Infinity's Lament

I assembled Infinity's Lament. You guys might remember that he's this year's miniature for Warhammer+ subscribers. The other option is the necromancer fighting for Nagash and summoning skeletons (or something, sorry, I don't play Warhammer Fantasy or Age of Sigmar, so I'm not sure what that's about).

When I first saw Infinity's Lament, I was like, "I have to get this." So once I was ready, I put in my order and got him shipped. Unfortunately, the Cenobium Knights were sold out at that time, which annoyed me. Ugh. I'll get them next year, but for now, I'll settle for Infinity's Lament being the last miniature I assemble for 2025.

A lovely miniature, for sure. Just look at him! A Spiritseer standing atop a destroyed Wraithlord and recovering the spiritstone. A great diorama that would make a fine centerpiece in any collection. I'm motivated to start collecting Wraith stuff now. After I'm done with my Horus Heresy and Legions Imperialis projects, I'll pick up Wraithguard, Wraithlord and eventually a Wraithknight. Hopefully. We'll see!

Amazing model, incredible details. I already thought of a story for him. Hmm, how should I start?

The creature's hideous shriek punched through the auditory filters and filled my Throne Mechanicum, causing me to wince. Clenching my fingers into a fist, I lunged with the haptic gauntlet. Outside, Kazan mirrored my movement and sank his reaper chainsword into the guts of the purple-fleshed monstrosity. It screamed once more and swung its pincer, but I swatted it aside with Kazan's thermal cannon before blowing off its horned head with a pointblank melta blast.

Even as the creature melted away, burning away impossibly into soot I could still somehow smell despite being closed off from the outside world, I shook my head in disgust. Though the existence of such horrors remained redacted from the larger portion of the Imperium, as a noble scholar of House Yato, I had read restricted materials.

The Inquisition called them daemons, and ever since the Great Rift tore open the heavens above, they had begun appearing in greater frequency. Almost the size of a Knight armor, and possessing four arms, this particular creature was named Keeper of Secrets.

"Ugh..." I winced as Kazan staggered. The sword that the Keeper of Secrets bore earlier had torn into my armor's flank, leaving a deep gouge. The Sacristans were not going to be happy about that. Neither was I, not just because I received a stigmatic wound due to my connection to my steed, but also any damage to my beloved suit hurt my very soul.

"What are these foul beasts?" Lord Takeda demanded, his Cerastus Knight Lancer striding forward. Naginata had pierced through another Keeper of Secrets while trampling over lesser daemons beneath his mighty adamantium feet. Lightning continued to crackle around his shock lance as he pivoted his armor, in search of more foes. "They vanish the moment we vanquish them."

"Uh, right." Though I could hear the revulsion in his voice, I couldn't help but be amused by his choice of words. Kicking out, I sent a score of daemonettes flying. A twist and a squeeze of a phantom trigger via my haptic gloves reduced a charging chariot into ash.

"These are unlike any xenos we've fought," Suzuki remarked. His Armiger Warglaive, Hebi, cleaved through pink-fleshed creatures, the daemons convulsing in ecstasy even as they were cut apart. I shuddered. Nasty little things.

"Still, not a reason to let our guard down," Watanabe warned, his Preceptor-patterned Tsurugi wading through another swarm. His las-impulsor barked, the exotic energies surging from its pincer-shaped barrel to slice through the horde. Sendo backed him up, his Armiger Helverin firing salvoes from his twin autocannons.

As the last of the daemons were exterminated, I turned toward the solitary existence at the back. A diminutive figure, it was easy to miss him amidst the chaos, but he was the primary reason why we entered this conflict in the first place.

Unlike the dissipating creatures of unnatural existence, this one was a true xeno. His features concealed by an oddly shaped helm, he held a staff in one hand as he bent to retrieve something from the broken xenos construct that had fallen.

I closed my eyes. When we first encountered him, he was beset upon by the pink-fleshed daemons. Bodies of automaton-like constructs were strewn about him. I wasn't familiar with xenos technology, but I recalled from previous encounters that he belonged to the species termed the Aeldari, and the constructs with similarly shaped heads were supposedly "Wraith" walkers. Or was it Wraith constructs? Who knew what the Ordo Xenos called them? Perhaps the Aeldari themselves had a different name for their own inventions, in that alien tongue of theirs.

Similar to our Knight suits, or perhaps the Adeptus Astartes Dreadnoughts, these Wraith constructs were supposedly designed to house incapacitated warriors of the Eldar. Though, as I watched the Spiritseer at work, I didn't see any broken bodies interred within the shattered shells of the Wraith suits. Rather, as I magnified the holo-pict on display in my Throne Mechanicum, I could barely make out the Aeldari shaman retrieving what resembled...crystals? Stones? Pendants?

He must have noticed my gaze - the Aeldari being a psychically attuned race - for he turned to stare at me. Despite the blank mask that concealed his features, I could feel his eyes burn through the adamantium armor of my suit and into my Throne Mechanicum. I reflexively clenched my fists, and Kazan's thermal cannon and reaper chainsword rose in response.

+I mean you no harm.+

His voice spoke directly into my mind, and I jolted. Still, the calming tone went a long way in easing my anxieties, but regarding such perfidious xenos, I couldn't afford to lower my guard. Lord Takeda thought the same, for he marched Naginata over, his shock lance held threateningly. His voice boomed from vox emitters installed in his Knight.

"Give us a reason why we shouldn't slay you on the spot, xenos."

"Um, he didn't threaten us," I pointed out. "And we're men of honor, my lord. We do not attack the helpless and unarmed."

I could feel Takeda turn his fury toward me, but I knew his character well enough. He dropped his shock lance just a fraction, but held his caution.

"Don't speak out of turn again, Sir Tanaka."

"My apologies, my lord."

+If you seek a reason, then I shall offer one.+

We all turned toward the Spiritseer, who despite being surrounded by hab-block high armor on all sides, did not seem the least intimidated.

+Like your people, the stewards of the Craftworld Onyurei, abide to a code of honor. You have saved not just me, but the souls of my house from She Who Thirsts. I vow to repay this debt in the future.+ His head dipped slightly. +Though not clear, for I am no Farseer, I can still see the strands of our paths intersecting once more. When we meet again, I, Tojiro Ongawa, will repay this kindness.+

"We need no repayment," Takeda snapped.

+Perhaps. Perhaps not. We shall see.+ The Spiritseer turned, his cloak unfurling about him and the collection of gemstones gleaming in his hand. +However, as a minor repayment for the valor you have demonstrated toward my people, I shall at least leave you with a warning. The sands of blood continue to fall. The Red Angel rises once more. The princely serpent uncoils through the stars, leaving a wake of excess. The Sorcerer schemes, and under his whims, the fabric between reality and the immaterium tears and ripples. And in the great distance, a vast industry churns, a new player seeking to ascend to the table of gods. As courageous and honorable as your house is, you will be inevitably drawn toward this new colossal conflict that consumes even the stars themselves when you resolve to hold fast to the oaths you made to your human empire.+

Shadows unfolded, and he was gone, leaving the broken shells of the Wraith constructs in the gloom.

"...what was that mumbo jumbo about?" Suzuki asked aloud, Hebi striding toward Kazan's side.

"Pay no attention to the insidious mumbling of xenos," Takeda ordered. He spun Naginata about. "We should take our leave. As untrustworthy as the words of the alien are, he is right about one thing. We still have a war to fight."

"As you command, my lord."

Even as I obeyed and pivoted Kazan about to follow Takeda's lead, I couldn't help but glance one last time at the wrecked Wraith constructs. For some reason, I was reminded of ghosts. Vengeful phantoms, risen once more to fight again. This wouldn't be the last time I would see them.

Maybe we might really meet Tojiro Ongawa again in the future.

Glaives assembled

I assembled the Glaives for my Thousand Sons!

That's the Super-heavy Spearhead formation complete! Along with the Mastodon Super-heavy Assault Transports, they make up the three units required for the Super-heavy Spearhead that I'll field alongside my Saturnine Terminators and Dreadnoughts. Normally, they're Loyalists, but if necessary (e.g. for my diorama), I can field them as Traitors alongside my Dark Mechanicum. I still have yet to decide what to do for the remaining points...we'll see.

Anyway, it fits my 28mm scale guys, who have a ton of volkite. And will have Saturnine Terminators and Saturnine Dreadnoughts join them soon. I hope...

Some additional info from the Horus Heresy 3rd edition rulebook!

Also known as The Age of Darkness, the Horus Heresy 3rd edition rulebook also has a ton of lore in it. Most of it, we're familiar with, and the faction-specific stuff are explored in greater detail in the Libers. Well, not really...I think they just repeat the Liber stuff from the rulebook because the lore stuff amounts to, what, a couple of pages? Liber Questoris only has one page of lore. Same with Solar Auxilia, yet they have two pages of lore in the rulebook, plus a few sections on the Imperialis Excertus and Imperialis Auxilia as a whole.

In other words, if you're interested in the lore like me, you're better off just getting the Age of Darkness rulebook. The Libers are more for rules and detachments. Oh, well. I guess that makes sense. Most of the lore was in the black books that have the campaigns, and the Journal Tactica had a lot of lore. The red rulebooks that compiled all the different faction rules didn't have much lore, if I remember correctly. I don't need to remember, I literally own the Mechanicum red book from 1st edition and have it right next to me, and yeah...not much lore.

Anyway, some interesting details that aren't in the Libers. The Excertus Imperialis is the vast organization of the Imperial military, comprising of billions of troops, functionaries, laborers, void crew, logisticicians, almoners, a depts, and staff officers. It also includes the astronomical quantities of weapons, equipment, war machines (tanks and walkers), void conveyances and warships. Theoretically under the Officio Militaris on Terra, they're in practice commanded by the Primarchs, Navigator Houses, Planetary Governors, and other principal agents of the Great Crusade. They're more akin to a logistics organization than an actual military, something like the Departmento Munitorum of the 41st Millennium.

Forming the vast bulk of the Excertus Imperialis, the Imperialis Auxilia - colloquially known as the Imperial Army - is the actual military of the Imperium. Around 25% of the Imperial Army constitutes the frontline echelon, composed of thousands of Solar Auxilia regiments and the Terran Old One Hundred regiments. You know, the first 100 regiments of the Imperial Army who fought alongside the Emperor during the Unification Wars. The Geno Chiliads, the Lucifer Blacks, the Kushtun Naganda, the Catharti Arraigners, etc.

Before you say the Lucifer Blacks aren't the Old One Hundred (Timewalkerauthor mentioned in his/her Wordpress blog that there's no "official" mention that they're the Old One Hundred, and also based that on the wiki page, and it's been brought up by several Redditors as well), well, they are mentioned as one of the Old One Hundred in the old black book from Horus Heresy 1st edition, #5: Tempest. Page 177.

There, the list in the small section covering the Old One Hundred under the Imperialis Militia & Cults Army List chapter includes:

Geno Chiliads

Confed Gun Brotherhoods

Thorosian Voltigeurs

Lucifer Blacks

Ouranti Draks

The Lucifer Blacks and Ouranti Draks, in particular, are mentioned to be tasked with a ceaseless crusade, and unlike many of the other Old One Hundred regiments, did not obtain the settlement rights on worlds they had conquered to produce second generation of militia regiments from whose ranks the best would be conscripted into the Imperial Army to fight in the Great Crusade.

There's your official source. Rely on the black books and published material. The wiki is very useful, but it's made by fans, and sometimes there might be gaps.

Anyway, I digress. The frontline, after victory, will move on to the next warzone. The next in line is the second line reserve formations of Imperial Army, comprised of specialized formations equipped and organized in a variety of patterns to conduct long term Compliance operations, consolidating and reinforcing those victories won by the first line. Once a human world is declared fully Compliant, these second line formations will move on or be stood down, and many will form a cadre for a newly raised third line, the many and diverse planetary militias. These third line planetary militias are basically our Imperialis Militia.

Oh, and we have a name for the Horus Heresy era Imperial Navy now. It's the Armada Imperialis.

I don't think we need to talk about Saturnye Ordo and the highly militarized tech-enclaves of Saturn whose expertise in void warfare formed the template of the Solar Auxilia, or the Mars-Solar pattern Leman Russ tanks, or tercios.

Rather, what I found more interesting is the Mechanicum stuff. Particularly the Autokrator. "The Autokrator concerned itself with marshalling the ground armor and artillery trains of the Mechanicum, as well as liaising with seconded Skitarii tech-guard within the Taghmata."

Oh? That's interesting. We know we're getting plastic Skitarii for the Horus Heresy, their official names being the Skitarii Battle Pilgryms. They're being led by a Battle-Pilgrym Marshal. Very interesting. Though Warhammer Community mentions that we can bring them as an allied detachment or field them as an independent force as part of the Skitarii Conclaves army list, I wonder if you can fold them into Taghmata lists directly as Troops choice or something. It also hints that the Skitarii Conclaves army list doesn't just include the Vultarax Strato-automata, but might also encompass the the Autokrator stuff, meaning Krios tanks, Krios Venators, Karacnos and other ground armor or artillery. I don't know if they'll get access to the Mechanicum Legacies stuff (e.g. Tarantula batteries or Macrocarid Explorator), but it will be cool if they do. I doubt it, though. I think you'll have to go around it by taking a Tech-priest to unlock those units in the Taghmata list and ally them with Skitarii.

Also, I was wondering why they renamed Titan Legions into Titan Orders in the Liber Questoris. Well, that's answered in the Age of Darkness rulebook. Originally, the creation of three Orders named the Triad Ferrum Morgulus led to the formation of the Collegia Titanica. The Titan Orders grew and eventually became the Titan Legios, or the Titan Legions. Ancient Orders that were part of Explorator fleets and grew on distant forge worlds were recovered into the fold of the Imperium, and added to the Collegia Titanica, also becoming Titan Legios in their own right.

...so they are Titan Legions, not Orders, right? ...right?

The Rise of the Salamanders Lore

Okay, okay. I think the joke is getting old. But I refuse to see the Salamanders fall to ruin, and they survive. Maybe The Resurrection of the Salamanders? Since that's, y'know, Vulkan's thing. He's a Perpetual, in case you don't know that.

Anyway, lore time. As promised, I'll cover the story in the latest Journal Strategia: The Ruin of the Salamanders. God-Emperor, I hate saying that. If there's any Legion who doesn't deserve to fall to ruin, it's our Salamanders bros. Sigh.

This Journal Strrategia covers the fall of the Salamanders on Isstvan V. The Dropsite Massacre is such a colossal event that it cannot be covered in one or two books (we already have the Journal Tactica: The Isstvan V Dropsite Massacre Part One, which means more parts are incoming, and more expansions. The Dropsite Massacre is such a massive event that changed the galaxy in Warhammer 40,000 (or Warhammer: The Horus Heresy) forever, that it can be broken up to several segments. The Ruin of the Salamanders, in particular, focuses only on the Salamanders Legion and their role, as well as their tragic demise. Still, as the book insists, they didn't die, but will be reforged and rise again, and that Horus would regret not being able to slay them. Despite being a Shattered Legion, they would return, tempered and stronger than ever, to bite the Traitors in the ass.

The Isstvan system, though on the far fringes of the Imperium's galactic territory, is much like our Sol system in that it has 9 planets and a yellow sun. After the massacre on Isstvan III, the fifth planet - despite being a barren world filled with volcanoes and freezing basalt deserts - was selected by Horus Lupercal and the Traitor Legions to establish a fortress, including void shields that can withstand orbital bombardment, and lots of trenches (too bad the Death Korps of Krieg haven't materialized as an army yet).

The Warmaster planned to lure the Loyalists into the Urgall Depression at the foot of a volcano and surrounded by sheer cliffs, where he can trap them in a killing ground. This is broken into three sectors: the Umbral Sector in the north defended by Angron's World Eaters, the Malleus Sector in the center under the protection of Fulgrim's Emperor's Children, and the Ignis Sector in the south guarded by the Death Guard.

The Salamanders would take charge of the Ignis Sector (Ferrus Manus's Iron Hands force their way into the Malleus Sector while Corvus Corax's Raven Guard attacked the Umbral Sector), Vulkan favoring massed heavy infantry assault. He didn't have Titan support, unfortunately. Rather, Vulkan brought 83,000 legionaries, which included the Saturnine Excubitor Cadre - a significant force of Saturnine Terminators and Saturnine Dreadnoughts, I think numbering over a hundred of them! They are led by Bul'an Kothe, previously a member of the now defunct Librarius, and obviously his psychic talents helped him master the use of the Saturnine Terminator suit. Wouldn't be surprised if the majority of the Saturnine Terminators are equipped by former Librarians of the Legions. That would explain where all the Librarians went after the Edict of Nikaea. Cassian Dracos, the first master of the Salamanders, led a phalanx of Dreadnoughts, named "Claws of the Dragon." Then there's the Dragon's Crest detachments, which feature veteran infantry riding in Land Raiders (nust be the new MKII dudes carrying disintegrator weapons). We also have Nocturne's Thunder, which is a super-heavy tank formation composed of Vindicator siege tanks supported by Ascalon super-heavy tanks. You know, the new super-heavy tanks armed with Inferno cannons, the gigantic flamethrower usually mounted on Warhound Titans. And what they're selling in Legions Imperialis alongside this expansion.

Got to feature the new, shiny toys in the latest expansion, am I right?

Forge Lord Arik Xergoth is in command of the Salamander's armored assets and substantial super-heavy tank formations.

Anyway, we also have the Solar Auxilia - the 484th Cohort of the Proximan Sacramentii, an infantry-heavy veteran force who just fought Orks in the Great Crusade, and the 486th Cohort, a fresh cohort that is predominantly armored, and fielded a number of Foehammer formations (Leman Russ and Stormhammer tanks). They are commanded by Phera Ikaeron, the youngest of the three marshal primes of the Proximan chorts. Oh, the Salamanders also always made use of significant levies of bound-auxilia, which once again emphasizes their close bonds with mortals, and they trusted the Proximan Sacramentii to shield their flanks during the approach. They amounted to over 125,000 men. There's an interesting tidbit about the Martian Mechanicum, where the Lords of Mars have forbidden any of their troops from joining the Retribution Fleet. However, many Archmagi went against that order, with Archmagos Koros Kadorikus from the often besieged Forge World of Yarath-maximal pledging his loyalty to the Salamanders and White Scars Legions for helping him defend his home from Orks. They comprised of 3,000 automata and arrmored vehicles of exotic patterns favored by the Mechanicum,

The Traitors are an interesting bunch, with 90,0000 Death Guard warriors, 150 from the Sons of Horus, 170,000 Solar Auxilia soldiers from the Barbaran Ambaxtoi and Death's Heralds, and a single maniple from Legio Mortis. They will later be joined by 60,000 Word Bearers, 35,000 Iron Warriors. 1,300 Night Lords and 20,000 Solar Auxilia soldiers from the Selucid Thorakites. Unlike the Loyalists, who sought to lessen the Imperium's reliance on the Legiones Asrtartes, the Traitors intended to return the Astartes to the apex of glory and make the Space Marine Legions great again (deja vu, anyone? I'm not kidding, it was literally written here: "...to make the Legions as great as they had once been during the Great Crusade"). Hence, the mortals were mostly relegated to support or reserves or even sacrificial distractions.

While the Barbaran Ambaxtoi served as the Death Guard's operational reserves, the Selucid Thorakites were thrown straight into the fighting as sacrificial lambs to deplete the Loyalists' munitions. As such, they were lightly equipped, with few armored vehicles or heavy weapons. The few well-equipped Olympians were heavily armed Veletarii who served as slavemasters, known as Infames. The Thorakite commander, Marshal Dace, was punished by Perturabo, who basically told him that he was not to survive the battle, because of his actions on Olympia. On the other hand, Lord Commander Deridos and his Ambaxtoi avoided most of the fighting because Mortarion preferred his Death Guard to fight instead. The Mechanicum, like the Loyalists, participated little in the battle, wtih most of them remaining in support roles to the rear of the engagement.

Perturabo fielded the Broken Fang formations, which were under his less favored commanders and comprised of expendable auxilia and infantry, as well as Obliteration Centuries, which are formations of super-heavy tanks (Kratos and Fellblade squadrons). Under him was the Praetor Ked Rordram, known as The Shorn. But what captured my attention was the small contingent of Night Lords deployed along the hills to wipe out any stragglers and prevent anyone from escaping. These were the remnants of the old Terran comapnies, commanded by the Terran Praetor Morthax.

The original plan was for the Loyalists to send a first wave, establish a beachhead, and prioritized speed over preparation to supposedly catch Horus unaware. There's no mention of the Saturnine Contingency here - you can refer to The Forges of Saturn for that. But there's a brief mention of the Saturnine Terminators and Dreadnoughts depleting the Dies Irae's void shields before it was driven back by massed fire from super-heavy tanks. Mortarion showed up, but the Death Guard were eventually driven back by the Salamanders and Proximian Sacramentii, and the Loyalists expected to push further when the second wave showed up. The Iron Warriors and their drop pods, the Night Lords along the hills, and Word Bearers, as well as Alpha Legion.

Then the Traitors revealed their true colors and stabbed the Salamanders in the back.

The poor Salamanders were massacred, but though hundreds, even thousands fell, they fought back. The Salamanders' Hel-Drakes also showed up and sold their lives to buy their brothers time, and Forge Lord Xergoh's Nocturne Thunder broke through the Word Bearers for a slight reprieve.

There's a brief mention of the fate of the other Legions. The Iron Hands were surrounded on all sides by Traitors and cut down, while the Raven Guard were butchered by the Wotd Bearers and World Eaters, but unlike the stoic Iron Hands, the Raven Guard broke into smaller formations and escaped the encirclement. Most died, though. The Night Lords prowled the Urgall Depression, ensuring no Loyalists escaped.

In the Ignis Sector, though, the Night Lords overlooking the Salamanders' position were older Terran companies, known as the "Night's Children" drawn from Earth's sunken prisons. They took up position in the path of the Proximan Sacramentii. I really like Praetor Monthax - unlike the other Traitors, he seemed like a man of honor. Instead of hiding and skulking around like the other Traitors, he met the Proximan Sacramentii Solar Auxilia in the open and fought them fairly. Well, as fairly as he could under the circumstances of betrayal. Tragically, he was a man who had server the Emepror loyally for almost two hundred years, and the order to commit the gravest of treason didn't sit well with him. So he decided to die in the most epic way possible. He basically stood on the ridgeline, in the open and unarmed, and let the Proximan Sacramentii shoot him to death - they fired a thousand lasrifles into the poor guy, and as he fell, he was satisfied in the knowledge that his record remained unblemished - he had raised no weapon against the Empror's own.

His men silently attacked, giving little thought to defense, and while they killed a lot of the Solar Auxilia, the veteran Night's Children allowed themselves to be annihilated by the Veletarii and armored tanks of the Proximan Sacramentii, grateful for a clean death in the face of the sin of betrayal in the Urgall Depression.

That was...epic.

The Salamanders broke through the Word Bearers' line, harried and pursued by the Traitors, and Xergoh's armored companies found corpses where their reserves should be, for the Alpha Legion had sabotaged and assassinated them. Their munitions were depleted, and though they did their best to preserve ammunition by clubbing and smacking the poor Thorakites to death, the mortal Solar Auxilia forcibly sent by Perturabo and Iron Warriors to try and dwindle the Salamanders' strength, the XVIIIth Legion eventually were blasted by the fresh IVth Legion. The Saturnine Terminators and Dreadnoughts, and armored formations, did their best to survive the onslaught from the Iron Warriors, spending the last of their ammunition in defiance.

The Sacramentii and a few hundred Salamanders and Raven Guard end up congregating and fighting along the Urgall Depression, and there's this really cool scene where they ambushed Night Lords and crushed the overconfident Sons of Horus mechanized columns, only to seize and plunder their tanks and munitions. When the Night Lords approached a phalanx of tanks bearing the heraldry of Horus, mistakenly believing them to be allies, the Sacramentii opened fire, using their pilfered tanks to annihilate the Night Lords. Hah!

The Loyalists managed to reach the landing zone, where they requisitioned the landing craft left by the Traitors. However, there weren't enough landing craft for all the survivors, which comprised of several thousand warriors and armored vehicles. Marshal Prime Ikaeron made a decision, marshaling the Solar Auxilia to make one last stand against the Traitors so that the Salamanders and Raven Guard could escape, because she knew the Imperium needed every legionary it could get.

Back in the "Crucible" - a section of the Urgall Depression where the Salamanders still fought in - the Iron Warriors turned it into a battle of attrition because the few Salamanders can't hold out against the more numerous Iron Warriors despite their superior technology. The Saturnine Excubitors held on well, but they were losing irreplacable warriors and armor by the second, with the last of the Saturnine Dreadnoughts falling in combat with a full talon of Iron Warriors Contemptor Dreadnoughts.

Then Xergoh and his troops saw the mushroom cloud. Apparently, Horus or Perturabo decided to nuke Vulkan.

Understandably, the Salamanders began to waver...but the Solar Auxilia came to save the day! The Proximan Sacramentii, arriving in pilfered Kratos tanks that served as makeshift carriers for Sacramentii infantry, and the Sacramentii Foehammer squadrons, smashed into the Iron Warriors lines and pulverized them under tracks or blasted them at pointblank range. This allowed Xergoh and his super-heavy tanks to break through, spending the last of their shells and munitions on the Iron Warriors' lines. They then fled the Urgall Depression, with the Iron Warriors in hot pursuit. Praetor Rordram knew that Pertarubo will literally kill him for his failure, and he desperately ordered and all-out assault to pursue the Salamanders and Sacramentii.

However, the last of the Saturnine Excubitor Cadre, commanded by Centurion Tunayh of the Cindered, stepped into the breach made by Nocturne's Thunder, and held back the Iron Warriors like the Giga-chads they are. The rest of the Salamanders retreated, even as the Saturnine Excubitor Cadre fell in their heroic last stand, but the Proximan soldiers threw themselves at the Iron Warriors, their courage and selflessness buying more time for the legionaries to escape. Heroes, every one of them. We salute both the Saturnine guys and the Solar Auxilia.

The Salamanders Legion lived.

The sacrifice of so many selfless heroes meant that Xergoh's Nocturne Thunder and the bulk of his forces escaped. A few thousand Salamanders survived and escaped, to continue the fighting as Shattered Legions. Across Isstvan V, not just Forge Lord Xergoh, but also other commands had survived, and in orbit, many ships blasted free from Horus's clutches. Despite the horrific massacre, the survival of these warriors was a victory in itself, one that would pave the way for a larger, eventual victory for the Loyalists.

The Salamanders survived, and would return, reforged, tempered and stronger than ever, determined to make Horus bleed for his betrayal. The Warmaster would regret that he had not slain them in Isstvan V, instead allowing a wounded foe to return to bite him. As for the Salamanders, their tale continued and their Legion endured, and I expect to see them return in Shattered Legions supplements or other expansions. Maybe?

Saturnine Terminator squad, Saturnine Dreadnought and Mastodon

I assembled my Saturnine Terminator squads and Saturnine Dreadnoughts! Oh, and Mastodon transports too! 2 squads of Saturnine Terminators (3 "detachments" of 3, so a squad of 9 each?), 2 command squads (1 redundant one), and 4 Saturnine Dreadnoughts, all embarked in 2 Mastodon transports! They're ready to siege! The Mastodons break through any fortifications with their melta arrays, and the Saturnine Terminators and Dreadnoughts disembark to wreck whatever's inside.

Oh, and if you look closer, all the Saturnine Terminators - except the command squads - are equipped with plasma bombards and twin heavy disintegrators. How did that happen, you may cry. After all, Goonhammer correctly explained in their review that there aren't enough left hand options to make your Saturnine Terminators completely ranged. And they are correct. There are only 6 right plasma bombards, 6 right twin heavy disintegrators, 3 left plasma bombards and 3 left twin heavy disintegrators.

That means, even if you pair them up with left and right, you'll only be able to equip 6 of the 9 Saturnine Terminators per sprue with dual ranged weapons. The last 3 have the option of equipping either plasma bombard or twin heavy disintegrators for their right hands, but only have a bunch of left disruptive fists.

How did I equip my guys with nothing but ranged weapons then? Well, nothing a little kitbashing wouldn't fix. Honestly, it was a little difficult, but what I did was snip the twin heavy disintegrators off at the joint, did the same for the left disruptive fists, and then glued the twin heavy disintegrators to the left arms (after cutting away the fists).

Yes, it's that simple. It sounds simpler than actually doing it, and I had to cut and shave away at the joints to make sure they fit. They aren't designed to fit together, after all, so I did a bit of trial and error. It took a lot of time and work, but I think it's worth it in the end. After all, I don't think anyone can tell that these guys are kitbashed. All they can see are 9 guys armed with plasma bombards and twin heavy disintegrators, and that there are 2 squads of these guys. Hah!

I'm fielding these guys in the Saturnine Heavy Assault Cadre Formation. The command squad fulfills the single HQ slot, then the 2 units of 3 Saturnine Terminator bases fill the Support slots. 2 units of 2 Saturnine Dreadnoughts then fill the optional Bastion slots in the Formation.

Saturnine Heavy Assault Cadre

Saturnine Command (50)

3 (x3) Saturnine Terminator (115)

3 (x3) Saturnine Terminator (115)

2 Saturnine Dreadnoughts (70)

2 Saturnine Dreadnoughts (70)

Points: 420

A single squadron of 2 Mastodon assault transport costs 250 points, so that brings me up to 670. I intend to also bring a Legion Super-heavy Spearhead, and I have already bought the Glaives (but not yet assembled them - they will wait until next week), which are another 110 points each. That means I have 890 points worth of Legiones Astartes, perfect for allies.

So what will these guys be used for? I'm thinking of fielding them as Word Bearers alongside my Dark Mechanicum, because right now the Loyalists heavily outnumber them. They can swap between Loyalist and Traitor, but for the purposes of my eventual diorama, I think I'll put them on the side of the Traitors to even the odds, or the Loyalists will outnumber them heavily. Yikes. Why Word Bearers? Because they're also red...and I can easily swap between them and Loyalist Thousand Sons as necessary. Or I can go "f it" and field them as Traitor Thousand Sons. Whatever. Anyway...

That means I've to alter my list. Currently, I have:

Dark Taghma Sub-covenant

Archmagos Prime on Abeyant (45)

5 (x5) Adsecularis Tech-thrall Covenant (40)

5 (x5) Adsecularis Tech-thrall Covenant (40)

8 (x3) Thallax (85)

4 (x2) Myrmidon Destructor Host (55)

2 (x2) Myrmidon Secutor Host (30)

4 (x3) Ursarax Cohort (55)

4 Triaros Armored Conveyors (88)

Points: 438

Terror Protocol Cohort

1 Scintillax Cyclops Noospheric Stalker Network (75)

4 (x3) Harpax Swarmer Scout Hosts (30)

4 (x3) Harpax Swarmer Scout Hosts (30)

1 Errax Butcher Assault Stalker Cohort (45)

1 Errax Butcher Assault Stalker Cohort (45)

Points: 225

Purge Protocol Cohort

2 Serperos Overlord Heavy Stalker Maniple (175)

1 Tenebrax Archer Battle Stalker Cohort (35)

1 Tenebrax Archer Battle Stalker Cohort (35)

1 Scintillax Cyclops Noospheric Stalker Network (75)

2 Serperos Overlord Heavy Stalker Maniple (175)

Points: 495

Total: 1,158

Adding the Legiones Astartes to that scary force would being me up to 2,048 points. That leaves me 952 points for Titans. Let's say I get a Warmaster Titan for 850 points. That leaves 102 points.

Alternatively, I can add the Legiones Astartes (Thousand Sons) as allies to my Solar Auxilia, keeping them as Loyalists.

Solar Auxilia Mechanized Infantry sub-cohort: 1,123

Solar Auxilia Armored Company: 845

Solar Auxilia Titan Hunter Company: 480

Total: 2,448 points

I'll remove the Baneblades, Ogryns and 2 Dracosan armored transports to free up 354 points, which gives me 906 points. Excellent. I'll have 16 points left over, but I think it's a great start! Solar Auxilia backed up by Saturnine Terminators and even more tanks!

Back to Dark Mechanicum. Let's say I want Warhound Titans with my Warmaster. Replacing the Thousand Sons (or whatever Traitor Legion I choose) with 2 Warhound Titans will leave me with another 290 points, which adds up to 392 points. On the other hand, if I swapped the Warmaster with the Warhound Titans instead, I will have 352 points, which I can invest in a Dire Wolf. I guess I'll do that, though I have no idea what to do with the second Dire Wolf Titan. I guess I'll find out.

Grizzled Company

Warhammer Community, for their Grotmas stuff, has released a new detachment for the Astra Militarum, or the Imperial Guard for those of you who are old-timers like me (though, I'm not really an old-timer, considering I only started reading Ciaphas Cain in, what, 2009?). Introducing the Grizzled Company! 

It's meant to represent the veteran companies of the Imperial Guard who have been fighting on fortress worlds like Cadia, or planets ravaged by incessant war. The closest regiment we have for this is Mordian Iron Guard, and we even have a Stratagem called Mordian Minute. Also, if you remember the Bridgehead Strike Detachment from last year, this is this year's version.

The Detachment rule is that each Astra Militarum Officer in your army can issue 1 additional order, and any unit under an Order reroll hit rolls of 1. If your target is standing on an objective, you can also reroll wound rolls of 1.

The enhancements allow your Commissar to lead Ogryns and Bullgryns and issue them orders (he also gets the Ogryn keyword), allow your Officers to issue new orders to either Target Weak Spot - which essentially means improve the AP of your attacks by -1 - or to Move to the Shadows - giving your dudes Stealth - and increase the range of your Orders from 6" to 12" (not really useful for tanks).

Remember Mordian Minute? That Stratagem increases the Strength of weapons in a squad who's under the First Rank, Fire! Second Rank, Fire! order by 1. Good for plasma guns and lasguns. Nice. We also get Additional Armor, which is basically the Astra Militarum's version of Armor of Contempt, reducing incoming attacks' AP by 1. Makes our tanks tougher!

Speaking of which, even for a tank-heavy army like mine, this rule benefits me heavily because my Tank Commanders get more Orders (3!). And you know my Leman Russ and Rogal Dorn tanks love orders.

I say that, but I haven't actually got the time to play or test this out. Oh, well. And my focus is on Horus Heresy at the moment. Anyway, we'll see. I'll keep an eye out for any additional detachments that might affect Imperial Knight and/or Adeptus Mechanicus, and update then.

Until next time, I guess...

Oh...I don't know how to feel about this, but I think I just got a lowball offer from my current company, which complicates my plans to buy Saturnine next year. God-Emperor of Man, please help...

The Rise of the Salamanders

Just kidding. It's actually The Ruin of the Salamanders, but like hell I'll let everyone's favorite Legion fall to ruin. We're going to save them!

I'm tempted to get the Saturnine Heavy Assault Cadre. No, actually, I'll be getting it alongside the Journal Strategia. I love those Legions Imperialis books. I love Saturnine armor, and I plan to get the 28mm version for my Thousand Sons...eventually.

I know I'll never be a Black Library novel author, but that won't stop me from trying. I love writing, after all, and am still writing weird light novel stuff (I even have illustrations to go with them, but they're far from complete). One day, I will write some weird story about my Thousand Sons running around in their brand new Saturnine armor.

Seems like we're getting a Formation for these guys! It'll even give them Deep Strike! Let me clarify - it's not just your Terminators getting Deep Strike...your Dreadnoughts get it too! Remember the new Horus Heresy cinematic trailer this year, where the Saturnine Dreadnought warped into the battlefield and proceeded to stomp the Iron Warriors Centurion? We get to replicate that on the tabletop, buddies! Woohoo! Also, we get to field a Super-heavy Spearhead, so I'm getting my Thousand Sons Glaives and volkite. I can't wait! You can also field Fellblades, Falchions and the inferno gun-sporting Ascalon in your Super-heavy Spearhead if you prefer those.

Ironically enough, these guys will be deploying alongside my Dark Mechanicum as Traitors because...quite frankly, my Loyalists outnumber my Traitors by a lot. But it solves the headache of what I should get to fill out the last 210 points (or 510, since apparently I can't buy a single Dire Wolf). Excellent. The Emperor truly provides.

This will set me back because I also want to buy the Heresy-era Skitarii and the Saturnine box eventually, but I have no money! UGH! Fortunately, Legions Imperialis seems more affordable?

We also get Iconic Formations, which are just insane! The Saturnine Excubitor Cadre packs Saturnine Terminators into Mastodon transports, while the Iron Warriors get Obliteration Centuries. The Salamanders' allies, the Proximan Sacramentii Solar Auxilia, have Foehammer Formations that allows them to field squadrons of Leman Russ and Malcador tanks. Like their Astartes masters, the Proximan Sacramentii adhere to the Promethean Cult. Nice, a green wave of tanks from both Salamanders and their auxillia will smash into the Iron Warriors lines and obliterate them!

I'm really looking forward to this. It's been a while since we had any Heresy content, which is why I haven't updated my blog for a couple of weeks. I wish I had something to write about, but the last time we had something was when the Mechanicum Myrmidon Destructors were announced, and there was a lull. I mean, I can rest easy for the timebeing because I need to save up for all these releases, but still...

Maybe one day I'll get a pay rise. I dunno. Currently, I feel too drained and exhausted to do anything, and too poor to buy anything. It's not a good situation, but all I can do is keep going, I guess? Just like the Salamanders. They got rekted at Isstvan V Massacre, but endured into the 41st millennium.

My little head canon might have my Knights of House Yato and their own Solar Auxilia regiments showing up to save the Salamanders from the massacre, and we all somehow escaped the Iron Warriors, Word Bearers and Death Guard by smashing through their lines and fleeing to orbit. Maybe? Uh...I wouldn't know. That's something for the future?

Maybe it's my obsession with all this nonsensical fanfiction that's holding me back from writing well...oh, well. Poor Vulkan and Salamanders. I doubt my Knights of House Yato can help, we're probably too busily running around after fighting alongside the Thousand Sons against the Space Wolves during the Razing of Prospero. We can't possibly be everywhere, that will take us into Mary Sue territory (but they count as author inserts, hah!). Hell, I missed this year's Renegade. Sucks, but given my financial situation, yeah...it is what it is.

Hopefully, things will get better, and I can return to hobbying. Also, I doubt my presence in Renegade would have changed the outcome! The Loyalists lost to the Traitors because the other side was better, and you know I'm a terrible player. My Knights would probably get wrecked, or too tied up by statuses to score. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Next year, hopefully...

Myrmidon Destructor Host

Warhammer Community has just shown us a new plastic kit for the Myrmidon Destructors!

Seems like they come in a box of 6, and are armed with darkfire cannons now. The kit also allows you to assemble them with irradiation engines.

What does this mean for our Myrmidon Destructors armed with volkite culverins and conversion beamers? No idea. Maybe they'll get sent to Legacies or something. Apparently, they'll get updated rules in the recently revealed Journal Tactica: Skitarii - the Steel Hand of Mars. That does not bode well for existing resin models, and only increase the likelihood they'll be sent to Legacies. Or maybe they'll provide options for kitbashing in the Journal Tactica and allow us to keep volkite culverins and conversion beamers. We have plenty of those bits lying around, I imagine. I know I have a bunch of volkite culverins I'm keeping to convert my Imperialis Militia for their Armory of Old Night provenance.

Anyway, we'll see! I'll cover them when I buy my Journal Tactica: Skitarii - the Steel Hand of Mars, along with whatever new lore that's in the book!

Legio Cybernetica Sketch

As I have no money for hobby right now, I might as well...sketch or something. And here's a sketch of my Legio Cybernetica.

 

Yeah, I kind of suck at drawing. I don't know what to say. At least I tried?

Here's a bonus sketch. It was originally meant to be a webcomic of some sort, but I got lazy, and never bothered to finish it. It was meant to be an overview of the Mechanicum Civil war.

Originally intended to add Skitarii, Knights and Titans, but as I said, I got lazy, plus I had no time because I was job hunting. And after I finally found a job, as you know, I regularly work until 10pm, and sometimes I had to work weekends. Plus I also teach as an adjunct lecturer at a university, so you can guess why I...simply ran out of time to draw.

Maybe one day I'll continue drawing, but I doubt it. Besides, I already have my other Knight stuff, if you remember...this was done by pencil, while the ones above were done digitally. I'm converting to digital art, heh.

Maybe I'll return to drawing one day. Or perhaps I can use AI to help me with polishing them. Dunno. Like I said, we'll see...

Skitarii in the Horus Heresy!

Holy God-Emperor...Ave Omnissiah! We have Skitarii in the Horus Heresy! I watched the Warhammer Preview, and I'm blown away by the reveals! But before we get to the Skitarii, let's briefly go through the stuff for Heresy. We also have a great narrative reveal for Warhammer 40,000, the 500 Worlds. I need to play Space Marine 2 more, but I'm stuck working, so I haven't touched that game in over a year. Sigh. I want to play, but I'm too busy.

Anyway, I won't say much about 500 Worlds, except that I might get it just for lore. And if I do, I'll share spoilers and opinions in my blog, but models wise, probably not. I have neither the money nor the time to buy and assemble so many miniatures. I'll focus on Heresy instead. Speaking of which...

The first preview is of the new Siege Assault Battle group!

We get 12 Cataphractii Terminators, 10 Breachers and a single Leviathan Dreadnought! These are the new-scale Cataphractii Terminators, so they are much larger than your power armored dudes. They come with volkite and power mauls now, but you can switch to power fists and combi-bolters in a second, alternative kit, if that's more your jam.

They also have the same options for heavy flamers and autocannons, and I believe plasma blasters. And we also get the new MKIII Breachers! Yay! They also come with lascutters and graviton guns in addition to shields.

MKIII is my favorite power armor variant. I think these look really cool!

We also get Saturnine Heavy Assault Cadre for Legions Imperialis, as well as Saturnine Dreadnoughts. I'm tempted to get them for my Thousand Sons, but we'll see. As I said, money and time are a concern right now.

Since I'm planning on getting these guys for 28mm scale eventually, I might represent them for my Thousand Sons. But we'll see. If I do, eventually, I'll add Fellglaives because I love volkite and super-heavy tanks.

I'm interested in the Journal Strategia, the Ruin of the Salamanders, but I don't know if I'll get it. I don't really care for the rules, which will probably show up in another collected edition eventually, and the lore is about the Salamanders, rather than the Thousand Sons, Mechanicum or Solar Auxilia. I might still get it because I love Legions Imperialis and the lore, so we'll see.

However, the ones I'll definitely be getting are the Skitarii and the Journal Tactica Skitarii: Steel Hand of Mars. The Skitarii Battle-Pilgryms first appeared in The Martian Civil War and they finally have new models! WOOHOO!

These are the predecessors to the Legiones Skitarii that we have in modern Warhammer 40,000 today. Quite frankly, the Skitarii have always existed in Horus Heresy lore for ages, either as Mechanicum Protectors or in Graham McNeill's Mechanicum, the awesome Horus Heresy novel with House Taranis Knights, battle robots (automata) and Skitarii in it. The term "Battle-Pilgryms" (or actually, just Pilgrym Skitarii) first appeared in the 2nd edition expansion, The Martian Civil War, as I mentioned above, but prior to that, they were simply known as Skitarii or occasionally, Mechanicum Protectors.

For years, they existed as a separate and distinct militant arm in the Black Books of first edition, apart from the Taghmata and the Collegia Titanicus. There were rumors they would be brought into the fold at the tail end of 7th edition, the codex for Skitarii and Cult Mechanicus having been first introduced in early 2015 (March and April), but with the launch of 8th edition and a few studio politics, I think they decided to ensure the 40K lines and specialist studios maintain their distance, and thus, Skitarii were never ported over to Heresy.

Around 2018 or 2019, after book 9 Crusade was launched as the final Black Book for first edition, there was supposed to be further expansions for Mechanicum and Dark Mechanicum rules, which would further elaborate on the Armiger Moirax and crazy dark cyborg stuff that Heretek was supposed to bring, but 2021 announced the launch of 2nd edition (or at least it was leaked in 2021) before it finally materialized in 2022.

That's for the rules. Lore-wise, they are very prominent, appearing frequently in many Horus Heresy novels. It wasn't just Graham McNeill's Mechanicum, they also showed up in Dan Abnett's Know No Fear, where a Master of Skitarii led his cyborg forces to fight alongside Ultramarine allies against the treacherous Word Bearers in Calth. They also appeared in Guy Haley's Wolfsbane, where Belisarius Cawl actually is a central character, as well as other novels, including Guy's Titansdeath, Aaron Dembski-Bowden's Master of Mankind, and even Aaron's Seige of Terra novel, Echoes of Eternity. They went from wielding electro staves to galvanic carbines and radium carbines after the release of the Skitarii codex in 2015, where their armaments were more fleshed out (albeit in the 41st millennium), but the Black Library authors had to rely on existing codex and models to depict the Skitarii in the Heresy. Hence the radium carbines and galvanic weapons.

Yes, I'm a history nut. I'm embracing my role as a Rembrancer. Sue me.

Anyway, for years, fans have been clamoring for Skitarii in Horus Heresy, me included. I might be one of the most vocal, actually, ha ha. And now, our prayers to the Omnissiah have been answered!

Skitarii Battle-Pilgryms are distinct from modern Skitarii. First, you'll notice that they don't wear red robes, and they lack the hoods that the Skitarii Rangers sport. They seem more...how do I put it, more ragged and hastily assembled. Yes, there are similarities in their augmetics, though their legs are longer, but they sport the same Skitarii plate - or Corpus Skitarii - that their successors inherit. Their augmetic arms are also very similar. Their backpacks also seem different.

They stand between the mindless Tech-thralls of the Adescularis and the Thallax Cohorts, and can be deployed in units of 8 to 16. They are more advanced than the Tech-thralls, who you usually field 10-40 of, capable of wielding more powerful armaments such as voltlock arquebuses. At the moment, I do not know if they have access to special weapons like arc rifles, volkite or plasma. In contrast, Thallax are heavily armored shock troops of the Ordo Reductor, which you normally field 6-9 of and have access to heavier weapons such as lightning guns, phased plasma-fusil, multimelta and photon thrusters. They're also tougher, more heavily armored, and have jet-packs.

Skitarii Battle-Pilgryms are a step up from Tech-thralls, augmented with the corpus-Skitarii. They are commanded on the field by a Marshal, who you recall, also exists in 40K. Apparently, they are veterans selected from the most proficient of a conclave's "ordinator" squad leaders. No, I have no idea what ordinators are, but it's interesting to see Skitarii cohorts being referred to as "conclaves." Aren't they supposed to be cohorts, or did they decide to change it to distinguish Heresy from 40K?

They appear to wield a variety of weapons, including a volkite serpenta! Nice! I already know what I want to equip my Skitarii Marshal with. So he's a Skitarii Battle-Pilgrym Marshal, not to be confused with the Skitarii Marshal. (sarcasm here) At least he seems to have way more options, so I'm happy about that! Not sure if I like the long legs, though, but still very cool, and still getting this guy.

Rounding them out is a single plastic Vultarax Stratos-automata. I already plan on getting one for my Mechanicum Legio Cybernetica anyway, so this is perfect. Also, a nice piece of trivia: Belisarius Cawl was piloting a Vultarax Stratos-automata remotely in Wolfsbane.

Now, what drew my interest was the line that Skitarii Conclaves generally operate independently, thus having access to very few of the Mechanicum's battle automata. The Vultarax happens to be the most common of the few they do get to deploy. That's slightly disappointing. It means that if you choose to build a Skitarii army, your options are fairly limited, unless you take them as allies or take Cybernetica allies. I do hope they have access to Krios tanks (including the Venator variant), but from what I can see, they definitely have access to the ubiquitous (for the Mechanicum, anyway) Triaros Armored Conveyor. How do I know this? Well, I saw the cover for the upcoming Journal Tactica.

See? I told you they have a Triaros Armored Conveyor. This contains rules for the Skitarii Conclaves army list, which allows you to field them as a primary army in their own right, or as allies. If your primary army is Mechanicum Taghmata, then you don't have to worry about the 50% points limit for allies! Awesome!

But what units do they get? I get that the Marshal is Command and the Skitarii Battle-Pilgryms are Troops. Okay, then the Triaros Armored Conveyor is Dedicated Transport, and the Vultarax Stratos-automata is a Fast Attack option you can take as an auxiliary detachment? Hopefully, we get battle tanks like Krios (and its Venator variant), and the Karancos, or the list will be super bare. I assume we also have access to Legacies, so Skitarii Conclaves can take volkite Tarantulas like their Mechanicum Taghmata brethren. As Recon, of course. Well, we'll find out.

As usual, once I get my hand on the book, I'll write an article on it. I'll also dedicate a lore page to the Skitarii in Heresy, based on this book, just like I did for the Forges of Saturnine. It'll be fun. I can't wait!

I am definitely getting this, alongside the battle group box for Skitarii Battle-Pilgryms. Or they call it the Mechanicum Skitarii Battle Group. Yes!

Even if I don't get anything else, I will get my hands on this, by any means necessary! Legally, of course. Off to my friendly local gaming store I go, once they announce this box and the Journal Tactica for preorders.

By the way, this looks cool. I might not play much 40K, but I'm invested in the lore, and reconquering the 500 Worlds appeals to me. If possible, I'll be commanding a Knight House in the realm of Ultramar, our services sworn to Captain Titus's undertaking. Yes, Titus has been promoted from Lieutenant in Space Marine 2 to Captain of the 2nd Company now. YAY! Always knew he had it in him! The detachments are available online for free, so you don't need to get the whole thing if you're only interested in the rules. Me, I'm in for the lore. 88-page lore book in Titus, that has me sold. This will wait until I saved up money, and I'm prioritizing my Heresy purchases first (the Skitarii Mechanicum Battle Group, Journal Tactica Skitarii The Steel Hand of Mars, and eventually the Saturnine box). Damn, and I still have some stuff I wanted for Imperialis Militia too. Oh, well.

We'll see what the future brings. Hopefully, 2026 will be a better year for me, financially and work-life balance wise...

Zone Mortalis

Yeah, I'm kind of swamped with work at the moment, so updates will be sparse. Also, I'm receiving intern pay despite working until 10pm regularly, so I can't afford any new miniatures either. I could go on a rant that life sucks or the job market is terrible and I have no options, or whine about being exploited despite the job being good (beside the intern pay, but that should change when I convert to fulltime...hopefully), but that's not what this blog is for. On the bright side, working as an adjunct lecturer is awesome, but working two jobs - one of which has me staying until 10pm regularly, and then burning the weekends for lesson preparation - is, admittedly, exhausting. So don't mind me as I scrape for something that is not work.

Instead, we'll focus on Warhammer 40,000. Or to be more precise, Horus Heresy. And they released rules for Zone Mortalis today! I'm also splashing my hobby budget on comics instead of Warhammer models (that's why that's on hiatus for a while). The new Imperial stuff is awesome. I'm a sucker for science fiction, sorry.

Anyway, Zone Mortalis. We can bring Leviathan Dreadnoughts, massive walkers and vehicles now! Woohoo! Might be a tad claustrophobic, but that comes with the territory. With Breachers and new-scale Cataphractii Terminators on the horizon, there's a lot to look forward to.

...damn it, I need that pay raise. I can't even afford Saturnine right now, how am I ever going to get Breachers and those Cataphractii Terminators? Ugh.

Zone Mortalis is like half the scale of a regular Horus Heresy game, meaning you field 1,500 points. It has opened up to allow more variety of units, unlike last edition, as I said above regarding vehicles and walkers. No aircraft or barrage weapons allowed, though. Oh, and you need to set up dense terrain, walls that obscure line of sight, and doors. Bulky units and vehicles with more than 3 Hull Points get stuck in narrow confines and can't turn or move, so be careful about navigating your Dreadnoughts!

You can download the rules here. Have fun!

Oh, speaking of which, JellyMuppet is back to publishing Horus Heresy articles on Goonhammer! Yay! Inductii and Blackshields articles are out, so you can check them out there. From what he typed, it seems he had them written a week after the rules were released, so there must have been some publishing delay or something. Well, I don't know anything regarding their release process, so I won't comment on it. All I'll say is that I'm delighted Goonhammer is finally publishing those Horus Heresy articles! I was looking forward to reading them! Get ready for their take on Daemons of the Ruinstorm and Shattered Legions soon!