Barbican Front, Siege of Alcazar Prime

So the siege of Alcazar Prime has begun! I was dumb, I should have waited for my friend because he has the fluff and everything. Thanks to some problems with Facebook, his post was removed and I wrote my narrative based on my own memory. That last post with Tanaka and his Knights of House Yato descending to take back Alcazar Prime. Seems like I made a lot of mistakes, whoops! Well, it doesn't matter, here's the fluff! I hope you can read it, just click on the image and make the words as big as possible.

Today we had the Adeptus Titanicus campaign. It...didn't go so well for the Loyalists, unfortunately. We had to attack and take the Colossibast South (Intercontinental cave transitways), Capitolis Slums and Hives of Alcazar-Tetra. House Yato worked with the maniples of Legio Defensor (Nova Guard) and Legio Astorum (Warp Runners) to hold back the Titans of Legio Tempestus (Storm Lords) and Legio Audax (Ember Wolves). House Yato was first dispatched to the Capitolis Slums to conduct hit and run attacks on Legio Audax, but the reinforced armored Warhounds annihilated them in the streets of the slums. It was a closer game than I thought - first, plasma blasts with maximal fire from the Warhounds wiped out the entire Knight Lance of Cerastus Knights. Ouch. However, the Acastus Knight banner fought back, with the Knights Porphyrion laying waste to the squadron of Warhounds - one of which exploded catastrophically and set off a chain reaction. I think about two or three Warhounds died in a single go, leaving two.

The Cerastus Knights Castigator and Questoris Knights surged upward and took out the Princeps Seniores of Legio Audax with coordinated strikes and melee, laying waste to him. Meanwhile, the two surviving Warhounds destroyed the Knights Porphyrion with more maximal fire plasma blasts, then turned around to finish off the Knights Castigator and Questoris Knights. They did manage to kill one more Warhound, but the final Warhound wiped out the Knights with more plasma. Literally, the match was decided on who would seize initiative and begin first, and alas, the dark gods favored Legio Audax. Otherwise I would have pulled off a charge and destroyed the heavily damaged Warhound, but yeah. My remaining Knight got nuked off the table instead with First Fire before I could make the charge. It was a close battle, but in the end the slums fell to Legio Audax.

Legio Astorum, on the other hand, was destroyed by Legio Tempestus, who took over the ruins of Alcazar-Tetra Hive. Legio Defensor was similarly annihilated by another maniple of Legio Tempestus, but strangely enough they failed to achieve their objectives whereas Legio Defensor actually secured their objectives and won the game through points. I'm guessing they were retrieving something or secured something, but I'm not sure. Whatever it was, the Loyalists managed to get hold of Colossibast South while the Hives of Alcazar-Tetra and Capitolis Slums fell to the Traitors.

The Loyalists attempted to attack the Traitors once more, but this time, my Knights were completely eradicated by Legio Tempestus. Though I was trying to hide them using the mountains and caves of Colossibast South, it didn't go well and blasts of volcano cannons and plasma just wrecked my Knights. In the first turn, the Acastus Knights were nuked by the Nemesis Warbringer Titan's Belicosa volcano cannon before they could fire a single shot. Ouch. It was...pretty bad, and in the end I only managed to take out a single Reaver Titan...which promptly exploded or collided and killed the Knights who slew it, tabling me. It was an incredibly one-sided defeat, and I'm not sure how else I can put it...a single Reaver and absolutely no damage on the other Titans, while my Knights were erased from the board. Yikes. Colossibast South fell back into the Traitors' hands.

On the other battlefronts, the Loyalists were being driven back. Legio Tempestus struck Legio Astorum, and despite a brawl between two Warlord Titans, they eventually destroyed the Warlord Titan of the Warp Runners, leaving the Storm Lords to run rampant over the remaining Loyalist Titans. Ugh. Legio Defensor was also defeated by Legio Audax. I believe they took out the Nemesis Warbringer early on, and the two surviving Warhound Titans ran to push the front, winning the game on points despite suffering tremendous casualties. Most of them had been destroyed by the Warlord Titan, and despite bringing down a Reaver Titan, the surviving Warhound Titan and Warlord Titan fired after the fleeing Warhound Titans of Audax, but they survived long enough to win the game. I think one died, so actually only one survived eventually, but still...a victory was a victory.

The Loyalists have suffered a crushing blow from which they couldn't recover, and the Traitor Titans continued to consolidate their gains and counterattack. Legio Tempestus continued to push in and destroy Legio Defensor, and despite the Warp Runners taking the initiative by taking out a Warhound in a single salvo, their surviving Titans closed in and slowly ground them down, allowing the Traitors to secure the Capitolis Slums. Meanwhile, packs of Warhound Titans hunted the beleaguered Titans fo Legio Astorum in the underground caves of Colossibast South, the Ember Wolves latching onto the bigger Titans with their ursus claws and pulling them apart. The subterranean tunnels belonged to the Traitors for certain.

Incensed by their crushing and total defeat by the Legio Tempestus previously, Sir Tanaka - the Seneschal of House Yato - gathered his lances and launched an all or nothing attack on another maniple of the Stormlords in the Hives of Alcazar-Tetra. Making good use of the hab-blocks and blasted structures, the Knights weaved through the roads and charged into the Titans. First, Tanaka's Lance of Cerastus Knights Lancer crashed furiously into the Princeps Senioris's Warlord Titan and slew it with their shock lances, bringing the mighty war engine down. The Knights Castigator and Questoris Knights slew another Warhound Titan, while the Acastus Knights wrecked the other Warhound Titan. With only a single Dire Wolf and Warhound left, the Traitors fled, routed by the vengeful Knights. The Loyalists were thus able to claim at least one final victory, gaining a foothold in the Hives of Alcazar-Tetra. Perhaps they would be able to conscript the population into their armed forces to beat back the Traitors.

And thus the Adeptus Titanicus campaign concluded with a decisive Traitor victory. Two of the three sectors are still in the hands of the Traitors, who have scored an overwhelming advantage...for now.

On the other hand, the more conventional forces continued to fight on. We had a couple of pickup games at night, and I had the pleasure of playing against the Sons of Horus. The Knights of House Yato, fresh from their victory in the Hives of Alcazar-Tetra, launched a counteroffensive against an orbital drop from the Sons of Horus. A Cerastus Knight Lancer Dolorus and Knight Errant Seneschal led 4 Armigers Warglaive, and an allied Mechanicum detachment with a Magos Prime Macrotek, two Tech-priests Auxilia with their accompanying servo-automata, and 4 Armigers Knight Moirax. The Reavers and a heavy support squad armed with lascannons fired upon the Knights, but the Armiger Knights Moirax and Knight Errant managed to kill the latter. The Cerastus Knight Lancer took out a single Contemptor Dreadnought and wounded another before charging the Reavers and killing about seven of them before he fell to a thunder hammer from the Consul. Ouch. Well, he tried. But the Armiger Knights Moirax wrecked the remaining Contemptor Dreadnought with haywire shots from their grav pulsars, while the Armigers Warglaive took out a squad of Tartaros Terminators. The Master of Signal was also killed by the melta shots from the Knight Errant, and one heavy support guy survived until the next turn before he was promptly electrocuted by more lightning locks fire.

Then the dreadclaws descended, with Horus and his Justinerean retinue dropping out and killing the Knight Errant. I managed to conduct Interceptor and Overwatch, and wiped out all but one of the Justinerean Terminators, but Horus proceeded to utterly dismantle the poor Knight in combat. His explosion did kill the last remaining Terminator, though. The two other dreadclaws with tactical squads had a mishap and landed on the other side of the table, but they decided not to land and instead zoom to the other side. Meanwhile, the Reavers charged and damaged one of the Armiger Knight Moirax, locking him in combat for a couple of turns. I think by this time there were two of them and the Consul left.

My entire army focused fire on Horus, and it took two whole turns of shooting from lightning locks (thank the Emperor for 4+ Rending and Shred), grav pulsars and melta to finally slay him, but during that time, Horus proceeded to wreck an Armiger Warglaive. Ouch. The Armiger Knight Moirax with grav pulsars was finally destroyed by the Reavers, who proceeded to the table edge, only for the Consul to survive because I charged with a Tech-priest Auxilia and his servo-automatas, who killed two Reavers with their servo-arms. But the Consul wiped them out. Oh, well.

The tactical squads poured out to secure my deployment zone, but my surviving Armigers - about 6 of them - piled into his depoyment zone (it was Shatterstrike, so line units score 2 points if they are in the opponent's deployment zone, denial units score 1 point each), along with the Magos Prime Macrotek. The tactical squads killed the other Tech-priest Auxilia, and yeah...we rolled, and the game continued for a 6th turn, where I proceeded to lay waste to one entire squad and a dreadclaw. That reduced his scoring units to 1, and denial units to 2.

In the end, I won the mission 14-8 because my 6 Armigers (3 with Line) and Magos Prime scored 10 for primary, and then I had Attrition and Slay the Warlord, along with 2 points from the D3 from Price of Failure. On the other hand, my opponent scored 4 for primary (a single tactical squad with Line, a dreadclaw, and a Consul), Slay the Warlord and 3 points from the 2D3 from Price of Failure. If the game had ended on turn 5, I think he would have gotten 11 points to my 14 instead. Damn, that was so close! Horus is a beast, but the Knights of House Yato managed to prevail over the Warmaster! He might be alive, but wounded from so many melta shots, his surviving Sons of Horus had to drag their gene-father back to the ship for him to recover. Yay, a victory for the Loyalists and the Knights of House Yato!

Apparently, the World Eaters had descended upon the Solar Auxilia in barbaric fury and massacred them, so the Traitors won somewhere else. Ouch. Oh, well...we did our best. The Knights continue to stand strong in defense of Alcazar Prime! We will continue our campaign tomorrow, but I have the sense that there are way too many Loyalists and too little Traitors, so I might switch sides and play Thousand Sons instead tomorrow. Till then!

The route to Alcazar Prime at the Barbican Front

"That doesn't look good..."

Tanaka gulped as the Imperator-class battleship, Emperor's Wrath, pulled up in orbit over the world of Alcazar Prime. For some reason, he was reminded of Alaric Prime, but that would be another story to tell...one that took place 10,000 years in the future involving a myriad of Knight Houses, Cadian Shock Troops and Militarum Tempestus squads and the Space Wolves against both the Red Waaagh! and Khorne Daemons.

For now, though, he had to focus on the task at hand.

"Our task is to crack that fortress world open?"

"That's right, Sir Tanaka."

Beside him, his ever-loyal squire, Suzuki did a salute before nodding grimly. He glanced through the viewing gallery, the armorglass displaying the grime-colored planet in all of its dusty glory.

"The Primarch, Lord Rogal Dorn, has made his orders clear. We are to rush for Holy Terra to defend it from the archtraitor's forces. However, in order to do so, we must open up a route through the Barbican Front. Should we leave Alcazar Prime and its surrounding sector uncontested, the Warmaster's forces will be able to fall back upon here after they have been broken upon the defenses of Terra."

"You seem pretty optimistic, Sir Suzuki," Tanaka remarked. The squire raised an eyebrow, and the Seneschal sighed wearily. "You're already assuming Horus Lupercal will lose."

"Of course he will. Nothing can defeat the Emperor. Lord Dorn will surely crush the archtraitor's forces. Have you seen Holy Terra? Nothing can break the palace's defenses. Of that I'm certain."

Tanaka chose not to argue, instead eyeing the orbital plates that formed a metallic ring around the planet. They were currently surrounded by various legion ships, the strike cruisers and battle barges of the Legiones Astartes having moved out to capture the space platforms and disable their lance arrays and torpedo launchers. Even from this distance, he could see swarms of thunderhawks and stormbirds descending upon the gleaming structures like wasps. Crimson light illuminated the void as anti-air turrets opened up, and several of the gunships vanished in explosions. Worse, gunmetal-gray interceptors raced from the surface to pick off the reeling transports, ensuring that the Loyalists paid for their descent in blood. More of the thunderhawks came apart, flaming shrapnel crashing upon the artificial atmosphere of the orbital stations and reducing entire gun batteries to debris.

Losing so many legionnaires in such a short span of time...Tanaka couldn't begin to imagine how dire the situation must be for the commanders to recklessly throw away their lives for such an endeavor. Such circumstances were unthinkable during the early days of the Great Crusade, where even a single legionnary was the equal of an entire company of mortal soldiers. He swallowed, clenching his fist.

"The IV Legion has garrisoned this world well. Alcazar Prime will not be an easy prize."

"The Iron Warriors are known siege masters, second only to the Imperial Fists."

Inwardly, Tanaka was sure that Perturabo would hotly contest that claim, but he agreed. His loyalties lay with the Emperor, and thus he favored the Praetorian over any treacherous primarchs. Particularly one who was known for his bitter and dour nature, sacrificing even his sons to the attritional grind of siege warfare. In contrast, Rogal Dorn had struck a noble figure, splendid in his golden armor.

"You know, Alcazar Prime used to be garrisoned by the Imperial Fists," Tanaka said conversationally. He eyed the yellow thunderhawks and stormbirds in particular, the black gauntlet visible across their hulls. Suzuki blinked in surprise.

"I had no idea."

"Yes. During the early years of the Great Crusade, the Imperial Fists brought Alcazar Prime to the Imperium's fold, but they had to leave shortly after that, to launch a crusade further toward the Occluda Noctis. The Night Crusade. After they succeeded in conquering the systems in Noctis, the Dark Angels returned to garrison the world for a time...but left the world for reasons unknown. Eventually, a detachment of Iron Warriors settled down and turned it into a fortress, making use of the structures that the VII Legion constructed."

It was no wonder the Imperial Fists had launched in force, determined to retake what used to belong to them. No doubt their primarch had viewed the departure of his legion as a mistake, and wished to make amends by seizing it from the sons of his treacherous brother.

"And now they are using the Imperial Fists' defenses against us."

"If they haven't torn them down already and replaced them with their own." Tanaka paused and considered. "From military intelligence, they haven't. As vast as the enmity between the IV and the VII Legions are, they are practical. They have no reason to demolish perfectly usable orbital batteries and walls when they can make use of them."

The lenses of his glasses glinted as the loyalist fleet began orbital bombardment. Crimson lances struck like thunder, raining fire upon the battered surface of Alcazar Prime. Sand turned into glass from the immense temperatures, and huge swathes of wilderness were erased. Even so, void shields stood strong against the relentless bombardment and the batteries were already replying with volleys of their own. Emperor's Wrath reeled as she took a direct hit, the lance dissipating against her shimmering void shields.

"We won't be able to crack them with orbital bombardment, huh?" Tanaka closed his eyes and sighed. "And Lord Dorn wishes to capture this world intact...so that we can use it to block the Warmaster's route of escape should he fail to conquer Terra."

"Do you really think the Emperor and the Praetorian will fall, sire?" Suzuki shook his head in disgust, probably scorning his Seneschal's pessimism.

"...hopefully not," Tanaka muttered, though he couldn't shake off an ominous feeling. However the battle on Terra turned out, he would need to complete his task here, and then rejoin the muster of defenses in the homeworld of humanity. Every victory counted.

"My lord. I bring instructions from the strategium."

A scribe scurried forward, his trembling hands raised to display the parchment in his hands. Tanaka took one look at it, recognizing the orders scribbled upon the withered material, and he nodded.

"Let us go, Sir Suzuki," he said as he wheeled around and marched toward the launch bays of Emperor's Wrath. "Our lance is to descend and help crack open the fortresses below. We will be escorting our brothers and sisters in the Titan Legions. Make ready for war. The Knights of House Yato shall ride."

Painted Predators and couple of Terminators

I finally finished painting my second Predator for my Thousand Sons. Oh, and the last three Terminators for my Imperial Fists. I had one leftover Tartaros Terminator for my command squad, and two Cataphractii Terminators with iliastus assault cannons that I'll swap out a couple of Cataphractii Terminators for if I feel I need more ranged. Though I doubt I will, but we shall see. In any case, all my Horus Heresy stuff have been painted and are done! Yay! I don't need to paint any more!

Well...I'll have to start painting my Krieg Guardsmen soon...

Death Korps of Krieg

Well, I call them Death Korps of Krieg, but they are my own Custom Regiment. Nonetheless, I plan to use the Death Korps of Krieg rules for them because...why not? They look cool, so yeah.

Anyway, I decided to go with a single plasma gun and a sniper rifle, along with a vox-caster so that the platoon command squad can give them orders from far away. At least that's the plan, but we'll see! I don't know how it'll work, but yeah.

Hopefully, I can use Imperial Militia rules for them too in Horus Heresy. Either way, I look forward to getting my hands on the new codex, and perhaps a couple more Armored Sentinels to supplement my Leman Russ tanks and Stormblade (who will be treated as a Shadowsword or something until we get improved rules for him). Till then!

Heart of the Swarm

The Tyranids had descended upon Hamlicar.

Watching the skies darken, Tanaka gulped as the crimson biological pods crashed upon the fields of the agri-world. Their rippling surfaces steamed with the heat of reentry, and cracks widened as Hormagaunts fought to exit their organic prisons. Their bodies still wet with amniotic fluids, they bounded across the fields with a terrifying screech.

At the head of them, a Hive Tyrant burst free from the largest pod. Roaring, it trampled upon one of the hapless Hormagaunts as it pulled free, it bonesword cleaving the last of its pulsating cage open. It turned its eyes toward the lance of Knights that awaited them and snarled. The formerly chaotic mob of Hormagaunts abruptly halted before organizing themselves into leaping ranks that surged forward.

"There's...a lot of them," Tanaka muttered, once again displaying his penchant for stating the obvious.

"Don't just stare at them! Attack!" Suzuki snapped. He was already bringing his Armiger Warglaive forward. Hebi swung its thermal spear about to take aim at the Hive Tyrant. "Concentrate fire on the leader beast!"

"There's a bunch of Warriors to the right," Tanaka warned when he caught sight of a trio of Tyranid Warriors marching forward. Two of them bore organic cannons that fired swarms of ravenous insectile projectiles. The deathspitters vaporized against his ion shield, and the few that survived the protective screen harmlessly collided against the hull of Kazan, unable to chew their way through the adamantium.

"Ignore them for now! Focus on the biggest creature! It poses the greatest threat. Cut off the head and the body of the beast will fall."

Tanaka had to admit that Suzuki had a point, gently guiding Kazan forward at full stride. He took aim with his thermal spear and meltagun, but the Hive Tyrant generated a psychic barrier that deflected the superheated beams.

"Ugh...that sucks."

"Thanks for distracting it!" Suzuki crowed and fired a volley from both his thermal spear and meltagun. Having focused its attention on Kazan, the Hive Tyrant wasn't able to align its empyric energies in time to protect itself from the melta rays striking it from the rear. It howled in pain and staggered as Suzuki's onslaught disintegrated huge chunks of fuming flesh and bone from its back. The pilot cursed when he saw the damage was superficial. "Throne damn it, I was out of optimal range!"

While Suzuki bemoaned his failure to take out the Hive Tyrant, Tanaka turned his attention toward the horde of Hormagaunts pouncing toward him. "Kanda!" He yelled through the vox. "Covering fire, please!"

"You got it, sir."

Kanda had moved his Armiger Knight Moirax into position behind cover, behind a wall. His lightning locks glowed for a moment before unleashing exotic energies that sprayed over the swarm. Over half of the Hormagaunts fell, their carapaces blackened and carcasses convulsing as the lethal electricity danced over them.

While the mob was disorientated momentarily, both Kazan and Hebi plunged into the Hive Tyrant. Tanaka managed to stab the creature in the gut, his reaper chain-cleaver dealing a mortal blow that caused the huge beast to double over. Snarling, the Hive Tyrant lashed out, but Hebi took the brunt of the attacks, Suzuki not as skilled as Tanaka in close combat.

"Hey! That hurts!"

He tried to retaliate, but the Hive Tyrant parried his reaper chain-cleaver with a deft backswing of its bonesword. Tanaka tried to help, but Kazan was currently overwhelmed by a bunch of Hormagaunts that slowly but surely tore through the armor plating of the Armiger Warglaive's legs.

"This sucks..."

Tanaka was suddenly aware that Kazan didn't have long to live. He was right. The Hive Tyrant snarled and shrieked all of a sudden, a mental onslaught that smashed his Knight into pieces. Kazan toppled over, its torso crumpling. Swearing, Tanaka punched the eject button and launched his Helm Mechanicum out of his dying Knight suit.

However, before he punched out, he was determined to deal one final act of spite and vengeance.

"Screw you, Emperor-cursed a-hole!"

With a sick sense of glee that probably only an Ork would understand, Tanaka hit the red button. No, it wasn't going to make Kazan go faster. Instead, like the volcano that the Armiger Warglaive was named for in Draconis III's native language, Kazan erupted for a final time.

The explosion almost knocked Hebi over.

"Hey!" Suzuki yelled angrily as Hebi teetered dangerously over. "Watch it!"

"What? I killed the Hive Tyrant and a good bunch of the Hormagaunts!" Tanaka protested as the grav-chute opened up above him, the remnants of his Helm Mechanicum slowly descending into safety behind Kanda's Armiger Moirax. "I would say that was totally worth it!"

That was true. The detonation had ripped the already mortally wounded Hive Tyrant apart, its great body blasted into pieces. Half of its skull was missing, brain matter dripping out and evaporating from the sheer heat. As for the Hormagaunts, about quarter of them ceased to exist, the remainder stumbling dazedly in the smoking crater.

However, they were quick to adapt. Their lips peeling back to reveal rows of dagger-like teeth, they charged at Suzuki. Hebi was still swaying clumsily, its pilot yet to recover from the explosion that his comrade had set off.

They almost took down the incredibly weakened Armiger Warglaive. However, Hebi displayed its martial prowess, the indomitable machine spirit defiant. Executing a chainsweep maneuver, Suzuki maanged to scythe down the remaining Hormagaunts with his growling reaper chain-cleaver.

"Holy Emperor! Just one more scratch and Hebi would be wrecked!" Suzuki complained when he saw the corrosion that the Hormagaunts' toxic sacs had left on his crumbling hull. Hebi was just barely moving, its machine spirit unwilling to surrender to oblivion. Then he jolted in panic when he saw the Tyranid Warriors advancing toward him. They had tried to reach him before the last of the Hormagaunts fell, but failed to make it in time. Suzuki smirked. "Die, you vile beasts!"

Unfortunately for him, the extensive damage to Hebi meant that he missed all but one of his melta shots, and even his meltagun did little more than score a glancing hit against one of the Warriors. Aside from charred carapace, they weren't even hurt.

"...uh oh." Suzuki swallowed. "A little help here?"

His request was answered in spectacular fashion, lethal lightning lancing from Kanda's Armiger Knight Moirax. Two of the Warriors cooked within their own chitin, the noxious fluids serving as their blood boiling and searing through their vessels. The last Warrior braced itself behind its dying brethren, but Suzuki ran it through with a slash from Hebi's revving reaper chain-cleaver. The creature went into spasms, but finally flopped over the whirring blade.

"We did it!" Tanaka breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the last of the swarm get decimated. "We don't have to worry about Tyranids invading and devouring Hamlicar anymore! YAY!"

And thus, another world of the Imperium survived the cosmic horrors that the universe was determined to throw at it...for a single day longer.

*

Phyron simmered as he watched Solen Bloodsplitter pace about on the surface of the torn world of Tanit. The warlord's initial victory over the Knights of House Yato had gained him favor from the warfleet, but his subsequent defeat by a vengeful House Charon meant they had been driven off Hamlicar.

Despite the setback, the renegades mustering under Solen had believed that it was a fluke, and they believed that the Chaos Lord would lead them to victory once more. The dark gods were fickle, after all. What they bestowed with one hand, they took away with another. Victory and defeat were the two sides of the same coin.

The Imperials would pay. For now, though, Solen had voiced his strong desire to not have to fight Knights again.

"I'm sick of facing them. I want to fight infantry."

"And where are we supposed to find infantry?" Phyron rolled his eyes. "You think the Sisters on Hammon will take up our challenge? We always miss the best timing to fight them."

"In time, my friend," Solen said in a silky voice. "Be patient. Our opportunity will arrive."

"It might not, sir," one of his subordinates warned. Clad in thick, pink power armor, he saluted before delivering his report. "A splinter of Hive Fleet Hydra has just dropped down on Tanit, and they're eating our guardsmen."

"Let them." Solen waved his hand dismissively. "The mortal soldiers are expendable."

"Whatever happened to you wanting to fight infantry?" Phyron muttered. The light went off in Solen's eyes and he rammed a gauntleted fist into his palm.

"You're right, Phyron! Why didn't I think of that? Let us spill their blood and bring glory to the dark gods!" He grinned. "I just thought of an idea too! No longer shall we be known as the Pink Corsairs, as our enemies mockingly call us...but we shall now be the Flesh Hooks! That is the name of our warband, and we will build a reputation that strikes terror into the hearts of all who hears of us! Let us mobilize!"

Solen's legionnaires and Phyron's Rubric Marines arrived just in time to see their mortal troops massacred by a Hive Tyrant and Tyrannid Warriors, the deathspitters and organic cannon tearing through their fragile bodies in devastating salvos. A single traitor guardsman - a Sergeant, by the looks of his desecrated chevrons on a once proud Astra Militarum uniform - retreated.

"Lord," he panted. "The Tyranids are coming!"

"I can see that, fool!" Solen snapped and shoved him aside. "Move out of the way!"

The sergeant complied, retreating to a building to seek cover after the nightmare he had just faced. Phyron, not bothering to wait for Solen's command, was already transmitting mental orders to his phalanx of Rubric Marines. The mutagenic stream of fire leaped out of their warpflamers to dissolve the carapaces of the Tyranid Warriors, rendering them into bubbling misshapen forms that the Hive Mind would never have conceived of.

"Hmph." Already, Phyron was dreaming of the glory he would earned in this battle. He turned his sights on the Hive Tyrant, eager to slay it. Such a feat would earn him favor from Tzeentch...and perhaps even grant him the power to usurp Solen's position. He shall take over as the new lord of the Flesh Hooks and command his own warband...

Stifling a laugh when he saw Solen and his legionnaires get swarmed by Hormagaunts, he charged his force stave and slammed it against the Hive Tyrant. The strike didn't even penetrate its armored chitin, and the Hive Tyrant roared furiously. With great sweeping blows of its bonesword, it cleaved open the enchanted power armor of his Rubric Marines, dust spilling from the cracks and rents. Phyron himself was hardpressed to survive, struggling to defend himself from the monster's overwhelming blows.

I may have bitten off a lot more than I could chew, he thought, a sliver of unease invading his usually calm mind when he was confronted with the stark reality that the Hive Tyrant could end his existence. Another three of his automata-like brothers fell, the dust that they now were escaping from the broken shells of their armor.

Solen was leaving his legionnaires to their fate, the small squad standing their ground over a mountain of carcasses. More and more Hormagaunts were hurling themselves at the dwindling band, and already half their number had fallen. Even so, they were selling their lives dearly for Solen to escape. Phyron would have scoffed at his leader's cowardice if he wasn't so distracted with the task of keeping himself alive.

Raising its head, the Hive Tyrant shrieked at the legionnaires, killing them off. Then it returned to the task of finishing off Phyron and his Rubric Marines.

Is this how I die? Phyron wondered in dismay as he was forced back by a vicious cut from the Hive Tyrant's bonesword. Under the amused gaze of uncaring gods as they laugh at my failure to achieve glory for myself?

Before the Hive Tyrant could slice him apart with a devastating chop, Phyron caught sight of Solen throwing himself forward, swinging his daemon axe to intercept the blow. The Aspiring Sorcerer retreated, grudgingly grateful that Tzeentch had seen fit to spare him from the twisted, dark wiles of fate that befell all who played his game. What he had mistaken for cowardice was actually strategic brilliance on his commander's part. Having realized that it was pointless to be bogged down by endless numbers of Hormagaunts, Solen had sought out the leader-beast to challenge it in combat. As long as he could kill it, the Hydra swarm would naturally fall apart.

With a grunt, Solen swung Moon-Tearer at the Hive Tyrant, gleefully anticipating the foul powers that possessed the weapon to lay low his foe. However, the daemon inhabiting the weapon rebelled, empyric energies coursing through the haft and treacherously lashing out at its wielder. Solen cried out and staggered, his gauntlets blackening. Cursing, he dropped Moon-Tearer for a second and hammered at the Hive Tyrant with his bare fists, but the creature smacked him aside. Phyron scrambled away, relieved that the leader beast had now refocused its attention on his commander rather than the diminished Rubric Marine squad.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the luxury of enjoying his rival's plight. The surviving Hormagaunts that had torn apart the Flesh Hooks legionnaires were now pouncing on them before they could fire their warpflamers. Already, the sole surviving Traitor guardsman had been torn apart by their claws before they descended upon the Rubric Marines in a frenzy.

"There's...too many of them!"

Phyron fought a trio of them off in despair, clobbering them into bloodied masses. Meanwhile, Solen had finally rallied and forcibly brought Moon-Tearer under control. Glowing brightly and spitefully, the daemon axe bit deeply into the wounded Hive Tyrant and cleaved its head from its shoulders. There was one last wail before the headless monster dropped to its knees...then finally toppled over.

Bellowing triumphantly, Solen held the head of the Hive Tyrant up to display his prowess to all. The dark energies around him shimmered and strengthened further, the dark gods above both amused and impressed by his superlative performance.

The Hormagaunts that were assailing Phyron and his Rubric Marines were falling back now, losing coherency now that their leader had been slain. Solen turned a disdainful look at them, and the survivors literally dropped dead under his gaze. Their flesh blackened and sizzled and they burst apart as chaotic energies rippled across the mob.

Phyron felt a chill as he witnessed his leader's ascension. Solen was strolling toward him now, and in one smooth motion, he tossed the Hive Tyrant's head into the Aspiring Sorcerer's hands. Phyron caught it without thinking, and for some reason he could still feel the warmth of the leaking blood through his gauntlets.

"A worthy challenge," Solen drawled as he stopped beside Phyron, placing a hand on his pauldron. There was no brotherly affection in the grip, only a foreboding sense of warning. Phyron could almost see the feral grin spreading across the hideous face of his commander under the twisted helm. "Come, my friend. This is just the beginning. We still have a lot to do."

Phyron turned and followed the warlord, mustering the remains of his Rubric Marines as they returned to their fleet.

Above, amidst the grotesque skies that churned with daemonic auroras, the laughter of the gods continued to ring.

Painted Imperial Fists Terminators

I painted my Tartaros Terminator command squad today. I also touched up on my Black Templars Cataphractii Terminator and Praetor in Tartaros Terminator armor, converting them into Imperial Fists colors. Honestly, I pretty much just added Averland Sunset to the formerly white portions and then washed them with Casandora Yellow. Oh, and I added more gold bits to the legs and other parts of the Cataphractii Terminator armor to make them look less plain. I didn't wash the Black Templar black because that's Contrast paint and I believe Contrast paint already combined Base plus Shade. So yeah, saved me some trouble there.

Essentially, I have a single Tartaros Terminator command squad - a single standard bearer and his 3 sword & shield buddies. I just went with that loadout because I just think they look cool with a sword and shield. Sure, maybe it sucks, but I couldn't care less. Besides, with WS5 and Initiative 4, I think power swords suit them better. Plus it's almost like the Black Templars aesthetic, as well as Company Champion loadout. And Black Templars are like a legion of champions. So yeah, sword and shield it is. And no, it has absolutely nothing to do with Pokemon.

Anyway, there you have it. A closeup, but again, I'm not sure if the Casandora Yellow shade makes much of a difference to the Averland Sunset base. What do you guys think? Never mind, stupid question. It's not like anyone will answer because no one reads my blog. Why do I even bother...?

Because it's a hobby blog, I guess...and the posts are more for my own satisfaction than for other people to read. Maybe. I dunno. It's 3am and I really should go to bed. Sorry.

Tartaros Terminator command squad

When I learned that my Imperial Fists Praetor was actually in Tartaros Terminator armor and not Cataphractii, I was a little disappointed because he wouldn't do well if he joins the 10-men Cataphractii Terminator squad. They wouldn't be able to move his full 7" and they lose the Heavy bonus to reroll saves against blast and template weapons, while the Praetor himself loses the ability to perform sweeping advances.

So my solution was to create a Tartaros Terminator command squad. Of course with Imperial Fists vigil pattern storm shields because, y'know, it fits the theme and everything. So that's what I did. Kitbashing with the Cataphractii Terminator vigil storm shields for the Imperial Fists, I cut off the hands and glued them to the Tartaros Terminator arms before gluing the shields on. And I managed to procure bits - extra Tartaros Terminator power swords - to fit about 4 of them with swords. So they are WS5 Tartaros Terminators with power swords and a Standard Bearer for Line. I used the vexilla from the Phalanx Warder set to kitbash a standard for my dudes, so there you have it. Yay...I think? I don't know if it will work out, but I hope it does. We'll see. Power swords might seem like a weird choice, but I'm hoping to strike on Initiative 4 or something, rather than wait for them to get smacked around by other forces before they can attack. Will it work? I don't know. But I like the sword and shield motif.

Oh, and here's a closeup of my Phalanx Warders, to show the effects of the Casandora Yellow shade over Averland Sunset base. Do they look better with the wash? Or there's no difference? You be the judge, though I know no one will comment. I doubt anyone is reading this blog...except my Crusade friends, who only read the stories I write and post (and send them), so they probably wouldn't be reading this post anyway. Why am I talking to myself?

...probably because of the warp and maybe Tzeentch Daemons whispering into my ear and deluding me into thinking I'm talking to somebody when I'm not...like poor Magnus. Aaron Dembski-Bowden, do you have something against Graham McNeill or something?