Astropath

I took a short break from my work on my Lord of the Rings figures to paint up this, rather cadaverous looking, Astropath for the forces of the Black Moab. When I started painting the figure, I had visions of doing all kinds of free hand designs on his robes. I painted on a few, but decided that they were actually detracting from the figure rather than adding to it. So I painted over them and went with a very basic design instead. It is so unusual these days for Games Workshop to put out an understated 40K figure, it is nice to just go with it.

This figure is part of one of the best packs of GW figures never to see general release. I already painted the other two figures in the pack, the Imperial Navy Officer and the Communications Specialist. Once again, this is a metal pack, and considering its limited release, it is doubtful GW will keep it around once the metal stocks are gone, so if you want one, don't wait long.

Demon Hunters vs. Daleks

The battlecarrier Black Moab is currently in orbit around the planet Tyllis. While there are no major Demonic threats reported on the planet, it is thought the planet’s libraries might contain valuable information.  So while the scholars hunt through dusty shelves, the ship’s military compliment is mostly engaged in refits, repairs, and training. However, occasional patrols are sent out to investigate strange or anomalous sensor readings...

Chronon energy is one of the rarest and least understood forms of energy known to science.  While it is sometimes found in nature, no human technology has ever been known to produce it. Thus, when the science team aboard the Black Moab detected chronon emissions from an abandoned village, deep in the marshes, they quickly requested a patrol be despatched.

The patrol consisted of two squads mounted in Rhino APCs. Squad one, led by Sgt. Corvex, contained 8 members of the elite 109^th ‘Demon Blade’ Inquisitorial Regiment and an attached Psyker. Squad two, under the command of Sgt. Kadarian, was made up of ten men from the 66^th Tagovian High Guard.  As the detachment approached the village, the muddy road gave out, and Sgt. Corvex decided to proceed into the village on foot.

  

Not expecting trouble, but always alert, the two squads divided into four fire teams. Three would advance into the village, while half of the High Guard remained to protect the vehicles and act as a reserve.

The village was eerily quiet. There was no sign that anyone had visited the place for years.  Then, on the left flank, in front of the High Guard, a figure emerged from one of the huts.  Sgt. Kadarian ordered his men to hold fire, unsure if what he was seeing was a creature or some form of robot.  The thing turned towards Kadarian, a light glowing from a single eye-stalk.  It spoke one word in a grating, high-pitched voice. ‘Exterminate’.

The creature fired a built in laser weapon, which caught one of Kadarian’s men in the chest and flung him backwards.  Kadarian ordered his men to open fire, then watched in dismay as their lasfire bounced harmlessly off the creature’s tough armour. More creatures came into view.  On the right flank, Sgt. Corvex also ordered his men to engage the enemy.

In a manner of seconds, four men were down, killed or badly wounded, while only one of the armoured creatures had been destroyed, that by a direct hit from a meltagun.  The Psyker, attempting to probe the mind of the creatures managed to confuse one and sent it trundling off in the wrong direction.

With the laser fire shredding  through the soft wood of the abandoned huts, Sgt. Corvex ordered everyone to fall back.  More men died, their bodies flung backwards like rag dolls when struck by the powerful enemy weapons.  Another of the monsters exploded under the combined fire of Demon Blade hellguns, and a third detonated when struck by a shell from the High Guard rocket team.

Unsure of enemy numbers, and seeing his men in danger of being overrun, Corvex ordered his Rhino forward.  Its hull mounted gun added to the fire as it charged in to pick up the Demon Blade. Although the men managed to make it onboard, an enemy weapon struck the vehicle, blowing off its left tread.

Thankfully, the surviving High Guard had made it back to their Rhino.  Their vehicle charged over behind its stricken counterpart, and the Demon Blade made a successful transfer under fire.  Enemy weapons continued to strike the fleeing Rhino as it sped off down the old marsh road.

Later that day, a flight of strike-bombers was detached from the Black Moab, and the abandoned village was fire bombed into oblivion.  When damage assessment crews later visited the site, they found no trace of the aliens...

Losses among the Demon Hunters were heavy.  Five of the High Guard had been left for dead on the battlefield, along with four of the Demon Blade.  Each squad also had one man badly wounded, who managed to survive.  They also lost one of their Rhinos.  From footage pieced together from helmet cameras, it is estimated that five of the alien creatures were destroyed in the fire fight.

Demon Hunters

About eight years ago, Games Workshop released their Demon Hunters book for Warhammer 40K, and I knew almost immediately that I had finally found 'my' army.  The idea of a select group of hardened, hi-tech warriors, traveling the galaxy, hunting for ancient evil, appealed to me in so many ways.  Sure, I discarded half of the 40K backstory which is a bit too dark for me, but otherwise, I was ready to go. 

Thankfully, at the time, I had a parttime job working in a gaming store that provided me with both extra funds and a discount. Even then Games Workshop products were pricey. 

The army would be commanded by Inquisitor Lord Voulgaris, pictured above, a warrior equally comfortable with the sword and with the book.  He would search the galaxy from the helm of his ship, the battlecarrier Black Moab.

While in D.C., I painted up a small army. I even entered them in one of the store tournaments, where I finished 3rd out of 8.  The main fighting element of the army was made up of the stormtroopers of the 109th 'Demon Blade' regiment.

However, when I left D.C. for the first time, I packed the army away, ready for my new life in Britain.  Well, I realized pretty early on, that my new life still needed to include miniature painting, and so I started the army for a second time.

During this time, I switched basing styles, from the very plain blasted terrain of the original army, to the more rocky with bits of green of the new army.

For years the two halves of the army never saw one another. In fact, it wasn't until yesterday morning, that all the members of the fighting compliment of the Black Moab stood on the same table together for a photo shoot.

But now I'm a bit at a loss as to what exactly to do with them.  It long ago ceased to be a legal army in 40K terms. In fact, I'm not sure the Demon Hunters even exist as an army anymore.  But that's no matter. I no longer play with 40K rules.

But the whole thing seems a bit unweildy. It contains two different basing styles. It has no real structure higher than squad level. Are these things worth worrying about?

I store the army in a pair of large miniautres cases. Thus it is very difficult and time consuming to look at the whole army at one time and to think about what to do with it.

Is it worth rebasing fully half the army to get uniformity?  The picture above is a good example of the two different styles. I now recognize the 'blasted earth' one as rather ugly, although it does look less wrong for miniatures fighting indoors.

Keeping the army packed away also leads to inevitable breakages.

I've never managed to make more than the one casualty marker.

A six man honour guard. Kind of cool, but I'm not sure what he point is, really.

An inventory of what is currently in the force:

1 Land Raider

3 Rhinos (2 Up-armored)

1 Dreadnought

7 Terminator Marines

36 Stormtroopers

20 Steel Legion Troopers

10 Tallarn

10 Pig Iron

10 Cadians (Inquistiorial)

4 Highlanders

5 Cadian (Jungle Camo)

6 Honor Guard

1 Artillerist w/Mortar

2 Sanctioned Psykers

3 Preachers

1 Sniper

1 Astropath

1 Medic

2 Crusaders

1 Tech Priest

2 Acolytes

1 Scribe

1 Casualty

Inquisitorial Highlanders

Over the past few years, I've gotten away from painting Games Workshop figures.  Partly this was a reaction to their ever-increasing prices, but more because my interest wandered onto other things.  However, when I recently came across the Highland Guard conversion kits from Victoria Lamb, I really wanted to give them a try.

I ordered up a few kits and they arrived from Austrial to the UK in less than two weeks.  I got exactly what I ordered and all of the casts were flash free and with only a few mold lines. 

The only full 40K army I possess is a Demon Hunter's army. I don't know if these guys are still leagal in the game, but I'm not a tournament player anyway. (In fact, I'm mostly a solo player and don't tend to use 40K rules anyway, but that's another story.

I'm not much of a free-hand painter, but I do enjoy putting the =I= on their shoulder pads.

Squad Support Weapon. I think it comes from a Void figure

Great figures. Definately worth picking some up to add to any human force.