Battle report, Death Guard vs. Blackshields 2500p

He, who walks with me into the flames of war, shall have his place at the table of our father in the afterlife.

-          Dagon Maharabal ša Qart-Hadasht, Reaver Lord of Legio II Taurii

Army lists:

Blackshields - Chymerae

HQ:
Reaver Lord
- Cataphractii
- Cyber Familiar
- Halo blade
- Rad grenades
Chaplain 105p
- Artificer Armour
- Refractor Field
Troops:


Marauder squad
- +15
- 4 power axes
- 12x bolters
- 4x heavy chainswords
- Sergeant with power fist and meltabomb


Marauder squad
- +15
- 4 PA
- 12 bolters
- 4 HC
- Sergeant with power fist and meltabomb
Elites:
10x Terminators
- Thunderhammer sergeant
- Pair of lightning claws
- Chain fist
- 4x power fists
- 2x power axes
- Lightning claw
5x Terminators
- Land Raider
o Armoured ceramite
- 5x combimeltas
- 4x fists
- 1x chainfist
Apothecary
- Artificer armour
Heavy Support:


Sicaran Venator
- Dozer blade


Deredeo
- Missile launcher

Death Guard

Hq:
Praetor
- terminator armour
- iron Halo
- digital weapons
- mastercrafted paragon blade
- The Reaping

Master of Signals
- Artificier armour
- volkite serpenta

ELITES
Contemptor dread
- 2 x kheres assault cannons
- extra armour

Apothecarion Detachment 3 x apotechary
- artificier armour

5x Deathshrouds

-          Meltabombs

-          Radgrenades

TROOPS
Legion Tactical Squad (15)
- extra ccw
- vexilla
Sergeant
- artificier armour
- power weapon
- rad grenades
- melta bombs

Legion Tactical Squad (15)
- extra ccw
- vexilla
Sergeant
- artificier armour
- power weapon
- rad grenades
- melta bombs

Legion Heavy Support Squad (5)
- volkite culverines
Sergeant
- augury scanner

Legion Heavy Support Squad (5)
- volkite culverines
Sergeant
- augury scanner

Legion support squad (8)
- plasmaguns
Sergeant
- artificier armour
- augury scanner

HEAVY
Land Raider Phobos
- Armoured ceramite
- dozer blade

Army setup

We rolled for scenario, and ended up with scenario 6 from Horus Heresy book 1 with Dawn of War deployment. It’s the one with six objectives, each with an unknown value until the end of the game. In addition you get a point for every enemy unit routed or destroyed at the end of the game.

Having a Praetor in his army, Bjørnar could roll two dice on the Warlord Traits table. He ended up choosing Paladin of Glory, giving Fearless to his Warlord and +1 score in assault. I rolled one die, and my warlord got World Burner. Woho!!! Now my marauder’s frag grenades had shred!

The Death Guard line

Bjørnar won the roll off for the first turn, and chose to deploy first. He placed his plasma squad in his Land Raider, and hid them behind a pile of rocks. The warlord resided with one of the tactical squads, and the Deathshrouds stood silent guard behind the masses of Death Guard legionnaires. From the nearby ruins, the volkite bastards could cover the whole battlefield with their flaming death-rays.

Taurii, right flank

Taurii, left flank

I deployed my forty marauders on the flanks of my terminator unit, with the Deredeo balancing in a ruin. On my far left flank, the Venator was ready to pounce on Bjørnar’s Contemptor or Land Raider. Now I just had to seize the initiative

….

Nope!

….

The battlefield

Death Guard - Round 1

The ground shook from the march of the Death Guard legionnaires. The sixty tactical marines advanced boldly towards their frightening foe. From their back lines, the Land Raider thundered across the field. On the other side of the ruined wasteland, the Taurii braced for the coming fire storm. They had weathered worse in the long war for survival against the dogs of Fenris…. they thought.

The merciless march of the Death Guard

Poor buggers lost their ride

Dagon Maharabal felt a loud explosion, and the shredded corpse of one of his bodyguard knocked him to the ground. Where there once had stood a mighty Land Raider, loaded with five of his most trusted warriors, there was now a smoking crater. The enemy Land Raider had pierced the hull of the great machine.

When I saw Bjørnar roll the dice to fire his lascannons at my Land Raider, I was ice cold. When he penetrated it, I was somewhat worried. Then, he rolled six on the penetration table. Damn!

His remaining legionnaires and Contemptor opened up on my terminators. Suddenly there were only five or so left.

The Taurii death toll after round one.
Those unpainted models had it coming.

Taurii – Round 1

Forwards!

Cataphractii are slow, very slow. In addition, all my marauders had to take difficult terrain tests. 3’s…Lovely! That was ok, but I planned on flanking his Land Raider with my Venator. So I rolled for dangerous terrain… got a two, but it was somewhat cocked in a piece of terrain. Well, I’ll just roll it again, I thought.

1

Shit, well. It’s ok. I’ve got a dozer blade.

1

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

My Venator grinded to a halt, but its phallic gun could just reach the hull of Bjørnar’s Contemptor. “Fire! For Apis!” The Contemptor exploded in a hail of twisted metal, which pierced the power armour of a nearby Death Guard legionnaire.

Contemptor down!

My Deredeo tried to knock some hull points off Bjørnar’s Land Raider, and got one. The rockets tried to take out one of his heavy support squads but missed and failed to wound. 1,1,1,1,1,1

The ravenous marauders ran… three inches each.

Death Guard – Round 2

This round, the Death Guard decided to hold the line. They opened up on the lines of the Taurii. Many of my terminators were cut down by the following rounds of fire. It was the smart choice, as my marauders could wreak havoc upon the Death Guard in close combat. Bjørnar’s Land Raider tried to take out my Deredeo, but missed.

They advance through
the hellscape.

At this point, he should have disembarked his plasma squad and Master of Signals. The orbital bombardement could have crippled my units even further, but Bjørnar is a good guy. He probably knew that the game would be finished at that point, and wanted to play more.

Taurii – Round 2

My Venator stood in his little cabin, the crew trying to fix the tank destroyer’s threads. My marauders advanced, but were still too far from the enemy lines, so they continued to run. My Deredeo took two hull points off Bjørnar’s Land raider, but the damn bastard has 4! 4! The Deredeo’s rockets managed to kill two volkite guys, but they succeeded in their following morale test.

Death Guard – Round 3

Bjørnar smiled as he declared, with glee: “Fury of the Legion!” I lost so many proud, plastic and resin men this round that I have considered to have myself checked for PTSD. Not much else to be said, as the guard held the line.

Oh yes

His Land Raider, having lost three hull points to the Deredeo, was out for blood. He had to use the power of the machine spirit, since he moved over six inches the previous turn. The tank hit, penetrated..

I rolled my cover save, 4+

C’mon!

2

Bjørnar rolls on the penetration table, which by now should be the name for the table upon which we played.

6

FFFffffFFffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

The legionnaires of the Death Guard shake their heads, and feel sorry for the poor marauders across the field.

His five Deathshrouds try to charge my marauders, but they fail.

Taurii – Round 3

The Taurii can't fail
this assault.

My Marauders continue to advance on the enemy. My warlord has to regroup with the beached terminators from the destroyed Land Raider, as his own retinue now consists of two traumatised guys in armour, looking more like Swiss cheese.

I’m finally in assault range of the Deathshouds with my marauders and terminators. “Chaaaarge!” It hits home.

By this point there were seven or so marauders left, but let me tell you, they hit hard. The normal guys with bolt pistols and rage get five attacks on the charge.. five!

Then there’s the heavy chainswords and the power axes. Needless to say, I absolutely massacre his Deathshrouds. Bjørnar manages to kill a marauder or two, but I’ve become used to that by now.

Fresh meat!

On my far right flank I charge his tactical squad. They are slaughtered. My chaplain makes the marauders gods in power armour.

Things were looking up. Bjørnar had his Land Raider, last tactical squad and heavy support squads within my charge range. I just had to weather the coming storm.

Death Guard – Round 4

Plasma death! When eight guys with bs5, from the Master of Signals, fire their plasma rifles at close range, expect death. The following round of shooting kills everything, except my warlord, who stands shaking with one wound left. Then, Bjørnar assaults and kills my Reaver Lord in a challenge.

The reapers ready their blades

Raging zealot <3

Can the Taurii weather
the coming storm?

Can they?

Nope!

Taurii – Round 4

Things were certainly looking grim. I assault Bjørnar’s right heavy support squad, and kill them, but I have a lot more work to do. Once more, I had to survive a ton of shooting, before I could have the chance to close on the Death Guard.

Death Guard – Round 5

Mop up. The final infantry squad in reduced to a pool of smoking plasma.

What is left of the glorious
sons of Apis.

Bjørnar tries to take out my immobilised Venator, but fails.

Taurii – Round 5

I shoot at some tacticals with my Venator, but they are in cover.

Last round

Bjørnar did not manage to take out my Venator, but he didn’t have to. The Death Guard were victorious!

Afterthought

This was a brutal game. I expected to lose a lot of men on the way, but the early loss of my Land Raider, and the idiotic Venator accident left me neutered. Next time I’ll swap out the terminators in the Land Raider for a Scorpius and two Contemptors. That way I can spread the chance of failing my throws, something I am quite famous for.

I do love my marauders though. They hit like a freight train, but they have to get into melee as fast as possible.

Feel free to leave your comments below.

-          Olvebanipal

The Alefim, second legion, called the bulls of Apis, the wrath of Moloch and the Taurii

Hi, this is Olvebanipal again with some more background information on the second legion. This time we will look at the early days of the crusade, and Apis' most loyal soldiers, the Bekhrum Sharruti.

The Bull meets his father

Apis quickly accepted his new role as head of a legion of super-humans. During his years of expanding the Sargonite Empire, he had come to view himself as more than a man. He now ruled as the god-king of hundreds of thousands. His word was not only law; it was the very fabric of his subjects’ universe. The first wars of expansion were extraordinarily brutal and vicious. Entire populations were skinned, blinded, crucified or deported for resisting his laws. Word of his atrocities spread, and many cities surrendered even before he could reach their walls.

Although Apis was described as a bloody-handed tyrant, he was also praised as a warm, friendly man, and his subjects loved him. He would give distribute the spoils of war to his citizens, and walk the slums of newly conquered cities. Here he would feed the poor, and adopt many orphaned children. This made him popular amongst the common people, and secured a stable empire. The people knew that he was as caring as a father to those who followed him, but a savage, cruel master to any who opposed him.

When the primarch of the second met the Emperor, he did it as Apis-bel-nisheshu, god-king of the Sargonite Empire. The Emperor of the Imperium of Man was an inferior, not a god. But Apis could see the advanced technology and great power the Emperor wielded, and decided to join his father in the crusade. This would give an army with which to later dethrone his creator. From the moment Apis met his father, he was intent on taking his role.

How Apis saw the Emperor

It is curious that the Emperor accepted the apparent fanaticism in his second son, but as with the flaws of his other sons, who knows what plans he had for him. The Taurii, or Alefim in Sargonite, became one of the most fearsome legions in the Imperium of Man, but their loyalty to their primarch was much stronger than to that of their Emperor. The most loyal of Apis’ subjects could be found in the Bekhrum Sharruti, the hand-picked men of the king.

The Bekhrum Sharruti

Excerpt from the scriptures of Magos Historicus Hadradatus Archos

[…]To his enemies, Apis was known as Moloch, the raging, black bull of destruction, heralding the coming of the end. Only those who loved him called him by his true name. This duality in the view on the primarch of the Second, also survived through the crusade, and the enemies of the Imperium learned to fear the coming of Moloch.

It may seem strange that this towering, horned figure of terrible myth was also loved by many. The White Bull became the patron saint of the oppressed and downtrodden. He became the father of the fatherless, the protector of the weak, or so he wanted the people to believe. To his fellow primarchs, he was an enigma. One day a caring brother, the other day a tornado of hate and fury.

We have no sources other than the interviews with his surviving legionnaires. There is especially one such interview, or confession rather, that is especially intriguing: the tale of Apisreshishi, “Apis-has-lifted-my-head,” Rab-kisri of the Bekhrum Sharruti.

Source: https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/Dark-Heresy-2nd/core-book-previews/preview-2/DH19-art-adeptusadmin.png

Excerpt from confession of Apisreshishi of the IInd Legion

++++++Subject: Apisreshishi, former legionnaire of the second legion+++++

++++++Interviewer: [Redacted]+++++

Subject description: The legionnaire sits bound in great chains. His eyes dart nervously continuously, never resting. His long, braided, black hair is wet, and his face is streaked with sweat, in spite of the room’s low temperature.

[Redacted]: So, you have finally come to your senses? Are you ready to confess your sins, legionnaire?

[09.35 seconds pause]

Subject: I… I will tell you my story. [Subject’s eyes continue to scan the room as he talks.] I was born in the city-state of Uruk, in the Karakalla delta. I was the third son of … [subject pauses, he looks as if he tries to remember something. After 05.14 seconds, he closes his eyes, his brow furrowing.] …it does not matter…

When my father left for war, my mother tried to keep us all fed, but… it…. It was hard. Word of my father’s death… It… [The subject closes his eyes. His manacled hands reach for his face, but cannot reach it.]

I think some of my siblings died that winter. We were left on our own for most of the time, as mother was… away finding food. I think… I think we had a neighbour, who would come into our room at night… I don’t know… [The subject clenches his fists.]

[Redacted]: How old were you when your father died?

Subject: I think I was about ten summers… I… I think father gave me a wooden horse for my birthday.

[Redacted]: Was it about this time that Apis and the Sargonites conquered Uruk?

Subject: Yes… He came in the winter, outside of the war season. The streets… red…. He came as a god of fire and death… furious... without mercy…. [The subject’s eyes freeze for a fleeting moment, as if he is somewhere else.]

I could not find my mother… I.. I think… I think he came for us when we were looking for her.

[Redacted]: Who? Apis?

Subject: Yes… Or Moloch as we called him, the rampaging bull of chaos and destruction… He… He came for us though the smoke. At first he seemed a horned demon… His huge silhouette, an omen of death. [The subject’s gaze focuses on the table in front of him.] But as he came closer… we could see his eyes. He was smiling. He was smiling at us, with the kindest, warmest eyes I have ever seen. [The subject’s eyes turn to [redacted]. We knew who he was then.

[Redacted]: What do you mean? You knew he was the lord of Sargon?

Subject: [The subject’s voice is firm. His eyes are focussed and clear. He takes a deep breath.] We knew he was our only true father. He had always been our father, and now he had come for us…

Forged in the flames of war

The Bekhrum Sharruti, the handpicked men of the king, were more than mere legionnaires. When Apis conquered a city, he would put the men and women to the sword, but he would spare the children. Both the girls and boys were trained to become rulers in the new divine kingdom of Sargon. Contrary to tradition, the girls became learned scribes, priestesses and bureaucrats. The boys became soldiers, and the fiercest of them was initiated into the brotherhood of the Bekhrum Sharruti.

These orphans were sure that Apis was a god and their true father. They were his most loyal followers, and when the primarch of the Second was reunited with the Emperor, the Bekhrum were the first to receive the gene seed.

It is very important to remember that the priesthood of Mars were especially intrigued by the rediscovery of Sargon, as it was the source of an incredible potent metal. This bronze-like substance became known as Sargonium in High Gothic, and the Mechanicum soon established close relations to Apis and the Second. In the fires of the forges of Nimrod, the tech-savants of Mars forged magnificent armours and weapons for the Second legion. The Bekhrum Sharruti received the finest of these marvels.

The power armour of the Bekhrum Sharruti was incredibly strong, forged with sargonium.  Their helmets were moulded in the shape of a fierce bull, to honour their father. The Bekhrum favoured close combat, where they wielded their power glaives with terrible fury. In the trenches they formed solid phalanxes of glaives and shields and cut through the enemy with ease.

What we learn from the interview with Apisreshishi, is not only his great love for his father and god, but also the purpose of the Bekhrum. They were not the veterans or the most elite troops of Apis, but aspirants to the King’s Guard. The Bekhrum were fanatical warriors, but only some of them received the honour of donning the royal terminator armour. We can see that Apis’s heresy was apparent already from the start.

So in the same way that the Vlka Fenryka hone their youngest in the flames of combat, so did the Taurii. The lessons and indoctrination in the Bochum made some of the finest legionnaires in the Imperium of man, but this heresy was soon to be put down.

So that was it for now. Feel free to leave questions and comments below.

- Olvebanipal

The Athu Elami

Hi, this is Olvebanipal. This time I’ll talk a bit about my take on the BaC cataphractii.

As I’ve stated in an earlier post, I already had ten Space Wolf terminators lying in their sprues. When the Betrayal at Calth boxed set was released, I decided that I wanted to go for the Pride of the legion ROW. It’s easy to field for beginners, as you don’t need too many models. I haven’t converted these guys too much, but I kitted them out with combi-meltas, some of which I took from the tactical sprue. The rest I magnetized with the combi-weapon set from Forge World. I can now choose which combi-weapon to use. The hand of the BaC cataphractii fits ok with the weapons from Forge World. Just use a knife and some patience.

It really was a bitch to fix, and I’m not really satisfied with the result, as the barrels of the bolters don’t align properly. Learn from my mistakes. I’m too much of an easy-way-out-guy.  

I would fall to the easy
path of the dark side
in the blink of an eye.

Anyway, here is some background fluff for this unit.

The Athu Elami

The Athu Elami, meaning the brothers of Elam, was one of the few surviving units from the great chapter of Elam. This chapter’s strength was in its deployment of fast speeders, jet bikes and terminators. When the enemy met with the light forces of the Elamites, they thought they were only facing the scouts of the chapter. Little did they know that the swarms of stinging speeders were the harbingers of the heavy infantry, the Athu Elami.

After the purge by the Vlka Fenryka, very few were left of the Elamite chapter. The stragglers were led by Helu sha Elam, and joined the vengeful, shattered remains of the Taurii. During the years of the Horus Heresy the Athu Elami carried a pair of great knives, with which they would carve the name of Apis in the skulls of their foes.

Shed blood in His name!

-        
  Olvebanipal

Modelling and painting the marines of the Taurii

Hi, it’s Olvebanipal again, now here to share how I modelled my first 20 marines.

So, you’ve seen some pictures of my marines now. Perhaps you’ve wondered where the different bits come from. When I decided to start a new Warhammer army, I wanted my own chapter. I’ve gone through that in previous posts. Therefore, I counted all the leftovers from my space wolf sprues, and saw that I could make at least ten new marines, if I just bought some torsos, backpacks and legs.

This guy looks like
he made his own helmet.
Greenstuff to the face!

I searched different suppliers online, and came over a look that I liked. Anvil Industries had decent prices and the right feel to their bits. I ordered 20 pairs of shoulder pads for tactical marines and ten for terminators, since I had ten space wolf terminators laying in sprues. I also ordered some backpacks, legs and torsos. The plan was to build ten cheap tactical marines… yeah right!

Marines in the 41^st millennium have a wide variety of armour marks, and therefore I simply bought a box of ten tactical marines. After sitting for hours on Battlescribe, trying to make cool, but competitive lists for 40k, I gave up. Adrian and Bjørnar simply said: “Then play 30k, for fucks sake!”

The vexilla has an
even more weird
helmet, but I like him.

YEEEEEEES!! I felt as if I were free! The room was filled with butterflies, rainbows, unicorns, and gritty dark shadows of ancient gods, forgotten secrets, occult whispers and eldritch horrors!

YEEEEEEEEES!!

This left me with a small problem. My tactical marines’ armour were in many instances anachronistic. After searching the internet for some answers, I simply sharpened my knife and bought some greenstuff. “I’ll make my own mark, GODDAMN YOU!!” The purists among you will maybe find my solutions crude and simple, but I kind of like it. Especially since it meant I didn’t have to buy the ones made from ivory and stardust from Forge World. Yes, I know. I’m a bloody peasant.

I'm happy with the way
my first sergeant turned
out. 

Since I wanted to make them look like space romans, I also made tunicas for them. I don't use the roman theme anymore, but it certainly make them stand out.

I am no expert modeller. I am at best a happy amateur, but I hope you can find inspiration in this first adventure of mine into the universe of the 31^st millennium.

Links:

Anvil Industries

Battlescribe

Walk in His shadow!

-          Olvebanipal

Starting to write

Hi

Bjørnar, to the left, trying to cheer
me  up after I've seen his glorious
ultramarines

I've changed name since last time, but I guess you already discovered that. This time I'll talk a bit about how I started to write the fluff for my version of the missing second legion.

As I said last time, I had several other attempts at writing the background for my legion. First I sent them to my pals, who gave me some tips, and then I posted it on the heresy forums.

Hobby tip: Make an account on http://heresy30k.invisionzone.com/, people there are very helpful and inspiring. Most of the painted armies they have posted, make mine look like trash.

Especially Uberlord Gendo helped me establish the second legion as a Mesopotamian-themed army. This reception was what made me want to write more, but first I had to begin anew. 

Hobby tip: Just write! The only way to gather your thoughts and ideas into sensible structures is through writing. Listen to inspiring music and write!

This little guy is the actual author behind the Sisters of Battle.
Do like him. Have an inspiring statue or something nearby.

Now, listen to this, while you read the rest of the text. 

The Taurii

The story of the second legion starts during the unification wars on Terra. Most of the legionnaires were recruited from the Achaemenid Empire and the tribes of Gyptus. They quickly adopted the Achaemenid way of fighting, which relied on large amounts of skirmishing bikes and jetbikes, screening an armoured spearhead.

Taurii sergeant
Post-reuinon with Apis

Legio 2 quickly were given the name Taurii, from the strength of their armoured assault, but also because of a rare, genetic flaw, which made some legionnaires grow horns. The name was used to describe their martial strength, but also their stubborn, almost bull-headed behaviour in battle, and their shameful mutation.

It is difficult to say if it was the mutation or their conduct which made them outsiders amongst the legions; perhaps both. After the unification of Terra, few legions had close ties to the second, except from the Blood Angels and the Vlka Fenryka, which had their own flaw, although they never admitted it at the time. Those of the second with the mutation began filing down their horns, both for practical purposes, but also for hiding their shameful flaw.

During the first years of the Great Crusade, the Taurii were sent to subdue the Amorite Federation, a conglomerate of merchant republics. We can see the early military doctrine of the second during the battle of Kesh in this conflict. The Amorite Federation’s seats of power were concentrated in huge cities in vast deserts and plains, and the Taurii understood that a drawn out siege of these cities would be far too costly. Therefore, Ashur Tiglatus, their designated commander at the time, ordered the light cavalry of the legion to harass and goad the wealthy merchants out of their ivory towers.

The rest of the legion were either waiting under the sand dunes, or in orbit, where they could strike when needed. Weeks went by, and the Amorites became annoyed with the constant attacks by jetbikes, landspeeders and bikes. The legion refused the spoiled nobility their precious sleep, and since the Amorite scouts (which the legion had let through the blockade on purpose) did not find any large force of astartes, the merchants struck.

The great gates of the cities of the Amorite Federation opened, and legions of disciplined mercenaries with gaudy armour marched out into the plains. Their speeders and bikes engaged with the light cavalry of the Taurii, and seemed to drive them into the desert, where the Amorite scouts had located the legion scout camps. As the Amorite mercenaries pushed into the desert, the legion cavalry engaged them constantly, keeping them always on guard.

The scorching sun took its toll, and the mercenaries were thirsty and tired. In the oasis, called Kesh, the armies of the different Amorite cities joined forces. By then, their gallantry had worn off. In the distance, they suddenly heard soft thumps, heralding the coming of artillery bombardment. All hell was upon the mercenaries. The shells from the hidden legion artillery tore great, bloody holes in the Amorite ranks. Their transports and tanks were in disarray, as the incoming rounds seemed to come from all around them.

Then, legion Spartans and Land Raiders burst from the sand dunes. They aimed for the weak points in the huge enemy formation, and cut deep into the Amorite host. The transports disgorged legionnaires armed for close combat, if they did not cut through the entire formation. This part of the strategy later became known as “the thrust of the spear.” In the field of Kesh, the moral of the Amorites was already at breaking point when the heavy cavalry of the Taurii attacked. Met with the full might of an imperial legion, their spirit was shattered. With the destruction of their mercenary armies, the Amorite Federation surrendered to Ashur Tiglatus, praetor of Legio II Taurii.

The Taurii were often cruel in victory.

PS: I have no idea why the font suddenly changed. Cursed machine spirit! I must have forgotten to apply the correct ointment.  

Introducing the Death Guard and Ultramarines

Hello you savages!

So I'm Bjørnar and what you can probably expect from me are posts showing the development of my new Horus Heresy army - The Ultramarines. I say probably, because I have a short attention span when it comes to the hobby, and I often jump between projects. This is something I'm planning to address in a later post. Probably.

I've been Horus Heresy-curios since the first big book dropped from Forge World, but meeting another player in Trondheim that also was into it sealed the deal. Seeing Adrian's awesome Mechanicum army had me all over the Death Guard like Connor McGregor on a press conference. Expect to see some posts about them as well (including this one, it seems).

"Surprise, cockfags!"

Mortarion's Stag Party, featuring Deathshrouds,
Typhon and a Primus Medicae, putting the heavy
weight division on notice.

My Death Guard features a lot of heavy armor, artillery tanks, the option to take a lot of footsloggers and of course the Main Man himself with a Stag Party of his Bestest Dudebrahs in a Spartan Assault Tank

The army, like a lot of Death Guard armies, is painted with a lot of weathering, using sponging, pigments, some oils, washes etc etc. It turned out looking quite drab so I've tried to introduce more color in the weathering and some of the weapons and such (still a work in progress).

Playing this army has seen me pushing scary shit up the middle of the table inside a spartan supported by artillery and longer range fire. Plans for the future include doing the mandatory zombie Cult allied detachment, and introducing more daemon stuff as we're getting closer to the Siege of Terra.



So, with the new Betrayal at Calth box I knew I had to get cracking on my next marine army. But if I was to start another army, it had to be one that was decidedly different from the Death Guard. Visually, so painting-wise, it had to provide me with new challenges and to push me to learn new techniques. It was also important for me to build an army that played to different strenghts than Mortarion and his merry men.

I looked at Raven Guard, Alpha Legion, Iron Warrio....you know, this is getting stupid. I was looking at all of them at one time or another, writing lists, surfing the shit outta the Heresy 30K forum, the most excellent blog that is A Galaxy In Flames and listening a lot to podcasts (The Eye of Horus podcast in particular).

But in the end I was won over by the idea of taking on the Ultramarines. In particular, I was taken by the idea of making a striking, yet brutal and remorseless Ultramarines army. An army that combines Assaulting, Shitkicking Walkers with Guerrilla-Themed Tactical Elements (SHIT YEAH!). An army that is so up in your grill that the World Eaters go "Hot Damn, I thought WE had issues!". Not Space Smurfs but Man Marines. Killfuckers. Apocalypse Dudes.

In my book, nothing says shitkicking like Contemptor dreads with dual claws and graviton guns. And a Leviathan. So that's coming up. But let's start at the beginning. The Betrayal at Calth set. And some regular dudes in yet shiny armor.

"I'm still a bit shiny, but I WILL stab you." 

  

"

"We're all gonna stab you!"

The scheme is a bastardization of the scheme featured in the excellent series by Painting Buddah. Go on, give those guys some love. Of course I had to cut some corners, but I guess that's what my next post will be about.

So! If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I hope you will join me as we dwelve into the Death Guard, Ultramarines and whatever else strikes my fancy as we go along.

The road to Legio II

This is Olvebanipal again. Back for some tips on how to write your legion fluff.

As I said in my first post, I decided to make my own legion. One of the greatest parts of the 40k lore is that there are three legions which we don’t know anything about. Even though Warhammer Horus Heresy, or 30k as I will begin to refer to it as, is a historical miniatures game within the lore of the Warhammer universe, the missing legions can be used to go around the strict rules of established fluff.

I’ve studied history, so I know all about how accuracy is important in popular culture for us nerds. I can rant on about the inaccuracies of the TV show Vikings or be furious about the portrayal of the birkebeiners in the coming, Norwegian movie with the same name. That does not, however, keep me from enjoying these films. I believe that many fans of the lore of the Horus Heresy is equally frustrated when they see armour marks, tanks and iconography which do not belong in that period.

My legion started as a chapter in 40k, inspired by the roman legions. As you know, that is basically what the writers of the HH novels did, but I was in love with the whole space marine legionnaires mixed with human auxiliaries-theme. When I then went back to write about the primarch of these guys, the theme suddenly changed.

The amount of wololo in this screenshot
would make my headphones catch fire.

I’ve been interested in ancient history since I was a kid, and one of the places that struck me as mysterious and fascinating was the ancient near east. The original Age of Empires also did its part in this interest. The Assyrians, Babylonians, Sumerians and Hittites were some of the factions you could play in this old classic. In my teens I began to listen to the band Nile, and their atmosphere certainly influenced the feel of the background of my legion.

So, I went through several versions of the primarch’s origin story. Some of my friends, now a part of this blog, gave me tips and helped me make the fluff fit with the canon. I was still undecided about the iconography and name for the legion. Adrian had earlier bought nail decals from eBay for his imperial knights, and that made me look for legion symbols among a throng of flowers, puppies, horses and hearts.

This is the actual decal I ordered.
My legion of princesses shall be
victorious!

Hobby tip: Buy nail decals from eBay. It’s a super way to get cheap markings for your miniature army.

Anyway, I searched for different animals, Rhino, Elephant, Lion, Bear, Snake, Bull… Bull... I found a simple, decal of a bull’s head. “This will do”, I thought.

Well…

Now I kind of regret it, because my legion with the colour scheme and iconography became very similar to the Forge World Minotaurs chapter. But I say to myself: “There is no Minotaurs chapter. This is the 31^st millennium.”

So the second legion, because the eleventh is too hard to pronounce, was named the Taurii, which I later found out should be Tauri, but hell… if GW can use bastardized Latin, so can I.

Hobby tip: Don’t be too quick to establish your army’s fluff. You will have to revise it. Ask friends and on forums. You don’t want to change it after you’ve converted your whole army to fit with a theme, as I did.

One of my first legionnaires.
I'll go more in debth about the
conversion in a later article.

So the primarch of Legio II Taurii was Apis, inspired by the… yes I know… Egyptian, not Mesopotamian, bull god. I use a lot of Egyptian names as well, so I’ve not bound myself to Mesopotamia.

Hobby tip: Don’t base your background too firmly on a real world culture. It may prove to be restricting instead of guiding.

Next time I’ll post the first part of the origins of the Taurii. Until then, please leave comments below if you have enjoyed this small introduction, or just want to share your experiences.

May Apis, King of Kings shine his light upon you.

- O    

PS:
Here is the trailer for the movie I mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf0zON29z3c

For you foreigners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkebeiner
Here is a link to the nail decal page: http://www.yrnails.com/bull-head.html