Horus Heresy-Epic

 

Last Thursday, I got in my last game of what was a full week of gaming in Montréal at my friend Iannick's.  We decided to play Epic 30k, which was the game we played in our last encounter. We went with 2100 points each and I brought the same force as I had the last time. I believe Iannick might of changed things up with his force.

We scattered some terrain about the table, that actually seemed to work better than any specific layout. There were several hills blocking LOS and also several buildings which both blocked LOS but also offered cover if the formation was within them. It worked well.

As we both had Space Marine forces our initiative was the same but Iannick won the draw and went first. I believe we probably played less than 10 turns and generally did not have much problem remembering the rules, although I think combat may of got screwed up a little. I think that we missed that units are engaged if within 15cm after a single move and either engage in a Firefight or Close Combat depending on whether they are touching or not. It was quite a close game, I thought I had the upper hand for the latter third of the game but Iannick was able to pull off a clear victory in the last turn. I was really unsure about the ruleset but I actually have started to appreciate it's nuances quite a bit more and have decided to paint up a couple of more formations which include another formation of 5 Terminators as well as a formations of 4 Deredeo Dreadnaughts. I suspect our next game will be a little bigger. Here are a couple of photos.

I thought this was the combat that would lead me to victory, my Terminators had Freefallen via their Deathclaw to with  combat range of the a formation of the Sicilian tanks, they were successful but not enough to win the game for me.

In our next game, I will focus more on known the abilities of my units.

AHPCVIII Eleventh Submission: Epic Air Support

I received these models a couple of weeks ago and they really are first class and a lot of fun to paint. I have now completed my purchases for my 4000 point Horus Heresy Epic army. Still some painting to do, but should be ok to go for that planned but not yet scheduled Canadian East versus West Epic battle. The Blood Angels will be ready!

I have a tendency to overpaint these small models, but time was limited and I think I have them just right. I did learn an important painting tip this time around. I had been priming the models red and then using a wash to bring out the details. This time I primed them black and then used an airbrush to spray the red. Much better effect for shadowing but leaves the high points bright.

The descriptions of the airships are from the Warhammer 40k Fandom.

Kharybdis Assault Claw

The Kharybdis Assault Claw is a type of Drop Pod used by the Legiones Astartes during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. The Kharybdis is a monstrous drop pod capable of carrying large assault forces through the void and mounting significant firepower to blast a path through defending small craft. As a fully operational dropship, these craft serve as orbit-to-surface transports, a role that allows them to use the firepower of their storm launchers and melta cutters to scour clean their chosen landing zone before disembarking their deadly cargo. 

Storm Eagle

The Storm Eagle is a heavy assault gunship used by the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes as a heavy tactical air support unit. Storm Eagle gunships will follow a Space Marine Chapter's Thunderhawk gunships and Drop Pods into battle, where it can lend its weapons to a devastating aerial assault. The Storm Eagle mounts an impressive amount of firepower for an aircraft of its size and is also capable of transporting twenty Space Marines directly into the thick of a ground assault.

Xiphon Interceptors

The Xiphon Pattern Interceptor is a void and atmospheric flight-capable fighter craft once used by the Space Marine Legions of old. The Xiphon Interceptor was widely used by the Legiones Astartes during the early days of the Great Crusade, before falling out of regular service and seeing a resurgence in general use during the Horus Heresy due to shortages of available combat aircraft.

AHPCVIII: Fourth Submission-Epic Armageddon

It has been a year since I added any figures to my Epic Armageddon Blood Angels force. I thought to celebrate the dawn of 2018 that it would be nice to paint some. In AHPCVII, I had painted my way to just over 2000 points of a planned 3000 point force. Time to add some, methinks.

I had these 5 vehicles left over from the prize I won in last year's challenge, so they were pulled out yesterday from the lead pile and I rushed to get them done before the New Year. They are certainly much more complicated to do than WWII 6 mm armour. I still do not have it right, but they look a little better than last year's efforts.

Falchion Superheavy Tank Destroyer

A Company of Predator Destructors

A Flight into Fantasy

This year's AHPC for some reason or another has caused me to go off on a tangent. One would think that from reading my previous blogpost that I would have learned something, especially with 6mm. But no that is not the case. Fortunately, aside from time, the cost was little for this project. Among the many beautiful submissions to this year's challenge were these little figures which were used in some far in the future fantasy setting. I really liked the little vehicles, some blue, some white and some purple.

They looked cool and I had a vague idea that they had something to do with Games Workshop but that was about it. In a recent visit to Iannick's for some gaming, I had a chance to look closer at tiny figures in purple in his painting room. Iannick is really quiet an excellent painter, his figures are always carefully and well painted and he really does a superb job on basing. I was immediately taken with the idea of painting some myself. 

I kept quiet hoping it would pass but I could not get the idea out of my head. I then starting emailing Iannick multiple times each day and over a couple of weeks he very patiently explained Epic 30K to me. Now I have to admit, I still have no idea what the whole thing is about, I know it has something to do with a dystopian future. I know it is in the Warhammer 40K world and that it is it. I am unlikely to read any of the books, of which I understand there are several. 

But I have to say despite all this, I really enjoyed researching the army lists, putting together the OB and painting the figures. I have to say an enormous thanks to Iannick who was very patient with my questions; directing me to the source material, correcting my mistakes and instructing me in the basing of the army.

I wanted a red army, and it had to be a Loyalist faction in the Horus Heresy as Iannick's IIIrd Legion, the Emperor's Children is a Traitor faction. A quick flick through the lists and I was left with the IXth Legion, the Blood Angels. So it started, a quick trip to eBay provided me with an adequate number of figures to start things up. Further arduous research through the internet and looking at many photos of epic armies left me with a painting scheme and off I went.

So anyway, I got painting and made an initial submission to the challenge. This was my first line detachment with it's three supports. This first grouping, based around a Legion Tactical Detachment was 975 points of a planned 3000+ point core force. 

Legion Tactical Detachment

I got a favourable response and since have painted up a second detachment, this one being based on a Legion Terminator Detachment. This will be 1170 points. The third planned detachment will be based around a Legion Assault Marine Detachment.

Legion Terminator Detachment

It was amazing to me, how much time I spent on each of these units. Generally they have been primed red with Citadel Air Evil Sunz Scarlet, followed by a Nuln Oil wash, this was applied quite heavily. I then dry brushed the figure with Wild Rider Red (subsequently since I am transiting to Vallejo, I used VMC 909 Vermillion). I use VMC 801 Brass for the gold and Vallejo 790 Silver (this is an alcohol based paint and is just terrific). Once the metals were applied they would be again washed with Nuln Oil. I tried several other formulae, but I felt this was the best. So let's look at the units.

For each Legion Detachment you are allowed to select 4 supports, you can also do some upgrades. So far I have used what I had on hand from my original eBay purchase, I am hoping my third detachment will be a little more interesting in it's composition.

Here is the basic Legion Terminator Detachment with a Heavy Transport Upgrade of  2 Land Raiders

Next up is a Legion Assault Marine Squad. I am not really happy with the yellow colour of their helmets. I will work on this a bit more in my third basic detachment.

Next up is an artillery battery with 4 Whirlwind units.

Then we have a Land Raider squadron, of the Phobus variant if I have it right. These were painted a little differently then the upgrade transports for the Terminator detachment. All the trim is gold here, with the transports I used some silver to match their helmets. I might add some weathering to vehicles but I have to think about this a bit.

This is a Chaplain which is some sort of leader figure, he is another upgrade to the detachment.  His personal rhino is done poorly done but I kept it as this was my original colour scheme. I was trying for a rose, which I think is more accurate for the Blood Angel Faction, but certainly less attractive. 

Well that is it, these are certainly fun to paint aside from the little men which I find really boring. Stay tuned for more.