Mar 4, 2024

Let's Paint Victory at Sea: The Royal Navy

‘Thou looks't like Antichrist in that lewd hat,’ she said in a sombre voice, for the hounds had lost their fox and the only tolerable-looking man had vanished.

 - Patrick O'Brian, Post Captain

Earlier, I started a Victory at Sea collection because a friendly nearby mail-order store sold the Kriegsmarine fleet box at a considerable discount. I noticed I quite liked painting the little ships, so when I found they actually had a Royal Navy fleet box at one of their stores, well, I bought it.



**

Of course, there are so many reasons why I would buy a Royal Navy box. But I'm going to start with the models that actually pushed me into doing it: the Fairey Swordfish squadrons. It is nothing short of hilarious that the UK entered the Second World War still flying a biplane made out of cloth. And they made a great success of it, too, from striking the Italian fleet at Taranto to sinking the Bismarck. I've never built or painted a biplane model before!

Like the Stukas earlier, the Swordfish are made out of a rubbery resin that's quite annoying to work with, and the planes and the stand had a lot of flash to clear away. I also still quite dislike the flying stand. The Swordfish has a more complicated one, where you can use a ring to mark what role these particular Swordfish are flying in. One of them broke when I fitted it, for the simple reason that it's too small. Again, not the best idea.


Still, I got them assembled and undercoated, and painted the stands Blue. The planes are Sky Grey, with London Grey top bits.


The fleet box also comes with a carrier: the ancient HMS Eagle, originally laid down as the Almirante Cochrane for the Chilean navy. I decided on a simple paint job of London Grey and Medium Sea Grey, and tried to do something like the camo pattern seen in this picture on Wikimedia Commons.


Referring to David Williams's Naval Camouflage 1914-1945, I take that camo to be one of the unofficial predecessors to the Admiralty Disruptive Patterns introduced in 1942.

**

I really enjoyed playing the PC version of Victory at Sea. Every now and then, you can get captured enemy ships as part of your fleet. It's a bit ahistorical, but fun, so I like it. At one point in my German campaign, I was given a Tribal-class destroyer called HMS Tartar. There actually was an HMS Tartar, which was absolutely everywhere, from the Arctic to the Mediterranean to Burma and the Japanese surrender, but I think I'm painting mine in German colors as a memento of my campaign.


If I understand the German system for designating captured ships, this would have been a ZB, so I'm calling it the ZB Tartar.

**

My first Kriegsmarine campaign ended unceremoniously at the hands of a Royal Navy Town-class cruiser. So I might as well get started with HMS Belfast. She's a museum ship in London now, and I vaguely remember visiting when I was in high school. First things first, though: like the softer Kriegsmarine ships, both the Tribal and the Belfast needed straightening.


After the resin was heated, bent ever so gently into shape and weighed down for a bit, the ships were ready for assembly and painting.

I'm not really that interested in making even my historical miniatures that "accurate", and anyway I feel like it would just be boring to try to replicate the Belfast's actual camo. Instead, I went for a sort of basic Royal Navy scheme of London Grey and Medium Sea Grey, with Off-White masts, and the decks are Pale Sand.


**

The obvious next thing to do was to paint the remaining two Tribal-class destroyers pink. Hey, the Barbie movie had just come out. First, of course, both the Tribals and the HMS Dido had to be boiled and straightened.


So these are HMS Cossack (03) and HMS Bedouin (67), both decked out in real-life Royal Navy camouflage from World War II, namely Mountbatten Pink. The horizontal surfaces are Medium Sea Grey and the verticals are Sunset Red.


And since I already boiled her, I've painted the Dido as well. As I was searching for examples of naval camouflage, I came across this absolutely lovely model of the Dido in green camo, and decided to try something similar myself. The base color is Green Sky, with Ivory and Black Green patterns. I like how it turned out!


**

Finally, we have HMS Neptune and Duke of York, both thankfully in the lighter-colored resin and therefore unboiled. For the Neptune, I've gone for something like the camouflage pattern in this picture, using Sky Grey as the lightest color.


The Duke of York got my take on what Naval Camouflage says was the standard scheme for the King George V battleships.


And with that, the Royal Navy fleet is done! Here's a very badly lit photo of the whole thing, it was February in Finland, this is the best I could do.


**

It was fun to try all the different paint schemes, and to paint a carrier. Luckily I've got more little ships!

Feb 5, 2024

Epic: Let's Paint More Aeronautica

"Lightning Fighter, defending the Emperor's sky!"
 - Sororitas dialogue, Dawn of War

A while ago, I found an outlet for my love of painting tiny little flying things in Aeronautica Imperialis, so I bought more of them.


**

I'm going to start with the Space Marine flyers from Wrath of Angels. There are three Xiphon Interceptors, which the traitor side used to good effect in the Legions Imperialis battle report in White Dwarf 493. They were remarkably easy to build and come with no weapon options that need to be represented on the model, so I had them built in no time. I already tried a sort of Word Bearers paint scheme on the red Twilight Imperium fleet, so the Xiphons also got a base coat of Burnt Cadmium Red, overlaid with Dark Red and details in Gunmetal Grey.

As these are Horus Heresy miniatures, they also bear the same campaign colors as my 28mm Word Bearers and Titans. They are Xiphon squadron Smiling with contempt upon the Earth.


The two Storm Eagle transports, Bring forth the legions, were also quite simple to build and paint.


So now if I do decide to get into new Epic, I can give my marines a little air wing.

**

I also have two Valkyries from the Taros box. I can't use them in Epic, but I had them and they were fun to build.


I've understood the Tau need Valkyries for Aeronautica missions that require transports, so I'm painting one of them white. This is the Valkyrie transport The bullock draws the plow.


As for the other one, well, I've been playing a lot of Darktide. And in Darktide, you get flown in and out of your missions by a Valkyrie in inquisitorial colors. Which you can barely see at all since it's black and the game is so relentlessly grimdark.


So of course I'm painting my other Valkyrie black. However, whereas the Darktide Valkyrie has red stripes on the wings, the color of my Sisters of Mercy, and therefore my Ordo Hereticus, is emerald, and that's what I'm going with here.


Here's a shot from an angle Darktide players are more likely to recognize.


**

The other Imperial aircraft in that box are one Lightning and two Lightning Strike Fighters. In both Dawn of War and Gladius, the Sisters of Battle get Lightning fighters in their own colors, so now that I have a Sisters color scheme, I'm painting the Lightning in that as well.


The first Lightning Strike gets the same Imperial Navy colors I did earlier, with the addition of campaign stripes on the wings.


And, of course, the second has gone over to the Greater Good and is known as the Sun behind Urth.


**

So building all the little Aeronautica planes was fun! I've still got a bunch of xenos aircraft to put together if I feel like it, but should I ever actually get around to Legions Imperialis, I could now equip either force with an entirely respectable air arm. Like I said earlier, I like epic scale a lot, but I think I'll have to wait and see what they do with it.

Jan 1, 2024

Epic: Battle of Depoh Minyak

The Battle of Bitter Tower has opened the hostilities between Legio Venefica, sworn to the Warmaster, and loyalist Legio Crucius, on the desert world of Lautan Lama. Now it's high time to put the terrain I built and my lovely Dropzone Commander buildings to the test, in a battle over the fuel tanks at Depoh Minyak.


**

My opponent brought a Precept Battleline Maniple, consisting of:

Warlord Titan - 385 pts, princeps seniores
 Paired Turbo-laser Destructors - 35 pts
 Mori Quake Cannon - 20 pts
 Sunfury Plasma Annihilator - 45 pts
 Bi-folded Power Containment - 20 pts = 505 points

Warbringer Nemesis Titan - 325 pts
 Belicosa Volcano Cannon - 55 pts
 Gatling Blaster - 15 pts
 Melta Cannon - 35 pts
 Bi-folded Power Containment - 20 pts = 450 points [955]

Warhound Titan - 180 pts
 Vulcan Mega-bolter - 10 pts
 Inferno Gun - 20 pts = 210 points [1165]

Reaver Titan - 250 pts
 Volcano Cannon - 25 pts
 Laser Blaster - 25 pts
 Apocalypse Missile Launcher - 10 pts
 Bi-folded Power Containment - 20 pts = 330 points [1495] 

To match that points value, I'll definitely be bringing all my Titans! Here to defend the honor of Forge World Icterida is my Legio Venefica force: a Ferrox Light Maniple, and in a Titanicus first for me, Knight support from Auxilia Daedra.

Reaver Battle Titan Deos tuos non colimus, et thronum auream, quam erexisti, non adoramus - 250 pts, princeps seniores Modthryth
 Melta Cannon - 35 pts
 Power Fist - 20 pts
 Vulcan Mega Bolter - 10 pts
 Reinforced plating - 10 pts = 325 points

Reaver Battle Titan Cum ergo videritis abominationem desolationis, quæ dicta est a Lorgar propheta, stantem in loco sancto, qui legit, intelligat - 250 pts
 Volcano Cannon - 25 pts
 Laser Blaster - 25 pts
 Apocalypse Missile Launcher - 10 pts = 310 points [635]

Warhound Et regnum erit velut ferrum - 180 pts
 Turbo Laser - 20 pts
 Vulcan Mega Bolter - 10 pts = 210 points [845]

Warhound Regnum transiit a te - 180 pts
 Plasma Blastgun - 30 pts
 Vulcan Mega Bolter - 10 pts = 220 points [1065]

Acastus Knight Banner Molag Bal - 150 pts
 + Acastus Knight [130], 2 × twin magna lascannon & ironstorm missile pod [70] = 350 points [1415]

Knight Armiger Banner Meridia - 85 points [1500]


**

With our battlegroups ready, we set up the terrain. I apologize for the poor picture quality, but the fact is that we played this game during the Finnish winter, so while some light would be nice, there simply wasn't any. As we were still learning the rules, we chose the Titanic Clash scenario.


We put the little tank farm in the center of the table, and scattered the Dropzone buildings around it. Legio Crucius started deployment by setting up their Reaver to cover the tank farm. I placed one of my Warhounds on my right to go harass it, and was mildly surprised to find the Warlord on the Crucius extreme left. I set up my Reavers and Acastus Knights in the center, and the Armigers on the left flank, where they could go bother the Crucius Warbringer.


While our forces advanced on the right, the action opened in the center, where my tiny little Armigers dashed forward, and my shooty Reaver, the Abominatio Desolationis, exchanged fire with its opposite number to little effect.


The Acastus Knights opened up on the Warbringer, and I have to say that the magna lascannon is absolutely hilarious. Four blast templates per Knight is ridiculous, scattering all over the place and managing to hit the Warbringer, the enemy Warhound sheltering behind a building - the shot must have somehow bounced off the Warbringer's shields - and bringing down the other building.


In retaliation, the Warbringer gunned down one of the Armigers, and the Warhound took off to the Crucius left. I wanted to send the Regnum transiit to flank the enemy Warlord, but Legio Crucius had other ideas!


The Warhound managed to survive the Warlord's fire, and actually knocked down a couple of void shields in return.

Turn 2 rolled around, and the Armigers tried to put a building between themselves and the enemy Warbringer - only for the wildly firing Acastus Knights to bring it crashing down!


The Warbringer shot down another Armiger. On the right, the combined fire of the Non Adoramus and the Regnum Ferrum managed to drop the Crucius Reaver's shields, and I got a shot in with the Non Adoramus's melta cannon. Meanwhile the Regnum Transiit's void shields nearly miraculously held under a second turn of fire from the Warlord.


On Turn 3, I took two gambles. I gave the Non Adoramus first fire orders, to try to finish off the enemy Reaver with the melta cannon, and left the Regnum Transiit facing the Warlord to keep it occupied. Neither was exactly successful: the melta shot failed to damage the Reaver, and it relit its void shields in the repair phase. The Warlord finally stripped the Regnum Transiit's shields and severely damaged its body, knocking out one of the weapons as well.

The Regnum Ferrum moved up to engage the enemy at close range, and the Abominatio Desolationis as well as the Acastus Knights advanced. The lone shaken Armiger tried to move around to the rear of the Warbringer, which was also lumbering toward the fight on the Crucius left.


Then it was time for the fourth and last turn. With the Regnum Transiit structurally compromised, there was very little choice except to run away from the Warlord. That also meant I was down on victory points, so we needed a result to swing the battle. So the Regnum Ferrum moved left to gang up on the Warbringer, and the Non Adoramus got a charge order and barreled at the enemy Warhound with the traitor allegiance ability activated.


When the time came for the Non Adoramus's boosted power fist attack, I managed to roll triple ones, so not so much as a dent appeared on the enemy Warhound.


We were more successful with the Warbringer. The Regnum Ferrum knocked down its shields and hit its already damaged legs, and the Abominatio Desolationis delivered the final blow with its volcano cannon. The dying Warbringer lurched forward, crashing into the Regnum Ferrum and destroying it!


The collision sent the Warbringer reeling backward, until it almost unbelievably, but perfectly, fell over backward onto the last surviving Armiger.


And with that, the battle was over. Legio Crucius lost their Warbringer, but the combined loss of one Warhound destroyed, another structurally compromised, and the Armigers wiped out, was enough to make the final score a Crucius victory.

That finale could hardly have been more Titanicus.

**

So, we lost on points, but at least we took out that Warbringer. That means a kill marking for the Abominatio desolationis:


And for the volcano cannon, which landed the mortal blow.


Here's some better-quality pics my opponent took.


I was quite happy with my tactics; I didn't expect the enemy to concentrate so heavily on one flank, but it gave me the opportunity to gang up on the Warbringer and destroy it. The Acastus knights were hilarious, and even the Armigers did good work distracting the enemy Warbringer.


The MVP of my battlegroup, though, was clearly the Regnum transiit a te, for tying up an enemy Warlord for almost the entire battle and actually living to tell the tale.


We used the full rules, except for Princeps traits and Stratagems, so next time I expect we'll go the whole hog. Those Crucius guys certainly got their orders off, and at first it felt like they were putting void shields up as quickly as I knocked them down. I also mostly forgot about my maniple bonus for armor rolls, not that I think it would have made a huge difference. Like last time, I rolled pretty well on my void shield saves, and bizarrely won every roll for the Opus Titanica except the last one; and then rolled a spectacular triple 1 on the allegiance ability attack. You win some, you lose some. Had some rolls gone differently, maybe we'd have smashed the enemy Warhound; on the other hand, maybe the Crucius Warlord would have reduced the Regnum Transiit into molten slag latest on turn 3.


After two games, I have to say that I unironically love my Reavers and Warhounds. I definitely want to get some bigger Titans at some point, but these guys keep coming through for me, and the Envious legio ability means I almost always get the command check bonus for orders. I'm also quite seriously thinking about building a corrupted Reaver. Or two.

**

The most important thing is that we had a great time playing. I admit that this was only my second game, but Titanicus is slowly but surely creeping up my list of favorite wargames ever. It's in a similar place as old Necromunda was, where I kind of hope GW would release more content, but on the other hand, I've got my rulebook and my Traitor Legios, and I'm going to get years of enjoyment out of this.

Having a great Titanicus experience also deepens my ambivalence about Legions Imperialis. On the one hand, yes, it would be awesome to add infantry, tanks, flyers and everything to this; on the other hand, we're having an excellent time without them. I was really excited for Legions Imperialis when it came out, but the months-long delay and total lack of explanation made me feel a bit silly, and I'm still on the fence.

Anyway, Titanicus is a wonderful game and I for one really hope I get to play more of it.

Dec 25, 2023

End-of-year 2023

So it's been another year. I'll get the grim stuff out of the way first.

At the beginning of this year, I wrote about the way the Marin government simply decided to stop trying to suppress the pandemic, and overall deaths surged from 1 500 to almost 9 000. As I write this, the World Health Organization has us at about 11 000 cumulative Covid deaths. Earlier this year, we elected an extreme-right government with neo-Nazis and sexual predators among its ministers, so you can easily believe that we're still strongly invested in pretending there's no pandemic. Here's one estimate of how that's going.


I don't really know what to say, except to repeat that the necropolitics of the pandemic are unbelievably grim. Eleven thousand people have died, and the media and what at least feels like the majority of the population simply don't care.

But then some 20,000 civilians have been brutally murdered in Gaza over the last couple of months, and it's not just that people don't care, but in fact actively support massacring children. Our government certainly does.

In the face of all this, I've become a lot more active politically this year. I had a very memorable time marching against our travesty of a government this summer, and I've taken part in a bunch of protests against Israel's slaughter of civilians in Gaza. Here's a picture from one.


The problem is that I'm quite convinced that things will only get worse. The indifference to mass death that we've seen during the pandemic and the butchery in Gaza is one sign of that. Another is the rising popularity of fascism, whether it be the orange oligarch in the US or the almost ridiculous performative cruelty that is UK immigration policy, or indeed our own government.

At this point, I think it's impossibly naïve to believe that the resurgence of fascism has nothing to do with the deepening climate crisis. It's amply clear that the powers that be are not going to take any effective action to stop the planet overheating. The farce that was Cop28 was yet another nail in the coffin of the biosphere as we know it. What they seem to be preparing for is mass repression. Witness, for example, the ludicrously draconian anti-protest laws being enacted in the UK, or for that matter, the actions of the Helsinki police this independence day. I took the following snippet of video there, to give you an idea of what it was like.


I participated in the antifascist protest at Töölöntori, which was broken up by mounted police. As I said elsewhere, it's certainly an interesting experience for a military historian to be charged by a mounted formation, but it's not really one I'd have chosen to have at a totally peaceful antifascist demo. The cops certainly picked their side, and it's difficult to not think that in addition to trying to provoke and intimidate us, they were also practicing for future protests.

What strikes me more and more often these days are the parallels I see in our society today to ancien régime France, or the country my grandfather was born in, czarist Russia, we then being a grand duchy of theirs. In both societies, it was quite obvious to so many contemporaries that the system was badly broken, and the needs of the many were being thoroughly neglected in favor of the endless greed of the few. Faced with peaceful attempts to reform their societies, the rich and powerful in both countries absolutely refused to make the slightest concession. They would give up nothing, not one penny to anyone, but rather use violence to suppress anyone trying to change anything.

We all know how that worked out for them. Today's political elites are too busy worshipping billionaire oligarchs, imposing austerity on the poor and inciting ridiculous culture wars to protect the rich whose reckless overconsumption is literally destroying the planet. There are so many sensible things we could be doing to create a more ecologically sustainable, more just society. They'd rather send out the riot cops.

As a historian, I do not believe this will end well. Our societies are facing one of the most extreme tests ever endured by any organized groups of humanity, in the form of the planetary ecological crisis. We are comprehensively failing that test, and it's only going to keep getting uglier from here.

**

So, that's the heavy stuff. On to more frivolous things, because in the middle of all this, ordinary life also goes on. It has to, because if we're going to try to do something about the big problems, we need to get energy from somewhere. Rest and relaxation are political and part of activism. Indeed, one of the popular ways to try to discredit activists is to set impossible standards for anyone who claims to care about anything, and then call them a hypocrite. It's a purely cynical maneuvre to maintain the status quo, when the reality is that no-one is perfect, and the goal of activism is never to be a perfect individual, but to do what you can to make the world better.

Last year I blogged about abandoning my so-called academic career for good. None of the above has exactly made me feel worse about my decision; on the contrary, the decision by the University of Helsinki to summon the police to violently clear people protesting Israel's war crimes from its premises on 29.11. made me feel quite confident that I did the right thing. Our academia is divided into two parts: the people holding actual power are far too privileged and cosseted to care about anything, and everyone else is too busy being torn apart by the inhumanity of neoliberal academia to be able to do anything even if they wanted to. And let's face it, most of them don't want to. So I'm tremendously happy to leave that nonsense behind me.

Instead, I've been working on a video game: Goblin Camp. You can read our blog here, if you're interested. It's a follow-up to the shareware Goblin Camp I was involved in over a decade ago, and we're kinda excited about it. Do check it out! It's certainly been an experience diving into a totally different job, but I do get to use my professional skills. I've done historical research into things like wooden armor and farming, and I'm quite proud of the way our game takes inspiration from Finnic paganism. We'll see how it goes!

**

In even sillier hobby things, it's been a good year. I got to play a game of Warhammer 40,000, where I got my ass kicked by space wizards. I tried Battletech, and we played two whole games of Twilight Imperium, one of which I actually won! I made a golden Knight, and started collecting little ships. We've also played a lot of Darktide.

I'm very grateful I got into the miniature hobby again years ago, because frankly, it's really helped my sanity. Having something immersive I can do with my hands is such a wonderful experience when everything I do for a living involves thinking, writing and talking.

I'm running a tabletop campaign again as well! Our Rogue Trader campaign has been on hiatus for a while, what with the pandemic and everything, so I was persuaded to start a Dark Heresy campaign set in the same fictional universe. I'm trying to run a more focused campaign than my earlier sandbox efforts: this is a far more plot-oriented mystery-solving campaign with a definite structure and end point. Once it's done, I hope we'll be able to resurrect the Rogue Trader campaign and actually finish it. I've really enjoyed the Dark Heresy, we have excellent players and it's just been so much fun.

Speaking of finishing things, way back in 2019 I made a sort of new year's resolution to actually try to finish hobby projects before starting new ones. It's been going  variably, but I feel like I am actually getting better at thinking about my hobby activities in manageable chunks, and at least trying to finish more chunks than I start. I'm buying much less stuff, and actually, fuck it, it's time to extend my resolution.

In 2024, I will not buy any more miniatures.

I was going to come up with all kinds of exceptions to this, but I'm just not going to. No new minis in 2024, and that's the end of it. I will use next year to make a dent in my gigantic pile of undercoated miniatures.

**

So there! Happy New Year, everybody.

Nov 13, 2023

Warhammer 40,000: The Iconoclasts

When I accompanied you to the holy place called Bethel, there to join you in celebrating the Collect, after the use of the Church, I came to a villa called Anablatha and, as I was passing, saw a lamp burning there. Asking what place it was, and learning it to be a church, I went in to pray, and found there a curtain hanging on the doors of the said church, dyed and embroidered. It bore an image either of Christ or of one of the saints; I do not rightly remember whose the image was. Seeing this, and being loth that an image of a man should be hung up in Christ's church contrary to the teaching of the Scriptures, I tore it asunder and advised the custodians of the place to use it as a winding sheet for some poor person.

- From Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, in Cyprus, to John, Bishop of Jerusalem


My 40k Chaos Space Marines represent the Iconoclast Host, a loose collection of Chaos Marine warbands sworn to Lorgar and the Word Bearers Legion. Based on the demon shrine world of Techke Baranos, the Iconoclasts haunt the Acheron sector. They've subverted the hive world of Kirov and attracted the support of various renegades, including Chaos Squats and even Knights; they participated in the Ignatian Rebellion, and who knows what else they've been getting up to since.


**

The latest thing my Iconoclasts did was get wiped out by Grey Knights. So obviously I've demanded a rematch, which we've set for 1 000 points, and have been thinking hard about how to counter their mobility and psychic dominance.

A good place to start would seem to be to bring an HQ that can do some psykering and counter-psykering. My first thought was a Sorcerer, but to be honest, the Dark Hereticus discipline just isn't great. I have fond memories of my Sorcerer using Warptime to launch my Berzerkers into a blob of Imperial Guard conscripts, which would solve both of my problems at one stroke - if 9th edition hadn't nerfed Warptime by prohibiting charges after it. The Grey Knights had no such limitations! Frankly, most of the other powers aren't great, either.

My original idea was actually for an army of exactly 500 points featuring a Sorcerer, but then I looked at the Master of Possession. You get Masters of Possession in Gladius, and while they have their uses, I tend to find both other hero choices more useful. The Malefic discipline is just so much better than the Sorcerer's, though, and they have both an anti-psyker aura and staff. Clearly this is who I need.

Hilariously, the GW model is totally unavailable. It came in several bigger boxes, but now can't be bought anywhere. Not that I particularly liked it anyway, so I hardly mind having to build my own. But it just never ceases to amaze me how often GW just refuses to take our money. (The model was re-released shortly after I finished mine)

My starting point is this Legion of the Damned marine I bought on eBay.


As I learned earlier, the old Legion marines aren't actually that badly out of scale, they're just a little short in the leg. I extended my guy's upper legs and torso, which made them almost as tall as one of the new Legionnaires.


The copper wire is actually firm enough to hold the different parts in place until the gaps are filled with green stuff. The lower legs do end up looking a bit stubby, but I don't think that'll be very noticable on the tabletop.


The next step was to add arms and a backpack from the Exalted Sorcerers kit, and an old CSM icon.


I'm actually really happy with how this looks! Final additions are a Greater Good skull and Bad Squiddo mushroom on the base, and some Anvil parchments for a Word Bearers touch.


And then some paint.


After painting, I added a few sprinkles of green flock and a tuft of Gamers Grass Wild Flowers. I was inspired by Aekold Helbrass and his Breath of Life, and wanted a little extra Chaos in my Chaos.

**

That's not all we can do on the psychic front, either. The Chaos Marines in Kill Team got an option to have a squad-level psyker, and 9th edition brought that over to 40k. So if I take a unit of Legionaries, which is just a fancy name for Chaos Space Marines, I can make one of them into a psyker by paying 20 points for a Balefire tome. This seems to me to be a very Word Bearers thing to do.


She has a Statuesque Miniatures Bionic Roider head, some Wargame Exclusive books and some Anvil parchments. Another Kill Team weapon option I went for was the heavy chainaxe. I quite like the way the Scab Maulers in Darktide look, so I tried to do something a little similar here.


As none of the wargear options other than the Balefire tome actually cost anything (for now!), there's really no reason to not give the Aspiring Champion a daemon blade. The sword in question is a Kromlech vibro katana, and the Champion is also decorated with a Wargame Exclusive Imperial book, and has a Statuesque head.


When I was painting my Horus Heresy Word Bearers, I came up with the idea of having a sort of apprentice chaplain in each squad called a deacon. Here's a 40k one.


And here's the whole squad.


I also made a chaincannon guy, because hey, why not.


**

So that should give me at least some tools to counter the Grey Knights' relentless space wizard fuckery. The other need I identified was for speed, and with the help of a convenient French bits store and some stuff left over from my Deathwatch Vanguard Veterans, I intend to address it. Here are some Warp Talons.


The Champion has a Statuesque Roider head, and Warp Talon claws.


I made a Deacon for the Warp Talons as well, and he has a Kromlech Cranium Pattern head, and Wargame Exclusive book as well as some Anvil parchments.


**

With the points I had left, I decided to give my Chaos Dreadnought another chance. If it just blows up again, I'll know to bring something else next time. That still left me with something like 20 points, so I decided it was now time for my first Chaos Spawn.


The body is a Minotaur, the tentacles and head are from my Beast of Nurgle, and the rest are random daemon and Tyranid bits I had. I think the overall impression is fairly, well, spawn-y.


**

So, here's the Word Bearers half of my 1000 point army:

HQ - Master of Possession - 105 points

Troops - Legionaries (6) - 108 pts
 + Balefire Tome (20) = 128 points [233]

Fast Attack - Warp Talons (5) - 140 points [373]

Elites - Helbrute - 105 points [478]

Fast Attack - Chaos Spawn - 25 points [503]

**

It was painting Horus Heresy that made me realize I actually really like the dark red I've picked for my Word Bearers, and I'm happy to bring it over to 40k. I mean yes, if I ever field a big Chaos Marine army, it's going to look like a whole bunch of different armies all rolled into one, but if it's a problem that Chaos looks, well, chaotic...

Our rematch will hopefully happen soon!