Epic: Let's Paint World Eaters

Back in 2018, when I got back into painting miniatures with Star Wars: Rebellion, I found that for whatever reason, I really like painting dirty white. Then I liked the World Eaters captain Skraal in the otherwise pedestrian Battle for the Abyss, as well as the bonding between Angron and Khârn in After Desh'ea. And the World Eaters are really good in Legions Imperialis.

So, when I was painting my Word Bearers, I decided to try a World Eaters livery on a spare command stand. However, I felt that an ordinary command stand would be boring, so I swapped the two bolter marines for spare sergeant models. I did a weapon swap between the plasma gunner leader and one of the assault marines, which I think worked quite nicely.

I gave them an Ivory base coat, with Medium Blue shoulder pads and various details, followed by a Smoke wash.

I like how this looks! I also decided to try the legion colors on some Spartans, and again, the result was delightful.

I also accidentally some Contemptors.

So as you can see, I got a bit carried away. When I got my Termites, I also painted two of them in World Eaters colors.

And finally, when Shaun gave me two Mastodons, how was I supposed to not paint one of them white?

The idea of a World Eaters Mastodon is simply irresistable. I could put the Contemptors in it.

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I was thinking I'd wait for some more World Eaters-appropriate infantry until I continued this project - surely we must get Despoilers or something at some point - but I think it was the Mastodon that tipped me over into painting a full demi-company.

This also meant finishing the assault detachment.

And some Rhinos, of course.

So, let's call this the 117th Company, II Battalion, 11th Chapter of the World Eaters. I also did a couple of Terminator stands.

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I'm a little uncertain of how to play World Eaters in any game, really. If you read Betrayer, you really get the impression that the post-Nails World Eaters are barely an army any more, but rather a horde of maniacs. In Legions terms, they should only ever be allowed Charge orders, or maybe something like being able to take normal orders on turn 1, but then only Charge or March on turn 2 and only Charge from then on.

For these guys, I'm going to decide that they're a separate group from Angron's main fleet, so they haven't been implanted with the Nails yet and can operate more or less like normal Marines. At least to the extent the World Eaters ever did.

Soon I'll have the opportunity to see how they do on the tabletop!

Warhammer Renaissance: Let's Paint Chaos Warriors

My main wargaming project right now is building a Warhammer Renaissance Chaos army from what I already own. I've already got some Khorne Daemons, and in Renaissance a Chaos army can be either Chaos Warriors, Beastmen or Daemons, or all three combined. Obviously that's the most fun, but at under 2000 points, it means the army has to be dedicated to only one Chaos god. So it turns out I'm building a Khorne warband.

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My first unit is some Marauder Horsemen. I've previously used the Samurai Rabbits from Eureka Miniatures' excellent Pond Wars range for my Stormbun Eternals and the Loyal Zootopian Lancers. Reading some Usagi Yojimbo gave me an idea, which led me to Warlord's Samurai Horsemen. I was originally going to field them as Rough Riders in 40k, but now they have the perhaps dubious honor of being the first full unit to join my Warhammer Renaissance Chaos warband.

Stillmania compels me to name each unit and provide them with a background, so:

The Moon Dancers

Long ago, in the land of Nippon, six samurai were so consumed by the way of the warrior that they lived only for battle and killing. Their daimyo, sickened by their bloodthirst, banished them from his service, making them rōnin, warriors without a master. As their infamy grew, no-one in Nippon would retain their services. And so the six rōnin headed north into the Chaos Wastes, where they dedicated themselves to Khorne and now ride under his bloody banner.

Six Marauder Horsemen with a standard bearer are worth 138 points.

**

In addition to the horsemen, I also own a whole regiment of twelve Chaos Warriors, assembled and undercoated, who've sat on a shelf for so long that they were covered in a thick layer of dust.

Since our first game will be at 750 points, with a maximum points value per unit of 200, I can't field all twelve of them; ten Chaos Warriors add up to 180 points.

I think it's funny that I painted these specifically for Renaissance, which is basically an Oldhammer project, and I kind of accidentally made this the most grimdark unit I've ever painted. But I wanted them to look like proper fantasy villains, and I think I did.

The Scholars of Brass and Blood

Siegfried Totenbaum, High Professor of the Altdorf Polytechnical College, decided to experiment with an innovative new teaching technique called the group project. His students were divided into groups and told that their grade, and therefore their entire future, now depended on the success of their group project.

The first student death occurred two weeks into the project. Several fatal accidents followed, later escalating into outright murders and open warfare. Soon Totenbaum had been assassinated and the Polytechnical College was engulfed in flames. The only known survivors were a group of students who swore an oath to Khorne, overcame their enemies, and fled through the sewers as the College collapsed above them. They now roam the Chaos Wastes as warriors of the Blood God.

The obscure elven tome Totenbaum got his idea from, known by its Classical title Rota Magna, is believed to have been destroyed in the fire.

**

Now all I need is a character to lead the army. A while ago, Archon Studios made a 28mm He-Man miniature game. I bought it on a whim; I watched the Filmation animated show religiously as a kid. So here I was, thinking that I need a Chaos Hero with something I can plausibly pass off as an Icon of Khorne from the magic item list - and I remembered I also got the Teela expansion.

I think she looks pretty good in Khorne's colors!

Of course we have to give her a name, so:

Thekla von Grauschädel

Born in the lowly hamlet of Grauschädel in Reikland, Thekla was sent to work as a maid for a local wizard. Slaving away in his household, Thekla developed a passionate hatred for her master and all magic-users. One of the older servants taught Thekla to read, and in the wizard's library, she found tomes with rituals for the destruction of magic-users. The wizard was such a brutal master that many of his servants soon joined a cult dedicated to his murder, and with young Thekla's leadership, he was soon dead and his manor burned to the ground. Thekla and the other servants fled into the woods, where she soon became their leader. The cult activities continued, and Thekla eventually drew Khorne's eye and earned his mark.

**

Together with some Bloodletters, I now have a tiny Chaos army for Warhammer Renaissance, and I'm hoping to get to try a game soon!

Let's Paint Warhammer Renaissance

A while ago, I was introduced to Warhammer Renaissance. Bizarrely living on a Facebook page, it's a fan project to take the 4th-6th edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle rules and make them, well, better. I'm interested in trying it, as I should have some folks to play with, and more to the point, a huge pile of Warhammer Fantasy miniatures from back in the day. If Epic was my first love in wargaming, I did also own the 4th edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle box, but got to play far too little of it. This is as good a time as any to fix that.

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Making something out of my chaotic collection of Warhammer Fantasy miniatures is very appealing to me, both from the obvious financial standpoint, but also on a deeper level. As long ago as 2019, I read a blog post from a Warhammer hobbyist, written shortly before he passed away. It made me resolve to try to finish modeling projects before starting new ones, so I did: I built some Warhammer 40,000 armies and actually played games with them. I followed that up with a New Year's resolution to not buy any new miniatures in 2024, which I think I mostly kept.

Then in 2025, Legions Imperialis showed up, and I've really enjoyed painting and playing it. I also feel that I've gone about it a lot more responsibly: I have no untouched Legions kits in my collection, and the unpainted stuff all fits in a single Legions Astartes Battle Group box. I'm quite happy about this.

So now it feels like the next logical step in this process is to go back to all the Warhammer Fantasy stuff I've bought over the years, and try to build some workable armies out of that. I'm going to try to do this with an absolute minimum of new purchases. This will make a serious dent in my stash of unpainted miniatures, and that makes me feel quite good.

What's more, we're going to be approaching Warhammer Renaissance through Stillmania. For those of you who have yet to hear the good word, Stillmania is an approach to wargaming named after Games Workshop writer and designer Nigel Stillman. It's basically the antithesis of the current meta-chasing, win-at-all-costs tournament culture.

For me, Stillmania means coming up with heaps of fluff for my army, but especially in my current circumstances, it means that I'm building a Warhammer Renaissance army out of what I have, and playing that army. I'm looking forward to it.

**

At a guess, I could probably build three, if not four, whole Warhammer Renaissance armies from what I already own. The easiest one to get into playable condition has to be Chaos; not just because the models cost a lot of points, but because I have so many of them already. For starters, I bought a Wrath and Rapture box back in the day, so I already have a bunch of Daemons we can get into Renaissance shape.

I started with the Juggernauts I'd painted earlier and once fielded in a game of 40k. I'd given them grey bases to match my 40k minis, but it didn't seem appropriate for fantasy models. So I came up with a sort of hell-themed basing scheme of Vermillion with a German Camo Black Brown drybrush:

I like it.

Yeenoghu got the same treatment, and while I was at it, I also painted the base of my Skull Cannon of Khorne to match, even though it doesn't exist in Renaissance.

I'm still kinda happy with the job I did on it, though, so maybe one day...

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Wrath and Rapture also came with Bloodletters, and this project finally gave me a reason to paint them.

I never really thought much of Bloodletters, but they're kinda growing on me. Here's a closeup of the flag for pride month:

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I'm very happy to have this project underway!

Epic: Ruin of the Salamanders

The Ruin of the Salamanders supplement for Legions Imperialis is here, and I'm delighted to report that my wish has been granted, and we now have an Astartes super-heavy formation and some new very large tiny tanks.

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First off, though, let me note a disappointment: the Falchion. In its 28mm incarnation, it had a twin volcano cannon, which is spectacularly silly. However, Legions has now downgraded it to a neutron laser that's almost exactly the same as the one on the Cerberus. I just think that's really boring. I was hoping for a Space Marine version of the Shadowsword, with at least some kind of Engine Killer weapon. I already have a pair of Cerberuses so I don't see the point.

Right now, the only Engine Killer weapon in the entire Marine list is the siege melta array on the Mastodon, and that's just bizarre. I thought for sure that would have been the Falchion's niche.

I did, however, get a box of Fellblades, and with the Demolisher cannon and everything, it's definitely a Space Marine Baneblade.

These were fun to build. I did a little converting and made pintle-mounted bolters with closed hatches for both of them.

The Fellblades can form a Super-Heavy Spearhead with my Cerberuses and Kratices, which I definitely have to try in my next game.

**

As if all these super-heavies weren't silly enough, Shaun was kind enough to give me the gift of true stupidity this holiday season: two Mastodons. They remind me of the GI Joe mobile command center, one of which I remember we found at a flea market when I was a kid, and I got my parents to buy.

They were quite straightforward to build, if heavy flamer sponsons in three parts each do make me wonder: why?

They're ludicrously massive though, I love them.

I painted one for my Word Bearers. No idea what to use it for, but it is gloriously silly.

I took a picture with some other models for scale, just so you can fully appreciate the stupidity.

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Speaking of models that look like they're straight out of GI Joe, when I saw the profile of the Storm Hammer Auxilia super-heavy, I knew I needed to get some.

I loved the original Storm Hammer, a slab-sided, twin-turreted beast of a super-heavy. What they seem to have done with it is relegated one of the turrets to one of those casemate-like structures that the Horus Heresy era designers are so inexplicably fond of, and then given the design to a child and told them to draw more guns on it. If the Mastodon looks like something out of GI Joe, the Storm Hammer is even more so. And I love it.

**

All this 8mm stuff has been fun, but I've also been thinking about what to do with my small collection of 6mm scale miniatures, mostly from Epic 40,000 and Epic: Armageddon. A while ago, I picked up some Battletech miniatures, and painted them in the colors of the Magistracy of Canopus. So it did occur to me to paint my 6mm stuff for Battletech as well.

At the end of last year, however, I was persuaded to look into NetEpic, which is basically a fan-made version of good old second edition Space Marine. I was delighted by it, and unless I'm entirely mistaken, my 6mm collection should build a Chaos Marine army with Imperial Guard allies.

I mention this now because it goes with the superheavy theme: I have what I believe is an Epic Armageddon-era Baneblade. I'd started painting it, but some Finnish generic brand over cleaner helped me strip the paint off.

This is the first time I've properly repainted an old miniature like this. And here's how it ended up:

We'll see if this is the beginning of something.

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It's been a lot of fun building and painting big little tanks. The Legions Imperialis models continue to be superb quality and a lot of fun to put together. I hope we get more super-heavies; there's a Capitol Imperialis in one of the Horus Heresy novel anthologies, so I certainly expect a model of one!

Epic: Men of Iron

Advances in Computer technology have made possible the new science of Robotics, which was previously the realm of science fiction. Robotics concerns the design and building of machines capable of mimicking some modicum of human action. These machines can sense changes in their environment and take limited action based on this information. Robots are essentially computer-controlled machine tools that can be programmed to perform tasks such as welding car parts. They are especially useful for tasks that are monotonous, dangerous, or tiring, where they are often more productive than their human counterparts.

Last year, I fielded some Thallax Cohorts against the Imperial Fists, and they were spectacularly successful. As I've already painted some 28mm robots as well, I thought it was high time I got to their epic-scale versions.

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I was playing around with Legion Builder one day, and realized that I have something like 1 500 points of Knights that I've built for Titanicus, and I was seriously thinking about getting some more Cerastus Lancers after their excellent performance in our last game. So I could definitely field a Knight army in Legions.

This led me to look at the Bonded Cybernetica support formations for Knights, and I found that if I made a Retainer Cohort with the Vultarax Stratos-Automata, I could give my Lancers Outflank. What's more, the Vultaraxes looked pretty easy to build. So I started with them, and painted them in Auxilia Daedra colors.

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The other Vanguard choice in the box is the Vorax Battle-Automata. I thought I might add them to my Brethren of Iron, as they're a unit that could actually use a Cortex Controller to give them orders; on their own, they can only March or Charge, meaning they'll never get to fire their weapons.

There's two 32mm bases of Voraxes in the box, and they're impossibly fiddly to build. Here's my first complete one, and the bits of the next one laid out.

You can mix and match pairs of legs and arm weapons with the torsos, to create differences that are pretty much imperceptible on the tabletop.

Three Voraxes crowd a 32mm base, and the box makes two bases. I painted them in Word Bearers colors.

I mean I'm not gonna say this was the most annoying model I've ever built; I've had far worse experiences. But they've tended to involve resin or metal. This may be the fiddliest thing I've ever done in hard plastic, and again, because most of the details are indistinguishable on the tabletop, it isn't even worth it.

**

So that was annoying. Luckily the two Domitar robots were much more fun to build.

I made them Word Bearers as well, because I thought the Domitars Perturabo has hanging around in Angel Exterminatus were cool.

The two Arlatax Battle-Automata are going to join my Titan Legion, so they're in Legio Venefica livery.

They're actually a conversion. For some reason, I can't stand the leaping-off-a-tactical-rock pose that James Workshop fell in love with in the 2010s or thereabouts, so I made the Arlataxes stand properly. It wasn't too hard to do.

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So, that's a bunch of 8mm robots! After the Voraxes, I have to admit I didn't have the stomach for the Castellax stands. I'll get to them later. All in all, though, I liked the robots, and I'm looking forward to trying them in the game.

Epic: Iron Lion Zion

"Faith and steel must now be joined."

 - the daemon Ingethel, in The Horus Heresy: Aurelian, Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Now that I've played Legions Imperialis, I've got lots of ideas on how to expand my Word Bearers army. When I read The First Heretic, I thought the Legio Cybernetica robots in Word Bearers colors were very cool, so I definitely want a Brethren of Iron formation.

**

After the Mechanicum supplement for Legions came out, Games Workshop published PDF rules for what they call Bonded Cybernetica Formations. These are a way to take Mechanicum troops - mostly robots - in other armies, without using up the ally allowance. The marine formation is called a Brethren of Iron; it's a marine HQ and two Core slots, which must be either marines or Thallax automata. All the marine units in the formation gain the Cortex Controller rule, so they can give orders to robots.

So at some point, I'll want at least one marine tactical detachment to do some cortex controlling. This gave me several conversion ideas, so I grabbed a Mechanicum infantry box and got to work. I gave the sergeant an axe from a Tech-Priest Auxilia and a servo-arm from an Archmagos, and added a Rapier crewmember to the stand.

I gave the Tech-Priest who lost his axe a hammer from one of the Terminators on the marine sprue, so I guess I also have a Mechanicum unit.

Since I was chopping up an Archmagos, I stuck his axe on a marine commander, and added another Rapier crewmember, to make a start on an HQ unit.

I'm coming back to these guys when I field them! For now I just want to say that I'm quite surprised I find myself actually enjoying 8mm conversions.

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Another support formation in the same PDF is the Collegia Titanica Support Cohort. It lets you bring robots as part of the Collegia Titanica list, and even better, regular Mechanicum infantry as optional choices. So I painted the tech-thralls in the Mechanicum infantry box in the colors of Legio Venefica.

I think they look pretty good! When I get some robots, I'll be able to field these guys with my Titans.

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I also got myself a second Predator squadron. I wasn't too impressed with the Sicarans, but I liked my las-preds.

Building tanks gave me a very silly idea for my Brethren of Iron. They need an HQ choice. I could just include a command stand, but what do I do with it? It's not fast enough to keep up with the Thallax automata and it doesn't have jump packs, so it would slow them down. But attaching it to a tactical detachment is just a waste of a cortex controller.

You know what could keep up with the robots or go off and do things on its own? A Kratos. And just like that, a stupid conversion idea was born.

Since I already used one Archmagos for conversion bits, I took the tentacles from their Abeyant and stuck them to a Kratos hull.

I stuck the front of the Abeyant, with the speaker and antenna, to the back of the Kratos turret, and the servo-arm to the side, and added another antenna-like thing to the left side of the turret.

I like it!

Meanwhile, I built the Thallax Cohorts from the Mechanicum box and painted them. I quite like the models!

As I was putting my next army list together, I ended up with a spare 20 points and couldn't think of anything else to use it on except even more Thallaxes. Since I don't have any more of the models, I painted two bases of Ursarax automata to proxy them with.

So for my next game, I'll be fielding a Brethren of Iron formation consisting of a Kratos Commander and two four-stand detachments of Thallax battle-automata.

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I like the robots and will almost certainly pick up the Battle-Automata box, but in general, I'm not really sold on the Mechanicum aesthetic in Legions. It's also weird to me that they have no flyers; there are Machine Cult ornithopters in the Horus Heresy novels and 40k, so hopefully we'll see them at some point. And, of course, some more artillery.