – Traitor Night Lords.
It’s month three and while progress has slowed down, I’ve managed to chip away at some Night Raptors. I would of liked to have all got all 5 done but life sometimes gets in the way and so I managed to get 3 models completed.
The flayed skin and various decapitated heads were a great opportunity to practice painting necrotic and bloodless skin tones and I enjoyed it thoroughly. These extra details are the “original” FW heresy sculpts and were smaller and a lot more detailed than the newer sculpts in the range, so they provided an extra challenge for both my painting skills and eyes!
My only regret so far on this unit and the project as a whole is that I wish I had more time to spend on each model, as I really should be pushing myself to make these guys look the very best they can be, but, as the old saying goes “better finished than perfect”.
Earlier in the month i also had the chance to attend a face painting course, and i really felt this solidified a lot of the theory and videos I’ve seen over the years when it comes to painting faces and skin, so I’ve attached a few pictures of the models i painted immediately after the course to crystallise those lessons learnt.
Craig V. – Traitor Emperor’s Children
I’m taking this month to clear my head (and my desk)! Will be back at it next month!
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David Taylor – Traitor Death Guard
Life has dealt me a bum hand. After 2 years of dodging, covid finally got to me. I know the Deathguard love being sick, but it’s taking its toll! I’ll have to gracefully take my leave of the challenge and enjoy what the other warlords achieve.
From all the warlords and all of us at Lil’Legend we hope you make a speedy recovery and will be sure to host your next masterpiece soon.
Chris Schou – Traitor Sons of Horus
This is Myles typing – Chris has been having far too much fun attending an event in Malmo.
Let’s all congratulate Chris on winning best army! A win for the Warlords!!!!!
Keith Hixson – Traitor Night Lords
This month I painted the plastic Contemptor out of the Age of Darkness box. This one is my fourth Contemptor for my Night Lords. So it technically counts as contributing to my new big-mean Heresy army. BUT, I will never use 4 contemptors, and I already have one with this exact loadout lmao, and I have a soul (GRUDGE MATCH WITH ANUJ – Myles).
This project was more of an artistic endeavor than one for gaming. I already have a color scheme nailed down for my Night Lords that I really like. As a result; cranking out units for the tabletop feels sterile. There isn’t really any creative decision-making going into it. I am just following the process and sticking them into my cabinet. Its painting by numbers.
I wanted to branch out a bit and play around with new colors, and do some brush blending. The plastic contemptor was the perfect candidate for this. I stared at the color wheel for a long time and decided to add violet and pink detailing, I played around with textures, and I was very careful with my highlight placements. Overall I’m really pleased with the results. So much so that it is making me rethink how I approach army painting. Do I really have a reason to crank out units as fast as possible? I play like 1 game a month maybe. Why not slow it down and focus on the art? Lots to think about!
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If you would like to join the journey please write an introduction to your project and post it up on your social media with #taleofheresygamers. Every month keep apace with the warlords in creating your own collection.
For the Warmaster.
For the Emperor.