Vengeance of the Long War Part I

I've decided to post some of my stories that were written to link some games together that I was playing with my regular opponent. We were both using fairly new armies of Angels Encarmine (Blood Angels successor) and Iron Warriors. 

In the first game, I got an absolute kicking from the Iron Warriors. Although my Captain Elysius Aldo (Tycho stand-in) and his bodyguard managed to bring down a Daemon Prince, only a lone scout sergeant survived the entire battle (the rest were burned alive by a Heldrake).

The following story continues from the aftermath of the first battle, I have tried to remain true to the small amount of lore we have on the Angels Encarmine. (That their Chapter Master is Castellan Zargo and that they are the most active chapter in the Imperium, barely resting to re-cooperate their strength). 

This is the first of the micro-stories that linked the campaign.

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VENGEANCE OF THE LONG WAR: PART ONE

The hall echoed as the crimson clad warrior limped slowly across the marble floor. The pained expression upon his face was not caused by weakness, his kind did not feel such a thing, instead it was caused by the warrior's unease at being so unready. His status remained as unfit for duty, and that very idea caused him more pain than his injuries. 

"Brother Sergeant Anzolo," echoed a voice from across the chamber.

The wounded warrior pulled back the hood on his robe, revealing a hairless head and craggy face scarred with horrendous heat burns . He kneeled slowly, grimacing as his aching muscles worked to support his weight. 

"You are the first survivor of our ground forces to be revived from the deep sleep." 

Anzolo looked up, towards the orrator. Stood before him was a towering warrior armoured in alabaster plate, trimmed with gold and bloody crimson. The armour was a work of great craftsmanship, rendered imperfect by superficial battle damage. Stylised ebon wings stretched out from behind the giant. In one hand he held a mask, the other clasped the haft of a great scythe.

"Tell me of what happened at Thandar, Anzolo" he asked.

Anzolo spoke of what he had seen, recounting the battle fought at the gates of the city of Thandor. He described the destruction that the archenemy had inflicted upon the outmatched defence forces.

"We arrived just in time to hold the gates, my lord," spoke Anzolo.

He continued his account, recounting every detail with perfect clarity. "The cursed daemon was defeated, but with great loss to our company. Those taken by the rage were all slain in an effort to bring the beast low. Captain Aldo and the firstborn contingent all sacrificed themselves to ensure it's demise. I saw all this before my position was compromised." 

"Elysius Aldo still lives, Brother Sergeant. But it will pain you to know that so does our enemy."

"By the blood of the angel..." swore Anzolo.

The white clad giant raised his mask to his face, revealing a visage that could stare into the very soul of those who gazed upon it. The mask added a coldness to his voice as he spoke.

"We head now for the Numenthax system, to finish what was begun on Thandor. Whilst the blood encarmine flows through us, we shall never rest yet never tire" 

"As his Angels, we shall never rest yet never tire" responded Anzolo, his heart filled with vengeance. At that moment, the chamber began to shake, a rumbling sound building as unseen motors powered up. The wall behind the masked warrior began to open, flooding the chamber with light and the sound of klaxons. As the door opened, it revealed a launch pad on which stood an honour guard of more alabaster clad warriors. In the centre, a Thunderhawk Gunship roared as it's thrusters came alive.

"Then make ready, Brother-Sergeant Anzolo" spoke Chapter Master Castellan Zargo, swinging his scythe up onto his shoulder as he marched out into the howling winds that whipped across the launch bay.

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I'll post the next one tomorrow, feel free to comment and criticise!

The Duke and the Baron(ess).

As promised, here are some kit bashed characters.

Duke Sliscus armed with the Serpent's Blades and Angel's Encarmine Librarian with Force Axe and forge world Storm Shield.

And "The Baroness". My Baron Sathonyx stand-in. I really liked the succubus model but didn't really want one in my main list, therefore I decided to use her to lead my 15 man hellion squad as Sathonyx. (Note: phantasm grenade launchers not yet attached).

Sixth Edition. Angels Encarmine. Dark Eldar.

Although I will always love Space Wolves, and forever revert back to them (especially after a new space wolf book or piece of fiction is written), I will be building, and hopefully painting, two new armies during 6th edition:

Angels Encarmine and Dark Eldar.

What has drawn me to the Angels?

If I'm honest, it was a choice between a Khorne army or a Blood Angels army, as I really wanted an army that just goes forward into combat. Many untrained pups might feel that this is what a Space Wolves army does, and they would be right in part, although Space Wolves are better at pushing forward with all guns blazing, then daring the enemy to come and get them. My Angels army will not do this. It will be coming at you aggressively and not stopping until its chewed you up or chased you off the board (in theory). Sadly, this means my Raven Guard will be no more, as many of the parts were canabalised to build the Angels. I picked  the Angels Encarmine because they have white Sanguinary Guard and Death Company, and also because their limited fluff is cool (they are supposed to be the most active chapter in the Imperium).

Sadly this means the Raven Guard have had to go, as many parts have been canabalised to build the Angels army, which is now mostly built and has already earned itself a few victories under the 6th edition ruleset. (Army pics to come soon!)

So what about the Dark Eldar?

My Craftworld Eldar loved to hide in colourful woods,
the only place that would keep them hidden!

I got back into 40k after a hiatus whilst studying and drinking too much in university. It was the ideal time as 5th edition had just been released, and I went in head first with Craftworld Eldar. The pointy eared ones appealed to me as I am a fan of the "elf" aesthetic in general, and I usually play elf race in most RPGs and fantasy game systems. When Space Wolves were released, (the army which I had a few models for in 2nd edition and collected during 3rd), I was instantly drawn back to them and their mythology. However, I still missed the pointy eared ones, and couldn't help but be drawn to the fantastic model range of the Dark Eldar. GW really knocked the ball out of the park with the Dark Eldar range, I could quite happily purchase anything from the range and paint it, built it and put it on the table (maybe not the latter for mandrakes, who don't usually make it from shelf to games table).

The Dark Eldar army is pretty fresh, I've only constructed Duke Sliscus, a Razorwing Jetfighter and a squad of Kabalite warriors (stay tuned for a pic of Sliscus this afternoon).

So what does the future hold?

The blog will now serve as a hobby blog for these three armies, but also for my wider interest in war-gaming and any other musings from my geeky interests.

Two 1500 point lists I will be running.

Today I played two very enjoyable games in my local club, against a shooty Salamander Space Marine army, and the Fenrisians of the other local Wolf Lord. In my first game against the space marine player I used a Thunderwolf Lord for a bit of a change, and against the Space Wolves I used my standard 1500 list, as shown below:

Bran Redmaw
Wolf Lord in Terminator Armour; Storm Shield, Chain Fist, Wolftooth Necklace,
Saga of the Bear (attached to Aesir Pack)

Jorek Stormgaze
Rune Priest in Power Armour; Chooser of the Slain

Elite
The Wolf Guard
Torgarl Mjodbane; Combi-Meltagun, Power Fist (attached to Lupus Pack)
Gyngrist Giantsmite; Combi-Meltagun, Power Fist (attached to Jotun Pack)

Kjel Wyrmslay; Combi-Meltagun, Chain Fist
Alarik Icehowl; Combi-Plasmagun, Wolf Claw
Svorlrik Thunderfang; Pair of Wolf Claws
Hengnir Scar-eye; Storm Shield, Power Sword
Olaf Keenblade; Assault Cannon, Chain Fist
Drop Pod

Troops
Aesir Pack
8 Grey Hunters; Mark of the Wulfen, Wolf Standard, Meltagun
Drop Pod

Lupus Pack
8 Grey Hunters; Mark of the Wulfen, Wolf Standard, Meltagun
Rhino

Jotun Pack
8 Grey Hunters; Mark of the Wulfen, Wolf Standard, Meltagun
Rhino

Heavy Support
Vanir Pack
6 Long Fangs; 5 Missile Launchers
Razorback, Lascannon, Twin-linked Plasma guns

(Total 1500 points).

I also ordered myself some of the excellent new Thunderwolf Cavalry models, and a pack of Fenrisian Wolves. I knocked up a list that is not too disimilar to my standard list, as I prefer not to change the way my packs are set up (it would be bad luck to keep swapping wolf brothers in and out of their squads). I eventually settled with the list below, which swaps the Wolf Guard Terminators and the Terminator Lord for a Thunderwolf pack, Thunderwolf lord and some Fenrisian Wolves:

Wolf Lord
Wolf Lord in Runic Armour; Storm Shield, Frost Blade, Wolftooth Necklace, Thunderwolf Mount, Saga of the Warrior Born (attached to Fenrisian Wolves)

Elite
The Wolf Guard
Torgarl Mjodbane; Combi-Meltagun, Power Fist (attached to Lupus Pack)
Gyngrist Giantsmite; Combi-Meltagun, Power Fist (attached to Jotun Pack)
Kjel Wyrmslay; Combi-Meltagun, Chain Fist (attached to Aesir Pack)

Troops
Aesir Pack
8 Grey Hunters; Mark of the Wulfen, Wolf Standard, Meltagun
Drop Pod

Lupus Pack
8 Grey Hunters; Mark of the Wulfen, Wolf Standard, Meltagun
Rhino

Jotun Pack
8 Grey Hunters; Mark of the Wulfen, Wolf Standard, Meltagun
Rhino

Fast Attack
Fenrisian Wolves
5 Fenrisian Wolves

Thunderwolf Cavalry
A; Storm Shield, Thunder Hammer
B: Storm Shield, Close Combat Weapon
C: Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon
D: Plasma Pistol, Close Combat Weapon
E: Bolt Pistol, Close combat weapon, Meltabombs

Heavy Support
Vanir Pack

6 Long Fangs; 5 Missile Launchers

(Total 1499 points).

I've yet to name the Thunderwolf riders, but I'll make sure it's done before they head into battle and start building their worthy sagas!

Xenos Sighted.

Okay, it's not a Space Wolf or a Raven Guard, but this model was purchashed, built and painted in one day! A collosal achievement for a slow modeller and painter such as myself.





Sorry about the poor lighting, comments and criticism will be much appreciated!

Deliverance Found.

I recently picked up the latest Horus Heresy book, Deliverance Lost. I haven't done much work on my Raven Guard lately, but this book instantly rekindled my inspiration, The catch was that I was finding it hard to put the book down in my spare time. So enter the Audiobook!

I purchased the audiobook from black library yesterday and have made some progress as I can build my miniatures and listen at the same time. I've currently been working on my "counts as" furioso dreadnought, using the contemptor forge world model:

He's pretty big! Although it is quite hard to tell from the picture, he's actually stooping as I'm going to attempt to model him as if he is striking his claws into a mass of much smaller opponents.

If you haven't tried the horus heresy audiobooks, I heartily recommend them. Besides, there's nothing like listening to a tale of Corax rebuilding his legion whilst building Raven Guard (it's almost like taking part!)

Merry Christmas!

The forges will be hard at work this Christmas as I have just received some Apocalyptic Reinforcements!

It is also cause for a double celebration, as I have finally finished painting a squad!!! This is the first time I have ever (ever!) achieved this in my many years of wargaming. I usually get to about 7-8 models then move onto something else.

So here they are, it's a bad photo, but I haven't applied all the decals yet, so I'll take a good one once they're done and the bases are tidied up.

Have a Maleficarum-free Christmas!